Its a Dandy!

Happy Monday everyone!  Its a dreary, rainy day here in Virginia...blech...I'm not a fan of rainy days (well only if they are lazy days lol) and today is not a lazy-do-nothing-day here.  Sorry no posts, I was pretty sick last week and could barely see straight but I'm feeling better.  And then this weekend we worked in the yard planting and mulching and grilling.  Unfortunately my Washington Capitals lost (boo hoo..sniff sniff) to the NY Rangers...we had people over to watch the game outside in the cabana but it didn't go the way we wanted LOL.  Oh well I'm proud of the team and how they played this year...there is always next year right?  Spoken like a true die hard fan LOL!  But I am happy that I got all my plants planted and everything is looking good outside....we just have to work on the one flower bed on the side of our house and we are DONE...for the moment until I pick something else to do hee hee.  I really want a fountain near the cabana and when I start thinking on something, I start planning how to do it...and working on the hubby to convince him we really NEED it ;)  The kids got me a new Crepe Myrtle tree (hot pink) which is my fave....so that will be planted soon once I get the utility company to mark our underground wires for the nursery...don't want any ruptured gas lines KWIM!  So it was a great Mother's Day & Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms, aunts and grandmothers out there....hope you got spoiled and spent time with family!

 I have a quick funny to share with you all....its from my trip to San Francisco that I went on with my daughter a few weeks ago.  We were celebrating her 16th birthday of course and I and I had driven into San Fran to spend the day with her.  I decided that we would do the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus because its such a great way to see the city in a guided tour and you can hop off at any place you'd like and get back on.  So we are at Pier 39 buying tickets...err I was buying tix and Alexa was standing next to me.  Suddenly she yells "OMG MOM!  There are naked men coming on bikes!" LMBO....so I pay and I turn around and there are about 25 men (butt nekkid) riding on bikes with horns and balloons yelling Happy Birthday (it was Earth Day)...alll I saw was nekkid bums on bikes as they went by.  I looked at Alexa who has the most horrified look on her face and I say "I got those for you for your birthday instead of the singing ape....did you like it?" hahahahahahahaha then we both bust out laughing!  Only in San Fran I say.....and since it was Earth Day we saw alllllll kinds of things including hippies lighting up joints on the streets.   Alexa says on the way back home "I've never been more cultured or seen so many strange sites my entire life!".  Remember we live in Northern VA outside of Wash, DC and its pretty cut & dry conservative here so this was a bit of a shock to her system hee hee but it's all good right?  You just gotta laugh....and then I think....hmmmm seems those men's private areas might be hurting from those bikes just a wee bit huh? bwahahahahahahaha ;)

Here's a quick slideshow of some fun weekend pics for ya (shhhh don't tell hubby about his pic ok) and the BIG GUY is Alexa's best bud Darrius and he was my helper this weekend as well...good kid!  The weather was beautiful so we were outside all weekend gardening, grilling and watching TV in the cabana...good times!

NewsBitz:

-I'll be in Baltimore this weekend teaching my Copic classes....I have 2 spots left open if any one is interested!  Just email me and let me know.  Then I'm off to Montreal Canada and to see my grandma in NY next week...Riley is going to NY with me as well but not to Canada.  Also upcoming is Stafford Springs, CT and then I will be in Chicago teaching July 15th (not certification but my coloring/technique classes)....all details at www.cmcroad.com!

-New Videos are coming...I had to re-shoot them cuz I was too stuffed up & sniffly to ever let them be seen by anyone LOL!  Sorry!

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A Yankee Doodle Dandy-Girl!

So today I'm sharing a fun project I made using a cute newer Magnolia stamp from Magnolia-licious and the Princes & Princesses Collection.  I'm calling her a Yankee Doodle Dandy cuz' she's all dressed up in USA patriotic colors...its not a 4th of July card but these colors are always fun to use together and I liked the playful blue-jean effect.  I created an easel card...although this one does not stand up as much as a traditional easel card due to the embellies I have coming off the edges...but that's a-ok with me cuz the more stuffs I can fit on it, the better ;)

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Make It Monday (anything goes)
Corrosive Challenges (bling, flowers & doilies)
Let's Ink It Up (bling)
Inspire Me Fridays (anything goes) 
Stampin' for the Weekend (4+layers)

My papers are all scraps...man I love using up scrap paper...even if I still have a gigantic bin of it, but hey I'm working on it!  This lil Magnolia cutie is called "Tilda with Blue Blanket" and she IS my daughter...my daughter still has a blankie at 16...it is falling apart terribly (see this post here) and she carries it around when she's at home and says she's NEVER giving it up LOL!  So this card was themed for her hahahaha!  (the mini version of this stamp is HERE)  The doily accents were cut on my Silhouette Cameo...yup I just love that darn machine...I'm in love with a machine...who woulda thunk it?  Then I added small red pearls to each circle of the doily for more detail.  I distressed my papers and angled all the layers a bit...I like that altered look...more casual and fun.  The heart dies are from Spellbinders and then I ran them thru an embossing folder for more texture.  Flowers are a mix of Prima and others that I layered and then added some leafy scrolls with a Marianne Designs die.  The sentiment is a Close to My Heart stamp given to me by my BFF Pat (thanks Pat)!!

She got colored with Copics: R29,R24,R22,R20 / B26,B24,B21 / C3,C1 / W5,W3 / E00,E11 / YR24,E35,YR20. (the W's got used over the R29 & R24 to create a deeper red)  Then I added Stickles to her dress ruffle and blanket ruffle....her blankie is in much better shape than my daughter's LOL!

That's it for me today!  If you haven't checked out the NEWEST collection called "Summer Memories 2012" at Magnolia-licious...you have GOT to go see them, they are super cute & you will want a couple, a few, maybe all of them LOL (I just got mine & cannot wait to play)!!  Have a great evening!