Cake Mouse

Wow I am really out doing myself here, posting 2 days in a row!! But I have to admit my homework hasn’t really gotten as intense as it soon will, which is why I was able to give my lonely blog some attention.

Can I just say how much I love cupcakes. Recently, I’ve gone head over hills for these perfect little treats. I’ve started dabbling in the art of making all sorts of decadent little gourmet cakes. It must be my cake boss alter ego getting the best of me. Anyway this lil guy (cupcake Henry) was stamped for me by my cyber buddy Jan. Thanks Jan, he sure is a cutie. 

 

I cant tell you how much I LOVE brown and pink together. I colored with my copics and made the cupcake look so yummy you’d want to eat it!  Here’s a closer look

 

Used:

Ink: Memento w/ Copics,

Paper: SU Chocolate chip card stock, Basic Grey Bittersweet.

Tools: SU Paper piercing tool, SU border punch, Nesties: Circle and scallop square.

Accessories: Seed beads, Stickles in Icicle, & Glossy accents

I hope you enjoyed my card for today. Have a Wonderful MLK day tomorrow. We’ll be at the beach :) See you soon. ~Angela

For Tyla’s 12th

Hi friends, Is anyone still here? I know I pretty much abandoned my blog when school started. And I do apologize, bad Angela! I had no choice, it’s tough keeping up with so much to do and so little time. I really miss stamping and being crafty. But my priorities have changed, and school and my family come first. On the upside I got A’s in all 3 classes I was taking. Now there’s something worth celebrating. In addition to that worth cause of celebration, here’s one up on that. My Baby girl, My first born just turned 12. I can hardly believe how time has passed so fast. I long for the days I used to rock her to sleep in my arms. 

So here is the card I made for her. It represents my baby growing up. It’s a precious moments image and it’s so sweet just like her.

And a closer  look. I colored with copics and used stickles and glossy accents on the mirror and ribbon. All paper is SU and the ribbon was white, I colored it a matching green with my copics. SU punch and Spellbinders dies. If you want specifics e-mail me I’d be happy to share.

I had fun sharing and hope to be back soon! My best for 2011 to all my cyber friends. ~Angela

Ripe for the pick’n

 

Hi everyone!! So happy I could finally have a little time stop in and say something. I have been so busy with school (both the kids and I started) I have not done any crafting at all. (boo)I know, I really do feel the insanity that comes along with not having time for my creative outlet. It feels like I am either doing homework or helping the kids with theirs. In addition the expense of college books really can add up. I am very savvy at getting good deals on my books but it’s ridiculous. I am reading so much these days, I finally broke down and bought an Ott Lite. Never thought I’d care so much about a good lamp, or that I’d be spending so much one either! lol

So enough of my venting, I want to show you what the kids & did one day while they were on vacay.. We went to a u-pick it farm. The kids loved it. We picked raspberries, strawberries, carrots, and peppers. We had a blast, there was even a little petting zoo and a fun farm show where the farmers talked about the animals and their needs. The kids also got to feed some of the animals. They had a great time but also said how exhausted they were from working all day in the fields. LOL Have a great day and hope to see you around soon.

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This is a must make for moms

Of kids who have really long summer vacations, and love to fill their days with good ol fashion sibling squabbles! Seems like my kids have hit the prime age for bickering and fighting. My daughter is 11, my son is 6. They are at it non-stop these days.  One day while at grandma’s house, they really went at it. So she witnessed the situation first hand. She saw the frustration on my face and made a suggestion.

She said the only thing that really motivates kids these days is money. (That’s no lie, my kids do a pretty good job at collecting/saving/spending it.) She said I should take away money each time they fight. Determine the amount of money by the severity of the fight. So I tried it, starting with a quarter & for the really bad squabs a buck. I would have never believed it but since then some days have been down right pleasant from sun up to down.  Three cheers for grandma, after all these years she still knows how to set the youngin’s straight. I thought the coin collected from this should have a proper holding place. So here it is folks, our very first “Bickering Jar”

 The lil guy represents Joshua pitching a fit.

And this cute lil grump below is my Tyla 

I wanted to add a variety of kids with attitudes, so I added these two to the bunch. 

And here is a top view. That’s right folks, If you bicker or holler it’ll cost you some green. (or silver)

I still have to figure out what we should do with the money inside. There is about $8.00 but slowly and most recently very slowly growing. My son suggested in his own words if we “get caught being good” can we earn it back? Just not sure exactly if that will work. I thought maybe if they are really good I could use the money to treat them to something nice or maybe split it 50/50  give it back to them at the end of each quarter. But would that be defeating the purpose, treating them with money I took away for being naughty? A good friend humorously suggested I use the money to hire a babysitter, and treat myself to a spa day. I’m sure I’d be waiting a long time for that to happen. If you have any idea’s on what should be done with the loot let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks for stopping by~Angela

Materials Used: recycled cookie tin, Score-tape, SU DSP, Laser printer, Digi images are Mo Manning’s at digitalpenciltoo.com, colored with copics. Ink is mixed printer ink along with SU. And a thick coat of mod podge to keep preserve it and keep it in tack.

 

 

Oh Baby! My first diaper cake.

Seems like so many people I know are having babies. It’s not that uncommon with a family as big as mine. Even though I am done having my babies I am sure to get a baby fix at least twice a year, if not more. So this cake is for Baby Gavin, my cousin Gabe’s son. He was born Friday the 16th and is such a cutie. The new parents were delighted with the cake and card. It also gave me a shot at practicing for an even bigger cake that I plan need to make for my girlfriend Juliza’s shower in August.

  This cake consists of 100 size 1 pampers brand diapers.  I swirled the diapers instead of the familiar roll and rubber band style. I think this way(shown) preserves the diapers better. Also it looks cleaner, in my opinion. To do this type of cake; I swirled the diapers around a big soup can (design on band faced in) which was placed in the middle of a big pizza pan. I rubber banded about 6 of them at a time, then removed each rubber band as I added a new layer. I did this till the fullness I desired was achieved. After the layer was complete I removed the soup can and filled the center with fun bath toys. You can use blankets or other baby supplies. Bottom layer = 50 diapers, Middle = 35, Top = 15

I topped it off  with a card featuring Bella holding a baby. Here’s a closer look at the card. Stamp can be found at stamping bella. I used some retired SU DSP. I colored the image with copics &  baubles with E49.

So what do  you think? At the very least,  I hope I inspired you to try something new. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with something different to share.  Thanks for sticking around, I know my blog post aren’t consistent but hopefully as we get settled in they will be more frequent. ~Angela

SuperMario Mania

As promised, I’m back to share the creative side of Joshua’s 6th birthday party. My little guy is so obsessed with anything super Mario bros, so it was no big surprise to me, that he wanted a Mario bros party.  For his invites I used paint shop pro and some web images and put this together

I made about 18 Yoshi Loot bags, these Mario & Luigi hats. I handed out Mario mustaches at the door. (ignore the silly girls posing in the photo, Eloise, me, & barbara. The three primas)Thanks to Coolpartyblog.com for the free temps.

   

We played Pin the mustache on Mario and Yoshi’s Egg toss. For this I made big poster’s. I took the images to my local Rhino Graphics and had them printed super Large, adhered them to some foam board. EZ-PZ! Here is the Yoshi’s egg toss one.

I could not find a theme related piñata, so I bought a regular piñata with balloons on it. Cut and paste a left over mario image and boom, done!

The cake was a bit of a dilemma.. Because this is some what a unique theme I could not just order a cake from a local bakery. I ordered a plain cake. Then ordered a cake topper on e-bay. Toppers are made of 100% frosting. The idea is to peel and stick. But lucky me, we are so close to the beach, we have lots of humidity. This made the design stick to the contact sheet. I had to use a blow dryer to dry it out but at the same time be careful not to melt the design. Eeek! It tore a little but not too noticeable.

So I cheated, everything was not handmade.. I guess this was a semi-handmade party. in coordination with  some of my handmade decorations I used birthdaypartyexpress.com. Had to cut myself some slack, I only had 2 weeks to plan this gig.  They had the banner up top, table wear and balloons. The Banner now hangs in his room. We went with Italian food, you know Mario loves him some pasta & pizza! With the help of family we made spaghetti & meatballs, garlic bread, green salad and ordered in a few pizza’s. All in all it was a great day. The Birthday boy enjoyed himself thoroughly, and that’s what counts. I am slowly learning to give myself a break here and there. I guess you really can have your cake and eat it too.                                      Till the next time ~ Angela

California means:

Busy like it was before we ever left. Forget slow paced Arizona  because it’s nothing but the fast lane here. Keep running or you will be consumed. You obviously can’t be two places at one time, or can you? (Hermione’s time capsule would sure come in handy right now)  Decisions and choices that you are lucky enough to have. Oceans and beaches to rest at when life gets a little too hectic & you need a quick escape. Familiar faces that brighten up your day. Green grass and a cool ocean breeze. Bike rides and 5 mile runs with nothing but scenic beauty that cradles you within.

 

Moving back home has been wonderfully stressful. we have been busy beyond explanation. I haven’t picked up my copics in weeks and I must say I’m a bit of a wreck over it. Time will help us settle in and hopefully I will be able to blog at least once a week. Sorry to those who were trying to view the video I made. I can’t seem to figure out the Picasa movie software. I will attach some photos to this post  so you can see the graduation pics. I hope to be back soon to show you some of the cool pics from Joshua’s b-day party. Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by. ~Angela

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