Happy Birthday Jonathon {one day early}

Tomorrow we're celebrating Jonathon's 14th birthday.  He's growing up before my eyes and becoming more and more outgoing as each day passes.  Over the last year he has grown a ton....and is about a 1/2 inch shorter than Ryan.  Jonathon has my dad's build (tall and lanky) and will soon pass up his older brother.  I'm not sure if he'll break the six foot mark like my dad and brothers, but he'll certainly be a tall Mangan!  I love to watch him grown into a wonderful young man.  He's trying new activities (thinking about track for the spring too) and making lots of new friends. I'm proud of the young man he is becoming.  His smile and laugh are certainly contagious!  Happy birthday my beautiful brown eyed boy.

His card is inspired by the repeating images on the current The Cutting Edge challenge.  Instead of repeating hearts I used stars for the birthday boy.

Sending Caring Thoughts Your Way

As soon as I see the Cutting Edge Challenge, I am almost always immediately inspired to make a card. This week's challenge was no exception.  This card was made on Saturday after I saw the challenge.  I used my distress inks to ink up paper and die cut three of the wreaths. I adhered them together with a touch of glossy accents and finished off the card with a touch of twine and an enamel element. This card will be going to a co-worker who is having shoulder surgery next week.  Don't you just love the beautiful fall colors right now? They are beautiful!

I Love You {and Marcel's Up Stander Award}

I hope if you had a long weekend that you're easing back into the work week.  Popping in to share a card for the The Cutting Edge challenge.  Loved the color combo on Amy's inspiration card.  I played along with some Verve die cut hearts and a Lil Inker cover die template.  This card is for my hubby since I left home on Sunday and won't see him until Friday afternoon.

Before I go I wanted to share a few pictures of Marcel. A couple of weeks ago he was recognized at halftime of the varsity football game for being recognized as an "Up Stander".  A friend at school that stands up for friends that need a little help. So proud of this little guy for being recognized as being a great friend along with about 10 other kids from the school across all grades.  His smile says it all and it was extra special that Nana and PopPop came along too to see him get his award.

Christmas Blessings

Happy Wednesday my friends.  I love the layout of the Cutting Edge card this week and the contrast of the black with the bright pops of color. I have been itching to use my new PaperSmooches dies and stamps so this was the perfect challenge.  I used my distress inks to ink up white card stock before die cutting.  Love how these inks blend together so well.

Hope you are all having a great week....not sure how we made it to the first of October already.  

Before you go, here's a funny Marcel story for you:

Marcel: "Hey daddy, I know what I want for my birthday.  A pina colada."

Pat:  "What?"

Marcel:  "A pina colada!"

Pat:  "Oh you mean a pinata?"

Marcel:  "Yes exactly!"

Enjoy Your Day {and Collin}

Aren't the flowers in the inspiration challenge for Cutting Edge fabulous?  I have the PaperSmooches dies used in Lisa's gorgeous card so I decided to use them on my card.  I added a PTI die/sentiment to finish off the card.  Love the pops of color against the black and gray background.  

Thought I'd share a couple of pictures of Collin from this weekend. They capture what he loves:  cooking and creating.  First up was our Sunday breakfast. All by himself he made Marcel, me and himself bacon and eggs.  If you could see the eggs closely, you'd see some with ketchup, others with salt and one with salt/pepper. He is exactly like Pat when he cooks. The order of what he takes out first, how he lines up the plates, etc.  So sweet.

And here he is working side by side with Pat.  We bought a new TV for our basement and the old one needed to be taken apart to fit out the steps. Collin was in heaven using the cordless drill to remove the screws.  He will definitely be the brother that gets called to help out with projects when the boys are older and have their own homes.

 Love how these pictures capture his personality...definitely Pat's son.

Peace on Earth {and back to school}

 I'm in snowflake mode this week and this is 2 out of 3 Christmas cards that will be posted this week!  I love Kay's style and The Cutting Edge Challenge, so I knew I had to play along.   I also pulled out my Bazzill card stock as I love how Kay's cards always have texture on them.  The die cuts were already cut so this was a very quick card to make. The hardest part was finding a sentiment small enough to stamp.  I clearly used Kay's sketch as my jumping off point and a trio of snowflakes instead of a trio of flowers.

The boys all went back to school yesterday.  My quiet mornings getting ready for work are going to quickly change.  The three oldest will all leave the house by 7 am...so the alarms start going off at 5:45.  My alarm typically goes off at 5:15.  The three oldest also will take their showers in the morning.  Thank goodness we have all boys as I think the bathroom time would get a little crazy.

Here are a few of my favorites from yesterday morning. If you compared to the picture of last year with Ryan and Jonathon, you'd see how much Jonathon has grown in a year.  He's only a couple inches shorter than Ryan.  I have a feeling he's going to be taller.  Collin and Jonathon ride the same bus this year.  He looks so little compared to the other kids riding the bus!  Marcel has had Collin on his bus every year. This is the first year he'll be on the bus without any brothers.  In two years, he and Collin will be together again.  Marcel got up just before the three older ones left.  He'll quite often have the house to himself for about an hour before he leaves in the morning.  He knows the first day of school drill and was more than willing to take pictures with me and Pat.

Collin wasn't in the no picture mood and you can see him messing around with Jonathon here...not sure what that pose is!  Collin is going into 5th grade and this is the first year with a locker and where he changes rooms each bell. A big step up and he was a little nervous.  I have no doubt he'll have an awesome year despite the touch of nerves.

 This picture is my favorite...stealing a kiss from my little man who is still willing to give them freely!

 And doesn't this picture melt your heart...how cute are Marcel and his adorable friend Chloe. Her dad was taking a long time to get a picture on his phone to which she said, "Girls are much faster with technology than boys."  She cracks me up!

Here's to a great year for all four boys!

You Are Loved

When I made my card for yesterday, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the end result so I decided to have another shot at the Cutting Edge Challenge.  I'm not sure what I didn't like about yesterday's card...that the colors didn't go as well as Jackie's card below or the mix/match of sentiments.  So for today's card, it is a bit simplified...two colors and lots of fabulous white with a simpler sentiment. Much happier with this card!

Thanks So Much {and vacation pics}

Happy Tuesday my friends. Popping in with a card for the current Cutting Edge Challenge and several pictures from our vacation to share with you.  

First up, pictures of my guys.  I got a new camera right before we left on vacation, so I was happily snapping away last week.   I love the close up shots of the boys.  Collin does not like the camera at all...so quite often I was getting a nasty look after I did snap a picture!

Here's a few pictures from when we weren't on the boat.  Kayaking, fishing, playing cards, jet skiing, playing card games or Risk (it should be noted that I beat Pat at Risk...he has never been beaten by the boys!) and singing/playing the guitar.  Collin loves to kayak and fish...he was in heaven out on his own.  One of my absolute favorite pictures is the one in the bottom middle of the collage. This is 100% Marcel...cuddled up next to one of us chatting our ears off. He's a very happy little man.  And who can resist Jonathon's smile in the upper left...love catching them with true smiles on their faces.

And last, but certainly not least...lots of fun tubing off the back of the boat. It was a great week away with our family and my brother and niece.

Peace on Earth

I've updated my stamps for sale page.  If you are interested, please click here.

I was over the moon thrilled to win the Cutting Edge Challenge last week. I've had so much fun playing along with the gorgeous inspiration they have each week.   When I first saw this week's inspiration, I was going to pull out some patterned paper that mimics the inspiration card, but when I thought about it further I thought of my one-liner Christmas dies.  This might be one that I have to mass produce.  I love cards that aren't too many steps to create. 

Yesterday was an awesome day creating.  We had a lazy day with the exception of popping out for Collin's drum recital. Perfect day for me :).  Hope you had a fabulous weekend too.

A Note of Thanks

I'm continuing to build up my stash of thank you notes so that my mum has a series of thank you notes she can choose from for her set.  I'm loving The Cutting Edge challenge.  It's really encouraging me to use my dies more often.  At first I thought I'd use the polaroid die I have, but went with the vented die from PaperSmooches to ground the floral dies.  I love the color combination of black, gray and SU Ruby Red.  

As I type this my two younger guys are playing Jenga.  Monopoly seems to be the game of choice this summer. What are your kids favorite games right now?  We're always looking for new games.

Missing You

Oh yes, I've loved the inspiration cards over at Cutting Edge. Simply stunning and so inspiring. I received some new PaperSmooches dies this week and was itching to play with them this weekend.  Karolyn's inspiration card was the perfect change. I made a little scene using them and a single sentiment stamp.  I loved the colors on her card, but decided to go with a neutral pattern and some patterned papers to complete the scene.  I'm also entering this in Virginia's View Challenge to use die cuts on our cards.

Our house is a bit quieter this week as Ryan is out of town at Show Choirs of America camp.  He was so excited to go and I can't wait to hear all about it. One of the coolest things about show choir is how many kids they meet from other show choirs across the country.  I'll be sure to share any pictures he provides!

Thanks

Hello there.  I'm popping into sharing a card for the new Cutting Edge Challenge. I'm really bad about using my dies so this is perfect to give me extra motivation to put those dies to use!  I loved the color combo and the polka dots.  I pulled out a rarely used Simon Says Stamp die as well as a PaperSmooches sentiment die.  Behind the dots on the die cut, I colored using my Stampin' Up markers to create a spectrum of colors.  I then die cut the sentiment first on the white cardstock panel and second using the turquoise paper.  I think this is a great thank you for a guy since it isn't my normal flowery card!  I'm looking forward to playing along with this challenge again in the future.