All Made By Lisa!

Embossing Powders!

2012-01-24T00:01:00.021-05:00

Hello everyone! My blog post for My Cricut Craft Room has to do with using embossing powders on cards! I used Doodlecharms and Paisley along with clear embossing powder for this cute little card! I also used the i-Rock tool for the metal rivets of the basket! I just love that little tool!

You'll see the clear embossing powder was used as an accent on the little red apples and I covered the green apple completely. If you've never heat embossed before, remember a few things:

*The heat gun gets WICKED HOT!

*Use the little pull down foot when not in use!

*DO NOT LET KIDS OPERATE THE HEAT

GUN WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION!

*To prevent stray powder from getting heated,

use the little magic embossing buddy pad BEFORE

your stamp the Versa Mark

*(Embossing Buddy is a small "bag" filled with

cornstarch that you swipe across the paper)

I like to heat my images in a small, metal brownie pan.

I also use a wooden skewer to "hold" my paper still.

Heat embossing can be so much fun and adds just a different element to your cards, scrapbook pages and other crafty stuff!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog! You never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges, stamps, and so much more!

TODAY IS THE GRAND OPENING!!!!!!!!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

WYEGW?!

2012-01-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! It's time for another Would You Ever Guess Wednesday! This week I used the super, uber cute Cindy Loo cartridge! This is from the scrapbook I made for some friends, like I told ya, just a few pages at a time!

The tree is from page 65, using the shift option . It's about 10" in height and I just let my Gypsy calculate the width! I made this a family tree of sorts. As you can see the second page is actually the negative from the cut out tree. I'm not wasting any Bazzill paper! That stuff ain't cheap!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog! You never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Grand Re-Opening is Janaury 24th!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

I Got An Award!

2012-01-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, Liebster meaning favorite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient must then pass it on to five more blogs of note.

Thank you to Marji at http://www.fstampaholic.blogspot.com/

who honored me with this award! I am please to pass along 5 fantastic women who inspire me!

Here are the rules:

1- Choose FIVE up and coming blogs to award the Liebster to. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.

2- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3- Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites.

Here are my choices for the Liebster Blog Award.

Enjoli http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com/
Karey
http://www.creativecraftcorner.com/
Tonya
http://ittybittyladybugs.blogspot.com/
Pattie
http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/
Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Please stop by these amazing blogs, become a follower and see what they can do to inspire you too!

XOXO,
Lisa

Erica's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop

2012-01-08T00:01:00.005-05:00

It's the first weekend of the month and that can only mean one thing....
it's time for the 100 Cricut Cartridge Blog Hop!

If you've landed here then you've arrived from the very talented Tracy at
http://scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

If you came from somewhere, please head on back to the start to see all the wonderful creations from my friends!

This month I'm using New Arrival, A Child's Year & Cuttin' Up!

My little sister is pregnant and she is having a boy.

For Christmas I made her and her husband a 6 x 6 scrapbook for their new little boy.

Next, I made a 12 x 12 scrapbook for a friend. Her husband came to me (he's also a friend!) and asked me to re-do her baby book. It was a mess! The pages were literally disintegrating around the pictures. I took it all apart, and the pictures were still in pretty good shape. Here are a few pages from the scrapbook, first I used Cuttin' Up! and A Child's Year.

Next, I used Gypsy Wanderings for a few pages.

The scrapbook was 38 pages by the time I got done!

Stay tuned for more pages in future postings!

Remember, you need to visit every blog and leave a comment or "love" as we like to call it, on each persons blog to be eligiable for Erica's blog candy! She randomly chooses comments from our blogs!

Here's the whole line up just in case you got lost!

http://MyCricutcraftroom.blogspot.com
Laura- http://www.laurascraftsandmore.com/
Tracy- http://scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/
Lisa http://www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com/ you are here!
Susan http://craftingandbeyond.blogspot.com/your next stop
Ashley http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/
Doris http://mybugandmecreate.blogspot.com/
Janet http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com/
Liz http://tryin2craft.blogspot.com/
Erica- http://ericasprojects.blogspot.com
Sheila- http://2pawprints.blogspot.com/
Jamie- http://jamiek711designs.blogspot.com/
Laurie- http://mincedpaper.blogspot.com/
Kathy http://3spoileddogs.blogspot.com/
Kym http://kimmyskards.blogspot.com.
Marji www.fstampaholic.blogspot.com:
Sherri http://squeakyscrapper.blogspot.com
Blog Candy http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com

Thanks so much again for stopping by!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Enter your email to get updates of new posts!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Happy hoppin'!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Grand Re-Opening January 2012!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Flower Shoppe Day!

2012-01-05T00:01:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe entrance into the New Year! We spent time with friends and had a great evening!

This is my first post of 2012! I am sharing a small creation with you for Flower Shoppe Thursday from Erica's Cricut Craft Room. I made a scrapbook for a friend and used LOTS of cartridges in the process but I'll show you only a few at a time! I gotta keep ya coming back right!? LOL!

First up is just a basic flower with four layers overlapping and a crystal accent in the center. I ran all the layers through the Cuttlebug for some texture. See how my flower mirrors the pattern on the paper? Pretty clever huh?!

Next up is some more basic, flat flowers and leaves. For the stems, I cut thin strips of green paper. Each part of the flower is outlined in Stickles while the center is covered in clear Stickles.

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog! You never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Would You Ever Guess Wednesday?! With Flowers!

2011-12-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Everyone! Hope you are all enjoying this crazy time of year! Even though we are all losing our sanity right now, crafting must continue! This week at Erica's Cricut Craft Room, it's Would You Ever Guess Wednesday/Flowers Day!

I've created 2 little projects to share. the first was my very first attempt at using Flower Shoppe. The base is an empty ribbon spool, covered in paper and ribbon. The flowers on top were cut in various sizes and just glued on! Cute huh?!

Next is a tree that I made using Flower Shoppe. This took ALOT of time and ALOT of flowers! I think it's best if you use double sided paper so you get color all around the flower. These were all cut at around 5 inches, so a bit bigger, some smaller. I painted the cone form in cream first, let that dry, then adhered the flowers using Aleene's Tacky Glue in the Gold bottle, GREAT STUFF! Once the flowers were set and the glue had dried, I went back and used DecoArt Dimensional Writer Glistening Snow to fill in each center of the flower for some sparkle! I really liked how these came out! Once I play with this cartridge a bit more, I think I'll really enjoy using it!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog! You never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Trying, but failing...

2011-12-19T00:32:00.001-05:00

I think I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. I am doing my very best to do what people have asked of me. I have been respectful of time, and space, and feelings. I have apologized, I have held my tongue, I have stayed away and allowed them to move on. It has been so hard and I am sad, but then when I get asked why, I tell them I am respecting their wishes and still that's not right. I miss my life the way it was, and after a year of a shattered heart, lost friends and losing the one person who believed in me always, my Dad, I still can't seem to get anything right. What more am I supposed to do? I've said it before, I just want my life back. I want my Dad here, I want to be able hug him and call him and know that no matter what else is messed up in my life, he will be there, he will love me. I want to express my opinion and not have it literally affect how my family will live or even be loved. Apparently I cannot voice my opinion, have any feelings, or speak out when I have questions because it's not allowed. Life should not be so hard. I do the very best I can everyday. I mess up all the time. I try to learn from it, I try to do better next time. I am not responsible for everything that is wrong is every situation. I am not to blame for it all...

Would You Ever Guess Wednesday?!

2011-12-14T00:01:00.032-05:00

Okay, I have to be honest, I'm a bit behind! This holiday season is really kicking my butt! My little one was home last week with a nasty virus, and as you can image, that just set me back with all my other "stuff". I kept her home and she's doing much better!
Family always comes first!

That being said, my post for this weeks Would You Guess Wednesday?!, is rather simple. I used the font on the Car Decals Cartridge to make a page title. I used to hand-write letters like this "back in the day", while sitting in chemistry class doodling my boyfriend's name all over my notebook!

I also created 36 glasses for a local Veteran's Army/Navy Game celebration. Each glass was being sold to raise money for the groups future endeavors. A wonderful Army Sgt. asked me to create these glasses, half said BEAT ARMY and half said BEAT NAVY, so when you are drinking from the glass, the person sitting across from you sees who you're cheering for! Cute huh!

I used blue and green vinyl to cut each word, then weld each letter together using my Gypsy. I also used Pebeo Medium Brilliant Gloss Medium. I painted on four coats of medium and then waited 24 hours between each coat, finally you have to bake the glasses for 40 minutes in order for them to become "permanent" and withstand dishwasher heat. I think they look pretty good!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog! You never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Card Creating Tuesday!

2011-12-13T00:01:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, it's the simplicity of just creating something so basic that is beautiful! I often forget that I don't need to over embellish, or glitter something to death. A simple shape, a rectangle can be folded, and twisted and made into something pretty amazing. I am making a scrapbook for someone and made this "card" on a page. I used George Basic Shapes. I stretched out a rectangle on my Gypsy and cut 2 long rectangles, scored them on my Martha Stewart Score Board and accordion folded them together, to make a card album on a page. I cut the page protector in order for the card to be interactive and so that you wouldn't have to take the page in and out each time you wanted to see the pictures in the card.

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog!Never know what fun,funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Bella's Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-12-10T00:01:00.050-05:00

Our Design Team Leader Erica, has a little cutie pie named Bella. Well, Miss Bella has a birthday this month and the Design Team is helping create scrapbooks for her! She is a girly girl, who loves Princesses, Pink and anything GIRLY!

You should have arrived here from the very crafty and talented, Enjoli.

I used two cartridges to make a 2-page~12 x 12 layout for the birthday girl! Preserves for the cherries and Simply Charmed for the yummy cherry pie! if you look closely, you'll see that the 4 x 6 mat above the pie has a tab that says "OPEN ME!", a little hidden flap for more pictures to go underneath! I love surprises! I also included a little quilling on the mat too! Stickles on the pie for the stem, eyes, cheeks and smile!
Hope Bella likes it!

Hop on over to my fellow Design Team partners to see their creations for Bella!

Here's the line in case you get lost:

Cricut Craft Room~

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com
Tracy~http://scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com
Karey~http://www.creativecraftcorner.com
Enjoli~http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com
Lisa~ www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com

YOU ARE HERE!
Jenny R~http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com

Your next stop!

Heather~www.operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com
Bella’s Mommy~http://ericascraftroom.blogspot.com
Pat~http://micraftygal.blogspot.com
Rosa~http://kleymanr.blogspot.com
Lezlye~www.lezlyes.blogspot.com
Gayle~http://gscraptime.blogspot.com
Doris~http://mybugandmecreate.blogspot.com
Jen L~http://mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com
Blog Candy~http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Happy hoppin'!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Would You Ever Guess Wednesday?!

2011-12-07T00:01:00.016-05:00

I have a few things to share with you today on Would You Ever Guess Wednesday! I was going through some stuff I made and found these. I forgot how much I loved them, and I am pretty proud of them so I'm sharing them with you today!

I was in a recipe swap and the only stipulation was we had to use our Cricut Machines! These were two of the first things I ever did on my Cricut!

The first was a recipe I called "Little Clouds of Love". Talk about YUMMY! I used Zooballoo & Graphically Speaking, and my Cuttlebug for the clouds. Most items are "fuller" if they have a shadow or blackout feature key, so keep that in mind if you need a "chubbier" image! The hearts were a paper punch I have and I cannot for the life of me remember where the little bread rounds are from! Sorry! Stickles really do make everything better! I did get a close up of my recipe, so give it a try! It is DELISH!

Next, is my take on Slow-Cooker Chicken Salsa! I used, My Community for the hen and chicks. The stamp set is from Stampin' Up!(Just Chicken). I watercolor painted the chicken in the circle, which by the way is really easy and fun! Throw in some ribbon, brads and funky patterned paper, and you've got yourself a cute recipe card!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog!Never know what fun,funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/ for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Card Creating Tuesday!

2011-12-06T00:01:00.010-05:00

'Tis the season to be jolly......Christmas is just around the corner! Here's a little card I whipped up for Card Creating Tuesday at Erica's Craft Room! For this card I used the Give a Hoot cartridge as well as the Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder on the tree and the snowflake embossing folder on the background. Added a little gold ribbon, some bling and a quick Christmas card is created!
Hope you enjoy!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog!Never know what fun,funky ideas you might get from me!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/ for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her address:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Erica's December 100 Cartridge Blog Hop!

2011-12-03T00:01:00.016-05:00

Happy Holidays!

You know the first weekend of every month, Erica's Craft Room has a 100 Cricut Cartridge Blog hop!

You should have arrived here from the very talented and crafty Laura at:

http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com

This month I choose to use Quarter Note and Word Collage!

Quarter Note is an interesting cartridge! It has lots of musical "stuff" on it, but it also has great sayings and a beautiful font. I used my Gypsy to weld the words "before" and "after". "Amazing" and "Beautiful" were phrases that were already on the cartridge. This layout is from July when my oldest daughter Jordan got her braces off! She had them on for 2.5 years, she had to wear headgear, rubber bands and had all kinds of appointments! But when they came off....OMG! She was even more beautiful than I could have imagined! When we asked her what she wanted to eat more than anything....POPCORN! Gotta love her! We are so proud of her!

Next up is the Word Collage Cartridge. If you are familiar with this cartridge, you know that it basically is a series of words, themed together to make a pretty collage. I've used this cartridge to cut out Halloween sayings and other fun themes. But as you can guess, there are alot of little pieces that need to be glued down and sometimes, they get lost. So this time around, I used my Cricut markers in my Expression to make this sign! The mat board is actually a 11 x 14 flat canvas, that I stamped with coffee cups from the Fiskars coffee stamp set. I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge for some color, as well as the i-Rock for some bling in the corners. I matted the green paper with black card stock and added a bow! I love how it turned out!

Here's the whole line up just in case you got lost!

My Cricut Craft Room http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com/

Jen L http://mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com/

Jenny R http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com/
Heather S http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/
Laura http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/

Lisa www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com YOU ARE HERE!
Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com/ Your next stop!

Suzy's Crafts http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com/

Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Blog Candy! http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much again for stopping by!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Happy hoppin'!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Card Creating Sundays!

2011-11-27T00:01:00.008-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, shopping and decorating have begun for most! I'm being very "frugal" this year. This economy is just brutal so I am shopping locally, and trying to make lots of my gifts!

This week for Card Creating Sunday, I am showing you the cutest Christmas card! I saw the directions online at Splitcoaststampers.com (Pyramid Card by Kirsteen Gill). I just thought it was adorable and easy to make. I tweaked a few things to make it my own so to speak. I used Twinkle Toes for the tree skirt and the squares were cut at 3.75" from Plantin Schoolbook. I added lots of holes with my Crop-O-Dile and then added bling! The gathered ribbon around the based of the tree skirt is actually paper I accordion folded and glued down. I do recommend using Terrifically Tacky Tape to hold down the completed tree skirt. Have fun and enjoy!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Would You Believe it Wednesday?!

2011-11-16T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday and you know what that means, it's Would You Believe It Wednesday?! at Erica's Craft Room! We only use the features keys to create a project.

Today I'm sharing two nursery room pictures. I used Animal Kingdom, the "head" button as well as the "sound" button. You just gotta love a pink pig and a purple lamb! I also used my Cuttlebug to give the lambs tuft of fluff some pizazz as well as the pigs snout a little something extra! Googly eyes and ink accents along the edges complete the look!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Giving Back Blog Hop!

2011-11-13T12:01:00.014-05:00

Welcome to the Giving Back Blog Hop! We wanted to give back to the person who has given so much to us! So, this is in honor of Erica from My Cricut Craftroom.

You should have come from http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com tina's blog .
If you are starting at my blog, you will want to start with Kat’s Blog, http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com, so you don’t miss any of the great layouts.

When you get done hopping, you will want to go to Erica’s Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/EricasCraftRoom) and leave a comment on her page.
We will be randomly selecting someone from those comments to win blog candy.

Some of you have asked, what do you do on a design team?
Well I suppose it's different depending on the person in charge, but for Erica's team, we are given differnt themes and weekend blog hop challenges and we areasked to create something to share with all of you!

We are incredibly lucky to have someone who shares our love for the Cricut! Erica is kind, caring, flexible, generous and most of all she has allowed me to become part of a community of people who just care for each other so much! So much has been going on in my own life personally, that this design team is a refreshing outlet for me. I can find comfort in knowing that others care and don't judge. For that I am truly grateful!

Here's my page for Erica! The tag pulls out and I wrote her a note of thanks on the backside of it. I used Cursive 101 and Plantin Schoolbook for the tag, the word Thanks is from Gypsy Wanderings. I also used the Cuttlebug to emboss the tag itself.

The next stop on the hop is http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com

The entire lineup in case you get lost is listed below.
http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com kat
http://papercrafteranonymous.com heather
http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com melissa
http://grammiejudys.blogspot.com judith
www.lezlyes.blogspot.com lezlye
http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/ gayle s
http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com sue-ann
http://kleymanr.blogspot.com/ rosa
http://cema1cema.blogspot.com christina
http://www.funkycards.blogspot.com/ madison
http://micraftygal.blogspot.com patricia
http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/ samantha
http://manicexpressionsdesigns.blogspot.com/ ricki
http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/ pattie
http://craftsbyamanda.blogspot.com amanda
http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com connie
http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com tina
http://allmadebylisa.blogspot.com lisa *YOU ARE HERE!
http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com enjoli *NEXT STOP!
http://kccroppers.blogspot.com shelly lynn
http://www.creativecraftcorner.com karey
http://www.lauriecandoit.blogspot.com laurie

Thanks for stopping by and THANK YOU ERICA!

Card Creating Sundays!

2011-11-13T00:00:00.007-05:00

This is my first time posting something for Sundays!
I made just one card this week.
I used Freshly Picked as well as the i-rock gem setter by imaginisce. You can see that there's alot of layering on this card. This does take some time, but I think the result s are well worth the effort!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Card Creating Tuesday!

2011-11-08T00:01:00.004-05:00

Well, it's card day! I have been using my Cricut so much that I have ignored my other love, stamping. So this week I wanted to combine the two. I have a few cards to share and some are stamped with Cricut embellishments added.

The first on is from Pagoda. Just a simple flower to set off my Christmas Rose card. The stamp set is from Stmapin' Up!, I used watercolors to color the image and a yellow skittle for the flowers center.

Next up is From My Kitchen. Just a little card to send to a friend! The background paper is from DCVW.

Last but not least, is a pop card that I used Plantin School Book on. I think sometimes I try to over embellish, and often, simplicity is best. I used the rectangle and the circle cuts from Plantin to give me the mats and base for my card. Each chef is water colored and glitter pens were used as well. The stamps and the papers are from Stampin' Up!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Cricut Craft Room November 100 Cartridge Blog Hop!

2011-11-06T00:01:00.030-04:00

If you have found your way here, you are following Erica's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop from mycricutcraftroom.com. Today is day two of the 100 Cartridge Blog Hop! You should have come here from http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

I LOVE FROM MY KITCHEN!!!!!!!!

What a fun, almost retro feeling cartridge! I made these 12 x 12 pictures for my kitchen, mainly because I love the words on this cartridge. They are so much fun!

I used a white pen to make the stitching on each word.

Meal Time was the only one that I used the shadow feature for, I think the other ones stood out enough on their own.

I did use Crayola glitter paper on each one to tie them together and make them unified in some way. Bright colors add zing to any room, and since my kitchen is boring ol' beige, this should do the trick for sure! Enjoy!

Ya tired yet?! I hope not! Here's the complete line-up of this hop in case you get lost! You should head on over to:

Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com next!

Here's the beginning of the hop list for Sunday, November 6th!

*YOU ARE HERE*

Lisa - www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com

Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com

Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com

Amanda http://craftsbyamanda.blogspot.com

Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com

Patricia http://micraftygal.blogspot.com

Lucinda http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com

Connie http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com

Jen L http://mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com

Tammy A. http://crazycardcreator.blogspot.com

Jen R. http://memorieswithjen.blogspot.com

Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com

Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com

Tina http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com

Erica’s Project- http://ericascraftroom.blogspot.com

Blog Candy-http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com

Thanks so much again for stopping by!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Happy hoppin'!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

One Year Ago....

2011-11-02T00:55:00.000-04:00

It was one year ago today that my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I can't believe it's only been a year. This is truly the longest year of my life. It seems like a lifetime ago that we got this news and that I watched this wonderful man fade away. I still haven't had one tear free day yet. I hope that will come soon. I want to be able to talk about him and not cry. The pain is so intense at times and other times it's there, but bearable.
My 18th wedding anniversary is this Sunday, I can still remember my wedding day and my Dad telling me dirty jokes right before we walked into the church. He was so cute! I didn't dance with him to Daddy's Little Girl, instead I danced with him to Wind Beneath my Wings. He really is the angel in my life. I miss him so much. I still find myself picking up the phone to call him, I dial the number and just before I hit the last one, I remember, he's not there. He'll never pick up the phone again.
I just want the hurt to go away. I want him here. I feel so lonely, I just want one more day with him.

Would you believe it Wednesday?

2011-10-26T00:01:00.018-04:00

Hello blogisphere and crafty friends! I know! I keep turning up on Wednesdays! I love a challenge!
Today I'm sharing more school decor projects.
The Cricut is for more than just scrapbooking and card making, this wondrous little machine has allowed me to spruce up my girls school.
Here's the birthday bulletin board:
This board is changed bi-monthly, each child's name
is put up on the boardwhen it's their birthday. This was for our summer birthdays.
I used Life is a Beach for this one. Cuttin' Up! was used for the Happy Birthday!

Next are signs for our schools annual family picnic. Cuttin' Up!, Doodlecharms, Everyday Paper Dolls, Indie Art, Plantin Schoolbook, Opposites Attract, Accent Essentials, Locker Talk, Graphically Speaking, New Arrival, and more!!

(There are so many feature keys used on these items today, I can't even begin to tell you them all! )

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Card Creating Tuesday!

2011-10-25T00:01:00.034-04:00

Don't ya love a handmade card? There's just something about someone taking the time to make a special little something just for you! I love to make them probably more than getting them! Except the ones my kids make they are always my favorite!

Here's are two cards I made to share with you this Tuesday. First one is a Thank You card for a wonderful friend who is just that, WONDERFUL!

I used Cindy Loo for both the tree and the words. Cindy Loo is such a great cartridge! Lots of fun things are on it! I've been breaking out my Cuttlebug lately. I seem to forget what a versatile tool it really is. Embossing makes such a statement!

Next, is a card I made for my Mom's birthday which was yesterday.

I used Sweet Treats for this one.

The center of the flower is a button from my stash and again I embossed with my Cuttlebug!

Sneaking one more in here!

This was a card I made for a friend who made me a yummy chicken pot pie!

I used Doodlecharms for the pie and Cuttin' Up! for the Thanks!

The stamps were from Stampin' Up Just Chicken In

Hope you enjoyed today's cards!

Thanks so much again for stopping by!

I'm posting some new stuff tomorrow as well!

This time School Decor for

Would You Believe It Wednesday?!

Click the "Join" button above to

become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun,

funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges,

stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming

Blog Hops and new exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Feeling sad, but knowing better.....

2011-10-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

I am sitting here, thinking about the past year. Oh, the mistakes I have made! Too many to list. The losses I have suffered. My Dad, of course, being the biggest one of all. He is thought about and loved everyday in my home. My girls and I talk about him, so I know that they will remember him always. The loss of my friends and even some of my family.

That one stings.

I guess I have been hoping for some sort of epiphany where they are concerned. I haven't had one. I am so angry and really just so disappointed. I'm starting to hope that those feelings are subsiding. It's something I have to live with. I don't want it to define me, but I want those people to know that you will never truly know the pain you've caused, and the sheer disappointment that goes along with it. I do not understand, for the life of me, how you can be so cold.

Even after all this time, still nothing. Shame on you. I was a great friend. I was there in your darkest hours, I held your secrets, things that no one should be asked to keep. But I did it for you, because you were my friend. I wanted to be there for you when your world was falling apart. I never thought you would turn your back on me when I was losing everything in my world. You used me for my skills when you needed something, you constantly came to me when there was something you needed. I never said no, I found a way to help, because I was your friend. I never questioned your intentions because friends don't do that, I just wanted to be there for you.

Now, almost 5 months have gone by and here I sit. Still sad, and obviously angry. I could be nasty, and tell everyone the crap behind the scenes, but I won't. I have apologized to those I've wronged, I will not beg, I will not be that proverbial bastard at the family reunion anymore. I can't make you see that I'm sorry for my part in what transpired, you either forgive me or not, if you don't then I will move on and let you be, I just ask that you do that same for me. I can't take this hurt anymore.

I know better now, I see who matters, I know who cares, my circle of "people" may be smaller than it was 5 months ago, but my eyes are wide open and my heart wants to heal. I don't wish anyone ill, I want peace and that is my wish for you, peace...

Another Would You Believe It Wednesday?!

2011-10-19T00:01:00.022-04:00

I know most of my fellow design team members love Card Creating Tuesday, and so do I, but Wednesday is a challenge! This week, I am again sharing some of the creations I made at my daughters' school. As you can imagine, with the economy in the toilet, school districts have cut budgets beyond recognition. All the little "extras" are gone. Teachers sometimes spends $1000's of their own money to make sure kids have a stimulating, enticing learning environment. I wanted to do my part! Here's just a few things I've made. More to follow in the coming weeks!

First up is the Van Sciver for Vision Eyeglass Donation box! Everyday Paper Dolls provided the eyeglasses, Don Juan the words! The scalloped border was from Plantin Schoolbook. Yes, I made the nose! Just folded up some paper, and voila a schnoz-o-la!

Our school has an after school program and they asked me to make them a sign to show off their art work! Printing Press is such a fun font! It does kinda remind me of a ransom note, but I still like it!

Lunch Rules! Okay, sometimes we all need to follow the rules! This sign is over 7 feet tall! Plantin Schoolbook and Locker Talk, PERFECT for schools!

These next two pictures are our Writer's Wall. The quote "Today is a great day to learn something new" is in vinyl and is permanently on the wall. Each month a new class displays their latest work! This was from our Resource Class who learned all about the Iditarod. An actual dog from the race came to visit the kids! It was amazing! To help create this wall I used, 50 States, Everyday Paper Dolls, Zooballoo for the mountains, Graphically Speaking for Fearless, & My Community for the dogs.

We also follow the Character Counts Program. There are 6 pillars of Character that the children strive to live by and each month 4-6 kids from each grade are recognized and their picture goes up on the bulletin board.

Last but not least, is the Glass Case Projects, Here we display writing and artwork to share. It changes each month and on this month it was the book Where the Wild Things Are! Home Decor for the crown!

Thanks so much again for stopping by!

Click the "Join" button above to become a follower of my blog!

Never know what fun, funky ideas you might get from me! LOL!

Hope you enjoyed my little creations!

Remember to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

for some amazing deals on Cricut cartridges and stamps, and so much more!

Join Erica's blog to learn about upcoming Blog Hops and new, exciting stuff!

Here's her addy: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and keep crafting!

Lisa

Communication~A Lost Art

2011-10-17T18:10:00.002-04:00

Most of my posts are crafty in nature, but today I'm feeling the need to be opinionated. I thought that I would share.
Remember when we were kids, and we'd play outside all day, just come home for a bathroom break and a snack? We'd yell, and holler throughout the neighborhood all day long. Kick the can, War, Tag, Whiffle Ball, whatever. We even had a neighbor with a huge dirt pile in his backyard that let us dig for worms. We didn't go fishing, we just dug for worms. Weird, but we were kids! We got dirty, really dirty. We'd rather go to a public pool with our friends than my in ground pool, where my parents might be. Can you imagine the embarrassment? After dinner, when playtime was done, the Mom's in the neighborhood each ran a bell signaling the end of day, bath & bed time. Life was good, it was easy, we were kids. We had no worries, no cares, other than just to be kids.
I dropped my kids off at school and saw a lady pushing her baby in a stroller, cute right? Not really she was on her cell phone blabbing away, not even noticing that her kid had almost completely undressed from the shoes to the waist. Then after my oldest got done field hockey practice, we drove home. There were no kids playing outside. No noise. I can only guess, kids just don't play anymore.
When did we stop paying attention? When did we stop talking? When did the communication die?
I'm the first to admit it, I LOVE CALLER ID! I can chose not to pick up the phone when I see someones name I really ain't in the mood to talk to at that moment. Call waiting caller ID, GENIUS! But you see my friends, this is where I draw the line.
The incessant texting, and emailing and sheer lack of talking bothers me. I'm a talker ya see, I LOVE TO TALK! I want to talk to a person not a machine. I want human interaction, not a freakin' beep! My cell phone doesn't ring, it quacks! Really?! Are we that emotionally separated from each other that we've resorted to quacking?
I still make, see MAKE my kids HAND WRITEN THANK YOU NOTES! I said it! Call Child Protective Services, I am mean. They are grateful, polite kids, why you ask? Because that how I raised 'em, that's how I was raised. I say please and thank you. I ask if there is anything I can bring when I'm invited somewhere, and when they say no, I bring something anyway!
People say kids today are rude, self centered and entitled. Yes, some are, absolutely, I even know some, but I blame their parents. You reap what you sow people. Apple not far from the tree, get the analogies here? It's time we take back the communication and get back to business! Demand your kids TALK to you, not text, teach them the art of a thank you note, go to the post office and show them what a stamp looks like, turn off the TVs and play outside.
We're only here for a short time, are you really going to lie on your deathbed and wish that you would have sent a text of the You Tube laughing babies to all your "friends" on Facebook? Oh yeah, when they get the text their phone will quack. Think about it...

Halloween Fun!

2011-10-16T19:12:00.002-04:00

The days are shorter, the chill is in the air and Halloween is just around the corner! My girls are excited about Halloween this year! Jordan is going to be some sort of zombie college student and Hannah is an adorable Candy Corn Witch. I was feeling pretty crafty today, and after picking up some pumpkins ($.49 per pound, not too bad considering all the rain we had! Would have thought they'd be pretty pricey!), I made some decorations for my four front windows. Whadda think?!

Would You Believe it Wednesday?!

2011-10-12T00:01:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm at it again! I am a proud Design Team member for Erica at www.mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com! Each day of the week Erica asks us to sign up and create something to share with all of you. On Wednesdays, we can only use the "feature" keys on the cartridges, not the main design. Not as easy as you might think! Lots of time, the feature keys are cards, or words, or "pieces" for the main image. But I am happy to share with you my creations from the feature keys!

First, I want to share my "word collage" from Preserves. There is a new cartridge which is called "Word Collage". which is fabulous, but no feature keys! So I used Preserves cartridge Word Key and this is what I came up with! I used plain black cardstock, and DCWV Kitchen background and DCWV Summer Color texture paper for the word "fruit". I used my Gypsy to weld the words together and to rotate a few!

Next up, is the Pagoda cartridge. This is a really fun cartridge with lots of interesting things on it. Of course the pandas are cute and so are the bonsai trees, but I really like the traditional Kanji writing key. Since we are in the fall season, what better way to share it! I used black cardstock and a simple background paper on a black mat, followed by a rust background. The word "Autumn" is from Gypsy Wanderings.

Hope you've enjoyed what I created! Come back anytime, but before you go, if you head on over to Erica's store, you'll find great deals on Cricut cartridges and stamps, and paper and so much more! Some cartridges are as low as $10!!!!!! Here's the link:

http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/

Happy shopping and as always, Happy Crafting!

Lisa

Erica's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop for October(mycricutcraftroom.com)!

2011-10-02T00:00:00.035-04:00

OCTOBER AHHHHHHHHHHH! This year is flyin' by! I hope it ends better than it started! If you have found your way here, you are following Erica's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop from mycricutcraftroom.com. You should have arrived here from
Autumn - http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com.

Here are my contributions to this months hop! I was asked to create sign up sheets for our schools PTA committees. As you crafty gals can understand, a mere "sign-up sheet" would not do! So I got to work! The following are the boards and as you can see MANY cartridges were used. I'll do my best to list them all under each photo!

"We Need You" - Plantin Schoolbook

Garbage Truck & House - My Community

Go Team - Locker Talk

Hit the Books - Locker Talk

Holly Leaves - Doodlecharms

"Family Fun" - ?

Basket and Muffins - Doodlecharms

5th Grade - Locker Talk

Stack of books - Locker Talk

"Green Thumb" - Opposites Attract

Butterfly - Indie Art

Hand - My Community

Stalk - My Community

Flowers - Accent Essentials

"Yup, There's More" - Cuttin' Up! (My Fav!)

Sun - Doodlecharms

Theater Masks - Locker Talk

Arrows - Accent Essentials

Notebook Paper - Locker Talk

Cuttin' Up!

School is Cool - Locker Talk

Library - My Communtiy

Look Here - Indie Art

Time 4 Fun - not sure gotta check!

"One & Done" - Cuttin' Up!

Rollerskates - Locker Talk

Back to School - Locker Talk

Train - ?

Arrows - Accent Essentials

"Are You Crafty?" - Printing Press

Brush, Palete, Teacher Appreciation & Camera - Locker Talk

Arrows - Accent Essentials

"Got Food" - Opposites Attract

Pumpkin, Spider, Turkey Shamrocks - Doodlecharms

Pizza slice - Locker Talk

Ya tired yet?! I hope not! Here's the complete line-up of this hop in case you get lost! You should head on over to:

Sharon - http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com next!

Here's the beginning of the hop list for Sunday October 2!

Erica – http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Connie - http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com

Lucinda - http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com

Tanya - http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com

Karey - http://www.creativecraftcorner.com

Jenny http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com

Gayle - http://gscraptime.blogspot.com

Laura - http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com

Heather - http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com

Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com

Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com

Autumn - http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com

Lisa - www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com *YOU ARE HERE*

Sharon http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com

Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com

Laurie http://lauriecandoit.blogspot.com

Blog Candy http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com

Happy hoppin'!

Hope you enjoyed my stuff today!

TGIF and more.....

2011-09-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Never was I so happy to see this week end! I swear the days get longer and longer (and not in a good way)! Today there is "supposed" to be sunshine, I'll believe it when I see it. It has rained here for what seems like MONTHS! The state of Texas is under a drought, which from the latest reports are expected to last for the next 5-10 YEARS! Holy sh*t! I'm not super religious, more faithful I'd say, but damn, I gotta believe, someone is trying to tell us something! Earthquakes, tsunamis, raging heat, drought, pouring, unending rains, starting to think that this "Global Warming" thing is true. Well, I'm going to try to be optimistic, I'm hopeful everything will turn around soon, not just for me but for everyone. The economy has to turn up at some point, the jobs situation will improve, and hopefully everyone will benefit.

Like Ive said before, I'm still reeling from the death of my Dad, the collateral damage that has come from his passing. I guess I really never thought that I'd still be in the "soup" so to speak. I think it's funny though, the friends who turned away from me and weren't there for me in the darkest hours, are now ignoring me and acting as if I owe them attention and I should reach out to them. Really?! Are you kidding me? How can I allow you to treat me so crappy and then act as if nothing has happened? WOW! I'd love to know what it's like to live in their world, I guess Peter Pan and the Easter Bunny are truly real in their heads, cause let me tell ya, there's no way in hell I'm going back to be treated like the bastard at the family reunion again.

I know, don't hold onto the anger, "let it go", I'm not knocking all the theories of forgiveness out there, but for once in my life I'm not going back for more grief. I've lost enough over these past few months.

I don't want to be such a bummer, but someone has to say it. I found out the hard way, people aren't who or what they say or portray themselves to be all the time. Take inventory of yourself and trust those who have time and time again given you reason to be joyful, to be happy, to feel love.

Would you believe it Wednesday?

2011-09-28T00:00:00.003-04:00

Well after LOTS of rain and flooding, my craft room is somewhat back to normal! We are still having water seep in, because it has literally rained EVERY STINKIN' DAY for weeks since Hurricane Irene. With the ground so saturated the only place for the water to go in in my craft room! UGH! I am optimistic that it'll all be over soon!

Here's my creation for Erica's Cricut Craft Room's Can you believe it Wednesdays?! What that means is I can use ANY Cricut cartridge, but I can only use the feature keys, not the main image keys (so if you open up a cartridge handbook, the big picture on the left is the main image, off to the right are all the extra , wickedly cool, fun things that we sometimes forget about!)

I used Car Decals for my creation this week! LOVE LOVE LOVE this cartridge! So much fun stuff! The "I "heart" Cats" is from the phrases keys, while the cat on the left is actually 3 layers cut from, the Athlete, & Sports keys. My cat's name was Casey and that was cut out from Cuttin' Up!

Casey was an amazing companion and we miss her very much! She passed away in October 2009 and we all still have a special place in our hearts for her!

A Captain & A Chef!

2011-09-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

Busy week here at our house! Jordan was picked this week to be a captain at her field hockey game! So proud! Her and her fellow Lady Hawks tromped the Gateway Gators 6-0! Impressive huh! She has been playing since 3rd grade and I have been fortunate enough to be the assistant coach for her middle school for the past 2 years. This winter will be my last season coaching field hockey. I'll have coached over 11 seasons! I just love it! Kinda of sad though, Hannah wants no part of playing field hockey! She's "sticking" with the flute!

Jordan #29

Speaking of Hannah....

Hannah is our in-house Sous Chef, who has since graduated to full Chef this week! She has always liked to help me in the kitchen, but just a few short years ago (Jordan was about 9 and Hannah was about 6) my kitchen was a diner. Let me explain...

I was making 3 different meals every night. Jordan only ate hot dogs and chicken nuggets, Hannah only ate rice, and plain pasta, with an occasional yogurt thrown in. Then I was making a meal for David and myself. One summer a few years ago, after weeks filled, with Build-A-Bear, Chuck-E-Cheese, the movies, playdates and a trip to the toy store, one of my cherubic children, informed me that they were bored, and that we never do anything fun.

OMG!

Talk about the proverbial straw that broke the camels' back! I freaked out! I said,

"THAT'S IT! I QUIT! NO MORE COOKING, CLEANING, DRIVING ALL OVER THE PLACE! YOU CAN CALL ME LISA, YOU CAN CALL ME 'HEY YOU', BUT DO NOT CALL ME MOM! I AM DONE!",

and with that I retreated to my room and "retired". My husband came home to two crying, confused kids who told him, Mom's gone nuts! When I explained it to him, he got it but was really worried about his dinner situation, MEN!

So after about two days, I caved. (I let them eat whatever they wanted for each meal, if I remember correctly the meals consisted of chips, chocolate and pretzels. Apparently the girls were shooting for the all-carb diet those two days).

I sat them down and told them that from here on out they will eat what I cook. They don't have to love it, but they have to try it. They now eat, pasta, meatballs, chicken, pork chops, tacos, steak, stew, vegetables, salads, fruit. Not bad huh?!

Oh yeah, when I asked them what they wanted more than anything, Jordan responded with, "I just wanna call you Mommy (insert sobbing here with TEARS galore)", Hannah on the other hand answered with, "I'm good with Lisa." (Lord give me strength!)

So jump forward to today, Hannah's favorite dinner is Chicken Marsala over pasta, with broccoli, cauiflower and a salad. So she now cooks for us at least one day a week (with me as the Sous Chef of course!). Who said freakin' out never paid off?!

Chef Hannah!

It's Fall Ya'll!

2011-09-25T17:12:00.000-04:00

My utmost favorite time of year! No, it's not because the kids go back to school, I honestly love having my girls home! I just love the chill in the air, the smell of leaves, the start of another field hockey season, fireplaces burning, when it gets dark early. I just love the colors! This is yet another "first" in my year of "firsts" without my Dad. I made it through the "first" summer, which honestly sucked. It's really hard. I just miss him so much. I just hope as time moves on that the hurt will become less and the memories I have will fill the tears with smiles instead.

Here is some new pictures of my beautiful girls! Another reason to love fall, they are too busy to complain about the camera being constantly in their face! LOL!

First Day of School 2011!

2011-09-07T09:13:00.001-04:00

I can't believe my babies are back to school! I really don't want them to go back! I love having my kids home! But they're back, and so far so good. Jordan started 8th grade and Hannah started 5th grade. Hannah is a school safety! Her post, cafeteria doors! She's very responsible, watch out! Jordan starts field hockey practice tomorrow! So excited! I'm the assistant coach and we have SO much fun! Here's to a great school year!

Erica's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop (http://www.mycricutcraftroom.com is our proud sponsor)!

2011-09-02T20:05:00.009-04:00

Welcome! If you landed here then you've been following Erica's Craft Room Monthly Blog Hop you should have come over from
Laura http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/ !
So glad you hopped on over to me! I'm a little sad to say that I only have one project posted. We were hit by hurricane Irene and my craft room flooded! Still assessing the damages! You can see by the pictures I have quite a mess to organize! But we are all okay, and in the grand scheme of things, we were very lucky!

So here's my project! My daughter Jordan had a school project, called A Hero's Journey. They watched the Wizard of Oz and had to write 12 different prompts about the story ranging from ,"The Ordinary World" " Call to Adventure", "Meeting the Mentor", and "The Resurrection", just to name a few. They had to write examples from the movie and discuss in detail. Keep in mind Jordan did this in June, in the 7th grade. They also had to make a poster detailing the journey. Here's what Jordan creating with some help from me! (PS: She got an A+ and the teacher used it as an example for the entire 7th grade! So proud of my girl! She even had it laminated! Gotta love her! Definitely the kid of a crafter!)

For the barn and silo we used Country Life and for the fence we used My Community.

This is Munchkin Land! How cute! We used the Paisley cartridge here. Patterned paper can really mix things up! Love it!

The Wicked Witch of the West! No better cartridge for this than Happy Hauntings!

Glitter pens = SPARKLE!

One can never have too much SPARKLE!

The woods were cut using Zooballoo! One of my first cartridges and still one of my favorites!

Swirly Yellow Brick Road, we used Accent Essentials.

The Corn Field we went back to Country Life. Of course GLITTER!

And last but not least, my favorite font of all time! Cuttin' Up!

I hope you enjoyed your visit! I use my Cricut for so much more than cards and scrapbooking. My kids love coming home and telling me they have a project due because they know that I'll help them, but I really think they enjoy creating fun stuff as much as I do! Thanks again for stopping by!

You should head on over to:

Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com next!

Here's the complete line-up if you get lost!

My Cricut Craft Room http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Mayra http://gettingcraftywithma.blogspot.com/

April http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com/

Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com

Erica

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-project-for-100-cartridge-blog-hop.html

Pattie http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/

Patricia http://micraftygal.blogspot.com/

Ricki http://manicexpressionsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com/

Samantha http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/

Sharon http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/

Shelly http://kccroppers.blogspot.com/

Suzy's Crafts http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com/

Tammy S. http://thepurplemuse.blogspot.com

Tanya http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com/

Tracy http://www.scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Amanda http://craftsbyamanda.blogspot.com/

Giveaway

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/surprise-giveaway-saturday-september-3.html

Autumn http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com/

Connie http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com/

Courtney http://craftingwithcourtney.blogspot.com/

Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/

Heather F http://www.papercrafteranonymous.com/

Heather S http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/

Holly http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/

Jen R. http://memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/

Jenny R http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com/

Laura http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com/ YOU ARE HERE!

Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com/

Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com/

Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com/

Lucinda http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com/

Blog Candy http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/reserved-for-this-weekends-blog-candy.html

An Earthquake, a Hurricane & the Flu....Oh My!

2011-08-31T10:26:00.005-04:00

Talk about a crappy week! Let's re-group, shall we.

I live in New Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia, PA. The whole "Jersey Shore" thing is a bunch of crap, yes I know what grass looks like, and no, my family is not part of the mob (not that I know of, LOL!). I live NO WHERE near a fault line, so explain to me how in the hell we got hit with an earthquake?! I was sitting in my basement, watching TV (yes, I like Maury!), when I hear what I think are footsteps in my kitchen. Albeit, my cat is a bit chubby but these were footsteps. I started to panic. Ya see, back in February, my neighbor walked in on a burglary in progress in his house, so I was a bit freaked out. I started yelling and then full blown panic set in when I thought the footsteps went up the second story steps. I grab the phone, call 911, and tell the dispatcher that someone is in my house and to hurry! I run outside as directed and see my entire neighborhood outside. Pretty strange for 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon in August. They are pointing to my backyard, so I think the robber is running away, the poor dispatcher is trying to calm me down when I have my moment of clarity and hear,"OMG it's an earthquake!" Huh?! I tell the 911 guy to forget it, he has to send the police out anyway. Two police cars pull up, they realize that this isn't the first call they're gonna get like this today. Thank goodness I knew the cops, I live in the same town I grew up in and 90% of the cops I went to school with (that would of be handy when I was in high school!). So an earthquake in NJ. Freaky but interesting.

Shall we continue.......

Let's move onto the end of that week. Hurricane Irene is heading up the east coast. I live about 50-60 miles from the Jersey coast. I can make it to beautiful, white sand beaches (LBI baby!) in under and hour and to the beautiful Pocono Mountains of PA in about 3 hours. Hurricanes are not something we have alot of here. Yes, it rains hard, we get winds and even hail at times but hurricanes, not really. This was definitely front page news here. The TV and newspaper and Internet had us all doomed. Kinda scary I must say. So I stocked up on the essentials, bottled water, chocolate, chips and cereal. Hey, we gotta survive! We hunkered down on Saturday and made preparations. I lifted everything off the craft room floor, we secured porch furniture and all trash cans. Well, that biotch Irene decided to hang out and take her sweet ol' time getting outta here. It rained liked hell, and the winds whipped, but we suffered no major damage. My craft room flooded :( . But in the grand scheme of things we were lucky, we never lost power and we still have a roof over our heads. However just when Irene began to start churning, I began to feel like hell.

Stuffy, achy, fever, the whole thing. REALLY?! Come on! I think that the pressure from the storm is now in my head and ears. There is nothing the doctor can do, and I just wanna pop my ear drums and vacuum out my sinuses! This week has got to end soon! Here's a few pictures of the river down the street from us:

That fin is actually a "sculpture", there's about 5 of them. Don't ask.

This picnic table is about 50-75 yards from the actual river.

That little patch of grass is supposed to be about 25 yards away from the river's edge.

So when you are having a bad day, stop for a minute and think just how crappy my week was!

Wanna trade? :)

Cricut Craft Room Card Creating Tuesdays!

2011-08-16T00:01:00.024-04:00

Hello Crafty Friends! Well it's my first post as an official Cricut Craft Room Design Team Member! Go me! Pretty excited I must say!

Well here are my 3 cards!

The first one is "Thank Ewe!"

I used the Just Because Cards cartridge for this one. It's pretty basic, some layering and a run through the Cuttlebug for the sheep's fleece, a glitter pen and voila! One pretty cute thank you card!

Next up is "Thankful for You"

This one couldn't have been easier, I only used George Basic Shapes for the black backing on the stamped image, everything else was cut by hand. This type of card is called a pop-up stand alone card. I found the directions online and had lots of fun with this one!

here's side view:

Finally, a card for a friend who brought us dinner after we lost my Dad. Still don't get the whole food thing when someone dies, but I must say, I have some pretty great friends with mad skills in the kitchen. My Dad would have loved this card! I used Nifty Fifties and Cuttin' Up cartridges. I also used Ala Mode Glitter Glue for a little somethin' extra!

I'm a Design Team Member!

2011-08-01T23:25:00.000-04:00

SO EXCITED! I am officially a member of Cricut Craft Room's Design Team! Yeah Me! I'm so thrilled! Going to be postin' lots o'stuff! Keep an eye open over the next few days! Check out www.cricutcraftroom.blogspot.com for some other AMAZING blogs and great crafts!

Celebrating 14 with a trip to Benihana!

2011-07-24T21:27:00.001-04:00

We took Jordan and her "people" to Benihana for a birthday luncheon! How fun! The girls were great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! I'm so happy my kids have such great friends!

The Whole Gang!

Jordan & her BFF Kali!

Hannah & Brooke!

Our Chefs!

A Happy Birthday Heart!

Braces Off! & a Card!

2011-07-14T00:39:00.000-04:00

Jordan got her braces off! It's been two and a half years of appointments, rubber bands, head gear, sore teeth and most importantly NO POPCORN! However as of July 12th, Jordan is free! She looks even more beautiful than I ever thought she would! First thing she ate, POPCORN! Snack, POPCORN, dinner, yup POPCORN! She's is in heaven! Here's the before and after pictures!

Here's the Thank you Card for the Orthodontist!

Loss and Trying to Get Back into the Crafty Groove...

2011-07-07T11:53:00.001-04:00

It's been some time since I've posted. I lost my Dad on June 13, 2011. He was the one person in my life other than my husband and kids, who was always there for me. I miss him every minute of every day. I had no idea that a loss so profound as this would cause such collateral damage in my life. It took the loss of my Dad to show me who really cares. I had my light bulb moment in the days that followed his death. People who I thought for sure would come to support me during this horrible time, completely walked away. Others, friends who I haven't seen in years, let alone talk to, came and it was as if we didn't skip a beat. My very best friend from childhood, got in her car, drove nine hours to be there for me. But friends who live blocks aways couldn't even bother. My bestest friend, Lisa, she was there in the darkest moments of my grief and for that I am forever grateful. I have come to the realization that I have just invested too much in people. I can't constantly go "all in", when there is absolutely NO attempt of their mutual reciprocation. I am not friends with people in hopes to get something from them. I choose my friends because they inspire me, they make me happy, they are interesting to me and I want to be a part of their life too. They are good influences to me and we often might not share the same ideas, but its those differences that keep our relationship going and interesting. I'm done. I have a few friends that I'll hold onto for dear life until my last breath on this earth, but others, those I thought shared in my beliefs about our friendship are no longer in my life.

It has been hard to get back into the crafting mood. I find myself sitting at my craft table, with plenty to do, but just staring off into space. I just miss my Dad. I'm just bone sad. I just want to have him back and make my life whole again. I know that's not going to happen, but I can dream. I'll get better. Each day is a little easier. I think acceptance is the hardest thing. I can't just pick up the phone and call him. I know he's ok, he's not suffering or in pain anymore but I'm selfish, I want him here.

I am hoping to get some crafty things done and posted real soon. Thanks for listening.

My Dad!

Hello again....

2010-11-28T23:44:00.004-05:00

Well it's sure has been awhile! School started, Halloween has come and gone and now Thanksgiving is but a mere memory. I feel like I've been away for a million years! It's been an interesting and somewhat sad autumn in my household. The kids and the hubs are great, I however, have been diagnosed with diabetes, which let me just say SUCKS! It really is overwhelming, and so much to learn. Everyone has been kind offering advice, cut out all candy, don't eat bread, go on Atkins! There's more to it than that. It's been a learning process for sure, but hopefully I can figure it all out. My wonderful Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. CANCER SUCKS! He is a former smoker, and had no real symptoms, other than the tumble he took at my niece's field hockey game. He fell asleep and just sort of rolled down onto the grass, he hurt his arm and when he went for xrays they saw "something". Turns out to be cancer, tomorrow is the broncoscopy, let hope the news gets better.

Well that was all the depression I can deal with for now! I started to crochet! AHHHH another craft! My poor husband is gonna kill me! It's fun though! I learned via DVD just like I learned to knit. Made my first blanket, thank you very much! Gave it to a friend's new grandson.

My house is deocrated, the tree is up, and I am done shopping so yeah me! Now I just have to wrap!

Summer Stuff!

2010-08-17T23:24:00.012-04:00

Jordan & Hannah & the Phillie Phanatic!

It's August and it's hot as hell here in NJ. I cannot believe how unbelievably stinkin' hot it's been this summer! It's like NJ was moved to the equator! I hate it! Although my power company loves me, because all of you who know me know how much I hate to be hot! So it's a major score for the power company!

Anyhoo, we've had a nice summer so far. We did a little local site seeing, Philadelphia and the historical area, very nice! It's only 10 minutes from our front door, the place where our country became a country and we just this summer went to so take a look. I guess it's one of those things that we take for granted. The girls had fun and so did I.

Ben Franklin at the Constitution Center

Independence Hall - Philadelphia 2010

We also went to the shore. Now here in Jersey went don't go to the beach, we go down the shore. Before anyone comments,

NO, IT IS NOTHING LIKE THAT RIDICULOUS SHOW ON TV!

I lose brain cells when the commericals come on for that train wreck!

We go to Long Beach Island (LBI), beautiful white sand beaches, totally family oriented and just a relaxing fun time! I am not at one with the sun however. For some reason I really pissed the sun off at some point in my earlier years and now I am a target for the sun's evil rays! I sat under an umbrella, with a towel across my legs, one around my shoulders and applied sunscreen 3 times an hour and still got sun poisoning! GOOD TIMES! It didn't ruin my vacation, it hit when I got home though! Jordan and Hannah were practically growing gills at the shore! It was so fun to watch them enjoy the ocean!

Hannah getting ready to hit the waves!

Jordan on her boogie board!

Mom, Michelle & Taylor, see my umbrella!

We have weak trees...

2010-07-20T23:21:00.011-04:00

I don't know about you, but I really never think that trees can "break". I know the leaves fall off, branches die, some have annoying little fruity things on them and the stupid squirrels fight for the last one, but "break"? Really? Last week our apparently "fragile" Bradford Pear broke. Yes there was a storm, but not the kind you think would do this sort of damage. We woke up to 50% lying on the backyard lawn. I never thought it was a BIG tree, but damn, when that sucker fell over, OMG it was huge! I went out to inspect after 2 cups of coffee and a shower and it was like wild kingdom! Chipmunks, Cardinals, squirrels, a few Blue Jays, 2 rabbits, all I needed was a partridge in my broken pear tree and I'd be set!

We decided that the best thing to do was to cut it all down. Not a cheap thing to do mind you, but these 3 wonderful, I do believe half primate men came and chopped it up, put it through the wood chipper, cleaned up and were gone in under 2 hours! It was amazing! Now my bedroom will offically have sun ALL DAY LONG! As most of you know I HATE being hot so this is not a good thing for me. But my weak tree is gone, I don't have to clean up and someone is getting some decent mulch! I recycle, just on a larger scale!

A teenager has arrived.....

2010-07-18T00:31:00.003-04:00

Well, it's official! I am now the mother of a teenager! UGH! When the hell did that happen?! My daughter Jordan turned 13 today! She is such a great kid! I just hope that as we muddle our way through the next chapter in our "story", that she isn't as difficult as I remember being! I did very well in school, had great friends, was involved in lots of stuff, but I knew how to push my Mom's buttons better than anyone! I just had to get the last word every single time! Jordan is not like me in that respect! Thank goodness! She's a great daughter, sister & friend, and I am so lucky that she's all ours!

Hannah turns 10 in March. Let's see how that goes! I need a drink.......

Summertime & Snuggles!

2010-06-29T07:54:00.004-04:00

It's been too long! Sorry I haven't been back writing anything since April! School is always nuts the last 2 months and needless to say I was a slacker with my blog. So to the few that occasionally take a look, I'm sorry!

We have a new addition to our gang! As some of you may remember, our chubby cat Casey, passed away in October from complications from her diabetes. We were all so sad and had thought long and hard about another four footed friend. Well my weekend job, which I will talk about next, happens to be right next to a Petsmart. I sometimes go in and look at the animals for adoption. I always adopted my cats, saving a life made me feel good! Anyway, I was looking at all the kittens, now seriously who doesn't love a kitten, they're cute, fuzzy, cuddly and just plain adorable. I would have the kitty fixed, but I was on the fence about declawing. Yes, I've done it in the past, but I'm older and wiser and wasn't sure how I felt about it. The $600 plus price tag for spaying/neutering and declawing was a bit daunting as well. They had a cute calio cat they had named Boots J, she's 1 year old, spayed and declawed. She was left at a veterinarian's parking lot. He took her home and his Jack Russell chased her everywhere! The vet felt bad and put her up for adoption. So.......I'm sure you can guess where this is headed right? Welcome to our family Snuggles (Boots J, really?!)!

She's so cool! So cuddly, and fun! The girls love her and so do we! She fit right in from the beginning and keeps us smiling everyday!

My weekend gig! I am still working as a demonstrator for a national craft company! It is so fun! The store I am at is great! The employees are so friendly and nice! I may not have sold TONS of stuff, but it's nice to have fun at your job! We have a few weeks off, and then back to work!

CHICAGO BABY!

2010-04-27T15:25:00.005-04:00

I'm home! It was so fun! I met some wonderful women and even a few great dudes! I will be demonstrating the Cricut Cake! OMG it is so cool! I have an Expression and this is it's "fraternal twin" that only does icing sheets and gum paste! Can't wait to get mine and start playing!
The hotel was great, so was the food, but my experience was completely enhanced by two amazing women! Ava & Tina, or Critter and Pickle as I've come to know them! They made my weekend! They kept me laughing and kept me from getting in trouble! Ava told us stories that literally made me lose all control of bodily functions and Tina was there to "Poise" the support! Between goats, hamsters, poise pads and cupcakes I can't think of more fun and laughs like I had in Chi-Town with these two gals in a long time! Here's some pictures!

Ava (aka Critter) & Tina (aka Pickle)

A New Venture!

2010-04-07T16:15:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything! Sorry if anyone was following and got bored! But I'm back and with a new job! I will be demonstrating the Cricut at my local Michaels' store! Pretty cool huh?! I filled out an application online a while back and they contacted me last week, five hours of phone interviews later, Voila! I'm hired! I get to go to Chicago for 4 days for training and other info. Could be fun that's for sure! Let's see what happens!

Wedding!

2009-12-28T22:33:00.002-05:00

My friend Rachel is getting married! She's asked me to be a bridesmaid! AHHHHH! I'm so excited! Now to grow out the hair and lose a bunch of weight is in order! Here is a little wedding organizer I made her and her groom for Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-26T22:25:00.005-05:00

Well, another Christmas is over! I can't believe how fast it came and went! My girls had a wonderful holiday! Everyone was very generous and they are very thankful! Santa came to our house and left goodies for everyone! Myself included! We had a huge snowstorm the weekend before Christmas and today the day after Christmas it rained liked crazy and the snow is almost all gone! My hubby is happy, he hates shoveling the snow. I have to admit, I'm not much help! I love the snow but from inside the house, with the heat on, coffee in hand and warm toes! My very dear friend got engaged on Dec. 11 and asked me to be a bridesmaid! I am so honored and can't wait for her wedding! Now I have to lose about 50 pounds and let the hair grow out, but I have until June 2011 so I'm covered! I think?!

Planning on crafting all this week! Will post some new things soon! Happy Holidays to everyone and a wonderful and safe New Year too!

Sad Day....

2009-10-28T21:03:00.002-04:00

Today we had to say goodbye to our kitty cat Casey. She was 13 years old. Casey suffered from type II feline diabetes. For two years we gave her insulin, totally changed her diet and with her help she lost 5 lbs., which was a 1/3 of her body weight. She seemed to be doing so well, until this morning. After talking to our vet and given our options, my husband and I along with the vet felt that putting her down was the best thing for her. It was a horrible decision to have to make but we just wanted her to be no more pain. Our daughters got to say goodbye and we've all been pretty emotional today, so love your pet and give them a hug today. I'll be sending my love to heaven where Casey is finally with her sister Harley running around and having fun.

Soccer Scrapbook!

2009-10-19T09:19:00.004-04:00

My friend is our school nurse, her daughter is a senior at another local school. Each year their school has Senior Spotlight Recognition Day. Each seniors family is asked to present the senior player with a memento or memory of their years on the the team. Well my friend asked if I could make her a scrapbook. It chronicles her early days of soccer to her senior year in high school. I was so honored! She supplied the pictures and paper and I did my thing! I think it came out pretty good! Not too bad for 2 days work!

Bridal Shower!

2009-09-27T23:34:00.002-04:00

Today was my little sister's bridal shower! She was surprised and received so many beautiful gifts! Here's a few "thingys" I made for the shower!

Gym Class! AHHHH!

2009-09-15T17:18:00.003-04:00

Well I do have to say that I am beyond grateful that I don't have gym class anymore! Not that I couldn't use it for sure! I made this bulletin board for our school's gym teacher.

Just a few more......

2009-09-01T13:38:00.002-04:00

Let the School Year Begin!

2009-09-01T13:32:00.002-04:00

Well, another summer is over and another year of school begins! Big changes here, my oldest daughter, starts the middle school! She's excited, I'm a little sad though, I like seeing her during the day but she needs to move on and up to bigger and better things! My little one, is starting 3rd grade! When did I get so old?! Here are some pictures of the latest bulletin boards my Cricut helped me create! Enjoy!

Washington DC!

2009-08-13T23:28:00.004-04:00

We spent a few days in our nations' capital. We have the greatest friends! They own a condo in Arlington VA, and were heading to the Jersey shore for vacation and gave us their keys to the condo! How great is that! We drove, 3 hours from NJ, hit a little traffic, but arrived in one piece. Okay now let me preface this by saying, we saw TONS of great things and it was wonderful to see all the new monuments that I've never seen, however...................we had no idea how freakin' hot it would be! I know, it's August, it's hot in August, I know! I live in NJ! It's hot here in November sometimes! But this was unlike any heat I've ever experienced! OMG! My oldest was so hot she actually was getting goosebumps, a sure sign of heat stroke! Good times! We needless to say came home earlier than we had planned but nevertheless, we saw amazing sites and I'm happy my kids saw DC, but next time I'm going in the winter!

Getting Ready for School (part 1)

2009-08-04T13:04:00.004-04:00

Well, my friend is a 5th grade teacher at my kids school. He doesn't decorate alot, and since I sub in his class, I selfishly decided to decorate! My daughter and I worked on these posters and went to school, laminated them and hung them up yesterday! I hope he likes them! There were 8 in all, and the Cricut was super handy (each is about 25" x 40", except the reading and the writing ones)! We used, Cuttin' Up!, My World, Graphically Speaking, Lyrical Letters & Plantin Schoolbook! The diversity and "solution" posters were stuff we found online (gotta love Google!), but the technology poster & the reading=everything posters, I came up with! Gotta say, I'm pretty proud of them! Enjoy! (there are 2 posts because the file was to big!)

Getting ready for school! (part 2)

2009-08-04T12:58:00.004-04:00

CK Convention Valley Forge PA

2009-07-31T23:11:00.003-04:00

Well, I went again this year. My friend and I have gone every year for about 4-5 years now. The first year we took 3 classes, and only one was really any good. If you scrap you know the stuff they were teaching. Complete novices would benefit from some I think, but if you scrapped even once or twice, beginner classes are not so good! We haven't taken classes since that first year though. I have to say, I was a little disappointed this year. I expected to see alot of the same things as last year, maybe new colors or new packaging, that doesn't bother me since I always look forward to seeing the "new stuff" or hot new item, not the case this year. I walked the whole convention vendor fair in under an hour, bought a few glitter pens and glue and left. Nothing was super great or new. I don't know maybe I was expecting too much! I guess the economy really screwed everything up!

Are you kidding me?!

2009-07-29T00:08:00.004-04:00

This is no joke! Apparently it was at the CHA convention in Orlando at the Provo Craft booth! C3PO or what?! Could this mean a Star Wars Cartridge is not far behind? It's so funny, you can't help but laugh! After my day today, this made me giggle!

Good Night!

2009-07-28T22:14:00.002-04:00

Okay, so not as productive as I had hoped! Got the girly stuff done this morning, ran to ACMoore for a few things, had lunch and here's where everything went wrong.
After lunch, I realized that my husband had ran the dishwasher, so I proceeded to empty it. Everything was going along as it should when I reached in to get the tray of utensils out of the door of the dishwasher and I miscalculated and wound up with a fork tine jammed up between my thumb and thumb nail. There are no words that can adequately describe the pain. I saw a white light, followed by what I can only call a primal internal scream that made me literally fall to my knees. Forget the blood, that I can deal with but the pain, not so much! I napped and considered drinking for the rest of the day, but my kids are only 12 and 8 and a drunk mom is not a good mom!
Mind you, 4 years ago I had a staff infection in my right thumb from an ingrown nail (didn't even know it was ingrown, looked normal) and spent 5 glorious days as a patient in the hospitals geriatric ward (no other bed available for the 30 something ol' gal). Let's see what happens next!
Good times!

Good Morning!

2009-07-28T07:38:00.002-04:00

It's Tuesday morning and I have slept for 4 hours! I'm pretty excited! I know that doesn't seem like alot, but after 3+ weeks of an hour here or there I'm thrilled! I plan on being productive today and posting good stuff! I first have to make it, but I promise it'll be good! Wanna see some pages I've done? Yes, good. I'll post those! First, I am off for the fun, yearly mammo! Nothing like having that done bright and early! Sets the tone for the day huh? Last time it took 2 hours! I'm hoping for only and hour this time! Keep your fingers crossed!

Late nights, rambling, and a couple of cards!

2009-07-26T00:44:00.009-04:00

It's really late here in NJ, and I have insomnia! It happens to me every single summer. It sucks! No mincing words here, I am dog tired all day then night time comes and HELLO, I can't go to sleep. I've tried teas, the TV, deep breathing, no napping during the day, I know you're thinking, take a sleeping pill and go to bed! I've tried that in the past and I swear I feel like I'm absolutely USELESS for days after! Even an allergy pill or a "PM" pain relieving pill kicks my butt! I can't seem to catch up for at least 2 days after. Swimming in mud or sweeping back the ocean is the best way to describe it. I move real slow and everything comes at me so fast I start to worry! So here I type. Rambling on as my husband would say. It's the blog or I wake him up! I think he'll be happy I chose the blog!

Since I'm up, I thought I'd share a couple of cards I made! The cactus card was made with Stampin' Up! stamps. Believe it or not those are actually pumpkins! The seasonal stamp got another use! Prima flowers top each cactus! The doodle card was stamped (SU again!) and hand doodled by yours truly!

Hope you like 'em! Now if I could only create sleep...................

Wedding Bells.....

2009-07-25T22:34:00.002-04:00

My little sister is getting married! He's a great guy and we are happy to have him join our crazy bunch! My sister is non-traditional and decided that she does not want to carry flowers. Well as you can imagine, that caused quite a stir with our mom. So the crafty gal that I am, I came up with what I think is a "peaceful resolution" to the problem! I'm making the bouquets out of crystals! AHHHH! I went online and researched these little things and people are charging upwards of $800 per bouquet! I ordered all the stuff, the wire has arrived, still waiting on the crystals, so stayed tuned! I did make a "prototype" for my sister to see what I was talking about, but it's made out of acrylic beads. I'll post pictures once I'm all done! Wish me luck!

What's in a name?

2009-07-25T22:23:00.006-04:00

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to scrapbook, but sometimes I feel the need to break out of my 12 x 12 box and do something different! Each of my girls wanted something for their rooms. Hannah's signature color is PINK, PINK & PINK! Jordan love purples and blues and anything not PINK! I made them each one of these and they loved them!

Check out this video!

2009-07-23T23:49:00.000-04:00

Got this from a friend! TOO FUNNY! Totally child friendly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Diaper Cake!

2009-07-19T00:42:00.001-04:00

This was so fun to make! Just a little something for the gift table! The diapers were rolled up, tied together with a clear ponytail rubber band and then tied with string to hold them in place. I used pretty ribbon to cover the string. The New Arrival Cricut Cartridge was so useful for this! The "critters" are on dowels and stuck in between the diapers! When the shower was over, mom and dad had emergency diapers just in case!

Got a YUDU?

2009-07-18T18:35:00.000-04:00

I do! I made these shirts for my daughter's 2nd grade end of the year picnic! I think they came out pretty well considering I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING! I'm more of the fly by the seat of my pants, I'll figure it out as I go along kind of gal, rather than take the time to read the directions in their entirety!

Fun Gift Idea!

2009-07-18T17:54:00.001-04:00

My friend had a beautiful baby boy in December 2008, and instead of the usual outfit gift, I made him a special, personalized gift! I used the Zooballo Cricut Cartridge and I think it turned out pretty good!

Fun Wreath!

2009-07-18T17:52:00.005-04:00

I got this idea from the Cricut Message Boards! These ladies are so talented! Here's my spin on it!
Jenny Titus is the creator of this fun wreath! Here's a link to read all about her and her creation!
http://www.cricut.com/newsletters/volume.aspx?ID=135

Dinner Impossible!

2009-07-18T17:45:00.001-04:00

The show Dinner Impossible from the Food Network was at a local block party today and my family was invited to attend! A friend from work lives on the street and each family was allowed to invited extra people. Well, we were honored to be asked and we had so much fun! The competition was between Chef Robert Irvine and his fellow chef Doug. The mystery judge was Robert Irvine's Sous Chef "Big Bob". The food was delicious! Everything from chicken to burgers but gourmet style! Here are some pictures from the event! The show will air at the end of Sept. or beginning of October. It was a competition one side of the street versus the other each having it's own chef. It was the black team (Robert Irvine) and the green team (Chef Doug) at the Palmer Palooza Block Party! I won't tell you who won, you'll have to tune in to watch!