Boxer Brats Scraps

Friday, October 19, 2012

Wow...a lot of changes since my last post

I just cannot believe how different my life is since that last post in February 2011. I am not sure you all would believe me if I told you, but the truth is always strangers than fiction, SO here it goes!

In June of last year, I went to work for a skilled nursing facility as a Business Office Manager. I was stressed on so many levels, and I just never allowed myself to think about it. My husband of 13 years and I were on the verge of a trial separation, and my life would never be the same. He left to stay with family in Missouri, attend a family reunion and give me a break.

By October, I was living with my high school boyfriend, yep, the one that stole my heart when I was just 16 years old. I was happy, except for the passion of my beloved boxer, Scooby Doo. It was the first time in 25 years my house wasn't echoing the sounds of boxer paws. I do still have the two little Puggles, and Rick brought to our family not only two children, but also the kinds

By November, Rick and I knew this was our once in a lifetime love -- what started as a pinkie swear promise at 16 was now realizing us bot the happiness we thought we just never were find. Fast forward to now...we are "Gay married" because we filed a Domestic partnership agreement here in California....but we are officially getting married before the end of the year -- church wedding, dress, the whole thing!

My crafting has taken a back burner to adjusting to a happy life and my young children. I hope to start making some new creations very soon. Please stay tuned...I hope to start updating regularly again...

For now...I will tell you the names of my new family Richard, Missy and River. Maybe I will post a few pictures!

Sending me love to all. Thanks to those that still read me and check out my blog!

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Love Banner

Love Banner~

for Valentine's Day

I just loved the font on my Elegant Cakes Cartridge, and I knew I wanted to use it to make a "Love" Banner for Valentine's Day. Hubby and I got married on Valentine's Day, so it is always a double celebration at our house~ I wanted it to hang on my fireplace screen, and be super girly-girl and foofy as my mom would say.

Since I had this project in the back of my mind for a while, I was so glad to finally get it done for this week's challenge at Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog. Our theme this week is ~Love~. Come check out everyone's inspired projects!

Now back to my ~Love~ Banner~ Here it is in front of the fireplace :)

I used the Birthday Bash Cartridge to cut out the background layers of my banner. All of the papers are from the K and Company ~ Brenda Walton Sweet Talk collection. I found it for $2 at TJ Maxx. How could you go wrong with that? I used multiple banner layers and foam tape to give each pennant depth.

For the "L" I used various ribbons, lace, flowers, and bling that I had in my stash. The banner is three layers, the scallop 5" , the regular 5", and then a smaller cut of the regular 3" -- all from Birthday Bash. The "L" is the shadow and regular script cut from the Elegant Cake cartridge. I stamped the background of my regular pennant cut with Tim Holtz's script stamp, and then embossed it with white embossing powder. The flowers are from Making Memories and Recollections. The bling is from Kaisercraft, and the ribbons and pearls are from Offray and the $1 collection at JoAnn Fabrics. The small heart charm on the L was a gift (it says made with love).

I used the same basic cuts list above for the "O". I also cut the lock and key from the Sentimentals Cartridge. I added gold metallic gel ink to the lock and key to give it sparkle. The key is attached using red and white bakers twine. I had some doilies that I purchased at Walmart a couple of years ago for $0.10 after Valentine's Day, so I took two of them and sprayed them with Cherub Pink Glimmer Mist and Shimmerz Baby's Breath Spray. I added faux stitching around the doily using my white gel pen, and then I added seed pearls to the centers of the flowers on the doily with Glossy Accents. I made the rolled roses from textured cardstock, and then air brushed them with my Copic Markers. The tickets are from an old roll of raffle tickets, and I aged them with Distress Inks. The tag and felt flowers were from Making Memories. I dressed them up with some seed pearls I had left over from a sewing project. I adhered them one-by-one using Glossy Accents.

Again, the "V" started with the same basic cuts. I used some pearls from the $1 section at JoAnn's as an accent, and I added them using Glossy Accents. The bird on the small pennant is from the Tim Holtz collection, and I stamped it with Versamark, then embossed it with super fine black embossing powder. The small pearl accents were cut from a pearl spray I got at Michael's. I used part of it here, and part on the "E" I made the flowers with textured cardstock, and then sprayed them with my Copic Air Brush System. The crown and wing accents are from Making Memories. The heart paper clips was a gift, and the bling is from Kaiser Craft. The silk flowers are from Heidi Swapp.

Last but not least my E. I used some more pearls from the $1 section at JoAnns. The dress form was cut from the Forever Young cartridge. I layered it with the shadow. Before putting them together, I stamped the dress form with the Tim Holtz script writing stamp, and embossed it with white embossing powder. The special event ticket is from Making Memories, and the pearls are from a pearl spray I got at Michael's. I cut it apart to make it fit the way I wanted on the "E". The flowers are from Recollections, and the ribbon is offray.

To hang it up, I cut strips of Offray ribbon and pearls in various lengths and colors. I threaded one ribbon through the banner holes, then twisted the rest of the ribbons together around main ribbon to make it more "froofy" LOL. If I ever find my mini-clothes pins, I will cover and decorate those and use them, too. I know they are in my craft room somewhere!

I forgot to mention my project also meets the challenge over at Party Time Tuesdays. They are doing a love/cupcake theme challenge this week. It is hard to see in the photos, but my background papers have cupcake accents on them. I added so many embellishments, they get a little lost in the photos!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Cupcakes!

Now anyone who knows me even just a little bit knows I {heart} cupcakes!

I saw this challenge, and I knew I wanted to try out my Sweet Treats Cricut Cartridge!

The papers are from K & Company, Die Cuts with a View, and Neenah Solar White Cardstock.

I cut each layer for the cupcake, and the background. I wanted the wrapper to "pop" off of the background, so I cut out the layer then painstakingly cut small pieces of foam tape to go on each little strip to make the top layer stand out. I inked the edges for a little more dimension.

I cut the frosting layer on an angle for some added interest. The heart topper is cut from DCWV glitter paper in pink. I highlighted the heart with my Sakura Puffy White pen.

The inside is an Inkadinkado stamped image colored with my Copic Markers. I stamped the image on Neenah cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

The embellishments on the front are from my stash. The heart brad was from a $1 bin at Big Lots. The heart stick pin is homemade. I took a quilting pen and glued a pink heart button on top with Gorilla Glue. Of course, I took the button shank off first~ I let it dry, then tied a bow using DMC floss.

The sentiment is a combination of Michael's $1 stamps and Papertrey, Ink stamps. Both stamped using Neenah Cardstock and Memento Ink.

Come check out all of the other cards posted at Scrappy Frogs and join us for our fun challenges!

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Sentiment Card Challenge

We often design beautiful cards and then struggle with sentiments. I know lately, I have really been struggling to design at all. The stress of real life can really get in the way of crafting.

I enjoyed throwing myself back into designing for this week's challenge at Scrappy Frogs! The challenge was to include the sentiment on the face of the card.

I have a real love for the Magnolia line, so I used my beloved Copic Markers to color one of my favorite images. I had some really old but super cute papers from Cherry Arts (I don't think they are even still around), and I know they would look great with the colors I chose for my image.

The flowers and buttons are from Making Memories, and that cute little border punch is one of the new ones that hubby got me from the Martha Stewart line. He really spoiled me with crafty gifts this Christmas!

I hope you enjoyed this card, and please hop on over to Scrappy Frogs and join in the challenge. :).

Happy New Year, everyone!

Friday, November 05, 2010

MIA -- Wow, it has been 2 months!

I cannot believe I have been MIA from posting for two whole months! So much has been going on, and crafting has had to take a huge back-seat to real life.

Right now I can't sleep. Tomorrow is the first in my series of tests to find out if I have cancer. I keep telling myself that it is what it is. The cancer is there or it isn't. The tests won't change it, but they will give me knowledge to be able to fight whatever is going on with my body.

I have such a strong history of cancer in my immediate family. I have it coming at me from all sides. Thankfully most of them were strong survivors. I hope that is me, too. Most of all, I hope the doctors are wrong, and this is just one of those cancer "almost" had it stories.

No matter what, I have a great support system in place. Whatever the outcome, I will be strong, and I will come out the other side a stronger person.

Hopefully, I will be doing some crafting soon. Hubby spoiled me with some great crafting items to try to inspire me to create again. I am working at getting back in the grove. It is so hard to craft with a house full of family, but I am going to try to set aside at least an hour a day for "me" time.

Thanks, everyone, for your support.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

All is Merry & Bright

Whew! 30 cards in 30 days! Today's last card was a really stressful! After all of that work, I could not get it to upload. It literally uploaded as the clock clicked over to midnight! A second more, and I would have been out of the challenge! I think I need a drink!! Thank you, God, for the split second help :)

I am so glad Abby (the big boss of the challenge) was up and saw my card post in the very nick of time!

Anyway, today's card was a bonus challenge. We had to use red and metal. I did both. I went back to my favorite Create-A-Critter reindeer to end the challenge. This is truly a Provo Craft card from the front to back ;).

I used the Create-A-Critter cartridge, the Winter Frolic cartridge (sentiment), and then my Swiss dots and Polka dots Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Well, I will do the instruction for this card on request, if anyone wants them. I am so frazzled after my upload debacle, that I think I am going to go relax and watch a little television. Have a great night, everyone!