It's Aloha Friday...

No work til Monday... Do be do be do be dooooo. LOL! Almost every Friday that song pops into my head. I'm so glad it's Friday. Even though this was a short week, I feel exhausted. The boys HATE getting out of bed in the mornings and I HATE tying to get them up. They havn't missed the bus in awhile (only twice this year!) so we're doing ok. AND, we only have 9 more school days left! Whew! I'm looking forwardto summer, but I know the kids will get bored after about a week so I'm looking into summer programs. Anyway, remember this card that I showed you before: I sent this card over to a little boy who lives in the UK. I found out about him through PostPals because of the blog candy that Dustin has going on over on his blog. In case you want to join in there is still time! Go check out the candy post HERE and send a little paper smile to a child who needs it!
And here is a sweet little project that I whipped up in about 5 minutes for a friend of mine (who hopefully got her package by now, Carin?):
I needed to fill some space in a box I was sending her so I made this little treat box using a plastic container that used to hold tags in it. I just cut some DP to fit the front, stamped the image on Kraft cardstock, tied a ribbon around the cardstock and glued it all on! So easy and quick:
Oh yeah, those are italian gummy candies that you see in the box. I figure her boys would like to try some authetic italian candy. The peach flavored ones are my favorite!
That's it for this morning. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Maybe I'll get a chance to post the projects I'm making for my Design Team application... we'll see!
Until next post, be blessed.

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Hey all! How are you this sunny Thursday? Even though we had a late start, the kids are off to school and I'm relaxing with my cup of coffee while I wait for Angel to wake up. Since I have a little bit of time, I want to show you this project I made a while ago for my friend's baby! Becca is due in about 3 weeks with their first baby! I had to miss the baby shower, but the gift has been made and waiting for delivery. I can finally show you the pics since Becca and I met for lunch on Tuesday and she opened her gift. Here is the prayer frame I made for baby Sa'Mya: I used TGF stamps, SU! papers, top note die and cloud cut outs, as well as my copic markers to put this whole thing together. Since the nursery has a lamb theme, I stamped and colored a couple additional lambs for the bottom of the frame:

This stamp set from TGF is called Shepherd boy. I think it is so adorable. Here is a close up of the cloud cut outs from Stampin Up. They are from the fairy tale cut out collection (I forget it's real name):

And here is a close up of Angel Anya. Can you see the glitter all around her and on her wings?

The prayer is printed out onto very vanilla cardstock and says "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, May Angels watch me through the night, And wake me with thy morning light. Amen." I used to say a similar prayer when I was little, and my son has a prayer like this above his bed. I think I'll be making one for Angel too, just to keep the tradition going, and it was a lot of fun! I've noticed that I really enjoy making 3D items like these frames and little boxes and such. I have some really cool boxes to show you another day that I am super excited about, but I'm keeping those for my Design Team entry so you can't see them yet...

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's post. I've noticed that my hit counter has been going up incredibly slow, and the comments have dwindled as well. Where is everyone? lol!

On another note, did you notice the Stamp Out Alzheimer's widget? The donations have EXCEEDED the second goal!!! It is truly amazing that there are so many caring, giving people out there. Thank you to everyone who has donated and gotten involved in this great cause. My challenge, Not A Card Button Challenge, has gotten a few entries. It's going to be fun picking the winners and sending them their goodies! The event runs until the end of the month, so if you want to join us there is still time.

Until next post, be blessed!

SOA ROCKS!

Hey there Friends! Do you see how close we are to reaching our SECOND goal for Stamp Out Alzheimer's??? Less than $500 away! Amazing! I am so happy that so many people have participated in this event. And to think it went from a handful of stampers last year, to a whole community of stampers this year is Great! I haven't heard from any of you as to whether or not you have been participating. If you've joined the SOA site, have you done any of the challenges to win any of the prizes? There are SO many prizes to be had, both from the challenges and the daily giveaways! And there is free stuff too! I plan on using one of the freebie templates today to make a cupcake box. Hopefully I will find the time.
On a different subject, I have two cards to show you that I made for some challenges with TGF stamps. First up is the card I made for the Case of the Curious Card Challenge on Splendid Stamping with the Greeting Farm blog: This card came together quickly, once I got the image colored. I wanted the colors to be a little "off" and not to realistic (for me anyway). And the embellishments were fun to make. I colored a SU! crocheted flower to make it greyer and sewed a little button in the center. Then I threaded some little Prima flowers with (uh, what's that stuff called?) knitting floss or something? Anyways, after those, I punched out a heart for above the crochet flower. Also,I cut a design out of patterened paper for the scalloped edge behind the image. Here is a totally different style of card for another TGF challenge:

This summery mermaid card was for the "I wanna be like..." Ohio Mary challenge on the Club Anya Blog. Ohio Mary's card was bright and summery so I used those colors as well. Mermaid Anya has been stamped and waiting for a card, so I finally colored her in an "orangey" color palette for this card. I didn't win either of the challenges, but that doesn't bother me much since I love participating in TGF events! Speaking of which, Marie is having anothe design team call right now for The Greeting Farm. This time around she threw in a twist to use Orange or Yellow on the cards! I am definitely going to be trying out the for team. One of these days I WILL make a DT, hopefully Marie's!

Until next post, be blessed.

The Aftermath!

First, I want you all to take a gander over on my right sidebar and see how CLOSE we are to reaching our goal for SOA!!! Praise God! I know we'll meet our goal before the event even kicks off on Monday! And I was emailing back and forth to Jen (Jen Tapler, SOA founder) and she thinks we'll DOUBLE our goal, just like I said yesterday! I can't wait to see our final total! Please join us in this wonderful cause by clicking on the widget on the sidebar or by going HERE to find out all about the event.
Well! Yesterday was quite the interesting day! We had a decent day, until the evening rolled in. As some of my Facebook friends know, we had a Major Hailstorm! It was CRAZY! I'd never seen something like it. It just rolled in, made a distasterous mess, and rolled on out. Here's a pic of Andrew holding a piece of hail:That was not the biggest one we saw! And here are some pics of what the hail did:

Those are HOLES pelted right into the doors and roof of our shed. Here is a pic of the PVC drainage pipe for one of our airconditioning units:

There were several little pieces of the pipe on the ground. Here's a pic of the shutters of one of my neighbor's house:

You may need to click on the photo to see upclose, but those are holes in the shutters that the hail made! Here's a pic of the street, Via San Giacomo, that leads into our little neighborhood:

It looks like a tornado went through! And for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of the storm as it was happening! You'll see Ashton at the end of the video freaking out a little. He did NOT like the storm at all!

As you can see, it was quite the ordeal. Some of our neighbors have shattered windshields and dented cars. David was on base with our truck, so we had no damage to it at all. Luckily, everyone is fine and all the broken stuff is replaceable. Well, that's all the excitement for today. Hope you all have a grat Memorial Weekend!
Until next post, be blessed!

News to Share and Pretty Pictures

Happy Friday! The kiddos had half a day of school today and Monday they are off, so hopefully we'll have a fun-filled weekend ahead of us. We're waiting to see if David has weekend duty before we make any plans. Well, want to know my news? I'm going to be a Challenge Host for Stamp Out Alzheimer's! I'm so excited that I get to participate in helping this great cause. I wanted to do more than just donate some money and participate in the challenges, so I asked Jen if I could be a challenge host. Since I have some extra goodies stashed away for giveaways, I was able to join in! You'll have to wait until opening day to find out just what all the challenges are! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a little blurb I stole off the SOA website's main page:
"Welcome to Stampin' Out Alzheimer's and Thank you for participating in this event. It's going to be a fast-paced, fun-filled week with amazing giveaways and a chance to reach out and make a difference for a very worthwhile cause. At the end of this event, 100% of the funds raised will be donated directly to the Alzheimer's Association to help with their efforts to provide and enhance care and support for all those affected by this heartbreaking disease."
In case you want more info, or if you want to join in the fun, you can go to the SOA website HERE or click on the widget on my right column and you can donate to the cause. We are SO CLOSE to reaching our $2500 goal! I know we'll hit it and go WAY beyond! I'm making a predication of doubling our goal! YEP! I think we'll hit a $5000 donation! I really hope you all help out with this cause, even if it's just a $5 donation or just spreading the word through emails or blogs! Everything helps get us one step closer to eliminating this horrific disease. Now, on a lighter note, Italy is blooming! As we drive around, I see all kinds of beautiful things I want to share with you all. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. First up, some gorgeous roses from a neighbor down the road:


And here is a Lily bush from a neighbor across the street from the roses!
And here is our house. Please excuse the ugly, grey, rolling shutters:
I was able to get a bunch of free flowers from a local nursery so I have a ton of them in pots decorating the front of the house. In the two top windows are some rectangular pots with marigolds in them. To the side of the front door are a couple more pots. One is hanging around the drain pipe and has marigolds in it and here are the two on the ground:
Those leafy baby bushes are going to get HUGE and need to each be in their own pot. Right now there are about 5 in the pot! I love the deep two-tone colors on the leaves. I don't know what those flowers in the other pot are called but they are going to grow into HUGE bushes too so eventually I will need to repot them as well. When I got them, none of them were in bloom so I took the nursery lady's word that they would bloom into pretty flowers, and they have! The petals are all gorgeous ad different. Some are two toned even! Here is my little potted garden at the other end of the carport:
It's the same setup as the ones by the door. Well, I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of Italy and I hope to hear that you all joing our SOA event!
Until next post, be blessed.
ETA: if you want to see any of the pictures closeup, you should be able to click on them for a bigger view. BUT, if you are reading this post on your emil, you will first have to actually go to my blog. Hey, if you do you will see my pretty background and hear my fantastic music!

A monochramatic Angel

Hey there friends! How are you all this fine Thursday? I meant to post yesterday but the day just got away from me. Well, I had quite a happy surprise on Monday evening when I opened up the Club Anya blog! THIS project was posted on the blog!!!

I couldn't believe it! One of my creations was featured on the CA blog!!! And I had just posted it to the TGF gallery just a couple hours before! Well, here it is for you all to see. I originally made this little notebook for the Monochramatic challenge during the Club Anya release, but I didn't get it done in time to post for the challenge. I posted anyway and I'm glad I did. I paper pieced Angel Anya's bow and dress, colored her with Copics, cut out circles with my circle cutter and stamped "wonderful" onto the circle. Oh, and I added a little prima flower with a brad in the middle to add some "prettyness". The notepad was actually copied from a $1 notepad I bought at the BX a little while ago. I think it's 10.5 inches by 3 inches and scored around 4 & 4.25 and again at 8 & 8.25. But don't quote me on that! Here's a pic of the top flap opened:

I put a little panel of DP here just to decorate it a little. See the magnet on the top flap? I stole that off the original notepad. There's a little piece of metal between the panel of DP and the grey paper. Here's the second flap opened:

I stole the notepad paper from the original cover too! Sure, it doesn't really match, but it fit and I like it! Well, I hope you liked my little notebook.

Tomorrow I have some exciting news to share, and some pics of random pretty stuff too!

Until next post, be blessed.

A lot to share!

Hi all! As my title says, I have a lot to share this Monday. First I want to let you know about some great causes going on right now. Dustin Pike is having his very first blog candy on his BLOG. But, you can't just leave a comment to enter to win, you need make something for a child on the POSTPALS site and send it to them! Then, post a pic of your creation on your blog or gallery and comment to Dustin' blog about it, and there you go! You'll be sending smiles to a child who could use one, and you're entered to win some yummy candy from Dustin! Just hop over to his blog and read the instructions if you want to enter.
Also, Jen Tapler from Jen Tapler Designs has teamed up with Susanna Boyd from Paper Craft Planet for her annual Stamping Out Alzheimer's challenges! I participated in Jen's first SOA event last year because it is a cause near to my family and it was fun! I actually won last year, but the postal system gobbled up my prize... Anyway, go HERE and read all about it. I already donated and registered, now I'm eagerly anticipating opening day for the website so I can get busy with all the fun! I also have a widget on my right column if you want to donate from my blog. I don't get any extra credit or anything, but I thought it would be nice to have the widget there for easy access.
And finally, here's my card for today: I really love the way this turned out. I used a sketch from Club Anya's release party last week. I paper pieced Flutter Anya's outfit and wings, colored her skin with copics, and colored her hair with old olive ink using a blender pen. The flourish in the upper right-hand corner is from Stampin' Up's Yummy stamp set (I think that's what it is called) and traced over with a green sakura glaze pen. The DP is Amy Butler and the rest is Stampin Up paper (oh, actually the top note die and punched sentiment panel are from the cardboard backing that comes with Stampin' Up! DP). I hope you all like my card and have a wonderful Monday.
Until next post, be blessed.

Muddy Smiles

Hi All! No, the title of this post does not mean I'm going to show you a picture of one of my kids with a muddy smile, lol! I have a muddy card and a smiley card to show you today. First up, a muddy monster truck! I had a ton of fun making a "boyish" card with this image. I got this image for FREE from Dustin Pike's blog! If you haven't yet discovered Dustin Pike's arwork, you have to hop over to his BLOG and check it all out. His stuff will soon be in rubber stamps! So cool! Ok, so here is a close up of the coloring on the truck:
I used my colored pencils and OMS to color these images again. Here is the Smiling monkey!
LOL! I think this image is hilarious! The first time Andrew saw it he said "What the heck???" Cuz he didn't know why the monkey was smiling so big I guess. I decided this image needed "smile" as the sentiment, and I've had these letter beads forever, so I put them on some twine and made a cool sentiment! Here' a closeup of my coloring on my happy monkey!
I hope you all liked the cards today. We have a busy Saturday ahead of us so I know I won't be posting tomorrow. We have 2 baseball games and a farewell bbq. And I have to prepare something to take for the bbq. I'm thinking a big plate of fruit will be nice. Hopefully the weather will be good too. Today is grey and rainy but yesterday was sunny and warm. You just never know what Spring in Italy will bring you! Oh, and the Primavera Bazzaar is in Hangar 3 on base! I helped set up yesterday and there is some GOOD stuff for sale over there. I hope we get a chance to shop.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and leave me a comment so I know you stopped by, k?
Until next post, be blessed!

Hello Hello!

Well, internet sucks here! I have access right now, but it keeps disappearing so I don't even know if I'll be able to post this. BTW, Jan has already read "The Devil Wears Prada" so guess what, it's yours Krystal!
Here are a couple cards made with digital images. This first one is an adorable turtle from Squigglefly: I colored him with Koh-n-oor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. The papers are all from Stampin' Up and the "Hey You" sentiment is from The Greeeting Farm. Here's a digital image from Dustin Pike:

Dustin draws the most adorable dragons! This is one of his FREE digital images that you can find on his blog HERE. Colored with the same pencils, sentiment from TGF again, and everything else is SU! Last but not least, my yummy Angel baby:

She's saying "What?" LOL! She is now tall enough to grab things off the table if they are close enough, as we discovered Sunday morning. Oh, and she LOVES peanut butter! LOL! Well, that's it for today. I better get this posted before I loose my internet connection.

Until next post, be blessed!

Happy Mother's Day! And the winners are...

Hey there peeps! Sorry for being MIA the last couple days. I had full intentions of posting the winners of the books on Friday evening, but we lost our internet connection! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We still don't have it back 100%, but that's boring blah blah blah, so I won't bother you with all that. So I had Andrew draw some names out of his baseball mit and the winners of the books are:
NICOLE: you get "Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg" (I bet Jaqui would love it as a bedtime story,and the pictures are gorgeous)
CARIN: "Hannibal Rising" (I hope you haven't read it yet, you reader!)
JULIE: "Me & Emma" (I didn't rig this, lol, promise! I hope you like it-don't forget to have tissues close by.)
JAN: "The Devil Wears Prada" (I hope you haven't read this also, Jan. Please email me with your address. And if you've seen the movie, the book is so much better!)
Well, I hope you all enjoy the books and the bookmarks. Hey Krystal, I don't have anymore bespectacled Mooses, but I can make you a bookmark anyway! OR... What do you all think of these?

This adorable deer is from The Greeting Farm. The paper is Basic Grey. I colored her with my Copics. Here we have Tink from TGF on Basic Grey papers and a sentiment from Starving Artiststamps:

And finally another Deer and more Basic Grey:

Anyone want one of these adorable bookmarks? I figure that I need to start sending my stuff out since it's just accumulating in my stamp room and with my limited square footage I should share my creations! So, let me know if you want one... first three request get them! Oh, and let me know which you want. I've made a few cards WITHOUT TGF stamps, so come back tomorrow to see some of those! YEA! Oh, and I have some adorable pics of a yummy Angel Baby to show you too....
Until tomorrow, be blessed!

It's Friday Already?!?!

Wow, this week is already over! It hasn't necessarily been a fast week, but I feel like I missed out on a couple days somewhere! I thought I had posted on Wednesday, but it must have just been a dream since there is no post here. LOL! Well, today is the day I said I'd let you all know who gets which book, but I'm going to do that later. For now I'm going to leave you with a couple pics. This first one was taken on our way home from a canceled baseball game a couple weeks ago. The game was called on account of lightning, and on our drive home we saw this: That's HAIL! It wasn't even all that cold and yet there was hail. Also, there was only hail for about half a mile! Wierd Italy weather, I tell ya! And here's a pic of my latest Rock Star Anya card:
I stamped and colored this RockStar a long time ago when I was making my trading cards and she's been hanging out on my desk ever since. I decided she needed a card to call home, so I whipped this up really quick.
I hope you liked the short post and I'll be back later with the giveaway list! If you haven't commented to get a book, scroll down and do that quick!
Until then, have a blessed Friday!

Believe in Magic

Happy Monday all! It's a nice quiet day around here. I dug in the dirt and fixed up a little garden I have in my yard, I put dinner in the crock pot, and I cleaned up the house... now I'm just relaxing and enjoying my Monday evening! I hope you all have a nice Monday as well.
Here's the card I made a few days ago for a CASE challenge: The card didn't come out as planned AT ALL. I really wanted to use these Basic Grey patterned papers with Tink the Fairy because they seem "fairy-like" to me. Well, I got this far and just couldn't figure out where to go next. So I just left it! I think it came out ok, just not as originally planned. And Tink is colored and layered about 5 times! I think the technique is called paper toile, but I'm not sure so don't take my word for it. The picture doesn't show the depth of the image at all... sorry about that.
And just to leave you all with something perfectly adorable to look at, here's my Angel Baby enjoying her Pink Sunglasses:

She loves those things! LOL! Thanks for stopping by, and if you haven't left a comment on the previous post for a free book and bookmark, scroll down!

Until next post, be blessed.

Happy May Day!

It's May Day! How are you all enjoying this springy day? We've been outside a lot today and I've decided it's the perfect day for a giveaway! First up, bookmarks that I made using an image NOT from The Greeting Farm, lol!
I received these adorable bookworm Riley images from an image swap I was in a long time ago. They have just been sitting in a folder being neglected so I decided I needed to use them. I promised Andrew that I would make a bookmark for him so this was the perfect opportunity. I colored the Riley's with my copic markers and used a bunch of scraps to put the bookmarks together. Andrew actually helped out by cutting the twine and setting the eyelets. So, about that giveaway... Want a book? LOL!

I have a few books that I've read, enjoyed, and would like to end on to new homes. You get a bookmark with the book too! First up there is "Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg" by Gail Carson Levine. Next we have:

"Hannibal Rising" by Thomas Harris. Then there is:

"Me & Emma" by Elizabeth Flock (such a great story, but be prepared to cry!). And finally we have:

"The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger. If you've seen the movies made from some of these books, the book is better! I loved reading these books, but it's time for the stories within the enlighten others' lives. So, want one? All you have to do is leave me a comment, tell other people about the giveaway, and come back on Friday, May 8th to see if one of them is yours! Actually, if you don't tell other people about my giveaway, that's ok. I'll still put your name in a hat to get one of the books. Also, if you have a preference of one book over another, let me know. I'm going to draw four names. The first name will get first choice, then second name-second choice, etc. OH! And before I forget, I discovered a new (to me) blog with amazing cards! And... she has a surprise giveaway going on. Her name is Trudy and her blog is True Gift's From the Heart. Go check her stuff out, you'll love her big cards (it looks like they are all 6x6 as opposed to the 4.25x5.5 cards that I usually make).

I hope to hear from a bunch of you! And how do you like the bookmarks? Thanks for stopping by and until next post, be blessed!