Picture Everyday: Surface...

Today's challenge was surface.  It was also my day off.  Considering the hellish allergy attacks I've been dealing with lately, I opted not to leave my house.  It was pretty much the perfect day...slept in...took a shower...changed into a clean pair of pajamas and sat around for the rest of the day...woot!  Here's what I came up with :)

We had a squeaky toy massacre...whoops...

The surface where I spend most of my time at home...

I like it when my surfaces say: comfy, crafty, with a sense of humor

Kinda fun challenge for today  :)

Picture Everyday: Seating...

Yesterday's prompt for my class was Seating.  If I wouldn't have been stuck at work for 11 1/2 hours, I might've driven around looking for some park seating, but I decided I rather complete the project than put it off.  Life's been a little crazy lately, so putting it off winds up being an indefinite ordeal...so here's what I came up with around the house :)

Millie's claimed the chair in the livingroom for herself...this is one of the rare moments she relinquished it in favor of the couch...

I've officially taken over the diningroom table as my scrapping area...I haven't even bothered to clean it up since Ashley was here in August (yes, that's right...perhaps my OCD is letting up a little...or perhaps scrap-cleanliness has been downgraded in favor of work-insanity...either way...lol)...

I always feel the need to put a seating area in my bedroom...I don't really know why since I hardly ever use it, but Lucy likes to hide out there when she's crabby, so it's okay :)

Today's prompt shortly!

Picture Everyday: Threshold...

Monday's prompt was Threshold...

The view my dogs get, because there's always a gate up to the extra rooms...otherwise, they're in there causing trouble!

My Silhouette Cameo vinyl design I put at my front door :)

First apartment I've ever had an extra bathroom in!  Yay!

More pics that it wouldn't have occurred to me to take on a normal day...fun :)

Picture Everyday: Saturday Bonus Prompt...

Well, today we went to Boggio's in Granville, because it's FALL!  My favorite time of year!  While I love fall, I also have a strong aversion to lines and large groups of people, so we decided on this weekend before all the corn maze nonsense begins!  Got some good pics out of it :)

That's right...even Mom got in on the action!  :)

And a pretty pic from the drive home...

Plus one of the windmill at the pond :)

More soon everyone!

Picture Everyday: Rest

Friday's prompt for my Picture Everyday workshop on Big Picture Classes...rest!  Something I've been dramatically short on lately!  Well the pups and I finally got some snoozy time on the couch and the decided to be semi-cooperative about holding still for pictures...here they are!

Daisy...taking a momentary break from killing a squeaky toy...

One more of Daisy...because I couldn't decide which one I liked best :)

Lucy...snoozy time on the couch is pretty much her favorite thing aside from snoozy time in bed!

Millie...looking considerably perkier than her 4am wake-up call earlier in the week ;)

More tomorrow probably :)

Picture Everyday: Serve...

Today's challenge was "Serve."  I close at work tonight, which means I pretty much do nothing in the morning besides sit around my apartment.  Sooooo...the closest thing I really had to "serve" was serving breakfast to the pups this morning....here it is:

Filling up the water dishes.

Food dishes all lined up...complete with Lucy's "slow bowl" because otherwise she gets too excited and eats so fast she chokes!

This picture isn't that great, but it just makes me laugh.  Lucy gets so excited she does a little happy dance!

And that's it for today...tomorrow's prompt is "Rest"!

Picture Everyday: Dine...

Yesterday's challenge was "Dine"...here's what I came up with!

It was a helluva long day...so it was important to start the evening off on the right foot.

A little comfort food never hurt anyone either...tuna noodle casserole...yum!  Also, I love my blue bowl...so pretty :)

I spent my whole childhood toting around juice boxes because I was allergic to milk.  I was always sooo jealous of all the other kids who got to drink milk.  After I (mostly) grew out of my allergy when I got to adulthood, it's one of my favorite things!

Next up...Serve!

Picture Everyday: Wash...

Next challenge...Wash!

It may be a little silly, but I think the Tide Pods are kinda pretty.

I'm soooo not gonna miss pumping quarters into a machine every time I need to do a load of laundry.  Next time I move, an in-unit washer/dryer is on the list of non-negotiables!

Ahhh...the never-ending pile of laundry.  Even as you're doing your last load, you're wearing something that's going to need washing...the cycle continues!

Next up...Dine!

Picture Everyday: Wake...

Well, I started taking a new workshop at Big Picture Classes.  This one is Picture Everyday, and it's basically about capturing the little things that you do every day in a different way.  I haven't been super about actually taking the pictures everyday...they're getting grouped together a couple days later...it's been a little (LOT) hectic this week.  But here's my first assignment...Wake:

My bedroom...the coziest room in my house.  Don't even have a TV in there, because it's all relaxation all the time in there...a good night's sleep, afternoon naps, and snuggles with the pups.

Millie...at least as anti-morning as I am...and not thrilled to have a camera in her face at 4am, methinks.

My hideously ugly (so I'm told) slippers that make their way to my feet the moment I'm walking around the apartment in the morning.  I'm sorry...cozy wins over fashion on the slipper front.

Next challenge: Wash...coming soon!

Crafty Chicks September Blog Hop...

It's that time again!

Time for the Crafty Chicks "School" Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  After a week of entries, the prize winner will be announced on Jessica's Page.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

 

The prize this month is a $25 gift certificate at 3 Girl Jam!  That's a lot of adorable ribbons and flair, my friends :)  Check out their Facebook Fan Page too if you have a chance :)

 

 

And now, on with the Crafty Chicks School Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Elizabeth's Blog, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, you can head back to Jessica's Page and start there!}}****** 

 

 So, I'm massively obsessed with this whole chalkboard trend.  I've been adding bits of chalkboard paper and chalkboard tape to everything...jam jars, cards, pages, meat and cheese trays...you name it, and I have a chalkboard accessory for it.  I even bought a chalkboard wall decal AND a chalkboard easel for WORK...because I'm just that crazy about chalkboards.  Here's how my extreme love of chalkboards evolved:  I spent my entire youth writing all of my Mom's planned assignments etc. on the chalkboard in her classroom...and then...they switched over to the dreaded whiteboard.  Yes, it's less messy.  Yes, it's easier to read.  Yes, it means your hands don't get all dry and powdery.  But there's something so perfectly charming about an ACTUAL chalkboard.  Yep.  :)

 

Anyway, so I made a little school-themed card for my project.  The chalkboard pieces are Fancy Pants chalkboard stickers.  The stamps are some older Stampendous wooden stamps.  I find occasion to use these little guys almost every year at back-to-school time...they're so cute!  The paper is just some cork patterned paper I had laying around (sorry...I didn't have the strip anymore...I'm guessing it was a Simple Stories one, but I've been collecting an awful lot of cork patterned paper lately).  I used a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple on the ribbon (it's from American Crafts), and then I pop-dotted on the top pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may notice (or maybe not...as someone who is not always particularly observant, I'll totally give you a pass if you didn't) that the writing on the two chalkboard pieces look different.  On the top one, I used a white bistro marker...something about the finish on the chalkboard stickers wasn't really agreeing with the drying time on the bistro pen though.  I wound up liking the broken look it finished with anyway, so I left it as is.  For the inside though, I wanted something cleaner, so I switched to a white Recollections chalk marker.  Oh, and I colored the little characters with Copic markers :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I like that it could  be for someone with first-day-of-school jitters, or it could  just be a cute school-themed card for anyone who's having some trepidation about what they're working on.  Anyway, that's all I've got for the hop this month...hope you enjoy it and the rest of the girls' great projects!  More craftiness coming soon!

 

******{{If you're continuing on the hop, head on over to Nicole's Page.  And don't forget to follow any of the blogs you like on the hop...we'd love to have you stick around!}}******
 



 

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August Crafty Chicks Blog Hop...

It's that time again! 

Time for the Crafty Chicks "Travel" Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  After a week of entries, the prize winner will be announced on Elizabeth's page.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

The prize being offered this month is a $30 giftcard from Linnie Blooms Designs sponsored by Linda Barutha!  You can see even more of her super adorable products and ideas at Linda's Pinterest Page. 

 

 And now, on with the Crafty Chicks Travel Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Julie's Page, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, go here }}******

 

So, I took a sort of non-traditional approach to travel/vacation, I guess.  Normally, I would probably have done a scrapbook page.  And I DID just finish a Smashbook for my Michigan trip, but I decided I wanted to make something especially for the hop, and I was trying to use stamps I've purchased and haven't actually used yet (oops!). 

 

Now that I've established the premise that I'm thinking out-of-the-box this month, remember a few (okay, a lot) of years ago when people were taking pictures of gnomes all over the place when they were on vacation?  I've been sort of in love with that idea ever since I saw it in the movie Amelie (love that movie, by the way).  If you haven't seen it, she kidnapped her dad's prized gnome and took pictures of it all over the country and then mailed them to her dad anonymously.  I mean seriously...it's still hilarious.  Meanwhile, that idea has since morphed into the Travelocity "roaming gnome", which is also pretty adorable if you ask me. 

 

So when I think vacations, I think gnomes.  Call me a weirdo (go ahead, do it...I don't mind...lol).  And I also tend to think about people that I wish were on vacation with me (OR, alternatively, I think of people I'd like to remind that I'M on vacation and THEY'RE stuck at home...what?  Don't pretend you don't think about it.).  So that's where this card came from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The houses are a Technique Tuesday stamp, and the polaroid and gnome are from two different Lawn Fawn stamp sets.  I colored the gnome with Copics, and wrote in the hello with a Copic multiliner.  Then I just added some washi tape to finish up the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the inside, I added a sentiment from the same Technique Tuesday set and added some more washi tape.  See?  Easy peasy, right?

 

And that's all I've got for this month...hope you like it...more craftiness soon :)

 

And now you've reached the end of our Hop...hope you enjoyed it, and hope to see you again next month!  (P.S.  Don't forget to follow any of the blogs you like from the hop!)



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Crafty Chicks Christmas In July Blog Hop...

It's that time again! 

Time for the Crafty Chicks "Christmas in July" Blog Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  The prize winner will be announced on Elizabeth's blog.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

The prize being offered this month is a Christmas in July paperpack, with 20 sheets of Christmas/Winter cardstock and an extra 20 yards of Christmas twine!  Check it out:

 

 And now, on with the Crafty Chicks Christmas in July Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Heidi's Page, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, go  here }}******

 

So, I know that Christmas in July is a thing...I'm not sure I really get it, though.  I think it's probably because I work in retail.  People with normal jobs...jobs where you have weekends off...jobs where you get holidays off...they think all the Christmas hub-bub starts in November, so Christmas in July is a fun novelty.  Anyone in retail can tell you...Christmas starts at the end of August, my friends.  Surprised?  Take another look next time you're out shopping...it's already creeping in...Christmas is hiding in the wings right this very minute.  Look past the stack of clearance flip flops and beach décor...you'll see a stray box of ornaments...red and green glitter ribbon hidden on a bottom shelf...snowflakes popping up where they don't belong.  I'm aware that this seems crazy, but people want Christmas available earlier and earlier every year.  I've already had multiple people this year upset that we don't have any new Christmas décor at the store yet.  I can't help it...the masses dictate retail calendars...as far as I'm concerned, from a retail perspective, summer is over...Halloween will be here any minute, and Christmas will start showing up by the end of next month.  It's weird living a retail life...your calendar is all messed up.  I've learned to just embrace retail seasons and forget about how the normal world gauges time.  So, when we go into full-on Christmas mode on the day after Halloween...I come home and put up my Christmas tree...and it'll probably be taken down BEFORE Christmas, because we're already gearing up for Valentine's Day. Yep.  I'm a total weirdo, huh?  Oh well :)  A well-adjusted weirdo, and that's the main thing!

All that said, I decided to go non-traditional for my Christmas in July projects.  I still get to have fun stamping and coloring without getting into full-on holiday headspace ;)  lol.  So here's what I came up with:

I'll Be "Gnome" For Christmas
This guy was fun...I found this stamp a few months ago and had to get it because it was so dang cute.  I had no idea what I was going to use it for, and haven't actually used it till now.  I like how he turned out...simple and cute!
 

Front

Inside

Supplies: Stampabilities Gnome Stamp, Cardstock (Kraft, Coconut Swirl, and Cherry Splash), Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Foam Dots

Santa Baby
I've used this gal on a card once before, but I bought her several years ago.  I have such trouble deciding what to do with fine line stamps that are difficult to cut out.  For whatever reason, I have a desperate aversion to just stamping directly on the card base and doing other stuff around it.  I decided to just stamp and cut, and give the edges a wide berth.  This BoBunny line is from a bunch of years ago, but I hoarded it away when I got a bunch originally, so it's still hanging on :)

Front

Inside

Supplies: Penny Black Stamp, BoBunny Patterned Paper, Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Foam Dots

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out.  Christmas in July turned out to not be so bad afterall ;)  lol. 
 



If you're continuing on the hop, head on over to Jessica's Page.  Enjoy!



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House Mouse Challenge HMFMC #148...

I know it's been ages since I've posted again, but I swear I'm going to be try and be better this month!  :)  Anyway, thought I'd throw up an entry for the House Mouse Monday Challenge (HMFMC #148) quick since I just wrapped up this card!

 

That's all for tonight folks...more soon!