Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from the Bockelmans! We had our family pictures taken a week ago Sunday at JCPenney. They did a wonderful job again this year. Here is our family picture. I just love how it turned out. I was able to get outfits that all the red matched on. LOL
Here's a picture of just Charlie and I. We haven't had our picture taken alone since I was pregnant with Max. The photographer talked us into it even though I didn't want to but I'm glad he did because I love it. I'm also excited to show off my new-do. I got it cut right after Thanksgiving. Got some length cut off and lots of layers put in along with some long side-swept bangs.


The boys together. I can't believe how big they're getting.


Max with husky.


Evan with his Christmas turtle.

Indiana Jones & Harry Potter

I'm just plugging away at LOs here. It's felt SO nice to sit down and scrap. I've really missed it. These two LOs are from Halloween pictures from this year...can you believe it? I'm still way behind but I like doing up-to-date photos. LOL The boys picked awesome costumes this year. Max was Indiana Jones and Evan was Harry Potter. They both looked fabulous!

For Max's LO, I used background paper from the DCWV Once Upon a Time stack. It kinda looks like an old crumpled up piece of paper or treasure map...perfect for this page. I printed Max's pic in sepia tones to go with the overall LO. I used my Cricut for all the cuts. I used Printing 101 for the title. I looked online at the IJ logo and copied it by making each letter smaller and curving it a bit. I cut it in yellow cardstock and then chalked it in to fade from yellow to orange to red. I love how it turned out. I used Paper Doll Dress Up for the hat and October 31st for the giant spider. Max's costume had a huge spider printed on the back shoulder!For Evan's LO, I used the new line of Harry Potter paper by Creative Imaginations. The whole line is SO cool and I was lucky enough to grab up a bunch at an Archiver's in Louisville!! I printed Evan's pic in sepia tones too to go with the overall LO. I used Black Letter and Robotz for the title. Black Letter was almost a perfect match to the HP logo but I had to weld on some lightning bolt shapes from Robotz to the P and I had to create the H from scratch. The uppercase H on Black Letter was nothing like the HP H. I welded some I's together and a swirl from the cart and it made an almost perfect HP H. I used Camp out for Hedwig. I think she turned out pretty good. TFL

You Rock

WOW!! My second post with a LO is as many days. I'm on a roll. I just wish that I could keep it up but I've got a very busy week next week with Thanksgiving and Evan has a Thanksgiving Play and a Feast at school next week. So, I'll be up at school plenty next week.

Here is Evan sporting a "new-do". LOL If anyone knows my boys, they know that are neat freaks when it comes to their hair. They like it combed over on the part, gelled, and hairsprayed so it looks good all day. They've ALWAYS been this way. So, I was totally shocked when Evan came downstairs on a Saturday morning with a spike!! He said that he asked Daddy to fix it that way. It was super cute and then he started to cop a "tude" to go with the spike! So, I had to grab my camera. This would never fly on a school morning but it was the day before Halloween...time to be fun. What makes the pictures even more funny is the fact that he's got his "tude" and he's holding Velvet Pup from Build-A-Bear!! LMBO

I used Indie Art for stars, guitar, and skull and crossbones. I used Happy Hauntings for the font. All the printed paper is from the DCWV Rockstar Stack. It was so totally perfect for this page. I distressed all the edges of my mats and pictures with my Tim Holtz distressing tool and inked them too. TFL

Zombie Farm

I've been working on this LO off and on for 2 weeks (more off than on). Life has just gotten SO busy. I stay super busy with Cub Scouts and all that goes on with that. I really thought that it'd be no problem being a leader for Evan's Den and being an assistant to Charlie for Max's Den but it has proven to be quite the task with planning 2 meetings. Plus we just finished up selling popcorn with the Scouts where I served on the Popcorn Committee this year. We got the last of our popcorn delivered yesterday!! WOOHOO. The boys did wonderful this year. They sold together and sold $1,819! I'm very proud of them.

Anywho, back to the LO. We had taken the boys to this haunted house several years ago but we went to the no-scare version. It was still scary. I thought that they'd be up for the full scare version this year. I remember going to haunted houses when I was their age. So, we bribed them to actually go and they took it. This is our local haunted house right here in Newburgh. It's not too scary but it is to a kid. Max was OK with going but Evan was absolutely terrified. His face shows it in the pictures. The one of him crying hysterically is after we went through. They chased us out with a real circular saw and it freaked him out! I printed the pics in black and white to add the scare-factor! I used Cricut Happy Hauntings for every cut on here. I absolutely LOVE the font that's on this cart! I made a duplicate LO for Max so that's what took so long was cutting everything twice and piecing everything together. I also used my Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch. I did my journaling the tombstones. TFL

Lincoln Campout

This is my first LO post over on the new Cricut MB. It's nice to have a MB that moves fast again but I'm still trying to learn how to navigate my way through all the forums. I finished this LO a while back but couldn't get my scanner to work right. These pics are from a year ago from our first Cub Scout campout. We had a blast as you can tell by the pictures. I used the Campout cartridge for everything. Everything is inked and layered. Background paper is by Cloud 9 Design and it's part of their Happy Halloween Dustin T. Dust line. TFL

Cake Pops...I'm totally hooked!

Ever since I first saw this blog by Bakerella, I was hooked on these little cake pops that she makes. They are just so stinkin' adorable!! I've wanted to make them for the longest time but kept putting it off. Well...she just came out with her first cookbook titled Cake Pops and I bought it at my local Barnes and Noble (got the last copy on the release day too). Her cake pops are adorable and her photography of them is even more fascinating. Everything is just perfect about them. I was just in awe as I sat flipping through the cookbook on that first day. I REALLY wanted to try to make these now. I was going to start with just the basic cake pop round shape and just coat them and see how they turned out. But, Evan celebrated Apple Week last week at school and they were allowed to bring in a homemade treat (this never happens at school). I was SO excited because I remembered seeing apple cake pops in the cookbook. I bought all of my items, having to substitute some items because I couldn't find the right sprinkles for the leaves but I was happy. I made 48 of these little pops. Evan had enough for his 1st grade class and we delivered some to each of the other 1st grade teachers as they were all celebrating Apple Week, the kindergarten teachers as they will always hold a special place in our hearts, Max's teacher and Max's teacher last year! They got RAVE reviews. Nobody wanted to eat them as they were too pretty they kept saying. They were quite delicious. To keep with the apple theme, I used a spice cake and substituted apple sauce for the oil in addition to making them look like apples. I have to say that these were pretty easy to make. They were time consuming but so worth it to see everyone's faces when we delivered them. Evan took them in to his class in this little basket that I lined with tissue paper. So, what do you think...good enough to eat?

More crafting!!

I've been busy crafting but haven't gotten around to posting too much. One thing is I had to get a new camera over the summer and I still have a hard time getting my pics off of it and the other is I also got a new printer and it has messed up how I scan things in so I need DH to help me figure that one out so I'll get some LOs posted after I get it all worked out.

First off, I've got this mini clipboard that I altered. I've got 2 boys that are in school full day this year so they are both taking their lunch this year. We were doing really well and getting all of their non-refrigerated stuff packed the night before and having the other stuff ready in baggies in the fridge. Well, life is getting more hectic with Scouts starting up. DH came home from work one afternoon and designed these lunch order slips for them to fill out and then we'll "fill" their lunch orders. Actually we trade off days and each of the boys is responsible for getting out all the stuff for him and his brother. It's taught them a lot of responsibility. They LOVE the idea of filling out an actual order and then filling it. I decided that I didn't want these little papers all over the kitchen so I altered this clipboard for them to go on. I used Locker Talk and All Mixed Up. I covered it in Mod Podge to protect it too. I added some ribbons to the clip and tied a pencil to it too.

Next are some birthday cards that I've made. I used Elmo's Party for this first one. There is a gorgeous cake cut on there. I used my Gypsy and welded two cake cuts together to make a shape card. I didn't add the silly face that you can from the Elmo's Party cart though. I inked all the cuts and stamped Happy Birthday on the cake plate.


Next birthday card was made using Happily Ever After for Snow White and Elmo's Party for the cake. This is for a dear friend's birthday that is a Snow White fan just like me! ;)



The next two cards require some explaining. LOL My dad's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and the boys wanted me to make cards for him from them. They gave me "orders" as to what they wanted their cards to look like. My dad likes to feed the squirrels in their backyard so that is the basis for both cards. First is Evan's card. I used Create a Critter for the whole scene on the front and Cuttin' Up for the inside. Evan wanted a card that just said "SQUIRREL" but didn't want the actual animal on there. Evan really likes the Disney-Pixar movie UP. He likes to imitate the dog when he's talking and then all of sudden freezes and says "SQUIRREL". My dad thinks that is so funny so that is the story behind his card. Max's card is second. He actually wanted a squirrel on his and wanted him roasting an acorn over a campfire because we like to roast marshmallows with my parents. So, thus his card was born. It was all fairly easy to plan out on my G. I also used Create a Critter on his too. LOVE that cart!


Last, I've got a birthday card for my DH, Charlie. He turns 32 tomorrow!! Happy Birthday, honey! I just got the new Toy Story cart in the mail on Monday and I've been having the most fun playing with the cuts on it. I knew that I wanted to use it on his card because we all just love Toy Story. This card is 4x9.25. I used the Toy Story cart for the rocket and aliens, George for the claw, and Mickey font for the words. I had this vision in my head of cutting the aliens and making the scene in which the aliens are in the claw game and getting picked up. I'm so happy with how this card turned out!! I had to really enlarge the rocket to fit the whole height of the card so I could get an alien to fit inside. I also apart a clear envelope and used that for the front so it's shiny like you're looking inside the claw game. I welded together the letter I and 3 moon shapes from George for the claw and then just wedged the little alien in there like he had been chosen. Enjoy!

Some new cards

Life has been VERY hectic lately. My boys went back to school and I thought that I'd have more time to scrap but that hasn't quite happened yet. I spend more time running errands, returning phone calls, volunteering at their school (which I love), picking up the house, and trying to keep everyone well. Evan and I were both sick last week. We both had to see the dr and get on antibiotics. Welcome to the start of school! LOL Then on Saturday, Evan had a really bad accident. He got knocked into our coffee table and almost completely cut off the top part of his ear...the little rounded part. It was horrible. We rushed him to the ER and they were able to stitch him up. It required 6 stitches. He gets them out on Friday...woohoo! The ear is looking better today. The swelling is finally going down and I'm seeing some better coloring in it. The ER dr was afraid that the blood supply wasn't going to be enough to keep that tissue alive but I have better hopes today. He's very eager to get the stitches out because he says that it grosses out the girls in his class. Evan's always got to please the little girls!! LOL

OK, on to some cards. These first two are ones that I made for my bestest friend when she had her new baby boy!!! I made the Welcome Little One for her and the Super Big Brother for each of her two boys. I used Create a Critter for the Welcome Little One card. I also used some Cuttlebug folders for embossing the backgroud. I also added some crushed velvet to the moon's hat. I used my Superman cart for the Super Big Brother card. I embossed the background with Cuttlebug's Diamond Plate folder.

This next card was made for the same bestest friend for letting us stay at her house while visiting. We had the best time and my boys loved spending time with her two boys. It was a great little trip. I used Just Because Cards for everything on this card.

This next card was made for my message board friends that had birthdays in August!! I had fun coming up with this card. I found the stamped saying in my stash first and went from there. I used From My Kitchen for the sweet little vintage phone. I used Nesties for the background shape. Here is the front...it says "Age is only a number"


Here's the inside...it says (Mine is Unlisted, Happy Birthday)
Thanks for taking a look at my creations. I've got more to post but need to get pics off of my camera and LOs scanned in. Be sure and check back!!

Vinyl project for the day

I've been busy getting stuff ready around here for the start of school. Especially since school starts in 3 weeks and 2 days! Where has the summer gone. We've had an awesome summer and I'm not ready for it to end. Anywho, I already know that we're going to have a hectic year with both boys being in Scouts and in full day school too. So, I used my Gypsy, Cricut, and Wall Pops and designed headers for my big dry erase board that hangs in my kitchen. Now, I can keep everything for the boys written down so they can easily view stuff that they have going on and I can keep track of the family's doctor appointments and I've even got a section for Menu so I can plan our meals out for a whole week!! I used the new Varsity Letter for the titles and Designer's Calendar for the days of the week. Enjoy!!

Who needs a Cricut Cake machine?

Not me. Charlie and I have found that we truly enjoy making the boys' birthday cakes and other cakes. They take a long time but it's something that enjoy doing together. We've even gotten the hang of using fondant and have a recipe to make our own...and it tastes GOOD! Here are some cakes that we've made this year.

This first one, Max had a big hand in making. This was for Cub Scouts for their annual Cake Bake. They auctioned off the cakes and the money went to Easter Seals. It was a fun night with so many fun cakes being auctioned. The boys could make a cake to fit a category in hopes of winning a medal. Max won for Best Scout Themed cake. He wanted to make a hat cake that looked like his Cub Scout Wolf hat. He helped with the baking of the cake, icing the cake, and even rolling out the fondant (which was hard work). Max's cake went for $110...to us. We had 4 other families bidding against us and Max REALLY wanted this cake to come back home with us so hung in there and won it back.


Here is Evan's birthday cake from January. He had a Candy Land themed birthday so Charlie and I recreated the Candy Land game board on a cake. There was SO much candy on this cake. All the kids at his party LOVED it.

And here is Max's birthday cake from June. He had a camouflage themed party so we decided to make a cake shaped like a tank. It turned out awesome. We used fondant on this one. I did use a bit of Cricut on this one. I cut the number eight out of paper and then hand cut the 8 out of fondant to put on the front of the cake.