Taking a tip from "The Help"

Morning friends. So, I finished reading The Help a few weeks ago and went to see the movie this weekend. I liked both a lot!

I don't know, I've been feeling so very overwhelmed lately. I've never been to the movies alone before. It was a welcome experience. I needed a break. Needed some peace. I've been sick with a cold for about a week now and it hit me really hard. Also my kids have been fighting and "screachy" a lot lately. Especially my sweet little Alivia. It's like she grew a mind of her own overnight. Which I want, but it's making me kinds looney. So stressful and it makes me want to cry sometimes. I know it's normal. I'm sure all of you moms out there can relate (please, God, tell me it's NOT just me?!?). All I can do is be consistent and love them.

Anyway... The Help. So, in the book, one of the main characters, Aibileen, spoke about how she wrote down her prayers and then said them. I really like that concept. I pray every day - many times a day. Usually whatever pops into my head, along with the "thank you for my blessings, family, healthy children, that Sal & I are healthy and able to work" etc. Then at work, or through friends, blogs, or church friends I hear things that need prayer and I lift those things up too. But sometimes, I'm so "all over the place". I start praying for someone, and someone else pops into my head. Then it always ends up me praying for myself to be kind, forgiving, compassionate... I know God can deal with me. But it stresses me out sometimes. I feel like he's thinking "...this crazy lady again with the rambly prayers...". Ok, I know he probably doesn't say that, but like I said, it bothers me.

So... I decided I'm going to start writing my prayers down. That way I can gather my thoughts and if I think of something, I write it down. Prayers, thoughts, quotes. No one gets lost in the shuffle of my crazy mind. Also it will help me to reflect on them later. Follow up with the Big Guy ;). I had an extra Composition Book left over from "back to school" and decorated it using Crate Paper's Portrait Collection: I really loved playing with the stickers/chipboard accents in this collection. The back was left pretty plain
I'm going to try to make it a point to write in it every day. Carry it to/from work and be diligent about it. I'm a really bad journaler, so wish me luck.

Snowy Window Card for the Paper Smooches Spark Inspirational Challenge!

Good morning friends! Hope all is well out here in the blogasphere. I suppose I’m recovering from this cold - slowly but surely. Thank God!

Ok, onto another note. Did you know that Paper Smooches has their very own challenge blog - it’s called Paper Smooches Sparks? Hello! How did I not know about this!! Just found it yesterday! I only have 2 sets of Paper Smooches Stamps so far, but really love them. You all know how much I love Lawn Fawn - and they are of the same high quality - and their images are truly SO original and fun - their fonts are also adorable!!

Ok, I don’t know if it’s tacky adding a project made with no Paper Smooches Stamps, but I was totally inspired by their inspirational photo and wanted to join in on the fun, so I’m giving it a shot! I'm also trying out for their DT call - fingers crossed ;). Here is a look at the inspirational photo:

So cute right?!? With it in mind, I created this:

and here is an inside view:

Here's a standing up view:

and a laying down view...

Cool huh? I really adore how it came out! I was at Michaels this weekend, and found some cute ArtC glitter. I’ve been wanting it for a while - but just couldn’t justify paying $5.99 for it, no matter how cute the little bottles are!! Anywho, Michaels a variety of them on sale - 60% off - I couldn’t help but grab 3 different sets!! Some of the sets come with beads too & they’re all so cool! I thought they’d be perfect for this project.

Onto the card: So to make this, I started by making the glittery window/pocket using clear acrylic “paper” (also found at Michaels) and Martha Stewart’s clear {chunky} glitter & the ArtC glittered hearts. Used my sewing machine to stitch it all together so it’d be nice and sturdy! Then I went to work stamping my Frosty Friends (all Stamps on this card are Lawn Fawn’s Making Frosty Friends and all patterned paper is Crate Paper) and paper pieced them. Next I set them aside and stamped the same images onto what would be my (inside) card base.

Then I stamped a few snowflakes from the set with Versamark Ink and heat embossed them using AC’s Zing in White. Next, I added the paper pieced snowmen to the card base along with their pretty bows (dark pink = The Twinery & light pink = Trendy Twine).

Then I cut a square window into the front of the card base (this was done by trial and error and I now have quite a few little scraps of this paper laying around... why don’t I just use a ruler already?!?). I glued the snowy window to the inside of the card with Glossy Accents and then covered it in Crate Paper. I stamped the sentiment using my (new) fave Jenni Bowlin ink - Robin’s Egg - and used a finger inker to also ink up the edges in the same color. I finished it off with the same twine as the bows attached with Tim Holtz’s Tiny Attacher. I love it. I’m going to make some more window glitter cards tonight if I’m feeling up to it. Maybe Halloween cards this time. OOOHHH the possibilities! Well, that’s all for me today - thanks for peeking!

OH SNAP! - Lawnscaping #18

Hi there. Another Monday to contend with. HMPH. I feel indifferent today. My Grandma went back to NY today - which makes me sad. Also, I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday... and I honestly think it may be winning. Hopefully I get better soon. I was way too sick to be creating ANYTHING last week, which always puts me down in the dumps :(.

Then, on Friday night, it was so weird, I got a HUGE burst of energy. I went through and cleaned out my crafty space - went a little mad actually (cold medication, most likely). Took a bunch of goodies that I've either used once, or never used, or used a tiny bit of and made one huge pile. Sooooo I'll be having a giveaway here on the blog VERY soon in honor of my 50 followers!!! YAY! I really sppreciate you girls!! I love the support and encouragement that you give me. Blogging had been a huge spot of happy in my life. I like getting to know you guys through our creativity. It's nice to have that bond - and I really REALLY appreciate each one of you!!! It will be a whole bunch of goodies! Like I said, most of it is gently (but sparsely) used but... it's still free :D! Look for it by the end of this week hopefully.

Anyway, so, that overhaul got me finally inspired to create - yay! It was a just a little something I made for my Grandma - but a start. She reads a lot, and is heading on a 12 hour train ride home today, so I thought I'd make her a little bookmark to keep her place.
EEk, I almost forgot, I'm entering this into Lawnscapings #18 Challenge

I started off with a scrap piece of clear acrylic - left over from THIS project (which I had to add to/clean up this weekend). The size is 6" by 2 1/2". I rounded the corners with my corner chomper - that baby's made to last, I'll tell you that - and punched the hole for the twine using the Crop-A-Dile. The patterned paper is from an 8X8 pad of October Afternoon's Thrift Shop. I covered the back of the acrylic with a piece cut to size. To glue it down I used Glossy Accents and a scraper (so you wouldn't see glue). Next I decorated the fron using more of the OA paper and the Lawn Fawn Polaroid from Say Cheese. The "Oh Snap" was made using Smitty's ABCs ;). Finished it off with three pretty pieced of bakers twine form The Twinery, pulled through the whole. I likes. Made me finally smile. Rough week, last week. Thanks again - crafty girlys - for being an amazing bright spot in my day - for your love, encouragement, and friendship! I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Carbon Copying with the Bald Dragonfly!!!

Hi there happy Wednesday! Today I’m so super excited to be joining the utterly fabulous Karen Baker {of The Bald Dragonfly Blog) for her weekly Carbon Copy feature!

I love Karen’s blog and every single project she creates - plus she’s absolutely one of the sweetest and kindest people ever!!!! If you don’t know what Carbon Copying is, it’s a fun challenge that Karen started over on her blog that goes live every Wednesday. Basically, she and another blogger ((that’s ME today)) choose a challenge - or a few - and use the same stamps and come up with two unique projects according to their own style! If you are interested in playing along, go and add your name to Mr. Linky here.

So, anyway, today we are playing along with this Lily Pads Sketch {which I flipped}:

and the Wee Memories #68 Challenge:

and using Lawn Fawn’s Critters in the Sea and Sophie’s Sentiments Stamps. Here is what I came up with:

Ok, so, I know I’m really reaching as far as the sketch goes, I just had this idea in my head. Every time I tried to deviate from it, I didn’t like what I came up with (and I tried 3 times!). In the end I went with my gut. My inspiration for this card is a little boy in my daughter’s preschool class, Carter. I’ve been friends with his mom for a long time and our kiddos are 3 months apart. She is also the co-director of the school and goes to my church. For the past year he’s been having a lot of health issues, they’re not exactly sure what’s going on but trying to get answers now. Alivia just LOVES him to pieces! This is the 2nd year they are in class together. Anyway, he had surgery last Wednesday and I wanted to make a card for the family to make them smile.

There are a lot of elements on the card. Everything started off as white cardstock and was colored or inked. No patterned paper is actually a toughy for me, but I did end up liking the result. To start, I used Masking Paper and Distress Inks (a mix of Old Paper, Pumice Stone, Antique Linen, and Tea Dye) to create my “sand” - creating 3 layers. Next I went to work on the “ocean”. I just took a 3x5 piece of cardstock and Distress Inked that up starting at the bottom with the darkest color (Faded Jeans) and working my way up in color (next was Broken China and then Tumbled Glass). Then I cut it to the size I actually needed and crinkled it into a ball. Opened it, sprayed it with water and ran the Broken China over the whole thing. Then I adhered the sand/ocean down to the card base. I stamped the sentiment “thinking of you” which sadly gave me issues because I adhered the ocean to the sea BEFORE stamping the sentiment. It happens. Anyway, then I went to town stamping, coloring, & adhering my sea critters. You really can’t tell but I used my Copic Glittery Pen on the sea grass, turtle’s spots, and whale’s splash. I popped up the whale for dimension and added pearls to the clams and that was all she wrote.

If you haven’t yet, hop over to Karen’s blog to see what she’s come up with!!

Well, that’s all for me today! Have an amazing day!

Rejects

Hi guys! Just a quickie today. I wanted to share two cards that I submitted a whiiiile back for the Paper Crafts Halloween issue:

(hee hee, the kitty is a vampire ;) - this is when I 1st started experimenting with critters and their Halloween costumes)
and

(the inside says "or a very good witch)
That's it ;). Have a great one!!

Happy Monday!

Hi there! Hope you had a great weekend!! Mine was wonderful! My Grandma is visiting from Upstate NY, and honestly, I couldn't be happier! My kids were thrilled to spend time with her and we had the best time all weekend. Yesterday we all went to the Museum of Discovery and Science. Such a fun time. My son had been dying to see a 3D documentary "Sea Rex" for a month now and my mom surprised us all with tickets. My son LOVED it, my daughter sat with her head buried in my neck the entire (45 min) movie ;). Then to Cracker Barrel for Sunday Dinner and to look around their shop - that place is just too cool!

Anyway, tonight I've got to get crafting, but today I wanted to share an updated version of my Christmas Cards:

Maybe you remember this post - my Lawnscaping Blog Hop project. I created another sample - and added in my Hermit Crabs, Hermie & Courage. My son was ecstatic! His ideas, after all ;)

Wow, my card really says "welcome to the funny farm" this year, that's for sure! But that's ok.

So, again, I've used Crate Paper's "Snow Day" and "Peppermint" collections and TONS - tons - OF Lawn Fawn Stamps {Critters in the Burbs, Making Frosty Friends, Critters in the Sea, Hats off to You, Bows & Holly, & Smitty's ABCs}. I decided I'll probably leave the girls without the flossy hair. I really liked how it looked - it was SOOOO cute, but it would be alot of work to glue hair on 100 snowgirls.

I've done a ton of stamping and Copic coloring already. Have enough critters (all of them), snowmen/women/children, and sentiments ready to get 16 cards to done so far. I figure if I start now, and cut the images out in between other projects I'm working on. I should get about 50 (my goal) done by November when it's time to take & print my Christmas photo of the kiddies and send them out.

So, that's it for me today. Hope your Monday is nice to you! Have a great one!

Happy Birthday - Lawnscaping #17

Happy Wednesday!

Last night, I finally got up to working on my Lawnscaping #17 Challenge project.

Embossing. I’ve been kind of stumped on what exactly to do for this one, I love embossing - it’s one of my favorite techniques, but sometimes I just... get stumped on what I want to do, I guess. Here is my card:

I’m sending this off to my niece, Shannon today, she’ll be 11 on the 23rd of this month. Love that girl, she’s the sweetest ever!! Here she is with my hubby & my sweet little Alivia:

I started out here with white cardstock and a a Hero Arts {Happy Birthday} definition background stamp. I inked it up with Versamark and heat embossed it using American Crafts’ Zing - in Clear. Then I went down to Distress Ink town ;). I’ve used Worn Lipstick and Tumbled Glass here. Pretty :). The pretty purple twine was from “Trendy Twine” which my hubby surprised me with this week!! He got here from Annie’s Paper Boutique on Etsy - and I love it! It’s two shades of purple which adds a nice touch. {My niece’s favorite colors are pink, purple & blue, so I wanted to incorporate all 3 colors.}

Next I punched a 2" circle and inked Distressed inked it with Dusty Concord. I think I have to get a softer purple Distress Ink though because WOW that’s pretty dark. Then I clear embossed some more (and sprinkled a bit of purple Martha Stewart fine glitter before embossing) using Lawn Fawn’s {Teeny Tiny Backdrops} music notes (a la... “Happy Birthday to you...”) and attached that to a paper doily out of my stash. Finally, I paper pieced a pretty cake using Lawn Fawn’s Bake Me a Cake and a 6x6 Echo Park paper pad and attached it to the card. Here is a closer upper of the embossing:

The inside says “Happy Birthday”. I used Lawn Fawn’s Sophie’s Sentiments for that. Well, that’s it for me today. I hope Wednesday treats you right.

Picture Perfect Halloween!

Hi there! I've just been crafting like a mad woman lately, and today I wanted to share another Halloween card I made using my coveted Lawn Fawn Stamps ;).
It's one of my favorite Halloween cards so far! I used several Lawn Fawn stamps: Say Cheese, Critters in the Burbs, Hats off to You, & Bon Voyage. I'm still playing around with dressing up my critters (for Halloween, of course). I've made a witchy dog (with a toole cape & sparkly hat) and a fairy kitty (using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and a pin).

So, it's kinds funny, but I actually thought up this card starting with that cute lil Tim Holtz hanger paper clip ;). I picked it up this weekend in an AC Moore and think it's just too cute! I used Divine Twine Bakers Twine to hang my Polaroid from, which I attached to the card with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher (LOVE THAT THING!). The cloud, witch's hat, and butterflies wings are all colored in with a Copic Glitter Pen for added pretty. The toole was left over from a tutu (my 1st) that I'm making for my daughter as her Halloween costume. Of course, the critters (and even the grass) is colored with Copics. The patterned paper is My Minds Eye - Mischievous collection. Here is a closer look:

Anyway, that's my card today! Hope you all have a wonderful day - and thanks for peeking!

Many Thanks! CFC19

Hi friends! I had a ball this weekend - made 17 cards! Woop Woop! I really had so much fun doing it too. Today I wanted to share my Thanksgiving cards:

I’m entering them into Cas-ual Fridays’s #19 Challenge!

The design of this card was actually inspired by THIS card by Savannah O’Gwynn. Cute huh?!? Of course the Turkey is from Lawn Fawn’s newest mini set “Turkey Day”. So cute. The inside is stamped with “Happy Turkey Day” which also comes with the mini set. The "Many Thanks" stamp is actually my all time favorite free “Thank You” stamp from Lawn Fawn. I love those Thank You stamps & feel like it's such a nice little gift to their customers/fans!!! Isn’t this Making Memories’ patterned paper lovely?!? It’s the Autumn Splendor collection - LOVE! That plaid just makes me super happy! I just randomly cut a bunch of strips and made the into banners. and tied some twine boys. Some have brown twine, some are orange, and some have both. They're all very similar, but different :).

I’ve made 8 (so far) for myself and a set of 8 for my Grandma. She’s taking the train down to visit & will be here this Friday!!!! I’m so SO happy!

That's all for me today. Was the Lawnscaping Blog Hop not the coolest thing ever?!?!? I think that's why I got so crafty this weekend - I was MAJORLY inspired!! If you missed it, the chance to win prizes may be over, but you can still go there and hop around!! You just may find some new blogs to follow!! It was fabulous! I feel so grateful to them for letting me participate! Big thank you to Laurel & the girls!!!

First ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!!!!

Hi hoppers!!! Welcome to my stop on the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!!!

Thanks so much for joining in on the fun today!! I’m so very excited to be a part of this hop, and I’m SO happy you’re joining us today!! You should be coming to me from Barb’s fabulous blog.

Since the theme here is “Holidays” I decided to get a running start on my Christmas cards for this year!! This year, I decided to start WAY earlier than I did last year and to create a different design (can’t have the same Christmas cards every year, right?!?). Anywho, when I saw Lawn Fawn’s “Making Frosty Friends Stamp Set, I knew they were the ones! I mean - HOW CUTE?!?!?

The project I made for this hop is... my Christmas Cards for this year:

Cute huh? The picture of my kiddos is actually from last year, I’m thinking this year I’ll take pictures of them on the beach around sunset. We live in South Florida and have a lot of relatives in New York, and I love the idea of using snowmen. Hee hee. I wanted to give them suntans and go with a beachy snowmen theme - and I think I’ll be playing around more with that idea - but for now this is what I’ve come up with.

The patterned paper is a mix of Crate Paper’s Peppermint and Snow Day collections (this year & last year’s Christmas collections). I used quite a few Lawn Fawn Stamps here: Making Frosty Friends, Hats off to You, Bows and Holly, Smittys ABCs, and Critters in the Burbs. I colored in the hats and animals with Copics ;). No those are not rats, they are supposed to be our Guinea Pigs, Sunny and Krystal. Tee-hee-hee. I used the cute little squirrel from Critters in the Burbs and cut their tails off and colored them the colors of our piggies. I had to add them. My son said so “They’re part of our family too mom!”

Then I get all finished with it and he gets the BIGGEST smile on his face that I used his idea. Then he gets this LOOK and says “...wait, mom, what about the hermit crabs?!?” Sheesh. I may be adding 2 hermit crabs to this baby. Welcome to the funny farm friends.

I have to say, these new Lawn Fawn Stamps (just like ALL of Lawn Fawn’s stamps) are just SO much fun! I can see myself using the cute snowmen throughout all of the cooler months. Not just for Christmas cards, but to say “Hi”, “Thinking of You”, even “Happy Birthday”!... endless possibilities! I really love them!

Before I go, here is a look at my last year Christmas card:

I used Basic Grey’s Jovial collection and Lawn Fawn’s Cozy Christmas Stamps!! I made 70 of them, and didn’t start until mid-October. I love how they came out but they sure made me slightly insane ;). This year, I want to get started now, and maybe make around 50. I’ll do all of the stamping, coloring... get all of the cards ready, and add the pictures later (which I usually take my Christmas pics. in early November). I love photo cards, don’t you? They make me happy!


Well that’s it for me, next on the hop is Stephanie’s awesome blog, which I love so much!!! Go check her out! If you get lost along the hop, or want to start back at the beginning, you can head back over to the Lawnscaping Blog.

Remember, the hop runs from Friday, September 9th to Sunday, September 11th. During the hop you will want to visit everyone’s blogs and leave comments on each and every one. There are fabulous projects up for grabs - and you wont want to miss your chance to scoop one up!!! The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are to win one of those fabby prizes :D. So hop your little hearts out friends - I know I will be!!! If you’d like more info on the hop, just head back to the Lawnscaping home page ;).

Isn’t the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog THE best?!?!? They have such an amazing Design Team full of fabulous designers. They are truly SUCH inspiring ladies!!! Plus, they all love Lawn Fawn - they’ve got to be cool!!! I just love their challenges and have participated in each and every one! I hope you come and play along too - if you don’t already that is ;). Have an amazing day!!!

Plaid Baby Shower Invites ;)

Good morning! Today I wanted to share the baby shower invites I made for a friend.

I got the template for the diaper invite from Martha Stewart's website. I wish I had the link, I'm sorry. I've tried looking and can't find it... and this has to be a quickie post today - sorry again.
For the actual invite, I used a {free} font from Kevin & Amanda. It's called "Heather Michelle" - I love that website, so many free fonts to choose from! They have a great recipe blog too!

The paper is My Minds Eye - and super fun! They don't know the gender of the baby so I went with a yellow/red/blue plaid. Came out SO cute!

Anyway thanks for peeking! Hope you have a great day - don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the Lawnscaping blog hop ;).

Some more owly fun!

Hi there! Hope Wednesday is treating you well, it still feels like Tuesday to me. Then I remember it’s Wednesday & it’s like BONUS!

I wanted to share a few more Halloween cards I made this weekend with you. I was just playing around. Making cards for my nieces up in NYC. Experimenting with Lawn Fawn’s Critters in the Forest, Hats off to You, and Making Frosty Friends sets. Yesterday’s card (you can find it below this post) is my fave Halloween card so far.

If I had to choose, this one would come in second:

I used Lawn Fawn’s Bon Voyage Cloud and the snowman coals from making Frosty Friends as a thought bubble ;). The sentiments are from Smitty’s ABCs and Hats off to You. I cut “Hal-and-loween” apart from the Hats set. No biggie - it goes right back together! I’ve done this to a few Lawn Fawn Sentiments. Works perfectly because they’re amazing quality stamps! Too cute - although my sentiment is a bit wonky in there. I like the dog as a butterfly/ fairy. Cuteness.

This was actually the 1st card I made:

As you can see, I was smitten by the witchy owls with sparkly hats - flying on brooms! But this card got too busy real fast. I had this whole idea... Halloweeny woodland critters in... costumes. Yea, that didn’t really work out for me. I wanted to share it anyway. Just cause.

EEP! I also just got a few spools of Divine Twine - YUM! Orange & Brown - “needed” em! Isn’t the little packaging so cute!

I’m gunna keep this on my desk at work for a little while. Makes me happy & God knows I could use a little happy at work. Been a rough couple of months.

Can you tell I’m loving the grassy Fiscars punch?!? LOVE it! In other news, I’m reading the Help, I can’t put it down. I read half of it yesterday - didn’t get to bed until 1am! I would’ve stayed up later, but 5am comes so quickly! Also, I simply can not wait until the Lawnscaping Blog Hop Friday!!! You’ll be joining us right?!? Hope to see you there and I hope you have a wonderful day friends. {{Hugs}}

Not so spooky ;)

Hi there!! How was your weekend? Mine was great. Had a great time with my kiddos & hubby. Lots of quality family fun time! I also got majorly crafty!! Woot woot! I started & completed the baby shower invites I was making for my friend, started & completed my project for the Lawnscaping Blog Hop (which starts 9/9/11!!), and made a few cutsie and fun Halloween Cards!!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of the Shower Invites, (SO SAD) hopefully I'll have and share them by tomorrow.

Before the weekend started, I received my Lawn Fawn Order (YAY). I ordered a whopping 5 sets this time around (!!): Making Frosty Friends, Blissful Botanicals, Hats off to You, Turkey Day, & Bows & Holly (whew). I've been saving up for a big order & was super happy to get them!

Anyway, between the Hats and the broom on the Frosty set, all I could think of was witchy owls!! Couldn't wait to make some!
The patterend paper is from My Minds Eye's "Mischevious" collection & the stamped (Lawn Fawn) images are all colored with Copics. I added a bit of glitter to their hats for fun (using a Copic pen) and like how that came out. The moon & grass were made using Fiscars punches & I Distress Inked them both up (for the moon I used Weathered Wood & for the grass I used Shabby Shutters). Heres a closer up look:

Well, thats it for me today! Hope your week is great. Back tomorrow with more fun!

Final card in Grandma's Set.

Happy Thursday!

Today I wanted to share the final card that I made for my Grandma's vintagey card set. This was actually the 1st card that I made for the set. I love how it came out!

Again, all of the products, except the stamps (which are from Lawn Fawn's Just My Type and Just My Type Too sets), are from My Minds Eye's Lost & Found collection. When I finished this card, I realized that I am totally in love with their burlap! Also, they have fabulous brads - such great colors/patters. I really love this paper too because it just has such a great vintage look! Perfect with this Lawn Fawn set!!

Well, that's probably all for me this week! I'm deliriously happy to have a 4 day weekend!! So much to do (fun stuff, but still). I have to finish up the shower invites I'm making for a friend and have BIG plans for the Lawnscaping Blog Hop that starts next week (September 9th - September 11th!!). I'm so excited about my project and hope it comes out as planned - I've been plotting it out for over a week now and just got my Lawn Fawn order in - woot woot!!!! Wont you join us and hop along?? There will be fab prizes up for grabs and I'M SURE you will leave feeling MAJORLY inspired!!!!

Have an amazing day friends - and a great weekend!