Saturday, April 30, 2011

My new stamps from Pink By Design!!

Hello! So I got to play with my new Pink By Design stamps a little more and I really love them. When I was first looking at them I thought they were going to be too small and that they wouldn't stamp that great. I was wrong! They stamp excellent. The sentiment I used for this project was really small and fine but it still turned out! Another great thing about Pink By Design is that they have really great prices and sales regularly! PLUS they have a rewards system so by buying their products you can get free products! I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer! :)   Check them out HERE!!

Here's my project...





For those of you who have been following me lately, you know that I LOVE card/bag sets!! This should be the last baby boy one for a while... I had a lot of friends have baby boys lately!
I am definitely my own worst critic and the majority of the time I'm not REALLY happy with what I have created. I am super happy with how this turned out though. I was totally inspired by a modern baby boy's nursery.
Here are the details...
- crib was cut from Baby Steps @ 3"
- sentiment is from Pink By Design - I didn't have a close up on the sentiment but it reads 'A baby fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty'
- argyle cuttlebug folder to emboss little blue layer
- pearls from my stash (I LOVE these, I could use them on almost every project!!)
- doodles with white Gelly Roll pen
- the crib is also adhered using small 2 sided foam stickers to make it stand out, you can't really tell in the pics

Have you guys checked out Glora's Crafts blog lately?? It's her Birthday week and she has some GREAT giveaways happening!! All the things she has been showcasing for the last week are also my favorite things so I think you guys should check it out!! I would love if one of you (or me!! :)) could get lucky and snag some goodies she's giving away! Her blog is super sweet, I check in on her almost every day!!

Ta-ta!!! :)

Friday, April 29, 2011

You're An Inspiration, Mom

Hi!! Hope everyone is doing great! I got to go to spend a day with my best friend yesterday! It was great! She lives about 4 hours away from us and we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like now that I have kids... I really miss her. :( Yesterday we got to spend the day chatting and shopping, it was perfect!

Today while the kids were napping I finally had the chance to finish a card that I've been in the middle of for a really long time.


I got all my new Pink By Design stamps the other day and I love them!! This is the first chance I have had to play with them and I was so excited!! I made this card twice and stamped the second one with 'grandma' instead of 'mom'. Perfect card for a mom or a grandma!

Here are some details..
- Flowers are cut from Cindy Loo cartridge @ 3" and 1"
- sentiment is a combination of stamps from 2 stamp sets - All in the Family & Enjoy the Journey (this is my favorite set!) by Pink By Design
- Martha Stewart border punch
- hemp string, button, pearls all from my stash
- doodles with white Gelly Roll pen


CHALLENGES:
Fantabulous Cricut Mom's the Word Challenge HERE
Scrapaholic By Abby Challenge #4 HERE

Hope you like! I'll probably be working on a few more Mother's Day cards this week (if all goes as planned! :)).


Monday, April 25, 2011

Happy Late Easter!!

Hey Crafters!! :) Hope everyone had a great Easter! I know we did! Bria was really into Easter this year, so much fun! Here are a couple pics from our weekend...

Brittyn in her adorable bunny coat.

Both girls on Easter morning


Bria hunting Easter eggs at my parents house

Brittyn after the egg hunt (she napped through it!)

I never had a lot of time to do any crafting these last few days... I did get a couple projects in but they were QUICK and I didn't do a great job... I'm going to show you one of them, just because if a person had more time it could be a really cute project.

The kids loved these!!


I really did a horrible job on these, the cupcakes and the toppers! The cupcakes even had a rough little trip on the way to Easter supper... But I knew they would be for the little kids and they wouldn't know the difference anyway!


I made some little girl bunnies and some little boy bunnies. The kids loved them!!

Here are some details...
- Bunny was from Create A Critter (cut @ about 1.5")
- stamped the bunny faces using Wide Eyed and Busky Tailed Peachy Keen stamps
- tooth picks
- jeweled flowers from my stash

These were super simple to make, I just cut out the base layer of the bunny twice and taped a toothpick in the middle. Stamped the faces and viola! The kids thought they were great!

I hope to be back soon with some Mother's Day cards!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Brittyn's First Easter!

Hello! So this year is Brittyn's very first Easter!! I have always taken cute little themed pics with my kids on special occasions but I'm not sure if it's going to happen for Easter this year, unless I get on it quickly!! Here is are a couple pics of Bria that I took before her first Easter.



I decided to get ahead of the game this year and scrap a quick layout for some of the pictures I will take of Brittyn with her Easter basket. I never do pages ahead of time but I thought I would change things up!




When working on my girls' scrapbooks I'm trying to find the balance between doing quick layouts and still keeping them super cute. I'm getting behind on their scrapbooks and I would really like to keep up. I find scrapping current pics is so much easier, so time is of the essence! :)

Here are some details...
- "easter wonder" and bunny in the basket are cut from Baby Steps. Bunny face is from Peachy Keen Wide Eyed and Bushy Tailed Set, Martha Stewart glitter was used on the eggs (I LOVE MS glitter pens!!), flower in the bunny's hair is from my stash
- scalloped circle is from Gypsy Wanderings
- "lacey" strip embellishment is from the Storybook cartridge
- like always, white Gelly Roll pen for stitching!

Challenges I'm going to enter this layout in...
- Catch the Bug Challenge HERE
- Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday HERE
- Creatalicious Challenges HERE
- Creative Belli Blog HERE

Hogs & Kisses

Hello everyone! :) Hope you are all doing great today!! Only a few days until Easter! I'm so looking forward to Easter this year. Bria has been reading her 'Dora's Egg Hunt' book and she's going to be so thrilled when she realizes she's going to get to have an egg hunt of her own! I think tonight we are going to decorate eggs so that should be... interesting! Bria's a little wild and definitely MESSY so I'm betting she's going to look like a colorful little Easter egg when we're done!

Speaking of Bria, I wanted her to help me out a little with a card for her Grandma for Mother's Day. I let her choose an animal and she picked the piggy from Create a Critter. I think it was a great choice since I have a 'Hogs & Kisses' stamp from My Pink Stamper that I had yet to use!




Card details...
- Piggie was from Create A Critter, pig's face was from the Peachy Keen Critter Faces set , pig's dress was embossed with the candy cane stripes Cuttlebug folder
- sentiment 'Hogs & Kisses' is from My Pink Stamper
- EK Success border punch
- Twine from the Twinery
- stitching with white Gelly Roll pen
- heart on tag was from my stash

The challenges I am going to enter this card in are:
- Mojo Monday (Sketch Challenge) HERE

- Peachy Keen Let's Face it Friday Mother's Day Challenge HERE
- Pile It On Smells Like Rubber Challenge HERE - I just discovered this challenge blog the other day and it is AWESOME!!
- Little Claire's Designs Animal Challenge HERE
- Fun with Shapes & More HERE
- Creative Craft Challenges HERE

I'm awaiting some new stamps I ordered from Pink By Design to finish a card that I am making for my nephew's birthday on the weekend. I hope they get here soon, they should be here any day!! I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will hopefully be back again tomorrow with another project!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

SWEET!!

Hello!! I finally worked on a scrapbook layout!! YAY!! I quickly realized I am super rusty at these. I haven't done a layout for months! I've been wanting to scrap these pics from last summer so bad. As soon as I saw twine used in a layout on someone's blog I knew I had to get some just for this layout in particular. I knew it would make the cuteset lollipops!! I got mine from the Twinery but since I've bought mine I've seen it being sold in quite a few places (Scrappy Mom's & Pink By Design just to name a couple...). It comes in allll kinds of delicious colors.

The layout definitely didn't turn out how I had pictured... It got a little crazy! Starting with the sugar buzzed monkies! :)


 I remember doing this photo shoot with my daughter so clearly, even though it was 9 months ago... It was our last shoot before her little baby brother or sister made an appearance!

Bria has had severe allergies since she was born. When she was 7 months old she had a VERY scary anaphylactic reaction to some dairy in a pablum I gave her. After we got allergy tests done we found out she had a looooong list of about 7 allergies. Needless to say, she had a very restricted diet for a really long time. This sucker was the very first taste of any kind of candy she had ever had. It took us sooo long to convince her to even lick the lollipop. She was just happy to carry it around with her! After a hour or two she was finally starting to take licks of it on her own. I usually wouldn't push my kids to eat candy but this was a really special occasion...


 I have recently discovered a few crafting supplies that I can't believe I had ever crafted without in the past!! One of those things is TWINE.

Doesn't the twine make the perfect lollipops? I think so... :) To make these I covered the candy part of the lollipop with tape with my ATG gun and then just wound two colors of twine around and around.
Here are some other details...
- Sugar crazed monkeys are cut from Paisley and their googly eyes are from the Dollarstore
- 'Sweet' title and lollipops are from Mini Monsters
- shadows behind title, monkies, lollipops are embossed with the Tiny Bubbles cuttlebug folder
- bright green circles were cut using a simple circle within another circle - I can't remember which cart the circle was from but I'm sure it's on quite a few...
- doodles with my white Gelly Roll pen

There is a neat blog hop going on over at the Crafting Misfit blog. Check it out HERE!! It's all about new techniques, ideas and materials/supplies!!

This is going to be a super busy weekend coming up, we're going to have family staying at our house so I'm not sure how often I'm going to get into my craft room... :( I will have a few projects for you this week though!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Terrific Tuesday Challenge @ Scrappy Mom's

Hi!! Someday I will get back to scrapbooking.... My girls' scrapbooks are getting really behind these days! I can honestly say I never thought I would develop such a love for making cards!! So the card I made today is for a little girl. All my friends are in the having baby stage so if you're wondering what's up with all the baby cards and bags I've been making, that is why! :)



The Terrific Tuesday Challenge (HERE) over at Scrappy Mom's is to use the New Arrival cartridge. Unfortunately I don't have that cart.... But I DO have Kate's ABC's and I've been dying to use the little baby shoes!! One of the most fun parts of having two little girls is all the shoes!! :) Actually, I think even if I had a boy there would be no shortage of little shoes around here!

Here are some details....
- card is A2, as are the majority of my cards...
- shoes are cut from Kate's ABC's @ 3"
- EK success border punch (this is my favorite border punch!)
- plain satin ribbon
- pearls are from dollar store
- doodles with white gelly roll pen

The only thing missing from this card is a cute little sentiment. I'm really lacking in that department. Since I just started using stamps a couple months ago I don't have a great selection. I'm working on it though! :)

Have an awesome day!!



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Smiley Flowers

Hi out there!! Welcome to all you new followers who have found my blog through K. Andrews' Link Up Party! So happy to hear from you!! I'm working on checking out your blogs!!

A couple days ago I made a card inspired by a Peachy Keen Challenge. After looking at the card yesterday I thought I could make it a little better and decided to, of course, make a matching bag! The card turned out so cute I couldn't help myself! I think it's fair to say I'm addicted to making matching bags! :)



 I love this set so much! I left out the inside sentiment on the card this time and now it's so versatile! I could use it for a girls' birthday, a mother's day gift, or even a girl baby gift!! It's so bright and spring-y!!! I feel like smiling when I look at it! :)

This is the old card...

I didn't like the faces on the flowers so on the card that I remade I used ALL Wide Eyed Kids' Faces, instead of a combination of two different sets of faces. I think it looks so much better now... If you would like to see the details of this card check out THIS post. I have had a few people ask me where I get the bags from... I get them from a few different places - mostly dollar stores though. Sometimes you can find them in really random stores... I have found white and kraft ones at wal-mart as well.

I'm going to enter this card into the Fantabulous Cricut Spring Fling Cricut Crawl! (HERE) It's another great way to discover new blogs and find inspiration!!

Have a great day!

Monday, April 11, 2011

LINK UP LOVE PARTY!!

Kristal at 'Getting Cricky with K Andrews' is hosting a Link Up Party!! What a great way to meet other bloggers!! Check out Kristal's blog HERE!!! Can't wait to check out all these blogs and get tons of inspiration!!! :)





If Friends Were Flowers, I'd Pick you!!

Hello!! I made this card with inspiration from one of the recent Peachy Keen Challenges. My card was a little too different from the challenge sketch so I didn't enter it into the challenge.  I try to enter a lot of PK challenges though, they're so much fun! Great prizes too! Anyways, here's my card!


Details...
- flowers are cut from Sweet Treats cartridge, faces are a combination of Everyday Character Faces and Wide Eyed Kids Peachy Keen Stamps
- twine is from the Twinery
- yellow background layer is embossed with Cuttlebug folder
- button is from my stash
- doodles with white gelly roll pen
- sentiment inside card reads 'If Friends Were Flowers, I'd Pick You' (by My Pink Stamper)

Just a quick tip!! If you happen to get a smudge of something on a project (I'm accident prone with my ink pads!!), a white eraser works wonders!! I had a smudge of black ink on the yellow of a flower and I just 'erased' it right off, can't even tell it was there! (Make sure the eraser is clean first though, otherwise you may make a mess on your project) Try it! I hope you get the same great result!!
Enjoy your day everyone!! :)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Another Gift Bag/Card set!? Yep!!

So I am in LOVE with making gift bags with matching cards. I think the way a gift is wrapped makes such a statement and people really love receiving these! This one was requested by my mom.



SURPRISE! I used Create a Critter! LOL Whoda thunk it?? I love love love this cart. Definitely my favorite.  So here are the details...
- A2 sized card (8 1/2"x11" paper cut in half, folded with bone folder)
- Michaels ribbon
- DCWV paper stack
- elephant from Create A Critter
- Sentiment from My Pink Stamper
- green pearls from DollarStore - I love these on here, I think they soften the card...
- doodles with white Gelly Roll pen

So the weather is SOOO nice here now! All the snow is meling finally! I took my girls out to my parents' farm yesterday to play outside (our yard is MUD) and they loved it!! Here is a pic of Bria loving playing in the puddles!!



Isn't this rain suit so funny?? It may be a tad too big...LOL It works great though!

Hopefully be back tomorrow with another project!!


I'm still alive!! :)

Hello Everyone!! No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! We've had one crazy week. My uncle's funeral was Friday and all week we had visitors and family gatherings so I didn't have much time for crafting. I got 1/2 way through a project last night that I really wanted to post today but didn't quite get there... I'll be back later today with my project!! I plan on spending a lot more time in my craft room this week so make sure to come back often!! :) Have a great Sunday!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Blog Hope Candy Winner AND Baby Boy Card!

Hello Everyone!! First off I would like to say thank you all for participating in the April Bunny Blog Hop! Like I said before, it was my very first hop. I was overwhelmed by all the love from fellow crafters!! :) It was so nice! I definitely hope to take part in another hop soon! Onto the winner!!!!! Drumroll please! :)

Random.org picked.... #36



JESSICA!! Jessica said:
"LOVE, LOVE, ABSOLUTELY LOVE your project. Every aspect of it is AMAZING!
Following you now>>>>tag, you're it!
Enjoying my first blog hop ever. This is an easy way to find inspiration and give a little bit o' love to our fellow crafters.
Feel free to follow back."

Thanks so much Jessica! I will be emailing you shortly for your address!!

Onto my next project! I have 3 friends who have had 4 baby boys in total this past month!! You may be seeing a lot of baby boy cards and bags this next little bit!


I made a different version of this card first but really wasn't happy with it.... I had to make a couple little changes and I think I like the revised card better. Here's the first version.


It was just really missing something....

Here are the details for the revised card...
- Card is A2 (8 1/2"x11" sheet of carstock cut in 1/2 and folded)
- card base is kraft Recollections paper
- baby is cut from Baby Steps, cloud is embossed with Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder and inked with blue Martha Stewart ink
- stars are cut from Create A Critter
- blue background is stamped with stars using cheap white ink - the effect was almost a watermark effect. I also sprayed on some Pearl Angelglitter Mist which I could see might get very addicting! I really love the effect of this stuff!! Check out the closeup to see the background better...



- of course stitching and doodling with white Gelly Roll and ZIG black pens
- oh, and I can't forget stamps! 'Baby' sentiment was by My Pink Stamper and the baby's face is Peachy Keen

You may see a matching gift bag to go with this sometime in the near future!!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Families are Forever

*** For April Bunny Blog Hop see THIS post. ***

Sad day in our household today... My uncle passed away last night. He has been sick for a while so it was not unexpected but still very sad none the less. I decided to make some quick sympathy cards for some family members. I've never made a sympathy card before so I was a little lost to be honest. This is what I came up with for my Grandma:

If I had to sum my Grandma up with one word it would be 'clean'. She is a super perfectionist and loves white and anything crisp and clean. I know she will like this card.
Details of course...
- A2 sized card
- embossing with Cuttlebug folder (not sure of the name of the folder but it came in the package of 4 folders that match the Once Upon A Priness cartridge)
- Inside is stamped with 'Familes are Forever' by My Pink Stamper
Super duper simple, probably the quickest card I've ever made!

Onto happier things. Look at my gorgeous babies!!! I realized I haven't posted a pic of them for a long time!


 Brittyn - 7 months now - is crawling! Look out!! Thank goodness she doesn't seem to be quite as busy as her older sister. And Bria - 2 1/2 - is talking up a storm and she's really starting to show us her opinions and ideas (sometimes it's not such a good thing! :)) I'm so thankful for them and my amazing husband. Life is great.

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Bunny Blog Hop!!

Hello Everyone!! Welcome to the April Bunny Blog Hop hosted by Made by Jacqueline!

First off I would like to thank Jacqueline for inviting me to be a part of this blog hop! It is my very first one ever and I am so excited!!
If you were just visiting Amber's blog then you are in the right spot. If you would like to start at the
beginning please click HERE.  You don't want to miss all the blog candy being given away!!
In honor of Easter we are all making a project with a bunny
on it! A few days ago I made a framed princess picture and I loved how it turned out. I LOVE the Kate's ABC's cart and I haven't had time to make a project with it yet so I decided I would make another framed picture. It turned out so adorable! I'm planning on giving it as a baby gift for a little girl.






Details....
- frame is 8"x10"
- base is plain kraft carstock, with a pink patterned paper cut 1/2" smaller all the way around
- pink base layer was inked with Tim Holtz distress ink
- image was cut @ 5.94" from Kate's ABCs
- grass, stroller and little girl's dress was inked with Tim Holtz ink and dress was embossed with Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder
- pearls as flower centers and buttons on stroller wheels were from dollarstore
- doodles with white Gelly Roll Pen

I took the picture out of the frame and thought I would show a close-up of the faux stitching around the outside. It adds so much when looking at it in person.
***** BLOG CANDY CLOSED****
I also have some blog candy for one lucky hopper! It's an assortment of Sticko stickers and K & Company embellishments! For a chance to win I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if you become a follower (but I won't force you... :)) and leave a comment! Please also leave a way I can get ahold of you! I'll draw the winner on Tuesday!



 Next stop is Anna!! I can't wait to see what her project is!!
1. Jacqueline http://www.madebyjacqueline.blogspot.com/
2. Becky http://www.beckscricards.blogspot.com/
3. Amber http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/
4. Candace http://scrappin2littleprincesses.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)
5. Anna http://oma-idratherbecrafting.blogspot.com/ (NEXT STOP!!)
6. Sarah http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.com/
7. Tara http://creativeprincess-homemadehappiness.blogspot.com/
8. Brenna http://www.brennasblitherings.blogspot.com/
9. Linda http://www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com/

HOPE YOU ENJOY THE HOP.
THANKS FOR JOINING US!!! :)