A Medical Nightmear, Challenges And An Announcement

Happy Monday everyone. I hope your weekend was a good one. First off I wanted to share something that happened to me last week. If you would rather just hear about the crafty stuff feel free to skip this. Last week I ended up back at the eye doctor because I am still having problems with blurry vision and the moisturizing drops I was told to use are not helping in fact they just make things worse. This time on the recommendation of my primary care physician I saw a different doctor. Unfortunately it did not go well though. Turns out my insurance has 2 different kinds of eye doctors and they can't do the same thing. I had no idea there was a difference. My primary told me to see an Eye MD this time and get them dilated. When I got there a nurse took me back and had me put the new glasses on the OD gave me. She then put some lenses over them and I could see. She seemed to think the problem was that I needed bifocals added to the new prescription but would have to come back to see the OD doctor again to get it because the MD could not do that. I was definitely not happy after I heard that because I didn't want to pay another copay. Anyways the new doctor finally came in. He didn't ask any questions about my medical history he just started looking at my eyes with the microscope then he said that I needed plugs in my eyes. I just saw "WHAT??" I could not believe what I was hearing especially after the lenses the nurse added to the glasses seemed to solve the problem. The MD then said I need to have a pereferable vision test done now then come back and have them dilated which would have resulted in even another copay. At this point I was not happy. There was no way I way paying to come back 2 more times and on top of that I did not understand why I needed plugs in my eyes and another test now when I was there to get them dilated. This MD ended up walking out saying he was going to get the OD I saw but neither of them came back. Finally the nurse returned with a new prescription for the bifocals. I ended up getting them added to my glasses but they will not be ready for 2 weeks. Have you ever heard anything so crazy?? After I got home and told Rich what happened he was not happy either and told me I needed to file a complaint which is what I did Friday. Things like this should not happen. I really hope that things will get better with health care but at this point I am not holding my breath. For now I am going to try the new glasses and see if they solve the problem if not I will have my primary deal with it from now on. I just hope she can handle it. I also hope nobody else ever has to go through something like this.
Now on to some crafty stuff. It is time for another Modern Mom Team Challenge. The theme this month was Reading Writing and Arithmetic. This is what I came up with

This project also qualifies for Sharrons Peeps Challenge #14 too which was to use the colors RED, YELLOW and CREAM with at least a dollop of WHITE.
I started with Lauren Meaders Boxed Lunch Template.
as the base. The piece of paper was made using the PTI spriral page die and the notebook paper stamps form the It's Offical Set. The name was made with the Outline Alphabet then colored with Copics. The Apple is from The Teachers Apple Set. The pencils are from the Take Note set. On the back of the lunch box you will find the cute ruler from the it's offical set too.

The inside of the box is lined too.
I would love to have your vote if you like it. You can also check out the other entries here too.
I also get to share some exciting news with you all today. Last week Leigh Ann Baird asked me to be a part of her Perfect Presentation Design Team. I was very honored be asked because I love her templates. Today she is releasing new cut files and templates. You are going to love them! I will be back soon with samples but in the meantime you can buy them here She has samples on her blog too.
That's it for now. I hope your week ahead will be a great one and I will be back soon with more crafty things to share.

August Papertrey Bloghop

The challenge this month is to make something with a brown lunch bag. This is what I came up with

I know it is a bit early to be thinking about Halloween since it is still August but but when I thought about what I wanted to make for this challange the first thing that came to mind was a treat bag for Halloween. It also just so happened that my new Tiny Treats Halloween Set and Mat Stack 4 die arrived just in time to use too.
I started by cutting off the top half of the paperbag. Next created the handles using 2 circle nestabilitie dies then cutting them in half. To decorate the front and back of the bag I attached some black cardstock. After that I attached another piece of Plum Pudding Cardstock that I ran through my cuttlebug using the polka dot embossing folder. Next I stamped the main image from the Tiny Treats Halloween set on the Mat Stack 4 die using Orange Zest ink. When I was done with that I stamped the sentiment and candy corn and colored them with Copics. A piece of Summer Sunrise Twill ribbon finishes it off. These are very simple to make and would make great treat bags for kids parties this Halloween. You could make a whole set with the other images in the set too.
I look forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with now. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great night!

Happy Birthday Stacie And An Anniversary

It is a beautiful day here and we just got back from visiting my favorite place, The Denver Botanic Gardens. This is the best time of year to go. If you ever come for a visit I highly recommend you go there.
Here are some photos of a few of the beautiful things we saw today.

It is also my sisters birthday today. She is very special to me and I am so grateful to have her for a sister. She means the world to me. I am still waiting for her to tell me what so wants for a present but in the meantime I made her this card.

When the PTI Year of the Flowers Roses set came out I knew I was going to use it for her birthday card because she loves roses. The inspiration for this card came from this one Nicole made. I changed a few things though. I used Sweet Blush Bitty Dots paper on the rose, The sentiment is from the Birthday Basics set. The background was made using the Linen Impression plate and Vintage Cream Cardstock. I gave the card to her yesterday when I saw her but she has not opened it yet. I hope she likes it. I am pretty sure she will.
Today is also my 3 year blogging anniversary too! Blogging is something I really like to do. When I first started my blog I didn't know if anyone would read it but they do. I just want to say thanks to everyone that visits and takes the extra time to comment as well. It really means a lot to me to know people are interested in my life and enjoy the things I make.
That's all for now. I have some new things in the works and hope to be able to share them with you soon, In the meantime thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

Technique Tuesday

It's time for another Technique Tuesday Video. Today I will be showing you how I made this card.

If you have any questions let me know. I hope you enjoy it!

A Freak Of Nature and Peeps Challenge #13

Happy Tuesday! Hope you are all doing well and the weather is good where you are. Last Wednesday afternoon we had a pretty big thunderstorm that included some hail. Rich was with Emilia at her skating lesson and I was home with our dogs because Sophie is terrified of thunder. I was downstairs working on today's project and she was hiding under my stamp table. It started getting pretty noisy upstairs so I came up to see what was going on and to shut the windows but didn't notice anything being that unusual. By the time Rich and Emilia got home it had stopped. A few hours later I got a call from my mom saying that they had just gotten home and discovered both of the trees in the backyard of their house (the house I grew up in) were ripped out of the ground. They are only about a mile away from me. This is what happened.
You would think a tornado hit by the looks of it but they said it was just a microburst. There was only 1 other house in the neighborhood that had any damage besides theirs and was on another block. It freaks me out every time I look at these photos. I am just so thankful that nobody was hurt and the house is okay. It is amazing to see what mother nature can do though.
Today I also wanted to share with you the project I have been working on since last Wednesday. I finally got it finished last night. Carol is the host of the current Peeps Challenge which is to make something using inspiration from Mary Englebreit and includes

* Lots of Colors,
* Mixes Patterns,
* Layers upon layers and
* Finishes the inside!

This is what I came up with

I have been wanting to make something with Lauren Meaders Tea For You template for awhile now. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Turns out this template was a lot harder then I thought. After three attempts I threw them all in the trash and emailed Lauren to see if she could help me figure out what I was doing wrong. She assured me that the template works and encouraged me to try again. She also suggested I try lighter weight cardstock . That did help but I still had problems getting it to stick together. Finally on my 5th attempt I got it to work where I was finally happy with it. I am really glad I didn't give up. Once I got the base made I added Raspberry Fizz bitty dots paper to the front, back and top of the lid. I didn't have enough to add to the other sides so I added Hibiscus polka dots instead. Rich created the black and white checkerboard pattern for me and I used that for the handle, spout, and sides of the top. The flowers were created using a flower from the PTI Garden Of Life set. I stamped the image scanned it then traced it in Scal and had my Cricut cut them out. I used a white gel pen to create the stitching lines. The middles and leaves were from a Cuttlebug die. The rose on the top was made with the Rambling Rose Cut File using Vintage Cream Cardstock and Sweet Blush, Hibiscus, and Raspberry Fizz Inks. The leave were handcut from New Leaf Cardstock. I also finished the inside of the lid with more Bitty Dots Paper.

I hope you like it Carol! Thanks for a great challenge. I am off to relax now. I went and got my tooth fixed this afternoon and was a wreck before I left but thankfully it was not big deal and I got through it. Now I don't have to worry about it anymore.
I will be back soon with more things to share until then thanks for stopping by and I hope the rest of your week is a great one.

16 Years

16 years ago today Rich and I got married. It is hard to believe that much time has gone by. We have had our ups and downs like all couples do. Our biggest problem is we are both first born children and like to get our way but one of us, usually him gives in. Some things that I love about him the most are:
He is always on time and very dependable.
He is a hard worker and good at what he does even if he doesn't always like it.
He supports my stamping obsession!
He is a good father.
He is there for me when I really need him.
Something I will always remember is how he never left my side when I got so sick after having Emilia. I am very grateful to have him as a husband.
In honor of our anniversary I made him this card.

Recently he has gotten into bird watching. We have feeders in our back yard now and we sit outside watching the birds. The last few days there have been a pair of doves sitting on the power lines and he likes to make up stories about them. I tried to represent that in the card. The green bird is him and the pink bird is me. This card also qualifies for the current Embellish magazine challenge.
I started by stamping the text on stampers select white cardstock with dark chocolate ink then I matted it on Ripe Avacado Cardstock and attached it to the Brown base. After that I cut a circle through all three layers. Inside I attached the birds from the PTI Birds Of A Feather set so when you open the card you will only see them there.

Once again a very simple card but that is what he likes.
That's it for now I will be back soon with more things to share. Until then I hope the rest of your week is a great one and thanks for stopping by!