The weekend

Had a nice quiet weekend, my husband and daughter #1 went to Louisville, KY for the Thunder over Louisville fireworks show.  I had to work a few hours Saturday morning then after hitting Joann's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's went home to clean and craft.  The clean part took pretty much the whole day into the early evening so unfortunately no crafting was done -- I was tired! But I did get my mantel decorated for spring.

Some of the items on the mantle I already had but, I bought a few new items. The white vase was actually a "not pretty green" vase I bought at Michael's on clearance.  A couple quick coats of Krylon Glossy White and it looked much better.  I find though that when I am looking for items to put on my mantle, I forget just how big it is and when I get something home, it looks so small.  I really should have went taller on a vase and taller on the flowers for the vase. oh well there is always next year.  I also want to find a purple ribbon for my Pottery Barn rabbit to help him match a little better but other than that, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Also, made a card on Thursday night for a co-worker who was given a big teaching award at our Honors Convocation held Friday. As you can tell, I have become a fan of that type of card.   I will be in Texas this weekend so there won't be any crafting done until May then, I'm sure I'll have a few graduation cards to make and some table decorations for my nephew's graduation party.

April is slipping away

Been busy out in the scrapbook room, and not just with cleaning (notice I didn't say cleaning and organizing). I look at my stacks of paper and tell myself I need to change how it is organized but I don't know how to do it.  I've read different things about organizing and even took an online course by Aby Garvey, called the Happy Scrapper but I'm still a mess. Anyways, back to my post.

Easter has come and gone. I made Easter cards again and even managed to remember to take a picture of them.  The idea came from a make-and-take that Archivers did using a cloud punch.  I didn't have that punch but had a cloud available on one of my Cricut cartridges. Used my McGill paper blossom tool kit to add texture to the ears. I have really run with the idea of "make-a-bunch" lately.  Instead of creating two of several different cards, I create several of one card. Makes it easier and creates less waste. 

Last fall, my brother-in-law lost his mother, who was well known in her town for her angel food cake, fluff frosting, and lemon meringue pie.  Her recipes were highly regarding and a much kept secret! For Christmas, my sister gave me a copy of Etta Mae's angel food cake and fluff frosting (still waiting on that pie recipe Kath!).  The recipe itself must have been 50 years old! I thought Easter would be a great time for an angel food cake so, 18 egg whites later, taa daa.. Thank you Etta Mae VanWinkle for the super yummy recipe.

Have several birthdays coming up so in the "make-a-bunch" mindset, I sat down and made these last weekend.

I like this style so much, I am actually going to list dimensions here so I know where to look for when I want to make them again.  This is for a finished card 4.25" x 5.5".

• card stock (background) - 4" x5 1/4"
• top paper 3 3/4" x 3"
• middle paper 3 3/4" x 1" (made adjustments if you are going to use a chevron pattern and trim the top)
• bottom paper 3 3/4" x 1"
• Flower and leaves: Hello Kitty cricut cartridge 2 1/2"
• Texturize the leaves with the McGill paper blossom tool kit 2mm size
• Flower center - 5/8" circle punch 

I really like using the 6x6 pads for card making, I less waste when using them and can get 2 cards from each sheet (depending on design).

And lastly, my sister-in-law lost her father this past Monday and here is the card I made to send to her and her family (I made it in the 5" x 7") format.

In addition to the baking and card making, I also produced five more of the buckwheat heating pads that I gave to my girls for Valentines Day.