Altered Clip & **WINNER**

First, business to take care of! The winner from the weekend blog hop was Carol! Carol, please e-mail me your address at amandasherman@hughes.net and I'll get that sent out to you :)

And I just wanted to say WELCOME to my new followers! 5 more added over the weekend. Thank you! I'm so appreciative of all of you :)

I was at my favorite store a couple weeks ago (Craft Warehouse) and found these magnetic clips for notepads. I just had to buy them because I thought it would be so fun to decorate.


I punched a scalloped circle with my Martha Stewart punch, then two butterflies with another Martha Stewart punch. It was one sheet of Cosmo Cricket paper (oh no, it could have been October Afternoon - now I can't remember :$)... Anyway... I punched the butterflies and stuck them together, having one of each side of the patterned paper showing up. Then applied some rhinestone bling and Viola!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

No Pictures Please

Sometimes, you just gotta take some of those pictures of the kids and use them in a way that will embarrass them as teenagers :p

I Jumped the Gun

First, can I say, how incredibly accomplished it feels to have updated my blog daily for a week now!!

Anyway....to the post title....

It's time to buy fall clothes. Up on our mountain, the weather changes sooner than in town. I started fall clothes shopping for the kids with much frustration.

You see, Aly is very very picky. She will only wear big twirling dresses. But no red. No blue either. And it has to be big. And not itchy. And not tight. Heaven forbid it's tight. Have I mentioned she's picky? Because she is...

So in my search to find some long sleeved fall dresses, I've come up short. Way short. To the extent of nothing unless I spend more than $30 each on them. Call me cheap, but I won't do that. We live on a ranch. No city kids here. Clothes get ruined too easily to spend that much on one article.

I thought for sure I'd find some. I mean, snow coats & pants are showing up at JCPenney. They should have some fall dresses right? Nope.

So we pulled out the sewing machine, patterns and went to the fabric store.

Two down, four to go. As of now, I've only done jumpers because the sleeve thing is still a trouble to me. But the more I think about it, it was just a weird pattern with a funky sleeve and a normal sleeve should be easy. I'll get practice. I have four more dresses to make.

But then I looked at target.com and guess what.....long sleeve dresses have finally arrived...

Maybe that fabric will wait until spring ;) Although Aly's face did light up a lot when I showed her the finished dresses. She loves clothes that I make (or grandma) makes for her. Something special to her.

Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall Blog Hop

Welcome to the “Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!” Blog Hop, hosted by a talented group of ladies from {Club CK}.

If you did not arrive here from {Virtually Froggy's} blog, please go to the beginning of the hop at {Virtually Froggy's} and follow the blog hop in order. By following the blog hop from beginning to end you will collect words to a secret phrase which will make you eligible for the grand prize. The details for grand-prize entry are posted at the start of the blog hop. You won't want to miss it!


If you've never visited my blog before, Welcome! Hi!! Come join me on a creative adventure!

I love fall. It's my favorite time of year. On my mountain top, the weather has already started to turn to fall. And I couldn't be happier! And if you're like me, I love to entertain in the fall. And if you've visited me before, you'd probably know that I love banners. So my project is a welcome banner with a good fall mood!

Anyway, I used the fabulously wonderful MemoryWorks Simple Stories ele.ment.ary kit to make my banner. I used some of the 4x6 cards because I knew I probably wouldn't use them as they were created, so why not repurpose them!

Guess what? I'm giving this banner away. If you'd like to win this banner, please leave a comment below! Tell me your favorite thing about fall.

Thanks for stopping by. Your word for the grand prize is JUST.

And now I send you safely on to the incredible Adele at for some more fantastic inspriation and your next clue!

Another SCAL project

We recently bid a cabinet reface job in Lake Chelan. Robert wanted to present a very professional proposal of what the job would look like and what materials would be used.

I used SCAL and white vinyl to cut all the text. Then I applied it using transfer paper to the black melamine. Fairly time consuming because of all the small components, but definitely worth it.

This picture is very poor, but I just wanted to show you another use for SCAL. Definitely an asset in my home office!

Nothing like a handmade card

I'm not a cardmaker. I think I've said that before. It is just a struggle for me. I made a card over a week ago for a friends birthday. Haven't even shared it here I don't think. Then my dear children proceeded to destroy it. Ah, kids....

So I had to make another card. But I was quite happy that I did. I thought the result was quite pretty. One of the better cards I've done.

I'll get there. A little patience, some technique (like the cool trick I used for tying the bow - I'll find the link to share with you). They're getting better and better.

Oh Blogger, Where Art Thou???

Yes, I'll admit, I've abandoned my blog as of late. I really don't know why. I think it's maybe because our summer has just been so crazy!!

I am trying to get back into the groove of being consistent (ha!). Tonight Robert is out trying to grade the driveway and I'm trying to reserve some hotel rooms for vacation. Trying to contemplate if I'm going to go for a jog in a while or do step aerobics. But for now I'm going to put off that decision (and which of the two hotels I'm going to book), and update my blog. Sounds like a great idea to me, eh?

I do have a stack of pages to share with you. But I'm going to share todays project first! I needed to make a banner for the AWANA program at our church. The community hangs banners on the fence outside of Walmart for community events. It's the best place to advertise around. So, my cricut & I are the unofficial official banner makers. I love doing it, and it's great to put my bad boy to the test!

We wanted to have the Awana logo on the banner, so I used SCAL to trace the image. I was absolutely amazed at how easily and well it worked! You can see here:

Alright, that's it for today! Thanks for stopping by.

I had such *BIG* plans....

and again, I've revereted to being....

Aman*DUH*

Summer has just flown by this year. We've been on the go, much to not our planning. It was supposed to be a quiet slow summer at home, but I think we've been gone nearly as much as we've been home! This is not our style!!

I was laying awake last night worrying about the things I needed to get done that I haven't yet. Cut the circles for Jess. Check - did that. Pay that one bill due at a weird time. Check - did that. Apply for the contractors license...still in the works....Update my blog - doing that now :)

No more excuses. I'm sorry for being a ditz. Plain and simple.

But, I do have some happy news!! I have some winners to announce!

The crystal necklace: gilroy gal!!

Camera strap: desigingdms

Scrappy goodies: LouAnn

Alright - I know who you all are ;), but I don't have addresses, so if you'd e-mail me at amandasherman@hughes.net your address, I'll get those out by Monday!

Thanks for visiting.

Hair net?

When we toured the Aplets & Cotlets factory a few weeks ago, Aly just loved the hairnets. Her and HAIR!!

Today, the one hour challenge on the Club CK website was to use a hole punch and create a layout.

I printed both my patterned papers from my computer (the bottom layer is printed on manila, the colors aren't reading quite right on the screen). I punched two sized holes in the top patterned paper and used foam dots to place it so there was some depth and shadows. Then embellishing!!

Are you ready for giveaway number 3?

I have some scrappy goodies! But, it's a secret. I won't show until later!

You know the drill.

Leave a comment!

Be or become a follower (& be sure to tell me so :) )

Hill Billy Blackberry

Okay, I think this post might get me into trouble. But I'm going to share anyway!!

We've had a flood of customers calling in the last few days for cabinets. Unfortunately, our production schedule is already booked, so now we're playing crazy person trying to figure which work to bid, which to take, which to turn down and how to get it all done. Thanking God that it's a good problem to have when so many people are in dire financial situations.

At any rate, a lady called a few hours ago and set up an appointment with Robert for a bid. And this is how he scheduled it:


Now you have to know some of the back story here. He hates technology. He hates the computer. I might say he hates the satellite tv, but I'm not so sure about that one. When we buy a cell phone, it's always the most simple elementary model available. And a digital planner? Forget it!!

One day we were talking about the multi-function phones (you know some of the first ones that came out to the market) with the built in keypads. He casually said something to the extent of "I'd never want a raspberry." um.......raspberry???? You have your fruits mixed up. I think you mean blackberry....

Needless to say, he is quite happy with his low-tech sharpie and a hand to make notes on.

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On a different note: giveaway #2!

Remember those camera straps I made a while back, with the pocket for cards & cash? Well, I'm giving another one away.

Leave a comment (if you don't leave an e-mail, you'll have to be sure to come back and check the blog. I'll announce all winners on Monday). Just say hi. Nothing special.

Be a follower for another chance (if you already are, tell me, if you become one, tell me :) )

Thanks for stopping by!

Such Awesome Friends!

What an incredible day, with incredible friends. A few days ago a couple packages started showing up in the mail. They all said "don't open until instructed" and a number as you can see.

Well, today it finally all came together. I was the recipient of a wonderful virtual birthday party!! And awesome and fun it was! :) The wonderful ladies at Club Creating Keepsakes (the scrapbooking website I hang out at) hosted this incredible event!

Gift #1 - a balloon to get the party started and some cute stickers. Thank you Charlene!

#2 Balloons! (let me just say -the kids LOVED these!) Thank you Jamie!

#3 - Balloon String! Thank you Patty (and the way you packaged and wrapped it - ingenious!)

#4 Balloons!! Good thing I'm so full of hot air! Thanks Jamie!

#5 - Happy Birthday Banner! Super cute - and we all know how much I love banners!!! Thank you Patty!!

#6 - time for the party hats!!! Thanks Jamie! Every party needs a hat! And the kids loved them too! :)

#7 - a super yummy and totally girly table cloth! Have to set the table - and I love the table cloth. Something I'd never choose because it's so girly (and there are boys in my house), but so perfect!! Thank you Hope!

#8 (I hope I have this right now - at some point I got mixed up because the circulation was getting cut off to my head from the party hat :oops:) NOISE MAKERS!!! Fun!!! Thank you Steffanie!

BTW - it's very hard to take a picture of yourself, smile, not blink AND blow the noise maker!

#9 - perfect plates! Thanks Jamie!!!

#10 - Candles! How many needed? I'll not say! But thank you Steffanie!! (and notice - she's nice - they're not trick candles! LOL)

#11 - Streamers!! Thank you Jamie!!

But #11 also had a couple scrappy goodies from Jamie. LOVE the colors, and in the second picture, do you see it? I think she's accusing me of something....something my husband would agree with.....

But the part that really made me cry...............

I had all this stuff and was thinking "I need to make a cake now. I didn't buy one, and I didn't make one." I was setting the table and getting ready to pull stuff out to make it and guess what. The dogs started barking (they're my hillbilly doorbell) and there was a delivery van! A bakery box? I didn't know there were any bakeries around here who delivered? Shoot - I didn't really know of any bakeries aside from Safeway. But Jamie found one. Jamie is awesome, half the country away!

A delicious sponge cake with blueberries and lemon cream cheese frosting. Delish. Have to run an extra mile tonight.....

So here's the party all put together.

THANK YOU JAMIE, ADELE, HOPE, STEFFANIE, CHARLENE, SUSAN, KIM, TOREE, LAURIE, CHRISTY. You made for an awesome birthday. And in the words of Aly, "it is the bestest birthday party EVAH." (I really hope I didn't miss anyone. If I do, please tell me - I want to include you). And thanks to everyone who hung out on the message board for the party & all the wonderful wishes!!

Now, I had already planned to do a giveaway. This was supposed to be the week of giveaways! So that was definitely confirmed today. A giveaway is a must!! But because I'm a little behind schedule due to my surprise party, I'm going to leave this one up today and tomorrow. (Monday & Tuesday, next one will be Wednesday).

Today's giveaway is a crystal necklace with some deep blue/green pearls (dyed, not natural color). I handmade it just for the giveaway.

All you have to do is leave a comment!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

ele.ment.ary

A couple updates and such for today.



First, regarding the new web address, that will be delayed. I can't for the life of me get it to work, so I'm still trying, but for now, it won't happen on sunday as advertised. I'll still be here!



We will still have giveaways next week though :)



Secondly, the ele.ment.ary kit from MemoryWorks will be available August 16. I am placing an order on that day. So, right now, I am taking pre-order for the kit. If you would like to purchase, I am offering 10% off this kit (as well as the existing Simple Stories kit). (and if you are near me and I can hand deliver, free shipping as well). Please note, this sale is only available through me.




But what I've failed to mention regarding this new kit is there are different products available. There is the fast & easy kit like the previous kit designed to work with WRMK divided page protectors. However, there is also al a carte items. The patterned papers have the same design as the patterned papers in the kit, but the al a carte items allow for more easy use of product in actual scrapbook pages. Yay! I'm very excited about this :)

If you'd like to order, you can order via the link at the top right after August 16, or you can preorder through me today! e-mail me at amandasherman@hughes.net

And if you want to get the discount on the product by being a MemoryWorks consultant yourself, you can join and save 20%. Minimum orders is $75 a year. That's it. Super easy. You're not a downline for me, I get a one time credit, but after that our association is over....hope that's not a bad thing....LOL.... Please use my number as referral if you do: MW763779

Thanks for visiting, be sure to come back Monday!!

Remember this Mini Album?

I had a few questions about how I made it, so today, I'm posting more pictures and a video. Also in the video is a brief instruction on how to use the Bind It All. It's one of my favorite tools. Definitely a very one purpose tool, but it excels at it's purpose!