Aloha Friends!

It seems like forever since I've posted on my blog!  So sorry.  Life has been non stop the last couple of weeks. Our family went on vacation to Niagara Falls for one week.  That was an adventure to say the least.  We came home, unpacked, did laundry and repacked to go on vacation part 2!  We shipped out the kids and my husband I went to Hawaii! I mentioned this upcoming trip on a previous post to read about it, click here.

Gabe and I on the Maid of the Mist

My husband and I on one of the coasts of Hawaii. Beautiful place!

Since we've been back, we've been trying to catch up and re-adjust to life as "normal" whatever that is. :)  Yesterday, my oldest (at home) started high school soccer.  He will be attending a high school that is a good half hour away.  So...we are driving out to Elyria, OH everyday, hanging out for a few hours and driving back.  I'm trying to find things to do in the area while we wait: school supply shopping, park, etc.

So...where are my crafts, scrapbook pages, cards, etc?  I hope once the kids get back to school, I can get back in the groove.  One of my older sons is getting married in November and I've got invitation to make so I need to get in the groove real soon!!!! YIKES!!!!  Time is flying!

Well, friends, thanks for stopping by and for not pulling the plug on me yet. I'll be back real soon.  Hugs to you all!!!!

TTFN,
Elaine

Welcome Home Soldier

Our "soldier" is home We are so proud of him! Here is the card I made for his homecoming.







I honestly cannot tell you where all the card stock is from because I've had it in my stash for a long time. I believe the patterned paper is from an old DCWV stack. I used the Cricut Stand and Salute cartridge. The star brads are also from my stash. I'm glad I'm finally letting go of some of my stuff! I'm such a hoarder!








The cute little star tag is from my recent purchase from Papertrey Ink. I'm really liking these cute little tags. I must tell you they are little! The sentiment stamps are tiny. I almost threw one away until I stopped to look at what it was, oh my! Good thing I didn't. I would have been very sad. I wasn't thrilled with the color of my red ink pad but i let the thought to do it again go away, ugh! I'm the queen of taking things apart and redoing them.








Thanks for stopping by today! I've been a little busy with the kids home from school so I haven't been paper crafting much :(. I have been crocheting quite a bit though. I think I'll post a picture of the little critters I've been making. Come back again soon to see them! Hope I peeked your interest!

TTFN,
Elaine

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

50th Birthday scrapbook and Penned challenge

Hi everyone! Thank you for stopping by today!

Today I have for you my finished 50th birthday album in video. I thought it would be easiest to share the pages with you if I made a video rather then take tons of pictures of my pages. For the scrapbook, I used Creative Memories Celebrate 8x8 album kit. My first intention was to make and bind my own album using these pages but then changed my mind and bought this pretty coverset from my consultant. I love this cover and there are hearts embossed on the spine too. The scrapbook is pretty much all CM products with the exception of a few Cricut cuts.  If you are curious about my 50th birthday surprise, check out this post here.

Since this week's challenge over at Getting Cricky with K Andrews is to use pens, I am entering this in the challenge. I used my Cricut markers to draw the paisleys. The paisleys are from the Paisley Cricut cartridge. They had such cute detail to them that I thought using the markers would show off the design.











I hope you enjoyed my album video. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you have a great 4th of July weekend!

TTFN,
Scrappymama Elaine

Flip Flop Birthday

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Today I made the cutest card for my sister's birthday. I made it with the challenge over at K Andrews Simply Sunday Challenge in mind.  The challenge is to use a face in your project.  I used the Peachy Keen Everyday Faces.  They are soooo cute!

Supplies:

Cricut Cartridge Cheerful Seasons

Peachy Keen Everyday Faces Stamp set

Stampin' Up! Basic Black ink

Cardstock from my stash

Red ribbon from Joanns

Patterned paper is from Creative Memories, I believe :)

Bling on flip flops are brads I picked up at Big Lots

Martha Stewarts Border punch (I picked up recently at TJMaxx.)

Tiny Tag and sentiment are from Papertrey Ink (my newest purchase. Love it!)

Don't look too closely. I have some glue residue on the flip-flops and my alignment wasn't exact.  I use to stress over these things but I'm learning not to sweat the small stuff.  Only you and I card-makers will notice these small flaws.
Thanks again for stopping by.  Your support and comments make me smile!
Hugs and TTFN,Elaine

PAPERTREY INK Haul

Hi everyone!

I have a quick video to show you of some of the goodies I purchased from PAPERTREY INK.  I follow Creations with Christina and she uses a lot of their products on her projects.  They always turn out so beautiful so I finally gave in and ordered some products.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator so I try not to buy too many stamps because I already have an abundance but these all work well together and have a unique function. In other words, I couldn't resist.  What's one or two more sets?

I'll make sure to post my projects as I use these new toys!  I see a mini album in the future.  I'm a little intimidated by them even though I have all the tools to make one.

Here goes:


Hey! Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs and TTFN,
Elaine

Crocheted Flowers and a swap

Hi everybody!

First let me take care of some business. If you've been following my blogging journey then you know that I had been chosen to be on the Getting Cricky Design Team and I was super excited to have the opportunity. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I am no longer on the team. I want everyone to know that I totally support the Getting Cricky Design Team and Kristal Andrews! I will still be playing along with challenges, blog hops, Ustream and playing with the new stamps she just released.  They are currently hosting a blog hop this weekend.  Why not go check them out here?

Now on to my post, my hands were busy this week making lots of little crochet flowers for a swap I am participating in this month. They were so easy to make that I checked out a book from the library on patterns for making different flowers.

For the swap I had to make 16 identical "girlie" cuts. I ran out of the patterned paper so I decided to make a few in another patterned paper.  I hope that was ok!  I just love this purse from the Cricut Paisley cartridge. They came together so fast. I used brads for the center of the flower that I picked up at Michaels. The brads are made by Recollections. I also used the Cuttlebug to emboss the flap to the purse.

The swap is hosted by the Scrappin Sista.  The link will take you to the tab on her blog that deals with Swaps.  She hosts a different swap every month.  This is my first time participating in a swap.

Did I do good?  I think so.  Thanks for stopping by and hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  I've been busy trying to make my husband feel like the king today: breakfast, car wash, bike ride, dinner and homemade cheesecake.  PHEW! I'm whooped!

TTFN, Elaine


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Graduation Cupcake Toppers

My darling son graduated from 8th grade last week from Bethel Christian Academy. I am so proud of him. He was the class Salutatorian and gave a great speech. He also had an opportunity to lead the audience in a couple of Praise & Worship songs by singing & playing the guitar. This was the first time he did this and boy did my heart swell in addition to my eyes :)

Here is a picture of our handsome young man.

















Well, enough bragging about my son. On to my post. We had all the 8th graders over for a celebration. Rather than buy a sheet cake, I decided to make cupcakes. I made these quick toppers by using the autofill feature on my Cricut Expression. I used the Locker Talk cartridge and cut them at 2 inches. I used the Sakura white gel pen to outline the caps. I used the Xyron sticker maker to put adhesive on the back of the tassels, assembled, taped the toppers to toothpicks and stuck them in the cupcakes. Super easy and fast! I think they look good! They were also good in the tummy :)


























Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs!
Elaine



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad