Finally...

I made a card! It's been a while, but we've been busy trying to rid our house and bodies of some awful virus. The husband and GQ both had to see a doctor to help with theirs but I managed to not make a trip in. GQ had a reaction to his Rx to get rid of the virus, it was pure craziness in our house for three days until we took him off of them. He's better, both virus wise and behavior wise. THANK GOODNESS!

Tuesday is our 4th wedding anniversary! We're going to celebrate with a mini-getaway while my wonderful mother-in-law comes to take care of GQ for us. Grandma wants to take GQ shopping while she's here visiting and he's making quite a list for her, blue swim goggles are at the top of it! I have a feeling somebody is going to get spoiled in the coming week. LOL!

Anyway, here is a card that I made for the husband. I know he doesn't read my blog, since it's not poker related, so I don't have to worry about him getting a sneak-peek at it ;) I was inspired by this card...I thought it was sweet and simple and gorgeous. I changed my version up a bit, but it pretty much follows her theme. Hope you like...

I've been tagged!

I feel so cool now! I've never been tagged before or tagged anybody...thanks Karie for being such an awesome friend and for the tag!

The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

Ten years ago.... seems like a lifetime ago! I was married to somebody else and not happy!

Five things on today's to do list...finish off the grocery shopping, do some laundry, make reservations for anniversary trip, do some ironing and organize my work space. Did I do all of it? I got about 1/2 done :D

Snacks I enjoy...chocolate anything, chips & guacamole and a Starbucks skinny mocha (my favorite drink!)

Things I would do if I was a millionaire...buy a home in Vegas so hubby could live his professional poker player dream job. And payoff all my families homes so it's one less thing they have to worry about.

Places I have lived... NW & Cincinnati, OH, Las Vegas, NV and Charlotte area but in SC instead of NC

I'm tagging:
Kim (2piglets)
Paytonsmamasita
Paula W
Tricia

Hope you have fun participating ladies!

My little guy...

has been feeling less than himself for a few weeks now. A fever comes and goes and a cough was here last week but then it was gone. Then last night the fever came back and it was time to head to the doctor because we were dealing with something more than a cold. GQ has been a very healthy little boy these 3.5 years, we've never really done anything more than well-baby check-ups at the doctor, so this was new for mom and my little bug. We have a wonderful doctor that GQ adores, but he wasn't too fond of the nurse than sneaked a strep swab into his mouth. After the strep culture trauma was over he was great with the doctor, he managed to talk her ear off, as he does everybody else's, and in-between his story telling and questions she was able to examine him...strep culture is negative, ears are perfect, breathing is perfect, everything is perfect...I'm beginning to think I wasted a trip out to the doctor...oh, but his lymph glands are a bit swollen. He's had drainage from his seasonal allergies and more than likely that turned into an infection. So for the very first time in his life, GQ made a trip to the pharmacy to have a prescription filled. A milestone for us! The meds are good...bubble-gum flavor and the doctor gave GQ a pencil, two stickers and a tattoo for being so good. He couldn't wait for me to put the tattoo on and take a picture! And after I took the picture he managed to stop a neighbor, one we've yet to meet, out on a walk and explain to her the difference between his tattoo and a real one. (No more Miami Ink for this kiddo!)

And I have some stats on our little bug...he's growing like a weed, but he's still our little bug...33 pounds with clothes and shoes on and a whopping 40 inches tall! Time for a new car seat, GQ is protesting that; he enjoys his current ride. He's fallen back down to the 25th percentile, which is where he's mostly been and will most likely stay.

Hopefully now that GQ will be feeling much better in the coming days I'll have some time to make some cards and post...stay tuned!

Stamping and more...

I posted a few days ago about an online stamping forum, Stamping and More, that my friend Karie created. I wanted to post again and show off the cool new banner for her site. A wonderful friend of Karie's created it along with a new banner on her blog. Be sure to take some time to stop by and say hi to her!

Happy Friday!

Why Little Bear doesn't wear clothes...

according to my 3.5 year old...

"because he doesn't have a penis. he's allowed to run around naked."

Just a random thought from GQ. We have lots of these throughout the day and I wanted to share. I really need to start writing all this stuff down. Some of his wisdom is just too funny to not remember.

(for those of you who don't know, Little Bear is a cartoon that GQ watches on Noggin. the cartoon is based on the Little Bear children's book series by Else Holmelund Minarik. it's a very sweet show that GQ adores!)

Enabler Alert!

Interested? My friend, Karie, is working on a card class in a box. The best part of the deal is it's delivered right to your front door! The set will include everything you need to make gorgeous handmade cards, including a stamp set! This is a great way to begin your stamp collection or slowly build it and ensure you use those stamps. Karie is currently working on the kits and all the details and will have ordering information coming soon. She plans to have cool features like 'add-ons' or 'take-offs' to really make the kits your own. Be sure to keep a look out on Karie's blog and here for details...I'll post a link to the info as soon as I have any.

Have a good one!

Stamping and More Forum!

A good friend of mine has created a stamping (and more) forum for her CTMH team and anybody that loves to stamp or is interested in getting started in stamping. It's going to be an awesome place to ask all your stamping questions, from techniques to products. I'm so excited for Karie and this new project!! Be sure to stop by Stamping and More and say hello! Karie is still working on tweaking the set up a little, so for now when registering you receive a page of little ads that you have to go through, just click 'no' on all of them and you're done. Easy peasy!

Happy Father's Day!

did you remember to mail your cards? I got all mine into the mail on time...wasn't so on top of things for Mother's Day, though. Anyway, I used a new stamp set from Paper Trey Ink to make my cards. The stamp set is gorgeous and has so many wonderful sentiments in it. It's really going to be much more than a Father's Day only set of stamps.

The cards were made with scraps from my stash (doing good so far with my use only scraps from your stash to make cards challenge!)

Hope everybody has a wonderful Father's Day! We don't have big plans, hubby's only request is that we eat at O'Charlies. Not my favorite, but it's his day :D

( want to hear something funny? as I was typing this post GQ saw a commercial for Father's Day and kids talking about how old their dads were. GQ said "my daddy is 40!" I don't think his daddy would be too happy to hear that. Just made me laugh because the other day GQ told me his daddy was nine! )

Have a good one!

One martini, two martini, three martini...BUNCO!?

Isn’t she just the cutest? When I saw Stella I knew I had to get my hands on her. And when my friend Laura at Family Memories asked me if I had any special requests for her Bella order, I asked for Stella.

I knew Stella with an olive on top would be perfect for my mom’s bunco club. She’d be more perfect if she was sitting on a frozen daiquiri (I remember mom and the girls getting daiquiri slush out of the freezer on bunco nights and at bunco family pool parties.) They’re a great group of friends that have been getting together once a month since I was young…so maybe 30ish years, to play bunco! (what’s bunco? click here.) I told my mom I’d make her tallies for the next time she hosts. Mom doesn’t have bunco at her house until the fall but I couldn’t wait that long to play around with my stamp.

The card…in my continued attempt to use all my scraps and save moolah for my future COPIC marker purchases, I’ve used all papers and embellies from my scrap stash. I also used my new dry embossing folder ( a gift, I didn’t buy :D ) to add a little more texture to the card. On Stella I paper pieced her dress. And then to finish off the card, I used some liquid glass over the top of the martini glass to give it a, well, glassy appearance. I don't think my attempt to show the glassy look with the close-up photo worked... Hope you like!

Well, I’m getting the evil eye from hubby, he’s waiting for me to finish so we can watch Nip/Tuck…I’m a loud typer so I need to sign off before we start the show.

Have a good one!

Monkey Business

My wonderfully funny and talented friend, Karie, posted a sketch challenge on her blog today. And since I had all my paper scraps sitting out, nicely sorted by color, on the kitchen table I decided to give it a try. I'm sticking to my goal of only using paper scraps to make cards until my pile is widdled down to at least 3/4 of the size it is now. Other than the card base, the elements on these cards are all scraps! Don't know how easy it is to see on the pictures, but I made the monkeys fuzzy...they're too cute!

Thanks for the great challenge!

"No, I'm not tired, I just want a snack."

That's what GQ said to me before he passed out for a little afternoon nap!

We had a big morning/afternoon today after about five days of being sick and resting. After we hit the gym this morning we headed down to the pool for a couple hours and it certainly wore GQ out. He's been insisting since noonish that he wasn't tired but I knew he had to be. After getting home from the pool, showering and about a 10 minute rest he sort of got a second wind and played his little heart out until about 3pm, then it was curtains for him!

Stay cool!

It's Friday...

that means two more days and the husband will be home from his Vegas trip! Sadly he was knocked out of his WSOP event, but that doesn't matter because he had fun and it's always a great experience playing with tons of poker pros and learning from them. GQ had his heart set on daddy winning because GQ's prize would have been a Wii! Not quite sure when GQ decided he needed one, he's just not a video game kind of kid, but it's all he's been talking about for two days now. (and even though we're not video game people either, that Wii looks like so much fun!)

GQ has been invaded by some nasty little buggers. He's feeling so crappy and we're going on day #2 of a 100 degree fever. Luckily it hasn't invaded his stomach or intestines; it's just a fever and achey body. Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be feeling better. I had plans to take him out for breakfast and do some swimming while daddy was gone but I don't know if any of that will happen. Poor guy :(

With GQ being sick and extra clingy and no reinforcements with daddy away, I haven't had too much time to make cards. Somehow I managed to sneak in two cards this morning before GQ woke up. I've made a new goal where my paper crafting is concerned, it's to use all my scraps for cards and scrapbook pages before buying new, this is an effort to save money because I have a new LOVE and it's not cheap! I've fallen in love with Copic markers and bought myself a few. Now I want more, but they really are an investment and I have to slowly build my stash unless I want hubby fainting on the kitchen floor when he sees the receipt.

I made my card using the Friday Sketch at MBI. And I colored my dragonfly friend in with a couple of my Copic markers and then added some Stickles for a little sparkle. The card base was the only part of the card that came from my new cardstock pile, everything else was scraps!

Have a great weekend!

Melissa Jennings is giving away jewelry!

I know I've talked about my friend, Melissa Jennings, and her beautifully-crafted jewelry before on my blog. We met through a Cincinnati mommies board and then I moved away, so I never got to meet her in person. Melissa is a very sweet and very talented mommy and I enjoy chatting with her via email and through her blog. She makes gorgeous pieces of jewelry that are top-notch quality! I had Melissa make my mommy bracelet, which I cherish, and she's also made a couple other pieces for me including a phone charm and bookmark...which, by the way, both make wonderful gifts for that person you just don't know what to get them...

Melissa recently had her blog overhauled and decided as part of her unveiling she'd host a giveaway! Yay for us!! The prize is a single strand sterling silver name bracelet customized for you or your child or your mother, grandmother or anybody you want to give it to! It's a $35 value...pretty awesome, huh?

How do you enter for this great giveaway? All you have to do is head over to her website and browse through her creations and then head over to her blog and post a comment letting her know what your favorite MJennings Design is. She'll be drawing a winner on June 30th, 2008.

Good luck!

WSOP or bust...

Who would have thought that card games in the high school library study rooms would turn into hubby playing in the annual World Series of Poker events in Las Vegas? This afternoon hubby headed out for four days of little to no sleep in Las Vegas as he plays in WSOP. It’s his 4th year playing; he and a buddy make the trip annually. We miss him here already, but know how excited he is to be playing the game he loves. I would say we wish him luck, but he would remind me, it’s a game of skill not luck!


If I may do a little bragging on the husband, he’s a pretty good poker player. Most recently he played in a WSOP satellite event and placed 5th. Now he has his poker profile displayed online. I’ll try to post it below, but if you can’t see it, you can click here and it will take you directly there. There's a nice article online with some play-by-play of the final table on that event, if I can find it, I'll post it here....





Nickname: Arnie or GQZDADDY
Started Playing (Date): 15 years old
Long Term Poker Goals: big tournament cash/professional
Poker players that Jason most respects: Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Jared Hamby