Carrie's Craft Room

You're Invited to my New Blog

2011-10-06T02:30:00.000-05:00

I have decided to redo my blog with a new name and format, you can now find me here. As much as I enjoyed Carrie's Craft room I need more structure and it's so much easier to start over than try to fix what I have. So I am sending out this invitation to join me on my new blog Carrie's Creative Home. What will be different on my new blog - well I plan on sharing more of my interests rather than just my crafts and Project Life project. Who knows I may even put together a schedule of post for each day of the week, but you won't know unless you come and visit me there. Thanks for all the support for Carrie's Craft Room and I am looking forward to my new journey at Carrie's Creative Home.

Summer Time

2011-07-31T23:58:00.000-05:00

Summer Time

Everyone who knows me knows that I love, love, love summer. There is no other time of the year that I can say I feel this way about. I love the warm weather, spending time out side and enjoying the simple things that go on around me in summer. I'm able to truly slow the pace down in my house and really enjoy being present in my life.

Summer time allows me to be an observer of our lives. I get to see my children at their stage of life and sometimes that makes me reflect back to when I was their age.

I love the fact that I scrapbook and that I can tell my stories through pictures and that one day my children can reflect on their childhood and compare them as I am doing now. I look at this picture and a flood gate of memories comes to my mind. I love that my children are sharing in the same activities I've done in my past. When I look at this picture I can see myself at her age fishing with my father. It's funny how the past repeats it's self. My daughter loved every minute of fishing with her father just as I did way back when. I love summer time so much because the everyday schedule gets thrown out the window and I am able to be present in my children's life. I love that she will have memories of going to the cottage and fishing with her dad like I had with my dad. Those times spent with my dad shaped me into the person I am today just like I know that my daughter will gain the same from her time spent with her dad too. It's nice to slow down every once in awhile and sit back and reflect on the past and to see how it's connected to the present.

Project Life - June 2011 catch up

2011-07-23T05:30:00.003-05:00

Project Life - June 2011

June was full of activities; my son's graduation party, soccer camp, our annual trip to the drive inn for father's day, visits from out of town guest, parties, swimming lessons, trips to the zoo and Morton Arboretum.

Project Life catch up

2011-07-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

Life seems to be flying so fast here in my house. I fell off the Project Life wagon back in April and I have to omit its been hard to get back on that wagon. So I'm attempting to try to catch everything up by doing it by months instead of weeks.

Project Life - May 2011

Big milestone for my son. He graduated High School and this August he will be heading out for college.

Also in May I decided to reorganize my craftroom. I added a few more shelves, a wrapping paper station, pictures, a shinny new red desk, made a shelve to hold all my copic pens, added bars to hold my punches, found an old cassette holder at Goodwill and decided to use it to hold all my ink pads but my most favorite addition to my craftroom is my mother's old sewing machine. She gave it to me because she doesn't think she will be sewing any more. This is the same machine I used to watch her make my clothes and stuff animals on when I was a kid. I am so happy she decided to pass it on to me.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some more Project Life catch ups. Until then thanks for stopping by.

Carrie

Ouch! I fell off the Project Life wagon

2011-05-23T06:41:00.004-05:00

It's been three weeks since I've been able to do my Project life. It feels like something has been missing, but I vow that I will catch up after my life gets back to normal. What's not normal in my life right now that is keeping me away from Project life is LIFE - Here at the O'Connor's house I am getting ready for the biggest milestone of my son's life high school graduation. Yup this coming up weekend my first born is walking down that aisle to receive his diploma. I've been so busy getting my house ready for the party that we are throwing him. I think as a mom that not only is this a big milestone for my son but for me as well. Anyone who has a teenager will probably say the same. I feel like I've been through a battle field (getting my son through high school and ready for college)and this weekend we both will reach the other side together in one piece. I've been in the mist of remodeling a kitchen and decorating and painting and shopping. It's been a whirl wind and I'm so exhausted truly. As this week comes to a end I guess in a way I can say my life will be back to normal.

I am so excited for my son and all he has accomplished. I am extremely proud of him and wish him good luck on his next journey in life (college). As a mom to a incredible son it's been kind of hard to loosen the grip I've had on him since he was a baby in my arms but I know in my heart I did everything I could to prepare him to go out and start his new life on his own.

I was thinking back to the time when I took him home from the hospital I can not imagine back then anyone could have prepare me for what has taken place through out his 18 years. I was advised way back then that the hardest part of being a mother is with each milestone that our children hit we as mothers we have to let a little part of them go in order for them to grow. I'm proud of where that has lead us but I am sadden by the fact that I know it's time to let a little part of him go in order for him to grow. This is one of the toughest milestones I've been through as his mom.

Big Blog candy

2011-04-28T07:35:00.003-05:00

Must see blog candy at Skip to my Lou's blog here
Today she is giving away a chance to win a Cricut Imagine. Wow this is big, big, big!

Project Life -- week sixteen

2011-04-28T02:46:00.010-05:00

Week Sixteen

This week is all about Easter. Coloring eggs, finding eggs, and let's not forget about the baskets. I have to omit it was a challenge to color the eggs this year without having a sink or counter tops in my kitchen but we made the best of it. This year the Easter bunny was very generous not only did the kids receive a basket but hubby even got one. I think he was so surprised by it. Since we did not have a kitchen that was in working order we went to my mother-in-laws for Easter dinner. It was such a nice long weekend because the kids were off the Friday before Easter and the following Monday. It was nice to spend some quality time with the family.

Project Life week fifteen

2011-04-26T00:55:00.009-05:00

Dear Counter top:

I'm not really sure how to say this but the time has come that I can't hold back my tongue any more. I want to break up with you. I think you knew that this day had to come too. To tell you the truth you really were never my type and the fact that I was force into this relationship makes me kind of resentful towards you. We both now that this relationship was never going to go on forever. So I must say good bye to you. I wish you luck at the garbage dump!

Truly
Carrie

Seriously this week was a lot of hard work. We're doing a little update in my kitchen and I'm so excited to get rid of my old counter top. This week was all about clearing out the cabinets, tearing apart the counter tops, lots of shopping for material and renting tools, but in the long run I know all this hard work will pay off when I see my new counter top. My brother and parents came over to help us tear it out and even my daughter helped to.

MIA

2011-04-20T22:39:00.002-05:00

So sorry I've been MIA but life around here has been busy. We've been working on updating our kitchen and I'm sure that anyone that has been through a kitchen remodel knows how crazy it can get and fast. Right now I've been trying to get the house ready for my son's upcoming graduation party. (Where's the time gone can't believe he is graduating HS). I've been running all around town in search of cabinet handles, the perfect bedding, frames and etc... I've also have been given my mom's sewing machine (on loan) and I've been working on some small projects. I'm in the process of making a window cushion for my DD room (Finally found the perfect fabric today at Hobby Lobby). I made travel bags for my parents for helping us rip out our counters in the kitchen. Also, I'm looking for the perfect fabric to go with the new comforter set I purchase for the master room so I can replace my curtains in there. I've been trying to hit up all the thrift shop around here to find some great accessories for my room and DD room (which always means re purposing things). In the mist of all this I made the save the date card for my son's graduation party (they turned out better than I thought they would). Another project I'm working on is a photo gallery for our up stair hallway. I've scored some awesome frames from Goodwill a few weeks back. I've also been busy redoing my craft room. Let's just say today I finally hit the wall I'm so tired that I can't even think straight so I decided to just relax and catch up on some of my favorite blogs out there. I promise once my house is back in order I'll share some pics of all my projects with you all until then hope you're having a wonderful day!

Project Life - week 14

2011-04-14T07:50:00.007-05:00

Week - Fourteen

Oh where oh where can my camera battery be ..... hmmm? This week wasn't such a good week for this project my camera battery seems to be missing, but you know me that doesn't stop me I'm a scrapbooker I find ways around camera issues. Thank god for my Iphone or else we wouldn't have any pictures this week. Week fourteen was full of fun things such as ice cream, horse back riding lessons and a trip to the park. The weather has been beautiful this week so we went out to enjoy it. Oh by the way I couldn't get the Iphone to take a good picture of my pages in the project life book so this week we will use this format. Off to find my camera battery wish me luck!

Project Life - week 13

2011-04-05T13:22:00.014-05:00

Project Life - week 13

Usually on spring break Erin and I plan out something to do each day of the week. Unfortunately, we were not able to do it this year due to my kitchen being remodeled. I had appliances and work men in and out of my house for the first part of the week. However, I just couldn't let spring break go by and not at least do something special for her so we took off to the zoo on Thurs. We had the best time together laughing, talking and just enjoying a beautiful spring day at the zoo. When my husband found out the we went to the zoo he wanted to get in on the fun so on Saturday the three of us headed to our down town area and we looked at all the shops and stopped in at the most wonderful cafe that serves nothing but deserts and chocolate (Yum). We were all excited when we stumbled upon on new toy store where we bought a really fun game. After a long day enjoying the shops we head back to the house to pick up my son and we went out to our favorite pizza place for dinner.
Then we went back home to play our new game we picked up earlier. It was such a great week family wise and I can't wait for my kitchen to be finished.

I took my new camera lens to the zoo with us to test it out. I think that I got some really good shots of Erin.

Here's Erin in one of the shops we stopped to look at furniture. Boy I fell in love with this store. It was called Restoration Hardware and it has some awesome things in there.

Quick Paper Mache Tutorial and Project Life - week twelve

2011-03-30T08:42:00.016-05:00

Project Life - week Twelve

This week is all about a project that my daughter has for school. This project was so huge that I had to call out the big guns (that's right GRANDMA!) Imagine your sweet daughter/son coming home all excited bursting to tell you all about their new project that they have to do at school. The conversation started something like this,

Daughter: "Mom Mom guess what we are going to do at school after spring break"

My response: " I don't know but by the looks of your happiness it must be something good",

Daughter: "Ya we are going to make our classroom into the rain forest and we get to pick an animal and make a presentation about the animal we choice"

My response: "Oh how exciting you love animals this sounds like something you'll be good at.

Daughter: "But I need your help"

My response: "Sure I would love to help, do you need me to help you research about different animals in the rain forest?"

Daughter: " No - I need you to help me make a animal"

My response: " Oh so you need to draw or look for pictures for this?

Daughter: "No - We each got to pick an animal and we have to make it 3-d life size.

My response: "WHAT" "

Daughter: "Guess what animal I picked?"

My response: " A frog?????"

Daughter: "No a Jaguar"

My response: "WHAT" How are we going to do that?"

Daughter: "Out of Paper Mac he"

My response: "I don't know how to do that"

Daughter: "Call grandma she'll know"

So I listened to my wise young daughter and picked up the phone and called Grandma. I begged her to come out and help us with this project and she ended up staying five days with us in order to complete this project. (thanks mom you are a life saver). So in case one of your lovely children come running up to you all excited I thought I would share with you how I tackled this project and since this project last five days and I didn't get to do much of anything else we will be included it as this week for project life.

Grandma to the rescue!

OK first I search the Internet to find a picture of Jaguar that was standing side ways and printed out on my home printer. Then I took that picture to a local copy place and had it blown up to two feet.

Then I took tracing paper and piece them together with tape, traced the jaguar and cut it out. I also made a tracing of the front and back legs too.

Then I went to Hobby Lobby and purchase a large thick poster board (my mom said it was called a pin board)

I traced the pattern onto the pin board and then cut it out using a craft knife and box cutter. Note: I cut out four legs.

Then I took a foam board and cut out four spacers.

I placed them under each leg and glued them to the body using white glue.

Then we took crumpled up newspaper and started to tape it the body and legs of the jaguar like this to fill out the body.

After all the news paper is in place on the body we taped the whole thing up so it looked like this.

Then we cut strips of paper and started to paper mac he the body. (I made my paper mac he paste with two cups of flour and two cups of water and a couple tablespoons of salt to keep mold away) We have about two layers of paper mac he strips of paper on the body. I used my old hair dryer to speed up the process. You need to wait for each layer to dry before you start the next layer.

After the body was dried, we started to paint it with craft paint that we picked up at the store.

Here is the final results. I know it doesn't look exactly like a jaguar but I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. Hopefully you guys will not have to go through such a project but just in case you do I hope this will help you. Now that it is done I done want to see any more newspaper, glue, or paint for a long time.

Project Life - week eleven

2011-03-23T12:27:00.009-05:00

Week Eleven

Okay how do I begin to tell you all about our week eleven. It's not like it was an eventful week. We didn't attend any parties, nor were we invited to the White House, nothing spectacular happened but it will go down in my books as one of the most funniest weeks this year. You see the week started off by having me accused of being a murderer. Shocking I know. It happened in the beginning of the week it was just a plain ordinary day where I was cleaning our house. I was putting laundry away and I walked passed my daughter room when something caught my eye. It was my daughter's newest addition to her fish family Bubbles laying on his back floating there. I knew right away this was not a good sign and decided I would try to spear my daughter any heart ache and tried to dispose of it (Bubbles) without her seeing. So I hurried and put the laundry down gathered her fish net and scooped Mr Bubbles into to it and ran to my daughter's bathroom. Just as I had the fish net over the toilet and the fish was falling into the toilet in walks Erin. If you only saw the total horror look on her face and she screamed "MOMMMMMMM WHAT ARE YOU DOING". I try to explain how I was trying to dispose of Mr Bubbles so that she wouldn't have to be sad to see him that way and she said to me "How else am I suppose to feel when I come in to see my own mother murdering my best fish". With that I looked down at the toilet only to find Mr. Bubbles happily swimming away in my toilet. Nothing I said would convince her that I thought he was dead and I was only trying to spear her hurt feelings. She was pretty upset with me until two hours later when the darn fish really died. I wasn't born yesterday this time I got my husband to do the dirty work. So Erin and my husband had a little funeral for Mr. Bubbles and that's the end of our excitement for this week. Other than that our week consisted of Nike +, a walking path, a nice warm spring day, some more spring cleaning and a great big moon.

Spring Cleaning continues at our house. I got rid of one whole box of Erin's books.

Even with that boxed full of books gone she still has a lot of books. What can I say she loves to read.

I decided to get out my Nike+ and give it a try. Only this time all I can do is walk since my knee still isn't 100%

Here's a look at the running (oops I mean walking) path.

This was the full moon on Saturday, it's suppose to be the biggest and brightest one since 12 years. I guess it has something to do with the fact it's closer to earth or something like that. All I know is that my daughter teacher told her kids to take a look at it and we did.

Last but not least Erin and I tried to enjoy the only 61 degree day this past week by playing in our back yard.

Until next time thanks for stopping by!

Project Life - week ten

2011-03-15T06:43:00.007-05:00

This week was all about a lizard, bleach, a camera and a school project. We took our daughter to see the movie Rango this past weekend. It was a cute but very long movie. Also, my daughter has to do book reports and with each book report she usually has a project that goes with it. This time she had to make a scene from the book in a shoe box. I thought she did a good job. The book she wrote about was "Kirsten goes to America" and she made a scene of the inside of what her cabin would look like. She took Popsicle sticks and took off the rounded edges than colored each one brown to represent the wood floor they had. Then she asked me to take her to Hobby Lobby so she could get furniture. I think the curtains that she made were adorable. She got a "A" on the project. As for me this week I am in the mist of spring cleaning. This week a got three rooms done including the master room linen closet. I am doing way better this year on my spring cleaning because last year I just didn't do it. I was sick on and off last year so I was in survival mode, but not this year I'm 100% and I'm getting things done around here. I had some time so I took out my Nikon and started to experiment with it. I'm learning a lot about my camera but it is a slow process.

Here's me experimenting with the Nikon. I decided to shoot in the raw and I like the results so much.

This is my daughters scene that she made for her book report. See the wooden floor isn't it amazing

You can tell the weather is changing around here by how long the car line is at my daughters elementary school. Usually in the winter months this line is twice as long.

It feels so good to get some of my spring cleaning done. I love making empty spaces. So far four huge garbage bags have left the house due to this cleaning. Can I get a "GO, Carrie"!

Project life - week nine

2011-03-07T23:25:00.006-06:00

I love the ordinary, typical,boring week. Wish we had more of them. It seems that our life are getting busier and busier that it's hard to stop and really enjoy just the everyday of life. This why I am so thankful for Project Life. It makes you focus on the daily routines and every day life. It let's you live in the moment and document that moment. I'm so happy I decided to participate in Project Life.

A quick picture of the family prior to leaving for a dinner out.

Life here on Eliot lane this week was anything but exciting and that's the way I love it.

I could probable take this picture 100 times. This is Erin's room she is always playing with her animals and always creating something where she has to cut up paper. Once this mess is cleaned up another mess that looks just like this one would take it's place.

What a wonderful boring week we had here. Until next time thanks for stopping by.

Project Life week eight

2011-03-01T05:30:00.008-06:00

Project Life - week eight

This week I have decided to change things up a little. Instead of taking a picture a day this past week I decided to use the picures that were taken at the begin of this week which was of my birthday party with my parents and brother. Also, I used two of Ali Edwards overlay templates Story Overlays 6x4 Journalers Value Pack and Evidence 4x6 Overlay Collection. You can find them here.

I decided to cut up the overlay template and only use the words here.

We all look tired in this picture, it's been a long week for all of us

This was such a nice birthday this year.

Life is good - when you slow down and take the time to enjoy it for what it is. Until next time thanks for stopping by.

Project Life - week severn

2011-02-22T08:17:00.006-06:00

Project Life - week seven

Lots of celebrating going on this week. The week started out with Valentines day. Tons of chocolate have found their way into my home (not the best thing to have around when you are trying to lose weight). We also celebrated the results from my PET/scan that I had done the following week. I got an early birthday present on Thursday results NORMAL! Then we ended the week on Friday by celebrating my #*th birthday. My workaholic hubby surprised me and took the whole day off of work to spend time with little ole me. We took the kids to school then went out and bought a new lens for my Nikon (55mm-200mm Nikon lens ya baby) I was so thrilled but that wasn't the only surprise he had in store for me after we left Best Buy he said he need to stop into a Verizon store to see if someone could help him remove the cookies on his blackberry phone. While in the store he bought me a IPhone (wow wasn't expecting that at all what a great surprise). Then we went out to lunch and then back home. What a great day it isn't everyday that my hubby takes off and he really made me feel so special that day. I'm so blessed to have the family I have.

First page

second page - I thought I would included all the Valentines cards and my birthday cards

Third page This is the card I made my hubby for Valentines

Fourth page

I included my birthday card my dd made me.

I bought Cathy Zielske's Stories Guides from Designer Digital this week and I could not wait to sit down and interview my dd. We also had a little import to photo shoot so we could use recent pictures on this lay out.

We went to Flat Top restaurant to celebrate my birthday and yes my husband did the unthinkable and told the wait staff it was my birthday and they came over and helped my family sing Happy Birthday to me (WHY? do people feel the need to do that)?

Loving Stories Guides from Cathy Zielske's

2011-02-18T08:02:00.006-06:00

I absolutely love Cathy Z's Stories Guides template. It was so fun interviewing my daughter. I found out a couple new things about her in the process. Here is the digital version of this layout. I will be changing it when I print it out to be a hybrid page.

Project Life - week six

2011-02-15T05:30:00.000-06:00

Looks like this week is all about my daughter's Valentine party that was held on Friday the 11th. In the beginning of the week it was all about preparation for the party. There was valentines to be filled out and boxes to be made to hold the valentines that she would be receiving and pictures of pets for a project that they are doing at the party. The end of the week didn't turn out as planned. I was supposed to be the room party running the party on Friday, however, I had to go in for a PET/scan and was injected with radiation so I was advised it wouldn't be a good thing for me to attend the party as it could be harmful to the children. I was really bummed I was really looking forward to being there. I had to be at least three feet away from any child including my own for 12 hours. So it was really tough not to get my daily dose of hugs from my daughter that day. Thank goodness that my brother decided to drop in and he was a big help taking care of my daughter for me.

Here is my daughter busy little bee filling out her Valentines.

I had to take about 16 pictures of my daughter and Brie. I was almost about to give up when the dog layed down on the floor right next to my daughter and look straight in the camera.

Our family is stilling looking for a new church. We checked out another church this weekend. My Sister-in-law and brother-in-law go there. It ways very nice but it was also super far away from our house it took us 45 minutes to get there. Wish it was closer, but I think we are on the right path

Hope everyone enjoyed their Valentines Day - until next time thanks for stopping by.

Happy Valentine Day Babe, Here's to celebrating us!

2011-02-14T06:45:00.005-06:00

Happy Valentine Day Honey

Things that I love about my hubby

I love that he is such a great father. The kids can't get enough of his time and they know when he is paying attention to them that his sole attention is just on them. He is always willing to hop in and help with the kids cooking, doing homework,finding out what they love and encouraging them to do it. I very much appreciate that even if I don't always tell him so.

I love that our relationship started off as friends and til this day I consider him my best friend. The one I run to - to tell all my secrets.

I love that after all these years that I can honestly say when I look at my husband he still gives me that tingle in my tummy.

I love that he is such a hard worker and such a great provider for our family. He is willing to do whatever it takes to take care of all of us.

I love how he is so caring and that no matter what happens if he takes the time to care about someone you can do no wrong in his eyes.

I love how loyal he is and how when he tells someone he'll be there that he does just that whole heartily.

I love his dry sense of humor and the fact that he doesn't mind my sarcastic humor.

I love that he truly let's me be the me I want to be. The way he encourages me in whatever adventures I get involved. He is always there rooting me on and telling me I can do things that even I don't think are possible to do.

Happy Valentine Day. I must add that this idea to do this post was not my idea, I saw one of my favorite blogs do this and said to myself how wonderful is this. So thanks to Clover Lane blog.

Project Life - week five

2011-02-07T22:41:00.006-06:00

Week Five

Boy what a week we had last week. The blizzard that came through was ranked the third in the top ten blizzards of Chicago. After all was said and done we got 20.2 inches of snow. It was a tough week with the snow. It took all of us an hour and a half just to clear off our drive way (let's just say our drive way isn't that big it usually only takes 15 mins. tops to clear it normally). The kids loved it they got two days off of school because of the blizzard. My daughter has three snow forts that are taller than her in our back yard. We had to shovel a path for our dog so she could go outside because she would of been lost in the snow if we didn't. To be totally honest it felt kind of like a mini vacation having everyone home. I was sorry to see them all go back to work and school.

This is the first week of my Project life book that I had to use an extra sheet protector in order to get all the photos in. I could of probably use one more but I tried to use an editing eye and cut back the number of pictures to put in the book.

Remember when I said last week I can't wait to see what next week brings? Well you are not going to see me type those words again until spring (hee hee). Until next week, thanks for stopping by.

Snow Day - Blizzard 2011

2011-02-01T21:35:00.004-06:00

Wow it's a really blizzard. They kept saying it was coming but I really don't think I believed it. Here is a peak through the day. The first picture is when it started to snow and the second picture is when the wind started to kick up. Right now as I look out the window it's hard for me to see my neighbor across the streets house. It's hard to tell if we are really getting as much snow as they said we will be getting cause the wind is blowing so hard (is it fresh snow or the wind blowing around snow we already had?) These pictures will definitely be in my Project Life album. The schools have been closed, roads have been closed and this is just the beginning we still have to see what tomorrow weather will bring. Looks like there will be some quality time with the family tomorrow.

Before taken around 3:00 p.m this afternoon.

During

After

Took an hour and a half to dig out the drive way and sidewalk.

A view from our kitchen door

Snow was embedded into our windows

Project Life - week four

2011-02-01T06:30:00.007-06:00

Week Four

Week four had a lot of family time in stored for us. My husband's nephew and his family came in from California. We helped them celebrate their daughters first birthday. Where does the time go? Speaking of celebrating birthday's we also celebrate my brother's wife birthday and my birthday. Lots of family time going on this week.

My daughter got her report this week too. Almost all straight A's except for her social study class which she received a "B" Very impressive. This is the first year that she is actually receiving letter grades like A - F, instead of S, U. She feels so grown up. I over heard her tell her brother that she has big kids grading system now.

Also I was doing my happy dance a couple times this week because my Gypsy finally arrived. I had gotten one for Christmas but when I turned it on it did not work so had to shipped back for a replacement. As if that wasn't enough to make my scrapbooker's heart sing a day later my Ali Edward stamp sets came.

I just love Ali Edward's stamps they are so versatile. I can use them while making cards and they are so great for scrap booking. Also you can mix and match her sets together. Love, love, love these stamps.

I was so hesitant to turn it on afraid that this one to would not work, but look it works, it works. All I have to say is hello craft room here I come.

Can't wait to see what next weeks brings. Until then thanks for stopping by.

Simple Stories

2011-01-28T14:20:00.007-06:00

Simple Stories

Been I busy little bee today. I decided to sort all of my 2010 pictures and get them ready to scrap. Lately, I've been using Becky Higgins Project Life for my 2011 pictures and I am loving it, but I wanted to change it up a little for my 2010 pics and decided to try Simple Stories Document Life from Archivers. To tell you the truth I think once you have tried Becky Higgins product you'll never want to use anything else. Simple Stories just doesn't have the bang for the buck like Project Life. They don't give you as much product which makes it hard to do a whole years worth of photo's. So I decided I would mix and match with the supplies I already have. Here is a peek of the beginning of 2010 album using Simple Stories.

This is my first page of the album, which I'm not to happy with. I like the page itself but not for the opening page, so I will have to try to come up with a opening page.

This was January 2010, my daughter just loves to play in the snow and she always has her buddy Brie come out an play with her.

This is one of the pages that I used my own supplies that I already had in the house. I used DCWV Linen Closet paper, craft paper and a cream card stock. The embellishments are from K&Co.

I just love my daughter silly ways, when ever I'm in a serious mood (that's what my daughter calls it, I call it just plan old being busy around the house)she always tries to put a smile on my face or to crack me up. I hope she always keeps that sense of humor.

I'm also planning on using some hybrid pages in this book (sense they don't give you a lot of product). I've been looking at Ali Edward's gallery of her pages and I would love to try it her way. I also like Cathy Zielske's pages to. Looks like I should head over to Designer Digital to get me some of their products.

Well until next time - Thanks for stopping by

Project Life - Weeks two and three

2011-01-25T03:55:00.012-06:00

Week Three - Hello Sunshine

This was a very exciting week for my dd she got her very own fish tank and two gold fish. My daughter isn't happy unless she is taking care of an animal. She said, she's going to be a vet and I have to say I truly believe she will. Oh by the way she named her fishes Sunshine and Cale co

We also had one of the coldest days this week (-4 degree and adding the wind chill it was -10) Days like these makes me wonder why the heck to I live here in the midwest. That is crazy cold.

Week Two - Good-bye Christmas

Saying good-bye to Christmas. Well Christmas has finally left the building this week. DD and Dad went to the finally christmas party (the breaking of the ginger bread houses party). This is an annual party that is thrown for the kids every years. Everyone brings their houses to the party and we have a contest to see who can destroy the house the fastest. The kids love this party and we get to get rid of the gingerbread house, so it's a win win for everyone. I'm so glad my husband's aunt came up this idea years ago.

We were also dealing with sick kids this week. It seems like every year this is a reoccurring theme around here the week or two after Christmas my kids get back to school only to come down with some kind of illness.

Project Life - week one

2011-01-19T02:31:00.005-06:00

I've decided that each Tuesday I will be sharing with you my Project Life pictures for that week. I'm a little behind since we are presently in the third week but not to worry week two is finished just needs to have picture taken of it, so next Tuesday I will share it with you for now here's week one.

Well my first week using Project Life is finished. I am just lovin this process, it's so easy to follow. I am embracing Ali Edwards philosophy of letting go of perfection. Not all my pictures are perfect and that's okay the main point I'm documenting our life. Here is a sneak peek of week one:

Notes about the project so far:

- I observed that sometimes it's okay that the picture doesn't match what the journaling says.

- I think I am going to start to add pages with some of the memorabilia (i.e. invitations to parties, movie tickets, etc.)

- If I get a great shot I think I may blow up the picture and use it on it's own page or if it takes two or more pictures to convey a story I will use it's own page.

Project Life

2011-01-02T21:27:00.002-06:00

Yea my Project Life kit came. It was on my door step on Friday afternoon. It was a good thing that we left for the cottage late, because it was raining on Friday. Just before we were ready to leave I heard the doorbell and I peeked through the window and saw what I like to say the smiley face box (basically a Amazon box). Tonight I put it all together and I even added my first two pictures and journal cards. I just know that this is going to change the way I think about scrapbooking. It seems so simply and non chaotic too. I have to figure a way to share my pics that I'm putting in my album with you. I don't want to bombard you with pictures every day. Well Happy New Year Peeps! Until next time thanks for stopping by.

Catching up on December Daily

2010-12-21T05:28:00.006-06:00

I forgot to take pictures of the journaling for some of these pages, I just wanted to get this pages posted. It's getting busy around here!

December 17th

December 18th

December 19

December 20th

December 16 - December Daily

2010-12-18T11:43:00.004-06:00

December 16th

Oh no what's that elf up to now? I don't know about other people but our elf is so full of mischievous it hard to keep up with him. Today, Patrick played hide and seek with you. It took you so long to find him that he decided to play uno with his pal Ernie.

December 15th - December Daily

2010-12-16T13:14:00.004-06:00

December 15th

Hallmark ornaments played a big part of my Christmas while I was growing up. At first I was giving ornaments to my mother who started collecting them while I was young. That was the gift my dad would pick out and say it was from me. As I got older I eventually started to pick them out on my own for my mother. Then I started to collect them when I was a teenager for myself. I continued to collect them even after I got married until today. Since this was such a big part of my memory of Christmas I knew I wanted my children to have a collection of their own too. I started each of their collections when they were born. I think I even started Erin's prior to her birth (silly me).

December 14th - December Daily

2010-12-15T07:44:00.002-06:00

December 14th

Yesterday, I was walking by Erin's room when I stumbled upon this note to Santa. We have an elf visiting our home this year and this elf is super mischievous. For instance Patrick (the elf) decide to disappear for two days which made Erin very worried about him. When he finally showed up again he had a note saying he went to downtown Chicago to see all the pretty lights. The note for Santa says:

Dear Santa

We found Patrick!! Yippee!!!! I found him with a note, it said sorry I scared you I went to look at the city lights. P.S. Can I ask you if my cousin is on the naughty or good list. I'd like you to give her a present.

Erin

The note brought a smile to my face. The picture above this note is the one we used for this year's Christmas card. It isn't easy to get these two together for a long period of time so I'm just so glad I have at least one.

December 13th - December Daily

2010-12-14T07:38:00.005-06:00

December 13

Mommy's little helper. Lately you have been so interested in cooking and when I pulled out the Nestle chips you were so excited. Every time I see you on that chair next to the counter it makes me remember back when I was your age doing the same thing with my mom. For this batch of cookies you pretty much did all the work yourself including cracking the eggs (which I would like to say you did a very nice job doing it). I guess now we can add baker to your list of many talents.

December 12th - December Daily

2010-12-13T17:56:00.004-06:00

December 12

This year I finally convenience my husband to decorate the outside of the house while the weather was still bearable. So he and the kids put up the decoration the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. It's a good thing because he would of normally have done it this past weekend and we got two inches of snow and the winds are at 45 mph and the temperature is below o with the wind chill. I guess you can say this was another told ya so honey moment.

December 11 - December Daily

2010-12-11T23:49:00.004-06:00

December 11th

What a great family day we had today. Not only did we have a lot of fun the whole day but we received great news. My son received his acceptance letter to the University he really wanted to attend. My husband and I are so proud of him and extremely excited for him.

We finally put up our second Christmas tree in the basement. After putting the Christmas tree up we all watch the movie "The Christmas Carol" my favorite one with George C Scott playing Scrooge. After watching the movie my husband and I held a little Christmas tree camp out for Erin. We got our sleeping bags out and placed them by the Christmas tree then we made a fire in our fireplace and we toasted some marshmallows and made smores. When we were all stuffed from the smores we played a couple of rounds of Christmas Charades. Erin was really a good guesser. Then it was time to go to sleep but before we went to sleep Erin read us "The First Christmas" story from her new Christmas book. Then it was lights out except for the Christmas tree lights they stayed on. All in all we had a great family day!

December 7th and 10th - December Daily

2010-12-10T07:53:00.004-06:00

December 7th
The list - the never ending list. Now a days all it seems like is that I am constantly writing out list. Buy wrapping, pick this up at the store, don't forget this. However, the one thing I like about lists is when you can cross off things that you've done. What a feel of accomplishment (well for a short while until the next list comes along).

December 10th
I love gifts, I love wrapping gifts and nothing says Christmas more to me than wrapping paper. I don't know if it's the scrapper inside of me but I just love to pick out the perfect wrapping paper for each gift. I know there are a lot of people out there that thinks this is a waste but for me it gives me so much joy to make a gift look special. I understand the other side point of view on how wasteful and harmful it is that's why I try to buy recycle paper or make my own. but when it comes down to it, it's just something I'm not willing to give into yet.

December 9th - December Daily

2010-12-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

Our traditions
- Spending time with Family
- Opening Christmas presents with Grandma and Grandpa
- Opening presents on Christmas morning
- Big Christmas Dinner at our house
- Ginger bread houses
- Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Christmas Day
- Exchanging cookies
- Grab bag gifts

December 8th - December Daily

2010-12-09T13:13:00.003-06:00

I am still gather items to finish my December 7th page, but here is a peek at December 8th pages

Catching up - Day 4, 5 and 6 December Daily

2010-12-08T05:39:00.004-06:00

A quick little post. I really fell behind in my December Daily with trying to keep up the house and shopping but as of tonight I am all caught up. Here is a sneak peak of day four, five and six.

December Daily - December 2nd

2010-12-05T00:56:00.004-06:00

I had a visitor that stay with me this past week so I wasn't really able to work on my December daily album like I wanted but it's okay because I really got to enjoy my company. It was my mom she came to stay with me and she helped decorate the house for Christmas. She just got a new kitten so needless to say her house is not going to be all deck out this year because of the kitty. So she really enjoyed helping us decorate. I'm kind of working out of order because I'm trying to catch up but after tonight I think I will be all caught up.

December 2nd

Oh the weather outside - Wow did the snow fall last night we got a few inches. The first snowfall of the year. It looks so pretty outside I just love the feeling I get when it snows it gets me into the holiday spirit. I had to put on the Christmas music while out doing my errands today.

December 3rd - December Daily Journal

2010-12-04T09:25:00.004-06:00

I would love to thank Ali Edwards in person for giving me the inspiration to create this advent calendar this year. I only wish that I would of done it earlier. Every morning Erin gets up and opens a new envelope on the advent calendar to find out what she is doing that day. Then she goes to the Advent Calendar special box in the living room to see if there is anything in there to help her accomplish her activity. (for ie today she found a brand new Christmas book which helped her carry out her activity). She loves this advent calendar and I love to see the big smiles each day.

What a sweet memory, Erin open the advent calendar today to find she had to read a Christmas story to someone special. Her grandmother was so honored that she picked her to read 'Twas the Night before Christmas" story to her. It is so nice that we started this new tradition of an advent calendar that Erin can interact with. I see so many possibilities for great memories.

Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying...

2010-12-03T18:47:00.000-06:00

Saw this on K Werner's facebook today too cute!

December Daily - December 1st page

2010-12-02T23:07:00.003-06:00

December 1st Daily journal .....

The advent calendars were the main topic of our house today, We have three of them all together (two store bought advent calendars and one home-made calender). In the home-made calendar I put different activities for my daughter to do each day. December 1st she was introduced to her elf. She received a letter from Santa explaining why the elf was there and he also warned her that her elf was very mischievous and he wasn't lying either. The first day he dumb out my daughter pj drawer into the middle of her bedroom floor. You would think that would get my daughter upset seeing that she had to clean up after this elf's mess but no she just said he can't help himself mom. I also finished up decorating the house with my mother who is here visiting us.

December 1st

2010-12-01T23:37:00.003-06:00

Have camera will take pictures is my motto today. I have a visitor today, so I have not worked on my December daily album or my Journal Your Christmas today. I did do the journaling part of the assignment for JYC but will add pics for December Daily on the weekend. So until then thanks for stopping by.

Yea December 1st

2010-11-30T21:50:00.005-06:00

I've been counting the days down until I can start my December Daily Journal and tomorrow is the day. The last couple of days I've been so busy cleaning my house and decorating it so I have time to put a side for my journal. I also have been working on an advent calendar for my dd. I have adapted it from the one that Ali Edward shows on her website. Instead of cutting out squares I decided to buy a kit from Minds eye that uses envelopes and I also used Ali's December overlays in order to write out different activities for my daughter to do each day of December. Here's a sneak peak

December Daily 2010

2010-11-23T11:11:00.003-06:00

As you know I have decided to do a December Daily Album this year. I am so excited and I have my foundation pages all finished and can't wait to start this project. I would like for this album to tell the story of our families traditions and views of Christmas so that my children can have this to look back on. Since I do not consider myself to be a very good writer I decided to seek help with this project and signed up for an on-line class called "Journaling Your Christmas"> it's a class that gives you prompts to write about for each day of December. A long with the prompts you are given examples of how other's in the class have taken their journaling along with there pictures and made pages to go into their albums. The class begins on Dec. 1st and she gives you digital downloads of journaling pages along with digital quick pages for your pictures. If you have a chance you should check out the class.

Catching up

2010-11-23T10:41:00.004-06:00

BLACK BOARD PROJECT

My daughter decided to make her own blackboard for her bedroom. We went out and bought her a picture frame. The one here was in Hobby Lobby's clearance and we paid only $2. First we took the glass out of the frame and painted it pink to coordinate with her bedroom.

Next my daughter added some bling to her project and added some glitter to her frame. I think I might of startled her look at those eyes hee hee.

While the paint was drying on the frame we painted the glass with chalkboard paint

After the paint had all dryed we put it all back together. Notes about this project. I wish I didn't let her use the glitter. I was cleaning it up for days. However the plus side to this project is my daughter loves it. She write notes to reminder what she needs for school and things that she wants to do.

Update on Projects

2010-11-12T00:07:00.003-06:00

I've been so productive this week I can cross a lot of the projects that I listed early on my blog. Let's see

A Month in a Life book - done
Big chalk board - done
Christmas cards - in progress
Etching glass - in progress
Basket of goodies (well I bought the goodies does that count as in progress)

I've also added some projects to my list like always

A small framed chalk board for my daughters room
Two foam house kits that I bought from Michael's put together
Wrapping paper organizer (which I made myself)

I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet but I plan on doing that tomorrow or Saturday so I promise I will post them here as soon as they are ready.

Now it's time to come up with some more interesting projects list. Stay tuned Carrie's madness has just begun.

A Month in a life - Completed!

2010-11-01T07:44:00.004-05:00

With yesterday begin October 31st that marked the end of my Month in a life project. How fun was it that it ended on Halloween. I loved doing this project and can't wait to do another project like this. Some notes about the project. It was fun working with Photoshop Elements to add some journaling to my pages. It wasn't easy coming up a good picture everyday. Next time I think it would be better if I thought out what it is I wanted to really capture with this project. I think I am going to definitely used a different type of page protector. I used American Craft and it was fine for this project but I think I would like to used We R Memory Keepers page protectors. to give my project more variety. All in all I am really pleased how it turned out. Until next time!!

List of Projects are growing

2010-10-19T09:47:00.005-05:00

Why do I do this to myself. It's seems enviable around this time every year I load myself up with projects. I don't know maybe it has something to do with the colder weather on it's way but any ways I always find myself in the same predicament. That predicament is that I run out and buy all this materials with good attention of using them on my projects then never using them. This year I want to be one of those crafter's that get all of the things done that they set out to do. So to hold myself accountable for my shopping actions I will now attempt to put together a list of all the projects(Who am I kidding this is only going to be a partial list, if my husband found out the really truth I would have to relocate and I don't see that happening any time soon) that I want to do and that I have already purchase materials too.

1. I want to make a huge chalk board like I seen here

2. December Daily photo book here

3. Etch glass using my Cricut like here

4. Make Christmas cards like these I've already attended the class.

5.Finish my "A Month in a Life" photo book

6. Make a basket of goodies for teacher Christmas gift.

So there you have a partial list of all my good attentions for this year. As you can see my partial list here is getting long. I just don't have the heart to continue listing the projects that I have in mind plus I think my fingers would definitely start to cramp up from all the typing that would need be done - so I will end it here and just state my little oath to myself

I Carrie pinkie swear that I will accomplish all of my goals listed above or else I will turn in my crafty card. Hopefully this will help me be accountable this year. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day out there!

December Daily 2010 Pictures

2010-10-19T00:15:00.005-05:00

The December Daily book is moving along very slowly, put so far I have put together five of the day pages. Here is just a small peek at them:

This is the cover of the book, I used a suede paper from Hot Off the Press and a Annie Griffin 3-D sticker.

For the first day page I used Teresa Collin Noel paper and tag along with another Annie Griffin 3-D sticker. I placed the 3-D sticker on one of Teresa Collins tags then I added to a transparency.

For this page again I used Teresa Collins Noel paper along with K&I sticker and a clear transparency.

Stay tuned for more pages. Until next time thanks for stopping by.

December Daily update

2010-10-17T18:35:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update on my December Daily album. I received my Teresa Collins paper kit (it so cute!). I have started putting the foundation together tonight. I didn't have time to take any pictures but I plan on doing that when the kids are in school tomorrow. I am really enjoying putting this book together. I usually am not good at journaling on my scrap pages, however, I think this book is going to be easier to journal. You just have to remember you are telling a story with each picture that you are placing in the book. (should be easy right?) Well until tomorrow have a wonderful Sunday.

December Daily 2010

2010-10-15T08:14:00.004-05:00

Every year I've loved reading Ali Edwards' December Daily project posts... and every year I wish that I was playing along. Well no more reading and wishing... this year I'm jumping in and making my own! I have already started gathering my materials for this project. I went with Teresa Collins Noel paper kit. I ordered it at the beginning of this week so I can't wait to see it in person. As Ali said in her post the hardest part of this project is picking out the right album for this project. I thought I would try American Craft (Modern) 8 x 8 album. That way I can tweak the cover the way I want it. I'm so excited to finally be able to participate in this project and can't wait until my paper gets here to start putting it all together.

I've also been working on a project that I adapted from Ali Edwards A week in a life project. Instead of a week I thought I would do a month. That way I will be on a schedule for taking pictures daily so when I dive into the December Daily it will be like second nature to me. Here is a little sample of my a Month in a life project.

I don't know about all of you but I'm getting a little tired of the daily lunch routine already. It's so hard to be creative to make a healthy lunch for a picky eater. I think I will spend some time on the web searching for more lunch ideas today.

The boys in our house went away this past weekend on a fishing trip. Erin and I had fun going to garage sales in the neighborhood. She really impressed me with this find. Can you believe she got this for only $20 it is a really sturdy chair and it was in perfect condition so we couldn't pass this one up. Erin and I had a great weekend doing all our girlie stuff while the boys were away. I just love this annual trip they do because Erin and I go crazy doing craft projects and girlie stuff.

Well thanks for stopping bye today until next time see ya later.

Fall is in the air

2010-10-06T14:33:00.005-05:00

I woke up to a cold house this morning. You can tell that fall is in the air. So I thought to myself while laying in bed what's the plan for today and here is what I came up with.

Now the house has the warm comfy feeling with the smell of baked apple pie. Don't you just love the fall. There has been times that I thought wouldn't it be nice to live someplace that it's warm all year round then it's times like these that I'm thankful that I'm a Midwestern Girl. I would miss not seeing all the seasons (even though I'm not a big fan of winter it is so pretty to see).

Speaking of fall it's that time in our subdivision that we hold our annual garage sale. Thank god we have these I think it gives me a deadline to clean out my closest and storage room.

Getting things ready for garage sale.

Until next time thanks for stopping by

A Weekend at the Cottage Apple and Pumpkin Picking

2010-10-04T16:53:00.009-05:00

What a great weekend with the family. Decided to head up to the Cottage in Wisconsin with the rest of the family to do some apple picking and pumpkin picking. The sky was so weird that day. It was almost as if the clouds where so close to the ground but it made for a pretty picture. The kids enjoyed it so much too. Here are a few a the pics from my weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Time Together

2010-09-29T12:18:00.004-05:00

Here is my layout from lesson three of Jessica Sprague's online class for Photo Shop Elements called "Up and Running". I just loved putting this layout together and learn so much from this lesson. I have one more lesson left and then I'm on my own. Who am I kidding I fell in love with this online class that Jessica has that I want to take more. Can't say enough on how it has made a difference with my understanding the PSE program better. It's so worth the time and money that I have put out.

On to an update of the old craft room redo. I have finally finished sorting and organizing my paper, I also finished my stickers, embellishments and ribbons now it's onto paints and ink. I'm almost half way done and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I forgot to mention that about a month ago I went to my local thrift store here in town and I found an old wooden cassette holder for a whopping two dollars. I plan to use that to hold all my ink pads. I haven't decided if I should embellish it or leave as I found it yet but I will take some picture of the room once I'm done and include a picture of that. I can't wait until I'm done with this redo. I know that I will like this set up way better then my last set up because I've taken the time to label everything. What a concept that labeling things would actually make my life easier who would of thunk it??? Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

5 Things I love

2010-09-21T17:06:00.005-05:00

Here is a layout that I finished from Jessica Sprague lessons that I have been taken online. I just love this program even more now. There is so much you can do with it the possibilities are endless. PSE + PHOTOS = HAPPY CARRIE! Thanks for stopping by.

Mommy's Little Helper

2010-09-15T00:02:00.004-05:00

For the longest time I have been looking for classes on Photo Shop Elements and today I have found one. I was surfing the Internet earlier today and stumbled upon Jessica Sprague blog. I was so excited that she was offering on line classes for PSE that I signed up for one of her classes and before I knew I was creating this page below. She makes it sounds so simple to do (and you know what it is thanks to Jessica). I was able to pull of this page within 15 minutes of watching my first lesson. If you are interested in checking out Jessica's blog just clink on my title and you will be directed to her blog.

I call for a do over!

2010-09-12T22:20:00.003-05:00

I had such a great day today, took my DH and DD to Choo, Choo Johny's for lunch. DD got a kick out of her food being delivered by a train. Cute restaurant if you have little kids. Then Hubby and me took our daughter to Color Me Mine. A local pottery place. This was the first time my husband did anything like this and he was such a good sport about it. I think he trying to earn Father of the year points with my daughter. My daughter painted a horse, hubby painted a skull and I painted a pumpkin. We get to pick up them on Friday. I will try to remember to take a picture of our creations.

Lately, I've been getting more of an opportunity to scrapbook. It's about time too because I'm so far behind on my scrapping it's not even funny, but I noticed last night when I was scrapping for my DD book I was having trouble finding coordinating papers. So hence my craft room re-do. I spent most of tonight sorting out my card stock and pattern paper and it's not even half way done. (guess I like paper more than I thought). I have to say it looks like a bomb went off in my craft room right now. Last night I spent an hour or so looking for better ways to store my paper and I read a lot of articles on paper systems. I have to say there is so many ways that your head can spin off. At the end of all my research I just decided to use the RAINBOW method (sorting by color then sort by theme). Hopefully that will help with my frustration of finding papers that go together. I was going to take pictures of the steps I will be taking to re-do my craft room and decided I would spare all of you and just post the finish project. I ordered some storage from a couple of my favorite stores last night and I can't wait for them to come in so I can finish this project.

If you have any tips about organizing your craft room I would love to hear them leave me a message. Well it's getting late and the kids have school tomorrow so I am off to dream land thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday!!!!

2010-09-03T14:52:00.004-05:00

I hate to admit it but it's so nice that the kids are back in school. I was able to play in my craft room today. This weekend we are celebrating my hubby's birthday. I made the following cards for him. (It's so hard to design a card for a guy but this was my best attempt). I also made him a little surprise it's a cupcake that holds a gift card. I was surfing the Internet and came across it on Tresa Black's blog. I think it turned out good.

I'm Back

2010-08-22T11:20:00.013-05:00

I'm back!! We had such a great time on our Disney Vacation. I must have gained at least two pounds which wasn't really needed from all the great food at Disney. We celebrated a couple mile stones when we were there. Erin rode her very first roller coaster! She picked Thunder Mountain in the Magic Kingdom to be her first. We also celebrated our anniversary out there. (Yup twenty-one years with my best friend). I hated to leave Disney it was so much fun, but we plan on returning again just not in August!

OFF TO EXPO

We came home from Disney on Friday night so that I could attend the Scrap Book Expo in St. Charles, Illinois. I got in late Friday because our plane was delayed. By the time we got home and all settled in it was 3:00 a.m. in the morning. (Yikes) I got up really early and flew out the door headed to the Expo for some classes, shopping and cropping. What a great day it was! (I just wish I had gotten more sleep).

This was the free gifts that I received for attending the Expo and the Crop. The first is a pack of black and white elegant paper and the second pack is from Cosmo Cricket. Which had some cute back to school papers in it.

I took three classes that day and the picture above was the left over papers from the SEI class I took. They were so generous with their supplies, plus they gave us a 40% discount coupon to shop at the exhibit.

My second class was also held by SEI and the picture above is the left over supplies I had. I could make another six pages with the left overs. (as I mentioned they were very generous with their supplies) They also had a lot of prizes they handed out and a few give aways. I was amazed on how much product they handed out to us for free.

The above picture is a sheet of stickers they gave out at the SEI class. I was just so amazed I'm definitely attending their classes next year.

In the this picture above is a stamp set from Cosmo Cricket it was one of the door prizes hand out at the crop along with that pack of paper I showed earlier.

Here are a few of the pages I made in class and at the crop.

Wow, now that I have time to sit here and think back I had one busy, hectic, fun filled summers this year. Now it is time to get the kids ready to go back to school. I welcome a schedule again but I'm not to thrilled about making lunches again. Hopefully once we all get back on a schedule I will have more time to devote to crafting. I have a few projects that I've been thinking about doing. Until next time thanks for stopping by!

Where is time going?????

2010-07-25T12:39:00.004-05:00
Where did the time go. I can't believe my DS son is in his last year of H.S. Lately, we've been doing a few road trips touring state universities. Geez this has been one busy summer and the end isn't even close. We still have a few more colleges to visit, our family vacation to go on, not to mention it's time to think about getting the kids ready for school and then there is CHA and Scrap Expo coming to town to. What is a girl to do? With all of the above mentioned activities going on it's no wonder why I couldn't find my way to my craft room. I can't wait until things settle down around here, I have so many pictures I have to scrap and there is so many projects that I want to try. Not to mention I have a lot of new stamps that I haven't even opened. I don't want you to think I'm complaining because I love to stay busy but this has been a world wind ride I have been on and I just needed to reflect back on it.

Inked Inspirations Blog Candy

2010-07-08T06:54:00.002-05:00
Today I would like to wish when of my favorite blogger's a Happy Birthday! You must stop what you are doing right now and head over to her blog (just click on my the title and you will be linked to her blog), because this girl really knows how to celebrate. She is giving away a lot of great prizes. Until next time thanks for the visit.

Havin some Summer Fun

2010-07-01T09:09:00.004-05:00
Just thought I would share some more things that I've been up to. Doesn't this look like a bunch of fun, dd is having a great summer so far and I'm gather or should I say piling up memories to scrap.

Blog Make Over

2010-07-01T02:16:00.003-05:00
Wow this summer has been truly busy my friends. I haven't had much time to spend in my craft room lately but I am slowly but surely making over my blog this week. At least that way I feel like I'm doing something creative. I hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as my family is. Back soon with some more changes.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T08:15:00.006-05:00
Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Fathers out there today. At the O'Connor household we have decided to make it a weekend celebration. Last night my daughter and I took my husband to the drive inn movies. What a great summer night for a movie, of course my daughter was the one who picked the movie we went to see and she picked Toy Story 3 and Karate Kid. Today, we plan to do a cook out for him today. My dd just got done taking a cooking camp last week and she plans on making her daddy some home made lemonade. I hope the weather holds out for us like it did yesterday, but I can already see the clouds rolling in.

Here is some of the cards I made for my DH for Father's day. Both of the digi stamps were purchase at Di'sDigiDownloads. There is so many cute stamps there for Father's day. I also used some Bazzil card stock and misc. pattern paper, copic markers, Hero Art stamp sets. The pattern paper was something I picked up at a closed out sale at one of my local scrap stores.

Archiver's Card Class

2010-06-15T00:11:00.006-05:00
This past Saturday I attended a card class at Archivers. I never used Shimmer Mist before and now I can't get enough of it. I love this stuff why wasn't I told about this stuff sooner. This has to be one of my favorite classes I took there yet. It used my favorite inks in the world (distress inks), Shimmer mist, and stickles who wouldn't be happy with all those products in their hands right? We made four cards there but I am only posting three of them. The fourth one was done in light blue colors and for some reason I am unable to get a good picture of it. But below is a peak of the other cards made in class.

Father Day Card

2010-06-13T12:09:00.004-05:00
Finally, I got to play in my craft room today. Since Father's Day is coming up I thought I would make a card for my dd to give to her dad.

2010-06-12T08:08:00.002-05:00
Sorry I have been MIA. It's Summer break around here and instead of playing in my craft room I have been busy trying to accomplish my lifetime goal of being of full time taxi driver. I have to say at first I didn't think I was going to make this goal but my dd did not let me down with all of her activities that she is in this summer I believe I have finally reach my goal. Here is a little peak of what I've been up to. Hope you enjoy and sorry that this is not craft related I will try to get some crafting done soon so I can post. (I'm actually missing my craft space).

This free picture slideshow customized with Smilebox

Blawk Hawks WIN !!!!

2010-06-09T23:49:00.004-05:00

What a nail bitting game, but our beloved Hawks took home the cup!

Love Ya Mom

2010-05-10T21:58:00.004-05:00
I had such a great Mother's day this year, I had the chance to be with my mother and my DH's mother. I made my mother a journal, with matching pen and a set of cards along with a card of course. I wasn't able to take a picture of the explosion box that I gave to my mother in law but it turn out great.

Recipe: misc pattern paper, ribbon,and stamp set, cuttlebug swiss dots folder, Papertrey Ink cardstock, Mead pen.

Recipe: Hero Arts stamp, Papertrey Ink card stock, misc pattern paper and Copic Markers.

Rubber or Digi ????

2010-05-06T06:30:00.004-05:00
Good morning Crafty People! Rubber or Digi that is the question I am throwing around inside my head today. Usually I love using my rubber/clear stamps. I always thought that they gave me so much more versatility than a digi stamp, but I have to say I am rethinking that stand lately. I am starting to see the benefits of digital stamps, and yes I've found that they give you the same versatility as rubber/cling stamps. With the help of a photo editing program the world of creativity is yours. I also like the fact that with the help of Photo shop Elements if I don't feel like color in my digi stamp by hand I can color it using my photo editing program. On today's card I used a stamp called Gothic Bride and Groom from a online shop I stumbled upon a few days ago while reading my favorite blogs the shop is called Tidly Ink. They have so many cute stamps there. This weekend my husband and I have a wedding to go to so I threw this card together using a digi stamp from them. I have to say I am not use to making wedding cards and at first I was a little intimidated by the thought of doing one, but when I saw this digi stamp I just knew I had to give it a try. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be since the digi stamps kind of speaks for itself.

Today's card recipe is : Pattern Paper from DCWV, digi stamp from Tidly Ink, Congratulation stamp from the Little Paper Shop (another new stamp site I found lately), a Ribbon flower I got from Michael's and misc. ribbon also from Michael's. I didn't take a picture of the inside of the card, however, I used the Happy Wedding Day stamp that I got from Archivers. Well thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Appreciation Gift

2010-05-05T00:32:00.003-05:00
Well I finally finished my DD's Teacher Appreciation gift basket. I think it turned out well. I think the funniest part about doing this projection was seeing the smile on my daughters face when it was all put together.

Happy National Scrapbook Day

2010-05-02T03:53:00.012-05:00
Well I'm finally feeling a little better and was able to get into my craft room this weekend. I couldn't stand it any longer feeling sick so I forced my self to play in my room. The whole time I wasn't feeling well I had so many ideas floating in my head. I think it is time to get an art journal going so if this happens again I can be ready to get my ideas out of my head and done.

Well Teacher Appreciation week is coming up fast and I am making a gift basket to give to my DD's teacher. Here are just a few of the things I have finished for the basket, I just love how the explosion box turned out. This was my first attempt to try to make one of these. (Recipe for this is papertry Ink card stock, misc pattern paper, Hero art stamp sets, misc, ribbon for Michael's).

I made a note pad for Erin teacher using those composition books, I used misc pattern paper, and a misc stamp set (I wish I kept the info on that set because I am using it a lot)

Here is a post-it-note holder I made to go into a basket I'm putting together for Erin's teacher. This was my first attempt and I wasn't happy on how the pen holder turned out. Wish I would of made it smaller.

Recipe for above post it note holder - Misc pattern paper, Stampative apple stamp, Misc, just a note stamp, Kraft paper, pen, 3m post it notes

The following cards I thought I would change it up a little bit. Usually I reach for images for my cards but today I went with using just sentiments. I am starting to appreciate more simple looking cards

(recipe for card above - Papertrey Ink card stock, cuddlebug swiss dot embossing folder, Hero arts stamp)

(recipe for card above - Papertrey Ink card stock, misc. flower emblishment, DCWV pattern paper, Hero art stamp set)

It felt great to be able to work in my craft room I think I was seriously going through withdrawals symptoms. I hope everyone was able to enjoy National Scrap booking Day! Can't wait to get some time to see what all my buddies have made and as always Thank you so much for visiting my blog, have a wonderful weekend and stop by again,

Uggh still sick but so excited!

2010-04-19T07:05:00.009-05:00
Boy when it rains it pours around here lately. At the beginning of last week I was so busy help DH with his office paperwork and trying to catch up on the house and by the end of the week I have came down with something that has totally wiped me out. I want so much to go and play in my craft room and I have lots of ideas floating around in my head, but I just haven't made it there. I hoping I will start feeling better soon.

On to some Awesome news, I just won a $10 gift certificate from the Little Paper Shop. I am so excited. They are having a blog hop going on over there since the weekend and it's still going on until tomorrow. If you take part in their challenge today you get a chance to win a digi image which is so cute. I really want to play but I don't think it's possible. You also have an opportunity to win a $10 gift cert like I did if you head over to their blog today just click on my title and it will take you to their website.

Oh I almost forgot you really need to check out this fabulous blog hop going on today. Here is the link
http://http//www.scrapgirl-angie.blogspot.com/ Good Luck and I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thanks for stopping by!

April 14th - MIA

2010-04-14T07:13:00.002-05:00
Sorry I have been MIA but when it rains it pours around here lately. DH needed help with office work so I've stepped in an helped him and I also began a ritual of torturing myself three times a week in this boot camp exercising class I started. You wouldn't think that would matter that much but it's been a while since I've exercised like this. I can feel every single muscle I have in my body thanks to my instructor. She is so intense on her workouts. The first day I almost puked she worked us so hard and she laughs at all of us saying that she was taken it easy with us. I am so afraid to walk into class today in fear that I might come out crippled because all my muscles will cramp up.

I do have a few projects that I have been working on and as soon as they are finished I will post them. Also over the weekend I went to a crop and I was able to get a scrap book page done that I will post later too. Until then thanks for stopping by.

April 7th - Catch up

2010-04-07T07:17:00.001-05:00
Hi everyone, sorry I haven't had any projects to share with you so far this week, but I am still trying to catch up on my house work and other misc things around here. I do have a few ideas that are burning a whole in my brain so hopefully I will have some time today to get in the craft room. Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Break Pictures

2010-04-03T00:05:00.010-05:00

This was such a fun week. It was my dd Spring Break week and boy did we have fun! On Tuesday we went to Make a Messterpiece. It's a place where kids can be creative (painting, crafting, and just plan having fun).
On Wednesday we went to a local petting zoo. My dd just loved the ponies couldn't get enough of them. She always tells me that she going to be a vet when she grows up and ya know something I believe it. She just loves all animals and has a way with them. On Thursday we went to Build a Bear, that place just cracks me up. We never had anything like that we I was growing up these kids are so lucky these days.Today we ended the week at the Morton Arboretum. They have such lovely gardens, of course none of them were bloom just yet but it didn't matter, we just love going there because it's so peaceful, and today we got even luckier because my DH was able to meet us there (he took a half day off of work to spend it with his gals has he put it).
I'm going to be a little lonely next week when the kids go back to school. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend and Easter!

April 1st - The birds are singing

2010-04-01T08:20:00.004-05:00
What a beautiful day it is today. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. So I thought why not break out this bird stamp and give it a try. The recipe for this card is Papertrey card stock, Stampative stamp. misc button and embroider floss and cuddle bug. Thanks for stopping by!

March 31st - Lions, tigers and elephants? Oh my

2010-03-31T09:16:00.002-05:00
What a beautiful morning the sun is shining and the birds are singing. They say it's going to be in the 70 degrees today, Sounds like a great opportunity to drag out the camera and take my dd out for some pictures.

I am really loving the felties lately, I think I might have to go back to Archivers to see if they have any more soon. This card was made with Hero Art note card, stamp set, cuddlebug, Papertrey in card stock and misc feltie. Well I'm off to enjoy this weather hope you have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.

March 30th, - Changing things up a little bit

2010-03-30T07:07:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to change things up and instead of always reaching for a stamp I decided to use a felt embellishment. I saw this little guy at Archivers and couldn't pass him up. I think this would be a great card to give to a child. The recipe for this card: Hero Art's blue note card, Papertrey Ink card stock , Cuddle bug
Misc Feltie from Archivers 1.99 spot.

Thanks for stopping by.

March 29th - Easter bunnies

2010-03-29T06:07:00.004-05:00

Just saying hello! I loved how this card turned out. Simply yet classy. The recipe for this card is
Hero Art's blue note card, Papertrey whisper white card stock, DCWV pattern paper and Hero Art's Sending Happy Message stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by.

March 28, 2010 - Spring

2010-03-28T21:47:00.003-05:00

Wishing for Spring to come and stay, here is my tribute to Spring. I used Paper trey Lemon tart paper, whisper white paper, Hero Arts Blossoms cling stamp set and Hero Arts paper flower, Hero Arts Sending Happy stamp set, Copic markers and misc. button to make this card.

March 20th 2010 - Time to Color

2010-03-20T18:58:00.007-05:00
I couldn't believe it I woke up to snow today. Burr where did spring go? We just had 60 degree yesterday, I think mother nature is confused.

Well since it wasn't such a nice day out side my daughter and I decided to take this opportunity to do some coloring. She just amazes me with her talent. She has a sense of color and what goes together already. Maybe I'm rubbing off on her????

Here is another little project we did together. It's a cotton ball Easter bunny. We saw this idea from a Martha Stewart magazine I had laying around. I think the magazine is a couple years old. The bunny you see below my daughter made. Didn't it turn out cute.

The next picture isn't the greatest, but this was my attemp on wild life. I think it came out okay but I'm still not happy with it.

And here is a card I made this afternoon with one of the images we colored this morning. I just thought these bunnies were so cute.

The picture below is the same but I was trying out different colors. I just love my copic markers, but I think it's time to get more. I am starting to feel limited in my colors.

Well hope you are enjoying your Saturday and thanks for stopping by!

March 17, 2010 -- Happy St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T07:26:00.004-05:00
Happy St Patrick Day!!!! I don't have any projects to share with you today. I've been busy car shopping the last couple of days so I didn't have a chance to go play in my craft room, however, I found my new car and I am itching to get into my craftroom to play with some of the new supplies I bought at the stamp show. Thanks for stopping by.

March 14th, 2010 - Off we goooo

2010-03-14T08:10:00.002-05:00
Just a quick little post to say I'm off to the Heirloom's Rubber stamp & paper arts festival today. Can I get a Whoopee!!!. I will let you all know how it was tonight until then thanks for stopping by.

*** WELL I'm BACK FROM THE FESTIVAL

The first thing I have to say was it was so overwhelming so many pretty stamps. My friend and I thought we had made a very well thought out plan to be conservative and get through the whole festival before we started on our spending spear, but I am so sadden to report that plan went out the window at our very first booth we visit. The stamps were so amazing that before I knew it I spent half of the money I intended to spend by the time we hit our fourth booth. Needless to say that we regrouped our selves and were able to make it through the whole festival but not with some regret for the stamps that called out to us but we were not able to buy. Don't feel to sad for us because we were smart enough to grab business cards from the booth that still hold our precious stamps that we intended to buy but just plain ran out of money for, so our new plan is a simply one. SAVE UP MORE MONEY! and order online. Seriously it was a great festival and there was a lot of vendors there that I never heard about and my friend and I learned a lot of new things from the people we met so all in all it was a great day in the stamping world today!

March 11, 2010 - Craftroom Guest

2010-03-11T12:47:00.005-06:00
I had some guest in my craft room last night and boy was it a lot of fun. They asked that I share with all of you their creations. First guest was my Mother she is a newbie in the world of stamping and card making. I thought she did a wonderful job with her Thinking of you card. My second guest has been in my and out of my craft room on many occasions. In fact so much so that she demanded her own little work space and that would be my daughter Erin. For being only eight years old I am amazed at her creativity. I hope you enjoy my guest creations and thanks for stopping by.

My mother's card

My Daughter's card

Last but not least here is a card I worked.

March 6th, 2010 - Makes you think

2010-03-06T09:51:00.004-06:00
Makes you think -

Last night was my dd had her first Me and My Guy dance. She was so excited and as we were getting ready she kept on telling me, "Mom, I feel so grown up", which made me take a step back to take a look and realize my baby isn't a baby anymore. I was once told that the hardest thing a mother has to do is to let go of their babies. When I was younger and more foolish I thought that meant when they were all grown up and ready to start their life's, but now I'm getting a little wiser I know that we just don't let go of them once, but instead we let them go each mile stone. Last night I was slapped in the face that my baby is not a baby any more but a little girl, and it's time yet again to step back and give her some more room to grow even though I just want her to stay my baby.

NOW WE RETURN YOU BACK TO YOUR REGULAR STATION!

I am really happy how this card turned out. I played with my Copic markers and some distress ink. I love working with the distress ink and I can't wait to go out and get some of the new colors too.

Card recipe:

Hero Arts note card
Papertrey Ink card stock
Ranger's denium blue distress ink
Hero Art's stamp butterflies set CG130
Copic Markers
Nestabilities label stencil

Well thanks for stopping by today Happy Saturday Everyone!

March 5th 2010 - Thinking

2010-03-04T17:34:00.006-06:00
Just a short post for today I have a lot to get done today. It's my daughter's first Me and My Guy dance, and I have to run out and get her a couple of things. It's so cute she asked her dad to go with her and he asked me to go out and get her some flowers for her (isn't that soooo sweet!) I can't wait for her to come home from school so we can start getting ready for the dance. Now that I have my new camera I found myself getting more exciting about these types of events lately (not like I wasn't already excited but now I have a new camera to take tons of pics.)

My first Papertrey Ink order finally came in. I've been waiting so patiently to get it so I can start practicing with my Copic Markers on quality paper. I have to say it really does make a difference. I think I have fallen in love with their paper. I guess there is no turning back now.

Well thanks for stopping by today and Happy Friday to everyone!

Recipe for card:

DCWV pattern paper So Sweet paper stack
Hero Art note card
Misc. Ribbon from Michael's
Not sure of the name of the stamp set I used for sentiment
Hero Arts flower
Magnolia Tilda stamp

March 4, 2010 - Wishing for Spring

2010-03-04T17:12:00.004-06:00
Thanks for stopping by today. I made this late last night but have been busy all day to post it. I'm thinking about entering this in the Hero Arts Monthly challenge. I haven't done a challenge in so long. It's hard to get back into the swing. Remember this is one of my goals for this year (enter more challenges).

So far I am really doing well on my list of goals I have accomplished a lot already. I just have to find a photography class still.

Card Recipe:

Hero Arts stamp - E 4782, HA Sending Happy thoughts stamp set
Hero Arts note card
Misc.pattern paper
Papertrey Ink - white card stock

Show and Tell Time

2010-02-27T11:58:00.006-06:00

Here are some cards I've been working on today. I must be in a flowery mood today or maybe I'm just wishing spring would come faster because every stamp that I laid my hands on today had flowers on them. I am really enjoying practicing with my Copic Markers and I even pulled out some distress ink and clear embossing powder today.
Well thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend I am off to spend some time with my family.

Did you see this?????

2010-02-25T10:14:00.006-06:00

You must check out this interview over on Moxie Fab World's blog (I have linked the title of this post to Moxie Fab World) with one of my favorite artist Jennifer McQuire. I just love the way that girl thinks! She is a genius with colors don't you think? After reading the interview make sure to make a comment for a chance to win some Hero Arts stamps.

What a great day in the blog world today huh?

Check out this blog candy..... Wahooo

2010-02-25T06:34:00.002-06:00

Wow check out this blog candy it's the new Greeting Farm's stamps and we get a chance to win them!(Yea) these stamps are becoming one of my favorites. All you have to do is go to Inked Inspiriations blog and all the details are there. I have linked the titled of this post to her blog to make it easier for you.

Until next time thanks for stopping by!

Wow What a great birthday

2010-02-20T23:01:00.008-06:00
Today my family and I celebrated my birthday, this has been one of the greatest birthdays I have ever had. It was so nice to celebrate it with my family I feel very lucky and bless to have them!

My celebration started yesterday with my Copic markers class that my DH got me. It was a great class and I learned a lot now I need to practice, practice and practice so more. Below is is a sample of what I made in class.

We had such a great day eating pizza, snacks and cake. Playing a new game called "The game of Things" which by the way happens to be the most funniest game I have ever played. Then my DH surprised me with a Nikon D5000. I wasn't expecting this at all. I can't wait to scrap some of these photos from the party.

Until next time thanks for stopping by!

Love is in the air

2010-02-14T10:17:00.006-06:00

I'm back with a few pictures of the family and their cards that I made them. I took an idea from the Pink Stamper and served a pink breakfast and my daughter LOVE IT! (thanks Pink Stamper). Below you will find the cards I made for my family. Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine Days and take the time to tell the important people in your life I LOVE YOU!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Valentine Day

2010-02-14T09:01:00.002-06:00
Happy Valentine Day everyone. I will be back to post later and show the cards I made for my family. Unitl then thanks for stopping by.

Shabby Chic Cards

2010-02-06T22:08:00.008-06:00
Here are a few cards that I've been working on lately. It's so nice to have my camera back. There was something wrong with the battery but that's fixed now. I'm really enjoying using my Copic markers but I have a lot to learn still.

Thank You

Here's a close up. I am still practice my coloring with Copic Markers. This lesson I was just trying to blend two colors together. It's coming along but practice, practice, practice is definitely needed here.

Bee Mine

Here are the cards that I made in the Archiver's Shabby Chic Class. I have to say I am loving these stamps and the technique is so cool too. We used paint dobbers to ink the stamps which gives the card a shabby look because the paint is a little thicker than an ink pad. All in all I would highly recommend this class it is so worth your time.

You're So Special

Wishing You Love and Laughter

So Glad your in my Life

You Make Good Times Great

Well until next time thanks for stopping by, and HAPPY Saturday everyone!!!

Shabby Chic all the way

2010-02-05T06:43:00.004-06:00
I am off to Archivers today to take there Shabby Chic card making class. I am kind of excited because they will be using some of the new Hero Arts stamps. So I get to try them before I buy them this time.

This year I have decide to make goals for my crafting and taking classes like this is on it. So Whoosh one thing cross of my list yea! Some of the other things that I wanted to accomplish this year that I have already crossed off my list is buying Photo Shop, now I just have to learn the program, also taking a class for my Copic markers. I'm have a certified Copic teacher coming to my house for a private lesson.

Not yet crossed off is - taking more pictures, scrapping more (need to catch up), taking a photography class, get a card filing system going (so when an occasion comes up I have a card), participate in more challenges and last put not least I want to get into the habit of taking pictures daily so that when next year rolls around I am use to doing it and I can actually do the 365 days Project.

Well until next time thanks for stopping by..... Happy Crafting!!!

Happy Saturday Everyone

2010-01-30T14:12:00.002-06:00
Just got done reading all my favorite blogs, it seems like everyone is in the mood for creating. I have a few more chores to finish and then I am heading into my craft room. I have a few stamps that I want to play with and I mustn't forget Valentine day is coming up quick I should start on my cards for my kids and hubby.

Lately I've been trying to figure out my Photoshop Elements. I think that I am going to have to find a book with some tips. If you have any tips to pass on I would love to hear them, just leave a comment.

Well off to finish my chores then to fix a nice healthy snack and off to the craft room. Until next time thanks for stopping by.

My Pink Stamper Stamps

2010-01-28T09:44:00.005-06:00

YEA!!! Counting the days down until my set of the Pink Stampers stamps comes in the mail. I ordered the Sweet Occasion set.

BLOG CANDY

2010-01-25T07:28:00.007-06:00
Look at this blog candy: from Inkedinspirations Blog!

This Valentine candy is opened beginning today. Here is the list of rules that need to be followed in order for you to qualify and win:

1. Please leave ONLY one comment per person on her post (there were some who posted twice in my first Valentine giveaway in the post below)
2. You must be a follower of her blog.
3. You must also be a follower of the Belles n' Whistles blog.
4. You will have from now until February 1st to apply and a winner will be chosen on February 2nd.
Have fun everyone!!