School Supplies!

Well, finally got around to shopping for school supplies.  It only took me/us four stores to get everything we needed.  Good grief!  I think I found the very LAST boxes of washable markers at Wal-mart and they were out of several other things.  So I picked up a few things at Office Max and a few more things at Target.  Joe had already picked up a few things on sale at Hy-Vee.  It was a group effort this year.  :)

Hope and I will do some shopping this week for her first day of school outfit and a new back pack.  They start back in just a few weeks.  The summer has gone fast, but it has been lots of fun too.

We went to Adventureland yesterday with friends Kristi and Owen.  We had a blast.

Well, now that I have shared all of my Christmas projects in July, I will start off with some regular layouts I have been working.  Here is one of them.

I love how this layout turned out.  The colors go great with the outfits the twins (yes they are twins) are wearing.

This is almost all My Minds Eye products with the exception of the flowers, pearls and twine.

Here are two detail photos...

This shows the bows in either side.

Check back this week.  I made another layout and then used the scraps for a few cards too.

Have a great evening.

Darla

Christmas in July...Finale

Ok folks!  This is the last card I have to share for Christmas in July.  This was my favorite card I created.  It was based on a card sketch on Page Maps.  As soon as I saw the sketch I knew exactly what I was going to create.

I loved how the santa looks like he is standing outside and peeking in through the window to see if you are being good or bad.

I actually loved this card so much, that I didn't think I could send it to anyone.  So today, I turned it into a framed decoration.  I am going to enter it into the State Fair along with several other scrapbook projects.  I haven't entered anything the past few years because I forgot to get the tags ordered.  Oh well.  We will see if anything gets a ribbon.  :)

I will try and get a photo of the project to share here.

Well, we are off to Adventureland tomorrow.  Should be a fun day!

Darla

Fun weekend...starting early!

Today was my Friday since I have tomorrow off.  Yeah.  I have some phone calls to make and then I am going to do some scrapbooking.

I haven't had many funny Hope stories lately, but she had one tonight!  We were reading books when I was putting her to bed.  Then we turned the light off and she said she had a sharp pain in her side.  So I asked questions about it to figure out if it was serious or just trying to not fall asleep excuse.  Well, it kept moving around, so she was trying to keep from falling asleep.

Then she got really quiet and then blurts out that she can't remember what happened when she had to breathe in the gases and got cut open (aka her surgery a few years ago).  So I explained they made a small cut in her throat to remove the lump (it was a benign cyst).  She asked if there was blood.  I said yes.  Then she starts telling me about all the blood in our bodies, etc.  She asked, was there a lot of blood.  And probably not to most medical staff, but the little I saw grossed me out.  I didn't tell her that.  :)  Then she explained that she sees her blood when she picks her scabs and figured her surgery was like that.  Sure, just like that.

Then just like that, the blood conversation was done and she went to sleep.  I hope she doesn't have a scary dream about blood tonight.  I better get to bed so if I am up in the night I have a head start on my sleep.

Ok, on to a more fun topic.  Scrapbooking...

Here is another Christmas/Winter card...

To add some details I added glitter glue over the snowflakes in the pattern paper card base.  Super Easy!

Well, I have one more card to share tomorrow and then my Christmas in July will be finished.  I have several other layouts I have created lately and can't wait to share them.  So check back again!

Have a great night!

Darla

It's HOT!

Oh my!  I have had headaches the past few days from going in and out of the heat/AC too much.  I am ready for it to cool down just a bit.  How about you?

Anyway, not much exciting going on today, so will just share another Christmas card.

This is my FAVORITE card that I made.  I tried a new technique.  Here is how I made this card...

Step 1:  The card base is cut from a clear transparency.  I wanted it to have shimmer, so I covered the front with mod-podge and sprinkled on glitter.  Once it dried, the card was semi-transparent with lots of glittery shimmer.

Step 2:  I cut a small block of paper for the center of the card.

Step 3:  The main focus of the card/sentiment was a border sticker.  I applied it to the pink pattern paper and trimmed it to the size of the card width.  Before adhering to the card base, I added a snowflake brad I have had in my stash for quite some time.  I thought it added another touch of sparkle to the card, which goes perfectly with the sentiment.

Step 4:  On the inside, I added a block of paper slightly larger then the center block on the front.  Here is where you can add an additional sentiment inside the card.

The card was super easy, if you have the patience to let the mod-podge dry with the glitter.  :)  And another great thing is that it doesn't flake off either.

Well, that is all for today.  Have you checked out The Scrappy Gourmet lately?  They are starting to get in some of the products ordered at CHA.  Today I noticed they added some of the Authentique paper lines.  I loved both of these lines, so must do some shopping.  

Later!

Darla

So much to share!

I am back from Chicago.  Dee and I had a great time at CHA and The Scrappy Gourmet will be full of great new products over the next few months.  Exciting stuff.

I am not going to go over all my favorites, since I have so many.  If you are interested in seeing all the layout pictures I took (and a few silly ones of Dee) click on the following Shutterfly share link.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNmjRyzaNW7q

Enjoy all the great layouts.  I can't wait to start getting all the new product.  Going to CHA always gets my creative ideas flowing.

On Wednesday, Joe and Hope drove up to meet me in Chicago and we stayed the rest of the week.  It was SO hot, but we still had a lot of fun.

On Thursday morning, we drove to our downtown hotel and we had tickets to see the muscial Pinkalicious, which is based on the book of the same name.  It was really cute and after the show we got to meet all the characters, but the only one Hope wanted to talk to was Pinkalicious.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by the American Girl store and the Disney store.  Hope wanted to get the dress that matches her doll Kanani.  She wanted to wear it every day the rest of the week.

We also went up to see the views from the Hancock building.  Here is Joe and Hope and the Willis tower (AKA-Sears tower) in the background.

Then we headed back to the hotel and swam the rest of the day because it was too hot to do anything else outside.  I think it was close to 100 and I am sure the heat index was over 100.

On Friday morning, Joe was keeping an eye on the weather.  A storm was heading toward Chicago, so we decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium and spent most of the day there.

Here is a picture of the storm just before we ran inside.  It was very strange looking and they were yelling at everyone to get inside.  Luckily we made it within a few minutes of it starting to rain and storm.

This was the end of the dolphin show.  I caught all three dolphins in the air together.  Cool!  The new camera came in handy with the continuous shooting.  I actually have them coming out of the water and about to go into the water too.

You can view the dolphins at the underwater viewing tank too.  This is Hope watching the dolphins swim around.  They were fun to watch.

The afternoon turned out beautiful.  So we took a watertaxi to Navy Pier and then on to Willis tower.

Here is the picture we got with all of us out on the "ledge", which is a glass box you can walk out into looking over the edge of the building.  It was very scary for me and the first time I got out there I had to hold onto the wall.  Hope would only go out if one of us was holding her.

On Saturday, it rained again in the morning, but by the time we were ready to head out it was just a light sprinkle and stopped shortly after.

Here is Joe and Hope on the large ferris wheel.

We walked around and Hope rode another ride and then we headed for the Children's Museum.

Here are Joe and Hope building.

Hope loved the water exhibit.  I thought it was cute they had rain coats for the kids.  The one in Des Moines also has a water area, but no rain coats.  :)  It definitely came in handy a few times, otherwise, she would have been pretty wet.

Then we ended our week at Buckingham Fountain...

...and the bean at Millinium Park.

We got back to the hotel and expected to go to bed early, but as Joe was surfing the channels he came across the beginning of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  I love this movie and it was based in Chicago. Neither of us had seen it in years. So of course, we ended up watching the entire thing.

Well, if you made it this far, good for you!

I have several layouts and cards ready to share and a few more Christmas in July projects.

Here is one of them...

Let it snow, ok not really.  It is hot out, but I still prefer the heat over the freezing cold.

Well, that is all for tonight!  Check back for the rest of the Christmas in July and then onto some other projects.

Have a good night!

Darla

Melting in Chicago!

It was so hot i can't even remember what some of my favorites were from CHA. :)
Just kidding, but I won't be able to share all the photos I took for a few more days. Check back later next week while I finish up my Christmas in July projects. Enjoy and stay cool!

This was a small gift bag I made from a paper bag. So easy. You just cut off a portion of the top, and cover the front and back sections. Finish it off by adding the handle.

Oh my aching feet!

We covered a lot of ground today at CHA and I got a lot of photos and will share them with you soon. Lots of great inspiration.

The most exciting part was picking up a free sample of the Create mini albums magazine and seeing my first ever published project. I have a few other things coming up too.

Well I am going to hit the sack so will close with a few more Christmas/holiday cards. Since it is so hot outside, maybe these will cool things off. :). Enjoy!

Darla

CHA

Well we survived day one at CHA. We got to a lot of booths and made some great purchases for The Scrappy Gourmet.

Some of my favorites to watch for include: My Minds Eye, Melissa Francis, Pink Paislee and Simple Stories. We have a lot more shopping to do over the next two days, so will report back in with other favorites on their way.

In the mean time, here is another Christmas in July project to share with you.

Have a great nice! Please check back soon!

Darla

We made it to Chicago!

The bus ride was very long, but I survived. :)

I did actually sleep a little on the bus. I was tired from being up late trying to see the Harry Potter movie. My sister Dawn and I had tickets to see it at the IMAX theater. We got 40 minutes into the movie and the projector broke. We ended up getting a refund and going to a different theater and seeing it in 3D. The movie was awesome. There were a few minor things I would have like to have seen done differently, but overall it was a good ending to the adventure.

Well aim posting from my iPad,so not sure if the photo will attach or not, so here it goes. Just continuing from the Christmas in July theme. This was a door hanger I made for our front door. Enjoy!

I will try and post about the first day of CHA tomorrow night! Goodnight!

Darla

Fireworks and Fairies!

This weekend was our local festival and they had fireworks last night.  So Hope got into her pajamas and we headed in the van to the area where they shoot them off.  We got a great parking spot and just stayed right by the van and watched them.  I got a chance to play around with my camera to get some fireworks photos.

They aren't too bad, but will keep playing with the night settings.

These are the ones that Hope said were made by fairies and were full of pixie dust like in the Tinkerbell movies.  Cute.  :)

I even caught a heart (the red in the middle) in the fireworks.

Well, I am just about packed for Chicago and heading out in a bit to the Harry Potter movie.  I can't wait to see it.  My sister Dawn and I are going to the IMAX theater to see it.  It is bittersweet for it to be done, but it has been a fun ride!

Here is another Christmas card.  This is one of my favorites I made, maybe because it was so simple and the first time I used the glass glitter.  Fun!

Have a great one.  I hope to post while in Chicago, but not sure I will have internet access for my ipad.  So check back just in case.  

Later!

Darla

Happy Holidays!

I am going to share a few more Christmas/Holiday cards with you today.

Hope and I are having a very lazy day and have a baby shower to attend later today.  Today is our suburb festival, so we might head over to the pool later on and come back for the fireworks.

Otherwise, she is enjoying her new craft area (without the furniture).  She is so excited and I think she is going to be creating a LOT of art in the near future.

Now, on to the cards...

The first card I cut into the shape of a tree.  Hope had a few rings from the dollar bin at Target, so I cut the heart tops off and added them to the tree like they were ornaments.  It is hard to tell here, but they were princess jewelry.  This was a reject from a magazine call for shaped cards.  :)

The next card was extremely simple.  I just let the paper do most of the work.  

I tied a ribbon in a bow, added a stick pin and stamped the sentiment.  Done.

That is it for today.  Have a good one!

Darla

She's home!

Hope got home from kc tonight. It sounds like she had a lot of fun, but it was good to get her home. She was pretty excited about her (soon to be) new art area. They come on tuesday to set it up. I can't wait to see it. All of her supplies have been sorted out and she found those in the closet.

Next up she headed to the toy room and loved exploring to see everything. She noticed that the shelves from her closet and basement had been moved to the toy room. So she went running into her room and thought it was really cool tool (although not much was done in there).

We played for a little bit and are now watching a movie in my bed. :)

While she is watching her movie I am testing out how to post to my blog from my iPad so I can hopefully make a post while I am in Chicago at CHA. Looking forward to seeing my sister Dee and hearing all about this past weeks adventures.

I will share some more Christmas cards tomorrow.

Goodnight

Darla

A bit of a delay...

Well, I am a little bummed out that the furniture we ordered could not be delivered and set up before the end of the week like they had originally promised.  So we ended up getting the set up fee taken off.

So it will be delivered and set up on Tuesday.  I will be in Chicago next week for CHA, so I hope it all works out with Joe and Hope here.  The back up plan is to stop at IKEA while in Chicago and check out their stuff, which is where I started looking in the first place, but didn't want to pay $350 in shipping for a $129 shelf unit.  Crazy!

So I have been cleaning out toys like crazy the past few nights after work.  I finally finished up that project tonight and it all looks great!

So very organized and thinned out so she will play with her favorites again.  I got rid of a lot of stuff she had outgrown and am donating it to the church preschool she went to.  They are excited to get everything and whatever they can't use I told them to pass it on or donate it to Goodwill.  It's a win-win for everyone!

So here is another Christmas card.  The green looks a little yellow in the picture.  Sorry!

Well my back is aching, so I am going to take some Aleve and go to bed!

Goodnight!

Darla

When we do something...

...we don't go small.  We have been talking for a long time about converting our dining room into a craft room for Hope for a while now.  We have lived in this house for 5 years and never used the dining room, for a dining room.  Slowly my craft stuff was taking over and the office storage.  So today we took the plunge.  We bought a LARGE wall unit to store and organize all of Hope's art supplies and a new art table.  She is going to be set up by the end of the week.  Once we have it all ready I will share it here.  Can't wait.

Hope will be surprised, because she is in KC visiting aunt Dee.  So we have until Friday to get all of our projects done and work too.  :)  I hope we make it.

Anyway, here is another Christmas card to share with you for my Christmas in July theme.

This was super simple to make.  The trees were die cuts and I added some glitter and foam tape and a rub on sentiment.  DONE!

Ok, off to do a few more things before heading to bed.  Goodnight!

Darla

Holiday Gift Set

Here is a gift set I created with the scraps I had left over from making the Merry Christmas mini-album for The Scrappy Gourmet.  The box was recycled from some jewelry I purchased at a party.  It was already shiny silver, all I had to do was take off all the stickers.

I also made a matching gift bag to put the box in.

I am always on the lookout for things I can repurpose through scrapbooking.  I am getting better at it.

Well, I need to go drop Hope off at my sisters so my hubby and I can go out to a nice dinner to celebrate our anniversary.  Have a good night!

Darla

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary.  Joe has been sending me pictures by email from our wedding day.  How cute is that?  He is a great husband and my rock.  I love him so much!

We look like kids!  :)

Here we are, the new Mr. and Mrs. Weber.

This picture was so CUTE!  The girl on the right is my niece Lauren and the one of the left is Joe's niece Kayla.

We have reservations tomorrow night for a nice Italian restaurant.  I can't wait.

Now on to more Christmas in July cards.

This is actually a clear card with a die cut paper on the outside.  The back inside cover is covered with dark brown/black paper.

Ok, I am heading off the get my hair done.  Later!

Darla