And more...

More projects from the November crop over at MommySavers.

The challenge for the decade of the 70's was to do a layout with white space. Easter pages are always difficult for me and I finally got my hands on the Easter Cricut cartridge, so, that makes things a bit easier. A couple simple cuts from that cartridge and I was finished!

I wanted to see pages honoring my friends tattoos and/or piercings. This is a page I've been meaning to redo for awhile because I didn't like my original attempt. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of my tattoo to put on here yet. The layout is about the tattoo I have on my left shoulder; it's a custom fairy sitting in a tiger lily. I didn't want a traditional tribute tattoo for my younger sister so I came up with my own. This challenge was for the decade of the 2000's since piercings and tattoos became much more commonplace during that time.

 For the 40's, I asked people to honor a vet or to do a layout about why they're thankful for their freedom. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of any of the vets I know. But, I wanted to scrap these pics. The journaling says  "Ian is free to throw a fit - and I'm free to WALK AWAY!"

November crop projects

 I'm hosting the November crop over at MommySavers. Unable to sleep at 2AM, I decided on the theme of Decades of Inspiration. Each challenge reflected something from each decade ranging from the 1920's to the 2020's, with a few bonus challenges thrown in. Feel free to come check out my challenges!

This first layout was a letter to my boys about why I chose to be a working mother. The challenge was from the 80's - when Murphy Brown first hit television as a working, single mother.



This layout was for the challenge of the 1930's when The Great Depression was in full force. The challenge was to use a household item on a LO or to use up some unloved embellishments. I HAD to have these corduroy buttons and then...they just sat there for ages.

The 1960's challenge was to scrap a page about a life changing event for yourself. I chose to do a LO regarding the people who've come and gone from my life in the last year.

Stuff Your Stocking Swap

 I'm hosting a Stuff Your Stocking swap over at MommySavers. As a single mama, it's hard to explain why moms stocking is empty after Santa visits our house. What better way to get stocking stuffers? We have groups of five and I joined two. I played with my Tags, Bags, Boxe & More Cricut cartridge tonight and found these cuts for a flower box (which I made to look a bit like a present) and a tree box (which I decorated like a Christmas Tree). I'd tell you what's inside but that would ruin the surprise for my friends over at MommySavers!

ATC's on no sleep...

Well, I've been up since around 7am yesterday with a brief 2 hour nap this morning. I don't mind my double shifts but this is the part that kills me. Hopefully, I'll be able to work a more normalized schedule in the near future.

Tonight, I decided to work on a set of ATC's for a swap over at Mommysavers. It's been quite some time since I've made an ATC and I had forgotten what a small area it is to work with. I like how these turned out for the most part, though.

The theme was snowmen. I love snowmen. I *USED* to be the proud owner of several Stampin' UP! snowman themed stamp sets. I looked for them this evening and they have vanished into thin air. I know I did a major overhaul of my craft room back in January but WHO LET ME SELL MY SNOWMAN STAMPS??????

Well, anyways, I obviously found a snowman. This little guy is a cut from the Doodlecharms Cricut cartridge. That is one of my all-time favorite cartridges, BTW. So, this little guy with a black shadow behind him on a base of Rich Razzelberry, Brushed Silver and Brilliant Blue cardstock from Stampin' UP!...some stickles in strategic places to spruce him up and a skittle in the corner and I felt I was finished. 

I hope you enjoy my ramblings. And, the ATC's! Thanks for looking at my creations!

Hop for a Cure

Did y'all see that new widget over there? >>>>>> The one that says "Crop Out For A Cure because Insulin Is NOT A Cure"? That is here for my friend Sara, who's daughter, Madison, has juvenile diabetes. Sara hosts a physical and online crop every year to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This year, instead of the online crop, Sara is hosting a blog hop. There will be challenges and prizes. And, Sara always ends up having some awesome prizes available! Last year, I won over 20 different colors of cricut vinyl. Anyone can complete the challenges; but to be eligible for the prizes, a minimum $5 donation is necessary. So, by donating $5 for a great cause you get a chance to win some fabulous prizes while paper crafting with some nice people who live in your computer.

Hope to see you there!!!

WCMD mini crop cards

I just finished hosting a mini crop over at MommySavers for World Card Making Day. Several ladies submitted a challenge for everyone to do. That pesky job thing interfered with my card making time; so, I didn't have a chance to play until today. I managed to complete five challenges, though.

This first card was for ChickyHip's challenge. She wanted us to use a recipe: 1 stamp, 2 circle, 3 different patterned papers, stitching (faux or real) and a piece of hardware with a bonus entry for using kraft paper. Well, this challenge was HARD! I knew what stamps I wanted; I adore the Little Boys retired set from Stampin' UP! and had some boy themed patterned paper that all matched. I'm really pleased with how this card turned out.

LeeMP22's challenge was to make a card for a friend and actually SEND it to them. I have a friend from the MS boards who was looking for the Gina K. hippo butt image...so, Sammie, this card will be on its way to you shortly!

I made this card with this years In-Colors from SU. I am really into the Concord Crush and the Pear Pizazz but I don't think I'll ever find a niche in my papercrafting for that Blushing Bride; it's just too washed out to me. I'll stick with my Pretty In Pink and Pink Pirouette!

And, speaking of Sammie - IcStarrs' challenge was to use at least three circles/dots on your card. This girl borders on obsessive with her love for polka dots! The image is from Darling Dragons, a retired SU set that I am absolutely in love with. I looked for it for ages on ebay before I could get my hands on it.

MXD's challenge was to use a die cut on your card. Tomsgem sent me this cute little owl with my crop prizes from last month. I'm not real happy with this card but it's cute enough; think I'll stick with my cricut, though.

Angelkizz loves her bling so she wanted to see how we could use it. This card didn't come out quite like it looked in my head but I still like it! The corners were supposed to be coated and a bit rounded with black chunky glitter. The ribbon is sparkly and there's a line of gemstones underneath the ribbon.

The ladies over at MS have become quite good friends over the years and I'm glad to have friends who share my love of papercrafting - even if they do all live in my computer.

Thanks for looking!

Dollar Store to Dazzling...

I came across this nifty idea in a magazine (don't remember which one) and wanted to try it out, especially since I am sorely in need of decorative touches in my home. The idea was to take plain glass candle holders and make them into mosaic mirrored candle holders.

I went to the dollar store and picked up plain, square, glass plate-like candle holders and some small pewter tealight candle holders. Then, I headed to my Hobby Lobby to pick up the rest of the supplies - mirrored mosaic tiles and grout.

So, I turned this:





Into this:


They're not the best looking final project but I'm pleased with the result. And, I certainly don't think they're bad at all for a first time attempt!

Thanks for looking!

World Card Making Day

Hey! World Card Making Day is this coming Saturday, October 2! Head on over to MommySavers
and join me in the two-day mini crop I'm hosting. Everyone is welcome from the very basic beginner to the master card maker; we'd love to see you there!!!

BLOG CANDY!!!!

Chrissy over at Paper, Ink, Color! is giving away some awesome Magnolia stamps for her September Blog Candy. Go check out her blog and these cute little stamps!

Autumn is in the air....

So, tonight I completed three more challenges for the crop over at MommySavers. I feel like I've accomplished a lot in the past few days!

The first layout I did tonight took me almost an hour! But, I am so, so happy with how it turned out. It was a sketch challenge. I usually have a ton of trouble following sketches but this time it worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. Those leaves? They're a cut from the Doodlecharms Cricut cartidge. I cut out a bunch of them in fall colors and then crumpled them up repeatedly.


This was probably the simplest challenge of the whole crop; use fiber, ribbon, or lace on your page. For some reason, I just couldn't figure out how to use ribbon the past few days though. This worked well, though. Two pics of my littlest heathen caught brushing his teeth all by his self. The strips of ribbon are Stampin' UP!'s Pacific Point, one of my favorite blues!

These are old pics; my friend and her son brought a slip-n-slide over one day and the boys had tons of fun once they actually got in the water! This challenge was to use numbers on your layout with bonus entries for putting the numbers in boxes or a hopscotch board on your layout. I couldn't come up with a good way to incorporate the bonuses on my page but the numbers gave it that little something extra to make it feel finished.

As always, thanks for looking at my stuff!

Ring around the roses

was the last challenge I completed today. The challenge was to use circles in your layout, with a bonus entry if you did a circle layout. I got the bonus entry, LOL. My cousin, Ivy, and I took the kids to the park one day and we took tons of pics, so this was a perfect way to use many of them. I'm usually not a big fan of this many circles but I'm really pleased with the result.

If you've hung in there with me this far, I'd like to thank you for time. Free blog candy to the poster who leaves the FIFTH comment. Wanna know what it is? It'll be a mix of SU cardstock scraps (no little pieces; only sizes that will be useful), some chipboard pieces and a few packages of brads.

Productive day...

I went to a craft work day at a friends church today that turned out fairly productive. I managed to complete five of the challenges for the crop over at MommySavers.

This first one is my favorite of the day. I was so excited when they brought the Inchworm back and then my little received one as a Christmas gift. The only problem was, he INSISTED it was a doggy...named Inchworm. The challenge here was to use as many buttons as you could on a layout.

This layout was done for a challenge titled, "Mother, May I?" It was to be a page about for a mom or about being a mom. I had this old picture of me and my boys but hadn't ever figured out what to do with it. Well, this challenge was perfect! Some old rub-ons along the edge and next to the photo, some rhinestone hearts by the photo and some flowers in the corner. I haven't put any journaling on there yet, though; I still want to think on it some more.
"Hide and Seek" was an interesting challenge for me. The "put a hidden image on your layout" wasn't hard but what I wanted to do took me out of my comfort zone. I decided, with the help of my friend, Jenn, to paper piece everything. So, that "slide" is actually a curvy arrow and two rail posts made with the Going Places Cricut cartridge.

Another challenge was called, "Follow the Leader." Basically, I had to follow this "recipe":-2 printed papers -1 solid paper -Bling -at least 1 fastener -something white with my layout. You can see most of it but my something white and my bling was Stickles glitter glue that I used to trace some of the circles on the green patterned paper. Also, there is a brad in the upper corner of each photo for the fastener aspect.


Thanks for looking at my creations!

More stuff!

So, it seems that the only time I ever get a chance to play with my toys anymore is when there's a crop going on over at MommySavers. This month Tomsgem is hosting and she has a cute little them where she's named all the challenges in reference to old-school kids' games.

I've managed to complete three of the challenges so far. I'm hoping to get a chance to complete ALL the challenges (regular & bonus) this crop. My friend Leia called and invited me a craft work day at her church tomorrow; so, I'm hoping to make a serious dent in my photo box. I've taken LOTS of pics this summer!

Here's what I've manage to do so far:

NEW CARDS!!!

Well, there was a crop over at MommySavers this week. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to sit down and make any cards until tonight and the crop ends at midnight :( ....so, this isn't my best work but I enjoyed myself!

I've converted her!!!

I converted my cousin, Ivy, to a scrapper!!! Here are her pages she created for the crop over at Mommysavers:

July crop over at MommySavers

Well, it's crop time again over at MommySavers! Here are the pages I've created so far: