Curtain Call Color Challenge #71

*Running, running*, gasping for air...I'm almost there!

Only hours away from the deadline of this challenge! I'm glad I'm on time, although the pictures had to be sacrificed a little, being taken in the evening.

These two cards are for Curtain Call Color Challenge #71.

Recipe for {Happy Birthday to You} Card 4 x 51/2 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel, Kraft};
~ Paper: Stampin'Up! ;
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {In Bloom, Damask Design};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate}, Stampabilities {Brown};
~ Dew drops: Robin's Nest.

Recipe for {Happy Birthday} Card 4 x 51/2 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel, Kraft};
~ Paper: Stampin'Up! ;
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {In Bloom, Butterfly Wishes, Vintage Labels};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate}, Stampabilities {Brown}.
~ Ribbon: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel};
~ Dew drops: Robin's Nest.

It's a perfect spring weather in southern Texas, that's why Mircea and I take full advantage of it and take as many walks as we can, before the brutal heat decides to come and stay for 6 months!

Not being able to be outdoors for longer than 5 minutes in the summer is one of the hardest things for me here. I love being outside, love my hiking boots!

I can tell you that we found the perfect toddler stroller: Jeep Cherokee Sport Stroller (at least Mircea "drives" something more "sophisticated" ha ha). I was looking for a lightweight stroller, easy to use while traveling, especially in airports, but I wasn't all that crazy about plain bare-bones umbrella strollers. Now I feel more confident traveling with Mircea to Romania in May. So excited to introduce Mircea to my side of the family. My dad and brother have never seen my son in person. Two more months...not that long!

Strolling through life

Hello everyone!

I have come to accept the inevitable.

That I don't get around much to make cards for challenges and, since I still want to write posts once in a while, I have to find other subjects.

Like...my son Mircea, for example! I never get tired talking about him and, with him growing almost overnight, I have the work cut out for me, when it comes with topics to write about. (I swear. Every morning he seems a couple of inches bigger than when I put him to bed the night before. Do night fairies pull him in all directions while he sleeps?)

Yesterday we finally came to accept that he is not a baby anymore and bought a "big boy" stroller for him. He loves it. He looks at me like "Mom, you finally get it, I love being able to sit up straight and look around me unencumbered." Yes, he thought that exact word, because he's the smartest.

People usually have a couple of other people they want to get on the good side with. A moody boss, a severe father, a boy or a girl they want to impress.

But everyone, EVERYONE wants to be liked by a baby.

When I go out with Mircea, I can get away with pretty much everything. (Just to be clear: I'm NOT trying to get away withe everything, I have just realized I could.) I've never been treated better. People open up to me. I found out in two minutes what is the favorite food of the 6 year old boy boy of the nice lady that was helping me with the deposit at the bank this morning. You know, she might be a total bitc..pain to everyone else around her, but with me, she wished I had more deposits to make so she can tell me about her 3 year old daughter, too.

Sorry, ma'am, I have to go, I must find about the kids of other strangers I have an appointment to meet today!

Handsome guys wave in my direction. I'm aware they don't even notice me and think that in this tech era strollers push themselves, but it looks good for the bigger picture. Everywhere I go, I can get on my knees, sit down on the floor, talk that annoying baby talk. (The sad thing is, it IS annoying when someone else does it for more that 30 seconds, but when I am doing it, I just can't stop, I'm sorry. Maybe YOU should stop eavesdropping at my private conversation with my baby.)

And all this because of Mircea's four teeth wide smile he generously spreads around him.

(You know what I mean?)

I'm sure I could get away with killing someone. Because it's true. There is an instinct growing and growing, since I've held this little bundle in my arms for the first time.

If anyone tries to harm my baby, that person will die.

Not the civilized, painless death. That is only for those who accidentally do something to hurt him. For the others who can bring themselves to hurt a child (something I will never ever understand), I've already have a full fantasy in place, of how I would t o r t u r e them first and let the buzzards finish off my work.

Now back to the fuzzy warm cuddly stuff about my baby.

He is going to be 1 in less than 2 weeks. Oh my.

He's ready to take all this world in. He has started walking (with my help), reaching farther than I feel comfortable with, being irresistibly attracted to outlet plugs, cellphones and generally everything that shines and makes noise.

Aren't we all?

Another Curtain Color Challenge, #66

Hello again!

I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm back with a card for the same Curtain Color Challenge, this time #66.

One of my dear friends just returned from her wedding in Romania. Unfortunately, I could not attend, but I am planning to send her this card.

{Congratulations} card 5 1/2 x 4 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreink {Scarlet Jewel, Vintage Cream}, my garage sale collection;
~ Paper:
~ Stamps: Papertreyink;
~ Ink: Stampabilities' {Black};
~ Flowers:
~ Pearls:

Wishing all of you a great night!

A new card in the new year! {Curtain Color Challenge #65}

Hello and a Happy prosperous New Year!

No, your eyes are not tricking you. I'm back with a card, the first one in the new year. It's for Curtain Color Challenge {Act #65}.

You may be wondering where in the world have I been or what the heck did I do for so long?

I....reflected! :-) First, I needed some distance to calm down dreaming about every single cute stamp out there, because it started being an obsession. I realized that I was trying to keep up with all you super-talented gals out there and somewhere along the way I lost the pure simple excitement of just making cards!

I also concentrated on a spiritual transformation that took place in our family! It was amazing to see how God took both my husband and I on such a challenging journey.

Oh, yeah, and running around after my sweet boy, who discovered how far he can get by rolling and crawling! I can't believe he's almost 1 year old. I need to start working on those 1st birthday invites! I decided on a hot air balloon theme! Any idea from you talented girls would be greatly appreciated!

Since I promised you a card at the beginning of this post, here it is:

{Happy Birthday to You} card 5 1/2 x 4 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Vintage Cream}, my garage sale collection;
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {Dot Spot, Butterflies Dream};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Moulin Rouge, Spring Moss, Orangerie}, Stampabilities {Brown};
~ Gemstones {Paper Studio}.

I hope this year is going to be our best year yet!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Any comment is more than welcome, because I'd like to come and visit your blog, too!

New card, new wardrobe...

Hello everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank all of you who follow and read my blog, although it takes longer now to post something.

I'm back with another card, that I did on the floor, next to my boy, who was playing and wondering why he doesn't have mommy's undivided attention. My precious boy has the widest and cutest smile in the world and when he sees me in the morning, he lets out this excited shriek that completely melts my heart! To be honest, it's really hard to do anything else when he's awake, because I haven't gotten over the affection that he gives and needs.

But now he's sleeping so I'm rushing to post a card. It's for Curtain Call Color Challenge #15, which proves to be a rather old one. I mistook it for the most recent, because of "Halloween" colors. Never mind, hopefully I'll make a card for the newest challenge. This is the first time I participate in this challenge, although I've been following it with the corner of my eye for quite some time.

All this time, I've done some other things that I haven't talked about and maybe now it's the time.

I have lost 30 pounds since giving birth! So happy!

After having Mircea, I have given myself a couple of months, to see if breastfeeding will "miraculously" melt the fat off my body. Other friends have inspiring stories, but it didn't happen to me. I also didn't pay attention to what I ate, thinking that since I'm breastfeeding, it doesn't matter how much of what was on my plate.

Because I really felt the need to move again, I started going to Zumba and loved it! I had a great time, but...not losing much weight. I was feeling hungry all.the.time and I would eat whatever was there.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, until I changed my eating habits, the scale would not budge a single little line. I started thinking what was important for me in a "diet": I could NOT go hungry, that was sure and I needed some substitute for foods that I loved.

I remembered that, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine sent me a copy of a book written by a french doctor, Michel Montignac, who divided foods based on their glycemic index. He explains that we gain weight because the insulin function of pancreas is "uncalibrated" and therefore, instead of releasing the amount of insulin to metabolize only the carbs, it releases much more and ends up transforming everything in body fat. This is due to a history of eating carbs like refined sugar, white flour, corn starch, that spike the sugar levels in our blood.

After reading it again, I was convinced that I don't need to eat less, but better and that the abundance of bad carbs in our diet makes any amount of exercise futile (unless you're a professional athlete) or it takes so long to lose a little bit of weight that you become discouraged.(I'm talking here about people like me, I'm sure there are people out there that can lose weight only by batting their eyelashes..like my husband and his family. Seriously, these people have a secret and don't share with anyone!)

That day, I decided to give up over-processed foods and eliminate any products that have sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, starch, etc. You would be shocked how many products have unnecessary ingredients for nutrition, but necessary for preservation, so they can stay long amounts of time "fresh" and unalterated on the shelves.

I stopped eating sugar, white flour, white rice, potatoes and corn completely.

This regimen meant that I would cook and eat most of the meals at home. I used to cook before, but I would always have a frozen bag of "goodies" for days when I didn't feel like going near the kitchen. But now, unless that frozen bag was "spinach", I had to (and wanted to) eat a homemade healthy meal everytime I was hungry.

I didn't count calories, I ate when I was hungry and how much I needed and in a month...15 pounds! Have I really eaten 15 pounds worth of sugar, flour, corn starch, corn syrup before?! It was hard to believe, but I did!

I gave up all these, but I discovered cabbage, beans, oat bran, wild rice and "exotic" things like quinoa and jicama. I've substituted white flour with a mix of oat bran flour and almond flour. I've always loved to try now things and I had the chance with this "diet" also. I wouldn't call it a diet, but eating healthy and being mindful of the crap that it's offered out there as "food".

These are some of my favorite dishes:

Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins

(made with oat bran flour and almond flour, not even a trace of wheat flour)

And because nothing says "diet" better than pizza, I'd like you show you a pizza with pinto bean crust.

A modified version of the well-known Shepherd's Pie (with mashed cauliflour puree instead of mashed potatoes)

And now, my 35th birthday cake: Black Bean Cake. (I was suprised how "tasteless" unseasoned beans actually are. Cocoa had a stronger taste than the black beans.)

Isn't it fun to "diet"??? *smile*

To be honest again, sometimes it's a lot of work to cook every single day, but it's worth it!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm leaving you with the cutest face on Earth! Trick or treat?

HAVE A SCARY MERRY HALLOWEEN!

{Count my blessings} Card 5 1/2 x 4 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Vintage Cream}, unknown orange cardstock;
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {In Bloom, Fall Elegance};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Ripe Avocado}, Stampabilities' {Plum};
~ Ribbon: Martha Stewart
~ Buttons: Papertreyink Vintage {Spring Moss}, purple button from my collection.

A season of Gratitude {FTL 110}

Hello everyone,

I'm finally back with another card, in all these beautiful fall colors.

Whenever I need a simple and quick idea for a card, I go to Clean and Simple Stamping. I am always inspired by the sketches over there.



I can't explain where the time flies. Mircea has started developing a personality and one sign is that he does not like to wear a hat. Period. Ha ha. He can take it off himself. Two of his bottom teeth are coming out and I expect surprises every night. Sometimes he wakes up, sometimes he doesn't. And I am afraid I "caught"some kind of insomnia...I'm falling asleep standing around 10 pm and usually go to bed, but I'm waking up around 1 am and unable to go to bed for a couple of hours. Like last night....So days like today are a little bit of blur, tired enough to not function normally, but not enough to take a nap. Uggh!

Anyways, enough about me. What are your plans for this fall? How is Fall where you live? Full of changing colors, cold, hot (like here!)? Don't you just love the chilly mornings, when you can sit outside with a cup of coffee and muse about how wonderful life is? :)

I'm looking forward for all that this Fall has for us, except one thing: to the table cloth that my in-laws use for Thanksgiving dinner. Any suggestions on how to delicately suggest another table cloth (this is going to be my husband's duty, for sure)?

I am really determined to not let so much water pass under the bridge before I post another card. I have some dreams when it comes to card making, but they look farther than I thought. But I hope that day will come! :)

{a season of Gratitude} card - all products Papertreyink, unless otherwise noted

~ Cardstock: Melon Berry, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream;
~ Paper: Autumn Abundance;
~ Stamps: Fancy Flourishes, Fall Elegance;
~ Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, Melon Berry, Dark Chocolate;
~ Buttons: Vintage Melon Berry, Vintage Scarlet Jewel.

Here is Mircea wearing my husband's 6-months old outfit!

The Fall is here!

Hello everyone,

I'm back, finally! I'd like to thank my friend Genuta for nudging me about not posting anything for some time.

The last month, our little boy has been keeping us on a roller-coaster. Overnight, he started to roll over (we found him one morning rolled on his belly swaddled! What a scare :) ). Then, the breast milk wasn't enough anymore and moreover, he became quite disinterested in breastfeeding. My heart is broken! :)

I love Fall! After a little bit of thinking, I realized that Fall is my favorite season. Maybe it's connected with the touch of coolness it brings after the suffocating summer here in southern Texas and the all these holidays that brings us closer and closer to Christmas.

I have a card today, my first card for Fall this year. I made it for Dawn's Color Cue {8} Challenge. I wish I could use my Chartreuse ink, but unfortunately it has a very low quality. I'm glad that Papertrey Ink changed their inks manufacturer.

Recipe for {I am thankful for you} card 4 x 5 1/2 in
~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Lemon Tart, Vintage Cream};
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {Vintage Labels}, Making Memories {Autumn Splendor};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Scarlet Jewel, Ripe Avocado}, Stampabilities {Brown};
~ Buttons: Papertreyink {Vintage Spring Moss, Scarlet Jewel}.

I hope this Fall will brighten your life!