just b.

teacher appreciation

2012-05-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Most of you will read this tomorrow so I'll say it now, Happy Mother's Day!

I'm so glad its the weekend. I spent the week getting all the state tests cleaned and packed up. I can see the light at the end of the school year tunnel.

This week was also Teacher Appreciation Week. We had cool treats everyday in our boxes. For Grace's school, they send home a list of things for every day.

Monday was wear something red to show you love your teacher.

Tuesday was bring a school supply item.

Wednesday was bring your teacher a flower.

Thursday was bring your teacher something sweet.

Friday was write your teacher a thank you note or poem or picture. Of course Grace did this at the last minute and I didn't get a picture.

I'm going to show you what we did on Thursday. The idea started out as something very different. Things just morph around here.......

Cute huh? My original idea was to give them strawberries with a fruit dip. But, I had thrown away the lids to my little bitty canning jars because they had rusted.

Hmmmm........now what?

I know! We'll get some pound cake and make a trifle! And you know of course it just kind of went from there.

Fabulous Phrases set. Crumb cake, real red, old olive and whisper white cardstock. Black Stazon ink. Square duo die, big shot, square lattice embossing folder, polka dot embossing folder, 1 1/4" square punch, small heart punch and boho blossoms punch.

I used the medium blossom from the punch and cut it to fit the top of the heart shape.

These are pint jars. I cut up an old bandana to fit over the lids. Made a cute little tag. Added a spoon and there ya go. A perfect sweet treat! Make some for Mother's Day, she'll love it.

Here is the recipe for the creamy dip:

8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup lemon juice

That is from the Eagle Brand condensed milk can. This was the only way I ever had cheesecake when I was little. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I had "real" cheesecake.

Just for the record: I love them both............yum yum.

Alrighty then. For Mother's Day I am making the hubs finish a project he started in the front yard. I am going to finish my Week In The Life album. I would have had it done but I ran out of the page protectors.

Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

got any grass, man?

2012-05-07T20:03:00.002-07:00

Today we'll say goodbye to Inspired by Nature. I really loved this set and I don't think I'll be selling it.

I remember when we got it at convention one year and I kept joking with my buddies, "Hey man! Got any grass?"

Yeah well, I thought it was funny.

Anyway, I was checking the ol' bloggerooni here and I have a few samples on it. I made ALOT more projects with this set but it may have been pre-blog days. So have fun with these oldie but goodies.

schedule needed now!

bag tags

baby fishies or fishy babies?

ha ha........kayaking

insert catchy title here.......

happy birthday dad!

home for good this time

Valentine's day continued......

stamping...........again?

butterflies and a bullet

I know I did do some cards that actually used the flower in this set but I like the grass better. Its just so versatile.

Okie dokie, I'm still working on my Week In The Life project. I have all the pictures printed, just need to get it all together now. I'll show you as soon as I get finished.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Oh yeah, I ordered the new catalogs today. Let me know if you want one.

Blessings, b.

While I'm busy................

2012-05-05T16:36:00.001-07:00

.......stamping other things, I thought we could revisit some of the stamp sets that are retiring. You know, just give them another hug and a squeeze before they go.

Today, lets check out Season of Friendship. This was a set I had alot of fun with.

Bye Bye Birdie

Just call me Dr. Beth this one just uses the snowflake.

owlie birthday

stamping..........again?

teacher appreciation week

lots to say, lots to say

I'm sure I have more on the computer but, because I have never taken the time to sort my pictures properly..........it would take me forever to find them. So enjoy these for now.

I also noticed that I tend to give my posts weird titles. Well, I guess thats no surprise.

Alrighty then. I am working on getting my thank yous done for my MARCH online orders. Sorry I'm so behind ladies. Story of my life.

And I'm working on getting my Week In The Life done too. Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I like the company.

Blessings, b.

friendly box

2012-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Well, did you do the Week In The Life last week? I know, I didn't supply very much inspiration around here. Sorry about that. I was so pooped every night that I never got on here to post anything.

I did get my Week In The Life done though. Well, I got all the pictures and documentation done. This week I'll be putting it all together. I got alot better about getting the camera out. AND, I found the secret to getting shots of my family.............turn the sound off on the camera. They never knew a thing! Sometimes, (not often enough) I come up with a good idea.

So while you're waiting for me to get that together, I have a project idea to show you.

Medallion and Fabulous Phrases stamps. Crumb cake, vellum, whisper white and old olive cardstock. Whisper white craft and black Stazon inks. Big shot, lable framelits, fun flowers die, little leaves die, paper doily die, hemp, bakers twine, tissue paper, brights buttons, polka dot embossing folder, 3/4" and 1" circle punches.

Isn't this a cute little box? Final measurements are: 3.5" x 3.25" x 1.5".

I was going to exchange a punch for a customer and it came right before we went to Oregon. Since she was so patient, I decided it would be nice if I made it pretty before I delivered it.

Here is how you make the box:

I used my handy dandy Simply Scored Tool. Now, you don't have to have this to make the box, it just makes it quick and easy.

On the 8.5" side you need to score it at 1 1/2" and 7". On the 11" side score it at: 1 1/2", 4 3/4", 6 1/4" and 9 1/2".

Then snip into the folds. I forgot to take a pic of that step. Here, let me see if I can label this. Hold on.................

Cut on the white lines. Although I'm sure you'll cut them straighter than my sad lines here.

If you want to stamp on your box, now is the time to do it. You can't see it here but I stamped the Medallion in white craft ink on what will be the top of the box. Grab that Medallion stamp while you can, its being retired.

Take your most awesome Tombow Multi Glue and put the sides together. This will be the bottom.

Then glue your lid together like so.

I used a 1" circle punch to punch out a place to grab whatever is inside. You'll see that the punch fits very snuggly inside here. I had to punch this little notch so I could get ahold of the punch to take it out. I hadn't done it yet on this pic but I punched out a notch on the lid too.

Side angle

I got lucky that the punch fit just perfectly.

Then I made a cute little tag to go with it. I cut the doily out of tissue paper. Then I just ripped (gently) the overhang. I left it like that because............well, I don't really know why I left it like that.

This label was the 3rd in from the middle framelit.

A view from the top.

View from the side. It is a sturdy little box and didn't take long to make it. I hope my friend liked it.

Alrighty then, I've got to get dinner going. I'm so glad Week In The Life is over. I love when its all finished but it is a bugger to get done. I'll show you when I get it done.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

WITL Day 1

2012-04-24T14:36:00.002-07:00

Day 1 of Week In The Life 2012 is over. Did you start? Check out Ali's blog and get inspired.

I didn't remember about it until the afternoon so I came up short on the pictures.....again. That was my main problem last time too. I feel like I take alot but then I hear of people taking 100 or more pics and I think, "Geez, I kinda suck. I only took 8."

So I'm trying to be better today. But I only have 4 so far. We have a busy night ahead so I should get more than 8.......I hope.

I went back and looked at my WITL from last year and I LOVE IT! I'm so glad I did it. Just spurs me on to do an even better job this time around.

I started out using Ali's journal pages. Ummmmm.......not sure I like that format just yet. Last year I just used notebook paper and it was fine. What I've done so far is just white out the times on the one page and use the prompts on the other page. Here is what I'm talking about:

You can see here where I started using the times on the left side but as the day went on I just whited them out. I have alot more content that way. I think thats good, especially when I'm short on pics.

You can also see that I started writing on Sunday's page. Ooops.

Here are a few pics from the day:

Just a normal day at the Ol' Prout Ranch.

See, its easy. Even I can do it. So go get started. I'll check in with you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

sicker than a dog

2012-04-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Why do we use that saying? Is feeling like a sick dog the sickest a person can get? I don't think so. I don't feel like a dog either. I just feel sick. Like a cold/congested/sore throat/cough kind of sick. Blech!

So I turn around and another week has gone by. Sorry about that. I haven't been as productive as I would like. I did get my March Project Life done. Well, mostly done. I wanted to make a scrap page of my birthday but the one and only picture I have is horrible and I'm having a hard time doing anything with it. So we'll wait until I feel better and we'll see what happens.

Classic numbers retired. Delightful daffodil, rose red, poppy parade, basic black, old olive cardstock. Poppy parade and black Stazon inks. Big shot, simple alpha die, small oval punch (retired), 3/4" circle punch, wood sheets, naturally serif alpha die.

This is the whole 2 page spread. I had A LOT of stuff this month. I swear it took me forever to figure out how to do the month card this time around. Mainly just because I get interrupted a lot and I lose any b vf b vcdrf (see! Thats 17 bugging me right now)

what was I saying? Oh yeah, I easily lose my train of thought.

On the right there is an 8.5x11 insert with an attendance award for Grace. On the back of that will go my birthday scrap page.

See the number 5 there? I kept thinking of using a Scrabble piece but I was too lazy to go look through my extra pieces. So I made something similar. I stamped the 5 in Stazon on the wood sheet and then took the lid off of my chapstick and stamped the rim in Poppy Parade (that color is retiring May 31......so sad) and stamped around the 5. Perfect size.

No extra stamping goodies on this page. Just life stuff. See that pic on the left in the middle? So many people use their Instax cameras that give these cute little Polaroid type pics.

I don't have one of those.

So I faked it. I printed out a wallet size and then just left a larger white border on one side.

Thats something to remember: I don't have Photoshop or anything like that so I just use my Windows program that came with Windows 7. It ony allows me to print regular size prints. Nothing fancy here folks. I know, obviously Beth.

Alrighty then. I have every family member within touching distance around me right now, I guess I'd better get dinner going.

Thanks for being patient with me.

Oh yeah, before I go, Ali Edwards is starting her Week In The Life this week. I am doing it with her and I want you to do it too. You don't have to start today if you don't want. You can start whenever, just start. Thats all that matters. You can see mine from last year here. I'll update you on it tomorrow........I think......I hope.........I'll try.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings. b.

bye bye birdie

2012-04-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hidey Ho! Well, the retired list came out today. All I can say is, WOW! A 2 page list. I'm losing 21 sets. Usually I lose maybe 5 or 6. So 21 is quite the shock.

Good Bye!

2 of them I just got and haven't even inked up yet! I got them both for free but still.

This is what I have left. 9 sets. 9. Thats it.

Needless to say I'll be going through my older sets and selling off a bunch. Once the new catalog comes out on June 1st, I'll be updating my "for sale" list big time.

Here is a card I haven't showed you yet:

Season of Friendship and woodgrain. Marina Mist, crumb cake, whisper white, old olive, wild wasabi, lucky limeade and early espresso cardstock. Early espresso, marina mist, lucky limeade and crumb cake inks. Big shot, label framelits, 1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, sponges and dimensionals.

I really like this card. It has a 4.25 x 4.25 base and the framelit sticks over the top but it still fits in a regular envelope. Cute!

See that cute little nest? I used the 1/2" circle punch and the little birdie fit just perfectly. In fact this little birdie is on the retired list. I sure hope they give us a great/wonderful/superduper tree set in the new catalog.

Alrighty then, I got lots done this weekend but I still didn't get through my to-do list. I did work on my Project Life for March, I'll get it done this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out. Don't forget to check out the Retired List.

Blessings, b.

home again

2012-04-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hello people! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We were gone. I had hoped to get some posts scheduled to go up here but I ran out of time. And everytime I'm gone more than a few days, it takes me forever to get back in the swing of things. I'm just now coming up for air.

So where did I go? Oregon. Beautiful Oregon. There is moss on all the trees and there are daffodils EVERYWHERE. On the freeways, in the city, in the middle of nowhere..........its like the daffodil fairy just sprinkled Oregon with daffodils. Speaking of the city......whoever designed downtown Portland was on something. OY! It would take us 3 tries everytime just to get somewhere.

We checked out a few colleges for 17. I'm trying to gear up for the separation. I don't know if I can handle it................

Here is one of the projects I was hoping to get up for you:

Apothecary Art and Elements of Style. Crumb cake, daffodil delight and whisper white cardstock. Black Stazon, daffodil delight, old olive and crumb cake inks. White satin ribbon, big shot, label framelits, polka dot embossing folder, pearls and dimensionals.

I don't remember if I showed you this one or not. Its basically the same as this one:

What I wanted to show you was the "fake-out" on the ribbon. Lookee:

Run some tape across the middle of the base. My precious Tombow Multi Glue does not work well for this.

Lay some ribbon on top and make the ends cute. Its hard to see here but I cut them into fishtails. I'm don't know what others call them, so fishtails it is..........for now. I cut the base a 1/4" shorter so the ends could go off the edge and they would still fit in the envelope.

Then cut 2 pieces of ribbon, about 2 inches long.

Put a little tape on the end and fold it over.

Put a little tape on the flat piece and then stick the loop on there.

Are you beginning to see it?

Wa La! Instant glamour, and you didn't use a whole bunch of ribbon.

Okie dokie, its time to get dinner started. I'll be working on my Project Life for March this weekend and hopefully getting some things planted. I feel very behind.

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.

Blessings, b.

I'm on a roll

2012-03-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Boy Howdy! am I ever on a roll. 3 posts in 3 days! Maybe the world really is ending.............

Since tomorrow (Saturday) is the last day of Sale-A-Bration I thought I'd better get the projects I made using SAB items up here, just in case you needed another little push to get some free goodies before its too late.

Outlined Occasions (SAB). Crumb cake, whisper white and daffodil delight cardstock. Black Stazon, tangerine tango and daffodil delight inks. Big shot, polka dot embossing folder, white bakers twine, brights buttons (SAB), label framelits, white taffeta and dimensionals.

It was nearly impossible to get a good pic of this card. Or maybe I should say it was impossible for me. But you get the idea right?

I just layered the framelits on the cardstock and I was able to cut out a cute little frame with one pass throught the Big Shot. Nifty eh?

A Word for You. Pool party, very vanilla cardstock. Black Stazon ink. Vanilla seam binding, scallop edge punch, large paper doily, big shot, newsprint DSP and Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB).

This card went through a million transformations. Here are a few more:

This was probably my favorite. Only difference here is the base is crumb cake, the pool party ruffled ribbon (love) and I added pearls on the doily.

I know alot of people are having a hard time with the doily. Luckily for me, mine is awesome! We'll have a discussion another day about it though.

Using vanilla for the doily. A2 size.

Apothecary Art (Occasions mini). Soft suede, baja breeze, very vanill and crumb cake cardstock. Black Stazon, Rose red, old olive, daffodil delight and crumb cake inks. Aquapainter, big shot, label framelits, rose red seam binding, square lattice embossing folder and dimensionals.

This project doesnt' use any SAB goodies but the cuteness inside of it does. The box was inspired by Lisa Martz. We used the aquapainters to color the flowers.

I don't own the Box #2 die so I used my Simply Scoring Tool to make one. Easy! I'll post a tutorial on how I did that next week.

The back.

Fabulous Phrases. Soft suede, baja breeze and very vanilla cardstock. Black Stazon ink. Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), baja breeze seam binding, jewelry tag punch.

These are the little cuties that went in the box. We made 3x3 cards with envelopes. I really liked this DSP and I'm gong to miss it. So go place a $50 order so you can get some!

Fresh Vintage (SAB) and music notes wheel. Pretty in pink, regal rose, old olive and crumb cake inks. Crumb cake, pretty in pink and whisper white cardstock. Big shot, label framelits, polka dot embossing folder, boho blossoms punch, pearls, white satin ribbon, wheel guide.

This is going to be my Grandmother's birthday card. This was also inspired by Lisa Martz.

I used the boho blossoms punch to punch out the flowers. Then I crinkled and wrinkled them and then separated the layers. Now they are soft flowers.

Outlined Occasions (SAB). Pool party, calypso coral, whisper white cardstock. Black Stazon, old olive and pool party inks. Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Pool party ruffled ribbon, label framelits, 1 1/4" square punch, big shot and dimensionals.

I don't really like how this card turned out. I did do a little trick with the label framelit that I thought was groovy, but I will show you that on another card next week.

Okay, I think thats it. Let me go check really quick...........

Yep, thats all. March 31 is the last day of Sale-A-Bration so if you see anything that you'd like to have you can go directly to my SU! website and put in an order. You can check out the SAB catalog here. Don't miss out!

Alrighty then, I gots lots to do today. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

Feb. Project Life

2012-03-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

WOW! 2 posts in the same week! Whats the world coming too? Don't worry, things will go back to normal soon enough....;)

So today I got February done for my Project Life and I wanted to show you before I started adding the cards from the classes.

Ready?

Either we had a little more going on for Feb. or I just saved more stuff. I have 2 extra inserts!

Supplies: simple alpha die, big shot and word window punch

We went to Northern Arizona University for a tour. This is one of the colleges 17 is considering. It was a whirlwind trip.....up and back, 36 hours. Yep, I was tired.

Really nice school. Good food. Nice program for her chosen major.

I added a 6x12 insert for some extra pics. I probably could have squeezed out a 2 page spread but it was such a quick trip I didn't take a ton of pics. I'm loving this long insert without having to fight the sewing machine to get one.

Here is the back side. I added the Valentine cards the hubs and I exchanged. You can tell which one is mine, right?

Then I also added an 8.5x11 insert. I had a letter for Grace I wanted to include so I used this side to include some info from the tour.

This was Grace's Honor Band invite. Had to include that!

Lots of miscellany here. I had printed out the pic of their Valentine cans to use in the 3x4 pockets but that didn't flow like I wanted. So instead of printing out another pic I just stapled it in. I'll have something behind it for March so it won't be floating anymore.

There you have it. Yes, this took a few hours to finish but if I only spend a few hours a month to document our lives well, thats time well spent. Just don't overthink it. Have fun!

Remember I said that Grace was going to miss last nights concert because of her cast? Yeah........no. We had told the dr. that she played flute and he tried to make the cast usuable so she could still play. She had tried when we got home that day and.....no way, couldn't do it.

Of course she kept trying and she managed it. She was so excited for the concert last night and her teacher is so awesome she let Grace play. Gotta love people who love their jobs. Especially if their job involves kids.

She couldn't hold it out straight like she usually does but hey, whatever works! I'm so glad she has found something that she loves.

Alrighty then, thats if for today. You probably need to recuperate from the shock of 2 posts in 2 days anyway.

Thanks for stopping by. I love it when you do that.

Blessings, b.

bones, books, birthday

2012-03-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I had every intention of getting the cards from the last few card classes up last week but, I had some distractions.

Distraction #1:
Tuesday I started rereading The Hunger Games to gear up for the movie. I had loaned my copy out so I bought a digital copy for The Nooker. (I had gotten my dad a Nook Color for Christmas and he gave it back to me.......long story........I lovingly call it The Nooker). Now that I have read my first digital book I can honestly say I really do prefer a real copy in my hands. I like turning the pages and smelling the pages (don't laugh) and it doesn't need to recharge.

Distraction #2:
Wednesday the school nurse called me at work. That is never a good thing. Seems Grace fell on the playground and hurt her wrist but, the nurse didn't think it looked bad.

I knew she was really hurt though because she wanted me to come get her. She never misses school. Ever.

While on the way to get her, the nurse calls again. Yeah, there is a big bulge now. You'd better get her to the dr.

UGH!

So after 2 days and 2 different dr.s we now have a blue cast.

Luckily it only has to stay on for 3 weeks. Really upset her though because she missed an Honor Band practice and is going to miss her concert tonight. By the time Spring Break is over it should be off. YAY!

Distraction #3:
I had a birthday. Another year older. Hopefully another year wiser too.

From Grace.

From the hubs. Can you believe he stamped!

From The Boy and 17. He got me some lottery tickets.....no winners. 17 took me to see The Hunger Games. I thought her card was very clever. On the inside it says, " I mean, Happy Birthday!"

I thought the movie was super! Of course there were a few things I wished were more to the book. What I did like very much, was how they portrayed the control center. I thought that was pretty neat. Donald Sutherland is the perfect President Snow. Although I wish they had made him look more like she describes him in the book. Otherwise I really liked it. Go see it.

Alrighty then, this week starts my Spring Break and I get to be home alone for a few hours EACH DAY! WooHoo! Of course I have a to-do list a mile long. One of the things on my list is to get my Project Life up to date.

So far I have January done.

Let me just say, I'm in LOVE! This is exactly what I wanted.

Supplies: Typeset alpha (retired), tangerine tango ink, small heart punch 13/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches, cork, simple letters, big shot

Don't mind Holly's butt in the pic above.....she wouldn't move

Really this doesn't get any easier. I normally take at least a few pics every week if for no other reason just to bug my family. And I naturally save all kinds of scraps of things. The tag on the girls' pic is a wink to their love/hate relationship.

Supplies: Curly label punch

There ya go. This didn't take me long considering I'm 2 months behind already. I just used whatever stuff I had out already.

Now, most people are doing this Project Life weekly. Yeah, that is so not happening here. Yes, there will be months where I may have another page in the middle. Like for Feb. I already have an 8.5x11 page protector added for Grace's Honor Band invite. And I'll probably have an extra page in March for my birthday stuff. I'm totally going with the flow. Even the hubs has gotten the idea. The other day The Boy was working under his car and he came to tell me to get a pic. I know the whole family will get the idea sooner or later.

Okie dokie. Thats it for now. See, when I'm home alone I get chatty. I promise to get all the cards from my classes up in the next few days. I'm dying to get out and work on the garden but I have too much to do inside this week. More about that later.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

bird revisited

2012-03-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

Howdy! I hope you all are having a great week so far. I had 2 card classes this weekend. I loved catching up with my friends.

Remember the bird/groovy square card I showed last week? Well, I changed it a little for my classes this past weekend.

Fresh Vintage (SAB) and music notes wheel. Crumb cake, soft suede and very vanilla cardstock. Baja breeze and crumb cake inks. Bird punch, pearls, wheel guide, label framelits, stipes embossing folder, big shot, dimensionals and sponges.

Its the same focal image but I turned it and used the music notes wheel. I was inspired by a card by Dawn McVey.

I used a black sharpie to color the pearl for the eyeball. I had to use the wheel guide to make sure I got the music notes straight. I put off buying that wheel guide for years but I finally broke down and now I'm wondering why I waited so long. It sure makes using the wheel sooooooo much easier.

Alrighty then, this is going to be a quickie post today. I have a union meeting tonight. UGH! Sometimes I really don't like being a grown up.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be putting up the rest of the cards this week.

Blessings, b.

rainbows and pennies

2012-03-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Happy (day before) St. Patty's Day! I can't get my crew to eat corned beef and cabbage so we'll be having beef stew. I am 1/4 Irish and my family sure did whoop it up when we were kids.

Anyhow, I wanted to show you the cute little treats I made for my ladies' orders. They got them tonight so I can show you now.

Teeny Tiny Wishes. Crumb cake, whisper white and garden green cardstock. Black Stazon ink. Big shot, label framelits, square lattice embossing folder, 1/2" circle punch, sm. heart punch, bitty buttons, pearls, oval punch, 1x8 cello bags, white bakers twine.

Aren't they cute? I used Skittles jelly beans and they are so yummy! These cello bags were in the last mini catalog but you can still order them. Use number 124134. I think they were $2.95 for 50. Good deal eh?

I originally thought to put chocolate gold coins in but I couldn't find any, and they wouldn't fit anyway. The jelly beans are a perfect fit.

These are pretty simple to make. I adhered the hearts to the 1/2" circle and then punched out a sliver with the oval punch for the stem. I cut another label so I could write my thank you and just tied them together.

I put just a dot of the Tombow Glue in the center and popped the button on there. The pearls are already sticky and they stick gooooood.

Alrighty then, I'm going to be real quick tonight. I'm still getting ready for my class tomorrow night. I thought I would be using the same cards as last week but, I can't leave well enough alone and ended up tweaking each one so they are pretty different. I am my own worst enemy.

Thanks so much for stopping by and may the luck of the Irish be with ye.

Blessings, b.

groovy square.....yep, thats me

2012-03-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I can't believe more than a week has past since I posted. Sorry.

I had a card class on Friday and spent all last week getting ready for that. I just love hanging out with those ladies. They are so much fun.

I'm having another card class this Friday and Saturday at my house. Some of the cards will be the same, some will be different. Here is one that we made and will be making this week too.

Fresh Vintage (SAB set) and Woodgrain. Crumb cake, very vanilla and soft suede cardstock. Crumb cake and lucky limeade inks. Big shot, stripes embossing folder, bird punch, pearls, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Newsprint DSP, label framelits, sponging and dimensionals.

This is one of my favorites. I know at first glance it looks a little plain. But remember? I like simple.

I used the Free DSP from the SAB catalog for the bird body. I colored some pearls black with a Sharpie to make eyeballs. The greenery there is also a Free SAB set, Fresh Vintage. AND the Stripes Embossing folder is also FREE right now during SAB.

Geez, thats alot of free stuff.

Check out that soft suede piece in the back there...........That is the label framelit. Check this out,

I realize now that I should have taken a pic of all the framelits. 6 different sizes come in one pack. They are awesome!

Anyway, cut out any size framelit you want. Basic sandwich is this:

platform on tab 2
cutting pad
cardstock
framelit with ridged side down
cutting pad

You end up with this little cutie

Here comes the clever part. Take the same framelit and turn it 90 degrees. Cut again.

See? Groovy Squares! The little leftover pieces look like a ponytails hairdo for a girl. I'm not that inventive with punch art so make up a little girl and use the hair and let me see what you did. Thanks.

Alrighty then, Bachelor is over tonight. I'll have to watch it another day. I just can't stay up that late. I have a feeling he will pick Courtney. What a chump!

Speaking of t.v., let me do a quick little thing about Downton Abbey.

First of all, loved the ending. Finally Mary and Matthew can get married. I know it won't be so easy as that. Also loved about William's dad asking Daisy to be his daughter. So sweet! So happy Bates isn't dead.

Now here are the parts I have questions about:

I still don't know why Sir Richard was threatening Lavinia. I realize they are both gone now but I still want to know.
Did all the servants know about Robert and Jane? Is that why they accepted her leaving without question?
Is Ethel just gone now?
I'm thinking Anna is pregnant but doesn't know it yet.
Who killed Vera?
What about that guy that said he was Patrick? I think its weird that he left so suddenly. I don't think that is over just yet.
I thought it was interesting how at the trial, Isobel said to Mrs. Hughes, "Its difficult to lie under oath. Few of us can manage it." Hmmmm.......do you need to share something Isobel?

I know I had more than that but its been a few weeks since I watched it. You can see all of season 1 and 2 on Netflix. I love it!

Okay, I'm done now. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

thank you

2012-03-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hey there! How is everyone tonight? We were talking about all the tornados today and I hope everyone stays safe for the ones they are predicting for tomorrow. Batten down the hatches! We will include you in our prayers tonight.

So, with yesterday being Leap Day and all, I thought I would get some stamping done. I have 2 card classes coming up in the next few weeks. I need to design 8 different cards.

Nothing like procrastinating eh?

So, instead of designing cards for that, I decided to make some Thank You cards. I've had an idea floating in my head for a few months now and decided last night was the night to make it happen. I guess I thought I'd be extra inspired because of Leap Day. Yeah, I don't know either................

So, here ya go:

Thank You Kindly set. Tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie, lucky limeade and whisper white cardstock. Pumpkin pie, melon mambo, lucky limeade, tempting turquoise, elegant eggplant and black Stazon inks. Big shot, polka dot embossing folder, lace ribbon border punch, bitty buttons, bakers twine, boho blossoms punch, sponge daubers and dimensionals.

I hope you take notice that I didn't use any Crumb Cake cardstock. I know, I couldn't believe it either. It must have been the Leap Day thing.

I have had this idea of using the Lace Ribbon Border Punch as a mask. It worked pretty well.

Now that I'm looking at it though, wouldn't it have been easier to just ink up the cardstock and put a white punch out on top? Yep.

Or even ink up the cardstock and punch that out and lay it on the white? Yep. ( Actually I think this would be pretty cool.)

Oh well.

I'm not sure I even like it all that well. It may just go in my sample basket and I'll be even later with my Thank Yous.

Story of my life.

I do have something else very exciting to show you. I got a package last week.

Hmmm......what could this be?

Oh yeah, I got me some Project Life in the house! I know, I'm very late to the party.

They've been out of stock for months. I'm pretty darn over the moon about this.

Almost 2 years ago to the day, I had an epiphany.

I thought I could do this with just my regular page protectors but then things I wanted to scrap just started piling up and I never did get them onto a scrap page.

What I needed was this nifty program. I didn't buy the whole core package. The colors and designs she has just don't float my boat, so I bought the Big Variety Pack 2, the 3x4 grid cards and the 6x12 page protectors.

I don't plan on doing it weekly. I would set myself up for failure. I plan on doing it monthly. Just bits and pieces for the month.

There is no right or wrong. Just go with the flow. As soon as I get Jan. and Feb. done I will be showing you.

Alrighty then, thats more than enough chit chat for tonight.

Oh but wait! I wanted to talk to you about Downton Abbey. I finally watched the finale. I'll save it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

slowly but surely......

2012-02-24T20:50:00.001-08:00

.........its taken me over a week to get this post together. And its not even all that exciting.

But I want to share with you anyway.

First things first, Valentine's Day.

Yep, it was 10 days ago and I'm just now getting around to showing you what I made. I am a magnet for distraction.

No stamps! Crumb cake, whisper white, real red, early espresso and melon mambo cardstock. Soft suede ink. Simple alpha die, big shot, label framelits, small heart punch, large paper doily die, double ribbon punch, cork sheets, lattice embossing folder, designer frames embossing folders, wide oval punch, wood sheets, bakers twine, hemp, forest lodge DSP (retired), and dimensionals.

Kid Valentine treats. I got these cute little paint cans in the $spot at Target. Love Target! They each held an entire bag of candy. I'm embarrassed to say it didn't take them too long to eat them all either.

I used the wood sheets with the Label Framelits (occasions mini). It cut with no problem at all. Niiiiice.

For the girls' tags I cut a label and then embossed it with the Designer Frames embossing folders. Then I took a dauber with the soft suede ink and daubed ink on the raised dots to give it a litttle definition.

I then used the lattice embossing folder and punched out some wide ovals. Super easy but looks involved.

Here are the tops. I cut down the large paper doily, (I love that thing!) to fit the lid. I left the boy's naked.

Fabulous Phrases and woodgrain. Crumb cake, real red and whisper white cardstock. Black Stazon and crumb cake inks. Wood sheets, bakers twine, sponging, red craft paint, paper towel tube, jewelry tag punch and dimensionals.

This is the card I made the for the Husband. 4.25 x 4.25. I love these wood sheets. They cut just like cardstock. I didn't have a heart stamp the right size or thickness so I made my own. Here is how I did the hearts:

I cut down the paper towel tube. Using a toilet paper one would delete the cutting down part. But you got that right?

I pinched it on the bottom and then pushed in the top. To keep the shape I used a rubberband.

I had to use our ancient mouse pad in order to get a good impression.

Stamp the background, put it all together and you get, this. I'm loving that cute little jewelry tag punch.

I popped up the wood sheet with dimensionals.

12 days ago we also went to Arizona to check out NAU. Very nice place. The food was good. 17 seemed to like it.

In a few weeks we are going to Oregon. Anybody in the Portland or Eugene or Ashland areas? We will be there a week looking at colleges and checking out the housing market. This is one of the states we are considering moving to. Is there anything we should see or do? I appreciate any and all ideas.

We also had our very last Father/Daughter dance. Sniff. We are having a whole bunch of "lasts" this year. Its all going too fast and I'm trying to soak it all in.

For some reason dad is out of focus. They took pics there so hopefully they were both in focus for those.

Alrighty then, thats all for now. Who Do You Think You Are? is on and I love that show. I'm going to be very crafty in the next few weeks so hopefully I'll have lots to show you.

Thanks so much for stopping by. You give me warm fuzzies.

Blessings, b.

carrots in love

2012-02-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey! Sorry about the absence......again.

So, I haven't unloaded my camera for about a month. I had quite a few miscellaneous pics on there and I won't show you them all but, I did want to show you these:

About a month ago I pulled my carrots. And trimmed back the chili plants. Those are Poblanos. I planted 2 different kinds of carrots this year. They both tasted really good. In fact I had cooked some for dinner and the Hubs said, "they taste carrotier." Okaaaaaaaay.......

So do you see those ones on the far left there?

If you don't thin your carrot patch when they are small, you might get this. Hmmm........and now I'm speechless because anything I think of saying right now is inappropriate. So I'll just leave it at that.

I am taking 17 on a college tour out of town tomorrow and we won't be back until really late Monday night so I knew I needed to get Grace's teacher Valentines done before I left.

Then I thought I'd make a point of posting them here so maybe you might get inspired to make some teacher Valentines too.................well, if you needed any, that is.

I {heart} Hearts set. Crumb cake, whisper white and real red cardstock. Real red and pretty in pink inks. Lable Framelits, polka dot embossing folder, big shot, cherry cobbler twine, small heart punch.

These were pretty darn simple to make. For the smaller ones, I just cut one of the largest Framelits. For the big ol' Hershey bar I had to cut 2 of the large ones, cut them down and glue together.

After I cut the Framelit, I embossed it with the polka dots. The tag is just the smallest Framelit. Love that baker's twine!

This is one of those peanut butter Snicker squares. They are about 1" thick so I scored 1/2" of either side of the middle of the die cut and folded. Doesn't get much easier. Let me know if you have any questions.

Alrighty then, I haven't had much, if any, computer time lately and I have a squillion emails to go through. But its going to have to wait until Tuesday. I hate having a clogged inbox. Or maybe Wednesday. I forgot that I have to make Valentine's for my family when I get back. It would be very unlike me to be ahead on too many things.

Thanks so much for your continued patience and visiting even though I've been very inconsistent. Things will smooth out.......promise.

Blessings, b.

if its not one thing, its another...........

2012-02-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Sorry for the absence. Our computer monitor went out. So I have borrowed one and can now get back to chatting with you. At least it was only the monitor and not something else. Although new monitors are like $100! Shheeesh!

I'll be posting a new card for you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

up, up and away........

2012-01-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

.......in my beautiful balloon.........

Hey there!

Before I show you my card today I have a little story to share. I wanted to show you the card set I made for my awesome SIL for Christmas. I used the set Up, Up and Away for it.

Well, everytime I look at this set, the song Up, Up and Away by the 5th Dimension comes to mind. Just like how everytime I go onto the Bank of America site I end up singing the words "Bank of America" to the tune of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine which coincidentally is also by the 5th Dimension. I didn't realize I knew so many 5th Dimension songs. I can remember going to my friend's house when we were kids and playing the record and lip syncing for our parents................

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because I wondered if I had the lyrics right because I wanted to use them for the title of this post. So I Googled them. I didn't remember who sang this song so I just Googled "Up Up and away". Well, a certain artist (if you can call him that) came up and I thought, "hmm....maybe he redid it" and I clicked on the link to see the lyrics....................HOLY COW! How are these people allowed to put this kind of stuff on the radio? I'm not embarrassed to say I was shocked. It explains alot. Don't Google it. Just don't.

Alrighty then. Let me show you my cards.

Up, Up and Away and Fabulous Phrases. Crumb cake and whisper white cardstock. Tangerine tango, pumpkin pie, bashful blue, early espresso, black Stazon, poppy parade and daffodil delight inks. Brights DSP, scallop border punch, bakers twine, sponging and dimensionals.

I love my SIL. She is such a funny person and we have a blast together. So I wanted to make a card that was more her style. I liked the design I used on Mother's card and figured, "why reinvent the wheel?"

Dark picture again......sorry. You can see here how to do the clouds. They're easy.

You can see here where I fluffed the scallops. Fluffy Scallops!

After looking at the finished cards a few days later, I decided it would be better if they had a little more color. So I did the balloons differently. What do you think?

So did you watch Downton Abbey? I wanted so bad for Mary to just run and give Matthew a big hug and tell him that she loves him. Oh well.........

Alrighty then, after rereading this I think maybe I shouldn't try and blog when I'm home alone. I'm much too wordy. But there it is...........just keeping it real.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

Simple is as simple does.......

2012-01-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

......and I'm pretty simple. But you knew that already ;)

Hidey Ho! I hope everyone is having a super duper Wednesday.

Today I want to show you a gift I made for Mother (my MIL) for Christmas. I have the best MIL in the world. She never has a bad word to say and will do anything for you. She sends out lots of cards and so I make her a little set to have on hand every once in awhile.

But then she always sends me one of the cards as a thank you. Its really weird getting your own card in the mail. Kinda like when you fill out the reminder card at the doctor's office and a year later you get something in the mail with your own writing on it? Yeah, anyway..................

Simply Soft (hostess set) and Fabulous Phrases. Crumb cake and whisper white cardstock. Black Stazon, regal rose, melon mambo, daffodil delight, old olive and tangerine tango inks. Brights patterned DSP, scallop border punch, aquapainter, bakers twine and dimensionals.

Sorry about the dark pic. I made her a set of 5 with different sayings on them. These were super fast and easy to put together. See? Simple.

You know if you say simple enough times it starts looking and sounding weird.

Simple......simple.....simple......simple

I really like the yellow one.

I like the pink too. If I remember right these were a smaller size. I think 3.75 x 4.5. I had stamped the flower and words first and then sized the card around it. I like the white space.

I colored the stem and leaves with an aquapainter and the old olive ink. Now, if I had a nice old olive marker, I would have just used that. But mine has been a little too well loved.

You can kind of see here where I fluffed the scallops so they weren't laying totally flat. It gave some more dimension. It was the first thing you want to touch.

Okay, for those of you watching Downton Abbey with me, I have a question;

In the first episode of season 2 you see Sir Richard threatening Lavinia in the garden. In the 2nd episode she tells Mary what she did and why. So okay, Lavinia isn't such a bad person.....I guess.

So here is my question: Why was Sir Richard threatening her? Lavinia said he was threatening to tell Mary all about it but, why?

I'm thinking there is something Sir Richard wants from her and if she doesn't do it then he would tell Mary her story.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by and keeping me company. You're such good friends.

Blessings, b.

I have a dream.........

2012-01-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

When I was a kid we always studied Dr. King and Lincoln and Washington during this time of year because of the holidays. I mean we get the day off to celebrate these guys, shouldn't we know a little about them?

Nowadays though, the kids don't study them. They have no idea who MLK is, ( well the kids at my school that I talked to about it anyway). Sure they know Lincoln and Washington were presidents but not what they stood for. Kinda sad I think.

So tonight we were discussing why we have today off of school and work and specifically the "I have a dream" speech and it turned into the perfect teaching moment.

Grace has been invited to audition for Honor Band. A pretty big deal. I was surprised (but I didn't show it) that she wanted to go for it. I'm so happy she even joined band much less try out for Honor Band.

Tomorrow is the big day. She has been practicing for a month now..............and she is freaking out.

Anybody who knows Grace, knows that she is a sensitive child. Much to my dismay sometimes (alot of times). She can cry at the drop of a hat and worries about EVERYTHING. She hates new experiences and tries too hard to please.

So, we were talking about the vision Dr. King had. That he let people know about his dream and that he did something about it. He wanted to change the world......and that he asked God for help.

I encouraged her to have a dream too. Not that her dream would change the world necessarily but it would change her world. By having the courage to try, by asking me to help, by asking her teacher to help, by asking God to help, that she could do this.

I'm so proud of her whether she gets the position or not, but I think I need to practice what I preach. There are a few comfort zones I need to step out of.

"......with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

You know I had a totally different post in mind when I sat down to write tonight but this is what came out. I think I'll let it be for today and I'll have something stampy to show you tomorrow.

I hope nobody is offended or put off. This was not my intent. I hope that you feel encouraged to DREAM BIG. I do. Go MLK!

Blessings, b.

Dec. daily 18 - 25

2012-01-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

Before I get started today let me just say one thing, Downton Abbey.

OMG! Its even better than last season......and longer. 2 hours! I'm loving it!

Okay, let me say one more thing, Matthew.........sigh.

Alright I'm done. Go watch it. Trust me, you'll love it too.

Day 18

Day 19

This page is a slightly different size. I wanted to scallop the edge and use the round tab punch but didn't want it to stick out farther than the other pages. So I cut off 1/2". Since I didn't have a picture for the day it worked just fine.

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24 left side

Day 24 right side

Day 25 left side

Day 25 right side

Day 25 backside

All pages use a variety of these products:

Classic Numbers (retired) and Fabulous Phrases. Garden green, riding hood red, crumb cake and natuals white cardstock. Riding hood red and garden green inks. Big shot, label framelits, hemp, round tab punch, black journaler, scallop border punch, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, wide oval punch, and dimensionals.

This is what it looks like from the side. I used book rings to bind it.

So what did I like this year and what do I plan on changing for next?

I liked the size, 5.5 x 8.5. I like being able to make one cut and have 2 pages. No waste that way.
I like that I stuck to just a few colors.
I'm not so sure I like using just 1 pic per day. Then again, there were quite a few days that I took no pics.
I didn't like how so inconsistent I was in keeping up with it daily.

Next year:

I plan on journaling EVERY DAY. No matter what. This year I did write down a subject to write about but not the story. Since I had to go back and play catch up, I know I missed out on a bunch of stories I would have liked to tell. bad, bad, bad.
I'd like to be a little more creative in adding more pics. This will take lots of pre-thinking/designing on my part, but it will be worth it.

Overall, I love this project. I really do. Even though I didn't get to tell as many stories as I would like, it will still be a family treasure.

I hope next year you join me.

Thanks for stopping by. I have some non-holiday projects up my sleeve coming soon.

Blessings, b.

Dec. daily, days 9-17

2012-01-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, lets continue shall we?

For those of you who didn't do this this year, I hope my little album inspires you to try it next year. Not that mine is all that wonderful but when its done, its a magical little slice of life that you will treasure.

Promise.

day 9

I sewed a pocket! I didn't even cuss at the sewing machine! Again, see that groovy die cut? That is one of the Label Framelits in the Occasions Mini. Love them!

In the pocket are everybody's wish lists. And my final list of what I bought everyone. I have to keep track or I WAY overspend.

day 10

Since this is the backside and it already had the stitching on it, I thought it would be cute to stitch a little date tag. Nifty eh?

day 11

Oh the garden.......I have loved my garden again this year. I just last weekend cut back the cherry tomato. The onions are the most delicious onions ever! I only like onions when they are cooked to smithereens and these ones are like onion candy. So good. We are getting ready to plant the broccoli and more carrots.

day 12

This picture is so HIM! He hates for me to take it.

day 13

Big big day for Grace. She made that star last year and I've kept it just waiting for the perfect use. There ya go..........

day 14

day 15

day 16

day 17

All pages use a combination of these products:

Classic Numbers (retired) Headline numbers (retired) and Fabulous Phrases sets.
Crumb cake, naturals white, garden green or riding hood red cardstock.
Black Stazon, garden green and riding hood red inks.
Big shot, label framelits, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, round tab punch, dimensionals, bakers twine, hemp, black journaler, scallop border punch and Frostwood lodge DSP

Thats it for today. I will have my final thoughts on this years process when I post the last pages. Its always a changing and growing experience for me.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

back in the saddle again..........

2012-01-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Hey there! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Day! Ours was a sign of times to come. Both big kids went to parties where they slept over. So it was just me and the Mr. and Grace. Talk about quiet!

I've been thinking about resolutions and what I'd really like to focus on this year.

Most importantly I want to quit procrastinating so much. I don't even realize I'm doing it half the time. Simple things like, paying the bills on the day we get paid, cleaning the toilet before I see its getting a little...........you know, sweeping and mopping the kitchen at least weekly, etc.

Can anyone relate?

Hello?.........hello?.......moving on.....

Alrighty then, I know its already January but I still want to show you the completed Dec. Daily. I'll just do 8 pages at a time so I don't bore you to death.

The cover:

Grace said she wanted to do the cover. I like it.

Inside the front cover:

Do you see that groovy die cut shape? Thats the new Label Framelits. Super neato dies in the Occasions Catalog. Love them!

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

I didn't get permission from my friends to post their pics. Really, they have beautiful faces.

Day 4

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7:

Day 8:

All pages use a variety of the same supplies:

Classic Numbers (retired) and Fabulous Phrases. Crumb cake, naturals white, garden green, riding hood red cardstock. Riding hood red and garden green inks. Round tab punch, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, bakers twine, hemp, black journaler, Forest Lodge DSP, scallop border punch, leaves #2 die, big shot, and dimensionals.

The pages are 8.5 x 5.5, just 1/2 a piece of cardstock. No waste that way. I'm all about making things simple.

Alrighty then, its back to work tomorrow.

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.

Blessings, b.

Are you there?

2011-12-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

Once again I'm sorry about disappearing on you. Things got super hectic again and I got caught up in too many things.

So I slowed down....................well, as much as the kids would let me.

I played LOTS of Christmas music (love my Johnny Mathis) and cooked and shopped and visited and ate way too many goodies. Way too many.

I hope you were able to enjoy the holiday with your loved ones.

Now a new year is going to start and I'm thinking of what I want to do differently this year. There is so much room for improvement. Leave a comment here or shoot me an email and let me know what your 2012 goals are and I'll share mine as soon as I narrow the list down.

So for today I want to show you a few things I worked on for Christmas. The Dec. Daily is really behind but I will be showing you that also in the next few days.

Delicate Doilies. Garden green, crumb cake and poppy parade cardstock. Versamark ink. Whisper white embossing powder, simple letters die, big shot.

Remember 17 had that Secret Santa thing in yearbook? Well this was another little gifty for the girl.

Quick, simple and cute. I used the Coluzzle to cut out the circle.

Loads of Love stamps. Crumb cake, whisper white, old olive and riding hood red cardstock. Black Stazon ink. Leaves #2 die, big shot, 1/2" circle punch, cropodile, Brights Patterned DSP, old olive striped ribbon, cherry cobbler bakers twine.

Teacher gifts. I had some really old kraft boxes that SU! used to sell and are selling again in the Holiday Mini, to box up some crackers and cookies.

The tags have a Starbucks gift card in them. We had the idea to make the leaves look like holly but I kept thinking they look like antlers. I didn't tell Grace that though :).

Loads of Love and Woodgrain. Crumb cake, riding hood red and whisper white cardstock. Garden green and choc. chip markers, crumb cake ink. White taffeta, Frostwood lodge DSP, Designer frames embossing folders, big shot, wide oval punch and dimensionals.

Here is THE Christmas card. I really like them. They seriously only took me a half hour to design. That is super fast for me. I don't send that many out so I got about 18 of them done in a few hours. WooHoo!

My desk was too messy to take a pic on.

This was the first time using the Designer Frames embossing folders. I kinda dig them! I don't have any Christmas stamps so I searched around for what would work. The tree from Loads of Love fit perfectly!

I used markers to ink up the tree. I sponged everything, which I don't normally do. Too much work. I've become a lazy stamper.

Loads of Love and Delicate Doilies. Crumb cake, riding hood red and garden green cardstock. Garden green and choc. chip markers, whisper white craft ink. Frostwood Lodge DSP, wide oval punch, Designer Frames embossing folders, corner rounder and dimensionals.

This is a gift card holder. Super easy to do!

I made a belly band to go around it to hold it closed.

And here I am working hard to get things done. Just keeping it real................

Thanks so much for keeping the blog cozy while I was gone. I have plans to be much more consistent.

Blessings, b.