Happy Anniversary!

For my Husband!

15 years ago today he asked me to be his girl friend, 8 years ago today we said I DO. He is my Best Friend, the Love of my Life and an Amazing Father!

Happy Anniversary to my Best Everything!

Project Recipe:

FEATURING: My Creative Time Stamps  

"You had Me at Chocolate" and "My Favorite Sayings"

You can get these stamp sets here:

http://www.creativetimeformeshoppe.blogspot.com/

12x12 Red Cardstock

6 different pattern papers, Red and Craft cardstock

Cricut heart cut outs - 1 1/4", 1 1/2" and 2"

Chocolate Chip Stampin' up ink

Cream Fun Fur & Red grosgrain ribbon

Pop dots and Zip Dry glue

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

SSC Monthly Blog Hop

Monthly Blog Hop from Simply Scrapping Crafts

Hello and Welcome to the first SSC Monthly Blog Hop! Our challenge this month was to make something for our current season. Since it is Spring here in California, I decided to create a 2 page layout that reflects Springtime.

Here is my project:

Layout Recipe:

Technique: Dahlia Flower Fold

Paper: DCWV cardstock, K&Company double sided pattern paper, My Minds Eye pattern paper

Cricut cuts: Gypsy Wanderings 2 1/2"phrases, 

2" & 3" circles from Boys will be Boys

Martha Stewart edge punch, Clear Rhinestones 

and Zip Dry glue

If you would like to stop by the SSC inlinkz blog hop home page and see all the wonderful projects just click the following link:   http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=49302 

Thank you for stopping by and I hop you have a great day!

Happy Easter!

Wishing each and every one of you a very Happy Easter!

CAS Challenge

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY!!!

This weeks Simply Scrapping Crafts CAS challenge is all about paper piecing. I have never tried this technique before outside of making all my Cricut die cuts so it was fun trying something new! 

I made this card for my daughter who is turning 7 years old today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Card Recipe:

Cardstock: Keeping Memories Alive, Misc pattern paper & Recollections Black & Cream

Stamps: Pink By Design - Small Banners, CTMH - Doodle Alphabet

Ink: Stampin' up Basic Black

Embellishments: Embroidery Floss - Black

Technique: Paper Piecing, Cuttlebug Embossing

Other: Zip Dry Glue, Pop dots

To see/order the Pink By Design stamp set I used click the following link:

http://www.pinkbydesignstore.com/Stamps/Small-Banners-p273.html

Landscaping

Front Yard Facelift!

Every spring at our house we decide to take on a project or two. Painting this, adding that, replacing something or redoing everything. This year we decided it was time to give the front yard a facelift. 

3 years ago we started our front yard makeover by gutting most of what was there including the front patio and lawn. The following pictures are where we left off because we didn't know what to plant in the beautiful new planting areas... 

So last weekend we started this years facelift with planting 2 purple plum trees. The kids were a great help! They couldn't wait to enjoy a tasty smoothie under the new tree. 

After the trees were planted we added Mystery Gardenias and Boxleaf hedges and under the windows we added the same Gardenias, Boxleaf but added Society Garlic and Red Flax. 

I was in charge of arranging where everything went, cutting the holes in the landscaping fabric and the digging and planting of half of everything we purchased. The digging went a lot faster once we bought a post hole digger but boy was it a workout.

2 weekends later and here is our beautiful front yard. I can't wait for the Gardenias to grow and bloom and for all the plants to fill in. Until then I'll just enjoy driving up my driveway and walking by the colorful plants we've added to make our house OUR HOME.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

GIVEAWAY!!!

A Bowl Full Of Lemons!

CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO LEARN ABOUT HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!

http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/04/silhouette-giveaway.html?showComment=1303400273217#c8975344331605717364

A SILHOUETTE GIVEAWAY!!

I was sent a Silhouette Rhinestone Starter kit this month, to try out and giveaway along with a Silhouette SD Machine together called the Silhouette Rhinestone Bundle Kit, to a lucky reader of my blog! Yippy. I love having these kind of giveaways. If you have never heard of a Silhouette SD machine, you are definitely in need of some teaching.

What is the Silhouette?

The Silhouette is a digital cutting tool for personal use. It connects to your computer just like a printer, but instead of printing designs it cuts them with a small blade. With the machine connected to your computer, you'll get access to all of the fonts on your PC plus the thousands of cuttable designs found on the Silhouette Online Store.

What Can the Silhouette Make?

The creative possibilities are endless with the Silhouette. 

It comes with many adorable shapes and templates already loaded. My favorite feature is that you can use the FONTS from your own computer and also create your own shapes/designs for cutting! There are no cartridges to worry about! If you want more designs, they offer a huge selection in the Silhouette online store! Average price is $.99, but you can also subscribe for savings!

What Can it Make?

Scrapbook pages 

Cards 

Custom apparel 

Vinyl décor 

Etched glass 

Sketch designs 

Temporary tattoos 

Paper crafts 

Rhinestone Creations 

Frosted Glass 

Flag Pennants 

Car Vinyl 

THE GIVEAWAY!!

One winner will receive the following:

The Silhouette Rhinestone Bundle

A Silhouette SD

The Rhinestone starter kit

3 additional packs of rhinestones

And 1 Pick Me Up tool

Peachy Keen Stamps:

Sketch Challenge 50 w/a Twist

Create a card based on the layout provided and use METALLIC accents somewhere in your project (can include metallic paper, glitter, paint, etc.)

Project must include basic elements AND TWIST from provided sketch

Link up your creation before May 3rd

Click the following link to view the challenge:

http://peachykeenstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2011/04/peachy-keen-stamps-sketch-challenge-50.html

Here's the card I made:

Card Recipe:

Cardstock: DCWV, Core'dinations

Stamps: Peachy Keen Stamps - Everyday Character Faces

Cricut Cartridge: Just Because Cards

Ink: CTMH Orange, SU Mustard and White Gel Pen

Embellishments: Studio18 Rhinestones

Other: Action Wobble Spring

Birthday Parties

Ice Cream Social

My daughter will be turning 7 years old on Friday and since her birthday is so close to Easter this year we decided to have her Friend party this weekend. She wanted to have ALL her friends over and I didn't want to spend a lot of money... so we thought an Ice Cream social would be a fun way to have the best of both. 

I made these Ice Cream Sundae invitations

All these goodies were the girls favors:

a 9x6 altered notebook

An Ice Cream Cone hair bow

a Pink pen and a Lollipop

The Spread:

Ice Cream: Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry and Rainbow sherbet

M&Ms, Chocolate Chips, Marshmallows, Oreo & Butterfinger crumbs, Peanuts, Mint drops, Cherries, Strawberries, Bananas

Chocolate, Caramel and Butterscotch sauces

Cake Pops

Chocolate pretzel sticks

15 girls ages 5-7 and an almost 3 year old brother had a GREAT time!

The party was a big success; however, next time I'll serve a little food so the sugar rush isn't so brutal! :)

Thank you for stopping and I hope you had a great weekend!!!

CAS Challenge

Monochromatic Theme

This weeks challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts is to create a card using only 1 color. I knew I wanted to use this rosette flower I had lying around so my color choice had to be raspberry pink. This challenge was not easy but very fun.

Card Recipe:

Cardstock: DCWV textured,
Heidi Grace Designer pattern paper

Die cuts: Cricut Accent Essentials,
Just Because Cards

Embellishments: Prima & Mulberry paper Flowers,
Buttons and Floss

Ink: CTMH Watermelon, Stamp: SU Birthday

Technique: Folded paper rosettes, Cuttlebug Embossing

The following tutorial is where I learned how to make these flower rosettes.

TheStampDoc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM8h3V952cQ&feature=related

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you join the CAS Challenge this week.

CAS CHALLENGE HERE

Have a great day!

CAS Challenge

Simply Scrapping Crafts - Friday Challenge

Yes, Today is another CAS Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. For my sample, I decided to share with you one of the pages from an album i'm making for my Sister in Law. The album is all about boys which has been so fun to make. I'm inspired to start my son's album now!

Layout recipe:

Cardstock: DCWV and Creative Imaginations

Die cuts: Cricut Cartridge "Just Because Cards"

Embellishments: Buttons, Floss and Satin Ribbon

Technique: Cuttlebug Embossing

Stamp: Peachy Keen Critter Faces

Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, White Gel Pen and LePlumeII Markers

Designed using my Gypsy

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you join us over at www.Simplyscrapping.ning.com for this weeks challenge!

Blog Award!

Thank you to Chris of Craft e Mama for this Versatile Blogger Award! I wouldn't have this blog if it wasn't for all the other crafty people out there who inspire me each and every day. SO THANK YOU!

The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the person who sent it to you.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

3. Send this award to 10 bloggers.

So here's the 7 Crafty things about me: I learned to sew, paint, needlework and crochet from my grandmother, I am currently in LOVE with my Cuttlebug, My favorite stamps are My Creative Time sentiments and Peachy Keen Faces, I try to make something everyday (easier now that I have a new craft room!), My kids LOVE that I hand make all kinds of things for them, I haven't purchased a card in a year now that I make my own and I have the most amazing Husband who loves me and all my hobbies. :)

It is my pleasure to pass on this award to these very talented crafters:

www.Cre8tiveGirls.blogspot.com 

www.Dilsaverdesigns.blogspot.com

www.Craftygirl21.blogspot.com

www.Craftydeb-ddcrafts.blogspot.com

www.artstudiostamps.blogspot.com

www.momsbeenscrappin.blogspot.com

www.Sweetasagumdrop.blogspot.com

www.Craftingmymemories.com

www.alluringinkspression.wordpress.com

www.tandames.blogspot.com

Sneak Peak of...

My New Craft Room!

About a month ago my husband came home from work and said to me "I think we need to do something about getting you a craft room". After the shock wore off I was all ears! :) You see I used to share a 10' x 10' room with my newborn son; However, with him at an age where he's getting into everything (all of 2 years old) I was slowly moving my crafts all over the house. We knew we couldn't build onto the house so we decided to give up the formal living room and make it our new family/tv room and turn the Family room into a Homework/Computer/MOM'S CRAFT ROOM room!!! 

I started right away once the Hubby gave his OK - Didn't want him changing his mind.

My inspiration fabric:

 If you look closely you can see the words PLAY, IMAGINE, SING, BELIEVE, CREATE, DANCE, WISH... perfect messages for a crafty space.

This is my solution to all those spools of Costco Ribbon I've collected over the years.

Dollar Tree crates hold 4 spools each.

Smaller ribbon and Flower storage with a display area for my cards.

My Wall of Inspiration!!!

A Needlework sampler that dates back to 1851,

A painting of Strawberry Shortcake my grandmother painted in 1982,

My name in needlework given to me when I was little,

My twin sister and my handprints from when we were 2 years old

Needlework I did when I was in the Girl Scouts

and Last but certainly not least: 

The hand and footprints of my 3 children.

All of this sits above my desk. 

I hope you enjoyed my little sneak peak into my new craft space. Once it's done I will post more pictures. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic day!

Blog Candy and a Design Team Call!!!

DIVAS BY DESIGN

Hello and Happy Tuesday! As I was visiting a few blogs this morning I came across a Design Team call and Challenge Launch over at Divas by Design.

You can find the Design team call information by clicking on the following link:

www.divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com

I have been crafting since I was a very young girl and learned to try anything and everything from my Grandmother. A few weeks ago, My husband was kind enough to give up the family room/man cave just so I could have a crafting space all of my own. I'd love to be on a design team that allows me the opportunity to use it more often. Here are my 3 favorite projects that I'm entering for the Divas by Design - Design Team call:

I had a blast making this layout with my Cricut and my Gypsy!

I have this card on display in my new craft room. The fold is super simple and I used my Cuttlebug which is another new LOVE of mine!

This card was made using a new favorite technique - The Rosette paper flower fold!

CANDY!!!

They also have some fabby launch candy up for grabs: 1. become a follower. 2. Post this candy pic in your sidebar with link back to the challenge blog and 3. Comment on the post so they can find you! There are a stack of yummy papers, feathers, flowers and lots of other embellies and stamps just waiting to be won! Candy winner will be announced on the opening challenge at 9am Weds 4th May.

CAS Challenge