Got my mojo back!

It feels so good to be back into my craft room! I think it has been weeks since I've been able to dedicate the time that I needed to create. Between my schoolwork, my son's schoolwork, and our travels, I really couldn't fit crafting in. I spent yesterday playing with paper, and created a beautiful Christmas layout that I'm anxious to share. So far this morning, I was able to quickly pull together a Christmas card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch. Boy, it feels good to cut and stamp again! Here is the card I created using Mojo Monday sketch #269:

 I used the Pear and Partridge paper pack from Close To My Heart to create my card. Cranberry cardstock was used on the background, with a small piece of Desert Sand cardstock also. The circle images were cut using Close To My Heart's Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. I also accented with the Almond Glitz Glitter gel. This card came together so quickly, it may be the card that my group will create when we get together this Friday night.  My customers will also be making this two page layout that I created yesterday, using the Pear and Partridge pack. I have a couple of customers that don't have little children at home for the typical Christmas photos, so I tried to create a layout that is not so specific to Santa. I can see pictures of  a Christmas tree, or favorite ornaments added to this layout. Sometimes it's hard to see in the photos, but a few of these photo mats are popped up with foam tape for dimension. All three of the rectangles that have ribbon on them were added to the layout with the foam tape.

I have really enjoyed having the time this week to play, maybe I can get all of my layouts created before Christmas gets here! I hope you've enjoyed seeing my creations, thanks for stopping by!

Our Thanksgiving

We have finally made it home from our travels. We arrived home yesterday morning, about 3am. And today, I am truly, truly, thankful for my own bed! That sounds like such a selfish thing, but after 10 days in hotels, my body is feeling very old and worn out, it's good to be home. I was so happy to be home, doing my own thing. My guys cleaned all the suitcases out of the vehicle before I was even out of bed yesterday. I didn't even touch laundry or any cleaning, I went straight to work putting up our Christmas tree! I had taken all of the fall decor down and packed it away before leaving, and the house looked so empty. I rearranged my living room, and have most of the decorations up. Hope to finish them tonight, and get pictures posted this week.
I didn't get very many pictures of our Thanksgiving this year. This is the second year in a row that we have spent the holiday at Gatorback Cycle Park in Florida. I am blessed that I was able to be there with my husband and son again this year. It's a strange feeling, to not be cooking the feast for our families, but it was relaxing. Again this year, after a day of watching this:

(that's my little boy on the blue bike) it felt good to let somebody else do the work of cooking and serving. We were able to get in the chow line early, and had our turkey sitting at a picnic table. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get any pictures. I'm not sure where we'll be next Thanksgiving, but maybe I'll get more pictures then!
I've got a lot of catching up to do here on the homefront. We managed to get through yesterday without my running to the grocery store, but it's on my list of "gotta do" things for today. That, and picking up the mail that was held at the post office, and sorting through all the bills. It's a good thing yesterday was a relaxing sort of day, today's going to be busy! Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.

On the road again

Good afternoon my blogging friends! As you can see by my title, we're traveling again today. We arrived in Alabama much later than we hoped to Friday night, but it worked out ok. The weather was perfect motorcycle weather, mid 60's. My son got a lot of great riding in at Monster Mountain MX park. There were several families there over the weekend. yesterday, he pretty much had the track to himself.
Today, we packed up early, like on the road at 6:30 early! Making our way to Florida. We'll get in early enough today to watch some of the Supercross racing at Mini-o's. Tomorrow my son starts racing, yeah!
With all this traveling, I started and finished a book, Confessions of a Shopahaulic. This was funny, a good traveling book.
I have also had a lot of cross stitch time. I finished my Little House piece, and started another. I would love to post pictures, but can't from this phone. I'll post pictures next week.
I think I'll hang my head out the window with the dog, the fresh air feels so good! Have a great day!

Taking another trip

Sometimes it feels like all I do is drive, drive, drive. Already this week, I've been to Tennessee and back, and today we are leaving for Alabama. The trip to TN was bittersweet. I'm so glad my family and  I were able to be there, to help our dear daughter in law Lindsey move the last of the furniture out of the house into storage. And at the same time, sad that we had to be there to help Lindsey move, because it means my son has deployed for a while. I am so proud of my son for the choices he's made, and I pray for his safe return home.
Today, we are packing up the van and heading south. The weather in Indiana is finally turning too cold for my son to ride his dirtbike, so we are headed to greener pastures. We'll spend a few days in Alabama, and from there head to Florida for a week. I traveled this same route with my son last year and I cherish the time together. It is impossible however, to tote my scrapping and card making supplies across the US with me. For a couple of weeks, I will not have paper creations to share, only my cross stitching and motocross pictures to share until I return home, and then I'll have to make up for lost time!
Thankfully, I have another son to keep an eye on the homestead for us. I did such a silly thing yesterday. I knew it needed to be done, and had to do it while I had the money. I took my two kittens in to be spayed and neutered! This morning, they seem to have recovered very well, jumping around and playing as if nothing happened. I hope they don't pull a stitch while I'm gone!
Suitcases waiting to be packed. It looks like it's going to be a long day, but the sun's coming up and it's going to be a pretty one! Have a great day, thanks for stopping by.

Technical Difficulties

Anyone in my family will openly agree, I am "electronically challenged". This applies to watches, smartphones, and yes, to computers. My husband works with computers and phone systems every day, so after all these years, one would think I had picked up a few tips. Instead, I think I became more dependent on him. So sad, but true. I admit my weakness here, because today is the first time this week that I have been successful getting into my blogger account! For some reason, every time I tried to log in, I received an error message that the administrator would not allow access. Hmm, since it's my laptop, I assume I am the administrator, why would I change my access all of a sudden, and how did I do that? Maybe I have the issue solved, and can get back to sharing more next week. I'm not even going to pretend that I'll get a Mojo card posted this weekend. My youngest son will be racing this weekend, probably the last motocross race in central Indiana, since the weather has turned cold all of a sudden. But, it is November already, it is to be expected! The weather is exactly why we are planning a great escape. Hopefully in the next week, after my stitches are removed, my son and I will be headed south, so he can ride where it's warm. I'm looking forward to sitting in the sun to do my schoolwork for a few weeks, hopefully weather will cooperate. Hope you're having a great day, time for me to get some assignments done!

Mojo Monday 265

I am on a creative roll today! I didn't even get started on the fall banner I was considering, but I did manage a card with this week's Mojo Monday sketch instead, yeah! When I was digging through old wooden stamps for my Halloween banner this morning, I found an old Close To My heart set with a scarecrow, a crow, and the saying "Hay there".  Here's the card I came up with:

Digging through my stash of papers, I found this striped paper from a pack called Cocoa Cafe from Close To My Heart. I added Cocoa and Cranberry cardstocks to complete this square card.  To finish the fall feeling, a sunflower with a button in the center, tied with a bit of raffia. I can't wait to put this in the mail this week, I think he's so cute! Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Banner Finished

I started making a Halloween banner back in September, thinking I could add it to my mantle this year. I just finished it this morning, a little late to enjoy it this year. At least I'm a step ahead for next Halloween! I cut all of the banner pieces with the Cricut Artiste cartridge. I actually had a scarecrow in the center panel of this, may be why I never finished it. I knew the scarecrow wasn't what I was going for, just couldn't quite pull it all together. Check out my little witch in the center

I added pop dots under the bat and the stars around the witch to add some dimension.  I masked the moon, and sponged yellow and orange around it.

I added an image with pop dots on every section of the banner for a little depth. I did all of my coloring with watercolor pencils and blending pen. Once I got going, I was so anxious to get this little project onto my finished list! All products are Close To My Heart, some this year's, some from days gone by. I even pulled out some old wooden blocks for this! Let me know what you think. I'm so happy to have a rainy day today, and happy to be playing. Maybe I'll start on a fall banner! Have a great day

A Little Under the Weather

Feeling a little guilty this week for not posting, and yet not feeling up to much productivity either. Went to the dr the other day just to have some cysts looked at. I kinda joked with my hubby before I went, that maybe the doc would just cut these things out, and I could get on with my life. To my surprise, that's exactly what he did! I wasn't really prepared for an outpatient surgery that morning, but my painful cysts are gone! I had some removed years ago, and I had forgotten how painful the lidocaine shots were, four of them into my head! I wasn't feeling the pain of the incision or the stitches when I left the office, so I never thought about the pain that would hit me after lidocaine wore off. I have been a very unhappy person these last couple of days!  With stitches in the back of my head, the side of my head, and a couple spots on the top, I'm finding it hard to get comfortable. I'm thinking another day or two, I'll feel a little more like myself, and be back in my craftroom. Come back and visit, I'm hoping to have something to share this weekend!