Preschool Cookie Sign-ups

It's been a busy week here at the homestead. There have been lots of practices, parties and to-do lists. One of them was to bake 18 cookies for my son's classroom party. Just a simple 18 non-decorated sugar cookies. I made the dough and went on a hunt for my large star cookie cutter. I wasn't finding it anywhere. Then I realized I left it in a zipper bag with his classroom to use for their play-dough time today. Umph... what to do.

I had smaller stars, so I just decided I'd make up a few more than 18. But the creative juices were flowing and I decided a Christmas tree made from stacked cookies would be THE best way to celebrate! I'm thinking along the lines of motor skill development, you know, similar to playing with lincoln logs or legos. But with cookies and frosting!!!! Score!

So that the volunteers in the room will understand what to do with the cookie kits I put together, I created (or wasted some of my sleep time) this "diagram". It's totally not needed, but I had SO much fun creating it.

The thought just crossed my mind that my son's teacher's might not let me sign-up to bring anything again! This might be too much work for those little hands and brains. Nah, I think it's more about getting to eat it than make it.

I'm sure that everyone needs a diagram of a stacked cookie tree, don't they? I just thought I'd share it. I hope it makes sense! I didn't think to spell check it. : ) If for some reason you need to have this... please use it for personal use only, thanks!

Have a wonderful Friday! I'll be back on Saturday with a Stampendous post. See ya soon!

Update (12/16/2011 2:23pm MT):

The children loved it. There were lots of parents there who helped to construct them. Some children ate them right away or wanted to take it home to share with family. Here are a few that were going home to share!

Ink Free Quilt Block

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Last week an unexpected package arrived on our doorstep. Inside it were two amazing quilts for my kids that were made by my sister-in-law. The only true thank you I could imagine was a card with a paper quilt block on it.

My daughter spread out the quilt and looked at it and her smile grew to the size of the quilt itself, then she fell down open armed and hugged the quilt. That's how much she loves her new quilt. 

My son was on a rolling vocabulary of "WOW!" "It's [s]Piderman all over!" "Whoa!"

There were some goodies in the box for me too! Close to My Heart Stamps, Stampendous and Ranger embossing powders, heat gun, ink pads and chalks and blank calendar sheets. Oh, am I going to have some fun!

Details:
Stamps: None?
Paper: Watercolor Bouquet (K and Company), Smooth White (Neenah)
Ink: None?
Accessories: Martha Stewart Score Board, sewing machine and Mono Liquid glue

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What is she doing?

I’ve been working hard this summer to get through some non paper crafting projects, so when winter hits I can just be in my craft studio and play. The problem lies in the fact that I can’t stop creating projects. So when I see something that needs to be adorned or emphasized I’m on it. I was happily working on a small thank you gift this spring, that quite honestly I was afraid to send. In the end I made up something totally different and it’s finally out the door and in the recipients hands. That and sewing a 1940’s dress pattern for a friend’s daughter (I promise I’ll post that one when I haven’t a card to show you).

Yes, sewing. One more thing I like to do. I love fabric just a teensy weensy less than I love paper. I have more paper at present.

Sewing is a good creative outlet while I’m not doing card making (and not tackling the other projects I should be doing). So when I saw Larissa’s tooth fairy pillow last week on her mmmcrafts blog, my heart jumped a beat and then almost stopped completely when I saw she offered the best photo tutorial AND pattern to make it myself. I was searching for a simple option to hold my daughter’s tooth when the tooth fairy came around, loose tooth pending, but hey I’ll create more work for me when it’s this amazingly cute. LOL. This tooth fairy pillow won over the child in me. I now secretly wish one of my teeth would start to move loosely. Talk about an easy project! I’m now in the process of making one for my daughter’s friend who has two loose teeth and then one for my son. He’s not going to start losing teeth yet (I hope), but if I’ve got the supplies out I might as well get it done. Maybe a basketball tooth “angel” as he calls them. This one is only lacking some glittery wings and it’s done.

Have a blessed day and I hope I haven’t enabled too many of you with yet another ADORABLE projects because of my blog search find. :)

Today's not my birthday

span style="font-size:130%;">...but it sure feels like it.

It started yesterday. My neighbor remembered how much I liked a cake she brought to last years spring gathering for our block so while our little ones were playing in the sandbox she informed me I was getting that cake for my birhtday. Mmmmmmm...
We found out late in the afternoon that our refinance loan went through so this morning we signed the stack of papers. It felt so good to get that done. We have an extremely low rate, fewer years to pay off and lower monthly mortgage payment. Now that is a great early birthday present.

When we got home from that the door bell rang and FedEx presented me with my new iPhone. [sung with vibrato] Ahhhhhhhhhh. While we were gone the post came and sitting on the step next to the FedEx courier was a box addressed to me, from my sister! Again. Ahhhhhhhh. It was a money bouquet. I wonder where they got the idea for that?

So here is all that's gone on today in pictures.




And tonight my husband and I are going to Shakespeare by the river.

It's A Guy Thing - Verve Style

Okay, there is nothing like making a project to post last minute except making one as far as you can before you serve it up. This post is fully baked, but only half assembled for my "It's a Guy Thing" Project Parade.

I've got a puzzle to put into a Pizza Box (that I need to still make) and then the hamburger and french fries will be put into some baskets and bags (that need to be printed off of my computer).

UPDATE: I finished the pizza box. I made the red gingham paper and glued it to some chipboard that I cut out from a bitmap from here. I used a perforating rotary blade to score and make it look like a real box. I printed out Puzzle Pizza using "Impervious" font from kevinandamanda dot com and stamped #1 Dad from Verve's Dad's Day set above it before die cutting with my Label 1 Nesties .




All this is for Father's Day and my son's 2nd birthday tomorrow, Sunday. I need to assemble the hamburgers just before we eat them so they don't dry out and the frosting needs to be made yet. This post certainly isn't as polished as the Verve Divas post, but its the best I can do without creating the hamburger special too early and letting it dry out. So come back Monday and I'll show you what I dished up for the two fantastic men in my life.

(photos taken with my cellphone)

You can view the dessert inspiration in its completion over at Bakerella dot com at this post.

UPDATE: I have all my trays printed, cut and ready to assemble. Here's a couple that are ready when the "Order's Up".

The Father's Day food tray, tissue paper and fry bag are all from the template found on Bakerella's blog (see link above). The Birthday tissue paper I painstakingly did in Paintshop Pro using "smiley monster" from scrapbooking fonts over at kevinandamanda dot com, and I copied the fry bag template and added the birthday sentiment to it.

Well, I hope you enjoy your weekend! I've been busy doing paper crafting. Now I just need to run downstairs and put up the birthday banner for tomorrow.

To see my completed version of the Fast Food Fun dish (as Bakerella named it) including consumption check out this post

Verve and more Verve, 5 in all

Since getting back from my vacation last week, I have been completely exhausted. I got my new Verve stamps the day after I got home and just barely inked them up. It took me three days to make time for this weeks Mojo Monday sketch!

So here is my card for the challenge and now it's ready to be sent off to my dad.

My card uses 5 different sets from Verve's May release. I didn't realize how many I was using until I posted on SCS just a few minutes ago. Up, Up and Away, Whimsy Tree, Dad's Day, World's Best and Protector (added to the brown pattern paper). Again I can't tell you where the pattern paper came from it was another Slab pack from Joann's. I used StazOn Jet Black ink for all the images and Close to Cocoa for the sentiment. I primed my aqua pen and colored the tree and hot air balloon with Old Olive, touched the sky with some Blue Bliss and trimmed the oval image with Close to Cocoa (I had colored a second balloon to go on the card, but I couldn't find a good flow with it included so I hope to use it on another card.) The hardware is from Stampin' Up Hodge Podge collection and the green ribbon is from Joann's. Let's see, I also ran the long rectangle cream cardstock through my Cuttlebug with a Sizzix Texturz Plate, it's not that visible in the photo, but it helps out the design a bit.

I'm heading off to bed, but I've wanted to say something about my dad. Since Jen Tapler's awesome fundraiser for Alzheimer's in May (her dad affected by this disease) it's been on my mind a lot so I'm going to make a small mention about him. I love him dearly. He's always needing to keep his mind and hands busy fixing things, but for more than a decade he's been battling against Parkinson's disease. I can't even imagine what it really feels like for my dad and so many others with Parkinson's, but I do know the feeling of being hopeless to help. I live over 800 miles away from him so I can't help in the day-to-day needs for my dad so I'm grappling with what I can really do since I live so far away. This Sunday is a fundraiser in his area for Parkinson's. It's called "Shake, Rattle and Stroll" and will be in the Denver area. If you live nearby and like to run, walk or stroll AND you know this event is legit, than get out there and exercise in my place. If you're not in the area and you do run, walk or stroll, then on Saturday or Sunday (Father's Day) think of those affected by Parkinson's and exercise in their honor (which is what I'll be doing) and you'll be keeping yourself on pace for a healthier longer life. Thank you for letting me share.

In honor of my dad, Ed, who is living with Parkinson's disease. Love you dad!

School's Out and teacher's gifts are made

My daughter went through her first year of preschool! My hubby and I are so amazed at how much she has changed in just one short year. It's exciting to see her grow into a sweet little woman.

Her teacher is a family friend and we know her kitchen decor so we knew we had to make something with cherries. My mother-in-law and I found a cherry border in a crochet book so we got busy making cherries. We attached them to the bottom of two tea towels by sewing with green thread and white bobbin thread to hide our easy construction. I think they look pretty good. Don't you?


The other teacher is going to get a desk gift that will go along with her scrapbooking business. If not, it will work as a phone center desk set in a pinch. One side holds scratch paper I stamped and then the other side is a business card holder which I will be sliding in a gift card to finish off the gift.

I used the stamp set from CTMH's Tickled Pink Kit and I thought it worked out nicely making my own designer paper. The stamp set has the sentiment "I am..." which works nicely when you want to have business card in the holder. "I am...", then your name shows right below it to complete the sentence. Oh well, it's late and I thought it was clever.




For directions on how to make this desk gift go to Connie Steven's template at Splitcoaststampers website.

Now with how late I put these gifts together I just couldn't find the time to make a matching card for them. I've got too many other deadlines hanging over my head. I don't even know why I'm up posting on my blog. I should be in bed! That's me though.

Have a great day!

PS. Thanks CJ for all the help! I hope your hands stop cramping soon from all the tight needlework required for the tea towels.

Friend, Have I been busy!

I have been so busy with something lately. I don't have much to show for it as far as cards or experiments. Just doing my mommy job. Well, I've been deeply absorbed by my children lately. I absolutely love them in spring. I don't know if its me or the weather or the upcoming birthdays next month, but they are just something to absorb. I can't get enough of them!

I did manage to eek out some more on my sneak peek project. I have a deadline to complete it this month. I'll show you the project sometime in June after I give the gift away.

I also made some Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes to celebrate an early birthday for my daughter in her preschool class. They were quite fun. Here's a picture.



I had jelly beans and sprinkles for the classmates to put on top of the frosting and then they devoured what they could. Just 45 minutes prior they ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts with sprinkles on top for another summer birthday celebration. Those little tummy's just can't hold all that and an ice cream cone cupcake too! I designed the stand so that they wouldn't have to hold the cone while decorating it. I might put that template out on splitcoast stampers if I get a spare moment. I scrounged up some smiley face stickers to give them so they could decorate their stands before the cones where inserted. Wouldn't you know it. I made these special stand and my daughter wanted one just like the rest of the classmates.

As far as cards, I threw together one more Mother's Day card to send to my sister-in-law that went with the butterfly themed ones here.


I also made a quick moment to make a Mojo card for contest week. I used Verve's Wishful Elegance stamp set.


Oh how exciting! I just hopped over to shopverve dot com and great news! There is a release coming up THIS FRIDAY! I'll have to check my schedule and see how to fit it in!

Very Sunny Birthday

Happy Birthday CJ!
I have a special birthday card to share today. My mother-in-law's birthday is Monday and I had prepared to make a card this evening and then either show up at her door or mail it to her (yes, I procrastinate). About 2 p.m. the phone rang and among other things my mother-in-law said something like "...and you're brother said yes." I hollered to my husband to tell him this cryptic message and he said okay. I don't remember the details if we were on the phone still but my husband replies, "Oh we're going out for mom's birthday tonight."

Yipes! I hadn't even showered yet (yep, I'm lazy and didn't get us to church in the morning. We had coughs and runny noses, so I thought we should just stay home)... more importantly I hadn't even made the birthday card.

I went off to another part of the house to mull over the design of another project I've gotten myself into for Verve's Project Parade, and the next thing I knew it was an hour before we were to meet at the restaurant. I little side note, we went to Famous Dave's and it was my first time. I felt like a contestant for the world record barbeque eating contest. Was it good? I'm stuffed. Does that answer your question? Okay back to the card.

Let's see, with about 15 minutes to complete the card, and change a dirty diaper I had to think fast. I need to make it her favorite color. Check, yellow. I needed to use Cuttlebug, check. okay now what! Well we were a few minutes late because of the card but I just had to put on some embellies or it wouldn't have been finished.

The card is special because she's one of my favorite people to be around, and if you know me a 15 minute card is almost unheard of if I'm doing it.

Details:
Stamps: SU Perfect Pairs
Paper: LSS yellow and white
Ink: VersaMagic Thatched Straw
Accessories: Cuttlebug Textile Emboss Folder, SU Pretties pearls, SU grosgrain, Martha Stewart Lace border punch, MM kate kids trim daisy ribbon

New Cover to my Craft Room Door

Hi everyone. Today I ventured up a ladder to do something that I have been itching to do. Now I am not a ladder person, I'd rather stay on the ground.

So today is the day I decided to just climb on up and install a curtain rod on the entrance to my craft room. This room is at the end of our upstairs hallway so there isn't a door. I put the rod up and then went to my closet and pulled out an old sunbleached flannel sheet. Oh yes, I did. I went to my sewing machine and made a rod-tunnel (anyone know the seamstress name for that?) on one end and then slid it on the curtain rod. It is not pretty at all. My intent is purely utilitarian.

I've wanted to do this for two reasons. The craft room is just a few feet away from my children's bedrooms and any noise I make seems to echo to loud for my liking. The second reason is the light goes down the hallway. Okay so here's the no money door cover I put up this afternoon.

Rain Puddles

Do you remember my memory that sparked the name of my company and now this blog? Read it here.

Well, I was so tickled to see my two children pouncing on the puddles in the parking lot on Tuesday this week, that it reassured me that my memory was so correct. They giggled bubbly and didn't care that they were getting their shoes, pants and eachother wet. They watched intently how the water came out from under their shoes and made ripples in the puddle. How extremely fun it was to just let my children be themselves. Carefree and full of creativity.

I didn't get in and jump with them, but my heart and soul was right there with them. I even nudged them on by asking them where the water was going in the gutter near by.

All this puddle jumping made me, well, creatively inspired to work on my logo. I pulled out my sketch pad and woodless pencils from my college stash of eons ago. And freely drew puddles and boots and splashes. Stay tuned. You might see the making of a long awaited logo.

Blessings....