Bloomin' Marvelous

Hi Friends!

I'm just dropping in to share another 3"x3" card for my jar. 

This little "stock up a jar" mission of mine has now turned into so much more. When I first came up with the idea, it was to have little cards on hand to randomly give our kids to remind them how special they are. Now, it is all that and so much more. Basically I will never be without a card again.            WAHAHAHAHA

I hope all of these little acts of love not only brighten our own children's days but also anyone else who receives one!

A few things about this card before I go:

1. LOVE the neutral color pallet

2. Stampin' Up!'s new burlap-like cotton ribbon is fabulous

3. This Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set from Sale-a-bration is hands down my favorite of all time. I can't get enough of it.

4. LOVE the ombre butterfly's. 

Once my jar is full, I promise to show a picture. There is nothing more that makes me happier than seeing multiples of things. hehe

Happy Wednesday!

Hope it is Bloomin' Marvelous!

when life happens

This past week I went to the Dr. for a cyst thinking I'd need surgery. Since the antibiotic had cleared up the infection to the point it was impossible to see where the cyst had been, I was told to wait until it came back again. These type of cyst come back. The only way to get rid of them are by removing them.
I left the office and thought I was good for another year since I was only getting them about once year since the first one 3 years ago.

Two days later, yeah, guess what was coming back already!
Back to the surgeon I went.
Since it was in the early stages, there wasn't much to see except the fact that I had a tender spot.
They had an opening for surgery the next day, which I figured was better than waiting through the weekend and would  give me the weekend to recover.
Thursday ended up being a mad dash to clean house and prepare for not being able to do much for the next week or so.

These sweet little lunch bags were one of the last minute things I pulled together to remind the kids that I love them and will be missing them.
Since I've been working on filling a jar of little cards to have on hand, I was able to pull this little act of love off fast and easy.
I packed them a lunch, stamped their names on the bags, tied it up with twine and attached a little card.
All pulled off reeeeaaallly late at night but so worth the time and effort it took to remind them how much they are loved.

My shop is currently closed right now but I think in a day or so I will be up to re-opening with a small sample of my line of handmade pretties until I'm really back into the swing of things.

Please keep me in your prayers. Infections are common with where the incision is so that worries me. I'm hoping I can breeze right though it without any problems!
And hey, I am sitting up in a chair right now typing this post!
That's a good thing!

Have a Restful Sunday!

P.S. I do have a post scheduled for Wednesday, another 3"x3" card (can you tell I'm lovin' those right now?) but other than that, I probably won't be around much, if at all, this week. :)

Mother's Day Cards- Check

It is always a nice feeling to get something checked off the list way in advance. For me, it was these Mother's Day cards. I may even fill them out, address and get postage on them, too, that way they REALLY are ready to go come May.

I made up two versions, just changing out the pretty tape at the bottom. 

They both look so pretty and elegant!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

Bye!

Love Birds

My big sis got engaged last night so today I had the perfect excuse to stamp naptime away and make an engagement card. Secretly I'm hoping my card will be their first in the mail box. 

(Don't ask me why but I am.)

(I think I have a pretty good shot since they got engaged less than 24 hours ago. Wish me luck.)

 Disclosure: My craft room has THE WORST lighting. 

(Forgive me for not moving to a sunnier spot :) )

This is my absolute all time favorite card that I've ever made. It has layers and cuteness and more layers and texture...

 The adorable girl owl has eye lashes and a blue bow in her hair. hehe

The boy owl looks dashing in black and white. 

So happily perched on a branch.

Funny Facts? My parents will have 2 son-in-laws named Jason. Both with the last name that starts with "T".

And a quick change of subject:

Check out this sweet 3"x3" ombre butterfly card that I made!!

Remember how I said I was going to make a ton of little cards to have on hand for our kiddos? 

I've been stampin' away making that idea happen. I think little 3"x3" cards may be my new favorite card to make. This card makes me happy!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! We sure did!

Happy Weekend!

Dear Self,

I'm very proud of you. You have put in a lot of hours lately turning your craft room into a relaxing and inviting place. A place to escape from your crazy but joyful life as a mom of 5.

You've made decisions and commited to color schemes.

You've bought items that made your heart sing.

You've been painting yellow brackets and white shelves, rearranging furniture and dreaming of whether you should get the little bird cage or mini cake stand with cloche... all at the same time.

You even squeezed in some digital crafting Sunday to create the sweetest little calendar banner to drape from your new yellow brackets. It's going to look amazing!

I hope to share a free download soon of this sweet calendar! Just need to figure out how!

You even bit the bullet and ordered the baskets, the only baskets you could find in the right color and size (and price!) and in the end, it is exactly what you never knew you always wanted. Just wait until you spiffy them up with a ruffle!

I love seeing you so excited about silly things like baskets and yellow brackets. Not much gets you jazzy these days so this is a nice change of pace. And I know, once your little craft space (studio, craft room, craft studio- whatever you decide to call it!) is finished, you are going to have a blast going in there to create every chance you get.

xo

P.S. You look stunning today in that navy and white striped shirt with the neon yellow/green embellishment around the neckline. I know it is your new favorite.

Valentine's Love

Remember how my last post started off saying "This post is going to be a bit random"? 

In the middle of writing that post I decided to save the other "random" for a different post and never went back and changed my first sentence. Ooops.

hehe

So today I'm just dropping in to share a couple of Valentine's goodies that I've been working on for my kids. Come take a look!

I made up these quick, easy and fun 3"x3" cards to add to a little goodie bag of some sort for my 4 oldest kiddos. (The baby just eats paper at this point so I decided there was no point in making one for her!)

I think they will love the monkey stamp and get a kick out of the bananas and "love ya bunches!" on the inside. I wrote a sweet note to each of them, signed my name and now the hubby just needs to sign his. 

After making these I got the idea to make up a TON more to have ready to randomly give out to the kids throughout the year to remind them how much we love them. 

This sweet little number is filled with red, pink and white m&m's on the inside. I hand cut hearts out of left over Christmas wrapping paper and sewed them up. Getting the candy inside was a bit tricky and a few pieces fell in my lap but not to worry, I ate them. No m&m went to waste in the making of this craft!

Don't ya just want to tear one open?

I just know the kids will love them. 

And I loved making them. 

Sewing paper is so much fun!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Color

 This post is going to be a bit random. First of all, I need to admit something. Because admitting you have a problem is the first step. hehe

I'm a tad addicted to pretty cupcake liners. 

There. I said it. Can we still be friends? 

Or maybe we are greater friends than ever before because you are addicted, too?

I'm gonna warn you. Make one of these flowers......JUST ONE.....and you will be addicted. Their beauty will take over and you will dream of sitting back at your craft table doing nothing but making cupcake flowers, drinking coffee and eating chocolate. 

I want to cover our whole house in these flowers.

And given enough time I will.

So here's the scoop. They are super easy to make. I found pretty liners for $1.50 to $2.00 at Michaels and followed this tutorial. I already had floral wire so I wrapped it in scraps of brown shipping paper. 

It was a bit of a pain in the end, I will admit but worth it. 

Next time, I'll buy the wrapped wire and focus on just making these beautiful flowers.

These are perfect for Valentine's Day and will be gorgeous through Spring, too!

Just to warn you, I might make more in bolder colors for Summer. Right now I'm obsessed and can't get enough.

Now run along, get some pretty liners and give them a try. Your life won't be complete until you do.

(hehe)