{Altered Cricuts}

Okay, so just so you know this is NO WHERE NEAR MY IDEA!  I have seen ideas to personalize your cricut all over blog land and the internet.  Some are very amazing!!!  What really got my gears turning is this post here:
http://robinscreativecottage.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-newly-decorated-cricut-expression.html

She lead me to all sorts of ideas!  It was great!  :-D  I love the vinyl ideas....but you know me....that was just too simple for me lol  So I asked about one of the ladies had painted hers.....yes I said that right.....she painted hers!!!  And she was kind enough to send me this link to a youtube video!  And that was it!  My cricut's fate was sealed!!!  LOL 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA76Wh1yyMs

At the end of this video she said that she had been inspired by this gal....so I went and checked out her work too.....it was pretty cute too!  :-D
http://scrappingmelissa.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-altered-cricut.html

So I know it'll take me a while to get everything just the way that I want it, but I'll get it....and I'll get pics too!  :-D

Luvs!

{Christmas for Teachers}

This is actually the first year that I have gotten something done for the boys' teachers.  Yeah Yeah I know I know.  :-Pththth

It is what it is.  It's not that I haven't WANTED to do something.  It's that I haven't done it.....crud!.....I barely got something done THIS year!  I completely forgot that TODAY was their LAST day of school!!!  UGH!  Yesterday was The Mr's birthday and so I was SO everywhere doing all sorts of things this past week for that that my brain was NOT on teachers or that the kids were going to be out of school soon.

SOOOOOOOO..........Last night before I went to bed I wrapped my head around a couple ideas......I was already playing with some ideas so it thankfully wasn't too hard to come up with this.

I took some of my Christmas pattern paper and made these popcorn containers with the cricut machine and the tags, bags, boxes & more cartridge....this was cut with the real dial size on at 4 1/2 inches

Then I cut these out to use as tags from the Christmas Cheer cartridge at 2 inches...I also cut the tops out with the shift.  I used white cardstock and left them on the mat and used a silver sharpie and colored them and let them dry before I took them off. (I very much try to use things that I already have on hand)

Then I wrote 'Merry Christmas' on all the little lights and took matching ribbon and tied all of them to the containers.  I took a rectangle of tissue paper (I have no idea what size, I just guessed and then cut them out) and put them in the containers and put in three EggNog Truffles per container.

They all looked so pretty!  :-D 

I took them up to the school and had the boys called down to the office.  I really loved being about to do this for the boys, and the really loved being able to hand them out to their teachers, and other adults that they interact with on a pretty much daily-ness.  Especially Mr A.....he....lets say he has interactions with LOTS of people.....and they really are amazing with our heart filled little boy, and I am greatful that I was able to help him show that we are thankful of them.  :-D

{Christmas Present for Tante}

Just to be on the safe side......Tante is you are for some reason reading this.....DON'T!!!

I don't really think that my Tante reads this blog......so I'm pretty sure that she won't see this before I

 give it to her for Christmas......but if for some reason you are reading this.........please don't scroll down and see your gift before I'm able to give it to you!  :-P

For all of yous others that would like to see what I have been up to.....I finally finished one of my Christmas projects and got a Christmas present done!  Yay Me!  :-D

Man!  It has been stressful for me!  I'm hoping that I have been able to clear my head enough and with enough time to get enough done before Christmas!!!  :-D

Well here it is!  I hope ya'll like it!  I know that it's not the greatest picture....a lot of times it's a hit or miss with me and my pictures!  lol  This one was taken with my phone again!  lol

Wish me LUCK!

I also have the church Christmas Program that I am playing a flute part in that I need to be practing for!!!  AAHHH!!!

*Edit to post:  I ended up finding an idea that I will post about for my Tante that I liked better and I gave this to My Seeter for Christmas!  And she LOVED IT!  :-D

{I WON A GIVEAWAY!!!}

On the 25th I found out that I won a giveaway on http://www.cricutchristmas.blogspot.com/ I go there everyday to see amazing ideas and inspiration and to enter the givaways!  :-D  This giveaway was sponsered by http://www.hallmarkscrapbook.com/ and I won my choice of TWO cricut cartidges!!!!  :-D  I picked the Hannah Montana Font and the Seasame Street Font

And today I got them in the mail!!!!  :-D

Here they are!  :-D

he he he

{Card For Mr A's Teacher}

One morning I got up and Mr A was already awake.  And he says "It's my teacher's birthday today can we make her a card?"  How could I possible say no to that?  lol  He is such a sweet boy.....at times lol  He really does have a big heart.  :-D  I wasn't about to say no.  And since I've been organizing my craft room I knew where my things were, and I was able to quickly put together a pretty cute card.  I had him give me input so that he felt he was helping me.  I was able to use my new toy that my Sister gave me for my birthday!!  I was really excited about that!  :-D  I used the cuttlebug with the swirl folder one the pink paper and the stamp cut out and then the cupcake embossed design too.  I also stamped Happy Birthday on the bottom with white ink, but you can't really see it in the pictures.  lol  I think it turned out pretty darn cute!  :-D

The picture really isn't good cuz I took it with my phone.....I was able to turn on my camera for a few mins though and get a couple pics....so as soon as I get them on the computer I'll post a better picture.  lol  I just wanted to get this posted.  :-)

{White Pumkpins}

Mr T & I were at Jo-Ann's looking at their scrapbook papers that they had one sale.  I didn't end up getting any.....sad....I know......but Mr T saw these......and I don't know if it's cuz I"ve been talking about wanting some white pumkpins or what really.....but they were 50% off so I got two of them.  And this is what I end up doing with them.  :-)  I know, I know it's hard to see really.....but this is the best pic I could get with my phone.....and they are in front of the tv lol  I took a sundae dish actually lol and turned it upside down and it was the perfect fit for the pumpkin and then I turned my huricanes upside down too and covered them!  They look so cute!  It kinda looks like the pumpkins are floating there!  lol  AND amazingly the kids don't really touch them!  Yay me!  :-D

{Geiger's}

This was our first family picture.  It was taken while we lived in Spokane.  We were living with Tommy's parents at the time at we had them taken at a WalMart photo center.  I remember Elisha threw up on my dress right before we had our pictures taken!  lol  I used things from a few differenet kits that I had gotten from monthly kit clubs that I used to belong to and made a layout of my own from ideas that I had seen.

{TV Cabinet}

When we PCSed back to WA the old table that we've used to put our tv on got a little 'man handled'. I was pretty disapointed since it was something that has been passed down through my family.....I'm pretty sure it was made by someone in my family. Very sad. I'm still able to
use it.....It's in my craft room now......but just not strong enough to hold a large tv anymore. So.....off on my mission I went to find something for us to put our tv on.....and I'll tell you I looked for a LONG time for something used to be able to use.....I was even willing to alter something....but at the same time I wasn't willing to spend $300 on something only to alter it. I had VERY specific things I wanted out of this piece of furniture........I actually ended up buying a new piece of furniture.....I know right!......that does not sound like me! Well it had glass doors on it.....and this IS what I thought would work for us.....but the PS3 that Hubby got for Christmas was a LOT hotter than I had thought it would be.....so we had to keep the doors open anytime it was on.....and because the doors had to be open so often they got loose and worn and the two on that side ended up coming off......SO after all that I had been thinking that I would take the glass off the doors and put pretty fabric in it's place! I've always got to talk Hubby into projects that I do like this. I have such a hard time describing the pictures that I see in my mind to him. lol
So this isn't the best picture....especially since Hubby needs to help me put the doors back on lol but it'll do for now. :-) And I'll see what I can do about digging up a 'before' pic.....I was just too excited to take a before pic lol I do tend to do that. Whenever I get in the mood to actually DO a project and the kids are letting me do it......I tend to just jump in there and DO it. lol

It's SOOOO pretty!!! :-D This is actually my FAVORITE fabric. :-D It's from the Shabby Chic line from Target. It was a table cloth that I had gotten years ago, but I hardly ever use it.....I hardly ever get to use table clothes......they just get dirty too quickly lol.....so I put it to good use where I get to see it every day. :-D

{Kara's Card}

This is the Birthday card I made for our sister Kara's 19th Birthday......I used the cricut to cut out the 'K' and the crown and put some blingy glitter on it.  It goes with her gifts, so I'm hoping she likes it.  :-D

{Kara's Birthday Presents}

Here is a horrible picture of one of the birthday gifts that I made for Kara's 19th Birthday.  She really likes to draw, and also write plays.  So I took a clip board and I spray painted (this is prolly my bff now that I've met her lol) it purple on the front and back.  And then I took and put her name and a crown on the back of it and blinged it out for her since she is girly like me like that.  :-D  I wanted to leave the front of the clip board smooth so that when she is writting on it she has that smooth surface.  I also put some laminating material over it to help protect it.
I don't know if I didn't get any pictures of it......or if I just can't find them on my computer.....but I also got her a spiral notebook.....and I altered the cover of it for her.  It's in the same theme of her clip board and birthday card.  Pink, Purple, K, Crown..... :-D  I also put a BUNCH of ribbons on the spiral part of it.  I really liked the way it ended up turning out.  I also ended up putting the same laminating material over the cover of that too to help protect it.
I think this is a great gift idea for someone and I really enjoyed making it for her.  :-D

{Always}

I kinda cheated with this L\O here.....mainly with calling it a L\O....lol....This was a spiral notebook cover that I altered for a journal.  I loved it so much though that I wanted to put it in my scrapbook!  lol  So I put it in with my recent layouts for a while.  lol  My friend Korie took this picture of us during a family photo shoot of us right before The Mr joined the Army.  :-D

{Sweet Life}

Here is one of my favorite pics of me while I was pregnant with Mr A....this is at the baby shower that was given to me for him......Korie was so adorable huggin my tummy!!  :-D  I have wanted to scrapbook this picture for years now lol  and I'm so glad that I have now.  :-) 

{Spring Theron}

When we were in North Carolina....we were able to go and see The Mr do a day time jump.....I think this was actually his only day time jump that he did while we were there.  We drove out to the jump site and I had quite a wait with the boys.  lol  This is a picture I took of Mr T while we were sitting on the grass.  He stayed pretty close to me since he was so young while the other two boys were off playing close by.  It was so nice and sunny, and he just looked so cute stairing up at me.  :-D

{A Love Story}

This is a L\O that I scraplifted out of a magizine.  Of course I made it my own.  I really need to get better about marking down where I get my inspirations and the products that I'm using.  The picture that I ended up using for it is of me and my love that we took of us after our family pictures in April 2009.  :-)  I absolutely L.O.V.E. this picture of us.  :-D

{Recent Layouts}

On the top row of my shelves are all my scrapbook magazines and inspirational books....anytime that I need to be inspired and I just want to thumb through something while Hubby and I are relaxing somewhere I can just grab one....so I thought it would be great to put up some frames (which I already had in the garage) so that I can put in the most recent layouts that I've done. I can enjoy them for a little bit before I put them into their albums. :-) As I continue to do more layouts they will rotate out. :-) I am so excite to be able to enjoy them a little longer. :-) And they look just so darn cute sitting up there on my selves. :-) I will post later the individule layouts. :-)

{Finally Scrapbooking....}

So,  I've finally started scrapbooking again.....it's been awesome working in my craft room.  :-D  I'll be posting the pages by themselves as I have some time.  I haven't been able to take decent pics of the pages because of my camera acting up.....I ended up taking some pics with my phone.....I think I'll end up using those until I can get some decent pics of them and just replace them.  :-)

{PaperDolls}

Mummy


Frankenstien


Cowboy

My boys love making paperdolls with the cricut. lol It's really cute. I make the body for them, and then let them pick out what they want....and I always use scraps to make all the clothing for them....they tell me what color they want and I just go thre my scraps and get it for them. They are all so creative.....like the cowboy has green hair...and that was very specific from my son lol I love doing stuff like this with them. :-)

{Craft Room}

So these are the pics of my craft room. :-) I am SOOO excited! It is working out so well for me! :-) I still have some organizing and some lableing to do, but it's coming along. I've been doing so much lableing latley that I've ran out of tape! lol And I have to wait until I can get some more. lol I've been so blessed with this room for a while now, but I haven't been able to find the right setup for me......well, I think I've found it! lol :-D I've been crafting away lately. :-D I'm still trying to get the hang of blogging about it though. And I feel a little giulty that I havnen't kept track of the designers and products.....which as I get new products I'm going to do better about that...but I just have so many things that I haven't used that I'm not buying anything until I start using things again. :-) So please be patient with me while I'm learning and getting going again. :-) I mean no disrespect to anyone....least of all all the amazing designers that give amazing ideas and amazing products!

{Chore Charts}

These are the weekly chore charts that I made for the boys. They hung underneath our "Geiger Manor" board in our old house.....they have changed some now in this house....I will update a pic of how we do it here. :-) It is of course very similar.

I took a 12x12 peice of pattern paper...it's actually more of a texture look of a solid color. The colors I choose were actually the boys' favorite colors at the time. lol The shade I choose had more to do with what I had on hand. But still their color choice. :-) I took a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock that matched and used a coluzzle to trace the letters for each of their names on the top. I made a table on the computer that fit what I wanted for their chores. I do these weekly for them. I am able to write down the chores they are responsible and put a sticker or star for when they complete them. This seems to work well for our family.

{Geiger Manor}

This is our schedule & house rules. I put down two 12x12 pieces of pattern paper on a piece of poster board. On the left is our House Rules I typed them on the computer and printed them out then cut them with mini victorian decorative siccors, I think, by Provo Craft. I marked each one with a heart cut out on the cricut with the Stamped cartridge. I used Calandar Creator to make a schedule. It's a very 'open' schedule that has stuff like: Get up, Go to School, Snack, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Homework, Pick up, Bed Time. I find that this works best for me. I marked our meal times with a star also from the Stamped cartridge. On the top the title, which is what I call our home....Geiger Manor....I cut out using the Jasmine cricut cartridge. I also put our names on it....My husband and I one the left side, and our children's names on the right...We were even talking about a fourth at the time so I left a spot so that I could fit it right in. :-)

{Your Birthday}

I made a card! lol I forgot my camera in the truck, so I scanned it into the computer. I'll find out if I like scanning or taking pics better soon. For now this will have to do. :-)
Since I'm still organizing and labeling things in my craft room I decided to do a card from my scraps. I don't know any of the names or brands of the cardstock or pattern paper....I'd have to say that I'm pretty bad at that too. I used a few different colors of purple to go with the patern paper I had. Oh! I found the name for the patter paper! lol It's Deja Views FRESH PRINT Plum Stripes. And I used a birthday set that I don't even have the name on any more. I'm going to have to get better at this I know. And I used a Martha Stewart border punch to make the 'lace' detail. But for now I'm just so happy to be creating something new. :-)
I have a lot of birthdays that I like to make cards for so I thought it would be something that I'll definately use. :-)

{New Signature}

I tried making a signature, so I'm seeing what it looks like. :-D
Not too bad if I say so myself...it'll deffinately work....let me know what you think. :-D

Luvs! <3