Lattice Sizzix Bigz Die Project

I posted a new card in my Stampin'Up blog HERE using some colors I rarely use.

Here's a little peek of part of my card:

Goodbye Summer

I just posted a few pictures of a mini album I made for my dad's birthday...very summery!!!

Here's a picture of the front of the album project...it is a very interactive album...to see the rest of the pics go check out my Stampin'Up blog www.creativitywithstamps.typepad.com


Happy Fall!!!

I GOT A BLOG AWARD!!!

My friend Gio' surprised me with this a few weeks ago and I was really taken by surprise and well, she just made me smile from ear to ear. It took me this long to post it here but nonetheless, I wanted to pass it along to a good friend of mine Serena.

I have built a very strong friendship with these two women even though I met them online and spoke to them on skype only so far...I feel as close to them as I would any other close friend here...they have made my life a little brighter!!!

On a side note, I just wanted to let you know that I have been on a shopping spree this summer and purchased a few goodies for my crafting.

The big purchase is this:


I had been researching various computerized die cut machines and I decided to get this one primarily because of all the great reviews and resources I have been able to find. I bought mine for $269 (free shipping/tax) and it included a 12x12 mat, two cartridges and a spatula at OhMyCrafts (if you can not see this deal there, they have an ebay store and that is where I got mine).

Here's the Cricut Cutting Guide for different materials:I also have found that the SCAL software will allow me to cut anything I want (any font and any image from my computer, yes even a mac)....you can go to youtube and check out this lady to get all the info and tutorials (she's absolutely amazing) and even though I have found this software for $7 less, I have decided to buy from her because she took the time to inform everyone about this program

My other awesome purchase which I am expecting to receive this week is this:

I will be cutting corners on my wood sheets from Stampin'Up as well as chipboard so I am super excited. I got mine for really cheap for $16.95 (free shipping/tax) HERE

Martha Stewart had come out with some great border/corner combination punches. I used my 40% coupon from Michael's to get this:


You can see a video of this punch in action as well as download a guide for it on this amazing BLOG

Etsy has been one of my favorite stores and even though I do not make many purchases from there, I could not hold back and order this:


I got this beauty from the NothingElegant store

Hope this info. and eye candy was useful for some of you....

Playful Girl Layout

Here's a new layout I did a little while ago using some scraps of papers I had left over from a previous layout as well as a test paper I did with my new glimmer mists.

Stamps: Four Dolls (Hero Arts), KOTM Foam Stamps (CK Media), Just Perfect Alphabet (Stampin'Up)
Cardstock: Always Artichoke & Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (Stampin'Up), Background (Scenic Route), watercolor paper
Ink: Black acrylic paint (Ranger), Craft White, Melon Mambo & Rich Razzleberry (Stampin'Up)
Embellishments: ribbon (unknown), pins (Fancy Pants), thickers (American Craft), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), Calendar Label (Elle's Studio), Suede, Olive, Tattered Leather Glimmer Mists (Tattered Angels), Fanciful Stencils (Tattered Angels)

Playing With Razzleberry Lemonade

I just finished posting a new layout in my www.creativitywithstamps.typepad.com blog...here's a little sneek peek...check out the full layout with the supply list at my other blog

NEW STAMPS...

I have been a busy bee in my craft room lately. I had finally received some new goodies from the brand new 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog from Stampin'Up and was inspired to make some projects.

Here's a little peek...to see the full projects go check out my Stampin'Up blog HERE


P.S. Don't forget to sign up on "Feedblitz" under my photo so that you can get automatic updates of that blog!!!

ANOTHER MINI ALBUM

Here's a new mini album I created using Paula Goff's tutorial. I fell in love with this idea as soon as I saw it and I had to create my own quickly. I used some wonderful Stampin'Up papers and I just ran with it....














Here's a new mini album I created using Paula Goff's tutorial. I fell in love with this idea as soon as I saw it and I had to create my own quickly. I used some wonderful Stampin'Up papers and I just ran with it....

My Elisa is Turning 5

So I have had these invitations done for a while now and wanted to let you guys see them...more pictures and information can be seen in my Stampin'Up blog HERE

My daughter is turning 5 and I have made her birthday invitations since her very first birthday party. I really have been missing that Wild Wasabi color...love that green.

MY STAMPS FOR SALE

Here is the long awaited list of stamp sets and accessories I have put up for sale. Please do not hesitate to send me questions about anything you see here. E-mail me directly at "laura2471@yahoo.com"

If you do not like the slide...click any image once or twice to get to my flickr gallery and view the pictures/description/price in a list form.

Another Amazing Artist

I found this on Kristina Werner's blog today and had to post it here as well....love this masterpiece!!!

Back again!!!

I am finally back!!! After a little over a month without creating, I finally managed to set up my new scrap room and create a little something. It was so long since I made something that I felt a little awkward creating again...like I didn't know where to begin.

Anyhoo...I got these gorgeous stamps a while ago and managed to finally use one of them. This little girl is the cutest and she reminds me of someone I know...in Sardinia...ciao Eleonora.

Supplies: Gorjuss - Just A Girl Stamp (Sugar Nellie Stamps), scallop border punch (stampin'up), fleurettes flower kit (stampin'up), latte button (stampin'up) very vanilla cardstock and Linen Prints Designer Series Paper (Stampin'Up - retired), kraft tafetta ribbon, watercolor crayons - Earth Elements (stampin'up), red gelly roll pen.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think....

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Just to give you a little update...I finally have a desk and a chair in my scrap room...now I need to put up all the shelving and put away all my little things.

Wanted to take a moment to wish all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day...a very wise friend once told me that choosing the job of motherhood is a choice you can never take back...it's not like you can quit or get fired, you will have that job forever whether you do it well or not, you will always and forever have that title. I love that!!!

Here's a little video for all the mothers...don't take it too seriously!!!

THE VOCAL HUMAN ART

I just had someone share this video on Facebook today and I just had to share it here because I loved it!!!

NEW HOUSE AND A GARDEN!!!

Hello Everyone...did you miss me?

I finally got internet/cable/home phone installed yesterday after almost two weeks without any of those services. I could have cared less for cable/home phone but it did feel more like a month of being without internet. I was having major withdrawals...however, it was a blessing in disguise as I have managed to unpack and clean a lot since we moved to our new house in a town called Wayland (25 min. West of Boston). We got all our boxes and things and it is taking a lot of time and work to get our new place organized.

Spring has come here and it seems kind of short since we already reached 90 degrees here last weekend. Our yard is blooming!!! I took pictures of all the blooming flowers out there because it was so pretty.

I am getting ready to start my own garden now and my kids and I have planted herbs and tomatoes, peas and lettuce. Of course, the seedling are all in the house now but I plan to plant them all outside in a couple of weeks...this too is some work.

My stamping/scrapbooking room is still all in boxes and my hubby decided to use the legs of my desk for another desk which means I will need to get a brand new desk.

Here are the pics of the flowers in my yard...if you want to see crafty pictures today you will need to head over my Stampin'Up blog



















I am so inspired to already create a mini album with all these pics!!!

ANOTHER ENTRY FOR KRISTINA'S CHALLENGE

So I managed to find a little time to make a card for Kristina Werner's challenge this week. I had this card in my head for a while now and since I don't normally use these colors, I thought it would be a good challenge for me as well. I really like how this turned out and I really love the "Forest Friends" set in the new Stampin'Up Occasions Mini catalog. To get the mirror effect of that little bunny, I just stamped an image on white carstock and then the other image on acetate (use StazOn ink)...I then glued the acetate down next to the other image and cut out a circle with a coluzzle. Since I did not have my dear Rose Red cardstock but had my marker, I had to color some white cardstock with the marker as well as my chipboard..so good to know that even though I had limited supplies, I still was able to do this with these colors. This card measures 4 1/4 X 4 1/4


Here is a full list of supplies (all Stampin'Up this time):

Stamp Sets: Forest Friends
Paper: Good Morning Sunshie Designer Series Paper, Basic Black, whisper white, acetate
Ink: Rose Red, StazOn Black
Accessories: Eyelet Border punch, Heart To Heart punch, stampin' dimensionals, On Board Timeless Type chipboard, kiwi kiss satin ribbon, button from the Button Bouquet button kit

Let me know if you have any questions on this card...I am posting some other cards (after this post) I made with the same stamp set in my Stampin'Up website and you can go check them out HERE

A Beautiful House

You guys have to check out this house made out of recycled stuff ...all the furniture was either refurbished or found at dumpsters...AMAZING!!!

Too bad I was not able to see this house this past summer when I went to see the Joshua Tree Desert

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/garden/09joshua.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&no_interstitial

Happy Easter!!!

A CHILDHOOD FAVORITE

When I was a little girl and lived in Brasil I discovered Sarah Kay and Holly Hobbie and I was in love!!! I had stationery paper and envelopes collection with images of these little girls and I used to swap them with friends.
A few decades later, I discover these awesome stamps from Stampavie and all those memories came back and the love for those little girls too. I finall got the courage to play around with my watercolor pencils and make a card. I am terrible at watercoloring and I am hoping that I will get better so this is my first try at watercoloring these types of images. Unfortunately, this photo does not capture the embossed white cardstock in the background but trust me it is embossed.

Isn't this little girl the cutest??!!! This card will take off to brighten someone else's day soon...it will be difficult to part with this one.

MY FRIEND GIORGIA

I received this beautiful gift from my friend Giorgia a while ago and have been meaning to put it here for a while now. Isn't it GORGEOUS!!!
These kinds of gifts just make my life so much brighter!!!

The Good Life Mini Book

Here's a picture of my last finished mini album. This is the front cover. To see the inside and other details you can go to my other blog www.creativitywithstamps.typepad.com

EVERYTHING'S AMAZING AND NOBODY'S HAPPY

I just had to share this video that I found out about from a friend in Facebook.

I think it's a really good slap in the face that we all need sometimes...including me.

KWERNER CHALLENGE # 44

After a long time following Kristina Werner's Challenges, I have finally decided to finally participate...I mean this challenge had such yummy colors that I could not resist.



Yes, my love for owls is still pretty strong. I had a heart template saved in my computer and I used it to make this cute little heart tag ready to put on a gift wrapped box. Here is the list of supplies used:

Stamps: Wood Background (All Night Media), Grow-A-Garden (BasicGrey)
Cardstock: Pink pirouette, chocolate chip, whisper white
Ink: Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: American Craft Thickers chipboard stickers (inked in chocolate chip), stampin' dimensionals, Curly Label Punch (stampin'Up), hemp twine, Scallop Border Punch (stampin'Up)

I hope Kristina likes it as much as I do.

Valentine's Day gift for Hubby

I just posted the CD desktop calendar I made as my hubby's Valentine's Day gift. Here's one of the pages. You can check out the full calendar in my Stampin'Up blog HERE (and if you think it's nice or bad, leave me a comment...my other blog is getting pretty lonely!!!)

Little Birdie Card

I made this card for a friend and shipped it overseas...more info. in my Stampin'Up blog HERE

How To Videos

Yes, I'm on a roll with my blog lately...trying to make up for my lack of presence.

Here's a few videos I had found while browsing youtube. Enjoy the tutorials (I certainly did):

GIFT FROM A FRIEND

This is a beautiful gift I received from Barbara, a friend from Rome (Italy). I had spoken to her via skype (which I suggest you all to get; it's free and fabulous...www.skype.com). I had spoken to her about stampavie.com and she had mentioned she knew the owner and that she had a couple of their stamps. I loved this one right away and she had mentioned that she was going to send it over my way. Three days later, I received a padded envelope from Rome (yes, only 3 days later!!!) and this is what I received....look at the gorgeous card that she made me!!!

Thank you so much Barbara...I will never forget this generous gesture!!!

SOME NEWLY DISCOVERED TUTORIALS

I ran into a few blogs by accident yesterday and I did find a few awesome tutorials including a tutorial in making magazine file boxes. You can see the tutorial at Apartment Living


Here are a few other ones:

Bulletin board with shutters from Craftynest
Printing on fabric using your computer by Hanna Sandvig
Spiky Star by Swapatorium

P.S. We are all getting settled here in Boston...it is taking us a little while to get used to the cold and snow but we are all very happy!!!

A NEW YEAR - A NEW START...

Hello friends,

First of all...Happy New Year 2009!!!

Secondly...hubby finally got a new job and it's a really good one. Of course, it's nowhere near Sunnyvale, CA so we will be moving in a couple of weeks.

We will have a new place to call home soon and guess where it will be....



HELLO BOSTON!!!

A Beautiful Song

I just found this today and it made my heart smile...enjoy!!!

CCCCHHHHANGES!!!

Missed Me??? I know, I've been bad again at updating my blog but things in this household have changed quite a bit.

Hubby has been looking for a new job for almost 6 months now and we have had to make some drastic changes. My blogs have not been on my priority list for a while and probably will not be still for a few more months.

This life experience has really taken me and my family all by surprise and we have all been learning a lot here. We are all still going throgh it and the light at the end of the tunnel is still pretty far away but hope has not left us.

I have had moments of time where I still made a few creations and layouts. This is one that fits this post pretty well because that is how we all feel here lately...just plain WORN OUT!!! But in reality, this picture was taken this past summer and it was the only time my son had fallen asleep at a table while waiting for lunch. Needless to say, he has a lot of fun this summer and was always pretty exhausted from all the activities.

This layout uses retired patterned paper from a Stampin'Up. Love using thickers lately and the black ones are still my favorite...brown ones come second.
I used the negative of our exclusive Big Shot Top Note Bigz Die as a frame, some white acrylic paint, gaffer tape from 7Gypsies and a big felt flower from Target. This was an easy and quick page!!!

A Tutorial

Hello Friends...

Just wanted to let you know I posted my very first tutorial in my Stampin'Up blog for a cool mini album.

Here's a pic:



Just go to www.creativitywithstamps.typepad.com for the tutorial

oh...and leave me a comment if you like the project or the tutorial...the blog is pretty lonely without any comments

Lots of Hugs!!!

Just Keep Going, going, going...

Just got over a week long flu and the antibiotics almost killed me this time. Seriously, they made me so weak and finally today I started catching up on house work and actually got to send out my Stampin'Up monthly newsletter so I am starting to feel like I am breathing well again.

Kids schools are keeping me busy as well...they seem to have after school activities once or twice a week now. Once I start them on a sport, I think I may be either driving them a lot start coaching them into biking with me to places.

Since I am a youtube fan, I often have my kids with me and we all watch new videos together...it may be pretty lame for some but since we don't have cable and rarely watch TV, this is a really nice past time for us.

Of course, once we find some cool videos, my kids ask me to play them over and over again which results in us all having crazy songs stuck in our heads. Here's what has been stuck in our heads for two weeks...enough to drive the sanest person MAD!!! So here...get these stuck in your head too!!!

INSPIRED!!!

There have been so many people inspiring me lately!!! One in particular caught my eye so strongly I quickly went out to get a canvas and create something similar myself.

I have been a fan of Heather Nichols for a while now and stalk her blog quite often. As soon as I saw her canvas project, I had to give it a try and came up with this...which oddly enough, my hubby had more to say about it than just "that's nice"...which means he truly liked it. You can see Heather's project HERE

SIMPLE CARD

Hi there....

I've been creating up a storm lately in my room and it's been keeping my mind occupied from being in limbo...hubby has been looking for a new job in these past two months and I do often get anxious since I hate the feeling of not knowing what we're going to do next.

Here's a simple card I did for my dad's 61st birthday. I love the simplicity of it and even though I don't color all too well, I do actually like how my coloring turned out.

Isn't this stamp lovely? This stamp is actually a gift I got from my friend Serena in Italy at Impronte D'Autore

MET TIM HOLTZ

Yes, it's been a while....

Been scrappin', stamping, taking some classes in these past few weeks.

I started the month of august by attending my very first Tim Holtz class and it was soooo good. Tim is an excellent teacher and full of tips and knowledge. He is a very generous and patient man..yes, I guess the patience level does need to be pretty high with 36 + women in the class...all with different and unique personalities (if you know what I mean)

Anyhoo, here's a pic that I got with him...wish I had turned out a bit better but who cares!!!

What kind of FRUIT are U?

Ok...I normally don't do these types of things but I thought this one was cute and I do like the result...because it'a true.

You Are a Strawberry

You are friendly, outgoing, and well liked by many people. You are popular, but there's nothing you ordinary or average about you. You a very interesting person, and you have many facets to your personality. Sometimes you feel very conflicted. Your different sides of your personality pull at you. You are a very sensual and passionate person. You are fiery... you can't help it. In general, you keep your passionate side under wraps. You are only wild in private.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

BACK FROM VACATION

I'm finally home from our two week adventure vacation. I am pooped and after 4 full days of doing laundry for 8 people, I'm still trying to catch up on everything.

Here's a pic of all of us on vacation...we're in Carmel here to be exact and I think this is the only pic we managed to take of all of us at once...this was our first day so we all still look pretty good and full of energy.

MOVIE NIGHT

We celebrated Elisa's 4th birthday yesterday and had a chance to spend some time with friends. It was a lot of fun!!!

Today we decided to take it easy before our big two week adventure. We watched the Lion King II and we all enjoyed it very much. I really love Disney movies and they never give me nightmares at night.

Here's one of my favorite videos that reminds me of the Lion King!!!

I'M A WATER SIGN

Yes, I discovered this when I went to massage school and I am happy about it. I found a video (at the end of this post) that inspired me and I wanted to share it here.

I spoke to my friend Helen today...not only is she one of my best friends but also a person that has amazing intellect. I was reading a quote to her today from my journal and I decided to post it here (it's from a book called "Thinker Toys"):

We do not choose to be born.
We don not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoc, nor do
We choose the country of our birth or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of the time, choose to die, nor do
We choose the time or conditions of our death, but
Within this realm of choicelessness,
We do choose how we shall live, with purpose or adrift,
With joy or joylessness,
With Hope or with despair,
With Humor or with sadness,
With a positive outlook or with a negative outlook,
With pride or with shame,
With Inspiration or with defeat,
With honor or dishonor.
We decide what makes us significant or insignificant.
We decide to be creative or to be indifferent.
No matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices or decisions,
These choices and decisions are ours to make,
We decide...we choose.
In the end, our own creativity is decided by what
We choose to do, or what we refuse to do, and as
We decide and choose, so are our destinies formed

Summer 2007 Album

Here's a pic of the front cover of an album I am currently working on...that Donna Downey inspired me so much with the fabric albums I decided to work my Stampin'Up chipboard book covers, cover them with canvas fabric and alter them. This will be a 9X9 album and I will use three rings to hold my 9X9 plastic sheet covers.

FABRIC ALBUM PART 2

Here are the final pics of the album

FABRIC ALBUM

Here's a new album I worked on a few months ago...again, even though I do not post for a while, I do scrap and stamp...I'm just very lazy at uploading pictures, tweaking them and updating my blog with everything. These things seem to take so much of my time, I keep thinking...with all that time, I could be creating something new...but, nevertheless, I do at one point decide to let you all see my creations.

This is a mini fabric album I got from an amazing scrapbook artist, Donna Downey. I loved this album kit as soon as I saw it and I was so happy to get it and finish it on a weekend.

Me - The Dumb People

Ok...so why do I call myself the "Dumb people"...well, here's the condensed story.

About a year and 1/2 ago I decided to stop watching the news and reading the newspaper. I was tired of getting up in the morning and starting my day with all the "bad" things that people were doing around the world, get back home, turn the tv again and even more bad things people did from the time I left in the morning till the time I got home in the afternoon...I mean, all that crap just put me in such a bad and negative mood.

So, I decided to stop it all and just get the important facts from family and friends (just the important ones) once in a while...I did not know what to call myself but after watching this old Goldie Hawn clip, I decided to call myself the "dumb people" since I obviously don't even get informed anymore by the smart people in the media and newspapers. I can truly say that I feel more at peace now and love to see the bottle half full rather than half empty.

Having lived in many countries and seen/heard all these smart people delivering information to us all, I can tell you that one event is almost always conveyed to us all in different ways by different people, in different institutions and different countries. Even after taking a couple of statistics classes in college, I remember learning that the "official" studies done by medical and food organizations and other types of companies are almost total flukes since they do not reveal all the gathering data from the people or tests to come up with their results. I mean, when I was pregnant, I read that a study found that eating fish was dangerous during pregnancy and just the other week, a friend told me that a new study has found that eating fish is actually good for you and your baby. This is just one example of the many studies redone and coming up with different results than before.

How many times, do people decide to get a second or third opinion from different doctors? How many times, did we find ourselves that each opinion was different? Think about that...

Now, here's the light bulb that just made me realize how me the "dumb people" is letting the "smart People" screw up this world...I must take action, even if it's in a small part.

I am sure my opinion and way of life probably does not apply to all or any of my blog readers and I am sure a lot of readers would disagree with me but that is my opinion and I love that I can write it down and share it here in my blog.

Enjoy this funny and "dumb" video!!!

Album In A Box

As usual, it's been a while and I will probably not post very often since this summer will be packed with visitors coming over to see us and stay with us for the next three months.

We also will be taking our first road trip here in the States with the kids and will be visiting Disneyland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Big Sur, Grand Canyon and a few other places.

I have had some time here and there to work on a few projects and this is one of my favorites. I had gotten a big pack of chipboard coasters from a friend and had been sitting in a box for over a year. Well, I managed to get them out to build this album box and the make front/back covers for the four mini albums that are inside the box.

I absolutely love my bind-it-all and I love playing with it...it does cut through chipboard. Can not forget to mention one of my favorite paper collections from Stampin'Up called "Spring Fling" used here and the ever-delicious chocolate chip taffeta ribbon.

Also, if you have not paid a visit to my new blog with all Stampin'Up goodies, you can go check it out HERE Make sure you subscribe to get automatic updates!!!

MY OTHER NEW BLOG

Been MIA for a while here....been working hard!!!

I did want to tell you all about my new blog exclusively for Stampin'Up.

You can go see it HERE.

You can subscribe to it so you get notified of new postings automatically. There will be a lot of Stampin'Up eye candy, tutorials, tips, and some contests...so go sign up!!!

IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

Hello All,

Yes, back again...been busy with flu, colds, scrapbooking, my Stampin'Up business and organizing again.

Actually I have been doing a lot of crafting but with everything else going on it's been a challenge to keep up with everything.

I am busy creating a new blog that will have only Stampin'Up related material...tons of pics, some tutorials, news and more...so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, here is a layout I recently did of a day last summer spent with my friend Angie and her wonderful family. Angie is one of those women I just met randomly while posting on Splitcoaststampers and actually became neighbors, by fate, when I lived up in the East Bay Area. She too is a Stampin'Up demo and she is by far, one of the most giving and true friends I have ever had. Angie...I LOVE YOU!!!

Spring is in the Air

Yes, Here in Sunnyvale, CA Spring started two weeks ago with all the trees blooming, rain falling for days and my hubby with his allergies which is keeping us up at night. I am not sure why Spring came so early but maybe it's also an indication that Summer will come early as well? I truly hope so because this girl loves HEAT!!!

I know I have not been good at updating my blog lately. But I have been creating tons of things for my workshops, upcoming classes and now I am going to start teaching at a new scrapbooking store that just opened nearby...oh, yes and I have been creating layouts for myself as well...one of my layouts is shown here.

I have been loving using my new Stampin'Up papers and they are just so beautiful. Even though I think the Spring/Summer 2008 Collection catalog is doing a terrific job at showcasing the stamps, I think it needs quite a bit of work at showcasing the true beauty of the Designer Series Papers and Scrappin' Kits.

This layout features the new Ginger Blossom Designer Series Papers and one of the new Hostess stamp sets called "For A Friend". Oh, can't forget to mention that dainty little chipboard heart from the huge chipboard paper pack "On Board Accents" and the gorgeous flower from the "Pretties Kit"...hey, did you know that you can color those flowers with just about anything? You can apply our poppin' pastels on them, color them with our reinkers (yes, the same reinkers that are used to reink our ink pads, ink spots and markers) and even stamp on them? Yes, they are truly amazing and extremely alterable and versatile.

Now, I just have to find time to work on my photo skills...see, this pictures is showing you how bad I still am at taking good photos.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

This was the idea when I was creating this layout...my family is my home!!! All papers, stamps and embellishments Stampin'Up.

Valentine's Day is approaching...so many flowers, hearts, chocolates abound...LOVE IT!!!

CHRISTMAS 2007 LAYOUT

I was able to do only one layout for this past Christmas so far...mostly because I have been working on classes. Finally breaking in my Hambly goodies. The music paper was bought from Etsy and I just sprayed it with archival spray.

Remembering Xmas 2007

Just wanted to share some pics of the home decor in my place this past Christmas...yes, I know, I am probably the last blogger to post this subject. (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE PICTURES BETTER).

Couple of comments on the pics: The "Trust" ornament was a gift from one of my Stampin'Up team members, Heather (thank you!!!), the owl is one of those things that you just see at the store and even though you don't "need" anything new, you just need to have, all the other ornaments are our family favorites, the little clay angels is another piece of artwork from my mom, the little skinny Santa was bought in Italy during a visit.

I did get a few other gorgeous ornaments and gifts from friends and family but I did not get a chance to take pictures of them...guess, I'll post them for Xmas2008.

Happy New Year 2008!!!

Happy New Year to All!!!

I have been on vacation...spending time with family, revisiting "SNOW" (and actually enjoying it for a change), putting my scrap room all together and preparing for upcoming classes (yes, not much scrappin' done).

I had been tagged a little while ago by a talented paper crafter VICKI.... and I finally have a moment to sit down and fill in my 7 random things:

1. I am picky about where I lay my body to sleep...picky with mattresses, picky with room temperature, bed sheets and I must sleep on the right side of the bed (I swear it's about the only "princess" thing about me).

2. I have been a good cook for only about 3 years (my hubby will tell you different but then again, he could eat at a fast food place for a week in a row)...you think growing up with an amazing cook (my mom) that I would have picked up this talent early but I was a VERY VERY lazy person.

3. I am a messy person by nature and organization for me has been a BIG challenge!!!

4. I still love goth music...just when I think that it's out of my system, every time I run into a new song and I love it soooo much...I find out it's goth

5. I am an introverted extrovert: I may seem that I am very social but I am soooo terribly shy (I put up a good front; and my Stampin'Up business has made me step out of my comfort zone...thank you Stampin'Up!)

6. I lost my best friend from high school this year...no, she did not pass away, she just decided that not calling her for 4 months straight meant that I obviously did not care and that no one can be that busy (oh...she is not married and does not have any kids)...this event has been a very sad one for me lately.

7. I got a nose job right after a bad car accident in 1996.

Ok...so off on to tagging other people:

1. My friend Brigitte from Australia
2. A new cool SIS from ScrapinStyletv
3. A girl I am hoping to meet next week...her name is JANE and she lives nearby..how lucky am I?

I think I was supposted to tag either 1 more person or 4 more people but that is all I can do for now so you can tag yourself if you would like!!!

I wanted to leave you with a new layout I did a little while ago (I have been doing a few scrapbooking projects but I have not had a chance to load them up)

Happy Holidays!!!

Just wanted to take a moment from my chaotic life and my trip to Seattle to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

PAINTING!!!

Here's a few pics of what we have been doing lately...the process of re-organizing and getting our place all cozy is taking us a bit longer than expected...but to be honest, it's not easy when family and friends visit us on a regular basis (and we do love those pleasant interruptions!).

We decided that red was not our color of choice for the living room so we have painted it...we had the kids have some fun with the process and we gave them paint brushes to help us with the primer. They had a blast!!!

Right now, my scrap room/guest room is in boxes and I am planning a trip to the Container Store tomorrow to get my new furniture and drawers and shelves, etc...I can't wait!!! Imagine a scrap room in boxes during the holiday season??? My hands are itching...

Pics of the new walls will be us shortly...

Le Jardin

I did this layout a few weeks ago using my Le Jardin paper pack that I love so much. My cousin Lulu came to visit me in March 2006 and I was so happy to share some of my world with her. I truly wish we had spent more time together over the years.

BUSY TIMES

All I can say is that it's been busy around here (but that is nothing new here)...painting the walls, unpacking more boxes, getting ready for Thanksgiving (will have a lot of family over this year) and Christmas and my hubby's Birthday...not to mention my son's Birthday is Jan. 10th and will need to quickly start getting ready for that too.

I am still following my agenda on getting organized and fortifying my friendships and family relationships. It's a pretty good feeling...and it's keeping me from spending a lot of moolah on some amazing scrapbooking/stamping products out there.

Stampin'Up is having an amazing promotion this month with the paper packs (but 3 and get the 4th one FREE)...been making some home-made goodies for XMas presents...here's one of them for my mom...it's that cool three clip clipboard...I made into a practical board with a grocery list and weekly menu list. Love that Cherize paper..and so must a lot of people because it had been on backorder until today.

Here's wishing you all lots of good wishes towards your holiday planning!!!

Another Mini Album

I have been wanting to play with those very playful papers from the "Darling Doodles" designer series papers. I had the best opportunity to do this mini album dedicated to this past month. Even though it was still a busy month, we got to go on short family outings and I wanted to capture them in a neat little book. This albums is made from a manilla folder...I see a class coming on for this ....maybe in January 2008?

Oh by the way, Stampin'Up is having an amazing special this month on all of their beautiful designer series paper packs this month...buy three packs and get the 4th one FREE...check out the promotion HERE.

I can hook you up with these beautiful papers...just shoot me an e-mail ok?

Goodbye Halloween 2007

I was inspired by the talented Kelli Crowe when she showed how to make these amazingly cute pop-up cards on ScrapInStyleTV.

I decided to surprise the grandparents with these cards...the little house opens up revealing a mini album with the kids in their halloween costume.

MORE HALLOWEEN STUFF

Just wanted to share a banner sign I made and that is hanging on one of our walls right now. This was fun to make and the kids really love it..that's good enough for me!!!

IN THE SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN

Remember my post about taking time to fortify my friendships and also the post about getting my new place organized? Well, I'm following through with those and that is the reason I do not blog as much.

I am however, also getting into the spirit of the holidays that will be coming up and I am doing lots of little projects.

For halloween, I decorated this tree with little halloween ornaments made by a few artists. Aren't they cute? This tree is sitting on my dining table and I am getting mixed reviews on it...some people comment on how cute it is and some do not comment at all...well, you know...rather than saying something negative...LOL!!!

A Gift From My Italian Friends

After three years, I visited Italy this past summer and decided to finally meet all my Italian scrappin' friends...well, I did not get to meet all of them but I did meet a few on July 22nd. They totally surprised me with this album and needless to say, I was very touched. I miss them so much!

I'M IN A DANCING MOOD

This has been one of those jammed packed weeks...my hubby is at a conference in Florida and I just feel like I have been working from 6Am till 9PM. Needless to say, I am pooped. However, I had to do a happy dance when I got to work with a new kit I got from ScrapinStyleTV last week. HAPPY MORNING!!!

MY FIRST SCRAPBOOK CHALLENGE

I have never played in a challenge but I was so inspired by Gigi Kennedy's challenge on ScrapInStyleTV that I just had to do it. You see, I was already thinking of doing this kind of layout in honor of a song this weekend and well, when I saw this challenge, I jumped right in. Here's what I came up with!!! This style if very different than what I normally do and I had so much fun playing!!! I have only had one comment on this layout though in the website so it does not look too promising that I will win this challenge. Oh well...I still love it!!!

GETTING READY TO "PARTY"!!!

I wanted to share this invitation card I made for a swap. I loved the Calendar set ever since it came out in the new Stampin'Up's Fall/Winter 2007 Collection and all the other complimentary sets that go along with it. I am also in love with transparencies and the endless creative possibilities it is giving us paper crafters.

Speaking of creative possibilities, I just ran into this FABULOUS site...check it out here

Missing "Friends"

I can't remember the last time I actually got addicted to a TV show...when "Friends" ended, I was so terribly sad...I had started watching them since I lived in New York and, at the time, I could really relate to them.

I ran into this episode clip a long time ago but it's so darn hilarious that I had to put it here.

I have also been touched by the Japanese culture a bit today. My friend Kyoko came to visit me today...she came to the States to participate in the Creative Escapes event in Phoenix and then came here to visit a couple of friends including myself. She is such a sweetheart and always gives me some cool gifts from Japan...Kyoko I wish I could see you more than once a year.

My New Love - Owls

So I have been in love with all the little owls (stamps, rub-ons, transparencies) out there for a while now...I bought this beautiful stamp from an Italian stamp company called Impronte D'Autore a while ago and I already had used it in one of my layouts. I had to make a birthday card for my brother in Germany and I came up with this (inspired by the new papers from Tinkering Ink). You know I had to add my Stampin'Up goodies here like my amazing cardstock and the stamp sets Garden Silhouettes and All In A Row It may not be the most masculine card out there but I know my bro is secure enough with his masculinity that he will not mind. I decided to make a few more of these for friends.

Autumn Theme Birthday Inspiration

I have a good friend in Illinois that just had a birthday last week. I miss her very much and it's been years since I have seen her. I have not been good in a long time in honoring my family and friends' birthday and I have decided to put my New Year's resolution into practice earlier than later (besides, I hear it takes three weeks to make something a habit). I am too tired to make my "hectic life" an excuse for taking people for granted and not making the important people in my life a priority.

I made a stationary holder with some stationary for my friend Sandra. I hope she will like it.

CRACKED GLASS

While I was in Italy, the girls there asked me to teach them a few techniques, one of them was the "Cracked Glass" technique and I think they liked it. Anyhoo, this is the card that I came up with to show them an example of a finished project. This is a 3X3 card and it features two of my favorite stamps sets Simply Said and Weathered.

If you like them and want to order them, I will offer a 20% discount this month (Sept. 2007) if you mention you saw this post on my blog. Just e-mail me at laura2471@gmail.com

Hambly Inspired

I totally love Hambly but I always get so irritated seeing the $5 price on those gorgeous rub-ons. I fortunately got my Stampin'Up oval punches to re-create those cool retro flowers. I am not sure what it is with me and having the blue/pink combination mode lately...I do have a boy and a girl, Matteo's favorite color is blue and Elisa's favorite color is pink. Anyhoo...I picked this patterned paper from Wild Asparagus and went crazy with it. The cute robot is from JudiKins. His name is BLINK.

HOME DECOR

While I am waiting for my beloved package from Italy with the necessary cable for downloading my latest pics in my computer, I have decided to share something old...well, not that old...I still need to put this up in my home since we moved a couple of months ago.
I got these amazing paper mache letters at Paper Source and then I mod podged my beloved BasicGrey papers and finally I added some of my favorite emmbellishments.

ANOTHER FRENCH VIDEO

OK...This is the last one. I really liked the music in France more than Italy. On the other hand, I really liked the food much more in Italy.

I can not figure out what the deal is with all this gender mixup. The video in my previous post has a boy dressed as a girl and I think this one is a girl dressed as a guy...what's up with that?!

Anyhoo...this was one of my favorite songs there...ENJOY!!!

I'M BACK!!!

Hello Everyone,

Just got back from my 5 week vacation in Italy a couple of days ago and my husband and I are still recovering from the 9 hour time change.

There is so much to tell and I will break down things a bit in several posts.

I forgot the wire that attaches to my digital camera and hooks up to my computer to transfer and download my pictures so you guys will have to wait a bit for pictures.

During the 5 week break, my hubby and I got a chance to go to France. We rented a little Fiat and just winged it. We had such a nice time. We woke up every morning around 7AM and just started the day early...the hotels had TV inside the rooms and luckily there were videos in the morning to wake us up. Just wanted to include a video of a really neat song that just stuck to my head every day. I don't know the words but hey, it's got a cool beat!

GOING ON VACATION

I am going on vacation for a whole month starting tomorrow so I do not forsee me posting on my blog for a while since the computer software that my parents have is pretty ancient.

Anyhoo, I will leave you a picture of this brad board I was inspired to do from here.

Another Layout

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted...we've had friends and family visiting and I've been busy getting ready for my month long vacation that I will take next week.

I've also been working on a few projects.

Here is the first layout for my "Christmas Through The Years" album. To simplify my life and to catch up on my other thousand of photos I need to scrap, I decided to do one main album a year and then a XMas album...that's it!

Since we really did not do much last Christmas, I decided to scrap our first family-made card that was sent out to our dear friends and family...that's right we all pitched in, even my then-2 year old girl.

FRIEND'S GIFT

I made this little purse for a friend who just got married!!! I used my very beloved Stampin'Up 5-in-1 Template and the new papers, chipboard and stamp set that will come out in the new Stampin'Up big catalog "Fall-Winter 2007 Collection". Goodness I hope she doesn't see this here before I give it to her. Since she is a scrapbooker, I decided to leave it mostly blank for her to do whatever she wanted with it...even for the handle. I hope she likes it!!!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

So a fellow rubber stampers/scrapbooker found me on the net and taggeg me...her name is Denise and you should check her blog since she makes beautiful work.

She tagged me over a month ago and after our move and my crazy Safari in my !Mac and deciding to get Firefox, I am finally answering the TAG.

Here are the 5 blogs not listed here that I do visit often. They are not all paper craft sites but these ladies still do inspire my creativity.
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1. Keisha Campbell (Gotta love this girl's style..she's an AMAZING scrapbook artist)
2. Heather Bailey (Did you know that I want to learn how to sew badly? Heather truly is inspiring...look at all those colors!)
3. Wee Wonderfuls (This girl has the coolest links for other artists as well as being a wonderful one as well)
4. Kristina Werner (Truly inspiring work!!!)
5. Christine (You already know I love the French style...and she is Vietnamese..now if only I could speak French like my husband)

So there it is...hope I was able to give you guys some new things to look at!!!

FATHERS' DAY MINI ALBUM FOR HUBBY

www.flickr.com

I just love Stampin'Up and as soon as I learned that the new "In Colors" were going to retire and naturally also all the scrapbooking kits with these colors, I decided to use one of these kits to make my hubby his mini album for Fathers' Day. I love these papers and they made it very easy to do a manly album.

A NEW TOOL

My good friend Angie came to visit me yesterday with her family and we had a chance to go to a nice store around here called Cranberry Hill. She got me this cool new tool for my upcoming birthday next week...hey, it seems that the older I get, the more things I need just to keep me from thinking "OLD". I actually just found my very first white hair last week which is definately a sure sign of that word "OLD"...at least in the physical sense so I need extra pampering from falling in some kind of depression. So this package includes a 13X13 scoring and cutting mats, push pins, cutting tool and scoring tool a scoreline ruler, a Nothabox rule, a ScorAcurve Deckle and Curve Template, a project booklet and an awesome DVD with instructions and mor projects. IT IS SO AWESOME!!! I have not been excited about a new tool in a very long time. Thank you Angie for this gift!!!

P.S. Almost forgot to tell you the name of this cool tool: 1-2-3D Paper Crafting System by EK - Cutter Bee.

We Have Moved

Hello! Yes, I'm still here...alive and well! It's been a while since I've posted anything here. I had been packing for a few weeks and just did the big move this past weekend. Our new place is full of boxes and I am soooo anxious to get everything unpacked and settle. My scrapbook room is going to be a lot smaller now so I need to redo my room completely. We are also still waiting for a lot of the new furniture that we bought. Right now we have a matress and a set of drawers as our bedroom and just 8 chairs with no table for the dining room. Our living room has one loveseat. I am so tired of eating out and can not wait to make a good home made meal. Anyhoo, I just wanted to post a card I recently did before I packed everything away...it's not Stampin'Up and I can not remember the company of these stamps...as soon as I unload my things I'll update this post. The ribbon is from May Arts and the long card with the envelope is from Stampin'Up.

HAPPY SPRING!!!

I have come to enjoy the Spring season more and more. I have been making some cards with a Spring feel to it...like this one for a mom from my church who had a baby. I had this 8 1/2 X11 vellum sheet that I had stamped randomly with my "Simply Said" stamp a long time ago and just could not figure out what to do with it...and finally came up with this. I used craft/pigment ink, white gel pen and a blue gel marker. I bought the little metal trinket a long time ago and can not figure out what company made it. The ribbon is May Arts.

A favorite from the past

I had a "s...ty" day yesterday...one of those days where you wake up and there is one bad thing after another that happens...we all have had those right? Well...I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from yesterday and today I ran into this video that finally made me smile. I am a HUGE fan of the 80s...music, song...well, with the exception of the big hair. I loved Molly Ringwald and all of her 80's movies. This scene had to be one of my favs so I am including it here in my blog. Now that's entertainment!!!

STAMPS 4 SALE

UPDATE: Almost all of my stamps have been sold with the exception of the brand new unmounted and retired Stampin'Up set titled "Terrific Tulips". It has been on hold for someone who has not gotten back to me for days so I am putting it out there again for anyone who wants it. Cost:$ 25 (plus s/h).

FIRST LAYOUT FOR MY BLOG

OK...since I have so much to catch up on my scrapbooking, I have decided to do one main album a year with all the Highlights/Special Moments of the Year. I have to admit that I am having some major challenges though with getting pictures for this year since we had been taking turns in getting sick for more than 2 months and actually spending most of our weekends looking for a place to buy. Anyhoo...there have been a few special moments around our house, like my kids having some loving moments and hugging. Also, they are trying to create some new funny faces...Matteo is really good at it but Elisa is just too cute to be funny. The Layout with the funny faces has some hidden journaling on the embellished cardstock at both ends of the pictures.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Our life has been one huge roller coaster since we've moved to Sunnyvale and we have all been so busy that I am looking forward to slowing down...hopefully by the summer???!!!

We have finally purchased our first condo here in Cali and we are quite pleased with our choice. Oh, don't think this will be our last and final move...I'm sure a lot of our long-time friends have labeled us the "gypsies" since we move around so much and we have already decided that we will move out again in 4 years (or 3). I can't wait to enjoy that beautiful pool in our complex this summer and actually get some color.

We are now in the process of other projects here and one of our priorities is figuring out how to make our condo nice...we are actually getting rid of our "college" furniture...you'd think that by age 36 we would have gotten rid of it...but no, not us we use everything to their fullest capacity...I guess that is an excuse that is making me feel a bit better about it. So, yes we are getting some "adult" furniture and giving new paint colors to our rooms.

Anyhoo, I have been in the mood to make a project with this little bird from one of my papers from Sassafras Lass. Thinking of Easter...made this little tag and I was brave enough to use some of my hand made papers I had in my stash. I was going to either give this tag away as a gift or sell it but I am too much in love with it so I think I am keeping it and possibly put it in one of my scrapbook layouts.

In the meantime, I have also been playing with my mother-in-law's sewing machine. Yes, I am going to venture into sewing and making some other crafty things. I also want to sew in my scrapbook pages!!!

Hope your weekend was a pleasant one!

SPRING JOURNAL

I am still not tired of those spring papers that just came out....yes, I know...it has not even been a month since those have been out but I normally get tired pretty easily and since I still like them, I am happy that I bought them right away. I wanted to alter the new journal in the new Spring Mini catalog...I think it turned out ok!

MORE CANVAS PROJECT PICS

MY FIRST CANVAS PROJECT

I had been wanting to do this project for a long time and I finally finished it a couple of days ago...these are going in my scrap room since my hubby decided they were a little too feminine to put them on the wall in his office....his loss, my gain!!!
I got these amazing papers by Rouge de Garance in Canada...they are French and I could not find a distributor here in the US. I also decided to use some retired Stampin'Up stamps that I still love very much. Oh, and I had to use my Autumn Leaves stamp set "Doodle Blooms"...it's a gorgeous set!!!

Watercolor Crayon Paisley

This is another project we made at my team meeting last week...wanted to show the girls how to watercolor with the wonder crayons...so much fun!!!

This is one of the projects we did at my team meeting last week...seems like the girls had a good time. Love that carrot box!!!

Some Good News & Some Bad News

My husband said that he is a strong believer now about "BALANCE" in life. He said that there definately has to be some good and bad otherwise we would not progress. I guess that proved to be true this weekend.

The good news: My best friend Mariana is coming to live in California. It is such good news because I miss her so much and now I will be able to see her much more often.

The bad news: Got a call late Sunday night from Italy. My grandma passed away very suddenly. She had been sick for a while and we all knew that her tumor was getting worse but we did not expect her to go downhill so fast and I did not get a chance to see her one last time which is what I intended to do. I have been down for the past couple of days. My entire family has had their chance to mourn but I need to "perform" here at home taking care of my two little ones and to top it all off all these extra things are coming up that need attention and I am going "BONKERS"!!!...oh, and my hubby all of the sudden is loaded at work and coming home late...will I ever get my chance to mourn???!!!

I found this new artist through one of my inspiring scrapbook artists "Elsie Flannigan" about a month ago. How excited was I when I found a new musician that does not sound like all the other artists on the radio nowadays. He also reminds me a bit of my dad because my dad has been a musician for as long as I can remember and he has this studio in his house with all the equipment (synthesizer, mixers, guitars)...he often recludes there, puts his headphones on and starts creating his own music...yeah, I know...I have a cool dad!

I have been called to do a door prize or two for a Mother's Group Annual Luncheon...this is a small bag where I will put some stamping goodies. I just love those new papers from the new Spring Mini catalog.

Spring is HERE!!!

First of all, I want to wish you all my visitors a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAy and I just found out that in Holland today is considered FRIENDSHIP DAY! Today is also my sister-in-law's Birthday..so HApPy B-DaY Kimie!!!

Just sending you all a preview from the Spring Mini...I just totally cased this card from one of the cards that is featured on the front page of the new mini catty that will come out in March. The only substitution is the yellow circle...just had to play with my Ranger pearls.

HUGS TO ALL!!!

My Spring Mini Swap

This is the mini card album I have made for the only swap I am in. I absolutely fell in love with so many of the new sets that will be coming out in the new Stampin'Up's Spring Mini catalog. This card is for a good friend...I will put some pictures and journaling in it..totally FREESTYLE! The others I will send out to my swappin' team. Too bad the pictures do not show how sparkly the flowers really are.

So I have been recovering from all the bugs that have been floating around...it seems like we have been sick on and off from colds, stomach virus, etc...

On a happier side note, I sometimes get surprised from friends and from customers with cards and other things and those suprises just make my day.
I got a package from Japan the other day from one of my friends Kanae and she just sent me so many little things. It was an emotional moment for me because I have been isolated for so long from all the sickness and being home bound that it felt like a nice home visit from a friend. I met Kanae at CKU in San Jose last year and she was soooo cute. I thought it was pretty brave for someone who did not know English well to attend all these scrapbooking classes and being in a foreign country without knowing too many people. She sent me a couple of projects she made with some Stampin'Up stamps and these are the pictures of her work...aren't they beautiful?

Inspiring Video

I have been a fan of Cirque du Soleil for so many years now...when I was little, my family did take us to see regular circus acts with animals and other entertainers but I quickly began to get the feeling that something was not right and I could not bear seeing those animals out of their home and being "forced" to perform. When I discovered there was a circus of only people I decided to give it a try. I remember I was in New York and my husband (then boyfriend) took me...Quidam...how amazingly beautiful. Not only did I absolutely loved the acts but I could not believe there was a story behind everything and it was so surreal just like one of my favorite painters..Salvador Dali...
I ran into this video a few days ago and it left me breathless...how amazing is the human body...it has so much more power than we could ever imagine (I learned quite a bit about the human body in massage school and realized how much more there is to us than we think)...ENJOY THIS VIDEO IT WILL EMPOWER YOU!!!

Here are the last pics of the mini album...there are other pages of course but I do get lazy at taking pictures of the same project. I really like how this album turned out!!!

My first work in the blog: Front and inside of a mini book I did for my husband which I am planning to give him on Valentine's Day. I am doing a separate posting for other pics. I built various options of a kit for anyone who wishes to recreate this album and make it their own. If you are interested in the kit just shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the details.

A Pic of Me

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Originally uploaded by laura2471.

I am playing with the blog elements to figure this blog thing out...I am only hoping I get a hang of this soon!

First Posting

This was supposed to be the first entry to this blog

Ok...so I am new to this blog thing but I have been so positively touched by so many others and their blogs that I decided to start one up for myself. It was a hard thing to name my personal blog because well...it just was! But it came like a flash "A life and Art in Progress"...it sums most of it all for me. My life...a never ending process of learning, messing up, teaching, laughing, crying but most of all LOVING! Art...for me, it's just a continuous work in progress...I learn so much and just as I think I've got my style bogged down...I change everything again (maybe it's the gemini in me).
I am finally in California! I've been here for a little over a year and I love it! It took my husband and I five years to get here and one of our goals has been accomplished. I love heat and I love the water. Yes, it does get chilly here sometimes but I can not complain since there is no comparison to the cold of the east or midwest. You know, I do not even miss the snow...maybe only one day a year: on Christmas.
We have two little monkeys: Matteo Luke and Elisa Leah (and no, we did not plan to have their middle names match the Star Wars characters...even though we are big fans...we just thought they fit their first names really well).
Ok..that's it for now!!!