WooHoo!!

Yay! I'm finally able to log back into blogger!!!! It's been a week that I've been trying to get on. During that time, I was needing to set up a blog for my {ippity} stamps ASAP. If you're curious about {ippity}, they are a line of stamps by Unity Stamp Company that are only available through Unity-Endorsed {ippity} chicks. And guess what?! I'm one of them!!!!!! My blog is http://www.ivegotippity.wordpress.com/. I know, I know...why didn't I stay with Blogger? Simply put--the problems from last week, and I had to get a blog up. I will have to admit that I like Blogger better because it is easier to use; Wordpress is so confusing with all of the little buttons and everything! Oh well, I'll survive! Check out the stamps here. We have a release coming up tomorrow!!! *So Excited*  I'll keep my {ippity} site update a little better than this one....hopefully. I'm not deleting this one, but I need to make sure I get a post up on my {ippity} blog.

How Creativity Entered My Life

I'm not really sure how to start off answering this prompt but here goes.....

      When I was a little girl, my mom and grandmother were always sewing something for me or my brother. Mama smocked things for us as well. I can remember some of the things we had to wear. At the time, I guess I really didn't appreciate all the hard work that went into making clothes, but now that I look back on it and have undertaken several sewing projects, I have come to appreciate all that they did. My mom got into actually painting images onto overlays for my dresses (Christmas, Cinderella, etc.). Everything was so intricate. I have also gotten into painting but not overlays--I paint signs, rocks----yes, you heard me.....rocks. I pick up a rock  from every city I've been to and paint some of the landmarks on it. I'll have to include a picture later :). My great-grandmother painted china, so I guess I sort of have a genetic predisposition to it.

      Scrapbooking and cardmaking are both things that no one in my family has ever done--that I know of. I think that I started scrapbooking as a way to express myself during a difficult time in my life. Throughout high school, I struggled with an eating disorder, and scrapbooking gave me comfort. I was able to think about who I was and what I wanted for myself, not what I thought everyone wanted me to do. Today, I no longer struggle with an eating disorder, and I enjoy scrapbooking and cardmaking for expression and to add a little piece of me to what I am creating.

      I have always received encouragement from my family no matter what type of craft I chose to do---even when I was little. I have become my own person, expressing myself (in appropriate ways) without worrying what someone is going to think about me. Creating has helped me come this far, and I know that it will continue to enrich my life in the years to come.

Camera Strap Cover

I decided to get my sewing machine out and try something I saw while blog surfing! I made a ruffled camera strap cover similar to the one on Nursery Rhymes and Sweet Times. I did not include the little pocket because my lens cap is attached to my camera (which is sometimes quite annoying!). This is my finished product (sorry! I didn't make my own tutorial--visit the link above).

There are a few strings hanging here and there, but the sides are zig-zag stitched to prevent anymore from fraying.

Here's the back side. The bottom is triple stitched to make it good and sturdy. (BTW, it is very hard to turn right-side out when you does this and have fusible batting, but it can be done! I have proof!)

All for now!

Dazzling Easter Eggs

Okay, I thought I was doing better about this blogging thing, but I'm lagging behind again.

I don't know if anyone watched the Martha Stewart Easter special this past Sunday (4/17), but there were some cute things.

            This was one of the pathways at the New York Botanical Gardens.

I loved the big CHOCOLATE bunny!!

http://conradsconfectionery.com/

I'm not normally a fan of this type of vintage art, but for some reason I like it....Maybe because it's a cookie?

http://www.kopykake.com/

LOVE these!

http://www.sweetdanib.com/

These egg ornaments were used to decorate flowering quince branches. I actually liked the tree so well that I went out and bought one!

Isn't this ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Those dogs look so cute.....if only I could get my dog to act so well and were them!

Also, while I'm at it I'll tell you something..........I want to be the next Martha Stewart (without the jail time). I've had this dream since I was a 12. She does everything..and does it well.

I'll stop with a link to some very pretty eggs.

http://www.delish.com/entertaining-ideas/holidays/easter/decorated-easter-eggs?gt1=47064#fbIndex1

A Card and A Freezer Mishap

Hello, all! I really doubt anyone's there but oh well. I'll start with the freezer mishap. First off, you have to know that I am a substitute teacher and can get called in at any time. I was called this morning to work half of the day. As I am getting dressed, my grandmother calls and says that her freezer has stopped working. Now, this isn't a small freezer....it's one of those really big upright ones. Imagine that leaking. Turns out that school was released early due to the possibility of bad weather, so I headed to my grandmother's house. WHAT A MESS!!!!! There was water everywhere. My grandmother can't get around at all, so the lady that comes and cleans and a neighbor were trying to get the food out and into another freezer at the neighbor's house. The newspaper on the floor was soaking wet, and they just kept putting more on top without removing the wet ones. After the food was out and put up. I got left with the rest of the stuff to clean up. No big deal. I took an ice pick and got all of the ice out of the freezer, soaked the water up with adult diapers, and spread kitty litter in the places that were still dripping. It was the best I could do, but the main thing is that everything is ok.

I made this card for a challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket (go to the education tab, 30 days of stamping and cardmaking). I really like the site, and I'm so glad that they've expaned their store to include stamping and cardmaking. For the challenge, I had to make a card without the use of stamps and also use scraps of paper.

What do you think? I think this is one of the better cards that I've made, but most everyone else's in the gallery outshines mine. Oh well, I'll keep trying!

All for today! Over and out.

Here is the First Layout I'm Posting

I'm not as thrilled with this layout as I thought I would be, but I gave it a shot. I'm better with cards, I think. I really do not like when we 'fall back,' but 'springing forward' is a good time for me. I don't do well when it gets dark at 4 p.m., so the change is welcomed! Seize the daylight!

Here is the entire layout.

Close up.



Another close up.

That's all I have for now, but check back later! 

Well, the snow is gone now in middle TN, but the rain has come to take its place. Lots of it. I went to a Predators game Thursday and got caught outside in the rain (I forgot to mention that we got let out during a tornado warning.). We were all drenched. Today, it rained again, but there were no tornado warnings for my area.

I made this card a while back. It wasn't for anyone in particular; just a birthday card.

All of the paper is by K & Company, and I think the stamp is by Studio g? Oh, the stickers are from...I can't remember off the top of my head!

I had been mulling over the idea of possibly at some point starting my own business. A little store that sells scrapbook items, stationery, and the like, but I don't think that will ever happen. I've decided to make some sets of cards and post them on Ebay to see if they would sell. My first set didn't, but here is what I've come up with for my second attempt since the price start fees were waived (until today).

I used stamps from Stampin' Up, Copic markers, and plain cardstock (not sure of the brand).