My Treasured Creations

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

2009-12-09T16:45:00.001-06:00

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year? Cricut Gypsy, Perfume, thread, handmade gifts from my girls and a new oven!
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? I've gotten so many and I love them all but I think the bracelet my daughter made for me last Christmas.
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? A quilt!
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child? a bicycle
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? Bumble Bee Transformers,Caring Corners Happy Camper, Zhu Zhu Hamster and the Furreal Kitty
6. What is your favorite holiday food? Christmas cookies of course!! Nothing says Christmas more than cookies for me!
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? Camera strap cover, wine charms, coupon holder, fabric postcards and more. I better get busy!
8. What is your favorite holiday movie? A Christmas Story
9. Favorite holiday song? While You were Sleeping by Casting Crowns has become my favorite
10. Favorite holiday pastime? As a little girl, my grandfather would play Santa the morning of Christmas by handing out each gift. As I got older, Grandpa would let me hand them out with him. It was wonderful!

You too can enter!! What are you waiting for? Link back here if you do so I can see your answers!

Cricut Meme!

2009-09-17T10:01:00.003-05:00

Do you have a Cricut and want more cartridges? Do not have one and you want one for your very own? If so, read below!

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at the Great Gypsy Escape site!

Great Escape Meme
1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be? The Caribbean!
2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car? Jeremy Camp Speaking Louder than Before
3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do? It would either be a spa night or scrapbooking shopping spree!
4. What is your guilty pleasure? Scrapbook stuff
5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home? St. Lucia
6. Last book that you couldn't put down? Shanna Swenson's Once Upon a Stilletto
7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch? Pirates of the Caribbean
8. What is your favorite local escape? The Scrapbook Barn or Stamp Asylum
9. How do you escape on a budget? Into our den and scrapbook/make cards or watch a downloaded movie with hubby.
10. Best food you've ever had while on vacation. FRESH coconut.

Good luck!

Cutting Above Blog giving away TWO Gypsies!

2009-09-17T09:35:00.002-05:00

Cutting Above launched a new blog and to kick off their new blog, they're giving away TWO Gypsies!

Here's how to win per their blog:

So how can you win? Well it's really easy.

1. On your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo or email groups and /or forums (where allowed), create/bump an existing post about the show on HSN airing September 24th. Please also post about the Cutting Above blog and its debut. (Note: If you do not have a blog, please get the word out in at least 3 ways to be eligible)

2. Become a follower of this blog

3. Put our blinkie on your blog or any other forum/group etc. you belong (again where allowed)

4. Comment to this post with your follower information, links of your 3 shout-outs along with a description of where your blinkie is located.

5. Comments should be posted by 12:00 midnight EST on October 2nd

So, head over to Cutting Above by clicking HERE and follow the steps for your chance to win! Don't forget their blinkie while you are visiting!

Good Luck!

Home

2009-07-03T14:18:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post today!

We recently traveled to see some family for my little brother’s graduation. I needed to send my dad back his memory stick so I created this quick little card to say thank you for hosting us in his home.

Paper: Rustic White Cardstock and Bitty Dots Polka Dots Parade paper PTI

Stamps: PTI Boards and Beams

Other: Memento Ink, PTI twine, Nestabilities and miscellaneous button

I love this set from Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is so perfect!

Have a great weekend!

Hey Cupcake!

2009-06-26T17:07:00.000-05:00

I love cupcakes and polka dots lately. So after visiting the message board, I stumbled upon a post where a mb member used this video from Fabulously Artsy to make cupcake gift card holders. My niece’s Bat Mitzvah was coming up and thought this was an extra special way of presenting her gift.

The money holder and Star of David was created using a Cricut .cut file and the circle using my nestabilities.

It’s not hard per se but is time consuming. I love the end result and will probably make more of these for special friends. You know, the ones that understand and appreciate hand-made gifts?

Check out the video and her website. Pretty creative!

Until next time,

Playing with my camera

2009-06-23T23:06:00.005-05:00

I am trying to convince J that I NEED a new camera. You know, one of those fancy schmacy DSLRs like this one here:

(That's the Canon Rebel T1i. Isn't it SWEET?)

My little ones aren't so little any more and they rarely stand still which makes it quite difficult to get a good NON-BLURRY picture. A new camera with faster fps (frames per second) would come in so handy, especially since the girls are getting into sports! Mostly, I'm tired of shooting on Auto and want more control over the camera. While I would LOVE a non-crop DLSR, it's just not in the budget now. Maybe. Later. In. Like. Ten. Years.

I have been trying to get more out of my little P&S and using Photoshop Elements 3.0 (come to think of it, it's time to upgrade that too!). Tell me your honest opinions. What do you think of my images below?

E's first time back on a bounce house since she was diagnosed with cancer in 2007

Can you guess how old S is right now?

Our peach tree blossoms

Do you think I could convince him? Give me some suggestions on what I should say to him. When I bring this up, his standard answer is, "But honey, you already have a camera. You don't NEED another!"

Grill Master

2009-06-19T13:56:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe it’s been since OCTOBER since I last posted! I know I’ve been busy but I didn’t know it had been THAT long. I’ve still been crafting, scrapping and creating, just not blogging! I’m setting a goal of posting at least once a month to get me motivated again. Maybe I’ll post more than that! We’ll see.

I’ve finished several projects: Seattle Mini book for big sis, graduation cards (2) and several cards including another wallet like this one, but alas, have FORGOTTEN to take pictures of them. *EEK!*

So, I thought with this being Father’s Day this weekend, I would start the new year of blogging with my gift to J and a chance to win over at Today's Mama and Cricut:

This was so incredibly EASY to do!

I think I've mentioned I have a die-cutting machine, right? It’s the Cricut Expression. I’ve not used it as much as I would have like as I got it right before E' was diagnosed but I’m trying to make up for lost time using it whenever I can!

Do you remember freezer paper as a child? We used it as kids for arts and craft projects. It’s so versatile! Well, I saw (on a blog of course!) tee shirt creations using freezer paper as their STENCIL. What an awesome idea. The shiny side of the paper adheres to your fabric so it makes a great barrier and when you’re done you just pull it off.

So, I used:

Cricut Expression
Freezer paper
Acrylic paints
Fabric Painting Medium
Iron

I designed what I wanted in Design Studio, remembering that text must be REVERSED and FLIPPED in order to be able to read the text after it’s ironed on:

I then cut it out on a 12x12 mat with the freezer paper shiny side UP as the shiny side will not stick well to the mat.

Then once cut out, you then place it on your fabric item where you want it and take a hot iron and iron it on place. Don’t forget if you have letters I, E, O etc that you need those INSIDE pieces.

I then took my arsenal of acrylic paints (if I lay them out it’s like a rainbow!) and mix two parts acrylic to one part fabric medium. The fabric medium is what makes them fabric paints! No need to go out and purchase the expensive fabric paints. Just mix in a little medium and volia! Then paint away! Here’s what I used in case I’ve confused you.

Here is a picture of E’s shirt to her daddy just after she painted it before we took off the stencil.

Isn’t the freezer paper so cool? Will you try it? Come back and comment if you do! I’d love to see what YOU create.

Cards for our Troops

2008-10-17T23:08:00.004-05:00

I've always wanted to participate in sending cards over to our troops but haven't had the time with E's treatment. I finally made the commitment to do 10 cards. It's not much but at least it's a start. Right now they're asking for holiday cards with BLANK insides so the troops can use these cards to send back home to their loved ones.

Knowing not everyone celebrates Christmas, I did 5 Santa cards and 5 snowmen cards. I figured the snowmen were pretty generic to use if someone didn't celebrate Christmas. The inside of the Santa cards say "Merry Christmas" and the snowmen cards say "Happy Holidays." I decided to jazz them up a little and use crushed velvet for the snowman's scarves and hats and for Santa's hat and coat.

I appreciate each and every member of our armed services for keeping our country safe. They put their lives on the line every day because that is their job. Thank you!

Sweet Baby

2008-10-12T22:09:00.000-05:00

While I post mostly cards, I do scrapbook. I've been doing more cards I think just because it's faster and I get instant gratification!

However, Loreen at Wish on a Scrap has changed things for me. She has these AMAZING scrapbook kits that make putting a layout together so easy. Here is one of mine:

Everything but the "little giggle" stamp (Studio G) and the journaling stamp was used for this kit. And the title, Sweet baby? THICKERS! These things are awesome. Maybe you'll see more layouts from me soon!

Thanks for checkin' in!

Think Pink

2008-10-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

As you know, E was diagnosed with cancer last year. In that time, I've had so many people that have supported my family, prayers spoken and just shoulders to cry on. One of the ladies, whom I consider a dear friend, was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago. She wasn't going to tell me (!) because of all I've been going through with E, but I asked how she was doing. In talking to her, I felt a sense of peace, not panic, that things will be OK for her. She is an amazing woman and I am blessed to know her.

After she told me of her diagnosis, I immediately felt the need to make her a card. This is what I came up with:

I took my Papertrey Ink Perfect Match paper (background and paper piecing) and ribbon, Spellbinder Nestabilities & Tags, and My Favorite Things stamp set, Think Pink to make this card just for her so she knows how much I care and am praying for her.

Warm Heart

2008-10-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

In the last year since E's diagnosis of cancer, I haven't had a lot of time (or energy) to scrapbook. Only recently have I started to really spend some time at my table. Since I am a mom that works outside of the home, I often feel bad if I do any type of creating when my little ones are awake. I feel that time should be devoted to my family, not doing something for me.

So, I decided to put a small table in my room so that the kids can craft, color, cut, etc in the same room with me. Previously it was in the kitchen and I just spent too much time going back and forth to get what I needed from the other room. They have their own set of stamps and stamp pads (washable but I disagree with that label!!), paper, makers, scissors (though I keep those away until requested) and glue. This makes it much more productive for them to get their "supplies" out and create and less hassle for me too!

So I took a picture the other night of the girls at their table. It warmed my heart to see them together, concentrating so intently on what they were doing. The table? The table my sister and I used as kids! E is getting so meticulous with her scrapbooking (or card making), spending hours (if she could!) on one project. Many times I must gently prod her to finish up! I get requests constantly, "Mommy, can we scrapbook tonight?" and that just melts me. S is still in the "what can I stick down with glue" and "how many pieces of scrap can I make using my scissors" but like her sister, I know her time for creative genius is not far behind!

Tell me, what hobby do you like to do and how have you included your family into it? How does that make you feel? I know that life is so precious that it is hard for me to waste a minute!

Lauren ROCKS

2008-10-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

Have any of you checked out Lauren's blog? I am a FAITHFUL reader and just a little bit ago she posted a tutorial on glass etching here. I tried it and am SO happy with the results.

A few things...

read the directions ALL THE WAY THROUGH! ;) Though I missed the first line "shake before using" it still worked.
I put it on and waited 20 minute (directions say 3-4 but Lauren suggested longer; I go with Lauren!)
The paste is expensive (~$20-25/bottle) but if you have a craft store near you that you can use their 40% off coupon then it would make it much more affordable. I expect this bottle to last a LONG time.
Make sure you have a clean brush (I used foam) on hand as well. Took me FOREVAH to find one in my house. It's now with the bottle of etching cream! LOL
Don't worry when you rinse your piece if you don't see it. The water kind of "hides" the etching and you won't really see it until it's dry
Try not to use short strokes, long ones are better and make sure you use a good bit of the cream. In the light of day, I can see where I did too light of a coat. It's not noticeable to the naked eye; only to mine 'cuz I was looking for it!
You don't have to have stamps and embossing powder. You could use vinyl and if you have ability to do die cuts you could cut your shape out that way.

Here is my 99 cent votive holder using Papertrey Ink's Women of Life stamp (the flower).

What do YOU think? What are you waiting for to try this?

Women of Life

2008-10-09T06:30:00.001-05:00

For E's teachers, I made each of them a special card to say thanks for all they've done for her and for us. I used Papertrey Ink's Women of Life set.
They were all simple to make and it was enjoyable to do the paper piercing. I need to work on the straight line part though! The yellow and green one kind of went a little off kilter!

Birthday and Mother's Day

2008-10-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

I struggle with a "stash" of cards so I am usually making one right before an event. Here is the one I made for my MIL's birthday:

I LOVE this sheer ribbon with the DCWV glitter paper! The stamp is paper pieced and stickles were used on the present's bow. I also used my dew drops to accentuate the bottom of the card. She LOVED it!

How do you "get ahead" with cards? Do you find a simple forumula and then make a batch of them? Tell me your secret!!

Birthday Card

2008-10-03T11:22:00.003-05:00

Seems like the last couple months have been birthday central: S's 3rd, DH's XXth, E's 5th and mine coming up Saturday.

Lesa has a card challenge and here is my entry:

I used the cupcake from a PIF thread over on SCS. I was so excited to finally be able to use one my images just sitting around in my stash! I even used the Liquid Applique for the first time. Haven't decided if I like it or not. What do you think?

Thanks for the inspiration Lesa!

National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

2008-09-13T00:00:00.001-05:00

Did you know that today is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day? Unless you’ve had someone affected by this horrible disease, you might not have realized this.

Did you know:
• Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease in children, cutting short the lives of more children under the age of 20 than any other disease.
• 1 child out of 5 who is diagnosed with cancer dies.
• 3 out of 5 children suffer from long-term side effects.
• Every school day, 46 young people, or two classrooms of students, are diagnosed with cancer in this country. More than 12,500 children are diagnosed with cancer each year and over 40,000 children and adolescents currently are being treated for childhood cancers.
• The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is six years old; saving the life of a child with cancer gives our children a future; approximately, 66 years of life’s milestones and dreams to celebrate.
(Taken from CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation FAQ)

Many of you know that my daughter, 10 days before her 4th birthday last year (9/20/2007) was diagnosed with cancer. While she’s currently cancer-free, her journey is far from over. We have met many families that are traveling down the same road of having to watch their child go through things no man or woman should endure, much less a child. It makes you feel quite helpless.

Won’t you stop for a minute today and say a prayer for those children and their families? Give them the strength to battle this monster and balance life. It’s a tough battle and it never seems to end.

If you also are able, would you consider donating for research? I am participating in the CureSearch Virtual Walk for 12,500 to conquer childhood cancer. The 12,500 represents the number of children diagnosed with cancer each year. Every donation, no matter how small or large, brings us one day closer to reaching the day where every child with cancer can be guaranteed a cure. Follow this link if you’d like to donate. (Participant name Dana Jones). I am "walking" in honor of my daughter.

One last thought from Senator Hillary Clinton:

"We have made tremendous strides in the fight against childhood cancer, but far too many children still suffer and lose their lives to this illness. The more we know as a nation the better able we will be to prevent and treat the disease and help those who are battling and surviving pediatric cancers. National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day is an opportunity to reach out to all Americans with the facts about childhood cancer, and this day will be an important symbol of our commitment on all days to find a cure," said Senator Clinton.

Hi and hiatus again for a little while

2008-09-11T20:28:00.003-05:00

Hi to my faithful readers! ;) I am sorry that I have been absent so long but things have been crazy for me! My daughter is doing great but will have to have another surgery in a week (a week from yesterday). We are hoping and praying that this will be the end (plus one outpatient procedure) of this journey.

I have been busy. I was able to go on a scrapbook retreat and get over 30 layouts done! Whoo hoo! I have not been making as many cards I would have liked though. I am having a hard time dividing my time (work, husband, kids, family time, crafting etc). I am hoping things settle down soon and praying for a quieter hurricane season!

I made a card for my sisters birthday with Dress Up Lily. I absolutely ADORE this set as there are so many different options with this set. I even used fun flock on the hat to make it soft and fuzzy! Hope you all enjoy!

Blog Candy Winner!

2008-07-17T23:05:00.002-05:00

Thanks everyone for you patience and the lovely comments! I really appreciate it. So, I had over 80 folks which really suprised me!! Thanks everyone! Without further ado our winner is...

Fiona W
Check out her blog! She has some really beautiful creations!!

Send me your addy so I send out your package. I believe you are as we say, "across the pond" and I am extremely excited to send it off to you!

Now, a few of you have asked about the google doc/spreadsheet. It worked great BUT I would only use it again if I was asking for one entry. Since I had said you could do 1-3 things, it made things a little more time consuming to figure out how many entries each person got then have to add another line item. Additionally, I'd turn comments OFF on the blog so that all folks would know to use the form to submit their entry rather than in the comment form. All in all, I'm really happy with GoogleDocs and will use it again.

Be back this weekend with a few creations!!!

We're Home

2008-07-15T23:34:00.002-05:00

So sorry to have left ya'll so quickly! We made it home and are trying to adjust again. E's surgery went as well as expected thought didn't expect to stay two weeks nor for her to have two surgeries! Unfortunately, her journey is not yet over. The surgeries performed didn't help so we're now looking for a specialist (anyone know of a pediatric endourologist??).

I'll draw the name in the next day or two. Just need to get unpacked and settled.

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and patience!!!

Be back soon

2008-07-03T07:51:00.002-05:00

Sorry for not drawing blog candy... We had a slight change of plans and had to fly out this past weekend for my daughter and her surgery. I hope to draw the candy in the next day or two. Stay tuned!!!

Birthday Set

2008-06-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

While I love to make "stuff," I really want it to be practical and useful. I love pretty things but if it's just going to end up in the garbage, why bother?

With my sister's birthday coming up, I decided to make a note card set for her. I absolutely LOVE Papertrey Ink's stamps and paper (I WANT MORE!) and decided that this would be perfect for a set of note cards for her.

Cards with matching envies:

I even boxed the up, made a matching pen and added some York Peppermint Patties!

What do you think?

Google Reader

2008-06-26T11:32:00.003-05:00

I’ve gotten several questions about Google Reader (what it is, how to use it, etc) in response to my blog candy so I thought I’d give a quick summary.

Google reader (www.google.com/reader) is a FANTASTIC tool that houses all your blogs you like to surf (or as I like to say, BLURF!). Gone are the days of having them in your favorites and having to click on them one by one to visit them every day to see if there is a new post. Google Reader takes care of that for you. Much like an email program that highlights “new mail”, Google Reader does the same thing.

To get started, you must have a Google account (but you do not have to have a Gmail account). If you don’t it’s quite simple to set one up. Once logged in, your home screen will appear. Here’s a copy of mine:

Yours will of course look different because you won’t have any blogs set up yet. Here’s the hard part (and I say that very loosely!) You need to collect all the blog addresses to put in here. That is the most labor intensive part (i.e. copy/paste function). Look over to the left side bar and in the middle you’ll see a neon green section with a plus sign that says Add Subscription. Just click on it and you’ll see this appear:

All you have to do now, is paste in one of your addresses (or mine for instance – www.mytreasuredcreations.blogspot.com). I chose for this example to add Making Memories blog(http://makingmemories.typepad.com/ ) I typed in the blog address then hit the Add button. This is what came up:

Depending on the blog you may or may not have unread items. If you do, then they’ll appear in the screen where it says “Making Memories” has no unread items.” If you want to view all of the blog entries you can click on View All Items. You’ve just added your first blog! How easy was that? Just do it as many times as you have blogs.

Now you can also organize your blogs as well by putting them in folders. If you see in the golden color bar where it says “You have subscribed to “Making Memories.” There is a button that says Add to a folder…. You can add it to an existing folder (if you have one), create a new one or leave as is. I like to organize mine on topic. I have photography/Photo Shop tutorial blogs, Scrapbook, Stamping, Friends, and even company blogs (like Making Memories). I even have a folder for new blogs I found and entered blog candy (so I remember to check back to see if I won!) This makes it much easier for me to locate a blog I want. It also allows me to not have to read ALL my blogs at one time if I don’t want to. I can choose a folder and only scroll through those. If you forget when you add a blog to put it in a folder (or you want to create one later, just click on the Feed Settings tab and go down to the third section where you folders are listed or choose at the bottom New Folder.

A couple notes. When you scroll through a blog, it now marks it as read and when you refresh your reader, it’s gone. SO, if you find something of value, you’ll need to figure a way to remember it. If you want to visit the blog (i.e. to leave comments or blog candy), you can click on the name of the blog entry in your reader window or on the name of the blog at the top and it’ll take you directly to the blog.

I’ve only scratched the tip of Google Reader and I know there must be more tips out there so how ‘bout YOU all give me some? What features could I be using? Also, was this helpful for you?

MY blog Candy Time!

2008-06-24T13:47:00.007-05:00

Woo Hoo! I've surpassed 1K in hits! THANK YOU! In show of my appreciation, I have the following candy up for grabs:

Ranger Glossy Accents
Jo-Ann Pink Letters
Heidi Swapp Distresser
American Craft Pink Polka dot ribbon
Five Heavy Weight 4x4 Coasters
Two Bind it all 4x4 acrylic pages (for your coasters above)
and a Copic Sketch C1 Cool Grey marker!

(I choose this color Copic marker because it is FABULOUS for shadows and I thought if you haven't tried Copics then it would be a good introduction to get you hooked!)

Of course there has to be rules and ways to enter. Here is the fine print:
1. One comment, one entry
2. Add my blog to your Google Reader (or similar) and get a second entry
3. Add a link to my blog candy on your blog and get a third entry!

Blog Candy Closes Sunday 6/29/2008 at 9PM CST.

Please use the following form for your entries. Upon reading on Freebies4Mom's website about Blog Coach's advice, I've decided to use GoogleDocs for my entries. This is going to be a better way to track entries (and safer too!)
Loading...
Good Luck!

Another Blogger giving Candy Away!

2008-06-24T11:56:00.001-05:00

Did you see this blog and the candy she's giving away?? Magnolias?? Paper? Ribbon?? YUM! Go check her blog out too! She has some adorable creations!

Freebies 4 Mom: Arts Cow Review

2008-06-23T11:32:00.000-05:00

Have any of you tried Arts Cow Printing? They have a promotion right now that offers 400 free prints plus an 8x8 book. I've signed up and been credited with my free prints. Want to try them? Use this referral link to sign up.

I'll order some prints later this month and let you know how they turn out. If you're curious, Freebies4Mom used them and here is her review here and here.

Let me know if you try them!

Freebies 4 Mom: Arts Cow Review

High Hopes Stamps

2008-06-19T15:20:00.002-05:00

Did you see Jami's blog? She's got some High Hopes images for BLOG candy. If you haven't checked out High Hopes stamps you need to go there! They are wonderful! I LOVE that elephant!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T22:41:00.004-05:00

Remember the cards I posted here? Well, I was blurfing (blog surfing) and found this post of a really cool wallet and just HAD to do it for my amazing hubby! Here is how it turned out.

Outside is embossed with my $2 stamp It's Good To Be King from Big Lots:

Inside is embossed with Cool Dad and Man of the Year (again from Big Lots!).

In the wallet itself is a picture of S (the youngest) on pink cardstock (her favorite color) and E on yellow ( her favorite color), a Starbucks gift card, a Happy Father's Day card and of course there has to be green in the wallet right?

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Blog Candy Coming!

2008-06-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe it! I've passed the 1k mark for visitors on my blog! WOW! To thank my ya'll (yes, I live in the south!) I'm going to do blog candy!! Check back here in a day or so and I'll have some posted.

THANK YOU!!

Kim's Creative Corner Challenge

2008-06-13T14:35:00.003-05:00

I'm a faithful reader of Kim's blog and decided to take her challenge. I love her owl card here and that black and green color inspired me to use the same colors on mine.

Here's mine:

I made this for a good friend of mine who is so thoughtful. Since my daughter was diagnoised with cancer, she has been checking in with me, just to see how she's doing and making sure I'm alright. She also coordinated meals after we came home from her surgery in NY and decorated our house! I know that if I need any help all I have to do ask. She ROCKS!

Sweet Pea

2008-06-09T15:12:00.002-05:00

One of the gals from the girls playgroup had a little baby boy on Wednesday so I had to make card to welcome him. This is the same mom that I made 30+ invites for the baby shower here. I used my $1 Studio G Sweet Pea stamp, American Crafts ribbon, and Sandy Lion Lollia Paper. I used the rectangular and scalloped rectangle nestabilities for the blue mat and the stamped image. I paper pieced the blue baby blanket but that's hard to see in the picture. Isn't it cute?

Father's Day Early

2008-06-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I am actually DONE with Father's Day Cards. This year is a hard one for me as my grandfather passed away less than two short months ago. He was my "father" as he and my grandmother raised me since I was nine months old. This is the first year I won't be sending him a card.

I made two cards, one for my husband (from the kids) and one for my dad. I had intended to the It's good to be King card for my dad but decided that it DH would appreciate it more! The stamp I used was from my Big Lots find ($2!) and the chipboard man is from my LSS.

This one again, the stamp is from Big Lots but I made my own paper using the stamp then popped up one I stamped on white paper.

After doing these cards, I realized that all I really have is girly paper! I need more manly paper!

Did you make anything for Father's Day? The girls and I are going to work on garden stones today. Each girl will have their own stone to decorate as they please or put their hand print/footprint on it. Wish me luck!

Over the Hill

2008-06-07T21:37:00.003-05:00

My SIL was turning 40 and I knew I needed to make a card for her. I'm not the humorous type (that would be my hubby) but needed to make a card that had a little both of us in it, i.e. humor and elegance!

This is what I came up with:

It's a spinner card where the car "drives" over the hill. She loved it and I like how it turned out. I used Ranger Glossy Accents to make the car shiney too:

Now is everything

2008-06-06T21:38:00.006-05:00

Tonight I was reminded about something important. As I was watching television (catching up on my shows that were TiVo'd for the last two months!), a the conversations struck a cord with me where an actor said, "Now is everything." How true that statement is. Each day, each moment, is so important.When E was diagnosed last September, ten days before her fourth birthday, my world fell apart. Life changed. Forever. I now see life in a different way. The little hugs and kisses, the moments of joy, ultimately are what is most important. When I come home from work, she meets me at the door, wanting kisses and hugs and I no longer take those for granted. I hold her a little longer, kiss her a little more, knowing that THIS is what is important. My husband calls me Charmin (you know, soft toilet paper??) but I can't help it. I need to live in the now. I don't say no as much as I used to and say yes more often. I don't worry about stains on clothes or saving them for that special moment because that moment is now.

You're probably wondering why I am writing this. Well, E's 3 month scans are coming up next week and I'm starting to get apprehensive about them. That coupled with looking at the pictures for printing makes me a little sad that my little girl had to go through so much and grow up so quickly. It makes me sad knowing my 2 1/2 year old has the words "cancer" and "chemo" in her vocabulary.

I decided to photograph my girls more the last couple weeks. I tried to get more of their personality and less of what they were doing. You tell me what you think and if you see that in their photographs.

So in closing, tell those close to you that you love them. Listen a little more, talk a little less. Play with your children and give them extra hugs and kisses. I know I will.

Review and Giveaway!

2008-06-04T15:12:00.002-05:00

Hop on over to Jill's blog to read her review and a chance to win this book!

Sugar Nellies

2008-05-30T21:12:00.006-05:00

We once again have guests coming into our home tomorrow so I'll be MIA again this weekend. BUT before I go, I want to share something I got in the mail the other day:

It's an INTERNATIONAL envelope! I've NEVER gotten mail from outside of the USA so imagine my surprise when I opened it to see this:

It's a BRAND NEW Suger Nellie stamp called Flowers. It's it ADORABLE! I won it on her website. If you haven't seen them, please go over and take a look! There are some amazing stamps!

And because I've been so lucky lately, I'm gathering STUFF for you know... BLOG CANDY! So keep checkin' back!

Have a great weekend!

New Creations!

2008-05-23T21:55:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! So sorry I've been MIA. Things just have been CRAZY that I really haven't had a chance to update my blog. I've been creating, just not updating!LOL!

Anywho, I thought I'd show a few things I did for my daughter's Pre-school teachers for end of year gifts. This is a mini scrapbook I created from one sheet of 12x12 cardstock. Thanks Vicki for the tutorial! I took a couple pics and matted them, added some teacher quotes and voila, a cute gift! I bound it with BIA and added ribbons to each pull out, so it was easy to look at each "tag". Here's the outside:

And the inside:

For presentation I took this (on sale at M's for less than $2)

And covered it with coordinating paper (run through my Cuttlebug). I then added their set of note cards and beaded pen, and a gift card (all coordinated colors). I even took the cello bags and stamped flourishes on them then tied them with silver twine with a monogram tag.

They were a big hit since they weren't the traditional apple, candle, etc. type of gift. Especially the gift card (American Express!). My daughter's teachers have been wonderful to her this year and I wanted them to feel special that I took the time to create something just for them for all they've done for her and us.

Hope each of you have a wonderful weekend. Here in the USA it's Memorial Weekend, which is a time to pay tribute to all those soldiers that have fallen giving their lives for our freedom and to say thank you to those that are still serving (or have served). If you know someone that has/is part of the military, let them know you appreciate them, their sacrifice and their dedication. I know I will.

Until later,

Shout Out to SheetLoad - Bella Blog Candy

2008-05-05T22:58:00.003-05:00

No, I'm not offering Blog Candy - YET! However, Sheetload of Card s is! Hop on over there!!! They've got their May Issue out. If you haven't seen this, you have to take a look!

I will say, as soon as I hit 1K I will have some blog candy! So keep coming back! Please!

I know I've been absent

2008-04-24T19:17:00.005-05:00

So sorry for being absent lately! Things have just been out of hand. First my MIL came to visit, then my grandmother with my sister. After they left, my oldest daughter caught a virus, then I came down with it! Then work got really crazy (still is), my grandfather passed away, and now my youngest has the bug! I'll be absent a little while longer too because I am flying this weekend for my grandfather's funeral on Monday. See, my grandparents raised my sister and me so they are like my mom and dad. Grandpa was in the late stages of Alzheimer's too so I have mixed emotions about his death.

The only project I have had time to finish were 35 baby shower invitations! When the girls and I were talking about throwing a shower, I KNEW I wanted to make the invites! I had the perfect stamp (Stampingbella's Teddybella) for them. I think I should have just made them a little simpler, but she LOVED them as did most of the guests so for that it was worth it. I used stickles for the bow on her belly and bear, glitter pen for the blue bag and copics for all over coloring. Paper is Paper Studio and Bazzil.

Thanks for looking! I hope to be back creating next week.

My Live Signature and new blog banner

2008-04-01T21:17:00.004-05:00

I've gotten a couple inquires about my new signature (I love it!). It is from mylivesignature.com. It's really very simple to do. Try it out and let me know how it turned out for you.

I also created my own blog banner in Photoshop. What do you think? I think I still may tweak it some more but at least now I know how to do it. I wish I could remember the link that was given to me to make it but alas, I didn't bookmark it. If I find it I'll post it here!

Hanna Stamps

2008-04-01T20:53:00.004-05:00

Have you seen Riley and Sophie? I absolutely LOVE them! I haven't had much time to play with them (working on 35+ baby shower invitations!) But I couldn't resists inking up two of them!

I made this card for a little girl we met up in NY at the Ronald McDonald House while Emily was recovering from surgery. Her birthday was this past weekend and I couldn't resist sending her a card with Sophie G! I used my DCWV Glitter paper, Copics and even added a little glitter to her swimsuit.

Riley I just wanted to color! Of course after I colored I HAD to put him on a card, right? I tried the tutorial for Reverse Topper (Melanie's Blog) and I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I don't have a Coluzzle so I used my CM cutting system instead. I still have to work on the patterned paper fitting correctly but I'm not picky since it was my first one! I do wish I had taken a picture of the INSIDE before I mailed it. Oh well. Live and learn, right? Again, I colored Riley with Copics, paper is CM.

I might be a little AWOL for a couple weeks. I've got to finish these baby shower invitations tonight and then clean house as my MIL is coming to visit. Of course the day she leaves my grandmother and sister are coming so I may not get to post for a couple weeks. Depends on if I can sneak some crafting/stamping time away from them!

Have a great week!

Smiles abundant!

2008-04-01T20:37:00.007-05:00

So the cards have been coming in for E (and S - thank you!) and they are excited as a children on Christmas morning when they opens their cards. I think E has a lot of me in her as she says, "Awww... " most times when she opens it or "That's cute!" LOL

Anywho, I one package in particular came last week that I must share. It wasn't just a card, it was ART! Here is a picture of her holding it:

An amazing woman, Ahilim, sent this amazing piece of art to E. She immediately asked me if we could put it up in her room! I am so amazed at the amount of work that must have gone into this! Here is a closer picture:

If you haven't seen her blog, please check it out and leave a comment. She has some awesome creations!
http://lim-thevoicesinmyheadlimblog.blogspot.com/

I do want to say thank you to everyone who has sent a card or package. It truly warms my heart that folks that we've not even met have taken time out of their day to send cards to my girls to brighten their day.

THANK YOU!

A Touch of Whimsy Designs

2008-03-21T10:58:00.002-05:00

Have you seen this website: A Touch of Whimsy?
Go check it out! She has her FREEBIE FRIDAY giveaway today. You could win a $15 GC! What are you waiting for?

Oh Happy Day!

2008-03-20T21:01:00.009-05:00

Some of you know that my oldest daughter is going through cancer treatment. Well, today was her LAST CHEMO! We are so happy that one part of the journey is over. Unfortunately, the next part is just beginning. Her "roadmap" as they call it, has her having MRIs/bloodtests, etc every three months for the next two years. Then it becomes every six months for two years, then yearly for the next six years. As a cancer patient, she will not be considered "cured" until 5 years OT (off treatment), which that clock begins in three weeks. Time to start counting down.

In anticipation of today and how brave my four year old daughter has been, I posted on SCS if anyone wanted to send her a card. The cards started coming in today. And you know the best part? There were even cards for my youngest (2 1/2 yo) too! So here are a couple pics (sorry about the bad pics! I was trying to get pics done before they took the cards away from me!!! :))

So thank you ladies so much for sending my girls cards! They are so happy to get mail and these cards are all beautiful!

It was also a happy mail day for me too! I'm new to this blog world but have tried entering blog candy give aways for a couple months now with no avail. However, this month I've won twice! (Is good times coming my way now????) I got this from Erika Marting (Stampin Mama) who has an amazing blog with such wonderful creations! If you haven't checked her out, RUN over there! I won this great travel scrap kit that I can't wait to use!

The other blog candy was through Gina K! If you've never been over there, RUN as well! She has some amazing tutorials! I really learn a ton from sometimes just simple techniques! She sent me the new Fiskars scissors and I can't wait to try them out. Maybe this weekend?

Anywho, I must run. I hope to post the baby shower invitation I created (at least the pro-type!) this weekend.

Happy Easter and Spring! May this season bring you and your family many blessings.

New Signature

2008-03-19T17:21:00.002-05:00

So I'm sure you all have seen how the different blogs have signatures? Well I joined the bandwagon. Tell me what you think!

New stuff

2008-03-07T20:47:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything! Things have been really crazy and I'm trying to catch up. Between the family getting sick (including me!), work being stressful and my daughter having to go up to NY for an emergency procedure, i just haven't had the time to "play." I can't wait for next week.

However, I did get the new Papertrey Ink Women of Life stamps last weekend. I found a few moments to make some cards for my oldest daughter's teachers (Teacher Appreciation Week). Of course, she ends up flying with her father to NY for her procedure so the cards are still here at home! LOL!

I also made a few thank you cards. I'm the silent auction chairperson of my ECPTA and a few gals really helped me out by solicting and picking up donations. So I made thank you cards to send out letting them know how much I really appreciated their help. These were also made with PTI's Women of Life Set. I think I'm in love with this set. It stamps BEAUTIFLLY and the design is so elegant.

I wish I could spend my weekend playing, but alas it will be doing work while taking care of my 2 year old! Maybe once my dear husband and daughter make it home safely from NY and my work project has been completed, I can get back into my craft area and play. I have baby shower invitations to work on!!

Bella Candle

2008-02-16T21:46:00.003-06:00

Work has been CRAZY for me so I've not been able to create much this week. (insert awwwww...here). I also have my silent auction next Saturday so I'm spending my time picking up last minute items and preparing those that I have.

I took a little time this afternoon to stamp a candle for a gift. My sister recently moved back into her home after a pipe burst/flood so I wanted to send her something fun! I used my Mwahbella (from Stamping Bella) on a plain white candle.

I think it turned out great! Now I'll make a few more with Mwah at the top for thank you gifts to a few of my friends for helping me out with my auction.

Hobby Lobby candle, Mwahbella Stamping bella stamp with words, American Craft Ribbon, Copic Markers

I love my husband

2008-02-12T22:34:00.005-06:00

My husband means the world to me. He is my rock. My love. My everything. So in true holday fashion, I try to make something to show him that I appreciate him and love him dearly. Christmas came and went (didn't have any time since we had just gotten back from NY for Emy's surgery) without a hand made gift so I decided to do one for Valentine's Day.

I used my Cricut Expression to cut the heart (paper and chipboard), the LOVE on the front and the hearts on the outside and inside. The BIA was used to put it all together. There is a page for each letter L-O-V-E and what each of those letters mean to me about him

I hope he loves it!

Valentine Gifts DONE

2008-02-12T00:20:00.001-06:00

I fully expected to have a great weekend creating however, having my dear husband come down with some sort of flu like illness really put a damper on my time and creative juices. Instead of gating myself up in my scrap room, I ended up taking care of both DH and DD. See, DD had chemo on Thursday and by Friday and Saturday she ended up having her first side effects. :( Add that with DH being quarintened in our room (can't risk E getting what he has otherwise she'll end up in the hosptial), the kids were ALL MINE during the day.

So, I made up for it at night. I stayed up until 1AM each night (including right now when I should be SLEEPING) to get the girls Valentine's Day gifts completed along with DH's. See, I was terrified that I would end up sick like him and not having any time to finish theif gifts. I only have two things left to do: Print out the saying for S's card (Whoooo love ya?) and buy some chocolates/candy to fill their mailboxes.

Here they are:

Here is a close up of S's card. The matting is crooked! :( Do you think my two year old will notice???

I used copics for the first time too! I only had a few, so I had to make due but I LOVE them and need more. If I could just get my hands on the glitter ones...

And a close up of E's card below. She really loves cats right now so this is fitting for her! I again used the copics for the cat. SU ink for the You're Purfect and embossed it with clear powder to make it pop more. The colors didn't really come out right because some of the dots on the paper are the same as the mat. Gotta figure that out.

Thanks for looking! I'll post DH's book in a day or two.

CHA Stuff from Craft Critique!

2008-02-10T14:20:00.000-06:00

Did you see that Craft Critique has the latest on all the new stuff at CHA? AND they're giving away CHA goodies! Head on over there!

Valentine's Day Cards

2008-02-08T23:18:00.000-06:00

I'll admit I'm a slacker. But I have good reason! We've only been back from Disney World a week tomorrow and work has been crazy. So I've not had the energy to play with paper as much this week.

Since it's Friday and my dear husband is out for the night, I decided once I put the girls to bed to make our Valentines to mail out this weekend. I used Rochelle's instructions found off the Score Pal site here. I made mine REALLY simple (only stamping on the front and inside) and just added a matted photo of us from Disney. I did embellish the heart on front with Diamond Stickles (dontcha LOVE Stickles?).

I'll write Happy Valentine's Day on the inside tomorrow before I mail them out. But I need help. I can't decide if I should keep the bow (as the above closed one) or not (below photo). If I don't keep the bow, is it too plain or do I add something? Give me your thoughts.

Recipe:

Paper - The Paper Company, GP

Ink - Brillance & SU

Stamps - Studio G

Misc - MM Staples, Stickles

Better Pictures!

2008-02-07T12:48:00.000-06:00

Well, I think I did. You be the judge!

I think I have finally found a setting on my camera to take good photos of the things I've been doing. Tell me what you think.

Ready for the setting I used on my camera? FOOD! I have a Panasonic DMC-F27 that has all sorts of great modes on them. So, while my family was out of the house, I decided to play around and see which one came out best. I tried Auto, Portrait, and even Macro but the Food setting turned out the best!

Incendently, this is also my FIRST Criss Cross Card. It turned out pretty well so I decided to do another one.

But it's missing something isn't it? What do you think I should add to finish it?

We're going to Disney World!

2008-01-26T14:36:00.000-06:00

YES! It looks like my oldest daughter is healthy and we can go on our trip to Disney World! I'm so excited! When she was first diagnoised (bilateral Wilms Tumor), we put our plans on hold, not knowing if she'd be up to going. But since she had her surgery in November, we decided we NEEDED this trip. Something that was NOT hosptial, chemo or sick related!

So, I've been preparing for this trip since we got home in December. Not a whole lot of time for the planner in me but I'll take what I can get! I created a few things for our family.

Here's the first one:

This one is Samantha's Autograph book. I didn't want to buy the hard bound book at the park, yet I still wanted something cute but easy to take apart and place each signature with the picture of my daughter and that character. I used plan white cardstock for the pages, cut out a Mickey head using my Expression, printed Samantha's Autograph Book on the 'puter, cut chipboard to place at the front and back (to stabilize it) and then used my Zyron to laminate it. On the inside there is my information and resort so that in case it gets lost, it can still be returned to us.

Each girl has a favorite color. Can you guess what Samantha's is?? So after I bound the pages with my Bind It All (from Cindy at StampinScrapin), I added each girls favorite colors to the wires to dress it up. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Here is Emily's:

Her favorite color is yellow but I was afraid if I printed out Emily's Book in yellow it would be too hard to see. So I compromised and used Purple but used yellow ribbon. She loved it.

Now of course since it's not hard bound, they needed a clipboard to have a hard surface right? Here they are:
(Back)

(Front)

(Back)

(Front)

Each girl picked their colors to paint the clipboard. Then I made Minnie, Mickey, Goofy at 5" and Daisy, Donald, Chip, Dale and Pluto at 4" on the Expression. Each girl then took the sheets of Disney stickers and decorated to their hearts content. They're pretty cute, I think. Not bad for a day's work.

Of course that's not all. I also made personalized t-shirts for the WHOLE family. Since my MIL is coming with us, I did one for her too. I didn't take pictures of all of them before I packed but here are a few:

I can hardly wait to get on that airplane and go! It won't come soon enough for me!

I did it!

2008-01-18T21:44:00.000-06:00

Yup! I did it! I joined the ranks of my other creative friends in creating a blog. I just had to do it. (Peer pressure and all, you know!)

I've been a little busy the last few months but have found some time to create some fun things. This is a little notebook I intend to fill with cards. I made this for my daughter's teachers for Christmas but didn't get it completed in time. Maybe I'll use it for Teacher Appreciation Week or an end of year gift. The idea and instructions came from Erin over at Inky Smiles.And some of the inside pages:
I used the Bind it all to punch and create the notebook. And I gotta tell you, I LOVE the BIA! I'm so glad I have it. I'll admit it was a little intimidating at first but once you do one project, you'll never stop!

RECIPE
Paper: Ummmmm... so old I can't remember!
Other: Bind it All (1" O wires), chipboard. K&C Company Quick Dry Craft Bond

More to come later! Thanks for looking!