More school grade layouts using True Fit Folios... and more water, too!

Well, slowly, ever so slowly, I'm catching up on my to-do list of things I want to do. I made these on Monday crafting day at my BFFs (been just too busy to post until now) and now I just need to find some pictures of my son for each of these school years and create the second pages to go with these layouts, pinpointing the highlights of each year. Just like I had done for his Grade 3 LO I previously posted. These pages will store the important papers/artwork/report cards for his school year.

Yesterday, before I was going to post these pics, my son pointed out that I made a boo-boo. I stamped the wrong teacher for the Grades 1 and 2 LOs, so I had to somehow fix it and re-take the pics before posting.

What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

All LOs:
True Fit Folios
Classmate Alphabet stamp set
Circle Around stamp set
Chocolate Alphabet Small stamp set
Silver eyelets (attached using my Crop-A-Dile)
Tag punch (SU)
Large Circle Coluzzle
Black and Grey Wool inks
Black Journal pen

Grade K LO: Classic Alphabet Dimesional Elements; Days to Cherish B&T (long retired); Outdoor Denim, Tulip, White Daisy and Garden Green CS; Garden Green Brads

Grade 1 LO: Classic Numbers Dimensional Elements; B&Ts (by Scenic Route); Outdoor Denim and White Daisy CS; Cranberry Brads

Grade 2 LO: Classic Numbers Dimensional Elements; Stardust B&Ts; Topiary, Sunflower and White Daisy CS; Sunflower Brads


But before I could post my re-takes yesterday, I was interrupted with supper, soccer practice and soccer game, then when we came home after soccer, our basement was WET! Ugggh! The basement toilet was flushed before we left and the valve thingy didn't close properly due to the chain getting stuck in it somehow, and the water kept coming. We live out of town, and after our septic tank (which thankfully is attached to our local sewer system) filled, the clean toilet water started coming into the basement. We knew something was wrong when we got home and could smell the septic tank outside and I could hear the water pump running in the house, with no one at home and no reason for it to be running unless the water was running. We were gone for 2 1/2 hours and it had been running the whole time. Our cistern was almost empty of water and thankfully we got home when we did, because if we ran out of water it would have blown our water pump, too. So I got to take out our handy dandy shop vac and clean up the mess for an hour or so. It really could have been so much worse...

I'm so over water in the basement! When we bought our house 9 years ago, it was not disclosed that there were issues with water. Our house is built into a hill and there are natural spings all over the hills in this area, I assume they all are going down towards the lake. Since we moved in, we have re-landscaped the back yard to have the slope going away from the house, and put in 2 sump pumps (different years and different Spring-time floods) and it seems to have finally fixed the problem. I can't believe this house didn't have a sump pump! Anyways it's been a lot of work, along with the money to replace carpets, and such. I'm so over water in the basement!!!

So we are planning on building a home next year, which will be our first time building. We have decided to build up... no basement! Last night after cleaning up the latest wet mess, I suggested that we build a water house, basically a shed (outside and separate from our new house) that houses anything to do with water... toilets, showers, washer (and dryer)... but my husband didn't seem to like the idea. Go figure! lol :D

Enchanted Lily geometric card

I was on the Pink Cat Studio blog this morning and saw a little challenge going on until the end of the month. This is the card I made following the guidelines.



What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Enchanted Lily stamp set (Pink Cat Studio)
Goodness of Life stamp set
Sorbet, Clover Meadow and White Daisy CS
Momento Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko)
Prisma Premier coloring pencils (Prisma)
Odorless mineral spirits (from Michaels)
Blending nibs (from Michaels)
Prisma Glitter
Glue Pen
Circle Coluzzle
Scallop Circle dies (Nestabilities)
1 3/4" and 1 1/4" Circle punches (EK Success)
Clover Meadow brads
Buttercup ricrac
Copic cool shadow marker
White Gel pen (Unibal Signo)
Pop-dots (other)

Catch up day... and a big THANKS!

Well, I'm hoping to take the day off... I chose to not go to yoga class this rainy morning and stay home for some me time. I want to say thank you to so many of you... over the past couple of weeks, I've been receiving awards and finally have the time to acknowledge and thank all of you for sending them my way. So THANK YOU!

I received the Lemonade Award from the following people:

Karen Pedersen
Kelly English-Triggs
Jennifer
Allison
Beth Ranney-Thomas
Iona
Helen Onulak
Nancy Ball
Majorie Eno




The One Lovely Blog Award was given to me by Haley Hatch Freeman.

THANK YOU ALL! :)

My latest H.A.S. cards (I know... I'm very early!)

Well, I just got the guidelines on Tuesday for the July 10th swap with the Humble Artists Swap group and believe it or not, I found some time to create this week and got them finished. I won't be mailing them out to the recipients until sometime around the end of June/beginning of July. I was to use flowers in some way on the card, so I ended up random stamping floral images onto White Daisy cardstock and made my own B&T paper. I like how these turned out, but I have to say it was really hard covering up so much of the B&T layers... they were just soooo pretty!

These are the guidelines we had to follow for this round (supplied by Laurel Seabrook):

- 5x5 in size
- minimum of 4 or 5 layers
- 1 hand-cut item
- some sort of flowers
- major colour to be pink
- use of ribbon
- button(s)
- a quote stamp somewhere
- stitching
- a 3D item

What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Cottage Floral stamp set
Butterfly Kiss stamp set
Argyle Backgrounds stamp set
Hollyhock, Sweet Leaf, Blush, White Daisy CS
Hollyhock, Tulip, Sweet Leaf, Blush, New England Ivy, Black and Bamboo inks
Coluzzle Tags template
Hemp
Hollyhock dashed grosgrain
Prisma Glitter
Glue pen
Clear button
Liquid Glass
1 3/4", 2" circle punches (EK Success)
2 1/2" scallop circle punch (Marvy Uchida)
Pop-dots (other)
Stitching (Kenmore sewing machine)
White thread (other)

A new blog for you to check out... The Next Level

There's a new blog called The Next Level, that I think will be of great interest. Please check them out for yourself. I also "applied" to be part of their guest design members, so we'll see what happens! :)

Also, they are offering some great blog candy!

I can't wait to see what's to come! :D

It's Hip to be Square! {3 square cards}

I received the new CTMH Wishes card book and just had to re-create the first card in this amazing book that really stood out to me -- Enchanting Enclosure. I changed the color combo for a boy and changed the part that wraps around. I just made it to attach to the front and glued it down. I made the larger one 6x6 and the smaller one 5x5. I followed the tip on how to make the background paper by using the polka dot background stamp and clear embossing it. Then I sponged the ink (Heavely Blue and Chocolate) all over the card, making the white polka dots stand out. For the little 3x3 card, I used the Mini Combination pattern. For this one I used Crystal Blue ink over the embossed polka dots. I stamped the flowers from Thank You, then clear embossed them before stamping over the flowers again with Bamboo ink, offsetting it a little.

What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Wishes

Argyle Backgrounds stamp set

Thank You stamp set

Sans Alpha lowercase stamp set

Solo B stamp set

Solo S stamp set

Notebook, Magic Moments and Silhouette B&Ts

Chocolate, White Daisy, Bamboo, Black, and Colonial White CS

Chocolate, Heavenly Blue, Crystal Blue, Bamboo and Black inks

Cricut (blue stars - George & Basic shapes, baby - Base Camp)

Star Punch Large - green stars (SU)

White Daisy ricrac

Chocolate polka dot organdy

DMC floss in brown and tan

Hodgepodge Color Ready alpha

Rhinestone CC frame

Scallop corner punch (EK Success)

Clear Embossing powder

Piercing tool

Needle

Scallop edge punch (SU)

Sponge

Relax card

I started this card on Monday and finally found the time to finish it Thursday morning. I made thinking it could make a great retirement card and used a 5x7 pattern from Originals - Fancy Five. But my SIL and BIL are thinking about buying a condo in Hawaii, so I may end up giving this to them as a congrats card. (((fingers crossed on that one))) lol

What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Originals - Fancy Five

Surf's Up stamp set

Solo R stamp set

Moon Doggie B&T

Colonial White, Desert Sand and Indian Corn Blue CS

Cranberry, Indian Corn Blue, Chocolate, Garden Green and Black inks Crocheted ribbon

Hemp

Pop-dots (other)

Exciting news... from Sheetload of Cards! (and some rambling, too)

Boy, it's been another busy week for me. That's why I haven't had the time to post much this week. I do have some cards to share, and hopefully I'll find the time this weekend to get caught up. Well, I started a part-time job. It's supposed to be 2-3 hours a week, but until I get caught up on the tasks that have been piling up, it will be much more than that for a while. That and the fact that I'm new and learning, it always takes a bit longer to do a job than when I've been doing it competently and confidently for a while. My son is also in swimming and soccer, so that takes up Mon-Thurs aft/evenings. I also started walking an hour once a week in the morning, and yoga twice a week in the mornings. Yikes, where am I going to fit it all in??? lol I still have to find some scrapping time and there's this little thing of running a household, too...

Also, on Thursday, we finally moved my Dad into a care home. He'd been in the hospital for almost a year, waiting for a bed in a care home to open up. It's in a little town, a little over an hour from where I live, and I am the one who is responsible for all of his financial needs, medical decisions, reporting to the Public Trustee .... it's a lot of work at times, but things are starting to settle down a little more now. Last summer was the worst... I won't go into details, but it was a difficult situation surrounding why my Dad was hospitalized. He now has dementia, so it's a tough road to watch him go down. :(


So now, on to my good news of the week... (sorry, for the long preceding read)

My little idea for the Double Scraplings, and then making them into gift card holders, was featured on the Sheetload of Cards blog. For me, that's extremely exciting! I am honoured that Alicia at Sheetload liked my idea enough to share with all of her followers! Thanks, Alicia! :)

It's a long weekend here in Canada, with Monday being Victoria Day. Too bad it's supposed to snow... oh, well, what can you do? My flowers will have to wait a little longer...

Have a great weekend! :)

You're the Beary Best card

My twin daughters asked me to make a birthday card for them, as they are heading to their Dad's tomorrow to celebrate the birthday of their "little-brother-from-another-Mother". He just turned 8, so hopefully he'll like the card and not think it's too juvenile. The girls both seem to like the card, so that's what matters to me. I kept it pretty basic... didn't pop-dot anything or add brads. But I think it's still cute!

What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Originals - Lucky Three
Beary Best stamp set
It's Your Day stamp set
Say It In Style stamp set
Back Country B&T
Outdoor Denim and Colonial White CS
Black, Outdoor Denim and Barn Red inks
Outdoor Denim grosgrain
Copics (other)

My Mojo Monday card (sketch #85)

This is the card I created using this week's sketch. Hope you like it. :)


What I used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Notebook B&T
Silhouette B&T
Bella B&T
Silhouette My Stickease
True Treasures stamp set (Booking Set)
Colonial White and Black CS
Black ink
Choloclate distressing ink
Connections Club Rhinestone frames
Colonial White crochet ribbon
White felt (Walmart)
Pinking shears (other)
Edge distresser
Scallop edge punch (SU)

My Swap Cards for the Humble Artists Swap Group (for May 10th)

Well, I'm hoping my cards will make it to their destination... I mailed them out last week on Thursday, only to have them returned because the gal at the post office didn't put enough postage on them. So they came back to me. I re-mailed them yesterday morning, after adding more postage, and I am really hoping that they are on the move because my husband called me this morning to tell me that the Charlie Lake Store is on fire. It's our little community store/gas station/post office. So my son is also home from school today because his school is next door to the store. (I also mailed out a big parcel of blog candy to the winner of my blog candy, so I'm really hoping it's not sitting there... but at least I had the feeling that it needed insurance, so I added that last minute! Thank goodness for intuition, eh?)

Anyways, I'm now anxiously awaiting to hear if these will arrive... (((fingers, knees and toes crossed)))

I discovered a cool site... and made some fast and fun little cards, too!

My congrats to Faith (aka Markie's Mom) for having her cards published on the cover page of the May issue of Sheetload of Cards. Now because of this, Faith posted on her blog about it and that brought me to the Sheetload of Cards website. This is my fun new discovery! Isn't it great when you discover new stuff? And the great thing is that these downloads are free! How cool is that? Very! There is a spot on the main page where you can give a donation. It's nice to have that option. You can pay as you go, and as you can afford... brilliant! I used May's instructions to create 18 cards: 9 cards that are 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" square and 9 scraplings that are 4 1/4 x 1 1/4". You also have the option of making just one card, too. Here's a pic of a few of the cards I made... I finished my scraplings, but need to just complete the rest of the larger cards, which I think I'll do on my Monday craft day at my BFFs.




Now when I was making the scraplings, I was trying to think of what to use them for. I decided they would make cute bookmarks with magnets at the bottoms and the other thing I think I'll use them for is packing them into my son's school lunches when he's having a rough week at school, just as a little "love" note.




And then I got to thinking that if I don't cut my strip of left over scrap piece of cardstock (2 1/2 x 8 1/2") in half to make 2 scraplings, I could make a larger scrapling which would make a cute little gift card. This little cutie measures 2 1/2 x 4 1/4".




So then that got me to thinking that these would perfectly fit gift cards, so I created some gift card holders by adding a strip of cardstock inside (2 x 2 1/2"). I just scored the bottom strip at 1/2" and used double sided sticky tape to adhere it along the bottom. I just tucked in a Starbuck's card to show how it fits in there.






And then, of course you need an envelope so you don't lose the gift card somewhere in transport! So I drew up a template for the envelope to fit this little card. I really love to create! My husband just doesn't fully get it, but that's okay... :)



This is just another 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 card I made. Love this new CTMH line called Animal Cookies!