May reads

Yes, I realize that it is June but I never posted my May reads so here they are:

55.    The Emerald Atlas

56.    The Three Musketeers

57.    Fahrenheit 451

58.    The Brothers Karamazov

59.    My Friend Dahmer

60.    The wings of the Sphinx

61.    Surprised by Joy

62.    The Alchemyst

Scrapdango June Reveal

These were  made with the Scrapdango June Sugar kit.  I really liked this paper.  It was perfect for the fun summer layout of my DD playing in the rain.

 My youngest is in the Children's Choir at church and sang 2 songs on Easter morning. One of them was "Celebrate Jesus" and these wonderful and colorful papers helped me make a layout which did that.

One of my daughter's friends attends church with us and has become like another child.  She graduated from high school this week.  She has always admired my scrapping things so I made her a little mini album to fill in with her high school memories. I used this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRSdd-P8AZ4

In the album, I wrote a note to her and had my daughter write a note as well.  I also included a gift card to one of her favorite stores.

June Sketch

I challenged myself this month.  I love the look of circles, but I find it a challenge to use them and make them look good.  I tried it this month with the sketch.

 Here is the result:

The journaling says: Ace's little pink fuzzy paws are very sensative.  She will kick if I touch them.  If I do not stop, she will move them out of reach.  If I reach for her again, she may try to bite.  I know I shouldn't tease her, but it is so much fun.

Thanks to Veterans

Memorial Day weekend is over and although I enjoyed myself, I am ready for "normal" life.  However, I couldn't help thinking as I was baking and picnicking about what Memorial Day means to me.  I am not a veteran (Indeed, between my abysmal eyesight and my lack of stature, I doubt that they would have me) but I do thank those who served. I can not mention all of them but I do have a few that I wish to honor:

My dad, Ralph Pratt.  He served in WWII.  He was in the Japan Theater.  He never said much about it.  I guess that it proves that if you have really experienced war, that you really don't want to talk about it in "war stories."

In addition to my dad, his brothers Ed and Mort also served in WWII.  I was blessed that my dad and both my uncles came back from the war.  I know that many were not that lucky.

On my mom's side of the family, there were also men who served.  My Uncle John served in WWII as well.  He also made it home and I was blessed enough to get to know him as I was growing up.

My mom's dad, also served, but in the Spanish American War.  He lived to be 86, but with some of the trials of the war haunting him in his later life.  He died of natural causes long before I was born, but I still remember him in a few pictures that I have as well as stories my grandmother told me about him.

Not all the veterans that I know were in my family.  I think of Ray Schultz a neighbor and father of my daughter's friends.  He served in Vietnam.  He has left a living legacy in his daughters who rightfully speak very proudly of him and his service.  He died almost a year ago and was buried in the military cemetery in Ritman, OH.

There are also people currently serving that I know as well.  I think of course of my friend Valerie who has just this week retired from the air force after 30 years of service. She was not in combat, but I know that her work (which I can barely understand) in the sciences has had lasting effects.

There is a couple in our church who are right now living through a separation because of his deployment.  Mom and the girls are counting the days until he comes home.  The girls are young - I believe 3 and 5.  They have a cutout poster of him to bring to special events so dad can "see" them.

I know that there are many others and I just want to take the time to say thanks to all who served.

Crowned Swimsuit Competition

Don't panic, you are not going to see me in a swim suit - that might just overload the internet. However we are having a Crowned Completion at Scrapdango and this is my week for a challenge.  Here it is:

I remember watching swims suit competitions and they are really honest - it is not much about the suit but rather the person filling it. So taking that idea I am using it for inspiration for this week's challenge.

This challenge is to start with the basics and see what you can co with it. This week the only paper you may use is single color cardstock. (you may use as many colors as you wish they just can not have other color or patterns on them) You may do what you want to it - stamp it, ink it, spritz it, spray it, tear it, emboss it or anything else you care to - but whatever is done is what you have done to it. This goes for all paper on you layouts - no printed embellies unless you are the one that stamped it etc. 

And of course why do people not in a competition wear a swim suit? Why to swim of course. So taking some inspiration from the water in which we swim, your project needs to have some blue on it. It can be blue in the photos, embellishments, paper, journaling etc, but it needs to be obvious.

I made this card at the crop on Saturday and everyone there really liked it.  It is the sample for this weeks challenge.

Crop for Mother's Day

First let me say that I LOVE my kids.  I would do anything for them and often put their needs and desires before my own.  However, especially with the fact that I home school them, I am with them almost all the time.  Every year, I have the same request for Mother's day - to get away from my kids.  I was able to do that this year on Saturday.  I went to a crop for 13 hours - with no kids!  I relaxed and enjoyed and was pretty productive making 8 pages a card and a make and take.  Here is some of my work 

 It is difficult to see but the kids are singing "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho" At the end they all fell down.  (That is the picture on the right) also the lyrics wrap around the picture with the words "falling down" are doing just that.

 Playing with my camera to get a pic of the lily.  It is not a rub on or digital editing, but a simple overlay

 This is my youngest reciting John 1:1 (which is in the circle) in front of the congregation on Sunday Morning as part of the end of the Awan year

 I had these pictures for ages, but as I am on the Scrapdango team, I have been trying to use their products, but there was nothing that ever matches so I gave up and just did it with things from my stash.

 I did learn a lesson this weekend.  I brought almost everything scrappy which I own.  That was good because I used most of it.  However the next time, the Crucut is staying at home.  There were at least 6 people there with cricuts and everyone wanted to share - not only the machine, but any cartridges as well.  I used the Thanksgiving cartridge to make the title for this one.

 The journaling on this says: Our house is old and drafty so in the winter we all have suggies to keep warm. Mine is the pink one. When I am not using it, I keep it folded on the couch - or I try to. Whenever it is there, Copperfield chews, paws and eventually sleeps on it..

One of the many theme nights for Awana this year was "Silly Hat Night"  We had grilled a pineapple and Emily took the top and decorated it with flowers. She won the award for the most silly hat in her age range.

Tribute to Mom

Mother's Day is one of those awkward days for me. I never quite know what to do.  I lost mom 6 years ago so If I want to spend Mother's day with mom, it is in the cemetery, not at  home or in a restaurant. 

I am a mom myself, but I also homeschool my kids which means that I am with them just about all the time.  My idea of a Mother's day treat for me is to get away from my kids and at least for a few hours get to act like I am not a mom.

I was going through some old pictures and I found some of my mom's kitchen right after it had been remodeled.  Mom, like me, didn't like to have her picture taken but was proud of the work she had done in her kitchen.  so I thought it would be a fitting tribute to mom to shoe off her work and remember some of the times spend in that kitchen. 

Scrapdango May Sugar Kit Reveal

These are some of the projects for my May reveal at Scrapdango.  These were made with the sugar kit.  I have to say that I love the kit because it is so flexible.  I used the same kit to make a Thanksgiving layout and an Easter layout.  I really like the flexibility.

May Sketch

I took inspiration from one of my favorite layouts and made this sketch.

 Here is the finished product of the sketch.

April Reading List

41. This Dark Endeavor

42. The World of Disasters

43. Illusionology

44. Great Expectations

45. The World according to Narnia

46. Pyramids of Egypt

47. Mousetrap

48. Around the World in Eighty Days

49. The Little Prince

50. The Incredible Quest to find the Titanic

51. The Purpose Driven Life

52. The Scarlet Letter

53. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

54 Epidemics and Plagues

Birthday cards

I am attempting to remember my friends birthdays and send them cards.  This might be because I am such a nice person or it might be because I need to do something with the cards that I have made. I will let you decide because I am not going to incriminate myself by saying anything,

Both of the cards were made for a Blue Plate Special at Cookin Up Creations although I couldn't tell you which day the challenge and sketch was.

 This on was made using the Sugar kit from Scrapdango. I am so surprised at how much is in one kit.  This is  the third card I have made from the kit - and that is after making 5 layouts!  Just lovin it!

Ace

In August Hope, our cat had to be put to sleep. That brought the number of cats down to 2. I was firm. We were not going to get another one any time soon. I love animals, but they are expensive to feed and care for. I didn't think it was fair to give one a home when I really can't afford to take care of it when (not if but when) it gets sick.

Then one very cold February night there was a meowing on the porch. I looked out and saw such a pretty face looking back asking to be taken in. I was still firm. The girls could go out and pet it. I even set up a basket with some blankets in it so she could keep warm. NO FEEDING and NO COMING IN! That was a Thursday night.

By Sunday she was still there. Even more important she had managed to work her way into Tom's heart. So we now have a new cat: Ace

Food List

After my obsession with books I saw this list and wanted to see how I fared. I have eaten 32 of them (and some of them I will never eat again)

1. Abalone

2. Absinthe

3. Alligator

4. Baba Ghanoush

5. Bagel and lox

6. Baklava

7. Barbecue ribs

8. Bellini

9. Bird’s Nest Soup

10. Biscuits and gravy

11. Black Pudding

12. Black Truffle

13. Borscht

14. Calamari

15. Carp

16. Caviar

17. Cheese fondue

18. Chicken and waffles

19. Chicken Tikka Masala

20. Chile Relleno

21. Chitterlings/Chitlins

22. Churros

23. Clam Chowder

24. Cognac

25. Crabcake

26. Crickets

27. Currywurst

28. Dandelion wine

29. Dulce de leche

30. Durian

31. Eel

32. Eggs benedict

33. Fish Tacos

34. Foie Gras

35. Fresh Spring Rolls

36. Fried Catfish

37. Fried Green Tomatoes

38. Fried Plaintain

39. Frito Pie

40. Frog’s Legs

41. Fugu

42. Funnel Cake

43. Gazpacho

44. Goat

45. Goat’s milk

46. Goulash

47. Gumbo

48. Haggis

49. Head Cheese

50. Heirloom Tomatoes

51. Honeycomb

52. Hostess Fruit Pie

53. Huevos Rancheros

54. Jerk Chicken

55. Kangaroo

56. Key Lime Pie

57. Kobe Beef

58. Lassi

59. Lobster

60. Mimosa

61. MoonPie

62. Morel Mushrooms

63. Nettle Tea

64. Octopus

65. Oxtail Soup

66. Paella

67. Paneer

68. Pastrami on Rye

69. Pavlova

70. Phaal

71. Philly Cheesesteak

72. Pho

73. Pineapple and cottage cheese

74. Pistachio Ice Cream

75. Po’ boy

76. Pocky

77. Polenta

78. Prickly Pear

79. Rabbit Stew

80. Raw Oysters

81. Root Beer Float

82. S’mores

83. Sauerkraut

84. Sea Urchin

85. Shark

86. Snail

87. Snake

88. Soft Shell Crab

89. Som Tam

90. Spaetzle

91. Spam

92. Squirrel

93. Steak Tartare

94. Sweet Potato Fries

95. Sweetbreads

96. Tom Yum

97. Umeboshi

98. Venison

99. Wasabi Peas

100.Zucchini Flowers

April Sugar kit reveal

I simply adored all the papers that were in this kit. They were all double sided so I was in pattern paper heaven!

I used some weaving on this card. I noticed that Heather did as well. These papers go so well together that I couldn't just use a few.

This was one of the simplest card I have ever made - and one of my favs. This kit made it so easy that it is hard to believe.
Another fairly simple card - I am sure that I could get used to doing cards like this.
Once again you can see that I was crazy for the papers. I especially like the paper on the right where the circle, flowers, swirls and butterflies were on the paper. It made the rest of the layout very easy to coordinate.
This was just a fun layout. I like digging up old pictures - and that is what I did for this.

April sketch

There are times when a sketch looks lame, but the layout from it looks super. There are other times when the sketch looks great, but the layout made from it just doesn't measure up. The latter was what happened with this one. I loved this sketch:

However the layout from it rather left me flat. Not sure why. You can see I played with the placement of the title and the journaling and added a few embellishments, but somehow I was still not happy with it.

March Reading list

March was not a good month for reading. I got 3 books from "the list" but I was hoping for more. I am slowing down I only had 11 books this month. I am going to need to get moving if I am going to get my goals. Anyway, here is the list for March:

29. Wuthering Heights

30. Dressed for Death

31. The Haunting of Hillside School

32. The Ottoman Empire

33. The Vikings

34. The Dangerous Hour

35. Plague and Pestilence

36. Oliver Twist

37. Strange Histories – The Egyptians

38. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

39. Just the Facts – Multiple Sclerosis

40. Her Fearful Symmetry

1 Hour Sketch project

On 3/24 Scrapdango had a 1 hour sketch challenge. The sketches were posted at 9 pm and we had one hour to make a layout or card using that sketch. Here is the project I made in just under an hour.

Playing Cards

Last Saturday a friend from church came over. She is new to cardmaking. We spent the day trying new techniques and making quite a few cards. Here is some of the results:

These next 2 cards were made using a split negative technique I found on youtube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9p6AoL2pJ8&feature=related

I was playing with my Perfect pearls and my stamps to make this card. The idea was taking from the "Thinking Inking" tutorials from 2 Peas in a Bucket on youtube.
This was yet another new technique. The spinners actually spin! I was challenged to use eyelets and I wanted to find something new to do with them. I made my own pinwheels using the techniques in this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ-mDrJFc0E

All in all it was a fun day and I learned a few new techniques that I am planning to use again.

Mark your Calendars!

This Friday (March 23) at 9pm EST, come over to the message boards for a 1 hour Sketch Challenge. Each member of the DT will be providing you with an original sketch for you to choose from. You'll have an hour to post your take on it.

Aimee will be providing a prize pack to the winner!

It Shows!

I have been on a journey for several years - a journey to get closer to God. I have succeeded which makes me very happy and even more blessed. He has been so faithful (even when I have not been) and his blessings are overwhelming. Since I began this journey here are just a few things that He has been with me through :

The death of my mom

The death of my dad, 1o months after my mom

The closing of my church

The search for a new church

Foreclosure proceedings on our home

Carpel tunnel surgery

Theft of my car

Raising 2 teens

There has been much more, but every time I face a challenge, he is there. I know this but I was not really aware that (unless you actually read this blog) that my relationship with him really showed. I want it to, but I really didn't know how. But even not knowing how, I have managed to do it.

I was at Curves and there were just a few other people. One of the ladies that was working there was talking to her co-worker who she knew well. I was working out. She said that normally that she wouldn't ask but she knew that I was a strong Christian. She asked for a prayer request for her sister in law who was very sick. Of course I was glad to pray for her. I was even more pleased though that someone who I do not know that well, someone who I have never made a point to speak about my faith to, knew that I belonged to him! Praise the Lord!

Sketch

One of the duties of the team is to design a sketch and make a layout using that sketch. Here is my sketch and my project of it. ( and, yes, I did the sketch first and then the layout)

March Sugar Reveal

This is my first reveal for Scrapdango. They have 2 kits each month - one sugar and one spice. I am a designer for the spice kit. Here are some of my projects:

The journaling on this one says: At age 15, Eva is a beautiful young woman. She is independent and creative. Truly a free spirit

March is a big birthday month in our family (and our church family). I had to make 3 layouts - one being a 2 page, and cards or another type of paper craft. I chose to make birthday cards.

Blog Hop projects

I hopped last weekend. I didn't finish all the projects, but I did get a few done. And even more important, I had fun! The first one shown is from Jessica's challenge. It can be found here: Jessica Jennings

The other one I did this weekend was Anna's challenge. That can be found here: Ana White

I am not done with all the challenges, but I have until the end of the week to finish them. I hope that you will come and join me and have some fun while you are at it.

Scrapdango's blog Hop

Welcome to Scrapdango's Grand Re-Opening Blog Hop!!! It's time for a little March Madness! Because you came hopping with us, your reward is a sneak of the challenges that will be listed on the message boards beginning Monday, March 5th. The crop will go through Sunday, March 11th at midnight EST.

There will be games and prizes and one lucky person will be a grand prize winner of both an old kit and the BRAND NEW March kit!! So don't forget to mark your calendar and play along!

Ok, here is my challenge: a recipe challenge

Everyone likes an ice cream sundae. All sundaes start with ice cream and then you add a topping of your choice. Then add some extras to make it yours. That is what my scrapping recipe is like. I will give you some basic elements, then some choices to make your project yours. Here is the recipe you will need to follow:

2 patterned papers (no more, no less)

Stitching

Some kind of chipboard element

Now you have some choices to make ( you must choose one of each pair)

Sanding or tearing

Ink or painting

Stickers or rub-ons

One element of your own choosing

Here is my sample:

Now that you have stopped by, don't forget to hop on over to Shannon Blinn
If you stopped here, make sure to stop at the beginning and hop all the way through so you can get a peek at ALL the challenges and get a head start!!