Three Months Later...

My son loves to watch Sponge Bob and whenever something is taking a long time, the narrrator will come on and say, "Three hours later" or "Two weeks later"... That's what I thought of when I saw my poor blog and that I haven't added a thing since September. Well, the homecoming went off fabulously (see pictures)... My husband was on strike for only six hours and things seem to be okay at least for now... I finished my classes! Last Thursday, I took my last final exam... yea!!! Now I have a month off and am planning on a LOT of creating and time spent just hanging out with my family. Oh- and I'll blog too! :)

Shannon and I at the Homecoming Dance

Ashley and Dylan

The whole gang with the Junior class float

Joey as Captain Jack Sparrow

School is kicking my butt...

I've got three classes this semester... two very challenging science classes and a Government class. I haven't had time to do much of anything besides study. So, I haven't had ANY creative time and I'm missing it very much. I signed up for three swaps on Inky Fun Stampers, so this weekend I'm going to carve out some time to make those cards and I'll share them with you as soon as I get them created! News on the home-front... Ashley and Shannon both got asked to the Homecoming dance. Ashley already bought her dress, but I still have to take Shannon shopping. The Junior class float is in my garage and coming along nicely. We'll find out tomorrow night at midnight if Mark's union is going on strike. Now that I'm in school and not working, I don't know how we'll manage with no income. Keep us in your prayers!

What Kind of Coffee Are YOU?

My friend had this "survey" on her blog and I just had to check it out. For those of you who don't know me, I'm addicted to French Vanilla Cappuccino... to me, a day without Cappuccino is like a day without sunshine.

I had to smile at my results!

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

I was feeling guilty...

about not making my usual cards for Angel Stampers for Soldiers, so I made a bunch for the soldiers to receive. Now on to those Christmas cards! :)

I made this card much the same way as the next one below. I "slashed" Irredescent Twinkling H2O's on black matte cardstock~ very shimmery. I made the "thinking of you" and the shadow on my Cricut, layered them together, used clear glue on the top layer and then applied "daimond" glitter. Beautiful!

I wish I had a better scanner so you could see the detail in these cards. The background was made with a paintbrush by "slashing" Twinkling H2O's across matte white cardstock~ in real life, it's looks very glittery.

The "thankyou" stamp is by Stampin' Up and was stamped in white pigment ink and embossed with kaliedoscope powder. It's sparkly and changes colors depending upon how the light hits it.

These little bees are embossed and very shiny.

The message inside is:

"I hope you have a Bee-utiful Day!"

I learned how to make the pinwheel embellishment a little while ago and just love to use them~ they are so versatile and a snap to make. Here are the instructions: 1. Cut or punch a square out of double-sided cardstock or patterned paper. A two or three inch square works well for cards~ use bigger or smaller squares for scrapbook layouts. 2. Fold the square in half diagonally from corner to corner and crease (I like to use a bone folder to get a nice crisp crease.) Unfold and repeat along the opposite diagonal. You should now have a folded X on the square. 3. Cut along each of the folds, stopping about 1/4 inch before you get to the center of the square. 4. Take every other point and bring it into the center of the square, holding them down with your finger. When you've gathered all the points, use a stapler or brad to secure them to the center. Then cover the staple with a brad, button or other fun embellishment.

It's been a busy, card-making week

I've been very busy this past week making cards and doing a little bit of scrapping. I made all of my Halloween cards today... I'm happy to have them done! I really wanted to get my Christmas cards made before I go back to school, but I only have a week and a half left now... I guess I'll see how productive I can be!

I also made several cards for Angel Stampers for Soldiers. I usually send a package of cards every month for the soldiers to receive, but this month there was a special request for blank cards that a unit in Afghanistan could use to send to their loved ones. I made birthday, fall and Halloween cards for them. (Their link is on my page if you'd like to help out!)

Here are some of the cards I made...

Birthday cards

This is an autumn card that I made using Perfect Pearls. It's very shimmery.

It doesn't show up very well, but the ribbon and the spider are sparkly. The verse inside the card is:

"Jack-o-lanterns glowing bright

Ghosts that give you such a fright,

Oh, my! What a very scary scene

Wishing you 'Happy Halloween!' "

Here's the other Halloween card. (I love "cute" Halloween vs. scary). Inside it says, "Just hand over the candy corn and no one will get hurt."

Thought for the day...

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities

brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

-Charles Swindoll

Scrapbook Layouts

One of my passions is making scrapbooks. I started about nine years ago and have made hundreds and hundreds of layouts since then. I love the creativity involved, but feel that the most important thing is that I'm making lasting memories for my family~ especially my children.

Here are some of the pages I've been working on recently...

Left side of 2-page Pavillion Fun layout

Right side

Left side of 2-page Cedar Point layout

Right side

Left side of Joey's 2-page T-ball layout

Right side

Art Work... here are some of the cards and journals I have made:

I made this card this morning for my friend's birthday. I love the Basic Grey line... and had some small flowers in just the right colors. I made the distressed paper by crinkling up some card stock into a ball and then rubbing my ink pad over the creases. I used Tim Holtz distress ink in Antique Linen. After that, I spritzed it with water and ironed it flat. I made this card using Penny Black's "Beautiful Day" stamp and water-coloring the image.

I made this card by stamping an old fashioned map onto a transparency and then blotting alcohol inks onto the back side.

This card was made using the Faux Batik technique.

These two cards were made with stamps a friend let me borrow... they're made by Stampin' Up.

These two Cards were made using the over-stamping technique from Nancy Curry's "Texture Effects" book.

I made these cards using CTMH "Totally Chic" stamp set.

These are jounals that I made as Christmas presents for my neices last year.

My beautiful family

Joey and I~ Christmas 2006

This is Joey and Mark at the Red Wings parade in 2002.

This is me and Rita, my best friend from high school... we had our 20 year reunion in June.

Joey was ring-bearer for his cousin's wedding last fall. I just love this picture of him...

This is Ashley (left) and Shannon with their dates for Homecoming 2006.

A little about me

My name is Hope and I'm a 37 year old mother of three. I live in Michigan with my husband, two teen-age daughters, our 8 year old son, a dog, a cat and an aquarium full of fish. I'm also an (almost) full-time nursing student. To say the least, our house is always full of action. I am a creative person and dabble in various arts from watercolor to altering CD's. My current passions are card making and scrapbooking. I'm also beginning a Teesha Moore-style journal. I'll post some pictures once I really get going on it. Other things I enjoy are reading, gardening, traveling (when I can), exercising and being a ChemoAngel.