7 Year Old Creation

Well... My little Artist is SEVEN today! She looks like her Daddy, and acts like her Mommy, so I think we did a pretty good job:) Here she is working on the birthday present Auntie Laurie sent her, adding GEMS to a jewelry box!! Ben is in the "Wii Room" playing her new PetShop game from Auntie Tracy (she already had a turn, and wanted to share with him!)... and she's sporting the new FLEECE kitty jammies that she and Elfy (yes, she changed the spelling of her name) love!... a gift from her kitties. She hasn't seen what we got her yet, so watch our "other" blog for fun from that later... I'm pretty sure you won't want to miss it!

Happy Birthday, Baby! You will always be our little Coo Coos, and you will always be Mommy's Shuggie, and Auntie Laurie's Baby Squirrel, not Baby Girl.

Trash into Note Cards...

Just some quick, easy to make notecards... fun patterned paper from Michael's, cut in 3 3/4" squares, backed on chocolate chip cardstock (4" squares) from StampinUp!, stuck on a cardbase. Oh, tie on some ribbon, stamp a clever sentiment. The cardbases are cut 4 1/4" x 11" for something a little different.

Want some??! They are easy enough to come by... our kids school collects BoxTops (www.boxtops4education.com) to raise money for various needs. I'm not big on asking people to help fundraise for schools, but I am happy to ask you to send your "trash" to me!!! Ben and Carly get Free Homework passes and their name in various drawings for bringing in the most BoxTops, and yes, Ben actually won last year! FOR THE WHOLE YEAR! 25 of these little coupons will turn into a set of notecards... so, get saving! So far, Auntie Tracy has been our biggest supporter:) I'll be making you some birth announcements for Zoey!

High 5...

Have you noticed the "High 5 for Adoption" link to the left there... If you click the Title above this post, it's a link that takes you to our friends blog, and a really fabulous video that allows you a small glimpse of Sammy and Gino... Won't you consider helping bring them home? We love this family and hate that 1/2 of them are in Haiti and not here. If you aren't able to financially help, please please please pray that God will bring these babies home soon! (I'm no fan of praying for patience, but I guess that's another alternative... how about they just get home soon?!?!?!) Click the link and let these little boys (and the Pearsons!) wiggle into your hearts.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween... our FUN will be tomorrow, at the Jamboree at church. Here are some peppermint patty spider treats I made for the "Cake Walk". You have to know I am no baker, so this is the best I could come up with. The idea for these are in the gallery on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ They were somewhat time consuming, but fun, none the less. They are made using the StampinUp! scallop punch and the photo corners punch. I have to confess, I am NOT a fan of the photo corners punch... in fact, I had to borrow it from Betsy. I have decided this is the only forum in which I find it acceptable.

Next, my Halloween cards. Not much "reason" to send these out unless you have nieces and nephews!! And we have many, and 2 more on the way:) I love this "cat on a broomstick" (StampinUp!)... he is painted grey in honor of our cat, Cassidy. In case you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cass, he has more attitude than is necessary, and that is NOT a good thing. He frequently "sneaks out" (read: bolts out the front door at any and every opportunity) and Ben has taken to writing stories about his adventures on the Outside. We believe it involves him cruising around on a broomstick.

Also featured on the card would be the Martha Stewart bat punch (again, lent by Betsy). The background paper (also a donation from Betsy) is from the fall stack from Joann's... "Boo" stamp is from theangelcompany (FREE gift with purchase stamp). Ribbon is from Michael's. Good grief, if it weren't for Betsy, I wouldn't have anything to post. Perhaps she needs her own blog!

Hope you have a great weekend, and for those interested in FAMILY news, we will be updating the family blog regularly now as my parents are moving to Israel for the next million months and contact with them will be limited. Ben and Carly will be posting occaisionally, for you entertainment! www.ryanmcgregor.blogspot.com

NEW Vintage Stamps from TAC

www.theangelcompany.net

A Dream, and a pretty good day

Well, yesterday was a pretty good day.

Not only did Ryan's youngest sister, Randee, complete the Detroit Marathon in UNDER 4 hours (INCREDIBLE!), and his brother, Rick, just 3 minutes behind her (again, INCREDIBLE)... but his beloved RAYS are on their way to the World Series. Personal Bests all around.

Ryan's birthday was on Thursday. If you are a baseball fan at all, and CERTAINLY if you are a RedSox fan, you are WELL AWARE that Thursday (again, Ryan's birthday) was NOT a good day for the RAYS. What was looking to be the perfect birthday present (a 7-0 lead with the RAYS up in a game that would end the ACLS series and seal the deal for the RAYS) ended very badly, and the RedSox pulled off an amazing win 8-7. But, I digress. This is the card I made for Ryan for his birthday. A couple of years ago, he made me aware of the fact that I made bday cards for everyone else, but not him. Huh. He was right. So now, I try really hard to include him in the fun:) Who knew he cared that much, right?! I found this little boy baseball stamp in a FISKARS clear set at JoAnn's... and the "Take me out to the Ballgame" in the shape of a baseball is from the MIRKWOOD vintage baseball set, and the "dream" stamp is from theangelcompany. You might notice the number "34" on the little boy. Kind of glad that is on that stamp... a subtle reminder of Big Papi's number, who I might add, I am completely terrified of. (That was for all my RedSox family members). A little fear, and a healthy dose of respect... nothing wrong with that. He just might have given me an ulcer, however!

OK! So, CONGRATULATIONS Randee and Rick! You have no idea how proud your brother is of you! Seriously, he talked about it for hours. He is so impressed with your hard work.

GO RAYS!!! Did I mention we have tickets to the World Series??!?!? Oh yeah:)

Quick Cards

I've been busy making a few "Quick Cards" and thought I might was well post them all together, or they'd NEVER make it here... I'm pretty sure the key to card making is color selection... almost anything looks good if the colors are good and coordinate, right?? :) That's what I tell myself when I'm getting dressed in the morning! Several paper companies have taken the guesswork out of your selections by putting together collections of papers that all match! Love that! Plus, I don't have to spend much time looking for anything.

There are LOTS of new babies coming to our church over the next few months and I was in serious need of some "Congrats" cards... I found a new love for the 4.5 x 6.5 cardstock matt-stacks you can find on sale at JoAnn's - they are perfect for making these cards (bonus: all matching!) this one is from Debbie Mumm "Baby Boy". The glitter on the pages make the card look more involved than it actually was! This is 2 pieces of paper cut in 1/2 and taped together. I used the other 1/2's for the duplicate card I made (remember when I said LOTS OF BABIES?). I always pick the paper, then color the stamped image to match.

Birthday card... same story! Same paper pad. Same stamp set from StampinUp! It almost feels like cheating:)

Are you seeing a pattern here?? Told you I was busy...

These papers came from the 4.5 x 6.5 cardstock stack from DCWV at JoAnn's "Nana's Nursery, Baby Boy"... I think lavendar is really more girlie:) I love how well they match my favorite StampinUp! cardstock, too. Just another added bonus:)

Hope you feel all inspired to make a bunch of quick, easy cards. It's not REALLY cheating, it's just using your time wisely, right??!?!