A Trio of shaped Birthday Cards...

I  bought a new My Mind's Eye paper pack with all polka dots yesterday and just had to use it.  I love polka dots! I designed three shaped birthday cards with my Gypsy using the Simply Charmed and Birthday Bash cartridges. I think the candle card is my favorite.



Birthday Bash- candles

Simply Charmed- birthday cake

Simply Charmed- birthday present

Celebrate...

Just wanted to share this card that I made with the Cricut decals cartridge. I just wanted to make something really simple. I loved this little girl with the balloon and I found the stamp at Michael's. I loved the font on it- I bought almost all of them because I liked them so much. They were in the $1 bin.
I have made a couple more cards and will be sharing them over the next couple of days. Hope you have a nice week. :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

I had planned on making a shaped card using my Expression2, the Cricut Decals cartridge, and the new Cricut Craftroom.  I welded together the shapes to make the card, hooked up the computer to the E2, pressed cut, and then it told me I needed to insert the cartridge. Off to plan B... I decided to just cut out this cute little girl that looked like she was holding a sparkler. Then I added some Stickles that I hadn't used in ages to make it look like a sparkler. I think I just may cut out a few more of these cute little stick figures. I think they are rather adorable.

 

UPDATE:  My mother opted to have surgery to remove the cancer in lung vs. chemo and radiation.  She had a very rough time after the surgery and was in intensive care for 11 days- 9 of which they still had her under and on a respirator.  Today is day 15 and I got to bring her home with me.  I am so very blessed to still have her here with me and the very best part is I am on vacation for the next 10 days and I get to spend it being with her and taking the very best care of her.  I may have talked her into making a card with me so that she can send it to the wonderful nurses in the ICU that took care of her. Just so you know, she is NOT a crafter at all.  Thank you for all of the prayers.

A tour of my favorite things in our new home

I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite things in our new home.  I have been trying very hard to make this house feel like our home.  Do you get what I mean? Yes, I love the fact that we are in our new house but it wasn't feeling very homey yet.  We've done a few little projects here and there this weekend and it's getting there. I am loving it!

#1-  My craigslist find... a new computer armoire.  I really wasn't liking having the computer in the living room.  Seeing a bunch of cords all over the place drives me nuts.  So I was checking out craigslist and I found this cottage style computer armoire for 50 bucks.  I was so excited!  I was finding the same one online for $300 plus shipping.  I love it and it looks great in my living room!



#2- I am not big on artwork so I had been checking out a few diy decorating blogs and found some photo collages and decided to give it a try. So today Keith and I finally put it up. I love it way more than trying to find a piece of artwork to put up on the wall.  I am very grateful that Keith was here to help me because he used all sorts of measurements to get it spaced out the way I layed it out on the floor. I stink at measuring. I think the next thing I may look for is a coffee table for in front of the couch. It looks a little bare.

Here's a close up of the photo collage- full of my favorite favorite photos from then and now.

This is a bench that we found at an estate sale.  I had intentions of painting it but I really liked the distress look and the color in the living room.  I made the envelope pillow cases and the wreath on the bench with a few things that I bought at the Christmas Tree Shop.  I love that store for decorating on the cheap.

This is a rocker that Keith's Poppy made.  I am looking for a cream color seat cushion and maybe a new quilt to lay over the back of the chair.  I really love this chair.  It has character and has sentimental value for Keith.

The stairs were one of the selling features for us.  I loved how they refinished them with the cherry stain.  I found the stair basket at a garage sale last year for $3.  What a steal! 

We also love the shelves under the stairs. I had a curio cabinet but didn't really like it anymore.  So I sold it and set up all my favorite little treasures in the little nook.  Can you see my sock monkey?  I LOVE sock monkeys.  My grandma made it.  The pair of shoes are my first pair of shoes that my mother had bronzed.

And last we had this ugly brown armoire in my living room that I was thinking of getting rid of but we were also looking for a matching dresser to go in our bedroom because we were sharing one between the two of us.  I painted it black to match, got the same types of handles, and distressed it and it goes perfectly with the other one.  The pottery on the armoire was made my daughter.  It goes wonderfully with our room. She is an awesome artist. Some of you may remember the finger print self portrait.

Well this is all I have for you for now.  It is a work in progress but I am loving my new home and it is a ton of fun to decorate. 

Baby Shower Advice Book and Mini Album

It is a tradition for me that when one of my cousins have a new little one I make them a mini album for them. Well, my cousin called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to make her a mini for her sister-in-law. Her shower is a rubber duckie theme and she also wanted me to make a little advice book. I hope she'll like them.

A Child's Year- Rubber Duckie
Gypsy Wanderings- Scalloped Oval
I covered the album with a K and Company boy's line- Hopscotch I think

I made this album by welding a puddle and rubber duck to the bottom of the page with my Gypsy.

Thanks for looking. :)

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