Sweep, Sweep, Sweep

I am trying to do a little cleaning...

Please take a look at the for sale album. If you see something you like, make me a reasonable offer. I would prefer payment through PayPal and we will figure out shipping once you get everything you want--smile.

Thanks a bunch for looking and hopefully taking some of this stuff off my hands.

It was my Mom's Birthday

My Mom just celebrated her 23rd (wink for you Mom) birthday and for my family I always try to make them a card. So this one was no exception. My husband and I have done some work for them around their house and gardens so they said (add the motherly tone here) "Kerry, we don't want you to give us any gifts. You've already done so much for us." So I listened, but I tried to make her a special card and this weekend we are taking them out for a nice dinner.

My Mom is one of my closest friends. Just to give you an example of how close we are, I can even stand to go shopping for clothes when she and I go out...and that is saying a lot--laugh. I am extremely lucky to have my parents, and my husband's parents for that matter, so close to us. They are always there for us if we need support and we for them. We both have siblings that live some distance away so they don't have the opportunities to go shopping or out to dinner and just enjoy being with one another. That is unfortunate for them, but good for us. Thank you for looking and I hope that you enjoyed.
Kerry

Happy Halloween

It has been an incredible couple of days--smile. We decided to take a day off of work, the two of us, and go to the Dubuque Museum and Aquarium. We have talked about going for some time as it comes highly recommended. It was wonderful and it is especially perfect if you have younger children with short attention spans because it is small, but very interactive. I will share pictures another day.

But for now I wanted to share a bit of my creativity. When one of our Vice President (and my mentor) left our College to go to another College we all pitched in to make her a scrapbook. I couldn't resist adding some pages. So this is one of my submitted pages. I incorporated a mini-book into my page. Within the book I included pages of different teams within the College that were under her direction. I had such a wonderful time creating this for her. My other pictures, outside of the mini-book included photos of sunrises in the county where she was going to and a sunset on the counties she was leaving. I wanted to give the book the gift of flight...flight to find new pathways and flight to inspire. She was spreading her wings...

Each page within the mini-book not only had pictures, but I created pockets (made from textured fabric) that held large tags (many sizes and shapes)that I disseminated to people I knew were very close to her. I asked them to do a little journaling to send her forward. They did such a wonderful job. I was even able to get in contact with those who would be working directly with her at her new school and asked them to fill in tags as a greeting. It turned out so well and I felt that it would provide her with the warmth of ourselves even after she had left. (I blocked out faces to protect their identities). The left-side shows one of the pockets and the tags I was talking about.

Warm Greetings, Cold Noses

When I have a rough day, like today, it is always so wonderful to go home and just "be" with my family. For me that means my husband and our little zoo of pets--smile.

I just love this little one for many reasons, but not least of which is her desire to just cuddle with me. She climbs under the covers and snuggles right next to me, I think I have the smallest amount of understanding about what parents of two-legged kids feel like.

I can't forget the other two that always greet me with a smile and a kiss no matter how awful the day went. And of course it is only appropriate that this be a fall photo shoot. Morgan (yellow dog) is our eldest and she has always been our little model. When we first rescued her she had a weak tummy so not only would she pose for pictures she was also scrawny just like a super model--giggle. And if you think she's a Golden, she isn't. She is a beautiful mutt (Yellow Lab/Border Collie) and very smart. Aidan (white dog) is high energy and extremely intelligent. She has come such a long ways since we rescued her. Can you believe we got her after 2 families returned her to the breeder, she was arrested twice, spent time in the Humane Society and was part of a court order? Then we found out that she needed to move or she'd likely be destroyed. We went and saw her and the fleas were so thick on her that you could watch them run across her belly. Between the attack on her ears from flies and fleas her one ear is permanently flopped down like in the picture. Everyone thinks she absolutely adorable because of this ear, we think she's beautiful because she has become quite a wonderful, loving creature.

Thank you for looking, perhaps considering animal rescue/adoption (see your local Humane Society or click here to go to mine and see all the love that awaits you) and spending time with me. I'd love for you to share your animal adoption/rescue stories.

It has been far to long!

I can't believe that I've been gone so long. I'm embarrassed and surprised by my lack of contact. So much has changed since last I posted. Pak Rats Stamp, for one is no longer focusing on kits. I will not be focusing on all those things that people who love the craft want and try to provide great service and great prices. I had to remind myself why I got into this in the first place and it wasn't to make a fortune. It was to meet wonderful people who love to do some of what I love to do, to connect to my creative side and enjoy...

I want to get back to that. To do that, I must expand what this blog means to me...it is a place for me to connect, re-connect and to hopefully inspire and be inspired. So with that in mind I wanted to share one of my biggest pleasures that I threw myself at this summer--gardening! I completely re-did our center flower garden, tweak our newest area, built a pergola with my husband and planted a butterfly/hummingbird garden. I also have decided to focus more on my rose garden which up to this summer I hadn't given the attention it really deserved. So I expanded that a great deal and even as recently as yesterday I was still getting beautiful roses.

More Passion

The "Passion" kit just keeps providing more inspiration to me. I've needed inspiration as it has been -16 degrees here--burrrrrrrrrr! I have had a Cuttlebug for some time now, but I haven't pulled it out a played with it much since I "just had to have it". I tend to be a collector, hence the name of my company Pak Rats Stamp, and struggle with using. I love the embossing folders offered through Cuttlebug and I decided that now was the time to use it. Using the kit, I pulled out what the pattern from the "Flirt Collection" that I call "Wrinkled Sheets" and sent it through the Cuttlebug. Then using my Coluzzle, I cut out three circles and a heart. The top layer was watercolored using Palette ink and my paintbrush end to create the little dots. I then watercolored the brown layer to give it a distressed look. Lastly, I took a "U" from a Bazzill alphabet diecut collection and the heart and inter-linked them. I ran some sheer ribbon across the card and then adhered the circles. Looking at it I realized it just wasn't complete. So I used some paper ribbon and "stitched" it through

three coordinating mini-buttons. The paper ribbon curls so nicely. This was so very simple and fun, I hope you enjoy.

Card Recipe

Paper- Memory Box "Flirt Collection" from Pak Rats Stamp's "Passion Kit", Basic Grey

Ink- Palette Ink pads in brown and pink

Accessories- Coluzzle heart and circle templates, sheer ribbon, paper ribbon, Basic Grey

buttons and alphabet diecuts, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Bringing it to life

The other day I shared with you the new Passion Kit from Pak Rats Stamp. So now I've come up with a few samples that I hope will inspire you! I think that this will make a great mini album for my parents while they are down south for a month. They can take photos on their holiday and add them in there. It won't take much room and doesn't require any supplies. The center "heart" is actually a little pocket so they can even slide little memories in it, like a sand dollar or other small flattish shells. This was fun to create and I hope that you "love" it and try making your own, tfl.
General Dimensions:

12" x 6" cardstock for "wallet", scored to create four panels.

2" x desired length to create "wrapper"

1/2" x desired length to create layer on "wrapper"

11" x 2 3/4" (score in half, lengthwise, to create inside panels)

5 3/4" x 3 3/4" (approx.) piece cut to look like the top of a heart (score on sides and bottom to create pouch.

Flowers were created by cutting out flower images from the Memory Box Paper "Bouquet".

Recipe:

Passion Kit from Pak Rats Stamp
stamp: Fantastic Flourishes and Heartfelt Messages, Hero Arts
paper: cardstock, DCWV; DP, Memory Box
ink: Burnt Umber & Toile Pink, Palette
other: corner punch, Stickles