It's been a great weekend in Seattle!

I could not ask for any better weather or weekend lineup of activities! Friday night I spent time with Jill, Donna, and Linda and we feasted on the best carmelized onion and feta tart thingies (from Trader Joes), some great mozarrella cheese sticks and tiny little pizzas (white cheese & no red sauce = very good pizza). There was a fabulous cheese plate (I wish I could remember the name of the cheese!), and then some great mini chocolate oatmeal cookies and Starbuck's new ice creams: Java Chip and Caramel Machiatto...Even Jill liked the ice cream and she's NOT an ice cream kinda gal!

After the wine, drinks and feasting, we crafted until LATE - 2:45 a.m.? (Sorry about that, Jill!) But once I got started on these cards I was so happy to be actually making something and couldn't stop! Even Jill got busy! :) I should have brought my camera that night because the interior of her house is a dream if you like SU colors! The walls were recently repainted - I believe there's Kiwi Kiss, Tangering Tango, So Saffron, and a gorgeous deep red in the kitchen area. It's all open so you can see all the color from the dining area where we sit....love it!

Saturday I spent time with my girlfriends who used to work at the Seattle Times. We're all somewhat spread out (and live far from each other) aside from having busy lives, so it was great to spend time hanging out together. We met at Anthony's on the waterfront in Des Moines. The afternoon was filled with fun, laughter, great drinks, good food, and the best company! I did remember to bring a camera -- and here we are :) (SAY CHEESE!) Too bad I didn't remember to take pictures until the end of our visiting!

(l-r Krista - she teaches at Edmonds Community, me, Lori - Marketing Director at Brookdale Senior Living in Tacoma, and Jill - Special Ed teacher/Real Estate agent extrodinaire).

Sunday is time to work in the garden, go plant shopping, and tidy up! Well, maybe I'll skip tidying up - that's not a strong point for me anyway - it's going to end up messy by tomorrow morning anyway, right? At least I did laundry and dishes! lol

I hope you all had a great weekend and that summer is knocking at your door where ever you may live!

hugs,
Elaine

Toodles & Binks, Dilly Dally Dingle, and Limelight? Huh?

Toodles and Binks is a new company that I ran across today - they've got a release and blog candy. It's worth checking out if you play with cute images as much as I do! This card was the reason I clicked that link in the first place....it's so darn cute even though I hate snails! I didn't make it but I sure like it!

This link takes you to the blog, Life and Craft of Dilly Dally Dingle:
http://dillydallydingle.blogspot.com/2009/05/copic-colour-challenge-meets-toodle.html


This link takes you to Toodles and Binks where the stamps are available through their blog:
http://toodlesandbinks.blogspot.com/2009/05/sah-015-swalk-and-blog-candy.html

And while you're out and about, check out Limelight's Celebration! Nearly a year old now :)
http://limelightpapercrafts.blogspot.com/2009/05/limelights-anniversary-celebration.html
You'll be glad you poked your head in over there just to see what it's all about!

Pretty and new...

well, it's probably not what you thought it'd be, but I just ran across these and wanted to share because I totally am in LOVE with Prima flowers! These are so darn pretty I'm going to either have to find a way to add money to the budget for all of them, or just quit eating so I can use lunch money on them!

In any case, check these out:
http://prima.typepad.com/prima/2009/05/announcing-new-products.html

Aren't they cool?? Please let me know where you find them at if you buy some for yourself. I'll be on the lookout during one of my very limited trips to the craft/scrapbook stores in the next few weeks!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend! The Pacific Northwest is having some fabulous weather!! Wooohooo!

'nother card from the other day!

Here's the pink and chocolate card that I tried to load the other day. Things are still a little on the busy side in our household....and at work.

The stamp is from SU, rub ons are SU too. The paper old Sandy Lion / Kelly Panicci or something like that from our local scrapbook store (it's old though). Ribbon is May Arts. The brown base is Papertrey and I love it! Almost more than SU's chocolate chip!

I had to buy a new dress tonight - because I couldn't fit my old ones! ACK! That's not good! Gotta keep dieting and exercising! :( No more lunchtime splurges...I work with a bunch of enablers!

Have a great weekend everyone!

hugs,
Elaine

Finally a card or two to share....

April and May are busy months for Friends' Birthdays! I bet if your birthday falls in the month of April or May, I'm likely to get along with you real well and be buddies!

Out of more than a dozen cards, I only managed to take a picture of these three - the others were given away and sit in someone's desk drawer or worse yet, in the trash (they better not after they know how much time I put into these cards!) lol

Anyhow, here are the latest funtastic cards....

Actually the third one isn't wanting to load, so I'll post it later...

The Blue card with stars and circles is my BASIC GREY Lime Rickey pad - love the colors and fun patterns! The light blue background is swiss dots cuttlebugged, and there is a Stampin Up Birthday Sentiment on there embossed in white. The button has a little bow of periwinkle ribbon, and the green sashes are ribbon from May Arts.

The "it's a boy!" card is mostly PaperTrey Inc. (Patterned paper and the Ocean tides cardstock - I just love that dusky blue-green color!) Sentiment "Happy for you" is an SU rub on, and the ribbon is actually SU twill layered onto Papertrey twill! The sailboat image is from SU and it was clear embossed on patterned paper and cut out, then applied to the oval on pop dots...it's cute in person! :)

There's been a lot going on in our family the past few weeks...from funerals to weddings to birthdays...it's all happening here! I hope you all are having a nice Spring!! I'm enjoy Seattle's liquid sunshine today...and lots of it!

hugs,
Elaine

May's Here...

and finally I remembered to photog some cards before mailing them off.

My best friend and maid of honor, Susan, will be 46 on Monday. I wish her hugs and love and many more happy birthdays!!!!
Here's the card she's getting - it's pretty, bright and kinda fun (just like her)...if I knew how to make a smart, kind and generous card I'd have done that too.

I also made a Thank You for my neighbor who brought a May Day tradition on the 1st. The card is a challenge for Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom - there's always fun stuff and techniques to learn there. My neighbor, Jean, gave me a Lily of the Valley plant in an earth-friendly organic bamboo planter. In time if the planter is put into the ground, it will decompose and add nutrients back into the earth. It's way cool and I would never have known if it weren't for the sticker! Anyway, this is the little thank you that I did for her - she had a nice letter telling me how she was introduced to the French May Day tradition when they lived in France a couple years ago. We have the best neighbors!! :)

Have a great week everyone, I'm off to go buy a new washing machine...it figures something would go wrong when Bruce left town! GRrrrr!!!
I'd also love to hear comments on whether you've got a front loader (with steam cycle?) and/or do you have an HE top loaded (No more agitators)...I can't decide which one to get!

Tomorrow I take my friend out for her birthday and another friend who went to my high school that has the same birthday as Sue - small world, huh?