B-day Invite & Mason Jar Tags!

So I have this friend that I make cards for. Whenever an occasion comes around, so does she asking me to make a card for it. I quite enjoy making cards for her. This last time She asked me to make a accordion fold 1st birthday invite for her Lil One. and As always happens as I am making it she gives her input so the vision of the card changes multiple times. And as always, as I am making and tweaking her version, I am also making my own version of what I think it should be on the side. LOL So as this HUGE card comes to a close..and seriously it is flipping HUGE! It is double sided, with each side having 5 5x3.5 inch panels! which makes it a total size of 5X17.5 inches on each side! and both sides are designed! so Yea, it is HUGE! So anyways, she got this idea from another web site, to give take and bake Cup Cakes, in Mason jars as a Party Favors. Each Jar will hold all the Dry ingredients, with a tag wrapped round the neck of it. The front side of the tag having a cute Thank You that coordinates with the MASSIVE Birthday invitation and the back side having the recipe for the Cup Cakes Handwritten on it. Sooooo While I was making her version, I also made my own! Which makes sense, considering her taste on these things is quite different from mine. So I thought it would be neat to share Both the tag I custom designed for her, As well as the Birthday Invitation and Mason Jar Tags I was inspired to make while custom designing for her. :)

*Note* All names have been changed and images not only belong to me but have been downsized for viewing purposes.

So here is the B-Day Invite I was inspired to make along with the matching Mason Jar Tag

and here is the Mason Jar Tag that I custom made for her, that match not only the Massive B-Day card I made but her Thank You notes as well

*Credits*

Bear from Nitwits Toy Store

can be found by clicking HERE

Balloons from Nitwits Big Top

can be found by clicking HERE

Cake from glam fairy birthday wish

can be found by clicking HERE

Been a while

Arrrgh!

Well yet again it has been forever and a day since I wrote here. :(

Alas life caught up with this Mumbling Mama recently..and needless to say the mumblings coming out my mouth have not been fit for gentle ears. 

I remember when I was young hearing, "Life's a Bitch, Then You Die", and thinking "Well, THAT can't be right!" Being Grown Up is the BOMB!!! After all you can  DO what you want, GO where you  want, BUY what you want, SAY what you want, EAT what you want etc etc etc.

With the infinite wisdom of one so young, this Mumbling Mama just could not fathom how that particular saying could have any sort of truth in it.

 As the years went by and I emerged from childhood and grew into my teens. That saying made a lil more sense..I mean WHAT teenager can not understand it. After all, you want nothing but freedom, but every gate keeper you come accrossed has yet another set of rules you must be bound by in order to pass. And as most teens I thought "I can't WAIT to be 18!" Then, Ill be legal and I can "almost" do everything I want. (that almost encompassing legal drinking of course LOL)

 But of course then reality hit and I spent the 6 weeks leading up to my 18th birthday finding out I was pregnant and that my whole world was going to change. As my idea of what my life was going to be changed, and the axis swirled and dipped a whole new person emerged. A person with a whole "other" set of responsibilities and considerations. A person who put aside dreams and aspirations and was fixed in the present and what must be done in order to achieve safety for the precious new life with in. It was not easy, and was a lot for one so young to comprehend, let alone live.

 For that wonderful 18th birthday, that birthday I was so SURE a few years earlier would be some kind of catalyst to being an adult. That birthday that would give me the freedom to do as I wished. Let me tell you, it was all of that and more. The day I turned 18, was a day of many firsts for me..and it was defiantly a catalyst to adulthood. Though not quite the one I thought it would be. On my 18th birthday I had my very first OB/GYN appointment. My mother went with me, and with her I saw my 6 week old baby for the first time on ultrasound. My life has NEVER been the same since On that day, the child and the teen died, and the adult and mother who I would become was born. Seeing my child on that screen with a heartbeat, knowing I was the one blessed to protect it was more eye opening then anything else. I had been scared prior to that appointment., as any young parent should be. But at the appointment my scared seemed to take a back seat to the things I needed to get done to provide for this surprise I was carrying.

 I talked with my parents and struck a bargain with them. One to this day I would not change. I did not work in a conventional manner. I had tried to find employment, but no one would hire me. So instead I turned house keeper/cook/errand runner etc etc for my parents and we agreed on an amount of payment. Out were my own plans of graduating early, so I could start college early.  Instead I needed to get a nest egg going, and to do that I needed to stay in school till the end so I could continue with the SSDI benefits I had coming. Out was moving out and trying to set the world afire. I now needed stability as base for this child. Out was my plans of ending my college in NYC, since that is where my field of interest is prominent. Now I would be here, always close to my child's father. Or with in travel distant, to try and ensure a strong and loving relationship.

So many things went out the window and in came so many other. YET, I still could not fathom how the statement "Life is Hell, Then you Die" was relative.  Situations after all were situational. You entered them, sometimes you fell other times not. and well when you fell, well you just tossed out the pieces that no long fit and put new ones in place. "Life is Like a Jigsaw Puzzle; Some Pieces Fit Right Away, Others You Have to Turn About a bit to Make Fit" seemed more an adequate saying for describing life and the many twists and turns that it takes.

As I get older now, I can see the meaning of "Life is Hell, Then you Die" so much more clearly. Its been over 12 years since that day my pee made a cross sign on a HPT, more then 12 years since I saw Mumbling Girls, flickering heartbeat on that ultrasound for the very first time. In that 12 years a lot has happened, a lot has changed. Times have been easy, other times have been rough.  Right now, is one of those Rough times, which is probably why the saying "Life is Hell, Then you Die", is making WAY to much sense. and that bothers me, So this Mumbling Mama is now determined more then ever to think "Life is Like a Jigsaw Puzzle; Some Pieces Fit Right Away, Others You Have to Turn About a bit to Make Fit!"

Ani-Name!

So I have a friend who I made an Ani-Name for a while back (think like 2 years back LOL), that she uses for her email. Well she has a friend who saw it and asked if she could get one. So me being me, I said sure no prob. And I made up this Lil Cutey for her. Its rather plain, just her name written out with a butterfly. But its what she wanted. I offered her a more complicated design, but she really just wanted something simple to add to her emails. So that is what I made & I figured I would share it here.  So with out further ado, here is Kara's Ani-Name

*Note*
Normally I would provide credit, but this butterfly is a random freebie I picked up when I first started in digi land,and it is just kept in a large file with my other freebies.

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!!

Oh how I adore the mighty Coupon! Well okay,  maybe Adore is not the correct word, but it is as close as I can come explaining in writing my feelings on coupons.  In today's world, the prices of things are so outrageous, that it seems one simply MUST use coupons to help out the grocery bill. Today for example, I saved a good 12 dollars by using coupons and even managed to get a 4 pack of twin blade razors for FREE! SCORE! Now this Mumbling Mama doesn't generally use twin blade razors, nor does she generally use the Wilkinson Sword brand. But Hey, who am I to pass on free razors?!?! Especially when this Mumbling Mama has a Mumbling Pre-Teen (generally referred to as Mumbling Girl) who, as most 11 year old girls has a need to shave her under arms.  And while once upon a time, a mother would teach her daughter to shave using a single blade..now you cant find a single blade razor..or at least this Mumbling Mama couldn't to save her life. So twin blades it is, and what better use for a free razor, then to pass it along to ones Pre-Teen daughter who is still in the process of becoming comfy with shaving that pesky under arm hair outa the way. 

So COUPONS, I love them and the money they can save me. I hate having to search them out online, print them from my computer, cut them out using my own scissors, and then look at all the adds or blogs and try to match them up appropriately to the right store and the right sale. Especially since I have 4 Mumbling Children along with a Mumbling husband who are always with me when I shop LOL  On the other hand,  I have 2 .35 cents off and one buy 2 get one free coupons to use on nestle crunch bars..and I have a Walgreen's down the street..and I read on a blog that Walgreen's had those same candies on sale for .39 cents..so I can get 3 candies for .08 cents. So I am thinking I may stop bye my local Walgreen's tomorrow and see if I can't get me 3 candies for my 3 Mumblings Kiddies for .08 cents! Can't beat that price...

And now I digress yet again..as you can see this Mumbling Mama most certainly has a LOVE/HATE relationship with coupons. LOL I love them for all they give me! But I hate them for all the time it takes to find the darned things... on another note, I do believe I'm going to ask my loving Mumbling Folks to bring me their inserts from the Sunday Paper. LOL Why you might ask, will I ask them to bring me something I obviously love to hate, specially when I could get my own. Well that is very simple..there is undeniably something extremely satisfying about walking into a store with a stack of hard earned and found coupons and walking away with a great deal. and Yes I could use my own Sunday paper inserts...but this Mumbling Mama does not subscribe to a newspaper and does not have it in her budget to do so. So while I might love to hate coupons, and I might hate to love coupons. I most certainly do LOVE to use coupons, and I LOVE to get the reward that is at the end of the searching, price matching, bargain seeking lane..a nice ole hefty SAVING of the grocery bill.

Long Tyme, No Type!

WOW, it has been an age since I had the time to sit down here and share anything or even just type anything! I hate to admit this, but I have missed sitting down and thinking over the last few things I've made, sorting thru them and deciding what I wish to share if anything at all. Of course most times I do wish to share something, I'm just never sure what that elusive "Something" is. Today I am sitting here trying to decide between a few things to share, but I notice I have had a recent trend of sharing siggies using KAagard's kits. Now I LOVE her kits, as they are just deliciously cute and fun..but it seems that is all I am sharing recently..which is quite funny since that is not all I have been working with LOL So after much thought, and debating with myself I decided to share this sweet siggy I made.

*NOTE*

All pictures submitted for use have been taken out. And all Names have been altered. ONLY the original design remains intact.

*CREDIT*

Masked Frames 1 by Creashens

can be found by clicking HERE

Lazy Morning by Tiramisu Design

can by found by clicking HERE

To Clown or not to Clown

That WAS a question I had to answer not that long ago. I chose to clown, as it seemed to make the most sense since the intended use was a Birthday Tag.  So I went with what "seemed" the most appropriate. But as it turns out I should have not only NOT gone with the clown, I should have used a piggy in instead. LOL   BUT all is well, that ends well. and in the end the requester got what she asked for, after nicely asking me to take the clown out and declutter the tag a bit cuz it was hard to read :) Truth be told I am extremely Happy that she felt comfortable enough to tell me what she did not like in the Tag, which allowed me to revise it and make it into something she really did like. I just wish more requesters held that honesty when picking up a Signature or a Tag. It is truly refreshing.........and with out any more Mumbling, cuz this Mumbling Mama is DOG tired from a very sleepless night, here are the 2 Tags I made.

*Note*
 All information in both these tags remain unchanged.

This is my Original Design

This is my Revised version for the requester

*Credits*

Birthday Mania by Designs by Tater

unfortunately I can not link to this kit as she has Retired

Happy Birthday by Fa Maura Designs

I can not find the kit in her store, but you can browse her kits by clicking  HERE

and the cute Piggy is from This little Piggy by Kristin Aagard

can be found by clicking HERE

Science Project and Siggy!

Well now, all has certainly been quiet on my end of this blog LOL

Not so though in my life. This past week, Mumbling Girl and I have been using most of our free time to work on her school science project! She chose to do her project on stain remover..which combination of Baking Soda and one other ingredient works best on Stains. Her combinations were Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar, Baking Soda & Soda Pop, Baking Soda & Laundry Detergent, or Baking Soda & Milk. After much thought, her Hypothesis was that Baking Soda & Milk would remove stains the best. So that done, we gathered our rags, stained one up with Ketchup the other with Dirt & Grass. Then we tried all 5 combos of Baking Soda using 1 TBSP of Baking Soda to 1 TBSP of her other ingredient. and I have to say BOY were we surprised at what worked the best on the both of those stains! Now, Now I am NOT going to give the results of her tests right now. Oh no, I will do that in the coming days. LOL Mumbling Girl and I, still have to finish making her Tri-Fold board into her experiment show case. But once we have done that, I will take pictures of it and post just WHAT combo of Baking Soda works best. :)

 The answer might truly surprise you :)

Until then though, I DO have another Siggy to share. :) I certainly think it is super cute, though I'm not sure the requester agreed with me...Perhaps it was a bit to "childish" or "cutesy" for her. Or perhaps it is not what she had in mind..Or perhaps I just read to much into a request picked up using 2 words...Thank You, and nothing else. This Siggy making is hard business, I tell you. Unless a requester is very specific, it is all a guessing game. One you never know if you did right, or are on the right track until it is picked up. and me...I don't so much like guessing games..but I LOVE Siggies and making them...which by default puts me right smack in the middle of a guessing game LOL So with out further ado, I will stop my Mumbling and share this cute Siggy :)

*Note*
  All images originally provided by the user have been blanked out. All names and dates of birth have been changed. Only the original design of this Siggy has been maintained.

*Credit*

Tip Toe Thru The Garden Collab kit by Studio Charlize & Kristin Aagard
can be found by clicking HERE

On The Farm by Kristin Aagard
can by found by clicking HERE

Cup Cakes!!!

Sooooooooooo, we FINALLY made the Froggy Cup Cakes for Mumbling Papa's Birthday!

Granted they were made 5 days late, BUT we did get them made.  And granted they are no where near as cute as the example ones we saw online, but that is what happens when the main designer of the cup cakes is an 11 year old Mumbling Girl, with a small side of  3 and 4 year old Mumbling Boys. and even having said all that, I must admit I am SO proud of how cute they turned out and how well they look! The pictures really don't do them justice! and Mumbling Papa? He was just tickled to have had all his Lil Mumblers join together and make him these adorable Froggy Cup Cakes! As for taste...I have to say they taste DELICIOUS!!  I would recommend anyone with kids into to baking to try this project. It might take some time get everything set out, and set up but it is SO worth it! The kids really have a ball with it, and are so proud of themselves for how they decorate them and in the end you have YUMMY cup cake that is PERFECT for dessert!

*Our version of the Ultimate Froggy Cup Cake*

*The cupcakes below are the ones we tried to make*

*Clicking the Picture above will take you to the Directions on How to Make these adorable Lil Froggy's :)*

Baby Shower Invite

Baby Shower Invite, you may be asking yourself...Hey wait didn't you say in a previous post something about a Birthday Card? Why then are you, Miss Mumbling Mama talking about a Baby Shower Invite....

Well  Gentle reader, the answer is simple........ because I finished making this Baby Shower Invite before I got a chance to finish making the Birthday Card. :) So I thought, what the hey Ill post about it :)

So with out further ado, and because well I have very little to say at the moment. Thanks to the Mumbling Baby who thought 5am was a grand time to wake me up, I'll go ahead and share this cuteness of a Baby Shower Invite :)

*Note*
 All information contained on this sample is fictional and rights to the pictures belong to me.

*Credits*

Hullaba Zoo, Jungle Fun & At the Park by NitWits Collections

Can be found by clicking Here

Debit, Credit, Cash or........................

In today's world when you pay for something you are asked, Debit, Credit or Cash. Unless God help you, you decide to use one of those self check out lines. Then you aren't asked by a person this vital question, oh no, you most certainly are not. You have a machine, who has a screen asking you these questions! LOL  Well here is a little story about one of those times, when you use one of those machines and you decide at the end of the experience that you should have stayed home instead of venturing out of the house.

Picture this......It's Mumbling Papa's birthday, and Pay Day is 2 away so needles to say you have no money to do anything for him. He knows you like to do at least  a little something special, so he takes it upon himself to transfer a small amount of money into your bank account. Hearing about it, you get excited but soon realize it's not enough to do cake and get him a present. Especially with 4 Mumbling Kids, 3 of which will want to pick something out individually for Mumbling Papa. So you decide to scour the Internet to find the best Foggy cup cake design. Knowing Froggy's are his favorite and that Mumblings Kids will LOVE to make them for him. So you find the perfect recipe (pic and link at the bottom), the Mumbling kids get super excited about the idea, YES!! You start to get excited to, so you write out your shopping list, add a few more essential things you need to it. Change Mumbling Toddler and Mumbling Baby's diaper, get shoes and socks on everyone and out the door you go!

Once you reach the Grocery Store, you plod right along. After getting all the things you need, you allow the Mumbling Kids to pick out candy because they have been so good. Then you make your way to check out. So you decide as you are passing closed check out stands, to do the self check out because........
1 there isn't a line and Mumbling Baby is ready for his nap, and
 2 Mumbling Toddler and Mumbling Boy along with Mumbling Girl will have fun doing it.

(upon reflecton you will think surely there was some dramatic music playing, that you just happened not to hear. Because no way could the following events occur with out it!)

So you scan all your items, some how fitting everything on that ridiculous small bagging area and get ready to pay. And the Machine asks you...Debit, Credit, Cash, EBT, Gift Card along with a few other options. Ohh Debit PLEASE, your mind says as you push the debit button. Oh, yes all on one card please, as you push the button to confirm. Finish in tablet, Okie Dokie Mr. Machine,  I'll just do that....Swipe..enter Code, alrighty, punch, punch, punch, punch...yes yes, I authorize you to take that amount....then the most ominous thing  that can happen while swipping, happens... The machine beeps.. you think beep? its not supposed to do that!!!!  BEEP BEEP BEEP, please wait for assistance, need more information, the other much larger screen blinks at you..Huh? What do you mean, need more information? ahh, errrr....okay...Ill just text Mumbling Papa see what is going on in my account...So you text Mumbling Papa, and he says no there isn't enough in the act, I will add 2 dollars to it..well okay that is fine. I can push the embarrassment away and go on with my business..So you wait about 4 mins and try again...again same response..WTF?, you think..I'm supposed to have 5 more dollars then the total..okay try again, maybe it hasn't gone thru...nope still won't work...So you text Mumbling Papa back again starting to get mad. After all, he has said you have the money, you now have a Mumbling Baby who is screaming at you because he wants to nurse and go to sleep, a Mumbling Toddler who wants to toddle about, a Mumbling Boy trying to climb the everything and a Mumbling Girl who is oblivious to it all LOL  So after dealing with the store clerk set to watch that area, who in the end got so used to you being declined he would just push the button at his register instead of comming over to you to do it, after furiously texting back and forth with Mumbling Hubby (who was talking to both the bank and the store manager on the phone), after sitting in the aisle and nursing Mumbling Baby so he would stop screaming, and having Mumbling Girl watch Mumbling Toddler and Mumbling Boy, after taking 15 dollars of stuff off your bill, and swiping your ATM as both debit and credit more times then one should EVER swipe a card in one sitting...the lovely cashier who at this point is probably tired of your decling card ass, comes over and says he will suspend the transaction until you get it figured out. and Helpfully points you toward the in store bank, so you can with drawl the cash. So you take Mumbling Kids over to the in store ATM, swipe tell it 40 dollars quick cash, just to have it tell you that you don't have enough money! At that point, you are beyond embarrassed, and fighting tears right there in the super market. Mumbling Kids have no idea what is going on, and certainly do not understand why Mumbling Mama can't buy the goodies so they can make Mumbling Papa his birthday day surprise. You decide enough is enough, and gather your Mumbling Babies and walk them right the store, while texting Mumbling Pap and telling him to get your money out of that bank. So you get Mumbling Kids all buckled, and drive home fighting tears. When you get home, you get the shock of your life, Mumbling Papa transferred the money to the wrong account, so there was no way you could pay for it. As you are digesting that you help Mumbling Kids find something else to make him. (ended up being jello cup cakes LOL) and you decided that all times in the future when you asked...Debit, Credit, Cash or........Your answer will be CASH!! Because you don't ever want to be asked, Debit, Credit, Cash or........and have your answer be run out the door again!!!!

For anyone who is interested...These are the Cup Cakes we had decided to make for Mumbling Papa. Maybe we will get a chance to make them this weekend, while this Mumbling Mama's In Laws are visiting from New York :)

*Clicking the Picture above will take you to the Directions on How to Make these adorable Lil Froggy's :)*

liar liar pants on fire..............

Yup, that's me...I'm the liar with my pants on fire.

Last time I wrote here, I specifically stated I would be posting the newest siggy I made the very next day.

Well that day came and went, and so did a few more. :(

On the one hand, this is just an experimental blog so its not like anyone knows I did not keep my word.

On the other hand, I lied to myself and that is not something I am happy about. On my right foot though, is the knowledge that this Mumbling Mama's, Hubby Mumbling Papa installed a new OS on my computer over the weekend. So it was impossible for me to post anything at all. And now that my apps are all up and running (well kinda sorta) and I have PS back on my comp and running smooth (until of course it doesn't LOL) I am here, ready to post my newest siggy. :)

*Note*
 all names have been substituted and all original pictures submitted for use have been taken out. Only the design of the signature itself remains in it original form.

*Credits*

Backyard Adventures, all Aboard, On the Farm, and Bird Song by Kristin Aagard

can be found by clickng HERE

Buggalicious Collab by Kristin Aagard and Lliella Designs

can be found by clicking HERE

After the Rain by Manue Designs

can be found by clicking HERE

Explosions of Fun by Natasha NaSt Design

 I cant find a link for this kit but her store is located HERE

and sometime soon I will posting a  Birthday card design I have been working on. :)

TGIF

WOW, what a week. All I can say is...TGIF!!

So I haven't posted anything in...oh...errrrr WOW 5 days! My oh Me!

Not like anyone would notice, because this blog is a new thing for me, and no one reads it as of yet. But I feel bad none the less. This has been one crazy week, at this Mumbling Mama's house, filled with cranky mumblers, spring break ridden mumblers, teething mumblers and sick mumblers. :(  Most definitely NOT one of my best weeks. and to top it off, my liquid gold, my saving grace, my COFFEE has started to make me nauseated. Just HOW unfair is that?!?!?!? I mumbled and whined a lot this week about just how unfair it is. LOL BUT  On the other hand, I did finish another Siggy, which I will edit and post tomorrow. So that is something. And I do have 2 other projects I am working on. One a scrap book layout, and the other a accordin fold birthday card. So that is kinda of interesting..though probably much more interesting to me, then to anyone unlucky enough to stumble acrossed this blog LOL

Signatures, Tags, Ani-Names

Just a few of the many names out there for what I and many others refer to as Siggies. Now a graphical artist I am not. But a graphical designer I seem to be. I design Siggies on wonderful site, with a wonderful group of women and I adore taking graphical elements from digital scrap booking kits and letting my creative juices flow to produce something special for another person. All that being said, each signature that has been my pleasure to create has had its own set of difficulties. I always reach this point where I go, what now?!?!?!?!  and sometimes I reach a point where I say, OMG I just totally HATE this. In the later case, I put on my big girl panties, go to my Siggy folder and delete the PSD that is currently making me say OMG , I just totally hate this. Then I start over. For the former, well I do what any self respecting person does...I go play on Facebook, check my email, open a bazillion other kits and wait for inspiration to strike LOL

This Siggy below is my latest creation. I had a blast playing with all elements of it and am quite happy with the finished result. Though I am sure as I look at it over and over on this blog, I will see more things that I wish to change or ask myself why'd I put that there?!?!?! But Alas, it is finished and has be delivered so the time for modifications has passed.

*NOTE*
 All images originally provided by the user have been swapped out, and clip art has been set in it's place. All children's names, and dates of birth have been changed. Only the user name and original design of this siggy have been maintained in original form.

*Credit*
Clip Art- Bridal Stick Figures by JW Illustrations
Can be found by clicking HERE

Baby Bee garden by Lorie Davison
Can be found by clicking HERE

After the Rain by Manue Designs
Can be found by clicking HERE

Coffee

COFFEE

Cup

Of

Fun

For

Everyday

Existence

For me, Coffee is as essential as breathing. I must, I repeat MUST have a morning cup of coffee. To not only preserve my own sanity, but to prolong the lives of my wonderfully demanding children. So every morning as I slither out from beneath my sheets I mumble to myself one word, coffee. Now granted no one that is of speaking age hears me, but still COFFEE is my first word of the day.