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