It's Delightful, It's Delovely!

I was sooo excited when I found out Cosmo Cricket was releasing my very favorite paper line digitally today! I mean, just look at those bright blues and yellows and pinks--I am in heaven!

The "Candy Candy" elements are just as amazing! Sweet birds and pears mixed in with vintage sofas and chairs!

I put this little layout together with a picture from our photo shoot with the fabulous Rainkite Photography gals last September. I know I'll be using this line again and again--I'm even considering using some of the goodies to make cute tees for the goodie bags at Kendall's birthday party in March!

Mouse, Paper, Scissors!

Have you signed up for the new class by two of the most amazing teachers in the industry? Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp are teaming up to teach an exciting new hybrid class called "Mouse, Paper, Scissors"! The last day to sign up is Feb 2nd so that they can get the kits sent out before the start of class on Feb 21st. There are four super-cool projects we will be completing:

•Two beautiful double-sided printed cards
•A "FABULOUS" giftable mini-album filled with sweet pockets and a transparency cover
•A hand-made (cover to cover!) mini-album celebrating little things you love about your life
•A stunning mirrored FRAME that sits on an easel, which doubles as your photo stand for taking pics of your projects!

Come join us! Click here to sign up! 

If you need more convincing, see Heidi's blog post here!

Valentine lollies? Check!

Elle's Studio just released their darling Valentine's Day XOXO paper today! It is really bright and festive--and just perfect for the bouquet of lollies I had invisioned for the centerpiece on the island in our kitchen. Check out this fabulous paper pack here!

Valentine's Day!

It feels like Christmas just happened and now I'm decorating for Valentine's Day! In years past, I haven't typically decorated for anything but Christmas but I am starting to really enjoy making **pretties**  to display at different times of the year--and I think the kids like it too. :)

Some little V-Day stickers that I made for Kendall are displayed on the Jessica Sprague homepage today. I just love these "Little Valentines" that Elle's Designs came up with, and the minute I saw them, I thought they would make darling little stickers to seal up the Valentines that Kendall will be sending to her aunts and grandparents. TFL--have a great week!

Leap!

Betsy, an amazing friend of mine, has chosen the word "leap" as her "One Little Word" this year. It is just perfect for her and I am so inspired to see her living it every day! She mentioned one evening over dinner that she would like to have something tangible that says "leap" that she can look to as a daily reminder...and my mind just started going crazy with ideas.

Late last year I discovered this fabulous group of publications from Stampington & Co that are dedicated to artists, their work and inspiration and where they create. My favorite one is called "Somerset Workshop" and it actually walks you through, from start to finish, the process of creating some amazing things! I was blown away by an artist named Vanessa Valencia (how cool and artsy is that name??) who makes incredible mixed media canvases, and immediately wanted to try my hand at it. Most of them are dancers that she mod podges to the canvas, and then adds gorgeous skirts using sheet music, vintage book pages, etc. Here's my inspiration (she has an etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AFancifulTwist?ref=top_trail):

So, back to Betsy...I decided that I would make a canvas for her to illustrate her word.  It was the most FUN I have had working on a project lately, and when I finished the other night at 11pm, I went to bed just GIDDY. This is certainly not a masterpiece by any stretch, but I had a great time with it and will definitely make more. I used book pages for the background and pages from the phone book for the skirt. I can see one hanging in Kendall's room, perhaps.

Betsy sent me this pic yesterday after being so sweet as to hang this in her office at work!

Da Boyz

I hardly ever scrap pictures of my husband, unless he happens to be in a photo with the kids! I should do more of this as I had a great time putting this very masculine (GRRRR!) layout together using a photo of Kent and two of his BFF's from our recent "Holiday Soiree". It cracks me up to see that they all wearing the same orange-y color essentially. (They swear they didn't call each other but I have my doubts.)

These guys are terrific friends and would do anything for each other. Both Brad and Barry have a special place in my heart, as their wives are my besties as well. Brad, the cutie in the middle, along with his wife Kim, introduced Kent (the hottie on the right :)) and I back in 1996. Barry, on the left, is the founder of our annual "Hawknestapalooza" campout and is reguarly the ringleader of other shenanigans. Love these guys!

The yummy background paper on this layout is from Liv's new release, Chestnuts and Mallows. The patterned papers are from always-fabulous Cosmo Cricket's line, Nutmeg. Hope you're having a great week!

Snow Day!

We're on our second snow day here in KC...and, while it's been lovely, I am ready for the kids to go back to school! The streets are pretty clear and we haven't had any snow in about 12 hours so I'm sure we're a go for tomorrow. Kendall and I tried unsuccessfully to build a snowman yesterday--it is so much harder than it looks! I couldn't get the snowball to stay together while rolling it around the yard to make it bigger, so we ended up with a pretty pathetic little mound of snow instead. My sweet husband, trying to make me feel better, said perhaps it was because the snow was too "dry", so we'll just go with that! ha!

And this is the sad, sad little attempt at a snowman. Yikes, looks even worse in a photo!

Soul Restoration started today at Brave Girls and I am already inspired! Can't wait to get started makin' stuff after the kids go to bed tonight! Melody Ross is my hero. :)

Delightfully vintage!

Kitschy Digitals released an amazing kit todaycalled "Curated"...it is so her style: very VINTAGE! (Check it out here!) Although I love templates, I typically won't use a Quick Page because I like to be able to add my own patterned papers and embellishments. However, the Quick Pages with this kit are amazing! All I did to create this fabulous page was add sweet photos of my beautiful mother from the 60's. (Note that I did not call her photos "vintage"--I think that makes her crazy! **wink!**)

Open Wide

Finally got around to scrapping the pics of Kendall's first trip to the dentist last November. She was so scared to go, which really surprised us because no one in our family is afraid of the dentist, nor have we had any awful experiences there that she might have heard us talking about. At any rate, she did NOT want to go that day and pretty much cried the entire way to her appointment. However, once we got there, Isabelle, the darling hygienist, took over and pretty much turned the whole event into a party! Kendall had the best time and keeps asking when she can go back. Crazy kid.

Just about everything I used on this layout, from the papers to the embellies are by Carina Gardner at http://www.jessicasprague.com/. Everything she designs is SPECTACULAR. TFL! Happy Thursday!

It's a Boy!

My sister, Shannon, just found out last week that she is having a baby boy! We are so excited! They are naming him Jackson James and he is due in late May. I am so excited to be an aunt for the first time!

I put together some onesies for her over the weekend using some digi elements from Cosmo Cricket. These are so easy to make using inkjet t-shirt transfer paper and an iron! I told Shannon she is going to have way more handmade crap goodies than she can use in a lifetime. These pics are not the best (pls see previous post!) but give an idea of how these sweet and sassy little tees turned out!

A Favorite Photo from the Holidays

Let's be honest--I could use some photography classes, and one of my goals for 2011 is to do just that! My photography skills leave a bit to be desired, especially when shooting indoors. Thank goodness for Photoshop and the ability to correct some of my lighting (and other!) issues! At any rate, I just love this sweet photo of Kendall. It is certainly not technically perfect, but it does capture her sweet little personality perfectly! She is such a doll and poses for me tirelessly. I love that this photo shows the bit of mischief in her eyes, mixed with her little smile that just makes me want to plant kisses all over her little face! 

Aren't these papers so fun and girly? They are from Cosmo Cricket's "Girl Friday" collection which you can check out on Jessica Sprague's site here! I am so thankful Cosmo Cricket has gone digi! Have a great day!

Soul Restoration!

Last week I received my kit for Brave Girls' online class "Soul Restoration" and it is fabulous! My good friend, Kim, and I are both taking the class and are so excited to be taking the time to do something creative that is JUST FOR US (i.e. not for our kids, family, or for a gift)! **wink**

2011 is going to be a great year!

I am using this fun bucket that I picked up at Pottery Barn for $3.99 (!!) to keep everything organized until class starts on 1/11/11. It is about all I can do to keep from digging in and playing around with the goodies now!

PS--Registration is still open...get on over there and check it out! :)

One Little Word

I am so excited to be participating in Ali Edwards' year-long class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, "One Little Word"! The word I have chosen for 2011 is "Listen". I want to be more present this year and truly listen to what God is saying to me. I know He has wonderful things in store for me and my family if I am only willing to listen. It's been really fun to read other people's word choices on the class forum! I love the words my two close friends picked: "Open" and "Leap". Just perfect! Click here to read more about "One Little Word".