The Book Thief

I have been reading like crazy this week and have read 3 books within a week, one of them being The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is an awesome book. I was a little lost in the first couple of chapters, and had to re-read them, but after that it was great. It is very cleverly written and the choice of narrator is one of my favorite things about it. I think that it is the first book that has ever made me cry. It is a very moving book. Definitely a little different from the other 2 that I read this week, one being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (good, but LONG), and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (also pretty good, especially funny to me was the part when they go through Utah on the railroads and meet the Mormon Elder. Cracked me up.) Next on the list is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. I have a long car trip tomorrow so I may have that one finished sometime this weekend, if I can get my husband to drive!

Color Challenge #6

I had a hard time with these colors. Still kind of hate them together. I went super simple with this card and I think that it took me all of 5-10 minutes. Probably because as I said before, I am not a fan of the colors together, ESPECIALLY that grayish color with the yellow. But I do have to say that I absolutely love my new heat gun for all of the embossing that I do! (I don't think that you can even tell in the photo that the "Thank You" is stamped in Brown and then embossed with sparkly embossing powder). Anyway, no more holding my papers over the stove! Yea!

Cardstock and "Thank You" stamp is all stuff that I have had on hand forever; Flower - JoAnn's; Embossing Powder- JoAnn's; Button- Favorite Findings.

KWerner Color Challenge #5

Here's my card for Color Inspiration Challenge #5 from K Werner Design. Not my favorite combo, but definitely a fun challenge. I have been wanting to use the blue ribbon for a long time. It was a random spool that I found in the bottom of a clearance bin at Wal-Mart. I've had it forever, but this is the first time that I have used it on a card. (I know the picture is not the best quality & the colors are a little off, but hey, that's what you get in the middle of the night!)

Yellow & Brown Cardstock- Couldn't tell ya!; Green patterned paper- Target $1 Bin; Thank You Stamp- Studio G; Embossing Powder- JoAnn's; Cocoa Ink- ColorBox

Flower Card

I love this flower stamp and have been looking for a way to use it for quite a while. The color in the photo isn't great, but I love the plum colored cardstock. I am definitely going to have to get some more of that color!

Blue & White Cardstock - ?; Flower Stamp - Autumn Leaves; White Embossing Powder - Stamp'n Stuff; VersaMark Ink; Plum Cardstock -Bazzill; Ribbon- Sweet Treat Ribbon from Michael's

Happily Ever After Card

This is my first attempt at making a circle card. Slightly frustrating! I had a hard time getting it right as far as the fold and just the structural things go. Anyway, after a couple of tries I finally figured out the best way to do it. I love the colors on this one. Oh yeah...I finally bought a heat gun so when I emboss I don't have to hold my paper over the coils on the stove. Hooray! It made the whole embossing thing so much easier!

I'm still thinking on this card that it needs a little bit of white to break up the dark blue. I don't know, maybe polka dots or a stripe or something? What do you think?

Crocheted Dishcloths

I had been looking for a new project this week and thought that I'd like to crochet an afghan. I didn't want to start one though, because I have one halfway done that is packed away right now due to our move. Then I found out that a cousin's fiancee was having a bridal shower so I decided to crochet some dishcloths to go with her gift. Now I am DEFINITELY not the best crochet-er, and I hate to follow crochet patterns. I did one of them following a pattern and it is my least favorite. It turned out really small, (probably because I crochet very tightly!) and I think the other two that I did my own patterns on turned out much better. I think that they all turned out pretty well considering my remedial crocheting skills. I especially love the colors.

Color Challenge #4

This is the latest color inspiration challenge from Kristina Werner. I would kill to be sitting lying on that couch right now with a fantastic book! Oh-well...maybe someday! Anyway, these are all colors that I love so my biggest challenges were the time crunch and the fact that I was trying to make a thank you card suitable for a girl or a guy. I made this card in about 15 minutes, which is pretty speedy by my standards.

Teal, Brown and Cream cardstock: Pebbles in my Pocket; Green patterned paper: Chatterbox; cream brads: JoAnn's; Thank you Stamp: Studio G; Turquoise Ribbon: Michael's; VersaMark ink; White Embossing Powder: Stamp-n Stuff.

Neat Photos from Colorado/Southern Utah Trip

This old cedar tree totally fascinated me. I love the top picture because I love the contrast of the bright blue sky and the good old red dirt of southern Utah. I like the edited version below too.

Same tree, different angle

One of my very favorite mountains anywhere.

Color Challenges 1, 2 & 3

Color Challenge #1 from kwernerdesign.com

Color Challenge #2

Color Challenge #3

New Blog

So...I decided that maybe not everyone that views our family blog wanted to see my cards and other miscellaneous stuff on our family blog, so I decided to make a second blog dedicated completely to my various creative adventures. So here it is...We'll see how it goes...