Such a cute little bundle of sweetness

I just had to share this picture with you. I can't believe how much Caleb is growing. He is 4.5 months now and just gets cuter every day!

You can see more pictures here. Caleb's mommy, Merrick is blogging now too. She even has a little story to go along with the pictures.

I am not sure if we could love this boy any more than we already to. He is the light of our lives.

Susie

Not so Quick Card - but one I'll make again

I haven't posted anything for a while, so I thought I would share a card with you. I was totally inspired by this card by Debbie Olson and had to make my version of it. I wanted to scan it right away, so this picture doesn't show the Stickles I applied to the bird and flower. I am really loving this card. I can't wait to get it into the mail tomorrow.

Susie

CUTE CUTE CUTE

Shameless Grandma post!

As if this baby wasn't already the CUTEST baby ever, just put him in an adorable shirt and this is what happens!

Caleb is loving life. He hasn't quite mastered sleeping through the night, but he's been here less than a month....I am sure he will catch on soon.

The Steeles are coming over tomorrow and I can't wait to get my weekly kisses in.

Have a great weekend!

Susie

Happy Valentine's Day (almost)

My friend Jamye gave me a great idea. She said she was going to do a digital layout and frame it for her husband for Valentine's Day. Oooo-yummy. Great idea! So I digi-lifted it from her.

I didn't start until 11:30 tonight, so I used a wonderful QuickPage I already had and embellished it just a bit. Starting from scratch just seemed too daunting this late at night.

Randall doesn't read my blog, so it will still be a surprise 2 days from now.

Then I started thinking that the only people who see my framed layouts are people who stay at Stolen Moments Inn - so I decided to put them on a Picasa album and everyone can see them to the right of this post now. I hope you enjoy them if you take a peek.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Extra hugs all around,


Susie

Boys Night In

My daughter sent me this picture tonight. When she walked into her bedroom, this is what she saw. I'd say Caleb looks right at home after being here just two weeks.

This little angel is lighting up our lives daily. His disposition is sweet and he is just so cuddly. If I could add another 5 or 6 hours to my day, I would spend them just holding him in my arms.

Susie

Caleb is finally here

We certainly are pleased to announce the arrival of our newest grandbaby. Caleb Alan Steele was born January 23, 2009 at 5:41 pm. He weighed in at 6lbs 13 oz and measured 18.5 inches long.

He is truly one sweet bundle of joy. Proud parents Merrick and Taylor think he is a keeper.

We have spend every moment we could this weekend gazing at this miracle and cuddling him every chance we could. All four grandparents agree that he is perfect and we can't wait for the spoiling to begin.

I have placed a Picasa slide show to the right on this blog. You can watch it here, or if you click on it, a larger version will appear.

I am certain our lives will never be the same and I am thrilled about it. He is one sweet boy. I am probably a bit biased though.

Be back soon with more pictures.

Susie

Fun News!

Just had to share with you...

I entered Paper Craft's World Card Making Day Contest last month. I submitted five cards - one in each category. On Thursday, I received a call that I had WON! Wow...I just couldn't believe it.

When the lady called me, I asked which card had won. She said it was called, "Go for It" in the birthday category. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what the card looked like! I even thought at one point that they had made a mistake and called the wrong person.

Fortunately, I had taken pictures of all my cards. So when I got home, I checked out the images and sure enough.....my "Go for It" card was real indeed.

They are sending me a prize package worth $250 and while THAT is super cool, the best part is that I will be published in the March/April issue of Paper Crafts. This is a first for me and I couldn't be happier about it.

I plan to submit more....and I will keep you posted if I ever get published again.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 73

This week for our Blogger's Challenge we had to use Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, and white or vanilla. I don't have Baja Breeze, so I tried to use a color that is close to it.

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The center image is PC Crafter clip art. I turn to it quite often when I am in a pinch or my stamping doesn't turn out well. That is what happened this time. I just couldn't get a stamped image to look right to me.

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But I love the card - so all is well!

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Be sure to check out all the other gals who are entering this week.

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Have a great weekend.

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Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 72

This week's challenge was "same but different".So I created two layouts using the exact same parts and pieces, but just different papers. Because I've crossed over to dabble in the digital world, it was super easy to change it up. I think I like the one on the right better.

I've been looking at all the creative entries this week and just have to wonder HOW does everyone do it? I am in awe!

Have a great weekend.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 71

Happy Halloween everyone! And that is our focus for this week's Blogger's Challenge.

I sent out lots of Halloween cards this year, but this one just went to one special friend. Her name is Sue and she is a super gal pal of mine. I wanted her card to be extra special.

I am one lucky girl because I am heading to a crop in a little bit. Can't wait to see my friends and spend some quality and SPOOKY time with them this evening and for a while tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great (and ghoulish) celebration.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 70

Well, I have certainly fallen behind. I have a million reasons (excuses), but I am at least trying to catch up now.

Last week's challenge was to post a gift item. This is an album I printed on Bazzill white cardstock and then adhered to old cds. Of course then I added ribbons and do dads to complete it.

I LOVE doing digital scrapbooking and plan to do all of our newest grandchild's books digitally. His mother will be more likely to want to store the thinner models. I still love paper scrapbooking. I guess I am bi-scraptual.

I am pleased to say that THIS week's post will be on time. I have it ready to roll at midnight Friday.

I hope everyone was a fantastic week.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week #66

Our challenge this week was to do a Andy Warhol type card.

This card is totally digital and then printed onto Bazzill. It is a technique I do quite often.

Love the little birdie, I hope you like it too.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 65

Our challenge this week was to use a water coloring technique. I chose to use the water spritzing technique where you color on the stamp and then spritz it with water. I just love how it makes a soft impression on watercolor paper.

I pieced the background and then used chipboard squares to raise the focal piece up so that it would be more dimensional.

Next time I need a feminine birthday card, I am good to go.

Have a great weekend.

Susie

Blogger's Challenge Week 64

Our challenge this week was to use designer paper. Even though the newest paper is absolutely wonderful, I still just love this set from 2 (?) years ago.

I am striving to create fewer scraps, so once I cut into the full sheet of paper, I made as many cards as I could. And I think I love them ALL.

I am also trying to use supplies that are sitting out on my desk when I start creating. Obviously that is not always practical, but these little flowers have been in a tiny pile on my desk ever since I unpacked from CKU-Provo and I am totally in love with them. And they were so perfect for these cards.

Be sure to check out all of the bloggers challenge cards this week. The talent in this group is amazing and inspiring.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Hugs to all,

Susie

Announcing Caleb Alan Steele

Today we found out what our newest grandson Caleb will look like. The sonogram confirmed that indeed Caleb would make his entrance into this world the first week in February.

I can hardly wait. My heart is so full of love for this baby already. If I feel this way now, I am not sure how much more I could possibly love him.

I AM sure of this - my days of pink paper and dainty flower accents will be coming to an abrupt halt early next year! Come on team BLUE. Let's go!!

Susie

All Dressed Up....

Yes - now I have two ATG guns. One for at home and one just for "scrapbooking out". I had the most fun decorating my "Sunday best" ATG gun. Don't you LOVE it?

I haven't shown it to my "at home" gun yet. It would be so sad. So yellow. So plain.

My friend Melinda shared this great website with me and that is where I found my fancy ATG gun. It is called Albums and Answers. The owner Sue is a total sweetie. She has all sorts of colored guns and I had a hard time deciding which one to get. But I am totally satisfied with my apple green one.

Just had to share. Totally psyched and can't wait to crop among friends this weekend.

Susie

PS: It looks even better in person. So let's get together and crop!

Blogger's Challenge Week 63

This challenge was hard for me because I don't have any of the new Stampin Up colors we were suppose to use. So I did the best I could matching them up with my Copic markers and patterned papers.

I couldn't decide if I liked my first attempt, so I made another. I won't say which is my first and which is my second. I just hope you like ONE of them!

Have a great weekend all.

Susie

The baby album I promised to show you

Here it is. The baby album I promised to show you. I just love this album, but more than that, I love that my neighbor is a scrapbooker, so she will know what to do to get those precious pictures in this book.

The album itself is a wooden scrapbook and all of the paper is Crate Paper. Love that texture! I went crazy buying pink, purple and green embellishments, but everything was just so darn cute.

I can't wait to give this gift to Jennifer and Collin (and baby Abby) on Sunday.

If you are wondering what we are doing tomorrow, click here and you can see.

Susie