Wow, the double stroller! Lugged this around everywhere. I love this pciture of my little guy...about 9 months old here. Love how he used to grab his toes!

random pic

Testing...Picassa lets me select pics out of my library and then I just hit "Blog This" and here it is. Kendall was just barely 3 here. Love this pic.

Challenge

(ETA: I just noticed my handwriting typo-that's what I get for rushing)
Last night I was working on a craft project for Kendall's room and then I saw this challenge on Laura's blog here. I had this pictures of the kids with their grandma (Ozan's mom) from our trip to San Diego already printed for a LO. She is absolutely crazing in love with them. I planned to do a quick LO, but I ended up putting more into it than planned. The challenge was to use KI Memories paper, Pink, Flowers, and letter stickers.

My original thought was to put the scalloped black cardstock section in the middle of the paper and I was going to journal on the sides. I didn't have plans to put the felt pieces in there. I almost forgot to add the flowers. Then I got stuck because I couldn't find a place for them. I decided to add the felt flowers to the upper right, then it looked funny because the stems were coming from the middle of the paper, thats when I decided to add the houndstooth ribbon and the journaling page there. Then added the heart for balance. I added stickles wherever I could.

The "Love" portion was made using my new Slice machine. I used the negative piece of the sheet, adhered it to my page and added stickles to the open portions. Making sense? On the letter stickers I added some dotting with my white Signo gel pen.

Funny because I wanted to take the picture of the LO outside...the sun had peaked out a bit. When I was out there, my heart felt piece fell off and by the time I fixed it, it started snowing pretty hard. LOL! Oh well. And I gotta add that I made the scalloped edges with my new Martha Stewart punch...I think the corners came out kinda OK. Not perfect, but better than I thought.

Made this card the other day for my grandma who lives in North Carolina...she's been in and out of the hospital recently with various problems. She is doing much better and I'm so thankful for that. Used my Martha Stewart border punch again and a bunch of other punches. The scalloped square was made with a Nestabilites die cut from Spellbinders. Took my white gel pen again...this time around the butterflies. I like the look.

Last night, we headed out to dinner...I ran into someone I know and she offered to take some family shoots. Of course I took her up on her offer. Its dark in the restaurant but it came out OK.

And this girlie lost her first tooth the other day. She's growing up so fast!

Supplies Used:

"Grandma Love"

Patterned Paper, Letter Stickers-KI Memories

Kraft Cardstock and Houndstooth Ribbon-Hobby Lobby

Black Cardstock-Archivers

Turquiose Cardstock-Stampin Up

Felt Shapes-Fancy Pants

Photo Corners-Colorbox

Journaling Page-Making Memories

Scalloped Border Punch-Martha Stewart

Buttons-Autumn Leaves

Die cut Machine-Slice by Making Memories

Pen-American Crafts (black) and Uniball Signo (white)

"Your On My Mind" card

Cardstock,Patterned Paper, Ink, Stamps, Ribbon-Stampin Up

Scalloped Border Punch and Butterflies-Martha Stewart

Index Tab Punch-McGill

Brads-Karen Foster

Pen-Uniball Signo (white)

Stickles-Ranger

My Semi- New Space

Well, for the past month or so I've been gradually working on my scrap space...took a while but got a big chunk of it done. Finally got my Expedit from Ikea. The wall that its on is in between two doors so my space was limited. The 16 squared one is nice but pretty short. I wanted to utilize any height I had so I put them on top of these 4 cabinets...also from Ikea. Ozan painted the room for me and replaced a door to our crawl space to a bi-fold door to save space. I put together all of this furniture and used plates to screw them together AND attached it to the wall. I have learned to be handy around this house...someone has to be. LOL! I love this unit and I really work well if everything is somewhat easy to grab and use. Love to see all my stuff that I've collected over the past 5 years. And 8 drawers below is so convenient! I stored some extras on top...have just enough space to put my Sizzix diecuts and some Maya Road tins. I'm able to reach up there so its easily accessed.

I had purchased a lot of the red Ikea Kassett boxes but I didn't use many of them...really realized that what I had worked better. I have a very ecclectic style so I tend to mix things up{This is going to be a super long post}

...some close ups...the white boxes are by Cropper Hopper to store my stickers and rub ons. I divided them by manufactuer, type, and theme. The blue drawers are ancient...got these about 12 years ago at Borders...they have a fabric finish and I really like them. Use these to store markers, thin die cuts, some ink pads, and masks. The large red box is filled with embellishments that are larger in their packages.

Some more...that small brown basket holds bling and gems. The white one holds all card making supplies...just pull it off the shelf to use.
My Stampin Up Cardstock...I cut out small pieces and wrote the color of the paper down...haven't done that yet for my newer purchases...

My new way to store my Cuttlebug Embossing Plates. Got this from Borders too...matches the drawers. I store them with a piece of white core cardstock (DCWV) that was embossed in the folder and then I sand it and put the paper back in. Its so much easier to find the plates. I use them all the time! And notice the labels? I own several label makers...love them!

I store the smaller Cuttlebug stuff in this open tin, easy to grab! And so pretty!

I love looking in other people's craft space...especially drawers and things like that. I have 2 drawers filled with my Stampin Up stamps.

And this is my favorite drawer below. I found this basket at JoAnn's and cut off the handles. This basket stores my tags, journaling papers, and small paper pads. Kinda keep them loose in the basket and I can just grab something. This has been real convenient so far.

I also arranged my cropper hoppers paper holders to one of my work tables. I really wanted this space for a paper trimer and for my Cuttlebug but I just didn't have the space to put them on the Expedit. And my favorite basket that holds loose wooden stamps...

To the right of that table is my making memories embellishment center and some racks I hung up below to hold all my making memories jars. Love seeing everything out. I hang my american crafts ribbon on a ring and leave it on the side of the center.

One of my other projects are these Benno CD towers from Ikea. I purchased some more jars to hold more embellishments. Here is a close up...

a different view...

a view when you enter my room...its really not too big. Really have to use the wall space well! My carpet looks funny...theres a shadow on the floor in the picture but thats from the light! LOL!

OK, I've made quite a few cards lately...I made a baby girl card for a co-worker who is expecting his second baby any day. But they don't know the sex so I made a boy card the next day just in case... I'll post the supplies later but used a tons of old school stuff and a shabby chic style that I used to have a long time ago. Super old supplies here. My friend Laura inspired me to use the tag on a card...and to emboss it. Love it. Oh, and I lifted one of her LO's here...you can see it later in the post. Yes, there's more.


Kendall made this at school for me. I thought it was a picture frame but she calls it a scrapbook page! Love it...have it hanging in my room.

And my LO! I was stuck on what papers to use. I just created a new Cropper Hopper paper holder to store all my newer papers...this is how I came up with these colors. I got some new Swiss Dot Bazzill cardstock...love, love this paper! They had some cute Pink Pailee stuff too. On the pink paper there is some typing and my mom's name is on there (Jeanne), so I didn't cover it up. I took this scan and didn't like it...took some pics and didn't like those, so i'll stick with this scan. I did use my new SU die cut and some cute cork paper.

And some leftovers for a card...super quick. I just found out that its one of my friends B-days tomorrow. Her husband works with my husband and then we found out that we both work at the same hospital...maybe I'll run this over to her! We always call each other Chica...thus the title!

This is the other side of the room...my workspace and computer. Its still a mess from these projects (and unpainted).

Have a great Halloween!!

...so busy this weekend! Just a quick post here. This picture of kendall was taken at her kindergarten open house last week. She is here with her best friend at school, Anthony (I didn't want to put his face on my blog without permission). They are super close and have been going to school for 2 years now. So super cute together. This picture was taken indoors at night so I was pretty surprised how nice it came out.


Found her favorite toy sitting like this at her cubbie when I walked in...had to take of pic. So cute!

Made this card for a wedding yesterday. I had this super old pre-made card base (from Making Memories). Just slid out the cardstock and put it through the Cuttlebug embossing plate. Used some floss to make handstitching. I messed up the embossing several times and had to cut some cardstock from Stampin Up to replace the ivory cardstock.

The kraft cardstock heart was made with one of those tiny Cuttlebug embossing folders. I have so many that I haven't used but when I saw the heart ones in the store recently, I knew I would use them. The 2 larger patterned hearts were made by tracing around a chipboard one.

I was quite surprised when we got to the table at the wedding reception and saw our little favor...the ribbon is almost exactly the same. This favor is absolutely adorable. I wish I had taken a picture of the center pieces. They had real white pumpkins with the tops cut off and mums planted inside. Autumn weddings are gorgeous!

And made this card tonight for my SIL who comes over often to babysit. She is awesome. This card was inspired by a notebook. I stamped out the letters with white SU ink and then used a punch to make the circles.



Supplies Used

"4 Ever" Card:

Pre-Made Card, Patterned Paper, letter stickers: Making Memories

Cardstock: Stampin Up (very vanilla) & Hobby Lobby (kraft)

Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug (background and heart)

Ribbon: Stampin Up

Floss

"Thanks" Card:

Cardstock, Ink, Ribbon, Kiwi Kiss Designer Paper (green): Stampin Up

Letter Stamps: The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)

White Patterned Paper (grid): Scenic Route

New Header...Nature Walk

Well, we've had some pretty good warm weather...it barely seems like autumn around here. But I'm not complaining! The trees that I see when I'm driving or those on our street have changed colors and they are full of leaves...so pretty.
So I had this great idea of taking the kids this morning for a nature walk to our local forest preserve down the street and capture them in the glory of all the leaves changing...well it didn't work. Except for the entrance (where you see Ozan entering with the kids) the leaves are still green...probably due to the warm weather. It was 86 degrees today, so unusual for mid-October in Chicago. In my great idea I was going to get some awesome pics of the kids running down the trail with the leaves all pretty around to scrapbook later. My plans rarely work out.
Notice my two very tactile kids...alway have to have something in their hands. Aydan with his 4 Cars...did a LO a few months back about his 3 Cars that he totes everywhere. Now we've added a 4th one. LOL!
And took a little break to make a card...I go through these card moods sometimes over scrapbooking and right now I'm crazy about making them. I can't stop using my Top Notz Die Cut...its just so darn cute. Used the leftover negative space from the LO I did the other day. I only purchased one sheet of that paper and I've gotten so much out of it so far. For this card I folded some vellum into a fan, taped it down and heat embossed it. i got this fun embossing powder the other day...made by Gel A Tins. It is actually candy cane scented which is so weird for this card's theme but I loved the color! I just put the embossed vellum behind the die cut negative. And that Heidi Swapp butterfly...love it! There were 3 of them in this 12x12 sheet and I've used them all already! Used my new SU Kindred Spirits set and Kiwi Kiss designer PP. And I love the Pacific Point cardstock and ribbon. I'm a sucker for SU blues...gotta have them all!

This card was inspired by Asian style shades.

Oh, did you notice the new header? I made this tonight with scrapbook supplies hoping for a change. i gotta rescan that and fix it in photoshop sometime soon. I used Elizabeth Kartchner's article in the Creating Keepsake magazine for a guideline on what size to make it and how to size it in photoshop.

Supplies Used:
Kindred Spirits Card
Cardstock, Ink, Ribbon, Stamp, Die Cut, Kiwi Kiss Patterned Paper: Stampin Up
Embossing Powder: Gel A Tins
PP: Doodlebug

Blog Header
PP: Doodlebug
Chipboard: DCWV
Stamp and Ink: Stampin UP
Fabric Tape and Stickers: Making Memories
Butterfly: Heidi Swapp
Prisma Glitter: Hero Arts

Wow-lots to blog about

Wow, didn't realize how much I had to put on my blog until I started this entry. I made this card last night for a magazine submission. I had so much fun making this...took about 2 hours though. This large die cut is new, something I just got recently and didn't have time to play with it now. Its a Sizzix Die cut from Stampin Up...I used a Making Memories metal sheet. This die is fun...its big, which is nice. This card is 5.5" square. Had to make that size to accomodate the die cut. The purple cardstock was put through a Cuttlebug embossing folder that was first brayered with some White Stampin Up craft ink. Loved how it came out. The blue papers are brand new and so is Stampin Up scalloped border punch.
For the diecut, I inked it with the same white craft ink and then added white embossing powder. The ribbon is silky and I had a really hard time tying it nicely. That was driving me crazy.



I was cleaning out my scraproom last weekend and found this picture of Aydan that was waiting to be scrapped. Its from Dec 06, so its been in my to-do pile for a while. I did the same type of picture for Kendall in this entry. Actually I was planning on doing the same type of LO on Aydan's but then I saw Laura's LO here and it was a great LO to lift. So it started as a lift, but I measured the paper wrong on the bottom so I couldn't make the circles. I had these Lil Davis stars for a couple of weeks sitting on my desk just begging to be used. So I guess I'll call this "inspired by Laura". I had purchased this blue and white Doodlebug paper just 1 hour before I made this. The blue had a raised chenille finish and the red has a glittery raised finish. Used the die cute for project too...just cut it in half to fit the page. The glittery letters are American Crafts...they were a pain! When I went to peel them off the sheet the back of the chipbooard was shredding and they weren't sticking well at all. I had to put some of them through a xyron. When I was attaching the stars, I got stuck on how to adhere them. The edges are too narrow to use glue dots and I'm not a fan of liquid glue cause it warps the LO...so I decided to use some brads stuck in the middle.


Ozan painted my room last weekend...well half of it. Here is a sneak peek. I purchased some Ikea drawers, organizers, and finally my Expedit. We are in the middle of putting everything up. Can't wait for it all to be finished. The blue walls seem to be lighter in the picture than in real life...its actually pretty bold...its a turquoise color. This picture doesn't do it justice.

See this ladybug? This thing is attached to my front door. These suckers come out in the fall and they stick to your house, windows, and they bite. Aydan and I have these welts on our faces, legs, and hands. At first I couldn't figure it out but then I remembered these guys from last year. When they bite, you don't even notice it or even see them on you. But after a week these welts start to itch and swell. AND if that wasn't bad enough, they get in your house and stay all winter. You could be sitting down watching TV and then you see these guys flying around. Just weird seeing bugs flying in the house during the winter months. Go away!

Last weekend I was looking for something and came across these...my first stamps ever. My sister purchased these for me in the early 90's. I kept them at work to use for my students tests...I work in the radiology field so I really love these...love bones! LOL! Sounds weird I know. They were covered in black ink and i was able to clean them off.

And Kendall...Daddy went on her first Kindergarten field trip with her to a local apple farm. Of course I made him take the camera. He got a beautiful picture here. Funny because her teacher emailed the parents pics from the trip and there is this picture of Ozan sitting with all the little kids eating cheese sandwiches at a picnic table. So cute.

Had to share these. I put up this chalkboard in the kitchen for the kids this summer to count down the days to our vacations. I started writing down what the day of the week was. The kids keep me on my toes by reminding me when i haven't changed it. On this day Kendall wanted to write it. She now can spell and recite the spelling of all the days of the week. She wrote the first "Monday" and then Aydan wanted to write it too. He is so good with his letters.

Supplies Used:

"Spring Card"
Cardstock, Border Punch, Stamp, White Craft Ink, Die Cut: Stampin Up
Ribbon, Letter Stickers, and Metal Sheet: Making Memories
Embossing Powder: Ranger
Solvent Ink (White): Staz On Tsukineko
Sheer Butterfly: Heidi Swapp
Metal Gems: Mark Richards
Gems: Hero Arts

Embossing Plate: Cuttlebug

Foam Tape: Scotch"Blue Eyes"

Patterned Paper, Die Cut: Stampin UpEmbossed Paper, Scalloped Edges, Trim: DoodlebugGlitter Letters: American CraftsTransperancy Stars: Lil Davis