Danger: Cold Front Approaching

And no, I'm not talking about the weather; although, I did wake up to several inches of new snow this morning. I'm talking about the cold I've been avoiding that my daughter, friends, and family have all attempted to share with me. I've fought it. I've tried to hide from it. But I think it's here. The raw throat and feverish feelings have set in. Thankfully I have a BBC period piece that I need to finish up so in between work projects and when I feel worse, I do have something to look forward to.

Speaking of looking forward to things . . . CHA products are starting to hit the 2Peas store, and I just had to share some of them with you today.


The new "Berrylicious" line from Imaginisce is darling. I will definitely be getting several pieces from this line:

KI Puffies are one of the most darling new embellishments I've seen on the market in a while:

I recently received several new lines from American Crafts, and they have just BLOWN me away. Here is "Campy Trails":

Here is "Peachy Keen":

And here is a piece from "Hello Sunshine":

This line from Echo Park is not quite available at 2Peas, but soon will be, but I couldn't help sharing it with you today. "Playground" will just knock your socks off:

There are MANY new items posted in the 2Peas store every day. In fact over 200 new items, have been added in the past 48 hours. Be sure to check them out here!

Sick Kiddos!

Playing hooky from the first part of church today and then I'll trade with the hubby. I hate it when I have to miss, but Kate is down in the dumps and has been running a fever on and off. Sometimes I'm comfortable leaving her and then other times not. Today we're doing the parent trade off. :)


While I'm waiting for the hubby to get here, I thought I'd share my new 2Peas "Stretch Your Sketch" class link here.


You will create a double page layout in this class, and I created a downloadable pdf and TWO videos that show how I created the following layout:


You can find additional information, photos, and the complete supply list within the class details.

I hope you'll join me. One lucky participant will receive a 2Peas Gift Certificate! Now I'm off to check on Missy's fever.

Toothaches and Dentists

The little man developed a little "bubble" on the outside of one of his teeth Thursday evening, and we couldn't get an appointment to take care of it until yesterday morning. I had a feeling it was going to get pulled, and I was right. Poor baby. He was in so much pain yesterday. I kept him home from school and gave him Motrin as often as the medicine would allow me to. We also watched lots of movies and tv. He feels a lot better this morning.


While he rested, I tried to get some things done; but I don't transition well. I kept feeling like I was "on call" and he might need me at any moment. I think he's going to school today so hopefully he will be less bored, and I will be back on my regular schedule. I absolutely love having the kids home, but I like knowing ahead of time so I get all my "chores" done first and can be at their complete disposal.


I have a few shares today. One is a handstitching tutorial on the Create blog. I traced some punched clouds, paper pierced the paper, and then stitched around them. I love how it turned out, and this color scheme is something I wouldn't normally choose but ended up loving. Funny how that works sometimes! You can find the complete directions, additional photos, and the supply list here.

The second share is a layout that went up in the 2Peas Gallery on Monday. I wanted a bright, lively layout about my daughter's upcoming year. It is amazing to me how quickly she is turning into a little woman. I documented some of the events she will have this year. You can find the supply list here at 2Peas.And now I am off to prep for filming with Northridge Publishing. Always a little nerve wracking but good for me to stretch myself a bit from time to time.

American Crafts Projects

I wanted to play with some of my American Crafts stamps, so I created a few projects that I thought I would share with you today.

To create the larger card, I stamped the rose and bee stamp with clear Versamark ink onto patterned paper. Then I embossed the images with Clear Embossing Powder. I machine stitched the square to an embossed sheet of cardstock. I stamped the sentiment with Cranberry ink onto white cardstock. To antique the sentiment, I rubbed the stamped image with a Malted Milk Acrylic Paint Dauber. Then I rubbed it with brown stamping ink. I tore the patterned paper and added two of the metal roses (love those brads) to the card.

To create the smaller card, I cut the bottom edge of the card with a Fiskars border punch. Then I embossed the entire card with the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder by Provo Craft. I stamped the rose image onto the cardstock and then embossed the design with clear embossing ink. I stamped and embossed the butterfly image on kraft cardstock and then cut them out, slightly bending the wings up as I mounted them on the card. I added a teal rose brad to the ribbon and stamped the sentiment on the card with the Cranberry ink. I just love the soothing colors of these cards.

You can find the supplies to buy the cards here at 2Peas.

I also wanted to create a layout using some of the new "Classics" line from American Crafts, as well as, the "Dear Lizzy" stamps. Sometimes stamping just relaxes me. I figure I'll never have the talent to paint, but I can handle an acrylic block and some ink. Hee, hee.

For this layout, I started with the "Classics" tag and built the page from there following the same color scheme. The orange lined patterned paper at the bottom of the page is actually from the Halloween line, but it matched the tag and other colors so perfectly that I used it. These are fun, vintage colors that I wouldn't typically be drawn to but the tags convinced me otherwise. :) You can find additional photos and the complete supply list here.

And now I'm off to shake this dizzy spell and headache I'm having today. I hate stuffed sinuses! :(

Just Some Things

So much on my mind today. Working on multiple issues and thinking about some new projects and just my mind is ALL over the place. Love it and hate it.


So while things "load" or "print" or "dry" I often search the net for items that inspire me. I thought I would share a few of them with you.


I'm DYING to get these from The Land of Nod but the shipping costs outweigh the cost of the products (at least for me right now):

I want the small orange and the large green.

I also have my eye on these:

These are going in my daughter's room (they should arrive from 2Peas on Saturday). We already have the green version and large white one from IKEA:

Think this mirror is super cool and not bad for $20:

I'm loving orange right now, like these amazing lamps, but am only brave enough to use it as an accent color:

See. Told you. Just browsing. Trying to stay awake while projects load. It's WAY past my bedtime seeing as I get up between 3 and 5 a.m. Crazy. I know, but that's my internal clock for you.

NEW Giveaway Winner!!

Now that the 7 day grace period for contacting me has passed, I will be awarding the VIP Giveaway to . . .
You have 7 DAYS to contact me in order to win and then I will a new winner!

"WOW #78 Tutorial on the Create Blog Today"

Be sure to check out today's tutorial on adding height to stickers found on the Northridge Publishing Create blog today. You can find additional instructions, photos, and the complete supply list here.

I've also been hard at work redecorating my daughter's room (or is that just decorating when it's never been done before?). I'm always paranoid to paint because every time I've started decorating our homes, we've had to move. I'm digging in this time and doing it. And I started with Kate's room because it dawned on me that I only have four more years with this amazing girl. And I want her to have a retreat that she WANTS to come home to. Suddenly it was very important to me. I'll post some BEFORE pictures. It's still a work in progress at this point.

For those of you that live close I do have some furniture to get rid of. I have a 5 shelf birch bookshelf, and a 5 shelf white bookshelf, and two white lamps with shades that I need outta here. I'll give away the bookshelves for FREE and the lamps for $5 each. Just holler at me if you're interested. (All proceeds go to finishing up Kate's room. LOL! Just thought I'd throw that in here.)

The lamps look a lot like this but have white shades:

Prize Giveaway Update!!

I haven't yet heard from Carol. If I don't hear from her by tomorrow, I will be picking a new prize winner and announcing it later this week! I just really need to get these extra supplies outta here. :)

Some Publication Projects

Wanted to share one layout from my new article "How To" for Scrapbook Trends magazine. Each month I request designer's pages that include cool techniques for incorporating a certain technique or product. In January's issue, I focused on "die cuts." This is one of the layouts I created for the issue:

You can download this issue here, which includes step out instructions for creating the accordion fold circles on this page.

We're always looking for great ideas to publish. Be sure to check out our latest calls here. We're especially on the lookout for Cricut ideas, which is our latest publication, so if you own a machine we'd love to see what you're making.

Little Yellow Bicycle New Releases

I love it when LYB's latest and greatest products hit my doorstep. It's seriously happy mail. One of the lines that just blew me away this time is "Twig." This line contains everything you could possibly dream of to make fabulous projects. I clustered a bunch of products at the bottom of my page, layering and adding until I was happy. I often cut parts of the stickers or add epoxy stickers to canvas stickers. I just add and edit until I love it. I also added some Hero Arts stamps and American Crafts chipboard alphabet stickers to finish off this layout. The products for this line should be arriving at 2Peas soon. (Can I just hint: "feathers"--swoon!) You can find an additional photo and some of the products to create this layout here.

If you have a baby or a little girl in your family, you'll want to keep an eye out for the "Tiny Princess" collection. Full of pinks, purples, greens, and yellows this line is darling! I think I love the dragon and baby princesses the best. I painted some wooden blocks with acrylic paint and then decoupaged some patterned paper to each side before adding some stickers to complete these a, b, c blocks.

There are several other collections that LYB released so be sure to check out their blog here and their website here for additional ideas and the complete lines!

Silhouette Share

I was asked a few weeks ago to create a few projects for Silhouette, and I was happy to oblige. I love my Silhouette machine and wanted to put it through its paces so I created a Valentine's Day page using some of my favorite shapes. You can find the post on Silhouette's blog here.

I downloaded the following shapes to use on this layout:

dot_lace_background_C00249_20509

handwrittings_love_C00008_27205

heart_flowers_C00101_19547

stamp_frame_C20091008210314_18816

cute_heart__star_labels_C00124_19547

It looks like Silhouette released some few new products at CHA this month. Be sure to check them out here.

2Peas Gallery Shares

I wanted to share two of my latest projects that are now in the 2Peas Gallery. First is this Valentine 7 Gypsies tray. I had so much fun working with the Art-C Artist Trading Cards. I stamped, misted, added glitter and played with layers. I can see how addictive this can become. I think I will display this in my front room as my decorating colors lean towards black, khaki and red. You can find more photos of this project (including an individual photo of each of the ATC's), as well as, the complete supply list here at 2Peas:

I also had a bright and happy layout published in the 2Peas gallery on Monday. I'm loving bright and patterned colors lately, and I just played and had some fun with stickers. Love those Doodlebug stickers so much. You can find the supply list and additional photos here at 2Peas:

So is it cold in your neck of the woods? Right now it's about 0 degrees, and although I'm in my flannel pj's and a hoodie, I can still feel the chill in my office. Brrrr. I hate how the cold penetrates the layers like that. Hope you are staying warm. I think often about those hit by the blizzards, and I'm worried sick about Queensland, Australia with the flooding and the cyclone. I'm keeping you all in my prayers!

Happy 40th B-day, Babe!

Knowing full well that 40 can be a less than stellar birthday I wisked my husband away on an overnight getaway to celebrate in style. We drove up on Monday to Daniel's Summit Lodge. Once we stepped out of the car, we were greeted with the frigid cold temperatures. Check out the 12' snow drifts and piles!

After a relaxing (cough, "boring") evening at the lodge, (Man, when did we turn into two old fogies?) we woke the next morning prepared to try some snowmobiling.

Now anyone that knows me recognizes that I do NOT like trying new things. I am a creature of habit; and although, I did plan this surprise outing I was less than thrilled with the idea of snow filled, high speed adventuring (imagine shaking hands and an upset stomach). I wish I were more adventurous as my sweet husband loves trying new things. But this was my compromise . . . to give it a shot.

We arrived at the general store where we donned our gear: leggings, jeans, balaclava's (which were so totally sexy), down coats, and insulated gloves and boots. Then we got to pick out the sweet helmets:

Then my husband received meticulous instructions on driving and what to do if we tipped or fell over (instructions I was thoroughly mentally blocking).

And then with a bump and a tug, we were off (with very little screaming involved). After just a few minutes we were in tree territory.At first we stopped often, sometimes to take photos, and sometimes to adjust the helmets or our gloves. As time progressed, we became acutely aware of the -5 degree temperatures. Pin pricking skin tingles made it quickly evident that we needed to bundle up just a bit more.

At the halfway point of the trip, we had the choice to continue for an additional hour or to take the shortcut. This view nearly drove me on, but the temperatures and my chilled toes rebelled.

It wasn't long after meeting this handsome fellow, that my "sweet helmet" began icing up.

My hot breath was crystalizing on the plastic helmet. No amount of scrapping could release the ice crystals so my visibility was lowered to about 30 percent. Still, who could resist a romantic ride with this hottie?

One final stop to readjust the helmet and to recognize that frostbite might be settling in and we were off across the frozen tundra.

We arrived just a short hour later back at the lodge, where I discovered both my hair and my eyelashes had iced over. There's no shortage of adventuring around here. And so with that our 40th Birthday Bash came to an end. We are looking forward to going back when it's much warmer . . . like 20 degrees or something tropical like that.