Oh MY Magnets!

Well, I probably left ya hangin' this week, huh? Seems that my days never go as planned. *sigh* I wish I had a quarter for every time I get interrupted to help with potty duties, to hook up a wagon to a tractor or to break up a little scuffle....*sigh*! While I've been a stay at home mom or work from home mom for a year and 3 months now, it is truly the most difficult, frustrating job I've ever had. Yet, on the same hand, it's the most rewarding. So, I won't complain, but I just can't stick with a schedule to save my life. I even have my schedule posted on the refrigerator, broken down hour by hour.....I just get interrupted too many times, then am distracted...so, where am I going with this? Well, it's the reason this little project has taken me so long to complete, photograph and blog. Didn't help that my batteries were dead in my camera, as were my back up batteries. *sigh*

So, you wanna see the gem?








Hmmmm - What exactly is this??? Well, it's magnetic, can be used as a memo board. Could be used to display photos...they make acrylic photo holders w/ magnets on the back that would work ever so well. I'll be using mine as a memo board tho. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

See there - I've duded up a pad of sticky notes. Cuz, sticky notes are a necessity at our house, but they are quite boring! I also decorated a clothespin - they are quickly becoming my new fave accessory. I also used them on these bags. For more fun, I cut out some leafy magnets with the Big Shot and some of the new Magnet Sheets. Those magnets sheets cut like butter when using the Big Shot! And how adorable? I think some cute little packages of magnets would be super fun gifts for those hard to buy for people.....

Isn't that clothespin cute. It's there to hold whatever your heart desires - coupons, messages, photos....you name it. I think the whole thing is pretty darn cool. But, hold on, that's not it! No - really, there is more! Are you ready?

It's reversible! Check out the back side:

More adorable than the other! Again, I'm using mine as a memo board, so, another SUPER cute note pad. I added the "postcard" to this side for two reasons - 1) Will decided to glue a pumpkin on here, and when I pulled it off, it damaged the paper and 2)It needed some interest. While I love this patterned paper, it doesn't get your eyes moving around the page like the other paper.

Isn't that notepad sweet? The bow is attached to the pad with a paper clip, and then there is the clippy at the bottom to attach... whatever! And I couldn't do without a clothespin!

I did put Mod Podge on this side so that it wouldn't get too abused looking. I think I need a new jar of the stuff tho - normally it doesn't streak when it dries, and this time it kinda did. I did learn a lesson about Mod Podge and Craft Ink. The two do not work well together. I had stamped my snowflakes in Whisper White Craft Ink, and even tho they were very dry, they smeared when I used the Mod Podge. Next time I'll heat emboss with white ep instead!

So - what do you think? I'd really like to hear! Leave me comments - thoughts, suggestions, opinions....what ever!!!!!

Decor Days....

So, in your mini catalogs, you might have seen something similare to this...I loved it, and wanted to recreate it....so. I. did. It's the Halloween Decor Elements. I put it right on the glass of the frame. I used different paper, and stamped some images on there for spooky interest. I wasn't very happy with the stamping results - it just didn't seem to POP. Hmmm, what to do? Well, let's add some white gel pen to the owl eyes and some of the windows in the house. Yah - that helped a bit. But how can I make that moon stand out a bit more? I made a mask of the moon, and dabbed some Rich Razz over the top to darken around the house, leaving the moon the color of the paper. That's better.

There - see how that moon stands out a little more. That's more like it. I could have added more R. Razz ink, but I didn't want to lose the stamped image either. There are so many images that come on your decor elements sheet, that I've got a project to show you tomorrow too! It really makes for quick, easy decorating. I don't decorate a lot for Halloween - more so for Fall. So, it's nice to be able to add a few tasteful pieces to my mix.

My owl kinda gets lost over there, but that just adds to the eerieness - right? And it's really hard to tell, but there is a bit of lace under that tree. It's covering up a goof...... :)
Now, remember the other day I told you that we had a lot of hail? The following pics were taken almost FIVE HOURS after it actually hailed! FIVE HOURS! That's a long time for hail to stick around!

That hail completely striped some of my plants, and the leaves in the trees were damaged too. What a mess.

This is a strip of hail that came off of the "lower garage". It slid off the roof into a perfect strip, and there were still traces of this at 7 pm - which was 6 1/2 hours after said hail storm!

Look at all of the poor leaves it stripped out of the trees! :(

And here was a pile by our garage door....My hubby had sent me a pic on my phone because I was gone. I seriously thought it had snowed - that's what it looked like on my phone. He actually said he would have preferred snow - the hail did quite a bit of damage to our soybean field that's here at our house.

Alright - I need to get back to the coolest project of the week. Possibly of the month. Maybe the year! I'm loving it!

See ya!

My Digital Monday!

Here is today's digital page.... from Will's 4th Birthday. I think I'm quickly falling in love with Digital Scrapping. It's a lot quicker than hands on. However, I do still like the look and feel of real embellies on a page. For that reason, I left the journaling off on this page because, I may handwrite it, or I will type it and cut it out in strips which might get popped up for some dimension. I also think I could add a few buttons onto the round embellies. But, I'm getting photos scrapped and will probably put them to a DVD for some Christmas gifts this year. What a great thing to give the Grandparents that already have everything!
FYI - those of you that already have My Digital Studio, there are some new products that you can add. And, be sure to update your system so that you can include the new colors, which Stampin' Up! is giving you for FREE!!!
And, did you know, you can add other digi things from other sites. Say you find a digi paper pack over at your fave online store - well, pay for it, download it, unzip it and get to town!!! Scrap away! Next week on MDM, look for something that's NOT a scrapbook page!!!
Oh, and stay tuned this week. Now that my week is a little quieter, I have a BUNCH of cool projects to show you....you will be in awe!
That's all for now folks.....

My Wish....

Howdy folks....it's been a long time. And frankly, it's been a long week! I had 2 Stamp Clubs - which really were the highlight of the week. Some of those girls really can crack me up - you know who you are!!! Then, I taught Religious Ed, which is a new experience for me. Along with another parishioner, we had 5 - 3 and 4 graders. And honestly, it took both of us just to keep them involved and somewhat calm. I went in there thinking that 3 and 4 graders would be easy to handle.....yeah. right. Then, today, I did a vendor fair in a little bitty town nearby. I came home to mounds of hail piled up here and there. And 5 hours later, we still have hail on the ground. Don't worry peeps, I'll be posting some pics for you to see. It was crazy! And it's a cold one here in Iowa. Forty six degrees. Hello Mother Nature! It is, um, September!!! That is too cold. I even got out my favorite attire for the day - black turtleneck sweater! Oh, how I missed you!!!!
What's that? Oh, you wanna hear about today's card? Oh, well, why didn't you say so? It's kind of a card that was born on oops'. I sewed the little ruffly on there, but I didn't cut enough fabric to make it all the way across, and I didn't want to butt two together....so I went with it. Doesn't that fabric go great with a birthday theme??? It might be "Christmas" fabric, but it's not by any means! And check out the pic below.....that frosting - yah - on the cupcakes.....that is colored using the new Smooch in the big catty. It's sparkly, and the nail polish brush is stiff, making it really easy to control where the smooch goes....a little smooch here, a little there....isn't it super shiny? Even thru your computer screen, I think you should be able to see it's shining glory! Better getcha some.

Okey doke - that's all for now....Aubrie is waking up from her slumber, so I must go attend to her highness....!!!!

My Digital Monday!

I'm back again with another scrapbook page using My Digital Studio. I have to say, the more I use this software, the more I love it. In fact, as soon as I post this, I'm off to see what add on's I don't have yet...I'm feeling like I could use some more embellies, stamps sets (brush sets) and such. So, today's page is all about my stinker boy...Alex. He is a stinker, but he'll TRY to convince you that he's a dood boy. That's how he says good boy - dood boy. He even tried to explain to us that he was good in church yesterday, but I'm sure the other parishoners would beg to differ! If he wasn't so stinkin' cute, it'd be a lot easier on me. He knows what looks to give me at the appropriate times. Those big brown eyes melt my heart every day! These particular photos were taken one day when he'd been having a little fun with some sidewalk chalk. On his face. (I need to go look for a chalk font and I think I'd like this page better)


Alrighty....need to get my invites out for my Tricks for your Treats class. Don't fret peeps, I'll post the deets here shortly!

More spice of life!!

I am here to tell you folks - you have to get yourself some of this Autumn Spice DSP. I think I could roll myself in it, I love it so much! It's textured and heavy, cardstock weight - perfect to work with! Here I didn't stamp a single image, except for the sentiment on my box. I cut the images out of the patterned paper. You guys know I love to cut little minute things....I get a thrill just whipping out my scissors and cutting into all of those details.....I know a few of my Stamp Club members could kill me when I have lots of detail cutting to do on projects....I won't mention any names tho Nancy!

The template for this box I got off the SU! Demonstrator website. One of the many perks of being a demo....kinda like the perk of getting this bag if you sign up to be a demo before October 18th.

Alrighty - that's today's project....I've got more up my sleeve tho....stay tuned for info about my Tricks for your Treats class coming up!

Spicing up...

Ahhhh, I think fall is here - I just wonder if it's gonna stick around??? After all, it is only the beginning of September. Seems like we should have a little summer left. However, I really love the air conditioner being shut off for a while - it should help our nasty electric bill.

So here's the card for the day. I don't LOVE it. But it'll do! All I can say is that new Autumn Spice paper in the Holiday Mini is to die for? I am twitter-pated, head over heals, in love with this paper. And see that rick rac on my card - well that is the new Tasteful Trim die. I really like the pieces
in this die, but I'm not quite sure I like the size of the rick rac for a card. Seems a little too big. The little Candy Wrapper in the foreground, I can't claim it. I got it at a recent demo meeting I attended in Omaha. Although, I must say, it made me go goo-goo-gaa-gaa! It is big enough for a couple of nugget candies and is stinkin' cute. I instantly think wedding favors. You are reading this right, Cindy???? I'll bring it to Stamp Club Monday so you can see it in person.

What would you change about this card? I'd love to hear your thoughts as always. Comment away!

Bag Lady....

Yeah - that's me I'm a bag lady! And today - I need YOUR opinions! So please, be sure to leave me a comment below to let me know what you think of these....

Let me explain a little. A local gift shop called me in need of some gift bags. Well, Jen to the rescue... So I made up some traditional gift bags, which I'll show you another time, but I've had this idea running thru my head for a while. Why not a little lunch bag all decorated up and 'pinned' closed with a clothespin? So, I thought I'd whip a couple up. And I love them.....but, Andy, the dear husband that he is, well, he put some doubts in my head. He told me that they look like a brown paper bag. Ummm. Yup. That's what they are.....

What do YOU think? Would you love to receive a gift packaged in this little ditty???

Here's another that I crafted quick....

That's all, boys are fighting. I'm outta here!

Introducing - My Digital Mondays!

In my quest to scrapbook more and blog more, I'm introducing, My Digital Monday's. Every Monday I will share with you a project that I've created in My Digital Studio. Hopefully, the majority of these are scrapbook pages. Since I am so far behind on pages, I think I will go the digital route on most of them, and maybe someday I will print them and turn them into hybrid pages. What are hybrid pages? Those are pages that you create digitally, print out and add real life embellies or photos to. Because personally, I do prefer real life pages, with real texture and real embellies.....

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend. Our house was stricken with the flu - well Andy and I had the flu. Alex had a barky cough, and Will coughed a lot too. Aubrie was spared!

With that, I'm heading to bed, and hoping that one decent day will surface from this holiday weekend.

Glad you stopped by!

Jen

Tote-ally Awesome Opportunity!

Have you ever wished you could have a career that you absolutely loved? Here is your opportunity. If you sign up to be a demonstrator now, Stampin' Up! will give you this tote FREE. And I'm here to tell you - this tote is wonderful. I had to get one for myself, but of course had to pay for it. They are no longer for sale, you can only get one by signing up as a demonstrator.
September 1 through October 18, receive a FREE craft tote—a $39.95 value—when you join Stampin’ Up!® as a demonstrator!

Imagine sharing your love of Stampin’ Up! with this stylish and practical tote, patterned after our Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper and large enough to carry 12" x 12" card stock and a Paper Cutter, as well as punches, ink pads, and accessories. And with two Starter Kits to choose from—Standard and Digital+—at a brand-new lower kit price, there’s never been a better time to join the Stampin’ Up! family.

Let me tell you my story:
I have always been a crafty person, and have tried just about everything out there. While doing a craft fair one year (I was selling handmade sewn snowmen, painted signs and such), I was parked next to a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. I had never heard of Stampin' Up! before. In a down period, I was thumbing thru her catalog, and was very inspired by several things in the catalog, especially the baby announcements, as I was 7 months pregnant at the time with my first child. I ordered what I needed to create my own announcements, and had a great time with that. I didn't do any more stamping for quite a while, until a co-worker asked if I wanted to go to a card making class at the local college. I was starving for some creative time, as I had packed all of my sewing supplies away when my son was born. I just didn't have time to sew anymore. So, at this class, I learned how quickly you could create cards, and how much fun I was having. My creative need was quickly filled! I met many other gals at the class, and one invited me to a Stampin' Up! party shortly after that. I loved it! The demonstrator never mentioned anything about the opportunity, but in the back of my head I kept thinking about it. I started researching the Stampin' Up! opportunity, and after reading about the incentive trip, and the extra money people were making, I was hooked! I kept thinking, I could do this. And if I can grow this into a business, I could stay at home with my baby! So, I called up that demonstrator, and signed up! I have been having a blast ever since! The real bonus is that I was able to turn this into a viable business, and when we lost our day care provider, I was in the position to be able to stay home with our children! If you feel that this is something that you feel you’d like to pursue, contact me. You’ll be glad you did!