Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop: Treat Topper Die

Wow!  It’s the final week of the Triple Play blog hop already!   We’re finishing up this week with another fabulous Scoreboards Die by Eileen Hull, this time the Treat Topper.  I think this is my favorite Scoreboards so far, just because it is so amazingly useful.  I actually own this die, and have already made several different projects.  It cuts felt, foam, matboard, chipboard, cardstock, thin clay sheets…  possibilities are endless.

While the treat toppers are handy for gifts, class treats, and lots of other things, I decided to show another way to use the die.  Any guesses what the project is?

It’s a bookmark!

I cut the medium-size topper out of glitter cardstock by Best Creation.  It’s a really heavy paper, so it cuts and scores well.   Since the bookmark fits right on the corner of the page, I used 1/8″ double-sided tape to seal the top and right side closed.  I wanted to keep the embellishments flat so the book will close nicely, so I opted for ribbon and flat flower stickers, along with one of the hearts from the die set (which sticks out past the book).

I added some bright pink chalk to edge the sticker letters and the heart, and that’s it!  Quick, easy, and cute!   Cute enough that I now have to make one sans glitter and flowers for a 10 year old boy who helped photograph this one.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Eileen’s die, and for hanging out with us these last weeks.   I’ll be continuing to add new content on a regular basis, so feel free to stop by any time!

Until next time…
C.

Garver Brothers Burns, I’m Sad.

 

Unbelievable.  The face of my hometown was changed forever last night, as a local landmark building burned to the ground.  It was a 6-alarm blaze with more than 15 departments called.  I didn’t even know a 6-alarm fire existed.

The old Garver Bros. store had been standing there since 1866.   It’s a tiny town, and this was the largest building in it.  It was converted to an antique store/flea market long ago, and had a small collection of old town memorabilia on the second floor. When I was a kid, it was the best place to find plastic necklace charms and jelly bracelets.

A few months ago I went to the weekly Sunday flea market for the first time in years, in search of some “projects-to-be”.  I didn’t find what I was looking for, but did find some electric train cars, a collection of old postage stamps, and some great old sheet music to take home with me.  I spent a little time up in the museum area looking through the pieces and enjoying the history.  I hadn’t been up there before, and I’m now glad I took those extra few minutes.

Between this fire, and the demolition of the old school building where I spent all of my K-12 years, the landscape of my little town is sure going to look different when I next visit.  And while it isn’t where I’ve chosen to live now, I can appreciate how it shaped my perspective of the world.  Some of my greatest friends to this day were made during those years.

Sure, the downtown area can be rebuilt.  The school already has been remodeled and updated for the needs of the kids who are there now.  The new building is creating great memories for those kids.  The block will evolve and hopefully bring in new business and opportunity.  But for those of us who started out as or still are “small-towners” it’s a big hit to the gut.  Maybe it’s the idea that “home” has always been constant and unchanging.

I’m  sad at hearing the news.   I’m guessing there will be a bit of shock when I finally see the empty spaces.  And I’m angry at the thought of some nimrod (the nicest word I can think of ) burning it down on purpose.   I hope the community can join together to create something positive from this.

So many thoughts swirling today…

C.

 

Big-Brained Folks are Everywhere!

This weekend, while waiting for our older children to finish baseball practice, a few of the “fall ball” moms were chatting and getting to know each other.  This is pretty typical  of any sports season, as we are all going to see each other many times over the next few months.  However, for me, this conversation was anything but typical.

In the course of the chat, one of the moms mentioned her daughter’s early medical troubles, and in that strange way where one just knows what is coming next (does that happen to anyone else or it just me?), I listened to her describe my condition.

I suffer from a congenital defect called a Chiari Malformation (pronounced kee-AR-ee) that was discovered in my case after a hospitalization two years ago for something completely unrelated.  In many cases, symptoms continue to worsen over time or seem to be triggered by some event.  In my case, both.   Others live symptom-free forever.  A great description of the symptoms and nature of Chiari Malformations can be found at the NINDS website.

In the last two years, I have met several other people with Chiari Malformations.  One I found online and then realized we both belong to the same mothers’ group.  One is the daughter of the massage therapist my husband gave me a gift certificate to for Christmas 2008.  Yet another is a friend of my parents’.   And now a little girl at the baseball field.  Random strangers with a rare connection.

I watched that little blond girl, all of 5 years old, who had been through brain surgery at 16months and was running and climbing and carefree.  I am so glad she had the opportunity to have a great surgeon available at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who knew about such a rare condition and were able to get her help quickly.  Truly amazing!

I don’t often post on the topic of my condition, but sometimes it hits me.  This was one of those times.

Until next time…
C.

Beach Vacation Out-take #1

Or otherwise titled:  How many photos am I going to have to take to get ONE suitable for a Christmas Card?

Yes, there are at least 20 more shots in this spot alone where at least one of these little hooligans has his/her tongue sticking out, eyes crossed, fingers rabbit-ear-style behind someone else’s head, or is otherwise annoying the daylights out of a sibling.

I’d like to think they’ll grow out of it, but somehow, I don’t think so.

Until next time…
C.

Thinking INSIDE the box–A duck habitat diorama.

When I was in first grade, we happily learned our alphabet via The Letter People, and accomplished other amazing tasks like jumping rope across the playground at recess.  (uphill both ways!)

Fast forward *ahemwaytoomanyyearsahem* and first graders are writing 2 page stories and reports about animals with accompanying habitats.   Of course, we found out about this habitat half way to it’s due date, thanks to unchecked Friday Folders over spring break, but that’s another point entirely.

I think she did pretty well (insert parental bias here).  Not only did she research the mallard duck habitat, she also decided to insert depictions of facts she learned about the ducks into the project.

There are no male ducks anywhere to be found in this habitat “because it is spring (note the flowering spring tree) and the drakes fly away after the moms lay the eggs”

All the ducks are painted as accurately as a first grader can, and the duck dabbling for food can just be seen behind the mama duck’s head in this photo.

And the nesting duck can be removed to show the 1-13 eggs that are laid in the grass-lined nest.

Aside from the scooping of the Styrofoam, the molding of the birds and a quick tree painting tutorial, she did it all herself.  Crafty and detail oriented.  That’s my girl!

Until next time…
C

The Liquid Scrap Dots winner is…

Thanks everyone for checking out our first Helmar Blog Hop!   I appreciate your wonderful comments about the Liquid Scrap Dots and my project.  Feel free to stop by again anytime!  So now with no further ado…

Random.org chose #38!

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38. Cathy La Hay |  March 20, 2010 at 4:44 pm

What a great project and this looks like a fantastic product. I will have to find me some of it!!

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Congratulations Cathy!  Please e-mail Helmar (tracyw@helmarusa. com) with your information so she can mail your prize!  Please let us know what you create with the Liquid Scrap Dots, we’d love to see.

Thanks again everyone!

Until next time…
C.

Writing my name in the dust–part 1

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?   About as long as it has been since I dusted the top of my TV cabinet.  I could write my name there, too.  🙂

In the interest of catching up as soon as possible, I’ll give the “short, short version” of the happenings here at Chez Schauer.

October brought the end of kids sports.  While we love watching them play, juggling baseball, soccer and cheerleading was practically an event of its own.  It was refreshing to be able to take a breath without having to run off somewhere armed with chairs, coolers, and gear.   I can’t imagine what it will be like when kid #3 starts playing too.

Thanks to my Mom, the kids were outfitted well for Halloween once again.   She spent hours creating costumes and the kids loved them!  We had an Annakin, a Darth Vader, and a Sleeping Beauty.

And this little number was lots of fun.  I’m the Swine Flu.  Plus, any costume that lets me wear long johns, a pink sweat suit and fuzzy crocs is a hit in my book!

Only a week later, we had a new addition to the family.  We went from thinking about getting a puppy next spring, to bringing home Kona in a very short three weeks!  Just when we thought diapers and babyproofing were behind us, we moved into house training and puppy proofing.  We must have been insane!  She’s a doll though, and a great puppy.

Here’s a shot right after bringing her home:

She’s now up to a whopping 4.5 lbs.

I’m also gearing up for my first major showing at the CHA winter show in January.  I’ve committed to sharing a booth for the entire show with a fellow designer along with my usual showcase table.  I’ll be in the License and Design Section, booth # 2639.  More on that coming soon.

Did the puppy destroy the house? …Did the Schauers get the real swine flu?  Is Carla ready for the January show?  Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion…  🙂

Until next time,
Carla

Perspective

I love downloading photos.

Well, let me rephrase that.  I love looking at the photos I’ve downloaded.  The actual downloading process is, frankly, less than exciting.  And because of that, I don’t do it as often as I should.  Coupled with the fact that I most often use 4gig cards, it may be several weeks before I fill up a card enough to bother with the download process, and often makes the subject matter a bit of a surprise.   Which in a rather circular manner brings me back to my original thought:

I love downloading photos.  🙂

Today’s long-overdue downloads are brought to you today by my oldest child, who inhereted my old G3.   Nearly nine, he loves snapping photos almost as much as I do, and I love looking at the world through his eyes.  In this case, his eyes were taking in this summer’s Disney vacation.

There were a few shots remarkably similar to ones I had taken

and some that were close, but taken from kid-height:

There were some that were better than the ones I took with my DSLR:

and some that captured moments I missed:

Of course, there were multitudes of photos of his favorite subject:

himself.

He took 216 photos over the week we were there.  Yes, several were blurry (he’s an impatient boy and it’s a slow camera), and some are unflattering, to say the least.   But he had some great shots and, most importantly, a record of our vacation through his eyes.  From his perspective.

Until next time…
c.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Remember that Staples commercial?  One of my favorites.

Just a quickie post before the long holiday weekend!   The 2 big kids went off on the big yellow bus last week, and the weather here has been cooler than normal.  It almost feels like fall already!  Since fall is my favorite time of year, I can’t say I’m disappointed.  I will miss the carefree days of summer, though.  We’ve had a great summer–long vacation, baseball games, pool time…  It is definitely harder to fit in the relaxing moments once school and fall sports are back in full swing, as evidenced by the 9 full hours we spent on various ballfields last Saturday instead of hanging out by the pool.

Can’t say I’ll miss that this Saturday!

The house feels a little empty with the big kids gone all day, and I imagine I’ll feel a bit lonely once the little one starts preschool in a few weeks.  I have been able to spend more time in the Craft Cave during the day, though, instead of squeezing my projects in at night.

I whipped up this mini-composition book as a birthday party favor idea.  I’m not a fan of the “goodie bag”, tending to toss the junky stuff as soon as I can reasonably expect the kids to not miss it, so I’m trying out some ideas as possible alternatives.  I’m thinking this one would be an easy craft to make and take along home.  The bookmark is a barrette clip with a felt flower attached.

Paper is from Paper Trunk, felt flowers and monogram from American Crafts, and I stuck it all together using Helmar Premium Craft Glue, Fray Stoppa, and 450 Glue.

Have a fantastic holiday weekend!
Until next time…
c.

Random Photo Share Wednesday

Here are a few more photos from the memory cards I downloaded a couple days ago.  Technically, they’re not perfect, but I love them anyway.

Here’s another from the race.  The headsets with the microphones were a big hit.  That’s my mom wearing the other ultra-fashionable head accessory.

Yes, this is a photo from last year’s family beach vacation.  Yes, I just downloaded it.  No, I have no excuse.   The boys still let me dress them alike, and this was just post-hair-donation.

And the last just cracks me up.  Covered with sand, running full-tilt, giant grin on his face.  That’s my boy!

That’s all for today, I’m swamped!

Until next time…
C.