About Me

My photo
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
I am a stay at home mom..now that is! February 19th, 2007 I was involved in a car accident while on vacation in Florida. I awoke in ICU to find out that my only two children Annemarie age 3 and Michael age 5 did not make it. Scrapbooking became such a big part of my life. It helped fill a void that I desperately needed to fill. Our therapist suggested that I take up scrapbooking as a way to memorialize my children, little did she know! So I took that and ran with it.I became obsessed with scrapping and took over the second largest room in my house. Because of my injuries I couldn't go out and get a job, I just scrapped!I printed out 2,000 photos and my journey began. I have made albums for family members and layouts to decorate my craft room. We thought we were done having kids but who expected this tragedy??? I just gave birth in June 2009 to two beautiful baby girls Mia Anne and Gianna Marie named after their brother and sister.I swore that I would keep up with their albums so I won't become overwhelmed so we will see how that works out! My profile picture is the last family picture that was taken of all of us.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Time for another great Peachy Keen Sketch!

Maybe I should of done a card dedicated to rain in place of a rain dance because by golly we need rain soooooooo bad. A couple of months ago all we had was some really bad flooding. Now everyone's hay I mean grass is dried up and crisp. I try keeping up with it and watering it but it is hard to do with over 100 degree temps and an acre and a half of grass to try to save. As I am typing this I hear thunder in the distance so I am praying that it will rain!

Anyway this week there is a great sketch over Peachy Keen Stamps. But hold on there is a twist!!!!

Here is the sketch:



And the twist was to use this color combo:


This is what I came up with using both guidelines:



The adorable elephant is from Peachy Keen Stamps. I embossed the image in a blue powder first and then colored it in. I wanted to add a little something in the blank space so I took a scrap die cut I had laying around and used PK-101 Medium Polka Dt background stamp to give it a bit of design since it was the same kraft color as the card. The buttons, sentiment and card stock are from Papertrey Ink.

Monday, July 25, 2011

I Knead you!


Hello Everyone! I am so sorry. I had some friends up this weekend so I was busy entertaining and didn't realize that my post for the new LFIF Peachy Keen challenge didn't go up!!!! OOPPPSS!! I really wanted to play along with this challenge because it is such a fun challenge. The challenge is titled "So Punny".

Here is the definition of a Pun if some of you don't know or are lost.


What exactly is a pun?

A play on words, either on different senses of the same word or on the similar sense or sound of different words. - source: http://grammar.about.com


I have some great Pun Stamps that I wanted to use o I choose this one. I had to many ideas to pick from which was the hard part.

Face stamp used http://www.peachykeenstamps.com/products/PK_515_Fun_Kiddie_Faces_1_1_8-178-6.html
The paper is some scraps from October Afternoon.
Cuts are on the FROM MY KITCHEN cartridge
Ribbon is MY MIND"S EYE
Twine is from the TWINERY

Monday, July 18, 2011

Love at first sight



Here is a scrapbook layout that I whipped up rather quickly following the sketch challenge over at My Mind's Eye Challenge Blog. Two of my FAVORITE FAVORITE paper lines are Fine & Dandy and the Stella and Rose lines. I only had a few sheets of the Fine & Dandy since that was all that was left so (insert me sulking here) I had to use it. I know I am ridiculous but when I LOVE LOVE LOOOOVVVVEE a paper line so much I hate to use it because once I do I won't have it anymore :( But since it was for my little Girlie Goo's I had no problem.


The layout I did was the day the twins were born and the pictures of the girls (of course) and Daddy's first time holding them. Which for the record I think is very unfair. I did all the work and I was the one strapped to the table and he got to hold them for the first time!! LOLFor the layout I used My Mind's Eye Tickled Pink paper and some of the Fine & Dandy ribbon. I even took the little piece of scrap paper and made it into a tag. On the back of the tag I wrote down the times that they were born so it could help in the arguements later on in life who came first..uggh! It was a blissful moment when the twins were born but bittersweet for us. It shows that even thru the worst of storms there is sunshine and sometime's even a rainbow will appear.


We were very blessed with two healthy girls that both weighed exactly 5lbs 13oz. each. My Doctor told me she never had that happen so I should go and play the lotto. I told her that I just won the lotto.....had two healthy babies with no complications that was payment enough. My youngest twin was even born with a tooth!!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Christmas in July

The challenge over at The Scrapping Cottage this week is hosted by my friend Lorie from the Thinkin' Spot. She asked that we create a project using our Cottage Cutz dies to create a Christmas project. Here is what I came up with.


I used the Cottage Cutz snowman doll and accessories set to maket this adorable card. It started out a place setting but you can also use it as a bag topper with a simple invitation inside.


Preserves cartridge dusted off!

I go from Cricut crazy to Stampin' Crazy to card making crazy. No rhyme or reason I just have these spurts. Well when I saw the challenge over at Scrappy Mom's I wanted to jump right in. My hubby is coming home today so I think this maybe an end to my blogging every day with projects for awhile..sniff sniff. Their challenge is to use your Preserves cartridge. I don't know if people realize what goodies this cartridge has on it and it is NOT all about food. There are some amazing shapes, labels and tags. I did two entries into this contest.

For my first project I wanted to do a simple card using my (yeah!) scraps from a recent project I just completed. I used their A pinch & A Dash stamp set. This is such a great set and has endless possibilities. When I was cutting out the leaves I was using a scrap piece of green card stock that I had stamped with my Market Street Sweet Lace background stamp. The cut calls for covering it up but I liked how it looked so I left it!




For my second entry..well I decided to bake! I recently just purchased 10lbs yes 10lbs of handpicked blueberries and split it with my neighbor. Not sure if I will ever do that again since a HUGE majority came with those little stems and that was not fun pulling them off all of them. I love to bake for all my neighbors so I decided to come up with a cute "personal" idea. I made these mini lattic blueberry pies and this simple but cute tag to go with it. I did a French pie crust which was so flaky it was hard to work with. Think I may stick with buying a premade pie crust to speed up the process next time..uggh did I make a mess!

Now don't laugh!!! I couldn't really get a good picture of it or decide which one I liked the best so I just posted them all! If anyone wants some blueberry pies I got a gazillion and a half of them. They range from tiny to big, to blueberry scones with lemon glaze and a blueberry cream pie..>Getting hungry???



Thursday, July 14, 2011

Cereal boxes + recycled tin = this!!

So I am a self professed hoarder of things. I keep every little thing that I can manage. Even the ribbons that come inside a shirt to help you hang them up, yep I cut them off and reuse them. I just can't bare to throw anything out. And the times that I do throw it out I find myself cursing myself or rummaging through the trash while shouting.."See I knew I should keep this! I knew I would use it!!"


Well I went to a charity auction and won a tin filled with Tastefully Simple items. Of course there was no way I would throw out the tin so I put it away for a future use (straw and all). I also have a stash of cereal boxes. I decided to go through my stash and use some of these things that I hoard. On this project I used only my scraps and boy did it feel soooooooooooo good to get rid of some of those puppies. Buried in my stash I also found a Sizzix star die. I became obsessed with Stars after my children were killed so I must of picked it up without thinking (didn't think it would work in my Cuttlebug since it was the Big die). The die cuts out each tip of the star so you can make it 3D. I did a layer of cereal boxes underneath and then a layer of my DP. Well one night I got to playing and this is what I came up with.


I used my Cricut Stand & Salute cartridge for the sentiment. I wanted to do another layer of the stars so I just searched for another star and tried to size it to fit in Design Studio. I stamped the sentiment with Perfectly Pretty Grid background stamp from Market Street Stamps. I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage photo then covered the whole thing with CTMH Liquid Glass. I added some stickles to the Stars to make them glitter a bit. I also used Vintage Sheet Music (also by Market Street Stamps) on the cream colored card stock in Espresso ink by Stampin' UP! For my flower I took my Nesties and cut out several layers of the scalloped circle in Kraft card stock from PTI. I used my Market Street Stamps Punched Tin background stamp and PTI Vintage cream ink. I had these thin strips of card stock left over so I ran them through a crimper and twirled them up (told you I don't throw anything away!). For the band I took a bunch of scrap pieces that were different sizes and cut them to the same width. I decided to make a ruffled look to hide all the different pieces being made as one. To help hold it all together I ran it thru my Janome several times in a zig zag design. Gosh I love using my scraps this way!!

It was really hard to get a good picture of this for some reason so sorry for the cruddy pics.


I am entering this into the following challenges:


Market Street Stamps ~ Red, white & blue

Little Darlings Challenges - buttons/brads/eyelets

Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet - Something Borrowed or Something Blue
Paper Creations Ink - Red, white and blue
Creative Inspirations - Red, white and blue
Fashionista Friday - patriotic
Cooking It Up With Katie - colors of your flag/something your country is known for
Our Daily Bread Designs - Red, White & Blue
Simon Says Stamp and Show ~ Stitching
Simon Says Stamps Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Not bad for something people would normally throw away!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

While the Cat's away the Mouse will Play!!

I don't know what it is but I feel like I am a kid left alone for the first time while my parents went on vacation. My husband is away on business and I am home with the girls. Now he is pretty much either working or sleeping most of the time anyway but for some reason just because I know he is away I feel all giddy like I am sneaking or something..LOL

So while the girls watched Toy Story for the gazillionth time I decided to get a card done for some challenges. This will be my second post for the day!! WOOT WOOT!
My fellow Sister Darlene from the Sisterhood has always inspired me with her cards and the look of them. She has such an amazing flare for vintage style cards. I always admired them but it was out of my comfort zone. So today I decided to try to do something a little different and this is what I came up with. This one is for you Dar!


This is my first attempt at something like this and I gotta say I know it's not the best but it is growing on me. I just love, love these papers. Here is how I made this.
First I took some Terracotta card stock from PTI for the base. Then I took some Rustic Cream cardstock also from PTI and stamped it with my Market Street Stamps Vintage Wallpaper in Bermuda Bay ink by Stampin Up!. I roughed up the edges and distressed it with Tim Holtz's Pumice stone and then Vintage Photo. I sewed all around the edges in a zig zag pattern and matted it in dark colored cardstock. Then I stamped Vintage Sheet Music (also by Market Street Stamps) in Espresso ink and distressed the edges.

I sewed around the inside in a straight pattern then layered it over the Vintage wallpaper background. Next I used some Graphic 45 Steampunk DP for the main image and matted that. I wanted to add a different element so I used a flower die from PTI to cut out several flower shapes out of felt. For an added touch I used my Staz-On ink in Timber brown and my Market Street Stamps Punched Tin background stamp. Folded them in several layers and used hot glue to adhere them. Finished it off with a PTI Terracotta button and twine..WALLAA it was done. I had so much fun doing this card, I hope you like it.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show ~ Stitching
The Pink Elephant ~ Felt
PriscillaStyles Midnight Madness ~ Sketch
Simon Says Stamps Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations ~ 2DP's & 2 embellishments
Jac-Inks Papercraft Challenges - Die-cuts Plus Texture
Shopping Our Stash - Use something you've been hoarding or your newest products
Lollipop Crafts - July challenge - Anything goes
One Stitch At A Time - Anything Goes

Being Thankful

Hello Everyone! Are you all enjoying this heat wave?? LOL Thank goodness for central air. I feel bad but I have to keep the little ones inside because they are so sensitive to the heat they turn beat red from just a few minutes outside.



I have a bunch of photos to share with you today. Over at The Sisterhood of Crafters we are showing our "THANKS" by having a challenge. We are asking you to make some THANK YOU cards. I just had my girls 2nd birthday party so I just sat around one day (which was rare) and simply just played around to see what I would come up with. Sorry that the pictures are so bad but I had to take them inside and my batteries were dying.




I needed a simple, flat and easy to mail Thank you card that was easy to make in bulk. For these cards I just played around with the new PTI's Mehndi Medallion stamp in different colors (Stampin' Up ink). The sentiment is from PTI's Big & Bold Wishes

I made this card with my Vintage Music Market Street background stamp and PTI's Happy Trails.
This one makes me laugh. I knew I was a hoarder before but this one proves it. I have a 6X6 tablet of Stella and Rose which is some of my favorite DP ever. I had to cut the little strips off of the top but I couldn't bare to part with them so I made a card with them. OMG rehab here I come!

Hope you come and join us and show us what you can be "Thankful" for.




Many hugs...and stay COOL!




Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Two little piggies in a tub


Good afternoon everyone!
There is a new sketch over at Peachy Keen Stamps and of course you will want to enter to win the awesome prize. I cut some DP in 2 inch squares and loosely glued that to a bottom mat. I then sewed it to make it look quilt like and when that was done used my Nesties to cut out the top note shape. I added a lighter rim around it by nesting my Nesties so I would just get the trim. Loved how it looked but somehow I must of leaned on something and got a bunch of ink and goo on it so I tried to distress it to hide the fact. The adorable stamped image is called PK-202 Piggy Tubby Time. This image just makes me smile because #1 it is just to darn cute and #2 it reminds me of my twins in the tub. To make the bubbles look a little more "bubbly" I added some liquid applique and then some CTMH Liquid Glass to the tub and the bubbles. I was trying to smudge some "dirt" on them to make them look even dirtier but it didn't really come out as planned so you will just have to in vision it for now! LOL The image is just dangling there like a tag so technically you can use it as a tag and write something on the back.

Hope you come and join us for this challenge. Love seeing everyone's different takes on the sketch. Off to go melt in the summer heat..uggh I wish!

Friday, July 8, 2011

My Peachified frame & Yes a challenge entry




Hello Everyone!!

Peachy Keen Stamps Let's Face It Friday challenge team has a new challenge this week and I decided to play along. It was the first time in along time that I actually got in my craft room and it felt so good. I had a lot of fun with this one!! The challenge is called "Plenitful Patterns". Well when I made this frame I used patterns everywhere I could..I don't think I used any solid cardstock. I had so many ideas it was hard to decided which one to do and the funny thing is, that this was not one of the ideas. I went into my Craft Closet/cave and found a $1 frame from Michael's. I painted the edges black. Then picked a newer addition of DP to my stack from DCDW.

The bees were cut from Create a Critter and stamped with PK-640 Princess Face Assortment set.After they were done I covered them in several layers of UTE. I loved the sentiment from the new Hillbilly Holler SY-903 More Phrases stamp set so I used that and stamped it directly onto the paper. I then used the new adorable acryclic PKOA-BHV Beehive Set that Peachy Keen now carrys. I wanted to add some dimension to it. This was my first time using the acryclic shapes so I kinda messed it up but (like gluing it backwards)they are just so fun to use. Now that I have the hang of it I am playing around with the other ones I got. For the background paper I used my beloved and very versatile Sweet Lace Stamp from Market Street Stamps.



For the flower all I did was cut out a bunch of patterned paper with my Nesties scalloped circle and stacked them (inked them up with Tim Holtz distressing ink first). I then covered the whole thing in CTMH Liquid glass to give the flower shine and of course strength overtime. For the picture I just grabbed a piece of colored cardstock to stick in the center and I also took a picture so you could see what it looked like without it.



I really had fun with this one!! I hope you stop on by and show us your Plentinful Patterns!






I also wanted to share with you this entry I made for the challenge over at The Scrapping Cottage. I absolutely love their dies. Unfortunately I do not have to many of them and would love to have more so my plan was to make several pages to go with the sketch challenge in order to increase my chances to win. But due to an unforeseen back injury that has put me on the couch for the past couple of days (not an easy thing to do with twins) I barely got one page done. I wanted to keep it simple because I did this page for a friend. I did not know all the details about where the pictures where taken, etc etc. so I had to leave it a bit simple so she could write and fill in the info. Basically she has lots of room for journaling. I used the http://www.scrappingcottage.com/cottagecutzbunnies4x6peachykeendesign.aspx Cottage Cutz Bunnies for my layout. This particular set comes with three face stamps so you can change the expressions on the bunny which is just fabulous and fun! These dies are awesome because where can you get such detail on itty bitty objects and use up those tiny bits of scrap paper you have been hoarding..I mean saving. LOL! I have my eye on those bakeries, sweat shops and of course all the Santa ones....OMG how flippin' perfect are those??? Keeping my fingers crossed. Well gotta go get another Ice pack for my back. HOpe you all have a great weekend!

P.S. I used an Oldie but Goodie Cricut Cartridge - My Community - for the fence and stamped it with my Market Street Stamps Woodgrain background stamp. I used Tim Holtz frayed Burlap arond the outside to give it some color.