The Stuck On You Giveaway Winner is...

The Stuck On You Giveaway winner is Basement Stamper who said "The stationary sets are great, but I have to say that I love the laundry hampers! I'd definitely use the $$$ to buy one of those, they have such wonderful assortment of gifts."

Congratulations! I am sure you will love your laundry hamper!

She has a crafty blog too. I hope you will all stop by and check out all her lovely creations!

There really are so many fun products that Stuck On You makes from personalized labels, clothing, wooden blocks, stationary, to backpacks and lunch boxes.

If you follow them on Facebook you can keep up with all the latest news and possibly catch a coupon.

Getting Organized For Christmas With Stuck On You + Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to be hosting another giveaway for Stuck On You!

They really have the most fabulous personalized gifts and labels! There is not another company out there that makes a better label for clothing. Period.

 Parker loves his Dog Tags and wears them everyday. He's constantly using the colored pencils and markers from the Artist Series Activity Pack on his homework and drawing pictures.

Getting organized for Christmas this year has been a breeze with  Personalized Christmas Cards. They have the cutest designs to pick from. I ordered Christmas Charm. It comes with the 3 designs you see above. They are so adorable!

 And you get to personalize the sentiment for the front and inside. It took me a little while to decide what I wanted them to say. It's so cool that you can see a preview to know if you'll like it.
 There's cute coordinating stickers to seal the envelope too.

Plus, they make matching Christmas Address Labels! I had a hard time deciding on the design because they were all so cute! It can't get any easier than this. I have a ton of labels that I will be able to use for years to come.

 

I can hardly wait to see Parker's reaction when he finds a Letter From Santa in the mail box!!!

 I can only imagine how excited he's going to be when he reads it! I love this idea! I'm so glad there's several styles. I look forward to being able to personalize more of them over the next few years.

Note: I did use Photoshop to remove our address from the envelope.

 

Oh! And let me tell you that I am so excited about the Personalized Christmas Story Book I ordered for Parker. I think that he's gonna love having a book that features him as the star of the story! It warms my heart to listen to him read me a story.

 I loved them so much I actually bought him 2 different designs. It's a good thing he's only 6 and doesn't read my blog otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise. lol
 

I think this is such a wonderful keepsake that I just had buy one for my niece Jade too! 

The Personalized Christmas Story Book  also comes with a mini Christmas Activity Book featuring the characters from the story. Seriously, how awesome is that!

November 30th was the cutoff for guaranteed Christmas day delivery. But no worries,

Stuck On You would love to give one lucky reader a $25 voucher for what ever you choose! 

All you have to do is stop by the Stuck on You Homepage and check out all the other super fun personalized gifts, which include stationary, backpacks, pencils, labels, clothing and so much more!

Then enter by leaving me a comment below telling me how you'd spend the $25.

For extra entries, Like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter!

If you are nice enough to share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook or twitter please feel free to leave another comment.

And for another entry, follow me in any way you like - Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or email.

This giveaway is open through Saturday December 15th. I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday.

Merry Christmas!

Give Thanks

 

I'm still so happy we put the stone around our fireplace! I just love it!

I decided I wanted to make a banner for Thanksgiving to help show it off.

I made this banner using a paper packet called Felicity from Close To My Heart. I'm not sure how long I've had it now, but it's about time I cut it! Lol You won't believe what I used to make the base of the pennants. I used the chipboard from a 3 ring binder that was broken. I'm sure you've seen what a binder looks like once it's worn out. The plastic exterior "breaks" and starts to tear. Well inside is really heavy weight chipboard. So next time you have one that is worn out, pull out the chipboard and make something new with it. It would be perfect for things like boxes.

 

I used rust colored glitter on chipboard for the words Give Thanks. I just love all the colors in nature during fall. Such beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, greens and of course my favorite color brown. I try to take a week of vacation every year in November to begin making my Christmas cards and gifts. It also gives me a chance to get a really good cleaning done before family joins us for Thanksgiving dinner. For me making cards is a wonderful way to relax and express my love for the people I make them for.  I'm not sure anyone other than us card makers know just how much time can be involved in the card making process.  But I believe they know it's special because it was handmade just for them.

I hope you have the most wondeful Thanksgiving!

And that you can take time to reflect on all you are thankful for!

I'd like to share this with Really Reasonable Ribbon, Simon Says Stamp, The Sisterhood Of Crafters, 

 Pixie Dust Studio, Divas By Design, For Fun Challenges, Word Art Wednesday,  and Tatertots and Jello.

Who Is Marking Your Life?

 

Several years ago I received this postcard in the mail. I thought it was pretty cool and wanted to save it for something special. It's kinda a deep thought "Who is marking your Life?"

The back of the postcard says "Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. No matter your view of tats, we all have marks on our souls because of what someone has said or done to us. They feel permanent and we allow them to define us. But what if we listened to what God has to say about us instead of others? Because all of us have been marked by someone. Who is marking your life?"

It's so true. No matter what we look like it's what is on the inside that counts. It's about what we do with our lives that matters. I hope during my lifetime I will leave a good lasting impression on another human being. Especially my little man, Parker!

 

I want to share another beautiful quote with you.

 

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

― Mother Teresa

 

Well this concludes my deep thoughts for today. Well maybe :)

Anyhow I made this picture with the Hanging Decorations Stampotique Designers Challenge in mind. I'd also like to share this with Artistic Inspirations, and Eureka Stamps.

Bathroom Mirror Updates

Here's another glamour shot picture that was used in marketing our our when it was for sale.

And another great picture. Don't they just scream buy me. LOL!

Well at least you can see the giant corner tub, his and her vanities, and tile floor. There was no mention of the shower or separate toilet room. But do we really want to talk about that part. Maybe in a later post when the shower is tiled ;) Oh but look closely at the pictures, the curling irons are left plugged in just sitting on the counters. Isn't that brilliant.

Yes, we had to replace the counter top to get rid of the horrible burn marks.

 

Ok, so I did not exactly take the best before pictures, but you can see that lovely 1980's look on the mirror. Really!?! This house is not that old to have put a mirrored frame up.

So they had to come down. Chad used a damp towel and an iron to loosen the adhesive backed foam tape. Then slowly pried each mirror piece off using a hand trowel. We scrapped the rest of the foam tape off with a razor blade. As soon as that was done it was time to build and hang new frames.

It feels so much brighter and cleaner to me with the white frames around the mirrors. I love that the frames are separate on the mirror. It feels like they are hung in place. It simply looks better too because the counters are at 2 different heights. Now I need find a chair to sit and put on my war paint in the mornings.

I am so much happier with our bathroom now!

The next thing I have in mind is to rip out the shower stall, tile it, and put on a glass door.

I'm sure that project will take me a while to talk Chad into :)

I'm sharing this mirror makeover with The Stuff Of Success, and Tatertots and Jello.

Stone Fireplace Makeover

Even though this picture is not in focus it was actually used to market our home for sale. Yes, seriously! It does however give a hint that is has 9 foot ceilings, full length windows, hardwood floors and gas fireplace. I am not an expert in real estate by any means but it still baffles me that all the benefits were never mentioned and the photographs were crappy. I guess since I am a HGTV addict, I think when homes are on the market the pictures should be like glamour shots highlighting it's best features.

Here's a close up of the cheap boring tile. Really? Fake mosaic tile? It looked ok I guess.

But I had something better in mind :)

Bye Bye tile!

Chad removed all the tile. I think he likes the demo part the best. Chad had to cut out a small section of the base of the wood surround so the hearthstones could slide under it easily. Next he stapled a metal lathe into place.

Then he coated it in mortar. The blue painters tape on the floor marks out the area for the new hearthstones. The rest of the tape was used to make cleanup easier if mortar fell on the metal edge of the fireplace.

Voila!

Can you believe it's the same fireplace!?!

Stacking the stones in place was like a giant puzzle. Not Chad's favorite part by any means. I heard a lot of profanity during this step. lol

I just love the fireplace now. It has such a strong presence and feels like it should have always been like this. Painting the walls a warm beige certainly helps the fireplace stand out now too. LOVE IT!

After all it has a craftsman feel to it with the wood, brick and stone. It seemed like the stone needed to be carried in from the outside.

I'm linking this up to The Stuff of Success, and Tatertots and Jello.

Geek Is Chic

 

I recently was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Scrapbook Modern. Jason was kind enough to send me some items from Imaginisce called Geek Is Chic. It is just the cutest set of school theme paper and embellishments. Since is is starting to get cooler and we spend more time indoors having a box of Kleenex is a must. So I decided to make a tissue box holder and matching card for Parker's 1st grade teacher. I added a few bright paperclips on the card. The "hello" stamp came from Stampin' Up! a very long time ago. I stamped it on a left over snip it of paper and stapled in place. I used Mod Podge to glue everything in place on the house. Hopefully it will give a layer of protection against all the little hands that will need a tissue this winter.

 

I thought I would share this with Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT, Through The Craftroom Door, Tuesday Alchemy, Papertake Weekly, Loves Rubberstamps and Anything Goes.

What Costume?

 

I've finally made a scrapbook page! It's been a long time. I just had to make one for the

Stampotique Designers Challenge Scrap It!

I just love all the Daniel Torrente and Jill Penney stamps! My other must have is the Fabulous stamp by Carol's Collection after all that is my favorite word!

What costume? This is how I look everyday!

I hand cut my witches hat and crinkled it up for some texture then added a snip it of Halloween Baker's twine and a big rhinestone. I love how it does not sit flat like I'm really wearing it. I had fun playing with my new toy, the Cricut. I used it to make the black cat, spooky ticket, beware and the candelabra Linda is holding,  The spider is a punch from EK Success. The spiderweb edge punch is from Martha Stewart.

I also want to share this with Forever Night Challenges, Opus Gluei, Craftymess, Just Some Lines, My Time To Craft, Really Reasonable Ribbon  and Milkcoffee.



And The Stuck On You Giveaway Winner Is...

I truly thank Stuck On You for allowing me to do a giveaway on my blog!

They really do make the coolest personalized gifts!

 Parker is loving everything and wears his Dog Tags everyday!

The Artist Series Activity Pack is awesome!

And every parent needs to get their young children the Orientation Pack!

The heat transfer labels wash and wear beautifully. A total must have for daycares and school!

Congratulations to Kathy Davis who said

This is perfect for my granddaughter Nellie. Both of her parents are artists. I love the sketchbooks. You can never start creativity too early. The Orientation Pack is awesome too. As a retired school teacher,

I know it makes life a lot easier when every thing is labeled. !

I can hardly wait to hear about how Nellie likes her new Orientation Pack and Artist Series Activity Pack!

Too Cute To Spook

I just think this stamp set is too cute! It's called Googly Ghouls from Stampin' Up! The googlie eyes simply make me smile. The little tin bucket came from Logan's Roadhouse. Their Mini Bucket peanut butter dessert is so yummy and you get to keep the bucket. I get a dessert and something to repurpose! Oh yeah, I like it! And who can resist the Halloween Twine! The Halloween banner was also repurposed from some packaging for stickers I found at Walmart. So far I'm tickled pink to be getting so much use out of my new chevron embossing folder. As a craft addict end up buying so many fun things without any project in mind. You know it's just that "I must have it" thing :)

I'm sharing this with The Stuff Of Success, Craft Punked, Craftymess, Moving Along With The Times, Milkcoffee, Stempelsonne, Little Miss Muffett, Do You Stack Up, Totally Papercrafts,
 Really Reasonable Ribbon and Tatertots and Jello.

Please be sure to check out the rest of my blog for the Stuck On You Giveaway I'm hosting. A winner will be picked first thing on the 28th.



Embellished T

 

I love white t-shirts! What can I say? I'm a walking accident. And I need shirts that when I have my little oops moments bleach can come to my rescue. lol

I wear short sleeved t-shirts all year round. Now that it's starting to get a bit cooler I can simply layer them with a cardigan. No worries about being too hot.

I made these flowers with 2 1/4 inch wide white satin ribbon. I randomly cut circles that could be layered. Next I used my heat gun to melt the edges to prevent fraying. By using my heat gun it gives the ribbon a slight curl. Plus it's safe, I've seen it done with candles or lighters. Nope not me, again walking accident here. Not a good idea to play with fire! Next I threaded some pearl beads for the center of the flowers, layered some circles and sewed into place. Easy enough. Now my $8 t-shirt looks like a $40 shirt from one of my favorite stores.

 



 

Here's a close up of my handmade flowers. I love them so much I will just have to make some more in gorgeous jewel tones for fall.

 

I'm sharing this with The Stuff Of Success and Tatertots and Jello.

 

If you haven't done so already check out the rest of my blog for my Stuck On You Giveaway. Someone will be lucky enough to win a prize pack worth $85. The winner will be announced first thing on the 28th.

Happy Holidays Poinsettia

The design of this card was inspired by a pillow I saw on Pinterest. I started by randomly cutting a 2 1/4 inch wide white satin ribbon into diamond shapes to make the poinsettia flower. Next I used my heat gun to melt the edges of the ribbon to prevent fraying. It also gives it a nice wave to the ribbon petals. I used Helmar's Premium Craft Glue to adhere them to the embossed kraft paper. The mini jingle bells were stitched into place. Next, that layer was glued onto red cardstock then onto the kraft card base. The Happy Holidays sentiment came from Close To My Heart. The frame stamp and punch came from Stampin' Up!



Isn't it simply a lovely holiday pillow! Here's the link to the original post and pillow tutorial. 

I shared my card with Scrapscene, Heart 2 Heart, My Craft Spot, Ooh-La--La Creations, Totally Stampalicious, Make It Monday and Totally Gorjuss.

Backyard Bar

The outdoor bar is complete and so fantastic!

Chad did a wonderful job building it. I just love the large clock over the bar. We found it at Lowe's for about $50.

We have a little refrigerator underneath the bar. It makes it perfect for year round entertaining!

It's open underneath the other side of the bar for storage. We can just tuck the umbrellas under there during bad weather.

Chad even installed little lights in the bar. It gives such a nice glow on the counter at night.
We certainly enjoy our outdoor living space. It's great all year for barbecuing, having a cocktail, relaxing or roasting marshmallows.

I thought I'd share this with Tatertots and Jello and The Stuff Of Success.

Please be sure to check out the rest of my blog for the Stuck On You Giveaway.
A winner will be picked first thing on the 28th.

You Go First

I had fun playing with colors on this card trying to make an erie night scene. Imagine trick or treating on a cool fall evening and seeing a big dark house on top a hill, a black cat and a jack-o-lantern.

All I can say is you go first!

The house stamp came from the set Boards and Beams by Papertrey Ink. The tree came from a set called Beautiful Things from Close To My Heart. I found the cat and jack-o-lantern stickers at Dollar Tree. As for the rest of the card I sponged all sorts of colors to create the sky and hill.

I'd like to share my Halloween card with Stampotique Designers Challenge, Craft A Scene,
That Craft Place, Stamptacular Sunday, Sentimental Sundays, Scrapper's Delight,
Catered Crop and Fashionable Stamping.

Please also check out the Stuck On You Giveway I'm hosting. I'll randomly pick a winner first thing on the 28th.

Eched Glass Trifle Bowl

I finally dusted of my Silhouette to cut some vinyl to make a personalized wedding gift. It's been packed for far too long! I've just got a few more things I want to do in my craft room to get organized from our move. As soon as I get Chad talked into building a couple of bookshelves I'll post the pictures of where I create.

This etchAll creme is super easy to work with and a little bit goes a long way. After cutting the W out of vinyl I positioned it on the trifle bowl, then dabbed on the etchAll creme. After about 15 minutes you can rinse it off and peel off the vinyl.

Voila!

This is such a simple and inexpensive way to to make a beautifully personalized gift! 

I love this on casserole dishes too. It makes it easy to recognize your dish after potlucks or parties.

Here's the congratulations card I made for the love birds.

I just loved their colors and theme!

I'm sharing this with The Stampman, Ruby's Rainbow, Tatertots and Jello, Homemakers Challenge, Homemaker On A Dime, and 30 Handmade Days.

Be sure to check out the rest of my blog for the Stuck On You Giveaway!

Stuck On You Giveaway!

I recently discovered Stuck On You via Tina Fussell's blog Traveling Mama.

She was doing a back to school giveaway for their Artist Series Lunchbox and Personalized Drink Bottle.  Her son is also named Parker, so it was pretty cool seeing the designs with Parker's name already on them. I was totally thrilled to find out I won her giveaway! Whoo Hoo!!!

So today I'm super excited to share my thoughts on some of the fantastic personalized gifts Stuck On You has to offer. Plus a giveaway for the Artist Series Activity Pack  and Orientation Pack!

When Parker and I were checking out the Stuck On You website we had so much fun picking out his School Pack. All the products have a preview so you can see exactly what you are getting. I just knew we would be getting Zzzzap Aliens for his Artist Series Lunchbox and the the Friendly Monster Drink Bottle. He surprised me by deciding on Beach Bus because his name looked "fancy."

Doesn't Parker look cute with his front tooth missing! The other is only hanging on by a thread.

 The day I gave it to him we had a picnic at our neighborhood park. It was such a beautiful autumn day. Stuck On You has so many fabulous things that you can have personalized! I surprised Parker with the Wheels Go Round Artist Series Activity Pack. It is so fun! It comes with a bunch of stickers, colored pencils, makers, a large pocket pencil case, a cute activity book and scribbler note pad.

It was awesome watching Parker take delight in coloring and placing the stickers in his Activity Pack.

Did you notice his Dog Tags?

They are another super fun personalized gift you can get from Stuck On You.

I love the bight colors and fun designs!

The colored pencils are fantastic! I should have given some to him a long time ago. It could have eliminated crayons in the dryer. lol 

The dual tipped markers are pretty cool too!

It's been so wonderful watching Parker enjoy his Activity Pack!

Another product Stuck On You offers is an Orientation Pack.

It is fantastic!!!

You get 25 iron on name labels. It's a total must have when you have young children in daycare or elementary school! It only takes 10 seconds to iron in place! No worries about his hoodies or jackets ending up in the lost and found!

The pack also comes with a fun personalized bag tag that is perfect for backpacks.

10 shoe dots that are are a necessity, especially for places like The Jump Zone or Chuck E Cheese.

Plus 25 name dots that are a must have for labeling other belonging like books and crayons.

Speaking of the importance of labeling personal belongings, Stuck On You has a

fundraising program too! Schools and charities can register online here http://www.stuckonyou.com/usa/fundraising/.

When I gave Parker his Dog Tags he was so excited!

He actually kissed his Dog Tags!

He loves wearing his Dog Tags while pretending to be a soldier. He says that when he grows up he's going to be a famous Army General.

Ok, so now I'm totally excited about being able to do my first giveaway thanks to
 Stuck On You!!! And it's a $85 prize pack! YAY!!!

 All you have to do is hop over to the website and check out their Artist Series Activity Pack and Orientation Packs and tell me in the comments which designs you think your little one would want to win! Be sure to stop by the Stuck on You Homepage  and check out all the other super fun personalized gifts, including stationary,  backpacks, pencils, labels, clothing and so much more! For extra entries, Like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter!
  I will get Parker to help me randomly choose a winner on October 28th! Best of luck!!!

Artist Series Activity Pack

Orientation Pack