True Friend!

Hello my crafty friends!  Hope your having a great Friday!  Not sure where this week went!  Today I have a card to share that I made for Taylored Expressions Last Card Standing contest as I am one of the top 15 (yay!)  The theme was to make a Friendship card!  :>  I used one of the digital stamps that Taylored Expressions provided!  Here is my card:

I love these butterflies!  I printed them out on some solid paper and than colored them in with prisma pencils.  Part of the challenge was to use 2 pieces of pattern paper and ribbon.  I used a whole lot more patterned paper!  Yesterday I was so happy that my package from Scrapbooking Cafe Online came!  I used two new goodies on this card, the Echo Park Everyday Ecelectic Collection and the Hexagon dies from Spellbinders!  Oh I've been wanting to play with hexagons for a while so I am beyond happy!  I made the sentiment with Pebbles mini abc's!  :>  Quite happy with how this card turned out, hope it gets me to the Top 10!  :>

Well that it's for me!  Sending you have a great weekend wishes!  :>  Date night for us tonight!

Pink Tea Flower

Hello my crafty friends!  Hope you've had a fantastic start to your week!  I spent today in the classroom, a mandatory class for new realtors!  I am really happy to share some great crafty news, I made it to the Top 15 for the Taylored Expressions Last Card Standing contest!  You can see the announcement here.  This card here is what got me there.  Taylored Expressions has amazing stamps it would be fantastic to win the guest designer spot of 3 months! 

 

 

Today I have a card to share that I made for fun a bit ago.  I found another embossed and colored already tea flower and even cut out so I thought I should create a card with it!  

I stamped with frost white colorbox ink the dot flower background by Hero Arts and stamped onto another piece of kraft cardstock the sentiment from Good Friends by Hero Arts.  And the tea flower by HA was stamped and heat embossed with chestnut brown ink and colored in with inks and water and a paint brush, so love coloring in that way!  The lace I colored pink with Pink Poodle Tattered Angels mist!  :>

I am entering this card into this week's challenge for Simon Says Stamps which is Emboss it!  I heat embossed the Tea Flower!

Well that's it for me!  Supper is just about finished and than hoping to go outside as it's a lovely fall day!

Embossed Cherry Blossoms!

It's Saturday my Crafty Friends!  And I am here with Sweet Stamp Shop's biweekly challenge!  :>  The challenge this time is embossing!  Dry or heat!  :>  What do you think I went for?  Heat embossing of course, as it's my favorite!  I played with the lovely Cherry Blossoms stamp set by Sweet Stamp Shop for my card!

I stamped and heat embossed the branch and the lanterns with Zing Chestnut Embossing powder!  Than I colored the lanterns and the cherry blossoms in with a paint brush and tattered angels mist!  I did a few coats to get a deeper color.  Stamped the sentiment and the cherry blossom clusters in pink along the bottom.  I was left with wondering what to do with how to hang the lanterns.  I thought to just handdraw a line but was scared that I would mess up so I decided to do twine!  Quite happy I did!  :>

I hope that you will join us for this challenge! You can get more info here.  There is always a great prize up for grabs and you do not have to use Sweet Stamp Shop's stamps!

Well that's it from me!  :>  Hope you have a great weekend!  We have a busy one full or family fun, cleaning and were doing an open house on Sunday!  :>

Fresh Honeyblossom!

Hello there crafty friends!  Hope you are doing great!  It's Thursday and I enjoyed a nice quiet day at home with Carter.  We played, I cleaned and even got a chance to get creative!  I wanted to say a big thank you for all the sweet comments on my new etsy adventure with my wreaths! Today I have a card on the Scrapbooking Cafe's Online blog!

For  more deets on the card please check out the SCO's blog here.  I've been posting a lot more cards featuring dies eh?

Last week when I woke up I found this, and took the sweetest picture ever (many of you may have seen it on facebook already):

They love each other so much!  I guess what happened is that they both woke up early but Carter is adjusting to outgrowing naps and was still tired so they put on his lullaby music and went back to sleep, but cuddling each other!  As a mother I treasure this photo and plan to not only frame it but hopefully scrapbook it as well.  What do you think would be a good caption? Well that's it from me!  See you soon!

I am on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog today!

Hello my crafty friends!  Just wanted to pop in and share that I am on the Sweet Stamp Shop's blog today, with two cards!  I so would love it if you went and checked it out and maybe left me some love?  You can check it out here.  Be back soon!

I opened an Etsy Shop!

Hello my crafty friends!  I hope that you have had an amazing weekend and a fabulous start to your week!  I am really excited to share some news!  I did it!  I finally opened up an etsy shop for my handmade wreaths!  

I am so excited!  I hope that if your looking for a wreath that you will consider getting one from me!  And please if you like my wreaths can you share it?  

Thank you so much!  Be back soon with a card!

Scrapbooking Cafe Online Fall Blog Hop!

Happy Saturday my Crafty Friends!  I am happy to be here with Scrapbooking Cafe Online's First ever challenge!  Since school is in and Halloween is just around the corner we thought our first challenge should be a Fall Theme.  So create any paper item with a fall feel to it.  That can be a card, scrapbook page, mixed media or what else you like to create as long as it has something that represents fall on it. Easy peasy right?!!

Challenge Details/Rules:

- You have until September 25th to join in our challenge.

-Only new projects, no back linking to old projects.

-You may combine with other challenges

-You can enter up to 5 times.

-You must link the SCO blog in your entry post.

-You must be a follower of the SCO blog

So let's get hopping



I love the colors of fall and today  my card features Silhouette Vines Stamp and Emboss Set by Hero Arts!  I love these sets because not only does it come with a stamp but also a matchign embossing folder!  Scrapbooking Cafe has several of these sets, you can see them here

The sideview gives a really good look at the embossing:

First I stamped with antique linen ink the Envelope background by Hero Arts onto white cardstock.  Than I colored the stamp with American Craft markers and sprayed the image lightly with water before stamping. Stamped the sentiment from Good Friends. Than I ran it through with the matching folder through my sizzix big shot.  I colored the lace with Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels and finished it off with some twine!

I really hope that you will hop along with us AND play too! The challenge is open until September 25th, and it's a great challenge of Fall!  Wanna see what you can win?

What a great prize so come and join us!  You can check out the Scrapbooking Cafe Online's blog here!

Thanks for visiting today!

Masculine Fall Card and Carter's First Day of Preschool!

Hello my Crafty Friends!  Hope your having a great week, I don't know where's it gone!  Today is Thursday which means I shared a card on the Scrapbooking Cafe Online's blog!  :> 

 A fall masculine card!  So love playing with dies!  For more details please check it out here.

Well Carter started Preschool yesterday!  Not sure when my baby boy grew up to be old enough to be going to Preschool!  We've been chatting up preschool for a while now and about good behavior there too.  He is attending preschool at the same Christian private school that Ariel attends!  It's an amazing school and it's great to be able to do one drop off and pickup!  It's a full day preschool and he will attend 2 days a week.  I will be going to work with Chad those days, it's great to be able to focus on work!  :>  In the morning he was a bit nervous and unhappy that I was making him wear jeans.  He wanted to wear shorts, he is having a hard time giving up shorts but it's cool so he can't wear that!  So there was a bit of crying over the jeans but he just needs to get used to wearing it again!  When we dropped him off he hung back and watched.   When we picked him up they told us that he did amazing and listened and did everything he should!  What happy news that is!  We had to buy a yoga mat for quiet time and when I picked him up I asked him how quiet time went, and he said "We didn't do any exercises!"  HA LOL!  I told the teacher what he said and she said "He was kicking and moving lots and I told him not to do it"  So funny how Carter knew what the yoga mat was for!  LOL  He told us that he loves school and was not impressed that he couldn't go today!  :>  Here is some photos:

He didn't want to smile:

Doesn't he look nervous?

School is tiring, on the way home:

What a successful day for him!  :>  So happy he did so well and loved it!  :>  Well that's it for me!  I am going to try to get creative today!  :>

Sweet Saturday Challenge 2!

Happy Saturday my Crafty Friends!  Today I am really excited to be here with a card for the Sweet Saturday Challenge put on by Sweet Stamp Shop!  As you know I am an international design team member for Sweet Stamp shop and I was delighted this week when I got my first package from them!  I had to play along with this challenge! 

This week the challenge is to be inspired by this album cover:

Cool colors right?  You don't have to use Sweet Stamp Shop's stamps to play along, ALTHOUGH there is a free digi that you could use too!  Here is my card, I used the new set It's Raining for it!

I was mostly inspired by the colors of this album cover, so love this color combo!  I stamped the rain drops in london fog ink by memento all over the card, heat embossed with white powder the umbrella and the fantastic sentiment!  Added some large doodlebug jewels! 

Please check out the Sweet Stamp Shop blog here for more info on how to play along and to download the free digi!  

What do you have planned for this weekend?  Yesterday after school we went shopping as the kids feet grew and they needed new shoes!  Oh the joy of shoe shopping with Carter!  It's hard to get his feet into shoes!  Today we are going to spend the day cleaning and organizing as we let it lag a bit over the summer!  :>  May as well go with it if Chad wants to do it right?  Well I better go vacuum....

It's a Fall post!

Hello my crafty friends, Happy Friday!  I know I am not the only one who is thrilled that Friday is finally here!  Oh wait I am self employed and technically work somewhat everyday.....  LOL!  And with being a mom do we ever not work?  With Ariel back at school I am getting back into a groove and it's nice.  Lots of activities and play groups not started yet so it's a nice break!  :> 

Today I have a fall card to share.  Which is very suiting as it's very fall like weather outside.  Just two days ago the weather has turned and it is cool, dreary (oh where are you sun?) and I've turned off the air conditioner!  It's sad but who wants to go back to school when it's hot outside?  Although next week it looks like a lot nicer weather!  I am entering this card into this month's Paper Crafts September Challenge which to make a card with natural elements!

I used two natural elements to this card, the sticky back canvas by Claudine Hellmuth and a wooden butterfly by My Minds Eye.  I stamped the Newspaper background  by Hero Arts onto the canvas than distressed it with ink and by pulling some threads out (not the easiest with it being sticky)  I "colored" the butterfly with distress inks:  barn door, spiced marmalade, and scattered straw.  Than I stamped the newspaper background on top too!  I very much enjoyed making this card!  :>

Ariel had a great first day of school!  Her only complaint was that they didn't do enough work!  Oh boy so funny!  :>  She is quite excited about the school year and they weekly homework books they have! Since I am sharing a fall card I will also share two fall wreaths I made!  Which one do you like better?  They are both brownish yarns but the second is lighter and a chenille like yarn:

That's it from me!  :>  Take time to jump in the leaves, well if they have fallen yet!

First Day of Grade 2!

Hello my crafty friends!  Today is Ariel's first day of Grade 2!  Previous year's you may remember me not handling it very well and crying a lot!  This year I got teared up but not the water works as previous years!  She was so excited to go back to school and we really had a great summer!  I was a kid who didn't love school so it's great that Ariel loves it!  :>  Although sometimes it's a bit insulting we do lots of fun stuff all summer long why does she want to go back?  LOL!!!!  Every year I make her a card for her lunch for her first day of school.  She reminded me and told me how much she was looking forward to it!  Today is Thursday so I also shared this card on the Scrapbooking Cafe Online's store blog.

I recently just got Lawn Fawn's My Silly Valentine stamp set, to make cards for school a whole lot easier to make!  I paired it with the Hello Summer pad by Echo Park!  I've gotten a lot of  use from this pad!

I can't wait for Ariel to eat lunch and find her card!  I also put a chocolate covered oreo pop in there!  :>

Here are some photos I took this morning of Ariel:

I can't wait for her to come home and hear all about her day!  :>  Looking at the photos I can see how much she has grown!  What a beauitful girl she is, not only on the outside but the inside too!  I made the chalkboard canvas, saw it on Pintrest and have seen a lot of other crafty friends make it too!  All I did was buy a canvas at the dollar store and paint it with Martha Stewart chalkboard paint!!  I love this idea and plan to use it each year!  :>

Well that's it from me!  With only one kid at home today, we have his preschool open house later this afternoon, I am getting a lot of neglected cleaning done!  Hoping to hit the craft table soon as I am inspired! 

August Publication!

Hello!  It's a long weekend here and we are having so much fun!  We spent it at the cabin with a lot of my husband's family.  The town where the cabin is close to has Family Fun days this weekend with a lot of fun activities for the kids!  On Friday night there was a fantastic firework show, since it's a small town we got to sit as close as was allowed and wow are they amazing up closer! 

Today I have an August Publication to share!  It's from Create: For the Home Idea Book!  It's my first ever wreath published! My first and actually only time submitting a wreath!  It's one of my favorites!  I was thrilled to see it have two pages! Woop!

I absolutely love how the photographed it!  This wreath is one of my favorite color choices!  The teal with the bright yellow, white and greys! Here is it on my door:

I've been asked lately how I started with the wreath making!  Well in December a few friends were discussing gifts they were making for Christmas.  Besides cards I didn't really make anything that was gift worthy, and I had done cards a lot!  I knew I was crafty and I thought to myself if they can do it I should to!  And I saw a wreath on Pintrest and I made one for my MIL and she loved it!  The whole family did and so did Chad's grandmother so than I made her one for Christmas!  Made my mother one and at a Christmas party a good friend told me she wanted me to make her mother one and well it snowed balled from there!  I get a lot of orders from them and I also make ones I like myself!  :>  I have more to share since I have been working on a few!  Hopefully soon I will open an etsy store!