Thanks May!!! YOU ROCK GIRL!!!!

Today we had May Flaum over at the garage. (Check out what she has to say about the event)She came over to teach a wonderful class using Fiskars, Heidi Grace, and Cloud 9 products.

MAY ROCKS!!!!

I'm going to New York and to Jackson, ca!!

I have a really busy few weeks!!!!

I'm headed to New York to teach at Creative Gatherings!! One of my most favorite stores ever!!! They are in a little town called Goshen. I'll be teaching Canvas Concepts classes. So excited!!! I will also be spending some time with Amy Goldstein. She is the owner of Pink Martini!! We plan on spending some time in New York city!! I can't wait!!!!

When I get back, I'll be home for ONE day and then I'm off to spend the weekend with a whole bunch of my gal pals at the Jackson Gotta Crop weekend. I'm teaching one class and then spending the rest of the time scrapping and hanging out with everyone!!!!

Hugs, Suzy West

Tanner--1 month

I can't believe Tanner is a month old. He actually turned a month while I was away at CHA. I took these pictures yesterday of him.
He is so stinkin' cute!!!!

We took him to his one month appointment and he now weighs 8lbs 2 oz.

He is 21 inches long

He's just growing and growing.

He smiles a ton!! Especially if you sing to him. We are in love with our little Tanner!!

Ranger Rocks!!!! NEW Dauber paints!!!!

These are the new Ranger Dauber Acrylic Paints!! I had the pleasure of being one of the designers that got to teach with these paints during CHA!! I absolutely fell in love with the product!!! Here's how they work.

They are so awesome! They come in 36 colors!!!

No more paper plates and paint brushes!!

You just push down until the paint comes out.

And paint paint paint away!!! Love it!!

Had a blast at CHA!!!!!

I don't even know where to start!!!! CHA was such a wonderful experience for me!! Michelle, Nichole, and I flew in on Tuesday night. That night was the craziest night EVER!!!!
We arrive in Chicago around midnight. We get out and it was hot and super humid!!! OMG!!! We thought we were going to melt. We call for the shuttle to get us. The lady says, "sure, he'll be right there!" Time starts flying and we are seeing less and less people until there is noone but us!LOL Michelle went to call and returns. They told her that "shuttle service had stopped for the night!" Ummmm they advertise free 24 hour shuttle service?LOL so I call and talk to the lady and she says the driver came by and saw noone and left. We can get a cab and they will pay for it!! OMG unless the shuttle became the invisible shuttle noone came for us. We saw nothing but each other!LOL
Okay so we finally get to the hotel and go to the room and can't believe it's so small!!! You could barely move in there!!It looked like the room for the munchkin people in the Wizard of Oz!LOL Even the beds were smaller than normal!!! Michelle and Nichole shared a bed and it was funny because they couldn't move at all!! Michelle who is just a tad taller than me had her feet hanging off the bed!LOL We started laughing!!!LOL by 3am we didn't know if we should just stay up or if we should try to sleep!!! So we called for a roll a-way bed. They brought it up and we almost pee'd our pants. You could see the springs from within the mattress!LOL
We finally fell asleep!! The next morning we go down stairs to eat breakfast and they tell us that they have stopped breakfast already...it was 10am? Okay. They also didn't do lunch and they had no food during the weekends!!! OMG!!!! I will never stay at the hotel again!!! I don't want to put the hotel's name on here. It rhymes with bourtlard!LOL We booked a room at the Doubletree as we left the Bourtyard hotel!!!LOL

Okay on to better news....I taught a class at one of the most amazing stores ever!!!! Windy City Scrapbooking!!! What can I say???? It's awesome!!! The girls there are terrific!!! Christine...YOU GO GIRL!!! Susan thanks for everything!! You are so great! Al girl!!!! You are the bomb!!!! Love ya love ya!! Thanks to everyone that took my class!!!! I had a blast with you all!!!! Here are some pictures from the class!!!

Group shot of my class!!! Hey there girls!!!!

This is part of their classroom!!!

Some of the gals at Windy City that created their all about me book.

Can't wait to see you all again!!!!

I didn't get a chance to get my camera out during cha. I'm so glad I got some with the following gals!!

Christine and I!!! Hey there girlie!! You are so awesome!!!

Samantha..what can I say...I love ya girl!!!!


Leah!!! You are by far one of the sweetest gals I have ever met!! Love ya!

A group shot of Christine, Samantha, and Shauntee!!! Hey girls!!

So those are all the photos!!! I didnt' get a chance to take a picture of the new book at Design Originals. They said it is doing great!! YEAH!!!!

I am so excited....We got another book deal!!!! It was an idea that popped into my head during our flight. I couldn't wait to find my publisher to pitch the idea. She loved it!!! We will start working on it asap!!!

Our Canvas Concepts booth was so fun!!! Thank you Nichole and Michelle for doing such a great job!!!! Donna, love ya girl!!!! It's always fun to hang out with you!!!! Thank you to everyone that stopped by our booth!!! It was a pleasure to see and/or meet you!!!!

Hugs, Suzy West

So Excited to be going to CHA!!!

This week we are leaving for CHA!! I am so excited!! The three of us have prepped the class I'm teaching for 110 people. I thought we would be done in 1 hour...ummmm not!! We started around 7pm and ended at MIDNIGHT!! Exhausting but atleast my class is totally prepped!!

We've gone shopping for clothes and shoes!! You would think I was going to be in a beauty pageant with the amount of stuff I've purchased. Ridiculous!!LOL

I'm prepping for my class at Windy City Scrapbooking. So fun!!! I'm teaching this class: All About Me Class I was so bummed because I sent my project weeks ago and it never made it to the store. Luckily we still got a great turn out! I'm creating another piece to take with me.

I'm thrilled about a lot of fun projects the girls have created!! We are using a ton of fun sizes. We are introducing some fun items!!

So everyone attending CHA will have to come check out our booth!!

In case you didn't know what we look like here are our mug shots(LOL). Please come say hello to us:

Suzy West (me)

Michelle Tornay

Nichole Pereira

Feeling pretty lucky to have friends like you

I gotta say that I am one of th luckiest gals around. I have been fortunate to have wonderful friends.
These two gals here are some of my closest friends. I absolutely love Laurie and Lizz. They are funny, sweet, and two of the most caring people I have ever met.
So this post is for you too!!! I love you Laurie! I love you Lizz!
Hugs
Suzy

Scrapbooks on the go!!!!

I'm so excited!!! Our newest book is in!! We just got our copies for Scrapbooks On The Go today.
Nichole, Krista, Michelle, and I worked so hard on this book. We are so thrilled to have these books in our hands!! It's our first non-canvas book. (Don't worry canvas lovers, we will have another one out soon!) We used a ton of different products but we would like to give a special thanks to Scenic Route, Sandy Lion, Canvas Concepts, and 3L for their donations!!! We loved playing with these products!!!
Hugs
Suzy West

Lizz...do you know this guy?

Lizz is such a sweetheart! I love to hang out with her. We talk about anything and everything. I'm excited to be photographing her wedding in December. These are some of her engagement shots that I took. I created a simple canvas piece to give to her.
Canvases by Canvas Concepts
Paper by Scenic Route
Canvases are hinged together.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!!!

My darling son turned 12 today!!! I can't believe he's growing up so fast!!!

We were looking at one of his scrapbooks earlier and we compared him now to when he was 7.
He likes all of the same things:
chocolate, the color green, cartoons, spagetti, and his parents. We are now adding: sea food, video games

When he was 7 he didn't like brocolli, homework, chores, and girls. What about now? He still doesn't like the same things. He still thinks girls are gross!!



Jeremy, we love you so much!!!! We are so proud of you and feel blessed to have you as our son!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hugs, mom and dad

G4-Girls Getting Giddy In The Garage

I've had several girls ask me in the past. What is G4 and how did you come up with that name?
We are G4.
Suzy West
Nichole Pereira
Michelle Tornay
Krista Fernandez

Krista and I atteneded are very first CHA show two years ago for Canvas Concepts. We got our very first book deal by Design Originals there. We were asked what our design team name was several times and we didn't have one so after the show that night we sat in the lobby and brain stormed. We laughed at all the different names we were coming up with. We kept coming back to certain words: girls, garage, giddy, etc. I can't even remember exactly how we put it together exactly but we came up with "Girls Getting Giddy In The Garage". We loved it. That night we called Donna Wilson, VP of Canvas Concepts and told her the name. She loved it. The next day we were talking about it. Someone came up to us and said, "hey g4!" We laughed because we had just been in the show for about an hour and people already knew the name.
So that's how we came up with G4: g to the 4th power. (shorter version of the name) LOL
You might ask, why GARAGE? My business is in the

July 4, 2006--A day to celebrate for so many reasons!

Today Sierra turned FIVE!!! She was so excited about today!! We celebrated her birthday party at her grandparents house. She looked so cute in her little outfit. She matched all the way down to her shoes. We had a great time today.
Here's another cute shot of Sierra today. She has the sweetest smile!
Here is a picture of Paul and I with Sierra!!! I love this shot! When Sierra saw this shot she said, "Mommy can I have a copy of this picture?" She's so adorable!
Here is our entire family. Every year we buy matching flag t-shirts. We've been doing this for about 6 years now.
Another reason to celebrate, TANNER!! He looked so cute today. He sported not one but TWO different outfits. Unfortunately, I only got him in this one. He looked so cute in both.
One of Sierra's request for her birthday was to have a jumpy house. The kids had a blast. Wait that's not a kid back there...That's auntie Myrna!! Silly Myrna! LOL
Here is Angel's first family picture. They are so cute together! Poor Christian had left at 1am to do a delivery in Bakersfield but hurried back so he could celebrate with his family! They are so cute!!

My new pair of shoes

The other day I went shopping with my mom and saw the perfect pair of shoes at Nine West!!! I knew I wanted them the second I saw them and didn't care how much they cost. I asked for my size and the lady said five words that almost put me to tears, "we don't have your size." I asked her if I could find them anywhere else and she said they were exclusive to Nine West. I went home and thought about the shoes all night long.
The next morning I was getting ready to go to my brother's house for lunch with the family and couldn't help it.I needed those shoes! I started calling around and found out that a store sorta close (just had to get directions, cross over a bridge, and change different freeways to get there. LOL)to me had a pair. I called my mom and off we went!!
I came home with my shoes!!! Love them!!!

A True Love Story

It was 6 summers ago. A boy named Chad had just moved across the street from my parents house. We came by to visit and he was moving some boxes in and saw Angel. I could tell he thought she was cute. They introduced themselves and instantly became friends. A few months later Christian came into the picture. Chad was excited to introduce "the girl across the street" from him. I was outside with my mom. The second Christian saw Angel both my mom and I knew he was totally smitten!!!
From that day on things changed. Christian was now hanging out with them and the two boys kept competing over who could charm her more. It started to become a problem. The boys would argue over who liked her more and who she liked more. So I spoke to them and told them that their friendship was more important than a crush on a girl. I told them that neither one of them could "go out with her" because I didn't want them to ruin their friendship. So for years they were friends. Christian and ANgel were especially close. They did a ton together. They truly were best friends. Even when one was "going out" with someone else they still hung out together.
Secretly Christian was in love with Angel but didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to ruin their friendship but a summer ago he told her he liked her and that he had always liked her and that he wanted them to start going out.
She thought it was kinda wierd. After their first date she said, "it was like going out with my brother!" Soon after she started seeing him like a guy verses a brother and they really became an item.
They have an amazing relationship. Their love for one another is so sweet. He truly cares about what she has to say. She is the same way. They trust each otheer completly and will do anything for one another. It really is TRUE LOVE.

Tanner-6 days old

Picture I took of Tanner when he got home from his dr. visit yesterday.
Tanner is such a sweetheart! Our entire family is in L-O-V-E!!!
Angel and christian are enjoying him so much!! It's hard at night because he doesn't sleep much. It was funny this morning Angel said, "mom I feel so much better today because he slept more!" Tanner woke up every TWO hours!LOL
The days before he wasn't sleeping at all. He would nurse, fall asleep, and then start crying when he was put in his crib. Waking up every two hours is crazy still but better than the days prior.

My wonderful Wednesday

Hey there gals!!! The day before Angel got induced we had a fabulous event in the garage. I had a contest for 10 lucky winners to come over for a meet and greet with the mechanics and our guest scrapping celebs!!
It was so much fun!!!!
A week or so prior I was emailing back and forth with Ali to see if she had time to make it over to the garage. I was thrilled that she could come over. She asked if Cathy Z. could come with her? Let me think about that.....UM YEAH!! I love both their work. I was thrilled when Karen McGary emailed me and said that she and Vicky Harvey wanted to come too!! We then heard that Carrie Owens wanted to come and so did Shannon Montez!! We were thrilled to have them all! Steph and Di came and I was thrilled since I hadn't see them for a while. They are the original owners of Mustard Moon. Vicky and Karen bought the company from them. We had a lot of gals from Two peas there and our amazing mechanics.
It was wonderful!!! I look forward to scrapping this event!
Hugs
Suzy West

I'm a grandma!!!

I'm so excited to present my beautiful, amazing, perfect grandson
Tanner Mason Kekoa Bartonico
He was born on Friday, June 23rd
@ 1:24pm.
He weighed 6lbs 10oz.
18.5 inches long
Picture taken 20 minutes after his birth.

Mommy was induced on Thursday. They started out by putting this gel inside to soften up her cervix and help her dialate. She started having contractions that kept coming back to back but she wasn't dialating. She had severe back labor. Around 6am Friday morning they started the pitocen hoping that would speed things along. Her contractions were getting even worse but still no progress with dialation. She was 2 centimeters.

They started her on pitocin at 6am and decided to give her an epidural because she was in so much pain. After the epidural she was a happy camper!! The dr. came in at 9am to check her. She was still at 2 centimeters. The dr. broke her water bag and said that by 10am she should be further along. By 10am she was at 4 centimeters. An hour later she was 9.5 centimeters.

Angel pushed for 2 hours and Tanner finally made his way out. Christian was so excited!! He followed the nurse everywhere she went with the baby.

Mommy and daddy are so happy!! They are both so in love with Tanner!

Scoop on Angel

Hi there gals! I would like to thank everyone for all their sweet emails and phone calls. Angel's had a really rough pregnancy. In and out of hospitals and is just ready to pop. We thought for sure she was going to give birth on Friday. They admitted her and did a whole bunch of tests. They let her go home on Saturday. They said she was fine.
The dr. has her doing a 24 urine test to see if she really has protein in her urine. If she does and if her blood pressure hasn't gone down then they are going to induce her.
Hugs
Suzy

Who wants to meet Ali Edwards AND Cathy Z.????

Hi there gals! Wanted to let you know that Paul randomly picked the names out of the hat. Winners were notified by email. If someone can not make it. We'll pick another person. Thanks guys!!! Sorry the garage wasn't big enough for everyone.


Hey there gals!!! I'm really excited!!! Ali Edwards will be making a visit to the garage on Wednesday night!!!! She'll be here sometime in the evening. We unfortunately, can not accomodate everyone at the garage at the same time (no room) so here is what we are going to do. The first 30 people to post a reply will be entered into a random drawing to be one of the 10 people for the Ali Edwards meet and greet. If you are chosen we will email you with more details!!!
Good luck!!!
Hugs
Suzy West

****UPDATE********* Cathy Z. will be coming as well!!!!

****MORE UPDATES****Vicky Harvy and Kim Mcgrary (new owners of Mustard Moon) and hall of fame winners will be joining us as well!!!!

VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE--PLEASE include your name. I have no idea who annonymous is. LOL

Last day of school traditions!!!!

the kids at Patterson have been doing a shaving cream fight on the last day of school for as long as I can remember. It's mostly the 4th graders and older. Angel did it when she was there and now years later Jeremy having his very last fight!


I was proud to hand over not 1, not 2, but 4 cans of shaving cream!!!



Since it was his very last fight, I wanted him to be prepared to go into battle so I bought him a pair of goggles!!!!



He got "creamed" pretty good!!!



By the time he was done, he had won the battle and handed a younger kid his googles and a bottle of shaving cream!

CONGRATULATIONS Christian!!! Grad 2006

Congratulations Christian!!!! Senior Graduate 2006!!!




Fun picture of Christian and his best friend Tony!!



The guys with their girlfriends!!!! We wish you the best in your next adventure!!!