Man oh Man!

Making a birthday card for a man can be difficult! For that matter so is buying a birthday gift for a man or a Chritstmas present, or finding the right screw driver to deliver when they are working on something! I suppose there is no reason that a birthday card would be any different! There are a few safe bets in our families though, but man oh man, has it taken years to figure out!

Anything fishing related is a hit! If they are sports fans, ANYTHING with their team on it will do, tissue box covers, towels, flower pots, tooth brushes, tee shirts, shoes, toilet seats... it doesn't matter! Men that have a "team" don't actually know that they don't play for that team and won't be compensated for buying everything with their teams mascot or colors. You wouldn't believe the ridiculous Carolina blue things I have laid eyes on, but if you have ever met a Carolina fan, you can surely imagine!

We figured if we apply these same rules to the cards for men we would be safe! Anything fishing, and anything that goes with their team! This rule of thumb won't be helpful when searching for the right screwdriver, but it might make that masculine card making a little less frustrating!

This is my brand new stamp from Lili of the Valley called, "Gone Fishing."

It can be found in the "Boys'" category. 

This card is being entered into The Stamping Boutique Birthday Challenge.

It is also being entered into Shelly's Images Blog "Anything Goes" Challenge

 and the Fresh Brewed Designs, Freshly Brewed Challenges #63, "Something New."

A Wonderfully Creepy Day

With every new season comes my favorite time of year! :) I just can't decide. Summer rolls around and I am ready to fall in love with bright yellow sunshine, ocean blue colors, sand castles, the smell of chlorine by the pool, and back yard grilling, and ... and ... well the list goes on and on. I can't even begin to talk about the beauty of Winter and Spring! This weekend we had temperatures in the high 60's and low 70's! A cold front rolled through that rivals some Christmas mornings in Fayetteville, North Carolina! We spent all day yesterday tucked away upstairs with friends, crafting and planning what to craft next! It was obvious that everyone was enjoying the Fall themed projects they were working on. The Cricut was humming out a spooky mansion, spider punch outs sprinkled the tables, witches boots and hats laid awaiting bedazzlement, pumpkins, scarecrows and goblins all waiting to be fitted with googly eyes... It was a wonderfully creepy day! Ahhhh Fall... my favorite time of year, until Winter anyway.

 This cute little witch came in a set of Halloween Cling stamps that I purchased at Michaels craft store.  Unfortunately, I don't have the packaging and neglected to write down the name of the stamp set. If any of you happen to know, please leave me a comment so that I can acknowledge it. 

This card is being entered into the Horizontal Challenge at Moxie Fab World.  They have some incredibly fun challenges, so be sure to visit their site and see what sparks your interest! 

It will also be entered in the Fresh Brewed Challenge #63 at Freshly Brewed Designs. The theme was "Something New." It may look like the same ole' same ole' but trust me, I CUT an image that I colored with Copic markers! ACK! I was sure it was going to be disastrous! 

Halloween Bucket List

This little stamp had me reminiscing about the Halloweens of my childhood!

I know what kids did at Halloween parties growing up! I heard about them ... The old barn at Farmer Joe's place where all the kids dressed up in ghoulish and cute costumes sat on bales of hay, played fun games, and BOBBED FOR APPLES! I heard all about these parties!

OH, we went trick or treating. My mom would dress us up in a costume that she toiled over the sewing machine to make, if she had time, or a store bought one if she didn't. We used good old fashioned pillow cases to gather our candy loot, roaming the neighborhood until the very last minute, if mom would let us! My brother and I would rush home and dump all the candy into separate piles on the living room floor trading out and bargaining to get our favorites from each other. Rick liked the Reese Cups and I liked Snickers and B-B-Bats (only the banana flavor!) We were content with our little family Halloweens and I cherish those sweet candy memories.

One of my favorite stories, although I was too young to remember, is one that my mom tells every year.  "Remember that time we ran out of candy and I went to Food Lion to get more? Your Dad didn't turn off the front porch light .... so of course the trick or treaters still came to the house and rang the door bell.  Instead of turning them away, he had the bright idea to give them .... what..... ?????  A handful of Nestles Toll House Chocolate Chip Morsels! WELL, that didn't go over well! Ya know what I mean? They scooped the chocolate chip morsels out of their bags and pelted them at the front door! Ting ..Ting.. Ting!" I laugh at the story every year when mom tells it, and despite the fact that I have reminded her that I don't remember it, "Remember that time....," is just how the story goes!

So, I have decided this year to add a little something to my bucket list! Since I missed the parties at the old barns, with the apple cider and apple bobbing and carmel apples, and hay rides, I am going to do it! I am going drive myself out to some old farm and crash a kid's Halloween party! :) I am going to run in the three legged race, dance even if it's by myself and BOB FOR APPLES!

   

For this card I used the adorable "Bobbing for Apples" from Sassy Cheryl's Digis.

I thought I might also try my cute little creation in these challenges.

Color Me Creative Copic Challenge #26 - Fall or Halloween  Fall 2

Sassy Cheryl's "Show Us Something Good to Eat" Challenge #81

Lexi's Creations "Autumn" Challenge # 48

DigiStamps4joy "The Colours of Fall" Challenge # 27

Crafting When We Can "Do It Your Own Way!" Challenge # 1

Crafty Purple Frog Challenges "Fall into Fall"

WE WON! WE WON!

YAAAAY! We won the My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns Sketch #26! How incredibly exciting and special! All the more so because my brother, MSgt Richard W. Croteau, was deployed again just yesterday. Ricky Wayne you may be my "little" brother but you are truly and sincerely my hero! May the time you are deployed be swift and safe for you and all of your crew! Love you! 

Pink Dreams & Blue Jean Wishes

There is absolutely nothing better than a comfortable pair of well worn, perfectly faded blue jeans! There comes a time in every girls life when she must depart from her most precious and wonderful pair.  Normally, I wear them until they are too thin to throw in a yard sale or donate, but trashing them is just too heartbreaking! So I got to thinkin' what better way to celebrate our years together than to cut them up, put them on cards, and send them to friends! :) This little Pink Dreams & Blue Jean Wishes is the result of that brilliant idea! So watch out friends... you may just find a piece of my hind quarters in your mailbox!

This card is also being entered in the Shaped Sketch Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. They have some really fun challenges! Be sure to click on over there and play along!

LadyBug Crafts Ink Challenge TLT #37-Flowers is another great challenge I found to enter this one into this week.  So stop by there and check them out as well!

Fall is Coming!

Just this weekend I looked at the weather and told Michele, "Fall is coming!" The temperatures in the low 90's had me all excited and thinking about pumpkins and scarecrows and black cats. So with the AC pumping and the floor fan on full blast we sat down and crafted this card, dreaming of days when the leaves would change colors, when the wind would be more than just a gust of hot air and strange children would knock on our door asking for candy!

This card was made from a Bugaboo stamp called, "Hween Brat Pumpkin"

These are the Copic Markers that Michele used to color the image.

This card is also being entered into the cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com

CPS235 Part 1 Sketch Challenge

Everything Nice

Days spent getting in and out of the car running errands can be grueling in the damp North Carolina summers! Those days can often cause a normally polite and jovial southern lady to become grumpy and downright disagreeable. However, it is also on these long days and in these usual places, that you get to know the people and they in turn get to know you as a "regular." We have the sweetest young lady that works at the bank, her name is Christina. She is ALWAYS polite, she is ALWAYS smiling and her nails ALWAYS look like a million bucks! We thought of Christina when we saw this adorable image and decided that it and a little gift certificate to the nail salon was the perfect way to say thank you for ALWAYS making our errand days tolerable!

This is a Lili of the Valley stamp called, "New Hat."

This card is also being entered into the The Sweet Shop Challenge Blog.

Sketch #125

Stars & Stripes

You can never adequately thank the limitless number of men and women that serve in our United States military that protect our country and fight to ensure our freedoms. You can never adequately honor the memories of those lives lost on September 11, 2001. You can never adequately pay tribute to the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and volunteers from that day. For the soldiers and the civilians who gave then and continue to give now, for the the ones who haven't survived and for the families that continue without them, we want to say our small and simple thank you. One thank you just isn't enough, but if one becomes 100 and 100 becomes 1 million and 1 million becomes a chorus then maybe, just maybe, we will have begun to scratch the surface of what these men and women deserve. 

This card is dedicated to our family members who have proudly served this country.

Richard W. Croteau, Jr., Rocky D. Hupp, Nathan C. Blanton, Stanley L. Croteau, Bobby Hutson, Aaron Mensing,  Jack Feathers, David E. Holland, Alfred Fry, Gary Holland, William Holland, & John A. Holland. 

This stamp is from the Pure Innocence collection, "Love You With All My Heart."

These are the Copic Markers that I used to color the image.

This card is being entered into the 

My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns Sketch #26

and 

 My Time Made Easy Pretty Palette #26 and Time To Remember

 

Young at Heart!

Have you ever met one of those people that don't seem to grow old gracefully? Not the kind that kick and scream and fight it all the way down the long and winding road. The people that you have know for 20 or 30 or 40 years, that just don't seem to grow old AT ALL! The ones that embrace everyday, find something to smile about when they have a flat tire in the rain, manage to make a firefighter laugh when their home is burning down, and sing off tune loudly, enjoying every minute of it! Diane turned 60 yesterday. She is amazing! She is one of those people. And.... She is single! So please feel free to leave a message if you know of a southern gentleman that might make her day as bright as she makes others. :)

This stamp is a Lili of the Valley, "Rosie with a Cake."

These are the Copic Markers that I used to color the image.

A thousand sheets of paper giveaway

Hi everyone!

Be sure to check out Amy's A Thousand sheets of paper giveaway.  That's right.  She is giving away 1000 6x6 pieces of paper.

Good luck!