Frou Frou Gypsy in Combat Boots

Well, my DD has been home sick from school for two days but seems to be on the mend. Hopefully she will go tomorrow. Needless to say i have not done much creatively in the past couple of days. I do have some things to show you though. This is FINALLY the last of the Valentine's Topiaries! This one took forever! You can find the instructions on how to make this here: http://sarastudio.blogspot.com/2008/01/re-purposed-valentines-topiaries.html at this wonderful blog that keeps me inspired. Here they all are together with the last mailbox i made for ME! from my Target stash! Here is the whole fireplace area...i have a little bling on the screen that says "LOVE" from the Target Dollar Spot and two red velvet bows i got from WM after Christmas on Clearance. You will also notice the white plastic cherubs...I told you they would keep showing up! Is there another holiday i can use them for ? hmmmm.... And now for a little game. Can you guess what this is? Here's a hint. I ...

If you are interested, here is a link to a fliker gallery with a lot of images from different people who are doing the project like my "see" project. there is some really cool stuff there...you should totally check it out! http://www.flickr.com/groups/weekendcreative/pool/ also the blog that started it all... http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ Ali Edwards and her weekend creative challenge! She posts something each weekend to challenge you to be creative! clever, right? anyway...that is where i got my idea from. I will be back with more later! always cyndi

Here's a peek at something i have been working on. I will give you more details later on. I don't want to totally ruin the surprise for the recipients yet!

" I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of life, that twists and extends impossibly and accumulates and spits and drips and is sweet and stupid as life itself." ~Claes Oldenburg

ok, so it might be a bit silly but i love this frog prince! the inside of the card contains post it notes! clever right? have a great Monday!

So this morning i finally started my "see" project. No one is apparently joining me in this, at least not from my blog, but i shall endeavor to do it and either delight or bore you with what i see. Hopefully by the end of it all i will be more aware of the beauty around and the moments i miss because i look with blind eyes. I don't take the time to notice what is right in front of my face. the little everyday moments of bliss that we all have and are fleeting and typically missed. Sometimes we dont See.... Sometimes we do.

Well, its Thursday, "grocery day" ! They were having a huge clearance at our Wal-Mart so i grabbed a couple of things that hopefully will help me store and organize my ever growing scrapbook and stamping collection of goods. i made this card using Very vanilla, and not quite navy su! CS. the DP is some that i got on clearance at Hobby Lobby and right now don't' recall the maker..sorry. the sentiment is Studio G clear stamps from Michael's and the big one is a foam craft stamp from Delta. I used Chocolate chip and creamy caramel from SU! for ink. On a personal note, my Mother got back some "inconclusive" test results from an MRI she had done last week, so please be praying for her. She will have an apt. with a neurologist soon. We are trusting God that there is Nothing wrong with her and she will be fine! Have a great Day! Cyndi

If you have missed any of my last few posts, i beseech you to scroll down and take a look, I have posted a couple of things that i am really excited about. I will get back on the Valentine party bus soon, but i made this card yesterday and i have been so excited about it! I used the SU! set "loads of love" and some retired SU! Designer Paper. The card is on Only Orange card stock and i PAPER PIECED the truck! I had seen that done somewhere with this truck and though i would give it a try. A red floral truck just makes me laugh! I was really happy with the way this card turned out, although the picture isn't that good sadly. I didn't stamp a sentiment inside because i figured i could use this card for a lot of reasons and depending on its use, who knows what sentiment i will choose? It's good to have options! one more little thing for the day.... This is one of those movie size boxes of M&Ms that i wrapped with the same SU! DP and added a raspberry M&M bow...

I have a friend with a child who has autism. She sent this to me and now i send it on to you. It only takes a minute and will touch your heart. Please view this video and send to everyone you know...every little bit will help....thanks!The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for "each time" the video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal. http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214 This content of this email can be verified at Snopes.com : http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/whatkind.asp

Ok, so i know the month is not over yet but i found this cool thing at www.bighugelabs.com and i couldn't resist doing one and sharing it with you now! Here's to January 2008! Cheers!

so i was sick in bed all day yesterday. I spent a lot of time browsing around the Internet looking at blogs and i found one that i am really interested in. she has set a challenge in this post and now i am setting it for myself and for you! http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2008/01/one-of-the-thin.html My goal for this week is to come up with some letters! although i have no idea where i am going to get them because i don't have any letters lying around..i will have to be extra creative! If you decide to join this challenge let me know and let me know what your word is going to be. I choose the word "SEE".

Here is a simple card i made the other day when i was in my card making zone. i am happy with it. i even decorated the inside but didn't take a picture. I paper pieced the bucket...i just figured that little trick out and i am loving it. Wishing i had a Bella or Hannah stamp to play paper dolls with. This is SU Pink Passion and Only orange and Yoyo yellow card stock. SU! ribbon and stamps. Thanks for looking i hope you like it!

OK, so here is my sweet little family in the snow today. I know all of you who actually GET SNOW are totally laughing at us, but we live in ALABAMA!!! We were actually supposed to get 2-6 inches but this is all we got. We spent the night with my parents so that they could be with the kids in the snow. Maybe one day we will actually take the kids where there is real snow. hope you all are having a great weekend!

This is the card i made for the SC159 on SCS . I am pretty happy with it. MUCH happier than i have been with another cards i have made lately. I used soft sky, pale plum, perfect plum and Old olive designer papers. The stamp is from SU ! Blooming with happiness. This is another card i made yesterday for a Friend who has been going through a lot of stuff. I used soft sky again but added Gable green and not quite navy. The background stamp is weather or not from SU ! and the image is from blooming with happiness again. The sentiment is computer generated. I made several cards yesterday...i was in a crafty mood apparently . Hopefully i will get them up soon for you to see and hopefully we will get the SNOW they are predicting for tomorrow. When you live in Alabama, you only get snow once a decade if you are lucky. I have my fingers crossed for it! Have a great weekend everyone!

These are the little treats i made for the kids to take to school. They are mini cans of play-doh that i got after Christmas on clearance. I wrapped them with tissue paper and tied them with metallic curly ribbon and attached a little circle tag. The stamp is from Michael's and it is stamped with su! real red on pretty in pink su! card stock. I have a total of 41 children to make treats for so they have to be simple and inexpensive. thanks for looking!

So here is my Valentine i made for my DH. I copied this box... And also made a "gift card" holder for him. I of course cannot tell you what is inside the box or what the gift card is because he might see this. I will say that the colors of the card stock match better in person than they do here. All the stamps i used are from Michael's $1 bin and the papers are just random things i had around. Have a great day!

Today's SCS color challenge was Apricot Appeal, Sage Shadow and Rose Red. I have been looking at some of the things others came up with and they are so nice. Mine is sorta blah. I am not sure i like these colors together, at least not the way i have them. Anyone have any suggestions? I used the a fore mentioned colors of su! card stock and steppin' style and fun filled stamp sets from su! I also used a stamp from My Sentiments Exactly! the inside of the card reads "...you can never have too many!" I also used that heart pocket because that was the technique challenge at SCS yesterday. I am definitely not happy with how that turned out. Again, i have looked at others and liked them. I am just not thrilled overall with this card. comments? Suggestions? Snide Remarks?

I keep reading about copic markers. I understand the theory and the blending. What i want to know, is 1. how much do they typically cost 2. what kind of ink do i have to use when i stamp to be able to color with them 3. what kind of paper do i have to use with them 4. where can i find them? Please try not to use abbreviations as i am not stamp blog savvy and may not understand. thanks!

This is the Valentine for My DD. She loves chocolate. She's also three. I took a movie size box of M&Ms and added some designer paper to it, i know it's hard to see here. Then i added a glittery heart shaped notebook that she actually picked out on our shopping excursion to Michael's the other day. She also has a "gift card" like the one I posted for my son, only hers is for a pajama party. I figure we can have a family pajama party or a girls' night whichever she wants. I tied it all up with a Satin ribbon that i saved...it was around a bath robe i got as a Birthday present! Who can toss perfectly good satin ribbon?!?!? Seriously! I also made a tiny little card, you can see it here. It has a tiny little scalloped "seal" holding it shut. I punched that with a punch i got at Target's Dollar spot. Inside there is a sweet little message from me and her Daddy. I tucked that in with the other things under the ribbon. Now i have to pick up a fe...

So here is my version of the weekend challenge posted in http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ . My Daughter, she's three, HAD to help me. This quickly turned into a card for her preschool teacher....look inside and you will see. She did a bit of the gluing on the front, as i quickly tried to straighten it out, because YES i am that OCD. She had fun and so did i. She'll be a stamper one day i just know it. Look what else she did.... Isn't she fun?

Here is part of my gift for my DS for V'Day. I saw this in someone else's blog. ( http://sonjascene.blogspot.com/ ) At Wal-Mart, aka the evil empire, they have these "fake" debit/credit cards...four on a strip for $1.50. When i saw them i thought they were so cute that i went directly to my WM and bought a strip. I used this heavy paper i got on clearance at Michael's on my shopping excursion the other day. It is black with metallic pink hearts. The stamp is from the $1 pile at Michael's also. the paper inside is from the Dollar Tree...they have GREAT stuff for paper and stickers if you are a scrapbooker and you hit it at the right time. My DS isn't into candy so i will find some munchies to go with this and maybe a small something else. I am almost done creating all my V'Day stuff but the thing that is really holding me up is something for our little Playgroup kids. There are about 10 total, ages 3 months to almost 7. I am so over putting candy in ...

Well, here they are, the Valentine's Topiaries. I CASEd this idea from http://www.sarastudio.blogspot.com/ . I saw hers and knew i had to have them. I had this little metal "gift bag" container for several years and never really knew what to do with it. Then i thought "ah HA!" So you can look in her blog for instructions on how to make this one. Not very hard... you can probably figure it out. I will say that it was very helpful to realize that if i cut apart the bottom of the heart form i can stick the dowel between the two halves of the bottom of the heart. i sort of filled in the gap with low temp hot glue. That cherub on the heart, there are a lot of them showing up in my valentine crafts. I have an entire box of them, they are actually Christmas ornaments! I figured that white Cherubs were Valentine's as well as Christmas. i suspect that you will be seeing a lot of those little angels in my crafts since i have literally close to 50 or so of them. The n...

So when i did these before i wanted something really bad on the front of the mailboxes. Yesterday while shopping, i got a pack of chip board from Hobby Lobby, it was 30% off!!! So here they are finished!! Well, Except for adding the candy inside because if i get it now, i will for sure eat it before i can send it to the teachers. (Heather, if your target doesn't have the mailboxes, keep checking back..ours has had 3 or 4 different shipments of them. They come in and sell out pretty quickly. ) The Duchess has bought these mailboxes for her teachers too, she found some 3x3 cards in the dollar spot at Michael's yesterday to put in hers so she doesn't have to make cards to go in them. They were cute Mary Engelbreit ones. It's a nifty idea if you don't want to make cards to go in your mailboxes.

First things first. This is my card for the sketch from Ked's blog http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/ I had a really hard time with this. Maybe it was the stamps i chose to work with, not sure. Anyway i am finally getting it posted. Thanks to her for posting the sketch. My phone/DSL went out on Thursday night during a storm we had and when we called to report it, they said it would be MONDAY night before it got back up !!! I thought i might croak with out Internet access for that long! Luckily they got it fixed late last night. whoo hoo! I have been busy creating for about the past 24 hours. I have to unearth my kitchen now so that my family can eat! I am posting this first since it was from Thursday. The Duchess and i hit 2 Michael's stores and a Hobby Lobby on Friday with our girls when we were out shopping. We bought tons of stuff. It is amazing what you can find on clearance if you just look ...in the dollar bin too! i wish i had taken a picture of all my treasures, ...

So, i actually did a lot today in Stamp land but haven't had a chance to take pictures yet. Hopefully I will get to that tomorrow. I think the Duchess and i are planning to ambush Michael's because they have those Studio G clear bock stamps. She got a couple of sets the other day but i want to see them. I have not been able to get out and so we are thinking of taking our girls out tomorrow to hunt for stamps! Start 'em young! I also got some boxes on clearance at WalMart today and am wondering what cool thing i am going to do with them. I have a lot of projects in my head that i need to start working on before i loose my momentum. have a great night! P.S. that pic is me and the Duchess cira 1997