Capturing Creativity

CARDS - Publication

2012-01-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

This past summer one of my cards was published in CARDS magazine. I always forget about sharing published cards because you have to wait until after the magazine comes out. But as I was looking through my photos from the past year, I came across this one and had to share it as it is one of my favorites.

I just love this fun My Mind's Eye collection (Alphabet Soup). I think the old school telephones are so cute with the little hearts in the middle of the dial. In order to get the string to loop like a telephone cord, I used a thin point glue pen to draw the design on the paper (loop by loop) and laid the string down as I went.

This July CARDS magazine is filled with a ton of great inspiration so if you didn't get it during the summer, it happens to be on clearance now for only $4.95 (normally $19.95). You can check it out HERE.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! We are enjoying some sunshine!

You Color My World

2012-01-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

It's a little cold and dreary here today so I thought I'd share a super colorful layout with you all to lift my spirits. :)

This layout is all American Crafts...Margarita and City Park collections as well as a variety of thickers! I punched out all the glitter circle paper using 3 different size punches and then popped up random circles with 3d foam squares to give more dimension to the layout. I am really happy how this turned out...although I couldn't quite figure out where/how to include my journaling. I finally just decided it was more important to capture my thoughts somewhere than try to make the layout perfect.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! Are you just drooling over some of the CHA releases?! The AC Dear Lizzy Neopolitan collection is at the top of my list! :)

This Was the Year - 2011 (Photography)

2012-01-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Good morning! We are surrounded by snow here in the Pacific Northwest. It has been a lovely couple of days playing outside with my boys and snuggling up by the fire to play games and read books.

As many of you may know, this past year I became greatly interested in improving my photography skills and took a great class over at Big Picture with Elisha Snow. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn how to shoot better photos in manual mode with their DSLR camera.

I thought today I would share a few of my favorite photos from 2011. I recently created an album over at Paper Coterie called This Was the Year - 2011. It was a great way to sum up our year and include highlights from each month. I am hoping they continue to offer this album every year!

Here are a few that I included in our album:

This is the deer that we saw in our backyard the first morning in our new house...so exciting!

This photo is a little overexposed but I love how it makes the sculpture look so I left it as is.

And of course I had to include at least one picture from our snow days this week! :)

I'm hoping to get a little crafting done today since we are definitely not going anywhere. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back next week with a few cards to share!

Little Blessing - MME challenge #31

2012-01-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I know I have been absent for awhile but it is due to many wonderful things happening in our lives. We moved, went on vacation, and found out we were having a NEW BABY! :) Then I wasn't feeling well during the first trimester and with trying to settle into our new home, I just haven't had much time for crafting (let alone blogging).

However, I am feeling much better now and in total nesting mode...cleaning house, organizing, purging, and trying to finish up some crafting projects before the baby arrives. Today, I was inspired to create a layout after I saw My Mind's Eye's new layout challenge. You can check out the sketch/challenge HERE.

And here is what I came up with:

This layout mostly uses My Mind's Eye Lush collections as well as a little bit of So Sophie and Lime Twist.

I just love this photo...my youngest son is so excited to get to be a Big Brother!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have more to share soon (promise)!

You make me happy...

2011-07-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Last week over at the American Crafts blog it was Thickers week and they featured a ton of great projects. One card especially caught my eye (HERE) and inspired me to create a layout. I have always loved to sing "You are my sunshine" to my boys so when I saw that card, it immediately got me thinking about what papers/picture/thickers I had to create a layout using part of that song.

First I found one of my recent favorite pictures of my oldest son and this great kraft, raindrop paper from American Crafts.

Then, I knew I needed some clouds and this fabulous doily patterned paper spoke to me.

I kept the layout simple...wanting to focus mostly on the picture and title. But I made it so that the picture lifts up to reveal journaling about all the ways my son brings laughter and sunshine into my life.

Here is the end result:

Thanks for visiting today. We are preparing for our big move followed by a small vacation so if I'm a little absent from my blog I'm sure you all will understand. Hopefully when I return I will have some more exciting news to share...stay tuned! :)

Up In a Tree

2011-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

This summer my Dad decided to build a treehouse for my boys in his backyard...what a great Grandpa! :) For several weekends the boys and I helped him with this special project and although it's not 100% completed (my Dad still has some grand plans!) the boys just couldn't wait to try it out once the ladder and slide were put in place. So, of course I had to get some pictures and scrapbook this fun memory!

I thought the American Crafts City Park paper was perfect for this layout! And it inspired me to create my own tree that I think provides a great anchor for the pictures and adds a playful element to the page. I used some of American Crafts Campy Trails papers to create the tree along with a variety of green cardstock. And of course I finished it off with some Thickers and AC brads (Campy Trails collection). The mini alphabet stickers are My Mind's Eye.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back later this week with a new card to share!

Birthday Celebration

2011-07-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I'm back today with some fun birthday decor items I created this past week using American Crafts Confetti collection as well as some of their yummy ribbon and glitter cardstock!

First I made this fun cupcake...it was pretty time consuming since I didn't have any die cuts or patterns to work with but it was all worth it in the end. I started with a styrofoam ball and fan folded the happy birthday paper to create the cupcake wrapper. Then I punched out a bunch of circles and used straight pins to attach them to the styrofoam ball. Finally I finished it off with some fun ribbon and of course a birthday candle! :)

Then I wanted to make a coordinating decoration using the great new large Flair from American Crafts so I decided it would be the perfect centerpiece for a birthday banner.

How fun would these be to surprise a teacher or someone at the office?! I think they would be a great way to decorate someone's small work area on their birthday.

Okay, I am off for a day of shopping and packing! I'll be back soon with a new layout to share! Have a wonderful day!

Pumpkin Spice Design Team Call

2011-07-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sweet blogging friend Savannah, I discovered a great new online craft store today and they just happen to be having a design team call! Pumpkin Spice carries some of my favorite brands such as My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, and Crate Paper and they have fabulous prices too! So, for the DT call the challenge was to create a project using two of more of the paper brands that they carry.

I am having such fun using these MME playing cards (you can check out two other cards here) and I love the challenge of mixing different papers...such a great way to use up scraps and get extra creative!

Supply List:
Paper: Crate Paper (Snow Day); My Mind's Eye (Happy Go Lucky); BoBunny (Double Dot)
Bee Card: My Mind's Eye (Alphabet Soup Playing Cards - Girl)
Ribbon: American Crafts
Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts
Border Sticker: Crate Paper
Brads: BoBunny

Another part of the DT call for Pumpkin Spice is to list my FAVORITE paper company...ack! I think this is a bigger challenge than actually creating a project! How can I choose?! :) Well, frankly, I can't! I LOVE My Mind's Eye...their boy collections are some of my favorites for scrapbooking my boys (although I love their girl lines too), American Crafts has such fun, colorful collections and I can never have too many AC Thickers or ribbon, BoBunny Double Dot papers are a staple in my craft room, and I love Crate Paper's eclectic collections. Honestly there are a few others I could list but I'm sure all of you paper crafters understand!

I hope you all are headed for a lovely weekend! We will be packing for our big move! I will be back next week with a layout or two along with some fun birthday decor I've been working on!

Exciting News!!!

2011-07-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

After having our house on the market for almost a year, I am excited to share the news that we sold our house! And just this afternoon our offer on the house we were wanting was accepted! We have lived in our current house for 9 years so there are so many things we will miss about our home and neighborhood but I know we will create new memories in our next house too. I was inspired by all our house excitement to create this card.

I love this sweet little HOME playing card by MME. Some of you may remember the first time I used it to create this card.

I think I am going to leave this card with a little note for the new owners of our current house.

I just had to share my excitement with you all! Now I better get packing! :)

hip hip HOORAY!

2011-07-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

All the entries are in...the Paper Crafts team is deciding who will get a chance to be their Idol this year. I know they are going to have a hard time deciding since there are over 1400 inspiring entries. I submitted 3 cards. Here is one that I had a lot of fun creating.

Big award-type ribbons seem to be real trendy this year so I decided to create my own version using some yummy May Arts and American Crafts ribbon, Doodlebug Designs chunky glitter, a Papertrey Ink stamp, and some MME LUSH rhinestones. The colorful, glitter paper is American Crafts as well...love it!
Have a wonderful day and good luck to everyone who submitted cards for the Gallery Idol contest!

And since my sweet blogging friend Savannah introduced me to a new challenge - i {heart} ribbon challenge - I am also entering this card into the current challenge which is to use at least two or more ribbons. Click here to see the details on the challenge and link up your own ribbon project!

Fourth of July Barbeque!

2011-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you all have some fun plans to celebrate today. We are taking the family to see CARS 2...it will be my 3 1/2 year old's first movie experience! Then later we'll have a BBQ and of course light off some fireworks!

I was inspired to create a treasury on Etsy for the 4th and thought today was the perfect day to share it with all of you! Enjoy!

You can click HERE to find the links to all these great shops!

All Star

2011-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all! So, I finally found some time this weekend to create some cards for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol challenge. I thought I'd share one today that was inspired by my oldest son.

He just finished a week of soccer camp where he excelled, is getting ready for tennis camp, and tested into a high level for swimming...yes, I'm a proud mama! :)

This card features several My Mind's Eye products. I hand cut all those little stars for the banner...a little time consuming but soooo worth it!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! I'm sorry I've been a bit absent lately but I have good reasons...I'll share the exciting news next week!

How Sweet It Is

2011-06-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have a huge sweet tooth...it is my weakness. If you are a sugar lover too then you will love these fun and yummy items I found on Etsy. Enjoy!

Click HERE to see this treasury up close with links to all these fun shops!

We are off to the swimming pool this morning...have a sweet day!

Last Etsy Inspired Challenge

2011-06-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Today marks the beginning of the end of the Etsy Inspired Challenge. This will be the last challenge so be sure to play along this week for your chance to win one last great prize! I have so enjoyed being on the Design Team these past two years...thanks Ashley for choosing me to be a part of this great team! Even when my mojo was lacking, I could always count on our featured Etsy shop to inspire me to create and lovely comments from all of you to make me smile! :)

This week's featured Etsy shop is Homes & Weddings which offers metal table number/card holders and lovely jewelry too! I was actually inspired by all the table numbers to create this special Dad's Day card.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be giving this card to my husband or my own dad but they both deserve the title! I love this paper from My Mind's Eye and great glitter letters by American Crafts.

This week we don't have an official sponsor but don't worry...De has put together a wonderful mystery prize that includes items from some of our previous sponsors!

We would really love to have you all join us for this last challenge!
- Visit Homes & Weddings and find something that inspires you
- Create a project of your own and post it to your blog or online gallery
- Link your creation up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, July 1st at noon for your chance to win!

And be sure to leave some extra love for the Design Team this week too!

Angi

Ashley

Carole

De

Emily B

Jackie

Joy

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy Father's Day!

Fresh Inspiration

2011-06-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Whenever I'm lacking a little inspiration, I always enjoy browsing Etsy. There are so many unique items, lovely photographs, and great color combinations to discover! So here is my newest Etsy inspired treasury...Strawberry Melon. I hope it brings a little inspiration your way too! :)

To get a closer look at these items along with links to these fabulous shops, click HERE.

Have a wonderful day! I'm hoping to actually take this inspiration and create a few items of my own today! :)

You're Invited...

2011-06-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

to a lovely garden party!

I have been adding more card making kits for kids to my Etsy shop recently and decided to spend some time browsing other Etsy shops and create a treasury. Click HERE to access this treasury on Etsy with all the links to these lovely items and shops.

Have a beautiful day!

Happy Birthday - Etsy Inspired Challenge #140

2011-06-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week we have a great card shop for you to be inspired by! Peaden Scott Designs offers fun pop up cards...I was inspired by THIS Happy Birthday card.

Our sponsor this week is Through the Craft Room Door and one lucky winner is going to receive a free one year online subscription!

Ready to play along?!
- Visit Peaden Scott Designs and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, June 17th at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!

Be sure to visit the design team for more inspiration!

Angi

Ashley

Carole

De

Emily B

Jackie

Joy

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We are expecting great weather so I'm sure we'll be outside a lot along with swim lessons and a trip to the library!

i heart faces - People's Choice Week

2011-05-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

This week over at i heart faces it is People's Choice Week where photographers of all levels can submit their favorite face photo for May and everyone can go vote for their favorite starting on Thursday. I just had to enter this photo of my youngest that I took on Mother's Day. I absolutely cannot get enough of him in this adorable hat! He has the matching shorts too! (from Old Navy)

To see all the other great faces for May and vote for your favorite starting on Thursday, click HERE.

Etsy Inspired Challenge #139

2011-05-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It's time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week we have a cool home decor shop for you to be inspired by... Paula Art. I really like her industrial and recycled items, especially this candle holder.

I was inspired by the colors and simplicity of the photo/item to create this layout.

This layout is one of my One Little Word assignments to write a letter to myself about my life right now. It was a wonderful process and one that I will do again, along with writing a letter about where I see myself in another year.

Our sponsor this week is a great digi shop that specializes in digital papers...Shery K Designs. Personally, I love her fun polka dot banners and scalloped borders.

The Etsy Inspired Challenge is now bi-weekly so you have more time to create a project for your chance to win great prizes!

- Visit Paula Art and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, June 3rd at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!

Visit the design team for more inspiration!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned! I am busy working on a special mini album for my mom for her birthday!

i heart faces - Motherhood

2011-05-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! I was showered with hugs and kisses from my boys all day long and a lovely dinner with my mom too...it was a great day! This week over at i heart faces the theme is motherhood. Here is my favorite photo from today celebrating the joy that comes with being a mother.

To see more great motherhood photos click HERE.

For My Mom - Etsy Inspired Challenge #138

2011-05-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! So I have to admit that lately I have not done much crafting. I've really been focusing on my photography (see post below) and I'm loving it! But with Mother's Day coming up and a lovely shop to be inspired by, I made sure to get out my supplies to create a card this week.

Are you needing a little inspiration too? Look no further than our featured Etsy shop, Bear Creek Design & Felting, which has some of the sweetest looking animals and they even have kits so you can create your own needle felting project! I was inspired by this pretty flower.

So, I know this is not my best work...I think I'm a little rusty! :) But my mom of course will love it and I do love this Stella & Rose paper by My Mind's Eye.

I also took this sweet picture of my boys in our front yard...I love that the flowers are finally starting to bloom!

Our sponsor this week is Claudia & Company, a great online shop that carries tons of crafting goodies, including all the 'big names'. I have my eye on the new Lime Twist collection by My Mind's Eye...can anyone tell me if the patterned papers are thick like the Stella & Rose collection or thinner like the Alphabet Soup collection?

Are you ready to play along? Guess what?! The Etsy Inspired Challenge is now going to be bi-weekly, which means you have more time to create a project for your chance to win great prizes!

- Visit Bear Creek Design & Felting and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, May 20th, at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!
Visit the design team for more inspiration!

Wishing you all a wonderful Mother's Day!

Photography 201 - New & Improved...Thanks Elisha!

2011-05-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, my photography class with Elisha Snow ended and the final assignment was to take 10 pictures of the same subjects/theme as we did before class started so that we could see how far we've come. Oh baby, have I come a long way! :) I absolutely loved this class...if you enjoy photography, I highly recommend Elisha's classes. In fact, I'm planning to take another class from her this month. It's called Photo Finish and I know I'm going to learn a lot about using Photoshop/Elements to take my pictures to a whole new level.

So, I wanted to share with you all my new and improved photos! First, check out my pictures prior to taking Elisha's class HERE. Even though I do think some of those first photos are good, none of them were taken in full manual mode and I know that overall my skills have greatly improved, as I'm sure you'll agree after seeing the pictures I am now taking in full manual mode. Ready?!

1. Someone you love - (my youngest son)

2. Two people you love (both my boys)

3. Your favorite food

4. A flower, tree, or plant.

5. A landscape. (I think this is better than my 'before' landscape picture, however, really I just need to go to a beach or somewhere besides my neighborhood to get a really great landscape photo.)

6. A person in action (love the blurred background on this...makes it seem like he was really going fast!) I created this photo by focusing on my subject and panning with him as I took the picture.

7. A candid photo

8. A self-portrait (HUGE improvement...yeah!)

9. A favorite object in your home (the leaves definitely look better this time around and for the 2nd photo I had to deal with glass and a mirror and was still able to get it to turn out great!)

These thankful blocks were my first published project and now they have a special place in my home.

10. A group portrait (I have a few but none I can show...you'll just have to trust me that they look better too! :)

Etsy Inspired Challenge #137 - Imagine Studio

2011-04-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured shop, Imagine Studio, had me actually putting away my crafting supplies and focusing on my photography. I love all the wonderful colors and textures that Lyse creates with her photographs, so I decided to play around with one of my floral pictures in Photoshop and see what I could come up with. I didn't go quite as dramatic with my colors but had fun experimenting with Photoshop since I am still a newbie.

In my original photograph these flowers were purple. So I changed the color, blurred them a bit, and gave the whole photo a canvas texture which I really think gives it a more artsy feel.

I'm sure most of you have heard of our wonderful sponsor this week, EAD Designs. From fabulous wall art to fun stickerz for card making and scrapbooking, you are sure to find some designs that you'll love.

Ready to play along?!
- Visit Imagine Studio and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!

And go see what these talented gals have created for you this week!

Kimme (April Guest DT)

i heart faces - Pet Week

2011-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

It's pet week over at i heart faces this week so I took some time the other day to work on my pet photography skills. This is our sweet dog Sammy. He is almost 13 years old now and is such a good dog. He was the most affectionate puppy, 100% loyal, and has willingly put up with two young boys. In fact, his attachment to my oldest is almost stronger than to me these days. I love him dearly...he is a special part of our family.

To see more adorable animal pictures be sure to check out the other entries HERE.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Monster Hugs - Etsy Inspired Challenge #136

2011-04-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining, it's Easter weekend, spending time with family...what could be better?! How about a little crafty challenge! This week we have a fun Etsy shop for you to be inspired by. Bearly Art features a variety of cute, pretty, and modern hand painted clocks. And what's even better is that they reuse old records for the clock base...yeah for recycling! My personal favorite is this adorable crab clock.

I was inspired by all the adorable kid clocks to create this fun card using My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup playing cards for boys. I just love this little monster.

I also used My Mind's Eye paper from the Fine and Dandy collection, American Crafts thickers, and The Twinery's twine.

Our sponsor this week is Sassy Cheryl's which has tons of whimsical images that are wonderfully detailed.

Ready to play along?!
- Visit Bearly Art and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!

For extra inspiration be sure to visit these talented ladies!

Kimme (April Guest DT)

You Inspire - Etsy Inspired Challenge #135

2011-04-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's shop, Creating is Fun, is full of lovely lace, buttons, and more to inspire you to get crafting! I created a card that I thought would be nice for a great teacher.

I was inspired by these pretty stone buttons...their sparkle and color combination are just gorgeous. I used BoBunny's Peacock Lane collection for my card along with some sparkly American Crafts thickers.

Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps. If you love digital images you are definitely going to want to check out her shop this week as everything is 30% off!

Ready to play along?!
- Visit Creating is Fun and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win a fun prize from our sponsor or featured Etsy shop!

For extra inspiration be sure to visit these talented ladies!

Have a wonderful weekend!

i heart faces - shadow challenge

2011-04-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

So, I am loving the challenges over at i heart faces. They are helping me to make sure to practice with my camera every week and try capturing new things. This week the challenge is shadows, which I haven't done much work with. So, since we haven't had a lot of sun I decided to set up an opportunity to create fun shadows in our house by pinning up a white sheet near our sliding glass door and having my boys pose for me. They had fun creating shapes with their bodies, having sword fights, and playing with a flashlight. This photo was my favorite.

Thanks for stopping by! Click HERE to see some super creative shadow pictures over at iheartfaces.

Pumpkin Faces - Etsy Inspired Challenge #134

2011-04-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about our Etsy Inspired Challenge this week! We have the super talented Kim Kesti joining us and get to be inspired by all her fab creations in her Etsy shop, Think Fast Designs. I was inspired by her beautiful quilts, especially this one.

I love the white space and the oranges and blues had me reaching for My Mind's Eye's Stella & Rose Mabel collection to create this layout.

The journaling reads: We always have fun picking and carving pumpkins at Halloween time. This year I thought it would be fun to take pictures of you making the same face as your pumpkins and you both were happy to oblige. I also captured some smiles and T's face as he dug into the pumpkin guts!

We also have a great sponsor for you this week, Niki Sivils...she has such cute stuff! And one lucky player this week will win a Niki Sivils collection!

Ready to play along?!
- Visit Think Fast Designs and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own and post it to an online gallery or blog.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win!

Pay a visit to these talented ladies for some extra inspiration!
* Kim Kesti

i heart faces - Best Face Photo (People's Choice)

2011-04-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Another challenge is up over at i heart faces. This week is People's Choice which means you can go vote for your favorites starting Tuesday. Here is my favorite face photo from March:

Be sure to check out the rest of the entries and vote HERE! (My entry is #59)

Welcome Home - Etsy Inspired Challenge #133

2011-04-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Hope you've had a wonderful week! We are heading into Spring Break and plan to fill it with lots of fun times with friends and family...yeah!

If you're looking for a little crafting inspiration this weekend, then you've come to the right place! Our featured Etsy shop this week is XS Baggage & Co. and they have lots of great fabric laptop sleeves, zip pouches, key fobs, and more for you to be inspired by. I think you'll love some of the patterns and color combinations in this shop...I know I did! I mean, really, how can you not love this adorable little wallet! The colors and sweet design inspired me to create this card.

I adore how this mini card turned out (and was a little sad when this one didn't get picked up during my last batch of magazine submissions). :( The cute little home is from MME Alphabet Soup girl's playing card set. I combined it with some BoBunny double dot paper, MME ribbon/trim, My Little Shoebox letters, Crate Paper decorative brad, and Making Memories silver brads.

Are you feeling inspired yet?! How about a little extra incentive? XS Baggage & Co. will be giving one winner this week a gadget keeper of their choice and our sponsor, Wax Fruit Company, will be giving another winner a gift certificate to their shop!

So...what are you waiting for?! Head on over to XS Baggage & Co. and find an item that inspires you. Create a project of your own (anything crafty counts) and post it to your blog or online gallery. Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon.

And be sure to visit these lovely ladies to see what crafty goodness they came up with this week!

i heart faces photo challenge - Slice of Life

2011-03-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge over at i heart faces is to capture a more candid picture that represents a 'slice of life'. Today we had family over for a Wii party and had a blast playing Wii sports. One of my favorite photos from today is this picture of my brother trying to teach my aunt how to play. It definitely captures the fun we had today and I love that you can see my dad in the background laughing too...it was a great family day!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out all the other entries for this i heart faces challenge HERE.

More Than Friends Layout - Etsy Inspired Challenge #132

2011-03-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday...time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured shop is Fresh Metal Jewelry and I'm sure you'll be inspired by her pretty fabric flower necklaces...I know I was! :) The lovely spring colors and flowers on this piece inspired me to create this layout.

This layout was super easy to put together as I simply dug into my sticker stash and got crafting! I mixed stickers from My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, and My Little Shoebox. The two scalloped journal stickers are actually a flower and a sentiment sticker that I just put a piece of cardstock over the part I didn't want showing to allow for my journaling.

These two cute kids have known each other since they were babies and share a special bond that I just had to document. They were born just four days apart and recently celebrated their 8th birthday together.

Are you ready to be Etsy Inspired?! It's a great way to challenge yourself and get a project completed...plus you might just win a prize if you link up your project to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon! Both our featured Etsy shop and our sponsor, Amber Ink, are offering up a prize this week!

All you have to do to play along is:

- Visit Fresh Metal Jewelry and find an item that inspires you

- Create a project of your own and post it to your blog or online gallery

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team for more Etsy Inspired projects!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday To You - Etsy Inspired Challenge #131

2011-03-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured Etsy shop is Doll Birdies which offers a variety of fun bags, wallets and pouches. I was inspired by this colorful bag, the turquoise and orange flowers especially caught my eye and inspired me to create this card.

This card uses Crate Paper's Snow Day collection, May Arts ribbon, and My Mind's Eye Lush rhinestones, as well as a dollar stamp from Michaels (gotta love that!).

Our sponsor this week is SRM Stickers. They have tons of great clear stickers! I especially like all their sentiment stickers...perfect for a quick card or layout.

Are you feeling inspired?! Then head on over to Doll Birdies and find an item that inspires you. Create a project of your own and link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win a great prize from SRM Stickers or Doll Birdies! (See the Etsy Inspired Blog for prize details)

And be sure to visit these talented ladies for more Etsy Inspired projects!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Having Fun with my New Lens

2011-03-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! We are enjoying a relaxing day at home as my oldest has no school. Yesterday was a half day for him and the sun was shining so we headed outside for some fun and of course I had to bring out my camera and new 50mm lens. (For Mindy, who asked which 50mm lens I have...it is a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II)

Here are my favorite photos from yesterday:

READY...SET...

JUMP!

Can you tell I'm learning a lot in my photography class?! I love this last photo...the crisp focus of my son and the tree with a slightly blurred background, not to mention it just totally captures one of the many joys of childhood...climbing trees!

All these photos are straight out of the camera, as I still need to learn a lot more about post processing. I think I'm going to take Elisha's new class, Photo Finish, to learn more about how to use Photoshop and Lightroom to take great photos to high quality works of art!

Have you recently posted some photos on your blog or do you visit a great photography blog regularly? I'd love to hear about it so I can take a peek!

i heart faces - Photography Challenge: Sun Flare

2011-03-14T14:08:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! This week's challenge over at i heart faces is to capture sun flare. Yesterday I got a new 50mm lens for my camera and couldn't wait to play with it today. It's raining here but the sun is still shining so I had my son stand by our sliding glass door and started shooting away.

Here is my favorite picture (straight out of the camera)...I love how the sun is shining on his face, his reflection in the glass, and the raindrops on the glass too.

I shot this in full Manual Mode using the cloudy white balance setting, ISO 200, 1/100, f2.8.

Click HERE to see more sun flare inspiration over at iheartfaces.

Joy - Etsy Inspired Challenge #130

2011-03-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured Etsy shop is Artwork by Lori which has fun and unique prints and paintings for you to be inspired by.

I really liked these retro circle canvas paintings and they inspired me to create this card.

This card was super easy to put together. I just used a piece of Echo Park's Sweet Summertime paper and a bunch of the coordinating stickers too. I love when a project comes together so quickly and the result is still great...these colors and fun patterns just make me smile!

Our sponsor this week is the Charleston Scrapbook Company which offers a huge variety of crafting goodies. Would you like to win a $10 gift certificate to their store?! Or a print from Artwork by Lori?! Head on over to Artwork by Lori and find an item that inspires you. Then create a project of your own and link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win!

Stop by and visit the rest of the design team to see more Etsy Inspired projects!

We have had a busy week and our weekend shows no sign of slowing but we will be spending a lot of time with family so I'm not complaining. For those of you who may have family or friends affected by the earthquake in Japan, my heart goes out to you...you are in my prayers.

i heart faces - People's Choice week

2011-03-07T22:01:00.000-08:00

This week at i heart faces the challenge is to post your favorite face photo from February. While working on my photography class assignment (trying to capture sparkling eyes) I took this photo of my youngest son and just love how it turned out...the sparkle and wonder in his eyes and his sweet little smile as he is looking up at me...priceless! :) I hope you like it too and are inspired to capture the sparkle in your own child's eyes!

And...it is People's Choice week over at iheartfaces which means that all of you get to decide on your favorite face photo. There are tons of talented photographers submitting their favorite photos so be sure to head on over to iheartfaces to place your vote!

Click HERE to see all the other favorite February face photos and VOTE!

Update: If you are looking for my entry it is #277.

You Make My Heart Flutter

2011-03-06T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I have been a busy crafter lately and it feels great to be getting some projects done. However, I do feel a little out of sync with what season it is...in the last two weeks I have created a Christmas layout, a Halloween layout, and two Valentine cards! :) Before we get too far away from Valentine's Day, I thought I would share my cards with you. I submitted these to the Paper Crafts call but they didn't get picked up. That's okay though...I'm already working on some new submissions! I try to look at submissions as inspiration since there is usually a theme or sketch to work with and since there is a deadline it helps me to focus on making time to create and finish a project. So, even if I don't get a project picked up for publication, I feel good that I made creative time for myself and have some great projects to show for it!

When I saw these adorable Valentine's Day pins at Michaels, I just had to pick up a bunch. I'm thinking that I will use them for my son's preschool Valentines next year because they had some fun boy pins too. These cards use My Mind's Eye, American Crafts, and My Little Shoebox products. For the butterfly card, I fan folded the rose ribbon on each edge to make it extra puffy. And for the frog card I used the flower sticker to help keep the tulle fanned out.

I'm off to get ready for the day...spending time with family and working on my photography. And tonight I'm hoping to get another layout completed. Tomorrow I am going to focus on my one little word, nurture, and workout in the morning followed by a nice outing with my mom. Enjoy your day!

December Traditions Layout (Etsy Inspired Challenge #129)

2011-03-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday! Last night I got to enjoy a crafty night out which was lots of fun and long overdue. I just love getting together with other creative women and crafting the night away! :) I'll share my projects from last night soon, but today I have a fun layout to share for this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge!

Our featured Etsy shop this week is Desired Things which if full of lovely, colorful jewelry and mixed media artwork. I was inspired by this gorgeous piece of art. I love the colors but the beads were actually what inspired my layout because they reminded me of all the candy decorations my boys put on our gingerbread house this year.

I used Crate Paper's Snow Day collection and a sketch from their blog to create this layout.
I am including a lot more journaling in my layouts lately, to make sure that I'm telling the stories behind the photos. Even though the photo is just of our gingerbread house, I chose to write about all our holiday traditions like making cookies, decorating the tree, and special family outings.

Now it's your turn to be Etsy Inspired!

- Visit Desired Things and find an item that inspires you

- Create a project based on that inspiration and post it to your blog or online gallery

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win a fabulous prize!

Our sponsor this week is Sparkle Creations and they will be giving one winner this adorable birthday stamp!

I hope you'll take some time to visit these lovely ladies too!

Have a wonderful weekend!

i am... (BoBunny Layout Challenge)

2011-03-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like me, most of your scrapbooking is of your kids and family...which may include some pictures of yourself, but rarely do you actually dedicate a page to just you. Well, BoBunny's current layout challenge is to do exactly that so I took my recent self-portrait photo and created this layout.

The patterned paper and brad are from BoBunny's Peacock Lane. I just love the rich teal and purple combination in this collection. I also used some coordinating BoBunny double dot cardstock. The glitter letters are American Crafts and the pretty lilac baker's twine is from The Twinery.

The journaling reads:

i am...creative, loving, intelligent, hard working, determined, confident, beautiful, loyal, a budding photographer, quiet, an avid reader, unique, a counselor, a teacher, strong willed, generous, most importantly...i am a sister, daughter, friend, wife, and mother. blessed

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're inspired to take some time to create a layout all about you!

i heart faces - photography challenge

2011-02-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

Now that I am pursuing my interests in photography more, I've found a fun website that offers weekly photo challenges... i heart faces. This week's theme is "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," so the focus of the picture is supposed to be a part of the body besides the face. I love how this picture focuses on my son's sweet little hands, while still capturing his face in the background, as he plays with his marble tower and experiments with putting lots of marbles in at once. To see more of the pictures I took of him learning through play, you can check out my blog post HERE.

To see lots of other photographers take on the iheartfaces challenge, click HERE.

E is for Elephant - Etsy Inspired Challenge #128 (and a few photos too!)

2011-02-26T00:08:00.000-08:00

For this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge, we have a great photography shop for you to be inspired by...The Hidden Alphabet. With lovely black and white, architectural, and unique photographs of letters, they offer all kinds of custom pieces that make for great gifts. I was inspired to search my house for hidden letters to spell the word 'love' but I'm still looking for an 'E' so I think I will save my letter pictures for another day. :)

However, I was able to find an E in my fun playing cards by My Mind's Eye and was inspired to create this card.

Here are some of the great E's you can choose from at The Hidden Alphabet.

Our sponsor this week is another Etsy shop, Paper and Roses, which offers lovely digital prints and vintage style embellishments.

Check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details on how to play along in the challenge for your chance to win a great prize from The Hidden Alphabet or Paper and Roses!

And the rest of the DT has some great projects to inspire you as well!

I also wanted to share with you all the progress I think I am making in my photography! I am so loving Elisha Snow's class over at Big Picture and if you are interested in improving your photography, I highly recommend her class...in fact she has a new one coming up soon. Even though it is different than the one I am currently taking I have no doubt it will be fabulous (in fact, I'm considering taking it too!) as Elisha is a great teacher and photographer!

We are just halfway through the class but I still decided to try retaking my self portrait from the pre-class assignment to compare my photos and see if I'm really figuring out this whole manual mode, aperture, ISO, shutter speed thing! :) So, here is the picture I took before the class started:
I do NOT love this picture and this was the best out of many. Prior to this class I was experimenting with non-auto mode...I even adjusted my white balance for this photo but still it absolutely does not compare to the photo I was able to take yesterday, in full manual mode!

I am so proud to say that I created this picture...positioning myself in front of a mirror with the right natural lighting and adjusting all my settings to create a nice self portrait. I still had to take several photos to get this one but just about all of them were better than my pre-class photo. I love that I was able to capture some catch light in my eyes to help make their blue/green color stand out.

I'll be sharing more of my photography soon!

(If you decide to sign up for any of the Big Picture classes, this code: 2680469F will give you (and me) 10% off a future class.)

One Little Word - In Photos

2011-02-24T19:29:00.001-08:00

So, I have had a challenging time with my One Little Word assignment this month. Ali encouraged us to take photographs of things that represent our word, literally and figuratively. I have kind of been waiting to have certain things speak to me but am having a difficult time seeing my word NURTURE in pictures. I know what it means to me but I just can't seem to capture it with my camera. However, today while working on my photography assignment for Elisha's class I was inspired to capture two images that I think represent 'nurture'.

I was reading a book recently with an image of hands holding a heart on the front and so I recreated that idea on my own and love how it turned out.

Also, I think these Willow Tree figures are a beautiful representation of love, nurture, and motherhood. I have about 10 of these figures but specifically picked these three for the photo shoot to represent nurturing myself, my relationship with my husband, and my kids.

I made sure to nurture my creative self today! I think I took at least 50 photographs and created two cards. And yesterday I created 4 cards...trying to see if I can get a few picked up for publication!

It was a snow day for us here today so I enjoyed a fun day at home with my boys...we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Curious Boys Layout - Etsy Inspired Challenge #127

2011-02-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week we have a lovely pottery shop for you to be inspired by, Claylicious. I love her little plates but was actually inspired by the colors in this piece and the natural/outdoor photo.

So, I got out some photos that I've been meaning to scrap for awhile, along with My Mind's Eye products, and created this layout.

I completed this layout in under 2 hours (which is good for me) and took a bold leap by writing my journaling directly on my cardstock thanks to Karen Grunberg's free class at Big Picture, Embrace Imperfection. I am learning a lot about capturing what's most important in my layouts...the story. And even though I didn't feel it was a spectacular, 'magazine worthy' layout, I still really love it and now my boys will always be able to look at this page and know the story behind the photos.

Our sponsor this week is Your Next Stamp...they have tons of fun and whimsical stamps and are offering up a $10 gift voucher for one winner this week!

So, now it's your turn to get inspired and get crafting for your chance to win a prize! Check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details!

And visit the rest of the DT to see how they were inspired this week!

Have a great weekend!

Won't You Bee Mine? - MME challenge

2011-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

We've had a great weekend, including a family sleepover last night filled with games and laughter. Today we took it easy and I enjoyed a lot of crafting time. I completed a layout and dug into my My Mind's Eye stash to create a card for their current challenge. With a love theme in mind I looked through my Alphabet Soup Girl Playing Cards and found this adorable little bee that was just waiting to bee someone's Valentine! :)

I love this sweet little heart paper from My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup collection and paired it with some other patterned papers from their Quite Contrary line, some trim from the Lush and Lost & Found collections, and decorative rhinestone brads from the Lush collection. The pink letters are American Crafts pearl thickers.

Here is the My Mind's Eye sketch that Anam created. As you can see, I stuck pretty close to the sketch...just separating my circle brads a bit. And obviously I put the playing card in the place of the heart. I popped the playing card, heart, and letter 'm' up on foam squares for some dimension.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to part with this card...I really love how it all came together! And I'm pretty proud of my photo too...taken completely in manual mode! I adjusted my ISO, shutter speed, and aperture to get everything just right so all I had to do was crop a little before posting it.

Yes, I am loving Elisha's class over at Big Picture (she has a new one coming up in April). And I think you'll be seeing some layouts from me soon because the free class over at Big Picture by Karen Grunberg, Embrace Imperfection, is inspiring me to forget about my layout being 'perfect' (whatever that is) and focus on the memory and story that I want to tell/remember many years from now...because isn't that why I'm scrapbooking in the first place! :) Also, through that class I discovered another one called Layout a Day (LOAD) which sounds like a great way to get a bunch of layouts completed, discover your style, and let go of some of the need for creating a 'perfect' layout. Even if I don't end up doing that class, I think I will challenge myself to create a layout a day for a month sometime this year.

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and get to spend time with the ones you love!

Dad - Etsy Inspired Challenge #126

2011-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I hope you've been having a great week. I found out that I am going to have a card published in an upcoming CARDS magazine! And we have extended my oldest son's birthday fun to this weekend too...bowling anyone?! :)

Our featured Etsy shop this week is Glow Girl, which offers fabulous coupon organizers for all your shopping needs. And by playing along in the challenge this week, you could win one! I was inspired by the colors of THIS organizer and the graphic design of THIS one to create a card for my dad.

Even though this card was a magazine reject, it is one of my favorite masculine cards that I've ever created and at least my dad really loved it! :) All of the products are My Mind's Eye and American Crafts.

Our sponsor this week is The Stamping Boutique...you have to check out their adorable images, especially since you could win 5 digis of your choice by playing along. Personally, I think this cute bunny is a must have!

To participate in the Etsy Inspired Challenge this week:

- Visit Glow Girl and find an item that inspires you

- Create a project of your own and post it on your blog or other online gallery

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by noon on Friday for your chance to win!

And visit these lovely ladies for extra inspiration!

Just had to share...

2011-02-10T07:34:00.001-08:00

that my Bee Mine card is featured on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog along with some other great Valentine inspiration!

Have a great day! I'll be back on Saturday with my Etsy Inspired project!

More Photography Fun!

2011-02-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

So, it's week 1 of Elisha Snow's Mastering the Manual Mode photography class and already I am enjoying it and realizing that I still have A LOT to learn! Our assignment this week has been to shoot the same subject in a variety of settings with the same ISO. Here are a few of my favorites from my photo shoot today:

Outside in the shade and in direct sunlight

I loved how this inside photo turned out...the lighting was good but also I think I love it because of the colorful marble tower that also tells more of a story about my little guy right now. So, I was inspired to do a little photo shoot of him playing. Here are a few more of my favorites from that.

I love the close ups that show his sweet little hands and how is learning and discovering while playing.

* Right now you love playing with this marble tower. I think you have played with it every day this past week. You are not so interested in building it...you call on Mommy or Daddy to create a new tower for you each day. But then you can literally spend hours throughout the day playing with it. You like to experiment with different marbles, putting them all down at once or just watching one or two go down at a time. You are learning probably more than I even realize as you drop the marbles down the tube and enjoy manipulating how fast or slow they go down by stopping them or helping them along the way. You make up little games while you're playing...I hear you talking about how the marbles are chasing one another. I watch as you look at the tower from different angles and often catch you smiling as you watch the marbles traveling through this colorful maze. It's wonderful to watch you grow and explore and you often invite us to join you in this newly discovered treasure!

I am definitely going to be scrapbooking this in the near future!

Celebrate! - Etsy Inspired Challenge #125

2011-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week I have a feeling you'll be getting out your flowers and bling to create. Our featured shop, Daisy Petal Designs, offers vintage glamour earrings and lots of pretty accessories! I was inspired by all the floral pieces and these colorful earrings to create a fun layout.

I just love this paper from My Mind's Eye and the sticker accents are from Echo Park's Summertime collection. I was inspired to create my own layered flower using a few different types from my stash.

This picture is from my oldest son's first birthday...we made everyone put on Tigger party hats and take pictures with him! :) I love that my aunt and uncle were more than happy to oblige! I can't believe my little guy is turning 8 this weekend...such a big kid now!

Our sponsor this week is Shannon's Sentiments. Some of you may remember Shannon from our Design Team awhile back. Now, along with creating beautiful cards, she is creating lots of great digital images and sentiments too!

Check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details on how to play along in the challenge and what you could win!!!

And visit these lovely ladies for extra inspiration!

Have a wonderful weekend! We will be having lots of fun celebrating my son's birthday with friends and family!

Photography 101

2011-01-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

So, my one little word this year is NURTURE and part of that is nurturing myself...my interests, my creative soul, taking time for myself. I have been enjoying Ali's One Little Word Class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and when I saw that they were offering a photography class titled Mastering the Manual Mode, after I hestitated for a minute about spending some money on myself, I decided to go for it! The pre-class assignment is to take a variety of pictures that we will then take again at the end of class to see how our photography has improved. So, I thought I'd share my pre-class photos here and in a few months I'll share my new photos and we'll see how my photography has changed.

Here are the picture assignments:

1. Someone you love - (my oldest son).

2. Two people you love - (my hubby and new baby nephew)

3. Your favorite food. (M&M cookies...YUM! You can find the recipe HERE).

4. A flower, tree, or plant.

5. A landscape. (Obviously not my strong suit.)

6. A person or pet in action - (my youngest son running to come see me).

7. A candid photo (try not to let the subject know you're photographing them).

8. A self-portrait. (Yep, that's me...can't wait to learn how to improve this! :)

9. A favorite object in your home. (The leaves have great sentimental value as we picked them up for a third anniversary gift when we were on vacation in Oregon. However, the red bowl and decorative balls made for a nicer picture I think.)

10. A group portrait. ( Unfortunately I can't share one of my favorite group photos...as it has a whole bunch of kids in it that I don't have specific permission to share here.)

Have any of you taken a great online photography class, visit a fab photography blog, or have any photography tips? I'd love to hear them! Any feedback on these photos is also appreciated! :)

You Light Up My Life - Etsy Inspired Challenge #124

2011-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

CA-UTE is the word for the challenge this week! From darling items to be inspired by as well as a sponsor whose designs are just the cutest...I am expecting some fun and adorable cards from you all this week! :) Our featured Etsy shop is Too Cute Kawaii which is filled with sweet polymer clay accessories...I think the little rainbow is my personal favorite! I was inspired by the overall feel of the shop: colorful, playful, & cute!

Did you ever think you would say...'What an adorable light bulb?'! Well, when I visited our sponsor's blog, Meljen's Designs, and saw this cute little image I knew I had to use it for my card this week. And if you love this light bulb as much as I do, it is actually one of Meljen's Monday Freebies and you can get it HERE!

For my card, I also used some BoBunny double dot papers, My Mind's Eye trim, My Little Shoebox mini alpha stickers, and a little bit of We R Memory Keepers Be My Valentine Collection.

So, would you like to win 4 digi's from Meljen's Designs or some cute cupcake earrings from Too Cute Kawaii?!

All you have to do is:

- Visit Too Cute Kawaii and find an item that inspires you

- Create a project of your own and post it on your blog or other online gallery

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by noon on Friday for your chance to win!

And for extra inspiration be sure to visit the rest of the ever so talented DT!

So, I just have to say that this school year has been the worst virus year ever for us. My son got the flu bug again on Thursday...fortunately he was already beginning to feel better Friday...now I'm just hoping that no one else in the family gets sick. Yuck! I don't know if it is because I have two kiddos in school now or if it is just a horrible virus year but we seem to have been hit with more stuff that ever before. I practically am at the point where I don't want to even send my youngest to preschool because he just seems to catch a bug every other week! Anyone else feel that way this year?

On a more positive note...we may have found 'the house'! And it is actually brand new and on a decent size lot. I'm super excited but we still have to sell our house and need to do so for the right amount so that we can have enough to put down on the new house, which may be challenging in this market. I'm optimistic but am trying not to get my hopes up too much. I'll keep you all posted!

Hope you have a happy and healthy weekend! :)

True Love Stories...(Etsy Inspired Challenge #123)

2011-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! We have a talented artist for you to be inspired by this week...Jeanne Forsyth paints beautiful works of art and creates necklaces out of them too. Her shop is Nanny's Room and I was inspired by her floral paintings, especially this one. I love the softness and the overall romantic feel to this piece.

So, I was inspired to create a layout of my aunt and uncle from their wedding day.

I love this picture of them...my dad actually took the picture from up in a tree...I think it has a very fairy tale/happily ever after quality to it. Unfortunately, one of the reasons that I am creating this album for my aunt is because my uncle passed away last year. I thought the sentiment 'true love stories never have endings' was beyond perfect for this picture and the situation.

All the patterned papers and rhinestones are from My Mind's Eye. The lovely rose ribbon and silver brads are American Crafts and the silver mini library clips are Stampin' Up.

So, I bet you would like to know what you could win this week if you play along in the challenge! Well...how about a beautiful necklace from Nanny's Room or some fabulous twine from our sponsor this week, The Twinery!!! They have some great colors! I especially love the lemondrop and caribbean...but why not just try it all with their sampler pack! :)

Challenge Details:

- Visit Nanny's Room and find an item that inspires you

- Create a project of your own and post it on your blog or other online gallery

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by noon on Friday for your chance to win!

And for extra inspiration be sure to visit the rest of the ever so talented DT!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We seem to have come down with a bad cold but hopefully a restful weekend at home will cure that. I'm hoping to have the energy to work on a few more layouts too!

Sending Hugs & Happy Days - My Mind's Eye Card Challenge

2011-01-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! So, who bought those fun Alphabet Soup playing cards from My Mind's Eye? I just couldn't resist picking up both the boy and girl packs! I thought they would be fun to use on layouts and cards and have been thinking that an alphabet themed mini album would be super cute too. And I've found that while I love the cards as a whole, they are fun to cut up and use the pictures and words seperately too!

So, when I saw that My Mind's Eye was having a card challenge I whipped out those playing cards and got to work!

Isn't this monster adorable?! I thought that his big open arms were just asking for a hug, so I turned this card into a fun Valentine. I think it will bring a great big smile to someone! :) I also used some of the So Sophie, Abbey Road, and Lush (ribbon) collections. This is definitely my favorite card that I created with this sketch but I did share another one Saturday HERE and the following card was also inspired by the sketch.

Doesn't this make you want to smile?! :) I love these cheery papers (mostly from the Quite Contrary collection I believe) and of course that great smiley face!

Have a Happy Day! We are off to look at a few houses...yes, we are still looking for 'the one'.

A Little Bird Told Me... (Etsy Inspired Challenge #122)

2011-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Oh what a 'tweet' little shop we have for you to be inspired by this week! :) Modern bird is a lovely jewelry shop on Etsy that combines beautiful craftsmanship with modern designs. I have admired Laura's work for awhile now and so I was quite excited to create my card for this week!
I immediately went searching through my stash of My Mind's Eye goodies because I knew I had the perfect sentiment tag to represent this shop.

I was inspired by this Love Bird necklace. Don't you just love the shape and design of it?! And I absolutely adore this fun and colorful 'Life is Good' line from My Mind's Eye (Quite Contrary - Jack & Jill collection).

This card was also based off of the current My Mind's Eye card sketch challenge. I just switched it around a bit.

Want to know who are sponsor is this week?! Well, if you like adding felt embellishments to your projects then you are going to LOVE our sponsor this week! KUTZ has tons of felt goodies for all your card making and scrapbooking needs!

To play along in the Etsy Inspired Challenge, simply visit Modern Bird and find an item that inspires you, then create a project of your own based off of that item. Post your creation on your blog or online gallery, then link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday @ noon, for your chance to win a great prize!

And for some extra inspiration, be sure to visit these lovely ladies!

Have a wonderful weekend! We are heading to the library today to get lots of new books and I am hoping to find some time to finish up a special album that I have been working on for my aunt.

Beep! Beep! - My Mind's Eye Layout Challenge #19

2011-01-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I hope you are having a wonderful week! As many of you know, I am a huge My Mind's Eye fan and I was excited to be able to find the time to participate in their challenge this month. It was a great opportunity to get a layout completed (something I have not done much of lately) and use up some of my MME goodies. And in addition to a layout challenge, they now have added a card challenge...yeah! So I found a great picture of my youngest son on his first official ride this past summer and created this layout.

Everything on this layout (except for the pictures and white pen) are My Mind's Eye, mostly from the Abbey Road collection.

Here's a close up and a look at the MME sketch. There's still time to participate in the challenge!

ETA: Apparently I missed the sentence on the MME blog that stated that there is also a theme for this challenge...WINTER. Whoops! At least I still completed a layout! :)

Oh, and have you seen the new releases MME is introducing at CHA?! LOVE them! :) So far my favorite is the Stella and Rose - Hattie line. You can check out the MME blog for the sneak peeks!

Okay, I'm off to create some cards...have a great weekend!

Love - Etsy Inspired Challenge #121

2011-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week we have a unique shop to inspire you...La Pomme. Filled with lovely vintage and home decor items, I'm excited to see how you all will translate that into your projects. I love the vintage look but am not that good at it when it comes to creating vintage style cards. So, I chose this item as my inspiration and decided to create a 'love' card.

Using a super adorable image from our sponsor this week, Stamp Fairy, and some My Mind's Eye be loved collection I created this card.

Isn't that little girl the sweetest?! If you play along in the challenge this week you could win 3 adorable digis from the Stamp Fairy or some goodies from La Pomme!

So, pay a visit to La Pomme and find an item that inspires you, then create a project of your own based off of that item. Post your creation on your blog or online gallery, then link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday @ noon, for your chance to win!

And for some extra inspiration, be sure to visit these lovely ladies!

Hope you all are starting the New Year off right! It was a bit of an adjustment getting back into the school routine for us...we so love our family time! :) But we are back in the swing of things now and have a busy weekend planned with all the friends we didn't get to see over break since we were sick.

Happy New Year! - Etsy Inspired Challenge #120

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

A New Year is here...what are some of your goals for this year? Maybe to craft more? :) The Etsy Inspired Challenge is here to help you with that. Every Saturday we have a new Etsy shop for you to be inspired by and there are always great prizes to be won too! This week our featured Etsy shop is MUFFA, which is filled with the cutest little crocheted miniatures...perfect for a dollhouse!

Since winter is in full swing here in the PNW, I was inspired by this adorable little snowman. I immediately took out my Crate Paper Snow Day stash to create this card.

I cannot get enough of this fun collection! And speaking of fun, our sponsor this week, Dude Time Doodles, has some hilarious and masculine images that are perfect for all those Dad, brother, husband, etc. cards.

We'd love to see how MUFFA inspires you! So, stop by her shop and find an item you like then create a project of your own based off of that item. Post your creation on your blog or online gallery, then link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday @ noon, for your chance to win a prize!

And to start off the New Year, we also have a brand new Design Team to help inspire you!

Wishing you all the best in 2011! I'd personally love to hear if any of you are participating in Ali Edwards One Little Word project. I chose the word nurture and have decided to nurture myself by actually taking her One Little Word class! I'm super excited to see how this word plays out in my life this year and am glad I made the decision to commit to the class. What's your word for 2011? You can read more about my word HERE. And if you are interested in joining Ali's online class (it's only $36 for a year long class) be sure to email me (see under my photo in the right sidebar) because I have a code that I can give you and that code will give both of us a 10% discount for a future class at Big Picture (and they have some great classes taught by several top names in the industry). I'm already thinking about signing up for a photography class too this year! Have a great weekend!

One Little Word....

2010-12-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are gearing up for a great New Year! My whole family was super sick over Christmas so it was just the four of us celebrating and spending time together for the past 10 days...which, eventhough we were sick, was special and nice. We will be celebrating more with family this weekend now that we are feeling better...yeah!

Every year Ali Edwards starts the year off with her One Little Word project. I think it is a wonderful way to start the New Year with intention and focus. And it's more than just a 'resolution' that will most likely be forgotten or brushed aside as the year goes on.

This year my word is NURTURE.

As a mom, nuturing my children comes naturally and I commit to it fully. However, I want to focus on the word nurture in a greater way this year. Nurturing all my relationships...with God, my husband, family, and friends. And nurturing myself...mind, body, and soul.

I hope to blog about my word once a month to help stay focused on it and document where it is taking me. Already I have many thoughts about actions I can take this year around the word nuture...more date nights with my hubby, attending church more regularly, more girls' nights out, learning new things, having a spa day, exploring my interests more...but I also want to let the word develop some things in me naturally. So maybe I'll need to do some meditation or journaling to help guide me as well.

Do you have a word for 2011? Or a resolution that you are really excited about? I'd love to hear what it is!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #119 - Ling Glass

2010-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This is the last challenge of 2010 but we'll be back in 2011 with a bunch of great new shops, sponsors, and some new DT members too! Our featured shop this week, Ling Glass, is filled with beautiful jewelry, lovely colors, and great designs.

I was inspired by these two pieces. The colors are so pretty, especially with the lovely touches of silver. So that was what I focused on when creating my project.

Using My Mind's Eye BeLoved collection, American Crafts brads and rosette ribbon, and Stampin' Up's mini library clips, I created this:

At first I was going to turn this into a card but now I think this will actually be the perfect accent to the first page of an album I am working on for my aunt who lost her husband earlier this year.

Our sponsor this week is Wilson Designs Stamps. They offer high quality photopolymer clear stamps for the modern crafter! They are hand drawn and made here in the US. I really like their newest set, Ride Away With Me. And by playing along this week, you could win the adorable winter set, Snowy Wishes!

You could also win a $10 Gift Certificate to Ling Glass! Sounds like a great little gift to give yourself! :)

So, to play along in the challenge simply:
- Visit Ling Glass and find an item that inspires you
- Create a project of your own
- Post your project on your blog or online gallery, referencing the Etsy Inspired Challenge, the featured Etsy shop, and the item you were inspired by.
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, December 24th at noon PST.

Be sure to pay a visit to the rest of the Design Team...I know they have some projects that will knock your socks off! :)

Kerry
Laurel Beard {December Guest DT}
Savannah

Stephanie

Virginia

Have a wonderful weekend! We are staying home today...enjoying some family time, playing games, wrapping gifts, and creating a gingerbread house...should be fun!

Treasury Tuesday - Champagne and Roses

2010-12-14T20:09:00.001-08:00

Hello! Just popping in to share my newest treasury...Champagne and Roses.

For a closer look at these beautiful items and the links to the shops that sell them, click HERE.

Short and sweet for me today...enjoy your evening!

Motivational Monday - So Close!

2010-12-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

My goal last week was to hit 100 sales in my Etsy Shop. I am up to 96 so I am hoping for at least 4 more sales this week to finish up this year. I am currently sold out of my girl card making kits but plan to have more for sale by Wednesday. And remember, to help me meet my goal I am offering all of you 10% off your entire purchase this week! Simply enter the Coupon Code: HolidayGift10 during checkout and it will automatically take 10% off you order (not including shipping charges).

So, this week I am focused on finishing up my Christmas shopping and crafty gifts. Another goal is for my family to be healthy...my little guy got a fever this weekend but is feeling a little better today.

What goals have you set for yourself this month? Anyone finished with their Christmas shopping? How about those Christmas cards...are they all sent? Make this the week to meet those goals!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #118

2010-12-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

Woohoo...the weekend is here! Not that my weekend will be any less crazy than this week has been but that's okay...'tis the season for lots of fun activities, get togethers with friends and family, and shopping/decorating for Christmas!

Fortunately I found some time to do a little crafting this week after being inspired by our featured Etsy shop, the Tzaddi Shop. The Tzaddi Shop has gorgeous jewelry...I especially love her circle glass pendants which have such beautiful designs. As soon as I saw all the lovely peacock necklaces, I immediately dug into my BoBunny Peacock Lane stash and created this card using BoBunny's current card sketch challenge.

I just love the teal and purple combination...so rich and pretty! I think I might use this for a non-traditional Christmas card for my Aunt.

The Tzaddi Shop also has a home store HERE if you are looking for some extra inspiration or lovely home decor! Tzaddi Shop has offered up to all our players, followers, and friends a 15% discount to both Etsy Stores [Tzaddi Shop and Tzaddi Home Shop]. Just enter code TZContest15--they will send a revised invoice or a rebate after purchase. How awesome is that?!

Our sponsor this week is Clare Dempsey who has two great shops which offer die cutter dust covers, scrap bags, and more...check them out HERE and HERE!

This week there are 3 fab prizes to be won so check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details on how to play along for your chance to win!

Be sure to pay a visit to see the rest of the Design Team's Etsy Inspired creations too!

Ashley
De
Emily B.
Emily N.
Joy
Kerry
Laurel Beard {December Guest DT}
Savannah
Stephanie
Virginia

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Remember, I am offering 10% off your purchase in my Etsy shop until Friday when I will be taking a break for the holidays. Simply enter HolidayGift10 in the coupon code box at checkout and it will automatically take 10% off your order (not including shipping charges).

Treasury Tuesday - The Perfect Party!

2010-12-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Can you believe 2010 is almost over?! Every year I feel like it has gone by so fast. In thinking about the New Year, I thought it would be fun to find great party items on Etsy. So here are my must haves for the perfect New Year's Eve party!

To see these items up close along with links to the shops that create them, click HERE.

I also found two other great holiday party themed treasuries.

Cranberry Party

Holiday Party

Have a wonderful evening! I've got to work on a few Etsy orders and some Christmas gifts too!

Motivational Monday - Making it Happen

2010-12-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I hope you had a great weekend! We were busy, busy celebrating my son's birthday...party, pictures, and a trip to the zoo...lots of fun! However, I didn't get much time to craft! :) But I was DETERMINED to achieve the goal I set last week so I asked my hubby to take care of my little one today while I created a few cards for the Paper Crafts Card Creations submission call. I am proud to say that I was able to create 4 great cards and got them submitted this evening...cutting it a little close, I know! But I did it! Now, to wait and see if any get picked up for publication.

Another goal I have almost reached is 100 sales in my Etsy shop. I really want to make that happen this month and I will be closing my shop on Friday, December 17th, so that I can enjoy the holiday without having to worry about my shop. That means I only have a little more than a week to get to 100 sales. So, in order to encourage you all...I am offering 10% off your entire purchase (not including shipping charges). Simply enter the coupon code HolidayGift10 during checkout to receive the 10% off.

Hopefully, I will be able to say that I have met my goal next week! :)
I'll be back tomorrow with a new Etsy Treasury that is sure to get you ready for the New Year!

Happy Holidays - Etsy Inspired Challenge #117

2010-12-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday friends! Today we are celebrating my little man's birthday...can't believe he's turning 3! Tomorrow we are getting Santa pictures taken and probably getting our Christmas tree so it should be a fun weekend!

For today's Etsy Inspired Challenge, our featured Etsy shop is Paper Seeds. Paper Seeds features creations with original paper designs and mixed media works of art. I really like all the nature inspired items in this shop and was inspired by that as well as some colors I found in the shop.

So, I broke into my Crate Paper Snow Day collection, which I won from the Paper Crafts blog (Yeah!), and created this card.

I just LOVE this collection by Crate Paper...so fun and the great self-adhesive chipboard accents and stickers made this card super easy to put together! I used Papertrey Ink's kraft cardstock and some American Crafts rhinestone brads as well.

Here are the three pictures/items I was inspired by from Paper Seeds' shop.

Our sponsor this week is Digis With Attitude. What a fun name--and their images are super fun and sassy!

There are two prizes to be won this week so be sure to play along!

**Go to the Paper Seeds, look around, and find an item or two that inspires you.

**Create your own inspired project and link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon.

**Please give credit to the shop/item you found your inspiration from and link back to the EtsyInspired blog.

**If you upload to an online gallery, please use keyword EIC117.

These ladies are sure to have more wonderful projects to get you inspired!

Kerry
Laurel Beard {December Guest DT}
Savannah

Stephanie

Virginia

Treasury Thursday - Gifts for Everyone on Your List!

2010-12-02T12:42:00.001-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone! If you are still in need of some great gift ideas, I have you covered! Today I created a treasury full of fabulous items from my fellow Washingtonians and I am going to show you some of my Etsy Christmas purchases too!From great jewelry to fun art prints, these shops have something for everyone...guys, girls, teachers, kids, babies, and even the dog lover! Click HERE to see these items up close along with links to the shops.

And here are some of the things I have already bought this holiday season on Etsy.

How fun are these capes from Pip and Bean?! I am so excited to give these to my boys. I got to customize the colors and instead of the Superman S, I put their first initial on them. I can't wait for these to arrive and see how my boys like them!

I am super excited to try out these sidewalk paints from Sidewalk Sensations! There are a variety of colors and they have mini sets that would make great party favors.

I am also planning to get some yummy lip balms from Flourish Bath & Body. I love the pear and will be sure to pick up a new flavor for me to try too! :)

Have you purchased some great gifts on Etsy this year? Feel free to share you fun finds in the comments section!

Motivational Monday (a little late)

2010-11-30T07:40:00.001-08:00

Hello all! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! Did you get some Christmas shopping done? I scored a few good deals but didn't find as much as I was hoping to.

This past week, my goal was to work on a Christmas gift for my parents, which I am happy to say is halfway done. When it's finished, I will share it with you all...I think it is going to be a great gift that will be passed down through the years. My second goal for the week was to get caught up on printing and storing my photos. I am now up to date on printing out my photos and filled up 2 photo albums over the weekend! Yeah for progress!

So, for all of you out there who submit cards/projects for magazines and have yet to be published, did you see this post over at Paper Crafts today? 14 new designers are in the current Card Creations and two of them are a part of the Etsy Inspired Design Team!!! YEAH Emily and Ashley...huge congrats to you both!

And Paper Crafts just happens to have a big submission call going on right now for Card Creations Volume 9. Want to join me this week in my goal of creating and submitting at least 3 cards for this submission? Maybe we'll be the next newbies to be published in Paper Crafts! :)

Have a great day! I'll be back on Thursday with my Etsy treasury post and some great gift ideas for your kids and loved ones. I am finding some amazing stuff on Etsy these days! :)

Today's Mama and GameStop Giveaway!

2010-11-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Last week, Ali Edwards shared this giveaway on her blog and it is just too fabulous not to take a few minutes to check out and complete for a chance to win amazing Christmas gifts! :)

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? My wish is to focus on the true meaning and reason for the season...to teach our youngest son more about the birth of Jesus and attend our church's holiday events. I wish to create wonderful holiday traditions and memories that will be treasured for years to come.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? We wake up and see what Santa has filled our stockings with. Then we enjoy those items while getting breakfast ready. We all sit down for a special Christmas breakfast and then take turns opening our gifts to one another.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Hmmm...a relaxing, spa weekend would be amazing but a more practical wish would be for new living room furniture...I would be able to enjoy that every day. :)

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? My husband makes sure to take at least one week off of work so that we can spend lots of quality family time together...having game and movie nights, baking cookies, making gingerbread houses, playing in the snow, and going to fun (and free) holiday events in our community.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? We were a board game family and now I enjoy playing them with my boys too. Some of our favorites: Sorry, Connect Four, Uno, Risk, and Monopoly.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Attending church on Christmas Eve for Carols by Candlelight, getting a gift for a child in need (toys for tots or a giving tree), and decorating cookies.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? This is a hard one for me because I would not want to be away from my extended family at Christmas time. However, I guess if we could all go together I would want to go to San Diego, CA where my grandma lives (she is my only close relative who does not live in the same state as me).

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? For me, the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board is at the top of my list. Number two would have to be a Nintendo DS for a special person on my Christmas list. And if I was lucky enough to win this giveaway, my third item would be the red Wii Bundle which I would give to a family with several children who are in need this Christmas...what a way to brighten the holiday for them!

So, a big thank you to GameStop and Today's Mama for a chance to win this amazing giveaway! Click HERE for all the details on how you can have a chance to win too!

Hello Sunshine! - Etsy Inspired Challenge #116

2010-11-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

Well, our snow melted away enough for me to get to my parents house for Thanksgiving and all was clear for some Black Friday shopping too! I'm about halfway done with all my Christmas shopping, hooray!!! And I found some great kids gifts on Etsy that I'll share with you all later this week.

But today is the Etsy Inspired Challenge and I just love Heartsong's paintings...they are full of warmth, life, and inspiration. I was inspired by all the sunshine bursting out of this shop, especially this painting.

So, of course I had to try to create my own sunshine card!

To create my sun I simply used a circle lid and stamped it onto my card and then used a paper towel to dab/wipe ink into the half circle. Then I used a piece of paper to get my straight edges on the sun rays.

In addition to her beautiful artwork, Laura (owner of Heartsong) offers online classes focusing on health and healing.
Here is a note from Laura: Hi! I'm Laura Koniver, MD... physician turned artist. My passion is creating art that re-connects you to well-being. I offer on-line Health eCourses that do the same thing... remind your spirit of it's innate connection to health and healing. See my course descriptions at http://heartsongfineart.bigcartel.com//
Everything I do is infused with the knowledge that health and well-being are available to us at all times.

I have a blog in which I mix art, health and healing every day! Follow me at http://www.heartsongfineart.com/blog/

xoxo, Laura
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/heartsongfineart

Laura, Heartsong, will be giving all players and followers of EtsyInspired a 20% discount in the store! Use the coupon code INSPIRED at checkout! Thanks, Laura! She has also offered up a wonderful prize for one winner--a Box of Fine Art Notecards.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is Karber Digital Images! All types of digial images are for sale on this site--even Christmas digis! Perfect for you to get started on your Holiday cards! Check them out:: Karber Digital Images. And head on over to their blog, HERE!

Karber Digital Images has also donated a prize for one winner-- 2 free digital images {winner's choice}.

To play along::

**Go to the Heartsong, look around, and find an item or two that inspires you.

**Make any creation that you would like and post a link on the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, December 3rd at noon Pacific time.

**Please give credit to the shop/item you found your inspiration from and link back the EtsyInspired.

**If you upload to an online gallery, please use keyword EIC116.

And be sure to visit these talented ladies for extra inspiration:

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends. I'm waiting for a little warmer temps and some rain before I head out to my parent's house for the day...our neighborhood still has a lovely hill covered with snow and ice.

Recently I created some Thanksgiving cards for a customer so I thought I would share two of them today with you all.

Today I am thankful for my husband who is a great provider, father, and friend. My oldest son who is so smart, loving, and has a heart of gold. My youngest son who makes me laugh daily and is so sweet and loving. My parents who have always supported and encouraged me in all I do, shown me unconditional love, and been wonderful role models. My little brother who is a wonderful uncle and is always there when I need to talk or need a good laugh. My extended family and friends who bring joy to my life. Thank you all for being a part of my life! I am so blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Treasury Tuesday - All I Want For Christmas...

2010-11-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! We have snow, ice, and super cold temps here so it is another cozy day inside for us. We are enjoying the family time and getting stuff done around the house. As most of you know by now, I love Etsy...it is a wonderful handmade community and I am always finding new goodies to put on my wish list. With Christmas around the corner, I thought I'd create a treasury filled with some of my favorite things that I would love to have wrapped up under the tree for me this year! :)

If you see some things you'd like to or might be a great gift for someone you know, click HERE to see the treasury up close along with links to all these fabulous items.

And for more great gift ideas, you might want to take a peek at these wonderful treasuries too!

100% Recycled Gift Guide

Gift Guide For Teachers

I Love Grey! Gift Guide

Motivational Monday - Making Progress

2010-11-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well it is snowing here in WA today and school has already been cancelled for tomorrow. My son is super excited, as I was as a child, but this mommy is kind of wishing for warmer temps so that I can get out and get some shopping/errands done! However, staying home today did allow for me to list some new card making kits for kids in my Etsy shop, which was my goal for this past week...so at least I did get some things accomplished.

Here is a peek at some of the cute handmade boxes that the kits come in:

I am really enjoying setting small goals for myself each week. It motivates me to write my goals down and share them with you all because then I feel more of a commitment to completing the tasks I set for myself. I hope some of you have been joining me and are making progress toward your own goals.

This week my goal is to work on a Christmas gift for my parents...I already worked on it a little today so I'm off to a good start! :) My other goal for this week is to organize my pictures and print some up. I LOVE my digital camera (Cannon Rebel xsi) but boy do I take a TON of pictures now. I am getting a bit behind with my photo albums. When I had a film camera I was always up to date with my albums. Gotta love technology! :)

Have a wonderful evening! I'll be back tomorrow with some Etsy Inspiration and great gift ideas!

Grateful for You - Etsy Inspired Challenge #115

2010-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

This month seems to be flying by...Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas will be here before we know it. I have tons of gifts to buy, a birthday party to plan, and lots of projects to complete. I'm sure many of you crafty folks have plans to create some holiday gifts and the Etsy Inspired Challenge is here to offer you a little inspiration and a chance to win a gift for yourself too! :)

This week we have a scrumptious shop for you to be inspired by! Queen of Tarts Cakes offers wonderful handmade cookies in a variety of flavors and designs. They also have a second shop filled with edible image wafer papers for all you bakers out there who like to do it yourself.

Our sponsor this week is Inchie Arts, a great company that sells artist grade matteboard squares...perfect for stamping, watercolors, copics, and more! Check out their blog for lots of great ideas on how to use their products.

I was inspired by both our sponsor and featured Etsy shop to use inchies on my card.

I loved the sweet colors on these Baby Girl Quilt Cookies.

I have a dear friend who is moving out of state soon and wanted to create a special card for her so I was also inspired by the American Crafts' challenge to create a project with the theme 'I'm grateful for...'

For this card I used some of American Crafts fabric paper (love it!), AC Botanique patterned paper, and AC ribbon. The stamped sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

To have a chance to win $25 worth of goodies from Inchie Arts or a sweet little prize from Queen of Tarts Cakes, simply:

- Visit Queen of Tarts Cakes and find an item that inspires you.

- Create a project of your own and for an extra challenge make sure to incorporate some squares.

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired blog by Friday the 26th at noon.

And for extra inspiration be sure to visit these lovely ladies!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Treasury Thursday

2010-11-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, Tuesday and Wednesday kind of got away from me...so I moved Treasury Tuesday to today! :) This week I was inspired to create a honey themed treasury after finding a few lovely golden items while browsing Etsy.

You can find the links to all these wonderful items by clicking HERE.

And three fellow Etsians have included my Christmas button tree cards in their holiday treasuries. You can check them out here:

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Pine and Berry...Wondrous Woodland Gifts

Fired Up for the Holidays!

Have a great Friday! I'll be back Saturday with my Etsy Inspired project.

Motivational Monday - Balance

2010-11-15T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was filled with lots of quality family time! My goal this past week was to spend lots of time with my boys and hubby. We took time to play board games, read tons of books together, snuggle and talk, sing songs, dance, and have puff ball fights! :) You know those colorful pom pom balls that you use for craft projects...they are great fun to throw around!

Whenever you are working toward a big goal it is important not to forget to take time for your family. It's so important to have a balance. If you find your kids are acting out a bit more or you are feeling like you haven't been around much, set a goal for a week to spend good, quality time with them...you will never regret it!

I usually spend tons of time with my kiddos...sometimes to the point of not taking enough time for myself. But this past week I wanted to really make sure the time I was spending was extra special and engaging...not just homework, errands, sports, etc.

This week, with Christmas quickly approaching, my goal is to fill my Etsy shop up a bit more. Last year my card making kits for kids were a big hit and I have already sold several this past month. So, my goal is to get at least three more kits listed in my shop this week.

What goals have you been setting and achieving lately? Join me in a setting a small goal for yourself this week! I'll be back tomorrow with some Etsy inspiration!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Etsy Inspired Challenge #114

2010-11-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Well, I have a weekend full of special time with my boys. Today we are relaxing at home...perfect for a Saturday, right?! And Saturdays are always a good time to do a little crafting too! So, this week for the Etsy Inspired Challenge we have another fabulous shop to spark your creativity. Happy Day Designs is a lovely jewelry shop with the most gorgeous color combinations...each piece is truly a work of art. I was inspired by these beautiful pieces.

I was immediately attracted to the green but when I saw that beautiful red in the shop too, I was inspired to create a Christmas card.

So simple but it still makes a statement, don't you think? I thought this design would make for a cute and simple gift box/bag too. The paper and ribbon are both American Crafts and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I was also inspired to create a festive treasury on Etsy.

You can see these items up close along with the links to the fabulous Etsy shops that sell them by clicking HERE.

To play along in the Etsy Inspired Challenge:
~Go to the Happy Days Designs shop and pick an item to be inspired by
~Make any creation you'd like and post a link to your creation on the EtsyInspired blog
~Please include a link to the shop in your post~Challenge ends on Friday Nov 19, noon Pacific time

~If you upload to an online gallery please use keyword EIC114

I'm sure there will be some colorful creations in the gallery this week! Especially since you could win a lovely necklace from Happy Day Designs or a stamp from our sponsor, Whiff of Joy, by playing along in the challenge! See the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details.

And be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team to see their Etsy Inspired projects!

* Angie (November Guest Designer)

Ashley

Emily B

Emily N

Kerry

Savannah

Stephanie

Virginia

Enjoy your weekend!

Treasury Tuesday - Great Gift Ideas!

2010-11-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am enjoying a quiet day at home with my little one and took some time this morning to create a treasury on Etsy. As the holiday season gets closer I know we all are looking for the perfect gifts for family and friends and Etsy has some wonderfully unique and lovely items to choose from. I decided to create a treasury for all those crafty people out there who enjoy trying a new craft or having fun with a do it yourself project.

You can find links to all the shops that sell these items by clicking HERE.

And I found several other treasuries full of great gift ideas too!

A Unisex Gift Guide, Naturally!

Cream and Black, Gift Guide under $35

A Gift Guide for the Home Decorator

Also, I have fun card sets and card making kits for kids in my shop that are sure to put a smile on a loved ones face! :)

Have a great week! I'm going to be spending lots of quality time with my family this week so I probably won't post again until Saturday for the Etsy Inspired Challenge!

Motivational Monday - Be Your Own Cheerleader

2010-11-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Checking in again this week to let you know how I'm doing with my goal setting. Last week I set the goal (again) to create and submit some projects for magazine submission calls and I am proud to say that I submitted some cards to the Paper Crafts May/June call over the weekend. Did you set and meet a goal this week too?

One thing I find helpful for reaching your goals is to become your own cheerleader. First you need to set goals that are important and meaningful to you so that you will want to work toward them. Then you need to be your own cheerleader...if you feel too tired one day, encourage yourself to just take a tiny step to meeting your goal. For example, one day this week I didn't feel up to working on any cards but I knew I needed to work on my goal a little so I could achieve it this week. So I just sat and looked through my papers and embellishments to find coordinating items and things that I might want to create with. Then when I went to make my cards I just needed to work on the design. If you are your own cheerleader you are also less likely to rely on others encouragement or opinions regarding your goals and thus more likely to achieve your goals regardless of outside influences. It is always nice to have family and friends to cheer you on but the first pat on the back should come from yourself.

Okay, onto my goal for this week...to take some extra special time with my boys and husband. This week my oldest has two days off from school and it is my husband's birthday so I am wanting to make sure to enjoy this week with them. Playing games, movie night, reading together...fun times!

I'll be back tomorrow with some great gift ideas and fun do-it-yourself projects!

Thankful Turkey - Etsy Inspired Challenge #113

2010-11-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge! Our featured Etsy shop this week is PutuPrincess Escapes, which offers lovely hand painted shirts. I really love the lotus flower design...so pretty and feminine.

Our sponsor this week is Some Odd Girl which has tons of great digital images. I absolutely adore this sweet rainbow image. But for my card I used Turkey Perky, which you can actually get for free this month!

Isn't that turkey super cute?! I had a lot of fun pairing him up with some Crate Paper goodies. That scalloped frame is actually a chipboard flower...I just took out the middle section and then popped the turkey up on foam squares. I thought this would be a fun thank you card to give to someone this Thanksgiving.

I was mainly inspired by this shirt from PutuPrincess Escapes. I liked the central focus of the owl and Fall feel to this shirt.

One lucky winner this week will get to pick their favorite t-shirt from PutuPrincess Escapes and another will get to pick 3 digis from Some Odd Girl! Lucky ducks! :)

And it's so easy to play along...so if you have never joined us before, make sure to check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details!

Be sure to visit these lovely ladies for extra Etsy Inspiration!

This weekend is busy for us...soccer games and celebrations plus lots of stuff to do around the house. Thanks to everyone for your kind wishes last week for my little one...he is feeling MUCH better!

Treasury Tuesday - On a cold, winter morning...

2010-11-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Each Tuesday I share a treasury I've created as well as a few other fabulous treasuries I have found throughout the week. I personally find a lot of inspiration from Etsy and sometimes a gorgeous treasury will inspire me to create a project around that theme or color combination and other times I find new favorite shops and some amazing items that I probably would not have discovered otherwise. So, I hope sharing them will do the same for you! :)

On a cold, winter morning...

Gorgeous, right?! Such talented artists on Etsy! You can see this treasury up close with links to these great items by clicking HERE.

Here are a few other winter inspired treasuries:
Let It...Snow

Winter Wish List

Let It Snow!

Motivational Monday - Allow for Imperfection

2010-11-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We had fun taking the boys trick-or-treating and my little one is feeling much better...no coughing for 2 days now! Thanks for all your well wishes for him!

So for those of you who have started following my Motivational Mondays, last week I set the goal of creating 2 cards/projects and submitting them to some publication calls. Well, I did finish one card that I am quite happy with it but I didn't quite get to the second project. So, I will be setting the same goal for myself this week and hopefully by next Monday I will be able to say that I have submitted at least 3 projects to magazines.

In every goal you set, there are likely to be obstacles in the way...sometimes you yourself are your own obstacle. I am known to be extremely hard working and a bit of a perfectionist so sometimes I can be hard on myself when I don't do something as well as I had planned. However, I have learned to have more patience with myself and accept that sometimes I just can't do it all. I'm sure some of you can relate and I hope you will remember to allow yourself to make mistakes and have the same sort of patience for yourself as you do for your children/loved ones.

Please join me in setting a small goal for yourself this week...either privately or share it in the comments section with me and next week I'll be back to share my progress!

Enjoy your evening! If you enjoy winter, jewelry, or the color gray you are going to want to stop back by tomorrow!

Whoo Loves You? - Etsy Inspired Challenge #112

2010-10-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge! We have an amazing shop for you to be inspired by this week. BeiLeXian is filled with whimsical paintings that are sure to warm your heart. When I first discovered this shop, I immediately fell in love with THIS print. However, my project for today was inspired by all the cute owl paintings.

I also was inspired by this sweet picture. I thought the hanging hearts were so cute and I tried to duplicate that on my card using a needle and some baker's twine that coordinated with my card colors but it didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped. However, I did have fun creating the little scene on this card using My Mind's Eye's Little Boy Blue collection.

Our sponsor this week is Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, a great shop with both clear and digital stamps. And you could win a $15 credit to their shop by playing along in the challenge this week!

But that's not all! Another lucky winner will receive an $18 print of their choice from our featured Etsy shop this week, BeiLeXian.

So head on over to BeiLeXian and find an item that inspires you, create a project of your own, and link it up to the Etsy Inspired blog for your chance to win one of this week's fantastic prizes!

And don't forget to visit the rest of the Design Team to see what inspired them!

My little guy just can't seem to lose this cough of his...although we saw the doctor yesterday and she says he seems to be on the mend. Today will be a day of rest for us in hopes of speeding up his recovery. Sunday will be filled with some fun Halloween activities and then it's back to school on Monday! Enjoy your weekend!

Treasury Tuesday - Giving Thanks

2010-10-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today was filled with running errands, a trip to the doctor for my sick little guy, and visiting with some family we haven't seen in awhile...so super busy, but good. And I think my little one is on his way to feeling better...Yeah!

Every Tuesday I am taking time to create a treasury on Etsy and share it with you all here for some inspiration and maybe some new discoveries or gift ideas too! :) And along with my treasury I like to share links to a few other favorites that I have seen as well.

Although Halloween is this weekend, I am actually already more focused on Thanksgiving. For me it is always a time to pause and take count of all that I have to be thankful for. So that is what inspired my treasury this week.

I'm thankful for so many things but some that I featured in this treasury represent family, friends, my children, education, nature, dance, love, laughter, and my home. To check out this treasury up close along with links to the shops that sell these wonderful items, click HERE.

And here are a few other treasuries that were created with the giving thanks theme in mind.

Giving Thanks in Style

Give Thanks...

Let's Give Thanks and Smile!

Enjoy your evening! I need to work on my goal for this week...catch you later!

Motivational Monday - One Step at a Time

2010-10-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

How was your Monday? Did you set a small goal for yourself last week and achieve it?
My goal last week was to participate in two card challenges. Now, technically I did do this but I only created one card (shown HERE). But I am proud of myself for making the time this week to participate in the challenges and I was also very nicely rewarded for it too! :) My card was picked as one of the Fab 5 at 2 Sketches 4 You and it was also chosen to be in the spotlight over at 365 cards!

I have always been a goal oriented person and have found great success in setting small goals to get to the larger goal. That way it's not so overwhelming. Like starting my Etsy Shop...first I just looked into the idea, researched things on Etsy and read the forums. Then as I was deciding to actually start my shop I worked on getting a business license, planning out the details for my shop such as shipping policies and the announcement. Then when it was time to start my shop I made sure to have some inventory, practiced taking good pictures of my products, and decided on pricing. Now, I just need to continue to set small goals for myself so that I keep developing new products, increase my inventory, and work on promoting too.

So, each Monday I will be posting my weekly goal and hope that this will encourage some of you to join me in the same goal or in working on your own goal. This is a way for me to hold myself more accountable and not just keep putting things off until next week when I think I will have more time...that rarely happens! :)

This week my goal is to create and submit two cards/projects for magazine submission calls. Last year I set the goal to get published and I made it happen. But since then I have not submitted much so I want to get in the habit of trying to submit a few projects each month. And for those of you who feel like you'll never get published...there is no harm in trying. Eventually you might get a project picked up and get to see it in a magazine which is super exciting!

Here are a few links to submission calls in case you want to join me in my goal for this week!
Creating Keepsakes
Scrapbook Trends/Cards/Handmade
Paper Crafts

Enjoy the rest of your evening! I'll be back tomorrow with some Etsy inspiration!