Triple Time Stamp

I created a cute little card for Valentine's Day and I went with more masculine colors.This card was created using all Stampin Up products but for the life of me I cannot remember what the name of the brown paper is, but the other paper is Very Vanilla.

Personalized Fly Leaf

So there is a world that I did not know existed until my sister introduced it to me several months ago. It is the world of Day Planners. I think they were pretty popular before we had all of this technology. Most people seem to be pretty excited about the brand FiloFax. There are groups on Facebook dedicated to the FiloFax and YouTube videos showing how they decorate their pages and also how they organize their planners.
As a scrapbooker and card maker the idea of decorating pages was exciting to me but as a computer teacher I struggled with the idea of going back to paper and not utilizing the technology at my finger tips...and then my phone failed. If your phone has ever failed you understand how your whole schedule gets turned upside down. So I am embracing my planner (although I do not own the actual brand FiloFax because I cannot justify spending $100+ on a planner).
My sister, mom and I now get together at least two to three times a month just so we can decorate our planners and brainstorm about ways we can improve our daily schedules. We are meeting this Sunday so I decided to try my hand at creating custom Fly Leafs for each of them. Now to be completely honest I am not 100% sure what a Fly Leaf is for but I know that the videos and blogs I have looked at have referenced their Fly Leaf.
I made one for my sister using a Translucent Vellum with White Embossing powder and for my mom she has black embossing powder. The stamp set I used was Whimsical Upper and Lower Case from Close to My Heart and I used Clear Embossing Ink.

Personalized Fly Leaf

Sneak Peak of this weeks daily schedule

Another view of this weeks schedule

I love Washi Tape!!!

Picture of my January Calendar

Thanks for stopping by and I would love for you to leave me a comment and join my blog!

Sometimes you just need a quick card

Today I have created a quick card out of scraps that I have (because you know us scrapbookers, we cannot throw away anything). Since Valentine's Day is getting closer I created this cute little card:

Materials used:

To be honest I have had these scraps for so long I couldn't tell you who manufacturers the paper.

What is nice about making your own cards is that even though it may not have taken hours to create with each card you put a little bit of yourself in it. It is my wish that the world would get back into the long lost art of card writing and letter writing. I know for me it really puts a smile on my face to receive a card! 

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment and don't forget to join my blog!

Accordion File Purse

My brother asked me to make him an accordion file system because he is doing the cash system this year and wants pockets to hold his cash. I have never made an accordion anything before so I first needed to see if I could do it. I searched and searched the web for a tutorial on how to create an accordion file system and what he is looking for is just not out there...yet!

So I had a squirrel moment in my search and came across this cute little Accordion File Purse that I thought would be good practice! I found the tutorial at Stampin Inspirations. I am a very visual person so her pictures helped a lot!

This is my version of her 4 x 6 Accordion File Purse:

Inside of purse:

Materials used:

3 12x12 solid card stock by The Paper Studio

2 12 x 12 pattern paper by Authentique "Genuine Collection"

Night of Navy Ink Pad by Stampin' Up

Express Yourself Stamp Set by Stampin' UP

Velcro

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you leave me a comment about what you think of my project! Also, become a follower to the blog to see future creations...you never know what I will come up with next!!!

And the winner is...

Thank you to everyone that has joined my blog! It warms my heart to know that you choose to follow the activities I write about.

In order to get more people to my blog I posted this small contest on a couple of different Facebook groups that I belong to and also to my own personal page!

My oldest son is the only one awake so he is the one who drew the name out of the hat!

And the winner is:

Congratulations, Cathy! And thank you again to everyone that has joined my blog!

Post-It Note Holder w/small gel pen Tutorial

Today we are going to make a cute Post-It Note Holder that will also hold a small gel pen that you can find at staples. These are all over the web and are super easy to make and they make great gifts! These are perfect for Teacher Appreciation Week, Secretary Day, Bosses Day or just as a thank you gift. I made a bunch of these a few years ago while I was doing my student teaching and gave them to the class as their Valentine's gift. It worked out perfect for the class because we were doing a lot with post-it notes that semester and the kids and teacher went crazy over them!

Let's Get Started:

You will need:

12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - 1 sheet

I used Polka Dot Parade DSP by Stampin' Up

You can use a solid card stock or a pattern card stock

Post-It Note pad

Small gel Pen - I buy these from Staples and you can get colored or black

Scoring Tool - you can use a scoring board or a cutter to help get the score lines

Cutter

Adhesive 

Here is a picture of my supplies:

Step 1:

Cut paper at 7 3/8 x 3 1/4

(You can actually make 4 holders out of 1 piece of card stock...BONUS!)

Step 2:

Decide which side of the card stock you want to be the outside cover

You can actually make 2 from one side and 2 from the other side to give you a variety

Step 3:

Score at:

3 1/8, 3 1/2 and 3 7/8

Fold on score lines

You will need to fold the middle score line in the opposite direction 

to cut two small slits (cut to the score line).

This will be the pen holder

Folded

This picture shows what it will look like with the pen holder cut.

You are on your way to 4 cute little post-it note holders!

Keep going...

Picture at a different angle

You will need to use your adhesive to place the post-it notes.

Make sure that the smaller side is facing up and that they pen holder is to your left.

Decorate how ever you would like.

I used the left over scraps and cut two squares for each holder and then

place a button in the middle.

I used twine in the middle of the button to give it a little extra something!

You have now finished 4 post-in note holders!

I hope you will try to make this project and if you do I would love to see your creation!

Please leave me a comment on what you think about this project and don't forget to become a follower so you do not miss out on upcoming craft creations!

How do you get followers on your blog?

So today I am taking a break from creating cards. We went back to school today (after 20 days off due to Christmas break and snow days) and I feel like I was playing catch up all day. I teach computers and it seemed as though most students completely forgot how to work a computer after such a long break.

With that being said my attention tonight is on my blog. How do I get people who visit my blog to decide to become a follower of my blog? What is it about a blog that makes you decide to become a follower? I have recently been putting more effort into my blog and the traffic has really picked up since I joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge and have also joined several other card making challenges, however, my followers are still at a low number. So how do I change this?

I have to wonder if my blog is too "busy" with random thoughts, card making and other crafts. Is it better to focus on one thing or is it okay the way it is? What is it about a blog that makes you decide to become a follower? If you do a give away, does that bring more followers?  As a crafter, do I need to explore the world of YouTube and start linking videos back to my blog?

I would love your thoughts and suggestions as I want this to be successful.

Thank you for stopping by today and especially thank you to those that choose to leave a comment. And as always I would love for you to follow my blog!

Have a great week (we are out for three days...which is crazy after our 20 day vacation we just came back from today).

Sweet Sketch Wednesday2 Challenge entry

SweetSketchWednesday2

I found the cutest challenge today and thought I would enter.

They provided the following sketch:

How stinkin' cute is that sketch?

The Designer is Sally Dube

I will totally be using this sketch for other cards...so stinkin' cute!

Okay, so I took the sketch and decided that since it is almost Valentine's Day I would go with the LOVE theme! Here is my creation...drum roll please...or not!

Materials used:

All card stock and DSP by Stampin' Up

Heart Buttons by...no clue (do people really keep track of that?)

Stitching by We R Memory Keepers

Chipboard by The Paper studio

Another angle:

I used Tempting Turquoise Ink and Best of Love Stamp set by Stampin' Up on the inside

Now I do have to admit that I tried something I have never tried before on this card and for some it is probably old news but for me it is brand new...I stitched!! If you look close on my triangle you will see my stitching (okay...don't look too close as it was my first time)

I even took a picture while I was in the process of stitching...lol!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will leave me a comment and also join my blog!

MOJO #327 Contest

MOJO327 Contest

MoJo Monday is having another contest! They have provided the following sketch:

Here is my entry:

Materials used:

All paper comes from Stampin' Up

Chipboard letters and arrow are from The Paper Studio

Tempting Turquoise ink from Stampin' Up

I hope you like my card! Please leave me a comment (those just make my day)!

Love Card

With Valentine's Day approaching I thought I would get a head start on making some cards. Now truth be told this card will not go to any of my guys but I thought the colors were sweet so I may just have to send it to my sister.

Materials used are all from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to leave me a comment. I would also love for you to become a follower of my blog!

Hope you are staying warm!

My Day Planner

So I have gotten on the kick of the day planner. Actually a lot of people use the product called FiloFax but for me I just cannot justify spending $180 on a planner. I actually have two planners that I work with, one is my day to day planner and then I have another one that I use for my blog.

This is a picture of my craft desk today. At the bottom of the page is a Smash Book that I laid out to work on because I went to Walgreens and printed 239 pictures that will be going into that book. On top of the book I have started an inventory list of all of my scrapbook/craft supplies such as my Stamps, Embossing Folders, Cricut cartridge, etc. Then there is my book (and yes I decorate each page because it is like a mini scrapbook of my life). I used the Ultimate Blog Challenge calendar and cut it up and glued down each date of task on my weekly calendar.
My weekly schedule has my UBC tasks plus I write down my titles for the blog I wrote that day and I also write down any blogs that I need to check on because I entered a card.
I would love to hear how others keep their blogs organized.

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to leave me a comment!
 (It is -17 degrees here today...what is your temp?)

Simply Create Too Challenge #52 Anything Goes

So I stopped by Simply Create Too and they are celebrating their 2nd birthday...and who doesn't love a birthday celebration? Their current challenge is "Anything Goes" and they are also giving away this cute little Digi Stamp to everyone because it is their birthday.

How stinkin' cute is this little guy with his little tie?

So I decided that since they were sweet enough to give away this cute little guy that I would try my hand at using Digi Stamps...and let me just ask, where have you been all this time? I love these things. You can size them to what ever size you need unlike your basic stamps that are the size that they are and there is nothing you can do about it. Options....I am all about options! Whoooo!!

So here is my little card with my little guy:

Materials used:

5 x 7 card base by The Paper Studio

Pattern Paper by The Paper Studio

White Card stock by The Paper Studio

Digi Stamp by Diane @ SimplyCreateToo.blogspot.com

Celebrate Stamp from Best of Birthday Stamp Set by Stampin' Up

Water Color Pencils and Blender Pen by Stampin' Up

I had to use water color pencils because I have not been brave enough to invest in the copic markers but now that I have played with Digi Stamps I will be taking the plunge into the world of Copic Markers!

Challenge Entered:

Simply Create Too

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to leave me a comment!

DD#85 Challenge

The Dynamic Duo Challenge site has another challenge today!

Below is the color duo they came up with:

Below is my card:

Materials used:

DSP Pattern Stack 2012-2014 by Stampin' Up

Bold Color Card stock by Stampin' Up

A Round Array stamp set by Stampin' Up

Scallop punch, circle punches by Stampin' UP

Garden Green Ink pad by Stampin' Up

White Ribbon by The Paper Studio

Polka Dot Embossing Folder by Stampin' Up

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.ca/2014/01/dd85-summer-starfruit-and-garden-green.html

Thanks for stopping by and I would love for you to leave me a comment and follow my blog!

Remember to take a moment today and Smile...it improves your face value!!!!

Determination of a child

I sit here today and reflect, it was exactly 365 days ago that our oldest son came to us and suggested a bet. He wanted to challenge himself to walk away from soda pop for one year. He was 14 at the time and our youngest was 9 and quickly decided that he wanted to be apart of this adventure also. So we shook on it knowing how hard this was going to be, thinking that this will not last and that they would be drinking a soda the first time they got around a friend or that they would just lose interest.

The bet: No Soda (of any kind) for 365 days
The Wager: $1 a day for everyday they go without a soda
The Option: They could have a soda at anytime however, the bet would then start on that day so if on day 350 they chose to drink a soda they would forfeit $350 but they could still earn $15 if they made it to the end of the one year mark.

Why the crazy date? Well Mom messed up and didn't know that Sonic's Cherry Limeade drinks have Sprite in them and on January 2, 2013 I stopped and picked them each up one and they drank it also not knowing it contained soda. So to make the 365 days...their date was set for January 3, 2014!

The determination of these two boys has amazed my husband and I. They both found themselves in many situations were soda pop was the only thing to drink. Our oldest encountered this type of thing first when his 8th grade class brought in soda and nothing else to drink. He had loaned out his last dollar a few days before that and the friend had not paid him back yet so he could not go get something to drink from a vending machine, and the party was during school hours so the teacher really didn't want him to keep going out into the hall for drinks because the water fountain was really far away from his class.

Our now 10 year old encountered the same situation at his Holiday party. Here is 23 5th graders sitting around eating pizza and drinking soda and then there was my child who had nothing to drink. They have a water fountain in their room so he just kept getting up and getting drinks. What kid wants water with their pizza?

Now as a kid there is no way I would have been able to do this. I wouldn't have wanted to look different, I wouldn't have wanted to walk away from the fun social conversations that might have been going on just to go drink water.

I have to wonder how these two young men found it in themselves to not quit. At such a young age were they really motivated by the money? I am thinking not since they really don't bring it up a lot. They have an inner-determination that not many young people have and I think that they wanted to see what success felt like. Their sense of accomplishment must be a motivation for them.

I am proud of both of the boys and also in awe of their determination and will!

Winter

Since we were getting snow last night and today I thought I would make a little WInter themed card to get myself in the mood for another round of the white stuff!
Here is my creation:

Materials Used:

Midnight Muse cardstock and Ink by Stampin Up

Whisper White cardstock by Stampin Up

Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pens by Stampin Up

Rhinestones by Kaiser Scrapbook

PK-328 Snowman Stamp Set by Peachy Keen Stamps

I hope you enjoy my card and maybe it made you smile!!!

Hope your second day of 2014 is going great and that you haven't gotten any paper cuts!

Don't forget to leave a comment (those make me so happy) and it would be great if you joined my blog!

MOJO326 Challenge Entry

Happy 2014!
I have been busy researching different challenge blogs and trying to get myself organized so that in 2014 it is easier for me to keep track of when a challenge is posted and when it is due and when I am suppose to check back to see if I won a prize or a badge. My personal goal this year is to get more followers to my blog, blog more (which should help with my first goal) and to also win a badge for my blog...okay I can't control that one so maybe instead of that one being a goal it is more of a dream!

I jumped over to www.mojomonday.blogspot.com and they have a really cute challenge this week.

I tried to create a circle card using my gypsy and welding option...let's just say...I need a LOT of practice still. SOOOO instead of getting frustrated and walking away I went with the Square card option. 

Drum roll pllleeeaase:

Materials used:

Card base: Black cardstock from Paper Studio

Pattern Paper: Hearts and Skulls by Serendipity

Vanilla Cardstock by The Paper Studio

Embossing folder: Polka Dots by Stampin Up

Washi Tape: Black and White Polka Dot (kinda addicted to this stuff)

Best of Love stamp set by Stampin Up

Basic Black ink by Stampin Up

Black Pearls by Want 2 Scrap

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would LOVE, LoVe, LovE it if you would choose to follow my blog and/or comment.

Wishing you a very happy 2014, may you never get a paper cut while crafting! 

A new beginning...again!!!

I wonder how many times you can decide that your next task or adventure is really your new beginning...hmmm. Well let's just say we all get one more chance and tonight I am getting mine started! 

I just joined the FREE Ultimate Blog Challenge & got 7 Ways to Get Your Blog in Motionhttp://bit.ly/blogchall #blogboost

For the month of January it is my goal to participate in the blog challenge over at http://ultimateblogchallenge.com

In order to participate you must post something on your blog everyday in the month of January. You must also post a link to facebook and twitter which I have to say I am excited about but also very nervous because I tried to challenge myself to do this on my own in the month of December and looking back I missed several days. OOpps guess it is best to not look back but only forward! You also comment on two other blogs that are participating in the challenge. I am really hoping to get more followers to my blog. 

To help me keep track of my posts I have set up a separate FiloFax (yes I am one of those nerds that loves the paper planners thanks to my big sister who pushed me into trying it). I have even started jotting down ideas for posts that I haven't even begin to write. I am sometimes a procrastinator but more on that later! 

Looking forward to this new challenge and adventure!!!! 

I would love for you to become a follower on my blog!!!

11/22/63 by Stephen KIng Book Club #1

So my family book club has chosen 11/22/63 by Stephen King to be out first read in our new book club. At the time of the selection my mom was the experienced one when it comes to Stephen King books and let me just say that we should have heeded the warnings and went with a different author. At least we all agreed that our little book club will NEVER read another Stephen King book...or at least not for a very long time.
There are four of us in our book club, my mom is an avid reader and goes through something like 1,000 books a year, my sister and I have jumped on all the popular bandwagons and read the latest and greatest book that everyone is talking about, and my brother reads occasionally. So for a book club made up of family we have already started out with four completely different levels. We all have different likes when it comes to books, mom liking Si-Fi and my sister liking Trilogies while my brother seems to lean toward Biography books and me liking everything except Si-Fi.
To get ourselves started on one of the largest books I have ever read, we decided to break the book into the different parts. We were to have parts 1-2 read by December 8th. Well that didn't happen so we decided to meet last weekend and we were to also have part 3 read (we met but not everyone had the book read). This book has been a struggle for all of us!
 Why were are struggling??? The man uses too many words to explain the scene....it shouldn't take 4 pages to explain that the wind was blowing out of the north. At this point in the book he has taken us all over the place and there doesn't seem to be anything that is tying the characters together or the plot (if there is a plot at all).
 This is not a book I would recommend to anyone. I am halfway through the book and it has now become a chore to read and we are all feeling the same way.

You can see my mom's book review at the link here:
(This link will come available when the blog is completed)

Can't seem to get my room clean...

For some reason when I am working in my scrapbook room...everything comes flying off the shelfs and lands right next to me. Am I the only one who tends to work with piles and piles of stuff around them? It is like my stuff gets lonely and needs to come sit with me like we were old friends.

DD#82 Rich Pink and Green Challenge

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.com/2013/12/dd82-rich-pink-green.html

So it has been awhile since I have popped over to the Dynamic Duos Challenge site and since we are experiencing another snow day here in the Ozarks I thought I play along!

My entry is a paper wreath! The paper I used is from Stampin' Up!, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the paper pack that I purchased (which is frustrating because I want to get some more).

You will need:
12' foam wreath (I got mine at Michael's using 40% coupon so it was only a couple of dollars)
6 12 x 12 Double sided scrapbook pages cut in 1/2" stripes
Straight pens (about 180)
Cutter
Bone folder
Chocolate...lots of chocolate and maybe a few band-aides

How to assemble:
 1. Cut paper into 1/2" stripes
Note: It helps to keep your stripes in stacks so when you go to assemble you are not grabbing two of the same colors.
2. With your bone folder curl your paper (just like you curl a ribbon on a gift)
3. Begin pinning the paper to the wreath
4. Remember...there are no mistakes!

My finished wreath:

Thank you for stopping by and I would love for you to become a follower or at least leave me a comment!

MOJO Challenge #323

http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/2013/12/mojo-monday-323.html

So it is snowing once again here. The kids get another snow day tomorrow and so do I!!! Guess this is one of the perks of being a teacher! With that being said, my DH had to go out in the snow and knock off the gathered snow and ice from our Internet dish (one of the downfalls of living in the country). But what a sweet man he is for doing that for me all so I can post my entry to the MoJo challenge blog!

Today's sketch that they provided is:

I am still new to this whole blog challenge entry thing so I still haven't figured out how "out-of-the-box" I can go with my interpretation of the sketch. Besides I am kind of a rule follower kind of person so even if I was a super experienced blog challenger I would probably stick pretty close to the provided sketch!

Here is my interpretation of their sketch:

Materials Used:

Card base: 4 x 51/2 by The Paper Studio

Very Vanilla card stock by Stampin' Up! cut at 3 7/8 x 5 3/8

Raspberry Ripple card stock by Stampin' Up! cut at 3 x 5 1/4

Red/White Twine by American Craft

Patterned Paper cut using 2 1/2 Circle Punch by Stampin' Up!

Very Vanilla cut using 2 3/8 Scallop Punch by Stampin' Up!

Raspberry Ripple cut using 1 3/4 Scallop Punch by Stampin' Up!

Stickles: Burgundy and Platinum

Merry Christmas Sticker by The Paper Studio

Thanks for stopping by and always I would love for you to leave a comment and hopefully start following my blog!

365 cards challenge Day 339 Tag You're It

Over at www.365cards.blogspot.com they have a challenge from Thursday December 5th to create a tag using nontraditional colors on your Christmas tags. I know I am a little behind on joining this challenge but this morning I sat down and decided to make some tags.
Last week my DH needed to go to Lowe's for something manly so I decided to hang out in the paint department. I am forever seeing where people take the paint sample cards and create all kinds of cute projects with them so I went to collecting come samples. I didn't get a lot because a part of me felt like I was being naughty by taking so many....shhh.
All of my tags were created using the paint samples that I collected! I also used some different wash tapes to decorate them up. The 'To' and 'From' words were stamped using Stampin' UP! Basic Black ink and the stamps were an alphabet I purchased from Michael's for $1!

Sorry about the picture quality, I have been having problems with my camera.

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to become a follower on my blog or at the very least leave me a comment. 

I am linking this to:

www.365cards.blogspot.com

So disappointed in myself...

So I was doing so well with posting everyday (okay so it was only a few days in a row but that was progress). And then we get a snow day here and I completely forget about posting. But in all fairness, I spent that time with my boys playing in the snow, making hot chocolate, and laughing!

Tuesday Challenges that I have found!

Here is a small list of blog challenges that begin on Tuesdays:

www.twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.com (They post a new challenge every other Tuesday)

www.clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com (They post challenges on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month)

www.365cards.blogspot.com

Can't wait to head over to these sites and see what they have for us to play with!

The weather is going to be a little rough here (gotta love that Ozarks weather) so I am thinking that this weekend will be full of playing around on blog challenges! My DH and boys are planning on watching the big MIZZOU game on Saturday so that means I can hide in my scrapbooking room all day and PLAY!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would for you to become a follower to my little blog or at the very least leave a comment (those just make my day)!

Monday Challenges I have found

In my quest to start changing some things in my life, I have decided to start participating in some blog challenges. With that being said...there are a ton out there in the world wide web and it appears that there is something out there for everybody! Some challenges begin on Monday and end on Sunday, some are just once a month. Some blog challenges have tons of rules while are others have simple rules to follow. Some blogs just have the rule of "Just have fun" and allow you to create whatever project you feel like making such as cards, scrapbook pages, paper crafts, wood crafts...the possibilities are endless!
With that being said I have complied a small list of blog challenges that I would like to try in the month if December. Now I know that I will not be able to get to every single one this month but won't it be fun to try?

Monday Blog Challenges:

http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com
www.craftypassionchallenge.blogspot.com
www.craftycardmakers.blogspot.com
www.365cards.blogspot.com
www.alwaysplayingwithpaper.com
www.thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com

I would love to hear of different challenges that you have tried, just leave a comment below so that we can all join in and play!

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to follow my blog but the very least leave a comment below!

MOJO322 Challenge Contest

www.mojomonday.com

New challenge every Monday!!

So this weeks challenge over at www.mojomonday.com they are offering a prize for every 50 entries! I have participated in a few of their challenges but as my life changing goal I have put it in my FiloFax to  make this a regular site to party with!!! I am getting my mojo on!

Below is the sketch that they gave us to party with...how stinkin' cute is it! I have come to realize that I am a very simple card maker. I really do not like my cards to be busy, not sure if it is because I cannot justify the cost that goes into one card when you add all the bling and embellishments or if it is that I just do not like to make a busy looking card. 

This is my creation! 

Love the 3D look, I think it gives it a little something something!!!!

Materials used:

Card Base: Pre-made card set in Primary Colors by The Paper Studio 4 1/4 x 5 1/2

Ornament paper by The Paper Studio cut at 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 and 2 5/8 x 3

Old Olive paper by Stampin' Up cut at 3 1/2 x 4

Tempting Turquoise paper by Stampin' Up cut at 2 1/4 x 3

White Ribbon by The Paper Studio

Distressed paper using Old Olive ink by Stampin' Up

Whisper White card stock by Stampin' Up cut at 2 1/2 x 2 7/8

Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set by Stampin' Up (Merry Christmas)

Stamped in Old Olive ink also by Stampin' Up!

The Prizes: We'll have one winner for every 50 entries, up to a max of SEVEN winners!!! Winners will receive the Verve Stamps set of their choice.

How to play: Just upload a creation using this week's sketch to your online blog or gallery. Then leave a direct  link to your project in the linky widget at the bottom of this post.  If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword MOJO322. Our challenge is open to everyone, Verve stamps are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want.  As always, if you don't have a particular shape, feel free to substitute.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I would love for you to become a follower or at the least leave me a comment and tell me what you think!!!

Get Whale Soon

Get Whale Soon!
I used all Stampin' Up products to make this card and I think it turned out really cute. The water was made using a plastic baggie and dawn dish soap and a little bit of water. Not sure how well this card would travel through the mail but it would be a really great card to give to someone close.

Products used:

Whisper White card stock for card base

Midnight Muse paper and Ink Pad

Big Shot (Love it)

Ovals Collection Frames

Oh, Whale! Stamp Set

Whale Framelit

Dawn Dish Soap

Water

Baggie (snack size)

ATG Gun 

Hope you like the card, I got my inspiration from Dawn over at YouTube but for the life of me I can no longer find her page :(

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment (I love those)!

I dare you....no I double dare you!

I cannot believe it is already December 1st. We have been on Thanksgiving break for 5 days now with one more to go and I have to say that it has been so relaxing. 

My mom, sister, brother and myself have been trying to get together at least every other Sunday for craft day. This has taken place at my house so far because everyone seems to laugh because they call my scrapbook room "The Store". 

We have made a paper wreath and last weekend we made or at least attempted to make Christmas cards. The girls have started using FiloFax Day Planners (I do not own the name brand FiloFax but it works just fine without the label). We discuss our schedules and decorate our planners. The four of us have also decided that we will start our own book club so we have began reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Our goal is to get through parts 1 and 2 by December 8th and we will meet at a coffee shop and discuss the book. I have to say that I finish both parts and I am dying to get to the next section. This is normally not a book I would have picked up but now that I am into it...WOW!

So with all of that happening I have also decided that I want to get going on my blog. I have had this blog for a few years and if you look around you can see that I have not been really good at posting to it.  I found a challenge blog called The Ultimate Challenge blog at www.ultimateblogchallenge.com and they have quarterly challenges to help get traffic to your blog. The next one is set to start in January!!

So I have decided to challenge myself to see how many posts I can do in December. The Ultimate Challenge blog wants you to post one post a day in January, which for some or maybe most bloggers that won't be too difficult but for me I am hoping that I can get at least one or two posts made each week for the month of December. (I even wrote this in my Day Planner!)

I will start out by entering in a few blog challenges and hope that I can go from 9 followers to 18 followers in the month of December.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my crazy thoughts!

Still trying to figure it out

I am still trying to figure this blog world out. There seems to be so many people that already have it figured out and I feel dumb that I can't get the cute things on my blog that others have. I am still trying to make sure I don't click on something and delete the whole account. Any advice would be much appreciated!

My Craziness!

I am amazed at how crazy my world can get. When my world gets crazy it seems as if the last thing I am able to do is sit down and post to this blog. I also find it difficult to take time out for myself and lock myself in my scrapbooking room and play. I have to wonder if I am the only one that this happens to. Are there others out there like me that seem to put their passions aside because of the craziness that is going on around them? Does that mean that I am not as dedicated to this craft as I would like to be since it is so easy for me to set aside? I have so many ideas in my head and I want so badly to get my pictures into albums and tell a story but the first sign of craziness what do I do....nothing.
I purchased (many months ago) the journal called This and That from Stampin' Up! and it has sat in a draw since the day I pulled it out of the box. Well a couple of weeks ago when I was having one of those crazy moments of craziness my husband grounded me to my scrapbook room. He told me to do something to get my mind off of things that are going on around me and to my surprise I took his advice! Talk about therapy!!!! I had the best time decorating this journal and finding pictures and journaling for my boys. Although I am not even close to being finished with it I am absolutely in love with the Smash book journals.

Front Cover

Stampin Up also sales a package of designer paper for the This and That journal book and I am pretty sure when I purchased this item that it must have been a bundle deal because I also had matching wash tape (which I had never used but have fallen in love with this product) along with some ribbon and buttons. I had also purchased some journaling tags from Michael's that go along with the Smash books they sale and was able to use some of the tags in this book.

Inside Cover and 1st page

I decorated the inside cover with the designer paper and also cut out the shapes from a 12 x 12 page that was nothing but hexagons. The picture is of my guys! This picture was taken while we were in Branson, MO for our oldest son's 15th birthday. He wanted to do ride gocarts and I snapped this picture as they were walking back to me. I used stamps from Stampin' Up to stamp the word Dream.

Pages 2 and 3

Page 2 of this book already had a pocket and the two envelopes in it. I am thinking I will make another envelope out of the designer paper and write a note to each one of the boys. There is a small envelope included and I thought about putting in coins from 2013.

(Do you see how messy of a crafter I am?)

Pages 3 & 4

 Pages 5 & 6

 Pages 7 & 8

 Pages 8 & 9

I have made one page layout for each one of the boys and then also one for brothers and then one for my husband. At this point I am gathering photos and trying to figure out what else to add to this absolutely amazing little book that I discovered!!!