Friday, May 22, 2009

TECC69 hi


Good morning! I am sorry to be a little late but my husband shut the alarm off thinking that he was being nice when I actually had to be at school AND get my post finished! Yikes! School ended yesterday but teachers have to be there today to close up our classrooms and turn in paper work! That means I have to keep this short! Sorry!

Well, that's it for me. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to get the sketch details. You will also not want to miss this week's sampler who just happens to be Jessica Diedrich!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

Monday, May 18, 2009

Check This Out!


Our baseball boys are Colorado 2A state champions! :D You can see a couple more pictures on my other blog but I wanted to share it here too! Channel 11 news covered the game as well. I would post the video in this post but I can't figure out how so if you want to see it, click here!

Sorry for nothing crafty but as you can tell by the picture, we have been REALLY busy! :D

Friday, May 15, 2009

TECC68 Isaiah 61:3


I'm back! Sorry that took me so long! We had a really great discussion at our book club and then once I got home I had to hang my laundry on the line! :) Anyway, here is my post for today's Taylored Expressions cupcake challenge.

Have I mentioned that I absolutely love this verse? Haha! I am pretty sure I have but I just wanted to remind you! :D Anyway, you can find this stamp at the Verve store for only $3! It's such a deal for as beautiful as it is! I wanted to focus on it for this week's sketch so I had it be the main image with the butterfly pointing toward it. I used some more My Mind's Eye paper and paired it with some ribbon that I had as well as my crystal rhinestones. I love the soft look that this card has. The colors are perfect for a sympathy card. The sparkle is pretty but subtle too. I used some iridescent ice embossing powder on the verse as well as the butterfly. The butterfly was cut and embossed with my Spellbinder's die and then sponge stenciled with some chocolate ink. I also sponged the edges of every layer with ink as well!

Ok, before you go check out Taylor's blog for the sketch!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper





Late again! :(

So my card for today's Cupcake Challenge is finished but of course I have no way of taking a picture of it yet. I am off to my book club and then I will take a picture and post it on here! Stick with me because it is (in my humble opinion) a gorgeous card! :D

Thursday, May 14, 2009

A New Blog

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I have started a new blog where I will post about the every day occurrences in my life. I want to try to keep this blog almost all stamping related. I will still post some about other areas, but most of it will take place on my second blog. I have called it 320 Days of Sunshine since Westcliffe gets an average of 320 days of sunshine a year! :D If you would like to check it out, feel free!

What a LONG week!

I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am that it is FINALLY the weekend (for me anyway)! This has been one of the longest weeks of my life and I know that next week will be even worse! We have had something going on every night after school this week and I am ready for a break! With school coming to a close we have had tons of award ceremonies, concerts, and youth stuff that we have had to do. That is outside of school too! During school I have had tons of field trips and activities taking place that have really wore me out! On Tuesday we took a walking field trip to the Supermarket. On Tuesday we had took a field trip to the Zoo (which was a nightmare). And today we had our annual Field Day! I forgot how exhausting it is to be in the sun all day long! Let's just say that due to my busy schedule I have had absolutely no time to stamp OR work in my yard! It's the pits! :)

Anyway, I still don't have anything crafty to share but I did want to share these pictures with you. My brother found a fox pup under a building near one of the mines in our town and caught him. We decided to snap some pictures while he had him but he didn't want to wait too long before he took it to it's mother just in case the mother would take off and leave her pup behind.
Isn't it so cute? It was obviously getting hot being in my brother's arms so it started to pant. It was also chewing on his finger just like a puppy would! It was so sweet!

Before I go, I wanted to share the majestic lion again! I know I shared him with you last year but he is absolutely stunning! He reminds me so much of God's amazing power. If you have ever read the Chronicles of Narnia or seen the movies then you know just what I mean! There is a reason why they call him the king of the beasts! :) God knew exactly what He was doing when he created this magnificent creature!
Just look at him! How can you not be moved?

Anyway, that's today's post! I promise to have a card for tomorrow! Stay tuned until then!

Monday, May 11, 2009

My OTHER Hobby! :)

This year Nick and I have been feeling very ambitious about growing our own plants. We thought we would give it a try and we were amazed at how great it felt to see our hard work pay off! Anyway, I say this because we are so excited to start a full garden this summer and even though it might not turn out as we hope, we will at least be able to say we attempted it! Haha!

As of right now, our yard is a disaster. I am not kidding. It's gross. I can't even stand to look at it sometimes and that's AFTER I have spent a lot of time cleaning it up! We don't own the house we are currently in so we have had a landlord (well his granddaughter actually) do most of the yard work. Now she lives an hour away so you can imagine how much things get done. Last year I think the grass got mowed three times...seriously. So this year we have asked the landlord if he would be willing to let us do most of it and he agreed, gratefully. He even said "do whatever you feel will make the yard look better". He even told us that he would be willing to pay for the materials! Sa-weet! :D

Anyway, there is some hope for us because we are seeing things like this.

And we are growing things like these.Now imagine 12 big windowsills lined up just like that all over our house and you can get a picture of what we are dealing with! :)

Here is where our garden is going. It used to be the landlord's wood pile (it's a mess now). We plan on cleaning it up this week so that we can get a good start on our raised beds. We hope to have one flower bed and one vegetable bed. We hope that they will do well but, like I said, we haven't quite developed our green thumbs yet! We are still working on it!

Well, that being said, it will be interesting to see how our yard looks at the end of the summer. I do know that something as simple as mulch can make a yard look a lot better so I am going to start there (after I pull the weeds and till the dirt beneath the plants). If you want, I can keep you updated! :)

Until later, have a great night!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Hey there, Sunshine!


I had to share this bright and cheery card with you today! I didn't think I liked it at first but now that I look at it, I think it has a fun feel to it. I used the Viva la Verve challenge with a twist of inspiration for this card. I was inspired by my blongo ball box that was sitting out just waiting to be opened so I pulled out some Cosmo Cricket Snorkel dp. I then paired it with my Verve Plain Jane stamp. The dragonfly brad is one that I received from Jen Tapler over a year ago when I took part in her Alzheimer's challenges. Overall this card is really simple so I don't think I need to go into any more detail! :) If you do have a question though, let me know!

Today was very relaxing for Nick and I. We went to church and really enjoyed today's sermon. We came home, made lunch, and then took a nap in the hammock. We then transplanted some seedlings that we have been growing in our windowsills. After we had finished with that (it took quite awhile), I did some reading up on how to start a raised garden. Nick and I have had permission from our landlord to start up a couple of raised gardens and we are super stoked about it! There is an area behind our house that is filled with dead, rotting wood (where a previous wood pile had been sitting for years) and we are going to clean it up and place our garden there since the grass is already dead! :D I couldn't be more thrilled and I know Nick is as well! My friend Toni is even super excited about it and can't wait to come help! In fact, she said "As soon as you start, let me know because I really want to help you!" Woohoo, free and willing help doesn't always come easy!

I thought you might want to see what Blongo Ball is. Here is a picture of us playing it back in March!
Ok, that's it for today's post. I will share some pictures of our seedlings as well as the area where we plan on putting our gardens with you tomorrow! I am super excited about them (if you couldn't tell) and hope you don't mind if I share my other hobby with you!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Baby Shower!

Good morning! As promised, here are pictures from Leanne's baby shower. We had such a blast yesterday but I admit that I am relieved to have it over with. I was definitely stressing about it. Sadly, I didn't take pictures DURING the shower, just before. If you would like details about any of the projects, let me know! The designer paper used for almost all of the projects is from a paper pack called "Nana's Nursery". It's adorable!

The cute and simple invitations I created.

The decorated table. The pinata is actually an inside joke among us teachers. :)

A detail shot of the diaper cake. Susan Liles is the genius behind this! You can find her amazing tutorial here.

A detail shot of the onesie boquet. This fabulous idea came from Lauren Meader. You can find her directions here.

A detail shot of the favors. I used the pillow box die to create them.

A detail shot of the rubber ducky centerpiece.

Well, that's it for today! I will have another card to share tomorrow. Have a fantastic morning!

Friday, May 8, 2009

I Can't Believe It!


Sorry for taking so long with my Cupcake Challenge card but I couldn't find my mojo. I was needing some inspiration and after hours of looking, I finally found it! I saw Dawn's Raspberry Suite color challenge and thought it matched the pinks in my Raspberry Tart paper perfectly! After adding some Basic Gray and Whisper White card stock and I had the right colors!

So guess what...this is an SU! only card! Can you believe it? I sat myself down and decided that I was going to make a card using only Stampin' Up! products no matter what! I am so proud of myself for succeeding! :D I used my Central Park stamp set and stamped the image in Basic Gray, Cameo Coral, and Regal Rose. I used a rub-on from the Chit Chat pack and added some white detail to the scallops with my gel pen. To finish up the card I added some taffeta ribbon, silver brads, and a silver clip.

Now, do you want to hear some fabulous news??? I AM GOING TO THE CHA CRAFT SUPERSHOW! :D I am so thrilled! Nick and I just happen to be going on vacation to Orlando that week and CHA is IN Orlando this summer! Woohoo! I couldn't believe it! I asked Nick what he thought about it and he said "Sure, we can go!" Anyway, I wanted to share my news with you because I have always wanted to go but it's been too far away. If any of you are going, let me know and we can meet up!

Ok, before you go check out Taylor's blog for the sketch!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

I forgot!

I have spent the last couple of days preparing for Leanne's baby shower and I completely forgot about today's Cupcake Challenge! I am off to make my card right now and I will post it as soon as I am finished!

P.S. The baby shower was this morning and it went great! I will share pictures with you soon!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, we got back from our trip EARLY Sunday morning and now have Nick's parents staying with us so of course I won't get much stamping time in this week either. I feel like I have been neglecting all of you and I apologize for that. After this weekend things SHOULD get a little better! We only have 3 weeks of school left and then I have the entire summer to get creative! Yippee! Anyway, I must keep this short so that I don't feel like I am ignoring my in-laws. :) I used some more yummy Unity and My Mind's Eye on this one. I hope you enjoy your evening! Take care!

Friday, May 1, 2009

TECC66 Sweet Thing


So it's just a little obvious that I have been on a Unity kick lately, huh? Well I must say that I was feeling bad for neglecting them so much and now that I am back to using them, I can't get enough! Haha! I actually have been participating in the Unity Celebration challenges over on the Unity blog and Splitcoast. I just love the girls over there! They are so sweet and friendly. Anyway, one of the challenges was to pull out your very first Unity set and so of course I pulled out my Giggle Grove set because this set is what got me interested in Unity in the first place! I love the whimsical images that are in this set. They are just adorable!

Well as you all know, today is Friday which means it's time for another Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge! Yippee! Again, no cupcake, but an adorable card none the less! This week's sketch is such a fun one. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you would like! For my card I went with a more simpler feel. I wanted to focus on the tree. I used some more My Mind's Eye paper that I picked up last weekend and paper pieced the tree. I also heat embossed it with my clear embossing powder and popped it up on dimensionals. After adding the ribbon I then added my three buttons and embossed "Sweet Thing" in the bottom corner. The sentiment is actually from the Cupcakes A 'La Yummy set.

I hope you enjoyed today's post! Sorry for not posting yesterday but it was one long day. Remember I told you we were going on a field trip? Well we did, and it was fun, but it ended up giving me one of the worst migraines I have ever experienced (and I get them a lot). After getting back and already being exhausted, I still had to go to a meeting. Following my meeting we then went to the highschool play (which they did a phenomenal job on) and my migraine only continued to worsen. Let's just say, as soon as I got home (9:00), I went straight to bed and didn't even think about my blog. It's still lingering a little today but I am feeling a ton better which is good because we are leaving for our trip in about 3 hours!

Well, that's it for me. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to get the sketch details. You will also not want to miss this week's sampler who just happens to be Jenn Biederman!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper