Saturday, April 30, 2011

April Showers bring...April Flowers!

Welcome!  Thanks for stopping by!  I've been loving spring, even though it's pretty much rained non-stop all month, and watching my plants come back to life!



This week the Daffodils decided to grace us with their cheery beautiful sweet smelling selves!  I never knew they had a scent until last year when I was talking with someone and they told me they loved the smell of them.  I had assumed they were a lot like the hybrid roses - nothing but color.  How wrong was I!  I also learned that Lily of the Valley has a lovely scent!  I haven't seen those this year, not yet, anyway.



My miniature tulips are up as well.  They don't get any taller than six or seven inches and they have pointed petals instead of rounded.  They remind me of fire and they come up year after year but never spread.



The Grape Hyacinths have poked their little purple heads out of the ground too.  I'm not so crazy about these guys because of the foliage but I guess I'm going to keep them.  I separated a lot of them last year and moved them around because they're supposed to spread, but I really haven't seen that happen and I've had them for years.



Last but not least, I have my blue flowers.  I have no idea what they are.  I bought the bulbs two years ago and never wrote the name down anywhere.  I think they are the cutest little flowers, they're no taller than a couple of inches, very low-lying, and when the flower is spent it folds towards the ground and created a new bulb.  If anyone knows what they are please let me know! 

I hope you enjoyed a little part of my gardens.  I'll be posting more and possibly some video as well.  I really do enjoy working in them and seeing new flowers and vegetables make their way into my world.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love to hear what you're doing in your garden.  As always, I love each and every one of your comments!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Spring Storms

It's that time of year and it's what is happening tonight.  Lightning and thunder, no rain yet.  I just love these nights, but I'd love them better if Bella wasn't so scared of them.  Right now she's wedged herself under my chair and is panting so loudly it's a little distracting.


The air turned warm today, and I finally admitted to myself, and others, that I killed most of my seedlings by setting them out too early.  After I got home from work I set about making things right by starting the re-plant.  I planted more broccoli, more red cabbage, more eggplant, more flowers, and most important - more tomatoes.  Just the name of them makes me smile.  Costoluto.  Say it - Costoluto.  Don't they sound awesome?  I'm hoping I have time to start them and get them going because I hate buying my starter plants unless they're herbs.  I start most of those myself too, but I have a hard time with starting Rosemary and Sage.

Ah, the rain has started and with a fury.  I just ran upstairs and the rain was coming in.  Luckily the bed's not soaked!  It just means there's no nice breeze in the house now.

Easter was great with the kids.  Hannah helped me make the green bean casserole and Gaige washed the dishes after dinner.  He loves cleaning!  I think this was their first real Easter too.  I hid a couple eggs out back and when they came over we watched them find them.  Next year I'm going to hide a ton of them!




My panic attacks are back and in full swing again, due to problems at work.  Besides medication, that I haven't touched yet, I'm thinking I need to get crafting - a lot more than I am now.  Crafting, mainly scrapbooking, will set me free!

I know I didn't have a project to display, and I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but I didn't have anything like that to share so I decided to share me.  Hopefully another project will appear soon, so stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!  You're always welcome here.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Some Awesome Blog Candy Available!

Hello my bloggy friends! Check out this awesome blog!  All you have to do is follow and leave a comment - and tell them that Jennifer over at Crafty Diva Lounge sent you!


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Scrapping Day

I called into work today.  I was up this morning at 3am, wide awake but knowing I should sleep.  I don't know why it's always 3am.  It reminds me of that song by Matchbox 20.  Check it out here: 


So I thought I'd rest because I didn't get back to sleep until 6:30 and then it was just restless tossing and turning.  After I showered I was drawn to my craft room, the mess that it is, and started to scrap.  I figured that since I was home I might as well create.  I've been trying to finish my 2010 album and I'm soooooo close!  I just need a couple more page holders, which means a trip to Joann Fabrics is on the horizon.

Here's what I got done:

 I love this one because Gaige kept asking to put this car together after Christmas and he was so happy when Derrick worked on it with him!  I decided to make the frames and glue them to the photo, then added the brads that looked like screws.  I mounted all the photos with foam squares to make them stand out.  I used the CJ Journaling font for my own journaling, and I brushed the edges of the journaling circle with a blue pigment stamping pad.

 I added a little bling on this one.

 I love the Christmas cards that come with photos and I always scrap them!



My fave pic is in the middle.  I just love it!

So I was pretty busy.  Now I'm starting to scrap the children's album so they'll have something to show their friends.  Up until now I'm pretty sure they don't even have their own photo albums because they are super excited about getting their own book.

That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by, and as always, you crafty folks are my best critics so share your ideas and if you like something then please let me know!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Nature


Just thought I'd share this with you.  I stopped on the way home from work the other day to check it out.  The starkness of the trees sticking out of the water caught me off guard and I just had to get a shot.  I hope you enjoy!





Creating an Album with Unibind

Welcome back! I love it that you're here, and that you're checking out my page!

In September of 2010 I won a Unibind Photobook Creator (http://www.facebook.com/#!/PhotobookCreator ) in an on-line contest.  I was so excited! First to win something and then realizing that I won a real quality product!  After I won it I had to finish a challenge, which I did, and post it on-line for the world to vote in, which they did.  I didn't win more but that was ok.  Winning once was too cool anyway!  The thing is, I had the product but it sat.  And sat.  I was worried about what to do with it.  Would I mess it up?  I had received three books to bind with the Creator and I didn't want to mess it up.




And then inspiration hit!  I was in an old office that was being ripped apart.  There was some old, er... vintage, wall paper on the wall, and whala! the light bulb in my head went off.  I ripped off a good sized chunk, rolled it up, and brought it home.  There it sat, for a month at least, until I decided to see what I had.  It wasn't in the greatest shape, but I cleaned it up- both sides and layed it out to dry.




Once it was dry I measured out what I needed and then tried to find the areas that weren't ripped or faded out.  Once that was done I cut what I needed and set the rest of the paper aside.  At this point I have to say that I received some great advice from my friend Ken Oliver at http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/ .  I wasn't sure how to put the paper on and Ken suggested I use a wash made of Aleene's Tacky Glue and water and to use material for the spine.  He suggested using material because eventually the wallpaper would crack and give out.  It was a great idea!




After gluing on the wallpaper it was time for a trip to Joann Fabrics.  I brought my book with me to test out the materials against the colors.  I brought home two cotton quilting squares. 

At this point I want to ask you a question - have you ever been in the material section of a store and just about coughed your lungs out?  I'm not allergic to anything that I know of but I thought I was going to die!  As soon as I got to the scrapping stuff I was fine!



Once I finally made my fabric choice I decided I had better sew the edges so it looked finished.  I did a spine and two squares for the inside of the album.  I used my grandmother's sewing machine.  Isn't it beautiful?  She picked it up at a yard sale and sewed everything with it, including pillow cases, which I still have a few of.  She never taught me to sew and you can definitely see that in these photos!






Once all the material was ready I started gluing it into the album.  I used the Aleene's Tacky Glue full strength and tacked it on.  It worked beautifully! 



Once everything was dry I cut some heritage paper that will hold some great old photos when I'm done.



So what do you think?  Pretty good for a first time, right?  I have to say it came out really good and very much like I had visualized.  As always, your comments are welcome and I love them so comment a lot!  

Oh yeah, what happened to the leftover wallpaper, you might ask.  Well, I kept it all.  Some of the pictures on the wallpaper I cut out and some of the paper I might use to make some vintage flowers and maybe an embellishment for the front of this baby.

Happy Scrapping friends!  Thanks for dropping by!

If you like crafting don't forget to take a visit to see Ken's projects at http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/ !

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Great Contest!

Hey friends!
Head over to http://scrapbookdimensions.com/online/win-this-prize-package-worth-900-dollars/!  They have an awesome contest going on.  Make sure you have time to participate, but you can win $900 worth of cool products!
Good luck!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Post Hop Drop Down

So it's the day after the weekend long hop and we're back again to no comments.  That's ok because I feel like writing and sharing.  I worked on a birthday card for my mom last night - her birthday is today and I couldn't post it last night just in case she took a look at my blog.  It was highly unlikely but I didn't want to ruin the element of surprise. 

I knew I wanted a flower on my card but I wasn't sure of the design so I went back to the hop and looked at http://polkacabana.wordpress.com/author/polkacabana/ because I had seen a lovely ladybug card that I kind of wanted to copy.  I didn't but I tried to tie in part of what she did.  If you haven't been to Jeannie's site go check it out - she's awesome!

The Project:
The paper is Colorbok and the flower is random cardstock that I wet down and molded.  I popped a nice pearl in the middle to add some class.  I brushed it with a dark blue stamp pad along the edges for depth. 
Here's what I came up with:


I also downloaded some great fonts from http://www.clubcreatingkeepsakes.com/ and used the CK Andie font.  I thought it looked really cool.  I also stamped it with this cute little hummingbird stamp that I picked up at Joann's for a song.  I hardly stamp - I just can't get into it.  My boyfriend picked up a bunch of them at a yard sale last year for me.  Not sure I'm going to keep them.  They may become a RAK in the future when I get my new craft area.




Well, I hope you enjoy the card.  I had a really good time making it and my mom liked it so I guess I did good.

On a different note, I took my seedlings outside today for a little while to weather them.  Here you can see the way I transported them back into the house - on a silver platter!  Nothings too good for my future food!


Sunday, April 10, 2011

National No Housework Day Winner!

The weekend is over and the housework looms!  Thanks to Deb over at http://www.ifitsgroovy.com/ I'm going to be seriously busy this week!  It was a fun weekend and although I really didn't do any housework (much - I did end up doing dishes and vacuuming my bathroom - couldn't help it!) I did get some much needed time outdoors with the gardens!

The best part about this weekend blog?  I got to see some pretty awesome projects and am following some pretty terrific artists now!  I've already gone back to reference a card from a new friend already!  I want to thank everyone that signed on to follow me- I will try to be a responsible and interesting blogger.  I have some pretty cool projects in progress right now that I'll be sharing soon!

I know that as followers you are wondering who won the blog candy from my blog this weekend.  I actually wrote all your names out on little slips of paper and folded them, put them in my dog's dish (it was clean!) and had my boyfriend pick a name.  I love the good old fashioned way of the raffle.  Well, the winner is...

KELLYISASCRAPDIVA!!!

Congratulations Kelly!  I'm so glad you've signed on to follow and I will contact you through a pm to get your address!

Thanks again to everyone who participated - it was a great time!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

It's National No Housework Day!

Welcome to the National No Housework Day Online Blog hop! If you have arrived not knowing until now about the hop, no problem...just go back to
If It's Groovy
where this hop starts and work your way through!

You may find games, prizes, projects and how do-you-dos along the path :) We would appreciate it if you sign up to keep in touch with us by "following" and would love your comments!
Perhaps you arrived here from Crafty Go Lucky (Valerie)
http://www.craftygolucky.blogspot.com/, Great!
Hope you enjoyed that stop and the others so far!!!
We celebrate this national holiday by scrapping today and into the weekend with projects that remind us of housework or getting away from it!!! Take the day off, put up your feet and let's hop!



MY PROJECT
I tried a couple different projects for my no housework day.  My first project was a postcard that feature's the wording "Apron's Away" with a couple aprons I made out of cardstock, ribbon, Studio G glitter glue, and a couple stamps.  I was trying to capture the thrill of not having to take care of a house for one day!  (Those are aprons by the way...They kind of look like a really cute dress and skirt, I know!)


My second project was a flower embellishment.  I found the idea in the April issue Scrapbooks Etc. and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it.  I used a Martha Stewart border punch on plain white paper and on patterned paper.  I sprayed the white paper with Tattered Angels Lime Twist glimmer mist and let dry.  After a couple tries folding I finally figured out how to get the paper to fold correctly and to lie flat.  Using Aleene's Tacky Glue, I glued the green flower to a cardstock circle, followed by the patterned flower.  I then layered it with a silk flower and finished it off with a pearl. 




I am offering a small giveaway to be awarded at the end of the National No Housework Day Online Blog hop.  All you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment.  At the end of the hop a winner will be chosen at random.  Please make sure you leave your email address so I can get in touch with you.  The winner will also be announced on http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com

HAVE FUN!!!


Thanks for your visit, please head over to see Just a Glimpse...(Jenneke)
http://jenneke-justwhoiam.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Without further ado...

1. If It's Groovy (Groovy Deb)
http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com
3. Leading a Craftastic Life (Kristin)
http://craftasticlife.blogspot.com/
4. Scrappy Side of Me (Jen T)
http://jentscrappysideofme.blogspot.com
5. Peg's Crafting Corner (Peg)
http://www.pegscraftingcorner.blogspot.com/
7. Scrapping the Guys (Heather)
http://www.scrappingtheguys.blogspot.com
8. Let's Get Peachy (Laura)
http://getpeachy.blogspot.com
9. Creating Sensations (Vanessa)
http://www.creatingsensations.blogspot.com
10. Everyday Me (Michelle)
http://www.everydayscrapbook.blogspot.com/
11. Basement Chronicles (Maya)
http://mayadahan.blogspot.com/
12. Love to Create (Misty)
http://mistybrune.blogspot.com/
13. Scrappy Go Lucky (Darlene)
http://scrappygolucky.blogspot.com
14. Dragonfly Destiny (Jean-Marie)
http://dragonflydestiny.blogspot.com/
15. Andrea's Metta (Andrea)
http://andreasmetta.blogspot.com/
16. Red Car Productions (Krista)
http://redcarproductions.blogspot.com/
17. Greets N Treats (Becky)
http://greetsntreats.blogspot.com/
18. Paper Universe (Silvana)
http://ununiversodepapel.blogspot.com/
19. The Limitations of Thought (Irini)
http://thelimitationsofthought.blogspot.com/
20. Step Into My World (Becky)
http://www.beckythackston.blogspot.com/
21. From the Owls Nest (Sharon)
http://fromtheowlsnest.wordpress.com/
22. Creations with Becka (Becka)
http://Www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com
23. Crafty Go Lucky (Valerie)
http://www.craftygolucky.blogspot.com/
24. Crafty Diva Lounge (Jen) - YOU ARE HERE
http://craftydivalounge.blogspot.com/
25.Just a Glimpse...(Jenneke)
http://jenneke-justwhoiam.blogspot.com/
26. Scrap it Girl (Kimberly)
http://scrap-it-girl.blogspot.com/
27. These are a Few...(Julie)
http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/
28. Really? That Just Happened (Doreen)
http://thefourvs.blogspot.com/
29. Nikki Sivils (Julie c/o Nikki)
http://nikkisdoghouse.blogspot.com/
30. Marci's Scrapping Spot (Marci)
http://MarcisScrappingSpot.blogspot.com
31. Scrapbookers Anonymous (Theresa)
http://scrapbookers-anonymous.blogspot.com/
32.Intrepid Thread (Julie)
http://intrepidthread.blogspot.com
33. Scrapbooking SOS (Michelle)
http://scrapbookingsos.blogspot.com
34. Flamingo Scraps (Amanda)
http://flamingoscraps.blogspot.com/
35. Scrapbook Abundance (Jana)
http://preprostobogastvo.blogspot.com/
36. Artful Delight(Leeanne)
http://artfuldelight.blogspot.com/
37. Mommy of 5 Kidz (Misty)
http://mommyof5kidz.blogspot.com/
38. Designs by Diana(Diana)
http://designbydiana.blogspot.com
39. Polka Cabana(Jeannie)
http://polkacabana.wordpress.com
40. A Day in the Life...(Kelly)
http://kellyisascrapdiva.blogspot.com/
41. MarBare Scraps (Mary)
http://www.marebearscraps.blogspot.com/
42. One by One...(Karel)
http://www.kareljcreations.com/