2S4Y: Laura's Sketch 16

This is Laura's Sketch 16 for 2S4Y:




...and here's my take :)







Thanks for taking a look! :)

Ready for 2009?

We got back from our visit to Albuquerque last night. It was a very nice visit, a wonderful Christmas. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas as well.

Getting into the New Year spirit, I concocted this card. A package of embossing folders was waiting for me when I got home. My beloved gifted me with a Cuttlebug for Christmas! He's so sweet. So, I used that to create the scripted embosse circle. I also used elements I received from Lynette. She is so talented, and a very sweet woman. Thank you, Lynette! My mom had two bolts of tulle in her gift wrap closet. They were remnants from my wedding and my brother's wedding. I brought those home and used them as well. I also used Martha Stewart papers, vintage buttons, vintage image, and a sketch from CPS.

Merry Christmas

image from www.angel-guide.com

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas!

Send a card to Hannah

I found this little girl's heartwrenching story on another blog. Please read & consider sending a card to her. Thanks.

2s4y: Kazan's Sketch 16

Tomorrow we leave for Albuquerque for Christmas. The kids are *so* excited to see my parents. I think it's so sweet they have such a close relationship with them. Please pray for clear weather for us, and travelling mercies for all who are travelling.

This is Kazan's Sketch for 2 Sketches 4 You. I really enjoyed doing this card.



I found some really fun tutorials on Hi My Name is Heather. One for fabric yo~yos & one for felt flowers. If you get a chance, you should check out her site, she has some really great inspiration. I've also been checking out other paper crafters and sites like Cath Kidston that use color in such creative ways. So, my card reflects a bit of that, too. Thanks for taking the time to check it out :)





I used:

Amy Butler striped & green damask paper.
Scraps by Jenn "Isn't She Lovely" Kit polka paper.
Aqua paper ribbon from Martha Stewart.
The Paper Studio stamps.
Hemp twine.
Vintage Buttons.
Velvet ribbon, felt, ink, & tag from Michael's

Homeschooling Month in Review

I haven't posted much on my alter ego the homeschooling mommy, but we've been very busy with homeschooling even though Christmas is coming on like a bullet train. I've been tweaking the curriculum of My Father's World a bit, so we're not exactly on that schedule, but I'm more than okay with it. When I started hs'ing I was repeatedly told that one should not be a servant to the curriculum. I have slowly realized the importance of that statement. :) So, we just finished up studying a little more on South America, including the Incas, Peru, the Andes; Central America and the Caribbean, including the mangroves that miraculously grow there and the incredible diversity of cultures. Next, we will move on to studying the Middle East.

We've been moving through Math U See and All About Spelling rapidly. The multi sensory methods of these programs is so effective with C! I will be ordering the next levels in the next month. I know I've said this before, but I highly recommend these programs

We started using Pathway Readers. I have consistently asked C to complete one chapter a school day and we follow up with the workbook orally. I think we're slowly moving toward a happy place with reading. He is picking up books on his own during free time and WANTING to read. It's so exciting!

We took a break from Noeo to study rainforests when we studied South America, but now we'll be returning. So we'll be studying woodland forests and birds next.

Isabella has shown a great interest in homeschooling. She has picked up so much just by sitting in on my lessons with C with regards to geography & science. This week I picked up Bob Books for her and we sat down and worked with them a bit. I'll be getting a formal reading program for her as I really think she's ready to read :).

I have had some people ask me in the past year whether I will always homeschool. Because of our upcoming move and the financial strains of a single income household, I've also faced the question of whether we should continue. I've earnestly gone to prayer about this, as well as talked it over with Ron. Repeatedly, we've been assured that this is God's plan for us. I am confident that should this change, we will know. No, it's not for everyone. I know there are folks out there that don't understand it and don't agree with it, that somehow we're harming our children. Always, I respect everyone's opinions, and consider different perspectives. I have a calm and a peace that this is the right place for us, and that's all I can say. We really, fully enjoy being with our children and teaching them. We see everyday the blessings of this path. :)

FREEBIES...

I'm blog hopping tonight. While doing so, I came upon my life in lower case. It's a goldmine of tutorials and free goodies on the web. She has a link for a very cool calendar. You sign up for the mailing list & they send you the download info. Just had to share. Enjoy y prospero año nuevo!



I love vintage images. Check out these generous sites for free images you can download & use in your work.

The Vintage Moth..
and
Clearly Vintage

Now, go be creative!

MORE Blog Candy

Wow! There are some seriously generous paper crafters out there! Kath has a lot of Friskars supplies at her blog. The deadline is on the 20th, but head on over there now & take a look at her beautiful blog!

Valentines and Matilda

Here are a couple cards I made tonight. I actually drew one of them ahead of time when the creative urge hit. :P Matilda is the girl with the tree on her head. She's the life of the party. I found her at tack-o-rama.net & knew she would go great with this vintage wrapping paper. I also dressed both up with Vera Lim (see her linkie over there → ). I used burlap with the valentine with tea dyed flowers (I'm obsessed, it's so easy & it gives great results). With Matilda, I used an Amy Butler brad, some vintage velvet ribbon, and Making Memories bling brads.

Paz

Here is a card I did last night when I couldn't sleep. On the tag, it reads "paz" or "peace" in Spanish. If you would like a source for vintage images, try Graphics Fairy. I got this image there. :) There is Amy Butler paper, Highland Thistle yarn, hemp twine, vintage buttons, and a border I made with a Friskar's border punch. LMK what you think. :)

2s4y Laura's Sketch 15

Here's my submission for this week's 2S4Y. I used blue Amy Butler paper, pink Martha Stewart paper, a Melissa Frances embellishment, vintage picture from Flickr & music, and felt and tulle. Thanks for taking a look. :)

Blog Candy at Pink Piggy

Pink Piggy is a very generous paper lover, giving away a very lovely lot of papers and paper accessories. Check out her blog & leave her some love so you can have a chance to win. :)

SO blessed!!!

Yesterday, I logged on after getting all needed accomplished! It felt so good to reward myself in this way. :) Much to my complete surprise and honor, I was gifted with an award from one of my FAVORITE paper artists Chimene. She is so so sweet, and incredibly talented. Thank you so very much, Chimene.



Next, I found out my pom pom box got me a Fab 5 position in last week's 2Sketches4You! Whoa! Exciting! If you love card making, blog hop on over to 2S4Y & play along! Everyone there is so friendly & it's fun to see other's creations.

The weather outside is...

FREEZING! Seriously, right now, right this minute The Weather Channel reads our temperature as... 2 degrees Farenheit. Yesterday we took the kids out on a sled ride around the neighborhood. I could feel my nose hairs freezing. It was not a pleasant feeling. Not even a little bit. It wasn't 2 degrees when we did this.

One thing this weather IS good for is getting stuff done. So, the short hiatus I put myself on was quickly done because we're basically homebound. I used this time to whip everything back into order and bring myself the balance I needed. Ahhhh!!! So nice.

Taking a little break...

I know you all understand. Sometimes we all need a breather to get everything back into balance. :)

"Oh, wow!" Moments...

I don't mean like the one's where you think (three hours down a road trip), "Oh, wow, did I leave on the flat iron?!"

I mean, "Oh, wow!," like "that takes some serious talent." I had to share a couple, oh wow's with you that I discovered whilest bloggest hopping-est...

Check this beautiful tree out! I just love it!

And this star! There's a translator to the left if you don't speak Norwegian, but just wish you had a bit of Norwegian talent! So pretty!

Need to go retro?

I love the Land of Nod. They have such cute decor and ideas. However, we are not nearly financially endowed enough to afford the Land of Nod, or PB Kids. In their last issue, I was particularly excited by this:



C is a space NUT. He loves all things robot, space ship, astronaut. So, I was drawn to these for his bedroom. Space for him, the whole retro aspect for me. :D Hey, at least I'm honest, right?

Unfortunately, the price is a little high. Not one to give up that easy, I use the power of Google & this is the jackpot I come up with... ready... Tack-o-Rama. Free (that's right, free) retro clipart. In my case, this would be quite handy:



But say, you want this:



Go to Tack-o-Rama! They even have fun retro Christmas images right now for free!

Enjoy!

Pom Pom Love

I'm really loving pom poms right now. Oh wow, they're fun. They're on the card down there ⇓ and they are gracing this box. I made this as my very first contribution for 2 Sketches 4 You. It's made with K & Co Paper on top and Vera Lim Paper on the bottom, vintage buttons, hemp cord, burlap, a Blue Moon key, and ahhhh... pom poms.

If you'd like a tutorial on how to make the cardboard box, please visit Mirkwood Designs. There is a template for EVERYTHING there!

If you love yourself some paper...

(as I've become recently infatuated with) head over to Life As Lou. Isn't that graphic of the girl in the chair darling? Okay, I'm getting distracted. She has a GREAT tutorial on a super cute, super creative cover for a Christmas mini album. Plus... she has a giveaway! Go, go now before you get distracted as I often do... did I call my mom this week?

While Visions of Sugarplums Danced in their Heads...

...I was busy cardmaking. While C & B were fast asleep and Ron was protecting our planet from zombies (Xbox). Let me know what you think...

Point, Focus, Shoot...

A property manager came over today to talk to us about renting our house. You wouldn't know it from the way I spent my morning. But of course my house was spotless, I had no laundry, what else should I have been doing? Okay, not really, but I had plenty of time. Look at what I did & let me know what you think.



Pears. They always make me think of my friend Kathy. She has a thing for pears.



This is C's mainstay these days. He's been wanting salad for every meal. I'm not arguing. I love the green color.



Aw, how can you resist this face? This is Dexter our Aussie Shepard.



...and this face. Isabella on my lap.



Here is my C. Perpetually contemplative.



Last night I went to purchase some pom poms and lace for projects. They were white white, so I tea dyed them. Here they are drying in our kitchen window.

Ho, Ho!

Something was just missing from this card, so I thought I would work on it a little more.

Vintage Santa from Kreativ Expression.
Blue Paper is from Martha Stewart.
Antique music paper is from Antique Treasures.
Vintage buttons.
Tim Holtz Distress ink.
Everything else you could mosey up at a Dollar Store or from your household recycling bin.

Here you go, Jan :)

Here's a picture of Ron and I at ATC in Breckinridge last month. Wow, that was quite a flash. LOL.

I should've been a cowgirl...

Isn't this print sweet? I love Michael Miller fabrics. I covered an antique rocking chair for Isabella in his Paris Girls print. I love it.

Anyhow, the reason for this post is not to wax poetic about beautiful fabrics, but to write about our move. We'll probably be leaving by the end of January. It seems so close, so soon. We'll be headed back to Fort Hood, TX, in Killeen. It is the first duty station we went to after Ron and I got married, awwww!!! It's about 60 miles from Austin, so we're close by to a major city. We'll also be pretty close to an Ikea. I'm probably far more excited about the Ikea than is healthy. We won't be selling our home here in Westminster because the market is so bad. We're still recovering in these parts from the housing crisis. So, we've opted to rent out. I hope that the folks we rent to will be gentle to our casita while we're gone. Another upside to our move is the possibility of having a larger home. We live in a 1000 square foot house. I love it, I really do. It's great for upkeep. However, there's not a whole lot of storage space & I often get claustrophobic by our stuff, although we've purged A LOT since we've been here. So, I'm hoping this will be alleviated a bit by a few hundred more square feet. Maybe I'll even have room for a studio. Hey, a girl can dream...

I Want Candy...

This week it’s seriously going to be just fun. This week share your favourite candies. I know from being on the HSBA Post team that Sprittibee and Dawn love gummy-bears, and maybe Bunny too. Have fun with this… and you’re welcome to post a photo of YOU eating your favourite candy. Haha!

God’s Word is also like sweetness to our souls. His sweet love, forgiveness, comfort, peace, and more is what makes our lives seem a little more bearable when things get rough. Whenever you eat your sweet piece of goodness remember that God loves you and will always be there when life seems sour.

Share a scripture for this week as well. One that lifts you up when you’re feeling discouraged.

This is not going to be a very long post for me. I really only have one favourite candy- chocolate. Pretty much anything chocolate. I'm very partial to Lindt Chocolate Truffles after my beloved brought them home one year for Christmas- from Costco at that! There was a whole bag, what's a girl to do? So, there's my favourite candy.



As for Scripture, one that stands out as speaking frequently to my heart in times of trial is Jeremiah 29:11 per God's Word Translation:

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.

Sometimes I need to realize that HIS plans may not be my own. However He knows me, and realizes my needs and how to teach me. I have strong faith in this. I also have faith that our's is a God of mercy and grace, of love and peace. When I think upon this Scripture I know that He has my best interests at heart and I need to sit back, be excited for what I will learn, and the journey He will take me on.

Need more candy suggestions? Or, sweetness through God's Word? Go to HSBA! I'm off to call my beloved so I can satisfy my candy craving.

This is a Wilton Armetale bread dish I found at the thrift store on Black Friday. It was 50% off, so I ended up paying $1.25 for it! I was really excited by this find! :)



Here's a Christmas card I've been working on. Any suggestions? I found this super soft fun yarn called Highland Thistle that's around the ribbon. It even has a bit of shimmer to it.



Another great thrift store find were these vintage buttons. There were a whole container full of them for under $2. Gotta love buttons.



I'm really infatuated with these vintage images. Check out this mosaic.



This a birthday card for my dear friend, Kathy, hence the K in the tulle. She loves green about as much as I do.