Warm Wishes

Hello....what a beautiful day to be writing this up. This is the first morning to wake up with the ground covered in snow. I love the snow for the first few days, and then I am ready for spring again. So onto this weeks project....Christmas cards.

This card represents some of my favorite things about winter....other than just Christmas. I chose the plaid paper (dcwv seasons paper stack), to represent flannel. There is nothing warmer than a flannel shirt, or a set of flannel sheets to curl up in. The red and green are for Christmas. I chose to use twine to represent the cord on a sled. So then to go sledding you have to button up and have snow. So with all of that in mind here how I made my card.

I used green cardstock, folded in half makes a 4 1/2 x 6 size card.
I cut out a piece of the plaid (eyed it) and glued to the top. I added a strip of tan across the bottom and stamped it with snowflakes.
I used my gypsy and cut out a tag, using George for the circles and Paisley for the flower....I would say they are 1 1/2, 2 in for the circles and 2 1/2 for the flower.

I stamped the center with a snowflake and the "Warm Wishes" sentiment, layered them together and placed them on the card at a diaganol/slant...because snowflakes never fall straight to the ground.

I added a snowflake button to cover the hole that the twine is threaded through. (It's a fabulous findings button.) I then added twine to the top of the card, used a pop dot to adhere the button and wrapped the part of twine around it that was holding the tag.

(this will all make sense when you see it....very very simple, like a day of sledding, flannel blankets, and hot chocolate)

*recipe*
dcwv paper and cardstock
wooden button, snowflake button
gypsy cartridges, Paisley and George
studio g warm wishes stamp set
twine
dew drop ink rich cocoa and brick red
pop dots

Make sure you button up and keep warm!

Winter is Coming

It's that time of year when we are on the verge of snow. It's in the forecast already. There is so many things that we need to still get done before it starts.

We have been chopping wood. (We cheated after a while and rented a wood splitter.) We still need to get it all stacked and out of the weather. We did a good bit of it the old fashioned way though. I even got out there and chopped some. I know it makes the fire in the woodstove that much more appreciated.

We are in the process of converting our horse stall into a 2- horse stall for the winter. That way both of them will be able to get in out of the weather without fighting....we have a dominant one who thinks he owns the farm.

The sheep are still in their smaller area, but will have a much larger pasture next year. I love going out and sitting with them, feeding them hay and watching them. The kids get annoyed with their "talking" but I love it. I find it funny when we go out that they start yelling at us right away. They love attention, and the kids don't get it.

As for the chickens and the turkeys we are going to be downsizing the flock this weekend. We were going to keep the 2 hens and a male of the turkeys, but have decided they will all go in the freezer this year. We will try again in the spring to get a breeding pair. We can be better prepared for them. We also have a handful of chickens that will be going in the freezer as well. I'm going to get a new toy for this weekend because of this....my grinder!!!! We were trying to figure the best way to store the turkey meat, and I think we are going to grind the majority of it. We will leave a few whole for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, but the rest will be making chili, meatloaf, and all sorts of warm foods for us this winter.

I'm going to take down the hoops over the garden, and get the black plastic laid down for the winter. This is in hopes that when spring rolls back around it will warm up my beds quicker.

Our biggest upcoming projects are fencing a new pasture, fencing the garden area, and beginning plans for a barn. I would love to add an actual greenhouse into the mix, but that is down the road. I've come to the conclusion that I love my farm....I love that we are going back to basics in so many ways. I dream of windmills, solar panels, pigs, cows and such. My goals are to learn how to spin wool, (working on it) get a cow and learn to make my own dairy products...cheese, ice cream, yogurt, be good stewards of what we have been given. I want us to learn to use all parts of animals we use for food, such as the skins, and all. I know that it would make some of my friends take a second look and wonder who invaded my body. I really am in a back to basics girl right now. I'm excited about getting a grinder, and don't even care if it is electric or not. I would love to have a wheat grinder....if I knew where to get the wheat from to grind. I have a ton of things that I want to learn, and to do. I'm excited about my adventure.

I think that if we were to leave here I would want to go to Vermont. I don't know that I could find what we have here, but I do know it's a New England state, it's small, and it has all 4 seasons. I honestly though have no desire to leave here anytime soon. I look forward to the challenges here. I'm already thinking birch syrup again.

Birthday Banner

This week at sweetsassydiva we were challenged with a Disney theme. I happened to also be having a little girl's birthday this week. So I combined them and made a "fairy princess" banner, which is what was requested. I did not use any Disney cartridges for this, however the princess part can be tailored to fit any Disney Princess, according to color, and such.

So here we go....

I started with pastel cardstock for the crown's....I laid it out on my gypsy...this is one project that took a lot of layers on it.

I used the Once Upon a Princess Cartridge for the majority of my cuts. After cutting out the crowns (shift lock, font) I used scraps of different colored paper on the back to "color in" the openings...I then glittered the letters with a clear glitter to add some shine, and then decorated the crown with a bit of glitter for the gems. (If time would have allowed I would have cut the gem figure out which is also on the Once Upon a Princess Cartridge)

The fairies were cut in different colors, and their flags wave in different directions so that they can carry the banner for me.

I didn't want to do the same ribbon tie up banner that I usually do, I wanted something a bit different. I decided since it was fairies, and they live in the trees, that leaves and vines would be better. I used my gypsy and welded some vines together that were on the Calligraphy Cartridge. I used some flowers from Accent Essentials, and butterflies from Once Upon a Princess.

Then I could put the girls to work carrying the banner....the finished banner turned out really cute.

*recipe*
Cricut cartridges: Once Upon a Princess, Calligraphy, Accent Essentials
Misc. Papers
Glitter
Buttons

Time

This week's challenge was a fall theme. Fall means back to school, and as a homeschool mom I am the one who gets to come up with our bulletin board ideas. However we don't have a bulletin board as such, so we make do with poster board when needed. This year I'm incorporating things for my 3 year old as part of school, and so that means more hands on. I also wanted to give the older kids a different perspective on seasons. The fact that with each passing season, time is moving forward....so there sprang my idea of a calendar/clock for the seasons. (That is what my 10 yr old has decided that it is called.) This project literally took me some time. I am so thankful for my gypsy and the weld function....and that I can load up several images from different cartridges at one time. I can't imagine having done this one without it. It's a very simple poster, but it took a lot of time welding, layering, and then some...so here we go...

This is how I laid out one of my sheets for cutting. This is the one for all of the little symbols that I am putting around the clock. This is another reason I love my gypsy...I can lay things out according to the screen on my mat, and not waste paper. I get so much more use from scraps then I ever have. As you can see on this one I have all sizes laid out.

Another tool I used was my heat embosser...another one of those things I love. I had cut out the title of my project on some ugly paper that just didn't do it for me. With the help of some stampendous ink and embossing powder it really stands out...which is good or it would get lost.

After getting everything cut, and starting to lay it all out I realized that I had forgotten a circle. I grabbed my creative memories circle cutter and had one if just a few seconds. (I'm thinking this one should have been on tools.)

Finally here are all of my pieces ready to start placing.

I started with the clock face. I cut out 2 inch strips in colors I thought would represent each month and glued them around the circle. I then added the small circle to the center of the clock to cover the edges.

I embossed all of the months and the title, glittered the numbers, and some of the symbols. After it was all dry I laid it out on the poster board. It doesn't look fancy, but it shows the idea of what I wanted for the kids to realize, that seasons, and months as they go by are time passing by. I want them to enjoy what each one brings, and not keep wishing them away. So each month has some symbol of something to look forward to. I also used the landscape scene from camping critters to give an idea of what the world outside looks like. Here is my finished project and then I will give the whatnots on the pieces.

Ok here we go I hope I don't miss anything:
Cricut cartridges:
Plantin schoolbook for the numbers, title, and months (welded with the gypsy)
George and Basic shapes for the large circle (clock face)
Camping Critters for the landscapes.
Gypsy wanderings for the seasons, seasons shadows, and jack-o-lantern
Create a critter for the turkey
Doodlecharms for the stocking, snowman, valentine, flower, sun, ice cream, and school bus
Sugar and Spice for the kite and umbrella
Independence day for the flag banner

Creative memories cutter for small circle
Stampendous embossing powders, and clear stamping ink
heat embossing tool
glitter glue
a brad for the clock arm.

Have a great day, thanks for looking, and remember to enjoy each month, each season, each day for that matter, because it is all passing time. You can't get it back.....Angie

Still Strong

This week the design team is remembering 9-11. I can remember exactly where I was and all that was going on that day. My husband was active duty Navy, thankfully he was on shore duty at the time. I sat in my living room holding my two youngest children at the time, and praying that my older two who were in school were ok. I didn't know if they were going to show the kids, or not....I am thankful that they didn't.

One of the biggest things that I remember of that time was how long our flag was at half mast. I know that it was in honor of those that had fallen, and I respect that, but I remember feeling like we finally lifted our heads when it was raised again to full mast. I have always been patriotic, being active Navy myself and then married to it for 20 years this country, what it stands for, means the world to me.

My younger children that I held so tightly 10 years ago watched the footage of the attacks this year and finally understood exactly what we were remembering. I'm proud to see that the patriotism runs deep in them as well. So I'm proud to say that in these 10 years I have not lived in fear as the terrorists would want us to. I hold my head high as an American citizen. Ok so now onto my project ;)

I like to reuse or recycle whenever I can. I cut these frames out of cheerio boxes. I used my gypsy and welded 2 squares together. The outer is 6x6 and the inside frame is 4x4. I used George and basic shapes, the inside frame is the one with the rounded corners.

I then used the same cut to cut the red frame from the DCWV Old World Stack. I cut the blue backing also from the Old World Stack in 6x6 squares. (I also cut 6x6 squares from another cereal box to strengthen the frame)

I glued the blue square to the backing cardboard square. I also glued the frame to the cardboard. Before glueing the frame to the square I inked all of the inside and outside edges with brown ink. Then I glued the frame to the square.

I had welded on the gypsy the words GOD BLESS the (all at 1 inch) I used Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge for those as well as the USA. I cut the country stars out from George and Basic shapes. All of these were cut from misc. scrap paper.

I embossed the words God Bless the in black embossing powder, the stars and the letters for USA were embossed in gold embossing powder.

Then I had to decide how I wanted to hang the frames. I pulled out my handy dandy tools (a hammer, nail, and piece of wood) in order to pound the eyelets into it.

I used 10 black eyelets in order to thread some twine thru to attach the tiles together. I used twine and metallic thread to hang them from the top. I used pop dots in order to make the letters USA stand up, and to hold the stars on.

It's a simple little plaque, but it shines the way I feel that it should. I love the old colors like a worn fabric that still holds strong, just like us.
So here is the finished plaque....

I hope that you have enjoyed this.

*recipe*
gypsy
cricut cartridges Plantain Schoolbook, George and Basic Shapes
DCWV Old World Stack
misc. cardstock
stampendous embossing powders in black and gold
pop dots, glue
cereal boxes
twine and thread

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