Flying By To Say Hi!!!

Yesterday I decided to get some use out of some ripe bananas and whip up a batch of Banana Bread. I used my Pampered chef stone, so I could get 4 mini loaves since I was giving 3 away to friends. They are the pefect size to fit into a cellophane bag. Before I began baking, I threw in a load of laundry and sat down to make some tags. Since I was making banana bread, I decided to go for a monochromatic yellow look. I did add in the black with the ink and gingham ribbon, which gives it kindof a homespun look. I was thrilled to be done with all three tags just as the washer finished.

I decided on using two of my favorite, yet rarely used, Papertrey Ink stamp sets;Bird Watching and Background Basics: Text Style. I think they work nicely together. I just sat down and started adding this and that without having a clear picture of the final result. I had fun and I like how they turned out. Now I just need to get the bread delivered!

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I can't wait to see my little one again. It has been a long month of worry and excitement. I will share ultrasound pictures when I get them. Thanks for fluttering by!

Tea for Two SFYTT

Yesterday was a holiday here in Utah. It was fun to be with the kids and our family. We went and saw "G-Force" which I was doubting that I would like, but went for the kids. It ended up being a fun show and it was nice to escape the heat of the day. We also did some fireworks which the kids always love. The new trampoline is a big hit, so the kids have been exhausting themselves jumping all day!

Since I spent the day with the family, I tried to wake up early to get this week's Sketch for You to Try card done. I am in love with this sketch. I know I say it every week, but they are always so much fun and I hope that you will all get a chance to play. If you do, please leave me a comment with a link to your blog so that I can check it out! It is always so fun to see other people's interpretation of the sketch.

I decided to use some Papertrey goodness on this card. Everything is Papertrey Ink, except for the distress ink, prismacolor marker and linen thread. I started off by choosing my stamps and colors. Of course I had to use the Green Tea Leaves pattern paper to coordinate with the Tea For Two stamp set. I also stamped the tea pot image using the 2008 Bitty Dot Basics pattern paper for some interest. I didn't want the tea pot to look flat, so I stamped the outline image once onto the focal piece and then again using the pattern paper. I shadowed it using my Wheat prismacolor marker for depth. Once I was done, I was wishing that the tea pot was a smidgy bit higher, but it was done and I was done! LOL! I may experiment with a few options to *fill* the space.

I added a little bit of machine stitching, which was done with a shorter stitch length than usual. I find that when I am sewing around smaller pieces of paper a shorter stitch length looks nicer. I finished the card off with some Smokey green stripes ribbon from the Ribbon Couture collection. I thought it was the perfect finishing touch.

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Regina
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer

I hope you all get a chance to play along this week!
Thanks for fluttering by!!!

Turning 6

My baby turned six yesterday. I can't even believe how the years fly by. Between making her cake, wrapping presents, etc. I made her a card. She is my best stamping supporter. She is always amazed at all of my creations and says "I can't believe you made that, Mom! It is beautiful!". She is my ego boost, I guess! LOL!

I decided to use some hoarded My Mind's eye paper that I thought would be perfect for her. I used a simple layout and simple stamping but wanted to add some sparkle. What girl doesn't like a little sparkle, right? I painted the chipboard letters using Making Memories paint and while it was wet I sprinkled on the glitter. I added them to the card with mini glue dots. I was happy to use my "Eastern Blooms" stamp set that has sat uninked since last years convention. I thought the flowers looked similar to a few on the paper, but those ended up getting covered up with the layers and embellishments.

I did some sewing, which ended up being seriously wonky, but she will never care or notice. I tied a big pink bow to pull it all together. She really liked it and the best part is that she displays all of the cards I make her on her bench in her room. She treats them like prized posessions. It is so sweet!

I took some photos of her about a month ago. The top one is a pose that I would prefer. The one on the bottom is similar to the poses that I get most of the time. She always wants to do some crazy hand motions and face gestures. I thought this one worked well for her being six, since her fingers look like a six!!!!


She is such a sweetie and we love her so much!!!
My husband needs me to come help him put together her new trampoline that we got her for her birthday so I better run! Thanks for fluttering by!

Queen for the Day* SFYTT*

I was in the mood for a vintage design today and this week's "Sketch for you to try" was the perfect fit. I had to make one minor adjustment on my card which varies from the sketch because of technical issues, but all in all, it is close! LOL! I hope you are all able to take time to try out Jen's sketches. She always does such a great job!

I absolutely love using my rubber stamps from TJ Designs for many of my vintage creations. I haven't used this white rabbit image from the Alice in Wonderland stamp set for a while and he was just the perfect size for this week's sketch. I colored him using copic and prismacolor makers. There really isn't much coloring since, after all, he is a white rabbit. I did use some different neutrals to give it some shadow and of course red for the hearts and pink for the bow.

I fear that every time I see a circle on a sketch challenge, I immediatly want to make an accordion flower. I tried to resist today, but couldn't! LOL! I also wanted to give everything a dusting of glitter, but limited myself to just the outside. I had so much fun with this sketch.

I really am getting my energy back. You should have seen me in action yesterday. I did more in one day than I think I have done in the last month! LOL! I even tried two new recipes for dinner! Yay for me!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Regina
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer (Amy won't be playing this week, but she always has amazing stuff on her blog, so it is worth the visit!)

I hope you all get a chance to play along this week! Thanks for fluttering by!!!

Friends

I am a little behind, but I decided to check out this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS. I have been wanting to use this pattern paper from "Little Yellow Bicycle", so I started using that. Once I had the base done, I was at a loss for which stamps to use. I rummaged through my stamps and settled on "Boho Backgrounds" which is one of those sets that sits untouched. I thought the medallion image looked nice with the circles on the paper and it was fun to create all of the different colored layers. I stamped the medallion once onto the focal piece using Crushed Curry ink, I then stamped it again onto a piece of scrap paper using Certainly Celery. I punched that out using the 1 1/4 inch circle punch and used dimensionals to attach it to the focal piece. I stamped it again using Lavendar Lace, but before I added it to the card, I used a styled silver brad for the center. Once that was done, I stamped the friends sentiment from "Friends 24-7" using Basic Gray ink. I thought the celery panel looked a little naked, so before I adhered the focal piece, I used the circle background from boho backgrounds to give it a little pop. It was just the right thing. I added a little paper clip and knotted some ribbon for the finishing touch.

By the time I was done making the card and photographing it, I was seriously nauseated, so it took me until this morning to get it uploaded. I really think this baby is sucking all of the creativity from me! LOL! I will be back tomorrow with another one of Jen's "Sketch for You to Try" cards.

I have taken the week off from stamping as you can see. My kids start school on Monday, so I have been hanging out with them. I will be back on a regular schedule once Monday rolls around.

I want to thank all of you again for all of your sweet comments in regards to the baby! How lucky I am to have such great friends that I don't even know! You really are the best! Thanks for fluttering by!

Pretty Petal Pocket Preview

Try saying that ten times fast! LOL!


First of all, I just want to thank *all* of you who left me such kind, sweet and encouraging comments. You really made my day and I cried as I read how many of you have experienced losses. Thank you for sharing with me! It really means a lot!

I switched from babies to brides for this project. This is the second template from Papertrey Ink that will be released on the 15th. It is so much fun! It is called "Pretty Petal Pocket".When I first saw it, of course it looked like a flower. I then kept looking at it and realized that it looked a lot like an upside down umbrella. Of course I can use any excuse to use Dawn's "Scattered Showers", but I really did think it was perfect! LOL!

For some reason, the colors I chose to use for this project said *Bridal* to me, so I went with it. I did alot of layering on this project. I layered the center panel on the pocke itself. I then created more layers and dimension using my oval and scallop oval nestibilites. Once that was done, I thought I should layer the umberella as well, so it was stamped twice, cut and layered. Of course every bride needs a little bling, so I carefully added some diamond stickles to the center of the flowers on the umbrella, the *O* on shower, and evenly spaced some dots on the handles.


I tied two small, satin bows and adhered them at each handle using glue dots. Once that was done, I added some Aqua Mist Vintage Buttons to the center of each bow. I really wanted to add something else, but as I sat looking at it, I decided to be done!

These would make cute bridal shower favors or even to tuck a small gift or gift card in. You will want to head over to Lauren's Blog to see some more samples using this adorable template!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!

Supplies
Stamps: Scattered Showers
Ink: Fresh Snow, Ocean Tides, Smokey Shadow
Paper: Bitty Dots Pattern Paper (ocean tides), Smokey Shadow cardstock, White
Accessories: Fresh Snow Satin Ribbon, Aqua Mist Vintage Buttons, Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, foam squares, glue dots, Pretty Petal Pocket My Timeless Template

**Big News**SFYTT

Yes...it is *HUGE*news! I have left a few bread crumbs over the last two days, but this is the official announcement!!! I am beyond excited. It has been a long, hard journey to get to this point. I already have two beautiful children that bring me such joy, but I have been wanting a baby for about 3 years. I thought that it would be easy; just like the other two, but things didn't work out that way. I was overjoyed to take a pregnancy test in March to find out that I was pregnant. I really didn't believe the two pink lines...if you only knew how long I had waited to see those two pink lines. I went to the Doctor in April to find out that the pregnancy was most likely not viable and indeed it wasn't. I was broken hearted. I felt cheated and discouraged. Not only had I suffered two months of morning sickness and fatigue, but now I had to untell everyone that I had already told. That was so hard for me. We had been so excited. Well...you can only imagine how I have been feeling since then. I really haven't been myself, I have been nauseated, the thoughts of sitting down and stamping have been more than I could stand. I kept falling asleep in the afternoons and feeling altogether rotten. I finally decided two Fridays ago that I needed to get back to my normal routine and snap out of the *funk* I had been in. Before I returned to my exercise routine, I thought it best to take a pregnancy test because my *monthly bill* ,for lack of a better term, hadn't returned since the miscarriage. I took yet another pregnancy test which shockingly came up positive. I really thought that maybe it was a fluke and I had some HCG left over from the previous pregnancy. I called the nurse and she told me that it had been too long and that I needed to come in for a blood test. I went in last Wednesday and had some blood drawn. Of course I had to wait 48 long hours to get the results back. I called back on Friday the 3rd to get the unbelievable news that I was 2-3 months pregnant. I told her it was impossible; that I had a miscarriage in April. She consulted with the Dr. and I was told to come in that afternoon. I had an ultrasound which showed a 11 1/2 week fetus with a strong heartbeat. I am thrilled that I am already 3 months in and I didn't even know. Yes...all of the signs were there, but I really thought it was my hormones playing tricks on me from before.

We are all still scratching our heads as to how this is possible. People keep asking me if maybe I had twins or if it really was the same baby. The answer is No, because this baby is due in Januray and my other baby had a November due date. I had to include some photos of the *fortunes* we got in our fortune cookies a couple of days after we took the pregnancy test, but before I had my blood drawn. The top one is my husbands and the bottom one is from my cookie. Crazy, huh?

Well, that is more information than I thought I would share. I have kept the miscarriage in, even though I wanted to tell everyone so that you might know where I have been coming from and for my lack of posting and creativity in general. I am hoping that I am on the tail end of my morning sickness and fatigue. I usually have great pregnancies with tons of energy after the morning sickness ends, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I can't believe I am sending my youngest to first grade on the 20th and bringing a newborn into the world. Some may say I am crazy and maybe I am, but I am beyond excited and can't wait to have this little one to myself all day long while the other kids are at school. It will feel like my first...that is until 3:30 rolls around and the kids walk through the door! LOL!

I guess I should get around to the card, huh? This is another fabulous sketch by Jen Del Muro, who announced yesterday of her impending birth! I think we are due at the same time! Do you know how long I have kept this crazy stamp set and pregnant girl stamp around just so I could make this card? Amy R and Taylor made a card years and years ago using this combo and I just loved it. The pregnant gal and the big work together perfectly. I started out by picking out some fun, *kindof* gender neutral papers from My Mind's Eye. I created the base by layering paper and doing some crazy sewing. I stamped the b and the g using Berry Sorbet ink by Papertrey Ink.

The girl was stamped using brown StazOn ink and then colored using prismacolor markers and copics. I decided to change the shape into a tag so that I would have a nice place to add some ribbon since last week I didn't use any at all! I made the circle smaller than the sketch indicated, but it would have covered up my focal image. I stamped the star image from Nursery Necessities and punched it out using the star punch. All of the edges have been distressed using Vintage Photo distress ink. I stamped the news sentiment onto a strip of chocolate chip cardstock and then lined it up in the circle punch so that it would align perfectly. I added a few buttons to the side for detail.

I guess I will save this card until I find out that one of my friends are expecting.

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Guest Designer
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer

I hope you all get a chance to play along this week!