Happy Happy Mail Day!

This past Saturday I was really down in the dumps. I was exhausted from a long week at a new job that I was just not feeling too hot about (and this is my 'dream job'). I was moping on the couch watching an old 90's movie when the mail man dropped some unexpected delights through our mail slot.

My DH picked it up and brought me over the mail. He was like -nothin special- putting all the junk mail on top. As I sifted through, I got more and more excited.

First -the new Stampin' Up pre/mini catty!!! and I liked quite a number of their new stamps, and now that I am working again, the stampin embargo has lifted!!!

Second -a stamp expo announcement

AND lastly, and bestly a card from Stephanie over at ingenious inkling:I had left a post on Stephanie's blog about how much I loved one of her cards, the sentiment would be so perfect to make something for my friend who just lost her job. She responded by sending me numerous perfectly stamped images of this adorable stamp above. Little did I know that this image was really meant for me this Saturday. It so lifted my spirits, especially receiving such a beautiful card along with it! Thank you Stephanie for your act of kindness! It really made my day, and changed my attitude -for the better ;)!

It also gives me a reason to start craftin'!

Christmas -oops a little late!

This was the first year that Eddie and I hosted Christmas dinner. It was so crazy getting ready for it, we finally got a dining room table about 3 days before Christmas!!! We bought a beautiful table that is steel and glass that opens up to twice its size -this is perfect for us, not having the room to have a table that can seat 10 (comfortably!) in our dining room at all times. We didn't get a picture of the table with the centerpiece, or any more artistic shots : ( I had bought a silver tree that held votive candles -it was so pretty when it was lit! We were so busy running around that pictures just didn't happen. In the background you can see Eddie's grandma -ready to eat! Can you tell there are some meat eaters from Argentina here??? We had ham, turkey, and Cornish hens, hmmm -next year we could use some veggies eh? -we did have some (green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes ect.) and I did have a salad in mind -I roasted pears and made a pear-lemon-dill vinagarette dressing -but we had too much food, so I didn't bother putting the salad together...


Above is the angel that I made for each place setting. I used a pattern from Martha (yes we are on a first-name basis ;) ), but instead of using a paper plate, I cut out a circle (using a fixar cutter) and then used Martha's doily punch for the edges finishing the angel with an embellished silver flower. They looked really pretty and were relatively simple to create.

Paris: the finale of the mini-scrapper

This is at Versailles. The large picture on the left is the Hall of Mirrors. It was pretty much as I had imagined it would be. The opulence was astounding when you think about the poverty that was occurring in France at that time.
My favorite parts (not pictured) were the beautiful gardens and the hedge maize -where at the 'end' was an ice cream stand. Even though ice cream is my fav, it was too cold to get any....

This is the ticket to get in. It is Marie Antoinette's bed. To the right of the ticket is a castle punch (out of focus) -I finally got to use the castle punch I bought at Disneyland! I believe it is Cinderella's castle.

This is another 'surprise' pull-out. It's the three girls outside of the castle.

This is in the garden outside the Louvre -my mom-n-law feeding the birds :)

Just an embellishment over a happy accident. The bird is SU from carte postale. The PARIS stamp is again from the Cavallini set (see post below).

Yay- this is the conclusion of the tour through my first scrapbook. I had so much fun making it and I really love how it turned out. I think a mini-scrapbook was a nice way to start. I am now ready for the big time: 12 x 12!
Stay tuned.....

Some more of Paris

This is Eddie in front of the Eiffel Tower (my favorite person in front of my favorite thing in Paris). It is so amazing in person. The view from the top is fabulous!

-I had originally thought that since I had already seen it in photos that it would be no big deal in person. I was so wrong!-

The picture on the right is a really amazing site too -unfortunately I cannot spell the name and I am a little tired to google it and I do not want to butcher it by trying to spell out how it sounds.
You can also see the best tour guide in France waiting in the van...

This is a Cavallini stamp embossed and then punched and 3D backed. The 'Family Treasures' embellishment came with the kit and I thought it was appropriate on a page with Eddie and Frenchie ;)

The brass 'L'Artisan' embellishment is actually a medal that comes with a bottle of the yummy smelling French perfume from the company Frenchie works for -notice the SU jewel brad holding it there... the ribbon is also SU.

A little bit of Paris

This is the first page of the mini-scrapper. It is the whole family at one of Frenchie's (a loving nickname for my sister-n-law's new French husband) friend's restaurants. The food was so yummy, but the wine was so good I can't remember what I had ;)

This is the business card from the restaurant -the inset is a 'pull-out' picture, with a gold-embossed tag that says 'bliss'. I really like having removable parts in my mini-scrapper.

This is one of the embellishments included in the kit. The phrase worked so well with this picture!

This is outside the Louvre. Notice the stamps? -they are in the background and also a Paris postmark stamp is in the bottom right corner. I loved these Cavallini stamps and after the trip, I had to have them!
Oh -and you can't really tell from this picture, but behind the picture of Eddie, his mom and his sis is a pullout. It is a little bookmark with a sweet gold embossed (of course) poem on it, it kinda got missed in the picture takin process! -Remember this was a book made for Eddie's mom -an avid reader- for while she was away in New York with her new grandbaby (you can see his sis is a little prego here) which I still have...

This is the Metro ticket to get around Paris. I just love that it's purple and it matched my book ! ;)

A Little Teaser...

Yay, I finally took pictures of my Paris scrapbook! I used this mini-kit from K&Company. I looooove their paper and embellishments! I knew there was a reason that I kept buying their fabric-y button-brads! Since I lost the ribbon that came with kit, I used two K&Company brads, some twine, and a key embellishment. Using my cropadile, I punched the holes in the board and voila! I was particularly excited at how this turned out! ;)

This is my first scrapbook EVER! :) I have been waiting to use this cute 'official scrapbook' stamp from Catslife Press for almost a year!!!!

I made it for my mother-n-law while she was away in NY welcoming her new grandbaby -which being the terrible blogger that I am, I neglected to mention her birth on 18 Dec 07. She is a real cutie pie! Both mama and baby are doing well, I will post some picts in a little bit -I am running a bit late in 2008! Maybe this should be my motto this year ;)

Also, attesting to my hoarding nature, I still have the mini-scrapbook.... Since my mom-n-law is now back in town, I guess this little surprise will be in person instead of by mail (which will be more fun for me anyways).

I will post the insides tomorrow! I went crazy with pictures on this one. Being my first scrapbook, using a minikit was a great start! I just LOVE how it turned out and I had so much fun making it -hence my neglecting of my sick hubby (LOL). It also kinda validates the copious amounts of embellishments that I can't stop buying!!! ;)

Happy Bird-day!

So it's been raining alot here in So Cal (okay, let me clarify, alot for here: like more rain than the past 2 years combined -which would be about 4 in)... Sooo being the spoiled sunny weathered girl that I am , I decided on a Spring-flavored card for my friend's b-day. The stamps and paper are SU. I love using ric-rac ribbon instead of a scallop punch. It was my little trick before I went out and bought a ridiculous (by ridiculous I mean I needed them) amount of scalloped punches.

At least with all this rain we will have a beautiful Spring!!! It is amazing how green everything is -it makes my brown thumb look a whole lot greener! ;)

Bride's Tree -the final installment!

Pinecone for Motherhood and Fruitfulness

Rose for Beauty and Affection (I forgot to take picture -so I had to zoom into a whole tree image)

Okay, at last I have a post! Although the ornaments were finished and shipped off in the beginning of December, I have been so busy with Christmas and New Years that I finally have a chance to post. I hope it was worth the wait! The last couple picts were done in great haste, I was trying to ship the tree with the ornaments off in time. My friend LOVED it, so it was worth all of the work ;), although part of me wanted to keep it!!!

Bride's Tree Ornaments (some of the last ones)

Bird for Happiness

Fish for Christ's Blessing

Flower Basket for Good Wishes

Tea pot for Hospitality (and I love looove tea :))

House for Shelter and Protection