Just for you

Hello all!! I hope you're having a fab week ~~ this will be quick because we have to get ready to go to yet another baseball game. The season is winding down & as crazy as it's been I'll be sad when it's over!




I got this Tilda a few weeks ago but just finally got to do something with her other than staring at her uninkedness, lol. I love strawberries -- they are my favoritest fruit --hard to keep them in this house because my 8 year old loves them too!! I love all images containing strawberries too, so if it has a berry somewhere on the image I must have it! I went back to my colored pencils for this one -- add a bit of Stickles -- papers are Cosmo Cricket -- sentiment is Hero Arts -- some cheesecloth, some pearls --the usual :)




My photos are really bad today -- I don't have time to doodle around with the editing so it is what it is! You know me & reds -- we have a love/hate relationship!





For the inside I made a tag -- on the bottom of it (which of course you can't see) I used my favorite Martha Stewart punch -- the doily border -- sponged the edges & added some green crinkle ribbon.

This card will be on Ebay as soon as I can take some decent pictures :) When pigs fly?? Nahhh sooner than that :)

Thanks for visiting :)

***This card is now up for sale on Ebay HERE***

Family fun at the fair

Hello & happy Saturday!! If you are here to see some craftiness, you might want to move along to the next blog -- today I have pictures of our day at the fair :)

So as I was saying before, this is our first year in 4H. It's been fun & the kids got to enter projects into the fair. Michael was a Cloverbud this year -- kind of "pre 4H" -- so although he WAS judged -- all the Cloverbuds received the same ribbon. Next year he'll be judged & given a blue, red, white or pink ribbon like Matthew was. They all earn a bit of money for each ribbon --




Matthew received a red ribbon for his photography project down in the corner there. If you're wondering what that picture is on the top left, it's his lava lamp. I think it's pretty cool!




He received a blue ribbon (yay!!) for his birdhouse -- the one he & his father spent all week arguing over. The judge did say the perch is too big -- that allows the big ugly crows to sit on it & eat the little eggs & baby birds -- we'll have to fix that!




I didn't realize at the time that this picture didn't turn out -- guess I won't be using this one on MY photography project next year! Michael made cookies & brownies & both turned out fantastic! In fact, I think there was a bit of taste testing amongst the judges -- one cookie is missing!




We only had time for one ride -- which was fine by me. I *loathe* those rides! Nothing like watching your kids swinging & rotating & going upside down -- it makes my stomach turn. I hate being "that" mom but honestly, there are some I just won't let them go on. I'm so mean......




Our club had to help serve ice cream -- the kids were THRILLED to be wearing these fine Klement's hats, as you can see by the looks on their faces (they were even more thrilled that mom had to take a picture!)





Break time! Nothing like a BIG SCOOP of Blue Moon....




Both kids worked really hard, both on their projects & working the ice cream booth. We served & wiped tables for 4 HOURS! And it was *hot*. We all had lots of fun & we can't wait till next year!




I took off of work the next day (thank goodness, because we didn't get to bed until midnight!!) & we went to the beach. Well, more like a watering hole with sand around it -- but it was relaxing & fun & while I'm a fanatic about sunscreen for the kids, I'm not too crazy about putting it on myself. I did pay for it -- my shoulders were a bit seared!

And now that the craziness of the fair is over, hopefully I will have a bit more time to craft! I'm working on a card today in between loads of laundry so hopefully I will have something new to show soon!

Thanks for visiting! Have a super duper weekend!

Trendy warm wishes

Hello all! Hope you are staying cool where you are -- guess I got tired of the CRAZY heat wave we are having here in Wisconsin -- because I chose to make a winter card this week!



I've always loved all the High Hopes snow ladies -- & yes I actually decided to give watercoloring another shot! I am so bad at it -- but I cheated this time & used my blender pen to blend my ink instead of that darn water brush. I *loathe* the water brush. I *heart* my blender pen. I had used it before with the SU markers but hadn't tried it to blend inks. It worked great! I used 3 or 4 different Distress Inks, then a bit of Twinkling H2O's for shading. My H2O's never look as good as everyone else's, but I guess I say that about everything, lol.

I had to laugh at all the "trends" I used on my card. First, there's the ever popular cheesecloth that I am seeing on everyone's cards -- love the touch of shabby!! Then, there's the snowflake with Glitter Glass -- made popular by my idol Anna Wight. Did you know Glitter Glass is actually shards of glass? I do now! Oooooo I really shouldn't be allowed to play with shards of glass!!

Finally, there is the crazy crinkled seam binding trend. I had seen rumpled ribbons on quite a few cards --figured everyone is just buying it from Etsy or Ebay or some such place -- I don't get to SCS these days much so I had no idea everyone was MAKING THEIR OWN!! Until I read the unfortunate thread in my Ebay sellers group chat board -- they were all talking about buying this seam binding (they were even kind enough to share the Ebay seller's name, just my luck!) & dying it using Glimmer Mist. Well of course I had to do some research -- found a whole thread about it on SCS!! Turns out there are MANY WAYS to dye this fabulous seam binding. So....sigh.. I purchased a roll (just one? What was I thinking??!) & started dying my own. Ahhhhhh it *is* fun. I'm saving money, right? Now I don't have to buy all those colors, right?





Not sure if this was ever a trend, but I did just find Snow Writer at Michael's & since I love making winter cards I decided I had to give that a try too!! Added some Glamour Dust while it was wet -- turns out makes *groovy* snow :)




The Anna-inspired sparkly snowflake......

I am entering this into the Sundays with Crissy design team call -- & also it's my lucky day because Simon Says Stamp's challenge this week is Anything Goes -- my favorite kind -- so I am entering it there as well.

It's already been a busy week here -- the County Fair begins tomorrow & my boys joined 4H this year, which means they got to make projects that were judged & will be displayed all week at the fair. Both of them did great, I'm proud of all the hard work they did. And guess what -- little did I know *I'm* eligible to enter projects as well! Too late this year, but you better believe I'm thinking about what I want to enter next year!! I'm gonna earn me a blue ribbon or two!

Have a super week! It's only supposed to be 97 tomorrow, the day we will be at the fair all day! Whew!!! The good news is I took off of work Thursday & we will be hitting the beach :)

Hedgehog birthday

Happy Monday everyone!! Yay for me -- I was able to finish not just my card but my matching envelope as well!!

Long before Magnolia there was Penny Black. I have a slew of PB stamps & they have seen no love lately. In fact, I'm pretty sure I hadn't used this stamp EVER -- what a sin!




This is Hedgehog Birthday & yes I made another easel card! Love these, now that I've figured out how to fold the darn things! The image is colored with Copics -- sorry someone yelled at me lately because I don't list my colors. I put them away as soon as I'm done using them -- & the papers are Bazzill Bling & Basic Grey Two Scoops. Everything is spritzed with Pearl Glimmer Mist for some extra bling!




The sentiment is from Hero Arts -- it's a set of 6 & I use them ALL THEM TIME!! One of my best investments ever!





The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts -- my one & only purchase from them, although I *love* their flowers! Just one of those things I never got around to ordering more of.





Can ya see the shimmer a little bit?? Well it looks gorgeous in real life, you'll just have to take my word for it!

And since I'm so ahead of the game & made the envelope box already, I will be listing this tonight when I get back from my son's baseball game......

Speaking of......gotta run! Have a super week!

Buddies.....

So, I got nothin' crafty for ya. I'm finishing up a card today in between loads of laundry & pulling weeds. But I wanted to share a couple of recent pics of my baby ..... and my fur-baby.

Elwood has always loooooved Michael -- but we got a new chair about a month ago & let's just say Elwood is quite possessive of it. If he's having a good day, he might share it. If not --- he will glare at you if you try to sit down next to him on it & that includes Michael. Michael really likes the new chair too. I guess we should have gotten two......


Luckily they love hanging out together & seem to be learning to share quite well.....both of them.....



This was taken a few days after we got the chair. Elwood quickly realized that if he wants to sit on the chair, he may have to be ok with not having it all to himself.




I just took this one a few minutes ago. All is well....


I hope you are having a fantabulous weekend! It is hot & dry here, making gardening a bit of a challenge. We have bugs to contend with, weeds that don't want to come out easily & we have to water everything twice a day. This is about the time every year that I start dreaming of fall & the cooler weather....

Late as usual....

Ahhhhh I should have been named Kate....then I could be "late Kate", lol. Believe it or not, in real life I am *early* for everything!!!

So the winner of my blog candy is.....


Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

5

Timestamp: 2011-07-08 23:58:10 UTC



LINDA PALMER -- you are my winner!!! Email me so I can get your address!!


Thanks so much to everyone for your comments, & for celebrating with me!! I appreciate your support :)

Happy Blogoversary to Me!!!

Wow, has it really been 3 years since I got the crazy idea to join the blogging world? Well --Happy Birthday to my Blog! It doesn't see quite as much action as it used to, but then again neither do I, bahahaaaaaa!



So I have a wee bit of candy to celebrate ---

** 6x6 pad K&Company Julianne papers
** "School for Changito" clear stamp set
** 3 pack of Stickles -- Baby Blue, Cotton Candy & Frosted Lace
** 3 packs of Recollections Mini Roses
** 3 packs of Recollections Rhinestone Stickers
** 1 box of Recollections Roses
** 2 packages of Recollections Flowers
** 1 package of Recollections Butterflies

and gosh, who knows what else I will find to throw in there! Maybe if I can get a card done I will include that as well :)

So I will keep this open until MIDNIGHT (CST) July 5th. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment -- how's your summer going?? Any big plans?? Any fun vacations?? If you'd like to follow me, that'd be swell. If you'd like to share this post on your blog, that'd be groovy!! Thank you all so much for visiting!! Big hugs to everyone!! Now let's have some cake!!!!!

My first easel card....FINALLY!!

Yes, these easel cards have been around awhile, but I finally just made my first one. I just could not figure out that darn fold, lol. Can you imagine me making like....a BOX....or something really fancy like that?? Anything with more than one score really is confusing to me!



So here is Milton's Fall Harvest, sitting happily on an easel. Hmmmm....is he looking rather festive? That's because I used papers from both Basic Grey Figgy & Wassail -- I just love the shades of red & green in these papers. If anyone knows some non-Christmas lines that have the darker red (like Riding Hood Red) & olive green -- let me know! I think these are the colors I use the very most!





I was really on a roll for a while there with my Copics, but I decided to go with the pencils this time. And you can't tell --shoulda gotten a close up -- but I used clear glaze on all the apples so they are all shiny & ready to eat.




I don't know why I even try with the reds --- I've edited & re-edited but the color still doesn't look right. I took this shot hoping you could see the Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist on the flowers --- but you'll have to squint, lol.





Ahhhh yes, now that I have made one & it didn't turn out backwards or upside down, I see more easel cards in my future! I always decorate my insides anyway, so I may as well make it something that can be displayed :)





I chose this image because Milton is one of my favorites -- illustrated a long long time ago by my good friend Crissy. Well it so happens that she is looking for someone to join her design team! So I thought --- what the heck! She's not exactly demanding ---- one card a month is all that is required -- even *I* can make one card a month! If you want to check out the details---- go to THIS POST HERE read all about it!!





That's it for me!! I hope everyone in the States has a fantastic & SAFE 4th of July! Don't forget to enter my blog candy -- details in the post above!!!