Pretty Flowers

Today I celebrated 8 years of marriage with my hubby. I came home this afternoon to find this beautiful bouquet of roses on my bed. So I thought I would share the pretty flowers with you.

We went out to dinner and enjoyed some time together ALONE! Always fun to have a night out together.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your day.

Jessica

3 Challenges and a sneak peek... (MOJO93, CBC68, CCC46)

So I finally got a chance to stamp again. I have been working like crazy on organizing my space! I am almost happy with how I have things...ha ha. We just returned from a weekend in beatiful Allegany State Park too. My girls love it there. Nothing like a little camping trip to kick off the summer. Speaking of summer here is the first card for tonight. I made this for 2 different challenges: Mojo Monday 93 and Cupcake Craft 46 (which sadly is going to be ending). So, this card uses the Mojo sketch this week (Mojo93), and is a summer theme for the Cupcake challenge (CCC46). I used the TAC an udder birthday stamp set to create this. I colored the image with watercolor crayons, and added some black liquid applique to the cow's spots (which is kinda hard to see in the photo). I layered the cow on TAC DSP Gentle Beginnings (which is retired by the way), and layered that on yellow CS. I used a boarder punch to attempt to make a square. I wasn't thrilled with how the corners came out, but I am still getting used to making the square with the punch. I stamped the sentiment on yellow and punched out with an oval punch. Then I layered that onto a blue CS scalloped oval. I added some white ribbon, and some corridinating colored brads. This is my next project. I made this for the Belli Blog Challenge. (CBC68). The challenge was a red, white, and blue theme. I used TAC Ice cream stamp set, and TAC Trendy Greetings for the sentiment. I used a brayer with real red to create the background. My red ink was a little more moist then I had expected, so it kinda got all over me...lol. Well, since I punched the stars out after I used the brayer, I kinda got finger prints all over them. To compensate, I decided to rub my fingers all over them to create a sponged look. I kinda like the way it turned out.

My last card tonight is a little "sneak peek" of my Christmas card for this year. I used TAC snowman nativity stamp set. Here is a peek...I will give more details about this card another time...when I get more of them done.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your 4th of July!!!!

Jessica

Some blog candy

Who doesn't like a chance to win. Check this out. Chris is celebrating 100,000 hits on her blog. What a great accomplishment. Check out the CANDY HERE. Hurry...it ends at midnight tonigh!

Jessica

A Patriotic Berry SSS09

I saw this sketch, and I had to try it. It is a pretty easy sketch with a slight twist. I created this for The Sweet Stop challenge this week. This is a great new challenge blog started by the Sweet and Sassy Company. I decided to play along using a new Angel Company stamp set I got this week. The twist was to use the colors red, white, and blue. Here is the sketch...

Here is what I came up with...

I used the strawberry stamp from the TAC June rewards set Fruit Collages. This set is available at a discounted price with any $30 purchase during the month of June. You can also earn it for FREE as a hostess this month with a $250 party. There are also 2 other sets available with this promotion this month as well. You can check them out HERE. Anyway, I used red palette ink to stamp the strawberry onto white cardstock. The then cut along the boarder and layered it on blue. I didn't really have any DSP that I liked with the red and blue I already had, so I decided to use another piece and make my own. As I was embossing the paper I remembered why I love my cuttlebug sooooo much! I used a fiskers embossing plate called basket weave. I then layered that piece on some red cardstock. The buttons are from my mom's old button tin. I am loving the old button tin...so many "treasures" in there! I used some thin red ribbon along the bottom, as well as threading some in the buttons. The sentiment is from the TAC set Ordinary Greetings.
Well that is it for now. Thanks so much for stopping by. I finally have all my cubes together for my organizers. They are all set up...now I need to get all my supplies into them. I started and did a couple things, but WOW...I was so overwhelmed. Who knew I had so much stamping stuff...ha ha ha.

Jessica

Dance Recital 2009

Wow what a busy week we had! It was dance recital week, which always means at LEAST 3 days of running around like a crazy women. We had pictures on Monday, rehearsals on Thursday, and the big show on Saturday. I think I got to sit for a total of 5 minutes during the actual recital. I was room mom for my older daughter's class...which means I have to stay back stage until they go on. I have to line them up, and then take them all back down stairs and wait for their moms after too. Again a case of I forgot to say "NO"...ha ha. For my middle daughter I was NOT room mom, but I still waited for a little while backstage to help the mom that was room mom. Keeping almost 15 3-5 year olds busy while waiting to go on stage in a tiny room is NOT easy. Thankfully we had crayons and paper which helped for a little while. Well they both did an awesome job with their dancing. Despite the fact that my 6 year old was sick! We are spending most of father's day at home resting up...since I am supposed to babysit 3 more girls tomorrow. Well here are a couple pictures of my dancing girls. I am hoping to spend some time stamping tonight too. I know it sounds crazy, but I have already designed what I want my Christmas card to look like this year. My husband thinks I am nuts...but I do have to make like 50 of them. I just got a Christmas set from TAC that I am using this year. It is called Snowman Nativity, and I love it. Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Grandpas, and Uncles out there!

My daughter Morgan...she danced to "One that I Want" from Grease.

My daughter Natalie, she danced to "Cruella Devil".

Jessica

Kid's Father's Day Gifts

Good morning! I will probably regret posting this because my husband will see it before he gets it, but I am so excited about this project. Father's day gifts are always so hard to come up with. Really they don't "NEED" anything, and to come up with something that is manly isn't easy either. So I came across this craft in the current issue of Family Fun magazine. It is a really cute "pocket" journal/notepad for dads. HERE is the online directions for it. I made a few changes to fit with the supplies I had, but pretty much everything is the same as the directions. Here is a photo of our finished projects!

We had to make 3 of them, so I was able to have each girl make one. I pre-cut all the cardboard and paper pieces. The girls were able to decorate the front covers. I used die cut letters that I had to spell the names on the covers. After those were glued on, I let the girls go to town decorating the covers for the gift receiver. They did such a good job drawing pictures of things the person their book was for likes. I didn't have the rubber bands to hold the edges together like the directions say, so we just used ribbon. The directions also had them held together with a stick, and I didn't have those either. I am sure I could have just taken a walk to get them, but it was more fun using the ribbon...which was already in the house! Thanks for looking. They were so proud of their creations, and I am sure I will have some very happy Dads/Grandpas on Sunday! Who doesn't love a handmade gift.

Jessica

Father's Day! CBC67 CCC#44

Well it is time to celebrate our dads! I have 2 things to show you today. One is a card I created not only for father's day, but also for a challenge. The other is a really neat gift/card, also created for a challenge.

The first card was created for the Creative Belli Blog. The challenge was to take the sketch and create a father's day card out of it. Well here is what I came up with.


I have been dying to use this totally tool set from SU. I purchased it a long while ago, but haven't had a chance to use it. The little tools "hanging" from the side were actually cut out and colored a couple months ago...pathetic I know. I knew I wanted to use them, but just haven't come up with how yet. Well this was the perfect chance. I started with basic white cardstock. I created my own background paper using the same stamp set. I stamped in versamark, and embossed in silver. Next a used some ribbon from the Target $1 spot. I distressed the edges of the background paper, and layered it on cream cardstock. I stamped the measuring tape and colored with watercolor crayons. I then attached the saw, hammer, and wrench with an eyelet. Along the bottom I stamped a sentiment, and added some more eyelets.

My 2nd project today was for the Cupcake Craft Challenge. The idea was to make a father's day card...however it had to be MORE than a card. So I created a CD photo card.

I used some old CD/DVD discs to create this. I used the crop-a-dile to put holes in the "top" of the CDs. Next I used kraft cardstock for the front and back. I used DSP from the TAC Miss Moxie set. I used modgepodge to attache the papers to the CDs. Next I used the "Happy Father's Day" stamp from TAC Trendy Greetings. The oval piece is a die-cut from the Miss Moxie cardstock set as well. I put holes in for the brads and attached those just to the one side of the CD. I layered the CS on the other side after putting the brads in, so as not to see the other end. Next I had my husband choose 8 photos to use...since this is for his father. I cut each photo into a circle to go along with the CD shape. I attached each photo, added some description for each, and a binder ring to attach them all together. On the back I wrote what would be the inside of the "card". Here is some photos of each page seperate.

Well that is it for today. I have been struggling to get down to my stamp room since it is soooo "messy" right now. My hubby bought me a whole organizing system for down there, and he has only had time to get so many of the boxes put together. So I am working around the "construction" right now. It will be AWESOME when it is done though. I am so excited to have more organization to be able to find exactly what I am looking for. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your week.

Jessica

Woodrowe Album...TAC

So I FINALLY finished one of the albums I have been talking about. The papers are all pre-cut and ready for you. When you purchase the kit, you get enough materials to create 2 mini-albums, and have pieces left over to use for other things. The Angel Company actually has 5 different sets of the mini album kits available in the current catalog. This particular one is called "Woodrowe"...if you happen to have a catalog it is page 19. Without further ado, I give you my version of one of the mini-albums...
This is the cover...I did not add any ribbon to tie the side together yet. I wanted to be able to take some photos of all the pages first. Pretty much all the pieces you see are from the kit. I did add the bitty blossoms, chipboard letters, ribbon, and hardware. The hardware is available from TAC, as well as some of the ribbons. The album is all about my girls at our property we own. I also found that the photos look really good in the sepia color with these papers. Here is the rest of the pages for you to see the many different pieces and papers that come with this AWESOME album kit.

So you can see there is a lot of pieces to play with! The second album in the set has just as many pieces to play and create with. I am working on the second album still. Although, it is about my dog, and well...the children are MUCH easier to photograph...=). Last step is to put the ribbon through the holes to attach it all together...and I will be able to add this to the photo album shelf. What a fun project this was, and EASY...which is great for someone like me who is more of a stamper then a scrapper. Thanks for stopping by!

Jessica

Check out this candy....

I was blog hoping again...my new favorite thing to do when I am not stamping or able to sleep at night. Check out what I found....this blog candy is AWESOME!!!!!

BLOG CANDY!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and I will be back soon with a really cool TAC album to show you. I am off to my property tomorrow to take some cool black and white photos of my girls.

Jessica

End of Year Teacher Gifts

It is that time of year again. The month of June brings an end to many of our activities in my house. Both of my older girls are in dance class, as well as my oldest being in school. Well, end of the "year" calls for gifts. I am not a "mug buyer"...and gift cards are nice, but can add up quickly. So...why not make some thing! I saw these on SCS, and they even included templates/instructions for many different sizes and shapes. Check it out HERE. I couldn't resist these gorgeous boxes. So here is what I came up with.

They really are very easy to create, and fun to create also. The boxes have a "base" that you can place 12 chocolate candy nuggets. Then you make a slip cover for the outside. The strip of paper around the candy is a 1 x 3 1/2 inch paper. (They didn't include that in the instructions above.) Here is a little closer view of each one and some detail about the papers used...

The base of this box is a solid purple cardstock. The nugget wraps are a slightly lighter shade. I used the alphabet stickers included in the TAC Tutti Frutti paper set. The outside wrap is also from the same paper collect. I then used a large circle punch to cut a tag, and layered it with a purple flower punched. The sentiment is from the TAC Trendy Greetings set. (It says Thanks for everything) I then added an eyelet to the top and threaded ribbon through it. I wrapped the ribbon around the whole top of the box and tied the bow. This one was created with a sheet of DSP from the same TAC Tutti Frutti collection. I used the Kinder-Bet TAC set for the letters. I stamped them on the blue cardstock and cut them out. The little tag on the outside of the box was created with the same sentiment and punches as the other box. I also added a bitty blossom and attached it with a brad to the box. The tag is attached with a piece of ribbon through an eyelet, and the ribbon is tied around the brad before I attached the brad.

Well, I still have to create 2 more of these before next week. I do think they turned our sooo cute, and soooo easy to make! Thanks for stopping by.

Jessica

Dual Challenges MOJO89 & Cupcake Craft 42

Hello and Happy Tuesday. It has been a crazy busy week here. With the last few weeks of school approaching, I have been focusing on that. My 4 year old had her Pre-K shadow day. She LOVED it! Hard to believe that in September I will only have one more baby left at home with me =(! Well I haven't had a lot of time to stamp, and I have been working on teacher gifts, father's day, and the album for the class I am teaching at "My Happy Place" scrapbook studio. I did want to try a couple challenges though. I do love the Mojo Monday Challenges! This week I am also doing the Cupcake Craft Challenge. The challenge this week was a card with a fairy. So...here you go...

Before I tell you what I used, I want to show you my color inspiration for this card. Yes...this is a pair of pants! My 2 year old got these pants from her Godparents for her birthday. I just LOVE the colors on them. So I thought I would use these colors to create this card.

So...the base of this card is basic brown cardstock. The gingham pink DSP is from TAC Uptown Girl WIC paper set. The image is a High Hopes Fairy Princess. I used watercolor crayons and twinkling H2Os to color the image. I added some glitter to the wings, skirt, and crown. And of course I made a red haired fairy...since I have 3 little redheads! I distressed the blue cardstock behind the fairy. Then added a double bitty blossom (1 brown 1 pink) to the circle, and attached them with a brad. The pink ribbon is a just that...pink ribbon...probably from the Target $1 spot. The sentiment is from a SU set that I believe was in the mini catalog.

Well that is it for now. I didn't use too many of my TAC products this time =(. I do love the TAC products. I am currently working on a mini album kit from TAC. The mini album kits are awesome! There are currently 5 in the catalog, although I am hoping they add some more to the next catalog next month. I am not a big scrapbooker, but these kits are fantastic. Very heavy cardstock, and simple pre-cut pieces that you just piece together. I will have pictures on here soon as I get it done. I am currently working on the Woodrowe album kit. It actually makes 2 albums for the price! Not bad at all. Check back next week...when I will hopefully have it finished. Thanks for stopping by today!

JESSICA