Scenic Sunday on Monday... and more!

Happy Monday Morning! I tried to post yesterday but it was NOT working. Let's try again because I have some FUN stuff to share with you! And be sure to read all the way to the end, because I have a super exciting announcement! First, here are the photos that my son and I took for you yesterday. Here is a "secret garden" behind a row of trees:That's my boy, Ashton in the foreground. Can you see the secret garden through the trees? There is some fruit tree growing back there, but I'm not sure what it is. And here is a Bean Field at dusk:
What kind of beans are they? I just don't know. Here is a close up of some of them:
They are fuzzy right now, and some of the fields are very yellow and dead-looking with dark brown pea pods. It's odd! Well, there is your scenic Sunday on a Monday! I hope you like the little glimpse of Italy this week. I'll have FUN stuff for you next week since my Mom and Brother are coming for a visit and we have fantastic "touristy" things planned! And now on to the crafty part of my post! Last Monday we had our VERY first Mystery Monday at Club Anya. Here is the card I made for Joni's Rule of 3's card:

Every year the ACES club here in Aviano does a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk. This year our theme is "Real Men Wear Pink!" so I used that theme as inspiration for this card! Ian looks so handsome in pink, don't you think?
And I hand-wrote the sentiment:
And of course, I had to make a pink ribbon:

I loved this challenge... and guess what? This week it's MY TURN! YES!!! Jessica asked ME to be the Mystery Monday Hostess! WAAAHOOOO! You can click HERE and read ALL about it. I'm so excited! This is starting off to be a fantastic week.

May God bless you this week, just as He has blessed me!

Scenic Sunday delayed

I can't upload photos! UGH. If it isn't one thing, it's another. We've had an easy, cool Sunday. Went for a little bike ride and took some pics for you to enjoy... but I can't upload them. I hope to do that tomorrow, and I have something to share with you as well! See you tomorrow and have a blessed night.

TGF Swap!

Hello Hello! I'm so sorry about not posting for almost a week! I honestly have no idea where my time is going. Things around here have been pretty darn busy, but I think it's all getting under control. We've prioritized some things, cut some things off of our daily to do list (sorry soccer, maybe next season) and I think the family will be getting a handle on it all very soon. And hopefully we will have a second vehicle soon. We've only had 1 for the longest time (even at our last duty station) but it just isn't conducive to have only one vehicle in our lives now so I think we'll be getting another one soon. Hopefully this weekend! lol! It's been a busy/fun week. Let me give you a quick run-down:

~Monday: Got up and got everyone ready and out of the house/on the school bus, took David to work, came home and finished getting ready for the day, went to base for my CPR certification class, brought Angel and her BFF Orion home, Boys got home from school, went back to base to drop off Orion and pick up David from work. Dinner, bed, busy day!

~Tuesday: Got up and got everyone ready and out of the house/on the school bus, took David to work, came home and finished getting ready for the day, I worked at a very busy job; we all got home late, ate late dinner, went to bed late.

~Wednesday: Got up and out of the house, took David to work, went to Open Rec to get the backpack Andrew left there the day before, took the boys to school, went back home cuz I forgot Angel's shoes and my cell phone (mommy brain at work there!), I worked at a very busy job; met a blog reader! WOW! HI MANDY! (on a side note; It was so cool to meet someone who "knew" me online! It was like meeting an old friend even though I didn't know her before!) we all got home late, ate a late dinner, went to bed late.

~Thursday: Did the morning thing. I worked at the co-op, came home with Angel and her BFF Orion, and we played until the boys got home from school. Rushed out of the house to pick up David from work, hung out at the soccer fields to drop off Orion, got home earlier than usual, ate an earlier than usual dinner, went to bed late. (??? yeah, dunno why)

~Friday: got up, did the morning thing, and took David to work, came home and took my TIME getting ready for the day, took angel to the Co-op, ran a few errands, had a fabulous lunch with Angel's BFF Orion AND his Mommy! LOL! Picked up the boys from school, ran a couple more errands, killed some time, picked up David from work, came home, had a quick dinner, went to Angel's BFF Orion's house and hung out with his family for "Survivor Night" came home and blogged.

WHEW! And that's just a summary of the week!

Well, want to see something crafting related now? lol!
I signed up to be in a TGF card swap with some SUPER talented ladies on SCS. This is the swap I mailed off. I really hope it gets there on time. I don't want all of my cards back, I want my swapped out cards back! Here is a closeup of one of the cards:
I used Fairy Tink because she is one of my favorite's and I needed to use a fairy. See, AMY inspired me to be in the swap and she is amazing at altering the Miss Anya's into fairies. Actually, she is amazing at ALL her paper crafting, lol! Here is a closeup of the image:
All the card pictures look blurry on my computer, sorry about that. I tried to do the shiny hair on these pixies, but I don't know if I totally achieved it. Speaking of SHINY HAIR... Gabby shared her tutorial on her blog! Remember this post HERE when I told you she emailed me a picture tutorial and I was finally able to color shiny hair? Well, I asked and she agreed to post it on her blog for everyone to learn from! So if you commented to me that you wanted to see the tutorial, hop over to Gabby's blog! Gabby is just spectacular, I tell ya! AND, not only can she papercraft, she can crochet! LOOK:

This is my Angel Baby wearing a crocheted beanie that Gabby made for her! AMAZING isn't it?!?Angel wasn't in the best of moods for this pic, but I wanted to snap it anyway! I'm trying to get a better one when she's happier, but 2 year old girls are a little temper-mental, lol!

So that's my long post for this Friday night. I'll be back this weekend at least once with a Scenic Sunday post for you all, and this time I'll try to get an actual "scenic" picture for you! lol! Oh, and I have something super exciting to share with you... but not until Monday! HEE HEE HEE!!!!

Until next time, have a blessed weekend!!!!!

Scenic Sunday-fail

In the words of my DH "Epic Fail!" Yeah, I have no Scenic Sunday picture for you today. I'm so sorry. I can't believe how incredibly busy my life is now that I have a job. I only work 2 days a week for crying out loud! LOL! So I have not taken any pictures lately that would be Scenic Sunday worthy. I hope you will all forgive me! Instead, I decided to post this card that I made for the club Anya VSN last Monday: This is the only card I was able to get done on time since the VSN took place way too early in the morning for me. I used nothing but scraps on this card (except for the card base) and colored the digi image of Dorothy Anya with my watercolor pencils. The pic looks blurry on my monitor; I hope it's clear for all of you. Well, I hope you all are having a very blessed Sunday. Ours has been pretty nice. But we missed church again. I really need more motivation to get up and out of the house of time. If I don't do it, the rest of the family won't either. Ok, well I hope to hear from you all soon, and next time there will be an awesome Italy pic for you!

Until then, be blessed.

A (not so) Wicked Pixie

Hello Hello! Yes, two posts in a row! Haha! I'm a poet and I didn't know it. Ignore my silliness, I'm tired and pre-posting this, so I'm being a little silly.

On Monday, Club Anya had a VSN on papercraft Planet. Of course there were tons of prizes to be won and challenges to do, but I only got a chance to complete ONE. I CASEd one of the DT members, Traci a.k.a. the Wicked Pixie. HERE is the card I cased and here is my card:

Since Traci's "other" name is the Wicked Pixie, I turned Miss Anya into a pixie! I simply drew some wings behind the stamped image and colored them in. Yes, they aren't perfect and they are a little smeared, but they are hand drawn by a NON-illustrator! lol! I also tried the shiny black hair here, but this was prior to Gabby's tutorial that I mentioned yesterday. Here is a close up of Miss Pixie Anya:
What do you all think? Did I do a good job CASEing? I kept the color scheme, layout, and stamp the same. Traci said she likes it so that made me very happy!

I hope you all have a happy and blessed Friday!

Super Duper Quick Post

Here's a Super Duper Quick Post because I'm supposed to be sleeping! I just wanted you all to know I am still around. this week has been insane with David's work schedule, the kids in school and soccer, my work schedule, and just life in general. Pray for slower days, please!!! LOL!

My FANTABULOUS online blog buddy, Gabby, emailed me a picture tutorial on coloring shiny hair. And here is what happened!
Woohoo! I was finally able to do shiny black hair thanks to Gabby. I guess I just needed the step by step pictures and explanations. I made the card black and purple cuz purple is Gabby's favorite color, and I used Megan from TGF's Wild Sprout collection because (1) the tutorial used her and (2) I hadn't used her on a card yet, poor girl. Here is a close up of Megan:
In other news, I just started using Google Chrome for my internet browser, and I really like it so far! The blogs I frequent look so much nicer in their layouts, and things upload so much faster. I still have a few issues with getting Facebook to work, but I think that is Facebook's problem so I don't care. So, if you've been thinking about trying it, try it!

I better get going. I hope you have had a blessed week, and keep on accepting His blessings!

Scenic Sunday

Not much to say, just enjoy the pic:

They used to be all green... soon they will be WINE! ;)

Have a Blessed Sunday.

Wonderful Wednesday

First off, THANK YOU. Thank you all who have come by and read my little vent on this post. I truly appreciate all the support and kind words you have all given. I also love hearing how you all feel about the situation. I'm glad to see I'm not the only person feeling like this is a not-so-great situation. So, on to other business. I did the "I Wanna Be Just Like..." Lisa Hjulberg challenge on Club Anya. Here is the card: I used Pretty Hat Anya and The Greeting Farm patterened papers from the Sunny Glen pack and the special Birthday Anyaversary pack. Well, that's it for my short Wednesday post.
Until next post, be blessed!

Happy Labor Day!

2nd post for today, scroll down to read about new Doodlefactory Stamps!
Hello my friends! I hope all of you in the US are enjoying your day off of work and relaxing a little! Well, I know you all are getting a little spoiled with me posting something THREE days in a row, but don't get used to it! LOL! I just really wanted to with you all a happy Labor Day and to show you another card I made this weekend. I used the full size Tink from TGF on this card. Here she is:

I have been having a blast learning to color with my new red Copics, so that is why she has this hair, heehee! Here is the card in full:

I used the Anyone For Anya sketch challenge for this card. I didn't get it done in a very timely manner, but I did it anyway! And now there is a new challenge up. You all should head over there and check it out. The link is on my left sidebar. Well, have a fabulous day, and be blessed!

Quick Question and Doodlefactory!

Hey all! So I noticed that when I come to my blog, I don't hear any music. Then I checked out my player and it's telling me that because I'm in Italy, I am not authorized to hear the songs. POOH! Can you all hear the music? If you can, I'll leave it be, if not, I'll switch to another player. Onto other news! LOOK:!!!: Doodlefactory has NEW rubber and it's Halloween! How adorable are these images? I think the werewolf is my favorite in this set. To be honest, my DD stamps are getting a little dusty since they haven't been used in awhile, but I think I'll be dusting them off soon, now that I've been inspired on the DD blog. I would love to win this for free... but you have a chance to win it too. Go HERE and check out the details.

Be blessed friends!

Scenic Sunday...sorta

Hello there friends! So, today's Scenic Sunday is going to be a bit different because I still don't have the pictures I want to show you! David is supposed to be home next Sunday, so his computer will be home also with the pictures in it and hopefully I'll be able to show you the pictures then. For this week, I have a couple different types of scenes to show you! Here is a Card Scene that I made last night! I didn't start out this card with the intention of making it into a scene, but I love how it came out! I used the Never Ever set from TGF and the Trendy Trees Set from SU! I combined two challenges into this card. The cover of this card uses Tuesday Morning Sketch #9 only I turned the sketch on it's side. Here is a close up of Wendy: (at least, I think she's supposed to be Wendy)

My Mom is INCREDIBLY AWESOME and she sent me a BUNCH of copic markers! She sent reds and grays and some refills, so I decided to play with those. I tried to give Wendy black hair but Ashton says she looks like an old woman so I guess it's a little gray. Oh well! I'll just practice some more! Here is a close up of the mini Tink stamp from the same set as Wendy:

Here you can see the DP I used for the scallop behind Tink. The DP is from the Sweet Slumber Specialty DSP by Stampin' Up! And here is the bottom of the card:

I used the trees from Trendy Trees set and stamped them in Versamark on Sahara Sand cardstock. Then I went over them with my chalks to give them a little color. Oh, and I used my blender pen and some close to cocoa ink to draw in the little hills. The other challenge in this card is the Farm Fresh Friday challenge for this week called "It's what's on the inside that counts!" so I decorated the inside of the card:

Again, I used the same DSP and stamp set.

I masked off Peter's lower body and stamped him in Close to Cocoa ink to make it look like he's leaning on the edge of the paper.

And above is a close up of the right-inside of the card. I stamped mini-Tink in Close to Cocoa to decorate the corner a little.

Now Finally, another little scene for you all to enjoy today:

This was the breakfast scene at the table this morning! Fully candid, these are my kids chowing down on their cereal! LOL! I find it interesting that the boys are dressed for completely different seasons. Well, I hoped you like this Scenic Sunday, even though it was a little different than normal! See you all later, and have a BLESSED SUNDAY!

I need to vent a little

Hi all,
I don't have any pictures for you today because I'm on my new laptop and there are no pictures in it yet. But I need to vent a little and ask for your opinion. I will end up making my own decision of course, and I think I may already know what I want to do, but I would like some other points of view please. So I just re-signed up with Stampin Up. I had issues getting them to change my active status to a military status when we moved over here. According to the SOFA (status of forces agreement) that the AF has with Italy, I am not allowed to have a business. So, I can NOT sell Stampin up products while living in Italy. Not a problem for me at all since I am not a sales person and the actual "selling" part of the business is my least favorite part of it all. So, i finally got dropped as a demo because I hadn't met the quarterly minimum. I decided to go ahead and sign up again, order the special starter kit for $85, and just enjoy my discount on Stampin Up products for the next 2+ years with no worries about minimums. Ok, sounds sweet right? Well, I've been hearing a buzz about some new rule on not promoting other company's products. I finally went to the SU! website today and got the lowdown in detail. Well, I don't like it. Frankly, I just don't like it. In my case, I can not LEGALLY sell, promote, or engage in any in-home business activities while living here in Italy that could bring income in for me. So, I don't! I have no problem with the SOFA rules at all. I am not a salesperson. I just want my discount. LOL! But now I can't even enjoy and share that enjoyment for other companies. At least, that's how I feel I'm being restricted. I realize that promoting competing companies is bad business, but I'm not in this for the "business." Just the fun and the discount! Ok, so I LOVE my Copics, and I LOVE TGF's style of stamps. But because I just typed that sentence, I am now in violation of the SU! contract. I don't think I can continue with SU! if this is going to be the case. It's no secret that I want to be on the TGF or Club Anya DT (I didn't make it this time btw) but now I can't do that and be a SU! demo. So, I think that I will have to quit SU! before I've even received my new starter kit. It was a waste of my money, apparently, to re-sign. I just can't NOT promote other companies and products that I lvoe to use! Well, the saying goes, "when one door closes, another opens" so we'll have to see what happens. I'll enjoy Stampin Up products as long as I can, but I'm a little sad that I won't have easy access to the products anymore. Honestly, the style of stamps is not entirely my "cuppa joe" but the cardstock and accessories are things I really enjoy. Especially all the coordination. Oh well, things change and that's ok. Change can be good. What do you all think about this? Am I doing what I need to? Should I stick with Stampin Up even though I don't have the freedom to create with what I want? Ok, so I can use what I want to create, but I can't let you all know where it came from! Ok, enough blabbering. If you have made it this far on this extremely long post, thank you. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen to (read) my vent.
Until next post, with pictures, be blessed!

IT's THURSDAY!

It's Thursday, and you all know what that means, right??? Blog Candy Winner!!! First though, I'm going to make you look at another of my BRIGHT cards: This was for the "I wanna be just like..." Pam Varnell contest over on Club Anya last week. I challenged myself to use the bright colors, and even though I don't entirely love the way it turned out, I think this card has personality. heehee!
So, I know you all didn't come here to look at a card... Without further ado, the winner of my blog candy is........ CARRIE!!!
Congratulations Carrie! Email me at: angie lilavois @ gmail . com (no spaces) with your mailing address and I'll get your winnings out to you asap!
I hope you all have a blessed Thursday, I'm off to soccer practice for the boys!

Candy Ends at Midnight!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that you have until Midnight, my time to enter my candy! Scroll down to enter but first, check out this bright Ian card that I made: I don't usually do the birght colors; they intimidate me, but they worked out so well on this card! I used TGF's FFF challenge with was a sketch. I colored Ian with my Copic markers and highlighted his board with my white gel pen. The ribbon was too short, but I made it work ;) and the sentiment (from TGF's Hello Go Rounds Set) was framed by punching a scallop circle, then turning it and punching it again. I can explain more if you all need me too.
I need to get ready for my busy day at work so I'll talk to you all tomorrow!
Until tomorrow, I hope you are blessed.