Hair Clip Tutorial

Good day! I hope all of you are having a great week so far! Mine has been busy and is going to be that way at least for another 5 days! Ava's birthday is on Sunday and hubby and I kept asking her what she wanted. The only thing she could come up with was a horse...a real horse. LOL

"Mom, we had pigs, why can't we have a horse?"

Leave it to a 4 year old (almost 5) to rationalize getting a large animal! Anyway, I ended up deciding to get her a pink DS. When Jolee got her red DS last year she passed her pink Gameboy Advance on to Ava. She was thrilled! She plays it regularly but since there is no light in it she strains to see what she is playing. We decided that it was time to move her up in the gaming world. She is going to flip out! I'm so excited to give it to her!

Now moving on to the hair clip/bow/barrette tutorial. I'm sure there are many acceptable ways to make these clips but this is the way I choose to make mine. This would be a great idea to do if you are giving an outfit or dress as a gift and made matching bows to go with it.

I am a very visual learner so I took photos of every step.

28 Gauge wire (30 or 26 gauge would work too) and a 2" barrette

Choose the ribbon you want and cut about 6" of wire off

Open the barrette

Remove the piece from the middle

Fold your ribbon under

Take the other end and fold it under as well

Place your ribbon on top of the clip and make sure it is the length you want it

Cut your ribbon

Place it on top of your clip

Wrap the wire around the ribbon and the clip

This is what it will look like

Next do the same steps with a smaller piece of ribbon

Place the ribbon on top

Wrap the wire around to attach both pieces together

Wrap the wire around for the last time and twist it a few times to hold tight

Snip off the ends of the wire and place the piece you removed back into the clip

Glue whatever piece you want in the center (I chose a button this time)

Ta dah! Your finished piece

Hubby is going to pick up his bike from the shop today (it's been there for months because of winter). I cannot wait to go riding this spring! Anyway, I need to go clean out a spot in the garage to put his bike. Hope my tutorial was good enough for you all!

If you decide to make any of these I'd love you to put your links here in the comment box!

Have a great day!!

I Spy...

What's up peeps?! Hope everyone has had an enjoyable week so far! Things have been pretty mellow around here so that's always good!

Today I don't have any stamping but I wanted to share something the kids and I made last night. I know a lot of you that read my blog have youngins', as my brother in law from Mississippi would say, so I think they would really like this. I have seen the idea for it several times but just never got around to trying it. Here is what you need:

An empty jar (I washed out the one we finished up a few days ago):

Rice or sand or anything smaller grained:


Things to 'spy':


This is the smallest piece in the jar. It's a blue sprinkle in my son's hand.


Put them all together and you get this:


It's nice because you can give it a good shake and things end up in a different spot and you can start all over again.

The kids had loads of fun finding things to put in the jar. You could make it more educational and find things that are a certain color, that start with a certain letter, or that even have a long vowel sound in them. You could make it really fun.


I just wanted to let you guys know that I decided to start a family/homeschool blog as well. That way I could keep all of the kid stuff to that one and the craft stuff to this one. If you'd like to check it out here is the link. I made my first post today.

Well, I shall return tomorrow with some Doodle Factory magic! See you then!

Super Samples!

Hello! Hello! Hello!!!!! I hope everyone is having a good summer so far! Anyone ready to send their kids back to school yet? {giggle} We have been soaking up the sun and taking care of business around here. We (and by we I mean me, lol) got our pool set up and the kids have been swimming in it just about every day since. It's just one of those vinyl ones that is about 4 ft tall and 16 ft across. It suits our needs! Anyway, I have also been purging lots of the stuff in our house. I just broke down our dining room table and reclining chair the day before yesterday and it's sitting in the back of Joe's truck ready to take in to the incinerator. Before that I took in one of our desks, our old grill, our old trash can, and Franklin's (may he rest in peace) cage. I also send a big load of yard sale stuff with my sister this past weekend when she came up with my mom. I told her just to keep the money made from it because all of it would be going to the Salvation Army anyway and she could really use it being a single mom of 3! We went to the Strawberry festival this past Saturday and we had a nice time. There weren't too many people there (normally you can't even squeeze through the crowds!) because we went immediately after we got a big storm. It was a little muddy but I'd way prefer having dirty feet then huge crowds!

On another note, I got my hair done last week and am now a semi-blonde instead of redhead. I like changing my hair every year or so because I get bored with it. It's still long but I'll probably chop it all off in the fall. Who knows! I am getting really tan too from working outside a lot with the garden and chickens. I mowed the grass today so that should help out too.

Okay, I think I've bored you enough with my silly details! Family does read this so I try to keep them a little up to date with the family stuff!

The following cards are all Queen Kat Designs! This past month I got to work with the Harlequin stamp set. Love It! It's now available for purchase and you can find it here. I also love the new sets that have been released this month! Be sure to check them out! I really loved the samples I made this month! Here they are.....

• STAMPS- Harlequin BG, Just Whalin' Around (QKD)
  
• PAPER- Certainly Celery, black
• INK- Brilliance black, Versamark
  
• OTHER- Copic markers, Cosmo Cricket rub ons, white Souffle pen, Nestabilities, scalloped edge scissors
  

• STAMPS- Harlequin BG (QKD)
  
• PAPER- pink, Chocolate Chip, white
• INK- Versamark
• OTHER- Cosmo Cricket rub ons, ribbon, button, rhinestones (the fab Lindsay sent me the button and some of the ribbon in a RAK package! Thanks girl!)
  

• STAMPS- Harlequin BG, Mini Circles set {retired} (QKD)
  
• PAPER- Paper Trey white, Cosmo Cricket
  
• INK- Versamagic Sage and Wheat, Cranberry Crisp
• OTHER- Chipboard heart and arrow, Cosmo Cricket rub ons (the word was BELIEVE but I cut it apart to make the word LIVE)
  

I really love the ribbon flower but I love the 'Live' one too! I was really happy with these!

Here are the new 'Take 3 Club' sets! Aren't they adorable! I love the bikini, flip flops, and Hula girl! Remember you can get a 10% discount on your order by using the code HK10 at checkout!


Want some more good news? YOU could be the net Design Team member for Queen Kat Designs!!! Vicki is looking for 3 new members for the next DT session! For all of the details check it out here on the QKD blog! The deadline is June 15th so hurry and apply!!

Well, I'm off to hopefully put our new grill together that Joe got for Father's day! We have had it for almost a week now and it's still in the box. I'm hoping it's not too complicated and I can get it together without his help! Wish me luck! Have a fantastic day everyone!!!!!

My body hurts...

These past few weeks have been the most physically challenging ones I've had in a loooong time! But, they are almost over! Whew! My body hurts though and I have a serious sun burn from planting my watermelons, cantaloupe, and pumpkins. Everything is planted though so that is a relief. Now we just have to finish the chicken coup. Yes, we got chickens! Thirty 3 week old chicks and two 3 week old roosters. We are building a movable coup they won't make a big dirt pile where they will eat the grass. Every day or every other day we will be able to move it (it will be on wheels) so they can have fresh grass and we aren't left with any bare spots! It's like a big triangle and at the top will be there nests and roosts and at the bottom will be a fenced area that is directly on top of the grass. Once they get big enough to free range we will just let them out during the day and put them back in their coup at night to keep them away from predators. So far and quite surprisingly, the boys are my favorite. They actually let me pet them and hold them without freaking out. And before I tell you their names please take no offense as my kids helped name them. Little Bill and Pecker. I said Pecker to Joe jokingly and the kids loved it. It's so nice how kids can be so untainted by the world! Anyway, I will have a few pictures to share later this week, just haven't had time to edit them. We will have to thin our group down by about 20 by the time late fall gets here. Hopefully the kids get attached to the ones we are keeping!

Moving on to crafting now, I wanted to share a few more Doodle Factory cards I got done last week. Drumroll please....

I wanted to keep this one simple and obvious...

• STAMPS- House from DF Country, Alphabet, Stitches (Starving Artistamps)
• PAPER- Mellow Moss, white
• INK- Brilliance Black
• OTHER- Copic Markers

For this one I was channeling my inner layer-er. LOL

• STAMPS- Drake from DF Fairytale, Miss You from SSS Thanks (Starving Artistamps)
• PAPER- Basic Grey Archaic, white CS
• INK- Tim Holtz Tea Stain distress ink, Brilliance black
• OTHER- Nestabilities, Copic Markers, pop dots, sponge

I have some super cute QKD cards to share tomorrow! Be sure to stop back by to see them and get a glimpse at our chicks! Thanks for coming by today! Have a great day!

I think I'm still alive!

Give me a second to check my pulse...... Yep, I'm still here. Not going into too great detail, I have been very busy with lots of different things lately. We have been starting a garden which means we had to dig it, till it, fertilize it, and today I have to plant everything. By the way, the tiller must hate me because my arms and hands are so sore! The kids and I have been doing more homeschool subjects too which has added to the lack of time during the day. We are getting rid of our extra couch, chair, end table, dining room table, chairs, and a few other stands so I have been trying to take those things apart and get them ready to go to the incinerator. All of the things we are getting rid of are older and not so sturdy anyway. The only thing we do at the dining room table is school anyway. And we are also building me a super cool desk that I designed! I am so excited about it! Hopefully it actually gets done and in a timely manner! It's got everything I need on it! Anyway, the girls started gymnastics too (which they love) so I'm stuck trying to get everything I need to do done on the day of their class since gas is so high!

So, other than a few things I left out, you can tell how busy I have been the last few weeks. However, I have gotten a lot of DT cards done in the process! Mother's Day cards too! I'm gonna share a card from each company today that I have been working on.....

STAMPS- Blip of Doodle Factory Urban, Lil' Squares BG (Starving Artistamps)
PAPER- black, white, gray, metallic adhesive back paper
INK- Brilliance black ink
OTHER- Copic markers, Nestabilities, ribbon, pop dots

STAMPS- Harlequin BG (Queen Kat Designs)-soon to be released
PAPER- Basic Grey Sultry
INK- Versamark
OTHER- buttons, chipboard

STAMPS- Daisy Trio #1, Proverbs 31:28 (smARTworks)
PAPER- MME, brown CS
INK- Versamagic Agean Blue, Colorbox Chestnut Roan
OTHER- Nestabilities, pop dots

STAMPS- Beautiful, French Quarter (Inque Botique)
PAPER- Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, black
INK- Palette Hybrid black, Versamark
OTHER- Marvy punches, edge distresser, sewing machine, ribbon, pop dots, Stickles

Thanks for stopping in today and I'll probably be back on Wednesday to share some more Doodle Factory goodies!

I scream for Ice Cream!

Good morning all! I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday morning and looking forward to the weekend! I know I am! I will be visiting my momma and sisters tomorrow! My mom is making my favorite food......macaroni in a tomato/bacon/onion sauce. It's poor people food, but I grew up with it and I will eat it until I feel sick! I am sooooo looking forward to eating that tomorrow! Then on Sunday the kids and I are going to Ruby Tuesday's (I am in love with their garlic mashed potatoes!!!!!) and his mom is going to come and take them to their camper (more like a second home!) for the night so Joe and I can have an evening at home (he works 12 hours on the weekend) together. THEN! On Monday I am hoping to get in to the salon to get a facial and a hair trim. It will be a most wonderful Mother's Day weekend! Yahoo!

Now, moving on to the card. This is one of my favorite cards using the Queen Kat Designs 'Sweets' set (which is now available in the store). I wanted to keep it really simple with the kraft paper and the ice cream, although it is hard to see, is shimmer paper. I attached a button for the cherry and viola!

• STAMPS- Sweets, Mrs. Piggie (Queen Kat Designs)
• PAPER- kraft CS, shimmer
• INK- Stazon Jet Black
• OTHER- Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, ribbon, button, pop dots
  

Because I am a big dope, I completely forgot to announce Queen Kat Designs Big News! Starting May 1st they are offering a stamp kit called "TAKE 3" Here are the details:

Each month we will have 3 large stamp sets exclusive to the club. If you don't subscribe to the club, you won't be able to get ALL of the images ever again! Sure, we MAY release 1-2 of them... But you won't EVER get these sets in their entirety ever again! Tanis, SJ and QK have been working hard to bring you the best sets possible and man, you don't want to miss out on this Take 3 club!!!! Here's the film strip for May's stamps..

There are bunch of cards in the gallery that use these stamps. Click here to go see. Retail value of the stamps will always be $27.00 or more.

Prices are as follows: (free shipping included)
1 month: $22
6 Months: $21/month
12 months: $20/month

You can add this club onto an existing club from Queen Kat Designs. Just check out in the store and let us know it's to be added to your kits club. You can send this as a gift to someone. A handmade card will be sent with the first month's subscription.

Get your subscription today!! Kits will ship on the 15th of each month.

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If I'm not back on here before Mother's Day (I hope to share some MD cards tonight that I plan on making today) then I hope all of you beautiful ladies have wonderful days/weekends! We have the best job in the world!!! God bless and thanks for stopping by!

Sunshine Filled Tea Party

I am a little sore this morning. Yesterday was a non-stop day. We started at 9am and didn't stop till around 8pm. We had to do a lot of regular things (grocery and such) and then we had to get Jolee's hair cut (she looks so grown up!), I went to Big Lots hoping I could find some thick CD cases because my stamps are overflowing and I need some more to store them in. Nope! So now I guess I am going to have to order online which is what I was trying to avoid. Anyway, we had to pick up the rest of our veggie seeds and plants for our garden too. After that the girls had their first gymnastics class. They loved it and it was fun to watch them through the plexi-glass. After that was home and unload everything. Then the fun part came.....digging up more of our garden! Yee-haw! We bought a tiller a few days ago but you still need to work the ground a little to make the tiller easier to use. We did that will about 8:30 and then I had to put the groceries away. I was super tired by the end of the day! We are planting all kinds of stuff for our garden so I am really excited!! Corn, tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, cucumber, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, watermelon, strawberries, pumpkins, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. Now we just get to play the waiting game!!

This morning is another smARTworks Tea Party! We all got our new batches of rubber so I think all of us were excited for this challenge. Well, another reason could be that Dina challenged us to make a card with NO ADHESIVE OR GLUE. It's so funny how there are so many little things you don't think of! When I was done with the card I almost glued on some baubles not even thinking! I caught myself though! Here is my card and I challenge all of you to make a no glue card too!

• STAMPS- Sunny Smiles, Sunny Smile Sayings (smARTworks)
• PAPER- MME, American Crafts
• INK- Stazon Jet Black
• OTHER- edge distresser, large brad, Word Window punch, Sewing Machine, Stickles

Be sure to check out the other Cookie's creations throughout the day!!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
Dee's Studio

Hopefully all of you have had a great start to your weeks so far! I have to really get busy and make some Mother's Day cards! We have just had so much to do around here that it's been crazy! Maybe I'll make it to them tonight. Have a super sunshine filled day!!! Thanks for stopping by!

A fishing we will go.....

Good morning everyone! Sorry I have been absent the past few days, my allergies have been getting the better of me.....and still are. My eyes are bloodshot, my nose is stuffed up and red, I can't stop sneezing, and now my muscles hurt from the sneezes and such. I can't taste my food and sleep has been quite a challenge since I can't breathe through my nose. Okay, there, I'm done complaining. I'm gonna switch to my happy face now.

Last week, I promised the kids I would take them fishing on the first warm day this week (unfortunately something I wish I didn't promise) which just so happens to be today. After lunch they are going to dig in the yard for worms for us to fish with and then out we'll go. I'm sure my nose and throat will just love that! Okay, so I lied about being done complaining. Now I'm really done. I'm taking my camera so hopefully I get a few good pics. The wind is pretty bad here now so hopefully it dies down by this afternoon so they can see what they are doing.

I'm gonna share a very simple Thank You card I made for our landlord. She is just the sweetest person to us and always makes sure we have everything we need out here. We get all the annual check ups and even get our driveway re-graveled in the spring because of the snowplows that go up our lane to make sure we can get out in bad weather if need be. In my opinion she goes above and beyond. So, I wanted to offer a small token of thanks to her. I took a few flower and sewed the button in the middle and adhered to the card with heavy duty tape. Of course I stamped the swirl and thank you first, then outlining with a gray Copic marker. I really think that gives it depth. Then I sponged the edges and a little of the flower.

• STAMPS- Mini Birdi, Petals (Inque Botique)
• PAPER- white CS
• INK- Colorbox Olive Pastel, Stazon Jet Black
• OTHER- flowers, button, sponge, gray Copic marker

Well, I'm off to make lunch and then supervise a hunt for worms! Wish us luck! This will be Clinton's first time fishing and I know if he catches his first fish and Joe isn't there to see it, he will be bummed. Fishing is all they have been talking about for months though so I didn't want to let them down. Hopefully I'll have pictures to share tomorrow! Until then, have a great day!! And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Smells and a Doodle Dude

Good morning!! Today is going to be another beautiful day! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mow the grass yesterday {insert pouty face} due to a dead battery from sitting over winter. I juiced it up though so I should be good to go today. When I mentioned the smell of fresh cut grass yesterday I got a few similar responses. So, since we were talking about smells we like, I thought I'd mention a few more that woo me!

1. Stazon black ink pads. I don't know if all of the colors smell that way, but I love it!
2. The rubber matt that you can buy to emboss the Nestabilities. It has such a strong smell but I even find myself picking it up just to smell it!
3. Lilacs! Need I say more?! My favorite flower in the world! Too bad they don't last too long off the bush!
4. Coffee grounds. I'm not too much of a coffee drinker but when Joe and I were first together I bought a can of coffee just to smell it every few days. I guess it reminded me of home.

Well, I guess that's it for me for the smells. And since I made a goof of myself, please don't hesitate to do the same!


Here is a card I made last night when everyone was asleep! It just came to me. All of the colors and layout and everything. It came together surprisingly smooth!

• STAMPS- Twinx (Doodle Factory via Starving Artistamps), Thank you (SSS Thanks via Starving Artistamps)
• PAPER- Basic Grey 'Gypsy', green CS
• INK- Brilliance black
• OTHER- Copic Markers, Nestabilities, Word Window punch, Slit punch, Stamping Bella Baubles, push pin (for paper piercing), pop dots

I am getting ready to put in my batch order for Starving Artistamps and it is killing me to have to decide on which Doodle Factory to get! I don't have Urban, Country, or Fairytale! I have to get a little of each I guess!

Oh, by the way, Susan L was the winner of the Fairytale blog candy from Tracey! Congrats! But, if you didn't win, she is offering up a 20% discount on anything Doodle Factory in the store until April 27th on her blog!!!!! So, if you can't live without this set, here is your chance to get a discount! All you have to do is put iloveDF in the discount code box and then hit recalculate. Viola!

Oh, don't forget to sign up for my blog candy if you're Canadian!!! It ends tomorrow!

Hope all of you have a super fantastical day!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Been organizing

Hello all! Hope everyone is having a good morning so far! Once it warms up a little more I get to go mow grass. Woo-Hoo! Okay, there was a little bit of sarcasm there but I really am looking forward to the smell of that fresh cut grass! That's one of my favorite smells in the world!!! Ahhh, I can smell it now! Anyway! I have been organizing my stuff and the kids' bookshelf/homeschool shelf this weekend. I went to a local library book sale on Friday morning and walked out with LOTS of books! The great thing? I spent less than $20! We got a lot of books to supplement with homeschooling too! I have come to the conclusion lately that I love buying books. None for myself really, but for the kids and for us as a family. I get a thrill of knowing that we will all be learning together or planning little trips. Joe and I picked up 3 new Ohio books about 3 weeks ago. They are awesome and are all about places you can go and day trips you can take. They're cool because they tell you about the history of the place before you even go to it! There is a lot of underground railroad stuff in one and of course the Indian mounds that we have quite a few of. Really cool things like that.

Okay, so I am really rambling this morning! I just wanted to share a picture with you of how I am storing my loose ribbon. I love the ideas of the clipping organizers but didn't really wanna pay for stuff like that when I could find some other way to spend my money (gee, how hard that would be!). So, this is what I came up with!







I picked up the clips at Office Max for around $2.50 (it doesn't day on the box but I'm guessing about 100 clips) and the rings I found at Walmart a while back. I don't remember how much they were but I believe it was around $2 for a 10 or 8 pack. Either way, you can't really go wrong with $5 for a ribbon organizer! If you decide to give this a try, let me know how it works for you! Hope everyone has a fantastic day! Enjoy the sunshine!

I will leave you with a pic I took this morning.

Now I know how headless chicken feel.

**If you don't want to read a little rant then skip down to the card! {grin}**

I am anticipating and fearing the week ahead. I know at several points I will probably scream, or at least want to. I have to clean my house from top to bottom. I've got to get all the crevices in between and my goal is to also steam clean the carpet. We'll see if the latter happens. The big reason I have to do this is because I will be having a house full of people on Saturday. Another reason is, it just needs to be done. The dust bunnies have been comfy too long and need to be evicted! I guarantee I will try to think of a reason NOT to do several things, but in the end I will realize that I have to do it.

On top of cleaning, I have to but the food for Jolee and Ava's party, get a few other small things for their party, and decorate the house like a princess castle in an extremely cool way. BTW, if you have done a princess party and have a few ideas, I'd love to hear! We are having everyone come in a princess dress and we are doing hair, make-up, and nails along with lots of games and prizes. I have the food and snack planned out pretty well but could always use some good ideas for decorations!

Other than those two things, the Go Kart should be coming tomorrow (don't ask!) which means I have to be here when it comes. If any of you read my blog often, you know Tuesday is my 'out' day. We go to Blockbuster, Kroger, Hobby Lobby, etc.... and usually play at Burger King or MD's. I have things I need to get done tomorrow and I have a big feeling that like every other delivery person or cable person in history, if they say they will be here at 11am then they will most likely be here at 2.

Wednesday is Jolee's actual birthday, therefore we do whatever she wants to do the whole day. She chose Chuckie Cheese's this year. I'm excited for her and the kids to have fun but I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking about things I need to get done before Saturday. Well, actually before Friday because my mom and sis are coming up a day early so they can stay 2 nights to spend extra time with us. They will be happy to help me decorate and such though, so I'm not stressed at all about them coming up early. I'll have to have my house clean by Friday though.

Joe has to replace the brake pads and front rotors on my van. It's supposed to rain all week. I can't go (and don't wanna with the way my brakes are now) to Dayton to get a few of the party favors at Michael's like I need to if my brakes aren't fixed. And just so you know, I'll have most likely screamed a few times at this point of the week.

I also have a few deadlines that I need to get done. I am so very excited to have a super cool birthday party for the girls and I am going to be so happy to have my house clean clean, it's just getting there that sometimes stinks! If any of you read this whole rant then God bless you and thank you! You are a true friend!

I need something cute to make me smile! Here she is! I made this last week and my sister gave me the idea for the stage. Thanks sis!

• STAMPS- Mrs. Piggie (available April 1st via Queen Kat Designs)
• PAPER- black, kraft
• INK- Stazon jet black
• OTHER- fabric, ribbon, flower, rhinestones, white Souffle pen, Stardust glitter pen, pop dots

On another note, Joe and I finally agreed on the rest of our Homeschool curriculum! We are going with Explode the Code for reading/phonics, Math U See for math, BJU Press for Science, Bible Study, and Heritage (which is like geography, history, etc..) and we will supplement here and there with little things. I got some really great Sight Words work books at B Dalton too. We are really excited to get more of a structure than we had before. Joe will be switching shifts net week so we will be switching off teaching during the week too. Yay! Alright, I think I have blabbed enough for today! I hope all of you have a wonderful day!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, just one more thing. I took this pic last week. It is the first flower of spring that we have seen!

Walkin' on Sunshine

Good Morning! Even though it is raining outside and looks yucky, I am in a surprisingly good mood! I don't have any reason not to be in a good mood, I just feel more gleeful than usual! I had lots of things I was going to do out and about today but I decided everything can wait until tomorrow. I really don't want to go out in the rain today and the kids say they just don't wanna go anywhere. I think we might cuddle up and watch a good movie like Labyrinth or Narnia or maybe even Monster House. I love watching movies that have a bit of 'spook' to them on rainy days!

Before I ramble even more, I am going to share my card with you. I have to say that I absolutely love this card!!!!! I started to stamp this sunflower on white so I could color it in but as I was taking the stamp off the ink pad I noticed a scrap of More Mustard peeking out from under my scrap tray. Hmmmm, maybe I should paper piece it! So, I did. Doesn't it look great?! I think it does. Sometimes you are so proud of a card it makes you sound so vein! But you don't really care because the card rocks and you know it! LOL

• STAMPS- Happy Sunflower, Fern Leaf Tooled Leather BG (Starving Artistamps), Greetings (SunSpirit Studios)
  
• PAPER- Basic Grey 'Mellow', Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, More Mustard
• INK- Palette Hybrid black, Colorbox Dark Brown
• OTHER- Versamarker, Word Window punch, Slit punch, Crop-a-dile, edge distresser, pop dots

I am also trying to get Joe and I's schedule planned out for Saturday. We are going to the Cincinnati homeschool convention. We went last year (the first year) and it was great! We got to hear some great speakers and check out all of the curriculum. It was really nice to be able to look through the books and see everything. Last year we didn't buy but this year we know what we are going to get. We have purchased things online through the year but we are going to get a few 'biggies' this weekend. I am really looking forward to it!

Well, I hope everyone has a good Thursday! Oh, speaking of Thursday, Grey's Anatomy will finally be coming back next month!!!! I can't wait!!!!!

The birds are chirping

I have noticed this past week that even though it may not be warm yet, I am hearing the birds more than ever! Jolee and I saw a caterpillar on the porch yesterday and my Tiger Lilies are starting to sprout! Come on spring!!!! We are waiting for you!

Remember when I told you guys a week or two ago that I got two 3 packs of Inkadinkado stamps at Joann's? Well, I got on their site to try and find the name of the sets so I could list them but they were nowhere to be found {side note, they are coming out with the cutest 1.99 sets that I can't wait to get my hands on!! They are the first stamps shown in the clear section of their website}. I don't know if they are just a promo for Joann's or what but I wish I could give more detail than just they they are Inkadinkado. Alas, I can't, so my appologies. One of the stamps that made me buy this set was the beautiful bird that looks similar to one of the birds in the Birds Galore set. He was just calling to be used......simply.

• STAMPS- Inkadinkado
• PAPER- The Slab (Michael's)
• INK- Brilliance black
• OTHER- Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Copic marker (B21), pop dots

I'm finally going to get my van inspected today. The last time I had it scheduled the weather was awful and I had to cancel. I know my brakes are worse for the wear but I hope that's all they say! We have had work done with this guy before and they seem really honest so I'm not worried about getting ripped off or anything. Plus, I'm not the 'typical' female they try to talk into things they don't really need! Thanks heavens hubby knows all about that kind of stuff!

Well, I am going to make up a list of things I need to get at the grocery before I head into town. I am bringing a fruit tray to my mom's for Easter and I decided I'm gonna add a bug tub of yogurt and granola too. I have been hooked on that lately and I never even really cared for yogurt. Go figure!

I hope you guys have an great day! Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. If you want to know a little more about editing and having actions for your photos then check out Nicole's article today over at Craft Critique!

Quick and Simple

Good morning and happy Monday to everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend! My sister, hubby, and I took a quick trip to the casino again this weekend. We had so much fun! I actually played the slots this time too. I always said 'never' because I felt like I didn't have any control over anything like in video poker, but I had a blast. Plus, we were playing nickel slots. I got Angel hooked on Roulette too! She was nervous at first but ended up winning like $200 in the end. I wanted to share a pic that I took of us in the hotel before we went to spend our money. Ain't she pretty?! And yes, I wore my hair in braids. My name is Heidi after all!




Anyhoo, these are just a few cards I had to do quickly last week. Trish D'Antonio's father in law passed away unexpectedly so I wanted to get my card sent out as soon as possible.

• STAMPS- Queen Anne's Lace (Starving Artistamps), Sympathy (Sun Spirit Studios)
• PAPER- Old Olive, kraft
• INK- Brilliance black
• OTHER- edge distresser, pop dots
  

My MIL needed a card for someone at work too and I didn't have a thinking of you laying around. I had like 10 minutes to make this one so it's nothing fantastic, but she was pleased. Can you tell I've been reaching for my edge distresser lately?

• STAMPS- Inkadinkado
• PAPER- Perfect Plum, DCWV glitter flower stack
• INK- Stazon Jet Black
• OTHER- Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities, ribbon, edge distresser, pop dots

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In other news, the new crew for Craft Critique was announced! Craft Critique is going in such a great direction! There are big things in store for us! Head over and check out the fresh faces of CC!!!

I hope all of you have a fantastical day! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Friday!

Ahhhh, Friday. I love you. You are my second favorite day of the week. You bring the hope of a fun and possibly eventful weekend, or even a lazy weekend. I am so glad you are here.

So, how are you peeps this morning? Wonderful I hope!

I'm finally getting a chance to share my first card made with my new batch of Starving Artistamps! I really like these silhouette flowers! I really really dislike the Palette glue pad though. I am about ready to throw that thing in the trash! I need to get the Tsuneiko one but I haven't been able to let myself spend that kind of money for it yet.

• STAMPS- FS-9 Daisy, lil squares BG (Starving Artistamps), Greetings (SunSpiritStudios)
• PAPER- Bazzil CS (courtesy of Tracy via her blog candy I won! Thanks Tracy!)
• INK- Stazon jet black, Palette glue pad
• OTHER- Nestabilities, glitter, ribbon, pop dots
  

This is a 5x5 card that I really ended up liking in the end. When I was covering the chipboard letters with the BasicGrey paper I was wondering if it would turn out well or not. I think it worked out pretty well! I like the soft butterflies.

• STAMPS- butterflies p5.5 and p5.6 (Starving Artistamps)
  
• PAPER- BasicGrey Two Scoops
• INK- Pretty in Pink (SU)
  
• OTHER- chipboard alphas, brads
  

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I was tagged by Tina to do a *5* list last week. I had to think about it for a while but this is what I came up with.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was a Sophomore in High School and cheerleading for our football team. I was also getting my very first kiss.

What was I doing 1 year ago?
Pretty much the same thing I am doing right now. Only I am priveledged to be on some awesome design teams!

5 favorite snacks?
*Forget the snacks! Gimme real food! JK
Bowl of cereal
Doritos with melted cheddar cheese on top
Fruit and yogurt
Oatmeal creme pies
Whatever is in the cupboard or fridge!

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire?
Tithe
Invest properly
Move to Tenn. into a house on a lake
Make my mom move in with me! lol
Make hubby quit his job so he could pursue his dream job of professional fisherman!

5 things I like doing?
Making cards
Taking Pictures
Watching movies
Playing with my babies
Playing games

5 things I will never wear again?
Bikini {sniff sniff}
Red lipstick
Non underwire bra
Big sole shoes
Gold jewelry (I'm a silver kinda gal)

5 favorite toys?
Canon Rebel XTi
Laptop
Sizzix
Smartphone (it now has GPS! yay!)
Wii


Well, there ya go! I'm not going to tag anyone this time around but if you wanna play along, consider yourself tagged!

Hope all of you have a super-fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by!