Bananas

Zach's favorite food these days is bananas! He sometimes eats 3 a day! Usually it's just one or two, but sometimes he cons us into thinking he hasn't had one lately!!! Here are some cute pictures that I captured of him enjoying his favorite food the other day! I'm pretty sure he's going to turn into a monkey pretty soon! And I LOVE the faces he makes on command these days! He's so much fun to be around!!!
He got so impatient waiting for me to bring the peel down to eat the rest of the banana, he decided to try the peel. Good news is that he didn't actually bite it off! Crazy little guy!!!

Birthday Cards

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. I've been busy creating and have some new artwork to share with you!!! The first card is for my Goddaughter's 1st birthday later this month! It has some fun dimension and lots of bling!! I used the Jen's SFYTT from last week for the inspiration for this card!

The second card is a birthday card for Lesa's Card for a Cause - Week 2. This week Lesa has chosen a local children's shelter. For those of you that tucked your kids in a warm bed tonight, fed them a good meal today and helped them with homework over the weekend, take a minute to think of the kids who have none of those benefits of a home. Think of those who have never had a gift or a party to celebrate their birthday. That's the cause for this week - birthday cards! What a great cause!!! I can't think of a little girl that doesn't like butterflies! (And it was so much fun to make a girly card again!!!) See Lesa's blog to send one of your own creations and make some little kid's birthday!!!

I used Crystal Stickles on the main image and for the dots on either side of Happy Birthday! The sketch is a Dec 07 Page Maps sketch.

Credits (All products CTMH unless otherwise indicated) PAPERS: Precious Paisley PP, Discovery PP; CS: White Daisy, Sweet Leaf, Hollyhock, Buttercup; STAMPS: The Best Way, Blissful Flight, Spring Possibilities, From Me to You; ACCESSORIES: Clear Sparkles, Amore Punch by Fiskers, Crystal Stickles by Ranger, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder for Cuttlebug by Provo Craft.

Cards for a Cause

**I posted two separate posts today. Make sure you scroll down to see both!!!

One of my favorite things about crafting blogs is BLOG CANDY!!! I love getting inspiration from so many people and so many different points of view. When I was browsing last night, I came across two great blogs with some AWESOME candy. And the best news is that in order to win, you have to make a card for a great cause.

First is Jen's blog I{heart}2stamp. She is giving away over $450 worth of goodies and has an awesome new blog design. Her rules can be found here. She is having everyone make cards for the Dallas Baptist University's International Student Services Department. Go check it out, and make sure you bookmark her blog, it's full of inspiration!!! Here is my card for the students.

I know it's probably familiar to some of you, but I finally broke open my CTMH From Me to You kit from two years ago! I love the simplicity of the kit! I thought missing you would be appropriate for the students to send a card back home!

My second chance at blog candy is from Lesa's blog, Punkydoodle Papers. I just came across her blog last night and it looks like so much fun. She's doing a month long challenge for Cards for a Cause. Her Week One Cause is Valentine Cards for the Elderly. Her rules can be found here. I used a non-traditional Valentine, more of an all purpose, thinking of you card that is bright and cheery. I love the fact that she's bringing these cards to some nursing homes and assisted livings. Working in the business, I know how lonely and sad some of the residents can get. I will start donating some of my extra "stash" cards to the nursing home where I work as well. They may seem outdated to me, but if they'll brighten someone's day, it's well worth the smiles!!! My card uses the same kit as above! I love this kit!

Thanks to Jenn and Lesa for a chance to win. Join in and try for yourself.

Artwork, yeah!!!

Well, with the new year, I've been trying to be better about getting into my scrap room to create more. So far, so good! On the 7th, I started a challenge with a few other CTMH scrappers to complete one creative project a day for 30 days! So far, I'm ahead of the game!!! If I can make 30 projects in 30 days, that'll be almost as much as I completed last year. (Not a great year for scrapping!) So I'm here to share some of my projects with you. I won't put all of them in one post, so I won't completely overwhelm you, though.

Here is a birthday card for one of Zach's friends who turned 2 on the 8th! I think it came out pretty cute. I think the sketch is from PageMaps. The paper and embellishments are all CTMH. I used Liquid Glass to outline all of the stamped images to make them pop, and I used pop dots to make the elephant and balloons 3D.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone out there! It's been a crazy December, but hopefully life will be slowing down and becoming more managable again! We had our last Christmas celebration last night. I'm somewhat glad to have all of the chaos over and done with, but really hope I can keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year!

Any resolution makers out there? I haven't made any official resolutions, but I do have a few goals for this year to make my life more fulfilling! Here are a few:
*I hope to get into my scrapping room at least twice a week and complete at least 2 scrapbook layouts a month!
*I hope to start eating more healthily and exercise more often not only to get healthier, but to set a good example for Zach and get him on the right track.
*I hope to take care of myself better this year. I've done a poor job of that the last few years, putting everyone else first, but I hope to make some time for myself to reflect, relax, and enjoy myself and the things that I really enjoy doing!

One of my favorite pictures from my Christmas celebrations!!! Grandma and I hanging out on Christmas Eve. When most of the family went to church at 4pm to watch my niece sing and my nephew read, I stayed home to get some of the food ready for dinner and help keep track of the kids. (I was going to chuch later that night, anyway.) When Grandma got home I asked her how church was. She said, "I prayed for you!" with a devilish sort of smile! While I know I can use all of the prayers out there, this simple statement just still makes me smile! She comes up with some of the best one liners out there! I can only hope to be as quick and funny as she is when I'm up in my 80's! I only wish I got to visit with her more! Hopefully in the new year!!!

What are your hopes and goals for 2009?