blog candy!

I'm so excited! This is my first blog candy! I'm steadily approaching 2500 hits so I thought I would give something away. I know...2500 hits...big deal, but I'm thrilled! I have a lot of lurkers out there and I know because I'm one too! I want to know who has been reading my blog, so please post a comment and this could be yours:



The mat stack of course...not my son. I bought one of these for myself the other day and absolutely love it! I really liked the Rock Queen so much better than the Rock King. The colors combinations are so much prettier! I chose the 4 1/2 x 6 1/5 stack instead of the 8 x 8 because I think this size is so much easier when making cards.

I want to thank everyone in advance for playing and I will have Ethan chose a winner and announce on Tuesday after the holiday!

trick or treat

Here's the card I finished for Julee's sketch contest. I used my new stamps from Papertrey Ink. I just love this set! I love all their stamps! All the sets really compliment each other so it's really easy to mix them up. Did I mention how much I love Papertrey Ink?

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Design Originals; Pebbles, Inc.
stamps: Papertrey Inc.
ink: Tsukeniko (Versamark)
embossing powder: Stampendous

1st day of school

Ethan had his first day of Pre-K today. Although, for the first 6 days he's only going half a day. Then after that, it's everyday from 8am - 2pm. Long day! He seemed to like it so far. We'll see if he has the same attitude after going all day. I took him to get his hair cut yesterday, which he does not like at all! The place we go is just for kids, so there is a TV at every station. He's fine as long as he gets to watch "Cars" and eat Smarties. The candy keeps him busy, as well as me about an hour later!

I went to my local Michael's today where they had these!



I was so excited! The only bad thing was that they were already on sale so I couldn't use my coupon. I did also buy these because I thought they would be perfect for my Halloween cards.



Now, these are Martha Stewart's stamps. I was told by the clerk that "Martha doesn't let us use coupons on her stuff". Oh really. Well, Martha's just lucky I'm buying her stuff at all. I mean, if I hadn't of bought this set, she might have had to sell one of her houses. Anyway. We all know how I feel about Martha.

I'm hoping to post my card I've been working on for Julee's contest later today. This is the first time I've done a sketch contest. I really should do more of these. It makes card making a whole lot easier!

floor update

Well, the good news is the leak is fixed and repaired. The bad news is the floor can't be. It has to be replaced. So that's what they did today. The floor guys came and ripped up my floor. I'm not happy about it, but it will look brand new when they finish. The guy who does our floors did cut us a break on the price because we've given him a lot of business. Here's a couple of pictures of what they did today.





Oh, and here's the hole in my wall.



One good thing about my floor troubles, it gives me reason to stay upstairs in my room and work on stuff. Here's a card I finished yesterday.



I totally ripped off Amy Westerman's card. I just loved the paper combination she used. She is just so talented! Check out her blog if you haven't already. I loved the sketch so much, I replicated it with this card.



If you noticed, I whipped out my handy dandy sewing machine too. Fred would be so proud that I actually used my "$300 paper weight", as he calls it. I stamped and embossed the pumpkin then painted it with Radiant Pearls. I used to use these all the time, but haven't lately for some reason. Probably because I have too much stuff! If you've never used them before, they are transparent pearlized paints similar to watercolors. They take a while to dry, so blending is really easy. Here's a close up of the pumpkin.



I think I used about 5 different colors on it. I didn't wait for it to dry, so I embossed it with clear embossing powder. It looks so much better in real life. As does everything! I hope I didn't peak your interest too much about Radiant Pearls, because unfortunately, I don't think they sell them anymore. I know, it's just tragic! I'll have to make the ones I have last a long time!

floor trouble

I noticed about 3 weeks ago that the hardwood floor just on the other side of the kitchen had started to warp. All things pointed to the kitchen sink. I looked underneath the cabinet and never did find anything. We had a leak detection company come out today and he couldn't see anything. They had this little hose with a camera on the end of it and still didn't see anything. Well, he had to cut a hole in the wall between the cabinet and the other side of the wall where the sheetrock is and reach his hand in and feel. He got his little camera again and showed me where the leak was. Apparently, when the house was built and they were nailing the sheetrock, they missed the stud and went right into the pipe which has now started to leak. He's going to have to come back tomorrow and cut another hole on the wall side and remove the nail and patch the hole. Now we have to wait about 60 days for the hardwoods to dry out and see if they can be sanded and repaired. If not, we'll have to replace the floor. Oh joy! Here's a picture of the floor and where they have to cut a hole.



In other news, I went to my local scrapbook store today and picked up some new stuff. Just some paper and buttons and flowers among other things. I really need to start scrapbooking some pictures. I've been doing a lot of cards lately, like this one I did yesterday.



If I don't start scrapbooking soon, I'm going to get way behind and end up with a million pictures I need to do!

I've been anxiously awaiting my order from Papertrey Ink. They are a great new stamp company. Nichole, the owner and designer, has created some really cool stamps! Every month on the 15th, they release a new set of stamps...sometimes even two or FIVE like they did last month! The Halloween collection this month is really cute and the projects in the gallery are simply amazing! There's also a flower set this month. I, of course, ordered both. I can't wait to get them! You should definintely check these out if you haven't already! Happy stamping!

dining out

My mother-in-law is on her way soon to watch the kiddos because Fred and I are meeting some friends for dinner. I can't wait! It's been so nice living so much closer to all of Fred's family. We have been able to go out, just the two of us, quite a bit. Plus, all the cousins can grow up together. I have lots of cousins, but I didn't really get to see much of them when I was younger. Anywho, here are a couple of photos of Reagan I took the other day. She's getting so big!




She's loving the solids! I think bananas are her favorite. We've tried pears, sweet potatoes, peas and carrots. Next on the menu is green beans, applesauce and squash. Yummy!

A good friend of mine and her two kiddos are coming over tomorrow to visit. Here's the birthday card I did for her son. He's about 6 months younger than Ethan. It's a little late, but oh well.



Have a great night! I know I will!