Enjoy Your Day

Here is a pocket card I made for this month's DT requirement on EIO. I used Basic Grey's Archaic 6 x 6 pad, SU! scallop and tab punches as well as Riveting stamp set.

Basic Grey Box in a Bag

Here is another Box in a Bag, but a different size. My friend Michelle and I swapped one with each other and wanted to fill them with just little goodies. This is the one I made for her. I used Basic Grey's Blush, Prima Flowers and pink brads are unknown. I also used SU!'s Round Tab Punch. I love their punches!!

The original size and pattern can be found here. A mini size and pattern can be found here. BUT we needed an in between size so I came up with these dimensions. I used the same technique as the other gals, so check out their blog for the directions:

box: 3.5" x 3.5" (score at 3/4" on each side

bag piece: 4.25 x 11"

very important tip: use tacky tape on all of the steps that you have to tape together. I didn't on the tabs and they kept popping off, so had to add the tacky tape.

If you make one of these I would love to see it. These are so fun to do and I will be making lots more of them.

Still here...

I'm still here. Just had alot of late nites and activities going. I do have some things to post, but haven't been able to take pics at nite to upload. Hopefully I can get a week's worth preposted this weekend-in between canning tomatoes. Ü

Yesterday was Benjamin's first x-country meet. Last year he came in 22nd (there are twenty medals given as there are alot of class A schools there). This year he rec'd a medal for 19th place! Very exciting!! My goal this year is to develop pictures after every meet and get them scrapbooked. I am hoping to do that this weekend.

He also has improved his time a great deal. Usually, the improved time is 30 seconds (give or take a few). Last year his best time was about 19.22 or somehwere arount there. I need to ck for sure. Yesterday, he said his time was 18.04!! That is an awesome improved PB (personal best) in a year. I look forward to seeing what he does next Saturday as it is a home invite.

My First "Twinchie"

A "Twinchie" is a card/project made with a 2" piece that is the main focus. I believe Anna Wight is the first person to come up with this name. This is for a challenge I was in. All products had to be current SU! which is getting harder for me as I haven't ordered for awhile. I colored the skunk with chalks. I can't remember the last time I used chalks! This was a good challenge for me as it's been awhile since I've used all SU! on a card.

Roughin' It for you

This happy camper has been out looking for flowers for mom. Ü Two Storage Units, Ink & More sets were used: Roughin' It (boy) and At a Snail's Pace (flower). I used a sketch layout from My Favorite Things blog. I turned the sketch on it's side to come up with this: The *deets*:
I pierced the holes to hand stitch the "x's". I cut slits above and below his fingers to "hold" the flower. Brown circle was cut with Cricut as I don't have a 1.5" circle punch. "For you with love" is mounted with mounting tape.

other stamps: SU! (for you)
paper: Basic Grey's 6 x 6 Archaic pad
ink: SU! Basic Black
other: brads-unknown, Gamsol and colored pencils, embroidery floss, SU! piercing kit

Snowy Trees

I tried to do a "Kittie747" (SCS username) technique, but mine doesn't even come close to the awesome job she does every time. I used a dry brush and added white embossing ink, but I used too much. Then white embossing powder and a little bit of glittery for a snowy look.
Trees are from "Roughin' It" set by Storage Units, Ink & More. I like to think of "out of the box" ideas to share to show you how you can get lots of uses out of a stamp set.

"joy" is SU!
The circles and oval for "joy" were cut from Cricut cartridge Plantin Schoolbook

papers are Basic Grey's "Figgy" 6 x 6

layout for card was inspired by Maria Bell & here on her blog.

At a Snail's Pace

Here are a couple of projects with SUInk & More's new stamp set At a Snail's Pace. The first one is a fun little holder for stick suckers. It DOES take a long time to lick one, so I thought right away of enjoying one at "a snail's pace". I just wraped some cardstock (in this case 6 x 6) around 3 pieces of candy to get my measurement. I sealed it on the bottom and used a corrugator to roll up a little way (thank you Karen-need to get a corrugator). Then with a square punch I punched the "V" at the top. Colored a snail with Gamsol and colored pencils, cut scallop with Mini Monograms Cricut cartridge and added a "band" for the holder.For the card I used an embossing folder and Basic Grey paper. Snails are colored with Gamsol and colored pencils here too.

Friday Challenge

WOW! Where did the week go? Time is a flying here! It's time for the Friday Challenge on Embellish It Scrapbooking. This weeks challenge is by my friend Michelle. The challenge is Paper Folding. You can go here to read the details and play along with us.

Here is the card I made. I can't believe it, but there is NO stamping on this card! This is called a criss cross card and you can find a step by step tutorial here with pictures! For the band piece I folded two 1" pieces to look like pleating. It takes alot of paper just to do the front!

Sneak Peek Time & another bear

Today starts the first of sneak peeks for the September releases for SUInk & More. You can see the first two sneaks on Susan and Lauren's blog.

Pop back in tomorrow to see where the next two can be spotted. This is another card made with SUInk & More stamp set "Bear with Me". I just love this teddy bear set. I colored it using markers on watercolor paper to give it the same textured look as described yesterday.

Whatcha' Doin' Wednesday

I am a little late posting today, but hope you all will still try to play along. The challenge for today is to use chipboard. Here is a chipboard coaster album I made using the Bear with Me stamp set exclusive to SUINK & MORE. Click on SUInk to see what others are doing and to play in this challenge.

Do you see the texture on the teddy? This was fun to do and just happened by accident. I will post another card using this same technique. I doubt I came up with this, though I haven't seen it posted before. I used watercolor paper, then colored with my markers. I was trying to blend colors like I do with my Gamsol and colored pencils. Anyway, adding layers and layers of ink, "roughed up" the paper and gave this cool look. So I let it dry and it looks kinda like fur. You can click on the picture to see a larger image and see what I am talking about.

New job note: I am tired!! Ü It is a LONG day leaving at 7:15 AM and getting home between 6 and 6:30 PM. Starting after Labor Day, I will not be getting home til 7 PM or later. It is hard to make cards and projects away from home because no matter what, I don't end up taking something I need. Ü So, I will have to be very organized and do all my stamping and preposting on the weekends.

I ended up in the High School instead of the Middle School. There was a gal that had to take an extended medical leave, so I will be filling in there instead. It's a bit different with High School kids. I feel bad for Benjamin, cuz what teen wants their mom at school with them. Ü

I am exhausted by the time we get home and haven't been on line. I try to stamp and feel like I lost my mojo!!!

coolest youtube video

Have you all seen this? This is sooooo cool! I hope this link works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBK8Bxt8NCE

Sixteen years ago....

I gave birth to my first son. WOW! Where does the time go? Why does it go slow when we are young and FLIES by when we grow older ~ and flies faster and faster every year?

Also, why is it I can remember every detail of his birth, but can't find my grocery list (or whatever)?

So... Happy Birthday Benjamin! I hope time moves very slow from now on out! I'm not ready for you to leave home in two years!!

Changes...

I want to thank everyone who e-mailed me with comments that they would be praying for our family. I can now share what is going on in our lives. There is alot I can't share (like alot of the why's), but I can tell you some of what is going on.

I applied for a job this week at the schools in Broken Bow and was hired to be a paraeducator for the middle school. I will be working with students who need extra help. I haven't worked full time for over 20 years, so this has been very nerve wracking for me. Add on top of that, my thyroid out of whack and you have a very unsettled person. Ü Oh yeah about that! They quit making my thyroid meds, so we are starting over-fun.....NOT!

Benjamin and I will have the same hours and I will be able to be home when the boys are home. Bruce will homeschool Aaron as he (Bruce) needs to be able to do chores and finish haying (one more cutting). So it only made sense for me to be the one to find a job.

I am okay with this as I know it is needed. I have concerns with how my back is going to react to this, so please pray that I do okay. I love working with children, so this is a good job for me. Aaron has lots of learning difficulties, so I have lots of experience right there. He has come farther than any dr. ever said he would (so glad I refused to listen to them), so I hope I can be an encouragement to those that need it the most.

So what this means for my blog is that I may not be able to post as regular as I have been. I am HOPING that I can make several things while I wait 2.5 to 3 hours every day while Benjamin runs and be able to prepost. We will see how that goes.

I will still be posting my design team challenges, so hope you all stay around to see what I'm up to. While I can't post anything personal about my job (for child privacy), I'm sure there will be stories about new things I learn that I can share.

Friday Challenge on EIO

It's Friday and that means another challenge hosted by a DT member on Embellish-It Scrapbooking. Today's challenge was to alter something for decor. I picked up several scrap mat boards quite awhile back that a gal that used to frame had for free in her store-can't beat FREE Ü I got the idea for this from a friend of mine who had made one. She got hers in a kit, but I have no idea who the kit was by. Here is how I made mine:
I cut two pieces of mat board 8.5 x 11.
Punched holes in the corners and center bottom
Wrapped each matboard with patterned paper
Punched holes thru the paper
Decorated the front piece (close up of embellishment)
Screwed the two pieces together in the corners with short screws
Used long screw in the center with rubber stopper. This keeps it from scratching my shelf that I set it on. Here is the back view at the bottom. Come and play with us. Click here to see the challenge.

Sunny Side Up

This card of mine is featured on Inky Antics website this week.
colored with Gamsol and colored pencils, used paper scraps for the card and large rick rack also unknown (some I had picked up at a crop)

I know I've been quiet and I will explain by this weekend. There are lots of changes going on in our family right now. Lots of emotions, tension and everything else that comes with change. By Saturday, I will be able to share...so hang in there with me and if you believe in prayer, we could use that too.

Circle challenge

I apologize in advance for the poor photo. I took several, but wasn't able to get to the computer to make sure they turned out ok before mailing off-and they didn't. If anyone can tell me how to prevent the "blue" look, I would sure appreciate it.

This card uses all SU! supplies and was made for a circle challenge.

Whatchadoin' Wednesday

Over at Storage Units, Ink & More, we the design team along with Denise will be starting a weekly challenge called "Whatchadoin' Wednesday" and we want YOU the readers to play along.

Here is what Denise says about today's challenge:

This weeks challenge...EMBOSSING FOLDERS...
You know you have them laying around...lets use them...Cuttlebug, Sizzix, Nestibilities...the list goes on and on...
Pick a folder, and use it somewhere on your card/project. We would love to see what you can do...Come join us...because, WHATCHADOIN' this WEDNESDAY?


Just click on the logo above or the green words in my post and it will take you right to today's challenge. If you participate, I would love for you to leave a link here for me too. If you don't have any embossing folders you can still play. Read Storage Units, Ink & More blog for more information.


Here is my card for this first challenge: I love the Core'dinations cardstock, but embossing it with Cuttlebug embossing folder templates and sanding the raised design makes for even more fun with this paper. For the top turquoise panel, I just sanded the already raised texture in the cardstock. For the bottom, I used Cuttlebug's swirls embossing folder and sanded the raised design. I like how the swirls imitates the swirls in the snail.

Is this snail cute or what??!! This snail is from the newly released stamp set "At a Snail's Pace". Just click on the name to see all the other adorable images in this set. I love how you can just ink up part of a sentiment and see exactly where you are stamping. I did that with "slow down" and then on the inside it says "and smell the flowers". This is a good reminder to all of us as we get so busy with life, that we miss the small blessings. So, slow down today and take some time to stamp a card for a friend "just because" and play along with us in this challenge.

Recipe:
Stamps: At a Snail's Pace
Cardstock: Core'dinations French Roast from Coffee Cafe & Arctic Pool from Turquoise Waves; SU!'s Rose Red, Wal-mart white
Other: Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, Hobby Lobby ribbon, 2" scallop punch, Prima flower, brad-unknown, sanding tool, pop dots

Lizzie Anne Scarecrow

Here is the scarecrow in the Happy Harvest stamp set from Lizzie Anne Designs. Have I said how much I love fall? LOL!! As much as I can't wait for fall, I need summer to hold out a little longer so all our tomatoes will turn red! Then fall can BRING it on!!

The layout for this card was inspired by a sketch challenge for Verve's "anni-verve-sary". I didn't play, but loved the layout and knew I wanted to use it for this guy. The size is 5.5 square.

Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs

Cardstock: watercolor paper, Core'dinations, Bo Bunny, Scenic Route

Ribbon, sanding block, Buttons & punch (for words): Stampin' Up!

Safety pin: Making Memories

other: Gamsol and colored pencils

Lizzie Ann Sunflower

Here is another image in the Happy Harvest stamp set I won from Lizzie Anne Designs.

Pretty simple card. The center of the flower is raised with a pop dot and the whole flower/brown panel is raised with pop dots.

Paper: Scenic Route, Core'dinations, Wal-Mart (white)

Ribbon & Brad: JoAnn Fabrics

Other: sanding, sewing machine, gamsol, colored pencils, pop dot

Friday Challenge on EIO

It's Friday and that means there is another challenge hosted by a design team member on Embellish-It Online.

Today Daniela is our host and the challenge is paper piecing. This was a lot of fun. It's been awhile since I've done this technique.

Come and play along.

Roughin' It Blog Candy!

Today is my day to give away some blog candy for SUInk & More. Sorry it's taken me so long to upload. It's been "one of those days" out of "one of those weeks" where if it could go wrong, seems it does. Monday I had two funurals if that gives you any indication of how my week has gone.

BUT today will be a good day! Ü Denise is soooo generous and is letting each of the design team members give away a newly released stamp set. The set I am giving away is Roughin' It.

There is a story behind my project, so you will have to read it to know how to enter for my blog candy. LOL!!

When I was growing up, every summer we (I have 4 younger brothers) went to my grandparents farm to stay. Anywhere from a week to 3 weeks. I grew up on a dairy farm and this was our vacation. My grandparents sold cattle in the summer in Omaha which was a 4+ hour drive one way. We would spend the night, they would take us to the mall and we rode up and down the escalators. I don't remember ever buying anything or shopping. We just thought stairs that moved were cool. Ü (if you know ANYthing about dairy farming, you know you can't go very far as the cows have to be milked at the same time every morning and night) Then the next morning we would eat breakfast and while grandpa watched the cows sell, we would ride up and down in the elevator with grandma. Ü

Okay, so you all want to know what that has to do with camping right? Well, nothing. heehee BUT...the camper reminded me of these wonderful memories. For some reason I thought of "are we there yet?" as excited children going on an adventure, be it camping or going to the stock yards to sell cattle.

There is more to the story...I made this "Box in a Bag" (this cool project is on Diana Gibbs blog; tutorial can be found here) because every time we went with grandpa and grandma to Omaha, grandma always packed a paper bag. In it were fun things to keep us occupied. Every time we went through a town, grandma gave us something out of the bag. It might be a piece of candy, a picture to draw, a little toy to play with, etc. I love these memories. They are so precious and mean more to me now as a mother all the work and thought that grandma went to, to make our trip more enjoyable-not only for us but for her and grandpa. As we grew older, there were notes in the bag for a game to play-like find words on signs in alphabetical order, play "I Spy", etc. So I thought this would be a fun bag to make for someone going camping to fill with little treats to keep the kids entertained while travelling.

Okay, I hope I didn't bore you too much as I took you down memory lane. If you would like to enter to win the Roughin' It stamp set, tell me a favorite memory of your grandparent(s). If you were not as fortunate as me to have grandparents living to remember, then share a favorite travelling/vacation memory. I will will draw a name Sunday afternoon.

I used Core'dinations cardstock and sanded it to "roughin" it up Ü (sorry, couldn't resist).

To do the "Are we there yet?" I typed it up with no borders on MSWord and printed it out.

The scallop is made with SU!'s slit punch. Slide the punch in as far as you can and punch, then line up to the outside edge and punch again. Repeat until the whole length of cs is punched and you have a scallop border.

Image was colored with Gamsol and colored pencils.

Kathie Bailey is also giving away a stamp set, so check out her blog to see which one.

Happy

Here is the first card I made with my new Lizzie Anne Designs stamp set Happy Harvest that I won. I just love this set! I have been doing lots of coloring today, so look for more cards with this set.

colored with gamsol and colored pencils, watercolor paper and orange is SU!, patterned, don't know-was in my scraps Ü

It is soooo hot here! I can't wait for the cooler weather that fall brings.

Aaron is suppose to be in the country fair's parade tonite, so gotta go. I hope the temps start dropping, cuz it is HOT!!

PS: I've had some questions regarding some things I've made. I will post the details to those this week.

Button Button Challenge

Over at the EIO gallery, the Design Team is taking turns hosting a challenge every Friday. You are all welcome to come and play.

Here is the info for the first challenge:

Host: Julie

Challenge: Button, Button - Who's Got The Button?

Details: Buttons are one of my favorite embellishments. Create a layout or card using as many buttons as you can!

I didn't use that many buttons, but still like this card: Be sure to go here to see what the others did. I'll be checking the gallery to see if you play. Ü

What's cookin?

I love trying new recipes and am blessed to have family that is willing to try them. Do you have an over abundance of zucchini? I did a google search for recipes and printed off a few that sounded good. A couple got thrown out, but here is one that was very yummy and is going in the recipe box.
I got the recipe for this from here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheese-and-Sausage-Stuffed-Zucchini/Detail.aspx
but I changed a few things, so here is what I did:

Cheese and Sausage Stuffed Zucchini
INGREDIENTS
12 ounces pork sausage and hamburger mixed
1 large zucchini
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded Colby cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I didn't have tomatoes, but we put salsa on top. I will make with tomatoes when they are ready in the garden)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a baking dish (size is dependent on the size of your zucchini).
Place crumbled sausage and hamburger in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
Partially cook zucchini in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove from the microwave and let cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine eggs, Colby cheese, cottage cheese, Italian blend cheese, onion, salt and pepper.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and rinse. Place both halves in prepared baking dish and sprinkle with garlic powder. Layer the sausage, tomatoes and cheese mixture in each half.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

This is Strawberry and Mango Salsa. This recipe is so easy and you can see it here on Nichole's blog. I made it like she said and we ate it on ice cream. With the hot temps we've been having it was so yummy and refreshing. I had bought several mangoes when they were on sale last week to make this recipe for Strawberry Mango Slush that Anna had on her blog (didn't get a picture taken). So we had plenty when I saw this a day or two later on Nichole's. I didn't have an ice cream maker for the slush, so just used our blender. We added some mangoes and strawberry's and ice to the blender as well as the juices. It too was very refreshing and yummy and the boys were asking for more. Thank you Nichole and Anna for sharing your yummy recipes that will now be family favorites!!
Here is the last recipe to share. I am a hoarder of recipes! I see recipes I like and put them in a file folder. Then eventually I get them made and they either go in the trash or the recipe box. Here is a recipe I took out of Taste of Home in 1997 and just got around to making it!! We have been missing out!! Before I post it I want to share a tip that we do here. We buy lots of bananas when they are on sale and in the summer it is hard to get them eaten before they get too ripe. I can't eat a banana that shows ANY brown on the skin, but the boys can. When they are starting to get brown, I put them in the freezer in their skins. Then when we want muffins, cookies, bread, etc, I take out however many bananas are needed and I let them thaw in a stainer. This way the "juice" drains. All you have to do is cut the top and the banana squeezes right out. The skins will be black, but the flesh is still "banana" colored. You can also slice the bananas frozen for a summer treat.
Okay, on to a VERY delicious banana muffin!!


Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (I used 3 bananas)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
(semisweet chocolate chunks are yummy too)

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

Patchwork Card

I heard from Kerry that she rec'd this card so now I can post. This was a card I made for a patchwork challenge on a group I belong to. It was alot of fun to make. The squares were cut 1 1/4". If you have a punch that size that would make it even quicker. I didn't, but that's ok, because now I can make several more cards like this with the strips I already have cut. Ü Supplies-All Stampin' Up!:
Stamps: Seeing Spots
Ink: Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp (I stamped off once and it matched the paper pretty good. I don't have any of the new In Color ink pads)
Cardstock/paper: Basic Black, white, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Cutie Pie patterned paper
Other: sanding block, scallop circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, brad

Sneak Peek Time!

WOOHOO!!!! Today starts the Storage Units Ink & More Sneak Peek Week for August's new stamp set releases! Today Leigh and I will be sharing the first of the peeks. This card uses the new exclusive stamp set Bear With Me. I am having so much fun making my own background paper using these clear stamps. You can see exactly where you are stamping and it is so easy to do. That is what I did for the panel with all the little teddies. I used Core'dinations cardstock from three different sets: Blue Moss and Arctic Pool from Turquoise Waves, Vanilla Cream from Creams and French Roast from Coffee Cafe. The bears were stamped with Basic Black and colored with Gamsol and colored pencils.

Nesting Chick

Another card I made using Inky Antic images for the Summer CHA in Chicago.

What's Cookin' chick?

Card I made using Inky Antic stamps for CHA in Chicago.

Birthday Wishes

I loved the layout of the card I did when I did the SCS Featured Stamper of Stephanie Hargis (you can see it here). It is a great way to use up scraps of patterned paper and to make several cards at once.

I have a box with cardstock scraps that is organized by color in gallon ziplock bags. All of the pieces are smaller than 1/4 sheets.

I have a shoe box that has 1/4 sheets of cs that are arranged by color. I was able to make 5 cards very quickly with this layout and organization tool.

I pulled a partial sheet of patterned paper from my scrap box-patterned paper scraps are kept in a pizza box (25 cents for Pizza Hut boxes)-matched the blue in the pp with the 1/4 sheets I had already cut and went thru my ribbon, found some to match as well as some paper flowers for accent.

I needed to make birthday cards, so grabbed a SU! set with a birthday sentiment and went to work. By doing this assembly line fashion, in less than 1 hour I had 5 cards completely done.

Put Me In, Coach!

This is the last of the 3 cards that went to CHA. This card was made with the Put Me In, Coach set from Storage Units, Ink & More.
There was some masking done to make it look like the boy was in front of the bench.
The "grass" is made with the bat. I just inked the center part of the bat and then stamped over and over (reinking each time) at slighty different angles till I got it as full looking as I wanted. To me the boy looks like he has a wistful look on his face, and he is trying hard to keep smiling as he is waiting for the Coach to put him in the game and the grass is growing all around him. (this could be me-if it were a girl-cuz the coach wouldn't have wanted to put me in esp if it was a close game LOL!!)
To make the sky, I tore a piece of computer paper in a cloud shape and then sponged lightly blue over and over to give the look of clouds. After doing the grass there was just too much white.

Frog Eye Salad

I love frog eye salad and when I was playing with the Leap Frog set from Storage Units, Ink & More, I thought how fun it would be to make a recipe card for the salad. How fun would this be to pull this kind of card out of your recipe box than just a piece of paper or an index card! Click on the image to see a larger view of it if you want the recipe. If you still can't read it, let me know.