Inspired by All the little Things #70 {Blessed}

I am completely honored to be the Guest Designer over at Inpired by all the little things this week! It is one of my favorite challenges and totally represents me as a designer...I'm always inspired by all of the little things in life! I was blown away by the gorgeous inspiration photo and couldn't wait to get started! Autumn has nearly taken us to November -the season of Thanks-so I decided to create a couple of Thanksgiving cards to mail out next month!

Before I get started on the details of the card, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of my now 4 year old! When I saw the inspiration photo, it totally reminded me of this photo shoot I did with him when he was about a month old! Ok...now on to the card!

To begin, I sponged Peacock Feathers distress ink onto a 4 by 5 1/4 inch panel of Bristol paper and blended it, concentrating on the center for a more saturated look, and worked my way out to the edges. I love that gorgeous turquoise blue represented in the photo. I had just ordered the Mix and Mat; PInked Edge Die and knew it would be perfect for today's card.

I die cut the entire piece from my favorite Kraft cardstock and then used Copic markers to color in the leaves. I love using color on Kraft cardstock...it creates new tones that are just lovely! Each leaf was brushed with some Wink of Stella for some shine. I adhered the leaf panel onto the sponged card front using foam squares. After that was done, I added a few Bright Gold Nuvo Drops here and there between the leaves for some added interest. I really liked how the bubbles in the cocoa on the inspiration photo looked, so I added them in my own way.

The sentiment is die cut twice out of "Gilver" glitter paper using the Inspired: Blessed die cut and then glued on top of each other. The other portion of both sentiments (I made two different cards) is heat embossed using gold powder onto a strip of mustard cardstock using the Inspired:Blessed Mini Stamp Set. It is such a perfect little set for so many occasions, but especially around this time of year.

The "Blessed" portion is glued into place using Tombow Mono Liquid Glue directly onto the mustard sentiment strip. The sentiment strip is added to the top of the leaf portion using foam squares for added dimension. The entire focal panel is adhered to a mustard A2 card base for some added definition. I hope you get a chance to play along this week! With such a beautiful photo, it's hard not to! Thanks for fluttering by!

Valentine's Day* wrap up*

No pun intended! However, I did have a lot of fun coming up with fun ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year and get everyone checked off my list! My husband said,"Isn't Valentine's Day supposed to be a romantic holiday and not so much a "friend" holiday?" to which I replied,"It is both!". I love Valentine's Day way too much not to do fun things for everyone.

It is my tradition to make chocolate dipped strawberries to deliver to friends and family on Valentine's Day and this year was no exception.I also package them the same year after year, the only difference from year to year is the tag. This year I chose to go with the doily theme as I did on my banner a few posts down. I mean, come on, Valentine's Day is the doily holiday. Every year I go to "Dollar Tree" and purchase the faux silver trays (they really are metal, though; not the plastic ones). The strawberries look a little fancier but I don't have to spend an arm and a leg in the process. I used the "Heart Prints" stamp set from PTI for the tags. Simple stamping, but I love how they turned out. I made quite a few different variations using different papers and sentiments, but I didn't have a chance to get them all photographed. In fact, forgive my photography for all of these projects.

I also whipped up a batch of yummy raspberry caramels to give to Emma's dance teacher and a few friends from church. The best thing about these caramels is that I made them pink!! They were so cute! You can't see very well from the photo, but maybe if you squint really hard at the bottom you can see one peeking through the cellophane. It is hard to see from the photo, but for the packaging, I simply used a cellophane bag with a sheet of patterned paper slipped down into the back. Then I attached a doily/label embellishment using sticky strip, tied it up with coordinating ribbon and called it good. I mean, who needs fancy packaging when there are pink caramels inside? Just kidding; you always need fancy packaging. That is my motto. Well...except if you are giving said caramels to small children who would tear said packaging apart in two seconds! LOL!

Speaking of children; Emma's dance class always does a Valentine's exchange and this year I thought I would do something fun. The girls have to have their hair pulled up for class, of course, so I decided to make some fun bows for them to wear. I have purchased a few elastic/bows like this for Emma and every time I use it in her hair I think how easy they would be to make. I chose pink and black for the theme since their dance attire is pink and black.

When you purchase them at the store, they are on a card to hang on the rack so I thought I would make my own. I used a nestabilities die for the tag and "Heart Prints" for the sentiments. I also used one of the label stamp sets from PTI for the border, but I can't think of the name right now. Sorry.

It was fun to see some of the girls wearing their new bows at dance class this week. I also made some coordinating tissue cozies. I had seen this idea with the joke last year, but I saw it after Valentine's Day so I couldn't wait to make some this year.Emma asked if I would make one for her, too, so she could put it into her backpack. I thought the fabric looked cute with the hair bows. I packaged everything up int heart shaped dollar spot baskets with some candy in the bottom. Emma was so excited to take them to dance class for all of her friends. I hope that even though Valentine's Day has passed, you can find some inspiration that you can incorporate somewhere else, or maybe save for next year. I was thrilled that I got so much done for all of the "Valentines" in my life. Thanks for fluttering by!

Welcoming our new baby boy....

We welcomed Rhys Gregor Lunceford to the world on August 2nd at 4:07 A.M. Rhys is such a wonderful, sweet baby! We are all in love. He weighed 8 pounds even and measured 20 1/2 inches. He is my biggest baby so far!

We are all going through an adjustment period, especially Rowan who has been a bit "thrown off" by the whole baby thing. Rhys (pronounced Reese) fits in perfectly, yet probably wonders what kind of crazy he is living in now! LOL! I am so thrilled to not be pregnant anymore and I am feeling great! I am not sure when I will be crafting since I am still without a space. We are finally getting all of the kids situated, so once that is done, I can focus on myself. I have been selfish for so long and I guess it is time to take care of others. My wonderful shelves are now in the boys' room housing books and toys, but are really working out great. I am really missing being crafty and creative, but I know in time I will be back. Thanks for fluttering by!

Sharing some *BIG* news!!!!

I have been keeping a secret for quite a while now, not only from you all, but from everybody! It is true...I am expecting! We are all so excited. My kids have been so good not to spill the beans to ANYONE! I finally had my first appointment yesterday where I got to see my sweet little one kicking and squirming (the photo got a tad bent in my purse) and to hear the hearbeat for the first time. Let me tell you I have been on pins and needles waiting so long for my appointment. My OB/GYN was out of town and this was as soon as they could get me in. It has been torture! It was such a relief to finally see him/her for the first time. I have taken like 10 tests just to be sure. We are all over-the-moon excited.
Needless to say, it hasn't been easy taking care of a baby and being sick, tired and all the other fun stuff that comes along with early pregnancy. I also got a really big calling at church a couple of weeks ago. I am still trying to get that under control, plus all of the other things that I have to do. I am sure you are all having one of those A-ha moments right now. It is probably all clicking into place as to why I haven't been around much. It has been REALLY hard...I am not going to lie. I am counting down the days to when the sickness, nausea, tiredness all goes away. I start my second Trimester on Tuesday and that is when most people begin to perk up. With Rowan it took me until about 16 weeks to feel normal again. Wish me luck that it will be sooner! I will keep you posted with any and all baby news. I am hoping that we may be able to find out what we are having by my next appointment, but that is just wishful thinking.
Thanks to all of you who stick by even when I disappear! Thanks for fluttering by!

Autumn Blessings

Autumn is one of my absolute favorite seasons! I love the crisp air, the beautiful leaves; everything!! I realized that I haven't really made many seasonal cards lately, so I decided to make a card inpspired by some photos that I took of Rowan on Friday. I really like the unexpected color combination as well.

I started out by using "Botanicals" from SU! and the two sentiments are from this set. Botanicals is one of my favorite sets for so many reason. I chose to make one of the smaller stamps the focal point. Because it is so small, I decided to use it twice to give it a bigger impact. They are colored with copic and prismacolor markers. I was really thrilled to find a brown button that said the word "somewhere" on it because it reminded me of the song that says "somewhere...thinking of you". My mind has drawn a blank as to which exact song it is, but I keep singing that part in my mind.

The rest is pretty straightforward, but I hope you are all enjoying this time of year as much as I am. Before I go, I must share with you my muse! Isn't he the best kind of inspiration! He is so wonderful and yummy and juicy and yes....I could just eat him up! He is such a delight! Can you believe that he will be ten months old on the 20th? Time has a way of slipping by so quickly! I am trying to cherish every minute of him!

Thanks for fluttering by!

Say Cheese!

It isn't every day that you get a package from the famous Amy Rohl. Aren't I lucky? I was thrilled to find not one, but two Amy Rohl originals, plus some fun gifts for Rowan. Back when Amy's Little George was born, she had tried to send me a thank you card, but the zip code was wrong so it never made it. She has been hanging on to that for a long time and tucked it inside the package for me! Isn't that just the sweetest? Thank you a million times over, Amy!!!!

She sent Rowan a cute little "Wisconsin" outfit and a darling dairy cow, hence my title! Get it? I know I am clever! LOL! Rowan looked especially nice in it because it really brought out his blue, blue eyes. We are finding that he looks equally dashing sporting a faceful of sweet potatoes or carrots! LOL!

I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful "stamping" friends! Amy is such a dear and I treasure our friendship, even though we have never met. I hope to remedy that one of these days! Thank you again, Amy!

I also recieved some other fun and unexpected mail a couple of weeks ago. When I made this card for a SFYTT, many of us used Verve stamps. I left comments for my fellow sisters and I guess I must have won the random blog hop, which meant I got a lot of super fun Verve stamps. I can't wait to play with them and I have to say thanks to Julee for sending them my way! Thanks for fluttering by!

SFYTT X Three

or should I say...times 4! I needed to make a few Father's Day cards for my husband, father-in-law and step-dad. I decided to make things easy and just make the same card three times. I made a fourth and left the sentiment off so that I could suit it to what I wanted when the need arose. Since I was making three, it seemed silly not to make a fourth since I had already cut the base cardstock and I would have had one left over anyway.

The card itself is a bit juvenile, but I don't care. I don't think boys ever really grow up when it comes to their cars, planes, boats, etc. The images are all from Papertrey Ink which probably doesn't come as a surprise since the majority of my cards seem to be PTI. It really is amazing how their stamps have taken over most of my designs. My poor SU! sets sit collecting dust as well as most of my others. I think it is time for a major stamp over-haul to get rid of the things that I *never* use.

Anyway...on to the card. The paper is from the old slab of paper from My Mind's Eye. I knew that I could find some suitable paper to use for masculine cards. I chose the colors for the plane based off of the colors of the paper. I colored the image using copic and prismacolor markers. I added a few details here and there to give it some detail and dimension.

You won't want to miss the other gals creations!!!!

Jen Del Muro and Andrea Ewen
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Jodi Collins
I had an interesting experience at WalMart today. I try and avoid that place like the plague, but I needed to get some Top-Secret photographs( photos of the kiddos for hubby) printed for Father's Day and I really like the finish that they use with their one hour photo processing. I got there and the photo desk worker found my pictures, but said that there was an *issue* with my photos and that there were some "copyrighted" photos. I scratched my head and told her that I had taken all of the photos myself. She thumbed through them and said that she thought they were okay, but she would need to check with someone else. He proceeds to thumb through them and said how wonderful they were, but they did appear to be copyrighted. I told him how flattered I was that they all thought that my photographs were professional, but insited that they were all taken by ME!!!!! Then, a third worker thumbs through them and brings one over to ask what is on the side of the photograph. If you look closely at the border that I put around most of my photos, it looks like an old photograph with some writing. I told him that it is from my photo-editing software. He proceeds to tell me that if *I* could take pictures that well, that I should be in the business. Again, I am flattered, but really it seems like what they were saying is this: There is no way that a frumpy house-wife, with kids dangling from the shopping card, hair mussed and make-up halfway on, could possibly have taken the photos. He said that it really was amazing that I had known just which angles to use and this that and the other! All in all, they insisted that I sign a copy-right release saying that WalMart couldn't be held accountable if the *real* photographer ever came knocking at their door asking why they had printed *their* designs! It really was humiliating and un-nerving! If anyone understands how horrible it is for someone to take their designs without permission, it is me! It was really horrid having to sit there and insist that I was the one who had taken the photos. I don't think WalMart will be getting my photo business anymore, which is the only business they were getting from me. Although, I did find some *adorable* Mary Poppins clothes there for Emma. The T-shirt says "Perfect in Every way". They had some fun clothes with Kites and a cute shirt that said "Jolly Holiday" but I couldn't buy her all of it, as much as I wanted to. Anway, I will stop venting! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I thought I would share one of the Top-Secret photos. I have quite a few different ones
to give to my husband for Father's Day. I took the kids a few days after Memorial Day. It was perfect because the sky was overcast, which made conditions ideal so that the sun didn't get in their eyes. I thought this one was precious. I love my kids so much.

It is my 12th Wedding Anniversary today. It is crazy how fast time goes by. We will be taking the kids to see Toy Story 3 , but then we will have the evening to ourselves.

How do you like them apples?

Last Friday I headed out the door with my basket filled with gifts for teachers, secretaries, librarians, etc. I asked my kids which of their specialty teachers they would like to give a gift to and they both replied; music and librarian. It was settled. For my assortment of gifts, I used the motto" go with what you know" and I didn't reinvent the wheel, at all!!!! I kept all of the supplies the same, layouts, etc. It really makes it much easier when you are mass producing or creating a cohesive ensemble.

I knew that I would be using Teacher's Apple since it was one of my newly purchased stamps from Papertrey Ink. I paired it with Polka Dot Basics and Background Basics: Text Style, two of my "go-to" sets. My color palette was simple; Red, Olive, Kraft and White. If you have been around a while, you will remember that last year's gifts were done with the same theme and colors.

For the librarian and music teacher I made a simple basket box and filled it with "Hershey's Nuggets" in a cellophane bag. I punched each circle from Kraft cardstock & frosted them with white ink. I then stamped the Text style image using Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Ranger onto each circle. Then I was able to stamp the sentiments, etc. I thought that this quote worked nicely for the two teachers since there are musical masterpieces and well as literary masterpieces.

The two classroom teachers both got a nugget tin, card and of course I had to add an "Applebees" gift card with each one. I purchased a set of three $15 dollar gift cards at the grocery store, which made things super easy. I have one left over that I will be giving to the Principal at our June PTA meeting along with the third nugget tin.

I finally found my stash of Hinged Tins that came in super handy. I had "tucked" them away and I couldn't, for the life of me, find them. Yay! Nugget tins to the rescue. For the labels around the nuggets, I used the super fun Limitless Labels stamp set. I really need to use it more often since it has so many fun images for all kinds of occasions. For the belly band, I stamped the red cardstock using Polka Dot Basics and then added the circle image using foam squares. For these circles, I added a little zig-zag stitching for some extra detail. I colored the apples using copic markers. The white highlight on each apple was done with a white gel pen.

I was running out of time, so I needed to make the cards super simple. After I was done, I realized how similar Saturday's SFYTT was to my card. I guess it must have seeped into my subconcious when I saw it for the first time.

For the Secretaries, I got some apple soap, added a tag and called it good! I know that they aren't "official" teachers, but I am sure they do their fair share of "teaching", so I thought that this sentiment worked well for them.

As I dropped them off, one of the secretaries wanted to see what other goodies I had in my basket. She said, "oh...you are the papercrafty girl that leaves us things! " I had to laugh, because in years past, I have just left them on their desks without a note saying who they were from. I guess my good deeds have now been "discovered"! LOL!

Today is our first "official" day of summer vacation! Yay! We woke up to a steady rain fall, but it hasn't dampened our spirits. We will be heading to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. My kids brought home a calendar that has a suggestion of something to do each day and that is what today suggested. What a perfect idea for a rainy day. Rockwell booed the idea, but Emma was eager, which is a good sign! It is imperative that she keeps reading throughout the summer to keep her on track. I still haven't signed her up for summer school, but I think traditional school gets out this Friday, so I still have time.

Rowan had his four-month birthday on the 20th. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I took a few photos to capture him at four months. I have been very diligent about taking them each week and on each month mark. The blanket that I was using as my backdrop had fallen by his face, but I think it turned out really cute. He had his mouth opened so perfectly, I snapped the picture. Well...speaking of Rowan, he has woken up from his nap, so I need to go! Thanks for fluttering by!

Birthdays are the Best *SFYTT*

My daughter and I are headed to my neices "Princess" Birthday party this afternoon! I am sure we will have a wonderful time! Of course, I needed to make a card, so I used this week's SFYTT! I realized that my last three posts have been SFYTT cards and have all used Baby Button Bits! Am I stuck in a rut? LOL! Maybe I just need to clean off my desk so it isn't at arms length everytime I sit down to stamp!

Actually, the cupcake image was the perfect fit. I have been itching to use it and the wrapping paper I got has cupcakes on it. I also bought some new buttons today at the sewing store (like I needed any new buttons) and the little yellow flower button was the perfect touch.
The papers are scraps from the favors I made for the PTA brunch last week. I cut off all of the "collection" information and even the brand name, so I am sorry I can't provide that for you. I love the mix of patterns. My sweet daughter was sitting by me while I was creating and giving her creative "two cents" as I worked away. I hate to crush her spirit when she asks me to add this or that. I ended up pulling the ribbon off, but I think it works without it. It is for a newly turned 5 year old, so I am sure she will think it is the bees knees anyway!

The cupcake "cup" was stamped onto a scrap of pattern paper and then cut out. I stamped the image again onto the focal piece, popped up the cut out cup with foam squares. I then colored the image using copic markers and added the button with a glue dot. The finishing touch was some tinsel glitter from Martha Stewart Crafts.

I did a little bit of sewing on this card. My sewing machine was almost out of thread and actually completely ran out while sewing around one of the panels. I just pulled out the little bit of thread it did have and just kept the paper piercing look. This is something that I have done often...if you need to have paper piercing on a lot of cards for invitations, etc. simply unthread your machine and go to work. Quick paper piercing!!!!!

Here is this week's sketch! I hope that you all get a chance to play along!!!! Jen's was the first "Sketch Challenge" that I partcipated in besides SCS because I love her sketches. I was super happy when she asked me to join the SFYTT team last year. I think that you will all fall in love when you give them a try!

You won't want to miss the other designers!
Jen Del Muro and April Guest Designer
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer won't be playing this week but her blog is always worth a visit!
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock
and new SFYTT sister Sony!

This is the photo I was talking about in my last post. When he gives me the pouty lip, it breaks my heart. Crying I can handle, but this little lip is just too much!

Thanks for fluttering by!

Cute as a Button *SFYTT*

I am really sorry that I missed last week's SFYTT! My life has been just a hair crazy lately, to say the least. I am trying to keep up the best that I can. I have been creating, just not things I have been sharing here. I told you that I had gotten Rowan's birth announcements done a couple of weeks ago; then I made thank you favors for his blessing day and some more favors for the PTA brunch that I was in charge of on Wednesday. Whew! I am glad that I can stamp for fun again! Well...at least for today! LOL! I have some Tweety Jill projects that I need to get done. It is always fun to work with new goodies!!!!
For today's card, I chose to use some October Afternoon papers that I picked up the other day at my favorite scrapbook store. I was looking for papers to make the brunch favors, but ended up purchasing some things for myself as well. The papers I used for the favors are super cute too, but I almost used up every last bit. I think there is enough left for one card. I am sure I will be using it soon and I will share it.

I paired the cute papers with one of my favorite stamp sets Baby Button Bits. I will soon be in need of a couple of baby cards, so I thought I would get a head start. Now that I am done, the card is inspiring me to do another sewing project to go with it. If I end up creating something to go with it, I will share it on Thimbles and Thread. The papers really inspired which image I would use and I was excited to color it with Copics. I have been in a coloring mood. I used a couple of nestabilities for the ribbon slide and for the focal image. The buttons are Ocean Tides Vintage buttons. I really liked the different textures on the two buttons on the flowers. I thought they mimicked the patterns on the papers nicely.

I added a little bit of sewing; the side panel has a zig-zag stitch and the sentiment panel has a straight stitch. I have a tiny bit of thread left on the spool, so I thought that I would try and use it up.

You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro and New April Guest Designer
Amy Rohl won't be playing this week, but she always has fun stuff to see anyway!
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer ,
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock

and new SFYTT sister Sony! Welcome! I can't wait to see what you create!
Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. If you must know...this is the real reason that I haven't been creating as much! Can you blame me? I am completely in love with this little man!

Rowan is now 12 Weeks old! I can't believe how the time is flying by! The bassinet has sat empty in my bedroom as he is now a big boy in his crib! I finally took the bassinet down and put it into storage. It seems like I was just asking my DH to bring it up and now I am putting it away! When I was pregnant, I would look at the empty space where I knew the bassinet would be going, imagining the little bundle that would soon fill it's cradle. All too soon, the space is empty again and he is moving on to bigger and better places. It is fun to see him growing and changing each day! I just don't want him to grow up too fast. He is so precious!