don't ring doorbell

Here's my newest project.

Since I work nights, I have often been woken up by the doorbell ringing while I'm sleeping. A few months ago, I was expecting a package and put a note out to not ring the doorbell and it stayed out there until now. It's been great and allowed me to stay asleep many times!

This sign replaced my handwritten post-it note.

I got the board from Hobby Lobby. I painted it and then used my Silhouette to cut the words.

Side note: I recently got some vinyl from Expressions Vinyl and it is GREAT quality. I cut the "thank you" with my Silhouette branded vinyl and it wouldn't come off the sheet right when I cut that small. I stuck the EV vinyl in there and it cut BEAUTIFULLY!

adding a little color to our lives

This weekend Chris and I gave our flower bed a makeover. The weather was SO gorgeous and strangely cooler temperatures today.

This is what it looked like this time last year before we bought the house.

This is what it looks like today!

We planted Azaleas on the back row and the rest of the flowers are African Daisies.

It took me about three times longer to do ONE plant than it took Chris. No one will be knocking down our door to get me to landscape their yard, that's for sure!

My favorite, Gerbera.

I so wish I would have gotten a picture of Scout. He laid outside while we worked and several times we caught him rolling around in the fresh soil and then the newly laid mulch. The BLACK dyed mulch. Reminder: our dog is white. Well, our dog WAS white!

Good thing he's so cute or he would have been in a lot of trouble!

silhouette projects

Here is a link for my photo album where you can see some of the Silhouette projects I've made so far. If you want me to make you something, let me know!

baby shower

One of my coworkers, Robin is due in May and we threw a baby shower for her and "Gracie". We had it at the Shepperd house!

This is the diaper cake Kaila, Kelley and I made.

Here's the AMAZING cake DaRhonda made! It even tasted good!!

This is the perfect little window for a clothesline with some cute baby girl clothes. :) I made the "It's a Girl" banner with my Silhouette. (Shout out to Chris...he helped me with the banner and was a TON of help!)

Check out all of her loot spilling into the picture!
She barely looks pregnant, but she really is 31 weeks!
DaRhonda's daughter measuring Robin's baby belly.

The shower turned out GREAT! Lots of people came and Robin and Gracie got a LOT of (pink) stuff! I love hosting things, but I know Chris is glad that it doesn't look like Babies R Us threw up in our living room any more. :D

Honda Pilot

As most of you know, circumstances in December pushed us to buying a new vehicle.

We ended up getting a 2008 Honda Pilot and we LOVE it.

Chris is excited we were able to get his personalized plates again!

I also love the nurf bars along the bottom.

Having a SUV has been great for toting stuff around and we've already used it for that purpose many times. It came with this rubber tray. There's actually a row of seats that completely fold down under the tray. That was one huge plus with the Pilot that the back row folds completely down flushed with floor.

Here's the middle row of seats. This row actually moves forward and backward a little like the front seats do. I'd never seen that before!

Sun roof!

Looove the leather. (Thank goodness for the seat heaters though! Especially lately..)

Decked out with GPS, back up camera, XM radio, 6 CD changer.

I took these pictures after we washed the car this weekend when the weather was GORGEOUS! ....before this second arctic blast! Scout was our helper... :) I love him!

silhouette sd machine

Meet my Silhouette.

We've been together now since Christmas.

I LOVE it!

If you aren't familiar with a Silhouette, it's a digital cutting tool similar to a Cricut. It connects to your computer just like a printer, but instead of printing designs it cuts them with a small blade.

There are many options with the Silhouette. (pics from Silhouette's website)

making cards

scrapbook pages

etched glass (i LOVE this!)

temporary tattoos

vinyl decor (my personal favorite)

I've played around with it some and these are my creations, thus far.

I did try to make a card. It turned out awful. But I attribute it to the adhesive I used that HAD to be almost 5 years old.

Here are my canisters I dressed up this morning. I'm going to add "candy" or "treats" to the one with M&M's...I just couldn't make up my mind when I printed the others out.

Maroon Weekly has moved into a new office, so I got to dress up the door and Chris' desk.

Here is the yoshi/baby mario I made for Chris' NEW macbook pro!

I've gotten several custom orders laptop vinyl saying/logos. I'm going to do mine too, but I haven't decided for sure what word or phrase I want it to say. I also have some super ideas of stuff I want to make and give as gifts.

I just put in an order for some more vinyl in a bunch of different colors!!!

I even ordered some heat transfer vinyl that can go on clothes/fabric.

It's exciting (and a little overwhelming) all the awesome stuff the silhouette can do.

If you have any requests for a vinyl cut, let me know! I'm sure we can work out something. ;)