Oh MY!

I was so excited about organizing and stamping again that I forgot to do today's Prettie's Challenge.  I quickly ran into my NEW bright and sunny room to whip up a card and I'm pretty - get it prettie - LOL - okay, that was lame I know - tickled with what I came up with.
The challenge today came from Wendy, and it was to do a masculine card so here is my take on it:

This is the outside.  It is a tri-fold card.  I used my fiskars wave border punch and some of those acrylic splat stickers - love those!!
And here's the inside:

More of the splat stickers here - how fun - look at little Wade all soakin wet!  Here's a close up for you:

This stamp is called Bugs & Fishes.  It and Wade E. Bug are both on sale right now in the Paper Pretties boutique for 35% off - yeppers - 35%.  Hop on over there and get while the getting is good!  Next stop on your journey is Julie - yay, I can't wait to see what she's made for us! Pin It

A Place to Call My Own

Well, some of you may remember a while back I posted pics of Andy and my (grammar - I know) stamp/video game room.  I was thrilled that we had a space - albeit small - that we could share and enjoy our hobbies in.  Well, you may also remember that we had a minor flood (the windows leaked when the ice melted) so all of our stuff got relocated to our guest room in the basement.  We then proceeded to move two other bedrooms around - ugh.  As any of you with stamping stuff know, it is extremely labor intensive to move around and reorganize and well, it really never happened after my things got taken downstairs.  I'm not a big fan of basements anyway, unless they are daylight or walkout basements which ours is not so after months of not stamping, scrapbooking, or really creating anything more magical than dinner, I decided that our now upstairs guest room would be relocated once again to the basement and would have to be shared with Andy's gaming stuff and I have now taken over the smallest of the bedrooms in our home and turned it into my stamping & computer room.
Ahhh, finally a place I feel at home in.  Bright and Sunny and Cheery.  Here's a little peek into my new space - excuse the mess - it just means I've been creating again - right!

 On the top left you'll see a pic of my bulletin board filled with pics of my 4 favorite people and my 1 favorite dog - LOL!  Below that I have a small shelf with various stamp sets, ribbon, my prisma color pencils and my bella & Paper Pretties binders. 
To the right of that is all my sterilite drawers - LOVE LOVE LOVE those drawers!  They hold my stamps, all the pretties I use on my cards - brads, ribbon, etc and miscellaneous stamps. All of the drawers are labelled which makes it really easy to find things.  I also have my card carosell up on top of one of those towers with all my favorite Paper Pretties cards in it.
Lastly, I finally have a place for my sew mini and my selphy printer!  Andy beside that you can see the 'puter where I can keep a close eye on the kiddos when they are playin 'puter games.  On the window sil above I have some of my favorite treats I've received from other creative friends.
Yes, I know - the obvious pic is missing, that of my desk.  Well, the truth is that it was just toooooo messy to show but it is opposite of the sewing station and to the left of the sterilite drawers.
Thanks for taking a minute to peek into my sunny new space.  You'll be hearing from me alot more now :0) Pin It

From Soup to Nuts

Over the next few days I'll be playing catch up posting some pics of family and crafty things so bear with me!  Today, I wanted to share some pics of the boys out learning to fly kites for the first time.
Jacob:

Eli:

And Benjamin:

It was a crazy windy day here so I'm actually surprised they got them up in the air at all.  There were a couple of hilarious moments when the kites - string and all - actually got away on them.  I've never seen those little legs move so fast - LOL - hmmm, they never run that fast when I tell them to hurry... Pin It

Everyday Miracles

In case you've been hopping around seeing all of our sneak peeks for the Paper Pretties release on April 1st, you'll be happy to see that I have another peek for you now.  I am so excited about this set.  It is definitely in the top 5 of my favorite sets we've ever released!  Its called Everyday Miracles and I just love it.  Here is my peek:

Be sure to stop on by and visit Wendy and Jane to see what they have in store for you too!

Pin It

Wow, Where is That Tooth Fairy Anyway?

Eli lost the first of his top two teeth yesterday (that things been loose FOREVER)!  He was very excited and came running in from the playground to show me.

 We have a toothfairy dish so after he had cleaned that tooth so it sparkled, he put it in the dish to wait to see what the Tooth Fairy would bring him.  That little activity was followed by a burrage of questions:  what does the tooth fairy look like mom? are you friends with her?  does she work somewhere?  what is her bosses name?  and on and on it went.
Anyway, I totally forgot about the tooth fairy and of course that was the first thing he checked this morning.  He woke me up at 7 am to announce - what was that tooth fairy doing?  why didn't she come get my tooth?  At which point, filled with an amazing amount of guilt, I cooked up a big story about how she called last night to say that millions of little boys and girls had lost teeth yesterday and while the Ortman house was her very favorite place to come, she just ran out of time but will definitely do her best to come tonight.
He seemed quite pleased with my answer and off he went to put the tooth back in the dish!
NOTE TO SELF - DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE TOOTH TONIGHT!!! Pin It

I'm Late, I'm Late...

and today is a very important date.  My friend and fellow Prettie Girl Frances is having a birthday today.  I recognized and loved Frances' work from very early on in my stamping experience.  Her style and attention to detail along with perfectly coordinated elements and balance on a card are second to none.  Frances has been a joy to get to know and work with.  She puts her all into every peice of work she creates to ensure a flawless and beautiful outcome.  If you've ever been lucky enough to receive one of Frances' cards you'll understand exactly what I'm saying, but even just looking at them on her blog and other forums will awe you.
At Paper Pretties, Frances is famous for her amazing sketches which we use for our first challenge every month.  They are so much fun to work with!
Frances, it has been a pleasure to get to know you and work with you.  I wish the most amazing day filled with wonderful surpises!  Happy Birthday!!
The Prettie Girls are holding a birthday hop for Frances so keep on hopping to see their creations and birthday wishes for Frances and then don't forget to end the hop by wishing Frances a Big Happy Birthday over at her blog.
Your next stop is Julie!  Happy Hopping. Pin It

What can you say about Maria?

Or Julie in this case.  Today is Julie's birthday blog hop.  I didn't have a chance to get a card done but I wanted to take the opportunity to send Jules all my love.  I am so thankful to have Julie in my life.  She is a great friend, an awesome colleague, and it has been my pleasure to get to know her and work with her over the last several years.  She is a very busy wife and mom and yet always seems to find time to encourage others around her.
Jules, I wish you the very happiest birthday and all the very best things for the coming year.
Be sure to hop on over to Julie's blog and leave her some birthday love but before you do, check out the rest of the hop - your next stop is Jana's blog. Pin It

UGH!!

Things have been a little out of control here lately everybody - so sorry for not posting more!  It started with our entire family except me, getting a big case of the stomach flu!  Everybody had a case of the "frow ups" and it wasn't pretty.  Then we have had an outbreak of pnuemonia in our community and since I am a nurse, I've been called into work ALOT.  If any of you know nurses, it is extremely uncommon for a nurse to work 6 days in a row and I was doing it sometimes after only 3 hours of sleep - sufficeth to say that the hospital has been very busy.  I'm so thankful I haven't gotten sick.  After that I made an overnight trip to the city with a friend to have a short get away and as soon as I got back everyone got sick with colds - bad colds.  I don't think anyone is nearing pnuemonia but as I type I am the only one not sick - AGAIN (thank the Lord there is someone to take care of everyone else) and the boys - all 4 of them are cuddled up on the couch and love seat with their blankeys and pillows and babys.  Even Andy is sick.  At the same time - of course you all know that it is tax time and that always means a big headache and tons of paperwork.  I'm up to my eyeballs in spreadsheets and receipts - hmph.
So, there is my list of excuses for why I haven't found any stamping time.  I'm hoping to get back on track within the next week barring anymore surprises in our life.
Anyhow, to keep you up to date, it was my turn to issue our Prettie Wednesday Challenge so in keeping true to my usual form, it is an inspiration challenge.  Here is your inspiration:

Today we are using Bunny Slippers or Hippity Hoppity for our cards.  We'd love to have you play along and upload your card in the Paper Pretties gallery!
Hippity Hoppity & Bunny Slippers are on sale for 20% off  this week - its a perfect Easter stamp so hurry over and pick it up while its on sale!

Now hop on over to see what beautiful creation Jules has in store for you! Pin It