I'm so proud of my son!!

If you have followed my blog in the last year you know that my relationship with Toph has been "rocky" to say the very least!
Well right now it is pretty much the worst it's every been. We don't fight, we don't do anything. He doesn't call or send emails, there is nothing. NO visits, no nothin. However....
Now maybe this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it, maybe alot, maybe a TON of kids get the same letter and it's just a money making scheme but for now I'm bursting with pride :-) The name of the organization is People to people, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It's on really nice papaer, lol, and our address was hand typed on the envelope and they have a profesional seal for the envelope. OMGod I'm easily impressed!!! LOL
It says: "Christopher is invited to travel and study in England, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, in the summer of 2010" He has been invited as a Student Ambassador, although I don't know if that means he can chose the other options, which include Student, Athlete, Citizenship, and Leadership programs. I read alot of the "in the news" articles which were very favorable (duh! :-) )
I called Topher (he doesn't want to live with me) and he was as blown away as I was. He was over the top with excitement, and if there is any way we can make it happen I think he is overwhelmed with the idea of spending a few weeks traveling and learning another country's customs and language (well the program is pretty short to really learn MUCH of the language and customs) I've yet to see an actual price but in on of the articles I read that depending on the program you choose it can be anywhere from $3,000 to $9,000. Ummmmm, yeah. Don't have that kinda money AT ALL. I would NEVER want to have to crush his hopes because of money. He has a small CD accout (less than $500) that I've made him start by putting money into it that he gets from my family) (Stephen and I have put a little money here and there in it too) I had thought that it would be a little bit of change to help out with a car or a semester of college, but this is an experience of a lifetime. For the rest, I dunno, explain to him that if he is VERY SERIOUS about this trip, we will tell EVERYONE that his birthday and christmas presents needs to be in the form of cash, for THIS TRIP only, and the rest, well, I'll try and find sponsors I guess. Do any of you know how to do that? I could get a VERY part time job and save every penny for this, and of course, every tiny CTMH commission I make goes to this, not to my papercrafting addiction, LOL.
Soooooo if any of you have any advice on how to get a sponsor, or have heard of this organization and know if it's up and up (I'll do some research definately on my own).
OK, enough of that... I guess I'll post some art, it's why my blog is here, yes??
When I made this card I had noone in mind. A close version of it is in the last Idea Book, page 23. It ended up going to a male friend as a birthday card. It's 5x7, Kraft cardstock base, Route 66 blue striped B&T, torn for dimension. For the dark brown zig zag border I used the very edge of a stamp from the My Acrylix Always in my Heart and Chocolate Ink. The postage stamp edge is one half of a Dimensional elements, Fresh Shapes, distressed with Bamboo Ink, accented with Bitty Brads in Antiqued Copper. The lighter layer is Colonial white, distressed, and then a Cranberry layer of cardstock. the "postcard" is again colonial white, distressed. The hinge was silver but I colored it with a copic marker. The buttons I think I actually think came from the Holiday CTMH button pack. The Postage stamping was mostly done with the "Vintage Postcard" My Acrylix stamp set, in cranberry.
That's about it, I hope you like it, it's actually kinda hard to make cards for guys (ya'll know that) and I was happy that this turned out masculine enough to stamp "Happy Birthday" on the inside and there ya go.

OK, I want to move on to more productive things. Steve comes home from Chicago today and after 4 days, we are very excited to see him.
Have a great Sunday!
Big Hugs,

Good Morning!

I've been meaning to update for awhile, BUT...you know how it goes, one day just blurs into another when you are a SAHM!
Anyway...I thought I'd do a quick blog this morning with a card and a picture...my life is to boring to blog about, TRUST ME! LOL!
So....the card....First let me just say, there really isn't enough stamps for "Congrats on your twins!" We have had SEVERAL friends have twins lately and there is just nothing "just right" out there. So I've been doing my best and think I have come up with some pretty cute stuff. I posted a while back my version of a card for a boy and a girl, well my task this card was 2 boys. I have ALSO come to the conclusion that my cricut was a HUGE expense last year that I absolutely DO NOT use to it's potential. So my new mission is to use it whenever I can, and try not to buy any new cartridges, I have 4 already. ALTHOUGH I do love the shapes on the storybook cartridge, maybe just that one...... :-)
OK, enough blabbering, the card:
The base of this card is actually tri-fold, made of textured baby blue Bazzil cardstock. The front window is cut from the nestabilities, labels one die in my cuttlebug. The second page is cut to size, from the new Bo Bunny line, popsicle, this particular blue paper is called cotton candy. The babies were cut on my cricut, using CTMH, colonial white cardstock and their little blue diapers were cut from the same Bazzil cardstock as the card. The ribbon actually holds the whole thing shut and I have to admit that I don't remember where I got it, but I do remember saving it from another card or project someone gave me. Hey, in this economy we gotta save where we can, and doesn't it fit perfectly?? The rub ons are from CTMH, Love Story, and like alot of cards I think this one really looks better in real life. Hope you guys like it. Usually on baby cards especially twins cards I'm forced to use "congrats" but on this one I chose the "Blessings" rub on, especially since it has an "S" on the end, perfect, yes??

OK, that is it for the art for me today, HOWEVER I thought I would leave you with a close up of what keeps me going, what gets me up every morning and get thru the day, no matter how hard of a time I'm having. I love this girl, she is my everything.
























Big Hugs!

Blog Candy!!

Holy Cow!! I have seen some awesome blog candies, but this one, is absolutely the BEST blog candy I have ever seen!! Besides that, this girl is totally badass with her distress and Tim Holtz type abilities! I think I will learn a ton from her blog to go along with my great, great, great class over at 2peas, thinking inking.
Anyway, the gal's name is Arlene, and here is her blog if you want to throw your hat in the ring:

www.butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com

I'm tellin ya, she is BEYOND talented!!
Big Hugs,

Too Late!!

Well I wanted to quickly add this card I made to enter the color challenge over at kwerner designs, but looks like I'm too late, oh well, I'll post it anyway, I have other cards to post, but this one is fine for today.

I've been faithfully fallowing the "Thinking Inking" class over at 2peas with Jennifer McGuire, and boy have I been learning soooo much about the Ranger products (aka Tim Holtz). I always wanted to know how that all worked with the distress inks and the alcohol inks, and even the crackle paints. I own a little of all of it, and it is VERY fun, and I must say I think I'm a little good at it!!

Well here is the card I made following the I think first week of Thinking inking, but the colors followed the kwerner designs for this week, too bad the entries closed last week.

The inks used were all Distress Inks, by Tim Holtz. Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Broken China, Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marinade, and Vintage Photo. The one die cut butterfly has a watercolor stamp on it, and flourish stamp by Hero Arts. Very nice, high quality. I used all the directions given, using a craft mat, and mini mister. The cardstocks used were CTMH White Daisy for the card base, cut to fit into a regular business sized envelope, and the die cuts are from colonial white, also Close to my Heart. Now I love me some CTMH, but I'd have to recommend a higher quality cardstock for this process, a thicker cardstock, or I believe I've heard glossy cardstock is proper. I had a bit of a problem with the water/ink mixture saturating the die cuts. There is some CTMH natural hemp around one butterfly, and some red jewels from Ben Franklin added to qualify for kwerener color challenge, BAH! The Happy Birthday sentiment was stamped in peeled paint, it's a CTMH stamp set. The entire card was brushed with Scattered Straw ink and the die cuts were all dusted with "pearl" perfect pearls dust. Very pretty. I feel like I want to put a ribbon on it somewhere, but there just doesn't seem to be any place for it. Oh Well!

That's about it on the home front, Daddy Bowl is gone for the night (last night) to see our neice Katie perform in a dance show and receive an award. Casey is just too deep into her terrible two's to not only travel, but especially to take to any performances!! Still love my lil demon tho! Speaking of, I guess I better fix her some lunch.

Talk to you all soon, Hope you are having a great weekend!!

Big Hugs!

Quick Blog while cooking dinner, :-)

I'm in the middle of makin some sketti for dinner but thought I'd better blog real quick! I had a relaxing weekend ALL BY MYSELF! Can you believe it, I left Casey! Anyway, I really felt like it was time I had some alone time so I spend a couple nights reading and relaxing in a chalet at Mt. Shasta. It was lovely, had some spa treatments, and even made a card. I'll post that one another time.


I have some kinda big news. On Saturday the "Plus Size" store in my mall, Torrid is holding a model search and I've decided to enter. While my self esteem is probably as low as low can go, :-) I thought what the hell. I know that I'm not a damn model who drinks till she pukes in her $6,000 bag, then drops her cell in the potty when she tries to call for help....lol, As far as a siz 14 goes, well hell, maybe I aint that bad.


On to the art!
I think I may have posted this over on my 2peas blogs, but I don't think I posted it here, if I did, omgosh, I'm am L-A-M-E-O!!
OK, onto the deets! It's actually pretty simple, the sketch was from something Kristina Werner did, probably 2peas a year of cards. Anyhoo... The base is actually a sheet of CTMH Boom Di Ada Simply Snapshots, the layers are actual boom di ada B&T's. The scallop was cut with my cuterpede, scallop attachment, love that thing, and then of course I used several CTMH "My Stickease" also from Boom Di Ada. a few pop dots under each sticker and also the layer they are on. The ends have been rounded and the sentiment is from CTMH "A Thing a Beauty", stamped in CTMH Barn Red. I think that's about it. Not a HUGE fan of Boom Di Ada, but I acutally liked how this one turned out, and I always felt like using alot of "My Stickease" was cheating, but BOY was I wrong!! This was a super quick card and anyone who received it could tell the love and attention that went into it!! Like anything you see or anything else from Close to my Heart you've seen on my blog? Then go to http://mistyleach.myctmh.com and BUY SOMETHING!!!! You wouldn't want me to lose my active consultant status would you? It would break my heart, it really would :-(
OK, better get back to dinner. Let me know what you think of the card. Again Stephen is taking Casey to Roseville to this weekend, Sheesh can you believe it?!?!!? It's only for a night, but I'm really, really not happy to lose my girl again, but I have a Stampers 10 meeting on Saturday along with the Torrid modeling call. Just all really bad timing.
OK, that's it for real this time, Take care And I wish you all the best, I can't wait to see what ou come

Big Hugs!

2 in a row, woo hoo!

Another early morning, thought I'd drop a very quick blog. Nothing going on in my life. So little so that it scares me. But my blog is about my cards, not me. So here is one that I kinda like.

I've actually known a few people lately who have had twins. Maybe you saw my card awhile ago that had the Babyfellabella stamp and I stamped another baby for the daddy to hold. I was pretty happy with it, but you can't repeat it, that is lame.
So I made another. Our friends, the Paylor's had a boy and a girl and this is what I came up with. Kinda hard to have one with 2 genders, but I gave it a go. lemme know what you think.
I used some textured chocolate type cardstock as the base, an old piece of paper I found with pink and blue circles on it which I thought was appropriate and then to go long with the circular theme with my oval coluzzle I made a couple ovals in textured bazzil cardstock, and layered them. I tied a lovely knot with some chocolate satin 5/8" ribbon, one of my favorite things in life, lol. I used a CTMH stamp set "Spunky Greetings" and embossed it in detail white and cut out the onesies in the same cardstock on my cricut with the "New Arrival" cartridge. As little as I know about my cartridge I managed it.

Hope you like it, hope THEY like it, I rately hear back regarding my cards, except from my friends.
If you know of any GREAT videos online I could watch to learn how to use my cricut I would sure appreciate it, as of now, I don't know ANYTHING on using ANY of the special functions, I don't understand the dials I don't know what the numbers on the cutter mean I know nothing. It was quite the investment and I have 4 cartridges that I really like, and know the potential to use with my cards, obviously, I love how simple and cute this card is. If you could email me I'd be forever grateful.

Big Hugs!

Time for a new post???

Casey is still asleep so how about a quick post. Nothing new. I really mean it, nothing new. Except I've put on some weight. And when I mean weight, I mean 50 lbs. Normally I would keep it to myself but I had surgery to lose weight, and I did. I worked really hard and lost over 125 lbs. I looked normal, which is what I always wanted and something old in my brain has clicked over to the bad side and I have forgotten how weight can really ruin your quality of life. I feel terrible about myself, my clothes don't fit and it makes the depression even worse, tho don't be fooled. If you, yourself are morbidly obese, as I was, losing all the weight WILL NOT solve all your problems. Find out WHY you got yourself into that situation, which I never did and maybe you won't be dealing with what I'm dealing with now. I need to get my ass in gear and not only excersize, but put down the fucking box of Triscuts and remember what is important, MY HEALTH!! Mental AND Physical!


On with the art....I'm taking THE BEST class over at 2peas called "Thinking Inking" I'm not going to go into it, just get your hiney over there yourself and check it out, I've learned soooo much and realized I'm really good at Distress Inking and I'm learning just so much about different types of inking and embossing, so far. Thanks to Jennifer McGuire, 2peas in a bucket, Hero Arts, and Ranger.


Here is my card, my very first card, inspired by Jennifer Mcguire. I have lots more to post but I'm only gonna post one as describing it will take a bit and I'd rather use this quiet time creating.



The card backing is Colonial White Cardstock, CTMH. It is text stamp is from Romantic Backgrounds, a CTMH set in Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The sides are distressed with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. The Panel is a Large Natural Tag bought from 2peas, although I haven't seen them there lately. I distressed them, the correct way with ink blending tools, starting off the tag on the craft mat, In Broken China, Peeled Paint, and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I flicked Water on the tag, and look at the neat water splotches it makes. I dunno, I like it! The flowers are from walmart and again distressed with Scattered Straw and stamped with the same text stamp from CTMH and used a yellow button with some white thread from CTMH. The leaf and Stem were hand cut from some scraps and distressed a bit with Versamagic chalk. Sentiment is Happy Birthday from the same set in CTMH, stamped in vintage photo 3 times, and then some decorative Hemp. Hope you like it, I sure do, but the neat thing is it's the FIRST one and I can only learn more!




Hope your 4th of July weekend was the best and that you are all doing well. Well off to create for the hour or so I have until Casey wakes up. Take Care for now.

Big Hugs!!