Family Collage Photo

A fun little post to share with you today. The top photo is a picture of my in-laws with my husband when he was young. the lower photo is a picture of my little family a few months after our son was born. We all got a kick out of how similar the pictures were, so I decided to make a little collage to give my in-laws for their anniversary. I'm thinking of printing one for us too and hanging it in our trailer somewhere. It's so fun!





I'm linking at these great parties:
Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

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I posted about it on Monday and mentioned it on Facebook yesterday but would like to ask  you to keep Colorado in  your thoughts and prayers. The fire that was burning near my hometown made it's way into the city yesterday. I live far enough east that I most likely will not be too affected, but it's scary to see the mountains I've grown up loving burning. I posted some pictures on my Facebook page yesterday I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.~Erin

Four Flowers {Ladies' Card}

This is one of those cards that could easily be used for any occasion. You just have to switch out your sentiment. Mine is a birthday card!

 

This card is super simple with just enough detail. Here's how to make one of your own:

1. Cut your standard white card stock base of 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches. Score and fold it in half to create a card 4.25x5.5 inches.
2. Cut a piece of light green card stock 4x5.25 inches for your background piece. Don't glue it to the white base yet.
3. Cut 4 pieces of white card stock 1x3.75 inches for your flower pieces. 
4. You can barely see it, but I stamped a faint background on each piece of white card stock in a very light pink/peachy color.
5. Next stamp each piece with a different flower in a different color. I actually only had 3 flowers, so I repeated one color and flower (the flowers on the ends are the same).
6. Glue your flower pieces onto your green background piece. I started on the left and spaced them so that the space in between each piece was the same as the space above below and to the left side of the first piece. See picture 2 below.
7. You should have some empty space left after gluing all your pieces. Stamp your sentiment here. If your sentiment doesn't take up the whole space like mine didn't at first you can use the ends of the flower stems to fill up that space. See picture 3 below.
8. Glue all the pieces together onto the white base.

Picture 2
Close up of flower pieces.

Picture 3
Close up of sentiment.

There you have it. Easy peasy!

Note: I used the "Oh, So Lovely" stamp set from Stampin' Up for the flowers. The sentiment was created using individual words from a clear stamp set (I think I got it at Hobby Lobby)

I'm linking at these great parties:

Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

Fire!

I live in Colorado.

You know. The state that's on fire.

Ok, so maybe you don't all know, and, yes, that's an exaggeration, but at one point yesterday we had about 10 wildfires burning. Yeah. Scaaarrry.

On Saturday morning, we went up to Denver to help my sister and her husband move. We came back that afternoon to this:

This picture was taken only a few hours after the fire started. It's  grown since then. It makes me so sad that our mountains are burning. I've never (and neither has anyone I've talked to) seen a fire of this intensity so close to home before.

The good news is that as of Sunday night there were no serious injuries and no structures had burned from this fire. Thank God for that. I'm praying that everyone stays safe as they fight this fire!

I'll be back tomorrow, but for today I'd just like to ask that you be thinking about Colorado a little today. Thanks. :-)

~Erin~

The Sunshine Award

I was super excited the other day when Susie from Earning My Cape let me know that she nominated me for the Sunshine Award! This is a first for me, so she totally made my day, my week, maybe even my month! Thanks, Susie! She hosts a weekly Super Link Party that's just awesome (here's the current link party which started today). She does a lot of crochet projects including this fun Sunflower Headband. You also have to check out her comic headers. She changes them up periodically, and they're so funny!

The Sunshine Award

 

The Sunshine Award is given from bloggers to bloggers.  It’s for someone “who positively and creatively inspires others in the blogosphere." 

Okay, so here's how the award works. 
First, you should thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. 
Next, answer the following questions about yourself. 
Then, choose 10 of your favorite bloggers and link their blogs to your post.  Be sure to let them know that you are nominating them for the award. 
Last, be sure to copy and paste the award to your blog! 

The questions: 

1.  Favorite color- Oh that's a tough one. I suppose I'd say it's kind of a tealish blue, but I don't think there are any colors that I don't like.
2.  Favorite animal-  Dogs. They're just fun. :-)
3.  Favorite number-  8. There's a long story to go along with it, but my nickname as a baby was even "ocho" (Spanish for 8 in case you didn't know).
4.  Favorite Drink-  I drink a lot of water, but if there's something I'm going to indulge in it would be chocolate milk. It has to be store bought though. They add something to it that keeps the chocolate from separating from the milk and also thickens it. I love the thick chocolate milk!
5.  Facebook or Twitter-  Well, I don't have a Twitter account (yikes!), so I'd have to say Facebook. 
6.  Good book or good movie-  Oh, a book without a doubt. I can sit down and read a book in a day if I have enough time without interruptions. 
8.  Giving or getting gifts-  It's so much more exciting to give gifts-especially if it's something I've made. I made a lot of gifts for Christmas last year, and it was so much fun!
7.  My passion-  Family. I love spending time not only with my husband and son but also with the rest of our family. We even have a monthly birthday party for my mom's side of the family to celebrate the birthdays for the month (it's a BIG family) :-).
9.  Favorite day-  The weekends. This is when we get to spend the most time as a family since we're both off work (I work a few hours in the afternoons).
10.  Favorite flower-  I pretty much love them all, but I especially love colorful flowers! My favorite place ever was a field of colorful wildflowers up in the mountains. It was like a dream!

My 10 Nominations:

(In no particular order)

1. Melanie from Reasons To Skip The Housework
2. Sarah from Blissful Bucket List (formerly from Dotted Line Crafts)
3. Michelle from Michelle's Tasty Creations
4. Kathryn from Destination: Craft
5. Diana from The Girl Creative (she took a break from blogging April-June, but she's back! Her post about getting priorities straight was such an inspiration to me as I've been picking up speed blogging)
6. All the ladies from The REAL Housewives of Riverton
7. Michelle from delicateConstruction
8. Abby from things for boys
9. Sarah from Naptime Delights
10. Anna from Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Thanks again to Susie for nominating me!

Technique Tuesday: Look Who's Turning...2! {A Fun Little Boy Card}

 

This one was fun! I wanted to make lots more of them. It wasn't too difficult or complicated, but the results are cute, cute!


Here's how you can make this card:

1. Start with the standard base of a white piece of card stock scored and folded in half to create a card 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
2. Cut a piece of dark blue card stock that measures 4 x 5.25 inches and glue it to the white base. 
3. Cut a white piece of card stock measuring 3.75 x 5 inches. Stamp animals in varying colors all over the white piece. I used a green, a lighter blue and a dark blue (the same color as my dark blue piece of card stock). I like to start with the lightest color and continue with the next darkest and so on. Glue your animal piece on top of your blue card stock.
4. Cut a piece of white card stock that will fit the size of your "Look Who's Turning..." sentiment. Mine measured 1 x 2.5 inches. Stamp the sentiment. I got my stamp from the Stampin' Up set "Look Who's Turning" You could probably print something similar on a computer or create the sentiment with individual word stamps.
5. Then cut a piece of dark blue card stock (the same blue you used in step 2) a 1/4 of an inch larger than the white card stock. My piece measured 1.25 x 2.75 inches. Glue the white piece to the blue piece and then glue both pieces together on top of your animal piece.
6. Create a template of a "2". You can do this using a word processing program on your computer (I believe I used Word Art in Microsoft Word, so I could get the number nice and thick). I printed mine on a nice thick card stock, so I could use it over and over. 
7. Place the right side of the "2" template face down on a piece of light blue card stock (I used the same light blue that I used as one of the stamped animal colors) and trace around it with a pencil. You should have a backward 2 drawn on the card stock now. Cut it out.
8. Now comes the fun part! Put glitter on top of the entire surface of the right side of the "2". I used a very fine glitter that's somewhat transparent with a hint of blue, so I wouldn't lose the color of the card stock. To get the glitter to stick I used The Essential Glue Pad.
9. I attached the "2" with dimensional adhesive, so it would stick up a little from the surface of the card.

That's it! Here are some shots up close:

Aren't the sparkles of the glitter pretty? I LOVE glitter!

I used the "Look Who's Turning" and "Wild About You" stamp sets from Stampin' Up.

I'm linking at these great parties:

Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

A {Very Last Minute} Father's Day Gift

I was browsing Pinterest trying to come up with a Father's Day gift one day when I came across this post from Nothing But Country.

Source: nothingbutcountry.com via Erin on Pinterest

I also stumbled upon some DIY Monogram Mugs from designmom.com. 

Source: designmom.com via Erin on Pinterest

I loved both of them, and then it hit me. Why not combine the two? And so this little gift was born:

 

I used a ceramic or porcelain pen to create the letters on the mug. It's hard to tell in the above picture, but it's the word "DAD". I just followed the instructions on the pen package. You can even bake the mug to make it dishwasher safe! 

You can see all the letters in the collage below:

The mug was the perfect size for the bags of Reece's Pieces, so I just put them in the mugs all on their own and added this little message.

Happy Father's Day to any dad's who may be reading. I hope you have a great weekend!

I'm linking at these great parties:

Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

God Is Faithful {Free Printable}

I created this printable and framed it for a couple of my cousins' who graduated high school this year. I remember that time being a bit stressful and these were a couple verses that really stuck with me and encouraged me during that time. 1 Corinthians 1:9 is a verse in particular that I always try to remember. It's simplified here, but just the three words "God Is Faithful" have really been a source of strength to me over the years. No matter what, He's sticks with me. I love that. :-)

It prints to a 4x6 and the non-watermarked version can be downloaded here. I'd love it if you follow me before downloading, but please don't feel obligated to do so. :-)

Oh! And on a side note. Here's a funny picture from about a month ago that hadn't shared yet. Yes, we're that goofy. It's fun stuff!

I'm linking at these great parties:

Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

Flower Power Birthday Card {A Really Simple One}

This card is so simple it's crazy! 

I have a bunch of pre-cut flowers on chipboard, so I picked the biggest one out for this card. Then I cut a piece of patterned paper just a little bigger than the flower but in the same outline to border the flower. I glued both pieces to my standard base of white card stock measuring 5.5x4.25 inches when folded.


Then I added the "happy birthday" sentiment. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. 

P.S. I know I've been a little card crazy lately. I have a non-card post tomorrow! :-)









I'm linking at these great parties:
Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday * Get Inspired Monday * The Girl Creative * Destination: Cutesy Monday * What's In The Gunny Sack * Etcetorize * Tuesdays: Riverton Housewives Roundup * Ta-Da Tuesday * Tuesdays Cute Crafts & Cute Parties *Happy Family Times * Show Me What You Got * Tuesday Time Out * Tuesday Tidbits * Wednesdays: Super Link Party * Show & Share * {Wow Me} Wednesday * Thursday: Pin'Inspirational Thursday * Recipe Roundup *A Crafty Soiriee * Creative Thursday * Fridays: Delicately Constructed Fridays * Flaunt It Friday * Financial Friday Link Up * My Crowded Kitchen * Saturdays: Strut Your Stuff Saturday * Once Upon A Weekend * Sharing Saturday * Dare To Share Saturday * Craft, Create and Inspire * Sundays: Nifty Thrifty Sunday * It's Overflowing Sunday Party 

Favorite Finds Friday

Source: itsoverflowing.com via Erin on Pinterest

These Sponge Water Balls from It's Overflowing look like so much fun and seem pretty easy to make too!

Source: whatsherrymadetoday.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

This Refashioned T-Shirt to PJ Pants from What I Made Today is such a great idea! I think I may take this concept and make some PJ shorts for my little guy.

Source: love-and-laundry.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

This Library Book Tote from Love and Laundry made me LOL. :-)

Recipe Thursday: Strawberry {Berry} Lemonade

To make this tasty treat you will need:

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

1 cup berries (fresh or frozen)

Water

It's really, really easy to make and so very refreshing and tasty!

Blend your berries together with your lemonade concentrate until you don't have any (or many) chunks of fruit. I usually use fresh strawberries, but you can really use any berries. The lemonade above was made with mixed frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) .

Pour your blended mixture in a two quart pitcher. Fill with water until the mixture reaches 2 quarts. Mix well and enjoy!

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.

A Little Storm

We had a CRAZY thunder and hail storm this evening. This is what I came home to after work (sorry the pictures are a little dark):

My garden looks like it's covered in snow.


It's not snow though. It's hail...some of it this size:

I'm afraid of what I'm going to find in the morning. We'll see though. Maybe some of it will survive. :-( I'm pretty bummed.

My flowers in the Spray Painted Pots are definitely looking sad. Such a bummer :-(


Well, hope with me that once all the hail melts and the sun comes out again it will look a little better.

Forest Birthday Card {For the Gents}

I sat here for a little while trying to come up with a more creative title...it just wasn't coming to me, so I went with descriptive instead. Can you think of any better titles? Oh well, that's not important. Let's get on to this card!


I'm on a bit of a card kick this week. It's really my favorite thing to do. You should see all my paper! I have to remind myself not to buy more too. I just love paper for some reason! Well, anyway, I digress...AGAIN. :-) Here we go:

This card has the perfect balance of masculine and creativity. My "creative" cards tend to be pretty frilly and girly, but I think this one has a nice balance. It's not boring but doesn't have too many embellishments. 


To make this card:


Start with a base card stock of 5.5x8.5 inches (I used my usual white) and fold/score it in half. You'll be doing it upright/portrait/hot dog style.


I added a little color to the front right side of my card with some ink and a sponge dauber. 

Cut a piece of craft or brown card stock or paper about the same size as the front of your base piece. Tear the edge, so part of your base (where you added the color) will show. Adhere to your base.

Cut a green piece of card stock 4.25x1.5 inches. Punch three holes in the right end of the card stock and insert brads. I use a little hammer to flatten the backs of my brads. They lay down nicer this way.

Adhere this piece to the craft or brown piece. I placed mine a little below center of the card.

Here's where your card may vary depending on your stamp. I'm not sure where this stamp came from, but I think it was probably Hobby Lobby or Michael's.  You could really use anything, but I like the kind of rustic feel of the trees.


Cut a piece of white card stock just larger than your stamp.  I believe it was 3.5-3.75 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall in my case. The yellow piece of card stock is 1/4 inch larger than the white piece (so if you're white piece is 3.5x2.5, I'd make the yellow piece 3.75x2.75).


Stamp the trees (or your stamp) in a similar green to the green card stock and then add a little color to the edges with the sponge dauber. Then adhere the two pieces together and add them to the card.


Stamp the "happy birthday" sentiment straight onto the craft/brown card stock and add some crystal lacquer. You could also emboss the sentiment to get the same effect.

Finally, cut two very thin strips of craft/brown card stock to line up with the "happy birthday"sentiment. My sentiment was actually pretty small, so I believe my strips were only about 1/4 of an inch wide, if that. I just cut the length to line up with where I stamped the sentiment, so you can guesstimate this a little bit then adhere to your craft/brown card stock.


I hope this provides a little card making inspiration!

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.

Ladies Birthday Card {Handmade}

 

I really like how this card turned out. It's colorful and girly, but not too young like a child's card might be. Cute, cute!


Here's a little on how to make it:


Cut the standard piece of 5.5x8.5 inch piece of white card stock and fold it in half to create a card 4.25 x 5.5 inches.


Cut a piece of yellow card stock 4x5.25 inches and punch/poke holes all around the edge. I have a guide to help me keep the lines straight and holes evenly spaced and just used a safety pin to poke the holes. Adhere to your white base piece.

Cut a piece of green card stock to fit inside the border you created with the holes. I think my green piece was probably about 3.5x4.75 inches. Adhere to the yellow piece.

Cut a piece of white card stock that is 3.25x4.5 inches. You'll want it to be 1/4 of an inch smaller than the green piece, so if your green piece was a different size than mine, you'll want to adjust the measurement of your white piece.

Stamp flowers in varying sizes and colors.

To add a little detail, I stamped flowers in different colors on a separate sheet of card stock, cut the centers out, and then adhered them to the flowers I stamped on the white piece.

I also stamped one larger flower cut/punched it out and then attached it to the smaller piece with a dimensional adhesive to give the card a little more dimension.

Finally, I stamped "happy birthday" with a small stamp, punched it out with a flower punch, and added some color to the edges of the flower with a marker. I also attached this piece with a dimensional adhesive.

There you have it! 

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.

Favorite Finds Friday

Source: linesacross.com via Erin on Pinterest

These Paint Bobby Pins With Nail Polish from linesacross.com are so much fun!

Source: dollarstorecrafts.com via Erin on Pinterest

These Recycled Can Planters from dollarstorecrafts.com are so cute and colorful! They remind me a little of my Spray Painted Pots
I hope you're weekend is a great one!.