Quick shares...

Hello all you crafty chicas! I have been busy... really busy. Not just with getting back into a schedule and school starting, but also into holiday work mode! I have been cranking out new stuff to be sold at my two upcoming holiday boutiques. So, I leave you with some eye candy...

Fill-In note cards for children- LOTS of different styles to choose from for boys and girls, and soon they will be on the web site... I promise!
Super cute appliqued t-shirts for little girls. This one was made special for a dear friend named Molly who just had her first birthday! ;) It turned out really cute and I have lots more ready to sell!

Told ya it would be a quick share... tired, gotta go to bed...

My Mother, the artist

I know I have mentioned before that my mother has taken up oil painting. She is actually very good at it, which surprised us all... considering she can't draw a darn thing except a cat made with circles! So, I gave her a picture of our beloved dog, Wrigley to paint. This is the picture she chose to go off of...

And this is the portrait she painted...

I know! Isn't it awesome? I love it and it hangs on the wall going out our back door in our family room. We can't believe how great it is!

Mom, thanks a "latte" for such an awesome painting! Another Kathy original graces our home and we love it!

A card sketch?

That's right, Sketchy Thursdays has a card sketch this week! I'll be honest, I was a little like, "huh?" when I checked the site for my weekly layout inspirational sketch! But, I enjoyed the card making just as much. The sketch...

My card...

This time, no apples, but I gave you the alphabet!

SRM Fun!

Hey Y'all! SRM Stickers (which I love) is having a little "party" with Cosmo Cricket and they did cards using the CC papers and chipboard and then paired the SRM clear stickers for sentiments and embellishments. Lots of fun and lots of giveaways! So, during this par-tay, they had a card sketch and I had to play along... the sketch...

The card...

I'm in "school" mode, so most of my projects this week will have either apples or numbers on it! I like this card because you can send it for many different occasions- not just school related! Enjoy, and I'll be back tomorrow...

Jotter Tutorial

As promised, here is my tutorial on making a pocketbook jotter. These cute, decorated notebooks are perfect to keep lists in, a bedside jotter, or just a little something cute to have by the phone! Okay, ready? Here we go...

First, gather your supplies:
1 small composition notebook, scrap paper, embellishments, Zip Dry paper glue, and scissors. Cut 2 pieces of paper 3x4.5 inches each to use as a front and back cover. Then, place Zip Dry glue all along the edges in a dotted fashion, going along the black spine, NOT on it.
Press paper to the front and back and smooth out the edges, letting glue seep out. You can rub off the glue from the spots that it leaks from.

Flip the book over and trim off the excess paper hanging off the edges.

Next, get ready to embellish! My favorite part! :) You can add extra paper scraps (below picture), ribbon, or like I did, make your own felt embellishment and adhere.

I cut out an apple free hand from felt and glued the pieces together. I added slick fabric paint to look like seeds.

Finally, the finished jotter, perfect for a teacher gift!
Here is another sample of one I did... with pretty packaging!
Easy peasy! Hope you find inspiration!

I'm so Sketchy...

Hello there... I am trying again for a second chance for the Sketchy Thursdays guest designer for September. I liked the sketch I had to use, and this time, no rules! Not to mention the wonderfully generous prize I'm playing for! So, here's the sketch:

I'm not much of a "circle" scrapper, so I improvised and made it a square. Anyway, my take:

I really like the color scheme and the way the finished page turned out. I pulled out my paint and stamped the harlequin background, used some rub-ons, covered that little chipboard house and the best part...

The cute kraft string and button envelope that hugs the letter I wrote about him. The letter tells my dads story and how our relationship has grown into a strong bond. Someday, I will give it to him, but for now... it's just for me. ;)

First Day of School!

Mac and Anna started school today! I'm not so sure who was more excited... me or them?!

Kindergarten... it's a big deal, and Anna went off beautifully, full of excitement! She was up and ready by 6:45 a.m. and looked so precious in that uniform it made my insides tingle.

Stop it... I LOVE this picture of Anna! She picked out her own backpack, and of course picked out the flashiest one!
Mac entered the second grade... I can't believe how fast time has gown and how grown up he looks in these pictures!Off to school and Elan gets left home with me. He didn't mind- he played with all their toys all day and didn't get fussed at once!
They had a great day! Here's to another day of fun (for everyone) tomorrow! ;)

Summer in Pictures...

It's the end of the summer, it's HOT (and I mean so hot that you can't walk out to your car without sweating profusely!) and I have been neglecting the ole' blog-a-roo. My sweet friend, Sammye Jo, called me out on it today... guilty! I'm a bad blogger! But truly, I haven't posted in the last few days because I have been very busy... dancing a jig because my kids go back to school on Tuesday! Woo-hoo! Not that I don't like being around my kids, but when school is in session, we have a schedule. Uniforms. Soccer. And lets not forget that the house stays clean for more than 10 minutes!

So, today, I'm going to let you in on what our summer has been like. It's gone by fast, and we have had loads of fun...

Trips to the pool almost everyday, especially since it's been so hot! My niece, Brooke is on the far right.

Elan has become a little fish in the water- he loves to go under!

Stephen has been on a couple fishing trips, and fishes every Tuesday night in the Taylorsville TNT Tournament. On this particular day, he caught a big one!

We spent an evening at Churchill Downs for the night time racing- very fun! In this pic: me, my SIL, Lara, and friend, Jennifer.

One night, out to dinner at a local pizza place with the kids, we bought some fake staches. Are these pictures hillarious, or what?

Of course, Stephen had to get one too... he's the biggest kid of the three... in your best "Joey" from Friends voice, repeat, "How you doin'?"

The post 4th of July Flag Cake Party. This is my oldest friend, Amy and her masterpiece... a homemade flag cake. We celebrated with cake and beer and pretended we were in college again. Good times...

Several weekends spent on the river in our boat, hanging out and swimming.

Boat rides...
Faster, Daddy! OK- this could quite possibly be the funniest picture of the summer... wait for it...
A day cruise on the Belle of Louisville- a huge steamboat. It was fun, but the kids were hot, tired and starving halfway through.
Stephen and I pretended it was The Love Boat...

Friday night, co-ed kickball league at St. Albert. This is a blast, friends. If you ever get the chance to play, do it! This particular evening, Elan was punching out stars and taping them to my face. He kept telling me how great I looked... So great that I could be a "football coach"! That I looked "Super Incredible" and the "Bestest Kickball Player EVER!" Well, I wore those hideous stars during the entire hour kickball game. My team mates giggled, and we won the game.

And last, but certainly not least, CHA! Yahoo! Chicago was a blast and look who we ran into... Nichole Heady from Papertrey Ink! She was so sweet and I don't need to mention how much damage Sammye Jo and I did in that booth... ;)

A make-n-take at the Unity booth...
My dear friend, Megan with us before her fiesta at her apartment in Chicago. So cute and fun, we had a ball!
So, now you now what I have been up too this summer besides the usual daily routine. My crafty mojo is kicking into high gear for the holidays and this week, I even have a tutorial prepared for you! I know, so "not" me! I also have another layout for Sketchy Thursdays GDT spot for September- I'm not going to give up!

Have a great night!

Quickie...

A quick post and a quick card! I made this card using leftover scraps on my desk. A cut here, a snip there, a little glue, a glitter sticker, and voile! A cute card ready to send off! OK- I haven't posted in almost a week because it's so hot. Yes, I use the excuse of it being 109 degrees outside to not do much, and it works for me. Between the heat and all the daggone school supplies I have had to hunt down, I am beat.

I'm dreaming of a cool, 90 degree day with little or no humidity and all of my children skipping merrily to school... 6 more days (for the latter part, at least).

A day late...

And a dollar short... here is a sketch and layout I did a couple of weeks ago. The sketch is from, no other than, Sketchy Thursdays, from mid-July. Yea, I did a layout and didn't get a spare moment to upload the pic, so I'm doin' it now!

The sketch:

The layout:

So, I have to toot my own horn... I LOVE the way this page turned out! Is it the paper? The sketch? The brown mist that reminds me of a wet dog shaking his fur? Or... is it the pictures of my handsome, big boy? That must be it! The quote at the bottom is on fabric paper and reads: "The way to know life is to love many things." Love that!

Again, I printed these pictures myself. I love the fact that I can print any size without cropping and use my own matte paper- which I prefer- I hate a mean glare! I printed the Big Wrig pics in a 2x3" size and loved that I could leave a border on the paper- no matting means one less step! Woot!

Enjoy the day... it's like 110 here and only 8:30 a.m.

Better late than never!

Holy smokes... again, a Sketchy Thursdays layout just in the nick of time! I was having a bit of a problem with my camera's USB port, but being the "techy" gal I am (ha!) I fixed it! So, I bring you the sketch...

A simple, wonderful sketch that I cranked out a quick layout in less than 30 minutes! That's a record, by the way!
Lots of goodies to look at: Studio Calico, Little Yellow Bicycle, Trinkets NH flower, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Hambley, and so on... I started printing my pictures at home and love it! This one is a 5x7... it's easy and my printer rocks!