My! How much he's grown

November 8th Ashton turned 3 months old...so 10 days later-(today) his mom sent out this latest pic...isn't he the cutest little thing you've ever seen????

A real CUTIE PATOOTIE!!!!

Halloween~right around the corner!!!

Which costume will Ashton pick to wear on Halloween??? He is adorable in all of them! Check out this cute little puppy and Ashton as a skeleton, but isn't he cute as an Alien/Monster???

Ashton and his Mommy!!!

Now this is ONE HAPPY BABY hanging with his mommy!!!

Gotta show ya this great scrapbook layout...

... Featuring ASHTON!!!
I am involved in a local Scrapbooking Group that does Layout Swaps. There are 16 of us and we meet at my local scrapbooking store, The Scrapbooking Depot located in Sunrise, FL. This swap theme was Animals. We each picked an animal and made enough Layout Elements for all 16 members. We had 3 months to get them done and when we met, we each showed off our sample layout of our animal that we picked. I picked the Tiger and that can be seen in the previous post. BUT NOW...I wanna show off the layout I did using Ashton's pictures and one of the other member's layout elements. Becky picked the Snake as her animal. Check it out below...she did such a great job, it is very colorful and cheerful and let's not forget the adorable baby beaming in the pictures! I will apologize for my not so hot picture taking ( I cheated and used my iphone camera instead of my digital camera)

Hooked on Scrapbooking!

What better way to chronicle our lives? Since my parents have passed away I am left with cookie tins & shoeboxes filled with loose photos that I have no idea who the people are in the photos, the years they were photographed or the occasion that is being celebrated. Wouldn't it be nice to leave a legacy of info for our future generations? That is why I have started making photo albums with lots of journaling to let future perusers of my albums know what it was like, the fun, the advice, the info pertaining to the photos they are looking at. Below is just one layout that I recently made for our little peanut, Ashton.

Can't get enough of Ashton!

Mimi bragging again....How cute is this kid???? Ya just wanna squish him with hugs and snooker him with kisses!!!!

Here's Mimi!!!!

Mimi with Ashton...what a cutie patootie!

Here's Ashtonnnnnnn!!!!

Ashton Sitting on Mommy's lap poses for the camera!

More photos of Ashton

Auntie Kristin aka Tiki and Grandpa pose with Ashton before putting him in his swing for a nap.

Ashton Arrived on August 8th

Woohoo! I became a Grandma! How exciting! Ashton Skywalker Lopez arrived 8/8/10 weighing in at 6 lbs, 11 ozs. and 20 inches long. A real cutie patootie!

Altered Baby Book

This is a gift made for my future Grandson, Ashton. His room is going to be done in a Nautical/Pirate theme, so I just had to make a mini Scrapbook baby book using all things Pirates! It was a great hit at the Baby Shower!

My Altered Book Work

I belong to a local Altered Book Group and wanted to show you some of my work. We have lots of great themes, but this one has been the most inspirational to me. It belongs to my friend, Leslie. She is a great Mixed Media Artist and wants to use her book for inspiration should she experience a dry spell of creativity. Of course, I did more than the usual double page spread, but once I got started I just couldn't help myself.

I hope you enjoy viewing these pages as much as I enjoyed creating them. I made an Idea Book within her book.

Have you met Aimee???

Aimee is my sweet friend who keeps me company and helps me drive. I mentioned her in early posts but am just now getting around to posting her picture. Isn't she a cutie? Her real mom is Madame Samm who allowed me to adopt her. Aimee wore her Hydrangea dress to match my new car color~Burgundy...Yes she likes riding shotgun as she gives me directions and reprimands me to slow down when I "sometimes" exceed the speed limit! Geesh! somedays she can be a real stick in the mud!!! But I love her anyway.

The other half of the Anonymous Swap

Hi All,
I had forgotten to post the work of the other members who chose a more collagey stamp image to play with. The anonymous swap featured 2 different stamped images that the players received. The reason for it being called an anonymous swap is that not only did they not know what image they were receiving, they also did not know who their swap partner was. The ladies were all sent the 2 images, one cutesy image from Eat Cake Graphics-The tourists and the other was a collagey stamp from Just for Fun.

Posted are the pics of the cards from the members who chose the School Girl Stamp. All members were to make a card using one of the images, mail them to me the swap hostess and then I would send each card to a different member. We all had a great time participating. As hostess I was tempted to keep all of the cards as they were ALL AWESOME...but I didn't want to have to change my name, wear a wig and apply for Witness protection. LOL~Marianne

The card above was done by Princess Judy P and the ones below are creations by Naomi S and Krisha O, then Jane P and FaithAnn D and Candy F. Aren't they all maaaavelous!!! Thanks to all Swap Participants on Snobby Stuck Up Stampers Yahoo Group!!!

Eat Cake Graphics images

Hello Again,
Now that the Snobby Stuck Up Stampers Swap is complete I can now post some of the cards that used Eat Cake Graphics Image. From Top to bottom: SandyC, NancyC, JeanR and JackieH..Thank you ladies for your different point of view for this image! You can find all of their images at: www.EatCakeGraphics.com

Anonymous Swap Card

Hello All
Wow, the last post was in March??? Geez, I didn't realize that. I guess time flies when you are having fun.

Posted is a scan of my card that I made using the Eat Cake Graphics image for the Anonymous Swap. It was great. The cards have been swapped out and mailed to the participants. It was fun to stamp out the images, mail them to the participants and then receive their card back using one of the images. Once they were all received I then swapped them out and mailed them to their partners. It is great because no one knows whose card they will be receiving.

I've been chosen as a New Design Team Member

Hi All!

I am so excited to share with you that I was chosen as a Design Team Member for the cutest Stamp line, Eat Cake Graphics!!! Such adorable images.

Happy Green Day!!!

Hi All! Just wanted to wish you a Very Happy St. Patty's Day!!! Beware of the little leprechaun and be careful when drinking that Green Beer, it has magical powers!!!

My New Car!!!

This is IT!!! Al bought me a new car! It is a 2010 Acura TL...I LOVE IT! Merola's Merlot! Burgundy is my favorite color altho' it is not my favorite alcoholic beverage.

I'm baaaack!

February has been a whirlwind month for us. February 5th thru the 8th I went on a Scrapbooking Cruise to the Bahamas, but you knew that if you read my last post. However, as soon as we returned, Al and I stayed in Miami for one extra night, came back to Fort Lauderdale and unpacked to repack for our trip to New Yawk. We spent Valentine's week with Kristin and Albert and Mia. Gotta love the snow...bleck!...I do not miss the heavy jackets, the gloves the scarf and trying to stay warm.We had a great time...lots of great restaurants, seeing the Jersey Boys on Broadway and spending quality time with Al's kids. But Wait!!!! the traveling has not stopped...we returned home from a chilly New Yawk to a cold Florida. Unpack to repack...off to Clearwater to visit Friends. We spent several days at a nearby Resort and Spa, ate great food, enjoyed being entertained by our friends' children. But now we are back in Fort Lauderdale and it still hasn't stopped. Loads of laundry to do!!! Oh, and yes, we both got new cars for ourselves so that has been awesome!!! Never a dull moment around here. LOL. Pictures will be posted at a later date.



Aimee arrived just as we returned from one of our trips. If you don't know Aimee; she is an adorable doll that a friend of mine makes and sells. She will be adorning my car as her pretty hydrangea patterned dress totally matches my car! Baroque Red...oh paleeze...it is Burgundy any way ya look at it. Thank you Madame Samm! I just loooooove her. She will be sitting pretty in my new car.



I will be posting pictures as soon as I can. Chat atcha later!

Cruise Classes

I am in the process of getting ready to take a Scrapbooking Cruise...the first week in February is right around the corner...Yikes! I will be teaching a few classes on the ship and thought I would share them with you. Here they are:

I have always suffered with motion sickness from my childhood to adulthood. My friends are all taking bets on me...I have got to prove them wrong...I am planning on buying the patches, the bracelets, dramamine and whatever else it may take to not toss my "cookies".

Madame Samm

How Awesome Can a Fellow Crafter Be???

Woohoo! I surf the net and can't even tell you how I get where I go, but I found the most awesome person ever! Madame Samm....she is the coolest! We just spent a little over an hour speaking on the phone for the first time and I felt like we knew each other for a lifetime! What an wonderful person, so sweet and intriguing to speak with. She has a ton of experience in all different fields. Crafting, Creating and CAWFEE are just a few things we have in common. What a delight she was to speak with. She has such a charming personality and did I tell you how talented she is?
Well, she helped me with my blog and I am honored to have her blog posted on my list...please go check it out! She makes the most adorable dolls ever! You just have to check her babies out. I am so excited to be adopting one of her Aimee babies. I will post more info on the day that Aimee arrives. Aimee will have her own special place in my new craft room.

OMG!!! What the heck???

My computer has a mind of it's own....I was able to post, but why bother when I couldn't post any pictures!  What is a blog without pictures?? B O R I N G!!!  My settings were all messed up...gotta be those little computer gremlins messing around. ANYWAY! I am back...so much to tell...where do I begin???

Christmas was great! Got lots of AWESOME gifts! Al and I spent our Christmas week in Delray Beach~ what a treat! We hit all the different restaurants from Boca, Lantana, Boynton and West Palm...Yummy! Christmas around the world...a different cuisine each day!
Christmas morning breakfast on the beach at the Dune Deck Restaurant. Nice way to start the day...with Mimosas!!! There was even a Florida Sand rendition of a Snowman...see photo attached!

Well, I hope a fun time was had by all during this Holiday season. Wishing you the best of this New Year! Who'da thunk it...2010!