Stampin' Up! Hello Lovely Laila

For those of you who were at Convention, did you happen to see Laila?  :)   She was there....twice!!!!  I used this cute Instagram picture for my Hello, Lovely page.  It just seemed to fit the stamps so well. I am SO not a scrapbooker even though I started out doing that and not cardmaking.  I struggled to get my three pages made!  To make it more scrapbookish I did go back and add a strip of journaling, but I forgot to retake a picture. My friend Mindy took some pictures of it at Convention, so here it is on the boards:

I'm waiting for her to wake up right now to get our day started.  I just had a bit of time to relax, have a coffee, and do this post.   Jason is working overtime today so it is just me and her.   She was a bit rough yesterday, not wanting to nap and then fussy because she was tired.  I hope it's better today.   12+ hours with no breaks wears me out!   I can already tell that the toddler years are going to be hard ones for me.  July is hard enough (my Eli's birthday is next Friday) mentally for me and adding in a cranky little girl doesn't help.   Maybe we'll get out today and look for some flowers to take out to the cemetery next week.  I'll let her grab the bunch that appeals to her even though she won't understand what we are doing yet.  <3 nbsp="" p="">

Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grunge Gift Box

I haven't edited all my display stamper pictures yet, so you'll see a weird mix in no particular order. Chaotic, just like my life.  ;)   This is my 3-D item for the Gorgeous Grunge set. You know I had to use my Fun Flowers die for something, right?! I thought I'd play on the dirt/flower idea and used the stamps to make the dirt on my gift box.  I don't know if that even makes sense, but I guess it did at the time I was making it.  The box is just a scored sheet of cardstock, no die or anything fancy like that.   Leaves are hand-cut and scored, again nothing fancy.  (For a tutorial on how to make easy boxes like this, check out SCS.  I used it and just cut off the top.)

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar

Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, In Colors stack

Accessories:  Paper Doilies, In Color Boutique Details

Tools:  Simply Scored, Big Shot, Fun Flowers die

Nothing to see here, just reading.  

Stampin' Up! Evergreen

Bad picture alert.  Sorry!  I don't know what was going on with that tonight but I am way too tired to go fight with it.  I'm hoping Jason will have Laila down by the time I finish this post so that we can watch Big Brother and then go to bed.   (I'm a reality TV junkie!)   Anyway....   I have a Christmas card class coming up next week and I wanted to finish up the designs for it.   I had pinned this gorgeous card by Jen Sannes and wanted to try a different design with some of the same elements. I love the navy/silver/gray combo!  Now the stamps I used aren't in the catalog but they are still available.  There's a list of them that carried over for this holiday season from last year's catalog. You can find them online under the "Online Only" section under stamps.  

Stamps:  Evergreen, Greetings of the Season

Ink:  Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper:  Night of Navy, Brushed Silver, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Tools:  Heat Tool, Big Shot, Woodgrain EF, Scallop Edge border punch, embossing buddy

Accessories: Silver embossing powder

Here's another proof from Laila's birthday session.  She is just too cute! 

Scrap Card Sunday #3 Perfect Blend

Wow! I've actually stuck with this for 3 weeks.  lol  I'm not the best at doing that lately, so we'll see how long I can keep it going.  Plans never work out with a little one in the house!   For this card I decided to go with an old standby for scraps, but tried to put a different spin on it.  I wanted a grunge look, not the comfy quilt look that I normally like.   I grabbed my brown and green scrap bags and only let myself use the pieces I found in there for that part. I think I'd have liked it better if I had let myself cheat a little and used some different strips, but I like how it turned out for the most part.   I had a friend in mind to send it to, so that helped with the design idea and stamp choices.  :)   I also used some retired ribbon and a retired button to try to clear out those as well! 

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Dictionary, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, scraps

Accessories:  Early Espresso Taffeta ribbon, Regals Designer Buttons

Tools:  Big Shot, Top Note Die, Stylish Stripes embossing folder 

I think someone's new name is going to be She Who Throws Tantrums.  Oh boy was I unprepared for this stage!  If you tell her no or don't let her have something she wants you'd better cover your ears.   The toddler years are going to be tough ones for me I can see.   I have a list of wines to try out now thanks to my fellow moms on Facebook.  Ha! 

Stampin' Up Hello Lovely

I hope everyone who attended Convention had a great time!   Now that it is officially over, I wanted to start showing you some of the projects I made for the display boards.  The last few days I've been really doubting myself and thinking they weren't good enough, but hopefully someone will find them inspiring.  

This card is one of my favorites.  I love the fun colors and the bling!  

Stamps:  Hello Lovely

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Versamark

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, In Colors DSP stack

Accessories:  Epic Day Washi Tape, Basic Rhinestones

Tools:  Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder

Here's Laila in her playroom.  I think you can tell from the picture which "toys" are her favorite.  

Stampin' Up! Folded Christmas Tree

I've been working on some samples for my Christmas in July class and this was one I made up yesterday.   It uses a previous sketch from Freshly Made Sketches that I just love.  I've made fall versions, Valentine's Day versions, and now a Christmas version!  :)  Versatile sketch, huh?   If you can see the background, you'll notice a new embossing folder.  I love it!  It's from the holiday catalog and definitely one of my favorite things in there.

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Old Olive
Paper:  Old Olive, Whisper White, Brights DSP stack, Perfect Polka Dots DSP
Tools:  Big Shot, 3 inch circle die, Stylish Stripes EF

Yesterday was a very rough day.  VERY ROUGH day.   She woke up at 12:30 on Thursday morning/night whatever it is and didn't want to go back to bed.  I think I might have fallen back asleep at 3:30 only to be back up at 5:30.   I was so exhausted yesterday!  She was in a mood too.  Crying and throwing fits over anything and everything.   She woke up from her second nap super grumpy but thankfully we had our monthly subscription box from Citrus Lane to open.  It seemed to have cheered her up!  

I was so excited that she got a turtle to play with as we've been learning and practicing that word for over a week now!  So, so fun.   

Stampin' Up! Perfect Blend for FMS

Time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.   This week's sketch from the fabulously talented Narelle.  That girl can layer, fussy cut, and make bows like nobody else!    Now I have to confess, I almost made NEXT week's card instead of one.  I just happened to realize it before I finished and posted it.  lol   Starting over on a day when the whole house is grumpy and the girl won't nap wasn't fun, but I managed to get a card made.   

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Like It a Latte, TCP Thanks a Latte
Ink:  Early Espresso, Garden Green
Paper:  Early Espresso, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories:  Neutrals buttons (retired), Early Espresso Baker's Twine
Tools:  Big Shot, Chevron EF, Stripes EF

Laila really likes the cats.  They aren't quite as happy to see her as she is them though.  Bandit -+********************- (that's Laila helping me type my post) has been patient with her so far.  Here she is "petting" him last night.  You have to concentrate REALLY hard to pet cats you know!

Stampin' Up! Zoo Babies for Mojo Monday

My 600th post!!!!!!  Wow!!!!!  I thought the sketch at Mojo Monday looked fun today so I worked on a card using it.  I didn't end up following it exactly, but close enough I think.   I found the color combination on my Color Coach and I think ti's another keeper! 

Stamps:  Zoo Babies, Happy Day

Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Smoky Slate

Paper:  Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack (retired)

Accessories:  Basic Black Chevron ribbon (YUMMY!)

Here's another picture from Laila's swimming and bubble adventure last week.  The weather is a little cooler this week, so we might fill the pool back up tomorrow and let her play again.  

To all you guys going to Convention, let me know if you see any display samples that look like my work!  I can't wait to see pictures of the boards and see if my cards made it or not.