Convention, here I come!

No, I wasn't able to attend Close To My Heart's Convention this year in D.C. (which starts today) but I'd like to say a little piece of me is there this year! I was so honored earlier this year when I received a very special invitation from Close To My Heart. I was asked to participate in this year's Silent Auction to benefit Operation Smile. What an honor to be asked, but what pressure! I remembered a couple of last year's participants, Lisa and Tresa, and wondered how I could ever compare to the talented Consultants that would also be creating artwork for the auction. I finally accepted the fact that I could never compare but just to create something from my heart! I had plenty of time to work on it, luckily (though most of that time was spent just pondering my project) and finally the week that it was due to be postmarked, I started...and pulled it off!

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I am really pleased with how it turned out, and I look forward to seeing the other auction items. I hope it helps raise a lot of money for a good cause! I have shared a sneak peek here, but now here is the entire calendar project, as many of you correctly guessed. I used the Splendor paper pack on the entire calendar, just added a color here and there to fit with the month/theme. I also used the Irresistables Lots of Dots - it was great to customize the color for each month.

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January - also used Flurry Dimensional Elements and added Moonstruck CS - sponged the snowflake with Heavenly Blue and Moonstruck ink. It's hard to see in the picture, but under the chipboard snowflake and going up over the circle at the top, I stamped one of the snowy flourishes from the Flurries stamp set in White Daisy ink and chalked it with a light blue chalk.

February - also used the frog Stickease from Splendor, and a Heart Dimensional Element (but wish I would have sponged it a different color)

March - also used Bunny Love stamp set and Heavenly Blue buttons from the Spring Craft Button collection. The bubbles have the Glitz Stardust Glitter Gel on them to make them sparkle.

April - also used the Springtime stamp set, accented with Colonial White brads.

May - also used the Childhood stamp set for the kite.

June - also used Pizzazz Irresistables colored with Moonstruck and Topiary ink, and Splendor Designer Brads - dry embossed and sanded the border.

July - also used my new favorite stamp set Over the Rainbow - this month's page is one of my favorites - check out what I did with the window from the new A-Door-Ables. Here it is closed...can you see it?

and open...the balloon has the Glitz Stardust Glitter Gel on it.

August - also used the Summer Sweetness stamp set, Liquid Glass on the seeds, Tulip ribbon, and Topiary brads, and Tulip ink.

September - also used the Good Work stamp set and a bracket from the Pizzazz Irresistables inked with Heavenly Blue ink.

October - also used the Creepy Cobwebs stamp set and added black ink and black brads for the spiders.

November - this is another one of my favorites - I made the pumpkins using my oval Coluzzle cut from different Goldrush patterns from the Splendor pack and sponged the edges - I also added Splendor Designer Brads and Autumn Terracotta and Topiary Brads. This page got a little too thick with all of the brads but I still like it. I will be doing a lot more pumpkins like this - so cute and so easy - and you can do them any size you want!

December - I also used the Holiday Trinkets stamp set, some ricrac Stickease from the Splendor set, and added Tulip ink and CS. To create the scallop corner I took my Irresistables Lots of Dots 'leftovers' (the circles from the insides of the letters o, d, b, etc), colored them, and just added them under the corner.

Well, that's it - thanks for looking! I'd love to hear what you think - which month is your favorite?

Colorful Summer

This is a very long and colorful post - you've been warned! We've had a very busy summer so far as you can probably tell by my lack of posting - and it's just going to get busier! I do have a special post scheduled for Friday so I hope you'll check back!

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We are moving this month so we've spent a lot of time packing and getting ready for the big move. Plus, Brianna's birthday is coming up this Sunday and we've been planning her party for this Friday. She chose a Tie-Dye theme which has been SO much fun! We did a test run to see how long it would take with kids and how the different techniques would turn out and we loved the results. Here are the shirts we made so far...

And here's me trying to get in on a timer shot - I couldn't get the timer to set for longer than 2 seconds and I could barely get in there and Trysten was too tired and grumpy to try any more so this is the best we could do ;-)

Here is the shirt I made for my new little nephew - he'll sure look groovy! For this shirt I did a Twisted Tie.

Here's Trysten and his (soaking wet) shirt. For his we did a Twisted Spiral - the color turned out a lot brighter at the bottom of his shirt, I wish I would have added more color. You can also see part of Kaylee's shirt in this picture. For hers we used a Marble Tie - I think that's my favorite technique.

and here is the back of Trysten's shirt which I think turned out better than the front...

For Brianna's party, we're going to make rainbow cupcakes like these that we made on St. Patrick's Day

look how the cupcake wrappers turn out - isn't that cool?

The girls wanted to have a Snow Cone Stand to sell snow cones last week - they only got to do it for an hour one day and then a huge wind gust came up and shut the stand down quickly. Then the next day they only got to do it for an hour before we had to leave for the movie, but between those two days they've made almost $15 - not bad! It's been too cold to do it the last couple of days (it is July, right?) but maybe it will warm up and they'll get to do it again tomorrow. They've had fun wearing their tie-dyed shirts to sell their snow cones. Here you can see Brianna's shirt better - we did a Knotted Tie or Sunburst technique on hers.

Here's Brailee enjoying a snowcone - you can see some of her shirt - we did a Pleated Tie technique for hers. Mine is similar to hers, but I rolled mine instead of pleated it and my color gets more gradual as you go down the shirt where hers stays pretty much the same.

Thanks for looking - enjoy your summer!

Flashback Friday - Summertime Album

I don't have a house flashback this week - I just don't have the pictures ready, so I decided to do something a little different. Do you remember THIS ALBUM that my SIL made and I won through our reunion auction last year? Well, I forgot to share what I did with it, so here is a quick update. I filled it with pictures from last year's reunion and gave it to my in-laws for Christmas this past year.

I had too many pictures to choose from, so I ended up using Flip Flaps to add a few extras to the front AND back of the album.

And here are the pages, full of lots of fun memories!

The picture on the right page here is one of my favorites - I was lucky to capture Trevor mid-air, but most of all I just love the look on his face - I wish you could see it closer!

Thanks for looking and joining me on this quick flashback!

Flashback Friday

The big house project is DONE!!! The entire outside is painted and the deck is finished - Hooray! We think it looks great - here is a look at the changes our backyard has made over the last 6 years. Here is part of the back of the house - BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Here is our little helper on Tuesday as we were finally finishing up painting the house - doesn't she look cool ;-)

Can you tell what we've done over the last six years? Well, first of all, you may notice the tree is gone - that came down shortly after moving in. It was a crab apple tree, and it was rubbing the roof and causing damage to the shingles. Plus, Brianna was just one year old when we moved in, and she loved to pick up the dropped apples, which were sometimes rotten, so it had to go! I really didn't want to lose the only shade we had in our back yard, but I was glad to get rid of the mess. Here are the girls helping David remove the tree - they loved getting rides in the wheel barrow:

In the summer of 2008 we installed this adjustable awning from Sunsetter which added some much needed shade in the summer time.

In the summer of 2006 we re-did the deck. Here is the half under the tree - before we bought the house:

There was a step down here and this part of the deck sloped towards the house, plus the gutters didn't drain away from the house properly, so that had to be fixed. We made the deck all one level which seemed to increase the size of our deck - David added benches which has been great for extra seating. I don't have pictures from 2006 when we first did it, but here it is this week, which is pretty much what it looked like when we first fixed it. David did a minor update to the far right corner and we had to repaint the entire thing this year.

Also in 2006, on the other side of the deck, he built an extension for the grill so it doesn't take up extra space on the deck. He also added this privacy wall with lattice. There is some sort of plant that continually climbs and grows nicely on it - I just wish I knew what it was! I used to think it was ivy but a friend of mine set me straight. Are there any plant experts out there that want to help me put a name to it? Right now it's not completely filled out yet, but by the end of the summer it will cover the wall. This wall is where the poor birds built their nest - can you see how it was probably easy for a predator to access?

And here is our back fence - I still don't get the windows in the fence - and unfortunately, they are still there ;-P

When we fixed the deck in 2006 we also built a little spot for the tramp as you can see in the picture below. This is a common view from our backyard - the hot air balloons often land in the field behind our house - it's fun to watch.

Thanks for joining me on another flashback - stay tuned to see the rest of the house! I still have the basement, and the front of the house to share!