Oh, Wow!!!

My crafting area is finally complete...


I was telling my husband the other day that a small flat screen tv would be just perfect above my craft desk. We recently rearranged our office area and our tv is now directly behind me...I've missed my cooking shows! I was blown away when he came home today and surprised me with this. We just need to get a longer cord and then we're set. Thanks, Chris!!

No Squares Here!

I was asked to design a scrapbook page for a challenge going on at PW for NSD. I love to do smaller scrapbook pages and this 6x9 layout was a lot of fun to work on. The challenge offered to other PW members was to create a layout that was not your typical square layout.

My layout is very simple with few embellishments, but I like it that way. You can do a lot with some paper scraps and a little VersaMark. :) This is my cute little neice, Cylee. My husband and I got to spend a whole day with her and her older brother, Calin, last August and we had a blast!! This will be a great page to help remember that day.

Supplies-

A Little Whimsy
purple, teal and white cardstock
VersaMark
scallop edge punch
Graphic Blooms
black pen

A card and some news...

I'm sorry for not posting in so long. I have been taking a little time off because my husband and I are expecting our first child!!! I'm just about at 13 weeks and I'm finally getting a little energy back. I've been going to bed at 8:30pm most nights and haven't felt like doing any paper crafting. I'm feeling good today and decided to try and make a card. I didn't have many ideas flowing, but finally came up with this. The colors in the cake didn't show up very good, sorry. There is a thin green mat behind the cream cardstock piece. I used it to help with some of the green flowers I put on the cake. I like this new stamp set (Little Cupcake), but I'm never quite sure on how to color everything. Well, hubby and I are heading to a movie. I hope to have some more new new stuff to post and share soon!!

So Thoughtful

My husband surprised me with this today...

Chris was so excited about me getting published and he had the magalogue and my card matted and framed. He designed the layout and picked the mat colors. Wow! Chris knows how much I love to papercraft and that I was hoping to get published someday. How thoughtful and what a great way to remember this first experience. Just wanted to share...thanks for reading. :)

Anniversary

Chris and I celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary today!! Here's a fun little post from last year and a new post and some pics at my Ladygil.com blog.

I love you, Chris!!!!!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my hubby!!

Now I can show you what I gave him for his birthday...

Badge Holder Mini Album

I bought some plastic name badge holders a loooooong time ago and finally decided to dust them off and use them. My husband's sister had a baby a couple of months ago and everyone has been taking tons of pictures. I got a hold of a few and made this fun little album.

I used TAC's Hip Hop paper collection and Essential Elements. This album is very quick and simple to make. Each badge holder holds two pieces of the Hip Hop paper. I adhered a photo to the paper and then slid it inside each holder. I placed all the Essential Element tags on the outside of the badge holders, after I embellished them, and used small book rings to hold the album together.

I'm sure I could do a little more embellishing, but I also love the simple look of this. It's the perfect size to throw in my purse so that I can be ready to show off little Chase, and I don't have to be afraid that I'm going to tear anything up on the album.

Doesn't Chris look great holding little Chase? I can't wait until we get to be parents someday. He's going to make a great dad!

Supplies-

Hip Hop Fly With It collection
Simple Bet alphabet set
fine black pen
Essential Elements
misc. green ribbon
name badge holders
book rings
sanding block

The Farm

My family and I went to my grandparent's farm this past weekend. The farm is way out in the boonies in central Kansas. I have great memories from that place. There is a creek that runs through the property and I can remember playing in it with my cousins. I also have a few memories of snakes...yuck!!

The farm once belonged to my great grandparents and now my mom's folks own it. My grandparents have done a lot of work to the farm over the years and they always keep everything looking so nice. I love going out there!

Chris and I

I caught a 'little' fish

This is our dog, Murphy. It was his first time to the farm.

Grandma Delores and Pam (Pam is my mom)

Grandpa Ron and Grandma Delores

This is how I put worms on my hook...hey, you do what you gotta do!!

Grandpa Ron (reading an paper from 1982...something my dad dug up)

Wedding Day

Today is a very special day- my younger brother Scott is getting married! He is marrying a very sweet girl named Melissa. I created a mini album for them and then realized that I left it at home! (We're 6 hours from home, so there's no going back for it)

I learned how to make this mini album at Jen Bluestein's Arkansas Angel Gathering a few months back. At the gathering, we used TAC's Sands of Time patterned paper, but for this album I used TAC's Amberley Grace pp. I think it's very elegant and perfect for a wedding gift.

There are three pictures in the album and Scott and Melissa can add more later. There are also places for them to do a little journaling.

I tried to add a slideshow, but ran in to a few problems. So here are some pictures of the album. Thanks for looking!

I'm still here...really!! I have been very busy and haven't been to my craft table in over a week. I plan to post at the beginning of next week about my trip I'm taking this weekend. Three other friends and I are going to an Angel Gathering in Arkansas. It starts tonight at seven and goes all day on Saturday, too. We'll be making over 20 projects and I can't wait to get started!!! Jen Bluestein is heading up the event.

New TAC Catalog

TAC has released their new catalog and I hope to be holding it in my hands very, very soon!! Here's a sneak peak at the front cover for now.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm so excited to be on Christmas break. I'll be able to get to my craft desk on Wednesday- I'm ready to do some creating!! :) I've already recieved one awesome Christmas gift from a good friend of my husband and I's. I received a handmade set of drawers. It stands about 5 and a half feet tall and is about a foot and a half wide. There eight drawers (if I'm remembering correctly). We haven't brought it to our house yet. It is beautiful and I have the perfect spot for it next to my craft desk. I will post pictures of it as soon as I get it moved in.

Some exciting news- my brother just got engaged! He and his fiance arrived yesterday to spend a couple of days with all of us. They are located in Nashville, TN, right now. My dad picked them up from the KC airport at midnight on Sat. and there was a really bad snow storm. It took them six hours to get home, when it normally takes about two and a half to three hours to get home. My husband and I went to KC earlier in the day to help some friends pick up someone else from the airport. We left at 4pm and traveled through the worst part of the storm and it also took us about six hours to get home. It was very scary. Lots of cars in ditches. We had a lot of people praying that we had a safe trip home.

Well, I hope to have some paper creations to post within the next few days. I will be sure to update you on the new catalog, too!

Stay tuned...

I had really planned on having some blog candy ready to go...but it just didn't happen. So, please keep checking back- I'll be offering some goodies this week.

Today is the day...another birthday. I'm actually not feeling 100% today, so that stinks. It's the first school day of the month, so we'll be doing new songs and poems and also be putting up the Christmas tree in class today. My kindergartners also know it's my birthday- it might be a wild day!! LOL!

Yahoo!!

We sold our house yesterday!! It had been on the market since this past May and I really didn't expect it to happen so soon. What a blessing! Just had to share my praise with you. :)

I won't have anything to upload for a few more days. We are having three rooms of carpet installed today and one of those rooms contained my craft desk! With my busy schedule, it might be Monday evening before everthing is put back together.

I will give you a heads up to be watching for a little blog candy offer. Since our house sold and my birthday is Monday....I think I should celebrate a little!! What do you think?

8 Years

Chris and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary today. It's amazing how time goes by so quickly! Eight years ago, we were both attending Labette Community College. I was a sophomore and he was a freshman. We were both studying to become elementary education teachers. We had a 1988 gold Astro mini-van, and no bills. Fast forward eight years- I am in my fourth year of teaching, Chris is a supervisor at the State Hospital, the gold van is still around and actually running (amazing, huh?) and the no bills part? Ha, yah right!

Chris is truely my best friend. I love him so much! I wasn't able to come up with a current picture of the two of us, so I thought it would be fun to add this wedding photo. Thanks for reading!!

Wah-Hoo!!!

My husband and I helped out with VBS at our church last week. We averaged about 45 kids each evening and 18 accepted Christ! I think that is so awesome!! As you can tell from the picture above, we had a western theme. Our VBS was called 'Welcome to Avalanche Ranch. A Wild Ride Through God's Word! I was in charge of the music for the opening and closing. I also taught 4 sections each evening at the 'Prairie Dog Preschool'. I'm a kindergarten teacher, so I'm used to being around 5 yr. olds, but those preschoolers are a totally different kind of group! You've really got to be prepared and make sure you keep things moving!! My husband is always a big hit with the kids. (He's a big kid himself!) He was in charge of the 'Wild West Theater' for the older kids. All in all it was a great week and we're so glad that we were able to be a part of it.









I've officially posted my first card challenge at the new TAC demo site, Paper Wings. I'm using a card sketch from a great site called Page Maps. Becky Fleck has some awesome sketches to check out. I had fun making this card. If you feel inspired by this sketch I'd love to see what you come up with. Leave me a comment and link your card and I'll swing by your blog and take a look! Have a great day!!

Supplies:

PP - Mulberry Meadows from TAC
Plum colored card stock for card base
Flower image from 'Petal Pak' stamp set (TAC)
Sentiment from 'More One Liners' (TAC)
brads