Totally TURTLES

Okay so I got the new fabric that Stampin' Up! carries now and I asked some friends that sew what they thought about the material. They said it was very nice quality fabric. Good. (I wouldn't know because I don't sew or make quilts or do any of that stuff). Well the fabric comes with a booklet with ideas for projects to make with the fabric. A Christmas Stocking is one idea. I was thinking about making a pillow until my friend came over today and showed me a very cute Alabama purse she made with Houndstooth.  She said it was super easy to make. So I went to YouTube and found Chic-n-scratch videos about the Savannah Purse. There are four of them. I watched them and figured I could make one with the Candy Cane Christmas design. Lookie at what I did tonight all by myself. LOL. I'm so proud of it. I did make the liner a bit too small. I really didn't measure anything. I like to eyeball it. LOL. Okay here's how I got the butterflies on there. Soooo easy. I f...

Yep, Amanda lost her tooth finally. It's only been loose for a couple months now. Here's my pretty girl with the missing tooth. Gosh! Doesn't she look older already?! Steve's mom would always say, "I'm going to put a brick on your head."  If only it was that easy to stop them from growing up. The cute thing is that she wrote a note to the toothfairy and told me she does believe in the toothfairy. I love my little girl. I hope she stays this sweet and innocent for a long time. I don't have this stamp yet but it would be so cool to leave a little card from the toothfairy for my girl. I haven't found any cards made with it yet. If I do I'll post them. I bet people that stamp all the time for their kids are afraid to buy this and make things with it because then the kids will know mommy really is the... Well I'm getting way tired and I'm going to go to bed and get my two girls in bed. I have a Girl Scout Troop coming over tomorrow m...

So I've been doing these cute little boxes at my workshops lately and today I showed some Realtors how easy it is to make a unique gift to give out to clients. The Neighborhood Wheel is perfect for this. Sell a home? Buy a home? This wheel has homes. LOL. So we made a cute box. Lookie: I love the red ribbon matching the heart and the Tempting Turquoise button matching the saying. I love the new clear Bitty Buttons. You can put any color cardstock or DSP behind it and it will be exactly what you want. I've also been working on my Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill painting that I'll be donating to a fundraiser in October for Cancer. When I get all the details about it I'll let you know. Here's a partial view of the painting. I really enjoy doing these Ice Cube paintings. The only problem I have is that I need to lay the canvas flat and let the paint and ice melt and drip off. So I can't really do them inside the house. It's been raining everyday for over a wee...

Okay so I'm glad that I can be creative but today I just couldn't stop. I was looking up ideas for tiles but found a website with a really cute idea so I had to make my own. Here's the website:  Click Here Here's what I made. I used the Love Letters DSP and the Newsprint DSP. I also used rhinestone brads, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, RHR cardstock and basic black cardstock. The base is a canvas I had lying around. Doesn't this look so cool? Oh! I almost forgot! I used the new buttons from the Holiday Mini Catalog. Totally makes the project just perfect. Okay I'm getting tired so I'm going to go finish up laundry and dishes and head to bed.

Well I love the Just Believe stamp set and I seem to use it every chance I get. Here's a card I did for a friend that's moving out of the neighborhood. Stamp set is Just Believe and an incentive stamp, butterflies are die cut and embossed using Crumb Cake Cardstock, Colors are Basic Black, More Mustard, Whisper White and Crumb Cake I heat embossed the image and the sentiment plus I used our stick on diamonds. I think it's very pretty. So are you curious about the frame? Do you want to see it? Okay here's the finished product but I have to tell you that I was very upset with my dog because after I had stained it and Smooch Spritz it I had to varnish it. Well it was still wet and the dog came into my office and his tail was just at the right height to hit the frame and he messed up a section of it. I tried to fix it but it just was getting worse. So I had to redo the whole frame. I'm happy with how it turned out but I was very upset that my dog made me work harder...

A few days ago I was playing around with my color coach and I found an interesting color combination.  Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze and Basic Gray. I wanted to use the stamp set Just Believe with these colors so here's what I came up with. I added the pearl accent too. I love how it turned out. The bow took a couple times to tie but I  think it's perfect! If you know me I'm not a person that strives for perfection. Usually it's, "good enough." This time I decided to try, try again. This satin ribbon is beautiful! Too bad the gray will be retiring at the end of this month. So will the Chocolate Chip and the Bashful Blue. I'm also playing around with the new frame I bought from Stampin' Up! It's just plain white but I'm going to paint it using our craft ink or the distressing tool kit. Then I'm going to use Smooch Spritz to add some shimmer. I can't wait! But I have to wait because the thick texture paint on there needs to dry over night. ...

Here's a cute insert I made for my Simply Adorned Charm. Front                                                                                     Back I used the new set from the Holiday Mini that has a cute witch and dracula. It comes with a pumpkin, cat and other images. I also used the new black ribbon. It's so soft and delicate. Colors I used are Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie. My girls went back to school this week. The house seems more quiet and clean. LOL. Here they are in the morning. They sort of look like twins. LOL. I get asked that a...

Well nothing bad happened and Friday the 13th is almost over. (knock on wood). The girls did meet their teachers today. I had so much fun seeing all my girl scouts at the school today. There's no better feeling then to have someone else's kid run up to you and hug you. I'm not someone they have to love but it's awesome that they do! My teachers are so wonderful! Ms. Gordon had very special treat bags for the kids that had a note about what each item meant. A penny to show you are valuable. A Hersey's Hug to let them know they can come to her for a hug anytime. I was impressed. Ms. Tuvesen was very nice too. I was busy filling out forms and did not get to spend as much time with her but I did sign up to be a room mom. I don't want to be the head room mom but I would love to help out. So today I made some cards for the teachers. Take a look. Jessica colored in her bear. I did on Amanda's. It's new buttons from the Holiday Mini and also the accessori...

Lookie what I made! Front Back I really like how it turned out. So simple to make too. Just use the card that's inside it to cut cardstock and then design away. I'm going to make a Halloween one too. Here's a card that Becky submitted for the Back To School Challenge. Front Inside It's a book mark that can be torn out and used all year. Cool idea Becky! Well it's back to organizing for me. I've been doing laundry and other fun house work but now I must actually do some organization in my craft room. Til tomorrow!

I was sure someone would want to see what's in the box. LOL. Leave me a comment and I'll show you some of the goodies I got. I've even made an insert for my Simply Adorned jewelry. Come on! Leave a quick note for me so I know someone is actually reading my blog. LOL. Thanks!

Lookie! My new Holiday Mini Stuff is here. :) I will show you a few things from the box if you are really nice and post some comments. LOL. I want to share with you about my day yesterday. It's a good story I think. Yesterday I played volleyball with my husband and his co-workers. I really was just going to watch but somehow ended up playing. I have to say that it brought back memories from Junior High. Not pleasant memories. In P.E. when we would pick teams I was always the last one to get picked. My strategy then was to run away from the ball and keep out of the way so the good players could hit the ball. My performance today was not much better. Of course I'm not an insecure teenager now and I can laugh at myself when I screw up, but I still feel bad when I lose a point for my team. At one point the ball came towards me while I was fixing the clip in my hair. Totally missed hitting the ball. Everyone had a good laugh about me fixing my hair. I don't think I have tha...

Okay, today I've been busy making thank you cards. Now I know I have some simple cards I can use but these cards are for very special people. One is my UPS man. I have wanted to give him a thank you card for a long time. In fact it's probably been almost a year since he went above and beyond what I would think is his job. I had a Stampin' Up! shipment coming on a Friday and it had things I needed for a class that night. Usually my UPS guy comes around 5:30pm or 6pm. So when he came by on a Wednesday with a delivery I asked him about the shipment on Friday and if there was anyway to get it a little earlier. He said he would keep an eye out for it and took a label off of my current box so he'd know what to look for. I never expected much. Just hoped it would get their a little earlier. So to my surprise at 10am the doorbell rings and it's the UPS guy with my package. I was so excited! He made my day. Plus I was able to prep for my class without stress. THANK YOU UPS...

Okay, I realize that not all of you are demonstrators that visit my blog but I truly think this is a must watch video. Actually it's videos. So if you have some time check out Kimberly Van Diepen's website where she tells you about how she runs her Stampin' Up! Business. By the way, she is the #1 Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the United States. AWESOME! She's very fun and cute and her videos are entertaining. Especially when a bug makes a cameo. LOL.  Blog: http://stampinbythesea.com/ So if after watching this video (or videos) you would like to know more about becoming a demonstrator or if you are part of the Stampin' Up! family already and would like to take your business to the next level, contact me and we'll help each other out. I love this business because it lets me be creative and do what I love. I'm able to share this with friends and I think most people really enjoy the time they spend crafting. I've never heard anyone say, "That wa...

Our new turtle friend didn't make it. I checked on him hourly and at one point he seemed to be doing slightly better. (Meaning he moved a little more when I held him). But when I checked him before going to bed he didn't respond at all and all his legs were limp. I had my husband dig a hole under our oak tree in the back yard. That's our pet cemetery. Bob the fish that I had for 10 years is buried there. So is our guinea pig Snowflake. All the baby turtles that didn't make it are there too.   I decided to make a sympathy card in honor of the turtle. I didn't even have time to give him a name. I used Lovely as a Tree since there's an  oak in it. I think I would have liked this better with the ribbon tied to the side more and the oval over lapping the circle but I cut the ribbon too short. On a happy note my baby turtles are doing well. Even one eye Jack has two eyes and is eating some worm as I type. All the babies are growing bigger and doing well. ...

Today I was on my way to the doctor's office when I saw a turtle in the middle of the road. So I turned my car around and went back to move him to the side of the road. Only problem was he was injured and barely responding to my touch. I couldn't just leave him on the side of the road so I decided to bring him home. I have him soaking in some water but it's pretty bad. His shell looks okay for the most part but his face is really torn up. Please pray that he makes a recover or goes quickly, whichever the Lord decides. Here's a picture of him. He seems rather young to me. Maybe 7-10 years old. It's hard to say really but I have a male that's bigger than him so I'm sure this one wasn't fully grown yet. I'll keep you posted.

Okay I promised to post the step by step today so here it is. Seriously, very easy to achieve this effect. Even my husband was asking me how I did it so I know it impresses people. You will need: Ink Pad, Brayer, Embossing folder, Big Shot, paper. To begin you'll get your brayer inked up. Then you'll pick the side of the embossing folder that has a raised up negative image. Ink it completely re inking brayer if you have to. Place the cardstock on top of the ink making sure not to move it around and smear it. Place the embossing folder on top of the platform and cutting pad using Tab 1, and place another cutting pad on top of the folder. Run it through the Big Shot. When it comes out unfold the folder and see your paper. Cool! The white areas are raised and the inked part is embossed. People will be asking you, "How did you do this???" I cut the paper to fit onto a card. Here's what I came up with. Hope you liked it!

Okay I just had to share this card with everyone. I'm very proud of it. It took me forever to figure out how to do some of the shapes but I finally did it. This card was for my friend's husband who turned 40 today. He is a serious cyclist. Every weekend he does 60-120 miles on his bike. I'm lucky if I ride my bike around the loop. I remembered seeing a punch art of a cyclist on a blog and since I don't have a stamp of a bike or anything close to it I decided to do punch art. I found the website (click here if you want to see it) with the image and did my best to copy it. I changed the colors to make it personal. Everyone was impressed by the card. I have to say that I rather make that card than ride 60 miles on a bike but I think I'll just look at the picture if I ever want to see it again. LOL. Here's the card: I will not go into details but if you want to know how I did it let me know and I'll try to talk you through it. LOL. Here's another swap ...