Sunday, November 28, 2010

My little Tough Mudder

Hello blogland!
Last week I told you about my daughter participating in her second Tough Mudder event that raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project.  It's was a 12+ mile course that involved water, mud, more water, more mud, running through fire, more mud and live electric wires.  This is her before picture when she was pumped up and all set to go:


And this is my little Tough Mudder after 5 hours of walking, running, swimming, climbing, carrying and crawling...and lots of mud!


She was determined to finish, and I'm so proud of her!  And I hope she's learned her lesson about playing in the mud - it's more fun in the spring when it's 70 degrees outside then in the fall when it's 50 degrees :)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Embossing Christmas Cards

Hello blogland!  Thanksgiving is over, the leftovers are eaten, and it's time to get ready for CHRISTMAS!  Oh my...less than a month away.  So today I spent a little time playing with some new embossing powders from Lindy's Stamp Gang and oh-what-fun! I bought the "Snowdrift" set and the colors are very soft and shimmery.

For this little card, I used DCWV cardstock for the background, a prima pointsettia and a Flourish stamp for this card and the Angel Wings Ruby embossing power from Lindy's Stamp Gang. Bad picture, but cute card.


I used another Flourish stamp for this card along with some DCWV paper, Stampin' Up ribbon and Silver Moon Sapphire embossing powder for this little card.


I wanted to try something different with this card - I embossed the white cardstock with a Sizzix snowflake embossing folder, white Zing embossing powder and another Flourishes stamp on black cardstock, mounted on some DCWV Christmas paper and finished off with some red and silver ribbon.

Don't forget to check out the sale going on this weekend at Lindy's Stamp Gang

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Oh so thankful...

Hello blogland -
I'm thankful, are you? In no particular order,
I'm thankful that I'll have my family around me tomorrow. 
I'm thankful my mother is doing all the cooking tomorrow (tried to talk her out of her, but that's what makes her happy)
I'm thankful we'll have a table full of food (and more food, and more food).
I'm thankful the apple pies I just took out of the oven look just like the ones in the cookbook.
I'm thankful I have a roof over my head.  And heat.  And lights. 
I'm thankful my husband still has a job after 39 years.
I'm thankful my children still have 3 grandparents to share their lives with.
I'm thankful they have many years of happy memories of their Pop-Pop.
I'm thankful I have a craft room full of gadgets and gizmos and stamps and paper (oh yeah...)
I'm thankful my daughters are healthy, happy and finding their way in life (and that their orthodonture and college loans are paid off)
I love my husband and he loves me, and I'm thankful for that.
There aren't enough pages to write all that I'm thankful for, but this will have to do for now.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh yeah, I'm thankful I get to watch "March of the Wooden Soldiers" tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

One last valentine card

Hello blog land! I hope you enjoyed the Be My Valentine blog hop on Saturday -  I'm glad so many new visitors stopped by and left some love. 

As I was boxing up all the valentine cards I made to send off to one of the OWH shippers, I found a few more scraps left on my desk, so I made just one more.

The images were cut from a piece of EK Success cardstock and popped up for dimension; the base cardstock is from the DCWV Christmas stack.  Easy peasy.

Now to finish getting my list together for Thanksgiving baking.  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Be My Valentine Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my little spot in the blog hop!  If you've come here as part of the Be My Valentine blog hop from Operation Write Home, you're in the right spot.  You should have arrived here Lee’s blog. If you get lost along the way or hit a bad link, remember you can always go back to the start page at OWH where the participating blogs are linked in a neat list.


Have you voted in the Craft for a Cause 2010 contest sponsored by Jo-Ann's yet today?  If not, please go HERE and vote for Operation Write Home.

For the past few weeks as I've been working on Valentine's cards, I've been thinking how my father would have loved to be able to send cards like these home to his family when he was in the Army in 1940s.  He was the youngest child of Hungarian immigrants who had four of their sons in the Army and Navy at the same time, and they often wrote home to their parents, but I'm sure they never had cards like these available! 

So it was with my sweet Dad and Uncles in mind that I made these cards.  I cranked up a few of my Rod Stewart 'Great American Songbook' CDs to keep me in a lovey dovey mood and went to town.....



I used a Greeting Farm digital image for this card, colored it with some Copic markers, layered it with some DCWV cardstock and embellished it with a Stampin' Up button and twine.  I hope it makes someone's sweetheart smile :)



I cut the silhoutette images and sentiment from my Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge, and the border was made from an EK Success punch.  I wanted to keep the card as simple as I could so there was as much writing space as possible.


For this card, I let the paper be the entire design - I used cardstock from a DCWV stack and mulberry flowers painted with Magical Mica powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang.  


I love this little digi image - I colored it with some Copics, used some non-traditional Valentine colors of DCWV cardstock and added some sheer white ribbon and purple bling. 


For these last two little cards, I used the Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge again for the kisses and hugs and more DCWV cardstock.

I made plenty more, but you've got to visit more blogs on the hop!  Please consider making some cards for our troops - the Christmas card deadline has passed, but you have until January 7th to make and send Valentine's Day cards.  But if you can make and send them before December 1, Archway Cookies will donate cases and cases of cookies for the troops!  Go HERE for all the details on Operation Write Home. 

Thanks for stopping by! Click here to go to your next stop on the hop -  the very talented

Friday, November 12, 2010

Can't wait for Be My Valentine blog hop tomorrow!

Hello blog land and happy Friday!  I had a great day today - it was in the 60s in NJ today and I took advantage of it by doing a little yard work then making some homemade applesauce....yum!  When that was done I did a little stamping and coloring. 


This is the cutest little bear digi - just colored with some Copics and layered on some DCWV cardstock.


And this little bear - just colored with Copics, layered a DCWV cardstock and the daisys were punched with an EK Success border punch.  Plain and simple.

I'm really looking forward to the Operation Write Home Be My Valentine blog hop tomorrow - there are over 100 very talented bloggers set to participate and I'm right in the middle of the pack.  Be sure to join us - HERE's where you start.  See you tomorrow!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Honoring all who served..we can never thank them enough

Love your freedom?  Thank a veteran.....honor all who served and those that serve them.  'Nuff said. 

My Dad

Daughter #3 - American Legion Marching Band Post #263

Daughter #2 after finishing a 7+ mile Tough Mudder event to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Scrap cards

Hello blog land.....today I've been working on finishing up my cards for Operation Write Home's Be My Valentine blog hop this Saturday November 13, and it was time to clean up the mess on my desk.  I save my scraps and I love making scrap cards, so while I was waiting for my last load of laundry to finish up, I made a few cards to share today:

I cut these little cupids from my Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge and popped him up on some DCWV paper from the Garden Party stack and added two Stampin' UP buttons tied on twine.

I used some Stampin' Up Really Red cardstock for the base, layered with a scrap of K&Co. paper which was trimmed with an EK Success scallop border punch, and a Unity stamp which has a spot for someone's initials, a Making Memories brad and some twine finished up this card. 

This card has some DCWV cardstock from the Old World stack for the bottom layers along with two digital images colored with some Copic markers.

Well, there are a few stray cupids left on my desk, but otherwise it's pretty clean.  Tomorrow is back to finishing up my own Christmas cards and tags.  I am determined to be finished before Thanksgiving this year....said she once again :)  Be sure to stop back on Saturday to see my finished Valentine cards.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Operation Write Home needs everyone's help!


Operation Write Home made it in the top three in Joanns contest Craft for a Cause and now they need everyone's help. O.W.H is up against two wonderful organizations - the American Cancer Society and Project Linus who do such great work....but OWH needs to win this one for our heroes! Please go HERE to vote everyday until December 4th.



Now that voting's underway, here is more about how it seems to be working:

  • It's effectively one vote per household; they're blocking IP addresses from voting more than once to prevent fraud. That means all your home computers count for ONE vote, since they all log onto the internet through the same IP address. Send your hubby to work with the url, and your cardmaking child can use their phone if it's not using the home's internet connection. Just make sure everyone's voting just once.
  • Wait a full 24 hours before voting again. Even if trying from your work computer, you'll be blocked from voting if it hasn't been a full 24 hours. That means vote at the same time each day to maximize the number of votes you can cast all month long!
About Operation Write Home

Operation Write Home began in 2007 with just a few cards made by friends on a message board; what began as an outlet for a hobby has become a much larger mission to help heroes keep in touch with home - and the effort has been joined by thousands of cardmakers!


OWH receives handmade cards donated by crafters across America (and beyond!). Cardmakers range in age, location, and level of skill; cards are provided by individuals and groups, schools and scouts, companies and churches. All have one primary thing in common: a desire to serve those who defend our nation!

Cards are mailed to one of our volunteer shippers in quanities both small and large. The shippers process, sort, repair, and document each donation, and then pack and ship boxes of over 300 cards each to our contacts. Our heroes request cards (families may also request on their behalf; we serve all branches in all deployed locations.


Please support this great organization by VOTING for Operation Write Home every day.  Thank You!!

Friday, November 5, 2010

'I Am Roses' and 'Lindy's Stamp Gang' - perfect together :)


Hello blogland - even though I should have been working on more Valentine cards for the Operation Write Home "Be My Valentine" blog hop next weekend, I wanted to play with some products I just bought from  from Lindy's Stamp Gang  and I Am Roses .  Holy cow.... I'm in big trouble..... I'm hooked!  From Lindy's Stamp Gang I bought a set of Starburst Stains and a set of Magical Micas that I wanted to use to color some mulberry flowers from I Am Roses



These two products work GREAT together!  There have been lots of videos on YouTube on how to do this and I wanted to try making some of my own.


The Magical Micas were so easy to use - only a water brush and a paper towel needed.  When the flowers are dry they have a pretty glimmer to them, not a glitter.  I'll post a picture of the finished flowers tomorrow...I can't believe I just deleted the one I took earlier today and I'm just too pooped to go back down to my craftroom and take another.  But if you're looking for a good source of mulberry flowers, go check out I Am Roses - the quality is excellent, the shipping is fast (all the way from Thailand to NJ took only one week), and the selection of colors and sizes and styles are endless.  The flowers are so similar to Prima but the prices are so much lower.  Now I'm heading back to Lindy's Stamp Gang to place another order.  This is going to be trouble.....

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Valentine's everywhere!

I'm so confused.....for the past few days I've been working on my cards for the Operation Write Home "Be My Valentine" Blog Hop so I had to break out my Valentine's papers and stamps.  But last week I was working on my own Christmas cards.  Yesterday I was taking down and putting away the Halloween decorations and taking out the Thanksgiving stuff.  What season is it???  Here's a quick picture of my scrap desk today - red hearts  and cupids everywhere!


I had fun cutting hearts and cupids from several Cricut cartridges and hunted through a ton of digital images to color tomorrow.  Check out the Operation Write Home link above and join the blog hop on November 13th.  Well, back to my desk..enjoy the rest of your day!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

My daughter is one Tough Mudder

Hello blogland! Here's a little something different for 'ya today...this past May, my daughter Amy participated in the first Tough Mudder event which raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project.  She had never done anything like this before, and I gave her a lot of credit for wanting to participate in this 7+ mile obstacle course with 5,000 participants at a ski resort in PA. Not only did she finish, she did it in 3 hours and 25 minutes.

She had mud in places that mud wasn't meant to go! It took 2 showers, 3 baths, and a whole bottle of shower gel to get her clean again.  She walked a little funny for a few days, but she didn't mind - she finished, had fun and raised some money for a very worthy cause.


Well, my kid didn't learn her lesson the first time about playing in the mud and will be doing another Tough Mudder on November 20 - but this time she's got a team of friends doing it with her.  This course is approximately 12 miles long with 20,000 participants - it will be wetter, muddier and it will be November.  'Nuff said?  She's been training so hard for this and I'm supporting her all the way......but I'm still not sure if I'm tough enough to watch it this time.

For more information please see the links above, or if you'd like to make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project, please visit Amy's donation page here.  She's nursing a bad cold today, so I'm headed back to the kitchen to finish up a big pot of chicken soup for my little mud player.