So Much Crafty Goodness!

Wow!  It's great to be back after such a loonnnngggg hiatus!  Not that I haven't been around - life has just been happening:)  My two boys are growing faster than weeds - Andrew is already 7 months and been a pro at crawling for at least a month now.  There's no slowing that boy down!  Seth is full throttle in Kindergarten mode - I love that he loves school so much and the transition went so smoothly.  I couldn't have asked for better:)

Over the past few months I have not had much time to be crafty at all, until the past couple of weeks.  I am so glad to say that I was able to go on a scrappy retreat a couple of weekends ago.  My dear hubby took care of both kiddos so I could get away and get some much-needed scrap-therapy!  It was my first trip to the Rivendell Retreat House in East Bernard, TX.  Such a charming little house in such a serene setting.  And the company made it that much more great to enjoy:)  I got a few precious projects done, so I finally felt like I got something accomplished.

My hope for my blog is, now that I've gotten a little catching up done, scrapping-wise and in my personal life (still adjusting to life with two kids!), that I will be posting more often.  I love crafting and creating and sharing with others the things that make me most happy in life, and this blog is where I love to do that! 

So, without further ado, here is what I have been up to as of late!  These are pics of all the projects I worked on while on scrappy retreat - hope you enjoy them as much as I do:)  The pics above are of an album I made of all of my older son's individual and class photos.  I used a cute little chipboard album I bought at CKC this year. 

Next, are pictures of a few of the Halloween cards I made this year.  As usual, My Mind's Eye papers were used on most of them - my absolute FAVE paper line:)  I used card sketches of past Mojo Monday challenges to help me with my layouts.  I even whipped out the sewing machine to do a little stitching on a couple of them.  Stitching on cards is something I'd like to do more of.

Here is a little Halloween chipboard album I made with MME papers and embellies.  All I need to do now is snap a few pics of the boys on Halloween and maybe a few pics of our Halloween decor and insert!  I really love all the glittery paper MME did this year - love me some glitter and bling:)

And last, but not least, here are some pics of the most beautiful dress form I received in a dress form swap!  I was so blown away by how beautiful she is!  I cannot thank Michelle enough for this gorgous girl:)  The detail is just amazing on her!

So, how's that for my first blog post in months?!  Much more to catch up on and hope to make another post tomorrow about a special e-course I'm taking part in right now about home design and how to find your personal style!  Can't wait to share:)  Until next time...

Mojo Monday 248

Hello Mojo Monday!  Haven't played in awhile, so here's a quick, cute little birthday card I whipped up for a family member!  I used My Mind's Eye paper that I've had for awhile, with coordinating MME ribbon.  The flower I punched out of kraft tissue paper and used a MME brad for the center.  Then smooched the flower and ta-da!  Hope you enjoy:)

A Very Special Birthday Card!

I can't believe my oldest will be five years old tomorrow!  He has been waiting for this day all school year.  We have been planning his party since the beginning of the school year as well!  That's the only downfall to having a summer birthday - you get to watch all your classmates having their parties all year and you're the last one to have yours.  Well, Seth couldn't be more excited!  We had his Ninjago party yesterday - so much fun!  His actual birthday is tomorrow and here is the card I made especially for him! 

Stampin' Up Wreath Workshop

Hello ladies!  I'm getting ready to conduct my first Stampin' Up workshop!  Being that I have two little ones now, I don't plan on doing many of these - maybe one every couple of months.  So, instead of focusing on cards, I plan on doing special projects for my workshops!  This wreath will be the first of my workshops.  I saw a beautiful wreath in the new Stampin' Up catalog that served as inspiration for this wreath.  I used SU's designer series paper that I purchased from the last Sale-A-Bration catalog, but we will be using several different designer series papers and will be learning to make at least three different types of flowers.  We will use the Fun Flowers Bigz die and the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  Looking forward to my first workshop and hope everyone enjoys it:)

NOTE:  OK, I cannot for the life of me figure out why this picture rotated to the side!  The picture is saved to my computer right side up - so, maybe someone can explain it to me - maybe something to do with blogger?!  Anyways, sorry for the sideways pic:)  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Mojo Monday Sketch 243

Well, here we are again with another Mojo Monday sketch!  I used this sketch to create another Father's Day card.  I think I finally have all my Father's Day cards made - woohoo!  We have lots planned for June - Father's Day, mine and my husband's 12th anniversary, our son's 5th birthday and our youngest's Baptism - so I need to get crackin' making LOTS of cards! 

This card is made using patterned paper from October Afternoon.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.  I just love this paper and have been saving it up to scrap our summer vacation from last summer (which I have not gotten around too!).  Hopefully I'll get some of that scrapbook done THIS summer and posted here, so stay tuned.

I'm excited to have just received some of my NEW Stampin' Up items from the new catalog!  I'll be getting crafty soon, as time allows it - so look for some new SU creations! 

So the kiddos got out for summer this past Thursday!  Now just one more week at work myself, then it's summertime for me too - CAN'T WAIT!  Hope you enjoy my Mojo Monday card - have a great weekend everyone!

An Exciting New Venture!

I'm so excited to announce that I FINALLY joined Stampin' Up as an Independent Demonstrator!  I have been part of a SU club for quite some time now and many times have been approached to join, I just never took the leap.  Well, Stampin' Up has such a great joining offer right now that I just couldn't pass it up - I knew this was my time to join!  Soooo, if you're looking for some cutesy projects or just want to purchase SU projects, just click on my link to the side and be taken away to my personal SU website!  And what's even more exciting is the new catalog goes live next week on June 1st!  I've already perused it several times and my-oh-my there are sooo many cute new items that I just must have!  I can't wait to get my hands on some of the beautiful new stamps and start creating!  And the new In-Colors are to die for! 

So I haven't had much time to be crafty now that I'm a mommy of two, however I had a couple of "have-to" projects that needed to get done.  One of them being teacher end-of-year gifts for my son's preschool teachers.  It was a bittersweet ending to my oldest's year at school as this was his last year of preschool (sniff, sniff)!  So I found this super-cute tutorial for a back-pack gift box that I found to be perfect for his teacher gifts!  The template and tutorial can be found on this cutesy blog:  

http://sarahsinkspot.com/blog/backpack-tutorial  She gives step-by-step instructions on how to make these cuties!  I'm posting pics of mine, however I do apologize as I only had time to snap pics with my smartphone, so they're not the best pics!  But I hope you enjoy them anyways:)

 

 

 

 

Hope you like my little backpacks and be sure and stop by my Stampin' Up website:)

 

 

Mojo Monday 240

Happy Hump Day,everyone!  Just a couple more days to the weekend - woohoo!  Here is my take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  Again, I am killing two birds with one stone, completing the sketch and making a Father's Day card:)  As I have said before, My Mind's Eye is my absolute FAVE paper line every!  So, I have used several different MME papers here, along with a canvas tag I bought here locally and a coordinating MME button.  I used twine for the ribbon to kind of tie in with the canvas banner.  I am really pleased with how this card turned out!  I have to say I think I impressed myself even:)  Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 157

Hello, again!  Me here, with another challenge card!  So excited that I've been managing my time to get a few cards done with the boys both home with me:)  So this time around it's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 157.  I used this sketch opportunity to make a Mother's Day card for my MIL.  I used Bazzill cardstock and patterned paper from a previous Key Ingredients monthly kit.  I believe the patterned paper is from Basic Grey.  The ribbon also came from the KI kit and the flower was my own.  The jewel in the middle came from our local craft store.  I just love sketch challenges as they really help me with the creative layout part (which I have no talent at!).  Hope you enjoy my latest creation!

Mojo Monday Sketch 239

Well, I finally got around to doing this week's Mojo card!  It's been such a challenge to find time to be crafty now that we have TWO little ones in the house! I had to come up with my idea, collect all my supplies one evening and then today I stole just enough time to put it all together - it only took me three days to make one card - lol!!  I used this week's Mojo sketch to make an anniversary card for my parents who will celebrate theirs next week.  I used Bazzill cardstock, Stampin' Up patterned paper and frame stamp.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and the satin ribbon came from ribbonretreat.com.  I embellished the frame stamp with some teeny tiny pearls I got from our local craft store.  I used ink from Amuse Studio - I love their ink pads because they are more like a chalk ink, so the color is rich and smooth.  As usual, I inked everything up first before putting it together - I just love distressing:)  Now if I could just find time to get started on Baby Andrew's scrapbook - he's 8 weeks old tomorrow, so I better get crackin' on it!  Have a great week everyone:)

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 157

I'm so excited to participate in this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #157!  It's been a lonnngggg while since I've entered, so here we go:)  I used patterned paper (My Mind's Eye - my FAVE!) from a past Taylored Expression Key Ingredients montly kit.  I loved all the MME papers in that kit, so I have been holding on to them for something special.  I made this card for Mother's Day, so needless to say this one will be going to my mom!

Mojo Monday Sketch 238

Wow - two posts in one day - I'm on a roll!  This is my card I made for Mojo Monday Sketch 238.  Since I recently had a baby and made a cutesy baby scrapbook, I have tons of cute baby paper from Simple Stories lying around!  The stamp sentiment is from Amuse Studios.  The flower is from I don't remember where - but isn't it beautiful!  Enjoy:)

Welcome to My Blog!

Hey everyone!  Welcome to my new, improved crafty blog!  I decided to start a new blog so that I could completely redesign and start fresh from my old one:)  So, I won't beat around the bush and I'll get started with one of my most recent projects.  I say recent, however I did this before our new baby, Andrew, was born.  It is a baby scrapbook that I did from a kit.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember the site I bought the kit from.  As soon as I figure it out I will definitely post to give them credit because they do have the most beautiful kits.  I saw this kit at the company's booth at CKC - San Marcos this past September.  The book is from Bo Bunny, the paper is Simple Stories and the kraft folders are from Jellibean Soup (note:  you CANNOT find these kraft folders anywhere at the moment!  I tried to purchase some additional folders to use in another project and was disappointed to find that they are sold out everywhere).  The embellishments are from a variety of companies:  American Crafts, Jellibean Soup and others that I cannot remember.  Anyways, here are pics of this project.  SO easy-peasy with the step-by-step instructions that came with it - I just added the distressing with inking the edges of just about everything!  Anybody who knows me, knows how I like to ink up everything:)  Hope you like my project!