Hoot, hoot.

Whoooooooo knew that an owl could be so cute?? I just love this little owl! I stamped him on some DCWV "Once Upon a Time" Cardstock and then cut him out. I added some sparkle to his eyes and beak with Gelly Roll Stardust pens. The chipboard flourish (translate that into "owl perch") is from May Arts. I painted it a "gripping" green and then stamped over the flourish using Chestnut Roan ink and a Prickley Pear image. I used a background stamp on the tag and added a matching green polka dot paper for the sentiment to be stamped on. It turned out pretty a-okay! All images are from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. (Including that cute little owl!)

Well, Peeps. Not much exciting happening here. I am getting a really late start on the old homeschooling thing today. This mommy is tired. I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday. I even have Saturday off. (No work at my place of employment!) However, the morning will be filled with soccer, soccer and more soccer for my Darling Daughter. (and Me too!) Maybe I can even wedge in some scrapping/stamping time in the next few days. Or at least I can hope!!

I don't know if any of you other Moms out there have ever had problems with this, but my loving son is 6 1/2 and we are still having trouble with telling which hand is his left and which is his right. It's an ongoing struggle. (Okay...at least it is a small struggle. Not one of those huge ones like getting him to tie his shoes! ha.)

Well, Peeps. I hope that you finish your week with a bang! Have a good one!

The last of Summer.

Well, Peeps. I think Autumn has officially hit the high desert. I have doubts about whether we will see any more really warm days. Thank Goodness. I am all into enjoying the cooler weather. And not sweating. Soon you will hear me whining about how cold I am. This is your warning!

This card is one that is hot off the presses. I will be sending on over to Nicole at Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Ya' all already know that I am on her design team and create "stuff" for her every month. (Some months in a more timely manner than others. ;o( ) However, this was a last attempt at holding onto summer. The patterned paper (swirls) is from American Crafts and the polka dots are from Prima. The image is ALL Prickley Pear.

However, I did a little trick on the leaves. I put two different thicknesses of pop dots under the leaf on the right. That way it looked like the leaf was curved a bit. I thought it was a fun little trick.

Okay, Peeps. It is just the beginning of the week. However, it has already been a long day at the Gem House! Hope the week gets more fun and easier. Of course, I hope you are having a great week out there in cyberspace! Check back again! Thanks for checking in.

Road Trip

It would be a great weekend to take a road trip. What is the weather like where you are? Are the leaves turning? Is it cooling off? I wish I could take a road trip. However, I have to work this weekend. Friday, Saturday AND Sunday nights. I am hoping to wedge some fun time in there though...to create and do some enjoyable projects. Maybe between darling daughter's soccer game and cleaning the toilets some time for fun can be found!

However, this is the deets on this project. This little page is out of a mini-journal/album I created several months ago for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps Design Team. Nicole, over at PPRS, (http://www.prickleypear.com/) has created some rockin' transparencies. (I used one of them for this page.) I distressed all the layers here and sewed (yep...as in SEWING MACHINE) the layers together. I am pretty sure that the patterned paper is from DCWV. I did use Ranger's Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy on this page too. It takes a long while to dry on smooth surfaces but it does work!

Okay, Peeps! Have a perfectly enjoyable weekend and make sure to get out there and do something fun!

Oh Brother!

Last month I posted a layout from an album I did for my lil' brother. Well, here is another page from that same album. I love the paper and the format for this album. I love the tall 6 x 12 format for this album. It also uses my favorite paper...Kraft cardstock!! woo-hoo. The stamps were from Zach's Life from Little Yellow Bicycle and also Prickley Pear. I wish I could remember what company the patterned paper is from, but I will freely admit it, I am too lazy to get up and go look for the scraps tonight. Please forgive my laziness. Also, since this album was a gift, I left the mats blank so that my lil' bro could put in his own photos.

Things have been rockin' and rollin' here at the Gem house. My darling husband has an extra day off this week and is helping with schooling the kiddos. Today, we planned to get a bunch of school done and plans changed all day long. My darling son, who just tested in Tae Kwon Do for his yellow belt got to wear his black belt during his class today. (It was a reward for good leadership during his previous classes and he got to wear it for just one class.) He earned enough special points to do that and he was so excited!!! He got to lead some of the drills during class and did a great job! Darling daughter had soccer practice and then after practice fell off the monkey bars on the playground. She wasn't badly injured (PTL!) but enough to make her tired little body hurt. After a nice shower, she was easy to get into bed!

Well, Peeps! Hope you have a rockin' good week. Check back for more inspiration later in the week and thanks for stoppin' by!

Finally!

How many weeks have I been promising new pics??? Well, here is one! Finally. I have had a couple of really busy weeks. Blah, blah, blah! I know you have been busy too, Peeps. I want to thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to check out my blog. I hope you all will keep returning again and again!!!

Well, darling son tested for his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do last night. He was so excited and Mom and Dad were so proud! He tested before a TKD Master. His instructor told them that many people practicing TKD don't ever get to test before a Master, so it should be considered a privilege. Otherwise, we have been busy doing tests and assignments in school. We school at home and the kids attend a virtual academy. We have had some problems with our online school in the past two weeks so the schooling has been going kind of slow. It's hard to get anything done because we haven't known whether the school will be online or not. Such a major frustration! Anywho....it is Friday and tomorrow will be the weekend. No worries then!

Well, Peeps... here is a project I have been telling you about! This is a layout from an album I gave as a gift. I finally got it "given" and the receiver has "received" it so I felt okay about posting some photos. This is one of my favorite layouts from the little album and the patterned paper is from DCWV. I cut the circles with my Nestabilities circle die cuts. (Which I won from Vicki's blog! http://www.stampedsmiles.com/ Thanks Vicki!!!)

The album is 6 x 12 inches when folded, and then when you open the pages out, the album is a 12 x 12 size. I used my trusty Bind-it-All to create the binding. I used my Sizzix Big Kick to die cut the stars. The "AWESOME" stamp is from a set from Little Yellow Bicycle. After I got the layout done, I thought it needed a little "bling". What better for a little boy than rhinestones...oops, I mean, BUTTONS! So I added a few assorted ones. I like the way the stars, circles and buttons look like they have been tossed on there! Really, it is more like controlled chaos!

Okay, Peeps. Another important day of school is about to start here at the Gem house! Have a great weekend!

Chess, Anyone??

Well Peeps...I have been busy, busy, busy. Yeah, I know that I keep telling you that. I have told you and told you that I am going to post new projects. Truthfully, I have been working on some, but boy, are they slow in coming. I have photos taken...some of a project I just submitted to a magazine, some of a gift I am going to give. I will post the photos of the gift, but want the "giftee" to receive it before it gets splashed all over cyberspace. So, here is a card that I did a while back for Prickley Pear. I love the black and white paper, and the chess piece!? Fab!!! I love the black/white contrast of this card. Nicole continues to knock my socks off with some of the rubba' she is putting out over there at Prickley Pear. Go on over and check it out!!!

However, let me tell you...I have been trying to find time to post more regularly. However, we have had some miserable days here at the Gem house. Yesterday was bad, bad, bad. Our online school provider was offline. We couldn't access our school curriculum. So the whole school day was pretty much a wash. I listened to my kiddos whine all day about having to "do" school. I don't know how many times I have had the "you need to accept summer is over" speech in the past two weeks. We seem to be slowly dragging ourselves into the school year.

However, I must admit the weather has been glorious here. My DD is back at soccer practice. She started last spring and loves it! I look at her out there on the field and think how much she resembles a gazelle. Long legs...running like lightning. Totally opposite of dear ole' mom. My son is getting ready to test for his yellow belt at tae kwon do...so he is getting geared up. He will have the privilege of testing before a "Master" from Las Vegas. I know so little about TKD, but do realize it is quite a privilege for this to happen. However, being my six-year-old, lovable, down-to-earth boy, he was more concerned about whether Daddy was going to make it to testing to see him that whether Master Brandon was going to be at his particular test time. Guess that puts it all in perspective, huh?

Okay. Here are the deets about the card. Patterned Paper-The Paper Co., A Great Year. Stamped images: Lino block background print, congratulation stamp and chess piece. Chess piece is embossed with Ranger's Seafoam white embossing powder.

Well, Peeps. Hope you are enjoying each day as the week winds down. Be safe, have fun, enjoy life.