Great times ...

Not sure if it was our visit to Frenzy Stamper where my cousin Alane fell in love with the "monster" dolls ....
















or riding the segways around
Tempe Town Lake ....
















or our day at the spa ....
but we had a fabulous time!

Its very special when you get to share time with family that you love!

The best weekend!

I don't remember the last time I got to spend the entire weekend playing with all my "stuff" ... no grocery shopping, no laundry, no errands .. none of the regular weekend chores .... I never left the house, i just played ....

Here's what I made today

Definitely inspired by Wendy ... those flowers are addicting ...


The background and all the flowers are metal, as well as the butterfly ... the leaves are grungepaper ... used distress and alcohol inks ...

Another of my favorite quotes ... a stamp from Club Scrap ... and I do believe Terri did the stamp design! Love it!!

A finished project ...

and just in time. My cousin arrives Monday morning and I can't wait to give this to her. I hope she likes it ... there's lots of special little things inside!

The cover .. one of my favorite quotes from a special kit Club Scrap made to benefit people in need after Hurricane Katrina. Alane was born and raised in New Orleans.

And the flower ... one of the many floral inspirations from Wendy.

Another of my favorite quotes ... "I hope we're never to old for ice cream and fancy dresses"











Special family photos ...













More special family photos ...

This could be my all time favorite photo of my mother and her sister, Alane's mom. There's a long story that goes along with this photo, which I won't bore you with, but it was a very special time that Alane and I shared together.













When Alane's son was born ...














And the end, because I just love my little cuzzin!















I sure had fun making this ... special stuff! Thanks for looking!

And the heat goes on ....

Yes, its been pretty warm in Phoenix lately, but then what else would you expect ... afterall we do live in a desert! And this heat happens every single summer .... but the good part of that is there's no better time of the year to stay inside with the air conditioning and work with your favorite crafting media.

I'm so excited because my dear cousin Alane is coming to visit me in a week. Our mothers were sisters, and were very close, and we continue that family link.

Recently I ran across some photos of my grandparents and our mothers, as young ladies, so I decided to put together a small scrapbook for Alane, as a little gift when she arrives.

I made the book from a Club Scrap kit. 6x6 pages in the front which makes the lid, which opens to a box to hold memorabilia. Alane and I share a passion for the history and photos of our family.


The first page was a photo of the house our grandmother grew up in, the second page is our grandparents on my mothers side ... i'll share the rest when they're complete.

Hmmmmm, i guess i just ruined her surprise if she reads this ... oh, well, she'll know how much I love her ahead of time, I guess!

Happy 4th of July!!

Hopefully we'll all be celebrating independence day with family and friends. Lots of pool parties, bbq's, fireworks and red, white and blue!

Please make sure you are aware of your little furry family members during the festivities surrounding this weekend. Many of them don't like the loud noises, crowds and bright lights.

Speaking of furry friends, take a moment to visit Claudine Hellmuth's blog Watch the quick video clips from her Tuesday post about Bernie Berlin and A Place to Bark. Bernie does such great things! If you can help with any kind of donation, please do.

Have a safe and great long weekend!

Home Sweet Home

We just got back late last night from a 3-day stay in San Diego. Perfect is the best way to describe that place .... i think it is just always 70 degrees!

Thank you Farmers Insurance for giving us the opportunity to qualify for this event!

I can't believe I didn't take one photo .. never even took my camera out. Was just too "into" the moments.

We stayed at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter right in the heart of downtown within walking distance to almost anything ... and about 20 steps from Horton Plaza. Horton Plaza is a 5-story shopping center with some very nice opportunities!

But besides shopping, we spent time at the beach, at Balboa Park (you could spend a week there just wandering through all the museums), a visit to Body Worlds (which I don't think anyone should miss), a visit to Old Town (the livery stable was my favorite .. oh, and the shoe store) and some time with friends.

So funky ...

but yet it just makes me smile. We came across this "thing" in the 80% off aisle at Hobby Lobby. Its got a deer head hanging out the top and room for lots of photos in the photo sleeves. It was marked down to 4$ .. how could we possibly say no?? All three of us walked away with one!

My friend Lia (biscuit dough, as I lovingly call her) came to visit me today, along with her friend Sandy. They both live in California.

Sandy's boss made arrangments for them to stay the weekend at the Montelucia Resort in Paradise Valley. I got a tour of it this morning when I met up with them. Wow! What a property, absolutely gorgeous.

We started out with an early breakfast, then hit Scrapbooks Etc, then Hobby Lobby, then Culvers for a little frozen custard pick-me-up, then Mystic Paper, then Melrose Place, then Paris Envy, then back to Frenzy Stamper. Tons of fun, lots of laughs and we all were so happy with the little treasures we found throughout the day.

Thanks girls for a great time today!! Come back anytime!