Pigs and Paper- A Midwestern Story

Christmas Blizzard- Blizzard #2

2010-01-13T10:26:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the Christmas Blizzard, our second major snowstorm of the season. We had 21 inches of snow, and high winds, resulting in some huge drifts. We weathered the storm at my in-laws house, and we were stuck from Thursday morning to Saturday morning. The roads were impassible--even coming home was a little hairy on the highway. We got to the gravel road north of our house at about 1:00 Saturday afternoon only to find that it hadn't been plowed. We did go around (howie, our neighbor, had scooped a path from the other mile to our driveways), but we almost got stuck. We parked the van in front of the driveway and Myron walked up the driveway, scooped the drift with his hands in front of the shop doors to get the tractor out, and began scooping.

Here are his footprints--the first sign of life in our driveway! That's a lot of snow!

Here comes the tractor---he's pushing quite a pile!

Scooped! The banks got higher and higher every pass he made.

Here's a shot up by the house. Once I could get in the driveway, I promptly got stuck, so Myron had to push me out with the tractor. I got up to the yard, and then had to wait so he could clear the drifts and snow in front of the house.

We had another blizzard last week, which accumulated in about 8 inches of snow and pretty high winds the next day. I was stuck for 2 days then as well. Howie scooped me out a couple times, but with the snow and wind and temps (w/o the wind) of -20, it was pretty debilitating for our area. No pictures though---we're expecting another storm next week though, which is supposed to dump another 20 inches on us, so be prepared!!

Blizzard #1

2010-01-13T10:18:00.000-06:00

Finally, here are some pictures of the blizzard at the beginning of December (our first major snow storm). My husband was gone trucking, and I was stuck in the house for 2 days.

This is out our front door (facing south) the night it started snowing. It had been snowing all day, and then the wind picked up. It literally HOWLED through the house. We didn't have plastic on yet. Yeah, oops.

This is out our front door the next morning. The drift was literally 4 feet high, right in front of our door.

This is in my bedroom (on the north west side of the house). Obviously, there is a little gap somewhere, because the snow is piled between the glass and the BLIND. Inside the house. It was 52 degrees in our bedroom that morning.

This is right outside our front door. The shovel was set against the swing, and you can see how big the drift is. I literally had to DIG the shovel out to try to scoop the walk (I didn't suceed with the walk).

Soon to come--Blizzard #2.

Christmas Signs

2010-01-13T09:55:00.003-06:00

Good morning. I have a couple blog posts of different stuff today (hopefully, if my kids can play nice for more than 2 seconds at a time!). First off, here's some cool stuff I made for Christmas gifts.

This is for my brother and his wife. I thought it turned out really cool- I cut the barbed wire with my cricut. I also found the font online (I think dafont.com)
This was for my niece Hannah...it's super super sparkly! After some experimenting, I used a two way glue pen to put glue on the butterflies (cut on my cricut), and then sprinkled loose glitter on. It's awesome---so girly!
This was for my nephew--again, the font was online, the barbed wire was cut with the cricut, and I finally used this denim paper. It's a hard paper to use--it doesn't just go with anything! I like how this turned out, as well.

This was for my youngest sister's boyfriend. He's really into hunting, and he got the pheasant for me so I could have some feathers. I love how this turned out, and so does he. Crystal said he hung it up right away!

Look for some more stuff after a bit!

Mojo116- Welcome, Baby

2009-12-09T23:07:00.000-06:00

Good evening from snowy Iowa! We are just coming out of one heck of a blizzard. We were pretty much snowed in for two days, so I have gotten ALOT done! I finished an order of 15 cards (started on Monday) because we couldn't go anywhere! This is one of the last ones, and it also follows the sketch for this week's Mojo Monday (#116).

There is absolutely no stamping on this card, it's all paper from the same stack. It's called Nana's Nursery Baby Boy Matstack. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. It's glittery, it can be boy or girl, it's darling!
I drew some faux stitching around each of the circles for interest, and then cut the giraffe out by hand and popped him up on dimensionals. The "welcome, baby" is my own handwriting. Thanks for stopping! We actually get to leave the house tomorrow, so things will start picking up again!

**supplies**
Paper: Nana's Nursery Baby Boy matstack (from Hobby Lobby), unknown dark blue
Other: ribbon, blue pen, dimensionals
***********

Kayla

My first crocheted blanket!

2009-12-04T07:53:00.000-06:00

Hey, everyone! Just popping in quick this morning to show you the blanket that I finally got done! My friend Becky asked me to crochet around some fabric for her daughter's (1) "comforter" for her crib bed. I chose to use some dark brown thread. I kind of made up the pattern because I didn't know what I was doing, and close up, it looks a lot more like scallops than in this picture, but you get the idea!
Pattern:
Rnd 1: Foundation stitch
Rnd 2: Dc in every sc
Rnd 3 (scallop): (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in first sp, sk 4 dc, * (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in next sp, sk 4 dc*, repeat from * around.
**in corners: ch 1, 4-5 dc, ch 3, 4-5 dc, sk 4 dc, resume Rnd 3

Happy Friday!

Verve Release Party Challenge

2009-11-30T08:59:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday! Here's a card I made yesterday for Verve's November release party challenge. The challenge was to use their sketch, and make it a thankful card. I embossed the snowflakes on the background with sparkly ep, and added stickles everywhere (kind of hard to see--hopefully getting a new camera for Christmas, right mom?! :) ) I cut out the snowflake and popped it out on dimensionals (the big snowflake is on dimensionals, too). Thanks for looking!

Kayla

**supplies**
Paper: dark blue, SU! bashful blue, SU! Lavender Lace
Ink: versamark
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes
Other: sparkly ep, stickles, dark blue cm pen, pastels
***********

Cards and Kids

2009-11-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

Good evening, everyone! I've come with some cards that I made today, and also a few pictures...
First, the cards. These are going to my mom--the first one is for my grandma's birthday.

I love how this turned out. It's for Viva La Verve, November Week 1. The twist was to use a 1,2, 3 challenge (1 embellishment, 2 colors, 3 stamps). I think I hit the mark. I embossed the flowers and the flower spray...it's really pretty IRL (as always! :) )
**Supplies**
Paper: Unknown dark pink, light pink, red
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: positively pink, versamark
Other: pearls, clear ep, scallop circles from cricut, sponges
*****

This one is for an anniversary that's coming up (I won't say who in case they read it!). Its also for Viva La Verve, November Week 2. The twist this week was to use the cracked glass technique (really fun, you can find it on SCS). The flowers are done with this technique...it takes time, but it turns out really neat. I just hope they don't think I wish them a broken marriage! :) LOL I forgot I had this paper; it was hidden on a bottom rack on my paper holder. It's SU!...I don't even remember the name. Parisian Breeze? ha
**Supplies**
Paper: Parisian Breeze
Stamps: Happy Harmony
Ink: Positively Pink
Other: pearls, clear ep for cracked glass

And now for some fun family pictures...

Here's Micah! He's walking EVERYWHERE now---all over the house practically!

Michelle got these fun glasses from a friend of mine because she went potty at Becky's house. This was taken right after she took a bath...I thought it turned out darling.

Have a nice night!

Kayla

Potty Training

2009-11-17T13:04:00.003-06:00

This is going to be a mostly family post, no cards today. Although, I have about five million cards to show you...but, as I am taking care of five children today AND I am preparing for a stamp a stack party at my house tonight, I don't have any time.

Michelle is doing so well learning to go potty! We started last Thursday (I just set my mind to it because I believed she was ready, just lazy). She went in her panties about 7 times, each time more agitating than the last. She did pee in the potty a few times that day. On Friday, she went in her panties only twice, and on Saturday, Sunday, and yesterday, she didn't pee in her panties at all; she only pooped (we're still working on that...where to start?!). Now, today, she has gone potty immediately after I put her on (we've had to read books and "relax" so she could go...we could easily sit there for five minutes before she did anything)...big improvement! She's been wearing a panty all day, and hasn't wet through! Plus, she is willingly going when I ask. Now, to get her to tell me! I'm sure that will come, though.

I was just so excited that she is actually being potty trained that I had to post! I've waited and waited for this...plus she is getting harder to change (saying she doesn't like to be wiped because it hurts), so I knew it was time.

Keep up the good work, Michelle!

Welcome Back!

2009-11-04T09:44:00.001-06:00

Hey, everyone. Sorry it's been so long...I had a long, long, messy October! But, I'm busy getting ready for the Alcester craft fair on Saturday...here's some stuff I've done...

Love, love, love this quote and how this sign turned out! Very basic--black paint, red flourish, white letters. Simple, yet powerful.

Love this, too. Perfect for a child's room. Again, yellow paint (over underlaiment), with white and black letters and stars.

A little more complicated--this one took awhile!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the outer blue layer and the outer matting of each snowflake is cut with a glittery blue paper. It's gorgeous in real life! Gotta go--kids are crying!

Kayla

Long Time No See

2009-09-30T21:41:00.006-05:00

Hey. Sorry it's been forever. We've had a busy few weeks!

The craft fair was a few weeks ago, but I didn't do so well. Sold a few things, but nothing really awesome. Somewhat depressing, but trying to keep my chin up. Going to try again at the Alcester fair in November and the Beresford fair in December. No sense dwelling, though...

The week of the craft fair Micah was very, very sick. I took him to the dr. after he ran a 102/103 fever for a couple days, and he was diagnosed (but not tested for) with strep. He continued to run a high fever, hitting 105 several times during the next three days. When I left him on Saturday morning for the craft fair, his temp was 104.6 and climbing. I felt so guilty. It was so scary to watch his temp just keep climbing while he was always dosed with Tylenol and Motrin continuously. I called the ER once in the middle of the night when it was 105 and once in the evening when it was 104.6. They said there was nothing much they could do for him, just give him a cool bath and make sure he drinks. He never got dehydrated, which was a blessing. My husband was gone that entire week, and I was so scared by myself. On the night I called the ER, I told myself if his temp gets to 106, I was just going in, whether they said to or not. And on Saturday, I told my sister-in-law to call me by noon if his temp was still above 103, and I would come back and go to the ER. At that point (Sat. morning), he had been on medicine for 2 1/2 days. He didn't sleep during the day, he certainly didn't sleep at night---the only person not exhausted was Michelle. Thankfully, his fever broke about 10 am on Saturday, and he slept for about 4 hours. My sister-in-law (a practicing nurse) spoke with a dr. at her hospital, and they both agreed that he probably had the H1N1 flu....we stayed home from church with him the next day. Thankfully, no one else in the family got it. That was so scary.

Here's a card for you...I'm slowly getting some inspiration and motivation back. My sister-in-law (on my side) ordered some cards, and this is the first one. It's a wedding card.

I love how this turned out. It's even better in real life. I used the sketch from Viva la Verve September Week 5. The twist this week was to use specialty paper. I found this loves me/loves me not vellum in my stash, and ran with it. I love how it looks silvery gray in front of the purple. Alot of stamping and cutting involved here, but it was kind of fun and very enjoyable!

Alright, I have to go get started on a blanket I'm crocheting an edge for. Bye!

***Ingredients***

Stamps: SU! Wild Rose, Verve Beautiful You

Paper: PTI Plum Pudding, SU! Certainly Celery, metallic silver, loves me by over the moon press

Ink: Lovely Lilac and Certainly Celery (SU!)

Other: rhinestone brads, sponges

Bookmarks and Card Sets

2009-09-14T09:07:00.002-05:00

Well, surprise. Five minutes later I have another post! Here are a few things I made last week that I'm super excited about!

I remembered that I had a whole package of these jumbo bookmarks. I decorated them (they are the same on both sides), and adhered them to the clip with hot glue. They aren't ever going anywhere!

I found the animal set (SU! Zoofari) off a rummage in Hull for $4.00. What a steal! I thought they turned out so cute! The other animal didn't really fit in the circle, so I just used some patterened paper. I'm going to sell these for $.50 each.
***ingredients***
Paper: BG Lollipop Shoppe
Stamps: Zoofari
Ink: varied, all SU!
Other: jumbo clips, scallop circle punch, circle punch, colored pencils, hot glue
****************

Here's another little card set I created. These are thank yous for teachers to give out. They are 3x3 cards, and I made six identical ones. The apple pattern does vary, though.
I found the card box in the Resources section of SCS- super simple to make! I used my last sheet :( of PTI Pure Poppy and decorated it almost the same as the cards. I think it is just darling! It's hard to tell, but I made the handle a little more decorative by using my CM wavy trimmer and attached it with brads on each side. I also cut a notch in the top of the bo with my circle punch to allow the cards to peek through. I cut the envelopes by hand; I found that template on SCS as well a long time ago.
This is also my entry for last week's Viva La Verve. The twist was to go tiny!
***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Pure Poppy, white, unknown green, wal-mart dsp
Stamps: PTI Teacher's Apple, unknown "thank you"
Ink: real red, certainly celery
Other: top note die shape from cricut, scallop from corner rounder, 3x3 card box from SCS, 3x3 envelope from SCS
****************

Thanks for stopping (again!). Have a great Monday!

Some gifts...

2009-09-14T08:42:00.002-05:00

Good morning! I made a few things over the weekend to share with you. The first are some blocks for my niece and nephew's birthday. They turned 5 (boy), and 3 (girl). Happy birthday, kids!!

I used a girly, butterfly theme for Hannah's. She loves butterflies, and I thought "Sweet Dreams" was appropriate!

***ingredients***
Paper:SEI Chocolat
Stamps: n/a
Ink:n/a
Other:cricut; free font (pavane),

mod podge, wood blocks

****************

I used some western paper and embellishments for Cole's. He's a true cowboy (in the making!). I got these blocks from my husband after they finished building something; he sawed them down for me and I sanded them. Cheap!

***ingredients***
Paper:Carolee Adornit!
Stamps:n/a
Ink:n/a
Other:cricut, free font (Boyzrgross),

start sticker embellishments, mod podge

****************

Can you guess who this is for? I thought it would be cute to have a mailman appreciation gift for the upcoming holiday season. My dad is a letter carrier, and his job is HARD! During the hot summer months and the freezing cold winter months, and the rainy spring months, I'm not sure I would look forward to being outside in the elements all day long! He works hard to get mail to all the postal patrons, and I know I appreciate his job. Where else can you mail a letter to anywhere in the world and have it arrive safe and sound in (most of the time) under a week? They deserve more credit than we give them.

So, in light of that, I created this gift. It would be perfect to put in the mailbox during Christmastime to say "thanks" to your mail carrier.

My mom bought these stamps off a rummage for me in Sioux Falls (it's a set of three; the other stamp is a post office). I cut the top notes from my cricut, and colored the pictures with colored pencils. I used a total of 8 dimensionals to adhere the top note to the blue paper.

***ingredients***
Paper: Cloud 9 Designs; Pure Poppy (PTI), white
Stamps: Simply Stamped mail set, PTI Teacher's Apple (sentiment)
Ink: Basic Black
Other: cricut, free top note die shape from internet,

1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circle punches, dimensionals, red marker, colored pencils

****************

Well, thanks for stopping! I do really have lots to post, but the craft fair in Akron is on Saturday, and I'm not sure I'm going to have any free time this week to blog. I'll try to chip away at it, though. I have some cute stuff to share!

Our Little Family

2009-09-12T23:47:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share our family picture that we just had taken for our church directory. It turned out really well, and it gives you a chance to see the people I talk about all the time. Have a great night!

Kayla

A Sad Sunday

2009-09-07T17:35:00.002-05:00

The kids are keeping busy, so I wanted to use a few minutes to share some sad news.
Yesterday, our (almost) brand new puppy, Tajar, got hit. He was chasing the van, and we hit him in our own driveway. He died shortly after that.

I was pretty sad yesterday...the first dog we had that I really, really loved and he's dead after only a month. I'm beginning to wonder if we are supposed to actually have a dog. This was our third- the first two ran away. Tajar was just such a good dog; he had so much potential. I really thought he was going to be the dog that stayed with us....well, forever. Hopefully, this means something is going to happen soon that will make us unable to have a dog.

Michelle is struggling to understand what "death" means. She's not really sad, but she is a little confused as to where Tajar is. She watched us bury him this morning (I told Myron I didn't think I could handle it if he fed him to the sheep :) ), and now tells people (when they ask about Taj) that "Tajar's dead," "sleeping very tight," or "Daddy covered him up." See what I mean about a little confused. When we were going home, she said, "Tajar's going to chase," and she just wanted to go outside and play with him a little while. Bums me out.

Just a dark spot in our week, I guess. It's lonely around here now without him.

Kayla

MOJO Monday 103

2009-09-07T16:03:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday, and Happy Labor Day (for those of you lucky enough to get the day off!). My husband is gone golfing, and I am home waiting for the kids to wake up (okay, I'm cherishing every second they are asleep!).

My task for today was complete this week's Mojo Monday challenge because it's a contest week! They choose 7 winners, and those winners get to choose a Verve set of their choice!

Hard sketch this week: go to http://mojomonday.blogspot.com to see the sketch. I wanted to make a few accordian books for the craft fair, so I wanted to incorporate that into my sketch. This is what I came up with:

Beautiful, no? I LOVE LOVE LOVE this SEI paper. So gorgeous. This panel is 6 1/4 x 6 1/4 (the book base is 6 1/2 square). I like how this turned out. I was going to make a baby girl book (hence, the pink), but I just left it up to the buyer's imagination!

The butterfly is stamped first onto the white c/s in pixie pink, and then also stamped onto some patterened paper from the collection and cut out. I added a few tiny, tiny pearls to the antenae.

Here's a view of the inside-front. I used lots of different paper from the SEI Chocolat collection and just varied where I put them. I was going to cover every single square, but then I decided that was overkill.

Here's the inside- back. Again, different paper. The two papers on the full squares are my favorite papers from this collection- glittery pinks and browns...yum!

Thanks for stopping. I hopefully will be able to post what I've been up to in the next few days!

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat, white c/s
Stamps: Verve- Fluttering by, Beautiful You
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Pixie Pink
Other: pearls, heavy heavy cardboard from who knows where, mod podge

****************

Teacher Candy Jar

2009-09-01T08:22:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday! The kids are still sleeping, and I've got my flu-sick husband off for the day. He woke up puking, but his parents are gone on vacation, so he must go help do chores with his brother. Plus, he has to go pick up 16 new calves this morning--he'll be busy. Poor guy. I told him to rest, rest, rest today! I also sent him off with a mug full of warm coke (it helps!) and $4 for a bottle of Pepto. Hopefully he'll survive.

I finished a project I've been wanting to do for awhile. I went rummaging a few weekends ago in a town close to where we live. I found four clean, empty Yankee Candle jars in a Free box at the last rummage I stopped it. What a treasure! I thought, "Surely I can make these into something!"

I created a Teacher Candy Jar with the first one (and probably the other two big ones).

Here it is from the front. I made an apple svg file in Inkscape for my cricut, and then used the Blackout feature to get rid of the lines before cutting it in red. To cut the mat, I just used the Shadow Blackout feature and cut it in green. I "stitched" around both layers with a white gel pen. I added a button with some ribbon (a last minute adjustment), and stamped the sentiment from PTI's Teacher's Apple. I embossed the TEACHERS in black ep. I used pop dots to adhere it to the jar.

Too close! Oh well, you get the idea. This was mainly to cover up the ugly sticker on the bottom...just some stamping and sponging. The circle was cut with the George cartridge (it's 2 1/2").

And some yummy treats to go inside! If you know who my daughter is, it won't surprise you to know that we have a whole 5 lb. bag of peppermints in our house, so the candy didn't cost me a dime!

I'll post the rest of the jars once I get them made. Thanks for stopping!

***ingredients***
Paper: red, Old Olive
Stamps: PTI Teacher's Apple
Ink: versamark, basic black, real red
Other: black ep, heating gun, cricut, inkscape, George cart, free apple clipart, white gel pen, button from stash, ribbon, pop dots, sponges, empty Yankee Candle jar

****************

Choo Choo!

2009-08-31T08:18:00.003-05:00

Good morning! I stole a few minutes this morning to finish a card I started on Saturday morning. I spent the day yesterday sick with the flu (Michelle was sick the night before), so I didn't even feel like making cards! But, everyone is feeling much better today (in fact, the kids have now been sleeping for 12 hours), and I'm on the papercrafting scene once again!

One of my friends from high school that I have reconnected with through Facebook is having her fourth baby this week via cesarean. I wanted to make her a gift (more coming later once I know the baby's name), and knowing that she's having a boy made it easy to make a card!

I used the recent sketch from the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge (it's #16), which you can find here on Priscilla's blog. I saw someone's entry on SCS, and loved the sketch.

I turned it on its side to better fit my card theme. I struggled with the flourishes in the corners, so instead, I omitted them and stuck a few trains at the bottom.

It's really hard to tell (I don't know if my Versamark is drying up or what), but I used the print pattern background stamp on the blue layer, and used crosshatch on the yellow and red layers. All very hard to tell. Thanks for stopping, and Happy Monday!

***ingredients***
Paper: CM paper stack-blue, yellow, red, generic white, generic black
Stamps: Gina K-Wee Tees, SU! Crosshatch, SU! Print pattern
Ink: real red, only orange, brilliant blue, versamark
Other: ribbon (offray), sponges, colored pencils

****************

Card for Grama Ann

2009-08-29T08:29:00.002-05:00

Good evening! Just a quick card I made last night.

My great-grandma ("Grama") was in the hospital recently and we weren't sure how things were going to turn out. She's doing better now, but I am unable to go see her (she's in TN). So, I thought I would send her some paper flowers instead!

This sketch is for Viva La Verve September Week One. The twist was little round things. I used three pearls in the top left hand corner. I love my patterned paper and the waves---it was done with my long forgotten creative memories wavy trimmer. I embossed the sentiment with white ep. I never really was a fan of this set (Floral Whimsy), but it's really growing on my after this card! Thanks for stopping!

***ingredients***
Paper: SU! Bella Rose, PTI Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Verve- Floral Whimsy
Ink: versamark, certainly celery, real red
Other: white ep, sponges, cm wavy trimmer, ribbon (offray)
****************

Husband Emergency Card Stash

2009-08-28T17:48:00.002-05:00

Hello! I finished my project!! Check it out:

This is the box that will hold the emergency card stash (obviously). I used the tutorial for an A2 Card Box from Splitcoaststampers (under "Resources"). I first used a pizza box tutorial that I found online, but once I got it all made and decorated, it didn't hold all the cards! Doh! So, I cut the decorated top off, whipped up an A2 card box, and stuck the top along with some scallops onto the top of the new card box. Clear as mud, huh?
Here is the list of what will be in the card stash. You can find most of them on my blog in the past few days.
1. One birthday card- for wife
2. One Valentine's Day card- for wife
3. One Anniversary card- for wife
4 and 5. TWO Just Because card- for wife
6. One "It's okay"/Sympathy/Empathy card- for wife
7 and 8. TWO Mother's Day cards- for wife and mother/mother-in-law

There is a total of eight cards in the box. The challenge with the box (other than the dimensions) was to make it masculine. I love how the words turned out (they are from SCAL and my cricut), and the background pattern from Technique Tuesday is one of my favorite stamp sets! Thanks for looking- hope to post something more tonight!

Kayla

***Ingredients***
Paper: SU! Bashful Blue, basic black, white
Stamps: Technique Tuesday "Irony"
Ink: versamark
Other: ribbon (offray), cricut, scal, free font: cooper black and comic sans, corner rounder for scallops
*****************

Husband Emergency Cards

2009-08-27T15:09:00.002-05:00

Hello! I've finished all the cards for my husband emergency card stash...I'll get the packaging made soon and put it all on here.
But, in the mean time, here's the last two with details:

This card is the Valentine's Day card. I used the sketch from SCS's sketch challenge 243. It was a little intimidating at first, but once I chose the bella rose paper, it was easy!

***ingredients***
Paper: Bella Rose DSP, PTI Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Wild Rose DD
Ink: positively pink, green galore, ranger distress walnut stain
Other: sponges, corner rounder for scallops

****************

This is the last of them; it's another Just Because card. I used a sketch from Markie's Mom's blog (see card here)--I saw it this morning and love it!! I also used the color combo challenge from Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite blog. I've never played this challenge before, but it was fun! You can see the colors here: Color Challenge
I used Spring Moss and Razzberry Fizz (instead of Hibiscus burst) from PTI, SU!'s Flowers for You DSP instead of Melon Berry, and a generic cream. I love these colors together!!
With the sketch and the colors, it was relatively easy to put together! Thanks for stopping!

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Spring Moss, Razzberry Fizz; SU! Flowers for You, unknown cream
Stamps: Happy Harmony, Verve- Flutterby
Ink: positively pink
Other: pastels, ribbon, fiskars heart punch, dimensionals

****************

Viva La Cards!!!

2009-08-25T20:56:00.001-05:00

Made quite a few cards this weekend. I decided to make a Husband Emergency Card Stash card set for the craft fair. Basically, it has all kinds of cards for the man of the house to give to his wife and mother and mother in law for various occasions. I'm not going to post them all here, but when it's complete, I'll give you the full list. I'm about 3/4 of the way done, so expect it soon!

Mojo Monday sketch. This is an anniversary card. The quote says, "If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus one day so I NEVER have to live without you. -Winnie the Pooh". So cute!

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat
Stamps: Verve- Beautiful You
Ink: positively pink
Other: ribbon, dimensionals

****************

Another husband card. This is for his mother or mother in law for mother's day. Got the top note die from a site online (can't remember, though--I'll hunt).

***ingredients***
Paper: unknown brown, taken with teal, PTI Razzberry Fizz, Lemon Tart
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink:versamark, tempting turquoise
Other: white gel pen, top note die from internet, corner rounder for scallops, gold ep

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The other mother's day card for husband stash. Love this top note die shape!! I used the negative image from the previous card and just matted some PTI Razzberry Fizz Remix paper inside.

***ingredients***
Paper: unknown brown, taken with teal, PTI Razzberry

fizz remix, lemon tart
Stamps: verve- because of you
Ink: versamark
Other: pastels, top note die, ribbon

****************

Viva La Verve August Week 4: twist was to use favorite color combo. I love black and pink and teal. They look so bold!! It's hard to tell in the picture, but I stamped the dots from Delight in Life and emobssed them with clear ep.

***ingredients***
Paper: Basic Black, taken with teal, razzberry fizz remix
Stamps: delight in life, both ways blossoms
Ink: versamark
Other: clear ep, ribbon, pastels, dimensionals

****************

Thanks for stopping! Good night!

Welcome Signs #3 and #4

2009-08-25T20:52:00.001-05:00

Good evening. Two posts today--I've been crafting, but too busy to blog. My sister in law and I just put up another 94 quarts of sweet corn today (we did 74 last week), so I have hardly been home!

I finished my signs for the craft fair. I LOVE how they turned out. I can't wait to get more.

Another welcome sign. The "welcome" was a bear to cut on my cricut. I think my mat is old, my blade is shot, and I'm a dummy. LOL I had some trouble! Again, got the flourish free from a My Cricut Scrapbooking online. I think this turned out very tastefully!

I chose to make the last one a thanksgiving/fall sign. I love the font that Thanks is written in (Liorah BT), and it cuts beautifully! I stamped the pumpkins on Only Orange, stamped the leaves on Green Galore, and then cut them all out. I used a gel pen to create the white "stitching". I also "stitched" around almost all the other pieces--I think it gives it such a homespun feel.

Thanks for stopping!! Have a great night!

Welcome sign

***ingredients***
Paper: SU! flowers for you, unknown cream, unknown brown,

unknown green, PTI Spring Moss, SEI Chocolat
Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Other: cricut, scal, free font: Liorah BT, arial; flourish free from

My Cricut Scrapbooking, sign from dollar store

****************

Give Thanks sign

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Summer Sunrise, SU! real red, dsp from flowers for you,

unknown brown, only orange, green galore
Stamps: Autumn Harvest
Ink: Only orange, green galore
Other: cricut, scal, free font: liorah bt, arial, white gel pen, s

ign from dollar store

****************

Viva la Fairies!!

2009-08-20T22:24:00.001-05:00

Hello and good evening! Another quick post for today...
I finally got up to making this week's Viva La Verve sketch with a twist (check out the new badge on my sidebar!!). This week's twist was to use a tag. I'll admit, I was very, very intimidated! That's why it's Thursday and I just now am getting it done!

I wanted to use Dreams and Dragons again, and I love this luscious paper by SEI (Chocolat). It's delish. A few notes:

1. It's hard to tell, but the brad is covered in glitter (I used a glue dot and stuck it in loose pink glitter--very fun).

2. The background strip is a shimmer sticker from the SEI pack, as is the tag (not a sticker, though).

3. The clouds are embossed in Seafoam White ep and covered in stickles.

Thanks for stopping!!

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat
Stamps: Dreams and Dragons
Ink: Positively Pink, Gable Green, Ranger Distress Walnut Stain
Other: stickles, brad, loose glitter, glue dots, white ep

****************

God Bless This Home-Sign #2

2009-08-20T15:12:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon! Here's another project I completed this afternoon (and the kids are still snoozing!!). It's another home decor sign. The more I do these, the more I wish I would have bought every one Loopy's had. But, I'm confident they will go on sale again after the fall season. Who knows- maybe they will be 90% off instead of 75% (hey, a girl can dream!!)!

I really, really like how this turned out, but it was a pain in the tush to get it right. Here's the story:
After I cut the paper, I had second thoughts about the color scheme. I consulted my mom, who assured me that it would be fine. Let's hope so.
Then, I couldn't get the words to cut right. I was using a different font, and I tried to cut it like 6 times. I adjusted everything I could think of, and it still didn't work. I put it away and came back to it later. I was going to just make the "bless" in this font and then have the other words in a normal serif font, but then I realized how beautiful this font was--it was exactly what I was looking for!!
The trouble didn't stop there. Once I finally got the words cut, I didn't think they were going to fit on the sign. But, I rearranged and rearranged some more, and I think it worked out nice. I actually like the G dipping into the rose.
So, what should have taken me about 1/2 an hour took me 1/2 a day!! But, it's done, and I love it!
Thanks for stopping!!

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fizz Remix and Lemon Tart, SU! Pretty in Pink
Stamps: Wild Rose
Ink: Positively Pink, Real Red, Gable Green, Glorious Green
Other: clear ep, versamark pen, scor-tape, sign from Loopy's Dollar, cricut, font: Liorah BT

****************

Welcome Sign #1

2009-08-19T23:11:00.001-05:00

Another quick entry (trying to keep up as I make things). I whipped this up this afternoon. I'm involved in a ladies church group, and we have a Harvest Sale every October to raise money for our school. I made this as a contribution for the Harvest Sale. I'm planning on making some more to sell. I love how this turned out!
I got the actual signs at Loopy's Dollar in my hometown. They were having crazy days, and it was 75% off...so it was 75 cents!! What a steal. It originally came with a metal piece attached that said "welcome" or "welcome friends" or something like that. I bought four of them, and ripped the metal piece off.
I was left with a blank slate! I mod podged some paper on, cut letters and the flourish with my cricut and scal, slapped them on, and I was done! Super easy, but looks really cool. I'm in the process of another one. Would have got it done this afternoon but the baby woke up. Tomorrow, maybe!

Thanks for stopping! Have a great night!

Kayla

***ingredients***
Paper: SU! Flowers for You (I think?), unknown green, unknown brown, unknown cream, PTI Spring Moss (letters), SEI Chocolat Noisse (flourish)
Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Other: sign from Loopy's, mod podge, cricut, free font: pavane, flourish from My Cricut Scrapbooking
****************

French Braid

2009-08-19T14:46:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post today...Michelle wanted me to braid her hair last night before bed. I'm only a novice french braider, but I braid my hair every other day about, so I'm getting better. This is the second time I have braided her hair. Her hair was pretty dirty (she hasn't had a bath for a few days!...took care of that this morning!), so the braid held better. She was so excited. It looked horrid this morning when she woke up, though.

Have a happy day!

Kayla

Micah's Rug

2009-08-18T22:56:00.002-05:00

Well, it's finally done. I set my mind to it, and I did it!!!

The story: When we lived in our house in Alvord last year, the nursery was painted this beautiful green and white. The bedding that I chose for the new baby (Micah) was ducks and frogs (green, yellow, and white). It was darling. The floor was hard wood laminate (lighter color), and the room itself was very small. It was only big enough for the crib, dresser, and rocking chair. The perfect nursery. {sigh} I loved it so much that I took the can of green paint from the basement (hey, we owned it, right?!) with us when we moved so that I could paint our new nursery (whenever we own our own home again) the same color.

Anyways, I always wanted a rug for that room to lay in front of the crib. The hardwood got so cold in the winter, I thought it would be homey. I could never find the right color and shape, though. Anything close to what I wanted was outrageously expensive. So, when I learned to crochet a few months ago, Mom gave me a book with a pattern for a rug in it. I fell in love and decided to make it. It took me 2 months, and it looks hardly anything like the sample in the book, but I still love it. It's mostly for show, which is nice, because it's functionality level is very, very low!! Here it is:

Ta-da!! Awesome, right?

Here's another view so you can see the texture. I really love it the more I look at it!

A close up of the stitches.

Doesn't it just brighten Micah's hideous room right up? I think it's cute! It may not be perfect, but I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it and accomplishing it! Michelle's is going to look even better (and probably closer to the pattern!).

Thanks for stopping! Lots going on this week on my blog, so stop back soon!

Thank you for the babysitters

2009-08-18T22:46:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to make some name frames for my nieces that always, always, always babysit (and love it!) my children during the week. When I go to Orange City every week to teach piano lessons, they watch them. Every single week. It's wonderful. I also teach them piano, so this way, we also have time for lessons every week and no one has to make a special trip. Win-win for everyone.

But, I wanted to make them something special. I helped paint their new room (they added onto their house) a month or so ago, and they painted it blue, green, and brown. It looks fabulous. I tried to coordinate with those colors, but I needed a little something more, so I added some pink (what teenager doesn't like pink?!). The girls are 15 and 16 years old.

Can you believe I whipped these up in 1 1/2 hours? Man, that Cricut was flying!!

I used a couple free fonts that I found off Font Freak online, and then just used my stamps and paper. They loved them. It's hard to tell, but I did clear emboss the rose and leaves in Katie's frame. Check the ingredients list for full supplies. My next post is going to be about my awesome rug I crocheted! See you then!

Katie's Frame

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green,

SU! unknown dsp (I forget the name)
Stamps: Wild Rose
Ink: tempting turquoise, gable green
Other: cricut, sure cuts a lot, free font: Adine Kirnberg,

clear ep, wal-mart frame
****************

Marrissa's Frame

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green
Stamps: Delight in Life
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green
Other: cricut, sure cuts a lot, free font: boyzrgross,

stickles, wal-mart frame
****************

My New Clothesline!!

2009-08-17T14:40:00.003-05:00

My darling husband just got my clothesline up a couple weeks ago. I use it for every single load I do, even the kids clothes! The only thing I don't hang up is socks and underwear (so the dryer runs for 30 minutes every week). Hooray!

Here it is in all it's glory. Three lines. I don't even have enough clothespins for the amount of line I have!!

I just thought this shot and the next were so cute. Looks like something people would hang up in their laundry room as wall decor!

Okay, this is the last post today. Seriously. You can go now. Thanks for stopping!!

Post it Note Holders

2009-08-17T14:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, the first in hopefully many, many posts about the crafts fairs I am attending. Our first one is in Akron, IA on September 19. I'm getting closer every day...I don't feel quite as stressed as last year!
Here's the first things I have fully completed. They are post it note holders. Here's what I did:
1. Got an acrylic 4x6 frame at the dollar store for, you guessed it, $1.
2. Cut a piece of paper (after stamping if needed) to just under 4x6.
3. Placed in frame with the stand at the top. Used scor-tape to adhere to frame.
4. Used scor-tape to adhere post it note holder to frame.
5. Decorated as desired.
Very quick and simple, but should be great gifts for anyone!

***ingredients***

Paper: Flair Designs "Favorite Jeans", SU! Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise

Stamps:Verve- Circular Sayings

Ink: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise

Other: scallop circle punch, circle punch

*****************

Quote says "The best teachers teach from the heart, not from just the book".
***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat, real red
Stamps: PTI Teacher's Apple
Ink: real red, versamark
Other: scallop circle punch, ribbon, circle punch, black ep
*****************

***ingredients***
Paper: Glorious Green, real red

Stamps:PTI Teacher's Apple

Ink: Glorious Green, Real Red
Other: scallop circle punch, circle punch, ribbon
*****************

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fizz Remix, Lemon Tart
Stamps:Verve- Fluttering by
Ink: Pixie Pink
Other: scallop circle punch, circle punch, offray ribbon
*****************

Hello from Oz!

2009-08-17T14:19:00.001-05:00

We got a wonderful package in the mail a few weeks ago. My friend Brittnee, who spent the past semester in Australia, sent us some souvenirs! Here's what she sent:

First, I got a super sweet bag with all the major cities on it. As you can tell, it's packed and ready to leave with us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Micah got a koala (I let Michelle choose for him). He thinks its okay.
Michelle chose the kangaroo and the key chain. She loves them both!! For a few days, they went everywhere with us! (the keychain still does)

This and the next few pictures are all a coaster set she found. They are aboriginal dot art painted by Maureen Hudson Nampajimpa. They depict the knowledge of the Dreaming (I think their creation story). I tried to find some information online, but it was very difficult. Brittnee said that the little horshoes are people, and the way they are placed is very significant. This is all I know.

Update on Micah

2009-08-17T14:08:00.003-05:00

Same thing here for Micah. He is now 10 months old and weighs about 23 pounds (Michelle weighs 28). He just started crawling last week, and is slowly figuring out his independence.

I was trying to take somewhat professional looking pictures for his 9 month pictures. They turned out alright!

I LOVE this one. Whenever he feels shy, he always tilts his head to one side (or lays his head on my shoulder if I'm holding him) and smiles. It's super cute!

The one for the wall!

The many faces of Micah...

Eating an oreo--he loves those!

Okay, a couple of craft projects coming up next!

Update on Michelle

2009-08-17T13:55:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon! Happy Monday- and I hope it's a good one. I'm attempting to catch up on blogging, and it's been awhile since I've posted about the kids, so here goes! This first post today is going to be about Michelle. For the sake of time, I'm just going to write some short captions/anecdotes about each picture underneath it.

Riding the train at the Valley Vet supper last week. Last year, she was too scared for a long time, and then once she worked up her courage to ride it, we went over there and stood in line. When he came back around and stopped, he was done! She missed it! So, once we got there this year, she hopped RIGHT on so she didn't miss it!

Goofing around...
Pretty girl

She loves to talk on the phone. She's talking to Myron here. She always says, "I want to hold it." And then she walks away! So cute!

Playing with Tajar--he loves her!

Chasing him to get the Frisbee. He's not quite up on "fetch" yet. More like he chases it and then we chase him!

Here she's throwing it for him. She doesn't throw super well, but Tajar gets the idea! He always chases it for her.

She found this thing in the rock bed by the house. I have no idea what it is, but apparantly she thinks it is a steering wheel because she says, "I want to drive a little while."

Look for Micah's post in a little while!

Anni-VERVE-sary---A week of cards!

2009-08-15T08:05:00.002-05:00

Good morning. I'm not sure why Blogger is making me stay centered, but I guess everything will be nice and even. I hear Micah waking up in his crib, so this will be kind of a short post. I participated in Verve's 2 Year Anniversary Release Celebration by completing their sketchs. There were five total. Here's the rundown:

Sketch One:

This card is for one of my friends: I got it off Craiglist (the set, I mean!) for $5! Unheard of!
***ingredients***
Paper: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana
Stamps: Flaky Friends
Ink: Bordering Blue
Other: Stickles, scallop edge scissors, circle punches

****************
Sketch Two

This is for my dear brother-in-law for his birthday on Monday. I wanted to make him a golfing card, and then I stumbled on this Gina K set on the Buy/Sell/Trade forum of Splitcoast. I knew it was the one!! I hope he likes it. My husband thinks its cool, and that's saying something from him! BTW, I paper pieced the golf bag, and I didn't have any chocolate ribbon, so I just used paper.

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, unknown dsp
Stamps: Gina K King of the Grill, PTI Guidelines
Ink: Certainly Celery
Other: white gel pen

****************

Sketch Three

I had a horrid time trying to get this ribbon to match with anything. I think it is so beautiful, but it's hard to work with. This is my third try with the ribbon. See Sketch Five for my second attempt at that card. I had this all set to be a sympathy card, but then realized the ribbon makes it too loud for a sympathy card.

***ingredients***
Paper: white c/s, SEI Chocolat
Stamps: Verve-Beautiful You, Because of You
Ink: certainly celery
Other: embossing thing, ribbon, circle punch, scallop circle punch

****************

Sketch Four

Love, Love, Love this card! This is going to my grandma. It was first going to be for my sister, then my mom, and then I finally decided on my grandma! This uses mostly PTI and Verve. I did Poppin' Pastels on the main image.

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Ocean Tides, Plum Pudding, Razzberry Fizz Remix
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: orchid opulence, versamark
Other: pastels, ribbon

****************

Sketch Five

My last card and my second take on this one. My first try was HIDEOUS! I was going to throw it away. I'm a little happier with this one. I clear embossed the butterflies, and the backgrounds in yellow are from Love Bakes.

***ingredients***
Paper: Gable Green, SEI Chocolat, Summer Sun
Stamps: Love Bakes, Noteworthy, Verve-Floral Whimsy
Ink: yoyo yellow, orchid opulence, versamark
Other: clear ep, ribbon, circle punch, scallop circle punch

****************

I have lots of pictures of the kids to post, and lots of craft items coming in the next few days/weeks. This blog will be busy!!

Mojo Monday--YAY!

2009-08-03T14:55:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon! I have a card and then some chit chat for you today---I made the card already this morning at 7:30, but didn't have any time to post it until now! You know, kids, breakfast, etc., etc.,!This is for this week's Mojo Monday sketch over at http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/. And, since this is the first week of the month, it is a prize week! I always try to make super awesome cards, hoping they will pick me and I can get some free stamps! I have a feeling that this one is a winner...:)

My friend from church just had a baby boy on Saturday (her second). Her first child is a girl, and was born 1 day before my first child (also a girl). We've gotten to know each other pretty well, so it was exciting to hear they had their baby (also a boy, just like our second!). There is also going to be some kind of crafty gift to go with the card, I just haven't really decided what yet.

The paper is all Crate Paper Hamptons collection. The circles are a die cut, as is the blue strip underneath the ribbon. I wanted to tie the ribbon in a bow, but didn't have enough! What you see is pretty much what I had!

The onesie, teddy bear, and "I'm here" are from Gina K Designs- Wee Tees. I LOVE this set! I stamped the onesie, cut it out, and then sponged ranger distress ink to give it a little depth. I stamped the bear on the onesie, and then on scratch brown paper. I used my Versamark pen on the scratch paper one, and then heat embossed it with clear ep. It's so shiny and cute! I popped the bear and the onesie up with dimensionals. Good luck to me!!

On a personal note, we found Myron a load this morning for tomorrow to go to York, PA. I'm so happy we got a good load- again, for the second week in a row! I'll just have to dispatch tomorrow but then I'm home free!!
He had some time this morning, so he put up my clothesline. I really miss not having a clothesline, so the crafty, dear husband that he is made me one!! It's really just some scrap pipe and then line we got from Bomgaars, but it's so beautiful!! I can hang clothes out to dry and save money and not heat up the house! Awesome! I'll post a picture when it's fully complete.

Have a happy Monday!
Kayla

***ingredients***
Paper: Crate Paper Hamptons
Stamps: Gina K- Wee Tees
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain
Other: cream ribbon (stolen from a gift bag!), dimensionals, clear ep, Versamark pen
****************

A Rose by any other name...

2009-08-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hey! Welcome back after the Verve blog hop! If you are looking for my post for the hop, it's belo this one. For some reason, I couldn't get this post to schedule for Monday. Just scroll down, you'll find it!!
I went through the whole hop, and there were some awesome, awesome projects!
Today I have a card for you that I made on Friday, for August's first week of Viva La Verve. Although I didn't use Verve stamps this time, have no fear! It's not required.
The twist this week was two fold. 1- to CASE a Verve diva. Well, that was easy. I have Amy Sheffer on my favorites list, so I went to her blog (Pickled Paper Designs) and a card that I just loved. Click here and take a look at her awesomeness at work.
The second part of the twist was about patterned paper. If the Diva used it, I couldn't, and if she didn't use it, I could. Opposite, got it!?
So, here's what I came up with. It's one of my favorite cards ever:

Card construction details:

begin with pretty in pink base.
add layer of razzberry fizz (pti)
add layer of razzberry fix remix (pti)
add blocks of pretty in pink, and razzberry fizz. have only slight problems measuring. :)
constructed my rose. I used SU!'s Wild Rose set. This is a spendy set (I think $39) but well, well worth the money for the beauty and versatility. I stamped the solid part in pixie pink (stamped off once), and then stamped the highlight in pink passion. I stamped the solid part of the leaves in gable green, and the highlight in glorious green. I used my Versamark pen and clear ep to emboss it to give it a wet look. Added it to white cardstock using dimensionals.
Used Fiskars Heart border punch for the little border.
tied a knot bow with some offray ribbon.
tried to figure out how Amy got her cording tied onto her knot bow.
gave up trying to figure it out. I cheated and just used glue dots to adhere my rick rack how I like it. loved the end result.
done!

So, so beautiful! What do you think?

Thanks for stopping!

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fix and Razzberry Fiz Remix, SU! Pretty in Pink
Stamps: Wild Rose
Ink: Pixie pink, pink passion, gable green, green galore (all SU!)
Other: ribbon, rick rack, clear ep, Versa mark pen, dimensionals, fiskars heart border punch

****************

Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop!!

2009-08-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first ever official Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop. Verve turns two today and we’re celebrating with a hop, hop, hop! The party kicked off over on the Verve blog, so if you’ve just happened along, be sure to hop on over there to start from the beginning! And to make this party a real shindig, there’s a mystery jackpot hidden at one of the stops along the hop. One lucky commenter on that blog will win Verve’s entire August release! But of course, it wouldn’t be a mystery if you knew which blog, would it? So if you’re feeling the love, give a little shout out to the bloggers in the hop and you just might have a reason to jump for joy!

Here's what I came up with for the hop. My mom and I are going to start our "craft fair circuit" (haha, we've only ever been to one!) soon, and I'm busy preparing. I've been making coasters (like for drinks). I started with those because they are the easiest!! I've done eight sets so far. The last two are with my Verve:

I LOVE this butterfly!! I first stamp in Staz-On and then bake at 375 for 15 minutes to set the images. When cooled, I color with a Versamarker and pastels. I find that if you wait a half a minute or so to let the Versamark dry a little, you will have better results with the pastels. If you don't wait, the color doesn't transfer and you just get empty spots.

I then stick them back in the oven at 375 for another 10 minutes to set the color. When cooled (usually the next day), I seal them with two or three coats of matte acrylic sealer. This ensures they don't run or fade. The coasters I made last year for myself and my mom and sisters are still going strong. They don't run, and the color doesn't fade.

I used a variety of quotes on each set--sometimes, I have a hard time using some of the quotes for cards, because I'm never really sure I would need a card that would say that. They are WONDERFUL quotes, I guess I just don't know that many people in unique situations!! But, these coasters are perfect for the quotes--they look nice and you get a nice variety.

Thanks for stopping by! Now it’s time to hop on over to Cheri's blog, for a little more Verve-y goodness.

***Coaster Ingredients***
Paper: n/a

Stamps: Verve- Fluttering By, Beautiful You, Because of You

Ink: Staz-On

Other: tiles (menards), stampin up pastels, acrylic sealer, oven
****************

All Boxed Up!

2009-07-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon! Both of my kids are sleeping AT THE SAME TIME (gasp!), so I am able to get some much needed blogging done!

I have been busy, busy, busy getting ready for craft fairs, and I decided I wanted to include a few boxed set of cards. Well, remember this card?

I loved it so much, I decided to make a card set out of it. I wanted to make something that either a man or a woman could use, so I decided to make 3 girl birthday cards and 3 boy birthday cards.

Easy peasy, right? Right. I happened to have some navy blue ribbon, so I just used blue instead of pink, and leaves instead of flowers, and voila! Done.
Now, I needed some nice packaging. Something new. Something fresh. Cue Lauren Meader's My Timeless Templates. I've been wanting to try these for a while, and for $5 and unlimited downloading, who can resist? I sure can't! So, I tried her All Boxed Up template. It's for a card set, and I LOVE IT!!!!! I'm already working on two others. Here is the front:

When it's all tied up with the cards inside, it looks like this:

When you open it up, it looks like this. The cards are nice and tucked away with the envelopes. I chose to make a girl side and a boy side. Cute!

I had so much fun using PTI's Guidelines set. I can't wait until I am able to get the Guidelines II set. It is so much fun to make your own patterns, and it immediately dresses things up. Plus, you can never get bored, because, as you can tell from the six cards, you can do something different every time!

Thanks for stopping! Tomorrow is the Verve Blog Hop, so be sure to "hop" by and see what's cookin'!

Girl and Boy Birthday Cards

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fizz and Spring Moss, SU! Gable Green and Brilliant Blue
Stamps: PTI Guidelines, Birthday Basics; Verve Because of You; SU! Delight in Life and Lovely as a Tree
Ink: SU! Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Brilliant Blue

Other: ribbon, rhinestone brads, vellum, brads

****************

All Boxed Up holder

***ingredients***
Paper: white c/s, PTI Razzberry Fizz, SU! Brilliant Blue and Gable Green
Stamps: PTI Guidelines, SU! Delight in Life
Ink: SU! Pixie Pink, Brilliant Blue, Gable Green
Other: ribbon, My Timeless Template (All Boxed Up), scor tape

****************

Our New Puppy!

2009-07-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

We have a new addition to our family. No, Mom, it's not a kid, it's a dog!!I saw a puppy on Swap Shop (an on-air program to sell/buy your stuff locally) and called about it. Michelle, Micah and I went to see him in Orange City today, and we decided we just love him and we took him home. So far, he is just the best dog ever!
His old family adopted his mother from the shelter not knowing she was pregnant. Well, she is an 18 pound dog and he is already 30 pounds! They already have four children (the family), so two dogs and six people was just too much in one house. The kids really loved him, but the realized that it just wasn't working. I wanted to get another puppy because Michelle is starting to become really frightened of dogs again. I don't want her to grow up like that (I know what it's like to be frightened of dogs as a child--it's kind of a hinderance). So, we have been looking and I think we found a perfect match.
His name is Tajar--sounds like Badger. It's from a children's book- the main character was half badger, half tiger, so the children in the book called it a tajar. So, his name became Tajar, or Taj for short. He's a mix of something, and my sister-in-law thinks it may be some kind of spaniel. That could be-- he always has his nose to the ground, he has excellent hearing, and he has blotchy spots on his legs that kind of look like Dalmation but is probably Spaniel. We'll see what he looks like when he gets older. Tajar is almost five months old. His disposition is excellent- very calm, and he listens well. He is, understandably, a little excitable when we are gone for a while, but I am confident he will work that out as he gets older.

He was taught several commands by his old family, which I love. He knows how to sit, lie down, not jump, and come. He is just super at listening. We went for two short walks down the driveway, and he never went on the road and always came back to me when I called (or had a treat). He is very smart.

All in all, I am very excited about this dog- and that's saying something, because I'm not a big fan of dogs. He loves to be petted, and his calm nature calms ME. I'm glad we have him.

PS- Here are a couple pictures of the kids enjoying Taj's company--they like him, too!

A Week of Cards

2009-07-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

Just a quick, no-nonsense post tonight because I am tired and my kids are still upstairs not sleeping!

We had kind of a rough day today and yesterday; Micah has had a pretty high fever and has been really, really cranky. He has also had a terrible rash on his crotch area for about a week. I finally got sick of him being crabby all the time and took him in today. Ears look fine (thankfully), but he has an infection in the back of the throat, and also a fungal infection in his crotch. Sweet. No medicine, though, because it's all viral. So we just have to wait it out. Even more sweet. But, I'm trying to steel him with probiotics and an anti-fungal cream, so maybe tomorrow will be better!

I just realized I can make the pictures bigger, so they should look better! Here are a few cards that I have made over the past week:

This is a 5x7 card I made for my mother--she needed a wedding card. This was my first try at 5x7 cards, and I LOVED it! So much room! The patterned paper came from the couple's invitation, as did the colors.

This is a card for my sister-in-law's birthday (on Monday). Sketch came from Viva La Verve's July Week 3. The twist was to use the technique Poppin Pastels or Burnt Batik. I chose the easy one, with the pastels. Hard to see, but I used canvas on the aqua mist layer. Also, I cut the scalloped circles with my cricut (who needs nesties?!)

Card for Viva La Verve's July Week 4. This was for my friend Joann for her birthday. The twist was to use vellum, so with the vellum and the circles, I was nervous. But, I like how this turned out. I love the colors!

Finally, this plate is for my sister's wedding anniversary (from my mother). I used a glass plate and mod podged paper onto it. I cut the letters with my cricut (Pooh font), and the charms are from her wedding. I LOVE how this turned out--the wood paper is so awesome. I'm going to buy a truckload of it. I cut the wood paper in strips where the boards look like they would be, and then adhered them on that way. By doing this, I was able to make it look like there were no seams. I modpodged over the entire thing (even the picture, printed on my home printer). Sweet.

Thanks for stopping; supplies are below my signature!

Wedding Card

***ingredients***
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, patterned paper from couple's invitation
Stamps: PTI Guidelines
Ink: Real Red
Other: Sentiment sticker, Stickles, Ribbon

****************

Flower Birthday Card

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Lemon Tart
Stamps: Canvas, Both Ways Blossoms, PTI Birthday Basics
Ink: Versamark, Pixie Pink

Other: Cricut, pastels

****************

Vellum Birthday Card

***ingredients***
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Gable Green
Stamps: Delight in Life, Verve-Because of You, PTI Guidelines
Ink: Pixie Pink, Gable Green
Other: Ribbon, Vellum, Rhinestone brads

****************

Western Plate

'***ingredients***
Paper: Paper Studio wood paper, kraft, cream
Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Other: Cricut- Pooh Font cart, charms from sister, corner rounder

****************

Poor baby!

2009-07-14T22:11:00.000-05:00

This is not a card making post today, this is a life post. Sometimes, it's just nice to catch everyone up on my life all at once instead of telling everyone individually!
Myron left in the truck yesterday. I was so thankful I found a load- and at 8:00 on MONDAY morning, too! That is very unusual. He is out in West Viriginia right now (with absolutely no service :( ), and then his mom (Mary) found a load to Detroit from there. We have a good relationship with a broker from Sioux Falls through whom we get loads quite frequently, and we are picking up a load for him in Ohio to come back home. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't need to find a load today, because...
Micah got tubes. Yes, I know. Surprise, right?
He's been sick with ear infections for about three months straight, and we got referred last week to see Dr. Korver (the ENT who did Michelle's tubes) yesterday. We got there and he strongly suggested that we put tubes in. But, he is going on vacation and is going to be gone from tomorrow until the end of the month. So, here are our options:
1. Wait until his is in Rock Valley again, which is August 7.
2. Drive to Sheldon today (Tuesday) and have Korver put the tubes in there.
3. Have Korver's fill-in, Dr. Jorgenson, do the tubes anytime the rest of this month in Spencer.
4. Wait and see Korver again in 3 weeks to see how Micah is doing.

So, I talked with Myron, and he said I should probably just put Micah out of his misery (in a good way) and go to Sheldon and do the tubes. I called Dr. Korver's office, and they set up the surgery for the sickening time of 7:15 am. I called my mom, who agreed to let us spend the night and then watch Michelle in the morning while I am gone with Micah. She also GRACIOUSLY offered to bring Michelle home so I could just go home from Sheldon (thanks, Mom!). That was awesome.
The sucky, sucky part was that Micah couldn't have anything to eat after midnight. Now, he's a baby who really likes/needs a bottle in the middle of the night. After hearing this piece of news, I promptly began worrying how in the world he was going to sleep all night without drinking. He went to bed at 8:30 (with a bottle), and then I tried to wake him at midnight to drink, but he wouldn't rouse. I got 2 ounces in him and that was it. And then, sure enough, he woek up at 2:00 wanting a bottle. And then was up again at 4:00. And 4:30. And then was up for "the morning" at 5:30. So, we hit the road at 5:45 this morning. Bah. I wish Myron was home.
The good news is that Michelle went to bed at 9:15 and slept straight through the night until 9:00 am. This is surprising to me. She hardly ever sleeps all night.
I got to Sheldon (Micah slept the entire way), and was pleasantly surprised to see an old high school friend was our nurse! That was very exciting!
The surgery went really well, but Micah had a very tough time coming out of the anaestesia. I fed him a bottle right away, and then he cried for the better part of the next hour. We were finally allowed to go, and then he cried for a short while in the car, and then slept for the next 2 1/2 hours! And then slept another 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon. He wasn't tired, was he? :)
Overall, he is doing really well today. I hope he sleeps pretty good tonight. I have already noticed that he seems to hear quite well, and he flips onto his tummy and then back ALOT (like, all the time). These surely must be good signs.
Michelle had such a fun time this morning with my mom. She came home with a bunch of snacks, bug juice, ribbons in her hair, and two new sets of jelly sandals. It was great. Plus, we came home to sheep in our yards--Michelle was THRILLED. She saw them, pointed, and screeched, "WHAT IS THAT!!!!" She was (and still is) beside herself!
Okay, my fingers are tired! Good night!

Cards for Eileen

2009-07-09T07:29:00.001-05:00

I have been a busy, busy bee making cards! My old piano teacher (whom I adore, still) requested that I make her some cards (birthday and anniversary) to use. The two from the previous post are for her, and all five (yes, five) cards in this post are for her. I made/collected (from my stash) 10 cards for her, and now I'm ready to send them in the mail.The first one is a kid's birthday card. I'm not sure I like how it turned out, but a kid would probably love it. I know Michelle thought the pony and cow were "awesome" (yes, she says that).

Up next is another birthday card. The coloring and lighting on this card is poor; it's a very cute masculine card IRL. I used my Loads of Love set, which I love. Stampin' Up just came out with a new addition to this set with things that you can pull, and I can't wait to get it! I paper pieced the pickup and colored in a few spots, too. The quote says, "Driving by with a birthday hi."

Next card is an anniversary card. The "Smile" sentiment came from Verve's Circular Sayings, but I received it as a "thank you" for ordering from Verve one time (She is so great about that!).

Another anniversary card. I used the poppin pastels method for my flowers (I haven't used that for a long time!)

Finally, my absolute favorite of the bunch. This is another anniversary card. I've been hoarding this beautiful Bella Rose paper--it's my last full sheet, and the paper is now retired. I finally cut it up to use it, and I love how elegant and gorgeous this card turned out! I even broke out my sewing kit and sewed two buttons onto the ribbon!

All the ingredients for each card are listed below my signature. Have a happy Thursday!

Animal Birthday:

***ingredients***
Paper: unknown DSP (I think it's called Gypsy, I got it at Wal-Mart)
Stamps: LPS Fun on the Farm, PTI Birthday Basics
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain
Other: scallop circle punch, circle punch

****************

Pickup birthday:

***ingredients***
Paper: Flowers for You
Stamps: Loads of Love and Accessories
Ink: Bordering Blue
Other: Ribbon, sponging

****************

Smile anniversary:

***ingredients***
Paper: Bordering Blue, Pretty in Pink, unknown dsp
Stamps: Verve Circular Sayings, Verve Because of You, Soft Swirls
Ink: Bordering Blue
Other: ribbon, scallop oval punch, CM cutting system

****************

Love Anniversary:

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fizz, PTI Colors- green and Lemond Tart
Stamps: Noteworthy, Happy Harmony

Ink: certainly celery, basic black
Other: ribbon

****************

Bella Rose Anniversary:

***ingredients***
Paper: Bella Rose, Real Red
Stamps: Verve Beautiful You, Watercolor Minis
Ink: Real Red
Other: ribbon, buttons, sponging, circle punches

****************

Quick and simple cards

2009-07-02T07:25:00.000-05:00

Well, one is quick and simple. The other is a little more time consuming. I had some more time yesterday to make cards, and I came up with two (I'm a slow poke, I know)

Okay, here's the not so simple one. This is for this week's Viva La Verve sketch with a twist- the twist was to distress. I was really nervous to try this, so I put it off until yesterday. Well, it turned out to be easy (even though you can't tell from the photo- use your imagination!)

I used my PTI Guidelines set on two of the blue layers, and then used my "distressing tool" (aka my scissors!) to rough up all the edges. I also sponged on the sentiment panel to give it a little bit rougher look.

***ingredients***
Paper: Bordering Blue, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue
Stamps: Verve- Beautiful You
Ink: Bordering Blue, Versamark
Other: Bashful Blue ribbon

****************

Quick and easy card: this works for sketch challenge 25. I wanted something to showcase this paper. I love it!! This card took me about 2 minutes to throw together.

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat, Pretty in Pink
Stamps: Verve- Beautiful You (No one does sentiments like Verve!)
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain
Other: Pretty in Pink ribbon, circle punch, circle scallop punch

****************

Thanks for stopping! Happy Thursday!

Crafting!!

2009-06-30T23:14:00.001-05:00

WARNING: Mom, DON'T READ THIS!! The second thing is a surprise for you--wait until tonight to read it. I'M SERIOUS!

I finally felt like sitting down and crafting--and I finally had time! We were home during nap today, and I stayed inside the whole time and made stuff.
First up is a card. I've been feeling bad for myself, because I sold my ink pads because we need money (so buy my stuff! :) ) and now it's like I don't know how to stamp without them! Well, I had the BRILLIANT idea to use my pastels (which I hardly ever use)! Here's the product:

I just got my new Guidelines set by Papertrey Ink, and I LOVE it! I finally worked up the courage to use it, and I love the result! I stamped the design on versamark onto the Orchid Opulence paper. The pastels come in on the main image. I stamped the flower spray in versamark, and then colored it with pastels. I also just realized that I can erase the pastels with the eraser that comes with them (and I've had these for several years now). Excellent!

Gone is the excess!

Plus, I'm super excited about the new PTI Birthday Basics set I got from a trade on SCS. It's got lots of birthday sentiments, plus happy birthday written in different fonts and sizes. I love it!

***ingredients***
Paper: Orchid Opulence, unknown green
Stamps: Verve Because of You, PTI Birthday Basics, PTI Guidelines
Ink: versamark
Other: stampin' pastels, HL ribbon from my mom
****************

And now for my super awesome project I was talking about last week. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be making more of these (if only for myself!)

Here are the details:

1. My mom picked up a flyer at HL that had an idea to use glass plates and decorate them.

2. She asked me to do it. I, of course, said yes.

3. She bought me a 10 inch plate and an 8 in plate. This is the 10 incher.

4. I printed off the picture using matte medium weight photo paper with my inkjet.

5. I used a 10 1/4 in. dinner plate to make a circle. From that circle, I measured 1-1/2 in. in on each side and top and bottom. I then used a pyrex mixing bowl (approx. 7-1/4 in. round) to cut a smaller circle from the big one.

6. I cut the outer ring into four somewhat equal pieces. Using GREAT care and precision, I mod podged everything on- first the inner circle, and then the outer four pieces. In hindsight, I would have modpodged the outer pieces first. I am slightly unhappy with the seams showing, but my husband assures me that you don't even notice. (This appeased me a little bit)

7. I cut the letters from my Pooh Font cricut cart, size 1-1/2, marker application. Modpodged those on.

8. Cut the picture into a 5x7 oval, and then matted it. Mod podged it on. I did a test run with the picture to make sure it wouldn't smear- it didn't even act like it would!!

9. Thought about adding bows. Decided against it. Husband agreed.

10. Stuck a piece of white c/s on the back with the ages of each child in the photo. I plan on making one of these plates for each year since the first grandchild was born.

11. Perfection! Just WAIT until you see what I have planned for the little plate!

Good night! Thanks for stopping!

Busy Week

2009-06-26T23:02:00.001-05:00

Thought I better quick write something or everyone will stop reading this! This week was so crazy- the kids didn't go to bed until like 10:00 every night, so I got no crafting done! The one night I did have some time, my mojo left me and I didn't feel like doing it. I just got a new Papertrey set called Guidelines, so I'm really anxious to play. Also, my mom had this great idea to decorate glass plates (it sounds weird, but its not), and I have a super good idea, so I'm anxious to get started on that! Should be lots of crafting next week!
Myron went to New Mexico this week, and it was horrid. We had a really good load of onions coming back up to Chicago, but on Tuesday (the day he was supposed to load), everything fell through because it rained. So, he had no load. There he sat. Until Wednesday afternoon. Then I found him a load going up to Detroit (onions), so he and his brother (also hauling onions) drove 1800 miles in two days. They were so exhausted when they got there this morning. I was so worrried about them. Oh, the life of a trucker. What you won't do for money, right? But the good news is he was able to load up again in Ohio and is on his way home! He should be home tomorrow night.
The kids are doing okay. Micah has a double ear infection, again, and if this one doesn't clear up or he gets another one, they want to do tubes. Which is okay. Really. I do think they are linked to allergies, though, because I skipped a day with Zyrtec yesterday (because he had an infection), and today his nose is so runny and his eyes are so scratchy. So, never skip the Zyrtec!
He hardly slept at all last night, but I am happy to report that he is sleeping soundly now. Michelle is doing very well- she mowed with me for almost 3 hours this morning. She loves to mow! Then my sister Crystal came over, and she loves Crystal. Then, we went to my in-laws, and she loves them. Boy, she had a great day!
I have to play piano at TreasureFest in Alcester tomorrow afternoon, so I won't get any crafting or blogging done tomorrow. I'll try to upload a few pictures tomorrow morning, but I can't promise anything! Have a great weekend!
Kayla

Father's Day

2009-06-21T14:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day! I hope all the father's out there (including my own :) ) are having an excellent day! While the kids and Myron nap, I thought I would quick update and show you the AWESOME secret project I have been working on!
I had the best idea for father's day. I came across it on SCS- it's by Mel Stampz here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9891576#post9891576.

I'll just let you bask in the awesome-ness of this project:

I began making this box. I used PTI's Dark Chocolate paper (which I love!) and followed the instructions for the faux leather look:

1. Wet under tap

2. Crumple

3. Lay out flat and ink if desired (I didn't ink)

4. Iron dry

5. Hit with Versamark (a clear ink)

It worked great- while I was doing it. It looked super cool and it has so much depth. Except- when I went to glue everything together, NOTHING WOULD STICK. The versamark made everything immune to adhesive or something! It was a pain in the rear. I quickly decided that I was going to give THIS box to my husband, because he wouldn't care that it was falling apart and very fragile! I made this on Tuesday, and I reconstructed it with several different adhesives about 4 times before he actually saw it! It was a nightmare. So, I made this one next:

I began with a piece of non-SU cardstock that looked very similar to SU's Sahara Sand (I think). I did the same thing, except I didn't versamark it. It worked like a charm! This box turned out to be my favorite- IRL, it looks like khaki-like a real tool belt! See the darling little tools in the pockets? I cut them from my cricut. I did put them in Myron's box, as well, I just didn't take a photo (I feared the bright flash would cause it to fall apart!). I found the tools here: http://www.myscrapchick.com/collection_small.htm. They are so darling!!!

This box was for my dad. I put a little "brag book" inside of it. I decorated it with some paper that looked like a burlap sack, and stuck four pictures in it. The book was made of coasters and bound with a metal ring in the corner. I thought he could take it to work with him (he delivers mail) and show off a few of his grandkids!

This is the card I made for my father-in-law as well as for my grandpa (from my parents). Same idea, no versamark. I put (on all of them) "I'm so blessed to call you..." on the top rectangle piece. On the inside of these cards, I also stamped a sentiment from Verve's Because of You: "I hope that when people look at me they see a little bit of you." I thought it was super appropriate!

Finally, here is what I put in Myron's box. I made these out of coasters and some SEI paper (it's so gorgeous- most of it is girly, but a few papers can be manly!) called Chocolat. I cut the letters with my Cricut cart "Pooh Font" and used photo corners so the pictures can be interchanged. I am going to punch a few very small holes in the top corners and run fishing line through them. I am going to add a few suction cups to the fishing line so he can hang this up in his truck. He never wants books or anything like that, he just likes pictures he can hang up to see all the time. Don't you love the ribbon connecting the two coasters? Genious, I know (one of my rare moments).

Well, that's all for now. Kids are still sleeping and I need to do some stamping! I've included the supplies list for each project after my signature, so if you don't care, you can stop reading (ahem, Mom)! I have some darling pictures of the kids to share in the next few days. Stop back again!

Dark chocolate tool box:

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Dark Chocolate, cream
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: Versamark, ranger distress walnut stain
Other: cricut- SCAL ("DAD"), tools from internet; white gel pen, brads

****************

Khaki tool box:

***ingredients***
Paper: something like Sahara Sand, cream

Stamps: Verve Because of You

Ink: ranger distress walnut stain

Other: cricut- Pooh Font, tools from internet; brown pen, brads

****************

Tool belt card:

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Dark Chocolate, cream
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: walnut stain
Other: brads, white gel pen, cricut: Pooh font, tools from internet

****************

We Love you Dad picture frame:

***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat
Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Other: coasters (from a woman on SCS selling them), fishing line, suction cups, cricut: Pooh Font, photo corners by Fiskars

****************

Catching Up

2009-06-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long. Myron (my husband) was home last week because we couldn't find a load, but last weekend was a pretty stressful weekend anyways, so we needed the time to recouperate and get back to normal (not to mention tie up a few loose ends). But, he's back on the road this week heading to Boston, MA with cowhides (yuck). It'll be a long week, because it's 1500 miles out to Boston and he didn't leave until 9:30 Monday night. Boo. So, after driving most of last night and all of tonight, he should arrive there {exhausted} on Wednesday morning. Unload, hopefully reload to go back to Indiana, and then pick up his load home in Winamac, IN sometime Friday morning. Be home late Saturday afternoon. Sickening.

Anyways, he's gone, so that means---it's time to STAMP! I've been kind of busy, I just haven't been able to upload anything because the husband and family always need my attention!

Anyways, three cards today. Here's the first one:

Super simple birthday card. My mom needed some cards in exchange for a blanket she made me, so this was one of the last ones. I paper pieced the envelope and should have pieced the candles, but I was getting sick of cutting and decided to just marker them.

***ingredients***
Paper: Green Galore, unknown blue DSP from Wal-mart, Summer Sun
Stamps: Send a Celebration, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Other: stickles (on candles)

****************

Next one. This is for Viva La Verve's June Week 3 Sketch Challenge with a twist from Splitcoast. The challenge was to use lots of white space. I love how this turned out! Very simple, elegant--perfect for a sympathy card. In fact, I asked my husband if he thought it needed anything, and he said, "What else can you do to a sympathy card without it looking gaudy?" Very true. There is sponging around the sentiment (one of my favorites from Verve), and there is also a scored line for a border around the edge.

***ingredients***
Paper: Bella Rose DSP
Stamps: Plain Jane Psalm 46:10
Ink: Real Red
Other: scallop scissors, scallop circle punch

****************

Real fast: my second take on the VLV June 03 sketch. This time this card is a get well card. I think it turned out just as elegant! I just used my ranger distress ink to distress the edges of the card and add a little bit of color.

***ingredients***
Paper: Bella Rosa DSP
Stamps: Verve- Because of You, Fluttering By
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain
Other: scallop oval, CM cutting system ovals

****************

Thanks for stopping! Have a great day!

PS--I am making some super sweet Father's Day projects--I think I will be able to post them safely without spoiling the surpise tomorrow or Thursday. Check back then!

Michelle's Book of Colors

2009-06-06T07:55:00.001-05:00

Okay, I finished the big project I was talking about in my last post. I decided, before Michelle's second birthday, to make her a book of colors and numbers so she could learn them. Well, two months after her birthday, I completed it. Page by page, let's take a look:

I designed the cover using my Cricut. In fact, almost all the color pages used my cricut. I first cut out the words using Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL), some software I bought for connecting my Cricut to the computer. I then sponged heavily over each word, using the appropriate color ink. Then, I chose some patterned paper to go with the color. Finally, I cut something on my cricut that went with the color. How do you like that tractor? It's my finest achievement! I found it on Susan Blue Robot's web page (Awesome page, by the way). Winnie the Pooh is from my Cricut cart, as are the leaves and Piglet. The horse is from a freebie I found online, and the cat is from a dollar download from a website online. The pumpkins are stamped from an SU! Stamp set called Autumn Harvest, and colored with plain old markers.

Now, onto the number segment. While I was really picking up speed, the numbers took me way longer, because I stamped and colored everything. First, I once again cut the numbers using SCAL. Then I chose some patterned paper for dividers (PTI Razzberry Fizz), and then started stamping!

1/2: Loads of Love; 3/4 Unfrogettable; 5/6: Delight in Life, Both Ways Blossoms; 7/8: Very Punny; 9/10 Love Bakes (all SU!)

So far, she really loves it!! I also have a card to show you, but I'll post that later. Both the kids are awake now and trying to be in my hair. :) Happy Saturday!

A few Fizzy Cards

2009-06-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone. A few weeks ago, I read a post from a woman on SCS looking for a certain design out of a pack of PTI (Papertrey Ink) paper. The pack comes with six designs in two sizes. She needed one design in one size, and PTI was not very cooperative in helping her get just that one size. Seeing how she didn't want to buy 50 packs of the same paper, she asked if anyone would be willing to help. Remembering last winter with the craft fair and a kind woman on SCS named Amber who helped ME out selflessly and generously (she sent me like 200 cards AND paid the postage for them to get there), and a few other women who sent me some things out of the goodness of their hearts, I decided to help this woman out. I bought two packs of the paper, thinking, well, I think I can use that. WRONG! There is alot of paper in those packs. 36 sheets in one pack! I thought I better get to work:

This card is for Mojo Monday's Sketch. It's a prize week, so I tried extra hard to make a super cute card. I LOVE this color combination together- I'm really loving PTI paper and the Razzberry Fizz pack. The yellow is so much more lemony in real life. My camera just doesn't so justice. *sigh* Someday, I will have a better, cooler camera!

It's impossible to see, but the butterfly is stamped once, and then stamped onto Eggplant and cut out. It's also practically coated in stickles. There are also lines of stickles everywhere, and every other line of dots has a stickle in it.

The quote says: Dance as if no one were watching, Sing as if no one were listening, Live every day as if it were your last. I thought it would make a nice birthday card.

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart, Razzberry Fizz, SU! Elegant Eggplant
Stamps: Verve- Beautiful You (quote), Floral Whimsy (butterfly)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Other: Stickles, flat back pearls, SU! grosgrain ribbon

****************

Second card. This one is for Viva La Verve's sketch challenge this week (June Week 1) with a twist of 3: 3 colors, 3 embellishments, 3 stamp sets. This one was tough. Again, I used PTI colors and paper *love it*. Check it: the ribbon was found deep in the abyss that is my ribbon drawer--I got it with my first Verve order; Julee included this ribbon and some gorgeous satin chocolate ribbon. This ribbon matched perfectly!!

You can kind of see the stickles on the flower and on the edges of the aqua mist paper--they are there!

***ingredients***
Paper: PTI Razzberry Fizz (solid and dsp), Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart
Stamps: Verve- Floral Whimsy, Because of You; SU! Noteworthy
Ink: SU! pixie pink
Other: sponges, rhinestone brads, Verve ribbon, stickles

****************

Thanks for looking! I'm trying to find time to finish a special project for my daughter; I'm waiting on the Pooh Font cartridge I just bought off SCS. Once that is finished, I'm starting a recipe book for my sister in law. Good night!

PS- Micah was only up TWICE last night!! Hooray!! We dosed him up on Benadryl, and I did again tonight, so wish us luck!!

More sickies

2009-06-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update on the kids. We had a BAAAADDD weekend with Micah. He has been on Omnicef now for 5 days, and we were seeing no improvement. In fact, he was getting worse. He was tilting his head so far to the side that he just about fell out of his walker! Plus, he was now pulling on his right ear AND his left ear (the original infected ear). Over the weekend, he averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep (in spurts) at night, and last night, well, let me just give you an overview:
10:15 Laid him down
11:30 We went to bed (stupid, I know)
12:45 Awake crying
1:30 Finally asleep
2:00 Awake crying
2:45 Finally asleep
3:00 Awake crying
4:00 Finally asleep
6:00 WOW! 2 whole hours--him on the couch, me on the loveseat in the Living Room
Awake for the morning
Yep, that sucked BIG TIME. We would have kept sleeping (maybe), but Myron got up and left to go trucking. I didn't even hear him wake up (and he's noisy).
I took him to the doctor this morning, because I was concerned about his ears, his cough, his throwing up, his runny nose, and his exhaustion. Turns out, he has an ear infection now in his right ear, with his left ear still infected, but getting better. So, that's why he's miserable. But, I am seeing some improvements:
--He is a little easier to get to sleep
--He took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon
--He actually smiled and laughed for a while instead of just looking miserable
--He actually played toys for a while and had fun in the bathtub with Michelle
Hopefully, tonight is a better night. He's been awake once already, but I put him back to sleep with some Motrin, and he's sleeping tight now.
Michelle, as always, is as chipper as ever. Dr. Post looked in her ears and said they look like they are clearing up. That's good news. I'm going to try Zyrtec with both of them once they are healthy to see if their infections are caused by allergies. Dr. Post said they are hereditary, and my allergies (pollen, hay fever, etc.) are terrible. Hopefully we won't need to undergo surgery for more tubes.
Look for some cards tomorrow. Good night!

A Quickie!

2009-05-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

No, not that kind of quickie! A quick post for a time consuming card. The kids are waking up, so I'm going to type really fast...

This card is for Verve's Mojo Monday sketch. I wanted so badly to use my new Love Bakes set (SU! 1995, retired, highly sought after, and MINE!-albeit missing 5 stamps, but hey, 29/32 isn't bad!). I made this card as an invitation card for someone, ahem, who reads this blog. I want them to come to my house. They shall remain unnamed. Anyways, the sketch is here: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/. Not the greatest picture, but I **love** this set, and I like the card.

Isn't this set darling?!? There will be much, much more coming soon!! It's really hard to see (practically impossible), but on the blue, there are rolling pins and flour sacks, and on the red, there are teacups, saucers, and sugar bowls. Much better IRL. I'm sorry; I'm no great photographer.
***ingredients***
Paper: bravo burgundy, barely banana, bashful blue
Stamps: Love Bakes
Ink: bravo burgundy, bashful blue, versamark
Other: ribbon from Making Memories, sponges
****************

PS- Crystal wants me to add that she helped me make my light studio. She says she was fearing for her life because I was hacking away at the box with a large, very sharp kitchen knife. The hacking was completely necessary in order to cut through the cardboard to make the windows so I could secure my typing paper. I want to add that she is fine now and has undergone only a tiny bit of therapy to help her through that traumatic night (just kidding!).

Crafting away...

2009-05-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

First, before I begin the crafting section, I just wanted to update on Michelle.
She had a routine appointment with her ENT, Dr. Korver, today to check on her tubes. Last time, she had a little fluid in one of her ears but she did have a cold. He wanted to see her back.
Well, he pulled the tubes out (they were just sitting in the canals), and found that she has serious, terrible ear infections in both ears. He said it is amazing she isn't miserable. Plus, he said her hearing was probably bad (hopefully temporarily). Plug your ears with your fingers right now. He said she hears at least that poorly. Hopefully that improves.
So, we got some medicine and need to see him back in a month. If the infection hasn't cleared, she'll need tubes again.
******************************
Okay, here's the crafting post I promised. First, I want to show off my new, improved, *cleaned up*, craft "room". Alright, it's just a corner of the living room. And my husband wanted me to keep everything upstairs to open up the living room. I told him no. :) I can hardly go a day without feeling the itch to craft, so at least 6 months? Forget about it!
*****Note- if you are not interested in the least about my crafting space, skip this post entirely!

Virtual tour #3: My Craft Room:

It's nothing like the entire room I had in our Alvord house, but I'm thankful everything is downstairs where I can use it! This is the whole space- I have a lot of stuff crammed in here!
This is my "light studio". My camera just couldn't take nice pictures of my cards, and I wanted a way to take professional looking pictures to take to craft fairs, etc., to show people my work. I found this awesome tutorial here: http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html. This box works like a charm! I love it! I currently have to set it up on the other side of the room, next to the light, stacked on top of the piano bench and a blanket tote. But, it works!

This is how I store my punches. On the side of this white thing that I got at a rummage in Sioux Falls. Its supposed to be a computer organizer or a desk organizer or something. I don't know. I looked at it and saw crafting potential! In the drawers I have markers, ribbon, and various other little things, and on the bottom I store my albums and all my SU! catalogues.

Can you see my poor, abandoned Crictu in the bottom left hand corner? I don't have a place for it yet and it's just been sitting there, unused! :(

This is how I store my stamps. Believe it or not, readers (mostly my family), this is NOT a lot of stamps. Many people I know on my stamping website (Splitcoaststampers.com) have THOUSANDS of stamps. They are not alphabitized, they are not organized in any way. I just shoved them in there however they would fit. And I love it. These racks used to store my paper, but I got a new paper holder...

VOILA! View this in all its excellence. I got this off SCS from a very kind and generous woman who no longer used it. She only charged me for the shipping. Unreal. Michelle and I put it together last week--its so awesome. It holds all my paper, organized, and then some. It rocks. It even comes with a dust cover, so when Mr. Micah starts crawling, I can keep {most of} my paper out of his reach! :)

That's my crafting room. Now, onto a project...

Here's my latest card. I had to quick make a card for Viva La Verve's May Week 4 Sketch Challenge, so I could be entered into the drawing to win some free Verve stamps! You can find the VLV forum here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=218. It's really fun and I love the sketches.

The twist this week was to make a masculine card. Here was my thought process:

1. Hmmm, black and white would be cool and manly.

2. oooh, I love this blue paper. Wouldn't it look awesome as just a splash in the background?

3. Maybe 3 different black and white papers is too much. I'll just keep some of the blue showing.

4. Wow, look at this green ribbon! This would look cool and refreshing.

5. {sound of me tearing, cutting, gluing, coloring, and otherwise putting the card together}

6. Finished! Cool!

I absolutely love how this turned out. It's cool, its refreshing, its manly, it's a man's birthday card! The sentiment says, "Driving by with a birthday hi!". Pretty good for 1/2 an hour's work, huh?! Thanks for stopping! Happy {almost} Friday!

***ingredients***
Paper: black and white dsp (I think Die Cuts With a View?), some unknown blue dsp
Stamps: SU! Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Other: green ribbon, sponges

****************

"Cwo-cheting"

2009-05-27T21:53:00.001-05:00

This is going to be mostly a family post...there will be a crafting post tomorrow. I just have so much to say that I need to split it into two posts or I won't get to bed until midnight!

I took Micah to the dr. today because he has been getting really pus-filled eyes. When he woke up this morning, he couldn't even open his right eye because it was crusted shut with pus! Poor thing. The dr. said that he has a left ear infection and an infection in his eyelids. Weird. No wonder he feels miserable. So I have to give him drops in his eyes 3 times a day. I gave him the first drops tonight; it was torture. I had to lay him on the floor, between my knees, kind of {gently} clamping his head, attempt to hold his arms still whilst prying his eyes open so I could put the drops in. Well, the little bugger screwed his eyes shut so tight I could hardly get them open. And man, did he cry. It was probably harder on me than it was on him. Now, he has woken up three times already and he's only been sleeping for two and a half hours. Hence the need to get to bed! I am also afraid Michelle is getting the infection of the eyelids; her eyes are getting increasingly pussy as the days wear on. We'll see what she is like when she wakes up in the morning. We are supposed to have a play date with one of my friends and her kids tomorrow in the park, so I hope that works out!

I have some pictures of the kids; the first group is of Michelle. She loves it when I crochet- she thinks it is just the coolest thing. Today, she attempted to "cwo-chet":"Now, how does this go in here?"

"Mom, I got it!" (She says this a lot)

"Do I need to use my teeth?"

Very, very carefully...

And a few pictures of Micah--we went to a birthday party in the park on Memorial Day, and we got some really cute pictures of him:

He LOVED the swing!

What a chunk!

And the very last set: Michelle and her cousins Cole and Hannah. My mom is watching these two while my sister-in-law is in Las Vegas with her mom for the week. Michelle and the kids played so nice together when I was over there on Monday--they played outside for the longest time! I caught them in the sandbox playing together (Michelle just learned this skill- how to play WITH someone instead of just BY someone):
Finally, one last picture. Myron got the swingset put up in our backyard last week, and on Sunday, after Michelle woke up from a 3 hour nap, he volunteered to take her outside (without me asking--he doesn't do this very often!). I caught them swinging and playing through the window in the house. I'm pretty sure they were unaware of my presence!

He's just such a good dad! No wonder she loves him!

Good night and thanks for stopping! Check back soon for a craft related post.

More New House

2009-05-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

That's what Michelle calls it. Our New House. She loves it here. It's so exciting to her (at least one of us is excited, right?)

As I promised, here are the rest of the pictures. The upstairs. Ready for this?
Okay, here are the stairs. Very steep, although not quite as steep as our Alvord house. And here's Michelle looking very excited to be in this picture. :)
Here is Micah's room. Remember, ugly carpet and walls? I wasn't kidding, was I? I put some stuff on the walls next to his crib, and it looks a little homier now.

This is Michelle's room. Very cute- Pam had done some freehand painting a long time ago, and it gives it a really girly feel. I love the soft carpet. How do you like her big girl bed? That's her New Bed. She loves it.
Here is the store room off of Michelle's room. When we first started putting things in it, I didn't think we would use all the space. Now, guess what? It's full.

Well, that's the house. Enough room for us all, anyways. What do you think?

Okay, now onto the crafting side of things.

I finished my second crocheted flower today. Except, the pattern only called for five petals, and I ended up with six. Hmmmm. weird.

I also got three cards done in the past few days. I made them for a purpose: one of my friends from church, Heidi, just had her 3rd baby. I wanted to make a card and a little something for her, and this is what I came up with.

She had a boy, so I wanted to use some greens in the card, and I added a dash of purple just for excitement. I have never used this stamp, either, so that was very exciting. This card was for a sketch challenge for Verve Stamps' May Release party. I threw it together quick while Michelle was running around.

*****ingredients*****

Paper: unknown plaid, always artichoke, elegant eggplant

Stamps: feet from Hobby Lobby, Noteworthy, Bundle of Joy

Ink: always artichoke, elegant eggplant

Other: brads, sponges

*********************
I also wanted to make her a few CAS (Clean and Simple) thank you cards that she could give to people who give Peyton gifts. I made four in green and four in blue. I LOVE them, and I want to make some more. I was inspired by someone on Splitcoast who made a CAS card.

And here's the blue version...

*******ingredients**********

Paper: gable green, brocade blue

Stamps: feet from Hobby Lobby, Noteworthy, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Ink: gable green, brocade blue

Other: ribbon

***************************

Okay, that's everything. Thanks for stopping!

Kayla

Our New House-- in Color!!

2009-05-22T16:24:00.000-05:00

Well, we have come to the end (almost) of another week. Why is that when Myron is home, the week just flies by? He's been home for 2 weeks, and sadly, he leaves again on Tuesday (or Monday night). We got him a load from Sioux Falls to Louisiana (yay), and I'm so not looking forward to dispatching out of LA. Last time we were there, it was awful, and now, the economy is worse, so I'm sure it's going to be a nightmare week. Oh well. Money is money.

I have some pictures of my new (to us) house. You'll see what I mean by not the greatest. I don't have any pictures of the upstairs, because when I was taking pictures, the kids were both sleeping in their rooms. Well, Michelle was pretending to sleep, but she was really being naughty and was awake. Anyways, there are two useable bedrooms upstairs and one unsuable bedroom. I'll take pictures later today and probably post them tomorrow or something.
Okay, here we go. A virtual tour.
Okay, I just realized I forgot to turn the picture. Oh well. Turn your head.

This is what you see when you first enter the house. Our entryway with our washer and dryer. Kind of nice that they are on the main floor and not the basement. Especially since I've done 13 loads since we got the appliances hooked up.

Here's the kitchen. Nice, big kitchen. Pam (my sister in law) did a really nice job painting. I wish I had a grape/wine themed kitchen. But, I don't. Oh well. The only thing I don't like is there is not alot of cupboard space. I have about half the cupboard space I had at our Alvord house.
Please ignore the gigantic mess. I'm slowly wading through it all, but the kids tend to tear it right apart again. See that white thing in the lower right hand corner- yeah, that's a dishwasher. Albeit, a small dishwasher, but a dishwasher nonetheless. And I love it. One small comfort in an otherwise pretty bleak situation.

Here's the living room. Nice, big room, too. I like that. We have a lot of stuff in this room: two couches and a chair, two endtables, the piano, the computer, the toys, and my scrapbooking stuff.This is the living area. The couches face each other. I like it alot. In the lower right hand corner, there's a bookshelf to tie it all together. It looks very homey.

Here is the last picture of the living room. Bad picture, but you get the idea. I rearranged my scrapbooking stuff, too, and I'm excited to take another picture of that. You can get the before and after feel. It looks really nice.Here's our bedroom. It's right off the kitchen, next to the stairs to the second floor. Kind of small (way smaller than our other house), but it'll be just fine.Here's the outside of the house. Not too bad, right.Now look again...yes, that's plastic over the house. In the summer. Because everyone is too lazy/busy to take it off. I hope it doesn't affect how hot it gets in here. We'll see. Ignore the big dead tree in the center of the picture. We're not going to cut it down. Why? Because it's not our problem.
And one last picture. These are from Michelle. My mom helped her plant them and give them to me for Mother's Day. They are looking a little worse for the wear because we have had 90 mile an hour winds the past few days. But, I just watered them and I think they will survive. I hope. I am notoriously bad with plants. Why I want to badly to have a garden, I don't know. I just do. Another year, maybe.

Tomorrow, I hope to share a few pictures of the kids and the upstairs. That's all for now. My fingers are tired.

A New House

2009-05-18T06:56:00.000-05:00

Good morning and happy Monday! It's been awhile since I wrote, but we've been SUPER busy with moving. Everything went well, and I think we're adjusted in our temporary home. Michelle thinks it's great-- she calls it her "new house". We moved almost everyone on Wednesday, but Tuesday was really busy packing, and Thursday was really busy unpacking, and Friday was really busy cleaning at our old house, and Saturday was really busy attending a graduation.

I hope to post some pictures later this week of our house- but I want to clean it first so it doesn't look like a disaster area. Again, it's not a real nice house (we had to downgrade), but at least it's a roof over our head and a place for our kids.

I was also able to get to Orange City and see my old teacher, Jolynn. We had dinner and talked-- it was really nice.

In the hustle and bustle of last week, I did manage to get three cards made. I had to, because I needed them for graduation on Saturday. I'll only show you two of them. They both correspond with Viva La Verve's Sketch with a Twist challenge for May Weeks 2 and 3. I really love to do challenges...

Here's the first one. This one corresponds with Week 3, I think. You can find the challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437333. The twist was to use your favorite everything. Well, I kind of cheated. I am really trying to like this paper, so I used it. And, in this sense, I LOVED it!! I also used my favorite Verve set (right now), Floral Whimsy. It's impossible to tell, but the sentiment says: The future belongs to those who believe in the Beauty of their dreams. There are butterflies stamped in Versamark on the light pink panels. I think it is gorgeous! I wish I had a better camera. Someday...
***ingredients***
Paper: Basic Grey Lollipop Shoppe
Stamps: Verve Floral Whimsy
Ink: Pixie Pink
Other: White grosgrain ribbon (SU!), sponges
****************
This one is a little easier to see. This is for Week 2. The challenge is here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=436260. The twist was to use any shade of blue and green. Nice boy card, I think.
***ingredients***
Paper: unknown patterened paper, bordering blue, certainly celery
Stamps: All Year Cheer III, Delight in Life, Crosshatch
Ink: bordering blue
Other: brads
****************
Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your Monday!

Lotsa Crafts...

2009-05-07T22:49:00.000-05:00

Hello! As usual, it is almost 11:00 and I am not even close to being in bed! Today was a busy day. I taught lessons this afternoon, and then we had church this evening for National Prayer Day. My kids were exhausted when we got home. Straight to bed. Almost. Here are some recent pictures of them...

What darlings they are... Michelle is now 2 and Micah is 6 months old. He weighs 6 pounds less than Michelle, and his head is 1/4 inch smaller than hers. He's huge! I'm weaning him off of breastmilk and onto whole milk right now, and since he started that (and drinking bottles instead of nursing) he drinks 8 ounces at a time, sleeps at least 6 hours straight (before, 2 hours straight was great), and is growing like crazy!!

Onto crafting....I've been busy the past week, but since I didn't have

my memory stick, I couldn't show you! Well, after much anticipation (I'm sure), here it is...

Both of these cards are for my sister-in-law for her mother-in-law and mother. This first card is for her mother-in-law. It also followed the sketch challenge for Verve's Mojo Monday. You can find the sketch challenge here: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/. I love to do these challenges, and sometimes, you get a chance to win free stuff!
The quote says: You have been my inspiration, my confidante, my frint. Because of you, I've learned to love, to forgive, and to live a life filled with purpose.
***ingredients***
Paper: SEI Chocolat
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: Pixie Pink
Other: Gray taffeta ribbon (SU!), markers
****************

Here's my second card, this time for her mother (my mother-in-law).
This card follows the sketch challenge with a twist for the first week of May's Viva La Verve. You can find that challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/%20showthread.php?p=13999896#post13999896. The challenge was to be inspired by something in your home. Well, this green is the same green in my kitchen (I have an apple kitchen). I have a hard time with three panels like this, but I like the way it turned out. It's hard to see, but I put stickles all over the place for added pizzazz.
***ingredients***
Paper: Green, pixie pink
Stamps: Verve Because of You
Ink: Certainly Celery
Other: wide cream ribbon, stickles
****************
Well, that's all for now. I'm pretty excited- my husband comes home tomorrow! Thanks for stopping!

A Spring Cold?

2009-05-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

What I thought was just allergies on Saturday developed into a moderately severe head cold. I have been pretty miserable, but I think I'm over the hump. Both kids are now sleeping (it's 8:00--this is amazing), so I just need to be responsible, stay out of my craft room, and go to bed at 9:30. Yeah, right. :)
We had an emotional roller coaster weekend regarding housing, but I think that after much discussion, we are just going to move where we originally planned and live there for now. It will have to work. I'll post pictures when we move. We are planning on moving next week. We have to be out of our current home by Friday, and I think my husband is planning on staying home from trucking, so we will move all next week. One good thing about moving- everything gets organized into boxes! I like that. We should move once a year, right? :)
I have some really cute things to show you- a few scrapbook pages, a crocheted flower, and two cards, but I left my memory stick at my in-laws' house so I can't get the pictures off my camera! They are pretty cute, but I guess they will have to wait. Happy Tuesday!

A little work, a little play

2009-04-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

Hi! Happy {almost} Friday! Today was such a great day for me. My sister Crystal came over and helped me move a whole bunch of stuff over to our new house. We sold our acreage :(, and we are moving to my sister-in-law's old house (they just moved). We are moving approximately 5 miles. Hopefully, something else will come up in town or something, and we will be able to move again before the summer is over. But, it's a place to live, right? I'm not real excited, but I'm trying to talk it up to myself! Anyways, I took a few pictures of the van as we were packing it up. I thought my mom would really get a kick out of it, because she truly is the "master packer." She can pack anything. I'm sure once she sees these pictures, she'll say that she could have easily fit another 3 tubs in there, but hey, she's the master, not me! Here are the pictures:

Didn't we do an awesome job?! I'm so thankful Crystal helped me. This was only stuff that we have in storage. Most of it (shamefully) is clothes for my 2 year old daughter. Like 10 tubs and boxes of clothes. For one kid. Right. Anyways, this was a big job done. Whew!

So I learned how to crochet at a ladies' aid meeting at my church a few months ago. I have only made two potholders.

This is the first one. I just chained and chained and chained some more. And then decided, well, I might as well make something from this chain. So I just double and single crocheted until I thought I was done. And then single crocheted around the edge. Simple. Not very nice. But it's my FIRST accomplishment.

Now here's my second one. This one is much fancier and cooler. Yes, the holes are supposed to be there. My husband seems to think the holes are mistakes. I assured him, they are not. I even like the edging. I just single crocheted around it, and then double crocheted around that. When I got to the corners, I had a little trouble, and I ended up doing two double crochets in each single crochet, but my mom told me a trick that saved time and yarn, and looks just about the same. What do you think?

That's all for tonight- I want to try to crochet some flowers to put on my cards. For a beginner like me, that's not an easy task! Thanks for stopping!

2009-04-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

Good morning, everyone! It is really dreary here today, lots of rain, but I have a springy card for you! This is a mother's day card I made using Verve Stamps new set, Because of You. I LOVE their sets- they are my new go to company for stamps. They just seem to fit my style. This card follows the Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge with a Twist. This week's twist was to make a springy card. I love green and pink together, especially with tons of stickles!

We're getting ready to move; my mom is coming over today to help pack. I wanted to move some stuff over to our new house (new, haha), but I think it's going to be too yucky if it's still raining. Plus, I am keeping the kids with me today, so that will make it harder. We close on our acreage on the 15th, so we have to be out by then. I'm going to really miss this house- everything about it, except it's location. The house is so gorgeous. Maybe I'm being superficial, but moving to a house that is several notches down from this house is quite hard for me. Pam and Terry's house isn't that great, but I guess it will do for now. Kinda sucks, but what do you do? At least we have a place to call home, right?

Happy spring!

My New Blog!

2009-04-28T22:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog! I made this mostly (but not completely) for my friend Brittnee, who is in Australia now and misses me terribly (I think)! I hope to write about my life (very exciting in Iowa, right?) and post my paper craft creations. Thanks for visiting!