behind alex

Hello! Been busy around here. Hoping within the next couple of days that I can post some pictures and tell the tales. Until then... Alien had a couple questions on the items behind Alex's head in the picture I posted.

Heidi Swapp ghost items. Love them. I have attached them by sewing them on with a machine, brads, Fastenator staples, and staples. I usually try to ink the back of them to make them pop. I haven't tried them under Primas, but think I may have to now. I will try to link some examples in a few days. Need to locate them all.

I will have to use those metal book plates and show them off soon!!

ooooh... thanks for the package of goodies. I am going to have to stalk my mailman! You rock.

Have a great one!

doing a bit better....

Sorry about that very negative post before. Guess I needed a good vent. The internet is still cutting out on me. Hoping it won't drop before I can get this posted. Not sure what all the issue is. I know it's something in this room as hubby has not had a problem at all. Just my wireless. Looks like we need to call in our electrician (aka dad) to hardwire me.

I did manage to get my pictures off of my memory card. Silly thing started working once hubby came down to talk to me and I vented to him. Temperamental thing.

Anywho... this is the picture I wanted to share. My guy! He stands on my lap in my office and dances. We started it when he didn't weigh so much. Now he's starting to put some meat on, it's getting a bit harder. Especially when he wants to jump and bounce!! It's a little blurry but he does not stop moving!! Love that expression. He just melts my heart.

stinky rotten kind of day

I know the great scheme of things, it's not that bad of a day, but I am frustrated so it is a big deal at the moment. My dumb internet connection keeps dropping. I thought it was the port in the monitor that was on the fritz, so I switched the connection to a different port. Nope, still dropping. That is if it can actually find the silly connection at all!

Then I tried to upload some pictures off of my memory card. Nope. Can't get the computer to find my card reader. I have tried every USB port that I have and nothing! Even tried hooking the camera straight to the computer, nope. Can't get the pictures off of my camera! Man... this stinks.

Plus the weather today has been simply horrible. Started as rain, turned to very heavy wet snow. Almost didn't make the turn onto the street when dropping Kira off at school. We slide AROUND the corner. Very gently and made it okay.

Then it was just plain slippery and sloppy when I had to drop Alex off at school. Yuck. We had a heck of a time getting out of the driveway. I had to slide back to the end of the driveway and get a running start to get out into the road. Thank goodness no one was coming from either direction when I flew out of our driveway!! Felt a little like the Dukes of Hazzard getting away from Roscoe P. Coltrain. (totally dating myself there)

When I went back out to pick him up, it was raining. And by raining, I mean buckets of the wet stuff slamming down from the clouds. Not fun. Drive home was very very sloppy with the heavy wet snow being melted by the downpour. Pant legs went, feet a little damp since you were just walking through major puddles. No way around them. Alex got into his jammies and is quite happy.

I worked on some laundry since that is a never ending project. Seriously, how much clothing does one family of four need? And why do we have to wear every piece of it every week?? Small exaggeration there... but I'm sure you feel my pain.

Went to the school to make copies for the PTA Ice Cream Social on March 7th. Trying to get ahead of things. We'll see how long that lasts. You know... best laid plans!!

The rain was still coming down like there was no tomorrow when Kira and I made our escape from school. Now my pant legs are dripping they are so wet and she has already changed into jammies. I think my kids have the right idea here!

Between computer issues and the dumb weather. I can see an early bedtime for me. That might help with the attitude I seem to have sprouted as the day progressed.

One ray of sunshine for me today, I am working on a very happy project for a friend of mine. I can't say what it is, because I know she reads this and I want to surprise her. I will say, I love the smell of mod podge!!! oh yeah baby.

granite state zoo visit

I do love this town I live in. Really I do. Even with the stalemate that is happening with the building of a new high school and the lack of a grocery store within town limits, I do enjoy it here. Especially our Rec Center. It rocks!! Seriously. They brought in the traveling zoo (they are hoping within a few years to have an actual zoo here in New Hampshire) so that the HeadStart students as well as the preschool playgroup, could enjoy some interaction with animals. So amazing!

I hung around since I'm always up for meeting some new critters. As long as I don't have to touch them, we're all good. Pictures are plenty for me. Especially when she brought out the first animal. A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Man that was HUGE!! It was it's full grown adult size and I'm glad they don't get any bigger. Could have done without him but I didn't get too close so all is good. Alex did not pet this critter. Can't blame him.

However the Red Eyed Crocodile Skink was a different story. He wanted to pet that. Such a brave little guy. I again did not partake of the petting. I prefer my animals that I pet to have fur. LOL

This is a monkey-tailed tree porcupine. His name is Thorn. He was so darn cute. No one could handle him, not even the girl doing the talk. His quills have little hooks on the end making them hard to remove once they are in you. Not good for a group of preschoolers!

He walked around on the table eating his bananas and sweet potatoes. So adorable.

Trying to get a picture of my kiddo with the porcupine in the background.

It was a good day. Alex really enjoyed himself. I then spent the rest of the time hanging with him and his classmates. Good Wednesday here.

hello

After receiving some amazingly detailed instructions on the correct nesties sammich in the bug from the gifted Alien, I was able to use my nesties!! Oh yes I did! I am sure I will get better at it and not have to scroll down her blog for each step and will figure out the correct amount of chipboard to make a proper embossed image. However... for a first time... I think I did pretty darn well.

I grabbed some scraps and went to town for this card. I used my trusty working Fiskars threading water border punch and my bug embossing folder. I really need to invest in a few more of these. I only have two and I think I will be tired of circles and paisleys before I finish this PTA basket!! LOL

One card down... a zillion more to go! Best get a move on.

Oh and my poor little baby boy has caught his sisters cold. Or it could have been from hanging at the germ infested Chuck E Cheese this past Saturday. Anywho... he had a fever and some coughing last night. Gave him some medicine and sent him off to bed. He's been asleep for about 12 hours now. And yes, I did go in and check on him. Some things never change!

easter mini album

Here it is!! What I spent yesterday working on. I grabbed my bin of Easter stuff and off I went to watch the race and hang with the family. Kira was disappointed that this album was not for us. She loves Easter as much as me!! So I guess if she doesn't want to part with it, mommy did good.

Here are the pages in order out of the book. Figured it would be easier to photograph this way, and I was right!! I used Bo Bunny papers and cardstock stickers, Jolee's 3D stickers, Bo Bunny paper clip, Bo Bunny fold over metal tab, misc acrylic tag, misc ribbons and some Karen Foster Easter brads. I have had this stuff for awhile in my stash so I have no idea how old it really is. But it worked!!

The happy, sweet and fun is a transparency from Transparent Touches and Tags. Again found it in my stash and it worked out lovely to create a journaling pocket or spot for another picture.

Everything was inked with a grape colored Studio G ink pad.

Love the last page!! That bunny butt kills me!!

This is the cover of the album all put together. Misc buttons and brads from the stash.

Inside the front cover.

Alex has a thing for sleeping with cloth diapers. Don't know why but he has done it since he was about 1 1/2 years old. It is a lot easier than him carrying around a blanket since I can wash them and keep them clean and I had a whole boatload of them! Well... he has since found a few 'favorites' that he cannot sleep without. He likes the border on them when he is falling asleep in playing with them in his hands. You might be asking yourself why I am telling this story in the middle of describing a mini album? Well I'm getting there! LOL

I have been trying to find replacements for his 'favorites' since he has worn holes in a few of them and they are getting smaller in number. And believe me, if they are not the right ones, bedtime is ugly. They do not make this same style anymore. I have a feeling they were the ones I received when I was having Kira all those years ago. Big time mommy sigh here.

We stopped at Babies R Us on Saturday and were checking out the ones they had when my little man discovered COLORED diaper cloths!! oh man, he was in blankie nirvana!! They did not have the edge but they were colored!! And that made them A Okay in his book. whew....

Anywho... they came in this great plastic bag which just so happened to be the same size as a certain mini album I created!! Woohoo... instant packaging!

I am hoping that someone will love this album as much as I and my daughter do. I had fun making it but glad it is done. Now to work on cards today. Got a few to create!!

happy sunday

And it was a sunny Sunday. It's supposed to snow tonight, but since I am in denial that there can be anymore snow this winter, I am ignoring it and not looking out the windows. Nope... can't make me so there. NEENER NEENER NEENER!!

On Friday I took the van to the car wash to get some of the dirt off of it. Winter looks bad on a silver minivan. Heck, winter looks pretty bad on all cars!

This was my picture of the day on Friday. It's the soap on the windshield. I am happy I had my camera with me since they were such amazing colors and Alex was very excited to see them all over the van! This is now my desktop picture since it is so colorful. I am hoping spring will find us soon!!

Today I spent watching the Daytona 500 and working on a mini album for the PTA basket. It is an Easter theme. Actually it is the hunt part of Easter. I will take pictures tomorrow once all my stickles dry and I can get it put together. Right now it is in pieces everywhere!! So happy to have gotten it done.

Tomorrow... cards!! And maybe some laundry!!

me again!

oh my... another post from me. Looks like taking a few days off from blogging is not such a good idea. I have too much to share. LOL Please forgive me.

Anywho... Alien wanted to see the flower ornament inside the exploding box. I can see a couple more of these inside the box fitting lovely and a nice surprise. We'll see if I can come up with more time, if not... one shall do.

I have been busy the past few days. Besides taking care of my sick daughter, I have been trying to fill up a basket for the PTA basket raffle during Turn Off TV Week (March 7-11 at our school) The exploding box is going in this basket as well as the following items.

I have lost my post it note holder instructions. I am so sad as it was pretty darn cute and used velcro to keep it closed. But I did manage to find two others online. The book one I found at Angie's blog Chic' n Scratch. I adjusted it a bit to fit a full 3X3 pad of post its. The matchbook one I found at SplitCoastStampers. Love that site!! I adjusted the measurements to include a full 3X3 pad as well. I think they both came out cute!! ps. I used scraps on both of these (except the cardstock base)

Here are 5 gift card holders I made. I got the instructions from Jamie at Scrapping Friends. I am not sure where she got them from. So simple and yet so much fun. Again, used up some scraps!!

I made three 2-5-7-10 boxes... birthday, Christmas and Easter themes. I am loving my scraps at this point!! So much fun. And these are fun to make and to fill! These will be empty in the basket. I'm not doing all the work! LOL

These adorable lunch box note cards are from Jackie. I used colored pencils to give them some added life and had a fun time doing it!! These are so cute! I think whoever receives them in their lunch box will have an amazing day!

Next on the agenda is to work on some cards. I am not sure if I will make a card purse or just the cards. I guess we'll see how much time I have to complete this project. Either way I am looking forward to donating this basket. Sure hope it is well received!!

I'm done. I need to get showered and ready for my hair appointment and then to take Alex to Chuck E Cheese for Amy's birthday party (one of his friends at school) Busy kind of mommy day!

awards handed out

I could not wait to share the love with my fellow crafters so off into blog-land I went. I am in serious awe of the amount of talent that is out there. You ladies all rock and I wish I could award everyone of you but for now the following eight ladies will be the lucky ones!

Here are the 8 that stuck out to me at this moment... in no particular order.

1. AlienAnessa's Planet Oh how I love my Alien. Not only for her creativity but she is someone I am proud to call a friend.

2. Scrap Vamp Her stuff is incredible! I love to go and peek. I'm sure you will as well.

3. Marticadesigns She takes altering items to the next amazing level. Scratch that, she's even further out than that! You won't be sorry you stopped by this blog. She is also wonderful for keeping a thread going on Scrapbook.com where scrappers can add their blogs and get more followers!! Thank you!!

4. Marie at Life Inside the Music Box Her Valentine cards took my breath away. Hoping I can get it back again!

5. Cindy at Cardstock is my middle name Her little critter creations are simply adorable! Love them.

6. Manda K at Welcome to Wonderland Her use of embellishments blows my mind! Such detail and yet the pictures still shine.

7. Debbie at Brats Scrap Shack Victorian rocks here. Love the feel of everything she creates.

8. Vickie at Scrapbooking for Others I am loving the pre-made pages. I wish my real pages could come out as cute! Great stuff here!!

Thanks for all the inspiration ladies! I think you all have amazing blogs. Please keep up the great work. I will be hanging around and checking you out!! (kinda sounds like a stalker LOL)

Now go forth, tell 8 facts about yourself on your blog and award 8 other amazing talents with this honor. Thanks for playing!

stylish blogger award!

What a great surprise to receive this in my comments from mschiddy! I started this blog and did not expect many people outside of family and a few friends to read it much less make such sweet comments. And then to be given an award... so darn cool!!

From the looks of things on mschiddy's blog, the rules of this award are pretty darn simple. You tell 8 things about yourself and pass the award onto 8 other bloggers!! I can do that!

1. I didn't learn to drive until I was 20.

2. I was in retail management until I entered this great world of motherhood and am now enjoying my full time status as a mom.

3. I was hit by a CENTRO bus while walking to work (Wegmans parking lot in Fairmount, NY)

4. I was a biology major in college (SUNY at Cortland).

5. I have worked at Sea World in Orlando, Florida in one of the gift shops.

6. I find cleaning my house therapeutic.

7. I am president of the PTA at my daughters elementary school. (never thought I would do that!)

8. My favorite rock band is Def Leppard and have seen them in concert numerous times over the years.

That part was easy! Now to find 8 bloggers to share this award with. Promise to have it done by tomorrow!!

Thanks again mschiddy!!

kira sick day

Today was not a good start to the day. Her fever was more than mere medicine could handle so I tucked her back into bed and caught a few more Z's myself. She is resting on the couch with another cup of juice. Gotta keep her hydrated! She'll have turkey noodle soup today as well. I took it out of the deep freeze this morning. That will keep her eating!

Here they are. The pictures of the surprise I put inside the exploding box!! Should I add a bunch of spaces here to keep you in more suspense??

Kidding... LOL

Here it is.... I found it in the Better Home and Gardens magazine. It was in their December 2010 issue. It was one of those mini projects that they don't give 100% information but figure crafty people can make it work. So I did!! I can see me making a ton more of these are they are simple and so darn cute. They can be made bigger for other things. I wouldn't go smaller but probably could. Maybe I will!! LOL

I glued the two pattern papers together. You could probably use a double sided paper but I was trying to keep the same papers from the box to the surprise. I cut the strips 3" in length and 1/2" wide then inked both sides. You tape the strips into loops. I didn't have any of that magical acid free tape so I used regular scotch tape. Then you start attaching the loops together with double sided tape to form a 'flower'.

I cut the circle with a 1 1/4" punch since that was what would work with my stamped image. You could layer circles or squares or whatever shape you want. You are really just hiding the center. you could probably just as easily attach some bling to the center if it is small enough. Possibilities are endless!!

This is the other side. I didn't like seeing the back of the friend circle so created a flower out of the pattern paper using my punches. No clue what size just daisy punches I have had forever!! I curled in the top three layers and inked every other layer.

I used tacky glue to attach the flower to the circles. Worked well and didn't have to smoosh the loops to get it to stick. Again... use what works for you!!

I attached some fiber that just so happened to match from my stash! There it is! All set and ready to go.

I then did something dumb and tried to embellish the top of my box. Big mistake. As I was taking off the offensive items I TORE THE TOP! Yes, the top layer of my DCWV cardstock was no longer there but there was a lovely bit of white showing. eeeek!

So quick like a bunny, I created a couple more flowers and dug into the stash of primas to fix it. How does it look?

You can't tell the I ripped it but it does add a bit more fun to the top. whew... next time I will leave well enough alone! Me slapping my hands.

Thanks for being so patient with me in posting this today instead of last night. ;)

happy love day to everyone!

Happy Valentine's day everyone! Or as my Alien friend pointed out... the Hallmark created holiday. Hallmark created or not... it's a day to celebrate with the ones you love. Of course for us here at the Foltz House... we celebrate daily. It just happens the rest of the world joins us!!

I decided we needed a special dessert for today. So this morning before the sun came up, I was baking a devils food cake. yummy. Of course it took me the rest of the day to get my hind end back upstairs to frost it. But I did!! Then clever me decided to use a couple of cookie cutters as templates and added some colored sugar hearts. I could have done better but sometimes the sugar came out too fast. Lesson learned- remove the shaker top so you have more control!

We celebrated with the kids yesterday as today was going to be a crazy one for Kira and all her after school activities. Alex received a panda pillow pet whom he promptly named Panda Panda. He is so in love with this thing. Kira received a dog pillow pet for Christmas so all is fair now in the world of the Foltz siblings!!

Here's my girl who was not feeling 100% this morning. She still managed to give me a big ole smile. And also a small heart attack at 7:15am! She looks at me very seriously and states... I forgot to tell you something last week mom. (this cannot be good) I need Valentine's for my Girl Scout troop... this afternoon!! (big big mommy sigh here) ummm... sure. I shall whip some up for you to sign before you leave for school. eeeek. The problem is she was going to be at school until the time she has to be at Girl Scouts. Not helpful for this mom. Doing a quick think, I happen to remember I picked up a package of valentines last year on clearance at Walmart for .25!! And even better, I remembered where they were in the house!! Problem solved. After being awake a few more hours, I found some valentine themed pencils we had left over from a few years back. Plenty for the troop. Not too shabby for this mom. I then informed my favorite daughter, that she needs to mention these things a little further in advance!! Good thing I love her to pieces!

King Arthur flour had a bread baking event at her school on Friday. It was for the 4th and 5th graders. They had the chance to make two loaves of bread and then donate one of them on Monday. So on Sunday we tackled baking bread. I must point out, my idea of bread making involves my handy dandy bread machine and not the use of my two hands. I am proud to say, we did it!!

Here's my little trooper kneading the dough. I love the concentration on her face!!

She was really working it!!

Here is the results of her (and my) hard labor. Yes she is in her jammies since it was after her bath. It was a long process!! And it was pretty tasty bread.

This post got a bit longer than I had planned so I will post tomorrow the pictures of the surprise inside my exploding box. It came out so cute. But you will have to wait!!

so i lied... (exploding box)

I finished it and put it together and then couldn't wait to share!! Silly I know. Anywho... here goes.

This is the inside layer. I have shown this before but wanted to show what I did with the center panel. Just something a little fun with the sewing machine.

These are the outside panels of the inside layer. Hope that makes a bit of sense. The one piece of pattern paper in the middle panel is to reinforce one of my folds. It was trying to split on me. grrr. Some of the panels may look upside down but will be okay once the person opens the box in the correct direction and then pulls the panels down to look at them. Thanks for that tip Alien!!

This is the center layer inside panels. The quilled flower on the top panel is from a swap ages ago that my buddy Jackie made for me. Just perfect for this box. I did change out the bling that was in the center to the green. Strung up some beads from another swap. Heck... had a ton of fun with this layer!

This is the outside of the above layer. Pretty plain since I was suddenly struck by how fat my layers were becoming and I was scared my box would not close!! eeeek. The top and bottom panel are embossed and inked. I may drag the brown ink over the embossing in the morning. Giving it a chance to grow on me as it is.

This is the outer layer. Messed up the direction of the brads but I think it still looks good. Used some leather photo corners on the top and bottom panels. And some stickles throughout the entire box!

And here it is. Pardon the funny shadow from the light. I couldn't wait til morning to take the picture!! Here it is all put together. I think I am going to leave the outside of the box as is. So all the fun goodness will be bursting forth when it is opened!! I have had the friends circle FOREVER!! Finally put it to good use!

And the top of my box!! I am beyond happy with this box. Thank you Alien for your support and your instructions. I could not have done it without you!! I think this will be a great addition to my basket!! Tomorrow I work on the inside special surprise!! Will post when it is done... and if it works out!! LOL

exploding box

No pictures today. Stickles are drying and I don't want to mess them up by moving them too much. Plus the kids are screaming at me to feed them. As well as it's almost time for bed. woohoo!!

But have to share that my box is pretty much done. I will have to see about decorating the outside panels of the outer layer once I place my top onto it. Don't want to decorate parts that will be covered!! So we'll see on that part.

And I found something to put on the inside of my box!! Nope... not sharing yet. Hoping to get working on it tomorrow. It looks like a simple project but we all know how those turn out!!

Thanks again Alien for such a great project idea for me. It has motivated me to start working on this basket of goodies. (((hugs)))

more exploding box

This is the inside layer of my box. And the inside of that layer. Meaning the gift or whatever I am going to put in there (haven't decided yet) will be in that center section. Which may or may not get covered with pattern paper. Or maybe cardstock. Still debating that one. Anywho... these are the panels I have done so far. The tags in both of the slide mounts can come out so the recipient can put pictures in or turn it over and write a little note (very little)

This box is going to be part of a scrapping basket I am working on for my school's PTA basket raffle. I'm trying to make it a general theme so it could be used for a few different purposes. And look my threading water border punch is working like a charm!! Love that punch!

Here are the layouts I was working on before I started the exploding box project. Trip to Sea World 2008. We went on a backstage tour with Kira to see the penguins and have a chance to actually pet one! Kira totally enjoyed it.

This layout was of the penguin we met. Her name was Tierra. Used some Heidi Swapp ghost letters that I attached with embroidery floss. Jolee's stickers. Pagemap from April 2009.

More pictures of when we were waiting to pet our penguin. My circle skills are lacking when using paint!! But I like it. And love the new border punch I got. The scallop and long hole one. EKSuccess. The penguin family was a laser die cut I picked up at Mouse Memories when we were in Orlando that year.

This was at the start of the tour and our tickets. oooh new border punch used there on the right hand side of the right page and I put some ribbon in it. And on the journaling another new border punch. Love that look!!

Peeking at Shamu below the tank! So cool! Whale cut out of a piece of paper I picked up at Mouse Memories.

The daddy daughter dance was great last night. Daddy had to drag her out at the end she was having so much fun with her friends. She even managed to dance with daddy a few times!! Will have to work in a few pictures of the fun they had. Maybe tomorrow. Or later tonight. We'll see!

daddy daughter dance 2011

The best time during the winter!! My mom, Kira's Nana has made her dress every year since she was 4. This year's creation is amazing and such a pretty color for my princess!! Kira picked the material and the dress pattern. I think she did a good job! Mom did pretty good too!! LOL

Here she is without the jacket. Kira's arms get cold in a short sleeve dress (found that out the hard way one year) But it is so pretty I have to take a picture of it without the jacket.

Here she is with her daddy!! Amazingly enough, he had a shirt that matched her dress perfectly. Doesn't show that too well in the picture but it is the same color in real life!!

Every princess needs a fur cape and muff to keep her warm in New England in February!! Another Nana creation!!

Me and my girl!! She is getting so tall on me!! I'd like to say I was sitting down or something but she is catching up to me!!

Back of her hair. No it's not professionally done, but for not being trained, I got it up and curled for her. And it is coated in glitter mist!! She sparkles from head to toe!

I finally decided this year to send the camera with hubby so he can take pictures of Kira with all her friends at the dance!! Not sure why I hadn't thought of it before. Better late than never!!

I have now started working on my PTA scrapping goodies basket for our Turn Off TV week basket raffle. I am working on an exploding box and making some headway. I have gotten all the layers done. See previous days for the two outer layers. I am working on the inside layer, inside panels. I need to do two more panels before I can show them off. But I am working!! Thanks for the pep talk Alien. You are too kind. (((hugs))) across the country! Love you girl!

Hoping to post some pictures tomorrow of the penguin layouts I finally got done and the inside layer!! Crossing fingers!!