Naptime Scrapper

Guess what I got in the mail??!!

2009-04-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

So, do you remember that card that I sent to Card Maker that "got lost" and then somehow a few months later I got a check in the mail for it, then an e-mail that it would be in the March issue, and then it wasn't??? Well, we took our daily walk to the mailbox and there was a package for me. I wasn't expecting anything so DH opened it and inside were two copies of Card Maker May 09!!! Check out page 72!! So exciting! I've had some e-zine publications, but this is my first "in print". And it's a full page!

MyTimeless30 Sketch

2009-04-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

My inspiration for todays card came from Lauren's search for a new challenge design team. She posted last week about wanting to change up her blog and her challenges, and that she would be looking for a new team. To apply we had to use one of the three sketches that she posted. I picked the MyTimeless30 sketch, and changed it up a bit. Thankfully she extended the deadline. With my morning (all day long) sickness and this welcome home bar-b-q for the soldiers I wasn't able to get it finished this weekend. For some great inspiration and more info on her weekly challenges, check out Lauren's blog here. I can't wait to see the team she picks, I know they will be great!
A little about the card... I chose not to do the first sketch because I just did a card using Taylors Cupcake Challenge 62 that was almost identical, so I chose to start with the second sketch. I usually follow sketches pretty closely, but I when I saw this sketch, I saw scallops for my card and decided to change the rectangle in the back to a circle. I also flip flopped the 3 "embellishments" and the sentiment to make it fit the stamp I used. Rather than using square embelishments like the sketch, mine are hearts. For my supplies I went "green" and upcycled a few patterned pretties I've been holding on to. The flocked damask print came from a store bought Christmas card a freind sent me last year. The pattern was so pretty I couldn't throw it out, so I cut out the section of damask print with my nestabilities, and tossed the rest. The black dot came from the packaging of a Target dollar spot purchase and the pink stripes were off of another premade card that turned into scrap paper. The hearts are cut with QuicKutz from scraps, glittered and pop-dotted onto the ribbon. The rest came from cs and embelishments that I had on hand. I love the way it turned out. I'll have to try not following the sketches so closely more often. :) Maybe tomorrow I'll get a chance to try the third sketch.

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 62

2009-04-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

Back in the game!!! Sort of... I've had some time again to not just stamp, but to start looking at some of the challenges and playing along in a few. Honestly, I need to be getting some mojo and doing some layout challenges, but cards have become my favorite. I really need some inspiration to get started on some layouts though. Can you believe Bug is 18 months already and she only has 7 pages in her first year book and 1 in her second?? Maybe I'll try a page tomorrow :) For today I used Taylor's Cupcake Challenge 62 to make this thank you card. I do believe we have had our last bit of cold here in Texas, so in remembrance of the wonderful cold weather, I chose to use my warm wishes set that I hadn't inked up yet. I actually inked up a few of the images trying to decide which one to use. Maybe tomorrow *after I get a LO or two done* I'll use another of the images on another card challenge.
Here's the sketch...

And here's my card...

Easter card for Verve's egg-stra special Easter challenge!

2009-03-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

Verve's day one project parade challenge was to create an egg-stra special Easter project or card. You can play along here. The winner gets $25 in Verve bucks!!!! I made this card and finally got a minute to post tonight. I didn't use eggs, as I don't have any Easter stamps, so I just made the card an Easter one.... Maybe I'll get some Easter stamps if I win.... I've had my eye on the Bunny Bundle!! It would be perfect for getting started on the new baby's album too!!!! That's right... I said new baby! We found out last night that Bug is going to be a big sister!!!

Congrats Laura!!

2009-03-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

Laura at Scrapnextrass - I'm a huge fan - is celebrating 300,000 hits! I can't even imagine 300,000 hits.... maybe if I hit the "view blog" button enough times after I make a new post, then I'll get there. Just kidding! Laura has incredible talent... her cards are absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure she will be celebrating 400,000 very soon. To celebrate she has challenged readers to CASE any card in her gallery. I have spent hours on numerous occasions just browsing around and there are so many that I want to try, but when I saw this card yesterday, I had to use it. I have this set of botanical stamps by Scrappy Cat that I haven't found a good use for, so I actually tried to copy Laura's stamped image using my botanicals and a flower stamp by Rhonna Farrer. Here's what I came up with.

Part of the challenge was to change at least three things, so mine were
* No sentiment
* No ribbon/rose - brads instead
* Color scheme - i used green, brown and a touch of purple
The picture looks blurry, but it's not... the card looks blurry in person too. I stamped the image and colored it three times before I tried this one. Since I'm still new to these water colors, and I need a tutorial on staying in the lines, I decided to go with the distressed look. I stamped the image three times each, moving it slightly each time, and then colored in the leaves with a light green, dark green and brown, not paying attention to any particular line. I layered these colors lightly and then used the water pen to blend them. I liked the way this turned out much better than my attempts at straight lines. :) Enjoy! And be sure to check out Laura's card if you haven't already!

Card sets galore!

2009-03-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've been getting to play in my stamps these past few days and I'm starting to feel like me again! It feels like so long since I've been able to stamp or scrap, but hopefully I'll have more time now that Matt is settled in and Bug is back on a schedule. She loves having her Daddy home!
This is the set that I did yesterday. I made five of each and packaged them in a cute little bag with a ribbon tie. This was my first attempt at watercolor pencils! Can you believe that! I've been wanting to try them out and finally got to open them. Here's what I did...

First I stamped a Hero Arts Clear Designs teapot in brown StazOn ink and punched it out with my large circle punch. (My punch needs sharpening, any tips on how to do that?)

Then I inked the edges pretty heavy with the same ink, and got lighter towards the middle - to do that just ink the edges and start towards the middle with out adding any more ink to the dobber. You can also get a similar effect using different shades of brown ink getting lighter as you work towards the middle.
Next I colored the teapot green and used my watercolor brush to "color" it in.
Then I colored the flowers pink - to make them dark I used the watercolor brush first to get the flowers wet, then colored them in pink while they were still wet. That's it! Maybe I'll try something harder next time. :)

And these are two more sets... same design, different stamps. Have a wonderful night!

The tornado blew the roof off the barn!!

2009-03-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

We have had a rainy few days and tonight we actually had a tornado! We weren't home for it, we were stuck at Wal Mart with the lights out, a screaming baby and the slowest checker in the world. Not on my things to do for fun list... But when we finally made it home the barn roof was in the neighbors pasture and the swing and slide set were in three different pieces. Guess what we'll be doing tomorrow... The dogs were not happy with us either. Anyway, with all this rain, I got a little inside time and made another chalk board and a card set. Enjoy!

I had a leftover piece of wood stained and sealed from the Christmas projects that I did this year, and thought I'd give that a try at the chalkboard paint. Worked great! Since it was stained and sealed I didn't even bother with the primer, and the chalkboard paint stuck great. I taped off the edges since this block has rounded edges and gave it a few coats. I let it dry for a few hours, although It really didn't need that long, and then peeled the tape off. On this one I wanted to try out this big polka dot ribbon I scored for a dollar the other day, so I picked a blue PP to match. Again, I attached the PP with some good old ModPodge and wrapped the ribbon all the way around the block, In stead of cutting and over lapping it, I ran both sides into a belt buckle and tied a knot in the middle of it. The two ends have a 3D Zot under them to keep them from coming untied. The paper is pretty busy so I just added a few primas and buttons, but looking at it now I think I might add some larger primas and maybe a little bling. It's looking a little boring to me now... For now, here it is!

Make your own Chalk Boards!!

2009-03-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

This was such a simple project and it turned out so cute I had to share. Here are the details...
First prime the wood with a black primer, then add a few coats of the spray on "make it chalkboard" paint. This stuff is great! It did bubble a few times and I had to sand it a little and spray it again, but it turned out pretty smooth. The edges soaked up the primer so I added a few extra coats and then painted them with a sponge brush and some black craft paint. That seemed to do the trick.
Attach some scrap PP on the bottom half. I used some valentine scraps of Basic Gray and some good old ModPodge.
Wrap the ribbon all the way around to cover the seam where the paper meets the paint, and over lapped them a little on the side where you plan to embellish.
Then embellish! The "home" embellishment I used is actually a wooden piece that I had in one of my chipboard drawers, but it was out of the package so I have no idea who it's by. If you know, please leave me a comment! :) It's dressed up a little with a few primas and buttons. That's it!
After it was painted and dried, it seriously only took about twenty minutes! I think the hardest part was choosing which primas to use! Hope you enjoy! If you try this one out, please send me a link! I'd love to see it!

HUGE Blog Candy!!

2009-03-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Finally back online!! And finally back to scrapping! Can you believe I haven't scrapped or blogged since before Christmas??? We have had a very busy few months, and I won't go into too much detail, but in a nutshell here is what the last few months looked like for me.... My daughter got sick, took her to the Dr. and she had strep and another bug.... about 5 days later she had gotten worse so I called the Dr. and took her back in, she had RSV.... meanwhile she had been vomiting for weeks.... still didn't get better, vomiting got worse so I took her to the ER, they said she was anemic and would need to run tests to see what was causing the vomiting and coughing but it was already 5 am so they sent us home and told me to call the Dr. in the morning and let them do the tests.... called the Dr. and he said go straight to TX. Children's..... about 8 hrs in the waiting room and they saw us... they thought she just had a bug and needed iron because she hadn't vomited since we had been there and her fever was gone.... we had to fight to get her admitted so they sent us to an overnight observation room and ran tests.... she ended up having whooping cough which still didn't explain the vomiting and the anemia.... they admitted her for 5 days (the worst hospital experience I have EVER had by the way) gave us antibiotics and sent us home, still vomiting.... We are seeing a new Dr. now and she is incredible!! She thinks that the vomiting is an intolerance to something we are eating and wasn't related at all to her illnesses, so we are changing up our diets and things are looking much better. While we were at the hospital Red Cross put a call in to my hubby's unit in Afghanistan to let them know what was going on and they sent him home early!!! He didn't get here until two days after we were discharged, but at least she has her daddy home now.
So enough about that, I'm back and I have some projects to share as soon as I can get pics of them! For now, check out this HUGE blog candy!

You have to go visit Sassy Designs by Suzie at Die Cut Dreams!!! Wow! She has one of the biggest blog candies I have ever seen! You can visit her here.

Treat box tutorial I had to share!

2008-11-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

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!!

2008-10-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-24T00:57:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-10-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-10-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-10-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-09-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-08-25T23:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2008-08-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-08-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-31T23:38:00.002-07:00

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!!!!

2008-07-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-07-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

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.

one more before bed.

2008-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

i'm trying out this card making thing. i'm liking it too... i'm even liking the stamping thing.... i think i might need to get a part time job, there are some super cute stamps out there. i've never been big on stamping on my layouts, but these cards are way cute! i didn't use stamps on this, but it's a card i made. it was really simple, i made in in about 10 minutes (the letters took a few minutes). I've still got the bosskut. i've been looking at the cuddlebug though. i want something that embosses, and more than just a two inch square...any suggestions???

i submitted a magnet board today.

2008-07-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

snr has a call for scrapped kitchen decor or anything scrapped that you use in your kitchen. so, i make these magnets boards, super fun by the way, and happen to have one in the kitchen holding recipes. so i took a pic and submitted it. we'll see what happens. would be way cool if it was published, or even just on the web site... anyway, you will definately hear about it if it is (fingers crossed). speaking of fingers crossed... bug has learned to wave and high five (compliments of her papa) and when she does, she crosses her pointer finger and middle finger. it's the funniest thing, i'll have to post a picture. here's the magnet board...

i scrapped again!

2008-07-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

i got to scrap again today!! it hasn't been like this since before bug was born.... i could get used to getting to do this everyday. :) she's old enough now that she can sit next to me and play while i work on bits at a time. she has discovered ribbon though, and it tastes good :) she almost got the paint with this lo, but mommy is still a tad faster. here is todays lo. it was super fun - i don't know if i've ever scrapped without patterned paper before... i like it though, and i'm loving these new heidi swapp gel blossoms... super fun. thanks for stopping by!

my "ghost shapes" ...

2008-07-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

i absolutely love Heidi Swapp's ghost shapes. there are so many cute things to do with them, but sometimes they just aren't big enough. so i got a little resourceful today. i needed some big "ghost shape" stars for this lo and had this plastic box that toys and things come in... so, i made my own! i just drew, cut and outlined the edges with some liquid pearls and wa laa! super cute! i think i would have stamped some fun designs on them had i been at home, but i didn't have any stayz on or stamps with me, so maybe next time. i saw this super cute gift box today with an acrylic tag on top stamped with birthday wishes...super cute too... i think i just might have to give my tag shaped whale of a punch a try on the rest of that plastic box. i'll post some pics if it works out.

a taste of the mickey mouse ears.

2008-07-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

bug has always crawled over to papa's chair when we weren't looking and tried to climb up into it with him. sometimes he picks her up, sometimes we catch her before she gets there, and sometimes we let her pull herself up and just stand there. The times that he picks her up we have to quickly empty his pocket of his pens, take his glasses off, put his toothpick down and take his "mickey mouse ears" off. these mickey mouse ears, as mema calls them, are a must if you want to carry on a conversation while the tv is on. well, today papa didn't quite get them off in time and bug was determined to figure out what those funny looking things were. of course he didn't mind sharing, but she didn't like having them on as much as she liked pulling them off of papa.

these mini clipboards are super cute! i made this one for the hubby.

happy 4th!

2008-07-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

happy, happy 4th!!! it's 2 am and the fireworks just stopped here. i love watching them though, so i don't mind. bug seemed to enjoy them tonight, too. the noises didn't seem to bother her. riva got a pic, will post it later.
i got a little scrap time in today!! three whole pages done! well, sort of. i forgot my white pen, so two of them still need journaling, but the 8x8 page is already in the book. I love that feeling... a few more to go and i'll send the album to matt. i told him i'd mail him pages of bug as i scrap them and he could just add them to her album as he got them. it's late and i'm super sleepy... hope everyone had a great, safe 4th!!!

306.

2008-07-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

three hundred and six pictures to sort through form yesterdays shoot... they were all so cute too! we found the frames for mema's birthday and now i have to narrow down the pictures to 8. i've got it to 14, it's tough. on a lighter note, i found a new fun place with super cute stamps. their designers have some amazing work too. i've got to get some of those markers. fun stuff.
so i also realized how much i really like black and white pictures today. i've been editing the antique pics we shot and playing with the wedding pictures a little and ran across some folders of old pics. they weren't the best pics, but i played with them a little and love, love, love them in black and white.

i almost forgot.

2008-07-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

the time really is going by fast, i can't believe it's already july. matt is going to get to come home for a two week r & r! we're so excited! he found out the dates a few weeks ago. so fun. speaking of fun, i shot my first wedding this weekend. they were a couple of my cousin's youth. super sweet couple.
it's been a crazy week, but i'm so grateful to be busy :)
squeezed in a few shots of the nephew too. doesn't stop for the camera much, but he's a heartbreaker.

9 month pictures.

2008-07-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

i can't believe bug is already 9 months old. 9 months and 1 week to be exact. we had a fun day today. we hit up 2 scrapbooking stores, the mall and managed to dodge the rain. we took some super cute pics this evening, too. my aunt took us to her friends house to take some "antique" pictures for my grandmother's birthday. she wanted some pictures of the baby with an old dress and a bonnet. this friend had an antique baby carriage and antique gowns. the gowns were beautiful. handmade and each over a hundred years old. it was a bit odd being on the other side of the camera. i got to shoot for a little while though and got some precious pics while she was sleeping.

my weakness.

2008-06-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

i turned in my "last scraper standing" assignment today. this is a bit of it.

i have to admit, that was the hardest page i have ever done. we were supposed to scrap our weakness... i could have scrapped an obvious one, like dr. pepper or sweets or patterned paper or ribbon, but i desided to be honest and scrap my true weakness... it was tough. i didn't even start on it until the night before last. it didn't turn out the way i pictured, and i wish i had posted it in my gallery first so i could see it that way before i sent it in. there are a few changes i would have made. but, no worries, i'm glad i chose to scrap my true weakness. i actually felt better after i journaled it, like i got something out i'd been keeping in or something. anyway, i hope i can do something girly on the next assignment. only the top 20 move on. we'll find out tomorrow!

salsa!

2008-06-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

i made my first batch of salsa today, and after a few adjustments, i think it turned out pretty good. the recipe called for one pepper if i wanted it spicey and 2 or 3 more if i wanted it hot. i went with the hot and started wih 4 jalapentos to one tomato.... i won't do that again. i've always said the hotter the better, but wow. i ended up making two more recipes worth, minus the peppers, and mixing it with the first batch. it's just right now, but i think i might have used a bit too much cilantro. we'll see. i've got two jars ready to send to matt along with his birthday card envelope book. hope he likes them :) now to finish the cards for the book... i'm so tired of making b-day cards...

i miss my room...

2008-06-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

so this moving thing is the pits. 9 times in the last 4 years... who does that? I'm so greatful not to be alone while matt is gone, but i soo miss our own space. and decorating. bug's sweet litte nursery. and my scrap room. i had just picked out the colors and the style for my room when we desided to lease it out for the year, and yesterday i saw the lighting i had been looking for... oh, well. this time next year! maybe...

ready to design again.

2008-05-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

So it's been almost two years, a busy two years, and I'm missing the scrappin' scene. I used to work at, teach and design for two of our LSSs, and did some online contests and guest designer stuff, and I've really missed it. Now that I'm not working and it's just me and Bug I think I'm going to try to find a DT spot again. There are so many new places now, and they all want galleries and blogs... I really need to catch up on this internet stuff... I found a few that looked like my style and even started a challenge for one. It still needs a little something, but here's a bit of it.

It's so hard to know which sites you want to be part of with out actually being part of them, but who has time to join them all, get to know everyone, and then choose - all while trying to spend every minute of nap time scrappin...?

not so computer savy.

2008-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

Matt has been able to call just about every day. I finally figured out how to work this external hard drive he sent me...now if I could figre out this blog thing and where to resize my pics I'd be in good shape... The pics from Ft McCoy were on there. We didn't take as many as I thought, but there were some good ones. I need a place for my layout gallery... off to figure that one out before nap time is over.