Bits & Scraps Of My Life

Cards For Emily Blog Hop Day One!!!!!

2012-02-11T15:29:00.000-05:00

I won't even begin to tell you why I am so late getting my post up!!! How bout we just say the dog ate my homework????? Yeahhhhhhhhh that didn't fly back in school either!!!!

Soooooooooooooooo................... :):):)

Welcome to the Cards for Emily Blog Hop Day 1!!!

This is a 2 day hop so be sure to come back tomorrow for some more inspiration! :) (Hopefully I will be on time for this one!!)
If you came from Suzanne's blog then you are in the right place! If you just happened across my blog and are interested in the entire hop and Emily's story, start back at Michelle's blog at Scrappin' For Kenzie!

Emily is a sweet little 6 year old girl that has battled Leukemia since before Chrstmas 2011. She has had to endure more pain in a few short months than most adults in their entire life. She has gone from Leukemia to Rotavirus, to pancreatitis, to kidney stones, then to shingles, not to mention over 300 pokes in her tiny little body! From chemo to blood draws to feeding tube. Her bone marrow is finally at 0.00% so she is now in remission and back at home! She is still going through 7 different chemotherapy treatments but is finally doing better! To read her full story and updates please visit the original Cards for Emily info post HERE

For this hop all we ask is that you hop through the list, then when you are done, link up your card for Emily at Scrappin' for Kenzie. The link up tool is in the left hand side bar under "Cards for Emily". You will see her picture right above it.

REMEMBER: There is no requirement to leave comments or even hop through all of the blogs if you don't have time. There will be no personal candy at any of the stops along the way. That way you can get maximum inspiration to make your own card and have enough time to link it up and send it away!

There WILL be however a giveaway to one lucky winner that links up their card by February 29th 2012. You can link up as many cards/projects that you would like. The more you link up and send the more greater your chance is of winning a.....

$20 gift certificate to

Their etsy store has over 100 stamps to choose from!

Now on to my card for Emily!

Forgive the crappy photography!!! The dog seemed to have snarfed down my camera card as well so I am reduced to taking photos with my cell phone........doesn't matter that I don't have a dog!!! At the moment I don't have a camera card either.....lol

I always struggle with cards. Do not even come close to considering myself a "cardmaker". I'm getting better tho! I wanted something bright and cheery for Emily, but I don't really have a lot of girly type papers. I have a pad from Me & My Big Ideas called Celebration that has some fun pink in them, and even tho it is really a Birthday themed paper pack I thought it would make a cute card. Plus I had some adorable little dimensional cupcake embellies I found at Big Lots from American Crafts Remarks.

Yeahhhh that's my laptop......lol. Cmon!!! It's like 7 degrees outside today!!! I ain't goin out there :):)

I also used the tulle ribbon from Precocious Paper and the tiny type kinda letters are from My Little Shoebox.

Again, I apologize for the photo quality!!!

Thank you sooooo much for joining us in this great cause for Cards For Emily!! We REALLY REALLY hope you will participate and link up your card to put a smile on this very beautiful, very deserving little girl that Michelle is honored to call her niece. :)
Your next hop in the line up for day 1 is the lovely and talented Janessa!!! http://findtimetocreate.blogspot.com/

Happy Scrapping! Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Here is the line-up for Day 1 in case you get lost along the way. Be sure to come back tomorrow as we have all new projects and some new designers!

Michelle - http://scrappinforkenzie.blogspot.com
Faith Abigail - http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/
Amy - http://www.lovetocrop.com/
Elizabeth - http://visionsofpaper.blogspot.com/
Marie - http://ethansimprints.blogspot.com/
Michele - http://fishmememoriesandmore.blogspot.com/
Suzanne - http://cricutcraftingrammy.blogspot.com/
Tina - http://www.teenabugg.blogspot.com/
Jennasa - http://findtimetocreate.blogspot.com/
Teresa - http://scrappintplace.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/
Beckie - http://justbcreativecrazy.blogspot.com/
Karen - http://www.creationsbykw.blogspot.com/
Brenda - http://friendscraftinwithfriends.blogspot.com/
Charlotte - http://alittlebitofdetail.blogspot.com/
Robin - http://robinscreativecottage.blogspot.com/
Lisa - http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/

More candy at Crafty Carly's!!!

2012-02-06T12:07:00.003-05:00

WOW!! Did everyone do a clean out of their scraproom during the game last night or what??? lol Carly has a big whopping bunch scrappy goodies for some lucky person!!! And LOTS of ways to earn more entries too....easy peasy!!!!

Follow the yellow brick road....um, in this case the little linky button below :)

Best of luck!!!

Donna has some yummy blog candy up for grabs!

2012-02-06T12:00:00.002-05:00

Oh my!!! This is serious loot people!!! Especially if you are a stamper......look at all the pretties!!!!

And Never fear....lots of pretty paper and things too....this is a list of what she is so generously giving away.....

Sizzix Die - Decorative Label Set #4

Northern Lights Stamp Set - Stampin' Up

Growing Green Stamp Set - Stampin' Up

Swirls & Curls Verses - Stampin' Up

Unity KOM - Simply Magical

Unity Itty Bitties - Adventurous & Give You the Sea

Santa & Elf - Inkadinkado

Gemstone Insects - Inkadinkado

Chandeliers - Inkdinkado

Cabbage Roses - Impression Obsession

Shoe Balloon - Impression Obsession

1 Container of Black, Blue, White & Green Buttons

1 Green & 1 Red Seam Binding - Martha Stewart

7 Gypsies Dotted Oval Stamper

2 12" Rhinestone Chains - Pink Paislee

2 Smash Stickies

1 Smash Pad

1 October Afternoon 5 & Dime set of 6 Tin Pins

1 October Afternoon 5 & dime Miscellany Set

1 Paper Whimsies - Beatnik Buds - Sassafraslass

1 Pebbles Cupcakes Layered Embellishments

2 Sheets of Mrs. Grossman Sassy Elephant Stickers

Days of the Week Labels - Jillibean Soup

1 Hambly Screen Prints Rub Ons - Banners & Pennants

158 Piece Cardstock Stikers - Goldenrod - Sassafraslass

Toy Box Border Stickers - Crate Paper

1 Thickers - Elm - Foam Letter Stickers - American Crafts

Set of Jennifer Ellory Card stock Stickers - Nana Loves

Prima Stitched Wildflowers

Stampin' Up set of 3 Ribbon Holders

Spicy the Beagle

Go and say hello and wish her a happy Blogaversary!! It's always nice to meet new friends!!!

http://thecraftycorgi.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-candy-for-my-blogoversary.html

LMCB #74 Get digi with it baby!!!

2012-02-05T23:28:00.000-05:00

Yes I know.........yet again.

Go ahead and say it......

SLACKER!!!!!!

Goodness gracious it's been quite a week!! A big part of it spent fighting a migraine that literally knocked me on my butt for about 3 straight days. I'm a procrastinator by nature but still.....UGH!!! Beat me, whip me, take my crayons away....I have been naughty!!!!

Now that I have that out of my system....HELLO!!! And welcome to another FABULOUS challenge with LMLC!!! Can I get a WOOOT! WOOOT!!! I'm really excited about this weeks challenge cuz the theme is Digi, which is actually kinda sorta how I began scrapping after a neck surgery. Longgggg story!! Don't read the book....wait for the movie :)

But this week there is more going on than the average weekly challenge!! Yes indeedy!!!! This week we have a blog hop as well!!! Just in time for those of you who are slacking (raising hand) on that New years resolution to get in shape! What???? You didn't know that blog hopping is considered an aerobic activity????? It totally is!!! Just like carrot cake totally counts as veggie intake :):):)

It's obvious I live in such a fantasy world isn't it?????

Where was I??

YES!! Blog Hop!!! And this week we are combining forces with Digi Darla's!!!

OMG you need to visit!! She has the CUTEST digi images perfect for card making or scrapping!! Seriously!! I haven't dabbled with this side of digi before but I am really looking forward to doing so! I would be participating in the blog hop as well , but I couldn't get the images printed up because (A) I'm a slacker and (B) Bob had to replace his desktop PC a couple of weeks back and our printer isn't compatible with my laptop OR his PC.:(: So you can pretty much guess what I am asking for for my birthday!! A scrapper can not live without a printer!!! It's just not right!!!

Did I mention that in addition to the blog hop Digi Darla's is also sponsoring us this week???? She is generously offering this weeks challenge winner their choice of FIVE digital images!!!

OH!!! And (insert squeal of schoolgirl excitement here) She is offering up a FREEBIE!!!!! It's called Bears Next Door #7 and you can combine it with the challenge goin on over there too!!! Check it out and visit the challenge blog HERE!!!

NEATO MOSQUITO!!!!

(yes I'm a dork!!)

The list for the hop is pretty long........and since I have told you all about my slacker issue just go to LMLC for the full hop roll and info......it's going on all week so you have PLENTY of time to jump right in! You will get to meet the brand spankin new DT at Digi Darlas, see all of her super cute new designs and how both teams used them........you will be astounded!!!

So our little twist this week is.....drumroll..........

DIGI!!!!

And it's not as hard as you think!!!! We are pretty loose with our rules and actually digi can apply to digital scrapbooking, using digital images like those mentioned above, or even using your DIGITAL CAMERA or photo editing software!!! See??? You can do this!!!! If carrot cake can be a veggie then we can use digital photos!!!! WELCOME TO MY FANTASY WORLD!!!! :):)

The ONLY etched in stone rule.........it MUST be a layout!!! Not ifs ands or buts!! And the gals at Digi Darlas are being so sweet and bending their rules a bit too.....anything digital goes!!!!

And as we have been doing lately....we have an inspiration sketch up.......just in case you need it!! Feel free to use it or not....it is NOT a requirement!!!!!! Just a super cool sketch :):) By a super cool designer named Heather Waldron and her blog is another sketch challenge blog you will want to check out!!!!

http://scrapysketches.blogspot.com/

I am a brand new follower too!!!

Now if you made it this far I am super thrilled....and stunned.......you may need a hobby worse than I do.......lol. I am a highly caffeinated mess tonight........migraine prevention you know....who needs sleep????? :):)

So......your reward/punishment for continuing to read on........you get to see my layout!!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Welcome to the Hotel California.......

No...really.....

I love digital AND paper scrapping but I love them each because each one allows me to do things the other doesn't. Does that make sense??

The allure of paper is obvious.....its a textural thing....I loveeee handling the paper and having something right there in my hands.......and sniffing the glue...hahaha.....J/K!!! And it is so fun to shop for pretties for scrapping!!

With digi I can do soooo much that paper doesn't allow me to do......mostly the really cool effects. And actually I do a lot of editing on a photo before I even print it to use on a paper layout. It never occurred to me to consider that hybrid scrapping but it kinda is!! And if you buy a digi kit it's yours forever....you don't run out of stickers or of that cool border you love and you ALWAYS have enough letters to complete a title!!!!!!! Gotta love that :):) And right now soooooooooo many huge names in the scrapbooking industry are really beginning to take notice!! Echp Park does Digi, as does Basic Grey, Pink Paislee, Cosmo Cricket......I think Jillibean Soup is as well.......I know they had a Dt call a few moths back for a digi scrapper and i applied....but I am assuming since I am NOT a Jillibeaner my app was, shall we say....LOST in cyber land!!!!! (grumblregruble) Check out Jessica Sprague dot com.... just google her and you will see some awesome kits by major designers!!!

Ok Tina....shut up already and show the layout!!!!

This is my now 16 yr old Jacob........Rock on!!!! A pretty cool page for a teen boy despite the fact that he is singing into a Hannah Montana pink and purple microphone.........OOooooopppps.did I just say that?????

Y'all know me.......

I like to keep it real :):):)

Love you Jacob........LOL

Ok.......so you know the drill........cmon over and play along!!! You know the place.......LMLC!!!

As always you have til next Saturday to GET DIGI WITH IT!!!!

BTW.........the superbowl is now history..........OMG How bout Madonna????????? She %*^)&%&in ROCKED!!!!

Ok....where in the heck did January go?????

2012-01-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

I've got LOTS of rambling to do today.....so this is your warning, run now before I realize you are even here !!!

First I want to remind you about Lasting Memories latest challenge!! We wanna see how trashy you can get!! And I don't mean you gotta dress like Peggy Bundy.........unless you totally want to that is, what you do in your own house is your own business :):)

You have til Saturday to show us your awesomeness!! It's not as hard as it sounds, you dont have to go dumpster diving or anything like that, unless, again, you totally want to. Just sayin....

Use your scraps, your packaging, ribbon from gift bags,........get creative!!! I know you can!!!!

And while it's on my ind we also have our "Talented Tuesday Tutorial" up today featuring a cool paint technique from Haven!! Whewwwww!!! Say that one 3 times real fast!!!! Take a moment to hop over to her blog and send some hugs and kind words her way.......she has had a rough few days!!!

I just found out I made the top 3 this week at Creative Inspirations!!!! WOOOOT!! The current challenge there is to create a tag.....might be a good one to combine with our trashy challenge :):)

Thank you Creative Inspirations!!!! MUAHS!!!

AND............I have a layout featured today at Practical Scrappers!!!! I'm linking the post so go over and take a look and leave a comment and make it look like I am someone important.....lol.

http://www.practicalscrappers.com/2012/01/challenge-me-tuesday-banners-without.html

Now, will someone PLEASE tell me what happened to January????? Is this not supposed to be winter????? Well today it is sunny and 63 degrees..........and not that I am complaining but check it out..........flowers are actually budding in my yard!!!! WHAT??????

Yeah, the cinder blocks are how we fence off a garden spot in the south.........lol. Not really, they are leftover from a project and just kinds found a permanent home here because we are lazy people. LOL

Over the weekend Jacob and Steven had their NJROTC Military ball. I was THRILLED that Steven wanted to go.......he's a freshman, not really a social kid at all, no date......but I was proud of him :):) He didn't really enjoy it tho. Dances are just not his thing. He'd rather be at home watching a ball game or playing Xbox.....lol. He hung around with Jacob a lot....but Jacob had a date and didn't like that very much. Ohhhhhh well!! The joy of having brothers......lol. Here's a shot of them at the house getting ready to leave, all dressed up in uniform......handsome boys!!!

Yeah lovely........even at this age they don't know how to act when you take a photo!!! GRRRRRR!!!! You can barely see Matthew in the background,...I think he ran off to bed shortly after that.......lol. Wayyyyyy to rowdy for an Autistic kiddo to deal with!!

One more shot of Jacob and his latest girlfriend Kelsey.........I think..........I can't even keep track any more. I keep saying I will NOT befriend any more of his girlfriends or their moms cuz when I do it's really awkward when they break up. Which at age 16 he does frequently.......lol.

And Jacob wanted me to take a photo of his medals........he is incredibly proud of then and his rank of Chief Petty Officer!!! In fact, he has been recommended for Leadership Academy this summer!!! I don't know all the details yet, but it's a huge deal!! I'm very proud of ALL of my boys!!!

Pardon the ramblings of a proud mama!!!

OK........believe it or not I do have a couple of projects to share with you that I am personally pretty stoked about!!! I do stop talking long enough to create something!! Sometimes :D

First up is the Layout challenge friday at BoBunny

I've had these papers for a while, just never had a chance to work with them. I think the line is called Whooligans. A funfunfun Halloween line!!! The colors are incredible!! I had a chance to scrap some of my Halloween photos......I am not a chronological scrapper AT ALL!!!

Here is the sketch....

I may have taken some liberties with it but hey..... that's what sketches are for!!! it was the inspiration I swear!!!! Pinky promise even!!

I even glued on some googly eyes.....lol. LOTS of fun and a pretty quick 8 X 10 layout :)

Next is Boys Rule Scrapbooking and their VERY first sketch challenge!!! They are a newer scrapbooking kit club that caters to boy themed kits.......and we all know I have a houseful of those boogers......lol. Kinda cool because it's not always easy to find cool boy stuff.....a lot of it is way too cutesy for older boys or teens. I'm not a kit club member and luckily that isn't a requirement to play along! Yayyyyyyy!!!

The sketch......which I think is uber cool!!!

And my take......I didn't like it at all when I completed it last night but today i love it!!! And love those papers by Teresa Collins too!!

That's Jesse in his "Jacob" costume at Halloween........my kids are odd.......lol. He wanted to be his big brother....which is sweet :) He is wearing a pair of my old frames with the lenses popped out. He was sent home friday with a fever of 102 and I hugged him up and called him baby doll.......he just looked annoyed and said "Mommmmmmmm.....I'm not a doll!!! I'm a BOY!!!!"

Pardon me!!!!

My baby is growing up and I hate it!!!! lol

BTW....he is doing better......he has an ear infection and we might have to go back tgo have it rechecked.....he had mastoiditus back a few years ago.....which is basically when the infection spreads to the bone behind the eardrum....which is called the mastoid. Not a good thing to get because ultimately it CAN go into your brain!!! he was VERY sick when he had it and he is saying that it hurts behind his ear.......the dr thinks it is just fluid but if he isn;t better by Friday it's back to the dr I go.........so keep him in your thoughts please!! I'm sure he will be just fine since he is playing and acting silly but you know mom;s can be!!!

That's about it!! Nothing fabulous going on here the next couple of days.......just running kids to drill meets and rugby games. Hopefully somewhere in there I can get some sort of grip on my laundry and get some creative time too!! It;s good for the soul and if I am having a bad day I will craft over doing laundry anytime.....LOL.

Y'all have a good one and thanks so much for stopping by!!

Hugs n stuff!

Tina

Trash those layouts!!!! LMLC #73

2012-01-29T21:50:00.001-05:00

Geeze I'm behind again!!! Been in bed all day with a migraine so hopefully that cuts me a little slack :)

This week we have another awesome challenge in store for you at Lasting Memories!! We are gonna trash those layouts!!! Nope, I don't mean throw them out!!! This week we are asking you to look around and use something you may otherwise consider trash. Get creative with this one.......maybe you use junk mail or wrapping paper or even product packaging. Once you start really looking at things around you , you will begin to see everything in a new light trust me! I know I drive my family nuts saving everything........product packaging, pringles cans.......lol. You name it I try to use it in some fashion! So this week we want you to try you hand at it!!!

This week is another sponsored week so we have a GREAT giveaway to go along with this challenge from our very own Elizabeth!! She has a wonderful ETSY shop so please check her out!!!! Look what she is generously offering one of our challenge entrants!! WOW!!!! Who doesn't love some Tim Holtz goodies!!!

For your sketchy inspiration, if you should choose to use it, we have an adorable sketch from Pagemaps.......I just LOVE this one!!!

For my layout I decided to get all girly again.....I'm actually having a lot of fun scrapping girl layouts!! This is a photo of 2 of my cousins........aren't they just beautiful????? Can you spot my trash???

All of the papers are from Fancy Pants "Its the little things" I used a scalloped circle punch from fiskars to fill in the middle of my banner and added some blingatude :)

I love how that turned out!! I did a little fussy cutting as well to some of the journal cards to create extra embellies for my layout

The lettering is Thickers from Dear Lizzie. And I used an entire pack of Prima flowers :) I love the pink and brown together and the gingham and the dots work really well with each other too!

So.....have you figured out what trashy element I used yet???? The prima packaging!!!! I fussy cut the doily pattern out of the plastic backing the flowers were adhered to. NEVER overlook the packaging as an option for embellies....some is so pretty it just begs to be used and even the ones that aren't beautiful can be used as a photo mat or made into tags when covered with pretty scraps. They also make awesome bases for mini albums!!!!

I didn't use the wonderful sketch from Pagemaps for this layout.....I went with this one from Scrapville and am entering it in their monthly challenge as well

I am also sharing at these awesome blogs :)

Come and get It Challenges Anything but a card

Crafts and Me Pink and sparkly

Crazy for challenges Layer it on

Creative Inspirations Anything goes

Please join in and play along this week! As always you have til Saturday night to link em up!!

Just a reminder - in order to qualify for our challenge/giveaway, you MUST follow our challenge!! You're welcome to incorporate the sketch WITH the challenge or if you'd like to just use the sketch, please do and leave us a comment so we can come and see what you did with it!!!

Hey Good Lookin!! Whatcha Got Cookin? New Challenge at LMLC!

2012-01-22T12:40:00.002-05:00

EEEEEEK!!! I am a lil bit late in posting this.........Shhhhhhhhhhh!! Don't tell!!! The punishment is a thousand lashes with a wet noodle and I just can't handle that today!!!!

It's a brand new week at Lasting Memories and of course that means a brand new challenge!!! (cue the applause!) You can check HERE to see the winner and top three from last weeks New year's Challenge.

This week we have a recipe challenge! And not your typical one of these, 3 of these, stand on your head and use a glue gun to adhere 50 of these kind of a challenge....altho that would be fun not that I think about it :):)

This week we want you to share something to eat with us........a treasured family recipe, something you are known for bringing to church potlucks......or maybe you slap together a mean PB&J sandwich!! We want you to scrap it this week!!

And this week there is another AWESOME RAK for the winner!! OMG I am drooling myself!!! My lovely DT sista Stacia (who by the way made it to round 2 at Practical Scrappers!!! WOOOOOT!!!! Go vote!!) is sponsoring this week. And look at whats for grabs!!!!

MME Lost and Found!!!!!! (Squeeaaaaaal!!!!!)

With being sick this one caught me a little unprepared. I love to cook and actually there are TONS of things I amke that everyone raves over......know the saying don't trust a skinny cook??? Well, I assure you I am a most trustworthy cook!!! LOL. I didn't have anything ready for this challenge so I dug thru some old photos and found these of Jesse being made to eat Chicken N Dumplins............I know, I am SUCH a mean mom!!! He is the pickiest eater ever and actually studies his food looking for mysterious ingredients. He refuses to eat red or green things.......lol. And LOVES Cornbread but hates hush puppies because he found an onion in one once.......sighhhhhh. So needless to say, he was NOT "feelin" the whole dumplin thing. And the scrapper in me had the good sense to whip out the camera......lol. My fave is the photo with him clutching his throat.......he said "I think I'm dying Mom!!"

The pics are a couple of years old.....and obviously he did survive it and lived to eat many more dishes he can't stand........lol

The recipe is so easy that I don't even use one.......

a couple of lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts

a couple of cans of chicken broth

depending on how many dumplins you want (I have to feed an army here) a few cans of CHEAP biscuts. (get the cheapest you can find for this)

Dice up the chicken and boil in the broth........when its done chop up the biscuts and add them, make sure things are boiling so they get cooked.......and put the lid on and in about 5 mins they are done......then add a can of cream of chicken soup and stir it in and warm it up and its pretty much ready.

I also do the super duper from scratch version where you rolls your own dumplins and cook all day long........but sometimes you don't have that kinda time....and if you work and have kids you can get this on the table within an hour. Even the hubby can do it........LOL. For a quick dinner that tastes home made....seriously, this rocks. And you can add some frozen veggies while you are cooking the chicken if you want....but my family hates veggies, cuz they are all weird.

So there ya have it...........cmon and play along this week and link it up so we can all leave you some bloggy love!!

Also a gentle reminder........the Saturday sketch is NOT part of the challenge!! You are not required to use it....but it's there if ya want to. To be eligible to be in our top 3 or to win the RAK you MUST follow the general challenge guide lines.

However if you do create an awesome page with the featured sketch of the week just leave a link to it in the comments section NOT Mr Linky and everyone can go see your amazing creation! I hate being the bad guy but we have had some confusion and I thought I'd attemtp to clear it up! You don't HAVE to use the sketch but if you do and use our challenge criteria go ahead and use Mr Linky.......if not just leave a link in our comments section :):) If I am confusing you further feel free to ask.......lol.

Thanks for visiting today!!!

Tina

A Reminder From Lasting Memories!!

2012-01-20T21:08:00.005-05:00

Heyyy gang!!

Just a real quick reminder that you have until 9PM tomorrow night to link up your New Year's challenge layouts!!! Are ya stuck for an idea? Maybe you have already broken your resolutions?? Tell us about it in scrap :):) Trust me, you aren't the only one!!!! Look at this little toon In found.....LOLOLOL.....sound familiar??

Take a crafty break and join us! Scrap your "One Little Word, goals for the year, new beginnings or life changes? LOTS of directions to take this one!!! And if that's not incentive enough, our very own Haven is sponsoring our challenge this week and has this CUTE RAK for one lucky scrapper!!

And check our blog out too because we have tons of coolness going on just about EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! You wanna be cool doncha?? :):) Today we have a really neat feature called "Our Featured Artist. Title kinda gave it away didn't it??? Each week we feature an outstanding scrapper/papercrafter. This week I am proud to present my DT sista at Lasting Memories.....One "L" Michele!!! She's a sweetheart!!! That's my nickname for her since we have 2 Michele's on our team, one with One "L", the other has 2 "Ls".....Guess what her name is????? LOL....hey, I'm old , my kids are driving me crazy and my brain is mush....I gotta have a system in place for these kinds of things ya know!!! Not only is she super sweet , she is crazy talented........seriously! It's an honor to be team mates with her (sniff, sniff....I need a tissue!!!) Visit her blog for a treat.....run, NOW!! Well, I will allow you to put the scissors down first.....no blood on my conscience!!!!

And tomorrow we have Sketch Saturday comin atcha, and I have had a sneaky at the sketch.........you will definitely wanna check back!!

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Hugs n Stuff!!

Tina

Today is my day at Practical Scrappers....Please vote!!!

2012-01-20T12:38:00.000-05:00

Hola mi amigas!!!!

And that is the extent of my Spanish..........well, I can read the Taco Bell menu pretty well and sound like I know what I am doing....lol.

I never made it back to blogland last night........I know....BAD TINA!!! I'm tellin ya, whatever this respiratory thing is I have it's kickin my rump. I do feel better, but I also get worn out very easily. I had some running to do yesterday and afterwards I really just wanted to lay down and take a nap......not at all like me unless I am sick.....blah!!

Today my layout is up and anxiously awaiting your votes at Practical Scrappers!! Don't make me beg....cuz you know I will. And I have a really long list of things that I would most definitely do for a Klondike bar so a little begging for some votes ain't nothin to me :)

Have you seen the contest entries??? OMG....AMAZING!!! And I am still in shock I made the initial cut!!! Just click this linky poo and you will see my mug up there......my one little word layout :)

http://www.practicalscrappers.com/2012/01/layout-contest-group-8.html

And Tina Phillips is my name......and really, if you don;t want to vote for me it's OK.....there is some serious talent in this contest and I'm sure you will find someone you deem worthy!!

And in the event that I advance to Round 2..........if you feel a tremor where you are it's not an earthquake....it's just me doing the happy dance.....lol. But I have a round 2 layout ready IF I make the cut!! And I am dying to share it because I don't scrap girly very often......some of you may faint straight away from shock when you see all of the pink :):

I had to use it........HAD TO!!! I won the stunning Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe and received it in the mail this week. Fell instantly in love with it but was really stumped as to what to do with it, altho I was perfectly content to just look and drool every so often. But when we were asked to create a layhout in case we make it to the next round I thought, :why not!! I did resolve to step out of my scrappy box this year and I think I definitely done that here. Every time I create a girly page I fall madly in love with it. I guess it's because I have all boys. So I borrowed my baby cousin's photos.....lol. I have a ton of them printed off and ready to scrap!! She just turned a year old and she is just PRECIOUS!!!! It's a good thing they live a few states away or I would absolutely spoil her rotten!!

So I chose this sketch...

And I had the cutest idea in my head for a boy page until I saw these Crate paper Goodies!!!

I loved the photo of little Neveah and wanted to make it more wintery so I edited it Picasa, here is the original and the edited version side by side....

CUTENESS!!!!!!!

And you can't see it well here, but I got ribbon happy with the beautiful ruffled pink ribbon that was included in the kit. I layered it between my circle and doily to create a scallop effect and then layered it again with the pink gingham ribbon at the bottom for some extra ruffly-ness. I really wanted to hand stitch on thisx one but am not quite feeling up to all of that....but might go back and add it at some point in the future. So I glued down some bakers twine around my distressed circle mat to finish it off a bit.

And I made the little tag too!!!

Lots of layering on this layout and I simply LOVE IT!!! I may have to start this kiddo her very own scrapbook just so I can enjoy doing these kinds of pages! I'm sure her mom would love it!!!

So wish me luck getting into round 2!! :):)

I found a couple of places to link this to soooo......

The Joyful Stamper Inspire me Fridays, anything goes
Alphabet Challenge Blog Y for You can choose, anything goes
Anything Goes Challenge Blog Anything goes
CropStop Challenge A little Old For You, use vintage, distressed or shabby chic technique, I think my page is shabby chic :)
Do You Stack Up Patterned Paper
Pocket Full Of Pink Friday Frolic Link up
Scrapbookers Anonymous A to Z Alphabet Challegne....F is for, frilly and Flowers LOTS of flowers in the floral paper and actually adhered to the page.

Thanks for stopping in and spending a few minutes with me today! Hope you have a great weekend!! Tomorrow is date night with my sweetie....no kids!! WOOOOT!!!!

Hugs n Stuff!
Tina

HUGE Giveaway at Wee Memories!

2012-01-19T17:49:00.001-05:00

Hello peeps!!

I have improved ton the point where I am only coughing 80% of the time now!1 WOOOT! Cause for celebration!!! Seriously, I am feeling better and a little later I even have a layout to share with you!! And I am really excited about it!! That doesn't happen often :):)

But I wanted to clue ya in to a HUGE giveaway Jenny has goin on at Wee Memories right now! And I mean HUGE as in a giveaway of Sasquatchian proportions!! (sorry....I am addicted to that show Finding Bigfoot)

She has in her surprise bag of goodies......

1 of her stamp sets from The Crafts Meow

A HUGE paper stack from Graphic 451 stamp set from Graphic 451 stamp from Unity Stamp Co.1 stamp set from Your Next Stamp1 PRINT of your choice from my Etsy ShopSome twine and misc. embellishmentsand some surprise goodies!!
A HUGE prize worth over $80!!
WOOOT!!! I better be careful with the hoots n nollers......I don't wanna cough again :)http://www.weememories.net/2012/01/huge-giveaway.htmlCheck her out!!

Help Melissa Celebrate her Birthday!!

2012-01-18T12:22:00.003-05:00

Hi friends.......still sick but still among the living, not sure if that is good or not at this point,....lol.

I came across an AWESOME giveaway while blog surfin today.......Melissa has a ton of goodies she is giving away for her birthday!!! Including $140 in gift cards to MICHEAL'S!!!!! (insert squeal) Head over and wish her the happiest of birthdays will ya :)
http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-birthday-giveaway.html

LMCB #71 -New Years!!!

2012-01-15T10:29:00.001-05:00

Hello my friends! It;s a brand new week, and of course that means a brand new challenge at Lasting Memories!!! I wanna thank everyone for playing along with the ":getting to know you" challenge! It was a lot of fun for us to get to know a little more about those of you who play along every week! Lots of fun layouts :):) I have been under the weather so forgive me if I didn't make stop at your blog to say hello and comment on your entries. I didn't wanna leave my germs behind and make you sick as well!! I'll do better this week :):)

Now, I do realize that the New Year ain't all that new anymore!! But that is this weeks theme at LMLC!! And we have a marvelous sponsor this week too, our very own Haven has so generously donated this awesome collection of scrappy goodies from Creative Memories!!! Isn't she just the bestest????? And OMGosh I love that banner paper!!!!

Be sure to stop by her blog and say hello and thank you!!!!

With the theme being New Years this is your chance to scrap those lampshade on the head photos I KNOW you have :):) Maybe you and the kids have a little family friendly party, or maybe you ahng ougt with friends. Or you can go another direction and scrap about your goals or resolutions for the year, Or maybe you are looking at a huge life change in 2012? A new home or a new job? Scrap your feelings on it! Scrap your "one little word", those have been so popular this year! I promise hyou this challenge isn't as difficult as you think!! C'mon!!! You can do it!!!!

And you might also notice we are changing a few things up at LMLC too! You will see we now have a Saturday sketch. It's not a requirement, just a little extra inspiration for you, feel free to combine it with the challenge if you like :):) This time around we have an awesome sketch by Ashley Horton!!

As I said, it's not a requirement to play along!! Just a little ooomph in the mojo department if you need it :)

Here is my take on the challenge:):)

Can ya tell these little ribbony pennants are my latest obsession???

I choose to go with some of my crafty goals for the year. Cuz me and traditional resolutions?? Well, we don't get along......lol. I know these are hard to read because I did the layout in my own handwriting......YUCK!! I am currently printer-less.....what an awful plight for a scrapper!!! Bob's computer died on him about a week ago and he bought a brand new one and the old printer isn't compatible with it OR my laptop. All the more excuse for me to buy a cool new photo printer....hehehehehe!!!! But my number one resolution is to get published this year!! I have been fortunate enough to make it into Scrapbook News and Reviews but I am not stopping there!!! Also to use my stash.........no buying anything new (wahhhhhhh) except for plain cardstock and adhesive......those are necessities. And this one is sooooo hard with all of the new CHA releases!!!! But my birthday is next month so maybe someone will fins my wishlist and buy me something.....lol. I have more up there but those are my biggies :):)

I used a buncha different things on this one......Basic Grey, MME, Jenni Bowlin, Bella Blvd, and some goodies from my stash...go me!!!

So........whatcha think??? Wanna play along with us?? Easyyyyyy peasy!!! Just create a layout with the New Year theme and link it up before Sat Jan 21 at 9pm! And don't forget.......there is a CUTE RAK up for grabs with this one!!! Hope to see your awesome pages!!!!

Tina

Still time to play along!!! (Challenge reminders)

2012-01-13T09:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately folks...I am sick yet again!!! They tell me it isn't fatal and I will live to craft another day but at the moment I'm not so sure I believe it. But then again I am big ol baby!! Sue me!

If you haven't had a chance yet to play along with The Paper Variety you are running outta time sista!!! I'd hate to see you miss out on alla THIS!!!

Yup.....October Afternoon Farmhouse goodness :)

So if you are looking for something to fill your free time with today check it out.....it's a color challenge......black plus white plus a splash of whatever suits you :)

ANDDDDDD that's not all!!!

Still time to play along with us at Lasting Memories too!!! This has been a fun challenge...Getting to know YOU!! Simply create a layout and let us know something about you.......maybe you are a crazy cast lady or crochet things out of human hair......I saw that on tv I swear!! YUCK! Anyway......please just join in and play along.......and keep posted too....LOTS of fun stuff coming your way from Lasting memories I promise!!! I am so thrilled to be a part of this group of gals!!! You have til tomorrow night at midnight so get to scrappin!!!

Is it weird that I am excited that it's Monday???

2012-01-09T05:50:00.002-05:00

Never mind, I already know the answer.....everything about me is weird!!!It's part of my charm!!!!

The kids go back to school today!!! Actually I have mixed emotions. Shhhhhhhhh.....don't tell them but I am actually gonna miss em today!!! But on the other hand this seems like the longest break in the history of school breaks! What ever happened to those days when you got out of school a couple of days before the Christmas holiday and went back the very first school day after New Years? Guess I'm showing my age huh?

I have no big plans today except to just chill......Bob has a Drs appointment for this respiratory funk he has but he is a big boy and can drive himself :) WOW.......I have NO ONE to baby today!!!!!!! I wont know how to act!!!! I've been up since 3 AM.....thats after going to bed at 9 BUT laying in bed and watching some depressing movie on Showtime last night with Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones. I think after than we watched Jackass.....well, Bob did, I fell asleep.......lol. My sleeping has been really off lately. I'm thinking things may level out as we get out schedule back to normal.

And I am starting day 3 of Operation No More Sweats!!! WOOOT!! Actually it's Weight Watchers......again.........lol.. I need to run to the store today and get some healthy food in the house. Not really looking forward to a store run cuz it's raining. And I might melt ya know :) So over the next few days as I am going thru carb withdrawal I am gonna warn you it may get ugly........just sayin :)

I have a cute little Valentine themed card to share today. And what is really funny about this little cutie is I used mostly Christmas themed products to create it. I love being different.....lol.

And it was raining yesterday as well so it's an inside photo and it's kinda crappy.......and it's raining again today sooooooo it's the best I can do for now.

I used papers from the Cozy Christmas collection I won and didn;t get til a week or so back....since I didn't have it in time for Christmas cards I decided to make valentines.....lol. Improvise baby!!!!

I have no clue where the big red felt flower came from......I added a little heart sticker (also Christmas themed believe it or not) from Heidi Grace, added the little felt hearts, which are Basic Grey Woolies., and the XOXO are letters from Crate Paper Peppermint. I also doused it in shimmer mist but it's not showing in the photo....it's incredibly sparkly and every time I touch it I have glitter all over me....lol

I'm entering it in the following challenges out there in blog land :):)

365 Cards Red and Gingham
Card Cupid Valentines
Cupcake Craft Challenge The Cozy Christmas papers and Peppermint letters fall in the "Something New" category!
My Time To Craft XOXO
The Pink Elephant Hearts

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!! Happy Monday!!!

XOXO

Tina :)

Wanna win some Stamps?

2012-01-08T17:01:00.004-05:00

Yeah its me again..........blog hoppin when I should be doing something productive like laundry. What the heck...it ain't goin nowhere, it will still be there tomorrow!!!!!

I came across a really cool giveaway for those of you who love to stamp and make cards!!

They are giving away 12..........not a typo.......TWELVE!!!! Stamps to ONE lucky winner!!!! Wait.......that's not even the coolest part.......you can pick your won stamps if you win!!!!

Pop on over there and say hello and enter this super cool giveaway!!!

http://ideastoinspire.blogspot.com/

She's taking entries until next Saturday!!!

Good luck!!!

Lasting Memories Layout Challenge Reveal!!!!

2012-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hello kiddos!!!

I have ALMOST made it thru Christmas break with my kiddies!! They go back to school on Monday!!! OH HAPPY DAY!!!!! I can get some sort of routine going again....maybe!! I must admit tho I am gonna miss the late nights and not getting up to the crack of noon :)

I am tickled to death today to bring you my very first DT project for Lasting Memories!!! Pinch me, I'm still having a hard time believing I actually made the team!!!!

This week's challenge is simply All About YOU!!!! This should be an easy one cuz no one knows you and well as you do :) This was kinda fun and we thought it would a great way to get to know they people that play along with out challenges and for you to get to know a little about us too!!

I went digi with my layout because I am out of printed photos of me......I used a super cute kit from Thaty Borges Designs called "I want to Be Happy"

So cute and so fun and yup........it makes me happy just to look at all the fun elements and color!

Here's my take on the challenger and doncha just LOVEEE my glamour shot????

I didn't really include a LOT of "about me" kinda stuff........but just a few things that kinda define me and who I am. I try to keep a positive outlook on life....yeah I do gripe and fuss a bit , ok a LOT. But for the most part I am a happy person. I have a reputation for making people smile and laugh and that makes me feel good. But I have a few "about me" facts here that you may not know.....or wanna know......but if you keep reading your gonna fine em out....LOL

I have awful road rage!!!
I used to work in radio broadcasting....I was a night DJ (they didn't trust me to be there during business hours when clients may be there.....lol) I also did some news-casting on air (not at ALL good at it!!) and also commercial copy writing and production....so once upon a time I did have a life....lol
I have 5 boys ages 19, 16, 14, 11 and 7......I have high hopes that most of my grandchildren will be girls :):)
I do crossword puzzles in ink :)
and I can;t stand feet.........I mean it!! I cringe when I see videos on TV where you get a shot of the feet.......grosses me out. I think this came about because one day Bob and I were at the park with the kids and this elderly lady came up and struck up a conversation with me. I will talk to ANYBODY!! And people always feel like they can tell me things that are best kept to themselves........it;s a curse. She felt the need to actually remove her shoes and show me that she had that toenail fungus thing.......OMG. She was sitting and stuck her foot up in my face to see it. Bob had to get up and leave because he was trying not to laugh. And she stayed there talking to me about her jacked up toenail funk for about 30 minutes. I can' look at feet or even go barefoot anymore.......thanks Toe jam lady!!!!!!!!
I talk to everyone......see above......I have never met a stranger and it gets me in the worst situations.......
I am the world's most unorganized person
I have always wanted to write a book........I have a million ideas in my head :)
I was a nerd in school.....SURPRISE!!!!
I love to cook........and eat.......lol

Ok! So now it's your turn!!! We'd love to have you play along with us and let us learn something about you!!! You have til 9 pm Saturday to link em up!!!! And don't forget...we are all about the layouts baby!!!! So no other projects allowed unless specified :)

He's so very handsome!!! Scrap jacked!!

2012-01-08T00:47:00.001-05:00

Hello my friends!

Have you seen that Scrap Jacked is back????? Well they are!!! I love their challenges cuz if you are in a rut there ain't nothing like a scraplift to pull you out :)

This month the challenge is to rip off Kelly Purkey and this amazing layout!

I LOVELOVELOVE all of that fun color!!! And it's one of those layouts that you can easily put your own twist on and make it all yours! Here's my take.....

I love this photo of Jesse.......and apparently he loves it too..,,,,,He said ":Mom., I look so B.A. here!" What???????? He's 7, how does he know that term????? I think his brothers have some explaining to do!!!!! I created my layout on a base of Jillibean Soup so I could also play along with Kraft It Up's color challenge this month.......I used goodies from Jillibean Soup, Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer and Bella Blvd's Mr Boy :)

Fun colors!!!!

Also sharing this at Scrap The Boys for their Summer Fun Challenge :)

Thanks for looking and be sure to drop in later today to see my Design Team debut for Lasting Memories Layout Challenge!!

Hugs!
Tina

Finally I can spill the beans!!!

2012-01-07T18:59:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize it, but everyone had the go ahead to post this yesterday I think.......I swear, I will most likely be late for my own funeral!! This is the BIG news I have had to keep quiet about!!! Anytime I have to keep quiet about anything it makes me a mess.....lol.

I have been accepted at part of the design team at Lasting Memories Layout Challenge Blog!! WOOOT!!!!

I can't tell you how super excited I am!! I think we have a great crew!! A few returning members and some new ones too! And I think y'all are really gonna enjoy all of the upcoming challenges!!! Go ahead an click the button about to go see the announcement and the entire team and drop over to everyone's blog to congratulate them!! We will all be debuting a brand new challenge tomorrow with our brand new team so check back!!!!

Still time to play along with The Paper Variety!!!

2012-01-06T07:02:00.003-05:00

The clock is ticking boys and girls!!!! 9 more days to play along with The Paper Variety's first challenge of the year.....Black and White with a splash!! It really makes for some striking projects too!!!

And if getting a head start on those layout or card resolutions/goals for the year isn't motivation enough maybe the prize will sweeten the pot a bit!! LOOKIE!!!!

October Afternoon's Farm House!!! (swoon) TPV Always has some super generous prize's and they are some of the nicest ladies around blogville. Don't take my word for it tho....play along!!!!! You ahve until January 15th to link up your awesomeness!!!

It's definitely one of "THOSE" days)

2012-01-04T14:19:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of my 2021 OLW (one little word) I would really, REALLY love to just give someone a good smackin!!! I don't even care who it is....SMACK!!!! (um, "give" is my one little word....just recapping)

I have now initiated a back to school countdown.......seriously. Through Facebook and blogs I am seeing that most of the country is back to school.......here in my little corner of the world they don't go back until next Monday the 9th. I am trying really hard to keep the murder rate down for TN......but I dunno how much longer I can hold out!!!!

The natives are getting restless.......I have flat out run out of ideas to keep them entertained but we all know that teens don't find their parents very entertaining.......and I can't afford for them to hang at the mall all day long, and besides, they would just call me to pick them up eventually....blah!!! They are eating me out of house and home, my house smells like dirty boy feet no matter how many candles I burn or how much febreeze I spray. I can't find ANYTHING. My house is usually in a state of controlled clutter, meaning it's not perfect but at least I can find things. Somehow over night I have had 3 Walgreen's packets of photos just up and walk away. They probably got tired of the BS here too.....lol. But seriously........POOOF!! Gone!!! I'm a scrapper dammit and this pisses me off!!!!

So I have decided that this is the year I FINALLY get off my ass and get my craft room done. We moved the boys upstairs from the basement over the summer. Most of my stuff is down there is storage except for the huge suitcase I have packed up here. I'm probably the only nut to pack my scrappy goodies......if I ever run away from home that is going with me....who needs clothes????? :):):) The basement used to be an apartment, then was the boys room........and it is a wreck. I have my work cut out for me but as i creep along with it I will share photos. That is if they don't disappear too!!!!

OK....I think I am done venting but don't hold your breath!!!

I actually put this layout together a few days ago. It was for a sketch challenge but I needed a few days to decided if i liked it or not. And of course the challenge is long since over. But who cares......lol. I tweaked it a bit last night and decided it makes the cut and will go into my scrapbook.

I used Creative Scrappers Sketch #187......I rarely do multi photo layouts but thought this one was kinda cool :)

I pulled out some "new to me" goodies a bloggy friend sent me from Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer Collection. I LOVE this collection, the fun and bright colors, EVERYTHING!!! If ever there was a collection that had my name stamped all over it....it's this one. LOVE it!!!!! did i say that already???? Photos are from Jesse's 7th birthday over the summer....my baby boy is getting so big!!!!

I cut each of those little alpha squares and kid images from a solid sheet of the paper and was tryin for a checkerboard effect. I then did layers for the photo mats to go for the clustering in the sketch. My aphas are from October Afternoon's "Peppermint", My Little Shoe Box, and Cloud ( (I think!!) At first I didn't really like the "BOY" section because it kinda blended into green squares. I took a black sharpie and outlined it to make it pop. A simple thing that made all the difference in the world..

I did find a couple of challenges to play along with......

Critter Sketch Challenge Celebrations Challenge...anything goes so long as it is a celebration of some sort and these celebrate Jesse's 7th Birthday :)
Wee Memories. "New" I used New to me papers :):)...if that is too vague please let me know and i will withdraw it from the challenge :)
Frosted Designs Something New,,,again if I am misinterpreting the challenge feel free to let me know :)

And before I forget.......we hd out first snow of the year yesterday!!! Are ya ready????

Yep........that was the extent of it.....it's a bona fide miracle that there was milk and bread left in the stores!!! :):)

Thanks for dropping in....I love having visitors!! I'll make cookies next time!! :)

Oh....I have a BIG announcment coming Sunday!!!! And it's killing me to be quiet!!!!

Hugs n stuff!
Tina

Black and White with a Splash Puhleeeeeeze :) TPV color challenge time!

2012-01-02T01:29:00.000-05:00

AWESOME new challenge up this week at The Paper Variety and kickin off the new year they also have an equally awesome guest DT member!!!

OK.....sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face....it's just lil ol me!!! I know.....they need better locks on those doors cuz I slipped in and there is no telling what kinda scrappy damage I could do if left unsupervised for long periods of time :):)

Seriously tho......I am beyond honored that they asked me to join them for this first challenge of the new year!! They are such an amazing group of ladies and I am just glad they let me hang out there!! Thanks girls!!! Muahs n Hugs!!!

Things are changed up just a bit this year......the challenges are now running bi weekly so that means you have two weeks per challenge to wow them with your creativity!

This week we bring you a TPV color challenge!! (I so wish I had a horn to toot right now....it would make this so much cooler and annoy the crap outta my neighbors....hehehe)

I wish you coulda seen my face when they sent me my assignment. Black and White with a kiss of color.....Soooooooo difficult for me!!! I love, love love color!! Every time I thought I was headed in the right direction I'd derail and it would look like a bag of skittles......I am not kidding, I have a small stack of projects I started on and then abandoned because I went crazy with color. (sigh) It's a curse I guess!!

But I am not one to be easily deterred and they DO call them challenges for a reason, right???? So I took some itty bitty baby steps and made a pretty simple card. I am finding card making warms my scrappy brain up a bit and once I get the smaller project done a larger one isn't nearly as intimidating.

Obviously I went for black and white with a pop of red. I loved these patterned papers and they have been hid away in a box for a couple of years. The black on black on is a Paper Studio one and the black and white one is MME....meadowlark I think????? I printed off the sentiment using a digi stamp (I am totally digging these things lately!!!) and matted it up.......the image is actually someone's business card (shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell!!!) See? I never toss ANYTHING away.......I will be on Hoarder's soon. I triple matted it and added the little black dotty things that I am sure have a much cooler name that I am giving them.....they are from Pebbles....and that stunning flower is actually 2 from Precocious Paper stacked atop one another.

Then I felt confident enough to dive into the layout........I have this super cute photo of Jesse and Jacob on Halloween. This was actually Jesse's Halloween costume, he went dressed as his big brother :):):) Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!! Of course people looked at him like he was a nut when he told them who he was supposed to be.......lol. But still......all together now.....AWWWWWWWWWW!!!! Jesse adores his big brother and looks up to him sooo much!! They are separated by 9 years but they get along the best of any of the boys.....lol. The glasses he is wearing are an old pair of mine with the lenses out of them :)

I have a combo of things here from Teresa Collins One The Edge and Sports Edition 2.......I fussy cut out all of the little circles and do dads lining the bottom of the layout......PERFECT boy scrapping material!!! Alphas and journaling sticker are from Bella Blvd :)

Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....you still with me?????

Wait til you see the prize for this challenge! It's HUGE!!!!! And I am so dang jealous too!!!! LOOKIE!!!!!

Nope I am not kidding!!! I don't joke about October Afternoon goodies.....that would just not be right!!! It's the beautiful Farmhouse collection and you know the drill........ya gotta be in it to win it baby!!!!! You have until Jan 15th to link r up!!!

Have fun and good luck!!!
Tina

My "one word" LO for 2012

2011-12-31T19:42:00.000-05:00

I am sneaking in under the wire with this one.........

Have you seen the "one little word" posts all over blog land? I don't think I did one last year? I really wanted to jump on the band wagon for this one tho because I have seen so many inspiring stories about everyone's "one little word" And the fact that this is also one of the challenges over at ScrapFIT right now also played a small role in my getting this LO completed.

We also know that I am really horrible at limiting myself to just one word.........lol.

But I gave it a whirl!!!

My "one word" for 2012 is GIVE!

Why give?

Well, for me it means a lot of different things. We all know I am really good at giving people hell, giving bad drivers the finger, giving my two cents worth whether it is wanted or not.......lol. Yup! that sounda a lot like me so far :):):)

But for this year I want the word "give" to have new meaning in my life.

I plan to GIVE thanks every single day for what I have. For my friends, my family.......I am thankful for it all! I just don't always show it....and I should.

I want to GIVE people a reason to smile and laugh everyday......and I try!!

I want to GIVE more freely of myself and my time. Seems that lots of times I am just too busy, too tired, too lazy (the list goes on and on) to do something. I don't want my kids to grow up and tell their children that I was "too" busy to be fully involved in their lives.

I want to GIVE myself a break once in a while. I am my own harshest critic. I need to step back once in a while and tell my inner voice that i am a pretty cool gal! And it's OK to not be able to do it all! BTW.....I CAN do it all....just not at once :)

There are so many things each of us can give that don't cost anything. You can give a stranger a smile and a hello and totally brighten their day. Give them the spot ahead of you in the grocery line, or the closer parking spot........these are all just little things we can give :)

So here is the layout........now that I have bored you into a coma :) This started out to be a pretty clean and simple layout...but as usual I spotted the journaling spots, then the embellies.....and I had to go crazy........lots of killer color on this page.......Crate Paper's Restoration line scraps that I just LOVE! Even the pin.......lol..I used all the various journaling bits to do my journaling on.....cut some cute little pennant style strips and layered them. And really, even tho this looks very labor intensive the whole thing came together in less than an hour.

In addition to playing along with Workout #57 at ScrapFIT (btw......they are looking for a new team of scrap girls!!! I know some of you would be perfect for the team!!) I am also playing along with If The Shoe Fits Scrap It's challenge to use your stash. These scraps have been laying around in a box for months and the yellow thickers are about 2 years old!!

I want to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!! Whether you are going to be out and about or like me....sitting at home ringing in the new year.....be safe!! I wanna see ya again :)

And tomorrow I have something special to share with you too!!! It's another something I have had to be quiet about.......who knew I had it in me......LOL. Gotta come back I guess and see what I'm talkin about!! I'll also post my resolutions tomorrow if I haven't broken them before i get around to posting......lol.

Hugs!

Tina

Can we ring in the new year already????

2011-12-29T16:09:00.000-05:00

OMGosh will this year hurry up and end already???????? Am I the only one who is ready to start all over with a brand new slate???

If you read my post from a day or so back I promised an update on my friend's mother when I had info to pass along. A quick recap ....she ran her mother to the ER on Christmas day as her mother was having symptoms of a stroke. They ran the necessary tests and scans and found a brain tumor. She thinks they may release her mother tomorrow. However they are making arrangements for her care at home so she doesn't have to be alone. Bad news is the tumor is inoperable due to its location. So this is going to be quite a trying time for my friend and her mother.......please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers!! I'm not sure of much more than that, but I'll keep you posted.

On a happier note......

I found out my cute little snowman card was chosen as a fave at Scrapbookers Anonymous!!!

To say I was shocked would be an understatement!! Seriously!! Lot's of awesomeness and mine found the loophole....lol :) Thank you Scrapbookers Anonymous!!!

Wednesday was Bob's birthday and we celebrated a bit. He got to take me out for his birthday....LOL. I'm good aren't I????? We had a really good time.....Ordered an appetizer platter at Applebee's and had a couple (several) beers. We unknowingly hit happy hour and they were 2 for 1. Gotta love that! So we were out amongst other adults and we always amuse ourselves by people watching. I tell ya......Knoxville is a hot bed of freak show action!!! LOL. I caught some photos and once again silently thanked God that my camera phone doesn't have a flash......lol. Now I gotta figure out how to get them OUT of my phone cuz I know you guys would get a kick out of it. The fact that you read my blog at all tells me you are at least as weird as I am.......lol.

But there was this couple sitting directly across from us. The lady looked a bit older than her male companion. They ordered drinks and I watched the waitress bring big fruity bowl type drink and 2 bottles of beer. And the mixed drink was actually quite beautiful.....but it was HIS not hers!!! And he was a big ol boy!! Just kinda funny watching manly man types drink fruity umbrella drinks.....lol Not that there is anything wrong with it.........but this is the kinda thing I notice when I am out......because I don't get out nearly enough......lol.

this is from my el cheapo cell phone so forgive the photo quality :)

We stopped off and brought some beer home and apparently the kids found us pretty amusing because there are a TON of photos on my camera and my phone of Bob and I.

They start out really sweet......lol

And by now we are getting silly :)

Can you tell I HATE having my photo taken?

And once in a while I come across a photo like this next one and I say OMG I look like that????? (you would think I would ask that about the above photo but Noooooooo.....lol)

Taken same night.......I saw it on the camera and I said I don't look like that!!!!! I have the world's worst self image. I actually like this photo, and if it WEREN"T of me....I'd say this girl was pretty. But because it is me......and because I look pretty I think there is something wrong.......I guess I wear 'drunk" well.......lol Anyone else have this kind of self image problem????

Anyway.......you don't wanna hear me whine or even get started on "issues" I have.....lol.

I scrapped last night!!! Yup!!! I had several packages waiting for me when we got in Wednesday. I wish i had taken photos of them all. Bu a couple of months back i won a line from Scrap Cake called Cozy Christmas. It had been so long I had totally forgotten about it. And I had an order arrive with a few things I ordered with a gift certificate I won from Stop And Scrap.......ANDDDDDD a Cricut cartridge I won a week or so back....winter lace....LOVE IT!! It's just beginning to feel like winter here so I know it's going to come in handy for lots of wintery pages :):)

So I grabbed a sketch from Once Upon A Sketch.......they had a little added twist to make the layout/journaling about Christmas traditions.

And my intentions were good..........but I went wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy off base....imagine that :):) But I still love the layout and I used some of those new Cozy Christmas goodies too :)

The papers are just stunning IRL!! And I had to deal with my banner fetish with some bakers twine and cute little ticket stickers from October Afternoons Peppermint (I want the entire collection SOOOOO freakin bad!!!!)

I journaled my families Christmas traditions on these cute little tags that were included with the Cozy Christmas collection and used the first 3 buttons I pulled one....one is American Crafts and the others are vintage that I bought in a thrift shop :) In real life you can see the cool detail on the 2 vintage buttons...I'm not making it up I swear......LOL

I just looked at the clock and see it is 1 am?????? Good grief, I amaze myself with how long winded I can be sometimes......lol.

I'll be back tomorrow with my fave layouts from 2011 and my resolutions for the new year!! Thanks for dropping in to say hello!!!

Tina

Unity Stamp Giveaway!

2011-12-28T23:36:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday!!!

Guess what? I FINALLY created a little something!!! However it's almost 11:30 pm here in my little corner of the world and I really would rather wait til there is daylight to photograph it. So I'll share tomorrow :)

I did find a sweet little giveaway over at My Clever Creations that I wanted to pass along! She has the cutest little set of Unity stamps up for grabs. I think the name of the set is Sweet Celebration.....aren't the cuppy cakes ADORABLE???????

Head on over to her blog for a chance to win......http://myclevercreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/whatdid-someone-say-giveaway.html Good Luck!!!!

Some blog giveaways I have come across today......

2011-12-26T16:17:00.002-05:00

Go forth and win scrappy stuff my friends!!!! Some giveaways I have come across.......just in case you are like me and found your way on to Santa's naughty list and didn't have all of your scrappy desires fulfilled!!!!

My Little Shoebox is giving away a MLS collection of your choice (I think!!) You have until Dec 28th to leave a comment!
American Crafts is giving away a "Knock Outs" starter kit. They are punches and it looks like they have inserts to swap out and punch different patterns or designs......COOL idea!! Comments close Dec 30
Bella Blvd Has a basket of goodies worth over $50 to give away! I sooooooo want the winter collection!!!!
EAD designs is having a bloghop and a giveaway...not sure how long so get over there ASAP!!!
Moxie fab World has a Moxie FAB giveaway right now!!! They have listed heir top 10 collections of the year....go vote for your 3 favs and you COULD win some goodies!! You have til New years day on this one
My Scraps And More Has a giveaway every single Monday.......so put them on your blogroll so you can keep track of what they are offering....I was lucky enough to win from them quite a while back and the prize was very generous PLUS I got a coupon for 40% off a purchase from their online shop!!! This weeks giveaway is something from American Crafts (AND they are doing a blog hop this weekend too!!)
The Pink Stamper Robyn is a dear......seriously!! She hasn't finished up her 12 days of Christmas giveaways YET......you still ahve time to b ack track on her blog and leave a comment on all of the entries for a chance to win....and if you feel a little crafty and want to join the challenges you get an extra entry for completing them.....she has some KILLER stuff she is giving away!!!

If you come across any OR have a giveaway of your own feel free to leave it in the comment box :) Andddddd I will have a giveaway for you to kick off the new years as well! So stay tuned for that!!!

Ol Saint Nick ain't all that quick!!!!

2011-12-26T13:20:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Day after :) I make it sound as tho we just survived the zombie apocalypse don't I?

You just KNOW I have lots of rambling and such to get out of my system today. But first I would really love for everyone to keep my friend Sandi and her mother in their thoughts and prayers. I know Sandi from my Weight Watchers yahoo group. We are a small bunch but each and every lady there is like family to me. We share so much ore than just out food journals and weight loss struggles.....we talk about our every day life, family struggles and so on........I couldn't ask for a better group of friends, don't ever let anyone tell you that just because you don't know someone "in real life" you can't be true friends.

Anyway.......Sandi had to run her mother to the emergency room yesterday....... Christmas day....while so many of us were spending time with our family and loved ones opening presents, having a wonderful dinner etc.........her mom was having symptoms that suggested a stroke. The hospital had to break the news to her on Christmas day that it was actually a brain tumor.

Yeah......Merry Christmas :(

My heart breaks for her. So please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. I DO believe in miracles!!! And once I find out more about what is going on I may attempt to organize a card drive for them.....I will keep you posted!!!

So......I trust you all had a beautiful holiday celebration!! All things considered, ours was pretty nice.......stressful yes!!!! But I tend to bring that on myself......I have it ingrained in my head that each and every Christmas has to be like a Norman Rockwell painting........it ain't NEVER gonna happen so I am trying to learn to accept and embrace my families dysfunctionality......lol. Have you heard Robert Earl Keen's tune "Merry Christmas From The Family" ?? Thats us!!!! lol.

I had some issues from Brandon, who is 11, about going to bed on Christmas eve. He thinks he is all grown up now and since he doesn't believe in Santa (WHAT??????) he felt he should be allowed to stay up with the elves and help get everything in place. Well.......Mama elf was way behind this year. I kept waiting for a Child Support check that never came to get Christmas for the kids.......why I continue to believe that SOME people can change I dunno.......I vented about it on Facebook, knowing his sister would pass my status update along to him........wishing everyone a Merry Christmas EXCEPT him....and that I hoped Santa's reindeer crapped all over his front porch (except I think I wasn't nearly that nice about it......lol) I know.........childish of me, but damn it made me feel better :) Anyway.....Brandon's stuff was downstairs and not wrapped......so finally I just told him he could go to bed when Jesse did and HAVE presents from Santa....or stay up and not get anything......lol. Yep, Imma mean one.......MRS GRINCH!!!

So we got everything in place once they went to bed and look at what I caught.......SANTA!!!! YES!!! Photographic evidence!!!!

I was Sooooooooooooooo excited to share this with Jesse!!! He looked at it nd told me it looked fake. WHAT????? Sighhhhhh :):):) It's awful when your 7 year old is so jaded he thinks his mom would try to pull the wool over his eyes like that...I mean REALLY!!! I was hoping it would make up for his slacker mom not being able to take him to see Santa. We couldn't find him....seriously!!! And slacker mom also dropped the ball on his Christmas treat bags for his party on the last day of school. So I am hoping to pick up points by creating something awesome for Valentines day.....if I get started NOW there is hope.....LOL

And I didn't get a chance to show you this prior to Christmas......but it's awfully cute so I just gotta :)

I am on a mailing list from Makers Mark.......yeah the bourbon......I do have 5 kids remember??? Trust me, it's cheaper than therapy :):) Every year they send me a little gift. usually something totally useless but still cool. Last year it was a red candle and a wax seal maker stamp thing with the Makers Mark Seal. I got really excited as I opened my package this year.....

Kinda small but it felt like clothing. So I thought COOOLNESS!!!! A Tshirt!!!! As I got it opened it became obvious that it wasn't a shirt.......wait!!! Maybe it's a cool Toboggan!!! YESSSSSSS!!!! I saw it was knitted and in beautiful Chrisgtmas colors of red, whit and green....be still my heart!!!

Then I pulled it out and WTF????????

I may have even said WTF out loud.......

A Christmas sweater!!!!! Just what I have always wanted!!!! Not just any sweater....but a teeny sweater. I have it laying on a magazine in this photo......

I have no pets to dress up.....and one of my boobs won't even fit in this thing........Ahhhhh but it's not JUST a sweater.......it's a bottle sweater!!! Wo knew they even made such things!!!????? And here it is in print...cuz if someone had told me that it was for a bottle I woulda told them they were insane

So I dressed up my Capt Morgan bottle....just to keep it warm and all......cute huh? LOL

And this way it conceals how much celebrating I did.....LOL. And while I am at it I wanna share this photo of the rum cake Bob make with his own two wittle hands for his friends at the gun shop:):):)

He didn't like the way I wanted to make it so he was on his own. Not bad for a guy huh??? :)

And Jesse begged me for the sweater for one of his bears.......soooooo I gave it to him to keep Grizzy warm. Because he is my baby boy and I can't say no to him :)

And Here is Grizzly with the cake........lol

Told ya we were dysfunctional.......lol

I hope to get something crafty done today....tomorrow is Bob's birthday so I may or may not be posting tomorrow......he is going to be 44 :):) Gosh....he is so lucky to hav a young babe like me!!!!! LOL......everyone thinks he is wayyyyyy older than me because of all of his grey. He just tells em he doesn't care what color it turns so long as it doesn't turn loose!!!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday and are getting a much deserved break today!!!!

Hugs!
Tina!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

I had grand plans to get cards out on time and um, well it didn't happen.....so consider me early for next Christmas :) My friends and family know what a nitwit I can be.......so they are coming....just won't be there in time :) Doesn't mean i love ya any less tho!!!

My merry band of elves are cleaning my house as I type.....ok, they ain't all that merry!! But I explained to them that Santa may sue us if he tries to walk thru the living and falls and breaks his neck.......and I'm not really sure I can handle the backlash.

We finished up our shopping yesterday........and actually people in the stores were not all that bad.....maybe I am the only person in all of Knoxville that didn't have her shopping finished??? Now I have to wrap it. UGH!!!! LOL.......I am just about out of Christmas cheer......I am trying to do all my cooking today so tomorrow will less stressful.

Or that's the plan anyway.......we'll see......lol.

I hope each and every one of you have a blessed holiday. Enjoy your time with friends and family and if you are traveling be safe!

I love you all!!!!
HO! HO! HO! and stuff :)
Tina

LMLC Holiday Cheer!

2011-12-18T22:49:00.002-05:00

And I ain't talkin about spiked eggnog!!!

Actually I am quite ready for some spiked eggnog!!! lol. What the heck....just leave the eggnog out :):):)

But it does sound kinda nice right about now.......especially with the day I have had! Ever notice how just one little glitch in your day can throw everything off balance? Well, that is the case today. All school year long we have had issues with Matthew's bus driver. Matt goes to an "alternative" school so his day doesn't start the same time as my other boys. And his school is much farther away too. Like wayyyy on the other side of Knoxville. It's about a 30 to 40 minute drive on the interstate depending on weather and traffic. His school day starts at 9:30 and he goes til 4:30. His bus driver is rarely here even before 9:20.......and with it being a 30 to 40 minute drive....um, he is late every freakin day!!! So while this dude always shows up late...there are days when if I am not standing right there at the door with Matt's stuff in hand and open the door as soon as I have him in my sight....he will TRY to speed by and not pick him up. Well this morning he chose to not show at all. And with Matt's Autism, every little deviation from normal routine is a huge deal. So he has been a hand full today. And the poor kid doesn't realize WHY today is so different.

Sighhhhh :(

And yes I have reported this guy, complained, and called everyone I could think of as well as camping out the Board of Education to talk to whoever was unlucky enough to have to deal with me that day.......bus drivers are a precious commodity here.... especially the one that do the special needs routes. So they get to do what they want I guess. VERY frustrating and with the school schedules and such I just can't transport him back and forth myself.

It's always something I guess!!

Before I get on a roll here (yeah I realize I have been rollin for about 15 minutes now.....lol) I MUST add to the designer credits of yesterdays "Snow Fun" mini album.......the album itself is from Nikki Sivils. And it didn't come pre-punched. And the chipboard is VERY high quality stuff and probably over a quarter of an inch thick even before I started adding paper to it. Well, I got it together and THOUGHT I could get thru it with my generic squeeze paper punch. HA!!! As usual....thinking was my first mistake!!

I grabbed the heavy duty one made for punching thru multiple sheets of paper......um.....works great with paper ....not so much mini albums.

Strike 2 :(

At this point I am torn between power tools and an ice pick........and my kids were very, very afraid and went and got Bob. Being a guy he has lots of cool guy gadget stuff and he popped the holes in for me with something used for putting belt holes in leather. A leather stabber I guess???? At any rate I have now stolen it and have it hid in my scrapping stash....bwahahahahahaha!!!

But he wanted credit.......so there it is!!! Bob, you rock.....and I will never ever again tease you about your guy gadgets. (until next time....lol) And this is all true.....and I really was heading downstairs to get the power drill!!!

No power tools involved in this project.......and no injuries to report either. Its been a slow day........lol.

Lasting Memories latest challenge is all about Holiday Cheer! And here is the beautiful inspiration photo! There is also a rockin little sketch over there if you decided you want to use it with this challenge. I will no doubt be creating with it soon., just not today :)

The moment I saw it I knew exactly the photo I wanted to use. It was just a matter of toying with it in photoshop to get it the way I wanted it. I decided to go digi with this one as well....because I really could not do this one justice otherwise......I had a ball throwing it together....used MANY filters, overlays, blending and just kinda played with everything in the program to get the look to attempt to duplicate the feel of the inspiration photo. This is Jesse decorating the tree last year :)

Not exactly the same but I tried!!!

Head on over to Lasting Memories and play along!!! And they are having a DT call as well....keep that in mind too!!!

I'll be back a bit later....I still have some cards to photograph and share before I mail em out.......I think I'm done with em all....I hope so anyway cuz I am so over making Christmas cards at this point......I need to find a better hiding place to store my store bought ones away from Jesse's little booger picker!!! BTW.....thank you for the get well wishes....they seem to have worked, he said he felt much better this morning but his throat was still hurting....no fever tho! Keeping those fingers crossed....no one is allowed to be sick in this house until the holidays are over!!!!

Hugs!
Tina

Help!! I can't think of a clever post title.......

2011-12-18T17:36:00.001-05:00

I never thought I would see the day........

Me........at a loss for words??????

I think I need a vacation or something!!!!

My mind is totally fried at the moment.........we had some teenage punk drama last night involving a boy that Jacob goes to school with. That one deserves a post of it's own tho......so tomorrow watch out. I will be on a rampage for sure!! So consider yourselves warned.

After a few days of being rid of all of the sickie germs, you guessed it! I have 2 sick boys trying to pollute my air space with their sick boy germs. YUCK! I'm hoping it's not strep........but I have a sinking feeling that it is. Jesse, my youngest, is still lounging in the pajamas he put on Friday night. Complaining of a sore throat, a headache, upset tummy and an ear ache. I am crossing my fingers that it is merely an ear infection. Not that I want him to be sick AT ALL! But an ear infection is much preferred to strep! My 11 year old is complaining of the same symptoms and I am still debating whether he is truly feeling bad or is just trying to cash in on the sympathy Jesse is getting. So say a prayer for us.......we just have 3 days to get thru this week and then they are out until January 9th. Seriously...........January NINTH!!!!

Xanax take me awayyyyyy!!!!!!

So.....as you can tell I was in desperate need of some "me time" today. And I took a break from the teacher gifts, class treat bags, family gifts, and cards to make something for ME!!! Just because! A totally selfish thing to do in the midst of the holidays I know.......I look really guilty don't I?? :):):):) The hard part of it is over with.......I just can't find my stupid photos.No doubt I put them away for safe keeping and totally hid them from myself. Which means I will look high and low for them for the next 2 or 3 weeks and finally concede defeat.....send my digital images off to Walgreen's to be reprinted, get them home and that very day.........yeah.......the others will turn up. Admit it......it has happened to you too!!! I can see the little smile and the nodding of your head while you are reading this :)

Anyway.......I decided to make a mini album. This is only my 2nd one ever. And I love putting them together. Layouts are great but there is just something about a mini that is kinda therapeutic. I created this for some winter photos I wanted to showcase but have them all in one spot. So grab some tea or a shot of tequila (opps did I seriously just say that?????) and get comfy because I have quite a few photos to show ......photos of the photo-less mini album......

The cover.......

The rest are inside shots.....

I tried to get a decent photo of the flakes....I added some bling to them and it is really adorable in person!

Obviously you can see where photos will one day live......lol. I really love how it all came together and I got to use a lot of lonely goodies from my stash that otherwise would have just lived in the box another year or two. I used a conglomeration of different things to pull this all together. (didn't know people in East Tennessee knew the word conglomeration, let alone be able to use it properly in a sentence huh???? lol)

I started with a Nikki Sivils chipboard mini......all of the papers are VERY OLD GCD Studios Winter Wonderland. I am trying to figure out why I never used them until now because I really love the kinda grungy look they have to them. Hmmmm.......one of life's great mysteries I guess :) I added stickers from Echo Park's Winter Time. My very first Echo Park collection I bought.....ever. (sniff, sniff.........I'm feeling so emotional now) The big red and silver chipboard title is made with Cloud 9 Designs alphas, the silver glittery snowflake is from Precocious Paper's Dec kit, and placed strategically over the edge of the "W" to hide the fact the the "W" is actually a "M".......Bob would not shut up about that so I covered it up.......yeah none of us EVER interchange M's W's E's or 3's do we?????

I created the little journaling spots using Basic Grey's basic white......the sheet that looks like lined paper....because I can't write straight without lines.....seriously...the scrap police would ask me to do a breathalyzer! Used more EP stickers........some from Everybody Loves Christmas....then used the negative image left behind on the sticker sheet to trace the snowman silhouette , I may embellish it, but for now I like the clean look of it.

And that's it!! I love my little album!!!

I know......I can talk forever huh??? lol

I didn't create this specifically for any one challenge but I found a few to enter it in anyway.......I rock like that ya know......lol. So I am sharing at the following killer challenges and linky parties :)

Alderberry Hill.......click the blinkie thing to go visit.....crafts, DIY's and recipes.....see what your friends in blog land are creating!

Dittle Dattle Amaze Me Monday (click button below to visit!!)

Alphabet Challenge Blog W......White Christmas
City Crafter Challenge Blog Get booked!!! Make or alter a book
Do You Stack Up Winter
I heart naptime Sundae Scoop
One stitch at a time Anything goes
Make It Monday Linky Party Show em what you have been creating!!
The Pink Elephant Snowflakes and sparkle
Pile it on bling it up
CraftoManiac Manic Monday Link Up
Singing Three Little Birds Inspire Me Monday

Ande before I go I want to thank the wonderful girls over at Lasting Memories for featuring my "Snow Day" layout Friday!!!! Lookie what they gave me :)

Ain't they just the sweetest!!!!!! BTW......you need to check out the challenge this week! It's a goodun!!! ANDDDDDDDDDDDDD they are having a DT call!!!! Visit the blog for the deets!!

Til tomorrow........
Hasta La Vista baby!!!

Tina

"Real" Housewives?!?!?!?!

2011-12-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

OMG........have you seen this show??

I have been chillin at home today watching Bravo.......I had no clue that Bravo was such a chick channel......LOL. Early this morning I watched a couple of episodes of Millionaire Matchmaker. LOVE that show and LOVE Patty Stanger......lol. I know I am most likely in the minority, but I really love her bluntness....I'm a "say what's on your mind" kinda person too. Surprising I know.......lol.

Then Real Housewives of Orange County came on.......and I have been glued to this train wreck all day.......lol. Apparently there is a marathon on. I get so hooked on really bad reality shows. Seriously....it's like an addiction. And it's REALLY nice to see these rich chickies have problems despite having money flyin out of their butts......lol. One has just been evicted from her home...they owe $10,000 on a rental house deposit.

Are you serious?? What kind of rental home has a $10,000 deposit????? For some people that is actually a down payment......and I can honestly say in my lifetime I have lived in places that didn't even COST that kind of money. (think trailer park.....and no I am not kidding!!!)

And even though her family has just been evicted, her g/f's talk her into going on a shopping trip to San Francisco!!!!

Yeahhhhhhhh, sureeeeeeeeee......I'm homeless but DAMN I look good!!!!!

Boggles the mind!!!!!

I hope if they ever do a Real Housewives of Knoxville they pick me!!! BWHAHAHAHAHA!! I dunno if they could handle my special brand of :"real" :):):):):)

Now you know how I spend my day......Don't judge me....I get an evil sort of pleasure out of seeing people more dysfunctional than myself.....it happens so rarely....LOL.

Ok.........that is my mindless rambling for the day....wanna see some projects?? :):):):)

First up I have one for Lasting Memories Layout Challenge Blog. Winter wonderland and falling snowflakes challenge :) You really need to head over and see those who have been featured so far....WOW!!!! I may be steppin in over my head joining along....they are FABULOUS!!!! I tried and tried to find some photos of real snow.....lol. I say "real" because we don't really get a LOT of snow in this part of Tennessee.......true, we live about 30 minutes from The Great Smokey Mountains. They get snow all the time.......here in Knoxville we are kinda situated right smack in the middle of a valley. Almost all the bad weather that moves in totally by passes us us. BUT on those rare occassions when we get an inch or two......OMG the whole town freaks out....stores run out of milk and toilet paper.......scary!!! So here is my page....and I kid you not, they cancelled school for this!!!!!! Check it out :)

LOLOLOL.......seriously....CANCELLED SCHOOL!!!!!!!! I used a digi kit called Jack Frost by Laura Deacetis of Shabby Pickle Font is 2peas Champagne Created in PSPX2. Lack of Snow by Mother Nature , of course :) I just love that little button snowman !!!

And I have been furiously working to get some cards created and mailed out!!! Um, I have them created but not mailed :( Actually I have SOME created......Hopefully I can get them sent out before next Christmas!!!

So here are a few!

LOVELOVELOVE the snowmen!!!! This one uses Echo Park's "Everyone Loves Christmas" the plain white is American Crafts card stock and the button is just a rnadom button I pulled from someones clothes.......no, kidding!! It's actually a vintage button (I got a huge lot of these super cheap at a church rummage sale) and it doesn't show here but it is sooo pearly looking and pretty!! And used Cardabilities Sketch #45

Playing along with:

The sisterhood of crafters Christmas/celebrate the holidays

Raise the bar: its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Papertake weekly I'm dreaming of a (insert fave color here) Christmas......BLUE

Paper Play Challenges Christmas

Cardabilities Sketch 45

This one is a mish mash of stuff..........Bazzill, Karen Foster and Cosmo Cricket. Another vintage button and some jute :) No sketch...pretty easy design and just winged it :)

Joining in at:

My time to craft Vintage Christmas

I saved my favorite one for last :):):)

I used CPS sketch 143 and turned it on it's side for this one and used Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas (yup again!!!)and some red yarn (red lion) The banner and the little "together" chippie is Bella Blvd......lettering on the chippie is My Little Shoebox. Isn't is neat how well they all go together????? I LOVE the color combination and the way the red just pops! OH!!! The little snow driift is plain ol burlap from Hobby Lobby's bargain bin. Not sure why i went with the burlap but I really like the way it all goes together.....lots of texture. I know it doesn't look like real snow but we are all grown ups here and realize you don't put real snow on a card because.....well, it melts......lol.

Playing along with these awesome challenges :)

Winter Wonderland Challenge: Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!

Use it Tuesday Holiday
The Paper Variety Anything goes! (btw...the deadline is looming for their design team call!!!)
Scrapbookers Anonymous A to Z challenge letter E is for.......can you guess??? ECHO PARK!!! And I must say I am pretty bummed about the fact that they discontinued the Fresh Face Designer thing! (pout) I hope they do a design team call SOON!!!!! Cuz I am dying to be a part of it!!!!
Paper Sundaes Anything Goes (you can enter 3 times!! this is my second)
ABC Christmas Challenge Y is for YIPPEE Its almost Christmas (seriously thats what it is!!!)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today! I so appreciate each and every one of you!!!!
Hugs n stuff!!
Tina

A few Cards...

2011-12-12T22:44:00.002-05:00

Yes cards........

With a "s".......

Plural.........

Unbelievable huh :):)

I'm gonna try to keep this brief....I am exhausted tonight. As soon as I got the kiddo's off to school this morning Bob and I took off to Walmart. My least favorite place in the universe. I used to love Walmart. Then they closed down out little small town type Walmart in favor of one of the huge Super Center's. Total chaos just about any time of the day. I have been boycotting them for months now. I'm not sure exactly how I was bribed into going today....I don't think I had adequate caffeine intake to actually be held responsible for my actions or decisions at the time.

But it wasn't so bad........no crowds and I could actually look at something without being shoved or ran over. We purchased some heaters.........our central heat and air went out wayyyy back in the summer and with 5 growing boys we just can't manage a couple of grand for a new unit. And it's been getting COLD here!! Well cold for the south.........nights in the 20s and 30s.......yeah I know.....whatta wimp!!!! It rarely gets really cold in TN........but we are about due for another freak winter event here......lol. So now we have heat!!!

And know waht the temp is supposed to be tomorrow???

63 degrees.........LOL

Bring it on Ol Man Winter.......I'm ready for ya!!!

Let's see........I also got a couple new skillets........I REALLY want paula Dean Cookware........GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! But again........not in the budget.....sigh :( It sucks being broke!!! lol

From there we dropped everything off at home and them went out for lunch and had a wonderful date at a little Chinese Buffet place and people watched. Always fun finding people freakier than you :)

And got home just in time to run out and pick the boys up from school.

So all in all a rather boring day for me.....I dig that!!!!! This year has had way too much drama for me....I'm ready for a little boredom!!!!

Ok....on to the cards!! I actually like these too :) A rarity since I am not really all that confident in my card making abilities!!! Maybe it's a fluke but I'll take it :)

I have this little cutie I created using Echo Parks "Everybody Loves Christmas" from last year. I actually used the MME sketch for this month.....Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :) I think I was actually supposed to creat with My Minds Eye.......Oppps!!!! :):):) Still it turned out Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh so cute!!!!! I love the colors and the little deer is adorable!!!

I did add a journaling sprout from Jillibean Soup, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type in cream and that beautiful flower comes from Precocious paper . You can't see how glittery it is here.....it's felt with tulle and a pretty little crystal bead in the center of the flower......

I'm joining the following challenges :
Card Makin Mama's: Christmas
Paper Sundaes: Anything Christmas

Next I have this more traditional style card using Cosmo Crickets "Jolly By Golly". I tried to age it a bigt with some inking on the music sheet and doilie.

I really love how it turned out , no clue how I am gonna get it in an envelope tho!! I think I will include it in a gift bag (that I am also going to decorate using this theme) for my elderly neighbor across the street.

I'm entering this one at:
Crafts 4 Eternity Color rfecipe red , green , and white
Crafty Hazelnut: Traditional Christmas
Creations by Gill M Red and Green

And finally I have one for Freshly Made Sketches using this sketch from Jennifer Timko :)

I think the papers are fancy pants and the little dodad chippy embellie is Cosmo Cricket

And that's all I have today!!! I'm working on something but I'm not really quite sure what direction it's gonna take right now.......we'll see I guess!!!

Thanks for visiting with me today!!!
Tina

All I want for Christmas is to not be sick anymore!!!!!

2011-12-11T18:24:00.001-05:00

Hello my wonderful blog pals!!!

What a month this has been.........holiday season is always busy but believe it or not I have barely even gotten started on much of anything dealing with the holidays! I wasn't be3ing a slacker!!!! HONEST!!! Seems like one illness, virus, ailment or inuury right after another has plagued this house in the past 11 days. So if I haven't been sick I am been playing nurse.....fun.....NOT!!! And of course not everyone got taken down at the same time....one of us would get it and a day or so would pass and then another one would bite the dust. We went thru the whole creeping crud of an upper respiratory infection........Bob had it the worst I think and is still kinda battling a lingering cough that just won't go away even tho he feels fine. And we all had the stomach flu and I thought I was gonna die....... actually I may have even prayed for death a time or so. Then Steven got an ear infection.........sighhhhh.

Seriously. It's been one thing after another. I am ready for us all to be healthy again!!!!

I have barely done any holiday shopping.....or baking......or much of anything.

So now the crunch is on and I am doing my best to not let it get to me and get overwhelmed.

This has been my first illness free weekend in a LONGGGGG time so I spent most of the day yesterday getting my craft on :) I made a couple of ornaments I will be sharing this week, and 5 cards!!! Thats more than I have done in the last month.....lol. I kinda either HAVE to make my cards or buy new ones......Jesse found a box I bought one sale last year after Christmas on sale. I keep them around for unexpected cards I may get. Well Jesse decided to make one out for his teacher.....and his whole class, and his brothers....and me.......an entire box of cards that were normally something like $20........GONE. What a stinker :) And he insisted that I display my card and his brothers cards.......it looks like we have so many when in reality I have only gotten 2 in the mail so far.......LOL.

One of the cards I made was using this sketch from Frosted Designs. Card sketch #7

And please forgive me for not knowing what these papers are.....I got them in a grab bag a couple of years ago and since I am not a big purple fan I never used them. But I created this card for my ex MIL........purple is her favorite color :) And I got a brand spankin new batch of goodies from Precocious paper this month and LOVED how this worked out........it's still not "Me". But it doesn't have to be since I am giving it away.......lol.

I think she will flip for it :)

Also sharing it over at Papertake Weekly for their "Anything Goes" challenge.

The Paper Variety has a fun challenge going right now too!! They are always so much fun to play along with.....one of my most favoritest challenge blogs EVER!!! They are super nice over there so pop over and say hey to them and play along. While I was recuperating and not really feeling like doing much of anything crafty at all it will killing me because I had soooo many great ideas for the challenges they were posting. Every week is fun there!!

This week's challenge is to create a project inspired by a Holiday song.

This project actually began in my head a couple of weeks ago. Over the summer during on of my excursions to Goodwill I came across 2 shadowbox frames for a buck. Actually they wanted a buck each for them and I was willing to pay it because I really wanted the frames. You can see the original "art" I brought home HERE. .And I used one to create this gift for my Cousin with her then new baby girl HERE!

I'm guessing they were part of someones kitchen decor at one time.........one was a rooster and the other a cow. So for this one this is what I began with.......

Hard to believe anyone got sick of looking at that in their kitchen huh? LOL!!! I was going to cover it in burlap and paint chipboard letters and spell out Noel and stick in the frame. Actually I did have it covered in burlap and them pulled it all off while I found some cool winter themed paper from GCD Studios in a box that was stashed away......this is old stuff......I bought it a couple of years ago at least and I got it at Big Lots so it probably had been around for a while prior to landing in the store. And I found some cute stickers from WRMK in the box too that I had gotten (also a couple of years ago) from Hobby Lobby's clearance section.

It's crazy the stuff I have squirelled away and didn't even realize it.....lol.

So I covered this print with some paper and got creative with the stickers and came up with this little beauty!!! :):)

Obviously my song is "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" :):):)

And guess what I used for the snow!!!!!!!! Epsom Salts!!!!!! Works PERFECTLY!!!!! And since this is a shadowbox you can shake it up and change up the snow drift........I dig interactive projects.......lol.

I popped everything inside up with foam tape.....

And added one of the sparkly snowflakes from the Precocious Paper kit :)

And popped up ever other bulb and added shiny silver cord for the light strand :)

This was such fun to create and I absolutely LOVE it!!!!!

So in addition to sharing this with my friends at TPV I am also sharing with the following awesome blogs and challenges :)

Thanks for stopping by!!
XoXo
Tina

Frosted Designs : Glitter challenge (snow is glittery and of course the glittery snowflake)
Quirky Crafts Snow
Crazy 4 Challenges A project with Santa on it

Alderberry Hill Make the scene Monday

Alphabet Challenge Blog W is for White Christmas (snow equals White Christmas)
Craft Envy Saturday Spotlight
Crafting When We Can Friendship (Santa and Rudolf are friends right?????)
Dittle Dattle Amaze me Monday

Homework Link party spotlight
I heart Naptime Sundae Scoop link party

My Sheri Crafts Let it snow!!

Raise The bar Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

Raising memories Sharing time

Keeping It Simple Motivate Me Monday

Tatertots and jello weekend wrap up

TGIF and a simple Christmas project

2011-12-02T11:45:00.001-05:00

Well, so much for my posting every day between now and Christmas huh? lol. Gosh........I have been SUPER busy!!! The creepin crud is creepin back around AGAIN and right now one of the youngins has is and Bob is getting sick again.......LOVELY!!!!!! Tis the season I guess?????

The house is empty right now cept for me (YAYYYYY!!!) and altho I really should be cleaning or something I wanted to check in and say hey :) Heaven only knows when I will have another minute to myself to post!!! I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend and home snuggled in the covers (it has gotten sooo cold here at night that I don't wanna get up!!!) but tomorrow is an early morning because Jacob and Steven are both marching with their ROTC unit in our Christmas parade!!! Very cool!!! Jacob was hoping he would have his service dress uniform by tomorrow but it's not gonna happen.....he was promoted this week to CHIEF Petty Officer!!! I coulda told them he was petty if they asked......lol. Steven got his first promotion as well to Seaman....WOOOOOT!!! I am so proud of my boys!!!

Maybe I can get a few more decorations up.......I have been on a major cleaning kick this past week......seems like as soon as I get it clean they come thru and next thing I know I am looking at rubble everywhere. I did a ton of laundry yesterday and started on about 5 projects......lol. They all involve painting so I got that step right out of the way and just painted them all at the same time. And I FINALLY scored a frame I want to use for my super awesome wreath project I have locked away in my mad little mind........everyone is looking at me like I am crazy when I tell them its a wreath. Men just don't get the whole creative vision thing unless it involves beer and boobs. I hope to have it done by monday....which may be a little on the ambitious side but ya gotta set goals right? LOL!! And of course I forgot to take a photo of my before until I was half way thru the painting process.....

Awful pic.......but I found the frame at a thrift store for $5.....broke my heart to pay that much but this is the size I wanted. It had a cardboard print in it....no glass...and was uber tacky. I popped it out and cleaned the frame and threw a coat of this red paint on it.......I think it's gonna turn out AWESOME!!!!

Oik, so the one finished thing I have to show you isn't really such a big deal.......I don't have a before photo for this one either cuz the kids deleted it on me.....grrrrrrrr!!!!! Why must they mess with Mom's stuff?????

I had a candle warmer thing that was huge.....my mother had given it to me and it wouldn't work. Figures, she is famous for passing her junk down to me and then telling me I must have done something to it because it worked PERFECTLY while in her possession......right (rolls eyes).Bob took it apart to see if there was a short or something in it and it was just shot. But I tought it was pretty so I kept the top to it to put over the ugly candles I have in the living room. I actually usemy candles so yeah.... they sometimes burn funny and leave a messy looking jar behind. So I took it and covered it with some EP Christmas themed paper........from last years collection...I think it is Everyone loves Christmas????? (shrugs) and I picked up some EP stickers at Hobby Lobby from one of the new collections that I can't remember the name of either......lol. I'm battin 1000!!! :):):): I just wanted to "merry it up" some becuase the cover was kinda fall themed with a big pumpkin and apples and welcome sign on it......so here are a couple of shots....

Too much glare.......this one is better :)

I got the stand at Goodwill for 50 cents and it is super heavy! I will be able to use it for bunches of things so I am happy with it :)

I'm hoping to get some cards mailed out today. I still have more to make yet ......I'm such a procrastinator!!!

Thanks for checkin in )

Tina

Jute wrapped Christmas Tree

2011-11-27T20:36:00.001-05:00

Howdy do everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. Most of us could certainly use a little down time following Thanksgiving and Black Friday!! Did anyone get any great bargains? So far I have spent a grand total of $6 on Christmas gifts......lol. I haven't even bought myself anything!! And that is a shock!!! I'm hoping for some cool Cyber Monday deals!!!!

Today was rainy and just BLAH here today. I took one of the boys with me earlier and we were on the lookout for those flame-less tea light things. I have 3 beautiful angels that are a bit high up that I would love to light up but they are in a spot that I really don't need to introduce fire to....lol. I keep them out year round because I love angels :) We never found them tho after hitting a couple stores. My bones were hurting with all of the rain and dampness so we made a sonic pit stop for drinks and then headed back home.

I decorated a bit and it's starting to come together nicely. However Jesse and I are the only two in the house with any Christmas spirit what so ever. Bob gets the grumpies around this time every year anyway.....we were going to do a family photo around the tree but that just wasn't happening this weekend.....grrrrrrrr!!! What's wrong with the people I live with???? I do have a really sweet photo of Jesse to share.....OMG I just love it!!!!

He is so adorable!!!!!!

And here is one of Him and Brandon decorating the tree.

I can't wait to scrap these!!!!!

Ok......today's craft is a pretty simple one and they are popping up all over pinterest......it's a wrapped cone tree......a simple styrofoam cone that I already had on hand for some odd reason......jute and beaded ribbon. Also on hand. So the totle cost for this was zip, zero zilch!!! Gotta love those kinds of projects. But if you wish to create your own you can make the cone out of cardstock or find one fairly cheaply at the dollar tree. I got the jute at Bog Lots several nonths ago in the hardware dept......all that is involved is a sinmple matter of wrapping....thats it!!!

Since it was rainy today I had to take this inside......and my real camera's batteries died. So I was reduced to using my phone's camera. It turned out really cute. You could decorate this anyway you wanted. I'm thinking of making a couple more in different sizes and maybe add buttons to one......just cuz I love buttons!!! I glued the ruffled ribbon to the bottom and decided to add it to this old candlestick I bought for 50 cents a long time ago at Goodwill with the intentions of making those cake stands out of it. It came in handy to give this some height on the entertainment center.

I figure in a few days I should hav e the entire entertainment center beautified and I can't wait to share the finished result with y'all!!

Thanks for visiting today.....the boys go back to school tomorrow and I am heading to Goodwill to dig for a HUGE picture frame for a project.......I'm sure I will come home with everything except what I am looking for.......lol.

Have a good one!!!
XOXO
Tina

Twas the month before Christmas........

2011-11-26T10:09:00.001-05:00

Hello and Happy belated Thanksgiving!!!

I realize I have been MIA in blog land lately.........many apologies!!! This little thing called "LIFE" tends to get in the way sometimes...

Things are good here......I haven't been missing because life has been kickin my arse, just been really, really busy!!! The kids have been extremely busy with school activities, sports, plays, ROTC stuff, bake sales......and as most of you know that usually means Mom is extremely busy too!! And we all went thru a bout of the creeping crud that just had to visit every single member of our household. So, when i wasn't sick i was nursing sick people........always fun! So, not really a lot of time for keeping up and getting a lot of crafting done.

But I have a long weekend and I was thinking how cool it would be to do a "Month before Christmas" kinda thing on my blog.......maybe this will keep me blogging. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. So my plan is to do a post every day between now and Christmas eve, either posting a Christmas themed project (I have one for you today!!) photos, holiday recipes or just cute Christmas links I find on the web. Ohhhhh and in the next few days I am going to announce a giveaway!! Everyone has been so awesome to me......in my absence I only lost 2 followers.......lol. So my guess is y'all either really love me (awwwwwwwwww) or you just hang around to see what is going on my crazy life. Either way I am so thankful for each and every one of you and i want to show my appreciation. Blog buddies are THE BEST!!! Seriously :) Y'all rock more than a Taco Bell $5 box....and you know.....it rocks, it rocks!!!! or so sayeth Sir Charles Barkley......lol.

I have been doing a little crafting here and there.......mostly there.......lol. I was flipping thru an old magazine and saw this awesome paper wreath.......it was actually a kit they were selling and the more I looked at it the more I thought I could easily make one of my own and it wouldn't cost me $30. Plus I am dying for some new Christmas scrappy goodies but with all of the stuff I have around I really couldn't justify the extra cost. So I did what any sane person would do.........I tried to use it all up.......lol. I had a left over Dollar Tree foam wreath lying around and I knew I wanted something new for our Christmas decor. So i decided to tackle this wreath and Ohhhhhhh my stars I LOVE how it turned out!!!!

Isn't it stunning????? Wayyyyyyyyyyyyy prettier in person because I used MME's Christmas glitter pad from a couple of years ago. So dang easy to make......just took a couple of days and actually, if you have a free day you could easily finish this in a couple of hours. Cutting and curling take most of the time......I don't have step by step photos (I wasn't thinking that far ahead when I created this) but seriously.....EASY PEASY people!!!!

1. First find a cheap wreath. Dollar Tree.......cheap wreath capital of the free world!
2. This would work well with double sided paper.......I think actually it would be even more beautiful that way but I used what I had. I took about 12 sheets of MME paper and cut them in 1/2 strips.
3. OK.....we have all worked with curling ribbon when wrapping presents right? Well treat these strips as curling ribbing and run it over your scissors until it curls. I did end up ripping some of the paper right in half like this. MME has a really thick paper texture and this stuff rips when you distress it......but its OK. I saved the ripped strips and used it for filler.
4. Take the curled strips and start pinning them around your wreath until you get it as full as you like it.......somewhere along the way pin the ribbon to a bare spot on the wreath so you can wrap it and use it to hang. Just pin your paper curls over the top of the ribbon and when you are don make a bow and your done!!!!

It doesn't show here but this is so glittery!!! This is definitely an INDOOR wreath!!!!! And it would make a great gift. In fact I am making a few more to give as teacher gifts :)

We put our tree up last night and HOPEFULLY I can get some family shots today for Christmas cards!! And I am hoping to get some thing together for my December Daily.....I swear I am going to do one every year and never do........this is the year!!!!

I'm linking up and sharing at these wonderful blogs.....

Design Dazzle : Share your awesomeness link up party
Crafts 4 Eternity: Recipe 47 Christmas Decorations
Kreations By Kara: Look what I made linky party
Carolyn's Homework: The inspiration board party link up
Little Red Wagon: Challenge 108 Christmas Theme
Dittle Dattle: Amaze me Monday

YSS sketch contest!!

2011-11-03T13:38:00.001-04:00

Yeah I know.....

I have been a bad blogger....AGAIN!! It's a long story for another post.....which may come alter today, I'm feeling more chatty than usual :)

But right now I am on a mission to get my ass in gear and play along with the YSS sketch contest. In case you have been living in a cave or something this past week you have probably hear that YSS will soon be shutting its virtual doors :( I can't tell you how sad that makes me because I have done the vast majority of my online scrappy shopping there. And let's not talk about how many times I tried out for their DT.....It was a bucket list thing for me....seriously.....right behind DT-ing for Echo Park and taking over the world. And becoming Trace Adkins next ex wife....almost forgot that one!!! :)

Anyway......they have a pretty cool giveaway going on right now if you play along! Choose a sketch or sketches from the gallery (you can enter this as many times as you want!!!!) But ya gotta git r done before midnight pacific time....I'm on eastern time and really have no clue what time that would translate to so I am a scrappin fool today since I slacked all weekend.

So I do have a couple to share with you and I may have more in me.....we'll see. I seem to scrap well under pressure, and stress seems to make me creative........ which means I should be a freakin scrap guru of some sort by now.....lol

So here is what I got so far.....this sketch is from April 30

And i chose to scrap My "oh so cool" teenager Jacob.......he calls it swagger.......I call it BS!! And we know Mom is ALWAYS right!!!!

And his favorite saying right now is "You're so cool" and it is totally soaked in sarcasm.....no clue where he would get that from :) And the photo was taken July 4 while he was still a mere baby of 15. See, he is 16 now and thinks he is all grown up.....ann knows everything. yeah, i totally shoulda named him google :)

So I journaled that bit of "swagger" on my little framed handmade journal card.....everything here is from Crate paper except the letters...and those are thickers :)

Next up is this sketch. from Feb 19.

And I went a little nuts with pattern paper. I can't help myself........I am not afraid of color at all....unlike a certain someone in this house who swears he really REALLY loves out walls white. Well 30 years ago when they first painted this house they were white....and no I am not kidding....30 years since anyone has painted here. I am color starved I tell you!!

For whatever reason this looks really washed out to me......but it's Echo park....so you know its bold and fun...like me of course :) And the lettering is Doodlebug Designs.

I do have some mojo left so I am gonna keep going until you are sick of me today......HA! Just cuz I can!

Some Sunday scrap with Pagemaps

2011-10-30T12:08:00.001-04:00

Mornin, Mornin, Mornin!!!!!

Hey, it's still mornin where I am!!

I stayed pretty busy yesterday but didn't get nearly as much scrapping done and I had hoped. Actually I didn't even start until about midnight. And I even had to do my own laundry yesterday.....whats up with that???? My helpers are seriously slackin!! And sometimes it's really just way easier to do it yourself than to have someone just 'half" do it and then have to go back and do it the way you want it done. I'm not picky about most things and my house is never spotless....I have kids so it's pretty well lived in ya know....so long as I have a path I can travel thru I'm ok with it.

Laundry however, is an entirely different story. I'm very anal (there I admitted it!!0 about hw things get folded and put away. I can't tell you how many meltdowns I have had over the way my towels are stacked in the bathroom closet.....lol. Crazy I know :) I washed and folded 7 loads of laundry yesterday.....and still am not done. UGH!!!! I am bound and determined that the bathroom floor will be visible by the days end!! Wait, that means it most likely needs to be mopped and stuff too.....DANG!!!

We didn't get our candy made yesterday so that's also on today's agenda......as is the pumpkin carving!!!!

Soooo I may not get anything created today either....lol

Ohhhhhhh.....and have you ever done anything so stupid you aren't quite sure how it happened?? I sprained my pinkie last night. And it hurgs like a *)&(*& too!!! I sleep on my belly....and last night I had my arm under me and somehow I had rolled on my side and my pinkie had slipped to the side and into the little rope handle things you turn the mattress with.....yeah I have it covered with a sheet but Bob and I both toss and turn a lot and it rides up and stuff........anyway....my circulation wasw cut off and anturally my arm was asleep and numb......I roll over and something pulled me back....I am still pretty much asleep and I am thinking, "this is weird" and roll again.....still stuck. So in my half conscious state I panic and give my arm a good yank...I guess I thought someone had me or something....lol. And when i yanked I had a pain shoot thru my pinky and up my arm.....I scream...and am totally awake now and finally realize what happened. And am cussing a blue streak....and of course Bob sleeps thru the whole thing???????? I majorly hyper-extended it and was almost certain I had broke it. As my arm woke it hurt more and more.....finally I could get up and take some ibuprofen and went back to sleep. I can move and stuff but man it hurts!!!!!!

Only me....seems I am dangerous even in my sleep......lol

Ok....... I did play along with this sketch from Page maps last night.....

I didn't stick with the fall theme tho.....

Does all the color blind ya? LOL My title is hard to read in the photo.....It's My Little American Idol.....I started to call it Play That funky Music White Boy......lol This is Jesse earlier in the summer playing a few tuns for us as we cooked out :) I found some stray sheets of Echo Park goodies and mixed paper from Little Boy and Playground. Buttons are Basic Grey and the Alpha's are Doodlebug Designs and Little Boy .

There is a HUGE prize up for grabs with this one and I really wish I had started on it earlier cuz I am seeing all kinds of things I woulda done differently. I'll definitely save this sketch for another time :) Maybe the luck of the draw will be on my side....lol. If you wanna play along you have til midnight tonight to get linked up!!!

Hugs n stuff!

Tina

Hmmm...crafting vs housework

2011-10-29T13:10:00.001-04:00

Are there any bets floating around regarding which I did more of yesterday?? Since the vast majority of y'all are crafters as well, I think yiu know what direction I headed in.......yup! My house is still a mess, actually, even MORE so because I am a messy crafter......lol.

I had a wonderful package come to me in the mail a couple of weeks ago FULL of some awesome Jillibean soup goodies. I wish I knew who to thank because I can't find the package it arrived in. :( I totally LOVE Jillibean Soup! The mixture of bright fun colors and kraft papers is enough to send me over the edge and sit staring with drool running down my chin. And I am super excited that they are coming out with digital scrapping products!! Everyone is starting to go this direction and it's really cool. I actually started my scrapping life as a digital scrapper and there are some things you can do digitally that is impossible with paper. Doesn't mean i don't still love you paper!!!!! Its also a great way to add that lil something to you photos before you print them. Did you know that when you do that yo are hybrid scrapping without even knowing it??? YUP!!! Adding text to a photo digitally counts too!

So hybrid scrapping is way easier than you think!

And why I just went off on that tangent I dunno........I have nothing hybrid or digital to share with you today......LOL. Blame it on the coffee :):):)

Ohhhhhh I know now!!

Back to Jillibean Soup......they have a sketch challenge up that I FINALLY got around to doing....and it's a sketch by the beautiful and talented Julie Bonner!!! Yup! The Sketch Goddess herself :) I love almost anything she creates...they are all so clean and easy to work with and I am never stumped. If ever anyone comes out with a scrapbook sketches for dummies book....I sincerely hope she is one of the contributors.....lol. I honestly have a folder on my laptop called Julie......full of her sketches. And occasionally my sweet, wonderful and crazy friend Julie Tucker Wolek wanders in there :) I have never seen a sketch from her tho....she mostly just sneaks in and draws smiley faces on everything.....such a vandal :)

Here is the awesome sketch.....

And here is my take using Jillibean Soups Summer Squash Soup collection....

As tho th colors weren't nearly bright enough i decided, for whatever reason, to spritz it with Lemon Zest Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist......just a wild hair I guess.....lol. I used a journaling sprout and stickers that were included with the collection and my fav of all the Thickers I own :) The ticket is just something Jacob brought home from a football game I think. I used the little alphas as well in the title work and the color makes them kinda hard to see so I outlined them with a lime green bic marker. It shows up better in person so y'all ALL should really pile in the car and take a road trip to Knoxville to have a gander at my scrapbooks.....lol. Our football team sucks so plan to tailgate here at the house :):) The only bowl our Vols are going to this year is the Toilet Bowl......just sayin :):):)

Here is a closer look at the title......

And I used the scraps from this page to do this sweet little card for a friend based on this weeks Clean and Simple 164 sketch.

And since I am sending it out on Monday I went ahead and finished the inside as well....

And as if that were not enough ........check out this awesome little sketch at Sketchy Thursday this week!!!

I totally adore it!!! I love Sketchy Thursday but don't play as often as I would like.....I have another folder with nothing but sketchy thursday sketches.....truth!!! And miraculously it's full of smiley faces too!!!!

Speaking of smiles, I smile every time I look at this photo. Jesse at 3 months old....OMGosh where has the time went???????? He is so sweet here. I love babies....LOVE EM!!! If only they didn't grow into such bitchy teenagers......sigh!!!!

These papers are all also from Jillibean Soup.....I LOVE the white on kraft one....I was gonna hoard it but where is the fun in that?? A couple of journaling sprouts stacked on each other for his age and I adore that blue paper as well....I used both sides, the graph side and the dotted side and added a band of white card stock I punched with a fiskars punch. The alphas are MLS and the glittery ones are Pink Paislee...they are just sparkly and beautiful......again, my limited photography skills doesn't do it justice. But it is a beautiufl page, even if I created it......lol

So.......My plans today?? To get my house clean!!!!! I have a pile of laundry so large right now it is ready to come to life....it is spilling out of the basket and hamper and we have to kick it out o the way to get to the toilet......lol. Wonder if Martha's house is like that???

Notice I said "get my house clean"........I have boys home today that at some point in between football games will no doubt start complaining about being bored.......hehehehe. You would think after all of this time they would learn not to utter that phrase in my presence because it always ends badly for them :) And this leaves me free to tackle the rest of the challenges I am wanting to get thru for the month. Just in time to start it all over again......lol..

The kids and I have a candy experiment a little later, I will share the details tomorrow probably. And gotta go find a punkin too :)

I hope you can get out and enjoy your day........or if the weather is cruddy like it was here yesterday get some crafting done!! It will boost your spirits I swear :)

Hugs n Stuff!!!
Tina

Bo Bunny Layuut Challenge....and of course TGIF!!!

2011-10-28T08:52:00.004-04:00

Yayyyyyyyyy!!

I have survived another week!! You know you are getting old when someone mentions the weekend and all you can think about is getting to sleep past 6AM on a Saturday.....lol. I remember in my younger, wilder days I "might" be heading to bed about that time.......I think now it would kill me.....lol.

So , this is Halloween weekend, what kinda plans y'all have? Jesse wants to go to "Boo at the Zoo", it's not happening tho because I have 5 kiddos and I am not spending 5 bucks a head to get them in plus another 5 for parking. I'm cheap.....there are several area churches doing fall festivals, trunk or treats and assorted other things this weekend and for my family, this is a wayyy better alternative to going door to door. Especially since we have so many new people in our neighborhood. I'll talk to strangers but won't take candy from them.....LOL.

My weekend will be spent catching up on some crafting and making up treat bags for Jesse's class on Monday, which we really aren't supposed to do but many of the teachers allow it. They just won't hand them out until the bell rings to go home.....actually pretty smart. I doubt I would wanna put up with 30 6 to 7year olds strung out on sugar either.....lol.

Jesse is the last one I have in grade school. All the others are all grown up and now and too old for such things :( Kinda sad but at the same time it works out well for Jesse since I don't have to budget my treats as much and can pretty much go wild for just his class. Yayyyyyy!!! And he is my baby boy so of course I get accused (by his brothers) of playing favorites. yeah....I have NEVER stayed up late filling candy bags, baking for bake sales or anything for the others (rolls eyes).

Anyway.....that's the plan for the weekend! Monday we are going to a church function called the Hallelujah Hoedown......LOTS of fun for the kids, hayrides, free food, games, face painting, inflatable jumpy thingies......CANDY!!! This will be out 3rd year :) Even the older boys have fun because they usually eat (DUH....lol) and play football with other teens that were drug there by their parents.....LOL

Enough babble......can you tell I have had wayyyyy too much coffee this morning?? :):)

I have a layout created for Bo Bunny's latest layout challenge!! As luck would have it I just happened to have some WONDERFUL Bo Bunny Et Etcetera papers from the Artful Delight October kit! LeeAnne still has a few of these left and i really encourage you to check it out. There are also some stunning Pink Paislee papers in there and all kinds of goodness!! And while I am thinking about it, LeeAnne has a neat little giveaway on her blog at the moment too.....and she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.....so drop by and say hello to her....she's not like me, she won't bite......lol.

So here's a look at that kit.....

Awesome bang for your scrap buck there my friends!! So far I have made 2 layouts and a card with mine and still have tons of product left!!

This is the Bo Bunny Sketch I worked out with.......they have a card sketch challenge up as well. It's a little out of my very limited card making league tho....I may give it a try but ehhhhhhhhhhhh, we will see......lol.

Isn't that beautiful??? It was until I got ahold of it......lol. I chose to scrap Matt with this one. I rarely scrap him and we rarely get photos of him. He doesn't like having his photo taken and usually around Christmas we try to do a family portrait to include with our cards. He usually screams, fusses, runs off.....no doubt a side effect of the Autism, but it could just be his brothers annoy him....lol. I feel that way too sometimes Matt!!!! I'm sure most of you can relate with how difficult it is to get 2 or 3 kids to stop fighting long enough to pretend to be a happy family....well, I have FIVE!!! lol. But his school managed to get a photo of him smiling (OMG!!) and I remember the day they took this we were having a really hard time at home...that morning he fought me tooth and nail because I tried to get his hair combed and so forth......thus the major bed head.....lol. But I do love the photo anyway....especially his smile!! :):) maybe they waved a bag of cheetos in front of him......lol

The papers are all from Artful Delights Oct kit....I have a combination here of the double dot card stocks, and Et Cetera....all of the stickers are from there as well. My title was created using Canvas Brown Thickers, I finally pulled this huge Prima flower out and added it as well as a couple of the little rosettes from Precocious Papers October sampler. I did a bit of hand stitching but quickly got bored with it....lol and inked all of the edges with brown ink......no cool name for the color...just plain ol brown :)

I'm also sharing this with Your Scrapbook Stash...........they are having a few challenges on their blog right now and one of them is to use a 5x 7 photo. Oddly enough, I rarely scrap anything larger than 4x6, but I just had this size and wallets to work with so it's another of those times when all the planets are in perfect alignment and work out.....lol.

And last but certainly not least.....my girls over at Lasting Memories are doing a "Bling it on!" challenge. I'm kinda lacking in the bling dept so I'm hoping the blingatude on that prima flower shows up because in person it is awesome!! It has what looks like pearlescent glitter on it, some stitched down sequins, the pearl stone in the middle surrounded by the rhinestones. This is about as blingy as this girl gets......lol

I thank you for letting me ramble this morning and keeping me company while I have my caffeine drip going :)

Have a great day! It 's a rainy one here so I am stuck indoors cleaning and crafting.....any bets on which I do more of today?? Multi tasking is so not my thing!! lol

XOXOX
Tina

Lily Bee Sketch challenge #2

2011-10-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Happy hump day!!!

Is anyone else having issues with blogger??? Or am I just special?? lol. I am haivng so much trouble getting the site to load. I can get onto individual blogs with no problem, however it's not being very user friendly when it cones to the dashboard.....and it keeps telling me I'm not following any blogs......maybe I follow so many I broke blogger?????

Well today was weigh in day.....don't ask.......lol I gained 2.8 lbs this week????? Not sure how...I have long suspected that I am a freak magnet and now apparently I am a fat magnet too....lol, On to next week!!! I am trying really hard not to dwell on it and feel discouraged. If I had pigged out all week I would be OK with it. But I tracked everything and really tried hard :( Most likely its all other nature's fault.....she has paid me a second visit this month with that stupid red box!! Have you seen those commercials on TV for some pad or other? I have been traumatized for life by those commercials.....anyone comes near me with a red box....I'm punchin em right in the nose!

Just sayin!

Anyway......what a topic to get stuck on......LOL. Wanna see some scrappage??? I recently received a pack of Lily Bee's Domestic Bliss from My Scraps And More.....please check them out!!! They have a forum, that I have yet to check out......and a blog.....and a shop......yeah, they are pretty awesome!!! And every Friday they have a giveaway on the blog, just a heads up :) And altho the papers are really beautiful....I really have yet to find something to actually scrap with it. And I have been trying really hard!! lol So in my blog travels yesterday I saw that Lily bee has a blog AND challenges!! WOOOT! This is the 2nd sketch challenge......and you are playing for fame, glory and more Lily Bee goodies!!!! And of course the peace of mind that comes along with getting another page scrapped and in the album :) OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! And this week they have a blog swaparoo thing going on with Elle Studio and each day you have a chance to win goodies at both blogs!!!! Well worth checking into people!!!!! The sketch was a pretty simple one with room for creative license :)

And so long as you use ONE Lily Bee product you can play along!!! So I pulled out a paper that kinda reminded me of Halloween and used the banner stickers, cuz I love me some banners!!!

I picked these photos of Jesse as a scarecrow a few Halloweens ago.......BTW, he did NOT read the memo that said he could not grow up!!! I need to have a talk with him!!! He's 7 now and such a big boy!!

At first glance when I finished it the whole thing was really too clean....so I went over it with some brown ink and kinda dirtied it up some....

It's kinda hard to see but I used Bo Bunny letter stickers from Et Cetera to journal with and as part of my title (Um, that mismatched look is totally intentional!! NOT!!.....lol) The chipboard ones are from colorbok.....I found them at Big Lots, if you have a Big Lots near you check and see if they have scrappy goods....GREAT deals!! And those super cute flowers are from Precocious Paper and out of the October Sampler. It was a HUGE flower with many layers of fabric and felt....MANY!!! And it was the only one I had and I loved how it looked on the layout so I snipped into it (Sorry Tessa!!!) and made 3 out of it. Added buttons, bakers twine the banner stickers and its good to go!

BTW....the title is So Cute its Scary :):)

I'm also playing along at The Paper Variety This Week.....yeah I know I just posted on for them yesterday.....I plan to be early with this one.....lol This weeks mission, should you choose to accept it, and you SHOULD!!!! Is to create either a cute or spoooooky Halloween project. I was a little weirded out by the fact that I actually created this one yesterday and saw this challenge today.....talk about spooky!! lol

And I never got back around to posting my cute lil fall card yesterday either......

Made with scraps from my Crate Paper Layout and some K and Co fall die cuts. I think this lil scarecrow is almost as adorable as Jesse :)

I'm sharing him with the following challenges....

CRAFT Challenge Autumn
Anything Goes Challenge Blog To The Letter (add lettering to your project)
Celebrate The Occasions Fall
Crafty Creations Fall inspiration
Scrapbook Sisters Anything goes

As always thank you so much for visiting with me, letting me bend your ear, and for you kind words and support. I am reminded daily how blessed I am and how much I truly love the creative process AND community! Without you Id just be another nut with a blog.......oh wait....um, that pretty much IS what I am!!! lol

Much love to you all!!!
XOXOX
Tina

A couple of fall themed projects :)

2011-10-25T10:26:00.004-04:00

oh my gosh!

Let me just start by saying I am so thankful and appreciative of the comments on yesterdays post. I am moved beyond words! I try really hard to keep things upbeat and positive here because I want to keep you coming back. But I also try to keep it real. And we all known that life isn't always beautiful and positive. Sometimes it's ugly and it hurts. I'm a firm believer in the adage "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger" And sometimes what seems like the end of the world is just a new chapter. Each and every one of you are so amazing and I am so blessed to call you my friends!!!

So before I cry again here is a big hug for you all!!

It felt sooooooooooo good to sit and create something yesterday!! I even cranked out a quick card this morning while waiting on Matt's bus! It started with a sketch but I realize to make it look like the sketch I shoulda went bigger. I'ts just a 4x4 card :) So I just kept digging into my little stash of cute fall die cuts from k&co I bought over the weekend. I hadn't bought anything is such a long time.....I have been so fortunate to have won several RAK's and challenges over the last couple of months but I haven' even cracked most of that loot open yet So you can see now I was n a bad place emotionally.....lol. But there is something to be said for retail therapy :):) I had actually started on a mission to Hobby Lobby to purchase some white stamp ink for Christmas cards and some kraft cardstock. I walked out spending $50 bucks......oppps!!! I was amazed that have gotten so mzny of the more popular lines!! I haven't been inside a Hobby Lobby in a good 4 months. I saw Graphic 45, Echo Park (I didn't buy it tho!!!) Some of the newer Basic Grey stuff......I have lots of fall/halloween photos to scrap fro years past so I chose carefully and fell in love with the beautiful Crate Paper Restoration!I Figured it was perfect for fall, for boys in general and I just loved it!

So I sat yesterday and decided to do a scrap layout.....and I had the brilliant idea to hand stitch, my fingers are still sore! I had also bought a zig zag head for my sew perfect and used it along with some bakers twine. And my K&Co fall die cuts....and I'm tellin you, the combo just rocks!! I worked on this until last last night, mostly because the hand stitching and distressing took a lot of time. But at the moment this is my fave layout of all time!!!

I did some distressing, some hand stitching, misting , grunged it up some with some brown ink and hand made the little fence even :)

ALL of the papers are Crate Papers Restoration, Die Cuts K & Co, random buttons, Title letters from Pink Paislee's Captivate (they are wood grained) and journaling letters from Glitz.

I'm entering it in the following challenges:

The Paper Variety recipe Challenge: 1 pumpkin, 2 word title, and 3 buttons :)
Scrapbookers Anonymous Alphabet Challenge: C is for "Crate Paper"
Stuck on U Sketches: die cut fence (iffy since I hand cut it but they will let me know!!)
Bird is The Word: "Wish"
Crate Paper Color challenge: Mustard Yellow, Khaki, and Sea green

Sketches In Thyme: Octobers Open Challenge
And last but not least I got the whole layout idea from Scrap Book challenges: This is a scrap lift of one of the Pick Of The Week, which is this awesome page from Lydia :)

I'll be back a bit later to post my card as I am on a deadline to get this entered into one of these challenges......lol

TFL!!
XOXO
Tina

A mothers work is never done.....where have I been???

2011-10-24T10:14:00.000-04:00

Hello bloggy buddies!!!

I know I have been a bad, bad blogger :( Sometimes life gets in the way and that is exactly what has happened with me. And I am finding that blogging is a lot like going to church....you miss a post or a Sunday and the longer you wait to blog or attend services, the harder it gets to come back. At least for me!

The last couple of weeks I have done absolutely NOTHING crafty. Wait, let me rephrase that....I have created nothing...we all know what a crafty/sneaky lil turd I can be...lol. So I am really itching to make something besides a mess!

So, what have I been doing during my hiatus? Mostly just trying to get my head screwed on straight. I had a pretty mean bout of depression hit and I guess Matthew did too. For those who don't know, I deal with bi-polar disorder. I won't say suffer because for the most part I function pretty well and am usually more on the manic side than the dark one. But I had a series of curve balls thrown at me that just knocked me off kilter and sent me spiraling.

Matthew is my oldest son and he is profoundly Autistic. And usually around this time every year he has a bout of severe anxiety/depression/aggression......gosh, you name it! All of these are pretty common with Autistic Spectrum Disorders anyway, but the season changes or moon phases or SOMETHING really jack up his symptoms. For a good week and a half he was uncontrollable. Very aggressive, (I still have bruises) OCD behaviors kicked into such high gear that he would actually get up in the middle of the night to slam doors several times an hour to see if they were actually closed or to go peek out the window. he is nonverbal so no clue what it is he thinks he is looking for. So all of us were just functioning the best we could on something like 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night. He can go without sleep for days and has. He is still in school (he's an adult and 18 now) we are trying to decide as a family what is best for everyone. It's never an easy decision when you have to consider alternative placement for a loved one, whether it is a child or a parent. I am finally realizing I can't do it alone so I am searching for services that can help us all. I think he needs a lot more structure than we have here at home and hopefully we can find an adult day program for him once school is out. he is doing much better at the moment tho, thank GOD!!! So that has taken a lot of pressure off me and given me more of my "me" time back :)

And also in the midst of this I restarted weight watchers :) I'm a glutton for punishment......lol. I just need to feel like I have control of SOMETHING ya know? I haven't officially joined but I am using the points plus system at home and have the support of a great bunch of girls in an awesome group on yahoo :):):) We are kinda small but we are all so close and the support is fabulous. I don't think there is anything we don't know about each other.....lol. Like a lot of you reading this, they are like family to me. We not only share WW stuff but vent, cry, cuss and do everything you can only do in the presence of your best girlfriends. I love them all and I love all my awesome bloggy friends who continue to read my rants, raves and babbling :)

Dammit, now I am gonna cry.....LOL :):)

BTW....my weigh in day is Wednesday......if I don't post my results give me hell.....I need to be kept honest, I have way over 100 lbs of excess baggage to get rid of!!!! And for me that is exactly why I am fat....excess baggage that I really need to get rid of to get myself in an emotionally healthy place and well as a physically healthy one....because in my case, the physical part is ALL because of the emotional one. I eat when I'm sad, when I'm OMSing, when I am mad, stressed.....you name it....I'm a food junkie.....lol.

There ya have it......not quite the entertaining "On my summer break" kind of essay we all had to do on the first weeks of school but its real life for me in a nutshell.

But I pulled thru :)

Be on the lookout for a scrappy post later today...I decided to play and have a deadline of 12 noon tomorrow to get this done and uploaded.....no pressure......lol

XOXOXO

Tina

Hello Monday

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday!!!

I hope it's a happy one somewhere!! I'm not really complaining, OK, really I AM! I am still not feeling well at all! 4 days on antibiotics should make me feel better right??? I think all it is doing is tearing my tum tum up. Everything I eat just makes me all nauseous and stuff......maybe I will drop a few pounds.....lol.

Before I get to chatting here......a lot of companies are releasing their winter products this week......so if you have a fave scrap company check out their blog, Facebook, websites.......whaatever......cuz you could have a chance to win some really cool goodies!! I know American Crafts is doing one, My Minds Eye, October Afternoon......seriously......just look em up and see. Most all of them releasing new product are doing a win it before you can buy it deal :)

I threw together another quick layout today.....another 8 x 10! I'm diggin these lately, not sure why but it;s working for me! There are a few challenges this one is for so bare with me.....and I am sick to death of Halloween stuff now.....I have moved on to Christmas....lol. No, really I wanted a group shot of the boys and this is the best I could do......Matthew isn't in the photo because he was being a handful that day.......and in fact has been quite the handful lately too. I will fill y'all in on all of that in the next day or so......hopefully by then he will have mellowed somewhat because right now about the only time I can get on the computer is when he is asleep.....really, it was a ROUGH weekend at my house :( Say a prayer for him please!!!

Very simple little layout today.....

This photo was our Christmas card Photo in 2009, I can't believe how much Jesse and Brandon have grown!!!

Kraft it up is a monthly challenge blog featuring Kraft (duh!!) So long as you follow the set theme and use kraft stock as your base, you are good to go....and Kraft is my fave!!!!!! Everything looks good on it and white :) The October Challenge at Kraft It Up is to showcase one of 3 styles in your LO....

1. Monochromatic

2. Minimalist

3. Vintage/Shabby Chic

I'm not really certain mine fits any of the categories, but let's just say for me this is pretty bare bones and minimal.......it really doesn't get much simpler than this. I kept it pretty simple and really had a LOT of fun putting together the finishing touches. This week at Lasting Memories the challenge is to tag it!! Use a pre made tag, create a tag, just make sure there is one (or several) on your layout. So I built up my little tag with a combination of Jillibean Soup journaling sprouts and some chipboard goodies and added some Basic grey ribbon to it and tada!!!!! My little tag!!!

I don't have any pop-dots so what I did was fins some chipboard bits I am not going to use and sandwiched them between the sprouts for some dimension. I was digging thru the baggie and found these 3 chipboard photo corners and decided to make a little Christmas tree out of them.....added the little yellow ball on top because I had already glued down the star I found elsewhere.....lol. I think it turned out absolutely adorable!!!

You may notice on the journaling spot that it says "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all" I read that someplace today and for the life of me don't know where. As a family we are dealing with a lot of things right now.....no more so than most families I guess, but I don't deal well with stress. A thing or 2 at a time and I'm good....but when it all unloads on me at once I become a mess. We will get thru this trail like we have all the others.....I just really need that quote today I think.......to remind me :)

And since I had the journaling I had to come up with the title. There's a first, me having the journaling done before it's actually together!!! So I just went with "Together" which is this weeks Bird is The Word challenge word too......

So, in putting this together I used a combination of American Crafts, My Little Shoebox, Jillibean Soup, Basic Grey, Pebbles, DCWV, Bazzill, Crate Paper and Echo Park. The little banner is from EP's Everybody Loves Christmas and was actually a sheet of border cuts that were of Christmas Trees. I just snipped them out and put them on for banners.

I'm not real entertaining when I'm sick...sorry. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon!!!!

Thanks for visiting me!!
Tina

Wanna Win The Cricut Robots Cartridge????

2011-10-10T19:13:00.004-04:00

I see the heads noddin!!!

You have gotta head over to Candy's blog.....she is celebrating 100 followers with this awesome giveaway!!!

http://candyscraftcorner.blogspot.com/2011/10/100-follower-giveaway.html

Soooooo much cuteness on that cart!! Good luck to those of you that enter! And even if you don't wanna enter, please drop over and say hey to Candy....we all love comments and new followers!!!

Sassy Lil Sketches Sendoff Sketch #7

2011-10-09T19:26:00.001-04:00

Just in case you live in a bubble, Sassy Lil Sketches is closing down shop....wahhhhhh!!! I will miss em!! So I have some catching up to do with the Sassy Lil Send Off Sketches......And of course, I do things out of order, it's no wonder I never know whether I am comin or going!

I am on an 8 x 10 kick lately....I only have a handful of these sized layouts, and they are easier for me to store at the moment than the 12 x 12's, which is my first love. But it's fun to change things up sometimes :)

Grids rock! And I have been on a major scrap busting spree lately so this one was right up my alley. I grabbed my Basic Grey 6 x 6 Mellow pad, PERFECT for fall!!! And a couple of fall photos of the kids from last year. I feel lik I have a nice little groove goin on scrapping last years photos according to the season this year.....lol. See......I'm not REALLY behind!!! If I tell myself that enough I may even believe it.....lol.

This actually came together really fast. Grids are no brainers for me and I think I spent more time actually cutting and inking the squares than anything. I love how the background turned out, reminds me a quilt, and my quilts are already pulled out for this yeear because we have been having some really chilly nights!!

In addition to BG, I used Thickers and Bo Bunny alphabets, and dug thru some stuff and found these Sassafras Lass Paper Whimsie flowers that I think matches pretty well!! I used a fiskars Border punch to cut the scalloped bits and the leaf border at the very bottom...OMG, I have had them for YEARS! And when I say years I am talking about when Jacob (my 16 yr old Junior in HS) was a Webalo boy scout.....lol. I had originally found that sticker on a sheet with lots of other fall themed ones at Dollar Tree and we used them for his webalo badge project to create a scrapbook. We had several photos of him on camping and hiking excursions and they were left over from that project. So what the heck!!! I tossed them on there.....lol. The photo is Jacob and Jesse last fall when they were SUPPOSED to be raking leaves and cleaning the yard.

I also want to share this sweet little tag I made for a couple of challenges. Remember yesterday when i showed my prize from Artful Delight? There were some AWESOME little embellies from Melissa Frances.....and her packaging is almost as sweet as the actually product. A lot like Prima! I really liked the shape of it so I used it for the base of my tag.....just covered it with MME's Winter Glitter paper pad and came up with this cuteness!!

We have a pretty overcast day here in Knoxville today (and not just cuz our Vols got whooped yesterday!!) So it's reall difficult to see all the glitter going on here. It's on EVERYTHING!!! The striped, the dots, the little snowman's scarf and even the snowflake, which is a dimensional sticker from K and Co. I can't look at it without smiling!! I could put it on a card or use it for someone's Christmas gift but I think this little cutie is staying here with me and will go either on my tree or a wreath! I'm greedy that way!!

I'm linking my lil snowcutie up here!

Craft Your Days Away: tag It!
Crafting When We Can Bingo challenge....Christmas, Distressing (hard to see in the photo) and anything but a card

I'm still feeling inder the weather so will probably be heading to bed early rather than staying up and crafting :(

A couple of Layouts!

2011-10-08T22:33:00.001-04:00

I'm still among the living....purely by accident I'm sure! This fall sinus thing is kickin my tail big time! I'm feeling better today than yesterday at least......just really , really tired.

I have a couple layouts that I completed a little earlier in the week before I got to feeling like death. I managed to get something finished today as well but it's too dark to take it outside to photograph.

Earlier this week my mailman brought me some happy mail!!! I won last month's Sketch challenge art Artful Delight and LeeAnne sent me the totally GORGEOUS October kit ! *Drool* I am going to have so much fun with all of this yumminess!!!

It's chock full of Bo Bunny, Pink Paislee, Melissa Frances (maybe I have been hiding under a rock but this is my first seeing her products) Some Prima, some rolled felt flowers........sighhhhhh :)

Thanks LeeAnne but such a lovely prize and being such an awesome person to boot!! I love ya girlie!

I created this LO using this months Artful Delight sketch.....

I titled it 'But YOu Can Call Me Mom" and in place of journaling I listed just a few of the job titles that are part of every mom resume.....cook, driver, maid, nurse, judge,banker, detective, magician....there are plenty more but my head was hurting and this is all that made the cut....lol.

I added some things from my own stash, Thickers,and some diecuts from The Girls Paperie...mainly the little patchwork heart and birdie. And I inked every single thing with Rich Cocoa ink to make it all pop.

In addition to sharing this one At Artful Delight I am also posting this at Scrapbookers Anonymous for their October Challenge ...use die cuts!! As well as Anything Goes Challenge Blog, also die cuts and/or punches

This next one I created for TPV's use a critter challenge....well actually I think it's Forest Friends :) No sketch, just a simple layout to use some Basic Grey Scraps I had. I really like this one but would like irt better if I had some scrap dots or something to pop everything up.

Actually used a fw things that I had a few of.......Pebbles, BG, Making Memories, Jillibean Soup, Sassafras Lass, Crate Paper, and something else I'm not sure of......lol. Just for clarification purposes, the forest critter is the little birdie rub on......my kids are in a whole other class of critters......lol.

Also Sharing this one over at Frosted Designs where there is a super fun Recipe Challenge. Use at least 4 items from this list....I highlighted the 6 items I used :)
1. The color yellow
2. Ribbon or lace
3. Chipboard
4. Flowers
5. Misting or inks
6. Buttons
7. Stickers
8. Rub ons

And Blog Quick Quotes Friday Challenge One Photo Challenge

That's all I have for tonight......time to medicate and crash!!!!!

Feeling BLAH!!!

2011-10-05T23:18:00.002-04:00

I hate being sick!

I'm not quite sick yet but workin on it! I think it's a sinus infection since allergies are just awful here right now. The changing colors and falling leaves are beautiful but they are also hell on allergies! I have the sinus headache, stuffy nose, sore throat and just wanna crawl into bed with a good book and hot cocoa!!

So needless to say I haven;t really been up to doing a lot of crafting. I'm VERY moody when I don't feel well and I had a major meltdown a bit ago while trying to scrap a layout. I hate it when you get half way into something and then can't find what you need. So this one will just have to sit and taunt me until I am feeling better and can kick it's butt!!

I do have a couple of cards to share with you tho.

First one is for 365 cards 5 layer challenge. Create a card with at least 5 layers. This was actually easier than I expected. Yayyy! And for And Card Cupids Random Act of Cardness.....lol. LOVEEEE that!!! Basically just create a card with the intention of making someone happy.......you can never go wrong by putting a smile on someone's face!!!

So, counting down the layers...
1. AC white cardstock base
2. AC sage greenish cardstock
3 and 4 the patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket and is actually the same piece of paper, just front and back
5, AC red cardstock punched with fiskars punch
6. KI Memories ribbon

I also stamped the sentiment (I'm going to make an effort to start using all of these wonderful stamps I own!!!) It didn't come out nearly as crisp as I would like but here is a closer look at it.

Next I have one for Sassy Lil Sketches. I'm kinda sad they are no longer gonna be a part of my scrappy world. If you haven't already heard the news, they are shutting down :( They will most definitely be missed!!!

Sassy Send Off Sketch 4

And I have determined that from here on out I am going to do all Christmas cards so I will be ready when December rolls around! And I really want some new Christmas themed paper too but can't justify buying any until I make a dent in what I have......maybe this will also motivate me to create more cards. We'll see.....lol

I actually really like this one......these colors are so pretty!! This is from MME's wintery glitter or something like that. You can't see the glitting on it but it is STUNNING!!! Since I loved the papers so much i decided to just go with a simple sentiment and used thickers. And some AC ribbon and button. So cute :)

Hopefully I will wake up feeling better tomorrow.......I am beginning to lose my voice so things are really lookin good at the moment :( I hate being sick!!!!! I don't have time for this!!! lol

Thanks for stopping by !
Tina

And here us yet another Giveaway from The Scrap Cake!!

2011-10-03T18:12:00.002-04:00

This is a good day for give a ways I tell ya!!!

We have to give away 3 prizes including 2 full sets of our new collection: Cozy Xmas! To participate in the draw you must:

make a blog post with our Cozy Xmas Giveaway pic on your blog with link to TSC blog (this post) or TSC Facebook fanpage.
be our fan on TSC Facebook fanpage.
post on our Facebook fanpage comment with link to your blog!
Everyone who doesn’t have Facebook account may put link to his blog – here in comments section.

Easy – peasy, huh? So, let’s spread the word about our new Cozy Xmas collection, play along with us and win the newest The ScrapCake line!!

Giveaway will run throughout the week, and Saturday, October 9 we will draw three winners!

Third time is the charm....more from Bella!!

2011-10-03T18:00:00.002-04:00

My wish list is getting longer by the minute.....I either need a sugar daddy with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel or a winning lottery ticket :)

This release is perfect for the card makers!!! Check it out....

And head over to see how to win!
http://bellablvd.typepad.com/bella_blvd/2011/10/bellas-mid-release-3-new-miniatures-stickers.html

More Bella goodness and another shot at a giveaway!!!!

2011-10-03T17:54:00.001-04:00

3 seperate reveals today with 3 chances to get in the drawing for the mega, super, dyna, whoppin $100 Bella package they are giving away!!! This one is winter themed and just adorable!!!

Many more cute images and previews!!! Again.....head over to Bella to check em out!!
http://bellablvd.typepad.com/bella_blvd/2011/10/bellas-mid-releases-winter-wonder.html

Oooooooohhhhh go check out Bella Blvd today!!

2011-10-03T17:44:00.001-04:00

I am in absolute paper LUST!!!! They are announcing some very limited edition mini collections at Bella this week......once they are gone they are gone....outta here....poof!!! You get the ide3a....never EVER to be printed AGAIN!!! And this one is soooo cute......if you head over there you can find out how to win a Bella Blvd package worth $100 smack-a-roos!!!!!!!

Look at all of this cuteness.....

Oh my gosh....lookit that little frog......so stinkin cute!!!!! This is just a couple of the images....head over to Bella and see the rest!!
http://bellablvd.typepad.com/bella_blvd/2011/10/bellas-mid-release-2-spring-flings-and-easter-things.html

I am soooooooooo tired!!

2011-10-02T21:20:00.006-04:00

I am gonna need a couple of days to recover from my weekend.....and the sad thing is I haven't even done anything fun or exciting!!! This must be the beginning of (gulp) getting OLD!!!!

Seriously tho, I am exhausted. I haven't slept well the last few nights. Not sure why, it's just one of those things I guess.

For the most part it's been house clean up day....and LOTS of laundry!!!! And trying to keep my boys from killing one another......no wonder I'm tired!! But I did sneak some crafting in :):) It was kinda a must....otherwise I may have killed someone....lol. I had high hopes of getting lots of fall decor placed around the house and that didn't quite happen....maybe this week...sighhh!!! The boys and I didn't get far on our tree I showed in the last post either.....I did send them out to collect the limbs and they are in my living room in a vase. We are all taking bets on how long it will take Bob to ask me "Um, honey???? WHY?????" I get that quite a bit for some reason.

Scrapbookers Anonymous is till running the mini challenges from last months birthday celebration and I am trying to catch up with em all.....if you wanna play along you still have a few days!!! This one called for using up some Halloween scraps. I have been on a Halloween project tear lately so of course I have some scraps!! I wanted to do something a little different tho so I created this fun Halloween wreath....not very spooky I admit!! But what can I say...I'm too cool to ghoul :)

Can you guess what it is wrapped with?? Hospital Gauze.....lol. The leftovers from last year when Bob was dealing with that horrible whole in his belly.......and I used the scraps I had from MLS's Trick Or Treat. I found some black tulle that I didn't even know I had to make a bow to hang it with :) Some of the stickers are from Reminisce Moonshine Crew and everything else is just stuff I had laying around...including the dollar tree wreath form! I have another wreath coming this week...I hope!!!

I am linking my wreath up at Scrapbookers Anonymous mini challenge using Halloween Scraps

Anything Goes Challenge Blog Um, Anything goes.....lol

Come and Get It Challenges Happy Halloween

Easy Craft Projects Autumn project

Paper Issues 31 days of Halloween

Scrappin Chics Halloween

CraftoManiac Monday Link up

Dittle Dattle Amaze me Monday

Tip Junkies Tip Me Tuesday (link is in the blinkie thingie!!)

Thanks for droppin in today and spending a bit of your Sunday with me! I lo ve visitors and really appreciate your coming! I'm gonna brew a batch of tea and drag out my burlap and see about making some covered boxes now.....me and a glue gun and caffiene.....could get messy!!!! Dont say Decaf.......thats such an ugly word!!!

Hugs n stuff!

Tina

World Card Making Day?!?!?!

2011-10-01T11:41:00.011-04:00

I'm the type that kinda does their own thing....so here it is. World Card making Day. Am I making any cards? Um, not yet!! LOL.....I am neck deep trying to turn my scraps of paper into SOMETHINg so cool, I can't even tell you what it is.....national security. If I tell ya, I gotta kill ya. Simple as that......lol.

Look what I won this morning!!!!

YES!!!! Finally my addiction has paid off....no need for an intervention now right?????? And now I have some yummy chipboard coming my way for winning Scrappbookers Anonymous's Chipboard challenge for Sept!! That blog is so fun...and not just cuz I won something either....thats just icing on the cake! I have been soooo blessed lately with winnings......I think I am in love with Random Generator......Tina Random Generator....has a ring to it no???

Ehhhhh.......didn't think so!!! :) But I wnat this to be a lesson to those of

you that think you can't compete with all of that scrappy talent out there......if I can win it....YOU can!!!! There is no right or wrong way to scrap or create. Creativity doens't understand rules.....lol. So go forth and create and enter!!!!!! Everyone has a shot it you play long!!!

My house has turned into football hell today.......yay(rolls eyes) And it is dang cold outside.....54?????? Time to pull out the winter clothes and pray they still fit me....lol.

I was in the mood to scrap last night while I was waiting forn the boys to call for a ride home from the homecoming game last night. Which they won BTW......first game all year....lol. But if yo are gonna win just one came all year that is the one to do!!!! They were so excited they actually stormed the field!! Kinda cool :)

I used the sketch for this weeks Sketchy Thursday.....

Isn't that sweet? I loveeeee grid based layouts!!! I have only mentioned that a million times!! Er......a million and one now :)

And I actually picked the first photo I found.......and I am loving this......warning, the title is further proof of my twisted sense of humor :)

Truthfully I dunno if he was digging for gold here or not....BUT is sure looks like it.....lol. And the whole :you can pick your friend, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose" just kinda magically appeared in my head....lol. I'm weird like that :)

I used multiple alphas, obviously.......from Thickers, Remarks, Paper Studio and MLS. The base is MME and Bazzill. Used my new Basic Grey Mellow that was gifted to

me from Frosted Designs (and the papers are stunning!!) as well as the ribbon and flowers. I dunno where the library card came from....probably the library....shhhhhhhhh :)

I created one of the flowers with yarn and a button and paper scraps.....here's a closer look...

Isn't it cute?? And sooooooooo easy!!!!! What a great way to get rid of some of those stray bits we often have when trimming paper to fit a layout or card.

Aside from the awesome Sketchy Thursday I am also entering Scrapbooker's Anonymous mini challenge for LONGGGGG title :) If they come up with a long warped title...I'm ready!!! (they are running all of the Sept mini challenges until Oct 7...so you still ahve time to play!!!)

And Scrap The Boys..... who's challenge is...to use handmade "boy" embellishments.

And Lasting Memories Layout Challenge Blog where the theme is Frames and flowers.....I tried to mimic the whole frame theme with the paper layering in the squares and framed the entire layout with the other paper...kinda lame but I was totally lost with this one!!! I know I got the flowers part right tho....lol

And I reckon that's it!!

Now I get to go and referee a Monopoly game of all things....one of the boys just got ticked off and repossessed the others stuff......such a fun weekend :):):)

Toodles!!

Tina

Happy Friday!!!

2011-09-30T09:14:00.007-04:00

TGIF!!!!

A taste of fall has hit us like a ton of bricks here over night! I LOVEEEE fall!! Usually we kinda slide into it but yesterday it was 85 degrees and I'm not sure it's even out of the 60's yet today. And it's supposed to be even cooler tomorrow. LOVE IT!!! I'm bundled up, but I love it!!!

Any big plans for the weekend? I'm sure my paper crafting friends will be busy with World Card Making Day.....so many fun blog hops and challenges and of course giveaways!!!!

I will be here stalking my mail guy.....lol. I was so fortunate to win several blog candies and challenge prizes in the past couple of weeks, so it's gonna be like Christmas for me. Happy mail makes me sooooo, well, happy!!! I am on a spending freeze when it comes to my crafty stuff so I feel especially blessed for these winnings. See? God wants me to create!!! LOL :):)

Bob has big day tomorrow....he is working the gun range (he is a volunteer range safety officer or RSO). They are doing a thing for kids whose parent's are deployed...kinda a youth field day thing. Soooo fun!!!! 30 kids who have a parent deployed will get to come out for the entire day and shoot up stuff, do archery, wildlife identification and many other super cool things. I am so proud of him for being a part of it :) And so proud that this is just another way to support our troops!! They ALL have families at home and this is such a wonderful thing to have these kids come out and forget about their problems for a while. They are gonna feed em all pizza and I thinks it's just gonna be a big time.....I wish the whole family could go and help out!

Jacob and Steven are doing fund raising with NJROTC tomorrow to earn money for the field trip they are taking next week. I'm not even sure where they are going yet. But tomorrow morning, if you happen to be in the Knoxville area, stop at Krispy Kreme and get a donut and a cuppa coffee (the NJROTC will get a portion of the sales from 8 til 10 am) and get your car washed! Yes a car wash!!! It's supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow and they are gonna be out washing cars......lol.. I hope that makes people feel extra generous with donations in the morning.....lol.

As for the rest of us......after I drop Jacob and Steven off it's back home and I am gonna make the other 3 boys home made pancakes. It's their fave thing!! Something about fall makes me wanna cook!!

And then we are gonna do chores and afterwards head to the park or the school playground to blow off some steam and to gather materials for a fall project I want to do....I am planning on getting some of my fall decor goodies out and placed around the house and while i was blog hopping this morning I saw the CUTEST thing!!! Look at this.....

It's called a "Thankful Tree" So we are going to collect materials and throw this baby together and put it on the entertainment center in the living room. The idea is with the little circles dangling from it, you write something you are thankful for and hang it on the tree....wouldn't this just be awesome for a Thanksgiving table centerpiece???? I haven't decided what direction we are going with this one yet.....but we will share when it's completed :)

Here's the link to the one I saw.......she is pretty clear about the fact that she stole it from someone else.....lol. http://www.decorchick.com And her blog is pretty awesome!!!

I also wanna get some scrapping done and do a few cards for WCMD :) We'll see......I think I have more things to do than I have hours to do them in!

Also wanted to share a couple of cool sites I found with you......since fall is here and we will soon be celebrating Halloween this is such a great site to find activities in your area....haunted houses, corn mazes, fall festivals........http://www.hauntedhouseonline.com . Just click on your state or where you are going to visit and there ya have another list of cities and such.....cool!!!

Another new to me site.....http://www.thedailymeme.com . It has a list of prompts and ideas listed every single day for creative write, scrapping, whatever.....just something to get your mind kickin....no more bloggers block!!!! :):):)

Hope your day is a great one......it's almost time for my sonic happy hour run.....lol. Enjoy!!!

Tina

It's time for a change I think....

2011-09-28T09:19:00.005-04:00

And if ya think I am about to announce my retirement from the blogging world you're outta luck! LOL........I worked wayyyyyyyyyy to hard yesterday to get this new blog decor up and running and not looking like a crackhead did it!!!!

When I first started my blog it was to share my scrap creations and projects. Seems EVERYONE has a blog and it is almost a must if you are into playing along with challenges or doing any DT work. Makes sense! But over the last few months my creative mojo has not really been what I would call consistent. I am one of those people that when the creative spark hits, it ignites a wildfire. I can't seen to save it up for another day.....when it's there I gotta use it all NOW! So there are days when I create several cards or LO's and others when I do absolutely nothing except be Tina......which in itself is pretty entertaining if I do say so :)

I have attempted to run more than one blog for the other facets of my life.....weight loss, the weight finding me again, family issues.......and it is just not possible for me. I don't know how some people manage to be honest. But all of those things are me......my creations are also extensions of myself. And on the days when I have nothing crafty to share I kinda miss having a forum to babble in......so I am making a bit of a change. This will still be a crafty blog......because that is a definite part of who I am. But I am also a mother and I have other interests as well. I know there are other people out there who struggle with weight, or depression, or chronic pain, or the care taking of a disabled family member. So from here on out this is will be just a bit more than a crafty blog........after all it IS titled Bit's and Scraps of My Life for a reason......well, a reason other than Sniffing Glue sticks and Running with Scissors was taken......lol.

The people who already know me and my blog tell me they enjoy the ramblings of a slightly crazed mom with five boys......they often fuel my creative soul and make for good stories too ! So on the days when I don't have anything to share for a challenge or anything like that.....I will still show up from time to time just to be random.....and cuz I can :D And it's wayyy cheaper than therapy!!!. So in the coming days and weeks there will also be recipes we have tried, things we have done as a family, photography, blurbs about life with bipolar disorder and Autism and questions for YOU GUYS, cuz my fave part of blogging is the interaction........I don't get much adult interaction unless it has something to do with my kiddo's so I love making friends. I'm a SAHM so I don't get out a lot.

So this was just a heads up.......thanks for sticking around :)

Tina

I need a blog whiz please????

2011-09-27T14:21:00.000-04:00

I am trying, with no success obviously, to get the gray color OFF of here. I have went tru every single setting I can find in the design thing and I am just about fed up!!! If anyone can help me either email me at teenbugg38@gmail.com or just leave me a message here....

Thanks!!!

Excuse me while I scream!!!

2011-09-26T23:15:00.000-04:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm trying to update my blog look....this one kinda fits how i feel at the moment

Artful Delight Birthday Bonanaza wing ding hooten nanny challenge part deux!

2011-09-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

Hi folks.......dodging the raindrops here!! On the one hand it's nice to have the rain....we need it! But on the other.....well.....it's rain!!! Need I say more??????

Gonna keep it kinda short.....it's the least I can do after my randomness earlier.....but that's why ya love me, admit it!!!!!

This is for the day 2 challenge at Artful Delight........this one is some good clean tic tac toe fun!!!

I chose to go diagonally and used the following recipe to create my project.......make a card, include at least one button and use a border punch. Toss it into the handy dandy scrappy blender (I make margaritas in it too!!) and here it is.......

The papers are all scraps of MME. Buttons are American Crafts, Flower is Basic Grey, and the sentiment is actually a rub on from Bo Bunny. I used a couple of fiskars border punches here.....one of the card edge and and one to create the flower pot........I love how it all turned out!!! Kinda sorta MOXIE FAB wouldn't you say?????? lol....that's my feeble attempt at a segue, it's ingrained in me from my radio days :)

But since I went there,,,,,,,This also works for their Tuesday Trigger....I went with the color palette :)

I just love that photo!!!!

And The Paper Trail Makers Whats Your Inspiration challenge uses almost the same color palette

I drew inspiration from the white, blue and red combo ,,,,,,,My fave!!! If I EVER get my scrap room I am using those colors....they make so sooooooo happy!!!!

That's it.........I'm trying to find something else to tackle now.....lol. Most likely will wait til the kids go to bed since they are now screaming at one another......I swear, a mothers work is never done!!!!!

Have a good night!!
Tina

Artful Delight Blog Hop Challenge numero uno!!

2011-09-26T13:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday!!!

Do those 2 words really go together???? Maybe??? I'm undecided.......I'm sittin here trying to blog and get my groove on with our new cable music channels on the TV and was really beginning to like having all of these new channels at my disposal (we got a better deal and a better bundle with phone, internet and cable) when suddenly out of the blue my ears feel like they are going to bleed........I look the TV and it is none other than that bowl headed Beiber boy sitting with Rascall Flatts.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?????????

Pure evil!!! And my channel wouldn't change either....the Beibered one somehow possessed my remote, forcing me to actually walk 5 entire steps across the room (damn him!!!) and put it on some good wholesome White Zombie.........soooooooooooooooo much better!!!!! :):):):):)

I took some time out this morning to play along with the Artful Delight Challenges.....did you hop, hop, hop along to the blog hop this weekend?? FUN!!!!! Her new DT rocks!!!! Iffin ya wanna play along (In East TN iffin IS a word!!!) you have til the 30th to link up :)

I went for the sketch challenge first.......just cuz!

Here's the sketch...

Lot's of room to make it your own.......so I ran with it!!! And used a photo I have scrapped a million or so times already but what the heck.......anyone else scrap a photo more than once and save it in your albums? That's me :P

This super cute scarecrow is Jesse when he was about 2 I think. Not very scary is he???

Well, let me tell ya, times have certainly changed......this year he want's to be a Psycho Darth Vader....how do you dress for that??? Typical Darth Vader garb with a chainsaw maybe???

I mixed and matched some goodies here...all the papers are MLS Trick or Treat, the orange alphas were included with my kit, the stickers are a mixture of Echo Park's Happy Haunting and Reminisce Moonshine Crew.......I just love thoes little spiders!!!

I added some buttons to qualify for Scrapfits weekend warmup 15 (i think!!!) and called it done!

Thanks for visiting and listen to me ramble today....... Mondays do that to me :) We are about to have a huge storm so please say a little prayer that I don't get blown away......and that I don't loose power or internet!!!! That would be most UNCOOL!!!!!

Tina

Sketchy Thursday Digi Style

2011-09-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

Why digi you ask???

Cuz I can!!!!

No seriously.......I am not really finding much mojo in my pile of paper right now.....another of those "i have nothing to scrap with" moments that we all have even if we have paper running us out of the house. To borrow my 7 year old's favorite phrase right now "I'm just not feelin it"

So I found this GORGEOUS free digi kit....and was blown away. First by the fact that it was free and then by the colors. This is my most favoritest color combo ever!!!! And I thought this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch was just darling......I will definitely be saving it to use when my paper mojo comes back :)

This weeks sketch,

And the kit I am so in love with at the moment......

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh how I LOVEEEE those colors!!!!!!

And my page, which looks nothing like the ST page but I had good intentions....lol. I started with the circle and just it went downhill from there...but they know me over there and are pretty used to my random interpretations....lol

That's my handsome boy Jacob who is now 16 and growing up wayyyyyy to fast for my tastes!!!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paper Hugs Fall Celebration Blog Candy!

2011-09-25T15:49:00.000-04:00

I know it's just "blog" candy but I am really beginning to get hungry!!

Dianne over at Paper Hugs has a wonderful blog candy!!! Lots n lots of treats...no tricks!!!

Who wouldn't be thrilled to win all of this loot???? I see some really fun goodies and it is all perfect for your fall crafting needs!! Head over and say hey to her and see whatcha gotta do to make these goodies yours! You gotta be in it to win it people!!!!!

http://mypaperhugs.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-post-will-remain-at-top-until.html

Candy Alert!!!!

2011-09-25T12:06:00.000-04:00

Kate has some Cosmo Cricket up for grabs on her blog!!! Or if Cosmo Cricket isn't quite your thing you actually have a choice IF YOU WIN !!!! The Cosmo Cricket Upcycle Kit or $15 to the scrapbook store of your choice......head over to say hey and become a follower and thank her for her generosity!!!
http://www.scrapsation.com/giveaway-do-you-want-to-win-some-cool-stuff

TAG!!!! You're it! (Scrapbookers Anonymous mini challenge)

2011-09-23T16:29:00.001-04:00

How many played tag as a kid?

My 7 year old has discovered the joys of playing tag this year.....and wants his poor, fat, out of shape mommy to play with him. Needless to say, I spend LOTS of time being it.....lol. I had to run Jacob and Steven to meet the bus at school (today was a day off here) for a NJROTC Drill meet at another school.....no word yet on if or how they placed! And when we got back Jesse wanted to play tag. I hadn't had coffee yet and my meds hadn't kicked in so I was doing well just to walk.....it's hell getting old!!! I told him to wait til my meds kicked in and my muscles weren't so stiff......

He looked amazed......"You have muscles??????"

Um, yeah....under these layers and pounds of fat I do......otherwise I couldn't move at all.

It's taken him all day to wrap his head around that concept.....lol.

I had to dodge raindrops and cloud cover here to get a photo......but I am persistent if nothing else :)

I decided to play along with Scrapbookers Anonymous today......they are fast becoming one of my favorite scrappy hangouts! Some super fun challenges!! This one is a mini challenge....and the theme is tags!!! Create a tag, use a tag, tag someone upside the noggin.....it's all good :) Now, I actually created this tag a couple of nights ago......I had some scrap bits that I really wanted to use up....better to use on a cute project than to toss in the trash, right? So......using a mixture of several companies product, some MME, MLS,Paper Studio, EP and who knows what else......I created a cute tag......and was really unsure what I was going to do with it.....lol. I thought I could make about 30 more and use for treat bags for Halloween for Jesse's class. And then I thought....how cute would it be to make several and make a banner out for them for the holiday??? THEN I was blog hopping this morning and came across this SUPER cute card

I love all things kraft so I immediately fell in love with it. And I love the card design in general. So I "borrowed" the design from Lea at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine (thanks Lea......lol) Her blog is AMAZING and I may just steal every idea she has posted.....lol. Mine is a bit different but the inspo is there and very evident I think....just a lot brighter....lol.

Hers is a much cleaner look than mine.....and I keep forgetting to use this huge green button I found too....danggit!!!! But we all know I have issues with clean and simple....and it's not just in my head , I have documented confirmation!!! LOL.........So I finished the card with MME and Sassafras Lass.

And I really hope Lea doesn't mind :) She truly is sooo talented and her work is just so inspiring to me....she is officially my new scrappy crush.....now she can feel awkward......lol.

Thanks for looking!!!

Awesome giveaway!

2011-09-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

Hope where ever you are today the sun is at least shining!!! It's overcast and icky here.....I mean seriously..... either rain or not!!!!

I'm blog surfing today and came across this awesome little giveaway from the uber talented Nicole Nowasad. if you have never been to her blog you REALLY need to check it out......

She has an extra kit from the Scrapbook Circle to giveaway.....full of Amy Tangerine (I want that soo badly!!) Crate Paper's Random, and tons of other goodies. Here's a photo.....its Scrapbook Circles's September kit :P

Bebop on over to say Hello to Nicole and check out her amazing work!! http://justnicks.blogspot.com/2011/09/wanna-slice-of-good-life.html

Frosted Designs Card Sketch!!

2011-09-21T23:03:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot this one!!!!! Its not like me to make something for a challene and forget I made it....now, forgetting the challenge deadline and creating my project and missing it all together....YUP!!!!!

Frosted Designs has kinda freshened up the way they do things over there and I love it!!! And they ahve card sketches now too....woooot!!! This card making thing is kinda fun!!!

Here is the sketch....

And I went with a Halloween themed card cuz my 7 year old wnats to give one to his teacher....and if you don't know it already......he is the boss in the house.....lol. He's the baby and totally has me wrapped around his finger :)

I went with the Scraps I had left over from a layout I created using Hocus Pocus and added a little witchie poo from Reminiesce Moonshine Crew that I won last year.....lol. yeah I am a hoarder!!!

Also added that gorgwous rbbon and a Jillibean sprout and the BOO is from Echo Park! Looki....I finished the back of it as well!!!

Too fun :)

A couple of My Minds Eye Sketch Challenges :)

2011-09-21T22:47:00.001-04:00

Happy Humpday!!!!

Hope this post find you all in your happy place!!! I keep trying to head off to mine but the kids keep finding me...blah!!! I am happy to report that Brandon is actually bringing homework home now!! A step in the right direction for sure! You know what he told me????? I sat with him and went over his report card with him the other night after I had calmed down enough to keep from choking him.....in one of his classes not only was he skipping homework, he was skipping school work too. And classwork and participation were worth like 80 percent of this class grade.

80 percent!!!!!!!

He says, "Mom......I didn't know that they graded you on in class stuff"

Are you serious????????

Obviously I had a hard time believing this little tale of his........until today when we found a letter in the mailbox that he was trying to send off to some record company.

You really need to sit for this one.......and I promise, If I'm lyin I'm dyin!!!!

The mailman left the letter behind because of lack of postage. Brandon has it in his head that he is gonna be the next Scotty Too Hotty from American Idol........except he can't sing....at all!!! I know he is just 11 but the talent is just not there. I encourage my kids to try ANYTHING and not let other peoples opinions get in the way. My boys have done sports, scouts, ROTC, you name it......with varying degrees of success and I am always their biggest cheerleader.....but cmon.......we know if there is no chance in hell......not being mean.....just saying :)

So Brandon writes a letter to this music company begging them for a record deal....no demo or anything......and he really believes that based on a letter they are gonna hook him up........he didn't know the address so he made one up (?????????) and he put a stamp on it.......ahem....one of my stamps for crafting that says "cutest pumpkin in the patch" and said "It's a stamp!!!"

OMG!!! I feel like Bill Engvall.......here's your sign!!!!!

He's 11..........I think I am in for a longgggggggggggg road.....sigh!!!!

And I swear I did not smoke, drink or dope while carrying him.......altho right now those are all sounding REAL good!!! lol

I can't make this stuff up y'all.....

Ready to see a couple of projects?

My Minds Eye has a monthly card and layout sketch challenge......and they are for sure one of my fave companies. So I decided to tackle them this month.

Here is the layout sketch....you are supposed to use "Back To......." as your theme....and I did....just not in my title. This goes back to last Oct when the boys carved our pumpkin. Actually I carved it and let them both pose with the knife for some psycho photos :)

I traced around the orange alphabet with a black gel pen to make it pop a bit rather than being orange on orange......it shows up a lot better in person than this photo tho. I had a ton of fun with this layout!!! The papers are all MME Halloween Scary Sparkles paper pack and I fussy cut the pumpkins...some of which are glittered and the polka dots are glittered as well. The alphas are all from MLS.

And for the card challenge....

And I created a Christmas Card using MME WonderfulWinter Glitter stack.....these papers are just stunning!!!!

I meant to add some buttons but forgot (duh!!!) Before i send it to someone this Christmas I will tho :) I also used thickers....i just love this font and this color!! Not sure where the velvet ribbon came from but if someone RAKd it to me THANK YOU!!! It is soooo pretty and it makes this card look really pretty in person :)

I'm also entering my card in a couple of other challenges.....just cuz I can :P
Less Is More: Anything CAS
Alphabet Challenge Blog: Q for qick and simple
Card Cupids: Anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenges: Glitter
Southern Girls Challenge: Anything goes

That's all I got right now!!! I have a busy day tomorrow and the kids are out of school for a teacher in service on Friday, however Jacob and Steven have a drill meet......wish them luck because Jacob is the drill commander :)

Thanks for dropping by!!!

Tina

LOTS of stuff to share!!!

2011-09-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday!!

I have lots of stuff to share today.......first of all...I know there are a lot of you that are like me (I bet that sentence just made you cringe huh....lol) and pretty much the only form of exercise you get is blog hopping....am I right? Sooooo mark this one on your calendar's cuz it's gonna be huge!!!!

Leeanne is a doll and her design team totally rocks! So be sure to check it out........and she still has a sketch challenge going on too......I promise, once you get over there you may not wanna leave....it's like the Hotel California of scrappy inspiration......that's probably not the best analogy......lol Go visit and say hey......and nope, I don't get a commission......lol. She's just a really sweet gal and I know you will just luv her to itty bitty pieces........maybe even pet her and squeeze her and name her George.....lol. Anyone else remember thqat cartoon???? : D

Here is her linky-poo !! http://artfuldelight.blogspot.com (I'm tellin ya, I'd make a great PR person or pimp......lol)

We had a crappy night here last night.,.......the hormonal upsurge of a teenage boy is not a fun thing. Drama over a headache and how loud we had the stereo. Gee, what does it feel like to have a headache???? And no one will stop fighting or yelling or screaming......I wouldn't know!!! (rolls eyes) But it ended badly because rather than just say "Hey guys....I have a headache, can ya chill?" and then heading to bed he decided to sit in the midst of the chaos and yell and scream back.......kinda counter productive to getting rid of a headache doncha think? And living in this house is a lot like living with a school of sharks......seriously. If they smell blood they will take the bait every single time. I'm thinkin that's a boy thing????? It's REALLY quiet here today.....that kinda freaky silence you see in the movies when you're just waiting for something bad to happen......I'm glad this isn't n everyday thing or I would seriously have to move out and live all alone!!! Things will be settled down tomorrow....I hope!!! And if not I have plenty of errands to run to keep me gone all day......lol.

But on a positive note, I woke up and found THIS this morning!!!!! I made top 3 over at Lasting Memories!!!!!! WOOOT!!!! See my blog blingage???? :):):)

Thanks ladies!!!!! I appreciate it sooooooooooooo much!!!! They already have the latest challegne up and I knowwwwww I am gonna play along!!! It's a combo sketch and them challenge......check it out!!!!
http://kcclayoutchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/09/lmcb-56-sketch-using-fall-colors.html

Now that I have all of that out of the way....I DID manage to shut the world out yesterday and create a bit!! I LOVED the Sketchy Thursday sketch this week....they have teamed up with Scrap FIT this week for a combo challenge and blog hop.......I didn't get to hit the combo.... just the sketch :( But I am still luvin it!!!

Look at my baby bean head here!!! I just love this photo of Jesse.....He wasn't even 2 yet here......I want my baby back!!!!!!

I love the ray paper but it cn be so hared to use!! For me anyway!!! I loved that it works perfectly here :) And i went along and added googly eyeballs to all of the fishies and the little crab......and came dangerously close to using the song lyrics to Joy to The World....you know ....Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea....joy to you and me!!! I did sing it the entire time I was crafting this layout .....honest :)

As if you need to ask......I used Echo Park's SPLASH!!! The little thought bubble is from Color Bok tho :)

I am also sharing this at My Time To Craft's kaleidoscopic of color challenge. There is a LOT of color here so I hope it works for their theme!

I also had time to play with a couple of the ScrapVille challenges :) I hit both the LO and Card Challenge this morning....GO ME!!!

This sketch would make a really cute card too I think!!

I added a couple of touches and really love how it turned out....I wanted to do this like a movie poster.......lol. The Shining is one of my favorite movies of all time. But I ran out of letters to complete my title....I was going to call it "the Carving.....hereeeeeeee's Jesse!" becuase the first time I let Jesse watch the movie with me I had to endure him sneaking behond doors (and poking his head in the bathroom!!!) and doing his "maniac face" and doing the "hereeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's Jesse" thing......creepy!!! lol. This is from last Halloween.

I used Pink Paislee's Hocus Pocus for this and added some Smootch spritz......some of it actually mde it to the layout, most is still on my fingers because my spray thingy is not functioning correctly. I also added a journal spot that I cut in half that is from Jillibean Soup. The cardstock base is Bazzill.

And the card sketch........

And my take

Um, pretend that is turned the right way.......lol. Blogger is on crack today cuz i saved it properly and its on my computer upright....so who knows.......lol.

I used Me and My Big Idea's paper, American Crafts Stock and felt flower and the little birdie inside is from Cosmo Crickets Mitten Weather.....but he's cute and not totally Christmassy so i used it!!!

In additon to the Scrapville blog I am sharing at:
Sisterhood of Scrappers: For the birds
Card Cupids: anything goes

Thansk for joining me today!!! Enjoy your Sunday!!!
Tina

Couple of cards to share

2011-09-16T21:46:00.003-04:00

I'm not real chatty today.....been a LONGGG day dealin with the kids. Report cards came home today and my 6Th grader brought home 3 F's, 3 D's and a C........and the C was in PE.......what the heck??????? So there has been a LOTTA drama in this house today and currently he is hanging out in his electronics free room (I even took the clock radio....just cuz I can) until I can cool off enough to talk to him. It;s not so much the grades that have me so worked up...altho they are AWFUL!!! But I tried to talk to him in a not at all like me, sane tone of voice when he took attitude and tried to tell me he has no clue WHY these teachers have failed him.........even tho its right there on his report card that he is clearly not doing anything but taking up space in class.......and well, once that happened I knew he needed to remove himself from my presence or face the consequences.

And I have a horrible headache.......started yesterday with me being in bed all day and it's decided it like it here and is gonna hang out a while....stupid migraine :(

Couple of cards to share with you tonight.......

I love how this one turned out but it was a PITA to line those triangles up.....I think I tore it apart and pieced it back together 3 or 4 times. But it did turn out cute so it was worth it !!!

I used the My Little Shoebox goodies I won a few weeks back.......

And I also finished the inside.....

Ohhhhh and check the little cat eyes on her costume.....I added some bling :)

I'm entering this one in the following challenges....they will be linked up so feel free to hop over and play along as well :)

Cooking it up with Katie:A girl, green and a group of 3.......I have 3 clouds clustered at the top of the card and the rest is pretty evident I think.
The Paper Variety Use stickers!! Easy enough.....quite a few on here!!
Creating Memories In Time: Halloween:
Frosted Designs: Fab Friday Challenge: Use a punch or punches....I punhced all of the little triangles

And I have one more.....out and adhered them

The colors of this just make me smile......as does that darling little stamp I found at Big Lots......i think I have seen several more of these types of stamps at Hobby Lobby....I haven't been in one in forever so next time I will look and see.......I think they are just the cutest. I used some stickers on this bad boy too....I have been holding on to this hot air balloon from EP for over a year........I doubt I will ever be able to fly away in it so I decided to stick it on a card so it can make someone else smile! All the paper and stock is from American Crafts.....the butterfly was gifted to me since I don;t own a butterfly punch.....lol.

Sharing it with the following.....
Cute Card Thursday Anything goes
Scrapbookers Anonymous Letter B......for balloon and butterfly :)
Creatalicous Anything goes.

And thats it! I have a layout to share as well but its dark and I can;t get a good photo....sooooooo will give it a shot tomorrow! I'm gonna kick back with some hot tea until it's time to pick the boys up from the football game. Then I am gonna medicate and go to bed!!!

Have a great evening!!!
Tina