Earth Day Challenge - Reuse Magazines

Here is my challenge for the Earth Day Extravaganza! Reuse/Recycle Magazine pages. Each of these cards is made with recycled Magazine pages. My Mom buys the most amazing Decorating magazines. When I visit she sometimes gives me some of them. After I'm done with them I have a very hard time tossing them out even into the recycle bin. They are beautiful. So the colors and pages that really speak to me I rip out and save for projects. There are tons of things you can do with them. In the top card I punched out leaves from a page that was all about ferns. What a cool border it makes on my Earth Circle. Stamps are Earth and Happy Earth Day by justjohanna's Odd Bird Planet.
On this card I folded and cut out free form large and small flowers. Then I fold, scrunched and layered them adding a metal decoration to the center. I just loved the color scheme of these magazine pages to make this card. You can see some are just ads and some are folded so you can see the writing on the back. You could also stamp all over them to give them more dimension! Here I used the justjohanna, Odd Bird Planet stamp Fabulous. Love love love the largeness of this stamp. I versamarked it onto the background the stamped it in black.
Lastly we have just a die cut picture. This actually came from a Martha Stewart Magazine article about birds. I had to save all the cool pictures of birds since I have lots of words about our feathered friends I figured I'd use them eventually. The stamp is of course Odd Bird Planet.

Ok Now it's your turn. Open up some of your magazines and look for colors and patterns you just love! Rip them out and go to town. Be sure to post a link to your creation here at my blog by Thursday evening and you will be in the drawing for free stamps! Who could resisit?


Earth Day Challenge Details

Happy Earth Day!!!OBP's Design Team will be hosting challenges on their blogs. These challenges will also be posted on OBP's Group area of Paper Craft Planet. You'll have until Thursday at midnight to complete any and all challenges.

Do you want to know what you're playing for, other than the satisfaction of making some awesome cards and projects?One winner from each of the challenges will receive an Earth stamp. That one winner will then be entered into the drawing for one of the grand prizes:

One winner will receive $100 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
One winner will receive $50 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
Five winners will receive a 25% discount coupon when they place a Odd Bird Planet order.

Here's the schedule (all times are PDT), challenge hostesses, and their blog urls:
6:00 am – 9:00 am Rina, Sparkle, Suzy, Godelieve
9:00 am – 12:00 pm Nicole, Tracy, Dianne
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Kim, Kathi, Tanis
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Beth, Marnie, Teresa
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Laura
9:00 pm – 12:00 am Debbie

Challenge to follow!

Back from the Edge!

Ok maybe that's a tad dramatic. But Emily and I had the stomach flu the last couple of days and that's how it feels. We finally ate proper food tonight and all is well! I've graduated from toast I'm so happy! I missed my last Marker Club Class which totally bums me out but there is no way I could have made it. Em has been out of school the last couple of days, she told me today she wishes she didn't have to stay home anymore. Poor Baby! Oh well it's over finally! Phew!

Here is a sneaky peek of Stamp Camp this week. We're making projects from the Occasions Mini Catalog this month. Just too much cute stuff in that catalog not to make an entire camp around it! Not to mention the Thank You Promotion with it where for every $40 you spend in the Mini you get something from here free!

I'll be posting more now that I can do other things beside lay around a whine! Hope everyone is having a great week! I'm looking forward to 70's and sunny tomorrow!

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

So how was every one's Holiday? Ours was very nice. The girls enjoyed the Easter Bunnies delivery. They had fun coloring eggs. They loved the Easter Egg Hunt. They were thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa here! It was a good day all around.

I took a few photos. Well I took more but I made up a collage of things that happened and pretties to share.

I have to say the Italian Beef seemed to be a hit, the kids had hot dogs and mac and cheese. They always like that. And that big cookie with the inch of frosting decorating it was their favorite part of the meal, can you see where I scraped off Birthday? There are the cherry cheesecake squares I made they are quite tasty. Grandma brought the girls this cute bunny that sings and dances which they had a great deal of fun with. They were also enamoured with the Peek-A-Boo Barbies the EB brought for them. OOOH I should take a pic of the eggs again that one doesn't show them after we attempted to marbleize them. We really could only do the light colored ones so there are only 6 sort of marbleized eggs.

We talked to my Mom made sure they weren't in OZ after that last round of tornado's. We had baths and homework finishing then it was off to bed. The girls and I did our happy things ritual. Em was a bit standoffish. She later was crying and told me she knew the EB wasn't real. We had a long discussion about how the Mommy's and Daddy's have to help the EB do his job(I'm terrible, I'm not ready for her to be disillusioned, so I lied, for myself I get that). I'm not sure what to do with that. She was asking me this morning if Grandma new the EB as well. Hmmmmmm? What's a lying mommy to do?

So that was our holiday in a nutshell. The good and the bad. Hope you all had a great day!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter All! Have you met Priscilla? She's cute isn't she? She's painting eggs for the celebration today! They are sparkly eggs because she knows how I love glitter! The stamp is Odd Bird Planet.

So we're getting ready for my in-laws to come over for dinner. We'll do an egg hunt then. I'm curious to see how it goes since the Easter Bunny was out at like 2am this morning putting the eggs in the yard. In the pitch dark! HA!!! My Italian beef is heating up and my Cherry Cheesecake bard turned out great! The kids got Cooking Momma Around the World from the Easter Bunny. "Momma will help you" is going and going and going in my Head! AHHHHHHH the Wii without volume that is what I need! The games are fun though! We haven't really done well at any of them yet but it's still fun! I'm going back to the Wii so Momma can teach me how to cook!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

New Sketch Challenge Coming!

Well it's almost Sunday and just in case I forget I thought I would post a bit early. There is a new Sketch Challenge coming at Linnecards Car-A-Bility Blog. The Mom card below is my card for the challenge. Here we have the embellished piece I used on the card. It's pretty big about 2.5". But I love the flowering tree. That pink is not very true to color it's more subtle. I made a bunch of these for the Etsy store. They took forever gluing each little flower down to the tree. I caught up on a lot of Tivo'd shows let me tell you! But I can't look at these without thinking about Chopped and Lie To Me. It's weird how that works. Anyway back to the card. The word Mom was done with die cut letters. The paper is MME Bohemia.

Lets see what else is happening. I went to the grocery store and Dianne's this morning. So far the store wasn't crowded but the Mom's in the Easter isle all had that stunned look like they couldn't believe everything was already gone. You could see them mentally beating themselves up for not going sooner. I know this I did this last year. Never again!!!! There really was barely anything left, it's the day before I'm not sure what they expected? I got a great deal on plastic eggs though they were marking them down when I got there! Woo Hoo. Now we don't have to go into the attic and get ours! See how lazy I am? If I get that big box down with those eggs, the kids will make me decorate the entire house in Easter and you know what......................I've made it to the day before without having to do it! I'm so proud.......LOL. I did make a faux pas though. I bought one of those big decorated chocolate chip cookies. They showed them in the adds saying Happy Easter. They were not terribly expensive and hey I don't have to make dessert for the kids since they never like the grown up desserts. The cashier said wow Easter and a Birthday. I swear on my life at the bakery it said Happy Easter. It magically changed when I got to the checkout and said Happy Birthday. This is what I get for trying to do all my shopping in under 30 min to miss the rush. Oh well I'll scrape off the Birthday or add re- in front of it or something. Not like the kids care they can eat Birthday first right? So now the rest of today is just cleaning house etc. My total favorite thing to do, NOT!
Hope everyone is having a smashing weekend!

Is everyone Ready?

For the Holiday that is? We aren't but then when are we ever ready early. Today the kiddos were home. We had a good time we went to the library, did the craft they had there. Then we headed off to DQ for lunch. The girls were thrilled with hot dogs and ice cream. There's nothing bad about that!

So nothing else going on the girls are getting ready for bed. Julia and Cali came over for dinner after dance tonight and they just left. Abbi has a b-day party with a friend she hasn't seen in over a year. She has informed us "she has to get to bed early tonight because she's going to party for an old friend tomorrow". In her best grown up voice. She cracks me up. She even poo pooed a sleepover because she has this party tomorrow! Who knew?

So in the card Radar the Robot is celebrating Easter in space with his sparkly eggs. These show up as stars down here on earth. He even does juggling tricks. The stamp is Odd Bird Planet. Hope everyone is having fun.

OOOH It's Sunny! Quick Reminder!

I can't believe it, it's sunny and not freezing outside. It's 41 out right now and it feels balmy! We're taking off the winter coats and putting on the windbreakers. Although we've done this a few times in the last couple of weeks maybe this week won't end with a snowstorm???? I should be banging my head against something wooden! HA I'm taking the girl scouts outside this afternoon for a scavenger hunt! Fun Fun!

Ok now on to Easter! So I'm thinking Italian Beef. I can get it the day before no matter what restaurants are open or their hours. I can heat it in the crockpot. I can make a couple of sides and a fabulous dessert. And everyone will love it! Plus clean up will be a breeze! I'm liking this idea? The Easter cards above were made for my Etsy store they are really cute 3x3 cards with chocolate bunny punches on them. I adore these cards they are so stinkin cute! I went a little punch happy the clouds the fence the bunnies the circle. The grass I cut by hand but the punch insanity continues.

So Dave is at work today. He's feeling uh better. Well he's not eating so of course he's feeling better he has nothing in him to make him sick! Whatever he had to go to work. Abbi is terrified to eat anything. Today my mission is to see if she can eat a few crackers some soup and maybe even some noodles or something.

Ok QUICK REMINDER - SALE ENDS TODAY! HURRY HURRY! Over to Odd Bird Planet and get a bunch of cool stamps at a really good price! For a list of whats on sale see this post!

Hope everyone is staying well and enjoying what seems like it might be the beginning of spring!

We're All Contaminated!

That's right little bunny girls and boys! We're all contaminated! Abbi has the stomach flu which came on right after a nasty cold. And last night Dave came down with it. I have 2 count them 2 sick-o's at home! Oh well less driving around for me I guess. I have a post office run to make today and maybe if Em is well she and I will go out to dinner tonight and get away from the icky people!
So we are planning Easter dinner over here which is turning out to be the dilemma of the year. Who Knew? It was discussed at my MIL's house how no one really loves Ham, which I make every year. And I said if no one wanted ham(I don't like it), I would make whatever they wanted. So someone yelled out(DAVE) Pizza. And this being the Family's favorite food it got a lot of response. I'm good with Pizza, really I mean order a couple add a couple sides and I'm done. Imagine the clean up, or lack of. Dave called our favorite Pizza place Vinny's (for any Lowellians stopping by it's just like Dante's). They are closed on Easter. BUMMER. So I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a food everyone will love, besides Turkey that I can make, but I'm trying to fit it into the EASY category of Pizza, cause I love the idea of not cooking forever on a Holiday! Or worse doing the cleanup forever! We already have to chase down Easter grass forever after the holiday! All I really know is that I'm using my little bunnies above as place settings even if I put out paper plates! I made them originally for my Etsy store then added them to class I did over at Craft Fancy. We're going to put them on the girls Easter Baskets when they set them out the night before as well. They are the cutest tags.
I'm also trying something new. I've put a stamp set up on Ebay to see how it sells. I'm excitedly watching as the bidding has started. I've never sold anything on Ebay before so this is new for me and a test drive sort of! This is the first stamp set I ever bought from Stampin Up 6 years ago. I never use it but I fell in love with it at my first party!
Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement yesterday. It's not as bleak as I made it sound after we slept on it. Anyway I'm relieved Monday is over and much happier it's Tuesday even with the sickies, they sleep a lot! So I plan on finishing up the 4 projects I have on my table today! Woo Hoo! Hope everyone has a great Day! Stay Well!

UGHHHH! I hate Bullies!

Ok I haven't talked about this at all this year. But it's starting to get on my last NERVE! Who knew I had so much patience? My oldest is so sweet and sensitive. She really is. She has been pushed around all year by the Mean girls at school and all she really wants is to be their friends. But they are always picking. She's been seeing the school counselor since September to learn how to deflect it but really "I" statements don't really seem to have any affect on these girls. She never wanted me to go to the parents and talk to them about it. She was afraid of what the kids might do etc.

Finally last week she hit her breaking point and told me I could tell one mom if it meant we could cancel the carpool which she had been begging me to do for weeks. So I did have that talk and the carpool was cancelled. The first day there was some nastiness with the child telling everyone she wasn't speaking to Em. But hey Em was really good with that and was lighter than air going to school Wed., Thur and Friday they were all great days she woke up early made her own lunch couldn't wait to get there, was all bouncy etc. Then yesterday she got her hair cut. And now we're back to the ICK. Clearly the parent talking to the child meant nothing. Mean girl 1 got together with an even Meaner girl that bullied MG1 all year last year(and they complained about her, go figure) and they ganged up on Em talking about her hair etc. etc. etc.

I'm so frustrated. She's down again about school and she shouldn't be. Three good days out of the entire school year that's all we get, really? Poor kid she is doing everything right. She's using the right words she's telling them how it makes her feel they just don't give a flying fig.

I just needed to vent I can't take it anymore. This sitting back letting them fight their own battles in the manner that suites them best is getting the better of me! I'm sorry to bring this here but UGHHH I want to scream outloud and can't!

Oh It's Monday................

How was every one's weekend? Ours was well it was..........Emily got her hair cut really really short, she's thrilled. Abs started with the stomach flu yesterday and it continues today. However if you ask her she'll tell you she feels perfect. While she lays like a limp fish on the couch refusing to try to eat or take anything in at all. I'm pretty sure she thinks she'll get to go to school, she has show and tell today, if she tells me she feels great........Dave stopped mopping around yesterday for the most part. He's still sad but he joined us quite a few times to watch TV and even just joked around with us! The snow came yet again! We watched and planned for a snow day that never really happened the snow didn't stick to the pavement, just the grass. We did however remember Dave packed the snow pants into the attic which means no going in the PIT at recess for Em. She'll have to stand on the paved parts of the playground with anyone else thats missing their snow pants. I know I know it's only April and we could get snow into May here but Dave is done with winter he also put away the snow blower. For him winter is over forget the weather forecast.......HA!!!

As for me well, I just facilitated the cookie baking and attemps to hold food down. I tried a new stir fry recipe and discovered how hard it is to find frozen veggie mixes without flavorings. Seriously I wanted a broccoli stir fry blend and in our grocery store there are no blends that first of all aren't steamable or in a steam in box thing and that don't have some sort of flavor mixture on them already. We liked the stir fry recipe so I think I'm going to have to make my own baggies up of stir fry veggies. How ridiculous is that? I also have been avoiding making meatloaf as we like it with ground turkey and lately it seems really watery to me. Well this week I tried a different brand than the one most prevelent in our store. And you know what it's just that brand our turkey meatloaf came out perfect. So that was a good thing. That was all my cooking for the weekend, well I made pancakes for the kids. But that's not interesting I will say however the Fiber One pancake mix fills them up much faster than any other pancake mix and tastes just the same.

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. I made a couple more cards for the Oddbird Planet Sale. Above we have Winston Bowler Bird Left #1543I heading home after a long days work and content to be home. And below we have the Kings army with Kevin Royal Penguin #1555D maybe he shouldn't be cloning? I've been using a bunch of new American Crafts papers lately I just love them all. They are fun fun fun!
Hope eveyrone has a great Monday!

Let The Fur Fly!

HA love these stamps from Odd Bird Planet they are all part of the 30% off sale!

Flying Squirrel Left #1540D
Flying Squirrel Right #1541D
Joy Falling Squirrel Left #1538C
Joy Falling Squirrel Right #1539C

These squirrels are so cute I just love them! Especially all together!

So today Dave and the girls are at their Dance Class! Ha, still cracks me up. Dave is working on selling the Motorcycle but he's very very sad. I feel terrible and want to just say OK keep it, but the Dr. said he would have to give that up. And with complete recovery years away I don't think we can risk any injury! Plus it freaks the girls out even just thinking about it.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A Party & A Sale Who Could Resist?

Well it's a party here because quite literally in the last few minutes the sun finally came out! Seriously it's been gloomy and cold for days now! ICK! So I'm on a bright sunny kick to counteract the greys I'm feeling! This card was inspired by the Schnockers Color Challenge from Wednesday.

Meet Leslie Party Bird and Mr. Wilson Hat and Tie Bird. They dated once and ran into each other at a party recently. As you can see they were thrilled to hang out with each other. I imagine they are both thinking "what did we ever see in each other"? Doesn't Mr. Wilson look like a thrill a minute. Leslie is just shocked to see him out at a party, of course he seems thrilled to be out! HA These are just 2 of the stamps on Sale During the Odd Bird Planet Spring Sale.
The following items are 30% off over at Odd Bird Planet until the 8th make sure to check it out and the other DT members on the right are also posting inspiration with the sale stamps which is lots of fun!:
Here's the list!
Buzz and Neil #1497E