The Outlawz - Paper ala Mode - Go Green

Hello ~
I've been a little busy and haven't played with paper much over the past week...I miss it. Well when checking on the challenges going on over at The Outlawz, Saturday's Paper ala Mode just jumped out at me. Go Green. Create something by using a recycled item and use a touch of green.
My niece Lauren who is a junior in college has been accepted into the program that will allow her to student teach in Ireland! My little Princess Lauren is going to Ireland! We are so very proud of her. She will be there for 6 to 8 weeks in the fall, only to return and graduate in a few days, a semester early I might add.
I wanted to make her something for her trip. I had been saving this cardboard canister that held Christmas candy. My husband wanted to throw it away months ago, but I wouldn't let him. I knew someday I would have the perfect use for it. Yesterday, I did.
I made this little bank to give to Lauren on Easter. I will fill it with some Leprechaun Loot to get her started. I thought that she could save her change and have a little extra cash for her trip. For her 21st birthday in May, I am going to make her an Ireland Memory Box from a recycled Cigar Box. (I love cigar boxes!)

Please let me know you were here. I love reading your comments, I appreciate them so much.
As always thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

Wings & Blooms Blog Hop

Hi There! Welcome to the very first ever Crafting By Designs Wings & Blooms Blog Hop! We are all so happy that you are able to join us and can not wait for you to HOP into the fun.
Starting off our Hop is the multi-talented, founder of CBD, Doris. If at any time you get lost along the way, visit Doris at Mom's Been Scrappin and you will find the complete list there. You can also visit the Blog Hop posting at Crafting By Designs to get back on the right track.
Since you have found me, you surely came from Julia Vazquez at Papers & Scraps Creations. My goodness is Julia talented or what? You never know what you are going to find, but one thing for sure, you will never be disappointed.
Our theme is Wings & Blooms. Create projects with wings, anything with wings and blooms, anything with blooms. The weather is getting warmer, birds are singing, flowers are blooming....ahhhh the wonderful sights and sounds of spring. I used a combination of Wings and Blooms on my projects.

These cards were so fun to make. I recycled most of the
supplies. The paper came from my scrap bin. And the flower?
Guess what the flower is made from? I'll keep you guessing
a little bit longer....

The flower is made from recycled plain white cupcake liners!
I use 5 to make each flower. One for the base, then 4 to fold and
adhere to the base. I slightly colored them with my Marvey's first,
then sprayed them with water. I flattened them out on a towel
and let them dry. How cool is that?

0

I am in love with these little packets. A few years ago I made tons
of these and gave them out as favors to all of the Mom's at the
Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. I forgot all about them. So when the
details for the hop were finalized, I was racking my brain trying to figure out
something unique to come up with. What else could be better than these
little seed packets?
I cut out the packs at 10-1/2" using my Cricut and the
Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cartridge. You can fit 2 on a
12 x 12" sheet of paper. The flowers are by Prima and the
die-cut/embellies are from K & Co.

Don't these just sing spring?

Now from my blog, you are going to visit Chrissie Tobas at Harvestmoon Papiere. Chrissie's creations are stunning! She makes the most beautiful mini-albums. There are a few more things for you before you hop over to Chrissie.
Please hop into the fun and share your creations with us. Please post them under the Blog Hop Section at Crafting By Designs. We are a small, friendly, crafty community and would love for you and your friends to join us. Leave a comment on my blog with your email address and also leave a comment with your email at CBD for a chance at winning an awesome prize package! That's right, awesome PRIZE PACKAGE! All comments and projects must be posted NO LATER THAN 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 19th. Doris will use Random.Org to choose a winner on Tuesday March 20th.

Also, for the first time ever, I am offering the chance to win a little Blog Candy:

For a chance at winning, you must become a follower of my blog, leave me a comment and tell me you are a follower. I will announce the winner of my Blog Candy on Wednesday, March 21st after 4:00 p.m.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Enjoy the Hop!

Flower Power

Quick blogging before bed. If I don't do it now, I'll forget to do it tomorrow.
I had the lead on A Year in Cards at Crafting By Design, I used a sketch from Mojo Monday and created a St. Patrick's Day Card.

I also entered this at the Outlawz under the Greeting Card Challenge.
Tonight I was wearing my cranky pants, had very little spare time, but was able teach myself how to paper fold and came up with this:

Not quite perfection, but very happy with the first time result. I entered this one at the Outlawz under Clean & Simple.
I was a little overly excited about the Blog Hop at Crafting By Designs. I was ready to hop a little too soon. The correct date of the hop is March 16th. A fun filled weekend. Please join in with us. Become a member, leave a comment, play along.
I will have a little blog candy up for grabs the weekend of the hop. In order for a chance to win you must become a follower of my blog and leave a comment. I will choose one winner at random.
Have a great night and thanks for stopping by!

Use your Favorite Paper - CBD March 2

Hello ~
This week at Crafting By Designs I was lead on a new Challenge for the month of March. The challenge is to use your favorite paper. I love paper! I love the way it smells, I love the way it feels. I just love paper. Choosing a favorite patterned paper is hard! I'm a paper hoarder! Honestly I should by 2 of every piece of paper or paper stack I come across. One to use, the other to keep and just look at over and over again. Although with me there is no doubt about it, POLKA DOTS are my favorite. They make me happy. I love, love, love Polka Dots. When deciding what to create and what paper to use I discovered my polka dot stash is dwindling. I'm going to have to do something about it. For the challenge I created a 2 page layout. And here is what I came up with:

Although the reason as to why Danny was so emotional that day has long been forgotten, I knew at the time that this was a perfect scrapping moment. I kept snapping pics and Danny kept getting madder and madder to the point of tears. Complete torment on my part, yes I know, bad Mommy.

I also created 3 more bookmarks from Granny's sewing box. I made one for each of my nieces. Now I have to decide which niece gets which one. A small gesture, but something to treasure. Something that their Granny had once used, saved for a special reason, something that was touched by her hands.

And lastly before I go, Wednesday I will be posting the Challenge - A year in Cards. I'm going with a sketch and a St. Patrick's Day theme. This coming weekend, starting on Friday, Crafting By Designs will be having their first ever BLOG HOP! We are hopping right into spring with the theme of Flowers and Things with Wings. The ladies over there are so talented and I know you won't be disappointed. Please join us. Join CBD, play along with us. Hop to the blogs and along the way there will be chances at winning some awesome prizes. I'm going to be giving away blog candy, stop back towards the end of the week for a peek. To be able to win, become a follower of my blog, leave a comment and comment at CBD.
Here is a sneak peek at one of my projects:

Stop back at the end of the week to see the rest.
Have a great night! Thanks for stopping by.

In Loving Memory

February 23rd will never be forgotten. First off, it is the day that we buried my dad in 2003. Second of all, it is the day my mother-n-law passed away. I was sitting down at my scrappy desk when the phone call came, it was  a little after 6:00, my husband's brother, telling me that their mom isn't going to make it through the night. My husband was sleeping and I had to wake him up to tell him. I had a few moments at my desk, pulled myself together and woke him up. The next couple of hours were a little bit of blur, rambling, discussing things, Dan getting ready to go to the hospital. He left around 8:00, we just told Danny that he had to go into work early. Dan called me a little after 9:00, he couldn't speak and I knew. He missed seeing his mom by 10 minutes, then the what ifs began. We decided to keep Danny home from school on Friday and we would tell him together. We both pulled ourselves together the best that we could and told Danny that his Granny had passed. This is the first close death Danny has ever experienced. Danny did wonderfully on Sunday and Monday. He had his moments as all of us did. He wrote his Granny the most beautiful letter and laid it on top of her. When he said his final goodbyes, he held her hand as he wept. WOW! What a kid, something that I could never do.
My mother-n-law had 8 children, her oldest son, Buddy, passed away when he was young. She raised 7 kids. 5 boys and 2 girls. Not an easy task from some of the stories I've heard over the years. I met Renee in 1993. The year that Dan and I started dating. Her and her husband had moved to Florida and would stay in our driveway in their camper during the summer. Those summers were enjoyable. I enjoyed sitting outside talking to her and Bud. Renee and I would sit at the picnic table long after dark and just chat, the two of us, the guys would give up and go inside.
The only thing in life she ever wanted to be was a wife and a mom. She excelled at both. Renee had a love for life like no one I have ever known. Nothing gave her more pleasure than to see all of her kids and grand kids together. She loved her children, but loved her grandchildren even more.
Never keep words unspoken. I did. Renee was a fantastic mother-n-law, never interfered. At times the normal mother-n-law things would come up, but they never were a big deal. Renee would always thank me. She thanked me for filling a hole in her son's heart, for making a difference in his life. She thanked me for Danny. Her beautiful grandson. But you see, I never got to thank her. As I said my last goodbye, I thanked her for my guys. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have them. And they are my world.
Danny will improve over time. The nights are hard for him. I printed this picture for him and he has it above his pillow. He turns on a little battery operated tea light candle and keeps it in front of the photo.

Last night I felt out of sorts. Trying to get back to the every day schedule. Reflecting back on moments in my memory bank. One of the challenges at Crafting By Designs was to create a project by refurbishing items. Years ago, Renee gave me her sewing box. I cringed, I can't sew. Sewing a button puts me over the edge. I went downstairs and opened her sewing box. I looked at everything. I chose a few items and went to work. I cut the base from a piece of heavy, heavy card stock. I have about 100 sheets that I've been saving. I then covered with a piece of paper from a sewing pattern that she had saved. The buttons came from her little button container and I cut apart the packaging of a Talon Zipper. The zipper only cost .10 cents at the time! I cut the Talon label from the packaging.The lace came from her envelope of odds & ends pieces.  The flowers, pearls and fiber are from my own stash. I know if my mother-n-law were here, she would have loved it.

Sunday, Sunday

Ahhh, it's Sunday {Big Sigh} If there would be a day in the year that I could skip, it would be February 19th. Today is the 9 year anniversary of my dad's passing. I miss him so much. At times I forget he's not here, I want to tell him something, then I remember. It is really hard with Danny and trying to explain. He's young and doesn't understand, but I'm an adult and I don't understand. My dad was taken way too young. Danny was only 18 months when he passed. Danny didn't get a chance to know his Pap. The memories he holds are only those of the ones I've told him over the years....  O.k., time to move on.
For Valentine's Day, I created this for Danny to use as his Valentine Box. He really liked it, but being the age that he is, he was a little embarrassed to take it on the bus with him, so I ended up driving him to school. The kids in his classroom just looked at it and said, "Spongebob? Really?" I'm 43 and I love Spongebob! I've come to realize that there are a lot of kids out there in this world that I just do not like. The way they act and speak? Really? Do their parents not teach them manners? Respect of others?

I think Spongebob is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

The following pics are from a few more challenges. (I am so horrible at keeping my blog up to date! I really have to work on that!)

Over at the fantabulous Crafting By Designs, the wonderful Design Team has come up with these:

JUST ONE LAYER - Just like it says, one layer, no layers and layers, just one....embellies are allowed. I stuck to just one layer.

I dug out my light box and my stencils. Then I colored with
chalk. I'm not happy with the colors - a little too green,
but that is something I am going to work on.

I also made this one and changed the sentiment.
I like it with just the plain white embossing too. This
challenge was brought to us by the ever so talented Rene.

Now we have the Year In Cards Challenge,
One Versatile Sketch.
The lovely Cindy provided the sketch.

And this is what I came up with:

Getting Ready for Christmas:  (I'm so happy we are doing this twice a month! I will not be stressing about getting my cards made this year!)

Our ever so talented, wonderful creator of CBD and the
one that challenges me the most, Doris, came up
with this one.

Time for a little catch up

I am so sorry for neglecting my blog for a week. Life got a way with me. A little busy and trying to limit computer time since the hubster isn't very fond of the time I spend on it.
Being on the Design Team at craftingbydesigns.ning.com is a lot of fun. The ladies over there are truly wonderful. Sometimes I feel as though I'm not as talented, but like my niece said to me, "Aunt Sher, every one has their own style. Your things are awesome." The encouragement was much appreciated.
I was lead on the February Week 1, Use your stamps challenge. The challenge was to create using heart stamps,   Tracy from the Stamping Boutique is graciously sponsoring a prize this month and asked if the DT would use one of her digis for a challenge. I used a cute little guy, his name is Trenton.

Isn't he adorable? I don't have Copic Markers, so I used chalks. I think he turned out really cute. The paper is from a DCWV stack and I'm not sure of the maker of the sentiment.

I also entered a couple of challenges over at the Outlawz. Don't really think my Nightmare Before Christmas Valentines went over too well, but I think they are cute and those that are going to receive them will think they are cute and that is all that really matters. I went outside of the box on creating and I like it. I'm going to try it a little more often.

How can you not love Jack from Nightmare before Christmas? One of Tim Burton's finest films.
I also entered this one at the Outlawz under the Twisted Thursday Valentine/Love Challenge:

I think that is all the catching up I have for now. Time to get dinner in the oven and start priming Danny for his homework.
I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment (I really do love reading them) to let me know you stopped by. Do something crazy....become a follower! I will possibly be participating in a blog hop at the end of March and just might have some yummy blog candy up for grabs, but you have to be a follower for a chance at winning.