hi:)

Hello!! How's your week going? Ours started off pretty well :) We're having some dreary weather right now though. I got my latest Papertrey order this weekend though!!! Yay :) I can't wait to play. I always like to sort of forget what I ordered so I can be a little surprised when I open my package. heehee :)  A little silly I know, but still fun! I'm in the middle of a couple of album projects though, so I'm making sure I finish those before I play with my new stuff.

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I hope you don't mind a Christmas card in spring :) Christmas cards are some of my favorites and I like to make them all year long. I started with a kraft base, no surprise there :) Then I stamped a text background image from Cornish Heritage Farms on a Hibiscus Burst panel. I love how it softens the bright pink. Sometimes it is hard for me to use them when they are SO bright. Then I stitched it onto some Sweet Blush strips. I heat embossed those pretty snowflakes from Verve with some sparkly white embossing powder. Then I diecut them in circles with my Quickutz. I colored some pearls with my copics to match. The ribbon is Ocean Tides from Papertrey. The sentiment is from Holiday Button bits. I love how it came together. I want to try this color combo again for sure!

Thanks SO much for stopping by! I hope you have an awesome day!

supplies: cardstock: kraft-paper reflections, all other-papertrey ink; stamps- background-cornish heritage farms, snowflakes-verve, sentiment-papertrey ink; ribbon-papertrey

Enjoy today :)

Things started back pretty well for the first day after break :) I did get the boys to bed on time and Miss Emma went to be like she used to too, yay :) The weather was so nice this morning though, that we decided to pack up our school books and head to the park. It was sooo nice doing school outside on our blanket, then taking breaks to run around. A great way to ease back in to studies.I only wish I would have thought of it sooner so I could have baked some cookies to take with us, but I did make some when we got back heehee :)

This is a card I made before the break. I love these colors!

I used Papertrey's Turning a New Leaf for the leaves on the kraft panel. I inked the edges a bit too. I love the way dark brown looks on kraft...sigh:) I used versmark to stamp the text on the spring moss cardstock. For the butterflies, I punched them twice--once in white and once in clear acetate. Then I stamped the same leaf image from before on them with white Stayzon ink. I adhered them with glue dots and put pearls on top. The sentiment is from Verve's Black tie Birdies.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you enjoy today :)

supplies: cardstock: papertreyink; stamps-sentiment-verve, all others-papertrey ink; ink-tsukineko; punch-martha stewart crafts.

a layout in progress...

So sorry, again! I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted...I am here :) I've just been at home, cleaning and making cards :) Tomio has been taking Leah golfing I think every day this break. Apparently, he met the father of last year's junior golf champion at the driving range a couple days ago. Tomio said that he noticed him watching Leah's practice.  He told Tomio that Leah had an excellent swing :) Tomio had been telling me all along that Leah had a great swing, but he was so proud that the "champion's dad" thought so too :) :) :) I love it that Leah enjoys it and works hard at it. I'm so proud of her :)

Anyway, here is a layout that I created recently.

Just some pictures of my silly cute boys:) I really like the hand stitching I did around the edges. But to be honest, I think I it is missing  something in the upper right section. I debated about it while I was making it. But it was until I took these pictures that I was sure. SO, most likely, as soon as I am done with this and if Miss Emma stays content :), I will be adding something there. I'll post it again once I do and you all can see if you agree with me :)

I think all the patten papers are from Fancy Pants. I buy from several manufacturers, but Fancy Pants ones almost always turn out to be my favorites. I love Basic Grey too, but I often find those a little harder to actually use for some reason. That never stops me from getting them though heehee :) And when I DO use them, I always like them.

Well, thanks for stopping by!! I've enjoyed the break we had here, but it has really messed up everyone's schedules, especially Miss Emma's. I'm hoping to get everyone back on the right track tonight and tomorrow so we can start back happily:) on Thursday. I hope are having a fun week!!

golden week

Well, Golden Week has officially started here. Tomio usually gets an extra long holiday for Golden Week, but not this year...boohoo :( The weather has cleared up though and it looks like we'll be able to have some fun outdoors :) Tomio asked what I would like to do for the break...I said eat ice cream and scrapbook :) Seriously, what else could a girl need? heehee :)

This is a card I made last week. Keeping with my goal of using the stamps I hadn't used enough lately.

The flower stamps are from Verve. They are very "cut out friendly" flowers. heehee:) Fun to layer too. Two kinds of polka dot paper and some stitching. I really like these colors together. The little bit of pink adds a nice little punch I think. 

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to put Miss Emma down for her nap and hopefully get some fun cards made :) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!!

supplies: cardstock: white-papertrey ink, kraft-paper reflections; pattern paper-light blue-papertrey ink, brown-bo bunny; stamps- flowers- verve, sentiment-papertrey ink; label die: spellbinders labels 8; embossing folder: quickutz; ribbon-papertrey ink

how sweet it is...

I saw this sketch challenge at the Paper Crafts blog, and I thought it would be fun to try one. I don't know why, but as soon as I sat down to make something with this sketch, I immediately thought of using these stamps.

When I first got them, I only imagine using them mostly on recipe cards. But I actually have used them on cards and layouts. I really like how it turned out. I paper pieced the apron, pockets and hearts and all. I used embroidery floss for the apron strings :)  I used Basic Grey Nook and Pantry paper, it seemed so perfrect :) The stitching is kind of by machine, kind of by hand lol. I mad the holes with my sewing machine, but then I stitched it by hand.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope your week is going well. Tomio is off tomorrow, which is fun :) I have a dentist appointment though... at least it will be nice to get it done with, right? lol.

supplies: cardstock: bazill basics, pattern paper: polka dot-bo bunny, all other-basic grey; stamps- images-hero arts, sentiment-papertrey ink;ink:tsukineko; other-stitching.

spring cleaning...

Wow, so sorry for the long silence. Nothing too major going on. Just working on lots of housework, spring cleaning, going through all the kids' clothes. I sorted all their clothes, weeding out the ones that are too small or stained or have holes, and I got out their spring/summer clothes and packed away their winter ones. Goodness, when you have to do 4 kids' worth it takes a LONG time lol. And in the spirit of my wonderfully neat bathroom closet, that I have mentioned before, I decided that all their closets should be that neat. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I have folded so many clothes lol. But I can also say that I have gotten alot better at folding VERY neatly. And if you had seen my drawers growing up, you'd know that is a very big deal.  Apparently, it comes naturally for some people, like my sweet hubby... *grin* But not me.I figured out I really can learn though. I think even my kids were impressed with how neat Mama is. I heard Leah tell Rhys, when he was frurtrated that he couldn't fold his clothes  like he wanted, "Mama couldn't do it that well before either. She's just been practicing lots." At least they know that Mama works hard to do better, right?! I've been working so hard on all that, I haven't been able to do anything crafty at all. But I'm finally getting close to finishing, so I think I will get to do something tonight. yay :)  I feel so proud of myself to have done well at something I never had much luck with before :)

Anyway, here is a simple little card I made last week.

I was really just wanting to play with some of my stamps that were less used. There are so many cute stamps that I just need to experiment with a little bit. So before my newest order of stamps arrives, heehee :), I decided to try using as many of those that I could. Think this one turned out pretty cute. And I was glad I worked out some fun ways to used the grass stamp. All of these are from Papertrey's Honey Bee set. Such a fun set now that I have played with it alot more :) And of course I had to use some more Double dot paper. (I'm going to need to get some of that soon!!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!! I hope your week is starting off well :)

is spring here?

The weather was SO perfect yesterday!! Nice and warm, lovely warm spring winds. I got tons of laundry done...just wonderful. But today...aghh!! Back to really cold again and rainy ALL day. I was so hoping it was finally going to be really be spring-y for good now...sigh. I think I'll have to at least turn it into a baking day :)

For today's card, I want to try using some more bright colors. I really like the Hibiscus Burst pink, but sometimes I find it hard to use. I am the only one who has trouble making brighter colors look nice? I see others make beautful cards with lots of bright colors, but I usually work alot better with subdued colors. Anyway, this it what I made. I think the cupcake is so cute. It is from WhipperSnapper. I have a few of their cupcakes that are just adorable :) I stamped this one directly on the card front and then paper pieced the the cupcake on top. I stamped the aqua mist panal with CHF music background. The brown strip is my favorite...Bo Bunny's double dot paper. I cannot get enough of it heehee. I want to use it on everything (and I almost do...).

I think I like it lol. I'm not really satisfied with how I did the sentiment, but I just couldn't decid what it was that I really wanted. Unfortunately that happens fairly often lol.

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope your enjoying some lovely spring weather! I intend to bake some delicious oatmeal cookies :) And with me and kids in the house, we'll be lucky if they last the afternoon lol.

supplies: cardstock: pink, aqua-papertrey ink, brown-bo bunny; stamps: cupcake-whippersnapper, music-chf, sentiment-pinkcat studios; ribbon-pti; other- copic markers and scallop punch