Happy Mother's Day!

And a Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies out there in blog-land.  I hope that you have a wonderful day. 
I made this card for my daughter who is a wonderful mother.  I'm sure that those of you who have grandchildren would agree what a joy it is seeing and watching your child be a parent. 
I used the Simon Says Stamp set Best Mom Ever which you can see here:

I love that set and have used it a pretty good bit....I love the handwritten look to the sentiment.  And those roses can be used for so many none Mother's Day things!
Anyway....here is my card made with some My Yellow Bicycle paper from the Poppy collection which I picked up at Tuesday Morning for one dollar and ninety nine cents!

It's difficult to see in the photo but there is actually acetate covering the circle.  I love that look, don't you?
Mostly it was just a lot of cutting and paper piecing.  And a touch of Wink of Stella on the flowers.
Love how it turned out!

Again, Happy Mother's Day!

And Happy Crafting!

Rehearsal Photo Album and Guest Book

As I was planning my rehearsal dinner I knew that there would be photos and I thought of a great idea to do with the candid shots we would end up with.  I decided beforehand to include them in a mini album which would double as a guest book.  I had seen on Becky Higgins' (the founder of Project Life) website that she had done a mini album in this manner for a wedding.  I thought it would work perfectly for my rehearsal events.

I looked at various albums and settled on one of the Project Life Mini Albums instead of a ringed binder type book.  The good news is that the pages are sewn in...the bad news is that you have that limit on pages...you cannot add to them, of course.  But I thought I would make do and it really all worked out fine.

I didn't put a lot of time into this...I didn't want a lot of embellisments and I wanted the album to lay flat. Pictures and insert cards were about it!  I used insert cards from the Becky Higgins Blush Project Life core kit.

Here is the outside:

I added an engagement photo of the bride and groom.
On the inside I posted this:

Not everyone filled out a card but I got pretty good response.  I was impressed!
Here is the cover page:

Then I simply loaded up the album with photos of the evening and cards that were filled out by guests.

I added a few diecuts here and there but this whole process was very fast and very easy!

The couple is returning from the honeymoon today and I will see them tomorrow for Mother's Day.  I will give them this album as a little momento of the evening and I know they will both love it!

Happy Crafting and Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there!

Keep Smiling!

I hope that today finds everyone happy and healthy and looking forward to a wonderful weekend.  Mother's Day is Sunday and I hope the mothers who read my blog are celebrated by their families!

I made this FLAT card recently using stamps from the Simon Says Stamp Kit of the month for February.  Here is the stamp set....it's a great one, I think!

It's called "Thinking of You" and can be found HERE.

I used a white card base and stamped the dotted border multiple times with Memento Luxe pigment inks in yellow, orange and red.  Then I heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder.  So pretty!  I am not much one for lining things up in repetitive patterns but this was fun and easy and the image stamped so well.  I stamped Keep Smiling and the arrow stamp with some black VersaFine ink and heat embossed it with clear, as well.  I love the sheen.  This is a great card for mailing....no bumps and ridges! LOL!
Here's my card:

and a side view so you can better see the cool embossing:

Very clean and simple, I'd say....

Well, that's it for today!  I need to get in my craft room and finish up a project!

Happy Crafting!

You Are Missed

Sometimes, just sometimes and not very often...I get a kick out of making a relatively flat card.  Mostly, though, I like lots of layers and SCHTUFF on my cards.  Bling, ribbon, buttons...whatevs...I love all the schtuff.  I personally think dimensionals and foam tape were invented because of me.  LOL!!! Ok, that sounds a bit egocentric but when we all started adding dimension onto scrapbook layouts or cards...well, that made me very happy.  I jumped on that bandwagon and have NEVER gotten off.

But again...flat can be good.  I had a lot of fun making this flat little baby.  I used a Lawn Fawn journaling card die...which puts a little stitched edge around it...how cool.  Stamped the flowers and leaves and sentiment which are all from the Simon Says Stamp February Card kit and put it on some Basic Grey paper.  Very simple and easy and I am happy with simple and easy!

Flatness can be a good thing.  OK, now I realized I fibbed on the whole flat thing...I actually did add foam tape (I couldn't resist) being the journaling card.  but it is mostly flat....I swear!

And here is the February Card Kit again with the fabulous stamp set.  Love it. 

And that is it for today my flat and dimensional friends!

Happy Crafting!

You Are Loved

I got a little card making time in yesterday and enjoyed every minute.  I dove head first into the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for February which I had yet to use.  Yep, I'm behind but I love it!  I'm ok with that!
Here is the Card Kit:

I have a thing for stamps that look like handwritten sentiments and I also love practically anything floral so I was good to go with this kit!
I was inspired by a card by Kristina Werner which you can see HERE.http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/february-2014-card-kit-reveal/

And here is my version:

I used some of the white paint for the arrow and when it was dry I used a little Wink of Stella clear to give it a bit of sheen.  I also used a piece of a Project Life 4x6 card which I heat embossed with some clear powder.  I love that hand drawn flower outline.  I also love the papers which are from the Basic Grey Fresh Cuts Collection.
I stamped Happy Mother's Day inside and will send it to my children's grandmother.  I know she will like it.

Here is a little closeup:

I also decorated the envelope with a few Simon Says Stamp Envelope Sentiments Stamps.

And that is it for today, my friends!

Happy Crafting!!!

Another Wedding Photo

My nephew, Scott, took this photo....I am hoping in the one the wedding photographer took my eyes are open but I love this one nevertheless....eyes slightly shut or whatever.

See that pretty little pearl bracelet?  D'Ann gave it to me just before the wedding.  So sweet. 
I loved my dress.....I bought two of the same dress in two different sizes from Nordstrom's and was glad to send the larger one back! LOL! Nordstrom's carries petite sizes and I am a mini person so that is good.  My dress had a little mermaid train which I just thought was so way fun.  I did have to have it hemmed a tad in the front and the tailor asked me if I wanted a bustle for when I danced.  Heck no...I wanted that train dragging around the whole time! :)

I did get back to some crafting today.  Yay! And made 4 cards.  Such fun I had!

Hope you had some fun today, too!

We Survived!

I have finally recovered from the wedding hoopla!  We had such a wonderful time and the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and wedding went off without a hitch.  It was an absolutely gorgeous event....certainly one of my most memorable weekends ever....watching your child get married should be one of the happiest times of your life...and for me it has been!  I have both of my kids married now and I would say that watching them commit to the loves of their lives ranks up there with giving birth to them.  *sniff*

Some of you follow me on Facebook so have probably seen these photos but I wanted to share them here, as well. 

We had absolutely fabulous weather....warm and sunny with a beautiful sky.  We also had a gorgeous sunset.

It was just so pretty....
My rehearsal dinner was wonderful.  The venue we used, Brumby Hall, was built pre-Civil War (1851) and was spared during Sherman's March to the Sea (a military school built on the site was burned to the ground).  It is such a pretty house with beautiful gardens behind it.

There were dogwoods and azaleas in bloom....so lovely.
I made the table decorations...dollar frames from Dollar Tree glued together to make a planter (thank you, Pinterest!)...I put photos of the couple in them and made one for each table.  I purchased a bunch of spring bouquets from Costco on Friday morning and we broke up the bouquets and trimmed them to fit.  The effect was stunning...the photos don't do it justice.  We put burlap table runners on under 10 inch mirrors as our meal theme was a backyard cookout (steaks, grilled chicken, etc.).

It just all smelled so fresh when you walked in the room where our meal was.

The facility then came in and set place settings at each place so they tables were quite dressed up when the guests arrived.  Did I get a photo of that?  uh, no....
My good friend, Kelly, made a cake for me....it looked like a scrapbook.  And all was edible.

It looked like an open scrapbook.  Again, the photos don't do it justice but it was the coolest thing ever!!!
I gave Koozies as a favor which I think I already shared here once:

That is me on the left with the bride's mother, Cindy.  She did an awesome job on the wedding...and after the rehearsal was over I was glad to hand the reins to her and let her get that wedding off!
:)
Taylor and David were the flower girl and a ringbearer and they looked so darned cute!

 The other little ring bear is the bride's cousin, Ryan.

 Taylor rode in a  wagon that said "Here comes the bride"....after the ceremony the sign was flipped to say "And they lived happily ever after!"

Even our little Wade got dressed up for the occasion:

The bridesmaids all wore different colored dresses and looked lovely:

My daughter, Amanda, is in the ice blue dress on the far left.  The ladies all looked so pretty!
Of course the professional photographer will have much better photos than these candids that were taken by family and friends.
I only cried a little....

OK...that will be enough photos for today....but check out this cake!

It was fabulous!!! 

Well, that is it for today, my friends!

I hope you enjoyed sharing this with me! :)

Happy Crafting!