Happy Birthday, Nick!

It's hard to believe he was born at 4 lbs 14 oz, and is already a handsome young man of 21 years!

 

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Happy TWENTIETH Birthday to my son Nick!  It was actually yesterday, but here's a picture of him today with his Iowa Hawkeye birthday balloon (from Jess & Neal).  Also notice Daisy's photobombing.  She rattles the doorknob to tell us she wants to go outside.  Now I have to edit my blogger profile: I can't describe Nick as a teenager any more.

7 Gypsies Receipt Holder

I've had this receipt holder from 7 Gypsies sitting around with my other "to-do" projects for over a year, maybe two.  I finally got it out tonight.  I printed the family pictures with low color making them look older although all were taken this fall and winter.  I used a yellow patterned paper from CTMH's "Elemental" paper pack for the background.

I added misc. bits and pieces I had in my studio.  The dominoes, eight and six, represent the year we got married (1986).

There's a ticket stub from Tom and my annual trip to Alpine Valley to see Jimmy Buffett, along with some mini flip flops.

"Family" is made from miniature Scrabble letters.

We're all Cubs fans, so I added a ticket stub from a trip to Wrigley Field.  I made the fleur de lis with a small wooden disc, CTMH inks, and a CTMH stamp to represent Mardi Gras and our time living in Louisiana.

I had some extra chipboard letters I used to include each one of our initials.  Jess & Neal both attend the University of Iowa and we've all always been Hawkeye fans, so I added the tiger hawk.  Once I got started on this project, it came together in less than three hours.

Nick's Smiling Face

Nick was in an exceptionally smiley mood one day when he got home from school, so I snapped several pictures of him smiling--not always an easy task.  His blue and brown shirt coordinated well with CTMH's new Wonderland paper pack, and this is the layout I created.  The layout itself is a combination from a bunch of layouts I saw while looking through examples.

While trying to find just the right title for the layout, I came across James Taylor's song "Your Smiling Face," which was perfect.  I printed the lyrics and cut them out with a crazy font--"Christy" I think.

The tag is a punch, and I added the mini binder clip.  "Nick" is made with CTMH's stamp set Typeface, and the flourishes are second generation stamped from the Pair-a-Phrase set.  The date stamp is a retired set called Today's Date.  The arrow embellishment points to the 26th, the actual day I took the picture.

"2011" and "love" are from a set of CTMH rub-ons.  I added random CTMH mocha opaques.

There is a partial circle of mocha opaques on the first page and another one bridging the two pages.  I made these by using round dimensional elements as a guide. (see photo above)

A Little Rant -- Please Read!

Protesters Pack Hearing To Cut Help For Disabled - Politics News Story - KCCI Des Moines

I attended this rally (click on above link for details) and the legislative rules review committee meeting today as an advocate for my special needs son.   Iowa lawmakers made cuts to our budget at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens, the ill and handicapped.  I urge you to stop these funding cuts in Iowa, or whatever your home state, and maybe most importantly in the federal government, especially in response to buzz words like "smaller government."  The reality is "smaller government" doesn't mean fewer bureaucrats.  It means less money for education; fewer programs for the sick, disabled and elderly; public parks and recreation closures; less funding for road maintenance; delays for courts; understaffed law enforcement; and cuts to every other public service we take for granted.

Shrine Circus

Our neighbors gave us some free tickets to the Shrine Circus, so Tom and I spent a nice afternoon with Nick, Jess, & Neal at the circus.

We wanted a picture with a clown, but they were too creepy to talk to--even though we knew they were Altoona area Shriners.  We're just not clown fans.

Jess with some circus snacks:

Nick enjoying the show at his ringside seat.

Hula-hooping unicyclists.  I don't believe these were the infamous Ridge Riders though.

Neal & Jess

The trapeze artist lost some of his star quality when immediately after his peformance he donned his Coke bottle glasses and helped tear down the netting.  As soon as this job was done, he changed into the same black outfits as the other "roadies" and performed odd jobs around the ring.

Happy Birthday, Tom!

The elephants were our favorite act.

Jess thought she was at an international soccer event.

Happy Birthday, Nick!









What's up?

Lots going on at my house:  My January 29 workshop is sold out, so lots of preparations are underway.  The new Close to My Heart Idea Book will go live on February 1.  It's full of great new products, and I'm having lots of fun with my new stuff.  Nick turns 18 soon, so we're beginning guardianship and conservatorship proceedings for him.  Also, I'm involved with fighting an administrative rule change regarding respite benefits for handicapped children that will be before our legislature in March.  Tom and I are getting ready for a much-needed vacation to the Gulf Coast--five nights on the beach with no agenda--I can't wait!  I finally finished my scrapbook from last year's Gulf Coast/New Orleans vacation about a week ago.  I had promised myself I'd finish it before I went back.   And the last thing, which is the BIGGEST news:  Jess & Neal got engaged during their Disneyworld vacation!  Here they are looking cute and very happy in the Magic Kingdom.  They even got to be grand marshals for the Magic Kingdom parade! 

New Camera Pics

A couple pics with my new camera:  (more on my 365-day blog)

Tom cleaning the driveway.  I swear it snows every day!

 Jess and Nick playing BandHero.

It's been awhile...

No posts in over a month....I'm going to try to do better. During last month:
Jess moved back to college. This is Jess & Neal on the patio of their apartment on moving day:

Nick started high school. Here he is on the first day:

And, we took a long weekend to Wisconsin to a Jimmy Buffett concert. This pic was at our hotel. It was chilly.