A quick post today…

These are the last of the cards I sent to camp with DD…Simple, Quick and cut with the Cricut Storybook cartridge. She really enjoyed them.  I really loved that framed owl in the first pic. The second card was not a fav of mine, looking at it now I should have put brads in the flowers …It isn’t working for me.

Anyway I have a TON of cleaning to do for DD’s party tomorrow…pray for some sun and warmth as we have outdoor activities planned!!! Who would think you could be worried about being cold on August the 1st!!!

I wanted to say Thanks to Laurel for also nominating me for the Circle of friends award! (See the post below this one) Laurel you are SO talented I am very flattered!!!

Don’t forget to check out the Unscripted Sketch tomorrow!

Enjoy!

No Art but a Cool Blog Award!

Well I must be truly blessed because I received this award from three AMAZINGLY talented friends and fellow bloggers.

 

Firstly I have to say I am VERY flattered and happy to receive this. I am also thankful for the other awards I have received and not posted due to LIFE!

I received this from my new friend and DT sister Steph!!!

I also received this from my CTMH and DT sister Beth!!!

And from my 50th follower :-) and newest friend Penny!!!

All of these crafters are SO talented and wonderful. Steph…when you get near Des Moines you better meet me for lunch!!! Beth you know I am your biggest fan!! Penny you are very, very talented!

Here are the rules:
Nominate 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends.
Link to your nominees within your blog post.
Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post.
Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.

FIVE??? are you kidding! I am going to cheat and say right back at you Beth, Steph and Penny hee hee

I nominate each and everyone who reads and comments on this blog!  But in the spirit of the award I will try to mention 5

Nellie of This Little Blog of Mine….we must be scrap soul sisters separated at birth…you are such a sweetie!

Rachel of Wonderfully Whimsy….you were one of the first blogs I started following and you are a huge source of inspiration for me.

Amy of Amy’s art from the Heart…wow you HAVE to see what Amy can do with  CTMH product! Check out THIS post. You rock!

Hayley..from The Inky Scrapper…You are a good friend and inspiration Hayley! Your Layouts and cards are amazing!

Alanna from Alanna’s Sot in The World, She loves clean and simple as much as I do and her work is wonderful, a great friend who always leaves a comment that makes me smile!

However there are SO MANY friends I have made here in cyber space and so many blogs I have to have my fix of daily…you know who you are LOL..that this is really for all of you.

My daughter had a great family birthday today (party is Sat for friends) and she LOVED her album……quote “Mom, everything you do WOW’s me!!!” awwwwwwww

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Amy…Mini Album

It is my youngest daughter, Amy’s, birthday tomorrow..she will be 8 yrs old….(hard to imagine!)

The downside of having a daughter who hangs out with me while I am making cards is…she is hard to ‘wow’ LOL! She tells me if my work is good, bad, or ugly. She said to me the other day…”Mom, I can’t wait till I see my birthday card that you are going to make me!”…Well Amy, way to lay on the stress….! I decided that I had to go all out.

On my shopping spree to Archiver’s the other day I picked up this mini album in the shape of a castle. Don’t ask me who made it….I have been working on it for 2 weeks and have thrown all the packaging away! The idea is that I will put pics of her party on Saturday in it.  She is my little princess, my little Barbie lover. Her room is all pink and satin and lace. My eldest daughter is the dragon lover who has a room full of fearsome beasts and tons of teeth. Sooo I let loose and went overboard with pink and sparkles :-)

There is an assortment of ribbon which I couldn’t begin to list. The papers are CTMH’s Daydream papers  and Bazzil Bling textured CS. There are flowers and bling from Michael’s and CTMH. Silver and Crystal stickles. Stickers from Michaels. Sakura glitter gel pens and the adorable Princess Anya to stand by the door.

I am hoping she will be happy with it and that she is Wowed LOL. It took me FOREVER to sand all those little edges and scallops Errgghh. My main worry is how will I top this next year.

What does she want for birthday food???? She wants to make homemade mac and cheese with mommy…go figure. We already made a cake. Given the choice of store bought and making their own cake..my kids ALWAYS choose ‘make my own’. Much cheaper for mom! We made strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and blue sprinkles…her choice.

I did find out who did the cool thing with the covered brads as snowman earmuffs. It is Bren Yule a very talented CTMH consultant.

I will be busy tomorrow so I will not have time to post.  So have a wonderful Wednesday and Thursday.

Enjoy!

PS sorry for all the pics :-)

Simple Thanks

Well this card was all me…except the technique I got from Barb (awesome talented lady) from The Buzz of using a punch to make a cool border in this post. But other than that, no sketches, no books, no color challenges!!! HA I can do it :-)

Supplies: Black CS CTMH, Silhouette Creative Basics CTMH, Be Yourself SS, For Every Occasion SS, Tender Tags SS all CTMH, Fiskars border punch, Versafine black onyx ink, Storybook Cartridge Cricut…yes this DOES do it all! Who needs Nesties?, Ribbon CTMH, Eyelet CTMH.

I am feeling a little better today, thanks for all your comments and concerns! My son is OK….I just have to redress his wound 3 times a day which for me is no biggie, but for him is a trial :-)

I want to thank Krista for a blog award! I have been really remiss in responding to these, as life and summer overtook me LOL. Thanks Krista, I am sending it right back out to all those people who follow my blog and leave such encouraging comments.

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!

Enjoy!

Mojo Monday 97..

A little Mojo card for you!  There were struggles in the craft spot tonight…if you knew how long it took me to make this and how many pieces of paper I went through LOL. Finally you just gotta walk away and say enough. I am sure you have all been there! 

Supplies: Silhouette lv2 PP CTMH, Versafine Onyx black ink, Card Commentary SS CTMH,  Storybook Cricut cartridge, Adhesive pearls LSS.

It had been a long, stressful, challenging day and I for one am glad it is over.  My son’s Dr’s visit was pretty terrible, but it is all over now and I will not bore you with the details. I think that is why I struggled with the card…BUT it was therapy and took my mind off things.

Have a wonderful Monday guys! Thanks for your thoughts, comments, and prayers. I just hit 50 followers too!!! Who would have thunk it! Thanks Penny :-)

Enjoy!

A Quick and Simple Card…

This was one of the cards I sent my DD at camp! SO easy with the help of the Storybook  Cricut cartridge  and an EK punch. The owl and branch are kraft and Cocoa CS cut with the Cricut. The flowers are  punched with Sunny Yellow CS, with a little stickle action. The sentiment is from CTMH.

I don’t have a big post tonight…My DD came home yesterday and had a BLAST at camp. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I missed her a lot and was pretty stressed. Ya know how stress affects your mojo.  She said she loved all her little hand made cards from Mom and that all the girls would grab the cards off of her to look at them :0)

Tomorrow I have to take my DS to the dermatologists office to have a large mole removed under local. Again I am pretty stressed as to how he will be with the lidocaine shots.  So forgive me for the Simple post and card!  Have a wonderful Sunday evening everyone.

Enjoy!

Unscripted Sketches #16

Hello and happy Saturday to you all. It is time for another Unscripted Sketch. This week the DT  incorporated a photo into their work.  I decided to do a picture frame this time. This was a wooden oval I picked up at Wal-Mart for $1 . I painted it with primer and then with acrylic paint. Then I printed my photo in sepia on colonial white CS. I loved the effect…that’s why my photo looks so muted in the pic.  The flowers were in a clearance bin at Michael's. Although this looks very washed out in the photo it has more color IRL. I played and played with it and couldn’t get it to look right. The photo is of my eldest daughter and in the photo she actually had orchids in her hair.

Supplies: Pearls, Bling, and flowers all from Michael’s, Colonial white and Parchment CS CTMH, Storybook cartridge Cricut, 3m foam mounting tape, wooden picture frame Wal-mart.

When you guys read this I will be on my way to pick up my DD from GS camp. Here’s hoping she had a blast. I missed her so much..It surprised me how much! I want to take a moment and thank each and every one of you who takes the time to stop by my blog and leave a comment…and even if you don’t…thanks for looking! I have met some wonderful virtual friends here in the blogosphere and I feel very blessed.

I pray that you all have a safe and wonderful weekend. Make sure you take a moment and check out all of the other wonderful Unscripted DT members work. Such an amazing group of ladies.

Enjoy!

Simple Kraft Cards…

I know these don’t have any sentiments or any extra’s, but I did like the effect of the cut kraft. I had been to my LSS and rented the Storybook Cricut Cartridge for a week. After using it a few times I gave in and just bought it LOL. This cartridge is chock FULL of goodies.  I made these just by trying out different cuts. They did end up going to camp with my DD!  That white Chinese character is embossed.

Supplies: Colonial white CS CTMH, Kraft CS LSS, Parchment CS CTMH, Wisdom SS CTMH (I think Lol) Cricut Storybook cartridge.)

Do you want a chuckle ? Then head on over to this blog  and read the post Skinny Jeans and Kevlar Vests…very funny!  I am loving this blog for a bit of  entertainment :-)

Another blog I have recently discovered is Who Is Tracy . This is probably one you guys all know and love, but it is new to me. Gorgeous stuff there.

I hope you are all having a great Thursday and are enjoying your evening! I am waiting for Saturday to get here so I can go pick up my DD from camp. I am missing her like crazy.

Enjoy!

A Christmas Card…..

I  have finally been able to do a card for Sparkle’s Christmas Card Challenge woohooo! This is for her challenge #33 which is to use strips of paper. Then I saw the Mojo Monday sketch #96 and was able to incorporate both challenges!

I have been wanting to do a Christmas Card for ages and I LOVE Sparkle’s blog. Using those covered brads  as ear muffs was not my idea…I saw it on the CTMH BB ages ago and didn’t make note of who did it. So if this was your original idea please leave a comment so I can edit this post. The papers are a special offer set from a year or two ago from CTMH called Serendipity.

Supplies: White Daisy CS CTMH, Serendipity PP CTMH, Dutch Blue ink, Orange ink, Black ink  CTMH, All Decked Out SS CTMH, Bling CTMH, Snowflake Punch Martha Stewart, Brads and Ribbon CTMH, Silver Stickles, Sakura glitter pens.

What a GORGEOUS day it is here today. Once again all the windows are open and the sun is shining. We are busy doing school work so I will keep this short.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Enjoy!

Simple Flower Card…

This card is (I think) 8x 3 1/2 inches. I love these long cards. Once again I got out my brass stencils and embossed the same flower image in 3 different colored cardstocks, then lightly sanded them. The stems are embroidery floss, and the ribbon was added to cover up the area where the Swiss dots folder overlapped and the dots are smooshed.  If I hadn’t added the blue flower I could have used it for KJ’s color chef challenge.

Supplies: White Daisy, Tulip, Sunny Yellow, (can’t remember what blue that is) Cardstock…all CTMH, Embroidery floss Joanne’s, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Sentiment CTMH, Sunny Yellow ink CTMH, ribbon CTMH

Well our Tuesday started off rainy and chilly at 64 degrees! I feel sorry for my DD who is at a swimming/ water sports camp right now. Ya think I would have been safe signing her up for that kind of camp in mid/late July! I think our max temp for the next couple of days is supposed to be 84. Ok I will stop going ON and ON about the weather!

I started tackling home schooling more than one kid today…If we want to take 3 weeks off in Sept/Oct for grandparents visit we need to start now. So with my DD at camp I started working with the other 2. I will be teaching a second grader, a fourth grader and seventh grader…yikes! They really did enjoy it today and realized how quickly we could do the work. They really liked the math program! I think once we figure things out a bit I will be able to let them self direct somewhat. I already notice what an improvement of attitude they have as they have been out of school for 6 weeks. I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea…but it is what I feel we need to do. Wish me luck!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday!

Enjoy!

I Miss You….

….did you miss me LOL! I made this card for my daughter who I am packing off to Girl Scout camp today. She will be gone for 5 days. That is the longest she has been away from me (esp. where I cannot contact her). At least they let you send emails to them now. I made up several cards for her to get during camp. I will be posting them on here over the next few days.

I decided that I had better use some of these brass stencils I have. This one was a bee (just in case you didn’t realize). I decided to do his wings in vellum. Then I punched out the flower in CS and vellum as well. A few glue dots, sanding, and stitches later this was the result. The DP was part of some loose 12x12 sheets I got on sale online so I can’t remember what it is!

Supplies: Brass Bee embossing stencil LSS, Flower punch EK Success?, Garden green CS CTMH, Sentiment stamp CTMH, Embroidery floss Joann’s, Vellum Hobby Lobby, Sunflower CS CTMH, Button CTMH.

I need to spend some time visiting everyone's blogs and leaving comments again….it feels like it’s been forever. I have been surfing on Google Reader and soaking up all the wonderful posts though, even if I haven’t been leaving comments.

The weather here in central Iowa has been weird to say the least. They say that this is the first time since the 1800’s we haven’t reached 90 in July. Yesterday afternoon we had the AC shut off and the windows OPEN!! We have a south facing living area which is usually so difficult to keep cool, but the breeze was just gorgeous. Usually in July in the afternoon it is unbearable out on our south facing deck!!! I for one am not complaining though about these temps…it’s like spring all over again.

I hope you are all having a terrific Monday!

Enjoy!

Unscripted Sketches #15

This is a scheduled post for Unscripted Sketches, so I am still  away from my blog LOL! (AFMB) This card was so easy and required NO stamping and cutting. I found these papers at Archiver’s  on my little shopping adventure. They are by Cosmo Cricket and were on sale as part of a crafting kit for $10…it included 12 DP, 18 cut-apart element cards, 9 cut-apart borders and 19 cardstock stickers. I totally fell in love with the retro 1950’s feel to them. That cherry paper is too cute.

supplies: Cosmo Cricket Crafting Kit, Tulip brads CTMH.

I hope to be back sometime next week.

Make sure you take time to go check out all the other DT creations.

Enjoy!

A Quick Little Card and a Blogging Break…

 

This is a quick card I put together mainly so I could use my glitter embossing powder and my new candle edger punch.  So it isn’t one of my best. I am tired and lacking in Mojo.

Supplies: Vanilla Cream, Blush, Desert Sand CS CTMH, Black Ink CTMH, Kid Quotes SS Inkadinkado, Zing Pink EP, Martha Stewart Cupcake punch, EK Success Edger punch (Candles)  Swiss Dots Folder Cuttlebug.

So I have had this weird stressed out feeling all day…like a pressure. I do have a busy 2 weeks coming up, swimming lessons every day, errands and housework in the afternoons and VBS for 2 hours every evening! I work this coming weekend then I have to get my oldest off to Girl Scout Camp for a week. SO I decided to take a blogging break for a week.  I will still have my next Saturday Unscripted Sketch post …but other than that I will not post until Tuesday 21st. It is also my youngest daughters 8th birthday coming up at the end of July and I have an album I want to work on for her instead of a card and it is a big project.  I will probably still have some  time to blurf and leave some comments…..but other than that I need some time away LOL :-) I hope you will bear with me, and that  I will  have some fun stuff for you when I get back.

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!

Enjoy!

Unscripted Sketch #14

 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday everyone, here is another Unscripted Sketch for you to try.  I went with another layout again. I have had these pictures of my ‘Aunty Dolly’ for ages and have wanted to put them in a layout. She was really my Mom’s great aunt but we always called her aunty. There is a sad story that goes with her life. She was a beautiful, young nursing student, who was engaged to be married, when she was struck down with a neurological disease that caused her to literally be paralyzed. She was bedridden for many years. Her fiancé left her and she could no longer be a nurse. My Mom would spend many hours at her bedside when she was young playing games with her and entertaining her. As she got older advances in medicine found drugs that could treat her disease and she could walk again. She never married and lived until she was in her 80s! I just love these pictures and this was the perfect chance to use them.

Supplies: Paper..sorry I can’t remember….Brads, Foundry Frame , flowers CTMH, Lace Wal-Mart, Button from my stash, Letter brads Joann’s clearance.

I am going to spend this Saturday with my great friend and fellow stamp/scrap addict. We are going to be kid free for the day, thanks hubbies! We will have breakfast and then spend the day cruising every crafting/scrapping/stamping store in the Des Moines area!!!! This includes at least  2 Michaels, 2 Joann’s, several Hobby Lobbies, an Archiver’s, and some really great  local stores. We are loaded up with coupons and are ready to raid the dollar bins :-) I can’t wait!

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Enjoy!