EVERCLEAR IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!! So I FINALLY got to see Everclear in concert tonight!!! They were opening for Edwin Mccain, which I didn't stay for, but I'm sure he was great..lol But they're doing a tour in honor of the military and they couldn't have been more amazing!!
It was everything I had ever imagined and then some!! It was a small concert at the Performing Arts Center here, which is fine because you get to see more and as you can see in the picture, a better chance of meeting them!!
The concert itself was totally amazing!! They sung all their most famous and well loved songs, well to me anyways! A few new ones off their upcoming CD. It was me, my youngest son Christopher and my hub Stephen that went. It was his first concert but he seemed to enjoy himself.
After their set, they announced that they would be outfront signing autographs, so we said goodbye to Edwin and me and Christopher ran up front. Lucky enough to get one of the papers so we were allowed to get in line to meet them!!! All I can say is they were amazing!!! SOoooooooooooo genuine and friendly!! Didn't rush us through the line, each one would stop and shake our hands, thank us for coming and ask us our name. They were so nice to Christopher, asking about his goals and dreams, what he was interested in. Such a great group of guys!! They definitely didn't disappoint me!! They totally made my night!! I feel like a teenager back in high school lol Who says teenagers are the only ones that can ROCK!?!?!
Thank you ART...Sam, Josh, Davey and Tommy for wonderful memories with my son!!

My son, Stephen, jamming on his guitar!

Below are a few videos of my oldest son, Stephen Jr. playing on his guitar today. He wanted to update his myspace, but since its my flipcam he was using, I get to share a little of him with my friends too!! He's 17 and will be graduating next summer. Where does the time go?? I'm so proud of him though. He makes me wanna commit myself to a padded room sometimes lol but overall he's a great kid. And theres sooooo much more he could be into these days, so I'm very proud of the man he's becoming!
He has self taught himself on the guitar. He went to a few classes but said the instructor was boring and slow, so that was that lol the rest he did on his own. He'll sit in his room and listen to the songs over and over and usually by the end of the night, I'll hear him in there playing them. I wish I had his natural talent.
Soon he'll be going off into the world by himself. It'll be hard to protect him when I won't know what he's doing or where he is, but no matter how much I would love to keep him home, I know he has to find himself and make a life of his own. I know he's a smart young man and I can only hope that he makes the right choices and if not, he learns from the wrong choices and mistakes he may make through life.
And when his heart gets broke, has trouble finding his way or just needs to talk, I'll be here eagerly waiting to wrap my arms around him again.
And when he's rich and famous, I hope he remembers Mom!
I love you Stephen and I'm sooo very proud of you!!!

I GOT AN AWARD!!!!

OMGosh! I got an award!! Thank you to Jo Ann over at Scrappin Addict for thinking my page was nice enough for an award. hmmm or maybe she just couldn't think of a 7th person LOL Either way, I"LLL TAKE IT!!!!! YAY!!!! Ok so first I'd like to thank my parents, without them, none of this would be possible!!! Second, I would...ok wait..first I would like to thank my DH...without his paycheck, none of this would be possible!!! And well ya know the list goes on, but the paychecks the most important!! I am lucky enough to have friends that push me to keep doing these crafts, thinking outside the box and wondering why I do them when sometimes it seems like folks just don't get it or appreciate it. So its nice to see its not all for nothing. How awesome..ya made my day!! Ok so I need to do a few things in return!... Here we go....

1: Thank the person who gave me the award and link to their blog (Completed)
2: List 10 honest things about myself:

1. I love making altered items.
2. I have a small fortune invested in my craft room.
3. I have made some really great friends through crafting and the Cricut MB.
4. I have a problem with procrastination and motivation.
5. I have two great sons that I love dearly and will miss as they go off into the world.
6. I'm lucky to have a great DH who supports my crafting addiction.
7. I happen to talk too much and sometimes lose friendships because of it.
8. I miss my nephews and nieces soooo very much!
9. I really wish my mom and I could be closer..but never see it happening.
10. I really have a lot of swaps I need to get finished.

3:Put the award on my blog(Completed)
4:Pick 7 people to give the award to:

In no particular order.....

A Scrapping Mom's Scraps

~*~Niki's Cards ~*~

Going Buggy

Design~Create~Inspire

Denise Loves Stamps

Hand to Paper

Dee's Special Things

Altered Drink Recipe MiniAlbum with BIA

Ok...tonight was interesting to say the least lol I FINALLY took my Bind-it-All out of the bag it came in and used it!! Yes you heard me right...I used my Bind-It-All!! To be such a small thing, it sure holds a big intimidation factor!! I was soooo scared to make that first punch in fear it would screw up my page and then I'd have to start over lol but i finally just took the plunge and I think it turned out ok, could be better though.

Anyways this book was made for an Adult Drink Paintcan Swap I'm in. It's a mixed drink recipe book. The covers and pages are coasters that were bought from Michaels and I altered them.

Thanks for looking!!

Front Cover


Inside front cover


Page One and Page Two


Page Three and Page Four


Page Five and Page Six


Page Seven and Page Eight


Inside back Cover

My Sesame Street Friends!!!

Ok I know for you seasoned Cricut users, this isn't a big deal lol But for those of you who know me, knows that for the longest time, I have been a bit of a collector of sorts, but I'm getting better!! Just to prove it....look what I made tonight!!! My first time at cutting and doing layers with Cricut cuts. A member on the board wanted some Sesame cuts so I volunteered, being the sweet person that I am lol yeah i know what you're saying....lol anywho...These are what I came up with. What ya think?? Would you put them in your scrapbook??

These were done with the Sesame Street & Friends Cricut Cartridge. All done at 4inches. Various types of cardstock.

Thanks for looking!! Hmmm wonder what all these other carts have on them...lol

Altered Spring/Girly Journaling Tags

These are some Spring/Girly Journaling Tags that I altered for a swap that I was in. They've all been mailed in so I figured I'd go ahead and post. These were my first journaling tags that I altered. The journaling area is on the back on the tag. Fibers were added to the top of the tag. Paper is from InqueBoutique. I traced the flowers on the paper with various colors of Liquid Pearls. Various buttons added to middle of flowers. Stickles to accent around center. Bug embellishments added. Some were buttons that had the shanks removed and others are skittles that I made to look like bugs crawling on the flowers.
Thanks for looking!

Card set with Purse

Well I finally made myself take a break from all the swaps I'm in to make this Card set.
A great friend of mine was selling a few of her House Mouse stamps, and we all know how much I love those, so she came up with a great idea. Instead of me paying her, I would make her some handmade cards. Hopefully I've done the trade justice and she doesn't feel jipped.
Anyways, I got the idea and pattern for the purse from the PaperCrafts magazine, 225 Cards & Gifts Issue. the stamps are called "Fairy Tales" from The Angel Company. Various papers and cardstock. Stickles decorate the front of the purse along with a few gems in the middle of the flowers.
Hope she likes and you liked looking as well!

Mothers Day Paint Can

Here's my latest altered paint can. It was made for my partner in the Mothers Day Paint can Swap. Flowers on top are from Primas. Ribbon from Big Lots and Michaels. Mini Skittles around the middle of the can. Name was cut out on the Quickutz Silhouette. Papers are from the DCWV Spring Stack.
Hope ya like and thanks for looking!!

Altered Frames

We're working on altered frames in a swap that I'm in, so I thought I'd share a few that I have done in the past. Both frames were bought from Michael's. Acrylic paint was used to color them, Primas, rubons and ribbons to decorate. The 'L' is a wooden monogram letter attached to the frame. Hope ya like!

New Altered Journal

Here's a new Altered Journal I made for a swap I'm in. The lady I'm partnered with loves cupcakes, so figured I'd make her a book for her cupcake recipes. Started off as a regular black/white composition book like we all used in English class. I still need to add the title to the front, which I'll update the 1st pic when I get that finished. Papers are from the DCWV Sweet Stack. Ribbons are from the Vintage Kitchen line from Michaels. Gem on front is a Magnetic Tie Back from BasicGrey. Felt alone the spine and inside front and back covers to make pockets. Metallic paper on the inside and back cover is from the DCWV Metallic Stack. Polka Dot ribbon down front and back side is from Dashes, Dots & Checks.
Hope ya like and thanks for looking!!

Front Cover


Inside Front Cover


Middle Divider with Bookmark Ribbon


Opposite side of Middle Divider


Inside Back Cover


Back Cover

MY NEW TOY!!!!!!

Besides an interesting start to my day, I think I'm finally beginning to get back to normal. After a month of computers crashing, taken over by viruses and trojans and wireless networking issues on another computer I'm back. A little more insane than I once was...wait is that possible? lol But anyways, my laptop that I used in my craft room CRASHED!!!! I was so depressed because I loved being able to watch the MB, look at different tutorials, check my email and to work on my projects while talking to friends, and all that was gone. :o(
Well a few days after it crashed my DH, Stephen, walked in on his lunch hour and handed me some papers. He had surprised me with a new Dell Laptop!! He said it was my early anniversary present from him. So finally after waiting about a week, It was to be delivered today! I was soooo excited for today to get here, but I wish I had just stayed in bed instead.
I got up to take the boys to school, pulling out of the garage, glanced down at the radio, not even for a half second, and tore my driver side mirror off my Durango :o( It sounded like I had knocked the whole wall down. Ugh if it's not one thing it's another!!!! So hopefully my new mirror will be here in a few days and DH will get that fixed and we'll be back to new. Pretty embarrassing driving around with a side mirror lol The end of my day got so much better. After getting back home with the boys after school, the FedEx man delivered my new toy!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! It's aggrivating trying to get everything reinstalled and figured out, but I'm having fun learning. This is my first computer with Vista and so far so good. It's great to be able to get back in my craft room again! Maybe I can get some work done now. I have A LOT of Inchies, Trinchies and titles to make, so I'm sure I'll be here for the next 5mths cutting and embellishing lol and finishing up a few other swaps.
Hopefully tomorrow will start off better than this morning!

Doggie Maze Book

I just got through with another Maze Book. I really like how this one turned out. It's got more of a book look to it with the book spine and all. Didn't want to put too many embellishments so that someone can add their own lil personal additions to it. Dog Papers were Karen Foster, Deja Views Dog Day Collection, and the Paper Studio. Black cardstock from DCWV Cardstock Stack.

Thanks for looking! Any and all comments welcome!

Accordion Mini Book 4x4

A quick 4x4 accordion album I put together this morning. Papers are from Basic Greys Lollipop Collection.

Coaster Mini Book

This is a coaster book I made tonight. Thought it could be used as a wedding album or something along those lines. The papers are from the new DCWV La' Creme Stack. They're more of a yellowish brown color, than the light color the pictures show. I'm just having problems with my camera and flash cooperating. The black areas in the front and back cover are felt.