A Few Little Projects

Well, it's Friday again, so that means another try at the Farmer's Market. Today is the Fall Festival over there, and they've had ads in the paper, passed out flyers and stuff, so just maybe there will be more people there today. I hope so. I'm trying to get this business off the ground, not just selling stuff, but being able to make some real money being a Stampin Up! Demonstrator, and it's really taking longer than I thought it would. Anyway, here are some projects I've been working on. This is "Snowman Soup." The poetry isn't mine. I got it from Split Coast Stampers. Kind of cute, huh? It says " The days are getting shorter now, winter's almost here. With freezing weather coming fast, you'll need a bit of cheer. So here's a bit of Snowman Soup, complete with stirring stick. Just add hot water, sip it slow. It's sure to do the trick." And yes, those are Hershey's Kisses in the bag. I did manage to package a few before the kids (and myself) got ahold of them. This is what the people who have been good will get in their stocking.

Here's what the bad folks get. It's Snowman Poop. It says "I heard you've been naughty, so listen - here's the scoop.... I'm running low on coal this year so here's some Snowman Poop!" My kids really love that one!!

Sorry this picture is a blur. I can't figure out why my camera doesn't want to focus lately. I hope it's not broken, right now isn't a good time to get a new one!

I've also been working on these little composition books with matching beaded pens. Hopefully they will be a hot item today.
and last but not least, I have a shaker card. There's bird seed for the birds, and the little red tag thingies on the side say "Chirp up" This is a last minute addition for my Technique Class. I have one lady who live in North Carolina and comes all the way here just to come to my class! (Well, maybe she's really coming to visit her sister who just happens to come to class, but I want to think she comes just for my class, cuz it's that good!!) So, last time the subject of shaker cards came up, and she said she'd never done one, but thought they were really neat. So when I found out she was coming, I added it to the class.

That's all for now. I have to go do some housework so that tonight everyone doesn't get scared away by my piles of laundry and dishes!

Update on Farmer's Market

I don't have any pictures to show you right now (I need to charge my camera batteries), but I have been busy making stuff to take to the Farmer's Market this Friday. For the last 2 weeks I have gone, but with not much success. Granted, the weather was yucky both times, and there was a parade on one day, so maybe this week will be different. The Fall Festival is this Friday, and they've sent out flyers and had an ad in the paper, so there should be a decent crowd. At least that's what I'm hoping for. The only things I've sold so far were 2 mini composition books. But, I got a few names and numbers to contact for classes coming up, and one lady placed a small order, so even though it's slow going, maybe I'll get something out of it. Since the holidays are coming up, I've been working on a few little things. Hopefully I'll be able to post those later today.

Wedding Gift

I made this name frame for some friends at church who are getting married on Nov. 15. (I remember that date easily because it was my best friends birthday when I was growing up.) I got the inspiration from Split Coast Stampers, namely here and here. I used Le Jardin DSP (retired from Stampin' Up!) because I think it is very beautiful and elegant. Then I chose the stripe background because the opening is wider than 12" and the stripes hide the seam. You can't find it, can you? I had to look for it myself very closely. I don't have any big alphabet stamps, so I printed the last name on vellum with my computer. Then I cut out each letter and mounted it on different pattern from Le Jardin. Those are then mounted onto Always Arthichoke. I used Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon across the bottom. Then printed out their first names along with the Bible verse on Very Vanilla. Then, cut that out and sponged with So Saffron ink then mounted on Always Artichoke. The mat came with the frame, but it was one of those mats that are divided for (3) 4" x 6" photos. I used my craft blade to cut out the little dividers from the mat and then sponged Always Artichoke around the inside edges. The little flourish in the corners is from the stamp set Friendship Blooms, from the last Sale a Bration. OK, did I miss anything?

Of course, I had to have a coordinating card, so I cased the layout for the card from here. The sentiment is from Full of Life stamp set from the last mini. I used all the same materials for the card as I did for the frame.

And of course, here they are together.

Thanks for looking!

Oct. Technique Class

Here is what I came up with for October's Technique Class. A Double Pocket Bag, matching Beaded Pen and coordinating Bookmark. For class, you are welcome to use any Designer Series Paper I have on hand, and you can choose your stamp set, as well. I love how they all coordinate together. In my sample I used Summer Picnic DSP, Tart and Tangy, All in the Family and So Many Scallops stampsets, Bashful Blue and Striped Real Red ribbon, Bashful Blue, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie ink. I also used an assortment of punches. Here are all three project together.

Here's a close up of the bookmark.
Close up of the Double Pocket Bag and the Beaded pen. The bag is the perfect size for a small gift. A CD or DVD fits perfectly inside. What a great way to send a home DVD or a CD of your family pictures to friends and family! Or you could bake some wonderful homemade cookies and slip a couple in there for someone special. I based the front of the bag on this sketch. It's hard to see the pen very well in the picture, but it really looks neat. I'm going to have to make alot more of these.

The cost for this class is going to be $9. Please RSVP as soon as possible so I can prepare the proper amount of supplies. Thanks!

I Finally Did It

I finally made it to the Farmer's Market with all my cards and stuff to sell, I was all excited to be there with DD (Sam took the boys to work). Amanda even made some of her own cards to sell. She's so funny. So we get there, set up and wait.....and wait.......and wait for customers. There were vendors, but no customers. I asked around, and people said they didn't know what was going on, usually people are all over the place. So about 3 hours in, I start to pack up. One lady sees me, and comes over to buy the mini comp. book she liked. It's $2. Amanda says, "Don't you want to buy one of the cards I made?" So the lady looks at her options, and she's like, "Oh, those are so pretty!" (But I don't really think she's going to buy one.) So I made her an offer she couldn't refuse. I said, "How about if I sell you that little book for one dollar, and you can buy one of Amanda's cards for a dollar?" "Oh, that would be great!" she says. So I gave Amanda her dollar, and then she managed to get my dollar from me to go buy a great big stalk of sugar cane! We spent every dime we earned!! So as I was loading up my van, another vendor says to me, "They're having the Gopher Hill Parade downtown, that's where all the people are!" Sure enough, as I go home, I have to take a detour becaue all the streets are blocked. At least I'm not the ONLY one who didn't know about the parade! So now that the parade is over, I'm going down to the market again this morning to see what happens. Wish me luck!

A Challenge for you!!

As I was blurfing today while the kids sat quietly doing their schoolwork (yeah, right) I came across this blog. She has some really great sketches for scrapbook pages and cards. I'm going to see if I can fit in some time to do some of the sketches, since I just happen to have tons of pictures just waiting to be done. My challenge to you is to do a scrapbook page (or 2 or 3...) or card using a sketch off her blog. It would also be more of a challenge to use this color inspiration from kwernerdesign.

I haven't participated in any of her color challenges yet, but I think I need to so I can get some new stuff going on. Send me a link with your project! It will be fun! Or you can bring it to our next stampin night. If you don't have these exact colors, use something similar. The idea here is to be inspired. I think this challenge will help me think outside my comfort zone, as alot of my pages tend to be similar. Let's see what we can come up with!!





Now I'll leave you with some cards that were for various classes and workshops. This first card uses Cutie Pie DSP and Bashful Blue CS with various circle punches. Stamp set is Define Your Life.





The second card uses Fall Flowers DSP (retired) with Really Rust and Old Olive CS. The stamp set is from Sale a Bration, I can't think of the name of it off hand. Buttons are from Earth Elements tied with twine.



I really like this card. I think it's one of my all-time favorites. I don't remember where I got the inspiration, it was kind of an altered case. As you can tell, I really like my Bugs and Kisses stamp set. It's kind of like my go to set when I don't know what to do. If you like it as much as I do, you could always go to my Stampin' Up! Website and order it right now! It's item number 106700. Orders are shipped directly to you! So anyway, this card uses Bugs and Kisses, Basic Black, Real Red and Whisper White CS and Black Gingham ribbon with various circl punches. You just gotta love those punches!



Well, that's all for now. See you later and happy stampin'!!

South Carolina State Fair!

Yesterday, I met my SIL at the SC State Fair in Columbia. It was so much fun and the kids had a blast! Here are a few highlights of the day. This first picture is my oldest son, Sammy. He's showing off his great big arms in the funny mirror.

And here's his mean, mean face!
This here is my girl Amanda. Great big head and tiny little body! I think this picture is so funny!
Here she is with a HUGE grin. How cute is that?
Here's Bubba. I think he kind of has a Jay Leno chin here, what do you think?
And of couse, since Sammy showed off his muscles, Bubba had to also, along with his mean, mean face. The kids had so much fun with those wacky mirrors, all posing and laughing hysterically. I think they liked those as much as all the rides!
I couldn't get a shot of Amanda without the chain through her face, since I was in the swing next to her, but it's kind of cute anyway...

Sammy, Bubba, Justin, Brandon and Jenny are on this ride, somewhere in the middle....
These slides were so much fun. My SIL Cathy has 5 yo twins. The twins and Amanda weren't tall enough to go down by themselves, so Cathy and I got quite a workout climbing this thing, but the little ones loved it, and we raced to see who could get to the bottom first and be declared the winner.
This is Amanda and Jenny, just cruisin' along on a set of wheels.

Well, I guess that about takes care of our day at the fair. Do I have any readers out there in blog land who happen to have gone? Just wondering. Well, goodnight, and happy stamping!

Rock a Bye Girl

Hello, again! I made this scrapbook the same time I made the boy version, which you can see here. I couldn't post this at the same time, because it's a gift for my sister-in-law, and I didn't want her to see it. Well, her baby shower was last Friday, so now it's safe to post. Some of the layouts were my own, some of them were spin-offs of others I've seen, and some were both. This isn't the whole thing, just a few of the pages. It goes from 1 to 12 months, with a double page spread for each month. They're all 6 x 6 pages.






Well, that's it, I hope you enjoyed it, talk to you later!

Happy Birthday, Justin!

I made this card today for my nephew who is turning - can you guess? That's it, 13!! I wish I could have used some number stamps, but the only ones I had were too big for my tag! The strip paper is some I had left over from my Summer Days Scrappin' Kit. The stamps are from All About U. The U is embossed, but you can't tell in the picture. I made the tag following this tutorial. It was really easy, and I like the effect. I just used Wild Wasabi for the rim instead of metallic paper. The party is Saturday, but my boys are going up to Columbia tomorrow with their grandparents, so I kind of get a break. I'll still have Amanda. Well, gotta go for now, Sam just drove up. See you later!

I don't have anything new to show you, so I'm posting some pictures of cards I made a while back. Please don't pay attention to the quality of these photos. I took these pics before I started blogging and realized I should pay attention to the background.

• stamps: Enjoy Every Moment
• card stock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise
• ink: Tempting Turquoise, Whipser White craft
• other: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" punches, White Embossing Powder, Chocolate Chip Ribbon

• stamps: Define Your Life, All in the Family
• Whisper White cs, Tempting Turquoise cs, andPetals and Paisly DSP
• Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain ribbon

• Bugs and Kisses
• Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange and Green Galore ink
• Tempting turquoise ribbon, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

One question for all you bloggers out there, how do you remember all the exact supplies, stamps, colors and everything from every project and then find the time to list them all for every card you post? Maybe it's because my computer isn't near my stamp stuff, so by the time I post days later, I don't remember exact colors, or maybe it's because I'm just too lazy to type it all out. Anyway, if you ever want to know exactly what I used or technique I did, please leave a comment or email me. I'll get back to you. Otherwise I probably won't list supplies unless it is something that's not obvious.

And the Survey says....

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My Hubby's Job

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been one of those weeks (months) that it seems like your always doing something, but nothing ever gets done. So I thought I'd show you what my husband does for a living. He is a residential general contractor, and alot of his work is setting modular homes. I took these pictures on Monday, Sept. 29 for him, because he likes to have pictures of his big jobs. But then I figured why not share with all of you, because most people probably haven't had the opportunity to see something like this in real life. So let's start off right. Here is my hubby Sam on the left with his worker Charlie. Ready to get to work.

Now for a small lesson in Modular homes. They are stick built homes that are put together in a factory, then set on trailers and moved to the job site where they are hoisted up by a crane and set on the foundation that has been built ahead of time. There is alot of prep work involved, and setting the house can make a day quite stressful. When I arrived on the scene, they already had the first half of the house set. Here is what that looks like. Notice the roof is not up to the pitch houses have? The roof is laid down flat for traveling, and then hoisted up after the 2 halves are put together.

Now, not all modulars are this high off the ground. These people live on an island and wanted to be able to park their boat underneath the house. That's why it's so far off the ground.


Sorry about this picture. I have a bad habit of not turning my pictures before I upload, and then it's too late. So any way, the crane picks up the other half of the house.......

and slowly moves it over the foundation.....


There are guide lines tied on the ends of the house so it can be pulled to the left or right, but you can't really see it in the pictures.


Then when it's all lined up, the house is set down on the foundation. Then it is pulled the last couple of inches together with wenches (is that right?) that are on the sides. The roof of the house is laid down flat while it's being moved, so one it's set, the crane is hooked up to the roof and hoists it up into place to be secured. I don't know how that's done, that's why this is my hubby's job and not mine. Here you can see the ropes from the crane on the roof, and that of couse is Sam up there disconnectin the ropes from the roof.


Then on the ends of the house, plywood has to be put up to fill in the gaps that are left between where the roof was laid down and then picked up. Does that make any sense? So because this house is 14 ft high, he uses a manlift to put up the plywood, and then put all the siding on the ends of the house. Then of couse, the roof must be finished and shingled, and inside has some trim work to be done. Last of all, porches are built and water, electricity and all that good stuff is hooked up. After painting and all on the inside, the new homeowners are ready to move in.

Our house is a modular also, so watching this job brought back alot of memories of watching my own house be picked up with a crane. Ours is also about 8 feet off the ground, because being so close the the coast, we can't have a basement, so we have an above ground basement under the house.

Well, I guess that's enough construction talk for one day, and soon I should get back the the regularly scheduled stamp stuff. That's all for now!