I got the privilege of attending the TGIF Challenges Party during OnStage. It was so much fun! I decided I need to start entering their weekly challenges.
This week the challenge was dry embossing on vellum. So fun! Here is my card. The vellum really adds to the whole card. #TGIFC239
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time. My mom has an original idea book and some of the original stamps from Stampin’ Up! Shelli & LaVonne started SU while still living in my home town of Boulder City, NV. I kept meaning to get my mom’s idea book when we go down to visit but never remember. Then the other night I took Bubs with me to a 2nd hand store in town and found an idea book by Stampin’ Up from 1996! It was $3 and I HAD to have it.
So the idea behind the #TBT Stampin’ Up! Style, is to take an old idea from the old idea book or something similar and create something new, with new products and new stamps, etc.
Here is my first one. Bubs absolutely LOVED it. I mean emoji’s are HUGE right now. We have a poop emoji balloon at our house. In fact, I wanted to do a poop emoji on this card but my punch I needed was MIA so I didn’t add it but it would be easy to have made one of those as well.
This is the image from the 1996 Idea Book. I think it’s cute and it’s fun to see “emoji’s” from 20 years ago! Who knew 😉
I knew I wanted to do the heart eyes and then one with a tongue sticking out. I couldn’t quite figure out how to do the tongue with the circle punches and then I realized I could use this Petite Petals flower punch and I just cut off the petals!
Here’s the finished product with NEW SU product! Isn’t it so fun!
It’s been a rough day. Bryce is in a lot of pain and has been for a week. We’re not sure what’s going on so he went to the ER today and was more or less treated like a druggy. Heartbreaking. I wish I could do more to help him and I wish there was an answer for him.
This weekend I’m cleaning my house and I was planning on moving my crafting space (AGAIN) but I may not get that far. We’ll see. I’ll post pictures as soon as the move is complete.
Here are a few pictures of my AMAZING desk Bryce refinished for me. I’m not moving my desk 😦 But I’m sure it will still get used plenty. Bryce just can’t lift it with me and it’s so heavy. It’s stained black, not painted. Bryce doesn’t believe in painting wood 🙂
These will be moving with me…My amazing Stampin Storage Ink Pad holder and my IKEA cart (the IKEA book shelf will move too)
So my stamps don’t normally get stored up there, but I’ve been too lazy to put them away.
I was able to attend Convention last year and I held a class in August and then I didn’t hold anymore classes. It’s been awhile. Here are some pictures from Convention and that last class. Brady attended Convention with me. He was SOOOO good the whole time. I did participate in a Christmas Card Swap in November as well and I attached that here.
Roarin’ 20’s – I’ve yet to wear this again.
Brady and I at Convention
My last card class – the Dragonfly and Thanks are still two of my favorite cards
My Holiday Catalog Demo Swap Card
I met Jenny on a Pocket Letter page – we swapped a state pocket letter and she invited me to a private Art group on Facebook. They are about Art in the Miniature. Here are projects that I’ve made for that. Keep in mind A LOT of the projects use Stampin’ UP! But there is a lot of other mediums and brands used as well. I needed to get crafting again and I this has made me reach outside the box and reach deep within and master my creativity more.
Mini Album Swap
Background paper Swap
This was a decontructed Tag swap. We swapped supplies and then made two tags – one with their supplies and one with our supplies.
Art Trading Cards – Can you tell which ones I made? It’s the triple heart in the center.
I seriously owe so much to this group and my friend Michelle for helping me use my creative skills to overcome all I was going thru.
Can we get real for a minute? Life is HARD! Sometimes life is harder than other times. The last 21+ months have been some of the hardest of my life. But at some point along the way I realized what I need to do to function and get by and slowly, ever so slowly, I came out of the fog and was able to start piecing together my life that felt like was crumbling all around me. In 2014, my hubby was diagnosed with psoriasis, age 28. Ok, we can deal with that but the Psoriatic Arthritis that accompanied it was not what we would have fun dealing with. When he was FINALLY diagnosed he had lost 35% of his jaw joint bone (essentially making opening his mouth rather painful), his neck was starting to stiffen and he had extreme shoulder pain on top of the skin issues. Shortly before that we had found out we were expecting our 2nd baby with our oldest being a little older than 4. It was hard for me to help. I was sick all the time. ALL THE TIME. I was not sick the first time (I know counting my blessings). We dealt with it all pretty good, found a new normal until in August I was put on unexpected bedrest at 31 weeks along. I was having contractions pretty much 24/7. I ended up in labor and delivery a couple times a week (at least once but usually more). Heavenly Father knew that I couldn’t do it alone and sent my angel SIL to help for 4 1/2 weeks! She brought her two boys to UT from CA to help me with my 4 year old and house for 4 1/2 weeks. She stayed with my in-laws but would pick up my little boy every morning and take him to daycare most days and then come clean, make dinner, etc for me thru the day while I slept and crafted some.
#PLSU that I made while on bedrest.
I managed to make it until 37 1/2 weeks before my water broke and only had to go 2 weeks without her here (my amazing MIL stepped in and helped when my SIL left) before our precious Brady Blaine joined our family.
First few days
Bubs and Papa meet the baby!
I had a c-section and he had a bit of respiratory distress but over all it was a great delivery and we settled right into being a family of 4. We had a great few months and I returned to work in November and then the boys got sick and stayed sick pretty much all winter. The baby had RSV off and on and had to be deep suctioned SOOO much. The big boy was getting sinus infections and dad was in pain. We decided in January that Bubs (our now 5 year old) needed sinus surgery and his adenoids out and that has helped so much. Unbeknownst to me I had fallen into a deep postpartum depression. It lasted almost my baby’s whole first year. Mostly I think because the hubby was sick and the boys had been sick all winter, but I was tired. Work was really stressful as we were switching our payroll processing companies and I was working long hours and not sleeping well at all. I quit nursing at 7 months because it was just too much. I had quit ALL my craft classes after having to constantly cancel at the last minute for either another sickness or I just couldn’t get out of bed. Regardless, a very dark time. Brady stayed sick all summer with ear infection after ear infection until we finally had tubes placed in August.
The boys had birthday’s in September. Bubs started Kindergarten and I started to do better. Bubs was diagnosed ADHD about 4 weeks into Kinder (we knew we were most likely headed down that road) and finding the correct medication was terrible. It took us from Oct-Mar to find the right dosage of the correct medication that had the least amount of side effects with the most results.
Boys birthday pictures!
Then November came and I tripped on the baby gate and fell down the stairs and broke my tailbone and beat up my arm right before we went on vacation for Thanksgiving where we were going off-roading the whole time.
Bruising from my fall
Moab, UT for Thanksgiving
Moab, UT for Thanksgiving
AND then the boys got REALLY sick. And Brady stayed sick the whole winter, even being hospitalized with RSV in January. He’s since been diagnosed with asthma like his Big Brother which has helped keep him fairly healthy.
Breathing Treatment Time
When we were admitted
In February, the hubby and I escaped to Moab for a overnight getaway. And that was when I realized something had to change.
I started crafting and swapping with this Art group on Facebook and realized that crafting and creating was my release. It helped me put up with the sick kids all the time, the sick hubby, the hubby in pain or the hubby not super happy – I mean who would be when you’re in pain all the time.
I’ve slowly crafted more and stamped more and I’m finally to a place where I can start my classes again. My blog will share all the ups and downs of the health of my family and how I cope thru crafting. It will be my sounding ground and I hope to help others that struggle with depression and/or chronic illnesses know that you can find a light in the bad and you really just have to take things one day at a time.
Waiting For Bubs during Karate
Bubs starts Karate
One of our MANY Dr. Visits.
I wouldn’t change my family for anything and am so grateful for them. I’m grateful for the trials of the last 21+ months and am grateful for all I’ve learned. I’m grateful that I could find some peace and that I will continue to grow as a person and as a paper-crafter.
It’s really hard to pick your FAVORITE or BEST projects when you’re limited in the number of items you can submit. I would love this opportunity. So here are my creations.
The following banner is one of my favorite banners I’ve made. I combined the snowflake kit, the canvas banner kit and the add-on kit. I also make 3 extra rosettes. I added some bells to give it some more flair. I LOVE it!
Some close-ups!
Curled Ribbon Wreath – This wreath was so much fun to make and so so easy. I completed it – start to finish in one night (just a couple hours). You just take you bone folder and lots and lots of 3/4″ strips of paper and curl them and then you use straight pins to attach them to a foam wreath. So much fun. I gave this as the final gift in a secret sister holiday gift exchange at work – along with the fun banner below.
I received a box of “FREEBIES” for participating in a contest…Now, I’m not remember which one 🙂 I got the stocking die and some paper and the embellishments and the sweater trim ribbon. I braided the ribbon to add a bit of detail to the banner. It turned out really fun!
We do a Valentine’s Charity event at work to support a charity run by a board/committee of employees. The asked if I would make some Valentine’s cards to sell. I made these cards and made matching envelopes. The sold out in the first half hour of them being in there.
The group that I’m apart of prides itself in the quality of swaps that we do. We don’t really have to give guidelines to our swaps – we just say “Queens Standard”. This was the card I made to swap for our last gathering. It was actually chosen by my peers as the best card! I did CASE part of the idea from a card I saw on Pinterest but really stepped it up. If you click on the link you can see.
I wish I had a big/better picture of this card! I made this card for my hubby for Valentine’s this year. He is a VERY manly man. Likes to get his hands dirty working on projects in the garage, whether it be a truck, a wood working project, etc. It’s REALLY hard to make cards that don’t yell girly in some sort. This was what I came up with. He LOVED it and thought it was the best card I had ever made (because it was the most masculine).
This is one of my favorite scrapbook pages I’ve made. I made them for Convention Swap last year. I love it!
A close up
This is the matching card I made for that swap. Enjoy!