{ Free Cut Friday and a catch up post }

I know today is Saturday, but my plan for yesterday did not work out.

We got back from our family trip to Croatia on Wednesday. Alex starts Kindergarten on Monday, and he got to meet his teacher Thursday night. There will be lots of crying Monday morning.

The supplies I took with me to scrapbook, on the plane, and while there, did not happen. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, I posted this photo. I didn’t touch a single item while I was there. There was not enough time. We stayed up late and slept in. Our days were filled with visiting family, eating, and drinking. Alex played with his 6 cousins.

I did use my Instax. It was definitively trial and error, just like I read. Most of the photos turned out great, others did not. They were dark or overexposed, and you do not take close ups with the Instax.

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Now, for the Free Cut Friday. I created these two cards and they are up on The Scrap Review blog for download or you can download the file by clicking on the photo. These are perfect for project life pockets.

***These Silhouette Studio files are created by me, and are for personal use only. If you use my designs, please give proper credit and link back to my blog and/or original file.***

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My back to school project I created for Therm O Web uses another Silhouette cut file I created in Silhouette Studio. You can find a step by step tutorial with photos on Therm O Web blog. I used a perfect stamp set called I Love School by Ali Edwards from Technique Tuesday. The stars and the banner are from Seal Companion – Star by Technique Tuesday.

Click on the image to download the free file. Let me know if you have any questions. The apple card has three parts. Base (white), folding card (blue) and inner layer (yellow).

***These Silhouette Studio files are created by me, and are for personal use only. If you use my designs, please give proper credit and link back to my blog and/or original file.***

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 I have lots more to share, but I will save that for next time. Have a great Saturday.

{ Google Reader is going away }

Google Reader Is Shutting Down; Here Are the Best Alternatives (click on the link)

I have been using Feedly and like it. Read the article above for some other alternatives. I hope you still follow my blog. You can also sign up for my blog via email and you get email updates only when there is a blog post. ------->>>>> Look to the right in the side bar for a box that says Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz.

I hope to see you around. What are you using instead of Google Reader?

{ We are on the road }

I didn't get a chance to post before I left. There are so many things to do before a trip, especially when traveling with a baby. This is Alex's first trip. We are on our way to Arizona to visit family. Have a great week and I will post again as soon as I can.

{ New signature }

I noticed how everyone has their names at the end of each post. After some research I found out that you can add a signature to your post. Go to My Live Signature and create your signature. Go visit Allison, she has a great tutorial on how to add it to your posts. If you have any questions let me know. My signature had a black background when I saved it to my desktop and then uploaded to Photobucket. To fix that problem I chose to download signature option. When the new screen opens I copied the URL they provided and pasted it I was going to post some cards, but I am just too tired. I will do it tomorrow.

{ Baby's first Easter }

I hope everyone had a great day! I made this little Easter basket/box for Alex's gift. When I was shopping for him they had a ton of baskets, but they were all too big and I didn't like any of the colors. I did find a small one that I did get, but it was too small. I have this new patterned paper from Die Cuts With A View, Nana's Nursery collection - Baby Boy. It is adorable !!! The colors were perfect so I made him this. I did put a handle on it, but I didn't like the way it looked so I took it off. He was in a very good mood today so I had to take photos of him with his goodies. Daddy got him the rabbit. Mommy spilled a bag of eggs all around him, just for photos. I had those eggs for at least two years. Got them one year after the holiday, on sale. I am glad I was able to use them today. Thanks to my friends, Dayna and Gina, who gave me the idea the other day. I took around 300 photos of him because he was just so adorable. He had his two month check up on Monday and his first vaccinations so he was not himself all week. I could tell that he was feeling better today. He weighs 12 lbs 6 oz !
I made some cards this week and I will share them as soon as I can.
Here are photos of my cutie.

{ Happy Birthday Mom !!! }

It's my mom's birthday today and I took her out to lunch at Grand Lux Cafe. It was nice to get dresses up and go out. Usually I don't look like this around the house so we took the opportunity to take plenty of photos.
These are photos from today before we went out and one from the restaurant. We had a great time!

{ Getting ready }

There is lots of cleaning going on at my house, and those last minute things that need to be done before baby gets here. I had nine months to get ready and I wait until the last minute. My mom will be here next Wednesday. I am super excited. She is arriving from Croatia and staying with me for two months.
I don't want to neglect my blog so I have to come and say hi. If you don't see me as often, know that I am here and will check in whenever I can.
Baby's room is all done. I want to take photos tomorrow and I will share those. I washed all the baby clothes tonight, they are so tiny and cute.
My baby shower is this Saturday and my friend from California is flying in tomorrow. I will share those photos with you, as well.

Here is a card I made with Impression-Obsession stamps: Love Is All Around. I stamped the hearts and then cut them out. If you like hearts, like me, this is the set to get. I love the little word border at the bottom.
Have a nice evening. I am going back to work.

{ Happy New Year !!! }

I didn't think I would have time to post anything today, the last day of the year. I need to get ready for dinner tonight with friends. I have been working on house projects and nothing scrappy until today. I want to get as much done as I can before the baby gets here. I am trying not to stress out, but I have so many things to finish.
Card Creations: Quick and Easy arrived the other day from Paper Crafts. I was surprised to find out that two of my cards are published in there. I only took a quick look; maybe tomorrow I will have more time to enjoy every page.
Have a great evening and Happy New Year !!!!!

{ Merry Christmas !!! }

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, I am !

{ Happy Birthday to me !!! }

Yes, it is my birthday today and the first day of winter. Well, this year, the first day of winter is tomorrow...It doesn't feel like winter here. It is going to be 73 degrees today. I have to go get ready for my day out, but I just wanted to say a quick hello and share some cards I made. I hope to have some photos to share of my big belly later. It is getting really close and I am ready.
Tinkering Ink patterned paper from Beloved collection and Botanical Bliss collection.

{ Baby's new crib }

After we got the new car on Monday we were able to pick up the new crib. We put it together this week. I am really excited, the room is coming together and I can't wait until it's all finished. We decided that I would paint four more big canvases and several small ones. I am trying to get all that done this week while my husband is home so we can finally decorate the walls. I will share photos when it's all done.
Here is one of me painting. My husband loves to take photos. Each painting takes about three hours and I still have two big ones to finish. It's getting harder to sit, but I enjoy painting. I finished a big project that I will share with you tomorrow...and I have some exciting news that I can't wait to share with you.

{ New family car }

We got a new car yesterday. 2008 Toyota Highlander. Love it! It was time for a bigger family car, especially with the baby on the way. My little Ford Mustang that I traded in was good to me for eight years and I was sad to see it go. This new car is so big and I am still getting used to it. I am glad the side view mirrors fold in, because I couldn't make it into the garage.
Just one more photo I wanted to share with you of my big belly.

{ Favorite recipe }

Do you have one? I love to cook and bake, especially this time of the year. I posted a challenge over at Creative Xpress along with my blog pick of the week. My pick was Megan, she has such beautiful creations on her blog, so make sure you check it out. The challenge was to share your favorite recipe.

APPLE PIE
1 (15-oz) pkg. Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crust (or make your own)
FILLING
6 cups (6 medium) thinly sliced peeled apples - I use Golden Delicious, they are sweet, semi firm
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
Prepare pie crust according to package directions using 9-inch pie pan.
Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; toss lightly. Spoon mixture into pastry-lined pan. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edges of crust with strips of foil after 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning.
This recipe came from Down-Home Cooking and Baking coobook magazine (Classic Pillsbury Cookbooks). It is from November 1993, wow, that is long time ago. I remember I made this pie when I still lived in Wichita Falls while I was in Nursing school. The original recipe is made with a top pie crust and a Praline topping. I like my version better. I have been making this apple pie for a very long time. I am surprised I still have the little book.

I made it the other day and I like to sever it with Vanilla Bean ice cream, and I like my apple pie cold. Enjoy!!!

{ Tagged }

I was tagged by Kandis, thanks girl, and I have to share 7 random facts about me.

1. English is my second language and I try to spell check everything. If you ever see a mistake on my blog, now you know why.
2. I love Coke, I have at least one a day. It doesn't taste good now that I am pregnant, so I switched to Sprite or Ginger Ale. I really hope my taste for Coke comes back.
3. I don't like surprises.
4. I have been driving a stick shift since I learned how to drive. My next car is going to be an automatic.
5. I taught myself how to sew and quilt.
6. I don't like cold weather.
7. I love pop-up books.


Deb tagged me with a smile tag, thank you. If you want to play along just consider yourself tagged by me. Leave me a link to your blog here so I can read some fun facts about you.

I have to share one more Halloween card with you using my new Glitter Halloween stack from DCWV.

{ I am back !!! }

I am back and I wanted to share some photos from our trip. It's been busy around here trying to catch up on emails and message boards, housework and unpacking...you know how it is. We didn't get in until 3:30 am this morning and I am tired. We had fun, even though, at times, it was exhausting for me. I can't wait to make some cards, I really missed it.

I know you can't tell how huge I am in this photo, but this was one of the better ones. Still working on uploading all the photos. Don't worry I have more and I hope some with my belly. I saw this little display on my way to the bathroom (one of many) at one of the hotels, can't remember which one, and I thought it was cute.

{ Hello from Las Vegas }

I am in Las Vegas with my husband this week. Our last little getaway before the baby arrives. Today is his birthday and we are going to see The Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil. Happy Birthday love!
I was hoping to show you photos I take this week, but I didn’t bring my camera cord for my laptop. No photos until I get home.
If I am missing from my blog this week now you know why. I will be back soon.

{ World Card Making Day }

...is tomorrow, October 6th. We are celebrating World Card Making day at Create My Keepsake with challenges and prizes. If you have some free time come and play with us. I am hosting two sketch challenges. I will post the sketches tomorrow. All the festivities start at 10:00 am CST.

{ It's a boy !!! }

I took this quiz again and this time it was different!!!!
You have a 56% chance of having a boy. And you have a 43% chance of having a girl.

Had my sonogram today and I am having a BOY!!! I am so excited!!!!

{ Is it a boy or a girl? }

I just took this test: http://www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html
Congratulations!
You have a 43% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 56% chance of having a girl.

I have no idea. At my last appointment my doctor couldn't tell, can you? In this picture you can see the baby's belly. I am 18 weeks now and my next appointment is in couple of weeks, maybe he will be able to tell then. I definitively want to know.

{ I'm a Rockin' Gril }

Rockin' Girl Blogger that is!!! I have been nominated by Kathie. How sweet is that. Check out her blog, she has some awesome creations. I was nominated last month my Bethany Paull, another awesome blogger, but I was on vacation and didn't post. Thank you very much ladies. I think this is fun and since I can't pick just five, I think all of you ROCK!!!! I have a list to the left of most of the blogs I read, if I am missing anyone let me know and I will add you to my list.
I will be back later to pick a blog candy winner!