While in San Diego, eat where the locals eat!

Thanks to Alison's recommendations, we found 2 awesome places to eat while in San Diego. Hodad's had incredible burgers and was a short walk to Ocean Beach and Cafe 222 had the most incredible Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast. Sooooo good! We also visited the Claim Jumper Restaurant where the food was delicious as well. We did NOT eat their famous dessert, the Motherlode - a 6-layer chocolate cake with fudge icing. I think I gained a few pounds just looking at it though!

Fontana Racetrack

At the end of our trip to San Diego, we had a short time to visit Fontana Racetrack, where the Pepsi 500 was going to be run on the following Sunday. Here are a few shots of the track and our favorite drivers - Jimmie Johnson (48) and Jeff Gordon (24).

New creations - made with Val!

Had a wonderful day on Tuesday, stamping and creating with my best stamping buddy, Val! She always challenges and inspires me! My mojo was in high gear for these 4 creations:

Happy Birthday, Chris!

It's Chris' birthday and she's giving away some awesome presents! Check out http://twinklesglow-glowbug.blogspot.com/2009/09/birthday-blog-candy.html

Priscilla's Midness Madness Giveaway Rocks!

This is my newest creation - Whimsical Wonder. I found the paper, purchased the digi from Bee Crafty, went to create with my wonderful friend, Val, who had the matching flowers and had printed out the Midness Madness Challenge #19. It all came together so well that it was just "meant to be"! BTW - you need to check out Val's creation on her blog - valspaperobsession.blogspot.com/ You'll love hers too! Don't forget to check out Priscilla's Midnight Madness blog - priscillastyles -her latest giveaway is almost too good to be true! And, trust me, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I win it (although there are so many wonderful stampers who have entered as well that I really don't have a chance lol!)!

That's all for now - thanks for stopping by!

Gracie's on my mind - and on my card!

This was my creation for a challenge that I found last night - Shirleys2Girls , presented by SNR- free digi to use in the challenge. Of course, I had to make a leaf shaped card out of a paper bag, which I wrinkled and then sponged the edges. I then colored Gracie with markers and sponged in the background. I used Stickles on the leaves - wish they showed up better because they really do add sparkle! I popped up the image with dimensionals and used stick on decorations for the corners. I think she's adorable and plan to use her again and again! I'm loving digis as they can be sized according to your card or project - what did I ever do before they came into my life? A really fun challenge - thanks for all the girls who helped me through this one! You all are great!

This card is For The Birds!

Found this challenge #47 on the Cuttlebug Spot and just couldn't resist using this cute crow from Sweet & Sassy Stamps Digital collection. I love Fall and it's hard to get enough of it in Florida! Mr. Crow will keep me smiling though, and I hope he does the same for all those who receive cards that I've made using him!

Goodbye (for now) to a dear friend

Our wonderful houseguest, Lindsey, has left to return home to Spokane, Washington. Her mom and sister flew in last weekend, enjoyed their whirlwind tour of town and the beach, and then packed up all Lindsey's stuff for the long trip across the country. They left Tuesday morning. It was one of those happy/sad times for me. Happy, because we were blessed to have Lindsey become a part of our family for several months, and sad because we won't be seeing her for some time. I made her this card to share how we feel about her and how much she impacted our life. Our prayers will be with her as she seeks God's Perfect Plan for her life. Lindsey, you can count on this - YOU WILL BE MISSED!

Memory Books for a Special Cause

My dear mom-in-law belongs to her local Grange Club. She has asked me to help her with a project that the club is doing - making memory books to give to children who are in Foster Care. These will hopefully help them preserve some special memories and give them a connection to their childhood as they grow up. It was with great pleasure that I covered these books and then decided to have another friend help me do a little something extra - make pages for them to use! They're ready to go in the mail so I thought I'd include a few photos on my blog!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Here's a photo of Alison and I at her babies' shower, this weekend in Ft. Myers! Isn't she just glowing? She's going to make such a wonderful mom!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Happy Birthday to my baby boy, Bryan! Today we celebrate his 23rd birthday - but EVERY day, we celebrate him! This year will be a little different - he will be celebrating his special day in Jacksonville with his Dad - I'm on my way to Alison's twin babies' shower in Ft. Myers! While I'm sad that I won't be with him, I'm excited that he and his dad will spend some very special time together - just the 2 guys! (And I'm thrilled to be going to see Alison!) ANYWAY, I decided to post a photo of these 2 wonderful guys spending time together on another special day - long, long ago! Have a super day, Bryan and Keith, and know how very much I love you both!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Hi, Friends, What a terrific day it was today! I left Jax for Orlando and got to spend some very precious time with my awesome friend, Val, creating some cards. Of course, she started our time together with a gift she made for me - check out this amazing bracelet and matching earrings! I'll tell you, this friend is definitely talented! She's also a "keeper" - I'm so thankful that we are friends! She and her husband, Bob, are super great people. After they took me to dinner, we went back to their lovely home and got to stamp some more! I've attached photos of the cards I created - while we were creating together. She'll have hers posted soon, I'm sure!

Friends from Huntsville

Was looking through some photos I had taken and found this one of good friends of ours, Paul and Vickie Rhodes, who now live in Huntsville, Alabama. We went out to dinner one night last November when we were visiting and this was a beautiful, scenic spot near the restaurant. Thought I'd share it with you all!

Birthday Celebrations!

Last Saturday night, we had a double Birthday Celebration at our house! Our sweet houseguest, Lindsey, celebrated her 22nd birthday on 8/19 and our son, Bryan, will celebrate his 23rd birthday on 8/29, so they shared a cake and ALL the candles too! Keith made his delicious homemade White Pizzas for dinner and we followed the food with a great game of Ticket to Ride. Lindsey won with a score of 196, Bryan came in 2nd, and Travis and I tied for 3rd with a whopping 104. What a great night!

Incredible Giveaway!

Here she goes again - another fabulous giveaway! Be sure to visit http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/ to see what I mean!

And more creations

Mini Pizza Box

My friend, Lynora, and I made these the other day when we were stamping together in Jax!

It's just hard to make a pizza small enough to fit inside! LOL

Some new card creations

Hello again!

I'm not quite sure how it happened but I guess I'll just chalk it up to being busy! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've last been on here but I'll do my best to make up for lost time! I've been very busy creating - stamping, knitting, scrapbook making, teaching stamping - and, of course, traveling! Anyway, here are a few of my latest cards and projects - will post some more every day and will try to be better about updates to my blog!

This is a photo of my dear friend, Val, and me at CHA! We had to stop at the SCS booth and do their make and take! After all, we met on the SCS website! We have such a great time stamping together and we had so much fun creating all weekend!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Be sure to check this out! Melissa not only has a great blog, but this giveaway is awesome too!

"Blog Candy Alert! Check this out!!! http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-blogaversary-giveaway.html Links to this post Labels: blog candy 0 comments"

Thanks to my dear friend, Val, for sharing the info with me! Please pass it on to someone you care about - just like Val and I did!

Friday, Juy 24, 2009

Today's card creation! I had ordered this die and embossing set a few weeks ago and finally received it when I got home yesterday. I was so excited to try it out so I made this card for a friend of mine! I have a feeling I'll be making more because I have lots of friends who all love butterflies as much as I do! Thanks for looking!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

We had the chance to visit with our daughter and son-in-law and grandpuppy this weekend - and get our first in-person "view" of our identical twin grandsons! Alison looks so cute with her "babies bump" and the whole family is looking good! (of course, I'm a bit partial!) We are so thankful to be able to be a part of the lives of our children!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

How blessed we are! Decided to come home to Orlando this weekend and Bryan drove down from Tallahassee to be home too! His very special girlfriend, Lindsay, drove over last night and I took this picture of the two of them this morning, before she left. Don't they make such a cute couple? We are so blessed to have such wonderful kids!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

This is the card I made today - for one of the challenges on SCS. It called for using a charm on a card. I found this ribbon and stamp both at Michael's - each was only $1! I love bargain stamping! Hope you like the card!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Here's a picture of Lenore and her creations:

What a wonderful day I had today! I had the chance to visit with my friend, Lenore, who lives here in Jacksonville, and have lunch with her, and then to share my love of stamping. I found the perfect project for us as she had never stamped before today. Well, she's hooked now! And I have another stamping buddy! She was a natural and we had so much fun as we created these 4 cards in no time! Then, it was off to the store to get a few basic supplies so that she could "practice" until we can get together again! Yahoo - little does she know that the fun has just begun.........

Thanks so much, Lenore, for putting the "Happy" in TODAY!

Monday, July 20, 2009

We had fun visiting our daughter and son-in-law this past weekend. They are expecting identical twin boys in November, so we spent the weekend helping them get ready! Since she's cleaning out craft supplies, I was the lucky recipient of lots of goodies, which I am putting to good use today!
Here are 2 of today's creations, using some "new to me" embellishments!

Cards from Saturday, 7/11 - Oh, thank Heaven

Not sure if you can tell, but I used paint strips from a home improvement store as additions to my cards! I think they add interest and they definitely add some extra color!