A Day of Sadness, A Crazy Month, A Crazy Momma, Need to Craft....

My thoughts and prayers go out to my fellow commuters who were involved in the horrific bus accident that collided with a train yesterday morning, making national news.  It is a very eerie feeling knowing that this is the exact same bus I have taken for the past 9 years as my early morning routine.   Now that I have my daughter in my life, I just started last week, getting off that same bus just before the train tracks to drop her off at our care providers.  If it wasn't for my daughter in my life now, I would,  no doubt, be on that bus.  Chilling, sad, and horrifying.  I can't stop thinking about the "what ifs" and deeply saddened by the familiar faces I saw everyday over the course of 9 years, who were injured or killed.  :(

To say it has been a crazy month, would be an understatement.  I just started back at my full time job. Of course, deadlines were thrown at me within my fist week and I am beyond exhausted after a few late nights.  It is nice seeing everyone at work, but not enjoying my new routine - HA! I have to wake up at 4:30 AM, make lunches for the babies and myself, get the kids dressed, fed, daily journals ready, and out the door to catch 3 buses....if you see a lady running on the sidewalk (I'm not exaggerating here folks), wearing a business suit and pushing a stroller - yep, that's me! LOL!  It is time to invest in a second vehicle for sure before the snow comes, because I can't do this everyday - especially if we get snow! Eeeeek!

As for my loves in my life, they are not adjusting well to the new routine of school and care provider.  Despite getting colds passed around the school and into our home, there has been lots of separation anxiety for everyone - including me! :(   It is getting better for the kids, but it was a fight every morning.  My son's first day of school in junior Kindergarten ended up with him getting "timeout" for pushing a boy and making him cry.  My son told me he was chased by 3 children and they threw pine cones at him. So he pushed one of the boys b/c they "trapped" him. It's tough being 4, didn't ya know?  Ugh! This is not what I envisioned my son's first day of school to be like.  On his 2nd day of school he got another "timeout" for not listening.  Kolby refused to go to school the next day due to the anxiety of his timeouts.  For 2 days we had some warm hearted talks about the T.O's because he was quite upset by them.  After much convincing, he seemed ok with going again...but then on his 3rd day of school, Kolby's bus was hit by a dump-truck!  Luckily he hadn't got on the bus yet.  No injuries to the kids or bus driver, thankfully.  I had to take Kolby to the care providers instead of school, and was an hour late for my second day of work - ugh!  The next day we spoke with his teachers about the T.O's and how he was super happy and excited to go to school, but now he says he hates it. They admitted they didn't see what happened with Kolby and the young boy, but saw the boy on the ground crying.  I'm not saying my son is innocent, but I at least wish they knew the full story before dishing out the TO's.  More discussions took place about keeping his hands to himself, and tell a teacher if kids are being mean to him.  Everything has settled today.  Kolby hasn't had a T.O. for a while now and he has been rewarded for being so good.  My mind is at ease knowing that he is happy at school now. He has several new friends he speaks of. He even told me that he loves a girl named Katie and wants to protect her like his sister. Bless his sweet little heart! ♥

To top off my week, my website for my store went down for a few days because my web host had technical difficulties.  Completely out of my control.  It's up and running now.  Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you once again to those of you who reported the issue to me!  xoxo  Hoping Friday is a good day for me; praying that I won't have homework so I can get my craft on.  I've got a half finished digi on hold.  Sadly, I already know I will be spending most of my time installing the latest programs from work.  Gotta keep my home computer updated.  I also want to  make time this weekend to place a rose at each bus stop, and visit the crash site...

Hope everyone is well and have time to stop in and say hi. I miss you guys!    :)

Baby's First Birthday - Digital Stamp

We're home safe and sound after a few weeks away from the crafting world.  Have you ever made a card in your car before?  It was a first for me - LOL!  Ok, I coloured the digi stamp at home but did a lot of careful gluing on the trip up North in the car and finished off once we got to our destination.  It's hard to post when you're out visiting!   We had a wonderful birthday party out of town for my daughter and nephew who celebrated their first birthday together.  I've been itching to share these party pictures for the past week and now that I am home, I am able to do so.  It was so nice to see everyone and for Serina to visit with her aunts, uncles and cousins who she hasn't seen in a long time!  She was such a good girl, but played "shy" with her Nana and Papa.  I guess that means we'll have to have more visits! 

SMASH CAKE

 

 

 

 

 

We also took another trip to see my side of the family for the following week to celebrate Serina's 1st birthday.  Lucky girl gets two birthdays and two cakes!  Spoiled much?  She had a great time visiting everyone, going  swimming, and watching her cousin's soccer finals.  I'm sad to be home knowing that school is starting for my son soon and Serina will be off to daycare while I gear up to go back to work!  Heartbreaking to let them go, but, like the rest of the world, we need to hold the fort.  *sob*

 

Over these next few weeks, my digital stamp production will decline.  I want to enjoy these remaining weeks with my family and soak up the last of the summer before returning to my day job.  Once everything settles, I will try to get back on track.  We shall see how it goes, I will try to draw in my sleep if I can, but no guarantees - LOL!  Happy Crafting everyone - but do try to get outside to play before the summer is gone!  With the way this summer has been going, I'm predicting the coldest winter ever...yup, I said the "W" word in August - eeek!

To my dearest Serina,

This digital stamp is dedicated to you sweet baby girl.  It is a true blessing to have you in our lives and you bring us so much joy and laughter. You complete our family and we just cannot imagine life without you.  Love you to the moon and back, always and forever.  xoxo

This digital stamp is called "Baby Serina".  I coloured up this handmade card using Promarkers for her Skin, Hair, and black tones.  Then I used Copics for her pink dress.

Handmade Card for Men & Summer Time Fun!

I just enjoyed an amazing 2 weekends in a row with family at a cottage my brother rented.  Yes, I put the hobby and computer aside while I enjoyed some of the beautiful weather we are FINALLY getting!  What a weird summer we are having.  One minute it is cold (20°C) and then the next day it is 37 °C.  Anyway, our weekends were full of fishing, tubing, barbecuing ribs, and playing Scribblish (from the makers of Cranium) - what a hoot that game is!  My Nana from England came to visit us again this year to enjoy some of our Canada Day shenanigans which included fireworks off the dock and celebrating my father's 70th birthday.  If you don't follow me on our facebook fan page then you haven't seen the card I did for my Dad.  I digitally coloured it, thinking it would be faster - but it was not.  It actually took way too long, but it was a blessing in disguise that I did this one digitally. The stink'n numbers on the card fell off during travel and glued themselves to the image. Luckily I have my mother addicted to making cards too, so she had some of the necessary tools to reprint, dismantle and re glue the card - Phew!  Anyway, this digital stamp is a funny one called "Giddy Up Cowboy".  My Dad is a big fan of western movies and some country music...so this manly handmade card is dedicated 100% to him and based on a sketch I did a few years ago! 

Giddy Up Cowboy! 

 

Some Cottage Fun!

 

Ghost Buster's car spotted at Tim Horton's while passing through a small town on the way home!  I added some final touches! LOL!

 

I have been sketching out a new digi stamp - yup another funny one...but it has 3 characters in it *sigh* - this one is already proving to be very time consuming as I try to get expressions and poses just right.  Almost done the sketch phase though - YAY!  Hope you all have a crafty week.  Get outside and enjoy some sun too! xoxo

 

 

Redonkulous Designs to Redonkadoodles

Hello lovely bloggers!  You may have heard already that we have re-branded Redonkulous Designs to Redonkadoodles!  For business and future strategic reasons, we decided it would be best to...yes, start over again.  CRAZY!!!  We have a big plan in place that will take months and months to reach - but it will hopefully be worth it in the end.  So yes I'm still alive and busy beyond belief while still juggling my busy 10 month old baby girl, my 4 year old son, and updating my site!  Time is flying too fast these days and the sleepless nights are starting to make me look like a zombie from the Walking Dead.  Taking care of the kids, replying to customers in the day, and working till the wee hours of the morning is certainly taking it's toll on me.  I may not be able to meet my Wednesday release date every time anymore, but I do try!  I go back to work in September, and I am a little freaked out by it.  The thought of trying to be, as one lovely fan put it, "Superwoman", I need to take things at a pace that is manageable.  We will see how juggling everything goes.  I use to work in television on cartoons, character designing and supervising multiple shows at once - so this should be easy peasy right!?!?  Pfft!  Not so easy when your solo.  I guess those skills are out the window when you have monkeys crawling up your leg begging for food!  ;)

So with a new site, comes a new Facebook Fan Page!  If you haven't liked our page already, please hop over to our NEW Facebook fan page and give us a like!  You will hear about our redonkulous random sales and be able to participate in our random trivia for points/freebies!  Plus share your cards you have created using our images!  I can't tell you enough how excited I get when a fan posts their creations using my products!  It truly makes it worth doing more!

I would like to THANK all of my fans for changing your blog links.  I can't express enough how important this is for us. It helps people find us easily and gets us back on the map.  The transition has certainly set us back and we are taking an enormous hit financially because of it.  This is some of the risks we knew would happen when we switched over...we just didn't know how bad the impact would be.  We are new at this adventure and learning as we go.  Lots of mistakes have been made along the way.  It will all be worth it in the end I hope, and I do have days where I want to give up, and then a lovely customer posts something inspiring that makes me smile and want to keep going!  Eventually the word will get out, with your help...we hope!  Flaunting our new button on your blogs is probably the best. For your convenience, I had my programmer make a special button that shows our new release right on YOUR blog! Yes! It automatically updates!  Pretty cool huh?  You can get the code by visiting my store website and clicking on the "I ♥ Redonkadoodles" image and inserting it into a blogger gadget - HTML code. 

A BIG BIG thank you goes to my Aunt Kim from Just Wordz!  I don't know what I'd do without this wonderful woman in my life!  She truly is keeping my shop alive while I work on boring stuff behind the scenes and struggle to get an image out each week!  I have a one woman design team - LOL!  Thanks Kim!  Love ya, and all the amazing work that you do! ♥

Here I Combined my Funny Face Girl with my Funny Face Man!

 Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful long weekend!  Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians and 4th of July to my friendly neighbours in the USA!  =)

A Funny Digital Stamp

Hi everyone! I've been a bad blogger as of late.  I decided to spend some much needed time with my family.  Everything is ok.  There's just a lot of things to think about in terms of what is important to me, what the future holds, and what sacrifices need to be made.  Obviously family comes first!  We  will figure it all out as we move forward.  Sometimes I wish I could freeze time, because I have a million things to do.  Yesterday our two little Monkey's stayed with a sitter for 5hrs. It was strange not having them around.  Too bad Daddy and I weren't doing anything exciting (business related stuff). I've definitely been experiencing the highs and lows of running a small shop. I guess if they made it easy, everybody would be doing it.  Together we spend lots of time bouncing ideas for new digis and hope they become hits.  I know, I know, this week is a blusher (see below)...but hey, you only live once and I'm feeling risque this week!  *Cringe* I can't believe I am posting this - LOL!

I have a few things to share with you all today. First, one of my cheekiest digis. It is definitely not meant for the easily offended, but why can girls walk around half naked and it is accepted? Yes - this stamp is sure to make your girlfriends blush, giggle, or mouth drop to the floor! I put this guy on a Wobble and he now dances on the card. Hilarious! I cannot take credit for the idea of this stamp, as this is the sick and twisted mind of my husband! Yes, even the risque sentiment! What a dirty bird eh? His exact words were, "Hey, your ladies deserve a treat! Why should the guys have all the fun?" LOL! How thoughtful! Hahaha! I am guilty of giggling while colouring up this funny digital stamp...he is super easy, in my opinion, due to the fact he is mostly flesh colour!

Special Delivery - Digital Stamp 

Secondly, my card from last week. A very simple design. I couldn't for the life of me find anything special to embellish it with. Nothing really jumped out in my stash to be honest, and my creative ideas were really dry that day. I am, however, really happy with colouring her. This was my fist attempt at black hair and it turned out well. I used my Lilac Promarker as part of her hilite, and it blended well with the Ice Grey,5,3,1, and Black. I will definitely use that combo again!

Birthday Beauty - Digital Stamp

Family Time

Wow I can't believe my little darling is 7 months old. She is growing up so fast and I just want her to stay little...is that so wrong?  Over our family time together, Kolby and I couldn't wait to paint up some Easter Eggs. This is more of a pre Easter treat we did together.  We mixed food colouring in some shaving cream (you get a really cool swirl effect) and then you dip your eggs in and let it dry.  Wipe clean to reveal a fancy swirl of colours on your eggs!  I  think we did it wrong as it did not turn out as nice as I thought.  Next time I won't use water to wipe the eggs clean, and we'll see what happens.  It was fun and super easy regardless.  (top pic of eggs is BEFORE, bottom is AFTER).

Later we all made some yummy Cake Pops!  Fun to make and eat!  :)  You will also notice Kolby having a sleepover party with all of his friends. Can you tell he likes frogs? :)

So, this is what I've been up to.  Hope your all having a crafty week and smiling with extreme, yet almost hard to contain excitement, as the snow melts away! C'mon spring!  Hearing those birds out there is music to my ears!

Funny Face Digi Stamp

Hello lovely ladies! What a busy time in my life and I haven't even gone back to work yet - Lol! I can't believe my beautiful little boy will be going to school in September.  He'll be 4 toward the end of May *sob*.  We still haven't figured out what school he will be attending.  I'm more afraid what his new little friends will be teaching him. Sigh!  That is not my only worry these days, with all of the issues we had with our old care provider (as mentioned in earlier posts), we do not want to send him to the same school as her children, which is sad because it is right across the street.   So now we have to ask permission to send him to a school outside of our area...Such a headache.   We are seriously thinking about moving and have our eye on a nice property, but it is 45 minutes away from my work, which means we will need a second vehicle - OUCH!  It will be nice to not take the bus anymore, but the extra expense makes me a tad ill.  But we think it might be best for the kiddies.  My little girl is already 6 months old....man does time fly?  She is enjoying her solids and LOVES carrots.  She is such a sweet little thing, and honestly, such a good baby despite me being up this morning at 4AM - LOL!  But that is few and far in between.  She is totally worth the back to back coffees I needed today...and onto a third one!  Cheers!  :)

Here is my latest release!  This is totally a self portrait of myself - in fact I made plenty of these faces this morning at my little snuggly bear Serina!

FUNNY FACE - DIGITAL STAMP

Skin: Coral, Oatmeal, Blush, Baby Pink (cheeks)
Hair: Henna, Terracotta, Amber, Plum (shadows)
Dress: Plum, Mulberry, fuchsia Pink
Under Shirt (bra): Pine, Bright Green, Lime Green
Spellbinders die cut, Papers by me!

Baby Boy First Birthday - Digital Stamp

Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the lovely birthday wishes last week. It truly made my day!  My nephew also celebrated his birthday a day after me which brings me to my new release!  I have a super cute baby boy digital stamp to share with you all today. This one, I've been holding off showing as it was for my nephew's first birthday. I stayed up all night working on this cute digi! I also made the papers last minute too - shhh! So I was in a bit of a rush to create a card, but it turned out pretty good for a quickie...I use this term lightly as it still took hours. Ha! I had a fight with my new ATG gun. I ended up having to re-glue everything, because when you place those papers down, that's it! There is no wiggle room. Doh! Start again! I definitely need more practise, and I also must learn not to place it down on the wrong side. I placed it down on top of my case that contains a billion beads, and when I picked up my ATG gun it took the whole case too!  KA-BOOM! ...you guessed it! Beads EVERYWHERE! I swear you could make a reality show with my comedic crafting experiences! *Blush* I'm sure I'll be finding the odd bead for the next 10 years too!

Anywho, this stamp has 3 versions included in the file. One version has a blank bib which allows you to put anything you want, such as the baby's name as I've done in my handmade card (see below). Another version of this digi has a star on it for a generic card; perhaps for a birth announcement or baby shower card.  AND finally, the third one has "1st B-day!" written on it for that special little guy who is celebrating his first birthday.

Now,  here's my card I made for my Nephew Evan.  I'm not a complete dummy. I was smart enough to take a picture before giving it away - LOL! 

Everything was made by me except the buttons, bottle, metal heart, ribbon and twine; which came from my aunt Kim's stash she gave me!  Doesn't leave much from me does it? - HA!  Very plain and simple...but I really like simple.  I used my Spellbinders Die and trusty Promarkers!  This time I used Neenah Solar white cardstock to print and colour my digi on.  It took a bit to get used to, as my other digis as of late, were coloured on Letraset Bleed-proof marker paper.  Not sure which paper I like best yet. The letraset paper is thin but I glue it to cardstock & then cut it. Best paper when on a budget - YEAH!  The blending is really nice on it and the red markers don't bleed.  I will have to test the two papers using the same colours for a better comparison...when I find time!

Well I'm off!  The dentist drilled 2 holes in my face yesterday.  It's still sore, and I am just dying to rest.  Hehe!

Free Digital Stamps and A New Digi Release!!!

First of all I just want to say Happy Birthday to me!  =)  Yes, tomorrow I turn 35!  It's so strange for me to type that number in because when I was younger I always imagined myself up to the age of 25, or very elderly - LOL!  

I have some exciting news to share with you all today. Not only is it a release day for my new digi stamp called "Shoe Fetish" but I'm also kicking off a new Facebook game where you will have a chance to earn some Redonkulous Reward Points or win some FREE DIGITAL STAMPS! You might even have to get creative or expose your immature side...c'mon now, not everything comes for free! Of course there are always strings attached to winning free stamps. All you have to do is like my Facebook Fan page to see when the random Redonkulous Trivia will strike. That's right, completely random. No one will know when the trivia donkey will appear next! If you are the first to answer or do what is asked of you, you will have a shot at winning.  If you win something, you can grab the "GENI-ASS" Badge for your blog for bragging rights! If you win a digi, or reward points, you will have to create a Redonkulous Designs account at redonkulousdesigns.com in order to claim your prize! This will be an ongoing game...so don't be too sad if you miss a round of Redonkulous Triva...we'll always be lurking around to post a new question or task! Lets have fun, put on our thinking caps, or even be silly for a change!

Okay, enough clowning around already! Let's get back to business. Here is my newest digital stamp for that special someone in your life who has a thing for shoes!  I'm sure you know someone this card could go to! I have a few ladies in mind!  :)  Or better yet, if you are a shoe nut yourself, put this image on a card for hubby...he'll know that sexy vixen in the pic represents you!

Sexy Valentines Day Digital Stamp

Brace yourself ladies! I have a super sexy Valentines Digi stamp to share with you all today. This Digital Stamp is sure to make your hubby, boyfriend, dad, or coworker blush...or maybe even make their heart beat faster! I have called this one Sassy Sweet Tooth, and she can be found here at my store redonkadoodles.com
 

I'd like to end my post today by sending out my most heartfelt prayers and wishes to Kim from justwordz.ca. Her family is going through a very difficult time with their daughter who was most recently diagnosed with cervical cancer and fairly quickly scheduled for surgery. Our entire family was shocked to hear this sad news, and are standing on the sidelines rooting for our dearest cousin. When something like this happens so close to home, it only makes you realize how trivial the things we worry about in our everyday lives are. It is most scary to realize we are not immune to such things as cancer, and how quickly our lives can change at the drop of a hat. We are happy to learn that Kim's daughter has gone through her surgery and is now home resting! Let's all hope for the best here on out!

Pregnancy Glow - Digital Stamp

Well, it's been fairly quiet online at Redonkulous Designs...but I can assure you it has been pretty chaotic here at home! The norovirus (Norwalk virus) hit our household over the Christmas holidays - and let me tell ya, I wouldn't wish that onto my worse enemies... not that I have any! LOL!   Not only that, but a double whammy with another cold right after!  The most terrifying experience we had was rushing poor miss Serina to the hospital on New Years Eve.  I noticed Serina turning red before my eyes.  I called my poor husband (who was super ill) into the room, and quicker than I could blink he scooped up the baby and flew out the door to the ER.  Her whole body broke out into hives and her eyes began to swell.  Obviously an allergic reaction to something, and we still aren't sure what (nuts have been ruled out).  What a way to spend Christmas and ring in the new year eh?!?!
 
Things are almost back to normal now.  Kolby is still sick, poor little guy still hasn't got his appetite back yet.  I am ok, but, haven't got my voice back completely, throat is a little sore, and I'm still trying to shake off this cough - but I am happy to say that we are no longer bed ridden! Yay!!!  It is time to play catch up now!  So enough whining already, lets get back to business! =)

Here is my first new release of 2013 called Pregnancy Glow - digital stamp!  She was so much fun to colour!  Have a look!

For this image I used Promarkers of course! Hair: Walnut, Burgandy, Burnt Orange, Amber and Plum and or Amythist for the Darkest areas.
Skin: Coral, Almond, Blush, lilac (shadows)Baby pink for her cheeks, Antique pink, salmon, baby pink for her lips.  Eyes: Pine, Forest Green, Bright Green Shirt: Gold, Sunflower, Tulip Yellow, Buttercup  Skirt: Antique Pink, Salmon, and baby pink  Spellbinders Decorative Lables One, Cheery Lynn's Designs Mini Dementional Butterflies - Love these Butterfly Dies: A must have item!!!