HIPPITY HOPPITY. . . .

Easter's on its way!  Do you remember that song?  Dan sang a line of it to Levi and now he asks me to sing it all the time.  The only part he can remember is "hip hop Easter is on its way".  Too cute.

I've been working on the boys' baskets.  We do the whole Easter Bunny hiding the basket thing along with coloring eggs, leaving carrots out, etc.  I'm a big fan of tradition and this is what I did as a child.  I remember one year when I felt that my mom was lying to me about the bunny bringing our baskets, that I left a note for the Easter Bunny asking him to please sign his autograph on my note.  I figured I could compare my mother's handwriting to the autograph and really know she was "lying".   Well, mom was one step (or hop) ahead of me and apparently used her left hand to write "Easter Bunny" on the paper.  It sure did look like a rabbit used his paw to write it and so for one more Easter, I believed that a rabbit really hid my basket! 

Levi's and Noah's baskets are so easy to fill - too easy, I might add.  I have to stop myself from buying all those little things for fillers - bubbles, crayons, paints, matchbox cars, and of course candy, etc.  So much fun for so little money.  Tyler's and Tanner's baskets are a different story.  What on earth can you buy teenage boys from the $1 aisle????  I picked up some large candy bars, Jr. Mints, and I will probably get them a gas card or car wash dollars from the local convenience store.   I have to say that Ty and Tanner are such good sports about the whole pretending the rabbit is coming and all.  They hunt for their baskets just like the little guys and play along with it all.  I truly am blessed with such great boys. 

Here is a bucket I found at the Target $ aisle.  I personalized it with my Cricut for a certain girl who's coming to visit us this week.  I filled it with some cute things and a little bit of candy.  I hope she likes it.

MORE CARDS

I've needed some new inspiration for my cards.  I get bored doing the same old thing.  I have a blog I follow that has tutorials - it is where I found the instructions to make the flower pot cards below.  You can see the instructions here.  Dawn's ideas are awesome and she makes it easy to follow the instructions.  If you go to her home page, and click on the tutorial button, you can scroll through her videos and find ideas for all sorts of things.

I love the flower pot cards, but because I don't own a lot of Stampin' Up things, I just improvise with what I've got.  I think I made the flowers a bit too small here - they don't look like they are filling the flower pot - maybe I'll add a couple more.

This shutter card was a  lot of fun.  I've made 3 so far.  One I sent to my grandma, the other I made for my honey for Valentine's Day (don't want to show that one yet), and this one I made for my adorable nephew, Stephen, who will be 1 next month.

I have found that making cards is therapeutic for me.  When I'm working on cards, all I think about is the design of the card and it really gives my brain a break from the routine of life.  Plus, I know how good it feels to receive a card, so that makes me happy knowing I might make someone smile with my card.

THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT THE BUG

Here are some naked paper dolls.  Why do I have these?  Well, they are the base for a lot of projects that I do on a regular basis. 

These were cut out using a Cricut machine (pronounced like the insect, cricket).  I am absolutely in love with my Cricut machine.  I've owned it now for a few years.  It is the original smaller machine.  I wish I would have known they were coming out with a bigger one.  I would have waited, but anyway. . .

Here is my little baby:
(Please do not look at the creative genius' mess surrounding the Cricut!)

I use it all the time for scrapbooking, but it has many many other uses.  See, I teach the 3-6 year olds Bible class, and this machine has been worth its weight in gold!   Let me explain about the Cricut, in case you don't know.  You buy this machine.  It will not cut anything out without a cartridge.  They have over 50 cartridges on the market now - I think I own about 8.  Each cartridge cuts out a variety of things.  For instance, the "Walk in my Garden" cartridge has a variety of flowers, insects, garden-theme things.  You can cut these out from 1 inch up to 5.5 inches (up to 12 inches on the BIG Cricut).     Here are some of my cartridges (again, ignore the mess -I'm working on a lot of projects right now!)

The cartridges are a bit expensive (around $40), which explains why I own about 8.  I always ask for a new one for holidays/birthdays, so I hope to keep my collection growing.  But even with my small number of cartridges, I can do A LOT!

The naked paper dolls were the base for Adam and Eve, which I made for my friend, Jeri's baby Bible class.   Here is what they look like completed.

The Cricut will cut out paper, chipboard, vinyl, material - imagine the possibilities!   Here is a link to the Cricut messageboards where ladies post their finished crafts.  There are some talented ladies out there!  http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tt.aspx?forumid=8

As I said before, I mostly use my bug for scrapbooking and for my Bible class.  I am a very simple scrapbooker!  Some ladies spend 2 hours or more on a single page!  Ugh - who has the time???  Plus, the page goes in a scrapbook and gets put on a shelf.  How many people actually see that artwork?  I like to do some cute things on my pages, and sometimes, I take more time on certain pages.  Usually, though, it is a slap together work.  Here is a page I recently did for Noah's book.  This was late at night and I have a whole stack of pictures to scrapbook, so I was in a bit of a hurry!

Not too bad, but nothing fancy.  I know I should cut out the letters for the title, but seriously, I have probably 100 or more pictures just to catch up Noah's book to Feb. 2009!  If I cut out all those letters, it would take me forever.  I have 4 boys to scrapbook!  I usually write in the dates and I don't journal very often.  I feel that my pictures tell the story :-).

So, if you are thinking you might like a Cricut - you probably are wrong - you will LOVE it!  Wait until after Black Friday to buy one - you might get a good deal on the big one like my mom did last year - she spent less on her's than I did for mine!  NOT FAIR!

Well, enjoy your day and don't forget to scrapbook those memories!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  If you can't find peace within yourself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.