Butterfly Treasury

I am featured in this beautiful butterfly treasury done by fellow Etsy Twitter Team member Nina of Pretty Cheap. Go check it out.

Anitqued Mother's Day Card

Here is another Mother's Day card. I have this stamp set from Stampin' Up and just love it. I find that I pull it out for a variety of projects.

Don't forget that the Etsy Greetings Mother's Day promo is still going on. If you buy 2 Mother's Day cards from participating shops, you get free shipping.

She Has a Name

And it is Juliet Talbot Long. Doesn't this just melt your heart?

Not that I'm biased.


Nope, not me.

Holy Blog Candy Batman!

Look at this blog candy!! I've never seen so much! Hop on over to this really nice blog called Passion for Crafts and sign up. You have until the end of the month.

Welcome Baby Girl Long!

Yesterday, at 8:17 am my neice was born. She is 7 lbs, 7 oz and is doing great! She doesn't have a name yet, but will shortly, I'm sure.

She's the only girl in the family with three boys ahead of her. I think she's going to have her work cut out for her, don't you?



She has to keep her big brother, Isaac, in line.

As well as her cousins, Stas and Bohdan.

I think she'll do just fine.

Roomba

We are getting a Roomba! I know. What has happened to me that I'm excited about a domestic tool? I don't know, but that will be another post.

Woot had these new Roombas for $129 instead of the usual $279. So, after reading a bunch of reviews, we purchased one and are anxiously awaiting it. I vacuum, sweep or both at least twice a day. Yes, you read that correctly. I can hear some of you now, "she's gotta be a clean freak". My mother will attest that no, I am not. I'm clean and fairly neat but on the odd couple spectrum, I'm a little closer to Oscar than Felix according to my mother. But, my mother would make Felix look sloppy.

Back to the vacuum/broom habit. I'm not that crazy about cleanliness. I'd rather spend time doing fun things; especially with the weather being so beautiful right now. I have three reasons why I need a robot to keep my floors clean. Let me introduce them to you.

My first born. He's a dog, really. But I think he thinks he's a cat. In what way, you may ask? In, out, in, out, in, out. That's our routine. Sometimes he goes out to chase squirrels, sometimes to work on his tan and he goes out whenever the kids do.

How do you not love this face? This was last night. We had to hose him off-seriously we did- then eat outside then haul him straight to the tub. He had dirt in his ears--his ears. He did have help getting like this from my third reason...


My eldest child. He came in like this after being outside for 5 minutes. 5 minutes. And he's happy about it. Because, as he says, "dirt is my best friend mommy".

But, he's got the shirt for it, too. His favorite shirt. He asks for it nearly every day.
My 3 reasons for having an automated cleaning device. True, it may take over the world some day as it gets tired of having to clean up after us, but that's a chance I'm willing to take.

Card and Journal for a Friend

A good friend of mine recently had a birthday and moved into a fantastic new house. The house is full of light, has a huge backyard for the kids and such a welcoming feel to it. Now, this is my Crazy Bird Lady friend. Yes, she has a bird thing. You will hear that she's been outside chasing squirrels and other problem birds away from her bluebird boxes. Yes, she opens the door and yells at the menacing birds.

As a housewarming gift, I found this wonderful soap set from Love Lee Soaps. Isn't it wonderful? Each individual soap has a different scent.


I made this gift tag to put on her bird soap gift.



For her birthday, I made her this card. You see, Molly and I enjoy our wine. We really do. And sitting on her back deck that afternoon sipping some good red wine --Life Is Good.

I used a double sided card stock and reinforced it with plain card stock. I like this look a lot.

A while back, I made some journals (here too) for some friends of ours for their birthday. As she looked at the journals, she looked me square in the eye and said, "I want one of these". Hint taken. Being that she is my Crazy Bird Lady friend, I naturally put a bird on her journal for her.

This is the inside of the journal. I always cover both sides; no one wants to see the silly writing on the inside when the outside is so pretty.

This is a better shot of the bird. This is from a stamp set my lovely husband gave me for Christmas. Can't you just see him combing through the aisles at Michael's or Hobby Lobby looking for just the right stamp? Pretty cute!

I'm working on some smaller versions of my journals at the moment and will have them in my shop soon.

Zombie Momma

I think there is some kind of Universal conspiracy to keep me from getting a full night's sleep. I've not had one since Thursday night. My husband snores. Bad. With the pollen count being so high, he is very congested and keeping me up. Funny how he doesn't wake himself up. Most nights, I've gotten maybe 4 or 5 hours and I operate best on 8. On Saturday night, I was up at 2am. It was a long day.

By Monday night, I'd had it. I'd hit a wall. I went to bed by 10pm, got the earplugs and told hubby he was on his own for waking up on time in the morning. I hadn't made dinner, cleaned the house, made bread or done anything else I had planned on that day. I figured I was tired enough I would surely injure myself in the process.

Now the Universal Conspiracy starts. I'm actually sleeping pretty well. I smacked hubby around enough that his snoring was low enough that I couldn't hear them through the earplugs (I kid you not-it gets that bad), drifted off to sleep and was getting rest.

Stas wakes me up at 2am. I was startled out of a dream about copics ( I can't make this stuff up) and he tells me his tummy hurts. I shoo him off to the bathroom before he pukes all over me and the bed-again. He comes back and says it still hurts. I send him back to the bathroom. He pees and comes back to tell me he peed. I know because I heard him and he's turned ALL the lights on. He's feeling anxious and doesn't understand he just needs to sit by the toilet to see if he is going to puke. I'm trying to clean up as little mess as possible. Chris asks what's wrong and I tell him that Stas's tummy is upset again. He goes back to sleep.

I go sit with Stas in the bathroom and rub his back till he feels better. He doesn't think he's going to throw up. Good! We get a bucket and get him back into bed. I rub his back till he falls asleep. Usually I don't do this. I want him to be used to going to sleep on his own. I think I zoned out for a bit, may have even drifted off while sitting upright. Once I realized he was asleep, I went back to bed.

Of course, I had to pee first. It's the middle of the night and I'm vertical. Naturally, I have to pee. I come back to bed and the freight train that is my husband is at it again. Earplugs. Still. Can. Hear. Snoring. I smack him around a bit till his snoring is less audible and I'm not getting vibrations through the pillow (seriously) and go back to sleep. I've been up for maybe an hour and a half. sigh

I'm up at 6:30. On my own. I kid you not. No sleeping in a bit for me. I'm programmed. Smack husband and tell him to get in the shower. I get up, get dressed, change the sheets, get Stas up and get the day going. On the way out, Chris says, "Stas was up?"

He's still alive, I just don't know for how long. Oh, and Stas is fine. Went to school, was running around the house this morning and being his usual crazy self.

Me, I'm a zombie. Thank God for coffee.

*yawn*

Mother's Day Treasury

I'm in this beautiful Mother's Day treasury created by Kard Kreations. Mine is the potted purple flowers. Head on over there and give it some love!

Birthday Presents Card

I originally made this card for a good friend who turned 56. I thought she deserved lots and lots of presents for her birthday.

You can find this card in my etsy shop as well.

Somewhat Voluble Blogiversary Giveaway

It is mouth-watering beautiful, isn't it? I found a new blog called somewhat voluble through lily pottery, another blog I follow. Today was the day to find this new blog. In honor of her first blogiversary, she is giving away this beautiful journal from Kreativlink. I've long been wanting one of her journals, so I'm hoping I win. If you would like a chance to win, go on over to somewhat voluble's blog and check it out.

Good luck!

Mother's Day

It's just around the corner you know. Mother's Day. Are you ready with flowers, or a plant, books, jewelry and of course, the perfect card? The Etsy Greetings Street Team has joined together to run a Mother's Day card special. From now until May 5th every time you buy two cards from the same participating shop, you get free shipping. Yup, free shipping. You can just take $1 to $3 off your cost right there. To find these cards go to this link and browse through all the participating shops. For those of you accustomed to etsy search terms, just use EGMOM as a tag search.

The following are a few of my cards and I will be adding more as we go.


This card is done in watercolors. I really like how it turned out-very soft and feminine. It is blank on the inside for you to write your message.

Another great stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps. This one features a boy fairy (Jack) piling rocks. If any of you remember my post, The Rock, about my son putting a rock up his nose, you will know why I had to have this stamp!

I have a little monter. Two on some days. I wanted one from a boy and all his boyish charm. Another Paper Makeup Stamp image.

So, go to the Mother's Day link I gave you, pick out 2 cards from the same shop for FREE SHIPPING.

Birthday Wishes Card

This is a sweet card I made for a young girl's birthday. It is a fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps. I normally don't talk about where my stamps and other supplies come from, but this one is different. A friend of mine started a stamp company recently and this particular stamp is from the Beautiful Day Fairies and is called Kirsten. I just love this one blowing on a dandelion. You can find this card in my etsy shop.

Happy Birthday Card

This is a card I made for a little girl's birthday. My god child, Laura, as a matter of fact. I liked the paper and wanted to show it off instead of covering it up with a stamp of something like I normally do. The butterflies are on pop up dots and their wings are bent as if they just landed.

Twilight and Bare Minerals

As many of you know, my makeup makes me think of songs in the early mornings. Maybe it's because I'm putting it on at a terribly early hour - you know before coffee-or just because I'm a little crazy. Take your pick.

I just started wearing the Feather Light powder by Bare Minerals. The sales person assured me it is good for my *ahem* older skin. It hides flaws, lines and such. Part of how it does that is it's shimmer, which you can see in the pictures below.



Now when I first put it on my skin, it has a lot of shimmer. And I am naturally very pale. It makes me think of the vampires in Twilight and their sun-reflecting skin. Think this is what Bare Minerals had in mind when they suggest this product for their *ahem* older clientele? That we all look like vampires for 15 minutes until the powder settles and sinks in? Or, is it just me?

Vacation Pictures

My husband and I had a long weekend in Asheville, NC for his birthday. We had such a wonderful time being a couple instead of Mommy and Daddy for a few days. We went to The Biltmore--which is awe inspiring in it's size alone. The decor is something else entirely. And everyone, Everyone, who works there is so friendly. That is so refreshing to see. They truly enjoy working there and it shows.




This is the front view of The Biltmore. It was a cloudy day with snow coming in later in the day and the picture just turned out stunning, I think.


We went to the North Carolina Arboretum the previous day. Funny, the day before it snowed, it was 70 degrees out. This is a bee I caught in a Redbud tree.

There was a bonsai exhibit with several amazing ones. Did you know they can live for 200 years if cared for properly? I like that they also added landscapes to the tree. Just beautiful!

I've been learning how to use my camera and with the beautiful day and starting to understand the functions, I managed to get a pretty picture of this daffodil.

I have no idea what kind of flower this is. I liked the picture.

Now that I'm back and refreshed, I hope to have more in my shop very soon!

Advertisers and Spammers

I came back from a long vacation with hubby--our first in 5 years--and find spammers on my blog. Go figure. Does that mean I've "made it"? They've cropped up before now and again, but this one found an old post and spammed. And to a completely unrelated site. It has nothing to do with anything I've ever blogged about.

So, I deleted it and will continue to do so. How annoying! It's bad enough my facebook account is spammed out, but my blog too?

How do you all handle it? Do you just delete or have some of you turned on the "approve by owner" feature? And does it work?

Little Monster

My husband recently turned 40 and for his gift I gave him a long weekend away-just the two of us. We haven't been alone since before our oldest was born nearly 5 years ago. So I got us a B&B for 4 days and Wok and Nana are watching the kids.

His gift from my children is a bottle of one of his favorite whiskeys. The front of the tag is a monster, the back says "For when we are REALLY bad. Love Stasiu and Bohdan".

The stamp is from my friend's new stamp line Paper Makeup Stamps. This little guy's name is Dreck. She just started her own stamp company a couple months ago. One of the nice things is she also has two boys and is making boy themed stamps--something lacking in the girlie heavy stamp world. If you like fairies and boys, she has a boy fairy stamp premiering this month. Go check her out.