Another couple of projects to share

I have been working on this set of projects for a better part of the day. I am using them to enter a contest of sorts...I had to create a card, a layout, and an altered item. These are what I came up with.

I used Provo Craft (more scraps used!!) Designer paper matted on black cardstock. The stamps are Autumn Leaves. I made those paper flowers myself. They are made out of mulberry paper and are folded andand fanned out--hard to explain. Then those are topped with buttons topped with gems. I typed out the Helen Keller quote on graph paper and then matted it on black and then green cardstock. I then chalked key words in the quote using my Pebbles Inc. chalk.
The altered item was a stretch for me. I wasn't sure what I wanted to alter. Then I came up with this. It's a cookie sheet. I painted it white with acrylic paint and then rubbed some of the paint off to give it a little bit of a weathered look. The background papers are all basic grey. I used my creative memories punches to do the calendar squares and circles. Big flowers are Heidi Swapp. Buttons are fun expressions and the ribbon is also basic grey. The smaller flowers are Prima. Everything on here is attached using magnets so that it can be changed month to month or just if boredom begins to set in! I have it havning in my office right now...but it'll probably be moved somewhere a little more prominent over the next couple of days because I really like how it turned out. Not bad for a first try, right??
This layout is 12x12 and has a hidden journaling panel that tucks in behind the photo. It's pulled out in this picture so you can see that it's there. The tab on the journal card is a Stampin Up punch. The ribbon, tag, papers, and stickers are all basic grey--my Mom got me TONS of Basic Grey stuff for Christmas and I'm having a blast playing with it. All of the flowers, brads, and buttons are Prima--I got them all together in a cute tin at the Pink House!! You know me, if it's floral, I'm gonna like it! :-) So let me know what you think of the result of my productivity today! I'd love the feedback! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

He is the Cheese...

You've probably all seen the commercial for this new movie coming out where a girl says that her boyfriend is the cheese to her macaroni. Something about that line stuck with me when I heard it and now that Will has been gone and I've had time to sit and think (A LOT) I have figured out why. It fits so well with Will and I. He is definitely the cheese to MY macaroni. Yep, he is. Without him, life is kind of plain and boring like plain unflavored pasta. My girls spice it up a bit...like salt and pepper, but still don't take the place of the cheese which ties everything together. Plus, mac 'n cheese is like a staple in my house. It's a little embarrassing. We don't eat it because we can't afford better stuff, we eat it because everyone loves it. It's the no-fail staple. If my kids will eat nothing else we fix for dinner, they'll eat that. Plus, we just fit together. A natural combination of personalities, the perfect mixture of strengths and weaknesses. So here is my page celebrating the cheese to my macaroni! :-)

I love the patterns and colors in this LO...it was a new color palet for me and I just love love love it. The journaling strips are not uniform and that is driving me insane...but it was after midnight when I added those, so I think the sleep deprivation marred my ability to measure and cut correctly...so those will probably be re-done so that I don't go crazy! :-) I can embrace the imperfections usually...but that's a really noticeable and irritating one! Anyway...so 12x12 layout, the patterned paper is by American Crafts (dark circle pattern) and the green is Provo Craft. Green stickers are Basic grey. The gray letters were cut using my Quickutz. Circles are from my creative memories punches. I hand-drew the arrow. These masculine color pages are kind of fun...I think I need to do a few more.

Oh, and I'm going to try that whole 31 layouts in 31 days thing...we'll see if I can do it. This is only #2 so I'm already three behind, but I do have a couple of assignments for the Pink House to do so that should hopefully get me all caught back up again. If you decide to join in the fun 31 in 31 madness, let me know--I'd love to see what you come up with! Happy Saturday everyone, I'm off to play!

Two cards to share...

Today has been a down day. One of the kids I watch called in because the dad was in a car accident this morning (he's okay!) and the other has been asleep since 9:30 this morning (it's almost 1!) So I was able to get some more stamping done. Here are the two cards I made today.

This card is my take on Beate's weekend sketch challenge. You can find it here. This is her first sketch for the new year. I got hooked on doing them at the end of last year, so I plan on making them a must-do on Fridays!
For this card, I used ALL scraps! That's another of my small goals for the year. I want to see how many cards I can make just using up my scrap paper. I am sadly one of those people that can't bear to throw the paper away! SO, this is the first card made entirely out of my scraps. The patterned paper is by Reminisce, stickers by Basic Grey, bling found at AC Moore, brads by making memories, circle punches using my creative memories punches, and cardstock is DCWV. The flower stamp is from Stampin' Up's doodle this set. I stamped it in Cocoa ink and then colored it in using my chalks by Pebbles Inc. I use these chalks all the time now.
I cased this card from someone else's blog that I happened across today, sorry I forgot to save the link!! I made some changes, mainly to the color scheme, and also added some stickles to the butterflies and the swirls (kind of hard to see in the photo). All of the stamps are from Stampin' Up's Priceless set. Patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye. The velvet ribbon was another cheapy from Target's $1 spot!
I've been a busy little crafty bee this morning. Hopefully I'll get another LO done this afternoon/evening to share later! :-) I'm on a roll...must keep the ball moving!

17 degrees in South Carolina??!

So I woke up this morning and had to take Cait to the bus and it is a whopping 17 degrees outside??! I thought we had escaped mornings like this when we moved here. This is Indiana weather!

I've been struggling to find a good routine now that Will is gone. Crazy how I didn't realize how much I depended on him doing certain things. Like dinner...we took turns cooking, and doing the dishes. So if he cooked, I did the dishes and vice versa. Now I have to do the cooking, dishes, AND baths and books with the girls. So before I even know it, it's like 8 pm and I haven't done much of anything except run around like a chicken with my head cut off. SO I must find a new system. Even with the craziness of getting adjusted this week, I managed to crank out a scrapbook page last night. It only took me about 15 minutes to get it all put together. Nothing very complex about this one. The blue background and the journaling stamp are by Autumn Leaves, and the other PP is a double sided sheet by Reminisce. I bought both papers at the Pink House! Ghost flowers are Heidi Swapp, buttons are fun expressions, and the brown ribbon is Offray, glittery pink ric-rack is from the $1 spot at Target. I love those cheapy finds. And then the letter stickers are by basic grey. Again, really bad photography--it's seriously too early! :0) I promise I'm working on that though...maybe I'd do better with a large format scanner...is there such a thing??!

I may have more to share later...I'm hoping to get a couple more pages done at some point today/tonight!!

I'm an aunt!!

Sorry, no project to post today. It's been a crazy day. My sister gave birth to her new baby boy this morning!! Logan Michael Kaiser was born at 7:30 a.m. He weighs 6 lbs, 12 oz and is 20 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair. The labor and delivery went very smoothly. Thank you for all of your prayers. They are supposed to do a CAT scan to check on the kidney stone and determine whether or not they will operate to remove it. Still waiting to hear the final word on that. Thank you for your patience with my non-project posts! I will have more to share tomorrow...or maybe even later tonight if I get everything else done!!

Thanks everybody!

Zoofari card and a prayer request

I borrowed this set from my friend Michelle and decided to start playing with it today. Here is the first card I made with it. I actually cased this from SCS with a few (very minor) changes.

It is my very first gate-fold card. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. This little monkey just makes me smile! Isn't he just the cutest??!

I hand cut the scalloped circle, though I won't have to do that for much longer because I ordered a set of nesties today!! YAY! I just got the small scalloped circles to start with. Then I'll probably order another set in a couple weeks because I know I'm going to use the living daylights out of these things! I colored the monkey in with my Pebbles Inc. chalk. The sentiment is from a Michael's set of stamps. I hand doodled the border around the monkey.

On another note, I found out a few minutes ago that my sister is in the hospital (she's 9 months pregnant) and found out that she has a kidney stone. SO they are going to go ahead and induce her and deliver the baby so that they can treat the kidney stone. If you could all keep her and her hubby, the baby (Logan Michael) and her 4 yr old daughter, Kylie in your prayers through this time I'd appreciate it! Her delivery with Kylie was difficult and she had to stay in the hospital for an extended time. Let's pray this one goes much more smoothly and that she and my new nephew will be safe and healthy!

Goals for 2008

Happy New Year, everyone!!! This time of year, I always try to come up with a list of things that I'd like to accomplish for the year. Sometimes I get them all done, sometimes just a few, and sometimes they just drop off the list all together but it kind of gives me a roadmap to keep me on track for the year. So this year, these are my top 5 because sharing them all would just take forever...

1. Make a design team (already accomplished!) YAY!
2. Be 40 lbs lighter by May...now this may or may not be feasible because that is a generous amount of weight loss. BUT, the first 40 lbs that I lost came of very quickly, So I'm hoping this 40 will also. It would be wonderful to have it lost by the time Will gets home from his deployment! Wouldn't that just be a fabulous surprise???
3. Complete at least one scrapbook layout every other day.
4. Make at least 2 new friends every six months (this shouldn't be an issue at all, but I need to branch out of my shyness)
5. Get at least one scrapbook layout or card published

I am already well on my way with having number one knocked out already! And I am LOVING being a designer for the Pink House. I will hopefully get started on my 3rd assignment today, but have to swing by the store to pick up some ribbon that arrived after I stopped in to pick things up. Go figure :-).

I did hear from Will yesterday, so thanks to all of you who have been keeping him in your thoughts. He arrived safely and had his first trip last night.

More later, with an actual project to share!