pagemaps best creations sketch contest

LOVE USING PAGEMAPS!! In case any of you hadn't noticed, most of my work is based on these amazing sketches by Becky Fleck. I love how easy they are to use and to adapt to my pictures and embellishments.

The layout below is my entry for this month's sketch contest. I had my Easter pictures laying on the desk. They hadn't quite made it to the storage box so I grabbed them and found some that would work for the sketch below.

Here is my entry. Alex hunting for eggs in the POURING rain. I think it was better in the rain because there weren't as many people there. But still more people there than I thought would be. Guess I'm not the only crazy parent hoping to make some memories for my children!!

I used paper from DCWV Spring stack from a year or two ago. It had the rain cloud paper which is just perfect for these pictures!! I used my EK Success border punch to create the circles on the paper strip. Used my red Sizzix to cut the eggs. Thickers letters for the aqua title. I was quite happy that they matched the colors that I was using! The subtitle is made with EK Success's Bookworks letter stickers. Need to get me more of these.... love them! Cut the rain cloud out of the paper twice and added some pop dots to give dimension. Added the rain using my sewing machine. I like how that came out. I heat embossed the journaling area. Used some metallic paper I picked up at Walmart and can't remember who makes it for the yellow journal area as well as the eggs under the title. Used a Bic marker to write the journaling. Background paper is from a DCWV spring cardstock stack. Thinking it was the same year as the paper... whatever that was.

Thanks for looking! You have until July 3, 2011 to get in on this sketch contest. Use the link above to check it out!!

last day of school and some gifts

Been slacking in posting some gifts I have made. Time to catch up... I made these two gift card holders for Kira's Girl Scout troop leaders. Love these ladies. And the papers and flowers were so wonderfully fun. I tried to use green since Kira is a Junior and wears a green vest. Had fun with these and they were appreciated.

This was a gift card holder for my Alien friend. If you look closely you can see one of her cousins right below the flower/ belt. Yummy greens on this one. Very happy with how this turned out.

Here is the card I sent to the above mentioned Alien. The paper is from the All About Boys DCWV stack. So perfect for all those extra terrestrials in our lives. Okay... I only have one, but she is pretty darn special. Love the purple and green on this. Used my Nesties for the pop dotted circle and the alien guy was just begging to be cut out of the paper to travel.

Yesterday was the last day of school for Kira! No more fourth grade for us... we are headed into 5th. Mr. Jones will be her teacher. I am very happy with this. And I think it will be great for her to have a male teacher before heading off to middle school.

Took the kids to McDonald's to celebrate the end of school. Plus it worked out since they have Pokemon toys and cards. We had a play date with Kira's friend Maggie which was great. They had a fun time since the rain came tumbling down shortly after we got home from lunch.

Here comes our summer. Hoping to be able to post some more creations shortly. Busy weekend coming up for us so if you don't hear from me... I'll be back soon!! Enjoy!

special gift

I had seen in the OTC catalog these great clear paint cans. You could get 6 for $10. Not too shabby. Of course in the catalog they look like gallon size, so I went in search of them at Michaels. Figured if I could get them cheaper local (and without shipping) that would work too. At Michaels the gallon size ones are $6 (use coupon = 3.60) Still thinking that the OTC ones would be a better deal, I picked up one of the smaller paint cans that Michaels did have (about 6 inches tall for $4. I didn't have a coupon that day) got it home and then read the OTC catalog closer... the ones from OTC were even smaller than the one I picked up at Michaels!! Lesson learned... save Michaels coupons and pick these paint cans up.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the two I now owned. I was planning on making something for Kira's Girl Scout leaders, but time was not on my side so that didn't happen. I tripped over them this past weekend and thought one would make a lovely gift for the secretary at the school who is amazingly awesome. So that is what I did.

Here is a front shot of the can. I stamped the white paper with black ink and used my kaleidoscope embossing powder on it. Love how it came out. Used my treading water Fiskars border punch on both the top and bottom of the paper strip. Added a hang tag made with my Nesties label (also heat embossed with kaleidoscope powder) and a few black and clear blings.

This is the top. I have had that black flower FOREVER!! I changed out the brad in the middle for this one and love the look. Used my Nesties scalloped circle for the top and more bling!

Another full front shot with a better background than my messy desk.

One of the sides. Lovely flowers with blingy brads in the center.

Backside of the can. The 'key' to open the top is a washer. So clever. I attached it with a very long piece of ribbon so it can be left attached to the can but still used to get into the can. I added a tag, made with my Nesties to explain the purpose of the washer.

Not heat embossed. Not sure why. Guess I forgot. oh the shame... but did add bling. And you can see that I added some black and white shredded cardstock inside the can to cushion the goodies inside.

Top shot with all the ribbon showing. I had fun going through my stash adding the ribbons.

Other side panel with blingy flowers.

Close up of the front tag.

Peeking inside the paint can. Gift card holder containing a gift card to Dunkin Donuts and some yummy Lindt truffles. mmmmm....

Here is the gift card holder before being put into that chocolate heaven. The Thanks So much stamp/ circle is pop dotted off the black belt.

I dropped it off today and it looked so purty sitting on her desk. I hope she enjoys it. She is a wonderful lady and helps me out so much. She totally deserves this.

happy father's day!

Hoping it's going to be a good one here. Right now both of the kids are on my nerves and daddy is still asleep. I don't think Kira got enough sleep so she's a little whiny. After breakfast she should be better.

Here's my kiddos at Friendly's from last week. We went there after Kira's annual check up. It was a reward for being good for me while hubby was out of town for work. Plus I know that they eat pretty much everything on their plates to get the ice cream at the end!! Love that. Sometimes they can be so sweet and loving... and then the tween emotions come into play... eeeek.

Look at the shagginess that is Alex's hair!! oh my word! In all fairness, his last haircut was in March so we have been slacking in that. Scroll down to see the new and improved summer do for my little guy.

Much more better!! Handsome little guy, ain't he?? He won't let them use the trimmers so they have to use scissors. She did a great job getting it that short. You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but his hair is THICK!! She was cutting and cutting for awhile to get it that short. Now he is ready for summer. I should take Kira somewhere to get a trim... looking scary on the ends. BTW... haircut for Alex means Kelly's Roast Beef for mommy!! I love how that works :)

Waiting for hubby to wake up so we can give him his presents and some family love. He deserves to sleep in a bit. Long week for him in St. Louis. Glad to have him home- we missed him.

Happy Father's Day!!

almost friday!

Here's a couple of pictures from last week. First one is of Kira from her Court of Awards ceremony for Girl Scouts. So cute. If she keeps growing at the rate she is... That vest will be tiny on her at the end of next year!

One night while I was reading to Alex, we heard some animal making very loud noises in the front yard. Almost sounded like a bird or a bat. Then there was two or three of these animals making noise. Lovely... what woodland critter is hanging in my front yard?

Come to find out it's this little lady and her babies. We're not sure if they fell out of the tree or fell off her back when she was bringing them up or down the tree, but they were lost and she was calling to them to get them back to her. VERY LOUD!! I never knew that raccoons made noise, much less the loud ones that this little family was making.

It took us a bit of time to find the source of the noise as the front tree area needs some major professional work (one of the trees broke during the wind storm in February 2010 and the parts that got cut off were left for us to dispose of by the power company) But we found her. Hubby continued to watch her while I got the kids to bed. Then he told me that one of the babies had gotten hit by a car on the road. Why the raccoon had to cross the road is beyond me, but she did. I felt horrible. He said that the hurt one kept walking up and down the road on the side calling to his mommy. Very sad.

The next day (and when hubby got this picture) we found the baby in the front yard very near the tree base. He didn't make it. The mommy kept coming down the tree and going over to it. Very very sad. Hubby got rid of it when he mowed the lawn. In the morning, we found another one in the road, very run over. I want to tell this mommy to keep her babies in the tree, they are not ready to cross the road. But nature knows what it is doing and it is not up to me to repopulate the raccoon population in Newmarket.

Isn't she cute?? And pretty big. I never knew that raccoons could climb trees or that they would nest in the tree. From the looks of things, we REALLY need to get that tree removed once she is gone. Looking a little dead to me.

Hubby was by the driveway when he took these pictures. Plus it was getting to be dusk so many of them did not come out great. This spot is WAAAAAYYY up high in the tree.

Looking forward to Friday and the weekend. Been a long one here and happy that the kids have been good and not too crabby.

Oh yeah... Kira had her well child check up yesterday. They say she is doing a great job taking care of herself. She grew 3.75 inches since January! I know I have her record from last year somewhere around here. I'll have to see how much she has grown since last June. It's got to be a lot. Her pants have shown me she has grown. That girl has got some legs on her!

And the best news... the title came for hubby's old car so we can sell it off and get it out of the driveway and onto it's new owner.

cards for my friend lois (photo heavy)

A friend of mine asked if I would make her some Thank you cards. Here's what I came up with. There are 20, hope that's enough or back to creating I go ;)

The first one the sentiments are stamped on the inside of the card. Around the holes on the front of the card are circles that I heat embossed with gold.

I heat embossed the sentiment on this one with my new kaleidoscope embossing powder. It gives it a rainbow-ish effect and sparkles. Love it!! I used my treading water fiskars border punch for the paper the sentiment is on. The flower is a Making Memories one that I have had FOREVER!! Happy to use it.

I think this is my favorite of the bunch. I used one of my EK Success border punches to give the front texture. Then added the sentiment and heat embossed it with the kaleidoscope powder.

Had a blast sewing on this one!! Cut the strips, laid them on the card at a diagonal and then stitched. Stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and then stitched it as well. Love the texture on it.

Cut the vellum flower with my red Sizzix machine. Heat embossed the sentiment and pop dotted the whole thing.

Cut the bread tag out of vellum with my red Sizzix and then heat embossed the edges. Heat embossed the sentiment. Attached it to the card front and added the ribbon that has been kicking around for a bit of time here. Sewed all around the edge to keep the ribbon from leaving the card front.

Stitched the paper ribbon around the front of the card, cut out a window and stamped the sentiment inside with my now favorite kaleidoscope embossing powder. Added a few details to make it pop. I like this one too!!

The green circle came out of my paper scraps as is with the second circle cut out of it! I trimmed the edges to make it fit the front of the card. Love that it worked out so nicely for me. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with gold powder and added the gold brads to balance it out.

Sewed to break up the patterns on this paper. Added the snaps to the chipboard stars. Heat embossed the sentiment with clear embossing powder. Simple but I like it.

Another favorite here. Used my treading water border punch from fiskars to give the front texture. Added stickles to the holes in the punched strips. Happy with this one.

Embossed the front of the card with my cuttlebug embossing folder. Cut the library pocket with my red Sizzix. Used my cuttlebug to cut the design on the pocket. Stamped and embossed the sentiment with the kaleidoscope powder. The sentiment is pulled out for the picture, but would be tucked in for mailing.

Stamped a thank you Studio G stamp on the flower paper and then heat embossed with clear powder. Love how it came out. Added the gracias in the corner to tie in the ribbon.

Embossed the background paper with my paisley folder in my cuttlebug, the strip with the swiss dots folder (Thanks again Alien I love that folder!!) And heat embossed the sentiment.

My take on some cards that Alien has created with her grass border punch. I figured my leaves could be on the top so I went with that. (fiskars special edition spring leaves border punch) Used the swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder. Sizzix bread tag pop dotted with sentiment.

Sentiment stamped on the inside of card and window punched in the front. The stray inking mistake has since been covered up with bling but the light has gone away for the night so I can't take a decent picture but trust me, it looks much better!! Flowers that have been looking at me for awhile, finally used them. They look happier now. Bling brad in the center.

Sewed the twill, flowers and the stamped sentiment on the front. Added some bling to the flower centers.

Embossed the front of this with the thank you embossing folder in my cuttlebug. Inked the heck out of it. Added some stickles to the gracias and a giant brad for fun.

The corner flourishes and the center one was cut on my cuttlebug with a cuttlebug die cut set I got on clearance. I like them. Added some stickles to the empty space in the corner flourishes to jazz it up.

All three circle elements are pop dotted.

Heat embossed the sentiment and added stickles. Sewed the sentiment along the top and added some corner flourishes cut with my cuttlebug.

That's what I have been busy doing. I had a great time with them. Taking the night off though. I need to step away from the scrapping desk.

BTW... Alex is feeling 100% better and is eating again. This mommy is very happy.

happy birthday to my munchkin

The weekend went by so fast! We spent most of Saturday cleaning the house and getting things picked up. The kids tried to stay out of our way and not make a mess behind us.

Sunday we had Kira's friends party at Chuck E Cheese. We offered to take any kids with us so the parents wouldn't have to drive too far for a drop off and pick up party. I ended up with five girls in the back of my van for the ride out and four girls and one boy on the way home. Can I tell you how LOUD fourth grade girls are?? Holey smokes batman! I turned the captains seats around in the van (Chrysler Town and Country) so they could all see and face each other. Worked well as all I had to do was concentrate on driving. Hubby drove his car there with Alex. They had a nice quiet ride both ways!!

The party was wonderful. The only problem I have with the parties is that they do not give nearly enough tokens to the kids to play for 50 minutes!! They get 20 and are expected to keep entertained until the food is ready. Not happening! I purchased a few more tokens and handed them out through out the day to keep them playing games and having fun. At one point, one of the guests said I was a cool mom since I kept handing out tokens. Neato!

Kira is totally into Pokemon and the trading cards. And her friends know this! She now has quite the collection of cards to play with. I am very proud to say that she did give quite a few duplicates to her brother. Very sweet of her.

Here's my girl with her friends at the party. My Alex and my friends two boys didn't get in the picture. They were busy with the games. It was quite a challenge keeping up with everyone. I didn't play a single game but had a great time.

I was sooo tired that night. I fell asleep holding Alex in his chair at bedtime. Hubby had to come in and wake me up before I started snoring too loudly and woke Alex up.

Yesterday poor Alex got sick in the car on the way home from picking up Kira. It was EVERYWHERE!! He did good and didn't freak out, Kira... totally freaking out. That's my girl. He's gently trying out some dry Cheerios and ginger ale this morning. (no not mixed together) He got sick once more when we got home but has been good since then. He even managed to eat a bowl of cheerios (dry) last night.

Off to work on some Thank You cards for a friend of mine. I have 15 made and have a few more pieces of paper I pulled to use so we'll see how many I end up with. Have a great one!

lots of pictures to share

We've been busy around here. We had to celebrate a certain little ladies 10th birthday. Yes 10!! Double digits and everything. Where have those years gone? I can remember being pregnant with her (and very uncomfortable as her foot was wedged under my rib cage) Now look at her... practically in college. Okay, slight exaggeration, but you understand.

Here's one that she took of us last night before dinner.

We took cupcakes and juice into school to celebrate her birthday. Can you tell how much Alex simply adores his sister?? The Pooh ear headband says Happy Birthday and mommy has a matching one which I did wear into her class. I'm the silly mom now. Her Chuck E Cheese medallion from her 7th birthday and her Happy Birthday pin from Walt Disney World that we got in 2008 when we 'faked' having her birthday. I know we will never be in Disney during June (been there done that- too hot) and we wanted her to enjoy the attention. She did. No harm, no foul.

Today was field day at her school. Complete with a parade of all the classes. Here's a group from her class. Left to right- Maggie, Cedar, Kira and Camille.

Then it was time to take Alex to school for his last day of preschool. I dropped him off and ran home to shower so I could get back for the ceremony. Made it!!

Here he is with his certificate. He's now ready for kindergarten!! Too bad mommy isn't.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin. Such a handsome little guy.

And then tonight we have Kira's Court of Awards for Girl Scouts. More pictures!! I could really use a nap. Wonder if I can sneak one in sometime today. Probably not. Shucks.

last week's project

Let me tell you how happy I am that hubby is back to work and I can relax a bit this week. Especially with the heat and humidity that has found it's way to our door. Is the garage finished? Nope but for the time being it is much better than it was.

Here it is with the one side that faces the house completely painted and about half of the front painted. We also removed the trim around the garage doors as it was rotten and looked HORRIBLE!

Here we are as the after shot!! There is some touch up painting that has to be done around all the doors as we had to caulk everything back up. New basketball hoop for the kids. Somehow we lost the net so we'll be having to pick up another one. We replaced the side entry door. It used to have a nine pane window in it and was also rotting out at the bottom. New steel door with a dead bolt!!

The garage doors will have to be painted as they look horrible now with all the new paint. I'll work on that once I can get back out there. Painting in the humidity is not high on my list of fun activities!

I have to paint the trim around 2 windows and finish up the side next to the deck. But I am so happy with how this is coming out. We now look like we care about our house. Just wait until we paint the house!! The neighbors will faint.

Off to pick up Kira. And I have to make some mini cupcakes for her birthday celebration in class tomorrow. Really don't feel like being in the kitchen with the oven going but it has to be done. I promised.

I cannot believe she will be ten tomorrow! oh my word... where has that time gone??? My baby. sigh.

checking in

Man... it's been a busy one. Remind me to not let hubby take a week off. He has been working me like a dog. Oh sure... it's all stuff that needed to be done around here and yes it's looking good. But I am tired!!

Most of the garage has been painted. The front top half needs to be painted. It's really really high and it's been very windy so I can't blame hubby for not wanting to end up on the driveway covered in paint. And the side by the deck needs to be finished up.

Good news. The side garage door is in. Looks amazingly wonderful. You'll have to take my word and I am not uploading pictures tonight. LOL The trim around my garage door looks great. We'll finish his side up tomorrow. We got sidetracked putting up the basketball hoop. Took us long enough. We've had the thing for almost three years now. Yup... we're slackers.

Looks like next weekend will be house painting time. Let me tell you... I cannot wait for that bit of fun. If you're in the area... why not stop by and lend a hand. We've got plenty of brushes, rollers and even a paint sprayer. We're buying after!! ;)

Pictures to follow soon. Hubby goes back to work on Monday!! Then maybe I can clean the inside of my house. It's a wreck!