Swim Suit Cover-Up and Schtuff...

Hello Friends!

Thanks so much for your supportive comments about my "move" back out to the garage. For those who are new to my blog, when I was a CTMH consultant I was all set up out there and held classes there. Then I thought it'd be nice to move into the house to have better access to the potty and to not have to heat up the space in the winter before I could work out there. My girls share a bedroom, so we have an extra room. Unfortunately, hubby wasn't as keen on the idea as I was, but agreed I could use the corner of this extra bedroom. It also houses a twin bed, a computer desk and a love seat. While it was super nice to be across the hall from the potty, I couldn't bring in all my goodies and what I did bring in soon overwhelmed that little corner. All of a sudden last weekend I felt the urge to spread out more and so began the transition back out to the garage room.

As much as I wanted to finish up out there and start creating, my house looked like a wreck (as it tends to do after the weekend) and with my dad's impending visit (he arrives on Wednesday), I had to be responsible and get the house in shape first and get the laundry done. LOL My dad lives in CA (in the house I grew up in) and visits for about a week each summer. The girls are WAY excited for his arrival and have been counting the days several times each day. LOL

Remember when I said I was going to start working on Amy's one piece swim suit the other day? Well, at the last minute she changed her mind and asked for a cover-up for the swim suit instead. All righty then! She picked the colors and I set to work. Her Barbie is currently nekkid, so I used Jessica's as the model. (and yes, Amy wants the one piece now and Jessica wants a cover-up, it's so hard keeping up with their requests...at least I know they appreciate my efforts)

So here's the cover up...which was pretty easy to make, except the getting the scallops lined up right... that took the better part of an evening because I had to keep making adjustments.

Thanks so much for the visit! Who knows...I may be back later with Jessica's cover-up...all I have to do is get the scallops stitched. LOL

Have an awesome day. I'm hoping to surprise the girls with a visit to a "new to us" swimming pool, one with stuff to play on I hear. Shhhh....they don't know yet!

Feel Free To Call Me Crazy...

...because I decided to move my craft stuff back out to the garage! I know, I know, but the cold hard truth is, I've been extremely cramped in that corner in the bedroom. To the point of almost feeling claustrophobic, so I decided to just spread out again in the garage room. So guess what I've been doing today?? LOL

I'm going to be REALLY brave and show you what my corner looked like this morning before I started and also what the garage looked like before I started.

Isn't that awful? I'm embarrassed but now you can see I never completely fit into the corner and Steve didn't want to add shelves. Just getting my cardstock or pattern paper has been a pain.

Now here's the garage room, which became a dumping ground. I had to take a bunch of stuff out from the living room when we had the mice issues and other stuff just got dumped. I had to clear that up before I could rearrange tables. I finally broke down a glass top patio table and re-set up another banquet table. I also moved the chest of drawers so that I could create a U shaped set up.

Here's the table I was working on after I pulled off most of the stuff on it.

And here's how the garage room looks as of a few minutes ago. I've been working on this all day! And sadly, I'm still not done, but I feel better knowing I can spread out. I'm hoping to use the table with the ink pads on it as my Cricut/Cuttlebug/Sewing table and the other table for my papers. It was really hot today and that a/c on the wall worked GREAT!

Those white chairs are for the girls. The tv is still hooked up and they watched tv for a while, keeping me company.

So, yes, I'm nuts, but I'm going to deal with the fact that my crafting space needs to be in the garage. At least I can spread out a bit!

So, I guess you know what I'll be doing if you don't see any new artwork for a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And for not making me feel too bad about how horribly messy I let this become.

Busy Week and A Barbie One Piece This Time...

Happy Friday to you! I hope you have had a good week and didn't miss me too much. No, I haven't fallen into some black hole in cyberspace. More like keeping busy with the kiddos.

We've done a lot of swimming. We had our usual swim lessons, but I surprised the girls earlier in the week and asked if they wanted to go to the pool just to swim. They had a hard time wrapping their heads around that at first...you mean not to take a lesson? LOL Nope, you can just play and swim. Oh yes, was the excited reply. They had a blast and have wanted to go back every day since. LOL We played with friends on playdates one day, gone to the library for the Summer Reading program and saw a very entertaining magician as well as checked out new books. And then today I took them back to the pool, where they again had a blast. I haven't felt like swimming and it's SO nice to side on the side lines and watch them have a ball. I am finding that I am really enjoying the time with the girls this summer. They are independent enough to not need me every second and I can just watch and enjoy their fun if I want. It's been great.

While I have not been in my little corner at all this week, you know that doesn't mean I've completely neglected crafting of some type. Jessica's latest request was the one piece swim suit out of the same booklet I've been using. I finished it the other night and just got the chance to take a couple of shots to share with you. Amy requested the same one (of course) but in light pink. I'm starting that one tonight.

So that's the quick recap of our week. Hope yours has been good to you as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I sure do appreciate your visits.

Hey There, Card Fans!

Guess who got to play today?! I was going to spread the goodness out over a few posts, then thought...what the heck, get it all done in one doozy of a post. LOL

Steve took the girls for a hike in the canyon this afternoon. Both girls got new hiking boots this weekend (and nope, no boots for me. I must be chopped liver or sumthin'). They were hankering to break them in and I decided some time on my own would suit me just fine, so I sent them off with a kiss and a have fun, then gleefully played in my corner. LOL

This first card grew around the tree image, which is a new Basic Grey itsy bitsy stamp I found at Archiver's Hot Spot recently. I must have learned from passing up that leaf set, because I didn't hesitate to nab this set and (cough, cough) a few others.

I first stamped the image with Chocolate ink, then I went back over it with a Kohinoor pencil. I colored in the leaves with another pencil and added Xmas Red Stickles for the cherries. I colored and blended in the "grass" below the tree. The paper is from DCWV Sweet Stack that I've had for a while. I thought matting with a scallop rectangle Nestie in Holiday Red and pop dotting the image would help the image stand out. I decided I wanted to crochet an edge for the card and pulled out a book called 101 Easy Edgings, picked a design I liked, and had fun crocheting that. I adhered it with glue dots after a quick ironing to shape it better. A final touch to help balance the card was the addition of those red "jewels," which were found at Hobby Lobby in the jewelry/beads area. I really like how this one turned out.

Next up is another tree image...this one from Gel-a-tins' Sheltering Tree stamp set (found at A's). I remember having a few issues the first time I used this set, but keep seeing really neat tree images on cards and wanted to make one for myself. This time though, I found my Clover Meadow Embossing powder and wondered how the tree would look with the upper portion embossed. I like it. I toyed with the idea of adding some red Stickles in the centers of the circles, but wasn't brave enough to attempt it (this is the 4th card I made today and my mojo was slowing way down by this point).
As you can see, I kept it pretty simple using the image cut out and the leaf portion pop-dotted. The paper is from DCWV's Spring Matstack and I like how it mimicked grass and the sky. A couple of brads and a bit of White Organdy ribbon to offset the sentiment (inked in Clover Meadow) finished off this card. I got to use my new EK Success edge/emboss punch to give the feel of hills. Not sure if my punch is bad or it doesn't like thin paper, but I had a couple of issues getting the punch to work well, I thought.

*****

Here's another "simple" card that I really like. I was inspired by this card created by Dawn Easton of Treasure Oiler Designz. Isn't hers pretty? I thought I had a monarch butterfly type stamp set, but a pretty thorough search of my craft corner yielded no such image. So I "settled" for this one from Inkadinkado's Pattern Bugs butterfly image heat embossed in gold. I really, really like how it turned out. I tried a different butterfly image with copper embossing powder first. While it looks gorgeous, I ultimately decided the image was too large for what I wanted to do, so I set it aside and went on the hunt for my gold embossing powder (during that search, I re-discovered my CTMH embossing powders which were tucked away in the garage. That discovery led to the above tree card being made~funny what inspires you, isn't it?).
The ribbon is American Crafts found at Michaels. You can see I used my Cuttlebug D'Vine embossing folder and my oval and scallop oval Nesties. I wanted to add the black brads and used my SU piercing template only the second hole I made was in the wrong spot. Argh!! But inspiration struck(because I didn't feel like pulling down the Cuttlebug yet again) and I played up the gold by using the itty bitty gold rhinestones to cover up that little boo-boo. Yay, Me!

My final card is one I originally wanted to create and share yesterday, all dolled up for the holiday. Since I never did get to it, I decided to color in the All That Scraps digital Kiki image using colors not so patriotic to see how the image would work. I'm tickled with the result. I pulled the colors I used from the new Basic Grey Lemonade paper pack.
I had some fun 'sperimenting with a few different things on this card (can you tell it was the first one I worked on today...my energy level was high, LOL) First off, I used my quickie glue pen to lay down adhesive for the Prisma glitter on the halo. That seemed to work well, so I used my Versamark pen to lay down some Zing embossing powder (it's supposed to look like metallic pink) for the bracelets and the scallop on the bottom of the pant leg. That didn't work quite like I expected, but I wasn't about to start coloring all over again, so I thought...hey, they can be bangles, right? I picked up some new Shimmerz Bling paints the other day and wanted to try some out, so the wings are painted over with the white glittery paint. It's pretty "glitterified" in real life. I Shimmerzed the pink shirt and the yellows in the image as well. Finally, I decided to add some flowers. I've been so impressed with how others use the Primas, that I am pushing myself just a tad to try new things. Here I've layered a few Prima flowers (that gift from A's sure has a great variety of colors and sizes) with some jewelry/bead spacers I found at Joann's. The package is Darice brand and it was a value pack. I added a gold brad on top to adhere all the layers together. Then I decided to add the gold brads on the upper corner for a little more balance. The image is matted with Vineyard Berry cardstock cut with the oval scallop Nestie. I probably will eventually add some sort of sentiment along the lines of make a wish or happy birthday...

Whew! Are you still with me? Did you read all that or did you skip all the words and just look at the pictures? Either way, I'm very glad you stopped by!

Hope your Sunday has treated you well and that your week is a great one!

Itsy Bitsy Pink Bikini and Fantabulous Flip Flops!

Hi again!

In case you were wondering, yes, I did get Jessica's doll's bikini and towel completed. Same colors I used on Amy's, just in a different order.

Jessica really wanted to take a picture for you, so here you go!

My shot. Not much different from hers, I guess. LOL

And when a free pattern showed up in my inbox earlier this week from Lion Brand yarn, I KNEW I wanted to try it! Check out these fantabulous flip flops! If you want the pattern for yourself, the number is 60032. You have to be registered (it's free) to access the pattern.

So fun! I used Lion Brand's Microfiber yarn (found at Joann's) and a size H hook. Basically, it's just single crochets around the thong part and some flowers. The pattern said to glue the flowers on, but I finagled it to "sew" the flowers onto the thong part, hoping they will stay a bit better. This pair is for Jessica and I'm working on a pair for Amy. I have some pink flip flops and some variagated yarn (of a different brand) that I want to try.

So, that's what I have been up to the last couple of days. Hopefully I will find some time to wander into my little corner today.

Have an awesome Sunday!

Happy Day After the Fourth!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday/Saturday. I fully intended to get lots of crafting done (as it's just the 4 of us, with family from both sides out of state we tend to have low-key holidays), but am glad I went with the flow when the kids asked me to join them as they went on a little adventure.

Check it out:

Those are my not so glorious feet peddaling the paddle boat at the park! Yep, we decided to head over on our bikes and check out the 4th of July celebration. And let me tell you, I got tired peddaling that thing. Man, that is hard work! And man, is that park packed on the 4th! LOL
This is the water feature in the middle of the lake (sorry for the less than great photo, it was definitely cloudy and coolish most of the day) and the one that got them all soaked the last time the girls rode on the boats. Because I was holding onto two cameras, I implored them not to get too close. We got close enough to feel some sprinkles, but the cameras were safe.
Jessica was super-excited that Mommy joined along this time.
She even took a turn or two at working the pedals. I loved how she scootched down to get better leverage. She even used her hands. I told you, it's hard work!
One of my favorite pictures of Amy, just had to share it!

It was a lot of fun. We rode all around that lake and checked out a bridge on one side, which was too low to go under, but we discovered a bird in a nest on the underside of the bridge. I took pictures, but they are pretty dark.

Yep, not even the huge wad of gum I apparently sat on (how do I get so lucky) could mar the great time. As many times as we shifted positions on that boat, I am surprised no one noticed the bright blue wad. LOL

We got some rain off and on during the day, but by the time the big light show was to start the skies cleared up and we were able to enjoy watching (from a distance) the fireworks put on by nearby cities AND "enjoy" the loud ka-booms in our own neighborhood.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be sharing some projects I did get finished in a separate post. I didn't get the make the cards I'd planned, but I got some other things finished. hee, hee

Hello Card

It's taken me a while, but I finally found the stamp set to create my version of this gorgeous card by Laurie Schmidlin of Just Give Me Stamps. Yes, that post is dated May! Just goes to show how much I love it. I was completely enamored with the green flower and the soothing colors.

I had been to Archiver's a few days before I saw the card, and saw the Basic Grey stamp (the only link I could find) in the Hot Spot there. I remember picking it up and thinking it was neat, but "how would I use it?" So I put it back down and moved along my merry way. Well, then Laurie posts her card and I skedaddle back to A's to get that stamp and wouldn't you know, they didn't have it anymore? They were sold out of all the Basic Grey sets in the Hot Spot. I asked if they'd move the stamps and the gal told me she had just put out a bucket of them, but they were ALL gone. Sigh. Ever since then, I've kept my eyes peeled at A's and other stores...just in case I would be lucky enough to find it. Yes, I could have used another set, but this one was SO appealing I didn't have the heart NOT to use it. LOL I'm a dork sometimes, that's for sure.

Well, as I mentioned, Steve took the day off yesterday (and has today off) and I've been hankering to drive up to Fort Collins to visit The Treasure Box (a true blue fantastic scrapbooking store), so I took a little field trip after he got home from getting his crown put on (finally). As I was soaking in all the goodness there, I came across the stamp set I'd been searching high and low for! I can't believe how excited I got over a under $2 stamp set. LOL

I almost bought just that set, but no...I found some other goodies as well. Hafta make the trip worthwhile, right? But I set to work on creating the card soon after I got home. And after all that blather, here's the result....

Maybe it wasn't worth all that build up, huh? LOL I like it though, and I had fun putting my spin on the card. As you can see I used a Cuttlebug folder (dang, I really need to label them, I can't remember the name of this one) on Sweet Leaf cardstock. Then I rubbed Black ink on it to tone down the green and give the same type of strip look as Laurie's card. I colored in the image with Kohinoor pencils and blended with oms (odorless mineral spirits). I added a bit of Liquid Glass and Icicle Stickles for bling. I crocheted the green flower and hunted down a black button from my stash.

Over all, the card is pretty straight forward. I used another image from the set to stamp that hard to see black stripe down the side of the pattern paper (which is a Sandylion design, btw, found on this little field trip, too). You can't see that I popped up the main image on some pop dots. Any questions on supplies? Feel free to ask...my fingers are pooped after all the typing I've done on this and my previous post. LOL

Have a Fantastic Friday, wherever you are. Who knows...maybe I'll be back again sometime today.