We're Baaack!!

Hello all!! We made it back from Disney World last Friday and have not stopped since. Boy was it hard to go back to work on Monday after being in sunny Florida!! The first day we spent on Cocoa Beach in a Holiday Inn (don't recommend this resort at all). The ocean was soooo cold but it didn't stop the kids from getting wet and having a ball in the ocean!! Having the beach outside the hotel was it's only saving grace!! Disney World was just a dream.....dreams really do come true there. That place is just amazing!! What I liked most was seeing the smiles and grins on my kids faces when they got to meet the characters, ride thrilling rides, and just having fun. We will definitely go back in a couple of years...that way my daughter will be able to ride the "big" rides. The last night there, we actually got to swim OUTDOORS!! Our resort was gorgeous and the food at Disney was never-ending. I really recommend doing the Disney Dining Plan. We had 1 snack/1 quick-serve meal/1 sit down meal per day. You probably think this wouldn't be enough but it is!! We exchanged some of our sit down meals for Character Dining. We went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast one morning and to Epcot to a restaurant in Norway Pavilion that had ALL the Disney princesses!!! My Payton was in heaven!! She got to meet them all, get individual pics, and autographs and didnt't have to wait!!! I highly recommend this so that the kiddos don't get disappointed as the lines in some of the character meet 'n greets were very long (Disney fairies for example). Here's a couple of pics from the trip.....sorry no cards/projects today!! I received an order of products from Papertrey Ink right before I left on vacation and have just been itching to ink them up!!

1st pic: group photo with Mickey and Pluto

2nd pic: Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort

3rd pic: Payton and I with our 3-D Bug glasses on

4th pic: Brett and I in the tea cup ride

5th pic: Fireworks at Magic Kingdom---one word: AWESOME!!

6th pic: group photo with The Incredibles

7th pic: Brett with Goofy, his favorite character

8th pic: Payton with Belle

9th pic: Brett and his cousin gettin' wet in the ocean at Cocoa Beach...those boys!!

10th pic: My favorite beach pic of my kids walking on the sandy beach

Baby Announcement

I know my little princess is now 3 years old!!!! But I couldn't resist posting her baby announcements that I sent out after her birth. This was made by using vellum with my journaling on it (ran through computer printer). I attached the photo by sliding it under that little piece of cardstock stapled to the base!! So, behind the pic is the computer generated info on vellum!! I LOVE to do this on cards....it was just the subtle effect I was looking for on her announcements!! The word baby was embossed with clear embossing powder several times!

BIA fridge magnet

I made this adorable refrigerator magnet for my Clinical Coordinator (my boss) where I work. Last year at seminar, several other "sister" angels and I decided to find my boss's dad's Dairy Queen because if I remember right, someone wanted m&m's. Do you girls remember this? Remember we were making memories!!! So, I said let's try to find the Dairy Queen and it would mean so much to my boss if we could visit her dad's store. So, after a LONG time driving around, we finally found it and it looked just like the Dairy Queen I used to go to every Friday when I was a little girl. My grandpa would come over every Friday to watch Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, and Falcon Crest. We would then drive down the street to our local DQ to get us a blizzard!! I really remember those memories fondly as my grandpa passed away a number of years ago. Anyway back to the story, I introduced myself to the owner and told him that I worked with his daughter. We then got a picture in front of his DQ and I made this for my boss. Wheww, that was a lot of talking!!! Here's how this was made. I had ripped apart one of those Coffee Break board books and adhered some TAC exclusive paper. I the ran it through my BIA, attached picture, ribbons and scrappers floss. See that little tag on the top? That is actually a pull tab that can be pulled out and has my journaling on it for my boss!! She loved it!!

Last year's valentines!!

I can't believe it's been a year since I made these super cute Valentine's mailboxes (from Target) for my kids and never took a pic and posted it here!! They LOVE them and like to see them in the kitchen to see if they received "mail". I used misc. patterned papers from HL and ribbon from my enormous stash. I colored some chipboard letters to monogram the fronts. I didn't really want to put ribbon on my son's but what the heck. I think it still looks boyish. I have since found some different mailboxes from Dillons after Christmas that are much larger and the flap of the mailbox opens differently (it's attached and pulls down). This year I plan to set their mailboxes out on the kitchen table before we leave on our vacation and when we get home their Valentine's will be waiting!! Of course, I will use my favorite new PTI set Heart Prints for my Valentines this year!! I will post pics of those cards after Valentine's Day.
This cute little 3 1/2 X 3 1/2" card just fits in their mailboxes. I used TAC's Hoppy Everything set. This set is SOO cute and this image was perfect to add "googly eyes". The frog was colored in using watercolor crayons---one of my favorite mediums. The "Love You" sentiment was a GWP stamp from a couple of catty's ago.

Disney momentos

Here are some Disney autograph books that I've been working on for my kids to get autographs of the characters at Disneyworld. I plan on snapping a pic as well and when we get home, I will put together their mini autograph book!! The dimensions are 4 x 5 1/2" and boy I sure do wish that I had the new Zutter Rount it All corner rounder for this project!! It would have worked perfect.....the way I did it works, but this would have saved so much time!! This tool will certainly be on my list of things from Serendipity soon.

I did some looking locally for a Mickey Mouse stamp set to use and found this one at my LSS (Scrapbooks Etc.). I still want to do some looking to find a bigger one to use for my scrapbook once we get back. This set is by EK Success and fits perfectly with their circle punch!!!

Over the Rainbow Challenge!

I thought that I would try to play with this challenge and try to win some cardstock.....especially cardstock for a YEAR from PTI!!!!! And what fun colors to use....rainbow colors are the "in" things right now in papercrafting. Check out the challenge below and to see my entry!!
Now, I am currently waiting on my Summer Sunrise ink to arrive so I had to improvise some with the colors as I didn't have all of them!! Now, I did have Pure Poppy and it is just the richest shade of red you've ever seen! Wait my doorbell just rang, and what was there? My PTI package with my new inks!! Summer Sunrise and Ripe Avocado!! Now, please excuse my scan as my camera is all packed for the trip!! Wish me luck on winning paper for a year!

Disney name tags!!

I just can't remember where I saw this idea so I can't give adequate credit but I made these name tags for my kids to wear while on our trip. On the back, I put what "resort" we were staying at in case my kids got lost. I found the Disney lanyard at Michael's in the $1 bins a while back. For Payton's, I used a retired TAC set for the castle image and a TAC alphabet. For Brett's, I used misc. Disney paper, punched out Mickey ears and used the TAC alphabet.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye......

Here is the invitation I made for my daughter's birthday party last October. It is a simple gate-fold card using the Scor-Pal. The ribbon "ties" it together. The inside invitation greeting goes something like this and a castle was stamped "behind" the words:

"Hear Ye, Hear Ye! All ye Princesses

Princes, Kings and Queens

of the Land"

You are cordially invited to

attend the 3rd birthday celebration of

Princess Payton.

This event will be held at the

Kolling Castle

in the Kingdom of Topeka.

This celebration will commence on

Oct. 26, 2008.

Please RSVP to the King or Queen.

It turned out so cute!! I had great responses from those that RSVP'd asking what the Queen thought Princess Payton would like for her birthday!! I also made matching thank-you's that I sent out.

An oldie but a goodie!!

I love this cute little quick project. I made this a while back but just had to share. This is made using one of those office supply clips. I used TAC papers and found ribbons to match from my HUGE stash.....one of these days I will take pics of my ribbon drawers. Anyway, I have several of these made and put some wallet size pics in them on my shelves in my scrap/stamp room.

PTI--have you checked them out yet?

OMG, I love these stamps......Papertrey Ink. Right now, they are beginning their countdown for their 2nd Anniversary party!! Official release happens on the 15th. Check them out!! Here is a valentine card I made last week using Heart Prints and Raspberry Fizz Mix papers. I also invested in the matching inks from PTI too!! I wish now that I would have purchased the coordinating punches as well but it's not too hard to cut those hearts out. The brown heart (which is THE stamp that sold me on this set) is raised with a pop-dot. On this card, I also used PTI's Fresh Snow palette ink and the Fiskars scalloped punch. Do you see that I inked the small rectangle of raspberry fizz cardstock with the fresh snow ink? I think that little white border added just a touch of depth it needed!! Oh, I forgot I also used one of Heather's sketches for this one too.



Well, my kids are now enjoying the last week at home before we leave for our much anticipated DisneyWorld vacation!! Every day they have looked forward to taking turns "flipping" the calendar over. Check out my cute Disney countdown calendar in a previous post here!! I can not say how much I love that BIA!!