Merry Christmas

This semester has flown by and I don't know where all the time has gone. I haven't had much time for stamping - I didn't even get Christmas cards made this year. I'm planning on rearranging my craft area so that maybe that will allow for more inspiration and crafting. I hope everyone has a nice holiday. It's looking like we might just have a white Christmas! I'm going to leave you with one of the cutest bulldog pictures I've seen in a while... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Ranch View

Back in August I spent some time wondering around my family's homestead taking pictures. Today I had some time (listening to my Ags win - Whoop!) to play around with the pictures. Here's are the results. I added textures and masks to add a vintage feel to them.

Thank You

I made up two versions of one card for my birthday thank you notes. I used soft suede and bermuda bay card stock and markers paired with thoroughly modern dsp. The curly label punch was used for the tab and the modern label punch for the greeting. Stamp sets used were the True Friend and Sweet Little Sentiments.

Yikes!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. I have pictures of some of the projects that I've completed recently.... on my camera. I just haven't had time to retrieve them. To update, this school year is going well, just really quickly. I had my 30th birthday back in September. And one of the three pregnant friends I have, just had an emergency c-section. Her son was born on October 5, 3 months premature. Both mom and son are doing fine now. She had a severe case of preclampsia and a placenta abrupture. Thank goodness everyone is doing much better. I have plans to post several times this week, and maybe that goal isn't too lofty.

Friend. Good.

I know - it's been a while since I've posted. I haven't been stamping. I haven't been doing much of anything except crocheting. I have three friends who are pregnant with due dates within 2 months of each other, and I'll be making them baby afghans. I also have been commissioned to make a school spirit afghan to use this fall during football season. I'm trying to get that last one done before school starts and I'm doing fairly well with it.

I have a guy friend that has been going through a rough patch lately and I wanted to do something to try to lift his spirit. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch since it is contest week and Stampin' Up's DSP Nouveau Chic for inspiration. I love that paper and it works great for a man. However, I don't really have any stamps that are masculine. Instead, I used my computer to print out the image and sentiment. I love the monocromatic look.

Giveaway Shoutout!

Here's a shoutout for Suzanne's Hang-ups. She's giving away another hang-up this month. This one is a very summery combination of turquoise and green called "Butterflies and Blooms." Stop by and leave her a comment to enter!

A little mojo...

It's been a while since I've made cards all on my own. I sat down on Friday and made these all in a couple of hours. I took Lacey's idea and made two of each. I was suprised that it didn't take much longer to make the "copy" than it does to make just one.

A new obsession...

I have recently discovered a new hobby, digital scrapbooking. I have done paper scrabbooking for years now. A couple of years ago my grandmother gave me several old pictures of me growning up. I've wanted to make a scrapbook using those photos, but I haven't wanted to cut up those pictures. Digital scrapbooking provides the perfect alternative. I am completely new to all of this, so the first layout I created used the template tutorial from JessicaSprague.com.

The second layout I created used a template from Pooker's Creations, Terres kenyanes kit from Timounette, and brushes from Obsidian Dawn.

My Etsy Shop

So, I decided to jump in and join the Etsy world. I've been making and designing jewelry for years for friends and family. I'm branching out and designing pendants also. All of the jewelry in my shop is western themed. Items feature vintage pin-up cowgirls with cheeky sayings. Stop in and check it out.

Seeing Squares

So I have finally finished the baby afghan that I previously posted about here. I've never done a project like this and I've definately learned some things along the way. All in all I think it turned out well.

The whole afghan:

Close-up of the "stitching":

Close-up of the edging:

Cactus Blossoms

Butterflies Galore

I just recently got a new design card for my Slice, the Just Chillin' set. I went back and forth about getting this one because it caters more to teenagers. But, the major selling point for me is that it has a very lovely butterfly. It's so pretty that I can't seem to stop cutting it out. I love it no matter what paper I use. I just had to put all of these gorgeous butterflies to use, so I used them in all of my Mother's Day gifts. I got the inspiration to use shadow boxes from Jenn Greeley. This one was my Mom's:

And then I made two for my grandmothers. I put their butterflies in the shape of a heart.

Happy Mother's Day

I used this week's Mojo Sketch as inspiration for the Mother's Day card I gave to my Mom. I used some papers from K&Company's Wild Raspberry. The stamps are from SU!, Good Friend for the butterfly and Botanical Blooms for the leaves that I embossed. Faux stitching, with my paper piercer and a white pen, and a couple of white flowers with a pink rinestone finish it off.

Birthday Box

Okay, after numerous computer problems, I'm back. I know you probably didn't miss me, but let me think you did. I would have sworn last week that I broke every computer I touched. Luckily, everything was able to be fixed. Now I'm going to play catch up. My sister had her birthday a couple of weeks ago. I gave her a box of cards for part of her gift. I made 2 sets of 5 card designs. The five sentiments were thank you, happy birthday, get well, congratulations, friend, and blank. I used Basic Grey papers (don't remember the line at the moment) and the Garden Whimsy SU! stamp set. I bought that set with this project in mind because my sister loves tulips.

KW Color Inspiration #50

I'm glad I participated in this week's color challenge. I wouldn't normally think to put these colors together, but I like the result.

Logan's Blanket

As promised, the baby blanket I crocheted a while back. I love the colors - they remind me of a teddy bear.

Whimsy Thank You

One of the things I've learned while teaching is that it's often more work to be gone. You have to make sure you have everything possible squared away for a substitute. And then, you aren't guarenteed to have a sub that will follow those instructions. I am very fortunate to have found a wonderful woman that allows me to be gone with no worries about my classes. After seeing this week's Mojo Monday Sketch, I was compelled to participate; plus it gave me a chance to use some new toys. I used the butterfly from the Garden Whimsy set, inked in dark brown and embossed with clear, the sentiment is from Short & Sweet, and the circle and flower are from Priceless (all SU!). The papers are from the Sultry line of Basic Gray. I absolutely adore this card.

Lots of Cuteness

I've made more cards in the last week than I have since Christmas! It's great! I'm part of a hostess club (which most of you already know) and even though it's long distance, I still get to participate in the make-n-takes. Here are March's projects:

Aren't they cute? And the amazing friend of mine, Lacey, had a couple of kits left over from her turn at Card Club. I'm so jealous I can't be a part of that one too! I feel like the special kid that gets to participate every once in a while. Here are the cards I made with her kits:

Okay, now we get to my card. I have a friend from high school that just added to his family. His wife had another baby boy last week. I have an afghan that I made up when I found out she was pregnant with another boy. (Pictures of it soon to come)

A small hint...

One of my best friends is about to turn 30 and I have come up with the best surprise EVER for her. The only problem is that I can't wait to give it to her. I'm just as excited as I know she will be. I'm headed down to see her this weekend and then I'll go back the weekend of her birthday. I've already decided that I won't be able to keep it a secret while I'm being poked and prodded by her curiosity. This means she's getting it early. I'm weak. And I've been tormenting her with the knowledge that I have a secret. Horrible friend that I am. Here's a sneak peek.

It's not much. I can't give up much without giving it all up. I think I can make it a day and a half longer. I hope.

Just Another Hang Up

Check out this blog. Suzanne has wonderful creations and she's giving one away! Your choice! I ordered one of her hang ups a while back and I love it. I constantly get compliments on it too! But hurry, the contest ends April 9th.

Hero Worshiping

Okay, I have a new hero. I stumbled upon a blog that is simply amazing. I've spent the weekend being enthralled, inspired, and enamored of Pioneer Woman. She is so friggin' awesome! I want to be her when I grow up, no seriously I do. So, in honor of my new hero, I spent this afternoon walking around our property taking pictures of random things. It was a very nice day again, after this little cold spell we just so happened to have the one entire week that I have off (and of course I was sick for half of it, but that's another story). Alas, everyone stood up to take notice of the nice day...

And the stupid, stupid redbud trees that are starting to bud...

Don't they know that until the mesquites start to bloom that we're going to have another hard freeze? The last time we had 90 degree temps in February, we got 10 inches of snow Easter weekend. Hmm... something to think about.

Baby Quilt

The friend that I talk all the time about, Lacey, has commissioned me to make several baby afghans for people she knows. The current one I'm working on is quite a bit different from all the others I've ever done. The expectant mother is decorating the baby's room in this bedding set from Pottery Barn:

We decided to make a "granny square" type afghan with owls in amongst the squares. I had to come up with the pattern myself as most of the owl patterns out there are quite creepy. I am using the blue, pink, yellow, tan, and green colors in the bedding. The owls will be on the green squares and the other colors will be a solid square with a pretty texture. Anyway here are the colors and an upclose shot of the owl, followed by the overall pattern of the afghan. I think I am also going to add some sort of lacey border around the entire afghan, probably in chocolate brown.

My valentine

I received this cute valentine from my friend Lacey. I love the heart with the flowers!