April showers bring May flowers

Happy Friday Eve everyone!!!  We have an appointment to see the doctor for little man's check-up.  I can't believe he is almost 15 months old.  Really?  Where does the time go?  It makes me so sad knowing he is my last little guy and growing up so fast.  He is walking all over the place now.  He loves walking and doesn't want any help.We locked ourselves out of the house my middle man locked us out of the house yesterday so while waiting almost 20 minutes for a nice gentleman to come unlock the door for us, little man had to walk around the front yard.  To help him from falling I tried to hold his hand but he wouldn't have it.  He was walking up the slanted driveway, on the grass, around the corner, everywhere.  I was so proud and so sad at the same time.  Proud of him and his growth but sad for me and losing my baby.Well, on to my project.  I saw this tutorial on Michael's facebook page and knew I wanted to make some.  After finding some old photos I need to scrapbook I tried to do that but nothing was coming to me so I decided to make the flowers to help the creative juices.I first made the big one with 8X8 PP I won, I think it is Cosmo Cricket Christmas paper.  I used the same pattern just different colors. 

After sitting for a while wondering what I was going to do now.  I decided to take some of my boy's construction paper and cut it smaller, 6X6 this time.  In the center of both flowers is a vintage button I bought a long time ago at Michael's. 

I do have an idea now to actually make the "floral paper ball" with the smaller blue flower.  Mostly those decorations are used for weddings but since I don't know anyone who is getting married I did know what to do with my flowers.  I am excited to try it out but it will take a while  :)

The big 8X8 is not perfect but that is what I expecting with it being the first try.  Also with the bigger flower you may have noticed that it takes 5 sheets to make one flower.  They are put together with hot glue.  The video makes it seem a bit difficult but it really isn't after you really pay attention and get the idea.  The second flower probably took half the time the first one did. 

I also wanted to share this picture with you.  I took this after we were done looking at houses for our friends who are moving up here soon.  We couldn't be more excited to have them close again.  The only reason why I HAD to take this picture is because of what is say.  For some it may not make sense at first but it says, "Home of Wall Drug" and on the other side it says "Wall".  There is a city in South Dakota called Wall.  It does have a place called Wall Drug.  In fact, there are signs all over the place guiding you to Wall Drug.  It is a cool place for kids and we are going this summer when the giant dinosaur will be able to be played on.  Most of the advertisements for Wall Drug say "Where the heck is Wall Drug", it is out in the middle of nowhere.

BUT, this water tower is not located in Wall, SD.  It is on the side of a road in Box Elder, SD.  Box Elder is another small town just outside of the Air Force Base here.

Well, I gotta run so I can be ready to take little man to his check up.  I know he is going to need shots but I am not sure if he it is too soon after his last set.  I hope he doesn't get them today but then again it would be nice to get them over and done with.

Have a great Thursday!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

Happy late Easter!!!

Happy Easter Monday!!!  Has anyone else ever heard of it?  I didn't until this year when I looked at my son's schedule.  He had Good Friday off and today (Easter Monday).  The school district here also considered those two days off as his "spring break".  I don't get it but whatever...I wanted to show you another small thing I did to decorate for Easter.  Hopefully I get busy on this stuff much earlier next year.  I found this idea on another blog I frequent.  I wish I could remember where I saw it.  When I have a bit more time I will do some research and see what I can come up with.This is an easy and quick decorating tip.  One I am sure to add to next year. 

I also added some eggs to my front room window as well.  I just didn't take any pictures of those because I wasn't sure how to take the picture without getting a glare.

Happy Easter Monday!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

  

Groupies

Happy Friday all!!!  Happy Good Friday!!!

I have a very busy day ahead of me.  My oldest started what they call spring break here, basically he has the next 4 days off.  I have quite a few activities that will keep us busy so hopefully there isn't too much fighting going on in my house.

These cards I whipped together so quickly.  They are my first attempt at a single layer card.  Yep, couldn't quite do it.  I had to add the tags but I do like how they turned out.

 

The ink is simply chartreuse from PTI with coordinating DMC floss.

Plum Pudding

Hibiscus

Melon Berry

It is kinda hard to see but I used the flourishes from Silent Night (PTI) and stamped it in Versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Hawaiian Shores (this is actually probably my favorite color from PTI.

Again, flourish from Silent night, heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Here is the whole group of groupies.

I hope to be back later to fully explain everything.  Have a great Good Friday and Easter Sunday if I don't see you again.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

   

Color Cue

It is no secret that I love Wplus9 stamps.  There really isn't anything I don't like about the company.  What I love even more is that they just launched their own line of cutting dies.  I won the first die and I am in need of getting the new one with the coordinating stamp set.

Wplus9 does a Color Cue Challenge.  I have yet to figure out the frequency, I am thinking probably about one a month but I could be wrong.  This is the current color challenge.

 To find out all the info go here.

This is the card I came up with.  All but the paper and ink are Wplus9, those are PTI.  I started with a dark chocolate cardbase and took some Hawaiian Shores cardstock, used pure poppy ink to stamp the background with the Damask Frames stamp set.

The flower/branch image was stamped first with versamark on kraft but I didn't like how little it showed so I restamped it with Tim Holtz distress ink.  That image is from the Woodgrain Silhouettes stamp set.

The sentiment was cut from kraft ink with the first die that Wplus9 released (All Occasions Label).  I stamped it with the coordinating stamp in pure poppy and the sentiment is from the same set stamped in fresh snow (Brothers & Sisters).

For a little more flare I took some "pure poppy" and "Hawaiian shores" DMC floss with some twine and tied it around the Hawaiian shores mat then tied a brown button and called it good. 

That is about it for this one.  Today is my son's Friday.  Apparently here in South Dakota they think a 4 day weekend over Easter is spring break.  We do have a fun activity to go to Friday afternoon for the hubby's work so that should be fun.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

  

Easter banner

*updated with info*

I don't have a lot of time to explain anything at the moment.  I finally have a chance to get to the gym after about 2 and a half weeks.  I never thought I would be a gym kinda person but I have realized that going to the gym has helped me throughout the rest of the day.  And since it has been so long I can see that I need the gym.  The last several days for sure, I have been having a difficult time getting myself up and ready to go in the morning. Here are some pictures and I will be back later with some info.  

After making this banner I realize that I definitely prefer the other style of banner.  There is a lot of things I like about this banner, the haphazard strings from sewing and the uneven banners.  I seem to like the seemingly unfinished banners.  I was going to cut off the edges of the vellum paper and the strings but decided I like it better leaving it as is.

Okay, so the paper is DCWV (boys nursery).  The buttons are a mix of buttons I found in my stash and PTI.  The embellies are prima flowers, egg shaped stamped with PTI polka dots and guide lines, there are a few things from my stash as well.  The letters are from my chipboard collection from creative memories, painted with acrylic paint and sprinkled with embossing powder (the same way I did our welcome sign).  The vellum strip was stamped with PTI pond life stamp that says "Hippity Hop" it was intended for a frog but I thought it worked for the "Easter bunny" as well.  I used 4 different inks, lavender moon, plum pudding, simply chartreuse and summer sunrise.

I think that is basically it  Nothing to extravagant.  In fact, I think I may be working on another one for next year because I am not sure about this one.

 Thanks for stopping by!!!

April 18th...

and this is what I woke up to.  This is a tree in our front yard. 

I wasn't disappointed at all, actually I was quite excited. Here in South Dakota we keep hearing that this is normal and we are "due" for one good blizzard. Every time it snows I wonder if this is it. So far, that isn't the case. It was snowing half the day and raining the other half yesterday. Today there is a bit of snow and wind and keep wondering if it is going to continue towards our blizzard. The weather forecast still calls for snow/rain for the rest of the week so we shall see what happens.

This is my oldest on his way to the bus stop with Daddy.  See, my husband had the day off from work yesterday.  We didn't want to tell my oldest in the morning because then he would want to stay home from school.  Since we had so much trouble with him getting to school since we moved that another excuse for him to not want to go was not an option.

He is so brave and is doing so much better.  He fought me a bit again this morning but he actually smiled when he was walking up the bus steps.  He makes me so proud.

 I am so glad that I was given this spirit, entrusted with his spirit, to teach him and help him grow in the gospel and find his way back to our Heavenly Father. 

He is growing up so fast and it makes me sad.  Yet, next to the bus he looks so small and vulnerable.  I pray that I will be able to help him in his growth both in the world and in the gospel.

This is why my husband had the day off yesterday.  I got to attend what is called HeartLink here on the base.  It was a great time of learning what is available to us as spouses not only on the base but in the community.  What is expected of our husbands and what our role is as the spouse.

This is me getting ready to head up to the cockpit of a B-1B bomber.

Here is a few of the nose.  This particular B-1 was in a hangar being worked on, that is why you see all the tubes and equipment around it.  The big tube hanging from the ceiling is air to keep the equipment cool. 

 

How I have always wanted to have the opportunity to fly in a fighter jet.  This is the closest I have been, even though the bomber is not a fighter jet.  There is 2 seats, the other was to my right.  The room that the pilots have to maneuver in is minuscule.  I don't know how they do it.  I was barely able to get my other leg into the correct position.  But I had a blast seeing where my husband works and what he deals with on a daily basis.

  

This is a different jet.  I didn't realize it was being worked on as well.  But it was outside as we drove by and wanted to get a full shot of the plane.Do not worry, I checked with my husband to make sure I wasn't posting pictures showing anything I shouldn't be showing.  I am grateful to the wonderful people who put this program together for us spouses and help us to feel more like the community and wanting to hear our input.  So many other bases seem to forget about the military family and focus 100% on the military personnel.  It is nice to see that this base actually believes that the spouses, our children and our opinions are important and mean something.I hope your Monday was wonderful. I had hoped to make it to the gym again after 2 weeks but both the hubby and I forgot to switch the car seats back to my car so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!!! 



Happy Sunday!!!

Yesterday we stayed home and did nothing...that only happened because my husband was on-call.  The distance to church and back is too far away for my husband to be at work in the allotted timeframe.  Since we missed him last Saturday with the hubby/daddy and a few others recently I didn't want to take the boys to church and miss more precious time with him.  I was disappointed though, because it has been 3 or so weeks now since we have been.  I need that inspiration and spirit to get me going again.As you are reading this I am off exploring a B-1B.  That is the plane that my husband now works on here in South Dakota.  He is very proud of the fact that he was a part of the support in Libya just a few weeks back.  I am very proud of my husband and what his job means for our family and OUR country. So on to my fun and happy Sunday...

I have been wanting to make homemade bread for a long time.  It is something I want to get into more...making homemade instead of always buying from the store.  After what almost happened to the government I realized we, as a family, seriously need to work harder on being more self-reliant.  That aspect has been on my mind for a while but with a move and trying to get settled into a new home it is very, very slow going.

I learned a few things, like your arms really do get a workout if you do it right.  Also, it is so rewarding knowing that what your family is eating was something you personally made from scratch.  My husband, my oldest son and I all had a sandwich made from one of the loaves of bread.  It was amazing, if I do say so myself.

These are cookies I made.  They are actually called "Chocolate Coconut Cookies"  I got the recipe from my mom.  I am not sure where she got it from.  I meant to ask her several times but still have not.

I like to refer to them as haystack cookies.  It is hard to see but the coconut makes them look like little haystacks.

Well, I think that is about it for me today.  As soon as I get back from my adventure exploring our new home I will post pictures.  I am excited but being away from home for the whole day is a bit scary.  I haven't been away from my boys for that long in a long time.  It is like going back to work for the first time in 7 years.  But I know it is going to be fun and some much needed time away from my everyday life.  Hopefully I will come back with some wonderful inspiration and fun projects to share.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

  

Masks

Happy Friday everyone!!!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend planned.  We are not sure what is going to happen for us this weekend.  We should know by end of the day if we can even start making plans.  I think that is going to be the norm for us while here.

I wanted to share this picture with you and show off my crafty boys.  I had a meeting to attend yesterday morning and since my husband had the day off my 2 little guys stayed home with daddy (big man was at school).  While I was gone my middle man decided to have some crafty fun with my supplies.  One of the things he got a hold of was my stickles.  I have forgotten about them so I guess it wasn't a big deal (at least they were getting used.)  Unfortunately during his craft time he got stickles on the floor or kitchen cabinet.

Later in the afternoon my husband decided to put some locks on the kitchen cabinets since little man has been throwing things around.  Needless to say some of the glittery stickles got on my husbands drill cord and the cool thing, it is my favorite color.

What you don't see in this picture is that after it was taken my middle man grew tired of holding the drill and dropped it.  The drill bit, that was still in the drill, landed first and broke.  Now I owe the hubby some new drill bits  :(

The card I am sharing with you today is one I used trying to channel Dawn McVey.  Her style always inspires me and wants me to try to be better.  I saw a post of hers explaining how she is always able to make beautiful cards.  She said something that made sense but at the same time was like a "duh" moment.  "When things aren't going just right just take it apart because it is only paper." (not a word for word quote).  Cards are only paper...duh, I knew that but I didn't understand it.

Why do I share this, because I wanted to make a thank you card, I wanted to use the new PTI Make it Monday challenge.  The challenge is masking.

I used a Martha Stewart border punch at my mask and sponged using plum pudding ink.  The border is spring rain cardstock.  The flower is prima and the button is PTI.

The sentiment border was stamped using a WaltzingMouse Label 4 stamp with versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment itself is stamped using 2 wplus9 stamps in black.  The fun stuff in the middle was first drawn on with a white gel pen and the circles were stamped with PTI polka dot basics stamps in fresh snow.  I also added a bit of fun with a scrappy cat stamp on each corner and ran over it with a glitter pen.

I am so happy with it I am glad I took Dawn's advice and took apart what I didn't like and started over instead of just finishing just because I had already started something.

Have a great weekend...just got word, we may be without the hubby (he is on standby), not sure  :(

Thanks for stopping by!!!

  

Orange Juli-esque

I know, it is April, high 40s outside and calling for snow and rain tonight, tomorrow and Friday morning.  What do I do...make a orange smoothie.  I have been wanting to do this since I first saw the recipe but just haven't done it.  I found it on Melissa Phillips blog.  Unfortunately I cannot link you directly to the recipe because I can't find it.  I have searched through several pages of her blog and still have not come acrossed it.

My wonderful sister has come through for me and emailed me the link, so if you are interested in some homemade orange julius drinks here you go.

The pictures aren't that great because I didn't think about taking pictures of the drink and posting them here until this afternoon.  I had a bit extra from last night so I went for it.  It takes wonderful and reminds me so much of the orange smoothie you can get at Orange Julius.  Of course, I will still go there and get smoothies but for those times when I am really craving something and can't go and just grab it I know I can make it at home. 

Enjoy!!!

 

 Thanks for stopping by!!!     

Blogging for Books

Here it is, finally. (picture courtesy of google books) I have been able to sit down and slowly read this book.  If you don't remember I signed up for this program called "Blogging for Books".  I didn't know what book to start with or why I even chose this book but I did and I am glad that I did. It was a very refreshing and uplifting book, so heartfelt. This book jumped right into the drama but was still so going in. Not only did it have the main storyline but so many other side stories are brought in seemingly out of the blue. It makes you wonder what the main story really is.  I do have to admit that after really getting into it I realized how refreshing it was to read a book that intertwined faith without realizing what was happening. I loved the way I found myself finding ways to uplift my own spirit and learn ways I can possibly improve my own life. All in all I think it is a great read and I will be keeping this book around and highlighting quotes and thoughts that hit me the most. Just to make sure this review is legal I need to say, “I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”. 
 
 
  

93 years

Happy Monday everyone!!!  I am back with a fun and different card.  Not something I normally create.  Because of that I like it and I don't like it.  I love the shabby look it seems to have, to me anyway but I am also not sure if there is just too much going on or not.

This card is for my grandmother.  My grandmother is 93 years old today.  She is my last grandparent and now that we have moved I am no longer close to her.  I miss her terribly and loved the 3 years that we got to spend near her, my parents and my sister.  Being military brings it's joys and disappointments when it comes to moving.  I love moving and getting to see new places I would never go to but being away from family can be hard.

Back to the card.  I used simply chartreuse for the base.  The PP strip and the sentiment scrap are both PP from My Mind's Eye "Home is where the heart is".  I just love this paper.  So fun and such bright colors.

I used my Martha Stewart border punch for the PP and the twine is really just some rope I bought a long time ago from my local BX (base exchange) at Edwards AFB.  I tied it at the top and glued a blue button tied with terracotta tile DMC floss, I also added a metal charm for some extra fun.

The sentiment was stamped with staz-on ink on PP that was stamped (WaltzingMouse stamp...Label's 4) with dark chocolate cat's eye ink first and then again with versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The doily is from Hobbly Lobby and is actually for baking (the idea I got from Dawn).

The flowers are from my stash, I can't remember where they are from.  I also rounded the bottom edge to match the round flower.  I love that little touch.

Oh yeah, the cardbase was stamped with simply chartreuse and heat embossed with kaleidescope embossing powder.  I realize after that using regular ink doesn't work so well with embossing but I still like the uneven cover it gives it.  I hope my grandmother loves it as well.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!  We all love and miss you.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

  

Two for the price of one

Today I am doing something unusal for me.  Showing you two cards in one post.  I feel guilty that I haven't posted anything new in a while.  Here is why that is.  After the hubby's schedule calmed down I started with my migraines and the next day it went into something else.  I thought I had a bought of strep but according to the test done this morning that is not the case.  Some kind of viral thing that may have lead into a sinus infection.  So much fun dealing with all of this stuff, a child in school, a very rambuntious 5 year old and a 14 month old that is just about to start walking.  Yep, my two younger ones are late bloomers.  But that is fine with me.  The longer they take to walk the longer they get to be my baby's and the less time I have 3 boys running around my house.  And since my baby is my last I want him to stay that way for as long as possible. So the cards: they are late birthday cards for one nephew and one niece.  I have a whopping 4 nieces and 2 nephews.  That makes 9 grandchildren for my parents.  I love it.  This is for my nephew who turned...um...oh this is sad...he is 2 and had is birthday all the way back in February.  I know, I am an awful aunt.The card base is blueberry sky and the PP is from My Mind's Eye, I just love it.  I used some DMC floss and then the kraft cardstock was cut out using a Labels 4 nestie.  The dinosaur was stamped with versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I wasn't going to color him in but couldn't help myself.  Now, I wish I hadn't but it is too late now, the card is on it's way.Oh, the dinosaur is a stamp set from Our Craft Lounge.

This card was made for my now 15 year old niece (the oldest of the grandchildren).  She loves anything anime and does a great job drawing as well.  I thought this Greeting Farm stamp was perfect for her.  The blue is felt I picked up at Hobby Lobby for a whopping .25 cents.  The PP is some that I won from a blog.  Thanks Wendy.

Well, I am not feeling 100% still so I am going to leave you with that.  Hopefully I can get some down time to read or create.  I so want to do more creating.  I have so many ideas in my head not energy to get them out.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

Welcome

ETA:  The banner was made using the tutorial from Flutter by atomicbutterfly here.  Thank you so much Kelly Lunceford.  I know I will be making many more.

 

Welcome to my blog.  How have you all been?  I am finally back in action.  I know, what has been wrong with me.  I kept making trips to the stores trying to find supplies for this banner, mainly paint and chipboard letters.  Turns out there isn't a craft store, that I know of, in Rapid City that carries Making Memories paint (is it only sold online?).  Also, silly me forgot that I had bought a whole box full of chipboard EVERYTHING from creative memories a LONG time ago.  So I bought some chipboard letters for no good reason.  I guess I get to make another banner though  :D

I took several pictures to show you what it really looks like.  I used paper from Hobby Lobby "The Paper Studio".  I just love the vintage feel of all the paper patterns.  The letters were painted with acrylic pain and since I didn't have glitter I used embossing powder.  After the glue dried I decided to see how it would work if I did emboss the powder (I didn't actually intend on doing that since I wasn't sure how it was to affect the paint).  I love hwo it turned out.  The cameo is a button I found at Michael's a long time ago.

I love this one because of the kraft butterfly.  My older sister cut this butterfly out for me using her silhouette.  Man, I cannot wait to have one of my own.

This is to show off all the glitter madness.  I just love it.  Not too much glitter but just enough to make it fun and exciting.

I hope you all have fun and exciting plans for the weekend.  We are actually going to be jammed back with activities all week.

Thanks for stopping by!!!