Update to the hop!

First of all, I hope you have had a fantastic weekend thus far.

For anyone trying to hop along and coming to an abrupt halt, not to worry, it is all fixed now. I just want to mention that the hop has been extended! You now have until Dec 6 to visit all of our blogs and complete challenges for additional prizes over at sketches4all! Awesome! Find my blog hop post here!

Have a great Sunday, I am madly prepping for my daughter's 11th bitrthday party this afternoon, then my son's 3rd birthday party tomorrow night :/ Fun, fun! Probably won't be back in bloggy land until Wednesday, as Patryk's actual birthday, Tuesday, has about a bazillion appointments! Why do I do this to myself?

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby, it's cold outside!

In the middle of cleaning house for the swarm of tween girls coming tomorrow for Andraia's party. Ugh. If Rileigh didn't have basketball this morning, I would probably already be done :/

I convinced hubby to put up the Christmas tree last night though, which is probably why I felt extra cold outside this morning...something about seeing it put up makes the cold winter-like temps feel colder. A subliminal sign of winter? I don't know. I'm just weird like that.

Just thought I'd post a quick reminder for all of you to participate in the blog hop going on at s4a.

Here is the original post, get hopping for some yummy Echo Park (and a gazillion other prizes!) The hop ends on Sunday, but the challenges go all week long, most with an RAK involved. What are you waiting for? Get hoppin'! For me, it is off to vacuum and mop. Why bother, when the girls are just going to make a big mess tomorrow, right? Because my OCD says so! Have a great day!

Colorful Creations Salute Our Veterans Challenge

***If you are here for the blog hop, click here to get to the post.***

I was able to complete this earlier today, surprisingly! I'm still trying to clean the house in preparation for 2 birthday parties in a row and Christmas. With 3 kids, there is a LOT of stuff to part with for all of the stuff that will be making its' way into the house on the big day!

This is for the Salute Our Veterans Challenge at the Colorful Creations blog, a page featuring my great uncle Arthur of the Air Force. He was a mechanic and traveled a bit before being honorably discharged. The discharge paper is in the little pocket I made on the page, the address on the front of the pocket is cut from the envelope the papers were in. What a special thing, to have these papers to include with his portrait from the late 1950's!

The paper is all from the Old Towne Tavern collection from The Paper Loft. I love the rich colors of these papers. I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser to add to the antique feel of the layout. Title is dear lizzie glitter Thickers. MM gold star brads.

TFL, and don't forget to hop along in the sketches4all blog hop...Echo Park up for grabs!

Happy post-turkey day, a birthday, and the s4a anniversary blog hop!

What a crazy busy week it has been, I hope all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving were able to stuff yourselves silly with all sorts of good food. I know I sure did! I made a delicious pie and brought it to my mom's house. She is an ER nurse, so she gets every other Thanksgiving off, and this was one of those years. I just love when she cooks, it's a comfort thing. Growing up, she did almost all of the Thanksgivings, so her food is what I crave this time of year. It's always sad when she has to work, I just can't seem to recreate her potato heaven (yes, they are the creamiest most delicious mashed potatoes one will EVER eat.)

I'd also like to wish a very happy 11th birthday to my Andraia. She is growing up so fast, and I am so proud of the sweet, kind girl she has become. How many people can say that their 11 year old genuinely believes in Santa? Well, I can! It amazes me...her innocence has lasted, let's hope it remains for a few more years at least! Nothing big planned for today, as her big party is on Sunday. (Did I mention my son turns 3 on Tuesday, and his party is Monday night? That I have time for anything else amazes me! My mind is churning with to-do lists!)

Ok, ok...I know why you are really truly here. It's blog hop time! Before you read on too far, make sure that you have started at Melissa Pablo's blog! If I am your 10th stop, then you are all good! If not, click the link to her blog above to start from the beginning.

I have had the honor of designing for Sketches4All for half a year now. I love the friendly community, the inspiration the gallery provides, contests, challenges, and amazing sketches. Are you a member? You should join us! There's always a prize being offered up by someone, and there are some great ideas all over the site!

So here's the sketch the DT had to work with:

...and my take on it:

This is my middle child, Rileigh, on the Polar Express. It is an honor to be able to take this trip, as there is a lottery process involved to obtain tickets. One can try each year and never get a chance to ride the train to the "North Pole," which is so magical. I remember when we took this trip, it was -20 degrees and Patryk was only a couple of weeks old. We couldn't pass up the trip, so we bundled him up in a bazillion layers. I'm glad we did, I know I'll never forget it! The kids (yes, even Patryk) all received a bell from Santa's sleigh, which looked just like the bells the children receive in the book/movie. I used My Mind's Eye Be Merry glittery papers for the background and word paper. The striped paper and hot cocoa paper are KI Alpine, cut from the multi-stripe paper. You can't really tell in the photos, but the KI paper is shimmery. The doily is from the Chip Chop Shop (my new favorite embellie shop, TOTALLY check them out...Leanne is so talented!), the flowers Prima mulberry paper flowers, and MM silver brads. I used gold DMC floss to hold a piece of striped paper, which is a pocket for the actual ticket stub (there is writing on the back about the Polar Express and I wanted to be able to pull it out to read it.) The journaling: "You were able to live every child's dream, and got a ride to the North Pole via the Polar Express. Here, you are enjoying Santa's favorite hot chocolate."

You've already seen the amazing Echo Park grand prize offered by S4A, but I am offering one of my own! If you follow all of the rules listed below, you will be entered to win one of each of the My Mind's Eye Holiday Dreams papers from my pad. That's 18 sheets of embossed glittery holiday papers for those layouts featuring your treasured Christmas photos (and I'm sure there will be some surprise embellies thrown in, too!) I just love their papers, and this line is discontinued!

Here's the nitty gritty:

1) Just follow along the hop to the next person and find the hidden letter on each person's blog, then unscramble the letters to find the mystery word. My hidden letter is R. Make sure you leave a comment an each blog as you hop along to get credit

2) Become a member of Sketches4All

3) Using the sketch above, make your own layout and post it on Sketches4All. Don't forget to put in the hidden word you found after unscrambling the letters you found on our blogs when you post your project

4) Post in the forum for this contest to let us know you've posted in the gallery!! That is it!

To be eligible for my rak on my blog there are a few things you can do, each one will get you another entry into my rak. I will pick a random name from the entries to win!!

1) Leave me a comment on this post and you're in the drawing!

2) If you want another chance of winning, post about this contest on your blog and/or tell your Facebook friends about it! You will need to post with links so I can see, be sure to post them separately so I can give you points (a separate comment for both the blog post and facebook post).

3) Go through my blog posts and tell me what your favorite creation is. I do cards, layouts, and altered items, so you're bound to find something to inspire you.

4) Become a follower of my Blog and get another entry!!

Even better, each design team member may be giving away a different prize besides the grand prize offered by S4A, so don't stop here! Keep moving and visit everyone's blog! Hop on over to Fia's blog (a.k.a. big boss lady. She is amazing, and I love working for her!), she is the last stop on the hop, and has 2 of the letters you need to complete the mystery word!

Can't wait to see you over at s4a, thanks for hopping along, you have until December 6th to participate in the hop, post your layout in the gallery, and participate in our daily challenges related to this anniversary contest. Have a fantastic day, see you at s4a!

Cricut new release giveaway!

Check this giveaway out, there is very little time left to enter. Head on over to Obsessed with Scrapbooking and check out the great prizes up for grabs (which includes a Cricut cartridge!) Don't forget to drool over the new Cricut cartridges recently released! Drawing is tomorrow!

Meredith Scraps holiday card challenge

Well I have to enter this challenge, and thought I'd make a new post for it, as the last one had a bunch of cards and I want to make sure the proper card is credited. This is for the Meredith Scraps holiday card challenge:

Tree cut from 4 different sheets of My Mind's Eye Sweet Dreams Holiday Avenue paper using the Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridge. "Joy" is a negative image of the "Joy" ornament on the same cartridge I used on a different card. Ribbon scraps. TFL!

Holiday sale? Sure!

Don't miss the Oh So Thankful sale at Die Cuts R Us! Great prices, great stuff, and it runs from the 22nd to the 26th. It's like Black Friday all week long :)

Christmas card making begins!

Howdy, strangers! It feels like I haven't sat down at the computer in weeks, when in reality it has only been days. I had the pleasure of making cards with a girlfriend on Friday night, and was it ever fun! It's always nice to have someone to talk to and new ideas to share, not to mention playing with all of her stuff *tee hee*. I even got to try out something I had never done before, heat embossing. I know, I know, with as long as I've been card making/scrapbooking, how come I had never tried this before? Well, it's simple...didn't really realize how incredibly awesome it was, not to mention the price of collecting embossing powders, heat tool, and stamps! After trying it for the first time, however, I realized how wonderful it actually is. Here's why:

Isn't that such a pretty card? It looks store bought! It's just a stamp my friend had in her collection and my own sentiment stamp, embossed in gold with red glitter glue accenting the holly berries. How simple is that? Really makes the holiday card making go a little quicker! So of course, I ran out and bought a few powders for the rest of my cards, along with the ink. I found out hubby had a heat gun down in the basement, so that saved me some cash, that's for sure! Then, when I get all of my gift certificates for Christmas (I always end up getting some crafty certificates) I can round out my collection of powder colors! :)

Here are some other beauties we made, with the card above and the Santa face card below entered into a challenge at Colorful Creations, asking for an image and sentiment on the card. I could have entered all of them!

My Mind's Eye Sweet dreams Holiday Avenue papers, handmade flower squirted with my own shimmery mist, MM brad.

Used my friend's Christmas Cricut cardtridge for this one...the tree and "Joy" (which you will notice is the negative image of another of these cards), all cut from MME Holiday paper pad mentioned above. Random ribbon scraps from my friend's stash.

Cloud 9 design sentiment, MM eyelets in pewter, embossed stamped santas, MME holiday paper.

MME paper (seeing a theme here?) Target dollar bin ribbon, Cricut cut sentiment, Jolee's poinsettia.

More Christmas cards to come, and don't forget the s4a blog hop is coming soon! Tell your friends, and hope to see you hopping along for some great prizes...can you say Echo Park? Yeah, I thought that would get your attention ;) Have a great day!

Curse you, holidays!

Seriously...I love that we have a house big enough to entertain for the holidays, but dislike there is so much preparation involved. You know, cleaning the fingerprints off the walls, *finally* scrubbing the corners, where the mop doesn't really do anything but push all the dirt into them, and the worst chore of all...going through the kids' toys to decide what should go to make room for what is to come. Not only is Christmas a little over a month away, but Andraia turns 11 in a week *eek* and Patryk will be turning three a few days later! Lots of new toys/gadgets to make their way in the house in the next month, that is for sure!

I've been quite busy with all of that, but I did find some scrappy time yesterday. It felt great! I completed a challenge over at s4a, Stacy's scraplift. It was supposed to be for another challenge as well, but by the time the Stickles were dry and the last embellie was in place, I was a day late and a dollar short (as usual LOL). That challenge was to use orange and green, traditional fall colors, and scrap summer pics. So here I am as a little chubby 3 year old, frolicking on the beach, a place I visited often as a child.

Here's the layout to be lifted:

And here's mine:

My Mind's Eye Totally Girl papers. MLS Carrot Juice mini alphas. Scallop chipboard border, inked in green and orange with orange and green glitter glue on top, from Stuff2Scrap. MM Just Chillin Glitter Die Cut butterflies, enhanced with orange glitter glue, and orange circle. All glitter glue is Studio G.

I then made this tag for another s4a challenge, to use a fall image and saying. I decided to use Nikki Sivils Tree Love stuff for this one, along with home made glimmer mist (I really need to give it a name, huh?) in copper. It looks really neat in person, way more shimmery. More orange Studio G glitter glue, and random ribbon/brads from my stash.

Finally, I made this card to kick off the holiday card making season (I actually have a fantastic family photo to include this year, so I have to get them done!) It is for Jackie's card challenge at s4a, which is a sketch challenge. Nice, simple sketch so I kept the card pretty simple, too. MME Sweet Dreams Holiday Avenue papers for all elements (save for the stamped sentiment.) I just cut the big and small snowflakes from a piece of paper from the collection. Easy peasy!

Off to pack my crafty bag, I am going to spend some quality time with a girlfriend making Christmas cards and drinking wine tonight. YAY! Hubby has been quite busy working, picking up some side jobs to do before his "real" job third shift, so I haven't seen him for 2 months, which means I have been in "mommy mode" for 2 months. Can't wait to put an end to that tonight! Hopefully I'll have some super projects to post when I return :)

And be sure to stay tuned....there are some great happenings over at s4a, who is celebrating a year of challenges. There will be prizes and many different challenges, so if you haven't joined up over there I suggest you do so. There will also be a blog hop coming up, be sure to check it out!

PageMaps sketch challenge

This layout is for the PageMaps 2 sketch contest, and I loved the sketch so much I just HAD to enter!

My Mind's Eye Totally Girl papers, inked with red. Pink Stickles. My own homemade Glimmer Mist for the handmade flower, MM brad in center. (I'll provide the recipe in another post, I have to do a zillion things this morning!) White Blossom black glitter alpha stickers. TFL!

Colorful Creations blog hop challenges, for nothing!!

Here are the last 3, starting with challenge 4...

Challenge 5...

and challenge 6, which I screwed up on, making it ineligible for the contest. I forgot to put the word "happy" on here, which was a requirement of the challenge. Of course, I notice it AFTER I've posted it here :/ Oh well, it's a nice one anyway. Unfortunately it is past the deadline, so I can't even fix it and post again. Lesson learned.

TFL, I'll post details tomorrow. Off to my parents' house :)

Another layout, and it isn't even 9am!

In all fairness, I made this yesterday, but didn't have the lighting to take pics. Don't think I'm actually this crafty while getting 3 kids ready for school and feeding the other 2 that don't go to school yet!

I made this for another Colorful Creations challenge using a sketch (which I turned.) Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it. I tried to keep it clutter-free (hence the lack of embellies) to make the pictures the focus here.

K&Co Roam papers, sanded. The Chip Chop Shop doily w/scrap ribbon held on w/MM pastel brad. MM rub-on "laughter", Miss Elizabeth's antique type alpha stickers for the rest of the title. TFL!

A couple of pages to start out the morning

Good morning, I'm not usually posting this early but I want to get in the craft room a bit earlier today, as I have to take a crafty trip today with a friend who wants to start doing Christmas cards with me :)

Here is a layout I created a few days ago that I can *finally* reveal as it is the DT sketch over at s4a. Head on over and check out all of the fabulous designers' takes on the sketch!

It was pretty simple, created with scrap paper and random ribbons. Imaginisce Sparkle Delight Sticker poinsettia on a chipboard circle which I adhered paper to and sanded. Doodlebug Designs Christmas Tags & Tabs stickers "together" and bracket. Colorbok Glitter rub ons in Gold for title. MM Passport Canvas Flowers. Prima red flower. MM brads.

This is for the Colorful Creations blog hop challenge #2, and I had fun, it is a great sketch! This challenge was to use scraps only on the layout, no busting into new paper. Pretty easy when you have a diaper box full of scraps!

Misted the paper first with my own recipe of mist, used Bo Bunny scraps from a kit I got in the spring, Bo Bunny flowers, MM metal brad, punched butterflies, White Blossom glitter letters, Target dollar bin ribbon, Swingline blue staples, and last but not least, a fantastic fuzzy button from The Chip Chop Shop. I won a blog candy from Leeann over there, and it was FANTASTIC! So much good stuff, go check out her etsy store if you get the chance.

TFL!

Prima's November Product Pick and GIVEAWAY!

Head over to the Prima blog and check out the GORGEOUS selection for the month of November...I just adore fall colors, and these are to die for, don't you think? I just love those papers, and all of the varying textures! Check it out, and then enter for a chance to win some yummy Prima candy.

A birthday kind of day...

Rileigh is back from her friend's birthday party, it was at Chuck E Cheese, and she had a blast.

I had time to work on this card for my neighbor's birthday (happy birthday, Caylee!), and love how it turned out. I used a sketch from CPS' weekly challenge, and am also using it for the Colorful Creations Blog Hop challenge #3, use a stamped image on a card. It was a neat sketch:

I used my homemade mist again (can I say again how thankful I am that I can make my own for about 1.00 a bottle?) and misted the card and sentiment. The sentiment is stamped with Studio G stamp and inked. Papers are all from a DCWV stack I got years ago. Random bling from my stash. The cupcake ribbon (isn't it so cute?) is from the Target dollar bin. TFL! Card has been delivered, now off with hubby to shop for Patryk's birthday, followed by dinner at the in-laws.

Busy Sunday

I want nothing more than to live in the craft room today. I successfully made a red mist, acrylic paint and water in a dollar squirt bottle. And to think they charge much more than that in a craft store! Ludicrous! I'll be adding some shimmer to my next bottle, which I have to go to Michael's today to purchase. Too bad I can't use it until tomorrow :(

I start my day taking a neighbor to a local hospital for blood work...tomorrow he has triple bypass surgery and valve work done. Please keep him in your prayers tomorrow, as he is the only one able to care for his 80 year old mother. A friend of his is coming by while he is in the hospital, let's hope he makes it back safely! Another neighbor is taking Rileigh to a Chuck E Cheese birthday party, so after the hospital, it's back home to wait for her and wake sleeping beauty a.k.a. hubby (he's a third shifter for those who aren't in the loop.)

Once all kids are present and accounted for and hubby has fueled himself with enough coffee, it's off to the in-laws. They are going to have the kids over for dinner while hubby and I do some birthday shopping! Andraia will be 11 on the 26th of this month, and Patryk will be 3 on the 30th, so we need to get this over with so we can begin Christmas shopping. This time of year is a little stressful, but we are doing better than we did last year, I think I wrapped up birthday shopping the week of their birthdays as we had just moved into our house. Too much going on!

Hubby and I will use a gift certificate we got to a restaurant down by Toys R Us (don't remember which one...), a rare treat. Let's just hope we can get all of our shopping taken care of!

I did get to make a couple of pages, one of which I can't share as it is the November DT sketch, due to be released tomorrow. Here's a sneak peek, a close up of the upper right corner of the layout:

I then tackled the first challenge at the Colorful Creations blog hop, going on until the 10th. There are a total of 6 challenges, lets just hope I get time enough to complete them all! The first challenge was a "blind" scraplift...you get a written description of the elements on the page, and go from there. I can't wait to see the original layout, when it is revealed on Wednesday. I am curious at how close I came to "lifting" this layout :)

MAMBI flocked paper background, same paper pad for the flowers, made from 3 cut out circles, misted with my very own mist to make them red and wet for crumpling. Held together with MM silver brad. I love how they turned out, they were so easy! Butterflies are punches. Colorbok rub ons. Tim Holtz "believe" metal tag, also misted. TFL!

Hope you all have a great Sunday, who knows, maybe I'll have time to get at least one page done while waiting for hubby to be ready to go!