Celebrate Me Home

We miss you soo much son. I made this video for you to watch when you want a taste of home.

A few of the ladies I get together with to scrap with once a month had a challenge to create this tri-fold card. This is my submission. i think it came out pretty cool!! I used the "Storybook" Cricut cartridge for the Thank You and the "When It's Cold Outside" cartridge for the snowflakes.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. May the day be merry and bright for everyone.

Our Christmas is one short again this year. It is our 5th year without Gino. This year he is celebrating in The Hague and we miss him soo very much. Thank you son for "standing on the wall" to keep the rest of us free. Dad and I love you so much.

Owl Quilt

Wow, it has been a long time since I last blogged. I will try to do better.

I was able to finish this quilt in time for Christmas as it is a gift! (I was a little worried about finishing it in time) I really like the way it turned out and it is soo soft. I hope the recipient enjoys it.

Priceless Gem

I have inherited a priceless gem. This bracelet once belonged to my great grandmother and has printed on the individual heads, the names of all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren as of the date it was given to her. My dad, my brother and I are on there.

Guess who I had lunch with today?

Yep, my granddaughter! Jillian called and asked if I could take Arianna lunch today as she had to wait for the plumber. I told her that I would love to! We had McDonald's ~ she a double cheeseburger, plain and me a McRib sandwhich! What a great break in the middle of the day!

Quilts

Here are a the quilts I made for Amara and Arianna. They are now ready for Christmas giving ~ Jillian, don't share these pictures with them!
The kitty is for Amara.
And the butterfly is for Arianna. I love the way they came out. They are now ready to go into the washer so the edges fray up really nice. They are made from flannel and are uber soft!

What a great day!

Yesterday was a great day. The 1st part of the day was spent with friends, scrapbooking, talking and sharing!! I finished a card for Jillian's birthday (see post below) and this layout!
The layout was from a class that I took this past year. Remember, this is the year of use it up and I have truly been making a dint in the kit stash I have.

The second part of the day was spent with family for Jillian's birthday. Then into late in the evening, I was sewing and working on a quilt - pictures to follow!!

Happy Birthday Jillian

Today was Jillian's birthday. We celebrated by a dinner at the Lone Star Steak House.
Happy Birthday dear, sweet Jillian! You are the best daughter a mother could ask for.
This is the card I made for Jillian's birthday. The card looks like a flower pot and the flowers come up to reveal the birthday wishes. (Thanks for the inspiration Eva!)

Latest Layouts

With this being the year of Use It Up, the past few days I have been working my way through some old class kits I have purchased over the years. I can tell you, the layouts look different from the way the class samples looked. "daydreaming" ~ this was a layout mini kit from the Oasis from back in the day.
"Love you" ~ again, another mini kit from the Oasis.
"Says like this" ~ this was a layout from the Karen Russel's transparency kit.
"True Love" ~ this was a Teresa Collin's class layout.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope your day is filled with thankgiving and good food! (We will miss you Gino and Frannie around the table!)

Guess what is back???

Yep ~ the McRib sandwhich!! This is a favorite of mine and my sons. Why couldn't McDonald's have brought this sandwhich out while my Gino was home on leave? No worries, I have eaten one for you son (and will no doubt eat many more - one for me, one for Gino). The diet begins at the first of the year. Hopfully, the McRib will be long gone by then!!

Live and Learn

With this being the year of use it up, I went through some old stuff and worked on this layout today. I received the papers last year when Heather and I went on a scrapbook cruise from a class that Candice Carpenter taught. Now I don't even remember what her layout looked like, but this is what I came up with! I love it. Picture is of my Pat and I in Red Rock Canyon just down the street from the famous bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

Saturday was Ryan's birthday and we met up with he and Darleen and Rylee at Disneyland for a few hours. We found Jingles the famous horse on the carousel. You know it is Jingles by the jingle bells hanging down off the horse. Notice the hidden Mickey on Jingles blanket. That is what makes this particular horse famous.
The park is decorated for Christmas and it is more magical at night. Once again this year it snows inside the park. We stayed until late in the evening to watch the fireworks. We also watched the swing dancers. I have to tell you, those young people can really boggie to the old big band songs, but a few of the older dancers put them to shame! One day. it will be Patrick and I out there dancing. One of us will need lessons 1st (umm - that would be me).

Latest Layouts from the weekend

These are the layouts I completed this weekend. I only had to update the layouts with some journaling when I got home and scan them for you all to see.
I know this picture of Jillian isn't the clearest, but it love it. What you can't see in the scan is the letters "jillian ann" are glittery and there are stickles on the heart making it glittery as well. The patterned papers and chipboard are Basic Grey from the Lemonaid line. The heart is a Cuttlebug embossing/cutting die.
This layout is actually a make-n-take from the Reflections event last spring. I only had to add pictures, a rub on and some journaling. (I just noticed the scan the trim slipped)
I love this picture of Anthony. It is so good to see him smiling. This layout features some Creating Imaginations paper, Tim Holtz paper and stamp and some Hiedi Swap ribbon and digital stamp.
This was a very simple layout using a transparency.
Again a very simple layout using the Graphic 45 papers.
Isn't this just the cutest picture of Mandre!! I used papers from the Basic Grey Boxer line, Tim Holtz paper and my Cricut to cut the embellishments out.
This is a layout that is a take off from one of the classes I took at the Oasis recently. The Boys of Summer was cut once again using my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot software from a file I found on the internet.
Lookie here at Miss Rylee. Isn't she just a doll? This layout won me 1st place at the retreat this weekend in the holiday category. The spider web at the top of the page was cut using my Cricut too. I guess I did use that bug this weekend.
This is Arianna's 3rd grade picture - in case you didn't already figure this out. I cut the scallop frame and the label frame out on my Cricut electronic cutter using the Sure Cuts A Lot software and some files I found on the internet.

I had a great time spending the weekend with the ladies and having no concerns but which paper do I push around the page next!

Scrapin Escapes Weekend

I am in San Diego this weekend enjoying a scrapbook weekend with some girlfriends. Tonight for dinner we rode the trolly to the Little Italy section of the city to have dinner.
When we came back from dinner they had the drawings for the weekend. I entered a layout that I made this weekend in the holiday catagory. Guess what, I won 1st place!! This is my granddaughter Rylee as Bat Girl. Isn't she just the cutest? (thank you Darleen for sending me these pictures!)

So far, I have completed 15 of the 22 charms (I ran out of clasps and jump rings) I needed to make for a charm swap I am envolved with and 6 layouts. I am hopeful that I will complete a few more before I leave tomorrow.

Great Video ~ Happy Birthday U.S. Marine Corp

In honor of the Marine Corp Birthday. Thank you for your service.

Happy Veterans Day

Thank you to all who served.

Also, if you are a Veteran and you live near an Applebee's, they are offering a free meal with proof of miltary service today only!!

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corp

The United States Marine Corps Birthday is celebrated every year on the 10th of November with a traditional ball and cake-cutting ceremony.

Happy birthday to all Marines and thank you for your service!!

Digital Freebie

If you go to Jessica Sprague's website, they have the above frames available for download today and tomorrow for FREE. Aren't they just the cutest?? Turns out that today is Digital Scrapbooking Day and this is their way of celebrating!! While you are there, they are also offering a free Christmas class. Check it out.

Class layouts

A couple of weeks back, I took a class at The Scrapbook Oasis created and taught by Rebecca. Here are a few of the layouts that I took home and tweaked to make them my own!
Anthony has been working on a quilt for Michele. This is some of his progress.

Doesn't that just melt your heart!

Girlfriends meeting up!

Little Miss Amara Rose out for a morning stroll!

Don't you just wonder what those whispers were about?? (Ugh - I hate my scanner, there is white pen work all around this layout and the scanner cut the right side and the bottom off.)

Ensenada Mexico

This is a layout I did from when my BFF and I went on a cruise together to Ensenada Mexico. I did this layout for a triple challenge at Practical Scrappers, Frosted Designs & Stuck on U Sketches. The challenge was to use the provided sketch, 3 different kinds of ribbon and an owl. I think I squeezed all 3 in and I love what I came up with!!!

Sgt. Justiniani

My son was promoted to Sergeant today! I wish we could have been there to celebrate with him!Congratulations Son! We are so proud of you!!

Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm in one day

Sunday Patrick and I decided to spend a couple of hours at Disneyland. We wanted to ride Space Mountain with the spooky overlay before it was gone. I am not sure when they will be taking it down, but if you can get over there soon, it is a fun addition. At 10:30 there was a 75 minute wait. We waited. I was really glad that I had recently downloaded the Kindle application for my iPhone. I spent much of that time in line reading a book.
When we got off the ride we walked around a bit, did a little Christmas shopping and then thought we would go over to California Adventure to see the fall decorations. The line to get into California Adventure was kind of long so we didn't go in. It was also lunchtime so off to Knott's Berry Farm for a Pink's hot dog. You don't actually have to go inside the park, they have a temporary stand set up next to the gift shop just outside the main gate.
I had a chili dog, Pat had the bacon, cheese, chili, tomato and onion dog and a chili burger.
Hey, if you get a craving, they are open late! (I don't recommend going late until after Halloween due to the Haunt going on over there)