Latest creations!

I started this layout like 2 weeks ago. I finally finished it over at Alayna's house on Tuesday (our day). I really like it.

I also got my card done for this month. I had a lot of fun doing it. Much easier than the man card! The photo, however, isn't very good. I couldn't get a decent scan to pull up.

Hopefully, I will be able to post more often. I have also become intrigued with artist trading cards lately (ATC's). Like I have any time for that right now, but they are cool.

Masculine Cards!

Our theme this month for our card club is Masculine cards. Anything goes, but it has to be manly. I was very excited about this theme. I must confess that I am no longer excited about it. I think I've made it way harder than it needed to be.

After searching for ideas, I finally had in mind the perfect card. This is what I came up with:

I thought it was GREAT! I stamped the background with three different inks/stamps, dry embossed and paper pierced the edges of the blue and yellow cardstock, and finished it off by making a quilled sailboat. The scanner did not do this card justice (oh well!). After I finished, I proudly showed KC and asked for his opinion. His response was, "This looks like a baby card or one for a little boy, but it isn't very manly." My pride was quickly deflated. I then asked him what I needed to do to make a masculine card. He said, "Make something you think is hideous and add a humorous joke."

That wasn't much help. How could I spend time making something hideous and expect anyone else to want to do the same?! So, I took my card to my 9 year old son, Aaron. He said, "Mom, you know Alayna's little Tyler [he's 2]. He would like this card. It is cute, but it isn't manly." By this time KC is laughing in the bathroom, and I am back to square one.

After some more research, this is what I came up with:

I pulled off the Harley and the Harley logo from the internet. The rest is pretty simple. I did dry emboss the orange mat and stamped the red cardstock. Pretty simple, huh? I took the finished product to KC. His initial response was, "Yeah." He said that the inside didn't need to be so sentimental, but that it would do. Inside reads: "Life is too short, enjoy the ride." I guess that will have to do.

I don't think we need to make masculine cards for awhile. I'm very ok with cutsy!

Emma Lynn Thacker!!

Emma joined our family the wee hours of Friday, June 19th. She weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19 in . long. She and I are doing fine. We came home the next day. Tyler and Aaron love their baby sister. Here are a couple of pictures!

ANYTIME NOW!!

Every child is different. Every pregnancy is different. This one is definitely proving true. We've waited for over 4 years for another little one to join our family. On Friday morning (12th), I went into labor. We went to the hospital. They checked me. I was only dilated to a 2. They decided to watch me for a while. My contractions STOPPED! They sent me home. Yesterday morning, Sunday June 14th, I went into labor again. This time we didn't leave for a little while longer. We got to the hospital. They checked me. I was at a 3, and my contractions were 1 min. 40 sec. apart and lasting for 60 seconds. OK, I'm in labor. After being monitored for about 45 min., they subsided once again! I was so FRUSTRATED and EXHAUSTED! Because I am not at 39 weeks, they won't help it along. So, I've been in labor off and on for the past 3 days. Honestly, it's getting very old! This baby has a mind of its own. However, he/she was kind enough to not come on Aaron's birthday (13th). Aaron is very glad of that as well. Hope you all have a great week. Mine looks like its just beginning! I think that when this baby decides to come, it will be a wam-bam here you are. I just hope that Heber is close enough (30 min. away). The nurses gave us the number for the Labor/Delivery department so the next time we come, they will have a heads up. They, too, think the next time might be all too fast. It's very odd, but I know that there is another hand involved. I put my trust in Him.

Time Flies!

I have reached that point in my pregnancy where I am ready to be done! I have 2 weeks and 6 days until my due date, and I can't wait until this baby comes. I have been SO exhausted! My mother-in-law has helped me spring clean my house. We cleaned almost every room with the exception of the toy room and the laundry room. That's ok. They weren't on the top of my list, anyway.

I got all the preparations done for Tyler's and Aaron's birthday parties. Whew! Thanks to help from my dear friend Alayna and my sweetheart KC. Alayna spent over 1 1/2 hours cutting out 3 cardboard guitars. I decided to give that job to someone who had more muscle. Well, his idea didn't involve using more muscle just different tools! He stole my little hand power saw and made light work of that project. I guess the Tim the Tool Man approach does prove handy occasionally. I will have to post the pictures of their parties. Tyler had a puppy dog party. They decorated dog houses that Alayna and I created, gave their puppy a name (I found them at the Dollar Tree), made a collar and played lots of games using the dogs. His party was on Friday, June 5. Aaron's party was based on a Rock N Roll theme. The kids designed their own cardboard electric guitars, made a microphone, played games and were supposed to lip sync to rock n roll music. The problem turned out to be the location of the stage. KC and I decorated the front porch as the stage. It looked really good. KC even brought out his entire stereo system (speakers and everything). We did this because it provided more protection from the weather. When it came time to jam, the kids were too embarrased because there were cars driving on the road. Go figure! So much for that idea! We celebrated his birthday yesterday, June 6th, because I don't want to have to do a birthday party with a baby. He's ok with that. It's not every year you get to have your birthday a week early. I really am hoping this baby comes THIS week!

I have finally finished my list of things I wanted to get done before the baby came. I didn't think that would ever happen. You know me. My list was really long.

Hope you have a great week! Thanks for reading.

This and That

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted last. Wow! Time sure flies. Last week we went to Brigham City for my nephew's 1st birthday. That was fun. My boys loved it. I was so exhausted from the week's activities that I crashed that night and the next day. Soccer is over. School is coming to a close. My list of things to get done before the baby comes seems to grow instead of diminish! I am trying to get my deep cleaning done before the baby comes next month. I have coerced my mother-in-law into helping me. She is amazing. I know that it wouldn't get done without her help. We spent 2 WHOLE days on the kitchen. No wonder I only do this once every year or so! It is nice, though, to open the cupboards and not see crumbs or have storage containers fall out on you. Everything is in its place, no dust or grime, no packages of food that have been there since last August! From top to bottom, it's clean. It feels so good. KC and my boys don't care, but I do. Next week we're going to start with my room. I sure hope it doesn't take us 2 days to do that!

Besides cleaning I made 2 baby car seat covers for KC's cousins. All 3 of us are expecting next month. I also created a letterbox, which I am going to hide this afternoon. This will be tomorrow's fun activity. I'm having some friends over to make the stamps. Then, they will have the opportunity to go on their first letterboxing hunt! If you don't know what letterboxing is, check out www.letterboxing.org. It is really fun. I am hoping that we can get several here in our community so I can do this with my family this summer after the new little one arrives.

Sorry there are no pictures today. At least you have an update of what is going on in my little corner. Hope you have a great day!!

My Background!!

I am so excited! I have been experimenting with making my own backgrounds lately. I LOVE the way this one turned out. You would never believe that I only used 2 pieces of cardstock for this layout. I just had to share this creation with you.

Materials:

Stamps- "Plenty of Paisley" by The Paper Studio, "two scoops/swirlie" by Basic Grey

Inks- Cranberry and Barn Red by CTMH

Sponge

White gross grain ribbon

White cardstock (background, mat and embellishments) and red cardstock scrap for mat

font- Century on Microsoft Powerpoint

I stamped the paisley and the flower in Cranberry all over my white paper. Then, I stamped the swirl in the barn red. Afterwards, I sponged cranberry all over. The embellishments were made using this same technique. I stamped them on white cardstock scraps, sponged and cut. Woo Hoo! Sometimes I like the way my creations turn out!

DINOSAUR ADVENTURE

I have not had a chance to think about creating anything this week. Well, that's not exactly true. I did sew a jacket for the baby. That didn't satisfy my creative needs, though. That was just something that I needed to do. Somehow, over the past 6 years since I needed a little baby jacket, mine have disappeared. KC thought I was crazy. "We're just going to wrap the baby in blankets anyway." Well, maybe he forgot that we get a LOT of wind up here, and I don't want to have to have a blanket on the baby every second. We are also planning on going camping with my family the beginning of August. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong.

Besides that, I haven't had any time to do anything creative. Yesterday was scouts. I am the Wolf leader (8 year olds). One of their Faith In God requirements is to entertain younger children with songs or games they've made. So, we had a Dinosaur Adventure party for their younger siblings. Throughout the month we made different games. Yesterday they taught them to their little brothers and sisters. It was a great success. We played beanbag archery. They stamped the bags and filled them. I made the stamps out of fun foam. I thought they worked really well. We played Dino Golf. This is played using a container and beans or other small objects. The idea is to see how many objects you can get in the hole. It is a really easy game, but the kids like it. We also played 4 corners using dinosaur names. We had a dino egg hunt. Chocolate eggs were the treasure. We decorated cookies, played tag, and also played a version of statue or musical freeze. When the music stopped, they all had to pose like a dinosaur. The kids had a BLAST. I'm glad it's over. Here are some pics of the things we made for it:

After scouts, I went visiting teaching. I'm glad yesterday is over!!

Wow! What a week!

Where to begin? I've had these photos scanned in for several days, but haven't had any time to sit down and post them. A lot has happened in our neck of the woods within the last 5 days. My mother-in-law ended up in the hospital on Monday night. It took them 2 days before they were able to diagnose her problem as a bacterial infection in her gut. She came home last night and has a little while before she'll be back up to par. My father-in-law had pollups removed on Wednesday. We've been taking care of him. We actually have to be babysitters with him, because he doesn't think he has to STOP! We went and saw grandma in the hospital on Tuesday night. I'm sure the next little while we'll be helping her.


On top of this, soccer started this week. I am so glad that it doesn't last for more than a month up here. It gives the kids a chance to have fun and learn the game, but we don't get burned out. Games are played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I had scouts on Wednesday, too. It went well. It makes such a difference having just 5 boys instead of 11! We just split our Wolf and Bear dens. How grateful I am for that. We have been making the preparations for a "Dinosaur Adventure" party for our siblings. This will fulfill several different scout requirements as well as a Faith In God requirement. I will definitely have to post images of the various games and projects we've done for that (next week).


For my birthday, my brother-in-law gave me 2 tickets to "Wicked." We went last night. It was INCREDIBLE!! I think it is my favorite production of all. I've seen "Phantom of the Opera", "A Christmas Carol", "Thoroughly Modern Millie", "Chicago", and several others. It was awesome. I loved the story line. Nothing like I expected. To top it all off, as KC and I were exiting the side door, to our utter surprise and delight, directly in front of us was Pres. Monson, his wife, and guards. That was really cool!


I also got my bathroom cleaned, the HUGE mountain of laundry folded (I hate folding laundry), taught 3 piano lessons and went to my OB/GYN appointment. With such a crazy week, you'd think I didn't have any time to create. I actually found some time on Sunday to do the scrapbook page of my second son and the BABY card. Then on Monday I made the two sympathy cards- one for my mother-in-law and the other for my former visiting teaching partner who was just diagnosed with bone cancer. Since then I haven't had a moment to think about anything creative. I can also feel the week. I am exhausted. So, today, I'm going to get together with one of my best friends and do something relaxing and creative. Haven't decided what to do yet.


Here's my scrapbook page:








Materials used:

Green, blue, yellow and white cardstock (not textured, just basic)
Lime green rick rack
Rub Ons: Making Memories
Stamps: Plenty of Paisley, The Paper Studio


I really had fun putting this together. I loved how vibrant the colors are in the photo and took my inspiration from them as well as the whimsical pattern on the bouncer.



Here are my cards:








The top one is the one I created for my old visiting teaching partner. It was supposed to be the same format as the baby card, but I was having difficulties with my printer. It didn't want to grab the paper properly, so the text kept printing in the wrong spot. I decided that I didn't want to waste more paper, so I adapted my design to fit. On the inside of the card I typed, "May the Lord be with you during this difficult time". Then I cut a window out of the front so the text showed.



Materials used:
Sage green and white cardstock
Small scalloped scissors- provo craft
Large scalloped stencil
Pop-up foam squares
Sheer white ribbon
fabric flowers and leaves from my kitchen table centerpiece- Dollar Tree years ago
Hot glue gun
White embossing ink-Inxpressions
Gold embossing powder-Ranger
6"x 1" clear stamp block with a rubber band wrapped around
Heat gun



I made a frame out of the white cardstock, put the scalloped edge on it, then I simply swiped the edges in my embossing ink, poured embossing powder on and heat set it. The gold line on the right edge I created using the 6"x1" block with a rubber band wrapped around it. This idea came to me one day this week as a solution to making striped backgrounds. I used the block just like a stamp, placed it on my inkpad, then embossed like I did the frame. I'm pretty pleased with my idea. It worked REALLY well!



The second green card I altered slightly, well because I wanted to.

Materials used:

Sage green, light pink and white cardstock
White ribbon
4 rhinestones (3 circle, 1 flower)
Same 6"x1" block and rubber band
Same ink and powder and gun
flower stamp- my own creation out of foam
Soft Rose Ink pad- Memories
Hollyhock Ink pad- Close to My Heart
Olive green Ink pad- Close to My Heart
spray bottle with water
background stamp- Hero Arts (clear stamp but no set identification on package)
Glue Dots
pop-up foam squares (for frame)



Alot of this card is pretty self explanatory, so I won't mention all of the techniques I used. However, I will tell about my stamping techniques. I used the same edge technique on this card as the previous one. I also used it on the edge of my frame (no scallops here). For my flower I inked my stamp in the soft rose, sprayed it with water, then using a slightly moist paper towel dipped the edge (of paper towel) into the hollyhock and patted this onto my stamp. Then I stamped onto white cardstock. I repeated this twice (2 separate flowers). It created a fun watercolor look. Then I cut out each flower, adjusted them to give depth and adhered using glue dots. The finishing touch was the rhinestone. I made my stamp using a thin piece of fun foam. I drew my flower onto a piece of printer paper, cut out, traced onto the foam, cut it out, glued this onto the foam again (to give depth and cushion), cut out, then hot glued to wood block (since this one I now use tacky glue to adhere the stamp to the block and instead of using wood, I take a plastic cookie container-the kind you get in the bakery, and adhere my stamp to it. It takes up less space, and when I'm ready to use it, I can mount it onto one of my clear blocks using glue dots or double sided tape. That way I can see the placement easily.


I almost forgot about my favorite card! I created this baby card before the other two. The idea for this came to me during church. That's horrible, I know, but inspiration can hit us at the oddest times.

Materials used:
White, baby blue and light lavender cardstock
Silent Setter-Provo Craft (small hole punch)
8" pastel yellow ribbon (1/8" wide)
Yellow, white, cape cod and a purple acrylic paint (from my tole paints)
Paper towel
Old toothbrush (splatter)
Stamps-Cute as a button set by Studio G (Dollar stamps from Michaels or Joann's)
1" block
Lovely Lilac Ink pad and Tempting Turquoise Ink pad-Stampin Up
Watercolor pencils

I am only going to explain how I made this background. If you have any questions about the other elements, just ask me. Anyway, first I folded my white cardstock to form my card (4 1/4x 5 1/2). This helped to ensure that I only painted the front of the card and not the backside. Who wants to do more work than needed? Then I poured a small amount of yellow (a mustard yellow) and white paints onto a glass plate in separate spots. I twisted and scrunched up the end of a paper towel, dipped it into both colors and sponged randomly onto card. I also turned the towel as I was sponging in some areas to help the colors blend a little more. Then I poured a tiny bit of the blue and purple paints onto my plate. I dipped my old toothbrush into one and then rubbed my thumb across the brush to make it splatter onto my paper. When I had the desired amount, I rinsed my brush in water, dried it off and repeated using the other color. I love the look of this card. The paints gave it a rich feeling without a lot of detail. The texture is also very cool- rough.

Hope you have a great day!

April Card Exchange

OK, so I can't stop with the last post. I am part of a card club. We get together on the third Thursday of each month. Each of us makes a card and then does the prep work for 7 more cards. When we get together, we pass out our baggies with our card materials to everyone. Then, we put the cards together. It has been really fun! I've met new people and learned different ways to do things. This month's theme was Thank You. I hope the other members don't mind me sharing our creations on my blog. As you can see, we have many different tastes and styles. Next month's theme is BABY. It seems only fitting since there are several of us expecting.

Mother's Day Card

I am taking a big risk posting this here before Mother's Day, but I just couldn't help it. Sometimes I really like my creations, and I wanted to share my latest one. Mother's Day is next month, and I have been working hard on a surprise for my mother and mother-in-law for a LONG time. Anyway, I had this idea for a card and it actually turned out as I had envisioned; however, you can't see my scalloped edge on the bottom or the pin pricking along the same edge. I also used foam to make the 2 M's pop up and one on the flower.


I also created this card a couple of weeks ago.
I stole the idea from my cousin's baby shower invitation. I drew a picture of a tulip on a piece of computer paper, shaded the back using a pencil so I could transfer it, placed it on a piece of white cardstock, then traced over the flower. Then I used my watercolor pencils and a water pen (blending pen) to spread the colors. This card doesn't open. The tag comes out of the pocket. I thought it was a fun idea!

Lava Hot Springs and Doctors' Visits

What a week it has been! We had Spring Break the whole week. My boys thought it was great. I took them to the dentist on Tuesday. That was fun (ha! ha!) Both of them had cavities. Aaron freaked out. I was so glad that Tyler had gone into the waiting room so he didn't hear it. Aaron was really worried about the shot. Tyler, on the other hand did REALLY well and even had to have a pulpotomy. Ouch! We spent 2 1/2 hrs. there.

JaNae came down on Wednesday and helped me create a slide presentation for the Relief Society lesson I had to give on Sunday. I had never created one before using Windows Movie Maker. It was pretty easy; however, I think she got frustrated. It took us a lot longer than if she had done it herself. It turned out really well. Yea!

On Thursday, I went to see my OB/GYN. We had only planned on being there for a short time. I got the privilege of having the LOVELY glucose test! I swear that stuff should not be given to anyone under any circumstances. Well, when we got to the lab, there wasn't an order from the doctor. So, we had to wait for that to come in. Then, when the nurse tried to take my blood, she couldn't hit the vein. Before long I felt sick and just about passed out. She and KC walked me down to the ER where I could lay down. I've never had problems having my blood taken before. The second time she got the vein without any difficulty. Afterwards, we were supposed to wait for the results to come back so I could get my Rhogam shot. After waiting for over 2 hours, we decided to leave. They said they would call us when the results were in. 3 hours later we got a phone call. I told them we were headed out of town and would not be able to drive back to Heber for that. I ended up going back on Saturday (another fun experience).

KC decided that we should join my family in Lava Hot Springs for the night. It was fun. I didn't look forward to it. I don't enjoy traveling when I am pregnant. We only had to stop 3 times, though, for potty breaks. KC and the boys enjoyed the hot pool. We stayed at the Conference Center. That was a nice spot. Friday we intended on going to the Lava Aquatic Center for the kids. When we arrived, we discovered they wouldn't open for another 2 hours. It was cold outside, and we had already checked out. As we were deciding what we were going to do, Zach called and said he was heading our way, but had had car problems. That made our decision. We all piled into our vehicles and headed for Malad. While Dad helped Zach fix his jeep, we took the kids bowling. We climbed into our beds about 10:30 p.m.

What a week!!

Christmas and 4th of July Cards

I sat down last night and just created. I love those times when the ideas seem to flow effortlessly. Making cards, scrapbooking and sewing are relaxing for me. My boys spent the night at their grandma's, so I had a couple of uninterrupted hours to myself! During this time I came up with three different cards. It's not the season for any of them, but the ideas were there, so I just let them take shape. You can't see the stockings very well on the red cardstock; however, I did do generation stamping on that as well. I was quite pleased with my "God Bless America" background. I created that using a square foam stamp (I made). Once again, I used generation stamping. For this I inked my stamp, stamped it on my paper and stamped again and again without re-inking. Because the foam stamps soak up so much ink, I was able to stamp 5 or six times before I had to re-ink. Then I stamped my text, followed by the fireworks, and finished it off using the TP (toilet paper) technique. TP stamping is something I learned from internet researching. You take a wad of toilet paper, twist one end to make it hard, dip it in your ink and use it like a sponge. Just dab it all over your paper. It adds a lot of texture. You can also use sponges, foam, seran wrap, tin foil. Each creates a different look. I also distressed my flag image edges with this same technique so that the white paper would not look out of place. As you can see, I had fun last night.

Recent Cards

OK. I'm getting better. It's only been a couple of days since I posted, and I even scanned in the card I said I would. Woo-hoo! Here's what it looked like. Granted, I have to be honest- I stole this idea from Jenn Hurdsman's blog. I created my flower using a foam stamp I made.

My First!

Here goes my first attempt. I hope that I can be better at this than I am at checking my e-mail (haha!) There have been many people who have been after me for a very long time to set up a blog account.

This week has been a little hairy for us. We've had two funerals in our neighborhood. One was really tragic. A young father was killed in an auto accident. My sons are the same ages as two of his children. They wanted to do something special for them so we spent time making cards and running to Park City to purchase stuffed animals for them. My kindergartener took part in his class' "Little Piggy Opera". It was quite cute. Scouts, of course, took alot of energy. It was fun, though. I made plaster of paris digs for each of them. We learned about geology, and they uncovered several rocks. Eight year old boys thought it was great to be able to demolish something with permission!

KC and I went to dinner last night. We haven't done that for ages! Afterwards, we went to Smith's, bought a carton of icecream and ate straight from the carton on our way home. We've never done that before.

We got a foot of snow this week. Unfortunately, I was only able to sit down and make one set of cards. That was on Tuesday, I think. Of course it was a sympathy card due to our circumstances. I will have to try to post it soon. It's a little late tonight, though.

Hopefully I will be able to do more creating this upcoming week. My fingers are just itching to do so. However, I am learning that I have limitations. I cannot be superwoman, superwife, supermom, super everything and pregnant all at the same time. This one is taking it out of me. I am SO exhausted, and I have been overdoing it lately.

During General Conference today, Elder Robert D. Hales said, "Our success is determined not by our own strength but by the degree of our faith. Food for thought.

Have a great day!