Teacher's Gifts...A Month Late ;)

Well, here we are a month + since school has been out, and I'm just getting around to sharing the teacher gifts we made for Alex's preschool teachers. He has 2 teachers, and they each received a hand towel with some fun embellishments:

(inspired by some fun Etsy shops). Along with a pack of handmade cards:We made the cards with some flower print art the kids created with pansies and a hammer. :) Here are both sets of goodies. Picture is kind of blurry. Looks like it's time for a new camera!And, here's Alex ready for his last day of school. :)Malia's Kindergarten teacher received similar gifts - but I missed the picture. Here she is on her last day of school, sans gift: We are about halfway into summer, and the kids are picking at each other like crazy. ARGH! Is is it just me? I love summer vacation......but this fighting is driving me N-U-T-S!
Happy Wednesday.

~Linda :)

A Little Card Swap - Cherry-O

Hello! Happy Monday.

I have been such a bad blogger. I will be fairly consistent for a week or 2 - then poof! A month goes by with nothing. :) I thought I'd share the cards I made for the Close to My Heart swap that occurs each time a new catalog is released. I made 44 of these cards (I think I actually only needed 42 - but oh well!), with the new, fun "CHERRY-O" paper pack from CTMH, along with the "Be Yourself" stamp set. In return, I received 40 or so projects back from fellow CTMH gals - some were cards, some journal covers, some scrapbook layouts, all showcasing the new papers from the Summer 2010 Catalog. Fun Stuff!

Here is a close up of the paper "flowers" I used on each card. We also showcase a new embellishment. My embellishment(s) were the "Tulip" colored buttons and brads.

And......here is the Summer 2010 Close To My Heart idea book - let me know if you would like a copy. It's full of great ideas for cards, scrapbook pages, and gifts you can make. :) (you can also click the picture to view it online).Have a fabulous day! I am mentally wanting to pick raspberries and blackberries today - but I'm not sure if my body wants to. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I really should clean the house.
:)

Lordy, Lordy - A Crafty Lady Turns 40!!

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY to my (almost) life long friend KANDI! She is a fellow Crafty Lady, and CTMH (Close to My Heart) gal. We have been friends since grade school, through Jr. High, High School, and even went to the same college together for awhile! The first picture of Kandi (above) - in the fancy green dress was from our prom. I believe the theme was Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye". :)

Here we are at the CTMH Regional Celebration last November - along with CTMH founder Jeanette!

Here we are just last Winter at a little craft bazaar. :)

Here she is, along with our other good friend Cindy. Kandi and I were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. :)


And............just because it is her FORTIETH birthday, a fun old picture highlighting the fashion back in the day --- tube tops, silky shorts, and tube socks!



Kandi, you have been a great friend and craft enabler!! Here's to the next 40 years!
Have a FABULOUS BIRTHDAY!
Just Remember: “Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.”
Love,
Linda

And........just a few fun quotes for the day:
"The "I just woke up" face of your 30's is the "all day long" face of your 40's."


"The best years of a woman's life - the ten years between 39 and 40."


“Forty isn't old, if you're a tree”.

My Fabric Banner and Other Things

Hello! We just finished having a massive garage sale this past weekend. Wow! Where did all that stuff come from? I guess 3 kids can really accumulate baby gear and toys like crazy. It was a little nauseating to see it all collected in one spot!
But....before the garage sale weekend, was Ella's birthday. I thought I'd share a couple of crafty decorations I made this year for her party - instead of the store bought kind.

The first picture is the fabric bunting/banner I had been wanting to make for some time. I ran across some cute fabrics at the craft store - and a cute polka dot towel (that's what started my "polka dot and cute theme" - is that really a theme???)

Below are some tissue paper "pom poms" (found instructions online).The polka dot balloons I found online: And here is Ella when I first hung the banner. She is telling me she likes "this one". I think it was the cherry one in the middle. :)

Okay, that's all for now! Got to run. I have a house with left over garage sale clutter that needs to be cleaned up and put away. Happy Tuesday!
~Linda

Happy 2nd Birthday ELLA..and Happy Father's Day too!

Wow! 2 years have somehow flown by. Really flown by. Our little Ella is now 2! Here she is almost 1 day old back 0n June 20th, 2008.

And here she is (almost 2) in a recent picture with my Dad........Happy Father's Day Dad!Here are the Birthday cupcakes, decorated by Malia & Alex

(I made the picture cupcake toppers):My Sister in Law Janna, with her granddaughter, baby Norah. She is such a sweetie, well they both are!!Here are Carson & Ella hugging it out. Carson (& Norah's) Mom is my Niece Kim, in the white (on the right). Carson & Ella were born about 3 weeks apart. Ella blowing out her 2 candles - she did well, but Malia & Alex were there to back her up. She needed it. ;)And finally, Happy Father's Day to my husband! Here he is this morning with all the kids barely hanging on his lap. Good times. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! We are still patiently waiting for some sun here in Oregon. Summer officially starts tomorrow...............so we are hopeful the

sun will make an appearance!

~Linda

In the Mood for a Giveaway?

Take a look at this giveaway opportunity! Melanie over at The Crafty Cupboard is generous enough to give this beautiful runner to one lucky reader. Head over to this blog post: RUNNER GIVEAWAY for your chance to enter! You actually have 3 chances to enter (just read the directions.) Love those polka dots and jumbo ric-rack!

Good luck to you --- but not too much luck. I entered too. :)

The rest of her blog is also fabulous. Take a minute and check it out!

Have a great day~
Linda :)

A Little Mini Album

Okay, so that title is a little redundant! :) lol.

I ran across these little accordion albums a couple of weeks ago, and thought I **must** make one! With Mother's Day approaching, I thought it would be a nice gift for my Mother in Law.

You can find the original post & instructions here: Accordion Albums - on http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/ it's a fun blog in general. Glad I found it!

Anyway, I messed up a little bit on mine. I had the kids draw pictures for Yaya (my mother in law), and we added them to the back pages of the album..........TOTALLY forgetting that the album is suppose to be tied with a ribbon around the back...like this (photo from http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/):

oops.

No biggie! We just left off the ribbon so Yaya could enjoy the fabulous artwork on the back. :)

I think it's still cute, and hopefully it doesn't look like it's missing something. :)

Have a great day!
Linda

Easter Recap

I hope everyone had a nice Easter! I cannot believe how much candy we have in the house. It's a constant battle to keep myself ...and the kids out of it! I'm sure my dentist will love me even more on the next visit ($$ cha ching $$).

Here are a few pictures from Easter. The morning started off with a little egg hunt in the house - the Easter Bunny has hid eggs in the house every year - it seems to usually be wet on Easter morning. Malia & Alex waited somewhat patiently for Ella to wake up ---- but had scoped out the view from upstairs quite a bit before then.

I call these first 2 pictures "A little egg-cited" (ha ha):
Here's Alex trying out his crazy glasses and nose the Easter Bunny left in his basket. I tried them on too - and Malia took a picture. Pretty scary first thing in the morning pre-shower and in pjs with these glasses on. It's scary enough withOUT the glasses! I couldn't delete it fast enough.After baths for the kids and a little nap for Ella, we headed out to my Dad's for another egg hunt, but this one was outside! The first one our kids have ever participated in. (we tried last year, but that's a long story). We made it just in time - before the rain started. It was a little windy, but dry! No complaints here. :)We even got to visit the 2 cows that belong to the neighbor. This one was the loud one. I feared he would manage to get over the fence and charge us. He seemed hungry and not too happy. In my mind I was starting to form a plan as to what I would do - which of the kids I would try to save first. lol. (or not).All the fun and excitement can be a lot to take when you are 4. Alex took a little siesta with Gramps. We were all pretty tired to be honest. :)

I may need to bury all the candy in the backyard.
~Linda

Happy Easter!

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Enjoy your day! We are off to an Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon - hoping for a small window of dry weather. Cross your fingers for us. :)

~Linda

A Rare Sighting of...

The EASTER BUNNY!!

Wait!! Not those scary bunnies...........

Do you see him? Look close:

Look closer - What about now?

Oh No! He's trying to get away.....

Wait...........here he comes. Emerging from behind a bush:

Ta da!!!! It's almost as exciting as the Big Foot sightings - don't cha think? lol

Here are a couple more pictures just for fun. :)

Hope you have a wonderful EASTER wherever you are!
~Linda