Josh's Farewell pics! {sniff, sniff....}

This is another post that is mostly for my long distance family that wasn't here to see Josh off to college. SO, if you aren't interested, just tune back in tomorrow to see the NEW Whimsie Doodles Sketch! It is awesome and one you surely don't want to miss!

Now on to the send~off!

Here's me and Josh... {{ NOTICE I AM NOT CRYING! }}


Below is my Hubby, Josh's step-dad. I am not sure if he is happy to see him heading to college or not. Those college fees are going to kill us!
Ok, here's three of KayLee... NOT taking Josh's leaving well at all!

Still sad......

NOT getting over it....

Isaac wasn't a fan of him leaving either.....

But he took it better than KayLee.....

And here's the surprise.... I thought Eli would be more upset that his PS2 buddy was leaving. But, then again, I should have known. He had a baseball bat and ball in his hand the whole time. Nothing makes him happier than that!

Here's a cute family pic of the kids!

This is us caravanning out of town... I looked back through the van and took this pic of him at Bretzville.

Josh just HAD to get that computer up and running, first thing... duh.

YEP, he's online and about to check email, then facebook, then my blog... (yeah, right!)

I wasn't sure if the first picture was very good or not when Scott took it, so we decided to take one of ourselves before we left!! This one is cute, huh? I am gonna put it on his facebook for all of his friends to see! HAHA!

Well, he must have survived his first day away today. No emergency phone calls yet! LOL! I am still 'down' about him being away but am happy for him, too! I love you, Josh!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the WHIMSIE DOODLES SKETCH!!

Enjoy your night!

Back to School with Eli and KayLee; 2009-2010

This is the first of two personal posts. The one of Josh's college-send-off is next. My hubby and I have exactly ZERO family/relatives where we live, so these posts are for them, really. A blog saves you so much money on printing out pictures to send!

If you want to skip these, just tune in tomorrow for the next paper-post...

Eli began his 2nd grade year and KayLee her 1st grade year last Friday. (They are 12 1/2 months apart for those still continuing to read! LOL!) Sorry, fam, for the late posting, I have been busy with getting Josh prepped for college... Here they are entering their school!

It is a tradition for Scott to sit with the kids in front of the entrance and have their picture taken!
Eli is ready to meet Mrs. Yarbrough!!

And KayLee is ready for Mrs. Guthrie to come and take her to class!

They've had five days of school and so far, so good. Homework with KayLee will be easy this year since it is the exact curriculum as Eli had last year. And, I knew last year that she could do Eli's work even THEN, so this will be easy for her. And, Eli is doing extremely well, since he can read at a 4th grade level (at least)with difficult words and lengthy sentences and can still remember his addition/subtraction from last year. He's gonna fly by the rest of 'em! Well, at least I hope he does!

Stay tuned to see the next post of Josh heading to IUPUI!! If ya don't want to see it, then check in tomorrow morn for the next paper-posting!

See ya in a minute!

Update

Hi PEOPLE!!

Let me shout out a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for the prayers and emails of support! They worked! I barely cried on the way back from Indy yesterday at all! (YEA!!) I think Josh couldn't get rid of me fast enough, though! HAHA!

I will post pics of all the kids later today; I need to get my camera out of the van, but it is raining like crazy, so being on crutches, I think I will wait until later when it brightens up. I also have some Design Team deadlines and a birthday present to make for KayLee to give tonight at a skating party, so the day is gonna be full, but I will get to the pictures as soon as I can.

A special {{THANK YOU}} to my girlfriend Amy, who came over this morning and gave me a sweetly written card (HANDMADE OF COURSE!!) to help me get through the "loss" of Josh to college! It made me cry! I will post her gorgeous card on Saturday for you! The layout is great and you may want to CASE her on it. Thanks, Amy!

Catch you guys later!

SheetLoad & Shortcuts!

SheetLoad of Cards is also a sister-company of SHORTCUTS! Have you heard of this STORE? It features some awesome prices on G stamp sets, it also sells the ever-so-popular clear/pre-scored cardblanks and other items such as this one below! My card incorporates the Shortcuts GIFT CARD HOLDER! This handy little piece of high quality, heavy cardstock comes pre-scored and diecut ready for gift card insertion!

I made this fun, wintery little card using some past SUP! DSP and based the sketch on the August Sketch at SheetLoad of Cards! CLICK HERE for your free downloadable issue!



As you can see below, the gift card insert fits just perfectly! You can choose to leave it white, adhere some scrapbook papers to it, or just stamp it like I did below using the 'In the Spotlight' stamp set. I then papered the inside of the card to jazz it up, even more!

I hope you enjoyed learning about this item! Please head over to the Shortcuts STORE and browse through all of Alicia's wonderful items! Her prices are awesome and her service is 2nd to NONE!

{Personal request: Please say a prayer for Josh, as well as for myself, too. I am coming back without him today after dropping him off up at college for his first year of freedom/away from mom! I am sure I will be a wreck! Wish me luck, and him, too! THANK YOU!}

Enjoy your day!

ONE DOWN, three to go....

Here's a pic of my JOSH. He and I are on the road as I type (I pre-scheduled this post!). One last trip up to Indianapolis to leave him up there for college at IUPUI (Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis). Classes don't start until next week, but he wanted to get familiar with the campus and hopefully make some friends and get settled a bit.

Hard to believe that my first born, who I have had with me HALF of my life (he's 19, I am 38) is going to be non-existant in our home. It is going to be very hard without him, to say the very least. Especially for me. Having an adult around this summer has been such a blessing for me. Someone to have ADULT conversations with, keeping me from being consumed by the Disney Channel or Spongebob and just simply helping me through these past couple of weeks since I got stuck on crutches. His endless days of vacuuming, doing the dishes for me and helping me feed the kids lunch are over; LUCKY HIM! LOL!

Poor PEPSI (our new puppy) is going to be LOST without Josh. With myself on crutches, the walks will now become extremely limited in length and few and far between! At least this is just temporary until my ankle heals!

I know Josh is VERY excited to leave the nest and feels he is going to do very well and succeed at IUPUI. He's turned into a fine young man and I can SO see him being a CEO some day like he aspires to do! IF you knew how smart he IS, it would amaze you!!

Well, wish HIM luck and say a prayer for ME that I make it through without sobbing all the way home! HAHA!

I am proud of you, my JOSHI!!

GO JAGUARS!

Inspirational Challenge

This past Saturday at SplitCoastStampers, they had an inspirational challenge posted. You were to go to THE CURIOSITY SHOPPE and find something to base your card off of. I chose THIS LINK HERE (shown above) as my form of inspiration. What do you think?

I basically used the lower 2 rows and switched out the bottom left corner for the top right corner in the wall hanging above. I coordinated the brown dotted leaf with the brown dotted ribbon and tied it all together using navy for the sentiment and the frame around the six squares. Split Coast ALWAYS has the best challenges! Let me know what you think! OH, and check out The Curiosity Shoppe, it is a fun little store to browse through!

Hope you are ALL doing well!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

I have told you about Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps before and how much I LOVVVVVE their clear stamps! And I love that they promote Christian and Inspirational stamps! There just aren't enough of those in the stamp world, in my opinion!!

{NOTE: I have even MORE exciting news about Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, but can't tell ya for a couple of weeks! SO HOLD TIGHT and I will let you know as soon as I can!!}




UNTIL THEN, Click on the image above to learn more about the August '09 sponsor at SheetLoad of Cards - Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

Get Sketchy's FIRST Challenge!

GET SKETCHY has their first sketch challenge out! Here is my take on their first sketch! Using the 6x6 WYSTERIA Basic Grey paper line (available at PRECIOUS SCRAPS!!) and a new stamp by Stampin' UP! in the 'Hard to Say' set, I got this card made up while the kids were enjoying their first day of school on Friday!


At first I wasn't sure if I liked this paper-set, but NOW I really LOVVVVVE IT! The cool colors are delicious and make me wanting MORE!!!!! They have a nice subtle richness and the muted hues are just so beautiful!

Be sure to go to GET SKETCHY and leave them some love and join in on their first Sketch
Challenge!!!

PLEASE NOTE: I even incorporated the BONUS CHALLENGE of using Patterned paper! ALL SIX of these papers are patterned papers, none are cardstock, even the dark purple is a patterned paper from the Wysteria Basic Grey 6x6 pack!! OH, and the line of flowers is a continuous cut from an entire sheet of paper from the 6x6 pack, as well!

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

Debut Day!

Howdy, PEEPS! TODAY is the BIG DAY at Whimsie Doodles!! Melyssa released a bunch of new digi's today and here below are just a couple of cards for you!


First, using the CANDY MONSTER image, I made this card using the Stamping 411 blog's sketch for this week. Simple and balanced! GOTTA LOVE THAT! I Copic colored in my image and words and stacked some buttons for embellishing. The paper is one of the new Halloween paper sets by Stampin' UP! and tangerine tango orange. Since the sketch was simple, I kept the look 'simple' with minimal embellishing and minimal layering. I think it turned out nice!



And here's another card using the new YUMMY DOODLES cupcakes digi set just released by Whimsie Doodles. For this sketch, I used Jen Del Muro's from I HEART 2 STAMP blog.

Make sure you check out all of the Doodlelicious Design Team creations by checking out their blogs listed in my side bar at left! AND be sure to check out Melyssa's blog HERE too, to see a full listing with creations! You can go directly to THE WHIMSIE STORE HERE and purchase your digital downloads today!

Enjoy your weekend!

BOY FAIRY??

Well, OF COURSE there are BOY FAIRIES! I mean "HOW" do you think all of those girl fairies came about? Do you think they just POOF and appeared out from no where? I would think that some MALE persuasion is helping keep those fairy babies coming, right?

Then again, I guess they could just use their wands and make more fairies... and what female fairy wouldn't want more GIRLfriend~Fairies, opposed to male ones? Hmm... I'm gonna need to ponder this one.

Here's a WONDERFUL WHIMSIE DOODLES ToothFairy BOY that you can see HERE IN THE STORE, available for your digital downloading needs AND paper-crafting FUN!!! Perfect for scrapbooking or cardmaking or even enlarging and sticking in a frame! The papers are from a LSS, like PRECIOUS SCRAPS. Bev just got back from CHA and is soooooooooooon to be stocked with tons of new scrapbook supplies! If there is something you are needing, simply email Bev and see if she can help you out! She's awesome at giving you personal service and going out of her way to give you what you need!

Oh, and yes, I KNOW, my card is on the simple side. But I just couldn't make myself put any ribbon on this, thought it would make it to feminine for a boy-recipient. However, I HAD to bling it up with some GLITTAH. WHY? Well, wouldn't you be really let-down if you saw this little guy coming up from your pillow sham with your tooth and he didn't sparkle with Fairy Dust RADIANCE at least on his wings? Yeah, I thought so! It would be a MAJOR disappointment to me, at least! So, I did his wings and hair up niiiiiiiiiiiice with some Stickles (available at Precious Scraps, too!) and left the rest of him alone. This IS supposed to be for a BOY, you know!

See the 'purty' GLITTAH-detailing?

Don't forget that tomorrow is the big DEBUT DAY for more Whimsie Doodles Digi Images! I have a few great cards to show you and so does the rest of the Doodlelicious Design Team!! I can't wait to show you!! So, hope to see you back in the early morning!!

Hugs and Happy 1st Day of School to my Eli and KayLee! Pics later this afternoon!!

Have a great FRIDAY!

THE AFTER....

For those of you who are wanting to see the "AFTER" of the "BEFORE PIC" POST from yesterday, here you are!

She may look happy now, but let me tell ya, she nearly CRIED when she saw all of her hair cut off!

And, after all that, she gets a sucker!!!!

Miss Julie DOES have magic scissors and managed to cut off her mullet and make KayLee into a MINI-ME !!!! Well, she doesn't really look like me at all, she's the feminie-spitting-image of her father, but at least she has a short, cute hairstyle like mine!

At least for now.... until she cuts it again!

I WON!

Anyone love penguins as much as my Mother-In-Law?? I doubt it! LOL!

I won this adorable new stamp set that was just released last Friday by OUR CRAFT LOUNGE! Believe it or not, but I actually won TWO sets! But, I could keep ONE, so I chose this cutie patootie stamp set! This was their best blog hop by far! SO MANY fall stamp sets featuring Halloween items GALORE! You really need to check out these sets, talk about CUTE!

I guess now I can't say that nothing good comes from sitting around all day with your foot propped up and bedridden! If I wasn't stuck doing nothing but blog-hopping I wouldn't have come across the Our Craft Lounge blog hop where they gave away 31 honkin' stamp sets! I love these sets, they are so cute and PERFECT for my Copic Coloring! Check out the rest of the stamp sets HERE on the Eclectic Paperie website, which is just one online store you can purchase OCL stamps from!

When I get this set in I will be sure to hook you up with my new creations! Just can't wait to get it!

Make it a SUPAH day!

2 Days Prior to School-Self Inflicted HAIR CUT

What would you say if you came upon this sight in your bedroom hall?



Had a bit too much fun with the scissors and paper.....

Here Eli is helping me gather hair in KayLee's room..........
Notice the cut up paper in the background....
ALL collected in the bucket..............

Profile Mug Shot........

Where did the piggies go??

Lookin' a bit guilty..........

A bit embarrassed, too...........

Told KayLee that our hair dresser better have 'MAGIC SCISSORS'......

She promised to never cut out her side pig-tails again.......

Seeing the magician, Uh, I mean hairstylist tomorrow.....

WISH KAYLEE LUCK!

"Heard you Lost a Tooth!"

That's what it says on the inside of this card! IF I wasn't still confined to crutches I would just pop on up, run over, take a pic of the inside of this card and upload it for ya. Well, MAYBE tomorrow! HAHA! My days of popping up and running around aren't gonna happen for a while! I will edit this post and add an inside picture as soon as I can get to it, though, so check back! These darn crutches are the WORST!

This card incorporates Stampin' UP! papers, Copic Coloring, Dew Drops in the corner that are available at PRECIOUS SCRAPS, a WHIMSIE DOODLES digi focal image and this week's MOJO Monday sketch challenge #99, I think it is!

I love Whimsie Doodles girly images! Melyssa really has a way of making her girls SO sweet looking! What do you think about this ToothFairy? AW! I think she is CUTE!! You can see her HERE in the Whimsie Doodles STORE! There's also a ToothFairy BOY that I have colored and ready to make into a card, so I will get to that soon!

These Whimsie images are available now and what I really love about them is that Melyssa doesn't forget that there are scrapbookers out there like yourself that would just love these images for scrapbooking pictures of your kids' first lost tooth! She includes other sentiments along with these images, that are PERFECT for scrapbooking! OH, and, why stop there? She even includes a wonderful little poem that you come with the boy and girl Toothfairies so you could incorporate them into a little altered envelope or box for the REAL Toothfairy to find!! She's ingenious!

There will be more images coming up, especially on Saturday when WHIMSIE DOODLES debuts another whole batch of digi's for your cardmaking and scrapbooking fun!

Happy HUMP DAY!

WHIMSIE GIVEAWAYS!

CLICK ON THIS HERE to see the new Digital stamps that Whimsie Doodles is giving away in celebration of it's new releases on Saturday! Make sure you check their website everyday to get a chance to win each set!!

Have a SUPAH day!

Show Us your SheetLoad!!!!

It is time once again to show us what you have created with the latest issue of SheetLoad of Cards; August 2009.

All you have to do is create one (1) card and enter it in the August '09 Show Us Your SheetLoad Challenge for a chance to win Two (2) FREE Stamp Sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

VooDoo!

I'm BAAA-AAACK! HAHA!

Monday, Monday, Monday! WOW! The first day of the last week of summer! My kids start school on Friday, believe it or not! I can't believe it myself! SO MUCH TO DO!

BUT, FIRST, there MUST be paper! Here's a little VOODOO for you by WHIMSIE DOODLES! This VooDoo girl is so fun to color! And, if you notice, I applied the pushpins with gluedots, so you could just use her like a country-time rag doll on a card or scrapbook page, too!!

WHIMSIE DOODLES has another release with tons of new images available on Saturday the 15th! So be sure to check in on my new cards that I'll have for you this weekend! BUT for now, I will be lavishing the blog here with some of those images I Copic-colored last week while stuck in bed and/or on the couch with my ankle propped up!

This VooDoo girl is part of a digi-image package that you can SEE HERE. It comes with a pushpin and a fun saying, too, as well as a VooDoo Boy! This sentiment I used below is in another digi-voodoo-set, you can SEE HERE, and it also comes with some VooDoo dolls, but they have the pushpins already attached, so that may be something you prefer.

I am finally on the mend, so prepare yourself for a crafty week on the blog! Don't forget to SHOUT OUT TO SHEETLOAD so you can choose these images above or any other TWO SETS in the WHIMSIE DOODLES SHOP!

Have a great afternoon!

What a WEEKEND!

Was your weekend as exciting as mine?! I spent my weekend away from home, so I don't have anything new for ya, SORRY! And this week is going to be busy with school starting and all, but I do feel somewhat better and will be crafting away heartily soon!

Back in a flash!

SHOUT OUT TO SHEETLOAD to WIN!

Here's your chance to win some free WHIMSIE DOODLES DIGI'S! SheetLoad of Cards is giving you a chance to win two Digital Images from the WHIMSIE DOODLES etsy store HERE(who I design for)! All you need to do is create a POST on your blog and link up SheetLoad of Cards to it!

CLICK HERE to see the guidelines on how to do it CORRECTLY! NO card-making is required for this! You just need to link your blog up to the August Issue of SheetLoad of Cards and insert the image of the front cover of August's issue as seen above! This helps spread the word about the AWESOME SheetLoad of Card FREE E-Zine!

Again, CLICK HERE to see the easy directions to be entered! You know how much I LOVE Whimsie Doodle's images; you will be SUPAH HAPPY if you get picked to choose two of your own!

I am in INDY with Josh helping him get set up for college at IUPUI. He has to pick up his books and get his room all set up and then we are headed to the mall to use up those gift cards from Christmas for American Eagle clothing and then on to Target to spend his gift cards on those last minute room and class supplies. He has to come home for one more week at WalMart and he'll be leaving me for good! SNIFF! {Insert nose-blowing here!}

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Get Sketchy!

I wanted to let you all know about a new SKETCH BLOG! They are totally new and haven't even began posting their sketches yet! Just today they announced their first Design Team! So, you may want to head over and check out GET SKETCHY and enjoy the ride!!

Happy Friday!

Bethany Paull

Have you ever heard of Bethany Paull or seriously have I been under a rock for a long time? I found her blog today and just wanted to give her a SHOUTOUT to share her great talent with you, my paper-crafty friends! If you ever lose that creative-mojo, go look her up! WHY? Well...

She's got a clean, yet decorative style!

She knows how to mix patterns with eye pleasing results!

She knows how to embellish just 'enough' without making it cluttered!

She knows how to keep her cards balanced and the eye moving around the card!

{Side note: Yes, if you are wondering, I am still having issues with my ankle and back, so nothing crafty-new to show you; SORRY about that! But, honestly there's nothing I can really do artistically when I can't even sit or lay comfortably for more than 20 minutes at a time!}

Check out Bethany's BLOG HERE! You will be glad you did!

Have a great day!

BLOG UPDATE

Sorry about the slow-goings on here! I am S L O W L Y recovering from my ankle surgery. We are guessing that because it was broken so long that my grief is due to the fact that it is lined up correctly now for NORMAL walking, and well, to be honest, it is PAINFUL!!!!! Now I regret not filling that Lortab prescription!

I did have a fun afternoon today playing with the good ol' COPIC markers and colored about five WHIMSIE DOODLES images or so to be made into cards for some new posts over the next few weeks as I get to them, so that was FUN! I can't make it into the craft room, so I had Josh bring out all of my Copics onto a card table in the living room, so at least I could color! OH, I just remembered that my order of COPICS from a month ago is finally shipping! There were a bunch on backorder, so instead of cancelling the backorder, I chose to wait for them to get back in stock! WELLLLLL, now I have 18 or so on their way TOMORROW which is totally awesome, I just hope I am in shape to use them.

WHY?

OH! Well, let me tell ya! Because late tonight while sitting at the table, I was playing fetch with Pepsi like I do every night.... and I leaned over to get her chewy-ball and pulled my back! I just can't seem to win! So, now I can barely walk even with my crutches because of my back! Scott may just have to pull a sick-day tomorrow and nurse me back to HEALTH! HAHA!

Scott went to school registration for me yesterday and we found out that KayLee has Mrs. Guthrie and Eli has Mrs. Yarbrough!! I was hoping that Eli got Mrs. Weidenbenner again, because she was so awesome last year with Eli and has since changed to being a 2nd grade teacher, but since he didn't get her, I was glad to see he got my old class-mate, Heather! She is gonna be awesome, I BET! I can see her just being so loving and nurturing, but at the same time, NOT taking any crap from those 2nd graders! HAHA! KayLee said she really liked Mrs. Guthrie and she seems SUPAH excited to be in her class, so that makes a MUM feel good!

Well, I better run (not literally) and rest my ankle, and back now, too! LOL! I will fill you in as I can! Hope all is well with you guys! When does your school start? Ours starts NEXT Friday the 14th. At least it isn't the 13th, or I may just would have had them stay home on the first day!

Take care, Everyone!

SheetLoad's August Issue!

It is time for the August issue of SheetLoad of Cards!!!

(click on thumbnail above to go download the FREE issue)

The August '09 issue features a sketch by Liz Weber, stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and Guest Artists from the Sweet 'n Sassy Design Team as well as cards and other 'sweet 'n sassy' items by the SheetLoad Design Team, including myself!!

I just thought I would share with you the front of this month's August issue, which is free as always! Go get downloaded now!!

Savor your Sunday!

Saturday is DEBUT DAY!! WOOHOOO!

Happy Saturday to you! This is a fun-filled day just PACKED with new creative images and sketch cards! SHEETLOAD OF CARDS has their new AUGUST ISSUE out as of this morning, ready for dowload! I will get into that in a minute, but first let me talk about these new images by WHIMSIE DOODLES since they showed up first in my jpeg download list!

These new digital images by WHIMSIE DOODLES are awesome for COPIC COLORING!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE coloring, you know; and what better way to show that than using WHIMSIE IMAGES!?!?!? I have said before that WHIMSIE IMAGES are AWESOME because of the thickness of the lines (very forgiving when using markers or watercolor pencils, too!) and the clarity and quality of the fonts and sentiments!


Whimsie Doodles came out with 7 new DIGI SETS that you can see HERE IN THEIR STORE! I combined some of the sets as you will tell when you go shopping! The above 'homeschooled' house is paired up with the 'SunnyDay' field image! I love how this scene turned out! See the HOMESCHOOLED .99cent image HERE and the SUNNY DAY set HERE!

The above Whimsie 'School Bears' are back-packed and ready to head off to school! Most of these images can be used on cards, but honestly, IFFFF I was a scrapbooker, I would be downloading these NOW! These images are great for those first-day of school pics that need to be scrapbooked for 'family-history' sake! See the SCHOOLBEARS set HERE!

The school 'bus' and sentiment are another two images, in ONE set of seven total images! Click HERE to see them! There are THREE MORE sets that I don't even have pictured above, so be sure to NOT miss them!

SHEETLOAD OF CARDS' August issue is featuring the Sweet 'n' Sassy stamp line! I love this Elegant Greetings set! The cross is meticulous, almost like a Celtic look! Difficult to cut out using an exacto knife, but well-worth it when you get the final look!

CLICK HERE to see the link to download the AUGUST ISSUE!

This month's sketch is very symetrical, not my normal style, so really this month was a great 'Challenge' for me! The first card (pink and burgundy) I ended up making a bit more rectangular to add the sentiment at bottom; but the other two are kept to the 'square' sketch.

This yellow and moss card is using some old MME paper from the Tres Jolie line. I have hoarded this paper long enough! Next to pink, yellow is my favorite color, so it was hard to cut up this buttery paper!! BUT, I am glad I did, I love how it turned out!

Well, I better keep moseying to sleep so I can tolerate this ankle! But I couldn't let the day go by without sharing my debut cards for WHIMSIE DOODLES and SHEETLOAD of CARDS using Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!!

Make it an AWESOME WEEKEND!