Monday again??

It was a rather fast weekend for me! On Friday night, I participated in the annual Relay for Life walk for cancer. Got there about 5 and hung around for a while, then came home to work, and went back and stayed until 6 a.m. Boy was I tired!! I really can't calculate how many miles I walked as we had to move the relay inside versus at the track field because of potential storms. When I got home, I crawled into bed..Ahhh, what a nice feeling that was! I woke up around noon, got up for a few minutes, and then crawled back into bed. I didn't get up for the day until 3:30!!! My kids were at my in-laws so it was just me and my hubby home. I'm so grateful he didn't wake me up! Then off to work I went! I had to make up some time. I would have rather stayed in bed or on the cough, though, because I was still quite tired and a little sore. I really wanted to accomplish SOMETHING in my studio but just didn't have it in me. I figured I could accomplish that on Sunday....WRONG!! I still had to work and I didn't make it up until Noon on Sunday. I know, I know, what a lazy bum!! My girls were to come home on Sunday so I got myself to the computer and worked until they got home. We had a nice afternoon. The girls went "swimming" in their pool. Daddy set up the pool at the bottom of the slide. Lucy didn't like it so well. Stephanie was OK with it but it was a little chilly in the wind. We were in and out of the pool throughout the afternoon. Then it was time to eat. We grilled pork chops and hot dogs and had a nice family supper. Then Mommy went off to search for a new bike and trailer. First stop, Shopko...They have NO bikes at all there. Next stop was Target. I really liked one of the bikes they had there, my favorite color PINK, but it was a little higher than we wanted to spend. So off to Wal-Mart I went. I had to get groceries, too, so it was my last stop. I found 2 bikes that I liked, but figured I go with the mountain bike versus the cruiser....and I found a trailer for the girls to boot! Steve put the trailer together and off the girls and I went. UFFDA! That trailer was sooo much harder to pull than the neighbors' trailer!! I made it down the street and back and my legs HURT! So, Daddy will have to adjust the trailer so the girls aren't dragging their little behinds on the ground as that seemed to be the problem..I think??? Well, that's all for today. I better get back to work. Off to Sisseton tonight for CTMH Hostess Club!! These ladies are super fun, and they are so excited it just makes me so happy to go there!!

Rustic Alphabet

My husband is pretty handy with a chain saw and he created this bear in one afternoon. He asked me to stamp our last name on the board so I thought the Rustic Alphabet would be PERFECT! Because I was unsure how CTMH regular ink would work, I decided to use our Staz-On. It really stained up my stamps, but I think it turned out great!! Now I just need to add a few outdoorsy stamps to the ends and it will be even better!!

Father's Day card

Here is another father's day card I made. It is hard to see on the picture, but randomed stamped the fly from the World's Best Dad (April SOTM) on the Olive CS. I then stamped the 3 fish in Olive, Cocoa, and Autumn Terracott and cut out. I stamped the fishing rod in Cocoa and cut it out. I added Natural Hemp as the fishing line to connect the fish to the rod. Using B&T paper from Rustic Trail (retired), I added the waves stamped in black for the water.

Tool Time

Thanks to Cheryl Even for inspiring me to create this card for my husband. He has a side business in woodworking, framing, making logs with names carved out. He has his own shop that is about the size of a garage......I just love the way it turned out. The only true measurement on this card is the card base. I just stamped the images from Tool Time stamp set (C1314) with Autumn Terracotta (hammer and saw), Olive (paint brush), and Indian Corn Blue (screwdriver) onto Colonial White CS. I then random stamped the 2 screw stamps in Olive and Indian Corn Blue to the Colonial White CS strip on the side. Happy Father's Day sentiment is from Say It In Style (D1283) stamped with Autumn Terracotta with Chestnut Roon (cat's eye fluid chalk) around the edges (I couldn't find my Chocolate distressing ink!). I attached this with brads and added 2 more brads for embellishments. The CW CS is layered on Black CS. The card base is Grey Wool. Thanks for looking!!

Tickled Pink

CTMH came out with Tickled Pink at the perfect time! This kit matches the Easter pictures of Lucy & Stephanie! I followed the LOs shown in the instruction booklet but added my own touches. I used the Cricut to cut EASTER. For the pictures ahead of the Easter one, I need to add a few more things, but not quite sure...Any ideas??? Comments would be greatly appreciated!

Be Yourself card

I made this simple and fast card from May's SOTM, "Be Yourself". I ran the White Daisy CS through my Big Shot using the Swiss Dots from Cuttlebug and then cut out the girl. To add a little 'touch' I added the black gingham ribbon. Thanks for Looking!

Family Fest Fun!

OK, so what if I had a headache yesterday?? I needed to get out of the house and do something with my girls. We live across the street from McKinley Park where they hold a yearly Family Fun Fest with free games for the kids and free hot dogs, chips, and pop. I wanted to take the girls but didn't want to do go by myself (steve was 'busy' helping a friend...) with the way I was feeling and so once again to my rescue, Neighbor Girl (a.k.a. Jodi), Allan & Shelby came and "picked" us up on their way over! Oh what fun the girls had in the jumping thingy (what IS it called anyway???)! Jodi snapped a few pictures (I didn't even think to bring my camera, even though I was holding it when she came!) The girls also enjoyed finding money in the sand, but unfortunately, only 1 nickel was found by Lucy :( Off to the ball toss to knock down 3 bowling pins. The girls did great so they each got a piece candy. Then to the beanbag toss. Who knew that Lucy had such good aim?? She made 2 in a row into the hole!! Woo Hoo Lucy girl! More candy was given...... Then we headed back to the jumpy thingy for more fun while Mommy grabbed some hot dogs, chips, and pop. Lucy also tried to dunk a young boy in the dunk pond, but didn't quite make the hit! Enjoy the pictures! More posting tonight of artwork if I find some time! Once I get these pictures printed, will post the LOs created with them!

Simple Pleasures LO

These are the first 2 pages I completed in my newly renovated scrap/laundry room (not much to post for pictures yet, though...) I used the Simple Pleasures level 1 PP and stickers. I also added "Happiness is..." rub-ons from CTMH along with some of the rub-on picture corners & swirly bracket. The letters are cut from a Sizzlit with the Big Shot. Pictures were taken professionally by Linda Kuehn for Starrography. This is one of my favorite color combinations and thought it was perfect paper for the sepia tone of the pictures.

Wednesday Wearies...

Happy Hump Day, as they say! Today once again I woke up with a thumper of a headache. This marks the 10th day in a row of having a headache. I have seen the doctor once, been on 2 different meds, and still they keep returning. SO, the next step...CT scan of the brain. Since I have braces (with pretty blue bands, Lucy's choice!), I cannot have an MRI. Finally, after 8 hours and 2 doses of Vicodin I finally have some relief while lying down. If I get up, then the throbbing starts.... Thank goodness for wireless internet and long cord on the laptop. I'm so tired of lying in bed and trying to sleep...I'm NOT tired, just have a headache. A person can only sleep so much, but I much prefer to be working (what's wrong with me??? i'd rather be scrapping, duh!). However, after 10 days of a headache, I'm ready to work normal hours and be done for the day so I can spend evenings worry-free with my family; not rushing to get back to work at 9 p.m. Once I'm feeling better, I will get more artwork posted here. . Sorry to my 2 followers that there isn't much right now. I promise....coming SOON!! That is my goal for the weekend, to load up on artwork here on the blog. Then it is time to start participating on some of the wonderful challenges I see on other blogs. I'm thinking of starting off with Color Me Monday by Jeanette Lynton.

Magic Moments Level 1

These are 2 layouts I demonstrated at a home gathering. They are using the level 1 preprinted cardstock in the Magic Moments kit. They took me a total of 10 minutes to create and I showed them how easy it is to stamp your title on a scrap if you don't have enough letter stickers! This was one of my favorite kits.

Lucy's Babies LO - featuring Dazzling Die Cuts

CTMH offered a past special called Dazzling Die Cuts. I needed to showcase these to my customer so I created this LO of Lucy & her babies that stay at Grandpa & Grandma Lentsch's house. I used Life Delights B&T dueo, flower Dazzling Die Cuts from the spring harmony set, Hollyhock craft buttons, Dimensional Elements "L" and sparkles. I believe I adapted this LO from the Reflections reference book. If you have any questions about the LO or would like to know more about our products, please visit my website: nickilentsch.myctmh.com, Products, Shop On Line. The Dazzling Die Cuts are no longer available, but we do carry the Fancy Cuts Botanicals and new Fancy Cuts Borders that are equally as wonderful!

My Top 10 mini album-Life Delights

At our last unit meeting we put together a cute mini album labeled "My Top 10". It was so much fun and so EASY to do! Michelle got the instructions/template from Split Coast Stampers. I just offered this as a project for my HC in Britton and the gals had so much fun! This will also be the project we are doing in Sisseton on the 29th. I showed the gals this book and they went nuts over it!! They were shouting, "I want 2 of them!" LOVE the enthusiam these projects bring to my customers. Makes it all worth while driving the 60 or 90 miles to hold these clubs!

Sunday already? Where did the weekend go? We had a relaxing day on Saturday. Lucy & I went shopping at the LSS and she was so good that Lori gave her a sucker! She waited so patiently to get that sucker.. She even sat under the tree with the bear for a mini picnic! Then we headed to my fav clothing store (Maurices) to use up the "free" $15 I had left to use up PLUS I had a 10% off coupon...can't beat that! So I picked up a couple shirts and we headed home. Then I had to mow the yard (YUCK). If any of you know me, I HATE mowing the yard...but it was my duty while Daddy blew up the new swimming pool for the girls and filled it up with 1/2 cold water and 1/2 boiled water to get it warm enuf for them. They had a BLAST! It was nice to just sit in the shade and watch the girls have fun w/o a care in the world. All that fun and sun took a toll on them and they were crabby apples when we finally went in the house. I promised them I'd take them to the big pool today. So, after Stephie wakes from her nap (and Daddy, too) we will head to the big pool to have some more fun in the sun!

I'm adding more artwork while I wait for my fam to take their naps....great opportunity to get caught up on this blogging thing, too!

Emporium Card & Box Set

Thanks to Lisa Stenz for the great templates/cutting guides for using just ONE level 1 CMTH Emporium PP to make a matching box with 6 cards! I went a few steps further and used up some scraps to make 2 more cards and 1 tag. There are plenty of scraps to make even more. Add in a few matching CS scraps and other fun embellishments to make even MORE cards or tags!! Possibilities are endless!

My Creations Display 6x6 Album

Here I used CTMH PP Boom-Di-Ada for a 12-pg display album adapted from a fellow consultant off the BB (sorry, I don't have a name to give credit to!!) I love how simple and easy these pages are. Add a mini calendar to each page and you have a great display calendar for your desk. Create 24 pages and you can have a front and back display album that would be great for your office desk, Daddy's desk, etc. I plan to offer this as a workshop in the future for one of my many hostess clubs!

Key To My Heart LO

Here is a LO I made to send in for a contest with CTMH using the new spring colors: Tulip, Sorbet, Juniper, and Creme Brulee. The Key To My Heart PP was a special offered by CTMH and had these 4 colors in it. I LOVE this paper!! I loved my LO so much that I couldn't part with it...so needless to say, I didn't win cuz I didn't submit. I'm slowing getting my artwork posted on my blog. I just started my blog last weekend and so I'm still working on tweaking it.

TGIF! We had a great evening with our neighbors, The Spilde's!! We grilled out hamburgers, brats, and hotdogs. Add in some grilled potatoes and onions plus coleslaw and a grand finale of S'MORES!!! Reilley sat so nice with the little girls at their small table. Shelby, Lucy & Stephanie all enjoyed his company!! Fischer showed off his acrobatic skills on the swingset! Doing flips around backwards. WOW!

Girls had their bath and now Stephanie is down for the count. Lucy is having fun jumping from the toy box onto the loveseat...Let's hope she winds herself down soon so I can get back to work!

Soon there will be more posts of my artwork, but right now I'm busy getting caught up on work since I've been battling a week-long headache! Finally today the doctor gave me a med that has alleviated it for the most part so I can function. Let's hope it stays away for good!!

Feel free to leave comments or become a follwer of my blog...It would be a great compliment!!

Fancy Cuts Botanicals LO

This LO is made using Chocolate CS for the base as well as Juniper and Sorbet CS. I used the Fancy Cuts Botanicals and added a Circle Window Charm to one as well as a Sparkle to the center of the larger layered flower in the center. This is my sweet Stephanie, who is now 2 yrs old!