A box of stamping goodies!

One of my college friends mailed me a box of stamping/cardmaking goodies this week. I knew there were a few stamp sets coming, but I had no idea it would be all of this:
Can you imagine how shocked I was as I kept pulling things out of the box? I did a quick calculation, and this was over $450 worth of supplies ... and that doesn't count all the sticker packs (many Jolee's) that had no price tags on them! Most of the items were still brand-new in the packaging.

I made a quick list of what was in the box, just to give you an idea:

• large quilt block from Outlines Rubber Stamp Co
• Making Memories Express It magnetic stamp set
• Making Memories Philadelphia uppercase and numbers, lowercase alphabet sets
• PSX Classic lower case alphabet
• Stampin Up Flower of the Month stamp set
• Stampin Up Good Times stamp set
• Hero Arts Wedding Celebration stamp set
• Making Memories and SEI buttons (SEI Softy, Savvy x2, Silly, Molly, Kate, Jake)
• 9 packages Making Memories eyelets
• Making Memories case of metal embellishments
• spool of ribbon
• Beadies mini marbles - purpe metallic, green metallic, red metallic, pink metallic and royal blue transparent
• glittery confetti - star-shaped iridescent, circle iridescent and circle blue
• pastel seed beads
• Magic Scraps small clear picture pebbles
• Stampin Up Classic inkpads - Tempting Turquoise, Bliss Blue, Going Grey and Basic Black
• Stampin Up Stampin Scrub
• VersaColor Chateau Gray inkpad
• Versamark inkpad
• Ranger ColorIt inkpad (black, I think)
• Ranger EmbossIt inkpad
• Paper Reflections collage papers
• 3 cute tin buckets
• Stampendous embossing powder - Kaleidoscope, Star Dust, Midnight Black
• Ranger embossing glitter - Golden Rod, Lime Green
• Ranger embossing powder - Silver (x2), Gold
• Stickles - 2 silver, 1 iridescent
• 24-gauge wire
• TONS of stickers (lots of Jolee's)

I was overwhelmed by her generosity!

Getting ready for Cousin Camp!

I've been quiet the last few days and will probably be quiet for the next week. Why is that? Cousin Camp is next Monday through Friday!

Everyone is excited, and I'm a little nervous, hoping to pull it off just right. It makes me nervous when everybody gets excited and it's been my idea. It's like I'm responsible for making everyone's hopes happen, you know? :) I know, I know, don't stress about it. I'm trying not to. But that is my gut reaction!

So if you don't hear from me much next week, you'll at least know why. And hopefully I'll have some pictures and more information to share about it the week after.

Look what my husband got for free!

My husband and I both enjoyed the basketball courts while we were on vacation, and we talked about saving up some money to buy a hoop for our own house. It's great exercise, and it's fun! We put that on the back burner for awhile, though, because we have bills to finish paying off first.

Needless to say, though, my husband has had an eagle eye for basketball hoops ever since. He noticed this portable basketball hoop lying facedown in the back of the parking lot of a business just down the road from us. Over the course of two weeks, he noticed that it hadn't been moved, so he decided to stop in and see if they wanted to get rid of it, and for how much.

The guy told him a few minor issues it had and then told him he could have it for free if he wanted it. Those minor issues had seriously impacted their enjoyment of the hoop, and they never used it anymore.

Now how is that for God's provisions yet again? I don't think we even thought to pray about a hoop, since we considered it just a "want." And God doesn't provide junk, either. Do you want to know how much this hoop costs brand-new? Humor me a moment and take a guess. Then go here and see for yourself.
Okay, have you picked your jaw up off the floor yet? Yes, you read that right - $600!!! We would never in a million years have been able to afford a hoop this nice. Never. Probably not even used. But God provided it for FREE!

So what are the minor issues? Let me see if I can get this right ... The base is supposed to be able to be weighted with sand or something, but there's a hole in it, so the sand runs out. As you can see, two concrete blocks work just fine to hold it in place! It also has a few cosmetic dings on the backboard, but nothing to prevent anyone from playing a game of basketball with it.

I don't know if you can see it or not, but it's adjustable. I think that might be one of the features that makes it so expensive. It can be adjusted to a child's height, or it can go to its full adult height. It's really easy to adjust, too - you just pull up or down on the lever in the back.

I didn't find out how much this was worth until my husband already went to bed, so you can imagine I have news for him tomorrow morning! :)

The combined bedroom

Here is the virtual tour I promised yesterday. This is my kids' newly combined bedroom. Once again, let's start at the closet.



It might look a bit full, but it's so easy to find everything now! I added one of those hanging rods that double your hanging space so that I could have space for both kids' hanging clothes in one closet. (The rod was a $2 flea market special, still in the original sealed box.) We dress up a lot, so my kids have more hanging clothes than most.



On the floor of the closet is a shoe rack that perfectly fits all the shoes my children can currently fit into. Yes, there are a few empty spaces. They were wearing those shoes! :)



On the righthand side of the closet, I've hung the "grow into" dressy outfits that I didn't want to crush into a box. Behind those outfits I hung the pocket-style shoe organizers, one for each child, with shoes for them to grow into. I try to keep a few sizes ahead and buy like-new shoes at thrift stores and yard sales when I get the chance. These keep them organized by size, in the correct order.



Let's take one last peek at the closet before we move on. Do you see that strange-looking hanger at the front of my son's clothes? It's our fancy-shmancy tie hanger! These are all clip-on ties that used to be shoved into a drawer. I never could seem to find the one I wanted quickly, so I asked my husband if he had any ideas for hanging them in the closet. It was his idea to clip them all onto a wire hanger, and I like it! I didn't have to buy anything new, either. :)

Okay, let's take a peek under my daughter's bed. (My son's bed has drawers underneath.)



Did you ever realize that banker's boxes fit perfectly under some beds? I never did! Since we have no attic or basement, I have to get creative in storing clothing that I buy ahead. This was my solution, and it works perfectly. Each box has a different size of clothing, and I was able to fit all of both kids' "grow-intos" under the one bed, with room to spare.

I know some people don't like to store things under their beds, but I couldn't see just wasting this space - or letting it collect miscellaneous toys that get forgotten.

Alright, let's take a look at the main part of the room:



This is what it looks like as you walk into the room. We needed some sort of nightstand for bedtime drinks to rest on, so the desk was the perfect solution. We needed to find a place for it anyway!



And here you can see my daughter's half of the room, which we didn't change much. We only rearranged the pictures.



Here is my son's half, complete with John Deere pictures and curtains. Yes, it looks a little different having a room decorated half-pink and half-green, but it's the best solution for us right now. I'll worry about what the experts think when I have the luxury to do so. :)

You know what? This bedroom looks cozier now, with its two-themed effect, than it did with just my daughter's bed and toys. We all like it better!



Last, but not least, we have the dresser. Since my son's bed has two drawers under it, I was able to fit all of their folding clothes into this one dresser and his two drawers. That freed up the dresser I showed you yesterday in the play room.

We are all enjoying this organization. Just today my kids had a bunch of toys out to play with at once. It was confined mostly to the playroom, but I felt my stress levels rising again. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were able to put it all away when they were done playing. That's the value of "a place for everything, and everything in its place."

The new toy room!

I have resisted the idea of a toy room ever since my son was born over five years ago. Every toy room I have ever seen has been a disaster area, and I didn't want one in my house. I also didn't like the idea of boys and girls sharing a bedroom (unless they really have to) because it gets awkward as they get older. I have changed my mind on both counts.

First of all, my son has been sleeping in our bed for over a year. It was just easier to get him to sleep that way, and we are guilty of being too tired to care. After all, we all know that no self-respecting 13-year-old is going to sleep in his parents' bed. These things have a way of taking care of themselves. :) At any rate, that meant that one entire bedroom was essentially not being used, except to play in.

Secondly, I read Deniece Schofield's book Confessions of an Organized Homemaker and realized that it is entirely possible to organize toys so that the play room is not a disaster area and so that kids can put their own toys away most of the time.

So here you have the end result of my thinking. This is a huge sanity-saver for me because it drove me crazy when I'd clean the house and 30 minutes later the kids had dragged out every toy known to mankind and scattered them throughout my house. Now they are confined to the playroom for the most part, and I can have a clean house for more than five minutes at a time.

Let me share some pictures and ideas!



First of all, let's look at the closet in the toy room. Closets can easily degenerate into "don't open the door for fear of an avalanche" places, but I despise that. I wanted everything to have a clear, labelled place. I think it has happened, for the most part. This is the top shelf. These are the toys they don't play with a lot and I don't mind getting down for them every now and then when they decide to play with them. Note the bin is marked "Walkie Talkies". Now anyone who can read knows where those things go! My daughter's sleeping bag is rolled up inside the backpack.



These hanging backpacks hold my kids' Leap Pads and one play laptop that gets occasional use. Next to them on the clothes rod are the few dress-up clothes (fireman and astronaut).



Underneath are several boxes of occasionally-used toys that are not a bother to unstack every now and then as they're used. The play guns (the most-used of all these) are on top and easily accessible.



This is to the left, and it's one of my favorite features. These three plastic pull-out drawers fit perfectly into this space with just enough room to pull the drawers out. The bottom drawer holds extras of my son's Ertl farm set. The middle drawer holds miscellaneous Lego pieces, and the top drawer holds all the specialty vehicles made with Legos.

There was just enough space above this organizer to hang the hooks for hats. There are "make believe" hats here, as well as the utilitarian baseball caps. I placed the winter boots on top the drawers because my son uses them when he dresses up as an astronaut. :)



Now let's get out of the closet and take a quick tour from the door, to the left around the room. We've repurposed things as much as possible, since we didn't want to have to buy a lot of new things. This changing table worked well to store trucks, small animals (dinosaurs, zoo animals) sorted in dishpans, as well as stuffed animals on top.

Next comes the baby doll Pack 'n Play filled to the brim with baby dolls, then the shopping carts parked in front of the bookcases. Of course, when they want to look at books, they just move the shopping carts. I seriously debated getting rid of those carts, but they dearly love them, so I just gave them a parking place for the evening.



Here's what the bookcases look like when the carts are moved away. We pared down their book collection to only what would fit on here, reasoning that we can go to the library for specialty books. We stuck to their favorite series - Berenstain Bears, Dr. Seuss, Curious George, Critter, Max Lucado and Tonka, to name a few.

On top of the righthand bookcase I added my daughter's purse collection and a bin of all the small things she likes to carry around in them. On top of the lefthand bookcase is the toy cash register that they use to play store. (We got rid of a second identical one.)

Between the two bookcases, I stored the teepee huts I made for them for Christmas. They are easy to pull out, and this makes great use of that otherwise-wasted corner space. I've also stored their stick horses here, since they play with them with the teepees. You'll see an insulated lunchbox hanging from the teepee - that holds a few miscellaneous things like a lantern and binoculars that they use with the teepees.



Next we have the dresser (we'll peek in the drawers in a moment), a corner "shelf" we just bought at the thrift store for $3, and the play kitchen. I've organized and labelled each shelf in the corner organizer so that everything has its own home and is easy to put back. There's a shelf for my son's toy horses, one for learning toys (toy laptops and other educational games), musical instruments, and craft supplies.



Want to know how we've organized those dresser drawers? How's this? :) My kids aren't overly concerned about finding a specific item of play food, so just dumping the food items into one drawer and the utensils and such into another is as good of organizing as we needed for these items. It's easy on the eyes, easy to find what they're looking for, and even easier to put things away.

There's yet another drawer with baby clothes done in the same fashion. When they get older, we might try to fold the baby clothes, but right now they both enjoy taking the clothes off the dolls more than anything.



Moving around the room, we have the kid-sized table and two chairs in front of the window. This is where they can play kitchen, put together puzzles, listen to stories on cassette, play with games, etc.

Then there's the play table. We thought seriously about getting rid of this, but then we hit on the idea of organizing all the tiny accessories into labelled bins underneath. It was the perfect solution for us. (See below for a picture.) You'll see two stacked popcorn tins to the right of the play table. One is John Deere, and it holds all the John Deere Matchbox-sized toys. The other is Tonka, and it holds all the Matchbox-sized construction equipment. The play rug with a town on it is rolled up for easy access.



And here is what it looks like underneath the table. We concentrated on not hiding anything behind something else. Everything can be accessed from one of the three available sides of the table, without having to rearrange anything. And since they're labelled, cleanup is a lot easier. My son is pretty good at reading, and he knows exactly where everything goes now.

Tomorrow I'll share pictures of the shared bedroom. I like how it turned out, too!

No pictures yet!

Sorry, but I didn't get any pictures of the newly-organized rooms yet. The day was full today.

My husband and I took a few hours' date and went to some thrift shops in search of a few specific things. (We came away with some great bargains, but more on that in a minute ... )

When we got home, my husband decided to mow the lawn. I had a migraine, so the kids went out to play on their bikes on the parking lot. My husband can see them while he's mowing, so this shouldn't have been a problem. (You know this is going somewhere important, right?) Well, it was a problem. I should have known my little girl would get into some mischief, but this about cost her life! She went to the pond to look at the bullfrogs she's been hearing, leaned over a little too far, and fell headfirst into the pond!

That was bad enough, but for some reason, my husband didn't see her. It's a good thing she had the presence of mind to stand up because neither of my kids know how to swim - and so have no idea how to hold their breath underwater. She isn't known for having much "presence of mind," so I'm grateful it finally kicked in! My son saw her and ran to get my husband, and they all descended on the house. I answered the door and was greeted by a crying little girl with green pond scum clinging to her new shirt.

Motherhood is never boring, is it? I'm just glad she's alive, and I hope she learned her lesson. I know I did - never, ever let that girl out of my sight for a second!

So ... you can imagine I didn't get any pictures of the kids' reorganized rooms. I also didn't get any pictures of our great thrift store finds. (I really need to bring my camera back downstairs!) But I'll tell you about them anyway:

• Rival electric food slicer, model 1101, looks to be new in the original box (with Styrofoam packaging still in place!) - $6 (I have an older, mostly-plastic slicer I got for free at an auction a year or so ago, but this is much more user-friendly.)
• Presto Salad Shooter #02910, looks like new in the original box - $4 (My cheese shredding blade broke on my food processor a few months back, and I desperately wanted a replacement.)
• Fisher-Price Kid Tough digital camera, without USB cable BUT we just bought a similar camera from a friend and it came with a cable - $5 (Now I can give both of my kids their own digital camera for Christmas and avoid the fights about whose is whose!)
• Discovery Channel Robotix CyberArms, complete in the box with instructions - $1 (I'm thinking about giving it to my nephew who has been wishing for some Lego MindStorms. It's not the same thing, but it's a little similar!)

Those were the biggest finds of the day, but we got some other really nice things, too!

I'm busy organizing!

After nearly a week of creativity, I've been bitten by the organization bug. I finally hit on a solution to our kids' toy clutter, and so I'm making it happen in the next few days. (I'm taking off Sunday, though.)

I got quite a bit done tonight, and I'm excited to see what more I can do tomorrow! I'll post more when I get the chance, and possibly have pictures to show.

On another exciting note, my daughter decided she wants to be a big girl, so she's going on the potty now. We took a special mother-daughter trip today to get her "big girl undies", and it's a good thing we got a 10-pack because I have a load of undies to wash in the morning already! :) It's okay, though. She's learning fast, and I'm glad that she's finally interested.

I've taken the approach with my kids that they'll learn when they want to. My son pretty much trained himself in three days and hasn't even wet the bed since that time. It required little to no effort on my part, but it was extremely effective. I figure my daughter will do pretty much the same thing. She has been taking herself to the potty and everything, which is exactly what I want. The goal is to train her - not me! :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Cards using clip art

I just colored these images in the last few days and got inspired to make some cards with them.

Have you heard about the new term "digital stamp"? I'm convinced it's a term someone came up with to make stampers part with more of their money! :) Well, maybe not really, but I'm reading a lot of posting on the stamping boards about these digital stamps.

And you know what? They're just glorified clip art. I read about a lot of people objecting to that statement, but it's true ... with one clarification. These digital stamps (aka clip art) have to be very clear, with no stray marks or incomplete lines. Not all clip art would qualify, but you'll find a surprising amount that does.

So I'm happy to pick up free clip art to use on my cards. To me, it's the same concept as buying a store brand instead of a name brand. It doesn't bother me one bit because I'm not brand-conscious. It matters to some people, so I'll let them pay for theirs.



This darling reading "fairy" is a coloring page from Elizabeth O. Dulemba. She is cute and very high-quality!

I made my card background with four coordinating prints. I love the look, and since I couldn't decide which of the four papers to use, I used them all. They all came out of one of those massive paper pads that I got at Big Lots for $7. The corners are from my Cuttlebug Vintage die.



This image came from Dover Publications. I signed up for their weekly e-mail, and this is one of the freebies I got one week. I highly recommend signing up for this because they send out quite a few samples each week. Not all of them are clip art, but there's lots your kids will enjoy, too.

Anyway, this came from their Classic Tattoo Designs book. I have a niece who is crazy about horses, but isn't a cowgirl type. So this was perfect for her, and I played up the feminine frillies as much as possible. She'll be 15 this year, and I think she'll really like this card.

I backed it with 1/2 of a paper oval doily I found at Dollar Tree (pack of 20/$1). The flourish cut-outs are from my Cuttlebug Floral Borders. I just cut them apart to use them like this. The flowers came from a kit my Secret Sister bought me, and the center is a bead cap I found at Dollar Tree (30/$1). The punched border is my EK Success Fleur de Lis border punch.



This one was super-easy. The image was also from Dover, a publication called Favorite Flowers Clip Art. Again, I used my EK Success Fleur de Lis border punch. I tied the heart charm (Dollar Tree - 8/$1) on with a sheer pink ribbon.



I got this tree from a free clip art site, but I can't remember which one for the life of me. I really like it, though! If I ever run across it again, I'll post a link to it. (ETA: Here is the link!) This one is another very high-quality image, just as good as any digital stamp you might buy.

I used the same four papers as a previous card (you'll see them on a few more). The corner stamp is from Studio G, and the sentiment is from Stampin Up (Wonderful Words).



Here's another Dover freebie, from their Floral Beauty coloring book. I added the Studio G sentiment to the basket. Again, I used the four different papers for the background and the same Studio G corner stamp.



And yet another image from Dover's Floral Beauty coloring book. I used another Studio G sentiment on the mug, the same four papers on the background, and the Cuttlebug Vintage corner dies.

I'm having fun! :)

More cards with circular embossing

Just to show you how much I love that circular embossing technique, here are some more cards I made with the remainder of my "samples". The main difference: I cut these into circles instead of squares.



I used my scallop scissors to make the edging on the circle. Of course, I chalked the embossed portions to make them stand out. Notice how I embossed the same design on the corner of the card? I liked that effect! The adhesive rhinestones are from Dollar Tree. I cut the photo corners using my Vintage Cuttlebug die and a soda can. The image is cut from Martha Stewart Living. I love that issue, and I just got another one in a box from the thrift store! :)



Same basic idea here, except that I made the heart corners with "leftovers" from my Heart & Locket Sizzix Bigz die. I put two of them together to make these hearts.



This is the same idea, only I used two different colors of chalk to accent the embossing. I really liked the effect, especially with this embossing folder. There are rhinestones on the centers of the embossed flowers (on the circle).



And the last one for now.

These cards are 6x6", so I'll probably hand-deliver them. They were a lot of fun to make!

I've been making more cards and coloring more images, so I'll have more to share tomorrow, too.

What am I doing with all these cards? Well, for one thing, I'm getting way ahead. :) But I'm also making a gift for each of my two Secret Sisters. I'm giving them a filled card organizer. I'm including a nice selection of birthday cards (men, ladies, kids), thinking of you cards, sympathy cards, and get well soon cards. I think they'll like it, and it won't cost me anything since I'm using supplies I already have sitting around.

Circular embossing and daisy coaster cards

Since I've been in "use it up" mode the last week, I pulled out some things I've had sitting around for a few months. I made these decorative backgrounds a few months back and set them aside because I didn't have any good ideas for them at the moment.

The circular embossing technique is not original with me. I found the instructions on Becca's blog here. She's a papercrafting genius, and you'll probably droll over her entire blog while you're there! :)

I used the small decorative embossing folders for these. I loved the designs, but I didn't buy any of the folders until I saw Becca's tutorial.

I also used some large Martha Stewart daisy coasters my friend and I found on clearance at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. They're so big and beautiful that I sat them on my desk to look at them and gain inspiration for awhile. I finally came up with a few ways to use them. These cards are 5.5x5.5".



First of all, I chalked the embossing with green chalk. Then I added iridescent glitter to the inside of the daisy and the outside edges. On this one, I traced the petals of the daisy with a regular pencil to accent them. Then I added a magnet to the back. Using repositionable adhesive, I attached it to the card. This way, I can add a note inside that the daisy can be used as a magnet once the receiver has enjoyed the card.



I used the same basic idea on this card, but obviously a different embossing folder and different color of chalk. I also didn't add glitter to the edges of this daisy, since it was a bit messy. I outlined the petals with yellow colored pencil this time, and I like that better than the regular pencil. Again, I added a magnet to the back of the daisy and attached it with repositonable adhesive.



And here again is the same idea, just using a different embossing folder. I used cotton swabs to apply chalk in two colors to the embossing here. Then I added adhesive rhinestones to the middle of each flower on the embossing.

I really like how these turned out, and I have lots more coasters to work with!

Curious George cards

You knew there would be more cards, right? :) Here are the ones I made with the free online coloring pages of Curious George.



I used Studio G $1 clear stamps for the tiny baseballs (in Versamark) and the sentiment. I made the large baseball myself, which is really easy to do. He looked like he needed a ball with that baseball cap on!



Here I combined a coloring image of George with a Studio G $1 stamp. He looked like he was either thinking about something or admiring something, and when I saw this tower of cupcakes that was exactly his height, I knew it was a perfect match. What do you think he's wishing for - the whole tower of cupcakes? :)



This is my now-favorite 40th birthday card, at least until I turn 40. You see, I have several family members and friends turning 40 over the next little while. I specifically thought of my brother for this card, but I'll have to hang onto it for another 2 years. That's okay, though. It's perfect, and he'll love it. What will I put inside? "Nyah, nyah! You're 40 and I'm not!" :)



This is pretty straightforward. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp and I got the ribbon from the Michaels $1 bin. The eyelets are smashed a bit because I pressed too hard with my Crop a Dile. I need to practice a little bit more with that tool!



This was another easy card. The party hat and sentiment are Studio G stamps. The flower came from a kit my Secret Sister got for me. Easy, but cute!

And even more cards - online coloring images

I got the links to these coloring pages from a post on Splitcoaststampers. They are just children's online coloring pages scaled down to card size. If you look, you can see the url in the righthand corner of a few of the Sarah Kay images. They were free, so you can't beat the price! It's the same idea as the "new" concept of digital stamps.

I had downloaded, printed, and colored them when I first started using my BIC Mark-Its a few months back. I was enjoying the coloring part at the time, so I just set them aside for later. Well, later has finally come! Here are the cards I made with them ...



I think this image is Calilou. I have no idea who he is, but from the looks of it he's a syndicated character. I just thought he was a cute-looking boy image. Since he was batting, I thought of doing a "You Did a Great Job" card. I have a nephew that can use as many of these cards as I could possibly send!

The "home run" charm is one I've had for years now. I think I got it at Big Lots for $1 for the pack of 8 or so baseball-themed charms, but don't quote me on that. The sentiment is from a graduation-themed Studio G $1 set, and the patterned paper is from Foo Fa La (an Ollie's $2.99 paper pad special).



Here's another boy card, in the same type of theme (i.e. baseball). I'm leaning toward a birthday card for this one, but I made it general enough that it could be just about anything.

I used another Calilou coloring image, another charm from my baseball-themed pack, more of the Foo Fa La paper, and another Studio G $1 pack sentiment. The baseball charm was the perfect size to "stand in" for the "o" in boy.



Now let's move on to some Sarah Kay images. Some stores actually sell these very same images as stamps, so it's doubly nice that I can use the free coloring pages. :)

This card is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just hit the highlights. I custom-colored the dots on the patterned paper so it would match the girl's dress better (the dots had been white). I also used my scallop scissors to make the scallop edging around the circle, since I have no scallop circle punches or Nesties.



This uses my EK Success fleur de lis border punch, as well as a flower "medallion" I made from paper flowers, Dollar Tree charms, and $1 bin ribbon.



I really like this one. I couldn't let my little girl see it or she'd demand it for herself. Maybe I'll save it for her birthday. :)



And I just loved this one! I love girly pinks, and I made this as frilly and feminine as I could. I made double-sided paper lace with the EK Success fleur de lis border punch and a flower accent with paper flowers, a pink "bow" button, and a Dollar Tree charm.

I've been having fun! :)

More cards - Precious Moments

There's a story behind these cards. My husband always looks through the kids' books when we go to thrift stores, and he picked up a book of prayers for children with Precious Moments illustrations.

When he brought it home and showed it to me, I pointed out the BIG word "Catholic" on the front cover. No offense to any Catholics, but we're Protestants. In fact, my husband is a preacher. :) So he gave the book to me to use for the illustrations.

That was probably a year ago. I've been hanging onto these images, just waiting for inspiration to strike. After doing over 50 Mary Engelbreit cards yesterday, I decided to try my hand at a few of these.

It was a little interesting at first because Mary E's images needed no embellishments at all. They are "busy" and full of vibrant colors. Precious Moments, on the other hand, are pastels and need at least a little something in the way of embellishments to accent them. It took me a little bit to adjust my thinking, but then I got on a roll. So here they are, in no particular order ...



(Card size: 4.25 x 5.5") The little girl's sand castle has "Our Home" written above the door. Since we live near the ocean, I thought this would be cute to use as a "Welcome to Our Home" card for overnight guests. To make the sand sparkle, I used some iridescent glitter that I've had for years. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp that usually says, "Welcome Little One." My friend gave me the idea of using just part of a sentiment, so I was able to stamp just "Welcome" on this card.



(Card size: 4.25 x 5.5") This is one of my first times using this wonderful heart-themed set of dies for my Cuttlebug. I forget the name of them, but Michaels was clearancing them a few months back. I wanted them anyway, so I snatched them up at $10 for two long dies. The heart charm is from Dollar Tree (6 or 8 to a pack/$1). I colored in the pink parts of the charm with my BIC Mark-Its. Lastly, the rhinestones are also Dollar Tree specials. I love that store! :)



(Card size: 5 x 7") This was actually the first card I worked on today, and I like it the least. But it's still usable, so I'm keeping it! The corner stamp is Studio G, the fiber came in a kit from my Secret Sister, the white flower came from a lei garland that fell apart (I got it at the thrift store for $0.25), and the button is just from my button box of extras. I colored in the orange Prima with my BIC Mark-Its; it was originally white.



(Card size: 5 x 7") I was having fun with glitter - can you tell? I added iridescent glitter to the halo and angel's wings and then dusted the corner embellishments with glitter, too, since a little of the Xyron adhesive was sticking out. The sentiment is from Blue Ridge Impressions.



(Card size: 4.25 x 5.5") This is my first card using one of the crocheted flowers I've been making over the last few days. I've been making them white since it's so easy to run my BIC Mark-Its along the edges to add color. The butterfly and sentiment are Studio G stamps. I added iridescent glitter to the butterfly. In the original image, the boy was staring at a patch of seeds he had just planted. He looked like he was thinking, so I decided to cover up that part of the image and just use him.



(Card size: 5 x 7") This is pretty washed out for color, but I took these pictures late at night. This one is pretty basic. I colored the purple flower with my BIC Mark-Its. The white flower was also from the flower lei. The charm is another from Dollar Tree; this time I colored parts with a purple BIC Mark-It.



(Card size: 5 x 7") I was originally going to make this a birthday card, since that's usually what I think of when I see clowns. But then I saw the teardrops coming from the mask, and I decided it had to be a "Missing You" card. I added iridescent glitter to highlight the tears. The corners are Cuttlebug dies, as is the slider. The sentiment is from Studio G, and the ribbon was from the Michaels value ribbon bin (20 yards/$1).



(Card size: 5 x 7") I'm still not sure if anyone else will get the significance of the "Miss You" sentiment on this one. I chose it because the little girl completely missed her intended target - her mouth. I added iridescent glitter to accent the water. The slider is a Cuttlebug die, and the ribbon is from the Michaels value ribbon bin (20 yards/$1).



(Card size: 5 x 7") This is intended to be a "get well" kind of card. It was very simple to do. The corners and the sentiment are Studio G stamps. I colored the brads with my BIC Mark-Its to make them match the card.



(Card size: 5 x 7") The color is a little "off" on this one, too. The green is not as dark as it appears on the screen. I didn't do much to this card, either. The sentiment is from Studio G. I used my Marvy punch to make the flower and added a decorative brad from a kit my Heart Sister gave me.

I had fun! I'll have more cards to share tomorrow.