If you give a moose a button

Let's hang out card

2012-02-28T06:00:00.002-09:00

Cut card base to measure 4 1/4" by 5 1/2".

Cut a strip of pattern paper to measure 1 1/4" by 4" with one side to have a zig zag edge & adhere. Stamp sentiment to blue card stock, trim & adhere. Stamp branch. Stamp leaves on pattern paper, cut and adhere. Adhere owl to white card stock adhere, trim & adhere to branch. Adhere cloud.

Follow your heart

2012-02-27T06:00:00.001-09:00

Cut card base. Mine measures 4 1/4" by 5 1/2".

Adhere card stock triangle behind sail boat. Adhere sail boat. Embellish boat with ribbon and brad. Adhere cloud. Cut a 1 1/4 inch strip of pattern paper with a zig zag edge. Trim down to 4" & adhere slightly over the sail boat to create the water. Add sticker board bellow pattern paper. Adhere wood number. Stamp sentiment.

Birthday Wishes card

2012-02-26T20:07:00.000-09:00

Cut card base. Mine measures 4 1/4" by 5 1/2".

Cut orange card stock (back layer) to measure 3 3/4" by 5" & adhere. Cut white card stock (middle layer) to measure 3 1/4" by 3" & adhere. Cut pattern paper (front layer) to measure 3 3/4" by 4". Ink and adhere. Attach sticker banners. Add sticker words to spell wishes. Stamp sentiment. Add 3 sticker stars. With a paper piercer, pierce paper on the upper side corner on each of the banners. Hand sew orange floss so it show above each banner. Then sew blue twine to show in between each banner & tie off.

Birthday Wishes

2012-02-24T09:17:00.001-09:00

With March's kit from Paper Lovelies being all boy and my nephew's birthday really close, why not make some birthday decor with the kit. It was really easy to put it all together. This kit worked awesome for is!

With a little help from the cricut to cut out some helicopters and airplanes.

Since the cupcake wrappers were sort of a flop, we were still able to use them by making birthday hats and crowns. The kids love them!

I was a very nice afternoon. It is always nice to get together with family. The kids played outside before. Lisa had a huge pot of chili to feed us all supper. Yum!

Sneak Peek

2012-02-23T11:01:00.000-09:00

Tomorrow Paper Lovelies will be releasing it's next kit.

So lets have a few sneaks before then...

These kits are in a limited quantities and go fast.

Photo a day

2012-02-20T15:58:00.000-09:00

Catching up again....

13. Blue

14. Heart

15. Phone

16. Something new

17. Time

18. Drink

19. Something you hate to do

20. Handwriting

5 months

2012-02-18T10:14:00.000-09:00

I'm a little late on posting this one.

At 5 months Evelynn is rolling. She doesn't stay in one spot very long.

She is weighing in at 16lbs, just a mere 5 pounds less then her bigger sister.Who I might add is 16 months older than her. My biggest baby so far.

She loves to talk to you and loves be talked to in return.

She loves to smile, laugh and share her emotions freely with you.

She has more control over her hands and grabs at anything that is in front of her.

Still being a stinker if I consume any dairy, chocolate or beans. :(

I feel like life is finally getting back to normal around here.

Ryan is home. Yay!

He called and surprised us on Valentine's night that he would be arriving on a flight the next afternoon.

We are so excited to have him home again!

Instead of cleaning

2012-02-14T17:51:00.000-09:00

Today I almost finished my crocheted rug.

It not 100% rectangular but I like it just the same.

A couple weeks ago I bought a rug at Target. Hauled it home and did not like it.

I decided to look at the thrift store for some fun colored sheets and I scored.

I returned my rug to Target and started making my own.

But like always I started and never had the chance to finish it.

A friend of mine made a big circular one for her living room, which inspired me to try make one for the bathroom. I was at her house today dropping off some things and it got me inspired to work on this again.

Now all I need to do is weave my ends in and it will be complete.

I need to stop and make dinner but the goal is afterwards to complete it.

It will be nice to cross another unfinished project off my list.

Ryan thinks he will be home somewhere in the next couple weeks so the push to complete and finish projects is on. Going to be switching gears again, to play with some paper.

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T17:49:00.000-09:00

I’ve been slacking…

2012-02-12T14:26:00.001-09:00

On the crafting, creating and blogging...

But I have been getting caught up on the laundry.

The paperwork.

Yup 18 months worth all filed nicely away.

And the photo a day.

Day 3. Hands

Missing: Day 4 A stranger. Wish I could have gotten a picture of the cute elderly lady I saw with her rain cap on that was entering the hair salon that day. So dog on cute! But I didn’t feel it was worth getting in a car wreck over trying to take a picture while driving.

Day 5. 10 am.

Missing: Day 6 Dinner. I don’t know about you, but it’s chaotic enough just trying to eat, that I didn’t remember to take the picture until after I ate.

Day 7. button

Day 8. Sun

Day 9. Front door

Day 10. Self portrait

Day 11. Makes you happy

Day 12. Inside your closet

Hellooo...

2012-02-12T14:02:00.000-09:00

Anybody home??

Day 2

2012-02-02T12:00:00.002-09:00

February photo a day, Words:

Journaling is the one thing that has really held me back from scrapbooking. Not knowing what should be recorded and documented. I have found that starting this blog, (thanks Carrie for all the encouraging words and building my confidence to start) the words come together more quickly than they did when I first sat down. Although I'd like to share more crafty stuff with you, life right now hasn't allowed me to on a daily basis.

February photo a day

2012-02-02T10:38:00.000-09:00

I saw this on pinterest and it jumped out at me. I don't know if I"ll follow along each month but figured I'd try my best to do every day in February. I think I'll enjoy this challenge since the photo a day has some direction to it. I find myself drifting a lot these days. I printed this on computer paper and put it next to the calendar. I can view and cross off when completed.

Original post can be found here.

Okay so I snapped a couple yesterday but they all tie in together.

These are the views of the crafts the are pulling me in all directions lately, plus the one thing that needs to be tackled next.

I'm having a hard time staying focused on one thing. I have too many things I enjoy doing so when the project I'm working on doesn't quite go the way it should, I walk away and pick up another. The only problem is these projects are spread through out our house and need some cleaning up and finishing.

My goal while Ryan is gone this time is to complete the many unfinished projects that are sitting out.

And then there are our taxes.

Yup, it's tax season again and I'm pretty sure I haven't done any filing since last tax season. When the pile out grew the shoe box, I started another pile. Gulp.

I also am pretty sure I ~~got stuck with~~ ~~inherited~~ learned this habit from one of my parents.

I really need to sit down and go through this stack of paper to find the stuff we need to do our taxes.

I have notice that I do collect alot of paper when it comes to filing. Do I need to save every piece of paper that comes from the insurance company saying what they covered? Or every statement that comes for the doctors office? What do you save? What do you toss?

Sending our love

2012-02-02T07:43:00.000-09:00

Ryan has returned back to work. Even though it did take several days for him to adjust to the days schedule and me getting used to having another adult around to help. It was so nice to have him home for the extra few days.

Using my February kit I made a book that he could take with him when traveling away from home.

The book is filled with pictures of us. I even found a picture of us when we were first dating.

I know being away from home and working out of a camp is not easy. I wanted him to have a piece of home to be able to find encouragement and strength when the days are getting long.

The kids include some paintings and drawings they had created.

I wrote a letter expressing my love.

We are hoping the weather corporates for them to finish the work that needs to be done without too many weather days.

While Ryan was home the temperatures around here warmed up 56 degrees.

My day looks like it officially started at 3am. After returning home from the airport both the girls decided it would be a great time to start their day. *sigh* Hoping we can steal a nap in today. It just might be a 2 pot of coffee day. Glad we did picked up more coffee last night when we were out getting the few things that Ryan needed before heading out.

2012-02-01T17:29:00.000-09:00

I hate to tease the ones of you that missed out on the chance to buy a February kit from Paper Lovelies.

Sentiment and boat stamp from stampin' up. Ek success edge punch and cloud punch from fiskars.

The kits all sold very shortly after the kit was released.

Sentiment from Kiasercraft mini clear stamp and label maker. Kaisercraft pearls. Hug snug seam binding. Jenni Bowlin pin.

But I wanted to share with you the full views of the cards that I created using the wonderful kit.

Kiasercraft pearl, paper dollie, stitching from sewing machine and sentiment from Ali Edwards stamp.

The kit included Kaisercraft's Sweet Nothings paperline.

Another give away

2012-01-31T08:28:00.000-09:00

Would you like to win a pre-designed layout from Paper Lovelies?

You could win a 2 page layout of Snow Much Fun & Baby Love!

Go to Paper Lovelies Facebook page and leave a comment.

Winner will be chosen on Friday by random number.

And the winner is...

2012-01-30T09:33:00.000-09:00

Jessica Walden.

I'll contact you.

Thanks to all who took the time to check out our items over on etsy.

We have sat down and did some re-calculating on our prices. They are now priced a smidgen lower but we took away the shipping cost. We really do want you to enjoy our head bands as much as we do.

We have a several more that we are working on. Many complete just need to be photographed. In that group it will include a few toddler(extra small), girls(small) and a pre-teen sizes(medium). If you would like a certain color combo or size, feel free to message us through etsy or at sewamber[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Just a reminder

2012-01-28T16:12:00.000-09:00

The give away for the crochet headband ends tomorrow, midnight Alaska time.

You must leave a comment here on the blog.

You can shop our completed headbands here.

I'll post the winner on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Completed layouts

2012-01-27T16:25:00.000-09:00

Okay, so I'm guilty of rushing off to Wal-Mart yesterday to pick up these 7 pictures to complete my layouts.

But look at how nice they turned out...

I added my pictures. Then stamped 'Go out and play' with an Ali Edwards stamp. And completed the layout by journalling along the snow drift.

Easy and fast!

This one I embellished a little more. I didn't want to add all 4 pictures but use the space of the 4th to add my journaling. I added a sub title with Naomi's name.

I then stamped a few sayings with some Ali Edwards stamps.

These stamps were so fitting.

The hardest part about putting these layouts together was the journalling.

I struggle with knowing what I should record and document.

Love how they turned out!

New, new, new!

2012-01-26T12:15:00.000-09:00

Paper Lovelies is now selling pre-designed scrapbook layouts.

What a great way to get caught up on your scrapbooking.

Let us take the work out of scrapbooking! These pre-designed 2 page layouts are perfect for all beginning scrapbookers, and advanced. They are ready to assemble, add pictures and journaling. You can take them a step further by adding ink and stickles. The creative possibilities are endless.

I am excited I have the opportunity to be involved in these layouts. The only thing is, to find them on her site they are a kind of hidden. So, if you didn't know, you wouldn't see them on the main page. I believe she is currently working to get them displayed on her main page.

When you are over at Paper Lovelies make sure you click on 'shop our latest kits' tab and you will be able to view and purchase the layouts.

This month there are 2 adorable layouts available.

Baby Love:

This layout is crying for pictures of the arrival of a sweet bundle of joy or a baby shower?

Snow much fun:

Think I need to dig through some of my pictures, journal and share what you can do with these layouts.

Will share soon. No excuses for me on the lack of scrapbooking now.

Excited, happy, nervous...

2012-01-24T13:49:00.000-09:00

Yesterday Ryan phoned to tell me he is coming home for a few days and that he'll be on a flight home today. It is too cold to work. The forecast has the cold weather holding for the next couple days. So, instead of having the guys sitting around camp, equipment idling but not running they decided to shut it down for a couple days and return at the end of the week.

Yay! I could not be more excited!

The kids don't know at first he is coming home. (I was pretty scared that he wouldn't truly get a flight out and I'd have upset kids.) But now that he has boarded a plane I think it's safe to tell them.
I was a little frantic about getting this house looking spotless but then had to stop myself to remember, he isn't coming home to see how clean the house is, but to come see us. Shoot he might even be excited to help put the dishes & laundry away and even haul out the compost.

I'm off to pick up my better half.

As I was scrolling through my January 2012 picture folder trying to find a picture of him to share I realized that out of the 250+ pictures that were there I wasn't going to find a single picture of him. He hasn't been home at all during this new year.

I am seriously nervous about his departure. As for me and him we have learned how to communicate, listen, sacrifice and love each other better than we did when we were first married. The little ones we have created and brought into this life don't always understand that. I ~~am sure~~ know it is going to tough on all of us again. I hope to make the best of these day he is home.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Oh, have you left me a comment on yesterday post to be entered into the crochet headband give away? If not, what are you waiting for?

Last peek

2012-01-24T13:40:00.000-09:00

with Paper Lovelies February kit. Be sure to watch for it tomorrow.

I was playing with this kit again this morning and was excited at how fast it was to make a card. The papers coordinate so well!

I will share the full photos soon.

Give away

2012-01-23T20:06:00.001-09:00

Do you remember all the crochet headbands that I made for Christmas presents?

Well, a friend of mine & I decided to team up and make them to sell.

We have just listed 11 of them for sale in my etsy shop. But we want to give this one away.

Band is a cream with a purple and green wool flower.

So head on over to my etsy shop and take a look at the ones we have completed. We are working on a bunch more. We would like to also add them to hats.

To be entered into the give away all you need to do is leave a comment saying the color combo that you like the best. If you tell a friend and they name you, I'll enter your name in the give away again. You can only be entered into the giveaway up to 3 times.

Got it?

Give away closes Sunday, January 29th at midnight Alaska time.

I'll announce the winner here on Monday, January 30th.

Our model Maddy was so fun to take pictures of. She was such a sport modeling in -12 degrees weather. Thank-you Maddy!

**This give away is closed**

Sneak Peek

2012-01-20T13:23:00.000-09:00

Excited to take a break to blog and share with you a sneak of the February kit from Paper Lovelies. The kit will be released on the 25th. So be sure to head over then and check it out.

Quantities are limited and the kits sell fast.

Sneak of the book for Ryan.

It has been busy around here.

Thus the lack of blogging and also not being able to share yet.

I am excited to be involved with a new avenue that Paper Lovelies is adding to their site. In addition to the monthly scrap booking kit, Paper Lovelies will also be selling two different 2 page layouts.

All the work of designing the pages are done. Assemble. Add pictures. Journal. You could jazz them up a bit more if you would like by adding stickles. Be sure to watch for them.

Going to take a break before wrapping up my projects by exercising.

I resolved to make exercise a habit, but have only made more excuses each week as to what else needs to be done instead.

I'll have for sure 1, maybe 2, more sneak peeks before the kit is released.

Moose be getting close...

2012-01-19T11:09:00.002-09:00

We've been cooped up for a while with all this cold weather.

The kids have been literally bouncing off the walls. Driving this mama crazy.

With deadlines close approaching and all the energy levels building, we burned some energy at turf time this week. The kids had a blast running around playing with friends.

We have had some visitors lately.

Big hairy ones.

One that tried to eat my wreath.

It was literally just outside the door.

These things are huge!

It's back looks to be the same height as the roof on the playhouse.

Evelynn is growing way too fast! In the 3 weeks Ryan has been gone, she has learned how to roll from her back to stomach. She has more control over her hands, reaching and successfully grabbing at toys and anything within reach. She is starting to grow out her 3 to 6 month clothes and is mostly in 6 month clothes. She has also been blowing bubbles. We are missing him tremendously!

I have decided to put together a little book using Paper Lovelies February kit for him. That way when he does come home, and if he has to leave again, he can take a piece of home with him. Drawings from the kids, pictures and letters. Look for a sneak peek coming Friday.

Still here

2012-01-13T08:54:00.000-09:00

Just finding a hard time to craft and hold the house together.
During the first week Ryan was away I really tried to do something crafty every night after the kids had gone to bed. I've given up. Staying up that late, night after night, wasn't working.
I felt like I was going to crash and burn.
I have decided that keeping this house together is more important right now.

Since Christmas and the arrival of more toys I have been starting to feel overwhelmed with them all. So we found every toys in the house, brought them into the living room. We made 3 piles: keep in bedroom, put away & donate. I am hoping the keep in bedroom pile still isn't too big. I have found that the kids don't play with all of their toys. They dump to find their few favorites. The goal is to rotate toys out. No boredom here.

Yesterday we made our second trip to the dump. The rates have increased, but not by much. For 100 pounds of trash you pay $6 instead of $5. Not bad. The gentleman honored the other half of my dump coupon with no additional payments since the rates increased after the coupon was printed. Ya hoo! Now that we are in a new year I'm going to keep track of our total savings as a way to keep motivated to bringing it ourselves.

I must be saying "Cuz I'm the mom around here," a lot lately because Nolan the other day countered with... "Well, I'm the kid around here." Crack me up!

Sounds like my day has officially started. :)

Attitude

2012-01-11T11:33:00.000-09:00

With all of our snow sitting on the power lines, the power company has stated to be prepared for when the power goes out. Your probably wondering why then the title and the picture from fall. I'm getting to that. When preparing to be gone for the weekend I asked one of Ryan's brothers to come by over the weekend to make sure if the power went out, it wasn't out long enough to deal with frozen and bursting pipes. The power did go out once during the weekend and not for a long period of time. We lost power again yesterday morning for a couple hours. After we regained our power I quickly went to turn the heater in our front porch back on. The porch has no source of heat right now beside a plug in heater, and stores all of our potatoes that we harvested out of the garden. It was then that I realized that the heater had been off since the weekend. I had completely forgotten about the heater out there. Ugh.

All the potatoes had froze.

I started thinking about all the waste, the time that was spend gardening and how good garden potatoes taste, but had to quickly change my attitude.

I am quite thankful that we can in fact garden and harvest our own vegetables.

I am thankful that our kids take a great part in the gardening process.

I am thankful that we have been able to eat our own potatoes up until this point.

I am thankful for all time spent with the kids and the memories that have been made.

This year I want to try to always see the best in everything that is done. Sure it doesn't always happen the way we would have wanted it to go and we sometimes have no control over that. But we do have control over our attitude. An advisor of mine during High School once told me this saying, 'You have your bed to lie down in, but you can always change the sheets,' I'll never forget this saying and the meaning of it.

Laundry

2012-01-10T15:05:00.000-09:00

Our back entry way is our laundry room, pantry & point of entry we use the most.

Last spring we gutted and did some rearranging to maximise our floor space.

The cabinets are the only thing that are missing in order for the room to be complete.

Today I tackled the laundry room wall.

Some day it will have cabinets on it, but who knows when that will be.

So until then we'll enjoy it filled with color.

Before.......

After.......

It already makes me smile.

I'm not happy with the way my pictures printed. Way too dark! I did suspect that would happen if I printed there. They will remain that way until this summer when they will need to be updated.

I just found the tin signs at the thrift store. Knew right away they would make a perfect fit to the decor here. I found the wash board a few years back at a garage sale. I envision it on top of the future cabinets with a old wash tub. I created a stencil using the cricut and card stock for both 'LAUNDRY' and the word collage. Wish I would have slowed down and took more time painting them. But then again, it wouldn't have looked like I painted it.

Refreshed

2012-01-09T12:05:00.000-09:00

This past weekend I joined 13 other ladies for Mother's camp.

(A mother's retreat through our church with instructions and teachings of the Word of God)

It is so nice to pause and take time over the weekend to hear the instructions and teachings of the word of God as to what our duties as a mother are.

It is so uplifting to hear and discuss the joys and trails of raising our children.

I always head home feeling so refreshed.

It really makes you stop and look at all you have to be thankful for.

God has blessed my life so far with 3 healthy children.

And it's a wrap

2012-01-07T05:00:00.001-09:00

Are you sick of all the Christmas posts?

Here's the last one

Ending with a few of my favorite shots from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Once again we are truly blessed to have been able to spend Christmas surrounded by the one's we love!

The gift of giving

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-09:00

I made a few of these jars to give to friends from church.

For my sisters, mom and dad's wife I crocheted hand wraps.

I ran out of time before Christmas to get some calendars made.

I am making 3. One for my mom, dad and Ryan's mom & dad.

They will be in the mail today or Monday!

Better late then never right?

Calling for some order

2012-01-05T13:51:00.001-09:00

With Ryan being away, I have no one to hold me accountable for doing the deeper cleaning of the house.

I am realizing that I do the majority of these chores are done when Ryan is home distracting the kids.

Only having nap time and the time after the kids are tucked into bed, I have been torn between just putting the feet up, crafting and cleaning.

I enjoy a house that is clean. I truly do.

When I slack off and let these chores go, it takes forever to get caught back up and get back to the routine of keeping up on it.

Today we need some order around this cluttered, dirty house.

I am going to set the timer and use 1 hour of nap time to see what I can knock off this long list.

~~dusting~~
~~the clutter on the kitchen counters~~
~~bring the pile of paperwork from kitchen counter to filing pile~~
~~round up the last of the Christmas items & put away~~
~~Empty garbage's~~
~~Burn paper garbage~~
clean & wipe out fridge cleaned out but not wiped
~~bring the compose out~~
~~vacuum~~
scrub floors
fold & put away 3 loads of laundry 2 loads are folded the kids clothes got put away
scrub bathrooms
organize and clean computer area
clean bedrooms
go through toys
The middle child never did take a nap today. My cleaning was done between needs of children. So it felt like all I did today was clean. Time to get the kiddos off to bed. Then I'm going to ~~drink coffee~~ do a little crafting.

I am shooting to complete a big portion of the whole list. The computer area and bedrooms will have to wait for another day though.

Supper is already the majority of the way done and in the crock pot cooking.

Did I mention that today I get to stay at home all day and not have anywhere I have to go?

Aah... feels so nice not to have to go out.

Bon voyage

2012-01-05T06:00:00.001-09:00

Okay, so I'm not leaving this seriously cold state but a couple of my friends are.

My friend's husband approached me before Christmas wondering if I had any suggestions on what to get his wife. Hmm... Couldn't really think of anything. He and his 2 other brother-in-laws got together, did some brain storming and purchased their wives tickets to Hawaii. Now how cool is that! He asked me to take the travel info and put together something that they could wrap up to be opened. I was happy I could help them.

My gears started turning.

I knew I had some shells leftover from a project, just needed sand.

On the backside of the card it has there travel dates and flight information.

I sure hope that they bring some of the sunshine and warmth back with them!

Christmas re-run

2012-01-04T11:10:00.000-09:00

Last night I happened across a memory card full of all pictures taken around Christmas. Realizing that I haven't shared any of this with you I thought I'd share.

Be prepared for a few different blog posts.

2011 was the first time I had a child who was part of our Sunday School Christmas program.

This program is always so nice to watch and be reminded of why we celebrate Christmas.

The kids also do such a wonderful job singing and tell about Jesus birth.

4 months

2012-01-03T22:03:00.000-09:00

This sweet little love is 4 months!

Where does time go?

Other ramblings:

We have made it through our first week. Feels like it's been a month.

Ryan says not to count on him for at least a minimum of 3 more weeks.

We are struggling to get into some sort of daily routine.

I am needing the routine. Even if it's naps, supper or bedtime at the same time every day.

We are floating through our days without Ryan here. His presence is really missed in so many ways! I can't even begin to compile a list. And you probably don't want to read them.

It's freezing here. Like -16 freezing.

I have the supplies to make some sort of car seat blanket for the 2 oldest ones. The kind that can't fall on the floor and get dripped on. Just need to pick a nap time to start them.

My battery on the van needs a jump but with how cold it is I'll skip it for now and drive Ryan's car.

Well I'm off to tuck the little ones into here bed.

We have been snuggling, while reading stories, in bed before lights out. Absolutely my favorite time of the day. Okay. I might have 2 favorite times.... Love my mornings with a baby who loves to coo, giggle, smile while snuggling in my bed.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-09:00

Wishing you a year

filled with happiness & good health.

May you have a fresh start to

try something new,

tackle old & new challenges,

make new and lasting memories.

May your travels be safe.

Have a Happy New Year!

New Years Resolutions

2011-12-31T14:03:00.000-09:00

Funny how the new year always makes one start thinking of things they want to change or do differently as another year begins.

I've been thinking about the new year and what I would like to tweak a bit and resolve to do.

1.Exercise. Yes, don't we all do this every year! Mine isn't so much for the weight loss (I won't complain if I lose a pound or two) but to make exercising a habit and to keep in shape. Having babies puts you out of shape real fast. I could find all kinds of crafty things to do or web sites to spend time oohh and aahh-ing over instead of exercising. My plan is to start by exercising 1 day per week until it's no longer a chore. Then adding another day, until working up to 3 times per week. I feel this is something I can commit to and not set myself up for failure.

2. Budget. In our house my husband works construction which means seasonal work. That plus me not being a good saver, means that it has been feast or famine in this house. Now with 3 kids, not really the way we want to live. I'm not the one who spends on big ticketed items but rather buying little things here or there. I am sucker for a good deal, (even if I don't need it!) and buy on emotion. When I go to the craft store I might add $5 to $20 extra per visit. That added up through out the year gets to be a lot. Then on the other side of it I have a room full of good deals. I do roll my money back into my crafts. Sell something = buy more. But I'm pretty sure I have WAY more than I will ever need.

Pencil in need self control here.

I would really like to prove to my husband that, yes indeed we can make a budget and I can stick to it. We were talking before he left to sit down together and come up with a budget. Have a regular weekly grocery amount, a regular set amount that goes into the winter fund (the regular utility bills, food & fuel for the vehicles) and also the emergency fund (the unplanned expenses, i.e. car repairs, broken water softener, etc.). Since we only get 1 hour to talk a day right now, I'll have to sit down & do some homework. Then we can together see what is needed and what is extra.

I'll take any advise your willing to offer and give it a whirl. I've tried some things that others have done. Some have worked while others haven't.

I want to get this figure out for real this time! Yes, I do know that we will never be as prepared as we want to be. But I want be able to enjoy life while living debt free.

Do you budget? What do you do?

The best for last

2011-12-29T09:18:00.000-09:00

These two are my favorite.

Cards were made using Paper Lovelies January's kit.

I believe the kit is already sold out.

Kit included:

Websters Pages - Winter Fairy Tales:

12 Websters Pages double-sided 12x12 papers
1 Websters Pages 12x12 diecut paper
1 Websters Pages Storyteller alpha sticker sheet
1 Websters Pages 8" bling strip
2 Websters Pages Sentiment fabric tickets
2 Websters Pages 12" bloomer trims
2 Websters Pages feather flower
2 Websters Pages pins

January's kit

2011-12-28T10:13:00.000-09:00

Paper Lovelies has yet again put together another beautiful scrap booking kit!

For $15 you get coordinating paper and matching embellishments to go with it.

How great is that?

I'll have more cards to share tomorrow.

If you would like to see previous kits that Paper Lovelies has offered and kit ideas go here.

I do believe she has already sold out of January's kit.

I've said this before, quantities are limited and these kits go incredibly fast.

Each month the kits are released on the 25th.

2011-12-27T10:22:00.000-09:00

Today we say good-bye for now.

We don't know how long he will be gone or when he will be back.

Ryan took a job building ice roads on the North slope and flies out this afternoon.

Yesterday and today have been spent gather and packing Ryan's gear.

Yesterday I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the unknowns & the responsibility that I will have holding done the fort.

I know I am capable and will be just fine.

He has gone and done this once before.

We are truly blessed to live around family and some really great friends. I ~~may~~ will need them.

I have to just think of each day as it comes.

I'll be back tomorrow.

Cricut Card Thursday

2011-12-22T10:26:00.000-09:00

I was inspired by this gift bag and challenged myself to make a snow globe card.

My take of the gift bag.

Now to make your very own snow globe card.

Items needed:

Christmas cheer cricut cartridge, white, green, brown, gray & blue card stock, a Christmas sentiment stamp, red ink, Buffalo snow & glitter.

Load a piece of 12 x 12 white card stock into your cricut.

You will need to use your arrow keys.

On your screen you will see In/Out & Left/ Right.

Using your arrows move your blade housing so that your screen reads:

In/ Out: 4 1/2inches

Left/ Right: 1/2 inch.

Select the globe & cut at 4 inches.

Do not unload your mat.

Now move your blade housing to sit at:

In/ Out: 4 1/2 inches

Left/ Right: 6 inches

Now cut globe again.

I usually will select the 'repeat last' button so that way I know I am cutting the same image again. This will eliminate accidentally hitting the wrong image.

Unload mat.

You will now have 2 snow globes that are cut perfectly aligned and spaced.

You will want to cut your paper next.

Measuring from the left side cut at 8 1/2 inches.

Measuring from the top cut at 11 inches.

You then will cut between the two, measuring from the top and cutting at 5 1/2 inches.

Fold each piece in half to create your card base. The globe will be in front.

Stamp Christmas sentiment below snow globe.

To cut tree select <tree1>. Load green card stock, cutting tree at 2 inches.

To cut reindeer select <reindeer1>. Load brown card stock, cutting reindeer at 2 inches also.

To cut snowflake select shift then <snowflake>. Load blue card stock, cutting at 1 3/4 inch.

Repeat snowflake cut.

Now taking a piece of transparency cut it at 4 by 10 inches. Fold it to make a 4 by 5 inch rectangle.

Unfold. Using move able tape, tape to inside of card. Make sure your fold is to the bottom of card. This allows you to see where your images will sit inside the globe. Glue images in place.

Fold transparency closed and tape along two longer sides.

Fill will Buffalo snow and glitter.

You can also use very small or crushed beads. They would move around better inside your card.

Tape top closed.

Place on inside of card front and tape top and bottom.

Cut a piece of gray card stock at 4 by 5 1/4 inches and place over transparency and adhere.

You now have a beautiful snow globe card.

Last peak

2011-12-21T09:36:00.000-09:00

before January's Paper Lovelies kit is released.

Yesterday I searched every where for one of the last gifts. We were gone for 5 hours and we made 6 stops. The kids did wonderful! I should have known... They were so hyper last night, I felt like these walls were going to close in around me, and they did not sleep well either. I did however find a gift with Ryan's help. It is not what I had in mind but it works.

Another sneak

2011-12-20T09:15:00.000-09:00

I keep telling myself that after Christmas life will slow down, just a little bit.

My husband says that for me life will never slow down.

He may be right.

I like to keep myself busy.

He probably doesn't want to see me not busy.

Are you done with your Christmas shopping/ gift making?

2011-12-19T11:11:00.001-09:00

Here is a sneak peak of what is to come..

I once again have had a lot of fun putting together my cards!

Let me tell you Paper Lovelies kits are awesome!

They go really fast and quantities are limited.

January's kit will be released on Friday the 23rd.

Normally they are released on the 25th of each month.

On Friday you will be able to purchase a kit or see what the all of the design team members have put together using their kits here. For ideas click on kit ideas tab.

I will have a couple more sneak peaks through out the week.

Other ramblings:

I don't want to jinx myself but I have been getting a lot accomplished during nap time and after the kiddos are asleep.

My Christmas tree crashed over sometime between 9:30pm and 1:30am. I found it's side at 1:30am. I lifted it back up, mopped up all the water and went back to bed.

This morning I found lots of broken ornaments, along with a broken angel and a dust pan full of needles. I'm glad that I was up with the baby, and with it enough to think to dry the floor, otherwise the floor would have swelled and been wrecked. Now every time you walk past the tree you can hear the needles dropping. We had to open 2 Christmas presents that might have been damaged due to water.

Naomi will now only have to go to physical therapy once a week instead of twice.

I mailed 2 boxes on Friday morning and heard from my mom this morning they had already gotten theirs. Haven't heard about the other one.

Need to resend a few Christmas pictures 1 that didn't get stamped and others that addresses weren't correct.

I only have 5 more days to help Santa find 1 of his gifts.

My sisters-in-law are on school break. Might need to hire them one day this week to finish up the to do list before Christmas.

2011-12-16T15:18:00.000-09:00

I told myself I was only going to sit down and get online while the 2nd pot of coffee is perking.

The To Do list is long.

I love when I get to cross off items completed.

Yesterday I finally tackled & cleaning my craft room. Again.

If you know me I am always doing this! Mostly to fit yet another good deal!

I think I finally re-arranged, so the kids can be in there with me.

I wrapped and mailed 10 Christmas presents today. -whew!-

I absolutely detest standing in the post office line. Click and ship at the postal services web site is so nice! If you saw me at the post office today you might have seen my huge grin on my face when I walked past the long line of people and dropped off my already labeled packages.

7 of which were homemade. *big smile* I'll share photos once they have been opened.

As of late I have been working best under pressure or when the deadline fast approaching.

On the to do list is to mark the calendar for next year to start earlier!

Coffee is done.

Now to do a few fast and easy items to make the list a little shorter.

Cricut card Thursday

2011-12-15T17:23:00.000-09:00

I made this beautiful penguin card using Christmas Cheer.

Supplies needed:

White, black, red, brown & orange cardstock, 3 different colors of blue cardstock, white gel pen, Red & frosted lace Stickles, white liquid applique’ & Embossing heat tool.

Make card base to measure 5 ½ wide by 4 ½ tall.

Cut your 3 pieces of blue cardstock:

Small piece to measure 5 ¼ by 1 ½.

Medium piece to measure 5 ¼ by 2 ½.

Large piece to measure 5 ½ by 3 ½.

Tear each piece to make it look like drifted snow. Sand edges to distress.

Attach to card

Stamp snowflakes in the sky

Apply frosted lace stickles on top of stamped snowflakes. Set aside to dry.

Now cut & glue your 2 penguin together.

The smaller penguin is 2 ¾ inches tall and the big penguin is 3 ½ inches.

When cutting out your pieces for the penguins make both cuts while you have each color loaded into your cricut eliminating extra time loading and unloading your mat in the cricut.

1^st load white cardstock into your cricut.

Select your blackout button & then the penguin button. 1^st cut at 2 ¾ and then at 3 ½. You are keeping the outline of the penguin.

Next select the shift button & then the penguin button. 1^st cut at 3 ½ since your already at this size then 2 ¾. You are keeping the rim of the penguin’s hat.

Unload mat.

2^nd load black cardstock into your cricut

Select shift button & then penguin. 1^st cut at 2 ¾ and then at 3 ½. You are keeping the outline of the penguin.

Unload mat.

3^rd load orange cardstock into your cricut.

Select the shift button & then penguin. 1^st cut at 3 ½ and then at 2 ¾. You are keeping the penguin’s feet and nose.

Unload mat.

4^th load red cardstock into your cricut.

Select penguin. 1^st cut at 2 ¾ and then at 3 ½. You are keeping the penguin’s hat.

Unload mat.

Make penguin's eyes using a white gel pen.

Attach penguin to card.

Stamp sentiment on light brown cardstock and trim to make a small square.

With dark brown cardstock cut a small piece to make sign post.

Attach to card.

Using white liquid applique’ make a small line along the edge of the penguin’s hat, under the feet & to the top of the sign and base of post. Heat liquid applique’ with embossing heat tool to make it puff like snow.

Make the penguin’s scarf using red stickles.

Apply frosted lace stickles to the penguin's belly.

Let dry.

Early appointment

2011-12-14T21:13:00.000-09:00

How come it seems like that when you do decide to take the early morning appointment, your fighting with kids that have WAY too much energy to go to bed?

I decided not to go to bible class this evening and make sure the kids were tucked in extra early. Like that really ever happens.

We have to be up and at the dentist office for just after 8am.

This is typically what time my kids have been getting up around here.

I hope the morning will go smoothly.

Due to the appointment I'll be posting my cricut card later in the day.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T09:52:00.000-09:00

Tips, Tricks & Techniques Tuesday

2011-12-13T09:22:00.000-09:00

I really like the font of this 'happy birthday' stamp. The only problem is that the words sit on top of each other and I needed a sentiment that didn't.

This works better when using clear stamps but you can use wood mounted stamps also.

I wanted to figure out how I could still use this stamp.

I first put a piece of scrap paper below where my sentiment was to be stamped. I then aligned where I wanted my 'happy' to sit & stamped.

Then I moved my scrap paper above where my sentiment was to be stamp. Aligned my 'birthday' & stamped.

Now I had the font from the stamp I wanted, in the spacing I wanted.

Mission Accomplished

2011-12-12T10:49:00.000-09:00

We spend the weekend away from home.

When we got the invite for the company Christmas party Ryan is working with we started making plans.

Spend some family time together.
Stay the night in a hotel with a pool.
Go thrift store shopping.
Ryan take his CDL permit test.

Mission accomplished!

I hardly picked up the camera. Ryan snapped a few.

Enjoyed playing and having fun with the kids.

The kids had a blast in the pool.

AK residents I recommend the Hampton Inn. The pool was really warm.

I found 1 treasure from the thrift store to re-do.

After all the cramming Ryan did this weekend his hard work paid off

and he passed the CDL permit test.

Today will be a low key day recouping from the flu. Nolan & I were plagued with it last night. It seems like a quick bug. Nolan has already bounced back. I think with the lack of sleep it will take me a little bit longer. Now that everyone in this house has gotten it lets hope we are done with it.

They are out to get me

2011-12-09T15:31:00.001-09:00

I've started to wonder...

I have an amazing and a very smart family.

My husband and kids have the ability to read my mind.

Every time I EVEN think I might sneak some time in crafting they plan differently!

I really think they are out to get me. wink wink

I even thought I could out smart them but nope waking early didn't work either...

I dearly love them and they do come first and for most.

But honestly feel like I could hire a babysitter just to get a couple hours of straight crafting time in.

DIY Cupcake liners flower

2011-12-09T09:49:00.001-09:00

I saw a picture of these cupcake liners made into flowers and knew right away

I wanted to try make them.

So I started digging to see what kind of liners I had.

My color selection didn't come near to how cute the ones I saw were.

You will need 7 cupcake liners.

1. Take and flatten 4 liners and glue centers together. Make little snips all the way around the circle.(Only cut the side of the linear. Don't cut into the center.)

2. Place the 5th cupcake liner (don't flatten this one) into the center and glued down.

3. Take liners 6 & 7 and cut center out. I also trimmed the edges down also. Roll these 2 together to form center of flower. Glue down. I used 3 in 1 glue to glue center. Hot glue will also work.

4. Crunch and fluff the edges.

I like how it is a chunky full flower, with items you would have at home.

The 2nd one I did had a foil lining. It didn't lay as nice and was harder to get it to

fluff up the way the 1st one did. But I do think it was a lot cuter.

Then, of course, I had to make cards to put them on.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T08:16:00.000-09:00

Reindeer & snowman

2011-12-06T18:07:00.002-09:00

Today was a make craft day

We made reindeer from candy canes

Items needed:

2 candy canes

1 pom poms for the nose

2 googly eyes

brown yarn

We taped the 2 candy canes together, then wrapped them with brown yarn. Next we hot glued the eyes and noses on.

And Snowmen from marshmallows

Items needed:

1 stick to build snowman on
3 marshmallows

1 pretzel stick broken in half

1 orange sprinkle for nose

2 brown sprinkles for eyes

3 colorful sugar balls for buttons

To make eyes, nose and buttons stick use a toothpick to puncture a small hole in marshmallow. This will allow you to place the sprinkle in the small hole and there will be a small amount of stickiness to hold it in place.

Total we made 35 reindeer & 24 snowmen. Came up 1 short of meeting the goal I had in mind.

3 months

2011-12-06T09:25:00.001-09:00

The last 3 months have flown by and this ~~big~~ little girl has grown so much!

Evelynn you have brought so much joy to this house!

At 3 months you love to be cooed at and coo right back. You are quick to smile at us. You even sometimes can giggle and scare yourself with the sound.

You are starting to almost sleep through the nights.

You are very hard to take a picture of because you are always moving.

You have been our smallest baby at birth but one to grow the fastest.

You are ultra sensitive when your mother has dairy of any kind.

You are loved by your siblings. Your brother loves to help out and sometimes a little too much.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-05T09:56:00.000-09:00

Over the weekend we were busy decorating the house.

Sure is looking mighty festive around here.

We still have the tree to decorate.

Jack the elf has returned.

Nolan's imagination is the best! At bed time we always get one on one time to snuggle & say prayers. This is also when Nolan will share what he learned in Sunday school that day or things he might be seen or had been thinking about that day.

Last night he was full of questions about the elf.

He has decided that Jack the elf must play with his toys while when we leave the house. How can he just sit there ALL day, not talk or even play!

Advent Calendar

2011-12-05T09:41:00.000-09:00

Yes, I do know it's already December 5th. Life sure has been busy over here with the Holidays fast approaching. I don't want to acknowledge the amount of days I have to make and mail presents out.

I haven't liked the idea of an advent calendar in which you get a piece of candy every day until Christmas.

This house already has a sweet tooth and I've decided that more candy wasn't for us.

I saw on Pinterest that they did something for each day. It can be found Here. Love the idea!

I also saw on Ali Edwards blog that she was going to wrapping a book for every day, to unwrap and read each day. This house really loves books. Love that too! It can be found Here.

So I combined both ideas.

I raided my collection of books and then went looking at the thrift store. I came up with a total of 14 books.

We made tags with numbers to label each book & started wrapping.

We have now opened 2 books and the kids are just as excited to read them as they are to unwrap them.

It's getting warmer...

2011-12-02T11:44:00.000-09:00

Our temperature is crawling back up.

My oldest child, Nolan was pretty scared this morning with the sounds of snow crashing off the roof. We have a metal roof and when the snow gets too heavy or the temperatures start warming up it slides off the roof. After he kicked me out of bed, he promptly turned all the lights on to confirm that no one was in the house. :)

I snapped this picture after showing him what I was taking about and it was light enough to see.

Of course he needed to put on his boots and go outside to check it out. I soon heard Naomi giggling and the sound of snow hitting the window.

These kids fill my days with laughter and joy!

Love them to pieces.

Today we will go into the crawl space and dig out the Christmas decorations.

This was on the agenda yesterday but our afternoon was spent running paperwork to my husband in Anchorage instead. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get down there. I missed the road I needed to turn on tried to whip a u turn on the next road, dropped my front tire off the pavement and got myself stuck. 45 minutes later after some kind people helped me get unstuck we were back on the road. Arg! To make a long story short we got home late, got out of bed late and have had a slow start to the morning.

I am hoping that we will get our Christmas tree sometime over the weekend also.(My husband is on the couch today sick with the flu, hope it is a quick bug and we all don't get it.)

Will share photos on Monday.

Cricut Card Thursday

2011-12-01T08:15:00.001-09:00

Dust off your cricuts, it's time to make a card!

I created this beautiful card by using cricut cartridges, Paper Lace and Plantin Schoolbook, VersaMark and embossing powder.

Make card base. I made my card base to have a top fold and measures: 4 1/2 x 5 1/2

Make a template from you paper lace cartridge.

Find a piece of paper that measures a 8 x 8 square.

Select <Mod1> and the Lace 2 option.

Cut template at 7 inches.

Tape card to a piece of scrap paper placing fold side up.

*Tip: use a move able tape so you don't rip your paper on removal.

Then cover back of card with a piece of scrap, placing on fold line. Tape.

Arrange template over card front where you like the design and tape again.

Now take your VersaMark pad and press it over the template and card.

Sprinkle with Embossing powder. Flock would work also.

Remove template and Emboss.

After embossing I cut a piece of black cardstock 4 5/8 x 5 1/2 to outline the front of my card. I did this so, as to not have to make my card base completely out of black. I then glued it to the underside of my card front.

Using Plantin SchoolBook cartridge I cut a oval at 2 inches from Black. I then cut a oval out of white at 1 3/4 inches.

I stamped my sentiment on to the white oval. Glued it to the black oval. And finally glued it to my card.

Add rhinestone.

You now have a beautiful, elegant card!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T08:42:00.000-09:00

Tips, Tricks & Techniques Tuesday

2011-11-29T11:12:00.000-09:00

Creating a Christmas tag with printed sentiments

Measure tag. Mine were 2 ¼ inches wide and 4inches tall.

In a word document type
To:
From:

Then watching your rulers add sentiment closer to the 3 ½ marker.
Happy Holidays
From our house to yours

I copied the typing with spacing in between and pasted it again towards the bottom of my word document allowing me to print 2 tags.

Then print onto cardstock. You will need to know which way your printer feeds it’s paper through.
*Tip: if you are using a cardstock tag print onto something with the same weight.

Now tape tag directly to top of where your typing is.
*Tip you can hold your paper to the light with tag on top to align correctly
*Tip: use a moveable tape. If you don’t have a moveable tape don’t press your tape down hard
*Scotch makes a moveable tape, will share later on what other uses it can be used for.

Reprint again. This time it will print onto your tags. I used the same piece of cardstock and printed many different tags.

After you have printed, remove Tags and embellish.

Tips, Tricks & Techniques Tuesday

2011-11-29T11:03:00.000-09:00

Creating sentiments without using stamps:

Can’t find the sentiment you like in a stamp or don’t have the sentiment stamp you want?
All you need is a computer and a printer.
Computers have a wide selection of fonts already on them, and you can also download free fonts from dafonts.com.
When typing up your sentiment that you are using make sure there is enough space around it for cutting out. (I usually hit enter 3 to 4 times before typing again.)
　
If I am just printing the sentiment I would like then I might print a few extra sentiments to have on hand or type up more to fill my paper up. Remember you are not restricted to just printing in black.

DIY Triangular Paper Tree

2011-11-28T12:20:00.000-09:00

To create a triangular tree:
1. cut a 5 inch octagon.
You can cut this on cricut or silhouette or your paper cutter. If you are using your paper cutter follow steps 2 thru 4. If you can cut an octagon on your cricut or silhouette skip to step 5.

2. Measure and mark 1 ½ inches from each corner.

3. Draw a diagonal line to connect each mark.

4. Cut along each diagonal line to create an octagon

5. Cut octagon in half, then half and half again until you have 8 perfect triangular pieces.

If you are making your Christmas cards this year with trees on them this is a simple way to create a lot of perfect looking trees without all the cutting.

Paper Lovelies December Kit

2011-11-26T17:05:00.000-09:00

Paper Lovelies December kit is already sold out (these kits go fast!! Always a beautiful line of paper for such a great price!) but I still wanted to share my creations.

Decembers kit included:

(2) sheets each double-sided 12×12 paper from Prima Marketing “North Country” — Forest Notes, Icicles, Snowfall, Glacier Roads, Wonderland, Red Deer, In the House
(2) sheets Core’dinations cardstock in Cream
(1) pkg. Prima Marketing “North Country” Antique Mirrors
(1) pkg. Prima Marketing “North Country” flowers (set of 6)
(1) pkg. Prima Marketing “North Country” tiles (set of 6)
(1) pkg. Kaisercraft Sparklets in Royal
12″ Webster’s Pages Silver Garland
(1) pkg. American Crafts Thickers (red)

Felt napkin holders & table runner

2011-11-23T10:40:00.000-09:00

My friend Carrie gave me a pile of felt leaves that she cut using a Tim Holtz die. I right away thought about making napkin holders for Thanksgiving.

I cut the bands and circles from felt also. Using a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to stitch around the band and to sew the leaf and circle to the left side of the band. To complete the holder I added some peel and stick velcro circles.

I had enough leaves left to make a matching table runner.

I used the same decorative stitch for around the outer edge. I pinned the leaves in place, then stitched down the centers to hold them in place.

I think they turned out beautiful!

Off to the dump

2011-11-22T16:28:00.000-09:00

A couple months back after receiving the garbage bill and seeing the rates had increased my husband and I decided to cancel our garbage service. Since than we have been more conservative by burning all paper items in the wood stove in the garage and putting food in the compost. An added bonus is that as a home owner we get a $10 dump coupon each year from the Mat-Su borough. Today we finally made our first trip to the dump. I needed to run to Palmer for 1 errand. Since our second garbage can was now full I decided to combined stops. I grabbed our dump coupon, loaded our 2 garbage cans and helpers into the car.

Nolan was all excited for the adventure since we got to sit in the front due to the garbage cans being in the back. I can not believe that for 2 months worth of garbage it was only $5!!! That's a total savings of $55. (Lets hope that I can be excited about this every time the cans get full.)

The gentleman working was great! As I handed him our coupon I as if he could punch it and he literally did. :) Looks like sometime before March 31st of next year we still have $5 to punch on our coupon.