Fishing in Florida

Happy Friday everyone!

for me this is day 4 of 5, and I'm already beat!!

Luckily though doing some scrappin has kept me semi sane!

Finishing up my beach day in florida, I made this layout!

the sketch I found on page maps, and you can find it here

the challenge was to convert a 8 x 11 sketch into a 12 x 12

I'm also playing along with the different hair challenge over at Saturated Canary 

Here's a close up of my girl and her fish, and the blue streaks in her hair!

and the collage of pictures!  I just love to order collage pictures from Walgreens, they are smaller in size, and I can very often get a good coupon for them!

Finally here is a close up of my title

See the letters are from 2 different sets of alphas??

That's part of the recipe challenge that Monica has put out for the

birthday celebration over at Sketch n Scrap! 

You can find that challenge here! 

And I'm also linking up with the Nautical challenge by Stephanie that can be found here!   

Challenge: Day 31

A vivid Memory

First off, I have to say this has been a blogging adventure!!!
I have immensely enjoyed blogging every day, and having a prompt has been fabulous!
Props going out to Jenni for putting this thing together, and for all those of you out there that made it to the end, BRAVO!
I did miss two days of blogging (the 1st and the 22nd) and I had thought about going back and revisiting the prompts, but I've decided that 29 out of 31 days is pretty darn good!

 Some of you may have been to this amazing place before
(I'm guessing lots of you actually!)
Hawaii is one of those places that you just never forget!
It's amazing, and different, and ohhhh the relaxation!
I have vivid memories of riding the Trolley, and of seeing lots and lots of rainbows,
of going to shaved ice (and seeing one of the Voltaggio brothers!) riding in a convertable with the wind in our hair, and eating shrimp that had just been caught and cooked!
Of walking through a bamboo forest, and a lava field on the same day!
Snorkling on a sunken island, and getting rained out of our luau!
As I write this, and I'm looking at that pic, I can't believe that I was there!

If you have joined in the Blog Every Day in May challenge, thanks so much for stopping by!
If you like what you see, and like crafty sorts of blogs, stay and hang for a while! 
I'd love to get to know you!

Beach day

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY!!!

I hope that doesn't scare you away!

I made this fun layout today!

Yep, another 12 x 12...

This was on my first full day of vacation back in April

My mom and I met my sister and 2 of her 3 boys at the beach..

I'm playing along with the layout challenge on Page maps found here

It's a challenge to use boarders... (and it's part of their 7 year anniversary celebration!!)

So I used up some of my scraps, and some of my not scraps, and I made a bunch of borders,

and I stacked them in the middle of the page!

We had a GREAT time, and I thought since I'm scrappin my vacay, why not start at the beginning?

Here are some of the close up's

I wrote that with my fun ne calligraphy pen!

Here's a close up of  one of the de Gartrell Vikings from Angie Delaire

you can find them in her shop here

and the male Viking as well!

Best part is that they come together for a fabulously low price!

Here you can see that I added some twine around the corners,

I'm playing along with the twine challenge found on The Craze of MJ's blog here

The challenge is to use twine... and I just love using twine!

And here's a close up of my title!

Ahhhh a Beach day!!  They are hard to come by now that I'm back in the desert,

but just looking at the pics makes me wanna hop in the car and head to the coast!

I hope you are having a great start to your summer!!!!

My new toy

See I got this new toy....

It's a calligraphy pen!  I picked it up at Target the other day

with my $20 gift card that I won at work for carpooling!

So I was playing around with it...

and wrote out all my family's names.

Not bad aye??

Still some work on some letters, like the capital E, and the capital F is still shaky!

But I think all in all, pretty cool!

I say I'm bringing back the fancy writing!

Challenge: Day 30

React to this: Letting Go

And let God!!!

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
 

First full layout!

I resisted and resisted, and I've finally broken down and make a full 12 x 12

scrapbook page! 

I know it's hard to believe that I've waited this long!

And honestly I'm super in love with just how it turned out!

The pictures are from my rescent trip to Florida/ North Carolina

and of a walk in the woods that I took with my mom and nephew.



Here's a close up of the title, and

the "sub title" 

Here's a close up of the railroad track, and of the houses

YEAH I got to use my "townscape" die cut!!

Plus I used my cloud punch!

Here's a close up of the wire that I attached using a tiny stapler,

and the stamp is rubber from unity!

I hope you like my very first full layout!

I'm entering this into the 7th Anniversary Page Maps Sketch Challenge, found here

 

 

Also entering into:

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Into the woods

Cupcake Craft Challenges: Boys



Challenge: Day 29

Five songs or pieces of music that speak to me or bring back memories

1.) The Old Rugged Cross.  I remember playing this song on my flute in front of my church when I was probably about 10, and my dad played along side me on his guitar, and he sang.  I'll never forget practicing with him, and then actually doing the piece!
2.)  Chicago: You're the Inspiration: Ok, so I'm going to date myself a little here. I remember my sister getting a cassette tape for Christmas, and on a road trip home from somewhere I got to listen to the tape while laying on the floor of my parents caravan, and dozing in and out of sleep. I was probably 12.
3.) Michael Jackson: Black or White: After moving to Florida when I was 13, and then again when I was 14, at about 15 I remember getting our very first CD player. And lo and behold, the very first CD I got was Michael Jackson. So I remember listening to this CD quite a bit!
4.) Matchbox Twenty: 3 AM: Matchbox Twenty has been my favorite group for oh 16 years!  They got me through high school and into college!  I have seen them in concert about 12 times, and still look forward to every show! 3 AM was their first big hit, and just hearing the first few chords brings me back!
5.) Kenny Chesney: Somewhere with you: This brings back memories of our honeymoon in Hawaii, and of all the months leading up to our wedding!  We listened to this album lots and lots... and lots!!! 

I hope that you like this compilation of my favorite songs!  Some of these have gotten me through those times when I just wanted to be enveloped in music!  
 
James 5:13
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

 

Challenge: Day 28

Pictures Only

This is my day that has been!!! 

No pic of my cuppa (I like that word!) joe!

And no direct pic of the very first 12 x 12 scrapbook page I'm workin on!

But you'll see it soon! 

1. Mowing the grass  2. My oldest (17 years old) cat Reeses 3. A quick stop in Joann's where I found some fab stuff on Clearance and I got to use my 15% off coup on yeah!

4. All three of my doggins (yep, that black blog is Roxy!)

5. Koa sittin in my crafting chair waiting for me to come home from the store

6. Ohhh my messy messy craft desk!

7. Dinner mmmm chicken and fresh corn on the cob!

8. Off to work for some overtime!

Hello

Good Afternoon bloggers!!

I'm hoping to have my blog every day in may post up later... but we'll see right??

Right now I have a fun and fabulous offering for you!

This last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, and there was a fab sale at

Michaels, and also Joann's...

So I picked up a couple of fun things.

First was a new Spellbinders die.

This is like the mega die!  I cut out the frilly goodness around the "hello" and also the

little middle piece inside the hello!

And these are the two smallest of that set!!

 

Last week I printed out a slew of these jars... some onto regular white cardstock,

and a whole page onto vellum.

I thought, well, I could put a cool paper behind the jar, and it would turn out like this!

Like the butterflies are inside the jar??

I like I like!

Plus I also got a new and very frilly (for me) border punch!

From Fiskars, I think it adds just the right touch as the band in the middle??

The brown lined paper (that sorta looks like wood??) is from bo bunny,

and I'm linking up to the sketch challenge at Page maps found here,

and the color challenge at Unity Stamps found here

And I also got that fabulous "hello" stamp from them!!!

 

I'm also joining in the fun at our Crafty Sentiments where the challenge is Stitching, real or faux!

Challenge: Day 27

A Letter to My readers

 

Dearest Readers,

   First I would like to thank you all for sticking around through all my posts.  I know I am a novice at both blogging, and at crafting.  I LOVE that I can look and see how many of you have touched my life, and I HOPE that I am touching yours.  Maybe with a technique that I'd showcased, or with a posting like this one. 

    Second I hope that you will continue to follow my little blog.  I promise to keep it real.  We all want to appear perfect, and I hope you have seen through this blog that I am far from perfect.  I will always be open and honest about that. I do however promise to try new things, and to share those new things with you! 

    Lastly I would like to take this time to simply say you all are the best!  The encouragement I get on a daily basis keeps me in my craft room, and keeps me uploading my (sometimes crappy) pictures!  It keeps me encouraged beyond belief! 

 

Thank you so very much!

Diana 

Anything but a card challenge 20

Ok, it's a new challenge over at Anything But a card

It's time to clean out some of those supplies!

Come on, you know you're like me and there's that piece of paper that you've been hoarding!

For me it's been these pieces of Carta Bella paper.

I don't know if I've been hoarding, or just never have anything to use them on??

I mean I don't have any kids, so when would I possibly make a fun altered clipboard 

for a teacher??  And how else would I use up this super cute paper??

 

How fun and cute? 

This paper set came to me as a blog win quite a while ago...

There was also a pretty pink set that I use for my mom's cards a lot (cause she's pink crazy!)

But this one is kiddish, and I just don't know that many kids!

I do however love love love the clippy part of the board. 

I painted it blue, and then I inked on some Peacock Feathers distress ink,

and covered it in glitter embossing powder. 

So in real life it's all glittery and shiny!

 

I guess you can sorta tell here. 

Ok, so head on over to Anything But a Card, after all, it's Anything Goes!!!!  Yeah!!

Aren't those the best??  I mean ATC, Mini albums, scrapbook, smashing!!  The list goes on and on and on!

Come join us this week! 

Challenge: Day 26

Something I read online

My husband loves to say "well I read it online, so it must be true"
You know from that commercial??
I think we all read things online, and wonder... "is that really true?"
I rescently read and listened to a post that my hubby pulled up that was all about how the American Dollar has been steadily losing it's respectability on a world stage.
How the dollar has been the earmark that the world sets their monetary value by.
And how when it is replaced that all the dollars that our mint is printing will steadily start loosing it's valuability. It was rather eye opening for those of us living in the US, and how this can really effect our way of life in the future.

Do I believe everything this man proported?
No.
But I can see the validity to what he was saying. 
He is making prediction. 
It may or may not happen, and we as a society may or may not
be prepared for this to happen.

I'm not really into dooms day preditions, my faith is in the Lord, and that He will provide for myself and my family.  I don't think it hurts to be prepared, but not to live in fear!
I found this prediction interesting to say the least.

Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.


Challenge: Day 25

Something someone told me about myself that I will never forget (good or bad)

I was in high school, and had gotten my braces off a few years prior...
I remember being told that I had a wonderful smile....
This has most definitely stuck with me through the rest of my life,
and I am much more apt to smile because of it. 

It's definitely amazing how one comment can change the way we look at ourselves!
Remember to smile today, and compliment those around you, who knows when it may stick with them for the rest of their lives!

Proverbs 15:13  A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.


Good story, good story

So a few days ago I was flipping through my blue smash book...

Backstory??: ok, so I own the blue and the pink smash books...

I bought the pink one a while back, and although I had started in the blue smash book, I just HAD to have the pink one....

However I decided that I wasn't going to start in the pink one until the blue one was finished!

Sooooo I'm now gonna work furiously to get it done :)

When I went to visit my family last month we had a campfire out in the woods behind my parents house.  It's a fun little setting, and as long as the smoke isn't blowing in your eyes it's fabulous!

My family has a sort of dry sense of humor, and my brother in law started telling a story...

Well when he was done one of us said "good story, good story"

It sort of became the motto of the remaining few days!

I know it's impossible to see in this pic, but under Good it says Story.

For the background, I spritzed with a couple of my dylusions inks,

and then stamped over them with my chicken coop stamp from Unity Stamps

Under the campfire pic I also stamped "AWESOME" which is another of my new Unity Stamps!

Finally, the ticket stubs are unity stamps as well!

Do you see a theme??  Me too!

Here's a close up of my little Saturated Canary image.

Isn't she darling??  Perfect for all those summer camping trips!

I'm going to do some journaling in that big open space under the title

I found the skecth at

and I'm using the colors from Designed to color's color challenge

and I found the sketch also under Unity's Monthly challenge site

Here's that sketch...

I flipped it a little bit, and of course I did it in my smash book.

but can you see it?? :)

I'm also linking up with take a picture challenge at Simon Says

Challege: Day 24

Top 3 Worst Traits

1. I brush my teeth way too much!  It really probably does border on me being OCD.
I wake up in the middle of the "night" and have to brush my teeth to fall back asleep,
I have to brush after eating, even when I'm at work.
I probably brush about 7 - 10 times a day...
But so far.. not a cavity in sight.

2. I hate doing housework. I'm a straightener. I can pick up things till the cows come home! However I despise cleaning. I can't stand cleaning.
Is that a trait??  I think it maybe is..

3. Sarcastic.... It gets me in trouble.  I think it get's feeling hurt. I sometimes just can't help myself!  This is possibly my very worst trait!

Smashing Gianne graduate

Hey everyone! I've smashed!

No no no, not I'm smashed... But I've smashed...

Ok, so you can tell by the class of 2012 that I've had these pics for a while?

Ok, a year isn't that long!

I was apparently waiting for Angie Delarie to draw this fab graduate to go with

My page... Duh!

That's my beautiful niece!

And if you think I'm not old enough to have a niece that's graduated from high school

Well, then you'd be correct!

Let's just say I was sorta a young aunt!

Here's Gianne's close up! 

See she's wearing the same colors as my niece...

Well almost

And some close ups of those little thought bubbles!

I really really love this little digi!

plus all the extras that are included!  

Angie Delarie also has a couple of brand new digis that just came out this week! 

So hop on over to her store and check them out!

I also followed the sketch put out on Page Maps for their Paper mixology challenge
and I'm linking up with the Anything Goes challenge over at Bearly Mine

Challenge: Day 23

Thing you've learned that school won't teach you

I'll start this post out by saying that I have the utmost respect for teachers, and all that they
have given me!
That said, I will say that there are lots of things that I didn't learn from school.
Things like how to make and keeps a budget, how to know when your dog is sick, and when
she just needs some love!
I have learned how to make some amazing food, and some amazing friends, I have learned that
if you don't put gas in the car it will run out and potentially leave you stranded!
I have learned that the tires on the car have to be changed out periodically... and on that same note, the oil has to be changed in that same car even more periodically.
I've also learned to not trust myself, but to lean on God for everything!  No literally, everything!

Keep your head up, that all I can say! 
You'll learn lots of things that you never thought possible!

Bright quick card

Happy Wednesday!

My weekend is almost over..

I know I have a strange schedule!

I was lucky to have the house to myself...

I got to create this fun card!

The stamp is from unity stamps.

I had ordered a slew of them a while back, and finally got organized enough 

To use some of them!

The papers are from Heidi Grace Studios,

A fun 6 x 6 pad that fits the color challenge at Docerela perfectly!

This is also a unity stamp on the inside!

I can guarantee that ill be using this one on a front very very soon!

Oh, and this is Koa playing with a paper bird!

He could barely keep his poor kitty eyes open!

Entering this into:

Docerela: color challenge #38

Unity stamps: card sketch

Crafters cafe: for mom

This is the final week of the mom/ special lady challenge at the crafters cafe!

It's sponsored by the fabulous Rick st Dennis!

So come on over and join in!

I made this fun little card using a unity stamp on the background paper,

And that sentiment on the front!

Fun, cute, and super quick and easy!

Entering this into:

A blog named hero: clean up your act

Anything goes: make your own background paper

Steampunkish playing card

I always see the fun steampunk challenges over at sandee and amalies challenge and think wow, that'd be fun to try!

So today I did!

Plus I used my favorite stamp pad: distress ink peacock feathers!

The challenge is altered playing card. 

I have a really cool deck that I picked up a while back. It's all sorta Wild West, but some of the images like this one are sorta steampunkish. I gesso'd around the edges, and the used my distress pad and some rub and buff. I love the gold pops!

The hexagon is a little piece of aluminum tape I ran through an embossing folder and then punched out with my new hexagon punch. I stamped some images on top of the distress ink, added the world brad, the number 8, and the zipper! I sorta love it a lot! 

Entering this into:

SanDee and Amelie's: altered playing card

Simon says stamp and show: favorite ink

Fun with ATC's: recycle

Challenge: Day 19

Five of my favorite Blogs and what I love about them

Tim Holtz: If you are crafty at all, you've probably heard of this amazingly talented guy!
You can find his blog Here
and you can see his touch on the crafting community almost everywhere you look!
I love that he is just the normal guy next door, he's easy to follow in tutorials, and you can see that he loves what he does, and he loves sharing it with others!

Saturated Canary: When I first started papercrafting about a year ago my friend Mary mentioned this amazing digital stamp artist! I was pretty much hooked at the first stop on her blog here.
Her artwork is amazing, and even better her blog is fun to read, and you can feel her love of Christ oozing out of all her words!  It's so inspirational, and her digi's are so fun to color!

Donna Downey: If you recall I made a little stop at her studios a month or so ago.  Talk about loving someone's work! You can find her blog here and her Wednesday Inspiration pieces are much anticipated for me!

Jim the Gentleman Crafter: Not only do I follow his blog, but also his Tuesday night Ustream as well! He's a hoot!  He reminds me so very much of my best friend Joe in Orlando, and I just love when he says "hey y'all!" you can find his blog here.

I hope you check some of these fab blogs out! Honestly they are lots of fun, and so inspirational!

Challenge: Day 18

Tell a story from your childhood.

Oh no!
Ok, so if this gets long I'm sorry in advance!
When I was little we lived out in the country.
We rode bikes, and we played in the back yard!
We climbed trees, we made forts, and we threw balls!
We also had a garden every year.  If I remember correctly it was a pretty big garden some years!
(maybe that's cause I was small)
I remember in the summers when my mom would go to work
she would leave us a list of things that needed to be done.
It seemed that my list always included weeding the garden, I'm sure there was some sort of
rotation as to who had to weed, but it seemed it was always my turn.
I liked when I got to water the garden much better! The watering part was lots of fun
like making chocolate milk, I would watch the water fill up the rows, and turn a fun brown!
Plus I would put leaves and grass in the water and watch them float down each row.
But the weeding part was never fun, the weeds hurt my fingers, and the dirt would stain my hands.

There were a few times where I could talk my brother into helping me out when it was my turn to do weeds,
but usually I'd wait until the last possible minute before the job absolutely had to be done
before I would rush out and pull the weeds.

What is the best part of pulling weeds though you ask??  or maybe why is this story still going on??
Well at the end of the growing season one year we had an excess of tomatoes.
I don't know how we did... maybe mom planted only tomatoes that year, maybe there was a bug
epidemic that left us with so many, but the 6 of us went out into the grass field, and we did what every
little kids always wants to do...
We had a Rotten Tomato Fight!
Yep, we got to smash mom and dad, and eachother with gobs and gobs of rotten tomatoes!
Ahhh it was sheer bliss, and a memory that I will never ever forget!

By the way, I'm the little girl in the middle of the picture above!
This was not taken after the tomato fight, but at a camping trip!
I also remember wearing that jacket A LOT!! 
My dad used to tell me I looked like Savanah Smiles (look it up!)

Hope you're enjoying my blog every day in may! 

Matthew 13:30
Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.' "

Challenge: Day 17

A favorite Photo of yourself and why

I love this pic!

It's from our wedding day (duh right?)

I love the plant in the background, and that we are both all dressed up!

I won't tell you that we were sitting on an extremely uncomfortable rock!  (oops)

No, it was a fabulous day!  It's so extremely stressful to plan your own wedding, and then

to execute it can be tricky..

I was lucky that I got to share the day with my family (from out of town) and friends.

Lucky for me you don't see any of this stress in the picture!

Remember I'm joining in the blog every day in may challenge!

Proverbs 30:18-19

"There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:  the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.

Challenge: Day 16

Something difficule about your "lot" in life and how you are working to overcome it

Well, I've said this on at least one previous post, but this one is a real toughy!
After all, some of us aren't really complainers, we just get through what we have to get through..
There are tough times, sure, like a few years ago when my husband got a dui on Christmas Eve,
you ask yourself what could I have done differently?
I try not to dwell on the past too much, there is too much possibility for the future!

There are difficult things that we all go through, for me probably the hardest is being so far away from
my family.  I've always been close with my parents and sisters and brother,
and it's HARD to be so far away.
I tend to treat my friends as my family now.
I talk to my mom a few times a week, which includes at least one time on the way to work
and one time on the way home from work.
It helps make things feel more normal.

I think otherwise I try just to make it through each day, I try my
hardest to put my trust in the Lord, and I pray.
I PRAY!  I used to think about something and I'd literally think I need to put that on my prayer list.
Now, when I think of something I pray right then.
It's sort of an instant gratifictation sort of thing.

John 14:13-14
"And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Blingy bugaboo

Ok, so apparently I lied about not posting any more cards!

Last night I worked some overtime, and I put this card together in some of my down time.

The image is from bugaboo, Stella in a glass....

I just love it!!

I've had that blingy picture frame for ages (no seriously! AGES)

I found the sketch from the Catch the bug challenge here

And here's a close up of Stella!

Plus I made this really cool embellishment!

It's a button with twine pieces glued to the back so it's a twine flower.

Pretty??  I think it's pretty!

Linking up with:

The Twinery: May Flowers

Alphabet Challenges: glitter or gems

The Corrosive Challenge: My Sentiments Exactly

Challenge: Day 15

A Day in the Life

(inclue photos from throughout your typical day)

Koa searching for ANYTHING outside

Crafting!

Morning Bingo

Morning Coffee

Blooming flowers along my walk

(I just brought these bulbs back from Florida and North Carolina last month!)

Running shoes?? 

It's getting too hot to run much now (on my schedule)

but I love my vintage Puma's

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Linking up with blog every day in May!