Pink Hello Kitty

Snow Fun!

 
Could these kids be any cuter?!  I LOVE these photos Bryan got the other day after the big snow fall we had over the weekend!  They were having a blast and the sun was so beautiful too.  Such fresh little Winter faces, and they are perfect with my new background for the season.  I hope all is well with everyone!  I will be back in earnest very soon, it has just been a little hectic around here with my mother and my step-father having surgery in the same week, in which everything went well, so there is much to still be thankful for through this month of December also.  I will be back soon with an update on everything in the Simpson household.

Finished!

Here is a closer look at the collage piece I made for the photo holder from last night's post.  I started with a 15 cent washer from the hardware store.  I covered the surface with Mod Podge, then dumped a chunky glitter onto it.  I then applied my beads, flowers, etc.  You can either use hot glue or epoxy.  I am impatient so hot glue is better for me because it dries faster, although I hear epoxy is a far better product, (I am new at this collage stuff!!)

 

Here it is in detail on the actual piece.  I am very pleased and you can use all kinds of JUNK! YAY! I love junk!!  The flower has Shimmerz too.

The coolest thing for me about creating is after I am 'finished' with a project, I am actually rarely 'finished'!  After taking the photos and posting last night I woke up and had a brainstorm!  The piece looked 'unfinished' and I remembered I had an old gold frame in my 'craft junk stash' so I grabbed it, and it was an 8x10 so the acrylic fit right in.  Bryan gave me the little metal pieces (called Glazier's Points) to hold it in place without the glass or backing.  The inner part of the gold frame is painted with Shimmerz Gold Glimmer for additional sparkle.  Now THIS is a finished project!  I am very happy with how it turned out!

Exciting 'Newz'

As many of you know, last month was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and most people who read my blog know that I created a couple of bras for a local auction to benefit breast cancer research, and to fund mammograms for those who have no insurance along with grants.  You can see those bras here and here.   They both sold in the auction for a fair amount of money and I was very proud to have done them.  One of my friends, Stacey saw the bra on my Facebook account.  She also happens to own a business called Shimmerz that manufactures a product that I love so much, and coincidentally used to carry in the store I had.  When she saw it I told her that I had used some of her product on the bras.  She was so surprised and said I should enter the contest they were doing for the month of October to honor Breast Cancer too.  Again, I was pretty proud of the bras, and I am okay with putting pictures on my Facebook and personal blog because I know really only my close friends and family read it.  But seriously, to put it next to a bunch of AMAZING things created by amazingly talented women scared me a little.  But I did it, I entered the one I thought was best of the two, then forgot about it!  Last week I got an email telling me I had won!!  WHAT???  I never win anything ever, and I have NEVER submitted any of my work because I am so intimidated.  I was pretty excited, but I am even more excited that she and her Design Team Coordinator asked me to guest design for about a month or so.  I have been really brainstorming, and it is actually a really good time for me because I am making so many things for Christmas!  I hope she likes what I come up with.  One of my other good friends, Lori is one of their Education Team Members, and has been doing classes out of her home, which I have gone to.  It has been really awesome to get back into using a product that I absolutely LOVED, and LOVED to sell when I had my store!  I am posting a couple of pictures.  The first one is of a page that I actually had in my store, and had used this product on.  I pulled it out and even touched it up with some more Shimmerz.  The second is a piece of acrylic that I altered and painted.  I will try to highlight some of the techniques I used under the photos, so keep reading!!

 

This is not one of my best pages ever, but that doesn't really mater because I am posting it for the technique lesson.  You can click on the image to enlarge it and see detail also.  This is a black and white 8x10 photo that I printed DIRECTLY onto Bazzil (any canvas or other texture cardstock will do.)  I painted with Shimmerz Royal Red DIRECTLY onto the photo so that I could detail her red sash only.  I used the same color to paint the torn edges of the red cardstock frame, and stamped image.  I used Blingz Pixie Dust on top of the canvas fabric 'wish' tag, as well as the metal 'wonder' tag.  I used Blingz Gold Glimmer for the edges of the floral background paper.

For this Holiday Photo Holder, I took an 8x10 piece of acrylic for my background surface.  I took a roll of masking tape and began taping strips randomly onto acrylic to add texture when I painted the red and green acrylic paints.  After that, I used Shimmerz Mossy Stone, and Shimmerz Royal Red to paint over the tops of their like paint colors so the background is very sparkly!  The other color I used was Blingz Gold Glimmer on my poinsettias.  You can also click on this image to enlarge for detail, and you will see that I covered every possible surface using those 3 colors through out the whole project.  A tip I would like to point out is that I placed the photo corners permanently, but the photo can be popped right out and replaced every year when I take it out for the Christmas Holiday. And PS: The embellishment in the bottom right corner is a mini collage piece that I created myself using a round metal washer as my surface.  I used Shimmerz on it as well! 

All of the Shimmerz Products can be purchased right here for your convenience, but hopefully you will be able to purchase it here in Boise soon! 

Keep checking back for updated projects coming soon!  If you have any questions shoot me an email!   

Curtis The Science Guy

Most of you know this is my only boy and youngest child, Curtis.  I snapped these pictures the other day because they epitomize the way this little guy thinks, where his brain is, what he loves. This book is the type of book he carries home from school ALL the time!  He is so into science, physics, and the math of it all.  I also love how he always just grabs a book to figure something out. Remember this post from last year during the first week of school?  So cute!  And he just continues to learn and teach himself things that way. 

It was the week after he and his sisters had been sick, and I was home sick at this point.  He was told to stay at the school and wait for his dad, rather than ride the bus because Bella had a basketball game.  He totally forgot and ended up riding the bus home.  This turned out to be okay because as I said, I was home sick.  He on the other hand, was totally bummed!  I told him it was fine and after getting a snack and pouting for a few minutes, he went and grabbed his backpack to show me the book he had gotten from the library that day.  He was so excited and he had apparently already looked through it because he opened up right to the page he wanted and told me he wanted to make what was on that particular page.  It was a parachute and I told him he would need to get a paper and pencil and make a list of supplies that he needed first.  He did that and then started gathering.  He set up the little lap desk and proceeded in making the parachute he had found.  He learned a lot of new things by doing it also!  He learned what a radius and diameter was,  he learned how to use a protractor, and he learned how to multiply a fraction.  Not too bad for a first grader who really did just want to build something out of this book!  He, as do all of my children, amazes me everyday!  He just has a special knack for math that surprises me all the time!  I hope he continues to enjoy this kind of thing, and it helps him in the future.  I sure love this little guy and I feel very lucky to have him in my life!

Halloween 2009

I think the pictures turned out so stinkin' cute this Halloween!  We definitely did not do super elaborate costumes this year, but they were still adorable!  Bryan made the little fairy princess costumes for the girls in their 3 favorite colors, and Curtis was a druid.  For those who do not know what that is, it is a forest wizard.  The weather turned out awesome!  It was not as warm as last year, but it was still really nice.  We walked Harrison Blvd. and then went to see the grandparents.  I was still trying to finish up from being sick so Bryan and I weren't really into it so much like we were last year.  We did dress up as the Prom King and Queen to go out for a little while with my brother and his girlfriend, but still nothing super elaborate.  We were home early.  The kids had a really good time.  I am a little sad because it will not be long before that is all over for us, because they are getting so big!  My boss Sylvia and her husband Dwayne walked Harrison with us and she mentioned how glad she was to have joined us because her children and grandchildren are all grown.  It really makes you appreciate and try to savor the moment, especially when somebody puts it to you that way.  

I Am Sorry, I Thought I Lived In The City?

Ok, so I was driving one of my daughter's friends home from Girl Scouts the other evening and was approaching Heron Street while driving North on 17th.  I had to do a double take because this is what I saw outside of the right passenger's side.  The kids and I were laughing hysterically as I was trying to take this picture out the window.  Then we laughed even harder at the guy that came to chase them home!  Seriously, only in Idaho!

Boise State -vs- San Jose State

I was thrilled last weekend when I received this surprise from my brother and his girlfriend, Dotsie!  Having them here, even just for 48 hours, was awesome!  I had no idea they were such big BSU fans and they asked right when they got here on Friday about the Saturday game.  Janny was already going, so  Bryan and I jumped online and found a set of 4 tickets on Craig's List and it was decided we would go.  I haven't been to a live BSU game since I had my 2nd child, Bella, and I have 4 children now!!  I was soooooo excited and I love that my brother and Dotsie were equally so.  Even though they already had their very own Bronco gear, they did end up buying a couple new pieces.  We had a blast!  It was a great game and I am so happy we went!  I think the pictures show how much fun for sure, and I got TONS more pictures than this, haha!  We love you Joe and Dotsie!! We are so glad you came! 

Pumpkin Goo.

Pumpkin Carving is so not my thing, but Bryan loves it!  I don't particularly like the cleaning out of the goo.  So I am more than OK being the photographer!  I am actually really laughing at these pictures because they clearly show which two children are really digging right in and cleaning out that pumpkin, then the other two that are just happy watching their dad do most of the work.  Those pictures are spot on and it looks like Lexie, Marissa, and I have more in common than people think!  The faces turned out pretty cute too, (Marissa used the pi sign instead of a face, go figure!) 

Surprise!

I was so excited to answer the phone and talk to my brother, Joe that I hadn't talked to in quite a while.  He asked what I was doing for dinner.  I was thinking what a dumb question that was since he lives in Montana, and didn't he have something more interesting to talk about, for crying out loud?!  Turns out it WAS a very good question since he WAS IN BOISE!!  WOW!  What an awesome surprise!  He and his girlfriend Dotsie had the weekend off and decided to just hop in the car and spend the weekend in Boise!  YAY!!  I hadn't seen them since January so it was such a treat.  I always miss my brothers so much!  We had a lot of fun, even though it was a quick trip, and I will post more pictures later.  LOVE that he came to visit!  LOVE him so much!  The only thing missing was my other 2 brothers :(  Maybe next time :)  Thanks, Joe and Dotsie!  Hopefully we can return the favor soon and head up Montana direction!

Pumpkin Time!

I love Fall so much and I love Fall pictures so much!! The colors are so brilliant and beautiful!  Here are the kids finally getting pumpkins on like Tuesday or something.  It has been awful with them all being sick and I was feeling it that night...yuck!  Pretty excited to see the kids in their cute costumes again this year, though!  Bryan is making the girls' costumes and altering Curtis'.  Hope it isn't too chilly!  I may have to stay home with some hot tea!