Lovely

Tomorrow is the big moving day! I'm excited, but I feel like I'm not really ready. My mom will arrive in the late afternoon to help me. She hasn't been here in over two years. That's pretty normal for us military folks. Usually I'm the one to go home to see everyone. I don't get to go home often though. It's really difficult for me to make the trip. There's a long process to go through to request days off. My schedule doesn't always coordinate with my family's. They just don't seem to understand that. The mission comes first. When I do get to go home, it's often a secret to a lot of the extended family. I just don't have enough time to visit everyone with in the few days that I get off. I just end up hurting people's feelings no matter what I do. I also get fed WAAAAAY to much. Everyone seems to think I need to eat an entire Thanksgiving dinner every couple of hours that I'm home. I do love food, but I don't want to turn into a rollie-pollie. The Army wouldn't like that too much! Anyhow, this is today's creation:

Here's what I did:

I started with a mason jar and took the inner lid out. The patterned paper is cut to two sections of 4"x6". I used the red line tape to adhere this. Next, I adhered a 0.5" pink and green strip around the entire jar. On top of that went some funky white trim from Making Memories. The circle cut out on the front of the jar was a compliment to the patterned paper. It isn't very substantial, so I adhered it to the inner lid before attaching the whole thing to the jar with red line tape and liquid glue. Finally, I added the light blue polka dot ribbon around the neck of the jar. And...that's it!

Halloween

I have been so inspired by all of the Halloween cards I'm seeing out there that I just had to make my own. A trip to the scrapbook store provided just the right amount of inspiration. I picked out this stamp set since the pumpkin could be used all throughout fall. I also just received the SU! version. You can't say "no" to SU! I really wish I knew how to make my camera pick up the sparkly sheen that this paper has. It's also double sided! LOVE IT!!!

Here's what I did:

My card base is an unknown shade of green Bazzill card stock cut to A2. I then used VersaMark to randomly stamp the bat images on the upper half of the background. I then adhered the black and white gingham ribbon to the orange eyeball paper (cut to 5.5"x2") and glued it to the card front. I then stamped the pumpkin image onto white card stock and trimmed it to fit inside my tag ring. I used the Making Memories tag maker stuff to do all of this. The large purple scallop was punched out of the same double sided patterned paper and is adhered with glue dots. The pumpkin tag is adhered with leftover rubber from my stamp trimmings. The black photo corner from American Crafts went next. It came with adhesive already ready for sticking. Finally, I used my black journaling pen to draw doodles until I was content. And...that's it!

Crate Training

I've had little Lilly for a little over a week now. She drives me crazy, but I love her so much. I've been trying to crate train her since I brought her home. There are so many puppy training guidelines to follow. One behaviorist says this and another says that. It's difficult to know what I'm doing right versus wrong. I want to be the best dog mom I can be. Anyone who has crate trained knows that it is very difficult emotionally. I put her in the little kennel when it's time for bed, but the first few days she cried and yelped endlessly. I felt like crying too. Today, I realized all that work paid off. She played around for an hour or so and eventually tired herself out. Then she drug her little feet into the crate all by herself and plopped down. Good girl! I'm so proud of my little baby. I just had to take a picture. P.S. I'd like to ask for your prayers for my dear friend Sheila who lost her faithful companion, Jake, this past weekend. He was a much loved dog.

Sunday Funnies

Since I've blamed the new puppy for most of my lack of neglecting my blog, I'll pick a new blame... I'm moving! It's not really far. Less than two miles away, but it's a bigger place and they are much more animal friendly. I have lived here in this apartment for almost three years now. I haven't had too many problems, but the service here isn't great, my neighbors are totally rude and loud, plus the road leading to my apartment has more than doubled in size since my move. It's become a main thorough road with tons of traffic and noise. I finally got a chance this weekend to stop by the scrapbook store as well. I'm loaded up on new goodies to create with. I only hope I can pump out enough to satisfy myself before I have to pack it all away again. Ooo! And before I forget... here's a short little Sunday Funny: A Scrapbooker's Eulogy: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep but if I should die before I wake, please Lord, let them scrap my funeral great!

Sketch 1

I'm frustrated that I haven't stamped in so long now. It's only been a week or so, but it feels like forever since I've done anything. I feel like such a weenie. I mean, I only have a puppy. It's not like I had triplets or anything. I'm in love with my new baby, but she's such a handful. Now I'm starting to realize why people want their kids to grow up, but stay babies all at the same time. Like I said, I haven't created anything, but I've been madly sketching in my journal, and more recently on my computer. I really prefer pencil and paper, but I thought I'd try my hand at digital sketches today. I just can't get the "feel" for what I want digitally, but I still think it's fun. I'm really interested to see if anyone actually gets any creative ideas from this little ditty. Here's my first card sketch: And here's a cute interpretation by Heather:

And another one by Kathy:

And an adorable bunny card by Estivalia:

And the winner is...

Whew! I don't know how you mothers do this whole baby thing. This puppy needs me ALL the time. I can't catch a break. I have to be at work again at 0215 this morning, so I'm stealing a minute while she's asleep. I have to be sneaky like this now I suppose. Picking out a name for her was MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than I thought. There were so many good ones. I thought I'd just pick out a cute name, but in the past couple days her personality has really started to show itself. So... here's the name...

Lilly Belle

A few of you guessed variations of Lilly and Belle, but Sheila R put the two together for me, so congratulations to Sheila!!! Be sure to stick around for more updates on my new little girl and hopefully some scrapin' and stampin' here and there!

Sunday Funnies

Here are some interesting definitions: Crop: 1.a. Cultivated agricultural plants as grain, vegetables, or fruit. b. the total yield of agricultural produce in a given season or place. 2. A group, quantity or supply appearing at one time (a crop of presidential candidates) 3. A short haircut 4. An earmark on an animal 5.a. A short whip with a loop serving as a lash, used in horseback riding b. The stock of a whip 6.a. A pouch-like enlargement of a birds' esophagus in which food is stored or partially digested. b. A similar organ in earthworms insects, and other intervertebrates. 1.v. To cut off stems or top of a plant 2. To cut very short 3. To clip 4. To reap, harvest 5. To cause to grow or yield a crop or crops 6. To plant or to grow. To Crop: 1. To cultivate an abundance of photos in such a way that it appears aesthetically pleasing to other croppers. 2.a. A recent addiction, in which the addict convinces their spouse that it is a necessity of life, which without it all domicile harmony will be jeopardized. 2b . a subconscious way by spouses to finally acquire more tools than their spouses. 3. A ploy by those companies whose sticker stands, formerly located at the end of card aisles, to sell more stickers and turn a small enterprise into a major section at department stores (i.e. Michaels) 4. An additional ploy by magazine owners to produce yet another line of magazines for another subculture. 5. Spousal stress reliever (as in "Honey, I'm going to crop") this in turn relieves stress in the spouse knowing the loved one will be occupied for at least 5-6 hours (min). P.S. Here's a little inspiration for you last minute voters:

Operation: Thank the Troops

It's about that time again for the Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division to jump back into the sandbox. That means it's also time for Operation: Thank the Troops. Let me tell you a little bit about this program. It works just like most of the typical groups that send cards over, but this group is actually run by Soldiers unlike other organizations. We know where our comrades are and where help is needed. We also don't focus on one particular unit like other organizations do. We provide to ALL TROOPS, not just the ones we have personal connections with. The second part of this organization is to provide non-profit classes and crops for the spouses, children, and Soldiers that are left behind during a deployment. Can you imagine missing over a year of your family's life back home?! Our mission isn't just to let our Battle Buddies know that we're still here supporting them, but to record and scrapbook the memories back home that they would otherwise miss. We would love to put your no longer used scrapbook supplies to good use. Here is our address:

Operation: Thank the Troops

P.O. Box 323

Fort Campbell, KY 42223

Nice Matters Award

It makes me laugh to see all the blog awards that are out there lately. People have their blogs filled top to bottom with the silliest awards. There's worst blog, best blog, weird blog, stupid blog, crafty blog, gross blog, fun blog, pretty blog.... The list goes on and on. Some awards are just nice and sweet while others seem more than a bit narcissistic. Anyhow, the award that got me started on this ramble is the "Nice Matters Award". To me this award is one of the good ones out there. Since we can't pass real hugs around, how about this little ditty instead. I invite everyone to send this award to someone that's been especially nice to you in your blogging adventures. This one was given to me by Risa who is of course such a nice person as well. And the Nice Matters Award goes to....

• Debbie (DUH!)
• Marie
• Leslie
• Mary
• Melanie
• Wanda
• Estivalia
• Aime
• Sarah

Checkbook Cover

Tomorrow is another early day. It's foot march day, so that means I'll be at work before 0400. At least the weather has cooled off a bit. It has been absolutely miserable these past few weeks. I can't wait until the crisp fall air starts to blow in. The corn field out my window has finally turned into a golden husk, so it's about ready for plowing. I'm a farm girl from Texas if I haven't mentioned it before. The country is where I feel most at home. I really want to start making some Thanksgiving and Halloween cards soon. I don't have any Halloween stamp sets though, so I might have to pick some up soon. Today's little project is a checkbook cover. It was inspired by these fun brads I acquired over a year ago for sure. I hope you like it.

Here's what I did:

I started by cutting the K&Co background paper to fit in my checkbook cover(6.25"x6.75"). Next, I adhered the 1" striped piece and American Crafts ribbon after first running them through my Xyron. I pushed the K&Co brads through the Prima flowers first before attaching them with thick glue dots. And...that's it!

G.I. Goody

Okay, instead of doing the normal Sunday Funnies today, I've decided to offer up some more G.I. Goodies! There's a new Yorkie puppy on the way, so I need help picking out a name for her. Here's what the winner gets:

• 10 yards of ribbon
• Prima flowers
• Bazzill flowers
• Foofala buttons
• Rub-ons
• "Honk if you Scrapbook!" sign
• ...and more!!!

The rules of this contest are easy:

1. Puppy name suggestions must be made by leaving a comment to this post.
2. You may suggest as many names as you'd like.
3. You have one week to nominate.

I will pick my favorite name and announce the winner on my blog next week. Be creative!

Poppy Ink

OK, this post is purely a rant about Poppy Ink. They are supposed to have THE best kits available, but so far.... I am NOT HAPPY! First of all, it took FOREVER for my first kit to arrive. I was SO excited for it to come, but my paper was torn and wrinkled!!!! You do know that famous saying, don't you?! "Hell hath no fury like a scrapbooker whose paper is messed up!" That's a real saying! I'm totally serious. Anyhow, my rub-ons were partially rubbed off already, AND my buttons were missing! I figured this was a simple little mistake, so I called and emailed the company. They were on vacation! Grrr... Eventually I did get a reply email asking me to send PROOF of my damages! I have never heard of such a thing. I guess I could have understood a bit if I had gotten an apology and a polite request, but they were downright RUDE about it. At the time I didn't have a digital camera, so I had to scan in my damaged goods the best that I knew how. Again, I waited for a response. This time I was even more angry. Do you know what they said?! "(We) can refund you half the amount because of the damage(...) Also the rub-ons are a manufacturing issue and if you contact the manufacturer they will send you out a replacement." What!? I don't get reimbursed for the whole page? Wait! There's more! The rub-ons were not their fault so it was MY responsibility to contact the manufacturer! What crappy customer service. They also said they would send me buttons, but a week later... no buttons. Of course! I contacted them again, but alas that kit was no longer available, so I ended up having to just deal with it. Are you kidding me? Since then, none of my kits have been stellar and none of my kits have arrived even close to when I was told they would. I have spent a lot of money on these kits, but I haven't gotten the product I was promised. It seems like that company is always on vacation and always sluffing the blame of their product mistakes. I give Poppy Ink two big fat thumbs down and one kiss my butt! (Too bad I already paid for six months of subscriptions...)

Fun Fold Album

It is SO hot outside! Today it even reached over 100 degrees out, and we're not even close to hitting the highs for the year. I've really been thinking about how nice a fall breeze would be these past couple of days, so I thought this next project was quite appropriate. I just live for those few precious days in the fall and spring that are absolutely perfect. You know, those days when you can open all the windows in the house, drive around town with the windows down, and take naps in the sun. Those are my favorite kinds of days. I really wish we had more of them in the year to enjoy. This project is a 6"x6" expanding album. I've been making them for a while now, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to have folded paper this way, so I'm not claiming any genius on this origami invention. I call it the "Fun Fold Album". The inside of my book is not ready for show, so you'll only be able to see the cover for now. It's made from left over cardboard (chipboard) pieces that were used to stabilize the 12"x12" paper packs. Here's what I did: I started with two 6"x6" pieces of thin chipboard and covered them using a combination of red line and liquid adhesive. I like to trim my paper to at least an inch larger than my finished product, so this piece was trimmed to 7"x7". I martyred the corners to relieve some of the bulk. I then took two 3"x7" pieces of complimentary paper and tore both long sides of each piece followed by distressing in a brown ink. On these pieces, I only adhered the short ends to my book covers. Sometimes I end up sliding an embellishment or other doo-dad behind this piece, so I always leave it open just in case. The next step was to attach the wide grosgrain gold ribbon. It is cut to one yard in length in order to have enough excess for a bow. I only adhered it to the front cover, so that my book will still open. (If you attach the ribbon to the back cover, this book will not open.) At this point, you can decorate you book however you wish, but in this case, I attached two Prima flowers with a chipboard button and fiber on the left. On the right, I attached a mini clip and a tag with my title. I figured this could easily be replaced with a photo if I wanted later down the road. The title is made of stickers. I attached excess rubber from my stamp trimmings then used baby powder on the remaining portion of the exposed sticker back to relieve the stickiness. I then used a strong liquid glue to attach the rubber to the card stock tag. I ended up inking nearly everything in this project for a consistent theme. And...that's it!

Sunday Funnies

SALE

Stampin' Up! is having a promotional sale, and so am I! This one is actually pretty cute. For this month only, if you purchase the Three for You Punch Box at $49.95, you will receive an exclusive set of textured Love Notes for FREE! There's more...you'll also get matching ribbon and card stock for FREE as my personal added bonus!

Here's the whole kit-n-caboodle:

• Trio Flower punch
• 9-piece die-cut stamp set
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Spot
• Purely Pomegranate Stampin' Spot
• Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Spot
• Keepsake tin
• 10 Wild Wasabi pre-scored textured 3″ x 3″ cards
• 10 Purely Pomegranate pre-scored textured 3″ x 3″ cards
• 10 So Saffron pre-scored textured 3″ x 3″ cards
• 30 Very Vanilla envelopes
• 6"x6" Very Vanilla card stock
• 6"x6" So Saffron card stock
• 1 yard Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Ribbon
• 1 yard Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Ribbon

That's a lot of stuff! This set includes everything you'll need to make 30 completed Love Notes and more. This offer is only available until August 31st, so hurry while it's still here...

Reason to Smile

Today I finally got off early! I'm only doing a mild victory dance for this though. I have to be back at work at 0200. Usually the foot marches start around 0330, but since too many people are overheating, they've moved it up a bit more. I guess my situation is getting worse before it gets better. It will get better, right? I sure hope so. I have been able to do a lot of sketching lately. I'll have to share some of it with you soon. I'm a big time sketch girl. Most of my projects start out this way. I get random ideas in my head in the weirdest places, so I have a sketch journal at work, home, and in my purse for all the places in between. This card was inspired by some fun ribbon I found while cleaning my Arts & Craps Room. It ended up near true to the original drawing. I started it last night around 2300. I couldn't take it anymore. I just HAD to get some sort of crafting out of me. I can't imagine how bad of a crafty itch I would have gotten if I had done this 15-month deployment. My care packages would have to consist of patterned paper and ribbon. Forget the treats and snacks! LOL!

Here's what I did:

I used all Stampin' Up! card stock for this card. It started with Cool Caribbean as the A2 base, and was matted with Brilliant Blue and a Cuttlebug embossed layer of Old Olive. The square Cool Caribbean piece is cut to 3.25"x3.25". The 1.25"x4.25" piece of Brilliant Blue is also embossed with the Cuttlebug. I wrapped a funky piece of ribbon around this piece before adhering it. The white scalloped square was made with my Marvy punch and is matted on a 2.25"x2.25" piece of Pumpkin Pie. The sentiment is stamped in Brilliant Blue and is from the retired SU! hostess set, Reason to Smile. The blue frame stamp is from Paper Trey Ink. I then mounted after stamping the images, I mounted the joined pieces using left over rubber from my stamp sets. The three small orange brads are from Bazzill. And...that's it!

P.S. Check it out: I finally made it on the list for the Scrapbooking Top 50. (I'm number 1000! LOL!)