Love This Movie, Love These Boys

I have a new favorite movie.  For years it was Forrest Gump but this past summer while my grandsons were visiting, we went on opening day and saw Guardians of the Galaxy in 3D at the Imax theater in Universal Studios.  As 9 year old Cole would say -- it was AWESOME!!!!

I used Creative Scrappers Sketch #285 for this page which you can see here:

And I am entering it in their sketch challenge.

Woo Hoo....it is Friday!  10 more hours of work until my weekend.  I plan to work on several weeks of Project Life this weekend.  What are your plans?

~~Sandi~~

Seriously Proud of You

My daughter-in-law Amy, graduated last year with all kinds of honors.  We are all very proud of her and her hard work.  I am also proud of my son for the support and love he gave her as she pushed toward her degree.

I used this great sketch at Sketches in Thyme for my page to commemorate Amy's achievement:

I bought the Doodlebug collection The Graduates just for this page and also a page that I still have to do for my granddaughter Abby's kindergarten graduation.  It is so much fun to tear open a brand new collection and begin to create with it.

I am also entering this page in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge

Edited (5/11/15) to add: I am linking this up to the current linky party at Paper Issues -- Let's Get This Par-ty Star-ted and Par-ty Heart-y with Sugar Pea Designs

Well my week is officially more than half over.  Only 2 more work days and them my favorite....the weekend.  I love the opportunity to sleep in (although I never do), drink coffee in my pj's until 10am and get creative.  What do you like to do over the weekend?

~~Sandi~~

First Selfie Ever

My in-laws may be well into their 70's but they are fun people.  The are also very active and current on technology and what is trending.  One trend they were slightly behind on however was the selfie.  This past Christmas however they took their first selfie while on their way out to a neighbor's Christmas party.  I loved it so much I had to scrap it with this fun festive Christmas collection from My Mind's Eye.

I used this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

I am also entering it in Lasting Memories Life Memories --Anything Goes challenge.

I am also linking this up to Paper Issues Current Linky party  -- Say It Isn't Snow

Well Monday is about over.  I actually had a pretty good Monday....how was yours?

~~Sandi~~

You Totally Rock

Take a good look at this card because there is something on there that you may not see from me again in a LONG time....gold glittered ribbon.  I am so NOT a fan of anything gold but I have to grudgingly admit that it really does look awesome on this Valentine card that I made for my nearly 7 year old granddaughter.  I took my inspiration for the colors from the January mood board over at the Butterfly Reflections Ink blog:

Don't you just love those colors?  They look so good together and I thought they would be perfect for this card for Abby.  A couple of years ago all she wanted for Christmas were "rock star" clothes...lol.  Last month for Christmas Dave and I gave her a Hello Kitty karaoke machine so she can practice her rock star singing.  I think she is driving my son and daughter-in-law crazy with it....ha ha.

I used this sketch from My Favorite Things and am linking it up to their Wednesday challenge:

I am also linking this up over at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Have a Heart challenge 

Oh, I sooo wish it was not Sunday night.  My work week starts in less than 11 hours.  I wish I could just stay home tomorrow and craft all day but retirement is still 5 years away.  Have a wonderful week.

~~Sandi~~

It Moose Be Your Birthday

My dad lives just outside the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  One of the best places to visit when we are out there is Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  The elk roam free there...even right through the tourist section of Estes Park.  Well this cute little moose from the SugarPea Stamps "Merry Christmoose" stamp set just really reminds me of those elk. Since my dad's 83rd birthday is next month I thought I would use the image of the moose from my new stamp set and make a card for my dad. 

I used my watercolor pencils for the first time today on the moose.  I was amazed at how easy it was and delighted with the results.  Now my coloring/shading skills still need a l lot of work but I am happy enough with the results that I put the moose on a card and feel comfortable enough to share the card on my blog. I paper pieced his little scarf.  I used this sketch from Seize the Birthday:

SugarPea Designs is having a special blog hop to celebrate their one year anniversary.  I just bought my first two sets from them and I am well on my way to being their newest (and biggest!) fan.  I am linking up this card to their birthday blog hop.  They have some very generous prizes.  To check out more information go

check out their blog

Edited (5/11/15) to add: Since I used a stamp set from Sugar Pea Designs for this card, I am linking this up to the current linky party at Paper Issues -- Let's Get This Par-ty Star-ted and Par-ty Heart-y with Sugar Pea Designs

Thank you for stopping by....I hope my little moose put a smile on your face.

~~Sandi~~

Love Always Wins

Here is a little card I whipped up Friday night with the current sketch at  CAS(E) this Sketch.  I love CAS cards and have been working for 2 years to be able to nail the design and I still struggle.  It is not as easy as it looks.  CTS has some awesome sketches that always get my mind racing and my mojo flowing.  Here is the current sketch:

For more details and how you can enter go HERE.

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- Have a Heart 

Thanks for stopping by.

~~Sandi~~

Wake Up & Be Awesome

This is Cole. He is 9.  He plays baseball  (very well in fact).  He's good in school. He's a good son, big brother, little brother and a great friend. He's polite, friendly and usually always upbeat and positive.

And he wakes up every morning and is awesome.

I love him.  He is my grandson and I couldn't be any more proud to be his grandmother.  So I made this page to commemorate his awesome-ness.  Those wonderful pictures? Cole's mom took them, posted them on Facebook and tagged me.  She's awesome too.  And Cole's brother Jake and his Dad?  They are awesome too.  There is a long line of awesomeness in this family.

I used this sketch from My Scraps and More Sketches....why?  Because it is AWESOME.  Ha. ha you knew that was coming!!

I am also linking this up with the current issue at Paper Issues -- Say it Ain't Snow Cold Outside. We don't have snow here in Florida so I do not have many snowy pictures but the challenge also said to also link up our pages featuring the color blue and there is more blue on this page than a flock of blue birds. And you know what?  I think Cassie and Paper Issues are pretty awesome too.

Thanks for stopping by...I think you are pretty awesome also..ha, ha.

~Sandi~~

I love you

Yesterday I was home sick from work.  I got bored with daytime TV and wandered into my scrap room.  I played around with my new watercolors that Dave gave me for Christmas and die cut some hearts out of felt.  I put this sweet little card together and added a tiny little Lawn Fawn sentiment heat embossed in silver. 

I used this sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch but did not enter it in their sketch challenge since I already entered a card.

I am entering this in the Curtain Call Soft Scarf challenge:

 I am also entering this in the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp Have a Heart Challenge 

and CAS-ual Friday's Felt and Sequins Challenge

Well, thanks for stopping by and checking out what is coming out of my scraproom.  I actually came home tonight and made a layout and I like it!  I will share that tomorrow night.

~~Sandi~~

CAS(E) this Sketch #106

I was able to make a couple of cards for challenges recently and like to choose to create cards that are challenging.  Clean and Simple cards continue to challenge me and I just cannot seem to wrap my head around the design.  But practice makes perfect so I keep trying.  Here is a card that I made with this sketch #106 from CAS(E) this Sketch:

Thanks for stopping by to check out my card.  Have a wonderful rest of the week.

~~Sandi~~

You're the Bomb

In November I won the monthly Sugar Sketch challenge and received a credit to use in their shop for their stamps.  I waited for a Christmas stamp set to be restocked to use my credit and I am glad I did!  In the meantime, the new releases came out and the set I used on this card became available for purchase.  So I got TWO stamps sets and I could not be more thrilled.  

I have 2 sons and 2 grandsons and I always send out Valentine cards.  However I try to keep them "male-friendly" -- no pink lace, loads of hearts/flowers or over the top "mushy" sentiments.  Punny cards are PERFECT and this stamp set has several.  So check out their shop.  Their stamps are high quality photopolymer and stamp exquisitely.To check out the sketch challenge and to check out their items for sale, go HERE.

This is the sketch I used ......perfect for my card, dontcha think??

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card and my blog.  I love to read your comments.

~~Sandi~~

It's Never Too Late to Live Happily Ever After

Last year I totally forgot my son and daughter-in-laws wedding anniversary.  That is completely unacceptable for a card maker.  This year I remembered to text my son about a week ago and he told me that it was tomorrow (January 20th) so I hurried up and made this card and got it in the mail.  Whew!  They should receive it tomorrow.

I used sketch #211 from My Favorite Things:

They have the best card sketches and I try to use their sketch and enter their challenge every week.

Have a wonderful week!

~~Sandi~~

Remember Christmas Morning

I was sooo excited this year to get some Christmas morning pictures of my granddaughters.  1000 miles separates us and at the holidays the distance is especially painful.  The good new is that I have plans to visit between Christmas and New Year's this year.  Should be a fun time.

When I saw that both of my granddaughters were wearing pink jammies on Christmas morning, I decided to use what has come to be my go to collection this holiday season -- Elle's Studio Good Cheer.  There is lots of pinks and reds and I just love it! I used this great sketch from over at My Scraps and More Sketches:

I am also linking this page up to Paper Issues Popping the Cork with Elle's Studio

Well it is my favorite time of the week...Friday night and the whole weekend lies ahead.  I plan on some creative time as well as some re-organizing in my scrap room.  We are also going out to see my in-laws for the day tomorrow.  What are your plans? I hope you get to do something fun and relaxing.  Life is short. Enjoy yourselves.

~~Sandi~~

Awesome

Last summer my 12 year old grandson Jake and 8 year old Cole came to Florida with us for a week without their parents.  Dave and I spoiled them with a couple of days at Universal (think Harry Potter), meals out (boys can those boys EAT!!), no bedtimes, late night video games, movies and their first plane trip.  It was an awesome time.  When I asked Dave and the grandsons to pose for this picture Cole said it was "Small, medium and large".  That kid comes up with the best one-liners.  Those days last year were some of the best memories and I am hoping they can come out again this summer.

I am entering this page in Lasting Memories Captured Moments challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today,,,,have a wonderful day.

~~Sandi~~

If Nothing Ever Changed....

When I saw the new challenge at the showCASE your style blog, I knew I would have to try my hand at it.  I love making CAS (clean and simple) cards and the colors were right up my alley.

I broke out a seldom used stamp but definitely one of my favorites and I used this sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

I just love the way it turned out.  Well my weekend is over and I need to hit the sheets.  My alarm wakes

 me at 5am on Mondays.  Thanks for stopping by.

~~Sandi~~

Noah's Birthday card

Our nephew Noah is going to be having his birthday later this month so I needed to make him a card this weekend.  I used this sketch from Mojo Monday:

I am also entering this card in Seize the Birthday's current challenge

and  

The Alley Way stamps because the image of the clown and the sentiment that I heat embossed are from their Admit One stamp set.

Thanks for checking out my creation...I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I did...but mine was much too short. :)

~~Sandi~~

Week #50 -- 2014

I used the Good Cheer collection almost exclusively for these 2 pages from the first part of December.  The colors are slightly untraditional but untraditional is just my style...LOL. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and although it was a very quiet holiday season for us this year, it was still fun to document it...the packages and decorations all add to the beauty of the season.

Here are some close-ups of each page.  First the left page with my title card:

Then here is my right side page:

During November and December we were redecorating one of the spare bedrooms and turning it into a "man cave" for my husband.  This particular week was the weekend that he installed the new flooring.  It is all done now and it is Dave's favorite room in the house and I like it too!

I am entering this week's pocket pages into a new challenge blog:

Life Zesters

They have some awesome pages/designers on their blog and lots of advice and ideas especially for those just getting started on this way of memory preserving.  It is definitely worth your time to check out.

Thanks for stopping by....stay warm.

~~Sandi~~

Birthday Blessings

Well it is January and time to build up the birthday card stash again.  Is it only me or does anyone else have trouble getting ahead on birthday cards?  I just have so many people that I want to remember with a card on their special day......I really need to get busy.

I recently placed an order from Simon Says Stamp for their lovely "Christmas Blessings" die.  It arrived well into December and I was only able to use it once or twice I think.  But when I cut dies, I will often cut several sets so I have them on hand to grab for a quick project.  I used the "Christmas" portion of the die but had an extra "Blessings" and thought it would be perfect on this birthday card.

I am entering this in Seize the Birthday's current challenge

and 

Simon Say Stamp's Wednesday Something New challenge

(my something new is my "Blessings" die)

Thanks for stopping by today.....are you enjoying your weeked?  The sun is finally out here in Florida which makes me happy.  It IS a bit chilly but watmer than most places this week and THAT makes me VERY happy.  :)

~~Sandi~~

Loved

I raised 2 sons.  My two oldest grandchildren are boys.  For the last 16 years I have worked with all men.  You can imagine how over the moon I was when my daughter-in-law Amy's ultrasound 7 years ago showed that she was having a little girl!!  A few years later lil' Izzy joined her big sister Abby.  Girls are SO different than boys and that difference while challenging for me is absolutely delightful.  I love buying the girls cute little outfits and they LOVE to receive clothes as gifts (unlike boys) A couple of days ago I decided to scrap these pictures of the girls snuggling with their dad on the couch.  Izzy even decided to take a nap. Ah....life's little pleasures......grandchildren and an afternoon nap on the couch.

I love to use pink for my girl's pages with LOTS of embellishments.  I have a stick pin, some die cuts (isn't that little fox adorable???) twine, stickers, chipboard (I painted the piece of chipboard with the cut out "LOVED" as it didn't coordinate with the rest of the page).  I also used my notebook edge punch on some pink vellum and broke out my Paper Smooches stamps and actually stamped on a page.  I hadn't done that in a LONG time and I love how it looks.

I am entering this page in Clique Kits January Anything Goes challenge

and

Lasting Memories Simple Pleasures challenge.

Happy Friday!  I will be back throughout the weekend to share some more projects with you.

~~Sandi~~

Winter Birthday card

I have a friend with an upcoming birthday.  She lives in the frozen tundra of the Midwest so I thought this card would be an appropriate stamp to use on a card for her. I think I might slip a Starbucks gift card in it for to help warm her up.

I used this sketch from My Favorite Things:

I am entering this card in Curtain Call's current challenge Winter Wonder

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  I appreciate any comments you might leave me.

~~Sandi~~

My 14 Favorite Projects of 2014

I decided to share my favorite 14 projects of  2014 and the reasons why.  So here we go ---

I love doing my pocket page documenting of our everyday life (even if I am chronically behind) The above page was from Christmas 2013

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays to craft for....I just love to tell my family that I love them! And the photo in the heart shaped frame in my staging is my mom and dad on their honeymoon in 1955. <3

Recently I received a bunch of pictures from my husband's childhood and this is one picture that I scrapped right away of Dave when he was about 12.

My oldest son, Matt, does not ever get his picture taken very often. When he does...I grab it and scrap it!

On the other hand, my youngest son Adam, has a very active Instagram account and I loved this picture of himself when he posted it and had to scrap it.  Don't you love Instagram and their square photos?

I love my husband, papercrafting and living in coastal Florida.  This anniversary card for Dave combines all of them.  The special thing?  He keeps this card on his nightstand. (swoon)

I raised 2 boys and my oldest 2 grandchildren are boys.  I love all things boy and had a ton of fun making this page to document some awesome pirate costumes from several years ago. (look how little they are)

Living 1000 miles from my family is hard.  This is a card I sent them to tell them I miss them.  Scrapping them helps me not miss them quite so badly.

Abby's first trip to the Magic Kingdom is one we will all NEVER forget.  Let's just say at 2 years old she did not get the whole standing in line thing. Our next trip there with the girls will be better.  But I had to document the day and loved this picture of Abby and my beautiful daughter-in-law, Amy.

One of the coolest thing we did in 2014 was to see Night Ranger in Orlando and get some time before and after the concert to hang out backstage with the band.  Dave's good friend Joel Hoekstra is in the band and it was fun times seeing him again.

Grandchildren are definitely the frosting on the cupcake of life.  I love my grandchildren and miss them terribly.  I love this page that I did this year of my granddaughters and their dad, my son, Matt.

This summer my grandsons Jake (age 12) and Cole (age 8) came down to Florida with Dave and I for a week without their parents.  It was AWESOME and we cannot wait to have them back.  To document the trip I made a Sn@p mini-album.  It turned out great and the boys love it.  I wish I had made one to keep for myself. LOL

I made this page of Jake and Cole at the Daytona Beach airport when they were leaving to go home.  I think this is my favorite title of all time and is exactly how I feel about all my grandchildren.

And the final project is a Christmas cars.  I usually make nearly all my Christmas cards (and they are all different) every year which involves 60-75 cards.  This past year for a variety of reasons I did not get them done throughout the year and so I thought I was going to have to send store bought cards.  Then I got sick...really sick.  For a whole week I was off work and although I was eventually diagnosed with bronchitis and a severe sinus infection I got our cards made.  The above card was one of my favorites.

Well that is it....my favorite 14 projects of 2014.  Which one of these is your favorite?

~~Sandi~~