A Valentine's Day card for you!

Today I shared a free Valentine's card that you can download and print.  You can grab one from CutCardStock.com.  Just click on the graphic below and it will take you there.

So you may notice that I changed the look of the blog a bit.... I am still working on it, but wanted to get a quick face lift in action as I work on building my own design.  There are a lot of big ideas I have for my own blog, but I am really loaded down with work lately.  I'm not complaining.... but I am going to try to dedicate a little time to my own creative blog and make it look sweet like all the other work I've been doing!  

The countdown is officially on.... just 21 days until QuiltCon!

Baby it's cold outside....

We are deep in snow here and my bones are cold!  I can't think of a better way to keep warm then lots and lots of hot tea and spending time in my craft studio.  Since Christmas is a mere memory, I've moved on to Valentine's Day.  You can check out two tutorials I have posted over at CutCardStock, hopefully I will inspire you to make something special for your sweet one!

While I'm trying to stay warm, the boys don't mind the cold a bit!  In fact, they love living in this much snow. They've adjusted so quickly and now look forward to coming home from school and sledding down our long, steep driveway.  The other day they built a snowman; he was cute while he lasted but the deer got to him and knocked off his head, chewed up his twig arms and devoured his carrot nose!

Poor Snowman!

Summer Memories

It's been a busy week here, but I wanted to check in and share a tutorial I just posted up on CutCardStock.  If you're like me, in your ideal world you would create a spectacular scrapbook for every year of your child's life.  I have the desire, and I have certainly collected enough supplies to get a good start on it, but I don't have the time and it feels like such an overwhelming task.  Sound familiar?  Well I am here to tell you that scrapbooking memories doesn't have to mean creating a 30 page 12x12 album documenting every event of the year.  A scrapbook is how you define it.... it could be a picture frame that you change out a couple of times a year, it could be a card that you fill with photos and send to the grandparents.... it's up to you!  Check out my tutorial and see how I created this cute frame for the boys to capture a memory from their time at camp.

Besides doing a little crafting, we visited Silverwood Theme park for a day of summer fun.  The park is in Coeur de'Alene, Idaho, just about 3 1/2 hrs from our little Montana paradise.  So we packed up the kids and enjoyed a day of thrilling rollercoasters and cooling waterslides.  The park is half amusement park, half waterpark and the boys earned free tickets through a reading program at school this year.

  

 

It was a blast and the boys both took on their first upside down rollercoaster rides.  I'm such a proud Mama!  I love those kind of rides and was so pleased that day finally came -- they were both tall enough and brave enough to give it a shot.  They've caught the bug, so they can't wait to go again!

Now we are taking on a yard sale tomorrow and I'm going to give a first attempt to selling produce at the Farmers Market.  I'll let you know how that goes.....

From the Crafty Corner

One skill that I've really developed since moving to the country is quilting.  I have managed to make a few quilts and I am learning new, regular sewing skills as well.  Not only is it relaxing, but it's brought me into a whole community of ladies who share the same love of fabric.  I am fortunate to have a room dedicated to my office work and crafting work -- it's my studio.  You'll often find me in there with either FoodNetwork in the background on the tv or Pandora streaming Adele type music from my computer.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of work from the studio.  As I finished up my second semester at the college, I was offered an opportunity to be a part of the new web community being started here in the Flathead Valley.  The site takes a local approach to social networking and offers people a place to go for wellness, sustainability and personal growth.  The founder has amazing plans for the site to grow and I was brought on to be a graphic designer and help manage the web content.  It's still in it's infancy, but I can see a lot of potential with OpenDoor. 

All of that to say that I spend lots of time at the computer doing work for this opportunity as well as the other freelance design jobs I have been fortunate enough to stumble upon.

When I manage to break free from the computer work and other work isn't beckoning me, I enjoy spending time with my sewing machine.  I am in the process of making two quilts, one each for the boys.  Once in a while, though, I need to get my hands on a quick project that can be started, finished and cleaned up in just a couple of hours.  Here is what I was able to do today:

I found the tutorial for this here and I had the fabric as part of the stash I inherited from a dear friend.  It was quick and easy, and I might even consider making several of these to sell at our little town's quilt show next year.  I wanted to show you how it looks when on, so I bribed a reluctant model to show how nice this sits when tied around the waist.  There's not such a great bow when it's tied around my waist!  (Faces have been cropped to protect the innocent.)

It's easy to get lost in work, chores and other obligations, regardless of what our daily responsibilities are.  I think it's important to find little pockets of time to do things that we enjoy.  Hobbies are good -- whether that means sewing, scrapbooking, playing a round of golf, going to the movies -- whatever gives you a break and is something you enjoy!

Quilting and Basketball

I thought the warmth of the laptop would feel nice now, so I decided an update was a good idea.
Things in Montana have been good.... cold and busy, but good.  I've discovered two activities that are really big around these parts.... quilting and basketball.
I joined the local quilt guild, and despite not have many members in my age bracket, it seems like a great group.  There are a lot of events and projects to participate in and it's good activity just for me that doesn't involve children, bookwork homework or cleaning.... so sign me up!  I joined up just in time to attend a weekend workshop where we learned one piecing design and made placemats.  Luckily my sewing machine was one of the items I thought of to move with me, rather that pack away in storage.  My heavy coats were packed away, but I kept my sewing machine and fabric.... you can certainly see where my  priorities were.
Anyway, here's a picture of one of the two placemat tops I've finished.  I have 4 placemats to go and then will quilt them to the back and finish them off.

Another activity that is huge around here is basketball.  People take is seriously and start them out young around here.  "Little Hoopsters" is a program for K-5 kids to teach them fundamentals of the game and get them out on the court.  The kids are coached by the high school basketball team, so it's a great opportunity for the teens too.  My boys are loving it and both are showing some real skills at the hoop!  Here's the photo that was shot of all the teams in the program.  Jacob is in the front row in Navy and Connor is in the third row in Orange.

So now Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  My parents will be coming up for a visit very soon.  Just in time to help hang the kitchen cabinets and get the appliances in.  We are so close to moving in I can almost taste it....
As soon as I can get some good shots of Ray installing the flooring, I will post them, along with some of the kitchen tips for handling Thanksgiving.  Until then, Happy Veterans Day to my fellow Veterans and military spouses! 

A Digital Crafty Creation

I mentioned the other day on my dashboard post that homework has been a little overwhelming. While that's true, I have to be honest.... I am loving every minute of it. Maybe I'm a freak, but I love the challenge of the homework in my graphics design classes. It's challenging and stressful, but because it's so relevant and not just junk I have to remember long enough to pass the final, it's fun too.
I will show my works as they progressively get better, but I wanted to pass on a fun little project I worked on for my Photoshop class. Our assignment was to create a desktop wallpaper and have it available for different size monitors and even the iphone. While I haven't received my grade yet, I feel good about the way my wallpaper turned out. What does all this mean to you? I am going to share it with you and if you like it, feel free to save it to your computer and enjoy it.


I put the month of November on there so a calendar would always be handy on your computer.  It's only for November, it won't change months, but maybe I'll have another to share by December.

If you'd like to save the wallpaper and use it, visit my google site and click on the size you want.  When it opens in a second window, just right click on it and save it as your background or desktop.  Easy peasy....

A Little Something Crafty.....

Here's another tutorial I did for CutCardStock...this time I made little holders for Pixy Sticks.  I don't think I will be making this one for the masses in the boys' classes; I started off on the right foot with the teachers so I don't want to go wrong this early in the school year.... But the holder is cute and really easy to make - check out how I did it.

Halloween Gift Tutorial

It's September, so it's not too early to start thinking about Halloween.  For some crazy reason, I really love Halloween... crafting for it and decorating for it.  My boys love choosing their costume and trick-or-treating, which will be a challenge this year considering we only have a couple of neighbors within a mile.  I may just have to sugar them up myself... have them take laps around the yard and knock on the door each time they pass.
Anyway, I crafted up a little Halloween memory game that would be so cute to hand out in the classroom or even to Trick-or-Treaters if you don't get a lot of them.  Of course if you do that, make sure you pass out a little candy with it just to keep the little gobblins happy!

This project is super easy to make and I have a tutorial posted over at CutCardStock so you can check it out!

Sweet Treats for Teacher

Here is what I am sending my boys with on the first day of school next week.  I figure it's best to get off on the right foot and nothing does that better than brownies!

Click on over to CutCardStock if you'd like to see the tutorial of how I made this quick and easy project!
Even if you don't have a reason to send goodies in to school, this is an affordable and easy way to create super cute packaging for little treats.  Use Fall colors and paper and fill with Pumkin Bread or muffins.... Christmas paper and add fudge or cookies... Just a little extra effort that goes a long way!

A Birthday Card and Butterfly

This weekend was spent working on the basement, exploring in the garden, getting ready for my school to start on Monday (the boys have another week of vacation) and a little time out to celebrate a birthday.  We had a great time and enjoyed some good bbq.

For our friend Helen, I wanted to make a nice card and incorporate a little stitching.  She's a fellow crafter and loves quilting and knitting.  Here's the card I made using patterned paper from Kaiser Craft's "Lush" collection.

I decided to continue the theme to the inside of the card, to help complete the look.  I have been inspired to do this so many times by fellow crafty blogger Anne Marie who always does a beautiful job inside and outside of her cards!

And then just to leave you with a little something extra, here's a shot I was able to capture in the garden this afternoon....

Handmade Baby Gift

You might have seen the baby blanket I made as one of the two gifts I need for upcoming new additions to the family.  Today I wanted to take a break from my hustle and bustle in the kitchen and share the second gift I whipped up.  This is a little set that includes two bibs, two burp cloths and a little mat that can be used for changing baby.

The bibs are pieced and quilted and I just love them!  Isn't this little frog fabric so stinkin' cute?

The burp cloths are made from cloth diapers and all I did was sew on a panel of fabric.  Burp cloths are such a great use for cloth diapers.... so much better than their original use, I think.  Yeah for disposable diapers!

Then the baby mat.... it can easily be rolled up and kept handy in the diaper bag.  Mommy can use it when there's nowhere to lay the baby down.  It's got the frog pattern on the back and super soft minky on the front so baby is extra cozy.  All these can easily be tossed in the washer and dryer, too.

So I guess my break is over.  I've been working with the batch of early apples today.  The guys brought in about 70 pounds of transparent apples for me to "do something with."  Hmmm.  So far I've made and canned 4 quarts of applesauce, 9 half-pints of apple butter.... prepped, sliced and froze apples for two future pies and dried a tray of apple fruit leather.  All in all, about 45 apples.... and I haven't really put a dent in the bunch.  I'll be dreaming of apples tonight!

A Birthday Card and Tutorial

It's been a little crafty here in Big Sky Country!  I've been working away in my make-shift craft studio, trying to drowned out the sounds of hammers and drills with my sewing machine and heat embossing gun!  I have some fun quilting projects to share with you later, but for now I wanted to show you a card I whipped up.

Along with the card, I created a tutorial for the CutCardStock blog.  Click on over and check it out!  If you do head on over to the blog, you can find other tutorials I've made for them.  I've been working with the great gals of CutCardStock for a while now and enjoy their cardstock and envelopes a lot.

Fun and Simple Baby Blanket

I have long been a collector of fabric and quilting supplies.... much longer than I've actually been a quilter.  Now that I'm settling down a bit, I am spending much more time sewing and teaching myself to quilt from YouTube videos.  Believe it or not, there are actually some very useful videos there!

I recently dug out a cute baby boy blanket kit that I have moved from coast to coast over the last several years.  I decided there wasn't a better time than now to actually break it out and make it.  With a couple of my cousins having baby boys soon, it will make a great gift.

Technically, there wasn't really any quilting.  The top was simply pieced together and then sewn to the flannel backing.  I top stitched it and did a little "in the ditch" stitching to keep it from shifting about too much.

I like the way it turned out and it's given me a little boost to take on more complicated projects, so stay tuned to see what's next!