Is It Monday again?

Do you love this? It is a sneak peek of the new Hanna Stamps set, Passport. It will be available Friday! Put it on your wish list today. Paper from Basic Grey, DCWV, and Bazzill, colored with copics, added ribbon, brads and bling and flowers fron the SU floral punch
Thisis from the SU Madonna and Child set. At least the image is, the saying was something I bought at Michael's. This is just an example of stamping on tiles.
I get lots of PM's from people whenever I post tiles. It is so easy, but such a great gift. I stamp in Staz On ink on a Tumbled Tile from Lowe's. You can use them as coasters or put them in holders as decorations. The only catch is that there are no second chances. You can stamp once, and you cannot clean the tile and start over. So, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Yes, thanks to my children for that saying they learned in Kindergarten. This tile has a slight disease on the edges, but I stamped on it anyway. Why? because if you sit still in my house long enough, I will stamp on you, too. Or cover you in paper. Or otherwise alter your appearance.

The birthday party went well for those of you interested. I'll weed through all the photos and post a few this week. Today I spent the day tending to a tired kid with pink eye and making chocolate cake for the real birthday tomorrow. Looks like a grilled cheese sandwich dinner night to me.

Tail Wagging Day

This card is for the Hanna Stamps Challenge of the week to add bling. The only bling I added was in the bottom left corner. But the paper is nice and shiny in real life, so I hope that helps the feel of adding bling. The paper is from DCWV and the stamps are from Hanna, from the sentiment set, the Route 66 sets and from the recently released dog sets.
I have been painting a bit lately too. The tea bag holders go with the set I am making for an upcoming charity auction. The rest of the set is not out of the kiln yet. Sorry that the strawberry is so shiny, it is a shine from the flash and I don't know how to fix it.

I went across to Zionsvile and had lunch with a friend and her daughters today. They are thre months and 2 1/2 years old. Man, they were a lot of work. I have been feeling old lately and realizing my baby days are gone and my boys are big. After a few hours of serving the needs of small children I am okay with this now. In the space of a few short hours all sorts of bodily fluids left their bodies from various parts of them and I am lucky that the only thing that involved me was burping the baby who spit up all over my sleeve and back.

I came home and needed to change clothes, but needing also to do laundry and clean up so we could ger ready for a last minute party for Seth tomorrow. I am worn out.

Just Another Busy Day

Sorry to go so long between posts, I have just been super busy. It hasn't even been exciting stuff, just the normal routine...after school activities, homework, dog walking, shopping. I did get s couple of hours today to look for clothes and thought I'd do some shopping before spring break. I got some shirts on sale (Go Kohl's!) but what I really need are shorts. No luck there. I did score some goggles on sale for the boys. They both really like to have goggles at the poo. I don't get it. I never had goggles as a kid. Plus, the water sticks to the goggles and you can't see. It makes them happy so I got each kid two pairs. It is easier to get them goggles than to hear their complaints.

Seth is complaining these days about his birthday. He wanted to have a magician come for his party. I called the magician and it turns out he charges $250.00. He said he brings animals and does a one hour show. But still, I am not paying thatmuch for a kids' party. Seth is now sad and sullen and refusing to chose another activity for his party. I think we will have cake, ice cream, and maybe pizza if I still like him by the time his birthday is here next week. The problem is his birthday always run close to Spring Break so we probably won't have a party for him till mid April when we are back and in school again.

The card today is from Hanna Stamps, of course. The dog is from the Large Breed set and the duck is from Rainy Days. The saying says "My Best Friend". I could not get good light today so the card looks a bit dark. Sorry, but that is the way it is. The paper is DCWV and the shine is already added, I did not hand emboss all the bling on the cards myself. Of course, I would if it would enhance your viewing enjoyment.

Easter Wishes

Last night as the Easter Bunny got ready to put the Easter baskets in their usual spot I told the Easter Bunny "Noah gets the blue basket." Not liking that, the Easter Bunny gave Seth the blue basket. Seth cried at the table this morning when he saw his basket because his brother Noah "got all the good candy." I had a little chat with the bunny who said, yes, of course he had heard me, but it didn't make any sense to him so he did not follow my instructions. (WTF?!)

You see, Noah's favorite color is yellow, so we always give him the yellow basket, the yellow plate at a restaurant, etc... Seth by default usually gets blue as his color. Wal Mart had only a few colors in cheap plastic baskets this year, and yellow was not a choice. Pink and purple were choices, but Noah hates those colors as he thinks they are for girls.

So, if any men read this blog, do what your wife tells you. Or Else. Does he not realize how much shopping and planning there is to ensure that each child has an equal amount of items that they like even though they have taste that differs from their siblings? I tried really hard to make sure there would be no tears at the table Easter Morning and the result is if you want something done right, do it yourself.

The card on the top is a CASE from Beth Silaika on the Hanna Stamps Design Team. Sorry that my handwriting isn't better or it would be a prettier card. The paper is from DCWV. The card below is made with paper from Scenic Route and both cards have stamps from the Hanna Stamps set Spring Time.

I hope you all had a restful easter without tears.

Animal Planet

The Hanna Stamps Design Challenge this week was to use a circular design in a square card. I love this because it was easy to put together once I had all the other page elements figured out.

The dogs are from the Small breed set and the TV is from the Mikey set, both from Hanna Stamps. The paper is DCWV and I colored with copics.

Have a Happy Easter, I'll be checking in and posting again so feel free to say hello in the comments.

Lack of Mojo

You know how it is, some days the desire to create is great but the end product shows you really weren't at the top of the talent game today. I made this little Riley Moose for myself, just because I liked him, so maybe it doesn't matter that he is not the finest work of art. he is still adorable.

Hanna Stamps has new Moose available so be sure to go check out the collection of Summer Riley's and his friend Sophie G. I love them all.

My hubby is not coming home any time soon tonight so I am taking the boys out to eat and to school for Young Author Night. All the classrooms have their kids write books and they go on display at school for one night. A couple of the grade levels will be presenting a school concert and there is a Book fair, too. The book fair is the highlight of the night. The kids want to see how much money they can get me to spend. Too bad for them. I'll buy them each one book, but I am a true believer in the public library system. As for myself? There's nothing I like better than to be surrounded by a big pile of books. My kids inherited that from me, what can I say?

What Moose do on Vacation

The naughty moose in the grass kirt has only a lei on her top parts, and the other moose is dancing in her bikini. This could be a snapshot of me on my last vacation. :) (Don't I wish I could have this much fun again?)

The moose are sold seperately from Hanna Stamps, but I could not resist the urge to put them together. I made my own background with a wheel fom SU, and added floral brads, felt flower, ribbon and embossing powder to look like sand.

I wish I was with these moose today. the weather is my least favorite combination of cold and rain. My hair is frizzy, my socks have holes in them, and I just want to go snuggle in bed, but I am off to school to volunteer insted.

I'm Late to the Game

Ever have so much going on, something gets lost along the way? That is me today. Hanna Stamps will be releasing more of the Riley Moose line along with his female friend Sophie G on Friday. This is a quick peek at Riley camping. Most of the stamps are from Hanna Stamps, but the bear and the sleeping bag are from Stampin' Up's set, Happy Camper. Don't worry, Riley escapes unharmed, there will be no future cards from me with Riley being eaten by the bear. Well, maybe I should not make nay promises I can't keep, but my mood today is pretty good, so Riley is safe for now.

The paper for this card (also used a few posts ago) is from Scenic Route. I like how it lends a nature type fel to the outdoorsy cards. I wish I had more of it, but I only picked up one piece of it.

The news from our house today is that Seth decided to eat breakfast. This child never wants breakfast. Today he wanted some cereal so I fixed it for him and he sat down to eat. As he ate, the dog decided to go to the back door (in Plain view of Seth) and barf up her breakfast. Seth ran from the table to the bathroom vomiting, too. I was the only adult home so I had plenty to clean up this morning, in addition to my usual duties. Let's hope everyone's stomachs settle and that they are done for the day.

Easter Jewelry

Most of you should know by now that I make and sell glass beads to support my crafting hobby. For Easter this year I made Seth's teacher a classic Westfield bracelet with a shamrock charm. Since our school mascot is the Shamrock we are Shamrock proud all year long. Perhaps even Shamrock crazy, depending on how you look at it. In this town we wear green and shamrocks all through the year.

I ordered an egg box from Papertrey Ink, painted in green and cut paper to match the sides and top. The top has a sentiment from Stampin Up on the lid and the flowers from Happy Harmony.

I put six white plastic eggs in the box. Three of the eggs have jewelry hidden inside, a necklace, a bracelet and a pair of earrings (not shown). The other three eggs have her favorite candy in them. I wrapped ribbon on the eggs and taped a small flower to the top. The flowers have a small piece of bling as the centers.

So, do you think my kid will be promoted to Third Grade at the end of the year or be held back?

Card Party Friday

Today is the big day at Hanna Stamps!, the day where five sets become available. Yes. FIVE sets. I have been very busy! Up first is a card that I was not sure what to do with. I made the little doggy image but didn't have a layout that worked for them. I got the idea for the layout from Frances, also known as StampOwl. The dogs and tree are from Hanna and are available today!
This stamp set is from Papertrey. You can't see it on the internet, but I stamped in white on the brown tag and it says " Friend Thank You". This layout is CASE'd from Amy Rysavy. She is on the Papertrey Design team and used to be on The DT for Hanna Stamps. Look up talent in the dictionary and you will see her picture. (I don't know why my color switches to blue or what I should do about it. It's like unwannted magic. Look up SLOW in the dictionary and you will see my picture!)

My local stamping/scrapbooking store is closing tomorrow after three short years in business. I made cards for several of the ladies there who have become my friends. I already gave everyone my personal info so we can still get together with each other and do crafty stuff. I am heartbroken and sad about the closing. It has been great to have this store about 1.5 miles from my home. The cards posted today are also going to the ladies today as I go over one final time to say goodbye. After this I am left with chain stores to shop at. So much for supporting local businesses. At least I know I did my part while I was able.

This is also a CASE from Amy Rysavy. I always forget what CASE means exactly, but it means something like "Copy and Share Everywhere." Only I am only sharing here, not everywhere. This is a set called Out On A Limb from Papertrey. There are stickles in the flowers so they shine nicely in real life.
This is from a Stampin Up set, The World Over. Just a simple layout. You can see I was on a roll with thick ribbon. The saying says " Seeds of Friendship bring flowers of joy."
This stamp is from Kasparek's. I am a United Methodist, and we credit John Wesley as our founder, soI just had to have a John Wesley quote for my cards. I think this card is a bit boring, but that's just the way it is today.

I am off to the store to say goodbye and then to Target to get some supplies that will help me organize Seth's bedroom while he is at school.

Wild Wednesday

As I write this, all I can hear in the background is my son Seth crying about how his brother changed the TV channel when he was watching it. Funny, he was supposed to be sitting at the table going his home work, not watching TV. Let me tell ya, that kid has a pair of good lungs on him.

The card for today features Mikey. Mikey is the late brother of the owner of Hanna Stamps, Kristi Ferro. I wanted to make a respectable card given the nature of the set. The background paper is Scenic Route and the image is colored with copics. The set has great accessory stamps, a dartboard, darts, beer, potato chips, a hat. I love them. They are perfect for me. I am so happy that the Hanna's I have been working on for so many months now have a man in their life.

I made a tasty chicken tortila soup for dinner tonight, but by the time dinner arrived I was the only one home to eat it. Where does my family disappear to? Well, the kids were out playing since it was a beautiful day and Scott never bothers to come home for dinner time. I guess he likes cold food or can't stand his family. He denies both of these, but given his pattern I am beginning to wonder. At least Mikey my imaginary man was here to keep me company.

Counting Sheep

This is from the Hanna Stamps set coming out Friday, one of the dog sets is called Large Breed (For right now at least). I thought the little guy loked too cozy in his dog bed so I had to make sheep ( from the Spring Time set) jumping over him while he tried to sleep. I colored him with copics and used some Puff Glue to puff up the sheep and make them fuzzy.

I went to painting class today and met Scott for lunch. We went to Max and Erma's for a change. Yummmmm...one of my favorite places. Thankfully neither of us wanted Indian food today, so we branched out.

My friend Rebecca got up and went to work for the first time in several months today, so I am on my own again, with only myself to entertain in the daytime. I was just getting into the groove of having someone to play with. Having to work spoils so much, but it does pay the bills!

Yesterday Noah came home with a note that they would be roller skating in gym class and there was a permission slip for us to sign and we also need to pay $6.00 to cover the fee. Noah told us he told the gym teacher that we would need scholarship help covering the bill. When I asked him why he said that, he replied "You and Dad are always teling me we don't have any money whenever I want something." Thankfully I do not know the gym teacher, which lessens my embarrasment, but you can count on him going back to gym class with his permission slip signed and his check ready.

Happy Monday

Do I sound a little too chipper for it to be Monday? I am happy because Hanna Stamps releases five sets on Friday. Yes, FIVE. Wowza! I have been working and working on getting cards ready to show. I have had many of them ready for a while now, but I haven't been able to post them because the release date was so far away. Now I can finally show you what I have been working on lately.

These dogs are from 2 of the new sets, a large breed dog set and a small breed dog set. Hanna Stamps has three sets coming out Friday that feature dogs. For those of us who love our doggies, this has been great fun. I put the little chihuahua on the St. Bernard and decided he looked pretty happy there. I colored with copics, added glossy accents to the bone, and the paper is from Bazzill and DCWV. The sketch is from Beate's weekend sketch challenge, and although simple, this card works really well.

It is finally above freezing here in Indiana and we are having some sunshine, so I am going to run errands while I can. Enjoy your day.

A Day in the Desert

I hate to sound like a broken drum, but Dang, I am so tired of winter! We have had cold and more cold, snow and more snow. The only saving grace is that the weather is always predicted to be downright terible and it is always slightly better than the prediction.

I felt like some warmth for the day so I broke out my Route 66 set from Hanna Stamps and made a card with a desert scene. I am in love with all the little accessory stamps that come in the sets. Nearly everything is from that set, the stop sign, the lizard, the cactus, the cloud....I feel warmer already.

Scott had a meeting this morning and left me bright and early with the kids. I came downstairs this morning and found Noah had eaten his way through a box of pop tarts. Well, he ate several packs of them at any rate and the trash was scattered throughout the family room. He was asleep on the floor, no doubt from the carb and sugar coma he had induced.

I took the boys out to Lowe's, as once a month they have free wooden kits that kids can put together. Noah built a small desk calendar and Seth built a periscope. It is pretty simple, they give you everything in a pack and the kids just have to get the mails in the pre drilled holes. I hope you all find some cheap fun this weekend, too.

I've Been Busy

In honor of the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Suess, Seth wanted green eggs and ham for dinner. His wish is my command. If you are curious, Dr. Suess would be 104 years old if he were alive today. Thankfully the meal tastes so much better than it looks.

Here is Hanna's little bunny hoarding easter eggs. Notice the handmade design on the paper in the background? Extra work. This week's challenge is to add some extra bling to your card. The colors I used were Ballet Blue, More Mustard and Garden Green. The red is some random color I had in my stash. It really perked up an otherwise boring card. I thought about adding some extra colors of ribbon, but didn't have anything that matched.

I went with my friend Rebecca to Mooresville today for lunch at Gray Brothers. It's one of those "been around forever" classic cafeterias with comfort food. MmmmmmMmmmmGood. Otheriwse there is not much to report. Today I'll help the boys finish their week's worth of homeowrk and we might make a trip to Noah's favorite place, the Dollar Tree.

Indiana is Affecting My Brain

The weather today absolutely stinks. Yesterday I awoke to spring like eather, it was sunny and 60 degrees and felt like spring might finally be on the way. Within hours it turned cold and rainy. Today it is colder and rainy, alternating with freezing rain and hail. It's the kind of day that chills you to your bones. I wish I could just stay inside, curl up, drink tea...

I tried to go out an run some erands but it is so lousy out I quickly lost my vigor. So what if we have no bread in the house? I can always borrow some for Seth's lunch tomorrow. I am lucky to have a variety of neighbors I can call and borrow food from, so I don't have to call the same people each time.

For my card I made Hanna in the rain, from Hanna Stamps and the Rainy day set. It is an adorable set, even if the weather in real life is miserable. I want to go to bed and wake up to better weather tomorrow.