Sally at the vet....

We're a bit worried about Sally cat...she's always been a big girl and over the last 2-3 weeks she's lost quite a bit of weight; she's also drinking water almost constantly. She's our oldest cat; she turned 8 in February.

Iain's at the vet with her right now...please keep your fingers crossed for her...

UPDATE: the vet drew some blood, but we won't get the results back until Monday or Tuesday. He told Iain it could be a number of things, including a thyroid condition, diabetes, cancer, or kidney failure. I will keep you all posted early in the week...thank you for all your support! Those furry friends are so special...

Try this :)

YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE WORD!

I grabbed this little trivia from Gabrielle's blog. It's not as easy as you might think. Change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers!

1. Where is your cell phone? Kitchen
2. Your significant other? Bed
3. Your hair? Short
4. Your mother? England
5. Your father? Gone
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Tea
9. Your dream/goal? Contentment
10. The room you're in? Living
11. Your hobby? Papercrafting
12. Your fear? Death
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you're not? Outgoing
16. Muffins? Yes :)
17. One of your wish list items? Jacuzzi
18. Where you grew up? Scotland
19. The last thing you did? Dishwasher
20. What are you wearing? PJs
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? Crazy
23. Your computer? Laptop
24. Your life? Great!
25. Your mood? Tired
27. Your car? Dirty!
28. Something you're not wearing? Socks
29. Favorite store? Scrapbooking
30. Your summer? Relaxing
31. Like someone? Dad
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight
34. Last time you cried? Today
35. Who will do this? Patti

Nattie's new bike

Iain and I promised Nattie that we'd get her a new bike this Spring, so last weekend the weather finally cooperated and she got her new bike. It's huge compared to her old one! Here she is outside last night - and of course, Jamie had to get in on the photo :)

Queen Kat Designs - "Grunge" stamp coming soon

For these cards I used the new "Grunge" background stamp coming next month from Queen Kat Designs. I love the texture it added to the flowers on the blue card and the background on the brown card :)

Know any good workout songs?

If you have suggestions for songs that Benita and I can add to our iTunes lists to use while working out, go over to the "Our Journey" blog and leave us a comment. The more upbeat, the better! Thanks!

TCP Tuesday!

It's Tuesday somewhere, right? :) I'm going to be helping in Jamie's classroom tomorrow morning, so here's this week's challenge for TCP Tuesday. As always when it's my turn, it's a color challenge. This week's colors are orange, yellow and white. When I was working on my card today, the colors helped brighten my day - it was foggy and rainy all day here! The stamps used are "Annette" and "Hot Stuff"; patterned paper is by KI Memories.

So, you have until Saturday night to post a link in the comments section so that we can all oooh and aaah over your fabulous creations. And if you're uploading to the gallery at Splitcoast, be sure to use the keyword TCPTUES09 so that we know where to find you! Remember, all the pieces will be showcased next Monday on Alma's blog. Have fun!! Also, stop by the other DT gals' blogs and see what they came up with: Katie, Leigh, Carole, Karrie and Ana will all be playing along, so you know there will be some beautiful work to check out!

AND...I hear that Karrie has some blog candy on offer! Check out her blog entry here to enter before Tuesday night's drawing! Good luck!

The Tudors

I love this series! Iain and I started watching the first season on DVD at the end of last week. We're about 2/3 through now, and I don't want it to end! The acting is awesome; one of my favorite characters is Cardinal Wolsey (played by Sam Neill). I need to go and find out when Season 2 will be out on DVD :) I enjoy reading about this period of England's history - I've read "The Other Boleyn Girl" (by Philippa Gregory) 3 times and have also read several historical fiction/biographies by Jean Plaidy about some of the kings and queens. I love it!

And another...

This one is for a "Time for a Swim" swap :) I used a TCP stamp called "Relaxing", and patterned paper by Daisy D's. Is it Summer yet???

Cowboys and Cowgirls

I made these ATCs for an upcoming swap - the title is "Cowboys, cowgirls and all things buckaroo" :)

The dude on the left is, of course, Ronnie from The Cat's Pajamas. These stamps are called "Lassoed" and "Howdy".

The other ATC is made with the "Ride 'Em Cowgirl" mini set from My Favorite Things. I paper pieced the cowgirl's skirt using paper by Chloe's Closet - the line is called "Rawhide".

Birthday Ensemble

This is a birthday collection I made using dies from Creative Cuts and More. There's a cupcake box, tag card, gatefold card, gift tag and place card :) Stamps used are by The Cat's Pajamas.

Beautiful big flower!

This image is awesome for those of you who enjoy coloring! It's from Whipper Snapper Designs (thanks Karrie!). The patterned paper used here is the "Tudor" collection by Kaiser Craft (an Australian company)...I love the color scheme! I colored the image with colored pencils and blended using Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits).

Oh, and talking of "Tudor", Iain and I watched the first 2 episodes of season 1 of Showtime's series "The Tudors" on DVD...it was great! Looking forward to watching the rest of the series this coming weekend!

Had a busy morning today...weighed in at WW and lost 1.4lbs, so next week I should cross that first tiny 5-lb milestone :) I went straight from WW to a training session at the gym, so I was ready to sit down and stamp a little this afternoon as a reward!

Don't forget, tomorrow is TCP Tuesday...this week your Hipster Hostess will be Carole!

Holey Moley Monday!

Don't forget to stop by Alma's blog today and see all the awesome cards that were created for last week's TCP Tuesday sketch challenge. There is some amazing work in there!

Today I have an ATC for you. It was made for a swap called "All Hail Coffee", and even though I'm a tea drinker I couldn't resist playing along :) The moose stamp (Riley) is by Hanna Stamps and patterned paper is from the "Papa" line by Fancy Pants. Have a great day!

Cards for upcoming swaps: Gina K (crab), Hanna Stamps (moose), MFT (bathtub) :)

Busy, busy! And "the mask"...

It's been a busy couple of days here! I haven't even had time for much stamping! Waaah! Never mind, the weekend is coming up and I'm ready to get inky :) This afternoon we went to Nattie's piano recital in Evergreen...she did a duet and 2 solo pieces and she ROCKED! I was so proud of her! I was able to video her performance so that Iain can see it when he gets home.

And my biology class is tough! It was the only subject I had trouble with in high school...I'll be glad when this one is over. And what's with all these electives, anyway? When I went to college back in Scotland the entire course was devoted to your major (Office Studies w/Languages, in my case), and it was the same for Iain's degree in Computer Science. So this whole "electives" thing is new to me...

I got my CPAP machine delivered today...I showed it to the kiddos this afternoon so that they don't get a fright if they come in our room tomorrow morning and see me with it on! LOL! I am really not happy about it and felt pretty down about the whole thing this afternoon...some of you know but I am making a huge effort to lose weight now that it's come down to having to wear a Darth Vader-ish mask at night - my doctor said that in about 2/3 of the cases, losing a good amount of weight can make a big difference in whether or not you need to use the mask. I joined Weight Watchers almost 2 weeks ago and have lost several pounds already, and I also joined a gym and have been getting my butt kicked by a trainer twice a week. Benita and I are considering starting a blog about our weight loss journey, so I'll keep you posted if we go ahead with that and you can come and cheer us on!

Enough of my whining :) What are your weekend plans? My hubby gets back from Mexico tonight and we have him home for the weekend before he leaves for Brazil on Monday :( We'll probably be taking it easy-ish, just enjoying the time for the four of us to hang out together. Temperatures may get up in the high 60s this weekend, so I think we'll be getting the cushions out for the chairs on the deck and perhaps some grilling will be in order - especially after the crazy week of weather we've had!

Have a super weekend, whatever you're up to! I'll be back tomorrow with some cards :)

Conifer Jewel :)

Meet Conifer Jewel :) She came with a circle journal and has stayed with us this month. We had to think up a name for her that had the initials "CJ", so Conifer Jewel is what the kids and I chose. Isn't she cute?

She'll be leaving us this afternoon, though, to travel to Sue's in Castle Rock, CO. Have fun, Conifer Jewel!

Afternoon Walk

Look how quickly the snow melted today! I heard it trickling outside all day long :) Which is just as well, since we're under a Snow Advisory for tomorrow morning!

The kiddos and I took Tasha out for a walk after they got home from school today...

Wednesday - and happy mail!

So, the kiddos are back at school today now that the power has been restored down there :) The snow is starting to melt...we're supposed to get up to 50 today so that should help; we might get more snow tomorrow though! Ugh!





What are your plans for today? I am going to do some studying for school this morning. The class I'm in right now is Biology and I haven't done that since high school, so this one might be tough for me.... Then this afternoon I'm going to get busy with some ATCs. I have a bunch of swaps that are due by the end of the month :)

And check out this card that I received in the mail yesterday from Trixie! How cute is that with all the stitching? Thanks, Trixie!!

TCP Tuesday!

It's Sketch Challenge time again, so head on over to Leigh's blog for all the info!!

Here's my card :) I used Large Fifi from the latest TCP set "It's A Mod, Mod World". Patterned paper is the Baby Girl Stack by Die Cuts with a View. And don't forget to check out the other DT ladies' creations too! Enjoy!

It's a beautiful Spring day in the middle of May...

...so what's this all about????

8" so far and it's still coming down...the kids have no school today because of a power outage down at their school!

Mom's Day Treats :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a great day :) I got to spend the day doing my own thing: Iain and the kids were going to go to an amusement park yesterday, but it was quite cold so they went today instead - which meant I got the whole afternoon to myself! I worked on some cards, a team paper for school, went to the gym, came back and had a shower before they arrived home with pizza - a good day for all of us!

I got a lovely handmade card and flowerpot from Jamie. He made them at school :) Nattie made me a "#1 mom" award which I love! And I got "The Tudors" Season 1 on DVD from the kiddos :) I took photos of their gifts and will post them tomorrow. And...as an extra surprise Iain got me a gift certificate to get XM radio installed in my car! Woo hoo! So if you have a favorite channel, let me know so that I can check it out!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Lazy Saturday :)

What are you up to today? We slept a little later than usual, then I did some school work and Iain walked Tasha...now Iain and I are having our tea and coffee and the kiddos are playing down in the basement. It's a nice lazy Saturday. We all needed haircuts this weekend, though. I got mine done yesterday (no more gray!), and Iain and the kids will have their turn this afternoon.

I have some projects to work on this weekend: cards for my next class at Artistic License on June 7th and some pieces for Terry at Creative Cuts and More.

Today I'm posting a box that I decorated with MFT's Dino-Mite set :) It's for Mary at Artistic License to display in her store. Enjoy your Saturday!

Happy Thursday :)

One more MFT card for you today - I love the "Kids with Fur" sentiment! LOL! The stamp sets used here are "Gone to the Dogs" (lady and dog), "Setting the Stage" (frames), and "Essential Sentiments". The patterned paper here is a new favorite line of mine. It's called Confetti and is made by My Mind's Eye. I loooove the colors and used the papers to paper-piece the lady's skirt and shirt :) The coloring was done with colored pencils and Gamsol.

No huge plans today - I have school work to do and stamping to do. Which should I do first? That's a tough decision - NOT!!

More MFTeasers

MFTeaser

Here's my first card made with a new set called "Going Places" that will be released by My Favorite Things tonight. The paper here is from the Die Cuts with a View "Travel Stack".

My TCP Tuesday card :)

Sorry for the delay in posting this - yesterday was "one of those days"! This is my TCP Tuesday card for this week: Katie (our Hostess this week) asked us to design a card using TCP's "Ring of Flowers" stamp; isn't it pretty? The flower in the middle is by Petaloo; I got mine at My Favorite Things.

Talking of MFT, tonight is the release party at Splitcoast Stampers for the May stamp sets. I'll be posting separately about those later today :)

Have a great day!

TCP Tuesday and upcoming from MFT!

It's TCP Tuesday again! This week's Hostess with the Mostest is Katie :) She'll be posting the challenge some time this morning and I'll post my card this afternoon. You'll like this one - very Spring-like!

My Favorite Things is releasing 3 brand new sets tomorrow. I've been playing with them this week and will post some peeks tonight and tomorrow. Those of you with doggy furbabies will be happy, happy people! Kim posted a peek here, there's another one from Carole, and Michele has one here. Enjoy! Have a great day - I'll be back later :)

Lost tooth! And where did 13 years go?

Jamie lost his first tooth last night! It has been noticeably loose for a while, but we didn't think it was coming out as soon as this. I actually got pretty emotional - my "baby" (don't let him hear I called him that!) is growing up way too fast for me!

Coincidentally, yesterday was also 13 years since we had our stillborn baby girl, Carol Helen. I can't believe it was so long ago. Iain and I were living in Orlando; we had been married just 18 months and, looking back, we were very young: I was 23 and Iain was 28. It was an awful time for us; our excitement and happiness were shattered and turned to grief and sadness so quickly.

Carol had spina bifida, and in honor of her birthday I've made a donation to March of Dimes. This is a great organization that (among other things) educates the public about birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Before I got pregnant again in 1996 with Nattie, I started taking a mega-dose of folic acid, and I continued to take it all the way until I had Jamie in 2002. It took us 6 pregnancies to have 2 healthy babies, and I am thankful every day for being lucky enough to be Carol's, Nattie's and Jamie's mom.

I hope you enjoy the "toothy grin" photo of Jamie :) He was more than happy to pose this morning!

Queen Kat Designs' Big Reveal!

Vicki has some exciting news! Here's the scoop:

A STAMP CLUB!!!! Called "Take 3". Each month QKD will have 3 large stamp sets exclusive to the club. If you don't subscribe to the club, you won't be able to get ALL of the images ever again! Sure, we MAY release 1-2 of them... But you won't EVER get these sets in their entirety ever again! Tanis, SJ and Vicki have been working hard to bring you the best sets possible and man, you don't want to miss out on this Take 3 club!!!!

The filmstrip shows the stamps for May. I think my favorite is the set with the frames - very versatile!

Cowboy Acrylic Stars Project :)

Alma sent all of us TCP DT gals some acrylic to work with recently...my pick was a set of 3 acrylic stars from Clear Scraps. Instead of making an album, I decided to make a wall hanging using photos of Jamie from Cowboy/Cowgirl day and some of the Cowboy stamps by TCP.

We had to use TCP stamps (of course!), and some other goodies I used from Alma included stitching rub-ons, star brads and some "love" bling (on the top star). You can click on the photo to see it in more detail :)

What are your weekend plans? Tomorrow I am giving a class at Artistic License using stamps by My Favorite Things - we have 6 people signed up, which is a really nice sized group. 2/3 of our new furniture arrived this morning, so I think Iain will be taking a trip to Goodwill while I teach my class. Sunday, I'm not quite sure yet.

Have a great weekend, everyone! And don't forget to stamp your TCP Tuesday card by the end of Saturday - it's all about the BLUE!

Snowy Thursday :)