4th July and other happenings.....

We had a pretty low key 4th this year. People up and down our street usually set of fireworks so we just sit outside with sparklers and watch. The girls didn't really want much of any ourselves except the colored smoke balls




It was funny watching them - this year for the first time they played with fire - trying to relight burnt out sparklers with the embers of another. Interesting to watch their thought processes.



I made a few cards over the weekend using my growing Unity Stamp collection. This one as an invitation to our design team dinner




And this one as a thank you to those who helped out with inventory at the store




I really like how this one turned out! I think I need to make a few more just like it.

Still here.....

Yes I'm still here and still trying to catch up with my life! School is back in full swing as are all the extra curricular activities and birthdays and store events..... it's just crazy! I have been doing some creating - you can see the monthly challenge group stuff over at the diva blog and some cards I've made over at the Store.
Speaking of birthday's we have had 2 in the family this month (3 if you count my dad's - miss you dad!) My older DD requested an iceskating party for her birthday so here was the invite


And here is the party in full swing.

She is also the one with the pig addiction so while in Seattle this summer I made sure to take lots of photos of Rachel - the Pike St Market mascot. So for her birthday I made her a mini book to remember our trip

It sits on her bedside table for a nightly viewing before bed :o)
My niece turned 1 this week and for her birthday I made her a rag doll which was SO much fun and I already have requests for several more. It hasn't made it through the mail across the ocean to her yet so I am crossing my fingers hoping when she gets it she loves it as much as I do


You can see behind her a matching quilt still in progress. I hope to have that completed before Christmas - or sooner even!
My older DD auditioned for and was accepted into the Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble so that now takes up a lot of our free time but it is a dream come true for her. It's still an adjustment for me.....

My younger DD's birthday is coming up next month so I need to begin planning for that.... and then before you know it, it will be Christmas! Ugh! Hopefully I'll be back here before then :o) Thanks for checking in on me!

Phew!

Wow that last week or two of school really wiped me out! It was crazy busy with work thrown in there too but the good news is I made a lot of gifts this week so I have lots to show you.
Firstly the pencil roll I was telling you about returned from the abyss (at least momentarily) so here's a photo of it



And you know it really works! Seems it's much more fun to put your pencils away when they have a special color co-ordinated home to go to.


Then I made a bunch of cards and such for the teachers - this one for our only male teacher and it included a resturant gift card

then 6 of each of these as gifts




and then another thank you with a gift card

and finally a clipboard (for the teacher who complained her's always went missing) with matching card



Then my oldest DD had not one but TWO birthday parties this week as well!!!! She is at the age where gift cards are the most wanted gifts but I hate to just give a gift card - luckily I stumbled upon Leslie's package pillows and I am in love with them!





So you know what all her friends will be getting from now on....

Then there were belated thank you gifts for the girl scout leaders. A tote bag (that had been requested)



(LOVE that fabric - and there is still enough left for some more projects.....)
and a note card wrap (can you tell she's an owl lover??)

I got the idea from soulemama's Gratitude Wrap but I didn't like the way she did the pockets and it seemed more complicated than it needed to be so I made my own version which is much simpler and works just fine. These would be great to have on hand for last minute gifts.... but then again last minute is all I ever do!

Then last but not least was out diva group challenge for the month. We met at the store this month so we could do a little shopping too :o) I have to say that I think out of all the pieces that I have made for the challenges, this is the one I am most pleased with

I have it proudly hanging above my piano now which is by the door to the garage so every time I walk into the house I see it and smile :o) You can see all the other pieces and what we had to use over on the blog.
Now school's out for the summer so we'll see how much gets done with the kids around. Hope you are enjoying your Memorial weekend!

Stamping - believe it or not!

Believe it or not this used to be mainly a blog to show off my latest hand stamped cards - haven't seen those in a while have you??? I have been busy doing so many of my sewing projects lately that my stamping has been left behind and my basket that was once FULL of cards ready to be signed and mailed is now down to the last sorry few. May seems to have a lot of birthday's in it for us as well as Mother's Day so I finally had no choice this weekend but to do some stamping. Here are a few that I came up with

The two butterfly ones I was playing with the chalks on versamark - haven't played with chalks in a while.

What's even better is that I took these in to work and copied them using the store's papers to make up a stamp a stack class for June. So if your stash is running low like mine was you can come in and in no time have 36 of these cards made with all the cutting done for you! Gotta love that!
This weekend my oldest DD has her yearly dance performance at the theater - 3 nights, 5 shows! All the driving back and forth to practices and rehearsals kills me every year but she loves it. I watch 3 out of the 5 shows and hold my breath every time through her dance till she makes it through. It amazes me how well it all comes together in such a short amount of time. I'm so proud of her - I don't think it's something I could ever do!

Don't forget Mother's Day this weekend - have you told your mum how great she is? After all you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her!

From one mum to another - have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

My youngest turns 8 today!! I know it's said over and over again "enjoy them while they are young because the time passes so quickly" but it is SO true! These 8 years have just flown by and with every minute of anger and frustration she has caused us have also come hours of joy. Happy birthday my little girl!

In our house once 2 birthday's have passed that means Christmas is just around the corner. I swore I would be ready for it this year and I really am going to try! I have a Christmas card stamp-a-stack this weekend at the store and these are the cards I made for it.

Of course I haven't made any for me..... But it has helped me start thinking about it anyway. I am also really trying to cut back this year and make more handmade gifts again. We really all have more than we need and I think it's much nicer to get something that you know someone has made just for you.

Updates....

Lots of updates for you - first the party was a smashing success. Here is my witch in all her finery including the spider tattoo on her neck (minus her black hat which kept blowing off in the wind)


The book of spells was a big hit


as were the black velvet goodie bags

I bought the velvet and made the bags just tying them closed with black ribbon. The printed chocolates were from Target and I bought the lotions and soaps on etsy (of course!) And she is in the process as we speak of writing out her thank-you's

The next big update is that my DS had her baby on Monday - woohoo!! I am an auntie for the first time to little Charlotte Marjorie. I fly out to see them on Sunday and although the thought of leaving my kids for 2 weeks is about to make me sick I know once I get there I will thoroughly enjoy myself....... at least that's what I keep saying..... they will all be fine while I'm gone right..??? A HUGE thank you has to go out to all those people that are willing to take my kids after school for 2 weeks until my DH gets home every night! I am going to owe them big time!!!

Finally the diva blog has been updated again with this month's fab creations. Go check them out!

I will be posting pics of my beautiful little niece when I get there so check back next week. But for now I'm off to start packing!

A spooky birthday

My oldest DD decided that she wanted to have a costume party this year - Halloween-ish style but mostly witches and black cats and such. I have alternated between being excited by the possibilities and depressed by the choices. We don't really want any heavy magic, death and doom and such but it's hard to find "nice" versions of all that's creepy. The invitations I was pleased with


I used some of the Rusty Pickle Addams Family Halloween paper from last year and some little acrylic stamps I got at Jo-ann's in the $1 section. I found this fun spell book - my DD was doing every one of them this afternoon and I am sure it will get lots of giggles from the whole group. I think I am going to print them all a copy to take home. The potion book on there was fun too but everything involved "boil for 20 min" but I am still trying to think of a way we could do it - substituting some of the ingredients of course :o) I will have to go and check out Martha for some more ideas.
Enjoy the weekend!

A day at home

Man it has been a looooong time (or so it feels like) since I have had a day at home! The last 2 weeks have been spent taking inventory and moving the store but now that is done and the store has reopened in it's new bigger and better spot (just 2 doors down from the old place) and it's GORGEOUS! You can see updates on their blog and more photos here. There is too much cool paper and stamps and ribbon - oh the ribbon! If you live locally you'll just have to come see for yourself. I will be teaching a stamp-a-stack class on Sept 13th if anyone is interested. You can find details of that on their website too and just call the store if you are interested in taking it.

So anyway, the move is finished and the kids are back in school - so maybe, just maybe, I can start to have a "normal" life again? Maybe? Well anyway, today rather than do something like - oh, I don't know... clean this pit of a house.... I decided my time would be much better spent stamping :o) After all I have a brand new catty and brand new cardstock colors and brand new punches and stamps just sitting there SCREAMING my name. So without further ado - I present to you my very first Fall/Winter IB&C card

What do you think? Nothing fancy I know but I'm a simple kind of girl. The colours are Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Tangerine Tango with the new scalloped edge punch and the Fall Flair hostess set. Can I just tell you that I am in love with that little dandelion puff stamp! I used inside the card too and on the back for my signature. I have always liked these botanical type sets.

I hope you are all finding your school routines again and hopefully I'll be back here again soon!

Baby Talk

My DS is pregnant with her first baby (due in Sept) so a lot of the talk amongst my mother and sisters is of the baby, preparations for the baby, things we have bought or made the baby. My sister has not yet (and may not until the big day) found out the sex of the baby which is driving the rest of us batty! There is SO MUCH cute boy and girl stuff - I just want to know which one I can buy!!! (Tash are you reading this...???) Anyway...... I did make the baby shower invitations - since I don't get to be at the shower at least I can participate in little ways. I made these 2 for her to choose from

and wouldn't you know it she liked them both! So my BIL got the final vote and the giraffe is the invitation and the elephant the thank-you's. I will be going to see the baby (my first niece or nephew) in Oct and am really looking forward to finally being able to enjoy a baby and then give it back to it's mom :o) For the last 10 yrs it's been the other way around.

Back from the beach

We had a WONDERFUL time at the beach with all of us. The weather was perfect and apart from the jellyfish on the last day (thank goodness for the pool) the swimming was great too. Here is a photo of all the girls :o)


This week has been a whirlwind of fitting in every last minute thing that Janine and Phil wanted to see and do before they leave tomorrow. Monique is staying through the end of July - yippee!!

I did manage to make one card for my swapping sister Sherri


The challenge was to make a card using designer paper. I love this Cutie Pie paper so that pretty much guarentees it will retire!

While at the beach I found out I had won some awesome blog candy from June which arrived On Tuesday - thank you June!!!
This weekend Monique and I are taking a trip to IKEA (and other fun spots in Atlanta) and then hopefully next week I'll be able to get back to a bit of normal routine and get some crafting done. Have a great weekend!

Family time

My sister's and Phil (poor Phil gets left out a lot of those generalities) are here - YEAH!!! We've been having a blast showing them the sights and just hanging out together. My girls love all the extra attention


This is my youngest DD with my sister Monique at the girls scout day camp yesterday. Too fun!

I did a little more cleaning up of my desk and made some more cards from scraps from the lunch tin I decorated here


and I gave these cards (there were 4 of them) along with a Starbucks gift card as a thank you to the camp counselors (am I allowed multiple entries June ?)

Tomorrow we are off bright and early to the beach for a week so I am pretty sure you won't hear from me until we get back. Have a great week everyone!

Can you tell..

Can you tell that I have worked 4 out of the last 5 days? I certainly can - I was on "survival mode" and just did what was necessary to get through the day - no crafting what so ever (and yes I do work at a scrapbook store and no I STILL didn't get any crafting done!).

My sisters arrive tomorrow - WOOHOO! So now I have to quickly clean up the house to make space for them. I did get some cards made with the new Fresh Cut's sneak peak set though

I don't think the scan was very good because it's a very white card. It reminds me a bit of the Botanicals set - long retired - that I miss.

My girls are in camps this week and so now I need to make a few cards to give as gifts to the counselors. Never a dull moment around here!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer.