Sweetness

The other night Patrick came into the office and sat down at the craft table with me. I was going through my stash of paper scraps trying to come up with ways to use them since they drive me crazy sitting around untouched. He started riffling through these papers and arranging them on the table in front of him. I asked him what he was doing. His reply; "I'm making a card with you."   I think I laughed. A little. I told him he didn't need to humor me with feigned interest. He insisted he wasn't! He said that he finally realized if he wanted to spend any time with me, then he would have to sit down and make cards because that's all I have been doing every night for weeks. Poor man! 

So we sat and talked about art and life and made cards. It was our girl-y night together. It was fun! Every once in a while he will surprise me by doing something like this. This is another reason why I love him so.

So without further ado, here is the little card he made:

It's about the size of a card you would put with flowers or something. He said he wanted it to be different. Obviously not cutesy. As if I expected that! He wanted something that incorporated his love for modern art with a little bling on the side. This is the entire card opened up, to reveal a "beach scene" as he put it. He decided to add some decoupage to give it some texture. 
Very nice work Patrick! Thanks for spending time with me. I will try to give you the attention you deserve!!

Happy Birthday Card

Another birthday boy card. This was a lot of fun to make. I used Doodle Factory Urban and Creatures set. I LOVE all Doodle Factory Sets!!  I cut out the window of the helicopter and placed "Scoober" (cute name eh?) on the inside of the card. Using PTI Birthday Basics and PTI Simple Alphabet I personalized the banner. 

I also used these stamps to personalize the tissue paper I put in the bag, but I didn't take a pic of that. Levi's parents were very curious as to how I got his name on everything.... "I know somebody." I told them. Not sure if they believed me. 

Deets:

Stamps: Doodle Factory Urban and Creature Sets, PTI Birthday Basics, PTI Simple Alphabet,

Ink: SU! Basic Black, PTI Summer Sunrise

Paper: from stash

Accessories: SU! Kids Markers

Today I went into The Ink Pad which as far as I can tell is the ONLY stamp store in Manhattan. I'm sure that's not entirely accurate, but my searches have come up with little. I have been in love with some Hero Arts stamps and didn't want to order them online. I don't know why. I think because I figure it's easy to order (and spend way too much $) when you are in front of your computer, but it takes a lot to schlepp the kid (s) into the city to a TINY stamp store, so you must REALLY love the stamps. And I think they were each a dollar more in the store than you can get online, so pretty much I'm just confirming to you that I'm an idiot. Next time, I will shop online. 

However, in my defense, this scheme has been working for about three weeks, and I wasn't even planning on buying them at all!  I realized I "had" to have them suddenly now because I have been asked by my mother to help her and the sisters stamp some cards while I'm in Utah this next month. I want to do something simple and easy and really thought these would do the trick. I saw a card on the Hero Arts site that I liked, that put these two stamps together, so I got them. Plus The Ink Pad has a coupon out every month, so I had to go use it!!

Anyway, here are the stamps. What do you think? Cute, but simple. Modern and elegant right??

Yup, thought you would like them. I do too.

Doodle Factory New Release: The Tropics!!

I have recently found and fallen in love with the Doodle Factory stamp sets from Starving Artists.
I own the Urban set which is funny, hip and TOTALLY cool!  I actually love all their sets, but don't own them all...yet! 

Well, they have a new design out  called Tropics and it is just great! They are having a blog candy giveaway, and you to can join in the fun. Just hop over to THEIR BLOG and enter to with these THREE sets:  Now thats one BIG giveaway!!!!   

Papertrey Blog Hop!!

This is the first time I have participated in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. And boy am I excited!!

The challenge was to use transparencies. I just got my PTI order in the mail this week and have been having so much fun creating. Even the smell of the stamps makes me happy!

Here is what I put together:

The card base is made from a transparency sheet. I cut the full card and then glued a piece of PTI Kraft on the right side of the card. I then pulled out the new guidelines set. Stamped lines on both the transparency and the kraft. Then using one of the images in the set I stamped using SU! White craft ink on the transparency and PTI Plum Pudding on the Kraft sheet. I also stamped one bird from Birds of a Feather on the transparency. Attached ribbon and a brad at the top of the patterned image.

I really wanted to have a complete design when you had the card closed and when you opened it you find this;

I stamped the wire and an additional bird, with the words Missing You.  This way the ribbon on the outside hides the sentiment. And when you open the card you get one lonely bird perched on his wire. poor birdie...

 

The second card I did was stamped on the inside with a window of acetate. I really think this one pulled together much better. It feels more finished than the other:
    
Here is the inside. With a birthday wish. Thats it for my hop, can't wait to take a gander at all the others. You can see them all here.

School Gifts; FINAL PHASE!!

Oh boy. I finally got the school gifts finished! Yesterday I had asked the teacher when the best day to bring them in were and she said today. GULP! I had yet to get my PTI package with the extra Kraft paper I needed. I went home calculating what I could do instead and wouldn't you know it, when I got there, my package had come! So I got moving last night getting the crayon holders pulled together. Luckily I had done some prep work waiting for the kraft paper to show, so getting them together proved to be pretty quick. So here they are in all their glory. Too bad I didn't get any "action" photos. I was too busy putting them together.

You can  see that I wasn't too original on design or the images chosen. For that many kids, I just couldn't do more. Plus you should see how torn up Ronin's book is. I have to tape it together everyday. So I figured the less stuff to get caught on things, or ripped off or the like, the better,  Ronin was so excited to take them to school today. It's the first day since January (when he started) that he has actually asked me if we could go. And he asked more than once. I'm glad he is finally liking it, now that it's over!

Here's what I put in for the teachers:

These little bags are 3 for 1$ at Michael's, I stamped using Stazon Ink since the bags are a plastic-y sort of fabric with a pretty big weave. See Alli's post. 

I kept them very simple as compared to that post, but I thought this way they could re-use them. Cause I always like things to be multipurpose. I put in it a thank you card for each teacher and a post-it note holder with a pen. You can see them here:

I used my new PTI Guidelines Stamp set which is absolutely AMAZING!! You can make your own paper and its elegant and simple and very timeless. You must try this set!!

And thats it! Finally school is done, and it's off for a looooong  month in Utah for a vacation. 

Our Creative Corner Challenge

Every Saturday this new blog Our Creative Corner, will post a challenge. This is their second once (since they just started last week), and I used it to help me do another Teacher Card. This one is actually for the principal of the school. Just so you get it, the door at Little Friends School (our Pre-K) is RED!!! Thought it would be a nice thing to play up.

The Challenge: Use at least One brad and one button. 

My Card:Deets:

Stamps: Making The Grade. (CHF)
Ink: SU! Craft White, Basic Black, Real Red

Paper: SU! White, PTI Kraft, Michael's Black, Red scraps

Accessories: American Craft Ribbon & Brad, Random Buttons from stash

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #21

I was freaking out this week because I wanted to make really cute cards for Ronin's teachers, but didn't have any ideas. Then I got Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #21 and it REALLY helped with the layout. 

I'm pretty sure I cased all the ideas on it though from other bloggers I have seen using this set. Thanks Alli, & Jen, These really worked to help pull the card together. No more panic, just excitement to give out these cards!

Here is Taylor's Cupcake Challenge for this week:

Here's my take on it: 

ok, I just barely realized I forgot the half circle on the right side. lame man! total missed opportunity!! Must fix it. Will try to repost.

 Wow, now I know its missing, this card looks really bare.

School Gifts: Phase 2

My new school stamp set showed up today. YEAH!!!! I have been playing around with it a little bit, in between cleaning, cooking and child rearing. I haven't much done so far. 

Last night I had the supplies I needed to put together 10 books. I worked on the boys books covering them with cardstock and patterned paper. I even colored some rockets, airplanes and helicopters. Put them on the front and then used rub-ons to add the child's name. Now here's the lame part: Apparently I had enough cardstock for 14 books and didn't count right. SO here is me, working along, covering 14 books with boy paper and such, not even noticing! OH NO!!! I only need 8 boy books and 4 girl books. But covered them ALL with boy paper. So now the girls books look a little boyish, but I figure it might be ok since I really don't want to push the stereotype that girls are pink and flowery and boys are blue and truck-y. You know. SO I figure I can find another image to take place of the rocket etc. and just work with the patterned paper. Sigh, first tragedy averted. 

I leave my project for a few hours to make dinner tonight. Patrick comes home, we put Cache to bed. Ronin is asking for an orange pen. I tell him to find it himself. Another half hour goes by. I come into the office where my craft table is completely covered with things, including the semi-finished books I worked on last night, and I find that Ronin has colored all over them!!!! (I have a pic, but blogger won't upload it. GRRR Blogger!)  He had picked a red marker and colored in the white parts of the windows on the helicopters and the rockets.  AH! AH! AAAAH!!!!! I'm pretty sure I said things I shouldn't have, but I did try to handle myself when I has Ronin what in the %^#@ he was doing!  "I colored them for the kids," was his reply.  *sigh*   

Well, what can I say. He was trying to help. But now I feel I have to do them over. Patrick says they look great and are autographed by Ronin. A perfect gift from a school friend. 

Of course it is the "adult" in me that makes me want to do them again. I'm more worried about what the parents will think. Would you be offended if your child came home with a gift that had scribbles all over it? Maybe you would think your own child did it. But I am pretty sure these kids are old enough to know that someone DID scribble on their book. I don't think they would see it as an autograph. 

So, I'm feeling really sleepy, but look forward to an evening of crafting. I think I can do it. There are a few problems with these books, hopefully I can fix those tonight.  I'm now glad I made too many books with the boy paper, so I can replace the ruined ones. I now really hope my PTI card stock shows up soon.

I have learned a lot doing this project. If you are interested in doing something like this project, I will let you know of the do's and don't that I have learned so far. #1: Lock the door of your craft room when you are not in it!!

So off I go. I will post again, if I ever finish this epic project...

The End of School Gift: Phase One

It all started with a post on this blog. I LOVED the post-it note holder. Simple and cute. I thought it might be fun to make one for each of Ronin's teacher as an end of school gift. (that's 2 total). They could use them for school. Easy Peasy.  Until...

I remember Ronin's friend is having a birthday this week. I remember sitting next to this friend in church and how he loved to draw. Wouldn't it be a fun gift to give him his own sketchpad?

I stop at staples to get some pens to go with the post-it note holders for the teachers, (that I had yet to start). I was gathering my supplies. I spot these sketch pads. Plain paper. 4x6 sketchpads. These are perfect for Ronin's friends gift. But they only come in a pack of 12. Hmmmmmm, (that's me thinking).  Maybe I could get a whole pack and make one for each kid in Ronin's school class. Suddenly the end of school gift idea is getting bigger.  So I pick up the pack of 12.  

I find at Michael's a pack of crayons for cheap and an idea was born.  I get home that night and decide to make a prototype. I look on line for a little help. I see a movie post-it note tutorial by someone, at this point I don't know who and I make my own pattern. (I can find it if anyone cares).

An hour later my prototype:

Crayon holder and sketch pad on the inside. I pulled out my PTI Simple Alphabet stamps and personalize it. Put a little velcro button on it for closure.

 I stamp again on the outside to personalize and use the rocket from Doodle Factory Urban set for a little visual interest. Add some DP on the outside. A perfect gift. 

But then I got SO excited to make more. And how many more you ask? Well, since I decided the post-it note holder for the teachers are just boring next to this,  I now have 14 more to make. UGH. What have I done?!

Now that I had a pattern, getting them started is easy. That night I score, and put the beginnings of ten together in no time, but I run out of glue and cardstock.  

My favorite tape adhesive is hard to find around here, and I'm really tired of running out and having to use crappy scotch runner tape (which would NOT hold for this sort of project) so I order a lot online.  I hope it shows up soon....

I go back to Michael's to get the cheapy crayons. They only have 2 sets. Drat! I go home and order again online. I get them for cheaper, but I have to wait. I hope they show up soon too...

So I wait for days. My craft space is a mess and its driving both Patrick and I crazy, but I can't seem to clean it up since Ronin now wants me to make him a note book (so I do) and I had to pull out my sewing machine for a church project and need a place to put it.

A day goes by. Another day.... The bell rings this afternoon and I rush to meet my UPS man in the hallway. I love my UPS man. He's great and knows me and my kids by name. I online shop a lot I guess.

Anyway. Today, glue and crayons show up!

 Yeah!! I can now put together the ten I have sitting, but I'm still waiting on PTI CardStock which is 110 lb. paper and great for this project. I still have no notification that they have shipped it. Bummer! The last day of school is next thurs. I hope it comes in time!

I also have fallen in love with this school stamp set. It's called Making The Grade from the Kim Hughes Collection at Cornish Heritage Farms. So since I am already over my crafting budget, what's a few more dollars? I thought this would be cute to decorate the teachers books. And I do need something cute, but not girly for the girls books too. I didn't think they would dig on a rocket cover.

 I got an email today saying the stamp set should show up monday! So I have enough to do until then to get ready for stamping.

So tonight, I just need to make a pattern for the crayon holder. Cut, glue, and add designer paper. I can even decorate the boys books with rockets, helicopters and airplanes. Boy, I have a lot to do. I can't blog any more. 

So stay tuned for Phase Two (hopefully posted next week) of the Epic School Gift. So you can see the results. I'm excited. I think they will have lots of fun playing with these through the summer. But I think next year, I will either start earlier, or just buy them candy. jeez.... I always have to make things SO hard!

Conflict Of Interests: LINK FIXED!!

Did you know you were reading a crafting blog? NO? Well, I didn't know I was writing one! 

It's been brought to my attention that maybe some of you don't want to read about crafts and some of you don't want to read about my children.

So to accommodate everyone involved (including myself) we have become a 2 blog family.

If you want to hear all about my family and the milestones and adventures of my children, then please visit our new family blog.

www.thelarsenlogs.blogspot.com

There is a new post too, so enjoy!

For those of you who may want to check out the different arts and crafts that I am interested in, you can stay right here.

www.thekristiesessions.blogspot.com

Thanks for being patient through this flushing out system. I used to never want a blog and now I have two. What is this world coming to?

Father's Day

It has been a lovely Father's Day sunday. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband who is also a wonderful father. Ronin loves his daddy so much. Daddy is the guy to go to for fun, laughter and love. Daddy can fix ANYTHING. Patrick is really making it hard on himself. I keep telling him he should stop fixing everything that Ronin breaks or else he will have set himself up for a lifetime of expectations. But he really IS good at solving problems so I tend to think he can do anything too. I often find myself telling Ronin, "Wait for dad to come home, he will fix it." Oops!!!

Ronin loves his daddy so much that when you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will say "I want to be a daddy." We had a friend just recently ask him this exact question and when Ronin gave his reply the friend said, "No, I mean, do you want to be a fireman or a doctor or what?" Ronin honestly didn't get it. "I want to be a daddy." He said again.

I am grateful that Patrick is the kind of example he is. That his children know his favorite thing in life is being a dad. His children will hopefully grow up knowing Patrick is their daddy first and a "worker" second. Because he is a VERY hard worker too.

I'm grateful for my own father who has loved me unconditionally. A father who continues to be loving and active in my life today. A father that shows equal love for all his children and grandchildren. A father that is sweet and affectionate, strong and hard working.

I feel grateful for the wonderful fathers I encounter in my daily life. Its not an easy thing to be. I know many fathers that live each day with love and tenderness for their children. These are all good examples and their children are so blessed because of them.

Here's to all the father's out there! Ones that have passed onto being "Grandfather" and ones that are just looking forward to that first day holding their newborn.

I was reminded today that father's don't get enough credit for all they do. Father's get flack for their lack of emotion or lack of "child rearing" knowledge. But I know fathers are just as capable and crucial in getting this child rearing job done. The love of a father is priceless. It gives us confidence, and self-respect. It helps us shape who we are and in a large sense who we will be when it's our turn to parent.

Here's to fathers that take their job seriously and have a lot of fun along the way!

Here's to our father! We love you!!

Craft Alert!! Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #20

Here's this weeks Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge. It was also Taylor's birthday this week. Since this was my first time doing the challenge, I thought I would stick with a cupcake theme and make Taylor a birthday card. Happy Birthday Taylor!

This was a very fun sketch to do. I really only have this ONE cupcake image, but I do like how it turned out although it could probably do with a little more dimension. It still looks flat despite the pop up dots...
I also used a banner stamp I have (see deets below) and thought I would use some jewelry jump rings to hang it from my image. They were pesky little buggers, but I got them on without too much damage to the paper. I like it!

Deets:
Stamps: SU! Big Bold Birthday set; Doodle Factory Urban set (banner); PTI Birthday Basics (sentiment)
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist. SU! Chocolate Chip
Paper: PTI Spring Moss & Sweet Blush CS. Me and My Big Ideas DP
Accessories: Pink Fibers, Eyelets, Jump Rings, Cropadile

It's Summer Time!!

Now you see it,

Now you don't! (except for the few pieces I missed)

It's been dreadfully hot this week. So the hair had to go. Everytime I shave one of these babies heads, they suddenly look like they should live on a farm , or be in the army. I have no idea why I see it that way. But I always do. And I usually regret cutting it, because they look so funny. (not that being a farm boy or an army boy is funny.... you understand right?) Cache was handling the cutting just fine until the shavers hit the patch of hair that was tangled with yesterday's ice cream. It must have hurt because he has been crying ever since. The heat has been making him cranky and tired too. So we all need a nap!

Craft Alert!!: Stamped Baby Onesies

Like I have said before, there are a lot of my friends here that are having babies soon. I think we have one due each month until October! Which is fun for me cause I get to try out all the projects that I've seen.
Here is the first baby shower project. I had so much fun doing it and I was quite surprised at how good it turned out. You should try it too!

I bought plain white baby onesies and burp cloths from Babies R Us. I pulled out my favorite stamp sets (PTI: Green thumb). If you are interested at all in PTI stamps, this is DEFINITELY one you should own. I simply LOVE it. I used some hybrid ink (also PTI) and ribbon. If you want to do something like this, you need to be sure you have the right ink which, with a little heat set from an iron, will stay in the fabric through all the washes. You can read about that here. To stamp the image you want to put something inside the onesie just in case the ink bleeds. (I used scrap card stock). The colors in these photos are not true. I had a photo lamp explode on me (it was SO loud!) so I had to brighten the pic through photoshop. So bear with them. The final product looked much better!

I also stamped a saying under the image cause I thought it would be cute. And I think I was right! I packaged it all up in a basket with some stamped tissue paper and the baby thank you cards I posted last week.
I have a few others that I have done, but I don't want to give the surprise away until I actually give the gift away! I will post them after the baby shower(s). I really love how simple and cute they are. You can never have too many onesies. Especially if you have a pukey baby! (ask me how I know...)


Deets:
Stamps: Green Thumb (PTI), Simple Alphabet (PTI)
Ink: Perfect Match Pallette Hybrid Ink; Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss (PTI)
Ribbon: Olive Green (Michaels)

Belly Button Boys

Belly buttons are
Odd,

Fascinating,

and hilarious!!

What did you do today? Was it as much fun as this?
I didn't think so.

Sweet Virginia

Grandpa and Noni Larsen live in Virginia. We visit quite often. We just went for  a quick Memorial Weekend trip and had such a lovely time.  After so many years in the city I am really starting to be amazed by open spaces, big skies and clean air. All of which Virginia has. 

We are lazy in our time while we are there. Grandpa and Noni get up with the kids. We play at the park, go out to eat and sit on the porch to soak up the sun.

We also get daddy all to ourselves. Which is especially fun for the boys (and dad too). We are all sad when we have to go home to our real lives where dad has a real job, mom has to really take care of the kids, and the kids have to really deal with the crap we put them through. (which G & N never do!)

This time around we went fishing on the Potomac. It was so lovely. We walked from fishing hole to fishing hole. Both Grandpa and Baby Cache fell in the river and Ronin almost hooked every one of us at different times with his violently swinging pole. The boys had so much fun. Here you can see Ronin likes to fish as "spiderman". We didn't catch any fish. We did however catch A LOT of ticks!

Ronin found one early the next morning when he was going to the bathroom. We thought he had been attacked, he screamed so loud!  Then we had to strap him down on the table and do surgery. We then decided EVERYONE had to be checked. Baby cache had 2! One on his back and one in his arm pit and Noni had one on her leg.  Needless to say, we were all a bit creeped out. Ronin is still having a hard time getting over it since he also got a tick in Vermont a month ago. He is reluctant to wear shorts or t-shirts. Its about 90 deg. here in NY and he is out in pants, long shirts and sweaters. Poor boy is just roasting to death. But he says he doesn't want any bugs on him. Thats unnderstandable.

The other thing I love about being in Virginia is the boys get to see what nature is really about. (bugs included I guess)  They love to play in the yard, check out the flowers and enjoy all the sights we don't have at home. Its so great there, we often contemplate moving. And we would if there were a job there for us to do. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that if we did move, it Virginia wouldn't be as special to us because we would be living our real lives. And there is no time for fun in real life!! So I think we will have to do with visiting and being grateful we can visit such a wonderful place with such a wonderful family. Thanks Noni and Grandpa for your love and hospitality!!!

Craft Alert!! I Heart 2 Stamp Challenge

Of course I did another challenge today (that makes three in three days. Whew!) I really like this sketch. Must use it again. but next time with more stamping.

This sketch is from the I Heart 2 Stamp website.

Here's my take on said challenge.

I wish you could see the white brads in the bottom right hand corner. guess the paper is just too busy. I really love how it turned out. I think all the work is being done by the paper and not by the embossed flower. oh well. I like it anyway!

Deets:

Stamp: Beautiful Blooms (PTI)

Paper: Madera Island (S.E.I)

Ink: SU! White Craft

Accessories: hardware (from stash), White brads (American Crafts), Embossing Powder

Craft Alert!! Amy Rysavy Friday Sketch #20

patrick is gone this weekend, so what else would I be doing??


This is Amy Rysavy's Friday Sketch #20. This is my second sketch challenge ever, and it WAS a challenge for me. I started out excited because I liked the patterned paper, but when the card was finished I wasn't as thrilled with the results. I did learn a few things though, which is always good. If I could do it again, there would definitely be some changes. (Hopefully you can see the card ok through these pics.)  

I cut a hole out of the rocket so you could see to the inside. This was for two reasons. It helped the overall look to take out some of the stark white that was overshadowing the rest of the design. Plus I stamped "SO" with  the intention of it being used both for the inside and outside sentiment. The outside sentiment says "It's your birthday".

And on the inside I stamped "so rock-et"...you know as in "rock it!" Rock your birthday! My own little pun! Well last night I thought it was hilarious. But now that I've had some sleep I'm thinking it might be a bit dorky and hard to tell what's going on. That's my brain for ya! I added a strip of DP on the inside with a little rocket punchout embellishment that came in my scrap pack. The inside sentiment is stamped closer to the right edge so I added the strip of DP to help balance it out. Then I added the rocket to help the reader get the pun. Do you get it?? 

Whew! this was fun! Now I wonder who needs to "Rock-et" on their birthday!?

Deets:

Stamps: Rocket: (doodle factory urban set), Simple Alphabet (PTI), "Birthday" from Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: K&Company Kazoo Kids Scrap Pad to go,

Ink: SU! Basic Black

Accessories: SU! Markers, Black Brads, Scallop Circle & Rocket Paper Embellishments (Kazoo Kids Scrap Pad)

Craft Alert!! Stamp Simply #38 Challenge

I decided to participate in the Stamp Simply Challenge because it is just my cup of tea. When you stamp (or do any kind of art stuff) you need SPACE! This is precisely what I don't have. I live in 1000 sq. feet of an over stuffed, kid infested apartment. So since I do have interests and need them to keep me sane, (I mentioned kids didn't I ?) I realized that while I may want a lot of things I only have the room for some things. So I have tried hard to limit my crafting supply to the things I absolutely need to keep me happy. So in short, I have to stamp simply.
I put this card together with the mind to make it a small set like I saw on Mish Mash  which she saw here. I thought it would make a nice gift. Just need to fashion up a box of sorts which I will case from someone, just don't know who yet. (*insert evil laugh here*)

The cards are quick and easy and I really do love the simplicity of them. I have only just started embossing. I swore I wouldn't start because of the things you need, but the heating gun I got really doesn't take up much space and I got it for 50% off, so really, could I say no? I really like the look of embossing, but do need to practice practice practice. I'm covered in powder from head to toe. * Note to self: Don't Sneeze!

Recipe:

Stamp: PTI Father Know's Best, Faux Ribbon (sentiment)

Paper: PTI Father Know's Best 6x6 pack, Summer Sunrise CS; Stampers Select White CS

Ink: SU! White Craft

Daddy's Gone

Patrick is out of town this weekend. He is working in Logan, Utah doing Into The Woods at The Utah Festival Opera Company.  This is where both Patrick and I attended college and I think it would be really weird to be back there. (I will have my chance when we go see the show in July and hopefully live to tell about it.) So far today I haven't talked to him since he's been in meetings all day. Not much different than when he is here! His design is great though and we are really hoping it comes off without a hitch. This of course, is every set designers dream and not every set designers reality. Hopefully he will come home in good spirits (he always does) and with good pics to share.

A few things though, about when dad goes out of town; A lot of people think it would be play play play, but that is not the case. That IS what it is like when I am gone, however.  I'm definitely the less fun of the two parents I would say, but I guess it needs to be that way for balance and sanity. 

No, when dad's away that means the kids go to bed earlier (cause I just want some peace already!) Mommy can't sleep because the bed is too empty, she doesn't get to sleep in because there is no else to deal with the kids  AND (the worst of them all) the dishes pile up in the sink.

I hate, I say HATE doing the dishes. I have been walking by them for a while (I will NOT say how long they have been sitting there). I just can't bring myself to touch them. The excuse? Just plain old fashioned laziness, (and today I have been a bit busy).  If we had a cockroach problem, they would all be living it up in my sink right now. (ok. that's gross.) If I don't start being better about these dishes we WILL have a cockroach problem. But still I have a hard time getting them done. Right now I have so many dishes in the sink I will have to do them in batches because not all will fit in the dish drainer at once. OH, to have a dishwasher. What would that be like?  Well, I do have a dishwasher and he is out of town! It's very difficult to get by.

So we are only on day 1 of dad being gone and already we are complete wrecks.  We will try to make it the weekend without you.

Come home soon dishwasher,... I mean DAD!!

Craft Alert!!: Baby Shower Thank You Cards

Since I am interested a bit in crafts, once in a while I will be posting a project that I am working on. I figure that since not everyone will be interested in reading about it, I will post the project with the title Craft Alert!! so that you are fore warned. If you don't want to read, just pass on by. So without further ado....

I have so many friends having babies this year. So I have been doing a few baby gifts and trying out a few techniques that I have seen on other blogs. This post is a baby card set that I have put together for a baby shower this weekend.

These are pre-scored white card bases that I actually bought in a pack of 100 (plus envies) at a Wal-Mart in Virginia, for (of course) cheap. Quite a score for a project like this. I used another favorite stamp set from Paper Trey Ink called Bitty Baby Blessings. I used the paper piecing technique that I saw used by many of their designers and on other blogs around. Basically you stamp the image on patterned paper, and cut it out. I then cut 3 x 3 card stock in summer sunrise and lemon tart (also PT) glued the stamped image on it and added grommets to the corners.

I then altered a clear plastic box that PT uses to package their stamp sets to create a personalized box for the gift receiver. Is that green enough for ya or what?!

Here is my finished project:

On the back I stamped with PT Simple Alphabet. I would post a pic of it, but can't seem to get my computer to download it.

So that's it. Off to the baby shower!

Deets: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, Sentiment: Faux Ribbon

Paper: Bitty Baby Blessings, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Kraft.

Ink: StayzOn Jet Black.

Accessories: Summer Sunrise and Lemon Tart Ribbon, Purple Grommets (costco set).

Father's Day

Fathers Day is coming up and I put a lot of thought and heart into a gift for Patrick from me and the boys. I like to stamp and scrapbook and have really been addicted to it as of late, so I crafted up something that I thought he would like.

Now he's not a cutesy, kitchy, or crafty kind of a person. He is a designer. Which means, modern, clean, new and innovative things get his attention. I think maybe secretly he doesn't like stuff that I do, but he is way too nice to actually say anything about it. In fact he is very helpful and views all of my things with a positive and creative eye. That's love for ya. Well, when thinking about what to do for him, I wanted to give him something personal, yet something not too "cute" that he could take to work with him so he can have a pic of his boys.

I picked up an accordion scrapbook by Martha Stewart at Michael's (see my local craft store link). The great thing about the accordion is that you can open it to just one page and then have several others to choose from so you can change it every once in a while and also not take up too much desk space. I then used DP from S.E.I. from the line called dill blossom. I also used the stamp set Father Knows Best from my favorite company Paper Trey Ink. I love this company because they have such clean designs with a lot of modern elements. I think they are a perfect marriage of my love for stamping and my DH's love for design. I thought they fit him perfectly.

I wanted to photoshop some of the pics to share, but since my skills are REALLY rusty, I usually have Patrick help me. And of course that was a problem because I couldn't allow him to see the end product until the actual day, so I tried to fix them up myself. I didn't do as good of a job as I had wanted. So bear with them. Anyway, last night, he was helping me with some other photos and found these ones too. SO, the cat is out of the bag, yet again... In all 8 years of marriage I have yet to surprise him with a single gift. Not one! And that is no exaggeration. It's just sad. I guess I will have to try harder.

So with with endless love Patrick, I present your Father's Day gift. Thanks for being such a great husband and dad. We love you!!