Long Time No See

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

Viva La Cards!!!

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

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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

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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

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Thanks for stopping! Good night!

Viva la Fairies!!

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

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A Rose by any other name...

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:

1. begin with pretty in pink base.
2. add layer of razzberry fizz (pti)
3. add layer of razzberry fix remix (pti)
4. add blocks of pretty in pink, and razzberry fizz. have only slight problems measuring. :)
5. 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.
6. Used Fiskars Heart border punch for the little border.
7. tied a knot bow with some offray ribbon.
8. tried to figure out how Amy got her cording tied onto her knot bow.
9. 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.
10. 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

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Lotsa Crafts...

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
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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
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Well, that's all for now. I'm pretty excited- my husband comes home tomorrow! Thanks for stopping!