Two Hearts

Hello again!  Wow, posting two days in a row.  That's a record lately:)  I've got another card to share today using a TGF set called Rock The Farm.  This little heart "flower" is one image that comes in the set.  Now, once you read that sentiment you will have that song in your head all day, I swear.  I had that song by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston (totally looked that up, BTW) in my head the WHOLE time I made this card.    Anyways, I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch...kinda:)  The paper is by Cosmo Cricket and the colors just make me HAPPY!   I'm also entering it into the spots and stripes challenge at Stamp Something.

Honestly, I've been in a bit of a slump lately.  I feel like a dog chasing my tale.  Is that because I have a new dog and I'm really trying to train her?  I don't know.  I do know that my creative spark has fizzled a bit.  I'm slowly getting it back.  Lucky for me I'm a very simple girl.  Little things give me great big JOY.  Like yesterday.  I went to Kroger with my coupon box FULL of great coupons and Kroger had all of the same stuff on sale.  I saved a little under $90...yes NINETY dollars on groceries and supplies.  That makes  me tickled pink.  I drive my hubby crazy looking at the receipt.  He should be happy, right?  I know...what's up?  Like getting a 4 serving packet of Activia  for 88 cents!  HAPPINESS!  I got butter for FREE!  hee HEE!  Ok....the thing is I was supposed to go shopping on Thurs.  It was going to be a really rushed trip and I know I wouldn't have saved as much because of time restraint.

  Here's what happened.  Feeling ho hum, I went into Simply Scrapbooks ( my LSS) to turn in my projects.  I decided to look around and try to find something to spark creativity and for a boy bday card.  I spent WAY too much time looking around and just decided to get some paper ( which I need like a whole in the head.)  As I was standing at the register I heard it....the voice... the most recognizable voice in the crafting world...especially if you watch Splitcoast videos.  I turned around and there she was.....

BEATE JOHNS!

 I went up to her and as soon as she saw me she jumped up and gave me a hug.  We have been emailing a bit trying to figure out how we could meet up.  She lives close to me now and I knew she was going to give a class at SS.  We talked about meeting in Sept and having lunch.  As luck would have it, we ended up going to SS on the same day.  She is SOOOO incredibly nice and FULL of stamping knowledge.  I loved just chatting with her.  I'm hoping that we can work out a day that we can stamp and color together.  I'm also going to take her class.  Because I chatted with her so long I couldn't go to the grocery store.

  Besides being happy about meeting her ( she is really tall...well, when you are 5'2" she is really tall) I got to save even more money at the grocery store.  See what a "Simpleton" I am.  Oh yeah, the girl who I can't stand bagging my groceries at Kroger also left my line when I got up there....I don't think she cares for me either.

 AHHHH!  Life is GOOD:) I finally met Beate, saved money and didn't have my apples bagged with my soup cans.  What more can you ask for in life...really?

So what simple things in life make YOU happy?  I'd love to hear.
It's a football day...gotta run.

What You Do Today...

Good Morning!  I have a card today for a few challenges.  This uses that great Stampers Anonymous set, Shabby French.  I used the colors from The Playdate Cafe Challenge this week.  I had to substitute Cream for White though.  White was too harsh.  I also based this off Mercy's Tuesday Sketch.

My post will have to be short and sweet today.  I've been a bit preoccupied with some things here lately.

Mainly, this.........

This is Harley.  She is the newest addition to our family.  We were not planning on getting a new dog, let alone, a puppy.  Sometimes life presents you with things and you have to grab them up.  Harley is a pure bred Australian Shepard.  Our dog Molly is getting very old and our hope is that they will be good for each other.  Australian Shepards have strong personalities.  I have been working very hard to make sure she knows who is boss.  They are great family dogs, but require a LOT of attention.  I've been studying up and trying to train her.  She is very smart and does really well.  My biggest problem right now is getting her socialized with other dogs.  She is naturally prone to being the more aggressive dog.  We are working on that.  Heading to the library today for some Cesar books or something of the like.  Wish me luck!

Blue Birthday Butterfly

Good Morning Peeps!  It's been forever, I know.  I have been so busy around here trying to keep the kids entertained.  I have to say that this summer it has been rough.  They have reached the age where they don't want to do things with each other much.  Yesterday we had a fabulous day of picking strawberries and cleaning them.  I made some strawberry shortcake and tonight we will be making jam.  I swear that in the summer I could live on Strawberry Shortcake and watermelon.  I know I will be gaining a few pounds by the time I have had my fill of it.  Our scale broke last week.  I weighed in at 97 pounds.  HA HA!  I'm thinking I may not replace it for awhile.  I'd like to live in that fantasy for a bit:)  Especially since we leave for vacation next week.  We are eating out a LOT and visiting Chocolate World in Hershey, PA.  Can you say HEAVEN:)  Ok enough yapping!

I haven't felt much like creating this week, but this morning I needed to make a card. I also realized that I still haven't made any Father's Day cards.  I'm so behind.  I made this card for the Playdate Cafe Challenge and last week's Ways to Use It over at Splitcoast.  It also falls into this week's WTUI 275.  That's a bonus:)  I also used my twisted version of Mercy's Sketch.   I get to enter one more card into the Stamp Something Happy Challenge too! 

Now for family I have a few pictures to share of what we have been up to lately.

Making Homemade Ice Cream.

Towards the end of mixing for 15 minutes you start to get a little crazy/angry waiting for it to freeze:)

A tiny glimpse of them playing together and having fun:)

Working on 4H projects.  Chandler sewed this purse.  Nope!  It isn't even the project she needs to make.  Did you know that doing a 4H project is REALLY time consuming?  Not to mention that if you sew you could spend $40+  to make an elastic waist childrens' skirt????  No wonder no one sews anymore.  I could buy FOUR skirts for that price.  She is having fun learning a new trade though.

The NEW version of catching lightning bugs~  in a plastic bag not a glass jar...LOL

Today we are saying goodbye to our nice breezy day and HELLO to humidity.  Hope you are getting some good weather.  I should be back once more with a few other cards.

See you then!

:( deleted my name again:(

What's In It?

Stamps: Great Friend, Elegant Sentiments

Ink: Versafine black, Aegan blue

Paper: TPS black and white, black, white

Other: Wrinkle Ribbon, MM brad, Glitter, glue pen, rhinestones, dimensionals, Nestabilities Labels and Oval

You're So Sweet in a Vintage Sort of Way

Wow!  It's a beautiful Saturday morning.  The sun is shining and my house is quiet. I know soon enough the kids will be up and my peaceful morning will become hectic with all the activity.  I love mornings.  It's my quiet, crafting, alone time with my friend, Mr Coffee:)  Today I wanted to share one of those 5 cards I've been working on.  This is actually the one that I got all done  realized I had made it upside down.  Luckily I was able to just switch the top panel around to fix it. Phew!

I made this using some NEW Digital Paper by Shawne called, " Sweet Thang Vintage. You can find it over at Studio 313 Exclusive Creations under the Earthy section of the digital paper.  I am in love with this stuff.
I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch (kind of) and added a chipboard base in the center that was painted with TH distress paint and then distressed even more with TH antique linen ink.  The cherries are from the Just Jawing set.  I decided to add some Diamond Glaze  and boy did it brighten them up.  Not really the look I was going for, but that's ok.  My sentiment is from Verve's Thankful Accents set which is another of my favorite sets. Because I used chipboard I am submitting this to The Shabby Tea Room again. 

I made something else with this awesome paper.  It has quite a few mistakes so don't look too hard.  This was my gift to my sister for her wedding.  Well,  part of my gift anyway.  My sister doesn't cook and her husband came with a "ready made" family.  So now she is trying to learn how to make meals for more than one person:)  Hopefully my gift will help.

I decided to share many of the recipes I have collected over the years from family and friends.  Most of these are very quick, easy meals that I use myself.  I love the idea of passing down family recipes.  It's like sharing a part of you.  I can't help but think of those people as I make their specialties.  I wrote everything out by hand.  There is something even more special about looking at a person's handwriting, especially when they are gone.  I have several of my Bushia's recipes (grandma in Polish) and I love to see her handwriting.  I really feelslike I still have a part of her with me as I cook.  So, I photocopied those Bushia recipes for my sister.  I hope she enjoys that as much as I do.  One lesson I learned while making this was that Alene's Ok to Wash It dries very sticky.  I wouldn't use it again for trim.  I'm afraid of how much gunk it will collect around the trim over the years.  The true gift is inside.  Do you write out your recipes still or do you print them off on a computer?  I hope if you pass them down to someone you write them out.  Years down the road people will look at your handwriting and think of you more clearly I'm sure.  BTW, the front of the recipe box says, "Good Eats" not "Good EARS as my husband thought:)

Thought I would share a few pictures of our day at the beach while in The Outer Banks.

( click on picture for a closer view)

This is the wedding day....starting with a beautiful sunrise

I don't have any pictures of the ceremony because I was busy holding my sister's veil down:)  It was a VERY warm day with gusty winds  and so pretty on the beach.  We wore shoes as we walked through the sand and got a GREAT exfoliation treatment.  Beach weddings should be barefoot I believe.  However, my feet felt pretty smooth from having sand in my shoe.

Here's a collage of the day...

We love to party it up.  This family LOVES to dance.  I have so many more pictures, but I won't bore you with them all.

So what happens after a day of partying with the Smoker family???

We are a wild bunch and we're sure to tire you out.

It was a really fun time and we are going to end this post on a happy note.

Thanks for hanging in there through family pics.  I have to say that the Canary yellow dress ended up looking OK on me.  My wild hair color tamed down before the big day.  A big thanks to VINEGAR.  It's a natural stripper you know.  I washed my hair several times with it to get that purplish red tint out.  It seemed to work!  Yeah!

It was really humid, but thanks to LOTS of hair product and my wonderful beautician Aunt  the frizzies stayed away.  Not Brillo pad in sight.  It was supposed to Thunderstorm that day, but NOPE.  So happy about that for my sister.  All that fretting I did and it all worked out ok in the end.  It usually does.  You just have to have faith.

Have a great Saturday.  I'll be back tomorrow with a PWCO sketch for you all to try!

Pastel Sweet Heart

Wow!  I can't believe it's FRIDAY.  Where did this week go?  I finally got a chance to finish my card that I started a few days ago.  This card uses a bunch of stuff that was just laying on my desk.  I'm so happy to be able to use it.  It helps with the process of cleaning off my craft area.

  I know I need to show you pictures of my more organized area, but I really need to clean things up a bit.  I'm one of those people who seem to create better in a messy area.  Anyone else like that?  I'll work on getting pictures around for next week.  Promise.  This card uses Mercy's sketch and I'm also entering it into the Pile It On challenge using Pastel colors. You may recognize the heart that was leftover from my sister's invites.  I also used that stray button that I added stickles to for a bit of sparkle.  That paper is from the Digi Chick and it's a scrap. Since I have several recycled projects on my card I am going to enter it into the Inky Impressions challenge to RECYCLE.  Love to recycle!

All Things Unity is also "going green."  Check out the challenge HERE to see the 3 different ways you can interpret the challenge.

My blog friend, Georgia, suggested I enter this into the Shirleys2Girls challenge as well.  Thanks Georgia!
This is for my aunt in Michigan.  She came down the day of my dad's surgery and took his wife out to lunch and a bit of shopping while I waited in the waiting room.  That helped out sooo much.  So, I wanted to thank her.  She also told me that today is one of 2 days during Lent that you can have meat and the thing that you gave up. Gotta thank her for that too! Woo Hoo!  Guess what I had for breakfast???  CHOCOLATE covered peanuts!  HEE HEE!!!  What a GLORIOUS day it is:D  Hmmmm.  I really should have something a bit healthier for lunch.  Do you think a Chocolate covered banana or a Reese's Cup is more nutritious????...LOL!


Feeling very springy around here.  I love it.  Today I'm washing my sheets and  hanging them out on the line.  There is nothing better than the smell of spring fresh sheets at bedtime.

Have a good one!

What's In It?
Stamps: Ever After, Sweet Valentine (verve)
Ink: Lemon Tart, Rose Romance, Spring Moss
Paper: Tiny Princess, Vanilla, Spring Moss
Other: Iridescent Ice EP, dimensionals, celery organza ribbon, flower, button, stickles, double ended tags Spellbinders, Lush Kaiser pearls,