Happy Labor Day!

Can you believe it is already September 1st? Where did the summer go?

Well I guess it is time to begin to accept that it is over and embrace Fall, along with all the holidays to follow. One super perk to being on a design team is that it puts you in the holiday mood early!!

You may have noticed every month, on the first, that Nichole gives her Senior Design Team a special challenge. This month was to create a special holiday ornament, with packaging.  Now we are talking! You know how much I LOVE creating packaging!!

She asked we try to incorporate any “other” hobbies/crafts we my have in our repertoire to create a unique ornament. ALL the ornaments on my family tree are special. Each has it’s very own story. Many are handmade, usually from the kids. Their little artwork FILLS out tree. No glass ornaments for me. I feel our Christmas tree becomes more and more special each year because of our decorations. The kids get so excited to see that I saved their little handprints Christmas tree, of felt mouse/candy cane holder.

So I went back to those summer days at my grandmother’s, back when I was about 9, and she taught me cross stitching! I spent the summer making several pillowcases, for everyone! They came out awesome too. My mom still has a couple I believe.

I learned cross stitching with a pattern, which was where you have a pre-printed pattern of X’s to follow, with a photo for color suggestions. I also learned how to do french knots, and the lazy daisy stitch! Later in life I learned counted cross stitch, where you just have a pattern in a book, and you count it out onto your fabric. Not a good idea for those who have poor eye sight. Oh, and if you had good eyesight BEFORE, you won’t after! LOL!

So I decided that would be a great place to revisit.

I was “re-freshed” on the how-to-do’s  to create these stitches by Googling them!! I found great instructions/photos at the following place: Primrose Design! She has amazing step by step photos and instructions 😀 She has already done all the hard work, why attempt to recreate what is already perfection?! Seriously check it out!

French Knot-HERE! -for my holly berries

Lazy Daisy-HERE!-for my leaves

Satin Stitch-HERE!-for my tree trunk

I really want to thank Janet McCaffrey at Primrose Design, because her tutorials, I was able to just pick this old past time right back up, and go! I just plucked myself in front of my computer, and began following her instructions 😀

Now I have to say, even if you have NEVER cross stitched in your life, you should try it. It’s truly easy. HELLO, me at age 9 was able to do it, so YOU can too.

Another great thing is you don’t need a bunch of expensive items to start!

 A large needle, some embroidery floss, and the embroidery cloth  to stitch on, as well as an embroidery ring. All really cheap!

So enough of my blah, blah blah. You know how much I babble when I get excited about something.

So lets start by sharing my ornament and gift box!

  O’Christmas Tree

Supplies: Believe set, Rustic Branches, simple alphabet, Pure Poppy  cardstock, Spring Moss cardstock, Pallete Black ink,Old Olive ink by SU!, Pure Poppy ink, white craft ink by CTMH, polka dot ribbon & satin ribbon in pure poppy, Circle nestabilities, tag nestabilities, Scor-Pal, Cross stitch fabric, wide eye needle, embroidery hoop, embroidery floss, decorative ring, silver cord

I got my concept of my box, from the many engraved ornaments I purchase every year. They are often placed in boxes, with a clear cover. So I measured my finished ornament, and using my Scor-Pal, came up with this box, that is my own different take on what you’d get in a store ! Don’t you love paper-crafting?! Limitless possibilities.

Here is the template I created for my box. Click to enlarge.

It is NOT to size, it serves as a guideline so you can see how my box came together. Obviously your ornament may be of a different size, so your measurements would be different.

I measured the width of my ornament, then added 2 inches on either side. I scored every 1/2 inch, 4 times-to create the borders, which fold in. I did the same for the bottom flap. I then measured how tall my ornament was, and then scored for my lid. making sure it all fit snuggly. There was room for a little flap. I then made a bottom flap to fold up from the bottom.

My finished box measures 4 inches across, by 6 1/2 inches tall, by 1/2 inch deep.

This is the outside of my ornament box.

I LOVE Rustic Branches. Its a super set, and I love how quickly I can create a Holly wreath. I just stamped my wreath in Olive ink, onto spring moss cardstock, then -without re-inking, moved, and re-stamped. I stamped my berries in Poppy  Red. I used my scallop nestabilities to die cut my wreath, then used a smaller circle to to take the center out.

Here is how the ornament box opens:

Remove the ribbon

Open the flap

Here you go.

Now you have your ornament sitting snugly in this great box, that will serve as stylish, and treasured storage for the ornament from one year to the next!

It doesn’t have to end there though. you could create a little wall hanging for any time of year, and present it in the same manner!

As you will see I used the tree from the Believe set. It was absolutely PERFECT for this challenge!!

I stamped the tree with my Pallette Black ink, onto my cross stitching fabric. Now seriously HOW COOL is it to think that your stamps have a whole new use, and can take you into yet another fun hobby?!! I know I was super excited that it actually worked!

I picked 3 different colors of green embroidery floss for my leaves. I wanted dimension. Not just every leaf to be the same! So I stitched one color of green leaves randomly, on my pattern, staying in the lines. Then onto the second, and the third. Then it was time for my Holly Berries, an my trunk  (that uses a silk stitch).

The finished product 😀

I found this faux wooden oval frame at Michaels for about $1.50. I put my finished tree into place, then trimmed off the excess fabric, once I was CERTAIN it was exactly as I wanted it! I created a tag with the “handmade by” and added my name using the simple alphabet set.

The “problem” with cross stitching is your back is a little “messy”. So I used my oval nestabilities to create a cover for the back, and keep it neat and clean! This allowed me to also put my creative info there as well! I just adhered it with redline tape. It is going NO WHERE!

Now you are most likely wondering HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE? It only took me 1 1/2 hours. I know you are thinking that is crazy, bu it really wasn’t THAT long if you consider HOW LONG some of our card creations take us. Oh, and the fact that my embroidery skills are rusty. That does NOT include the ornament box I created. That took me about the same tp figure out WHAT I wanted, and HOW to get my idea to work. Now you have it done for you!

Now for the FUN part! WHO WANTS IT?!

I would love to give this away to someone! I so appreciate each of you, so it’s my turn to give a little something back. Simply leave me a comment here, telling me what your favorite holiday tradition is! No matter WHAT the holiday, share something your family does together every year!

I will pick a random winner on Wednesday via www.random.org!

I hope you enjoy all the projects today!

Be sure to check out all the folowing Papertrey Ink design team member blogs :

• Amy Rysavy  
• Debbie Olson
• Lisa Johnson  
• Nichole Heady
• Pine

I am sure you will be inspired to start creating those holiday ornaments!

Till tomorrow 😀

THANK YOU for your patience as I got this together today. I actually created it the other day, but had family things to do, and camera batteries to charge.

I am excited to share another template with you all today.

Here it is!

Diamonds are a girls best friend- Bloomin Basket Tutorial 😀 This was totally Tiffany & Co. inspired.

OK I have to say that Stampin Up! has released some MUST have items for me. One being their new Big Shot Baskets & Blooms Bigz XL die that retails for $39.95 US. You can find it on page 29 of the SU! Holiday mini catalog. REALLY CUTE!

“My” problem was, I really didn’t want to buy the die because I am not a huge fan of the round design. I also wanted to be able to make it BIGGER, or smaller. I love versatility and things that actually hold a descent amount of “something”. I am a very visual person, so by just looking at this the light-bulb went off.

I took a look at it and thought “That would be SO EASY to do.” So I did 😀 My design is obviously NOT round, but was definitely inspired by that uber cute die cut.

I hope you all enjoy my little tutorial I have here to share 😀 AND maybe it may save you some $$!! I know I have a good wishlist of items, and limited amount of money. I would like to spend it on consumables 😀

You can make this larger or smaller by changing your starting size and how much you score it! Just remember the sides, and bottom should be the same 😀

Here we go!

My finished Bloomin Basket is about 5 inches tall, 3 inches across, and 2 inches wide.

Supplies I chose

I used Women of Life,  Its a Celebration  Aqua Mist cardstock, Dark Chocolate ink, Dark Chocolate Satin ribbon, spellbinders tags, coluzzle,scor-pal, score mat,Tim Holtz ruler, Hobby blade, Doodlebug factory Bling (thanks Tracey!), 1 1/4 circle punch, redline tape.

You will need:

 2 pieces of cardstock cut to a square. I chose 8 1/2 X 8 1/2 (if using 12 X 12 you can get a much larger version :D)

A scoring tool, ruler, hobby blade, redline tape, circle tool, circle punch.

Directions

On both squares (8 1/2 shown here)- Score at 2 inches, then again at 6 1/2 inches

Turn cardstock, and score at 2 inches (to create the bottom)

Layer the 2 pieces together, making sure they are the same, and the bottom is to the left, then punch your 1 1/4 circle.

Now you have to pieces that match exactly

Take your coluzzle (or other circle template) and cut a 1/2 circle.

For this I aligned the hole with one of the cirles, and cut 2 up, on both pieces.

Here is the cut 1/2 circle, when finished

Now comes the cutting angles! I put my cut piece into my scor-pal. Then I just took my ruler to the edge of the 1/2 circle handle, and angled it. I aligned it on my Scor-Pal, with my mat, at about 3 inches, then used a hobby blade to cut.

Now this next step is to make sure your angels are EVEN!!

I put my ruler with the edge where my angle ended. I then used my hobby blade to make a tiny mark, to ensure I would be cutting at that same angle. This is just quicker and easy!

Repeated the step above.

This is the finished cut

Now when doing your 2nd piece, if you remember that angled measurement you should be golden. BUT to make it SUPER easy, take the scrap from the first piece, and lay it over the 2nd one! This will ensure PERFECTION on both sides of your box!

Those are my 2 finished pieces.

Now we put it together!

If you WANT to stamp it. NOW is the best time :D, then continue on to assembling.

Just line up the scored edges, and the bottom score marks.

Make sure you cut the bottom panels (as seen in photo)

It then just folds together!

Simple as that! This box takes seriously a whopping 5 minutes to make after your first time. That excludes stamping.

AND the best part is that now you can make it larger or smaller!!

Thanks for reading. I hope you have time to give it a try 😀

Come back tomorrow for our Papertrey Ink Design Team Challenge!!

Well after what seems like a long wait (really on 2 weeks since my class), and many emails later, my Class Kits are ready for purchase!!! TOMORROW is “THE DAY”. A lot of work goes into the kits, and we usually have to wait for the supplies to be delivered, so we know just how many we can sell!! Supplies are limited, as we tend to buy out what is left of whatever it is we need in the kit!

Tomorrow you can purchase your kit (and she accepts PAYPAL!!)  from Michelle at The Paper Tree. Contact info is on the site. You can also see more Kit details tomorrow on THIS page. I do believe we have a couple (like 2) left of the kits on the site currently.

So I will share some more photos of what is in each kit, as well as some more information!

OUT OF THE BOX © by Lauren Meader

This is my favorite box yet!! I will be making these over and over again for teacher gifts this year! Once you get this template in your hot little hands you will be so happy!

The box measures 6 inches across, 3 inches wide, and 4 1/2 inches tall.

This Kit will sell for $35.

In this Kit you will receive supplies to create this fabulous box, which folds out, and easily holds 8 monogram cards, and 8 envelopes.

You also get the step by step instructions, with photos, and for this kit a visual template that shows you where to make certain cuts, that creates this unique box, using minimal cardstock!

You will be able to have the option of the “add on” with this kit that will include theLe Jardin stamp set, and/or the JustRite Stampers monogram set!

I decided to use these 2 sets again on this box to help those of you who purchased the Make it Monogrammed Kit in August. You can certainly switch out the sets for what you have on-hand.

Here is the box outside.

Box top open (you will have a Basic Grey magnetic closure in your kit)

Box 1/2 open

Box 1/2 open side view

Folded out

Now we have our monogrammed cards/envelopes

All together this makes a really nice gift set!

—————————————————————

Next up we have another Kit for a Cause! This Kit is in ALL pink, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. This kit uses EVERY image from the Flowers for Daisy set from Gina K Designs. This stamp set was designed by Aslea Hopkins, in honor of her friend Daisy, who is currently battling breast Cancer. All sets purchased in August (which is when we purchased them), will have $4 from every set sold, donated to The American Cancer Society!! A cause very dear to my heart. The stamp set is available as an add on option. Details tomorrow.

You will receive your step by step instructions for creating this fold-out card tote, and supplies to create each card.

Crazy for Daisy © by Lauren Meader

You will make a dry embossed vellum fold-out card tote! This is sure to get OH’s! and AH’s!

Card one

Card two

Card three

and Card four

Now we have the tote opened up, where we insert the cards on one side, and the envelopes in the other.

This is just another fun card tote. It is especially nice for anyone you know who may be having a difficult time. These cards presented this way are sure to bring a SMILE to anyone’s face, and lend them a little spiritual lift :D.

So that is all for the Kits. I have to speak with Michelle today about the Not So Tricky Treats. I am unsure we will be able to offer that as a class :C No worries though, as we near Halloween, I can share some of the fun that goes into making those treat here!

Now you may be itching for a template! It has been some time since I shared a template here. Well……………. come back later for a SUPER template!! I am putting the finishing touches on one I created last night, and I am SURE you will be tickled! LOL!

HINT-it may save you from spending $40 + dollars 😀

See you later!!

Well as you know every Saturday I host a sketch challenge. I know I have made mention before………but just in case you are new here-There is NO time limit. Just play when you can. I just want you all to get motivated! There are no real “rules”, just go with what inspires you!

This weeks sketch uses the KEYWORD mytimess03. So if you upload somewhere-like www.splitcoaststampers.com that would be great to use. Just send us a link here, so we can view your creation!

I am having fun using the Corel PaintShop Pro for these.

Hope you like it.

This week my sketch allowed me to seriously WHIP OUT, a card for my friend’s 30th birthday. I didn’t want to FOCUS on the fact she just turned 30, and I was late (of course) getting her, her gift :C by like OVER a month. I HAD the gift, I just didn’t SEE her.  So I went with “3”.

So here it is

 Thirty

THE SUPPLIES:

Cards is typical A2 size

I used Papertrey Ink Floral Frenzy, and Border’s & Corners square set.For cardstock I chose Papertrey Ink white (there is NOTHING better!) , Aqua mist, vellum cardstock(for the butterfly -a Martha Stewart punch) along with a weave patterned paper by Martha Stewart. Ribbon is Also Martha. Buttons SEI,and Martha cardstock/ink in tealish color. Lets not forget my square punches.

Details:

Do you see the little gifts in the back? They are wrapped with Martha Stewart wrapping paper. They totally inspired me to create this card “to match”.

I began by randomly stamping/overlapping my squares. I used a hobby blade to make slits, for my ribbon to pass through. That is one of my favorite things to do.

I then stamped my flowers, on my weaved paper, and layered punched out. I made sure they weren’t all “centered”. I then adhered each one onto the tealish cardstock. LOTS of dimension to this. I LOVE my dimensionals 😀

Be sure you check out the team! I am certain they will inspire you further!

As always thanks for stopping by.

My class kits will be available on Monday! I’ll post photos Sunday, so you can see some details!

Later

Make a Smilebox photobook

As promised, for those interested, there is a Smilebox for the kids first day back to school. Don’t worry, there are only 11 photos, so you won’t be there all day 😀

Its great getting back into the swing of things. I forgot how busy the school year is! Between dropping off, picking up, field trips, PTO (I am joining this year-I THINK!), 2 kids in soccer, dance class, and girls scouts-its running everyday. Maybe that is why they years just fly by, and my children are just sprouting up, in what seems to be overnight! When is there time to fit in that homework?! YIKES!

The older they get, I am certain the more crazy things will get too.

I will say I do get a lot accomplished with my time while they are gone. Its a great 3 hours of QUIET!! Then its back to-

MOM! Shes looking at me!

 Mom! He colored in my coloring book.

MOM! She won’t share!

MOM! Can I have a snack? (for the 18th time)

 MOM! He won’t stop chasing me!

MOM! He hit me!

MOM! She’s in my seat!

MOM! he/she said “hate it” (I don’t like my kids using that word, so its considered a swear word in my house), although I think I use it time to time and that is NOT good. I have to work on that.

MOM! She is kissing me, and Im going to throw up! (NO JOKE! He really does. Its ridiculous!)

So I so enjoy watching my Martha Stewart as I craft, in total PEACE!

Don’t get me wrong. I love my children, no matter how insane they make me. I know I will miss all the bickering-someday. Just not today 😀

Anyway here is another card for you!

 My Prince Charming

Isn’t that always the wonder? If the girl kisses the frog, will he actually turn into a Prince? I know I dated MANY a frog until I got mine! LOL!

These images are from Elzybells-the Fairytale Collection. Seriously some of the cutest images ever! I used my copic markers to color them. They are just too fun.

I went with colors I RARELY use for this one-Really rust, Sahara Sand and Olive. It was inspired by this Stampin Up! collection of paper I had in my stash.

I used a shimmery organdy ribbon from Michaels that is actually an orange, but when put with this looks rust. YEAH!!

Also in my archives………………

 Hello from me

I make so much stuff, and take my photographs all at once, that I often forget about things! I know its really awful. Anyway, this is one of those creations!

I used basically the mostly the same colors as above, just in different proportions. See, really rust can be a really great color. ANY color can work if you use it right 😀 (except YOYO YELLOW! EW! That color should be banned :D)

This went to a PSF’s mother who had a birthday this month. I hope she liked it.

This set uses Olivia’s Birdies , and the sentiments on that page as well.

I loved the thought of the birdhouse hanging from the branch. I HAD to make the little bird peek out of the birdhouse. I just colored, cut, then punched a hole in the house. Stamped a bird, colored it, then layered it behind the cut birdhouse.

The little nest is flocked, so it looks so cute in person. I just sponged some greenery around the leaves to give the tree a fuller effect.

Of course I color spritzed 😀 Love that tool. Then to complete it, added some flowers.

I like it!

Well I must go get in some mytime, before the day flies past me. More exciting things to come. More releases, and peeks, and the PTI Design Team challenge. I love my project for that. Like NOTHING you have ever seen here, from me before. Very cool.

Tomorrow is our Saturday Sketch! Don’t miss it.

Also check out  Kendra & Leigh blog, they have peeks for you!

Later

 Rainbow Line up

Every Friday Christine has started doing a design team focus. That way we don’t overload you with samples during the release time. You can check out the ATS Blog HERE!

Todays design team focus is on the C.C. Designs scenery and sentiments sets!

I created this one above using  just the flower from the scenery set. A very simple card. I stamped the flower 9 times, and colored each one in a rainbow of color. The white one, has a page pebble on it for some POP!

The next card was one using JUST elements from the sentiments set

 Blocked sentiment

I stamped the little flowers, then punched them out. The rectangles are stamped in white craft, and are also from the set. Made a sentiment flag, and added a glitter prima-DONE!

OK I’m on the run.

That was a SUPER quick post!

 Hocus Pocus

I love that sentiment. Its just so darn cute. My kids always say that. They are like Hocus Pocus mommy is now a…………..chicken! Then I act like a chicken or whatever animal they turn me into. They think its hilarious, and I am sure it is quite the sight to see! LOL!!! 😀 Alexa and Amber also say Bipity Bopity Boo! From Cinderella. So cute.

Well today I have a peek for you at what is to come!! (and I am workin on the kids back to school stuff)

This has to be the cutest witch I have ever seen!

She is from the Witching Hour, which will be released on September 1st! You will be able to find her HERE! Make sure you check the SU Ink & more blog, for more peeks, and some CANDY!!! (AKA a chance to win the entire release of 6 sets!)

SO-GO ENTER THE GUESS HOW MANY CONTEST HERE!!! Its your chance to win.

Susan also has a peek to share today!

I thought this paper the Hallowimsy collection by Imaginesce was adorable to pair with her with. I LOVE a purple witch. Sorry these certainly aren’t out of the box Halloween colors! For the gray coloring I used my Pebbles Pearlescent chalks for the shadowing. Its quick, easy, and SHIMMERY!! I used Copic markers for the rest of it. The cauldron had green glitter.

Now my cardstock was from Wisteria by Core-dinations. I used a cuttlebug star to emboss the paper, then sanded it  😀 So cute.

 Like it or not Halloween is RIGHT around the corner. I have 3 kids, so anything I get done in advance is a blessing. There are always SO many kids. Always over 40 items to make. I still have birthday parties to plan. I cannot believe how fast the time will go! I better get my butt in gear.

OK I am off and running, so I hope you get some MYTIME in 😀

Till later.

Oh its just a day of awesome news 😀 

I got me email back to working! Bad part is I have NO past emails. Only stuff sent today :C I am NOT happy with verizon right now. In fact if you see smoke, outside, its from me-FUMING mad. Long story. They were useless, and I had to spend countless HOURS manually deleting over 26,000 emails! And NO there was no load and delete several. GRR! OK back to being thankful it is up and running 😀 If you emailed me and need something, please re-send.

Did I ever enjoy the first day of school!! I got so much accomplished in my measly 3 hours of peace. While its sad to see the kids go off and grow another year, I thought I’d be wandering around the house wondering what to do with myself (yeah right! LOL!). Try getting 8 creations done, and cleaning the house! Now that is what I’m talkin about.

Later I got to my workout. I skipped the morning blog post in order to take advantage of MYTIME 😀 Sorry I was SO overdue for some of that.

I will share photos of thier first day later.

I have MUCH promotional sorta stuff to share. Sorry there is no other word for it! But its all good stuff!! Lots of great things for you to check out. Keepin you up to date.

So here we go!

Did you know that I am a guest designer forElzybells!! I LOVE Elzybells to pieces. You have no idea. The UK images are larger and I lvoe them. You can read all about that HERE! I actually got choked up reading what Elisabeth said about me! WOW! Hugs Elisabeth. You know I {heart} you!! Really honored.

Tomorrow I will feature a sneak peek for a new release atSU Ink 😀

I have an article featured HERE!!! It uses one of my most favorite projects. I was so happy I was asked to par-take in that. The article came out really nice too! Thank you Kate!

I have like 8 thing published in Oct issue of Crafts N Things (yes I am excited about that-also August featured 5 or 6 too!!) Hope you get to check that out.

MFT is having a contest!! Check it out HERE! 

Pink Cat Studio is due for another release, and is having another contest!! Check that out HERE!

AND my dear friend Sharon is also having a SALE! You may remember I worked for A Chemistry With Paper, a while back. Well now they are turning one! Congrats Sharon!! Figured I pass along her sale with you.

Here is her SALE info. She is also having a contest.

WHEW! Are you exhausted yet?

Just had to keep you in the KNOW. I hope I am not missing anything :C

OK now onto typing my blog posts.

Anyone have any idea how I can extend my days? I really need a few extra hours!

Be back-

OK let me begin the day by saying my email is STILL messed up! I cannot really access my emails, and I certainly cannot email out and attach anything, which REALLY screws up my design team commitments. I was told on Friday to give it 24-48 hours. OK it’s TUESDAY!! I work/live by internet, and email!!!  So I will have to call verizon again the minute I am done posting here. Please don’t email me with anything until you read here that I am cleared. Otherwise I will not get your email. I was told everything would be erased up to the time they fixed it. SORRY for any problems this may cause anyone. Trust me, it KILLS ME!!

OK moving on. Busy day for a lot of us mom’s! I have much to do to get the kids ready for school tomorrow. The thing I hate is the huge amounts of paperwork that needs to be filled out at the beginning of the year :C UGH! And of course HOMEWORK! Math for Alexa in particular. She so struggles with her math. Oh well. I’m excited, yet a bit sad. I see the years whipping by, and I am wondering how they are passing so quickly.

Seems like just yesterday my first baby Alexa,was going into Pre-K. I cried having her go, and did not know what to do with myself. Now Amber is in her 2nd year of Pre-K, Noah is going into Kindergarten, and Alexa in 2nd grade. I  just don’t feel old enough for all this. You know I still get chocked up on some days when they get on the bus and wave. I remeber a time Alexa was so little, she needed help getting up the stairs. Now somedays they have to send a HUGE bus, because the others break down, and she glides right up! Stairs that are half her size! When did she get so big, and old? Seeing her achieve things, little things even more so, really gets me. I remember when she first got sick with Cancer. She couldn’t even walk for 2 months! Now here she is, like it was all a big bad nightmare.

Even at the Wedding, when the bride was dancing with my grandfather, I got all choked up realizing that will be my daughters someday. Jason said the same thing. we were a wreck!!!

The thought of passing them over to some guy, praying they will have a happy life, and make good choices. I can see why so many parent push for grandkids. Its just plain sad. I want to FREEZE my children at these ages right now. It is just perfect, as it is. Why don’t we get that option?! LOL!

I’ll miss the hugs at my knees, the excitement over holiday and things in life and nature, that we as adults get too busy to stop and look at, if these little people didn’t say “WOW! Look at that!”, with all that excitement in their LITTLE voices. Voices that will change, and become grown up. Someday I won’t be “mommy” I’ll be ma, or mom. I don’t want to be MOM. I like the little voices calling me mommy. Even if it is 1,000 times a day, and I swear on most I am going to change my name! LOL!

OK enough of that. Time to move onto my post for today.

Well each month one design team member from Pink Cat Studio, issue’s a challenge for all of us on the team. I always extend this challenge out to all of you as well, so get stamping!!

This month the challenge was issued by Michelle, and she decided on a fall themed card. I am generally NOT a fall themed person, but all the fall sets coming out, are making me one :D. I think this would be a great challenge for you to try a teacher thank you.

Well given the Limitless Limbs was just released last month I decided it was a no brainer! LOL! With limited stamp time until the kids return to school (TOMORROW!!!) I went with the obvious.

Thanks so much

So here it is. I stamped my tree twice, moving just the top a tinsy bit, for the look of more subtle branches. I had to use an owl. You know how much I love them right now.

I knew I wanted a leaf pile on the ground. Then came the idea of those cool Autumn winds, that whip the leaves all over. So I used my Onare piercing template, and made a wind swirl, with my leaves, blowing around. The leaf is a punch is the small oak leaf.

I tied some ribbon by American Crafts at the top. It was a nice touch, that tied in all the colors.

 Check Melissa’s Blog for all the samples today.

I have some other cute things to share this week, so I hope you check in again soon. Tomorrow I may publish the First Day of School photos!!

Thanks for reading.

Later

Well its Monday. The weekend FLEW by!

You may have noticed I didn’t post yesterday. I took the time I needed for the family, and between my anniversary and all that, I was busy. I needed a little break anyway. I want to thank you all for the amazing well wishes! We had a great day.

I got my hair done-cut/dyed and highlighted. So that was FUN! It did take 3 hours! Because it is long and all I had done, but it made me feel good about myself. Then we went to dinner at the Common Man. It was really nice. We are HUGE losers because here we have a sitter, but could not figure out anything else to do! We tried to go see BatMan but it would be hours before the next movie, not wanting to shop (totally not my idea), we just rented a movie and were home by 8! LOL! We did get to watch the movie in peace so that was great. It was just nice to relax and enjoy each-other’s company.

I made it through a weekend of temptation, avoiding the crash and burn or ruining my new “healthier” eatting. I haven’t had coffee in 5 days now!!! THAT was not planned. I just haven’t even felt I needed it. “I” am as shocked as YOU are right now!!

School starts in 2 sleeps! So we will see what happens then.

So the Wedding was Sunday, we actually left the house ON TIME, and arrived when planned, another miracle. I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I should have. That always happens. I had the video camera for my Aunt and Uncle, so wasn’t thinking about the camera. I was with the kids before the wedding, so I should have taken more photos. Oh well.

They did a FABULOUS job. We had NO rehearsal since we live so far away, so they just winged it. It was si funny, as the kids walked down the aisle, Each step they would stop, and Noah would say “Now!” then Amber would drop the petals! She wouldn’t drop them until he gave his OK each step. He always has to be the “boss”. It was really cute. Then he got bored, and was loudly saying “How many more minutes till this is over?” really loudly. Then came the pout, and he squatting down till it was done. OH BOY!

A fun part was the table center pieces. It was a live plant with a Beta Fish. Everyone got a ticket, and the winners would be called out. Noah REALLY wanted to win the fish (We did NOT want to wiun the fish! LOL!) But he WON!! He was jumping up and down, and so excited. It was so cute.

Here is a Smilebox of the wedding. For anyone interested.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Now onto the card for today. I have not had much time to create lately! (GASP!) Well I have but they are release stuff.

I did get this done for you though-A Fairytale Ending

You know I LOVE my Elzybells!!

When I saw the entire Fairytale collection I went nuts!! Having 2 girls who LOVE princess stuff, these are perfect. (OK even if I didn’t have girls I would need them! LOL!)

Now these are the original designs from the UK, so they are larger than the A Muse one’s if you are wondering. Elisabeth has a blog-check it out HERE (if you didn’t already know!).

I wanted to use uncommon colors, so I went with this patterned paper I got at Target. It is sweet blush, poppy red, olive, and soft sky. Perfect! I will give this to Jay at some point for one of those “for no reason” times.

I stamped the castle in the bottom corner, then the sentiment over it. I like this card a lot. Its just so cute. The main layer was cut with my nestabilities so it has a embossed edge. No layer needed.

Well that is all for me this morning. I have much to do to prepare for back to school!!!

Hope you have a great week. I know I am looking forward to some MYTIME 😀

Thanks for reading.

Later!