Friendly Sweet Stop

Well, well what do you know...it is Sweet Stop time! Is it Saturday yet? Not sure why it has been a rough week...maybe it is because my husband just told me that he will need to be working longer hours and most Saturdays for about a month. I think the looming thought of little to no breaks is a huge weight on my shoulders. I love my kids, but I get worn out from them sometimes. Between the chatterbox boy that literally never stops talking or asking questions to the starting to talk but still screams far too much little girl I feel like I could go crazy some days! So I may be using my therapy sessions on here more often! Not feeling very chatty this evening (the whole huge weight thing), so let's get right to the topic at hand.

This week's sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #45, was a tougher one for me...remember I am an engineer by trade, so putting things askew is not something I do very often. But that is why I love sketch challenges...it forces me to do things that I wouldn't do very often! I threw a weird, in my opinion, color combo together. Started out normal with Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo, and Bermuda Bay, but then I threw in the Blush Blossom because the largest button I had for my flower happen to be that color. But I think it works...or is it a little strange? Anyway I used the Women of Life stamp set by Papertrey Ink making the largest flower more of my focal point. The ribbon is by Offray (from Wal-Mart...love it when I find cool ribbons there cuz I can sneak them in the grocery bill!).

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Leave them some love and the create a card of your own and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have fun and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo textured, Bermuda Bay, Blush Blossom, Whisper White; Ink - Kiwi Kiss, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Blush Blossom, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - Pink Polka Dot Ribbon (Offray), white gel pen, old button, hemp twine, dimensionals

It's Official!

It is official! I am now published in a magazine. Not just any magazine, but Paper Crafts! Okay it has been actually official for like a week or more, but I just got my own copies of the magazine today. It is so weird and so totally exciting to see my name actually printed in a magazine next to something I created! And actually my name was printed twice because they listed all of the first-timers in the front...a whopping 19 for this issue! I still cannot believe it! I am still trying to keep myself from being an 80's one-hit wonder (so far no luck) but I am going the confident route and saying I will see my name in print again...well at least I hope (ok there sort of went the confidence). Anyway just had to share my excitement!

Oh and since the magazine is out, I get to share the card that was published. It uses Branch Out from Stampin' Up!...so love this set (did they really just retire it?!). I created the sky by punching a scallop circle and brushing Bashful Blue ink around the top of the scallop circle to create clouds...pretty huh?! The tree was stamped in Soft Suede and the blossoms were in Melon Mambo. The ribbon is one of my Wal-Mart finds by Offray.

I also have an update regarding the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge from Saturday (see my card HERE)...there is a $20 Gift Certificate up for grabs! Just make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog. Have fun getting inky!

That is all for me. Go out and get a copy of the Paper Crafts March/April 2010 issue for yourself (I am on page 70 and would happy to autograph it for you...just kiddin'!). Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Melon Mambo, Textured Soft Suede, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up!); Accessories - Pink Polka Dot ribbon (Offray); Scallop Circle Punch (SU!), Corner Rounder Punch (SU!), sponge, dimensionals

Instant Love

Do you ever have to look at pictures of your children to remind yourself that they aren't always bad? I seriously need to keep reminding myself that my daughter is so very sweet and that she is just going through a phase right now. The pictures on this scrapbook page totally make me remember how precious she is and how sweet she can be. Yup here comes the travel story...if you don't care skip on down! So my sister and I took my kids (Eli - 4 years and Adi - 20 months) down to Florida to visit both my parents and my husband's parents. Alright you probably know that part by now. Anyway, keep in mind I have never flown with children before (my husband has taken my son down to visit in years past), so I was already a bit on edge about the whole experience. We get to the airport and make it through security...let me tell you getting yourself and children through security is a hectic enough experience in itself. We make it on the plane and everything is going well...my daughter was under 2 so she was a "lap" child...and we were all snuggled into our seats. Then we sit for 1 hour at the gate! Something about a push crew was not showing up...ok there goes one hour of good kid time not in the air! Since this was my first time flying with teh kids, I am not 100% sure of the etiquette with "lap" kids...when exactly do I need to hold her on my lap? Well I thought basically that once they shut the doors until we were in the air, she needed to be on my lap (instead of next to her brother). So she was there for an hour and then we finally were ready for take-off...now she no longer wanted to be there! Now let me tell you my daughter has reached octaves and decibels I had no idea existed (and please tell me this is a phase?!)...well the plane got to experience that in person for about 30 minutes or so. Fun, fun! She settled down and the rest of the flight went good. Then we waste lay-over time in the airport and get on the next flight. Another hour before take-off...seriously! As they kept getting on telling us about the delay, I just kept shaking my head thinking everyone is going to hate me by the end of this flight. This time I knew at least that I only had to constrain her on my lap for take-off and landing...so I left her be the rest of the time. We finally take-off and she did fine. My kids are sitting there singing songs, giggling, having fun. They may have played with the tray tables a little and my son may have kicked the seat in front of him a couple of times (if he was kicking it repeatedly I would have noticed), but nothing major. The older lady in front of me turns around and says "could you keep your children from kicking the seats...it is very disturbing!". I could have smacked her...I wanted to smack her...and I wanted to cry. They were being so good at that moment! Then about 20 minutes later, my daughter has had it...it is late and she is now very tired. So she starts screaming (not quite the octaves as the last flight) and throwing her body all around. At this point I wanted to shove her in the older lady's face and ask her if that was disturbing, but I didn't. Finally Adi stands up in my lap turns towards me and collapses on my shoulder and falls asleep. During all of her screaming, Eli actually fell asleep next to me...amazing what that kid is used to! So I have two sleeping kids and I feel completely rattled and exhausted...then I overhear the stewardess talking to the people in front of me saying "I guess we weren't going to get an rest on this flight" and such. I think I started crying and tried to give her some dirty looks when she came to me and asked if I wanted something to drink. So then we land and my sister and I wait for everyone to get off the plane and then manage to get two very sleepy and cranky (because we woke them up) kids off the plane. By the time we got in my parents car I could hardly stop crying. Talk about worst trip ever! But the visit was nice...not as warm as we were hoping...I got a break from cooking and cleaning...not as much of a break from taking care of the kids though due to a very clingy little girl...and the flights back home went a zillion times better (only a couple shrieks when I had to constrain her to my lap during take-off and/or landing). I can't say that I want to fly anytime soon with my daughter...at least not until she is a little older!

So that is my story and the reason why looking at sweet adorable Adi pictures helps me get through the day...cuz yeah she screams that loud at home sometimes too! This page was created using a sketch from PageMaps. I love this layout...always love the layout where I can get lots of pictures in. I found the heart paper and was super excited because it really brought out the mood of the pictures and also the colors (down to the lovely sagey color hospital gown!). This highlights the moment that Eli met his baby sister for the first time...so now I have to make two of these because I am doing books for each of my kids and this is also the first time that Adi meets her big brother. Not sure there is a lot to talk about for it, so i will just leave you the supply list.

Thanks for my therapy session and for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Contempo Alphabet (SU!), Typewriter Alphabet (Wal-Mart); Paper - Sage Shadow, Real Red, Whisper White (SU!), Sweet Love-Big Love Patterned Paper (Little Yellow Bicycle); Ink - Sage Shadow, Real Red; Accessories - Pewter Hardware (SU!), Clear Rhinestone Stickers (Darice), Scallop Edge Punch

Two Cards for One Sketch

It is Sweet Stop time once again! If you are waiting for my hilarious-unless-you-actually-to-do-go-through-it story of my trip down to Florida with my kids and sister, I am going to make you wait a little bit longer. I don't want make this post too long...but I promise to share it soon! I am sure you will all be waiting with baited breath!

So this week's sketch challenge, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #44, has a slight twist...flowers! You can have flowers on the card anywhere and in any size, just as long as there is a flower somewhere! I decided to make my four squares into one picture...kind of a mosaic picture thing. I stamped the image from the Summer by the Sea set from Stampin' Up! in Brilliance Graphite Black ink on watercolor paper. I watercolored the image getting my colors from the patterned paper underneath. My mosaic picture was mounted on black cardstock. All of that is popped up on my patterned paper. The last touch was some pink half pearl stickers. I kept it pretty simple.

But the layout (minus the flower part) made me really think of a masculine card, so I went for it. Once again the card is kept simple...which works even better for a masculine card. I stamped a few circles from the Circle Circus stamp set randomly and then cut it up into squares. The greeting, from Seeing Stars by Verve Stamps, was stamped on a square in Night of Navy ink. Each square was mounted on Sahara Sand and then all of the squares are on Really Rust. The Night of Navy patterned paper is from the Stampin' Up! Hostess patterned paper pack. The last touch was pewter brads in the corner of the stamped squares.

Now you need to check out the other Sugar Babies' creations: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a card with the sketch (don't forget the twist) and link it to the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details - Female Card

Stamps - Summer by the Sea (SU!); Paper - Pink Passion, Basic Black (SU!), Sunshine Pad (Me & My Big Ideas), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black, Glorious Green, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion, Real Red, Bashful Blue; Accessories - Aquabrush, Pink Half Pearl Stickers (Oriental Trading), dimensionals

The Engineering Details - Male Card

Stamps - Circle Circus (SU!), Seeing Stars (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bordering Blue, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Night of Navy Pattern Paper (SU!); Ink - Bordering Blue, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy; Accessories - Pewter Brads, dimensionals

A Flower for You

Well hello from the frigid SOUTH! Yup that is right I am on vacation in Florida (visiting grandparents) and it is literally hitting freezing temperatures! What in the world? We came down hoping for some sun and a little warmth and we have only had one day out of four like that so far! Here's hoping we get at least one more before we have to go home! The story of getting down here will have to come on another day...and oh is it a doozy!

Anyway, it is once again Sweet Stop Time! This week's sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #43, is another great one! Now since I am writing this while on vacation, I am hoping that I remember all of the details that I need to....so forgive me if I miss something! First up, the image is A Flower for You, a digital image form Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps...such a cute little bug! I printed him on watercolor paper and watercolored him using ink pads and an aquabrush (yup still getting the hang of this). I cut out the bug including the antennae and then filled in the antennae with a black marker. I watercolored and cut out a second flower, popped it up on my original bug, and then added Stardust Stickles to the flower. The bug was layered on Very Vanilla and then on top of Bashful Blue that I added Stardust Stickles to the outer edges to. Sorry I have no idea (without being home) where my patterned paper is from. My Always Artichoke half circle is stamped with the retired By Definition background stamp and layered on a half scallop circle of Chocolate Chip. The card base is made up of Natural Cream cardstock (I think that is what it is called) and a layer of Very Vanilla cardstock. Final touch was the Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon with a small scalloped strip of Always Artichoke.

Well I think I got it all! Now go check out the beautiful creations by the other Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, create a card with the sketch and link it to the Sweet Stop Sketch Blog...you never know, you could be selected to be the next guest designer! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - A Flower for You Digi (Sweet n Sassy Stamps), By Definition (retired SU!); Paper - Natural Cream, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Watercolor Paper, dot patterned paper (unknown); Ink - Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue, Rose Red, Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip; Accessories - Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Stardust Stickles, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, scissors, dimensionals

Big Heart Valentine

Just a quick post...well as quick as I can be sometime! I need to be getting things done so that I am ready to leave for a Florida vacation on Monday. It is not super warm where I am going, but it will be warmer than here! My sister and I are taking my kids down to visit both sets of their grandparents (my parents and my husband's parents both"winter" in the same location). So with the grandparents around, I am hoping I might get to sit back and relax for a little bit too!!

Anyway in keeping with my quick post idea...this is my card using the current Mojo Monday Sketch...Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #124. I actually did a little double duty on this card. One I got the Valentine's Day card done for my son (now to remember to pack it with me!), I participated in the Papertrey Ink Anniversary Challenge to do the emboss resist technique, and I got my Mojo on! Yeah me! Anyway the image is from Happy Heart Day from Stampin' Up! Sorry you are seeing a lot of this one...I think it is one of my few Valentine themed sets! The heart image is from an old SAB set, Mini Messages. I did the emboss resist technique on the background behind the elephant...wasn't planning on the whole heart cloud thing at first, but I like how it turned out that way! I did a little cut grass under my elephant (that was embossed and cut out by the way) and tried to repeat the cut grass look below the sentiment...think I got more of a grass skirt look there, but fun nonetheless. The red panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder. I think that about sums it up for the card.

Have a great remainder of the weekend...I need to get packing. I am a little nervous about flying with my kids...I have never flown with them before. Thankful my sister is coming along, but still nervous my daughter is going to scream (and mind you she can hit octaves and decibels I have never heard before...and probably won't be able to hear again because she does this kind of screaming right into my ear) the entire flight. Wish me luck! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Happy Heart Day, Mini Messages (SU!); Paper - Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Green Galore (SU!), Basic White (PTI); Ink - Versamark, Bashful Blue, Real Red; Accessories - Stardust Stickles, Cuttlebug Block Hearts Embossing Folder (Provo), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), white gel pen (Signo), stitched red grosgrain ribbon (unknown), dimensionals, scissors

Round Happy Heart

It is Sweet Stop Time! That means it is time for Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #42. This was a fun one...but a little hard at the same time! A round card...very cool, but not something I do very often (if ever)! I decided I need some more practice at watercoloring...especially with the Aqua brushes. Feeling a bit more confident with them now...way too much water was coming out my first time. I think I did a bit better job this time and I even included the light grey outline around the image to help it pop a little off of the page. You can see how I did in the detail shot...be kind though, I am still working on this! My image is from the Happy Heart Day set from Stampin' Up! and is stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black. The patterned paper is Sweet Love - Big Love by Little Yellow Bicycle. The ribbon is some that I picked up in the dollar aisle (might have been the $2.50 section) at Jo-Anns around Halloween time last year. I just love how sparkly it is!

Now the thing that stands out most on this card are the very cool and very big flowers. I love the look of them...do you think they are too big? I think I like the fact that they are so over the top! But they are big and thick, so this is definitely not a card to mail and maybe not even put in an envelope! This will be my son's teacher's Valentine card (in addition to the one that he will make himself...gotta give a nice one too), so it will be hand delivered. Anyway, I take no credit for the idea of these gorgeous flowers. Mercy Kerin at Lord Have Mercy posted a tutorial on how to make them...so fun and easy! You can see the amount of dimension they add in my detail shot...like I said, not very mailable! The card was finished off with some red sticker rhinestones...found mine in the jewelry section of Jo-Anns. The main circle was then mounted on a scallop circle that forms the card base...hint it is actually two scallop circles with one that has a score mark near the top, then they are adhered together above the score line, so the bottom one is what allows it to open...did that make sense?

Oh and did you hear, there are two new Sugar Babies! Please welcome Lisa Hjulberg and Nancy Brown! Now go check out what they and the other Sugar Babies have created: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make your own card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog! Word is that the "powers that be" are looking through all of those submissions to find the next Guest Designer for the Sweet Stop...so get your project linked up!! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Happy Heart Day (SU!); Paper - Sage Shadow, Pink Passion, Real Red cardstock (SU!), Sweet Love-Big Love pattern paper (Little Yellow Bicycle), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Sage Shadow, Pink Passion, Real Red, Close to Cocoa (SU!); Accessories - Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 5 Petal Flower Punch, Scallop Edge Punch (SU!), Sparkle Red Ribbon (Wyla), Red Rhinestone stickers (unknown), scoring blade, aqua brush, dimensionals

Chill Out

I am so excited...almost giddy! My favorite show is back on tonight...LOST! My schedule is clear (well except for putting kids to bed, but that is the best part about DVR's...won't miss a moment!) and I am very excited to see how they will finish off this series! Anyone else a LOST fanatic like myself?

The second challenge during the Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on SplitCoast Stampers was to create a card with snow or ice on it (Chill Out). After learning how to make faux polar white Flower Soft (see tutorial HERE), I was all about the snow! The tutorial shows how easy it is to make your own flower soft and even color it if you so desire...fantastic!! Anyway, since there was going to be snow, it had to be a winter themed card, but I am really tired of winter already, so I had to add a glimpse of spring. That is how my color combination of Melon Mambo, Soft Suede, and Bashful Blue came about...really liking the combo! Anyway, the tree was stamped in Soft Suede and then the edges of the paper were sponged with Bashful Blue (really only leaving the center white...so more than just the edges). I added lines of glue to the branches and sprinkled on my faux Flower Soft. Very pretty (check out the detail shot below)! The bird was stamped in Melon Mambo and cut out and placed in my tree.

The sentiment, stamped in Melon Mambo, is from the Beautiful You set by Verve Stamps. I keep reading that sentiment and trying to take it literally...the winter will not last forever and it will be warm again before I know it...right?! I finished off the card with a white taffeta bow and three hot pink rhinestone brads (unknown brand).

Here is my friend Stephanie's card for the same challenge. I love the snow on the words brrr! So cute. She was pretty funny with the yarn. It was on the supplies list for the VSN so she was bound and determine to use it even though this wasn't the challenge that required it! Leave her some love and I will be sure to pass it onto her!

That is all for me. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Season of Friendship (SU!), Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bashful Blue PP, Melon Mambo textured, Soft Suede, Whisper White; Ink - Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo; Accessories - faux Flower Soft, white taffeta ribbon (SU!), hot pink rhinestone brads (unknown), dimensionals

Opening Ceremonies

So my friend (hi Steph!) and I participated in our first Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on SplitCoast Stampers. It was so much fun...although they do challenge you sometimes, so our brains felt a little exhausted at the end...or maybe that was just the frustration of the VSN forum acting up. The second challenge wasn't uploaded until 8:30 instead of 8 pm. But the moderators did a fantastic job of making up for the very slow uploading. My cards turned out fairly good...there is probably little things that I would change on some of the cards if I gave myself more time, but I found I could make a decent card in 45 minutes!

Anyway, the first challenge was titled Opening Ceremonies. We were to pick a flag of one of the countries that participate in the Winter Olympics and create a card based on those colors. I couldn't not pick team USA, so my colors were Red, white, and blue. Sticking with the winter theme (not that we had to, but for some reason I did) I chose to use an old SU! set, Bundled Up.

I actually pieced the sweater together before I realized that my friend actually had a red marker (if I would have known I would have just colored the stamp) and cut it out. The snowflake border was stamped along the top and bottom in Whisper White Craft ink. Final touch was white gel pen dots around the Night of Navy strip (trying to tie it to the dots on the sweater).

Now here is Steph's card...she knows I took pictures of her cards, so I hope that means she didn't care that I show them here. Any love you leave for her, I will happily pass along!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Bundled Up, All Year Cheer I; Paper - Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink - Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - White Gel Pen, dimensionals