I've got a couple of fun things to let you in on that I discovered while Blog hopping today. Prima Marketing's blog has a monthly Build a page challenge and you could win a set of their paper. Click the link for details http://prima.typepad.com/prima/2008/10/build-a-page-no.html

Here's my layout...my printer ran out of ink and I order thru the net so I decided to go with black and white photos so I could still scrap. I have been wanting to try the black and yellow color combination so here's my take on the sketch.

I've also been trying to dip into my scrap bin to create a card per day so maybe that pile will decrease (I doubt it) I cut the butterflies out of the card stock and used my XOXO Unity stamp I received for free when I placed my 1st order. Don't forget tomorrow is Hip Hop!!! Check it out here! http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

I'm pretty excited to tell you that next Tuesday I am the Guest Designer over at Scrapping out Loud. I was so honored that the ladies asked me and I loved the challenge they gave me. Check out this weeks challenge and play along with us for a chance to win this month's RAK!! This week's challenge is to use an over sized letter or letters on your layout. See what the Design team came up with meet Pat, the Scrappin' Nana and this weeks Guest Designer! http://www.scrappingoutloud.blogspot.com/

Now for the candy...Sally is giving away blog candy every day this week but you better hurry and hop on over here right away!!!http://bootifulstampz.blogspot.com/

You've still got time to post a comment at Lara's birthday blog candy giveaway. I posted about it earlier this week click here to see what she's offering up in honor of her special day http://youwantthecookie.blogspot.com/2008/11/they-say-its-my-birthday-month-so-how.html\

Chrissy is giving away blog candy here http://chrissyd723.blogspot.com/2008/11/another-chance-for-blog-candy.html you have until the 22nd of Nov to get your comment in for your chance.

Jessica has a chance for you to win the Pirate's Life stamp set, totally cute. Head on over to see it

http://stampandcreate.blogspot.com/2008/11/pirates-life-and-blog-candy.html

Have fun hoppin!! Good luck, if you're a winner make sure you come back and tell me!

Lunch Date with Daddy

Lily and I had a fun afternoon today. The little boy I babysit did not come today so Lily and I were able to venture out to the park for a picnic lunch date with daddy! We had a nice lunch and played in the little time we were there. Luckily the air wasn't bad due to all the fires in the areas around us. Another benefit to living close to the ocean :) Here's some cute pics I took today.

Playing on the slide

Daddy and Lily playing on the dolphin

She's just so darn cute!

There are two milestones that I could not wait to reach when Scott was a baby and I'm now anticipating with my Lily. The first was when he would learn to hug me back and the second was when he would say "I love you Mommy" Lily has finally reached the first. When I get her out of the crib every morning since last week she wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a big hug. It's cute cause after the squeeze comes the shoulder pat. I love being a mom so much and I am so thankful for my children and their loving ways that brighten my day.

And now for something crafty. I was browsing the Unity gallery on Splitcoast Stampers and came across a cute Shaker Card created by one the Unity Design Members Jimmi. I loved the simple design of the card. You can check it out plus many more of her awesome creations here
on her blog

http://thestampingshopper.blogspot.com/

Here's my take on the card using Unity's Birds of a Feather set. Thanks for the inspiration Jimmi!

The Insomniac Scrapper

Yes it's 1:59 am and I just finished my layout for this week's challenge over at Scrapping Out Loud http://www.scrappingoutloud.blogspot.com/ This week's theme was to scrap someones zodiac sign. I chose this pic of my 11 year old son Scott because it really shows his personality! The title is he's a Leo. The journaling is a few of the positive personality traits of the Leo sign. I used Basic Grey's Archaic collection card stock and elements stickers, thickers and chipboard.

My mom left this morning to go back to Arkansas and I am really missing her. While she was here I would blog while she read on her air mattress on the floor of my son's bedroom. I could look over and see her and now there is an empty space on the floor. I miss my mom so much but I am so very thankful for the time we were able to spend together and all her help while she was here.

Guess I better get to bed, the baby gets up early!

Blog candy alerts!!!
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is giving away anniversary blog candy here http://sweetnsassystamps.blogspot.com/2008/11/anniversary-blog-candy.html
be sure to stop by a few of the design team memebers blogs for a chance at more candy!!!

Hop Hop Hop....

On over to Unity Stamps http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/ it's HIP HOP Thursday so come join the fun!!!! Here's my first challengefor today Treasure Hunt Challenge. Casing Designer AJ's card on her blog here http://thewillowgarden.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-am-less-is-more-kind-of-gal.html
I flipped mine and changed the rectangle image to a circle and layered my papers using the Unity stamp Fleeting Dragonfly I got for $2 bucks! Yep that's right! An adorable stamp for only two bucks! Stay tuned for more card creations!

Here's challenge # 2 Watch the video tutorial from the very talented Heather with the Unity Design Team on emboss resist and create your own! Here's mine

Challenge #3 "Oh just cut it out!" Make a card using a Unity Stamp that is cut out and raised by a pop dot or foam. Ok I see a trend in my cards today...lol here's my take. Now remember I only own 4 Unity stamps so far

3-D view, aren't those corduroy brads adorable!

Here's the last challenge for today's Hip Hop. Clearly Unity. You had to use a clear button or pebble on your card. I used my favorite product my Close To My Heart, Window Charms. Yes i was being paper concious today and using all the same papers. I am trying to do that instead of having a huge scraps in my bin. Once again I had a fantastic time participating in Unity's Hip Hop!

Halloween this year scrapped and finished!

I can't believe I scrapped my Halloween pictures for this year, THIS YEAR! YAY!!!!! I spent Tues and Weds at my kitchen table with mom to my left creating cards and chatting it up. I am so sad that the week is coming to an end and she'll be heading back home Saturday morning. I am trying to enjoy the rest of the time we have and not think about goodbyes yet.

So here's my Halloween creations with the Imaginisce Hallowwhimsy Halloween Line. I also used Prima flowers and Prima Say It In Crystals. Thanks for looking!

This one is title A Bunch Of Spooks

A Very Scarey Ghoul

Trick or Treat

And finally a tribute to the Mini Mansion and their free Hot Dog, Fries and Drink Snacks handed out on Halloween.

A few challenge cards

So today was about challenges and Hero Arts has some great stamps and I love visiting their blog http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/for great ideas and inspiration. This week they are demonstrating different stamping techniques all week long. I have been wanting to try the resist technique for some time and purchased a VersaMark pad about two months ago. So watch the video and give it a try! Here's my take with a stamp set by Close To My Heart my mom bought me recently.

Next I made a card for Card Makin Mama's, a Cafe Mom group I love to hang out at. These ladies are lots of fun and Cass is a great owner. Check out her blog http://thisnthatcass.blogspot.com/ to see her beautiful photography and cards she creates. She's one talented lady! For this week's challenge we had to used ribbon in an unusual way. This is what I created with another Close To My Heart set.

These next to cards we for me. I love Dragonflies with a passion and I had picked up this great designer paper by Chatterbox a few months back and rediscovered it when I cleaned up my scrap space today. Yes, I finally cleaned up the hallway honey!

And finally here are a few cards I made with some new Basic Grey stamps that I did not get to post the other day in my blog. I know silly me but times gets away from me and I sometimes title things as I am working away. I won't be doing that style of bloggin anymore.

And finally a silly pic of my daughter who's Dora the Explorer Ball Pen sadly popped today but with Nana's quick thinking we took the balls and placed them in a laundry basket for now. Except that my daughter decided to climb into the basket too! Can you say BALL-BBLE BATH!

Mini Road Trip

Got back from a mini trip up the central coast to Soledad to visit my Grandma. I grew up on the Central Coast in Atascadero and lived in Templeton and Paso Robles as well. It's a nice place to live but I really am a city girl at heart. I just love being 20 mins from a Dodger game or a Kings game or concert at the Staples Center. I also love being 10 mins from relaxing or walking the beaches here in So Cal. Since my flew down to stay with us while Mat is away she asked if we could take a drive up the coast to see her mom. I feel bad that Mom doesn't get to see her mom now that they moved to Arkansas and I know how much she misses her because I miss my mom so much. We drove up Friday afternoon, just us girls since Scott was at his dads for the weekend. We spent the night in Paso Robles at the Holiday Inn Express after picking up my mom's nephew Pauly. I snapped these pics of Lily before we checked out Sat am.

Ok is this not totally funny! Seriously tho my daughter sucks her fingers and puts her index finger up her nose. I found out that my sister in law also did the same thing so apparently it runs in the family LOL...

So...we left Paso Robles and headed to my mom's Uncle Clarence's place where grandma is staying in Soledad while she looks for her own place. Every year he gets these huge pumpkins and Lily thought they were pretty big too.

Soledad uis a really small town just north of King City so there were only 2 motels in town and neither we that spiffy but we managed. I tell you tho being without the internet for the weekend was tough. I never realized how addicted to Blog surfing I have become. Lily was able to amuse herself by climbing in the drawers of the dresser in our room. It was pretty funny, she open and close them all and then climb in. She really is our little monkey.

We spent Sat night there and had breakfast with grandma Sunday morning and headed back to Paso Robles. It's all farm land out there in Soledad and the colors are so beautiful I snapped this pic as we were driving down Hwy 101.

We took Paulie home to Paso Robles after spending Fri thru Sunday with us and then decided to take Hwy 101 home. We hadn't driven along the beach back to Los Angeles for a long time. On the way we decided to stop by our old house in Templeton. We moved here after my dad married my step mom when I was in High School. I was so thankful they didn't that my dad make me change schools when we moved into this house. My step mom whom I call mom and is the same mom that is visiting me, drove me every morning to school in Atascadero. We lived on Oak Knoll so I snapped a pic of our street sign. We were pretty suprised to see the place we once called home this shabby. My dad would be so bummed if he saw the lawn and landscaping that messy but it was great to drive by. I remember walking up that walkway so many nights after a date and my mom being in the kitchen window so we couldn't steal a goodnite kiss LOL. My grandparents are buried in the cemetary up the street from here. They used to own a trailer house in the Senior park down the street from us. it was nice having them close by and we'd spend summers swimming in the pool there. Fun times!

I used to play in this park with my younger brother and sister. It was nice to see it still maintained well unlike our old home.

The drive to San Luis was beautiful and I got a couple pics of the rolling hills and trees from the car.

As we passed thru Atascadero I wanted to drive by my old High School since I was unbable to make my 20 year reunion in July. It was the same weekend as my daughter's first birthday. Here's a shot taken at the front entrance. Not much had really changed to be honest tho the front lawn is now concrete.

We took our time and stopped to eat and let Lily stretch her little legs. It was a nice trip but I must admit I am glad to be back with all the comforts of home. When we were leaving Solvang I took this picture of the sunset. It was so beautiful!

So I spent Monday recouping from being in the car most of yesterday and I am soooo ready to scrap. I have a couple of projects on my list if to do's so tmr I'll be posting artwork.

Of course when I got home I started blog hopping as usual and came across some AWESOME blog candy over at Bootiful Stampz http://bootifulstampz.blogspot.com/. I was really impressed with this blog and so happy i found my way there by way of Katie at Paper makeup http://papermakeup.blogspot.com/ . Katie's cards are super cute just like her so check out her blog too! And a few more treats I came across...

http://youwantthecookie.blogspot.com/ head over there and wish Lara Happy Birthday! What a classy gal to be giving on her birthday!

Another great blog I discover is giving away some goodies here http://www.iheartpapers.com/

And finally for tonight check out the blog candy over here, I love the penguins!!http://creativeantics.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-candy.html

If you notice, all the pictures of my beautiful daughter I posted here are for my husband who is still in New York on business. We miss him so much and he checks my blog for pics of his little girl whom he misses very much. I love you babe and can't wait to see you Friday!

A few challenges and some new stamps from Basic Grey

My first challenge I came across at 11:45 am! It had to be done by 12! What was I thinking??? I still played along! We had to use and item from Etsy shop to inspire our creation. I love outside the box challenges!!!
This cute card inspired by some cute hair bows she had listed called freshly picked!

My next challenge is for Scrapping Out Loud's http://www.scrappingoutloud.blogspot.com/weekly challenge for a monthly RAK loaded with scrappy goodness! This weeks challenge was about transparency paper. Here's what I came up with! I loved this picture that Ken took of us in Kauai during our family shoot. The expression

on Lily's face is so soft.

For My Husband

Lily's face turned red tonight after we gave her a couple of sips of Nana's mango smoothie. It went away within 5 mins but I guess we won't be giving her that again til she's older! Don't worry babe, she is fine :)

This post is for my husband who is out of town for work and the first time he has been away from his girls this long. Babe we miss you sooo much! One week down and only one more to go. Have a great weekend relaxing and enjoy your one day this season of watching football without your wife blocking your view walking in front of the T.V. during key plays LOL! We love you!

Lily Bear A.K.A Squeakers (daddy's nickname for her) in her cow pj's Nana bought her this week. She was enjoying an episode of Wubbzy right before bedtime so I snapped this quick pic for daddy.

It's Hip Hop Day over at Unity Stamps!

Hop on over to Unity Stamps http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/ and check out what makes my Thursdays a BLAST now since discovering this blog and few weeks ago. I love reading Angela's blog! This site is definately making my weekly Top 10 list over at Artistic Papercrafting where I am an Admin at Cafe Mom. Every Thursday there are great specials when you place an order plus Hip Hop Challenges! Here's the link to join us in the Hip Hop Challenges at Splitcoast! I'd love to see you there!
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=197


I am just thrilled to have purchased the Growing In Unity Tree last week to use for this week's challenges.
First up is my double ribbon challenge entry, isn't that tree beautiful!





Next I did the one layer card challenge but realized I did it wrong because I used paper for the leaves so stay tuned for my next submission for that challenge. For now here's another card with the Growing in Unity Tree


Here's another card I made with my Unity Stamps

Here's some of mom's artwork she created today too. We really loved that Unity Tree Stamp and the 1.00 leave punch we got at Target. So much scrappy fun!

Finally, here is the last Unity Stamp I got during last weeks Hip Hop special. I couldn't wait to get my first stamps so I could join in the fun today! I had a blast and loved the Hop. So many talented ladies with amazing artwork. It was a great time!

Hope you are having a great Thursday!

Happy Halloween!

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours! Mom arrived Thurs and it's been a blur! We had a great time trick or treating in the neighborhood and hangin out at the mini mansion having hot dogs. Can you believe this family has been handing out hot dogs, fries and drinks to their neighbors since my DH was 9 years old??? Last year they handed out over 900 dogs! That's alot of ketchup! As always they were delicious and the fries were salty goodness!!! We took turns taking Lily to the doors with Scott and they made out like bandits with all that candy. One of our neighbors dressed like the grim Reaper and stood above the garage on his balcony. It was very creepy looking until he moved! My son turned white and ran a block ahead of us, what a funny moment! I have been so busy this weekend getting DH off to his training in NY that I am itchin to scrap! Hopefully I will get into some stuff tmr!~

So Excited!

My mom arrives tomorrow to stay with us until the 15th! My hubs will be leaving early early Sunday morning for New York for two weeks. What will I do??? Wait I already figured that one out! I called my momma LOL!!! I can not wait to card it up while she is here!!! I know the time is going to fly by! We are driving up to the central coast next weekend to visit her mom and it will be nice to get away tho I am feeling guilty about missing Scott's soccer game. he'll be at his dad's for the weekend but I still feel bad.

His team had a game tonight and won. Those boys have come so far from the first few games. It's great to see them out there working together. The coaches got together and ordered pizza's for them after the game tonight. It was fun.

I worked on this layout today. I was in a distressing mood. I took these pics at Harley's birthday in Santa Monica earlier this month. I picked up this hat for Lily at the craft fair I only sold 10 cards at...lol I love purple!

A very Scrappy Sunday to you!

I am embarrassed to admit how far behind I am in my scrapping. I just scrapped a Halloween layout from last year today. i haven't scrapped last Christmas, Lily's 1st birthday (well I did one layout but that's it) and Scott's birthday in August. I always seem to get behind no matter what I do but I figure it's because I am not one to throw together a layout for the sake of saying I scrapped 10 pages this weekend.

I have a couple of card challenges I hope to get to tonight along with my favorite past time of blog hopping. I am so happy that Denise's computer is working again. When I read her post I thought to myself, wow what would I do if my computer crashed? I use it everyday to post on my blog, get ideas for scrapping and admire others work. It really is a daily staple of my life and if it were not there tmr I'd be so bummed. If it weren't for the Internet I'd never meet all these talented ladies I have so far.

Today I went to a Stampin Up workshop with my friend Janene. We had fun and meet some new scrappy ladies. The gal that gave the workshop was very organized and her projects were so much fun! Then Lily and I headed off to the Palisades for Kanan's 3rd birthday! He had a Dino-Mite Party with yummy MnM cake. Lily had fun playing at the park and sliding down the slide on her own. Now that she is walking she really can get away from me.

The birthday boy and Lily

My sweet girl