{Crazy May}

Oh my! May is here and almost over! I can't believe my last post was 3 weeks ago! May is one of the busiest months in the Nelson house---probably in any house with school aged children! I say every year---"May is as crazy as December without the joy of Christmas"---someone reminded me that I have the joy of summer ahead and this is SOOOOOO true! I love the pace we have in the summer---get up when you wake up (which for me is still too early--but it's not 5:15, so no complaints here!), see what's on the agenda for the day, do it, grill some dinner, hang out after dinner, go to bed. Get up the next day and do it again!!!

Since I've been gone so long, I thought I'd fill you in on what has been going on. I'm sorry I don't have pictures for everything, but the month got away from me. Since my last post we have celebrated Mother's Day, played all of our last soccer games for the season & had the accompanying celebrations afterwards, had an amazing choir concert,
helped with field day, took Joshua and two of his friends to the new LEGO store for a celebration of all things LEGO, taken my students to sing at a retirement community (where I forgot my music in the classroom---but that's another story) & then to Cici's---children can consume LOTS of pizza, had an SAT test, AP tests, watched as Hannah took part in the Capital Awards, went to the Sports and Academic awards ceremonies, had Baccalaureate dinner and service, two graduations, Mother's Day, finals for both my girls (fortunately all I had to do was pray---SOOOO glad those days are over for me!) celebrated my oldest daughter's 20th birthday,

made some note cards for Caitlin to give to her boyfriend's mom (which were pretty cute, if I do say so myself--but I didn't have time to photograph them),
finished teaching for the year (I have a work week next week, but students are gone) and am in the THIRD day of cleaning Hannah's room while she is off on her class trip to Charleston with Habitat for Humanity. OK---yes, I said THIRD day---it's mostly picked up now, but I need to finish that and vacuum, etc. And that's all I'll say about that---so she won't kill me when she reads this!

As I got up this morning I heard Joshua coughing and he came out & isn't feeling great---can you believe this sweet boy did not miss ONE DAY OF SCHOOL THIS WHOLE YEAR, but he may miss the Grand Opening of the LEGO store (where there will be a Brick Master building a giant YODA in the middle of the mall---and kids get to help him) because he may be sick. That just stinks!!! I'm going to see how he feels after awhile---hopefully it's just allergies from stirring up all the dust in the room next door to his---'nuff said. :)

OK---I sent my camera off to Charleston with Hannah, so I can't photograph anything, but I do have one card to share that was in my "archives"---ha!! I had planned to take pictures all along the way while cleaning her room, but she does have my camera---I had hoped to find hers in the.....uh....rubble while I was in there, but it hasn't turned up yet, so just imagine what it might have looked like if I'm on Day 3. Some of you have NO WAY of imagining this because your child doesn't have a room like this (yet)---some of you know exactly what I mean....did I already say " 'nuff said'?"

OK---if you have stuck it out this far you are SOOOOOO sweet---here's the card I mentioned. Joshua had a birthday party last Saturday for a friend, so I made this card up Friday night---really quick---LOVE the quick cards!






Here are the details:

Stamps: In the Stars (SU!)
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dots Basics patterned paper
Ink: Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf (PTI)
Accessories: Pure Poppy & New Leaf Vintage Buttons, Yellow Buttons are Foofala buttons, Essential Glue Pad, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (SU!), Glue dots to attach buttons






Here are a couple more pictures from Caitlin's birthday! Do all eight year old boys thing the bunny ears thing is funny---who started that anyway? Also, notice the 4th person hiding in the background to the right of Carson's ear!

Here's the dessert we had for Caitlin's party---she loves Key Lime pie and this is the best one I've ever tasted. It's from Winston's Grille here in Raleigh---if you live in the area, you should try it sometime.
Thanks for stopping by---I keep hoping to stamp---maybe after the LEGO thing---we are going to try it--he seems fine now! Have a great day~

{Mother's Day gift}

Good evening! I thought I'd show you my Mother's Day gift today. We gave it to my mom last night because she and my dad are heading overseas in a few days, so we couldn't celebrate on Sunday. I totally CASED this idea from Dawn McVey (surprise, surprise). She made a jar of memories for her mother for Mother's Day. I just loved the idea of a memory jar that my mom could grab memories from, so here's my take on it. This gift is right up my alley, so I asked my sisters to do this with me, so the gift was from all three of us. We put together memories we had of our mom---from when we were kids until now. Some were funny, some very heartfelt. I typed them up in a WORD document and then printed them out---about three to a page. I tied the ribbons---I did knots, not bows like Dawn---I rolled the paper and put the ribbon around them. (I bought the ribbon at Michael's it's HALF PRICE this week) . Check out Dawn's post for details--her highlighter tip was such a good one.

The details are below, but here are a few things I did. I bought the jar at Target---I liked the brushed silver---my mom has this in her kitchen, so I thought she could put this up on the counter. I used some Cosmo Cricket Thursday paper from the Girl Friday collection. Then I made a label for the front. I used the large tulip from the Make a Wish set. The letters were made using Fresh Alphabet & Simple Alphabet. I added the little dragon flies and buttons---it HAD to have some buttons!



The tag used Scattered Showers with Ocean Tides ink. I added the Tiny Twinkles on the polka dots of the umbrella. I love that sentiment that Dawn put in this set---"wishing you showers of blessings"! The tag itself is actually a top note die cut out of Sweet Blush cardstock. I punched a hole with my slot punch and tied it on to the handle of the top. This is a gift that was really quick to put together, so if you haven't done a gift yet it's not too late. My mom was so touched by the gift---more than usual, I think. As a mom, I know how great it would be to hear my children tell me some of their favorite memories~make one for your mama---she'll love it! Have a great day~



Mama's Memories jar:
Stamps: Fresh Alphabet, Simple Alphabet, Scattered Showers, Make a Wish (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Thursday from Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket). Sweet Blush, Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado cardstock (PTI)
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Spring Rain, Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU!)
Accessories/Tools: Flower Border Punch (Fiskars), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Top Note Die, Hemp Twine, Linen Thread (SU!), Vintage buttons-various colors (PTI), Various ribbons-Michael's, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles (Taylored Expressions)

{Thinking of you}

We had some serious thunderstorms here last night---so I thought I'd use that as an excuse for another umbrella card! I'm pitiful, I know---

I used my first piece of Smokey Shadow cardstock for this quick card. Don't you love that color? This photo isn't my best one ever, but I think you can see how rich that grey is. I used Polka Dot Basics in Fresh Snow ink to stamp the background on the card. I love that so many of the stamp sets at Papertrey coordinate together. Yeah, uh, that's why I need to buy more...because they work together---uh, and then you will use them more.....and that means you are getting a lot for your money....yeah, that's it!

Details are below! I'm off to finish my Mother's Day gift~I hope you have a great day!

Kathleen



Scattered Showers Thinking of You:
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Polka Dot Basics
Paper: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White
Ink: Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow, Fresh Snow
Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing folder, Threading water punch, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Stickles, Pure Poppy Satin ribbon, Corner Rounder

{Loving this umbrella}

I am soooo in love with Scattered Showers by Dawn McVey!!! If you are a reader, you've probably seen more than you want to! I sent this card to one of my best friends last week----so I can post it now. She's my faithful reader---since the very first day!!! I really love this color combo---New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst and Black & White. Such a fun combo, I think!

This is much like another card I showed you last week. This layout was inspired by a card on this post on Dawn's blog. I really like it~

I think you can figure out what I did---let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping by. We are in the throws of May---I've said before, May is like December without the joy of Christmas!!! It's just CRAZY around here!! Hannah took the SAT last Saturday, has AP's this week and then finals and SAT Subject Tests, class trip---not to mention all the end of the year concerts and performances----And that is just ONE child!! Thank goodness Joshua is only 8!! I hope you are able to rest this month.

Connie's Scattered Showers:
Stamps: Everyday Classics, Scattered Showers
Paper: Hibiscus Burst, New Leaf, SS White cardstocks, Black & White Basics Patterned Paper (PTI)
Ink: Hibiscus Burst (PTI), Pallette Noir
Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Top Note Die, Linen Thread, corner rounder (SU!), Foof-a-la buttons, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles (Taylored Expressions), Hibiscus Burst Bitty Dot ribbon

A Sketch Challenge

I went to a baby shower yesterday morning---one I had known about for at least three weeks, but I had just gone to get the gift the day before and I still needed a card to put with it at 7:30 in the morning----WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? I think I should cultivate a change in my life in this area---remember, cultivate is my word for the year---this would be a GREAT change for me to make....I must do this.....pardon me while I use my blog as a personal therapist!!

OK---to the card! I used Jen DelMuro's Sketch for You to Try from last Saturday. I always love her sketches, and since I was in a hurry (but you already know more about that than you want to) I thought it would be a quick start for me. I started out with Spring Rain cardstock---I'm a bit frustrated with my Spring Rain ink pad---it's not blue. I've done everything to it that I'm supposed to for it to "work" and it still isn't the right color.....anyway, I couldn't use any blue ink, so I pulled in a piece of patterned paper with colors that I knew weren't a problem.I stamped the little boat from Men of Life and added a button detail---it really was pretty fast and was just the theme I wanted. The details are below! Have a great day~

SFYTT baby:
Stamps: Men of Life, Scattered Showers (PTI)
Paper: Spring Rain, Ripe Avocado, SS White, Men of Life patterned paper (PTI)
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate
Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing folder (Provocraft), Double Ended tags (Spellbinders), Foof-a-la button, Hemp Twine, dimensionals (SU!), Fresh Snow grosgrain ribbon (PTI)