Sunday, August 31, 2008

can you believe it????



My son is 8 years old (young) today! What a wonderful 8 years it has been too. He is such a bright, brown-eyed wonder. He has such a passion for knowledge, learning and growing. Even better he uses it to grow closer in faith to God. He is truly a blessing. So here's to you my 8 year old. We love you!


Have an awesome Labor day weekend! -K

Friday, August 22, 2008

a little bling making...

I put down my paper, stamps and ink for a bit and decided to focus a little on some jewelry. I recently received these glass pendants and was waiting for inspiration to hit... well, it didn't neccessarily "hit" but I did get a bump ;) They were pretty fun to play around with ( I say that about most things I create with, it is all fun!

Not sure if I will be posting these on my Etsy (I am not doing to well there... could be since I don't post new things to often, which I would like to change) or if I will be sending these along to craft shows and see how they do there.
Anyway, here they are -(the one on the chain is a keeper for me I think!)
Thanks so much for looking! Have a great weekend, I plan too. Stampin Up! open house tomorrow and my husband is home all weekend!! -K

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Shop 'til you drop

Yesterday was school shopping day. It was fun, my daughter, MIL and myself headed up to St Cloud and did some serious shopping. I always seem to get crabby after a while just b/c the money goes so fast and there isn't much to begin with - but hey, I did score some great deals and that is always a smile maker.

Today, however, I am tuckered out. It could be from shopping or the fact that my dh has been away since last Wednesday. Without having that extra hand and support a mother can get real tired, real fast. So today I am taking it easy. I checked out Splitcoaststamper's weekly challenges so I didn't need to put in the effort of figuring out "what" to do, just how to do it. Lazy, but it works. You need to pinch time where you can get it.

Without further ado, or psycho-babble from myself, here are my 2 creations:
The first challenge it the color challenge:
I don't have alot of SU colors so I improvise and find the closest match. This card was kind of a quickie, not too much detail but turned out somewhat cute... or so I think ;)
(It is really a close to cocoa and not greenish as it appears... Supplies: bazzil cardstock, Unity's August KOM and Tiny Trinity stamps, copics, prisma colored pencils, diamond glaze, walnut ink pad. TFL!)

The second challenge was a sketch challenge:


Again, I apologize for the side view, I need to work on that... but I spend enought time on the computer the way it is! (supplies: Circle cutter, Unity Believe stamp set, copics, souffle gel pens, Pink Paisley, KI memories paper and other stuff ;) TFL!)



have a great rest of the week after all it is "hump day" --K

Monday, August 18, 2008

New Technique Monday Challenge

I have been learning/following/enjoying the challenges found over at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ and love having a goal in mind with the supplies listed to achieve that goal. It frees up all the time I would have used up just to come up with an idea and more or less figure out what supplies to use to make that idea work.


Today we were to create an "Acetate Treat Box." I needed a cute idea for a thank you to an awesome friend and her sister who just had a garage sale and let me add some of our things to it. All I had to do was mark our stuff and give it to my friend. They took care of the rest. Plus, I made out pretty well so I definetly needed a thank you. Today's challenge fits the bill.


You can find it here.


Here are my results:


pretty cute idea isn't it? (BTW, they are alot smaller than you might imagine...)
TFL! -K

(supplies: Unity KOM AUgust stamps, Paper Trey Ink stamps; directions from splitcoast stampers challenge post, bazzill paper, fiskars shape scissors, stickles, brown & black staz on ink, TLC181 stained glass technique from splitcoaststampers, etc... TFL again!)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

busy little bee

Well, I have had an awesome, fun, creative filled day! I love these kind. Plus, I didn't totally ignore my kids to do it so no guilt feelings squeezing out the fun of it. I completed several challenges listed here.
The first one is Roxie's sketch challenge Sc189:


I used Unity's Girl's Night out Stamps for this one








I then did the technique challenge TLC181 Stained Glass:


I used the new August KOM from Unity for this one






Finally, I did the color challenge using Taken

with Teal, Elegant Eggplants, & Old Olive (or at least colors I thought matched these...)



Here I used Unity's "two people in love" and the July KOM stamps








Also, here are some of the 21 Lo's I have been working on. It is so fun to look back on the kids and see how much they've grown. Now I am just aching to hold a baby, mind you I said just hold, not have.


(can you tell I still haven't figured out why some pics are "turned" - anyone?? )
Have a great night! I plan on it!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

missing in action

so where have I been? not that I have been missed ;) we have been busy doing more on the house to get ready for our addition this fall. After spending several weeks under the house we have now moved to the back of the house. See where I once had a wall? We took out a patio door and are putting in a door and a window along with beefing up the wall too for when we add on the second story addition. exciting but alot of work. Plus, I sometimes have a hard time working with my dh. I like to think I know everything, plus I am a wuss! So I am learning to be quiet and help out with what Nick asks... all the while keeping my wussy thoughts to myself. I am thankful we have a good friend who helps Nick out alot. Sometimes Nick forgets I am not as strong as he is. I mean, I can lift a couple kids, bags, groceries etc all in one load but carpentry stuff? Not so much.


Also, we have been busy with wrestling camp this week too. Only 2 nights and then the third (tonight) we had a BBQ at the coaches. The kids had a blast and I have to say I had fun chatting with the other parents. It is always fun to get to know the parents more and know who your kid's friends come from. This is a pic of Walker who happened to open a scab - the coach wrapped his head in tape.


Walker looked pretty tough wrestling with this around his head. Tyler convinced him on the way home, however, that his hair was going to come off when we took the tape off. Walker was pretty worried, I reassured him though. That is until Nick started taking the tape off and exclaiming, "oh no, your hair is missing!" It all worked out though, the hair is still there, in fact it needs a trim...


I will have some more posts this weekend as I have been busy working on my "2000" pictures for scrapping to empty out the box. I think I have over 15 Lo's done! Yeah - when I finish my 2000 pics I will only be 8 years behind. :P (gotta look at the bright side!)


Thursday, August 7, 2008

first sketch

I did it... I created my first sketch. Was I supposed to create the card first? Well, that is what I did. Backwards, yes I am. (kind of Yoda-ish talk, if you aren't a Star Wars fan you won't get it)
Anyway, I used some awesome SunSpirit embellishments to create an ATC, then used that card as a focal point on a card. Here are the results:

(products: SSS ATCs and copper circles, souffle pen, colored pencils, white stamping ink, SSS "many Thanks" stamp, fiskars edge scissors, provo craft paper, beads and art warehouse graphic flowers stamps)

Notice the cool copper circles with the beads? Those are the embellishments I am talking about.

From this card, I had an idea. Brace yourselves... these can cause trouble sometimes. However, in this case you should feel fairly secure. My idea was to sketch this card, then create a scrapbook page using the same idea. You can see the results of that here.

FYI last nights Vacation Bible School program was a hit. The kids did awesome. We sang, prayed, ate and played. Great combination. Here is my contribution to the hotdog roast/potluck. By the way, is it backwards to say that potluck is my favorite meal. Is that even grammatically correct? Well, we know where I stand on grammar. So if anyone cares, potluck is my favorite meal, however, backwards that may seem or sound. Thank you , thank you very much.


Ah shoot! Did you notice the time? Supper again... did I mention cereal is my second favorite meal? (I hope my family feels the same)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

He said, "I love you" first...

That is what my kids learned today about their dad. We sat and talked, or rather they sat, I talked about when I was dating their dad, when they were born, how when I had Mallory I decided being a mom was alot tougher than I first thought... they could have had me go on and on and on... wow, I don't think I have ever had an audience as captive as they were today. They listened for at least an hour about Nick and I, them etc. Pretty fun.


I finally created something today... one card. Hey, it's a start. I get these juices flowing, then look up after my attention has been soley on my work and realize I have to stop. now. right now and get supper started, then on to Vacation Bible School. Pop! Fizz! there goes my flow I just got going... oh well, maybe later.


I thought I would share a pic of my copics too and how they look so pretty sitting in front of me. I figure maybe they will make me want to stamp and color and scrap and create... or just keep looking at them and my color chart hanging above them (aren't I organized? :) and the empty places that need more colors :) ( I know, too many "ands" but that is the way I am rolling, remember supper? I still need to get to it so grammar is out the door, sorry)


all right, all right, my kids are hungry, Nick is due home soon and I am still sitting in yuck clothes and need to be a bit more presentable before VBS in 30 minutes - wait a sec! 30 minutes ! oh boy! gotta go.... K