Treat box tutorial I had to share!

Today is Unity's hip hop Thursday and I found this super cute box while hip popping this morning! I had to share it! I'm working on monogramed stationary for some my Christmas treats this year, and thought this would be a great little storage box to keep all those little notecards in order. You can see the tutorial here.

I'm late....

It is week 4 of the "True meaning of Christmas" challenge at Faith Sisters, and my layout is late. This election has had me stressed, and last night was rough. I just couldn't peel myself off the couch. It was one of those "Is this really happening?" kind of things. Anyway, when I finally did get up and get to bed, I completely forgot to post my layout. So here it is. I almost never write on my SB pages, and rarely even journal at all, but i decided that on this mini book I wanted to make it personal so I'm writing on all of the pages rather than typing what I want it to say. It's certainly been a challenge as I'm not a big fan of my handwriting. Since starting this 9 week challenge I have actually journaled, and in my handwriting, on my last few SB pages for Bug's album. Be sure to check out the gallery and see what the other Creative Team ladies have come up with this week. And when you are finished there, check out Julie's Verve challenge at SCS. She is getting ready for the new releases and will have 5 days of sketch challenges! You can see day one here. Have a blessed night!!

i {heart} fall!!

It finally feels like fall here! We woke up to a chilly morning, we wore jackets to the store, and we bundled up in a blanket to go outside this evening!! I love this weather!! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Feeling a bit festive, I made DH this card today using the SCS Wednesday challenge sketch - I know it's Monday already, but there's no time limit on these challenges. I love that they are always up and you can post to them whenever. I used some old American Crafts that I had stashed away in my "I have to have that paper" stack and tried out Laura's "Fun with Ovals" technique for the pumpkins. If you haven't been to Laura's blog already, head on over there! Her cards are incredible and she's always got some cute techniques to share!
And speaking of pumpkins, this is my sweet little Bug at the pumpkin patch! She had so much fun trying to crawl around in all those pumpkins!

LOVE LOVE LOVE snowman poop!

So i think I might have to sweet talk my hubby tomorrow... We've decided that we are (I am) making all of our Christmas gifts this year, and I found the perfect stamp set that I HAVE to have! It is from the Stamp a Sweet Impression "Tag Treats" by Taylored Expressions. You can see them HERE. I absolutely LOVE the snowman poop stamp! And speaking of the snowman poop stamp, check out what Steph made with hers HERE!!! Adorable!!!

I finished a challenge in one afternoon!!

Wow! I can't believe I had time to start a challenge and finish it in the same afternoon. I let bug play in my die cut drawer, so maybe that was it. Anyway, Julie is hosting a mid week Vintage Values challenge over at OCC. Here is my inked up vintage values card! Have a great night!!

I can't believe it's been a whole week....

Another week and I don't know where it went!! I like it when that happens though, it feels like the time is going by faster and the spring will be here sooner. Gracie has been saying Dada a lot these last few days and pointing to his pictures. I can't wait for him to finally be home!

Sadly, I've got a card to share with you today.... Let me explain. A few months back I got an e-mail from Card Maker Magazine requesting one of my cards in another color scheme for the March issue. Super exciting!! So I quickly made a new one, added a money holder to the inside, got my directions printed up and my package off to them. Well, I hadn't heard back from them and wanted to make sure they received it so I sent them an e-mail. No package.
I called to see if maybe it got sent to the wrong editor. Still no package. I even called the post offices to see if it was returned or lost, but it wasn't there either. So, long story short, my card wont be in the March issue anymore, but the good news is I can share it now. While I was waiting to hear back from them I started making a duplicate to get in the mail, but it turns out her section got cut and she can't fit everything in that she had planned, so I turned the extra one into a Christmas card. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday challenge and faithsisters!!!

Make sure you check out faithsisters.com today!!! The new Wednesday challenge is up and this time it's a nine week challenge!!! We will be scrapping the truth about Christmas in a mini album! I've chosen to make a little board book. I haven't finished the cover yet, but this is the title page. Don't forget to check out the gallery!

Back online!!

A month after Ike and we are finally back online!! The storm didn't hit us too bad, and we didn't have any damage other than trees down, but the power was out for a while. There was a lot of water and quite a bit of damage close by, but we were blessed. Here are some pictures from the morning after...






Matt came home for his R&R too!! He came for Bug's birthday. It turned out really good and she had a blast getting to visit with Daddy.


I agreed to a John Deere themed birthday as long as it was John Deere pink, then found out they don't make pink party supplies yet, so I made my own! :) Here is an invitation and the party favors:

Can you believe I found gluten free/dairy free icing??! I was so excited. I made cupcakes with an organic vanilla cake mix and used the gluten free icing without the pink food coloring and sprinkles on one of them so that she could have one too. We were hesitant about letting her even do the cupcake until her second birthday since we are just now letting her taste little bites of food, but we decided to go ahead and give it a try. Of course, she loved it, but she did have a little tummy ache later that evening. A little bit of gripe water did the trick for that though.


And a little bit of catch up...

Everyone gets it and most of the time is goes straight in the trash, but this week Patter has challenged us to use junk mail as inspirtation for a card. Any piece of junk mail with a fold will do, so long as it is not a traditional fold card. It must have at least one stamp on it, and the rest is up to you! You can see the challenge here at Two Peas or on Patter's blog. This is what I came up with. I started with a gatefold card and cut two pieces of PP to fit each flap. inked the edges with chocolate ink and attached to the flaps. I stamped this flourish onto a scrap of the PP, embossed with thick brown powder, trimmed, double matted and attached one half to the left flap. Super quick and great for any fall greeting!

We Remember...

Please take the time today to remember, pray for the families, pray for our country and pray for our troops.

It's been a long day, so I've got to make this quick... I had to share the news though! I've been chosen as one of the new challenge creative team members at Faith Sisters!! I am so excited! I can't wait to get to know everyone and get started. If you haven't been there, stop reading this and go check them out!! Be sure to check out the forum and the gallery! Have a wonderful night!

we've moved!!!

God is so good! I feel like it's been months since I've been online or scrapped (it's really only been a few weeks - a long few weeks), but we have finally moved and are settled in for the most part. We've still got boxes, and no bed (we're sleeping on the couch) but we are loving it here. We chose a little place on a small horse ranch not far from my dad's house where I grew up. It's perfect for us. And the pups have their own yard complete with a dog house, car port and porch. I'll get some pics up soon. For now, here's a pic of bug yesterday, her 11 month birthday! She has been fussing when I dress her lately and has learned to take her diaper off too. After i took her shirt off she crawled around with it in her hands for most of the evening. Silly girl. She's so much fun.

My first toot was released and I didn't even know it! I'm still new to all of this stuff, but i hadn't received my magazine yet, so I sent snr an e-mail. Silly me - their articles are all online. So here it is!! (If you aren't a member of SNR you won't be able to view the page, but you can see the project here. ) It was a magnet board I made for my Grandma for Mother's Day. She keeps it in her kitchen with her recipes on it. Super simple, and so cute. These are few more that I made as gifts a while back. The bottle caps, flip flops, dotted brads and flowers are magnets and can be moved around on the board anywhere.




If you'd like more info on how to make them, message me, I'd be happy to share.

And..... speaking of toots...... I got my second one last week!!!! I wanted to share so bad but didn't have the internet, so i'll do it now! Card Makers sent me an e-mail telling me they chose one of my cards for the March 09 issue!! I haven't posted it anywhere so I can't use my sweet little "out for publication" thingy that my hubby made, but I'll be sure to share it when I can. It's one of my favs! I'm really excited (and was very surprised) about this one!

Six down, six to go!

Here are my next two cards for the anni-VERVE-sary sketches. Six down, six to go. These were CTMH stamps (with the exception of the rhonna farrer butterfly) that I had in the drawer and hadn't had a chance to get inked up yet. I had a lot of fun with them, it was a nice stress free night. Hopefully I'll get a few more done at nap time. We're still waiting for the relator to call back and let us know if we got the house, maybe she'll call today and tell us to start packing :) Say a little prayer for us!
anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenge #8 and this weeks meet the verve divas challenge with amy sheffer


anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenge #7

I think it's fixed :)

Was anyone else having problems viewing their blog? I couldn't see any changes, couldn't see my new posts, but the hubby could see the changes I made from his computer. Weird. But I guess it's fixed now, and just in time too! Julie is having her anni-VERVE-sary celebration over at scs and there are some great challenges. Check out her 12 days of anni-VERVE-sary sketches and be sure to check out the galleries while you're there. There are some exciting releases coming up too! She has a new stamp set called "beautiful you," a commemorative set of meaningful quotes, each chosen by one of the designers. Each day one designer posts a card made using her quote! I really want this set! And tomorrow starts the august sneak previews for the other new sets! Here are Julie's scetches and the cards I came up with for them (I'm not finished, but I'll add them here as I get them done, so check back!):

anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenge #2

anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenge #4

my first toot!!

funny story.... i'm at my sisters staying the night. we drove around all day looking at houses and didn't find anything and i'm pooped. my sister is at a concert so it's just me and bug. i get her down, turn on decorating cents and crawled into bed and check my e-mail. half asleep and thinking it was junk mail, i almost deleted it. so glad i looked twice!! it was snr letting me know they picked my magnet board for their artful rooms kitchen section!!! toot! toot! it's my first one!! i know it's not a big one, but it's the first! i was so excited i had to tell someone, and the internet was down in the sand pit, so i couldn't call matt or instant message him, and it was like 2 in the morning, so i sent him an e-mail. this is what it said... "Oh my Gosh!! Holy moly! Guess what!!! I can't wait for you to guess!!! Holy cow! I'm getting published!! Holy stinking cow!! I just got an e-mail that Scrapbook News and Reviews wants to publish the recipe holder that I made for Mema in the August issue!!!! Holy cow!!! I have to print out the form and fax it to them with a product list!!! Holy moly!!!" and i immediately went looking for my sister's printer :) anyway, now i get to put one of those "out for publication" thingies in my gallery where the magnet board used to be. so fun! except, i'm a paper person, i have no clue about these cutsie computer images, so my sweet hubby helped me out. he had a picture of a card i made a while back saved on his computer and he used a piece of that to make me this:


thank you baby! i love you!
that's all for now... i'm off to replace my gallery pics with this super cool new one! :D

a house for bug and the pups...

so i spent all day in the truck driving around looking for houses. i started out headed to montgomery thinking that this one i found online was the one, and wow. so you know how every family has that one person that is kinda the odd ball, and every neighborhood has that one house that doesn't quite fit in... yeah, this was that house, but worse. i think that i just wanted so badly to find one in that area, and i was pretty set on this one being it, that i had it in my head it wasn't going to be anything less than i pictured.... when i turned on the road it was supposed to be the 4th house down, but i didn't even have to count. it was bad. i kept driving. it was really bad. on a lighter note, i didn't get home till midnight, but i drove all over town and made a list of a ton of houses that weren't listed online. there were a few that i loved. i'll be calling first thing in the morning, and since i drove around the area first, i know which ones i like and don't and what area i'd like to be in. bug was such a big girl, but she was so tired of that car seat. hopefully we won't have to drive around too much anymore to look. say a little prayer that one of the ones that i saw today works out. all of them had fences for the pups, so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. they'll be so happy to be able to come inside some again. and i'll be glad when we have time again to go outside to play with them instead of looking for houses all day. here's a little card in their honor...



before i go
becky has her second challenge up. love it, looks like lots of layers. so me. hopefully i'll have some time this week to play with this one. here's the sketch:

the BIG KICK is here!!!!

it was so worth the wait! my big kick arrived on tuesday and i've been playing so much i haven't had time to post anything. so here it is, the first card... ta da!!

i made it while i was unpacking all the cool little dies i got with it. i can't tell you how much paper i went through just trying them all out. i'm really loving the embossing plates. i need to go read some of the tutorials out there though... does the big kick take the cuttlebug embossing folders? i really like that you can ink right on those and emboss that way. i'll have to check that out. for now though, i just ran this sheet through with the embossing plate and lightly ran my ink pad over the top of the paper when it came out to make the flowers show up a bit more. all the little flowers are from a punch, and yes, I punched all of those out and glued them on one by one... and no, i won't do it again. the pea pod is inked with a color box fluid chalk ink pad in olive pastel. i love these chalk ink pads. they're perfect when you need just a shadow of color and they're in the cat eye shape so they're great for little spaces too. anyway, i love this little guy, makes me want to throw a baby shower. speaking of!! my cousin called today and guess who is expecting! yep, she's prego!! so that means she won't be going to afghanistan! and, this little guy might come in handy real soon :)

CHRISTmas in july!
i haven't had much scrappin mojo lately with this searching for a house thing, and scrappin out of my closet thing, so i was surfing around some of my favorite blogs last night and desided that maybe some of the challenges might help me get going. so i found a few i liked, and get this, i managed to combine three of them into one card! i love CHRISTmas time so this was a little pep me up project. the first challenge was from this weeks tcp's tuesday challenge hostess and it was to make a CHRISTmas card. the second challenge was the mojo monday week 48 sketch on julie's blog. the third challenge was from cathy stclair's paper garden. she posts a magazine clipping each week to use as inspiration for a card. this was this weeks clipping:

and here is my card!!

blog catch up...sort of

so tuesday was my birthday and guees what matt sent me??!!! now is when i'm supposed to tell you what it is, right? well, i don't know yet... one of the items was backordered so it messed up the shipping, but it's supposed to be here tomorrow!! i know it's from sizzix!!!! and i know that it was a "package". i'm not sure what package means, but it's going to be good!! do you know how hard it has been not to go to sizzix and browse around for their packages? anyway, hopefully it will be here tomorrow and i'll get some time to play with it. for now, here's a pic of my sweet hubby. thanks baby, i miss you! (this was at the bizzarre and this guy wanted $1000 for this rabbit!! can you believe that?)

i don't know why i didn't post this earlier, i think i was just so excited about getting another one of bug's pages done that i just put it right into the book. i can't believe she's ten months old now... and she's got a whopping five pages in her book! i'm determined to get her first year all scrapped by her birthday though. maybe getting my birthday present in the mail will get me going ;) anyway, this pic was one of the ones from the antique photo shoot we did when she turned nine months. (ok, so i can't get it to load right now, maybe my hint to go to bed. i'll load it tomorrow.)

and here's a bit of the bug helping mommy "clean up" her mat. it still didn't get put away...

Happy Birthday Julee!!

friday was julee's birthday and this is a card I made for her. i used one of julee's mojo monday sketches to make it. she has some some super great card sketches, check them out. everone who makes a b-day card gets entered into a drawing for a set of verve stamps! how cool is that? and how fun is that to log on and get to see tons of cards made just for you?!

gina k. stamp release party!

gina k. had her release party at scs tonight and there were some yummy stamps out there! i think i might *need* the new t-shirt set. super cute. you can see it and all of her other new stamps on her blog. be sure to check out her "flowers for daisy" set made in honor of her friend who is battling cancer. for ever set sold in the oline store, $4.00 will be donated to the american cancer society. how awesome is that?! this card is for the challenge card sketch #4 and for the tpc tuesday challenge. the gina k. winner gets their choice of yummy stamps!!!!

i *heart* pink john deere.

this stuff is so stinking cute. we're going to have bugs first b-day in pink john deere and i found this super cute party dress on e-bay. super sweet lady, too. i even ordered a dress for her to meet daddy in when he comes home. she custom made it for her. turned out adorable. you can check her out on ebay.
i'm still working on a design for her invitations, but i did manage to make a few thank you cards. scrapbook heaven had their sketchfest this weekend and this was from a card sketch.

becky has a blog!

holy moly! so stinking excited! i used to use becky's sketches in all of my beginner's classes - she would have a print out of her sketches for the month that you could download, and i'd put that in all of my student's kits. anyway, she has a stinking blog now! so cool. she's so funny too. i'm not one to laugh out loud at things on the tv, or things i read, just a little smile (sometimes), but holy cow, she's stinking funny. you should check her out here. AND... she's got a contest up already.... i never win these silly things, but they're so much fun. they wouldn't be much fun if you were just playing to win, right? anyway, i love this one so maybe i'll get a few pages caught up... here it is:

we fed the duck again yesterday and this time it ate the food out of my hand. bug was so excited. she was sitting on my knee and the duck ws almost close enough for us to touch, so i though i'd see if it would come closer. sure enough, it ate the food right out of my hand. it wouldn't let us pet it though, maybe next time. either way, she loves going out there and watching the duck, the turtles and all the little fishes come up to eat. she got to crawl in the grass for the first time too. it was a much more pleasant experience than her first one with sand. it was a little dry so it poked her and she didn't want to crawl much, but she sat there and pulled at it for a long time. once she's walking we'll have a lot more of these outside play times :)




have a great weekend!
p.s. scrapbook haven is having their scrapfest this weekend! go check it out, there are lots of great ones up already.