Character Parade

Today the boys' had a "Character Parade" at their school. The students were encouraged to dress up as a character from a book and then they had a parade. It was quite cute, actually!
The boys went as Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory... the original with Gene Wilder!!! Their faces will be painted orange tonight, but the rest is pretty good!




Here's Riley looking for me. He walked by me the first loop and didn't even see us. They are so cute!!!! All the kids were adorable in their outfits.






And of course, Brodie had to do her part, too! She would not stand still at the parade and had to dance with the music. I tried to take several pictures of her, but they were all so blurry she was dancing so fast! She kepts pointing out all the costumes she knew... especially the "pincess" and "formers" of which there were LOTS!!!



Now I'm off to get dinner fixed and done so we can go hit the streets! I found a dress for Brodie, so hopefully it will all work out. I'll take more pictures tonight!

Halloween Costumes

Today's sketch and more

Today's sketch used one of my favorite color combo and stamp sets. Angel had a Quick Card Class and these were the 3 colors she used... I fell in love with the combo and if SU ever discontinues any of these colors, I'll protest! I know the layout isn't exactly like Sketch #25 of Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity, but I used my creative license and made it work for the card I had in mind. (Read that as, I cut the cardstock wrong, so I had to try and figure out how to save the card!) It's still basically the same layout, just switched around. Anyway, the Stamp Set is Botanicals... (I am SO glad I got this one before it was discontinued!!!) Colors are More Mustard, Old Olive and Ruby Red. Ink is Old Olive. Square Ruby Red Eyelets and Narrow White Grograin Ribbon. Simple, huh? Yet, elegant and comes together nicely.

I can't say home much the Sketches Angel has created have come in handy already! Last night, I realized I hadn't made cards for the boys' teachers. I wanted something quick, simple and yet perfect for Halloween. I realized I didn't have a stamp set I could use, but found these 3 little guys in the Year Round Fun set, so it works perfectly! I can see myself using this set for every holiday! This is from Sketch #10. I LOVE this layout!!! I managed to make 4 cards in about 10 min total time. They were so quick, easy and I love the look! This is going to be a sketch I overuse!!!

Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and White are the colors. Year Round Fun (I think that's the name) are the stamps and I watercolored in the images with Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green and Going Grey. Happy Halloween from More Great Greetings (again, I THINK that's the name) stamped in Craft White.

I'm off to find something for Brodie to wear tonight. I didn't have any luck yesterday, so I'm hoping the PX here will have SOMETHING that will work! Nothing like waiting till the last minute! I seem to do my best work under pressure!!

I found a good thing in New York!!!

This is by far my favorite scene here in New York, so far. This is on the way to the Scout Store, so I don't get out this way much, but when I do I am rewarded! I love the train tressle and the rolling hill under it. I also love the fact that there are no power lines to mar the scene. I would LOVE a house right there in the middle of the picture...
I missed the "perfect" picture opportunity last week, though. The trees were beautiful! A perfect blend of yellows, reds and greens. However, a day of heavy rain on Saturday did away with most of the fall colors around here. Now what's left is odd colors of greens and dead tress with bare limbs. I need to take the next picture when the sun is behind me instead of at an angle, so I can get the true picture. I think this is going to be one of the shots that I get at every season... can ya blame me!? I figure with 3 years, I can hopefully get 4 decent shots!
But for now, I'm off to bed! I'm finished with the cupcakes, sewed the boys costumes for tomorrow and tried to clean up the house a little... That's enough for now! Until tomorrow!

It's beginning to look like...

Christmas!!! At least in my stamping room, it is! I decided to go with a Christmas theme with Angel's Sketch today. I'm trying to get out of my Halloween mode, even though it is tomorrow! (come back to see the boys in their outfits... ok, me too!!!)

So, here is Sketch #24 in Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity. I am going to be so sad to see it end! Unless ofcourse, I am lucky enough to need to find the "booty" a home!!!

I decided to break out some new colors that had not graced my stamp table yet. Today I went with Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgandy. The stamp sets are Cowboy Christmas and Sketch It. I'm not sure where I got the frilly gold stuff, but I liked the colors combo. I don't like my cows too much, or should I say, I don't like how my black ink looks purple! I'm trying to find a new black ink that is actually BLACK! The burgandy twine is from SU...but rarely used.
The Cowboy Christmas card was inspired by my missing Texas, and since it doens't snow where I'm from in Texas, the grass is still green for the cows! (That and I couldn't find anything white to use on the image!)
Now I'm off to find something for Brodie to wear for Halloween. I have a feeling since the boys and I are wearing the same costumes as last year, so will Brodie... but she outgrew hers, so I guess it's time to shop!!! I know... wearing the same costume twice... but when you see how much effort I put into it you will understand! Not to mention, we are in a new state and no one has seen them yet... why not get more use out of them! I know I will have to come up with something new for next year! Plus, the boys look so darn cute in them! They are having a "story book costume parade" tomorrow at school, and these costumes fit in perfectly with that, too! I'll be sure to take pictures of them to put on here!
Until then... I'm off to see the wizard.... or at least Target!

If I EVER see another cupcake...

It will be TOOOO soon! Unfortunately, I have to make more tomorrow! UGH! I made 80 of these lovely witch cupcakes for our Plebes (freshman) and Yucks (sophomores) for Halloween. I only have about 70 more to make tomorrow for our Cows and Firsties (juniors and seniors). They were fun, but WOW!!! That's a lot of cupcakes!!!
I sure don't want to eat cake anytime soon!!!

And all this after spending 6 hours at the dealership buying a new TRUCK! Yep, we are now a 2 vehicle family again! YEAH! It's been rough with 1 vehicle and 5 people with different plans and agendas!!! It's pretty sweet, but the only thing I don't like about it is it's BURNT ORANGE! YUCK! (University of Texas colors for those who don't know. It's my husbands favorite college team, but my family is from a rival school, Texas Tech...) But... I can't complain too much! Or at least I won't until I finally get to drive it! It will be nice to have my music already on the radio each time I get in, though!
Off to bed, to dream of witches and cupcakes, I'm sure!!!

Late night, early start!

After eating so much last night, I have heartburn like crazy!!! Oh the woes of being pregnant!!!

I do have a card to post today though... It's amazing what discomfort, and waking up early, will drive you to do to to try and forget it!

So, having said that, on to the post!

This is Sketch #23 of Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity! I started out with the ribbon with this one.. I liked the color combination and decided to try and match it. I think the colors for Mint Melody and Regal Rose matched nicely! With a base of Chocolate Chip, I think it all come togeter nicely. Stamps are from Priceless and the quote is from Deja View Fresh Views Vellum Quotes. Mini Gold Brads finished the project.

I'm off to start making 150 cupcake witches for our cadets.... all before Wednesday! Really, no pressure! :-) I think I will never want a cupcake after this project!!!

Ummm Yummy!

Here is my Pumpkin Pecan Pie! It has a layer of cream cheese on the bottom, followed by a layer of pumpkin, topped off with a mix of pecan pieces and milk chocolate toffee pieces. The brown sugar caramalized the pecans to make it tooo yummy!!! Topped off with whipped cream and some hot fudge (it is actually better without the fudge on top, but that's the first way we tried it.) Overall, it was tooooo good and we ate too much! After chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, we were all full!
I'm really getting into the fall feeling now... pecan and pumpkin pie, warm clothes, cold breezes on my face. Not to mention the hope of a little snow! (as long as it's before or after Jan 14th!!!)

More fun!!!

I'm still having a blast playing along with Angel's countdown to her birthday! What an awesome way to celebrate! Today is Sketch #22. This one was fun to do, but then again, they have all been fun!
I started this card with the quote and found colors to match. I sponged the white cardstock under the quote with Baroque Burgandy, layered it on Night of Navy and attached a square of Baroque Burgandy to the edge. I completed the top with a Night of Navy eyelet. All of that was layered on Kraft, which in turn was attached to the Baroque Burgandy card front. I used my piercing tool to poke holes and drew faux stitching between them. To match the outine around the quote, I simply touched my Baroque Burgandy ink pad directly to the BB CS to get the outline marks. All in all, I like the look of this card. It came together very nicely and yet still looks crisp. This is TOOOO much fun!!!
We are having cadets over again tonight... the story of my life... so I'd better go start cooking and cleaning. I'm trying a new Pumpkin Pecan Pie tonight, so I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out! I looks yummy in the magainze! But then again, don't they always!!!

In the Pink

Can you tell I've been busy? 2 posts in one day! Wow.. I'd better slow myself down!

Today's second post is for Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity! Sketch #21 was fun! (I don't think I haven't had fun with one of her sketches yet!!!) I had a pregnant moment and ended up doing the card standard size instead of long like Angels... hope it still qualifies!!!

After using Sugar & Spice with a previous sketch, I decided to give it more ink time. I thought the little girls would be perfect in the spotlight oval. Angel did a card with Pixie Pink a while ago and I loved the colors combo with Black and White, so I had to copy it! So, those are the colors used: Pixie Pink, Basic Black and White. Hot Pink and Black wide Organdy Ribbon tied to a Hodgepodge Hardware piece. I tried to balance out the big blank empty spot and I think the Pink flower corner did a good job! I definately have to give this set more ink time! We have been through many changes in SU! and yet it is still one of my favorites! (This was my very FIRST SU! stamp set!!!)

So, now I'm off to help plan a baby shower... and then hopefully to stamp some more this afternoon!!! Will the fun ever end? (I'm sure it will now that I've said that!)

Disney Bound!!!

I WISH!!! I did this card for Tracy's October Happiness Giveaway! She challenged us to do either a Hawaii or Disney themed card! I went Disney, because I wanted to do something out of the box and did a circle card! I saw something on someones blog and thought it looked cute and different to do!
So, here is my Disney contribution! Now if I could just actually GO there, that would be better!!!
Colors are simple: Basic Black, Real Red and White. Can it get any easier than that??? Circles are cut out with my CM circle/oval cutter. Quote is "The way to get started is to stop talking and start doing." ~Walt Disney. The back ground is stamped in Fresh Favorites in Real Red.
So, now I'm feeling a little dizzy after all those circles, I'm going to go spin!!!

On top of the world.. or at least the stamping part!

I'm actually ahead of the game this morning! I got some good sleep, finally!!! Brodie is FINALLY sleeping through the night! Now of course, the next baby will mess MY sleeping schedule up, but I am DETERMINED this one WILL sleep through the night from day one! (Hey, a tired Mom can dream, can't she???) I'm already doing the 2am pee-run, so at least I'm not totally enjoying a full night right now! I'm just glad Brodie is !!!!

So, with some sleep under my pillow, I got up refreshed. Took husband to work, came home fed the kids, started a load of wash and manged to stamp a card!!! WOW... now it's nap time! (Another dream because Brodie refuses to nap!!! One step at a time, I know!)

So, here is my card for Sketch #20 of Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity!!! YEAH! I'm not totally sold on this card, so I think I might go back and revamp it, but I'm going to post it for now. I used colors from a color challenge I saw somewhere, and now can't remember where it was! The colors were Basic Gray, Bliss/Bashful Blue and Rose Red. Not colors I would normally put together. I used Angel's Sketch for the layout, so I added a Scalloped Circle in Pretty in Pink since that was the only color of Scallops I had and Versamarked the circle from Priceless and embossed it with Glitter. Tied it with a Bliss Blue PolkaDot Ribbon and used the saying from Mini Mates to complete it. It's the Pretty in Pink that is throwing me, so I might have to try something different instead... who knows!!!

So, now I'm off to work on some other stamping projects while the husband is at work and unaware that I'm actually having fun while at home! But all you mothers/wives know, even though I'm having fun, I'm also doing chores at the same time! Laudry, referee (the boys dont' have school today so I have all three ADORABLE children home!), short order cook, maintanence.... we can do it all! We are women, hear us ROAR! And moan usually from the pain!

Stamping, Stamping and more Stamping!

Sketch #19 of Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity. What can I say.... I REALLY liked this sketch! It was so simple, yet I LOVE the look of the cards! I really had fun doing these cards and I think I may come back to it tomorrow and do more!
The top one has a special place... it uses "Sugar & Spice" stamp set. That was my very FIRST SU! Set and it carries fond memories! Mellow Moss and White CS are all I used. The DP is something I bought to use incase this baby was a girl, so I am glad I found a pretty card to use it with. It's by Provo Craft, but I don't know the name. Peach narrow organdy ribbon ties off the Vellum Quote from Deja Views Fresh Views. I used Mellow Moss and Creamy Caramel ink pads along with my blender pen and a pink watercolor pencil for the coloring. Edge of stamped image is distressed and then sponged with Creamy Caramel on the edges to soften the white.
The one on the left is Perfect Plum and River Rock CS. Mixed Stripe DP with a vellum quote from Deja Views Fresh Views stack and wide vanilla organdy ribbon, tied off with a bit of twine. Stamp is from Seaside Sketches, another one of my favorites! watercolored with watercolor pencils as close as I could match to the paper.
The right one is Baroque Burgandy and Old Olive with White CS. DP from I'm not sure what stack. White Grogain ribbon and Seaside Sketches again is the stamp set. Verse is stamped in Balck. Edge of stamped image is distressed with my distresser. Image is colored with Prismcolor colored pencils and blended with Mineral Spirits and a Blending Stump! I LOVE this technique! I need to find some more Prismcolor pencils for I was limited to only 4 colors! They give the best blending and color defination! (My crayola colored pencils just don't do the technique justice!)
So.. that was my fun stamping adventure today! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

Sketch 18!!

I'm early today.. and happy I'm back on track! I woke up with visions of stamps and cards floating in my mind and couldn't wait to stamp!

Sketch #18...I'm not sure if this is the actual direction I started out on for this card, but the glue is so darn sticky I couldn't change my mind!!! I did finally manage to complete Angel's "Color Challenge" of Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Baroque Burgundy! YEAH!! I origionally had fall leaves where the DP paper is, but didn't like the way it looked when it was done, so I pulled out my papers and tried to find something that went with the colors I already had! I think this one works. Looking back, I should have stamped the words in Blue to match the color on the DP, but oh well... it's already signed, sealed and stamped! It looks better in person than it does in the picture!
It's raining, but I'm off to get the oil changed in the beast and to maybe go to Michaels to look for glitter pens!!! YEAH!!!!

Caught up and tired....

It felt good to finally stamp again! It's like visiting an old friend! I had 4 Sketches to do today to catch up to Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity. I think I did a fairly good job! Three of them were cards that I needed to make, so it was a perfect challenge!!! Now I'm tired and ready for bed, but I can't wait to see what tomorrow's Sketch will hold!!!

This is Sketch #14. For this one, I stuck with YoYo Yellow and Basic Black. My Secret Sister loves West Point, where we are stationed, and those are the colors of the school... so I went with that for her gift this week! I found a really cool stencil that I wanted to try out, so I sponged the beehive in Creamy Caramel, the bees in Black and then Q-tipped the yellow in the bees. I'm not really happy with the words, but it works.






This one was too much fun! This is Sketch #15. I am having a baby shower (yeah!) and I offered to help the lady hosting it to make the invitations since she works all day. Yes, I know, but all the more reason to stamp!!! This is the set my announcements will be made out of, as well as the thank you cards and the accents in his room... and the colors are his "theme" colors. I really liked how it came out.
Bundle of Joy is the set, along with words I don't know where they came from. Colors are Wild Wasabi, So Saffron and Ballet Blue. Giraffe is blended in Chocolate Chip and More Mustard. So Saffron Eyelets finish the card.


For Sketch #16, I took the "color challenge" by Angel and incorporated Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie into my card. Somehow in ordering the new colors I overlooked Bravo Burgundy, so I can't play along with that color.
This is Fall Whimsy stamp set, which I absolutely love but don't give enough ink time. Colors are Summer Sun, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie. Leaf is watercolored with Orange using a cool new technique I learned from Angel, but I think my mineral spirits have expired so I didn't get the look I was hoping for. Need to find some new Spirits!!!


For Sketch #17, I used Angel's colors again, Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie, adding Chocolate Chip and Ruby Red, too. This time I used the Pumpkin from Fall Whimsy, blending the pumpkin with Pumpkin Pie (what else) and Old Olive, with a little shadow of Chocolate Chip. I think the other stamp set is Background Sampler, but not sure. I added the background behind the pumpkin as an after thought to try to balance out the card. These are actually invitations for cadets who are not going home for Thanksgiving... I think they will be well received. (At least I know the food will be welcomed!!!) I made 20 of them, but decided to only take a picture of one!

So, that is me caught up... for now! I hope not to get so far behind next time!!!

It's been one of those days...

This has been one of those "blah" days, so I'm making a quick post and then I'm going to indulge in chocolate.... lots of chocolate!!!

This is Sketch #13 from Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity. I couldn't decide what saying to use, so I just used them both. I think the bottom card will make a nice "man card," as I'm always looking for more of them... The top was made with a specific friend in mind, so hopefully it will bring her some comfort.

Details: Top...Lavender Lace, Green Galore, DP from I'm not sure where, Priceless Template, Green Galore Eyelets.
Bottom...Really Rust, Night of Navy, Old Olive CS, again, DP from I'm not sure, but I liked the circles. They seemed to work great for this sketch, too! The tree actually came with the quote and I liked the colors, so I kept it.

Now... ON TO THE CHOCOLATE!!!

Seeing Spots!

Ok.. Confession time...I have to admit, I am always a little hesitant to start one of Angel's new sketches. She is so creative, I'm afraid I won't do her sketches justice, or I may look like I'm trying to copy her! I never know what direction I'm going, and this one was no different. At first, I didn't like what I had done, but then it kinda of all came together, or at least I think it did! Blue's Clues was talking about "Opposites" today, so I did an opposite card! Little and big, as Brodie pointed out! Guess I seriously need to get some adult friends!!!
Details: The cards for Sketch #12 was fun, once I got started! I used my CM circle cutter to start with the top image. From there I coordinated Rose Red, Bliss Blue and Summer Sun to match the colors in the DP. The words are from "Love Has No End" stamped in Rose Red on So Saffron. To bring the Summer Sun to the top, I sponged SS around the outside of the So Saffron circle. The background is from "Priceless" stamped in Summer Sun. The edges on the big circles are distressed, just because I can do that now! Thanks to Angel!

I forgot to say that with yesterdays Sketch #11, I finally got to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig! How did I EVER live without that before? I'm usually pretty good at getting images centered when I stamp, but with the 4 images on the quad card, that was going to be tricky! Until I remembered my nifty Stamp-a-ma-jig! Made it easy peasy! Thanks again, Angel, for letting me know the true benefit if the Stamp-a-ma-jig!!!

Stamping again, finally!!!

I finally got a chance to stamp again today, and I'm pretty pleased what I came out with. I'm still playing along with Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity and having a BLAST! I did two sketches today, catching up from not being able to do anything yesterday.

This is Sketch #10. I needed a "Thank You" something, so I decided to make 4 of these cards to give as a gift set. I like how quick and easy they were to do, and yet still "cool" looking!
I went with the Bold Brights Color scheme, staying with them for each card. The stamps are all from Teeny Tinies. I didn't have the paper piercing thing, and my straight lines were anything but straight, so I figured out I can use my embossing template with a scalloped edge and used that as a piercing template! Viola!!!


For Sketch #11, I needed some thank you cards and I LOVED the look of these! Again, I used the embossing template edge as the straight edge for piercing. I may have to eventually purchase a paper piercing template, but this worked for now.... I think Angel is getting me addicted to piercing (paper piercing, that is!)!!! You can't really tell, but the 4 images are divided by lines of holes... it's pretty cool in real life, but I can't seem to get a good image.
For these I used Old Olive, More Mustard, Ruby Red(I love that color combo and Botanicals!!!); and Tempting Turquoise and Black with Kanji.
I feel better about not being behind now... I'm behind in enough already I didn't need one more thing to catch up on! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

It's FALL!!!!

Today we did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time! We raked the leaves from our front yard and the kids jumped in!!! Over and over again! We haven't had trees in our yard before so this was a completely new experience for them. As you can see from the pictures, they seemed to enjoy it! Randy is pretty handy with a rake, too! He has a new chore! :-)
As you can see in the picture with Randy, Brodie is trying to give the rake a go, too!

The bad thing, is that with the way the leaves are falling here, I'll have to rake it up again tomorrow! I'm sure the kids will be dissapointed!!! Oh the joys of FALL!!!!

Catch up

Brodie had a terrible night last night with fever and what I can only hope were fever nightmares. She was up every hour screaming, but not fully awake. I am SO hoping it's not like Riley's night terrors we went through. Her fever finally broke today, so I'm hoping it's a better night. I didn't get much accomplished today, but did get the gift for my Secret Sister completed! I turned a Oatmeal box into a "Cookie Jar" and filled it with fresh Oatmeal cookies! Covered with some DP paper I found at Michaels and finished with a cool flower I got from Angel's goodie bag!!!

I have a few more pictures to post from today, but I'm going to put them in a new blog.. it's of the kids. What can I say?

Quick Post

It's getting late, Brodie's been sick and she's finally asleep, but I wanted to get this posted before I lost the day! This is part of Angel's fun, Sketch #9! I think I like this one most of all! I'll come back tomorrow and link everything, but right now, I'm exhausted!

Sick Day... yuck

Brodie has been running a fever all day, so I haven't done much but cuddle with her. I'm trying to enjoy it while I can! Jason has been at work, but I haven't accomplished any of what I set out to do! We did get Randy's Seed Collection going and he did an awesome job finding and labeling seeds to take to Cub Scouts tomorrow! We even went online and looked up the seeds we found to make sure he had them right. He's quite a pro at "googling" online! He kept telling me, "Mom, lets just google it and find out!"

But... I did mangage to get a quick card done for Angel's Sketch #8. I'm not too thrilled about how it came out, but I like the layout and I think I will be back to play more with it. I LOVE the preprinted vellum quotes that Angel got me hooked on! They are so quick, elegant and elimiates the need to have 50 million word stamps! Thanks Angel!!!

Hopefully Brodie will start feeling better.. I'm supposed to learn to knit tomorrow morning, so we will see how that goes!!

Triple the fun

I had planned on making today a "no stamping" day and to just use my Simply Scrappin' Kits (since they RARELY see sunlight!), but there was something missing on two of the cards, so I ended up having to break out my stamps! Oh well... I think they did the cards justice, so I can't complain too much! Today's card ideas come from Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity. This is Sketch #7! Yeah!!

There are too many details I can't remember about what Simply Scrappin' Kits I used, so I'm just going to let the cards speak for themselves today!

I also had a WONDERFUL surprise in the mail
today! A BIG GREEN Envelope! Since Angel told me she mailed my surprise in that envelope I

knew what it must be!! It took all the restraint I had to finish pulling the rest of the mail out of the box before I tore in to the "important" one! And I wasn't dissapointed! I already knew what was in there, but actually looking at them HERE was like Christmas! Pink Christmas! I can't wait till the Sketch tomorrow! I know what color my card is going to be!!! The best thing, not that I can pick ONE thing that is best, but I finally got a distresser!! I have been eyeing Angel's cards that have the distressed edge and have been trying to duplicate the result myself. It hasn't worked! But now I can do it!! THANK YOU ANGEL! If you want to know why I received this lovely mix, you can check that out here and then play along with her new game to win something yourself!!! It's well worth it! I already have a list of cards to make "if" I am the lucky winner!!!

Jason is at work today with all his Plebes (freshmen) and their parents for Plebe Parent Weekend, so I think I feel like stamping the day away! And he has 24 hour duty tomorrow, so I know what I will be doing then, too! If only housework didn't get in the way! Who says the kids need to eat 3 meals a day!!!

Sketch 6

I love finding out what Sketch Angel is going to have on her blog each morning! Today is Sketch 6! I love the simple layout and yet the still elegant look to the card. Today was a busy day, with searching for a winter jacket for Jason... something unheard of in Texas!!! Then Randy had his Pack Meeting tonight and the Space Derby!!! I will post pictures of him in a few mintues. And yet in all the chaos, it only took me about 15 minutes to make this card! I think this would make a perfect mother's day card... or just a cool card to send to a mother! I might have to whip up a few more tomorrow! Along with Sketch 7! This is tooo much fun! Thanks Angel!!!!

Love is in the air

I LOVE Sketch #5 from Angel's 31 Days of Angelosity! This one was too much fun! I've been trying to use stamp sets I haven't used in a long time, or ever! And I'm trying the new color combinations, too! So far, I've been quite pleased with the results!

Today's Details: (L) Really Rust, Old Olive, Blue Bayou and Confetti White CS. Black and Really Rust Ink. Blender Pen and stapler. (R) Brocade Blue, More Mustard, Wild Wasabi and Confetti White CS. Black and Ruby Red Ink. Blender Pen and stapler.

I'm off to try and clean the house so I can do some more stamping tonight!

And the fun continues

This sketch was too fun! (So far I haven't seen one I don't like!) I needed two baby cards and a "neutral" card and this sketch was perfect for all of them! I loved the set Angel used for Sketch #4, and mine hasn't seen much ink, so I decided to use it as well!

Thanks Angel!

On a non-stamp related note: Randy has his Space Derby this Friday for Cub Scouts. We are in the process of making his Space Rocket... right now it's painted green, but it will soon look cool! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures so we can show off how he did! This is our first attempt at the Space Derby, so I'm not sure just what to expect. Hopefully our Wolves will do good!

Until then... have a happy night!

Fall Fun

I love playing along with Angel's countdown to her birthday! This is tooo much fun! I did all 4 cards in about 15 min, with the help of a 2 year old! They are so fun and easy to do, yet look good. They are all 4x4 in size... my first attempt at a card other than the 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 size. I have to say they are addictive! Not sure how they will mail, but they are perfect cards to add to a gift or to hand to someone! The best part is I actually made the cards in the past 3 days with people in mind and sent them to the people! I'm proud of myself! I always have such good intentions, but I am finally seeing those through! Thanks Angel!

Today is Sketch #3. Here's my take... I tried to make each one a little different, but with the same "blueprint."

Details: Close to Cocoa CS, Old Olive CS, Pumpkin Pie CS. Pumping and leaves are from Fally Whimsy, Stamped in Close to Cocoa and Old Olive. Watercolored with Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa and Old Olive. Gold mini brads and some gold sparkly

stuff I'm not sure where it comes from.

Again, I'm having too much fun with this series! I wish it was longer than 31 days!!!

Too much fun!

I decided to actually take a "holiday" today... I am spending the day doing FUN things I enjoy! (Yes, I know I will regret it tomorrow when I have TWICE as much to do! :-) )

I have felt very productive this morning... here is what I have managed to accomplish so far.

This is the second sketch that my friend Angel is doing. Sketch #2 was fun to do! I'm wishing for cold weather, so I went wintery this this one! I couldn't decide what color blue to use, so I did 2 monotone cards instead of one! What fun!
Details: Both cards use Naturals White CS, Snowflake Vellum and White Organdy Ribbon. Stamp from In The Spotlight and Snowflakes are from Flaky Friends. (L) Ballet Blue (R) Night of Navy. Easy Peasy!






This project was fun! We can't use the closet in the room the baby will be in, so I had to create a make-shift closet in the room... as you can see here...(the changing table will go under the blue hanging pockets and diaper stacker.) I had little baskets in the shelves on the left, and now I have added my own personal touch to them! (Yes, I know it's anal, but hey! It's an excuse to stamp!) The stamps I bought to use for his baby cards just happen to go along with the theme on his bedding, so it worked out perfectly! The colors are taken from his comforter.... Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, and Ruby Red. Not that I really needed labels on the baskets, but I like them better than the holes you used to see! Eventually, if my husband and I can decide on a name, I plan on stamping something with his name to hang... I love the little giraffe and bear that came with the set "Bundles of Joy" so I want to use them again!

So... now off to feed the kids, cut the boys hair and then stamp again!!!!

The game is on!!!

Ok.. I'm doing some Sketches with my friend Angel, and this is my first posting of them. I hope I get all the links right, so here goes!


This is Angel's Sketch #1. I had a lot of fun with this, but found out I don't like the Vellum tape. It still shows through the vellum on certain colors, but I think I was able to make it work.
This Sketch helped me fullfil some other projects I had been trying to do, so I have to thank Angel for giving me the motivation!
This card is going to a special cause... the Dunn twins. I'm sending the card along so that they will know we are praying for them. It's an awesome cause, and if you can join in, do so. I added words to the bottom of all my cards because I wanted to include something, but didn't have the stamps to say it.

These 3 cards are going to 3 special girls. They are Hollyn, Angel and Amanda. They are the featured children this month for Make A Child Smile. It's an awesome website that features 3 courageous children facing life threatening illnesses. I try to send a card to the featured children each month, and this Sketch gave me a fresh idea! I wanted to make each one different, but liked the same sketch, so I just tried to change the colors. I can't imagine what these children are going through, like the Dunn family, and it makes me appreciate every day my children are healthy. We take so much for granted... it's the least I can do.

Ok.. so there is my first attempt at the fun that will continue for the next 30 days! Stay tuned for more!!!

Chocolate, Chocolate and chocolate!

I have a "Secret Sister" from my church group and this is the first gift I have made for her. I'm comfortable posting it on here because I know she has no idea who I am... all the better to surprise her with things! Her info sheet says she loves ANYTHING chocolate, and lots of it. She loves the color pink and she just had knee surgery last week, so I combined all of them and came up with this "Cure-all" kit. It's a Whitman's (appropiate, I thought!) Chocolate box, covered with DP and FILLED with choclate. On the front side is a card with "Directions" as follows..."For best results, take one at the first sign of ailment and repeat as often as needed. May require several doese. Refills: Unlimited. caution, may be addictive!" I plan to leave it for her at our next meeting on Wednesday... along with the following card:


The circle says "chocolate is proof that God loves us." I thought that was appropriate since it is a church group! I didn't have any chocoalte colored ribbon like i was hoping, so I had to settle for a strip of paper, but I think it looks ok.



I'd better go catch up on my Thank you card writing since's it's almost been a week since Brodie's party.. I'm hoping to have a few more cards done today, so I'll try to post them if I do!

Hi Katie!!!

I just wanted to send a shout out to my "little Sis" Katie!!! I hope you are doing good and staying out of trouble!!! :-) Don't stress your mom out, too much! I need her stamping inspiration!!! I can't believe you are 16!!! Don't grow up too fast... you'll wonder where your years went when you get "old!"
Take care, lil' sis!!! I was rooting for "Katie" if we had had a girl!

Thank you...

I've been trying to come up with a new Thank You card for my cadets here, and I think I finally found one I'm happy with! I got the idea from Sara's Sketch 16... I LOVE having something to start with and yet still allows me some creative freedom. My hardest thing is getting started with a design or idea for a card. I usually know what colors I want, and what stamp to use, but having something to help me go from there is awesome!!! THANK YOU SARA!!! (I notice I have favored Tempting Turquoise lately... I guess I should have known I was having a boy!!!)

Details: Rose Red CS, layered with Tempting Turquoise with a thin layer of Confetti White. Tempting Turquoise is wheeled with Dilly Dally Friends Jumbo Wheel in Tempting Turquoise. Rose Romance (I love these colors even though they are not "current!") layered with Confetti White, stamped with "In Any Event" in, you guessed it, Tempting Turquoise! Flowers are from "Simply Said" and filled with Blue Brilliance Glitter... adhered with Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive...(this stuff is awesome!)

I know it's a simple card, but I love how fast it came together... only thing I'm missing from the sketch is the little paperclip item on the top right corner, but I didn't want to put tooo much up there with the flowers!

I've been feeling VERY pregnant all of a sudden... lots of heartburn, shortness of breath, just darn tired!!!.. I think this little guy is bench pressing my diaphram! I have my 24 week appointment on Friday and I'm hoping that my heart rate isn't creeping up... I sure would hate to think what would happen if I ended up on bed rest! Brodie taking care of me... that gives me high blood pressure just thinking of that!!!

I still can't believe I'm 24 weeks... 14 weeks to go and yet it seems FOREVER away! I got some more baby stuff for his room, (THANKS Grandma and Grandpa Hale!!!) so as soon as I can get up there and get it together, I'll get a picture on here. The bedding is much cuter than I remember!! Maybe just seeing it, knowing that soon our little man will be in it, makes it better!

Ok.. I think Jason got Brodie to bed, so I'd better follow suit. She's doing much better about going to bed and staying in bed through the night. It only took 2 years!!! Just in time for the NEXT one to keep me awake!!!