Freshly Made Dinosaur

Okay!  It's Wednesday and that means Freshly Made Sketches!   Monday really threw me off and I almost forgot to make my card on time.   Not good!    I did remember while Laila was napping and managed to complete it before she woke up.  Those naps are a lifesaver!   :-)   Anyway, I think you'll have a lot of fun with this sketch that our awesome Artisan Jen T. created.  

Now... in an attempt to chase off some of my cardmaking blues I'm starting a new strategy.  Instead of just making random cards, I'm going to try making them with a person in mind to send them to!   Or at least most of them.   I have two friends who are having babies soon, so I picked one of them to stamp for this time.   Brandi is my best friend from graduate school and is having a little girl after two boys.   She's like me and not super girly, so I went with a dinosaur.  I did make it pink, but I think that's fun.   I used Pirouette Pink for all the pinks, but they sure don't look the same in my picture.  Strange!  I do wish I'd used Pear Pizzazz instead of Wild Wasabi now that I look at it, but it's fine.    

Stamps:  Positively Chevron, Itty Bitty Banners, Lawn Fawn Critters of the Past
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Pool Party
Paper:  Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi
Tools:  Bitty Banner framelits, The Cat's Pajamas grass die

We took flowers out to Eli and the rest of Jason's family on Monday.  Laila doesn't understand the cemetery of course, but she does recognize Eli's picture.  

Stampin' Up! Simply Sketched

I thought I'd share a card we are making at my techniques class later this month.  It's a new technique to me called acrylic batik and this was my first attempt.   I think I need a bit more practice, but I like it!    I left the card pretty simple since the focus is more on learning the technique.

Laila got to have her first ice cream cone last week!   She thought it was yummy.  She really didn't eat much of it, but I think she enjoyed what she did eat.  That makes me happy.  :)

Stampin' Up! Language of Love

Dude!  I don't know what is up with my horrible photography skills lately.  I hope you'll forgive me, but I tried to doctor it up and it just wasn't happening.  I'm such a mess lately.  Anyway... I am working on ideas for my stamp club.  I had planned out what I wanted to do and then I went to Leadership...   They gave us the new Language of Love set so I just had to use it.  I mean it IS a Valentine's kinda set and that's a month away.   I paired it with a Sale-a-Bration set that has a matching punch.  Super fun!  I love them already.  The punch will be going into the new annual catalog, so that's fabulous.  

• Banner Blast (SAB)
• Banner Punch (SAB)

• Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Itty Bitty Banners Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Language Of Love [clear]
• Tag A Bag Accesory Kit
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Full Heart Punch
• Petite Pennants Builder Punch
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• Banners Framelits Dies
• Bitty Banners Framelits Die

Before I go, I wanted to share a new thing I decided to do.  If you are on Instagram, I have an account for my crafty stuff now.  Be sure to come follow me!   I think you can click on the camera?  Still learning...  lol

She woke up from her nap in the best mood today and had some crazy hair.  I swear she's growing by the minute and so is her hair!  She was a good girl today and I'm glad.  Tomorrow makes five years since sweet Eli passed away, so it's a rough week for us.  Having a grumpy toddler wouldn't help, so let's hope the good girl trend continues.

Stamp Review Crew Hearts a Flutter Edition

It's time for a new hop of the Stamp Review Crew!  This time we are featuring Hearts a Flutter.  Perfect timing with Valentine's Day coming up, huh?!  Remember if you get lost or confused you can always drop by the landing spot, the Stamp Review Crew blog.  If you are following the hop, you were just treated to an awesome project by Mary!

My first project is a card I made for Jason.  It's a busy month and with lots of other obligations, so I figured I could go ahead and make my Valentine's Day card for him.  Two birds, one stone, right?!  lol  Busy moms have to multitask even with crafts!  I have a huge board of sketches I've pinned on Pinterest, so I found this layout and it all fell into place pretty quickly!

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Black

Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay Corediations

Accessories:  Brights Designer buttons, Bermuda Bay baker's twine (from Tag a Bag Accessory Kit), Neutral Candy Dots

Tools:  Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, Bitty Banner Framelits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack

I put together another fun little project with this set to show how you can use it to decorate your Valentine's treats!  I started with the Tag a Bag gift bags and decorated from there!   I am going to need an intervention soon for my Crumb Cake/Real Red obsession! 

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Real Red

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories:  Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, White Baker's Twine, Real Red 1/4 Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Tools:  Hearts a Flutter Framelit dies, Bitty Banner Framelit dies, Small Heart punch

Be sure to go on to the next hop to see a fabulous project from my dear friend Ann Schach! 

 

I hope you enjoy the hop!  

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Freshly Made Sketches 117

Happy July 4th!   Oh wait...   It appears that I was a bit confused for Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Red and blue SEEMED like a good idea for Jason's birthday card, but well... it's a bit patriotic.  lol   Amy, who I like to call the stamper who never makes an ugly card, is the hostess this week.  I want to be her when I grow up. Or any of the other FMS people actually.  I don't know how I ended up with that talented bunch!  Those ladies can stamp like nobody's business!  

 

Fun sketch, eh?   I've been hanging out with my Canadian friend. ;) 

Stamps:  Itty Bitty Banners

Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point

Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point Coredinations, Whisper White, misc red DSP

Accessories:  Brights Candy Dots

Tools:  Big Shot, non-SU embossing folder, Bitty Banner Framelits

My girl is getting so big.  I just can't believe it sometimes. We added another girl to our house this week too.  This is Minnie.  :)

Display Stamper Tryout

When I saw that Stampin' Up! was looking for display stampers, I decided to go for it!   To try out, we were to make 3 card fronts, 2 3-D items, and a scrapbook page.   I hope you'll enjoying seeing all my work and will keep your fingers crossed for me!  :)

Don't you just love this?  I adore how it turned out and I've been dying to post it!   I had so much fun coloring the poppies and even got to do it an extra time on my butterfly.  A sponge dauber and an ink pad transformed my white paper doily into an Island Indigo one that looks perfect nestled on my embossed Pool Party panel.  Love, love, love!

Stamps:  Pleasant Poppies, Fabulous Florets
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Jet Black Stazon
Paper:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White card stock
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Tea Lace Paper Doilies
Tools:  Big Shot, Lacy Brocade TIEF, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, 3-inch circle die, Paper Snips

I changed up a little for this one and went vintage and distressed.   I like to break out of my "clean" comfort zone sometimes and do a bit of sponging and distressing.    I always find distressing to be good for "de"stressing.  ;)  I know, I'm a dork.  Anyway, I just love how cute this turned out.  Neutrals are fun to work with and can look amazing together.

Stamps:  Patterned Occasions (SAB)
Ink:  Soft Suede (marker and ink pad)
Paper:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla card stocks, Neutrals Designer Series Paper Patterns stack
Accessories:  Very Vanilla seam binding, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Early Espresso Baker's Twine
Tools:  Big Shot, Lots of Tags sizzlits, Extra Large Oval punch, Scallop Edge border punch, Stampin' Distress Tool, Stampin' Sponges, Color Spritzer Tool, Paper Snips

And now back to a more clean-and-simple card...   I love banners and pinwheels, so I combined them into this very fun birthday card.  The Color Coach helped me pick out a great masculine color combination and I let my tools do all the work! 

Stamps:  Itty Bitty Banners

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Marina Mist, Gumball Green, Whisper White card stock, Print Poetry Designer Paper

Accessories:  Neutrals Glimmer Brads

Tools:  Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelit dies, Pinwheel Sizzlit, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool

I loved working with those colors so much from that last card that I decided to use them for one of my 3-D items.   I thought about using my dies to make a cute box, but my Simply Scored was feeling a bit lonely so I decided to go a bit old-school and whip up a 2-4-6-8 box.  I stayed with the flag idea from the card and added a ton of them to my sticks.   I punched the day away making my Quint-essential flower with lots of layers and bling.  

Stamps:  Itty Bitty Banners
Ink:  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Marina Mist
Paper: Gumball Green, Marina Mist, Midnight Muse, Whisper White card stock, Perfect Polka Dots and Print Poetry designer papers
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals
Tools:  Big Shot, Bitty Banners framelit dies, Hearts a Flutter framelit dies, 2 3/8 and 1 3/4 scallop circle punches, 1, 3/4, 1/2 circle punches

(sorry for the big picture; it was the only way you could see it really well)

My second 3-D item is my other favorite.  It was a labor of love and I hope my little girl will enjoy it hanging in her room for a while.  It was hard to take pictures of it, but I tried.  :)    I love all the shimmer and sparkle and of course the colors.  Below is a close-up so you can see more of the details. 

Stamps:  Broadsheet Alphabet, Papillion Potpourri
Ink:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Versamark
Paper:  Basic Gray, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White card stock, Brights  and Neutrals Designer Serious Paper Patterns stacks
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Basic Gray/Basic Black 1 1/4 Two-Tone Ribbon
Tools:  Big Shot, Perfect Pennants die, Beautiful Butterflies die, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Circles #2 die, 1 3/4 circle punch

And finally, my scrapbook page (which didn't seem to want to photograph well).  I wanted to share one of the most special days of my life so I picked this photo that my anesthesiologist took of our little family on Laila's birthday.   I hope you can see the pure joy on our faces as we were so happy to have our little girl here.  So was most definitely "Worth the Wait".  

Stamps:  Word Play, Sweet Essentials, Hearts a Flutter
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Island Indigo card stock, Neutrals and 2011-2013 In Colors Designer Series Paper Patterns stack
Accessories:  Artisan Embellishments Kit, Basic Pearls, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Tea Lace Paper Doilies
Tools:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Hearts a Flutter Framelit dies, Paper Snips

And because I always end my posts with a peek of my sweetie, here's one of her recent Easter pictures.

Thanks for looking over all my projects.   

Birthday Bash 2013

Don't you hate it when you need a birthday card at the last minute and can't find one in your card stash?   In this class we'll be making a variety of birthday cards so that you'll have some on hand.   If you have plenty of birthday cards already, some of the designs can also be made into thank you cards.   Just be sure to let me know you'd like some different sentiments and I'll put out some stamp sets for you to choose from.

This class is a bit different than my previous ones in that you can make as many or as few of each card as you want.   There is a minimum of 10 cards to attend the event, but you are welcome to make more if you'd like.   Please email me by noon on Friday which cards you'd like to make and how many of each so that I can get your packet ready for you.  

Cost is $20 for the first 10 cards, $2 for each additional card.  

Here are the choices:

Card #1:  Birthday Circles

Card #2: Birthday Leaves

Card #3:  Birthday Butterflies

Card #4:  Shabby Birthday

 Card #5:  Birthday Cheers

Classy Butterflies

I thought I'd share the other card I made on Valentine's Day.  This is another choice for my upcoming birthday card class.  I have two more designs to do and I'll be all set to advertise and get ready!    I'll share the one I completed today with you tomorrow.

For this one, I combined two of my elegant embossing folders, some lovely spring colors, and butterflies!  I think it's the perfect spring birthday card!   I had to add a little bling to make the butterflies sparkle.  :)   The design is based on a sketch from Retro Sketches from last week or the week before.

Well, as of yesterday she can get up on her hands and knees and rock.   Needless to say, we will be spending tomorrow baby proofing to get ready!   Crawling is soon to come.  Yikes!  I'm going to need to buy lots of coffee to keep up with this girl; she's already wearing me out just rolling!   I do have to figure out how to rearrange my stamp room so that we can share it while Jason's working.   She definitely needs more space (and a gated off area) to play in while I try to work.  

Finally, I am SO excited today because she finally signed "milk".  We've been working on it since right before Christmas and I hope that means she's starting to catch on.  

colourQ Hearts

I love the colourQ colors this week and wanted to find time to play.  Luckily Laila let me stamp some yesterday so I was able to make a quick card for it.  I started off with the idea of lots of white (well, vanilla) space, but I'm not sure what happened? 

It's still a pretty simple card, just a bit more layers and darker than I had planned.   I think my love affair with Early Espresso just took over and the vanilla got tossed aside.   The heart wants what it wants, right?  lol I've been struggling to use my new Hearts a Flutter bundle, but I think it worked okay on this one.   I LOVE the chevron heart stamp.   Obsessed?   Yeah, a bit.  

Laila decided that peas would make a great facial yesterday.  She is so silly!  We had another rough evening, but Tylenol seemed to help last night as she slept from 7 until 5:30 this morning.  This teething thing is rough on everybody.  It breaks my heart for her to be upset and hurting.  

Trying CAS...

I loved the sketch at Retro Sketches last week but didn't find time to play.  Laila went to bed early tonight so I decided to go straighten up my desk and then try it.   As stampers I feel like we should always be trying to improve or try new things, so I have been inspired by my fellow Freshly Made Sketches designer, Jen Mitchell, to try some white cards.  She is such a talented stamper and I love her work.  I know I won't get to her caliber ever, but I would love to be able to make a decent clean-and-simple card with lots of white.  Uh huh.   So here is attempt #1:

So not great, but it's a start, right?   Jen has been using some fun Washi tape on some of her recent cards and I wanted to play with it too!   I had no idea what it really was, but I managed to get it on my card and didn't tape myself up.   I wish I'd done the piercing AFTER I put the tape down, but I was feeling a bit lazy and didn't start over. I guess I didn't realize it was so transparent.   Lesson learned though!  :)

LOL   Gotta love a messy pea-covered face!  :)   We had a nice day today.   We went to the infant program at the library and she did great.  I hope we can go again, but they always seems to fall during her nap times.   She took an early nap today so we were able to hurry and get ready for it.   I really need more social interaction and it was nice to chat a bit with the mom next to me.  

FMS68: Giving Starfruit a Chance

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Jen Mitchell is our hostess and sketch designer.  We have had some great versatile sketches lately and this is another one that can do so many things.   

So I can't lie, this isn't my favorite card.  I promised myself I'd give new things a try in the new year, but Summer Starfruit and I will never be friends.  I thought I'd give it a chance and I did.   I just can't do it though.  It's not a color that looks good to my eye.  I know other people love it and I'll leave it for them.  :)  Now Gumball Green and Midnight Muse?  I love those guys!   They are awesome.  But anyway, this is a clean version of the quilted heart with lots of different embossing folders.   This one could almost be manly if it wasn't for the flowers on the one panel. 

Laila has been so great about sitting in her chair after eating so that we can eat or clean the kitchen.   Yesterday she was sitting there flipping the pages of her book like a big girl.  I try to read to her a lot in hopes of her loving books as much as I do.   

Quilted Valentine

Told you I'd be back with a card!  :)   I started this one last week and it just sat on my desk in pieces. I started to just put it away, but I really wanted to try to work on it and finish it.   It was for a sketch challenge at Retro Sketches (boy did I miss THAT deadline!).   Anyway, I was inspired by Erin's quilted heart and wanted to make one for Valentine's Day.

I just hope there's someone out there who might like a rustic, country Valentine.  :)  I need to get started making them to put in my display in our local shop.   I have two done and many more to go...

Someone loves their new pal Violet.   :)   She wasn't asleep in this one, but it looks like it.   That's a pretty cool toy when you take the time to program it.  It almost freaks me out when it says her name.

FMS 63: Owl Birthday

Wednesday!  Time for a new Freshly Made Sketch and this time it is from me!   I made a card similar to this a few months ago and thought it would make a fun challenge.  There's so much you can do with how many layers you want, what shape you want, and you can use up scraps for the banners.  Winner winner chicken dinner, right?!   So here's my card:

I'm still working on some cards for the younger folks, so I went with some serious pink and an owl.   I love the layers and the fun circles.   It's a bit too much pink for me, but I think a little girl will like it.  :)   

I'm keeping this short as my Pinterest recipe dinner wasn't so good and I'm still hungry.   I'm going to have more cranberry salsa (which IS good) instead.  

It's crazy that she's five months old already.   Eli was only here with us for 5 1/2 months, so we are a bit stressed out and checking on her way too much lately.   We know she doesn't have SMA, but there's nothing rational about the worry that comes after losing a child.   If you haven't already, please take a minute to go over to Facebook and vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.  They are a wonderful SMA charity and hope to win the money to buy iPads for those affected by SMA.  That type of technology is so valuable as a means of communication and freedom.   http://VoteForGSF.com/

Sweet Apple Thank You

Isn't this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch AWESOME?!  I love it and will be using it a lot in the future!  I needed some teacher thank you cards and this worked perfectly for some really cute ones!   

See?  Cute!!!  I just love the apples in the Perfectly Preserved set.  I'm pretty sure that's the second thing that made me get that set; the jar was the first of course. :)   Real Red, Lucky Limeade, and Crumb Cake work great together.  I hope Old Olive isn't missing me too much.  I just love Lucky Limeade so much better!   I'm not sure what I'm going to do when that set of in-colors leaves.  They are the best ever!  What will life be like with no Pool Party, Island Indigo, or Lucky Limeade?   Oh, and Wisteria Wonder too!   (Sorry, Calypso Coral...not a fan.)   

We did a dress rehearsal for Monday's picture with Santa and it didn't go so well.   She kept trying to eat the top layer of tulle.   Both she and the chair are still pretty sparkly!   I'm thinking we'll be seeing Santa in Christmas pajamas instead. :)