Sunshine Sisters

Another layout thanks toKay Miller Designs. I modified a template from her Collection 12. The kit is called Light of My Life. These colors just plain and simply make me smile.
Thanks for looking! :o)

Happy Feet!

Well, here is the finished layout. I went in a new direction as you can see, but I am much happier with this version! I was looking through my Kay Miller page kits and at first looked over this one, but when I went through again later, I saw the happiness border and it clicked! Then I thought...oh... Happy Feet...that's a great title! And it flowed from there. I have completely fallen in love with Kay Miller Designs and Nitwit Collections. They just make me happy!

Template: Collection 13, Happy Hearts page kit Kay Miller Designs
Fonts: Pea Tracy and the heart is a doodle from Ali Edwards Fresh Fonts cd.

I've just downloaded some new kits from these sites so you'll see more soon!

Thanks for visiting! Create something to make you happy today.

Need Some Help on this Layout...

Here's a layout I'm working on. I really like this template and the glittery heart thing. But I don't know what to title this one. And I'm not sure if the green is too bright. Was trying to mimic the green in the socks. I tried Footsie Lovin' and We "heart" Socks...but I'm not feeling it. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I'm Back! :o)

And that can only mean....YES, I finished pulling together what I needed for taxes and dropped everything off at the preparer's office this morning. WHEW! I worked most of the day yesterday on it, finishing right at my normal bedtime, and boy am I glad that's over! :o) What a great sense of accomplishment I feel. It's extra special because now that I am no longer a consultant, I know I will never have to pull all that stuff together again.

And since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd get busy today and work on the gifts for the teachers. I know I mentioned and showed that fortune teller candy holder before, but I decided it was going to be more work than I had time to devote to the project. I really should have done those sooner. (Remember, I have to make 5, since Jess has 3 teachers, plus the preschool director). So, instead I chose to cover Reese's Peanut Butter cups and put them in a tin, like I did at Christmas.

I was also "ink"spired by a card Kathi posted recently. You can see it here and read how she created it. I followed her comments. I put a bit of a different spin on it as you can see, but the basic technique is the same. It's hard to see, unless you click on the picture to make it larger, but I used "celebrate today" from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages stamp set. The hearts were cut using my Cricut and the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. The larger heart is 2 1/2 inches and the smaller one is 2 inches. Thanks, Kathi, for the inspiration!

Next up are the tins I made. I chose to use Holiday Red in keeping with the traditional Valentine color. The paper around the tin is a retired Background and Texture paper from CTMH. I cut the hearts using my Cricut. I think it was 2, 1 1/2 inches, and 1 1/4 inches. The stamped circles on the peanut butter cups are punched using a 1 inch circle and matted on a 1 1/8 inch circle. The ribbon is from my stash, which means I have no idea which store I bought it from. The tins are ones I found at Archiver's. (sorry, Kathi-lol) Kathi doesn't live near an Archiver's for those who wonder why I say that. I guess I shouldn't mention that it takes me oh about 10 minutes or so to get to the Archiver's near me...
Here's a top view. The stamping on the white heart is a label stamp in Papertrey Ink's Sweet Love set. I got the idea for doing this from Nichole's blog. I added some small red dots, instead of the white she uses. The tins fit 10 peanut butter cups.
I had the girls help me finish up the projects. I got most of it done while both girls were in school, but still had to glue the circles on the peanut butter cups. So, I let the girls do that part while I worked on the cards. They were quite enthralled with the task. :o)

Oh and in addition to working on this and finishing it up this afternoon, the girls and I made strawberry muffins for Amy's Valentine's Breakfast in the morning. I took a bunch pictures and hoped to work on a layout today, but alas, that isn't going to happen today. Maybe tomorrow.

So, today I took Amy to school, got the oil changed in the van, dropped off the tax stuff. Took Jess to school. Went home and worked on the gifts until it was time to pick Jess up. Let Jess play after school with her friends. Went home. Had lunch with Jess, picked Amy up from her early release day, worked on the muffins, worked on finishing the gifts, helped both girls finish up their Valentine's, got dinner together, cleaned up the kitchen, ran out to the store for some Valentine's goodies, came home, got the girls to bed, sat down to watch SuperNanny and then typed this. And I wonder why I am so tired tonight? LOL

But I know my day isn't much different than yours, right?! Oh and get this...it was a beautiful near 60 degree day today. Tomorrow? SNOW and it probably won't get out of the 20s! Sigh...Mother Nature sure can be a tease...

G'night and maybe tomorrow I will have a layout to share. Right now, I'm going to head to bed.

One last thing...
Thanks for all the positive comments on the video tutorial. I guess you liked that idea, huh? We'll see about doing some more then. :o)

Valentine's Gift Idea

Just got these done and will be off to the post office after I upload this post. But I wanted to share this idea I saw on Nichole Heady's blog. She is the owner of Papertrey Ink. I didn't want to use the nuts theme that she used, but thought it would work well with nuggets and Reisens candies. (saw the idea to cover the Reisens on Nichole's blog as well). Click on her name to go to the actual post with the great directions on how to create this fun little box. I added 4 nuggets and 4 Reisens candies stamped like you see in the picture. I put them in a glassine bag that I got from Papertrey Ink.
These are for two young men (cuz I don't feel right calling them boys anymore) who are the sons of my dear friend, Kelly, in CA. Hopefully they have enough of a masculine feel.

Let's see if I can remember what all I used.
Ink colors
Garrett's: Barn Red and Outdoor Denim
Devon's: Autumn Terracotta and Chocolate

Stamp sets are all from Papertrey Ink...Borders and Corners {square}, Limitless Labels and Sweet Love

I cut some scallop circles, then matted with a cardstock circle and topped with a stamped white circle. I used my file label punch for the toppers and hugs and kisses comes from.....Limitless Labels-which I had to look up because I couldn't remember!

And now I'm off to mail the package. I have to work on pulling together my CTMH stuff for taxes, blah, so will not be able to create anymore until I get that done. UGH... Wait, maybe I'll use it as incentive to get done faster. Yea, that sounds good......

How About Some Artwork?

While I was waiting for one conversion to take place this weekend (which took a hugely long amount of time) I decided to use the wait time productively and went out to my craft room. Here are the things I completed. Enjoy!

Kathi posted a card after seeing a version of it in Papercrafts magazine. Now I get that mag and I honestly didn't remember seeing the card. I looked again and found her inspiration card. This is my version of the same card. I used Die Cuts With a View blue textured cardstock, buttons from Walmart, Ribbon from Michaels, Souffle white pen. I pierced holes for the stem and added the white ink for the faux stitching. I cut the 1 1/2 inch scallop circles on my Cricut using the Mini Monograms cartridge. The 'thinking of you' is from a dollar set I found at Micheals.

This next project was found on a blog. I cannot for the life of me remember which one. I'll find it and edit this post with the name. Anyway, it's pretty cute and oh so easy! It's pretty self explanatory too. When I edit this, I'll add the dimensions for you as well. It holds 6 Hershey's kisses. The heart stamp is one I got recently at Archiver's (sorry, Kathi). I even embossed a circle stitching using my cuttlebug and embossing folder.

Kathi always inspires me. Here's my version of a card she had posted on her blog. Be mine is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set

Another blog inkspiration (love this word...from Kathi) that will have to be updated.

Well, I probably shouldn't be posting artwork if I don't have all the credits ready, huh? Oh well. Check back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll have added the pertinent info.

This will be my last post for today.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you find time to create today.

A Different Kind of Tag

I know I've said it before, but one of my very favorite blogs to check out is Kathi's Corner. I knew she had one for a while, but before I started using Google Reader, I would forget to go look. (I know, shame on me-now that I know what I was missing) Now that I have the Reader, even though she doesn't have a subscribe feature, I can subscribe anyway and have access to her posts. Well, Kathi tagged me with a different kind of tag and I am honored that she thought of me. I truly admire and respect Kathi for all her creative projects, as well as the humor and love she shares in her posts. I'm happy to call her my friend. Thank you, Kathi!

Here is what she had posted on her blog:
The idea behind this tag game is different from other tag games. Rather than look inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for three blog friends. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to do so. In addition, be sure to go to the blog of those you are blessing and leave a comment on their blog to be sure they check yours!

There are SO many people who bless my life that it is going to be difficult to limit it to just 3. Of course, if I can, I will tag Kathi back, because she deserves it. I also immediately thought of Kim B, at Clearly Inspired, because we started this blogging journey together almost, and have supported, cheered and helped each other through the various learning curves involved. I look forward to her posts as much as I do Kathi's. This next person might seem a bit odd, but I want to tag Jessica Sprague, because she has blessed my life through her website and online classes on digital scrapbooking. Through her, I have really rediscovered my joy in scrapbooking for pure pleasure. Through her I have come in contact with some of the most supportive ladies on our "playground." These ladies are warm, welcoming, friendly, quite the enablers, and oh so knowledgeable! I'd love to tag all of you wonderful women! But I am going to specify one, and I hope by doing so, my girlfriends would agree and not feel left out. My final tag will go to LivE. Throughout my journey into digital scrapping and foray into the Jessica playground (also known as the messageboard), LivE has stood out with her enormous heart, humor and joy. She has a beautiful way with words, is a wealth of knowledge, and has the most generous heart. She creates digital kits and shares them freely. All this on top of being the mom to FIVE boys! She is uber talented and I feel blessed to have gotten to know her "virtually." Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Okay, I could tag all my Close To My Heart sisters as well, there are so many that have supported and cheered me on. However, I don't want to leave anyone out!

So, I will close this for now and let these fine ladies know I have tagged them.