A Perfect Weekend

Ever have a near perfect weekend? I just did! Between a day of scrapbooking and a day at the pet fair, my weekend was filled with relaxation and fun.

Friday my girlfriend came over and we spent the entire day scrapbooking. Now I haven't actually scrapbooked in about a year, so I was so happy by the end of the day when I realized I had completed eleven 12x12 pages! Ten of those pages were double spread layouts, and one was a single page layout. I haven't taken pictures of them yet, but I will soon. For now, I'll share some cards that I made at my other girlfriend's house last Wednesday. She called me up for an impromptu card making session. I'm glad she did because we had a blast!

This first card is a-la Jennifer McGuire style. I fell in love with her simple owl card she posted on the Hero Arts blog.

This next card uses two new sets from the brand spankin' new Stampin' Up Holiday Mini Catalog - Grateful Greetings and Gifts of the Earth. The Holiday mini goes live tomorrow!

Saturday was especially exciting because we took Sedona to our town's annual "Paws and Claws" event. I had to take special care to pack lots of water and make sure that Sedona stayed cool. It was over 90F by the time we left at 10am, and it was expected to reach 105F. Why oh why they hold this event during the hottest part of the year is beyond me. You better believe a call into the event's coordinator is on my to-do list today.

We arrived at the fair right when it was scheduled to begin - at 10 am. Apparently we weren't the only eager ones to be out and about because there were already over a hundred people there!

We encountered some of the cutest pets. Here's an adorable little guy who actually enjoyed wearing sunglasses!

Sedona was very curious about all the wildlife in attendance. Here she is get acquainted with a desert tortoise.

I was super impressed with how many wonderful pet parents I met at the fair. It warms my heart to see happy, healthy animals enjoying life. Speaking of happy, healthy pets, here's one now!

She was tired by the time I took this picture and no doubt she was hot, too. Luckily, I had come prepared with lots of ice water. Plus, there was a hose available so that we could spray down our pooches. She got soaked twice :) There was even a point where I took her back to the car and blasted the air so that we could both cool off. In my efforts to keep her nice and cool, I completely forgot to put sun tan lotion on myself, and you guessed it. I have a killer burn on my neck and back. Ouch.

Toward the end of the show, we made some new friends.

Not too long after snapping this picture, we were joined by one more.

It was a Great Dane extravaganza! Oh my goodness did we attract crazy attention. Sedona always garners a lot of attention while we're out, but having three Great Danes in one place really had people flocking to us! We even had a clown pay a visit. See her feet?

By this point, Sedona is tired and we were ready to head home. She was such an incredibly good girl. She's always well behaved, but her demeanor never ceases to amaze me. This last picture we took is one with my friend's dogs, Heidi and Lucas.

It was a long morning, but well worth the time. We met lots of great pets and their people. Plus we enjoyed seeing lots of fun exotic animals and learning more about our local rescue groups. I'm still going to call the event's coordinator to see if the pet fair can be moved to a different time of the year since this was the reading in my car when we left:

I'll be back with more projects this week! Until then, happy Monday :)

It's a birthday kind of post!

Last Sunday I had not one, but TWO of my lovely friends celebrate their birthdays. What happens when I have two birthdays fall on one day? I turn into a card making monster, that's what happens! Lucky for all, I'm a happy monster since I really enjoy stamping and playing with paper and glue.

This first card is actually a blank card that I turned into a birthday card. I ended up stamping "Happy Birthday" on the bottom of it after I snapped this picture. I'm really into using twine lately. I think it gives cards a rustic feel without all the chickens and cows, you know? I'm also into using my Distress Inks for EVERYTHING! I used Peeled Paint and my distress ink applicator to distress the edges of the green paper.

This card went to my good friend, Staci, along with a vintage necklace I made for her. Here she is modeling it for me the day she wore it for the first time. You can see more pictures on her blog post HERE.

The day I made the birthday card for Staci, my mom was crafting with me, and she made one, too! Her coloring is a bit different, and she stamped "Thank You" on hers. I think it came out quite nice!

Speaking of my mom, here's a picture of one of the flowers in her birthday bouquet. I'm a bit bummed because I accidentally deleted the pictures I had taken of the bouquet :( At least I still have this one!

On Sunday, I attended a very last-minute birthday gathering for my friend, Chris. She turned the big 2-9. I told her she only had one more year before everything goes down hill, literally :) Here's the card I whipped up for her that morning.

I told you I was into twine.

Tomorrow I have a couple of girlfriends coming over to scrap, and then Saturday I'm taking Sedona out to the annual pet fair. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share with you all next week!

Let's play catch-up

Long time no blog! Oh how I've missed my little blog. I wasn't planning on taking a two week blogging vacation, but I'm back now and ready to play catch-up. I have lots to share, so let's get started!

A few weeks ago, my lovely east coast BFF sent me a package with this fabulous card inside. She did such a good job with the water coloring! I love it.

Not long after receiving this package, I went over to my local BFF's house for her card club and made this adorable Hawaiian girl from Stampin' Up punches. I'm always amazed at how many things you can do with punches. They're so versatile. Something tells me I need to get cracking on completing my own set of SU punches!

Fast forward a week or two, and it was time for someone's birthday.


I made her this fun gift bag to put all the stamping goodies I got her for her big day. I used two butterfly punches by Martha Stewart and a ton of scrap paper. I love using my left overs!

And here's the birthday card I made for her.

While on my blogging vacation, I also took a vacation from running. My body definitely needed the break, and when I started back up again last Monday, I felt great! It was the first time I used my new running shoes, and they were so comfortable that I felt like I could run for miles and miles. The rest of the week was a bit tough, but I'm glad I'm back in the swing of things.

I actually have more crafty stuff to share with you all, so stay tuned for more to come this week!

Because she's too cute

Turn up the volume and hear her silliness as she rolls around on her back in what we refer to as "MacGoobering." We got the name after we watched a SNL skit making fun of MacGyver. They called it "MacGruber."



I'll be back with some cards later on!

Photos galore!

I am so bummed that our little vacation is over :( I really enjoyed having my hubby around full-time, but he has to go back to work to earn the moola which leaves me and the critters by ourselves. What's a girl to do?

I was thinking about this quandary this past weekend, and while flipping through the Costco coupon book, it hit me! There it was, the answer to my impending blahs. What was this golden ticket? It was a coupon for 9 cent 4x6 digital prints! LOL. I know, sounds silly, but I figured if I printed out all of our pictures from the last week I could scrap them and relive the memories this week. You hardly ever find a place that will print out 4x6s at this low price, so I took advantage of the deal. I really, really took advantage of it.

Yup, you read right. I had 594 pictures printed at 9 cents each. I'll save you the trouble of whipping out your calculator. My total came out to $53.64, but I saved $23.58 by using my coupon! Not only did I print out photos from our stay-cation, but I also printed out Isabel's folder of pictures (not an easy thing for me to do just yet, but it needed to be done) and some other random photos from this summer. Now, if the scrapbook bug would just give me a bite, I'd be happy. Let's hope I'm back later this week with some scrap pages to share!

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

I often wondered how it could be the best of times AND the worst of times all at the same time. Well, I wonder no more. This past week was truly one of the best and worst weeks ever. Read on and you'll see why.

Monday was such an awesome day! We spent our time in beautiful San Diego eating at our favorite restaurants and hopping from store to store. Since we used to live down there, we knew exactly where we wanted to go for lunch, so the first stop on our itinerary was The Greek Corner Cafe.

They have so many appetizing platters that sometimes it's hard to choose what you want.

But not for me! I knew exactly what I wanted - their famous spano-ko-pita platter. YUM!

Travis finally settled on the Gyro platter.

Needless to say, we were very full after lunch. After months of craving Greek, I was finally satisfied :)

The next several stops were all about scrapbooking and beading! I gotta say that Travis is so patient with me when it comes to shopping whether it be for paper or for clothes. While we were browsing at the scrap shops, he kept picking up items for me that he knew I would like. Now that's a good hubby! One of the stores we visited was called Cool Scrapbook Stuff, and the name says it all, trust me. They had all the latest and greatest products in one HUGE store. I was in h-e-a-v-e-n. They had the biggest selection of stamps that I have ever come across in my scrapbooking travels. This picture shows just one small wall of stamps. They had much, much more than this.

I think they had every single stamp company represented in their store including my favorites like Hero Arts and Crafty Secrets and A-Muse and Stampendous and Unity and...oh, who am I kidding? They're ALL my favorites!

As if my heart wasn't racing from all the excitement of finding EVERYTHING I had been wanting for months at the scrap store, we then headed to another one of my all-time favorite places: The Container Store.

That drink in my hand is a cherry ICEE, by the way. I've become obsessed with these cool ice-flavored drinks. Flavor + Hydration all in a handy little treat? Count me in!

While we were waiting in line, Travis spotted this fun little sign. He said he wasn't surprised that both me and The Container Store were born in the same year. Obviously, it was meant to be!

After drooling over organizational products, we headed over to a store I had never been to before (*gasp*) called South Sun Beads. OMG. Seriously. Other than Shipwreck Beads up in Washington, this store was the biggest bead store I have ever been in. They had rows upon rows upon rows of gemstone hanks all arranged by color. I was completely overwhelmed, and that's saying a lot for me. It's hard to describe, and I really wish I had been able to take pictures, but everyone is required to lock up their purse in a secure locker before entering. Despite being overwhelmed, I did manage to find some beautiful beads. I can't wait to use these lovely aventurine beads.

And these fun glass beads are actually a much more vibrant shade of pink, but it's hard to pick that color up with the camera.

Once the beading extravaganza was over, we found our way to the largest running store in the world, Road Runner Sports. Actually, going to this running store was the main reason for going to San Diego in the first place. My old running shoes were getting terribly worn, and I really needed a new pair. I'm sure I could have ordered a new pair over the internet, but running shoes really need to be tried on and tested out before committing to a purchase. Plus, at Road Runner Sports, they actually analyze your feet by taking a pressure reading of the way you walk and a video of you running on a treadmill so they can determine the type of shoe you need. I apparently need a stabilizing running shoe, and after trying on and testing five pairs, I decided on these Nike's:

The only thing I don't like about these shoes is the obnoxious colors. I'm not a fan of bling on my running shoes, so these loud silver and blue puppies didn't quite do it for me. Unfortunately, that's how all running shoes are now a days, and it's highly annoying. I feel like a Solid Gold dancer. Oh well.

The last part of our San Diego adventure was spent at REI and then at Fuddruckers for dinner. We were both so exhausted on our way home, and we couldn't wait to crawl into bed. However, life had different plans...

The first thing I do when I get home after a long day out and about is check on all of the critters. When I went to go get Keno for his evening medicine, I noticed something wasn't quite right. His eyes were bulging and he had this blank look on his face. As I held him for a minute or so, I knew what was wrong - he was having a seizure. A very bad, long-lasting seizure in which his muscles get very tense and he gets very stiff. He suffers from insulinoma, i.e., cancer of the pancreas. This type of cancer causes dangerously low blood sugar levels which is why he's on medication twice a day for the rest of his life. This medication is suppose to control his blood sugar level. Every so often, out of the blue, he has a seizure which indicates a need to up his medication dosage. No one really knows why this happens, but some vets speculate that a change in the tumors on the pancreas can cause abrupt blood glucose changes.

I tried all the normal remedies for getting his blood sugar back up, the most common being to rub some Kayro Syrup on his gums. That didn't work. I was able to give him is nightly medicine in between his seizures, but that didn't work either. I then frantically called over ten animal emergency clinics, some of which were over 100 miles away, and none of them saw weasels. My heart was broken, and all I could do was stay up with him and see if he would make it until the morning time so I could take him his regular doctor, Dr. J, and that's just what I did. I stayed up with him all night long trying to calm him during his seizures. I honestly didn't think he would make it through the night.

When morning came, I rushed him to the vet hospital where they immediately put him on IV glucose. He stayed at the hospital all day long until I picked him up that evening. They left his catheter in his little arm and gave me intravenous glucose and flush just in case he had another seizure over night. Dr. J wanted him back at the hospital the next day for observation. I took him home hoping that he would be the same little guy that I knew, but something was still wrong. He didn't look right to me. He kept getting up and running to the litter box then running back under the covers. He appeared uncomfortable to me, so I stayed up with him once again. I maybe got about 4 hours of sleep that night.

The next morning we were were set to go to Disneyland as it was Travis' official birthday. We had been planning this trip to Disneyland all year long, but now with Keno so sick, I was unsure as to whether we should go or not. Since Dr. J wanted Keno back that day for observation, we decided that there was no better place for Keno to be than in the care of the vet hospital staff, so we boarded him there for the day and night and headed off to Disneyland. I told the staff that he didn't appear to be himself and that I hadn't seen him urinate all night long. We headed off to Disneyland, but I was feeling horribly guilty.

Once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, I tried my best to put on a happy face. There wasn't ten minutes that didn't go by that I didn't wonder how my little man was doing. I called several times that day to check in on him, and they said he was doing ok.

Since it was Travis' birthday, he was able to get in for free that day which is the main reason we decided to go ahead with our plans to go to Disney otherwise we definitely would have stayed home in case anything happened to Keno. Do you know it costs $69 just to get into Disney? Ouch. You can see why we only go on our birthdays :)

We took the obligatory self-portrait of the two of us. Travis joked that all of our pictures are going to be this same pose! I think he might be right...

So I took a picture of just him in front of the Disney entrance, you know, for something different.

The Main Street gas lamps were beautifully decorated with vibrant summer flowers. I wish I could have smelled them.

While waiting in line to eat lunch at the Carnation Cafe, I had Travis point to his birthday button. He said, "Being married to a scrapbooker sure is an adventure in picture-taking."

We took quite a few photos along the way.

It was a HOT and sticky day at Disney. I wanted to jump into the moat behind me, but figured that Disney officials would frown on that.

We rode all the rides except Splash Mountain. By the time we got there, the line was 90 minutes long and it was the end of the day. I really didn't feel like getting drenched at night. We did, however, ride my favorite ride twice that day. Which ride would that be? Take a look for yourself.

Yup, that's us in the front, and no, I don't have my eyes closed. We just had to get this picture to remind us of our Space Mountain adventure. The second time we went on, we used our Fast Pass ticket. Instead of waiting an hour to ride, we waited about 5 minutes.

We did the same thing with Indiana Jones since the line for that ride is always horrendous. Last time we went on my birthday, we waited a little over an hour. This time, we waited about 10 minutes.

Last but not least, we encountered a most beautiful visitor that day. We were both tickled he decided to grace us with his presence.

That's a snowy egret, and he was hanging out with the mallards and their babies in the moat.

The day after Disney was a stressful one. I wanted to pick up Keno at 8:30 am, but they were so busy that they couldn't release him until noon. Dr. J had called me the day before, but he called the wrong cell phone number so I didn't get the message until the next morning. Apparently, Keno was unable to urinate on his own, so they had to manually help him along. After that, he finally settled down and was able to sleep for the first time in three days. Poor thing. He's now at home with me and is definitely doing a lot better. He's on antibiotics for a urinary tract infection (who knows how he got that) and seems to be able to piddle on his own. If I need to help him along, I know how. Yes, the things I do for my babies.

I hope you all enjoyed a great week! As you can see, my week was both wonderful and terribly stressful at the same time. It truly was the best and worst of times.

Stay-cation here we come!

Can you tell I'm excited to have ten whole days of vacation bliss all to myself? Actually, our stay-cation started last Friday when I surprised Travis with a little birthday get together at a friend's house. We spent all day lounging in the pool drinking nice cool beverages. We even had birthday cake and ice cream!

Today we're heading to lovely San Diego for a day of great food and fabulous shopping. I can hardly wait, but before I go, I wanted to share a few of the crafty projects I made last week.

I gave you a sneak-peek of the cards I made for a few friends, and now here's the whole kit-and-caboodle.

I made five of these cards. They were quick and easy to put together which is good since I had a lot of Thank You's to get out in the mail!

I also gave my paper and scissors a break and picked up my beads and pliers. My cross-country BFF found these awesome black beads as well as a focal bead and asked if I could make her a necklace. Here's what I came up with.

I designed the necklace with the focal bead in mind using cream seed beads and pink and crystal Swarovski's.

Great Scott! Look at the time! It's time to head out and have ourselves a much needed day out on the town. I may be scarce this week, but I can tell you that we'll be at the happiest place on earth for *someone's* birthday this Wednesday! Who says you can't have fun just staying at home during your vacation??