I scrapped!

Amazing but true- I squeezed a little scrap time in this weekend.
I worked on the layout of Nick on Friday night, finished it on Saturday, created Meagan's girly-girl one on Saturday and started Hunter's What now layout and wrapped it all up Sunday- and, Anthony came home Saturday night. He picked Aunt Jeanne up (she says thank you) at the airport and took her home then came over- we yacked until 3 am!!! I did not think I could get much accomplished -pulling "all nighters" is hard on us "old" people, but I managed! I scrapped, I did errands, took Meg to a friends and cooked Chicken Parmesan FROM SCRATCH! Shoulda gotten a pick of that one,..but I forgot!
Anyway- here is some layouts for you. All made with Crate Paper Prudence paper set and accessories sold at the AC Bailey store. It is BEAUTIFUL stuff, got embossing and glitter on it, brown and green and blue colors. It is real rich looking and I got 5 layouts and some cards with plenty still leftover for another project and all that stuff was under $10!
Check these out:

You all know Miss Meagan- featured in lots of layouts.
Her shirt was the perfect match to the papers here, funny in real life these layouts look so different, and her eyes are SO blue- really! No enhancements with Photoshop here-I really do not even know HOW to do that! They glitter like the sparkles on this paper! She is a natural beauty!

And this is another layout of Hunter- another favorite scrap subject.
He LIKES posing for the camera. The baby he is holding is my nephew Ryan's baby who is also named Ryan. He is usually very happy-bu this was his Christening Day and he had had enough of flashing cameras and people passing him around I think-Hunter loves babies and wanted to hold baby Ryan-until he started to cry!

And this layout is of my oldest son Nicholas. Nicholas is my "gentle giant." But he loves anything with wheels and horsepower. He was pretty excited that we had ordered our Shelby GT 500, but we had not yet gotten it from Ford when Uncle Tom located a used one. He was able to go and pick up this pretty white convertible before our car even arrived and Nick fell in love. These pics were taken by my nephew Tommy with his CELLPHONE camera, can you believe that?? Anyway, I printed them and scrapped them. It is hard to get pics of Nick, he lives out of town. I did the hand journaling thing here, but HATE my handwriting on layouts.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of "Prudence" as much as I liked using that Crate Paper- wait until you see what I am working on now,...maybe post more by the end of the week!

Good Mail Day!

Wow, has it really been over a week since I last blogged?
So sorry- I was doing so well too...Anyway, I thought I'd hop on and share with you all my today was a good mail day.
I love getting mail. Never used to, but since I now have so many scrappy friends, the mail is something I always look forward to. I got an ATC card- for those of you who do not know what those are, they are called Artist Trading Cards and are like baseball cards that scrappers make themselves and trade or give away. I also got a new scrap magazine- cutest layout on the cover, cannot wait to see inside and figure out which of my friends are published in THIS issue- just love turning the pages and saying, "I know her, and her,...okay, not that lady,...but HER!"

My mailman has gotten used to me, but he used to always give me the "crazy lady" look.
He told me once that no one but me gets happy and dances a little jig when the mail arrives. No one runs out to the mail box skipping and singing - just me. He said he used to wonder what was in those packages I so enjoy getting (hahaha- what was he thinking was in them?) but I started showing him my scrap stuff and I always give him home made treats at the holidays and he seems happy now to bring me nice stuff...He knocks and says "Gail, a box from AC Bailey- AGAIN and he smiles- hahahaha:) So, he said today- I think someone made you something and he handed me a small brown envelope-he was RIGHT! Check this out-


a handmade thank you card from my SIL's daughter -in-law (so is she my niece-in-law??) Miek and Renee have the cutest son, but she just had an adorable daughter. I love new babies and this one is a cutie and she named her MEGAN!!! (coincidence???) So I made them a bo bunny baby album- don't think I took pics, if I did I cannot find them....but she MADE me THIS card- how cool is that??
Didn't know she was also a talented scrapper- coulda sent her the stuff and watched HER make the album I bet. I love mail!

And wanna know a funny thing about my mailman? He is deathly afraid of DOGS! All dogs, but MINE! Found out when I had a mail issue once, I called the post office and explained that the mail man left a slip on my porch and the lady on the phone asked, "Where do you live?" THREE times and then insisted it was not MY mailman leaving anything on the porch cause I have a dog and he would NEVER get out of the mailtruck here. But, we fooled her! I get lots of mail, somedays it does not fit int he box and I have an oversized box too! So, he'd meet me out front and I explained to him that Casey (the dog) has an underground fence wire thing that beeps when she is leaving her boundary and if she crosses the line she gets "bit." I showed him where she could go and could not go and he liked that she could not reach him in the driveway or walk. He was funny to watch, he'd turn to always have an eye on her and he'd carry a biscuit and tell her if she was good he'd toss it to her after. But in time, her cuteness got to him. He now knows her name, calls out to her, tells her to sit and I think I saw him pet her once!

Here is a layout of Casey with my son Anthony who loves her even more than the mailman does.
Who knows, maybe Casey will get mail someday and then what will he do then? HAHAHA:)
Old layout- sorry! I am scrapping this weekend, will post even better layouts for you by Monday-promise.

What a Weekend!

Those that know me know that my life is always very interesting and no one describes me as "bored or boring"...but what a weekend we had! Exciting even for me.
We awoke Saturday morning to a chimney fire. Mike thought he had it pretty under control but they thing was just not going out so he decided to report it to the local fire department "in case" ..well I will spare you all the gory details but suffice it to say that the phone call was the start of a very long series of events best described by these few pictures.






Then- no sooner did we have that over with, and cleaned up I had a girlfriend over to scrap and within a very short time she fell ill. We were thinking we needed an EMT and ambulance but we decided her husband could take her to the ER instead so Mike and I were off to deliver her back home to get the husband and baby and trek to Peterborough Hospital. She was there a LONG time but we finally got word she was not having a stroke or aneurysm issue and she will be FINE. Good news there...

So, I did what any gal raised Catholic woulda done at that point- I headed to church and prayed that I would fall back into the Lord's good graces and this stress would end, adn my prayers may have been answered cause things did manage to improve from there. I got to spend the evening with two of my sister in laws, their husbands and family. We had an awesome spaghetti dinner and some real yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Meagan spent the night so Mike and I came back home to do more clean up, squeezed in a movie and when we got up Sunday we headed to Patriot Place in Foxboro MA. It was OKAY, but we decided we'd try the Wrentham Outlet instead- glad we did! After an awesome lunch at Uno's we did some quick shopping and I came home with some goodies from Lindt, Coach, Reebok, Crabtree and Evelyn, William and Sonoma.....my kinda shopping trip. Then we hightailed it home to make it to my niece's b-day party for pizza and cake and more socializing with loved ones- so,...the weekend definately took an uphill swing from where it started. And,...with all that chaos I still managed to get a layout done. Whatcha think?


The colors and the "sparkle" from the fine glitter on the rela life layout is incredible - gotta get you all a better pic of this.

Happy Spring Everyone!

The sun is finally shining. We had a nice day yesterday, great sunset- I captured it on film too.
It is getting really warm out too - can hardly wait for Spring, uh...MUD season to come (and go) I so want to get the Mustang out of storage and have some fun. But, while waiting I am enjoying passing the time actually getting some scrapping done.
Look what I made this week-
I really enjoy using up some scrap supplies- this was the CI Day by Day set that Erica provided me with as DT stuff a few months back, but I used ribbon from scrap, my broken Cat's Eye Inks, some MME journal cards, Primas, Jenni Bowlin stickers and several other stickers I had laying around so long I forgot (and it is not on the back of the pack either) where I got them.
Love using up stuff- makes room for more NEW things, ya' know. Speaking of using stuff up- I am also starting to get cracking at those SEI kits- I have a weakness for monthly kits (I am good now, only get two regularly, used to get SIX)...and I decided that if they are going to keep coming I have got to get them made up

so,...after making these cute cards from the CI Day by Day collection I made about 15 more from a SEI mini-kit. They came out SO cute!
Yes, I have been quite a busy-bee! I am so loving it- having some "me" time...
Look what else I did- I noticed how nice the sky looked last night and went outside with my "good camera" to play a bit. I amaze myself sometimes when I actually work it right and get some good shots too. LOOK at these, and NO editing (ya think I figured that photoshop out yet?? No chance-one thing at a time). This is straight off the disc! Standing in my own driveway!
Man, sometimes LIFE can be GOOD....

Sunday Night Already??

Here is a pic of what I scrapped this weekend.







What? You see NOTHING?? Well, then - you got it! That is what I scrapped!
And, I cannot even explain why-I mean, I didn't sleep the last two days away or anything, but I didn't get anything on MY "to do" list done. I accomplished laundry, house cleaning, all the bathrooms are scrubbed, I cooked and everyone has been well fed all weekend - requiring 3 trips in 3 days to the grocery store. I saw Hunter on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My checkbook is balanced, my inventory updated, the new stuff for NEXT Saturday's crop is all priced and labelled, the tupperware cabinet organized, every room vacuumed. Meg's "to do" list is done (thank you Mom) and so is Mike's (thank you honey) and now I am BEAT and ready for bed, not my scrap space. Please tell me why the weekdays are SO long and the weekend days are SO SHORT. Anyway, we did get to open the windows and get some fresh air in here today- that always gives me spring fever and the sunshine was so nice, quite a welcome change.

I mentioned three trips to the grocery store earlier, the last one was just to grab more whip cream and another package of frozen veggies as more dinner guests were added. Well, I was so wishing I had my camera. While I was waiting in MY line, I was watching the folks in the next line over- first was a man, dressed in snowmobile boots and overall type snowpants- no coat, just shirt sleeves. Next was a woman wearing a suede and wool lined coat and her son was wearing shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt, then the gal behind them-college student perhaps, was wearing a big puffy down-like jacket with a hat and scarf (musta been real cold) except for her feet- she had on clunky leather sandals. She was buying lettuce and ice cream... funny huh?
And for me,...I was wearing jeans, a short sleeve top, a sweater, and my LIME GREEN flip flops!
Snow on the ground, my toes were kinda cold- but what the heck- don't believe me?...here's my "pic of the day" from the snowstorm we got last week.




Enjoy! Oh, and no comments about my ugly toes- they have been wrapped in wool socks for MONTHS and I KNOW I need a pedicure- this is New England after all!

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I am hoping to fit some scrapping in today, between dusting and laundry-
the GOOD news is, no errands to run today! So I am home.
The wayward traveler finally made it to my Mom's and he made it, albeit late, to his college interview too. He is going back to talk to a few more people on Monday as well.
He is EXHAUSTED-but as you can tell, he is being well fed.




He arrived at Grandma's to a FEAST of crawfish, shrimp, seafood chowder, salad, etc. and when I talked to him today he woke to breakfast ready and waiting. Eggs homefries, bacon and toast! Talk about SPOILED!! Well, he is NOT spoiled at home, he told me not to post his less than flattering pic.

What was I thinking??

So, son #2 wants to go to Florida...
he works full-time and has college.
He tells me he can squeeze it in if we book the trip the second week of March between Thursday at 10:30 pm and Tuesday at 4:00 pm- with advance notice to schedule Florida appointments and arrange to have off from work-
Mom: "A if we do that you have to leave on a Friday"
A: "So,..."
Mom:"We cannot do that in MARCH- the Friday is Friday the 13th"
A: "So,..."
Mom: "No, that won't work- you cannot fly on Friday the 13th!"
A: "why,...."
Mom: "Cause it is FRIDAY the 13th"
A:"You are so SILLY- they don't shut down the airports and all cause it it Friday the 13th Mom, book it I will be fine."

SO- Mom books the flight against her best judgment and it is "fine" all right! Conversations ensue regarding the trip and son assures mom we are "all set" and after many many discussions regarding arriving early, what to pack, arriving early, what not to pack, arriving early, print boarding pass, arriving early, don't forget boarding pass, arriving early, getting the "needed" itinerary vs. the "wanted" itinerary scheduled, arriving early - did I mention arrive early??

3/13/2009 -Phone rings at 5:35 AM. Mom was SLEEPING, Son reports he is still HOME. Son just woke up, not at airport. Son called at 5:55 am, is now at airport and long lines -lots of waiting. Son calls at 6:05 am, still in line, airport paging all flight passengers-guy in front of him is a "jerk" has a noon flight and won't let son cut in line. Son very agitated and of course this is everyone else's fault....Son speaks to agent who assures him an alternate flight will be arranged. 6:15 am, son misses flight, mom checks computer, next plane leaves in 15 minutes. 6:30 am son arrives at designated gate- is informed he was booked at his request on next flight, but while he did not make it through the gates on time his luggage did! He has just missed flight #2 but his luggage didn't! Bags are off to sunny Orlando.....Son is "not yelling" on cell phone at mother,...Happy Friday! Son gets flight to Ft. Lauderdale, has to kill an hour in the terminal but won't leave area and risk missing flight #3- good idea. Once he gets to Ft. Lauderdale he will kill another 1.5 hours then board a new plane to ...Orlando, where he will hopefully meet up with his LUGGAGE and my mother. His 6:15 NH direct/non-stop flight to arrive 9:30 am at proper destination is now a WAIT-Fly-WAIT-fly-find bag-find ride 6:15am t02:10 pm kinda day...ask me again why we should not fly on Friday the 13th?? and I am SURE there is more to come as it is only 7:50 am....stay tuned!

And, Happy Friday the 13th to you to!