Dutch Girl Birthday

My friend Corina is THE ORIGINAL Dutch Girl!!! LOL!!! seriously, she immigrated to the states from Holland when she was about 7 years old... So she even speaks the language! (Lucky lady!!!) And, she just celebrated her birthday this week!

Anyway, I thought that the Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl papers would be PERFECT to use for her birthday card! ( know -- sometimes I'm in definite "cheesy" mode!!! LOL!) So, using the Dutch Girl crafting kit, I swiped the die-cut "C" from the letter pages and backed it with Stampin' Up's Ruby Red card stock, for a border. Ruby Red matches the red in the papers perfectly!

The card base is Ruby Red, with one of the patterned papers for a contsrasting panel. Another pattern was used for the red strip and edged with one of the "Paper Frills" by Doodlebug Design. SU!'s Vintage brads finish off the strip. The "Joy" sentiment is from SU! as well and was stamped in black on Whisper White CS, then punched out with the smaller of SU!'s two oval punches. The larger oval pounch was used on the red patterned paper from the Dutch Girl collection, to finish it all and tell Corina how much joy she has brought into my life by her friendship!

BTW, if you are looking for a great source for the non-SU! items used on this card, check out Eclectic Paperie -- http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/index.html -- that is where I got the paper frills and the Dutch Girl papers! My friends Daisy and Joy will treat you right and they have so many awesome things at eP!!!

I have to apologize for the poor coloring on this photo -- I am still learning how to "stage" these projects and get good images of them! Please bear with me as I work through this!

Happy Birthday, Corina!!! Hope this year brings all good things to you! Love ya!

Easy Ruby!

I'm finally getting around to posting some paper-crafting things here and I'm very excited to share them with you! This starting piece was a VERY easy card I made for a friend's birthday, using the Stella Ruby papers by Basic Grey (got them from http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/index.html) -- luscious stuff, that really should be the spotlight of the card! So, that is how it was designed.



















The top-fold card base is Pretty in Pink card stock from Stampin' Up! and so is the pink strip backing the second Stella Ruby paper (the stripe), which I cut with scallop scissors on both sides for a fun trim! After mounting the stripey strip (technical term! LOL!!!), I made a slit in the top of the card for the Cranberry Stitched ribbon (also SU!), then tied on the SU! Hodgepodge Hardware frame, which has the greeting stamped onto So Saffron CS and attached with mini-pop dots. I finished off the other side of the frame with a matching mini-brad.

The only stamping was the greeting and I didn't use any additional techniques on this card, such as DTP... So quick and easy, but elegant enough to be a Mother's Day card as well! Hope you like it...


M.

Melodrama Madness!

My son's 6th-grade melodrama performances last week went off well and the play was well-received by the audiences! It was a blast watching the kids' hard work (3 months' worth) pay off in this hysterical final product! They have only one more performance, at another grade school, and this saga will be over!

My in-laws even came for a visit just for this (they have a 7-hour drive to get here), and my son did them proud! LOL!

So, now that I FINALLY have decent photos of the melodrama backdrops... Here they are!

This is the BIG ONE! It is12' x 27' and was hung on the curtain track at the very back of the stage...














Here is one of the three smaller ones (9' x 12') we painted-- this one was used for the classroom and the wall behind the saloon bar:


















Here is the street scene:

















And here is the mercantile interior (the teacher's favorite!):

I wish I had gotten a less-fuzzy photo of the last one, and had better lighting for the big backdrop... But, oh well... Can't win them all!

So, as you can see, I've been plenty busy myself, creating the artwork for these backdrops and then helping paint them! I think it took us (the other parents and me) about 1.5 months' worth of work to get these done -- but it was sooooooooooooooooo worth it, and great fun!!!

The kids and the teacher loved the entire set! You should see the GREAT free-standing saloon doors that another mom made for the set! They actually swing just like the real thing! And other parents made the bar/mercantile counter, the PVC frame for the backdrops, "wagon wheels," "tree stumps," etc.! I tell you, these kids were SPOILED!!!! LOL!

Anyway, that is the result of my very first foray into the world of drama set production! Hope you like!

Amazing Grace

Wow! If you haven't seen the movie "Amazing Grace" yet, you MUST!!! It is an absolute tear-jerker! My family and I saw it this afternoon with some of the youth from our church (youth function) and, I must say, it is VERY powerful!!!

If you have any interest at all in human rights...

If you have any interest at all in history...

If you love to hear an authentic British accent...

If you want to see a great example of God working in people's lives...

GO SEE IT!!!

I want to hear what YOU think of it!!! (WOW!!! Have I said that enough yet?!? LOL!)

I know, I know...

...it's been a while since I've posted! But, hopefully, I can post more regularly, now that I'm finished with my latest HUGE project!!!

I'll even post some pics of it, once I get some!

"What project?" you might ask...

Okay... I'll share... Have you ever volunteered to do something that you thought would be an absolute "breeze," and would put NO crimps into your schedule, only to discover IT'S NOT, and it DID?!?!?

Well, I just did!!!

Who knew that assisting with stage props would consume three days a week (PLUS!), for a MONTH?!?

But, it was done for my oldest child... My darling, almost-12-year-old son, who is participating in the 6th-grade melodrama (performances THIS WEEK!!! YAY!!!)...

So, it turns out that no one else on the crew was comfortable drawing the backdrops... So I did.

And, no one else was comfortable tracing the drawings onto the backdrop cloths without guidance... So I gave the guidance.

And, no one else was comfortable painting the backdrops (without specific color guidance)... So I gave the guidance, and painted along with them...

...and then finished the job, when the shading had to be done...

Good thing one of the other moms was right in there, working right beside me, everytime!!! I would have been lost without her!!!

And, I "crashed" a week ago... Just got too overwhelmed with it all (that happens to me from time to time)... and decided I needed a break. From EVERYTHING. For one day only. (Had to finish the job, you know!) LOL!

But now IT'S DONE!!! Not only that, but I'm VERY HAPPY with the results! And, even MORE importantly, the KIDS in the play are, too!!!

I guess it was worth it, after all!

But, don't ever ask me again to create backdrops for a play, because my answer will be an instant and firm, "NO WAY!" (Unless, of course, there is no one else comfortable with drawing things out, etc...) LOL!!! (I'm such a sucker -- esp. when it comes to my kids!!!)

Parenting is NOT for Wimps!

Thinking about having a baby? Prepare to be challenged FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!

It's hard enough to try and figure out how to take care of your new baby (they don't come with manuals, you know -- and I'm very bad at reading my manuals, anyway! LOL!!!)...

And, once you've figured out how to diaper, bathe, feed, etc, the baby grows into a new stage, which requires more adjustment on your part! And so it goes, through the years...

Well, considering that my boys are (almost) 10 and 11.75 years old, I think I've done an OK job of figuring things out (for the most part -- everyone makes mistakes!)...

They are even into a really FUN stage right now! They are independent enough that I don't have to "hover" over them all the time, but not yet into the challenging teen years. I can even have an almost-adult-conversation with them! I LOVE this stage!

But you know what the ABSOLUTE MOST DIFFICULT thing is about raising kids? It's when they get HURT!

My youngest had a biking accident yesterday, which required 7 stitches inside of his mouth. He was SUCH a trooper! He barely reacted to the local anesthetic needle as it probed the cut... Even the nurse said she couldn't believe he is only 9 -- he did so well! He is now in charge of icing his lip on-and-off, every 20 minutes, and is doing a GREAT job with that! This is one proud mama, here!!!

But I would take his place in a minute. It is so difficult to see him deal with the pain, to watch him get stitched up... Somone once said, "Being a parent is like having your heart walk around outside your body." It's so true!

There goes my heart... Into the kitchen to get his ice pack...

Cool Beans!!!

I'm SO EXCITED! One of my good friends has opened up an online store, in partnership with another friend of hers, that caters to those of us who LOVE playing with everything paper-related!!! It's SO COOL!!! If you get a minute, go check out http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/index.html -- you won't be disappointed! There are beautiful (and funky!) designer papers, embellishments, tools, and some great alterables to play with! Hmmm... What's next on my wishlist?!? LOL!

And, even better, I get to help design things for their blog!!! What an awesome compliment to be asked!!! So, while you're checking out the new store, also check out their blog to see some of my own projects and those of others!!! Their blog is at: http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.com/

And, if you contact them, tell them paperfrenzy sent you!