Give a kid a camera and this is what you find...

When we were getting the new house ready for move in I gave my 10 year old my camera and told her to go take some pictures. This is what I found when I got my camera back. I thought they were very interesting. The ham sandwich cracks me up. :) It also grosses me out for some reason. She does have a pretty good eye- maybe a camera is a good idea for Christmas.
I am working on a couple of chipboard mini albums and am almost done with them.  One is a wordbook and both are baby themed.  I will be posting them soon hopefully. 

Thanks...

I took the plunge and bought the new Expression 2 from HSN and have not had any time to play with it. So yesterday I brought along my Gypsy and while I was waiting for my Mom during her appointments I designed a 3-fold card like the ones that are on the Just-a-Note cartridge included with the E2. I really liked the concept of them but am not crazy about the style. I decided that I would make a thank you card for the wonderful group that I work with at the dentist's office. They have been very caring and supportive and on Monday they surprised me with a gift card for Home Depot congratulating us on our new house. I was very surprised and so appreciative. Looks like some cake pops may be in their future as well. :)



The cartridges that I used were:

Gypsy Wanderings- thanks
Plantin Schoolbook- rectangles
Smiley Cards- flower

open...

inside...

Sunsets make me happy...

After the last depressing post I wanted to share with you something that has always made me happy. Sunsets by the water. This is the sunset on Easter- I had to stop and take a picture. It was breath-taking. Don't you agree?



I also wanted to thank you all for your support. It really means a lot to me.

I have finished my craft area in the new house and I did some impulse shopping yesterday to make me feel better and bought me a brand new EXPRESSION II!!! It should be here next week. Can't wait until I can lose myself in learning how to use it.

Sorry it's been a little while but...

We got the results back from the biopsy and my mother has lung cancer. We go today to Roswell Park Cancer Institute this morning to meet with her team of doctors and find out what treatments they have planned for her. Roswell is supposed to be the best- and I am glad that the doctors have referred her there.  My brother and I are taking it pretty hard and I know that she is scared but is pretending to be strong.  Her strategy is to ignore it until she has to face it and honestly, if I were in her shoes I would not  be able to do that.  I am a dweller.  With the house move, her new diagnosis, and Keith's father having a heart attack last week I have had about all I can take for now. I am trying to give my girls the attention that they need but it is really hard.  I have told my oldest that Grandma has cancer but my 10 year old would take it VERY hard- so I have told her that Grandma is sick but have not given her any details.
Sorry to have put this out there for you all but- I needed to get it all out and my best friend is my mother and I do not want to let her know how scared I am.  I am supposed to be the strong one who is taking care of everything. :)

We are leaving in a little bit.  Please wish us luck.

Easter Card

I was itchin' to make a little something, so I got up early this morning and made an Easter Card. It was the first time I've used my Cricut and Gypsy since we moved and I was freaking out a little when I could not find my cord for my Gypsy. It was right where I put it though.. I had just forgotten- in with all of my cartridges. You know how that goes- "I'll put this someplace safe where I know I will find it" and then you forget where the heck that is. LOL

The cartridges that I used are:
A Child's Year- Card base
Easter 2010- Bunny
Gypsy Wanderings- Scalloped circle, scalloped rectangle, and the background rectangle (stretched)
Just Because Cards- Envelope

On another note... I cannot believe that I now have 300 followers!!! Since I have just moved, I have found a bunch of scrappy stuff that I have never used and some extras of things that I love to use. To Celebrate 300 followers I have going to have a giveaway! Wait for me to announce it and if you do not mind preowned scrappy stuff- feel free to enter.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

 

A Sneak Peek...

Here's a sneak peek of my new Scrapbook area. I inherited the smallest space in the house for my scrapping area. It's just off of the kitchen and used to be a mudroom before the previous owners added another room to the back of the house. It has some funky hard wall covering that isn't paintable (probably from the 1950's or so), but the girls and I have discovered that you can write on it with a dry erase marker and it will come off. VERY COOL! I am going to use the far wall as a message board and cut out some vinyl to outline it. I bought 4 new Jetmax cubes and set them up in the closet with the other 2 that I had and put my expression on top.
 
This is the other side of the area... The cabinets were already there. I am going to sand and paint the cabinets, the woodwork trim, and the coat hook white.

Tomorrow we are going to get a piece of counter top and install it on the wall and get a stool for me to work at. I am so excited to have my own craft area again. It's been a couple of years and I miss it. Before I had to lug everything out and work on the dining room table and put it all away when I was done. I will post again of the finished project once we are done. Just thought you'd like to see my new scrap area.

-Annette

Miss me yet?

Hello everyone. We have moved into the new house and are slowly getting comfortable. I thought that I would share a little of what we have been up to. This first picture is my 10 year old's room- she picked out the colors and the comforter set. It's pretty bright- almost need to wear your sunglasses in there but I think it turned out pretty cute. We still need to unpack a little and decorate the walls. (If you look above her bed you can see the canvas that we made a couple of weeks ago.)
This is our room... I am really liking the clean look of the blue, grey, white, and black. I found everything on here either on clearance or at VERY reasonable prices. I found the dresser at Target- I had my eye on it for quite some time and when we went to go get it, it was on clearance for $100 less! The comforter is Laura Ashley and I got it at Marshall's. The mirror above the dresser I got for $12 at Kirkland's. It is really well made and HEAVY. It really went well together with the dresser. I got 2 shelves from the Christmas tree store for $5 a piece and the curtains were $6 per panel- I already had one pair that color and they still had some so I got another pair.

Last week my mother went to the ER because she was having pains when she was breathing- she thought she was having another heart attack. She was admitted to the hospital because they found lesions on her lungs in the xray. She is now on full oxygen all of the time and we are waiting to get the results of her biopsy. I am taking her to the doctor on Tuesday to find out. Please say some prayers that it is not lung cancer and to give me the strength to be strong for her. My mother is my best friend and she sacrificed a lot for my brother and I growing up. As a single mother she did the best that she could and I would have to say that she did a wonderful job. We may not have gotten everything that we wanted but we ALWAYS had everything that we needed. The things that we did get were very special to us because we knew how hard she worked to provide them for us. And we had all of the love that a child could ever need. So, please remember my mother in your prayers tonight. Thank you so much. -Annette

More Cake Pops... Little chicks.

Since I am moving at the end of this month I won't have any paper projects to post for you guys since I am going to have to pack all of my stuff up and I need to find myself a scrappy area in my new house and set it up- it may take a little while, so I will post other little projects that I will be working on- home decor and such.  I plan on using my Cricut to cut vinyl for my daughter's walls, making new envelope throw pillows for the couches, and a headboard for my bedroom. I love to decorate and buying this new house has put me in a tailspin with so many ideas.  I'm lovin' it!

So, I decided to try another shape of those adorable cake pops. I was feeling very springy today and made these cute little chicks. I still need a lot of practice in order to make them look like Bakerella's but they turned out okay. I need to follow my advice that I give my girls when they get frustrated... PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
What shape should I do next?



On another note... I GOT ENGAGED!  Isn't it beautiful?  We are planning a Fall wedding this year!  I cannot wait!  I have waited almost 20 years to marry my soulmate and it is finally happening.  We first dated for a couple of years in college, went our separate ways, and reconnected almost 3 years ago. I am the happiest girl in the world!

Newest Discovery... CAKE POPS!!! I am in love.

Apparently these little cake ball creations have been around for a couple of years. I just discovered the Bakerella website a couple of days ago and just had to give them a try. We ordered her book and tried them out today. The girls had fun decorating the cake pops and I made a few of the cupcake shaped bites to give out to my brother and sister-in-law for their birthdays and for my daughter's grandma's birthday too. They were a lot of fun to make and I cannot wait to try out different shapes. My next trial will be to make little chicks for Easter. With a lot of practice we could make some really neat things.


The girls decorating their cake pops.

Kaileigh eating one of her "mistakes". Lol

Mini cupcakes made out of cake balls.

The girls' finished products.

What we did today... Altered Canvases

The girls and I had the day off together so we made a canvas for each of their rooms in the new house. I asked Kaileigh if she wanted to and she said "yes" so I had to jump on that one. She also told me that she was going to let me take more pictures of her because she does enjoys looking at them now. (She rarely lets me take her photo.)

KAILEIGH'S CANVAS

Leah wants her new room pink and green and she love polka dots and plaid. We added all of her favorite things... cheerleading, Horton, elephants, and making people laugh.

LEAH'S CANVAS

Thanks a Bunch!

We are in the process of buying a new house and I needed a thank card for the home inspector- which is Keith's cousin. He was not charging us so I made him a little card with the house from Hoot n Holler and added a gift card for The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I did not feel like making an envelope so I tied a little bow around it and affixed the gift card with a couple of glue spots. The card measures 3x4 and fit the gift card perfectly.



What the actual card looks like...



Side view... Love those foam dots and added dimension.



Lovin' the little houses from Hoot n Holler!
It's the reason why I bought the cartridge. Lol.

l

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Birthday Wishes card made with "Birthday Bash"

Today is my Mom's birthday so I decided to make something with my Birthday Bash cartridge.
I love the images, phrases, and especially the alphabet on this one.
This alphabet is my favorite from all of the cartridges, with Don Juan a close second.
This card was made with the tag function for the base and the single candle.
This card only measures approximately 3x5.