Design Team News

I am thrilled to announce that Tamara Wheeler has asked me to be on her Sketches! Card Design Team. I am very excited to be on a team with such talented ladies! Here's my first card for Tamara's Card Sketch #29.


I've never made a card before with a circular design, so this was fun. The card base is topped with a DCWV Glitter Mat Stack sheet (thanks Jana!!). I added a ribbon border, the "happy birthday" was stamped with my Karen Foster snap stamps. The round clip is from the CTMH mini medley pack (again, thanks Jana!), and I added a Prima layered flower stack. My mom's birthday is next Saturday, and I'm going to give this card to her!

We have a snow warning for the next day or two. I don't want to shovel anymore! Oh well! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

Check out what Mr. Big Bite can do!

I finally used it! BEFORE . . . I bought this tin bucket at a garage sale, and when I got my first Crop-A-Dile, I went crazy setting various eyelets around the rim . . . cute, right?


AFTER! Look at how far down Mr. Big Bite can reach! Pretty cool! Just like the first one, it cuts through this tin with no problem whatsoever, BUT the big difference is how far it can reach into a project. This is over 3" down over the rim of this tin can. LOVE IT!


The eyelets I set around the rim the first time were as far as I could go. This lovely flower stack is down about 3". I can set something 6" into a project! This is pretty cool, and Mr. Big Bite was very easy to use. I hate to enable people, but if you like your Crop-A-Dile, but you want to be able to reach further into a project . . . you're going to want your own Mr. Big Bite! I'm off to look for other things to punch holes in!! Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. Don't forget to look at the post below which shows size comparisons for Mr. Big Bite!

Mr. Big Bite

Well, I got the Big Bite out of the package, and I read the directions, but I just haven't had a chance to use it yet. A lot of people have commented on the size of this new tool, so I thought I will show you some photos for size comparison!

This is my QuicKutz, my original Crop-A-Dile, and Mr. Big Bite (he's quite impressive, so I'm calling him Mr. Big Bite!)


This is are I and II side by side. Yep, the size difference is pretty significant!

The Big Bite is more comparable in size to the QuicKutz squeeze. A lot of people commented on how hard it was to get it out of the package. Well, I open a lot of Cricut cartridge packages, and it was about the same amount of difficulty. What was difficult was getting the directions out of that triangular section on the bottom of the packaging!

I hope to actually use Mr. Big Bite later today. I'm going to be running out the door in a couple of minutes to chaperone a band field trip. We're going to see an orchestra. I can't wait. I thought for sure school would be canceled today . . . it's unbelievably cold! The actual temperature is -2 right now with wind chills around -25. Whew! That's cold! The wind last night was almost scary. It was really windy all night long. I'm totally behind on blog hopping, but I hope to catch up with all of you this afternoon / evening. Thanks for stopping by!

Bursting with GREAT News!

I do believe that I'm walking under a lucky star. Yesterday was a FANTASTIC day, and today is starting out as another amazing day! I think you're going to absolutely hate me after you read about all of the stuff that I have to tell you! Be warned . . . this is a LONG post. Sorry!

First off, I wanted to answer a question from Becky. She asked me about the red border on the page that I posted yesterday. It's not a border. The page is black zig-zag Bazzill die cut cardstock on top of a red 12x12 sheet of cardstock. Sorry, I should have explained that when I posted the page. I've seen this die cut cardstock in Michael's too in a DCWV pad. Very cool. Hopefully that clears up how I did the "border".

Next, check out these goodies! These are all from my secret sister on the Cricut message board, and my very good friend, Jana! This is my big finale package from my wonderful friend. She went crazy, be prepared!! Your mouth will be hanging open. There's SO MUCH!!

These are Halloween items, including the Halloween Backgrounds Stampin' Up set, towels with an adorable dog dressed for Halloween, and instead of saying "Boo", if says "Boof"! Totally appeals to my sense of humor! A spider mug (that I was drinking out of yesterday! I don't think I'm going to save it for Halloween!), autumn buttons, Halloween tissues (which are too cute to ever use!), and two Halloween figurines!

Next, WOW! There is Magic Scraps glitter, snow for shaker cards, adorable buttons, Primas in a tiny magnetic tin, two tins to alter, gorgeous ribbon, a mini medley spring pack from CTMH, a glitter mat stack (which just so happens to match the mini medley CTMH items perfectly!!), more buttons, snowflake brads, more round fantastic Making Memories brads, and a 1/8" circle hand punch! It's actually amazing, I think Jana has ESP, because I love my hand punch, but I've been having problems with it. It's not giving me a clean cut, and I need a new one. I never told her that. Very cool!!

That's not all! This shows the Stampin' Up set Riveting (which I've wanted for such a long time), a fantastic box that I can alter, a small album (in the brown and cream) that Jana made for me (she DESIGNED the album -- it's so cool!), and mini cards that she made for me in two of my favorite scrapbooking / card making colors of all time . . . pink and brown! Can you believe it? I'm OVERWHELMED! Jana is so generous and sweet, and I'm so very appreciative! Mwah Jana! You're the best! Thank you so much!

Next, Terrie B presented me with the "you cheer me up award". Is this photo the best or what? You gotta love Lucy and Ethel! They're fantastic! Thank you Terrie! I'm going to tag just a few of my many wonderful blogging friends. Believe me, you ALL cheer me up, and I hate to leave anyone out, but here goes: Andrea, Becky, another Becky, Dawn, Deb, Jana, Kathleen, Kristy, Marlou, and Samm. Seriously, I could go on and on and on!! The visitors I get and the comments I receive put me on Cloud 9. You're all the BEST! Thank you!!

THEN, I uploaded my Valentine layout of my girls on ScrapCity. It's a blog that Dawn told me about, the ladies there all seem like so much fun, and it's where I'm trying to be a Guest Designer! Anyway, my Valentine layout was picked as the ScrapCity LAYOUT OF THE WEEK! I'm floored! Thank you ScrapCity! I'm honored!!

Then I received an email yesterday and then another one today that I won two items from two of the wonderful ladies over at the Paper Crafts Blog! Seriously . . . TWO things! I'm walking under that lucky star people! WOW! I'll post what I won when I receive the items. I'm just THRILLED beyond belief! Thank you ladies at Paper Crafts!

Last, but definitely not least, I wanted to show you my daughter's poster that she created for her science class. Thank goodness for the Cricut! Her entire class needed to present information on an interesting invention. The inventions were handed out randomly, and she ended up with the ice cream cone. Check out her poster!

The ice cream cone and the scoops are on the Doodlecharms cartridge, and we used Base Camp for the title. Doesn't this look fantastic! She designed the whole thing, and she did a great job! She's almost 12 (Egads!! How is that possible??), and she's in 6th grade, and I'm sure you'll agree that she's pretty talented! She was thrilled with her poster! So was I!

OK, if you read this whole entry, you're wonderful, and you deserve a HUGE pat on the back! Sorry, but I had A LOT to tell you about! I'm just one happy lady over here! I'm also one very appreciative lady! I'm walking under that lucky star . . . !! Thanks for stopping by!!

Love This Man With All My Heart

This is my second page that I'm submitting for a guest design team spot. I'm thrilled with the way this turned out . . . even better than I expected!


Obviously I couldn't wait to use those gorgeous letters that I received from Kristy! I think they're perfect on this page. I like the letters, because you can distress them, ink them, add ribbon, put rhinestones or brads in the holes, etc. However, on this page, I like them just the way they are. The strips at the top and bottom of the page are from a ki Memories sheet of patterned paper. The photo is Stampin' Up ticket punched, matted, and the ribbon around it is from Hobby Lobby. The letters under the photo are Making Memories rub on letters. The heart is a ScrapWorks glittery chipboard piece. This page is simple, but I think it has a huge impact with the black / white / red color combination. It doesn't hurt that my husband looks awesome on his Harley! (I may have a slightly biased opinion about this fact!)

Thanks for stopping by!

You Stole My Heart & More Goodies!

I'm attempting to be a Guest on a Design Team, and the requirements were to create two Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day pages. We don't do anything for St. Patrick's Day, so Valentine pages it is! This is the first one I'm submitting.

This is a total "use what I have" page! I've had the embossed red and purple cardstock for a really, really long time. The circle (cut with my Coluzzle) and "I love you" pieces used as embellishments were cut from a patterned paper sheet I've had for a long time too. These photos are from 2005, and they feature two of my very favorite people in the whole wide world . . . my daughters! The "you stole my" in the title was done with Making Memories rub ons. Very cool how they easily go over embossed paper. The "HEART" letters are ScrapWorks glittery chipboard that I got on QVC. The GORGEOUS flowers were a RAK from the wonderful Beatriz. I'm finally using some of them! The white heart and red silhouette heart are also ScrapWorks glittery chipboard. The XOXOXO office clip on the side of the page is Lil' Davis designs. The photo corners were cut using my QuicKutz. I'm thrilled with this page! I'm so crazy about my girls, how could I NOT be thrilled with this page? What do you think?

Next, look at the HAPPY MAIL that I received from my most wonderful blogging friend Kristy! It's going to be hard to make a long story short, but basically, I have admired many a project of Kristy's were she uses these spectacular chipboard letters! So, after admiring them, and drooling over them via comments on her site, she offered to send me some. Kristy is in Australia, so I thanked her very much for her offer, but then I refused, because I knew postage would be a killer. Kristy really "twisted my arm" by offering again, and telling me that she knew I really wanted them! Well, she was right! I did want them, I caved in like crazy (at least I refused once! Right?), and she not only sent me the letters, but other goodies too! Kristy, you are awesome! The next photo is just for you!

A very big special "THANK YOU" to you Kristy! Can you believe that gorgeous card she made? Look at the flowers on it! GORGEOUS! Thank you so much Kristy! Happy mail will be on the way shortly to YOU!

One last thing, and I applaud you if you're still reading this incredibly LONG post . . . thank you to all of you that wished my girls well yesterday on their pre-contests. They were amazing! My oldest sang and did a wonderful job, and then both girls played their instruments. Unfortunately, my oldest did not get an opportunity to play with her friend, because her friend was unable to attend the pre-contest. However, as a solo act, my daughter did great! It's unfortunate her friend wasn't there, because they are judged on how well they play together. I'm sure they'll do fine on Feb. 9th. Now my youngest has been playing the french horn for less than a year (she previously played the trumpet), and the judge was VERY impressed with the way her and her friend played! Yeah! She thought they did a great job on a very difficult song! So, bring on the contest! I think they're ready! Thanks for the good thoughts and wishes! I appreciate them!

Give yourself a huge pat on the back if you're STILL reading! WHEW! I'm helping my oldest with a project / poster board today, and then I hope to get to my review of the Crop-A-Dile II, Mr. Big Bite. Thanks for stopping by!!

Hello, Big Bite!

Look what arrived yesterday from HSN. The Big Bite, also known as the Crop-A-Dile II is here!


I'm looking forward to trying it out later today or tomorrow. LOVE all the eyelets and rivets that came with it!

This morning is a little busy with both of my daughters participating in musical pre-contests for singing (my oldest), and playing an ensemble piece (both girls). The actual contest is February 9th. My oldest plays the flute, and my youngest plays the french horn. Their ensemble pieces are played with a friend that plays the same instrument. They've been practicing quite a bit, so this pre-contest today should go very well!

I have some goodies and a scrapbook page to show you. I need to get some photos taken. Thanks for stopping by!

Be Marvelous

I'm taking part in an image swap with some of my SBS2 sisters. I got some great images yesterday from Flossie, and I just had to put a card together! She sent me both the lady in the hat AND the "be marvelous" sentiment.


I used colored pencils and gamsol for the coloring. I cut the circles with my Coluzzle, and the scallop was made using Mini Mongrams and my Cricut. I paper pierced each scallop, but you can't see that too well. The patterned paper card front is ticket-punched DCWV Pocket Full of Posies, and the ribbon is American Crafts. I added three brads to the ribbon. I know exactly WHO I'm sending this card to! It's perfect for her!

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Tag!

My SBS2 sister Kathleen tagged me. This is a new tag. Fun to answer! Here's more than you want to know about me!

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Working part-time from home as a computer programmer while taking care of my two girls -- a toddler and a newborn!
2. About to give up my job because it was too hectic working from home with a toddler and a newborn.
3. I was a couple of years away from discovering Stampin’ Up!
4. I really embraced scrapbooking after seeing Lisa Bearnson on QVC and making my first QVC purchase!
5. Living in Frankfort, IL in our first house.

Five things on my to do list today:
1. Grocery shop
2. Laundry
3. Clean
4. Finish a scrapbook page I’m working on
5. Stay warm! It’s –4 degrees outside right now, and the wind chills are worse!

Five things I will do when I'm a millionaire:
1. Pay off our house
2. Invest wisely for two college educations
3. Take our dream family vacation to Hawaii
4. Move to a house with lots of land and HUGE garage space!
5. Pretty much live my same life with no financial concerns.

Five things I'll never wear again:
1. A bikini (I never really wore one in the first place, but now? No way!)
2. A perm (I used to get a lot of perms!)
3. A miniskirt (come on, I’m over 40!)
4. A tube top (remember those?)
5. Leg warmers (sorry, couldn’t think of anything else!)

Five of my favorite toys:
1. My Bind It All
2. My Cricut
3. My computer
4. My digital camera (I love it!)
5. ALL of my stamping & scrapbooking stuff!

Five banes of my existence:
1. Cleaning
2. People who chew with their mouths open
3. Cleaning
4. Grocery shopping
5. Cleaning

It's so hard to choose WHO to tag. I'm going to tag: Andrea, Becky, Becky, Dawn, Deb, and Marlou. Ladies, if you hate these tags, you don't have to do it! It doesn't matter to me! If I didn't tag you, and you want to do this, please do! I think these are very interesting to read!

Cousins

I used Tamara's Sketch #28 for this layout. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out!


Every year, my sister, brother, and I take our children for a portrait for our mom. It's her one Christmas gift wish each year. She wants that photo of her grandkids!! We've been taking these portraits since 1999 or 2000. It's amazing to see how these cousins have grown up! (My two girls are in the center and on the right. Aren't they gorgeous?)

I love the sketch, and it worked well for this 8x10 that I wanted to scrap. I love the black and white photo. It's on Dasher paper by Basic Grey. The title that goes up the side is Basic Grey self-adhesive letters that came with the Dasher pack. The "COUSINS" chipboard pieces are from QVC, and I believe they are ScrapWorks. They have a little sparkle to them. The felt piece at the top is Rhonna by Autumn Leaves. I added some rhinestones. I wanted to keep this layout simple, because the photo speaks for itself. This sketch was perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Sketch Card & SBS2 surprise

I FINALLY made a card for Nicola's sketch challenge! I don't know what took me so long!

When I finished this card, I wasn't too sure about it, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. Does that ever happen to you? The two panels and the circle under the heart are Cuttlebug embossed. The circle was cut with my Coluzzle. I used my Stampin' Up ticket punch on all of the panels. Pink ribbon was tied around the smallest panel. The "I love you" is a Studio G $1 acrylic stamp from Michael's. I added a couple of Prima Sprites, and the heart is an embossed design that I've had for quite some time. I believe it's by We R Memory Keepers. Let me know what you think.


Next, I got this CUTE card from my SBS2 secret sister. We're doing a card swap, and I got this adorable card yesterday. I love the colors, the lion image and how it's layered in two different colors, the circle scallop, the small sentiment, and I totally love the dotted colorful patterned paper. Thank you secret sis!

My secret sister also sent me a package of self-adhesive Primas. Thank you again! I can't wait to use them!

Whew, it's very COLD today! It's going to continue for a few days. It's shocking to go outside!

On a sad note, I was so sorry to hear about the death of Heath Ledger. I just love "10 Things I Hate About You" that he made when he was very young. I also thought he was excellent in "The Patriot". So charming, so much talent and potential, and what a tragic death.

Thanks for stopping by.

Valentine Candy Challenge & Another Bargain

I made a card last night for Marlou's Valentine Candy Challenge.

The card front is Cuttlebugged and ticket punched, and I added Stickles to the corners. Ribbon from Hobby Lobby is tied around the card front. The XOX heart is an embossed design that I've have for such a long time. I think it's by We R Memory Keepers. The "LOVE" sticker is from a sheet of Doodlebug cardstock stickers that I've also had for a long time. Using what I have! Love it!

Now, just the opposite of "using what I have" is buying something new. My girls both needed shoes, and we found ourselves in a Payless Shoe Source yesterday which just so happens to be right next door to Archiver's. I had to stop in to take a peak, didn't I? Well, they have had a stash of Primas sitting on a shelf for 25% off for a very long time. Even at 25% off, Primas are really expensive! When I went in yesterday, I noticed that all of those Primas had been further reduced to 50% off. How could I refuse? That's buy one, get one free! I'll just look at it that I got myself some flowers for an early Valentine's Day gift! Right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Dopey!

This is my second attempt at using Happily Ever After on my Cricut. Let me tell you, piecing this guy together wasn't the most fun I've had in a long time, but in the end I guess it was worth it, because he is pretty cute!


Putting together the eyes was difficult. When a piece is that small, it's hard to get glue on it, let alone attach it to another small piece of paper! I'm "off" on the placement of some of the layers. I'm not being hard on myself, it's just that the black silhouette isn't even all around the character. All in all though, I'm pleased, because this was my first attempt at a character with so many small pieces. It will get easier and easier each time I attempt one. Dopey is on Provo Craft Slab paper that is ticket punched. The "hello" is a Studio G acrylic stamp. Brads are in the ticket punched corners. Isn't that ribbon fabulous? I think I got it at Archiver's a long time ago. That little green star clip on the right is Making Memories. So, do you like him? I'm pretty pleased, and I hope to get a chance to play around with this cartridge again soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

You're a HOOT!

Well I did get time to play with one of my new cartridges. I used Happily Ever After. I like that the characters have these "icon" features. You can cut a squirrel, a bird, an owl, etc., just miscellaneous things that go along with the Disney Princess movies.

I cut this little owl that was an icon feature for one of the Sleeping Beauties on the cartridge. Isn't he cute? It was three cuts. The shadown, the base, and the overlay. Better yet, I got out Basic Grey Blush paper, and I actually used some, so this is one fashionable owl!! The flowers are Prima Sprites with chalk on the ends. The brad is a new Around The Block brad that I got from QVC. The "You're a" are ScrapWorks letter rubons. The "HOOT!" was cut with my Khaki QuicKutz letters. I ticket punched the card front, added some Stickles to the corners, and added pink dotted shear ribbon around it. I'm thrilled with the way this card turned out. I love this little owl!

Come back tomorrow to see what else I made. It was tedious, but the result is pretty great! Thanks for stopping by!

I hope I get time . . .

. . . to play with these this weekend!


I got these a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't had a chance to cut anything yet. Michael's was having a pretty good sale on all of their Cricut cartridges, so I decided to invest in a couple more. These are "Happily Ever After" and "Mickey and Friends". I know there are a couple of images that I might not attempt, because I think even at the largest size (5 1/2" on the Cricut), the "layer" pieces will be way too small. I think they'll be very difficult to piece together, but I'll see what happens. I hope to have something fun to show you soon.

Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

4th of July 2005

TGIF! It's been a long week! However, I got two more scrapbook pages done! I'm on a roll! This is for the 4th of July 2005. Yep, I'm far behind.

I used My Mind's Eye papers. I used my Coluzzle templates to cut all of the circles and the ovals in the photos and the mats.



I'm really getting into this "using what I have"! The chipboard title, letters, words, and office clip are all Lil' Davis, and I've had them for quite some time. The title actually had the word "July" attached to it, but it was a very dark blue, it didn't coordinate with layout, so I cut it off and used loose letters instead. I also have so many silver star brads, so I went crazy with them. Luckily, it works for a patriotic page!

This is a closeup to show you the office clip on the photo. Isn't that cute? It's says "4th of July" on it. It makes the photo stick up a little in the center, but that's OK with me. My girls are so much bigger now . . . it's strange to be scrapbooking older photos!

This is a closeup of the title, because I like the way it turned out. Let me know what you think. I hope to get more scrapbooking done this weekend. It's going to be brutally COLD tomorrow. I think our high is supposed to be 4 degrees with negative wind chills. Brrrrr!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Bone Jour!

This is the last dog image and sentiment from the "Ruff Day" Stampin' Up set that I recently purchased. Is this one cool dog, or what?


I just LOVE the beret and the "Bone Jour!" sentiment with the bone! This image and sentiment just make me happy! The coloring is with colored pencils and gamsol. I used a burgundy cardstock card base, then there is a light brown cardstock card front layer topped by My Mind's Eye patterned paper. I really LOVE this patterned paper! I love the red/brown/orange combination! I made four QuicKutz large photo corners, and I Cuttlebug embossed them. The ovals for the images and the mats were cut with my Coluzzle. The brown ribbon is American Crafts. I'm very happy with the way this card turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ruff Day?

I'm loving the Stampin' Up set that I recently purchased on eBay called "Ruff Day". This is my 2nd card using this set. The other one was posted a few days ago, and it's called "Have a Ter-Ruff-ic Day!"


I used colored pencils and gamsol to color the image. The card front is Cuttlebugged and ticket punched. The ribbon is Basic Grey, and I added a silk Prima with a brad. It's so simple, but I think the black and white color scheme is fantastic. I'm really pleased with the way this card turned out. Who could continue having a bad day after looking at this cute puppy?

Thanks for stopping by!

Last Day of School

I'm trying to get back to my scrapbooking as often as I can. This is the last day of school for both of my girls in 2005! Geez, I'm so far behind!

I love taking photos on the last day of school too, because my girls change so much during the course of the school year.


For my oldest daughter, this was also her last day of school in the elementary school. The following year she would be attending the intermediate school. In our town, the schools are divided with the elementary school for Kindergarten through 3rd grade, an intermediate school for grades 4 and 5, and a junior high for grades 6 through 8. She had just completed grade 3, and she was going to be in a new school the following year.


Because she was going on to a new school, we drove back to the school to get photos in front of the school. My girls look so tiny in the doorway! It also meant that my youngest was going to "rule the school" the following year since she had just finished 2nd grade and she would be in the upper grade the next year! On this second page, I used my Lisa Bearnson Kit of the Month foam stamps to stamp the date and the word "smile". The small tags are Making Memories, and they say, "Summer Break" and "girls just want to have fun".

Here's a close up of the tag and library pocket. I used Daisy D's papers and punch outs on this two-page layout. I love the tag, the library pocket, and the library card. The ruler ribbon I bought at a garage sale, the "awesome" chipboard piece and the "play" red office clip is Lil' Davis.

Hopefully I'll get to another layout today. I'm not spending too much time on them, because I'm in "catch up" mode right now. Thanks for stopping by!

New Home - Enjoy!

I really like the Becky Fleck sketch for the Caardvark's challenge, so I'm using it again and submitting another card for the challenge.


I used We R Memory Keepers paper as the card front and for a strip inside the right edge of the open card. The "new home" fabric label tabs are from ScrapWorks. "Enjoy!" is from Stampin' Up's Everyday Expressions. Two layered Primas are attached with a Making Memories rhinestone brad. The scallop on the right side of the card front was created on my Cricut using the Design Studio. I welded small circles together. Pretty cool.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday To You

This is my 2nd card for Samm's birthday card challenge. This is also my entry for the Caardvark's Happy New Year sketch challenge. I flipped the sketch over!


I used gorgeous papers that I got from Patsy from The English Paper Company. I love them! The "Happy Birthday" is a Stampin' Up stamp, and the "you" arrow is a new brad I just got from Around the Block. The ribbon is American Crafts, and the fabric letter tags are ScrapWorks. I also added a couple of silk Primas.

I hope you like it Samm! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Ter-Ruff-ic Day!

I finally made a card for Samm's birthday card blog challenge. Samm is a great blogging friend, and her birthday is January 20th. She's having a fantastic blog candy challenge by having other bloggers make birthday cards for her. This is my card for Samm.


I just got the Stampin' Up set called "Ruff Day", and I fell in love with this happy dog! Isn't he a party waiting to happen? I used the gamsol colored pencil technique when I colored him. The card base, scalloped circle and matted pieces are ScrapWorks paper. The scallop was cut using Mini Monograms on my Cricut. I cut out the dog image using my Coluzzle. The flower is a Prima and I added an adhesive rhinestone to the center. The "Party!" is a button piece I found in my stash. I know Samm loves her cats, but hopefully she'll love this dog too!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Award and I'm a Crazy Shopper!

My very good blogging friend Dawn told me that I make her day, so I get to display this award on my blog! Thank you Dawn!! You know what? You make my day too! I'm supposed to nominate 10 people, but you ALL make my day, so how can I pick just 10? If you're reading this, you honestly make my day, and you are nominated to display this award on YOUR blog!


Next . . . what's wrong with me? I ordered the Crop-A-Dile II on HSN yesterday. I have to stop spending on new crafting items, but after watching the presentation, I just had to have it. My husband told me that if I talked on the air to the hosts, I could order it (I had ALREADY ordered it, but that's another story), and I DID! I talked on the show! It's very strange, because there's at least a 30 second delay, so I had to step out of the room to talk on the phone, and my husband stayed in the room to watch and hear me on TV. Yes, I'm crazy, but I don't think my husband thought I could get on the air! Ha ha!! I showed him! Right?


This new Crop-A-Dile can reach into a project 6 inches. The original Crop-A-Dile can only reach in 1 inch. I will actually love this for altered projects. I love to add flowers to tins, and it will be cool to be able to place them in further. Yes, I'm justifying the "need" for this new tool. (Actually, I blame Flossie for my purchase, because she posted about this tool on her blog. I would have seen the demonstration on HSN anyway, but I thought it would be fun to blame someone else! Sorry Flossie!)

I'm working on a couple of things to post, but there just never seems to be enough time in the day to finish them up. I'm hoping to finish a couple of things today. I'm also very much behind on blog hopping. I'll be visiting you all and commenting on your wonderful creations hopefully later today or tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! Have a GREAT weekend!

Just For Fun!

Tracy had a link to a cool site on her blog, so I went to check it out. It's addicting! This is what I created! The site is Polyvore, and you can create a collage of fashion items. I love red and black items in fashion. Can you tell? This was fun! Thanks for the link Tracy!

Be Mine

I kept seeing cards that used gamsol and colored pencils. I really liked the look; it seems so soft and flawless. So, of course, I had to buy some gamsol to try it out!


I made a new friend from the Cricut message board. Sue is incredibly talented and quite a card maker. She sent me some adorable stamped images, and I used one yesterday to try out my new gamsol. The images and the gamsol came in the mail on the same day! So, this mouse image is my very first try at the gamsol coloring technique. What do you think? Sue coached me along last night on where to add more color, etc. The card front is Cuttlebug embossed, I cut the ovals with my Coluzzle, I added a Prima Sprite, a rhinestone, some ribbon (from a corporate gift bag that my husband got a long time ago -- I love saving ribbon!), and three white brads. I think this is the cutest Valentine's Day card!

For anyone that might not be familiar with gamsol and color pencils, take a look at these links: Sue's Heart Prints and Inky Antics.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tagged Again!

I keep forgetting that I've been tagged again. Lori is one of my new SBS2 sisters, and she tagged me. The only problem is that I've done this three times before! That's 21 facts I've posted about myself folks! So, I'll just give you links to my previous tags, and if you're interested, you can check them out: First Tag, Second Tag, and Third Tag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gorgeous Card and Some Goodies!

First off, thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments yesterday! I appreciate them all! Today is a much better day. The basement is drying up nicely. I have the dehumidifier and three fans running, and the new sump pump is working just fine. Thanks again everyone!

Next, I want to show you a GORGEOUS card that I received yesterday from my two Divalicious friends, Queen Diva Sue and Diva Deb! Isn't it spectacular?


Sue and Deb are my two diva girlfriends that I get together with to create. We spend time in the Diva Den (Sue's studio), and we try to do this on the first Saturday of every month. Well, just this past Saturday, I spent time at home with my husband and girls instead, especially because it was the last weekend of the winter break from school. Sue and Deb played around with alcohol inks! Sue and I were completely inspired by Tim Holtz's blog, and Sue bought a lot of fun new goodies so that we can be like Tim! Since the Divas missed me so much, they made me a gorgeous card to tell me that they were so sorry that I wasn't there! Isn't that sweet? Check out the card front. Is that fantastic or what? I love the big brad with the rub on! Love it Divas! Thank you!

Next, look at these two goodies that I picked up at Target in the $1 spot. I got these on Monday, but I didn't have a chance to post them yesterday. The ribbon is adorable. The first one is sheer (love the hearts), the next one is velvet, and the bottom one is glitter rick rack. How cute! Then, how could I resist self-adhesive foam flowers? How fun are these? Gotta love those dollar bargains!

Well, I'm working on finishing up a scrapbook two-page layout, and then I hope to create some cards. I hope I get to all of it today! Thanks for stopping by!

Flooded Basement AGAIN!

Unbelievable. We had freakishly warm weather yesterday. It broke records. In was in the upper 60's, in January, in Illinois. We were warmer in Chicagoland than Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Did I mention it's January? Anyway, the freakish weather brought lots of rain last night, and very violent weather traveling through the Midwest. There were a lot of tornado reports. Well, thank goodness we didn't have a threat from a tornado. We just had a bad thunderstorm. I'm pretty sure it rained all night. Sometime in the middle of the night, the sump pump stopped working. We didn't lose electricity. The sump pump broke. Couldn't have predicted that! Our basement has water in it. Again. We just did this. Unbelievable. My oldest daughter and I get up at 5 a.m. as usual, we let the dog out, and then I decided to check on the basement. I will usually do that when we've had as much rain as we had overnight. I open the door, turn on the lights, and a BIG swear word flies out of my mouth. I was just shocked. About an inch of water in the basement. I had to walk down there to see why, to see if it was in fact the sump pump. It was. Calling a plumber at 5 a.m. is an emergency call. You pay extra for that. A plumber (a VERY nice man, by the way) comes within the hour, installs the new sump pump, and it is now pumping away. I need to give it time to work, and then I have to go dry stuff off and see what I need to throw out. I just did this. Been there, done that, don't want to do it again. Plus, to top it all off, my husband is out of town on business. You know, misery loves company. I could use another person over here. Darn, I should have made the girls stay home from school just so I would have someone to listen to my complaints. Poor Princess, she's going to have to listen to it all today. (Believe me, I know that some water in the basement is a minor inconvenience, and it doesn't even compare to some of the horrendous weather problems / situations that others have had to deal with. I watched a lot of tornado coverage this morning on the news. I'm mildly complaining, and I do know that things could be much worse.)

Well, since I'm just waiting for the sump pump to do its thing, I'll at least post my welded Cricut images. Why not? I downloaded only the trial version. Because I have just the Cricut, I can use only George to try out the trial version.


I welded my name together, and then I welded the word "Love" and I welded a heart to that image. Pretty cool. This would be nice for scrapbook page titles. Instead of putting down individual letters, one welded strip could be put down on the page.


On these two, I welded together a bunch of circles, and then a bunch of flowers. Once again, pretty cool. The circles could be used as a scallop edge. The flowers could be used as a border on a page or a card.

Here, I just covered half of the circles to show you how it could be attached as a scallop edge. I do like this idea.

So, what did I think of the Design Studio? I like the idea, and I think it's something I would eventually purchase, but I won't get it for a while. I really don't have a need for it right now. I definitely think if you have the Expression, this would be an awesome tool to have. My other problem is that my computer and my Cricut are on two different levels of the house. My scrap area is upstairs, and my computer is downstairs in the family room. That won't be changing, so if I want to use Design Studio, I would have to move my Cricut downstairs every single time I wanted to use it. We'll see. Cool program, but probably not something I will be purchasing right away.

Thanks for stopping by! You know where I'll be. Yep, in the basement.

Enchanted

How about a movie review for today? The girls and I went to see Enchanted yesterday. It was wonderful! We all really enjoyed it! I have to say it . . . this movie was truly enchanting! I would see it again!


Amy Adams was fantastic as Giselle, and Patrick Dempsey was charming! The actor, James Marsden, that plays Prince Edward is perfect in his role! We give this movie a big thumbs up!


This dancing scene was great! Just an adorable movie!

I played around with the Cricut Design Studio a little bit yesterday. I downloaded just the trial version. I'm not sure if it will go on my "must have" list. I like the concept of welding things together, but I'm not sure how much I would actually use it. Plus, my computer and my Cricut are not in the same area. I had to move my Cricut downstairs just to play around. I'll post a couple of the things that I made either later today or tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!