follow your heart sign

I am so excited to share my first project for the Artz de Scrap blog! The challenge this month is to create something wearable or ornamental with beads. I had this idea for this sign as soon as I picked up the papers, and the beads I was sent were a perfect match. There is still time to enter your creations! Here are the fabulous projects that the DT members created. Check back soon for next month's challenge. :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

a few cards to share

Good morning! It's so hard to believe that January is almost gone. This month seems to have flown by.

I have been busy scrapping and have a few cards to share with you. (I seem to be on a card kick lately.)

"You warm my heart" was created with more Ally Scraps goodies. I could create forever with that box of stuff I was sent!

"I {heart} you" is based off a sketch from a new card sketch site, Card Patterns. I am interested in seeing more of these sketches.

"Welcome Baby" is for this weeks sketch on Di Hickman's blog, and "be yourself" is from last weeks sketch over there.

That's it for today. I still have several things to share, and will do so over the next week.
Take care!

Unity Stamp Company cards

I have some cards to share that I created using a beautiful stamp from Unity Stamp Company. As part of the Store More Stamps team, we are generously sent stamps from companies each month to create with, and last month we were lucky enough to have Unity sponsor us. One of the stamps I was sent was the "Blossom" stamp and the first thing I thought of was to make some cards that could hold a packet of seeds to send to a friend and that's just what I did. :) I am a big fan of Winter, but these cards make me look forward to spring and planting.

Be sure to check out their site. These stamps are very nice and there is a stamp for everyone and every occasion. I highly recommend them!

I hope your Sunday is off to a good start!

more Ally Scraps goodness!

I just cannot put these papers down! I have some more cards and another frame to share that I created with the big ole box of goodies I was sent for my gig at Ally Scraps this month.

I made the " you are the cat's meow" frame for Skye. She loves cats and is always wanting me to make things for her, so this was created with her in mind.

I made the gift card holders for my parents... literally Sunday morning right before I gave it to them (that's why you can still see the glue under the twine). It's not that I wanted to wait until the last minute as much as inspiration struck at the very last minute. They loved them and that's all that matters, right?

I am back to work tomorrow... I have been off for the last 6 days and I must say that it has been nice. I felt so productive.

That's it for now. I'll be back with some cards tomorrow. :)

be mine

I have several projects to share that I created using the yummy products I received as a guest designer for Ally Scraps this month. I just cannot stop creating with these awesome papers!

I made a fun little banner to hang in our living room. I have never decorated for Valentine's day, but there is always a first time for everything. It took some time to make, but I like how it turned out.
I also made a layout that the super talented Debbie turned into an awesome sketch! She rocks the sketches for sure!

Here is also a card using this weeks card sketch (Jan. 14) from Di Hickman. It's been awhile since I have created cards with any of her sketches, but now that the holidays are over things have settled down.

I do have a few more projects to share, but I think I will save them for next time so I will have something scrappy to post with. :)

Oh! I am so happy about this! I got something picked up for the June/July 2009 issue of Simply Handmade! It's been a long time since I have submitted and I sat down last week and did so and it paid off.

My parents are coming over today and will stay until Tuesday morning. We are finally getting together to celebrate Christmas. I am looking forward to the weekend. I haven't seen them since Summer and even then it was just for a few hours.

Have a great weekend!

Another teenager is in the world!

Today my sweet Skylar turned into a teenager. She is still so much a little girl in personality, but in years she is now 13. It sure seems that I blinked and here she is today. I love this girl fiercely, but she has been a handful at times. She is a bit immature, and is obsessed with Spongebob... but her laugh is true and her innocence is real and everything she does comes straight from her heart.
She is going to have a few friends over tonight to celebrate which should be fun (and loud! Ha!)

I love you sweet girl! :)
momma

my "new" stamp storage

Today I am going to share my finished 'Store More Stamps' system by Little Monkeys. If one of your goals is to get organized this year, then this is the system for you! It's called the 'store more stamps and it lives up to it's name! I have 12 sheets full of stamps in this baby and there is still plenty of room for more. I have to admit that I was skeptical about how much these would really hold, and I was pleasantly surprised to be able to fit at least 3/4 of my acrylic stamps onto the 12 cards. Add the fact that it has a slim design which makes it a space saver as well. I think what I like the most is that it's meant to be personalized however you see fit.
I used some gorgeous Fancy Pants Designs papers, which is one of my favorite MF's ever! I love the red/blue combo and wanted to make it a "fresh" shabby, so I added a butterfly that I covered with some sheet music and then spritzed some pink Glimmer Mist on. I used a bit of tulle behind it and used some pearl beads on the body. It's so pretty! My girls really wanted to use it for something else and they all kept asking if I was really making it for myself. :)

I am still working on several projects. Creating makes me feel alive and renewed. I am blessed to have this release and am able to share it with others who feel the same.

been busy creating for Ally Scraps!

I am honored to be one of the Guest Designers for Ally Scraps this month and I have been on a creative roll! So far with what I was sent I have created a 2-page layout (I can't even recall the last time I have created one of these), a card and a project. I have another layout and two more projects in the works and will probably do some more cards or something. As long as the mojo is there I am going to play! You really should check out the store and site. Shipping is a low flat-rate and the selection is great. The girls on the boards are great, too! Come on over, we'd love to have you! There is also a DT call out right now. Years ago I was on the original team and I loved it. I am really happy to be back on the boards, it's a great group of girls.

I haven't been working as much which has been good for me, but it's not going to be good for the paycheck. That's OK though, there isn't anything I need to buy... at least that's what I am going to keep telling myself. lol. I do plan to get more picture frames, but that's pretty much it. I have had great self-control and am really going to try to dig into my stash more.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday and if you are in the snow... stay warm and safe!

A snow day

Well today the kids were due to go back to school, but that didn't happen. Pretty much most of Eastern WA schools closed for the day due to the latest round of snow. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but since a sidewalk is something that can't be found (the snow burms are really tall and thick and icy... it's not easy trying to dig through that), and there are still roads that are nothing by a thick sheet of ice, it was recommended by the county Sheriff that schools close today. They may get another snow day tomorrow, but we'll know that later tonight. I don't mind though, it's nice to have an extra day with them. I know, I am probably one of the few parents who are saying that, but I really enjoy the down time with them (maybe it's laziness? heehee). It's so much easier than making sure homework is done, lunches are made, and that they are up and out the door on time.

I have spent much of the day just catching up on odds and ends around here in between scrapping a bit. I created these two layouts last week and the fun little mitten today. I want to thank Deb, the owner of Say It With Letters, for sending me this cute wooden mitten to play with. :) I love her stuff and if you want to check it out for yourself, here's a link to her Etsy store.

I think my washer is trying to tell me something... I have been having several problems with her lately. First a spring, now she's spewing water on the floor at various times. I walked into a nice puddle of water covering the laundry room floor this afternoon... ironically the load prior to the one that leaked happened to be a load of towels. Freshly washed, dry towels that were taken straight from the dryer and used to mop up her mess and then put right back into her to wash yet again. I hope this go round is much more successful. I would really like to use these towels for other things and not spend all day doing laundry. I can live with a bit of water on the floor for a bit longer, I just hope she can. I don't want to get a new washer just yet... you know how those things tend to work, once you replace one thing, something else seems to go and then you have to replace that. I don't want to get into that right now.

Anyway, I am off to take Kara to work and run some errands. I hope your week is off to a great start! :)

Happy New Year!!!

2009 is here and so far so good. :) Minimum wage went up today so I got a .37 cent an hour raise as of today. Yahoo! lol I work 9.5 hours today and it's all time and a half so that little bump in pay will add a few bucks to the good ole paycheck. Not to mention Kara and I are going to be working together all day, that will help make the long day more bearable. It's her last official day as a cashier, they have decided to keep her as a regular employee (she was hired on for seasonal help originally) and she is getting moved to the floor.
It's snowing again, always something that makes my heart happy. We could see close to a foot of new snow today and I love that I can look out the big windows at work and watch is coming down. It's so quiet and peaceful, even though it's going to be a rough drive home from work.
And another fun thing to start out this new year is that I have been selected to be on the Artz de Scrap design team! It's going to be fun and I am honored to be working with such amazingly talented ladies! I am eager to start on my first project which I hope to get in the mail shortly.

Well I leave you with an ornament I created for an ornament swap I participated in through the Say It With Letters site. I forgot to post it way back when. It was so fun to get some ornaments in the mail from all over the country. Some were whimsical and fun, others were vintage and oh-so-pretty. I love them all and look forward to pulling them out year after year. :)