Put On Your Travelin' Shoes

This will be my last post for the next week or so. We leave tomorrow for Virginia and will be up bright and early. My friend Frdea is coming in from South Africa and will be on the road with us. I am just praying the boys are good in the van. They usually are, but having a guest makes me nervous.

I made this card for a SCS challenge this week. The challenge was to be Bold and Bright and this is about all I could muster. I grabbed a few scraps and popped them onto black. I colored the image with copics, then used glitter to help them look a little more fun. The aliens are from Stampotique.

Freda is arriving tonight and I feel like there is still tons to do. The laundry is done except for whatever last minute load we find tonight. We still have to pack up, load the van, get the dog to the kennell, get the ginea pigs to a friend. Even without company, the day before vacation is the busiest of times for me.

Free Wheelin' Friday

I went to someone's house this week to learn how to make tote bags. She's the friend of a friend and she has a very fun and funky style. When I met her she had the coolest bag with her and I loved it. She said "come on over, I'll teach you." So we went over this week. Turns out she doesn't use measurements, she just eyeballs and cuts. She has a neighbor who sells furniture and he gives her all his old sample fabric pieces, so she had tons of odd ball sofa fabric for us to use up.

I chose a fabric with a floral theme and I liked the bird on it, too. I chose a complimentary inner fabric and went to work. One problem with not measuting or having a pattern is that I placed my inner pockets too high and sewed them shut when I did the trim and bead parts. Oh well, no one gets anything perfect the first time, right? Pockets are over rated anyway. The bag is also bigger than I really wanted, but I learned a new skill and now know how to recycle old fabrics. I had great fun doing it, too!

I made this card for a sketch challenge this week on SplitCoast. I took it out to the yard to photograph as we finally had some sun I could use for natural lghting. I think the card is lovely. The card was supposed to have three squares on it, but I changed it up a bit, while still keeping things in their correct places. The girl is a Ketto image from Stamping Bella and the saying is from Amuse. I made some paper flowers and used some felt flowers from Stampin' Up. The only problem? I like it too much to give it away.

Jambo!

SplitCoast had a challenge the other day to add some text to your card that is in a foreign language. Apparently they don't know how old I am and how long it has been since I was in high school Spanish class. So, I had to turn to Africa to find a word. I chose the one word I could remember from my trip to Kenya two years ago. Jambo means Hello in Swahili. The only other word I could remember is Mzungo which means White person, and wasn't really fitting for my card. The image is from Rubbernecker stamps, which has such a great little line of African stamps that I think Iown them all. I colored with copics and used my paper piercing tool and some flowers, dew drops and brads.

I am filling my hors with entertainment for the children. We saw Paul Blartt Mall Cop today at the one dollar kids movies and I have to admit, it was a decent movie. I don't enjoy many kids' movies but I would recommend this one.

I hope whether your day brings you crafting or movies or kids, that you find a way to enjoy your day.

I Need Stronger Drugs

This little guy from Doodle Factory has a cute coffee saying that goes with him, but I need something stronger than coffee to get through this week. I have company coming from South Africa next week, and we had planned a vacation already, so my friend will be vacationing to Virginia with us. I hope she likes 10 hours in the car with badly behaving children.

The morning routine is the same here, I need a quick shower, a Diet Rite and a protein bar while I make my card for the day. After that, I am theirs for whatever amusement they can suck from my old bones. They follow me around and tell me what they plan for the day or how I can spend more money on them, they turn on TV's and leave the room and come back to ask me to play with them. You'd think at 12 and 9 they could find amusement on their own, but no such luck. I know, people say I should feel blessed that they still like to spend time with me. I am okay with that. But every waking moment? Not so much.

We had an enjoyable time at Holiday World over the weekend even if the heat index was 101 degrees yesterday. And now I am back to the reality of having a husband who is trying to get to the bottom of his medical problems. He has been ill for about 2 months with a constant cough, then he also got swelling in his extremities and a rash. His doctor lost him in the shuffle and finally he got a CT scan and X rays last week. Next up? A PeT scan and a lung biopsy. Seriously.

My card was made for the challenge of making a background that looks like denim. I used Brocade Blue card stock, smeared it with Brocade Blue ink, Ballet Blue ink and then a layer of Whisper White ink. You smudge it on horizontally and then do it again vertically. Whew. Thankfully I used a whole sheet of card stock so I have plenty left over to use again. I love how it turned out, and I guess I need to learn more cool tricks like this since I have no local scrapbook or stamping stores.

Last week at Vacation Bible School Noah's class had to offer up their talents. You know, God gives us all different talents. Noah said his talents were making rubber band music and hand farts. Thank God he has something going for him. I am sure when he gets older the other prisoners on his cell block will be very amused.

Text Challenge

The challenge of the day at SplitCoast yesterday was to use text on your card. I went looking through my papers, sure I had some background paper with text on it, and actually found I had this paper in two different colors! I used the set Quilter's Sampler from Papertrey Ink and a quote stamp that I had on hand.

Yesterday we had wild storms and rain all day again, thus no outside lighting for my photo. Today we have blistering heat. The newspaper reported that we have had nearly six inches of rain this month, and we average less than two inches in past years. I would just like some cooler days when we don't have rain. We seem to go from one extreme to the next and neither is fun.

I took the kids to a living history museum near us today and it was too hot for the kids. You know that is bad! My kids do not generally complain about the weather and just go with the flow of things. We did not even eat lunch there, as we usually do. It seems this season they have closed the indoor restaurant and moved it outside where an ice cream shop used to be. Seriously? Who wants to sit out in the heat to eat a sandwich? It's tough times for everyone I suppose.

We are going to Holiday World for the weekend to enjoy their water park. I am hoping the water is as cold as ice.

Workin' Hard

Today's card is a wee bit dark thanks in part to my shade covered screened in porch. I keep thinking outside photos are so pretty and forget that in the morning my back porch does not have natural light as it faces west and the sun is still in the east. Note to self: Find a place in the front of my house that is suitable for photography.

The kids are up and ready early and I forget what I was hoping to do to entertain them today. Karate is not until noon. Darn the luck.

I have been crafting with kids at Vacation Bible School this week. Sometimes I can say no to volunteer opportunities (don't laugh, it happens once in a while). But this week I am the craft boss and it was my crazy idea to use Procion tie dye dyes to make batik fabric using a flour and water method I found on the internet. The MS and HS kids are great but the younger kids are wild. Their art will end up looking fine, but it is hard to keep them working amid all the ADHD and sugar energy in the room. I will show you a finished project once I get their fabrics through the wash. Tonight's craft is rolled up beads from left over magazine and scrapbook paper.

My card today is made with a pack of Stampin' Up paper and a stamp from Penny Black. I had loved this tamp when I saw it posted on line but couldn't find t as it was retired. I found it in a little stamp store last month and snatched it up. It is called "Spinning a Yarn" and the knitterly side of me is in love.

Monday Crafts

Not much is happening here, but it is enough to keep me from card and scrapbook making. The boys were supposed to go to Karate today but I took them to the library first. Once they had books to read, they wanted to just stay home so we missed karate in favor of quiet time. We had grilled cheese and I spent some time putting together crafts for vacation bible school tonight at church.

At first I said I didn't need any helpers for craft time and now I am thinking I should not have tried to be a matyr. I need help! I will have to pick someone up at dinner time to give me a few minutes of service. Our church does an evening VBS starting at 6 PM with dinner and breaking for classes from 6:30 till 8PM. I am providing crafts for the different levels of kids from pre school through high school. The theme of the week is related to safari in some way so I am leading African crafts.

Tonight we are starting on batik projects and then we will move on to making beads from leftover magazine pages and scrapbook paper. The hardest job is just getting all the supplies ready and divided up into the different age groups.

I got a book on canning at the library today. Anybody can anymore? I never have done it, but know people complain about what a hot job it is. I'll have to see if it is something I want to tackle or not. I have dreams of giving away home canned foods at the holidays.

Indiana Weather

I went out to the back porch today so I could capture a photo in some beautiful but fleeting Indiana sunlight. Pictures always look better in natural light, they say. unfortunately, I seemed to find the only piece of shade available on our porch. I thought of re taking the photo, then decided I didn't really care all that much. Oh, the lazy days of summer!

The challenge of the dayw as to use only the colors of sea or sky, blues, greys, browns and to use three items: paper piercing, brads, and ribbon. Score! I even used two different colors of ribbon. The stamp is from Hanna Stamps' newly released Dinosaur set. It's a must have if you have boys in the house. I am lovin' it for birthday cards.

I tried to get the boys to the pool earlier, but no luck. Now it is a little overcast and they are dying to go. They are wierdos, but they are my wierdos!

Pounding

I woke up with a pounding headache today and am waiting for the Excedrin to kick in before I decide if I have enough energy left to create a card this morning. Some people are blessed with kids who entertain themselves, but I was not one of those people. Despite the fact that Noah had a friend spend the night I woke up with Noah in Seth's room, in his bed, bothering Seth who was screaming for his brother to get out. So, I decided to entertain you with photos of the boys when they promoted to gold belt in Karate a while ago.

Yahoo has a news article today about 8 ways that money can buy happiness. I can think of afew ways right now. A soundproof bedroom for me. A supernanny who comes to claim and entertain the kids in the morning while I get ready. A maid who comes daily. Yahoo was trying to make the point that if you spend money on material items you soon take them for granted. I don't know. I have friends with a home theater and I never take that for granted. It's the place of my dreams.

Yesterday was busy for us. I took a few meals to a friend who is recovering from surgery and then I took her three kids with us for the day. I had Steph's son with us already, so that gave me a total of 6 kids. We played at the park, hiked in the woods, and went to eat. I tried to stretch out the time by even taking them to the grocery so their mom would get in a few more minutes of peace and quiet. Today should be quieter: karate, lunch, the pool and general hanging out.

Sleepy on Sunday

It's a beautiful day outside, but I still couldn't stay awake. I love a Sunday afternoon nap more than just about anything else in the week. I don't know why. Maybe because I take off my stiff church clothes and crawl back into bed for an hour or so.

The motorcycle Hanna was for the Saturday Challenge at SCS. They listed a design website (that slips my name right now.) I found a boys bedroom on the site that had a motocross theme and I thought Route 66 Hanna would be perfect. I used the colors of the room and the stripes in the card remind me of the stripes on the pillows in the room. I was definitely inspired by the site. I'll have to look it up and refer back to it, it had great design ideas for any room in your home.

I hope you are all enjoying beautiful weather, wherever you are.

Happiness

The challenge yesterday was to make a card with an unusual image, not something stamped. I had torn out an ad from a magazine for the Ladies Number One Detective Agency series. It is a series of books written about a woman in Botswana and is becoming a TV series for HBO. I planned to make some necklace pendants with the bottom of the ad which featured a silhouetted safari scene. I used the main image from the ad for the focal point of my card. It was hard to get a photo of since the ad was on glossy paper, but I love it. I used paper from Basic Grey's Marakesh pack and added buttons to the corners. I know, I just said I hate buttons recently, but I am open to change.

The challenge today was a one layer card. I used Happiness Always from Stampin Up and scored around the edges of the card. I love that it is simple and it works.

The news in my life is that I am going to rotate off the Hanna Stamps Design Team. Seth is not very happy about it, declaring his undying love for the moose images. He is quite a stamper, so I feel his pain. When I told him it was time for me to rotate off the team he said I was like Hannah Montana. I didn't know what he was talking about but he was explaining that I used to have a secret life with Hanna Stamps. It is true, I never let my Stampin' Up demo know I was on a design team. She likes to be the most talented person in the room and I never wanted to tell her. When Seth and I went to her home for mom and kids craft nights I had sworn Seth to secrecy.

You have probably noticed the new layout on my blog, we have been working on it for a while and I have a few more small things to change around here. Not much else is going on in my world. We are going to the library yet again and will go to the pool if the weather is warm enough. Ahhh...the joys of summer. It gives me happiness.

Last Day of School

Finally we end the school year, although nothing has been taught for about a week now anyway. Grades were due last Wednesday and the kids have been having Field Day, new school tours, a luau party, a bon voyage party, field trips, even yearbook signing for the day today!

I put together some end of the year gift baskets. They have Friendship Tea in them, stamped tiles, painted tea bag holders, post it note holders, hand gel and soap from Bath and Body Works, and a bit of chocolate.

I tried to fancy them up by tying them up with cellophane and a bow. The teachers were very appreciative and I know they look forward to vacation more than the rest of us. I was secretly hoping the baskets would help deplete items in my stash, but I don't seem to have made much room.

Hanna Stamps is having a contest to see who wants to be a guest designer for the months of September through February. They are looking for people who can creatively use their stamps in fun new ways. Check out the details on the Hanna forum on SCS for your chance to win a spot. I am looking forward to seeing how creative everyone is. I think this is a great way to find new talent.

Landscape Hanna

I have seen these cards around but had not tried my hand at making one until now, it is called a Landscape card. If you make the folds go vertically rather than horizotally, it is called an Accordian fold. For my card I used the Route 66 Hanna set. She has lots of cute stamps in her set which made her perfect for a card with a lot of landscaping. The Route 66 set is a "retro" set, which is just to say it is a previously released set that is being highlighted this month. I think I may add some touches from the new Hanna dinosaur set, they seem like they would go together very well with this set.

Since it is the first Monday of the month, that means the Hanna Stamps release party will start at the Hanna forum at 9 PM tonight on SplitCoast. I love that there are contests and free prizes given away. Who doesn't love the chance to win a little something?!

I apologize for not having more sneak peeks to show you. My stamps did not come in the mail and I was sent digital images of a couple things, but I have a terrible time trying to get anything other than thin typing paper through my home printer. Once I get it through the printer, the ink smears with my copics and it just becomes more work than fun. There is a very cute set this month called Little Dresses and some adorable moose as well, a soccer moose, a mason and a graduate. You can check out other Design team members blogs as they should have them.
I am busy today wrapping up the last few days of school. There is an honor roll awards ceremony at school today and Seth will also get a certificate for perfect attendance this year. I have gifts to deliver and cookies to make and a last trip to the grocery before chaos reigns.