Foto Friday # 7- My Godson Ethan

I'm taking this Foto Friday to gush about my Godson Ethan, so bear with me :) I've never been a Godparent before, so it's all new and exciting!I met Ethan this past Wednesday for the first time, I was in the area on business, so when work was done, I went to visit Ethan and his mom K, (his dad was at work). Ethan is just over 5 weeks old and absolutely beautiful!!K is a childhood best friend, I've known her since I was 4 years old, and met when my parents moved to the neighborhood they still live in. K is a few years older than I am, but we bonded quickly, and hung out all the time. K moved away after college and we lost touch for a little while...you...

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A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day: How do YOU deal?

Today was a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. There's no need to go into details, it was just not a good day. Everyone has them, they're bound to occur.Much of what I do at work is assisting or rather reminding people, that stress is subjective, and you may not have control over what happens to you, but you DO have control over how you react to what happens to you.So, today as I drove to a meeting, I did what I usually do when I'm having a bad day...drown my sorrows in angry music. I blare it as loud as I can stand it. I'm the car that pulls up next to you at the light and the car is shaking. My angry music varies, but it MUST contain...

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TTIC #20- Italia

Viva Italia!! I'm so excited about this week's Twilighttuesday.com challenge!! The challenge has to do with all thing Italian, as part of the Twilight saga takes place in Italy, and involves the Volturi. The comment portion of the challenge asks:"... have been to Italy? What did you like best about it? Have you been to Volterra? And what are you hoping the director of New Moon captures about Italy in the movie?"Yes, I can finally say I've been to Italy. I am half Italian, my mother was born in Valdagno, a small mountain town in the Northern part of Italy close to Venezia (Venice). If you've been following my little blog, you have heard me mention...

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Spring has sprung!...at least in my stamping room it has

As the snow falls outside my window, I decided to bring a little Spring to my stamping room. A few different things inspired this card. Taylor's sketch for this week's challenge provided the layout. Initially I was going to make a birthday card- I've had an offline order for one of my Oh Shoot Card Kits and needed some birthday cards to go inside.However, yesterday, I was asked by Natasha at Doodlestar on Etsy to participate in her ThursdaySweetTreat features. Of course I said Yes! She posts a theme every Friday, and you have until the following Wednesday to submit them to her, and she'll post them on Thursdays. It's a great way to keep the...

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A Chat with the Easter Bunny

Imagine my surprise when I answered the phone and it was the Easter Bunny calling me!! He called last night while I was stamping; it was perfect timing because I was just finishing up one of my new Easter cards. I was putting the final touches on this card, making sure the pattern paper was just right and the paper punches looked good (I used some fantastic Basic Grey paper that I won in my TwilightTuesday.com blog candy). This card is now available in my Etsy shop. We had a good chat, the Easter bunny and I. He said he was getting ready for Easter, he was just starting to get busy, with the eggs, and the chocolate. But he did sound a little…,...

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Foto Friday # 6- San Francisco California

TGIF!!! This week, even with the holiday has been jam packed! Work is picking up and I’ve been quite tired at the end of the day so I haven't been very motivated to do any stamping. I did have a nice visit with two of the nurses I worked with a few years back, we still keep in touch. The weather in London has been quite dreary this week. We often share weather with our sister city in Britain-RAIN! Rain in February is quite odd, it melted all 4 ft of our snow and now the Thames is running over its banks; city parks are flooded, as are basements, I’m sure. These are the times I’m thankful I live in an apartment building. Today brought...

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TTIC # 19: Villains

This week’s TwilightTuesday.com challenge is about Villains.  The comment portion asks about your reactions to the villains, if they scare you or don’t scare you, etc. Others have commented about this particular villain, and I agree 100% the villain that scares me the most is Jane.  Her power of controlling your mind to create the most unimaginable amount of pain is simply terrifying to me.  In my day to day job, I consistently interact with clients who have chronic pain and are learning to cope with it.  The mind is an incredibly powerful thing; there are techniques and strategies used to create that “mind-over-matter'”...

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My new Rule and a TECC55 entry

I made myself a new rule when it comes to making my cards; for every card I make with my favourite black & white combo, I have to make another card with colour. I’m making this public knowledge so I stick to it…and feel free to remind me every once and a while ;) I read in a magazine that Yellow and Grey is THE colour combo for this spring. So I decided to give it a whirl while completing Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge this week. I received my new Unity spring stamps in the mail this week, and since the weather in London has been rainy and snow for the past few days, I decided I needed some spring and it was time to ink them up. I also...

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A Valentine’s card inspired by…soap? Etsy Seller Feature: Savor

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and here’s how a Valentine’s card was inspired by soap. I was cruising Etsy and I stumbled upon some “Princess Bride Soap” and decided, since the soap shares the name and is inspired by my favourite movie, I had to have it. I started looking at the rest of Savor’s products and I found this: “My Boyfriend's Tshirt -- Olive Oil Soap Scent:Such a perfect blend of fresh linen with a small dash of cologne -- comforting, tomboy-ish and enveloping! It reminds me of a lovingly worn, favorite t-shirt -- something you "borrowed" from your boyfriend and like to snuggle up in at night :)” Savor How perfect! Let’s...

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Foto Friday # 5- European Wedding Pictures

September seemed to be a busy wedding month in Europe; in a number of cities we saw a Bride and Groom, mostly out taking their wedding pictures. In honour of Valentine’s day tomorrow, here are some wedding pictures from Europe. Berlin, Germany Rome, Italy What could be more romantic than having your wedding pictures taken on the Spanish Steps in Rome?… Getting married at the Cathedral in Piazza San Marco, Venice; and then crossing the Piazza to your reception with a full orchestra… Happy Friday, Ciao for now, ...

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A mid-blog crisis?

I've been struggling with the look of my blog for...well, since I started. I keep trying new things, formats, fonts, layouts, etc. After some very frustrating rounds with some photo editing programs, I decided to take the easy way out, and check out some pre-fabbed stuff online. I found the header and the background at thecutestblogontheblock. The background is The Madison and is really for a 3 column blog, (which one day I might try again, but I thought it looked too cramped) so all you see is the polka dots, and I kinda like it like that.I'm really not going for a Twilight theme, which is what black, red, and white seem to signify these days. I love the classic look of these 3 colours, and the damask pattern reminds me of Paris, which is my happy place. What do you think? any suggestions?...

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When I opened my mailbox today…

I found my blog candy had arrived from TwilightTuesday.com!!!! Here’s what I won: Some absolutely delicious paper, I wish you could feel this stuff.  I tend to hoard DP so it might be a challenge, but I’m very excited to use it and I know it will be for something special.   And some bling!  some brads and dew drops and some flowers- I’m very excited about these because I keep making excuses NOT to buy them, telling myself I have lots of embellishments that I should use up first…but I have a feeling these might just change my mind:)  And some beautiful velvet ribbon, that will be for something special too. And then!!...

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Very Punny series continued and a sketch challenge or two…or three

I must admit I’ve been feeling a little zapped by work lately, so I had planned to rest tonight. But then, the postman showed up with my Unity Stamp order, and I just couldn’t let them sit there un-inked now could I?? First up is a continuation of my Very Punny series. I have two cards I’ll be introducing into my Etsy store tomorrow. This little card is perfect for a belated birthday greeting or for those times where we have to step it up and say “I’m sorry”. It is sure to make someone giggle! I stamped the strawberries in my ‘random uniform pattern’ (see previous post) and watercoloured them. I had to laugh because I whined so much about...

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