{Nestabilities in the House}

Yep----I just got some in the mail yesterday, so I'm going to try them out----if you don't hear from me for a week it's because I broke something and I'm too humiliated to tell you. Hopefully I'll have a card or something to show you soon. I bought the square ones first because they were in stock. I then found out they were out of stock but still got them in less than a week.

I ordered them from Cut@Home----they offer a monthly 40% coupon off of one item. I didn't need to buy them all at once anyway, so I'm getting them a month at a time---but, hey, I'm getting them! They do only give you the 40% off the list price, which is $84.99, but you are still getting the whole set (26 or 20-depending on the size-dies in each shape) for around $51---that's a good deal. I do feel a loyalty to a couple of other online stamping stores out there, but when I can save almost $30 a set, I'm going to. Even paying the $6 shipping I'm still saving money.

I got this tip from this blog post on this wonderful blog, Stampin' Pretty . Well, I'm going for now---I hope you have a great day and I hope to post a lovely something soon!

Hugs~
Kathleen

{Jen's "Sketch For You To Try"}

Again, I have stalked Jen DelMuro's blog for awhile now and finally decided to try my hand at one of her Saturday Sketches. I did it on Monday----that's OK, right?! I am posting tonight because I don't want to have a repeat of this morning's fiasco with my computer in the morning. As soon as I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to use this paper. This entire paper pack was at the bottom of my stack and had NEVER BEEN OPENED......how does that happen? Does Basic Grey even carry "Scarlet's Letter" anymore? Anyway, as I was layering all this beautiful paper I realized........I really don't have a stamp that will go with this paper---somehow frogs and crabs and cutesy flowers just didn't fit the paper. I pulled out one of the first sets that I got and put it to work---Garden Collage. It was a Sell-A-Bration set in 2005---I can't believe it's been that long! Again....I'm not a great colorer....I think I have just decided that I MUST have some Copic markers, because it couldn't be that my skills are that bad---I just don't have the right tools, right? But, I used my blender pen again---still can't make that silly aquapainter work, but I'll keep working at it--I sponged the whole focal point with Creamy Caramel ink.....this also helps with the less than perfect coloring! I lined the envelope, but I'm not sure if you can really tell from the picture. It's over on the left. The picture is still a little dark, but I'm working on it!

Here's the card--Enjoy~

I hope your Tuesday is a blessed one~but really, isn't everyday a blessed day if we are still in it? Perhaps I should rethink that "signature"---I think I've been married to my "thinking" husband so long that he's rubbing off on me!
Hugs~
Kathleen



Recipe:
Stamps:Garden Collage
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Grey's Scarlet's Letter: Rapture, Among the Ruins, Night, Recognition
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown (my black is missing in action---I must find it, or purchase another one! I have SU! Basic Black, but I didn't think it would work well with the blender pens. Ruby Red, Real Red, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Going Grey, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, River Rock
Accessories:Blender Pens, Vintage Brads-black, 5'8" red ribbon, paper piercer and Mat Pack to punch holes for brads

{Taylor's Cupcake Challenge}

Numerous times over the months that I have been blog stalking I have read that people have written entire blog entries (usually long ones) only to have some strange computer happening occur and they lose all their work---well, that was me today! I was so excited to share my card with you today and I really wanted to do it before I left for my teacher workday today. Here's why: (If you don't care about the blah, blah, blah, just skip down to the picture, I'm sure I'll get it to upload eventually!!!)
I LOVE Taylor VanBruggen's blog Taylored Expressions. She is so creative and has a great eye for color and layout. As I've said in the past I'm trying to do more sketch challenges and this week's Cupcake Challenge was just that. Every Friday, Taylor issues a "cupcake challenge" and I decided it was time for me to go for it. I was to use her sketch and post a link on her site or at SCS. Well, I finished last night, & took photos this morning. It was really rainy & dark this morning (I LOVE rain, but my camera doesn't) and the pictures weren't very good---enter Photoshop Elements. NOW, I'm perfectly willing to admit that I'm a total Elements novice, but I have, in the past, been able to successfully edit a photo to make it more presentable............that is, until today. I spent at least 45 minutes (or more) in the wee hours of the morning to get this post up by the appropriate time to be entered into a "random drawing" that Taylor was having---I must say, I didn't really care that much about the drawing, but I loved my card and I wanted someone else to love it, too!!! So, I edited the pictures---they looked great, but three times, THREE TIMES, when I went to save them, an error message came up and the program immediately shut down. When I brought it back up---no pictures! (Now, I know a few of you are thinking, "you did it THREE TIMES?, but I'm stubborn and technologically challenged.) SOOOOO, I finally had to leave for work (this was the moment that I had to laugh that I was going to let this addiction that I have keep me from performing my actual paying job well-----I wasn't willing to do that, just yet, so I left for work. I thought to myself, "Well, I'll get the card up late, but at least all I have to do when I get home is redo the photos and add them to the post and it will be up----better late than never"---But, uh, did I mention that we had rain today? STORMS, even? Yes, you guessed it---the computer went off in a quick blip of the electricity so I lost the post, too! Now, I know some of you are thinking---"MAN, I wish she hadn't because I'd already be through this blah, blah, blah and on to the card." It actually was a VERY short post because I was in a hurry to get to my real job!
SOOOOOOO, here's the card---still not edited well---I had to use the photos I took with a flash because the others are just too dark, and these are a little over exposed. I also wasn't willing to risk cropping and losing it again. I'll try that on a day when I have a little more patience and time! Imagine that someone edited them beautifully! Thanks for listening to the rambling! I'll try to be brief next time! (for those of you who know me, you know I may be stretching the truth a little !)
I know this is almost a total CASE of Taylor's card, but I wanted to use cupcakes and I HAD to use this paper because I thought it went so well with the D'Vine Swirl Cuttlebug Embossing Folder that I got for my birthday---thus the pink and green. AND, I still have a hard time knowing how "outside the box" I can be on a sketch challenge, so---the CASED card. I had fun with this one---I know the paper is older, but I do love it and I'm still trying to use what I have instead of buying a bunch of new stuff. *GASP*

I used Dazzling Diamonds on the cupcakes---here's a close up. Thanks again for listening---the recipe is below.

I hope you had a very BLESSED Monday~
Kathleen










Recipe:
Stamps: Studio G, PTI Borders & Corners Monogram Edition
Paper: Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom, Vellum cardstock (on cupcake liners) Basic Grey Romani-Migration DP
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown, Blush Blossom & Certainly Celery
Accessories: Blender Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, 2 way Glue, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/2" circle punch, 5/8" ribbon, D'Vine Swirl CB Folder

{Joshua scored a goal}

Whoo-hoo!!! We had a soccer game yesterday---remember I told you that 7 year old soccer is a blast---it is---and, oh, it can be frustrating, too.........when you are standing there watching someone on "your team" kick the ball way down the field, but the rest of "your team" is just standing back at the other end of the field watching the ball go down the field while all the "other team"-- follow the ball and turn it back "up field" to their goal----yep, it can be frustrating, too. BUT, when I watch the game and remember that the CASL motto is "remember, it's just a game" and we aren't competing for the World Cup---it's a ton of fun! Now, don't get me wrong, CASL has some very competitive teams and sends students to Colleges with major scholarships every year.....but that being said, we are just SEVEN!!!

Here's how the goal happened. Joshua was just past the mid-field line (PLEASE don't write me and tell me how improper my soccer language is---I KNOW---but I'm refusing to learn too much until I have to!) and he saw the ball coming toward him---he backed up and gave it a lovely kick (as far as I know, his technique was flawless!!) sent it rolling (I'd love to say it was flying through the air and straight into the back of the net---but, alas, it didn't happen like that!). It was the defenders turn to just hang around at the other end of the field and the ball just rolled right into the goal! It was so exciting! It's only his second goal this year. He really prefers to play defense, but the coaches make you play all positions at this point. After the goal, one of the players came running up to him to congratulate him and he acted like "Hey, I do this every day", ---Mr. Cool, but then you saw the HUGE smile on his face when he looked at the sidelines---Of course, the parents on our team are so encouraging and they were going crazy! It was a moment to remember---

OF COURSE, since I'm out of the running for Mother of the Year anyway, (see this post) I didn't have my camera with me, but here are a few pictures of him and some of his teammates from another game. When I go to games like this--even when he doesn't score (which is most of them), I'm just reminded that LIFE IS GOOD! I hope you are having a great Sunday, that a nap overtakes you and you are able to do something you love today!

This is my favorite pic so far...he'll hate me for it someday, but it's a classic---he's the one with the creeping shorts.....if you know what I mean!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

{My first Cuttlebug card}

Well--it took me a week, but I finally pulled out my Cuttlebug and put it to work. I was shocked at how easy it was---I used the Stylized Flowers Embossing Folder and put a piece of scrap paper in it---literally just one that was sitting on my desk and voila, I had a lovely piece of embossed paper that looked like I had spent the morning embossing.



I was so excited I had to take a picture of it---it's kraft paper (SU!) and it's really nothing exciting, but I was THRILLED!! (I'm easily amused!) I put together a card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge with it---you know I HAD to use it---just to say it was my "first"!!

The sketch this week was simple and provided so many opportunities---I'm still trying to color with my watercolor paper and SU ink---my aquapainter just gets water EVERYWHERE---is it supposed to do that? I just don't know. I need to ask someone. It frustrates me, so I finally trashed the first one and just used my blender pen---the "heart" in the picture has WAY too much ink, but I just finally left it--again, I'm still learning....this does make me re-think the idea of buying Copic markers---what if I can't make them work either? Enough blah, blah, blah---

Here's the card--- It's just a 5.5 x 4.25 card--nothing special--the recipe is below. David is at a conference this weekend and then he is headed to see his Mom. She isn't well. Please pray that it will be a sweet visit....too long of a story to share here. I have nothing special planned, so I'm hoping to get a lot of stamping done....but that always seems to change once the kids are home! Enjoy your weekend. I hope to be back with some other Cuttlebug Cuties!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

Recipe:
Stamps: Merci (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Watercolor Paper--all SU!
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Going Grey
Accessories: Stylized Flowers Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug, Blender Pen, SU! Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, 5/8" Ribbon, 2 way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

{A quick card}

This is just a quick post---I mentioned yesterday that I had been to a bridal shower on Saturday morning. What a blessing it was to see ladies "showering" the bride with gifts to fill her new home with her husband. I truly love this part of our culture. I remember giving a baby shower for a girl from England several years ago and she commented that people over there don't do this----now they may do it now, but they didn't at the time. What a sweet tradition it is to help a couple start out in their new life together.

I only had a few minutes for a card and this is what I came up with---I had started to use Beate's Sketch, but I messed it up, so it's a similar sketch, but not quite right! I used more Target dollar spot paper---I really don't use that very often, but I have lately. I would have used Basic Grey paper if I had some, but I don't yet---the Going Grey just didn't seem right. I'm off to a soccer game in a few minutes---ETA: We won, by the way, so that was fun---we stood in the rain for over half the game, so that wasn't fun, but we made a memory!!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

Recipe:
Stamps: Studio G stamps from Michael's dollar bin
Paper: Blush Blossom, Whisper White, & Basic Black CS, Target dollar Spot designer paper--wedding
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Yellow Marvy Uchida Scallop Square punch, Creative Memories Square punch, Marvy Uchida Blue Circle Punch, Grey Organdy Ribbon from Wal-Mart---only a scrap left, I don't know the brand--sorry!, SU! Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Blush Blossom marker

{One Sweet Baby}

Isn't he beautiful? Nope, he's not mine----he belongs to Hannah's Soccer coach and his wife---baby Ian. He's precious. My oldest daughter babysits him every Thursday and sometimes other days---He is such a pleasant child. Since Caitlin is in College and the dorm room isn't always the safest place for a baby, she keeps him at our house sometimes. Last week he was over and I snapped some pictures of him---I have SOOOO many, but I thought it might be a bit much to put 10 pictures up of someone else's baby!!!

Ian's daddy, Coach Woody---as everyone calls him---is a great man. Hannah actually decided to play soccer again this year just to be on HIS team---Last school year, he led both the Trinity Academy of Raleigh's boys and the girls soccer teams to win the State Championship---that's pretty amazing! More than being an excellent coach, Woody is a godly man who teaches his players to be good sports to the Glory of the Lord~THESE are lessons they will carry with them forever.

Here's Coach Woody with Hannah during a game last week. He loves what he does and is really excellent with the kids. The team is ranked #1 in the state again this year---which means everyone is trying to beat them! I don't know if they'll make it again, but we'll be there cheering them on as far as they go!






Hannah plays defense---I don't know much about soccer---sadly, so I can't tell you specifically what position she plays, but I know it's defense!!! I've begun to love the game (but don't tell anyone!)

Just had to share what keeps me busy this Spring---maybe some pictures of Joshua's soccer next week sometime---7 year olds playing soccer----now there's something to cheer about!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen