How About This Idea

Well, I get lots of great ideas from some great bloggers on how to organize your scrap room/crafting room. Not all work for me but some give "birth" to new ideas that do! As a military wife, moving a lot, it's hard to settle on one great idea because just as I do, we move and I have to start all over! I thought I'd share some of my ideas, maybe they'll help you! So since I can't honestly say I'll do it habitually I'll call them my "Random Lightbulb Moments"! How about that?! Okay, enough of the not so fun stuff here! Now for the real fun stuff! LOL!
This idea I got a long time ago, shared it on a couple of websites but figured I should probably put it on my own now.
If you're like me you probably have a ton of punches, limited space and if they're out of sight they're probably out of mind! Don't use what you don't see! That in mind when I went to Ikea (in D.C.) I was looking for something versatile (remember military wife = ideas must be versatile/flexible!)to put my punches in, on, or "something"! I walked past their outdoor type section and saw the shoe racks. At first I thought "hey verticle storage, collapsable, re-usable - get it"! Then I got to looking at the thickness of the wooden slats, the distance in between and the lightbulb went on! YES! I was pretty sure it would work for storing those rascals where I could see them and, therefore, be able to use them! So, without further ado, here's my shoerack/punch holder aka storage! LOL!




How's that idea for about $3?! I also got those cute brown boxes at Ikea and use them for my SU markers and just "stuff"! If you see it's high enough too that you can store some flatter items underneat like my Creative Memories cutting system! The cute little buckets came from Target Dollar Spot/vortex!

I hope this helps someone the way it helped me!

A Little Fun!

Okay this is for your curious side! I know we all have one and I'm no exception! LOL! Have you seen on other people's blogs where you can see what kind of Popsicle you are, what day of the week would you be and other ones like that?! Well, I don't know that knowledge of my alter Popsicle ego would make that big of a difference in my life so I usually don't do them! This one, however, got me! LOL! This one tells you what your name means, okay.... I did it! Guess what?! It was close, so close I decided to share! Here's mine;

What Michelle Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Now, go on, I know you're curious! Go see what your name means and see how close it is! LOL! I won't tell you what part of that is close to me but, if you already know me, then you already know!

Have fun!

Until next time.......

Brace Yourself.......

Ladies and Gentlemen we have made progress! Here's an update on the house! They have the foundation walls poured! YEAH! It's still at that "looks smaller then it really is" stage but we're getting there! Here's this week's picture;



Hey! Who's that itty bitty (love those words!) person in the back?! he he he!

My Fat Ribbon Entry..

Over on "Stampin When I Can", Allison is having a "Fat Ribbon Contest" of sorts! I usually can't think of something or just don't have time to play but, I got to this time! We had to use a "fat ribbon" - hence the name! LOL! Here is my entry;



I used a couple of neat things in this layout, cute kids picture (he he he!) and I had to try some of the flowers I had just laying around (okay really they were neatly bottled up but begging to be used!), buttons, rhinestones (blue flower centers) but can you see those little tiny circle mirrors, the ones in the middle of the bigger flowers?! Cool huh?! Got those from Starbucks! Yep! Sure did! Timing was perfect last year and I went to one just as they were taking down their holiday decorations - I acquired as many as I could! LOL! I got lots of these mirrors off one of the wreaths to use in my projects! Okay, now back to the layout! Mandy had challenged us, last week, to use rub-ons in our cards well, I took it one step further and chose to use one on here! The scroll design at the bottom is a rub on from SU but, I only had one! So, what do I do? I take my white gel pen and copy it up top! Can you tell?! The really pretty fat ribbon was tied around a gift from a friend of mine - Chantal! I sure do miss her something fierce! She was the sweetest person to hang around, we had SO much in common! I hope she reads this so she knows how much I miss her and she calls me, writes me, something........ She was busy moving at EXACTLY the same time as us too! How weird is that for having stuff in common?!!

So anyway I hope you, and Allison, like my entry!

Until next time......

Always On My Mind......

Always on my mind......forever in my heart! Doesn't that ring true for so many people in your life! If only you could talk to them whenever they were on your mind! It's not always possible but you could make them a cute card with this stamp set from SU that way they can read it when ever they want! It's from the set called "Stem Sayings" and it's still in the current catalog! I made this card as an entry into a contest on Heather's blog! She's actually doing what so many of us wish we could do - drop it all and follow our real dreams! Hope my card wins! I've listed the "deets" below in case you're interested!

Stamps - SU "Stem Sayings", SU "Baroque Motifs", $1 clear stamp by Rhonna Farrer (got it at a grocery store here - cool huh!)
Paper - SU "Whisper White", "Elegant Eggplant" and "Bashful Blue"
Ink - Staz-On black, versamark, PrismaMarkers
Accessories - purple Stickles (glitter), Michael's $1 rhinestones
Cuttlebug and swirly folder used for the card base

I know you can't really see it too well since my picture taking skills are ones I'm working on but the butterfly is actually placed on separately to stand out a bit. I also put the swirly design on in versamark on purpose as I didn't want it to be overbearing. I hope you like it!!

Exciting News!!!

I can't believe it! I've been to so many blogs and have seen so many of them with awards! I have always wondered "how do they get those"?! Well, guess what?!!
I received a Javablu Award!! Hooray! This award was actually CREATED by Ms. Javablu! I was given this award from one of my favorite blogs/stores to shop at - Mandy at Limelight Papercrafts! Mandy you ROCK! If I could give it back to you I sure would p.s. that last order could you like wrap it in a box and put "pasta" (he loves pasta!)on it! That would make it easier for DH to not ask any questions.... until the bill comes in that is! LOL! Thank you!!

[** side note - I got this award a couple of days ago and am just now getting to put it out because Blogger was a baaaaddd website and wasn't being very nice to me for a variety of reasons! LOL! It's here now so enjoy! **]

Here are the rules (rules - I know right?!!)...


1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs.
4.Before listing the nominees give a brief reason why you chose them.
5. Put links of those blogs on yours.
6. Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated

Okay so here are my blog choices -

1) I have to give this to my "Comadre" Kela - she's not a papercrafter "per say", she does however use paper to create the most awesome itty bitty quilt blocks using paper! LOL! That and the fact that we have been friends since, OMG, I think 1999?! She was inspirational to me in another military move, as a friend, a shoulder to cry, I mean lean on and she was the sponsor for my oldest to get her confirmation in the Catholic church - now that's cool! We had good times together and keep on still, okay so enough - here's her blog "Kela's World"

2) This one is for another type of blog, not papercrafting but I hope that's okay! I chose it because if you follow this particular blog you will have more time on your hands to make all sorts of crafty projects! It's for a crockpotting blog and her name is "Crockpot Lady", no really it's Stephanie but I bet she'd answer to both! LOL!

3) The next one is actually for a papercrafter/comedian/enthralling person to read about but, fair warning here, don't read her posts with your mouth full! LOL! She's hilarious in her posts! I love to read it as often as I can get over there! So, who is this wonderful blog owner with great reads?! Danyelle of Hangnailz and Papercutz!

4) Another blog who is most deserving of this is Allison of "Stampin When I Can" her blog is AWESOME! She is a wealth of information and has the best blog roll ever! I keep almost all of her blogs since there are always a ton I want to go back to! She has great challenges on there, one of which I actually did last night and still need to post!

5) My last one, for a total of 5 great blogs, is one I just found recently! The name of the blog is "Kim's Kreative Korner" and um, well her name is "Kim"! LOL! I can't remember how I found her but I have been to her site a few times and she has a great tutorial on there for coloring with Prismacolour pencils and mineral spirits! A great technique if you haven't tried it - do! I asked her if she had a tutorial for using PrismaMarkers - well long story short but she went out of her way to find me one! How sweet was that?! I totally appreciate it and, so that everyone can have it she put it on her blog! Check it out!

Well, I hope you liked all my choices as much as I do! They're all great for so many more reasons - go find a good one for yourself!

Thank you again Mandy!! Can't wait for my new monkeys!!

A Flower For You From Teddy!

I love this beary cute card! It's another one using Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch! I tell you if you haven't used a sketch for your card and find yourself in need of some cards - try a sketch! There are a lot of them out there and they're fun! I'm not quite sure what I'll do with this one but maybe it has a home and I don't know it yet! LOL! I used a lot of different techniques on this one too! First here's the card;



I used almost all SU paper for it except the patterned yellow came from one of my many pads I have found on sale and the ribbon I bought "just because"! The stamp is a very old SU stamp, matter of fact it's dated 1995! It's from my first time through SU! I used Prismamarkers on the bear, his bow tie is paper pieced and stuck back on, I used the retired flower punch from SU for his flower and a Michael's rhinestone from the $1 bin (love that bin!)!

Well, I hope you like it! Let me know what you think okay?!!

Until next time....