Congratulations Soon-To-Be-Teacher

My hubby is always asking me to make cards for him to take to work and usally I get a couple of hours notice. He was gone and so I had some time that evening to pull together a card for a co-worker who is changing professions and is a soon-to-be teacher. This was a super-quick card with an apple theme. I've always wondered, do teachers really love apples? I hope this one does! Here's what I whipped together in a few minutes.

Supplies Used:

• Paper: Green Galore, Real Red, So Saffron, Whisper White, Soft Suede
• Ink: Green Galore, Real Red, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
• Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Numbers Stamp Wheel
• Punches: Round Scallop, Circle Punches, Spiral Edge Punch

The Flooded Devastation

On July 23rd my hometown and many surrounding communities received over 12 inches of rain in a 36 hour period which caused flooding and significant property damage. My heart goes out to all of the families impacted by the damage that mother nature has created. I live about 100 miles away from where the flooding occurred and we only received about 2 1/2 inches of rain and we also had a tornado warning that occurred as well. Most of the families in this area don't have flood insurance so the damage is significant. The good thing is that the flood didn't take any lives. Here's a few pictures I wanted to share.

The water receded and the boat ended up in the tree.

A child still managing to have fun despite a flood park.

Train

parking lots

The local racetrack that I spent a lot of time at as a child.

The local Sonic.

A truck that was stuck in a sinkhole - this would give me a heart attack.

Closed bridge at the local park.

We were planning on heading back home in a few weeks for a family reunion but it may have to be cancelled a result of the flooding. My heart goes out to all of the families impacted by this storm and the devastation that can happen in the blink of an eye.

From Our Pond to Yours....

HOPPY MONDAY!!!

Our pond in the backyard attracts frogs and the occassional turtle. My niece loves to watch them and I thought I would capture a few pictures for her since I know she loves looking at my blog. This is for you K!

Getting Corky in my Kitchen

We were in need of a bit of organization in our kitchen. The "catch-all" drawer and basket was getting a bit overwhelming and being a visual person that wasn't working for me. I decided to purchase some inexpensive cork tiles at Hobby Lobby for $6 and used the adhesive squares it came with to adhere them to the inside of a cabinet door that is frequently used -aka the snack cabinet. I was then able to pin up many things that I wanted to access to including our weekly dinner menu, coupons, and photos. It took only a couple of minutes and we then had a DIY cork board hidden within a cabinet.

I love that it was cheap, easy to do, and practical. Anyone else have any easy DIY organization tips for those items you don't want sitting in a pile. If so do share.

I'm Stumped

I'm excited to be working on a new project soon that I've wanted to tackle for a while. What I thought would be easy turned out to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Getting my hands on a stump has been like a scavenger hunt to say the least. I put my dad and grandpa up to the challenge because I knew I would end up with a really good stump if I put them on the task. My dad ended up getting a great sized stump from a golf course that wanted about 30 perfectly good trees cut down. While it makes me sad to hear that these trees are being cut down, I am now the lucky owner of a gorgeous oak tree stump. I will need to drive back home to pick it up but then I'll be working on my masterpiece. Here's what I plan on doing with my new stump - turning it into a one of a kind end table. I am still dreaming about the possibilities but it'll be gorgeous once it's done. In the meantime here's some inspirational photos to look at.

In addition to the gorgeous stump, I LOVE the galvanized headboard and wood planked walls. The gray and yellow accent colors are awesome as well.

Another view.

A different twist to the stump. Turning it gray made it oh so chic. There isn't anything in this photo that I don't love. The lines and upholstery on the chair has me drooling along with punches of yellow and gray.

A close-up of the gray end table...I'm seeing a gray theme here.

Credits: Remodelaholic, Three Men and A Lady