Cupcake Honey birthday card

I needed to make a b-day card for friend of ours - he's not the kind of guy to go for frilly things, so I used this image instead of my typical cutesy digis :-)  I hope he appreciated it! LOL  In any event, the image is from Sassy Studios and it's called Cupcake Honey.  The candle background is an embossing folder from Cuttlebug.  The sentiments (inside and out) are from SU Sassy Suzie set.  The digi was colored using Prismacolor colored pencils.

 Tools used: SU Sassy Suzie, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils



Book Review ~ His First Kill: A Short Story

I usually don't read short stories....because...well...I think they are too short! LOL But this one was filled with twists and turns and unexpected things. I loved it! It was a quick read (as I guess is the point of short stories lol) but it was enjoyable all the way through. Thank you John Brinling! It was a fun, unexpected read!

Dragon b-day card

Here's a birthday card I made for one of my kids' friend's birthday parties.  I used Dustin Pike's freebie image and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I double matted him and put some ballon brads along the side.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities squares, balloon brads, Prismacolor colored pencils, Dustin Pike digi

Book Review ~ The Usurper

Title: The Usurper

Author: Cliff Ball

This is the first Cliff Ball book I've read...and I'd have to say that if he writes another political thriller ... I'm in! "The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?' He makes it all seem possible...which is a scary thought! This book had lots of twists and turns that kept the reader on the edge of her seat throughout the book. I gave this book to my dad to read since he likes the same kind of books that I do. I'm sure he'll have a good review as well. Thank you Cliff for writing this book!

Monkey Book

Last year my sister-in-law was pregnant with her first baby.  The baby's room theme was monkeys so I had made her a wipes box decorated in monkey decor.  My brother would update everyone on the pregnancy along the way via facebook.  My brother is very witty and has a great sense of humor and every week we would look forward to reading about how the baby was growing or how the pregnancy was going.  I really wanted him to have these memories he recorded along the way so I created a mini book filled with all his postings.  The postings began with his announcement of his wife's pregnancy and ended with baby Alex's birth information and hospital picture.  I know this is a book they will treasure always. 

For the album cover I used two coasters (like the ones you get at a bar - the cardboard throwaways) and covered each with paper.  For the top cover I used the same monkey as the wipes box  and the same punch along the sides.  I cut out a bunch of paper and scored it to make enough sheets for the entire book.  Then I printed out all the quotes/pictures and glued them in order along the one side and down the other.  I tied a piece of twine around it to keep it all together.

Book Review ~ Butterflies In May

Title: Butterflies In May
Author: Karen Hart

I give this book 5 stars! LOVED it! Even though I knew Ali would become pregnant in this book (afterall, that's what the book is about), I found myself wishing it weren't true. Ali is such a straight-laced A student who's found love and you know that having a baby would change all that, so I was secretly hoping she wouldn't really be pregnant. But alas she was! I found it a remarkable story to follow Ali and her boyfriend Matt as they discover the truth and deal with it. These teens had some very tough decisions to make and the author had written these characters in such a way that you could really feel for them. In fact, this book actually made me cry! First time ever I've cried reading a book! Maybe it's because I'm a mom myself, I don't know, but it was a very touching and thoughtful story of these two teens. I think this is a must read for all teens!

Book Review ~ Thanksgiving at the Inn

 Title: Thanksgiving at the Inn
Author: Tim Whitney

LOVED this book! Such a heartwarming, touching story about family. This story is about Heath and his dad and their travels back to Massachusetts to live at the Inn. The story has some very interesting characters. I loved how well the characters were written - especially Preacher with his accent. Every time I picked up this book I was brought right into the story and could picture myself as a fly on the wall watching everything happen. It was like I was following Heath around learning as he did. The characters make it such a warm story that makes you realize that 'family' can be a variety of things. I could definitely see this story becoming a movie. It was so enjoyable to read and I think it'd be a shame to not have it on film. It's a good story that the whole family can enjoy. A+


Tim Whitney - if this is your debut, I can't wait to see what comes out next! Thank you for the read!

Happy New Year!

Hello, hello!  Welcome to 2011! 

I'm hoping to be able to spend some more time on my neglected blog this year and hopefully get back into the swing of things.  This year I'll also be posting book reviews of books that I've read on my Nook. 

While I haven't been able to do as much crafting during my hiatus as I would have liked, I did manage to create a few cards here and there...and my 6 yr old daughter has too - maybe more than I did! LOL  Being the proud mama that I am, I'll be posting her creative works as well. 

Hiatus

Hello All,

Due to some issues going on right now I'm going to be taking a hiatus from posting for a bit.  Too much going on now.  Hopefully I'll be back soon! 

To my new followers - thank you for joining and I promise to have lots of postings when I return.  I apologize for the poor timing since you've just signed on to follow me.

Thank you for your understanding!

Happy crafting :-)

Today starts Softpencil's Customer Blog Hop!

Hello and thank you for stopping by on your blog hop today!  It's so fun to create cards using Elizabeth's super adorable images!  I hope you will find some inspiration along your hop and have a fun time doing along the way.  Enjoy your hop, hop, hopping!!! :-)

If you have arrived here from Softpencil's blog you're on the right track - I'm the first stop! Woot woot!! :-)  If you didn't arrive here from Softpencil, please go back and start there. 

I'm posting these for the first time, but I do have a couple of other Softpencil designs as well - you can find the older ones by clicking on the Softepencil tag on my sidebar.  Thanks for looking!

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For this card I used the "Happy Teddy Bear" digi.  I colored the digi with Prismacolor pencils.  I used Cuttlebug "D'vine Swirls" to emboss the pink background cardstock.  I used green cardstock as a mat for the digi, but I also layered a ripped piece on the bottom to give the illusion of grass.  (I'm not a fan of how my grass comes out when colored, so I tried this instead - even though I did color the grass in the digi lol)  I tried to show it in the second picture, but again, it still didn't come out that well....but I digress... on the bottom of the bear's dress I used some clear/white glitter just to give it a little dimension. 

For my next card I used one of Softpencil's many girl stamps - I just love her!  Again, with the glitter glue I added some dimension to her bows.  I also had fun with my new SU border punch.  A ribbon and some stick on bling and I'm good to go!  Enjoy!

For my final card I used one of the freebies - a unicorn.  Once again (okay, it's a new toy, can you tell?) I used glitter glue on my card.  Some gold for the horn, wings and hooves, and some blue for the eye.  I also had some sequins I got at a tag sale that I used since they just happened to be gold :-)  I put some in the swirls of the embossed background.  I made this card for my 6 yr old daughter's friend's b-day coming up.  Thanks for looking! :-)

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed your stay and will come back again soon :-) 

Your next stop on the hop is here: Rhonda Miller http://bluepoohbear753.blogspot.com/

Have fun hopping along and don't forget to end up back at Softpencil's blog...and leave some love along the way! :-)

Enjoy your day!