Huge post!

I am going to apologize in advance because this is going to be a super long post. I have been MIA (again) with good reason though. I mean, I think it's a good reason. :-) My DD and I went on a Disney cruise for her birthday. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed our time together and we loved hanging out in the sun by the pool/beach. We visited the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas and then Disney's island-Castaway Cay. This was our second time aboard the Wonder and we had just as much fun as the first time. Sometimes it's hard to duplicate trips with the same expectations but this was just as fabulous as the first cruise. If not better because my DD is older and we enjoyed doing things together. Like the dinners at Parrot Cay and Triton's. Normally she sticks to simple foods and wants something off the kids menu. This time, she was ordering from the "adult" menu. It was such a joy to watch her place her order! For a child with Autism, this is a great feat! We rented bicycles at Castaway Cay and she was extremely excited to hit the trails and see where they would take us. I was a little nervous because the brakes are not the same as her bike at home but she adjusted well. She was smiling and riding along enjoying the scenery. Just happiness. Anyhow, that's my reason for being absent from my blog for a while. I am back and ready to share some cards now!

I feel like there is so much I want to share. I will start with Card Pattern's #49 sketch. I read that purple will be the hot color this year?

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; pattern paper: Piggy Tales-Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs; bling: Heidi Swap and Darice; rub-on's American Crafts Mini Marks Frank Sidekick; brad; Creative Imaginations

This next card I thought I had shared with you but I forgot to last week before I left. It's a love card I made with Creatively Green's 100% recycled cardstock which I ♥. The paper is super heavy weight so you can add those embellies, layers, ribbons, etc. with no worries about your card drooping. I used a scrap of 7 Gypsie's paper and a metal tag a friend sent me. See supplies below card for details.

Supplies: cardstock: Creatively-Green pink and black; pattern paper: 7 Gypsies; fabric:Jo-Ann's cream burlap; metal tag: Jo-Ann's; brad: Making Memories black; ribbon: Wright's black organdy; ink: Brilliance graphite black

Also, today I posted a special project on their blog for Valentine's day. Be sure to check it out! :-) We are having a Valentine's Blog Hop Feb. 11th-14th with lots of acitvites, projects, and prizes of course! Bookmark it now so you won't miss out on the fun and creativity.

This next project is for a friend. The challenge over at JUGS was to create a pennant banner. I am a tad late with my entry but that's okay. I enjoyed making it. :-)

On another note....

I celebrated my birthday mid week and the kids in my class showered me with cards and treats! I wanted to share their creations with you. Here are a few. My camera started to receive a written error message on it after the first four cards. Boo hiss. So not sure what's up with that. But look at these adorable cards...I was grinning ear to ear. It was the sweetest surprise.

Aren't these too sweet?

and finally the beautiful bouquet of flowers Simon sent me.

He knows I love Gerber daisies.

I do have more to share with you. I thought it would be best to spread it out. I have lots of altered projects for Valentine's Day that I am working on. I hope you will come back to see. Thanks for making it to the end of this very long post!