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!!!

A Turtle-Tastic Birthday Card

My nephew just had his 4th birthday and I wanted to make him a cute little card.  He is definitely all boy and he loves his animals, so I went with a Turtle Tastic card.

I had a fun time making it.  The turtle is a svg cut file that I had found awhile back on the internet.  (I am sorry I don't remember the web site) I sized it and cut it out using my Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) software.  

I had fun added some little details to it like the googly eyes, the mouth, hair and toes.  I have found that those little details can add a lot of pizazz to a project.  I cut out the hat by hand (a simple triangle) and the banner and added some glitter.

 For the card itself, I wanted to keep it simple but full of color since it is for a bright 4 yr old.  I took some yellow card stock and ink edged it with Megan Elizabeth Limelight and some purple paper embossed it using Cuttlebug Divine Swirls and ink edged it with Megan Elizabeth Sweetness.

 You can find Megan Elizabeth products at www.aboverubiesstudio.com  She has some really neat products available.

 Then you just attach it all togther.  I used my favorite all around tape..Scotch's ATG acid free tape.

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Tucker was so excited when he got it in the mail.  His mom said he kept yelling, it's a turtle, it'sa turtle.  To me that is the most important part of crafting....making someone's day!!!

I am not the best crafter out there or maybe the most trendy, but I love what I do and I love putting a smile on someone's face and that is why I love it so much.