Archive for July, 2009

Paper Wishes has some awesome templates and some of them are 12 x 12.  This size would be hard to store but I think I found a very quick and sensible storage solution.

I bought a 12 x 12 scrapbook.  This particular one uses post and that is ok  for this application.  Post scrapbooks are easier to find and  they are usually cheaper than the 3 ring scrapbooks.   Scrapbooks usually come with a few protective sheet covers that you slide your finish layout into.

 The 12 x 12 protective sheet covers are a perfect fit for the 12 x 12 Giant Templates.  Because the protective sheet covers are clear it makes it easy to see the template stored in them.  You can slide it out, use it and slide it back in.

As your collection of PW templates grow you can just add more protective sheet covers.  You could also get fancy and put a 12 x 12 sheet of paper or cardstock in with the template to make it show up better.  However, it is not necessary because the templates have enough writing on them to stand out.

 I sent this tip on to PW this week.  Who knows maybe I’ll have another tip published during a week of webisodes.  Fingers cross, I’m always in for getting more free stuff!

I’m one of those people that have to constantly watch my weight.  I’m lucky, I get to watch it from the front and the back. LOL!

Several years ago I had a major health issue and went through a procedure called a Lap Nissan.  No, this is not a lap ban procedure for weight loss, it is one used to help control acid reflux.  By the way, if any of you suffer from this disease (known as Gerd), please look into it.  Left alone and not given proper care can lead into serious health issues.

Eighteen months after I had the procedure the acid reflux was back.  I was praying for God to heal me when I felt like He told me He had given me all the tools and information I needed.  Talk about a wake-up call.  When you sense God dropping something into your spirit, you know you better listen.  The surgery was suppose to give me about 10 years of relief, so I couldn’t have it done again so soon.  I decided I needed to go ahead and drop the weight I had gained after the surgery.  I needed to make some life style changes and not just another diet.  I did some research for a Nutritionist that specialized in Gerd and was directed to Kathy at Cooper’s Clinic here in Dallas.

There are all kinds of things that aggravate Acid Reflux, but for me,  we discovered if I get over a certain weight my acid reflux flairs up. I don’t even have to step on the scales all I have to do is gain a pound or two over a certain weight and it starts kicking in.  Loose that pound or two and it settles down.  That is because the extra weight shoves the stomach up into the Esophagus.  By the way, my acid reflux was not indigestion, or heartburn.  The only symptom I had/have is a chronic cough.  One coughing spasm after the other.  Strange but true and so annoying to the people around you and to yourself.

Going to the Nutrisionist was one of the best things I have ever done for myself.  She took all the knowledge I had gained through the years of counting calories, or points or various diets and showed me how to use them. She also walked me through my good choices and bad choices of food and how to incorporate the foods that I love but shouldn’t have all the time.  She showed me how some of the things eaten at certain times a day would affect my weight the next day.  She directed me to a sight I use over and over again when I need to get myself back on track.  I use Calorie King @calorieking.com.  Here, I can journal everything I eat, keep up with exercise, fluids I take in and number of steps (yes, you need 10K a day) you walk a day.  The data bank of foods is awesome and you can create your own,  for  foods or exercise not included in the data banks.  It has a plan for you to read through and get to know how to help yourself.  Yes, it cost ($75.00/Yr), but I am so worth it, I’m healthier when I use it. I also discoverd that when I use it everyday I can make good choices and have a true life style change not just another diet.

Knowledge is power and to know what you are putting in your mouth and how many calories you are consuming as well as what makes up those calories, will help you make better choices.  As Kathy told me, “ I’m giving you 1,400 calories day”.  “Think of them as dollars, make sure you are getting your monies worth when you spend them”.  “You wouldn’t spend $500 on a Wal-mart dress, so don’t speed 500 calories on something that is only going to taste good while you’re eating it, do your body no good and make you feel guilty after it’s gone”.  For some reason that logic hit home with me.

What I discovered about myself is I’m a grazer.  I like to eat all day long and not feel full.  I like to eat 5-6 mini meals a day.  This keeps my metabolism up and in doing this I have lost 2 lbs since Monday.  I’m also trying to exercise 5 days a week for about 1 hour (so far sos good).  In 4 short days,  I’m already feeling better and I’m looking forward to finishing up the week strong.  Hmm, I still have some calories I need to consume.   One of my favorite new snacks is the Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bar, they are soooo good!

Do something good for yourself today!  You deserve it!  Take charge of your health by making little changes .  If you made 1 change each week, you will have made 52 changes in one year toward a healthier and happier you!

Short post today, I’m looking at updating the look of my webpage so I have been spending sometime looking at different designs.  You know, after a while they all begin to look similar.

I’m working on a Thank You card for our next door neighbor and have found a couple I’m going to try this week (ok, it will probably be weekend).  I also have a challenge I need to work on with a House Mouse stamp and the next card swap over at Paper Wishes. 

Ok, the real reason I don’t have time to post anything is I got to keep my DGK (dear grandkids) this afternoon and I’m too tired to think of something inspiring to blog.

I also found a new blog I’m going to add to my list of 15 blogs, so stay tuned for some new stuff coming up soon.

Remember this Blog Award from an earlier post?  Well, I’m keeping my word and searching diligently for some new blogs.  I found another one I added to the list today and I’m really impressed with how she finds the time to do what she does.  I also like that she uses both the cricut and svg files, plus she is willing to share her work.  Thanks Melinda for being so willing to share and I love her crafty things beyond cards and layouts.

http://stayathomemomcrafts.blogspot.com/

http://deedeecampbell.blogspot.com/

http://jamie-thegreenefamily.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been choosen.

Well, I have to confess.  I have not been to M’s in a while simply because I didn’t have the $$.  However, came into a little cash and made a run to M’s.  I had a 40% and a 20% off coupons but I didn’t need to use any of them because all the items I found were on sale.

You can never have too much ribbon!  My #1 daughter and I found plenty of ribbon we needed, ok wanted.

These are a $1.00 a spool except for the second one from the top.  It was only $.29….. sweet.  The large green and yellow flowers were in the $1 finds.  What am I going to do with those?  I think they have a ugly center but I did a quick fix and I’ll show you later what they looked like.

I own a Cricut Expression and several cartridges.  Ok, a bunch of cartridges.  I bought most of them last Christmas when M’s ran their Christmas sale.  Provo Craft just released several new cartridges and this was one of them I wanted, it’s called Home Decor.  Be sure and click the picture to enlarge it so you can see all the designs on the overlay.  This is a solutions cartridge so it doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the regular cartridges but it has some awesome items.  You guessed it, M’s was running a sale on this too so I had to get it.

Since the solutions cartridges only come in acetate, I split the package only to find these two chipboard brackets.  They are really fillers to make the items in the package fit right but as a recycle (or up-cycle as my #1 daughter says) they will find their way on a card or layout.  I call this an added bonus from the solutions cart, I get the cart, the instructions, the overlay, acetate, brackets and a 4″ x 7-1/2″ glossy paper…can we say bonus!

Of course, while we are there we always check out the $1 stamps.  Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you can’t find a thing.  Today, I was lucky!  If you saw my card posted yesterday, it was a $1 stamp from M’s that I used for the “Thinking of You” card.   What I love about these little stamps, they are so versatile and you can mask off what you don’t want to use.  The stamp that has a corner border and the long border can be combined to outline a mat or card.

Now just look at those cute little black and white checked brads…….they were on sale for $.99.  This made me so happy!  I love black and white.

Here it is!  I took the center out of both the yellow and green flowers, then I layered them together and inserted this jewel brad.

Here it is with a brad that has green and black poka dots.  I like this one too!

Then I put one of my new brads in the center, I especially liked this one.  What is nice about these flowers if you wear them as a pin, they don’t stick up in your face.  Hmm, they had some other colors I may need to go see if I can get them…there were fushia and a deep tourquoise.

Dollar finds at M’s are so much fun and you feel like you are getting your money’s worth.  Click on the pictures to get a closer look and be sure and let me know what you find in your $1 finds from your local craft stores.  I love hearing from you!

Remember this posting several days ago.  I started playing around with some design elements for a “Thinking of You” card.

I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer and given 3 months to live.  The doctors here in Dallas said there was nothing they could do for him.  Luckily, he got into see a Dr. at MD Anderson and they are aggressively treating  his cancer.  He has had a major surgery and from my understanding they feel like they got 95% and are going to be treating the rest with chemo and radiation.

Here is the final design and product.  I used a MS border punch, some PW pattern paper, along with various card stock, a couple of gold brads and the topiary stamp is a Michael’s $1 stamp.  The sewing is done with Sulky thread (one of my new favorites because of the beautiful colors) and I used the MCPT ( to color in and shade the topiaries).  To get more information on the MCPT technique check out my Sunflower Tutorial.  The edges are inked using Color Box chestnut brown ink and then foam tape is used to give some dimension.  I used the same stamp on all three images and took some tape and masked off the “thinking of you” phrase on two of them.

I used various color mats for the inside.  Although I stayed with the same colors I didn’t stack the mats the same.  I wanted the yellow to be the last mat so I could stamp on it and it would allow the message to be seen easily.

I made 4 tags that have various scriptures that talk about healing.  I matted them on the same colors of the mats and then used various colors of ribbons (all staying within the same color scheme).  The vellum envelope is from M’s $1 scrapbooking supplies and it is attached with foam tape.

All the scripture tags fit nicely in the envelope.  He can pull them out and look them up and know that they have been prayed on his behalf.

I did a little doodling around the yellow mat to give it a finished touch and it is the same doodling I did around the tags.  I know, I know but I can’t help myself it is those little extra details that says so much.  The eye sees it but it doesn’t even register that it took extra time, it just makes it look complete.

Thanks for looking and now I’m off to make a thank you note for my neighbors.  They had us over for July 4th and we enjoyed both the food and the friendship.

Don’t forget if you want a closer look just click on the picture and be sure and leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

Henry, has found a new place to inhabit.  I opened up my sewing machine to work on the card I’ve been working on for a week, and the next thing you know He is on the arm.  You can tell by the picture he is not too happy with me taking his picture all the time.

Cats amaze me, they want you to think they don’t need you but when I get home from work and on the weekend this cat follows me around like a puppy.  He just wants to be close or at least in the same room.  He has found several places in my craft studio to lounge around and every time I open something new or a closet door he has to investigate.

That curiosity got him in trouble last night.  My husband (Red) was getting ready to take a bath when all of a sudden we hear a loud splash.  Henry had fallen into the bath water and couldn’t get out.  By the time I got to him you could tell he was totally embarrassed.  After toweling him off, he took a good hour to make sure every hair was back in place.

Today he is back to his arrogant self and sitting on the arm of my sewing cabinet soaking up some sunshine.

There is so much energy in the air on this day.  Although it will be around 101 or 102 degrees here today we will still find a way to get outside.

Thank you to all of our Armed Forces and Military for giving us the freedoms we enjoy here in America.  The price of freedom is expensive in the cost of people laying their lives on the line for what we hold dear.  Although I don’t always agree with everything that goes on I do appreciate the fact that we have Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship.

What a privilege it is to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  My prayers remain that God would protect us and bring us back to where are eyes are on Him and know that He is our salvation, our sustainer and provider of life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!!!!

I received this Blog award from Mary at Cardz For You.  Thank you Mary for giving me this award.

Just in case you didn’t see it, mosey on over to her sight (you can click on her link to the right of this page) and see all the names of the sites she listed.  I’ve been visiting them and have been very impressed with the talent.

And why shouldn’t there be this many people with talent, God made us and gifted each of us according to His great plan.

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been choosen.

Ok, I’ll have to go out and find some blogs to pass this on to.  I want to be very diligent in finding some new blogs.  So bear with me a few days as I do some investigating.

http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/

http://wwwpapertrail-celticwoman.blogspot.com/

This is a card that was popular a year or ago.  It is called a criss-cross card and the inside is a little file card that holds your message.  In this case it was my Mother’s birthday.

You can find the instructions out on Split Coast Stamper’s website.  This card lends itself to a lot of variations.

As you can see this is a great color combination, with the blue and brown.  On the insert card I used a photo corner punch to hold the message in place and added a tab in a coordinated pattern paper.

If you take a close look in the picture before this one you will see a stamp border on bottom or you can run it at the top of the inset card.   You also have plenty of room to write something and embellish around the bottom.

Here is another version.  I spruced up the band that holds the card together and added a stamp that I hand cut out and embellished.  If you look closely the stamping on the band is done with a Versamark stamp pad.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to try this type of card.  I can tell you it made me think a lot when I first read the instructions but after I made one it seemed to fall together.  Thanks for looking and be sure and leave me a comment.  I love hearing from you.

Oh yes, Mary at Cardz for U gave me a blog award.  I have to go get it and post it, but I’m having trouble with coming up with 15 websites.  Hmmm, we’ll have to see if I can find some new ones.