Jenna in the Bluebonnets Scrapbook Page

Boy, how time flies

I can't believe it- I just looked at the date of my last post and noticed that it has been six weeks since my last post. When I started this blog I was determined that it was not going to beat myself up if I didn't post regularly. While that is a good plan it is a bit rediculous that I haven't found any time in the last 6 weeks to even write a small post. So we'll see what happens in the coming days!

Today I am grounded at home with a sick little one. However, he doesn't act the least bit sick! The stomach bug during the night has confirmed that he is sick but that has not slowed him down one ounce. I just wish he would want to lay on the couch for awhile.

And I can't even distract him with the normal favorite cartoon, Clifford. Caleb decided to clean the TV by repeatedly spraying carpet cleaner into the button panel. (Carpet cleaner from the aforementioned stomach attack!) Now the TV either has no sound or will just start increasing in sound without pushing a button until it gets so loud you can't stand it. Hopefully it will all dry out and be fine. Otherwise, Caleb may have to have a serious talk with Dad tonight!

Sketch Challenge

This was my first time to make a card using a sketch challenge.  I see them on Splitcoast Stampers all of the time but I haven't had the time to do one until now.  Beate Johns has a blog that I follow and every weekend she has a sketch and you can make a card using that sketch.  So this weekend I was determined that I was going to make a card using her sketch.  I turned the sketch to the side but kept the layout exactly as she had it.

Here are the details:

I took an 8x4 inch piece of SU Kraft cardstock and folded it to make a 4x4 inch card.  Then a put a layer of SU Riding Hood Red that I had embossed using the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder.  After that I added a strip of Kraft cardstock that I had paper pierced along the edge and then a narrower strip of Riding Hood Red.  I attached 3 silver brads to that strip and added it to the card.  The I stamped using Riding Hood Red ink on Kraft cardstock an image from Pocket Silhouettes from SU.  I added this final layer to the card front with dimensionals.  

It was a fairly easy card but I just love the look of the Red on Kraft.  Enjoy!

Disaster...averted

Have you ever had a moment when your heart stopped beating?  I just did!!  I was helping Jenna with her homework and I kept thinking that I smelled something funny.  Since Micah is the one that is usually in trouble I didn't worry too much because he was sleeping.  Then Caleb comes around the corner with his hands behind his back...that's always trouble!  I finally get him to show me his hands and they are covered in nail polish.  Not a soft pink nail polish but a dark plum colored nail polish.  Then the investigation began....where was the rest of that nail polish and what was it on?  The bad news was that it was all over my beautiful, fairly new berber carpet in my bedroom.  I was imagining buying some large rug to cover up a lot of carpet!!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the internet?  Well, let me tell you it has saved my life on many occasions.  So once I saw the nail polish I ran to the computer and googled "nail polish stain in carpet".  At first I was discouraged because it said the trim the stain out of the carpet which is impossible to do with berber carpet.  Then I found another site that said to use some mixture of dry cleaning fluid and ammonia.  (I don't know about you but I usually don't keep dry cleaning fluid close at hand!!)  

Finally I found a site that had a suggestion that I could easily try.  In case you ever need this information it was to pour hot water over the stain and keep it wet throughout the cleaning process.  Then spray the stain with hairspray and pour rubbing alcohol over it.  Well, believe it or not it seems to have worked- it took quite a lot of scrubbing and reapplying the cleaners.  Worst case there might be a little pink tinge to the carpet but it looks like it all came out.

So I am relieved and Caleb doesn't know it but he should be too!  

What a week!

This week is going to be jam packed!  Jenna starts back to school on Wed. so there is lots to do to get ready for that.  

We also celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday.  We were able to get away for a nice weekend in San Antonio what was a big treat.  After all of the frustrations with my surgery this summer it was so nice to do something normal again.  

On top of all of that I am so addicted to watching the Olympics!  It is so fun to watch all of the events and cheer for the USA.  The kids are really catching the Olympic spirit and cheering right along.  Micah mimics everything that he hears and so we hear him going around the house saying "Go, SA".  The kids visited the swimming pool this weekend with their grandparents and Caleb was practicing swimming like Michael Phelps!  This is pretty good for someone who wouldn't even get in the pool at the beginning of summer.

Hopefully in the middle of all of this I will get a chance to be creative.  I'll keep you posted on that progress!

Bella Rose Monogram Card Sets

This is a set of cards that I made as a gift for my sister.  When I first received the new Stampin' Up! Bella Rose Designer Series Paper I knew that I was absolutely going to have to make something for my sister.  You see, her last name is Rose so anytime I see something with roses I think of her.  This was a fun and fairly easy set to make- I made six cards and tied them together with the envelopes.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up!

Paper: Bella Rose DSP, Pink pirouette, Riding Hood Red (all Stampin' Up!)

Punches: 1-1/4, 1-3/8, Scallop Circle (all Stampin' Up!)

Ribbon:  Pink Dotted Organdy Ribbon from Michaels

Painted Card

This was a fun card to make and used a technique that I had been wanting to try for a few weeks.  I had trouble finding just the right overlay.  I first learned this technique in a class taught by Tim Holtz when I attended a Creating Keepsakes University in Houston in earlier this summer.

To achieve this look you take a clear transparency that is screenprinted.  The one that I used when I learned this technique was screenprinted with black and I loved the look of that.  I have searched all over and I have not found one in black that I could buy locally.  I did find this one at our local Archiver's store last week that is screen printed in silver.  It was made by Hambly Screen Prints- I checked their website and they do have lots of different styles and colors to choose from.

Once you cut the overlay to your desired size you paint the overlay on one side with Adirondack's Acrylic Paint Dabber (I used the color Lettuce which is a great match for Stampin' Up!'s Old Olive Cardstock.  Then lay this directly onto your cardstock.  The paint dries and acts as a glue to hold the overlay on the card.  You can see the detail in the photos where it gives a neat texture to the look of the card.  You could achieve a similar look of this card just by placing a colored piece of cardstock behind the overlay but it would be lacking the textured appearance.

I enjoyed trying out this technique again and was happy with the look that it gave to the card.

Supplies:

Cardstock:  Old Olive and Not Quite Navy- Stampin' Up!

Overlay:  Hambly Screen Prints

Sentiment:  from Stampin' Up! set A Beautiful Thing

Paint:  Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber (Lettuce)

Misc.: Spellbinders Nestabilities, Versamark Pad, Silver Embossing Powder