not for the weak of heart...brr

This is wrong...soooo wrong...can you hear me crying???? It is way too early for this....5 days ago...just last weekend it was +30C and in shorts and the sprinkler...today -1C and a snowman in my yard....pinch me...I want to be having a night mare...wake me up now!!!

2012 365 #161 - tags

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to "Go Green" - meaning to use recycled items or the colour green - I chose the colour green for this challenge...I whipped up some little tag purses for my mom's craft sale next weekend....each bag has 6 opening tags inside...all the items were made using leftovers from my stash from other projects....even the papers are leftovers from some paper packs that I had bought for other items in the package....let's see what "green" items you use this week!

2012 365 #160 - the dog ate my homework!

This week's challenge at Anything but a Card is sparkly and shiny...I am not sure how sparkly my pictures come across, but each of these bookmarks has some sort of bling on them...mists, gems, glitter pens and smooch...I made 21 of these for a craft sale that I am doing with my mom in a couple of weekends from now...I am not prepared for it and am creating little things in a mad panic that might make my half of the table look a little more full...there was a fun fiasco in making them though - which explains the title - a couple of months back we got ourselves a cute little puppy that does not like to let me get anything done in my house at all!  no crafts, no laundry, nothing in a room away from her...when she is not in the same room as me, she is a little "adventurous" with socks and undies and the like....so I left the 11 year old in charge of her this morning when I went to change the laundry...5 minutes max...I come out of the laundry room and say to my daughter - where is the dog?  and she says "I thought you had her" - this being less than 5 minutes after she agrees to watch the little hooligan...well, in that time, the puppy ATE or at least put teeth prints in all of the white items on my projects...yippee...had to cut out all new ones before posting!  Yikes....good thing she is still cute!!!

2012 365 #159 - furry birthday

The challenge at Shopping our Stash this week is to do furry friends or feathered friends....I picked furry cuz birds kind of freak me out...but no bugs or spiders or butterflies...just fur and or feathers....this was another pathetic attempt at a masculine card...just can't get anything to look boyish these days....but it seems cute nonetheless...but as the hubby says "cute is not for boys" so it is a fail again...one day, I will figure it out!  Let's see where the fur leads you....

2012 365 #158 "Iceberg dead ahead"

This week's challenge at the Opus Gluei is to use a sketch and add some layers.  I love sketches, in fact, I think I am a sketch-a-holic...I don't know what makes them so addicting but I just love them - we are allowed to pick our own sketches this time around, but picking your own sketch to do is more difficult than being given one...I think I must like being told what to do because it was hard to pick a sketch - especially to add layers to it too...But I think I achieved the "layered look" with this project...in some areas I am 7 layers of paper thick...in most I am at least 4...the sketch is from Scrapbooks Etc. magazine....come on out and show us what you've got!

2012 365 #152 - oh crappy day

The challenge this week at Shopping our Stash is to use embossing (either wet or dry) in some way...I embossed this co'ordinations paper and then sanded it down a little for some texture...then I inked it with distress inks on the raised squares for some contrast...I loved this stamp the moment I saw it and had to have it...so many uses for that phrase...and the toilet paper roll is a perfect combo...let's see what embossing skills you have this week!

2012 365 #156 - Towel folding

This weeks challenge at Anything but a Card is to used texture on your project.  I made this page with several different textures in mind...there are layers and punches, flags made from twill tape and flowers...even the words have fabric on them that makes it look sort of like a towel...this was one of the little classes on our cruise ship and Emily and I decided to participate...we learned how to fold all kinds of little animals....a fun way to pass the "fun day" at sea on our way to Alaska! Check out all the other projects and join in!

2012 365 #155 - red onion saloon

This is a picture of the Red Onion Saloon in Ketchikan, Alaska...we didn't get to go in as we were on a tour, but the picture turned out great none the less...I used the sketch from Artful Delight as my jump off point for this page!  Have a great weekend!

2012 365 #154 - there's a nap for that

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash's 3-2-1 challenge...the object of this challenge is to use 3 of something, 2 of something and 1 of something...pretty simple because we have no rules on what the 3-2-1 are...I used 3 solid mats, 2 masculine punches and 1 fun image...I think my hubby even said it looks like a "masculine" card...cha-ching - finally! I coloured it with my Tim Holtz markers (which I am still not really impressed with, but trying to find ways to like them) and paper pieced the recliner chair....that part looks fun in real life...the effecti is kind of lost on the card in the picture...those mats were made with a mat stack pack that I have had since I started scrapping...glad to break down and finally use them...play along with us this week, will you?

2012 365 #151 & 152 - See you in September

The Opus Gluei Challenge this week is called "See you in September" and it is my turn to host the challenge...you can use any project that reminds you of the back to school or fall type theme, including things like apples and teacher cards etc...pretty easy, right??  Life in our house gets super hectic at this time of year...school starting and dance starting (the kids dance 6 days a week), my holidays are over and we have added a new puppy in the mix...September is kind of a dreaded month in our house...but it also leads to regular routine and that is a good thing! I took this challenge in two different directions (but all with the same pieces of paper)...the first is a multiple project with inspriational school and achievement type sentiments...the second is a classic hand drawn apple...can't get more "Septembery" than an apple harvest!  The apples here were done so early this year because of our really warm spring and summer, that our apple trees are already picked clean! Come on out and show us your September type projects!!!

2012 365 #153 - wood you be mine??

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is a wood challenge - use "wood" somehow in your project...sorry about the really tacky card but I ended up with a wicked head cold and my mojo caught it too...I tried to incorporate wood in a couple of ways...embossed wood folder (never before used), memory box tree die and star leaf die (never before used), my left over Chatterbox paper from my last cards (crying as I am slowly using up all the patterns) and the wooden clothes pins cuz they are just sooo cute...I also had to mad panic for an anniversary card for the hubby for yesterday...again, couldn't pull off the masculine, even with the boy coloured papers...I will never get the masculine card thing down...let's see what you "wood" make this week with your projects...

2012 365 #150 Anything but a Card Debut

Hey everyone!  Welcome to my first assignment on the design team for ANYTHING BUT A CARD.  This is a new challenge blog which is exactly what the title says - anything but a card...you can make scrapbook pages, journals, decorative items, calendars....anything but a card!  It is a bi-weekly challenge too, so there is lots of time to get your stuff done!  Come on and give it a try! This first challenge is an anything goes challenge, so there are no excuses not to play along and use up some of your stash that you had to have and have not yet used!  This is my page for the first challenge...I apologize in advance as you are going to see a lot of Alaska scrapbook pages in the near future...trying to get that scrapbook done and this is a great platform to encourage me to do just that...I inked the embossed bingo card with Tim Holtz inks to try and get it to stand out a little with the papers...Emily almost won $1000 on the cruise playing bingo...she waited for 17 numbers in this game for 1 number that never came...it was too funny (of course not to her!!!)

2012 365 #149 - my favorite things

This weeks challenge at Shopping our Stash is "my favorite things" and this challenge was a snap for me (well, not really cuz there are just soooo many favorite things)...by far, my favorite paper is Chatterbox and I will have you all know that two brand new pieces of paper were sacrificed to make this card ***gasp*** - have been working with the scraps for ages, but broke out two new ones for these cards! I bought the hot air balloon dies yesterday (because I just can't resist dies - another of my favorite things- and they looked so cute with the clouds I bought last time I was at my LSS) so they are new stash and not old - the paper balances it out because it has been hoarded over 6 years...another favorite thing is making multiple cards quickly and I did two of these ones (maybe more coming though cuz they were super quick and easy)...oh and Tim Holtz distress inks are also fun and a necessity...wow there are lots of favorites for me...let's see what you so love and what you can do with it to complete some more projects!

****EDIT HERE*** :) CARLA WHO RUNS THE SOS BLOG IS ALSO STARTING UP A NEW CHALLENGE BLOG CALLED ANYTHING BUT A CARD (ABAC) WHICH FOLLOWS EXACTLY WHAT THE TITLE IS...SO IF YOU ARE A SCRAPPER, AND ALTERER, OR SOMEONE WHO JUST MAKES STUFF OUT OF THINGS THAT DON'T END UP BEING CARDS, THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!!!  SHE IS ALSO OFFERING SOME BLOG CANDY, SO CHECK IT OUT!!!  TO WIN CANDY, LEAVE A COMMENT AT ABAC AND FOLLOW ALONG!!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FIRST CHALLENGE!!!  SEE YOU THERE!!!

2012 365 #148 - me and my camera

This week's Opus Gluei Challenge is "Me and my camera"...I love taking tons of pictures when we go on vacation (there were more than 2500 taken when we went to Alaska - however the trip did take 10 days so that is really only averaging 250 per day or 10 and hour or so - not too ridiculous when you think of all the things to see there). I took this picture of my mom and my daughter on our Alaskan Cruise during disembarkment. (I snuck in behind the pro photographer and snapped this pic)...my mom saw it for sale in the lobby after the first night and went to buy it...then it went missing and no one could find it...she was so disappointed cuz it was a great picture and when we got home and I developed mine, there it was!  So this page had to get made!  I did the circle inking with Tim Holtz inks and then splattered mists around in similar colours for some fun on the whitespace...

2012 365 #147 - Bearly Afraid

These pictures were taken in Ketchikan on our Alaskan cruise last summer...it was after Lauren had the run in with the bear and was now deathly afraid of them...it was hard to even get her to go in the store with this fake bear in the doorway, but then she came around and posed for a picture anyway...I am entering this in the Artful Delight sketch challenge...after all, it is their sketch and I think I made it just under the wire!!

2012 365 #146 - use a sketch

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to use a sketch...I love the sketches from  Delightful Inspiration and I really just don't play with them enough, even though I love their blog...so I decided to hunker down and actually complete one of their sketches in time for the link...wahoo...I just got this stamp in the mail and when I saw it I had to have it...all the papers were scraps from a 6x6 pad that I won at a crop a while back and the sentiment was in there too...really trying to use that stuff up!!  I keep replenishing though, so it kind of defeats the purpose, but what can you do?  Let's see what favorite sketch you use and link up to it so I can play along too!!!

2012 365 #145 - forgotten techniques

The challenge for Shopping our Stash this week is to use a technique you have always wanted to try or one that you have forgotten about...as we were discussing ideas on the design team, the topic of Washi tape had come up between Carla and myself...she tried out a technique and didn't like her results and changed her mind on her card technique...so I swooped in and decided to do it myself...I had learned a quick tutorial of it at a crop and decided to give it a go...I used 5 colours of tissue paper and stamped on it and then made co-ordinating flowers out of the same tissue...I haven't made tissue flowers in a while either...used up some ancient Basic Grey brads that I just "had to have" about 3 years ago....and a virgin stamp set with heat embossing...another forgotten technique...think I got them all in there...why don't you play along this week so we can see some other new techniques...

2012 365 #144 -red hot

I found this Opus Gluei challenge super hard...I never work in just one colour and I find red one of the hardest...but here is my attempt (had to have a little green in the centre of the flower, but otherwise I "followed the rules"...not quite sure if this is too summery for a Christmas card or what yet, but I will have to find a use for it somewhere....let's see your Red Hot Creations!!!

2012 365 #143 - Monochromatic martians

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is Monochromatic...for those of you who have never done a monochromatic card - the idea is to do a card in different tones of one colour on the colour wheel and a neutral or two are allowed....but the only "colour" should be your one choice...this is a really hard challenge for me...I very seldom buy one coloured papers...they usually all have an alternating colour in them...these were all from my scrap bucket, so it worked out great for a green card....inside the card reads "put on your big girl panties and deal with it".  Love this alien/monster set...it had 14 stamps and was super cheap when we went down to Fargo last...couldn't resist...the corrugated paper, however is about 10 years old or so....and I coloured the pearls with my copics just to make them match the green theme...come on out and let us see what you can do...in just one colour of course!

New puppy pics - This is Penny

This is our new puppy Penny...she is cute and not too much trouble (so far...).  She is sleeping through the night and goes to the bathroom outside (my two most important features in a pet)...she is about 12 weeks old and my girls are just smitten by her...