Jenn's World!

Anthony lost 2 teeth

2012-01-30T20:56:00.001-06:00

Just a quick post to show Anthony's new smile! I pulled one tooth before school & the other at supper time. He is super excited about losing them. I've been told the tooth fairy gives $5 for 2 teeth...not sure where Anthony heard that from!

Cupcake ruffle pants

2012-01-15T20:47:00.001-06:00

This evening while Jason & the boys were at church Anna & I made her cupcake ruffle pants. I'm still debating on which top to make her to match, but hopefully I can decide soon!

Boys will be boys

2012-01-14T22:08:00.001-06:00

Here's a peek into the boys' room today before I made them clean it back up...

It's been a busy week!

2012-01-12T21:22:00.002-06:00

It's been a wild & crazy week, so I haven't had much time to blog. I did want to stop in really quick & share some pictures. My sweet friend Cherie has leukemia & a while back her sister did a t-shirt fundraiser. They didn't make baby shirts, so today Cherie & I made shirts for her 6 month old nephew & 2 month old niece. Here are pictures of the shirts & a picture of Cherie & Anna Catherine (with cutie pie pigtails).

Project of the day finished!

2012-01-09T14:13:00.001-06:00

Well, it's not perfect, but I have cleaned the boys' room. I still need to straighten up their dressers & go through their clothes, but this room looks so much better! I have 8 garbage bags full of stuff for our garage sale. Enjoy the AFTER pictures while I go try to do a little more work!

Today's project: the boys' room

2012-01-09T12:54:00.003-06:00

Today's goal is to get the boys' room all cleaned up, decluttered, & organized. This is the first major overhaul for me to do & I hope the results give me the momentum to keep going. I decided to take before & after pictures so I could see just how much work I have done. Here are the BEFORE pictures.

Anna Catherine wearing her ruffle pants

2012-01-07T21:02:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of my sweet baby girl in her new pants. I can't wait to make more!

Ruffle pants!!!

2012-01-07T19:53:00.001-06:00

I'm so excited I finally finished my first pair of ruffle pants! I was worried about the ruffle part since it didn't look all that great from the inside while I was sewing, but I LOVE the finished product. I haven't tried them on Anna yet since she's taking a nap, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have a picture of her wearing them. I don't think I have a shirt that will match them, but maybe I can come up with something in her closet. The ruffles were tedious, but definitely worth the effort!

Classic Anthony moments

2012-01-05T17:06:00.002-06:00

This post is dedicated completely to Anthony because he has given me so much to write about! I love my sweet middle child, but he is definitely one of a kind (or exactly like his daddy).

Yesterday I reminded Anthony that today was his snack day at school, so I would be driving him to help bring his snacks. He said, "nah, I'd rather ride the bus." I'm thinking he's gonna have a hard time carrying 24 Capri sun drinks & 24 packs of Oreos all by himself, but then Jason offers to go in to work late so he can bring him. Anthony jumps right on that opportunity & is pretty excited. When I asked him why I couldn't take him, all he would tell me was that I wasn't gonna get an answer to my question. Finally he told Joey, who whispered to me that it was because I'm a girl. He's 5 & too big for his momma already!

Last night after church Jason had a meeting, so I brought the boys home to bathe them & get them in bed. We've been having trouble getting Anthony out of the tub lately. He keeps stalling until Jason just pulls him out, which usually makes him get mad & cry while yelling that he had an itch to scratch or he kept slipping. Last night I didn't want to have to pull him out, so I told him I would follow them to school. He jumped right out!

The boys played outside this afternoon, & when I went outside a few minutes ago, I saw Anthony has already torn up his new boots he got for Christmas (picture attached). Some days I don't know what to do with him!

Yummies in the kitchen

2012-01-03T19:16:00.001-06:00

The boys go back to school tomorrow so I tried to make sure they had a great time on their last vacation day. They played with Brady, Gabriel, & Sadie, we all went on a family walk, then I made them some yummies in the kitchen. Anthony & I made peanut butter balls first. He's been begging me to make them ever since he finished off my mom's Reese squares & my Oreo balls. Then I made some grilled cheese pizzas for my picky boys. Joey loved it (which is a miracle) & ate 2 of them. It's like a regular grilled cheese, but instead of American cheese in the middle it had pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, & pepperoni. I LOVE Pinterest, which is where I saw the idea. I've now got a sleeping baby in my lap. Life doesn't get much better!

Anna's new owl

2012-01-02T20:35:00.002-06:00

This evening I went to Hobby Lobby & had the best time wandering around by myself! I bought several supplies (all on sale of course) & really wanted to make something this evening. I decided to make a stuffed owl since they are my favorite animal lately. I drafted my own little pattern, used some scraps & created a cutie pie owl for Anna. The boys have picked out their fabrics for my next owls. Here are some pictures of my sweet baby girl loving on her new fluffy toy.

New Years Day fun

2012-01-01T18:26:00.002-06:00

I'm gonna try posting to my blog from my phone. This evening I helped the boys play with their new Pixos they got from Aunt Pat for Christmas & I also decorated a few GermX bottles. Hopefully the pictures will load so y'all can see!

2012 Theme: MAKE

2012-01-01T16:01:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon & Happy New Year 2012! I decided to get back into blogging to start out my new year. Since I am one of those obsessive compulsive types, I find that having the new year start on the first day of the week is especially inspiring. I was thinking about resolutions (since we all at least consider them this time of year) & enjoyed hearing from my friends in Sunday School on the topic. Several of them make goals for the year instead of resolutions. I decided I would give this year a theme & would make myself some achievable goals. For me, this year's theme is going to be MAKE. Not a big surprise considering I love to make things, but this theme is about more than just crafts. Here are my goals following this theme.

Each day I will MAKE someone smile. This is not a very hard goal, but in looking back I realized there are lots of days when I don't do anything for anyone else. I want to make sure I do things each day to make my family, friends, & even strangers smile.

Each day I will MAKE my house a home. This past year I went from being a full time working accountant to being a stay at home mom. I have no excuse for not doing what I can to make my home an enjoyable place to be for my family. My house may not be spotless when everyone arrives home at the end of the day, but I want to at least keep everything somewhat tidy so no one is looking at dishes or laundry.

Each day I will MAKE time for my kids. It would be very easy for me to get caught up in keeping a clean house & marking items off a list instead of spending real time with my kids, especially the boys. I want to do something memorable with them each day, even if it's just playing video games for 15 minutes.

Each day I will MAKE time for my husband. After a long day of taking care of the house & kids, I have a tendency to just crash when they do, but I want to make sure to carve out some time in my day to spend some quality time with him.

Each day I will MAKE time for God. Oooh, this is a hard one. I hope to have several little times set aside each day when I read my Bible, read one of my many devotionals I have never finished, & spend time praying for others.

Each day I will MAKE something. I want to do more crafty stuff this year & hope to do something crafty each day, but some days instead of making a craft I might just be making a mess or making a closet look better.

Each week I will try really hard to MAKE a listing on Etsy. This is where it gets tough, because I will not allow this goal to interfere with any of the goals above. I am saving money to buy an emroidery machine, so I need to start making some sales.

Each week I will MAKE something with craft supplies I already have that have been getting neglected. Anyone who has seen all my stuff knows I have way too much crafty junk, but I don't like to focus on just one craft! I want to be able to do it all at least once.

I'm sure I could keep going with goals, but I've probably got enough already listed above so I'm gonna stop here. Oh, one more, I'm gonna blog about my goals too! I hope to blog daily, but I'm not gonna commit. If you've made it to the end of this post, thanks for dedicating your time learning about me & my dreams for this new year. Have a great day & I hope to see you back here soon!

Anna Catherine

2011-09-13T16:58:00.003-05:00

Our little girl has finally made it here! Actually she got here 2 weeks ago, but time flies when you have a newborn in the house. She is the sweetest little thing and has a cute little dimple on her left side. She is still sleeping most of the time, which makes feeding time a little hard since she doesn't decide she's still hungry until you lay her down & get back comfy in the bed.
We love our little sweetheart! Thanks for coming by and checking out her pictures. I don't have all her pictures on my laptop or I would add a sweet one of her with her big brothers, who absolutely adore her.

Hopefully I'll be back with more pictures soon!

Playing with Ribbon

2011-08-27T19:47:00.002-05:00

Here are a few things I made earlier this week. First up we have 3 new hairbows. My favorite is the polka dotted one with the hot pink button.

I also made a small football hairbow with a matching pacifier clip. I'm still learning with the pacifier clip and have seen them made several different ways. This one was made with a badge holder clip.
Unfortunately I could not get a very good picture of the pacifier clip & hairbow, but my little model will be here in just 3 short days, so I should be able to get better pictures then.Thanks for stopping by!

Treasure Bags

2011-08-26T20:52:00.002-05:00

Hey guys & girls. Tonight I've got pictures of 2 of the little boy treasure bags I made the other day. These were made for Anthony & Gabriel with leftover pieces from their nap mat covers that Momma made. First up is Anthony's. He chose camo fabric.
Now, Anthony being the child he is decided he didn't want a bag with ribbon, even if it was black ribbon. He was wanting a little bag he could keep his very small stuffed puppy in at night so he wouldn't lose it. I ended up making a much smaller bag (maybe 3 inches x 4 inches) with dark brown bias tape instead of ribbon. He loves it & it's in the bed with him now.
Next up is Gabe's bag. He just turned 4 & loves his nap mat cover, so for part of his birthday gift I made him the bag out of his leftover Toy Story fabric.His party is tomorrow, so I'll know then how he likes his bag. Hopefully he will love it. Little boys always need somewhere to stash their treasure!

Thanks for checking out my treasure bags! They were so quick & easy and definitely fun. Just the kind of project I love to make :)

A Busy Craft Day (but no pictures)

2011-08-23T22:09:00.002-05:00

I've had a blast this evening crafting. I didn't get home from my doctor's appointment & shopping until about 1pm, but since then I have made a pacifier clip, 3 drawstring fabric bags for little boys to keep their treasures in, & 4 hairbows. Oh, and a big mess, but I cleaned most of it up. I had so much fun & have other ideas I can't wait to try. I didn't do any housework today :( but I figured that was ok since I worked my butt off yesterday cleaning & overdid it just a little. Tomorrow I'll get caught back up. Then I'll take pictures of what all I made today & post them on here before making more fun stuff. Until then, have a good evening!

Good Behavior Incentive Game

2011-08-20T20:53:00.002-05:00

My friend Christy devised a little incentive for her son Trent the other day. I paired her idea along with another Pinterest.com idea I found & came up with a little board game for the boys to play. We kinda named it Roubique Monopoly, but then I used Scrabble pieces too, so it's just a mixture of board games. The rules are printed on the board, but basically the boys get 2 rolls of a die each day to earn incentives (shown in the picture squares). They can lose a roll for whining, etc as printed in the rule section. The green squares are just blank & don't have an incentive.
The prizes or incentives are 15 additional minutes of Wii, computer, DS, or iPod time, 15 minutes of Momma time, a fruit rollup, 50 cents, 1 dollar, a piece of candy, 2 pieces of candy, a Redbox rental, & playing a board game.
I made the game pieces with a paper clip & a Scrabble sticker with a J for Joey & an A for Anthony. Today was our first day & Joey lost a roll. They both seem to really enjoy the game, so hopefully we can keep it up a little while.
Joey really thinks we should sell this game to other parents having trouble with their children. I just laughed & told him we didn't need to mass produce right now.

Anna Catherine's wall hanging

2011-08-20T20:11:00.003-05:00

I just can't say enough about Pinterest.com - the best website in the whole world! I have found so much inspiration there & for once I'm actually following through with the ideas. The last few days the boys & I worked together using this inspiration to make the wall hanging below.I am so in love with how it turned out. Here are a couple more views so you can see the detail on the letters. We used scraps of paper glued on to cardboard-type letters that I cut out myself (after tracing them of course). I used modge-podge over the paper when we finished.

I cut Catherine out of pink vinyl with my Cricut & decided to dot the i with a double layer flower topped with a button. Below you can see Anthony helping out when we started. He painted the letters with acrylic paint in case there were any gaps in the paper. I didn't want the kraft brown to show through.
I told him he had his undershirt on backwards, but he said it really didn't matter. He glued scraps of paper on 2 of the letters, Joey did 1 letter, and I did the last letter (and went back & patched gaps on theirs). To me it's even more special since we all worked on together. Anthony saw it finished & was a little disappointed we didn't put buttons all over ANNA, but I like it just how it is.

Neck Tie Bib--Work in Progress

2011-08-18T21:24:00.005-05:00

Let me start off by saying I am now officially addicted to Pinterest.com. I have found the cutest ideas on there! I'm trying to actually make the ideas instead of just always saying "Ooh--I could make that!" Here's the neck tie bib I found on there today.It didn't have a pattern. It was actually from this blog, but didn't have a pattern or instructions. I used my regular bib pattern & made pattern pieces for the collar & tie. I have never tried making pattern pieces before, so this is definitely a work in progress.

I am too much of a perfectionist, so I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out. There are definitely some changes I need to make to my pattern pieces. I didn't have a whole lot of fabrics appropriate for this project either, but I'm trying really hard to make stuff using what I have since I have so many craft supplies already.

The pictures actually make this bib look better than it did while I was sitting at my sewing machine, so I guess maybe I just needed to step away.

On another note, Anthony & I had a great time today on his last day before kindergarten. We worked on another craft project I'll share later, played with Play-Doh, cleaned toilets (his favorite chore), ate lunch at Chik-fil-A, and made cookies.

Isn't he adorable? He had to wear his apron & chef hat he got at Nanny's Vacation Bible School. He is so excited about getting to ride the school bus with his big brother tomorrow. I've gotta go, but thanks for checking out my blog!

Pillowcase with French Seams

2011-08-13T21:51:00.003-05:00

For some reason I decided I wanted to be able to make a cute pillowcase. The first tutorial I found online was exactly what I was looking for! It makes a standard pillowcase with a cuff & narrow decorative trim. Plus it had French seams, which I have been wanting to try.

I found 3 pieces of coordinating fabric (thanks Mom!) & got to work. This wasn't the fabric I had in mind for a pillowcase, but I wanted to test it out first without using my favorite fabric since I've bought all they had left on the bolt at Hancock's & now I'm hoarding it.
I think it turned out really cute though! It's hard to see the narrow trim because only about 1/4 of an inch of it shows, but it's green with a print on it.

Above you can see what French seams are--they don't have any raw edges to ravel. The raw edges are actually encased in the seam. It wasn't hard at all & I think it gave it a nice touch.

Here's the finished product! It was a little big on the pillow I put it on, but it wasn't the fluffiest pillow. I'm gonna find a really fluffy pillow & see how it fits. If it's still a little long, I may shorten it next time. Thanks for stopping by & looking at what I made!

Pear Bib

2011-08-08T17:39:00.002-05:00

Next up I've got a cute pear bib. I'm not a big fan of eating pears, but I do think they are cute fruits.

I made this one with yellow fabric that had little white polka dots on it. The leaf is made with 2 different pieces of green.
Gotta have a back view for those curious shoppers who want to see the whole item. The pear is trimmed with a tan colored bias tape.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the green leaf is half polka dots & the other half has darker green squares on it. I'm having too much fun with these fruity bibs!

Watermelon bib

2011-08-08T17:28:00.002-05:00

Hey bloggy friends! I'm back, but with ulterior motives...I want to list some stuff for sale on Etsy, but have to put the pictures on my blog or facebook first, then save them back down so they'll be small enough to Etsy. Anyway, first up I've got a watermelon bib I made.

I love watermelons. I'm gonna have to make one of these for Anna Catherine. This one has small light pink gingham for the main part of the watermelon.

Here's a picture of the back--a pretty solid green. I used hot pink bias tape to make the straps that tie in the back to hold the bib around a sweet little baby neck.

To make the watermelon seeds I used black buttons. I think this turned out super cute. What do you think? Hopefully someone shopping on Etsy will find it irresistable!

My newest projects

2011-07-15T16:26:00.004-05:00

Hey yall. This is gonna be a quick post just to show you my latest projects. First up is the hairbows my friend Jessica taught me how to make last Sunday. They are just the right size for a special little baby girl :)

Next we have a dress I made for a girl at church who had a sweet baby girl several weeks ago. I didn't make it to her baby shower & hadn't bought her a gift yet, so I decided to make her this sweet little dress.

I also made a box with the baby's name on it to put her gift in. The box is the perfect size for her dress, her bib (you'll see it in a minute) and a hairbow (I haven't made her one yet).

Here's the cute little apple bib. The mom is a teacher, so I thought an apple would be quite cute for her.

I also made a strawberry bib, but I'm not sure who it's for yet. It was harder to do with the green stem part, but I think it turned out so cute!

I've got plenty of other stuff I want to make and some other things I've made & just haven't shared with you yet. Hopefully I can get blogger to cooperate with me later this weekend. These pictures I had to upload at work & then add the text once I got home. Maybe it was just a problem with blogger last night and not a problem with my laptop. Anyway, yall have a great weekend & thanks for stopping by!

Just checking in with yall

2011-07-14T21:19:00.003-05:00

Well good evening! I'll bet yall thought I forgot I even had a blog, didn't you? All 3 of you should be proud of me for getting back on here :)

Anyhow, between working full time, having 2 little boys, and being pregnant with this rambunctious little girl, I haven't made the time to get on here & share what craftiness I've gotten myself into lately. I'm starting to get a little frustrated with blogger tonight anyway since it won't upload my pictures. I've got some projects I would love to share with you, but my pictures keep erroring out for some reason. I'll try to get them to upload later, but until then, just know that what I want to share is totally awesome & worth checking back for!

That's What She Said...

2011-04-29T20:52:00.002-05:00

Good evening! Tonight I decided to work on some more stuff to put in my Etsy shop. First up is a new mug that says "That's What She Said." Most people give the credit for this phrase to Michael Scott of The Office, but Jason has been using this saying for years. Gotta get back to crafting now, but thanks for checking in with me!

My Favorite Project EVER!

2011-04-03T11:18:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday afternoon everyone! Today I want to share with you my favorite project ever. I made this cute little box using files from Lettering Delights. The box is in the Handled Boxes collection & measures about 3 1/2 inches tall, 3 1/2 inches wide, & 2 inches deep. The fence is from the What's Up Kitty Cat collection & the gnomes are from the Good Luck Gnomes collection.

I printed & cut out the gnomes instead of paper piecing them. The flowers are also from What's Up Kitty Cat & they were cut out in layers.

I had trouble getting good pictures inside at my desk, so I was gonna use Jason's fancy camera. I tried for several minutes & never could figure out how to even turn the stupid thing on! I went outside & between breaks in the 20 mile an hour wind gusts managed some pretty good pictures.

I'm hoping to win a Silhouette SD in the Lettering Delights challenge this month, but even if I don't I have a project I'm very proud of. The winner will be chosen at random, so I guess it doesn't technically help my chances that I worked really hard on the little box. Have a wonderful afternoon!

Hop To It! Challenge

2011-04-02T14:46:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon! This afternoon I finally got a chance to play at my craft desk. I've known what I've wanted to do ever since Dustin Pike made his current challenge an Easter themed project that couldn't be a card & he made the cutest bunny freebie. Here's what I put together for Doodle Dragon Studios' Hop To It! challenge.

Dustin hates black jelly beans, but my Mom loves them! I remember her buying bags of just the black jelly beans at Easter time when I was a kid. I made this pinch box from an SVG from Lettering Delights & added Dustin's super cute bunny to the front of the box.

When I got the pinch box files I wasn't exactly sure what a pinch box was, so I had to cut one out to see what kind of box I would end up with. Now all I have to do is go buy some black jelly beans & make my special delivery! Thanks for checking out my project!

Happy St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T19:09:00.002-05:00

Happy Green Day yall! I don't have any new projects to share tonight but I at least wanted to stop by & say hello. With 2 boys each playing soccer & baseball I haven't had much time to make anything, but I hope to work on something soon. I'm not sure exactly what project I will tackle next, but I did buy several digital images from Dustin Pike this evening & I wanted to shop Lettering Delights' Dollar Days sale, but their website is having issues due to too much traffic. Have a great evening & thanks for coming by!

Jacey's birthday card

2011-03-10T16:58:00.000-06:00

We went to Jacey's 7th birthday party last weekend & I forgot to post a picture of the card I made for her. I also put her name on the bag in matching letters, but forgot to take a picture of it.

I just love pop-up cards but don't always take the time to make them. I'm glad I made time on this one because I think it turned out really cute.

Happy Easter box

2011-03-09T19:46:00.002-06:00

This evening I bought some new SVG files from Lettering Delights, including one that makes awesome boxes. I decided to start with one of the boxes.

This box, which is basically as large as I could make it & still fit on a 12in x 24in piece of paper, is 7 inches wide, 4 1/4 inches deep, & is 3 1/4 inches tall up to the fold.

I put a yummy chocolate bunny on one side & Happy Easter on the other. This group of files has several boxes that are basically the same except the handles vary.

I decided to go ahead & make the fancy scalloped handles first & I'm glad I did. I think it goes well with the floral paper I used for Happy Easter. I'm so excited at what a large box this ended up being. It would be perfect for filling with goodies for a birthday present.

Happily Ever Challenged #15 - Tribute to Saint Patrick

2011-03-02T19:39:00.002-06:00

Good evening! This evening I made a card to play in another challenge. Most of the bloggers I follow will have one card that fits several challenges. I just don't see how they do that! I have a hard enough time with one challenge at a time. Today I decided to play along with Ted at Happily Ever Crafter. This month's challenge is a tribute to Saint Patrick.

Not only did you card have to feature a 3 leaf clover, it also had to be primarily green, white, & orange, which are the colors of Ireland's flag.

I like how this turned out, but boy was it hard to come up with! The card base is made with A Child's Year cartridge and the flowers are from the Pooh & Friends cartridge. The base was too plain just white so I embossed it with the script folder. Why the script? Because I didn't know what I wanted it to say :)

My Polka Dotted Owl

2011-02-28T20:09:00.002-06:00

Good evening! Jason had a meeting at church tonight & my 2 sweet boys got in trouble for fighting, so they were bored without video games or tv for the evening. I let them help me in my craft area. I've been wanting to cut out the owl from the Stamping cartridge & that's what we did tonight.

At first Joey was skeptical about a pink & brown owl, but after I cut it out he decided she was cute. We then used a branch from the same cartridge & put them on a sky blue background. I used SCAL to cut out a cute little cloud & then cut out Hello from the Stamping cartridge. I'm very happy that this turned out even cuter in person than in my head, because usually it's the other way around. The boys looked through all my cartridges & Anthony asked if I wanted a princess cartridge. I told him I liked cartridges with little boy stuff like him & his brother. He then said, "but don't you want a princess one for YOU?" He is so sweet. Sometimes. I enjoyed letting them help me and they've already told me my next project is going to be the dog from the Zooballoo cartridge. We'll have to see how that one turns out. Thanks for coming by!

Dustin Pike's Spring is in the Air challenge

2011-02-27T21:05:00.002-06:00

I'm back & here's another Dustin Pike image, just as I promised. I'm entering this one in his "Spring is in the Air" challenge. He's not really feeling springy since he's still shoveling snow, but I think the temperature was around 80 degrees here today, so it feels like flower planting weather.

Not that I plant flowers or do any other sort of outdoor activity besides watching my kiddos at the ballpark, but Toby & Buster seem to be doing a great job! I used one of his colored images and just chalked the grass and sky. I was too lazy to break out the colored pencils & OMS. Be sure to play along with Dustin!

House Mouse Challenge #89

2011-02-27T20:38:00.002-06:00

I decided this evening to play along with the House Mouse & Friends challenge. Challenge #89 is to use your favorite House Mouse stamp. I have such a hard time choosing because I love them all, but I was really wanting to play with this one.

I don't even know the name of this stamp since I just have a stamped image from a swap and not the stamp itself. Since I'm an accountant, the first of the month is always really tough since we have to close out the prior month. This month will be especially hard because my friend and co-worker Jessica had her baby last week and will be out for the next 12 weeks. I depend on her way too much at work and wanted to send her a card to let her know I'm missing her. I'm so glad she gets to spend time with new baby Emma, but work just won't be the same while she's out! Now I just need to find time to buy some stamps so I can mail it...

Dustin Pike card & a "Just Because" card

2011-02-27T16:52:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to pop in for a quick minute to share a few cards I've made this past week. First up is a card for a sweet little boy's first birthday. I used a Dustin Pike image that was precolored. I just added more grass & some sky coloring.

Next is a card using the "Just Because" Cricut cartridge, which I absolutely love. This card is for a family who just adopted 2 little boys from the Ukraine. They had a shower at church yesterday.

I'm hoping to make some new projects with both Dustin Pike images & the Just Because cartridge soon. These are my new favorites to play with.

Quilted Card

2011-02-19T19:44:00.002-06:00

Ever since I saw this tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers I've been wanting to try this quilted card. I had made 2 cards with quilt patterns last week, but fell in love with the idea of embossing the quilted area to give the quilt some texture.

The sentiment is "Our lives are like quilts, made of bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, all stitched together with love." It's from a quilting stamp set I've had for a while now.

I'm not crazy about the big yellow bow at the top, but I love the buttons at the bottom. Because I used 1 inch squares to make the quilt, this card is huge, measuring 5 1/2 x 8 1/2.

Below is a picture of what a wreck my desk was when I finished this little project! I've got it cleaned back up now so I can maybe work on something else.

I'm off to decide what I'm gonna make next. Have a good evening & thanks for coming by to look!

Some new cards finally!

2011-02-18T19:04:00.002-06:00

Hey yall. Sorry I haven't been around in a while. I made some cards a few weeks ago but I'm just now having a chance to post them. Not sure if I've shared this with my blogging friends yet, but we have baby #3 on the way & I'm feeling years older than normal. A few weeks ago I was sick in bed with the flu. While curled up in teh bed with a quilt my mom made, I was inspired to make a few quilt cards. Here's the first one, which is based on one of the quilt blocks.

I had intended to use pinks & greens although my actual quilt was purple & green, but this paper just looked perfect. Next I decided to make a basic 9 patch quilt, which reminds me of my Granny.

Last I have an odd card. I really wanted to use the black & cream toile paper I had. It didn't turn out how I expected, but I kinda like it. Not sure what I'll use it for, but I'm sure an occasion will present itself.

This evening Jason is with the youth for the weekend so the boys and I went to Burger King for dinner (which Jason despises) and now we're snuggled in the bed watching Despicable Me. Anthony has the sweetest little giggle and he has almost lost his breath a couple of times laughing so hard. Joey had been quite angry with me lately but he has been an absolute sweetheart this evening. This 3rd grade attitude is quite difficult for me to handle with my lack of patience & exhaustion lately, so I'm very happy everyone is getting along tonight. We've got our first soccer games in the morning so Jason is gonna skip some of the youth events to come watch the kiddos play. Thanks for coming by the check out my new creations and hopefully I'll be back with more soon. I've got some great ideas in my head. We'll see if I can get them out on paper. Good night!

Boston Red Sox

2011-01-25T19:33:00.002-06:00

Hey yall. Here's a quick post to share this evening's project with you -- a trifle bowl for a Red Sox fan named Andy who's having a birthday next week.

I plan to ship it out tomorrow to make sure it makes it in time. His wife ordered it for him today. I hope they both love it!

Cricut Fishbowl Card

2011-01-09T17:03:00.002-06:00

I finally decided to make the fishbowl card that I bought from MyScrapChick.com, but I modified the pattern a little since I wanted to make the bowl out of a transparency sheet.

I made the blue water layer into a card also so you can see the scene from the outside of the card, then open it up to see the message. Something about the fish just looks off to me, but I don't know why.

All I had to do after cutting it all out on my Cricut was glue it together & add a wiggly eye. Super easy! I haven't put a message on the inside yet because I'm not sure what I'm going to use this card for yet. Thanks for coming back to see what I made!

Christy's birthday gifts

2011-01-09T15:22:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon from wintery West Monroe! I'm so hoping for snow this evening so school will be cancelled tomorrow. The prospect makes me very happy. I'm sitting at my craft desk trying to decide what to make & decide to share with you a few other things I've made recently. For Christy's birthday I put her name on a cosmetic bag with iron on vinyl.

The charm hanging from the zipper is a picture of Michael Buble. Christy is one of his biggest fans.

I also made her a birthday card shaped like a purse. She likes animal prints & I thought this turned out so very cute. I used a shank button & cut the shank off with a pair of wire cutters.

Ok, now I'm off to craft something! I hope yall have a wonderful afternoon & hopefully I'll be back soon with new crafts or snow pictures.

Badge Reel & Glass Tile Pendants

2011-01-08T18:11:00.004-06:00

Hey yall. I fully intended to post sooner, but this week has been wild! Anyway, today I'd like to share a few new things I've made. First up is a badge reel. At work we have to wear a name badge so we all have these nifty little retractable badge reels. I decided I wanted to make them look a little better. Here's the New Super Mario Bros reel I made. The one I'm using has a picture of Joey & Anthony on it, but I don't have a picture of it handy.

Next up I have some glass tile pendants I've been making. This first one is the LSU Tigers fleur de lis. You can wear it on a chain or tie it onto a zipper or purse strap.

The tiles are 1 inch square. They look so much larger in pictures than they really are. Below I have the fleur de lis tied to my purse.

Here's my Wizard of Oz pendant. I just love that movie. I put gold ribbon on it to match the yellow brick road.
Again, I tied this one onto my purse to take a picture. It doesn't match with my colors, but I still like it. Since when am I concerned about matching anyway?

Thanks for checking out my goodies. I'm gonna post these on Etsy too. I need to sell some so I can buy more to make. Have a great evening!

Recycled Cookbook Envelopes

2011-01-04T18:52:00.002-06:00

Howdy folks! I know it's been a while, but I've made a ton of stuff lately! I've been spending more time making & less time blogging about what I've made. I'm super excited about tonight's project.

These are mini envelopes made out of pages from a 1934 cookbook. I used the bread section for these 3 envelopes.
Aren't they super cute! The envelopes are a beautiful old color. I cut plain notecards to go in each one out of offwhite cardstock & the color matched perfectly.

One of the greatest features is that you read most of the recipe in case you wanted to try it out. I think these envelopes will be perfect for all kinds of things. They'd be really great to attach to a gift of kitchen gadgets, or to write a little thank you note for someone who had brought you dinner after a surgery or illness.

Ok, here are the specifics. The envelopes are almost 4 inches wide by 3 1/8 inches tall & the note cards are 3 2/3 inches wide by 3 inches tall. I plan on listing these on Etsy tonight. I listed the music envelopes after I made them, but they haven't sold yet. As long as I'm having fun making them, I'm not gonna stress about selling. Have a great evening & hopefully I'll be back soon with more fun stuff I've made lately!

Recycled Music Envelopes

2010-12-16T20:05:00.003-06:00

Good evening yall! I'm so excited--I got a box full of goodies in the mail today. Jason thinks it's a box full of junk, but what does he really know? I wanted some old maps, music, cookbooks, etc to make envelopes out of. Here's my first batch of envelopes.

These were a lot of fun & I think they turned out great. I have lots more to make. I'm pretty excited about the mini envelopes I'm gonna make out of an old cookbook too. Oh yeah, the details on these. These were made from the 1944 music of I'll Walk Alone (lyrics by Sammy Cahn & music by Jule Styne, as sung by Dinah Shore in the Universal Picture "Follow the Boys").

Home Sweet Home plate

2010-12-09T19:44:00.002-06:00

Hey yall. Sorry it's been a whole month. I've made a few things lately, but I guess nothing that noteworthy. I did make a really cool plate tonight. Here's a bunch of pictures I took trying to get a good one. Etching just doesn't photograph well for me.

Aunt Pat & I found these 8 inch salad plates on clearance at Wal-Mart last week for 75 cents each. I plan on putting a nativity scene on some of them, then putting homemade goodies on them for teacher gifts. Of course I really hope once I list this plate on Etsy that I sell so many of them I don't have any left for teacher gifts. I would gladly go find something else for the teachers. Anyway, gotta get this posted on Etsy now. Have a great evening!

More stuff for baby Emma

2010-11-08T19:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, I just tried to schedule a post for Monday night & it didn't work (right now it's Sunday night), so I'm gonna try it again. If it doesn't work I guess I'll just have 3 posts on Sunday night & then none for a few days. I've got a few more things I've done for Jessica's baby shower since it's in a week and a half & for once I don't wanna be making stuff at the last minute. This first one is a race car that says Daddy's Girl under it. Jessica's husband Jesse races at a dirt track on the weekends, so I wanted to make Emma a car shirt.

This next one is a brown onesie with pink & brown fabric. The colors are not coming out on my camera very well.
Finally we have a pink & green paisley butterfly. I figured Jessica might get tired of seeing Emma's name on every single shirt I make for her!

The pink race car shirt & green butterfly shirt are 12 month shirts & the rest are 3-6 months, so she should have a variety for quite a while. I didn't want everything to be the same size.

My Cricut Rocks!

2010-11-07T21:12:00.001-06:00

I'm back with more stuff I've been doing with my Cricut. First up I've got another bag I made with my new SVG files from MyScrapChick. I used glittery cardstock this time & the cardstock makes the bag so much better. I need to make a ton of these for Christmas just to have on hand.

Next up is the LSU Tigers shirt I made. I actually made 2 of these & have at least one more to make. I also made myself one with LSU in a golden yellow on a charcoal colored tshirt, but it's not nearly as cute as this one, so I haven't taken a picture. I did wear it Saturday though.

I'm having so much fun with my Cricut! A few things I've learned about cutting fabric with Ultra HeatNBond - use a deep cut blade on 6, pressure 5, & make sure you press your fabric down on your mat super good so it doesn't slip. Oh, & remove the backing paper on the HeatNBond before putting it on your mat or you'll be scraping it off. That's it for now. Have a good evening!

Emma & Sadie :)

2010-11-07T19:12:00.002-06:00

Yall, I have a serious addiction to baby clothes right now! I am having so much fun putting fabric on onesies & shirts. I spent Friday night shopping for new fonts online (yeah, I'm a dork) & found a CUTE one at www.letteringdelights.com called Lollihop. I made 2 onesies with it this evening. The first one is for Emma, whose baby shower I will be attending next week.

The second is for Sadie, a precious little girl at church. The yellow vinyl doesn't match the yellow of the flowers, but it's just so cute that I don't care it doesn't match. Emma's name cut out cute, but Sadie's is just gorgeous.

I know this is just another crafting phase I'm in, but hopefully it will last for a little while so I can get several cute projects done and make some mommas happy in the meantime.

Mishap in the Minivan

2010-11-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. Today has been a LONG day. I knew today would be a rough day at work, I just didn't realize I wouldn't be getting to work until 10am...

I was driving along close to the high school this morning & a 16 year old boy in a huge jacked up truck decided to change lanes. The problem is I was already occupying the spot in the lane where he wanted to go. My van is smashed & scraped on the driver's side from the mirror to the back tire. It really didn't feel like that bad of a hit, so I was surprised when I got out & looked at the damage. The black along the bottom is from his tires, which were wider than the truck. I couldn't get the door open from the outside & once I did, I couldn't get the handle back in place to keep the door shut without banging on it. The window wouldn't roll down either. The frame where the front & back doors meet is bent. His truck has a few scratches on the corner of the front passenger bumper. Everyone was ok, though, & I could tell he felt really bad. His mom was super nice too. We took the van straight to the body shop & State Farm had given a claim number for them to start on the $5k in damages before lunch. In the meantime I'm driving a rental. They tried to give Jason an economy car & he said no, we drive a minivan. They asked if we had a lot of kids & he said yeah, we've got a LOT of kids (cuz you know, even though there's just the 2, sometimes it feels like 12). So I've got a white Chrysler Town & Country minivan for the next week or so. I knew I loved my van, but didn't realize how much until I got a "replacement" van to drive. I miss my van. Anyway, I didn't make anything this evening, but I figured I'd share my little adventure with yall. Have a good night!

Monogram Ornament shirts

2010-11-04T19:42:00.002-05:00

Good evening! This year I have actually gotten a jump start on some Christmas projects! This evening I worked on some precious little shirts for some precious little girls. This first one is for baby Ella. The second one is for little Layla. The little gold part at the top is probably crooked in this pictures, but that's because I haven't ironed on that part yet. Jodie & I have discussed some options for the top of the ornament, but since she hasn't actually seen the gold fabric I was telling her about I decided to just bring her those pieces & she can iron them on if she likes them. If she's not a big fan of the gold we can sew a piece of ribbon on the top & tie a bow.

I just LOVE how these turned out! I've got plenty more projects to work on, but unfortunately do not have an endless supply of time on my hands. I try to do just a little each evening. I had someone at work today ask me about personalizing some glass bowls, so I may work on that soon. Thanks for coming by to look at my fun stuff!

Little girls love football too!

2010-11-02T20:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Election Day! Let me just start off by saying I HATE politics, so I avoided the tv today. I did go vote, but I'm so tired of hearing all the political blah blah blah! I spent my evening helping out some sweet little girls who love Saints football, but can't find any girlie Saints gear.

The onesie above is for sweet little Ella, who is 4 1/2 months old. The shirt below if for adorable Layla, who is 3 years old. I really hope their momma Jodie likes how these turned out.

I didn't want to just give them to her in a Wal Mart bag, so I decided to use one of my new sets of SVG files from My Scrap Chick. This is from the Bigger Bags set & I'm quite impressed with the size. It's about 5 inches tall, more than 6 inches wide, & almost 3 inches deep.

As you can see below, it was the perfect size for the two little pink shirts I made this evening. I put the picture of the bag of goodies on my Jennifer's Etched Glass facebook page & tagged Jodie in it, but I didn't want her to see a picture of the shirts.

I think I had taken too long of a break from my Cricut & now I'm trying to make up for lost time. I'm finding new stuff all the time that I can do. It's especially fun to work on girlie stuff since I live in a house with way too much boy stuff. Thanks for checking out my stuff & I hope to be back soon with more!

Jars with Vinyl

2010-11-01T19:37:00.004-05:00

Good evening yall. My friend Cherie had asked me some time back to etch some jars for her. I finally got time to work on them & asked her if I could put vinyl on them instead of etching, since the etching wouldn't show up when she put sugar & flour in them.

The jars look awesome, especially after she added the sugar to this one. I'm so glad she sent me a picture once she filled it up.

The vinyl will come off, but the jars shouldn't have any problems since you don't typically wash sugar & flour jars every day. I'll have to check in with her occassionally to see how they're holding up.

Cutting fabric with Cricut

2010-10-26T21:47:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. Quick post here just to show my first attempt at cutting fabric with my Cricut.

This was so easy & it turned out great! I used heat & bond on the back of the fabric, cut it out with a new blade, then ironed it on. Picking the font I wanted to use took the longest. Well, that & waiting on the onesie & fabric to get washed & dried. I definitely see more of these in my future for all those friends of mine who have little ones!

Christmas crafting has begun...

2010-10-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

Last year I really wanted to do some crafting with a nativity silhouette, but couldn't find one I really liked. This year I've come across several, so I couldn't wait to get started. The first one I got from Shell (see my sidebar for her blog). I cut some light brown vinyl & put it on a black plate, then sprayed some glaze stuff over it to seal it so the vinyl wouldn't peel off. The spray gave the plate a shimmery look. I haven't tried washing it yet, but will do that soon to see how it holds up.

Next I cut out some black vinyl of the same silhouette & put it on a tile. I think I'm gonna go back & use the outline as a mask & ink the image so it will be waterproof without me having to seal the tile. If I seal it, the tile won't be absorbent anymore.

Right after I did these fun Christmas crafts Friday night, my friend Lennie came over & we personalized her a travel mug.

I love how it turned out & I hope to hear from her soon how well it stands up to being used since it's not sealed. If it doesn't hold up, we'll redo it & seal it. Thanks for looking!

I {love} chalkboard paint!

2010-10-23T20:47:00.002-05:00

Good evening! I'm not even gonna address the fact that I haven't blogged in a while--sometimes life just happens that way & I know yall understand. On to some new craftiness!

Friday night I went to Hobby Lobby & bought my very first can of spray paint. Chalkboard paint to be more exact. I've heard of people using chalkboard paint & loving it, but I've never used any kind of spray paint & honestly I was a little nervous about my spraying ability.

Turns out all you've gotta do is spray! Ha ha, I know it seems obvious, but I just figured there was somehow I could really screw this up. I sprayed a couple of things Friday night & again Saturday morning. Saturday evening I finished up my flower chalkboard.

On the back I mod podged some red gingham paper & then ran red ribbon through the holes. Here's the front of the finished product.

Super cute huh!? It was really easy & maybe I've gotten over my fear of spray paint. I'm thinking this can of paint is not gonna last me long because I'm ready to chalkboard paint anything I can get my hands on! The only thing stopping me is the prospect of getting some of the new dry erase board paint from the hardware store...

New Cricut cartridge - "Just Because" Cards

2010-09-15T21:03:00.003-05:00

Good evening yall! Or should I say you, because I'm probably down to one visitor since I haven't blogged in so long. I haven't crafted in a while, but I sure have managed to make a mess lately!

I have no room to work because I keep piling stuff on my craft desk. I helped Joey with a school project last night & just added to the mess.

Believe it or not, tonight I made a card. I went to Michael's because they had their Cricut cartridges on sale. I had all intentions of buying Create a Critter, but ended up with "Just Because" Cards instead after much debating between about 5 different cartridges.

This cartridge has all the different pieces you need to make quick, easy, & cute cards, including envelopes. I didn't bother cutting out an envelope though. Hopefully I'll get my desk cleaned very soon so I can make some more cards. Thanks for coming back even though I'm sure you felt desserted. Have a great evening!

Hey yall!

2010-09-02T20:58:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to stop in and say hello. I haven't had anything to blog about lately and I haven't had time to blog. The only reason I'm on my laptop tonight is because I've been working from home. Maybe since we've got a long weekend coming up I can clean off the craft desk and make something awesome. I hope yall are having a great week!

Just a little hello

2010-08-15T21:13:00.001-05:00

I was trying to blog from my phone and it didn't work...oh well. Maybe I'll have time later this week to turn on the laptop and visit with yall!

Just Dance for the Wii

2010-07-31T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. This afternoon the boys and I bought the Wii game Just Dance. Here are the boys playing Eye of the Tiger this evening. We had so much fun, but I'm afraid I'm barely gonna be able to move my arms tomorrow. I know this is a short post, but I hope you enjoy the video!

I miss her

2010-07-25T17:14:00.003-05:00

Hey yall. Sorry I've been way too busy lately and haven't even turned on my laptop in 2 weeks. I don't have any new crafts to show you today, but do have something I just really need to share from my heart. I took a 3 hour nap today. I try to take naps every Saturday and Sunday, but usually they're about 2 hours. Today I kept almost waking up feeling like I couldn't breathe. I woke up more tired than I went to sleep. I was dreaming about how much I miss my Granny. She was the most wonderful woman in the world and was my best friend before I desserted the family in my stupid rebellious years. She was still there for me during that time, but we weren't as close as we should have been. She passed away in 1997 (or 1998, but I'm pretty sure it's 1997). I think about her a lot and I miss her a lot, but today was the first time in years I've sat and cried because I miss her so much. I had a meeting a church today at noon that I really didn't want to go to. On the way to the meeting, I thought about where I would really like to be at that moment if I could choose anywhere and anything. I decided I would love to be taking a nap under a handmade quilt with a box fan blowing away the summer heat. Then I decided the only thing better would be Granny in the next room cooking a special lunch for just the two of us. When I woke up I could go sit and talk with her the whole afternoon. Maybe that's why I have these strong feelings right now, because I thought of missing her before my nap. Maybe it's because I was able to hang out with my 2 favorite girls in the whole world yesterday--Aunt Pat and Ashley. We have things in common--Aunt Pat & I both love chocolate, but Ashley doesn't. Ashley & I both love swimming in the pool, but Aunt Pat doesn't. Aunt Pat & Ashley love hanging outside with goats & horses, but I don't. The biggest thing we all have in common is that our lives were shaped by this special woman. If she could see the 3 of us now, she would be so proud of what we have each overcome and accomplished since she's been gone. She never got to meet Jason or my kids. She never got to meet Ashley's husband Keith. She never got to see James grow up to be an adult. I never learned how to make biscuits like her. These days relationships are so superficial. We show our friends only what we want them to see of ourselves. Granny knew me better than I knew myself. She was there to listen to me when I was afraid to tell my parents something. She was also there to tell me when I was doing something wrong. She also was sure to let me know when I was doing something right. I'm not sure why I am so emotional over her today, but I miss her more than I've ever missed anything in my life. Even now I can barely see the computer screen through the tears. Jason and the kids are gone to the youth swimming fellowship and bible study, so I've got about an hour and a half to recover and get back to life in the present. I know Jason would hold me in his arms and listen to me empty my soul, but it's hard to think he would completely understand since he didn't meet her. He lost his grandmother last year and it hasn't been easy on him, but I still for some reason feel like this is different. I just hope I can use this experience of going through my memories with her to remind me to show those around me how important they are and to give the very best of myself in everything I do, whether it be washing the dishes, listening to one of my kids, or even making spreadsheets at work. So often I don't completely follow through with everything because I get so overwhelmed with my to do list. Instead of halfway doing everything on my list, maybe I'd be better off prioritizing and completing half the items and letting the other items take care of themselves. If you're still reading, I'm glad you stayed til the end and I appreciate this opportunity to share my struggle today. I pray that God will help you in whatever your struggle may be today and in the days ahead. Have a great evening and be sure to show someone they matter.

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! I hope you are enjoying this special holiday today. I wasn't sure if I would have time to get a post on here, so I went ahead and scheduled one with some cards I made last week that I just never got the chance to show you.

Not much explanation for these--they were quick and simple cards using some images I had colored a while back. Sometimes I just want to color and not make a whole card. I was trying to use up all of those extra images I had finished so I could color some new ones. Have a happy 4th of July!

Water Projects

2010-07-03T20:57:00.003-05:00

I'm back to share some of mine and Aunt Pat's water projects for the week. Aunt Pat is working on something else, but she went ahead and sent over a picture of her watering can. This was a pattern from Splitcoast Stampers that she cut out and decorated. Isn't it just so cute! It's hard to appreciate the 3-D aspect of it in a picture.

Next up I have a card I made this afternoon with a beach theme. Yellow and green are not your typical beach colors, but I wanted to pick up these accent colors in the background. I used my new cheapo colored pencils on this image (120 pencils for $20). They don't color as smoothly as Prismacolors, but they still have a nice look to them when finished.

The last picture is the card I made this evening. I decide I wanted to use my Copics a little bit and dug through all my images stamped with Memento ink. This one jumped out at me.

Thanks for checking out our creations! I hope you have plans for a wonderful Independence Day. I'm very excited that my in-laws are coming to visit tomorrow and staying until Monday. I'm sure the boys will be up extra early in the morning asking what time Gramma and Pops will be here. Have a good evening!

PJ's Fun Week 3 - Water

2010-07-03T15:53:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday yall! This week's theme for PJ's Fun is WATER! Keep in mind, these themes are open to your imagination. Water could mean ocean, beach, fishing, waterfalls, anything that water means to you. I'm gonna start out with before and after pictures of our pool, which has been out of commission for about 3 weeks now. Here's the before, as in before 8:30am this morning.

Now for the after--this is what it looked like by lunch time after the pool guys put the new liner in this morning. Of course the water level shown is about 3:30pm this afternoon.

It's looking great! I took a close picture of the side so you could see the liner design. The pool guys will be back on Monday to finish the liner. Once it's full of water, they've gotta cut the holes for the jets or aerators or whatever you call those things.

Since the boys were bouncing off the walls with excitement over the pool this morning, I didn't really have much of a chance to make anything too special. I did have a watercolor ocean sheet that I had done several years ago with my watercolor crayons, so I mounted it to a piece of cardstock just so I would have something to show you.

Not bad, but I plan on using a little more creativity at some point this week. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Final Entries in PJ's Fun Week 2

2010-07-02T16:52:00.004-05:00

Hey yall! So I'm here to show the last 2 entries for PJ's Fun Week 2 - Patriotic/4th of July. First up we have Aunt Pat's entry--a card made with a patriotic House Mouse stamp. The colors don't show up as great in the picture, but you can get the idea.

The next entry is a stars & stripes quilt made by my mom, but I'm having trouble getting the picture to upload. Trust me, it's gorgeous. I was gonna have a winner this week, but it was a 3 way tie. Joey picked one, Anthony picked a second one, and I picked a third one. I wasn't expecting a 3 way tie with 3 entries, but I guess you never know what will happen when you have little guys helping judge! I'm still working on this next week's theme, but will hopefully have something for you in the morning!

Check out Betty's card!

2010-07-01T07:21:00.001-05:00

Hey yall! Just a quick little post here to send you over to check out what Betty's been doing. She played along with PJ's Fun this week--look at how cute!

Be sure and check out her blog and leave some comments about this wonderful card! While you're there, you could play along with her sketch challenge. Have a great day!

You're only young once...

2010-06-30T07:25:00.001-05:00

Hey yall. Today I have a cute little card I made with a stamp set from Inkadinkado that I just had to have months ago but didn't open until this past weekend. I'm really gonna try to stop buying all this stuff I have to have until I sell off some of what I got and start using what I have. Anyway, back to the card, I love this little granny riding the horsie! The sentiment says "You're only young once. You can be immature for a lifetime." I think it's a great card to keep in my collection for those birthdays that just sneak up on you.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out what I've made! If you want to participate in PJ's Fun week 2, go ahead and get your entries in. I'd like to have everything in and posted to my blog by Friday evening. Remember, it doesn't have to be a card, just anything you made with stars, or stripes, or red, white, & blue, or patriotism.

Red, White, & Black

2010-06-29T07:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday everybody! I have to mention the day in the beginning of this post so that when I get through, I can remember what day I want this to show up. I managed to get a lot of cards done this weekend, so I'm trying to get some blog posts scheduled throughout the week in case I get a little too busy. Today's cards were done at completely different times and for completely different reasons, but they both have red, white, and black. The first card is made using the cross from the Cricut Wedding cartridge and some cardstock that's black with a red core. I stress the fact that it's NOT red with a black core. Last year I found some cardstock I just had to have, but I didn't use the first piece until this past Saturday. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and embossed the red wanting to sand through to the black, but all the sanding did no good, so I inked it. I then embossed on the black side and it sanded through to the red just fine. I can't wait to try another color (although knowing me it will be another year).

Next up is a motorcycle birthday card. I got the motorcycle image in a swap on Splitcoast Stampers, so I have no information about it. I used a large Happy Birthday stamp to cover the red background. The black paper has the Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug embossing folder on it. I don't have that folder, but was in an embossed paper swap.

Some days I like my projects better than others, but I've learned if I just keep going, I'll get my creativity back. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Nothing says Happy Father's Day like an outhouse...

2010-06-28T07:28:00.000-05:00

Hey yall. Weird title, huh? I just now made my daddy's Father's Day card and I actually made him an outhouse. Don't worry, I'll explain. My daddy likes outhouses. I can remember as a kid going to auctions with my parents. At one auction, daddy bid on and won a toilet paper holder shaped like an outhouse, complete with a moon cut out in the door. It's still in his bathroom. The other day we were talking about the camp he wants to build one day on his new lake lot. The one detail that stuck out to me was the bathroom door--it's gonna be made of wood strips and will feature a half moon cut out. I was playing around on Denise's Scrapbooking Room the other day and found an SVG file of the outhouse below. I made it into a card instead of just an outhouse. I didn't know how to fill in the star next to the moon, so I just glued that piece back on there.

I think he'll like it. I'm glad I waited to make his Father's Day card. I think this one will be more memorable than any other card I had running through my mind. Have a great Monday!

Card Sketches With Zack's Nana #10

2010-06-27T20:15:00.003-05:00

Good evening yall. When I uploaded my Saturday Cinema card, I checked out another one of the entries for the State Fair challenge. I was particularly intrigued because her entry was not a card, but a slice of cake. Not just any cake either, it was shaped like a slice of watermelon! I was so impressed that I asked her to join my challenge. She said she had challenges on her blog too, and that we should try each other's challenges. Here's Card Sketches With Zack's Nana #10.

This was definitely not an easy sketch for me, but I did my best and here's what I came up with. I probably should have used some patterned paper to liven it up, but I wanted something simple.

Be sure to hop over to her blog and check out what she did with the challenge this week! While you're over there be sure to look at her gorgeous watermelon cake too.

Cineman Saturday #85 - State Fair

2010-06-27T16:08:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday! This weekend I played along with the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. Week #85 was the old movie State Fair, which I have never seen. This challenge also required using pennants in your design, which I thought would be too difficult.

I decided to use more of my new files from MyScrapChick. I converted the jar card into individual jars. The state fair reminds me of all the little competitions. I remember as a kid seeing all the different entries--in addition to livestock, there were all kinds of homemade items, from clothes to canned goods. Here's what popped in my head when I saw the theme.

I made the row of hanging pennants with SCAL2. It wasn't exactly hard, but it was a little time consuming, especially since it didn't end up as uniform as I had hoped. I have no idea what I will use this card for, but I enjoyed making it. Be sure to check out Cinema Saturday and play along!

Fishing & Gardening

2010-06-26T16:29:00.004-05:00

No, I have not been fishing or gardening, but the images on my cards have been! First up I have an image that I think is from Stampin' Bella. I colored her with colored pencils, but didn't blend with OMS because I wanted a different look. I love these colors and the simple layout.
Next up is another digi image from Dustin Pike. You can find his blog on the right sidebar of my blog. I colored this image, then couldn't decide how to make a card with it. I finally went to SplitCoastStampers to play along with the Clean & Simple Challenge this week (#72) and found this layout, which I thought was perfect. Because the image is so large, I started with a larger card base.

One of my favorite details in the layout was the piercing above the top layer that follows around the curve of the image. I used one of those spiky wheel things that comes in sewing kits to get the dots an even distance apart, then went back with a straight pin to make the holes. I got a little crooked in the curve, but I still like the final product.

PJ's Fun Week 2 - Patriotism

2010-06-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

Good morning friends! This week on PJ's Fun our theme is Patriotism. Here our themes are not very strict though, so by patriotism you can make something patriotic or just something with stripes, or stars, or red, white, & blue, or anything else that comes to mind. I made a patriotic card with stripes, stars, & red, white, & blue. I found this image I received in a swap last year and thought now was the perfect time to use it. I colored him with Copics, used my Nestabilities to cut him and his mounting paper out, put Martha Stewart glitter on his fireworks, and used an old Creative Memories mini punch to cut out the stars. Mr. Pig is raised up to give the card some depth.

Friday evening the boys played with some watercolor paints and Joey was quite excited about joining in on this week's challenge. First he painted a flag. When it dried he added some star stickers. Next he painted the United States of America in red, white, & blue. I was pretty impressed with his USA since he did it from memory, not from a picture. He added one small light blue star to the middle of the white part.

I hope you get to play along this week! I've got a couple more ideas of projects to make. I'll be sharing all of your projects throughout the week as I receive them. The deadline to get them in is Friday evening. The new week of fun will start each Saturday morning (hopefully). Have a great Saturday!

House Mouse & Friends Challenge #72 - Something NEW

2010-06-25T19:11:00.002-05:00

Good evening! This week I decided to play along with the House Mouse & Friends Challenge. Week #72 is "Something NEW" which can mean a new baby, new house, new shoes, you name it! I went for the obvious--new baby. The main reason I chose this image is because I've got several images already colored, just looking for a home in some sort of project.

Nothing fancy at all, just a simple little card to say welcome to a new little baby. No specific baby at this point, I'm just trying to build back my stash of cards so I'll be ready for whatever event I need a card for. There are several pregnant women at my church and work, so I probably need to get several more new baby cards ready. Be sure to go check out the other NEW cards on the House Mouse Challenge blog. While you're at it go ahead and make a House Mouse project and attach a link on the challenge blog--you could win a prize!

PJ's Fun Week 1 - Last of the Butterflies

2010-06-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

Hey yall! I've got the last of the submissions for Butterfly week. The first pictures I want to show you are of my Mom's quilt. It's called Butterfly Party.

No, she technically did not make this whole thing this week, but it still counts. Here's a picture of one of the quilt blocks so you can see the detail.

Next up I have another creation by Aunt Pat. She used metallic vinyl and made a butterfly to put on her van. It's the same butterfly she used on her card.

She said it's hard to get a picture of how pretty it is in real life. I'm sure the sun and the flash from the camera make the sparkles shine through more than the real colors.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing all of our butterfly creations this week. I'm really excited that we had such different projects to show you. I'm still throwing around a couple of ideas for this next week's theme. It could be a color, a technique, an item to include, a holiday, anything. Hopefully I have it decided on by tomorrow morning so I can make my project and get it online for yall. Have a great afternoon!

More Butterflies

2010-06-24T19:35:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. I've got more butterflies for you tonight! The first picture I have for you is Aunt Pat's submission for PJ's Fun this week. Isn't it beautiful!

She cut this butterfly with her Cricut and SCAL. It looks like it has a yellow background piece. I'll have to get a copy of this file! I love how detailed the butterfly is. I also love that she used my favorite color purple and her favorite color yellow.

Next I've got a finished picture of the box I posted this morning. As I said earlier, Blogger was taking so long to upload my pictures last night that I started decorating the box. The colors are really fall looking, but I am please with how this turned out. I've got a couple more ideas of things to cut out of the center.

The week is winding down so if you have a butterfly project you want me to feature here, just let me know! Have a great evening and I'll see you here tomorrow.

Butterfly Box

2010-06-24T07:06:00.000-05:00

Howdy friends. I went to Hobby Lobby Tuesday evening and bought a 12 x 24 mat and a package of 12 x 24 paper so I could make a bigger box. After the kiddos went to bed Wednesday night I tried out some of my new skills I acquired Tuesday night from watching the SCAL2 tutorial videos on the Craft Edge website. Here's what I came up with.

I made the same box as before, only this time I made it WAY bigger and I cut out a butterfly from the front panel. It's the perfect size to put A2 cards & envelopes in.

I should probably mention that the box no longer looks like this though. Blogger was taking too long to upload my pictures so I found some matching ribbon and adhered it around the top edge of the box top. I want to decorate it a little more, I'm just not sure what I want to do yet. This was my first time to use the larger mat and larger paper. Either the mat is less sticky or the paper doesn't stick as well. Whatever the case, it was a pleasant surprise. Usually the first several things I cut on a new mat are warped by the time I get them off the mat because it's too sticky.

Here are a few pictures of my boys from Tuesday evening. Jason and I had a quiet dinner. Joey was reading a book.

Anthony fell asleep about 4:30pm, which is kinda late for a nap. He had trouble waking up, so on his way to the dinner table, he laid down on the floor and went back to sleep. He was not very happy that I took pictures of him.

I've gotta play with my new box a little more. I hope some of you crafters are working on butterfly projects! I'd like to review all the projects Thursday evening so I can start the next week of PJ's Fun on Friday.

My Scrap Chick Jar Card

2010-06-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

Here I am, back with another shaped card! This one has a lot of potential. I just made a plain jar, but you could make it look like it was filled with all kinds of things.

I added a little blue chalk on the left and bottom to give it depth. Again, this was kind of done in the example picture, so they really have taken the time to give you everything you need to use the files. The example showed a jar with the fabric on it and one without it. They both looked great, but I like the fabric skirt around the top. I hope you enjoyed looking at all my new SCAL/Cricut projects. I'll be back soon to round up all the PJ's Fun Week 1 entries and the winner!

My Scrap Chick Rubber Duckie Card

2010-06-23T08:11:00.000-05:00

This is a quick post, but I wanted to share another card I bought in the Shaped Cards 2 collection from http://www.myscrapchick.com/. I love cute little rubber ducks and this one is just adorable!

I mounted his wing on pop dots to give it a little depth. I drew on an eye and put some pink chalk for blush. Each file comes with an instruction sheet that shows an example, so I just made the eye and blush look like the picture. I could definitely see making lots of these for baby showers, either for the invitations, a card to go with a present, or even as a set of thank you notes for the mom-to-be. Thanks for looking!

More MyScrapChick.com SCAL Templates

2010-06-22T07:56:00.001-05:00

Good morning! Monday evening I had a blast playing with more SCAL templates from http://www.myscrapchick.com/. I made a box and 6 cards (2 each of 3 designs). They are so simple that it took me no time to do all 7 projects! I spent the most time picking out which paper to use, which is so typical of me. By the way, they've got a sale going right now, so head on over! Today I'm gonna show you the box and one of the cards.

The box is from the 30 more boxes collection. I made the wide box with scalloped lid, but there are 29 other boxes included, plus cards, plus window frames! Now that I think about it, I guess I could have put a window frame in my box...I'll have to try that next time. The box was super easy to make since all the cuts were done with the Cricut. The largest I could make the box with a 12 x 12 mat is 3.75in wide by 4.25in tall by 1.5in deep (approximately). I want to go by a 12x24 mat so I can make a box big enough to put cards in.

The next svg file I tried is from the Shaped Cards 2 collection. I made a cup of coffee. It's joined at the bottom, so I had to hold it so you could see the closed version. My teacup kept wanting to spill open. I'm thinking about putting a little tea bag in there with the string and tag sticking out--wouldn't that be cute!

I hope you like what you've seen today. Be sure to take advantage of the sale, not that the prices are that high normally. I just can't seem to pass up 60% off, especially when the minimum to buy is only $5. I would have had enough even if the minimum was $25, but I might not have considered shopping the sale without the low minimum. Enough babbling, I'll be back tomorrow with another shaped card!

SCAL Butterfly - MyScrapChick.com

2010-06-21T07:09:00.000-05:00

Hey yall. Another butterfly card! I have really missed making cards these last several months and have been enjoying my craft desk the last few days. This card was made using a $1 download from myscrapchick.com - a 3-D layered butterfly.

Isn't it beautiful! To make it easier I used double sided paper. After I cut it I looked at it with each side being on the front to see which I liked better. Here are a couple of pictures of the depth this butterfly has.

This card was so easy to make, but I love how beautiful it is. My Scrap Chick is having a sale for the next few days--spend at least $5 and get 60% off! I also bought the tool set, some 3-D cards, and a set of awesome boxes. You can sign up for their newsletter and get FREE weekly files, so even if you don't order anything now, go sign up for the free newsletter. I would say tell 'em I sent you, but they have no idea who I am since this was my first purchase. Let me know if you make something cool from one of their files!

Another Butterfly Card

2010-06-20T15:44:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon! I seem to be addicted to butterflies now that Aunt Pat has suggested them as our first theme. I have some of Dustin Pike's digi images that I bought back in April and this one with Toby and Buster catching butterflies just seemed perfect! Then I remembered the little butterfly brads I just had to have several months ago.

I love how this turned out. Some days my coloring skills look like those of a 5 year old, but this one seems better than usual. Have you made anything with butterflies yet??? I've got more stuff in mind, so stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T07:54:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day! The boys and I made a card for Jason last night with some SVG files I bought from My Scrap Chick. I let Joey pick which of the 4 tools he wanted and he chose the hammer and the screwdriver.

Jason's getting the new iPhone for Father's Day, but it may be a little while until he gets it since we didn't preorder it. Here are a few pictures of Jason with the boys.

More Butterflies for PJ's Fun Week 1

2010-06-19T08:22:00.002-05:00

Good morning! I've got a few more butterfly creations to share with you today. The first is another card I made using the same Penny Black stamp from yesterday, but stamped in purple. I also colored this with Prismacolor pencils instead of my Copic markers.

I don't like this one as much as the first one, but that's ok. The next butterfly creation I have for you is one made by my cousin Ashley. She doesn't make cards, but she does love to craft. She made butterfly hairbows.

Aren't they just the cutest! I'll have to have a ladybug week later so I can feature her adorable ladybug bow. I'm so excited to have such a unique weekly challenge that any crafter can play along with. I can't wait to see what else yall make!

PJ's Fun - Week 1

2010-06-18T18:03:00.003-05:00

Hey yall! How do you like today's blog post title? I just made it up. Aunt Pat (P) & me (J) are starting a new weekly challenge and I decided to make it extra official by giving it a catchy name. Lately Aunt Pat has bought me some awesome pajamas (or you could call them PJ's!) so I thought the title was perfect. This week's crafty challenge is to make something with butterflies. Here's what I made.

I love this Penny Black image of a cat playing with some butterflies. Sadly, I've had the set for at least a year and this was the first time I even opened the package. Here are the rules of playing along--make something with butterflies! That's it--it doesn't even have to be a card. It can be a card, scrapbook page, quilt square, wall hanging, painting, whatever you want, just include a butterfly. Leave a comment that includes a link to your creation or you can email a picture to me. My email is jenniferDOTroubiqueATyahooDOTcom if you choose to play that way. I will feature all submissions on my blog and the winner (mine & Aunt Pat's choice) will get a little prize. I'm not sure what it will be since I just made that part up, but it will be something fun and exciting! I can't wait to see what you make! By the way, I'll have Aunt Pat's featured item up in a few days. Have a great evening.

We Are the Champions!!! (Not Really)

2010-06-17T21:44:00.002-05:00

Good evening strangers! Sorry, I've just been busy. I'll make up for my long absence with some pictures of my adorable little tball player. The title is "We Are the Champions!!! (Not Really) because the boys were so excited about getting their trophies that they didn't care about getting knocked out of the bracket. We made it to the top 4 in the winner's bracket of 15 teams, so I'm thrilled with how great they did.

We played last Saturday at 12 noon and Sunday at 1:45pm. We lost out Monday at the 5:45pm game. As you can see from all the sweat in the picture below, it was HOT!

Anthony paid such good attention during huddle time. His face was so red from the heat. If you didn't get to make it to one of his games, you missed a real treat. The game Uncle John went to Anthony tried running to 3rd base instead of 1st, but he still made it.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! My next post will actually feature a card I made! Aunt Pat and I are going to start doing weekly card challenges. She chose a butterfly to be the theme this week. If she doesn't decide to get her own blog (and even if she does) I'm going to feature my card and her card each week. Feel free to play along all you crafty people! By the way, Uncle John, you're my favorite too :)

Beach Family Pictures

2010-06-08T21:00:00.001-05:00

Hey yall. I played on http://www.picnik.com/ with a few of our beach pictures this evening and wanted to share them with you. Have a great evening!

Baby Onsie

2010-06-05T21:41:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. Just wanted to share a few pictures of my most recent craft. A few weeks ago I personalized a baby onsie for my friend Jodie's baby shower gift. She will be having a sweet little girl named Ella in the next few weeks.

I just love how cute this is! It was so easy too. I just cut the iron on vinyl with my Cricut and SCAL, then ironed it on.

I'm thinking I need to pick up more onsies to make for more gifts in the future. There are several ladies at church who are expecting right now and I think these little onsies would be a wonderful one of a kind gift.

Crab Hunting

2010-05-27T08:55:00.002-05:00

I intended to share more pictures with yall, but to be honest I'm just having too much fun to sit down in front of the computer. I did want to share pictures of us crab hunting the other night. I've never been crab hunting on the beach at night before and it was so much more fun than I expected!

We managed to catch 3 crabs with a whole lot of screaming from me and the boys. Joey was screaming because he was scared, Anthony was screaming because he was having so much fun, and I was screaming from a combination of the 2. I really was scared one of those crabs were gonna get me. They are fast!

We turned our crabs loose in the ocean. Russell & Trent turned their 2 loose in the sand for a crab race, but they weren't in a hurry to leave. They caught a huge crab.

Yes, that's my kid touching that crab like he doesn't have a lick of sense. Joey was standing on a chair crying because he was so scared of them. I didn't think it was nice to share that picture, but I can assure you I have a picture of it.

It really was some of the most fun I've had. It obviously wore the boys out. They've been getting up by 7am every morning, but the morning after crab hunting Anthony slept until 8:30 and I had to wake Joey up at 9:45. It's after 9am right now and they're still asleep. Hopefully they'll remember how to sleep late when we get home.

Saturday at the Beach

2010-05-22T22:09:00.004-05:00

Hello from Orange Beach, Alabama! We're having a great time on our beach vacation. Joey has a heat rash on his legs and I'm burnt already, but I guess that's all just part of going to the beach. Last night we went to Tacky Jack's Tavern, which has a live band on the weekends. The boys had a good time dancing in front of the band and the other people who could see them had a great time watching them. The food was so delicious that we're considering stopping by again this week. Tonight we went to Sea N Suds in Gulf Shores, which was also pretty good. I'm worn out and ready for bed, so I'm gonna leave yall with a few pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Mike & Gina's wedding

2010-05-17T18:59:00.003-05:00

As promised, here are a few pictures from Mike and Gina's wedding. First up we have the bride and groom.

Next we have the very handsome Joey, who really loves wearing his new shirt and tie.

Anthony is just as handsome, but he does not enjoy the shirt and tie as much. More proof that he is just like his daddy.

Finally, here I am with Jason. Another handsome man who didn't enjoy the suit and tie or the jacket he had to wear during the wedding.

We had a great time and enjoyed getting to spend the special day with Mike and Gina.

I love books!

2010-05-16T16:14:00.003-05:00

Hey yall. It's been a busy weekend and I'm worn out. I wouldn't trade any bit of it though. Well, maybe all the driving. And forgetting my dress for the rehearsal dinner and having to give a toast in jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. But other than that, it was a great weekend. I'll share more details and pictures later. I just wanted to share a few great books I've read recently.

I'll start with Ted Dekker's Circle trilogy. This is a sci-fi thriller series, which normally doesn't appeal to me, but I have really enjoyed the first 2 books, Black & Red, and can hardly wait until White gets delivered sometime next week. Ted Dekker is a Christian author and while these books are fast paced and full of action, they also point to Christ by presenting a parallel figure in "Other Earth." I don't want to give anything away so I'm going to stop with the details here, but I strongly recommend this series to anyone looking for something new to read. I will warn that these books are hard to put down. I know I called it a trilogy, but there's actually been a 4th book released, Green, which completes the circle. Again, without giving too much away, from what I've read online the 4th book finishes up the series, but also leads into the 1st book. I know it sounds confusing, but once you read the first book or 2 you'll see what I mean.

This past weekend I read the newest Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family. Definitely the other end of the spectrum from Ted Dekker since Charlaine Harris is far from a Christian author, but I have enjoyed this series too. Now don't get me wrong--I'm not saying the author is not a Christian, I just know this series is not Christian fiction. Reading this most current book in the series, which just came out a week or two ago, really left me wanting to keep reading. I'm always in awe of how authors can take a story and go with it for so many books without it seeming overdone. Sookie has been a long way, but she still has a ways to go in her character and plot development. The stage has been set for at least one more book.

This weekend I also read Some Like It Hot-Buttered in Jeff Cohen's double feature series, which consists of 3 books. Jeff is quite the humorist, and also my facebook friend. He spins a good mystery while including lots of humor. I don't really know how to describe the type of funny he is, but it's definitely not your average comedy/mystery. I've got the other 2 books in this series, so I'm interested to see how his main character, Elliott Freed, develops. I'm pretty sure I've spelled the name wrong, but I can't remember if it's Eliot, Elliot, Eliott, or Elliott. In the first book, Mr. Freed buys an old movie house and turns it into a one of a kind all comedy theatre. They have one movie screen and each week they have a two for one special--an old comedy along with a new release. The movie theatre, called Comedy Tonight, sounds like a wonderful place.

Okay, it's back to reality now. Jason's home with the groceries and I need to finish getting ready before we go to the boys' AWANA awards presentation at church tonight. I hope to be back soon with some other book suggestions since I've got a pile of them ready to read. Have a good evening!

More Mother's Day Pictures

2010-05-12T16:28:00.002-05:00

Hey yall. This week has been quite a whirlwind, so I haven't had much of a chance to blog. I wanted to share a few more pictures from Mother's Day weekend. First up is me with my mom. I think this is a very pretty picture of her.

Next we have me and Aunt Pat. She is my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I have to talk to her every day or we both go into withdrawals. We don't talk about anything in particular, but that doesn't matter.

I wanted to take a Mother's Day picture with my 2 handsome little boys, but Anthony refused. Joey was more than happy to pose with me. He is the more affectionate of the 2, but I know Anthony loves his momma too.

I hope yall had a wonderful Mother's Day and are having a wonderful week. We're going to Memphis this weekend to Mike & Gina's wedding, then staying with Ashley & Keith on the way home, so it may be a few days before I'm back online. Don't miss me too much!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-08T21:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope everyone takes the time today to let those special ladies in your life know how much they mean to you. This means not only your mother, but other women who have shaped your life. Saturday I spent the day with my mother-in-law, Margaret. She's the best mother-in-law a girl could ever hope for.

I am very blessed to have someone like her. Friday night Joey and I worked on Mother's Day cards for Margaret and for my mom. Hopefully I'll get to see my mom today and get a picture with her. Here's the card I made for each of them with Joey in the background.

I used my Mother's Day cricut cartridge to design the outside. Joey used his newly learned cursive handwriting to design the inside. We're a great team. The boys showered me with gifts and hugs Saturday evening. Mother's Day is so much fun!

Meet Keith

2010-05-08T15:12:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday yall! The other day when I did the special Meet Ashley post, I mentioned that she was married to Keith. Today is a special Meet Keith post. I chose today to feature him because today's he's graduating from Ole Miss in engineering. Congrats Keith!

Aren't they just the cutest? I'm so excited that we get to stay with them after my brother Mike's wedding next Saturday. I hope yall are enjoying getting to meet some of my family. At some point this weekend I need to share with you the Mother's Day cards Joey and I made. Until then, yall have a great weekend!

Joke time with Joey

2010-05-06T19:04:00.000-05:00

This evening will feature jokes from Joey.

What state did Noah live in?
ARK-ansas!

Why did the vampire miss the ballgame?
He couldn't find his BATS!

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Water.
Water who?
Water you doing in my house?

Joey is always full of jokes, but seems to have gone blank for the night. We'll share some more another time. Have a good evening!

It's a Wacky Wednesday!

2010-05-05T18:51:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why it's a wacky Wednesday, but since I don't have a subject matter in mind yet I figured I could at least start with a catcy title. This week is turning out to be a busy one at our house. It's the busiest week of the month at work for me, we have t-ball games Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and Anthony has a field trip to the zoo on Thursday. We're also debating on what we should do about our beach vacation planned for May 21-28. The condo we're planning on staying at contacted Jason and said due to the oil spill we could get a full refund if we wanted to cancel. I'm thinking if the condo is offering a full refund, the oil spill must be pretty bad. Anthony currently asks several times a day every day if we're going to the beach now. He's so ready to play in the sand. Maybe we can just take him to the beach at Caney Lake to get his sand castle fix. Last year we went to Disney World, so it's been a little while since we've been to the beach. This year the boys are old enough that I should be able to relax at the beach a little bit. I'm not sure what we'll do if the beach doesn't work out. We already have several other plans for May. My brother Mike and his fiance Gina are getting married in Memphis on May 15. Then Jason's cousin Hilary is getting married on May 28. We're planning on driving straight from the beach (if we go) to Jason's parents' house to get ready for the wedding. Have I bored you enough with the details of my life? Yeah, I figured so. By the way, I ordered a photo book from Snapfish this past Sunday. I just don't have the time to scrapbook here lately and I didn't want to get too far behind. I felt like I was cheating on my scrapbooking supplies by going digital, but I still have plenty of pictures printed out that I need to scrapbook. I did enjoy letting Joey help me. He designed a few of the pages all by himself--background, pictures, placement, title, everything! Maybe I'll let him make his own books someday. Those would be great for grandparents' gifts for Christmas. That's really about enough for this evening. I hope yall are having a wonderful week!

Meet Ashley, Part 2

2010-05-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome back for another edition of Meet Ashley! I've got a few more pieces of her artwork to show yall. I really love this personalized one.

The one below was custom made for one of my favorite people--Aunt Pat! Her favorite color is yellow and I think Ashley asked her for her favorite Bible verse.

Isn't she just the best? I wish we lived closer so we could craft together. She and Keith live in Mississippi. She's in nursing school and Keith will graduate with his engineering degree in a few short days. That reminds me--Keith's parents' house was destroyed by a tornado this past Saturday, May 1. The tornado also damaged 3 of their vehicles. There were some family memebers in the house at the time, but thank God no one was hurt. Please keep them in your prayers. I can't imagine the trauma of being in my house when a tornado hit it, but even worse is the aftermath and trying to move on. One of the wonderful things about going to church is having a church family always willing to help. Have a great evening!

Meet Ashley

2010-05-03T18:40:00.002-05:00

My sweet little cousin Ashley has been my biggest blog fan lately (and critic for not posting) so I thought I'd introduce her to yall. Ashley is the sweetest little country girl you will ever meet. Here she is with one of her latest catches.

Sorry guys, but she's taken. I love Keith almost as much as I love her. It seems that a love for crafting runs in the family. A few weeks ago, Ashley asked me what I thought about this.

Gorgeous! She definitely has talent. Her work started out wonderful but has just kept getting better with each project. Here's the second one she made.

I have no idea how she makes these, but plan on hearing all about it next time I get to see her. I've got a few more examples of her work that I will be sharing with yall tomorrow. Ashley has named her little crafty business "Signs from God" and already found somewhere to sell them. I'm so very proud of her. Feel free to leave some feedback--I'll pass it along to her.

Baby Jax

2010-04-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

We had a very special visitor Monday evening while Anthony was at tball practice. Christy and baby Jax came by! Jax is 7 weeks old, but was born 8 weeks early, so he won't even be at his due date until next week. He's such a sweetie! He's up to 9 pounds now.

Joey begged and begged to hold him. I love this picture of them together. Jax had a checkup yesterday and is doing great. The doctor visit must have worn him out, though, because he slept all evening. I'm sure he'll be running after big brother Trent in no time!

It's swimming season!

2010-04-20T17:32:00.002-05:00

Swimming season started at the Roubique house last week. Last Thursday Jason and the boys got in the pool for the first time this year. Here's Anthony easing in.

Joey's response to the cold water was a little more animated than Anthony's. They said it wasn't as cold as they thought it would be.

Here's Joey hanging out in the pool. Last Sunday at the skating rink another kid skated into him on accident, causing him to fall and hit his cheek on the floor. He's had a bruise for almost 2 weeks now.

Anthony wanted his Daddy to carry him around the pool, but it didn't take him long to realize that this year he is tall enough to stand in the shallow end all by himself!

They swam on Thursday and Friday, then a cold front came through Saturday night, so they're back to begging every day to swim while we tell them it's too cold. It's still gonna be a few more weeks before the water is warm enough for me.