Thankful Thursday Design Team Bloghop

Little Monsters!  (The cute little purple monster picture won't download to my hubby's computer -long story why I can't use mine.  For some reason his computer isn't compatible for a lot of the things I like to do!)

We all have 'em.  Kids, dogs, husbands, etc.  The ones that drive us nuts that we wouldn't give up for a bazillion bucks.

I made this adorable little mini to keep in my purse for the times that I'm NOT there with my kids.  Nursing the youngest two, that kinda makes us buddies so on the rare occasions I get a break, I actually DO miss my kids.

Well, because of them and the wonderful theme that Jenny came up with, here we are!

This is your typical 3x3 mini wandering album made by 1 sheet of 12x12 paper.  All the paper used in this, I had from my stack so long ago.  I couldn't tell you the paper if I wanted to- it's been over 6 years.  (I hoard paper, what's it to you??)

So, if you're here from Sandra's Blog then you're DEFINITELY in the right place.  If not, start over at Jenny's Blog Here  And just in case you get lost along the way, here's the line up.  I'm last, but hopefully NOT least!!

Jenny - http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Cheryl - http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/

Sharon- http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/

Sandra - http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/

Heather - http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com

Don't forget- you could win My Memories Suite Software!  Just comment on everyone's project and Jenny will add you to the drawing!  Now, without further ado, here's what I did:

This is what I used.  (Sorry, no tutorial this time.  NO time this week to get it done!)
12x12 sheet of paper,

recycled box for lid.

halloween paper.

Recollections stamps that were on clearance

googly eyes

tacky glue

ATG gun

stamp pads (that I used with a marker to blend and "color" in the monsters)

1 action wobble that is on the front and you can't tell because it's a stationary picture.  Sorry!

score the paper at 3,6, and 9 inches.  flip 90 degrees and repeat.  On the top and bottom score lines, cut to the 9" mark.  on the middle score line, cut from the opposite side of the page to the 3" score mark.  Accordion fold and atg it in place leaving "pockets" for you to put tags in.

I stamped in the pages the various little monsters and will be adding pictures to it later.  I think it came out really cute!

Thanks for hopping with us!  I appreciate it!!  Leave me some love people.  I have a HUGE announcement coming in a few days!  

Thankful Thursday Bloghop

Hello Junkies!

It's halloween time again.  Well, not so much, but it IS blog hop time again and here's a FUN project for you- and great if you want to use twine but it's a different "twist" (get it!) on what to do with it, aside from wrapping it around a card or threading a button with it!

I'm SO thrilled to show you this, but first thing's first- if you didn't come from Sandra you're not in the right spot!  So, go back to Jenny and start there!  Then come back and see me, I've got a great video for you.  I edited it and everything!  It's got this creepy vibe to it in the beginning.

(Here's the order in case you get lost)

Jenny - http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Sandra - http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/

Heather - http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com <------ you are here

Sharon- http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/

Cheryl - http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/

Amber - http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Leah - http://www.leahscarddesigns.com/

Oh, and before I forget- Jenny is giving away 2 prizes!  She's giving away twine (awesome theme there) and she's giving away Action Wobbles.  I love Action Wobbles! they're just so nifty.  You need to comment on ALL of our blog hop projects to be entered to win, so leave the love, people!

For this project,  you will need:
11x5 cardstock
atg gun or stronger adhesive
3x4 piece of cream cardstock.
assorted stamps (halloween; your choice)
cricut cartridge- Happy Hauntings (I group all of mine on my gypsy to save paper)
Tim Holtz Tea Dye distress ink and black ink (or whatever you like)
Timeless Twine in purple
orange tulle
pop dots or foam squares

Follow the directions in the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeleXzONio&feature=plcp

Soldiers Angels- are you one?

Hello Lovely Junkies!

I have been in touch with Soldiers' Angels and I've decided to team up with them (one of SO MANY) to help bring some comfort to our soldiers.  You know that I'm an Army wife.  Charlie has been in for 16 years, and when he was deployed, he very much appreciated what the Soldiers' Angel's organization did for him and his friends.

I've decided that since he got such great care, and I had been on the letter writing team for 8 years (on and off) I am going to offer my card making services for soldiers.  My goal is to make like 30 cards a month to send.  Now, some months it'll be less, some it'll be more- obviously life happens, but I figure the least I can do is give back to those who have ensured my freedom!  I will ship them all at once, btw.  I'm not sending each card individually, that would be way too much

So, if you would like to join me in honoring our soldiers deployed and wounded warriors, I would encourage you to go to http://soldiersangels.org/  and send a card to a soldier who needs the encouragement. :)  If you can do more, great because they need that too.

Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13

Back To School Bloghop

Hello all Junkies!  

Today is the awesome Thankful Thursday Design Team bloghop and you should have come over from the amazing Jenny from CrazyAboutCricut.blogspot.com! If you didn't start there and come back because she's got some goodies for you!   She is giving away some really awesome bags from Jaded Blossom (for some stupid reason my computer won't let me upload that!  It'll let me upload a billion and one other pictures but the ones from Jenny won't.  I think it has to do with my settings, but I digress...) but you have to comment on everyone's blog to be entered. :)  

We homeschool so this year we're working on these subjects for my 3rd grader- Zoe.  Judah has a few notebooks too, but I did the tutorial with this.

This is obviously not the only thing you can do to trick out your composition notebooks but I needed them functional, not OCD awesome!  Now you watched that, you're headed over to Leah to see what super yummy back to school project she has! :)

And just in case you get lost, here's the lineup:

Jenny - http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Heather - http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com/ <------------------ you are here!  Thanks for coming!
Leah - http://www.leahscarddesigns.com/

Sharon- http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/
Cheryl - http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/
Amber - http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Sandra - http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/

Fairies Galore!

Zoe.  My sweet wonderful Zoe.  She acted so bad 2 days ago that her dad warned her and warned her about her attitude.  It got to the point that we said if she kept it up, we'd cancel her party.

Long story short, we cancelled her party.

Anyhoo, I'm not about to put all of my pom pom decorations to waste.  This idea I had for her room for a long time coming.  Fairies and bright colors!  I mean, every fairy needs a good place for her creativity and bright colors for her stimulation, right?  And when the twins move into her room it'll be decorated and I won't have to do a thing!

Where are the actual fairies, you ask?  Good question!  as you read this, I'm finishing them up on my gypsy and will be cutting the vinyl today and applying them from the Disney- Tinkerbell and friends cartridge.  the leaves were from Gypsy Wanderings and the hibiscus flowers were from Life's A Beach.

Catch ya on the flipside!

PEACE!

One Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

A crafter from a site that I'm on on Facebook did some vinyl on her door, inspiring me (and several others) to do the same!  We take such care in decorating the inside of our homes, why not the outside?  Well, I live on military post housing so I have to be careful not only what I put where, but what language it's in.

I threw caution to the wind and decided to do it.  If you remember from the St. Patty's Day blog hop I did a box that says Cead Mile Failte which means 100,000 welcomes in Gaelic (old Irish).  Well, I threw caution to the wind and decided to put it on my door.  No, not the little box, I cut it out of vinyl!

I'm so jazzed about this.  I cut it out with my SCAL.  I used my super powers of SVG creation and even made the celtic knot.  I know.  Fabulousness.  And yes, I realized after I put it on that it's slightly askew.  oh well.  I call it "character"!

Wanna see it?  Here it is:

I LOVE it!  Actually I got a random guy on post walking his dog said "Wow!  That looks really good!"

So, Heather tested, neighbor approved! :)  now, if only the kids were...

My Zoe.

Zoe is turning 8.  My baby girl is turning 8!  While some people will tell me "just wait until..."  this is the season of life that I'm in right now.  Getting pregnant with Zoe is a long story that I'm not going to go into here, just know that a very hard-sought baby came in the wonderful world of my sweet little bundle of blue-eyed bouncing energetic and very helpful joy that is my stb 8 year old daughter. :)

When I asked Zoe what type of birthday party she wanted this year, I was told.. "ugh, I don't know." in that uber-dramatic preteen way.  yay.  hormones starting already.  this is going to be fuuuuuuun.  I, in hopes that she would hold on to her youth just a little while longer, suggested a fairy themed party.  At first I got the eye roll, but then she started thinking about it when I worded the invitations.  She fell in love with the idea!  I'm so excited, because I love the idea of fairies.  Secretly I always have, not to the point of collecting them, but I've always liked that fairy (ha!) tale part of our heritage.

So, we're starting with the invitations.   No, they're not messed up, I have blocked out my address and phone number.

I printed them on a parchment type paper and I inked around the edge with Stampin' Up's river rock (I became a consultant for the discount.  Shameless plug- if you want anything, let me know) and sprayed them with my champagne shimmer spray.  I repeated both steps on both sides.

Then, I rolled it up, wrapped it with a ribbon and sprayed down a butterfly from Michaels (pack of 12 in the floral section)  with a purple shimmer spray I made (as long as there is metallic paint, you can make this!) and tucked in the butterfly.

We're hand-delivering them on Saturday during our walk with our new puppy.

I have more party stuff coming! and check it- I didn't use my cricut!  (yet).

Thankful Thursday DT Blog Hop

Is Jenny not the most talented woman ever?  I love her stuff!  So, this is the Whatcha been doing this summer blog hop and you're here on my page!   We have some great stuff lined up for you and it's sponsored by Square 1.  (Jenny supplied a picture that for some reason won't load for me!)

What did YOU do this summer?  Starting in April (my summer started) I had my twins, moved to Alabama, and finally set up house, and celebrated my son's birthday.  Zoe's 8th birthday is coming up so we're working on decorations for her party.  (I know, where did the time go?!)  Cool thing is they're also doubling as decorations around the house.

So, what we did this summer- get the house set up and make up a bazillion paper flowers, and pom poms.  Here's the blog for the roses.  They literally look so real I just want to smell them!

I am going to make them in tons of different colors:  a scarlet color, and a cream color to match my home decor and different pinks to match her room which we're overhauling in fairies and butterflies.  I love that my 8 year old isn't into pop stars; much better decorating ideas.

Ok, so my favorite roses (in real life) are Veteran's Honor (a GORGEOUS red rose) and Pope John Paul (brilliant white) and the Nancy Reagan (a beautiful creamy light peach).

Here's what I made:

It looks so real, I keep trying to smell it!

So here's what you'll need:

flat coffee filters,

22 gauge wire (that I doubled over)
floral tape.
water and acrylic paint.  I used an old one called "berry red".  and when I mean old, I mean it was about 15 years old and had no tag, just marker written "berry red".

I cut out the template from here-Martha Stewart Roses from MommyMakesRoses.com

Now, this is a fun summer bloghop, so enjoy Leah's page!  If you get lost here's the lineup, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Jenny - http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Heather - http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com/ <-------- you are here!
Leah - http://www.leahscarddesigns.com/

Cheryl - http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/
Amber - http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Sandra - http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/

I miss this.

It feels like it's been forever since I've posted anything.  Probably because it has been forever.  Well, I've had the twins, and I've moved to Alabama from Kentucky.  (yay military moves.)  I now have an entire room for my craftiness.  And for teaching school, but that's another story.  Yay, a craft room that's mine, all mine!!!

I have so many things planned.  I'll let you guys see them as they come up.

But, Just wanted to check in and let y'all know, I'm not dead.  I AM however, melting from this heat in South Alabam'!

Be blessed! :D

just stopping in to say hi!

Hi all my lovely fellow junkies!  I just wanted to let you know that I am still alive and well, and I've had my twins!  Eliana Sabella (in purple) and Abigail Elizabeth (in pink) were born on April 16th at 5:52 and 6:00 in the morning respectively.

We're moving to Alabama in 20 days, and I'm going to be obnoxiously crazy busy.  (I will hopefully get a few posts up.  If not, just know I'm working on it.)

So, just a quick recap, before the girls decide they want a diaper change and another feeding!

Be blessed!  (I know I am!)

Been SUPER sick.

Hello crazy crafters!

How many of you are under the weather this past month?  Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold- no I'm not talking about menopause, I'm talking about this weather!  Well, add to that my 1 year old decided it was a wise decision to lick the walmart cart and then a few days after getting a cough- hack right in my face.  You guessed it, the asthmatic who has 2 babies shoved up in her lungs now has a respiratory infection.  This is why no videos in a while.

That's ok.  I'm working on my twins birth announcements though.  I fell in L-O-V-E with Jeannie Phillips Noah's Ark card HERE and I'm using her dimensions for most of it.  I don't have the giraffes from New Arrival, so I've used create a critter.

I'm also tweaking other stuff on the card to make it my own, BUT without her inspiration this wouldn't be done.  I am also using a SUPER fantastical mega-ultra-kick-your-booty stamp set by Miss Mary over at CardzTV.  The stamp set I'm using is called "Twice the Love" and seriously if you don't have her stamps, they are blow-your-mind amazing!  they are seriously high quality photopolymer, and last and last and last.  I don't have a mousepad (just a lap top and don't need one) so I use a foam sheet to do my stamping on to get a cleaner clearer impression.  I'm using the "Two by Two" stamp from it because my animals are coming 2 x 2! LOL.

I always said the only way I'd do a Noah's Ark theme is if I had twins.  the only way it would be "better" is if it were 1 boy and 1 girl.  now THAT would be funny!  (at least to me and my twisted sense of humor)  But anyhow, that's what I'm working on now that my two older kids are with their biofather for the next 9 days.  I will post a list of everything used and label it too so you can quickly find it!

much love and hugs,

Heather 

Paper Junkie Designs!

Thankful Thursday Design Team Bloghop: 100,000 welcomes!

Hello Everyone!!  Welcome to the Thankful Thursday Design Team Blog Hop!

I'm SUPER excited that you're here! If you have started by my blog on "accident" welcome, but check it out- start at the beginning at Jenny's blog here, here's the lineup in case you get lost:

Feb. 23 = St. Patrick's Day (Must have green or 4 leaf clover)

Jenny - http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Heather~  http://paper-junkie.blogspot.com/ <<<<<YOU ARE HERE!

Bobbi Hickman ~ http://rockgirlcustomdesigns.blogspot.com/

Leah Pagliaroli~ http://www.leahscarddesigns.com

Lola ~ http://purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/

Cheryl ~ http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/

Sandra ~ http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/

So, our project this time honors my 2nd favorite holiday- St. Patty's day! Without going into the history of the day, my Aunt and I did all sorts of stuff for St. Patty's. We were always the ones in green, listening to Irish music, and all that happy jazz. :) I just LOVE it- after all, it's a HUGE part of my heritage!

We had to do something green or 4 leaf clover. This is what I did:

Cead Mile Failte means 100,000 welcomes in Gaelic. What I used:

Twinkle, twinkle, little boy paper pack by My Mind's Eye (got at hobby lobby)

random scrap piece of grayish tan (using my extras up)

SCAL and a machine to cut from

free font from dafont.com- CelticMD

8 1/2" x 11" kraft card stock.

dark brown card stock

5/8" ribbon

atg gun

Studio G glitter glue (or stickles) in dark green and iridescent clear/green

brown pen

white gel pen

Studio G dark brown chalk ink. 

Zig 2 way glue pen

I scored all around the edge of the kraft card stock at 3/4". With the paper laying long-ways on my Martha Stewart Score Board, score at 5" and 6". fold on all the score lines.

on the long sides, cut on the score lines, up to the other score lines. on one end, place ATG tape and seal to make 1" to match other side. Fold up all sides like a box and seal the same way. Cut out Cead Mile Failte (1 1/2") and 12 shamrocks out of paper from the paper pack and the green cardstock at 1". ink around all edges including front of box.

background paper cut at: 6 1/2" x 3 3/4"

inside paper cut 1/2" smaller than that. Ink around both.

attach both to paper, leaving more space down bottom for shamrocks.

ink around shamrocks, and glue individually to bottom like a garden, alternating paper.

embellish with pens.

ink around letters. use 2 way glue to adhere letters. Put iridescent glitter glue on letters. Attach ribbon around box and tie a bow to hang. Tada- fairly easy, took about an hour (after I figured out how to score and fold the box!) to do.  

Hope you try it to invite your guests with A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

Challenge!!!

We ALL have scrap paper sitting around, right?  Well, I'm going to challenge everyone to make a card in 3 categories- you pick what you want to do, but the rule is you "HAVE" to use scraps.  (of course, I won't be there to double check that)

I literally have a USPS priority mail box FULL of scrap paper.  I'm going to be doing some tutorials in a little bit, but wanted to start to clear out my scrap box to do it.

Ok, the categories for cards with scraps are (insert cheesy drumroll like at the grammys or emmys or tonys or wherever they have that)
*birthday
*anniversary
*wedding
*Get Well
*thinking of you
*just because
*with Sympathy
*Thank You
*Holiday (your choice)

I will be showing some cards I make in the future, but The next 10 cards I made will be with nothing but scraps!

Have a blessed day!

Jesus' Love bloghop

Hello Friends!

You've hit the end of the hop, and how awesome were everyone's projects? TONS of talented ladies in this hop, and I can only hope that my project does it justice. If you're here from Kimberly's blog at http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com, then you're definitely in the right place. If you're here just to bask in the awesomeness that is my blog (ha, yeah right!) then check out Kari at the beginning at http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/ . She inspired and coordinated this bloghop! She is really an awesome lady with loads of talent!

Today we are sharing Jesus' Love for us to remind you all who loved us first in the world and gave his life for us to show how much.  Thanks for coming and have fun enjoying our stories and creations as we do our own interpretation of his love for us. John 3:16 states that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son... Praise our Lord for loving us that he shed his blood for us to live a holy and blessed life...

There is a prize for commenting on each blog with the prize to be announced; so don't forget to give bloggy love and be inspired and have fun along the way. Definitely leave us love- we thrive on it! :D Now on to my project:

I made a gatefold card today reminding me that God is always bigger than my problems. No greater way can I think of God's love than by knowing that no matter how hard my problem or prayer is, his answer is ALWAYS what is best for me. So I had a video tutorial for this, but with the camera angle I had, all you could see is my mat and hear me talk for 10 minutes. Who wants that?! So, I figure that I'll just take pictures and explain it. Call me old-fashioned. Call me I don't want to sit for another 10 minutes making another video hoping I have the right angle this time, and I keep everything in frame. What you will need for this card: 

• Cricut and Freshly Picked. (Gazebo on p. 47 cut at 4")
• Cardstock in: Dark yellow, goldenrod, green, red, and tan(ish) and cream for the base.
• 2 sheets coordinating color paper. I used The Paper Studio's Faith Stack from Hobby Lobby.
• 4 mini brads
• TPC studio "Faith Greetings" stamp set
• Studio G dark brown chalk ink
• Dew Drop ink in Sahara Sand (or creamy brown chalk ink)
• foam tape White gel pen
• EK success ticket punch.

• Zig 2 way glue pen  

Cut all pieces out for the gazebo at 4" and ink around edges using the Sahara Sand ink. Add foam tape to the underside of the top layer and each of the green stems with flowers on them. put flowers on and put 4 dots in the center of the flowers. Attach everything the way it's supposed to go according to the book. (good visual reference, albeit tiny!) Cut your 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock in half long-ways on the 5 1/2" line. this will give you an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" card. Score at 2 1/8" from both ends. (the Martha Stewart score board is very helpful in this, as the lines are drawn out for you, but you can use your paper trimmer) Ink around all the edges in the Sahara Sand Cut your front background pieces at 1 7/8 x 5 1/4" and next piece at 1 5/8 x 5". Layer them together and adhere with favorite adhesive. I use my ATG gun. Stamp on an extra piece of card stock the same color as your card (if you're going to make two, otherwise, just use the extra piece) the stamp from TPC Studio. Cut out with EK Success ticket punch. Layer on piece of extra background paper and put mini brads in the 4 corners. I used Tim Holtz's in gold. I stamped it with the dark brown ink to bring out the color better. I inked around the ticket punched edge in the Sahara Sand though. Attach that to the background sheets cut and layered 1/4" smaller on all sides than the inside of the card. Attach the gazebo using pop dots or foam squares to one half of the gazebo only! line it up in the center of the front of the card so you can still open it (for the record, yes I made that stupid mistake and face-palmed.)

Here is the line-up in case you got lost: (And don't forget to comment on everyone's blog to be eligible to win!)

1. Kari - http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/
2. Rachelle - http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com/
3. Shawnee - http://www.blessedonthebrightside.com
4. Carolyn - http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/
5. Carol - http://www.huffandpuffscrap.blogspot.com/
6. Kimberly ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com
7. Heather- http://paper-junkie.blogspot.com 

Thanks again for stopping by and please don't forget to comment on everyone's blog!

Be blessed in God's love and enjoy the rest of your day! :D

Thinking of You cow card.

Well, I am proud to announce that my editing skills are getting better!  You didn't have to sit through 2 minutes of cricut noises while starting at my hands; so that kind of rocks!

This is my Thinking of You card I made with my gypsy and the Create A Critter cartridge.  It is the cutest little cartridge, and oldie but a goodie!  The images are very fitting for most kids and kids at heart.

Anyway, here's what I used:

green paper I bought years ago. 5 x 2
light blue card stock 5 x 2
A2 sized card
red cardstock cut at 5 1/4" x 4"
cow ribbon (I think it was 5/8" wide)
cow on create a critter (brown, black white and peachy-pink) cut at 3".

Mini Notebook

I've kind of fallen in love with this tutorial thing.  My problem:  my editing sucks.  I'm still learning.  My other problem:  my video camera is crap, and my still-frame camera takes better video.  live and learn, huh?

Well, here's another tutorial for how to make a mini notebook.

The materials used:
1 12x12 sheet of American Crafts paper

1 recycled box for chipboard- 2 pieces cut at 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
Zutter Bind-It-All

1/2" wire rings- 6 pegs
ATG gun

15 sheets of computer/ copy paper cut into 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" pieces.

HERE IS THE VIDEO- IT WON'T LET ME UPLOAD IT DIRECTLY TO THE PAGE AS OF RIGHT NOW!  And for the life of me, I can't figure out why!  So, click on that, and it'll take you to my youtube channel with my newest tutorial!  Enjoy! 

Thankful Thursday Design Team Bloghop

HELLO!

Welcome to the Thankful Thursday Design Team Bloghop for January 26th.  This is the Valentine blog hop and I hope you like it!  You should have just come from Sharon's blog.  I LOVE her designs!  She's so flipping talented!!  If you didn't, start from the beginning at Jenny's Blog.

I'm doing it a little differently today.  Here's my very first tutorial!  I'm so stinking excited.   Sorry for the shortcomings, I've learned for my next tute. :D

Ok, so what you will need to replicate this:
Kraft cardstock
Paper- Paper Studio's Ooh La la;  I used the pink houndstooth
cricut cartridges:  Create-a-Critter, Lyrical Letters
Ink It up pigment ink in watermelon
white gel pen
xyron
zig 2 way glue pen
red glitter embossing powder (hobby lobby had it; it's called Tinsel embossing powder)
TPC studio stamp in Faith Greetings
Dew Drop ink in coffee bean

Hope you enjoyed!  Now on to Bobbi!  She's got something awesome for you!

Changed my name and other things.

So I no longer go by my pin up name.  Yeah, I know, I still answer to Ruby (and LOVE the name!) but my given name is Heather.  I started going by that for a few reasons.  1- if I can figure out my tripod and how to set it up with my camera, I'll start doing tutorials!  (yay me!) and 2- I don't want to have to use any aliases if I ever get arrested.  No, I'm not planning on that.

So, I have 2 things coming up rather soon, on January 26th I'm going to be doing the Thankful Thursday blog hop!  It's a Valentine theme, and I'm really psyched about this! I have 2 projects that I'm doing, but since the thankful thursday is a family-friendly I will only show the one on there.  However (sneak peak) the second one is slightly "naughty".  I am doing something super fun that you can make TONS of in a very short time.  intrigued yet?  Let's just say you'll want your bedroom prepared for this ahead of time.  brown chicken, brown cow.


What else?  Oh yeah, I just got a bind-it-all!  I am IN LOVE!  HOW did I ever make books and things without this???  part of me wants to re-do my husband's military book because of it!  I am doing a few baby books soon, my friend Amber is having a baby in the next few days and of course, I want something set up for my twins, and I just made a journal, and oh yeah, I also have some smash books I want to do, etc- I'm going to have a ton of time on my hands for about 2 weeks in March.  Z and J go to Mississippi with their father.

The twins are doing well.  I'm sitting at 24 weeks this week, and the doctor put me on bed rest.  I. am. bored. out. of. my. skull!  But, it's an excellent excuse to craft, huh?!

I'll be posting SUPER soon!  love all of ya, and ttyl!

Holy Crap! and Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been since October since I've posted anything.

Ok so one of my new year's resolutions is to create more and post on my blog(s) more.  So, in honor of that, I am posting today to wish everyone of my favorite stalkers a VERY Happy Crafty New Year!  I have a list of about 18 or 20 things I'm resolving to accomplish this year!  Blogging and crafting are definitely on top of my list.

Oh, guess what?!  I'm having twins!  Twin girls (Eliana Sabella- a derivative of Isabella but Eliana Isabella is a little too bouncy for me- and Abigail Elizabeth)   My "guess date" is around May 6th, I've already come up with a sort-of design based on my newest blog stalkee Jeannie Thompson Phillips from A Place For My Cards.  Here is her design and when I get mine done, I'll post it.  I want to find a stamp that says "...and they came two by two..." so if you find one, let me know! :)  Is her card not divine?!  I am so in love with her style!  Simple yet it doesn't look it.  :)

Hope everyone has a prosperous new year, and lets their creative juices flow and shares with me some awesome ideas!

30 days of Christmas teaser...

If you're anything like me, Christmas is your favorite holiday.  No?  No problem, you're welcome to come check me out anyway.

Yes, I know it's October 10th, and that Christmas is still 2 holidays away.  Well, I am the type who is actually  listening to Christmas music as I type this!  (Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is on Pandora!)  It's actually my absolute favorite time of year.  I start planning for it in October.

In honor of Christmas and my blog (well, sort of an homage to my blog; I'll be doing more than paper crafting- I'm actually very multi-talented!) I will be doing 30 days of Christmas projects starting in November, on or around the 15th!  I will also be using a LOT of my scraps and things I have on hand.  Please don't write me telling me I put you in debt because you had to make "exactly" the thing I did with exactly the products I used.  I encourage you to scraplift what I do but as always, link back to me.

MAN, I'm so excited about this, I just can't tell you!  I will still be designing for Thankful Thursday and I'll still be in school FT, and still of course doing the mom/wife thing and the preggo thing, so please- send caffeine!

Want an idea of things I'll be doing?  oh just little things like:
advent calenders, candle holders, candles, banners, frosting glass, using vinyl, sewing, desserts, pillows, recipe books, layouts, ornaments, home decor, kitchen crafts, villages, and LOADS of other stuff.  Sounds awesome, doesn't it?!

Hope to see you here, and don't forget, much like candy and colds, you can always share me with your crafty friends!  I'm sure they'll want to see what I have in store for my 30 days of Christmas!  After all, who doesn't LOVE inspiration?

I have to go off here for a minute.

And I apologize in advance.  It's not craft-related but it's something that I feel I need to say because frankly there's a HUGE divide between military and civilian families.  This is due to both sides.  Civilians will NEVER know what it's like to have your husband gone for a year at a time, wondering if he's in danger, if he'll come home to you upright or in a flag-draped coffin.  Civilians will never understand why we military wives "put up" with it and that our husbands find it a great sacrifice and honor and have no intention of getting out.

Civilians get a glazed-over expression on their face as if our marriages don't matter.  While they many times politely appreciate our husband's sacrifice, they rarely understand what it means for the family back home.  Let me enlighten you a little.

I homeschool.  I have my children with me 24/7.  STOP!  Don't even go there with the "oh, I don't know how you do that".  Yes you do.  You choose not to for one reason or another, but that's another conversation for another day.  Do you have any idea what it's like to be both mom and dad for a year on end, without stop?  Birthdays, school plays, recitals, lessons, fights, sickness, ER trips, Holidays, grocery shopping, and maintenance of the house- just to name a few for months and months on end- by yourself.

Civilians smile politely and many will boredly nod when we're telling a story about how our husband missed our child's birth, first words, first steps, major life accomplishments and other things while giving us the "poor dear" look.  It's got to stop.  We don't want pity.  We want empathy.  We're not asking your husband to leave for a year at a time to a danger zone (and by the way, that 2 week trip to cleveland that your husband took?  Yeah, we don't feel closer to you.  He didn't need to wear 100 lbs of used kevlar to hopefully keep his butt alive from being shot at by someone who wipes their butt with their bare hands however your husband WAS able to dine out and slept in a hotel, and was able to call you nightly!).  I digress.

What we military wives are asking for is that  you actually listen when we speak.  You wonder why we keep cloistered and away from typical civilians- it's because "you" don't care enough to find out why our heart is broken.  1/2 of us is missing a million miles away and you will fight with your husband over not taking out the trash tonight.  Many of us would kill for the chance to take the trash out so our husbands can relax and not have to worry about it.

Many of you know that I made a scrapbook for my husband's military service, and most of you thanked us for that service.  Please know that this is NOT to attack any civilian.  This is to bring awareness that military wives are hardcore and for those of you who would say "I could never do that"- it's not really a compliment.  You have this idea that we're somehow stronger because our husbands leave everything to us.  We're not stronger, we lean on each other just as you would do.  Yes, you could do that.

I guess what I'm asking here is the next time you encounter a military wife (or husband even though they're much rarer); shut up, let her talk, be interested and don't speak unless you can bring solutions.  That sounds harsh.  I'm sorry, just try this:  "When do you need me to babysit?"  (free of charge is also good- our pay isn't what most civilians think it is.  in fact, it's many times below poverty level- an E6 currently makes around 42,000 a year- with 15 years of service in.  pathetic, huh?  What's that you say?  what about his benefits?  oh, yeah- the benefits that can be removed at any given time by our government and he is still under contractual obligation to serve?  those benefits?  yeah, he gets health care and an allowance for housing- which btw, is less than section 8 housing!)

Another good one is "I'm making an extra casserole.  Do you have room in your freezer for it?"

Ok, I'm off my pedestal.  I'm upset and while I didn't mean to assault your ears (or eyes in this case) I had to get it off of my chest and since I'm not on facebook anymore... this is my outlet.

Be blessed everyone and please don't take it as an attack on you personally; it really wasn't it was the ramblings of a military spouse madwoman who needed to get things off of her chest before she flipped out on the neighbor. :/

Thankful Thursday Design Team Fall Blog Hop!!!

Hello all you sassy divas and dudes!  Are you having fun yet?  You've been to some amazing blogs so far.  Wasn't Lola's the cutest?!  She's so flipping talented. If you didn't come from Lola HERE then go see Jenny HERE and start at the beginning.  Then come back and tell me how fabulous I am and how much you love this idea.  (Even if you don't think either is true!)

Okay, so here's my Thankful Thursday Design Team Fall Blog Hop Design.  Don't forget to leave a comment on everyone's blog to qualify for Crazyaboutcricut's grand prize!~ a Celebrate with Flourish  Cricut cartridge (and if you don't have it, you'll want it- believe me!)

Autumn Brag Book.
What I used:
cardstock (cut 2 for each page, glued together)
tons of orange paper I've had for almost 10 years!  (Don't judge me.  I'm finally cleaning out my stash, a little at a time...)
gypsy
cricut cartridges: Create-a-critter, Designer's Calendar (font), Elegant Edges (tags)
cuttlebug, paisley embossing folder
black ink
rhinestones (Michael's dollar bin)
buttons  (Mary from Cardztv would be so proud! LOL!)
coffee died bedspread weight crochet yarn because I'm the one crafting dork on the planet that does NOT have twine yet.
glue dots
binder ring, crop-a-dile
1/8" black ribbon
martha stewart ribbon bows that I got on clearance from Walmart

 You can sort of see it here, but I ran the front and back through the cuttlebug.  Of course, it's too big to go through once, so I had to flip it around and pray that no one saw the line.  Luckily, you can't here but you can on the back.  I inked up the raised up part so you could see it, not thinking.  So, I fudged it a little and covered that line with the ribbon, which I cut long enough to come around to the front and tie to hold the book closed (when it's going to have pictures and final embellishments in it.Using my gypsy I sized the pumpkins from Create-a-critter at 5.06 inches.  If you don't have the gypsy, you can do it at 5, or honestly any size you'd like.  I cut "brag book" at 2.45 inches tall.  I welded them together with the Gypsy.   (love that thing!)  I used the Designer's Calendar font in script.  Then I cut the tags and backgrounds at 3 inches on oblong from Elegant Edges.
 As you can see, each page is different.  I love it!  Oh, if you're wondering how I got the bottoms, I cut more pumpkins out of paper, and lined the bottoms up at 2" and trimmed off the tops.  Of course, I ATG'd everything together (my glue of choice)

See, I ended up gluing some ribbon to cover that line, but I like how the paisley folder helped immensely with the design.

Oh, before I forget, after I had all of the cuts together, (before I added any embellishment or tags) I lined them all up and in one swoop, punched a hole in the side with the crop-a-dile.  I LOVE that thing, just had to do it one time.  awesome little bugger.


Well, that's my show for today.  I hope that you liked it, and I know I'm missing explanation so if you'd like clarification, I'll edit it, just ask me your questions. :)

Don't forget go hop on over (ha!  get the pun?!) to Leah.  She's got an awesome project for you too!!!  All the ladies on this blog hop have some pretty awesome projects, honestly!  Leave comments and enjoy the rest of the hop!!!  (And in case a link gets broken by the internet gremlins, I've included everyone's blog down below for you!)

Sept. 29th Halloween/Fall Blog Hop Details

Here's the lineup:
Jenny @ http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Cheryl @ http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/
Christel @ http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
Sharon @ http://www.simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/
Lola @ http://purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/
Ruby @ http://paper-junkie.blogspot.com/
Leah@ http://www.leahscarddesigns.com
Tanya @ http://www.scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/
Bobbi @ http://rockgirlcustomdesigns.blogspot.com/
Angie@ http://sitrestdownplay.blogspot.com
Paula @ http://www.owlbescrappin.com/
Jen   http://mccalleyhouse.blogspot.com/
Sandra @ http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/
Gaby @ http://www.gabycreates.com/
Amber @ http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/