I'm in a little tea cup

Well, not me exactly, but my son was. My sister came to visit me this past weekend to participate in the golf tournament for my friend, Gina, who has breast cancer. There was a fabulous turnout and a lof of funds were raised to help support her and her family.

Since my sister is a fabulous photographer, I convinced her to take Joshua's 9 month photos. Yes, I know, I am 2 weeks behind. But he is still 9 months, right? She brought over her tea cup and I squished him in there. His chunky thighs did not allow him to keep his legs crossed for very long, but what can you do. At least he couldn't crawl away, right? Unfortunately, no matter what I did, my little man would not smile. He was too busy watching his cousins and sister playing around us.

For more fabulous pictures by my sister, check out her blog, Life With Two Dumplings. Don't forget to leave her some love, she is an amazing photographer and person.

Pages with Papertrey

I know that it seems like ages ago that I have shared any scrapbook pages, but today I have one layout to share with you for a couple of Pages with Papertrey challenges. I combined April's technique challenge to use ribbon on your layout with March's sketch challenge. This is another fabulous sketch created by Leigh over at to the full.

If you follow my blog, you know that I have been working on my son's baby album. I can hardly believe that he turned 9 months old just about 2 weeks ago. I had a small hope that I would be close to completing his album by his first birthday, but *ack* that is about 2 months away!!! So, although I most likely will not be able to finish it, I am happy to say that I have completed 14 pages so far. Then I have about 24 pages left. That may seem like a lot, but the Becky Higgins Sweet Baby kit is pretty inclusive, so there are a lot of memories that are captured in this album.
 

 
The papers, tab and ribbon are from the kit. The title was die cut using my block alphabet die from Papertrey Ink and the stars are from Star Prints. I used Tag Sale #5 and trimmed it for my journal block. I stamped some background images onto it from Grunge Me and attached it using washii tape. My son was 2 months old in these photos. I am currently working on the other page for this 2 page layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful blooms

Happy Friday everyone! I am so thrilled that it is the end of the week. The last few weeks, I have put in quite a bit of overtime, so I happy to have today off. Yay! I am not sure how much crafting I will get to do since my little man is under the weather. Plus, I've got a bit of housekeeping to do since my sister will be visiting from out of town. She is participating in a golf tournament to benefit my friend, Gina's foundation. Her cancer is progressing and your prayers would mean so much.

Now onto today's card. I created it for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

For my card, I used some scraps left over from PTI's April blog hop. Since I wasn't completely satisfied with my card, I did attempt to try and stamp some images in my typical brighter fashion. But since time was running out and my bed was calling my name, I decided to call it quits. I am learning that although I love brighter colors, I need to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. But..... with my scraps on my table, I created this card. Gotta use those scraps, right?

 My flower was made using another Betsy Veldman flower tutorial. I die cut tissue paper using Beautiful Blooms II die. I folded the tissue paper onto itself many times before running through my cuttlebug. I did it twice and probably had at least 20-30 layers for my flower. I fluffed it up and added a center button.

April PTI blog hop

It's that time of the month, Papertrey Ink's blog hop. It is so much fun and full of so much inspiration.

Here is our inspiration photo:

Although some of the fabrics tend to look more like Aqua Mist, the third one from the top looked more like Spring Rain. I wanted to use my new Spring Rain ink pad since I have yet to use it on a card so this was the perfect opportunity. I was inspired by the actual rows of fabric in the photo and wanted to recreate this.

Originally I made some home made washii tape from a previous Make-it-Monday. However, when I applied it to my white card base, the adhesive appeared more yellowish which totally clashed with the card base. So, in my attempt to salvage my card, I restamped the images on cardstock and adhered them over the washii tape. I do not feel like it is my best and that is probably because I would've liked to use Aqua Mist and Raspberry Fizz for my card. If you know me, I am a bright color kind of gal. The colors I used were Spring Rain and Sweet Blush, soft and subtle. I am learning that soft and subtle is okay.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!

A splash of pink

Yesterday, I had mentioned in my post that  I would probably recreate this card because it came together so quickly. So I decided to ink up some pink and orange for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge.

My other card could be given to a boy or a girl, but this one is obviously meant for a girl. I am a huge fan of bright pink, so this was a lot of fun. Thanks for looking!

wish big

Happy Friday everybody! Are you as excited as I am?! I have put in a lot of hours at work this week, so that meant I was able to leave early today. Yay! So I came home and created this card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays sketch challenge.

I wanted to use my Star Prints stamp set for this challenge. I added a bit of splatter, sentiment and done! I love it when something comes together so quickly. As simplistic as CAS cards are, sometimes they can take quite a bit of time and effort to make. I am glad this one didn't. I think I will be making this card again in a variety of colors. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday Trigger: Watercolor butterflies

Happy Hump Day! I have a super quick card to share with you that I whipped up for this week's Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab. The challenge is watercolor butterlies. Here is our inspiration photo.

Honestly, my first thought was to break out my 4 year old daughter's crayola watercolors and that is exactly what I did. I cannot remember that last time I even used these paints. I do not own any watercolor pens for stamping and did not even think about using my distress inks and misting with water until after I finished my card. It is my typical CAS card which took no time to create. Love that!

Liebster Blog Award

Happy Monday friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I realize that this post is way overdue. I was first nominated back in February for the Liebster Blog Award by Kara.

Over the last several weeks, I have received some more nominations by wonderful crafters:

Maria- rieslingmama
Darnell Knauss- djkardkreations
Wida- beachorado
Euna- eunalicious
Tracey- inmycreativeopinion
Kristen- kristencohen

Ladies, thank you all for honoring me with this award. It has really meant a lot to me that you have been able to find inspiration from my blog.

Liebster' is German for 'dearest'. The award is a 'share-the-love' arrangement, given to inspirational bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Here's the to-do list of any Liebster award recipient:

Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
Reveal your five blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
Copy and paste the award on your blog (see above)
Hope that those you award forward it to their favorite bloggers.

Here is my list of award recipients:

1. Tracy- Beautiful CAS
2. Julie- Excellent scrapbooker
3. Angela- A new blogger, wow!
4. Cassi- Another CAS wonder
5. Kerry- Excellent colorer

ColourQ #132 and Make it Monday #61

Well, it's Sunday. Did your weekend go by as fast as mine? Way too fast, in my opinion. Yesterday I shared a card using Besty Veldman's rolled flower technique. It was so much fun, I just had to make another card using them. Today's card is another Mother's Day card using the fabulous colors from this week's ColourQ Challenge. These colors are so bold and pretty, I just had to play along.

Although it is hard to see in the photo, I did use my linen/canvas impression plate on my card base. Did you notice something unusual about my card? My card base is not white! Lately, I have been challenging myself to try new things. You know, get out of my comfort zone. So yes, I am trying to conquer my fear of using colors as my card base. I am also entering this card into this week's Make-it-Monday challenge of making flowers using a non-flower die. Thanks for looking!

Orange and blue...

... go Gators!!! Okay, so I know that it's not football season and the basketball season ended a few weeks ago, but I just had to make a card with these colors for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge: Opposites Attract. Even though I bleed true orange and blue, these are my favorite colors that are opposite on the color wheel.

I wanted to tell my sweet blog readers how thankful I am for all of your kind words regarding my new position on the CAS-ual Fridays Facebook Inspiration team. It has really meant a lot to me and I am so excited for this opportunity.

The base of this card may look familiar to you as you have seen it on several of my cards. Sometimes I want to create a little more depth and interest on my CAS cards, so I had layers. I used PTIs linen/canvas impression plate as well for that extra *umph*. I created the flowers using Betsy Veldman's rolled felt flowers. I have been itching to make these beauties for some time now. It just so happens that they fall under this week's Make-it-Monday: making flowers out of non flower dies. Betsy's flowers call for using the negative from your ric rac die. So clever!



Hey girl, it's Friday!

Happy Friday friends! I've been on the edge of my seat all week. Today I finally get to spill the beans...

I am now a Girl Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right! I am joining a fantastic group of talented ladies over at CAS-ual Fridays. I have been an admirer of their work for some time and now I get to work alongside them. Head on over to the blog to find out the rest of the Girl Friday team and learn some exciting news.

Hats off to Michele  for the stupendous job she has done with the CAS-ual Fridays Design Team call!!! Woot, woot!!

Here are a couple of CAS cards for your viewing pleasure. Thanks, Michele, for this wonderful opportunity!

Exciting news

Isn't is wonderful to hear exciting news?



Well, I found out at Easter service that a friend of mine is expecting. I am so thrilled for her and her husband. Today's card may look a little familiar to you. It is similar to the card that I created when I was the Guest Designer at CAS-ual Fridays with this card.

I inked up Lawn Fawn's Plus One. This is such a fun stamp set. I paper pieced the moon and stars and added Martha Stewart coarse glitter. Thanks for looking!

Happy Easter

He is risen! Easter blessings to everyone!

Today, I am finally sharing with you the Easter outfits I created for my son and daughter. I have given you a few sneak peeks, but now it is time for the reveal.

For those of you with young children, I know you can sympathize with me trying to photograph your kiddos together. Yesterday I managed to capture a few, but none blog worthy. So instead, I have some photos to share of them separately.

For my son, Joshua, I used the same Simplicty 2905 pattern used here.

For my daughter, Leah, I made McCalls M6271.

 If you look closely, you can see her sparkle shoes. They are so fun! This last photo was taken last weekend. It's the only one I could capture the back of the dress. All of the fabrics I purchased at Joanns. Since her dress calls for almost 3 yards of fabric, I am thankful I managed to use 3 different 40% off coupons.

An Easter treat

I do not usually post twice in one day, but since Easter is tomorrow, I thought I would share the Easter treat I created for my daughter's basket. The challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays is to create something you would find in an Easter basket, and I am pretty sure after tomorrow, there will be nothing left of this little treat.

I created this little treat using PTI's Lunchbox die. I stamped Background Basics: Houndstooth over the entire die cut. Now, I usually use the other side for the front, but I decided that I would use (what I consider) the back.  I inked up Tag- it's #2  and used some scrap patterned paper from Pretty Pastels. I have a Ghirardelli chocolate tucked inside.

Since I shared a peek of my daughter's Easter dress, I thought I would share a peek at my son's romper. I still have to snap their photo in just a bit, but I hope to share with you their Easter attire in tomorrow's post.

A tisket, a tasket

A green and purple basket.

I have a quick little tag to share with you today. I created it for my daughter's Easter basket. I am also submitting it for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

Our challenge is to create something we would find in an Easter basket. I decided that I would create a tag which you would find on an Easter basket. My daughter's basket has a green gingham liner and a purple ribbon on the handle. I used PTIs Tag Sale #5 and Tiny Tags II to create a little Easter greeting. The patterned paper is Pretty Pastels.

I also thought I would share with you a sneak peek at the latest fabric that I bought. I had to mail away my favorite top that I made my daughter since it is going to be published. So, I decided that I would replace it.

It's not good-bye...

...but until next time. Today we had a going away party for one of my co-workers. I created a card using the beautiful spring palette from this week's ColourQ challenge.

I apologize for the bottom portion of the card not being in focus. I was attempting to take a picture of it at 11:45pm last night and we gave her the card this afternoon. I used my new Tiny Tags II. Love that little set. It is choc full of fun little sentiments. Thanks for looking!