January 25, 2010

Leafy birthday


Monday morning! The kiddos are back in school and I'm back to work. *sigh*

Whipped up this quick card Saturday night for my SIL, Laura. Deep pink is not a color I would normally associate with her, but I still think she'll like it.
I really enjoy spending time with her...she calms me down, makes me laugh at myself, and is uber-talented.
I started with the black base because Kristina Werner issued a "use black" challenge on her blog Friday. The rasperry and green colors just came together like soymilk and cookies. *grin*  It was the first time I'd inked up Turning A New Leaf (which I absolutely adore!) and it was fun to add the glitter.

So what do you have planned for the week?

January 24, 2010

2010 PTI Princess Challenge #1

Look at this lovely inspiration photo!

Anya posted the challenge for this round and I was truly inspired. The colors made me think of the sea and the beach house we used to go to when I was a child.


I went literal with this inspiration photo. It was fun making the "ticking" for the top, and the circles for the bottom reminded me of bubbles. I was so glad the PTI white grosgrain ribbon didn't bleed when I stamped on it!
So although I was thinking of the sea, that didn't end up being what transpired into my card. Oh well, it's about creating, right? *smile*

January 22, 2010

Catch-up crafty post

I promised to post a few crafty things I made during my long blog break, so here they are in one post.


A tiny "Tucked Away" tote with candy for a teacher gift.

I love that patterned paper-and it goes well with the acorn stamps!

I don't know what I was thinking when I put these colors together...and what's up with the un-adorned chipboard bird?


Isn't this tree great? I forget who makes it, but these colors at least go well together!

One of my ideas for a holiday card but too much trimming was involved for mass production. Adding punch berries was fun though.

Changed it up a bit for an everyday card (using white instead of cream).

Here they are together in all their glory!~


I needed to make a few chinese auction gifts for the Chritmas bazaar at my children's school, so I turned to some blogs for inspiration. These are cased from Dawn McVey.

More cased cards...Nichole Heady and Dawn McVey?

This one is a case of Dawn again.

Tried making Nichole Heady's gift tag tin and it was so much fun I wanted to keep it for myself!

Two cased note pad holders for the bazaar. Left one cased from Debbie Olsen, right one from Dawn McVey.
So there you have it. A sampling of some of my paper-crafty projects since October 2009. Stay tuned for regular updates.

((((HUGS))))

January 21, 2010

Catch-up photo post

So here is our abbrviated life in a nutshell since October 2009 (my last full post). Ignore if you came here for papercrafting inspiration (that will be tomorrow's catch-up post)!

First non-uniform day at school and the boys choose tie-dye!

Autumn begins to show...


...and continues to amaze me.


Our first snowfall (October 13, 2009)


Thankfully it warmed up and we raked leaves!


OK, ok. THEY raked leaves and I took photos.


We visited Pumpkinville (as we do each year like clockwork).


The requisite giant pumpkin picture. It was a bit wet so they didn't sit on it this year.


Crumbgrabber gets his pony ride!


We take a hayride (Stickyfingers and I are on the other side of the wagon).


Meeting the goats.


This goat took a shine to Stickyfingers the entire time we were at Pumpkinville!


Pumpkin carving at the kitchen table.


Our carved pumpkins on the bench in the front lawn.


Night shot!

My bat and my cowboy ready for trick-or-treating.


My DH turned 30 and adopted a rescue puppy. Great. We named him Emerson.


I don't care if he IS cute...he drives me batty!


Crumbgrabber turns 5 and has his Birth Day Breakfast (cinnamon roll with whipped cream and sliced bananas).


The afro gets cut off.

Our oldest kitty Agatha is officially irritated that we have introduced a jumpy puppy to the household. She will never forgive us.


Family visits from out of town! YAY. My brother and my DH eat jumbo garlic dill pickles over the sink.


We get ready for Thanksgiving. We need seating for 10 this year!


My plate. In case anyone is interested in what vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving (and this was actually all vegan): Sweet potato biscuits, garlic mashed potatoes, vegan gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, steamed buttered rutabega, traditional celery/onion/sage stuffing, fresh green beans with homemade cream of mushroom gravy and homemade crunchy fried onions, glazed Pearl Onions, whole-berry cranberry sauce, and sliced Tofurky.


My boys loved having their cousins over to visit for the holidays!


One very cold saturday Crumbgrabber made this lincoln log Resort Hotel.


We went Christmas Tree hunting and found...


...a grinning munchkin? no...(By the way, I knitted his hat myself!)


A 16 foot Picea pungens (Colorado Blue Spruce) that we cut the top 10 feet from! (see the bottom part in the right background?)


Attempting the quintessential holiday card photo...(not really. My DH would kill me if I sent this out to everyone on our card list! *giggle*)


Lets have one more for good measure, huh? *grin*


Clay pot nativity crafts for teachers' gifts.


Can you tell that my boys LOVE it when they don't have to wear their uniform to school?! (This was red/green day)

Here is our tree in all its glory. ( and yes, that is horrible ugly paneling behind it on our livingroom walls. Do you have any idea how time consuming it is to fill each crack/line with spackle, let it dry, sand the walls, wash the walls free of dust, apply primer, let it dry, apply paint? UGH. We've only finished a few rooms in this house so far.)


One more for good measure with the gifts underneath.


Emerson got bigger. Great.


Grandma came for a visit!

So that's it. Are we all caught up now? Oh wait, tomorrow's post will be all the paper crafts that I've neglected to post since October.

It's good to be back. I've missed you.