Non-traditional *sweet baby*

 Emma's dance teacher is having her first Grandbaby so some of the "dance moms" put together a baby shower at the studio.  I couldn't go, but I wanted to take a gift.  The expectant parents aren't super traditional, so I thought I would go non-traditional, but still cute and frilly. It coordinates with all of the baby gifts that you can check out here. The fabric that I used was originally patterns from basic grey's paper line, but they also printed it for fabric. I couldn't find the paper, so I went with some I picked up from Hobby Lobby a year or so ago. They still have it and I really enjoy using it. I never thought I would be using it for a baby card, though.

I rummaged through some of my old SU! stamp sets to find "Buggies and Booties" which worked well with theme.  I have always loved using this set.  I stamped it onto cream cardstock with black ink and then added a little bit of wheat Prismacolor marker to antique it a bit.

I folded doilies  and layered them for a more dramatic effect.  I aged all of the edges using Vintage Photo distress ink by Ranger. It is one of my go-to supplies.  Once I had the medallion done, I added an accordion medallion with a tiny bit of antique linen stickles.  Of course I had to add some rhinestones to keep up with the theme. In the end, it looked a little bridal, but I like it. I like working out of the box sometimes. It really stretches yourself.  I was bummed that I couldn't go to the shower, but I hope she liked everything.

Here are some photographs of the sweet little shoes that I made. I am seriously addicted. They are so fun to make!

Thanks for fluttering by! P.S. My mom and I are putting together a tea party for Emma on Saturday. I will share photos next week. I also need to share photos of Rhys's first birthday party. If you are friends with me on facebook, I am sure you have already seen them.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Hello and welcome! I hope you all had a beautiful weekend! We celebrated my Father-in-law's birthday yesterday so I needed to make a card.  We also missed Father's Day with him since he was out of town, so I kind of combined a Father's day card and a birthday card.  I don't have a lot of masculine sets, so I chose to use this tree set from PTI. I can't think of the name off the top of my head.  I have always liked using it. I chose to use the outline of the tree and the trunk so that I could color in the leaves. I also added some glossy accents to the larger leaves for some texture and dimension.  Everything was distressed using Ranger's Vintage Photo distress ink. I love that stuff!

 I used some of my newer "Authentique" paper that I got from Ellen's store. You can check it out with the link on my sidebar. She always has fun stuff.  For those of you who know me, I like to mix a lot of prints and this card is no exception. I kept all of the embellishments as masculine as possible, from the jute twine to the felt stitched ribbon. No bow in sight!

Now for the exciting part....on Labor Day, my husband, kids and I moved me into my new stamping space. You would die if you could see it, especially compared to what I used to have, but it is functional and it is out of the way. In honor of this blessed event, I will be posting some blog candy in the next few days, so stay tuned! I am so happy! Thanks for fluttering by!

Thinking of You

I needed a thinking of you card so instead of only making one, I decided to make two. It is so easy just to cut enough for two rather than sitting down to make another card entirely.  I am trying to talk my husband into moving all of my stamping stuff today, but we will see. He already told me he doesn't "really" want to do that, but I think we could be quick. Especially since Rhys is taking his morning nap and the older kids can watch Rowan.

  With summer on its way out and fall on its way in, I decided to use some early autumn colors.  I really love light blue and orange paired together.  I used this "Trendy Trees" set from PTI for my focal image. I have only used it once, but I really like using it.  I also used Jen's August SFYTT. Isn't it great? She always does such a good job. One of the things I miss the most is being part of her sketch team. Maybe someday.........

I had a package of cork that was handy and I thought it would work well with the theme of the card. I liked it as the background for the tree. I used a sentiment from the PTI set "Autumn Abundance" which is another one of my favorites.
I have actually been quite busy the last month or so working on some fun sewing projects. They have been for baby showers, but I didn't have enough time to get everything photographed. That is always such a bummer when you work so hard on something but then don't get a chance to get a good picture of it. I didn't really think the mother's to be would be keen on me asking if i could come over and take pictures of their stuff! LOL! Anyway, I had fun and I have been trying to be creative. Thanks for fluttering by!