Plumeria Thank You

Hello there!  Hope you've had a great weekend!  I am typing up this post just after putting the kids to bed!  Ariel is out for the count but Carter since he takes a nap is still fooling around!  :>

On Friday I was delighted to get happy mail from Paper Crafts that one of my cards was picked up for the Holiday Cards and More Volume 7!!  It was a busy day for me and when I came home from picking up Ariel to that email it made it so much better!  :>  When I created for that call I was supposed to be studying for my test.  But breaks are part of good studying (right?) I was happy that a card got picked up and that I aced my test! 

Today I have a card to share using Plumeria's papers and some of the Hero Arts stamps that go along with it.  I love coloring the flowers in by "painting" them with inks:

I am entering this card into this week's Simon Says Stamps challenge of Anything Goes!  :>

We had a great weekend.  On Thursday my Mother in law asked me if she could take the kids to the cabin for the night on Friday.  Ummm....of course!  She took the "little" grandkids all 5 of them and barely fit them in the van!  Chad and I enjoyed some time together and went for dinner!  :>  I was looking forward to sleeping in but sadly could not!  :<  On Saturday instead of crafting or reading a book you know some me time I spent a lot of time organizing the kids toys.  And I enjoyed it.  I also cleaned up and organized quite a bit! It was nice to have that time together but the house felt sooo quiet!  

The kids came home pink and Ariel had a caterpillar! Each of the 6 year olds each got one!  Ariel is enjoying her pet and is constantly holding it or letting it crawl up her!  I told her that she has a fish that is her pet and she said "But Mommy this is an insect and I love bugs!'  Say WHAT?  Wasn't it just last summer that you would run inside and tell me that you didn't want to play on your swing because there were bugs?  I guess we shall see... 

Saturday night we had some friends and there kids over and today I did some work with Chad!  :>  And we visited with my parents.  My mom made ribs for dinner, she really knows the way to Chad's heart!

Well I am off. I have a wreath just calling my name telling me "Only 2 more flowers and I am done!"  Till next time! :>

Flying by to say hi

Hello!  Hope your day has been treating you well!  It's been a great week over here!  We have been enjoying the spring weather as a family!  Today I had a good friend over with her two kids and her 6 month old son enjoyed cuddling with me and napped on me! 

I wanted to pop in and share a fun card:

I used the super cute set by Lawn Fawn Flying By!  I actually made this card for Stamping Royalty and like the last card I share that I made for it (here) I made so many mistakes when I made this card!  I kept stamping the tails badly and I probably would have given up this card had not every other piece been ready to go!

I am entering this card into this weeks Simon Says Stamp Challenge which is anything goes!

Yesterday we had a meet and greet with Carter's soccer team!  Carter is so excited to play soccer!  And we are too!  We have been waiting for when he would be old enough to play soccer since he has shown so much interest and promise since he was just about 2!  We also got his soccer jersey and last night when I went to check on Carter I found him sleeping in it!

I didn't put him to bed in it!  And than he wore it all morning changed when friends came over and than put it back on when they left!  So cute!  Next Friday is his first game!

Well I am off to watch grey's anatomy and relax!  I will be sharing some wreaths in the next bit as I have a few orders with Mother's Day coming up!

Showers of Blessings!

Hello!  Hope your having a fantastic day!  This Tuesday is treating me pretty well, had my yneighbors group this morning.  Playing with the other kids tired Carter out quite well as he begged me for his nap today!  Enjoying some quiet time by myself!  :>  Or as we stay at home mom's call it sanity time!  :>

On Sunday it was Oksana's bridal shower (my brother's fiance) You may remember a few weeks back when I had a few girlfriends over to create the 100 shower invites!  Today I have the shower card I made from myself:

I used some My Mind's Eye Follow your heart patterned paper!  Took my colors from there and couldn't help but use a doily!  I also used my friend Jenn's stamp set by Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers.  I've always wanted to make a shower card with an umbrella!  I fussy cut the umbrella and popped it up from the handle with foam squares, I think I actually enjoy fussy cutting!  :>

My mom and Oksana's mom threw the shower at a hall, and it was a big shower around 106 women!  Oksana and my brother Rob were so blessed by everyone!  I actually was the MC!  This was my first time being an MC and before the shower I was quite nervous!  Thankfully it went really well!  Everyone had kind words for me on my MC job!  Even though I butchered quite a few last names!!!  When Oksana opened up gifts, monetary gifts and gift cards I would say who she was opening from and what it was.  I am proud to say I made them laugh with my on the stand jokes and funny antidotes that I came up with!

There was an insane amount of food!  My mom and Oksana's mom spent weeks hand making pergoies and baking!  I found out that Oksana's mom had 1 hour of sleep the night before since she was worried there wouldn't be enough and she made more! They served a hot lunch and it was so much food with so much leftover!   I am not kidding you that there was 5 rectangle tables of baking!  The baking was amazing and I very much enjoyed that and took food home!  My brother and his groomsmen served wine, coffee and tea!  It was fun to see them work the room!  The bridesmaids and me got there early to help set up. But the real stars of the show was my aunts and good family friends who came at 9:30 that morning to work in the kitchen and did so much clean up!  We are so blessed by them!

I am sad to say that I didn't get a chance to take too many photos.  But my brother had his camera set up on a tripod and probably took 200 photos!  But I got a few of Ariel and Oksana's nieces.  All three of them are flower girls!  At first they were shy but by the end they were dancing on the stage!

The last one is Oksana and me!  My parents couldn't be happier to have Oksana become part of our family!  And I feel the same!  Oksana is someone who really listens to you when you talk to them, she is kind and has a big heart!  My brother couldn't have picked a better bride and happily he knows that too!  :> 

Oh I wanted to share that yesterday I got back my exam results!  I am happy to share that I got 85% on my 3rd real estate test!  My studying paid off!  :>  Now I can start working!  So lots of new stuff going on over here!

Well I am off Ariel is almost home early from school as she has early dismissal! :>  It's beautiful outside so I am planing when Carter wakes up that we go to the park!  Tonight Chad and I are facilitating the Marriage Preparation course at our church my mom loves babysitting! 

Flowers and Mother's Day and Grey, Yellow and White Wreath!

Hello Happy Thursday!  Hope your day has been fabulous!  I've been enjoying a much needed day at home!  Sometimes you just need that right?  It's so sunny outside that Carter and I went for a nice long walk and than he came home and fell asleep fast for his nap!  I enjoyed some relaxing time too!

Last week after teaching the Mother's Day card class I picked up a new 6 by 6 pad This and That by Echo Park as a reward for myself!  :>  Today I finally was able to play with it!

I embossed with chestnut zing embossing powder the flowers from patterned hearts and flowers by Hero Arts onto three different pink cardstocks and cut them out.  Working on the Mother's Day cards!

I am entering this card into the Lily Pad Simon Says Stamp challenge of Flowers!

I have a cute story to share.  The other day the kids were playing outside and the door bell rang over and over and over.  So I went and found Carter panting at the door and he runs inside and I ask him "Carter what's the matter?"  He looks at me and says "Bee!!!  There is a bee!"  I tell him "Carter don't worry he won't eat you!"  He says "Of course not I am not nectar!"  He shocked me with that one!  How does he know about nectar and bees?  A few days later my MIL is babysitting him and there was a butterfly and he said to her "I don't want the butterfly to land on me!'  And she said "Don't worry Carter the butterfly won't hurt you!"  And he says "Yeah I am not nectar!"  She was shocked and asked him how he knew that and he said to her "I just know!"  Silly smart boy! 

Tonight while eating supper Ariel was telling us about music class and how they are learning a song and playing it on musical instruments the xylophones and telephones!  Hehehe I love it!  Yesterday when leaving her school one of the ladies who volunteer in her class told me that she loves my daughter!  Cause she is so sweet!  She really is!  :>  And it touches my heart to hear it from others!  :>

I have another wreath to share!  This one is for sale and if you are interested please email me!  It's such fun and bright colors, perfect for this time of year!  It's also my biggest wreath yet at 14 inches!

The yarn is a gorgeous luminance silver grey with bright yellow, white and charcoal felt flowers and silver pearls!  :>  I am working on a few more wreaths so I can finally open an etsy store.  :> 

Well I am off to make a tropical smoothie for us, study spelling and music homework with Ariel, and baths!  Just typing that made me tired!

Mother's Day Card Class!

Hello!  Hope you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was pretty good!  We enjoyed two friend's kid birthday parties on Saturday!  And the rest of the weekend was spent by me studying!  If your wondering where have I been it's with my nose in the books!  :>

Today I am home alone so I can have time to study!  I am one of those people who need quiet to really learn and with two kids it isn't really quiet much!  I've started my time alone not studying but a quick clean up of the house.  In my defense you can't really study with a messy house right?  Plus it's so much faster to clean when your all alone!

I wanted to pop in and share a card class that I did last Tuesday.  In January I joined a yneighbors mom's group that is very close by.  I decided to join to meet more mom's in my area, and with being home with Carter even though we go out every Wednesday morning he would ask for more playdates  With winter I wondered how much more he would bug me!!  I thought it would be good for him to get out with new kids and with this group there is babysitting for the kids so it would be a great for me to have some time away.  I've really enjoyed meeting new mom's and Carter really enjoys it too. Plus he runs around the big area so much that he can't wait for his nap that day!  :>  On Tuesday I did a Mother's Day Card Class for them!  This is my second time doing a card class and my first time with non crafters!  I was nervous but am happy to share that it went really well!  There were 10 ladies each making 2 cards and they all had really good things to say!  They loved the cards and I could tell that they really enjoyed themselves.  Which is even more important!  I made 3 cards and let them choose which two they would make:

For my regular blog readers you may recognize the cards, well sort of. I changed them up a bit but was inspired by some previous cards that I made.  They all have a little bit of stamping, patterned paper, and border punches.  The cards give them an experience with a few things!  I don't know if you can tell but the last card has stickles on the rose, they really enjoyed the stickles and it made me rethink stickles and how I should try using it more!  Also the middle card was the most popular!  :>

Well I am off to get back to studying!  I have a very busy week but can't wait to be done my test so I can sit down and create just for fun!  :>

Resist Newspaper Tulips

Hello!  I hope that you are having a fantastic day!  This week has been amazing and one of the main reasons is all the beyond kind comments you have left me over my Stamping Royalty win!  Wow I am so blown away by all of you!  So blessed to have you part of my life!

I actually have more exciting news.  I am the first to admit that this past week has been really really great!  My hubby is blown away too!  It's funny how all the good things happen so closely together sometimes!  I am excited to share that I have been asked to join the Gel a Tins design team!  :>  You can see the announcement here!!  Can't wait to start working with there fabulous stamps!

On Monday night I had 6 cards picked up for publication!!!  3 in the Create Stamping Idea book (September 2012) and 3 in CARDS September 2012 issue!  This is the most for me that I have ever had picked up!  It kinda was something I was hoping for but didn't want to get my hopes up!  I have joy when I have 1 card picked up can you imagine how I feel having 6?  Yowza indeed!  The emails came one at a time while watching How I Met Your Mother and relaxing with Chad!  It was 40 minutes of it and Chad kept saying "Another one?  What?  Really?"  And high fiving me!  It was awesome to share that with him!  It has been a really blessed week!!!!

Today I have another thank you card to share!  It's one that I made for Stamping Royalty but wasn't picked (which is MORE than fine!)

I heat embossed the newspaper tulips by Hero Arts in white and than applied distress inks tumbled glass and shabby shutters over top.  This piece took me 4 times to get to this right.  First I flubbed up with the embossing, than with the inking too dark, too messy... This was the first card I made for Stamping Royalty contest and with how many tries it took I almost gave up!  But I was determined to finish this card and once I did my mojo came back and I was able to create a few more!  Stamping the newspaper background on this took 3 tries I don't know why this card gave me such a hard time!  :>  I love how fresh this is, I would love to turn it into a card set but with how many tries it took to get right the first time there will be no more tries!  :>

I am entering this card into the Lily Pad Challenge of Flowers!  And the Simon Says Stamp Challenge of April Showers bring May Flowers, I think tulips are quite spring no?  :>

Oh I wanted to share some more Easter photos.  Chad and I have always left Easter bunnies and other chocolates for the kids from the Easter bunny.  It might be because when Ariel was 3 I didn't buy her any chocolates from us.  I figured she had gotten so much from family and she didn't need any more!  Well 2 days later she asks Chad in the softest and sweetest voice "Daddy why didn't the Easter bunny come?"  Oh boy did we mess up!  Totally broke our hearts and he came the next morning!  We do teach our kids the true meaning of Easter that Jesus died on the cross bearing of sins and saving us.  But we have never had an Easter egg hunt at home for the kids!  We always did it at Chad's parents and I guess that's why we didn't.  On Good Friday I found out that Chad's siblings still do with there kids at home and it dawned on me why don't we do it too?  So Chad took great joy in hiding chocolates all over the house late Saturday night!!  He put there baskets on the door filled with there bunnies and made a trail from the door to the living room. 

Well at 1:30 in the morning on Sunday Carter wakes up and comes to us.  He woke us up and we told him he needed to go back to bed, he said he wanted to go alone but I followed him because I worried he would be having a hunt in the middle of the night all by himself!  As I follow him I see him realize that there are chocolate eggs on the floor!  It was so sweet to watch his sleepy reaction!  He said "Mommy the Easter bunny came!  LOOK!"  Well it took a little while to get him to go back to sleep!  It was so fun to listen to Carter wake up Ariel in the morning with "Ariel the Easter bunny came!"  And than hear there giggles and excitement as they hunted for eggs all over the house!

On Saturday night we decorated eggs. This was the first year Carter really got into it and didn't break any eggs!  The kids loved it.  And loved eating them after they were all gone by Monday night!

On Easter Sunday we went to my parents place for turkey!  Here are some photos:

They love each other so!  Here's a photo of my dad with the kids, he wanted it for his facebook profile!!!!!  :>

Well that's it from me!  The house is quiet as Chad is out with his buddies and the kids are asleep!  Time for me to hit the books and study!  Even if the stamps are calling my name!

Stamping Royalty!

Well my wonderful friends today I can finally share some amazing news!  I am one of the winners for Paper Crafts Stamping Royalty 2012 contest in the Seasons Greetings category!  You can see the announcement here on the Paper Crafts blog!  

To say that I am shocked would be putting it mildly!  I can't believe it!  I am so happy! At night I haven't been able to fall asleep easily since I am so excited!  And when I wake up in the morning I smile instantly as I remember!

Last year I didn't even enter as I didn't think I stood a chance!  This year I told myself too bad like it or not your putting yourself out there so stamp stamping up and send it in!  I worked on cards till the last day.  I usually go to a Mom's group but I couldn't that day as Ariel was sick.  While both kids were occupied with each other I stamped my last card, the winning card!  Called up hubby up at work and begged him to go out and buy a bubble envelope and come home early so I could go to the post office in time!  He asked me why this was so important and I told him that it was an amazing contest with a big prize.  Even though I thought I stood no chance!  I felt that hey I may as well try and if I don't win at least a great cause will get my cards! Since he is so great like that he did picked up what I needed and came home early!

Last Monday when they were sending out the emails to the winners I happened to be online and than I got that special email from P.K. Smith and I just about fell off my chair!  My stomach was full of butterflies!!  I read it a few times and couldn't believe it!  I screamed with joy (Carter told me I hurt his ears!) Jumped up and down! And called hubby up and told him all about it!  He is so proud me!!  He is excited about the big prize while I am more excited about the Tiara!  As is Ariel!  To her if mommy is a Queen she is a princess right?  I know she will be begging me to wear the tiara!

I love and am passionate about stamping and to win this contest is a true dream come true!

I can't believe it!

My card will be in the 2012 November/December issue so I can't share it!  But I do have a thank you card that I made to share today.  This is a thank you card for all the lovely people at Paper Crafts, for you my crafty friends, for my family for supporting me and this hobby!!!  Thank you for being part of my life!

On Saturday I had a surprise delivery of tulips from my secret sister (from my mom's group)  it made my day!  I picked up this paper from My Mind's Eye on Thursday and was inspired by the tulips to play with my newspaper tulips stamp by Hero Arts and used the colors of the paper for it!   :> Pretty straight forward card made it late last night while watching Celebrity Apprentice (need something to do for how long that show is!) 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and sharing in my excitement!  Thank you to Paper Crafts for picking my card!  :>  And I wanted to say to my fellow winners, congratulations!  I am so happy to be sharing in this with you!  I can't wait to see your winning cards!  And so happy to share this with my crafty friend Vera who won in the birthday category!  What a dream come true! 

Happy Easter!

Hello!  Hope your having a wonderful Easter weekend!  We sure are!  Yesterday was Good Friday which is a holiday here with no stores open or school!  Actually no school Monday either!  Yay to a 4 day weekend with Ariel!  :>  

I have a Easter card today to share that I made inspired by Ariel's Easter dress!  I bought the kids Easter outfits last weekend and realized that one of the Floral Blossom stamps kinda matched the flowers on Ariel's dress!  Here is a picture of her in the dress:

 

I always make my inlaws an Easter card, here it is inspired by Ariel's Easter dress:

 Isn't this stamp close to the flowers on the dress?  I mimicked the belt with the bow on top.   Not the best photo of this card I had to take the picture really quickly as we rushed to get out of the door on time!  I am entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's challenge of Playing Favorites.  I am sure your not surprised that this stamp is a favorite!

Yesterday we celebrated Easter with Chad's family!  This year is the first year that the weather was nice enough that the egg hunt was outside!  So much more fun looking for chocolate eggs in the grass!  Enjoyed a yummy turkey and family time!  :>  

Here are a few photos from yesterday, first up the kids with Grandma and Grandpa (Chad's parents)

The last one is of all the cousins together!  10 in total!  :>

Well I am off to do an Easter craft with Ariel while Carter naps!  Hope your having a wonderful weekend with your family!  :>

Canvas and Watch Gears

Happy Thursday!  Very much looking forward to this long weekend celebrating Easter!  It's still absolutely beautiful outside and Carter and Ariel are playing together quite happily outside in the sunshine!

It's been a great day today as one of my cards won Fab 5 at the Hero Arts blog for March's contest!  Whooo hooo I love Hero Arts and it really made my day!  :>

I wanted to stop by and share a masculine card using my favorite masculine stamp Watch Gears.  Since I'm using my favorite masculine stamp I am entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's challenge of playing favorites!

I am also entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp challenge of Use your favorite tool!  I did my heat gun of course!

I recently discovered Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas, well I should say rediscovered as I did take a class with her at Scrapfest that used the canvas!  :>  It's soo easy to stamp on.  Heat embossing on it is a breeze and works just as well as paper!  Distressed it with ink too and the edges!

Today has been a nice relaxing day.  Yesterday late afternoon the spring cleaning bug hit me and I went crazy cleaning up the house until I dropped.  Finished up this morning.  Carter and I enjoyed playing outside.  I can see he is so much happier since it's nice out.  He goes around and joins which ever kid is outside and plays with them!  I think since he is young he doesn't get that he isn't always wanted!  LOL Yesterday he played baseball with the neighbor kids and I heard the mom say "Okay it's Carter's turn to bat everyone go back!"  And sure enough he can hit it far!  He really excels at sports!  

I have a sweet photo from the other day when Carter wasn't feeling well.  Ariel was sitting on the couch near  Chad and Carter went to cuddle her:

They love each other so much!  :>  Well I am off to get dinner on the go!  Tonight I am shopping for last minute Easter stuff and hitting my scrapbook store too!  :>

Pumeria Mother's Day Card

Hello!  Happy Tuesday!  Thought I would pop in and blog as the kids play outside.  It's a gorgeous day outside and I can't get the kids to come inside!  :>

Today I have a card to share using the new Plumeria Basic Grey papers and matching Hero Arts stamps.  I made this card because I felt like painting the flowers:

I embossed the flowers in white and painted them with inks and water mixed with perfect pearls.  I so enjoy this technique!  Now that April is here I gotta focus on Mother's Day Cards! One of my favorites to make!

I am entering this card into Lily Pad's Flower's Challenge!  Love this challenge with all my new flower stamps I am entering it often!  And this week's Simon Says stamp challenge of anything goes!

I have a cute photo to show you.  While the kids were playing outside a MB Hydro truck came to look at our light.  It hasn't been working well so we were really happy to see him!  And that he came when the kids were playing outside was great!  They loved watching him!  And I enjoyed hearing there screams of delight!!  Ariel said "He can't go up in that he will fall out!"  Carter came in the house and asked for a chair so Chad gave him one of the kid chairs.  When I checked on them this is what I found:

He was using the chair to help him be higher to see the worker!  When I snapped the photo I missed the worker being up in the bucket!  :>  

Oh I do have one more funny tidbit for you, Carter's favorite thing to do on a schoolday is finish Ariel's lunch!  He goes to her backpack digs it out and you hear him say with glee LUNCH LUNCH!  Yes obviously it's because I don't feed him enough!!!  It's healthy lunches today was a sandwich, strawberries, snowpeas, and dried apricots!  Silly boy!

Well I am off!  Working with Ariel on music theory and practicing as she has a lesson tomorrow!

May All Your Dreams Come True!

Hello Happy Monday!  Hope your week has had a great start mine really has!  :>  Dinner is the in the slowccoker a family favorite honey sesame chicken kids are watching a little after school/nap tv.  For Ariel it's to wind down after school for Carter it's cause he's groggy and can be grumpy after naps!

Today I have a card to share using more new stamps, this time Lawn Fawn!  :>  I am sad to share that the last birthday party Ariel went to she didn't bring a card since I've run out of kid birthday cards!  Bad me so I have to work on my birthday card stash!  Here is my card:

I am entering this card into Lawnscapping's newest challenge and simon says challenge anything goes!

Not too much coloring but there is some!  I love this set Critters Ever After!  It's soooo cute and perfect for little girl cards!  :>  I colored the unicorn in with prisma pencils.  By the way if you color with pencils what's your favorite ink to use?  I find that Staz with clear stamps stick soo much!  :>  When I bought this paper I truly didn't think I would make a child's card with it, I usually use more bold colors for that but I love how this turned out!  I love the bow I've had it in my mind for a while to do but it never worked out really until now!  :>  All I did was tie a bow tight and than used small pieces of adhesive to attach it and made ruffles the same way!  :>  Really makes it sooo girly!

We took Carter to the doctor again today.  He did not have pink eye!  Yesterday I realized his eyes were not getting better at all!  Stopped giving him the drops started to get better.  The doctor said today that he has what Ariel had but it started in his eyes and now his throat has it too!  He is on the mend thankfully and the doctor said it's viral so no meds!  He's been laying low today and took a long nap!  I feel pretty bad about giving him the pink eye drops but with it going around so much at Ariel's school and friends it made sense, plus when hubby took him on Friday the doctor said he thought it was that too!  Thankfully today he assured me his eyesight would not be damaged at all by the drops.  So glad it's all figured out!  Looking forward to my kids being back to being healthy!  :>

I wanted to share that I am on a smoothie craze right now!  My favorite is the Green Monster Spinach Smoothie!  I know spinach right?  :>  You seriously can't taste it!  I also put kale in it and it's super good!  Yesterday I made a Tropical smoothie and loved it!!!!  I love coconut milk another new love!  I also make a Banana Oatmeal Smoothie!  I make it when the kids have leftover oatmeal and it's soo filling and so good with the almonds in it!  :>  My kids love it too and it's so healthy and an easy way to eat my fruits and veggies!   They seem to drink anything if it's in a smoothie, I've even used cottage cheese in it!   They eat a lot of fruits and veggies already but more doesn't hurt!

Hope you have a fantastic week!  I am off to finish up dinner!