Book Worm Ruby Book Mark

I  squeezed some crafting time in, mostly because of all the amazingly darling bookmarks posted on Sparkle's Stamp blog for the #58 challenge - anything but a card. After seeing all the fun inspiration, I couldn't put off making something any longer so I finally mounted my new stamps from the past two orders onto some cling and did a marathon stamping out session of all my new image goodies and even stamped out images from my oldies since I had only 3 pre-stamped images left. Because the bookmarks were what inspired me, I had to make one for myself. I adore how this came out! Colored with my usual pencils and white gel pen. I also used black ink in the hair as well and I really like how it turned out ;) Anyway, I hope you all have a fabulous labor day weekend!

For the Hubs

Paul's birthday was on Monday and we surprised him with some fun homemade banners, lemon cream-cheese cake, and gifts. These were my crafty creations for his day. Of course I had to make him a card. And I couldn't help but use birthday Josh. The girls demanded daddy have a goatee on his card so I did my best to replicate his face fuzz. Paul loved it, lol! Apple also wanted daddy to have his blue eyes so I added a very slight blue line next to the pupil. There isn't much room there to do that, but I think it turned out quite well ;)



My dear hubby is an avid reader like myself and I had found a bunch of thrift books right up his alley. The classics 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Treasure Island, both of which he hasn't read surprisingly, plus a bunch of 'literature' mini books on classic poetry and myths, just like some of his other lit books he kept from his classes in college. I know that sounds completely boring to most people, myself included ha! But he loves that stuff ;) So I made a new bookmark for him (he's great at losing those) for his new reads and a bookmark for his other project that I made...

... A book journal! He's been talking about keeping track of his reads better and so I took a composition notebook and covered it. I also covered the inside panels to have a little folder spot for him to slip stuff in. Then for the first half of the book I organized the pages, putting prompts for his book entries (Title, Author, Date, Rating, Plot, and Thoughts) along with list sections for what books he wants to read, favorites, etc. Because he loves writing as well I put in some fun poetry prompts for him and writing challenges. After seeing how cool his turned out, I'm itching to make one for myself! Especially since most of my summer has been spent reading rather than crafting, hehe. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and I hope y'all have a great weekend!

A Couple Thank You Cards

Wow, I didn't realize I'd been missing for so long! My last post was over two months ago! The good news is I did great this last semester and aced all my classes even though the work load was more than I'll probably ever take again, lol. It's just way too hard to take 6 classes and still take care of a family, well for me anyway, especially since I feel like I have to give 100% to everything ;) The bad news is that I've spent the last 2 1/2 weeks sick and more than a week of it practically bedridden because I have both viral and bacterial infections to get over. I've basically been down and out pretty much the entire time I had for the semester break since I'm taking summer courses. But I am feeling a bit better now. After I lost my voice, my visiting teachers brought our family dinner for two nights plus enough to last for leftovers for a few nights more. I really wanted to make them thank you cards, since it helped us out so much. So I had logged on last week just long enough to check out Sparkle's challenge, which was to use flowers, and there was a sketch for a challenge site she was hosting that week too. Here's the first card I made. I used the challenges, but didn't enter in time since I didn't feel well enough to edit the photos or post to the bloggo before today.

And here's the second card I made. I really wanted to try those rosettes that Sparkle had made months ago, and finally got the chance to try them out. My first ones were a little tight, they look more like spirals than rosettes, hehe. These second ones look a bit more like rosettes. Hopefully they aren't completely out of style yet, since I loved making them and think they are darling! And I just realized after looking at the photo that I didn't finish shading in her shirt! I hope that went unnoticed since Debra is a crafter herself, lol. The cards have long since been delivered by my sweetie hubby who has spent the last 2 weeks taking care of 3 sick girlies (yes, my poor daughters were sick as well though thankfully not as badly as I was). I haven't hugged, kissed, or even gotten to hold my little cuties for nearly 2 weeks now! I just don't want to get them to catch what I have since it's been so bad. But since today I'm feeling much better, I'm hoping by the weekend I'll be well enough to make up on all those missed snuggles! Thanks for sticking around ;) And I hope you enjoy the cards!

Have a Rockin' Good Birthday

Today is our friend Mark's b-day and this is the card I made for him. I made the card with Sparkle's challenge this last week, which is to use punches. I don't really have any manly punches so I figured circles would have to do. I really like the way this card came out. It's just circles punched out and put on top of another piece of pattern paper, so the card is really simple, but the patterns make it so fun! Anyway, I've been bombarded with homework and life this past week, so finally getting to make this card was a much needed pick-me-up. At least for the next few hours ;)

Last Thursday we got a call from the dermatologist. They had gotten the results back on Paul's biopsy and the test came back that the mole was malignant, meaning it was a melanoma cancer. However, the good news is that it hasn't metastasized at all and he'll just need a simple surgery to make sure they get all of it out, plus we're getting an amazing doctor, apparently, for the surgery. We go up to SLC on Tuesday for that and they'll do a full body scan to make sure there are no more. The part that really sucked for Paul was that he called his mom to tell her about what was going on, and found out that his parents are getting divorced. My poor hubby. So far he says he's actually fine with it all and said he had seen signs of the problems mom had mentioned to him were the reasons for the split back 16 years ago when he lived at home, but I can't help but worry about the poor guy.

Then on top of the worrying I found out that the House passed a bill to lower the amount of Pell Grants given out, drastically reduce the amount any person can receive for the Pell, and completely cut out other student programs to help with funding. I wrote my letters to our senators against passing it in the Senate but it's hard to know what will happen. The Pell Grant has been the only way I've been able to afford going back to school, so I'm stressed about what we'll do if the bill actually passes. I really hope it doesn't. Add that to mid-terms week. Blah. Next weeks schedule promises to be busy still but after that it's spring break and I totally need it! Hopefully I can hold out going crazy with life until then. Anyway, thanks for letting me spout about our weekly drama. On a happier note, I was featured as the sketch artist Thursday on Eat Sleep and Stamp for my ketto card last week using the #119 sketch! So a definite ego pick-up for me ;) I hope you all enjoy the card and have a wonderful Sunday!

Boys Rule Challenge

Here's my card for the Boys Rule Challenge over at Sparkle Creations and for the CPS Sketch Challenge she's hosting! One of my nephews has a birthday this next month, so this challenge ended up being perfect for me. The girls and I have been doing much better, no one's had a fever for a couple days now. C will get to go to school tomorrow and, lucky her, she gets to take a unit reading comprehension test. I unfortunately have to take a test as well (for chemistry), lol. But fortunately for us we're both pretty good students and we've both done our studying ;) Anyway, enjoy the card and have a wonderful week!

Sweet Treats Paper Piecing

I finally got a chance to play along with this week's challenge on Sparkle Creations, which is paper piecing! I have to say that it's been a while since I've done this technique and I've been a bit lazy when it comes to paper-crafting lately so it took me a while to get in the mode to make this card. I do love the way the piecing came out in the end though! This last week has been more crazy than usual for us, lots of appointments for Paul (dentist, doctor, and dermatologist, poor guy had to have a mole removed, he has a couple stitches from that, as well as a molar removed!), White Ribbon week at the elementary, 2 tests and a big project for me, oh and we all apparently have RSV - which we found out Friday night when the doc called us back with culture results. Little A has it the worst and she was coughing really bad, but the doc said she's doing alright and as far as risks go she's past the age when RSV is a real danger. Today she was doing a little better, so I'm hoping it will just be recovery from here on out. Anyway, a bright cheerful card to combat our dreary rainy weekend here and our sick little family ;) Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Sammified B-Day Josh

We've had such a busy week, so I've been playing catch-up all weekend. One of these things was to make a b-day card for our BIL, Sam. So using the sketch challenge at Sparkle Creations, I whipped up this card during our complex's kids club Valentine activity. The girls made cute Valentines and I made a b-day card ;) After seeing a few different looks on the soft colored hair style, I thought I'd try it out. After I was done I just felt like his hair was missing something, so I added highlights with the white gel pen. It was fun to color his hair differently than I'm used to. I'll definitely try the soft look again sometime, maybe I'll get it looking right enough to leave out the highlights. Anyway, enjoy the card and have a wonderful weekend!

It's a Girl Thing!

While this semester has given me a lot more busy work, I find that it has also gotten me to take more breaks. It's been really nice to reward myself with some me time after finishing a draft, or studying a chapter. Usually it comes in the form of some quick blog hopping through my fav sites, bookmarking and saving tutorials as I go. If I'm lucky it involves crafty time to make something fun ;) Today, after revising one of my papers, I sat down and played in this weeks Sparkle Creations Challenge. The theme is "It's a Girl Thing!" I tried pleating and stitching my ribbon to the card. While the pleating came out pretty well, I didn't realize while sewing that I was at a slant. So my ribbon is a little crooked going across. Next time I'll know to watch for that ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the card. Thanks for stopping by!

A "Lovely" Birthday

The #27 challenge on Sparkle Creations is the theme "Love is in the Air"! I've been in the mood to make valentine's goodies but haven't had much time for crafting. In fact, I should have probably been revising one of my papers instead of playing around, but sometimes a girl just needs a break! I cased Sparkle's sample card so that I would spend less time thinking of a layout ;) This card is for my sister since her b-day is the day after Valentines. There are some fun sparkles on her dress ruffle, hat, and party horn. Enjoy and have a terrific Thursday!

Stamps: Celebrating Chloe from Sparkle Creations, sentiment from Cupcake Collection by PTI
Paper: Simple Valentine and cardstock in Pure Poppy by PTI
Other: white brads, Nestibilities, colored pencils, copic marker, white gel pen, Fiskars apron lace border punch, EK Success heart punch

Birthday Chloe Inspiration Challenge

This week at Sparkle Creations the challenge is to make a card from an inspiration photo of some darling Pottery Barn luggage. I finally colored up one of my b-day Chloe images. She has fun sparkles on her dress, hat, and party horn though the camera didn't pick it up. I just kept the card simple since I don't have a lot of time to play at the moment. I just needed a break from homework ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy! It's back to reading textbooks for me. Have a terrific Thursday!

Tis the Season Josh

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge called to me this morning and with such a fun sketch posted, I couldn't resist playing along! Funny that I made my order specifically to get birthday Josh and Chloe, yet I can't help but reach for little cafe Josh for my cards lately. I'm finding he's quite versatile ;) Eventually, I would like to get singing carols Josh but until then, I'll improvise. I'm using up some Cosmo Cricket Christmas papers with this. Maybe if I get some Christmas pages scrapped, combined with making cards, I just might use up all my winter papers by this next holiday! I'm hoping I do because it was so hard not buying any new holiday paper this past year. I told myself I need to use up the rest of what I have before I can get more. So far I only have 7 full sheets left, but I do still have quite a few big scraps. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the card and have a lovely Sunday!

Love You a Latte Josh

I got my Sparkle Creations goodies in the mail yesterday and I've been anxiously waiting a break so I could use them. Which is why I'm so happy I didn't have much homework today! After getting new tires on the car (my big errand for the day) and of course making dinner and reading stories to the girls, I finally got a chance to sit down and play with my new stamps! There are so many cute Valentine cards getting posted right now that it got me right in the mood to do my own ;) So here's love-you-a-latte-Josh Papertrey Ink style! I used The Sweetest Thing's #99 sketch challenge for the layout and then all Papertrey goodies to put the card together since I'm all excited for their release this month! The tiny treats birthday set looks too cute and I'm hoping to snag a sentiment set as well. The sentiment on this card is my own handwriting. I'm trying so hard to improve it, lol. Enjoy the card and thanks for popping by!

Sketch Challenge - SCRS

I finished up my homework tonight and had some time to play! One of my nieces has a birthday coming up next week and I need to get a card out in the mail soon. So I grabbed one of my prestamped Chloe images and went to work. This card is super simple and flat so that I can just slap a stamp on there and send it out. We'll be putting some fun stickers inside for her as well as a couple images to color ;) She's a year younger than A so I figure she should enjoy about the same things. Everytime I stamp out some images for later, I end up having to stamp some out for both my girls. They love Chloe (she's their favorite) so I'm sure they'll be extra excited when my new b-day Chloe gets here. I know I will be! Anyway, this card is using the sketch challenge going on at Sparkle's Creations this week. The sketch is super cute and so easy! I'm sure I'll be using this one again in the future. Enjoy the card and have a great Tuesday evening!

Tie It Up Challenge

It's the last day to play in this weeks challenge on Sparkle's Creations and I finally got my card together. This one was a real stumper for me. I love ribbon and baker's twine and I actually have quite of bit of it, but I do have a hard time using them on my projects. Thankfully the design team's cards were full of inspiration on that ;) This is my card. I'm so happy with the way her dress and hair came out! Enjoy and have a lovely Sunday!

Christmas Challenge #5

I thought it would be a great idea to get a head start on my Christmas cards for this next year, at least so I've got enough for the ones I need to mail out ;) So I'm playing in Sparkle's weekly Christmas Card Challenge. This week is embossing. It's been so long since I last used my embossing folders! I forgot how fun it could be ;) Anyway, we didn't get snow for Christmas, but we did get some right after the New Year! It was nearly all melted by noon, but we got out there early at around 8:30, so I got a lot of super cute photos of the girls as well as some of Paul and me! I'm hoping to remember to always get pictures of Paul and I throughout the year and I'm so happy to have a good start. The big plus is I had a free Shutterfly 8x8 book to make, a gift from a friend, so I used those photos to create a fun book and it's on its way! I'm so excited to see how it turned out ;) Anyway, enjoy the card and have a fab Friday!

Christmas Cards - Pink, Blue, and Red

I've been sewing like crazy trying to get the last minute gifties all whipped up. There's a lot of fun projects for decor and gifts that I wanted to make, but didn't have the time to this year. Luckily, I got a lot of the fabric for these projects 50% off or more so I can work on them during the next year for next Christmas ;) With even just this bit of sewing I've been doing though, I'm sure I'll be wanting to make spring and summer projects before long, lol.

As for the cards I'm hoping to better play along with card challenges this next year. I really want to rebuild my stash of on hand cards which is currently at nil. And since I don't really have any art classes (technically I have 2D Design but all I have to do is 4 more projects since my Design class this last semester covered all the rest of it), I won't have anything at school using up all my creativity ;) Anyhoo, thanks for visiting and have a happy Thursday!

Christmas Cards - Red, Green, and Pink

I finally got my cards mailed out Saturday. I only had a handful of super simple cards I made throughout the year, like 6 lol, so I had a few more I needed to make. Lucky for me, I read about Sparkle's method of coloring many images at once. She picks her papers, chooses her colors to match, then colors the batch! Sounds easy enough ;) Thursday I spent a couple hours coloring some images while watching a flick with Paul and then Friday I put together the cards. So Saturday they were mailed. Hopefully they'll get to their destinations by Christmas. If not, they'll be a post Christmas treat! I'm seriously making the resolution to add Christmas card making/writing/sending to my Thanksgiving weekend Christmas decorating tradition.

The first card is using Sparkle's Rin with Snowman stamp. It's also my card for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge. The inspiration cake is an amazing Santa Cake, you should check it out! This image is so fun to color and this card ended up one of my favorites that I made! The second one uses a fun hot cocoa cup from Stamping Bella, such a cute image and it's really fast and easy to color in. I really liked making my cards this way, it was fun to color them freely and also to see what papers ended up working out with my images the best. Anyway, enjoy and have a wonderful Monday!

Rin with Snowman

It's so nice to color a small image! The art projects for my design class had to be on 17x15 inch drawing paper, so coloring anything took a really long time! I made this card for Sparkle's challenge, this week it's stitching - faux or real. Rin is colored with pencils, the background is pencil with gamsol, the shading is with a copic, and highlights are done with a white gel pen. Anyhoo, I'm off to make some dinner - french toast, lol! Enjoy!

Another Fall Chloe Card

Two cards in a single week, I feel like I'm on a roll ;) Sparkle's weekly challenge this week is to make a card to hold a gift card. I needed an extra b-day card for this month and since I already had another Chloe stamped out I decided to play with her again. This time I tried for some polka dots on her scarf ;) Here's the inside:

Unfortunately I'm catching a cold or something, which means that I don't feel like doing much of anything. Making this card was a little bit of a pick me up but already I'm feeling worn out again. I've been trying to take it easy at home so that I don't miss class. Luckily I busted my butt this weekend and got a lot done for my art class so I'm not falling behind with all this lazing around, trying to get better. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the card ;) Thanks for popping by and have a happy Wednesday!

Fall Birthday

Another month has flown by and it's so nice to finally sit down and craft. Can you believe I haven't bought any crafting stuff in 2 months?! I guess that's what happens when you've got a family and you go back to school, lol. I feel like all my free time is spent trying to get time in with them. I had gotten a few goodies back in August but haven't gotten to touch them and my desk still has the Halloween papers I was going to do more crafting with from back at the beginning of October. While this isn't new paper really, it is paper I hadn't cut into yet ;) This card is for Sparkle's #17 stamp challenge. Both Sparkle and LHM are doing this sketch challenge this week. I'm in need of a few fall b-day cards so Chloe was up again. She's been my go-to stamp for birthdays. It felt so nice to play with some paper and glue!!

The weather here has finally cooled down enough to be called fall ;) We had a pretty hectic October and unfortunately the girls didn't get to do any trick or treating this year. C came down with a bad bug and by the Thursday before Halloween she sounded awful and was running a fever. The doc said no school or trick or treating unless the fever was gone, not only was she very contagious but the cough was moving down into her chest. So she ended up missing school for a couple days and also Halloween. Because they didn't get to trick or treat (A still got to go to one Halloween party with a friend), I made a fun witch/treasure hunt game for them. It lasted about an hour and a half and they used nerf guns to shoot down ghosts, found hearts to turn their zombie dolls and animals back to normal (we made little cardstock masks and taped them to their faces), and had to follow a map to find the Witch's Watchtower, shoot the witch down, and blow up the tower with golden grenades (candy they collected throughout the hunt). The girls had a blast and it was fun to make up a role playing game for them to enact. Thankfully, C's cough was much better by Monday and her fever gone. It always worries me so much when they get so sick like that! Anyway, tomorrow I'll be getting them in their costumes to take pictures, now that C is all better ;) Thanks for visiting and have a lovely weekend!