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Friday, July 2, 2010

Operation Write Home's Independence Day Blog Tour & Quick Update

I am excited to participate in OWH's Blog Tour this holiday weekend! I know I have not been posting for a while...again! The hubster has been working extra days, and Nico has been taking late naps thus resulting in late bedtimes.This leaves me with not much time for posting. I try to use my "free" time to tidy up and just make cards. I am getting my first batch of cards ready to send to OWH! I haven't been feeling 100% either, but I keep forgetting to schedule an appointment with the Doc. It doesn't help my health that I am such a GUY when it comes to sports fanaticism! The NBA Finals (Go LAKERS!) and now the World Cup have put my nerves in a frenzy for the last month-and-a-half! I was so heartbroken that our boys were eliminated a week ago, but a couple of my favorite teams are still in. The Hubster has to work on the 4th again this year, so we'll be headed to my sister's on Sunday (my Dad is supposed to BBQ there, YUM!)

I made this card today while Nico napped, so there is no stamping on it at all. I didn't have any more stickles, but wanted to create a Firecracker effect on the ribbon "candles" so I used some Valentine's Day ribbon that had sparkly threads and voila! Hope you like it!





I have no wise words about freedom or the fight for independence today, but I leave you with this video that still gives me chills...even though we didn't make it all the way.

*This video was created by a young fan who was inspired by Donovan's goal.

This is what I love about sports...for one day, soccer fans (and those new to the sport) united to support our U.S. Soccer team---no matter what our ethnic backgrounds, religious or political views were, for one day we were all just American fans... cheering on OUR team, hoping against all odds for just one goal, and chanting. "USA! USA!" It is a testament to the American spirit and how we unite to support those that need it, be it our national sports team, our neighbors or members of the Armed Forces serving miles and miles away.


Happy Birthday, USA!



Have a Happy and Safe Celebration!
Until next time...

Creatively Me,
Virginia

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Why I scrapbook...(and a sketch challenge!)

Wow! Is it me or is time just flyin' on by? We're almost half-way through the year! With that in mind, here are some pics of my little one and the things he does that make me glad I scapbook.

I sat in this same chair when I was Nico's age. Yep, it's a 35 year old chair! Nico loves to find creative ways to sit on it...


...he also likes to find odd places to sit  in. This is the HotWheels car bin.

I want to remember every little quirky thing he did as a toddler, and I want him to be able to share my memories with his kids someday.  I have been busy making cards mostly, but I am still scrapbooking. I am trying to be better about completing my layouts. I usually leave the journaling for last and then never get back to it. I'll post pics soon...
For now, here is my card for the Start and Stamps Sketch Challenge. Make sure to head on over to the OWH Stars and Stamps Blog  to "ooh" and "ahh" at ALL of the beautiful cards submitted.



Stampin' Up! cardstock, Patterned paper and Birdie are from WeRMemory Keepers' Nonsense Scrap Pad, Rub-on alphas from American Traditional Designs

We're homeschooling through the summer so I'd better get back to lesson planning. This will post at a decent hour on Tuesday...you don't want to know what time it really is right now! Like I always say...sleep is overrated! I try to at least get those 7 hours in every night, but usually come up short--sorry, Dr. Oz!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!


Until next time...


Creatively Me,
Virginia

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sketch & Throwdown Challenge...

I finally made a card for OWH's S&S Sketch Challenge and their Midweek Throwdown Challenge! Here is my card for the Sketch Challenge:





You can see the all the submissions for the sketch challenge by clicking here.

The Midweek Throwdown Challenge was to make a Guy Themed card as per the Shipper's request. Read more about the challenge and see all the submissions by clicking here. Now for my card:







I'll have to come back and add the card "ingredients" later. Right now, I am SUPER tired! NBA Finals (GO LAKERS!) and the World Cup (USA! USA! USA!) are keeping me up late and making me wake up early!

Have a great weekend and come visit again soon. I'll be having monthly blog candy and will be drawing a winner from all the monthly comments. Christy from Lone Pine Desings won the Surprise Blog Candy from the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop!

Until next time....

Creatively Me,
Virginia




Thursday, June 3, 2010

No cards today...



I didn't have time to make cards yesterday or today. My Princess (my niece, Riane) graduated from Kinder yesterday! I can't believe how much she's grown! Here she is:


Since I have two boys, SHE is my PRINCESS!


She is such a joy to be around. She's 6 going on 16. She's funny and bright.
This little girl is going to break hearts some day.  She's going to set trends. She's going to break glass ceilings.

As their graduation banner read: The Sky is the Limit...
for this Princess.

I hope I get to my craft desk tonight and play with some of the free digi stamps I got from the blog hop. I am new to digi stamps, but I think they might become a fave. My crafting space is SUPER SMALL, so going with digital stamps will save me lots of space (& money!) I am not too convinced by the Digital Scrapbooking, but we'll see. Maybe I could go the Hybrid Scrapbooking route.
Since I have no card to show you, here's a card I made for my Hubby last year for Father's Day. It's not the greatest pic, and it was a VERY simple card.
Yikes! It's almost midnight!

CS is all SU! as is the stamp. The brads are from my stash.

Until next time!

Creatively Me,
Virginia

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Blog Candy Pics, Two more cards, and a FEVER!

I meant to post the Blog Candy pic yesterday, but my little one decided to get all fever-ish on me! I don't know why some people say that your worries ease up with your second child because you've already "been through it" with your first. I worry more now than I did when Corey was Nico's age 10 years ago! I blame the internet..hehe! Too much information out there on what could be causing the fever!

Since Nico didn't nap very long, I wasn't able to make a card yesterday. But, he did nap long enough for me to take pics of the BC and the other cards I'd mentioned yesterday, so here they are:



I started on a card for OWH's Sunday Sketch and hope to finish it tonight so I can post for tomorrow. I'm going to try and do the Wed Challenge too...gotta go looking for gold!

'Til then...


Creatively Me,
Virginia

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Still Blog Hopping... and a Thank You!

WOW! I cannot believe how many wonderfully creative ladies (and gents~Eric~) there were on the OWH  Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop! If you are still "hopping"--like me--please scroll down for my OWH Blog Hop post or just click HERE.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments and especially, for your thoughts and prayers for Roger and his family. I will pass those on when I see his sisters. 

I have some Surprise Blog Candy for all who posted a comment! I meant to offer Blog Candy, and just forgot to add it in for that day's post ...silly me!  I'll post the candy pic later today, and will draw a winner on Wednesday, June 8th so everyone has time to get through the hop. I'll have my youngest assistant draw the winner.  (I can only ship in the U.S.-sorry!) This is my first time offering Blog Candy, and I hope to do so at least once a month. So make sure you come back to visit often!

I am so glad that I came across Operation Write Home. I have always believed in the power of handwritten letters. They are a tangible way to hold onto someone far away. I am committing to sending at least one box of cards each month. What is your personal commitment to OWH? How many cards do you make each day?
I have been making a card each day while Nico naps. So far I have 3 cards completed and 9 ready to be assembled!

I hope all my new visitors keep coming back to see my creations. I may not always post about OWH, but know that all cards shown will make it into my box for OWH! 

Here is one of the cards I made:


The card base if from a K&Co card set shown in my post here, the plain CS is from SU!, and the patterned paper is from a Making Memories kit I found at Ross for only $2.99! The ribbon is from my Bobbin Ribbon stash, and the brads are from CTMH. I stamped the HB sentiment with ColorBox ink using a Michael's Dollar stamp.

I have two more to show you, but they're not loaded onto my pc yet. I took the pics with no memory card in the camera...hehe!

Have a Happy Tuesday!

Creatively Me,

Virginia

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Operation Write Home Blog Hop is HERE...!



Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog today! You should have landed here from Dawn's My Stamping Thyme Blog.  I am so excited to be participating in this Blog Hop! I came across OWH a few weeks ago, and I just felt it in my heart that my crafting hobby {read *addiction*} would allow me to help others, if only by just making cards. You can read more about OWH here.

This is my card for the Hop...


Blog Hop Tip

As part of the Blog Hop, here are some tips for all you hesitant, future card makers:

*Don't be intimidated by some of the cards you see on blogs and papercrafting galleries, and think that you could never create "something like that."  Everyone had to start somewhere in their card making journey...
*If you make a card and are not happy with it, walk away from it for a while. Place it somewhere where you can see it, and think about what you can add to the overall design to make it better. Take the "Miss You" card I made for this hop as an example. Here are some pics of the card in the making:

This was my original layout, but I felt that it was too plain, so...

I used some liquid pearl to fill in the "holes", but I still felt like it needed something...

Ta-da! I added a bit more white to the card to make it look more "balanced."

* Don't be afraid to use a design again. I based my "Miss You" card on this invitation I made for my sister's friend.



~ I used CTMH's My Acrylix Stamps "Dream Big", Stampin' Up! Cardstock and Colorbox & Stampabilities ink for both cards shown ~

Memorial Day...


I was washing the dishes last night, and mumbling "mean" words at my sleeping husband because he forgot to unload the dishwasher...again.. Instead of letting it consume me with anger (and heading over to wake him up), I realized something that I take for granted everyday...he is HOME. I am blessed to have him here to get angry with for not doing his dish duty. I am blessed that I can walk over to visit my little brother who lives a few doors down in the the next building or call my other brother who is only a short plane ride away. I chat with and see my sister on a regular basis, and I can always count on finding my Dad sitting with mom or enjoying one of his favorite shows. I am home everyday to kiss my babies goodnight as they sleep safely in their beds. For all these reasons, I am blessed, And, for all these reasons, I am also grateful. I'm grateful for the soldiers who are overseas fighting in the name of the country we love so much. I am grateful to their families who deal with and accept such a huge sacrifice. I am grateful and heartbroken for the soldiers (and their families) who have paid the ultimate price. Although I have no current Military ties, I have shared in my sister's worry when my brother-in-law was overseas serving in the Navy almost 10 years ago. I have prayed that my sister-in-law makes it home safe--both when she served in the Army and then the National Guard. I have many friends-old and new- who are still dealing with deployments and moves...I don't know how they do it. I cannot imagine what it must be like to wonder and pray that your loved one gets home safe from their deployment.
The young man who escorted me to Senior Prom gave his life while serving in Afghanistan in 2006. I'd never really spoken to him before the Prom, and I didn't talk to him much after Prom either. I ran into him once at the grocery store and I cannot remember if I even said hi...I thought about this when I learned of his death. He was a brave soldier and combat medic, but he was also a loving father to two boys and a devoted husband. He was a loving son and brother and he will be always be missed.  (I didn't think to ask his family for permission to mention his name for this post...)
As you celebrate Memorial Day Weekend with your family and friends, please take a moment to say a quick prayer for the families who's loved ones never made it home. Thank you to all those who serve in all Branches of our Military...your sacrifice does not go unnoticed.

Keep on Hopping... 

Again, thanks for hoppin' on by! Don't be shy..leave a comment! Click here HERE to link to Carisa's "inky"  BLOG...Happy Hoppin'!!

Creatively Me,
Virginia


Friday, May 28, 2010

No excuses...


I always seem to go awhile without posting...I promise, I am trying to be more consistent!! Please come back tomorrow for some info on Operation Write Home. I am participating in their Blog Hop on Saturday and hope that you will stop by and hop on out to some other wonderful Blogs. I have started making cards for this organization. More details tomorrow...

Creatively Me,
Virginia

PS--Here are some pics of works in progress...











Friday, April 23, 2010

My Camera is out of comission....

Hope everyone had a great weekend! My camera has been acting up so I haven't been able to upload any project pics. So instead, here are some links to some awesome work by some wonderful, creative ladies:

This lovely Mother's Day card belongs to Kay Kalthoff . More details on Kay's card can be found on her blog Stamping to Share.

I love, love, love the color combo on Nancy Riley's Grad card. Check out her blog iStamp by Nancy Riley to see how she came up with these colors.


I just about went nuts when I saw this card! It is perfect for Father's Day, don't you think? For more details visit Deb's blog, With a Stamp and a Song .

I started writing this blog entry earlier in the week. I am happy to report that the Hubster bought me a new camera and it is SWEET!! So I'll be back soon with pics!!  Hope you enjoyed these great cards!

Happily,
Virginia

Monday, April 12, 2010

Me...Technically Challenged? Nah...!

I know, I know...I was gone for a while again. As you can probably tell from my post title, I had some technical difficulties. For some reason, I couldn't get the pictures to upload correctly. Then, I tried to spruce up my blog and header and ended up with a head-ache. How does everyone else do it? Aaaagghhhh! (Thanks to http://hotbliggityblog.com/ and http://www.shabbyblogs.com/index.html for the freebies)  Anyhow, I wasn't lying when Isaid I was working on some projects, so here ya' go!

I  mod-podged these layouts onto a 12x12 stretched canvas frame. Both frames now hang in our bedroom!


I couldn't decide on which pics to add to this next  layout, so it remains as shown in this pic. Most of the papers used are from Close to My Heart.



More great bargain buys from Ross and Target. I got this paper pack from We R MemoryKeepers at Ross for only $5! I found this 20 pack of blank cards from K&Co at Target for only $1.54! The stickers were half off the clearance price, so the final price was only .85 cents!


I made this simple Get Well card for my sister-in-law, Susie. Can you see the shimmer on the stickers and the brads on the flower? I hope so! I think it turned out well considering it took only a few minutes to make!


There were Bluebonnets in full bloom at my inlaws'. We took advantage of the great weather and let Nico run around outside while we were visiting. Since I always have my camera on hand (surprise!), I captured some great pics of Nico and the Bluebonnets.



I definitely plan on scrapping these pics so look out for the layout.

I better get to studying! School is almost over (for Corey and ME), and I hope to have more time to play with my goodies once we're done with finals and term papers. I just saw some stamps and papers I HAVE TO have from Taylored Expressions and Papertrey Ink (click on their blinkies on the right to check out all their fabulous stuff!) So...be sure to keep checking back often and leave a comment when you visit!