More christmas decorations

Well I wanted to post a few more of the Christmas decorations today I am posting pictures of the mantel. I love fireplaces anyone who knows me knows I love to be right by the fire when its going, being I am cold natured. And for a long time we did not have a fireplace but since having one it became one of my favorite places to decorate at Christmas. Other times of the year I struggle to figure out what to do with it. So this year for our first Christmas in our new home I added in a few sentimental things that mean a lot to us. The old looking wood with numbers is the wood taken off the house when we replaced it with new wood. It had our address and I told Gene I wanted to keep it I am sure he thought I was nuts...lol Now he can see why.

I wanted it to display, I love the look its worn. And that is not distressed to look like that it is true age as it aged with our home.

I did buy a few new items last year at after Christmas sales. The kitty stocking was new its for our kitty's, need to work on some for us..lol. The lighted grapevine deer was new as well.

Some items I was lucky to get from a lady that was just getting rid of them. The nutcrackers and the stocking holders and the rustic lantern are from her. Rest of it I had or shopped my other rooms for it. I had to use what I had cause we could not afford to buy anything new so had to work with what I had.

Now lets play a game what do you think cost the most out of this fireplace decorations? I bet you will never get it right....lol

That would be this

Yes that is the key to our home...lol And no its not a key that still works we changed the locks the week we got the house. I keep it as a keepsake to scrapbook and thought why not put it on the candle holder near the sign. It is the most expensive item up on our mantel...lol Well thanks for looking.

Busy Christmas week

Sorry I have not posted lately it was a busy few days before Christmas and busy days after. I used the last two days to relax some. Christmas eve night I wrapped gifts and cooked 6 from scratch banana breads and a German choc cake. Its law I bring a cake to dinners...lol And Christmas eve night as well I made two ornaments for my nephews. It was a late night. I will post that project soon to my blog.

Then Sunday my brother and my youngest nephew come down to go shopping at Cablela's Jacob got a bow with his christmas money. I felt so bad they drove two and half hours and thought it would not take to long, was we wrong. I think everyone was there that day buying a bow. We looked around for 3 hours while waiting then went to sit down and have a drink and finally got the call it was ready. But during the time we waited we got to look around and have a little fun. We found some crazy stuff I had never seen before...lol Like this fold up camping chair. Thats Jacob my nephew, that is one big chair....lol

 Anyway so that has been what has been going on I just needed time to re cope after the holiday weekend. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas we had a pretty good one. We did not do a lot this year made this year kinda of simple a few gifts and home cooked foods. Well anyway as promised I wanted to post the tree. I am sorry this took so long. I will post picture of the outside lights during this week, and after friday they are ready to come down. Oh also have the mantel photos to post. Well thanks for looking :)

Michaels sale Cricut carts

Thought I give a heads up to a sale going on at Michael's. They have some carts on clearance for 19.99 one is from my kitchen and Paisley and they have some more as well. I think they are clearing older ones out to make room for the new ones. Its in the ad but you would have to check with your local store to see what they have all stores will be different.
PS. Sorry I have not posted tree as promised Friday was a bad day wont get into that, it was a long long day and stressful...lol And then Friday night we went out of town. I am almost done with all the Christmas stuff so as soon as I can will post and post a photo of our house for the first time we put lights up. So forgive me and next post will be it I promise.

Box Ornaments

I was at the letter cottage blog site (one of my favorite blogs to visit) looking at there pretty tree this year when I seen her post about her tree last year. She made ornaments out of boxes, everyone has those laying around. So I thought since I was wanting to do something somewhat new this year instead of my normal bows I looked for any small box I could find. Cold med boxes, jello boxes even used one bubble gum box...lol Its amazing how many you can find. She used ribbon on her boxes which was very pretty but I chose to use twine I had. I did bling it up some, I used some of my craft items. Glimmer mist and my tim holtz distress inks.

Wrap your boxes with newspaper. Then take distress ink with a makeup sponge or tim holtz sponge and ink corners and some of the middle as well Now if you want the really distressed look take the pad and tap the corners and even the center if you like.

Okay now for the magic take your glimmer mist and spray your wrapped box, the ink will start to bleed and blend. It will be wet and bubbled so grab the hair dryer and dry it for a min or two on low heat, it drys fast. And the paper will shrink back to its normal texture when dry. Now just add your ribbon and hook and hang your box, super easy! You could use these as gift card holders as well to hang in the tree.
The glimmer mist gives it a hint of sparkle and the tim holtz ink ages the newspaper. This idea was great for those on budgets which these days seems like most of us are. Thanks to the lettered cottage site for such a neat idea and check her blog out, really great blog site full of home decorating ideas.

P.S. I will be adding the photos of our tree tomorrow so check back. I am sorry, camera battery had to be charged meant to have them added before now.

Getting Christmas stuff done

A work in progress! Well once again its that time of year where we all spend days getting the tree trimmed, stocking hung, wreaths and lights placed. Its work but I love Christmas, its my favorite holiday. Last year at this time we knew we was getting this home and was waiting on closing date. So during that time after Christmas I started shopping a little to get some new things for the house. We really did not have a all out Christmas last year since we was in the middle of buying a home and packing up stuff. So I have made up for that this year...lol We buy real trees have for years its a tradition for us to go pick a tree and "me" LOL decorate it, well he sets it up. This year we was not limited on what size we could get we have 13 ft ceilings. So for once we got a pretty good size tree. The tree we picked was 8ft tall and really big, next year I will get one just a little less wide. Its took 5 sets of LED lights, every strand I had. Big fan of LED lights they are so bright and pretty. And all the ornaments I got last year was used as well. I like a full tree so sure I will add some more. Anyway this is where I have been last week, getting the house decorated.

I did make this one card this week very simple card, was limited on time. Well thanks for stopping by hope everyone is having a great Dec. Check back in few days I will add the photo of the finished tree in few days.

Supplies:

Inkadinkado stamp set (Chelsea Sentiments)

Studio G 1.00 stamp

Dark brown chalk ink

Blender pen

Prima flowers & Prima rose (summer mix)

Scrap papers



Hope Everyone had a great Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you got to spend time with your loved ones. We went to my family's this year, we got back Friday night. It was almost a uneventful Thanksgiving for us...lol We was getting the dressing out and thought my cousin had it, well I was wrong. Yep dressing pan fell and dressing almost every where. The good part was it did not flip over only part fell out so we saved it or lest some of it...lol There dog got some dressing this year. Whats thanksgiving without one mishap. Also to while we where visiting Gene went hunting, my cousin's where we stay has land. So when we stay he just gets out of bed and walks to his blind. He had not got a deer in two years but he broke that record on Thanksgiving. He came back with a 8 point and not only did he get one but my brother got two. I walk outside and I see three deer laying out I could not believe it. So part of that day was spent driving to take them in to get processed. I know some people cant stand the idea of killing deer and I feel the same way. But if I don't agree with it that is my view I cant look down on those that like it and Gene is one that does like to hunt. I am happy he got to get something cause that is his hobby, but at the same time feel bad for that deer. He will also have it mounted so I get to look at it all the time. Payback for all the scrapbook stuff he has to look at...lol
Oh speaking of scrapbook stuff hope you all got to do some craft shopping. We hit a few walmarts on the way home I found one 20.00 lite cart I was wanting, the Christmas one cant think of the name. They had lots of the cricuts expressions left, and they were so pretty. Almost wish I had waited on mine...lol Such a good deal. But anyway that was all the shopping I did we are on a major budget so craft funds are limited. But hope you all got what you was after on black Friday. Hope the posting about sales helped.

Black friday deals for Cricut junkies!

Well it's only three days till Thanksgiving so time to eat the turkey and then shop...lol A lot of stores are having great deals so thought I would kinda put a list together of who has what . And if you want to see the black friday ads for yourself just click here. Hope this helps.

Deals at Michael's Only store that will start sale on Thursday

The gypsy as I posted in previous post that will be 99.00 All day item Thursday-Saturday

Cricut carts will be 60 % off  89.99=35.99 69.99=27.99 All day item Thurs-sat
3 Pack stickles 1 oz bottles limited edition 6.99 All day Thurs-Sat
Friday only items-3 pack Iris Scrapbook cases 5.79 / Cricut ver 1 st cricut machine 69.99
Saturday only items-Disney carts 24.99
Also there is a coupons for 50 off one items also 20% off total including sale items.
Deals at Joann's
Cricut carts for 27.00
Cricut expression 199.99
Cricut mini cake Joann's exclusive only 99.99
Cricut imagine 449.99
Deals at Walmart
Walmart has great deals they are all day sale friday but they will go fast!
Cricut lite carts for 20.00 normally 39.00
Cricut expression for 185.00 its a walmart only cricut and this year they are really pretty as you can see from the scan from the ad. Colors are Aqua, Plum, Green, Canary.

Merci

A thank you card I made using my cricut summer in Paris cart. I loved this cart so much when I seen it. I love the Paris look, I really like vintage or distressed items. Anyway back to the card...lol I made this card for Gene's grandmother who was down last month and she brought some items for our new house. So this was for her, she loves shoes so thought I would use the pretty shoe on Paris cart. I used distressing inks on it as well and Glimmer mist. Thanks for looking.
Supplies used:
Tim Holtz texture fades embossing folders (gridlock)
Merci stamp Inkadinkado (chelsea sentiments)
K&Company Gems
Flowers forever (Hydrangea no 5)
Cricut summer in Paris cart for shoe
Glimmer mist (Old Lace)
Brads

Michaels black friday ad (gypsy for 99.00!)

Hello thought I would share the michaels ad on black fridays web page. They will have cricut carts on sale 27-35.00 and also the gypsy for 99.00 best price I have seen so far. They also have lots of other stuff, the stickles for 6.99 is a good deal there the really big bottles of stickles. I dont know if we are going to be here for the sale so I might miss out this year. Which is okay need to save money...lol Okay so here is the link to the full ad they open on thanksgiving at 5 pm so have the turkey done and every one feed before 5 LOL http://www.theblackfriday.com/ads/michaels/michaels-black-friday-ad1.shtml

Using my scraps up

I have so much scrap paper and my goal is to use as much as I can up. So I made this card just because using scraps. I used Vellum on the top and bottom and was unsure about using the atg gun to adhire it but to my surprize you cant see any tape. I really am loving the atg gun.
Supplies used
Papers are all srcap papers
Pink ribbon
Making Memories textured tape vintage hip
Prima flowers Hydrangia
butterfly stamp Judith is all it says got at scrapbook convention
Just because stamp hero arts poly clear everyday sayings
and touch of diamond stickles

Operation write home cards

Here is the cards made for operation write home. I wanted something simple so that they would not get damaged during shipping and they have certain things you can't use. I did have fun making these, it was a challenge to make something without adding a lot. I tend to over do it sometimes...lol So thought I would share the finale product, thinking I might make for myself for Christmas cards...lol
Supplies
Cuttle bug embossing folders Winter Jelly
Background embossing Cuttle bug snowflakes
Stamp Inkadinkado (Tags and wishes)
Diamond stickles and silver stickles
Glossy accents
Recollections Bling
Red card stock

Gypsy on sale at michael's

This Sunday Michael's has the gyspy on sale for 129.99 that is the lowest price I have seen it for at Michael's. And if you buy it before nov 1 and register it by Nov 1st you get 6 free downloaded carts to your gypsy when you update it plus the two that is already preloaded with it. Some of the carts you will get for free are Smile, Bags tags boxes and more, Christmas solution cart, And cant think of the others but they have it listed at Cricut's site. So if you have been thinking about buying one this would be a great time to buy one. They also have there carts on sale as well as you can see form the ad...lol

Card sketch book

This was not my idea by no mean but I made one after seeing her blog. Its a card sketch book for putting your ideas to paper. She even has the inside template in pdf form you can download and print. You don't have to draw the cards to sketch on its all in the template. All you have to do is make the outside with card stock and then assemble and decorate. Here is the link http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=2135 She has a video, as well as the link to download the template. I will say do not get all fancy with it, you will need to be able to lay it flat to sketch on. Simple is best, No pop dots!...lol So here is mine I loved the idea so much I want to pass it on. The title box is blank till I am ready to use it. Hope you get inspired to make one, really not hard at all. And handy I had a mental block one day and looked at a card sketch I did and it saved me. Thanks for looking.
Supplies used
Unknown pattern card stock
Studio G stamp (create and dragon fly)
Stickels (diamond)
Tim Holtz paper pack for border
Glimmer mist

Pink ATG

I have a new favorite thing that I wish I would have bought so long ago. I have seen many people use the ATG guns on scrap booking and card making. And have wanted one but the ATG 714 was to much for me to pay at 79.00 ordering it online. So a few months ago they come out with a new ATG gun its pink already a color us crafter's would like, and best part is they were selling for 34.00 not to bad. But you still had to order online. Last month I was at Michaels and had my 50 off coupon and was looking for anything I needed, and when I found this in store I just about screamed...lol I said oh my gosh I am so getting this. With my 50 off I got this for 20.00 it was 39.00. It has been the best money spent on a craft item. I was using mono tape which does normally work pretty good but if you have something with embossed paper I found it will come up after a few days. Found out the hard way had a card fall apart that was done with embossed papers. So after I got this I had to try it on the embossed papers, and wow does it work. You will never have to worry about your card falling apart ever with this tape. And you get 216 feet of tape inside with the gun. And the refills run 9.99 for another 216 feet. When you compare price wise this is the better deal. And when you buy this ATG Gun part of the money goes to Susan G Komen. It's Oct and Breast Cancer awareness month and you can help give a little and get something in return. I promise you will love this tape gun, I love mine. I find its to more earth friendly as well, you only throw a tiny bit of plastic away verses with mono tape a whole plastic insert. My michaels had them but not all michaels has them in stock. If yours dont you can order online at many online scrapbook sites.

Operation Write Home (OWH)

For awhile I have been wanting to make some cards for those serving over seas. I seen this site OWH from another blogger and thought here is my chance. I always say I am going to do it and never find the time. So I emailed and ask for a stamp, you don't have to have the stamp but its make the cards get out faster if they are already stamped on back. My plans are to make Christmas cards this year to send to OWH. Even with the war coming to a close there is still a need for those still on active duty serving. If you cant make cards you can even just send a letter saying thank you. Now if you choose to make cards and email for a stamp beware it is a unmounted stamp. You will have to mount it. But with a xyron sticker maker and removable adhesive and some craft foam you could adapt the stamp to work with clear blocks, that is what I did. I can remove it after I am done and store in cd case. I will do something else later on but this was so I can use it for now. By the way if you would like to make Christmas cards the cut off date for them is Oct 30 they have to have them early cause of shipping over seas. To check it out go here http://operationwritehome.org/

For step by step on how I mounted the stamp check here http://picasaweb.google.com/mdwatts/MountingRubberStamp02#

World card making day MIA

Well last weekend was world card making day and yes I had no post...lol We went out of town and I was so busy Friday packing I had no chance to post. Gene wanted to go hunting for opening weekend. I get lucky cause he hunts on my cousins land and we get to stay with him and my brother is right down the road. But I have to say it gets really boring...lol Wished I had enough time to get my stuff together and take some craft items I could have made cards. Oh well next time will plan ahead a little better. Hope everyone had a fun day crafting for WCMD. I hope maybe to slip in some time to craft this week. Gene's family is coming so I have to get the house ready for guest. Our guest room still has some stuff in it. Really cant call it a guest room due to the fact there is no bed...lol We still have not had a chance to get a bed. So with the chance his grandmother my well come down with his parents as well, we might have to go get a blow up mattress for now. We may have to give our bed to grandma and we let his mom and dad take the blow up mattress and we camp on the floor...lol I am not look forward to having a house full like this at one time, and I dont know his grandma that well so the thought of her staying here makes me nervous. But sometimes you got to do what you don't like, wish me luck.

I love fall!

Its been so nice here last few days, there is a slight chill in the air giving us a hint of fall. I love that crisp feel of fall air. I don't know why I love fall so much...lol Cause winter is not that far off and I hate the super cold temps. Here in Texas it gets really hot and the weather we have had last few days is something we don't normally see in late Sept. Its great for bike riding. We went to a yard sale Sunday and found I was a little chilled...lol Better half was glad it was cool, he had to mow Sunday. Sunday was our work on the yard day. So anyway maybe tomorrow I will get to go and enjoy a ride on the trail will need to wear pants though...lol Last time I went riding I got a flat and better half was fixing it and he had a little bo bo..lol We both were running away from my bike. Excuse the messy garage.

Get Well

My cousin Michael had a accident a week ago today, he fell while cutting a tree down for firewood. He broke his leg close to his hip, they had to do surgery and he also broke his wrist. He is doing okay and is home now but he will be down for a few weeks no doubt. So I made him a get well card today, yes it has a tree...lol I am not being mean. We are a family that kids each other, so for his card I had to have a tree on it...lol And a stamp that says wanna hug a tree with me? All joking aside though we wish him the best and a fast recovery. And we are so glad he is okay cause the brake he had could have been so much worse, it could cut his main artery. He just lost his mom "my aunt" in April. Get well Michael Jay and soon as you can as we said we will have a big ole bon fire soon as you feel up to it...lol

Supplies used
Hero arts poly clear stamps "everyday sayings"
Studio G stamp wanna hug a tree
Stampolgy "Mindays Flowers" for leaves
Chalk ink color box dark brown
Martha Stewart ribbon
Card stock
Unknown scrap pattern paper
Cricut "give a hoot" for tree
Tim holtz distress ink

Working with clear stamps

Working with clear stamps can be tricky but with a few tips you can get a great print from a clear stamp, even a 1.00 stamp.
Regular Clear Stamps
Problem: When using dye inks my stamp never gives me a clear and clean stamp, ink pools.
Solution: 1st thing you can do. Stamp your clear stamp in versa mark ink pad before inking up your stamp with your dye ink. The versa mark will give the stamp a coating of clear and better surface for the dye ink to stick to.
Other tips: When working with normal clear stamps its best to use pigment inks or even better chalk inks. They are a good thick ink that will coat your stamp evenly for a better print. Now certain colors I have noticed may stain your stamps like reds and greens so make sure to have something to clean with quickly on hand.
Photo polymer stamps
Now these stamps are in a class of there own. They are clear for easy stamping but they stamp like a normal rubber stamp. Dye works great, pigment is fine I have found if you use cahlk ink it will stain, need a heavy stamp cleaner for these. These stamps do cost more but well worth it. Love photo poly-mer stamps cant say enough about them.
Finale tips
Staz-on ink this ink will work with all stamps. This ink is a fast drying ink it will bond to glass, metal, fabric and more. It will not smudge when using water, great for water coloring. Downfall, very hard to clean off and can stain your stamp. Best to only clean this ink off with staz-on stamp cleaner.
How do I clean my stamps when using my normal inks? Simple baby wipes yep baby wipes. They work great but make sure its the alcohol free kind. Alcohol might dry the stamps out and then crack.
Well hope that helps some, this was as condensed as I could get, if you want more details feel free to email and will answer any questions. And if you have any tips to share feel free to email.

Hooked on 1.00 stamps

Okay if anyone shops at Michaels you know about the 1.00 stamps. Well they got a whole new batch of clear stamps in and they come with gems also. I seen them and I had to get a few. Have gotten them in the past, there not detailed as a rubber stamp or clear photo polymer no dout but for a 1.00 stamp they do pretty good. Would I buy these stamps for a super important project? No! There not for a really important project that has to be prefect. But for every day cards I think they are great. And the new ones are really cute! The one with the tree says "bloom where your planted" you cant tell cause of flash on camera and the other with the butterfly says "thanks for everything" The Owl stamp says "its owl good" Thought that was cute. Oh by the way the 1.00 stamps are put out by studio g they do have a maker...lol I have a collection now. Will post a few tips for working with clear stamps next blog, there are some things you can do to get better prints from your clear stamps. So check back for some tips.

Thank you card

Made this card for a friend who gave my better half a awesome fireman's helmet that he painted himself. of course with flames....lol Really though it is very cool.
So for this thank you card I had to use this fire house dog....lol I had seen this on my cricut cart thinking how am I going to use this little dog and then here was my chance. Seems like here lately we have been running into all Gene's ex fire buddies. He used to be a volunteer fireman at our fire department. This little guy will come in handy for photos I need to scrapbook of Gene working up there. Well thanks for looking.
Supplies
Cricut cart(create a critter)
Stickles for the dog tag it needed some bling
Simple brown ribbon + craft sewing mech to sew it.
Cuttle bug weather wood and dots
Clear stamp is studio G the 1.00 stamps at Michael's
Tim holtz distress inks

Before and After

We are now on month three at our new house. I have slowly started to finally get stuff where I want it. The kitchen is pretty much organized where things work the best for me. Thanks to being inspired by Amanda at kevinandamanda.com She had some handy ideas for organizing cabinets. So now I want to work on our bathroom, and I am starting small and simple. I had a drawer that was a mess every time I needed something I would have to rummage through the drawer. It housed my makeup and products I use a lot. So I found this plastic container divider for 4.88 at target.
It's not perfect but for now it works and later on when I find something that works better for me I will transfer this to another place for use. Since I put this to use I have been able to get ready so much faster when I need my eye liner I know right where to look. I use bare minerals makeup and there are so many small containers its easy to miss place one. I now have a home for all the containers in one place, I use it then it goes right back to the home. And a place for the makeup brushes. The feeling I get when I am able to find what I need when I need it gives me the drive to now work on the next project. I am starting with small steps, but even this little organizer has saved me time and made life just a little bit more simple.

Mental Block

You ever have one of those days where you cant get any idea's well for my mom's birthday I had a major block. Did I mention it had to out next day in the mail...lol I had given up and was set to buy a card, which I hate. Then I was sitting at my desk and looked down and noticed a scetch I had made of a few card ideas. And the instant I seen it I knew what I wanted to do within 30 mins it was done and ready to go. I got that idea to scetch the ideas for another blogger and thought will have to try that and so glad I did. I was not super happy with the card but hey better than store bought...lol And from now on I think I will put my ideas on paper next time I think of cards ideas might be worth trying.

Nephew's Birthday

Today is my nephew's birthday Happy Birthday Jacob! He is going up so fast, and he is tall. Well for his birthday card I wanted to give him a beach inspired card. He had just been on a week long vacation in Florida and had a blast. Thought this crad was super cute. Was my first time using create a critter and have to say I loved it super easy to put together no wasted paper for a change. Plus this card was a little green, I used cardboard I had from a box for the sand sprayed with glimmer mist. If you dont have create a critter its a must for cricut owners you will love it.

We have such nice neighbors

Well I finally have most of the craft items unpacked, not really to organized yet...lol But its getting there, I do have my stuff handy so I can get back to scrapbooking and card making. Matter fact I made this card last week. We have such awesome neighbors. The lady next door brought us leaf gatherers as a house warming gift. The kind you put your hands in so you can just scoop them up. The funny part about that is we have not a single tree on our land...lol its all the other trees from her home and the other people next door that requires us to rack leaves. We had been joking about that first time we meet her she said she would apologize ahead of time cause all her leaves blow on our yard and patio, we would even get leaves blowing inside the entry door...lol So when she came over last week with those leaf gatherers I just had to chuckle of course I said "thank you and well these will for sure come in handy"...lol So I made her a thank you card and I thought I would make a bag of leaves, very fall themed for spring I know but thought I had to make it with leaves...lol So thought I would share the card I made. And I used my martha stewart score pal I will say I really like her score board alot. Will post a review and more details about that in another post. Hope you enjoy the card idea.

What a few weeks its been

Well we finally have moved we have been in our new home almost a month. Its been busy with packing then the move and the part I hate worse unpacking...lol And we have been trying to do little honey do's on weekends. We still have so much to do we still have a shed to move and a storage building to clear, never knew we had so much stuff....lol. And during all this going on I have been trying to get our out door cats to there new home. I cant bring many with us so I am having to find them homes. We took some off last weekend to there new home, felt so bad but I know they will have a great home there. They will be in a barn but you could tell the cat was not sure about the horse...lol Never had seen that big of a four legged animal. Its been stressful but I do know that this will all calm down in a few weeks. I look forward to having time to work on the yard and relax. I still have not got curtains cause I have not had time to. So look forward to having time and shopping for items we need. And here latly I find I am adding more and more to the list. But the one thing I love is my diswasher! I had been without one for 15 years and now I really am enjoying it. It takes about two days to get a full load only draw back. Only two of us here dont fill up to fast. But I will never go without one again....lol Next on my list is getting all my scrapbook and card making stuff unpacked. I have not done it in months so I have some cards to make all the b-days for most of my family is coming up. So that is next on the list. Well thought I post a update on life here.

Got my cricut fixed Yahoo!!

Well I finally fixed my cricut, cuts are finally good and not torn. I looked at the blade and the blade housing and noticed there was rust on the blade and it seemed to be not turning so well in the blade housing. So with nothing to lose I scrubed really carefully the blade top to get as much rust I could off. Then added a drop of wd40 and a tiny drop to the inside of the blade housing. Put it all back together again and tired cutting thinking it wont work but little did I know it did. Got a clean cut just like it was brand new. I am sure provo craft would not recommend this fix but hey it saved me 30.00 the cost of a new housing. And plus there plastic now I am sure cause of this very same problem I had. What cant you fix with wd40 best little helper to have around. Hope this helps anyone having trouble with there cricuts I had tried new blades new mats and had no clue. So if yo have tried it all except buying a new housing give this a try and see if you can extend that housing just a little longer and save 30.00 for another cartage....lol

Mothers day Card

Here is the Mother's Day card I made this year, took me forever to make this cause I had to work with what I had. My cricut is still out of service and cant find my other blade housing. Still packed up in storage, will be so glad when life gets back to normal. Never really knew how much I used my cricut till I did not have it to work with.
But life goes on and had to have a mother's day card. Lucky I had a few dies cuts on hand. Used what I had and made it work in the card. Also the rub ons I bought a while back came in handy. First time I had used rub ons, I have to say I really liked them will get more. Have really been using alot of stamps as well, some I find I really like and others well not so much...lol

Supluys used
Flower and hearts glitter rub on's
Martha Stewart Alpha stamp set
Die cut "Family Heart"
Family stamp(Studio G)
For you stamp (Studio G)
Tim holtzs destress ink Fire brick red, Broken china.
Martha Stewart pigment inks for stamping.

Earth Day "Bloom"

Today I wanted to make a card earth day themed. The one I wanted to make I could not, thanks to my cricut. So the next plan was make a card that I could give and they could get somthing earth friendly. So got to thinking how about a flower themed card and I will add a package of flower seeds. So that is what I did today. Will add a pack above the area where it says "planted". Take a photo once I complete it and repost. Now that is about all I got done...lol And had so much more to do. I normally like to plant flowers and a garden on earth day. I will say I got one planted...lol A tomato plant. I had bought some herbs to plant cause well I have never planted any so thought try something new. I was running low on soil so thought okay I will stop here and run to town, plus we needed a new garden hose anyway. So we leave and just about in town where we needed to go and the truck just dies right in the middle of busy rush hour traffic. He got the truck over some but we ended up getting stuck at the turn lane at the light. He is trying to restart it and nothing. And never a cop when you need one. And people will see the flashers on and still will honk. So we call someone to come least help us out of the road so we can free up the turn lane...lol And soon as we hung up with them we called the insurance towing. All I have to say is Farmers Help point is awesome. Tow truck was there in no time and had to pay nothing cause they at help point called for us and made sure they got the lowest rate. But now we have to find out whats wrong with the truck I am dreading that part. Well that was our earth day not so much fun. Hope the card will give someone an ideas, always like to share ideas.

Martha Stewart Inks

A few months ago I was at a store and they had these inks on sale. The thing I loved was it was many colors and they were all in a container and stacked. The inks work great has wonderful coverage and works well with clear mount stamps. I really do like the ink now the down fall....lol The stacking part which allows it to not take up alot of space has caused so many problems. I have to use tape when I am not using them they pop open so easy. And could dry out, and if you pick them up they will just pop open. Cant tell you how many times I have had them fall apart and fall on the carpet, Yep carpet! And every time I would say I swear I hate these inks, the truth is don't hate them cause I find I use them alot but just hate the container. So will I buy Martha Stewart stamping ink again? Yes cause its really good ink. However will not buy them when they are in containers like this. Maybe Martha will work on this issue for later products lines I hope cause sure do like the concept.

Easter card

Well with Easter right around the corner I thought I make a few cards. I had to make them all the same since I don't have a ton of time to spend crafting. I was really shocked I had no cute Easter looking bunny's on the cricut carts I have. So broke down and finally used the gypsy it had a cute rabbit on it. I dont know If I am sold on the gypsy yet its neat but when you don't have great eye site its makes it kinda hard to see stuff. I find myself looking at the booklet anyways....lol Well anyways here is the card and I will list the supplies I used as well. Thanks for looking.


Supplies
Cricut Gypsy preloaded die
Cuttlebug Embossing folder (Bloom dots)
Ribbon
Martha Stewart Clear stamp Alpha
And Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamp for the "Happy"
Brizzil card stock for the Rabbit and embossing
And plain card stock

I miss crafting....

I miss being able to just get all my stuff out and make a simple card. Our lives are so in limbo right now, things are packed up as well as just to have time to craft is a issue. Seems like every single day we take a trip over to the house to work on something, just wish it were going faster. I would have thought we be in the house by now but we had a few set backs. But today I did get the cabinets all cleaned and ready for me to put shelf liner in. I always wanted a bigger kitchen with more cabinet space I got it...lol But wow seemed to take forever to clean all of them. They were pretty dirty. Better half worked on some electric issues had to move a plug and install fan boxes and a fan. He installed a garage door opener the other day had to fix a part that got broke while installing. Its just so lovely what starts as a simple idea leads to having to do extra work cause well it wont work if not...lol And tomorrow we will be back over there again to do something else. I just keep telling myself we are getting there and we will have lots of time once we get in to relax for once. And maybe get to sit down and make a card or scrapbook. I will be unpacking for months I am sure...lol

Update

Well been a busy few weeks we have been working on the house painting and getting ready for carpet soon as we are done with that we can move in. We had to take a little time off this past week my aunt passed away last Tuesday and had family coming into town. Bless her heart I am so glad she is no longer suffering, Alzheimer's steals so much from a person. Was painful to see her like that but even though it stole so much you could still see the love she had in her eyes. When we got the news Tuesday night I was sad but relieved that she is no longer in pain and she is in a better place. She was laid to rest last Friday, the service was so pretty. Well loved lady and she will be missed by all nor forgotten. Have some great memories of her. So Saturday we went back to work on the house. To look at the home we are making progress on it just seems to be taken forever. The home had been vacant for a year so as you can imagine there was a lot to clean and fix. Just replaced a faucet in the bathroom let me tell you that was a chore...lol But we got it done. So since we bought the home what we have done.

Installed ceiling fans cause the owners took them all
Installed lighting cause well those were took to...lol
Replaced smokes and door bell and have three other smokes to install in bedrooms.
Fixed water heater pipe to make sure it was up to code.
Replaced broken soap dish in bathtub that was not to bad, parts cost more than the soap dish.
Painted master bedroom it was orange yep orange!
Fixed a leaky toilet line and changed a toilet out.
Changed the bath faucet out today it was little leaky as well.
Bought a range and had to change out a plug to be able to use it.
And last but not least a really good cleaning...lol
Now on the to do list is to paint the ceiling in the living area. We taped it off today for painting.
And after that we can get carpet in. And it will be moving day.

We will have other stuff to do but we can wait till after we moving in to do those. So its getting closer to moving day. Cant wait either....lol

We bought a house!!!

After a year and something looking for a home we finally bought a house. Its the most stressful thing I have ever done...lol Each day there was something new to deal with provide this paper for this and oh sign and send this back. I will say the all in one printer came in really handy during that time. And emails I never was so tried of emailing...lol But that is all done with and now we are in the getting the house ready phase.
Its what I call a diamond in the ruff...lol The person that had owned it had let it go a little but not much. When we first seen it the lighting was all taken out the person had took it with them. But that did not scare us, cause well the better half is a electrician...lol And we had most of the lighting already in storage.
So we have been busy hanging fans, lights and doing repairs that needed to be done. Little stuff like trim on the house. And some tile work. It will be a cute house when its all done just needed a little TLC. It will take a while to get it the way we want it, but we are looking forward to getting it all done.
Its very much like starting over again having to buy new items like blinds and such cause what we have don't fit the new house. And the paint colors well there not ours...lol so we plan to repaint pretty soon. And after that is done its moving day....finally!
We are so looking forward to moving day and getting into the house. But the same time little sad to be leaving our home of 15 years. But its time for the next chapter and time to move on. Its a great area and seems to be very safe. We have meet most of the nabors, as they are very super friendly and helpful. I know when we were looking for a home the most important thing for us was the area and it being safe. And we seem to have found it. We had to settle somewhat to get that but I think in the long run its going to be a good choice.
So it will be a little while before I will be back to scrap booking and card making. But once we get everything unpacked and I can get a craft area for the first time and not have to craft on the dining table I will get back to normal life. And so looking forward to that....lol