PIck me up card.

The other day, my best friend had to make a really hard decision and it left her feeling really blue.

 

 I wanted to make her a quick card to cheer her up and put some sunshine back into her life.

I picked some paper and ribbon from Stampin Up and a stamp from Tanner Bell designs.

 

 

I love it when I can use my crafts to make someone feel better!!!

3D paper skull

3D paper Skull for Halloween

My son is a HUGE Halloween fan.  He just loves to dress up and act out the part.  He is 10, and is loving all things creepy & scary!!! 

So we decided to make this 3D skull together.

I bought the image from the Cricut Craft Room.  It was fun and challenging to put together.  For some reason the top of my skull did not want to go together the way it was suppose to.  So we decided it had experienced blunt force trauma and decided to make it even better with the spiders crawling out of that hole.

It was so much fun dripping the wax over it.  I think my son enjoyed it just a little too much, but it was awesome how much cooler it looked with the wax!!!

  

The only candle I could find when I went shopping was a scented one.  So even better cause it smells like chocolate!!!!

Hello Kitty Gift box & Bag

Hello Kitty Gift Box & Bag

 I have always loved Hello Kitty, ever since I was little.  My friend's daughter just turned 6 and is having a party this weekend, and she LOVES Hello Kitty. 

 So I went a little Hello Kitty over board with my presents (they all are Hello Kitty something), So I figured  why not follow thru with the wrapping.  

I made a Hello Kitty Suitcase box for the small items.

There is even Hello Kitty on the inside of the box!!

 

 Then I made a Hello Kitty gift bag for the bigger items.  I made the Hello Kitty face die cut using my Cricut, a Hello Kitty svg cut file & SCAL software.

I can't wait to see her face when she gets all her presents!!!

Scare Affare

 I wanted to make a fun layout for Halloween.  My kids LOVE dressing up and the scarier the better.  I found this cool tree die cut (it is really half of a 3D tree from the Cricut Craft Room)

I had fun cutting out the tomb stone by hand and adding the little dangling spiders. I had a lot of fun making this layout.  I usually try to make everything just so, but on this one I found my inner kid and had a blast!!!

Cards made with the Cricut Lite 9 Months cartridge

I recently purchased the Cricut Lite 9 Months Cartridge and couldn't wait to use it.  Thank Godness my family doctor is pregnant with her 2nd daughter.  She makes the cutest little pregnant woman.  One tiny bump and that is it!  So I wanted to make her a card to Congratulate her on her pregnancy.

While I was checking out this cartridge, I found the cutest elephant.  So I made a card for my niece.  I am the mom of 2 boys and have all boy foster kiddos, so anytime I actually get to use pink..I jump at it!!!

Home made Smash books

I love the whole idea of Smash books!  They are fun and easy & a great way to organize your stash of pictures and other memories!!  I also love to make books.  So I made a few of my own smash type books.  The great thing about making your own is you can make anyway you want.  I like to make these and give to my friends too.  They make great, fun gifts!!!!

 This one I used my Zutter for.  I have a Cinch binder also.  Depending on my mood and the type of book I am making decides which one I use.  They both have their own pluses & minuses.  I just made this one very simple and put a pocket on each cover.  I haven't decided what I want to use this one for yet.  My husband thinks it would make a great recipe holder.

This one I made for a friend's daughter.  She is a very girlie girl and I was excited to use pinks & girlie sayings.  I used the same concept as the bird one, just used a different type of paper.  I left the cover for her to put the final touches to.

This one was really fun to make.  It is made of file folders I cut using my SCAL software & my Cricut Expression. They you just glue them all together.  I haven't finished decorating the front yet.  I have to decide what I what I want to use it for.

Looking to nature for inspiration.

 Looking to nature for inspiration....

 

Where do you look for inspiration? 

I like to look everywhere and esp outside.  Recently my 2 boys and me went for a hike at a local nature park.  It was such a crisp clear day and oh the colors!!!   

 The sky and the clouds were amazing that day.  They felt close enough to touch!!!

My youngest son fell in love with this spot on top a rock way up a trail.  He said he could have sat there for days!!!  You could see for so many miles.  It was truly amazing!!!
 

 We decided to hike down the trail from the rock spot and see what was down there.  We could only make it half way down do to the difficulty of the trail.  The only problem was getting back up the hill!!!  Our legs were on fire!!  But it was so worth it!!!  Look at those amazing fall colors!!!

 One of the things we LOVE to do, is look for the creatures that live there.  We were finding all kinds of creatures and plants.  These little caterpillars were hanging waiting for Mother Nature!!!  I think they are so cute!!!

I fell in love with this tree stump.  It reminded of where fairies would live!!!

Yummy Home Made Apple Dumplings....

Yummy Home Made Apple Dumplings....

Every year at this time my family looks forwards to home made apple dumplings!

I would love to say it is because I make them, but it is really my Dad.  He makes them once a year and we all can't wait for when that time rolls around!!!  I have tried making them before, using his same recipe, but they are never as good as his!!  Thanks Dad!!!

Suitcase..to go

 Suitcase...to go.

I LOVE to make boxes!!!  It is so fun to take paper & turn it into something cute & useable.  I bought the  Ultimate Crafter's Companion to make box making so simple.  It does all the measuring for you!!  I love it.  I recently bought the Boxer Board and the Ultimate Crafter's Companion Advanced Construction & Techniques DVD.  The suitcase was one of the projects on there.  After watching the instructions, I set out to make it my own.

I made mine a bit larger than the one she makes in the DVD.  It is 5 1/5 x 8 inches.  It is pretty roomy.

I am addicted to pink & brown, and chose those colors for this project.

I used The Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge to make the flower and leaves on top.

I added some sparkle to it with my I-Rock gems.

 It's hard to see in this pic, but I used a Sizzix sizzlet tag die for the clasp.

 I used some Spanish moss for some added dimension and decoration.

In the video, she used ribbon for the handle.  I decided to go with paper instead.

Now, I just have to decide what goodies to put in it and who I want to give it too!!!  Decisions, decisions!! LOL

So Yummy...Eclair pie

Eclair Pie

The other night I was checking out some new blogs and I came across a recipe for Eclair Pie.  

My kids and me made it yesterday & let it refrigerate over nite.

Man, was it so yummy today when we tried it.  Everyone in the house ended up eating 2 pieces of it!!!

It is to good not to share with everyone.  The great thing about it is that it is so easy to make & totally yummy to bat!!!

( I borrowed the picture from the other blog)

Eclair Pie

2 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding

8 oz. Cool Whip

3 1/2 cups milk

Graham Crackers (about 3 pkgs)

Mix milk with pudding. Fold in Cool Whip

Line a 9x13 inch pan with whole graham crackers. Spread 1/2 pudding mix over crackers; add another layer of graham crackers. Spread remaining pudding. Add a third layer of graham crackers. Spread top with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:

4 Tbsp. Cocoa

4 Tbsp. Milk

4 Tbsp butter (melted)

2 cups powdered sugar

Make sure to refrigerate overnight!!! 

Sympathy Card

Sympathy card for a friend

Recently our friend and evaluator for our home school lost her pet French Bull Dog of 14 yrs.  We loved Pugsley very much and we always looked forward to seeing her every June and bringing her a bag of treats.

We were very sad to hear this.  Pugsley was like a child to them and they loved her very much.

I wanted to make a card for her that let her know we were thinking of them & keeping them in our prayers.

(the flash sort of washed out the writing..I will have to work on that)  

I used some paper from Stampin Up.  I love their colors and and quality of their paper.

I went with a simple design & warm colors to give a comfort feeling to the card.

Pugsley we will never forget you!!!

I Love to Smash!!!

I Love to Smash!!!!

I am so addicted to K & Company's Smash books.  At first I wasn't so sure it was going to be a product that I really utilized, but I had to see what they were all about.  So I bought my first one-the red one...and I was hooked!!!

 I had a HUGE folder full of items I just didn't know what quite to do with...maybe scrap them, but there were so many.  I knew for sure though I didn't want to get rid of them.  So I opened up my red Smash book and started putting stuff in.  By the time I was done, I couldn't get the book closed any more!!!

I had to go buy a band for it, so everything would stay in!!!

 Then I HAD to have more!!!  I went out and got a black one & an orange.  They all have different themes for different colors!!!

I used the orange one to make a book about me. Things I like, things I don't, homeschooling, foster care, being a mom, all the stuff that was just me.  I haven't quite finished it yet.  I wait til something in my life triggers a new page, but it is so much fun.  I have pics of my friends growing up in there, wedding pics, silly pics, funny things that happened that I don't want to forget.  

 For the black one I made it into a book of inspiration.  I had stacks of craft magazines that I didn't want to get rid of because they had ideas in them I wanted to try, or new products I wanted to check out. 

So, I went thru them all and cut out the ideas I wanted and Smashed them into one cute book!!!  I am a very organized Smasher.  Some people like to layer the things on each other which is perfectly fun & normal.  I find myself putting them in an organized fashion.  I guess that is just my OCD kicking in!!!  LOL  I also put in pics of some of my favorite layouts I did.  Like the one above that I made of a poem my son did.

This is one of Halloween ideas!

 Goals that I want to accomplish for 2012-I think I am behind on getting this list done!!!

 Some name tags from a Foster Care night out we did where we volunteered.

A card and a note from a friend.

 This is the inside of one of the new larger Smash books.  I can't wait to dive in and get Smashing in it!!!

Plus they sell all kinds of neat things to go inside.  Markers with glue sticks in the tops, bands to keep them all together, divider tabs, tape to decorate, little note pads with questions in them to add interesting facts to your Smash books.  They also sell stickers, pockets, tabs, paper clips.  So much awesome fun!!!

I love these books!!  I also love to give them away to my friends as gifts.  It is a quick, fun way to get all of the file folders organized and kept safe and displayed in a fun way!!!