Stew Leonard's

We got to go to Stew Leonard's!!  For those of us that live in FL, this is an experience.  Stew Leonard's is a grocery store up here that is an adventure and a store.  They carry a lot of their own brand name stuff.  They also have a lot of many prepared foods. Needless to say, you can just run to the store and picked up your already made meal or pick up a prepared one to just throw in the oven.  It is a really cool store.  They have animatronics that are perfect entertainment for the kids.

So, anyways, here are a couple of pics.

Benny has more on his phone but I have to figure out how to sync his phone without him getting all my contacts.  So, as soon as I figure that out I will post those as well.

Christmas in CT

Yup, you read the title correctly.  This FL girl is in icy cold CT for the Christmas holiday.  My hubby is from here and so we came up to visit.  All I have to say is burrrrrrrrrrrr.  It is SOOOOOOOO cold up here!!  I honestly don't know how people survive this year after year.  It gets really cold in FL but it only lasts for about a week.  Then we have a nice chill.  In CT, it is just plain freezing allllllll the time!!!  I'm even cold inside the house...LOL!!  It hasn't snowed yet though.  Supposedly, it might snow this weekend. I hope it snows before we leave on Christmas day though.  It is always sooo pretty when it snows and you don't have to go out and work...LOL!!

Anyways, I am off to play set-back with the family.  So I will post pics later.  Hope everyone is doing well :) Mercy

Christmas Decorations Are UP!!

Actually, they have been up for a couple of weeks but I just haven't uploaded the pics yet.  I have them on my cell phone and I haven't synced it yet :(

I will be uploading them shortly though.

And here they are!!!

Our Christmas Angel fell down after we put it up on the top :( 

We are going to have to find another one that is beautiful and lights up...I'm a little picky when it comes to my angels...LOL

Benny's Santas.  He LOVES to collect Santas.

We may not have a fireplace but we make do...LOL!!

Our Christmas table top.

Our Christmas village.  We got them yeeeaaaarrrrrsssss ago at 90% off...gotta love a sale!!

A closer look.

Hope everyone has a blessed Holiday Season!!  Mercy

Sharon, SMscrapper on YouTube is having a giveaway!!

Sharon is having a super awesome.  Totally amazing giveaway on her YT channel.  She is giving soooooooo much stuff away and it is actually 2 giveaways.  You should totally got to her YT channel and check her out.  She is amazingly talented and generous.

http://www.youtube.com/user/smscrapper#p/a/u/0/Un5gdmkcliQ

Let her know I sent you over :)

I WON!!!!!!

I have been chatting it up most of the day over at splitcoststampers.com.  The Greeting Farm is now on SCS!!  They released their new line of clear stamps and were having a giveaway.  I won one of their prizes of a single stamp set.  I chose Birthday Anya.  She's an older stamp and I want to make sure to get her before they retire her.

However, their big drawing was at 11pm EST.  I stayed up because I wanted to see if I would win... the prize...all of their new release sets.  Hubby told me to go to sleep but I stayed up and WON!!!!  I won all 5 brand new sets!!!!  I am sooooo happy.  I can't believe it!!!!

I met some lovely ladies that are a blast to chat with AND have lots of great advice.  It was sooooooo much fun!!  I really enjoyed it.  I haven't chatted since I met my hubby online 12 years ago!!   You guys have to check it out :)

Can't wait to get them in and play :)

Finished Copic Coloring of Uptown Angel

I had fallen in LOVE with the Kenny K stamps ever since I saw thenorsugirl color them up on her YouTube channel.  I went right over to WhimsyStamps.com and signed up for their newsletter.  About a week ago, I received the newsletter stating that their stamps were 20% off!!!!  What!!!!!  I HAD to buy some of them now...hehehehe.  I went online and picked some up (13 of them, that's some right?!?!?!?!?).  They came in on the perfect day because it was my friend's birthday and there was one that was perfect for her.  I started coloring her up right away.  Here is the video of my finished card.  She came out soooooo cute.  Jennifer loved it.

Hope you guys enjoyed :)

Michael's Haul and Stella Birthday Card

I wake up every Sunday and look up the Michael's ad.  I want to make sure that I am able to get the best deals on the first day so that they don't run out.  To my surprise, they had their recollections brand paper 50% off.  Those new beautiful paper pads were 50% off!!!!  How could I pass that up?!?!?!?!?  Soooo, I got up, got dressed, and went shopping.  Here is what I picked up.

I also show a finished birthday card I made for my Assistant Principal.  Hope you enjoy :)

I think the card came out sooooooooo cute.  I'm going to hate to give it away....sniff, sniff.  I really hope she likes it :)

Cricut Catalog

The other day I wanted to cut an image out for a project I was working on with the Cricut.  I looked it up on my Gypsy and then I went to get the manual to see it in color.  I don't know about you but I LOVE to see the images in color.  I need to see it so I can make up my mind.  Anyways, I decided to make a catalog so I can flip through it to pick my image.  Sooooooo, here is my finished catalog.  I hope you enjoy :)

I think this catalog will really help me out when I am trying to decide which image to cut.  Hope you think it's a good idea :)

Finished Cheeky Beach Birthday Card

I finally finished the Cheeky Beach birthday card that I made for my niece.  I made my own background paper for it and I really like how it came out.  Here's the video....

Hope you enjoy :) Mercy

Thank You Card

School started 2 weeks ago and it has been a reeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyy rough start.  My back has been hurting.  The heels of my feet have me walking like an 80 year old woman.  I haven't been sleeping well and I feel the stress of a new year.  Anyways, I was having a particular hard morning with my own boys when tears started to stream down my cheeks.  It was very early in the morning so I walked to my classroom to start preparing for the day.  I had no idea that a parent would actually be up there waiting to get something from my room.  Yup, she saw the tears.  I was sooooooooooo embarrassed but I just couldn't stop the tears.  I let her into the room, went to my desk and got some hand sanitizer so I could clean off my face and settle down.  After a few minutes, I was able to calm down enough.  The parent was very understanding and she did not ask about anything.  She simply came in and got the items she needed with her son.

Later on that day, I went down to my mailbox and I found a surprise.  The parent had left me a card!!!!!!!!  I was soooooooooooooo touched.  Tears welled up in my eyes but this time they were tears of joy.  I needed that card sooooooooo much.  It showed me that someone cared.  I just say enough how much that card means to me to this very day.  I have the card in my entertainment unit so I can see it when I first come in the door and while I'm watching TV.

Soooo, I made her a card as a small thank you.  It was a super small gesture because I would never be able to thank her properly.  The gesture of a card really means soooooooo much.  So here are some grainy pictures of the card that I made ( my iPhone fell into water and now it doesn't work like it used to but that's another story all together).

I cut the card out with the Cindy Loo Cricut cartridge at 3 and 3/4".    I then cut the shadow at the same size.  The doily was cut out of white cardstock and then stamped with my script stamp in creamy roan.  The shadow scalloped paper was cut out of chocolate brown script paper.  I then placed some Want-2-Scrap bling from www.2creativechics.com.  Chocolate seam binding finished off the card. I think it came really nice.

Hope you guys enjoy :) Mercy

Cosmo Cricket and Pink Paislee Warehouse Sale

I was actually able to take advantage of the Cosmo Cricket and Pink Paislee Warehouse Sales.  I was soooooooooo excited to get in on the deal.  Here are the videos showing you what I got.

Hope you guys enjoy :) Mercy

Our new addition

Soooo, a couple of weeks ago my hubby came to see me while we were at the beach.  I asked him to wait for me so he could help me pack up the car.  I just needed to get the kids out of the water.  When I came back to the picnic table, he had left.  I thought that was super odd.  He totally always helps and goes waaaaaay above and beyond.  However, he had gone before me without helping.  I figured he had remembered something that he had to do and it was time sensitive so he had to leave.  Soooooooooo, i packed up all the stuff and got the boys in the car.  We drove up to our house and he wasn't home.  After a while of not being home, I decided to call him.  He said that he would be home in a few minutes.  When he came through the door, this is what he had in his hands...

a maltese puppy!!!!!!!   She is such a cutie!!!  She is tiny and abso-smurfly adorable.  The boys were gaga over her.  They play with her like she is a baby that needs "daddy" to take care of her...how adorable is that?  We were thinking of names for a while and finally came up with Willow.  We call her Willow the Pillow alot!!  The boys are soooo into rhyming.  We are soooo happy with her.  We try our best to potty train her and get her to stop stealing my sandals.  Apparently, girls of all sorts LOVE shoes...LOL.

Well, I hope you are all doing well :) Mercy

Kathryn (desdichaedo) and Rina's (scrapstress) Shadow box

I watched a tutorial on YouTube from thenorsugirl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4vetra7Np4) and got totally inspired.  I quickly went to the scrapbook room and busted out the supplies.  It took a little bit of reconfiguring, but I finally got the shadow box just the way I wanted.  I then stayed up until 5am so I could finish decorating Rina's shadow box.  I think it came out totally awesome.  I really fell in love with it.  

Here's my YouTube video showing you my project and then I have pictures to show you in a little more detail.

Here's the front cover.  I used the Tim Holtz tag and bookplates die and double embossed it using bronze and black embossing powder.

I made this swan flower using Rina's tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfk53HLgsl0)

The Greeting Farm's Cheeky Beauty.

Double embossed with black and silver embossing powder.

The Greeting Farm Cheeky Glamour.

I am totally in LOVE with how they came out.  They were super fun to make.  I need a couple more to display in my room and to give as gifts. 

Hope you guys enjoy.  Contact me if you have any questions :) Mercy

Teresa Collins & Bonus Giveaway

Teresa Collins & Bonus Giveaway *sharing with you the blog post today at http://mycraftchannelblog.blog​spot.com.

Ohhhhh, Paula. How I LOVE you :)

Well, we just got back from a super amazing vacation in the mountains of Georgia.  My best friend owns a house in Georgia.  She's had it for 4 years but this is the first time we visit.  Let me tell you that it was AMAZING!!  Coming from Florida, those hills that then turn into mountains are just breathtaking. 


We left Friday night so the boys could sleep through the ride.  We arrived in Savannah, GA at 6 am.  We drove straight to Paul Dean's restaurant, The Lady and Sons.  I thought there would be a line at that time but there wasn't.  So we went off to the Bonaventure Cementery.  I really wanted to see the Bird Girl, the statue that was featured in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  I didn't realize that they had moved to a museum quite a few years ago.

I love that movie!!  If you haven't watched it, you really must.

Anyways, we drove around the cemetery and took some amazing pictures.  I love the fact that people in GA section off their family plot with some marble and then place all their loved ones in there.  Here in FL, we just have plot after plot.  They have sooooo many statues in the cemetery and soooo many stories.  I loved going through and seeing it.  It was sad though because I eventually came across the headrests of small children and infants.  How terribly sad...

 I can only imagine the complete despair of the parents.

After the cemetery, we went back to Paula's to see if the line had formed.  I think we got there around 7:30-7:45 am.  I was the 11th person in line!!

 That's me in the gray shirt waiting for 9:30am to roll around.  I think I look pretty good for sleeping 2 hours within a 24 hour period...LOL.

 This is the line by the time 9:30am came around.  That's the time they start taking names for that day's service.

 Then you have to show up 15 minutes before your reservation time in order to wait for your name to be called.  That's me again in the gray shirt in the middle.  At this time, I got a 30 minute power nap in the car while we waited for 10:45am to roll around.

 This is the family.  We are eagerly awaiting the delicious food that was about to come.  (from left to right- Benny, Mercy, Roman, and Enzo)

 The first they bring out are hoecakes and a biscuit.  That hoecake was OUT OF THIS WORLD delicious!!  I was in heaven eating it.  I had never had one before but it put other hoecakes to shame...LOL!!

 Benny got the buffet.  So he got some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, pork chops, candied yams, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and creamed corn.

 This is Benny as he is putting the chicken in his mouth...

 and this is him after chewing it and getting to taste it.  Doesn't that picture say it all.  It was just soooooooo juicy and delicious.

 This is my chicken pot pie.  It was delicious!!  The only thing that I would have changed was to put only white meat chicken.  Other than that, it was sooooooo super yummy.  I asked Roman if he liked this one or the one that mommy makes and he said that he likes this one better :(  Pretty sad but I can see why he preferred this one.  It was really yummy.  I do think mine is pretty scrumptious though...LOL

Here's the buffet.  I really wanted Benny to take a much closer view of the food but he didn't...oh, well.  What can you do?  

All in all, the food at The Lady and Sons is fabulous!!  If you ever go by Savannah, GA, you MUST go there!!  I know there is a long wait but it is sooooooooooo worth it.  My best friend has lived in GA for 4 years and never gone but I am sure that she will be going shortly because I can not stress enough how delicious it is.

Well, I will be going to bed now.  I will be back with some more pictures of my mountain adventure.  

Hope you enjoyed, Mercy

What I've been working on.

I have been having a great time off so far.  We have been relaxing and swimming in the pool.  We got an above ground pool the other day and set it up.  It is soooooo nice  being able to swim in the pool to escape from the heat.  It's only a 12 X 30 inch pool but it does the trick.  The boys are loving being outside and I am loving watching them learn how to swim.


Anyways... one of my coworkers asked me to make her some cards.  They are business size and are to put inside gifts.  She showed me a sample of one she had from many years ago and I finally delivered them to her.  So here are the pics...

I found the free clip art online and pasted them together to make their family.  I blocked out their last name to protect their identity but I think they came out fabulous, if I do say so myself.  I think that this is a great idea.  Anytime you have a gift to give either in your family or for the kid's school, you get one of these little cards and put them in the gift.  It's cute, it's personal, and super convenient!!  


I will probably be making more for our family and perhaps I can make a little business out of this...anything to make extra money to pay for my scrapbooking addiction...LOL!!  I just have to find clip art that I can use to sell.  If anyone knows about this, PLMK.


Hope you enjoy,
Mercy