A Self - Portrait...

Or, "How I Almost Bashed My Brains Out On My Own Bed Post!"
Let me set the stage for you...it is about 3AM, very dark outside (and INSIDE, evidently!) and I wake up needing to go to the bathroom. I manage to make it there and take care of business. On the way back, I turn out the bathroom light behind me and instead of waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark (like a SMART person would) I head toward the bed with both my arms outstretched in front of me. Did I mention it was dark? I was sooo tired and just wanted to get back in bed, so I must have been building up some real speed. The next thing I know, I am on the ground and my forehead has exploded into a very impressive fireworks display that only I can see! I had somehow managed to miss the bed post with both hands, but find it with my forehead! Once I got over the shock, I reached up to touch my forehead, only to find that I was ALREADY sporting a HUGE lump, right between my eyes, just slightly off-center. I mean, it was so big it scared me! Then I remembered some of my emergency medical training, which taught me that outward swelling is GOOD, because a big smack to the head, followed by no OUTWARD swelling usually means INWARD swelling, which is BAD, BAD, BAD!!!! Did I mention that my DH is out of town and I am alone with my kids? yeah. Somehow (really, I mean it) I got my kids to school and then passed out for basically the rest of the day. I am very blessed that I have parents who immediately came to my rescue when I called later in the day, I must have sounded really out of it or something. They came and are staying with me till my DH gets home. Don't you just love parents? Mine are the best! (Love you, Mom and Dad!!!) The funny thing is, this is NOT the first time I have done this, apparently! My mom is reminding me of the time when I was about 6, that I was running with my footy pajamas (I wish they made those in adult sizes...*sigh*) and I slipped and hit my forehead on the bottom rail of the bed frame. Except THAT time, I DID hit right in the middle. Did you know you have a very LARGE vein in the middle of your forehead? Yep, I managed to cut mine (not the skin, just the vein underneath) and give myself two very impressive black eyes! She even took me to get pictures taken with them! I will post that pic when I find it...
Blessings!

Suffering BPWS (Blog Post Withdrawal Syndrome!)

My DH left today to go out of town for a few days and he took my camera with him *sigh*... I miss my XD card....*sniff* So, even if I DO make anything, I can't take a picture of it!!!! DARN! The likelihood of my actually being able to get anything made is closer to zero than I actually thought was possible to be, on the count of me being home by myself with the kids and no one to run interference for me. So, I will have to settle for rifling thru my picture files and seeing what I come up with...

Is this picture just the best? Here, my youngest DS is lamenting the unjustness that prevents him from joining "his brudder" on stage at
Pre-K Graduation. I don't know where he gets that lip from, although I have been told it is from me (I don't believe it though...hehehe)


For those of you who don't live in the South, where we refer to the ground as "gumbo", I am showing you this lovely photo...no, it is not a miniature volcano. This is a crawfish pile...yep, that is right, those mini-lobster looking things that you eat at the seafood restaurant? They live undergound and when it rains, they tunnel up and leave these all over the yard. This is a side view, from the top, there is an actual tunnel that goes down to where the crawfish lives.

This is a picture of what used to be called, "Shoestring Alley." This was taken in the early 1900's here in Sour Lake, Texas when they first found oil and Texaco was born. There was so much oil pumped out of the ground so fast, that a sinkhole formed and this area collapsed. There was a mineral spring ( thus the name Sour Lake) and should have been a big spa and hotel, but when they found oil, all those plans got pushed aside.

Ok, well I feel a little better. Thanks for putting up with my randomness tonight. Blessings!

WoJ #41 GD Call and getting a headstart on St. Paddy's day...Hey, I'm Irish!

At least PART Irish, anyway...you CAN'T be named Shannon Cay Neal and not be somewhat Irish! hehehe So, I had two more of these cute little guys left *sigh* and thought I would use them for the WoJ #14. It also just happens to be a Guest Designer Call! At first, I was going to color the cupcake green, but I thought to myself, "Self, why not make the mousie green?" I mean, they don't call it the Wearing 'O the Green for nothing!

When I finished coloring him, my DD told me..."He looks like he is gonna puke!" Thanks a lot! So much for asking a preteen's opinion! I wanted him to be kind of 3-D, so I colored a second one and cut it out to make the top of the cupcake and side of his body pop out. Then came the problem of DP...what to use...I did not have any Shamrock DP or Celtic knots or anything vaguely Irish, so I had to put on the old thinking cap and come up with my own.

Prepare to be amazed.....

I made my OWN DP!!!! The paper with the shamrocks on it? the really cute one? yep, I made that, just me, all by myself. (and a little help from Inkscape! hehehe) The diamond pattern DP is from a DCWV stack. The whole thing looked to me like it NEEDED something, so I took out my Bronze Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pen and did some doodling on the edges. Then I had the issue of sentiments, so again, I rummaged around in my brain and came up with this sentiment. The brown and green cardstock is DCWV, the ribbon is Martha Stewart, the buttons came from a pack of coordinating buttons I got at Joann's and the brads are Basic Grey, Urban Prairie. The inside looked kind of plain, so I followed along with the same theme inside. I printed the sentiment on my computer, doodled on the edges, used more of my OWN DP (I'm not PROUD or anything, I am just sayin'...) This card will likely go to my brother and sis-in-law who married on St. Paddy's Day when I was a teenager...which is a WHOLE nother story! (check in later, I might feel compelled to tell the whole TRAUMATIC story).

Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Writing!!!

My insanely funny friend, Jenners, over at Life With A Little One And More, came up with this brilliant game to play where you try to come up (on purpose, mind you!) with THE WORST opening line for a ficticious book. So, I am going to gird my loins and wade in chest deep with both barrels blazing. See? I am ALREADY mixing my metaphors...how much worse can it get?
Here goes:

"Sobbing beautifully, as only a beautiful woman can, Charlotte whipped her glossy, raven locks back and shook her delicately petite, if defiant, fist in vain at the cowardly retreating back of her one-time-fiance, who had only just previously heartlessly rejected her because of his own pitiful inability to tame her wild, unbridled nature." From The Grossly Unjust Rejection of Beautifully Unbroken Charlotte.

Wow! Where did that come from? I would be the LAST PERSON on God's Green Earth to read a trashy romance novel, but that sounds like a best seller for sure! Ok, how about this one?

"Cursed with indecision, Roger stood unmoving in front of the checkout clerk, with her unanswerable question reverberating in his quivering brain." An excerpt from Paper or Plastic? A Modern-Day Horror.

Ba-dum-bum-CHING!!!! How did I do....Hopefully horrible, terrible, no good AND very bad!!!! (My apologies to Judith Viorst for heisting her title.....)
Blessings!

High Hopes Challenge #17! HHC17

Isn't he just the sweetest thing?

I really love the stamps from High Hopes, but alas! I do not have any...*sigh* So, my entry for this challenge uses a really sweet Party Animal image from Whiff of Joy, that I colored with Tria and Prismacolor markers.

The card stock and DP are from a DCWV stack, the doodles are made with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen, the faux-Primas are silk flowers that are inked up and doodled.

The delicious button came from Basic Grey - Urban Prairie and the Friends ribbon was from the $1 bin at Joanne. The orange and yellow ruffled stuff was also from Joanne.

This was my first try at doodling and
I think I am hooked!

Here are a couple close ups of the coloring and the embellishing...

Think I am gonna give this one to my
friend for her birthday, but I will not
say WHICH one because she might be reading this and spoil the surprise!

Hope you like my newest addition and I love it when you leave comments!

Blessings!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Overheard at my house today:
Me: "What do you want on your hotdog, sweetie?"
DS: "Ketchup"
Me: "Cheese?"
DS: "KETCHUP"
Me: "No, I mean do you want anything ELSE on your hotdog?"
DS: ...pause..."um, I want a weenie..."
Blessings!

That is so Random...

This is my DD's fave saying at the mo...I thought it was a totally appropriate title for this post. I am sitting here at the laptop, stuffing my face with the mini Reese's Cups left over from my last-minute-trip-to-the-store-to-get-Teacher-Valentine-Gifts.(whew! I almost ran out of breath with that one!) I mean, I can't let them go to waste now, can I? (and by "go to waste", I mean letting my DH gobble them all up! LOL) So, I am reading this cool blog I found totally by accident...aren't those always the best? As I am absentmindedly unwrapping and eating, I bite into a cup that still has the paper on it. (I thought I removed that...)So I take it off and try to bite again...still tasting paper! (What is going on?) This cup had not 1, not 2 but 4 of the little paper wrappers that look like cupcake cups on it. Sheesh!!! Talk about overkill! Probably has no interest to you whatsoever, but it really was bugging me!!! hehehe Ok, so back to this cool blog... It is called, Fluttering Butterflies and the link will take you directly to the post where she talks about the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. If you have never taken this, you SHOULD!!! It is really interesting and is regarded in psychology circles to be very accurate. I took it and it says I am an ESFP, which is basically an outgoing "Performer" type. (That MUST be wrong...hehehe)Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take that test and post a comment here telling what your result was and if you think it is accurate. Also, check out Michelle's blog...she loves to read(and so do I!) You will find a lot of good reading material ideas there. In keeping with my theme of randomness...here is a pic I lifted from Michelle's blog. Click on it to read...

Blessings!

Blog Candy for Eye Candy!

2sketches4you is giving away some awesome Sakura candy, and all you have to do to be entered to win is: 1) post about your fave "eye candy," which could be anyone or anything that you love (yes, chocolate counts!) So, here is my very own "CandyMan" (Christina would be jealous!hehe) And, speaking of, have you HEARD that song?!?!?! My DD is wanting to do a dance to it for Drill Team competition in Dallas. I was watching them last night and her group is really good and the dance is super-cute...BUT.....THAT SONG!!!!!! It sounds like Boogie-Woogie, circa The Andrews Sisters, but the similarities come to a screeching halt at the sound. Granted, the girl has got some pipes and the tune is really infectious, but I feel like I should wash our ears out with soap just for listening to it! Thankfully, she did not know what most of it meant. Of course, I had to tell her because I am not sure I want my 12yr old dancing to a song about dropping undergarments and popping George Washington's favorite fruit! What do you think?
Blessings!

Thank you, Thank you and a New Card!!

I just want to say a big thank you to all of you that commented on my last post, and yes, Cindy, that is the lovely ribbon you sent in your blog candy! I love your new pic, BTW. Here is my take on the Papertake Weekly Dawny's #8 Sketch:

I colored this beauty in with my new Tria Markers, I am beginning to really like them...those Copics better get here fast! hehehe This is one of the Who's That Girl sets from My Favorite Things. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the ribbon. It did not turn out EXACTLY as I wanted, but it is readable. I tweaked the sketch a *tad* to get it to look how I want and, as usual, I embellished the fool out of it tastefully!

Here is a shot that shows how I popped her up on foam to make her stand out. I really like the way this looks, even if I don't like having to cut her out by hand! (it IS a good way to hide those pesky little spots where you color outside the lines, though...hehehe)

I really am loving these cardboard cutouts that you can color any way you want, I actually cut two in pieces and used part on top and part on the side.

Here is how the ribbon turned out...could be better, but could be worse! Ok, my kids are driving me nuts to go to the bane of my existence Family Dollar, so I will post the DEETS later!

Blessings!

A Momentous Occasion!!!

Today I sold my VERY FIRST CARD!!!!! I am so excited! Here is the card that I sold...

I was especially proud of this card, as it was one of the first ones that turned out EXACTLY the way it looked in my head. I am almost sad to see it go, but I know that the lady who receives it will feel loved and cherished when she gets it.

Blessings!

Whiff of Joy Release on February 14th!

Katharina over at Whiff of Joy is having a Brand New Release just in time for those of us having "Valentine Overload!" (I am SOOO tired of pink and red, LOL!) She has this awesome Medieval themed set that is just too cute! So, head over there and check it out. You might find that you just have to get one for your collection!

Isn't this Jester Charlie just too too adorable? I think I have to have him! LOL (He must have heard me...see how he is blushing? hehehe)

Blessings!

Playing with Markers...safer than matches!

So, as I said on Friday, I got these new Tria markers when I was in San Antone. I didn't realize until I got home that they were the new(read: uber-cool) ones that have 3 tips, not just two! I just HAD to try them out. So I decided to give it a go with one of the images that Cindy sent me...I really like how this little guy turned out! This is actually a mix of Tria and Prismacolor, but it seemed to work fine. I need to get better at the shading, but I did not want it to be too dark. The thing I am most proud of (I ROCKED IT!!!) is the flame on the candle! (although the pic doesn't do it justice...*sigh* Just take my word, it is awesome! hehehehe I will post the colors I used tomorrow, as my DH is standing in the doorway with that "Are you coming to bed or not?" look on his face. DD and I *might be* (DH just reminded me that we caught her crafting at 10:30pm and her bedtime is 8:30pm!) making school valentines tomorrow and I will have one little boy home sick.

Blessings!

Remember the Alamo!!!!

Well, DH and I have been spending a couple of days in San Antonio, TX. He had a conference to attend, and since my work is pretty portable, I tagged along. My sweet, sweet parents are watching the kids for us! We have had awesome food, seen two IMAX 3D movies and visited The Alamo. Here are some pics for those who have never been.This is the front of the Chapel, it used to be a Spanish Mission but then it was secularized and used as an army outpost and barracks.This is a walkway from the grounds to the outside, I thought it was really pretty, especially in Black & White.Here is me and my DH, we always take these kinds of pics...kind of a tradition. They always turn out really good!This plaque is posted on the door to the chapel, the one that says "The Alamo" also has the hours of business on it...not very appealing to the eye! LOL

And last, but not least, this busy little bee was in the garden, pollenating his heart out. I just managed to catch him in the act! Hope you enjoyed the photos, I have been having stamp-withdrawal! I keep seeing things and thinking, "Oh, I could do....darn! No supplies!" or "That would make a great card if I ... drat! Not at home!" or "Wow, that is pretty paper, I could crop it and .... dad-gum-it! I don't have my stuff!!! WAAHHH!!!" It is really bumming me out! On the bright side, I did find a cool little art supply store that stocked Copics, Prismacolor and Tria Markers. I actually bought a couple of Tria Markers, because I did not know what colors I am getting in the SNS Copic Club this month and I liked the brush tip better on the Tria than the tips on the Prismacolors. Also, the Tria's were on SALE!!! and you KNOW how I LOVE a SALE!!

Blessings!

Finally! Spoonfull of Sugar #37

I finally got some time to play, so here is my latest card. I bought some Prismacolor markers from a girl online and thought I would play around with them for this challenge. It was kind of hard at first, but after I got the hang of it, I really started enjoying the difference between the alcohol based markers and water based ones. So, last week my friend Cindy E. and Hearts Delight Cards used this gorgeous stamp that I was going to purchase but didn't. Of course, her card was so pretty, I had to go get that stamp so I could case it! LOL I am still kind of on the Valentine kick, and this flower was just begging to be made into a card for a special someone. I also tried some paper piecing, as this was what Cindy did on hers and it looked so nice. I took a picture so you could see the layers. All in all, I am very pleased with this card and look forward to more fun creating with these new techniques I am learning.

Blessings!

If Only They Could Talk!

So, I got this awhile back, and in keeping with the theme of this post (which is about my incredibly spoiled kitty, Leo) I thought it was fitting to post...

The dog lovers out there will identify with this:

* Excerpts from a Dog's Diary *

6:00 am - At last! I Go Pee! My favorite thing!

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

6:00 pm - They're home! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Can you just totally see his cute little doggy face? If not, here you go...

Now, for all you cat lovers, here is what the kitty version of a diary would say...

* Excerpts from a Cat's Diary *

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Imbeciles! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant.I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now............

Can you just SEE this? I practically fell off my chair laughing at this, it is SOOO cat-like!

And now, drum roll please....Here is my kitty, Leonardo Di Catrio (that name was NOT my idea!)

He is a Bengal cat, which is a cross between a domestic cat and an Asian Leopard Cat. They say their temperament is more like a dog-in-a-cat-suit, and I would have to agree...How many cats come when you call them? He has a gorgeous, glittery spotted coat and big amber eyes. He is such a big baby...

He likes to have his sides patted (like a dog) and he will lay down like this and roll around and paw at the ground while you are doing it.Here he is modeling the very latest in kitty hair accessories ! LOL My DD put her clip in hair extension on him and I just had to take a picture.Here he gives a nice profile! He is such a sweetie, he sleeps with me at night, most of the time either on me or as close to me as he can get, and he is very vocal, very inquisitive and very playful. He can jump several feet off the ground, it is kind of amazing to watch him do it because he is a large cat, weighing 17 pounds.Well, I have been so crazy busy I have not had a chance to do any card making, but I hope to remedy that very soon.

Blessings,

Shannon

GOING BUGGY: Blog Candy

GOING BUGGY: Blog Candy
My friend, En, over at Going Buggy just had her Blogaversary and is giving away some lovely Blog Candy to celebrate! Go check out her blog, her work is beautiful!
Blessings!