Hello December Album

Hi stampers!  I couldn't figure out what to share today as I was out of pre-edited projects.  As I was browsing my phone for photos, I came across the album I embellished the other day so I can put my project life pages from this month in as I get them done.  I'm trying to work little by little all month :-)

I love Project Life!  It's so easy to keep your memories without having to spend a ton of time on complicated scrapbook pages and it's CUTE!  Even if you don't memory keep or scrap much (or at all) Christmas is the prefect time to make an exception and the Hello December kits make it so simple!

I've never decorated one of my albums before but I'm glad I did because it turned out SO flipping cute!

Sorry about the shadow in the picture.  I have to work on my photography skills a little!

Here's how I decorated my album:

• I stamped the little stars from the accessory kit stamp set in white craft ink and added a few of the adhesive stars.
• The main panel is one of the PL cards and I overlayed it with one of the acetate cards from the accessory pack (the 2016).
• To help the overlay stay down I added some of the washi tape in the accessory pack
• I cut a few pine branches from emerald envy and then the mistletoe sprig is vellum (pretty pines thinlits).  I layered those behind a stitched shape.
• And finally, I added one of the wood trees from the accessory pack. 

I'll share a few of my pages soon!

Happy stamping!

Display Samples - Scrappy

Hi stampers!  Is anyone else thinking that it's crazy that Thanksgiving is NEXT week already?  Whoa!  Anyway, I'm sharing more display samples today!  Today I'm going to show you scrapbook pages I did.

For this page I used the all year long kit.  The bottom card is actually one of the larger cards with a 3x4 card on top of it.  The leaf is from the accessory pack.  Project life makes is quick and easy to make gorgeous pages that really focus on the photos!

My second page had to be Christmas, right? Two of my 2x2 squares are just regular card stock that I embossed.  Don't forget that you can make your own PL inserts!  The emerald ribbon is a little sneak peek!  It's so pretty!  And the other great thing about PL is that you can play around with your layout until it's just right.  I just laid my squares out on top of the page and moved them around until I felt they were balanced.  I didn't have to worry about gluing them down in the "wrong" spot!

And finally, a traditional scrap page.  The places you'll go set makes a great scrapbook page!  I heat embossed the globe on some watercolor paper and then just colored away.  And project life grid cards make it easy to journal...even if you don't like your handwriting ;-)

I hope you enjoyed my pages!  

Happy stamping!

Display Samples - Annual Catalog Inspiration

Hi stampers!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  We had a very nice laid back couple of days!  I'm back today with more display samples from the event in Madison.  Some people did all of their samples with the new sets but I wanted to do some samples from the holiday mini as well as the annual catalog because I know people are also looking for inspiration from them as well.  I've got two samples today.  I'm going to try to get all of them shared with you soon so I can share things I've been stamping lately!

This first one may be my favorite sample.  You know I'm obsessed with the succulents in the live, love, grow set...so it's no wonder.  I used my clear wink of stella to put some background splatters on some tip top taupe.  I also embossed the succulents in white and watercolored them for a soft and blended look.  I LOVE it!

This card is basically a case of something I've done before.  I did a watercolor wash for my background and just layered away.  The little plus accents and washi tape are from the hello lovely PL kit.  Don't be afraid to break out the PL kits and accessory kits for cards!

I hope you enjoyed these samples.  I'll be back with more soon!

Happy stamping!

Hello Lovely

Hi stampers!  Can I just take a minute to say that in a crazy, crazy world, I'm so glad we have this hobby and art form to make beautiful things in an ugly world!

Anyway, I struggled to focus this weekend so I tried to come up with ways to create something.  Sometimes I get overwhelmed with choices so I need to give myself some limits.  This weekend I decided I'd break out the hello lovely project life accessory kit and focus on the items and colors in it. I would never put all the colors together on my own but they are SOOOOO pretty!  That really helped me to get going and gave me a good goal.  I ended up making a number of things and incorporating a lot of different stamp sets and items.  Sometimes I need to think small to come up with BIG ideas :-)

I really love the washi tape in this kit and the colors which is why I decided to focus on it.  Oh, and the sequins!  They sequins are to die for!  Don't forget that project life accessory kits make great cards as well as the actual card kits themselves!  This kit is really beautiful!  Here's my favorite card from this weekend!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Hello lovely (PL accessory kit)
Paper:  Whisper white, basic black, soft sky, peekaboo peach
Ink:  Versamark, basic black, old olive, peekaboo peach
Accessories:  Hello lovely project life accessory kit, linen thread, metallic foil doilies

And if you haven't noticed, they changed up the way the accessory kits and stamp sets are offered for Project Life this year.  Each new accessory kit has a mini stamp set included.  They are really cute!  Don't forget about them if you get a kit and they make great cards!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 84

Hi stampers!  It's been kind of radio silence over here, sorry!  We stayed at my mom's after Easter so I was busy and having some fun and now I'm busy working on some stuff for convention (it's called On Stage now but I'll always call it convention....) so it may be pretty quiet here for a bit.  We'll see...

But it's Friday so we have a new challenge for you at Fab Friday...no foolin' ;-)

It's time for colors and we have some bright and springy inspiration for you!

I kept is pretty simple as I was packing up to go home for Easter when I made this but I love all the white with these colors!  I don't use my saffron anymore so it was nice to pull it out!  And I finally broke out this project life set which I've been meaning to do!  And boy do I need sunny days ahead...bring on spring and summer!!!!

Stamapin' Supplies:
Stamps: Memories in the making (project life)
Paper:  Whisper white, so saffron
Ink:  So saffron, pool party, calypso coral
Accessories:  Subtles candy dots

Again, sorry I've been quiet.  I'll try to post here and there before convention!  If I'm not blogging then you should be so make sure to check out what the rest of the team did and play along, ok?  :-)

Happy stamping!

Get it together already....

Hi stampers!  So....I swear I'm going to try to get my life together and not only STAMP but BLOG!   I'm still having some techie issues with my editing software so I tend to get annoyed and just quit editing pictures all together.  Stupid, I know.

I am managing to stamp off and on a little bit which is better than nothing.  I'm still having trouble coming up with ideas.  I also do better when I have long dedicated blocks of time...which don't really happen often with Ian, lol!  I really need to get with it though and use all the holiday goodies because the Occasions ones are fast approaching!!!!!  Eeeep!  I get to take a peek either tonight or tomorrow morning...probably the latter....I like my sleep ;-)

Here is a quick and simple card I came up with using the Project Life set which I LOVE!  And I love cozy sweaters which is just what it reminds me of!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Seasonal snapshot 2015
Paper: Very vanilla, delightful dijon
Ink:  Cajun crazy, blackberry bliss, mossy meadow, delightful dijon

I can't believe Thanksgiving is just next week!  And I know I mentioned the Occasions catalog up there....it's coming up AND for the first time SU has given us a retired list from the Holiday Catalog so check it out on my store (just click over there to the right) and make sure you grab anything you've been putting off!

I've also done a terrible job at keeping you all updated on Ian and I'll try to do better there as well.  He is currently sleeping off his shots at his 15 month appointment this morning.  We were a bit late as his doctor is Canadian and had been back home for a bit but better late than never...although Ian might disagree ;-)  He didn't have the best time today but once we got home and he had lunch he was much happier!  

He's 33 inches (which is basically off the charts and the size of a 2 year old) and 25 pounds.  He does 4-5 signs and has around 10 words although he "talks" a lot!  He enjoys "reading" and playing with every single toy we have.  He loves dogs and it was one of his first words.  He loves our dog...the feeing is not mutual ;-)  He is generally happy and listens pretty well.  He has a lot of funny "tricks" like walking backward, sticking his tongue out, spinning in circles, and laying down.  He LOVES chick fil a and really loved Chipotle.  Black beans are his love language!  He's SUPER clingy lately, even not allowing Jon's parents to hold him AT ALL at our last visit.  I'm looking forward to that stage ending ASAP!  He's been walking well since about 13 months and now he runs!  He is very funny...and knows it :-)  And he's definitely getting a mind of his own...yikes.  Really, I could just go on and on!  :-)  But I'll share a few pics and shut up ;-)

 This is what he does if you tell him to lay down, lol!

 Modeling his new car seat coat/ponch because mom HATES winter coats ;-)

 His no shave November black bean beard ;-)

Hope you enjoyed!  I hope to be back to share more soon!

Don't forget to check out the retiring Holiday merchandise, ESPECIALLY the Project Life stuff!  It's so great for keeping your memories from the holidays!

Happy stamping!

Clarification :-)

Hi stampers!   First off, thank you for all the nice and encouraging comments and messages regarding my last post.  I really don't actually feel like a "failure", I was really more trying to be funny :-)  Granted, I'm not doing great at managing to get ALL the things done I want to but I'm ok with that.  I mean kind of, I really DO want to stamp more and do some other things more (like work out) but I know it will happen eventually.

I DO wish we were still back "home" or at least closer as ALL of this would be easier with help.  It would be nice to be able to go visit my various family members and friends (many of which have had babies recently or are having them) or to just get some "me" time by having a trusted baby sitter or 2 or 3.  It would be neat to meet friends and family for lunch or something too and have sitters so I could go to the gym or be able to have my mom run up any time I needed which is easier to do with an hour drive than 4 :-)  And I'm certain that my MIL would be more than happy to watch him about any time she isn't working so I could do...anything :-)  But, this is the way it's supposed to be for whatever reason so I'll stamp when I can.  Hopefully, I'll get a little time this week when my parents are here BUT then I always want to hang out with them too, lol!  Anyway, I deal with most things with humor so I was really trying to be more funny than anything in my last post and think I'm doing ok with this mom thing.  Sure, I have my freak out times but who doesn't...kids or not, ha!  And I'm sorry I haven't done a better job at keeping everyone updated on Ian!  I'll have to do that soon as he's three months old already!!!!! Soon he'll be stamping WITH me, hehe! Which I can't wait for by the way!

And thanks to dad being great, I was able to go to a crop last night and get some project life pages done! Speaking of Project Life, it's NOT just for memory keeping!  I couldn't wait to use the cute Christmas sets for some cards!  I love how this one turned out aside from the photo being crummy…sorry!

Hopefully you'll see a bit more of me in the next few weeks!  Wish me luck!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 44

Hi stampers and happy Friday!  It's been a busy week here with my BFF coming to visit which was fun but kind of sad since we wanted to go to the pool and it was cool and rainy.  Of course it was pretty nice today....right after she left...figures.  And then we are planning on seeing a movie this weekend and have our class at the hospital on Saturday.  Oh, and the crib is in and it wouldn't fit in my SUV so I'm hoping it fits in Jon's!  I'm tired just typing all of this, lol!  AND I should be getting a box of goodies tomorrow as I finally put in an order from the new catalog!  Do your orders always seem to come RIGHT when you have plans or a ton to do?  LOL!

Anyway, since it's time for a new challenge at Fab Friday I did manage to drag my tired self (I had fun with my friend but I guess she wore me out, lol) down to stamp last night!  This week's challenge celebrates the new in colors!

I kind of have a confession....I did NOT like these colors upon first glance but that's sometimes the case with new in colors for me.  Maybe because I REALLY like the other group of colors right now and am drawn to bright colors like them?  Maybe because these colors were so different from that group?  Who knows but each time I looked at them I liked them a little more and I have to say as I may have been putting this logo together at the last minute yesterday (kind of forgot to update MDS and that I needed to do it so thank you to our team member who reminded me!!!!) it struck me that I REALLY love these colors especially all 5 together!  There is just something striking about seeing them here together I think!  And I do like them in other combos but I really love this!!!!!!

So, I wanted to really focus on the colors so I went with a super CAS card which is mostly what I've done lately anyway (when time and mojo are lacking clean and simple is the way to go I guess).  I really need to sit down for a long time and play with these new colors and all my new stuff!  But I think the card turned out really well, yay!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Point & click (Project life set), previous MPP stamp
Paper:  Whisper white
Ink:  Rich razzleberry, lost lagoon, mossy meadow, hello honey, tangelo twist, basic black

I used the stamp from the old MPP welcome kit and I love it!  I don't know why but it will be one of my all time fave sentiment stamps forever and ever!  And I have been seeing stars EVERYWHERE and I don't have too many so I hunted these down in one of the project life sets which just goes to show you those sets are highly versatile and NOT just for scrapping!   And again, with wanting to focus on the colors themselves I went ahead and stamped one set at full strength then stamped the second set of stars without inking again which is a technique I should use more often!  It's so simple but kind of striking!!!!

So there you have it.  I know I haven't shared a whole lot about my pregnancy but I thought I'd leave you with this crazy picture of my little man stretching out yesterday.  And it's not that I haven't wanted to...I'm just lazy lol!  But he is CRAZY active and actually hurts me quite often! This did not feel good but it just looked so weird!  My hubby and mom's replies when I sent them the picture were so funny!  lol!  I can't imagine what he's going to do to me in 6 more weeks!!!!!!

Now, if you're not totally freaked out (lol) head on over to the Fab Friday site if you haven't been there already to check out ALL of the DT's amazing projects!  I get a sneak peek of them on Thursday and have to say this week they are all more than amazing!!!!  And don't forget to bust out those new colors and play along!

Happy stamping!