sketch time

Waltzingmouse sketch time :) I've been completely missing all of the sketches lately. I really wanted to get back into it this week, but to be honest I almost decided not to when I saw the sketch. I was really stumped. But I thought was kind of the whole point of a "challenge", and decided to go for it. Here is the sketch that was so tricky for me :

 I really just didn't know where to go with it.... Anyway, after a couple of tries, this is what I came up with :

I surprised myself by liking the end result more than I expected lol. Also when I was looking through my stamps trying to see what I wanted to use, I remembered how much I liked these Wild Roses. I suppose some might think that might be a sign that I have too many stamps...but I'm pretty sure it just means I need some more time to USE my stamps :) I used some of my favorite colors, but I don't usually use all four of them together-- kraft, lavender, pale yellow and pale green. Glad they seem to go together well :)

Alright, kind of short and sweet today. So glad you stopped by!!

Happy things~

Tomio likes to surprise me :) He's a black belt in karate, pretty cocky (which was one of the first things I liked about him when I first met him when I was 14), so he never likes to admit that he's smitten heehee :) or that he's actually paying attention. But he really IS. I've been SOOO happy that I've realized some of my goals this year to get my cards published (YAY!!). And I was lamenting to Tomio that I really didn't have anything good to actually send them in. They say "box it up"....but I never could find anything that was "fitting". This was weeks ago. And then today he went out to get some light bulbs, and comes back with light bulbs, and several little boxes :) Yes, just the right size for mailing in cards :) Apparently he'd been checking everytime he went to the store. I love that 1) he remembered what I was wanting and 2) that he's sure enough that I'll get published again to buy several boxes :) He tries hard to hide it, but he doesn't do a very good job :)heehee~I know I'm lucky.

So I have another winter layout I did. I'm really liking doing snow layouts when it's really hot outside. I was really disappointed with myself with these pictures because I must have had the white balance on some really funky setting, so they are all a little off. :( But I of course wanted to scrap them anyway. Isn't Levi's hat just too cute?! None of these pattern papers are actually winter ones, but I thought they worked well.

Well, the weekend is over,and I think I am *almost* ready for a new week. Thanks for stopping by today :)

a bad day.

What do you do when you have a bad day? There are several little things I do....I'm pretty sure I'm not the only girl that like a little extra chocolate on a day like that :)And for me, I like to call Tomio and at work and let him know. It helps to just get it out. But guys aren't usually like that. They just kind of hold it in. Tomio always calls me when he gets to work, at his lunch break, and on his way home. I know the exact times he will be calling :) But the other day I was surprised  when he called about 30 minutes before his lunch time. I listened, wondering what important things he had to let me know. But there really wasn't anything. He was heading to another section, but had had "one of those days", and just wanted to talk to me :) I know I work that way, but it was nice to know that he feels that way too sometimes :)

ANYWAY, a quick, CAS card today, which is really my faovrite card :)



























I almost stitched around the edges, but I decided to keep it even more clean and simple. I {love} how the woodgrain looks stamped in Antique Linen distress ink onto kraft! Still subtle, but definitely noticeable :) The pretty "Happy Birthday" is froim Waltzingmouse. Love the fonts :)
Well, we are off to the doctor and then out for some shopping today. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are staying cool :) We are trying lol :)

back to normal

So everyone got back from camp ok.  They had probably a little too much fun :) I'm really glad that there is a Christian, English camp for them to go to. For the past few days I keep hearing more and more about the different fun things they did. They were thrilled that they got to go swimming everyday :)

After all this "summer" talk, I have a winter layout I did heehee :) I used some adorable paper from Cosmo Cricket that I have been hoarding lol. Used some stamps, added some stitching. I really love these colors :) I love this little snowman stamp!! So cute. I like to emboss with the Ultra thick embossing enamel (UTEE) like i did here and then stamp his eyes etc in Stazon.

Alright, things are going back to normal today--back to studying and schedules again. Hoping it allows for a little down time for though :) Hope you had a great Father's day weekend!! We spent the day at my parent's house. Thanks for stopping by!!

taking it easy...

well, that's kinda of my goal, but with Miss Emma and Levi as wild as ever, I don't know how it will work in reality heehee :) But I keep thinking that with only half of my "normal" number of kids here, I *should* be able to. Levi is enjoying his "big boy" time, but he also misses Leah and Rhys. He keeps counting the days till they will get back, and telling me all the fun things he wants to tell them about :)

I'm pretty sure I haven't shared this card yet. Sometimes I forget *sigh*lol.

This was just one of those cards where I wanted to try using some different products. It's hard to see in the photo, but I stamped the red label with Papertrrey's Newsprint background. I had been eyeing that Tim Holtz/Sizzix label for ages,and finally got it :) Really glad I did, it's such a fun size and shape.  Since I wanted to leave the butterflies white, but didn't want them too plain, I embossed them with a fun paisley pattern.

Thanks for stopping by again today!! Hope you have a great day!!

it feels weird...

We went and dropped off the "bigs" at Bible camp today. We took a bus and 3 trains to get them there, but they were SOOO excited. Leah was old enough to go last year too, but this was Rhys' first year. You'd think they might be a little more nervous or sad when I left, but no, not at all :) I know they'll have tons of fun, but it sure feels weird here at home without them here. Even Miss Emma noticed and right around bed time she started asking "Where's Blah?" To be honest, Levi can sometimes be a little...selfish. But I was really happy with his attitude about them going to camp even though he can't. No whining or complaining, just behaving really well. Making sure I taped Leah and Rhys' favorite shows while they are gone :) I also made sure to let him know that HE was the BIG kid around the house now. He's happy about that and takes his job of  "helping with Emma" very seriously :

A little bit different color combo for today's card. I don't always like the summer sunrise color, it's a little bright or something. But I love the way it looks with the Wild Honey distress ink stamped on it!! Such a perfect match :) I don't have the matching dies for the Turning a New Leaf stamps, so I just cut them out. I'm still thinking of getting them though :) I used the negative from where I diecut a scallop circle and then stitched it down. I kinds of tucked the vine in and put some adhesive on a few spots. The sentiment is from Mega Mixed messages. I also added a few gems to the leaves.

Well, thanks for popping in today!! Hope your week is off to a good start :) I know mine will be different than normal :)

more flowers...

We took a little bus trip into the "city" today. I sue that term loosely lol. But it was really fun. I got all the kids some new Crocs. And we ate lunch at Burger King. I think it was the first time for any of them to eat at Burger King.They loved it :) They went on and on about it. heehee :) Since I hadn't eaten there in years either, I must say I enjoyed it too. Also glad we got the bus route down since we'll be taking it again next week when I drop the oldest 2 off at camp. Love getting out with the kids too. And since the reason we decided to go out in the first place was to go to the post office to mail my card in for publication, it was already a good day to begin with :)

I know, I've really been overdoing the flowers lately. I'm pretty sure this is the last one for awhile though--think I'm a little tired of them myself lol :) But I do like how this one turned out.

 I used lots of my new fun stuff on this card. It took me a long time to finally get some PTI impression plates. I thought they were a little pricey and didn't know if I would like them since they were more subtle than regular embossing folders. But I finally caved since I just loved some of the patterns. And boy am I glad I did!! I just *love* them. So easy to use, definitely not too subtle, just right actually. This music one is the one that finally made me give in :) The tiny tag stamp and die is new to me too.  Really cute :) I am one of those people that can't get enough polka dots :) And isn't the doily die really adorable? Another item that I finally caved and got. I'm thinking I should stop resisting and go with it lol.
Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you had a great week. I'm ready for the weekend :)

no more stitches.

Miss Emma got her stitches out today. I knew we were going to have to walk to the doctor this morning to get them out, so I was a little worried when it started to POUR last night. Cats and dogs. But, luckily this morning it was totally cleared up. No clouds at all. After hearing her *scream* when they were stitching her up, I was pretty sure she wouldn't be too thrilled when they wanted her to lie down so they could snip them out. And in case I haven't mentioned it before...she is a tad strong-willed. just a tad :) (seriously, she is my 4th, so it's not like I don't have any experience with 2 year olds, but she is nothing like the others) She did cling to me for all she was worth, but surprisingly, after her initial crying, she stayed pretty still and calm while they took them out. As soon as they were done, she was ready.to.go. Glad it's done though, and the doctor said it healed up really well :) So glad the doctor is so close too. Made the whole ordeal a lot easier.

Anyway, here's today's card.

This one came together really quickly. I had made each of the elements before, they just happened to work really well together. I really love the Embellishments images and the pretty fonts. And having the dies to match is so fun. Pretty sure I wouldn't try cutting it out otherwise lol. The pattern papers are from Fancy Pants. I also used my new Hero Arts Solid Dots background for some subtle depth. And I'm definitely making a dent in my stash of too many flowers :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week started off well.  Hoping for lots of crafty time this week. (As I do each week lol )

really?!

Can you believe it is already June?! I just can't--the year is half over! aaahh! I'll be happy if the first few days of June are anything like what the rest will be, though. They said it was the coolest day in June they had in 22 years here. I would love a cooler summer :)

Have a layout to share today. Some of my favorite pictures of Miss Emma from the park near our house.

I'd been doing a lot of two page layouts with lots of pictures, so I thought it would be fun to try doing some really different ones. I like printing the pictures with a white border to help them pop. The pretty striped paper is from Fancy Pants. I went for years without even owning any flowers, and then after I got some, I went for months without even tryin to use them. But lately I've been really liking them and putting them on layouts and cards. I think I might have gotten a little carried away though heehee :) There's a little stitching, a little stamping and a little embossing too.

Thanks for stopping by! Are you reayd for the weekend?  I sure am :)