Sweet Dreams

Before I hit the pillow for some of my own... here is a layout of my sweeties when they were about two and four. I remember smiling when I snuck upstairs and found them sleeping, so alike in their repose. These papers and diecuts from Crate Paper reminded me of all things a child would dream about and more :)

 Used the Cricut "Storybook" cartridge for the background flowers.

Love the old fashioned feel of these papers, reminds me of my childhood for some reason :)

 Tissue flowers are  Martha Stewart and the fabric ones are Recollections.

We had our Thanksgiving today. Eric has this meal down to an art! All the Grandpas agree...YUM! The only item I made was the fruit salad, an old family recipe that my Mom used to make every Thanksgiving too. Sure am missing my Mom a lot right now. Melancholy, that's what I am.

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas? Where did the time go?

I'm so not ready! Usually I do all my shopping on Black Friday but working nixed that. So here it is, November 30th and I just started my shopping. Mimi and I went to Kalamazoo after school with the goal of getting 2 presents. Accomplished. The problem is that we also came home with a bunch of other goodies! New towels(desperately needed), boots for Mimi and a bag of my favs, Ghiradelli peppermint Bark squares. Scrumptious :}

Unfortunately I didn't receive a happy email this weekend, so I can share my design team entry for Sketch Support here. Congrats to those that did!  I'm looking forward to more great inspiration this coming year and a big shout out to Ashley Horton for making the team!

The cake is a cut from the "Wrap it Up" Cricut cartridge.Snipped the candles off then added a Jolee's candle embellishment. Mimicked the patterned paper and stitched around the cake. The banner ls layered and popped with foam squares. I noticed almost all of Matthew's photos after he learned to walk include bruises on the forehead. Poor baby! Fancy Pants patterned paper and Jillibean Soup corrugated letters.

Well...since Blogger won't upload the second layout I guess I'll have to post it later. Anyone else having trouble with Blogger? Work the next two days. Hoping for a happy medium. We seem to be feast or famine when it comes to pregnant ladies :p



Family Fun at the Fair

Typically when confronted with the opportunity to purchase patterned paper or embellishments, I choose paper.  Rationalizing that I can always come up with something on my own...right? Then later, when selecting the perfect photos to go with the paper, regret not snagging some of the matching goodies :{ Such is the case here! So after going through my Cricut cartridges and not finding what I was imagining, I created my own "Big Top"!

   

Used some Bazill Swiss Dot for the top layer of the title then added Stickles to the dots.  Layered several cuts to create depth and finished by offsetting the last layer (contrasting cardstock) from the top layers. Font from the Storybook cartridge.

Isn't that seal adorable :) He is from the Birthday Bash cartridge.

Used the "Sew Easy" by We R Memory Keepers for the stitching. Punched and layered tissue paper for the flower. This "ticket" paper from Imaginisce was perfect for the title and embellishing!

I'm 3 days through my 4 day stretch and I'm dragging. So many patients today! Tell me why a person wouldn't eat or drink all day and then come to hospital and want to eat because they were hungry? One more day and I can scrap again. Happy Happy, Joy Joy, Happy Happy, Joy! (Picture me hopping from one foot to another while singing, It's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!)

Tell me about you Black Friday shopping experiences, so I know what I missed this year :}}

To Change or Not to Change?

That is the question! I've been trying to improve my computer and blogging skills but it's a toss up between "pass" or "fail"  :) So I ask you fellow bloggers for your constructive criticism and milk your brains for knowledge. "Like" or "dislike" the changes and "why?" are the questions.

Any suggestions on how to make a header appear would be helpful. The template is from Cutest Blog on the Block , they have a matching header but it doesn't have an HTML code to copy. So puzzling!

Please be honest :) I want a pleasant viewing experience for you all. 

Dress Up...or Not!

So much work went into these dresses. French seams, delicate lace around the edges, and an adorable headband for Mimi. Ready just in time for Easter. But when I tried to dress her...it was all "No you are not!". She kicked and screamed the entire time. Not sure if she opposed the fact that it was a dress or this dress. She finally gave in to her mother's superior will (and power), a moment I'm not proud of. Who makes their kid wear something she doesn't want to wear? A Mom who worked like the dickens...that's who!

This making Memories patterned paper has been in my stash forever! Sorry for the glare on the photos, having trouble lately taking pics without it :(  Used a Becky Fleck Pagemap for this layout.

Doesn't she look innocent, hard to believe she was kicking and screaming a few minutes before :)

It's  fun to play with girly, lacy, frou frou stuff sometimes, but I'm ready to go back to my more traditional style now. I think I'm cutesied out! Oh, and a quick note about vellum...it moves when you try to sew it down. I ended up with a ripple and had to add the paper with the heart border punch to cover it up.

Really sad that my long spell off of work is almost over. Not looking forward to the 4 twelve hour days to come. If we are lucky, maybe all the pregnant ladies will be too full to come to the hospital :) Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!