Grandma's Birthday....

Cardstock-Colonial White, Black, and Sunflower
Paper-Basic Grey Ambrosia
Stamps-Birthday Invitation (retired) and Western Flourishes
Basic Grey Brads, Ribbon from JoAnns, Big Pinks Blooms and Autumn Sunflower Just Blooms

My Grandmother is turning 88 on the 6th and I wanted to make sure I had a card ready for her. We're very close and I go to her for everything, so I wanted to make this card special. I decided to break open my Basic Grey Ambrosia paper that I have been hoarding for the past few months. I absolutely love it and hate to use it for fear of running out! Kind of defeats the purpose of having it though doesn't it!! ;O) For a change, I used the current week's Mojo Monday sketch! Can you believe it, I am so proud of myself!!

Finished!

I finished off the second page to my layout for Owen's Easter pictures that we had done at Sears. I couldn't quite find the right sketch to accommodate all of the photos I wanted to include, so I kind of just winged it. I don't love it, but think it will do!!! I finished it off using the same Reminisce Easter shimmer paper along with lots of their die cut stickers and both Creme Brulee and Crystal Blue cardstock. Despite the lack of sketch to go off of, the layout went really quick with this paper. It's a lot of fun to work with!!

Easter Cards

Paper-Sweet Harmony (Retired)

Cardstock-Buttercup and Sweet Leaf

Stamp Sets-Bunny Love, Boutique Borders, Simple Stitches, Say it In Style

Ink-Buttercup, Blush, Crystal Blue, and Sweet Leaf

Embellishments- Summer Posies, Flower Dimensional Elements, Ribbon from JoAnn's, Robin's Nest Dew Drops in "Water"

I had hoped to post at least once a week on this blog, but life has certainly gotten in the way lately! In addition to work, a sick kiddo, and the onset of spring here in Alaska, I've been busy creating and will post pictures of all that I've been up to later this week. Today, I have a couple of Easter cards to show you. I had so much fun making these! I just loooove the Bunny Love stamps and stole another consultants idea to use one of them for Valentine's Day cards. That was pre-blogging days for me though and I didn't think to take pictures. I used both the January 12th sketch and the March 9th sketch from the Mojo Monday blog site for inspiration. If you haven't already, you should check out their site, I love their sketches and the cards they make!!!

On Top of Things for a Change

Paper and Ribbon: Emporium Creative Basics Collection

Cardstock: Crystal Blue, Vineyard Berry, Grey Flannel (for Shadow)

Stamps: New Tickled Pink, Cottage Floral, Boutique Borders, Confidential, and Simple Beauty

Brads: White Bigger Brads from Basic Assortment and 4mm White Daisy Brads(covered in glitter from JoAnns)

Ink: Blush, Crystal Blue, Twighlight, Vineyard Berry, and Sweet Leaf

Paper: Good Times

Cardstock: Buttercup

Stamps: Just Like You

Ribbon: Chocolate Grosgrain (retired) and natural hemp that I bought years ago in MT

Ink: Chocolate and Sweet Leaf

I have a crop at my house next weekend and decided to do a couple cards to help us all get ahead of the game. I stole the Father's Day card layout straight out of the Close To My Heart catalog and the criss-cross card came from a tutorial on the Splitcoast Stampers website!

The Easter Bunny Was Here...

Paper-Reminisce (Easter Eggs, Easter Egg Hunt, and Spring Swirls)

Cardstock-Crystal Blue and Creme Brulee CTMH

Diecut Stickers-Reminisce

Stamps-Friendship Alpha (large and small for date) CTMH

Ink-Sweet Leaf and Hydrangea

I love taking my son in to get photos with fun backgrounds and I have started taking him to Sears for most of the shoots rather than a "real" photographer because I like that they will sell you the copyrights and hand you a cd with every photo on it. That makes it lots easier/cheaper to scrap his shoots! I especially love the candid shots that are great for scrapbook layouts, but not necessarily worth paying a photographer to print. So, the Sears deal works out perfect. I took him in this year for Easter photos and it was surprisingly a lot of fun! He was in a really good mood for the majority of it and we got some really good shots. This particular photo was more of the "classic" pose to send to family, but I will post the matching page with the rest of the photos as soon as I finish it. This was such fun paper to use and I just love the stickers! I used another one of Paper Craft Planet's Scrappy Sunday Challenge which was posted on March 1st.

Preemie Pages

Paper and Stickers-Lazy Days (Retired) CTMH
Cardstock-Buttercup, Crystal Blue, and Sweet Leaf
Stamps-Journaling Jots, Classmate Alpha, Lazy Days (retired) all CTMH
Ink-CTMH Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf
Layout-CTMH Reflections Scrapbook Program Quartet Jigsaw (rotated 90 degrees)

Paper-Nana's Nursery Baby Boy DCWVCardstock-CTMH Creme Brulee and Sweet Leaf (White CS for Base)
Stamps-Life's a Jungle, Journaling Jots, Sans Alpha and Large Chocolate Alpha all CTMH
Ink-Creme Brulee, Sweet Leaf, and Twighlight
Layout-CTMH Reflections Scrapbook Program Sidebar Original
CTMH Bitty Brads for eyes, CTMH mini sparkles
Corner Rounder-EK Success

Paper-Nana's Nursery Baby Boy DCWV
Cardstock-CTMH Amethyst and Sweet Leaf (White CS for Base)
Stamps-CTMH Large Friendship Alpha
Layout-CTMH Reflections Scrapbook Program Sidebar Original
CTMH Autumn Daisy and Big Blooms Just Blooms
CTMH mini sparkles, JoAnn's brads dipped in liquid glass and covered in glitter
Corner Rounder-EK Success

A friend in Nome, Sara Koenig, has put together a 100 pages for preemies campaign which will be donated to the mothers of preemie babies born at Providence hospital in Anchorage. Sara's second son was born at 30 weeks and was just 4lbs 4oz at Providence a couple years ago. Donating the pages to the preemie mom's is Sara's way of paying tribute to all the doctors/nurses that helped her and her family and being there in a small way for the new preemie moms. I think its a wonderful thing she's doing and try to participate every time she decides to put a group together. This time, she required the title to be, "A Special Delivery for a Special Mom", a spot for journaling, and two 4x6 photo mats all on a single 12x12 page. It was quite the challenge for me! My titles are usually only a couple of words and spread across two pages! ;o)

Happy Birthday to You...

Paper-CTMH Emporium Creative Basics Collection
Cardstock-CTMH Crystal Blue and Vineyard Berry
Stamps-CTMH Butterfly Wings and From Me To You
Ink-Sweet Leaf (around sentiment box and Vineyeard Berry)
Sparkles-Hero Arts (green) and CTMH (clear)
Corner Rounder-EK Success

I made this card for my mother-in-law using the March Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart-Butterfly Wings. I absolutely love this stamp set and have used it for numerous cards already. I think it looks so good with a little extra bling! I did go back and glue the sentiment down better, but had to go ahead an mail it without getting another picture.

Always Sisters, Always Friends

My grandmother recently gave me a stack of family pictures to scan and put into scrapbooks. She only gave me a small portion of the pictures that I know she has stashed away somewhere. But, honestly, it was a much more overwhelming task than I had anticipated. There is hours of Photoshop editing that needs to be done. But, I started with my favorite photos and even with my limited Photoshop skills, I managed to drastically improve them and eliminate the cracks and tears. So, its a very rewarding project and I enjoy getting to know some of my family a little better. This particular photo is of my grandmother and her two sisters in 1921, she's the baby-how cute is she! I just love the bows in the older girls hair! I have recently discovered the Paper Craft Planet and used the Scrappy Sunday Challenge from March 15th for this layout.

Paper-Close To My Heart-More to Adore Level 2 with Blush and Vanilla Creme Cardstock

Stamps-The Works Alpha
Ink-Versa Mark and CTMH Chocolate for distressing

Embroidery Floss-Making Memories Romance Pink

Flowers-CTMH Just Blooms Big Blooms and Shades of Chocolate Mini Medleys
Ribbon-CTMH Chocolate Organdy (Retired) CTMH White embossing powder for the title

First Post...

Hello! I have been doing some blog hopping lately and noticed quite a few challenges I'd love to participate in, but needed a blog to post my work in order to submit my entries. So, here I am! I thought this might also give me motivation to create more often and possibly keep up for a change! ;O) I love scrapbooking and have recently started making cards which I have really started to enjoy as well. So, expect to see a little of both! Thanks for looking!