lucky dodo

our wedding day

Bob & I got married three years ago March 20.
I have had my photos....hundreds of proofs from the photographer....around for all that time and have sorted them many times but just never "got it together" to get an album done. It is not something I am proud of....but it is what it is!!

So, last week I took one of my favorite photos of us and made my first page.
I made a small journaling booklet from ordinary graph paper....stitched a small piece of lace and a scrap of gros grain ribbon to the edge of that....added a few self-adhesive rhinestones and a clear MAMBI sticker.....ta da!

Some of our new houndstooth black and white paper and an older Soft Spoken "man of my dreams" finished off the right side of the page. All in all....a super simple page....but I like it.

  Good Catch....this was my friend Tracy catching the bouquet. Funny thing is that she is now engaged so the belief that the lucky girl who catches the bride's flowers, will be the next to marry....hummmm?

 
A simple stitching on black cardstock, a few brushes of acrylic paint, MAMBI embellishments. The big "flourish" is part of a black & white page kit and the flocked paper from our new black & white speciality paper pad {it's in Michaels}.

Italian Greyhounds rule my world

  so those are some of my favorite greyhound photos....not all are my dogs....so thanks to those whose photos I "lifted" from the web. This is a picture of lily when she was just a pup.....sooooo cute! I was home this weekend with very limited supplies and I really wanted to make this page. So, I went crazy with my sewing machine as you can see and just stitched up a storm on my cardstock. Then, I had no alphabets here, so I just printed the work greyhound and stitched it to the LO. I did have a scalloped piece of paper, some alphabet stamps and some MAMBI self-adhesive pink rhinestones.
Did I mention that I used the MAMBI clear black & white stickers for the "crowning touch". She is such a true princess in real life.
check out my simple paper alphabet and my crazy obsessive stitching.
These stickers are so much fun to use.

My best friend

This is my friend Nyla....and I loved making this page. The photo was taken at my wedding three years ago....March 14, 2005. I could go on and on about what a wonderful human being, friend & woman she is....but I will just say that she is my best friend and I love her for so many reasons.

I just painted a rough square in the center of the page with acrylic paint....and stuck my photo down in that square.....simple.

The flowers were die-cut from the MAMBI Modern Milan paper collection and layered on he page.  I added some rhinestone circles from our rhinestone designs. I stitched around the painted section of the cardstock with metallic embroidery floss....very easy....even for me!

The epoxy bar is from a MAMBI Modern Soft Spoken.

Nyla has been such a gift to me and everyone at MAMBI. She was one of our founding team and literally helped us launch and build the company to the place it is today. She is the best sales person I have ever met.  I feel blessed to call her a friend.

My Little Songbird

It was just a few weeks ago that I heard my granddaughter, Kayla sing to a crowd for the first time. We were having dinner in Laguna Beach and Kayla ended up singing with the guy who was playing guitar and entertaining the group. I was blown away by how good she sounded.

Here she is that night....really happy that the crowd like her so much....she was so cute!

She has always wanted to sing...always sung in the shower and in the car...{like so many of us} but today she is taking private voice lessons and learning how to use her amazing, God-given voice.
I look forward to taking her to her lesson and just sitting and listening to her sweet voice.
The page I made was a quickie....stitched the lace trim to the side of the page.....I am loving sewing and stitching on everything these days.

I even stitched over the printed black design on the paper......my attempt at embroidery.

Sorry for the lousy photo.....

Can you see the black glitter sparkling with my photography? I used a new mambi Soft Spoken SKU {music} and the staff is covered with black glitter. Hope you can see it.

Anyway, this is one of many of Kayla's music pages that you will see from me.

Take care.

father and son

I love this picture of  Brian {my son} and his son  Marlon. You all know Marlon well by now as I have posted his pictures so often on my blog. He got a haircut and looks like a different kid....cute either way I say. I promise I'm moving on to other grandchildren soon....but I had this picture and I thought he page was "blog-worthy". I  used all mambi products naturally. The paper is from the Renee  paper pad {in Michaels} 

I love the flocked flourishes....I was hoping that you could see the texture of the flocking, but mostly you see the dust....anyway, these are great in real life....also at Michaels right now. They are from the black & white Soft Spoken collection...very cool. And ofcourse, the rick-rack that I totally over use.

I love a man in uniform!!

well not exactly a uniform per say....more like a T-shirt.
Oh, and did I mention he also has a BADGE!

Unfortunately, he does not have a helicopter, squad-car or a boat. But he assists and donates his time as needed. My husband, Bob has been a volunteer for the Orange County Sheriff Department for a few years now and really seems to enjoy it. I am proud that he is a responsible and involved citizen.
He is currently working at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, CA. So if you are there look for the cute guy with the T-shirt and the badge. Oh, yea....we will be at the fair with my son & his girlfriend Saturday night to see Alan Jackson. I sprung for the good seats....so check back for that.....I might even do a souvenir give-away with some MAMBI products.

finally feeling inspired

After a pretty dry spell creatively, I am actually feeling inspired these past few days. I'm spending two days a week working from home and just slowing down my pace a bit.....and voila....some inspiration! I had all my photos of Marlon, my grandson out for my post last week, so I just put together two pages with some of my favorite photos of him. I am moving on next week to organize my photos of Kayla, my granddaughter. So stay tuned for her debut on this site. The "laugh" photo was taken on Mother's Day at Lauren's house....the papers are from Mambi Modern Milan Collection and the huge green rick rack....I just love and bought at CHA last year. I could use it on everything!

the epoxy circles are from another collection, but I think they work anyway. I got a bit carried away with y embellishments on this....but, hey we sell embellishments so what can I say?

the "laugh" is another Modern Milan piece....a Soft Spoken which is printed on acetate. A pretty random use of designs....but I like it. And I love the little boy "laughing".....how cute is that picture? VERY is the right answer. Peace out!

debutante ball

deb-u-taunte: from the French debutante, "female beginner" is a young lady from an upper class family who has reached the age of maturity and is a new adult. She is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "debut" or "coming out" party. Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible for marriage {please no}, and the purpose was to display her to the eligible bachelors and their families.

This my friends, is a debutante....Erica....Tyler's girlfriend.  Bob and I were lucky enough to be invited to join Erica and her family in celebrating her "coming out". Personally, I've never been to a deb ball myself....I suppose my friends and family are a bit to ordinary for such events....but, it was fun to be a part of it all the same. I"m posting some really cute photos of the evening...check out steph's blog later in the week for projects using these photos.

that's Erica on the far right...the pretty one!

father-daughter dance.....Erica {the deb} with her father, Rick.

Tyler {the chosen escort and his family....Steph and Kayla Rahmatulla.....pretty family photo.

Dancing with mom....I'm sure she was proud just then....I am proud just looking at them again.                                                                     Erica & her mom Cathy on the left and my hubby Bob                                                                         with Tyler below them...It was a lovely night. That is                                                                            me hugging Tyler.....lucky, lucky dodo.

Stephanie & Bob and Cathy and her friend Michelle.  It was really a nice night for everyone. Lots of great food, wine, dancing & fun.                                                                   

my estrogen dilema

okay, so I have been feeling a bit funky lately. I have a variety of complaints & symptoms {some of which are not appropriate to mention here} that have manifested themselves in my mind into a plethora of random illnesses. Being the reasonable, intelligent woman that I am, I went to the doctor. He did all the responsible tests to rule out anything really serious....and we're waiting for the results. In the meantime, he recommended that I take a HRT {hormone replacement therapy}....estrogen and progestrone to be exact. Now, he says that I will feel like a new woman in 5 days. Basically, I am no longer a woman in an internal functioning sense.....interesting! Since I know there are ever-changing research results and much controversy surrounding this treatment....I asked him what he would recommend if I were his wife. He quickly responded that she would KILL him if he did not bring home her estrogen. So, I am strongly considering throwing caution to the wind and taking the DRUGS!

Please see questionaire below

Any advise, info or experience that you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Until next time, I remain severely hormonally depleted {and therefore emotionally challanged}

this is mambi..me & my BIG ideas

   

 

 

From the clean industrial building in Lake Forest CA, past the potted palms at the entry, UCLA flag waving, cheerful receptionist smiles & says hello, boxes & product everywhere, Emily in accounting, more boxes and more boxes....this is mambi today. Busy, crowded, happy and very, very creative. We started this company ten years ago in Stephanie's garage...who knew that we would be so blessed. We are literally bursting at the seems here today....overflowing with new product and ideas. Thought you would get a kick out of seeing some "behind the scenes" photos from me & my BIG ideas.