Where does the time go???

I used to think that if a few months went by w/ out me posting.. it was completely awful! Funny how it's now been over a year and a half since my last post, and I don't even know where to begin :o/

I've done quite a bit of card making over that time frame, so I'm just going to post some pictures... I figure if you're still reading this, you'll understand :)

My little sister is getting married in January and she asked me to make her invites, save the date's etc.

My baby sister got married last August, as well as my beautiful cousin, and I made theirs as well.. I just need to locate the pics, and then I'll post those photos as well :)  So very honored that they all wanted me to make them - I was more than happy to do it <3 br="br">

FINALLY...

Guess what I was able to sneak away & do today.....

I got to take a Copic Marker Class ... actually 2 of them! I can't even begin to tell you all how happy this made me :) I have loved these markers ever since I first saw what they could do... and I have played around w/ them for a little while, using them all based on what I've watched on Youtube. Well nowthat I have been "officially" taught how to use them... my mind is going a million miles an hour with excitement, and all I want to do is to color :)

I was lucky enough to learn from Jennie Black who is absolutely
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And she is just adorable, and oh so friendly! I had the best day ever!

I will be sure to post a few pictures on here (hopefully soon) of what I learned today.

I am jumping for joy inside & full of happiness... things have been a little stressful lately, and today was exactly what I needed! Thanks Jennie :)

Where I've been...

Well looking back.... I can't believe how "worry free" I was on May 6th... making cupcakes and enjoying our new baby girl.

On June 3rd, 2010 our world was turned upside down... our 6 month old new baby girl had a surgery on June 2nd to remove what we thought was a simple cyst under her arm.. but on Thursday the 3rd, I got the phone call stating our baby had cancer, it was Neuroblastoma. At first we were told that based on the location of the tumor, it was stage 4.... I can't even put into words the way I felt hearing that, it still puts my stomach in knots just typing it. Over the next couple of weeks, our little baby girl was put through a number of tests to aid in the "staging" of her cancer- she had a CT Scan, Bone Scan, MIBG Scan and a bone marrow aspiration, all more than any 6 month old should EVER have to go through. I am so very thankful, and eternally grateful for the the results that we received... all of the scans came back Negative (NO evidence of disease) and she was then considered to be stage 1. We go for MRI scans every 4 months now, and will continue to do so for a few years, to make sure the cancer does not return. October marked her first "surveillance" scan, which, Thank GOD came back clear (NED), and February 1st she'll have her second MRI scan as well as another Bone Scan, again to make sure she is still cancer free.

So that is what I've been up to... my craft desk has such a thick layer of dust... (lol) I'm not sure when I'll have a spare moment to dig out my crafts :) I did make sure that I made her 1st birthday invitations... Once I find the pictures of them I'll try to remember to post them. I finally had a chance to make another card using my Copics... it was for Addison's little friend's 1st birthday, I hope she liked it... I really like how it turned out, but realized I never took a picture of the entire card LOL

If you are reading this...I thank you for not giving up on me... I really do miss playing w/ paper... I just need to make better use of my time I guess.

I couldn't post this without sharing a few pictures of Addison :)
1st bottle... had to practice for when I went back to work in March :(
This is at her 1st birthday party at Grandma & Grandpa Grove's house in Arizona.
She really did like the cake, even though she looks scared in this picture :)
Here we are at home on her actual birthday, 12-12-10. As a child we had a red plate just like that, and on special occasions we got to eat off of it, so I thought I'd carry on that tradition.She didn't even cry on Santa's lap... she didn't smile either though lol
Christimas Morning she loved opening presents, and loved eating the paper just as much!
For those of you with children, hug them all a little tighter, and don't take anything for granted...
& again thanks for stopping by!

I'm still alive...

Just suuupppper busy these days! I have a card I made using my Copics, that I need to post, but I need to send it out to the recipient first, so that she doesn't see it on here first, before it arrives in her mailbox.... so hopefully I'll be getting to that soon.

I do have this pic to share, of some cupcakes I made a month or so ago for my co-workers, they were really fun to make & were a hit.

I hope all of you who may still be checking back here at my abandoned blog are doing well :)

I love these things.....

So I finally broke down after watching a bazillion You Tube videos... and bought a few COPIC markers! I am sooo excited to use them! I can't even believe how much better colored images look when they have that added detail of shading..... it is like night & day to me. I went to one of two places that sells them here in Las Vegas, and purchased the ones shown below... even though they were $5.99 ea. :( and then I came home & watched a few more of Amy's videos and made note of the colors she was using... and then I ordered 17 more online... lol... but in my defense, they were only $4.89 ea. :)
If you are interested in learning about these markers... I highly recommend you check out Amy's blog & all of her Copic Videos, they were SUPER helpful.

I really was busy...

Although it appears that I haven't really been crafting over this last wow... year or so (from the looks of my blog) I really have... I just never got around to posting anything... so I thought I'd go through & gradually post the projects & cards I've done over this last year. I can't believe how fast my whole pregnancy went... and that it's already 2010. I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year so far :)

I saw this idea on Kerry's blog... she is simply amazing, you really should check out her work. I thank you Kerry for your idea...everyone loved these little guys :) Again another treat I made for my co-workers... I must really like these ladies ;)
I was asked to create the invitations for our work Christmas party this year... these puppies were quite a bit of work, as I embossed all of the white snowflakes so that they would really pop on the craft cardstock. After I finished them, I was then asked to make them for another department at work, so I ended up making a whole other set, but they were done in red and white, which surprisingly looked really sharp. All of these were done just weeks before my due date by the way ;) I can't believe I actually got them done.I know we're a little out of order on here... but oh well ;) Here are some goodies I made for my co-workers for Halloween.I was lucky enough to have a friend at work who was pregnant at the same time, she was 2 months ahead of me... and so we had a "joint" baby shower at work... and these are the invitations her & I did for the shower...
For the shower I made my pretzels and decided they needed a little "thank you" tag on them.
And here is what my dog thought of them.... lol...

I am not sure why this picture uploaded sideways... it was not originally like that? Do any of you know how to fix this? anyhow.... here are the thank you's I made for my work shower...Hopefully I'll have time to be a little more "current" on my blog in 2010... but then again, I have a new baby... so maybe not LOL.

Thank you as always for your interest in my blog :)
Happy New Year!!!

She has arrived...

Our little baby Addison arrived on Saturday, December 12th at 9:54 p.m. She weighs 8 lbs. & is 20" long. We couldn't be happier....now she just needs to get old enough to play with all my paper-crafting supplies with me ;)

3-D Images of our baby Addison :)

What we've been up to...

Hello... just thought I'd post a few (quite a few actually) pictures of what we've been up to lately in preparing for our new arrival...

First we had to move Kitty's litter box to a new location, it was previously in the 3rd bedroom, so we decided to install her a "secret door" into her new restroom ;) Here are a few pics of my wonderful Husband in action... notice his sidekick Eddy... always has to be where the action is... well once the noise of the power tools had stopped ...
Next was onto painting the nursery... when we picked the paint we weren't sure whether we were having a boy or a girl... and we ended up going with a really pretty blue/green color... it really isn't super blue.. the pictures don't really show it's true color... but oh well-

BEFORE:
DURING:
We learned the hard way that Eddy needed to be banned from this project... we had the wooden stir stick still in the gallon of paint, and he decided to pull it out, and walk away... meanwhile dragging paint across the plastic and onto the carpet... :( We should have known... lol
AFTER:
Eddy was sure happy to get back into the room for the final inspection...
Next came the furniture... again my awesome husband saved the day and put together the crib & dresser, I actually assembled the changing table... it was a fun challenge.
Here it is all put together...
By this point in our adventure... we now knew we were having a little girl, Addison Marybell, so we decided on this adorable Cherry Blossom Tree .... boy was that a headache to install... I started out telling Jason I just needed his help with the initial placement of the image, and I would have it handled from there... YEAH RIGHT!!!! he ended up saving the day AGAIN.... and we eventually finished it...
Here is the finished product.... We hope she likes it :)
We go on Tuesday for the 3-D/4-D ultrasound... we are both really excited to see her cute little face... I'll probably post a few pictures once we get them.

Hope you are all doing well... take care :)