Sweet 16

This week, we are celebrating our youngest daughter's birthday.  It seems impossible that 16 years have passed.  Terry and I were so excited for our second child to arrive.  She must have been excited too.  My water broke 7 weeks early and after 2 weeks of bed rest at Meriter Hospital in Madison WI, Riley Kate arrived. She was pretty little weighing in at 5# 10 oz., but she was strong and healthy. She amazed everyone that she required no extra care.  In fact, Terry and I  left the hospital less than 48 hours later with this beautiful  and oh so sweet little red headed baby girl.   

Happy Birthday, Riley Kate! 

Riley Kate is still my beautiful red headed girl.  

She's smart.  She's sweet.  She's passionate. She really is a joy.

I am so blessed. 

Today, I made some quick and cute 16th birthday invites. 

I just downloaded MDS onto my laptop.  I haven't created anything using MDS for a couple of years.  I have missed it.  I forgot how fun it is to use and how easy it is create beautiful projects.  

A Little Thank You!

I found the perfect use for the pretty Sweet Sorbet paper that was a Sale a bration freebie...TAGS!  

Here is a simple little tag just to say Thank You to my SU! customers.  I really do appreciate their support. 

These were simple and fast tags, but I like the way they turned out.  Then again, can you ever go wrong when you use crumb cake?  ;) 

I could see these being used on cards.... Hmmmmm.....  maybe I will have to work on that.

Making Something Old New Again....

Lovely as a Tree.  This is set has definitely proven itself as the best of the best.  The stickers on my wooden blocks say 2001.  Seriously, what stamp set in the history of SU! has been around for 13 years!  I think one of reasons that this set has been in catalog after catalog is that is great for almost every type of card.  It has been my go to set especially for the masculine card.  

Here's a close up of the card.  I used the masking tape technique to make the background.  It's such an easy, but beautiful technique for making horizons.  This particular background was made using Soft Sky, So Saffron, and Pear Pizzazz.  

And of course, none of my cards would be complete w/o a little embossing (woodgrain TIEF) and a few layers.  :) 

Stampin Up! Weekly Deal April 8-14

Order w/ me today by email!

Butterfly Watercolor Card

I think spring is finally starting in Southwestern Wisconsin.  It isn't warm by any means, but we haven't had any snow in a week or so.  That must mean something, right? Now that my fingers aren't frozen, I decided it was time to stamp again.  I plan on doing many more events this year so I have a good excuse to create again.  

I took a card that I saw on Pinterest and I changed it up.  I wanted it to be bright and cheery, but mostly, I wanted it add butterflies that were watercolored.  I like that out of the dozen cards I made like this none of the butterflies were alike.  

I used watercolor paper, an aqua painter and Marina Mist, Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi and Daffodil Delight ink. 

I just colored on some ink.  How bright or subtle your color is depends on how much water you use. If it is too light use less water...too dark use more.

Here's my piece of watercolor paper after adding the ink.  It looks like quite the mess doesn't it?  LOL

Using my Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly punches, I'm going to transform that somewhat ugly watercoloring into something  FANTASTIC!  :)

Here are my butterflies.  I liked them so much that I added a little bling to them.  I love rhinestones.  They just make everything fancy.  

Here's a couple of my finished cards.  They make me happy... they definitely are not winter cards.

Happy Spring!  

Hot Chocolate Jar

Wisconsin weather took a wintery turn last Thursday and Friday.  We were blessed w/ a rain/ice storm.  While it made the roads messy, it made the EVERYTHING else absolutely beautiful. 

The trees, shrubs, bushes all had this beautiful icy coating. 

 

 

I wanted to go outside and take a bunch of pictures to share, but instead I worked on finishing up the Evan's therapist's gifts. 

 

I know that Christmas gifts in a jar aren't uncommon, but I have found that they are always well received.  I made homemade hot chocolate mix and filled quart jars. I added a simple tag and found some REALLY cute snowman mugs at Wal-Mart to give along w/ the jar.

 

 

Here's a close up of the jars.  I used the Season of Style DSP and the Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon.  A simple white tag.  I did round the upper corners w/ the corner rounder on the Envelope Punch Board (this is my FAVORITE FAVORITE tool). 

 

A little peppermint to go with the hot chocolate...yum yum!

 

 

My daughter, Riley Kate helped me finish up my baking yesterday.  We made and decorated cut out cookies for the cookie plates while we watched The Sound of Music. I think I would like that to be an annual family tradition.  :) 

 

 

Here are our finished plates. 

 

 

Merry Christmas from our family to you!  <3 p="">

Candy Reindeer

We are getting down to those wire.  Christmas 2013 is almost here.  I have been baking and packaging, wrapping and panicking!  Yes, that panic when you have forgotten a little someone in your life. If you are a mom or just have some little ones that are  on your "nice list" here is a simple idea. 

 

I used the Two Tags Die which unfortunately RETIRED.  :(  You can simply make  two Soft Suede tags and make a sleeve for your candy cane antlers.  I used sticky strip make the sleeve.

 

The Cherry Cobbler nose is a 1" circle punch and attached w/ a dimensional.

The eyes are 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches and attached w/ dimensionals.

 

I sponged the tags and nose w/ Early Espresso ink.

I added a Gumball Green Ribbon collar.

 

 

In total I made 18 reindeer, but here's part of the herd.  ;)

 

 

 

 

My Husband Said....

My husband said I would never use the FUZE bottles.  He had no idea WHY I was saving them.  He threatened to throw them out.  He complained about their existence in our house--mind you they were in the basement shoved under a shelf and not in a place that he typically is.  For whatever reason, my box of empty FUZE bottles bothered him.

Now in his defense, it did take me several years to use them.  But sometimes it takes awhile to find just the right project.  Plus I had a little panic because FUZE now comes in plastic bottles.  :(  I had to make sure that the project was worthy of my precious bottles.  LOL

This morning, I made a batch of Muddy Buddies a/k/a Puppy Chow and threw in some Holiday M&Ms for color. Then, I rounded up some of my FUZE bottles and ran them through the dishwasher.

Today was the big day.  My FUZE bottles have a purpose again. They will be Christmas gifts and hopeful bring a smile to the face of those who receive them. May they keep them for years and annoy their husbands w/ them.  LOL 

 

Here's my FUZE bottle all dressed up.  Please notice the top of the bottle has been covers w/ packing paper from Stampin Up!  My husband is pretty freaked out by my stash of that too.  (Gosh, I'm starting to sound like a hoarder.  I swear I'm not really that bad.)

 

I like the little bow on the side of the bottle. 

 

 

 

 Here's a close up of the bottle front.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  It is simple, but pretty. 

 Supplies
FUZE bottle :)
Pool Party Seam Binding
Winter Frost DSP
Festive Flurry Framelits and stamp set
A Banner Christmas stamp set
Label Collection Framelits
Pool Party and Smoky Slate Ink
Whisper White Cardstock
Glue dots, Sticky strip and dimensionals

Let's Nugget Again...

I wasn't sure about using the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper with the gold wrapped Hershey's nuggets.   Blue and silver go together and red and gold go together.  Those are just the unwritten "Wendy Rules". 

 

 

 Honestly,  I'm really happy with how this turned out.   If I keep breaking the Wendy Rules and trying out these new combinations, there won't be any unused and must be consumed (by me) nuggets.  That's probably a good thing.  This time of year is hard on my waistline.  :)  LOL

 

 

 

Supplies Used:

Whisper White and Island Indigo Cardstock

Pool Paper Seam binding

gold brad

Baker's Twine

Winter Frost DSP

Chalk Talk Framelits

Hershey's Nuggets

Pretzel Bags

bells



Add a Little Jingle

I think everyone has those people on their Christmas list that they don't want to buy an actual "Christmas gift", but they provide a service and need to be remembered this time of year.  Today, I was thinking of all those people that I didn't want to forget this time Christmas and I had quite a few.  Well as most of you know when it comes to the perfect gift there is nothing that says, "I Care" quite like chocolate.  Thank goodness for Hershey's nuggets.  They just scream, "I Care"!

 

 

 

I think the Season of Style Designer Series Paper is beautiful.  I love Cherry Cobbler.  It is such a perfect Christmas color.

 

And no little Christmas tag would be complete without adding a couple little jingle bells.  They always make me smile and want to watch It's A Wonderful Life.  :)

 

 

 

Supplies Needed for this Nugget Holder are:

 

Pretzel bag

Hershey's nuggets

Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

Crumb Cake Cardstock

Cherry Cobbler Seam binding

Baker's Twine (to attach the bells)

Season of Style DSP

Chalk Talk framelits

gold brad

 

I Solemnly Swear No More Boring Envelopes

Stampin Up! has come out w/ a must have tool for card makers, letter writers, and anyone who loves to use pretty envelopes.  It is the Envelope Punch Board.  Today, I opened my Envelope Punch Board just to try it out.  Well one envelope turned into three.....

Which then turned into NINETEEN pretty envelopes.  They are quick and easy to make and best of all they are perfect every time.  

  
If you would like to learn more about the Envelope Punch Board here's a link to the Stampin Up! website:  http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=133774

To order the Envelope Punch Board, please email me at stampiepoo@gmail.com.

On a different note, on September 19th we marked the 2 month anniversary of Evan having his caretrak bracelet.  The fundraising effort to raise funds to start the Care Trak program, purchase 12 bracelets and train the officers at the Lafayette County was a huge success.  I'm so grateful for all that gave donations.  It is a huge weight off my chest to know that if Evan should ever get away from us, we have this tool to help locate him.  Thank you so much! 

  

Here's Evan w/ his bracelet listening to his favorite singer, Taylor Swift on the Ipad.  :)  

GPS Tracking for My Son, Evan.

This is my 4 1/2 year old son, Evan.  Evan was diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) at 18 months old.

Evan has always been a flight risk.  He bolts and runs away if we don't have a hand on him or if he can find an open door he is gone.  It takes a lot to take him outside the house  or to keep him inside the house for that matter.  Our house is getting new door locks as he has conquered the last locks we installed and we are in the process of building a backyard fence. If he gets away from me, he just runs.  He doesn't respond to his name or stop so if he gets away from me it is a race to see if I can catch him before he reaches anything dangerous. Evan has no concept of danger and no fear of injury. 

Evan has a great love of water.  Statistically 70% of kids w/ autism that wander off are found in water drown. We live near a creek and a pond and found that if Evan gets away from us will run to a bridge that is about 3/4 mile from our home.  My husband followed him one day to see where he would go if no one was holding onto him.  He ran up our driveway, down our road, turned onto the next road and straight to the bridge.  He gets to the bridge grabs some rocks off the ground and swings his leg over the bridge rail.  If my husband wouldn't have been there to grab his belt loop he would have been in the water.  It was still cold in Wisconsin and the water would have been freezing.  It was an eye opener for my husband and me.  It would only take a matter of a couple minutes of him out of our sight for him to become one of the 70% that drown. 

I contacted our local Sheriff's Department last fall and asked about GPS tracking for families that has neurological disorders, Alzhiemers or Autism after learning that several of the more populated counties surrounding ours had a GPS Tracking Program.  They had never heard of it.  I was panicked.  I knew that Evan was getting bigger, growing faster and he can defeat almost any barrier we put up between him and outside.  I had also just learned that our tillable acreage near our home would have corn planted in it this year.

After some research, the Lafayette County Sheriff called me back and wanted me to know that they are trying to raise funds for 12 GPS trackers for our county.   The cost to implement the program is $6000.  As parents or caregivers if you have ever had that panic, sick to your stomach, can't breathe feeling when your child or loved one is in danger or wanders away, you have felt the way I feel far too often.  It is horrible to live in fear, because sometimes it's just fear and you forget to live. I'm hoping that we can get this program put into place so that 12 families can breathe a little easier and live a little more.

If you would like to donate:

Lafayette County Sheriff's Department

P.O. Box 148

Darlington WI 53530

Please put "Care Trak and Evan Hawkinson" in the memo. 

To Contact the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department w/ questions directly:

(608) 776-4870 (Sheriff Scott Pedley)