Ah, Fall Break

I slept until 9 o'clock this morning. I had forgotten how good that feels. I now feel ready to tackle some of the chores that have piled up around here with me being gone so much the last couple of weeks.
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Even last weekend was crazy busy but in a very good way. The girls both had soccer tournaments and were scheduled to play three games each with DH coaching both teams. Both teams won all their games. L and I ended up leaving one game early so she could get ready for her first gymnastics meet of the season. She did fabulous and has actually already qualified for state. She got two 4th place medals in vault and floor, a 5th on beam and 6th in all around. Sunday K had her first swim meet of the season. She had a fabulous meet too. She placed a second in 100 breast, third in 50 free, fourth in 200 free, and fifth 50 breast. She dropped time in every event including almost 21 seconds off her 200 free!
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I have two projects I created for Emma's Paperie that I want to share with you today. The first was created using a sketch by the fabulous Anabelle O'Malley. You can find the sketch along with the other designer's take on the Emma's blog. All supplies are from Emma's except for the little spider. I used a small purple pom pom and gave him googly eyes.

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This second project was for the color challange at Emma's. Loved these fall gorgeous fall colors. You can find the inspiration photo at Emma's as well.
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Off to take the girls to the dentist and get some food for my poor family. Have a wonderful Halloween weekend and stay safe!

Last Chance

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have been out of the loop all week. Things have been crazy busy at the girls' school. Everything is finally starting to slow down and I hope to be back to my regular posting tomorrow. Until then I wanted to make sure you didn't miss your last chance to pick up one of this month's kits from Creative Charms.
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Click on the images below to place your order before October 31st.

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Check out my post using this last kit over on the Creative Charms blog.

Have a great night!

Lisa

Halloween Drive By

Hi everyone!
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Sorry for the quick post today. I am still swamped with this fund raiser at our school. I am having fun but I am exhausted. The individual class parties are a huge hit but it is a lot of work. We definitely need to get more help next year. Not sure how much we have raised for our school yet but as of last Friday we were only 5,000 minutes short of what we read last year. That is amazing considering that last year the kids read an average of 45 minutes per student per day during the read-a-thon.
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I did want to share a project I made for Emma's Paperie this last week though. You can find a supply list on the Emma's Paperie Blog. All the goodies like the candy and socks came from Target. Man, I love that store! :)
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Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week. I am heading back to school! :)

Do you boo?

Hi everyone!
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Before we moved a year and a half ago we lived in a really big neighborhood. Around the beginning of October you would start to see signs in people's windows and you knew that the Boo'ing had begun. It was only a matter of time before we would find a treat container on our door also. After moving here we discovered that no one knew what boo'ing was, so we have started it in our neighborhood. :)
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Basically you fill a container (does not have to be anything fancy) with a few goodies and secretly drop it at the door of two friends. In the container should be a poem telling them what to do. You can find them all over the internet. Here is the one I used. You also need to include a ghost that they hang in their window so everyone knows they have already been boo'd.
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To create this quick little bag I simply used one of the Kraft bags from Emma's and covered it with Happy Halloween Magic Stripes Paper by Echo Park using Glue Lines to make sure the paper didn't fall off. I then cut a strip of Monster Stew Cup of Eyeballs Paper by Jillibean Soup, matted it with purple and attached it to the top of the bag. I cut out one of the cute creatures from the Whoo-ligans Monsters Pattern Paper by Bo Bunny Press and attached him to the bottom of the bag. I then printed a speech bubble in Microsoft word, inked it up and I was done.
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I also wanted to let you know about a Facebook promotion that Creative Charms is running right now. Anyone who buys both the Kit of the Month and one Deal of the Month will be entered to win $25 gift certificate. If anyone buys both Deals and the kit they will be entered twice.
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Thanks for stopping by everyone and have a wonderful day!

Christmas sneaks and a Halloween treat

Hi everyone!
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Had a few quick things I wanted to share with all of you before I rush out the door. Today is going to be a fun day. We get to spend time with the classes that earned rewards for the Read-a-thon today. I am really looking forward to all the fun games we have planned for them.
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Anyway, have you seen the newest issue of Crafts N' Things yet?
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There is a lot of amazing stuff in this issue, holiday cards and gifts, quick-and-clever ornaments and dazzling décor ideas. They have included a Budget-Savvy Gifts section with a ton of handmade gift ideas and so much more!
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I thought I would share one of my cards from this issue with you. You will find step-by-step instructions to make this card and so much more in this issue.
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I have a Halloween layout to share with you too. My girls get such a kick out of designing their own Jack-o-Lanterns and carving them by themselves. There are not so crazy about taking out the goo though. Check out K's face in the second picture in the second row. LOL
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I created this layout using some of the yummy chipboard from Magistical Memories. I painted one of the scallop lace borders and painted on some Stickles for a little bling. Speaking of bling, there is lots of great Creative Charms sparkle on here too. The cute little pumpkin charm comes from the Vintage Halloween Frames set. The black gem stickers embellishing the journaling block are also from Creative Charms, as well as the orange brads on the scallop border.
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Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a fabulous day!

Friends

Good Morning!
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I have some friends I would like you meet today. If you read my blog last week you may remember that I was talking a great deal about the school Read-a-Thon that I was a part of. I did not have a chance to grab my camera before rushing out the door on Friday morning so I didn't get any pictures of the kick-off that was held that morning at our school. I thought I would share the front page of Thursday's newspaper with you so you could see some pictures.
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Pretty cool huh? The top picture is Melinda, our librarian who was dressed up as Cupid. The image in the left corner of the picture is Lisa, the music teacher. She is dressed in an amazing costume to depict Medusa (one of the characters from the Percy Jackson; Lightning Thief book). She walks on stage and tricks Cupid to look in her eyes and freezes her. Two of the 6th grade teachers who are dressed as Greek gods come and carry her off. :) The bottom image is Joe, our principal dressed as Zeus. You gotta love a principal that will put that much love into a program to support the kids and school. See that beard? I think he has been growing it just for this part. :)

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Now I have to make sure you know, I was not responsible for that part of the Read-a-thon. The credit goes completely to my friends Char who made all those awesome costumes and Jolene who wrote the scripts for everyone. They were amazing! My part was more behind the scenes. In this post I was explaining the work that my friend Amanda and I did. Here is a picture of one of the four maps we did for the elementary school. Each colored section of the map was cut out of construction paper and attached to a map that we had created on white butcher paper. I have not had a chance to get pictures of the solar systems that we put up in the Primary school.
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I have a few more friends for you to meet today. I created these monster jars for Glue Dots®. I found the jars at Michael's last year and have been waiting for the perfect time to use them. These monsters were actually very easy to make.

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To create each monster:
1. Cut a monster body out of solid cardstock.
2. Ink the outside edges of their body.
3. Cut eyes out of Eye'm Watching You paper by SEI and attach using Craft Glue Dots.
4. Draw in mouth with black marker. Using white marker add teeth.
5. Attach Pop Up Glue Dots on the monster's body. Sprinkle with glitter or Sparkly Fluff.
6. Cut out arms, legs and hair out of black and attach to the monster.
7. Attach the monsters to the jar using Glue Lines.
8. Paint corks with black paint and fill the jars with candy.
9. Cut tages out of Scary Story Cards paper from Echo Park and mat on cardstock.
10. Tie jute around the top of bottle several times and attach tags.
11. Finish off with a piece of toile.
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I have been busy creating all kinds of Halloween goodies. I also finished a Halloween layout for Creative Charms last night. Here is a peek for you.
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Stop by the Creative Charms blog to see the entire project.

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Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Happy October

Hi everyone!
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I can't tell you how happy I am that October has arrived. It is definitely one of my absolute favorite months. I love the cool chill in the air, leaves changing colors and creating all sorts of Halloween goodies. The funny thing is, as much as I love creating Halloween goodies, I am not real good about giving them away. This year I hope to use my stash of Halloween cards.
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Speaking of creating Halloween goodies, I have a Glue Dots® project to share with you today.
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1. Start off painting a chipboard house with black paint. (mine is by Maya Road)
2. Cut strips of white cardstock and ink each strip with brown and black ink.
3. Layer strips on the base of the house using Continuous Glue Lines®.
4. Create windows by cutting thin strips of cardstock and paint them using black acrylic paint. Attach to rectangular pieces of Cup of Eyeballs paper by Jillibean Soup. Cut thin strips of black cardstock to create the panes.
5. Cut door out of chipboard and paint with black paint. Attach silver brad and distress with black ink. Adhere door and windows to front of the house with Craft Glue Dots®.
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6. Cut spiders out of Spooky Spiders paper by Little Yellow Bicycle and attach to front of house.
7. Attach tree and ghost from Boo-ville Chipboard Shapes by Little Yellow Bicycle using Pop Up Glue Dots®.
8. Paint a 5 x 7 canvas using a mix of green and black acrylic paint. Do not mix the paints completely to give the canvas a streaked look.
9. Paint fence with black paint and attach to canvas. I got my fence on clearance from Jeffrey Allen but if you do not have a fence you can make your own. Check out this post for instructions.
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10. Create the shingles by using a scallop punch to cut strips of Graveyard paper by Echo Park. Paint edges with white acrylic paint. Use Glue Dots Continuous Lines® to attach the shingles and black tinsel to the roof.
11. Paint Bazzill chipboard cat black and attach to house with Pop Up Glue Dots®.
12. Use yellow embossing powder to cover Bazzill chipboard moon and attach to roof using black wire.
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I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.

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I have one other Halloween goodie to share. Creative Charms launching a new kit of the month. The kit will include new and popular items at a discount. This month’s kit is Vintage Halloween. It will sell for $14.99 (MSRP $20.00).

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October Kit of the Month – 14.99
*Vintage Halloween – 125 Pieces
*Halloween Vintage Frames
*Halloween Twinkle Stickers
*Amber Vintage Jewels
*Amber Vintage Brads
*Black Vintage Velvet Poppies
*Black Gem Stickers
*18” Black Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
*18” Black Velvet Ric Rac
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There are two new Deals of the Month for October too.

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October Deal of the Month - $6.99

Fall Harvest – 145 Pieces
*Orange Itsy Glitzy
*18” Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
*Amber Pure Blossom
*Orange 3D Sparkly Brads
*Amber Gem Stickers
*Orange Fuzzy Daisy
*Orange Braided Daisy Medley

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Early Christmas – 145 Pieces
*Clear Itsy Glitzy
*18” Red Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
*Clear Pure Blossom
*Green 3D Sparkly Brads
*Red Gem Stickers
*Red Fuzzy Daisy
*Green Braided Daisy Medley

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Thank you so very much for stopping by today. Have a fabulous week!

Taking a deep breath

I am beat, literally exhausted. I have been at the school just about every day for the last two weeks from 9 am until at least 4pm, some days longer.

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Some of you who know me may know that last year I agreed to be a part of the Read-a-Thon, the main fund raiser at our school. When I agreed to be a part of this program I had no idea how much time and effort I would end up putting into in, nor how absolutely amazing it would be. We have two schools under our PTO a primary school (K-2) and then an elementary school (3-6). Our theme for the elementary school this year was Percy Jackson. The whole read-a-thon is based around that book. My friend Amanda and I are in charge of tracking and incentives. I know that this seems like a small job but somehow we have taken much farther. (What was I thinking???? LOL) In the book, Percy and his friends are trying to get from Maine to Las Angeles. On the way they encounter monsters. So our tracking includes four ten foot wide maps of the United States with 6 stops where Percy met monsters. Each class moves along the map based on the minutes they have read. Then my committee will supply rewards for the classes, such as a Water Balloon Challenge when they reach Denver where Percy met Ares at a Water Park or the Rockin' Elvis Dance Party when they reach Las Vegas. :)

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The Primary school has a similar system and parties related the Ms. Frizzle and the Magic Schoolbus visit the Solar System. Their parties include a Martian Madness party where we will help them make Martian antenae and paint martians on their faces. :) They get to have a Jumpin' Jupiter Dance party instead of Elvis. Should be a lot of fun.

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So today was the big kick off. I have to say, Amanda and I are only a small part of this program. We have some amazing moms helping out to make this a success. My friend Joleen is in charge of the Kick Off Style show for both schools. The show was this morning at 9:15 and it was jaw dropping. I think I mentioned that K is loving 6th grade. Her teachers do so many great things throughout the year. One of the cool things is Greek Day which will be in 2 weeks. So all four sixth grade teachers dressed up as Greek gods and goddesses to go along with the Percy Jackson theme and got up on stage. Our principal then came out dressed up as Zeus. :) Kids auditioned for a chance to be involved. So following Zeus' appearence, about 30 kids one at time came across stage dressed up as a book character while their book was up on the screen and Zeus gave a small bit of info about that book. It was so cool.

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In my rush to get the kids to school this morning along, with the last things I needed for the read-a-thon, I forgot my camera. I hope to have pictures for you soon.

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I have a project to share with you today also. I made this card for Emma's Paperie last week. You can find all the supplies and step by step instructions on the Emma's blog.

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Thanks for stopping by. I am going to go veg. :)