Corner Bookmark Smooches

About a month ago, my friend Olivia texted and asked me to make a corner bookmark so she would have a sample to follow. I of course said I would do it but up until this week I still hadn't done it. My intentions were good but I just hadn't had the time to do it at a decent hour and I didn't have the energy to stay up late to work on it. So on Monday night I was determined to make one but laid down with Malachi to put him to sleep and then I woke up and it was 2 AM. I got up and changed into my pjs and went back to bed. So all morning Tuesday I kept thinking I need to squeeze this in today so I could use it as a make and take at my SU! demonstrator meeting that evening.

So finally when the kids were down for a nap and I had gotten a few things done around the house I crept into my craft room and started creating but then Kaiden woke up. I put his bouncer in my craft room near my desk and all was well so back to creating I went until I heard "Mom?" Malachi was awake. He came into my craft room and I thought I'm never going to get this done but to my surprise Malachi was content to play on my stool so I kept creating. I did have to take the scissors, glue, and paper cutter away from him at different points but for the most part he did well with just spinning on the stool.

I ended up with one failed attempt at a bookmark and then I started on this one. I am much more happy with this bookmark than my first one. I love it when all of a sudden my creativity flows and I love what I made. After I made this I quickly cut my supplies for my make and take and then the boys and I moved over to the family room to read a book. I guess these are the adventures of a crafty mom.

So if you have a toddler in your home, I hope you find time to craft soon.

Smooches for Mom

The bright colors and flowers are perfect for the spring days. Just looking at this card makes me smile because it reminds me that the short dreary days of winter are behind us for a while.

When working on my April Stamp Club projects I knew I wanted to use the Summer Smooches sneak peek items but needed some inspiration so I went on the Stampin' Connection website and flipped through dozens of ideas. When I saw a card done by Norma Pimentel that I just thought was adorable so I basically cased it with a few minor changes. I stamped an image on the card and made it a Mother's Day Card since Mother's Day is just around the corner. And who better than Mom to receive a beautiful handmade card. Although my sister Monica stole this card so I probably need to come up with another card since my mom will more than likely get this one from her.

Well my creating with the Summer Smooches line didn't stop here, so be sure to check back for a couple more projects.

Petite Purse

SU! is having a sneak peak with the Summer Smooches line that will be available in the New Catalog beginning June 1st.

One of the sneak peaks is the Petite Purse die and it is adorable. It is small but it can fit a chap-stick, small candies, mints, or other small items. I think I might make these for an upcoming tea party I am planning. I think they would be adorable sitting at each place setting.

Hope you enjoyed my little creation and hope you'll be back to see more Summer Smooches creations.

April Stylin' Blog Hop

Welcome to the April Stylin' Blog Hop! Whether this is your first stop or you've just come from Anji C. at Altered Scraps Blog I hope that you are inspired by all the wonderful creations.

I know that Easter is just a few days away but if you are like me you still have a few little treats to make and I have the perfect little box for you to make. I pulled out my Fancy Favor box and started decorating. This little box came together quickly and so cute. I had seen many samples where people had used the bid punch as a little chick coming out of an egg and I just had to replicate. I used the Wide Oval punch for the egg and then using my scissors created the zigzags. Now I just need to fill my box with some Easter grass and candy.

Items Used:
Stamps: None
Ink:craft (Sponging)

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Whiper White, Regal Rose

Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Favor box, Wide Oval Punch, Bird Punch, Scallop Trip Punch, Polka Dots Embossing Folder

For my second project I created a card. I was looking at some DSP and I suddenly had some inspiration to emboss a piece of Lucky Limeade card stock with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponge it with Very Vanilla Craft Ink. After I created the background I used a stamped image that was laying on my desk from the Apothecary Stamp set. I had stamped and colored the image but then decided against using it on another project. I felt it fit this card perfect. I added a mat to the image and some ribbon and whala, I had a beautiful card. Ribbon is my favorite accessory to add to any card so I was glad I had some coordinating Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon.

Items Used:
Stamp Set:Apothecary
Ink: Very Vanilla Craft Ink, Early Espresso
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Labels Framelits, Stampin' Write Markers, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon

Now that you've seen my creations make sure to hop on over to Tonya's Blog at Stampin' with Tonya.

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Creative Electica


2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards


3. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!


4. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps a Lot


5. Anji C. of Altered Scraps Blog


6. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose (You Are Here)
   


7. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya


8. Amanda H. of Live Laugh Craft


9. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet


10. Patricia T. of Sunnyone Stampin'


11. Heather W. of Heather's Stampin' Blog


12. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu


13. Linda O. of Stamp at Linda's


14. Marla R. of Marla's Stampin' Spot


15. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place


16. Nicole B. of Creations by Mommy


17. Pam S. of Sunny Girl Scraps


18. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim

Love & Laughter

Last night after everyone was in bed I went into my craft room to do a little creating. Believe it or not it wasn't even that late and I thought about heading to bed myself but then I thought, I can make a couple cards before I do.

For some reason I felt the need to make a wedding card even though I don't know anyone getting married until August. I guess I will be prepared in advance for once. LOL! I should have made a anniversary card since our wedding anniversary is at the end of the month. I guess I will have to sneak that one in next time I get a few moments to stamp.

I am hoping to hold a stamp class soon, so I need to sneak into my craft room a little more.

Make sure to check back on Thursday for the Stampin' Up! Stylin' Blog Hop.

Spring Vintage Card

This card matches the petal cone I made for the blog hop I participated in at the beginning of the month.

I used my free Sale-a-bration stamp set, Fresh Vintage along with my free Sale-a-bration DSP. I love free, especially when the free stuff is beautiful and craft related. If you haven't earned all the free Sale-a-bration items you want don't worry you still have time. Place your order by March 31st.

Baby Announcement

Here is my adorable reason for being a horrible blogger, Kaiden Connor.

I've had good excuses in the past for not keeping up my blog and not stamping but my little bundle of joy is one of the most adorable reasons. After I had Malachi 2 years ago it was a lot easier to fit in my crafting and blogging but now with a newborn and a toddler I have to schedule time and it doesn't always work out like planned. Sometimes I am just to exhausted and even though both kids are napping, I just end up napping with them.

A lot has taken place in my life the past few months. In November we went into escrow on our new home and we started packing up our little house. It is amazing what you can accumulate in 7 1/2 years. December is an already busy time of year and adding the packing and moving on top of it made for a stressful month, I was also weeks away from my due date. We got the keys to our home on December 24th and actually moved in on December 31st and 4 days later I had Kaiden.

I think that adjusting to two kids has been one of the hardest things. Poor Malachi has had a hard time adjusting to sharing his parents. He didn't want anything to do with his brother the first couple of days but he now loves his brother and smothers him with kisses.

Kaiden is now 8 weeks old and is letting me sleep a little more the house is mostly unpacked, I have returned to work 3 days a week, and I actually stamped for a couple of hours this past week. My life is getting a little more routine every day and I hope this is a sign that I will find the energy to focus on my SU! business a little more.

Enough about all that and look at that adorable birth announcement. I used My Digital Studio to create my one of kind announcement. I knew I wanted to create my own announcement and had some ideas floating around in my head so during the kids nap time I worked on it and when I got interrupted I just hit save and came back to it later. After I was pleased with it I sent it off to be printed. It took me longer to mail them out than to create them and have them printed because going to the post office with two little ones isn't that appealing. If digital scrapbooking or card making is your thing, make sure to give MDS a try. It is easy to use and has lots of digital downloads that come with the software.

Stylin' Stampin' Squad March Hop

Welcome to the Stylin' Stampin' Blog Hop. This month we are sharing spring, baby, and St. Patty day creations. I've been horrible about updating my blog lately because adjusting to two little ones has been a bigger task than I anticipated, anyway since I have a newborn baby in the home I wanted to create something baby related.


I really appreciate the gifts I received for baby Kaiden and thought what better way can I show my thankfulness than to send them a hand made card. So I got out my new stamp set Baby Prints from the Occasions Mini Catalog and since stamping is a little challenging when my husband isn't home to help with Malachi I thought "lets make this simple but nice." I got out some paper, ink, ribbon, and an embossing folder and whala! Here is my thank you card. I love the simplicity of the card, that made it easy to duplicate.

Items Used:
Stamps: Baby Prints
Paper: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, & Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze
Other Items: Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Big Shot, Strips Texture Impression Folder

Now for my 3D item I was a little stumped because I didn't know what I wanted to make, I actually took days just thinking about this and couldn't come up with anything. I got online and looked around for inspiration and still was stumped. Finally I thought to myself, I'm just going to choose a product and go from there so I looked through my dies and chose the Petal Cone die.

To decorate my petal cone I decided to use my free Sale-A-Bration paper, my framelits dies, and another new stamp set Apothecary. This cute spring petal cone came together rather quickly. That is just my style lately, quick. I love the colors! I used some packaging paper I had laying around for filler. I just shredded and scrunched. Its a great way to re-purpose that paper.

Items Used:
Stamps: Apothecary
Paper: Soft Suede, Every Day Enchantment
Ink: Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait, Soft Suede, & Lucky Limeade
Other: Big Shot, Petal Cone die, Framelits Labels collection, 1 1/4" circle punch

I hope you enjoyed my projects this month. Now make sure to hop on over to Tonya's Blog.

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Creative Electica


2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards


3. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!


4. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps a Lot


5. Anji C. of Altered Scraps Blog


6. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose


7. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya


8. Chelsea M. of A Chelsea Morning


9. Amanda H. of Live Laugh Craft


10. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet


11. Patricia T. of Sunnyone Stampin'


12. Heather W. of Heather's Stampin' Blog


13. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu


14. Linda O. of Stamp at Linda's


15. Marla R. of Marla's Stampin' Spot


16. Michele M. of Michele's Stampin' Blog


17. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place


18. Nicole B. of Creations by Mommy


19. Pam S. of Sunny Girl Scraps


20. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim

Stylin' Stampin' Up! Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stylin' SU! February Blog Hop! This month we are showcasing Valentine's and Sale-A-Bration products. I chose to make a couple of Valentine's projects. Whether this is your first stop on the blog hop or you just came from Anji Pearson-Clements blog, I hope you enjoy all the creations.

My first project is a simple Valentine's card using the P.S. I Love You stamp set from the Occasion's Mini Catalog. That cupid image is adorable and one of the images that made me want to purchase this stamp set. Being that I just had my second baby 4 weeks ago, I went for simple. It is a little hard at times to squeeze in crafting time when you have a 2 year old and a 4 week old. So if you need a simple Valentine card for your Valentine, this is the perfect card for you.

Products Used:
Stamp Set- P.S. I Love You
Card Stock- Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Ink- Soft Suede
Accessories- Blushing Bride Pleated Satin Ribbon, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Labels Collection Framelit Dies, Big Shot


Since Valentine's Day is about giving cards and treats to your loved ones, I made a little treat for my lil Valentine.

Once again I used the P.S. I Love You stamp set but this time I made a bag topper for the small cello bag. I found the yummy cherry hearts at my local grocery store. Now just to keep them hidden from Malachi and I so they don't get all eaten up before I get a chance to make some more treat bags.

Product used:
Stamp Set- P.S. I Love You
Card Stock- Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Accessories- Riding Hood Red Pleated Satin Ribbon, Top Note Die, Big Shot, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder

Now that you've seen my simple Valentine's projects make sure to hop on over to Tonya's blog to see her fabulous creations.



Stylin' Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Creative Electica
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
4. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps a Lot
5. Anji C. of Altered Scraps Blog
6. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose (You are here)
   
7. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
8. Amanda H. of Live Laugh Craft
9. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
10. Patricia T. of Sunnyone Stampin'
11. Heather W. of Heather's Stampin' Blog
12. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
13. Linda O. of Stamp at Linda's
14. Marla R. of Marla's Stampin' Spot
15. Michele M. of Michele's Stampin' Blog
16. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
17. Pam S. of Sunny Girl Scraps
18. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim

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If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me today!