Can't put this paper away!

Alright, I just HAD to make another quick card with this paper! The scraps from earlier were just screaming my name! I used this layout from an old Paper Crafts mag I was flipping through while the kids were taking a bath. It was really simple to put together since I use just about everything I used on the previous card. Except I added a metal rimmed tag, new ribbon, and changed the stamp set. This is a 4 x 8 card.

• MME Magnolia line patterned paper
• Paper Tray stamp set (PaperTrey)
• Paisley Rockz stamp set (TAC)
• ribbon (RABOM)
• metal rimmed tag, glitter, pop dots, aqua painter

Both the tag and the flower are popped up but I just couldn't seem to get a good enough angle that you could tell. I also used the aqua painter to smudge the dye ink a little once I stamped the paisley. I learned that from the good ole' Nicole Heady herself! She's such a smartie I tell ya!

*****
Well, I'm off to clean some more. It also has the makings of a long night with Jolee's coughing. It seems to be getting worse.

Sweet dreams to all! See ya tomorrow!

Getting better

Thanks to all of you sending your good thoughts to us! I feel much better this morning but I'm still pretty tired (what's new!?). Ava and Clinton are back to normal! Although Jolee now has a cough that's bugging her. She is actually sleeping on the couch right now. If you'd ask her though she'd say "I'm just resting my eyes". Wonder who she hear that from? {blush}

I wanted to get a quick card in this morning because I seriously need to clean my house. I think I'm going to open the windows and doors and try to sort though some things. The Am. Vets are coming on Monday to pick up stuff I'm donating. I don't have anything yet, but by this weekend I'm sure I'll have plenty! I love that they come to my house to pick it up! Saves me a trip into town to drop it off somewhere else.

• MME Magnolia line patterned paper
• Happy Everything stamp set (SU)
• paisley ribbon (RABOM)
• Word Window punch (SU)
• Marvy Mega scallop oval punch
• brads, pop dots, glitter, push pin, black pen

I got this slab of paper half of for $10 at Hobby Lobby and I love all but like 9 sheets in it! They are all really great patterns! If you are in need of paper, or not (I never am but paper is my weakness) then you need to get this 180 sheet pack!

We've got the yuckies!

I really thought we could avoid the 'bugs' that are going around (and not the Cuttlebug kind unfortunately) but as of yesterday, they have hit us too. Clinton carried a fever for most of the day yesterday and was completely attached to my hip or lap the entire time! Ava wasn't hungry at dinner so I felt her head and she had a temp too. I put her in bed around 9:00 pm and at about 9:15 she was calling for me because she threw up in her bed. {sigh} I had to strip her down and give her a quick bath. About the time we got done with the bath Clinton woke up and started crying for me and it was back and forth like that all night. Today they are both still clingy and now I am starting to hurt all over. I CANNOT get sick! I don't have time and if I'm sick who will take care of the kids? Can't happen. So, I am rebuking it! Can I hear an Amen!?

Alright, moving on. I finally got this card put together. I had made a piece here and a piece there but it kept getting set to the side.

It's alright. Not my favorite. I like the trees (although I think I need to sponge some blue for the sky) and the paper but I don't know about the whole layout. Oh well, someone in my family will appreciate it!

• Trees Three, All the Best {grass}, Riveting stamp sets (SU)
• Karen Foster 1/8 inch snap stamps
• Paper Studio patterned paper
• Cuttlebug slide die
• Slit punch (SU)
• Aloe Vera and Pixie Dust Versamagic chalk ink, Close to Cocoa classic ink
• ribbon
• pop dots

*****
If you haven't checked out Gina K's blog yet, you better get over there! She is giving away BIG prizes until April 1st when she (along with Erika Martin) will be announcing something great!

Also, Nicole Heady will be unveiling her new stamp set on April 1st!

These people better not be tring to pull any fast ones on April Fools day!! {wink}

Changed my watermark.....again!

I think I finally found the one I like. I like the font and it's just the right transparency (for me) so I think this will be my primary wm. Although, if you haven't checked out Mama Dini's you really really need to! Her watermarks are beautiful and the price is even better! Right around $3!

• Flopsy's got an Egg stamp (Eat Cake Graphics)
• Karen Foster 1/8 inch snap stamps
• Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder
• Marvy Mega scallop oval punch
• American Crafts patterned paper
• Cool Caribbean CS and ink
• Word Window punch
• silk ribbon

*****
Just wanted to share our first Spring picture! I am always so anxious to get out and get pictures of the kids when it finally gets warm enough! I love taking pics and I think they get really sick of me saying "hold on, let me get my camera!" It's usually followed in an "ugh" sound but then again I have daughters that love to be in the spotlight so sometimes it's followed with "let me get my crown" or "is my hair okay?" I wonder where they got THAT from!



*****
Well, I think I have a future photographer on my hands! Jolee is always wanting to take pictures. And when I say always, I mean every day. She has a 35mm camera that takes pretty junky pictures so I decided that I will let her start using our digital camera. I have to be beside her (unless I'm in the pic) and she has to make sure she wraps the cord around her wrist before she does anything else. I really honestly think she is a natural. She took a picture of Ava yesterday and she was like "stand over here, put your hands there, smile pretty but not too big". I swear she was a little me! Here are a few that she took yesterday. I'm teaching her how she needs to make sure she holds her arms still and how to use little tricks to be able to.

She had to take a picture of the worm we found under one of our stones.


And of course she had to take a picture of the first flower of spring!

The lone stamper

I got this card made last night. I got the paper together, the bird colored, the ribbon out and then I sat there. I must have struggled with the placement of things on this card for 25 minutes. It's still not my fave layout, but it works.

I figured out that this is a Tuft Titmouse bird thanks to Jovita! You are a lifesaver girl! I don't know much about birds and I had no idea what color these really were.

• Things of Nature, Sweet Sayings stamp sets (TAC)
• MME Everyday Tango paper
• black CS
• watercolor paper and aqua painter
• Black Stazon, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Creamy Caramel, Mellow Moss classic ink
• Ribbon, brads, pop dots

I need to stamp with someone!! I am getting a tad bored stamping by myself lately.

For those of you who don't know me that well, I don't have any friends {sighs}. I have 5 sisters who are my best friends but still, they are sisters. And I have cousins and Aunts of Joe's that are great friends, but there again, they are relatives. My one true non-related friend is Heather who lives an hour away and has a brand new baby girl and also has a job as a baby nurse. She doesn't have time to come stamp with me!! So, here we are, back to square one, me with zero friends. I have tried to make friends with people and was even voted friendliest in my class in HS but I don't know if it has worn off or I am just too talkative for most or what. It's also hard to find someone my age (24) that has kids and is into stamping. I don't mind at all actually if they are my age. I get along with people older than myself perfectly. Actually, it seems to be people my age that I can't bond with. I think I know where I am in life. I have 3 kids, I am homeschooling, I'm happy that I can stay at home with my kids and that be my job every day. A lot of women (or girls, depending) my age are fresh out of college and still go out every weekend with friends or boyfriends. If I can't talk about my kids to someone, I pretty much don't have anything to talk about! And those of you with kids know exactly what I am talking about! I keep telling Joe's best friends to hurry up and get married so I can have someone to hang out with, even though I have a feeling they might be the complete opposite of me. Who knows!?!

Alright, I'm done whining now. Off to stamp......by myself.

VSN and Homeschool Convention

Once again I want to thank everyone who helped me out with my banner and whatnot (especially kmb.designer) I think it turned out pretty well. If it still looks wonky let me know so I an *try* to fix it! I took 4 years of computer in HS and even a full year of HTML but do I remember anything? Nope. I lucked out and was paired up with the smartest kid in class (who was also way cute) and never really had to do much. I was so thankful that I quickly became his girlfriend. We were together 2 years and I'm still no smarter for being with him. I can't decide whether to giggle or be severely depressed!

Friday was VSN on SCS and I got a few cards done but didn't get to play too much. I'll share the emboss resist one I did.

• Delight in Life, Riveting stamp sets (SU)
• Pixie Pink, Going Gray, black inks
• Cuttlebug slide die
• circle punch
• Versamark and clear embossing powder
• sponge
• glitter
• ribbon

Saturday I left early in the a.m. to go to a homeschool convention in Cincinnati. Wow! There was so much to take in! All the vendors that Joe and I had been looking into were there (Math U See, Mystery of History, etc.) including Five in a Row which we already use. I went to a few of the seminars and they were very informative and started to get me excited to teach History!!! Yes, I got excited about teaching history!!

All of the speakers made very obvious points of how most of us studied hard before the test but once the test was over, didn't remember any of it. THAT WAS ME! I got good grades in school but can't really say I'm all that smart now!

They did a study on college graduates (can't remember what college) where 4 months after they had graduated and taken their final exam they were called back to re-take the test (they had no clue what they were gonna do). Their score on the same test they took 4 months prior dropped 90%!!!!!!!! Isn't that crazy!? Makes me re-think some of the 'smarties' I know! {wink}

Anyway, we got a lot of info and are gonna go back next year.

I made a few cards on Friday that I didn't get a chance to upload too. I made this one for my uncle's birthday. I really like how the trees almost look 3D because of the frame around them. I'll be doing one like this again.

• Lovely as a Tree, Label Classics, Happy Everything stamp sets (SU)
• MME Everyday Tango paper
• watercolor paper
• Mellow Moss, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Black Stazon ink
• aquapainter
• ribbon
• pop dots

• Deco Designs (TAC), Small Script (SU) stamp sets
• Real Red, White chalk inks
• Word Window punch
• ribbon
• pop dots

And looky what I got! Fun mail! Allison sent me this card and said that I have a twisted sense of humor. If you only knew what she wrote inside! And she calls me twisted! {wink} Ya know I love ya Allison! Thanks for the card girl!


This is my 'bling' candy that I won from Stephanie! Can't wait to get it out and use it! Maybe I'll get a chance today. She sent me a super cute card to and a Rockabella image! She said it reminded her of my Daughtry concert. How sweet!!!!!! Thanks Steph!

Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the help guys! I figured it out. I was using winkflash to store my photo and it that was the problem. I switched over to photobucket and it was easy peasy from there.

Now all I have to do is figure out how the heck to remove the grey border. I followed these instructions but I still couldn't figure it out. I am such a dope!

Help Me Puleeeezzzz!

Humph! I can't get my banner to fit! I made it earlier today and I haven't stopped trying to get it to work since then. Can anyone help me? Maybe I'm just beyond helping! Been told that before! {wink}

Just made my own watermark!

Wow! I am so excited! I just made my own watermark. I was going to buy one today but figured that I would play around a little bit and see if I could do a good one myself. And I did! Woo-Hoo!

I bought the Paisley digi stamp kit from Shabby Princess for $3.50 and now I can make one look however I want! I'm going to be free font shopping today to change it up a bit but I like how it turned out.

• Paper Tray stamp set (PaperTrey)
• Pumpkin Pie, Cool Caribbean, Real Red, Certainly Celery, and Going Gray classic ink
• ribbon (RABOM)
• brads

I got this cool ribbon and just wanted to make it the real focal point of a card so I came up with this. I am completely in love with that little flower from the Paper Tray set! I love the polka dot center! All of these cards are 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.

All of the goodies from the blog candy will be going out in the mail today so keep an eye out for them!

Hope everyone has a great day and don't forget to watch Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy tonight!!

An unexpected night!

This card looks so much better in person. The blues actually match and so do the browns. I needed a simple and quick birthday card for yesterday and this one did the trick. I try to use Stipple Celebrations as much as possible (which is hardly ever) since it seems to be one of the sets that doesn't get much attention! We all have those!

• Stipple Celebrations stamp set (SU)
• Cuttlebug birthday embossing folder
• ribbon (from Michael's)
• staples
• scallop edge scissors
• sanding block
• pop dots

*****
I had picked up free tickets to the circus here in town a few weeks ago but completely forgot about it until last night. I mentioned it to Joe's mom and she said she would watch Clinton if I wanted to take the girls. I told her that sounded great.

On the way there I think I may have been more excited than they were. I had never been to a circus before so it was a first for all three of us.

We had such a good time! They had so many neat acts and cool music. We will definitely be going to another one when Clinton is big enough to sit still, well at least a little bit.


I just loved this one of Jolee! The show was getting ready to start and one of the first acts was the 'tiger tamer' and they were bringing the tigers in one at a time (in their own cages). When she saw the first one she got so excited, then she realized that more and more were coming out. There ended up being 7 in all and she covered her mouth because she just didn't know what to do with herself. Had to take a pic of that!