Trick or Treat

Fall is in the air...the trees are turning gold, and nights are getting cooler. I love this time of year...I wish it lasted longer. Here fall comes and goes as fast as a bag of candy corn. Which brings me to our project of the week....Halloween banners. It's time to start preparing for all of the decorations needed throughout the season. I've never been much for the spooky, scary, part of Halloween so I went with something a little sweeter.

Yep you guessed it...candy corn. I cut the banner pieces from the Country life cartridge, then layered smaller banner pieces (triangles basically) to make the base of my banner.

I tore the very top edges of the white and orange triangles so that it wasn't a straight cut....candy corn isn't straight afterall. (I know because I think I went thru 2 bags while creating this one....only for inspiration of course.) I then placed an accordian rosette in the center so that I could attach my letters. I cut the letters from Blackletter at 2 in.
I also cut 2 jack-o-lanterns from gypsy wanderings at 2 in. To give them a little shine I used my heat embosser with some black embossing powder with a tiny bit of gold powder mixed in to it.

Then all that was left was attaching the letters, running the ribbon and hanging the banner. I used pop dots so that the letters would stand up a bit.

*recipe*
2 bags of candy corn (for inspiration)
yellow, orange, white and black cardstock
Gypsy and Cricut cartridges Gyspy wanderings, country life, black letter
ribbon
pop dots
heat embosser and embossing powder
possibly another bag of candy corn if the kids are around....Happy Halloween!

Sweatshirts in Summer

Hi everyone, it's Angie again. This week we were asked to design something from what we did this summer. My summer was filled with farming with a few adventures here and there. This particular layout is special to me because I don't have many pictures of me and my hubby. Even after almost 20 years those pictures come few and far between. This was in June, we had went exploring in Hatcher's Pass (Alaska)....there was still snow on the ground and the actual pass was still closed. As you can see we are still in jackets and sweatshirts. For this layout I started with a sketch....

As you can see I have notes all over it on different ideas that I had. My 3 yr old had picked out 3 buttons for me to use so I chose the paper to match it. It comes from DCWV Latte stack, and another DCWV for the stripes, and DCWB Pastels for the light green.

I used my accent essentials cartridge and my george cartridges for the wingdings, scallops and flowers...also the rectangle and square for journaling boxes. The title was cut from Gypsy wandernings...it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Then it took time to get it all just right. In the end I have a great page to remember a great day.

*recipe*
DCWV cardstock from Latte, Neutrals (and one other can't remember)
Cricut cartridges accent essentials, george and basic shapes, gypsy wanderings
buttons
ribbon

School Days

We are quicly approaching the end of summer vacation. As a homeschool family we never really quit schooling, just the book learnin' so to speak. We have started getting the older kids school books in already and my 3 year old keeps asking for her school books. So for my back to school challenge I made her a colors and shapes book.

These little books were really easy to make, and she has been carrying them around the house informing everyone they are HER books. I love it!

I used 3x5 index cards for the base pages. Using my gypsy I laid out each page with the words and object. I also cut out a rectangle in the color to cover the lined side of the index card. I put eyelets in the corner, threaded ribbon and it was a book.

The shape book was done generally the same way, except I used a hole punch and a binder ring instead of eyelets and ribbon. Her favorite color is green so I used green ink around all edges to take away some of the starkness of the white. I also dotted all I's with a green self stick gem.

I hope that back to school is as fun and exciting for everyone reading this as it is for my 3 yr old.

*recipe*
DCWV The grade school stack (red with dots)
misc. scraps

cricut cartridges:
doodlecharms- lady bug, popsicle, teddy bear
gypsy wanderings- jack o lantern
new arrival- duck, butterfly
live simply- turtle
george- rectangle, triangle, square, star, diamond, circle
plantin schoolbook- all wording and shadows

self stick gems
3x5 index cards
silver eyelets
binder ring
ribbon
ink

Apple Card

It's National Apple Week...and mmmmm who doesn't love something with apples, be it apple pie, or apple flavored jolly ranchers....it's time for apples. That is also our challenge for this week at sweetsassydiva.com

This week I even pushed myself beyond my comfort zone in crafting and used all patterened paper.....oooo, ahhh...laffin. I'm one of these gals who has to match everything, plains with patterns, not just patterns...so it was interesting for me...so here it goes.

I gathered up my papers (DCWV autumn paper stack 2010, and DCWV harvest gatherings stack)

I used my gypsy to lay everything out and cut all at once.

I then glued the apples together, and colored the stem with a brown marker.
I used brown ink and edged the card and the frame on the front of the card. I added green and tan raffia to the frame and then placed my apples on. I finished it off with a button for a little extra.

So there you have it a sweet little card for any occasion.

*recipe*
dcwv fall papers
tan/green raffia
cricut cartridges: Paisley (apple) Spring Card Collection (frame)
Tags, Bags, Boxes and more (tag) I didn't use it afterall
button
ink (brown)
glue

Daydreamin'

Today I've been daydreaming....about everything. I've been dreaming of what it would be like to be a photographer who travels the world to amazing places. I've been dreaming of what my farm will be like next year. I've been dreaming of a "perfect" life would be....and so on. Then it has hit me...I have been a photographer traveling the world, to some extent, and I have seen some amazing places. I know that my farm will grow next year, and that it is still growing this year. As for the perfect life, well I'm pretty much there. I know that nothing in life is perfect, and there is things that we would all change, but with the realization that you can only change so much makes me stop and see what I do have.

I have all that I have asked for. A large, happy family, I'm in Alaska, and I have my farm. It may not be what I pictured it as, and it may not be where I pictured it at, but it's mine. I'm not to the point that I am producing enough food for us yet, it's a work in progress. I have, however, produced food for us. I may not have us away from all of the things that I would like, but it's a work in progress. I have plans for what I want here. I have dreams for what I would like to see. I have hesitations because I don't know how long we will be here, and yet I have an inner voice screaming at me to go with it with all of my heart.

There are things that I would really like to see happen. I would like to learn to ride a horse...we have 2 and I've never been on one. I would like to see the 2 horses we have completely broken so anyone could ride them. I would like to halter train my sheep. I would like to have a bigger garden...which will happen. I know that in time these things will happen. I know that it's going to take more than me just wanting to get them done. I'm planning my winter reading/researching/studying already so that I will be ready to roll next spring. I don't know what we will find, but I know that bees, pigs, a cow, maybe even goats are all somewhere on the horizon for us. I want to have more than 2 sheep. I want to have the meat chickens. I want to see our heritage turkeys reproduce to that we don't have to continue to buy them each year. Those are things I'm starting to focus on more. I'm all about learning, and doing. I'm excited about what we are doing here. I'm excited about where we are going from here.

Again, just daydreamin'.

A Simple Layout

It's that time again. It's time for a new week of challenges. This is part 2 of the mix it up challenge. The idea was to come up with a single theme, and see what we could come up with. Our group came up with a BBQ theme, since it's summer. We also added that we needed to use bright/bold colors, and at least 3 cricut cartridges. So make sure to check back daily to see how many cartridges we can use this week. It only gets better from here.

I created a simple layout for my project.

This isn't the typical backyard bbq. We had been camping and had actually cooked the majority of our meals over the open campfire. We had such a good time. It doesn't matter where you are at, and how you are cooking when the food is good and the friends are even better. It was an amazing weekend, we even got to scare away a brown bear. (He thought the food would be good to.)

So for the details of my layout. The papers are expressions bright papers in yellow, red and orange....the apron is coordinations red.
I made all of my cuts at 4 inches.
"BBQ" come from the cricut lite, block party
the frames come from accent essentials
"Get cooking & apron" come from country life
"Family and Friends" come from Gypsy wanderings

The stickers are K Marcella Dimensional stickers, and a few self stick gems.

I used the frames for my journaling and left it simple since it was a camping trip. If you wanted to jazz it up a bit you could always pop the words off the page, frame the pictures in more than one frame, or add glitter ;)

So that's it for my layout....please come back tomorrow to see what is next on , and see how many cartridges we can use this week.

Lions and Tigers and Bears!!!!

Ok maybe not tigers, but sea lions and bears were seen.

Our camping trip to Valdez was amazing. We were definitely not disappointed with the wildlife, and the scenery. This was our second visit to Valdez. We were able to see brown bears, sea lions, harbor seals, eagles, otters, and fish. It is amazing to sit on the Prince William Sound, knowing that not too many years ago it was covered in oil, and see the life that abounds there. My sweet daughter has claimed that we need to move there. However I think that we will leave it as a vacation place so that it doesn't lose it's awe to us. We learned that it gets more snow during the winter than any place in the world, and that they have way too many bears for my farming taste. I would have to put a 6ft high electric fence around my entire property, and that isn't even a sure thing.

I'm looking forward to our next trip back, but I'm enjoying being at home as well. It is such a good feeling after you've been gone to pull into your driveway, see your garden is still growing, and hear the animals welcoming us back. I absolutely love my farm, and am enjoying watching it grow. I may not have lions and tigers and bears....but I have sheep, horses and chickens...and rabbits...and dogs...and cats...and kids ;) had to throw them in there.

I keep saying that I am looking forward to getting things from my garden, but I have already taken lettuce, raddishes, spinach, and a few strawberries, not to mention rhubarb. I've made pesto with my basil and parsley...and leafy salads, as well as just lettuce for sandwhiches. That is still amazing to me that I actually got something from my garden that I didn't kill. Maybe my thumb will start turning shades of green instead of gray and black. Wish me luck!!!