New Computer

I got a new computer for christmas (actually, so that the kids can have a dedicated computer for their CoolSchool computer, I get a new one!)...so I'm just now getting to loading the pictures onto my new computer. I've also loaded Creative Memories Storybook Plus - for digital scrapbooking. Very interesting - and fun! Just wish there was more time to play!

I thought I'd share another Christmas card I've come up with - love this stamp I picked up at a LSS, and I added liquid pearls on the rooftop and stickles on the trees! I used the felt ribbon from SU! Love it all!

I'll try to get back to posting regularly - especially with all the Christmas stuff to share!

Cold Nose, Warm Heart

OK...so it's only two days until Thanksgiving, of which I'm having the family and friends here at my home, and the "baby" seems to be running a temperature of 102 tonight. Oh oh - not another round again! Hopefully it's nothing...but he's grumpy which makes me grumpy!


Anyways, here's a card a used with my new Cat's Pajamas stamps (their Christmas stamps are the first ones I've bought and I love them!). It's simple, but nice!

I picked up the snowflake cuttlebug folder the other day and have used it a ton! It just adds that little something! And the snowflakes are "buttons" that I popped off the backs of.

Thanks for looking!

Gone but working hard

I haven't been posting - not sure why but I've been getting a lot done. I can't believe how quickly the holidays come! I'm not ready - as that's no surprise! I've been making a bunch of different Christmas cards - I'm loving the stamps out this year. I bought a bunch from The Cat's Pajamas, along with others here and there! So I'll try to update daily to show off what I've made so far!

These are some of the Riley ones from hanna stamps! Who can go wrong with a moose?! I used liquid applique to make the snow real - gotta love that stuff!

close up of the "snow"

thanks for looking!

A Crazy Week

I kicked off my crazy week today by spending the majority of the day between schools. It is fun to be able to volunteer at the school - but today was a long day! I've gotten a lot of my new goodies over the last few days and hope to play tonight. I made a few cups of coffee a little bit ago - and soon the kids will be off to bed!

I did play with my new Papertrey stamp - Everday Blessings (I think). I totally cased this from their own gallery - just changing the papers, and embellishments. I have been wanting to try the scor-pal embossing, and it really adds something to the card!

Thanks for looking!

Let the season begin...

And I mean with everything - I was driving to pick up the kids from school yesterday and yes, there was a Christmas tree going up along the street. Yikes! Of course, the kids want ours up now, but I had to explain it's still a little early! And we've had a round of "bugs" at our house - I think there are four different ones going around. I hope we don't have a VIP parking place at the pediatrician's office again this year!

I'm anxiously awaiting all the new stamps I've ordered, but I played around with this one I picked up from Michael's. I love that classic Santa look, and wanted to play around with color schemes. The first one is black/red/white.

And this second one is chocolate chip and very vanilla with red. I want to tweak this one somewhat - I'm looking for a real soft "all over brown" look. Any ideas for changing this one are appreciated!

Thanks for looking!

Rainy Days and Fall

It's actually "cold" here in Texas, and rainy! It feels like Fall, and I'm getting into the holiday mood. I'm going to be making a bunch of Christmas cards, and I was "naughty" last week and ordered many of the new releases from The Cat's Pajamas, Hanna Stamps, and Stamping Bella. Can't wait to get them!!! I am also working on a bunch of quilting projects - I decided that sleep will come in small quantities for the foreseeable future!

I'll share two more of my cards using the Pick of the Patch set from The Angel Company. It really is a cute set...once again, I popped up the main image. The first card is from sketch challenge 176 on splitcoast and the second one uses SC 201.

And I was happy with my coloring on the second card. One of these days, I'd like to take a Copic class (maybe if I get a big set to work with!). Check out my blending on the feet!

Thanks for looking!

Hang in There

Sometimes I feel like I'm watching an episode of Super Nanny without the Super Nanny (I think that was a line from a tv show, which I completely feel!). I think the boys are feeling a bit better as they are literally bouncing off the walls. I'm counting down to nap time!

Here's another card using the Pick of the Patch set from TAC. I used a sketch challenge from Splitcoast (175), along with some more of my stash of paper!
And I thought I'd share a birthday picture of Joseph since he is the big 4 and I've been MIA for awhile!

I'm back!

I guess I should explain my absence...my parents came in for a week, and boy was it nice to have that help! I realized this trip how much I would enjoy having them closer to me! Oh well - I guess it's the trade off we make! I was busy last week with Joseph's birthday party, and then school stuff, and Halloween, and the International Quilt Festival in Houston. It's been a whirlwind - but an extremely fun one!

I'll start out with a card I made using a set from The Angel Company "Pick of the Patch." I'll be showing a few different cards from this set over the next few days! It really is cuter in person - the colors are vibrant, and the main animal character (not sure if it's a bear or cat or what!), is popped up on dimensionals. The paper is some from my stash - part of my "spending freeze" includes using all that paper that I have and just don't want to cut! I used Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try this week (http://www.iheart2stamp.com/) - it's always good to get back into the swing of things by getting inspiration from the various sketches out there!

I thought I'd share the picture of my gang from Halloween as well - I meant to post on Halloween but it was a busy day! It's my "clubhouse" - and yes, the golden retriever puppy is missing - she is in a goofy costume as well! I was unable to get her to stay for the picture. I figured 5 out of 6 isn't bad!

Cutest Frankenstein

I made the cutest "treat" holder for Joseph's preschool class last night. I saw this idea at my Stampin Up Demonstrator's house - she had gotten one as a gift...so no, the idea is not mine, but I love it nonetheless! How cute!!! I know the kids will rip them apart but at least I feel like I made something nice! And maybe a small gift for dance teachers, etc.
The base is a black "paper bag" and I'll fill with some goodies for the kids. And yes, I'm the mom who still believes kids should get candy at Halloween. I know it isn't the healthiest, but it's what halloween memories are made of!

I'm working, I swear!

It's a horribly busy week - and I swear I'm doing "stuff." I had to finish up a second Notre Dame quilt, and last night I finished making some cards to give Hannah's teacher as a gift. I ended up making about 8 sets of these, thinking they'd be great to have on hand, either to sell or to give as gifts. I know this is sold as a class out there in Stampin Up world, so yes, these are totally cased from whoever set that up to begin with. But I thought I'd better prove that I am working!

I'm working on some Halloween school treats now, needing to get Joseph's done by Monday and Hannah's later. Plus we have a few birthday parties this weekend (including Joseph's!), so I need to make some birthday cards and an apron! So...there's more to come...whenever I'm able to get through it all!

7 Year Itch

Happy Anniversary to my husband and I! It's seven years ago today that we got married. In some ways, it seems like only yesterday, and in others, it seems like much more. To be honest, I'm not even sure my husband has remembered. He's not one to shower me with love the minute I wake up, so we'll see if he remembers once he gets home tonight. I'm hoping the 7 year itch is just a myth...

I made a Mini Everday Display for him for our anniversary. This is a product from Creative Memories - and I wish I had played with this sooner. Love it! And I am just dreaming about all the possibilities!!! It's a very simple, but beautiful gift idea for the holidays - let me know if you want one, two, three, whatever! And no, you don't have to be a scrapbooker to do this! I love the saying "it's not the home I love but the life that is lived there." Isn't that the truth, especially with my four pumpkins!

And here's the card I made for him. I'm not too fond of it, but it's so hard to do a masculine card, it seems. But I think he'll like it!

Thanks for looking!

It's good to be back

It seems like forever since I've made a card. Joseph has a birthday party for a little girl in his class tomorrow, so I figured I HAD to make a card tonight! What fun!!! I used the color challenge and sketch challenge from Splitcoast from this week (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/) just to give me some imspiration! I like the end result - real girly but fun! I used my cuttlebug folders and nestabilities (my favorite tools right about now!). And once again, I wanted to use my crystal effects on the dog's nose. I had to search forever to find it (this is the second bottle I've lost)...but finally I found it! I think there is a card god out there not wanting me to use this stuff - but I love it. It really adds a lot to the image!

And finally, I will show you a picture of all of us (minus the hubby) at the pumpkin patch. Have I mentioned how much I dislike pictures of myself? Hopefully you'll be distracted by those adorable four kiddos in picture!!!

This second picture I (as a scrapbooking mom) wanted a picture with the "count your blessings" yard art...of course, my blessings had other things in mind - like the hayride!

Don't know if you've seen the awesome $spot at Target but they have the perfect mini album and coordinating embellishments for those pumpkin patch/fall type pictures!!!

Bella Workout

I've been wanting this stamp forever and finally got it a few weeks ago as a gift. YEAH! I made a couple workout notebooks, and my goal is to put in all those workouts that I pull out of Shape, etc. I made dividers for each "problem" area - they are super cute!

I thought I'd share a couple more pumpkin pictures - it was hard to get all the kids to take a picture together, so here's a couple cute ones that if you put them both together, I'd have all of them together :)

Maybe I'll be brave and post a picture of all of us tomorrow - it'll make you laugh for sure!

Pumpkins for Sale

I thought I'd better start with a "for sale" picture - today the kids were off from school so we made our annual trip to The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm. The kids had a blast - suprisingly it wasn't crowded and we went this morning while the weather was cool. It was fun and I'll share more pictures throughout the month. This picture was taken at the end of the morning - I don't know if the sign should say "for sale" or 'for giveaway!". In all seriousness, these kids are my heart and I love them more than I ever thought possible.

I thought I better update with some Halloween stuff - I never really got into this holiday but with the kids, I'm trying to get better. There is cute Halloween stuff all over! Here is a table runner I made (and that I kept) as well as a wool center piece that I gave my mom! I love working on wool, and since she introduced me to it, I thought I'd share!

(the wool one is this last picture!)

I'll try to do better updating this week!

I'm a WINNER!!!

Hanna Stamps (http://www.hannastamps.com/) - the creator of the beloved Riley/Sophie Moose - is celebrating their first birthday tonight. There was a blog hop this week for their designers, and if you left a comment, you had a chance of winning a Riley/Sophie stamp. I just checked and I WAS A WINNER! Not sure what I won yet but it has made my month! I just love this company...and check out their new releases! I have to get the clear For The Soul set - and I like the Vintage Toys as well as some more Rileys! Thanks for the opportunity to win, Hanna Stamps!!! Although not my best Riley work, here are a couple hula cards in celebration!!!

So that's what I feel like right now - time to hula!

The things I've said...

In the past few days, I have to chuckle at what has come out of my mouth...

"don't run with those scissors"

"quick choking your baby brother"

"stop or you'll break your neck"

"don't poke your fork in your eye"

and the list could go on...ahhhh the life with boys. Another funny story - Joseph has been loving school. The last two pictures he brought home (there is always a bible verse, and then a picture he has drawn along with what he told the teacher it was)...well, his pictures have been sort of disturbing to say the least. Yesterday it was a picture of a dead man...I was upset thinking I'd somehow ruined my son with something I had done. I was used to hannah who drew rainbows and butterflies. Long story short, I emailed the teacher and come to find out, the sheets are for after a story to see what the children retain. These are stories from the Bible, and yesterdays story was the story of Moses. I guess the girls drew pictures of Moses as a baby, and the boys tended to draw the "dead man" if he was caught. SOOOOO - this time it wasn't my mothering skills, but the Bible! Whew - I feel better : )

Hannah had a sleepover at a friends house this past weekend. I saw these paper backpacks online and just had to try them. We decided to make them for the girls at the sleepover and put candy necklaces/bracelets inside. They are the cutest things I've seen in a long time. LOVE EM! Here's where I saw them and got the directions as to how to make them...http://www.stamphappens.com/stamp_happens/2008/08/mini-backpack-r.html

Thanks for looking!

The Weekend's Over...

It's Sunday night (granted, still some hours left to created), and I have to say it's been pretty productive. I've gotten a lot of new goodies to play with so I'm excited to get to those tonight.

But first I thought I'd show you the two new tote bags I made with some beautiful material! My "aunt-in-law" had asked me to make her a tote, so the first one is being sent to her in the morning. It's using the Posh by Chez Moi material by Moda. Love it!!!

The second one is also some beautiful material, and is up for grabs if anyone wants one! The material is Shangri La by Moda as well. I keep forgetting that Christmas is around the corner so keep that in mind too! This is one of my favorite bags. It's great for toting just about anything (I have mine in the car with my "carpool" project. I'm sewing on a halloween table runner while waiting in the carpool lane!).

I'll have lots to show this week!!!

A Bella Friday

I made these cards a couple weeks ago for a bella challenge on Jen Del Muro's blog (www.iheart2stamp.com). I didn't quite get it to look like what I imagined in my head, but I love Bellas! I went to their site today and there are some that I must have (www.stampingbella.com). If only money grew on trees...and lately I feel like I just need some more time - so many projects, so little time. I did finally use some of the in colors from Stampin Up on these cards as well. It was fun - and love love love this image!

My hubby is gone until Sunday - his tough life has led him to Notre Dame for a football game. When we lived there, I couldn't wait to get away - granted, he went to school (a beautiful school)...and I had to work in South Bend...so the experience was different. But I would lOVE to be there now. Sometimes I get resentful that he can go off and have fun without "worrying about the kids" while I stay at home with them. I wouldn't change it for the world, but I'd like to go - or I'd like to lock myself in my craft room for four days by myself!!! Oh well - yet another difference between man and woman.

Have a great weekend!