after the storm...

...comes the rainbow

My heart, prayers, and thoughts go out to all those affected by last night's storms

 throughout the Midwest...especially Harrisburg, IL and surrounding areas.

hello kitty craze

Here's my take on this week's Sunday Sketch over at SC...

 I took the sketch and turned it upside down so the title is on the bottom.

 I used some awesome chalk ink for the stamped "craze" image.  It dries super fast and is fun to blend.

All the products and papers I used for this layout are 

from Studio Calico's February Kit, Daydream Believer.  

I took the picture using my Instagram app on my iPhone.

Can you believe March starts tomorrow....yeeesh!  Happy Wednesday ;)

OLW February prompts

The prompts for this month's One Little Word were all about pictures!  Initially, at the beginning of the month, I thought I had this one in the bag, but it turned out I had a hard time conveying what was in my mind through the lens of my camera.  I waited, pondered, and let my ideas form in my mind for a couple of weeks...still couldn't get any great "Fresh" pics.  So I turned to Pinterest for a little help and came up with some great pictures that helped me convey my word.  I felt guilty at first, not using my own photos (except for one!), but I figured it's all about the concept and getting my point across, so I went with it ;)

Super excited for March's prompts coming soon!

you make my heart sing

As far as weekends go, this past one turned out to be very productive!  I helped Garrison with a school poster project.  He was happy I helped him, but he says it's waaaaay to crafty :)  I told him I didn't care because I really enjoyed hanging out with him all day.  He even taught me a few new computer tricks.  I had no idea he was so savvy!  I cooked, cleaned, did loads of laundry, and even made it into the craft room a few times (this rarely ever happens on the weekends ;)  Yesterday, I made this layout using my new Dear Lizzy ruffle paper!  Isn't it adorable?!  I just love this pic of me and Avery on Valentine's Day.

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend ;)

tag time

The weekly challenge over at SC is all about tags!  I was ready to start on this challenge as soon as I saw the post, but I didn't get a free moment until today.  I had intentions to only make two or three, but I had such a blast playing with my spray ink and heat gun, I made a few more ;)

 I used a resist embossed technique for these tags...I love the way they turned out!  

For these tags, I used my trusty 'ol StazOn ink pad and some clear

embossing powder along with my heat gun.

 

For some reason my Versamark ink pad was a little "muddy", but I really like 

the effect it gave the numbered tags.  All the stamps I used are from Studio Calico :)

TGIF! 

five in a flash

Here's my take on this week's Sunday Sketch over at Studio Calico...

 I misted some Mister Huey's on some white fabric trim 

and then added punched stars using random patterned papers. 

I topped it all off with an easy zig-zag stitch.  I think it helped 

bring all of the colors of the layout together :)

I stuck pretty close to the sketch this time, although I did do a 12x12 rather than and 8.5x11.

Happy Wednesday!

he is five

The last four days around here have been miserable.  Jubal got sick last Friday and was sick all weekend :(  He had a bad fever and some other symptoms I'd rather not mention.  Last night was the first night he has slept through since Friday! Yesterday, I thought I was getting it too, but today I woke up and feel pretty decent.  I just think it was lack of rest getting me down. 

I did manage, however, to throw together a layout of Jubal using a pic from his birthday...

I embossed the orange background stamp using some SU! embossing powder and added the bugs to "boy" it up a bit.  I also got to use some new Dear Lizzy Neapolitan paper which I adore.  I just love this picture of him holding up "five" :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Love Letters Mini

I made this mini book about a month ago to house all my "Valentine-y" pictures I knew I would accumulate this month...

Here are some of the pages in it that I completed this week...

I kept it simple so I could finish it fast...I think it turned out pretty great, don't you?

Happy Weekend!

cake pops!

Here's my take on this week's Sunday Sketch over at Studio Calico...

 I took the sketch and made it into a two-page layout :)

I used some leftover seed beads and some white acrylic paint 

to "frost" my letters to help carry out my theme.

roses are red

The hubs came home early from work with flowers...Avery thought they were for her so I said we could share :)

I was bummed that this picture turned out so blurry, but I couldn't resist sharing my "funny Valentine's"!

Happy V-Day everyone!

our latest obsession

Avery's latest obsession is shoes...the plastic dress-up kind that is...

I searched EVERYWHERE for a single pair of plastic heels and I finally found these at our local Dollar General store.  She chose the blue heels over the bright green ones and wanted to put them on before we went through the checkout line.  Needless to say, it was below 30 degrees with snow on the ground so Little Miss had to wait until we got home.  I just love hearing that clicking sound on the floor when she's teetering around with them on!  It's too cute ;)

Jubal is five!

My little man turned five on Friday...

I can hardly believe he is five already.  We had a very small get together with family to celebrate his special day.  I made chili and cupcakes and we had a nice, relaxing weekend :)

How was your weekend?

day in the life

I did this fun challenge on Wednesday from Ali Edwards called Day In The Life.  In a nutshell, it's where you document an entire 24 hour period of your life through notes and photos.  I knew when I began that I wanted to document a completely normal, ordinary day and that I wanted to keep it simple.  I didn't have any trouble taking tons of photos (thanks to my iPhone), I just felt that my storytelling could use a little help, but then again, I tried to keep it simple (sometimes that's REALLY hard for me :)

I downloaded these free printables from www.aliedwards.com to help me simplify the note-taking process (they're originally from her Week In The Life series that's coming up in April)...

I also went waaaaaay outta my comfort zone and did a full 8.5x11 photo template to house my pictures in (which is also from Ali Edwards but purchased through www.designerdigitals.com...

Through this challenge, I felt that I did a really good job portraying the "realness" of my day/my life and that's what it's all about.  I will definitely be taking part in Ali's "Week In The Life" in the spring, but I will have to do some major prep work beforehand to keep the process as simple as possible.  I haven't decided what kind of album I'm going to put these in yet, but the hard part's done so I'm sure something will surface when I'm least expecting it!

Today my baby boy is five, so I'm off to celebrate!  Have a great weekend!!!

sushi surprise

I got to go out with a good friend last Friday and eat sushi! My favorite!!!  It was my inspiration for this week's Sunday Sketch at SC...

As you can see, I turned the sketch upside down and used a 12x12 layout, instead of an 8.5x11. I also got to use some new product from Studio Calico's February Kit + Add-Ons...hope you enjoy!

a special day

Yesterday I became a godmother to my beautiful niece, Maria Rose :)  It was such a beautiful day and I am truly blessed to be able to be a part of her life in this way.  

 Maria and her mommy and daddy 

She was all tuckered out after her big day :)

This month has been zooming along with full force...so much has been going on that I haven't had time to post as often as I'd like to, but I assure you I will have lots to share soon!

playing pretend

Here's my take on this week's Sunday Sketch from SC...

The sketch is based on an 8 1/2 x 11 inch layout, but I stuck to a 12 x 12.  I used Studio Calico's January Kit (County Fair) for this layout...minus the paper doily that I had on hand in my stash :)

Hope you enjoy!