Where Do I get these Ideas?

Why is the bigger question.

Last year, seriously...in January, a light bulb went off that should have quickly burnt out. I was buying a couple of big snowmen on an after Christmas sale & I thought, OMG she will be 50 next year. I can hold these, collect 48 more gifts & surprise her. She would love it. Well, knowing you have like nearly a year and a half you slack. Buy something silly here & there but never really do anything. Well, then October rolls around & I go on vacation taking the 11 gifts I had collected in those 10 months with me since I was going home to Dallas anyway. I still have 7 months...were good.
Well, the holidays rolled around, bought a few more gifts. January...OMG, I will be having surgery next month and will be down 5 weeks...but I should be able to make some gifts....WRONG, then finally mid March rolls around when I begin to be able to move around...How many gifts at this point you ask? 17...Oh yea, now we must kick it into super fast NASCAR gear.
Well, I am done with 28, but I am in progress of 9 more, all around my kitchen table, & the scrap room. Yes, only 2 months to go & I am really needing to get off this computer & get to work,
But first I thought I would show a few of the things I am doing...Thank you for the ideas Pintrest.

This first one is just something to put on a shelf. Her name is Karen & favorite color is Pink.

 

BLOOM...she loves her garden & plants & this should be perfect for her patio.

Oh. I forgot to add the green pipe cleaner...another thing to do today. LOL

I got her this Vera Bradley bag...It is Pink & on sale.



I found this snowman at a Church during one of those sales they have sometimes. I love it...from the 60's.

He is so cute.

So, you get the idea, some made some bought. Some not at all expensive, a few goofy things...I bought 50 1963 pennies from Ebay...now I have to figure out how to display them. Maybe I will just get one of those penny books & alter it.

OK, off to make more gifts.

 

 

A New Me

Well, after four times being turned down since 1986, I was finally approved for a breast reduction. 

This journey began in September at a regular Doctor appointment. I asked them about it and got an appointment within a month. It took no time before they approved me. I was just about the happiest ever. And a bit overwhelmed. I mean surgery at 27 is one thing. But at 51 it is entirely different. 

I managed to keep my excitement to a minimum because having a major surgery would worry that bunch. 

This took place last Tuesday so I have had just over a week of recovery. What a difference 5 hours made. It has been up & down, not much sleep but I figure another week & I can get out and start a new beginning of comfort. 

This will lead me to the weight loss I have been craving. My stationary bike is patiently waiting. 

My sweet husband has been a little overwhelmed at times but has shined in taking care of me. 

I just have to say I wholeheartedly recommend this if you have ever thought about it. Pain is hard. Laying around for two weeks is even harder....but so worth it. Going to have to find those before shots to go with some new after ones. 

Live life to it's fullest. You only have one. 

A Very Happy Birthday Daddy

Well, I planned & waited for 3 months & it finally got here. My Daddy's 70th birthday. Hard to believe, they were always so young. I hope I get to plan an 80th. But before I get too far, here are some pics.

We almost got it all covered, left out the brother part. My Aunt s, Annie, Frances & Patricia were there & to my surprise (and Daddy's) so were the Uncle Ruben's...both of them. Made me really happy, first that they came to be with Daddy, second that they took days off. My Grandma of course wouldn't miss it.

The Hernandez Clan

 

Of course there were great photo ops...Two, 5 generation shots...

 

This is..my Grandma, Daddy, Sister Karen, her Daughter Kristina & her kids Austin & Justina.

Here is Grandma & Daddy with my brother Bubba, his Daughter Erika & her son Hayden (along with another on the way.

 

What a legacy...& this isn't even a drop in the bucket. A few more photos to share:

 

Daddy

Me with my DaddyGrandma & Me





I really wish I knew the story with this, but it is cute none the less. This is my great nephew Devin. He is 2 & is really good at it...LOL

 

 

Well, it was a really long & exhausting weekend but we pulled it off & made Daddy happy. That was the goal.

 

 

I love you Daddy & hope there are many many more to come. 

 

Happy New Year

Well, January 1st. WOW, seems like 2012 flew by at warp speed. Some good, some not so good & some just plain bad. Here's hoping to a great year.

Wedding Continued.....

The happy couple

OMG, yes I finally used something from Pinterest...I saw this & immediatly knew I wanted to use the idea. This is their Mom's holding the frame.

And one more from Pinterest.

Well, the reception was fun, BBQ from Coulter's...was catered in & of course there was country music for dancing. Chris put on his cowboy hat & Susan donned the boots. I just love her.

Next up was just a sort of low key Snnday at my Dad's for lunch. My brother Mario was there & I finally got to present him with his birthday gift...a scrapbook. But not just any scrapbook...it is his life so far...he turned 40. I think he liked it.

Monday, we went to see both of my brothers where they work. I got to see a few folks there at Marr Bros. They have always been a great group of people there. We went to eat lunch at a place called Chunky's (I think...could've been Hunkey's LOL) They have great burgers.

 

Don't they look like they are just so happy to be there???That is Mario on the left & Bubba on the right...yes, being a hillbilly from Texas I have a brother called Bubba...after calling him that for 47 years I am not about to change now.

Well, it has been 3 weeks since my return, I am sure we did something else but I sure can't remember.

Tuesday took us to Austin...home of the Texas State Capitol. Kathy wanted to see it since she was a visitor to our great state, my sister Karen had never been there (not real sure why & there should be a law against that) and we kidnapped my new nephew Ricck (correct spelling). Me, I love it there.

 It isn't a small place by any means. Not like the "shack on the hill" here in Mass. Went to the University of Texas campus & to see the stadium. Took a small walk down Sixth St & shopped a little. Was a full day but fun. Oh...cannot forget George...I got to see his portrait...which I love.

 



 



 

 I will get my thoughts together & come back.

Have a good one.

Texas, Our Texas...

All hail our mighty state.

Well after literally months of planning, we finally made it. Sept. 22. Arrived at DFW, got the rental car & headed straight to Whataburger...OMG it was delicious...especially at midnight & not having had any food since 3.
This trip I took Kathy with me. She had never been to Texas & I was proud to show her the Great State...well a tiny part of it anyway. I mean we only had 2 weeks there...not even enough time to scratch the surface.

The first day began by getting up early heading to Daddy & Kay's for breakfast. She made us biscuits with gravy, bacon & eggs..yum.
Then we headed out to shop since I needed a pair of shoes. Went to Town East Mall...it has changed a bit in 10 years. Oh..of course there was El Chico...had to eat there...my mouth was in heaven. Kathy liked it too.
On our way to Old City Park which is now called Dallas Heritage Park. My BFF is getting married in a few hours so we needed to spend time there. Well, there was a small detail she left out when telling me where the ceremony was going to take place...OUTSIDE...I mean really, outside...it was 92 degrees...in Texas...again...really? I was in hell...but I smiled & hugged her lots. She was beautiful.

Her Dad passed a couple of years ago but they have a bench with his name on it at the park so she sat there. He was a great person & was sorely missed.

Her BIL Michael stepped in to walk her down the "aisle". Like his outfit? The guys wore the camo vest over the white shirts & jeans...I mean it is Dallas afterall.

Yes, the Brady (I man Sawyers/Davis bunch) was waiting for her. Chris face lit up. He is great to & for her. Those are his 4 boys & her 2 girls.

Ah yes...the Kiss. I am so happy for her.

I guess you can only put so much in here....continued on next post.

Wow...September

Yesterday my friend Kathy & I went to a new scrapbook store in Whitman, MA. It was fun.
They had a Grand Opening weekend drawing & everyone who made and brought an altered clothespin was entered for a $50 GC. Here was my entry

I used Snow writer for the body of the clothespin then sprinkled with glitter & used Black stickles for the buttons & face. I cut the tiny (& I mean tiny) nose & cut the hat out of black glitter paper. He was cute but the store kept it.
I bought a few things I hadn't seen before:

I know blurry but it is a really cute little kit. It doesn't come with this stuff it is just the door itself & you put it together & decorate it how you want. I will post a picture when I do mine. It is called Haunted Door Shrine Kit by Coffee Break Designs & it can be found here:http://www.retrocafeart.com/item_2906/Haunted-Door-Shrine-Kit--ATC-Sized.htm
Bought a cool stamp. Her name is Spykee

Another really cool lace stamp by Stampendous

Just went shopping & then back home. All in all a fun day.

Next up...my birthday celebration, the Boston Area Scrap Fanatics Concord Retreat, then vacation time....

Have a great September.

Early Halloween?

A couple more Snowmen. I love Halloween, so I figure there may be a few more coming.

Not sure which one I like the best.

Enjoy...

Snowmen!! In July?

Well, not the real ones. I have been workng on a project that will become part of a gift for my sister. Next June she will be 50. I am going to make it fun. She loves snowmen so I figure I will help out her addiction.

This was my first. It was inspired by Tim Holtz. It isn't as elaborate, but I like him.

Some are better than others but they work. There really isn't anything that means something for her, they are just different. Oh, I forgot to mention...I am making 50 of them. I will put them in a book for her to have.

I hope you like them.

Happy Birthday Mario....and America

WOW, I can't believe it is already July 4th.
Today is my baby brothers 40th birthday. Can hardly believe it. Happy Birthday Moe. I Love you so much. I know when I was young I ad to share my birthday with my other brother...I hated that...I wanted my own birthday. Poor Mario...he has to share his with a whole country...pretty tough.

OK, so this was taken a few years ago but I love this picture.

June was pretty low key for me. I did work on some scrapping but not much as it was seriously hot & I just didn't want to have 2 AC's running at the same time.

It has been pretty busy at work & with it being July it will only get busier for me. I have to be ready for vacation and the new fiscal year. Oh & actually anticipate everything while I am gone on vacation...LOL...I am pretty good at it though & I love my job really. I do not mind going in at all. Sometimes I would go in on the weekends just because I hate leaving things unfinished.

Well, I hope you have  great 4th...even though it is raining.

Je t'aime beaucoup

I just have to say I am seriously loving the Graphic 45 Curtain Call line. It has been out since last year but par for the course, I have just found it...in my stash. But of course I needed more. Lots of fussy cutting needs to be done with this paper. Hidden gems if you really look.

This is an old photo of Housni & I from 2006 but I figure it went with the paper. I had to combine 2 of my loves & while it may be too busy, I like it a lot.
I called it Je t'aime boucoup...I Love You very much...

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Remember....laugh...you only have one life.

Yes Virginia, There Really Is a National Scrapbooking Day

Yup, really. If there are Nat'l Star Wars, Girl Scout, Pig Day...you name it, then why not a Scrapbooking day. I thought people scoffed at the fact that there were actual conventions. But when I mentioned NSD oh boy, they had a field day.

Well, I did not let anything deter me. I did 2 layouts yesterday in honor of NSD. Both in honor of very special people.

The first was a sketch challenge on BASF. I am sorry to say I do not know who did the sketch.
It is my Mom. The challenge was not only the sketch, but to make it into Mothers Day. Mine is in honor of my Mommy who is only in my heart now. The paper is my new obsession by My Mind's Eye "Sunshine". The photo was taken in Gloucester in 2001 when my Mom came to Boston for my 40th birthday. We were walking along & there was this boat named Bev...so she sat in front of it & said "Take my picture in front of this boat". Her name is Beverly. She loved it.

This LO is a photo taken in 1961. I am being loved by my Grandmother Doughty, my Mom's Mother, I wish I remembered her. Another done with the MME Sunshine line. Who knew I would like yellow? LOL

I started on a couple of other things but did not finish.

So remember, the first Saturday in May next year...I will.


Celebrate Something....One Life.

God Speed Pudge

Retirement is supposed to be a good thing...&; I am sure it is. It is also a sad time for an MLB player and his fans.
I for one am seriously sad to know I will never see Pudge gun down a runner trying to steal second. Or to see that sweet swing. Or that infectious smile behind the plate. He is the best catcher in MLB. No, not just because he was a Ranger. But because he was great. He loved and respected the game. It was never the money with him.
I hope he is still in baseball in some respect. I am thankful to the powers that be that I got to see him for all those years & enjoy the game that much more.

God Speed Pudge, You will be missed.

A Patriot, A Hero & a Head Start

So I had a really busy weekend. Since I do not have any family here I did my own thing for Easter. I scrapped...now I also did the usual cooking, cleaning, & laundry....but more scrapping.

I worked on some more challenges for the Scrap Madness event at BASF. This is the last week we have to post.

One of the challenges was called Vote For Me. It was to do a  LO or ATC on politics, or a politician. I chose Ronald Reagan. Loved him...I know, I know...I live in the wrong state to admit that, but I am among friends here right? LOL
I titled it True Patriot. I did a lot of Journaling but it is on the tag, hidden. Red, White & Blue were the only colors I could use...it isn't crooked, I just couldn't get the LO to stand straight...LOL

The next LO was for the challenge celebrating Women's History Month. We were to choose a woman we admired & do a LO or ATC. We had to journal or use words to say why we admired them. Again, my Journaling is hidden. My sister overcame a lot to get her & her 3 kids through this thing called life. It is just what & how she did this that I admire so much because I do not think I could have done it & came out sane.
Kind of hard to see because the LO is so dark (but I LOVE this paper line by MME) but the title is My Sister, My Hero.

We had 100 sketches during the month of March for this event. These next 2 are cards...yo will see what I mean by getting a head start...LOL

Yea, Halloween in March. I just wanted to use an old paper line by My Mind's Eye called Haunted.
You cannot tell by the photo but the bird, lets just call him a Raven is flocked...and a bitch to cut out. LOL

Tornados & more Scrap Madness

So on Tuesday, North Texas was slammed with over a dozen tornados. It was really a troubling thing for me. My whole family lives in the Dallas area. I reached my Daddy fairly quick & found they were OK but they had not heard from anyone else. I ended up reaching most of the family. All were safe.
I never ever liked the fact that it just cannot simply rain in Texas...no, it comes with golfball to baseball sized hail & tornados. How do you get away from those things short of having an underground bunker? Out of all the devastation not one reported death. "GOD Bless Texas"



So, I have done a lot for the March Scrap Madness over at BASF. It was challenging just keeping up with the challenges. I mean there were 100 sketches alone. There is one more weekend to get soem work done & posted.

Below are a few of what I did:

Remember this photo? Well I just love it & I believe turning in into the sepia tone works really well with this MME paper that I absolutely love. This was for the Polka Dot challenge. We could use polka dot paper or make our own...I chose the easy way. The ribbon used was just perfect as will & to make it stand out a little more I backed it with solid paper.

This was for the Alter It challenge. We could alter anything we wanted but it had to have a photo on it. Well, I have had this frame for years. I got it at a scrapbook convention & it finally came in handy...LOL

One of the challenges "Not My Style" was to make an ATC but it had to be something you do not normally work with. I have never done anything Disney so I used the Minnie & Minnie sticker sheet & did this....totally not my style.

For the "Sing Me a Song" challenge, we had to do a LO using song lyrics. I chose the song Why by Rascal Flatts because it was something I had already wanted to do. The focus on the LO is my cousin who died 11 years ago sadly to suicide. He was 2 months older than me & we grew up together & I think about him so much...I mean we were supposed to turn 50 together. Among other things I wrote in the journal spot was that I hope he found peace.

This was pretty simple but I love the photo. It is my baby brother when he was 2. He isn't so much of a baby anymore as he will trn 40 on July 4.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these. Be safe.

BASF Scrap Madness...Halfway...

Hey, we are already just over the halfway point & there are about 60 challenges, Sketches, Games & tips listed. Here are some I have done so far.

Me & my youngest brother Mario on his 5th birthday, This was sketch challenge # 1 by Monice but I do not know where it was taken from.

This is all 4 of us. This challenge was the "recipe" challenge. The ingredients..cardstock only, ribbon, metal, bling, flower & ink. The requited techniques...stamping, heat embossing, & punching.

This was a card sketch from 3/7. I am sorry I cannot give credit to the original sketch artist because it wasn't listed. But I really liked it.

Mo is my youngest brother Mario, when he was little we called him that. He was such an adorable kid. These were taken as he went on his first fishing trip wit my Dad. The LO was from sketch # 2 again, no info on the original artist.



This LO is of both brothers. The challenge was "Lets Get Scrappy" Besides the back sheet, we could only use scraps from our stash. Mine is actually all done with scraps, even the base page. I had 2 larger pieces that I put together using the plaid as its anchor.

Well, I need to go work on some more challenges. There are some good ones over there...Check it out:
www.bostonscrapfanatics.com