..something's gotta give..

Busy, busy, busy... So much to do, and not enough Me's to get it all done. Which means stuff goes by the wayside (that would be the laundry and the scrapping). I recently started substitute teaching. I know I'm crazy for adding something else to my plate, but we needed the extra cash flow right now, especially with Christmas running at me at full speed.

Anyway, I have managed to get a couple of crafty things done lately.. like this Halloween card. Remember me posting not too long ago about how all these ideas and images have been hitting me while I'm trying to go to sleep at night? This is one of those... about 2:30am a few nights ago the whole layout for this card popped into my head. I've never been one to mess with the juju of creativity, so I had to make it.





The stamp is one of my designs available at Scrapbook Takeout. I just stamped it on white cardstock, backed it with some orange, and then trimmed the whole thing with black lace. I then used some black number stickers for "31" and used some Stickles on top, 'cuz me likes sparkly :D And since I got a new-to-me sewing machine, I've been stitching on everything.

You might have noticed that on the right side of my blog, towards the bottom, I have a section marked "Addicted to Swaps." Boy am I. I find most of them through SwapBot and SwapDex. One of the swaps I'm doing is a Halloween Jewelry swap. You could either make or buy your partner something. Buy something? BUY?! Um, don't think so :) This was another one of those "laying awake at night" ideas too.



Isn't he just so cute? I didn't want to send him away... but I know my partner will love him. He's made of polymer clay, and the little orange glass beads just reminded me of pumpkins. And here he is all wrapped up and ready to go...



Hey, there's that stamp again.. and yes, that IS sparkly black tissue paper that it's wrapped it. Again with the sparkly :D

Have you passed out from post overload yet? :) Don't worry, I'm done for the day. I have to go do something wife-ly now... like that laundry :)

Peace, love and koala fuzz y'all!

..carpenter's assistant..

That's what I've been the last couple of days. Hubby is putting up some new shelves in his workroom so I've been hubby's little helper. Ooh, wait.. I really don't like the sound of that. Makes me feel like I should be wearing a little hat and saying, "Let me get that sir!" a lot. Nope... I take that back :)

Anyway, I haven't been crafty because of that, and feeling like dog poo for most of yesterday. But, I got some mail today that totally cheered me up! My apron came from my partner over at the Flirty Apron Swappers. It is so cute! If you want, you can go to the Swap Blog and read about why she made it the way she did. It was a very cool swap :)



Oooh, do you know what tomorrow is? It's September 19th. Know why it's special? It's National Talk Like a Pirate Day!! I always get excited when this day is coming around. I love it :D I got my special pirate name, Captain Mary Bonney, and I posted a challenge at AMR with a chance to win some goodies. If you wanna check it out, just follow this link :) You can even get your own pirate name there too, and use this nifty pirate speak translator I found :D

Alrighty, it's time to go clean up the dishes from dinner. Yes, blogging was more important than washing dishes, therefore it had to come first :)

Peace, love and koala fuzz y'all!

..lady in red..

As promised, here's a pic of the newest Artsy.licious butterfly! She looks so glamorous in red :)



And just so you can see them both, here's the blue one I did previously..



I have GOT to get some different colors of Artsy.licious paper so I can do a whole set. Oh, and in case you're wondering, these are actually based off of real butterflies.

Oh, and some stuff to see. If you live anywhere near Birmingham, AL, you should check this out..



Join us at Wrapper's Delight for a weekend long crafting time, fabulous classes, make and takes, prizes, and much more! Visit http://scrapetcevents.blogspot.com/ for more information!

Looks like it's gonna be fun. Hopefully I can save my pennies and go!

And, if you have a free second, go to this Voting Section and vote for Charlie the Lazy Cow. The daughter of my husband's friend drew him, and she's in the finals to have him turned into an actual Beanie Baby! You just have to put in that 6 digit security code in the upper right corner and click "Vote." Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Alright, I've gotta go do some sewin' and get this apron finished.

Peace, love and koala fuzz y'all!

..an apple a day..

Hubby left for work this morning.. so what does that mean? That means I get 4 days to scrap, stamp, sew, make some jewelry, and do whatever other craftiness I feel like getting into! Woot! :)

So I just finished posting my first mini tutorial for the new section over at Scrapbook Takeout. The new section is called Gettin' Stampy, and it's all things stamp related. For the mini tut, I used one of my acrylic add-on stamps for September in four different ways. I'll show you a card, but you'll have to go read the mini tut to see the other projects.



I also made another butterfly shadow box with some of my Artsy.licious paper, but I'm going to wait and photograph it in the sunshine tomorrow. I will tell you one thing, she's red! :)

I'm out ya'll, it's time for some junk food and "Death Becomes Her." :D

..two years ago today..

J and I got married :)





Ah, happy day :) So we're gonna do a little celebrating today. I just wanted to leave you with some pictures of what I got done last night.. Here is my hubby in all his Betty Crocker glory.



I had to do an apron prototype for a size test. Found some $1/yd material (that actually matches my kitchen!) so I whipped it up. Doesn't he look cute? :)

And then this is for an Embroidery Swap over at Swap Bot. Just had to do a small, 3"x3" area with florals. I couldn't find a pattern that I really, really liked, so I just drew this one up and transferred it. I think it turned out rather pretty :)



Anyway, I'm going to get off of here and go celebrate 2 years of marital bliss. Don't worry, there will be pictures :D

Peace, love and koala fuzz y'all!

..pow pow pow..

That's what I've heard all day.. there are some guys dove hunting in a field a couple of blocks behind my house. Gunshots, all day long. It's very sad.

Anyway, I have been running all over town today. A local fabric store had a whole bunch of sewing patterns on sale for $.99, so I had to get a few. Then I finally found some fabric that I liked to make my partner's apron for the Flirty Apron Swap. And, I even managed to get a new miniature listed in my Etsy shop today. First new thing I've put in there in a while, but hopefully that will change once I get this apron done.



Isn't it cute? :) And that fabric it's sitting on.. that came from Wal-Mart, and it was only $2.00 a yard! I also got some that's dark green with acorns and leaves on it that matches.. gonna try to make a fall blanket. But nothing happens until this apron is done! :D

Bama football in an hour, ROLL TIDE!!

..calling all stampers!..

Do you love to stamp on stuff? Do you walk around with ink pad stains on your fingers? Is there embossing powder in your hair? Would you like to get some great acrylic stamps for FREE?!

Well, then you might want to have a lookie at this!!

Be a Gettin' Stampy Girl!

We need a crew people!! Scrapbook Takeout is looking for its first Design Team, and it's for their fabulous stamps! Go to that link above to get all the details. It's a two part application. Anyone making it to the second round will receive a sample kit to make some stuff with!

So go and apply for Round 1, then go and tell all of your friends. I know there is all kinds of talent running rampant out there, and I wanna see it all!!! :D

..we need a new mattress..

And I wish it was for fun reasons :( So, yesterday morning I wake up a couple of hours before my alarm goes off for church, and I'm feeling a little stiff. "You're just still asleep and not thinking clearly," I convince myself. 8am, alarm clock goes off. I try to sit up, and I can't. I try to roll over, and I can't. At some point during the night, my back went out. Unfortunately for me, Jeff was gone to work. His back had been hurting a couple of nights before, and he still had the heating pad on his side of the bed, fortunately still plugged in. I managed to hook a toe around the cord and pull it up on the bed with me. (Yes, just picture it. Me on my back, with one leg sticking off the side of the bed, feeling around for a cord. Had I been videotaped, we could have won $25,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.)

I am not even kidding when I say I spent ALL day yesterday in bed. It was so bad that my mom brought me food. I felt so helpless and pitiful. Jeff got home last night, and his back is hurting today. So we're pretty sure it's the mattress. We're gonna try flipping it tonight, and see if that helps. If not, I guess we're gonna have to ask Santa for a new one, because we can't afford it right now. I have a guest bed, but it's a twin. Although Jeff and I did spend the first 3 months of married life sleeping together on it. I have no idea HOW we did it, but we did it :)