Sisters & Shopping

My sister & her dog, Wrigley, came over yesterday to spend some time with us. They just left a short time ago and the cats are still sniffing around cautiously! Poor things. Wrigs just wanted to play, but they didn't want any part of it.


Trent braved a trip to dinner and the mall with both of us last night. This morning, Mary helped me take a few boxes of items to Goodwill. We stopped by Big Lots first where I found some fun stickers, rub-ons and MM metal signage - all 7 items for $8!

And, when we came home, my latest order from Two Peas was sitting on the front porch. Lots of yummy goodness. :)

I'm going to see if I can squeeze in a little creative time before we meet friends for dinner and the baseball game tonight! :)

Friday Freebie

In 2002, I created this layout to include multiple photos of our two cats. My intent was to keep the design simple and clean lined. The background is simply cardstock with the quote "Cats are just children with fur..." repeated.


To create the page, I actually laid it out in CAD in order to check my measurements before grabbing the ruler & x-acto knife. I have made it much simpler for you to lift this design. I created a template in Photoshop. It's saved as a .psd file with layers for each item (background, frame, photos, title). All you have to do is download it and add your own photos & papers.

Please, leave me a comment with the link to your creation. I'd love to see! :)

Click here to download the Children with Fur 12x12 template Enjoy!


Supplies: tan & dark brown cardstock; Jenkins font; quote from Pea Soup at Two Peas in a Bucket

Day 16 - Spread Your Wings

After Ter asked how high the bird's nest was, I decided to take a photo tonight and show you. See the hanging basket to the right of our front door? That's where the nest is. So when the mother bird gets fussy because we come out and are near her nest, I laugh - she could have picked one of the 2 at the other end for more privacy. ;)

We've had birds nesting in our hanging baskets every summer since we bought the house in 2003. Typically we get 2-3 nests a year so I'm keeping an eye out for our next set. Once I know there is a nest, I take the basket down each time I water it. I'm careful to not touch the flowers or nest - just the outside of the basket. And gently water the flowers without watering the birds. Perhaps they would be ok, but I don't like the thought of dumping cool water on those little guys. It's the softie in me. :)

After photographing the porch, I took down the basket with the bird's nest to water and found this:

*sigh* The little ones have already flown away. The pictures I posted yesterday were taken Tuesday night. They looked so young. Too young to leave which is why I thought maybe it would be this weekend. Kind of sad to see them go, but grateful I had the opportunities I did to peek in on them. And, I'll be watching for our next set of houseguests. :)

Day 14 - Bird's Nest / Day 7 - Bird's Nest / Day 1 - Houseguests

Gettysburg

12x12 digital page of our visit to Gettysburg National Military Park last Sunday. The background is one of my photos - I simply enlarged it and lowered the opacity.


Supplies: Uncluttered Collage Vol. 2 template by TaylorMade Designs; fonts: Hannibal Lecter, Century Gothic, and Perpetua.

Bird's Nest - Day 14

Day 7 - Bird's Nest / Day 1 - Houseguests

4 States in 4 Days

We have journeyed several hundred miles and back since Friday evening. From North Carolina to Pennsylvania with stops in between. We saw family and friends. Enjoyed my cousin's wedding. Toured two national parks (Gettysburg & Catoctin Mountain). Took lots of photos. Found gas for as "cheap" as $3.79 and as expensive as $4.05. And, had a lots of fun.

Before the wedding reception with my brother, Christopher, and my husband, Trent:

Fort Fisher Aquarium

In 2005, I surprised Trent with a weekend trip to Wilmington, NC, for his birthday. One of the places we visited was the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. A challenge on Oscraps.com inspired me me to finally scrapping photos from our visit.


Supplies/credits: Redefined No. 8 template by Sue Cummings; fonts: Century Gothic, Myriad Pro, Angelina and 2ps Silly. Inspired by May 22 of dw2008.

Fuzzy Owl

The prompt for May 24/25 of dw2008 is to create animal cards using fuzzy fabrics. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had the perfect fabric. I sketched the shape I wanted on the back, cut and began to embellish. My original plan was a cat's head. But after sewing on the nose (now beak) and starting to attached the eyes, I realized it looked more like an owl! Oops.


I hand stitched lines to create "wings" and used Prima flowers for feet.


Supplies: Paper Reflections card; fuzzy fabric, white felt, and threads from stash; Making Memories heart button & stitches; Autumn Leaves buttons; Prima flowers; Heidi Swapp journaling spot; American Crafts rub-ons; Micron pen; QuicKutz Tangerine classic font.

Purple Flowers

I bought a bottle of the new Prima flowers at Michael's last week and they've been sitting on my desk since then waiting for an opportunity. I decided to use them first on a card inspired by Sketch This: 51.


A close-up:


Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Prima flowers; Autumn Leaves A Rhonna Christmas buttons; Making Memories rub-ons; generic thread.

Dinner & Christmas in May

My friend, Kim, is in town from Atlanta and we went out to dinner last night at Joe's Place Featuring Joe's Mom's Food. [Yes, that really is the restaurant's name. :D ] While trying to decide where to go, she mentioned wanting vegetables and Joe's Place immediately came to mind. They offer an all-you-can eat vegetable plate with a good selection of southern favorites.

Joe's Place has been around since 1979 and almost closed 2 years ago. After much urging from customers in Raleigh and across the state, the owner kept the restaurant open. A banner from his news conference in March 2006 stating the change of heart, still hangs over the counter today. It's partially visible in this photo I took and reads: Wow. We didn't know y'all loved us that much, so we're gonna do an encore.


During a last minute get together in December, Kim & I both forgot our Christmas gifts for each other! And while we had good intentions of shipping them, that never happened. So last night we had fun giving each other a little bit of Christmas in May.

Just before Christmas, Kim had gotten a new ipod so I picked her up a giftcard to download some tunes and altered a gift box to match.

She spoiled me with this beautiful handmade bowl. I was floored. I've tried using a potter's wheel in the past and have absolutely no skill at it. My friend has talent. The photo doesn't do this bowl justice - totally gorgeous. Thanks, Kim!! :)

Bird's Nest - Day 7

I checked in on our houseguests last night to see if there were any changes. I found one little guy had hatched and two eggs. I'm not sure what happened to the other two. There were still 5 when I peeked a couple days ago.

Here's a photo. The lighting wasn't great and I was trying to be quick (momma bird was watching and I need to water the basket as well) so it's a bit blurry. The little guy is laying over his sibling eggs. His beak is hidden behind his head on the left side. He looked up with an open mouth when I first peeked. :)


Day 1 - Houseguests

Wantani Grasslands Reserve

For the Sketch This: 50! challenge, I had fun creating this 8.5x11 digital layout using photos from our trip to the NC Zoo in March:


Supplies: Teal Delight paper & craft sticker from After Midnight kit at Peppermint Creative; frame from Wild Weekend kit at Peppermint Creative; scalloped ribbon from Rhonna Farrer's Flowers Are Beautiful kit at Two Peas; Holiday Pear Tree from Rhonna Farrer's Holiday Polka Gift Package kit at Two Peas; Lithos Pro font.

Monday Morning Chuckle

more cat pictures

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Hope you have a wonderful day! :)


Supplies: black & cream cardstock; Scenic Route patterned paper; Die Cuts with a View adhesive backed orange cardstock; QuicKutz circle & rub-ons; Target felt flower; Making Memories products brad. Inspired by May 6 of dw2008.

Homeruns & Fireworks

A storm came through about 2 hours before game time. Cooled the air a bit which was a nice change from the 80s during the day. The game was fabulous! The Bulls hit 4 homeruns and won over the Mud Hens 9-3.


During the game, I played around with our new point & shoot camera. We replaced our 5 year old digital camera a couple of weeks ago so I'm still learning the settings on this one. One option is for panoramic photos. What better place to try that than at a stadium? I got a couple of neat shots. Here was my second attempt. You can click on it to see it larger. Do you notice anything unusual?


And I tried the fireworks setting during the post game show. While I had taken some pretty cool fireworks shots with the old camera, they don't compare to the detail I managed to capture with the new one:

Bulls Baseball

Weather permitting, we'll be heading over to Durham tonight to catch the AAA Bulls play the Toledo Mud Hens. We've been buying mini-plans for the past few seasons. Here's an older layout I created about the 2006 season. I made the little baseball snaps using Making Memories white snaps and a red Prismacolor marker.

Supplies: navy blue cardstock; Wild Asparagus and ProvoCraft patterned papers; Making Memories rub-on "memories", photo anchors & brads, and white snaps; Jolee's baseball cap; font: 2ps flowerpot

Port Orleans Riverside

A hybrid layout using a map & photos of the resort we stayed at during our Disney trip.


Supplies: Soft Green patterned paper from Anne Langpap's Free June kit at Two Peas; Photo Edge frame from Rhonna Farrer's Office Supply Tool kit at Two Peas; Edwardian Script font; Heidi Swapp journaling spot & tape; Micron black pen; 7gypsies stickers; staples. Inspired by Feb 12 and Apr 3 of dw2008.

Houseguests

Starbucks T-Shirt Bag

Trent & I have been doing little things to "be green" for years now. We both carry our lunches to work in fabric bags - mine was a gift from my mother :) - and recently we purchased Sigg aluminum water bottles to replace plastic ones.

My only dilemma has been toting these two items (my lunch fills the bag so no room for the bottle) plus my mug of coffee and purse. Ok so the purse can sling over my shoulder, but I'm not very skilled at juggling both drink containers, lunch and my keys. I've been putting the lunch & water bottle in a paper shopping bag which works great except for that nagging thought in the back of my mind that I have another idea on my "crafty to-do" list which would also work and, well, I just want to try.

A few months ago, I saw another blogger post with a reusable bag she made from a Heinz ketchup t-shirt. I've searched tonight to link that post and can not find it (anyone know what I'm talking about??). The idea came from the Martha Stewart Show (Good Thing: T-Shirt Bag). I've been wanting to make my own, but it keeps hitting the back burner.

Last night, I dug through my drawer of printed t-shirts. I cleaned it out pretty well last year so I only had about 2 dozen to pick from. But the choice was easy - my free Starbucks tee! It was part of a giveaway Starbucks had last year. It's way too small for me. I haven't worn it and probably never will, but love the cute print.

So, I pulled out the sewing machine. Grabbed some purple thread for a bit of accent. And began to sew. I followed the instructions except that I took about 7.5 inches off the bottom. Sewing the bottom at the existing seams created a bag that was too big for my intended use. Here's the result:

A Card and A Shopping Spree

I'm momentarily addicted to cards. ;) Created this one late Saturday night using Making Memories products. Inspired by May 14 of dw2008 to stitch a title. Also by Shirley's amazing work. I was already in awe of her hand stitching on projects, but even more so after creating this simple card.


A close-up of my hand stitching:

Supplies: Making Memories patterned paper and stitches; Chelsea Studio font.

The patterned paper is from a shopping "spree" at Big Lots Saturday. I bought 3 packs of American Crafts rub-ons, 2 packs of American Crafts stickers and the Making Memories patterned paper pack for $11. Now, if only my Big Lots stores would carry the American Crafts albums....

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! :)


Supplies: Purple Floral patterned paper from Rhonna Farrer's Color My World kit at Two Peas; Flower Spray from Rhonna Farrer's Flowers Are Beautiful kit at Two Peas; Edwardian Script font.

Scrap Organization {Stickers & Rub-ons}

Over the years, my stash of scrapping supplies has grown. This includes lots and lots of stickers and rub-ons. I used to keep them in a single poly 8.5x11 envelope. When it was about the bust at the seams, I found an idea on Two Peas from another member to organize them in a binder using these 99cent poly envelopes from Target:


This has been wonderful for me. The envelopes come in several colors, all translucent. I prefer the clear so I stocked up on several trips. Each holds a category - letters, words, kids, animals, etc. I labeled them using my Dymo label maker.

Mother's Day card

Here's the card I made for Trent's grandmother. I created it in Photoshop and printed on white cardstock.


Supplies: Floral Garden patterned paper and scalloped label from Painted Season kit at Peppermint Creative; green ricrac from Twinkle Toes kit at Peppermint Creative; leaves from spiral flower in Anne Langpap's June '07 kit at Two Peas; font: 2ps Silly.

What You Lookin' At?

Primary Day

We went. We voted. Afterwards, we discussed our choices. We agreed on a few. Canceled each other out on others. But isn't that part of the joy of our right to vote? Our right to make our own choices?

Thanks for the comments on last night's tacos. They were as delicious as they looked. Here's our "secret" super quick & easy method:

Break up Perdue Short Cuts Original Roasted flavor chicken into bite size pieces. Toss into frying pan. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Add water to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the water is cooked out. Warm soft taco shells in microwave to soften. Add chicken and preferred toppings. We use low fat sour cream, shredded cheddar, baby spinach and diced tomatoes. Enjoy! :)

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Trent and I celebrated with homemade chicken soft tacos. Yum! :)

And after dinner I did a little studying:
Just in case you haven't heard - we finally have our primary election here in North Carolina tomorrow. Trent & I typically use the early voting option, but decided to wait until the official election day this year. Tonight I was reading up on some of the local elections I was a little unsure of. Tomorrow after work, we'll head to the polls.

In the Garden

Today's weather was gorgeous so we spent some time outdoors working in the yard. Finally planted our vegetables and I added a few new perennials in the front yard. Also, I took the time to just sit for a bit watching a bee enjoying our catmint:


And Cali hiding in it to watch for birds: