Fall Colors Challenge

I have a card to share today that I made for the latest Riley and Company challenge which was to use fall colors. I love the colors of fall, all the reds, yellows and oranges are just gorgeous. I picked this image because this is something that I have been doing a lot of lately! I have a compost bin along our back fence line and a lot of things that grew in pots over the summer. At the end of the season, I mix in al the dirt from the pots into the compost bin. And to help me do this, I actually have a little red wagon that I have been pulling back and forth across my yard. The image is Riley and Company, paper is DCWV, button from my stash.

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I have another project that has kept me busy for the past several days. I have a very small kitchen with almost no storage or counter space. I have been using the closets in the spare bedrooms to store kitchen stuff. I have had a steel storage rack but that wasn't quite enough space either, especially since I have been canning on a regular basis. I decided to buy another shelf last week so that I now have two and they take up the entire back wall.

Here is the new shelf with all my canning stuff. I still have canned goods in my pantry but this allowed me to get them out of the spare bedroom. My canners and stock pots now have a place to live and the baskets on top hold tools (funnels, food mill, tongs, etc), lids and rings, and the last one has pectins, fruit fresh, and clear gel. 

Here is the back wall of my kitchen. The shelf on the left holds my pots and pans, bulk grains and canisters, plastic storage containers and several small appliances. It's still a little messy, so don't look too close at that one!

Setting up the second shelf and getting everything organized on there took a big chunk of my weekend, but I am extremely happy with the end result. 

Have  a great day!

Eye of Newt...Toe of Frog

First of all, I hope all of my friends in the path of Hurricane Sandy are all safe! 

I almost forgot to post this card I made for the Riley and Company challenge and today is the last day. The challenge was to make a center step card. I have made these before and really like the way they look. I used Wicked Witch Sophie for the Riley in Oz release for my Halloween themed card. Sophie is colored with Copics, I used paper from a couple of 6 x 6 pads that I had and the little rat border was made with a Martha Stewart punch. I punched out "Eye of Newt" with a Sizzix die.

Have a great day!

Riley in a Pumpkin Patch

Fall is certainly in the air here in Tennessee right now. I am loving the cooler mornings and evenings, not quite cool enough for a jacket, but almost. Fall is probably my favorite time of the year, I love the colors, the coolness, the smells, and knowing that the holidays are approaching. There are things I love about each season, but fall is special. I taught preschool for a very long time and one thing I miss about that is the yearly trip to the pumpkin patch with the kids. It was always so much fun and when you are there with twenty 4 year olds, you can act like a kid yourself. This image reminds me of going to pick out pumpkins. The challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week is to use the color orange. I thought this one would work great for the challenge. Riley is colored with Copics and I used paper from The Paper Studio and a little leaf rhinestone that I have had for a while. I will be sending this to my niece through the mail so I kept it fairly simple.

Have a great day!

Vampire Scrapling

I learned something new! While reading the new challenge on the Riley and Company blog, I saw that the challenge was "Scraplings".  I had no idea what that meant so fortunately they provided this description: 

So what are scraplings???? Scraplings are normally 1.25" x 4.25" because they are often made from the off cuts you get when you make a square card (4.25" square) from a piece of card that is 4.25" x 5.5". However if you are like me your scraplings may be a little wider depending on what you are working on at the time. Now for me 1.25" is way too narrow and I normally have wider card then that left over so you can makes yours wider .... BUT for this challenge they cannot be any wider then 2.5 inches that is for the base of the scrapling ... you can have wider pieces hanging off your scrapling if you like, but that is up to you.

I thought that was pretty cool, especially since I end up with so many scraps of paper that exact size! My scrapling uses Count DracuRiley, colored with Copics, some  bat paper I have had for a while, some baker's twine gifted to me by my friend Jennifer, and some mini red brads. 

Fun challenge and I know I will be making more of these. 

Riley Birthday Challenge

Happy Monday! I had a card to show you that I made for the Riley and Company challenge this week. The challenge was to make a birthday card. Perfect timing for me, the fall brings so many birthdays so I am in need of lots of birthday cards. And the challenge provided incentive to get some done instead of waiting to the last minute. Several of the birthday cards will need to go through the mail , so I kept the embellishments pretty minimal. I used paper from Basic Grey and Cake Riley is from Riley and Company and colored with Copics, I added some "card candy" and a tag that reads "celebrate" to finish my card.

We had such a nice weekend here, the weather was really nice. Kip and I went out for ice cream Saturday night and since it was so nice, he suggested sitting outside while we ate it. I agreed, by the time we were done, we were both a little chilly. It's the first time I have felt a little touch of fall in the air. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I can't wait until it is officially here!

Have a great day!

Little Red Riding Hood?

I am running late today! My computer has decided to be difficult this morning. It seems like it is working--finally! And I have another Little Red Riding Hood to show you today! The challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week is "Your Favorite Fairy Tale". Unfortunately I don't have any of the fairy tale stamps--yet! I love using my Rileys and their challenge is the one that I play most regularly so I didn't want to sit this one out. I went through all my Rileys and I couldn't come up with something that reminded me of a fairy tale.I went back through a couple of times and still couldn't come up with anything. Maybe it's because I have Little Red on my mind or what but while I was looking at Obi Moose , I decided I could make him look kind of like a fairy tale character. I colored him with a red cloak and took off the end of the light saber, keeping the handle. I drew a little basket and my Jedi Master became a fairy tale character. I decided to have Red walking through the forest on the way to Grandma's house. I used a Sizzix die, paper from my stash and some Bo Bunny star brads. 

Anyone have great weekend plans? I am going to a crop tonight at my LSS, I always have a lot of fun doing that. After that, the long weekend is going to be pretty laid back--I hope! 

Have a great weekend!

Riley and Sophie on Vacation

I am  so glad the weekend is finally here! Since I was out of town last weekend and on the road so much, it felt like I didn't have a weekend, that makes this one even better. Kip is out of town on business and my plans for today pretty much include me, my Copics and a huge stack of images! The challenge this week on the Riley and Company blog is Riley/Sophie on Vacation. I know I would love a trip the beach about now, so I made a beach/water themed card to represent their vacation. Bikini Sophie and Fins Riley images are from Riley and Company and were colored with Copics, I used papers from Bo Bunny, a Fiskars wave punch and some brads from my stash.

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I hope someone can help me with a problem I have had commenting on some blogs. It isn't all of them, but several blogs that I have been reading and commenting on as well as some new ones. Normally when you go to the comment area, below the comment box there is something along the lines of "you are commenting as (in my case) Gina Lindsay. If I am not signed in there will be a drop down box that allows me to select a profile and then I can sign in from there. Over the past couple of weeks I have been to several blogs it has that "select a profile" drop down box, even if I am signed in, but it will not allow me to select anything. And since I can't select a profile, I cannot leave a comment. Most blogs I read I am not having this problem with, only about 7 or 8 of them. If I sign in with my same log in info and try to read or comment on these same blogs on my iPad, I don't have any issues, it is only happening on my desktop machine. Does anyone else have this problem or can you tell me how to fix it?

Thanks!

Christmas in July

Happy Friday! I am playing along with the Riley and Company challenge today, which is Christmas in July. Every year I say I am going to get an early start on my Christmas cards and every year I wait until the last minute. Except this year! Thanks to challenges like this and thanks to the monthly Copic class I teach wanting to do a Christmas card a month, I actually have a nice start on my cards. I used Snow Globe Riley for my card and colored the image with Copics. I used paper from Basic Gray, snowflakes from a Martha Stewart punch and some little acrylic drops from my stash. 

I am excited for the weekend to finally be here. No huge canning sessions for me this weekend though, I will be attending a family reunion. Poor Kip has to work so he will be stuck at home on his computer all weekend while I travel to South Carolina, after making a pit stop in Cleveland for my niece's birthday. Growing up, my family went to this reunion almost every year, and my parents still go, but it has been a number of years since I have been. When my Grandmother passed away in 2000, as many of us as possible went to the reunion with him that next summer since it was his first time to go in about 55 years without my Grandmother. Life gets crazy and since I live almost 7 hours away, so I haven't been since then. The timing worked out great this year and my boss was kind enough to give me an extra day or two off so I am able to go. I am excited to get to see people I haven't seen in a while!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Patriotic Riley

Good Morning! I am getting a late start posting today. I am going to a crop tonight and know I will be out later than normal so I slept in this morning. I have a patriotic card that I meant to post over the week of the 4th, but it slipped my mind. I guess now it is in honor of the upcoming Olympics. Maybe since Riley heard all the uproar about the US Olympians wearing uniforms (uniforms, outfits, can't remember what they are called) that were made in China rather than in our country, so Riley is going all natural for the opening ceremonies. Grand Ole Flag Riley is from Riley and Company, it was colored with Copic markers, used buttons from a "Dress then Up" pack and used paper from The Paper Studio.

Now I am off to Whole Foods to take advantage of their one day sale on cherries. Then back home to pit said cherries and can them.

Have a great weekend!

Dressing Riley Challenge

Happy Monday! I have had a such a busy weekend that it will almost be relaxing to return to work this morning. I did manage to sneak in some time at my craft table so all is good. I have found that missing too much creative time makes me a little grumpy. I decided to pay along with the challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week. The challenge is called "Dressing Riley" and the challenge was to use a Riley and actually draw in his clothing. Now, that's a challenge! Drawing isn't something that I do that often and usually I am not too happy with the results, but I am happy with this one. I had just gotten this stamp in the mail and decided he would look great with some plaid pants, after that I just drew in some lines for his shirt and then colored everything with Copics. I really liked the way this turned out, hope you do too!

I found a good deal on peaches the other day and decided to buy a bushel. So I spent the weekend peeling, slicing and dicing peaches. I made peach jam, raspberry peach jam, canned some jars of sliced peaches and made a ton of peach popsicles. I also went with my SIL to pick blackberries, that will hopefully be jam later today. Blackberries are probably my favorite thing in the entire world. I remember when I was a little girl my favorite treat to eat at my grandmothers was a "peanut butter pocketbook" which was a piece of bread with some peanut butter and a lot of blackberry jam and then folded in half. Who knows where I came up with that name, but I named EVERYTHING when I was little. I have always been a little "unique". I named all my clothes too, so it was never just "where is my pink gown" it would be "where is my Cedric gown?". Everything had a name. Hmmm, I think I may know why my parents had me tested after I started school. I am not sure how I didn't drive them nuts!

Here is a picture of the weekend's work:

Surfing Riley

Good Morning! I am finally able to get a post done, our internet has been giving us some problems. It works for a little while, then gets ssooooo sllloooowww and then doesn't work at all. After calling the cable company, they determined that they issue had something to do with something outside so they came and got it fixed for me. I missed it too!! The challenge this week on the Riley and Company blog is to make a card for the special male or Father's in our life. I decided to make a card for my brother who is a single dad. He and my niece and nephew love going to the beach so I thought a beach themed card would be perfect for him. I thought that Surfing Riley would make a perfect spinner card too, so that's what I did. 

Here is another picture with Riley tumbling across the card. 

Image is from Riley and Company, papers are from Jo-Anns and everything was colored with Copics.

Thanks for visiting today!!

Riley and Sophie Relaxing at Home

Riley and Company is having another challenge. This week the challenge was to feature both Riley and Sophie on your project. I decided to create a little scene with Riley and Sophie relaxing at home. I used Knitting Sophie and Reading Riley for my card. How do you like their living room? Since we have had such a crazy month or so, I thought sitting at home in comfy chairs sounded pretty good to me! Kip had asked me what I wanted to do this past weekend and I just showed him this. He took the hint and we had a very low key weekend, pretty much hanging out around the house. The papers I used are from DCWV, Riley and Sophie are from Riley and Company, the ovals I used to make the rug are Nestabilities. The little sampler I just drew to look like a cross stitch wall hanging.

Have a great Monday!!

Riley as Rocky

Hello! The challenge on the Riley and Company challenge blog was a fun one this week. It was a recipe challenge to use three stars, two buttons and one ribbon. When I was looking through my stamps I thought this one would be perfect to use stars with and then decided to go with a patriotic theme too. I remember one of the Rocky movie posters featured a patriotic look so I went with that. I have a confession to make, one that my husband couldn't believe when I told him a couple of months ago. I have never seen one of the Rocky movies. Not at the movies or even part of one on cable. He did not believe me at first since I am kind of a movie buff, but its true. Now everyone knows my secret! Boxing Riley is of course from Riley and Company and was colored with Copic markers, the star sequins, buttons, ribbon and paper all came from my stash.

I wanted to mention that I was able to visit with my niece this weekend and gave her the shadowbox that I made for her. She LOVED it! Thank you for all the comments that you left for me, they really meant a lot to me. We were able to spend some quality time together talking about dreams and not listening to any one that tells you that your dreams are unattainable. She already identifies with me since we are the more creative family members so I think she is listening (and hearing me--after all she is 13!). I appreciate your comments so much. 

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me today!

Text Me Challenge

Good Morning! The challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week is Text Me--which means to use text paper. That can be from a book, newspaper or DP with text on it. I decided to use an image from the Riley Goes on Vacation release. I have been fascinated with maps lately and decided that one would be perfect here. My image is from Riley and Company, colored with Copic markers and the brads are from Jo-Ann's. I have had that paper in my stash for a very long time! I know it was part of a pack that my SIL gave me for my birthday a few years ago but I do not know where it came from. 

About six weeks ago while my niece was on Spring Break, I took a couple of days off and drove to my hometown to spend some time with just her. The previous visit she mentioned that she never gets to spend time with me and that we mainly only come home for holidays which is crazy for everyone. I know she was right so I called her and asked if she would like it if I came in, just to see her. I told her that we could do anything she wanted. And hey, she's almost fourteen so I know I need to take the opportunity before she decides hanging out with her slightly kooky aunt isn't fun. She is in the process of collecting things for a bedroom makeover and mentioned that going to Paris is one of her goals some day. We were able to find lots of stuff for her room and I am making her a shadow box to go in there too. That's where part of my map fascination comes into play, I have been looking at maps of Paris and maps of France in general looking for the perfect things to complete  the  shadow box. I am almost done, pictures will be coming soon!

Samantha  has a new blog post using a Riley image too.

Gardening Riley

Good morning! I can't believe it is already Monday, this weekend just flew by. I had a hard time getting up and going this morning. I did get some crafting time in and have a card to show. You know I love Riley images, but this has always been one of my favorites for some reason. I'm not sure if it is because it is gardening related or what, but I love it. Out of all my Rileys that have been stamped and colored, this one probably has seen ink more than any other. Anyway, Riley is from Riley and Company and was colored with Copics and I used papers from My Mind's Eye.

I am excited because my new ATG tape dispenser from The Tape Depot should arrive today! Mine passed on to that great big craft room in the sky a couple of weeks ago and I have been using the smaller ones that I can just pick up at the store. Yikes, that was getting expensive! I am replacing it with the same thing that I had before, it was a great one and I had no complaints with it. It worked great until I dropped it outside on a sidewalk and after that still worked pretty good. However, after the second drop onto concrete it didn't work so good any more. I need to stop taking my tape dispenser outside I guess! It lasted for several years and I am happy replacing it with the same thing.

Have a great day!!

Tooth Fairy Box

Hello! I have a box to share with you today. The challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week is to make a small gift box or treat bag. I have been wanting to make one of these boxes with the pull out drawer for a while and this was my motivation. I used Tooth Fairy Riley/Sophie and made this box to give to one of my friend's daughter. She loves to leave drawings and things for the Tooth Fairy so I thought this box would be perfect for her. After coloring everything with Copics, I added some Stickles to her wings and some gold glitter glue to her skirt. The image has a tooth drawn in, but I also had these tooth shaped brads that I used for just a little more dimension. I added some shimmery flowers and some ribbon to finish my box.

Here's one slightly closer:

I mentioned in yesterday's post  that I am on a mission to use stamps that I haven't used in a while. I am also trying to use up some of my opened packs of embellishments and rolls of ribbon. You know what I'm talking about, the embellishments that you have bought for a specific project and then the rest of the package retires to the land of forgotten embellishments. And the rolls of pretty ribbon that are almost gone but got buried by all the other pretty rolls of ribbon that you keep buying, Yeah, those things! This project used up the last of the little jewels on the crown, the last of those blue and white flowers and the last bit of that pink and blue ribbon. 

What do you have too much of in your own craft room?

Samantha has her own blog now, you can check it out HERE. She loves reading comments.

Have a great day!

Spinning Clown

The challenge on the Riley and Company Blog this week is "Spring-ing into Action" which means to make a card that moves. I decided to make a spinner card. I have made these several times before, but this is my favorite of all the ones I have ever made before. As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew that this Clown Riley would be the image I would use. I guess I just thought that a clown would look great spinning across the card! 

I took a couple of other shots of Riley making his way across the card.

One thing I did different with this card that I haven't done with my previous spinning cards was to adhere the patterned paper to a stiff piece of card stock. It seems to be much sturdier than the ones I have made before and it spins without getting stuck midway!

Image is from Riley and Company, colored with Copics, paper is Basic Grey, and the little swirly things are from Jolee's (I think).

Have a great day!

Going Around in Circles

Happy Friday!! I am so happy the weekend is finally here. For some reason this week felt like it had a few extra days in it. But now it is Friday, all of my normal errands that I normally do today are already done so I am going to enjoy the day playing in my crafting space. The challenge on the Riley and Company blog is Going Around in Circles which could be a circle shaped card or circles on the papers or embellishments.  I used Sunflower Riley for my card, paper from DCWV, ribbon from my stash that I think is American Crafts, and some brads that I have had for a long time and Riley was colored with Copic Markers.

Now I am going to get off the computer, start a loaf of bread and then you will be able to find me sitting at my craft table!

Sending Some Love

Finally it is the middle of the week and that means the weekend is getting closer and closer! It has been quite a week too. Nothing major, just tons going on every day it seems. I do need to get to work on Valentines to mail to my nieces and nephews and this week's challenge on the Riley and Company blog is Riley in Love and was just what I needed to get me going. I stayed fairly simple with the embellishments and layers since they will need to go through the mail. Riley is colored with Copic markers, paper and heart shaped brad are from The Paper Studio and the ribbon is from my never-decreasing ribbon stash.

I am still trying to decide what to do for Kip for Valentine's Day. We don't have any real traditions or anything for that. I planned our wedding for the week before Christmas and everyone told me that I would regret it because of it getting lost in the Christmas rush. I don't regret it, but I didn't make it any easier on myself when it comes to buying gifts for Kip. His birthday, our anniversary, Christmas, and Valentines Day, basically all the gift giving holidays, all fall within about a 10 week period. And like most men, he is hard to buy for! I have got to get my thinking cap on. Anyone have any great traditions they would like to share?

Have a great day!

Winter Fun

Living in Tennessee, we don't see a lot of snow and when it does snow, even a tiny bit schools are likely to be canceled. That was the case here on Friday, it snowed a little on Thursday night so there was no school on Friday. Since I was off work on that day anyway, I told Judy she could drop Samantha off and let her spend the day hanging out with me. We had a ball too, with most of the day spent in the craft room. We went through a bunch of her old craft stuff so that we could better organize what we do use. There was a lot of stuff that is in perfectly good condition but she has simply out grown them. 

Samantha also enjoys playing along with challenge and seeing things she makes posted on my blog. We decided to play along with the challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week which is to make a Winter Fun card. We used the same image, I picked out some papers to use and Samantha picked out the embellishments. My card is at the top of the post and hers is below:

I have a couple of other projects that we made to show you later in the week, thanks for visiting today!