Fun Fold Friday: Interlocking Gate Fold Card

Hi Everyone!

I am currently on vacation; but as I said in my post the other day, I do have a few things pre-scheduled to share with you, including this week's Fun Fold Friday Card

This card came about as a result of a mistake I made last week when designing the Lever Card that I shared. I had a tri fold card; but needed a way to close it. After a little bit of scouring through Pinterest boards, I saw a card that had an interlocking closure and decided that was perfect!

It was really simple to put together. I just die cut some a circle frame and then cut another smaller circle. I partially adhered the larger circle to the left panel on the card front and then did the same with the smaller white circle on the right side of the card.

I originally planned to put a small sentiment on the little white circle in the center; but then decided to put a larger sentiment on the inside at the bottom center of the panel. This sentiment is from Altenew's Birthday Greetings.

To finish the front, I simply added some a flower and some blingy stickers around the edges of the circle.

I hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July. Be sure to check out my reeent family post about "Teaching your kids that July 4th is much more than BBQ and Fireworks" 

I will be back again soon!

Challenges for this card:

1. Crafting with Friends: Anything Goes
2. Crafty Catz: Anything Goes with embossing
3. Creative Fingers Challenge: Anything Goes
4.Fussy and Fancy Friday: Punches and Dies
5. Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything Goes
6. Polkadoodles Crafting Anything Goes
7. Simply Papercraft: Anything Goes

4th of July: So Much More than Fireworks and BBQ

Hi Everyone,

I hope you're all doing well, today. I thought I'd spend a little time today talking about the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. This is always such a fun family holiday to celebrate. No doubt, you have your family traditions, maybe a church or community tradition as well. There's always backyard fun and games, great food and fireworks to celebrate this great day. Still, I think it's important that we take some time as parents to make sure that we're teaching our kids that this day is significant for far more important reasons than good food and fun games.

It's About History--Kids should have an understanding that the 4th of July signifies just about the most important thing in American History: our independence from Great Britain. An independence won after a hard fought Revolutionary War. Take time to talk about the important people of this era. Kids Konnect has some great worksheet resources for American Revolution activities you can do with your kids. You can also find mini biographies of important figures during this time period at American Revolution.  Find a copy of the Declaration of Independence and talk about the important passages and why they matter so much. This website has great videos and activities broken down by age and grade level. 

It's about Freedom-- Kids should know what Freedom means. This is a great opportunity to talk with older kids about countries and people who aren't free. How would our country's history been different if we had not gained our independence from Great Britain? How do we protect our freedom still? Take this opportunity to express appreciation for our military and their families who sacrifice so  much to protect us. 

It's about Patriotism-- Ask your children what makes them feel American? Do they believe America is a great place to live? Why or why not? If you are hosting a fun family get together, take this time to make creative decorations and games.  Pinterest will no doubt give you great ideas for easy DIY decorations and foods you can make to celebrate this great day. Talk about the different symbols of patriotism and freedo such as the Flag, the Liberty Bell and the Eagle and why they are important. Super Teacher Worksheets has some great resources for American Patriotic Symbols

When the day has come to an end, and you're waiting for the fireworks to begin, gather the family around and watch a movie that celebrates the spirit, history and love of America. There are so many that fit the bill for this; but I have included a brief list to give you a few ideas. I tried to include films for both younger kids and older kids.

• National Treasure
• The Sandlot
• Independence Day
• Lincoln
• Young Felicity--An American Girl Story
• This is America Charlie Brown
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• Miracle
• Rocky
• Johnny Tremain

Enjoy the fireworks, celebrate our freedom, remember those who stand in harm's way every day to protect us and those who have given their lives for it.  Eat lots of great food, wear your red, white and blue loud and proud, wave your sparklers and have a fantastic 4th of July!

2 Tweens, 1 Teen and a 3 day Road Trip: How to look out of the window more and at the screens less.

Hello all..

Yes, I'm blogging...still...I think I was just having a bad day last week. So anyways onward and upwards.

We are leaving Friday to visit family and friends in Iowa. It should take us roughly 2 1/2-3 days to travel from CA to IA.  We plan to make some stops along the way. We have travelled a lot over the years as a family and usually the scenario is this: The teenager sleeps the whole time with her headphones in, the two boys sit in the back playing electronics and the dog pants like he's having hot flashes the entire way. Meanwhile, my husband and I sit in the front and talk, or sometimes don't...I read or play games on my ipad. Not a whole lot of family interaction going on during these journeys. This time, however, I really wanted to encourage the kids to look out of the windows a little more often and a little less at the screens. I would never ban the electronic devices completely...I'm motivated, not crazy!
Today I thought I would share with you a few ways I plan to make this road trip more successful than those from the past. I hope you find some inspiration for your next family road trip.

1. Snack Boxes: I have 3 healthy growing kids who love to snack. The last time we traveled, I made these individual snack boxes and they loved it, so I decided to do it again! This is really helpful for me as a mom too because then I don't have to find space for all the boxes for the snacks; and they're not arguing about who ate the last whatever. Full disclosure, I am not the healthiest snack packer for road trips; but you know...that's the fun of it a little bit, I think. So, yeah there are potato chips and chocolate covered granola bars and cookies in there. I didn't want to have to worry about keeping fruit cold or yogurts spoiling or things like that.

2. Pre-plan Snacks: Not only did I pack individual boxes for everyone, I also pre-prepped snack bags for Saturday and Sunday as well. I will restock the snack boxes each day from these bags. By packing snacks for each day, you can really avoid extra cost as well. It seems like every time we stop to get gas, everyone wants food and drinks too. This way you can just limit it to a drink if you need to. I do plan to take drinks in a small cooler as well though.

3. Games and activities. This is where we talk about how to really encourage your kids to put down the screens and enjoy the journey. I decided on three games for mine, plus two family games we can play together as well. If you have younger kids, you could probably go by the dollar store and get some fun little trinket prizes to give out. We're just a little past that stage in life, so I will probably give incentives like, if you find 10 things on the scavenger hunt list, you can order dessert at dinner tonight, or something like that. Each child will get a folder and in the folder are the following games:

• Road Trip Scavenger Hunt: I made a list of 50 items for them to find as we're traveling down the road. Some will be while we are in the car, some are for when we stop. Some are super easy, and some are more challenging. This game is completely customizeable. You can put as many items as you want. If you have younger kids you can do pictures as well. 

• Restaurant Bingo. Another fun game is Restaurant Bingo. I found the cards online at Panda Speech  and printed three of them. I then covered the front of each card in clear contact paper and included an expo marker in each folder. By doing this the cards can be wiped off and used over again. For this game, I will probably keep a small stuffed animal and every time someone gets a bingo, they get to hold the stuffed animal. If you're holding the stuffed animal at the end of the day you get the prize. (I don't know yet what that prize is going to be; but you get the idea)

• Odd Color Car Game. When we start our journey each child will pick an odd color for a car, like orange or yellow or lime green etc. As we're traveling, if you see a car that is the color you chose, you write it down and you get 5 points. However, if you see a color that belongs to someone else and they don't see it, you can "steal it" and get 10 points!

Family Fun Games 

• Would You Rather? Easy and classic game that encourages great conversation and discussion between family members. I found some questions online at LandeeLu  I printed the sheets out, cut them up into little strips and then put them into a small Tupperware container. 

• Taboo Word Game: You'll notice in the picture with the folders that there are some paper clips strung together. These are paperclip "necklaces" for the Taboo Word Game. If you've been to a baby shower you've probably played a version of this game with "baby" being the taboo word. I've picked three words that are "taboo" for each day. If you say the word, you have to give up a paper clip. Whoever has the most paper clips at the end of each day wins the prize! (Again, I have no idea what it is yet) Obviously, for this game, you have to reset the paper clips each day.).
  

So there you have it, a few fun and hopefully inspiring ideas for you and your next family road trip. I hope you have a great day! I have a few posts pre-planned and scheduled for you; but I will be back full time and at it in a few weeks! Have a great day, keep enjoying your summer and I'll see you all again soon!

Linking this post to the following Linky Parties:

1. Totally Terrific Tuesday
2. Motivational Monday 
3. Inspire Me Monday
4. Turn it up Tuesday
5. Oh My Heartsie Wednesday
6. Lou Lou Girls  Monday

Fun Fold Friday: Lever Card

Hi Everyone.

I hope you've all had a great week. It is time for another Fun Fold Friday. For this week's card, I decided to take a stab at the Lever card. Now, full disclosure I have to say that I don't think this card was a whole lot of "fun". I love the end result; but it was a complicated card to put together and definitely not one that I would do over and over again. I followed the video tutorial over at Splitcoast Stampers and the video definitely helped.

I used Fog card stock from Simon Says Stamp and then some scrap papers from Basic Grey that I've had for a long time. For the front image panel, I used stamps from Simon Says Stamp "Thinking of You" stamp set that was part of the February 2014 card kit. Because there was so much color in the papers, I decided to just keep the image just a simple black. I added the sentiment at the top from the same stamp set and stamped it in Rosie Cheeks ink from Simon Says Stamp

I took several pictures so you could see all the different angles of the card. Like I said, I was pleased with the end result; but it was hard.

I hope you all have a great day and I will see you again soon!

1. Crafting with An Attitude:
2. Crafting with Friends: 
3. Creative Fingers
4. Making Memories Crafting 
5. Simply Papercraft

Coloring Page and Prismacolor pencil combinations

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all having a great day. I just have a quick post for you today, sharing a coloring book page and some new Prismacolor Pencil Combinations. I will also be pinning these to my Prismacolor pencil board, so be sure to check them out there as well.

          


           



Have a great day and I'll see you all again tomorrow!

Happy Hearts Birthday

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all having a great day so far. I have a CAS card to share with you today. I've had this yellow card base with two small circles cut out of it for a while. I added a piece of patterned paper behind it and then die cut hearts from Verve Stamps "From the Heart" die set. I cut out eight total hearts, colored all of them with Copic marker (R46) and then stacked them in 2 groups of four.  I added some Wink of Stella to the hearts and then covered them both with glossy accents.

Unfortunately, some of the glossy accents did spill over a little at the top of one of the hearts and I didn't realize it until after it dried, and by then it was just way too late.  I added a simple Birthday sentiment from Hero Arts "Year Round Sentiments" I completed the card with a simple white ribbon.

That is all for me today! Have a great day and I'll see you all again tomorrow.

Anything Goes Challenges.

Through The Craft Room Door
Lemon Shortbread Challenges
Everybody Art Challenges: 
Creates and Makes Challenges (Use Yellow)
Crafty Sentiments Designs:  (Add a Sentiment)
Crafty Creations
Inspiration Destination

Bright Cupcake Birthday Wishes

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend, and I hope your family enjoyed Father's Day as well! We had a nice relaxing weekend, which I'm always grateful for. The boys (to include Dad) all had a great time with super soakers and water balloons, they played baseball and we capped the night by grilling some  delicious steaks and having a nice meal together.

But here we are, back to Monday and it's time to get back to the business at hand; and for the blog that means sharing a new card. The color palette for this card was inspired by a quilt I recently saw at church. This is how you know you're a paper crafter...when you see a quilt in church and think to yourself, "I wonder what color inks that would be?" If I could have, I would have taken a picture of it; but I thought that might be a tad unacceptable! Haha!! So, I finally decided on Peacock Feathers, Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade. I knew that I wanted to have some white polka dots on the bottom, so I used my inkadinkado dot background stamp and embossed it with white embossing powder on to white card stock and then I cut that into strips and used the distress inks to blend the color on to each strip--emboss resist technique.

I made the circles using scalloped nestabilities and circle dies from Simon Says Stamp. I blended Spiced Marmalade onto the outer circle and Peacock Feathers on to the next one. Honestly, this is the only part of the card I wasn't really happy with. That direct ink to paper with the Peacock Feather ink resulted in a more green than I wanted; but I decided to just leave it alone.

I stamped a small cupcake from Inkadinkado in black ink and colored it in with some Prismacolor pencils and then edged the image circle with some Fired Brick distress ink.  The sentiment is from Verve Stamps. I added some white ribbon as well.

That is it for me today. Have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!

Anything Goes Challenges for today.

1.  Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
2. Crafting from the Heart
3. Pammie's Inky Pinkies
4. A Bit More Time to Craft: 
5. A Perfect Time to Craft
6. Crafts Galore Encore

Coffee House Sunday

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to Coffee House Sunday. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! I hope you have a wonderful day! Shall we see what's been happening this week? Great! Grab your coffee, get comfortable and we'll get started!

• Normally, I try to stay away from the "headline/mainstream" news articles for Coffee House Sunday; but this Amazon buyout of Whole Foods news is just too huge not to mention! 

• Speaking of grocery stores, do you know how to choose the right melon? Or are you like me and just stand at the melon bins in the produce section thumping and smelling melons pretending like you know what you're doing?! 

• Antibiotics and Vitamin C apparently are the new Batman and Robin super fighting duo to battle cancer! 

• I'm not a liquor drinker per say, except for the occasional cocktail on a weekend; but for those who enjoy a nice whiskey or scotch, you can rejoice a little because a nightcap might actually be good for you! 

• You could enjoy your nightcap while you stay the night in a new Hyperloop Hotel!

• Right now, the Hyperloop Hotel is only set to be in major cities should it come to fruiton; but I think it should take you to this island where you can cuddle rescue puppies all day! 

• Speaking of our furry four-legged family members, be aware of this highly contagious dog flu that is spreading across the southeast. Take care of your pets! 

• The feel good story of the week is this one about the restaurant staffed by servers who suffer from Alzheimer's or some form of dementia

• The "Kick-Ass Mom" award this week goes to this mom for calling out a group of cruel teens at a Target store. 

• As parents, it's often automatic for us to say all we want is for our kids to be happy; but is this a misguided notion?

I hope your Sunday is great!

Fun Fold Friday: Double Front Fold Card

Hi Everyone!

I hope you have had a great week and are looking forward to a great weekend! It is time for another Fun Fold Friday! This week, I decided to do this really simple but oh so cool Double Front Fold card. It is a card that has two openings on the front. I thought this was such a neat way to add a little interest to your card without having to go through a lot of complicated steps. There are a ton of tutorials out there for this technique. I used this one from Lisa's Stamping Studio
I decided to use Teal, Hawaiian Shores, New Leaf and Aqua Mist for my color palette. I wanted to keep the front simple, so I just used a flower for the front image panel. I embossed the side panel with my hearts embossing folder. I added some gold stickles and then the white ribbon and gold cord on the side.

For the inner fold, I used Simon Says Stamps Square Sayings stamp set and then added some small hearts around it as a border. I decided to add a thin green pen border around the edge of that piece as well.

And really, that is it. As I said, really easy to put together and I really liked the end result! I took a few pictures so that you can see all the different elements and angles. I hope that you like it and I hope you are inspired to try this fun fold for yourself!

Have a great weekend and I'll see Sunday for Coffee House Sunday!

Anything Goes Challenges:

1.  Crafting with an Attitude:  2nd Entry
2.  Creative Knockouts
3.  Crafting with Friends: 2nd Entry
4.  Creative Fingers

Happy Birthday Gifts

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for visiting me today, I hope you're all having a great week so far. I have a simple birthday card to share with you today. I started with a cream card base and added three "presents" with bows made from some scrap pattern paper. The sentiment is from Verve's "Poppy Birthday" and I kept it simple by stamping it in black ink. I decided that the card was just a little too simple, so I added a black border frame with a pen around the edges of the card.

That is it for me today. I hope you like what I shared today. I hope you have a great day today and I will see you all again tomorrow!

Anything Goes Challenges:

1. Lemon Shortbread Challenges:
2. Through The Craft Room Door:
3. Addicted to Stamps
4. Crafty Creations:
5. Creative Moments:
6. Inspiration Destination

Other Challenges:

7. Everybody Art Challenges: Happy Birthday
8. Inky Chicks: Use 3 Patterned Papers

10 Frugal Ideas for Summer Family Fun

Hi Everyone!

Now that summer is in full force for many of you, you'll no doubt be looking for some fun ways to occupy everyone's time during the long days of summer vacation. Personally, I've always thought summer vacation was just too long.  I know my children will definitely disagree with me; but I also know that by about the second week of July, the novelty as worn off, if not actually long before then. My kids are a little older and tend to entertain themselves quite sufficiently, so I don't get a lot of  dramatic "Mom, I'm bored!" Cries coming from any of them. Still, summer is a great way to spend time together as a family doing simple things. Going places and doing things together is a lot of fun; but can also be expensive. This is especially true if, like me, you're beyond the "let's go play at the park" stage.
Don't worry, though, there are plenty of things you can do at home with things you probably already have in your mom and kid stuff aresenal. Here are just a few ideas and things we do together. Please note, that this is by no means the most comprehensive list you'll find out here in the blogosphere. There are plenty of great links out there with much longer lists than I have here; but I wanted to give 10 quick to read ideas!

•  Board Game Day and Snack Day. This is a super easy one. Summer vacation days are perfect for playing board games. You can either play a lot of quick games or you can finally get out the Monopoly game you never play because you never have time to finish it. Make this fun day even better by setting out fun snacks and letting the kids pick some fun music. 

•  Indoor Olympics. Depending on how many people you have at home with you, this can be a fun way to spend an afternoon as well. Just pick a few events and let the competing begin. We've done this with Wii Bowling, followed by bean bag toss, a foosball tournament, balloon volleyball and glow ring toss. Keep a tally and give out Gold, Silver and Bronze "medals" to the winners at the end!

• Water Games. For those really hot summer days, take everyone outside for some fun family water fun--Squirt gun painting water fights, water balloon baseball, super soaker gun fights, fill the water bucket game, or just let them go to town with the hose and sprinkler! If you're really good...you'll figure out a way to get your car washed while there out there as well!! 

• Family Wii Day. Technology doesn't have to be a bad thing! Use it as a tool for spending time together. There are tons of family fun games for the Wii (and I'm sure the Xbox etc as well) Get up and get moving together! 

• Minute To Win It Games. This is one I plan to use this summer. There are tons of games out there that you can find on Pinterest and (well, wherever it is you go to find ideas) Most only require a few simple things which you should have already or can get rather cheaply at Wal-mart or perhaps the dollar store.

• Scavenger Hunt. You can make this really simple if you have little ones or you can make it a little more challenging if you have older kids. Write out questions that have to be answered in order to get to the next clue. You can even make it an "Amazing Race" type game where some of the clues are outside and around the neighborhood (within walking distance of course) You can make this even more special by having a themed scavenger hunt in which each clue leads to a big surprise at the end. For example, you could hide a pair of goggles, sunscreen, a beach towel etc and then at the end the surprise is a trip to the pool for the afternoon. Or you could hide a bag of popcorn, some candy, a soda can etc and the surprise is a trip to see a Matinee movie that afternoon (Obviously this is not a do all the time event...because movie going isn't frugal by any means; but it's nice to have a treat every once in a while!)

• Movie Day. Close the curtains, pop some popcorn, have some candy and throw down pillows and blankets and spend the day being completely lazy! 

• Science Day. You can scour through many Pinterest boards and discover some great science experiments that can be done easily at home. What's really great is that many of them only require things you already have on hand: dish detergent, baking soda, water, hydrogen peroxide etc. 

• Explore your Neighborhood.   Another great way to spend a day is to just get out and explore your neighborhood and local community. Even if your kids are too old to "play" at playground, you can still look for hiking trails, or go for bike rides. Maybe there's a park and a pond that would be perfect for a picnic lunch? Check the community board at your local library for free or frugal family events around town. Do a online search for restaurants in your town that offer free kids meals on certain days.

• Grocery Games. Play your own version of this popular Food Network game. This is a great thing to with older children. The only caveat is that the more children you have, the more expensive it could be; but still fun! First, spend a little bit of time talking about the main food groups, and what healthy food choices really mean. Then head to the grocery store and tell them that have 15 minutes to shop for the ingredients to make something....an easy one might be sandwiches. Tell them they must include a source of protein, and a vegetable (or whatever you want) and they can only spend $7 (or whatever) Then go home  and everyone makes their own sandwiches for lunch with the ingredients they chose. 

That is all for me today, thank you so much for visiting with me. I hope you have a fabulous day! 

I am sharing this week's post with the following linky parties:

1. Totally Terrific Tuesdays

2. Motivational Monday

3. Inspire Me Monday

4. A Round Tuit 

5. Turn It Up Tuesdays

Thank You and Thank You.

Hi Everyone!

I have two cards to share with you today. I have been so busy making birthday cards lately, that I haven't replenished by stash of other cards lately. One group that I'm really lacking in is Thank you cards. So, I decided to take some scraps of patterned papers that I had laying on my desk and make a couple of Thank You cards to share with you today.

I kept the first one really simple. I had this piece of patterned paper already trimmed in a triangle shape. (I'm not sure where the paper came from....I just have a huge stash of scrap patterned paper.) I also had the red base already as well, so it was a perfect match! I added the layer of Kraft to the base and heat embossed the sentiment from SSS "Handwritten Greetings" set with versamark and white powder. I added a small strip of SSS Surf Blue diagonally across the middle and some stickles as well. I finished it all off with some faux white stitching line.

Anything Goes Challenges for this card:

1. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
2. Crafting from the Heart
3. Pammies Inky Pinkies

Now for the second card. I started with a Ripe Avocado base and added a layer of dark brown. I took some Vintage Photo Distress ink and inked up my Argyle embossing folder before I ran a piece of Kraft card stock through it with my cuttlebug. I distressed and roughed up the edges of the embossed piece before adding it to the card  I layered up the rest of the card as shown. The sentiment in the middle is from PTI's Framed Out #1 set.

Anything Goes Challenges for this card:

1. Artistic Impressions:
2. Incy Wincy Designs:
3. 613 Avenue Create (embossing folder optional)

Have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!

Coffee House Sunday

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to another edition of Coffee House Sunday. I hope you've all had a great week. So, what interesting "buried between the headlines" things have been happening this week? Well, honestly, not a lot! I have to tell you, there was not a lot that really jumped out and grabbed me this week. So, this week's Coffee House Sunday is rather brief, I'm afraid. Perfect day to just sit back and enjoy your coffee maybe while you listen to the birds sing or the waves roll in.

• We've all wondered is it really worth it to pay more for the "healthier" option at the grocery store?

• When you're at the grocery store, don't forget to pick up the Olive Oil and help keep that brain cancer away!
• You're on a healthy eating roll now, don't ruin it with late-night eating! 

• If you've decided to splurge on all the healthy food at the grocery store, you'll no doubt be looking for some free stuff. Don't worry, the Internet has options for you! 

• Best lesson of the week: Don't confuse money with happiness. 

• If you have children and plan to spend time at the beaches or pools, then please read and familiarize and educate yourself about the symptoms of dry drowning and secondary drowning and more importantly, how to prevent them 

• If you are not ready to start a family, make sure you're not taking these birth control pills! 

• If you are planning or already have a family, it may be hard for you to accept that fact that you will never be able to take them to this lady's house. I know you're devastated at the loss of that potential friendship! 

• Finally, we'll end on a happy note and take a look at all these celebrity couples who have been married 20 years this year. Honestly, some of them were a little surprising...Snoop Dogg?? Who knew? 

I hope your Sunday is great!

Fun Fold Friday: Top Note Gift Card Holder

Hi Everyone!

So technically this is not a fun or fancy fold; but it is a little bit more than just a regular card. This cute little card opens up at the top note die cut to reveal a gift card. Please overlook the fact that I have an old Christmas gift card, it was the only one I could find so that I could show you the inside!
I had seen this idea on Pinterest; but had a hard time finding actual instructions for making the gift card holder part. I finally found this video from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts and thought it was the best at explaining how it is done.

 I used Aqua Mist and New Leaf for my main colors becuase they cooridinate the best with the strip of patterned paper tha I found in
my scraps. The layered paper flower in the center is from an old set of sizzix dies I have called, "Lots of Tags" I added a small silver sequin to the center as well.
I heat embossed the sentiment which is from Altenew on the bottom with versamark and white embossing powder.

Have a fabulous weekend and I will see you all again on Monday.

Anything Goes:

1. Crafting With An Attitude:
2. Crafty Girls Creations:
3. Southern Girls Challenges
4. Crafting with Friends:
5. Crafty Catz (Optional twist: dies and punches)
6 Creative Fingers:
7. Polkadoodles

8. Cut it Up: Use dies and follow a tutorial (2nd Entry)

Zentangle Inspired Color Pen Doodle Thursday

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all doing well today. I have another colored pen pattern to share with you today. I love doing these repeating patterns with different colored pens. They are easy to do and very relaxing.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you again tomorrow for "Fun Fold Friday"

Java Great Day

Hi Everyone!

Good to see you again. There have been lots of updates and new features added to the blog lately. I encourage you to have a look around at the various new page tabs up there at the top and see if anything sparks your interest. I've been working really hard lately to try to give you a wider variety of content.
For today, I have a card to share with you. I started with a Fine Linen (PTI) card base and added a layer of Scarlet Jewel followed by Simply Chartreuse. Before adding the layer of Chartreuse, I used my mini scoring board to add some texture with some score lines. I added more texture with an embossing folder on the Fine Linen piece in the center.

I used SSS "What's Brewing" stamp set. I stamped the mug from the set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and then used Prismacolor pencils to color it in. I wanted the mug to look like it was sort of painted and grungy, so I used some blending sticks and a little baby oil to accomplish that. I stamped the sentiment with Worn Lipstick Distress ink onto a separate piece of white card stock and then cut it out and added it to the center of the mug. I cut the entire mug out and added it to a piece of white card stock. I used Berry Sorbet from PTI as a final color element behind the image panel and the scalloped edge as well.
For finishing touches, I added a white gel pen border and some gold stickles.

Challenges for today:

Anything Goes:

1. Crafty Sentiments:
2. Lemon Shortbread 
3. Through the Craft Room Door
4. Crafty Creations

5. Crafty Gals Corner: Emboss It.

Have a great day!

Summer Vacation: All Play and No Work?

Hi Everyone.

If you're a return visitor to my blog, you will know that today's post is a little bit different than what I normally do, which is papercrafts, cards etc. However, you'll notice that the tag line of my blog says "Creations and reflections of a stay at home mom" I've dedcided to start dedicating one post a week to the "Reflections" part and spending a little time talking about parenting, family and kid stuff.

Summer can mean different things to different moms, depending on where you are in the age game. There seems to be no shortage of summer activities for the 3-10 age group. Pinterest anyone?! The bad thing is that as a mom of this age group, you're going to need the entire month of September to recover because let me tell you, you're going to be EXHAUSTED!

Don't be fooled, however, the grass isn't necessarily greener on the tween and adolescent side either,
which is where I currently am. As a mom of an 11, (soon to be) 13 and (soon to be) 17 year old, summer vacation gets a little more tricky. The 17 year old doesn't really count though because 1) she can drive and entertain herself and 2) as an upcoming senior she is busy with SAT, ACT and other academic preps this summer. My two boys though? They are a different story. Like any boys their age they are slaves to the video games: computer, Xbox, Wii etc; and part of me sees the value in that--my oldest boy has developed an interesting in teaching himself coding and really learning things about computer programming etc-- and part of me knows I've created a couple of lazy monsters! But, I ask myself, what do I want them to do? When I tell them to get off the video games, what exactly is it that I want them to do instead? I mean, it is is summer vacation, right?! They've worked hard and done well, so why not just let them have a break? And I'm here to tell you there are not a lot of "Pinterest inspired" activities for this age group that don't require a trip to the hardware store, a set of complicated instructions and a huge back yard to accomplish!

I could just turn a blind eye and pretend I'm not keeping up with how long they've been on the games; but I know that in July I'll regret that, so I don't. Instead, I sit down at the beginning of the summer and come up with a weekly schedule. As they've gotten older, the schedule has changed a bit. Now, I give them a little more opportunity to be self disciplined and accountable. For example, they are required to read 5 days for 20 minutes. There are 7 days in the week...they can choose any 5 they want. I'm also a summer workbook mom. I've been buying the "Summer Bridge Activities" books since they were in kindergarten. Now, I will be the first to admit that we don't EVER complete the whole book...but we do pretty well for the first month or so of vacation. Sometimes our summer learning schedule is affected by whether we are moving in the summer since we are a military family. I'm a strong believer that learning never stops and keeping the ol' brain gears oiled a little throughout summer helps children start the school year with success and gives them the confidence they need to continue succeeding through the school year.

As for technology, that is the only area I maintain complete control of. We have two days a week when technology is not allowed; and on those days I do try to find other things for them to do to occupy their time. I have been scouring ideas and Pinterest lately and have pinned a few ideas. Make sure to follow me on Pinterest and check my board "kids and kid stuff" for all those ideas. Seriously thinking about making that gaint Jenga game!

So, I'm curious how do you handle summer vacation? Are you a no work and all play mom, an all work and no play mom or like me and a little bit of both?

Do you have fun ideas to share for ways to keep 11 and 13 year olds engaged and entertained? I would love to hear them! Leave me a comment and let me know!


I'm sharing this post with a couple of linky parties today:

1. Totally Terrific Tuesday:
2. Inspire Me Monday:
3. Turn it up Tuesday
4. Motivational Monday 

Suzy Doodle Watercolor Cards

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're having a fabulous day so far! I'm here a little late in the afternoon, to share a couple of simple but fun cards I made using these fun Watercolor Paintable Prints from Suzy Plantamura. These doodle prints are so much fun to color. I keep mine pretty simple and just use my watercolor pencils and water brushes.  You should visit Suzy's blog at Suzy Doodle to see the artist in action!
I wish I could spend more time telling you about them; but there's really not a lot to say.. I colored them in and then trimmed them just a litle so there would be a border on the card front.  

Challenges:

Anything Goes:

1. Artistic Inspirations
2. Crafting from the Heart
3. Pammies Inky Pinkies: 
4. Come and Get It.
5. Little Patch of Crafty Friends:

I hope the rest of your day is great! I will see you all again tomorrow!

Coffee House Sunday

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all have had a great week! School is officially out for the summer and I have been busy trying to find ways to keep my children happily engaged and learning for the summer because, yes...I'm THAT mom!
Anyhow, I digress. Grab your coffee and let's see what interesting things caught my eye this week out there in the Interwebs!

• Apparently there is a peak age for everything you will do in your life. I read through this list... my prospects are not promising. I hope yours are better. 

• At no age, however, is it a good idea to make cookies that end up looking like penis cookies for your son's birthday celebration! (Go ahead...click the link, you know you want to!)

• We'll just continue with the sex theme for a moment and talk about this Sex Robot that the world is apparently racing to make. The things you didn't know, right?! 

• I have recently started using a calorie counter app. Not because I think that I need to lose a lot of weight but I wanted to be more conscious of what I'm eating. There's a whole list of reasons this is a bad idea, however.

• Maybe I should incorporate more coconut oil into my life 

• Of course, I could just throw all caution to the wind and start a mission to visit the best donut shops in America, since I totally missed Naional Donut day this past week. 

• I should be using more of these 100 greatest cooking tips of all time. Not to say that I'm not using any of them...but definitely not enough. 

• I read this article about a mom who can't stand her kids sometimes; and I just wanted to put my arms around her and say, I get it...I really do. Here's a donut and a glass of wine. 

• I'd also give her this list of 15 ways parents have trolled their children for both comic relief and future inspiration. 

• Sometimes, all you want is for your baby to fall asleep and it just seems so cute to let them lay on daddy's chest on the couch.  This is bad...very bad..I never knew there was a link between SIDS and Couches.

• This article in which Prince William talks about mental illness and his mother's death is powerful and inspiring. You should go read it...right now. 

I hope your Sunday is great!