Tomorrow is not

a guarantee...

until it's here....

as spoken by a wise neighbor last Wednesday...


I live in a 'relatively' quite city neighborhood where most neighbors keep to them selves but when they see you outside will stop and say hello. Last Wednesday I couldn't understand why there were flashing lights in my living room. I looked out the front door and our street was filled with cars and trucks with blue flashing lights, an ambulance, paramedics, neighbors standing outside... People crying.. What the heck was going on? I called a neighbor (who is on the fire department and would definitely know)... Sadly I was told that while cooking dinner our neighbor passed away. WOW.. Later as we were speaking to their neighbor he reminded us just how frail life is and that truly...

Tomorrow is not a guarantee... Until it's here.

I wanted to send a special heartfelt message to his wife letting her know what a kind and gentle man her husband was (I know she knew that but I wanted her to know that we knew it as well) .. Here's what I came up with..
As you can see, I used 2 different cosmo cricket DS paper...

For these cards I used...
Cardstock... Mellow Moss, River Rock and Very Vanilla (SUP) along with Cosmo Cricket DS paper...
Stamps.. 'with sympathy' (SUP) and Leaf Trellis (Memory Box)
Inks... Dark Moss and Creamy Brown (colorbox) and River Rock (SUP)
Accessories.. Chipboard (Mayaroad), Moss Grass dew drops, misc. dried flowers and the corner rounder (SUP)

Happy Stamping :)

Scooter Dog

Happy Sunday... Can you say the air is thicker than peanut butter.. Where did our spring go? On day 60-70 the next day.... OPPRESSIVE HUMIDITY and 90' .... YIKES.. Needless to say, my DH put the a/c in the bedroom last night and we cranked on the rest of the house. I was only outside long enough to walk from the car to the gym and back again... We had a cookout at friends last evening and we all stayed inside around the a/c... I (((HEART))) the change of seasons here in the northeast but the humidity in the summer I could do without....

So guess what I've been doing since you can't breathe if you go outside? Well, the stamp room yeppers is all neat and tidy. But I do need a better system for all of my scraps of paper. And I've been stamping with a few adorable stamps I picked up at HM Stamps. These are from the Penny Black 2001 collection. I have BEEhave... Ever So Sorry (can't wait to give that one a try)... and drum roll please..... SCOOTER DOG... I've been taking Michelle Wooderson's advice and making multiples of cards when I need to make 1. I have a plan for the extras but I can't tell you right now... SHHHH don't want to give away the surprise.

Here's a picture of all 4...Can you tell I've been mastering the coloring with my Copic Markers?

Now for the nitty gritty... LOL For this card I started with a base of Whisper White card stock... from there I addedd a mat of Lemon Tart (It's hard to tell, but this I used my score-pal and created a criss cross pattern.. you can definitely see the pattern going from left to right.. but it's also going from right to left).. Then Scooty as I prefer to call him was matted on Spring Moss (PTI) and Whisper White (SUP) card stock. Next Scooty was stamped in my Black Noir Pallet ink and colored in Copic Markers.. I will edit this post later with the colors I used. The list is upstairs.. Next using my large and small (SUP) oval punches I stamped my happiness stamp in Black Noir Pallet ink and punched out the sentiment. Now it was time to assemble. For the ribbon I choose a wide grosgrain in Spring Moss (PTI) and then a thinner twill in Lemon Tart (also from PTI) and thin White Grosgrain (SUP) . Instead of tying one bow, I decided to give it that little extra flare and use 2... You can see in the big picture I used a criss cross of the ribbon as well (to compliment the criss cross pattern on the lemon tart). Once everything was assembled my final touch was to add the sentiment using pop-up glue dots to give it that little punch off the card.. I hope you all enjoy it...

Speaking of Lemon Tarts.. I have been dying for a delicious summer dessert lately... And finally I found one that I can tolerate... It's called Lemon Icebox Pie... I must share ....

Lemon Icebox Pie

• 1 box sugar-free Vanilla Instant pudding... I really wanted the lemon flavor so I choose to use sugar-free Lemon Instant pudding..
• 1 tub Crystal Light Lemonade... You could experiment with different flavors... or if your silly like me and buy the individual packets of sugar-free kool-aid (the ones used for the 16.9 oz smaller bottles of water).. use 4 of those...
• 1 cup skim milk
• 8 oz softened reduced fat cream cheese... I used Fat Free cream cheese and you couldn't even tell the difference
• 1 12oz container sugar-free Cool Whip, thawed
• 12 pre-made graham cracker tartlet shells... or 1 large graham cracker shell if you'd like to make it as 1 pie..
• raspberries to garnish

Mix first 3 ingredients together. Gently add in the softened cream cheese. When blended well and smooth... Fold in the Cool Whip. Spoon into gram cracker shell(s) .. chill or freeze.This sets up like a mousse and is so fluffy and refreshing.
Try it topped with fresh berries or warm jam drizzled over the top.

Calories 102; total fat 6.1 g; Carbs 7.7 g; sugars 6 g; protein 4.4 g (without crust).. this calculation is using the reduced fat cream cheese their even lighter with the fat free cream cheese.

This is a definite keeper... If anyone has a fabulous sugar free dessert recipe Please share...

Happy Stamping :)

Born to Dance

Hidy Ho there everyone.. Wow have I been busy the past few weeks.. My FIL has been in the hospital & rehab which has taken up quite a bit of my extra time. Thank goodness he's home and on the road to recovery... In between work, gym, hospitals & Memorial Day picnics I did get a little stamping in...

Here's 1 project in particular I made for a dear friends grand-daughter. She has her dance recital this weekend and her grandmother wanted something special for her gift basket.

This was so much fun to make... Here' the ingredients to make this fun frame...

Stamps.. time well spent (SUP) & the flower from baroque motifs (SUP)... Cardstock.. Misc pink & pink/ white polka dot DS 12x12 (grabbed these in Mike's).. Basic black and Whisper White (SUP) Ink... going gray, Palette Black Noir Hybrid Ink, light pink & dark pink copic markers .. Letters... Foam tickers (I think I picked these up at fugalities.com) & rubons ... Accessories... prima flowers, pewter brads, ranger glass effects, pink dew drops and a little litter for the centers of the flowers (before I applied the glass effects)

And finally.. sorry this picture is so late. Here was the complete gift pails from my BFF's girls day out in May.. Each pail contained the coordinating monogrammed notepad, set of coordinating note cards, a packet of protein (for us GBP'ers.. we need to get in our protein) and a coordinating bottle of water.. They all adored them..

Happy Stamping :)

PS.. Don't forget to check out the post at the top of the page to get in on your chance to win a free stamp set and coordinating laser cut notes.

more cards

Happy Wednesday.. Wow what a week already. Unfortunately my FIL is back in the hospital which throws a monkey wrench into our evenings.. YIKES... oh well, he's doing ok.. barely ok.. but ok.. It makes for long nights stopping in to see him, trying to get to the gym and still do everything that needs to get done in the evening. Needless to say.. the cards I need for this weekend... are still in my head. May be tonight I can get up stairs and get a couple done.

Here's a few more cards from the assortment I made for girls day out last weekend.. (for those of you who missed yesterday's post.. I made goodie 'pails' for my friends that I was meeting.. all cards coordinated with their pails... green, yellow & blue).. I apologize for the pictures... They come out kind of dark when I take them at night.. :)

For all of the cards here today I've used..

J's... soft sky, cosmo cricket ds & very vanilla card stocks, chocolate wide satin (or) aqua mist ribbon, close to cocoa ink..

E's... spring moss, K & Co. ds & very vanilla card stocks, spring moss ribbon & brocade blue ink...

M's... lemon tart, K & Co. ds & very vanilla card stocks, lemon tart ribbon & brocade blue ink..

This particular card uses assorted brads as an embellishment & the images were stamped with 'All Holiday's from SUP and leaf tendrils from Memory box. To make the bow I actually tied 2 pieces of ribbon and then separated them after making the know.

For this next card I cut out the scalloped ovals using my nestabilities scalloped oval dies. The sentiment is Live, Laugh, Love from Daisy Buckets and this card was embellished with 3 copper brads.

And this final card for today uses.. cuttlebugs textile texture embossing folder (the image what then distressed with a little coordinating ink to pull the image off of the page..) and Daisy buckets best days stamp...

How could I not include a couple fun pictures from Saturday... Here's Estelle modeling hats... She sure can wear one..

And our very own.. Domestic Diva Jeanine.. Hugs sweetie..

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday. Happy Stamping :)

I've been soooooooo busy

Wow... I can't believe it's been a week and a half since my last post. Boy has it been crazy here.. Let's see.. Big ole' audit at work last week. I was here most days till after 6 (and was here at 7 in the AM)... YACK.. that puts a damper on your stamping time. But I did have time to finish a few projects for Saturday. They say that common bonds draw people together. I have 3 very good friend that I met through having WLS.. We all decided to get together Saturday for a 'girls' day and wander the streets of Saratoga to see how my fun we could have.. And did we ever. I haven't laughed so hard in ... well I can't remember when the last time was I laughed like I did on Saturday. I wanted to put together little care packages for everyone. Over the next few days you'll see everything that went into them.. Here's a start..

I had 3 pails that I put everything into .. 1 light blue, 1 green and 1 yellow.... So every one's packages were color coordinated with their pails... Their first gift was a monogrammed note book...

For Jeanine's I used... soft sky, cosmo cricket and very vanilla card stocks

Estelle's... spring moss, K& Co. ds & very vanilla card stocks and

Michelle's... lemon tart, K & Co. ds & very vanilla card stock..

The scalloped ovals were cut out using my marvy punch. The smaller ovals were made by stamping the oval from PTI's "Wedding Day" stamp set in versa mark & then were embossed with (J's) gel-a-tins chocolate bliss scented embossing powder, (E's & M's) black embossing powder.. I then simply cut out the ovals.. Each were tied with coordinating PTI ribbon... After adhering the rubon's.. E's and M's monogram were stamped in coordinating PTI ink with my new favorite Memory Box leaf tendrils stamp. To make the sentiments I stamped my Daisy Buckets best day stamp in chocolate chip and going gray and distressed the edges with coordinating inks.

Each package also included 5 coordinating cards.. Here's just 1 to start.. Again, each card coordinated with the monogram notebooks.. These cards used...

J's... Soft sky, cosmo cricket & very vanilla card stocks, close to cocoa ink, aqua mist ribbon & the daisy buckets live, laugh, love stamp with Stampin Up's garden silhouettes stamp.. For the other two the differences are..

E's.... spring moss card stock & ribbon, K & Co. ds card stock, & brocade blue ink and for

M's ... lemon tart card stock & ribbon, K & Co. ds card stock & brocade blue ink.

I'm sure I'll be flamed for this picture but we had so much fun... This was us tearing it up in Eddie Bauer trying on hats.. Here we are from L to R... Me, Estelle, Jeanine and Michelle.. Estelle.. girlfriend, you sure can wear a hat..

And finally.. Carter just wanted to pop in and say.. HELLO everyone..

So what are the plans for this week? Cards for 2 birthday's, a communion card, 3 mother's days cards, the gym, FIL in the hospital, Mother's day, Birthday & Communion shopping HMM... I hope that's it.. stop back for more of the care packages from Saturday and the cards from this week...

Happy Stamping everyone...

I have a surprise.....

As many of you know.. Harley (our rambuncious kitty... who would scream at me during the night if we didn't let him out)... passed away about 3 1/2 weeks ago.. My DH didn't take his passing very well and truly missed him. Even this past Sunday we were talking about Harley.. On Monday the strangest thing happened.. As I was perusing Craigslist I came across an ad for "Free to a good Home"... We have as good of a home as anyone..

Allow me to introduce you to our newest family member..

Daisy Dukes....

She is the cutest thing... and is so affectionate and loving.. However, I must say... she's not quite accustomed to the dogs yet. Carter & Oreo... they absolutely adore her and their tales haven't stopped wagging since I brought her home Monday afternoon.. She on the other hand had laid a B--ch stapp'in on Carter (no worries.. she's declawed... so basically he's been slapped with soft furry paws).. but that hasn't stopped him from trying to give her kisses. Slowly she's adjusting to the house and is starting to see that she's safe...

On a stamping note.. I've heard rain is in our future.. That can only mean 1 thing.. I'll be stamping.. Check back for a few cute projects I've created...

Happy Stamping :)

a huge Enabler Alert !!!!

For those of you who know me well (you know who you are)... you know that a) don't like spending money alone and b) spending money isn't hard for me to do.. especially when it comes to my stamping supplies... So at least a few days a week I'm sending emails along these lines.. did you see this or you've got to see that... did you buy anything from..... hey.. what can I say.. I'm a queen at enabling.. So where have I been spending my money lately???

Let's start at the cat's pajama's.. I love their stamps but I must confess that I haven't been able to purchase any until now... I just (((HEART))) this set "It's a mod, mod world".. ... It's so Jetson's.. I know showing my age again but what can I say.. LOL There's so much that you can do with this set... I just HAD to have it... If you just have to have it to... you can get your very own right HERE..

Now can we talk about scented embossing powder.. Yep you heard me correctly.. SCENTED Embossing powder from gel-a-tin... I picked mine up from http://www.7kidscollegefund.com/ .. scented they have Chocolate Bliss (brown) .. Bubble gum (pink) .. Cherry on top (red).. Cuppa Joe (black).. Santa's candy cane (red/ white) .. and Extra foam vanilla latte (cream) just to name a few... RUN don't walk to get your very own supply of these. The awesome thing is... the scent lasts for up to 3.. count them 3 weeks... HOW AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for my all time favorite adhesive (this picture was taken directly from Taylor's store.. so please be sure to stop by an pay her a visit..).. I became familiar with this sticky tape adhesive over a year ago and love it.. I've even stopped buying the mono adhesives.. Why.. well, let me tell you... the tombow mono-adhesive is approximately $2.30 for 472" (13.11 yards).. which comes down to approximately .18 cents per yard.. How many times are we 1/2 way through the roll and boom... the tape breaks. Then the entire dispenser is done.. shot.. fine'e'toe.. in the garbage... This tape however is $7 for 55 yards which breaks down to approximately .13 cents per yard...And you get to use the entire 55 yards. Why, because you peel it off the roll yourself.. Be prepared though, this tape does take longer to use than the tom bow adhesive. You need to manually cut your piece and apply it to your project and then peel off the strip of paper.. On the other hand.. when you stick it... it's STUCK. this is very important when making cards with lots of layers or altered items. Overall.. this tape gets a 2 thumbs up.. I think this should keep you all busy for a few minutes..

Happy shopping from your favorite enabler :)

Things that make you go

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Sorry.. still playing outside. It's been in the high 70's here the past 2 days (may be even venturing on 80) and ohhh it feels soo good. Yesterday my DH was off from work, so we decided it would be a good day for a little gazebo... Our deck gets the morning and early after noon sun. So mid summer we don't start to use it (that is unless were all trying to get in that limited shade from the umbrella) until later afternoon.. so me in my infinite wisdom decided.. Why not put one of these gazebo's on the deck. It'll shade the deck and also cool down the kitchen because it'll partly shade the sliding glass door. So in the past week we've put 2 coats of stain on the deck and then last night.. up went the gazebo.. OHH it looks soo good. Today I'm decorating. I can't wait to share my pic's..

Look what I found in Starbucks.. (love their frappachino's. I haven't had one since before my surgery in December.. but I hear I may be able to get a fat free... sugar free... mocha frappachino.. I need to look into that one. ... HMMM... At work I'm forever looking for a mug. So Thursday when I stopped in to pick up a few goodies for work, look what I found.. I picked up the 'inspire' mug.. It's a little visualization to keep me focused.. I'd love to be at the 100 lbs gone by my 6 month appointment with my surgeon on July 26th.. That by the way is also the day I can 'officially' have raw fruits and veggies... guess what I'm having for dinner. The best salad I've had since the beginning of December when I started Medifast.. Yep, keeping my eye on that prize again... It's strange though when your prize is a 'salad'.. LOL

Ok everyone.. off to the gym and then to decorate the deck... Be sure to check back tomorrow for a few enabler alerts.. Just because I'm gardening doesn't mean that I haven't done a little shopping too.. LOL

Have a wonderful Saturday...

Spring has Sprung

and so has my sever case of 'Spring Fev'ah'... The snow has melted, grass is turning green (well all except for the huge chunk of my lawn where my DH and I use that term lightly... dug it up with the plow this winter.. Guess what he'll be doing in a few weeks... replacing my SOD.. Ohh, what a project that will be)... Crocuses, daffodils and tulips are poking through the newly warmed soil.. and most of my perennials are peeking through. I'm always curious to see what comes back each year.

I find this time of year hard to stamp... It's just too easy to be outside rather than locked up stairs in my stamp room. They'll be plenty enough rainy days for that... LOL I know, you're sending me eye daggers right now through my heart.. But this was 1 loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggg winter. Please forgive me.

Last week I made this quick card (to go along with the frames for my very cute, yet very married with children surgeon.. LOL).. I wanted this card to be very masculine so I used..

cardstock... Very Vanilla, Basic black & cosmo cricket DS paper

ink... Versa Mark, Black embossing powder

stamps.. simple delight

accessories.. black & cream wide grosgrain, pearl bling (in center of stamp), cuttle bug with the textile texture embossing folder.

So may be.. just may be if we get a little rain in the next few days I'll venture up to my stamp room for a little stamping... if not, look for me with my hands in the dirt or at the gym... Yep you heard me correctly ... at the (gag, gasp)... gym.. My surgeon has recommended that I start adding a 30 minute cardio work out at least 3 times a week into my routine.. So I joined a gym... Last night I met with my very hunkie personal trainer for my assessment.. He's already warned me ... Monday when I see him again.. It's gonna hurt.. OUCH...

Happy stamping, Happy gardening and just Happy enjoy this beautiful weather. See you on our next rainy day..

The last 2....

Frames... I promise... At least for a little while :) When so many people love these frames, how can I not make them as gifts? I missed one of my good friends birthday last weekend (my mind was elsewhere with loosing Harley) so this weekend I made her this gift...

T's favorite word is integrity.. Which may I add sums her up in a nutshell. She is one of the most 'honest' people and has a strong morale.. For the background for this frame I used vintage paper... The letters were rub-ons from Wal-mart on very vanilla paper matted on sahara sand. Baroque Motifs and Simple Delights were stamped in sahara sand and cranberry crisp. The cranberry ribbon was embellished with a piece of pewter hardware before I tied the bow..

I believe everything happens for a reason. That is exactly how me and my friend J met. She started her weight loss journey a few months ahead of me.. so she is just a few pounds away from loosing.. Are you ready... 100 pounds. How awesome is that? This final frame is for her for when she's inducted into the century club... I choose believe because choosing to change your entire life is something that you need to believe in with every ounce of your soul. Choosing to have WLS isn't something that one can wake up one morning and say.. I think I'm going to have GBP surgery.. It's something that takes a great deal of thought and it's not until you're absolutely ready can you even make that decision. This will be my special gift to J when she reaches the 100 lbs gone forever milestone. For this I used "Style" designer series paper from Crate Paper.. Textured black and Very Vanilla Carstock (SUP).. The letters are again rub-on's from Walmart. Baroque Motifs and Simple Delights (SUP) were stamped in Versa Mark and then embossed with black embossing powder. And finally I added a piece of Ivory wide grosgrain ribbon with a decorative black ribbon and pewter hardware.

So if you could pick just 1 word to describe yourself what would it be?

Happy Stamping

We have a winner

Congratulations #9...
Gina Wrona

Gina said.. Hi Lisa!My great news is that I sold my last AKC black female lab, who is 16 weeks old today!YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!Thanks for the chance/opportunity to win your awesome candy!((((((((((((((hugs))))))))Gina
Fri Mar 28, 11:42:00 AM

Gina, please email me your snail mail address and I'll get your package out to you... Thank you to everyone who participated. I love giving candy away.. :)
Hugs,

If you could describe

something very meaningful to you in just 1 word, what would that be? I have my 3 month post-op appointment (actually it's only 2 1/2 months but don't tell his secretary).. with my surgeon.. (I actually call him my phantom surgeon because I haven't seen him since the day of my surgery. I had my GBP on a Friday so I saw the on-call doc all weekend, when I had the infection, he was on vacation.. so the on-call doc again and then because he's in the OR every day we see the PA for our normal appointments.. If it wasn't for the pain, the scars and the progress I've made since my surgery.. I'd start to wonder if he was even there.. No, JK I know he was there. I do remember talking to him in recovery.. If the word 'lots' when he asked me how much pain I was in constitutes talking..LOL) on Wednesday and wanted to bring him a little something. So this is what I came up with..

Dr. Clarke and his entire office staff are so genuinely dedicated to each and every one of their patients. Some of the office staff actually had GBP surgery so they've walked in our shoes and know what's going on. Dr. Clarke spends each and every day in the OR performing WLSurgery. His dedication to his work, to his patients and to giving us all back our lives is a true testament of the type of doctor he is..

When you meet Dr. Clarke for the first time you are overwhelmed his genuine compassion. How often do we go dread going to the Dr's? Dread listening to the same speech over and over again? You need to loose weight, your blood pressure is too high, are you exercising. Or how often do you feel like you're standing at the deli counter in line.. Take a number, the Dr doesn't even know your name, rushes you in and out like you're on an assembly line and has ZERO idea about any of your past medical history.. Never cracks a smile, never says hello.. Doesn't make you feel like a person with feelings and emotions. Personally it wasn't on my list of favorite things to do. When you meet with Dr. Clarke he sits down.. calls you by name... is extremely informative.. answers every single one of your questions and then some.. Laughs with you.. but most importantly treats you like you're his only patient for the entire day.. and because of that... is usually running very late. But how can you be upset when he gets to you and gives you that very same care. You can't.

Each frame was made using... Stamps.. Baroque Motifs & Simple Delights (both SUP) Cardstock.. Crate paper Avenue Collection/ Glam DS paper, the reverse (solid) side of the Style DS paper and Black textured SUP card stock. Ink.. NONE... Accessories.. Rub-ons (Wal-mart), versa mark, Black embossing powder, Cream 5/8" grosgrain ribbon & pewter hardware.

Enjoy.. Happy Stamping

Everyday

is a gift... And I really think I've come to appreciate that even more the past few days. Life always has a way of getting away from us. We become consumed in work, what were making for dinner, did the house get vacuumed, are the bathrooms clean, what holiday is coming up, what we have to do this weekend, what our plans are for the up coming months, omgoodness the yard needs to be rake etc. etc. etc.. .... and then in just a split second we realize we need to stop and celebrate the here and now..

Thank you all so very very much for your support through this sad time. I know we gave Harley a beautiful life filled with doing exactly what he wanted to do... basking in the warm sun, playing with his friends, roaming the neighborhood under the glow of the moon, and starring down a chipmunk or two. He spent all day Saturday warming his belly with the sunshine coming through the dining room window. He sure has left his paw print on our hearts.. :)

This was my shoebox swap for the SCS Eastern Get together.. Thank you Julie for your inspiration.. For this card I used a 4 1/2" square card made from chocolate chip, very vanilla and certainly celery card stock. Out on a limb was stamped in chocolate chip, certainly celery and ruby red. To make the tag I ran a piece of very vanilla card stock through my cuttlebug, stamped the sentiment in ruby red and then distressed the edges of the tag and the card with certainly celery. I added a piece of black hardware to the tag and tied with a piece of cocoa grosgrain ribbon. The green embellishment.. Yep it's one of my favorite dew drops. And finally.. How did I make my scallop.. It's circle punches glued to the back of the certainly celery card stock.. To ensure their in a straight line using a pencil I mark a very light straight line down the center on the back of where ever I'm adhering the circle punches. I then aline the circles up to that line. This will ensure their all even.

And finally... Please don't forget to stop by this post here... and leave a comment for your chance to get in on my latest blog candy.. You have until THURSDAY the 3rd at NOON EST... Good Luck :)

Happy Stamping :)

A very sad day....

Today was a very sad day for us. This morning.. our kitty "Harley Davidson Moore" was hit by a car and passed away...
Harely despite being declawed LOVED to be outside. He would be outside every spare 'warm' minute if we let him. I say warm because his nick-name was 'tender-foot'. He did not like to get his feet cold. Every night if we didn't let him outside to roam and play with his friends he would come into the bedroom as meow at us as loud as he could. But every morning he would be sitting by the sliding glass door in the kitchen ready to come in, have a little breakfast and baste in the sun for the remainder of the day.... This morning I knew something was different. When I got up to let Carter & Oreo out Harley was no where to be found.. I called for him... nothing.. So we all went back to bed. At 7:30 still no Harley. When my DH got up I told him I couldn't find Harley and that he must have gotten into someones garage over night. Well, when my neighbor moved her car, there he was lying on her side walk. He obviously had gotten hit by a car. My hope and prayer is that he didn't suffer.
This is one of my favorite pictures of Harley. It was him in his glory baking in the warm sun. All day yesterday he laid on the window seat in our dining room enjoying the warm spring sun. When my BFF stopped by to go for a walk she gave him a little pet and told him how nice and warm he was. Her husband said Harley was the only cat that when he called his name from down the street would come running to him, roll on the ground and want you to rub his belly.

Harley was a phenomenal hunter even without claws. I would always tell my DH that Harley was a part of the mouse re-location program. He would re-locate mice from every ones yards and garages to our back yard. He would let them loose in my garden so that he would play with them again. Unfortunately, he didn't get to play with them to much because they were too yummy to him.. YACK...

Harley... your purrrrrr, kisses and unconditional love warmed our hearts. Were going to miss you so very much. My heart will miss your purr every single day...

A little math & a little Candy...

What do you get when you add...

360 pieces of card stock

540 stamped images

60 pieces of 9" ribbon

120 pieces of bling

60 envelopes and

+ 15-18 hours of labor... That is a labor of love...

You get 60 "First Communion" invitations.. This is what has kept me away from you all for the past week. I started these last week and with working mandatory OT, keeping up with the groceries, laundry, starting a little yard work, walking and Easter festivities.. I finally finished all 60 last night and delivered them over to my sister. These are for my nephew and his cousin's First Communion on May 10th. Since they need to get in the mail in a couple weeks and my sister & her family are heading out for spring break soon, I wanted to get them to her by this weekend so she had plenty enough time to get them ready to go postal..

Thank you Lauren for the inspiration.

For these I used...

Card stock.. PTI White select card set, PTI Aqua Mist & PTI Stamper's select white, adhesive Vellum

Ink... SUP going gray & soft sky

Stamp sets.. PTI Everyday Blessings

Accessories... various clear bling & PTI Aqua Mist Satin Ribbon, Cuttle Bug with their textile texture embossing folder..

To emboss the large aqua mist cardstock what I did was apply a piece of the same size (which I cut to size) adhesive vellum that I picked up at Michael's' to the aqua mist card stock.. The nice thing about these is that their re-positional, so if you mess up, you can fix it. I then ran it through my cuttlebug in the embossing folder. I tried the first one by embossing just the vellum and then adhering it to the card stock. This worked but because of the embossing made the vellum very fragile. By adhering it to the card stock first, it worked out much better..

For the insides, I printed the invitations and then stamped the corners in soft sky.. The corners add just that little extra finishing touch..

Now your probably wondering, why if I used the PTI aqua mist paper, why did I use soft sky ink? Well, let me tell ya.. The aqua ink was just a little too bright and contrasted with the gray of the sentiment. I wanted the cross to be a little more subtle, & the soft sky did exactly that.

So tell me, are there any large projects you're working on?

Tonight I start cleaning my stamp room. Between the prep work for the SCS Eastern NY get together a couple weeks ago and all of these invitations... Typhoon Lisa definitely set down up there and it's a MESS... After that I can start on a few fun projects I have up my sleeve...

Ok.. you've all been very very patient.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you ready for a little candy??? Since my surgery it'll have to be Sugar Free candy... LOL And, since this is my 200th post I had to find a few fun thing.. so here goes..

So what will you win.... How about 2 SUP envelope templates.. 4 packages of eyelets... 2 sets of clear stamps... a brown chalk box ink, my new favorite thing.. Gelly-tins blue my mind gelly embossing powder... and a My Favorite Things Ride'em cowgirl stamp set.

So what do you need to do to win.... Just leave me a message... about anything.. Tell me what you like about my blog or what you'd like to see more of.. what you like about spring... a happy memory... or something you did for yourself today...

I will leave this contest open until Thursday April 3rd at NOON EST.... I will draw a winner then via the random number generator.. And if your a subscriber to my blog... let me know, you'll get 2 entries..

Happy Stamping :)