Snow Day = Play Day :-) Lotsa pics...

It didn't look like it was going to be a blustery day when I took Matthew to swim at 5:30 this morning. He was, however, the only student there and his swim coach told him that school had been canceled. I was pretty doubtful when I picked him up at 7:30...it still wasn't looking like the blizzard everyone was buzzing about. By mid afternoon, however, we did get a decent snow fall. Not enough to keep teenagers at home though!
This morning my incredible children all worked together to help me get invites out for my card sale. I had them mailed by 10:30 this morning. Matthew created these labels for me to put on the back of all my cards!

Later this afternoon I did some playing. When I rearranged my craft room a few weeks ago, I realized that I have a glut of supplies that I kind of cast aside when I became a Close To My Heart consultant. I have been trying to use them more, lately.

This uses Making Memories paper, a Close To My Heart window charm,a stamp from inkadinkado and a random sentiment (not sure where it's from!)

More to Adore paper from Close To My Heart, Life Delights stamp set (CTMH), Dream Wishes stamp set (CTMH) and an unidentified hello sentiment. I love the fact that acrylic stamps can be "shaped" such as making this hello fit inside the circle.

I found this mini magnetic box in my stash of goods. I decided to make a box of cards for my mom. I'm EXTREMELY late in getting her birthday gift out to her...but now she'll have this box of cards to go with it :-)

Front view of the box. More of the Making Memories paperpack. The flower came from an Archiver's hotspot ($1.99 bin) and was a set of 3 flowers called Steel Manolias by Imaginesce.

The sentiment came from a book given to me by my friend Donna Gondrez...I printed it out on the computer.

Here's the first card that I made for the box. I really wanted the emphasis to be on the sentiment, which is a wooden stamp by Stampabilities.

Hmm, I should tidy the chaos in my craft room...but I think I'll go read instead :-)

Blessings,

Marie with a :-)

PCP Card Sketch

While I love scrapbooking, I think one of the reasons I'm more prolific in the card making realm is because cards are so quick and easy...especially when there are so many card sketch challenges! This is my version of the PaperCraft Planet card sketch for this week. You can find the sketch at http://www.papercraftplanet.com/ You can even create a PCP page of your own! I made this one after dinner when the older kids went to youth group, Scott went to work and Elizabeth and I were home alone.
I used Making Memories paper that I have had for years - fortunately I bought a good bit of it because it is still one of my favorites. The stamp is from inkadinkado and the buttons are JoAnn Sew Essentials, also purchased a few years back (when I first started scrapbooking!)

Wishing You Laughter

Uh oh. I think it's happening. My body is getting used to early mornings. Despite reading until midnight, I was awake at 4:30 AM. Since I didn't need to take the boys to swim, I stayed in bed until 5:45. After seeing Scott out the door, picking Matthew and Ben up and munching on cashews, I had a little bit of play time and created this wishing you Laughter card. All products are Close To My Heart except the sentiment (Hero Arts) and the sparkles.

I'm off for some giggly girl time...my daughters and I are headed to starbucks and then to the mall...

Wishing YOU laughter,

Marie with a :-)

Creative Scrappers Sketch #44

Today was the first day since Tuesday that I was completely headache free...hurray! Hopefully that means I'm over this round of "ick." We did stay home from church tonight since Michelle and Elizabeth seem to be coming down with something and everyone was overtired. We watched Gridiron Gang (which contains a lot of awful language!) and I think I went through 16 tissues during the movie...I cried more than almost any other movie I have watched. Didn't do much playing, but I completed a layout for the Creative Scrappers Sketch 44 challenge. I spent too much time on it for what I accomplished (I'm a firm believer in quick and easy) so I'm not thrilled with it. The paper is Kaleidescope, the BFF letters are from the CTMH Rustic Letters stamp set and the sentiment is from the CTMH Soul Mates stamp set. I used some random black sparkles and a J from some chipboard letters that I had stashed. To view the sketch and other layouts, click on the link:

http://www.creative-scrappers.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10327/Sketch44.jpg Well, 5 AM will be here before I know it so I better get to bed.
Wishing you a wonderful day,
Marie with a :-)

Finally...a layout!

Some of you have wondered where I have been for the last two days. I was ambushed. By the time I heard the stealthy footsteps of a cold virus and armed myself with zinc lozenges, it was too late. In between sleeping and playing taxi driver for my children, I have done little more than blow my nose over the past 48 hours. I did, however, manage to complete a scrapbooking layout. I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers.com for one of the pages...though I didn't follow it precisely. Which reminds me...a big kudos to my blogging buddy Jamie Harder (http://www.ahappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com/) who was just chosen as a sketch designer for their team! Hooray for you, Jamie!

Matthew has joined the APS swim team this year and this was his second meet. For those who asked...his Mock Trial team took third place at the State Competition! Next year, they plan on going all the way to Nationals :-). He has also managed to maintain a 4.5 GPA and is ranked #1 academically out of 662 freshman...so a big Kudos to Matthew as well as Jamie.

I'm hoping to get back into some sort of creative mode this weekend. I still have lots of thank you cards to make. After that...spring break for Elizabeth and Michelle...which means spring break for me. I hope to read through my new camera book (a parenthetical happening...I almost lost my camera yesterday! When I went to print pictures at Target, I started chatting with a lady there who was also printing pictures. After a 20 minute conversation, I paid for my pictures and left...without my camera! I didn't realize it was missing until about 11:30 PM. Praise the Lord when I went back this morning, someone had turned it in. Whew!) Anyway, I'm also hoping to catch up on some correspondence next week...I've been pretty remiss in that area.

Happy Friday to all~

Marie with a :-)

Mock Trial and ANOTHER magnetic box....

I spent seven hours in the Jefferson County Courthouse yesterday, with my fifteen year old son.
 No, he wasn't in trouble with the law; he was participating in a program called Mock Trial. It is an amazing program that many schools throughout the nation engage in. In the Mock Trial program, high school teams are presented with a fictional (albeit realistic) case that might find itS way into court. The team members need to know all of the facts pertaining to the case for both sides - both defense and prosecution. They then compete against other teams. They have attorneys who work with each team, helping them understand the nuances of the court system. When the teams compete, they do not know beforehand whether they will be defending or prosecuting. Yesterday was the first day of state competitions; Matthew's team had won at regionals and was competing against 22 other teams from around the state. As one judge told them yesterday, "Even if you don't pursue the field of law, the experience you are getting today - standing up in a courtroom, presenting your case and thinking on your feet - well, it will benefit you no matter what direction your life takes." Another attorney, after evaluating their first round, told them "You are doing things today which I didn't do until I was three or four years into practice." While there might be some hyperbole there, I agree that they were gaining incredible experience and were presented with an amazing opportunity. I am grateful for the judges (actual courtroom judges) who gave of their time and talents to listen to the "cases" and teach the young people even more about the way the court system actually works. And I am thankful for the attorneys who participate in this program, giving of their time and money to support these young people. Most of all, I am grateful for "my hero," my husband, who, despite working two jobs right now, arranged his schedule and worked long, difficult hours so that he could be there to support Matthew.
I made this "you are my hero" magnetic box to keep all of the sweet notes and cards from my husband. I used all CTMH products except for the 3 pink sparkles. (which I ended up having to glue on because they don't work nearly as well as the CTMH sparkles...)

Wishing you a beautiful weekend,

Marie with a :-)

Creative Chaos 2, Another wall hanging, craft club

Here's the picture of the "creative chaos" (a little heavy on the chaos side...) that I said I would post. When I am working I tend to just grab stuff and never put anything away until I am finished. Sometimes I look around after completing a card or project and am amazed at the amount of mess I can create in such a short span of time! Today was "craft club" day for my daughters and a couple of their friends. They made magnetic boxes to use as memory boxes.

The day was also full of many unexpected blessings. Josh was working in town so he and a friend came for dinner. He told me he was planning on staying the night since he was working this way again tomorrow. Then he told me that this evening Jacki was going to come over for a visit. Jacki is one of Josh's best friends and has sort of been adopted into the family. I had planned on giving her this photo that I took of the two of them at Christmastime. Josh suggested I do a scrapbook page or something. Problem was, I only had an hour before I was going out for coffee with one of MY best friends. So, after making dinner for Josh and his friend Jerod, I spent about 45 minutes creating this wall hanging for Jacki's apartment. Purple and yellow are two of her favorite colors and I thought they offset the sepia toned photo and went along with the "You color my world" sentiment. When I returned from coffee with my friend, I enjoyed some chat time with Josh and Jacki. Another unexpected blessing of the day was when 3 other friends showed up with a belated birthday gift...an archiver's gift card...hooray!!

I probably won't have time for crafting tomorrow because we'll be spending the day at the Golden Courthouse for Matthew's Mock Trial state competition.

Wishing you blessings,

Marie with a :-)

Magnetic box

There were furtive glances sent my way and a quick crossing to the other side of the trail. No friendly hellos today, and no looking me in the eye. I can't say that I blame them. Here I was, a middle aged woman with disheveled hair, in a bulky fleece sweatshirt, oversized headphones and tears streaming down my face.
I love music; it has a way of reaching into the depths of the soul and touching something that no mere spoken words seem to be able to do. So yes, music alone can make me weepy. Today, however, it wasn't just the words to Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella; it was the e-mail I had glanced at before heading out for my morning walk. K was in the hospital. Two weeks of isolation, the e-mail read. It seems her young, frail body was not fighting the CF well and she was losing weight. My heart sank. I hadn't seen K for nearly 8 months but I could picture her sweet, porcelain face as though it was yesterday.
I'm hoping that Scott and I will be able to go visit her on Sunday. In the meantime, I made a quick Close To My Heart magnetic box for her and will fill it with craft supplies to help occupy her time while she is in the hospital. And I will pray. Not only for precious K and her family, but I will pray Lord, let me never take for granted each moment I have with my precious children.



I used bubblegum and ocean cardstock with a flower punch, window charms , the March SOTM, and the You are Beautiful SS. The sparkles and chipboard K are not CTMH.

cps sketch 106

I had a tough time with this sketch...I tried a couple of different cards and finally settled for this one.

Marie with a :-)

Card box...and more butterflies!

Sigh. Now I've done it. I checked numbers this evening and I have over 400 cards in stock...despite giving away 15 this week. Which means I need to make good on my word to have a card sale. The thought is a scary one for me...what if no one likes my cards? Still, my theme for this year is "fearless" so I am not going to let the fear take control; I will plan it for the first week in April. If it's a success, then I will read the Turning Your Hobby into a Business books that my sister bought for me. If it's a flop...well, at least I will have tried!
By now it is no secret that Silhouette is my favorite paper pack. I made this card box from a magnetic box that has been sitting in my craft room for over a year. I will fill it with cards made from the Silhouette paper :-)

And one more butterfly card! It is very similar to a previously made one, but I liked the arrow versus the window charm and felt the "free spirit" sentiment was a fitting one for this card.

Wishing you a beautiful week,

Marie with a :-)

Cards for the day....

This one reads: Happy Anniversary! on the inside

The inside of this card reads: How much you are loved!

more cards

Today was one of those days where nothing went as I had planned. That includes crafting...I really wanted to start working on a layout (and even printed some pictures!) but after completing a PCP challenge, I really liked the colors I was working with and made several more cards. Now I really need to get myself to bed...the time change will be a challenge for me!

Happy Sunday to you!

Marie with a :-)

Wall hanging - Key to My Heart; Priceless Love SS

I was keeping myself awake until Alyssa got home...and I just heard the door close so I'll quickly post a simple wall hanging I recently completed. It is one of those things that I worked on for five minutes here and five minutes there. I used the Key to My Heart paper pack, Priceless Love stamp set and my Cuttlebug for the die cuts. I also used window charms for the squares (my kids often tell me I have adult ADD and am easily distracted by shiny things...the window charms are one of my favorites for making things shiny :-) ) The pictures are of me and my handsome husband; the tag reads: You color my world. I may add a little more text to it, but tonight I'm tired.

A funny thing happened tonight...Scott and I went to a friend's house to watch Michelle perform (very well I might add :-) ) in a mini debate. While there, one of my new friends from Alatheia went up to Scott and said "I recognize you...wait, I've seen you on a blog somewhere!" Then she came and told me she had met my handsome husband. If I keep posting pictures of him, he may get more of that :-)

Enjoy your weekend!

Marie with a :-)

PS The base for the wall hanging came from the dollar store.

Friend pop-out card

Thursday, March 5, 2009

It was a pretty busy day, but I really did manage to get this card made before midnight...I just had to recharge my camera battery before I could post it!
Today was our homeschool co-op. I teach a middle school writing class and I love it. I have a wonderful bunch of kids and they make it fun. Lately they have been really enthusiastic about writing which makes my heart happy :-)After school, the older two girls talked me into dropping them off at the mall so they could shop for Elizabeth's birthday. While they were shopping, I went and got a much needed haircut.
Then Matthew had his first swim meet. We missed his first heat, which he said he placed last in - it was the 2 meter (8 laps?) We were there for the second one though; he swam the backstroke and would have placed first except he didn't know that he couldn't turn around to touch the end when they finished (they could do that when turning and finishing the lap but not at the end.) So that disqualified him :-( . Still, his team won :-). I thought once my kids got older I would stop getting so teary eye when watching them in an activity such as sports or in a play or even singing in the youth choir...but nope, I'm still just as teary as ever!
Tonight Scott and I watched a 2 hour and 40 minute movie with Jay and Alyssa. It was called The Changeling and it was a pretty sad movie...and a true story. In between dinner and the start of the movie I managed to do most of the work on this card, using Life Delights paper pack, and You Are Beautiful stamp set, as well as a sentiment from the Priceless Love stamp set. I also used the watercolor brush.
I am soooooo hoping to get a layout done this weekend in between a Friday night debate for Michelle, and a Saturday birthday gathering for Elizabeth and church on Sunday. Plus I have a dozen thank you cards to make. (And then there's those little details of feeding my family and laundry...)

Wishing you a wonderful day,
Marie with a :-)

New Camera

My new camera arrived today...nothing fancy; a Canon SD770 that was recommended to me for close up photos. I was pretty excited until I saw how thick the manuel was that came with it...pages and pages of symbols and instructions. My brain went numb just flipping through it. I think I was hoping for a camera that I could simply point and click and voila...photos extrodinaire. It will probably take me months to learn to use!

I wasted quite a bit of time today, rearranging my craft room because a friend gave me a large table to replace the smaller one I had in there. I have way too much stuff!

Well, I didn't do much tonight...it was late when I got home from the commissary and picking Matthew up from swim practice. I did design the simple card that I will use for birthday thank yous and then played around with the camera. I'm really longing for some scrapbooking time!

Here's a card in the making...just playing with the camera to see how "true" the colors turn out.

A shot of one of the dozens of button jars I have...again, just playing with the camera...

Wishing you a wonderful day,

Marie with a :-)

One easy pattern, four quick cards :-)

Most of the supplies used for these are Close To My Heart but there are a few contraband items...

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Box Card by Donna

Friends are one of life's sweetest gifts. Close friends are a real treasure. Donna is one of those kinds of friends; "a jewel" as Linda described her today. We have known each other for about a decade and we've been through happy times and sad times together. Donna is the one who got me started on scrapbooking. When she first tried to coax me, I refused because I had seen her gorgeous work and thought I could never do anything that wonderful. Finally, I gave in and I am loving the world of papercrafting! For my birthday Donna made me this box card. Pretty cool!