Cool hat {Sketchy Thursdays}

Hello there! Heidi has made a fabulous sketch for us at Sketchy Thursdays this week. And this is the page that I made that goes with that sketch.

The picture is one of those quick random shots I snapped of my son one afternoon. He was wearing his pajamas for Pajamarama at the library, carrying the dolphin for his stuffed animal for the evening, and then had on this hat (that my mom sent him for his birthday). He looked so mismatched, I just had to snap some pictures.

I ended up getting this great one from the side. He looks so much older here—growing up way too fast.


I used the July kit from The Sampler to make my page. Such a fun, unique kit full of fun little extras. I hope the kit is posted for you to see now, if not, it will be soon.

Hope to see you playing along at Sketchy Thursdays. We have a great prize from Paper Lovelies. Their current kit is awesome—check it out! (And don't forget about the monthly GDT challenge, too. One lucky winner will get to join the Sketchy Thursdays team in August!)

Thanks for stopping by today. I really appreciate it and hope you all are having a fabulous week.

Sealed with a kiss...

A few weeks ago I shared a wedding dress card that used layered lace over a die cut paper wedding dress. Today, my little wedding dress is made with a similar die cut dress, but I used one piece of very wide lace ribbon instead.

This ribbon came in the July kit I got from The Sampler (if the kit isn't posted yet, hopefully it will post soon)—and it's a gorgeous piece of ribbon. I wish I had a whole spool of it. It is the same ribbon used HERE for the top of the tag.


I made my card using the Tuesday Trigger from Moxie Fab. This inspiration is from the new Stamp It! Cards. I was attracted to the muted neutral/tan tones, the centered and detailed image and the solo splash of color with the teal (I used pink). I replaced the sun with clouds.


If you have time to play along, check out the Moxie Fab blog—always fabulous inspiration over there. Thanks for stopping to check out my card today!

And have a fabulous weekend! I know I will—my mom is coming to see me (and her grandson, who I know will get a great majority of her attention *grin*).

Card Patterns GDT spot

Hello everyone! I was so excited to be chosen a few weeks ago at Card Patterns as their GDT for Sketch #122. Whenever I make a card, I start with the Card Patterns blog to see if I can use their current sketch for my inspiration, so I was really honored to be playing along with these gals for a week.


I made this card using the July kit for The Sampler. The July kit isn't live yet, but I hope I have peeked your interest for when it does. It's a lovely, girly kit this month.

I hope to see you over at Card Patterns! And I hope all of my American friends had a fabulous 4th of July holiday this past weekend. I know I ate too much and spent quality time for friends and family—just as it should be! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Sampler {sketch challenge}

On the 20th of every month, Holly and The Sampler put together a sketch challenge. There are prizes and it's quite fun to hop through the DT's pages and see what they made with that month's kit.

So here we are, hopping along and sketchin' it up for The Sampler. I do hope you'll play along!


I made this page using silly pictures of my son at the park this spring. He's such a ham. So much so, that it's getting more difficult to get a nice, simple picture of him. But I'll take these! So much personality, and it just shines in pictures like this.


I did make the rosettes on this page using the buttons in the kit as well as scraps of paper left from the kit. One nifty little trick on this—see the doodles on that background paper? I mimicked that by drawing similar white swirls on the buttons of the rosettes.

Thanks for stopping to see my page today. Hope you all had a fab weekend. And don't forget to stop and see the sketch as well as link up your entry here at Holly's blog!

Using chalkboard stickers

Hello! These Pink Paislee Daily Junque Chalkboard Stickers are included in the June kit from The Sampler. At first, I was going to use them on a layout, but then I realized I had teacher gifts I needed to make cards for. The chalkboard relate was too good to pass up, so I set these aside for those cards.


I was going to use the white pencil that came with the stickers, but my handwriting is awful, so I ended up using some white letter stickers instead (that did not come with the June kit).



Ms. Diana and Ms. Kara got these from Nate last week for their End of the Year party. Rumor has it they liked these and the gift cards. I'm so sad that his Pre-K class is over, but now it's on to Kindergarten! *gulp* I'm going to need the summer to prepare myself for this.

Speaking of, here's a cute picture of the lil man in his graduation gown. His graduation ceremony was on Friday night.


The center did such a great job with the kids and the little show they put on for the parents. I was impressed with how prepared the kids were—it was obviously not just thrown together, they had put some serious work into it.

Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it! Hope your week is going well so far.

Sketchy Thursdays {summer fun}

Here's my Sketchy Thursdays page for the week. Make sure to swing by the challenge site to see the sketch that's ready for you to play along with.

I used the June kit from The Sampler to make this page. I like that purple ribbon from the kit, and it seemed to go really well with the summer feel I was aiming for.


These pictures are from Memorial Day. We had met some of the cousins at a spray park for a little picnic. Nate decided to eat all of the watermelon I brought for us, and each time I asked for a bite he'd look the other way and pretend he couldn't hear me. He was making the cutest faces and was laughing so hard he could barely chew. I wanted to make sure to capture that. Adorable!


This week at Sketchy Thursdays we are giving away a great prize from ScrapBits. Such a cute shop! You really should check out the shop and the details on how to win.

Thanks for stopping by today! I just love Thursdays, don't you?! :)

The Sampler {June kit}

The June kit for The Sampler is on sale, so grab your kit today! Head on over to the site HERE to purchase your kit.

Or... you can try to win one! The Sampler is currently sponsoring Sketchy Thursdays. See the challenge and read more about The Sampler HERE on this post.

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Sketchy Thursdays {a manly page}

Hello! It's Thursday, so I have a new sketch for you at Sketchy Thursdays. You can see the sketch as well as the prize that The Sampler has been so generous to offer up to this week's winner (a June kit!!). Head on over to the blog and join along. I'd love to see some of you over there!!


I used my Scrapbook Circle Garden Party kit to make this page. Aren't the colors just too yummy? I love the variation in the papers and patterns this month. Perfect for the moment I wanted to preserve.


This picture is from Nate's birthday party at Frontier Field when we went to the Red Wings game. It was a perfect day for this father-son pair.

And if YOU have a boy/father/son/man page or card you'd love to share, link up at the Paper Issues blog for the current MANLY Challenge.

There, I think I covered it all. And wish me luck today. By the time you read this, I would have already touched down in NYC for a day in the Big Apple. My flight is at the crack of dawn and I return by 4:30 this evening.

The NextStepU Sales Team is up for an award, and I'm one of the few going to support them and their chance at winning. I'll also be going on a sales call, which is a first for me since I'm the Production Director, but it's a team effort, eh?! :)

Not a huge fan of flying—scared to death is more like it. LOL! But ya gotta do it sometime, right?! See ya'll back here soon! Have a great Thursday!

Favorite toy

The These Are A Few of My Favorite Things challenge blog has a new challenge ready for you. We want to see your Favorite Childhood Toy. I made my page about Nate and his penguin toy. He decided around Easter time he wanted a penguin. Where on earth was I going to find a penguin in a sea of bunnies and chicks?!

Nate did eventually find his penguin a few weeks later when we were at Hobby Lobby—of all places, right?! He was so excited, he ended up taking this penguin with him everywhere for weeks.


This page is made with the June kit from The Sampler. It's such a fabulous kit, full of color and patterns that work so well together. Check out the site in the next few days and scoop one up for yourself!


I hope all of my U.S. friends are having a fabulous Memorial Day! Thanks for stopping by today.

Play along to {win} and a sneak peek

Last Friday, I shared with you my page that goes with this sketch from The Sampler. The winner of this sketch challenge gets a May kit all for themselves! So far, the field is still wide open ... you have a great chance to win—play along with us!!

If you're in the market for a new kit club, there is time to get in on the June kit for The Sampler. Below is a sneaky peeky of the kit. This kit will be available for you next week. (Can you believe it's nearly June already?! Oh my!)


I think you may "love" it. LOL, I'm feeling pun-ny. :) Thanks for stopping by today. If you have time to play along with the sketch challenge, you can link your entry HERE.

Simple and sketchy {and a chance to win}

On the 20th of every month, The Sampler at ScrapbookingSuppliesRUs.com hosts a sketch challenge. Here is the page that I made using that sketch. The sketch should be posted on this site shortly if it isn't already.

I love this month's sketch for it's single-photo focus, simplicity, and ability for free-reign on embellishing. Jot down a note to play along this month.


And I'm back at it with the paper rosettes. I have found that my hot glue gun is nearly as important as my tape runner these days.

This page is about the thank you note we leave for the Easter Bunny, fondly called E.B. now thanks to the movie Hop. I like to take a picture of Nate on the eve of holidays so that once he's older, he can look back on how we did things when he was little. Never know what he may choose to carry on himself—like the idea of keeping the same basket and putting it out for E.B. to fill. So much better than buying a new basket each year, right?! And he gets to play with it all year round this way.

Play along with us for a chance to win the May kit. And it's a fabulous one! Post your page and see the sketch for your chance to win HERE>>>.


Thanks for stopping to read my blog today. And hope you all have a great weekend planned. Hopefully with some time to get creative.

Baby boy card {3 ways}

It seemed like the minute I said how much I loved this paper from The Sampler's May kit for making baby boy cards, I got asked to make 3 of them. All for 3 separate baby boys, of course. I took that as an opportunity to make 3 similar cards—I've always loved sets.


I love the look of this first card. Open and airy and just so cute. All three cards have the onesie and the hanger in common, as well as a unifying color scheme.


This second card I used a sketch from the Clean & Simple challenge blog. I love the linear look to the sketch. I actually plan on using it again, but incorporating the rounded edges like so many others did with their cards.


And for the third card, I flipped it for a horizontal layout. Using some of the same elements from the other cards, I threw in the twine and border-punched the edge of the card rather than the edge of the accent paper.


This was my first time using the Pink Paislee twine I had ordered, and man, that stuff is slippery! Unlike other baker's twine, such as from The Twinery, it is thinner and shinier. It made tying a bow difficult, but I love the fragile nature of it for the baby card. It seemed more appropriate for it to be delicate.


There ya have it! Way more baby cards in one place than a person really needs, but a great example of how the same supplies can get you 3 very different looks. Thanks for reading my blog today, and I hope I've given you a nudge to make sets of cards.

Time to dye the eggs {sketchy thursdays}

Hello everyone! It's Thursday, which means a new Sketchy Thursdays page for you. This week's challenge is a double-page sketch again. We try to throw those in every 5 or 6 weeks for those of you that love the double.

You do not have to make a double page. You can use a portion of the sketch for a single (or squish it all into one), just let us know in your post entry what you interpreted from the sketch.


I used the May kit from The Sampler to make my page. As I said last week—I am loving the blue and green tones in this kit. You can see the whole kit HERE.

And in my continued quest for handmade embellishments, I made ribbon flowers using the great pack of ribbon from My Mind's Eye that was in the kit. I had to use my own buttons, though.


I should have thought to do a tutorial, but it is really pretty simple. You take a needle and string, and along one side of the ribbon you thread up and then down all along the edge. Pull the string to bunch the ribbon and tie off the string once you have it to the length you desire. Sew or use glue to add the button or embellishment to the middle. Easy peasy!


I love that greenish-blue ribbon from My Mind's Eye. It looked crocheted after I finished the flower. Perfection!

I hope you all have a chance to play along with Sketchy Thursdays this week. One lucky winner will get a $25 gift certificate to Scraptastic Club. And don't forget that you have one more week to play along with the June GDT Challenge. You can find out more about that HERE.

Sketchy Thursdays and The Sampler

It's time again for Sketchy Thursdays! (These weeks just fly by, don't they?!) This week I used the May kit from The Sampler for the sketch reveal.

The May kit has some great silver, blue and aqua tones. They went very well with the picture of me and Nate at our Easter picnic with the in-laws. We had our fancy Easter the Sunday before so that husband could join us. This was on actual Easter day.


We went to a park in the zone where hubby works and had sandwiches, chips and fruit while we waited for Brad to get a break from work to come by and join us.

While we waited, we took a bunch of posed pictures that we rarely get to take. Especially of Nate and I together. Not a huge fan of forgetting that my bangs were pinned back (lol), but I like the picture nonetheless.


I hope you'll stop by and play along with us at Sketchy Thursdays. We have The Paper Trail sponsoring, and you'll want to make sure you have a chance to win this week's prize.

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And, I need to announce my winner from the Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Blog Hop.

#23 is Michelle! Congrats, Michelle. Lisa from Scrapbook Circle has your email address and should be contacting you about your $10 credit to the SC shop. Happy shopping!

Win some Prima...

The folks at The Sampler have some spare baubles from Prima that are a part of May's kit. And Holly is going to give them to a couple lucky winners!! Leave a comment HERE ON HER POST and winners will be picked randomly from the comments. Contest is open through May 1st!

Don't forget to check out The Sampler's current sketch challenge which is up HERE!

Thanks for checking in here today! :)

Sampler sketch challenge

On the 20th of every month, The Sampler DT shares with you work using the current kit and a sketch. Here is my sketch page for this month. There is a fabulous little prize for one winner from those that play along with the sketch.


Remember my manly card set from last Saturday? This page is where I referenced using the rest of that fabulous green wood grain paper from the kit.


It's a pretty good sketch, so you'll wanna swing by to play along this month. HERE'S THE LINK TO PLAY ALONG WITH US!

Card sets for *gulp* guys

My dear friend, Theresa, often needs thank you cards. I happily make them for her to send to her clients. Some of these cards she requests are also for clients who are (gulp...) men.

More often than not, cards for men seem to be the card maker's toughest card to make. At least for a lot of us. Some of you seem to make the best cards for guys, but I am not one of those that sits down and makes them with ease.


I was inspired to make this set by the Card Sets Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. And have already sent these cards off with Theresa as she has left to travel on another business trip to see these fabulous male clients. Sure hope they like these!


I also used my April kit from The Sampler. This month's kit had this fabulous green woodgrain from American Crafts. And I have stretched it as far as I could, having used it on these 3 cards as well as a layout you'll see next week. Such a great color green, isn't it?!

The Crate border stickers in the kit were perfect for this card set as well.

I hope I've inspired you to take on making a set of cards for the guys in your life. Father's Day is right around the corner...

Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading my blog today!