Wall Hanging

Just a couple of weeks ago, I made a Halloween wall hanging. I really loved the way it turned out, so I decided to make another one for my sister-in-law for her birthday.


I mounted this on the chipboard backing from a legal pad. I used We R Memory Keepers papers and embellishments. The title is felt Thickers. I did a lot of distressing with Making Memories paint. I then used my Cropadile Big Bite to punch through it to add the ribbon. I love the way this turned out! It's a nice thing for Kristine to hang in her house featuring her nieces and nephew!

We got SNOW overnight! It's CRAZY!! Just when you think spring is on its way, BAM, more snow! I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Card Sketch #58 & Back to School

This is my card for Card Sketch #58 at Sketches! {by Tamara}. If you make a card using the sketch, be sure to link it back to the site, because Tamara will display it on her blog, AND you could be her next guest designer! Also, be sure to check out her Card Design Team Call. I think you have a few days left.


This card also works for a ScrapCity Blog challenge where we were to use orange, turquoise, pink, and lime green for a card. I love those summery colors, so I had no problem using them! I used awesome textured patterned paper that I just got from Andrea as a prize for a photo challenge that I did at 4 Scrappy Sisters. The dimensional flower on top of my blue Prima also came from Andrea. I used my threading water punch on the patterned paper. The chipboard is Autumn Leaves French Twist, and I punched two holes in it with my Mr. Big Bite Cropadile, and I threaded the pink ribbon through it. I added a glitter heart by ScrapWorks and my flower stack to the chipboard piece. Last, I stamped the Autumn Leaves stamp and cut it with my Coluzzle. Everything has chalk ink distressing on it. I really love the way this card turned out!


Here are Jessica and Emily waiting for the bus this morning. The first day of school always makes me sad. Where did the summer go? Both girls are in Junior High this year. Jessica is in 6th grade, and Emily is in 7th grade. Tomorrow, marching band starts, so we'll be out even earlier catching the band bus!

Yes, of course Princess needs to get in a couple of photos! She seriously loves posing for photos!

And of course, the girls just love her! What a cute photo!

Well, the girls have a very short day today, but tomorrow is a full day. I'm still stunned it's back-to-school time! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

All Boy

I made my mom a wreath wall hanging for Mother's Day, and in the center was a photo of my girls with Princess. She really loved it. Last week my mom sent me a photo of their neighbor's son, and she asked me if I could make a wall hanging for this little boy's mom. This couple lives across the street from my parents, they are expecting baby number two, it's been rough for the mom getting to this point, and they just adore their son! I think this little boy has quite the fan club! This young couple is living pretty much surrounded by seniors, and they're all crazy about Brandon! Of course, I was happy to make this for my mom to give to her neighbor!


Sorry for the weird paint technique on his face, but since I don't have permission to post his photo on my site, I didn't want to take any chances! I used corrugated cardstock mounted on red. I attached the photo, used a My Mind's Eye denim frame that I got from Sharon, and attached a MME title and hinges. I stamped a "You Make Me Smile" ticket and "Completely Loved", both of which are Autumn Leaves stamps. The letters that spell out Brandon's name are Lil' Davis chipboard. Last, I added two large eyelets with my Cropadile, and I threaded through some rope. I can't wait to see what my mom thinks, and then of course, I want to know Brandon's mom's reaction!!


Here's a closer view. Once again, sorry for the crazy paint on his face. I love how rustic this turned out! It's totally "all boy"!!

I FINALLY got a bunch of thank you notes out in the mail today. Does anyone else have the problem with actually getting cards written out, addressing the envelope, and then mailing the card? I don't know WHY I have such a big problem with this. Even if I need to go to the post office because a card is too thick, I pass the post office all the time! It's just crazy. Anyway, I hope you're having a great day, and as always, thanks for stopping by!!

Teacher's Gift

My youngest's 5th grade award assembly was yesterday, and I am so proud of her! My daughter won the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence, an honor roll award (straight A's all year), a singing club award, and a perfect attendance award. She had a GREAT year this year! Go Jessica!


She had her 5th grade field day before the award's assembly, so she was a little disheveled at the assembly! Look at that smile! Well done sweetheart! I'm beaming with pride!


This is the teacher's gift that we put together for her 5th grade teacher. The 2nd card is for her social studies' teacher. The tin and the "don't forget" pink/green/yellow pad came from Target. We tied some pretty ribbon around the pad, and added a large altered paper clip. There's some candy too . . . YUM! We also included a Bind It All book.


Here are the gifts inside the tin. I used my big Cropadile, Mr. Big Bite, to punch through the tin and add the eyelet that is holding on the flower/ribbon stack. Jessica designed the cards to coordinate with the pad of paper. Aren't the cards FABULOUS? She used her set of "girly" ki Memories acrylic stamps on the cards.


These are the magnets that we made. We used one of my new Stampin' Up sets. CUTE! The magnets are so fun, because Jessica put them on the outside of the tin!


This is a binder clip that I altered along with the two cards. How fun! I hope her teacher likes it all.

Today is the last day of school, and they only go for one hour, and then summer vacation has officially begun! This school year went by FAST! Both of my girls will be at the junior high next year . . . I can't believe it! Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

BBTB - Joys of the Season - Wreath Challenge

Over at Bitten By The Bug Regina challenged us to use the wreath on the Joys of the Season cartridge. Well, I don't have that cartridge, but thanks to DeeDee, I was able to participate in the challenge. DeeDee sent me the wreath in the colors that I requested! Thanks DeeDee!! Be sure to check out what the other designers created for this wreath challenge! They're all amazing!

When she told us what the challenge was, I looked online to see what the cut looked like, and I thought it would make a GREAT frame! So, I picked out a photo to frame for my mom for Mother's Day, and I asked DeeDee to send me the cut in smoky shades of blue with a black shadow. I used a photo of my girls that I took in November. I just love the photo, and I knew my mom would love to display it as a wall hanging.


I chalked the layered lighter shades of blue a little bit. I added a Prima and one of Emily's crocheted flowers with a glitter Making Memories brad. This flower is actually hiding some of the background too. Because the opening is round, and the photo is rectangular, there was some background showing through. "Grandma's Girls" was done on the computer, and it's also hiding some of the background. I finally used some of the gorgeous Kaiser pearls that Kristy sent to me. I added four of them to the corners of the sentiment. I then set two large eyelets with my Cropadile Mr. Big Bite, and I added American Crafts ribbon so it could hang. My mom LOVED it!

I'll have my Mother's Day recap to share with you tomorrow. My husband and my girls spoiled me, and I loved it! Believe it or not, I didn't take one photo! I always like to get photos of me with my girls, and it just didn't happen! Oh well! It was an awesome day anyway!! I hope you all have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Altered Items

I altered a couple of items for my girls for Valentine's Day. I got these striped little tin buckets from the Target $1 spot. I love the stripes.

I added some fun ribbon to the handles, and I added an office clip that says "be mine" to the rim of each bucket. I used Mr. Big Bite to punch a hole and set the heart eyelet for the Prima Sprite stack. I added some candy to both of these for my girls. They loved them!

Not too long ago, I was at my sister-in-law's house, and she had Frappuccino bottles in her fridge. I got all excited, because I wanted a couple of those bottles! She thought I was crazy! Anyway, I've seen tons of these altered on various sites, and I finally got a chance to do a couple! What a great size bottle!

Here's the top of the bottles. I used my Coluzzle to cut the circles. How cute are these? I filled them with Hershey's Hugs.

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day! 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!