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

Baby Shower Creations

I know that it's been a long time since I visited/posted in the wonderful world of blogging. But, what can I say life gets busy sometimes! ;)

I'll give you a quick run down of what has been going on since the last time I posted. (that way we can catch up! ;)

I've spent a lot of time doing some serious spring cleaning (even though I still feel that my house still needs some work) and also getting stuff ready for a garage sale we are having next weekend. Oh, and I also painted one of our bathrooms last weekend. It's a very small bathroom but it still took just as long as a bigger room! All that cutting in around the windows, doors, etc takes forever!

I also got my wisdom teeth removed on May 19th. This is probably the main reason for my hiatus from stamping and blogging! I had all four teeth removed surgically. The extractions went fine for the most part with the exception that I couldn't open my jaw more than a 1/2 an inch for two weeks after!!! According to my oral surgeon my jaw muscle severely spasmed and contracted from the stress of the surgery. He said that he has never seen a case like mine in his career, and he has been doing surgeries for over twenty years! Leave it to me to be an anomaly! After he made sure that my jaw joint was fine he gave me some exercises to do for it. Man did those hurt!!! But I'm happy to say that they worked (if they didn't I was going to have to go to a physical therapist!) and my mouth is on the mend! Yay!!!

Oh, and I also got back my results from my dermo about the moles that I had removed. Three came back fine but one came back dysplastic. Dysplastic moles are the ones that turn into melanoma! I wasn't even that concerned about the one on my back that came back bad. My ob-gyn noticed it at my last exam when she was checking my lungs and she said that I should keep an eye on it. I'm so thankful that I finally quit procrastinating about this situation and got them taken care of. So I'm going to get on my soapbox now... Go get your moles checked! Trust me it's not that big of a deal and it's such a relief after it is done! Also, please wear your sunscreen every day!

Okay... on to the stamping part of this post! I made these cute invites and thank-you cards for my dear friend that is having a baby in July. She's due July 5th but I know she's going to go two days early so he will be born on my birthday! ;) The theme for the shower followed the decor that she picked out for the nursery which is farm and tractors. I searched everywhere for a tractor stamp and could not find one that I liked. So I finally came up with the idea of making a simple image in Word using the drawing toolbar. After I got the image how I wanted it I just copied and pasted the tractor and printed it off! I colored it in with my prismas and layered it in Green Galore, Barely Banana, and pp from Doodlebug Design (baby boy plaid). I really like how they turned out! Well I better go I have about 30 more of these thank you cards to make before tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by! I missed you all so much! HUGS!!!

Stampin' Challenge!

Good morning! I can't believe that I'm actually posting at 7:30 in the morning! For some reason I'm feeling really motivated today! I've actually already folded some laundry and started some more and did a few other minor household chores! It's going to be a good day! ;)


Okay, onto the stampin' stuff... This little creation was a challenge from our SU! demonstrator. At our last Stampin' Up! party she gave everyone an envelope and told them to create this little bag (I forgot what she called it). I have to admit I messed up the envelope that she gave me and had to use one of my own! (I'm a little rusty with the stampin' :) Anyways, this is what I came up with. I'm not crazy about it, but I do really like the colors! I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with the layered sentiment! I finally gave up and just dimensionaled it where it landed! :)

Well I hope you have a great Wednesday! HUGS!!!
Edited: Okay, so maybe I'm not on top of my game this morning! I just went to poor myself a cup of coffee and realized that I forgot to put the coffee grounds in! Hmmm, maybe I could make a cup of tea with all of that hot water I just brewed!!! LOL! ;)

A little show and tell!

Finally! I have time to post a few cards! The first two cards are ones that I made a while back and just never had time to share. The cute little dog card was a total case off of the back of the stamp set that I used. I would tell you the name of the set but I can't find it! (I really need to clean my stamp area!;) The other card is made from all SU! supplies with the exception of the Birds & Swirls embossing folder.

Finally, the last card was one that I made yesterday. It's actually the only one I made yesterday. I know I told you that I was going to celebrate the end of the semester by stamping all day, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. I had four moles removed on Wednesday. Two of thess were under my right arm and for some reason were really sore yesterday! So I tried to limit my movement. To make it worse I think I'm allergic to bandage adhesive! Go figure!!! I'm definitely looking forward to these healing and getting my stitches out!

Well I wish I had more time to chat and stamp but we are going to my family's ranch to help brand this weekend. If you have no idea of what I am talking about check out last years post and pics! Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend!!! HUGS!!!

The final stretch!!!

Okay, so you probably think that I have fallen off the face of the earth! Well I haven't! I've actually been planted in front of my computer for the last two months writing papers, lesson plans, observations, etc, etc, etc! But, I am happy to say that it's finals week!!! And I am going to my last final in about an hour! Not only is it my last final for the semester but it is my last final ever!!! I'm so excited! Next fall I will finally student teach and graduate in December! Well I just had to share my exciting news. I'm planning on doing some major stamping tomorrow to celebrate! ;) HUGS!!!