Spring Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Spring Blog Hop brought to you by my fellow Club CK peeps!  If you have been following along with the blog hop you should have arrived here from Melissa's blog.  I made a cute little spring project just for the blog hop so read on to get all the details!

I made this adorable (at least I think so) Happy Spring decoration for my kitchen door.  I used an 8x8 piece of chipboard and covered it with Dear Lizzy for American Crafts patterned paper.  I love the little chick on there with all the eggs and thought it was a perfect fit for my project.  I used my ATG to adhere it on although I did think of using Mod Podge but I am too impatient to wait for it to dry :-). 

I cut a thin strip of green cardstock and used a pair of micro tip scissors to cut blades of grass.  I used my corner rounder on the bottom corners and adhere the strip along the bottom edge.  Finally, I ran my fingers along the edge to give the grass some lift.

I used the Create A Critter cartridge and cut out the chick, egg and tulips.  I cut everything from Bazzill Basics cardstock except for my egg which is white cardstock from Xerox.  I lightly inked the edges of the egg with Close to Cocoa ink from Stampin' Up! to help it stand out a little against the background.  For the chick's tummy I used some yellow tinsel trim by Webster's Pages.  I covered the surface in adhesive and then pressed the tinsel down with my finger.

I adhered down the chick, top of the egg and larger tulip using my ATG.  I used Zots dots behind the bottom of the egg and small tulip to lift them off the background.  Finally, I used Puffy Thickers to add "Happy Spring" across the top and a piece of yellow raffia as a hanger. 

Here is a little tip that I have for hiding your hooks.  Since we rent our home and the houses built here in Germany usually have concrete walls I use 3M Command Hooks all over our home for just about everything.  I love that I can remove them quickly and easily without damaging the walls.  However, I find the hook and strip of adhesive rather ugly to look at so I try to cover it up as best as I can.  In this case, I used a cute blue flower that I printed off and used a bit of tape (hot glue works too) to stick the flower onto the hook.  If you look back in the first photo you will see that the flower covers the hook and looks like it is part of my design!

If you leave me a comment I will enter you in a drawing for some German chocolate and gummi bears.  Winners will be selected Monday morning and posted here.

Next stop on the blog hop is Amanda's blog (http://asjmade.blogspot.com/).  If you are just popping on or have gotten lost along the way you can visit Amanda's blog (http://www.lovejoypaper.com/) to get started or find your way. 

Thanks for stopping by and playing along today.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Happy 3rd Birthday Lolo!

Three years ago Lorelei made her grand entrance into the world at exactly 4:30 in the morning!  My life has been filled with so much love and our family complete since that very moment.

This girl was tiny compared to her big sister (nearly 2 pounds lighter) and had a lot less hair.  When she was about 4 months old she started to get chubby cheeks and sweet fat rolls on her arms and legs but had nearly no hair until she was about 18 months.

She loves to be with both Mommy and Daddy...If her daddy is doing push-ups, she is too. If I am cooking in the kitchen she is right beside me.  She will sit and look at books and get lost in her own little world for long stretches of time.

Lolo has become a fun little lady who makes me laugh all day long. She is the most independent girl I have ever known and is always saying "I do". She is not a morning person and likes to sit quietly for a bit when she first wakes up.

Lolo adores her sister and is always the first to compromise.  She loves to play dress up and can usually be found wearing a dress and fancy shoes around the house.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Lolo!  I love you so very much and we are blessed beyond words that you are a part of our lives.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The Post Where I Ramble On and On....

The past week has been busy, as a matter of fact, the entire month of March was busy!  James had training for nearly the entire month.  He spent some time back in the States for training and a quick weekend visit with his parents and son.  I was holding down the fort here and planning a lunch for some friends. 

On Thursday we had a small flood in the laundry room and found we needed to replace the rubber seal on the front loading washer.  That was the second time in a year we have had a tear in the seal.  We do not wash anything crazy so I am not sure why we keep getting holes in it.  Since the Army loans us appliances while we are stationed here I am not complaining too much because we don't have to pay for the repairs but after this I have no desire to have a front loading machine when we move back to the USA. 

Just this morning something malfunctioned with our furnace and we had no hot water or heat.  Fortunately, the weekend was warm and we didn't need the heat last night but we will be dipping back into the low 40's tonight and I like to use the heat at when it is that cold.  The landlord and the repairman just left and it is all fixed.

So that is a low down of the every day stuff in my life.  Since I was rather busy last month I didn't get a chance to be too crafty.  I finished a project for a Spring Blog Hop I am participating in this week and I can't wait to share it on Friday.  I am so happy with the way it turned out. 

I also made a birthday card for my friend's niece and I liked the way it came together.  I used some paper from my stash and the Cricut Create A Critter cartridge.  I added lots of bling and some Stickles for a glam card for a 1 year old.  I was inspired by a card made by the fabulous Maren Benedict from the March/April issue of Paper Crafts.  Unfortunately I have misplaced my issue and can't give a page number. 

Thanks for reading this rambling blog post today.  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and a wonderful Monday!

Berry Sweet Card

I needed to make a thank you card for my sweet aunt (hi Aunt Sheila!) who bought the girls a gift and unfortunately I had been putting it off.  I am usually very prompt when sending thank you cards but I don't always make them.  That is my dirty little secret!  I buy cards about 60% of the time for all occasions.

Just over a week ago I finally stopped procrastinating and made this easy card using the Cricut Country Life cartridge.  I went with a plain white background and used a Martha Stewart border punch across the bottom.  Then I added a strip of American Crafts ribbon, the strawberry and phrase.  I added Stickles to the "sweet" to help it stand out against the strawberry.

Normally I would have added some colored or patterned paper rather than leave it white. I feel like by using the white background it leaves it feeling crisp and clean.  I like that the hearts on the ribbon kinda look like strawberry seeds to me.

So there it is...an easy thank you card that I waited too long to send. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Stylish Blogger Award Has Arrived On My Blog!

I was so, so lucky to receive this award twice!  Thanks to my scrappy friends Dana and Ashley!  With so many blogs out there it is fun to receive and pass this on to my fellow bloggers. 

Here are a few rules when a blog receives this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Give the award to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

So, here are 8 things about myself:

1.  Being a mom has been the greatest joy of my life!

2.  I am a Starbucks junkie!  I can't get enough of it.  Now that the closet Starbucks is 45 minutes away I will somtimes get two drinks...one when we first arrive in Nuremberg and another before we leave (but I only do this if James isn't with me)!
3.  We have been living in Germany since July of 2008.  I am so glad we have had this opportunity to travel while we have lived here.
4.  I love to plan parties...I like seeing everything come together perfectly and people having a good time. 
5.  I was in the US Air Force for 9 years.  It was the best and worst paying job I ever had.  I made so many amazing friends that I miss bunches.
6.  I enjoy all sorts of crafting but scrapbooking has become my favorite hobby. 
7.  When I was a little girl I loved the movie "Space Camp" and wanted to be an astronaut.  Once I realized that math was not my favorite or strongest subject I decided that wasn't the job for me.
8.  I don't like having to think of things to say about myself!  :-)

Since I am lame and I am not familiar with many other bloggers I am only passing this on to 4 fabulous bloggers (please don't hold it against me): 

1.  Andrea:  http://andrea-preciousmemories.blogspot.com/
2.  Amanda:  http://asjmade.blogspot.com/
3.  Angie:  http://thefeathersinmynest-mommiextwo.blogspot.com/
4.  Heather:  http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to Dana and Ashley!  What a fun way to share our blogs with others!

iPod Case

After thinking we lost an iPod back in October while we were out of town I ended up with a new iPod Touch.  James took my old one which was newer than the one he had that disappeared.  Since I carry my iPod with me nearly everywhere because I love the camera and the girls love the free game apps I wanted a case to protect the screen while it was stored in my purse. 

I was thinking of purchasing a cute case from Etsy but I have a hard time buying things I could probably make myself, especially since I already had the necessary fabric to put it together.  I am not a great seamstress but I can get by and sew simple things.  So when I saw this tutorial by Tammy over at Not JUST A Housewife it was just the inspiration I needed to finally make my case. 

The tutorial is easy to follow and the case went together quickly.  I used some Amy Butler fabric I had on hand along with a plain pink cotton to finish it off.  I added a giant ruffle across the back and since it was the first time I ever attempted making a ruffle like this I am fairly pleased.  It is just slightly off but not enough to make me want to go back and fix it.

The really cute pink case that my iPod is in is a Speck Candyshell Case and I loooove it.  It does not slide off at all and has a great rubber-ish protective lip that sticks up a bit off the top of the screen to give it a little bit of protection since we know how sensitive the screens are. 

Happy 4th Birthday Aubrey!

Four years ago today my life changed forever.  I became a mommy!  Aubrey is an amazing girl, so much like her mommy and daddy it kills me sometimes.  She wears her heart on her sleeve, just like me.  She is not afraid of much, always willing to jump off something or try new things, just like her daddy.  She loves hard, takes care of others and can be so thoughtful that I am blown away by the gestures.  She learns fast like James and is moody just like him too.  And this girl has some serious dance moves....she does not get that from me :-)  She really is the best of both of us!

Four years ago I felt a love that was so strong, so deep, so unconditional and I never imagined I could love someone so much.  Happy 4th Birthday Aubrey!  You bring so much love and joy into our lives and we are blessed beyond words.