an apple a day

Good morning everyone! It was my turn this week to host the challenge at Bitten By the Bug 2. I chose the apple core from the Preserves cart.


All the patterned papers are Cosmo Cricut.

Thanks for looking and thanks for your nice comments.

Follow up to Mr. T

I contacted our neighbors with the turkey and asked if we could come and see him. They were so nice and let us come over early this evening.

The turkey (Mr. T) was in their backyard with 4 chicken friends and the dog. Yeah, that's right...a dog. I was amazed that the dog left the chickens and the turkey alone.

Anyway, Mr. T is even MORE GORGEOUS in person. I had no idea that a turkey's head will change colors. In the first picture, see how his the top of his head is all blue and his waddle is a little creamy reddish color? I know, it's a bit out of focus but you can get the idea.


After we had been there for a few minutes, his waddle became bright red, his head even a brighter blue with red dots. He pranced around for us and all us of oooo'd and ahhh'd. He is just beautiful!!

Then, they were so nice to lead the kids into the chicken coop and let them find eggs. We came home with fresh eggs.

It was a great evening for us. Thank you!!

9am

Our design team sister, Julie, picked the cut for this week's BBTB2 project. She chose the crown from the Home Decor cart.

Here's my version:

It's mostly just cardstock, ink, paint and mist.

The rumor is true

The kids and Erik went to the annual neighborhood block party last weekend. I couldn't go because my back was misbehaving.

There was talk about turkey. One of the neighbors in the area bought a turkey last year for their Thanksgiving dinner. They couldn't finish it off and instead, it ended up becoming a pet.


We asked another neighbor, one that has chickens, about the turkey. She told us where she thought it was. We walked all over the neighborhood and found it. She said to "look for the colorful fence". Well, we heard gobbling before we even found the fence.

There was this beautiful bird behind the fence posts. I was too shy to go up the entire length of the driveway to see this magnificent creature, so I stood back and used the zoom lens to take pictures instead. The kids and Erik had no problem walking right up there. Isn't he beautiful? He has a bright blue head and I swear he was showing off for us by the way he moved.

We want to go back later when the family is outside and ask about him.

Right now, we're playing with the idea of building a chicken coop and having a few chickens. This way, we know what our chickens are eating and where our eggs would come from.

This was going to be my picture of the day, but I have a different one. I post my pics of the day on Facebook. If you're not friends with me, look me up!! (bucketomonkeysatcomcast.net)I do have some pictures on the top right of my blog here, but it doesn't tell you the story behind each of the pictures.

Have a great Easter!

in bloom

Here's a picture of the blooming saguaro in my front yard.


All KI Memories. There's some vintage stuff in there. ;)

Tendered

I have a stack of pre-printed pictures on my desk. I just grab the top one and force myself to work with it.
It's not that it's a bad photo, it's just that I didn't do any editing to it and print it at home. I sometimes get overwhelmed at all the photos I have and can't pick one to edit, crop and print at home. Sometimes it's just easier to use what's there.

Anyway, this is The Girls' Paperie, On Holiday. Thanks for looking and thanks for your sweet comments. :D

Are you sure about that?

I just love it when I find these little gems in the kids' backpacks. I just don't know what dress she has that is purple and orange. Hmmmm.....


BasicGrey Green at Heart.

Bunk Beds

When we were cruising, the kids LOVED their bunk beds. I never had to argue with them to go to sleep.Made from mostly Glitz and a touch of K & Co.

When one kid won't cooperate...

I've been having fun playing with these new Lily Bee collections. Here's another layout I made using the Happily Lost collection.

another picture of the kids from 2008

Smile

Here's another layout using some new Lily Bee. I'm a new fan of their collections. I just love the patterns and colors.




I just realized I forgot to put a date on this. It's from February 2008. Kat was only 4 in this picture.

Mother

A card made for Bitten by the Bug 2. Design Team Sister, Lori, asked us to use a cut from the Mother's Day 2010 cart. I don't have that one so I used the newer Mother's Day Bouquet cart released just recently. I love this cart. You can make a ka-zillion different flowers with as many layers as your little heart desires.



The stamps are Technique Tuesday Mama=Love

Thanks for your comments!

Love you bunches

This cute little bunny is a new cutout from Peggy Loves Vintage.

The cute paper is Jillibean Soup - Dutch Mustard Soup Thanks for your comments.

do you remember...

Awwww, they used to hug when I asked them to pose for the camera.




KI, K&Co, Crate, MME, DCWV, Kaisercraft

Thanks for looking. :D

Racing Stripes

Trent is a toe walker. We thought he would eventually outgrow it but he never did. He started physical therapy in May 2009. It helped a lot and we thought we could continue his exercises at home. Well, that didn't work. He recently went back to physical therapy and is working again to get off those toes. In the picture, he's wearing tape on his calves to help him walk normally. The physical therapist called the tape his "racing stripes".

This is new Lily Bee papers. I'm a new fan of theirs. I just love the small patterns. There are Crate chipboard pieces on there as well. Oh, and I see a little Jillibean Soup peaking out from behind the journaling card (which is MME).

This is Ashley from a long, long time ago. Probably about 10 years ago. The problem is that after I scanned the layout, I spilled red wine all over it. *sigh* Now I have to do it again.

This is new Cosmo Cricket Salt Air

This is new BasicGrey Life of the Party. There are a few Fancy Pants rubons as well. I think the pictures are from LegoLand.

Thanks for looking. I'm feeling better these days. Thank you so much for all the well wishes and cards. They really worked!

Friends

This week, our design sister, Melissa, asked us to use the dachshund cut from the Paisley cart.

I also used Cosmo's new Upcycle line. I really like the colors in it.

Just the Boys

Here's a layout I made using some new MME. I think I've already scrapped this picture before.

Thanks for looking. :D

Grumble, grumble

I'm just going to get it all out in one post. 2011 has really stunk so far. It started with the sinus surgery and then my back and hips. I have always had issues with my hips but for some reason, this time it's really bad. Xrays determined that I have sciatica and arthrits. *sigh* It's very, very difficult dealing with chronic pain. It's depressing. It drains me of all my energy. Add in the stress of the Girl Scout cookies and the booths. I cannot keep up with household chores (dinner?? I'm supposed to cook dinner?)and I've had to cut my hours down at work to one 4 hour shift a week. Last Sunday, I couldn't even do that. After two hours I had to go home. My legs were screaming at me.

I've had to cancel my card classes. I can't sit in a chair long enough to design cards and all I can think about is the pain.

Erik has been working 12 hour days. I never see him anymore.

I found out last week that I have a sinus infection 6 weeks after my sinus surgery...

and yesterday, my cat died.

I feel absolutely worthless.

So, there you go. I got it all out and I feel a bit better. So, if I seem a bit cranky, don't take it personally. ;)

I'm working towards a better future, though. I've been going to phsyical therapy twice a week and I've been forcing myself to do a little bit of creating in the evening after the pain killers kick in but before I get too sleepy.

See, my life is not as perfect looking as sometimes the blog displays. If you're having a bad day, tell me about it.

Oh, and here are some layouts that took me several days to complete....

Projects from Emma's Paperie

Here are all the projects I made as Guest Designer at Emma's Paperie. If you get a chance, stop on by her store. If you're interested in the details (manufacturers) of what I used, click here to got to the blog.

BBTB2 Blog Hop time

Welcome! It's that time of month again...time for the Bitten By The Bug 2 Blog Hop.

Hopefully, you came from Theresa's blog.

Our challenge this week was to use the bird cage from Straight from the Nest. If we didn't have that cart, we could use a bird cage or bird house from another cart. I used a bird house from Cindy Loo.

In addition to the birdhouse, there is a little Peggy Loves Vintage image in there. See the flowers on the tag? Those are from one of her collections.

Please leave a comment and please become a follower of my blog to be eligible to win the prize listed below.

When you've left your comment, please hop on over to Karen's blog for a chance to win more goodies.

Fishing

Shelly was our host for this week at Bitten By The Bug 2. She chose the boy fishing from page 35. The only time I ever use this cart is when it's for a BBTB2 challenge. I always say to myself, "I need to use this more often". It's a great cart!




BasicGrey
MME
LYB
Hambly
Martha Stewart punch
Pink Paislee alphas

Guest Designer at Emma's Paperie

I'm just thrilled to be a Guest Designer at Emma's Paperie. Here are a couple of sneak peeks from two of the projects I made:

If you want to see all of the projects, you can go to her blog here.

Thanks so much!

Reading Counts

October Afternoon Schoolhouse

Are you doing picture a day? I started January and I've been posting them on Facebook. This is my picture from yesterday. I had a follow up appointment with my ENT. I would post them here if I could figure out how to make a little side bar with them. Oh, I know....maybe Flickr would work. I'll think about this some more....

Also, blog hop winner for this time is.....

Tanya

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving comments. I like the nice ones. ;)

Lovey Dovey Honey Bunch

Good morning! If you're hopping, you probably came from Penny's blog. It's so nice to see you here. :D As you probably know already, Maria, one of our awesome Design Team sisters from Bitten By The Bug 2, asked us to use more than one of the hearts from Love Struck 2010.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I have so many goofy names for the kids and I knew this particular one I call Kat (at times) would be perfect for the heart challenge. heehee



I have a suggestion for you, though. Make sure you have a new blade for this cart. Whew! There are so many intricate cuts that just weren't working with my used blade.

What do you call your kids? I can't be the only one that uses "Stinky Pie Monkey Butt" as a term of endearment, can I? Leave me a comment telling me the pet names you use for your kids. At the end of the week, I'll choose a random winner for the item pictured below. Make sure I can get a hold of you...either make sure you leave me your email address or your comment links back to your blog.

Also, if you're just starting this blog hop, you want to go to Lori's blog next.

Thanks for all your kind comments. Please become a follower of my blog, too!

Armadillo

Well, I'm really behind getting things uploaded on Blogger.

BBTB2's designer, Krista, chose the armadillo and/or bird from Birthday Bash. This was the first time I have used the cart and I have to say there are some really cute images.

Ignore the fact that I couldn't figure out that piece that goes on the tail. Don't know what the dealio is with that. Some of the other girls figured it out.

Stamps are Technique Tuesday and Sassafras. I colored in the "Happy Birthday" with my Copics. The chicken wire overlay is Hambly.

I also completed another layout. That's 2 for this year. ;) I am on a roll.

This is all made with October Afternoon Campfire

Delight in the Little Things

Bitten by the Bug 2 is back in business this week! We have lots of inspiration to share with you. Karen asked us to use the Hummingbird from the Lyrical Letters cart. Here's my take on it:

The papers are new K & Co Flora and Fauna.

Thanks for looking. :D

Birthday birds

Here's a new card made from one of the darling images from Peggy Loves Vintage.

This image is from Vintage Birthday Volume 2