Happy Halloween!

Its that great day where kids young and old are celebrating the Halloween tradition. No, my family doesnt practice releasing spirits or looking for witches, but we do love to dress up and get candy and just plain have fun. This year we are sporting a Ninja and a black cat.

And what is more fantastic than dressing up and getting ready to go Trick Or Treating? Well making the holiday cookies of course. Last night we decorated our spooky treats while watching The Great Pumpkin. The girls dont have quite the excitement for this once a year special as we did as kids. The cookies are fabulous and of course disappearing quickly!

Did you notice anything extra special about that CAT up there? She has no cast!

The doctor put Hannah in a walking boot for three more weeks. She is still real sore, but has been enjoying her freedom and being able to walk. He said she was healing nicely, but as a procaution he needed to see it braced for awhile longer. We are ok...just no more casts!

Probly wont be much creating going on here today as we are heading out to the various festivals tonight and I will spend my day preparing for those. Many hugs to all my friends and family. Thanks for keeping up with us. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Im here! Im here!

I had a great and fun weekend. The girls spent it with their grandparents' and Ron and I had a nice time together. I can't say that we did anything spectacular, but we did have a really nice time TOGETHER.

Its turned cold here in the south. Seems as though Fall has actually fallen. This is the view from my side deck, is it not gorgeous? Peaceful? Serene? Tennessee's colors are breath taking right now.

This morning I was freezing. I scurried around to get my chores and errands done so that I could build a fire and enjoy its warmth. Again...such beauty--But I am broiling now. HOT! OK, so I had no idea that itd get this dang warm here today. Kind of an oxymoron to have the windows open and a fire in the fireplace. But as I have mentioned before I dont claim to be a rocket scientist!

Another thing that caught my eye today was this gorgeous flower. Now on a typical Summer day its beauty would be masked by all of the other bright and cheerful colors out there. But here, right now, its fall. Its beautiful colors of red, orange, brown & burgandy...deep and subtle. This little flower is pink and just as lush as it can be. WOW! How beautifully blessed we are!

And last but not least a beautiful little image. Its that time of year when we must be thinking about the holidays. Enjoy your fall days.

Its Friday Its Friday!

SERVING YOU UP SOME HOLIDAY CHEER!

I am having so much fun with this stamp set. I sure hope you all arent gonna get sick of him.

Its a quiet day here today. I hope that things are peaceful with you!

Hootie, Bella's can be found at only one place as of right now...and that is on Em's website. Emily is the greatest!! Its sooo cool to actually "talk" with the manufacturer of what you are ordering. I was lucky enough that my mom got me these Bellas and this beautiful little Voila! for my Birthday. (THANKS AGAIN MOM!)

Have a blessed day!

Bec

Double Take

HOLY COW! My head is about 4 times it's normal size. I won the DOUBLE TAKE award over at the SHACK. I am NOT one to toot my own horn, but the competition and talent there is amazing and this truly is an honor!! I won for this submission and wow!!! Double take means that the card submission just has an extra wow factor that makes people flock to it. Something that just pops.

Today is a SUNNY day! The rain was such a blessing, but boy it really takes yer mood down. I am up and bright and cheery this morning. Working right along.

This is Cosmobella! I am having so much fun with my new stash of Bellas! And they are super easy to use up scraps with! She says CHEERS on the inside.

And one of my favoritest of em all is the Javabellas! I combined StampingBella with Esspress Yourself from SU!. Held on the image with a couple of photo holders. The inside says....FRIENDS ARE THE COFFEE BREAK IN THE BUSINESS OF LIFE.

THINKING OF YOU goes perfectly with Flowahbella too!

This is my submission to Lori's Blog Contest . I thought that this technique would be a LOT easier than it looks. It was tough getting it all to line up. And I thought I would be nifty and do a fancy cut on my card below...DUH!! Really made it tough. Thanks for the challenge Lori!!

So, now I invite you to go and do a DOUBLE TAKE today! Make an extra special dinner tonight, maybe leave a love note taped to your husband's steering wheel so hell find it on his way to work. Create something special in your life today!

DOLLIE MAMAS!

Hard to see her in detail. But is this card not the funnest? This Dollie Mama is on a little stand. Her purse simply says: IS IT HOT IN HERE? This is a great layout that Ms. Nelda Deakins taught us at retreat! SO MUCH FUN! She folds down flat and will travel in a regular sized envelope too! The front says MAY YOU CONTINUE TO ENJOY BEAUTY & ELEGANCE.















ITS OFFICIAL- IVE BECOME MY MOTHER. Another fun one!!

PUT YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES ON AND DEAL WITH IT! This is faux stitched and the ribbon is also drawn on. A little bling...and whala!

Go...have a "tacky" sort of day!

FALLING!

There seems to be a lot of things falling these days. Hannah has lost her first baby tooth. She has to write a note to the toothfairy to leave under her pillow because she doesnt quite know WHEN she lost it. YIKES...those things dont take root inside do they?? Will she be growing a teeth tree inside her tummy?? My camera messed up with this pic, and for the life of me I couldnt get her to pose again...so we are going with it.

Its still raining here. We have needed it sooo much. Its nice to have it, but golly it sure makes it hard not to grab a book and slink into the couch.

And the bestest thing that FELL into my lap today was this fantastic new VOILA! set from Stampin Up! My mom and one of my bestest friends were in cohoots to get me this! And so those nifty little notched corners? Lori got the ticket punch for me! I have such awesome people in my life. Thank you to the bestest mom ever. And thank you to the bestest stampinup rep ever who of course is one of my bestest friends.

He is paper pieced and then I got the pumpkin out of one of my other sets (not sure who made it) and the HAPPY FALL is just my free-hand. I chalked the edges and of course added some bling! Isnt it so much fun??

BELLA TIME!

ITS
BELLA
TIME!

Check her out! I was so not expecting my Bella's to be here so soon so I didnt have much time to really play with them last night. I did get two cards done though. This first one is Pompombella (I think?). I masked the frame so that all of her and her pompoms fit inside of the oval. Colored her with my markers and Prisma pencils. Is she not so much fun!! It says IM CHEERING FOR YOU I have a friend who is facing some tough times comin up and thought this was a good happy card.



After 18 shots, I STILL could not get this card to get a decent picture. Hmmm... dont know why. But anyways if you can tell this is CAKEABELLA and her apron and pants are paper pieced. WAY COOL TECHNIQUE. The rest of her is colored in with markers.







Update on the kitty. Is Twink not getting so big??? Her fat hiney doesnt fit in her basket real well anymore so she has taken up residence in my scrapbag...either that or perched upon my paper! ARGH! Couldnt take a pic of Twinkle without including Jenny too. She is still trucking. Sleeping more and more...but she appears to be happy.

Prepare to be Bellatized!!!

My Bellas are here!! I am soooo excited I could just pee all over. THANK YOU MOM!!!! And now, stay tuned for some Rubbuh Creations!!!!

Kickstand

Its that time of year again! PUNKIN CARVIN!!!! And we sooo love being able to do it together. I am loving it more and more cause the girls are getting old enough that they can do their OWN pumpkins with very little help from us. Hannah got this cool light set one day while out. The pegs are just like the lightbright pegs though a little longer. She hammered em in following a pattern that came with the kit and made an adorable kitty. When the light is in it it looks like blinking Christmas lights. Heather of course chose and Naruto character. She was a little bummed that the light didnt shine through better, but of course I thought she did an excellent job.

This is a Kickstand card I was playing around with the other day. Isnt he adorable?? He was stamped on white and then I freehand drew some sort of a box around him...kind of leaving part of the image outside of the box just to give it a bit of flare. I matted him a couple of times and then added him to the front of the card. The card is cut about 1" from the bottom on the front flap and then the scarecrow is placed to be the "KICKSTAND" and there you have it! I am STILL in the scrap box and I gotta tell ya...I have some fantastic papers in there...but it is just NOT as fun as cutting into a brand new piece of paper. *LOL* How retarded is that!?!?

Anyways. I chose to put up the kickstand today because I wanted to remind you to use YOUR kickstand. Just when you dont think you can go on any further. Just when you dont think you can handle your situation any more...Keep on praying. Keep on leaning on Jesus to balance you. Even if you are standing still and resting upon your kickstand...he is there to hold you up. Remember though Jesus is the one and only kickstand that will withstand EVERYTHING, you do have friends and family that are there to hold you up too. Lean on them and together youll make it through.

Today is house cleaning day. YICK! But some how I got way behind. Where have I been? *insert look of utter shock and dumbfoundedness here* So I am off!

Enjoy your day!

TGIF!

Its a great day in the neighborhood isnt it??

Things are going well here today. BUSY! As we are trying to load up and get ready for a fur event tomorrow. My pedal on my sewing machine is a pushed to the metal!

I have to tell you about a place I have been frequenting lately. AWESOME tallent here. Go to the SHACK and check it out. It is soo much fun!

These two cards are using up the rest of my prepared transparencies that I had dusted with the pearl essant powders. The card up there is using the window technique, where essentially the window is pealed back and curled. I used 4 brads to mount it on burgandy and whala! Hard to get decent pictures. The pumpkin is shiny and a really neato effect, but I wanted you to mostly see the rolled window. Down below is the leaf pattern.

Enjoy your day! Go! CREATE SOMETHING! Smile cause things are GOOOOOOOOOD!

Free Stamps!

You, you right there....must click right here Elzybells and go check out this new line. They are giving away a free stamp, you just have to tell them which one you like best.

So cute!

Handing it over

Orange. NOT one of my favorite colors. I know...I know...I could be shot right here on the spot for saying that. Since I live in the land of UT and EVERYTHING is orange. This is for a monochromatic challenge that I participated in. It actually conquered several challenges at once. It COULD have been SIP if I hadnt put that riffraff down the center. I didnt think about it until it was already on there...and well, I wasnt taking it off. It of course is Mono. And then also this is a stamp I have had for ummm 3 years...maybe 4?? It has never touched ink since I got it. So it was a good card!

As today is a GOOD day! Many things are evolving around here. All for the good. But its taken a lot of work within our family to get over a few hurdles in life. We are doing wonderful though and last night was the first night in a very long time that we were able to express feelings and such for each other, our dreams and our views on life. Hannah is still convinced she is going to be a princess when she grows up. Heather wants to be an animal photographer. It was so great to laugh with the girls wholeheartidly. It was great just to be together.

Funny how God works isnt it? That NOTHING will fall into place until you fully submit to Him? You cant give Him part of your concerns. You cant ask for some things but keep a few held back for whatever reason. Whether that reason is guilt or shame, whether its cause you think you can do it all on your own or whether you just think its silly to be asking in the first place. God is an awesome God and we are sooo lucky that He is willing to take everything from us so that we may live carefree and in good spirits.

I try not to preach on here often, but this is sooo important and it has been highly evident in the Peterson household as of late, so I feel that I MUST ask you. Have YOU given everything over to God? I mean EVERYTHING? Remember, He is just waiting for you to say the word. You cant RUIN His love for you, so why not have a heart to heart today?

It rained over night and now I am watching the sun peak through the clouds. WOW! The light outside is amazing!

Go...create some peace in your world today.

Its HUMP day!

You can make it through the rest of the week surely!! All is going well here today. It appears that we got a few drops of rain last night and this morning the air feels quite heavy. Hannah of course resumed position upon her wheeling throne as I dropped her off at school. Heather ran quickly out to the bus and my day began.

How do you like this colomeration of colors? I love the primary colors. Hard to be sad when you have bright things flashing at you! It says Seeds of Friendship bring flowers of Joy.

A little more "bling" on the queen

I finally had a chance to get a pic of her majesty with her new red cast. This was of course AFTER the repainting of the toes. Because you KNOW that pink toes do NOT match a red cast...I mean DUH!!! And because I didnt feel like changing her out of her PINK pajamas, I didnt bring up the fact that they didnt match either.

She is all sparkling clean out of the bath...well ok really shes off of my kitchen counter and done with a sponge bath. I threatened to take a picture of her in her Birthday suit when she said she didnt want to have a cast picture posted. She reluctantly agreed to pose for this shot WITH her clothes on. I think she will be glad to return to a real bath and closed doors.

Update on the QUEEN

Hannah went to the doc on Monday and was blessed with a new cast and a good report from the doctor. The new cast is a brilliant red and only goes to below the knee. She is sooo much more mobile now. She is also back in school! She (for the ease of her teachers) is in a wheelchair and as her teacher said today...has taken on the role of QUEEN quite nicely. Hopefully it wont do perminent damage in 2 weeks time.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch this past weekend! It was a beauiful day and we had so much fun! We didnt go through the corn maze since we had to lug Hannah everywhere. But we did get to go on the hay ride and we went out and picked our own pumpkins. That was soooo much fun. The girls got their faces painted and we of course had cotton candy and the normal festive foods.

Gmorning!

Off to the doctor! WOOHOO! Hey...go play with Widget on the side there. HAHAHA! If you pet her she purrs. If you move your cursor in front of her she plays. I know...simple minds!

Talk soon!
B

Look! We have TUNAGE!!!

Of course if you dont like my new music just slide over to the side over there and push stop and all of the pretty music will go away.

I have had a fantastic day! We went to the punkin patch today and got our punkins. I will be sure and post the pics tomorrow for you all to get jealous over!

Enjoy the music. I thought it was a great touch!

I have to post this as I nearly fell out of my chair laughing outloud. Now mind you, if you have never owned a cat it may not be real funny to you. And even if so, if you didnt get that cat as a kitten...you still might not find humor. To me, though...this explains my entire life with our new addition. Twink definitely can be the poster child for this one!!

Wrapping Presents (With Cats)

Clear large space on table for wrapping present.Go to wardrobe and collect bag in which present is contained, and close door.Open door and remove cat from wardrobe.Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.Go back and remove cat from cupboard.Go to drawer and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. Lay out present and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed.Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit, and collect string.Remove present from bag.Remove cat from bag.Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present.Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.Cut the paper to size, trying to keep the cutting line straight.Throw away first sheet because cat tried to chase the scissors and tore paper.Cut second sheet of paper to size by putting cat in the bag the present came out of.Place present on cut-to-size paper.Lift up edges of paper to seal in present, wonder why edges now don't reach, and find cat between present and paper.Remove cat and retry.Place object on paper, to hold in place, while cutting transparent sticky tape. Spend next 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from cat with pair of nail scissors.Seal paper down with transparent sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible.Look for roll of ribbon; chase cat down hall and retrieve ribbon.Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn.Re-roll up ribbon and remove paper that is now torn, due to cat's enthusiasm in chasing ribbon end.Repeat steps 12-22 until down to last sheet of paper.Decide to skip steps 12-16 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper.Retrieve old cardboard box that you know is right size for sheet of paper.Put present in box, and tie down with string.Remove string, open box and remove cat.Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for lockable room.Once inside room, lock door and start to re-lay out packing materials.Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close door and re-lock.Lay out last sheet of paper. (Admittedly this is difficult in the small area of the bathroom, but try your best!)Seal box, wrap with paper and start repairs by very carefully sealing down tears with transparent sticky tape.Now tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst affected areas.Label, then sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulating yourself on making good of a bad job.Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat.Spend next 15 minutes looking for cat, before coming to obvious conclusion.Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat.Retrieve all discarded sheets of wrapping paper, feed cat and retire to lockable room for last attempt, making certain you are alone and the door is locked.At time of handing over present, smile sweetly at receiver's face, as they try and hide their contempt at being handed such a badly wrapped present.Swear to yourself that next year, you will get the store to wrap the darn thing for you.

Gnite
B

Aww the day of rest!

Dont know how much resting we will do, but there is always a certain amount of PEACE on Sundays isnt there? We are up and getting ready for church. Our church has moved into their new building so its exciting to go and see how things have evolved and how great God is working there.

Tomorrow Hannah gets her big cast off and I have to tell you, I have seriously been praying for a miraculous recovery and hoping she can go from this cast to a brace. One that SHE can walk on. She is still working with her "crunches" but cant maneouver them well at all. I know this ole crutch is getting over the whole dragging her around everywhere. Lord willing, she also returns to SCHOOL!!! WOOHOOO!

Both of these cards are from my scrap stash. Just fiddling around trying to use up some of my stuff. Cause see....my darling mommy ordered me my Birthday present. And I am soooooo excited to get these. Since I have made the promise to ONLY use scraps I want to go ahead and get done with them so when my bounching Bellas come in I will have full reign and can play play play!!!

Heather is of course dreading the return back to school and has been wishing for Fall Break to start all over again.

Ron is doing wonderful!! The doctor rearranged his medication and he is like a different person. Hes calm. Hes productive. OH MY GOSH! Wonders never cease. I am thankful for this answered prayer and I hope it continues. Thank you again for all of the prayers for this recently.

I am good. Still trying to figure out if I am dieing with my recent spider bite. Yesterday I got bit while out cleaning out the gutters. It hasnt swollen and the shooting pain up and down my arm has gone away. Now I just have a small discoloration of the size of a silver dollar and it feels like I have been burned. Like heat burn. I feel fine other than that and I guess will just watch it for the rest of the weekend. UGH! Another distraction is just what I needed.

Still busy with renovations and of course the every day domestic clean up. Hope that you are doing well! Enjoy the glorious day!

Love B

And the winner is!!

I so apologize for not announcing the winners last night. My afternoon short jaunt to town turned into an ALL afternoon thing! But then again...NOTHING in my life seems to be going as scheduled, so neither I, nor you should be surprised at this. The following winners will receive a package of METAL embellishments! GOOD JOB! And thank you soooo much for visiting my blog!
First let me give you the winner of 3rd place. The judges (being my family) thought this was a great way to get so many things on one card. Hannah especially loved the fluffy strings. Congratulations to ELLIE LYTLE!

2nd place was a winner because they liked how simple it was. Congratulations to SAMANTHA PRICE!!

And the grand prize first place winner is MELISSA HOOPES for her pink submission. Very great way to use different patterened paper together!

Dont you think they all are cool?

Things here are good today. Hannah and Heather are playing nicely together and I am still wondering what I did to deserve such awesome kids? I have already been to traffic class (UGH) and have been outside cleaning out the gutters. It is a gorgeous day! ENJOY!

Renovations have begun!

Good Morning friends. Its a bit cool here this morning. I dont even hear the birdies out venturing around yet. It is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend though. Maybe we will go get our punkins this weekend. I picked this stamp set to use today because I wanted so desperately to try out my new FLESHY colored COPIC markers. Its hard to tell in the photos but the shading on them is awesome! This, once again is also coming from my scrap stash. Another thing hard to see is that there is 7 layers of paper on this card up top. Hehehehe...think I am trying to maybe get rid of some paper???? The bottom one is also scraps of course but I tried to decorate the inside. My daughter keeps asking me why all of my cards are blank inside. I told her that it was because I like to write LETTERS on the inside and like the room to be blank. But it got me to thinking...maybe I SHOULD dress up the inside a bit?


And the moment EVERYONE has been waiting for!!! The unveiling of my mess of a garage, Wreck REC room! We are planning to do a little bit of work out there today so I wanted to send you a BEFORE shot. So you can see what miracle workers we are when we are finished!!!

Dont forget to check back later on this evening as I will post the winners of the layout challenge! I already have them chosen thanks to the Peterson Judges. I just have to take a pic of the prizes!

Enjoy your day! Do something fall like today...like plant some mums or something!!

Fall has Fallen!

I am on a mission. After doing some house keeping in my scrap stash it came to my attention that I have too many!! So I *raising right hand* do swear to not cut another whole piece of paper until I have made 50 cards using SCRAPS! Its been a lot for fun actually so far. Because I litterally have scraps from when I started scrapbooking over 5 years ago. And might I add...some pretty cool scraps! These two cards are from CTMH's 'AUTUMN SPLENDER' --very cool set.

Its definitely fall here today! It is sooo crisp and fall like. I am anxious to get outside and see about a little bit of yard work this afternoon.

Ron goes back to the Dr. today to hopefully get some answers to his latest blood work. We are hoping they have answers that will fix all of his woes. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

Hannah Banana is doing fabulous! She is hopping now and slowly but surely getting the hang of her crutches. She can drag herself around in her room and play a little now. Great news for BOTH of us!

Heather is still at Grammee & PawPaws house. Enjoying a little bit of her fall break.

Anyways...its another great day! Enjoy yourself! Go use up some scraps!

Love

B

I promise youll want some!

I have never been one to push real expensive things. I think most everything can be done for less with just a little comprimise. But I have to tell you...I tried these markers yesterday and nearly peed all over myself. They are an absolute DREAM! They blend like butter. Litterally. So, I figure at $5.95 each it will take me until I am 57 to purchase all of them, but I just love them!! I purchased just two of them yesterday...flesh colors. Since those are the most difficult colors to get right in any other marker set. So, next time you are at your local craft store, go to the arts section...you know where the sketch books and canvases are? Go and look at the COPIC markers...try them out. I promise you too will be hooked.

Its another grand day here. We all took off out of the house yesterday. It was great to blow the cabin fever off. But I am sad to say I didnt get to stamp anything. Maybe today!

The Sun has Risen!

How glorious is this day! I am so happy to see the Sun shining bright today. Though, we need the rain so desperately...it does the soul good to see the rays shining down through the trees first thing in the morning. I was reminded yesterday by a dear dear dear dear (did I mention how DEAR she is to me?) to remember my thoughts control my life. I have been so negative and so 'BAH-HUMBUG' on certain aspects of my surroundings that I have litterally been controling my outcome. DUH! I know this! Thank you Ellie for reminding me to control my thoughts. It was great insite. It also reminded me of a book I read recently called THE SECRET, describing this process...very interesting.

I stamped my guts out yesterday evening! It was awesome! Though I can only post two here, as most of the cards are signed and sealed and ready to be delivered to my Secret Sister. Take a look at this card below. Look at that sheet of plain pink--looks like a handy dandy stamp huh? WRONG! A few months ago I purchased a package of Glue Dots, not knowing at the time that they were VELLUM glue dots. I was angry at my first discovery of this, but of course since I had already chewed into the package there wasnt a whole lot I could do. I stuffed em in my stash, thinking Id find SOMETHING to do with them. Last night as I was doing some experimenting with the embossing powders I decided to try something. This is a VELLUM GLUE DOT sheet, run through with the Cuttlebug embosser and then embossed with blue powder! Is it not cool?????



Another challenge I had this week was to use a stamp in a non conventional way. This poinsettia is made using Fall Leaves!!! Its from my CLOSE TO MY HEART set 'AUTUMN SPLENDER'--cool huh? I cut out each leave and then slightly folded them in the centers to give them dimension. It was fun pulling it all together!

So now...its a glorious day! Go, hug the ones you love, encourage them to smile and of course let them know how wonderful you think they are!

I am going to be closing the submission contest on Friday. I have some great cards already. Wanta play? Scroll back to the 27th and read up on the rules.

Enjoy your day! CREATE!