A Scrap A Day

Happiness....

2011-10-23T22:33:00.007-04:00

My husband and I were chatting over supper this evening about the wonderful people that we have had the amazing pleasure and privilege of having pass through our lives. As we talked and reminisced one thing was evident in each and every person: The Happiness that virtually radiates from their very beings.

Some of these wonderful people have done absolutely amazing things throughout their lives, whether they are just starting out on life's journey or are looking back on a good portion of their lives filled with thousands of events, milestones, and exploits. Some have battled odds stacked so far against them concerning anything from health to financial struggles that it almost seemed hopeless and futile for them to even try rise above. Yet they battled on with the most cheerful, positive outlook on life imaginable.

As I think about the many friends and family members sprinkled throughout my life that exude Joy and Happiness I am reminded of how beautiful each and every single one is. I'm reminded how much an "outlook", and quite possibly an "inlook" can influence so much about a person physically. I'm reminded of the sincere positive energy that is so very pleasant and nurturing to be around.

Interestingly enough, our Assistant Pastor used Colossians 3:12 & 13 as part of his text today in teaching about a "Spirit Thing" (The Holy Spirit).

So, as those who have been chosen of GOD, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Ironic? Doubtful. Ninety-nine percent of the people drifting through my mind this evening have, or had, hearts filled with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience that can only come from one place, a relationship with Jesus Christ and the effects of the Holy Spirit shining throughout them.

My goal is to be an "energy giver", a positive light, a reflection of The Spirit in me to each person I come in contact with and to hopefully share that Light in the hopes that others will see it and want it in their own lives. My hope is that someday each and every wrinkle on my face will be laugh lines and giggle crinkles while my frown muscles, worry furrows and scowl creases will be neglected from none use. Sounds like a great beauty plan and a positively amazing way to live out my days on this lil' green earth. :)

Sensory FUN!

2011-07-10T23:00:00.013-04:00

As mentioned in last night's post I have been perusing all kinds of fabulous blogs and today A4, C3 and I had a blast experimenting, playing, and having a great, sometimes messy, time doing it!

Our first project was "Moon Sand". A4 and C3 helped measure 4 cups of corn starch, 10 cups of play sand, and 3 cups of water into a tote. Mama added a splash of green food coloring and began the mixing process only to realize I "should" have worn gloves, woops! (Thankfully 10 hours later my hand has lost it's Hulk Green hue!) Our batch of "Moon Sand" was a little on the wet side, but they

LOVED playing in it. A4 enjoyed filling his cup to overflowing and watching it expand back out, "It's lava Mama!" C3 loved adding grass and other green goodies to his Moon Sand. Mixing, playing, and storing the Moon Sand in the storage tote makes it an easy, almost mess free activity!

After an hour or so, the Moon Sand had lost it's appeal and Mama popped the lid on for more play tomorrow or the next day. The boys popped inside for a snack and Mama grabbed some goodies for building a "snow-globe".

Supplies: Water bottle (or any plastic container with a screw lid that you can securely tape closed), a collection of glitter, micro beads, cut up colored straw bits, glitter glue, colored rice, water, and apricot oil. I let the boys choose what they wanted to put in their bottle which was already half full of water. They had a great time choosing and pouring in their chosen ingredients as we discussed what items float, which ones sink, and why. Once we had sprinkled all of our ingredients into our bottles, we added a touch of food coloring (green is the color of the day it seems), added the oil, and Mama taped the lids on. They were SO excited about their "Sparkly Globbly Goop Bottles" they bolted upstairs to wake Daddy from his Sunday afternoon nap

and show him, then out the door they shot to Gramma's house to show her too!

Note: the glitter glue makes some pretty interesting globs in the bottles and the ridges of the water bottles will hold some of the oil as you slowly tilt the bottles upside down and right side up and gives a "lava lamp" look as they slowly make their way up. At bedtime I showed the boys how to hold their bedtime flashlights behind their bottles and watch the glitter and goodies float and morph around in the bottle. Another fun and successful activity!

With Daddy awake, Mama could run to Lowes to buy some pea gravel (was going to use aquarium gravel for our next project, but at $3.98 for a wee little bag at Walmart, I decided to pop into Lowes and snag two huge bags of pea gravel for 3.68 each-no brainer!) Popped back home, snagged more of my empty totes and went to work rinsing

the gravel and putting a nice thick layer in

each of two totes. (I used to sentimentally attach myself to stuff and stored everything. With a recent move, I let go of a lot of clutter and in return have a collection of empty totes-it's rather freeing and quite handy to have all these empty totes laying about)

-"I'm going to see if this grass floats!"

-"These are dangerous meat eaters mama!"

The result? More hours of play, experimenting with items that float and don't float, searching for hidden "jewels" and planting sea weed in our pond box. A menagerie of critters in our dinosaur box along with branch trees and boulders. The lion even rescued a "long neckie dinosaur" who got stuck in a tree!

I simply adore watching them play together!

Really....must.....blog......

2011-07-09T21:04:00.007-04:00

I really need to blog much more regularly! I must create a schedule that I can stick with....and stick with it. Not something that would regulate and take away from the creativity or make it forced, but something that would get me in the habit to blog more than once every three months.

Last night I spent a wonderful evening (hours and hours I'm sure) hopping about and perusing various blogs, mainly Play Create Explore and The Imagination Tree where I found a plethora of wonderfully fabulous ideas for kids play and development. My first "experiment" was "Treasure Rocks", aka Coffee Playdough. My boys LOVED IT! I had to tweak the recipe just a touch and use rice flour as we don't have wheat flour in our house (gluten allergy). But it worked great and I enjoyed playing with the dough as well-being it smelled like my favorite drink.

My boys spent hours with their cousins playing with the "Treasure Rocks". Hiding them, breaking them open, discovering their treasures, hopping about in joy, asking Mama to put the treasures back inside the rocks and hide them again. Thankfully even after baking, the insides were still soft enough to remold for hours and hours of play. Also, one of the girls scooped some water from a nearby puddle and softened her rock to make it even more malleable, so it is very easy to re-soften (much more successful than trying to soften playdough ;) ).

Snagged some used coffee grinds from Mum this afternoon (why do people look at you funny when asking for used coffee grounds?), I'll drink a cup or two of joe' this evening and have enough grounds to make another batch of dough tonight so then can play with the raw dough tomorrow and see where their creativity takes them! Creativity! The name of the game these days! :)

Gluten Free...

2011-03-28T00:18:00.002-04:00

I keep hearing people say they wish they could "go gluten free" so they could lose weight easily. Makes me giggle at the thought. Eating gluten free isn't a "diet", it's a lifestyle. You can lose weight with almost any lifestyle change, it's simply the fact of sticking with it.

The "easy" or what my optimistic attitude has seen as a huge benefit in a gluten free diet, is the strictness with which one has to adhere to because of the scarcity of "gluten free" foods. Before my hubby was diagnosed as gluten intolerant we ate fast foods entirely too much (even as a wife/mom trying to get into a good/organic food lifestyle). With cross-contamination and gluten being found in most prepared foods it was simply unsafe to breeze through a drive through or simply grab whatever prepackaged/convenience food was on the first shelf. BLESSING IN DISGUISE!

Fortunately, we have found restaurants that have food that is safe for my hubby and truly enjoy a wonderful dinner out and/or a yummy pizza delivered a time or two a week. Even in our home, the pantry choices are different than before his diagnosis was given (thankfully I am generally, but not always, wise enough to not buy the pack of Oreo cookies because lil' ol' ME will be the only one eating the entire package).

Over the past five years the "gluten free industry" has grown tremendously and we have been very fortunate to find more and more advice, products, and support. But at the same time, what has been a very "healthy diet" due to most products being made with whole foods and healthy nutritional values, now is very likely to become a sugar laden, overly processed, prepared food industry all it's own with very few of the health benefits of the original gluten free lifestyle. I for one intend to be scrutinizing labels and companies in order to keep our diets (what we eat, not an attempt to lose weight) on a healthy road. Just some food for thought. :)

Article that prompted this late evening blog :) : http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/MH/is-gluten-making-us-fat

Making Do....

2011-01-05T01:14:00.007-05:00

We've been trying to figure out what we want to do with our bed, inability to find a headboard we like, and a HUGE bedroom wall. The lamps were originally bought for our previous home and were used as bedside tables. The console table is also a piece we had bought for the living room in our last home, but it hadn't found a good place in our new place.

Now, I just need to get some extra pillows to give the whole thing a touch of "finish".

Even Surrey the cat gives his wandering approval.

The best laid plans.....

2010-12-31T02:16:00.004-05:00

Wellll......Italian Crockpot Soup was put on hold and instead we dined on saltine crackers, OJ, a little bit of brown rice, and gatorade, sigh. Woke up to my youngest emptying his tummy on our bed and spent the rest of the day giving him baths, cuddlying with him, scrubbing floors and doing laundry.

After the boys were bundled up in their nice clean, aired out bedroom for the night, I did take the opportunity to make some gluten-free bread in our toaster oven (still waiting for the proper wiring for our "real range"). Note to self: Fill mini pans no more than 3/4 of batter or it will rise and burn where it pushes it's alluminum foil cover against the top of the oven. I'm looking forward to making some french toast in the morning, snacking on some cinnamon bread drizzled in butter, and pairing some cheesy bread with our lunch tomorrow.

It's almost impossible to believe that today is the last day of 2010! Where did it go? This weekend will be a week of celebrating all we've accomplished this past year and looking foward to what we will take on and accomplish over the next 365 days!

A Day Of Produce and Food Prep......

2010-12-29T21:14:00.006-05:00

I have a horrible habit of fluctuating in ........well, some of my habits. I KNOW that eating healthy, local, and organic is the absolute best for my health and the health of my children, but sometimes those other goodies look so yummy and convenient. Then BOOM I'm on a downward spiral, cutting corners, and even allowing my babies to ingest yuckies.

So, another goal and habit that I must master this next year and forevermore is a good meal plan and health habit that I'll stick with and am able to keep my family on track with. In my perusing online for hints and motivation to get things going right I came across http://www.eatrealgood.com/ and Community Supported Argiculture. What a wonderful idea! Roger and I are looking into two farms in our area that participate in CSA and I'm hoping it pans out. From Juneish til Novemberish, a big ol' box of fresh organic produce every week for around twenty bucks each week. What better way to put us in line for great habits than to have a box of produce each and every week to consume?

On the eatrealgood website there is a wonderful menu planner/meal maker that you can use free of charge. You can type in the fresh produce you have on hand, add any filters (Gluten free and 5 ingredients or less for us) and wahla, you have a long list of wonderful recipes to choose from. Pick the dishes you want to do and shoom, there's a shopping list of all the things needed. So, this morning I created a menu to get us through to next week and went to shopping! Then spent a few hours prepping produce, filling the refrigerator crispers and making some new dishes. So much fun! Not to mention YUMMY!

Today's trial was Pork Chops, Apples, and Green Beans. It was DELISH! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, but if you can picture salt and peppered browned chops, with apples fried in butter with a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon, and a side of wonderful green beans. The boys weren't sure their favorite fruit was supposed to be in their dinner, but they tried it and ironically chose the green beans as their favorite part.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day helping with the family business so it'll be a crockpot meal or two tomorrow....looking forward to a yummy Italian Stew and can't wait til my oven is hooked up again so I can bake up an awesome sounding Tomato Chicken with Green Beans. Here's hoping to a wonderful start to some great habits!

The master artists of our house.

A Wonderful Christmas Wonderland.....

2010-12-29T01:38:00.005-05:00

.........though not a Winter Wonderland....

We had an absolutely wonderful (though mostly snowless) Christmas this year. We celebrated over four days, visiting friends and family, sharing gifts and holiday joy. My favorite day of course was December 25th. We spent a fantastic day at home simply enjoying our children and keeping our family and new traditions the center of the day as opposed to commercialism, others expectations, or busyness. It was a wonderful day watching our babies unwrap Christmas in a whole new way!

The boys had a blast decorating our tree a couple weeks back and mama dear even let go of her perfectionism and didn't micro-manage the ornament placement. I was even the proponate of purchasing a "fake tree" and actually enjoyed it immensely (no pine needles in the carpet fa lalalala la la lala!). After the boys decorated the tree, Alan declared it ready for the "perfect star" to be placed on top. Roger picked him up, Alan placed the star, and.....flop! The tree top was too weak to hold up the vintage star topper that I like so much. Well, a tree must have a star, so the boys and I created a "gingerbread star"from cardboard, lots and lots of glitter, buttons, and a little ribbon. (Again, mama is making positive strides and let go of her perfectionism-obvously something I'll be making goals to work on and conquer in 2011). I love the star, and as we were boxing up the ornaments and packing away the tree my four year old Alan declared that our star needed to be set on top of the mirror in the living room-so there it sits for now.

We even enjoyed a sticky evening building a tiny gingerbread village. Every year I declare to myself that the boys and I are going to make gingerbread, and design and build a wonderful gingerbread house decorated with perfect lil' gum drops and m&m's. Again, I pushed the foolish perfectionism aside and bought a kit for us to put together. The boys had a BLAST and I loved the wonderful silly time working with them, their childlike ideas, and goofy lil' sayings. They work together so interesting-like. I was a good girl and simply glued the pieces together, and put the gooey colored icing where the boys directed and they placed all the candies. They were so proud of their accomplishments and they did a fabulous job! Not sure if Alan stuck his hand in some icing or stole a piece of candy here. :P

I have completely enjoyed the past few days of mostly uninterupted time with my boys and fully intend to make this the norm. I am a stay at home, working mom but have discovered recently just how much I have allowed stuff, activities, and poor time management take away valuable, quality time with them and me personally. Another goal to tackle in 2011! This mama is ready to tackle some goals, new priorities, and habits this near year!

Decide!

2010-08-09T00:14:00.005-04:00

I just recently came across the quote,

"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work." -H.L. Hunt

It truly resonated with me as I'm heading off to FLING (my company's annual home conference in Pennsylvania). What is it that I want out of life, out of my business, out of my family, out of things around me? What are some of the things that really truly don't matter to me? That, right there, may be the bigger, actually, more important question!

What is taking the place of the things that I NEED to be doing? What is getting in the way of what I truly want and need? I do find myself so often doing things that are not a benefit to my business, are not positive for my family, and sometimes things I downright dislike. So many of us do this exact thing way too often. But why?

Because we lose focus, or we get focused on the wrong thing. A good friend once likened it to a child playing with a ball, the ball gets away and rolls into the the street and the child chases after with no attention to his surroundings, only the ball. Or another friend who campares it to being distracted by the next shiny bright thing....."ooooo, shiny!......"

What are ways that we can keep our focus and ensure we are focused on the proper things? First, write things down. Lists, journals, ambitions-keep track and reference back to them regularly. There is no better way to see where you are and where you are going than to look at a reference point, land mark, and/or map (list, journals, etc...). I love my dream board, love the ideas and goals that are portrayed there and as long as I'm looking at that dream board and keeping it in mind, along with my 30 minutes of developement a day, things happen! My focus is on track, sometimes the track changes, but it changes because I make the changes in light of where I am and where I need to go...all because I am observing and staying on top of things.

Second, 30 minutes of self/business developement every day. There is always a way to squeeze in 30 minutes of "reading" somewhere, sometime. There are days when I'm swamped and I'll pull up a few YouTubes of Zig Ziglar or another great motivational speaker and listen while I pay bills or make dinner...any way you get 30 minutes in works. And trust me, it truly does work. I've ridden the discouraging waves of "developement starvation" to amazing momentum on the wave of constant immersion.

And third, choose your mentors. Find people in your industry, workplace, surroundings, that you look up to, are where you want to be and stay in contact with them. Sign up for their newsletters, read their blogs, pop on their social media sites. Being surrounded by like minded people and excited people is a HUGE boost to keeping you solidly on your way.

And most importantly, if, or should I say, when, you do lose your focus for a time or realize that you've been focusing on the wrong target-there is no better time than RIGHT NOW to re-evaluate and get back on target! Get focused, "Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work."

Respect

2010-07-19T08:10:00.004-04:00

How do you show respect to those around you? Do you mean to show respect and hit the mark? How many times have you intended to show respect and realized after time that you missed the mark?

So many times we can have the very best intentions, yet hurt someone if our actions do not line up with the words we use with them. We can so often get caught up in the "best of intentions" when dealing with people, especially those who ask for advice or "obviousyly appear to need advice"(which in reality is when we should most often keep our advice to ourselves).

It is indeed, very easy for us, especially those who are self-employeed and/or in network marketing to assume and feel as if we have all the right answers because, "it worked right for us." But does what worked for us guarentee success for others? Unfortunately, no. Yet at the same time there is a plethora of wisdom to be had from those who have already been where we are. Where is the balance? My wee brain is full of rambling thoughts and ideas along these lines and I really must get them all organized and in order before I spout them off here, but it's definitely food for thought...something to think about before you offer any hard advice or push your ideals on someone looking for some help.

One thing I have really found helpful is the idea of "duplication". When someone does ask for help or advice, is the advice given actually something that can be duplicated? Is what worked for me through an issue or problem, something that another person can actually implement? Of course this answer can be very subjective as well. So, regardless of who is offering advice and what kind of advice is being offered it should always be offered with a lot of thought, a ton respect, and of course a healthy dose of tact.

More "respectful thoughts" to follow I'm sure....

Happy Birthday!

2010-07-15T23:48:00.005-04:00

Another 365 years have passed in the life of me.....what are the things I've accomplished? What are the things I missed? What are the goals I reached or failed to reach? I like to look back, and more importantly, forward on my birthday at what has occured, didn't occur, and why.

It's such a busy time right now with us being mid-move, but I've still been doing a lot of reflecting over my last 365 days. Did I complete everything I wanted to? Hmmm...unfortunately no. Did I reach every goal I strived for? Uhh, no. Did I reach some goals? OH YEAH! Did I accomplish things I wanted to? ABSOLUTELY! And most importantly I never let the things I missed shadow over the things I didn't miss.

It is tremendously better to see a "missed"opportunity as the beginning of another opportunity instead. So mid-summer has become my re-assessment time, to look back over my paths, roads, detours, jaunts, and flights and see where they have taken me and landed me and from there decide which direction to travel over the next 365 days.

My mind is a whir of thoughts and reflections this evening, but one of my goals for this new year is to be better "planned" day by day, even hour by hour. Someone I truly look up to in my company sits down and plans out her week once a week, she attacts her list of things to do, sticks to her schedule/calendar, ticks off goal after goal. That is one of my new goals for this "new year! :-D

Moving....

2010-07-14T23:58:00.006-04:00

Today, I'm sitting here typing in this little box because I made a commitment to blog daily for a full month. But I can't think of much to say...at all! I really like my new dishsoap dispenser? Is that really blogging fodder? An unused oil bottle and spout-looks pretty darn cool with it's orange soap on the new shiny sink by the snazo new faucet. But does sharing about my new use for an old bottle and making up words like "snazo" constitute a blog entry?

Hmmm, but that does give me an idea. Is anybody interested in how we're revamping things and making do in our new kitchen?

Let's see, we took an old hutch that was rather ugly from our current kitchen, painted it a "Cherry Coke" red and hung it on the wall over the existing miniature sink in the new kitchen. Miniature sink meaning about the size of the sinks you find in small travel trailers....itty bitty-but instead of changing out the entire sink and cabinet we decided to make do and installed a snazo new faucet-meaning it's shiny, pretty and the faucet is it's own removable handheld spray nozzle.

Said sink and cabinet have the strangest back to them and actually have a raised area above them, but no counter or anything on it. So we wanted to put a raised backsplash/shelf the entire length of the cabinet/counter area. But what to use? It's only 8 inches deep, custom counter 8 feet x 8 inches? I can only imagine the cost! Wandering the aisles at Lowes I come upon PVC "boards" for making trim work for outside your house. PERFECT! Thirty bucks and we have a sleek, water proof mini-counter that I know won't absorb any splashes or germs.

The island for our new kitchen is actually a base/counter in our current kitchen that we'll be placing a new countertop on and some snazzy white beadboard on the back to freshen it up. Wah-la, storage, place to prep food, and eat. Perfecto!

It has certainly been fun wandering aimlessly through stores looking for ideas, spending alot of my spare time flipping through magazines and my design and decor books for ideas and inspiration. My poor husband is truly tired of hearing my newest, "I was thinking!" or "Look what I found as an idea!" But I'm sure he'll enjoy our new space when it all comes together and I can cook him a proper breakfast (I think he's tired of cereal and eating on the go as well). I really never thought I'd be this excited about setting up a kitchen...maybe I need to get out more? ;)

Boys will be boys....

2010-07-13T22:46:00.004-04:00

I shouldn't be, but I am always amazed and ammused by our two little people and the way their wee minds work and how they perceive things and learn through everything around them.

My 4 year old is getting very efficient in dressing himself from top to bottom but will occasionaly struggle if his clothes are "inside out" and is quite happy when we help him to get his clothes "inside in" for him. His younger sibling recently bent over and stood on his head in the kitchen to peer at me from between his knees and said, "Mama, I see you and kitty and I'm upside down!" As he stood up he continued, "Now I'm upside up!".

Today we were discussing the coming of a new cousin in late fall and that two different aunties have babies in their bellies. My eldest responded, "And you too mommy, you're a girl too. So you have a baby in your belly too!" Oh dear, I assured him that no, Mama does not have a baby in her belly. "Oh, Ma-Maw (Gramma) doesn't have a baby in her belly either because she is a Ma-Maw."

The eldest, more so than the younger, has a pretty particular nature about him. I think he has a bit of his Great-Grammie's orderly genes in him. There has been some digging and repiping by the water company across the street from us and each night he looks out our windows and exclaims, "Mama! Look at the mess! We need to go clean that up!" I can't complain too much, he's a wonderful picker upper and LOVES helping his mama clean up. Just recently as I was dusting, wiping, and cleaning he grabbed a wipe (baby wipes work great for lil' helpers) and took himself all over the house wiping down whatever he felt needed it while saying in his cute lil' singsong voice, "We're going to make this place shine!"

Our youngest loves to win whenever possible and with an older sibling around he doesn't get to do that too often. We live on the second floor so each return home is a "race" (a slow and steady race) up the stairs, usually with the 4 year old reaching the top and turning to say, "I won!" as he looks down on the rest of us. His younger brother used to pout and fuss because he wanted to win, and we assured him that he was a winner and to keep going. He now loves to get to the top before us and will exclaim, "Brother win me and I win you!" Their grasp of the english language is SO adorable!

And my favorite of the recent "conversations": The four year old of course has begun asking the seemingly constant and endless "why" and "what" questions. "Mama, what is the sun?", he asked at bedtime recently. "Well," I explained, "it is the great big star in the sky that shines during the day and makes it really hot here on earth." "Oh, what is earth?" he questioned. "It's where we live, planet earth." I stuttered to explain. "But where is earth?" he asked again. I answered, "Well earth is the planet we live on and is in outer space with the other planets and the sun." His eyes light up and he says, "We live in outer space!" I start to re-explain, "Well, no honey, we live here on earth, not in outer space." He looks at me matter of factly and says, "Earth is in outer space. I live on earth....in outer space." How can a mom argue with such logic!?

Itty Bitty Kitchen

2010-07-12T23:48:00.003-04:00

I was pretty sure I had a small (9' x 12') kitchen (with large dining room) where we live now. But now I'm working to contain my kitchen in a 7' x 10' space, with no dining room to speak of....hmmmm?

But we're doing it. If you set your mind to it, you can do it. And in the process you can have FUN! :-D I've been setting my mind to alot of things lately and WOW, it's quite amazing what a great plan and positive mindset can do for taking on, setting and achieving goals!

I've been reading "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill through this year along with watching and listening to various other motivational speakers like Zig Ziglar and Michael Clouse. It is amazing the difference taking the time daily to immerse myself in some personal growth reading/listening/watching. It is also sadly amazing the stagnation that occures when I don't keep on task and focused.

It also is not surprising that this "immersion" can be easily spread to other aspects of my life. If I am not taking the time daily on tasks, information, and thoughts that center around my family and their well being, I can easily see the lack in our relationships and our attitudes towards each other. If I don't take my daily GOD time I see my relationship suffer which greatly effects ALL other aspects of my life.

There are so many things that are always jostling and demanding for our time, but it basically comes back to putting our minds to something and doing what we want/need to do! How on earth am I going to function in a 7' x 10' kitchen with no dining room? With a little ingenuity and fun-that's how. How am I going to find hours a day to focus on the things that ground me and grow me? With a little ingenuity and fun-that's how!

Sometime this week I'll start posting pictures of the before and after as we head into the new place. Exciting times! :-D

Peace, Calm and Serenity

2010-07-11T23:11:00.004-04:00

Heard an awesome message this morning from a rather wise man. It is wonderfully ironic how timely of a message it was as well. My husband and I have been thinking, praying, talking, discussing, and praying again and again, about changes in our family, our lives, our business, our lifestyles, our whole shabang. We have slowly been filtering things out that are really unnecessary, some things that are harmful in the long run, and looking at our lives from a different angle. It's been very enlightening to say the least.

So today, our wonderful pastor talks about "Spiritual Ballast" using an illustration of a sailboat and it's keel and ballast. See, I KNEW water and boats were straight from GOD! :D A sailboat must have a keel and ballast in order to be righted if tipped. Idealy, supposedly, and according to our avid boater pastor, a correctly ballasted sailboat can be completely tipped upside down in the water and will right itself. Quite amazing when you think of all the mast and sail that would be underwater!

Apply that to a personal, human mindset-I want ballast in my life! I need, want, must have that ballast that runs under the surface; very seldom seen, not flashy or high tech, a simple utilitarian stableizer to keep me rightable when everything around is stormy and choppy.

It's not the fancy schmancy things in life that keep us righted. It's not the showy, technilogical things that can return us to our feet. It's not even "right people" who can set us on track. It's the things we keep ourselves centered on, our faith in GOD, the positive habits we set ourselves on. It's the things under the surface that keep us righted and on track.

The highest advanced sailboat with all the latest and greatest technilogical hoopla, high end bits, and best of everything available on board can't withstand a storm without having a proper keel and ballast. Just some food for thought I.....thought I'd share. :D

On a side note: This 'blogging daily challenge' is a little more, ummmm, well, challenging than I originally thought it might be. But I shall keep on a' blogging, 27 more days, and I complete my challenge with flying colors and have a new habit to call my own!

Day two blogging challange...

2010-07-10T23:50:00.003-04:00

Here's hoping my blog doesn't fold up and implode or explode as I am actually posting two days in a row! Again, my goal is to blog daily for an entire month in an effort to get into the habit of regular blogging.

Today's post is all about moving. Seems like it's been in the works FORever, but in reality it's been less than a month. In one month we have moved A LOT of stuff out of my parents home and started moving them into their place. We've moved a decent amount out of our home (with quite a bit more to do), done a ton of brainstorming and creative musings. It's actually been a fun experience playing with all the ideas and possibilites as we get set to move into our new place and get settled.

It's going to be an experience living so close (practically on top of) so much family in a "relatively" small space, but I really think it's going to be a fun experience.....most of the time. Monday should start some real down and dirty "moving" and working in the new kitchen. Pictures will follow. :-D

Oil, Life, and Generalities...

2010-07-09T07:17:00.004-04:00

All this talk about oil and the catastrophe in the Gulf has everybody thinking about ways to slow down, cut back, detach ourselves from the use of oil and petroleum products. Laying in bed last night I had this amazing revelation/reminder pass through my tired mind. All the products in my small home business are Petroleum Free! No oil, no petroleum by-products, the products in my small business are not contributing to the "oil issue".

That felt really great to realize. But what else can we do? As awesome as it sounds to 100% detach ourselves from oil and the whole business is it really possible at the drop of the hat. Practically and in all reality, no, but being responsible can truly make a huge difference. There's the age old concept of walking places-not doable for every person and every destination, but taking the chance of sounding cliche', every little bit really does help. My husband has been wanting a flat panel TV for a couple years. He started saving his change from every transaction, grocery store, hardware store, etc... Anytime he receives any change it goes in his pocket (you won't find him in front of you at the store sorting through his change to give the cashier exact change).

The concept elluded me, I thought it was a pretty silly idea. How on earth was he going to get a flat panel television with a quarter here and a few pennies there? It was going to take FOREVER. (You can see my notable lack of patience trait here). In a week or two we will be moving into a new home and once we are settled my dear hubby will be heading out to buy his new flat panel tv. No scrimping and saving. No huge investments, just a little bit here and there, going a long way in the end. Now that the concept no longer elludes me, how can I apply that to my lifestyle surrounding my energy usage and responsibility?

I know my personality and lifestyle won't be making any huge drastic changes like "going off grid" (though reading the stories of people who have is very exciting and motivating). But I can still take some of those same ideals and practices and apply them to my current habits and routines. A million little changes soon add up to a flat panel tv.....or a large change in responsible energy usage/earth care.

What small ways are you making a difference in your part of the world

Potty Training, Soap, and Trains

2010-03-04T21:19:00.002-05:00

One small boy with NO interest in leaving diaperhood behind, who hates soap, and LOVES Thomas The Train. How on earth would I ever get him interested in potty training and going to the bathroom IN the bathroom EVERY time? Thanks to my friend Judy W., I am in the process of reading, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Hill is quite the amazing writer with a lot of great information and encouraging biographies.

Well, dear Mr. Hill began writing about our minds accepting anything we tell it over and over so I decided to take his advice and apply it not only to my fledgling business but also to my son's slow attempts to potty train. We began telling him over and over that he COULD put all his pee pees in the potty all the time. Thankfully Mama didn't give up after a day of mishaps and now three days into determined potty training we are getting somewhere!

Now soap....getting my son to wash his hands thoroughly is quite impossible. We have the most wonderful foaming hand wash at our sinks, but alas, he would pump it onto his hands and then directly into the faucet flow and rinse them off and considered himself "washed" and ready for his "go potty in the potty, have dry pants, and wash my hands!" reward (imagine that in the sing song voice of a toddler :) ). For some reason I decided to have him check out my Bella Bar (not your typical bar of soap) on day two of training and wahla! we have a winner. This boy will suds himself to the elbows if I let him, he even cleans the sink while he's at it, "Come back here you silly slippery soap! I'll get you slippery soap!"

It's definitely been an interesting few days of a potty training journey, but it's very encouraging as he is getting prouder and prouder of himself.....I don't have a thing to do with how proud he feels. :P So, hanging on a hook in our wee bathroom is a new Gordan Train Engine for the day he gets it 100% right all day. He was SO close today and I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow IS the day!

So, who would have thought a wee train, some extreme encouragement, and great soap would be the key to potty training success! :-D

Time, Time, Time....

2010-02-22T08:04:00.003-05:00

Where on earth does time go? It's been three months since I last posted. Am I a busy person or simply don't think about blogging? Maybe a combination of both. :) It's been an intersting winter and start of a new year here in Pennsyltucky. Most of the big storms which have been crashing through the "south" have drifted by us with hardly a few flakes blowing by here. I've missed the big piles of snow but my husband has appreciated the "not plowing/worrying about snow removal" part of less snow.

My life as a mom/wife/business woman has become a whir of Thomas The Train, Potty Training, Candles, Roller Skates, learning to communicate and grow a marriage, powerpoint presentations, and house cleaning/organization....what is THE key to organization anyway!? It's my goal EVERY year as people are talking about "New Year's Resolutions" to become more/better organized, yet I seem to fail at it most every year. Here's hoping/praying/working at making this year a success at becoming organized and on top of things....which means doing away with procrastination, oye, procrastination-what a curse!

So, enough "blogging" for me already. :) Stop procrastinating and get your day moving already Bev! :)

Missing my Scrap Room.....

2009-11-16T17:31:00.003-05:00

I just realized how much I have missed my scrap room. A friend asked to borrow a stamp and a few stamp pads last night along with an idea for making Thank You Cards. I got in there (boy is it a MESS!) and it hit me how much I've missed creating and playing with all my inky fun stuff!!!

I know part of me strayed away from scrapping and my room because I got overwhelmed attempting to sell Scrapbooking products with a direct sales company which resulted in some creativity drainage. Now that I've stepped back from the selling I'll be getting back into my room to play, create and have fun for me and my family! Yeah!

I have jumped back into retail, selling some FABULOUS petroleum free, sootless candles made right here in Pennsylvania. I love the company, the friends I have made, and the wonderful people that I get to work with! We had a good Summer open house to start out our candle venture, made it through the summer and just recently had a great Autumn open house including a dozen vendors the beginning of November and are planning an awesome Winter open house on December 7th and 8th which will include craft vendors, retailers, and direct sale vendors.

Only a few more weeks and the Cider Mill will be closing for the season. As much as I love to drink Cider and have fresh apples right on hand, I'm looking forward to the end of the 12 hour days that seem to surround the Cider Mill. :) Which brings me back to where this entry started....more time to get into my scrap room and get to playing! :-D

Tractors and outdoor stuff....

2009-04-28T23:10:00.004-04:00

Oye, wishing I had more time indoors to play these days, but alas, I've been outdoors learning all kinds of new things! Just yesterday I learned to plow a field. I was also told that I wouldn't be able to get the tractor stuck....:-D Guess what....I DID get it stuck. In an attempt to line up with the plowed furrow I turned the front tires perpendicular to the tractor and sunk them into the soft field soil. Woops! Had to drop the tractors bucket in an attempt to slightly lift up on the front of the tractor, taking some of the weight off the wheels while rocking the tractor frontward and backward and attempting to turn the steering wheel to get the tires turned. Finally got it and then stalled the engine out in a new section where old shumac had grown for the last 20+ years. So, my Dad and I switched jobs and I spent the next two hours "dragging" a different field while he finished up plowing. Dragging (rake like apparatice attached to back of tractor, drug over and over and over and over a field to level it out and prep it for planting) is SO very much easier and A LOT more fun than plowing. In a week or two we'll plant the three fields with winter squash and pumpkins to harvest in the fall and sell at our Roadside Fresh Cider Stand.

We have a couple acres of "forest" on our property and a few of the trees have lived their lives to the fullest and needed to come down: rotten centers and leaning over the property line into the neighboring school yard. What an experience that has been. We actually were in the middle of removing one tree on Earth Day...the irony! A large group of 3rd graders came over to the fence to watch and ask all kinds of questions. Mainly, "Why are you cutting down trees on Earth Day!?" We explained the trees were rotten and showed them the inside of the rotten tree pieces. We assured them that we would be planting more and had in fact already planted some throughout our property. That settled the crowd, but one poor lil' boy was completely distraught as he told us that animals make their homes in rotten trees and we were taking away animal homes. He ran off into the school yard in tears. Poor lil' guy. If only he would have stayed to watch the effort we put into cutting and very carefully removing a 6 foot section of the tree that is home to a large hive of honey bees and trucking it to a friend's farm where it will thrive and pollinate there.

Saturday night was our last public roller skating session of this season! What a year! I still can't believe my parents ran the rink for 25+ years! And I certainly can't imagine doing it year round. We MUST HAVE the summer break from all those kids and the drama (OH! MY! THE DRAMA! :p) I'm looking foward to an occasional Friday or Saturday evening out if the weather and our other businesses cooperate. :p

Got our small backyard cleared up and had a small bbq with our RLG (Real Life Group-Small Study group from church) on Sunday. Was so nice to get out and relax outdoors with friends. And the weather? Oh my goodness! It has gone from 30 to 80 in a weeks time. Just silly for this time of year! It APPEARS as if Winter has finally headed North, not sure if Spring has come or if Summer has just pushed right in.

Hopefully sometime in the next couple days I'll get some scrappy fun time in and will share some bits. I am in the process of creating a fun altered book, making some memory pages that my Grandmother requested, making swaps for IFS@yahoo, and hopefully getting enough goodies together and made to set up at a flea market either this weekend or next. But for now, Sleep. :)

Finding time to get back in the scraproom....

2009-03-06T16:54:00.009-05:00

One of my swaps this month was creating a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card with a recipe inside. This card has a delish recipe for a "refreshingly fresh strawberry pie" inside. A very simple card, but it was fun to make.

I apologize for the photo quality...this time my camera was out of batteries so I was forced to use the phone camera again. Ah well...
This swap was a "Treasure ATC"..Creating an ATC that had to be opened to find a "treasure" inside. This one was quite fun. Though as I'm looking at it, I'm thinking the front closed is quite boring..... The brads 0n the front are actually plain ordinary brass brads from the local office supply store that I heated and covered with a black sparkly embossing powder a few times. The brads are then wrapped with a piece of brown embroidery floss to keep it closed
Much more interesting inside as you open it up. The top flap has postage stamps stamped and a "for real" canceled stamp on it. The middle's background is made by sponging over a piece of paper lace I had laying about. Very hard to see, but there is a real skeleton leaf from our woods layered over the paper and then layered on top of all that is various bit and bobs from my "bits and bobs drawer". :-DThe bottom flap has a tea bag envelope attached and inside is a lil' tiny teacup stamped and attached to a piece of embroidery floss which is then attached to a scrap of paper with a "Keystone Brand" label for fun. All kinds of lil' things to open and find.
Tonight I intend to get back in the scraproom and make a photo cube for the boys Grammy. "Please to go sleep lil' boys please go to sleep!" ;-D

Whiff Of Joy...

2009-02-09T18:47:00.003-05:00

Wish I could take credit for this adorable little guy, but he is just a link over to Whiff Of Joy as part of a promo for the new stamp sets. But he IS super cute!

Whiff Of Joy is about to release their newest set of medieval stamp sets on February 14th (what a great V-day celebration!). Absolutely adorable. You can enter for a chance to win their new set FREE! Check out their blog here (http://katharina1704.blogspot.com/2009/02/whiff-of-joy-preview-1-chance-to-win.html ) and directions on how you can enter to win the newest Whiff Of Joy set. Whether you enter to win or not, the blog is full of inspirational ideas and links to follow. Check it out, and check it often as Katharina is going to be uploading new samples daily.

Wedding invites and other bits of creativity

2009-02-02T22:54:00.005-05:00

As part of a wedding gift for a very special friend I offered to make her wedding invitations. They are finally completed and she and her finance' really like them! I was SO nervous, from the time I shipped them out to the time they arrived and she sent me the message that she loved them. Whew!

I created the invitations starting with 12x12 Close To My Heart Sunkiss Yellow Cardstock cut down to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 cards which I randomly stamped with daisies in CTMH's Sunny Yellow. I then layered vellum printed with the wedding information on top and finished them off with Prima's Iced Got Flowers? Summer Fun Paper Flowers. They were actually alot of fun to make and even with 150 of them I still think I can handle playing with some more prima flowers and can honestly say I still like the color yellow! This wonderful project explains all the yellow scraps around my room.

This morning I created two ATC's for fun. I played with creating my own background paper and randomly stamped a flourish three times on each card, embossing each one with a different color powder (clear, brown sand, and sparkly black). Then I layed some fun bits I had laying about on the background and covered it with some torn vellum and a torn tag with some fun fabric ribbon wrapped about it. Then I topped it off with a cute lil' rose colored using distress inks (my very first attempt using Tim' Holtz's Distress Inks and a water pen). Very collagey......I'm sure that's not a word, but I'll take some creative license and use it anyway. Hmmm, no yellow scraps here-how'd that happen!?!? I finished of card with some chocolate brown ink to distress the edges and DONE! :o) That's all the scrappiness for today. This is quite impressive-months and months with no posts and then a dozen in a few weeks. Now I have to continue living up to the challange of timely posting.

Finally ink and paper products!

2009-02-02T00:29:00.010-05:00

So I am finally sharing some of what has been keeping me sane the last week or so. I've gotten a few essential jobs done and finally allowed myself some play time. So, here are a few cards I threw together (trying my darnedest to use up scraps and bits as much as possible!) The card above was made by running red cardstock through my cuttlebug using the script folder and then rubbing cranberry red ink over the raised images till I was happy with it. After distressing the edges of the cardstock I also inked the edges with the same ink and curled them. The face stamp

is RubberStampede and is stamped on a piece of white corecardstock that I sanded first to distress and then layered on another piece of red cardstock. Then I just finished it up with left over red lace and a cute lil' saying and done. Can you say monochromatic? :)I had so much fun making this card I made a few.

This card I used some alcohol inked cardstock I had created and not yet used. I stamped the image using VersaMark and then embossed in GOLD. I originally had no intentions of using lace, but the card needed something more and that is what worked the best. The sentiment is gold embossed on a torn piece of vellum.

This card came out of nowhere. It was a set of three images that I had bought recently because they looked so fun. I stamped in VersaMark on yellow cardstock (I have a TON of yellow scraps-explanation to follow), embossed with clear powder and then used a dense sponge to apply the ink over and over til I had the color density I wanted on each one. Cut them out, layered it up and walla, a piece of modern art. :P

The lace and ribbon bug musta' bit me because I used it again on this card that just kinda came together as I was using up more alcohol ink background scraps and other odd pieces lying about.

The last greeting card came from a card I had remembered seeing online at http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/ . The original was a Valentines Card, but mine took a turn away from Valentines as I was again trying to use my bits and such and not break into my full sheets of cardstock and paper. At the start of the card I had a feeling it was NOT going to turn into any type of respectable card, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out into a quite nice lil' card.

So tomorrow I must post again as I have yet to post the wedding invites I did for a friend. She has received them and is thrilled with them so I'll post a peek at that in the morning.....which will explain the yellow scraps. :)

For a special Gramma far, far away....

2009-01-26T22:54:00.004-05:00

Sending some Hugs, Kisses, and Love to Gramma in the Philippines!

For Gramma.....

2009-01-23T15:18:00.004-05:00

I generally would not post much of my children on the web, but my mother has gone on a mission trip to the Philippines for three weeks and misses her lil' guys A LOT! I've tried to email and send video but just can't get it to go.....So, here you are Gramma, your lil guy fix. :)

Some fun funky cards

2009-01-23T14:24:00.010-05:00

Did some playing last night and actually created a couple cards. No huge techniques or anything, but had some fun and finished with a couple cute, fun, funky cards. Enjoy. Let me know what you think. The "You are special" card is a using an inkadinkado stamp set that is actually in pieces, like playing with a paper doll! I actually stamped her and decided she needed something more so restamped her dress on a pink piece of scrap cardstock and layered it on.

The "Beauty" card is using a Dawn Houser set from inkadinkado. I just love the dress....and the attitude. :) And then I just added a wee bit of bling to finish up the bottoms of the cards. I've been on a button and brad binge for quite awhile and neither of those embellies would really work on these cards, so sparklies it had to be. :)

The "Shoe" card is actually for a swap I'm doing, but it was inspired by a friend's love of shoes. It is from the same Dawn Houser set as the dress. The background is alcohol inks as are the shoes, which I stamped with archival ink on another background of alcohol ink I had made and then cut out. I wonder if my friend would wear a pair of shoes if I alcohol inked them? They would certainly be one of a kind! It's hard to see the sheen, other than on the shoes, but there is gold metalics throughout the background which makes it shimmery and shine as you hold it. Also there is a gauzy ribbon across the card behind the shoes...need a better camera. :P Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed.

Been awhile yet again.....

2009-01-21T15:30:00.002-05:00

Someday I'll get better at keeping regular about posting here! Going on TWO months again! We've been super busy here with snow....snow....snow.....and more snow. But it certainly does give excuse to stay inside where it's warm a little bit more to create and get inky. ;)

I am about to finish up my first order of Wedding Invitations (unless you count my own, then it'd be my second batch :p ). I'll be putting them in a post as soon as the bride-to-be gets them so she gets first peak. I was pretty happy with them, even if I really don't feel like using the color yellow again anytime soon now. :P

Here's hoping for some time to play and create tonight which I can then post later this week! Writers and inspirational block is HORRIBLE! Hmmm.....I do have some empty glass bottles.....maybe some springish bottle people are in order!

Distressing.....

2008-11-28T00:45:00.012-05:00

So someone in one of the groups I'm in (Inkyfunstampers @ Yahoo-GREAT bunch of Inky People...and Fun too, go figure :P ) mentioned Tim Holtz Distress Inks and ways to use the ink. I thought, "Self, YOU have a Distress Ink Pad you bought a few years back because it 'sounded cool'. Go find it and try some stuff out with it." Being the obedient person that I am I did exactly that! After checking out some videos by Tim Holtz and others using his Distress Inks and Alcohol Inks of course. Oooohhh boy, when my hubby finds out who started that thread about using Distress Ink they are going to be in trouuuuuble!

These pictures aren't very good, but I decided to try a couple different alcohol ink techniques but using regular dye inks instead. Really did not turn out anything like alcohol ink would, but it was still fun (and leaves me REALLY wanting some alcohol inks for CHRISTmas, hint hint hubby (like he reads this :P )).

The two darker bits above right are just Stampin Up! White Glossy cardstock cut into 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" pieces with various reinkers applied over and around with a CTMH Swipe & Wipe and then stamped over with Stazon' Inks.

These three lighter ones with bamboo, CHRISTmas bits, and joy are the same cardstock with a Stamped Image using VersaMark or a generic colored pigment ink and then Tattered Rose Distress Ink brayered overtop. It was definitely entirely too much fun....obvious from the fact that I should have been to bed almost two hours ago! (Sorry the pictures leave MUCH to be desired. My "real" camera has grown legs and I am currently using my camera phone. :( ).

On a side note, the Snowbottle family just needs to stay still long enough for me to take a pic and I'll upload the finished product...or wait, maybe I need to stay still long enough to take the pic. Anyway, I don't think I should really be blogging past my bedtime....I tend to get a wee bit goofy.

Sparkly Snowbottles

2008-11-17T15:40:00.015-05:00

I wait months and months without posting and now that I am posting it has NOTHING to do with scrapbooking! :p I picked up a copy of cLoth paper scissors (clothpaperscissors.com) last week when I saw these adorable "sparkling snowmen" on the cover . So last night I decided to try my hand at some altered mixed media art. It was a TON of fun. I LOVE glass bottles and had picked up a tobasco bottle years ago on a beach in Florida just because it was there and I had an old glass perfume bottle from avon laying about so I thought I'd give it a try.

The snowmen are simply made by creating a head from self drying white clay (I actually used scupley clay because it's what I had-it worked out just fine). The faces are made with metal brads and an orange photo clip. The snowbottle in the front actually has the bottle's original topper as it's hat. The arms are beaded wire and vintage glass and metal buttons. Her buttons are three clear flat glass marbles.

The snowbottle in the back has an old ring of mine as her hat with multiple strands of silver ribbon, a half of a paper flower for "wings", multiple snow themed ribbons around the long neck, white sparkly snow stickers and a bit of ribbon wrapped around the bottom.

Both bottles are filled half way with various beads to give them some weight and whimsy and then sprayed with acrylic sealer, sprinkled with fine glitter and finished off with the sealer again.

I have one more snowman head waiting to be placed upon his Coke Bottle body tonight. I haven't decided if these girls are done or need some more embellishment. I will post again once I have at least the trio completely completed. I really enjoyed digging through all my bits and bobs of glass, metal, beads, and ribbons....and my stash is getting lighter the more I do...imagine that! Thanks for stopping by!

Cracked Glass...

2008-07-23T17:39:00.007-04:00

As promised a lil' information on creating "Cracked Glass" on your cards, scrap pages, art and wherever else you'd like the illusion of cracked glass. This is quite a neat little technique to embelish so many things.

To start I stamped an image on a piece of cardstock. Here I chose Indian Corn Blue on Daisy White Cardstock. Trim cardstock to size desired and then press your Versa-Mark or other clear embossing inkpad all over your entire piece of cardstock. Next cover with clear embossing powder and heat with heat gun until powder has melted. Immediately recover with another layer of embossing powder and heat.* Repeat with at least four layers of embossing powder. This is more or less a preference and as you play you'll find how many layers you prefer. As soon as you can comfortably handle your heavily embossed piece of cardstock walk yourself to the kitchen and carefully place your piece of art in the freezer. Wait at least 15 minutes and then remove your embossed cardstock and proceed to bend and twist carefully until you have the amount of cracks and breaks you desire. Warning, people very well may look at you quite strangely when you remove your piece of art from atop the ice cream tub!

*IF you are having trouble getting the embossing powder to stick to the warm melted layer of embossing you can also run it over your Versa-Mark pad again.

I DID try this technique using another medium as well. It is more time consuming, but if you don't have embossing supplies and tools this may just work for you! I stamped an image as above and after cutting to size I scissor distressed the edges to give them a raised edge and then filled the cardstock with "Liquid Glass". Let the Liquid Glass dry overnight and then proceed to the freezer for about half an hour before cracking and twisting to your heart's content. It is obviously a longer process, but it did give a thicker "glass" and more defined cracks and breaks.

Either way a very fun and sweet addition to any card, scrap layout, or bit of altered art! Try it soon and let me know how it turns out! I'm off to make some cards for my cracked bits of fun!

And I'm back!

2008-07-13T18:02:00.003-04:00

Wow, time certainly flies with two lil' guys on the move!!! I have finally been able to spend a few hours the last few days in my s'crap room working on albums and cards after the boys go to bed. I've really enjoyed the resist techniques I've been trying. My VersaMark pad is my new best friend!!!

To make this card I 1)chose a white piece of card stock and stamped the flower images in ocean (teal) and watermelon (pink) and colored the flowers. 2)After stamping with the colors I clean the stamps and ink my stamps with clear VersaMark (or any embossing pad would work). 3)Restamp the images directly on top of themselves, color flower with an embossing ink pen and cover in clear embossing powder. (Be very careful to ensure powder is only on your images. My example here has a few spare flecks of powder which leave a white speck wherever the powder stuck and melted.) Tap excess powder back into its jar. 4)Heat with heat gun until powder is melted. Let cool. 5)Using a brayer or sponge cover the ENTIRE card in ink color of choice (chocolate (brown) used here). 6)When coverage is as you would like take a tissue and wipe over the card, specifically on the embossed sections. WaLa! Your stamped image just pops and shines on the page! I have really enjoyed playing with this resist and it can work with SO many images and colors. The skies the limit on this one! I layered mine onto a white card and distressed the edges with chocolate, watermelon, and ocean. I also added yellow buttons as the flower centers.

Up next is cracked glass. Just tried it last night and am already IN LOVE with it!!!

Writer's Block

2008-05-11T21:01:00.004-04:00

I've never struggled with writer's block before because I never "had" to write anything other than term papers and such for school! I commit to keeping a blog and a newsletter and my tiny lil' brain is BLANK....all I hear is whistling wind and see a few tumbleweed drifting by. :(

I have been keeping my scrappy self busy with preparing projects and examples for CTMH Gatherings. I have also started creating base layout pages and greeting cards for sale at Keystone Paper Bits-the other new venture I started in March. KPB is my custom laminating, spiral book binding, paper drilling, and scrapbook business that is located in my brother's computer shop, Falcon Computers.

My newest "technique" that I have discovered and am having fun playing with is "crayon resist". It's quite fun and I do believe it will show up in a card workshop or club in the near future. :) So all you stampin' card makers start confiscating your children's, grandchildren's, neices', or nephew's white crayons! They don't use them anyway. ;)

Tidbit of wisdom to all the new papercrafters and a reminder to us veterans: Your art is never wrong! If you make a "mistake" just stamp over it, layer over it, sand it, distress it, the options are limitless! It's ART, not Science!

Have a great week.... and go get creating!

What came first, the egg or the chicken?

2008-04-20T21:14:00.003-04:00

What comes first? The photos or the pages?

Do you scrap based on pre-chosen photos for a page or do you create your layouts and then find photos for those pages? How about both?!? I spent my last few scrappy hours creating pages inspired by Imagine by Jeanette Lynton (CTMH). Now I have pages just waiting to be filled with CHRISTmas, Valentines, Family, Birthday's, and other Memorabilia. Pre-creating pages is also a great way to get ideas for pictures you want to make sure you get. There are always those special events and "grab a camera and take of picture of...." that need a custom made page, but there's no reason to not have some pages premade and just waiting for pictures.

Need some inspiration for your scrapbook pages? Check out Cherish or Imagine for wonderful layouts with step by step instructions and cutting diagrams. Or check out places like http://scrapsketches.blogspot.com/ , or http://www.stickersnfun.com/sketches.asp and get inspired. Scraplift an idea and make it your own this week!