Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pebbles: Birthday Trikes

Before the month gets away from me, I wanted to share my other project for Pebbles this month. I mixed and matched several Pebbles collections to come up with this layout of the girls and their 3rd birthday gift from us- new trikes! They love their trikes so much! We have them in the house right now and they will ride around a lot, have snacks on them, and watch a little TV on them. I have a feeling they would sleep on them if they could. ;)


The photos are matted on vellum and then on a different colored block of patterned paper. 


I layered a bunch of Pebbles products here - a punched patterned paper circle, pinked circle and sequin, toothpick flag, dimensional circle and glitter number sticker.


Today is Glen's 40th birthday! Our trip last weekend was our big celebration but I have a few things planned for him today. I'm still nursing sick girls so our big plans for strawberry picking have changed but I'm hoping we can still have a little fun today.

Have a beautiful day! :)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Webster's Pages: Girl Land Paper Dolls

Last week on the Webster's Pages blog, many projects were shared to do crafting with your kids. I created a paper doll for each of the girls using the brand new "Girl Land" collection. I had a couple of chipboard pages leftover from the mini albums I made them so I used those as the base for the dolls.



Here are the girls checking out their dolls....

Paper_Dolls_1_web


I cut the clothing out for them, adding bits of "Girl Land" embellishments... (aren't those trims fabulous?!)

Paper_Dolls_7_web


I used Trims, Tutu Trim, Storyteller Alphas, Dazzle-Me Gems and Netting all to make these little girls come to life.

Paper_Dolls_8_web


I also added cardstock tabs to the clothes so the girls could easily dress their dolls.




Paper_Dolls_2_web



The dolls were so simple to make but the girls have had lots of fun playing with them. Older kids could help cut out and design their own clothes.

Paper_Dolls_5_web


I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and took time to remember what it was all about. I am so thankful for the freedoms we have in this country! We went on our first little vacation as a family - it was the first time we stayed in a hotel with the girls and it went great! We went to the Omaha Zoo and Children's Museum and the girls had a ball playing in the waterpark at our hotel. But, we seemed to come home with a nasty respiratory bug and 3 out of 4 of us have it. I have a feeling I'm next! I've been busy taking care of my 3 sickies but I have plenty of projects to share with you this week. Also, please check out my post below for items that I have for sale. I'm cleaning out! :)

Have a beautiful day! :)

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Simple Stories: Hello, State Fair!

Today I have a layout to share featuring one of my very favorite summer activities, the Iowa State Fair! Iowa's State Fair is one of the best in the country and I have gone every year since I was very little. It's a tradition that I definitely don't miss! I love the food, the activities, and of course, the people watching. Last year, I was able to see the fair through the eyes of my daughters and there were so many new activities that I had never seen before because I wasn't on the lookout for things for toddlers.

Simple Stories' "Summer Fresh" collection just screams fair to me (and so much more!). When we visited the fair last year, our photos were not stellar as we just took our point and shoot camera. Rather than be too picky about what we had for photos, I knew that it was more important to get the memories documented. It was their first trip (of many future trips) to the state fair, after all. I printed 8 of my favorite photos into wallet size and created a collage of them.

Web_Hello_State_Fair
I cut apart the bingo cards and used the top 4 at the top of my collage of photos. I highlighted several of them with word stickers and used alphabet stickers on a couple as well.

Hello_State_Fair_details1

That ticket sticker was just begging to be used on my state fair layout. I also cut out the burlap ribbon piece to hold my journaling.

Hello_State_Fair_details2

Supply List:
Summer Fresh Collection Kit #2400
Summer Fresh 12 x 12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2402
Summer Fresh 12 x 12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403
Burlap/Dictionary #2420
Bingo Cards/Stripes #2421

Have a wonderful day! :)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Emma's Paperie: So Happy Together

The design team at Emma's Paperie recently featured Teresa Collins' products on our projects and I combined two collections (Carolina Breeze and Fabrications) on my layout. I love our family photo from this past fall and had not yet scrapbooked it (photography by studio m).


I cut a couple punched squares in half to form triangles. I just love layering vellum behind my photos these days...just gives so much texture. 


Grid designs always make me happy and are a great way to add color with minimal embellishments. The brads in Teresa's collections are so pretty!


The alphabet stickers are Jillibean Soup and American Crafts.


For a complete supply list, visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Have a wonderful day! I think it's going to get hot here today....I love it! :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Simple Stories: Sweet Cousins

Simple Stories has started monthly challenges and for the month of May, we are focusing on the Elements in the collections. I don't very often get to work with the "Awesome" collection but I couldn't resist using it for this photo of the girls with their cousins last fall. We surprised grandpa and grandma with a photo shoot of all of them and how lucky were we to find matching shirts for all 4?! :)

I used "Awesome" 4 x 6 Journaling Card Elements #1 (#2210) as a mat behind my photo. I only wanted numbers 1-4 to show so I covered the #5 with a star sticker. Next, I cut apart the 2 x 12 Border & 4 x 12 Title Strip Elements (#2214) and used the striped piece with the file folder tab on the left of my layout. I placed an "Awesome" sticker on the tab. Finally, I also used the 6 x 12 Page Elements (#2215). To give the piece a little more texture, I machine stitched the four larger pieces of patterned paper and distressed the edges.




To enter the challenge by June 1st, you can check out the details and more inspiration from the design team on the Simple Stories blog.

Have a great day! More soon! :)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Emma's Paperie: Soak Up the Sun

Hello friends! I'm slowly getting back to normal around here. The girls' birthday party and our garage sale last weekend just took the life out of me. I am finally feeling recovered! And I'm getting back to my normal creating time and getting my house back in order. I'm happy to be doing so because we have a lot of fun summer activities to look forward to!

I have a couple projects to share for you today that I created for Emma's Paperie. The first is a layout inspired by a song that I created using the beautiful "Pretty in Pink" collection by Glitz Designs. I am absolutely in love with this collection! I created the background by piecing together patterned paper and Glitz paper layers. The song I chose was "Soak up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow.


I layered the middle photo with a postcard sticker and patterned paper punched border and vellum for texture.


The trim is from the Dear Lizzy collection b American Crafts. 



For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

For my second project today, I want to share a card I created using the sketch at Emma's Paperie and the same "Pretty in Pink" collection by Glitz Designs. 


I layered punched hexagons (just picked up the hexagon punch by Creative Memories).


For a complete supply list, please visit the Emma's Paperie blog here.

Well, I'm off to start my day!

Have a beautiful day! It's perfect weather here! ;)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Webster's Pages Girl Land Blog Hop!



Welcome to the Webster's Pages "Girl Land" Blog Hop! Today most of the design team is sharing projects made with the brand new collection "Girl Land"! Check it out below!


Isn't it just beautiful? I shared a couple of mini albums on my blog last week using the new collection and today I'm sharing a sweet and simple card.


I just love the colors and the new "Mini Messages" stickers that go along with the collection. They are perfect for cardmaking or adding a little something to a layout or project!


Be sure to leave a comment as we're going to be giving away a LOT of prizes this week! Prize winners will be announced on the Webster's Pages blog on Friday!

If you would like to purchase "Girl Land", visit the Webster's Pages website to find all kinds of girly goodness!

And here are all of the design team members hopping today:

ANABELLE
STACEY
GERRY
JILL
EMMA
EMELINE
IRIS
DIANA
TOMOKO
NINA
KAY
GABI
LARISSA
JAMIE
JAZ
COURTNEY 

Have a great day!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Pebbles: Life as a Mom...

Happy Mother's Day! I do believe this is the first year I have heard those words from my girls and they are music to my ears! After so many painful years of wanting so badly to celebrate this holiday myself, I am beyond thankful that it's a day I now get to celebrate with my girls! On Mother's Day, I am so blessed that a very special woman chose to give a gift out of sacrificial love so that I might be able to experience what it means to be a mother. Our girls' birth mother has a very treasured place in my heart and I'm celebrating her very much today as well! Our open adoption relationship has been a wonderful experience to be a part of and I would be happy to share more if you have any questions about what it looks like.

So that brings me to my layout to share today...I think I very naively went into motherhood and very quickly had life as I knew it turned upside down and inside out. I wouldn't have it any other way, of course, but I felt like I wanted to document some of my feelings instead of a picture perfect experience. I know everyday that God is humbling me, teaching me and helping me mold these two little girls into His will. I learn something new everyday with them - mostly about patience and kindness! ;) I am so fortunate to be home with them and get to experience their everyday lives! Each day is a new adventure!

All week on the Pebbles Inc. blog, the design team has been sharing Mother's Day projects and when I received the assignment, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I came across these photos of the girls and me on their second birthday and it's a pretty accurate picture of what life can be these days. I had to laugh when I saw them!




I love my two little monkeys and I am so happy God chose me to be their mom! ;)

I am celebrating my own mother today and my mother-in-law as well! So very thankful to have both of them in my life and for all they do to help me! And it's so fun to celebrate being a mom with my two sisters! The girls love spending time with their cousins and we have another cousin on the way in August!

Enjoy your day today moms and if you are someone struggling on this day, I pray that you might find peace and comfort and still do something to celebrate "YOU!" I was in your shoes not very long ago and know very much how it feels.

Have a beautiful day! :)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Webster's Pages: All About Nora & Lily Albums

Hello, dear friends! I'm so excited to share my projects with you today because they showcase my two favorite little girls and a brand new collection called "Girl Land" from Webster's Pages. As soon as I saw the collection, I knew that I wanted to create little mini albums with photos of the girls on their birthday and a special 3-year-old interview.



I covered pages of a Maya Road girl chipboard album with the beautiful patterned papers in the collection and embellished with the new Mini Messages stickers and trims from several other Webtster's Pages collections. 


Several of the chipboard pages are misted to match the colors in the collection. 


Check out that pouty birthday face! (You can click on the images to read their interviews...pretty funny stuff!)



The girls always love looking through their scrapbook pages and they were beyond thrilled to have their very own special album all about them! 


And this week is officially one of the craziest I've had on record. We're having a garage sale this weekend and I've had a lot of assignments due so I've been a night owl beyond my usual "night-owlishness". It's all coming together so I'm casting my gaze on Sunday when I can relax a little. I'll have a special Mother's Day post to share soon.

Enjoy your day! :)

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Shabby Chic 3rd Birthday Tea Party!

Today I am thrilled to share with you all the details of the girls' shabby chic 3rd birthday tea party. I had so much fun planning, searching, creating and baking for their party. I made all of the food for the party as well as all of the decorations and borrowed a few things from my sister and mom and found several things at an antique store. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to do a tea party but my vision and inspiration for the party centered all around the pretty dresses I found for the girls at The Children's Place (see bottom right corner of collage). From there, I decided to create much of the party decor using the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection by American Crafts. I loved the soft colors paired with white for a shabby chic flair. Here's a look at the details...


The lighting is not the best in my kitchen so please bear with me for some of these photos... I created a banner using a sheer butterfly album by Maya Road and patterned paper from the Neapolitan collection. I'll share a detail shot of the banner later...


Here's a closer look at the table...I'll share more about the pieces individually but what I wanted to point out most was the tablecloth. I picked up this beautiful bargain for $2.00. Yes, I said $2.00! My sisters and I went on an adventure at Chuck's Bargain Barn (local to my hometown) and I found this beauty. I saw it and couldn't resist and after washing it up realized it was in PERFECT condition. No stains or rips anywhere and it was the perfect color. A beautiful linen fabric with tiny grey cross-stitches. I keep picturing a sweet lady lovingly working on this masterpiece. I LOVE it!


Next up is the centerpiece for the party. Michael's just happened to have tea cups and coffee pots and tea pots and I was thrilled to find them. I covered the little flower pots with patterned paper from the Neapolitan collection and painted everything white. I sprayed the wooden pieces with adhesive and then added some white glitter. Pretty, pretty. The tea cups and pots were hot glued to dowels that I painted brown. The little banner is part of the Flutterbys in the Neapolitan collection. I simply hot glued the thread to keep it in place. The little white birdies were a last minute addition to the party decor that I found at Michael's for $2.00 each.




I made the girls tea party bonnets (that they wore in a different photo shoot - I'll share those photos in a layout soon). I had picked up these straw hats in the Target dollar spot around Easter time when they were babies and they had never worn the hats. I simply hot glued flowers and pearl and silver picks that I found at Michael's to the hats. 


I found these giant wooden tea pots at Michael's (I think they were only $3-$4 each). I covered them with music patterned paper from the Neapolitan collection and some white paint and glitter. A paper doily, Flutterbys and a pinwheel decoration from Neapolitan helped complete them. The little chalkboard I picked up at Joann's for a few dollars and added a pinwheel to it. 


Here's a closer look at the banner. I loved the "Smile" sentiment and thought that was perfect for the middle butterfly. The banner pieces are Papertrey Ink dies and I simply sewed the butterflies and banner pieces together. I tied tulle in between all the pieces.


Here's a tea set we used as a centerpiece in our sun porch. I borrowed the silver tray from my mom and the rest of the pieces came from Chuck's Bargain Barn. The tea pot was around $10, the creamer and sugar ($1.00 each) and the tea cups and saucers were $2.00 each). 


I made the girls party hats with patterned paper from Neapolitan. I cut a large circle from the center of a piece of patterned paper and then cut that in half so that I had two half circles. I formed a cone shape and hot glued it. The tissue trim is by Melissa Frances. The tea pots are Maya Road and the pearl and silver picks came from Michael's. I picked up elastic string at Hobby Lobby to help keep the hats on and simply stapled that on the inside of each hat. 


And now for my baking masterpiece - ha! I am by no means a good cake decorator but I can make it simple and that's exactly what I did. I used my favorite cake and buttercream frosting recipes from Kevin and Amanda. I used a star tip on the top of the cake and the bottom edge. To decorate, I used lollipop sticks, more of the Flutterbys banner pieces, a couple of paper doilies hot glued together, and another sheer butterfly piece. (This was easy to stick on with some extra frosting).


This next photo ended up becoming a pretty centerpiece as well. (I so want to steal that 3-tiered stand from my sister! She was awesome for letting me borrow it!) I have to make the girls their own cupcakes because of their food allergies so the cupcakes were all for them. The ruffled liners are Martha Stewart that I picked up at Michael's and I made toothpick flags for them using patterned paper and stickers from the Neapolitan collection. The doily toothpick flags are by Martha Stewart. I also baked cream wafer cookies and little mini pecan pie tarts. 


The color on this photo is not my favorite but I made marshmellow treats on lollipop sticks by dipping them in Wilton candy melts and sprinkles. The tray is a vintage one I borrowed from my sister.


Here's a look at the food table...we had sandwiches on cocktail buns, an assortment of salads and chips...mostly finger foods. 


At the end of the party, I had the girls hand out these party favors with a couple of caramel chocolate kisses in them. The little bags came from Michael's. I stamped and embossed them with doily stamps from My Mind's Eye. The tea pots, etc. are by Maya road and twine by Martha Stewart. 


And here's my sweet girls again in their party hats...


Thanks so much for looking today...I would love to hear what you think! I wish there was a market for birthday party planning in my neck of the woods because I would love to do it! ;) I should also mention that Emma's Paperie is a great place to pick up paper crafting products for your party needs! All of the pieces I got from the Dear Lizzy collection came from Emma's Paperie!

Have a great day! :)
 
Site Design By Designer Blogs