Monday, March 31, 2008

Strawberry Pie!!!

I had an idea for a card with a pie plate....and this is how it turned out! Are you hungry now???




I used Stampin' Up!'s Tart and Tangy set with real red and pretty in pink paper. The satin ribbon is from Papertrey Ink and the red gingham is from Stampin' Up! What do you think about the foil idea??


I made this card over the weekend and forgot to post it on my blog. I love how this turned out and I'm anxious to make one for a little boy too!


Our Little Sweet Pea!



I got to scrapbook the other day and I did a page using my "Sweet Pea" paper and also my "Green Thumb" stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I'm thinking about getting out my stamps to work on Ava's birthday invitation, but I'm running on very little sleep due to Ethan's radiation appointment time this morning. We left at 4:00 and got home around 12:00. Tomorrow we leave at 5:00 instead. Only 11 more day of this so I can handle it!






Here's a quick peak at my Sweet Pea Pages! The swirl part is just cut out free hand and then I use that as my template to cut the next piece. So I cut the patterned paper first, then the minty color and then my white. It adds some depth to the pages I think. I love ribbon so of course I had to tie on some pink to finish it off!

I tried something new today with my pictures. I placed an order from Shutterfly. I also ordered the same pictures from Wal-Mart to make a comparison. I'm hoping that I like Shutterfly just as well or better because I'm in the search for a new place to order pictures from......for a few reasons. So if you have any helpful advice on a place to order pictures via the internet, let me know! Enjoy and Happy Monday!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Hanging Out!!!



Here's my attempt at Beate's weekend sketch http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/



I originally wanted to do some monkeys on a teter totter, but the card got way too busy! So I ended up with the monkey hanging out in the tree. This set is called Monkey Love from All That Scraps http://allthatscraps.com/ I bought this set while I was in the hospital with Ethan and am finally using it for the first time. The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink. http://www.papertreyink.com/index.html This is one of my favorite places to shop!!! I just got some new paper and ribbon from them today and it is all beautiful.
Thanks for taking a look at my creations. We had a really fun day, especially this afternoon. Here are some pics from playing outside with the kids! This weekend is kind of the calm before the storm so to speak. Monday Ethan begins his radiation treatments. We have to be there at 7:00 in the morning and we live 2 1/2 hours away....what fun! He has 12 treatments total. Hopefully all will go smoothly. Please keep Ethan in your prayers.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sweet Smiles!



So I did take some time the other day and got to do some scrapbooking. I grabbed Ava's 2nd album....pictures are all loaded, but nothing scrapped yet. I now have 2 finished layouts! The first one is a technique I've never tried before and I can't wait to get my new Papertrey Ink paper because I'm going to make a card for their contest like this. I love this Almost Amethyst color so guess what we'll probably be using next stamp club!!! I made a card with the same technique as the scrapbook page. The right picture is a close-up of my title. You can click on any of the images to see them larger too!


Take your patterned paper, either 3 or 4 designs and cut about 1 1/2" squares for the scrapbook and layer in a grid and for the card I used 1 1/4" squares for the same effect. What do you think?

As you can see, all is well here. We have to week off and start radiation probably next Monday. Ethan is having a ball being at home and so is Ava. Ava is quite the Mama's girl anymore! I don't mind though.





Here's Ethan in his new giraffe rain coat and Ava in her bug rain coat......they love to wear these, even if it isn't raining!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Weddings, weddings, and more weddings!

This is the year for weddings in our family. My husband's brother is getting married and so is my brother. One is in May and the other in July and the kids are in both of them. Dave is in his brother's wedding and all of us are in my brother's. It will be so much fun. Lots of showers and fun times to be had. We need that after the year we have all been through.


I'm working on invites and programs right now, so I can't share until after their big day, but I can share the one shower invite I'm working on. It's very simple, but very elegant I think. What do you think?


We've had a good day here. We tried going outside, but it's just a little too chilly. The kids were all dressed and ready to go and even got their bubbles out, but it only lasted about 5 minutes and then we headed back in. Ethan had his friend Annabelle come over to play today so that was fun. They are both down for naps now.....so shhhhh, don't tell Dave, but I think I'm going to scrapbook! I haven't gotten to do that in forever! I'll see what I get done!


Have a great week!

Friday, March 21, 2008

EASTER BLESSINGS!



What wonderful news we got yesterday about our son, Ethan. He is in COMPLETE REMISSION! THANKS BE TO GOD! We will definitely have a wonderful Easter.


Here's a card I did for Beate's Weekend challenge and another that I did for the Splitcoast Wednesday Sketch Challenge.


Hope everyone has a BLESSED EASTER!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Whoo Hoo!!!

I got to play a "little" with my new stamp set. I really like this owl and can think of a lot of things to make with it. I think the owl would look cute with some wire glasses, but the kids are ready to play with Mommy so the owl had to go without. We're getting ready to dye Easter eggs today so that should be fun......I'll hopefully get some good pics.
Ethan will be getting scans this Thursday and Friday and will start radiation soon after. Please keep him in your prayers. The kids are both doing good and wearing me out! Spring is almost here! We can't wait.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Happy Saturday!

Here's my "newest" favorite pictures of our kids. Doesn't Ethan look good! He's eating like crazy and has non-stop energy! GO ETHAN GO!!

Today I got out with my Mom to go shopping for clothes for the kiddos. It was fun and I'm sure I got more than enough clothes for them! Ava tried on some new pajamas straight out of the box when I got home. It was too cute. She had them on tags and all. She loves clothes.....I wonder where she got that from.

Since we've been home we've been having a ton of fun. Ethan has been in a super mood and is doing great. I'll attach a couple pics of the kids playing outside. They've been outside everyday since we've been home, expect today. Go figure. It was nice enough out yesterday to wear short sleeves and no coat and today it snowed and sleeted. That's the midwest for you.





Also I tried entering the Papertrey Ink Guest Stamper contest http://www.papertreyink.com/index.html . I didn't win, but I will share with you what I made. I'll try again next month. Tomorrow I'm going to try to finish unpacking and grab my box of Easter decorations. I'm ready for spring. I changed out my wreathes today and it already makes the house look brighter! Monday is St. Patrick's Day so don't forget your green!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

BERRY SWEET!!!

This is my first card using Tart and Tangy from SU's Occasional Mini Catalog. I really like this set and love how the card turned out. This is what we will be making at stamp club. Sorry Jenny, we have to cut out some strawberry tops! I used the new wild wasabi ribbon too and it is really cute. Hope you enjoy!

WE ARE COMING HOME..............TOMORROW! THANK GOD!
Monday is the BIG DAY! We are so ready and can't wait to get out of here!
Here's the kids playing yesterday! We hadn't seen Ava in 2 weeks so it was so nice to see her!


Friday, March 7, 2008

ALWAYS

This card is my attempt at Beate's Weekend Sketch. This will probably be my last one for a while anyway. We are supposed to be getting out of the hospital on Monday! THANK GOD! Today is day 25....do I need to say more? I will be busy, busy I'm sure once I get home doing just the everyday things. So I won't be stamping near as much, but hopefully getting to spend a lot of fun quality time with the kiddos! I know we are all looking forward to a little normalsy in our life!
CARD RECIPE
Stamps: Always (Stampin Up)
Paper: Target Patterned Paper, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Inc.), Rose Red (SU)
Ink: Rose Red

Here are some pictures of Ethan from today. We're busy fighting with him trying to get him to eat a little. He's been in a really good mood so that is a plus. We're all just so ready to get home!


Here's a picture of our Chicky at our friends house. Rosie took these pictures. We haven't seen Ava in about 2 weeks now so we really miss her. Isn't she just a cutie!


Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Dancing in the Rain!

I saw this sketch on http://jessica-thereshegoes.blogspot.com/

The sketch is SC166 is you are an avid Splitcoast Stamper "looker". This is Papertrey's Everyday Blessing set again. I just love it and the words are so pretty that you don't really need anything else with it. Hope you enjoy. Isn't it so true that you should stop and

DANCE IN THE RAIN!

May the Lord Bless and Keep you


I finally got my new set from Papertrey Ink. I just love it. It is the new Everyday Blessings set and it is just beautiful. The crosses are so pretty and the verses are just wonderful. I made one as a sympathy card to send out and one for a friend who has relapsed with her cancer. I have to say that I'm really getting to like these clear stamps. I was hesitant at first, but I guess it is what you get used to. If you haven't been to Papertrey's website you should. Here's the link: http://www.papertreyink.com/index.html Also check out the owner, Nichole Heady's website too: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/ She is a very talented designer and her ideas are endless. Hope you enjoy my creations.





Card Recipe: Everything is from Papertrey (minus the pearls)
Stamps: Everyday Blessings
Paper: Aqua Mist Cardstock, Everyday Blessings Patterned Paper
Ink: Aqua Mist
Ribbon: Aqua Mist 5/8" Grossgrain
Pearls are from Hero Arts www.heroarts.com




Monday, March 3, 2008

This is the second card I attempted today. My first one didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I keep getting started and then figuring out that what I wanted to use is at home. I really like the color combo that I used with this card. It's certainly celery, barely banana and groovy guava. I thought that groovy guava was close enough to cameo coral that it wouldn't matter, but it's much lighter so I decided to use rub-ons. I'm really getting hooked to these. If you don't have any yet you should try these out. This is the link to the sketch challenge that I did this card for.



Ethan is doing good again today. He even ate a whole container of Yoplait yogurt. We just need for his counts to come up so we can go home. Now it almost seems like a dream that we are still here. The walls are more than caving in. We are trying to keep our chins up, but it is hard. As long as the days go uneventful as they have been though we can deal with being home sick.


Enough about me being home sick. I better get to bed....it's after 1:00 and I'm still up typing away! Thanks for looking!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Baby Elephant!




I had this idea to make some really simple baby cards with the Wild About You set. Well, my simple card turned out a little more detailed than I had planned. Oh well, it's still cute!
The other picture is of my cards I've been making while cooped up in the hospital for Ethan's transplant. I can see these as I sit on the couch and it gives me a little inspiration.
We've been here for 20 days now. Now we are just waiting on Ethan's counts to come back up. Hopefully we'll be home by the end of the week. Ethan did get unhooked today so Dave and I played hide and seek with him. He's too funny because he always tells us where he is hiding and he giggles when we start to look for him. Oh how I want to be home so we can be playing this with Ava too. All in good time!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Onsie Card!


I thought I would make one for a boy. It is really a lot easier to make than it looks and didn't take very long to make at all. Just one piece of white card stock, a little bit of certainly celerly, a scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, paper cutter and some scissors and you have it! I really want the set by Papertrey Ink http://www.papertreyink.com/stamps_greenthumb.html I think the pea pod would be adorable and then put "Sweet Pea" under it. I keep trying to order this set and it says it isn't available. You should see Ethan's hospital room. I have hung up all the cards I have made since I've been here on the wall. It gives me a little inspiration to be creative! They better let us out of here soon or I'm going to run out of wall space!

Today is Saturday and it is oh so quiet in the hospital. Ethan is running a little bit of a fever so he is a tad crabby. He doesn't want to play with Daddy or Mommy. This is day 19 and we are definitely ready to come home. Maybe by next week his counts will come up enough so that we will be able to leave. Hopefully spring is just around the corner and by the time we get home we'll be able to walk outside each day and let the kids play on their swings and slide. HOME SWEET HOME! Oh how "sweet" those words sound to us right now. Hope you enjoy this new little onsie card. I'm sure I'll be making some more fun stuff this weekend.

While Dav'es away......I go to Hobby Lobby!

Dave and the oldest two went to the cold Homecoming football game.  So Em and I decided to eat supper with my parents and make a trip to Hob...