OWH Sketch Challenge

The Sketch

First of all let me say I am so sorry about the poor quality photo.  I am having camera issues.  I gave my trusty snap and shoot to my son to take with him to Germany.  I can not locate my cable for my Rebel, I am sure it was shipped, but I haven't come across it yet. I am SURE it was shipped!  Oh, my.  Anyway, so I went and dug out an older point and shoot that actually seems like a dinosaur.  Have you noticed that, you get something new and sleeker and trimmer and then go grab the old (5 yrs old) point and shoot and that sucker feels like it weighs a ton.  Anyway, I remember - now - why we got the newer little point and shoot.  I think 3 years of red outback dirt got clogged in the works, not to mention that my, then, 2 year old niece managed to rip part of the automatic lens cover off.  Sooooo, you get this slightly fuzzy, out of focus shot of my super cute card that I made for the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps challenge they posted on Sunday. Well after all that rambling, I hope you enjoy my little offering.

Have a good one,

T.

Scraps

 This is a pile of scraps..... what to do.  DON'T throw them away.  With one little pile you can do amazing things.  Like this

If you want to make one of these super cute and super easy beauties watch the YouTube video by Jennifer McQuire and she will teach you how.

I literally made this lovely package topper in just minutes.  We were headed out the door for the Marine House gift exchange and I needed something to make my package feel more special.  

I think it turned out really lovely.  And believe me when I tell you that this little package received quite a few compliments. 

Go - have fun.  And remember that those little scrap piles can become things of beauty.

Secret Santa Gift

My son's 3rd grade class is doing a Secret Santa.  All last week they have been leaving happy notes for their chosen person. All the kids picked names out of a hat and Evan picked Emily.  On Wednesday they will do their gift exchange at their Christmas party.  Evan wanted to make a homemade gift.  We decided to make an activity book.

We went on-line and made word searches using their weekly spelling.  We also went to Crayola.com and printed up dot-to-dots, coloring pages and a crossword puzzle.  We interspersed the activity pages with some blank pages so that Emily can draw (Evan loves to draw and knew that blank pages were a must).

Working as a team we came up with this

 Ev chose all the paper colors, and cut all the paper to size.

 The word searches use weekly spelling words. We just pulled them from his planner.

 Crayola.com was a great source for additional activity pages and

coloring pages. There are also plenty of blank pages for Emily to draw, write or paint on.

This is the card that Evan made all on his own.  He stamped the images himself and he used his Cuttle Kids to make the dog.

I love that he wanted to make a handmade gift to give.  We really enjoyed the creative process and made a great team.

Because I just dug through my stash and scraps we made this project for basically nothing. Even the wire binding was a cut off from a previous project.  Easy-peasy lemon squeezey!

Deck'd 2

Birthday Card

The other night while I was cutting 22 pieces each of the parts needed for the snow globe ornament (see previous post) my daughter came to me before her bed time and asked if I could make Miss Joy (her teacher) a birthday card for the class to sign.  What's a mom to do?

So, I took a deep breath. Pushed one project aside and sat an had a think for a minute.  I decided to pull out my Cricut and make a quick and simple card for Miss Joy.  I wanted it to be quick and simple, but it also needed to be special. Miss Joy is a beautiful person inside and out.  And she is young and fashionable. The kids adore her.  I adore her for her teaching style and her ability to encourage each child in the class to reach their full potential. She is a dream teacher.

In honor of Miss Joy's birthday I made her this card.

I used the Forever Young Cricut cartridge, a white card base, some left over ribbon from my stash, and a piece of 8x8 paper from Cosmo Cricket's Hello Sunshine paper pad. The black is from Close To My Heart and came from my scrap pile. The white is also from my scrap pile and is Daisy White. 

Class Project

On Monday I have been invited to my daughter's 5th grade class to make a Christmas ornament.

I thought they could make little 'snow globes.' I dug through my stash and pulled out all my scraps of paper.

Using my BigKick and some Spellbinders Nestabilities I precut all my part.  A large scallop circle for the base, a ring for a spacer, a clear window and a decorative scallop ring to make it look pretty. 

I also die cut the Christmas trees. 

These are the samples that I have made for the class. The clear window is made using clear packaging from paper packs, sticker sheets, anything that is clear and can fit through a die cutting machine.

The kids will be putting the ornaments together, stamping the sentiment, Peace on Earth, and cutting up the 'snow'.  I decided I would skip the glitter. 

So, on Monday morning I will be teaching 22 5th graders about paper crafting and sharing why I love this hobby so much. 

Wish me luck!

  

A Good Read

I wanted to share some good news.  My brother-in-law has co-authored a book, In the Shadow of Ares. I am so proud of him.  He has worked on this for many years.  The story is a mystery adventure Sci-fi mix that is absolutely absorbing.  I am not a big fan of Sci-fi, but the story is so good that I had a  hard time putting the book down.  The book is available for you Kindle at Amazon.  I have put a link below.

In the Shadow of Ares (Amber's Mars) [Kindle Edition] Thomas L. James (Author), Carl C. Carlsson (Author)

With thanks,

T.

More Olivia

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving. There is much to be grateful for.

This will be our first Thanksgiving since we moved to Cyprus. This will be our 9th Thanksgiving that will be celebrated overseas.  Although we would love to be home, we have found that these Thanksgivings, spent so far from home, are often the ones that are the most memorable.  

This year we will be hosting the feast at our house.  We have 3 other families that will be joining us.  We have a tradition that has followed us where ever we go.  We have everyone hold hands, we go around the room and each person shares what they are thankful for.  We open our hearts to receive the blessings of new friendships and share in the rejoicing of thankful and grateful  hearts.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

The Possibilities!

As you know I move a bit.  And like many of us mobile families the challenge in every new house is to turn it into a home.  One of my favorite things is to personalize my space.  And over the years I have discovered that vinyl lettering is fantastic for that.  I can litterally rub a word or a saying onto the wall and when it is time to move on you simply peel it off.  Landlords will never know you had beautiful decor on the wall.

Can you imagine if you could make your own personlized, just the way you want it rub on decals for your walls. Well go check out Thrifty Decor Chick.  Right now she has a giveaway that would allow you to do just that.

Think of the all the possibilities.

Thanks for the Tissues

I made another tissue box, this time for Thanksgiving.  I love these little boxes. They are super cute and super easy to make.  I used Olivia paper and a few Organic Dimensional Elements.  The glittered letters were left overs from a make and take at a scrapbooking convention I attended in June.  The rosette I made was using a large Organic Dimensional Element as a base I pleated left over ribbon pieces and glued to the base then using a pop dot I adhered the mushroom dimensional.

For directions and a tutorial on how to make these tissue boxes follow this link

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/tissueboxcover/

Have fun and have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Thankful Banner

 I have all these naked walls.  Until my shipment arrives I have been trying to fine ways to add personality, our personality to the house, make it feel more like home.  And with Thanksgiving just around the corner I decided to make a Thankful banner.  We have this one, beautiful accent wall in red and I wanted something that would fill in the space a little.  I decided that I banner was just the ticket.  I pulled out the bits and pieces that I have with me and managed to put this sweet banner together.  I love it.  The picture just does not do it justice.  The twill ribbon holding the letter pieces came from a quilt that we bought at Target before we left.  The ribbon was wrapped around the quilt.  I knew I would find some useful purpose for it so I hung onto it. I decided to keep the project simple and made the letter bases 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  Easy.

 I have a bunch of these Organic Dimensional Elements in my stash and decided that they would look super cute on my banner.  The ribbon I glued to a large dimensional to make a flower.

 I also had in my stash some White Daisy Just Blooms paper flowers.

 Oh my goodness, I think these little mushrooms are stinkin' cute.

 Some more just blooms and a little organza ribbon.

Great Southern Land

When we lived in Australia we met the most wonderful and talented people.  One friend of ours is a videographer.  I invite you to check out his other videos over at Vimeo look under Chris Tangey.  Here is a music video that I love.  This was shot along the coast (the city scenes) and much of it was shot around Alice and Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock (the outback scenes).  Just FYI, Alice Springs is a town in the middle of the outback and Uluru is a 3 1/2 hour drive south from town.

Enjoy!


Great southern land-Warren H Williams from chris tangey on Vimeo.

Cherry-O

Last Thursday, on Veteran's day, I became an Auntie again!  I am so excited.  This is my middle sister's first baby. It is a little bitter sweet as I am so far away from my family right now. But I am amazed at how much I love that little munchkin already!  So, in honor of Holland Elizabeth (great name!) I made this little card to let them know how Stinkin' Cute I think she is.

I {love} this Cherry-O paper.  I think it is adorable and therefore, very appropriate to use as a card for Holland. I look at these cherries and just think sA-weet-ness!

I made my card base using white cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  I then cut 3/4 of an inch off of the front of the card.  I layered a scalloped piece of the pink stripe paper under and then used a piece of the chocolate cardstock to back the pink stripe.  I used a corner rounder to round my edges.  I love the simple, clean lines of the card.  I think it lets the paper show off all it's cuteness. 

Splendor

Here is another paper packet I 'gifted' to myself.  Hee hee!

I love it.

Enjoy!

Olivia

Hello Friends.

As many of you know I moved overseas in August.  Since, well, the day we packed out stuff to ship, way back in July, my crafty-scrappy life has been existing on what I managed to throw in a box and mail to myself all those months ago.  Which is just the basics.  I did indulge and ordered a few beautiful paper packs for myself.  One of  which is Olivia.  I uploaded a few photos to an on-line printer and waited patiently for my photos to arrive.  Some of which included these beautiful shots I took of my #2 child cuddling with my #4 child.  These are older pics going way back to 2005.  I love them.  The pictures were taken one night when I went to tuck my guys into bed.  Evan, my little guy, is famous for wanting to sleep with someone.  Shane my second child is famous for not wanting to EVERY sleep with anyone.  However, on this night, Evan was really charming and asked Shane if he could sleep with him tonight.  Shockingly Shane said yes.  I told my hubby I should take a picture of this cause it just doesn't happen often.  When I walked into the room Evan was telling Shane how much he loved him and all the reasons why.  As I wiped tears from my eyes I was able to snap these three shots, before the magic moment ended.

Zumba in the outback

Hello my friends.  I hope you enjoy this little video that my friend in Australia made.  I love it.  She filmed it in and around the town where we lived.  I am especially chuffed that she filmed after a rain because it is so green and in bloom, Spring down under.  Also you can see the river bed has a bit of water left from a recent rain.

Enjoy!

Tissue Box

As I shared previously I am desperate for some holiday decor and decided to make my own.  I came across this cute project over at Splitcoast Stampers.  You can find all the cutting dimensions here.

For my project I used the Hooligans level 2 paper pack and 2 of my favorite felt adhesive backed Hooligan shapes (Z1332).  This project was super easy and super quick.  

Enjoy!

There Once Was A Spider

Since I have no Halloween decorations or fall decorations I decided to make something. I cut the back off of a box and created this little Boo sign in honor of Halloween.  I think it turned out super cute.  

My favorite part is the spider.  I know I saw this somewhere so I can not take credit for originality.  However I can't remember where I saw it. Just know that I am a copy cat.  

Isn't that so CUTE.  The body and head are buttons.  The eyes are little orange brads.  The legs are brads put in upside down so when you spread the prongs they form the legs.  Super simple, but super cute. 

Have a good one. 

First Video

Okay, here we go.  This is my first video attempt.  It is definitely, uh - what's the word- ROUGH!   I have to say that I enjoyed my first attempt.  I hope you enjoy it, too.  

I used the Hooligans paper pack for the cards.  I made 6 cards using 1 sheet of black cardstock and only part, less than half of 3 B&T papers.  I have plenty leftover to make scrapbook pages and more cards. 

The card bases are white card stock cut to a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". 

Layer 1 - black cardstock cut at 4"x 5 1/4"

Layer 2 - purple dot B & T cut at 3 3/4" x 5"

Layer 3 - ha ha B & T cut at 3 3/4" x 1 1/2" and then punched into a scallop on one side

Layer 4 - funky stripe B & T cut at 3 3/4"x 2 1/2"

And this is how they look . . . 

Rituals

I am ready to scrap.  For me this is a major accomplishment.

I am a bit high maintenance when it comes to scrap time. Before we moved I homeschooled my four kiddos.  We would finish our school day and run through the chore jar to get the house in order.  And then I would escape down to my very own space.

Here my life is a little different.  My kiddos go to school, so I have free time.  However I am finding that I can not sit and scrap until the house in order.  And I don't have my plethora of tools and supplies (yet).  Nor do I have my own space (yet).  I'll admit that I was spoiled before (and still ;).

However there are a few rituals that I find are still consistent.

1)  A cup of tea - I love a cup of green tea to sip on while I find my creative flow.

2) A candle - I really enjoy burning candles.  Especially ones that smell so good.  Like this one Autumn Leaves.  Reminds me of home.

3) Music - I have to have music keeping me company.

So, tell me.  What are your rituals before you can get your craft on?  I know I can't be the only one who finds themselves mindlessly putting the kettle on, lighting a candle and turning on the iPod as they pull out there scrapping supplies and pretty paper.

Hooligans!

A little birthday card for my little niece.  She is definitely a star. She is also not a girly-girl.  I knew that this little monster was just her style.  I know she will LOVE it. 

Back On-line

Guess what?  I am connected.  The lovely guys from Cytanet showed up at my house on Thursday and got me connected.  Can you believe it?  I am so H A P P Y!

So, what was the first thing you think I did?  Well, actually the 3rd thing I did?  I went shopping.  I ordered some really great stuff from Close To  My Heart. A few things coming in my order are:

Olivia Level 2 paper packet...love this paper.  The clolors.  The patterns.  So pretty. 

Hooligans.  Is this just not so stinkin' cute.  I mean come on.  I had to have the Hooligans Level 2 Assortment of adhesive-back felt monsters to go with.  You know what I am sayin'. 

And the thing that is really getting me excited is the new How-To book Magic.  The Magic book will show me (us) how to bring inter-active elements into your layouts.  How cool!

All that gorgeous paper from the new Idea Book.  I can't wait to get my hands on it.  After I ordered my goodies, I uploaded all 587 pictures I have taken in the past month.  That took a few hours.

I also wanted to share a few photos from our first day out here in Cyprus.  We headed down to the coast and stopped in Limossal before touring an old Knights Templar castle (that was a winery) and then some Roman ruins.  Enjoy!

On the board walk in Limossal.  

Kolossi Castle.  Built by the Knights Templar a forbidding fortress that exemplifies medieval building skills.  Built to withistand attacks the walls are about 3 feet thick.  The Knights also made wine here. 

Okay the walls are more like 5 feet thick.  This is a window seat.  The windows were strategically set small to keep out heat, cold and arrows.

The view from the top of the castle looking inland north of Limossal.  Love that little chapel in the foreground.

We are now in Kourion.  The boys are sitting in an Roman amphitheater. Amazing!  This amphitheater is still used today for concerts, theater, jazz and classical events. And check out that view of the Mediterranean Sea.  Those Romans certainly knew the value in location, location, location.

I threw this pic in cause he's cute.  ;)

Also thought you could get a better view of the theater seating.  This amphitheater can seat 3,500.  Back in the day you would have watched gladiators go head to head with wild beasts or watched a Roman production of some farce or drama.  Cool!

This, to me, is awesome (okay, I am a geek - History major), we are looking at the tile mosaic from a Roman home.  I know the color is kind of blown out (sorry), but again, the view is stunning looking over the sea and farm lands.