Please send a card to Pam :)

Yesterday morning my FIL calls my husband and says that my MIL twisted her ankle and that he was going to take her into the Convenient Clinic just to get it checked out.
Well after talking to the staff at the Convenient Clinic on the phone they told my MIL that she might as well go to the Emergency Room instead.
Well, good thing she did... She actually BROKE her ankle and most likely did damage to her ligaments! :(
She has to see the bone specialist tomorrow to find out if she needs surgery. And it sounds like she most likely will :(

I know that many of you have found my blog through Pam's so I thought I would share the news here. As of right now her computer/stamp room is downstairs in the basement, so I doubt she will be able to answer e-mails any time soon. Although there has been talk of moving her computer back upstairs since she can't navigate steps too easily with her crutches. If you would like to send her a card and do not know her addy you can e-mail me and I'll get it to you. (my e-mail addy is on the side of my blog)

HUGS!!!

A little bead flare!

I'm still lovin' the Bittersweet papers from Basic Grey and this particular pattern is one of my favs! Aren't the colors just yummy!

I have to admit that I worked really hard on this card. I started it yesterday afternoon and didn't finish it until about 10:30 last night. I really had to ponder the different elements! LOL!!! And even after all of that pondering, I think the card still came out really simple looking. Oh-well, I still like the card a lot.

The base of this card is Close to Cocoa that I inked up with some Basic Black ink. I then layered the dp onto a piece of Rose Red that I embossed with my Cuttlebug. After I attached the dp I layered both pieces onto Basic Black cardstock. I also inked up the Rose Red paper with some Close ot Cocoa and Whisper White ink to bring out the embossed design. I stamped my sentiment (from SU!'s Love Matters) onto the Close to Cocoa cardstock using black ink and then I used the word window punch to punch out the opening on the layered cardstock. I then attached the layerd cardstock onto the Close to Cocoa base using dimensionals. I layered pink and Close to Cocoa ribbon across the card and finished it out with a Basic Grey brad and a felt flower from American Crafts.

Then.... I decided that the card needed a little extra flare. I went through my jewelry making beads and found this great assortment of pinks and browns. I strung these seed beads onto some stiff jewelry wire and laid it on top of the ribbon. Ta-da!!! My finished card :)

Hope you are enjoying the start of the weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS!!!

Lovin' this Basic Grey Paper!

This past Sunday I went over to my friend Karmen's house to do a little stampin'. And that is exactly what we got done, a little! This is the only card that I actually completed! Isn't that pathetic! LOL!!! Anyways, we had lots of fun even though we were not very productive!

This card is extremely simple, but I blame the simplicity of this card on the fact that I still have not located my "stampin' mojo"! ;) Hopefully I'll find it soon!

I used one of Karmen's clear stamp sets to make this card. I can't remember the name of the set, but it was a Valentine's day word set. It was super cute! I also used my nesties and some velvet ribbon from Dashes, Dots, and Checks. I used SU!'s Very Vanilla and Close to Cocoa paper to accent the gorgeous Basic Grey paper from their Bittersweet series. I love the new BG paper and can not wait to play with it some more!

Thanks for blogging by today! HUGS!!!

My Second Rag Quilt

I would never call myself a real quilter. I am definitely not that talented, skilled, or patient! ;)

However, I have started to dabble in the world of rag quilts. They are not as intimidating and much more forgiving of crooked sewing and unmatched seems! I made my first rag quilt for my sweet, dear blog friend Charmaine. (If you haven't checked out her blog, you must do so now!) I sent it to her and her beautiful son after he was born. Follow this link on her blog to check it out.

I decided that I wanted to try and make another quilt. So, for Christmas I decided to make my mom a rag quilt. (I knew she would appreciate all the time put into this handmade gift.) I wanted to make a comfy quilt that would be perfect for snuggling up on the couch at night.

My mom is a real life cowgirl. (She operates our family's 2800 acre ranch all by herself!) So when I spotted this material I knew it would be perfect for her. I also used a bunch of old jeans for the quilt. On four of the squares I cut out the pockets on the Wrangler brand jeans (a must wear for any cowgirl or cowboy) and stitched around them to attach them to the quilt. I thought it was kinda' a fun detail. Plus, she could always stick the remote in one of the pockets so she didn't loose it between the couch cushions! LOL!

This quilt took me forever and is much bigger than I expected it to be. It is the exact width of our queen size bed and about nine inches longer then our bed. I really liked how it turned out, but won't be making another one this size for awhile! ;)

I do need to get started on another baby quilt for my niece that will be arriving the end of February. Yep, my tiny little, big sister is having baby number four! I can't wait to be an aunt again!

Thanks for stopping by and check back for more card creations!

HUGS!!!

What's your opinion?

While DH is watching football tonight, I decided to spend some much needed time in my stamp room.

As I looked at my cluttered table, I decided to challenge myself and my creativity. The challenge was to use things that were laying on top of my table. I couldn't get out any new paper or stamps, I could only use what was already out. However, I did decide that it was okay to dig through my embellishments and ribbon. So this is what I came up with...

To make this card I used a "Happy Birthday" cutout that I made using my Cricut. (originally this cutout was suppose to be for DH's b-day card) The dp is "Black Brown Tiles" from The Paper Studio. I also used SU!'s paper and ribbon.

The card is definitely different, but I think it works.

You may be wondering why I have two pics of the same card on this post. Well the first card is my original design. After I finished my card I showed DH and he politely asked "What's the deal with the bow?" I guess he thought it looked a little girly for the card! ;)

So what do you think? Should I keep the ribbon around the "Y" or loose it?

I'm making my comeback!!!

No your eyes are not deceiving you... this is a new post on CDC!!! I know, I know, it's been a LONG time since I've posted, but I've had other priorities the last few months. (I'll tell you what I've been up to later.)



Well, for those of you who use to read my blog, back when I could call myself a blogger, you know that I was attending college at WSC and was majoring in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. As you might have guessed from my picture and my use of past tense verbs, I have finally graduated!!! Yea!!!

My sweet MIL was kind enough to host an open house for me following the graduation ceremony. She completely out did herself with tons of yummy food and a custom cake from our favorite cake lady!!! YUM-MY!


So of course I needed to whip up some thank you cards to send out to everyone whom came and showered me with generous gifts!

But let me tell you, when you take a six month sabbatical from stamping it's not so easy jumping back into it! ;) First of all there was the problem of a thick layer of dust covering my stamping area!!! I had to get out the endust and dust rag before I could even start thinking about making cards! You might think that I'm kidding, but seriously I'm not!!!

Then I had to get my creative juices flowing and try to come up with a layout and design. Well, that didn't go well either. After trying and failing several times to come up with my own creative design, I gave up! It just wasn't there. So I decided to completely CASE my own graduation invitations that my MIL sent out for my open house. This is just what I needed in this time of stamping rehabilitation! :)

The card is very simple, so I won't bore you with the details. If you are only interested in the card stop reading now :) If you want to hear what I've been up to the last few months read on by all means!!! ;)

Okay, so I student taught from the middle of August until the middle of December. I was placed in a local school just outside of the Norfolk. The first part of the semester I taught in the Kindergarten room. Oh my, do I have the stories from that experience!!! ;) The second part of the semester I taught in the 4th grade classroom. I had a fabulous time teaching each grade and loved the students so much! I also had wonderful cooperating teachers who were very helpful. I can not say how much I appreciated their help and guidance throughout my student teaching experience!

The part of student teaching that was horrible was the "homework" I had to do for WSC! It was very overwhelming. Not only did I have to do everything that a regular teacher had to do: plan, attend meetings, teach (of course!), etc... I also had to complete a 20 page document explaining a unit of study that I taught, how my instruction influenced the students, contextual factors, assessment results, etc, etc, etc. I also had to journal every week, journal after every lesson that I taught, and write every lesson using the Madeline Hunter format!!! Yes, I said EVERY lesson in that format!!! (Those of you who are teachers, I'm sure you feel my pain! ;) I had an entire two inch notebook full of all of this "busy work" at the end of the semester. Oh well, I made it through! :)

So now, I'm going to be substitute teaching until I find a full time position. I actually have my first sub job this coming Monday. I am subbing in the same school that I student taught at. Not only that, but I am going to be subbing in my 4th grade class!

Well that's enough rambling from me... Thanks for dusting of your link to CDC and stopping by. I promise it will not be another six months until my next post!
HUGS!!!


DH and I after graduation ceremony