new grin

We made our trip to the dentist today. Rhys got his braces on :) They are actually only partial braces on his front teeth. He did really well. It didn't really take that long to get them on. I don't think he is used to them yet. He keeps checking them in the mirror telling me new things he notices about them. He was excited, though nervous, to get them.Not that it really took all day, but it did interrupt my normal day, so it's standing as my excuse as to why I didn't get much of anything done today...I have a tag to share though! At least it's proof  I did something, right?

Most of my tags have been pretty simple this year (hey, did you just think "so have your cards"? well, I did...)
This stamp is from Unity. It was actually a freebie I got with my order, but  I really love it. I just stamped it on cream with Antique Linen distress ink and inked the edges The sentiment down the side is from Papertrey's Holiday Tree set, still one of my all time favorite Christmas sets. I just finished off with a couple of Simply Chartreuse buttons and some twine.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Miss Emma is not feeling well, so I'm going to see if Mama can help her feel a little better :)

yummy.

Before Leah decided she wanted to be a professional golfer when she grows up, she said she wanted to be cake-baker :)Even though it's only second place now, she still likes baking things. These are the first cinnamon rolls she ever made:

They were super delicious. The whole batch barely lasted a day :) Since she enjoyed making them, especially cutting them with the string :), I thought I should offer her the chance to make them again...today. heehee.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm still trying to catch up with normal stuff over here. I hope to make some more tags today though. Our tree is filling up with presents :) Do you have yours up yet?

tired.

Really, really tired. But it's a good tired. It comes from having our annual all day girls' shopping trip all day Friday and then our Thanksgiving on Saturday. All fun. But phew, shopping, baking, eating, cleaning, 14 cousins 11 years and under...definitely tired. I would like an extra 2 days this weekend, please. :)

Here's a quick share before I must. go. rest. Another Christmas card with Fine linen :) Maybe I should challenge myself not to use Fine linen? I think it's like kraft for me, I just can't get enough lol. It really goes with the red, white and green though :)  I used Holiday Button Bits for the trunk and sentiment. I think what took the longest was choosing which buttons to use and get the balance right. I love how the music background looks for a just a subtle pattern.

I scored the sentiment strip and then folded it to look like a banner. I used foam adhesive to keep it popped up. And then finished off with some stitching.

Thanks for popping by! I really am off to rest. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving :) Did you make any fun purchases on Black Friday? I guess it's just as well we don't have it here, I know I would getting more than I need lol :)

again...

Yes, it IS another Christmas card. I'm not the only one making them now, right? I kind of think its the Christmas card rush time--heehee. Where everyone's getting there last ones made before they have to get them all sent out. So, what do you do? Are you the kind that makes like 50  of the same kind? Or maybe just like 5 of one kind and then 5 of another etc? Honestly, I really don't have that many people to send them to lol. So I just make different ones as I feel like it. But if I do kind myself in the situation where I have to make LOTS, I make maybe 5 or so of one kind, and then change it up a bit. Once I get doing more than that of one kind, it stops being fun for me. And if its not fun anymore, then I don't like to do it. But that's just me. I know everyone has their one "way" of doing things :)

Not quite as simple today. But I did use Fine linen again. Really, such a versatile color. I just hand cut the trees out of Basic Grey paper and just barely inked the edges for definition. Stamped the flourish in versamark and added the sentiment on top. Used the Hero Arts friendship definition on the blue again and then stitched it down. I really liked this Basic Grey Christmas paper, but whenever I tried using it in bigger amouts, it was harder for me to get to look nice. I love how it looks for the trees here though. The sentiment is from Papertrey.

So glad you popped in!! Happy Thanksgiving! :) Since its not officially a holiday here, no one gets off from work, so we won't be celebrating it till Saturday. I'll be making loads of broccoli casserole this weekend :)

Back.

Yay :) Tomio got back safely! The kids were all super excited to see him. There were lots of snuggles shared by all. The kids got to stay up a little late since he got back technically past their bedtime. He would have been home even earlier, but he ended up having to wait for a bus for about 40 minutes...one of the perks of living out in the boonies, right? :)

I know, another simple card...see, I told you!  I'm loving simplicity right now. Oh, and these two colors! Fine Linen and the new Blueberry Sky from Papertrey Ink. Really nice blue. I used stamps from Holiday Button Bits again. And one of new go-to stamps, the Friend Definition from Hero Arts. It was one of those stamps I thought, well I do have other text stamps, should I really get it?...and now of course it is one of the first stamps I reach for. I really like how Antique Linen distress ink looks on the Fine linen cardstock.

I love any chance I get to use my buttons :) And I added just a bit of stitching for some interest.

Thanks for popping in! Miss Emma got in an early nap today, which means she went down nicely...which means I should get some crafty time tonight:) Hope you're having a lovely week.

more Christmas :)

Yes, I have another Christmas card today :) Like I said, my favorite kind of card to make :) And for some reason, I really can't seem to stop making CAS (clean and simple) cards. Not sure what it is....

Simple can be good, right? And don't be fooled by the appearance, CAS cards don't take me as little time to make as it looks. I usually spend forever on a card, no matter how fancy or simple lol. I used Holiday Button bits for this card. I was glad to get use it since I got last year after Christmas, I missed using it for Christmas. And I was also glad to get this holly image to work. I loved it--I mean, polka dot leaves, how cute is that?!--But, I just couldn't seem to work out how to use it. I like this way though :)

Tomio comes back tomorrow night, so this my last night I have to be alone. Well, if being surrounded by 4 little kiddos all day counts as being alone....which I guess it doesn't, does it? But I'm still lonely without my hubby :) At least we have cell phones, right? I was remembering when he had to take his first long trip after we were married. Leah was only 1, and he had to go to America for a month. We had cell phones then, but no overseas ones. We could only talk maybe a couple times a day, and whoa, was it expensive! So glad things are more convenient and cheaper now.

Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate your coming to "visit" :)

another jar

I'm really, really enjoying my new living room :) I never actually forget that we have redecorated everything, but sometimes when I come in from another room I'll still be surprised. And its fun :) There is of course of the added bonus that this layout gives us a lot more room to just move around in, and the CD rack I always sort of wished was somewhere else, had to be moved to the garage:). Kind of makes me want to rearrange all the rooms, though....and I'm not sure Tomio would be up for that heehee.
Another Christmas card today. I'm just trying to get everyone else in the mood like me :)

I'm also still trying to fall in love with my jars. I do like how this card turned out. Another simple one again. I stamped the jar and snowman on Fine Linen cardstock. I colored his hat and scarf with my copics, and then used a Q-tip to dab on some white ink. I don't think the photo picked it up, but I also took a white gel pen and dotted all the centers of the falling snow too. It adds a nice touch in real life :) Oh, all supplies are PTI today.

Miss Emma decided she didn't really want to sleep much last night. And I'm not as young as I used to be, so that kind of made us run a tad bit later than normal this morning. But we are still getting everything done. That's what counts, right?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope I helped get you into the Holiday mood. *smile*

too busy

I'm usually not too "busy" outside of the house. We stay home and get school done, and I get the housework done, and I get some crafting done :) But I feel like I've been too busy these last few days. Lots of getting out and staying "busy".  I hope this coming week will be more my normal kind. All day Saturday the kids had their "sports day". This time Daddy got to come, so he was able to participate in the "Family relay".  Which is much better than Mama trying to run while holding Miss Emma :)  We went to the dentist too. We had braces related questions about all three of the big kids that we asked our old dentist, but we wanted a second opinion for all of  them. I'm so glad we tried the new dentist near our house now.  Just liked him better overall, and he gave us some solutions. It look likes Rhys will need some partial braces for a little while. I'm so happy though, just that I know his teeth will get straightened out :) Leah will probably need them too, but not yet.

Today's card is a little different. I wanted to make a "sewing" card, but I don't really have any sewing themed stamps or diecuts. So I kind of challenged myself to come up with one anyway :) And this is what I made:

I cut the pin cushion shape out of PTI felt and stitched a cute swirly pattern. I wrote the "Sew" and then stitched over it. I used stickers from Echo Park, the pattern papers are from the same pack. (I've decided I LOVE Echo Park papers, btw :)) I stuck some real pins and a needle in the pin cushion too. I think it turned out pretty cute :) And it was fun trying to figure out how to make it when I didn't have the actual stamps. I think I might try to do that again sometime. It's good to stretch yourself sometimes (I'm usually one to avoid stretching when possible though...)

 Thanks for stopping by! Are you ready for a new week to start yet? I'm not :) 

just quick

I'm going to have to be quick today! After we get some studies done, we are heading out to Costco! Not nearly as convenient as an actual American one, but still fun :) I REALLY want to get lots of different kinds of cereal...but here all they have a Frosted Flakes and Bran Flakes...seriously?! There are SO many others they could have, I mean, they don't even have Rice Krispies for Rice Krispy treats!! But, they DO have HUGE boxes of oats, for at LEAST a quarter of  the price we would find it anywhere else in Japan. You can be sure I will getting those :)

Anyway, we will be off :) And since I don't have another card loaded up to share yet, I'll just have to show you a picture of the yummy "creature cookies" that Leah made :)

Why, yes, they really were that good.:)
Thanks for popping by!! I hope you are having a super day!

the next one

How's your week?! Mine's fuller than normal. Visitors in the middle of the week, Christmas tree decorating, shopping tomorrow and my kids' "Sports Day" this Saturday. I just hope the rain holds out though....they are supposed to have alternative activities planned in case of rain, but its just not quite the same :)

Well, here's the next card I made with my Friendship jar stamps. I'm tried taking a break and using stamps that were easier for me, but in the back of my mind the jars kept creeping up, reminding me I couldn't use them. I might be a little weird....do no one else's stamps talk to them?!

So, I just had to keep trying to make some more cards with them. I used the Holiday Fillers too. I think I actually like the end result :) Oh, and I used the stems from Green Thumb again. I used some Quickutz holly to cut my felt. I trimmed the jar with a copic marker for definition. Oh, and I colored the snowmen with copics and cut them out. So much easier to position them correctly,and more room to mess up and make again as necessary :).

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great day!! :)

we'll see...

I started on my Christmas cards now :) Well, actually I make Christmas cards all year long because they are just so fun :) But around this time I start making mostly just Christmas cards and tags for awhile. Anyway, so I started. And I am determined to like my Friendship jars. They are such a cute concept, and I do like what I have seen others do with them. So I've been trying to make some things with it. Here is one I came up with yesterday:

Really, really simple. (I seem to be like really simple ones lately, not as much big bows etc. I'm sure it's just another phase of mine, lol.) I used some of my new Fine Linen cardstock. I really like the rustic feel it has. I added a layer of red for a little pop of color. I used my copics to color the trees directly on the Fine Linen cardstock. Oh, and I don't have the Friendship Jar Fall fillers. I don't do any Halloween cards at all, so I couldn't justify getting them. But I loved the idea of the sticks to put things on in the jar. I looked in my stash and I found the long stem from Green Thumb worked perfectly. I'm still trying to find a good flourish or something for the decoration at the top. The sentiment is from Holiday Button Bits. Finished off with some twine. 

Alright....lots of school to do and we have guests coming. Well, really the cousins don't count as guests lol. But they are still coming which makes for a busy full day :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Guilty.

Heehee :) I just thought this face was priceless. Miss Emma stole both Leah and Rhys's sandwiches stacked up and was trying to bite into both. She knew they weren't hers and was looking at Rhys while he was starting to panic. Being the sensible mother that I am, I of course had to take it away get pictures :)

Anyway....

Here are some pictures from our tree trimming time :) We kind of have a tradition of  putting on the wreath :)

 

We also have a tradition of everyone taking turns putting on the star. Usually Daddy holds the little ones that can't reach, but Miss Emma was a little tired so it had to be Mama this time :)

Anyway, that's just a look into what has been going on here the past few days. I'm so in the mood for Christmas now. I have my Christmas music in. And once I put the Christmas music in, that's all we listen to until after Christmas :) Last year Tomio asked if we ever listened to normal music anymore, and I nicely told him, that no, we don't. Not until after December 25th :) AND, Christmas means Christmas card and tags! yay: ) I've already started on some cards.I hope to make some tags (today?) too. The kids loved the tags from last year, so that makes it even more fun for me to make them :)

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope your week is starting out well! Mine is so far~yay :)

wishing you...

Wow, the weekend sure went fast!! Usually things go a lot more slowly for me. I can't believe its over already!
It was fun though. Leah and I went to the salon together. We usually end up taking her about once a year. She has so much hair it gets too heavy, so we get it cut and thinned out for her. This was my second time this year. It went well though, so I hope to make it a little more often to keep up my fun highlights :) Leah had them curl her hair, which she really liked. Tomio and Leah were going to go to golf practice afterwards, but he decided we looked to good for that, and we all went out to eat and then to Starbucks after :) It was really fun to get out :)
And then last night, we put up our Christmas decorations(!) I know, I was really pretty surprised too. He even rearranged living room first too. The kids had SO much fun!! Even Emma got into it. She raised both her hands and then clapped and say "Yay!"I love how the kids all remember and talk about the things that we always do at Christmas or did last year, while we are putting up the decorations :) And of course I took tons of pictures. My camera was pretty full and I said to Tomio, "34pictures should be enough, right?" He said "I doubt it." And he was right :)

Here is today's card. I actually made a layout with these papers butterflies first. Then I liked how the colors looked together I decided to make up a card too. I've had the pattern paper in my stash forEVER :) and the cardstock is from cored'nations. Used my favorite butterfly stamps and die again. I also used my new Mat stack die from Papertrey. I really like this shape :) For the white strip, I just cut the strip longer than the label and then ran it through my Big Shot with the die to cut the edges, then I attached. Much easier than trying to trim it to match after I stuck it down. Oh, and the sentiment is from Papertrey's Sweet Peas set. I stamped Hero Arts Friendship definition on the brown label in versmark. And that's about it :)

Thanks for stopping by!! I've decided I'm going to start this week off well :) Hope you do too :)

A simple card

I have a simple little card for the weekend. Just playing with my new Tea for Two Additions again. I was a little unsure if I would get a lot use out of this set when I first got it. But I'm really glad I did. The images are adorable and I have found them easy to use. ( My Friendship Jar set, on the other hand, I've yet to make a card with it it....hopefully I'll start liking it more soon...) 

Like I said, really simple. But I like the colors--kraft and purple :)

 Tomio mentioned rearranging the living room and getting out our Christmas decorations this weekend. I won't hold my breath {wink}, but I'm still hopeful :) I can't wait for Christmas!!
Thanks for popping in! I'm off with Leah to the salon :) Yay:) Hope you have a super fun weekend!

the best ever.

We've been having perfect baking weather lately. Cool crisp mornings and evenings. It's really a shame NOT to bake something... right? Soooo, we made these yesterday. And a I managed to snap a couple of pictures before.... the kids all gobbled them up :)

Okay, seriously, these are the best oatmeal cookies. ever. really. I've tried making several different kinds of oatmeal cookies, and they would okay, but not great. You know, the chewy, spicy wonderful-ness that they should be. But these are. And since these are just.that.good....I thought it would be cruel not to share the recipe :) Oh, and the amount of cinnamon and the baking temp are the key :)


Awesome Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening, brown sugar and white sugar. Stir in the egg, water and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on baking sheets for a couple of minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

I make them with margarine instead of shortening most of the time since that is so much more readily available here.

Be sure to let me know if you try them :) They are super easy.

Thanks for popping in! We are SO close to the weekend :) Leah and I have hair appointments this weekend. Should be a fun girls' day out. Heehee :)

some bumps...

We've been having a few "bumps" in our homeschooling lately... A few frustrating moments, concentration issues and some others. So, we're trying a few things to help work them out so things go more smoothly and *fun* for everyone. Mostly some scheduling things. So far, it DOES seem to be helping. And as everyone knows, the attitude you start out with can affect everything. I'm working on my attitude as well as theirs :)

Anyway...for today's card, I used one of my *new* sets from Papertrey. I got the Tea for Two additions and die :) Love the matching dies. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig for this though. I messed up a couple of times before I decided that breaking out the stamp positioner would save me a lot of time and frustration :)

I used all three different pattern cups in the set. I opted not to use the outline for them, just because, well I thought they looked fine without it lol. I used Polka Dot Basics II for background in versamark. I also inked up half of the sentiment at a time in Walnut Stain distress ink so I could do half on top and the other half on the bottom. I used my favorite wood grain background in Spun sugar before stitching it to the kraft layer. All stamps and papers I used today are from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping in! The week's more than half over :)

fun and a card

We made it there and back again. The kids had SO much fun. They spent all day just playing and playing...and playing :) And they still weren't ready to come home at night. We had 2 batches of homemade cookies, and my sister and I spent the afternoon chatting and looking at stamping stuff :) Fun.

I have a Unity card to share today. I think all the stamps I used on this card are from Unity. I started by stamping the worn grid pattern on the pale purple label. Then I added the flourish tree. I stamped the  flourishes around the outside of the kraft layer with versamark.. I stitched the kraft to the Hawaiian shores piece and was done :) I love the color Hawaiian shores. I was afraid it would be too bright when I first got it, but its really "just right". Oh, and I punched the butterfly from leftover acetate that my clear stamps came on and put some Diamond lace stickles on one side.

Thanks for stopping by today! We've been enjoying some gorgeous weather here lately. So nice for November. I hope it lasts at least a little while longer. Oh, and did you see that the Papertrey countdown is about to start? I'm a little too excited this time heehee :)

heading out.

I'm really enjoying my newly-fixed  iTouch :) So fun having internet on it. Heehee :) I don't really get internet outside our home. I mean where ever there is Wifi sure it will catch, but we live out in the middle of nowhere. And I'm pretty sure that the 2 farmers that live near us don't even have a computer, much less wireless internet :) But with Miss Emma always wanting her mama, it's so nice to be  to take my iTouch with me and do some scrappy-stampy browsing.

Anyway, today we're off. I don't get out much---I have four kids, and I don't drive. (Remember, I live in the middle of nowhere :)) But, today we are all taking the bus and going to visit "THE BOY'S". That's what my kids call my sister's house. Technically she has a girl now too, but since she's only 1 I guess they don't count her yet :).

Hope you have an awesome day!! Thanks for stopping by! (Here's a picture of Miss Emma just because every good blog post has a picture.)

layout time

Let's see if this works. I was planning on posting a layout today, but then I started having issues with blogger uploading my pictures. So let's see....Yay!  problem solved. So this is layout I made recently about Levi's stitches. Not my favorite thing, but worth document nonetheless, right?

I was pretty happy with the overall look in the end.  Mostly Fancy Pants papers.  I made the polka dot pattern with my Polka Dot Basics 2 and Worn Lipstick distress ink :) Fun. Oh and I used some glimmer mist on the blue square up in the right corner. One of the first things I ever tried it on.

If you look closely, you can see I gave the letters some texture by running them through my bigshot and also cutting them about 4 or 5 times and gluing them together. But my favorite part is probably the 3 lines of stitching I added. I just liked how it filled in the empty space and reinforced the stitching theme :) All the diecuts are from Quickutz (which I guess I should be calling Lifestyle Crafts now?! Not sure yet...)

Okay, I've got tons of stuff to do today, so that's it for me :) Thanks SO much for stopping by!! I hope you got to enjoy your weekend!!

I did it :)

I'm so proud of myself. As I mentioned before, I'm  NOT computer savvy...it all confuses me lol. But I try.  And this time, I was able to do it again. I managed to install my computer's wireless internet, even though our router was so old I had to find new installation software online. AND I got my itouch's wifi set up too. Even though the code key was no where to be found, and I had to change the level of security and get another encrypted code key to get it all set up. No idea what is involved in that? I didn't either till now :) I mean, I took me awhile to do. And, yes I did get frustrated along the way. And others probably could have done it a lot quicker. But I did it. And I did myself. Yay :)

Have you checked out Papertrey's sneak peeks going on right now? Eeek!! I just spent all my "free" money on my last order. But this is the most excited I have been in ages from just the little peeks. I guess I can hope that Santa remembers what I like, right? :) I'm also really interested in some Waltzingmouse stamps. I haven't gotten any yet, but there are several I have my eye on :)

Ok these pictures of Levi have nothing to do with anything, but I just rediscovered them lately. I Some of my all time favorites of his baby pictures. Adorable :) I can't believe how big he is now....really wish he would stop growing. sigh :)
Alright, I've got dishes calling my name ( too bad they aren't calling someone else's name...). But least if I get them all done I can have guilt free play time, right? Thanks for stopping by!! Happy weekend!! :)

A little card.

Tomio had to be out of town overnight for a big Honda press release (or something  like that). So I thought I would at least try to get some stamping time in at night after the kids were all in bed :) Make the best of it, right? I didn't really finish anything, but I did start a few projects and played with new stamps. Oh! I was SO excited my new Papertrey stamps arrived :) I finally got the Friendship jar set and all the coordinating dies. The latest release of the Christmas fillers pushed me over the edge lol.  I'm so glad I did though--such a fun set. I already enjoyed playing with it. I'll post some of the things I made with it when I get them finished.

This is a card that I started awhile ago, but never got around to finishing it until now lol. Do you ever do that? I get pretty close to finishing, but for whatever reason I don't feel like it's what I pictured or I'm not totally convinced it works, so I'll just set it aside till I feel like I can actually make it work. Anyway, not sure if it worked or not, but at least I did get it done :)  I used the Honey Bee set for it. Its fun to make a scene out of the grass and flowers :) I couldn't make it look right when first tried it, but then I figured out how offsetting and  stamping twice before reinking really helped the grass look better. This is a mini card. It wasn't originally planned that way, but it just seemed like it should be lol.

Tomio got back safely tonight, and he brought back some yummy treats from his "trip", so I'm going to go indulge heehee :) Thanks for stopping by!! I'm definitely ready for the weekend :)

fall party fun :)

Goodness. The kids had so.much. fun. at their fall party :) No one really has a a Halloween party here anyway, so we have our own " fall party". It's just the cousins, but with all three of me and my sisters' kids, it makes 14 kids :) Plenty for a party lol. It pretty much lasted all day though. I was certainly tired by the time we all got home and the kids were in bed.

This is Leah as "Wonder Woman".I  wasn't sure how it would turn out when she said wanted to be Wonder Woman. But I was so pleased with how it turned out! And so was Leah :) ALL of this is made by me :) Can you believe it? Not me :) I'm really not a sewer. I even made the boots :)

Here is Batman aka Levi :) He LOVED his costume. Which made me very happy :) I made all this too. I was really happy with how the bat on his shirt turned out :) I made his belt too, it even has pockets to put his little throwing bats I made in. Oh, I don't know if you can see in these pictures, but I made "stabbies" on his black gloves.

And this is Flash Gordon. I struggle alot with his outfit and hat. 

But Rhys loved his too. The lightning bolts really added a nice touch :)             

And here we have Batgirl :)

She wasn't too thrilled with her hat, but she didn't mind her cape and dress :) She looked in the mirror and said "Batman! Baby!" heehee :) So fun for me :)

Lots of fun, games, and candy :) It was a good day. I think everyone considered it a success :)

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope your week is going well. Mine's been going better than I even expected :)