Hello You!

 Here is the third design that I have been working on! I am in the middle of design #4 and feeling like I am on track to get them all done!  I found this paper at Hobby Lobby the other day and knew it would make a great card. I didn't have a firm idea about how I would use it, but I knew it could be cute. I've had this card that I was supposed to send out a long time ago just lying around, so I decided to use the same layout and everything. I changed the sentiment, though.  I did post it on my blog, but it was so long ago and the papers really change the feel that I decided I would still post this one.

 I thought the "Trendy Trees" stamp set and coordinating die worked nicely with the papers. Out of the bunch,  I decided to show you this particular card, because I like the button that I found to use. I only had one, so the rest just have round buttons, but this one is super cute.  This card is mostly about the paper since there is so little stamping.

 As you can see from this detail shot that I really struggle lining up this particular image with it's coordinating die. I almost didn't use it for that reason alone.  I did however end up by liking some of the white showing through to give it some extra detail. They all aren't this bad, but I had to show you this one because of the button! LOL! I chose the sentiment because I thought it would be versatile, just like the one on my last post. I want the recipient to get the most out of her card set and feel like it meets her needs.

Again, I am really struggling with my photos looking nice on blogger. They look so much nicer before I get them uploaded. I really don't know how to fix it. Any ideas?  They just look super washed out.  Anyway, thanks for fluttering by! The next card will be something masculine, so stay tuned!

You make life so sweet!

 As promised, here is the second design in the set I am making for my friend.  To be honest, they are taking much longer than expected. The deadline to have them done is fast approaching. At this point, I need to make one design a day X 4 to get them done in time. I finished these up today, but made another set as well. What a relief!  For this card, I used the strawberry set and coordinating sentiment set, but for the life of me I can't remember the name. I told you I am awful!  I used the largest image and coordinating flower die to make a big impact without needing a lot of layers, etc.  The coloring took a while, but once that was done, everything came together quickly.

 I decided on the sentiment because it seemed really generic; it could be used for a birthday, thinking of you, or thank you. Hopefully she will find it just as versatile.

 The flowers were die cut and then popped up with foam squares for some extra dimension.  I added some glossy accents to each flower and then again in the lightest part of each strawberry. I think it adds just the right touch.  The ribbon label was die cut using a nestabilities die that I love! I have used it a lot in the past, but it hasn't been used much recently. It was good to get it back in the rotation. I found this fun pink lace at the sewing store the other day, so I thought I would use it.   That's about it! Thanks for fluttering by! P.S. I posted a fun little springy sewing project here if you are interested!

Since it's your Birthday!

 One of my friends asked me to make a set of cards for her to give as a going away present to one of her co-workers.  She told me that her co-worker loves cards and thought it would make a nice going away present. I was honored that she asked me. This is the first card in the set. I will be sharing them with you as I get them done.  I am making a total of four cards of each design. I will give her two and keep two for myself.  My stash of cards is non-existent, really. It will be nice to have something to grab when I am in a hurry!

 I found the papers at Hobby Lobby. They were actually some in the 8 1/2 by 11 section, which I rarely even look at, but these caught my eye.  The red polka dot paper is from a Stampin' Up! 6 by 6 pad I have had for years, but I really like the pop of red.  I chose to use on of my new PTI sets that I think is called "Stylish Sentiments".  It just came out last month.  The sentiment is the only stamping on the card, but anything else would have made it too busy. I was already questioning the butterflies, but in the end, I like them.

 As you can see, I chose two different ribbons. I haven't decided if I will give her one of each or keep the red together and the blue together. I will probably give her one of each, because the ribbon, even thought it is subtle, changes the feel of the card.

The music paper was die-cut using nestabilities. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch with adhesive pearls in the middle.  I used PTI buttons to frame the sentiment and the ribbon is SU!  The lace is from May Arts.  I hope you enjoy my first card in the series! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. Thanks for your sweet comments about my announcement. And yes...it is baby #5!

P.S.S. I also posted another baby ensemble here if you are interested!

Sweet Little Baby and an announcement!!!

I just finished up the baby boy ensemble today that I was telling you about in my last post. I really like the way everything turned out and I hope the new mommy likes it, too.  Rowan gave me his stamp of approval while I was making everything saying how much he wanted one! I thought that was cute! I guess it helps that it had cars on it!  When I have been out shopping for all of the girl things I have been making, I noticed that the fabric store had a lot of cute new boy fabrics as well. I always struggle to find really cute boy fabric, so I was thrilled to see this.  The card and tag were all inspired by the cute fabrics. If you want to see the things I made for the gift you can see them here .

   I know that I am crazy, but I purchased the "Little Hot Rod" stamp set from PTI just because of this gift set. I knew that with three boys, I would use it alot anyway. I have a ton of nephews, too and my little ones will get invited to tons of birthday parties in the upcoming years so I thought it was a good investment. I was bummed to see that the coordinating dies were out of stock, but I will buy those as soon as they become available.

I chose the color scheme based on the fabric, of course.  I used pure poppy, spring moss and ocean tides. I really should have used simply chartreuse, but after I had it stamped with spring moss, I wasn't going to start over. This was the third time I had stamped it anyway because of smudging issues.  I combined "Star Prints, Just the Ticket and Postmark" as well.  I forgot how much I enjoy using my classy brass stencil for the  piercing around the star. You will probably be seeing more of that in the future.  I added some diamond stickles to the headlights of each car for some extra detail.

Once I was done, I wasn't ready to be done, so I whipped up a quick little tag for the basket. Super quick, but it helps tie it all together!  


As far as my announcement goes....I guess it is fitting that I have been posting all of this baby stuff because we are expecting a baby in September!!!!! We are so excited!!! I will keep you tuned in as to whether we are having a boy or a girl! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Cutie Patootie!

As you may have noticed from my some of my earlier posts, I have been working on a lot of baby gifts.  I usually am making them totally last minute and usually the day of the baby shower.  This one was no exception and unfortunately that means the card is the last thing to get thrown together. As you can see, the card is very simple, but there are a few details that I liked, so I thought I would share.  If you want to view the entire gift ensemble, you can see it   here   I am very limited in my baby sets, which I just remedied by buying a couple more from PTI.

I usually end up by using "baby button bits".  I wanted to keep the card within the color scheme of the gift ensemble, but I didn't have the "right" paper. I quickly took some of the fabric that I was working with and copied it on my printer. It was easy, fast and perfect to bring the whole thing together. I also made a little fabric flower that I used in my sewing to add to the card as well to make it all coordinate.

Even though I had to throw the card together last minute, I think it looks cute with all of the things that I made.  So...if you are ever in a bind for cute paper, but you have great fabric, just copy it!!!  I have been doing this for years, especially back when Rockwell was a baby. I wanted the paper to coordinate in his scrapbooks with his clothes, so I just copied his actual clothes.  Crazy, but fun!  Thanks for fluttering by!

Ticket to Celebrate

Attention Bloggers: Are you finding that your photos don't look as nice once they have been posted? My originals look SO much better. As you can see from the little "post mark" on the card, I made this back in October. Yes, Yes...I know I am a little behind. I am glad now that I had the sense to take pictures so that I can get it posted. I mentioned before that even though I wasn't blogging, I have still been crafty!!!  I ordered this little $5 set from PTI when it came out and knew I wanted to use it "bigger". I have always loved making cards with a scene within a scene, if that makes sense. This set was perfect for that. I did use other sets to use in conjunction with it and I think they compliment the design.

 I first decided on the color scheme which matched the gift, surprise, surprise!!  I tried to give each square some depth and dimension and still be cohesive with each other.  Now that I am looking at it with fresh eyes, I can see things that I would have added, but this ship has sailed.... a long time ago! LOL!

In the end, I think she really liked her card and it felt good to get crafty!  Not much more to say! Thanks for fluttering by!

Rowan's "UP" party

For Rowan's 3rd Birthday we decided to do an "Up" party.  He had been obsessed with watching the movie daily if not multiple times daily.  He loves balloons or should I say he is obsessed with balloons so it was a perfect movie for him. He loves dogs, too, so that makes it even better.  I kept asking him what kind of a party he wanted and he kept saying that he wanted a "Pooh" party which I threw for Rhys. I told him that he needed to pick a new theme. I gave him the idea for an "Up" themed party and he liked the idea. I was so excited...I had all kinds of ideas that I wanted to do: Ellie badges, chocolate bars, adventure books, etc. When I went to Pinterest I found that all of my great ideas had all ready been done, but that was okay. In the end, it worked out perfectly because I ended up getting the flu the Monday before the party. I was super weak, but threw the whole thing together in two days, minus the invites. Thankfully I got those done the Saturday before I got sick.

Originally I wanted to have the house with balloons on the front, but it wasn't working out, so I switched gears and made little adventure book replicas for the invites.    Thank goodness I had the cloud die-cut; it worked out great.

For the inside, I just taped the party info inside, just like Ellie's adventure book. I added some stamped balloons to bring out the theme even further.  I thought my design was so straightforward and every one would "get" it, but that wasn't the case. Oh well...I had fun making them.  As I mentioned before, because others have done similar parties, I was blessed to have links to printables and links to fun stuff.  Pinterest was awesome, too. Such fun stuff.

Anyway, I found a great lady on Etsy who was willing to make the Ellie badges for me.I originally contacted her just to purchase a digital copy of the grape soda image, but she said it would be more cost effective if she made them up. Again...another blessing in disguise!  I wanted to give them a card to pin to, so I created these.  I used some map paper and then just printed the rest using my printer. I liked the quote that says," You and me...we're in a club now"  I thought they turned out cute and the kids loved them.    

The Disney/Pixar website was great, too. It had the adventure book printables which I printed and then  just adhered to some spiral notebooks. I put some scrapbook paper inside the RSVP pens for an extra touch. You can see these in the open suitcase on the left.    

For those of you who have seen the movie, you will know that the way Russell gets Kevin to follow him is with a bar of chocolate. The party just wouldn't be complete without a little chocolate.  I used the canoe image from the camping set from PTI.  I bought the set just for the party, but with a family that likes to camp, it will come in useful. I can also use it for scouts and stuff.  I also used the image for the cupcake toppers.  Which...speaking of cupcakes and cakes...that was a comedy of errors.

Let's just say I was NOT happy come the day of the party.  I knew that just getting over the flu, there was no way I should be baking or that anyone would want to eat anything I baked, so I opted for bakery made.  I printed out a really cute vintage poster created especially for Up and asked the bakery to print it on edible paper and put it on the cake. I also asked them to make a dozen cupcakes and make the icing look like clouds.  When I went to pick them up, I was sooooo disappointed. The edible paper had printed out in horrific colors. Rather than 12 individual cupcakes, they made a "cloud cupcake" cake.  In the end, that turned out cuter than the ugly other cake.  The cake could have been so cute, but was a huge flop.

The little birthday boy blowing out the candle made it all better. Isn't he adorable?  Do you love the hat?  My mom whipped up his aviator hat the night before! I am so grateful for talented and amazing grandmas!!!!  You can see little Rhys, too. Isn't he cute?

All in all, it turned out great! The kids had fun and Rowan loved all of his balloons!  I just wish I hadn't gotten sick. Party planning is one of my favorite things and I hate to "cut corner" which I had to do.  Thanks for fluttering by!
P.S. I posted another baby sewing project here if you are interested. I have been doing a lot of sewing lately. I will be sharing a baby boy ensemble when I get it done.