Window collage

I love this window die, and it works perfectly with the Penny Black sketch for this week. I stamped the Penny Black collage and colored it with copics, then I cut the image and attached to the back of the window. The background is the Majestic Composition stamped in brown ink and the colored with crushed olive distressed ink.

This morning Owen is off school and Wyatt is sleeping in. I have really enjoyed watching just Owen and pixie playing together. Owen is so good with her and she adore him. A few minutes ago she pulled up to him and just hugged him, it was the sweetest thing. It is so interesting seeing the dynamics of each of their relationships take shape. Today I am especially grateful for my children they bring me the greatest joy in life.



I have decided that 2 out of 3 looking at the camera is as good as it's going to get!



let it snow

I love snow, but only in small doses.  We most likely won't see much snow here, but when we do it's a huge event. Where I grew up in MD, if we had a good amount of snow we were usually snowed in and unable to get out of our driveway. That could mean days of being stuck, which as I got older became not so fun. Here if we get snow it most likely will melt by mid-day and there is usually no shoveling involved.

I stamped the tree from Penny Black with brown memento ink, then used broken china, tumbled glass and faded jean distressed inks on the panel. I then overstamped a snow design block from Hero arts in white onto the panel.  The Window die is from Memory box, isn't it fabulous! I love it. I have lots of ideas for this one! They have two sizes and their dies cut perfectly and are in so many great shapes. The snowflakes were embossed and sanded to create the rustic background. Here is a close up on the die and tree. Thank you for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

PB sketch take one...

This week the PB blog is using sketches to showcase their cards. The cards they have shown yesterday and today are gorgeous! I know I have a file somewhere on my computer full of sketches and books too, I really should use them more often to get ideas for cards. I stamped a writing stamp on Memory box PP, and then the a portion of the flower on two additional squares and colored with copics.

Yesterday I had a parent-teacher conference with Owen's 3rd grade teachers. I had the two little ones in tow. Those of you who have seen the pictures I post of my children know Wyatt has the most beautiful wild curls. Everyone that see's him just wants to get ahold of him. However he is quite ornery and a little anti-social until he gets to know you. When we walked in they were going on about his curls and how cute he was, as I was sitting down I hear him tell the teachers "your fat" not once but twice. I wanted to die, and I know the one saving thing is they were not! I scolded him, and apologized, Owen's teacher smiled and told me she had 4 children and she totally understood. I still have no idea where he gets this stuff. At the dentist a few weeks ago he told the technician she was hideous, really! I can only imagine what school is going to be like with my him. He has such a strong personality and doesn't hold back on his feelings. Owen's conference went well, he is not performing up to the expectations in reading. That teacher is constantly sending notes home. He actually does well on the grade test, but the state test on the computer it almost seems like he didn't try. Otherwise he is doing great in math, so just going to keep up with it and see how he does.

Purple floral

CL109-Damask Floral

The stamps in this card are from Impression Obsession and I am entering in for this challenge to use purple. I discovered these set in a magazine years ago, and loved them, they are so whimsical and pretty.

I miss leafing through magazines to see all the latest and greatest stuff. I know the Internet has totally transformed the avenues in which advertisers have to find new customers. Though there was just something fun about getting cozy in a chair and marking pages that inspired me or products I wanted to check out. Now I can waste way too much time browsing the web,  and spend way too much money in just a few clicks of a mouse!  The only thing that is missing is really the instant gratification, but I love mail days too! Have a wonderful Monday!

With love tag

I made another tag for the Penny black week, I forgot how much fun tags are to make. I stamped the image in memento black, and then colored with copics directly on the manilla tag. I used antique linen and walnut stain to distress the tag. The sentiment is from PTI, and was distressed as well.

Owen is playing at a friends house all day, and DH is working so it's just me and the little ones for most of today. It is nice and chilly this a.m., think it would be a good day to bake something! Have a wonderful weekend.

Autumn foliage

Memory Box has some of the best collage type stamps. I love the ones they design. The background of the collage was colored with various orange tones of distressed inks, then edged with soot. Then I colored the leaves with copics, the background leaves is from a set by Flourishes. We have some cool crisp fall weather today, I am loving it. We don't get a traditional fall here in Eastern NC, I miss the piles of gorgeous tones of color that would fall from the trees in MD. We use to pile them up and jump off our swing into them, so fun! Raking up pinestraw into piles just isn't the same! LOL! Have a great day!

Cheerful tag

This week on the Penny Black Blog they are showcasing tags. I started by stamping the background with tumbled glass distressed ink and then distressing over the stamped image. It did not turn out quite as vibrant as I was looking for since I was going for the Jill Foster look! Oh well, I will give it another go next time, LOL! Anyways the flower was colored with copics and the flower pot is from the amaryllis stamp.

Pumpkins and Mums

I tried something new with this card, sometime ago I saw a tutorial on using copics and coloring in a grid on the Classroom. After you color the grid you use blending solution to create splotches and interest in the background. The stamped image is from Northwood, and I love all the beautifully detailed images.While playing around I decided to try the background using YR12, 15, 16, 18. After the background was done I overstamped the image. Then I decided it needed a bit more so I  went back and colored in some of the objects with copics. The background paper is from Memory Box.

It was a great weekend here, went by way to fast though. The boys spend Saturday night at the beach with a friend surf fishing and having an all around awesome time. Pixie and I had a quiet night with just the two of us, it was nice. Then on Sunday, Pixie and I went to visit our friend Debbie, for the afternoon. We had a great time with good food, and lots to catch up on. The pumpkin pie she made was so good, I have to pace myself because I would eat the entire thing!  We both even got to stamp a little, Lainey discovered Debbie's craft room and had fun getting into stuff. One day she will hopefully be my sidekick and enjoy crafting as much as I do. Hope everyone has a beautiful week.

Shades of Green

A few weeks ago I had stamped the silhouette image and then moved on to another idea. My desk is full of these type of pieces. I start off in one direction and then go in a totally different one. I found the stamped piece again and this card grew from there. The stamp images are Hero arts, and the sentiment is from PTI. The band and sentiment die are PTI also, and the beautiful leaf flourish die is from Memory box.

I spent a good part of yesterday organizing my work, as much as I don't want to admit that I can't do it all, it is become increasingly difficult to find time to do my "other" job! By the time the kids go to bed, I am exhaused and don't want to do any paperwork. I am finding I am forgetting stuff and missing things so I must get a better system going. I hate making mistakes and I am really hard on myself, I just need to spend a little extra time making sure I have everything done each day. Although I would rather just play with my kids! Have a great weekend!

christmas JOY

I love these stamps from Hero Arts/Basic grey. The flowers in this set are gorgeous! I stamped on linen cardstock in black, and colored with Faber-Castell markers. Then I masked the flowers and over stamped the dictionary def. and a swirly background on the panel.  The sentiment was stamped in black and embossed, and the image was distressed with shabby shutter.

The holidays are approaching at a rapid rate, as much as I love the holidays it makes me sad to think another year has gone by. Once Halloween gets here, pixie's birthday is just a few days later. In December Wyatt will be 4, as much as I try to enjoy and soak in the moments the faster I think they go by. Sweet little girl has another new trick as of yesterday, she was eating dinner and I had to get the phone. After I was done I noticed her holding her hand to her ear, she was talking on her hand phone! LOL. Now when I say ring, ring she hold her hand to her ear, I love that I get to experience these first with her.

You're too kind

This is another version of the new hero art/embossing folder combo. It is stamped with brown memento ink, colored with Faber-Castell markers and then adorned with pearls. Then I distressed the edge and added distressed ink to the image.

Yesterday Lainey figured out waving, it was so cute! She happen to see the people on the Today show waving and started waving back. Now she does a frantic, flopping hand wave and I love it! Hard to believe little pixie will be one in less than a month, it's just not fair!

Fall fun with the kids!

I am always on the lookout for fun things to do with the kids. I found a Hubbs Corn Maze right outside of Clinton and the kids had a blast. With the first two I was so strict in my schedules that we didn't stray far when they were tiny. Having a 3rd has totally changed my mind on this! With two active boys, we need to go, go, go! Although it also helps that pixie is always up for anything and such an easy baby! It took about an hour to get there, and since we arrived early it was not very crowded. We went through one of the easy corn mazes, and decided at night it would be much more fun, so maybe next time. We had a super dry summer and the corn was not near as tall as it should of been, but still fun none the less. Owen loved the slides they had made out of pipes, I told DH we needed him to make us one of these! They also had a sand box full of diggers and trucks. They were a hit with the kids, especially Wyatt. He is so funny, he has absolutely no interest in playing with or being around other kids besides his brother and sister.  He would move his stuff to either be by himself or by Owen.  

They also had a huge bouncy pillow that was awesome! My legs hurt so bad last night from all the jumping Wyatt and I did. Wyatt was a little unsure of it at first, but my moon monkey was soon flying up in the air. I want one of these also! LOL! Owen is looking tired here!

This was my attempt of getting a photo of all three. Wyatt wanted to sit on the pumpkins, and was not happy when I would not let him. He then decided to sit down, but was way over on the left out of the picture. No amount of coaxing was going to get him to move from his spot, so I went with Owen and Lainey to get a picture. Trying to get the sun behind me also meant the sun was directly in their eyes, so I just snapped a quick photo and let it go. In the next few weeks we will take the kids out to get pumpkins, preferably in the evening and hopefully succeed in getting one good picture of all three.

Pixie was awesome here, she enjoyed watching the boys have fun, and people watching. It wasn't long before she quietly drifted off to sleep, she is such a sweet baby!

They all were so good and had a great time, we would definitely go back. The boys were exhausted, especially Wyatt who slept past 9 a.m. this morning! Have a wonderful Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas wreath

One of the challenges at hero arts this month is to use non-traditional stamps to make a holiday card. I bought this floral wreath recently with the embossing folder and thought it would make a pretty Christmas card. It was embossed with white ink, colored with markers and then ran thru the machine with the folder. I die cut it then attached it to the red and green panels. The bow is something I added, after much fiddling and adjusting I decided it was as good as it was going to get. I rarely use ribbons, mainly because I have such a hard time making the bows look pretty. It's still beautiful here, Wyatt and I have enjoyed playing outside everyday while Owen is at school, and pixie is napping. Love not dying from the heat or being carried off by the bugs!

Purple roses

I found this image stamped from one of my crafting days at Debbie's house. It is amazing the things you find when you clean. I was so proud of my craft room and the order I had restored to it. That is until my little Tasmanian devil came through. Now all the hard work I did is no more! Oh well, I can't say I am the neatest person either. Although I usually can find whatever anyone needs. There may not look like order to my madness but there is! The image was colored with copics, and die cut with spellbinders. Thanks for stopping the comments are so appreciated!

WCMD

I hope everyone enjoyed WCMD, what fun! There were so many challenges, and I love that some have extended them thru the upcoming week. I am entering this into the EHWCMD2 at the Classroom for the holiday challenge and also for the Penny Black Guest Challenge. I stamped the PB image in memento and colored with copics, then I distressed with ink to create a vintage look. The background is Hero arts wooden design block, stamped and distressed as well. The embossed background is from PTI, and I believe the sentiment is as well. Thanks for stopping by have a wonderful Sunday, it's cool here, so I am off to make a pot of chili!