easter tree

Good morning! The sun is shining here in Seattle, I can hear birds chirping outside my window, and I've just finished some Easter cards to put in the mail today.

I have a little white table-top tree (Doodlebug) that I bought to decorate for each holiday... it's so much fun. Here is my EASTER TREE!



It turned out really beautiful. I stamped ornaments with the tulip image from our April Mix set - It's Good to Be Queen (if you are a Mix member this will be shipped out to you in just a few days now!) I wiped my ink across the stamp in two colors... either pink or peach for the tulip and green for the stem. This gave the tulip image a watercolor look when I stamped it (see close-ups below!) I had these gorgeous butterflies from Jeni Bowlin that I added to each ornament. I also made a pattern-paper chain to wrap around my tree, and I used our new Easter Blessings stamp single for the tree topper.











Here are two Easter cards I made. The hanging Easter eggs are from our March Mix set - Lucky You, and the beautiful patterned paper is from Pink Paislee (Queen Bee Collection) and Fancy Pants Designs (Baby's Breath.)







I'm hoping that the weather will hold up and I can take my kids to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival next week. Because we've had such a warm winter the tulips are already in bloom! I want pictures of my kids in the tulip fields... would make a great scrapbook page. Enjoy your Easter weekend and Spring Break!

veggies

Today I'm posting the promised scrapbook pages that feature my SON (it feels like my daughter has been getting all the attention lately. That's because she likes pink and I get to use pink girlie paper, what can I say.)

This is a layout I did of a veggie garden that Phillip and I helped the kids make last summer. I had posted the photos I used on my layout in this post HERE last May, and I'm just getting around to scrapbooking them! I'm glad I did wait, because I'm using papers from the new Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety collection which are absolutely PERFECT for these photos. (By the way, we have the 6x6 pads in our store here.)







Here's another page I did of my son's First Grade Photo. I did not love how his photo turned out this year, I didn't know it was photo day and I sent him to school in an ugly shirt (which I have cropped out of the photo.) And his hair wasn't done either, ha ha. But I still think the page turned out cute... I took a picture of the corner of the page with the most detail. The other side I've listed out the things I love about Ethan and what life is like for him as a First Grader.




I just picked up the most GORGEOUS paper from my LSS... they are going to be perfect for Easter pages. I'm going to get my kids dressed up today in their Easter attire and pose for my pict. :)

time for scraps

I had my scrapbooking friends over this weekend and it felt oh so good to get some pages done I've been wanting to do. One of the pages I did was of my daughters second birthday from *last May.* I thought it would be nice to do that page before I have another birthday party here in a little over a month, ha ha.

Here are a few pages. I always have such a tough time photographing scrapbooking pages...cards are easier-- but maybe that's because I'm usually photographing cards. If any of you out there have any tips on how to take good photos of scrapbook pages let me know!

Here is the Second Birthday page... I can't believe how much older Sammy looks already.







Sammy loves pink cupcakes. A girl after my own heart. The other day she told me she really needs a pink crown. (Who doesn't?)





This is a photo I took of Sammy just a few days ago at the park for her "New Hairdo" page. See how much older she looks? They grow up way too fast, don't they? Though I'm really looking forward to the diaper-changing stage of my life to be over. I'm seeing the light at the end of the diaper-changing table.











I got this idea to put a lock of hair behind a packaging container in a magazine. This package had some brads in it. It's a great idea! The only advice I have is try not to get hairs stuck to your double-sided tape before you stick it on the page.





This was my Sammy scrapbook page post. I'll have my Ethan pages in a few days.

Parting thought... I'm wondering why the term "scrap" book page. I'm certainly not using scraps on my pages. This is the latest and greatest stuff baby... and my wallet can prove it. ha ha.

baby elephant

I have another baby project to share today! My good friend Katie is having her first baby boy, and I'm giving her giraffe jammies. I saw this really cute patterned paper at my LSS from Three Bugs in a Rug - Animal Stackers Collection - and I thought it would be super cute with the mommy and baby elephant stamp in our It's Good to be Queen April Mix set. I made a gift bag and a matching tag. I stitched again... it's a good thing I'm into this shabby, uneven stitched look because I can't sew straight for the life of me.










These are the little giraffe jammies feet... aren't they cute?




I bought Katie some paper and cardstock stickers from the Animal Stackers collection too because I think Mom is entitled to a gift when she's pregnant as much as baby is (maybe even more so!) So now she has cute stuff to scrapbook her baby book with.


I just signed up for a scrapbooking retreat in May at the Summit Lodge, which is up in the mountains by where I live. I'm so excited! My friend Rebecca is going with me and it's going to be three days and two nights of scrapbooking, cardmaking, and stamping bliss. And no toddler trying to steal my scissors or rubbing my ink pads all over my carpet as I'm trying to work... HA! I will miss the kiddos of course, but they'll be remembered as I'm scrapbooking their photos. So I don't feel guilty. :)

march dt challenge ... GREEN!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Today is also Lizzie Anne Design Team Challenge Day, and this month our challenge is to design a card using primarily GREEN. Good old green. The color of Spring and four-leaf clovers and little Irish Leprechauns and grass. Green has *always* been one my favorite colors. I'm currently choosing green paint for my loft and I can't wait to spread that lovely color all over my walls.

Here is my challenge card...






I used our new Him in Our Hearts sentiment (love this stamp!) and new green patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Bayberry Cottage line (also new to our store.) I've been seeing a lot of hand-made flowers lately, so I thought I'd try one myself. I punched three different sizes of circles, cut around the edges with scissors, and kind of crinkled them up. Then I layered them and used a button and some rhinestones for the center of the flower. This card turned out really gorgeous...the photos do not do it justice. It will make a lovely Easter-time card for friend or family member next month.

Make sure to visit the Lizzie Anne Blog today to see who else is participating in the DT Challenge, and leave a comment there too for a chance to win a Hey Sunshine stamp set!

One more thing to mention... we're having a three-day sale on some of our Little Bits stamp sets and Singles! This is something we rarely do, so make sure to visit the Lizzie Anne Designs website March 17th - 19th!

more babies

There must have been something in the water nine months ago because I have a lot of friends who have just had babies or are expecting soon! I designed an image to iron-on to a baby onesie (which will appear as a stamp single in May...you'll have to wait!) and I wanted to make a cute matching tag. The gift has an animal theme, so I thought the fluffy sheep from our In the Nursery stamp set would be perfect! I made the sheep fluffy with a little white flock. The patterned paper is from the new Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety line...love it!



So you can get a tiny glimpse through the cellophane bag at what that stamp single may look like... ;)