TGIF! I love Fridays, it's always easier to get up and get through the day knowing I've got either a fun weekend planned, or a relaxing weekend to enjoy! Be sure to come back tomorrow for The Greeting Farm & Club Anya's Happy Anyaversary Blog Hop!

For today - I used the Whimsie Doodles Patience Pixie digital image again and changed up the color scheme, I love this image:

My son Trevor turned 16 last week - we had planned a beach trip for a day, but neither of the days we picked turned out to be "beachy days" - so we compromised and spent last Sunday on our boat, on the ocean in Connecticut. Jeremy and I took Trevor and our nephew Eric, who is 18 (Trevor adores him), and we had a fabulous time. Here's the birthday boy:

Here he is driving the boat, caught him smiling (he doesn't like pictures of himself smiling, prefers to look like a tough guy, hee hee):

Eric loves having his picture taken, he's hysterical:

Trev popping out of the little cabin area, LOL:

Moi:

Jeremy relaxing while Trev drives:

Trevor leaves for California in 11 days, he will fly all by himself for the 2nd time to stay with his grandmother, Jeremy's mom. He's really excited - he'll stay for 2 weeks and by the time he gets home, school will be starting shortly (yay!).

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the blog hop - I expect to see some stunning cards and artwork. Enjoy - peace!

When I saw the sketch for the Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge blog, AND that it was sponsored by Whimsie Doodles, I just knew what I had to create. I LOVE the way it came out, what do you think?

I used Patience the Pixie digital image by Whimsie Doodles and a sentiment from Whimsical Wishes by the Greeting Farm. I used Stampin' Up! Summer Sun and Basic Black cardstocks and inks, Dazzling Diamonds and black glitter, and a piece of black grosgrain ribbon. I used one large circle for the background and then several smaller circles from a 3/4" punch to make the scalloped border.

I actually bought this digital image with the idea of turning her into a bumblebee - this card was made in memory of my buddy Meg, who passed away from cancer last year. I'm sending this to her mom, who is in my thoughts every single day. Peace.

The Greeting Farm's Flowery Farm Fresh Friday challenge!

Today is Farm Fresh Friday at the Greeting Farm, one of my favorite blogs. The challenge was to make a card using flowers and at least one butterfly. It was the perfect opportunity to break out my brand-spankin'-new Butterfly Wishes set from the Greeting Farm:

I used SU! cardstock, ink, punches, and gemstone brads - the background paper is by Die Cuts With a View (DCWV).

Next up is another card I've made with the Greeting Farm's Hope & Grace Peace. I've got a ton of this paper, which I love. I love this color scheme - so you've seen some cards made with this before and I am sure you'll see more. :o)

And this one is made with CC Designs Swiss Pixie Gretel:

Yesterday was Trevor's 16th birthday. Today was my day off and we were supposed to go to the beach, but Mother Nature did not cooperate. So we rescheduled for Sunday and I stamped today instead. Trev got a longboard skateboard, a new cell phone, candy and snacks, some Microsoft points for his XBOX 360 Live, cash, and my sister is taking him shopping for sneakers/clothes tomorrow. My parents cooked him a swordfish (his favorite) yesterday, and I bought him his own personal cheesecake, along with a key lime pie for the rest of the family. Tonight, we are getting roast beef sandwiches and yummy chicken fingers from one of Trev's favorite restaurants. We don't have birthDAYS around here, we have birthday-weeks or birthday-months (I get a birthday month... hee hee - the kids and hubby get a week if they are good). :o) By the way, my birthday month starts in 8 days. I love my birthday - it's August 6, and I would not be against having lots of birthday love in the form of comments, hint hint hint... ;o)
Peace.

Whimsie Doodles First Sketch Challenge

This is my entry for Whimsie Doodles first sketch challenge:

I used Whimsie the Turtle digital image, Stampin' Up! inks, cardstock, and background papers. SU! rub-ons (sentiment) and brads.
Peace.

Finally stamped again!

I FINALLY found some time to stamp again! I made this card for the little guy I send mail to through Audrey's Umbrella, his name is Kole:

And this one is for the Greeting Farm's sketch challenge, which I definitely found challenging, to say the least:

Different, but cute - no?
Peace.

Life-long friends...

I have been very fortunate in my life to have met some really wonderful people throughout the years. It's funny how you meet people in different circumstances and situations and you either hit it off and become life-long friends, or you don't. I have so many friends that I've met in different areas of my life, and I am so thankful for the relationships that we've developed. My friend Linda at Behind My Red Door is one of them. We met randomly through ChemoAngels, realized we were practically neighbors, also realized we shared an interest in card-making, and we became life-long friends. I've got my friends that I've known since high school - others I met at the 2 colleges that I attended/graduated from, others that I've met through jobs or friends of friends, etc. I am definitely a people-person, and I really appreciate my friendships.

So anyway - this is my friend Annik (isn't that a pretty name?):

When I started my job at Becker College 4 years ago, Annik was my boss. She trained me, literally taught me everything I know. She left the position of Director of Student Accounts to go back to her home state of Vermont a couple of years ago, but she ended up deciding not to go. So she stuck around at Becker as the Director of Budget & Planning. She stayed involved with my department and has always been there any time I've needed her, which is often (more so lately since I got promoted to Bursar!). LOL She is one of those employees who you can't imagine what you'd do without (I am not alone in feeling this way). She's a patient teacher, she's extremely bright, and she's become one of my best friends.

But I'm going to have to learn to live without her. Annik, being the adventurous and brave individual she is, has decided to go back to school for her Master's degree and possibly join the Peace Corps. She would be PERFECT for it - or anything she wants to do, really. I admire her so much - but I'm going to miss her immensely. A bunch of us at work threw a party for her yesterday at our friend Kim's house. Here's Annik and I:

It's going to be really hard to say goodbye. We are going to go out on Thursday night, have a few drinks and say goodbye. I am definitely going to bring my tissues. Even though I know I will cry, I am very happy for her and what her future holds. I know she's going to do something special with her life. AND - I know we will never lose touch. She's a life-long friend, of that I have no doubt. :o) Thankfully, the Internet makes it much easier to stay in touch and keep updated on each other's lives.

This is me and my friend Denise:
Denise was also my boss at one point before she abandoned me... I mean, took another position that was better for her, hee hee... at another local college last year. I cried when Denise left, too. LOL :o) Hey - how many employees cry when their bosses leave/quit? I bet not too many. I think that is a testament to these ladies and what kind of boss/supervisor/person/friend they are. I wasn't the only one crying when Denise left, and I won't be the only one crying when Annik leaves. Anyway, Denise is another life-long friend. I miss her, but we keep in touch. Without these 2 ladies, I never would have advanced so quickly in my career. They trusted me, had faith in my abilities, and went to bat for me many times. I am so thankful to them for that, but more so for their friendship.

I love you girls! :o) xoxoxoxo Peace.

Still here!

Holy cow - I'm a bad blogger! I cannot believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted. Can you tell I went back to work? LOL I mentioned my promotion - my title is Bursar, it's the same thing as "Director of Student Accounts" - I'm in charge of bringing the money in. I love my job, but it's been a WHIRLWIND! Let's just say that the person in the position before me made things as difficult as possible for anyone who would come after her. But I've been working at this College for 4 years now,in the same department. So although it's been challenging, it's certainly not impossible. And having her gone has changed the atmosphere - people are more at ease, she made a lot of people miserable and tense. That's going away now, thankfully.

Trevor turns 16 next week. I cannot believe it. He wanted a longboad skateboard for his birthday, so we ordered one online today from Dick's Sporting Goods. They were on sale, plus I found a coupon code by searching online, I ended up paying $80.00, including shipping, for a longboard that normally cost $120.00. Not bad, eh? Trev is supposed to be going to California to stay with his Gramma Dori (Jeremy's mom) for the first 2 weeks of August. He's gotten so tall and big, that I'm not half as worried about him as I was when he went 2 years ago. I am going to have to bring him to get his learner's permit when he gets back, too. Unbelievable, I cannot believe my first-born is going to be driving. *sigh*

Cassidy is having a nice Summer, at least I think she is. I hardly ever see her, my little social butterfly. LOL She has made friends in the neighborhood, so hopefully she won't be as nervous about starting high school at the new school in the Fall.

I haven't done much stamping, but hope to squeeze some in this weekend. The sun has been such a rare occurrence around here that when it is shining, I'm out there soaking it up! Here is one card I made, just playing with a stamp that I rarely get to use, Stamping Bella's Togetha Forevah:

Have a lovely weekend, hope you are all enjoying some nice weather! Peace.

Sticky Sweets, 4th of July, and Back to Work!!!

I got my new Stampin' Up! order in the other day, and part of it was the "Sticky Sweets" - they are basically embellishments that are sticky on both sides and you can stick to your project and then cover in glitter. I had fun playing with them - these use some retired SU! Designer Series background paper:

Fourth of July - we went to our friends' Missy & Dan's house on Friday for a cookout and fireworks and had a blast - here is Trevor rapping with the karaoke machine:

Double rainbow - it rained for at least an hour and then the biggest, most beautiful double rainbow appeared, and totally lit up the house that it ended at, it was so cool:

This afternoon (Sunday), we finally went out on Jeremy's new boat! We went with our friends Denise & Dave and their 3 kids, to a lake near our house. We spent about 3 hours and had a blast - here is Jeremy, in his glory:

Trev (he's going to be 16 in 18 days):
Denise and her daughter Livvie, 10 months old:
Back to work I go tomorrow after 2 weeks vacation. I haven't mentioned it, but I also start learning my new job tomorrow. I was promoted to Bursar a couple of weeks ago, pretty exciting. For those of you who remember, the woman who made me miserable at work was "let go". This is precisely why I'm always so adamant that I believe in karma. Sometimes it takes a while to catch up, but catch up it always does.

Hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July holiday! Peace.

More Challenges

Happy rainy Wednesday! Yup, still raining. Been thundering off and on all day, too. Another perfect day to make cards.... my hobby is certainly benefiting from this rotten weather! LOL

This one is for The Greeting Farm's Dotty Spotty challenge, I used Peace from Hope & Grace, all cardstocks and papers/inks from Stampin' Up!:

This one is for the Bloggabella sketch challenge - I really like sketch challenges now, as I find myself using the same layouts! The sketch challenges force me to use different ones, and I am usually happy with the results. Here I used Margarita Ketto - all papers and inks by Stampin' Up!:

Lastly - this one is for the Digital Tuesday challenge, which is sponsored by Dustin Pike this week. I used my digital C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Heidi - all papers and inks by Stampin' Up! - stars are fasteners from the dollar section at Target:
That's all for now! Peace.