Living My Dream

Bella Blvd and December CK

I've fallen in love with a new line.  Bella Blvd was one of the sponsors for the CK Dream Team, so I was sent some lovely papers to work with.  Then last week, another box arrived with their two newest lines. I was so excited about their generosity, but also about the incredible products they have!  These two lines are just adorable.  Of course I had to start working with them immediately! Even the packaging is irresistible and must be used on your pages!

This layout is made with December Details, a colorful Christmas line that is both bold and whimsical.  It includes five papers, letter stickers, a full 12x12 sticker sheet, a sheet of die cuts, flowers and stamps.  Everything you need to make layouts, cards and gift tags.  All I needed to add to this layout was cardstock and ribbon!  I know it is a bit busy, but I couldn't stop adding stuff!

 

This layout is made using the Honey I'm Home line which has my favorite things in it - little cottages and owls.  Again, this line has all the elements to put together pages fast!  This one only took about 30 minutes.  I just added some ribbon and it was complete!

The girls and I are going to use all my leftovers to make some gift tags for Christmas. Thank you Bella Blvd for the amazing products - I had so much fun working with them! If you go to the link, you can see all of their adorable products!

Check out the Creating Keepsakes Blog today.  They showed my layout (below) that is in the December issue.  I made these trees with flocking and sequins/rhinestones.  Super easy to make (directions in the magazine).  Megan also shows a really cute idea making tags using pop dots.  

 

Have a great day! It is time to get myself in the Christmas spirit - Santa is already at the mall! Suzy 

And the WINNER is:

Thank you to everyone for leaving such nice comments about me being on the Dream Team. I also really appreciated all your feedback about what you would like to see in Creating Keepsakes next year!  I will pass on all the information to the CK Editors!

Between the two posts, I received a total of 103 responses.  I included the responses from both posts as some people left them on the one with the RAK picture instead of the first one. Some also left two comments because of the confusion between two posts.  In this case, I only included the first of the two comments.  The total number of comments after duplicate emails were taken off was 97.  

I created an account with the Random Number Service to pick a winner.  I entered each person's name as it appeared on the comment and let the service pick a winner.  I was a little obsessed with this being accurate so an hour later, I finally have the winner and it is:

How exciting. You must be so happy.

Posted by: Carolyn | November 06, 2009 at 02:22 PM

I made the list entrant accessible, so if you want to verify you were on the list you can do so here.  Congratulations to Carolyn - please email me with your address today and I will send the box pronto!

Thank you everyone!  Suzy

RAK Update!!!

Here is a picture of the scrapbook products I will send one of my blog readers:

 

There are lots of MAMBI and Maya Road products as well as some others thrown in.  Lots of good stuff!  Just leave a comment on the last blog post by MONDAY AT 11:59 p.m.!  I will randomly "draw" one winner on Tuesday morning and mail the product out that day!

Thanks every one for your wonderful feedback about Creating Keepsakes magazine.  I have so enjoyed reading all the comments and I know the CK Editors will appreciate them as well! And thank you for all the congrats!!!  Suzy

Creating Keepsakes DREAM TEAM 2010 and a RAK!!!

Yeah baby!  They asked me to stay for another year.  That was a happy day!  So you all have to put up with me for a while longer (as long as they will keep me actually!).  Here is the 2010 CK Dream Team with links to each of their blogs:

Cindy Tobey - She is one of my favorite scrappers ever - so creative and artistic!  And a great friend too!
Deena Wuest - Simply amazing digital pages that always impress me!
Jen Jockisch - Have just discovered her work and I adore her whimsical, layered fun style!
Kim Watson - Wow - she is impressive - she knows how to mix products perfectly!
Laura Vegas - Love her graphic style with little pops of interest added here and there!
Maggie Holmes - Dare I say she is my favorite scrapper?  I adore everything she creates!
Sara Winnick - Bold graphic pages just the way I admire, but have no clue how to create!
Susan Weinroth - The cutest friend I have who makes the most beautiful quilts, the most beautiful babies,and has the cutest puppy in the world!  Love her colorful fun graphic style!
Suzy Plantamura - Hmmm....what to say - she ROCKS MY WORLD!!!
Wendy Sue Anderson - I've admired her work for years - amazing photos, graphic designs perfectly put together with color and a bit of flair!

Here is my story of receiving our prize packages:  Imagine me on day three or four of being in bed with the swine flu.  It wasn't a pretty sight.  I rolled out of bed for some unknown reason to take a walk downstairs (never seem to remember WHY I am going even after I get there).  I see THREE rather large boxes on the front porch. My husband gets deliveries almost every day, so I didn't dare get my hopes up too high. Not that it would have taken much to excite me on this specific day. I open the door and MY NAME IS ON THE BOXES!  If you know me, you know how much I love to get product delivered to my door and it hasn't happened in quite a while!  

I opened all three boxes like the piggy I was at the moment making the biggest mess ever.  They were filled with so many amazing products!!!  I had never seen anything quite like this before.  I had received lots of products when I won Masters and HOF, but nothing like this!  It was the perfect thing to pull me out of the groggy half alive state I had been in for days.  After throwing everything all over the living room floor, I rolled back into bed completely exhausted.

I sent the CK Editors a message telling them how excited I was.  I received a message back saying there were MORE BOXES ON THE WAY!  Are you kidding me?  The next day, three more boxes arrived and these were even bigger and better than the first three!  Oh my goodness.  Again, I just tossed everything all over the floor (at this point, things were landing on my children, the dog and the furniture as the floor was completely covered).  I wish I had taken pictures as it was the most crazy awesome mess I have ever seen.  Every day after that, I would drag my sick tired body downstairs and start sorting, playing and adoring all these goodies.  It was the best thing ever for my recovery!!!  I finally got most of it cleaned up and the girls and I have had so much fun playing with it all.

Here is a list with links to all of the manufacturers who donated products.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!  (I really can't thank you enough).  They were so generous and I plan on making it worth their amazing generosity by using everything that was sent to me on future projects on my blog and for publication.  I have already started submitting work to CK with lots of my new goodies...

Adornit – Carolee’s Creations, Advantus, American Art Clay Company, American Crafts, Anna Griffin, BasicGrey, Bazzill Basics Paper, Bella Blvd, Bisous, Bo-Bunny Press, Buttons Galore,C.R. Gibson, Clearsnap, Close To My Heart, Colorbök, Core’dinations, Cornish Heritage Farms, Cosmo Cricket, The Crafter’s Workshop, Creative Memories, Die Cuts With a View,Dimensions, Doodlebug Design, Dyno Merchandise, EK Success, Elmer’s, Eyelet Outlet, Fancy Pants Designs, Fiskars Americas, GlueArts, Glue Dots International, Graphic 45, Hambly Screen Prints, Helmar Adhesives, Hero Arts, iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company,Imaginisce, Inkadinkado , It Takes Two, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Jillibean Soup, K&Company,Karen Foster Design, Krylon, Little Yellow Bicycle, Maya Road, McGill, Mimi Collections,Pebbles Inc., Piggy Tales, Pink Paislee, Prima, QuicKutz, River City Rubber Works, Sakura,Sandylion, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, ScrapGirls, Scrapper’s Guide, SEI, Singer, Sounds Easy,Spellbinders, Stampendous!, Stampin’ Up!, Technique Tuesday, Therm O Web, Unibind, We R Memory Keepers, Zva Creative

So with all that, now I have the GOOD NEWS FOR ALL MY BLOG READERS!!!  I am in the mood to give some goodies away so I have a place for all my NEW goodies.  I will be putting together a big package of Maya Road products (I have so many of their yummy products from being on their Design Team) including lots of ribbons, chipboard and mini albums.  I will also throw in some fun MAMBI products I have including rhinestones and Soft Spoken!  I promise this is a package you will all enjoy!  I'll post a picture in the next day or two...

Just leave me a post on this blog entry that tells me what you like or want to see more of in Creating Keepsakes Magazine this year.  Do you have any subjects you would like to see articles about?  Do you wish certain techniques were highlighted more?  If you had a chance to tell the CK Editors exactly what you would like to see in their magazine each month, what would it be?  On Monday, I will do a random drawing of one of the comments and send that person a big box of yumminess!

Happy Day, Happy Day, Happy Day!!!  Off to do some creating!  Suzy

Halloween Costumes...

The girls just cracked me up this year!  The good news was, I didn't have to spend a penny on their costumes.  Sophie and her best friend dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  We got the adorable costumes from our neighbor - thank you Laura!  

Chloe wanted to be a boy.  A boy?  My girlie girl wanted to be a boy?  So we pulled out all of Thane's old clothes from the attic and this is what she decided to wear.  Don't mess with Texas!  People were laughing so hard when they saw her.  She only wears pink and she has such long hair, so it was a bit of a shock!

 

 

 

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeen for the last time!  I guess I have to move on to other things now...  Thing 1:  Thanksgiving.  Thing 2:  Christmas.  So scary that they are both just around the corner!  Where does time go?  Happy Tuesday!  Suzy

Halloween Pumpkins...

All carved by my very talented husband!  He does these every year and every year they get better.  The neighbors all come over to see what he has created.  And (drum roll please), here they are:

Of course he had to do a pumpkin in memory of Michael Jackson this year:

 

And what would Halloween 2009 be without a reminder of the swine flu?

 

This one is MAYZIE (thank you for the idea Pam!):

 

And last, Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas:

 

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen Everyone!!!  :)   Suzy AND Tom!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!!!

Happy Halloween to all my blog reading friends!  The girls and I had a really fun time (while we were home sick) making this Halloween Banner to hang on our fireplace.  We used my NEW Slice to cut the letters - love that thing!  And lots of Halloween stickers and products by MAMBI, Little Yellow Bicycle and Making Memories.

 

Here are two layouts showing the girls costumes last year.  It might have been our last Halloween to buy costumes at Party City.  Chloe was a Halloween Starlet, complete with her foofoo dog Coco.  Transparencies by Hambly and stickers are by Making Memories and Doodlebug Designs.  This was in the October issue of Creating Keepsakes.

 

I made this page last night.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE candy corn.  And all season I have been trying to find it and no one has any!  Finally found some last night and I've eaten way too much in the past 12 hours. Here is my cute little Sophie as a candy corn last year.  Papers are by My Minds Eye and Heidi Grace, chipboard letter stickers are by Little Yellow Bicycle,  and chipboard embellishments are by Making Memories, My Minds Eye and MAMBI.

 

HOPE EVERY ONE HAS A HAPPY HALLOWEEN and only gets treats this year!  Suzy

I FEEL BETTER!!!!!!!

And on this blog, it's all about me!  Good to have learned that eventually you feel back to human after having the H1N1 virus.  Good to know your appetite does eventually come back in full force negating any weight loss that may have occurred.  Good to know that your chest muscles will some day feel better from all the hacking you have been doing. And good to know that you still have friends that will see you even AFTER your two week indoor sabbatical.  

I made a layout today.  Nothing special, but it is the first one I have made in a while. Sometimes I feel like I have no talent and my layouts just don't come together.  Other times, everything falls right into place and I love them.  Today, not sure which this falls in, but I haven't impressed myself yet.  Looks like I better try again!  And the trying is always the best part!

 

And because this layout didn't impress me, I think I will post one of my favorite layouts of all time.  Not sure why, but pleased I was after I made this one:

 

And last, here is another favorite I made some time ago for the book by CK called 101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking:

 

Today, it finally feels like fall.  The crisp cool breeze makes me very happy!  Ahhhh, life is good!  suzy

Miss Piggy Update...

This is the MOST SICK I have been in so long.  I think the last time I was this sick was when I got mono at age 20 (from too much kissing I was told).  So here are my warnings from a very sick mom:

1)  Stay as far away as possible from anyone that has H1N1 virus, has had contact with H1N1 virus holders or has ever muttered the term "swine flu"

2)  The minute you or a child gets sick, head to the doctor and demand Tamiflu for EVERY family member (most importantly yourself!); Sophie got better the day after she took it and Chloe never got sick because she took it

3)  Have your lungs checked regularly to make sure you don't develop complications

4)  Get lots of sleep, preferably alone as you will be hacking and snorting ALL NiGHT long!

5)  Use the time wisely: how often do you have the excuse to do absolutely nothing all day long?  Enjoy that part of this lovely sickness!

6)  If your kids have it, wear a mask, don't sleep with them (yes, I did so I could take their temperature all night long), and have lots of antibacterial soap and wipes around

7)  Losing a few pounds won't feel worth it at the time (although it might be appreciated once I put my clothes back on)

8)  Make sure you look AND smell as bad as possible (which won't be hard to do) as you will not want your husband to come near you!

9)  Have labels on water glasses for each family member or you will end up like us - 20 glasses of water next to the bed and everyone too worried to drink any of them

I'm sure I'll have more words of wisdom once I get better, but for now, I am going back to bed!!!  Suzy

House Arrest

I know I haven't updated my blog in a while.  But I have a really good excuse!  Oh, what a week we have had.  Sophie got really sick with a fever of 104.4.  Scared her mommy to death!  Went to doctor. Found out she has the dreaded swine flu (don't say that term in a doctors office) or H1N1 virus.  And guess who is getting sick now?  Yes, the full time home nurse.  The one that gets called to assist sick child every five minutes.  The one that is running around the house to retrieve requested things such as the thermometer, water, lozenges, wet towels, etc...   

Last night I ran to the pharmacy for the fifth time that day.  Apparently no one in town has Tamiflu in stock.  It is given to patients that have asthma and is supposed to make the flu not last as long.  Siblings are able to take it as well to help them not get the flu.  But full time home nurses are not given any medication...  

Anyway, Sophie calls my cell phone the minute I walk out of the door.  "Mommy, I have good news and bad news.  The good news is my fever is down to 101.  The bad news is the wet towel on my forehead just dropped into my cereal". That made me laugh!  Her cereal was the third attempted meal for the night.  Each one was rejected after a bite or two. Mommy even ran to get the princess some frozen yogurt.  One bite and a "yuck, that tastes gross!".  How can vanilla frozen yogurt ever taste gross?

So now for the point of this post.  I thought some of you might wonder what to watch for in your children because it seems the subject is tabu and no one talks about it.  I knew it was all over our school, but the teachers are told not to tell the parents.  No one wants to admit they have it because it is like the plague and no one will want to hang out with you for months!  Apparently it is not nearly as bad as the media is making it out to be and there are very few deaths resulting from it.   

Here is the story of Sophie's illness:  She woke up in the morning saying she had a sore-throat.  She seemed to be a bit stuffy all day.  By afternoon, she was saying she felt really sick and starting to get a fever.  Two hours later, it was up to 104.4 and she was really sick.  It comes on super fast and you usually get a high fever really quickly.  The fever lasts for a few days and it takes both Motrin and Tylenol over lapping to keep it down.  The first night is really tough - Sophie was up all night.  You have chills, night sweats, burning eyes, nasal congestion, a sore throat, cough, body aches, head ache and sometimes you have an upset stomach and throw up.  The Urgent Care doctor we went to said she just had an ear infection and that the swine flu wasn't as much cold symptoms as sick stomach symptoms.  He was wrong.  She didn't have an ear infection.  If you have all these symptoms, no need to get tested for it as it is very painful to have the swab stuck up your nose almost to your brain.  Our doctor diagnosed her based on all the symptoms and everyone in the area coming down with it. 

There is one more important thing to know about this illness.  You need to go to the doctor within 48 hours of your symptoms starting.  If you are a high risk person, they will give you the Tamiflu, but it only works in the beginning of your sickness.  The other thing to watch for is if you feel better for a couple days and then the fever comes back - that means it is moving into a secondary infection (such as pneumonia) and those are the patients that end up dying from it.  So go to the doctor if you feel sick or if your symptoms return!  Most cases are really a simple illness though - just a normal cold/flu bug.  

A very exciting update today, huh?  Anyone want to come over and scrapbook with us??? We are all on house arrest for a few days...  Suzy