The Count Down Begins.....

The countdown has begun for the wedding.

All the little things that need to be finished await me every morning as the list grows longer and the days to the wedding get shorter.

The good news is that wedding will go on regardless of what is done and what isn't.

I don't fool myself - I am keeping my sanity and getting my sleep regardless of the list as I know things will go wrong and that this is the stuff good stories come from like "The Cookies from Hell" or "Gonzo's Tuxedo - The Long and Short of Shirt Sleeves".

I think my favorite wedding story is that of a friend who came from an extremely large family who had tricksters for bothers. The brothers took a permanent marker and wrote on the bottom of his shoes "SAVE" and "ME" unbeknownst to the groom, the bride or their parents. As the groom knelt down at the alter with his beautiful bride, the words appeared and the congregation let out a huge laugh while the parents let out huge gasps.

Needless to say, the wedding still went on and the couple is still as fun loving as ever.

My other favorite story is my son's wedding - he is a sweet heart and a tease as well and kept telling me we didn't need bows on the chairs down the aisle - it was a waste of money, time, blah, blah, blah.

Being me, I ignored him and forged ahead getting lost in mountains of tulle and ribbon. Ours is not a pretty church; it is a functional meeting space and I wanted my son and daughter-in-law to be to have their wedding as pretty as possible. As he and I walked down the aisle on a cold January afternoon, the setting sun beamed its golden rays through the high windows and the dust borne air particles sparkled down upon us, he grinned as he looked at me, his eyes twinkling and said, "You were right Mom, we needed the bows.". He and I had many other wonderful moments that night that are just between us, but you get my drift.

We make it as perfect for our children as we can and then let the flower petals fall as they may.

As the bride and groom get closer to their day, I will work towards it with love in my heart, tears in my eyes and a wish for them that their life together is as beautiful as their wedding day.

Hoping your day is full of happy memories and warm fuzzy thoughts.

Laura Anne and Bella Boo, the flower puppy

"Share the Love" card

Valentine's Day is fast upon us and there is more "Love" in mine and Bella's proverbial bowls than we can dish out.

So with this is mind and dinner on our minds, we thought this would be a fun card for you to share with someone who makes you smile and/or makes your dinner.

Stamp 599D - Fuzz Butt Bowl in the lower right hand corner of a 4" x 5" piece of white card stock. Using a Post-It Note, mask the bowl.

Stamp 600G - Large BG slightly to the left of the Fuzz Butt Bowl. Using pastels (we used our wonderful new line of Pan Pastels - check them out under the "CATALOG" tab, then "EXTRA STUFF" tab)
Sorry about the sales pitch - I got lost in the moment...

Take your Exacto Blade and slice through the upper portion of BJ's lip line. Do the same on the lower line of Fuzz Butt Bowl.

Cut out hearts or use sticker hearts and just slip them into the slots you just cut. Layer as many into the bowl as you would like. You could also stamp the hearts if you mask the images correctly.

The white stamped card stock is then layered onto a patterned scrapbook paper.

How did I incorporate the scrap paper into the card - well, lay your stamped card on the scrapbook paper and using a light blue colored pencil, trace the card very lightly onto the scrapbook paper.

Easy enough? Now choose the designs on the Scrapbook paper that you would like to appear on top of the card and using your Exacto Knife, follow the design on the inside of the rectangle from one end of the blue line to other end of the design, stopping at the the blue line. Do this a few more times at various designs around the blue lined rectangle. Erase all the blue lines and WA LA! You now have a slot to slip the stamped card stock into! Slick, Huh!

Sign it, Seal it with love, and off to the Post Office you go.

I am off to make dinner for Bella and her friends now.

Let the Valentine's Party Begin!

Laura Anne and Bella Boo wishing you a whole lot of love today and always!

"Two Points for You" and a Valentine too!

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and aside from staying away from the candy I am trying hard to finish all the wedding projects as well as make a few cards.

This one is perfect for all the ladies coming to the wedding who are undergoing the pain and agony of a dress fitting this week - myself included!

Very simple, very sweet, very current!

Stamp our "Waist Watchers" Charmin' onto a 3" x 3" piece of white cardstock. Color her in with your colored pencils or Copics. Less is more here :)

Stamp our "2 Points for You " on a scrap piece of white cardstock about 1' x 2.25" with either pink or red ink.

Stamp our 553-C Small Solid Hibiscus stamp on some white scrap cardstock and cut out. I colored on the stamp with one of my dark pink Tombo's and highlighted the edges with a nice orange or red Tombo.

Huff on the stamp and print!

Repeat this 3 times and cut out the image.

Just like winter in Chicago - a gal can never have enough layers, so layer all the pieces as shown above onto a 4.25" x 5.50" peice of cardstock. Sign and release those "Brownie" points out into the world via the US mail so that your girlfriends know you are thinking of them this Valentine's Day.

A sense of accomplishment is always so much better than a piece of chocolate - most days :)

Hugs to all!

Laura Anne and Bella Boo

Show Me the "LOVE"

Valentine's Day is not always about pink and red and white or lavendar and purple, sometimes it is about being a true blue friend to those you care about.

So here is one of my favorite Bugawump cards to send out to my friends on Valentine's Day.

Stamp 346K - The Great Vine (only a portion of it) on the left hand side of a 4" x 5.25" of white cardstock.

Stamp 105F - Birthday Bug and 102F - Sweetie Pi under the sheltering leaves of The Great Vine.

Here's where you can use either Copics, Tombo's or colored pencils to color in your images. I tend to use a combination of both - first I lay down my marker color and then use my colored pencils for the shading. I just like that look better than the two dimensional look of the Copics.

Sponge in the background with Vivid's Sky Blue and enhance with a darker dye based blue around the edges. Lately I have taken to using my wonderful new Pan Pastels for the these types of sponged looked backgrounds, but since this card is from one of my original designs, I don't want to lead you astray but just suggest that maybe in the future you may want to pursue these chalks for your larger background color.

Stamp over the blue background with a star stamp (sorry, our cluster star stamp is no longer available) in the same Vivid Sky Blue that was originally used for sponging.

Layer, layer and then send it out to your favorite girl friend or sister or coworker....whatever!

Just don't forget to sign it with "made with LOVE" by yours truly "BUGCAUSE" everyone needs a little love in their hearts as well as their mailboxes this Valentine's Day!

Happy Bugday to All!

Laura Anne and Bella Boo