Day 242, Monday, August 30

The color of the day is BLACK. All day long, I was trying to think of something I could take a picture of that was black. As I was looking at my Stampin' Up! catalog, I saw this in the color coach section in the front of the book. Black always makes me think of Halloween. (and I love those other colors, too!)

Day 241, Sunday, August 29

I made this stamp pad holder for my Tim Holtz stamp pads and paint dabbers. It is made out of foam core board and glued together with a hot glue gun. I saw the directions on the Cricut Message board a few months ago, but it was for Stampin' Up! ink pads. I had these stamp pads in a spinning rack...but they didn't fit right and I recently bought more Stampin' Up! pads...so I needed another storage option for these pads since they didn't really fit the other openings. I was amazed at how sturdy this thing is!

I tried to make an 8 1/2" x 11" paper holder for my Stampin' Up! colored paper out of the foam core board, too. It was very easy to make...but it is alittle too deep. Rather than trying to change the depth by cutting it...I think I will add a spacer in the openings to push the paper forward like the bottom shelf. I wonder what else I can make out of foam core board?

Day 240, Saturday, August 28

Nikki had an open house today to promote the new mini catalog from Stampin' Up! I know I have said this before, but I will say it again, Nikki is the best Stampin' Up! demo ever! We did these two projects using products in the Christmas mini. She also had some of the Christmas paper and fabrics. It is so much fun to play with new products! Thanks, Nikki...you're the best!

Day 239, Friday, August 27

Our kindergarten students at school, follow a color of the day schedule for 8 days at the beginning of the year. The students and staff support the colors by wearing clothes to school that are the color of the day. It is always fun to see the majority of the kids all dressed in the same color! I wore a red shirt to school today, but I didn't want to have my picture taken everyday for the color challenge...so I took a picture of my favorite "red" scrapbooking tool, my red decorated ATG! (adhesive tape gun)

Day 238, Thursday, August 26

I took this bag of used tennis balls to Cindy today for Jersey. Jersey loves to play with a tennis ball, but it doesn't take long for her to chew through them. Black lab puppies are very playful!

Day 237, Wednesday, August 25

Grubs and birds and moles...OH MY! Well, Jim trapped a mole...he has been trying to catch this thing for a while. It has these spikey things that you push into the ground and then you step on the top (where the yellow label is) and flatten it out. When the mole goes through the run, it trips the spring and wack! He is toast! So, the grubs are a sign of healthy grass roots and that is what they like to eat. So, then the birds come to eat the grubs...and so do the moles. Our lawn was looking awesome (even the sod that Jim planted where the tree used to be!). Then the grubs invaded...now things are not looking so good. This doesn't make Jim happy...or me either because he makes a face every time we pull out of the drive!

Day 236, Tuesday, August 24

I still have a subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine and I just started getting Scrapbooks, etc. With the internet being so accessable, it really is hard to justify purchasing magazines. But it is nice to carry the magazines when we go on trips or while I wait in the doctor's office.

Day 235, Monday, August 23

The inside of the card from yesterday, is embossed using a mixture of 1 teaspoon of sugar free Hawaiian punch (or any other sugar free drink mix) and 1 1/2 teaspoons of clear embossing powder. I stamped the image with versamark ink and sprinkled it with the mixture. I heat embossed it with a heat gun. When you scratch the image...it smells like berry limeade! (Hey, the drink mix is pretty good to drink, too! lol)

Day 234, Sunday, August 22

I worked on my card for the MCPT challenge for September. I used a stamp that I bought at Hobby Lobby this summer. I think it is a printworks stamp...the label was half torn off...anyway, I thought it was a great image for the magic colored pencil technique. On the inside, I used scented embossing powder that I made using sugar free Hawaiian punch and clear embossing powder. I am going to use this card for my monthly card swap, too....so I will be making 15 of them.

Day 233, Saturday, August 21

Today I bought my very own box of 64 crayons. I always wanted the "big" box when I was growing up, but with 4 kids in our family, we couldn't afford to buy supplies that weren't required for our grade level. I didn't need to buy these crayons today, but for a few dollars, I got something that made me smile and remember my childhood days.

Day 232, Friday, August 20

I made these zippered bags to use at school to collect our lunch money. I had cut them out and fused the interfacing while I was off this summer. I used a zippered bank bag as the pattern and fabric, zippers and interfacing that I already had at home. I did have to buy 4 black 12" zippers to finish the bags.

Day 231, Thursday, August 19

On our way to lunch, Cindy saw this butterfly. We waited for it to land and I kept taking pictures until I finally got one with the wings open. It was a beautiful blue color and the under side had orange spots. (Maybe it is an Illini butterfly!)

Day 230, Wednesday, August 18

This is all the supplies I got from Custom Crops! I won the $100 gift certificate from the CHA Photo Booth! I feel like it is Christmas! woot! woot!

Day 229, Tuesday, August 17

A few years ago, there was a proposal to sell James Field to Walgreen's. There were many in town who fought to keep James Field as a playground for the children of Pekin. During that time, the supporters sold bricks to help raise funds for the upkeep of the block known as James Field. This is the brick that Scott & Elaine bought.

Day 228, Monday, August 16

These globes are on the back side of the monument that I posted yesterday. You can see children playing in and on them most of the time. This is located in one of the corners of the "block" that is James Field.

Day 227, Sunday, August 15

We stopped to take a few pictures at James Field. When I was in high school, the freshmen and sophmores attended West Campus. James Field is right across the street. We had P.E. classes there in the fall and spring. I remember running around the track for the President's Physical Fitness testing! ugh!

Day 226, Saturday, August 14

Jim is going to whine loudly when he sees this one! This picture isn't about him sleeping...it is about the ipad that he still has clenched in his hand while he is sleeping. It is never far from him!

Day 225, Friday, August 13

I went to Nikki's tonight for a card class "Leftovers" is what she called it. I asked Elaine at the last minute to go with me. We made these 6 cards and I think Elaine really liked it! Nikki is such a great Stampin' Up demonstrator...we always leave with a finished project and feel really successful, too! Thanks, Nikki for being so creative and thanks, Elaine for going with me!

Day 224, Thursday, August 12

Tonight we went to Kobe Steakhouse for dinner with the kids. We were celebrating John's birthday which was on July 21. We didn't put the Happy Birthday signs up behind them...but it worked out great for my picture of the day! Happy Birthday, John! We had a great time tonight with all of you.

Day 223, Wednesday, August 11

I watch Donna Downeys Inspiration Wednesday every week! She always using lots of paint and "drippage" as she calls it. She is on my Bucket list of people to meet and take a class from!

Day 222, Tuesday, August 10

I won! I won! I won a $100 gift certificate from Custom Crops for posting my picture on my blog that we took during CHA in Chicago. It was a fun photo booth and they had a sign posted telling us to post our pictures on our blog and send them a link to enter the contest for the gift certificate. My picture that I posted was my POTD. I was so surprised and happy to get the email....then my phone started ringing...so I answered it. It was Lisa from Custom Crops calling to tell me that I won! I sure hope I didn't scream in her ear....because I was very excited!!

Day 221, Monday, August 9

Our sign is up! Cindy and I worked on the sign for Rogers Elementary this summer. It was so hot that we had to let it dry for a few days before we were able to paint another layer. There are 3 layers of orange, white and black on the sign. We cut the letters out of vinyl with my cricut and used Design Studio to stretch the letters to fit. Both sides are painted the same.

Just a Guy Card

This card is for my boss. His birthday is tomorrow. I used my Tim Holtz gear die cut to cut the gears out of chipboard. Then I painted them with my silver paint dauber and inked them with black soot ink. I cuttlebugged some copper paper with Tim's retro circle embossing folder and inked it with black soot. Next I layered it on gold paper and inked the edges. I had some metal looking buttons that I used in the centers of the gears and added a few brads that look like screw heads. It was fun, once I got started...sometimes it doesn't end up just the way I thought it would...but this time it did. I hope he likes it!

Dino Birthday Card

I made this card for my nephew, Jordan. He turned 5 on August 1. He loves dinosaurs...not the cartoon kind...the meat eaters! So, I cut this card from the Dinosaur Tracks cartridge. The idea started from the handbook. There is a card in the very front of the book...I just changed a few things. I inked everything with brown ink, cuttlebugged the dino with the mesh texture folder (I cut it as a layer in Design Studio), then clear embossed it so it is shiny. I also cuttlebugged the letters with the distressed stripes folder. This card is really big....8 1/2" x 6". I already had an envie and I made the card to fit inside of it.


On the inside I cut the raptor using the fossil feature....and stamped Happy Birthday to you. I inked and doodled around the edge!

August MCPT Card

This is my card for the August MCPT challenge on the Cricut Message board. It is from the Penny Black acrylic set "Bubbly". I used paper from my scrap box to make this card. The blue is cuttlebugged with the Happy Birthday folder. The punch is from Stampin' Up and the ribbon is from Michael's. I added some rhinestones and glossy accents to the balloons. I used a sketch from Mojo Monday. I have hosted this challenge for 2 years now!

Day 220, Sunday, August 8

I got this basket yesterday at a yard sale. I had driven by it 3 days in a row...and didn't stop. So after I got home from the Stampin' Up party yesterday, I stopped to check it out. It was a Longaberger picnic basket. The owner had $35 on it. She said to me, "That is a really good basket." (Yep, I know that) I checked it all over for cracks in the splints and handles. I have made about 4 of them myself at the factory...so I kinda know what to look for. It was dated 1994. I asked her if she would take $30...well, it HAD been sitting there for 3 days!! She said that was as low as she would go...she had paid $100 for it. I happily gave her $30 and got in the car. Jim said, Oh, boy!

Day 219, Saturday, August 7

I went to Nikki's Post Convention Stampin' Up Party today at the library. We made the cards at the bottom. The "thanks" with the red paper is actually an envelope you use to store the 3x3 thank you cards in (blue card and envie). The card on the right is done by filling in a stamp with markers...blue and green and spritzing water on it with a mini mister and stamping on watercolor paper, then on the inside and finally on the envelope...each time you stamp the image gets lighter. I love this watercolor technique! The stamp sets are what I won! 2 door prizes...well, everyone got a door prize. Nikki is a super duper awesome hostess! Tomorrow is her 3 year anniversary with Stampin' Up! Her business has grown tremendously! I am so glad she lives 3 doors down...but I don't think Jim is!!

Day 218, Friday, August 6

Giz loves to play with his toys! He always gets 5 toys out of his basket. Never 4 or 3...always 5. I know he can't count...at least I believe animals can't count, so how does he know when he has 5? If I pick them up and put them away...that's okay. Next time he wants to play...he gets out 5 of them!

Day 217, Thursday, August 5

We had school registration today. I took a picture of the sign at the middle school. The point is the very first line...the state of Illinois owes our school district $540,415. That is over 1/2 a million dollars!! We have made many cuts the last two years and from the news reports...it isn't going to get any better and probably worse before next year.

Day 216, Wednesday, Aug 4

Since I returned to work last thursday, I have driven by this flower bush every morning. I was going to stop on monday....then on tuesday, so I finally dodged the garbage truck and the recyle truck and got a great picture of this white morning glory. Both monday and tuesday, there were lots of blooms open. Today, there were only about 5. I liked this one because the sun was "shining" through the backside of the flower! I can't grow flowers, but I love to look at them!

My friend Donna at CHA

I was working on a make and take at the CHA Super Show in Chicago and I heard someone call my name. It was Donna Mundinger, my friend from the Cricut message board. She is an awesome artist and card maker! You can see her work on her blog http://donnamundinger-popsicletoes.blogspot.com/ . I met her when I started hosting the MCPT challenge every month. I was so surprised to see her! I knew she was designing cards and doing tutorials for http://www.customcrops.com/articles.php but I didn't expect to see her teaching a make and take in Chicago! It was such a great experience to finally meet some one who I admire and am friends with through the internet! Love you, Donna...you made my day!

Day 215, Tuesday, August 3

Finally got pictures taken of our July card swap. Why am I so behind these days! Ugh! Maybe the heat has gotten to me...I don't know. Anyway, our challenge this month was a "fancy fold". Lots of different folded cards here. I can't really pick a favorite one...I really like lots of them! Thanks Chirpin Chicks for another great swap. We are taking the month of August off and in September we will be doing 4 legged friends.

Krista

Kim

Yvonne

Kelly

Jennifer

Linda

Becky

Mine

Margaret

Jackie

Kellee

Carol

Vicky

Erika

Michelle

Day 214, Monday, August 2

These are the purchases I made at CHA. I didn't spend as much money as I thought I would. Not that I didn't see things I wanted...just ran out of time...we were so busy making the Make and Takes that we didn't really "shop" that much! Maybe next time! Ha Ha!