Sunday, June 28, 2009

A Perfect Day

Yesterday was my birthday!

Aside from the present the dog left me in the morning (he threw up on the carpet) I had the best day. The girls got up and we headed to my sisters house, I opened my presents from her (she spoiled me rotten...a new swimsuit, umbrella, scrap supplies, burts bees, chocolate and a shoe bookmark...all the things I love or needed) and then we loaded up the car and took off.

First stop, the Merry Go Round Museum in Sandusky. The kids LOVED doing the rubbings and riding the merry go round (my nephew is into Toads, so he picked the frog to ride).





Then we headed over to the shoreline to see Lake Erie and wander around a bit at the park. Livy loved that Cedar Point could be seen...she cannot wait to go back there!




After that, the girls were after ice cream (they are ALWAYS after ice cream. I'm not a huge ice cream fan so was trying to find Trin's logic for saying it was a birthday present for ME). Amyway, we were headed to Port CLinton on Route 6 we passed Toft's so we had to stop! Omgosh, they have lots of choices and a small cone is like 4 scoops!



Happily sated, we got in the car and drove the rest of the way to the Great Lakes Popcorn Company in Port Clinton:

http://www.greatlakespopcorn.com/

We tired lots of flavours at their tasting station and came up with a few favourites. Trin was all about the Columbus mix and Livy the jellybean, but Mindy and I both went crazy over the salt and vinegar. Omgosh, it is awesome!!! I think I found a new favourite junk food!

Afterwards, we headed back to my sisters, where my BIL made us dinner on the grill and the kids played in the sandbox. Then, we went over to Big Lots where I found the much sought after thickers for $2 a pack!

When we left, standing by the road across the street, we saw her...she was nice enough to stand still and pose for me. We looked at each other awhile and then she went back to eating and we drove back to Min's.



My mom called as we were leaving, so I talked to her on the way home and Stan was waiting here at home for me with tiramisu! The best birthday cake ever! And a great way to end a perfect day!

Go Fish

The girls went to Columbia Reservation earlier in the month and heard a talk on fish and they also took fish molds and covered them in fabric paint and made decorated shirts. They got very creative!

Challenge was from Adina, who wanted us to take our scraps and use them in a new way. I made a bunch of prima flowers out of mine (about 30 of them actually, this was my favourite)

Scraplift Challenge

I took the inspiration from this card from another posted by Tamara and knocked it off using a rub on and some stickles. If you don't know what a scraplift challenge is, it's where you take someone elses work and duplicate it, putting on your own spin.

Childhood

Tanisha posted this challenge...you had a use a Michael Jackson song title.

I watched my nephew last week and he is soo fun to have! I really enjoy seeing how easily amused he is and how everything is new to him since my girls at, 8 and 9, are pretty blase about common things these days.

It's a Midwest Thing

This one if for my friend Stacie who is THE BIGGEST polar pop junkie I know!

For those of you NOT from the midwest, soft drinks are called pop in our neck of the woods. Not cokes, not soda, no fizzy drinks....POP! And if you get it from a fountain they are sublime.

THis is a sketch that was posted for the crop this weekend.

U Rock card

This was a color challege from Lesley...to go with the vampy theme, the colours were black and white and one item of red.

Here's my card....



I need to play with this one a bit, I'm not real happy with it, I found some vintage film images that I want to try and work in somehow and some black and white ribbon.

A Year of Cards

This was Lesley's challenge...to create a year of cards in one weekend, you had prompts to use for each month.

January: CELEBRATE good times...C'MON! A celebration card


February: Let's Get it ON....Valentine's card


March: a little bit louder now...JUMP! A jump into SPRING card...Spring themed card


April: In the Easter parade! Easter card with the color yellow
May: Mama...something something something...Mama! Mother's Day card with the color purple
June: Poppa was a rollin stone! Father's Day card with the color brown



July: Born on the 4th of July: Patriotic Card with a heart on the card somewhere
August: Sittin on the dock of the bay....end of SUMMER...so a peaceful Summer card...with a piece of yellow ribbon
September: We don't need no education! Back to School Card with an apple on the card



October: We did the Mash...the MOnster Mash: Halloween Card using orange and black ribbon
November: ummmm....ok...how about a Thank y ou card of some sort including three flowers
December: O Christmas Tree! Christmas (or Hanukah) card featuring at least 2 circles and something with polka dots

Race Challenge Cards

Tracey is doing her famous race challenge...I love that challenge and omgosh, her commentary gets SOOO hilarious. The girl cracks me up! I dropped out awhile back as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up since I had errands to run and would be gone most of yesterday (all day it turned out). But, I did the first few.

Here's some cards I made for various laps:


4H Public Speaking Competition

Livy participated in the Cloverbud category of the 'speech meet' last week. Her group did so great and despite being hugely nervous, she delivered her line perfectly and loud enough we could hear her from where we were sitting in the back! Yay Livy!

She was soo excited about getting her ribbons and presidential gold dollar. But, the best part was at the end of all the awards they had prize drawings and Livy won $20! She was thrilled!

This page was done for the Simplify challenge, where we were to try and use only a third of our page and leave the rest of the space empty!

Cigar Box Purse

Karmyn was responsible for this challenge...it was called Busy, Busy, Busy! The point was to make something and have NO negative space left. Fill the entire thing up. So, I had gotten this cigar box at a garage sale a week ago and decided since I hadn't made a new purse in awhile, this was a great way to answer this challenge.

THen, I went crazy with the flowers. I used the chipboard (that I had been hoarding for years) as a starting point (and yep, it is shoe themed, I'm a suck up! lol)and then threw in stickles and bling and a few other odds and ends. THere are primas, just blooms, crocheted flowers, a big grungepaper one I made...if I could find it in my hoard and it was black, pink or white, on it went! (consequently, I'm now completely out of flowers in all those colours...this is a great way to use things up!)

Here she is, I just need to add a beaded handle. THe other sides are covered in a black dewdrop print handmade paper that has a swirl pattern on it in silver. (I guess I should probably take a pic of that too...oh well, another day)



Vamp ATC

Kristy posted an ATC challenge with a Vamp theme. How fun!

I used this corset stamp I have had forever and again hadn't used for inspiration. And I thought the Madonna quote was perfect! Since I had my alcohol inks out, I had to play with them to make the background!

Ad Challenge inspired card

Tracey posted this ad as a challenge this weekend. You had to use it as inspiration for a card, page, etc.

I LOVE this ad!!!



Here's what I came up with using an awesome stamp I have had sitting here for eons (angel) and a background of Bright Orange, Red Pepper and Yellow alkie inks, then I add pearl alkie ink in the middle for the glow. The flourishes are a Heidi Swapp stamp and then I did the oval over the angel with orange peel stickles.

I LOVE it, this is one of my favouritest things I have done in awhile!

Endeeringly Cute

A couple weeks ago, the girls participated in the Clan of the Caves program at Wolf Creek. It was a program where they learned about the earth through various clans (elements) using interpretive dance, art and so forth. They really enjoyed all 4 days of it!

On our way one morning, we were delayed a bit by this little fellow. He was sooo little and after he crossed the road, he collapsed into the weeks exhausted! Fortunately, I had my camera (of course I did! lol) and was able to take pics of him since he was so accomodating.

The page was done for the Vintage challenge (had to use nautral colours, lace, a vintage image and distressed and inked edges.

Knuckle Down

This weekend is an online crop at If the Shoe Fits ning site. Awesome! I got soo much done!

These pages were done for 2 different challenges, the first page a sketch and the second an elements. I needed 2 pages as I took lots of pictures at the American Toy and Marble museum at Lock 3 in downtown Akron. We went there for a field trip earlier this month and the girls learned the history of toys and how Akron was such a huge part of that and how to officially play marbles. Then, they each got a bag of marbles to take home.


Friday, June 12, 2009

Blog Candy

How would you like to win some cool fun stuff?

This cool fun stuff to be exact:


This is what you have to do:
1. You must be a follower, so if you aren't a follower, become one!
2. Please leave a comment on this post.
3. Link this blog candy on your blog or webpage somewhere that I can see!

I'm going to run this candy through August 16 and in that time, I'll keep digging through my hoard to find things to add!

Currently the package contains:a Scrappy Cat stamp set, R&L Birthday Rub Ons, jumbo paper clip, Mrs Grossmans vellum flowers stickers, pkg of ScrapALopes, heritage alpha stickers, sheet of grunge, Karen Foster scrapper's floss, Martha Stewart coarse crystal glitter, ScrapNMoms magnet (these are an exclusive collectors item y'all! lol You can only get them from me or the admin I've shared them with), Petal Pebbles, MM tags, Copic marker, heritage ribbon, a sponge dauber, Jolee's shoes and a bottle of alcohol ink!

Oodles of Doodles

That is the name of a class my friend Michelle is teaching over at the Debbie Hodges site. It starts June 15th and runs Monday and Thursday for three weeks. There are 7 lessons and prizes and fun. The classes include lessons in doodling, hand cutting, and sewing techniques.

I had the pleasure of taking the first class with Michelle in person before she moved from Ohio and it was awesome! It really inspired me to start doing my own art in my layouts more.

You can check it out here:
http://debbiehodge.squarespace.com/oodlesofdoodles/

Here's the layout I did with Michelle's inspiration:


Hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Instructions for Hollowing out a Light Bulb

Emily asked for instructions for the vase below....this is super detailed and a great link!

http://www.teamdroid.com/diy-hollow-out-a-light-bulb/

Once you have your bulb hollowed you just go to town. I used glass stain on mine, then doodled flourishes on it with a gold paint pen and then wrapped it in think copper wire and added beads around the top.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Recycled Lightbulb Vase

Okay, I love learning new things. Aristotle wrote "Wisdom begins in wonder" and some days I take that to heart a little too much. I get so excited everytime the new class list comes out at the parks or libraries or at the LSS and so on.

But, I love the inspiration and the motivation it gives me.

Monday night I took a Recycled Art class at the library and Susie showed us how to hollow out a lightbulb and turn it into art.

We painted them there, then I brought mine home and added my own wire and beads.

This is what I got and the chickeepoos were kind enough to go out and pick me a few daisies for it.


Now, maybe it's just me.....but can you imagine these with alcohol inks? Ooooohhhhh.....pretty! I'm gonna have to find me some more lightbulbs and play!

Artist Trading Cards

Those fab girls over at If the Shoe Fits blog posted a challenge this week to make masculine themed atcs....well, it wasn't all that long ago that DH got promoted at work and his desk and bb looks pretty empty...so I thought I'd make a couple for him to cheer him up and brighten his space.

Here's my takes (now mind you, honey HATES having his picture taken, so I had to do some serious digging for that little pic below...it's from about 8 years ago and he was half asleep, the only reason I even got it)




And they just posted the Wednesday card challenge so get on over there and check it out!

Happy Birthday You're 8!

Oops! So, I see I forgot the "you're" part on the layout....quick rub on fix in my future.

This was made with the Scrap Queen Summer Fun kit as well, I really love the date paper, at first glance, it isn't something I'd pick out, but with some judiciuosly applied key lime glimmer mist (my answer for everything these days) I really love the paper. Plus, how perfect for a birthday!

Watching Liv open gifts is SO fun....everything is "Just what she wanted!" and as you can tell, her expressions are priceless and she gets SO excited!


Uh Oh it's magic

We went to a magic show on Mother's Day at Columbia Reservation and the girls loved it (so much we are going to another magic show elsewhere this week).

Papers are Core'dinations cardstock and Jillibean soup. I was basically just trying to use up my scraps on this one.

Mom I'm bored!

Oh, how often I hear those words from my eldest. Ironically enough, while I was scrapping this page, in she walked and uttered those words (and of course, when I started laughing my butt off, she got very dramatic and did her patented eyeroll and sigh....so nice that my 9 yo thinks I am the biggest idiot on the planet, I was hoping it would take her a few more years to figure that one out).

This is for a challenge at The Scrap Queen this month, we were to use 4 different fonts on a layout. I sketched the "Mom" and then cut it out and faux stitched it, the "I am" are thickers, the "so" and "Bored" were made using CTMH alphabet stamps.

WIth the the exception of the yellow paper which was from my scrap hoard, the rest is from TSQ Summer Fun kit from this month.

Love challenge

Simply Scrapping has LOTS of great challenges up this month! I have been trying to work my way through them, it's a great way to get motivated and caught up!

The June 12th challenge must be about a loved one (I think my darling nephew and the girls fit the bill) and have LOVE in the title.

The papers are from Judy, they are by scribble scrabble and soo fun for summer/warm weather layouts.

Sparkle plus grunge makes for some interesting tags

The current colour challenge at the If the Shoe Fits blog is green and pink. I didn't really have any pictures to scrap in those colours, but I did have tags and LOTS of ink of various kinds and I unearthed a huge pile of manila tags yesterday soooo

into my stash I went.

I used Peeled Paint distressing ink and Tim Holtz Fairytale Frenzy stamps. Then, I grabbed some leftover thickers, lime green stickles and some Tattered Angels products....Juneberry Wine and Key Lime glimmer mist and the nature themed screens.

The LG is for me cause hey, why not, I deserve it right? lol And the other is for my dear friend Sarah who has a birthday this week. Oh, by the way, over on her site, to celebrate she is running challenges...get over there and check it out (scrap queen link at the right)

Free Vintage Wallpapaer Download

Just got this in an email from Stampington & Co. There are 5 patterns to choose from and soo great! And if you love to do vintage artwork like myself, this is an awesome find!



Link can be found here:
http://www.stampington.com/html/postscript_06092009_download.html

Be sure to check out the rest of the site as well, they have some really cool products and great inspiration!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Scrapping Across Ohio

So, I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner!

One of my favourite things about homeschooling is the field trips! We go on a lot. And I'm sure I'm not the only homeschooler that feels that way.

I also LOVE Ohio and am always looking for fun new places to explore. Then, I take lots of pics and scrap them.

So, if you are looking for something fun to do and you are in Ohio, be sure to check out the Scrapping Across Ohio tag, that's where you'll find my fave places in Ohio.

Over the next week, my goal is to get up layouts that I have done of Ohio vacations and field trips so that you can join in on the fun and maybe find a few new hidden gems in this state yourself.

I'd also love if you'd share your own Ohio layouts!

Artsy Fartsy

Trin's my artsy girl and she gets so excited about field trips to art museums. While daddy was on vacation last month we finally found time to go to Oberlin's art museum.

Small, but packed with great art! Definitely worth checking out if you haven't been there! And they have great little activity books for the kids to go with their self guided tour.

Trin's favourite was the giant plug (off to the right of the bldg outside behind the ginormous tree). She also loved the dragon statue.

Field Day

I had such great memories of field day when I was a kid, that I was totally excited when I saw that Lorain County parks was doing one for homeschoolers. It wasn't quite the day we had growing up, but it gave me some great ideas for next year.

The girls love any chance to go out and explore so they loved it. And we learned about galls, which are something we had never noticed before this year. Amazing thing that you can go through life 30+ years and not see something that is apparently pretty common.

Natural Beauty

I still love this photo! I blogged about it back in May. My youngest chickeepoo took the photo and I couldn't wait to scrap it.

I really wanted to set it off and not overpower the photo, but I also had to get all my fun embellishments in! Plain flowers with Theresa's great batik paper (augustartpapers.com) seemed to fit the bill perfectly. At least I think so.

Beautiful photo taken by a beautiful little girl plus beautiful papers. Does it get much better?

Oh, and the great flower was made by my friend Sarah, she layered mulberry and tipped it with smooch ink (I LOVE these little bottles of fun!). Isn't it pretty? She is soo talented and such a great friend.

Cousins

How fun is this paper?! I got this from Judy at Simply Scrapping...online I wasn't so sure I liked it, but IRL it is awesome! It is made by Cherry Arte and I love it!

It really has a lot of movement to it and that is perfect for a layout of the chickeepoos and my darling nephew. I kept trying to get these great posed pictures of the three of them together and they were NOT having it! It was like trying to herd wildebeasts! I'd get one to look at the camera and the other two would be distracted.

Oh well, they are all seriously cute and I love them so I'll forgive them!

The flowers are ones I made myself...my beloved pop cans embossed with my cuttlebug and alcohol inked and coffee filters. Prima just has nothing on them! lol

Gnome Much Fun

It was a gorgeous day back in April and the first after a LOOONG winter. I tried to find any excuse possible to keep us outside....

Sketch is #34 from Simply Scrapping. I love Judy's sketches, they are so great! And have fun details.

Papers are Kaiser Craft from her store. Stamps are SU (I just love the gnomes, it is like my one SU token set).


Crazy for Critters

One of the things we came home with on Entrepreneur Night were Cosmo and Panda. The girls fell in love with these too. I have always sworn NO Rodents but they just had to have them.

And, their final argument for getting them (and how could I POSSIBLY say no to this and I swear they came up with this on their own) "Mom, we HAVE to get the hamsters! You haven't scrapped us with hamsters yet!"

So, we have hamsters.

Okay, I have to admit, they ARE super cute and the girls take such delight in them.

Speaking of Simply Scrapping......

We are looking for new members! If you have not checked out this site, get over there ASAP! The design team (not including myself here, I am truly humbled by the creativity of these ladies) is just awesome! I get sooo much inspiration from these ladies.

ANd challenges...well, anytime I can find challenges I am sooo happy. I need some direction some days and they give me the extra push I need to get motivated!

Get on over there and be sure to tell them Lissa sent you (okay, yeah, there is a prize for those who recruit new members, it isn't something I really want, but it will be great to be to share with the teens I work with, they love gadgets, so I'm in this for them!)

http://simplyscrapping.ning.com/

Akron Zoo...

The recipe challenge going on right now at Simply Scrapping (link is to the right) focuses on zoo animals! Seemed like a perfect excuse for me to work on our Akron Zoo pictures from Livy's birthday!

Recipe is:
You must use everything in the recipe. You can use more of one item, but NOT less.
1. Use an animal you will find at the zoo. Must be an outside animal either a photograph, on the paper, or embellishment.
2. 3 buttons, 2 hearts, and 1 tag
3. 2 different Alphabets-One must be from chipboard
4. 1 Square & 1 Circle
5, Color Black
6. Stitching either rub or real
7. Minimum 2 styles of papers

Deadline is June 11, so get scrapping!


There's also a great prize involved, go check it out!