Scrappin Ashley

Shoes for support?!!

2012-01-26T13:55:00.001-05:00

When I say the name Dr. Scholls what comes to mind?!

Shoes that are made for achy feet, lots of support, are you gellin? those things right?!

Look what has happened after 2 months or so of light wear, and trust me if you know me...these are hardly worn because I am a boot girl, Ugg, girl and flip flops in the summer LOL.

Its raining here today and I couldn't think why for the life of me my foot felt "wet" when I was dropping Aiden off at school..........hmmmmmm now I know!!

When you wear the shoe and flex your foot, its terrible. I am pretty much not wearing a shoe and it becomes a trip hazard. I can tell where the glue line is and the glue they used was terrible apparently.

So.......I tried calling Dr. S and I was told that they did not handle shoes.

What?! Dr. Scholls doesn't handle Dr. Scholls shoes??

So I was told to call the Brown company and I call and they of course list tons of shoes and websites. Weird! Anyways I guess I am suppose to just sent these in to some area in MO and pray I get some kind of help???

I read the reviews on line...and lots of others are having the same issues as well!

Bring on the Nike's, Adidas, or New Balance because these aren't worth my time (or money!)

Guilty Feelings..

2012-01-25T01:18:00.001-05:00

Hello!

(Like the new design?!)

Oh goodness, where has time gone?! LOL- I know thats the story of my life nowadays.

I feel the struggle to blog alot now, which makes me sad because I LOVE blogging. I get the mommy guilt going on when I do orders and then blog. I feel like I am on the computer all hours of the day (not really, but alot!) and I don't want to think back when Aiden was 3 and I didn't spend time with him.

I know, I need breaks too and right now I am doing all the Etsy to build our dream home and get Aiden the things he needs in life and to help Brent out since hes our worker in the house ;) But really, I hate working when Aiden is home and sometimes I have to do but I try to focus on only Aiden when hes home and its just him and I :)

(so please dont stray away from my blog LOL)

Besides...can you believe how bored I would be without constant orders ;)

My sisters birthday card

(she loves bling, zebra, shopping, and the money inside the card!)

I used my Taylored Expressions 3d bag die, adding some bakers twine ribbon, gems, and ruffle ribbon and of course sparkle tissue paper for the bag!

Winter onederland parties are still a hit in my store!

I promise..I will be back soon LOL. Besides, its time for Inked Treasures to have a new release!

Happy New Years!

2012-01-01T02:10:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012!!!! It feels so weird saying that! Has it really been a whole year?!

When I was searching some of my favorite blogs I found this fun survey about 2011

I will update more when I am back to feeling better, how long can we really be sick here at our household?!?!

1.What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Released my digi stamp line, created a website, and really got into party supplies

2.Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Not really. Of course we always say lose weight and be more healthy but I really need to try for that again. I want to live a great life for myself and to be with Aiden! Some of my other new ones will be to let stress not bother me as much, start building and save $$$$$, and be a better wife, daughter, mother, sister and friend.
3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
4.Did anyone close to you die?
I knew of some
5.What countries did you visit?
None.
6.What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
lots of things! New house in the works, less student loan debt
7.What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 30th. It was Brent and I's 5 year anniversary
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Letting Aiden go to preschool and not having a meltdown (me, not him LOL)
9.What was your biggest failure?
need to save money better
10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
kidney stones...worst pain of my life (right up there with labor)
11.What was the best thing you bought?
Our 5 acres :)
12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
Brent- He is the best person I have ever met. He works so hard to provide for Aiden and I.
13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Not one person stands out ;)
14.Where did most of your money go?
buying the land and Aiden and bills
15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
Aiden being potty trained, buying our land, dreaming of building our home, Inked Treasures release, selling our old home in the winter
16.What song will always remind you of 2011?
LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem”.
17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? Happier
ii.thinner or fatter? around the same give or take a few pounds
iii.richer or poorer? Richer (but by no means rich LOL)
18.What do you wish you’d done more of?
date nights with Brent
19.What do you wish you’d done less of?
stress about the little things
20.How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas has come and gone but it was spent with family
21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Brent, my mom or my sister
22.Did you fall in love in 2011?
With Brent and Aiden even more!
23. How many one-night stands?
Zero!
24. What was your favorite TV program?
The real housewives show (any of them) sad I know LOL
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I dont really hate anyone...
26. What was the best book you read?
Water for elephants
27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Adele
28. What did you want and get?
an Ipad and land
29. What did you want and not get?
smaller digital camera to just throw in my purse and go
30. What were your favorite films of this year?
I don’t think I saw a single movie in a theater this year. How sad LOL
31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 26 and hung out with Brent and Aiden
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
more money saved
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
black and sparkly
34. What kept you sane?
Aiden going to preschool for 2 hours a day haha...seriously though, I could work on my Etsy orders when he was gone and spend more time with Brent and Aiden
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
Miranda Lamberts
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
none in particular that I can think of at this moment.
37. Whom did you miss?
my friends
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Amanda.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Family comes first
40. Do you have any lost feelings of others.
sure

Teacher Gifts 2011

2011-12-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hello!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We are still enjoying our Christmas Break and Aiden goes back to preschool on Tuesday.

Wanted to share the teacher gifts we made for his teacher and class helper.

A fun giftcard holder, where you untie the ribbon

and out pops a gift card.

Also made some candy jars for them!

Had so much fun making these!

Fun Giveaway Im trying to win!

2011-12-20T23:53:00.001-05:00

Hey There!

Aiden is in love with everything Christmas this year, especially the tree and holiday cartoons (how many times can he watch Frosty?! LOL)

On a blog I read I noticed Jenn is giving away a chance at a free picture with
Icaughtsanta.com

Its where you upload a picture of your tree and add Santa into the picture to "proove" he came! Aiden would love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am blogging about this fun website for a chance to win a free picture!!!

New Items!

2011-12-07T00:51:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Sorry for the post below and no wording or anything LOL. I was trying to email those pics to my mom and her Ipad wasnt accepting them because the files were too large.

We had our ladies only Christmas party (the women in my family get together for lunch, gift exchange, and a craft) and I wanted to make something special for some lucky names that were drawn.

Glass jars with layers of Hershey kisses and hugs.

The other item is my Christmas tag for this year. I used the Stampin Up Peek a boo tag set and stamped a doller michaels stamp and colored it and glued it to the top. I love the way it came out!!

Here is some recent Etsy items I have created for clients as well.

First Birthday Cupcake Toppers in the Dr. Seuss colors

zebra confetti

I added a new collection...monster theme

Here is a door sign

and coordinating banner

I am officially caught up on orders that have been paid for! Of course, I have several custom listing waiting to be purchased. Tomorrow is Aidens winter wonderland at his school. We get to see Santa, make reindeer food and more! Cant wait to share pics!

Have a great day!

2011-11-29T21:47:00.001-05:00

Making Progress

2011-11-22T00:06:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Time is slipping away, like usual for me :)

Just trying to enjoy all my free time with Brent and Aiden and prepping our land for building next spring/summer.

We donated the old house on the 5 acres we purchased to the local firefighters to train in and burn down in the end.

Left with a big mess LOL. At least this is no where close to where we are wanting to build our home. Time to clean up a little, but trying to get it done before Winter might be a challenge. Its always so windy at the land because its just alot of big open space, not like what were use to here in Indianapolis LOL.

Also decorated some Christmas sugar cookies....they may or may not be almost gone either ;)

Aiden really does like them :)

(and mommy and daddy!)

Pumpkins!

2011-11-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Heres my cutie carving his pumpkin (well...mommy and daddy pretty much doing it LOL) He hated the inside of the pumpkin.

Love this kid! He is such a fun person! I love this age so much.

Its Friday!

2011-10-28T14:31:00.000-04:00

It's Friday!!

I have a few minutes before I need to pick up Aiden from preschool and I have already been to dreaded Walmart for groceries. I hate going on Fridays because it seems like everyone from the city is RIGHT THERE!

But its done and we can have a fun weekend! Carving pumpkins here at home, going to Kohls for my 30% off coupon LOL, and Halloween plans this weekend!

Speaking of Halloween. My husband and his team had to dress up in a theme this year and I made his angry birds shirt. I loved the way it turned out!

Busy Fall Days

2011-10-20T14:05:00.001-04:00

Hello!

Sorry its been awhile...again haha. We have been super busy and enjoying the nicer Fall weather. Although for 3 days straight it has been raining non stop. Yuck!

We were busy taking Aiden's 3 year pics

Went on a train ride

Went to a pumpkin patch with grandma and grandpa (they also rode the train with us)

Aiden was so much fun at the pumpkin patch. He had to sit on every larger pumpkin and say "Take a picture"...what a cutie! He loved the tractor ride to the patch. He was SO SO SO good...good as gold as we did the train ride and pumpkin patch all in the SAME day.

Then we had a nice steak dinner...yummy! Love spending time with our family with Aiden. He is at the perfect age to do things and not have to lug the stroller around or a big diaper bag. Just my camera and a thing of chocolate milk ;)

This post will also serve as his 37 month recape as well since these are recent pics!

Aiden is always on the move! Still doing great at potty training. Wears 3T to 4T (most pants) He is back to being 50% in weight and height. Loves preschool and doing crafs at school. He also loves playing in the gym there and doing any sports. Still loves Chica Chica Boom Boom and is starting to learn all the letters! Still wanting to eat chicken, mac and cheese, "big cookie", cheese, pretzels and has been tasting alot of other stuff! I love this kid SOOOO much!! Its pretty amazing

Halloween Card

2011-10-05T12:03:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Happy Wednesday. I cant believe its only Wednesday...feels like it should be Friday already!! This will probably be pretty short. I need to take Aiden to preschool here in a few min and then come home and work on orders galore!

I hope today goes well for him. Today is the first day of actual preschool he is wearing his big boy underwear, we usually put him in a pull up, but not anymore. I hope it goes okay!

Here is another Halloween card I created a few nights ago. I love this stamp! I cannot find my mini pom poms for the cheerleaders pompoms or the clowns hat, oh well it still worked out. There is glitter on them anyways.

Love this ribbon...so fun, sparkly and 3d!

Well, gotta drop Aiden off at school!

Halloween Card and Video

2011-10-03T10:37:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Hope your weekend was nice. It was Brent and I's 5 year anniversary. We ended up staying home since Brents mom wasnt feeling well at all and we wanted her to feel better instead of watching Aiden...and getting him sick ;)

I have set aside some time each night to do something crafty for personal crafts....however, the first night was cleaning my scrapbook room but still..it felt nice! Its all clean and I even created a LOOOONG video tutorial/show you how I made a card.

Seeing how its 20 min of me just rambling on and talking, you can tell I havent done a tutorial in a while and missed them obviously.

Here is the Halloween card I am creating for my cousin and Aiden and my nephew Carson. Love this Northwood Stamp.

(I cannot take credit for the card layout/idea....recreated based on their card sample)

Love this card! I used acetate to make the window...really look like a window!

And in case you have 20 min of your life you dont mind ever getting back (ha-ha)

Also..be sure to listen around the 13:15 min or so...Aiden has something adorable to say to me! He melts my heart!

Alpaca Farm

2011-10-01T12:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

This isnt crafting related but more family related! Last weekend I had a Stampin Up party at my grandmas and afterwards we went over to Brents parents house where we all went to an Alpaca farm in a nearby city close to their home.

Aiden loved them!

I fell in love with the dogs there...so big!

Had so much fun! This weekend we are enjoying time at home. Yesterday was Brent and I's 5 year anniversary....I love him so much! I am very blessed in life! We were going to go out of town for the weekend but Brents mom, who was going to watch Aiden for us wasnt feeling too well and somehow an active 3 year old and being sick...well..it doesnt go together very well LOL.

In the mood to..

2011-09-23T00:05:00.000-04:00

I am in the mood to scrapbook! I am so embarrassed to admit how far behind I really am.

Its sad...the other day I was close to tears because I cannot remember some of the important things I have wanted to journal about and scrapbook...especially with Aiden's books.

I am probably going to take a break from Etsy for a week or so and have some "me" time. Of course, we will see if this actually happens. LOL. I really need to connect with my hobby that I love for my personal reasons....it loses the hobby feel when I work on orders every single day. Don't get me wrong. I am so appreciative of all the orders and clients I have at Etsy.

I am overwhelmed...and its easy to say that but I don't think people truly understand when I say I do orders all the time. I cannot tell you the last time I was able to just sit and spend the evening with Aiden and Brent. I just want to take some time off to make it fun and exciting again...or at least limit my orders for the month.

Again....ask me in a few days if I am doing this LOL, because its so hard to quit this when we are dreaming of building next spring/summer.

Here are some recent orders I did!

Hope everyone has a great weekend...time for me to work on that big peach/pink order ;)

Harley, School, and Pumpkins

2011-09-14T15:07:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

This will be cut pretty short. Its time for me to go and pick Aiden up from pre-school. I went to Michaels and Jo-Anns today and also talked to my mom for a little bit and before I know it....my 3 hours are up and time to get Aiden. I love dropping him off now...he LOVES school and always tells me he wants to go back tomorrow. I miss him at the same time but its oh so nice to go places by myself once in awhile LOL

A customer on Etsy needed me to make a birthday card for her "Harley Man" she claimed..so here is what I came up. She liked me Harley Invite and wanted me to change it to a bday card instead.

Love the fun chrome technique on the card. The real card is very shiny and fun to look at! He loves mountains AND his Harley so she was so excited to find this card...I love getting reponses like that!

I also created an adorable pumpkin themed banner for a twins bday party. Love the way this one turned out. For more details...visit the party blog!

Come back tomorrow for more projects!

Time to pick up Aiden!

Build a Bear and Putt Putt

2011-09-12T00:37:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Did everyone have a good weekend?! Mine went way too fast! It was Aiden's actual birthday on Saturday and we wanted to do something fun, even though we already had his party/gifts.

We took him to mcdonalds (he loves it LOL), Build a Bear, where he built a cute puppy named Bones, and we play putt-putt or golf as Aiden calls it. He won, of course ;)

Also...have you checked out my new design over at the Party Blog??? I just love it!! Since my Etsy shop is starting to take off more and more, I wanted to get a custom logo made and a fun blog look.

Here is the logo

Here is my blog ad button, which means you can save it to your own website. Love the colors!

Make sure you head on over to the blog though and see the new look. Makes me need a new look for the personal blog now LOL.

I also was busy this weekend making all my custom orders. This was is being shipped in the morning. A baby shower banner and door sign with glittered/fuzzy ducks in the colors yellow, white and orange!

Love the way it all turned out!

Thanks for stopping by...check back soon for more pics and projects!

Aidens Party!

2011-09-09T07:10:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Sorry its been a whole week without posting! My sons party was last weekend and I had been VERY busy making his party extra special for him, as well as keeping up with my orders!

Lets start off with some exciting news...Here is the new button I created for Inked Treasures Digi stamps! I am releasing FOUR new digi stamps today so head on over to the store NOW!

Aiden doesnt officially turn 3 till this Saturday but we needed to have the party on the 3rd so alot of people could come and help him celebrate. I still need to get his 3 year old pictures taken but its harder now that hes in school everyday.

This picture is out of order but here he is blowing out his candle. His theme was "Ball Party", so we had lots of ball themed items. He wanted to blow out the candle at least 3 times...it was pretty cute!

We had the party at my grandparents since its in our hometown and easy for everyone to get to.

Here is some of the table decor.

Here is a closeup. I made the centerpieces. Each one had different themed ball in them. I did the napkin rings and the photo cubes that have pictures of him throughout the year. And we made cake in a jar favors for everyone to take home.

Here is a closeup of the napkin rings, again each one had a different ball on it

Here is the birthday banner I created for Aiden.

Outside sign to welcome people to his party. I kept the sign pretty plain so he could use it in his room or for more parties, so I just stuck with his name. Loved this!

I made cupcakes in Chocolate and Strawberry, each one is a different ball/sport

*Football

*Baseball

*Tennis Ball

*Golf

His cake was french vanilla/white and was a 3d soccer ball cake sitting ontop of "grass". I loved making his cake again this year!

My sister in law was in charge of taking pictures of him opening his gifts since I sat on the floor with him and helped. He loved his party and keeps talking about it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

T.G.I.F!!

2011-08-26T01:10:00.000-04:00

Hello!

T.G.I.F!!! I love Fridays!! I really miss seeing Aiden 24/7 now that hes in preschool so I love getting the weekends with him!

This weekend is pretty busy for us....we are having to borrow a lawn mower (commercial size one so we dont have to use our push one for 5 acres LOL) and borrow a trailer so that we can mow our land since our dixie chopper was destroyed. Thank goodness...the grass is getting SO tall and the propertly looks overgrown and now our beautiful land/lawn

We are also going to my grandmas this weekend and I of course will be busy working on Aidens party decor! So excited for his party coming up. Can you believe he will be 3?!?!

In the meantime here are some recent Etsy orders I have been getting done

Banners

Cupcake Toppers

High Chair Banners

I am SO happy to say that as of today all my paid orders have been shipped out! We will see how long that lasts LOL. I am needing to stay caught up...we are sick here at the house. Colds in August?? Not fun!

Thanks for coming and check back soon for more updates! Have a great weekend

Princess Crown

2011-08-24T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Right now Aiden is in preschool so I have a few minutes to blog. I usually come home and work on my Etsy orders for the night so I can spend more time with Aiden and Brent once he gets home. However, I needed to go to Hobby Lobby today for more paper and ribbon for my shop needs so its pretty much too late to start anything since I pick Aiden back up in 20 min or so.

We havent had any tears dropping him off at preschool. I need to get busy working on his party decor and cake plans!

Speaking of cakes..I was asked to create a nameplate for a Diaper Cake. I was given freedom to create anything it just needed to be a princess crown theme, have her name, and be blingy!

Loved the way it turned out. The sparkles match in real life...not sure why they are showing up as orange.

I also just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Preschool and 35 Months

2011-08-17T00:49:00.001-04:00

Hello!! This week and last has been bittersweet for me...Aiden started preschool.

I am not too sure why he insists on growing up?! His first day was August 10th and he did pretty good. In fact, he didnt cry until Friday, which I assume is because I wasnt there and my nephew (whos 4) was and didnt have school yet. Who would rather go to school than stay home and play?

Now he has started crying, actually yesterday was the worst and today got better. It breaks my heart. I actually left with a teary eye today :(

Here is Aiden getting ready for his first day. We have been working on the smile thing can you tell?!

Although he still does this, which is really precious in real life LOL

Goodness I love this kid! I cried the first day. I admit it, bawled. It was terrible and I miss him being home all the time with me. Hopefully this gets better?!

While I am at it, it is his 35 Months Recap:

Aiden,

This month is bittersweet for mommy and daddy. You have done several things that just shout I am not longer a baby but a TODDLER! We started potty training and you are doing SO SO SO good. Although we are working on the big potty.

You also started school this month. I know its scary at first when mommy drops you off but at the end of the day you are SO excited and are doing your little yoga poses (they do this!) against the wall waiting for me. I love when I see papers in your backpack. Each and every one is on the fridge so far.

Aiden, you amaze me more and more each day and I love you more (you have started saying this...it melts my heart!)

Wearing 3T mostly in clothes

Still love chicken, mac and cheese, chips, pretzels and cookies. And yes, we still give you vitamins and pediasure to make up for that diet.

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!!!!!!!!! You look adorable in big boy underwear!

Love being outside

Always talk about wanting to go to your grandma Nancy's house (monkey). And you are always calling her on the phone and talking about Ipad and Angry Birds LOL

Still loves playing in the sand box, going to the park, and taking bubble baths.

You are obsessed with movies for 2 weeks at the time then switch and then go back

*Cars

*Bee Movie

*Elmo Potty

*Madagascar

*Rio (thanks to your other grandma Beth!) Which you call the movie Angry Birds

Back to love reading books! YAY!!!

Love you so much Aiden!

Love, Mommy

********** Did you see the newest sneak peek at Inked Treasures??

Why I havent posted....

2011-08-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

Hello! It's Tuesday already?! This past weekend was rough for us.
One of our cars is pretty much done with (were trying to build a house so this isnt the best timing)

Oh and speaking of the land we want to built on, we were called on Saturday morning by the fire department in the city where the land is and there had been a fire to our shed on the property.

Just a small pic..but as you can see a total loss. They are pretty sure it was arson or someone trying to steal our dixie chopper lawnmower we stored in there.

(see the frame?)

So sad.

They didnt touch the the older house on the property so whos knows. Its hard to tell what happened since no one was there and it is surrounded by corn fields and bean fields.

I have also been busy working on my current etsy orders....I created a photo banner in custom colors.

I have also closed my shop for the rest of the week since TOMORROW is Aidens first day of school and Friday I have a stamp convention to attend and I have alot of orders still PLUS Aidens invites need to get done/sent out.

Well its time to go to Aidens preschool orienetation...see you later!

Still dry!

2011-08-04T11:26:00.001-04:00

Yes, the title means Aiden is STILL dry!! YAY! It seems so weird not changing diapers anymore and I am amazed at how quickly he caught on.

Here he is putting some stickers on his potty chart. At first I was worried he would still be 5 and wanting stickers and prize but we havent put stickers on the chart since Sunday...so looks like we are good. And he hasnt really asked for a toy from the bag since that day as well LOL...so who knows!

Yesterday Clare's order went out...she requested the cowboy theme for my Etsy shop. I just love the colors together!!

Also I am so proud of myself..I created a button for my website when I sponsor challenges and to put on my blog. Did you know Inked Treasures has a blog where I list more details on the card samples??? Check it out!

You can click the button and see how it moves...for some reason blogger isnt showing the button moving....it flashes the characters and the address again!

Time to make lunch for Aiden and I...come back soon!

And the name is.........

2011-08-02T11:26:00.000-04:00

INKED TREASURES

Yes....I can finally tell you the name of my NEW digi stamp company!!

I also just logged into my blog "dashboard" and I realized I had over 40 comments throughout the past week-2 weeks that hadnt been published until I said they were ok...which is weird because I didnt have that moderation clicked. Oh well..So THANKYOU for all your kind words!

Click here to see the new shop!

Here are the 3 characters that make up Inked Treasures:

And because summer is fastly coming to an end and school starts soon....here is Back to school Ellie.

Perfect for fun cards for your child or sneak into their lunchbox and even create teachers gifts with!

On a personal blog note...We embarked on potty training with Aiden this past weekend. I officially started on Friday the 29th and it was a mess, literally

Aiden didnt understand when to know he had to go to the bathroom and it was bad. We were both tired, cranky, and frustrated and I was ready to give in. Do you know how hard it is to NOT ask if he wanted a diaper change, which of course he was asking for them as well. :(

Saturday- I had Brents help and it was SO much easier. Aiden had a few accidents but quickly caught on. He really wanted to look at our prize bag and get a sticker.

Sunday- I felt confident enough for me to leave to my grandparents real fast, well I thought it would be real fast.......... until I was ready to get in my car and I couldnt find my keys. Yep, they were locked in my car right in plain view in my cup holder. I am 26 and have NEVER done this and of course I had to call Brent (we live almost 1.5" away") to come with the spare keys. I was upset because that meant Aiden would have an accident and we messed this up.

Anyways...of course we are having troubles with the other car and they got stranded and could go to Kroger (thank goodness for air conditioning close by!) I had to borrow my grandparents car, come and get them, head back down, borrow a truck from Brents dad and we made it home)

Aiden didnt have an accident......he held it and went before we left to my grandparents, at my grandparents and at Brents dad!!!!!!

I am so proud of Aiden. Alll we need to work on now is going "poo-poo" in the potty..he still isnt a fan of that! LOL

Today the letter is "B"

2011-07-23T03:05:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Hope everyone is having a great and relaxing Saturday!! We are still under a heat advisory so we will be staying indoors for the most part. I got the house cleaned Friday afternoon (and believe it or not..it actually still looks nice even with a 2.5 year old LOL)

So I am able to catch up on orders, work on my digi site for release day, and spend time with my boys (my favorite thing to do!)

If you read the title of this post, B is the letter today.

Baby Shower Banner!

Such a fun way of meeting this client! Her and her sister were pregant at the same time and had baby showers together (both girls). There other sister emailed me via Etsy to create a banner for them combined shower. Somehow one of the sisters found my name and contacted me because THAT sister is now pregnant!! How fun is that!!

The sister told me that her sisters nursery theme was the Pottery Barn Kids "Jackson" bedding which is whales. I created this banner to coordinate with the theme and I love the way it turned out!

And also with the theme of the letter "B". Its time to meet Bella. This fun younger bear who is just like Ellie and likes the girly things but also in up for any activity or hobby (you will later on see why this is true!)

I love her polka dot dress which is perfect to glitter or glossy accent! Her lollipop is alot of fun to color too and is big enough to easily color!! Hope you like her! Tomorrow I will release the Lions name!!

Come back soon!

In the mood to shop & 4th sneak peak!

2011-07-22T00:00:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been in just the mood to go shopping?! I am feeling that way but its oh so hard to do it when we are saving to build a house next spring. So I guess I will have to let her do it.......want to know her name now?!

Meet Ellie, the elephant that is ALL girly and loves polka dots, bows, glitter and everything else girly!

It is still so hot here and we have head advisories going on. Aiden wants to go out side all day and its just too hot for it! Although he doesn't quite understand that!!

I did get an email on when I would be releasing the name (keep the emails coming!!) It is coming VERY soon. Like I emailed her back, my website is out there right now LOl. So if you someone found it...they could see everything and I want to make sure it is perfect and ready for the grand opening...so I pinky promise its coming in a matter or days!!

Come back soon for another sneak peak!

In the meantime I am linking to these wonderful challenge spots!
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge-animals
Clear it out Tuesday-anything goes!
Fresh Brewed Challenges-animals
Fab'N'Funky Challenges-animals
Die Cut Dreams Challenge Blog-animals
Allsorts Challenge-anything goes!
Papertake Weekly-cute!

3rd sneak peak!

2011-07-21T00:00:00.004-04:00

I have been having so much fun showing you new characters/poses for my new digi stamp line being releases in DAYS now LOL. So exciting!!

Ready for another sneak peak? Here is another character!

(Sorry..its hard to take a picture of a spinner card!LOL)

This card is so bright and so fun in real life! Its even an interactive card where the circle turns around and has a sand castle on one side and a yellow sand shovel on the other! Check out the sand on the picture. Stampendous embossing powder called Golden Sand (love this product!) really makes the sand pop as it looks like sand...but without the mess!

Since I have introduced you to all 3 characters I am starting off with I hope you see a theme here. Fun, whimsy digi stamps that have larger open lines. If have read my blog before you know I LOVE coloring, especially with copics. This was a big impression in my mind when having these created, tons of fun areas the color, glitter, flock, glossy accent, paint and more!!

I was also asked on face book regarding my "attacks". I am proud and HAPPY to say I haven't had anymore since those awful days. I'm telling you the pain was terrible and its the fact you cannot do anything about it that ups the pain I think as well LOL. I feel great and the weird thing is I haven't had a headache since that day and I haven't even had to use Tylenol for ANYTHING for what about a month now. I was getting headaches almost everyday before it happened. Related? Who cares! I feel great (again, knock on lots and lots of wood)

I hope you come back tomorrow for more sneak peaks!!

Linking up to these wonderful challenge sites!

Make it Monday

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

Lollipop Crafts

Sew Many Challenges

Dream Valley Challenges

Papertake Weekly

The Ribbon Girl

Allsorts Challenge Blog

Die Cut Dreams Challenge Blog

Fab'N'Funky Challenges

Fresh Brewed Designs

Clear it out Challenge

Cardmadfairy Digi Challenges

Day 2 of sneak peaks!

2011-07-20T00:00:00.003-04:00

Hello again!

Did you like yesterday's announcement?!

Today is another sneak peak and card sample.

I did recieve a question in my email the early this morning and YES...there is a new blog for the digi stamp but I dont want to realease that until everything is ready to go for our grand opening...which is VERY soon!!!

Meet the second character!! If you are like me, coming up with things for male birthdays or any events can be challenging! I hope you enjoy the second sneak peak and are looking forward to another one tomorrow!! Come back soon!

Again, linking this Birthday Card to these wonderful challenge sites!

Simon Says Challenges

Cute Card Thursday

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

Lollipop Crafts

Sew Many Challenges

New Adventure!

2011-07-19T00:05:00.006-04:00

Hello Everyone!

I am SO excited to be sharing a new adventure for you! The time has come to reveal what will be happening here VERY SOON!!!

My love for this paper craft has grown and has become such a positive hobby for me. I have loved getting to know everyone, see all the new products, and keeping up with the trends!

I am so excited to introduce you to some sneak peaks of

MY NEW DIGI STAMP LINE!!!!

I am SO excited and this has been in the works for over a year now. Each day until the big grand opening I will share a new sneak peak or card created with my images.

(I will let you know the name and the website address VERY soon!!)

I hope you forgive and understand why I haven't had any new cards that often...I have been busy creating and thinking of new designs for the digi stamp line!!

Here is sample #1 and the first character you get to see!

I am linking this card to some fun challenge sites! Check them out

Sweet Sketch Wednesday

cute Card Thursday

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

Our Creative Corner

The Pink Elephant Challenge

Dream Valley Challenges

Simon Says Challenge Blog

Lollipop Crafts

Sew Many Challenges

Be sure to check back tomorrow night for another sneak peak sample!!

Has it been that long?Aiden 34 months

2011-07-15T00:47:00.003-04:00

Hello!

I promise..I really don't intend to go that long without blogging. Life is super busy, as always :)

I have been very busy with a secret project that I will be telling about IN A FEW DAYS!!! The time as come to start giving some hints. Trust me..I have been online and "working" just not on this blog :(

(and no..I am not pregnant..isn't that what everyone assumes when someone my age says that)

I also have been busy with Etsy. I have been working every night just so I can enjoy the weekends with my boys. I love them so so so much. It's sad...Aiden will be starting preschool in LESS than a month. I cried. Last night in bed thinking about him leaving and growing up.

I have some type of control issues. He is my precious blessing. If you have watched Aiden or been alone with him...I must love you more than you imagine because I will not leave him with anyone I don't 100% completely trust. He is my everything!!

Here have been some recent projects

And here is my blessing...loving sparklers on our 4th of July celebration. And speaking of Aiden...its time for his

34 Months

Aiden-

34 MONTHS...please please please stop growing and remain my baby forever? This has been a hard month for me and I know next month will be even harder. I should be jumping up and down that you got into preschool AND you get to ride a bus..........by yourself.........everyday....WITHOUT ME!!!!! I have to put on a brave face so that you have a shot of actually going without crying for me to come with you. I pray you love school. I pray you cannot wait to get to the bus stop and see new friends. Why I secretly cry my eyes out because I miss my buddy whos always at home with me by my side.

This growing up this is hard...but you have come SO far. You amaze me and your daddy every single day with what you do, the things you say, and what you learn. You are taking in sentences now. Its the craziest thing...we have conversations! You also can count up to 1o now...once you get started that is LOL.

Right now at 34 months you

Love dancing to music in the car

No one can get a hold of me...my cell is always dead because you LOVE playing angry birds, soccer, and zebra paint on my phone...

LOVE watching Cars and Olivia and the Fresh Beat Band

Still in diapers....how I wish this wasnt true :)

Loves apple juice again

Still has to be outside as much as possible. Favorite outside toy would have to be your bubble mower. We take it to our 5 acres and you just mow and mow...too bad it doesnt really work ;)

Talk about riding the school bus....by yourself all the time......breaks my heart!

I also have to note that when we drive by this bakery that has cakes in the window you always scream CAKES...I love it and I will miss it when we move

I love you Aiden...I promise I wont be the controlling worry wart mom once you get in highschool...well I take that back...I will just be better at hiding it ;)

The Attack......

2011-06-30T16:26:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Everyone ready for another holiday weekend?! I am!! I havent been posting because I have been in so so much pain.

For about a week now I have been getting this awful back pain. Its terrible. I cant sit, stand, sleep, or be in a good mood. It literally makes me cry because it hurts SO bad. I told Brent that if I had been pregant, I would have bet money I was in labor.

Anyways I took some medicine and fell asleep (s0mehow) with the heat pad. The next night it got worse and than I started vomiting and just getting sick all the time. The next day...it was gone and I felt great! So weird. Fast forward 2 days later....it came back.

I was ready to go to the hospital at 4 in the morning but instead called a 24 hour hotline number for a womens dr...I figured they could still help me since I felt like I had to urinate 24/7 at this time LOL......she told me she needed to see me within 4 hours. Not going to happen with a sleeping toddler at 4am and I DO NOT want him to go to the hospital and get something OR wait for me.

I live in a big area, I wasnt dying so I knew I would be sitting at the emergency room too long, besides I couldnt sit.

So somehow I fell asleep and woke up at noon. Pain was gone...just a little sore on the back. Went to urgent care and it looks like I had a kidney infection and the only thing he could say about the "attack of pain was kidney stones.

So my pattern has been back hurting, feeling good for 2 days, HURTING again. Well...today has been 2 days of feeling good and I am scared its going to come back LOL. This time I was told I had to go to the hospital if it happens again. *GULP* Pray for me!

Anyways...so being in pain AND trying to do orders. I only shipped one order to the wrong address...not too bad in my book ;) (I wont even count it as that...its her other address, shes in a different city right now, so technically it WAS her house I sent it too, just not the right one currently).

Above are some pics of some recent orders. I am booked till July 10th with parties as my orders have really increased lately!

Well I need to get off here and get some work done before my attack starts...wait Im suppose to think positive right?!

TGIF!

2011-06-24T12:04:00.004-04:00

TGIF! Yes...its Friday and we are ready for the weekend here in my house! I will be working on my secret surprise (cant wait to tell you all very soon!) and working on Aidens bedding/quilt again.

I was so sick the other day. My back was killing me. I literally couldnt sit, stand, slouch...anything! I think it was the longest day of my life...terrible. I was also getting very sick to my stomach and couldnt keep anything down. Try doing all of that while watching a very active almost 3 year old. Bless his heart..he did treat me pretty well ;)

But I am BETTER! Thank goodness so Im not sure if the sick part was the heavy medicine I was taking? We have been having cooler weather here and we are loving it! However, tonight Kenny Chesney is playing and its the first time (except when Aiden was born) I am missing the concert :(

I have been so busy working on BANNERS for my store. Here are a few custom ones I have been doing.

*Remember...my customers are paying me for my time, energy, and the cost of supplies and not the images on the banners or party items*

Almost Friday!

2011-06-16T13:05:00.005-04:00

It's almost Friday!!! We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Brents aunt is in town and wants to see the land we purchased and thats on Saturday and on Sunday I need to go to my grandmas to work on my train quilt/bedding I am doing for Aidens big boy room.

I have also been busy with my etsy store. Curious George seems to me very "in" right now. I have several larger party orders all with either the traditional colors or custom colors. Here is a custom color package I did

Love the coordinating confetti in these colors!

I also was asked to create a custom birthday card for an Aunt who claims her neice is obsessed with Justin and wanted her picture near his. So on the card her photo went! (Her photo has been blurred for privacy reasons)

Well I need to get some laundry done and get ready to place a large Copic order. Email me if you need anything before the prices go up!!

Aiden 32 & 33 Months

2011-06-10T19:30:00.002-04:00

WOW...this is Aidens 32 & 33 month updates. Is my BABY really going to be THREE in three months?!?! Can I go cry in the corner now?

Aiden-

You are becomming such a character! FULL OF PERSONALITY!!

The last picture really shows that :)

You are really starting to talk..in sentences now. Its amazing the things you say!

Some of my favorite phrases have been:

"Mom...I cant dance"..when I didnt have the music on in the car

"Aidens in the room! or Aidens in the house!"

"I cant do it" in a sad little voice

There is a cake bakery on a popular road and everytime we drive by it he shrieks "CAKES" since they have sample ones in the window

If you ask if he want anything..he says "Noooope, Im good"

He is also saying please and thankyou to everything...we love it and its so so so cute!

Going to start working on potty training annnny day now. He also LOVES his daily vitamin...he often requests it. Knows all his colors. Still wearing 3T although hes getting tall and skinnier so he probably could do 2T in shorts only.

I LOVE YOU AIDEN!

Puppy Dog Items

2011-06-08T13:07:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to update real fast and show off a new "theme" I have created for my Etsy store, Scrappin Ashley

It's a puppy or dog theme. I love the way it turned out! I did the items for a custom request for a lady here Indianapolis for her sons first birthday.

I have created a high chair banner and cupcake toppers!

Other than creating new items for my store we have been super busy trying to find a house plan we like, and I have been working on Aidens toddler bedding (with the help from my grandma and mom) I am so excited to be doing his bedding!!

Well I need to get lunch ready before Aiden has an appt later on today :)

Come back soon!

Saturday!!

2011-05-27T23:08:00.002-04:00

Hell0!

Happy Saturday everyone!! I hope everyone gets to enjoy an extra long weekend! Hubby has Monday and Tuesday off!! I love his job...it works out so well for our family!

For some reason blogger has been giving me lots of problems. For example, it says I wrote that last post on the 6th, no 26th. Weird and now I cant move any pictures...which is why they are all at the top!

Sorry!

Those are some of the current cards I was able to create.

The first one is the card I created for my sisters college graduation. She loves black/pink so it works!

The second one I made for my aunt when she watched Mr. Aiden and my nephew when we closed on our land we purchased!

I also updated my party blog with another client photo! I love getting those pictures in my inbox and seeing how happy they are!

http://scrappinashparty.blogspot.com/2011/05/cake-topper-sample.html

Today we have a busy day. We are going to Brents family for the holiday and my uncles house on Sunday. I am OFFICIALLY caught up on ALL paid orders, just working on a few samples and I am SOOOO excited!! I finally get a chance to work on some BRAND new items!! I am so excited to show you these things..I also hope to clean my scrapbook room. Its terrible...I wont even lie. I step on about 23920 things when I try to sit down. No joke

Well I hope everyone has a great saturday! Come back soon!

Here is the link to my party blog if you are interested!

Sick Sick Sick........

2011-05-06T11:35:00.002-04:00

Hello!

I am alive! Sorry for not blogging so much. I have had this posted started for so long now but always got taken away before I could finish :(

Aiden comes first during the day, by the time I am done working on orders or spending time with my family its time for bed, and now I am sick. I went to the Dr yesterday and was given some steroid form of medicine to help me kick this whole Sinus thing...not fun!

I need to get better since its the holiday weekend and we will be at both sides of family. Poor Aiden also has this and Brent was sick from work yesterday.

We also had some pretty nasty storms here in the midwest and are just glad they are over..for now! I have been busy working with my Etsy items and one of the items is a smaller version of my balloon wreath which I will add soon to my store! This wreath is a 12" versus the 18" in the store now.

I hope you come back soon and have a great weekend!!

Catching Up

2011-05-03T15:08:00.003-04:00

Easter was SO much more fun this year than last year :)

Can't wait to see what Aidens like next year!

We were able to celebrate Easter for several days. Brents family on Saturday and our personal one and my families on Sunday evening. Of course it has been raining for 9232 days straight so pictures werent the best.

Here is Aiden ready to go outside. Hes thinking "c'mom mom..no more pics..lets go outside!"

I hid the eggs on the porch, front area and on the cars in the driveway since it was so rainy out.

Here is a picture from my aunts house...who have bunnies! Look how precious this picture turned out! Oh...and can you tell hes spoiled by all the stuff around him LOL

This year I wanted to start another family tradition. Adorable monogrammed Easter baskets that all my kids could have. Pottery Barn has the cutest baskets/liners and sell out FAST each year. I was lucky to be able to get TWO..the larger one (below) which is the basket the Easter Bunny leaves and a smaller one Aiden gets to keep to gather eggs at hunts and take to family.

Look how cute his basket turned out! ITS HUGE! A huge ball, pack of sidewalk chalk, candy, frisbee and bubbles all fit in there!

I also want to share some adorable custom Curious George items I created for a client a couple weeks ago. I love the way they turned out!!

Time to start the roast for dinner! Come back soon!

Aiden 30& 31 Months Recap

2011-04-22T00:35:00.000-04:00

Since I missed his last two recaps...here they are! My how time is flying by...

Aiden-

30&31 Month Recaps

I cannot believe you will be THREE in September. Mommy has already started planning your party and the theme....everytime I start planning it and you see the images you go insane...reassuring me we picked the right theme for this year LOL.

I actually cried the other day thinking of how fast you are growing up. Of course I should be rejoicing and thanking God for making you a healthy and happy little boy, but I miss you in the baby stage. It also makes having another baby in the future so hard because I love you SO much, I cannot imagine sharing your time with anyone else right now.

Talking SO much now. You really have started catching up and are saying phrases now. Favorite things you say now are...

"I can't eech" (I cant reach)

"I don't like it"

"Its Aidens"

When I say I Love You Aiden..you just say "you" back to me LOL.silly boy

I pet "hehe" (Chloe)

Im stuck

I cant move

Im running

Some fun things to remember you doing:

Hopping everyone or jumping and you say "Im jumpin"

Everything you see a playset in real life or on tv you call it a park

You have to push buttons everytime. On the microwave, our doorbell, the garage door opener

When you need a diaper change you always tell me "It smells or Its stinky" and before I change you...you have to stand a few feet away and throw me the diaper...if I dont catch it we have to do it all over again LOL I pray each time I catch it on the first try

you are obsessed with basketball

you have started liking Olivia, the piggy as you call it

have to have bubbles in your bath now

back to drinking chocolate milk, last month you ONLY wanted white

back to letting me read you books again...YAY

really starting to play with all your toys again

Some not so fun things we need to remember at this stage....

Everytime you fall down you yell, "It hurts" which scares me to death thinking you're actually hurt.

the temper tantrums...oh those can go AWAY

never want help anymore (especially getting out of the high car)

will not ride in carts anymore, hold hands across the parking lot or stay with me in general in a store, especially craft stores lately ;)

started biting..and hitting...where do you learn these things?

no more naps

waking up everynight again

But...the good outweight the bad!!! We love you so much Aiden!!!!

Rain Rain Go Away.......

2011-04-20T18:28:00.002-04:00

Hello!

We had some crazy storms the other night. Lots of scary winds, rain, and the tornado sirens going off and on all night. What makes it worse is right now we live right on the county line so I heard both counties sirens going off LOL.

Tonight has been pretty calm but I guess rain is back in the forecast for Friday.

Aiden and I just stayed in the house today. It sure doesnt feel like April outside. I feel so bad not taking him out to play, but its pretty cold outside!

When we closed on our land (SO EXCITED STILL!!!) I was suppose to watch my nephew, but I couldnt see me taking a 3 year old and a 2 year old to closing, so my aunt watched the boys for me. THANK YOU DANA!

I wanted to give her a thankyou card so I created the card below and put a Hobby Lobby gift card inside just as a little token of appreciation.

Its hard to see, but the purple butterfly is popdotted for a 3d look. Love the colors together!

Well its after midnight and I need to package up some Etsy orders before going to bed so goodnight!

It's a party!

2011-04-16T11:43:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I have been SO SO SO busy this weekend. I have been getting alot of orders still on Etsy (YAY!) AND it is my nephews birthday party today...so I wanted to make things for his party.

(which will be a post when I have pics!)

I have a few minutest to squeeze in blogging before Brent gets home with lunch and then we need to get ready to leave since they live almost 2 hours away.

A friend asked me to make a congratulations on your wedding card in purple and silver so here is what I came up with. Stephanie also wanted a special 80th birthday card made for her grandma. Here is the wedding one:

Its hard to tell...but this card took some time. The dress is in layers. It looks so neat in real life. I had to stamp the dress image 3 times and pop dot each one after cutting around it. I also used the Viva Decor pin in silver chrome....I love it!! You can probably click on the pics to make them larger to see the silver accents!

Well I need to get off here and get ready to get going...we have some errands to run before heading down. Come back soon!

Where have I been?!

2011-04-13T13:02:00.004-04:00

Goodness it feels like ages since I last wrote! So much has been happening and I cannot believe how fast the days have gone!

Here are my resons ("excuses" LOL) for not blogging very much:

Sickness- It started with Aiden..and then I got it. Except I got it SO MUCH worse than Aiden (thank goodness!) It was terrible. I finally caved in and went to the Dr after being so sick for over a week. Today is the last day for my antibiotics and I am still not 100% well. But at least I can function now. Terrible I tell you. Aiden seems to be fine! Like I said before...he didnt get it as hard as I did and Brent didnt get it at all. Amazing!

Also on the 8th we CLOSED ON LAND!!!!!!!! This is so exciting...especially if you know us in real life and could see us trying to find a new house. We have looked at alot and nothing ever seemed to "fit", or they were out of our price range. We still want to have vactions and nice things so that wasnt going to happen with a house out of our comfort zone. So we found 5 acres we liked. It was terrible..the first day we drove to the land to look. THREE others cars pulled up at the same time..and that was just when we were there. So who knows how many actually came and liked it. We were told there were other offers and to put our best one in....and we got it! (and we still got a great deal...well as much of a deal as you can get for 5 acres)

I finally was able to play around with a fun new digi stamp from an artist called Loopy 4 Digi Designs. Lori hand draws these all herself and they are mighty cute! I really loved this digi because ALOT of Easter bunnies or even other designs such as flowers, chicks, etc all look so girly and having a son and a nephew it was great to find a male rabbit!

This digi is only 2.50!! And you can find her Etsy shop HERE

I colored him with my copics and used some pattern paper from Hobby Lobby. The brads are fuzzy and reminded me of Spring...they also came from Hobby Lobby.

So I am sorry for the lack of blogging but now that I am feeling better I SWEAR (on my copics....) to be a better blogger again. Yes, I just swore on my Copics so you know I am being serious here.

So now I am off to start looking at house plans. Have some you like leave a comment with the url of them!

Day 3 Challenge

2011-03-18T01:27:00.003-04:00

Hey There! Its time for Day 3 Challenge..........Share your favorite photograph of your best friend.

Its obvious that Brent is my best friend (although I do have some best girl friends!). I love this picture of him.....perhaps it also doesnt help he has the cutest kid in his arms as well!

Brent doesnt like his picture being taken and he actually asked me to take this one...so you see his smile?!

Its real...and I love that! He looks so happy. He looks like a great dad (because he is!). Brent treats me like a princess...I am so spoiled. And the son we made....he STILL takes my breath away. Its amazing how much I love the little boy. So much it actually makes my heart hurt somedays. No joke!

I live a very blessed life :)

I promise I will be doing some crafty posts again!

Day 2 Challenge

2011-03-15T10:51:00.003-04:00

Time for Day 2 (we will ignore the fact I didn't post the other day) I'm terrible at blogging currently. I aim to get better LOL.

Day 2 is a picture of myself and how my day was

How sad is this? This is the last time I was in a picture taken...well except for making cookies not too long ago with my mom, sister, and aunt but they are all in the picture as well and I don't want to post it with them in it since I havent asked them.

My day has been going very well. It is almost 11am and Aiden is still asleep....in my bed. He woke up super early and wouldn't go back to sleep. This whole Day-Light savings time isn't a parents friend at all. Poor guy..he will wake up and its lunch time. So I have taken the time to blog of course, pay some bills and clean up before he gets up.

I was up late last night catching up on The Bachelor...I always liked Emily! I'm glad she was the one but I don't like the things he said to Chantal O after the final rose....he thought it was nice to keep her to the end?! What?!?

Anyone There?!Day 1 Challenge

2011-03-12T01:18:00.003-05:00

Life has been super busy. I am not sure why but for some reason I just cannot catch up....its crazy!

Days fly by so fast and I am up late doing orders from Etsy. Its crazy..I dont even relist anything to "catch up" and I still manage to get custom orders. Trust me, I am not complaining and I love creating things for people. Which is why, I feel overwhelmed 90% of the time lately.

So to help me blog more I will be doing the popular challenge thing that is floating around on blogs and even facebook.

Every day for 30 days...yes 30 days I will be answering these questions! Here we go!

1. 15 facts about me.
2. A photo of myself and a description of how my day was.
3. My favorite photograph of my best friend.
4. 20 of my favorite things
5. A photo of myself two years ago.
6. A photo of an animal I'd love to keep as a pet.
7. A song to match my mood, and why.
8. A recipe
9. A photo of the item I last purchased.
10. A photo and description of what's in my makeup bag
11. A photograph of the town I live in.
12. A TV show I'm currently addicted to.
13. Something I don't leave the house without.
14. A photo of something that makes me happy.
15. Something I crave a lot.
16. What's in my purse?
17. A photo of something that means a lot to me.
18. A photo of somewhere I've been to.
19. A picture of me last year and now and how have I changed since then?
20. My worst habit
21. 5 of my biggest pet peeves
22. My celebrity crush.
23. Something I could never get tired of doing.
24. My favorite book
25. A photo that makes me happy
26. A photo that makes me angry/sad
27. My dream house
28. An art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc) that means something to me.
29. A song that makes me cry (or nearly)
30. A photograph of myself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

So for today...15 facts about me:

My name is Ashley and it bugs the crap out of me when people spell it Ashely. DRIVES ME INSANE!! And trust me, it happens all the time!
I have the most adorable son whos 2. I seriously am obessed with my son. Hes the cutest, funniest, adorable lil guy I know. However, he sure does know how to push my buttons now.
We are living in a rental home for who knows how long. We sold our home right when we were going to take it off the market because winter was approaching and we didnt know if we wanted to build or buy a prebuilt one.........well the only thing that has changed is the house is gone but we still dont know what to do
The above comment scares me...I feel like we will never have a house again. I know thats crazy but we see something wrong with every house we have looked out...or there is always mold issues *siiiiiiiigh*
I always thought I was going to be a teacher....now I am blessed to be a SAHM mom. Although just recently I got really sad because I have never had a "real life paying full time adult job". That seems odd to me....but I am SO happy to be in the best business ever....being Aidens mom!
I could drink pickle juice by the gallon (My sister could too..so I am not the only weird one!)
I just ate at a resturaunt by myself for the very first time and I had to remind myself it was okay LOL. Okay, well I didnt go there by myself, my friend got sick and I had ordered a 25 steak at Cheesecake Factory...I had no choice but to stay and eat it if I still wanted to be married ;)
I still havent ever gone to the movies by myself....
I cant tell you when the last time I went to an actual hair salon.....the perks of having my sister cut my hair :)
Ever since I was preggo with Aiden I need chocolate every day, even if its just a little piece...I need it
I also crave fountain coke....just coke.
In fact, I am SUPER picky when it comes to drinks. I only drink:Water, fountain coke, Big Red, Milk, OJ and Strawberry Daiquries. Sprite when I am sick.
I can pop my jaw in and out of place and it makes an awful noise, well that is what I have been told LOL
I have never broken a bone...the only surgery I have had was in 2008 for a c-section
I am such a night owl...I could stay up until morning without any problem....

Beach Banner

2011-03-03T14:29:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posting. We have been SO busy here lately. I have been working so hard trying to keep up with my Etsy orders and on Tuesday I actually took a break and Mr. Aiden and I headed to my moms house for the day/evening.

Had a great time but as usual, I received 3 new orders LOL. And tonight I am going to meet a friend for a late dinner...then coming home to work on orders that have to get shipped out tomorrow morning.

(I have a hard time doing anything Etsy related during the day when its just me and Aiden and hes up and not napping.....I am a mom first thing and he gets all my attention besides doing daily things like picking up, laundry, etc)

Here is a custom banner I did to match their beach wedding/star fish design.

And here is a card that looks yummy enough to eat LOL.....the customer who bought this card purchased it for her daughters nursery!! Do you know how cool that makes you feel LOL

My next thing to work on is finishing up my big surprise project I have had in the works for the last year or so. Life happens so there have been some changes but still VERY exciting!!

Come back soon :)

New Party Blog!

2011-02-23T16:25:00.003-05:00

Click the picture below to visit my NEW party blog! Dont worry...I am still keeping this blog JUST how it is, but I wanted a place for my customers to upload pictures of their parties and be featured!

Starting to feel like Spring!

2011-02-17T11:58:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it was in the 50's and today it might get up to the 60's. How Ive missed you Spring! I even broke out my flip flops yesterday LOL

Sorry I didnt post any yesterday, my internet was giving me troubles off an on and by the time I would sign in, it would be down! I didnt even bother...

My to do list for today is quite long so I will cut this short today but I wanted to share some samples of a boys card I created (using mudd puddles for the actual dirt!)

Here is another sample using GCD products. Its quite easy making pages when I have such a cute person in my life to scrap about ;)

But I am his mom so I may be a tad bit biased!

GCD Spotlight Gal and Love Day

2011-02-15T11:22:00.004-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Have I mentioned how nice it is lateley to have working internet again and not have to sit at Mcdonalds forever late at night LOL.

Are you a fan of GCD Studios?! They are a fun scrapbooking company that makes fun papers, Chipboard tools and more! When I saw they were having a contest last year I tried out...and they picked me as one of their spotlight gals for 2011! I was featured in Jan 2011 and I am THRILLED!!

Click HERE to read the article and see my layouts!

(dont mind..they mispelled my last name...but I am use to it LOL)

I was so excited...heres a quick screeen shot!

Valenties Day was pretty great at my house. I am so blessed to have a husband like Brent. He treats me like a princess, so patient, kind, loving and such a great father to Aiden. Why was I so lucky in love?!

He surprised me with the Sparkle Uggs that have been SOLD OUT ever since Oprah gave them away on her show of her favorite things. He got me the black which are the ones I wanted!! I would love to wear the silver..but I think its a little too flashy for me LOL

Aiden was of course spoiled...isnt he always ;)

He got an adorable plush tree stump that have little animals in it, money for his savings account, finger paints, Tag JR books, adorable Uno Barn game, some candy, Mcdonalds Coupons, Dvd, a travel coloring set

He loves it all!! He is getting really good at opening presents :)

(These pics are out of order..but I cant switch them without having to load them again..so sorry!)

(Also..please ignore the beautiful milk "stains" on our leather love seat) So much for non leaking sippy cups...whatever!

So now today I am off to finish laundry and finish up my 2 custom orders I have to complete.

See you tomorrow!

I am back!!

2011-02-11T15:58:00.003-05:00

Im back!

Whew, that was the longest I have gone in awhile without any internet or cable tv LOL. I think we were getting on each others nerves here at the rental house.

Yep..we moved in and slowly getting back to normal until we decide what we want to do. We have signed a 6 months lease so we have a little bit of time to think about it. We dont want to rush into a house or anything.

I have slowly opened my Etsy store back open and the custom orders have started flowing in again. Its very weird from going to working till 3am every night to catch up on orders for not having any for nearly 2 weeks. Dare I say I missed it!? LOL

Now that I am caught up I hope to be able to keep doing my personal things. I have missed important bdays because I had no access to crafty items to make a card :(

I also missed out on Aidens 28 and 29 month recaps so here they are combined. He is learning soo much it blows me away somedays!

Be sure to check back soon for more crafty projects I have done and my GCD feature not too long ago!

Aiden-28 & 29 Months

Aiden,

You keep growing and keep amazing me at how much you know. Some days I often wonder how did you learn some of the new things you say or do.

You are talking so much better these months. Constantly chatting and less gibbering. We still have those days when you really want something but I cannot understand you and we both get frustrated...but we are working on those days :)

You have adjusted very well to the new rental home, except you keep waking up at 4am exactly for the last 2 weeks.

Here are some little things I want to remember about these months:

Your newest words that you say all the time are: "oh mom" ( I love this..its so cute the way say it), stuck, broke, pink, poop, pretzel, and more!
Too many words to name, but they are so cute because you say them all the time now :)
You now scream mom, mom, mom, or dad, dad, dad when you are looking for us around the home.
Still love going outside
VERY picky picky eater...thank goodness for mac n cheese and chicken mcnuggets
newest obession is taking off your pants for some reason and wanting them back on.
No longer like washing your hair anymore.
Started pretending to talk on a cell phone alot now..its cute!
still obsessed with your Toy Story boots..never take them off except for naps and bed time
You need bigger tennis shoes
You do not like any clothing tags in your shirts. So note to myself, all your clothes without tags are a 3T ;)

Love you so much Aiden! Keep growing and learning new things!

Moving Day is Here!

2011-01-28T23:41:00.002-05:00

So sorry for not updating...but we have been SOOOO busy closing on our home, I was finishing up Etsy orders till last night, packing everything and I literally mean everything! Its crazy and it drives me insanse with all these boxes around me..especially with a active 2 year old LOL

I just wanted to let you know that we are moving to a rental home so it might be a little bit before we have internet at the new place...so keep checking back on updates!

See you soon!

Matching Decor for your party

2011-01-14T17:18:00.002-05:00

Hey there!

I just wanted to show you some sample pictures from several custom orders I just did! They had their invites already created and wanted matching banners and toppers! I love the way both orders turned out!

*INVITES ARE NOT MY DESIGN!

*ALL PICTURES/INFO BLURRED FOR PRIVACY

Here is one for an adorable little girl that is celebrating her Dora themed party on Feb 12th, so her mom wanted a Valentines Day theme!

And Gracie wanted a Disney Villain party for her birthday! How fun is that!

So now its crunch time before I sadly have to pack up my scrapbooking room and will have to close down my Etsy for a little bit :( I dont want to especially since I am getting alot of orders but there is no way I can keep my shipping and turn around times the same, and I want to excel and keep those dates I promise!

I am working on a custom Dr. Seuss Package, Word World, Elmo, and finishing up some Barney items and more Dr. Seuss. Its crazy!

Well I need to get back to my orders ;) Its crazy and I honestly go to bed around 3am everynight...very sad but very true! I will get caught up and post cards again! LOL

Busy Busy!

2011-01-11T13:54:00.003-05:00

Do you know how much I love pulling into my driveway seeing that sign?! Of course nothing is set in stone till the papers are signed but things are moving fast so it looks pretty good!! I blurred out all the info on there for privacy and because I didnt ask our realator to post his info :)

I also wanted to take the picture before all the snow came! We have about 4 inches right now and its still going!

Sorry for the lack of updates but my Etsy has been hit pretty hard with orders and custom orders and I am still working to get things out. One of the custom items I finished recently was a 7ft baby shower banner!

She wanted the colors: yellow, blue, pink and duck theme! I love the way it turned out!!

So now I am off to finish orders and try to start packing. Alot of people have asked us where we are going? Our next step is a rental place because honestly we didnt expect our house to sell so fast in the economy and also in the Winter and we will not settle on a house thats "ok" since alot people wait till Spring to post. We are also still looking into building and finding land thats afforadable to do that as well!! Exciting times for my family

2010 Recap/New Goals

2011-01-01T21:52:00.002-05:00

Can you believe its 2011 already?! I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve/Day. Last night we had fun playing games and eating pizza. Today we had to eat our "lucky" meal of cabbage and beans...lets hope it works this year!

2010 was a great year for us:

- Made alot of progess with my business

-Brent only had one job (no extra jobs just his nice job)

-Paid off BOTH cars

-Aiden growing and learning new things each day

-Vacations to Florida (which was a happy surprise), Chicago a few times

-Listing our home on the market to sell

-Selling our home within 4 months (hopefully...were almost through all the final details lol)

For 2011 my goals are:

-To spend more time with my loved ones

-Be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and more!

-Let Christ in my life more than I have

-Continue to grow my Scrappin Ashley business

-Hopefully find a beautiful home or build one

-Have another baby..or at least get pregnant

-Scrapbook more and catch up on pictures

-Exercise more

Hopefully 2011 will be a very successful and lucky year for my family. We lived a very blessed life

Christmas Flew By

2010-12-27T13:15:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Christmas felt like it flew by here for us...you as well?!

Aiden got spoiled like always (Brent and I didnt do too bad either lol ;) )

Christmas wore Aiden out..he has been sleeping till at least 10..but he doesnt want to go to bed till midnight or later either though. Hopefully we will get his schedule back on track soon.

I will post some Christmas pictures of videos here soon!

In the mean time here is a card I made for Valentines Day and also my aunt and uncles anniversary.

I love those K & Company puffy hearts

Anyways...so the good news I was talking about in my last post it.................

We got an offer on our house!!!! We countered offered and they accepted!!!

So now..all we have is the inspection and hopefully the deal will go through! Of course we cant get too excited until its finalized but everything is moving really fast and so far so good!

A card!!

2010-12-23T01:17:00.002-05:00

I was FINALLY able to get in my craft room and create a card!! AND its Valentines Day!! Believe it or not...I actually created 3 cards that night. It felt soooo good!

But now..I have 4 custom Etsy orders to work on ASAP....so it looks like I will have to create cards later again.

I am loving this new ribbon I got from Michaels..so much fun!

Lots of little details on this card. I do have it for sale in my Etsy store if you are needing a fun card for a loved one!

Are you ready for Chrismtas?! I am so excited and ready to spend time with family and see everyone.

Well Im sorry to make this short but its almost 2am and I have to get up early tomorrow...I hope I can share some exciting new with you that I have been crossing my fingers about!1

(And no...I am not pregnant LOL..that is what everyone always assumes when someone says that right LOL)

Aiden-27 Months

2010-12-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

My Sweet Aiden-

You are now 27 months!! Crazy I tell you. I can tell you are a growing boy, somedays you just "look" taller and more boyish looking. We have hit the terrible two stage and it occurs quite frequently..especially since we introduced the Christmas tree back this year. You have knocked the entire tree down many times, broken ornaments and throw things. Other times you are the sweetest little boy that runs up to us and gives us hugs and kisses.

The way you say my name melts my heart. Ma, Ma Mama. You say it so fast and so sweet...oh it melts my heart! You have picked up alot of words lately here are just a few that you say all the time:

Boo-for Blue

Back-Black

Redd-Red

Cat

Dad

Wa Wa-water

Hill- for any mountains or hill you see

Buh-Buzz

Woo Wee-Woody

No (this is your strongest word LOL)

tee-tree

alot more words but I cannot think of them right now...you have been doing so well with your speech teacher and learning new things all the time!

Christmas is going to be a blast with you this month, you love find Scout our magic elf and love watching your Backyardignas Christmas movie and of course the tree. LOL

I love you so much Aiden..keep growing and making us laugh :)

Love, Ma Ma Mama

Christmas is next week!

2010-12-15T19:44:00.003-05:00

Christmas is next week, no really it is! CRAZY I tell you.

We are pretty much done at my house..I just need to get a Starbucks gift card for an add on gift to make totals equal for someone. Other than that..I am finished!

Did you like the sneak peak of our new family photos we had taken right before Thanksgiving?! I love the way they turned out! We have over 500 pictures on our cd we received and let me tell you...its so hard to narrow it down and be able to purchase prints that I want LOL.

I had several custom orders last week/early this week that I needed to get out so now hopefully it calms down a little so that I can create cards. Have you missed seeing cards!? I cannot tell you the last time I actually sat down, colored and made a card (besides Christmas cards).

Here is an item that has done really well in my Etsy Store lately.

They are adorable 1x8" cello bags that hold smaller candies such as skittles or m&m's and even jelly beans. I need to start working on some of my Valentines Day images for these!

I probably wont have chance to show you a card (or even make one LOL) since Brent went to the Pacers game directly after work...so its just me and Mr. Aiden all day/night and he is not so nice with my markers.

AND...were getting MORE SNOW and of course wouldnt you know it...we have another house showing tomorrow so Aiden, the cat and I have to load up and drive around in the inches of snow of ice we are suppose to get...on top of the snow that is left already. I am going insanse with all these house showings, especially in the winter. I just wish the house would sell or not until Spring you know...its so hard keeping the house clean with a 2 year old tornado around all day

;)

*Keep fingers crossed!*

Sneak Peak!

2010-12-13T01:49:00.003-05:00

We had some family photos taken by Lacey Yanasak. I will post more soon!

Gingerbread Houses and banners

2010-12-07T10:23:00.003-05:00

December seems to be flying righ on by! Since Mr. Aiden woke up at 6am..and it looks like no nap is in the future soon ( I could wish couldnt I..lol)

So I wanted to blog real fast, share something I made today and I hope to wrap the Christmas gifts...all by NOON!

We went to Brents parents house not too long ago and we decorated gingerbread houses together. Here is Brent and mines:

and the aftermath.....
It was alot of fun. I havent decorated a gingerbread house since elementary school. Aiden of course ate all the m&m's...that is why I had to switch back and forth between sno caps and mm&s for my roof.

Here is the Merry Christmas banner I made this morning to decorate our entertainment center. We do have a fireplace/mantel but it is in arms reach of Mr. Aiden and well he and paper dont really seem to like each other ;)

In real life the letters can be read vey good. The flash likes to wash out white things. I didnt have time to take another picture either because I was at that point blocking Aidens view of Toy Story and he wasnt having that. I just love mornings where he wakes up super early...hes always so grumpy and fun to be around LOL.

Well I am off to fix an early lunch and get started on wrapping gifts!!

By the way...I can make this banner for your house as well. There is one listed in my Etsy store for purchase and its 20% off!!

December!

2010-12-03T01:32:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy December..can you really believe its December already!

Christmas is so much fun..especially with Mr. Aiden around. We put elf on a shelf out, advent wall hanging, oh and a black Christmas tree....

Yep..black. Dont worry in pictures it just looks dark green LOL. I do plan on having a tree in every room (maybe not the bathrooms or laundry room) ;) when I am older.

Here are some quick pictures of our tree in the computer/office room. All the ornaments are strictly red!

(remember this picture of Mr. Aiden when I continue below...)

Remember that pic up there. Mr Grabby Hands.

Well as of yesterday he pushed, yes pushed my tree over THREE TIMES!!! Every other day he has taken off countly ornaments and brought them to me, pulled on the garland string. This time ornaments were broken and the tree is pathetic looking LOL. (Thanks mom for picking up my extra ornaments yesterday!) So I think we will not be having a tree this year. We were even going to put up our large family one also.

At least the tree stayed up till December! LOL

Its been awhile..

2010-11-23T10:28:00.005-05:00

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone still checks back to read. Life has been crazy and honestly I fell into a blogging slump you could call it.

I have had so many Etsy custom orders lately and it has finally slowed down a little. Well to at least where I can actually breathe again LOL. I have been trying to earn all the extra money I could to help purchase our dream land for our dream home

Ready to put an offer down and couldnt have been more excited

one more drive by late at night to get excited and make sure we still liked it (we did)

Next morning...it was under contract..so pretty much sold in my eyes. We are hoping it falls through (sounds terrible I know...) and we can get it again.

Very disapointing when you want something so much and work so hard to get things in order to have it and then its gone. :(

Everything happens for a reason so we are still looking for land we like or a beautiful home.

I am watching my nephew today so I am not sure if I will have much time to blog later so I just wanted to quickly post where I have been and that I am back!

Here are some things I have been working on. Sold in my Etsy store.

Thanks for looking and come back soon!

Sunday Funday

2010-11-14T11:48:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Sunday! I love Sunday's when we do not have alot going on...time to relax and usually clean up the house from letting it go on Friday night-Saturday night.

We had a busy day yesterday...we braved Toy R Us in a busy city...with them having 2 day mega sales...and everyone was there. I am pretty sure of that LOL. We got Aiden a few of his Christmas gifts and soon realized t hat this is probably going to be the last year we can do so with him with us....hes okay in the cart but when we get home he sees all his new boxes and wants them!

So far we are getting him so Dvd's, New Tricycle, Imaginext pieces, and still need a Zhu Zhu pet for him so he will have another one and then some stocking stuffers.

I have been busy working on orders..I feel like I have been saying this alot lately LOL.

Newest item in my shop

Toystory Cupcake Toppers

And I also made a custom card for Stephanie...her brother just got engaged to his gf and she wanted a card to send to them and wanted bling and Fall colors.

Well its time to get lunch ready so I need to get off here..but come back later for more!

Go Colts!

Aiden-26 Months

2010-11-11T12:56:00.004-05:00

Aiden,

26 months?!?! I swear time doesnt stand still at all since you came into our lives. This will probably be a short one since you do not like mommy sitting at the computer when I could be playing with you ;)

You are up to 14 words that you say ALL the time now since we started First Steps. Im so proud of you!! You are becomming more and more vocal everyday. The cutest thing you say is for firetrucks or anything with flashing lights is HOT. It's so cute!!

At 26 months you:

still in size 4 diapers...still a skinny minny
almost eating again ;)
Have become obsessed with anything Toy Story
Love playing with all your Imaginext toys
Still love to color and draw
Still taking 2 hour naps...although they are kinda late now
Still not wanting to go to bed..but sleeping all night again
Such a helper..you help with laundry and the dishwasher every day
still love being outside..getting the mail is your favorite
figured out mommys scrapbooking tool the cuttlebug :)
has to jump off everything

Love you so much Aiden!

Love, mommy

Monday and already booked!

2010-11-08T13:26:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday...if you read my title than you know it might be a long week for me OR it will be the complete oppsite and be the fastest week ever!

I am pretty booked for the entire week with custom Esty orders. Mainly all party packages..which I love doing!!

Here are some pictures of the most recent package I did for a Leilani who is turning ONE! Her name is hawaiian, which is why there is a lei flower!

Door Sign

Custom made 12 months banner..where they can put a picture of her each month for her first year!

Custom birthday banner

I had so much fun working with these colors!

So now I am working on Barney cupcake toppers, custom card and cupcake invites. Will show you pictures soon!

I also have to catch up on laundry and clean the house. Yesterday alone 5 people picked up fliers on our house..we only have 3 left!! Time to get more!! Hopefully at least one will want to see the house!

Gift Tag

2010-11-05T01:08:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday Everyone!

It was my turn today to post the Freebie Friday images over at the Blackleaf blog and it was my day to create a project with them.

I was able to make this fun holiday gift tag. I love that its still a hint of traditional color but I threw in the yellow to make it pop.

You cannot in picture tell but I used the Copic clearn spica glitter pretty much all over it :)

I also wanted my ribbon to have holes in it as well so it matched the scallop circle I punched holes in!

If you want this digi stamp (save to your computer and print from word) than head on over to my post over at Blackleaf to get the image!!

GO HERE FOR FREEBIE!

There is also a free matching digi paper that I didnt get to use on this project.

I am so ready for the weekend to be here! My mom and sister are coming here on Sunday and we are going to go shopping and hopefully do a little Christmas shopping..I am so ready to be done!

I also did a craft video that I need to upload and share with you all this weekend!

See you soon

Aiden and candy

2010-11-03T11:53:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I have been busy working on some more custom Etsy orders. I was asked to do gender neutral baby announcements and here is what I came up with. I was so happy when they loved them so much they ordered more than what they asked for so they would have some for future kids ;)

I did a version like this for Aidens baby announcements but used brown and blue.

I am hoping to get done with Christmas shopping here pretty soon. Christmas is in 50 some days...hard to believe. I really cannot believe its already November. Thats crazy! Where is time going?! I am proud to say that I am officially finished shopping for my sister, got started on my mom, and I know what I am getting Aiden. I am trying to slowly filter in gifts since Brent and I have really stepped up our saving habit for to hopefully be able to purchase some land here in the future!

Before I go I just wanted to share an adorable video of Aiden and getting some candy from his grandma. And NO he will not eat all of it ;) In fact she will more than likely get more than 1/2 of it back lol

Halloween Blog Hop!!

2010-10-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Halloween!!!! I am so excited to be apart of the Blackleaf's first ever Halloween blog hop and you probably can guess the theme......HALLOWEEN!!!

If you came here from the main Blackleaf blog than you are on the right track!

Also...dont forget to leave a comment at every stop along the way for a chance to win ALL the digi Halloween stamps you will see today throughout the blogs!! How fun is that!?!

Here is my project using just two of the many stamps that you can win. I printed them off and colored using my copic markers. I made the witch's feet into a mini 3x3 thank you card and the hat into a favor bag for a yummy bag full of candy!

I hope you enjoyed my projects! Your next stop for the hop is the wonderful DT member Chris's blog!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Early Halloween

2010-10-26T15:59:00.005-04:00

Isnt he the cutest little cow you have ever seen!?! We celebrated Halloween early with my family since Halloween is usually so busy with us. This way we are completely free to go to Brents parents for Halloween. Plus Aiden gets to wear his costume TWICE ;)

He actually left it on believe it or not and he looked very cute next to my cousin who was a farmer and Carson my nephew was a fireman.

This post is a little later than I wanted it to be but this morning we had tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms and wind advisories...yes in October!! That is crazy Indiana weather for you!

Tonight we are going to look at some land we kinda like...the best thing about it is its still in our same city but out in the country. Brent and I LOVE where we live, we just want a bigger house and more land! This land already has a pole barn on it so that could be cool!

Were back home!

2010-10-23T20:21:00.003-04:00

Back home from Chicago!

Our trip FLEW by..wish we could have stayed longer but the hotel rates were killers on Magnificent Mile and the weather was suppose to be rainy anyways ;)

It was so fun to stay on the popular strip. All I have to say is I love all the new Coach purses that just came out and were walking distance from us lol.

We went to Chicago because I am now officially Copic Certified Intermediate!! It was so much fun and Marianne was there (she certified us) and all the regional instructors were there as well to take the class and be there. So many ladies who I blog stalk were there! It was so much fun and made me want to run home and color!!

While we were there we wanted to brave the Willis (Sears) Tower AGAIN..this time its because of the ledge they have added. 1,353 up and 4 foot over the city is what we braved!

It was so weird to first see the ledge...your body doesn't really want you to go out on it. Be we did brave it and it was such a weird/neat experience. Aiden wasn't sure what to think..scared mostly. I didn't really want to do it especially since they had one of them BLOCKED OFF and not being used...why?!? An accident or was it broken???? (I know they were probably cleaning it or something but still.........your mind starts to panic)

So we are back and ready for the weekend here. We had two house showing while we were there at the same times different days...maybe the same people?!?

Doesnt Feel like October!

2010-10-16T17:28:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Saturday! It sure doesnt feel like Fall here in Indiana yet. Its abou 70 degrees still. We have been really wanting to take Aiden to a pumpkin patch but it just doesnt feel right LOL.

Maybe it will get cooler here soon and we can get one before Halloween?!

We have been super busy this week and this weekend too I should say.

We have looked at several houses and one even had a panic room/bomb shelter down in the basement...it was pretty creepy!

Tomorror we are celebrating an early Halloween party with my family. Can you guess what Aiden is going to be this year??! He was a pirate last year!

I also have been busy working on custom orders on my Etsy. This time it seems like Barney cupcake toppers are the popular item. I have had two orders this week!!

Here is what they look like!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Check back soon as I hope to get some coloring in soon!!

Aiden-25 Months

2010-10-12T10:27:00.004-04:00

Aiden-

WOW...can we please stop time? You are growing way too fast.

I got to take your 2 year pictures and I love the way they came out. When you actually stopped and gave me a chance you were such a little cheeseball. But then it was back to throwing rocks, mulch and dirt. Its hard to compete with that stuff you know ;)

*watermarked for internet*

At 25 months:

Still in size 4 diapers
Mac and cheese is your favorite meal right now
lately all you want to do is watch backyardigans or blues clues and I am the meanest mommy when I do not let you watch it more than an hour a day (if that)
Still taking naps...only when we are at our house though
Loves playing in dirt, sand and rocks and mulch now
love strawberry milkshakes from steak n shake. Although you probably only get 5 actual sips before its melted or you dropped it ;)
Still throwing the tantrums where you lay on the floor
can shoot a pretty mean basketbal.......with your left hand
can actually jump now, feet off the floor and everything!
still love going to the park and sliding and swinging
taking baths again!

You are becomming such a fun little boy. Your personality is really starting to show!

I love you more and more each day!

Love, Mommy

*Crafty things coming later!!

Copic Tutorial--Bricks

2010-10-08T00:48:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone. Ready for another Copic tutorial? This time it will be about using your colorless blender (O) to create a "brick pattern"! I will be using the fun TSB image that is available in the shop now!
Lets get started!

------------

STEP 1
Here is the image that we will be coloring today and creating a non card project with.

STEP 2
The first thing that you will want to do is grab a peice of scrap white cardstock (the same kind you printed your digi image off from). You will want to practice the brick technique because it will push the
color slightly out and could ruin your image if you do not see how it feels at first. This is of course hardest with dark colors such as the brown I will be using (E37). Go ahead and color or scribble a nice area for you to practice in.

STEP 3
Once you have the color you will be using scribbled on a scrap piece of paper, grab your colorless blender (0) and for the next steps we will be using the BROAD tip. I always love doing this technique because I feel like I never get to use the broad tips of my markers!

STEP 4
For this picture I had my husband take a picture of me doing the technique, so this is how you would see me doing it. But in your hand you will hold the marker so the longer part of the broad tip will hit the paper first on the left hand side

STEP 5
Then slowly "roll" the broad tip down so the rest of the tip is touching the paper flush. Hold for a few seconds. You can practice holding at different seconds. Of course the longer you hold it down the more color is erased and can be spread.

STEP 6
Try it out a few times and you can start to see the brick pattern!

STEP 7
When you are ready to try it on your digi image go ahead and color the entire building. I stayed with E37 but if you didnt like the color you chose first then pick another one.

STEP 8
Here is the building done. Where you cannot fit the whole tip just sort of drag the tip (from the longest end) to get rid of the color and look like the technique. BUT you can see where the color runs because the colorless blender pushed it out. Go back over it with the brush end of the blender and using a sweeping motion, push it back to the line of the image. It should get rid of alot of the messed up lines. This is why it is very important to use great paper with Copics!

STEP 9
Color in the rest of the image. Here are the colors I used:
Bricks- E37, 0
Canapy/Curtains- RV04
Sidewalks/Plant boxes- C5
Flowers/Doormat/Sign- Y08
Street light/windows/store- W-5
Clounds/Shutters-BG10

STEP 10
I wanted to create a non card project so I created a gift bag. This is perfect to give your stamping friend some extra goodies you will never use or have duplicates of and make their day or birthday!! I also added "For You" on the empty sign holder with a Copic Multi-liner.

I hope you enjoyed this technique!!

This tutorial is posted on The Stamping Boutique Challenge Blog..go check it out!!

I am so happy it is FINALLY Friday. I just wanted to say thank you to my grandma for going to watch Aiden for me so I can visit with a friend that really needs someone to talk to...she is watching him on a last minute notice!! Love you grandma and THANK YOU!!

Aiden loves playing over there so it works for both of us :)

Anyways...we havent heard back from the offer we put in on a house. Oh well..of course the owners wont accept, they have been living there house payment FREE for 3.5 years. Who wouldnt want to leave that?!

Saturday

2010-10-02T12:42:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Its Saturday!! We have a busy weekend for us. We have to look at a house again today and tomorrow and Monday we have people wanting to see our house...hopefully one will put in a offer

;)

I just wanted to share with you another custom order I did for a birthday party where the colors were hot pink, black, white and cupcake theme.

I love the way these turned out!!

It is actually raining here in Indiana today...crazy. We havent seen rain in for so long! Aiden is at his grandmas today so of course it rains (going outside is his FAVORITE thing to do)

My mom bought Aiden a winter coat, warm socks, new shoes and some adorable LONG sleeve shirts the other day....so sad. I miss the warmer weather already lol. Oh well at least hes ready for the colder weather.

I hope to get some craft time in..I need to finish another lollipop order (can be seen in my store)

sorry to cut this short but I have to get ready to see the house :)

Newest Custom Order!

2010-09-29T00:05:00.003-04:00

Yep...more of my fun lollipop invites!! This time they were done for a baby boy shower. The pattern paper has a shiny coat of glitter (that doesn't flick off) on some parts. The baby shower colors were teal, blue, and green. I love how they turned out. To see more or order some of your own just visit my Etsy Store-Scrappin Ashley

I always like to show my customers a sample, especially if its a custom order and I need to purchase supplies to fit their needs. Here is what I did for my first "mock" sample..as you can tell I only needed to change the ribbon!! Not too bad in my book!!

I also have another lollipop invite order I need to start on and this time its for a sweet little boys FIRST birthday!! How special is that!

I am sorry all I have to show are items from my Etsy store but honestly I cannot tell you the last time I was able to sit down and color with my copics :(

Wanna know something sad. I have been so busy with orders and trying to sell our home that I have two HUGE boxes of pictures from snapfish and shutterfly....and I havent even opened them!!! That is crazy if you know me. just crazy........

Brent also booked our hotel room for my Copic intermediate certification that I got into!! How exciting. That will be here before we know it. Cant wait to share everything I learn!

Well its a little after midnight and I need to pick up the house a little (or else my day starts out chaotic) and head to bed. Mr. Aiden got up before 7am today....not fun!

More Justin Bieber Work

2010-09-26T20:39:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Am I really posting twice in a weekend?! Amazing. Today we had an open house so we were kicked out of the house for a little bit today so last night I stayed up till about 3am (I was SOO tired) to knock out the rest of my Etsy custom orders.

Here is what is going in my second shipment for Ryleigh's 5th Birthday party:

Keep in mind..it is a Justin Bieber (very popular singer right now, especially for little girls ;) )

20 Thank you's

I also made handmade glitter and hologram confetti..and let me tell you. I never thought this little bag would ever get full HAHA. Whew...I saved this for last and I was happy at 3am when I sealed the baggie shut to mail off :)

It is pretty cool though!!

20 of my fun pixie stick pinwheel party favors but featuring Justin on them. I used a fun pink glitter cardstock and used popdots to stick Justins face over the brad.

Again...I am loving the party designing aspect of crafting right now. Although on Friday I sold 14 cards to one lady on Etsy...that folks, is my record!! I was so excited LOL

Anways, during the open house we went and drove by some land we have been looking at. We just really need to make sure its not in a flood zone area because of the small creek the runs in the back that is linked to a large river here in Indiana that floods alot.

With our luck...it would flood

The rest of tonight has been kind of lazy. Its 60 degrees here and I love it!! Aiden looks so cute in his little jacket :) We got some KFC and watched the colts win the football game...now I am ready to watch some Amazing race!! Have a great Sunday night!

Saturday Lazy Day

2010-09-25T10:58:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Its the weekend!!! Finally!! I have been super busy that I feel like I just haven't had much time to do anything else..but..clean the house, drive around (waiting for house showings to be over) and keeping up with my Etsy orders.

I have been doing ALOT of custom work lately and I just want to show you my newest custom order which I am still working on. This party is for Ryleigh and she is turning 5 and loves Justin Bieber. I have the pleasure of making her:

Birthday Door Sign..if you cannot tell her colors are hot pink, black, white, and polka dots! Sounds like my scrap book room!

Smaller banner for front door..in real life you can actually see the white letters on the white paper..my flash washed it out for some reason.

Banner 2 much larger to hang over cake area

I also created 20 bag toppers and cellophane bags for treat bags for her party

Here are the invitations. Very girly and lots of glitter!!!
I have shipped that box out..so the invites can go out! I am still working on

20 thank yous
handmade confetti..lots of :)
20 pixie stick pinwheels

That box will go out Monday...or it better ;) We have an open house tomorrow and the Colts game so I am not sure where I will get ALOT of time from...it will be a busy day for me today. I love it..I really do :)

Mr. Aiden and Brent are out garage selling (is that the word you would use?! It doesnt look right to me!)

Wonder if they will find any stamps?? Then its off to clean, clean, clean.

Come back soon to see more crafty goodness and have a great weekend!

Check out my Etsy store for cards, invites, necklaces and more!!

More custom work..

2010-09-22T01:32:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Today has been a crazy busy day..well night whatever you want to call it as it is 1:30 in the morning here and I am just now finishing up some things. Not that I am complaining but my Etsy store has stepped up in business..its crazy!! Tonight I had to finish 20 more custom cupcake invites and I mailed some out this morning as well for another customer.

It seems like I get all custom orders at the same time :) LOL...isnt that how it works?!

I also want to show you something I am creating and selling in the store as well. I have stamped on these adorable white frosted glassine bags and created stickers for them to stay shut! Check them out here if you are interested in purchasing them!

Here are the newer custom cupcake invites I made for a lady. So much fun and when you open them up there is stamped who, what, where, etc stamped inside.

Arent those adorable..too bad I dont have a little girl to use them for lol.

I am also posting now because we have another house showing tomorrow night. They want to see the house from 7-8 PM, which I thought was kinda late but whatever they want :)

BUT..do you know how hard it is to keep the house clean with Mr. Aiden running around AND getting out of the house before they show up with Aiden and the cat who meows like crazy bc she thinks we are taking her to the vet lol...not a fun day. I really hope this one works out!! I am so happy though, we have been on the market for only 13 days and we have had some people look!! Not too bad. If you have some extra prayers...say one that our house sells pretty fast. Our neighbor is getting forelcosed on and it will bring our value down and we are already taking a loss on it :(

Have a great day!!

Halloween Things and some great news!

2010-09-19T11:04:00.004-04:00

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I hope everyone's weekend went well so far. Ours has flown by..dont they always though?

I have so much to do today..I have a custom order I need to finish from Etsy and also keep making things for the craft show I am in October 16!

I have some exciting news......if you are familiar with the certification classes Copic does, they announced they will do ONE intermediate class and the rest will start next year. This one happens to be in Chicago and is taught by Marianne Walker (she certified me the first time!)

You had to "try out" since seats are so limited and even if you were a "big name" in crafting they wouldnt just use that...so everyone did the same color test............

AND I WAS ACCEPTED!!!!!!

I am so excited!!

Anyways..here are some more Halloween diecuts I have been working on for my Etsy store!

Hope you have a great Sunday (GO COLTS!)

New Glasses and Cusom Orders

2010-09-15T00:45:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Hump Day! I am so ready for the weekend again. Since we had Aidens bday party last Saturday, an open house on Sunday and Monday I had to pick up my glasses...I felt like we really didnt have a weekend!

Open house didnt go so well. BUT it was scheduled for the FIRST real Colts game..which is HUGE when you live pretty close to downtown Indy lol. Maybe next time...

I also have been busy with my Etsy store. A sweet lady asked me to design some custom cards for her daughter at college and her sorority. Of course I had to do it..it sounds like a fun challenge. The squirrel is their mascot and colors are red and yellow!

The acorns are glossy accented and shiny. Love custom orders!

I also finally got to pick my glasses back up (the first lenses had scratches on them) and guess what...there is more on the other lense they did not replace. It is driving me NUTS. Not to mention they are an hour away from me and I paid big bucks for these glasses.

Anyways..here is what they look like, although I swear mine are darker and not really silver at all. I love the BLING on the sides. They are Tiffany & Co and I was so happy to see they made glasses and I fell in love with these!!!

Well I am needing to get off here and go to bed so I can keep up with Mr. Aiden (whos TWO now...I cant believe it). I also cant wait for survivor!!

Fall Mood

2010-09-12T11:07:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I apologize upfront if this post is short..so to make up for it I will post lots of pictures of projects I have been working on! We have our first open house today so we need to be out of here pretty soon!

Aidens party was a blast yesterday. I think everyone had a great time! Of course I missed my nephew being there and Brents grandpa but other than that everyone came and had some Pablo cake. I cant wait to show you the pictures as soon as I get them uploaded and edited!

Aiden was of course very spoiled (isnt he always?!) We appreciate our family and everything they do for us. A BIG Thankyou to my grandparents for letting us have the party at their house...again ;)

I have been in the Halloween mood so here are some projects I have created for my Etsy store, which of course is up and you can purchase these at!

Some tags..they are very 3d in real life and have glitter on them

Dirty Mummy card..with my MS spider web punch that my mom and I got SUPER cheap last year...love it!!

Thanks for looking and come back soon for more projects and pictures! GO COLTS!!!

Aidens TWO!

2010-09-10T01:34:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Today is a little bittersweet for me.

2 years ago this was my life:

(Look at those cheeks...aww!)

1 year ago this was my life:

And here is my life today:

He really is my life. I love him so much. Actually I think I love him more each day..cheesy I know. Trust me we have our ups and downs especially now that he says No 24/7 and likes to throw things, but I wouldnt change it for the world.

I cannot believe Aiden is two...makes me cry thinking about it. I should be happy..hes a healthy, growing, stubborn 2 year old. TWO?!?!

At TWO Aiden:

wears 24 months/2T
Still in size 4 diapers
Loves swimming but doesnt care too much for baths right now..go figure!
Has to sit on mommy's lap every time I am on the computer
Still loves to give kisses and hugs, but I usually have to ask twice now for them :(
Still taking one nap..although we went 4 days without one and it didnt bother you....however I was another story ;)
Loves being outside and pretending to drive my car
Still loves Backyardigans, Blues Clues, Yo gabba gabba and some Wonder Pets
Picky Picky eater
Still loooves animals. He went to the zoo for the first time in Chicago and LOOOOOVED it!

I love him so much! Cannot wait for his party on Saturday.....I have to go bake the cake now!

*More crafty pics coming later....

Im back!

2010-09-07T09:12:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I didnt really update much in a few days. We went to Chicago to spend some time with Brents family..a Chicago/IL mini family weekend.

Brents sister was in charge of taking pictures so I will post some ASAP when I get them from her.

Aiden did really well on the trip. He would not sleep in his playpen though so he ended up actually crawling in bed between us (he had plenty of room!) and fell asleep almost instantly each time. I on the otherhand slept terrible. Mr. Aiden is a bed hog

It gives me hope when we put him in a toddler bed here soon.

We went to the zoo, putt putt, shopping!, visited Amy's apartment, ate at some great places!

Right before we left on Etsy I was asked to do a custom Justin Bieber bday banner and with her colors (red, pink, and white) and here is the way it turned out. I did add some ribbon on each end of the layers so it can be tied to something!

Well I gotta get a jump start on all our laundry from this weekend..yuck!

Also...our house is officially on the market!!

Links

2010-09-06T11:09:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know there is some major spamming going on. Please do not click on medhealth links that you get from me either on here or on emails. This has been going around for a little bit and I was finally hit :(

If you click on the link it probably will send the same links to ur contact list.

New Home Card

2010-09-02T01:02:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to share a quick card with you that I made last weekend for my cousin Lacey's housewarming party for her brand new house!

I wanted to use colors that were very warm and could work for any house colors. I also dug out on OLD Michaels $ stamp and colored it quickly with my copics. I also had some adorable mini key embellishments that I attached to the front. Insides said Congrats and I placed a Crate & Barrel gift card inside (oh how I love CB!)

We have a very busy weekend ahead of us. We are doing a mini bday celebration for Aiden since Brents sisters cannot come to his actual bday party. He is going to be one spoiled little boy thats for sure!!

Copic Tutorial-Part 3

2010-08-30T01:59:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone!

How was your weekend? Did it fly by like mine?! We ended up having a super busy weekend. Friday didnt start off too well, one of our SUV's decided to not work anymore so I have been without a car pretty much all week and I think knowing that makes me go even more stir crazy LOL

But we finally got it fixed (somewhat) to where it starts now and works but lets just say its not the car we will be driving to Chicago here pretty soon ;)

We also went to my cousin Lacey's housewarming party to see her new house! We then looked at some more houses and on Sunday I went to my grandparents and crafted all day with my family.

I was able to get alot done this weekend for my Etsy store. I have been doing alot of custom orders here lately and it sure keeps me busy..but I wouldnt have it any other way!

Here is the last series to this Copic tutorial I have been doing for The Stamping Boutique

Ready for part 3 of coloring Baby at the beach? This time the tutorial will be about coloring in the rest of the areas and you can see the card I created with it! Perfect way to end summer since school is starting up!

Lets get started!

------------
STEP 1
Here is the image and how I left off from the last tutorial (coloring sans). This time I am focusing on coloring in all the white areas on the image. I will be using quite a few markers

STEP 2
I will start with her beach towel and coloring it green. I will be using G07, G05 and G02. Starting with G07 I will shade in the areas that will be the darkest (where the sun will hit last).

STEP 3
Now I will take the medium color (G05) and add to the color, spreading it out a little more.

STEP 4
Taking the lighest green (G02) I will finish coloring in the white spaces and all over the green areas to evenly blend.

STEP 5
Now I will be coloring the top area of the image (sky, sun, bird). For the sun I used Y02 and Y06. For the bird I used B60 and for the sky I used one of the newest Sketch markers B0000.

STEP 6
Now I will be coloring the little girl image. For her skin I used E00. For her hair I used Y17 for a darker blonde. For her swim suit and hat I used RV21, RV23 and Y17 for the little flowers.

STEP 7
Now it's time to finish coloring the shells (I used E95) and the sand toys. (I used YR04 and YR16)

STEP 8
Here is a close-up of the finished colored image!

STEP 9
Use the image to create a project! I used a card with some bright paper scraps that just screamed BEACH to me. I also put glossy accents on the sun and the sea shells in the sand. For my added embellishment I used a Prima flower and actual shells I got from our Florida trip in May.

I hope you enjoyed this part series for the Copic tutorial. Be sure to stay tuned for my next tutorial....it's a fun technique!!

Lollipop Invites

2010-08-25T13:32:00.003-04:00

Times like this makes me wish I had a little girl to make these for. On Etsy there is something called alchemy where someone posts what they want and people bid to try to get their project for a certain cost.

Someone wanted lollipop invites and here are the samples I came up with for her.

Aren't they sweet! The pattern paper has glitter and glossy accents on them.

Not to much has been going on. I have been taking pictures of the house and trying to keep it cleaned. We also went and bought For Sale By Owner signs and a info box to put out front. I pray our house sells fast..we really want to move and have a bigger house!!

Sorry this is short but Aiden doesnt think I should be on the computer right now ;)

Elegant Wedding Card

2010-08-22T11:33:00.003-04:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope everyone's weekends are wonderful and going by slowly lol. Like I mentioned in my last post, it was nice we didnt have any exact plans this weekend.

We have been super busy though, and it will continue today. We went and looked at another house yesterday and wouldnt you know..It did not have an offer at that time LOL...but there probably is one this morning ;)

(If you are new to my blog..we are looking to move and every house we have liked and put an offer on...there already is one! Cursed I tell ya)

Here is a card I made the other day and it has already sold on Etsy...love that LOL

I wanted to create a card that could be used for wedding, bridal shower or even anniversary.

Here is a close-up

There is glitter on the smaller images that have been stamped and then double matted with Stampin Up cardstock.

Today on the list.....we have to clean out my scrapbook room closet so you can tell its a walk in closet...its scary right now! Have a great day and come back soon!

Freebie Friday

2010-08-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Happy Friday!! I am so excited it's Friday. I am ready for some time with Aiden and Brent. It is SO nice..we do not have anything planned or committments for this weekend...now if only Mr. Aiden would let us sleep in ;)

We hope to finish packing up the house and clean to put the house on the market next week. We have been pushing the date back due to lack of time being able to watch/entertain Aiden, get sleep, and pack lol.

Over at Blackleaf it was my turn to play with the Freebie Friday ( I have this image on the blog for you to right click and save to your computer)

Here is the card I created with the flower

I used the ultra fine flower soft in Raspberry Fuzz for the flower center..love that stuff!

I used the following Copic colors on the card

Outline around flower-C1

Petals- R85

Leaves- YG63 and YG67

I also faux stiched around the green mat.

Hope you enjoyed the card.....make sure to check back tomorrow because I have a fun card that I created using a template I bought at the stamp convetion!!

Aiden 23 Months

2010-08-19T00:48:00.004-04:00

Aiden-

You're almost TWO...I swear time is flying with you. I cannot believe I had you almost 2 years ago. It is a bittersweet moment..I still think of you as my baby and not the big boy you are becoming.

You are so active at 23 months and still fight bedtime. We even went through a rough patch where you would wake up anywhere from 4am to 6am and STAY UP till noon!!! Goodness those were hard days to make it!

We are getting ready for your birthday party. Invites are being mailed out, presents being wrapped up and I am making all the decorations.

Keep on growing and becoming the best little boy we could ever ask for! Love you Aiden

Love mommy

Still in size 4 diapers
not really liking baths anymore
tried corn on the cob for the 1st time and it was a hit
still love chicken nuggets and mac n cheese
now love watching Blues Clues to your cartoon mix
still loves playing outside
allergies have been alot better..you rarely get medicine

Lunch Box Love Notes

2010-08-18T10:44:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Wow...I am not sure what is up with me lately and not blogging. I promise I will try to do it more often like I use to lol.....I think alot of it is I hate blogging on here when I have no pictures to share and it has beeen super busy here lately.

On Saturday my mom and I went to Stampaway in Ohio and it was SO much fun!! We both got some awesome unique things. I cannot wait to share with you the techniques I picked up!! Plus..I am pretty sure North Woods has me hooked on their stamps since I have the next TWO years of Christmas cards ready to go Haha

I have also been busy planning Aidens birthday. It is a Backyardigans theme and the stuff if hard to find! The invitations are getting mailed out any day now......

My Etsy shop has been picking up and I have been making Lunch Box Love notes for my shop..these are for little kids to put in their lunches, sports bags, in their room hidden, etc.

Here is what they get

To read more about the sayings and what is done to them go here to see the details

Lunch Box Love Notes

Okay well hopefully I start blogging again more...things are kind of slowing down again!

Its here!

2010-08-12T00:03:00.003-04:00

Guess what came in the mail on Monday...........

Yep...my BRAND new PINK! ATG gun. If you know me or have seen my scrapbook room, than you know I am obessed with anything pink and Brent often mocks me fo this but I dont care...anything pink IS better :)

Sorry I havent been around much but we hope to put our house up for sale by next week and we have been cleaning, packing up some things, and driving and looking at houses. Its getting very tiresome and I feel like we have the worst luck with houses we like.

Anyways...Aiden turned 23 months on the 10th..that means in less than a month I will have a TWO year old..that is just crazy to me. Cant wait to show you all of his party decor I am making!

Wish I was there...

2010-08-09T11:06:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I wish I were on a beach like these pretty flamingos!

I love this stamp, it was one of the Great Impressions releases they do for each month..this set was with the July set. I love anything beachy and its an excuse to break out those BRIGHT copic colors!

I have this card added to my Etsy shop for someone to purchase as a handmade encouragement card or for someone who is having a bad day.

Wish I were on the beach and I could snap my fingers and *POOF* my house is cleaned and ready to sell!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

So Sweet

2010-08-08T01:45:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone

I havent had much time this weekend to really blog and be on the internet. We have been looking at alot of houses and honestly..its getting pretty annoying.

Every house we have really liked and wanted to put offers on....there already offers in and we can put in backup ones...kinda frustrating!

This happened about 2 years ago..we were crushed and havent really looked since..and now its happening again LOL.

We just need to find some nice land and build......maybe oneday

I was able to play around with some newer stamps I bought not too long ago and I have never used these adorable skunks..so I played with this one!

The skunks have fun flock on the white areas! I colored them with copics and to get the skunks black color..I just used the C's (mainly C7 and C5)..I really like the way the "blacks" turned out without having to use the actul dark black.

I hope to get more crafting in this weekend! My mom and I have a big stamp show next Saturday and we are so excited!!!!!!!!

Blackleaf Video

2010-08-05T00:54:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Thursday.

Aiden and I have a very busy day today so I will make this post short and end with a video :)

As you all know I am the DT Coordinator for Blackleaf and we just started a NEW term. Every Thursdays now is called Step by Step and its where you need to show a tutorial of some sort...I created this owl card!

I didnt own any owl stamps so I was excited to use this one for the card today!

Enjoy the video and I will be back tomorrow

Part 2 of Copic Tutorial-Sand

2010-08-04T00:42:00.012-04:00

Hey Everyone

Here is the newest copic tutorial I did for The Stamping Boutique

You can still see part 1 HERE

STEP 1
Here is the image and how I left off from the last tutorial (coloring water). This time I am focusing on the sand part of the image. Gather up the colors you want for the sand. I decided to make the sand more brown and could pull in alot of different color familes to achieve the sandy look. I will be using colors : E51, E31, E33, E37, E57, E77. I also use a product called Mudd Puddles at the end as well for more detail.

STEP 2
Using the lightest color (E53..I know this seems odd since its a higher number, but it is the lightest one I am using out of the color choices) color the entire sand area.

STEP 3
Using E31 I wanted to start adding some shadows to the shells and sand toys in the sand.

STEP 4
Using E33, I just went over the entire sand area and did little dots of color. Just hold your marker upright and lightly press down. If you use too much pressure, the dots will expand as the ink soaks into the paper and become larger.

STEP 5
Repeat step 4 but with the colors E37 and E57.

STEP 6
Now it's time to blend and have the dots not stand out as much. I used E33 and colored over the area again. You could use a lighter brown for a lighter coverage.

STEP 7
I wanted to add back in those darker specks you see on a real beach, so I used E77 and did really small black dots randomly over the sand area to bring out the dots again.

STEP 8 (optional)
I really wanted the beack to appear as real life as I could so I used a product called Mudd Puddles. It comes in different colors and different textures. I used the type called Malibu and just put it on in different areas. It spread on so you can do a lot more coverage.

STEP 9
Here is a close-up of the Mudd Puddles!

There you go...
I hope you found this technique helpful. Next time I will be coloring in the rest of the image and making it into a card!!

I-Rock Tool

2010-08-02T11:40:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I didnt get a chance to post much this weekend..its been kinda hectic here with my grandfathers funeral and on Sunday we went to look at a house thats on the market.

The funeral was very nice and I know that he is in a much better place...it's still sad though

Thank you grandma for watching Aiden for us..we appreciate it SO much (hope he didnt terrorize your house too much!)

Last week or so I was able to get the new scrapbook tool called the I-rock from Imaginisce and I couldnt wait to use it. It permantly fixes gems and studs to paper, fabric, ribbon, and more!

Here is a card I made using the I-rock

See those gems..they cannot be picked off like the adhesive gems I normally use.

Same card but with the adorable colored studs

Heres a video on how it works!

Have a great Monday!

TSB Blog Hop!

2010-07-31T01:07:00.004-04:00

Hey Everyone! Thanks for stopping by today...if you came from April's blog than you are on the RIGHT track....if not then start from the beginning at Aletha's blog so you don't miss any creations!!

This time the blog hope theme is BACK TO SCHOOL!

Wow..it's going to be August and kids will be going back to school any time now. I dread the day when Aiden has his first day of kindergarten...it will be bittersweet and hard to see him go!

I was able to work with the adorable school bus image..which is ready to buy in the shop TODAY! (Tracey redid the shop and the way it looks..so pretty!)

I created a card with the TSB Bus digi image and colored it in with copics. I also used the red Copic glitter pen and colored in the red strip across the bus! You can't really tell but the pattern paper is school themed and has school words all over it.

For an extra touch I added brads...primary for typical school colors!

I had to decorate the inside as well and used a scrap piece of that pattern paper inside!

Thanks for stopping by...hope you enjoyed my card. Also, make sure to leave a comment because there will be a lucky random winner based on comments from all the blogs participating in the hop...so the more you visit and the more comments you leave...the better chance :)

Have a great Saturday

Time to head on over to Collette's Blog for more creativity!

Here comes the bride...

2010-07-29T01:23:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I didnt get any craft time the other night. Aiden and I had a pretty rough day. He decided to wake up around 5:10 am (keep in mind..he usually sleeps till 8-10am). It was NOT a good morning/afternood/night LOL

I pray he sleeps in a little more tomorrow night. What was worse was that I took 2 tylenol pm's to help me sleep since I had alot on my mind and everything....not good when you went to bed around 3 and was up by 5am.

Here is a card that I did the other night. This sketch is from Get Sketchy. I had alot of fun glittering the brides dress. Check out the ring..there is a faux diamond stone in the rign as well!!

Thanks for looking!