Countdown to Christmas

I found this really cute Christmas Countdown project at Christmas with the Cricut, and thought I'd made a couple of them for my co-workers. Here's a link to see the directions. The site has some great how-to Christmas projects, all are made with your bug!

I used some shapes that I had got in a Christmas Shape Swap last year on SP, I love the reindeer!

Sweet 16

It's my niece's Sweet 16 birthday party tomorrow, I can't believe she's 16 AND she's going to be driving in a couple of months! We all know "they" grow up too fast!!!

Last year, I was in a creative slump and that felt that no one really cared if I made them a card or not, so I gave my niece a store bought card *gasp* for her birthday...well, the disappointment on her face was very apparent! She ran upstairs and brought down a pile of all the handmade cards I have ever made for her and she said, "I keep them all!" YES!!!! VALIDATION!!!

I put a little extra time and love into this! Happy Sweet 16, Michele!












I love, love, love texture! The more the better, and this flower from the Paper Studio has loads of layers on it...soooooo dreamy!

SP Fall Shape Swap

I just loved every shape that I rec'd in the Fall Shape Swap and wanted to use them all, but didn't want to give them away! LOL! So what I decided to do with them was to make place cards for Thanksgiving, and because we usually have the same people over every year, I should be able to keep them for a couple of years! I also made a few blanks cards, just in case we invite some new people to join us.

I just know in 3 or 4 years when I go to set the table for our family feast on Thanksgiving, I'll think of all the wonderful ladies who participated in this swap and will be thankful for all them and their bountiful creativity!

Mini Tear-Off Calendar

Here's a mini tear-off calendar that I made a couple of days ago, I think it turned out really cute! I used my new CTMH set Inspirations and stamped the quote and flowers. I cut and painted some chipboard, then added some paper that I found for $1 at J's in the clearance aisle(a pad of 18 sheets for $1?!! Lucky me!) Added some Glossy Accents, pop-dots, and ribbon. The calendar came from SCS, here's a link to it if you're intersted in making one of these. I think it's a cute idea to make and give to a friend as a way to say you're thinking of them!

A good kind of busy!

I have been busy, but it's been a good kind of busy! I hope the pictures speak for themselves!

The 1st Annual Bartuci Rocking Rib Fest, we had a family "RIB-OFF" and then played Rockband...what a blast! My family didn't win the title or trophey for best ribs, but then....my family wasn't counting votes! Hmmmmm, we all wondered why the judges' family won?!! LOL!

What a great trophy!
While the winning family was playing Rockbank, this is what we (the losers) did to the trophy!


A broken arm at the Rocking Rib Fest! He's on his 2nd cast, and will be recasted again later this week.


Homecoming, yes I agree will all of you, she is beautiful!


And lastly, here are a few of the swaps that I've been working on, some ITT's for CMB and some tags and cards for SP.

Awarded to....(who me?!!!)

Isn't this just the most adorable award?!! Christina sent it my way, and I have to say thank-you to her! She has a wonderful blog that's truely inspiring, AND she updates almost daily!

I have the opportunity to pass it on to 10 people, which is a hard thing to do because I love all my sissers and such...but there are a few who must have this! They are:

Vi
Karrilee
Amy
Michele
Pam
Vanessa
Kay
Margo
Deann
Alicia

Speed Scrap?!!

Speed? How can you call this a speed scrap when it actually took me almost 2 1/2 hours to finish it? There was no speed involved in this one!

We were supposed to complete 7 steps every 6-7 minutes, or something close to that. I hope I wrote these instructions down right, but you would never know for sure because I didn't follow them too closely!

1. Choose 3 pictures
2. Choose 3 papers of your choice
3. Use one as a background and cut the other two into strips
4. Center all three pictures in the middle of your page, angle if you need to
5. Place strips around the picture
6. Add a ribbon at the bottom, along with flowers and buttons
7. Title, journal, and add more embellishments if you want

This was a lot of fun, and thanks to Michele for taking the time to post the instructions. I'll definately be joining in again, and soon!

BTW, the LO is of my two favorite guys!

Over the past weekend...

Last weekend Vanessa, one of my sissers from SparkPeople came to the house and we went to the SB'ing Expo in St. Charles, it was a lot of fun! We checked out all the new and cool things from the vendors and went to a card making class. We finished the day by attending the evening crop. It was a lot of fun....even if we didn't win any of the raffle prizes or if Vanessa didn't get to eat at Portillos (there is always next year!) We met a new friend, Stacy...who's getting married on my anniversary, sending congrats her way! Here's a few pix from the day...


Here's one of the LO's I finished at the crop, personally, I think it turned out really cute! Last month we took the kids to the zoo and my dh sat down on a bench next to the baboon sign and I just had to take a pix! Then my youngest decided he needed to be in the picture too! LOL! Did anyone notice I should have turned the monkey upside down and had him swinging by his tail? I realized it much later too....like an hour ago! Still....it's cute!