monsters

so my new friend Laura, who is an amazing local designer & teacher (she's also published quite a bit!), held a fabulous card class a few weeks ago that i was lucky enough to attend. i was so inspired by this class, that i added 'make more cards' to my '09 project list! So then i visit Laura's blog and it is filled with inspo and links to her manufacturer design team work. i'm telling you- you gotta go check out her stuff.
anyway- while i'm devouring her posts, i see this adorable card she made for her nephew and i was instantly inspired to make one too. So, i ordered some of the adorable paper & stamps (October Afternoon Night Light line). Armed with my new goodies, and the awesome techniques & card layouts/ideas that i learned in her class, i made a cute monster card for my nephew too! (i'm freaking out that he's 5 already- it can't possibly have been that long already, can it?!) lol! thanks for looking!
and now, i'm off to walk the pup for a bit!
{{big hugs}}
g
^o^

click to enlarge:

kraft, dk blue, lt blue cardstock, October afternoon night light pp, stamps & alpha stamps, inks, round punch, water color pencils, blender pen, pop dots, ribbon, super tacky tape, edge distresser



October afternoon: night light stamp set, comic bubble stamp set, typewriter alpha font, pp.


lots of pop dots

today - (lots of pics)

wow what a proud mom day! today was my sweet daughter's first princess dance class. the parents were invited to sit and watch, so i took the opportunity to take a few photos. i tried not to be too distracting. i was beaming the whole time. we all were. it was uplifting and inspiring, and made me thankful for this day. i will treasure these moments. the shopping trip last night for the ballet shoes, tights & dress was pretty special too, but to see her in class today--it was just magical. i had to rush home and connect the camera. i sent out a photo email straight away to the fam & made a new blog header & just had to share! i'm sure you'll be seeing some of these pics on some crafty projects soon! she sure makes my heart happy!
{{big hugs}}
^o^

The class music is from the Disney Princess movies.
There were several songs today from The Little Mermaid!

the girls warmed up with some general dancing around:



They shimmied with some scarves...


They played the Freeze Dance with a Princes Pose at each pause:



then it was time to get serious ;)
Here she is, her first time at a barre learning 'first position'



her first plea:



learning to walk on tiptoes:



There was also dancing with Princess wands, hopping on one foot, learning Princess twirls and curtsey's!
at the very end of class, everyone had a smile on their face.
this shot sums it up perfectly (My total fave!!)

hello '09- photo heavy post

silly me • photos taken 1.4.09

hi all! the start of my new year has been good so far! i've been making some lo's (photos below) taking pictures, and trying to take better care of myself!
Up first: photog: i started off the new year taking photos everyday, but that ended after 2 days when most of the rechargeable batteries in the house ran out. LOL! i just got some replacements this weekend, so am hoping to resume the photo experiments soon! in addition to my Cannon Rebel XT, i now have a Nikon Coolpix that we picked up for $70 on clearance (i had a gift card from a friend so it was FREE to me!) it's very slow, has no viewfinder and the color is bad, but 1) it'll push me to improve the digi-editing skills and 2) i can have a camera with me at all times, which is why i got it. it's fun to have a new 'toy' to play with!
i think everyone knows how much i love my Photojojo if you're not getting their newsletters in your inbox- do me a favor & please sign up- you won't regret it, i promise! This month they have an amazing perpetual calendar project that just rocks! they also have some other fun projects to do with those old CD storage cases you have lying about. One of the projects, is a CD jewel case desktop calendar that you can make out of photos using Big Huge Lab's FD's Photo Calendar Maker. You can find all the details on Photojojo, here. it makes me happy just thinking about how cute this is gonna be! Here's the one for Jan. i might embellish it some, so come on & give it try with me!!



oh & a quick warning for shopaholics: photojojo's online store has amazingly awesome goodies for sale--look at your own risk! i ended up ordering photo mailers, fotoclips, magnetic wall ropes, bottlecap tripod & more- so don't say i didn't warn you! ;)


other project g news- i've really been sticking to the WW online momentum plan, and so far, have been really good about logging everything i eat (which is very time consuming- hoping that it will get easier in time!) i've also taken at least a 30 minute walk with cupcake every day, & actually went to the gym once, so i say, yay me! i've lost a couple pounds, but i'm waiting 'till a few more are gone before i get too excited!
we've got lots of stuff going on this week- some dr. appointments for me & a card making class on Thursday night at a local store with the amazingly talented Laura- can't wait for the class! i'm missing all my peeps in AL so sending "{{GIANT hugs}} and a big 'HOLLA'!
xo
^o^

for the ScrapETC Challenge #1- WinterFresh line by Heidi Swapp, mask & bling by Heidi Swapp, numerals by Basic Grey, thickers (word 'project'). journaling is stamped on the tag


made with the SIStv collection The Songbird. this was inspired by a sketch challenge on the ScrappyTimes blog

1.1.09

happy new year everyone! we had a really nice new year's eve at home together, just the 3 of us. we played games, listened to some Wiggles music while Mimi danced around & had lots of fun. i threw a huge t-bone steak on the grill for the hubs, and served it up with some corn on the cob, baked potatoes, a blt caesar salad, & mac-n-cheese of course! we also had some shrimp cocktail & i even made a fresh batch of cucumber salsa! we feasted all afternoon & evening without leaving home- it was great! i even did a little layout while i was waiting to ring in the arrival of 09...doesn't get much better than that!! hope you were snuggled up with the people you love & had a great night too! {{big hugs}}
^o^

made with the December Scripts Kit (added red tissue paper, gold glimmer mist & red glitter)