About Me

My photo
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
I am a stay at home mom..now that is! February 19th, 2007 I was involved in a car accident while on vacation in Florida. I awoke in ICU to find out that my only two children Annemarie age 3 and Michael age 5 did not make it. Scrapbooking became such a big part of my life. It helped fill a void that I desperately needed to fill. Our therapist suggested that I take up scrapbooking as a way to memorialize my children, little did she know! So I took that and ran with it.I became obsessed with scrapping and took over the second largest room in my house. Because of my injuries I couldn't go out and get a job, I just scrapped!I printed out 2,000 photos and my journey began. I have made albums for family members and layouts to decorate my craft room. We thought we were done having kids but who expected this tragedy??? I just gave birth in June 2009 to two beautiful baby girls Mia Anne and Gianna Marie named after their brother and sister.I swore that I would keep up with their albums so I won't become overwhelmed so we will see how that works out! My profile picture is the last family picture that was taken of all of us.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Check out this new kit!

Svg Attic just released an awesome and unique set this week.  How fun is this set??? It is called Feel Better Soon.  And what is even better is you get this set free with a $9.98 purchase. I am so excited at all the possibilities of this set. The tissue boxes alone make gift giving even easier. How cute would these be dressed up and decorated for all and any season or occasion.  And the first aid box...a fun idea would be to pack it with cold medicine supplies, packs of chicken noodle soup etc etc. Truly there is so many fun ideas to do with this kit. Well I am off to play with this new kit!  I just wanted to pop in to share it with you all...have fun :)









Friday, May 24, 2013

Say it out loud

Hello everyone!  I hope you are enjoying the nicer weather that we have been having lately.  My girls preschool has ended sadly.  They loved going to school.  That also means less crafting for me!  I am late in posting this for that reason.

There is a new challenge over at the Sisterhood of Crafters.  We have a fun challenge for you to play along with.  We are asking you to SAY IT OUT LOUD!  Make a project with only a sentiment, no pictures or images.  I had fun with this one.



For my first project I made a gift bag set using some files from SVG ATTIC.  First I used the sentiment from the G is for Gratitude set and enlarged it to fit a gift bag. The tag and sentiment are not shown in the stock photo but I found that goodie nestled in the files so I took full advantage! I took the tag from the same set and merged it to make a card.  I chopped it down to fit my needs.  The adorable flower is from Mom's English Garden.  I didn't change the size at all.  I loved that paper.  I only had one sheet of it which really stinks.  It is by Cosmo Cricket.



Next I took some scrap pieces of paper from My Mind's Eye I believe.  I found a vellum sentiment so I designed the card around that.

I hope you stop on by and play along with us over at the Sisterhood.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Birthday boy gift set

Hello everyone!  It's been awhile since I posted.  I have been a very busy woman.  I went from doing a 80+ hour volunteering week (yes in one week) straight to baking for a charity birthday party of which 1,000 people were invited to!  Not to mention taking care of my everyday life and my twin little girls!  I couldn't wait to start crafting again.

I was invited to a birthday party next week.  I wanted to work ahead and get it done before I ran out of time.  I made a race track gift box and gift bag from SVG ATTIC's recently released set called DAY AT THE RACES.  I used my knife feature on my SSDE to cut out the Big Hat lady and I replaced it with a race car which I welded to the bottom and then layered it.  I added the ribbon from the ribbon card along with paper from Echo Park's paper line Little Boy.  I made the set complete with a racetrack gift box.  What little boy wouldn't love his very own race track??? LOL I took the picture before my Stickles dried so the windows on the cars look funny.

The Day at the Races set includes the most beautiful peony flower.  Not only does it go together really easy it is just gorgeous.  I will say it is probably my favorite SVG of a flower so far!  You don't even have to make the race track into a car or horse track  You can make it into a regular gift box.  And you HAVE to check out the Big Hat Lady gift bag...it is just adorbs!

I got to work on another SVG ATTIC project today.  It is almost finished so I will be sharing it shortly. It is so good to be crafting again!  See you soon :)





Wednesday, April 24, 2013

It's a Free For All at the Sisterhood

Good morning everyone!  I don't know about you but I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind.  Last week it was so hot that I almost put on my central air.  It was 80 degrees in my house.  I didn't because I thought it was obsurd to put it on in April.  Now this week I had to turn the heat on and bring back out the hats and coats...bbrrrrr

We have a fun and super easy challenge for you all over at the Sisterhood of Crafters.  It is a free for all.  Make whatever you please!!  How easy is that????

It is coming upon Communion and Confirmation season.  It is very hard to find SVG's for this occasion.  I have 5 total that I am invited to with 4 of them being boys.  SVG ATTIC released a set that was perfect for this.  It is called FULL OF GRACE.  I was excited that the card made it so easy for me to make the cards that I needed in literally minutes.  I changed the communion wafer to the cross card since it was already a circle.  I cut the chalice out in several colors but couldn't decide what I liked.  So I took a white one and colored it in with my new Spectrum Noir markers to give it some detail. Then I took the label from the Kiss the Cook set also from SVG ATTIC and used the knife feature in my Silhouette Designer edition (I just love this tool) and cut the file to fit the card.  Added some TH distressing ink and wallah I was done! I just fell in love with the cross box that is also in the kit.  Those flowers look so detailed but yet they are easy to put together.  Gotta love that.  I thought that the cross box would be a cute and different way to put a gift inside. They could always keep it to put their Rosary beads in or a little keepsake. I love those little boys and girls and have lots of ideas to make projects with those cuts.



Next I took some papers and stamps from Stampin up! and made a quick card to add to my stash.  I don't have many of these cards and sadly you always need them. I love, love, love this paper and it is to bad that I covered most of it up :(



I hope you stop on by the Sisterhood and play along with our challenge.  It lasts two weeks so there is plenty of time for you to get crafty.  Have a great day!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Peachy Keen Spring Blog Hop Day #1

Hello everyone!  I am super excited to be part of this awesome blog hop. If you came here from Gigi's blog then you are right on track.  If not, you can start at the beginning by clicking HERE.  I am sure you have read  about the awesome prize being offered on this hop.  You need to leave a comment on each blog along the hop in order to be in it for the prize.  One current or past DT member on this hop will be picked to chose a comment from their blog to win an awesome and I mean awesome prize. 

If you win you will receive the April Face Assortment stamps, The Moodies in ALL THREE SIZES.  This prize package is valued at $50. We won't know who it is until the blog starts so that is why it is important to leave a comment on each and every blog.
Want more?? On Thursday, April 25th the second day of the hop will be held with more prizes up for grabs so don't miss out on the chance to get your hands on some Peachies!

I am very excited to now own some markers to color with.  I invested in some Spectrum Noir markers.  Okay not some I got them ALL..LOL An early birthday gift to myself.  Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to learn how to use them for this hop but I had so much fun using them I couldn't stop.  Now I have a very far way to go before I know how to use them properly but I am having a blast learning.


This is my very first project that I did with my markers. I used the PKS June 2012 Stamp of the Month kit for this project.  



For my next project I wanted to make a little THANK YOU set to have on hand, an easel card and a gift box.  This one took me many many tries to get stamped the way I wanted it to look.  I took the adorable mouse from PKS-350 Colby and Jack  stamp set and stamped him first.  Then I masked him off and stamped some extra chunks of cheddar cheese around him.  The cheese wedge is from SVG ATTIC's Aged to Perfection set.  I took one slice from the wedge to use it as a gift box to go with the card.  I thought it would be cute since it matched my image.  I used PKS-298 Grampa's Pajamas background stamp to jazz up the yellow card stock on the cheese. I just love having background stamps in my stash.  







And last but not least I made this card up quick.  I decided last minute to round the corners and it is something that is irking me as I stare at it while I do this post.  I forgot to round the DP before I made the card first!!  I tried to remove the center image that I popped up with Stampin' Up! dimensionals but man those suckers stick good.  It started to rip so I decided to leave it as is. The butterflies and the sentiment come from the freshly released 
April SOTM kit. I originally colored the butterflies to match this paper other paper that I loved.  But when I started to put the card together I decided on going for a much simpler approach and changed direction all together. 


So there you have it, you have all seen my very first, second and third projects I did with my spanking new markers.  I am so excited to have them if you can't tell already...LOL I have some AMAZING, AMAZING Peachy Keen DT members work to study to give me some guidance in this whole new journey I am trying out.  I feel like a kid again coloring..

If you are not a Stamp of the month member and would like to see what you are missing click HERE. Below you will read some of the benefits you receive when becoming a member.



KIT Details:
  • Kit subscriptions are a recurring monthly payment that you may opt out of at any time. 
  • Each month, you will receive one 8.5" x 11" stamp kit containing tons of mix and match elements for many occasions! No repeat images, each month is unique and original.
  • Several Kit options (International subscriptions and ala cart) are available. Shipping is included, please be sure to find the correct item for your country.
KIT Schedule:
  • Kits will be automatically billed* and mailed to all subscribers on the 6th of each month (*we will contact subscribers if there is a problem processing your payment).
  • Previews will be available to subscribers on the 1st of every month, and sneak peeks will begin on our blog from the 2nd through the 5th.Products will be launched on the evening of the 5th for shipment on the 6th.
  • Order your kit before the 5th of each month to receive the past month's kit.  


Now get on hopping and head on over to the ever so talented Leanne's blog!  Have fun hopping!!


SPRING FLING BLOG HOP

Blog Hop Order Thursday, April 18th:
Peachy Keen Stamps Blog - http://www.peachykeenstamps.blogspot.com/
Lisa Buttafuoco - http://www.our2angelsinheaven.blogspot.com/ ** YOU ARE HERE**

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Animals in the house!

Hello everyone!  I am happy to be hosting the new challenge over at the Sisterhood.  The challenge is all about animals.  We are asking you to create a project with an animal (s) on it.  I had fun with this one.  I created a lunch box for my niece Beth who loves frogs.  I completed the whole box and the frog but I was stuck on the eyes.  She loves red eyed tree frogs so I wanted to make a box with a frog on it.  Every time I went to put on the red eyes it just looked like it was possessed.  I struggled with it and struggled with it and put it aside. I decided to put on googly eyes instead.  Well I couldn't find the eyes I wanted and I was trying to get the picture done before the sun went down.  I found these giant eyes and started laughing.  I put them on the frog and I just couldn't stop laughing.  I had to leave them on there just for giggles!  I hope she finds it as funny as I do!! I may end up taking them off but who knows! LOL



Next I came up with a quick tag for a baby.  It can be attached to any gift or package.

I hope you stop on by and play with our challenge over at the Sisterhood!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

I have been locked out! But I am finally back!

Hello everyone!  It seems that blogger doesn't like me.  I have been blocked out for days and not even able to leave comments.  Not to mention that the past couple of posts that I scheduled didn't go up.  There is still a couple of more days left on our Easter challenge at the Sisterhood of Crafters.  We do have an awesome sponsor this week so stop on by and link up your projects to be entered into the drawing.  I made this card with some Peachy Keen stamps and a file from SVG Cuts.  The card came from the Cotton Tail Village SVG set.  The paint splats on the egg are from the PKS Easter Egg Paint fight stamp set  and the eye is actually a penguin eye.  For the life of me I can not remember which set but I masked off the other one so only one would show. I believe most of the paper is Cosmo Cricket but don't hold me to it!


Now this is the card that I made for the past Sisterhood challenge that never posted!! ARRGGHH 
The challenge was to make a card using mostly green papers.  Since I am not much of a St. Patty's Day stamper I used some scraps and a stamp from PaperTrey Ink.  I can always use Thank you cards in my stash!  

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Birthday Wishes!

We are celebrating at the Sisterhood!  The challenge that we have currently is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY theme.  It can be cards or a gift/project that you make for a birthday.  This is one card that I need a lot of but currently do not have enough of in my stash.  

This first one I used a Cuttlebug folder as well as some Nestibilities.  The stamp set is from PaperTrey Ink.


I made a gatefold card with papers from Carte Bella.  This sentiment is from Scrappy Moms Stamps.  I recently won a challenge and picked this stamp set called FROM THE INSIDE OUT.  There are so many great sentiments that can be used for birthdays, Get well and sympathy.  This set is just an all around great set to have in your stash.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Being Grateful and giving thanks

Many people are quick to call up and complain when things don't go right or they didn't get the service they expected. Any many situations warrant that.  But when is the last time you called up and raved about a product, called a restraunt and told the manager how awesome your waitress/waiter was, or just call and Thank someone who did something for you.  Just telling someone how you feel and how much it meant to you will make their day.

Over at the Sisterhood of Crafters my fellow DT member and Sistah' Micki is hosting a fabulous THANK YOU challenge.  Everyone needs those types of things in their stash so this is a perfect opportunity to have some fun and make some crafty Thank you's.  Trust me, when you need them last minute you will thank us! LOL

For my first card I broke out some of my PaperTrey Ink stamps and some Lost & Found Paper from My Mind's Eye.  I wanted this first card to be simple.  I stamped the flowers in Vintage Cream ink(also from PaperTrey Ink) and colored the flowers in with a grey toned Copic marker just for a hint of color.  Then stamped the sentiment in Dusty Durango ink from Stampin' Up!  I used one of my Nestabillities die for the matting of the image.

Next I used another one of my stamps from the Peachy Keen February SOTM kit.  This has to be one of my favorite stamp sets in awhile. I just think its a lot of fun and it makes me smile :)  I made a tag to tie onto some goodies that I will  make one day to give a little THANKS to someone. The tag is a svg file from the Christmas Open House set by SVG CUTS.  I used the free SVG's you get along with the PKS SOTM kit for the moon.  As for the heart that is a Stampin' Up! punch.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Meet Mr. Roboto!

I am literally "over the moon" with the new Peachy Keen February Stamp of the month kit!  This kit is just so much fun and super cute to work with.  Yep, you will be seeing a lot of this kit in the future.

Over at the Peachy Keen Ning site they have a challenge for this new release.  They have challenges with every release.  I was able to play along last month when they only had one challenge, and this is the first time that I was able to play along with both challenges that they had.

For the first challenge it was hosted by their DT member Gigi. That is what we call my daughter Gianna, we call her Gigi as well as a slew of other nick names.  So I knew I had to play along with her challenge!  Her challenge was to make a project with dots and stripes.  The minute I saw this stamp set I instantly thought of using my Boy's Life paper pad by Echo Park.  I put together the whole card then went about coloring my little Alien/Robot.  The whole time I was coloring all I could think of was that song...Mr. Roboto.... Thank goodness no one was around to hear me sing! LOL  I colored him so perfectly for once.  I used my Prismacolored pencils.  It actually looked like I shaded him in and colored him with my Copics.  I was pretty proud.  But then when I went to put Mr. Roboto on my card the color tone was way, way off.  Kinda bummed since I spent so much time coloring him in.  Instead I opted to make him all shiny and glittery with my Martha Steward glitter.  I wanted to put my Liquid Glass all over his face but when I went to go use it I found out that it got all gooey and gross.  So I added some Stickles to his face. I just love this card.  I don't say that often but I do.  It is just so fun and it makes me smile.





The next challenge was hosted by my friend Janice.  If you haven't seen what she created with these stamps you need to stop on by her blog.  Really cute, cute stuff for sure.  Her challenge was to make a monochromatic card.  I never did a monochromatic card.  Honestly I wasn't going to even attempt it but since she was hosting it, I figured I would give it a try.  And you know what, I am glad that I did.  My little guy came out kinda cute.  Actually adorable..LOL!!  I just love both these cards to pieces.  I had a lot of fun making them.  Today is the last day to join in on both challenges and enter to win one of two $25 gift certificates to the PKS store.  Crossing my fingers, eyes and toes!!! I would love to get some of the add on stamps to go with this set.  I am currently on a craft spending freeze which quite frankly is worse than dieting.


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Wanted!! 10,000 reward album

Hello everyone!  I love to make projects just because, things that I think up.  Well when SVG CUTS released their Happy Trails kit I came up with the idea to make a Western themed album.  I used papers from October Afternoon's Sarsaparilla line as well as a few from Cosmo Cricket.  

It is really hard to show all the details of this album.  I did take a video but between my allergies and me holding my Iphone it is pretty bad. I will try my best to describe it in photos.

This is the front cover.  Left a place for someone to put a picture of their little cowboy.



 Next I took the Cowboy card and cut out several card bases without the star.  There is 12 pages to put pictures or journaling.  I only showed an example of one page above.

Here is two simple pages for photos and some tags for journaling.

To the left is one mat for a large photo.  One the right I made an accordion style album to hold several pictures.  I had to come up with something to keep it closed so I used some die cuts and stickers to make a label.  I put a magnet behind the  label.  The little album opens up and then folds down holding 6 photo mats.  Then there is a place to tuck in extra pictures or tags.



This page I left as a blank canvas.  To the right of the big cowboy a small picture can be placed.
Now on this page I put another accordion album filled with another 6 photo mats but it is facing the other way.  To keep it closed I cut out several layers of the horse shoe and decorated it with some brads.  Then I put some Velcro behind the horse shoe.  You simply release the horse shoe and the album will open.  Cute little way to keep the album from opening.
After you open the horse shoe this is what you will see. Simple photo mats.

A view when you fold down the accordion album.

 Back cover!

It is really hard to show this in pictures but I tried.  Hope you enjoyed it.  I know I had fun making it.  If you need an help or have any questions, just let me know!





Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Feeling the Love over at the Sisterhood

Good morning everyone.  I don't know about where you live but it is the coldest day of the winter yet here!  I have been making it without a coat up until yesterday.  BRRRRRRR...

I had the luxury of hosting the latest challenge over at the Sisterhood of Crafters.  The challenge was to use hearts on your project.  I didn't want to do both with a Valentine's Day theme so I switched it up a bit.  I am entering this card into the PKS Teddy bear 3D challenge.


For my first project I simply layered some tags that I resized and made wider from SVG Cuts Double Tags file.  I then topped it with one of their freebies, Cecile the Valentine Bear.  I of course had to stamp it with a Peachy Keen face stamp.  The sentiment, hair and face are from the January Stamp of the month kit.  I used my Prismacolor pencils to give him some color.


Next I pulled out of one of my old Market Street Stamps kits that they sadly did away with.  I loved them!! I didn't use a stamp I simply just cut the jar out of one of the sheets of paper that came with the kit.  Then I took one of the die cuts and put it on card stock to finish it off.  A simple and easy card that is essential for anybody's card stash.

I hope you stop on by the Sisterhood and show us what's inside your heart :)



Saturday, January 19, 2013

All Because Two People Fell In Love

There were a million things I should of been doing besides crafting but Oh Well!  Ever since I saw this amazing Valentine set from SVG Cuts I knew that I wanted to make it.  I am always busy making things for everybody else or all these different occasions I decided to make a project for my family.  I found the perfect sentiment stamp from Scrappy Mom Stamps and based the project around that. Sometimes we get caught up in everyday life and focus on our kids and forget about our marriage.  Our marriage is what started us on this journey in life.  We have had many detours, HUGE pot holes and many many obstacles.  I want our children to know the love and the bond that my husband and I had.  How our love was able to withstand the horrendous hit that life gave us.  I am gonna keep this mailbox as a little treasure chest of some sort and fill it with mementos and love letters from all the years we are and hopefully will be together.

I used the old fashioned mailbox and hot hair balloon from the FOR MY VALENTINE set. The balloon was actually a card but I took the flat elements only and made it as an embellishment.  The stamp set I used is called SWEET SOMETHINGS.  I added lots of dimensionals from Stampin' Up! to give it many layers.  I was going to add a magnet to keep it closed but it was designed to stay closed.  Gotta love that!!!  This project makes me happy.  I was excited to do something that I wanted to do, that my mind thought up.




I am entering it into the following challenges:


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Baby It's Cold...Over at the Sisterhood

Good morning!  BRRRR....it sure is cold which fits the theme for the next challenge over at the Sisterhood of Crafters.  For this challenge we are asking you to create a project with the theme "BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE".  Have fun with this one.  You can create anything with a snow, winter or even scrapbook some of those Christmas pictures you took.

I created this card with some die cuts from Graphic 45.


I found some old die cuts in my stash and decided to use them and came up with this.  The DP is from Figgy Pudding.  The sentiment is from Peachy Keen  PK-233 Snowmany Thanks Snowman set.


Monday, January 7, 2013

Chocolate Bar Candy Holder for Valentine's Day

Hello Everyone!  I am super excited to actually get a project done that I wanted to.  I am trying to stick to my New Years resolution and take some me time which is getting back into crafting.  The good thing about mess, dishes and laundry it will always be there! LOL so I can put it off to craft.

I have been a subscriber to the Peachy Keen Stamp Of The Month since almost the very beginning.  I just love getting a surprise every month.  Well each time there is a new release they have a release party over on the Peachy Keen Ning site.  Along with each release there is a party as well as some challenges.  This month the challenge was to use something new.  I just picked up a new pad of Valentine's Day paper by K&Company at Michael's and some super cute SVG's from SVG Cuts. I wanted to get ahead of the game and start making my Valentine's Day gifts.  Came up with this to give to their teachers.  Inside are actually two Hershey Chocolate bars that I decorated as well.

 I found a freebie for a Candy Bar holder on their blog HERE.  I decided to pair it up with the Zebra from the Cuddly Character set  which I bought to fit the holder.  The heart is from another freebie from their site CECILE THE VALENTINE BEAR. I had to replace the eyes on the zebra with one of my PKS stamps so I chose PK-136 Large Bear Facial Features to make the Zebra even more Cuddly.  Then I took the sentiment HAPPY VALENTINE's Day from my PK-280 Valentine Sweets stamp set (which is now retired).  

You still have time to play along with the PKS New release challenge!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Some of my Crafty Christmas Gifts



Hello Everyone!  I wanted to share with you some projects I made over my break.  This first one I made using the Miss Baker's file from SVG Cuts.  I made this for my girls teacher to hang in her classroom.  I decided to finally part with my Cosmo Cricket paper that I have been hoarding, I mean saving for some years now.  It is hard to tell from the picture but there is a lot of dimension and textures to this.  I love how it came out, and I hope she will too.  


This next project I made as a gift box for my neighbor during Christmas.  Sadly I forgot to take some good pictures of it before I gave it to her, so these are all I have.  I took the Christmas tree box from Santa's Helpful Elves kit (also from SVG CUTS) and made it as big as I could on my mat which I believe was 55 DPI.  I was making the Elf box from that kit at the same time so I decided to turn the Christmas tree into an elf!  The banner on the box is from Miss Baker's set. The sentiment is from my Peachy Keen December SOTM kit.  

My New Years resolution is to get back to crafting so you will be seeing more of me, whether you like it or not! LOL  Happy new Year!