just have to show you

Remember two days ago when I showed you what my backyard garden looked like? Well, after 3 trips to the rock quarry, a trip to the nursery, and some hard work...here is what it looks like now. Don't ya just love it? I think it looks great and it is so nice to have something back there other than dead grass...lol! Now if the wind would die down and the temperature would come up the roses would be loving it!

When I went to the church last night I checked my box and what did I find? This WONDERFUL bookmark. Oh, my goodness I love it! Whoever made it for me (and there was no identification) knows me well because that flower on the front is my favorite flower...Lily of the Valley. On the bottom it has the flower and says thinking of you, my name is on the right side (I love it when I get things with my name on them! Weird, right?) and on the back it says "Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things." That is just so sweet and makes me feel so loved! I have a clue of who might have made it for me so I must check with her today but I had to show you guys right away!

Tomorrow, I'm going to show you guys what I do with my Nestabilities after I receive them. I don't like the clam shell that they come in so I've copied someone on a blog (can't remember who at this point) and put them into a more friendly for Lorie container.

Today I must work on my recipe swap for Courtney. I got all the recipes printed out last night. Now I must figure out a layout and get them done as they are due in her hands on the 5th....YIKES!!! I'm such a slacker this time!

And, two last little updates. Kyler goes next week to finish up his root canals. His teeth have done a great job of accepting the stuff they put in them to get them to seal up so...final stage is next week on Wednesday. He is excited to be done with it but apprehensive about the shots. I know he'll do just fine! Also, an update on my grandpa. He went home I think on Monday. I haven't talked to him since then because I'm sure he was inundated with visitors and such yesterday so I'll be calling today to see how he is doing. Thanks so much for your support and prayers with both of these matters!

***Edited to tell you that SU! has extended the Occasions mini catalog to be effective until June 30th! So, if there is anything you were wanting...you still have time! Also, coming May 1st spend $35 with SU! and get any On Board chipboard item on pages 178/179 for 25% off. Pretty cool, huh?***

So, there it is...a book, when I didn't even think I had enough to show/tell you for a small post. Just goes to prove I CAN talk a lot, huh? LOL! I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll see ya tomorrow!

sketch for you to try card

I had another occasion to make a sympathy card yesterday. One of my Children's Church volunteers mother-in-law died last Friday. I had a committee meeting last night and thought it appropriate for the members of the Christian Ed committee sign it. The card itself turned out very pink which was not my intention but it did and I still like it. The paper is from Basic Grey's new Sugar paper pad. I used watercolor crayons for the flowers and just scalloped the main portion of the paper. The stamp set is from SU! and is called As Close As A Memory. I often fall back on this set for sympathy cards as it has a great sentiment for the inside of the card. The layout of the card is from Jen's Sketch For You To Try this last Saturday.

Oh, and I wanted to tell you guys that I won THREE blog candies recently! I won a fun blog candy from Lori Barnett a week or two ago (and my car now smells great and not so new anymore!) and then just on Sunday I won THIS from Inky Paws (Jeanne) and yesterday I found out I won THIS from Card of the Week (Susanna). Holy cow, girls! I am SO blessed! Remind me not to ever complain about not winning anything, k?

Today is Tuesday and it is supposed to rain and be windy and cool here today...blah! That is okay though as I do have several things to do inside. I hope you all have a fantastic day planned today and that you make it the best Tuesday possible!

creative in a different way

Okay, there is something you need to know about me. Being creative in any way, shape or form does not come naturally. It is all learned either by other people, magazines, and TV.

Our back yard has pretty much been plain and boring since we moved in. I finally decided last year that we really needed to do something about that so we put in the garden area that you see on the right. Then, it sat there over the winter. This last week I decided, since roses do really well in my yard, that I wanted to make the back garden a rose garden. So, on Saturday Todd and the boys put some new top soil in and got it all smoothed out. Yesterday, Todd and I went to Bi-Mart (a small...very small Costco kind of place...sorta) and bought 11 rose plants and one Hosta plant (a couple were for the front too). I have since been told that the Hosta won't do well where I put it BUT...I'll try it anyway. So, my creativity was used up on planting those rose plants and then discussing exactly what we could do about that stupid grass that you see. Doesn't seem to matter what we do with it...it is just looking dead. I think we are going to have to re-seed.

Today, we go and buy our tree. It is going to be a flowering plum tree. No fruit just pretty leaves and flowers. Hopefully it will survive the summer (have to water it lots). Well, we also will be thatching the yard today too.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Make today a wonderful Monday!

has the tooth fairy come?

Although my kids are grown now I have great memories of when they lost their teeth and would wait for the tooth fairy to come. While I did a great job of making sure she came when my oldest two were little the tooth fairy was a little more forgetful when it came to Kyler loosing teeth. Here is something that would have totally made it so much easier! I made this tin for my friends little boy who is in 1st grade and has (or had...he may have lost it already) his first loose tooth. Isn't it cute? Inside will be some cotton on the bottom for the tooth/money to lay and then I think I'm going to try and put a small piece of lined paper on the inside top of the tin so that the dates of when the tooth was lost can be written down and, hopefully, never forgotten.

So, anyway, I used Melanie Muenchinger's What's in your tin? 1 to stamp the top part of this tin. The paper is from DCWV and the ribbon is from a ribbon share I was part of quite awhile back. There are several fun "sentiments" in both What's in your tin? 1 and What's in your tin? 2. As a matter of fact set 2 has a stamp that says "Survival Kit. In Case of Emergency Open Me." I'm going to use that to make a get well tin for my grandpa. I found a great website that lists lots of "survival kits" that you can make by just adding a couple of things from the list and then typing out the meaning of each item, packaging in a fun way, and then giving to the bride, mom-to-be, skier, chef, get well, etc, etc, etc...I told you there were lots of them! I may find something to make for my grandpa's wife to as I'm sure this whole ordeal is taking quite a toll on her too.

Well, I hope you all have a great Sunday! It is supposed to be cloudy here today BUT up to 70 degrees and virtually no wind so it will be a GREAT day! After church and Todd getting up we plan on going and getting 13 rose plants and planting them in our new rose garden. I'm so excited! Have a great day!

june kits are up!

3 Little DReaMs has their June Bella (Bikeahbababella) and Sweet & Sassy (Owl Occasions) kits up for purchase! Click--->HERE<---to see them! Tell Katie I sent you if you decide to order a kit!

may day is in 5 days

When I lived in Wisconsin the florist I worked with always made the cutest little baskets for May Day each year. I'd go in a buy several of them to hand out to friends and family. Well, they just don't do that here so I have give up on giving pre-made baskets out. Okay, honestly, I had given up on giving anything out until...I saw THIS. I was thinking about doing something like this anyway so when Lauren had her version of a seed packet in a tutorial I thought Hot Diggity Dog! This is be easy! And it was...after the first couple of cuts for placing the circle and such. I know Lauren's are much prettier than mine but I do really like my final effort! Anyway, here are my two tries...

Okay, so this one above was my third try with cutting the circle the correct size and in the correct place. I also didn't do any additional stamping so it look a bit boring especially with the sentiment in the same color as the card stock. While I liked this I knew I could do better and went on to create the seed packet below.

Same general layout and colors only this time I used the flower from the newly released PTI set called Garden of Life. I also used my Espresso Adirondack ink pad for the sentiment (I do need to find a brown Palette ink pad though). For this particular seed packet I really like the Summer Sunrise card stock which is one of PTI's new releases this month. Oh, have I ever told you how much I LOVE their card stock? I have? Okay, just checking 'cuz it is the best card stock around! I don't know if you can see it or not but I did emboss the scallop circle on this seed packet as well. I really like the professional look that it gives it.

If you don't visit Lauren's blog on a regular basis...I'm gonna suggest that you do as I am often awed by her work and how incredibly nice she is.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my CASEing for today. I hope that the seed packets make everyone happy! Have a great Saturday everyone!

can you dig it?

Here is another card that I made with one of my new MFT's stamp sets. It is called Can You Dig It and, as usual, I love the set! Actually, I was attracted to the set the moment I saw it but didn't realize how difficult it would be for me to stamp with it. One of the first things I did after getting this set was to make a mask of the gardener girl. I knew I would want to put grass and sky behind her so a mask was a necessity. You must know that this is my first try at a "scene" type of card. I'm definitely going to try it again as I really like this set and can see myself doing lots of things with it. I just need to not be afraid of it...LOL! All the paper is from PTI and most of the ink too. PTI hasn't come out with a list of COPICS that match their ink colors yet so I just took a small paint brush, smooshed the top of the Palette Ink pad for some color and painted the flowers with the two colors. I added a little Liquid Pearls in the middle and that was that. Oh, and I messed up on the water can and accidentally cut off the handle...oops! So, whatcha think? I did make one other project yesterday but it isn't up to snuff enough yet to post it on the blog but hopefully tomorrow!

This week has just FLOWN by...I can't believe it is Friday already! I hope you all have had a great week and that you gets lots done this weekend!

the other card kit card

Remember THIS post and then THIS post? Well, here is the second and final card that I made with the paper and embellishments from Janel. I didn't have a very large piece of the designer paper left so I wasn't sure what to do. I decided there is nothing wrong with a simple card so I grabbed a Bella image, added the brads that I had left from the kit, then stamped the "special thanks" sentiment (from MFT). I liked it that way but wanted to use the ribbon too so I just tied it around the card with the knot above the sentiment and I was all set to go! Yay! Now I must say that I really like this card. Simple but sweet I think.

I have a couple of things to share with you today. First, raise your hand if you like to bake...I'll wait a sec for you to get your hands back to the keyboard...okay...ready? Well, Donna over at Spatulas, Corkscrews, & Suitcases is giving away the latest Martha Stewart cookie cookbook. I'm sorry but it looks so great that I just had to tell you all about it! What are you waiting for? Go check it out! But...make sure you come back here for the next link. All you swappers are going to love it!

I saw on another blog (can't remember whose now) a link to an SCS thread where you can download a Dynamic Cutting Calculator. Oookkkaaayyy...what the heck is that I was thinking. Well, it is the coolest Excel spreadsheet that helps you figure out how much of each cardstock you are going to need whilst making your cards! All you have to do is enter the measurements of each piece of cardstock, the number of that size of piece that you need to have and waalah...it will tell you how many sheets of cardstock you need to complete your project! It is SO cool! HERE is the SCS thread. Like I said before I think this will be an invaluable tool for those people that like to make cards or the like for swaps. HERE is the creator, Julie's, gallery. Now, go check out that calculator...I know you'll like it! ***Shoot...Dani is right, it is in the Demo only area. Soooo...if you would like me to send the Excel document to you please let me know!***

The weird weather in my region continues today as it is in the forecast to snow this morning. Ummm...it is April 24th! I'm am just ready to go outside without a coat on at this point! LOL!

I wish you all a Thoughtful Thursday...take a moment to do something nice for someone today.

bundles of bouquets

So, yah...remember those My Favorite Things sets from the other day? Yep, I got to stamp with one of them yesterday! I used the most beautiful Bundles of Bouquets set. This card uses some really fun things. First, I used some of my new Basic Grey ice cream parlor paper. Isn't it just elegant in this application? Then I used my new rectangle Nestabilities...both a straight and scallop cut. Oh, and even though you can't see it I did emboss the white rectangle too. LOVE them! The final thing that I'm thrilled about is that the base card is made with some light blue Bazzil paper that I got on clearance some time ago. I just LOVE how it all goes together so well! Last night was Bible study but in the afternoon I got a call from one of the participants that her mother wasn't doing well (ongoing health issues) and that her mom will die very soon. So, I made this card, took it with to study and everyone signed it. This is going to be such a hard time for her so I hope that this card brings her some comfort.

I am so pleased this morning because my neck feels SO much better. Still a little pain when I turn it one way but I can live with it! Woohoo! Thank you so much for your words of comfort yesterday! I so appreciate it! As of late morning yesterday my grandfather was doing a little better. The fever was able to be controlled by medicine and there is no pneumonia so those are both good things. I'm hoping to get a call again this morning to let me know what is going on today as well. Thank you for letting me tell you all about it and for praying for my grandpa. It is good to know that so many people are praying and thinking of him!

Yeah, so I accidentally erased my signature and I have no idea where to find it so you'll be fish-less today! LOL! I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

an angel and a bella

Sorry for my absence for a day. I've been having a problem with my neck and I decided just to put everything aside for an entire day and relax. I feel a little better today so *fingers crossed* it is getting better. Anyway, remember the card kit my friend Janel gave me with my RAK the other day? Well...I got a chance to sit down and make a card with it last night. You can see them both below.

Above is the super cute card that Janel made with the If The Halo Fits set. Is this not simply adorable? She has totally made me want that set and I'm currently on a search to find someone to trade for it. I'm such a stamp addict!

And, here is my card with her card kit. The finished card actually looks a little different because I used two of the green flower brads on the left corners of the designer paper. I am just being lazy and have not re-taken the picture but I think you get the idea. I also have another layout for a card with the rest of the kit that I'm thinking of doing so stay tuned!

I got a phone call from my grandpa's wife last night that my grandfather is not doing as well as he was previously. It seems that he has a fever and has stopped eating. I know that lots of things can cause these symptoms and he is in a hospital where you can pick up all sorts of things (right Courtney? how are you guys feeling today?). Please continue praying for him.

my favorite things

My Favorite Things had a sale not to long ago that I took advantage of and here are the fun sets that I got. Bundles of Bouquets, Can 'Ya Dig It, It's A Jungle Out There, and Meet Me At The Cafe. Aren't they cute? I don't have many MFT sets so this should do me for awhile.

I didn't get the chance to do any stamping yesterday but today I plan on sitting down to get some done today. My area of the US is getting strange weather just like everyone else's. It seems that we are going to be in the 40's with rain and snow for the next couple of days. The pass to Seattle was to get up to 2 MORE feet of snow which is on top of the 130" it was showing on February 1st. Crazy stuff going on! I'm honestly not so sure about that global warming stuff! LOL!

So...you guys enjoy your Sunday and I'll see you tomorrow!

random act of kindness

I find life to be very interesting sometimes. You know how I challenge you guys to go out and do something nice for someone? Well, yesterday my friend Janel stopped at my house out of the blue and dropped off a stamp that she had borrowed from me. In addition to the stamp was the wonderful RAK that you see in the pictures below. I was so surprised and pleased that she thought of me...she made me smile and be happy all day! Now the interesting part is that the Janel that RAK'd me is the Janel that won the May 3 Little DReaMs kit! It was funny because what I did was type up everyone's name on a word document, printed it out, had Jon pick a number and then counted from the top down to determine the winner. When I landed on Janel's name...I counted again and it was her again. So, one more time and indeed Janel was the winner. How is that for "when you do good for others it comes back to you"? So anyway, I want to share her RAK with you because it is just so neat!

Janel's RAK came with a bucket that had tissue paper in it and a couple of envelopes taped to the handle. Pretty cool presentation I think! There is some yummy candy hiding in that tissue paper but the best part is...I've been looking for something to put all the loose Prima flowers in that I have and this will be perfect! I will use some rub-ons on it and it will be all set to go! Yay!

Crud! I just realized I didn't get a good picture of the really cute card she made for me. I will take it though when I make my card with the neato card kit that she also had for me! I love this idea! I already have a little thought in my head for what I'd like to make. Anyway, there is cardstock, designer paper, and embellishments to make my own card or two with! So exciting! I can tell you that Janel used the SU! set called If The Halo Fits. This is such a cute, cute, set! It may now be on my list of wants!

Pretty neato RAK huh? I'm so blessed with the friends that I have! Thanks so much Janel! I also wanted you to know that my grandpa had his surgery yesterday and as far as I know he is doing well today. I haven't heard anything yet today but as Courtney said, no news is good news! Thank you for your good thoughts and prayers! ***edit...Just heard from my grandpa's wife and he is doing so well that they are moving him out of intensive care today! If it continues he'll be headed home Monday or Tuesday. Can you imagine? 3-4 days after open heart surgery and he could go home. Praise God! ***

Kyler is spending the weekend with his grandparents that are in town visiting so it will be a quiet weekend for me but I still have things to do so I'm off! I hope you have a great weekend everyone!

and the winner is....

I listed all the names and Jon choose a number...the winner of the May Bella Kit from 3 Little DReaMs is....

JANEL!!!

Congratulations Janel! I'll get your address to Katie and she'll get the kit out to you as soon as they arrive!

The BEST Glory From Lorie!!!

Wanna win some fantabulous Glory from Lorie? This week is the week! On Friday the 18th at 5:00 p.m. I will be pulling a name for the 3 Little Dreams May Kit! What you see at the right is what you will receive...thats right...the Bella stamp, the paper, the ribbon, and a sentiment!!! Woohoo! This kit has been very generously donated to me by the very talented, very wonderful Katie Skiff who is the owner of 3 Little DReaMs!

Do you want to know what to do to win? Easy schmesy ladies! Just go to Katie's site and tell me what you like best about it. That is right...do you like the stamp company choices, the way the kits are built, or maybe the wonderful quality of the paper and embellishments she will be sending. Do you want another chance at the kit? Okay...I'll do that! All you have to do is mention this drawing (with a link to my blog and Katie's site), post back here with a link to your blog and you'll be all set to go with two chances to win! ***Edited to add...if you purchase this kit for May delivery and win it from this drawing Katie will send you the June kit instead and it will consist of Bikebababella!***

Please let me know if you have any questions at all! Good luck everyone! Oh, and this will stay at the top until Friday so check down for my daily update!

tart & tangy

Now, this was fun! I finally decided to try one of the neat Double Pocket Card with Flap Front. I've linked you to the tutorial on Barb Mullikin's blog. It is pretty easy to follow. I would suggest that you are careful when you score the designer paper (at least SU!'s) as I tore mine at the bottom. So, do you think the cherry is okay with the flowers? I should have used a flower are something, huh?

So, here is the outside. The ribbon is some ribbon that I got as a thank you from an Ellen Hutson order that I placed. It is lovely. I think it is satin. It is definitely a little thicker than SU!'s taffeta.

And here is the inside. Now I have to say that I don't much care for the inside. I do think it would be better if I decorated it a little more and probably will do so if I send this to someone. I just cut two pieces of Real Red cardstock and layered white PaperTrey cardstock on top for the inserts. I would definitely think this is a great presentation for a gift card w/sentiment, a chocolate bar w/sentiment, or the like.

So there you have it...if I can make this you all can too. All you need for the card itself is an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of designer cardstock, a cutter, and adhesive. If you decide to make one please link to it in the comments section so I can see too!

Today at 5:00 p.m. I will be drawing a name for the winner of the May 3 Little DReaMs kit. Which, by the way, is now sold out so this drawing is truly the last chance to get the fun summery feeling of Beachabella! If you haven't...go sign up!

Yay! It is Friday! I hope you take today and turn it into whatever your heart desires!

celebrate today

Not to long ago I found a neat blog that has video tutorials for different projects. I love video tutorials! Last Wednesday the tutorial was how to cover a full size composition notebook. I've had one laying around for some time that I've used for a couple of different things but decided that I wanted to use it for my food diary so it needed to look good for that, right? Anyway, I decided to cover it with SU!'s Summer Picnic paper that has the cherries on it and then the spine is just the reverse side. I was going to put my name on the front but decided I needed something upbeat instead hence the "celebrate today". I added a little bling in the form of crystals and glitter pen and taa daa I was done. Now, I know it isn't the most fancy schmansy thing but I like it lots. This week's tutorial is a 3x3 envelope card...so cute!

I hope you have a great Thursday of creating and don't forget to sign up for the Glory from Lorie in the post above!

hopes, dreams & wishes

So, this is a very simple card that I made with the Wordsworth set that Courtney got me. I had a slightly different plan in mind but I don't think it will work out. I really like the simplicity of the card and the Purely Pomegranate is one of my favorite colors...don't know why I don't use it more often!? You can see the particulars HERE but really there isn't much to it. I did use a little clear glitter pen on the flowers.

And HERE is a new blogger that is giving out some blog candy just 'cuz she'd like to meet some new people. That is a fun way to do it, huh?

And, of course...don't forget to sign up for my blog candy at the top of my blog. You can't beat that yummy Bella Kit for your winnings!

So short and sweet is what it is today! Have wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Happy Forest

Good morning everyone! Over the last couple of months I've joined image swaps on the Bellaholics Yahoo group that I on. Thankfully the quality of the images continues to go up and up so that is just great. I received my last set of images the other day in the mail and when I saw this image, Happy Forest, I just had to color it in and make a card with it. All the information on this card is HERE but in short I took the colors and the die cuts from the Summer Days Simply Scrappin' Kit from SU! I used some yellow Stickles and blue Spica glitter pen to give it some jazz and it was all done. Simple yet happy I think.

This card is going to my grandpa and his wife to get them the information about my visit this summer. Long before I knew that grandpa was going to have to have the bypass surgery I decided to go to Iowa this summer to visit him. I'm taking Kyler with so that I can show him some of my childhood memories. Hopefully we'll eat some yummy stuff like Sterzings chip, tenderloin (pork) sandwiches, and homemade applesauce. Plus they have a big backyard garden so both Kyler and I will be happy campers in there! Anyway, it will be quite the walk down memory lane while we are there....I'm very excited to be going. Only 2 more months!

Anywho, don't forget to sign up for the Glory for Lorie at the top of the page! Have a Terrific Tuesday everyone!

***I forgot to mention that I got my first spam comment yesterday. I deleted it right away but if I continue to get more I'm going to have to go to comment verification or moderation. I really don't want to do that though so please pray I don't get anymore yucky comments!***

Pun Fun

Well, you saw what Courtney sent me yesterday and today you get to see what she sent to Kyler. First a picture of him with the Swedish Fish (it's his favorite candy) and Pokemon' cards. He was so excited because one of the cards in the set is "rare". Thank you so much for making his day great Courtney!

Here he is with the gifts. FYI...the Swedish Fish are almost gone. He shared with me yesterday and I now understand why!

And here is the super cute card she sent him. I love that Pun Fun set from SU! People are doing such fun things with it!

Right after this post you'll see some REALLY good Glory from Lorie so make sure you check it out!

Ahhh...

So, Kyler got a big padded envelope from Courtney yesterday. I knew she was going to send him a little something for his birthday so it was no huge surprise to me...but it did end up being a surprise 'cuz she put a little, okay a big, something in there for me too! She made this cute Bella card and attached some bath salts to the inside (which smell so soothing!). I can't tell you the last time I got the chance to soak in the bath tub but I can't wait to do it now...maybe tonight? Along, with the card and bath salts was a Wordsworth set. This set is called Love and is absolutely adorable. What I don't think that Courtney knew is that every since I've seen Wordsworth stamps I've wanted a set. I love the stick figures and cute sayings and such that they have. Now I own a set thanks to Courtney! I'm just so excited and thrilled about it! Thank you so much for the wonderful surprise Courtney...you really made my day!

Tomorrow I'll show you the super cute card and gifts that Kyler got. He loves his too! Have a great Sunday all!

Cute and Miscellaneous

I've just got a couple of miscellaneous things for you today although I do believe they are cute! Oh, and make sure you check out my signature...teehee!

Kyler received this card earlier this week from his friend Colin. On the envelope was a cut out bandaid that Kyler tried so hard to not tear when he opened the card. When he got it off intact what did he do with it?

Put it where he would need a bandaid right now! How funny and cute is that?! Thank you Colin (and Pammella) for thinking of him!

I thought you guys might think this is a pretty cool card too. This neat 3-d card came from Todd's parents. The ferris wheel moves and the colors are so bright and cheery who wouldn't like them?

I have a busy day ahead of me today. The birthday party with Kyler's friends is today from 1-3. We are going to have cupcakes, play Venom tag which in everyday terms is just plain old tag but you gotta spice it up ya know...they will play pin the spider on the web (which reminds me I need to stop at the dollar store), and they are going to make a little spider with black chenille pipe cleaners, black pom pom's, and googlie eyes. I'm actually looking forward to this party. Jon's going to help so that will be much appreciated.

Also, today is the Women of Vision Fundraising Dinner. It starts at 5 but since I'm a table hostess I need to be there by 4:45 and knowing me I'll be there by 4:30 so I can help if they need it. HERE is an article in the Yakima newspaper. I wanted to link you to our local newspaper but their online website leave MUCH do be desired not to speak of their print version. You can click on the World Vision button at the top left of my blog if you would like to find out more info about World Vision itself or about sponsoring a child. You will never regret it!

So, what do you think of my signature? When I first saw what Sara did with it I was reminded that Jesus is all around me. I just LOVE it! Have a super Saturday all!