Child's Birthday and Son's Artwork

I've been super busy with my volunteer position, but had to take a break and make a card for a boy in my son's class, who's birthday party he was attending this week-end. So I was actually relieved to "have to" stamp this week-end! It is simple I know, but I let Troy pick out the stamps for me to use. He said his friend loves football and he picked the sentiment from my GinaK Make A Wish stamp set. He also said his friend's favorite color was red and Troy picked Ruby Red for the card.

Stamps: Good Sport (SU), Make A Wish (GinaK); Ink: Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip; Paper: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Shimmery White; Accessories: Brads (pewter), sponge daubers, SAMJ.

Next up is Troy's artwork. (Humor me here, he doesn't want to stamp as much as he used to.) He was finally ready to make a card for his cousin that is living in S. Korea right now. My brother is active duty Army and his wife is an Army Civilian. They are both working in S. Korea for two years. Troy has a mind of his own so I must admit that I groaned a bit when I turned around and saw his "sunset". We had stamped the tree (ISC) and grass (A Muse). I CB these dinos and was trying to figure out what to do to "kick it up a notch" when I turned and saw that he had colored all this red to make a sunset. So we talked about sunsets and layering colors and how the sun is at the horizon when a sunset is happening. (He is only 5 and still learning all these little details! LOL!) So orange was added. Since we needed a horizon that was added with green marker (over the grass) then the blue beyond the sunset.

We put the dinos through my little Xyron and added Dazzling Diamonds, then Troy added them to his picture. The tall one is supposed to be eating leaves from the tree. I'll bet Betsy didn't envision that when she was designing this tree!

Stamps: Marvels of Nature (ISC), Hero Mail (A Muse, grass & Sentiment), Ink: Real Red, Green Galore, YoYo Yellow (Sun started out as a circle stamp from SU), Markers: Bashful Blue, Gable Green, Only Orange, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: CB Dinos, Xyron, Dazzling Diamonds.

Thanks for your patience with my little guy. I'm a proud Mama!

Happy Valentine's Day

I was thinking this morning about wrapping up Troy's gifts for his teacher and her assistant. I like to match the wrapping paper with the gift so I thought I'd show what I did for them. I used two layers of tissue paper, but only wheeled one. (If I only sued one layer of tissue it would be a little too thin and you can see through.)


I prefer to use wheels because they are so QUICK and EASY! If you aren't familiar with stamping wheels here is a picture of a handle, ink cartridge and the wheel itself.

All you do is place the cartridge into the handle ensuring that you push it down until it snaps into place. Next place the wheel into the top of the handle. Make sure you snap it all the way in so it will spin easily. Now push the cartridge up so that it just touches the wheel and inks the wheel while it turns. Then wheel away! I normally wheel on a diagonal because the eye is less likely to notice any mistakes like lines that aren't perfectly straight. Stampin' Up! does sell a wheel guide which really helps keep you rolling straight.

Now if I can brag a little and show a picture of Troy and his pre-school teacher. She is just a great teacher and handles the children (all 20 of them) superbly! Troy and I found a "Hoppy Valentines' Day" t-shirt at The Children's Store and of course he had to have it! Why they would make or market a t-shirt for Valentines day when it is cold outside is beyond me!


Here is a picture of my Valentine's card for DH. I love this stamp by Stampin' Up! and have used for numerous anniversary and Valentine's day cards! Yes, these are non-traditional colors for Valentine's Day but I chose them because they coordinated with the colors I used in the couple layer. The couple layer uses the Opalite Color Infusion technique in the current Technique Junkies Newsletter. This card looks so much better IRL where you can see the shimmer. I used the layout for this week's Technostamper's sketch. I used a retired background stamp On The Spot because I think if you use a little imagination it can look like fireworks going off! Isn't that what every couple needs is some fireworks! ;)


Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Give the ones you love an extra big hug!

Stamps: On The Spot, Weathered, Summer By The Sea; Ink: Staz-On Black, various Classic SU, Opalite: Artic Emerald & Winter Rust, White gel pen; Paper: More Mustard, Garden Green, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: sponges, Crafters' Tool kit (paper piercer & mat, template).

Upcoming Valentines Day

Here it is, two days before Valentine's Day and I still haven't made my DH's valentine! In my defense look at what I have done.


These are for the children in my DS's pre-school class. I found the idea (and directions) for these at Julie's blog. I put the smarties in two of them so you get the idea. I'll wait until Thursday morning to fill the rest. I don't want to risk them tearing or just getting lost. He has 11 girls and 8 other boys in his class. I started getting tired of making these and still had most of the boys' left so I got out one of my wheels and finished lickety-split! Why didn't I think to use a wheel earlier??? LOL!

I made two of these for his teacher and her assistant. I got the idea from Sarah's blog. I think her Sweetheart boxes aren't quite as bright as mine, so I struggled a bit on the belly band. It was interesting using the different layers and trying to incorporate SU and non-SU punches.

Now I need to figure out what to do for DH. :D

Troy's Merci Card

Troy's Pre-K teacher's birthday was yesterday, but we didn't know about it until he got some birthday cake during snack time yesterday so we made her a card today. I just mounted my brand spanking new Merci SAB stamp set! I had forgotten that the SAB stamps are now die cut! Yes! It literally took me 5 minutes to put it all together. So I actually let him be the first to use it. *gasp* Yes, my 4.5 y/o DS used my Merci first! Okay, so I was perched over his shoulder (literally) and helped him "twist, twist, tap, tap" into the ink and smoosh it onto paper. Then he colored it, insisting that he wanted me to help him color so I colored the blue part of the bumble bee and a few of the petals on the flower. Oh yes, he picked the colors "blue and pink" (Ballet Blue and Pretty in Pink.) That line along the top right is where he was going to color all around the card, but I nearly had a heart attack and he relented and just colored in the pictures!


And I can't help but show is handsome face!

I know Ms. Ross will love the card. I was a little apprehensive when the school year started because he was going to have a new teacher and he can be a handful. I need not have worried, she is a wonderful teacher (all that I hoped for) and all the children love her!

Happy Birthday Miss Ross!!

Play Time

I had a little time to play yesterday since DS was sick and was listless instead of his usually rambunctious self! Oh yeah, and he willingly took a nap!! So after I picked up my jaw from the floor I got busy! I had this idea in my head after I did the Smooshed Cuttlebug awhile back. Instead of using a spectrum pad I just used a white CRAFT pad. I'm not sure if this constitutes a morph of the technique or not, I'm just proud that I was able to think a little outside the box! I did notice that I had a couple of spots on the embossing folder that didn't take ink as well as the rest. I'm hoping that if I clean it up real well that it will work better, perhaps there was just some type of oil from my fingers. I really liked how this turned out! I like that it is simple to do, but doesn't have that "I didn't know what else to do" look. I also like the feel of the embossed layer. I just may do this card for my Christmas cards this year! Wouldn't that be a hoot, to use my first Christmas card of the season?

Any ideas to dress it up a little bit more? I was thinking of using a corner punch (ticket perhaps?). But then I'd have to add some brads (Night of Navy or Brocade Blue perhaps?) Any ideas anyone? :D
Stamps: Frosty, Holiday Tag Team; Ink: CRAFT White, Silver Encore; Paper: Night of Navy, Silver, Brocade Blue; Accessories: CB embossing folder.

Just a quick share of my sick little boy. He NEVER wants to take a nap, so when he vonunteered to take a nap during quiet time I KNEW he really didn't feel well, (just in case the 103 temp wasn't enough!) Thankfully he is feeling better this afternoon. He missed two days of preK and has tomorrow off too so he should be FULL of energy on Thursday for his teacher!

Has It Really Been. . . . .

So long since I have posted???? Oh my! I was surprised when I saw the date on my last posting. I have a couple of excuses (who doesn't????). I did make teacher gifts for Troy's teacher and assistant, which I will post below. But first I want to show you one of the best reasons for my absence.

This is my nephew Curtis. He just graduated high school! Congrats Curtis! Troy and I drove two days to visit and see Curtis graduate.


This is another reason we went. My brother Wade (on the right) is leaving soon for a year in S. Korea and my other brother Calvin (on the left) will deploy this summer to Iraq. My little sister couldn't make it because she was already in S. Korea! She and Wade will be in the same area, which will be nice for them so they won't be so alone. That is the worst thing about deploying is being separated from family. At least they will have each other!


Okay, now on to my teacher gifts. Altered clipboards! Here is the one I did for his teacher. I used my CB to die cut the letters. The clipboards I bought at Wal-Mart for less than $1 each. The patterned paper I bought at my local Archivers along with the bling in the center of the flowers. The grosgrain ribbon is Stampin' Up! I bought some Making Memories paint (love those Archiver's coupons!) that I used on the top portion of the board. I used Modge Podge on the paper to adhere it to the board then added several layers on top to seal everything. Added the primas on top and moved on to the matching cards. I used leftover designer paper on the card and my giga and mega scalloped ovals. I stamped "giggle" on the oval, what could be better for a pre-K teacher than giggle? LOL! I used my slit punch for the scalloped edge on the black layer. Taa-daa!

For Mrs. Sandy, the classroom assistant, I did everything the same way just changed up the colors.

Now for a funny story about these clipboards. I had all the supplies, but hadn't started because I didn't know which color to give to whom. So I thought I'd ask Ms. Sandy which color Mrs. May would prefer, pink or purple. Well wouldn't you know what came out of my mouth? "Mrs. Sandy, which color would Mrs. Sandy prefer, pink or purple??" She looked at me and asked why. I still hadn't caught on to my slip-up. "Oh just for a little something," I responded. She modestly responded that it didn't matter, and I finally realized my faux paux. I just left it at that. I wonder if I turned three shades of red when I realized what I had said, but I just tried to play it off like I meant to ask that way! LOL! We gave them their gifts on Troy's last day, which was two days early since we were leaving town to attend Cutris' graduation. They were both so
excited when they saw their gifts. They especially loved having their names on their boards!

Thanks for reading through all this! Have a wonderful day!