Baby Birdie Thanks

I have been busy nesting and getting things ready to welcome baby into the world. I am so excited!!!! I thought it might be prudent to get a few Thank You cards made before I am busy with a newborn and too tired to think straight. I put this together the other night as a possible pro-type to mass produce. I was inspired by the patterns and textures based off of the quilt I finished as well. I will be sharing it here when I get it photographed. I will let you know when I get it posted. Also, for those of you who are interested, I added my final baby project that I gave to my SIL which you can see here. I had promised to share it and had to do a quick photo shoot on Christmas Eve before we headed out the door. I was relieved to see that the photos turned out bright enough when I uploaded them to my computer.


For those of you who have been around for a while and know me, know how much I love birds and nests, especially for babies and weddings. I couldn't resist using this fabulous "Birds and Nests" set from Cavallini Papers & Co. that I picked up at a local Stationery shop a few years ago. Also, I realized that I ommitted Papertrey Ink from my watermark on my photographs.

I used Damask Designs for the background on the brown panel. This design should be quite easy to mass produce, especially since I used so many punches and only one color of ink. I think the eggs might need a smidgen of color to really tie it all together, but we will see.

Also, we have been having the hardest time trying to pick a name for our little guy. If any of you have some fabulous "R" names, I would love for you to leave me a comment letting me know. If we pick the name you leave, I am sure some fun blog candy will be coming your way! LOL!

I am off to start another sewing project! Thanks for fluttering by!

Snowflake Splendor *SFYTT*

Well...Christmas came and went. I was hoping for more time to enjoy the feeling and spirit of the season this year, but time just got away from me. I guess it is up to me to keep that feeling all year long, but sometimes it is hard. We did have a wonderful day and I loved seeing the joy in my children's eyes and feeling their excitement. Christmas is such a magical time and I just love it!!! I have been so busy getting ready for baby and for Christmas, plus being Wife and Mother that I just ran out of time. I did enjoy the things that we did do this year; going to see the lights at Temple Square, baking and cooking Christmas goodies, having the kids write out their lists to Santa, Classroom parties, Family Parties, etc, etc.....
I really wanted to make another Christmas card for today's SFYTT, but I am sure you would all be scratching your head as to why I was posting a Christmas card the day after. LOL! I decided to go with a "Winter" themed card. I started out by using a couple of my Cuttlebug embossing folders for the background rather than using any pattern paper.

The stamps are all from Verve Stamps, which I love. I haven't used this particular set since last winter and I have been itching to get it out. I love the fonts on the sentiments and all of the great snowflake images. I added a snowflake ornament that I picked up at Michaels a few years ago that was the perfect touch. Unfortunately, the card looks much prettier and sparklier in real life. My photography just doesn't do it justice today. I was hoping for a much brighter photo, but it just wasn't happening.

Jen is doing an amazing give-away on her blog in connection with today's sketch. You will want to head over there to see what it is. Also, this will be the last SFYTT until February. Since Jen and I will be welcoming our little baby boys into the world in the next few weeks, we all will be taking January off. I will still be posting other creations, hopefully, but we shall see!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Kim
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles is in Florida and having a wonderful time, I am sure!

Amy Sheffer ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I just want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope everyone gets the chance to see their loved ones and feel the magic of Christmas! Thank you for stopping by to visit! I will be back tomorrow with one of Jen's fabulous new Sketches. Have a wonderful day!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas....

and a Happy New Year!!!!

ETA: Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments! I had someone ask me where and how I did the picture of my children. I took the picture in our yard. I used Corel Paint Shop Pro for all of the photo editing. I used the "effects" category and changed it from color to Sepia Tone and then I used another effect by running it through the "time machine" option. I then used my text tool to add the "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" using one font in the color white. Then I changed the color and text and added the "and a happy new year" and adjusted the size and placement. I hope that makes sense! Again...thanks so much for all of your sweet comments!!!

I hope you all have had a wonderful week! I have been M.I.A. from the blog this week, but I have gotten alot of *other* things done! It feels good to be almost done with Christmas shopping and getting ready for baby! It has gotten to the point that I just want him here NOW!!!! I guess getting through Christmas would be best, though! LOL! I am glad that I have had the holidays to keep me occupied on other things rather than just counting down the days until the baby comes.

My card today is a bit on the non-traditional side, but I like the warm tones and I know exactly who will be getting this. I haven't inked my Thomas Kinkade images for a while, yet I didn't feel like doing a lot of time consuming coloring. Instead, I chose to create a Sepia toned image and took the color scheme from there. My dimensions are a bit off on the card, so you will definitely want to check out Jen's blog (link at the bottom) to see the correct dimensions.

The Thomas Kinkade images are all from Cornish Heritage Farms. They are really fun to work with, especially if you have extra time to do some coloring! Everything else is pretty straightforward, so I won't ramble on about the details. You know me; a little sponging, distressing, ribbon, lace and buttons and we are good to go! LOL!

Here is the photo of my kiddos that will be tucked inside the Christmas cards this year. No...I don't have them out, yet, but they will be going out today, so I better run! My daughter has her ballet recital tonight and I am so excited!!!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Kim
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!

From Our House to Yours *SFYTT*

I know you are all probably shocked that I am not posting a baby card or project! LOL! I decided to switch gears and get another Christmas card done. Last year, this was my *go-to* stamp set, yet this is the first time it has seen ink this year! I also ran across this Making Memories Christmas paper from last year when I was searching for something else, so I pulled it out so I would remember to use it.
I am fashionably late this morning as well. My pregnant body was so tired last night, that I fell asleep early and then we had to get to our Church Christmas breakfast and I was in charge of making pancakes, so my early morning was shot. I quickly came home and pulled this together. I had fun, even though it was a quick job. This week's sketch is super fun and easy to work with.

I stamped the focal image twice, punching one out with the large oval punch from SU! and then mounting it on top of the other. I did this quite a bit last year with this set and thought I would do it again. I love the fonts of all of the sentiments that are included in this set, which by the way, is called "to you and yours". I did cheat a bit with the embellishments and added them a few extra places! I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to add some sewing as well, but my machine is still threaded with pink thread.

I cut out my quilt for my baby yesterday, so I will start on that in the next day or two, but I have another project that I want to finish first that I will share as soon as it is done!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Kim
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!! Thanks for fluttering by!

Bundle of Joy Notecards

I promise this is one of the last baby gifts that I will be showing you. I still want to show you the project that my Mom is working on, but it's not ready yet. I am so glad that I got to work on all of the projects when I did, because my neice was born today! How exciting! I still haven't heard what they named her, but I can't wait to see her.


Every new mom needs Thank You cards on hand to send out once the baby has been born. I wanted to make a little set of notecards that were simple, easy and most of all; Mailable! I kept everything quite flat so that they woudn't require hand-cancelling or extra postage. I have had this little cuttlebug embossing folder with the baby pea that I have wanted to use, but never seem to. I was glad to be able to work it into this design.











The base for each card was created using Vintage Cream Cardstock. I embossed the Pink covers using the Swiss Dot Embossing folder by Provo Craft. I tied a simple knot of pink gingham ribbon that I picked up at Hobby Lobby quite a while ago. The scallops were made using Nestabilities dies and the pink circles were punched with a 1 3/4 inch circle punch by SU!. Once the circles were punched, I embossed each one with the pea die from Provo Craft. I also stamped each one with the "Thanks so much" sentiment from Mixed Messages and the inside with "You're Too Kind" from the same set. I packaged the cards and envelopes in a Clearly Creative Card Box which I love because it makes everything look really professional.

To tie everything together, I sewed a quick bag using some of the fabric I used for the bib that I showed a couple of days ago. I trimmed all of the edges using Pinking Shears for a quick, easy presentation. I made a tag to go along with it using the same supplies as I did on the card.

I was telling my Mom that it was funny that if I made a fabric project, I made a paper package for it, but if it is a paper project, it gets a fabric package! Go figure!!!

I hope everyone is having a fun, festive holiday season. I have come to realize that it just doesn't last long enough. I can't believe how quickly the days slip by! I still have enough on my list to keep me occupied for some time! LOL! Thanks for fluttering by!

I will be back tomorrow with a new SFYTT!!!!

"Do Me A Favor" Sneak Peek

I was thrilled with this month's new template from Papertrey Ink! I was in need of a creative way to package a baby bracelet and this was the perfect solution! As you know, I have been putting together a gift ensemble for my SIL and this was the perfect finishing touch. Even though I have been using Papertrey Ink products throughout, I decided to mix things up a bit and use some different stamps, but keep the colors and feel the same.

Once the base was created, I stamped the mat layers using Guide Lines Two stamp set in Hibiscus Burst and Spring Moss Ink. I also had the opportunity to use the Guide Lines Grid Sheets in White(these are the mat layers). I simply ran the paper through my printer and had the mat layers printed directly onto the paper. Be sure to put the paper in backwards, so that the black lines are on the back rather than the front. Once that was done, I created my own little embellishment using Simply Stationery and Mixed Messages. The finishing touch was a bow using SweetBlush Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon. Thanks for fluttering by!