Crafty Engineering

A St. Patty's Day Birthday

2014-02-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

Ok. Do I remember how to do this? It has been. Quite. Awhile! Apparently I have been missing this here blog, because I keep thinking "Man, I should post that". Kind of a crazy thought since it has been almost two years since I have posted anything.

But time to come back. Right?! So let me come back with something that fits with March coming up soon.

Last year, my son requested a St. Patrick's Day Birthday Party since his birthday is around St. Patty's Day. We made it a more "family" type of party and had a true blast. Kids got fun and games and adults got Irish beer. Good all around!

As you can see in the pic of my son and daughter, we had hats (from Oriental Trading) and beads to wear.

We did a lot of decorating with rainbows.

For food, we ordered pizza but then I also made fruit and veggie rainbows.

We had the kids play a couple of games. We started with "Gold, Gold, Who's Got the Gold?". You can read the rules of the game HERE. Another game was to "Shoot the Shamrocks" with nerf guns. I had to cut out a lot of shamrocks! We also had them go on a gold coin hunt. We hid chocolate gold coins throughout our house with numbers on them. Then each kid was assigned a number and had to find their numbered coins. Of course they need a bucket to collect their coins, so I spray painted some tin buckets and created a rainbow handle from pipe cleaners.

For a small additional party favor, I saw the idea to make licorice rainbows with Rolo candies as the pot of gold. I found it on Pinterest, but this is the original source for the idea.

Finally the cake was the part I was most giddy about! The outer decorations were ok, but the inside of the cake was the best part!!

Just look at those colors in the cake! Just makes me smile whenever I see how pretty it was!

So since it has been almost a two whole years since I was on here, I should probably fill you all in a bit. During that time we had a big change to our family...we added a kid! My daughter, Oliann, was born in December of 2012 and is now 14 months old! Amazing how much can change in two years!

So here is my THREE kids (and final!) last summer:

And here is a bit more updated of the little one.

Well hopefully I won't be such a stranger around here...but hey, I have three kids now...so now promises! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Spongebob and Patrick Cupcakes

2012-04-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I totally admit I am a crazy Mom and person in general. So even though my son was going to be having a big birthday party (Board Game Theme party I have posted about before), I also wanted him to be able to take in cupcakes to school on his actual birthday. So me being the type to go way too far, made Spongebob and Patrick cupcakes purely for him to take into school. But man did they turn out cute!

So I did 12 of each character...yup again a lot of different colors and still only 4 bags and no identical tips! Really need to buy more! Anyway, I do not free hand anything but the faces. I print out the images I want to make, cut them out, and then trace around them with a toothpick onto the base frosted cupcake. I will freely admit that this was really tedious and I probably included way more detail than I should have attempted...I mean I attempted to give Spongebob his collar and tie! But like I said, I know I am just a wee bit crazy!

Thanks for checking out my (crazy) kind of engineering!

Board Game Theme Party Cake

2012-04-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

This is the last of my Board Game Theme Party posts....hope I haven't bored you! I was just pretty excited about all that went into it and wanted to share every piece. If you missed the first 3 posts, click the following links to check them out: Board Game Theme Party, Life-Size Candyland, Goodie Bags & Birthday Clue.

So this is the cake that I made for my son's Board Game Theme party. I tried to incorporate things from the party to tie it together. So the top of the cake has the Twister board, the pawn shape that I put on their t-shirts, and scrabble tiles (that were on the invitation) that spelled out my son's name. Then I made the Candyland path around the side of the cake.

This cake made me want to go out and buy my cake decorating bags and identical tips as there was a lot of different colors (7 in case you were curious). Even though it took awhile because of the switching of colors, I love how it turned out. To make decorating easier, I wanted to try and do all of one color so I wasn't switching colors the entire time, so I drew the design on the cake with a toothpick so I knew exactly where all of the red went, etc.

Well I hope that I might have given someone, somewhere some ideas for a Board Game Theme party or whatever. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Board Game Theme Party: Goodie Bags and Birthday Clue

2012-04-12T23:19:00.001-04:00

So I have already covered some of my son's Board Game Theme Party, so if you missed them, mkae sure you check out: Board Game Theme Party and Life-Size Candyland. I will save the cake as a separate post...not that it was anything crazy...just want to keep cakes to their own posts.

So for the goodie bags for the kids, I went ultra simple (mainly because my craft stuff was still in boxes!) with just white bags and taping the "Clue" card that had each of their pictures on it...more on that below. Inside the bag was a travel game from a dollar store, the pawn t-shirts that I made for them (which we put on most of the kids when they arrived), and a bag of "Treats from their Trip through Candyland". I had ginger snap cookies from the Gingerbread Tree, Candy Canes for the Peppermint Forest, Gumdrops from Gumdrop Mountains, Lollipop from Lollipop Woods, and a chocolate bar from the Chocolate Swamp. It was a fun way to add treats to the bag and still keep with my Board Game theme.

So at the party we played the Life-Size Candyland game that I created, Twister, and a Birthday version of the game Clue. All of the kids at the party were the characters, the locations were rooms in my house, and instead of weapons, we used birthday decorations. So our story was someone stole party decorations from a room...they had to figure out who, where, and what. So I created the "detective notebook" like they have in Clue and the individual cards for each character, room, and decoration.

My plan was for them to play it like the game of Clue...they have to meet up with someone in one of the rooms, make a guess, and see if the other person could prove them wrong with the cards in their hands. Biggest problem was that with 13 kids, they only got 2 cards each. That made it very difficult to "prove someone wrong" because they were not very likely to guess what was in the other person's hands.

The other problem we ran into was that only about 2-3 of the kids had actually played Clue, so the concept of the game was difficult. So in the end we had the kids all in one room and just had them walk around and look at each other's cards. Even with our very modified version, the kids seemed to have fun.

Well that is everything but the cake which I will post a little later. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Board Game Theme Party: Life-size Candyland

2012-04-01T23:41:00.002-04:00

This is the second post for my son's Board Game Theme party. I totally blame this idea on Pinterest. See I saw the "pin" of someone creating giant lollipops and repinned it for a future date. Well it stuck with me and I decided to run with it. So I created a life-size version of the game Candyland in my basement.

I taped down sheets of construction paper to create the Candyland path and included all of the special spots, Rainbow Trail, and Gumdrop Path. Then I tried to decorate each of the different areas of Candyland.

I created the Gingerbread Tree from a roll of kraft paper and crumpled green tissue paper. I used the tree on the actual game for reference. I don't usually think I am good at drawing, but I was pretty pleased how well my tree turned out.

My parents actually had light-up candy canes for outdoor Christmas decorations, so we borrowed those and stuck them in pots filled with dirt to make the Peppermint Forest. They were in a perfect spot in the basement because they lit up a darker area.

For the Gumdrop Mountains, I used pots again to create my gumdrops. I covered them with kraft paper, painted them (my kids helped), and then added a "sugar" sprinkle. The "sugar" sprinkle was made by taking two styrofoam balls and rubbing them together. Rubbing the balls together pretty much disintegrates the balls into tiny styrofoam flakes. So I sprayed the gumdrops with a spray adhesive and then sprinkle the styrofoam flakes over them.

The lollipops for the Lollipop Woods were created using a rolled up white poster board for the "stick", a balloon, and clear cellophane. Like I said this was taken from an idea I saw on Pinterest. We had difficulty getting them to stand up, so we weighted the bottoms with a bag full of pebbles (or sand) and then taping them to the floor. It worked pretty well!

The peanuts in Peanut Acres on the other hand were a little shaky, but they got the point across. I taped two balloons together and then wrapped them with crinkled kraft paper.

The chocolate bars in the Chocolate Swamp were just boxes covered in kraft paper (this stuff can be found at dollar stores!) and painted to look like a chocolate bar. Then for the finale, I had my Mom whom actually is an artist paint a castle on a large sheet of paper to be our Candy Castle.

When the kids actually played the game, I ran around and gave them a card from the actual Candyland game so they could move spaces. The kids had a blast and kept wanting to play it! The hardest part was knowing by the end of the party that the whole thing would most likely be destroyed...and it was. We let them go play it while kids finished eating and while waiting for parents to come...yup that was the end of it. I was kind of sad simply because I wanted to play it too!

Thanks f0r checking out my kind of engineering!

Board Game Theme Party

2012-04-01T22:32:00.001-04:00

UPDATE: I made the files I used for creating my Board Game Theme Party Invitations available (for a small fee) for download at the following link. It will include blank versions of the invitation (one with reference to a birthday and one without), Candyland Goodie Bag Tags (seen HERE), and the file I used to make the T-shirts. I hope this makes it easier to get the files as I am not very good about answering email requests!

Buy now

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My son recently celebrated his 7th birthday. We limit the kids to a big party every other year which worked out even more perfectly that they fall on opposite years between my two kids. Then on the "off" years we either do just a family thing or a couple of friends type of celebration. Well this year was a "big" party for him. It took us awhile to come up with a theme, but we finally agreed on making it a Board Game theme...you know like Clue, Sorry, Scrabble, Candyland, etc. He has always loved board games and our overflowing game closet shows it...in the new house we actually have a single game closet which is exciting, but it still needs shelves so that they aren't stacked all on top of each other!

So since my entire craft room is still in boxes, I had to make the invitation entirely on the computer, but I think it turned out quite nicely. I tried to incorporate different game titles and the pawn shapes that would become recurrent during the party.

For some decorations, I made Connect 4 tokens and then had my husband hang them from an empty curtain rod...one benefit to just moving into the house! It turned out very cute but unfortunately didn't last long. It was hanging right where the kids all ate and I am pretty sure they helped bring parts of it down!

I managed to find a picture of every kid coming to the party (you could always ask their parents for it) that I needed for a game I had planned...more on that later...so I decided to make a Guess Who game/decoration.

The Guess Who boards were simply a blue poster board with the pictures of everyone at the party printed on regular copy paper and taped to the backside of the poster board. I made two "boards" so it could actually be played like Guess Who. Not sure any of the kids played it at the actual party, but my son enjoyed it afterwards!

During the party, we had a few games ready to play as everyone arrived. Then I split the kids into two groups (I had 13 kids total) and one group played a double mat Twister (just put two mats next to each other) and the other group played a life-size Candyland game I created in my basement. I will have a separate post on that one! Then when each group finished, we switched. After a pizza and fruit lunch, we then had the kids play a birthday version of Clue that I created. Probably have to do a separate post on that one too.

One other special thing I did as part of their goodie bags (you guessed it...a separate post on that one too...if I included everything this post would be super long!), I made them all t-shirts with their own color pawn on it and a saying, "Life is a game. Enjoy playing it!". When each kid arrived at the party, we had them put a t-shirt on (well almost all of them did) so that they became a "pawn" in our games. I always make them get together for a group shot using cake and ice cream as an incentive!

So I have a few more posts on the subject of this Board Game party, so I hope you stick with me. Until then, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

No Foolin'...It's April 1st

2012-04-01T16:11:00.000-04:00

Happy April 1st! How did it become April already? And Easter is just next weekend...simply crazy! I am ignoring the fact that means it is April Fool's Day this year as I am totally not prepared! For the last couple of years I have tried to make a silly dinner for the family on or aorund April 1st...not sure it has ever fallen on the actual day just cuz' that is how I roll sometimes. So since I am ill-prepared this year, I thought I would show you what I did a couple years ago. I did something last year, but I cannot find the picture of it for the life of me...maybe I actually forgot to take a picture of it which would be absolutely crazy for me!

Anyway, we had fish sticks with ketchup, peas, and a cupcake for dessert...or did we?! I think we ate in reverse order and had teh cupcakes first. They did look like cupcakes with pretty pink frosting, but really they were mini meatloafs with pink mashed potatoes on top! The fish sticks were the vanilla wafer cookies coated in peanut butter and rolled in crushed up corn flakes and the peas were just green Laffy Taffy. Then the ketchup was some strawberry jam whipped up to make it smoother. All of the recipes for these can be found at Family Fun. I will say that my son was a little nervous to eat everything because while it did look like the food it was suppose to look like it was also a little off. I think the funniest was watching him take a big bite of cupcake and quickly find out it wasn't cupcake at all!

So while I may not make it to have any fun foods this year (although I have always been late in the past...I could still squeeze it in), I hope you enjoyed the look at what I have done. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

What's Been Going On

2012-03-30T23:54:00.001-04:00

Chirp, chirp....are those crickets I hear on the ol' blog? Wow it has been awhile since I have been on here! The picture to the left gives an explanation for my absence...we moved into our new house!

We moved in at the beginning of February and are still getting things set up. Question for those that have moved...how soon till you feel completely moved in? It is definitely a long process. Thankfully the house was in great condition and most of the paint colors are perfect. We did paint and tile the laundry room (pics of that to come) and we are beginning work on the office. The house is a great fit for us and we feel blessed everyday living here!

Here are some pics of the inside and one showing the house:

The last picture is the office that we are beginning work on it. That is where my crafting stuff will be...but right now it is still in boxes! Not a lot of crafting going on right now!!

I will leave you with my favorite view...the view of a sunset from our back deck!

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Happy Turtle Bday

2012-01-31T21:14:00.001-05:00

Today is my last day with Hambo Stamps (for now...hoping they will let me back in the pig pen another time!). It has been a quick and fun 4 months working with Hambo's awesome images! So thank you to Monica, the owner of Hambo Stamps, for entrusting me to represent your stamp company! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

In other sad news, this is our last week in our current house...oh wait that means we will be in the new house soon, so I should be partying. If only I could find room among all of these boxes!

So to help me celebrate the new house, the adorable turtle is bringing me a house-warming present. I know the card says Happy Bday, but oh well!! I colored the image directly with markers...think it is a cool look with line images...although it can get tricky trying to figure out what line should be what color!

Off I go to find my children in the boxes so I can put them to bed! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Turtle Present (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie (SU!); Accessories - Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Photo Corner Punch (SU!), Signo white gel pen, Cuttlebug Birthday Wishes Die (Provo), paper piercer, dimensionals

"Green Eggs and"...Hambo Blog Hop

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the “Green Eggs and….Hambo!” Blog Hop sponsored by Hambo Stamps! The Bacon Bits are here to help you start your New Year’s reading list off right with a little book title laughter and fun. If you arrived here from Jen N’s blog, you are in the right place. If not, you will want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog – TALK TO THE HAM. We don’t want you to miss anything!

My book may not be on your reading list, but more on your kids reading list. Let's see if you can guess it from this: "Today your are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!...I am what I am! That's a great thing to be! If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!". So do you got it? "Happy Birthday to You" by Dr. Seuss is my chosen book and I thought that Bear and Rabbit should be hear to help get the party started...they even brought presents!! My card uses an old Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #219 for my layout. The Bear and Rabbit image were stamped on watercolor paper and watercolored with an aquabrush.

A little surprise is hiding on one of the blogs today, so be sure to leave some comment love as you “hoof it” around the hop. One lucky commenter on the mystery hop spot will be in hog heaven and win a prize from Hambo Stamps!

We love comments anytime, but the deadline for prize entries is Tuesday, January 31 at 5 PM CST. Our current team will be retiring that day, and we will be welcoming a new Design Team AND celebrating the Hambo Hoedown’s ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY on February 1st. Blog Hop winners will be announced at the Hoedown on the 1st.

Next up on the hop is Libby. You will love what she has to show you today! Below is the Blog Hop List in case you get lost. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Pat

Andrea <-You're Here!

Libby

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Bear and Rabbit, Get This Party Started Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake (SU!), Green at Heart Paper Pad (Basic Grey), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black, Momento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry (SU!); Accessories - Circles, Labels 14 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Pink Rhinsteones (Bazzill Basics), aquabrush, dimensionals

Don't Waste a Mime

2012-01-24T21:29:00.001-05:00

Seriously, I want to just fast forward a couple of weeks at the least so I don't have to actually experience this move! Everyone keeps asking me how the packing is going and I honestly cannot tell. There are boxes everywhere, but rooms that I have not touched (like the kids rooms which I am saving till last). This is the week for kitchen stuff and kid stuff, so maybe after that I will feel like I am doing better. Ugh!

Breaking from my packing routine, I thought I would share a fun card using one of my favorite Hambo Stamps, the Mime! He just cracks me up! Then the sentiment to go with it, is just perfect! The layout is from an old Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #214. The sparkly black paper is from the Incandescent line at Paper Temptress.

Alright I have stopped packing long enough...off I go again...then again I am actually kind of tired...maybe it is just bedtime. Either way, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Mime, Thing to Waste Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Yoyo Yellow (SU!), Nero Incandescent (Paper Temptress), watercolor paper; Ink - Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White Craft (SU!), Brilliance Graphite Black, Momento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Accessories - white and black embossing powder, Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Photo Corner Punch (SU!), Sparkle Black Dots (Imaginensce), aquabrush, dimensionals

Don't Let the Dog Eat Your Homework

2012-01-22T16:33:00.001-05:00

We finally got some snow this winter! Normally we would have had lots of snow by now, but so far this winter we have had very little. It will be gone tomorrow though as it is suppose to rain...such a weird winter! Anyway, the kids, my husband, and I took advantage of a free day (yeah we are suppose to be packing, but oh well!) in which their was snow and went sledding...and snow angels...and snowball fights. It was a blast!

Did you all check out the Send a Smile 4 Kids Challenge Blog?? Hambo is the sponsor right now and we are showing off the new Bailey Digi, which just so happens to be based on a real puppy named Bailey. So make sure you join in!!

I made this card school related as part of a submission to Paper Crafts. No luck this time, but I still thought it was cute!

The inside of the card ties the notebook paper to the paper pieced dog. I wish I liked my handwriting...I tried so many times to write this on the notebook paper on the front, but hated my handwriting each time! Oh well!

Well now I really am off to pack some more boxes. Less than 2 weeks left in our current house! Eeek! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Bailey Digi (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake (SU!), Basics White Paper Pad (Basic Grey); Ink - None; Accessories - Alphabet Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Black and white twine (Unknown), Binding Edge Punch (EK Success), dimensionals

Sending a Smile

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

So I am joining in on the Hambo Hoedown this week. Love me some Hoedown once in awhile! Just saying it make me feel like square dancing! This week is a special week...Hambo Hoedown is in honor of Send a Smile 4 Kids which is a fabulous group that collects handmade cards to be used at Children's Hospitals to try and cheer up the patients.

The challenge for Hambo Hoedown #49 is "Anything Goes"...can't be any easier than that! And if you participated last week and sent a pic of your card, you got the adorable Bailey Digi (shown on my card). The little bailey dog is so sweet and is sure to brighten anyone's day! If you didn't participate, you can still purchase the Bailey digi at the Hambo Store.

I used the latest Sketch for You to Try for January for my layout. I printed bailey out on watercolor paper and watercolored him/her from there. With trying to get a bunch of cards done before I pack up my craft area, I kept the design very simple...but I kind of like it too!

Anyway, please join in on the Hoedown and check out the Send a Smile 4 Kids Challenge Blog...they will have a new challenge on January 21 that is sponsored by Hambo Stamps. So get to it and help Send a Smile to someone that needs it!

Thanks for checking out my kind of enginnering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Bailey Digi (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Real Red, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip (SU!), watercolor paper, heart pattern paper (unknown); Ink - Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive (SU!); Accessories - Red Rhinestones (Me & My Big Ideas), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dimensionals, aquabrush

Be Mime

2012-01-17T21:36:00.002-05:00

Wow where have I been...it is already mid-January! Oh yeah...I have been under boxes, boxes, and more boxes. See, my husband and I are buying a new house (close at the end of the month), so we are packing, packing, fixing, and more packing. It amazes me how much stuff we have collected over the years. Maybe it is not a lot until you have to pack it all up! Ugh! Anyway, that is the main reason for my absence. This is my last month with Hambo Stamps, so I have a slew to show you before the months ends...hopefully I get them all in!

First up is one of the stamps that I wanted since joining the Hambo Stamps team...the Mime. The Mime by himself is great, but pair him with the sentiments and he is simply awesome! For this card I used the SCS Inspiration Challenge #318 which showed a loopy frame with hearts in the corner. Ok so I went with very direct inspiration!

A couple of wonderful Hambo Stamps notes: there is a call out for the next Design Team...but you have to hurry cuz it ends tomorrow! You can find out all of the details HERE. Also (ending tomorrow) is the sign-up for the "Green Eggs and...Hambo" Design Team and Customer Blog Hop which will take place on January 27. Check out the info for that HERE. I hope you will join along as it should be a great time!

Now off to go pack some more...oh wait I actually still have to still keep doing laundry and ironing too while we are packing. Have I ever said how much I love said with much sarcasm) moving?! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Mime, Be Mime Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Going Gray, Real Red, Basic Black (SU!), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black, Momento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Real Red (SU!); Accessories - Apron Border Die (The Cat's Pajamas), aquabrush, dimensionals

A Year in Review

2011-12-31T09:34:00.000-05:00

I have always wanted to do this every year, but it finally took a fellow crafty person (and Hambo Stamps design team mate) to encourage me to do so. Karin from With and "i" for Paper is hosting a Year in Review Blog Hop with a chance to win a prize for participating! So join along and create a blog post of your Review of your Crafty Year...you need to have it linked up HERE by tonight (yup I am late in getting my post up!). So here are my favorites from this year:

January - Tied Up in Love (Billy and Bianca Love Bunnies by Paper Makeup Stamps)

February - Leaf Pile Scrapbook Page

March - Wipeout Cake (for more views of it, check out the post HERE)

April - Whoo's Having a Birthday (Webster the Owl by Paper Makeup Stamps)

May - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake (for more views of it, check out the post HERE)

June - A Monster of a Father's Day (Me & Pops by Paper Makeup Stamps)

July - Dancing in the Rain (Emma Silhouette by Paper Makeup Stamps)

August - Party Time Spike (Spike by Paper Makeup Stamps)

September - Sympathy Butterfly (Everyday Miracles by Sweet n' Sassy Stamps, Beautiful You by Verve Stamps, Papers from Paper Temptress)

October - Football Monster (Football Fan by Paper Makeup Stamps)

November - Just a Hare Late (Roller Bunny by Hambo Stamps)

December - Adore Him (Manger by Hambo Stamps)

Hope you enjoyed my Crafty year in review (with a couple of cakes too). Don't forget to join in for a chance to win a prize! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering and Happy New Year!!

A Christmas Card...Just a Wee Bit Late

2011-12-29T13:16:00.001-05:00

Nothing like posting a Christmas card after Christmas...but that is pretty much how I am rolling right now. I swear I need to get myself organized. Things are still a wee bit crazy right now so I think that organization this might be waiting until we move into our new house! Yup that has been the big thing going on...we are in the process of buying a house. Probably shouldn't be announcing this until we sign on the dotted line, but I am just too excited.

So due to my lack of organization, here is a late Christmas card. It was made for the SCS Clean and Simple challenge #149...and I actually posted it to SCS on the first day, just really late posting here! Oh well! The adorable stamps and sentiments are from Hambo Stamps. I actually managed to keep it simple too with just some select coloring.

Alright off to get some cleaning and planning done for our annual New Year's Eve party...most likely last one in our current house! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

Snow Globe of Joyful Carolers

2011-12-23T21:22:00.001-05:00

Figured I better get in the couple of Christmas related cards I have made prior to Christmas actually being here. Did it come faster for anyone else like it did for me? I feel like I am just barely getting everything done in time this year...like I am walking a fine line of not making it. Ugh! Next year I will plan further ahead...yup I said it...think I say it every year...maybe this time I mean it!

The snow globe idea for this card came from the SCS Technique Lover's Challenge #356 (to make a snow globe) and the adorable Snowman Carolers from Hambo Stamps just seemed to be a perfect fit! I did actually use a window sheet to make the globe part look a little more like glass...not sure it really added too much to the card or not. You can see it in the other shot of the card.

Not much else to say...thinking about all of the other stuff I need to do tonight and tomorrow. One more Christmas card to go, so until then, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Snowman Carolers, Joy Filled Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Certainly Celery, Pacific Point, Rose Red, Whisper White (SU!), window sheet; Ink - Certainly Celery, Pacific Point, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko); Accessories - Circle Nestabilities, Fancy Tags Trio (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder (SU!), Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder (Provo), dimensionals

Get Your Merry On

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

So do any of you do the Elf on a Shelf thing? I was so planning on getting one and doing it this year and still haven't gotten around to it. Not sure I will attempt it this year or not. I guess there is still time right?! I am certain that our Elf would be of the mischievous type...just cuz that is so much more fun!!

This adorable Elf totally reminds me of the Elf on a Shelf. The Elf and sentiment are from Hambo Stamps. My layout for the card comes from the current Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #218. I went for the traditional Christmas colors...funny story...in my head I was following the SCS Color Challenge #352, but after I finished my card I remembered it was suppose to be Vanilla not White! Oh well!! It has been awhile since I have made a card, so I am feeling a bit rusty!

I have a confession too...I have decided not to make my Christmas Cards this year! I know a shocker and it still bothers me in all honesty. I designed a photo layout for cards, so I did do something creative! But alas all of the traveling in November really messed me up for December and time just keeps escaping me! Oh well...it was bound to happen one of these years right?

I will be fitting a little bit of creating time before Christmas so there is still some to come. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Elf, Get Merry Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi Pattern Paper (SU!), watercolor paper; Ink - Real Red, Wild Wasabi (SU!), Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko); Accessories - Scallop Circle Punch (SU!), Circle and Labels 8 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), gold twine (unknown), Signo white gel pen, Red Rhinestones (Me & My Big Ideas), Gold and Clear Star Gelly Roll Pens, dimensionals

A PMS Winter

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Brrr...it is getting cold outside and that white stuff keeps showing up on the ground. We haven't accumulated any snow yet, but we have a had a couple of mornings where it looks so pretty outside...it just melts by the end of the day! Guess that is not all bad.

To celebrate the start of winter, Paper Makeup Stamps is having a Blog Hop. So hop along with us (the link list is below) and get some PMS winter inspiration!

I went back to an oldie (ok I think it is only a year old)...Moody for Presents! I colored the stamp directly with markers. The card layout is from the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #137 and the Christmasy color combo is the current SCS Color Challenge #352.

Now don't forget to check out what all of the other artists have in store for you!

And don't forget about the Paper Makeup Stamps Rubber Closeout Sale...you can get 45% off all rubber stamps using the code CLOSEOUT45. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Moody for Presents, Season's Greetings (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso (SU!); Ink - Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso (SU!); Accessories - Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder (Provo); Scallop Border Punch, Ticket Corner Punch (SU!); Tags Trio (Spellbinders); sparkle red ribbon (JoAnn's), dimensionals

iBday

2011-12-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

I love online shopping! I almost done with my kids Christmas shopping just from online shopping one night. Something about relaxing in your pjs, looking for cheap prices, and knocking out quite a bit of shopping in one night makes me happy! Do you do a lot of online shopping? I can't really do clothes though online...I need to see them, feel them. I still have lots of brick and mortar stores to hit before I am done, but it feels good to finally have a jump-start on my Christmas shopping!

This card has nothing to do with online shopping, but I love it nonetheless. It too was submitted a while back for Paper Crafts Magazine and actually uses one of the Paper Crafts sketches from the big sketch call they had (but I didn't make it in time for that call). Anyway it uses one of my favorite Monsters from Paper Makeup Stamps: Eye Pod. The sentiment was printed by me (no stamp).

Did you hear that Paper Makeup Stamps is retiring all of their rubber? They are going to an all digi company. So if you want some of the awesome Paper Makeup images in rubber form, you can get them for 45% off with the code CLOSEOUT45! You can read all of the details on the PMS Blog and then go fill your cart at Paper Makeup Stamps!

Until my next late post, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Eye Pod (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake (SU!), Rockstar Mat Stack (DCWV); Ink - Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko); Accessories - paper distresser (Tim Holtz), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dimensionals, aquabrush

Muddy Pig

2011-11-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

I feel like I am still catching up! Now that I think about it, I am not sure how much I shared on here...my husband is a stickler about not announcing publicly when we go on vacation for obvious reasons. But that means I have no idea if you even knew I was gone! November has been a complete blur...we went on a 9 day kid-free vacation to Nicaragua (I will have to post about it later because it was amazing!), then we were home for a few days, then we went to Great Wolf Lodge which is an indoor waterpark resort up in Traverse City, Michigan, then we were home for a few days, then we went to my parents for Thanksgiving for a couple of days (and had to deal with my son getting the 24 hr flu on Thanksgiving!), and now I still feel like I am catching up! So in my efforts of catching up, I realized I am behind on some design team requirements...so get ready for some posts!

We will start off with a card that I submitted to Paper Crafts Magazine (wasn't accepted obviously since I am posting it) for Mother's Day. I am not usually not this early, so don't get any ideas that I have actually changed! I used the sketch that was part of the call for my layout. The cutie muddy pig and perfectly matching sentiment are from Hambo Stamps. I had some other ideas to make with this cute pig, but ran out of time...maybe some day!

Are you ready for some more...be back later, the dirty dishes appear to have actually piled high enough to form a dirty dish figure that is calling my name. A little creepy, so I best take care of that! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Mud Pig, Happy Mudder's Day Sentiment (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White (SU!), pattern paper (Basic Grey); Ink - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsuineko); Accessories - Pink Pearls (Oriental Trading), Brown micro-check ribbon (Offray), Labels 8 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crest border punch (Friskars), dimensionals

Always a Hare Late

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I think I have mentioned it before, but I am perpetually late for sending cards for birthdays. I actually remember one time I sent one early, completely forgot that I sent it, and then sent a late one because I am always late. Funniest part was I sent the exact same card both times! It just happen to be one of the few times I made duplicate cards.

So in honor of always being a "hare" late in sending cards out, I chose to work with this adorable Roller Bunny and the great sentiment "Just a hare late..." from Hambo Stamps. I used and old Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #125 for my layout and kind of stumbled upon my color combo. I have the Basics White Paper Pad by Basic Grey and the notebook, grid, lined paper in there speaks to my engineering side, so I decided that I would use that. Then I just liked how the Kiwi Kiss popped against the Gray (Black) and White. I paper pieced the airplane with the same lined paper and I added some white fluff to his tail cuz' a bunny has to have a fluffy tail!

Now if only I could not be a "hare" late in starting my Christmas cards! I am always working on them around the middle of December barely getting them out before Christmas! Here is to looking ahead and getting started without putting it off! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Roller Bunny, Hare Late (Hambo Stamps); Paper - Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray (SU!), Basics White Paper Pad (Basic Grey), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette (SU!); Accessories - Sparkle self-adhesive Black brads (Recollections), white Fluff (Stampendous), Black and white bakers twine (unknown), Circle and Big Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dimensionals, aquabrush

Time to Party for a Surprise Birthday Blog Hop

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Timbo, the man behind the pen (Pig Pen?) at Hambo Stamps!

The Bacon Bits are surprising Tim with a little birthday fun today and we would love to have you join us in celebrating! If you arrived from Melissa's blog, you are in the right place. If you just happened by, be sure to start at Karin's blog for the whole story and to have a chance at winning the birthday prize!

A little story for you:
Jose the Cow's Adventure Getting to the Party: Jose the cow worked on an Eco-lodge in Nicaragua where he happily worked to help sustain the resort. Upon hearing about Timbo's birthday though, he knew he would have to find a way to make it to the party. First he knew he had to dress properly for such a festive occasion, so he asked his farmer friend, Julio, to find him a fabulous tie. Then Jose set out on his trip to Timbo's birthday party. He had to pass by the Howler monkeys that howled "have a great time Jose", then the toucans that squawked "Have a safe trip!", and then the sloths that didn't say much of anything (well at least not until Jose had already passed by...they are slow after all!). He found the zip-line and clipped himself in so he could fly through the rainforest...it is much faster to travel that way after all! He had to make sure he picked up his hooves as he passed over the very active volcanoes...and plug his nose because the smell of sulfur is stinky! He finally found his way to the airport and boarded a plane to the Unites States of America. By the time he reached the party he was ready for a drink and a party! Happy Birthday Timbo!!

Now off to Judy's Blog (can't wait to see what happens with her animal!), where you can see what happens next at Timbo's Birthday Bash! If you get lost, here is the order of birthday fun:

Karin

Stephanie

Jessica

Michele

Libby

Melissa

Andrea

Judy

Talk to the Ham

Thanks for stopping by to help celebrate Tim's birthday! Don't forget to leave some "hogwash" in the comments section and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Farm Cow Digi (Hambo Stamps), computer generated sentiment; Paper - Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Whisper White (SU!), pattern paper (BoBunny); Ink - Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Blush Blossom (SU!); Accessories - Apron Border Die (The Cat's Pajamas), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dimensionals, blender pen

Snow One Should Miss a Blog Hop

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

It is that special time again...time for a Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop! I love the new release Blog Hops...the sight of new stamps just make me happy!!

You should be arriving from Michelle's Blog (didn't she do an awesome job?!), but if you didn't make sure you jump back to the beginning at the PMS Blog so you don't miss a thing!

I get to show you another new Color Kid, Snowflake (I used the digi version). Isn't she just the cutest cutting out a snowflake? Makes me want to cut out snowflakes with my kids...although I will have to remember HOW to cut out snowflakes again!

I had some leftover snowflake pattern paper by Jillibean Soup from last year at Christmas time and used that for my color combo. I used an older Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #79 for my layout.

So now you should be off to go visit Lisa M's Blog (you will love what she has in store for you...as usual!). Don't forget to join us at the Release Party tonight at 9 pm EST in the PMS Forum...you are sure to have lots of laughs, fun, and a chance to win some prizes too! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Color Kid Snowflake (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso (SU!), Snowflake pattern paper (Jillibean Soup), watercolor paper; Ink - Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Blush Blossom (SU!); Accessories - Labels 5 Nestabililties (Spellbinders), Stardust Stickles (Ranger), Dotted Ribbon (SU!), aquabrush

Sneak Peek by a Mad Crafter

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

I get the opportunity to show off one of the great sets that is being released this month at Paper Makeup Stamps. This one is all about gift giving and how to label that gift! It is filled with gift giving labels and a bunch of solid images. So if you give handmade gifts...this is right up your alley!

The "Mad Crafter" sentiment really spoke to me as I do all of my stamping after the kids are in bed, so it is not that uncommon for me to be crafting after midnight! I don't have any handmade gifts on hand right now and I truly didn't have time to make something, so I simply made a tag that I could later attach to a handmade gift.

I used the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #213 for my layout and used some scraps of pattern paper. Remember organza ribbon...nobody uses it anymore...but I still have a lot...so I used it here!

Make sure to check out the PMS Blog to see what the other Design Team members came up with using this set. Don't forget to then join us tomorrow at the PMS Blog for a Blog Hop in the morning and then for the Release Party at 9 om EST on the PMS Forum! You are sure to have lots of fun! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Handmade Set Digi (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Rich Razzleberry (SU!), So Sophie Collection Pattern paper (Bo Bunny); Ink - None; Accessories - Circle and Big Scalloped Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder Punch (SU!), Organza Ribbon (Offray), dimensionals