last one?

Well, it's 7 at night on December 31st here in Japan. So I'm thinking this will be my last post of the year(!)
We are getting ready to have our traditional New Year's Eve dinner (that Tomio makes), so it'll be short and sweet today.

This was a card I just made for fun with some of my new stamps. I got some stamps from Taylored Expressions that I had had my eyes on for quite awhile. So glad I did :)  The grid in the background is from Unity.
Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I hope you have a great New Year's Eve! Tomorrow is Tomio'S birthday, so I'll be making a cake tonight after dinner :)

one more...

tag :) This will probably be my last Christmas-y project to share, seeing as I took down all of our Christmas decorations this morning. Kind of makes me want to work on other kinds of things more. (Though I'll most likely continue making Christmas things all year long).

This tag was published in a Paper Crafts Special Issue--Holiday Cards Vol. 6. I *love*the nutcracker stamp from Waltzingmouse. Well, I actually love the whole set :) I have some Christmas money from mu hubby, and I'm at least some of it will be for Waltzingmouse stamps :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Ours really was nothing less than perfect. I love spending Christmas with my family :)

just one more?

 I think I can squeeze in one more before Christmas :) Actually today's is just one of the 70+ tags I made this year.

I *love* this little snowman from Gina K. There are several tags under our tree with him on them :) Isn't he cute?
It is already night time on the 24th for us here in Japan. We had chicken and cake and watched a Christmas movie. All the my little peeps are in bed. It was a perfect Christmas Eve :) I hope you have wonderful Christmas with your family!! Thanks so much for stopping by!

it's true..

I'm back with another Christmas card! I hope this is the sign of a new trend here on the blog?! We'll see :)

More Verve stamps today. Aren't they just so pretty?!?! I really wanted the pretty sentiment to stand out, so  I embossed them with white. I really like the rustic cream base.

Okay--I'm off to make broccoli casserole and caramel chocolate brownies :) Thanks SO much for stopping by. Merry Christmas!!

again?!

I know! But the more Christmas cards the better, right :)?

Pretty simple again. I stamped directly on the kraft and colored it in with some copics. Added a bow out of twine, and that's it :) These stamps are from Verve. I'm really liking their stamps and dies lately, and I'm pretty sure I'll be *needing* to order some more soon. heehee.

Thanks for stopping by today! We are off from school today--gonna listen to Christmas music, make some cookies for Santa aka Daddy :)

still time...

for another Christmas card before Christmas, right?  Thought I'd pop in really quick and share one :)

Another one that has almost no stamping, oddly enough. I sketched the tree with a pencil, poked holes and then stitched over it by hand. I kind of like how it turned out :)

Thanks for stopping in today! Hope you are enjoying the Christmas- season ( I know we are!)

Christmas cards

I actually made several Christmas cards this year, but I actually used them before I got to take a pictures of th em. I think that is a first for me! oh well, that is the *real* reason we make the cards, right?! heehee. I do have one from earlier this year that I am pretty sure I haven't shared yet though. I can't go without showing any Christmas cards, right?

Not lots of stamping on this card, is there? I had fun though, and I really like how it turned out :) I tried out a little bit different stitch on the sides. I used a nice, big sparkly brad for his nose :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! As my kids keep reminding, me only 4 more days 'till Christmas Eve now!!

CARDS

magazine, that is :) I have had several cards published in their magazine over the last few months, but  I have not shared any of them here. Mainly because I just want to be sure that I don't share them too soon, like before the issue actually comes out :) But this one was from the September issue, so I'm pretty sure it is ok now.

I stamped and embossed the wood grain pattern on the buttons for this card. I'm especially fond of this card because it was actually the first card they ever published of mine :) Thanks for indulging me :)

Thanks SO much for stopping by today! Hope you are staying warm and cozy :)

tags, tags, tags...

I really like making Christmas tags :) I like how quick they are and how you can make them pretty much any shape and size you want. I also really like how my kiddos all look under the tree and see if there are any more tags with their names on them each morning :) But between making tags for my family and for my mother's church get together, I've made over 70 tags this year. Now that's a lot of tags. And since I don't like making the same thing more than once, they were all different. I think I can say, for now, I'm done with tags for at least a few days heehee :) I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are few:

I really like this little snowman :)
And these snowflakes from Verve are just gorgeous.

Here's another.

 I really like the colors of this one.
The ones under our tree are mostly more cute though, with Santa and reindeer. I'll try to get some pics of those too, if  I can.

 Have you finished all your Christmas shopping? I think we have, from the looks of our tree :) heehee :)

Thanks for stopping by today!!

sunflowers

are my absolute favorite flower.  I just love how cheerful and happy the make me feel. And today I have a very CAS card made with the only sunflower stamps I own.

Really simple. Just die cut, stamp and emboss :) I like cutting them out in different colors and then just stamping in versamark, just for a little something different.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season!!

thinking of you

Here's just a quick thinking of you card I made.

I like how the wood grain looks when it is heat embossed. Usually it ends up a little more subtle and in the background, but this makes it stand out a little bit more :) And yes, I'm afraid I used the silhouette flowers from Larger than Life. I've had that cute little brad for ages, and I thought this was a fun way to use it.

Thanks for popping today!! I'm thinking it is time for some more Christmas-y cards now that it is actually December :) Are you ready for the weekend? I definitely am :)

still enjoying

school :) Previously, the boys would be thrilled when Leah went to golf tournaments, since I would give them the day off from school too. But now, with what Levi refers to as the "fun school", they actually are glad to do it even if Leah is gone. Let me tell you, night and day. Really. And not only are they enjoying it, I honestly feel like they are learning and remembering even better :) I am so thankful for the Lord leading us to this program.

So, how about a thank you card? I love these little sprig-y flower stamps. And I especially love how they look when stamped in gray. This was a very quick, simple card :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Can you believe that it is almost December?!?! Since we've had our Christmas decorations up for a while now, I'm ready for December :)

date fun :)

Tomio and I went out on a date yesterday :) It was, must say, super fun :) We honestly don't get out just the 2 of  us very much at all (I'm pretty sure at most, this was the 2nd time this year...) Now, I love my 4 peeps and I really wouldn't have it any other way. But it was really fun. And the kids were thrilled to hear Mama and Daddy were going on a date, 'cause that meant they got to spend the afternoon with Nana and Papa. So it's win-win :) We had dinner and a movie--just like back when we were young and dating heehee. 17 years together and it's still fun :) We stayed out a little later than we had planned, and the kids still weren't ready to leave Nana and Papa's though.

Ok. I have another flower card today. Some more of my favorite Unity stamps. The sentiment is from PTI though. The card is made out of the blue, and then I used the white negative from the diecut label as a frame. I also impressed the white frame for some detail too.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!! Happy Thanksgiving :)

embossing...

I'll go through awhile where I don't any kind of heat embossing at all, and then I'll start up again. And then sometimes, I'll start something, but it won't turn out, so I'll leave it for months. Well, that's what happened with the tree on today's card. I stamped and embossed the tree ages ago, but I couldn't get it to turn out to my liking. I found it again the other day, and decided to use it :)

I actually barely did anything else to it. Just matted it and tied on the twine lol. I really like how it turned out though. I stamped and embossed the tree first. Then I stamped the text, and then I inked over it in 3 different colors of  distress ink. I love how the tree stays white since the ink on top just wipes off.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope your weekend is moving along slowly :)

yay for school :)

I don't think I ever thought I would actually say that. Or even my kids. But there was absolutely NO complaining about doing school today. There were lots of smiles and listening on each other's lessons, and some very great memory verse recitation. Today was the 2nd of our new school. I was little nervous about starting it, and I'm definitely still working out timing etc. But I must say, I am loving it :) yay! I really thank God for leading me to it at just the right time. And in case you are interested, after all my raving :), you can check it out at Heart of Dakota.

I thought I would share a layout today. I made it a little bit ago. With thinking about and working on our new school stuff, I still haven't been creating as much as I normally do. I really love how this layout turned out :) The picture are old though, maybe about 4 years old. I took these from inside while Tomio was saying 'bye to each of the kids. He did this every morning on his way out  to work :) So glad I captured it :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a lovely week :)

I'm not really

a busy person, lol :) I can go days without leaving the house.  But then there are a couple of times a year where we have several things going on and I actually feel like I am "busy". This happens to be one of those times. The kids had double swimming this past week, we went to a new church, we had our annual "girls' shopping trip" on Monday, and then today we had our "fall party". And, the rest of our school books came, so I've been going over that too...goodness. Fortunately, it is "good" busy. All fun things :) Still, I'm hoping for a little more down time over the next few days (but not counting on it).

Here is a card for today. I know, I am going to try to use some other flowers more too. But these are just so pretty and easy to use :) I really like the matching die cuts too.

well, I am tired tonight, so it's going to be another quick post. Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you are having a great week so far!!

some books and a tree.

Well, a little over half of our new school books came:) 3 out of 5 boxes of books. Everyone was so excited, and can't wait for the last 2 boxes. Even Miss Emma kept asking "is this Emma's?" while we were dividing them up. Fortunately I have a few things planned for her "school" to keep her busy while I work with the others.  I'm really hoping the rest come today!!

As for the tree, well, we put our Christmas decorations :) Yes, the first week of November. And I have to say, I *love* having our decorations for up so long. I'm always already making Christmas cards and doing my Christmas shopping at this time anyway.

And now for a card. I have a "thing" for silhouette flowers. I just do. So these are from one of my favorite sets of flower silhouettes from Unity. Lots of pretty ones. And I have to say, that I have had nothing but the BEST customer service from Unity. Really helpful. And they even have had specials with free shipping overseas, and I am pretty sure that is first I have ever seen that. Thought I'd mention it, just in case :) I used Hero Arts envelope pattern for a little texture. Another must have for me :)

Thanks SO much for stopping by! I hope you have an awesome day!!

okay...

I think it's time for a layout. I've actually made a few layouts lately. I even *seem* to have gotten a little bit faster at it too. Which can be good considering I usually have the same layout sitting on my desk for a week. I haven't finished all of Levi's other birthday pages yet, but since I am no longer stuck under the " I must scrap chronologically" way of thinking (which is definitely the best choice I ever made. I enjoy my scrapping *so* much more now), I didn't let that stop me from scrapping the cutie-pix :)

Last year Levi chose Batman, and this year it was Superman. It's funny. Every year, I know Tomio is going to do an incredible job drawing the pictures on their cakes with chocolate. And yet, every year, he still manages to exceed my expectations. It think it is so fun for the kids that they can ask for any picture they want, and they know Daddy will draw it.( if only I had that talent). I am really sticking with the less is more look for my layouts (well, and cards too) lately. I still experiment with other looks too, but I always seem to come back to more clean and simple.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are having some nice fall weather. It looks like it is finally getting cooler now here. yay :)

too long.

You know it has been too long since you last posted on your blog when Blogger makes you sign in again. oops. No excuses, just trying to get my priorities all straightened out. Kids, school, house, cooking, stamping... Definitely important to have some fun time on the list, just need to make sure it's in right place.]

Sorry, not the best photo. Didn't realize till now. Just another simple card using the gorgeous flower stamps and matching dies from Papertrey Ink. I might like these even better than the sunflower ones, and that is saying a lot! heehee :)

Hope you had a fun weekend! Ours was way too short. I needed at least another day and a half before Monday...not much chance of that I guess, right? too bad :)
Thanks for stopping by!!

one of those cards...

that turns out just like you imagined. I often have ideas in my head of cards to make, but they rarely turn out like I first imagined. Usually I'll just end up using my first idea as jumping off point and make something else. But this time, it didn't need any tweaking :) It turned out just like I imagined. And I know I've said this before, but I *love* this impression plate!!

I also love this stamp set! It was my first time to order from Wplus9. I love their stamps. Definitely will be ordering from them again. And in case you didn't know, they have matching dies too :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I'm finally getting back into my "groove" lol. I made 4 cards last night :) Felt so good:) Hope you're having a crafty week too!!

Hello~?

I know. It feels like I have been away for like, forever.... But I honestly have not even been able to make anything lately. Which is kind of rare for me, because, well it's what I *like* to do. I think I have done pretty well on menu plans~yay! Only a couple days in, but definitely smoother for cooking and shopping :) But I feel like my brain is on overload working out our homeschool plans for the next year. Now, I am usually *not* an over-thinker, or hardly much of a planner at all. But this time working out all the plans for next year seems to have put my brain in overload. Every time I sit at my desk, I kind of just veg for a bit. I think I'm almost done with my planning finally, though, so I'm hoping for my mojo to come back soon. But, since the kids and I are ALL really excited about the new school plans, I definitely think it was worth it :)

For now, I do have a card I made a little bit ago to share though :) Nothing really fancy or special, just one of the cards I made when I was playing with my new stamps :) And I love them all, by the way :) Especially the envelope background from Hero Arts that I used on this card. It was one of  the ones that when in and out of my cart several times. So glad I left it in :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week is going great!!

why?

Why is that deciding what to make for dinner is such an ordeal? I'll find myself thinking about it forever, just to end up the same thing... I kind of got tired of the silly stress I caused myself this, and decided to do something about it. This week I am making up some menu plans so that I'll have to do is choose a plan, and I'm good :) I'm also trying to be realistic about the plans, not setting myself up for failure by saying I'll make 3 new elaborate dishes each week lol. I know my limitations. Anyway, that is what I am up to this weekend. I'm not sure I'll have much crafting time, but *sometimes* it's worth putting on hold, right?

Today I do have a fun birthday card to show :) I like combining the boy-ish card stamps with the fun pink colors and flower :) Kind of fun, don't you think? I also like how fun it is to put rhinestones for the headlights :)

Thanks for stopping by today!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!

sweet.

Kind of different card for me today. I usually like to make mostly CAS cards, but every now and then I like try something a little different :)

Isn't the cupcake cute?! I just stamped it in versamark and heat embossed it in clear. I also used one my favorite Papertrey doily dies too :)

Ok, short and sweet for me today. We spent the day at the park today, and now I have several things to do around the house. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

surprise!

Tomio surprised us by taking the day off from work :) We spent the day eating breakfast out, playing at the park (where Levi got to show off his bike riding skills) and watching dvds. It was definitely a good day :) We also got Emma some new shoes since she seems to have lost one on the bus the other day....

I used some more of my new PTI goodies on this card :) I had been wanting another flower stamp set with matching dies for a while, so when I they came out with this one of sunflowers (my all time favorite flower ♡) I *had* to get it. And I'm so glad I did :) The bookprint impression  plate is also new to me, and I love it too! I selectively inked some stamps from some other sets for the sentiment.

Thanks so much stopping by!! I hope you have a great weekend!

fall fun :)

I am *so* loving this fall weather!!  We decided to take advantage of it and go to the park. The kids got their studies done and we took lunch to the park. The weather was perfect and we spent the whole afternoon there.   We took Levi's bike to the park, minus its training wheels. I was afraid it would take him a long time to ride, but he really pretty much got it right away. I was really impressed. Unfortunately, he still has trouble getting started by himself, and that frustrates him no end! But he was so proud of himself, he really wanted to show Daddy. But Tomio didn't home from work till it was too late. So Tomio told him if he got up early before he went to work, he could show him then :) So Levi hurried to bed so he could get up nice and early. it was sprinkling just a bit in the morning, but Levi showed him anyway. It was so cute watching him show Daddy how well he could ride :) Now Levi can't wait to go to the park again so he can ride lots.

I kind of think today's card is more spring-y than fall-ish, but oh well :) We've already established that I don't worry about that when I am making cards. heehee :) I really like these jar stamps. But to be honest, I have had a hard time actually using them. I've finally gotten a few cards to turn out that I actually like. And this is one of them. The cute butterfly is from Flutterby Friend, one of very favorite sets.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you are having a great week so far!!

I thought

it was just me, that thought the year was over once it hit September. But even Tomio said, "you know, it's almost Christmas now". I was like "I know!" We do put up our tree around the middle or beginning of November, though :) That's ok--I'm prepared. I just got several new Christmas stamp sets, so I'm ready :) While I *do* admit to making Christmas cards all year long, there's just something even more fun about making them during the actual season. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.

Ok... on to today's card. I used some of my stamps I mentioned last time on this card. I {love} them! And of course they are even better since they have coordinating dies. They are the Larger than Life stamps dies from Papertrey Ink. I debate about these for a long time, and I honestly have no idea why lol. They are really just the kind of stamp I like. And they are really easy to use :)

I hope you can tell in the photos, but in real life, I think it is so pretty :). Oh, and this is also my new favorite impression plate. It really is subtle, so you might not get the full affect in photos, but I just love it and have to stop myself from using it on every card.heehee :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! All my little ones are in bed, so I might be able to squeeze in a little more stamping time tonight :)

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

Since it's already the first of October here, it's now officially World Cardmaking Day :) And I'm happy to say that this year I really do think I'll at least get to spend half the day making cards. yay :) I already got my windows cleaned today, so I can even stamp guilt free :)

For now, I'll share a birthday card I made. I never really thought I liked red and light blue together, until I made a card for a challenge with them, and I was surprised at how well I liked it. Especially when yo throw in some kraft :) All supplies for this card are from Papertrey Ink :) I think the stamps in this teacup set are so cute!

Ok~that's it for me today. I have a few more things to take care of before I plant myself at my desk :) Thanks for stopping by! Do you have any plans for today?

Be Mine...

It's almost October, which means it's almost time for me to start making and sharing Christmas cards :) My absolute favorite kind of card to make. So before I start with those, I thought I would share a Valentine one. Hmmm...I guess that is even MORE out of season, isn't it? Oh well... I am the only one who just makes whatever kind of card they feel like, no matter what season it is? I just enjoy it more that way :)

I ended up making this one from several scraps left on my desk from other cards. But it turned out to be my favorite Valentine card I made this year. I love the Distressed dot paper from Papertrey. I used pop dots behind the pink layer to make even with the button and make the heart window "deeper".

Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I have several new stamp sets that I am hoping to ink up today :)

Getting things done.

I love feeling like I'm getting lots of things done. You know, being efficient :) And today I was. We did our school, went to the dentist (twice...), the dermatologist, and grocery shopping :) Leah's mouth piece was ready, so she'll be wearing it to sleep in. Glad to be getting that taken care of too. Now, if  I can get some stamping done, it will be a perfect day :)

Today's card doesn't really have very much stamping at all.  Just for the sentiment tag. I stamped a leaf in old paper for a little more interest. I really like the calm, earthy look of all these colors. And I {heart} twine :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I'm off to enjoy this beautiful weather with my kiddos!

17 years...

 We celebrated our 12th anniversary this year.  While it's been 12 years since we got married, it has been 17 years, today, since we met. Now we don't usually make a huge deal out of it or anything, we do always remember it :) Tomio got me some ice cream and we are going out to dinner to celebrate too :) heehee. Wow, 17 years... it really doesn't seem like it has been that long!!

I thought this card seemed kind of fitting for an anniversary. I liked using these kind of masculine stamps with the pink colors. I don't have the stamps that match these labels yet, so I masked off a circle and stamped the text on top. Then  I curved the sentiment on the clear block to match the circle shape. I used the cream colored twine for the first time on this card, and I really liked it :)

Thanks for stopping by today!! So happy it has finally cooled off here!

normal?

Just when you think things are back to "normal", something else happens... Among other things, Leah got the fever too. I feel like we have been to the doctor a thousand times lately. I must say though, that every time I go, I am so grateful that kids' doctor visits are free. Once they hit Leah's age they cost a little, but definitely not enough to break the bank. That is such blessing.

Speaking of blessings, here is a "blessed" card I made (ok maybe that was a bit of a stretch...)  A really different color combo for me, but I think I like how it turned out. These flourish stamps from Papertrey are gorgeous, and I really don't use them nearly enough.

Well, that's it for me today. My friend from Junior High is getting married today, and I'm invited to the wedding. All my kids seemed pretty shocked to see me dressed up when I was finding something to wear...lol. Thanks for stopping by today!

should have seen it coming.

Right? After taking care of my sickies for a days, yes, I caught it too :( Hence my absence from my blog. I have to say, though, my Rhys-ter was a huge help while I was sick. Part of the time both Tomio and Leah were gone for her golf, and he did a great job taking care of the littles enough for me to actually get some rest :) I'm also very happy to say that I am much better now. I even made a card :) And here it is:

Bright and cheery :) which is how I felt after getting better. And I really, really, love this pattern paper from Papertrey. I really don't use much pattern paper on my cards, often just like to make my own with background stamps. But this "bitty box paper" I could use on almost everything :) The pretty flowers are from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by!! Are you ready for a new week? I am :)

sickies...

Rhys had a fever on Monday, and while he is all better now, Miss Emma now has one :( Rhys is actually really good when he is sick, not whiney or anything. Miss Emma... well, not so much. But considering her normal personality :), not too bad I guess.Really praying she's better in the morning. She still is her talkative self though. We were sitting together on the couch while she watched some dvr-ed shows. The care bears she watched finished, and the normal tv show came on. It was some Japanese cartoon that my kids don't watch. Normally when  a show that is "unacceptable" comes on, my kids will say "oh, that's poop", kind of reinforces that it's not worth watching. Anyway, this time it was kind of like a witch that popped on the screen. Miss Emma looked at it and said " Oh! scary! Scary poop!" :) heehee:)

anyway...how about a layout today? This is me and Tomio back when we were dating :) let's see...I must have been16, which makes him 21. Sometimes it's fun to go back and do some older pictures too :) Pretty simple, but I thought it went well with the black and white photos.

Thanks so much stopping by today! Taking care of sickies can be pretty tiring, so I'm going to *try* to get some more sleep tonight. Hey, at least everyone slept 'till 6 today :) Hope you have a great day!!

the butterflies...

again :) Remember the other day when I posted that most of my cards I had sitting on my desk had butterflies? well, I posted one of the "fixed" ones, so I thought that I would share one of the butterfly ones that I didn't change.

And this one has LOTS of butterflies lol. Really a simple card.  I love adding some embossing to a simple card. This sentiment is from PTI's Flutterby Friend. When I got the set, I actually thought I might not use the sentiments at all, but I got it anyway. As it turns out, I *love* the sentiments in this set and I've used them quite a bit.

Ok, short and sweet for me today! It seems the kiddos have decided to wake up before 6 for the past several days, and I need tom make up for it. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

irrational.

Do you have some task that you just.don't.like. to do?  I mean nothing so awful cleaning out the diaper trash can that you keep outside so you won't have to smell it or even think about it regularly. Just a pretty mundane task that you, for whatever reason, just don't want to do. For me, it's hanging back in the closet the hangers I use to hang the laundry outside to dry. See, I told you, nothing evil lol. I just don't like doing it. They are clumsy and awkward and go in the boys' room. I  of course do it every day after I bring the laundry in. But every day I half consider leaving them out on my bed (!) just to avoid putting them away. So, is just me? Or do more normal people have things they pretty much irrationally dislike doing?

Anyway, I do have a card :) Another bright and cheery one :) I have to say, I adore that bee :) It's from PTI's Springtime Doodles. And to be honest, he is the real reason I wanted that set. heehee.  He wasn't too hard to cut out either. I used my Wild Honey distress ink to stamp on the summer sunrise cardstock (again). I just love perfectly they seem to go together.

Thanks for stopping by again today! I've been doing a little bit better about going to bed early, so I'm hoping to keep it up.

Here for you.

I have a bright, cheery card today :) Sometimes you just need a little cheer, you know?  I did some clear embossing for the polkadots. This polka dot stamp is another background stamp I looked  all over for. It's even harder to find one that is perfect AND sends to Japan without costing an arm and a leg. But I am really happy with this one from Inkadinkado.(If you are interested, I got it at 1-2-3 stitch). I decided to cut out the butterflies with a little white trim this time, really just because I thought the pop of white would be nice.

Ok, that's it for me today. Lots of studies to work on (not mine, the kids'). Thanks for stopping by!!

time for a checkup.

Well not mine, but for my kiddos. Rhys just went to the dentist last week and got one of his baby teeth {that had major issues} pulled, so he got his check up and fluoride treatment then. And I was happy to hear no cavities. I took Leah and Levi in for their check up yesterday. They both have potential for needing braces, so I was having  that checked too. Leah has to wait for some more teeth to come in to get her braces, but she is getting a mouthpiece. I'm really excited about it for her lol. Her bite is off and it bothers her and this should fix it~yay. Levi's checkup was great too, no cavities, healthy teeth :) so yay for me. heehee :) Oh, and after that we went to the doctor and got cough meds for all of them too. So now after each meal I line up all the kids and take turns giving them their medicine....

I had lots of fun making this card. I was trying out my new stamps from PTI. I think I'm really going to love these  vases. I don't paper piece all that much, but it just seemed to fitting for these little vases. And they really aren't very tricky to cut out or anything. The beautiful background stamp is from Stampabilities. I searched for a long time to find a pretty scripty background stamp, and I just *love* this one :)

Thanks for stopping by! It's our "weekend" now, so I'm hoping to recharge, and get some stamping done :)

rain.

The weather has been so crazy here lately. It will be sunny, then start pouring. Then it will clear up again before you know it. I've decided to pretty much count on rain and hang all my laundry inside for now. But hey, as long as the rain cools it off even a little bit, I'm ok with it :)

So I decided I use my butterfly punch a little bit too much. I had this stack of new cards I had made on my desk, and when I looked through them, I found that there many more with the butterfly punch than without. So I challenged myself to change some of them and use a different embellishment for them. This card is one of those. I actually really like this version better. This tea set is one that I don't use nearly enough, so I was really glad to use it. I actually made it a double challenge for myself to try to use a set that had been kind of neglected to replace the butterflies. (and don't worry, I still use the butterflies all the time, and I'll be sharing those cards too :)) But isn't that honey ball just too cute? There is only a die for the teacup, so just fussy cut the honey ball and the "honey".  Oh, and if you are stamping these with matching dies, I found it works SO much easier if you stamp the outline first and then the inside color. It might be obvious to most people, but it took me a few times to figure that out.

Well, thank you for stopping by today! Tomio is having more "early" days at work this week, so I'm off to try to get to bed early.

no promises

I can't make any promises, especially because I am not one that works well feeling "obligated", but I am really hoping to start posting more often here on the blog. I really love  sharing my cards here. So that is my goal anyway :) And in the spirit of posting more often, here I am posting 2 days in a row! yay :)

Today I have another card I tried some heat embossing on. See, more clear embossing on dark colored cardstock :)I love gray with pale yellow, and pale purple with yellow, so I really liked this combination. I used the really pretty music impression plate too. I added the sentiment on a label that I trimmed and tucked behind the gray panel.

Well, thanks so much for stopping by today!! Have a great weekend!!

Safe and sound.

We made it back from our trip to Disney Sea, all safe and sound. We all had lots of fun. Miss Emma squealed about almost everything, and liked to point to people who happened to be wearing or holding something with a Disney character on it.... yeah, there were more than a few of those there:) heehee. I'm SO glad we decided to go even though they said there would be a typhoon that day. There wasn't, and the crowds were down for Japan too.

One of the things the boys were most excited about was the Indiana Jones ride. See above. But, Levi was just a *little bit* too short. They gave him a little card that said next time he comes and is tall enough, he won't have to wait to ride. He thought that was pretty cool. And when we told him he needed to drink milk and eat lots of veggies to get taller by next time we go, he listened :) Now every time he drinks some milk he asks "do my legs look longer? Am I taller?" :)

And here is Miss Emma meeting "her", as she likes to call Elastigirl.  "Credibles" was also there, but she was too shy to actually let him get near her.

And here is Miss Emma waiting with me while the big kids rode with Daddy. She had plenty to say :)

Alright, that't it for today. We'll be back to regular cards tomorrow :) Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great weekend!!

one more....

option. Since I never make just one card for Tomio, I thought I would share one of my other choices. And seeing as I have at least one whole day left to choose, I am still debating :)

I really like this one too,  although there is the chance that it's a bit too girly since it's all pink? I usually figure that lovey cards can be pink and still be ok :) I like the subtle newsprint on the kraft. The pretty sentiment is from Papertrey's Heart Prints. I really like this set, but I have trouble using the hearts... not really sure why... anyway, the sentiments are great :)

ok, that's it for me tonight. It's time for my boys to hit the sack, and we have discovered the hard way that *nothing* will go very smoothly with sleep-deprived boys. Trust me.  Thanks for stopping by!!

almost...

over! ack!! I *cannot* believe that August is almost over!  Once it's September, the year is practically done, you know? Our anniversary is August 31st,  and we are planning on going to Disney Sea this year. We'll take the kids too, and I know everyone will have fun (as long as the typhoon holds off a little).

Anyway, here is one of the cards that could be Tomio's anniversary card. As yet, I'm still undecided lol.
I know it's not overly "anniversary-ish", but sometimes it's fun to do something a little different,right?  I really like using an impression plate on white cardstock. I added some  glitter to the icing on the cupcake, and I like how it turned out. I just squished it into my glue pad and sprinkled on the glitter. Nothing fancy lol. I really like having the dies to match the cupcake. It makes it much easier.

Thanks for stopping by!  Emma went to sleep early and I'm hoping to *finally* get to play with my new stamps~yay!

love/hate...

So I have a love/hate relationship with heat embossing. I really love the detail it can add, and how it works well to make white pop. It can be so pretty! But, I can have the hardest time getting it too turn out "right". Know matter whate precautions I take, I usually end up getting too much powder on places I don't want it, or not enough, or SOMETHING. I still do it though, because I love when it DOES turn out :) One of the ways I get it turn out without much worrying, is by using clear embossing powder.It's pretty forgiving :), but still gives great results. heehee :)

That's what I did on this card. I think it's especially striking on the black. I also embossed the sentiment in white, and I think I did a pretty good job of that too.heehee:) I LOVE this doily shape from Papertrey. Honestly, when I bought the set of doily dies, I thought I might not even use this one at all, but I think I like it best. I guess you just never know...lol

Alright, I'm off to bed for tonight. Thanks so much for stopping by!!