for the toasty summertime

Just trying to survive these toasty Florida summer days, the new Retro BBQ set from Unity is PERFECT for making some fun summertime projects! The font on the sentiments is PRECIOUS. I just love it! I paired these stamps with Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned paper (which I love and adore as well!!!)
I would love to rattle on, and bore you to death, but my child is desperate for my attention, and I think a tantrum tornado is on it's way!!!! I BETTER RUN!

Have a great day, and I'll see you soon!!!

XOXO

the scrappy mamas

these are my sweet sweet girlfriends. . .and i am so glad that angie was able to capture these pictures, using her tripod!!! we caught that last tiny bit of evening light, after the kiddos were in bed, and we could finally start our last Girls' Night before Annamaria moves (today. sniff sniff.)

I would be lost without these girls! We scrapbook together, drink coffee together (I think the Starbucks girls who work on Tuesday nights are starting to recognize us!) and sit around (wherever we end up. . usually Annamaria's house) talking until all hours of the night. (Although I usually cave first, and head home!!) When we get together with our kiddos each week, we attempt to keep them occupied as long as possible, so we can capture a few more minutes of "mommy-time" before the meltdowns begin, signaling the time to head home for lunch and naps.

But oh. . .how I love these mamas!!!!

And oh . .. .how I already miss my Annamia.

XOXO

Merry Bright Hip Hop

I am hoping that some bright and cheery COLD winter Christmas cards will help me COOL off, because people. . .it's a HOT pregnant summer around here, in sunny Florida. Unity's new Christmas stamps are seriously cute though. I was so excited to paper-piece those ornaments!!! Such fun!!! (And I added the little sparkly stamp from the new Retro BBQ set in there too! It works perfectly!)

I hope you are having a MERRY and BRIGHT Hip Hop Thursday! And I hope you are staying cool, wherever you are!!! I'm staying inside in the air conditioning, with a cold lemonade as much as possible!!!!

And now, hip hop along to ***Natalie! ***

You're almost there!!!

where do the days go!? CPS 121

This week's CPS sponsor is My Sentiments Exactly. . . and what a CUTE stamp set I got to play with!!!! Paired with some Sassafrass Lass paper, this is a quick and simple, cute little card. The days have been flying by lately, filled with company coming and going, plus a million other things going on! I have been BUSY BUSY BUSY, and when I'm not BUSY. . .I'm making a TON of cards! I can't share most of them quite yet. . . .but it won't be long!!! ;)

Hang in there! And see you tomorrow for Hip Hop Thursday! (And a couple of those new cards!)

enough already!

Okay, okay, I heard you. . . my joke of a pregnancy photo did NOT go over very well ;) My cousin took some sweet pictures of Bryce and I (and Tanner too!) so here you go, my friends.

I am getting quite swollen, quite uncomfortable, and QUITE disappointed as I realize there is just NO way I am going to make it to CHA this year. It's only two hours away, in Orlando, but all that walking and being on my feet would not be a good thing!!! Little Mr. Tanner is doing well though, and getting BIG (and measuring BIG according to the doctor. . . GREAT.) The summer is getting hotter and hotter, and we are getting more and more excited to meet the newest addition! Only 10 or so weeks to go. UGH! ;)

Have a super weekend!!!

XOXO

Hangin' Out Hip Hop Style!

Happy Hip Hop Thursday!

Today I'd like to share another card made with the June Kit of the Month. I used a combination of paper-piecing (on the clothes) and colored pencils to color this image. Then I took a little strip of green paper and cut it like grass, inked its edges, and stuck it on top. The flowers on either side of the sentiment were cut from the background paper. (The paper is all Sassafrass Lass . . .. love ittt!!)

I hope you have a wonderful Thursday, and enjoy an inspiring blog hop!!!

From here, hop on to ***Renee!***

sweet baby giraffes

I realized after I uploaded this card, that I promised my CPS card to you . . .and this is NOT it. But I've been wanting to share this quick and simple baby card with you (made with the Apron Strings June kit), and because my SWEET friend Keri FINALLY had her baby last night . . .this is in honor of her! I used Making Memories Animal Crackers paper, and just layered some paper and cardstock together, cut out a few flowers from one of the papers, and popped it all together! There's no sentiment, so I think this would work for just about any baby related occasion (shower, 1st birthday, etc). I hope you like it!

After three days at the beach with my hubby's family, (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. . .20something of them all together) we are spending the next two days with MY aunt and cousin who are arriving in town this afternoon. (And my aunt promised she will delight (or horrify) you all with a picture of pregnant me . . .since apparently MY photo didn't satisfy you!!! hee hee hee!) So check back tomorrow for one of my new favorite cards on Unity's Hip Hop Thursday blog hop, and I'll talk to you soon!! Now. . .off to clean bathrooms and run to the grocery!

XOXOXO

this is for keri

Keri told me that the world needed a new picture of pregnant me. . . .WELL, miss keri. . .here you go, my dear! See that mass of polkadots in the bottom of this picture? There it is. The Belly. (taken while Bryce covers my slowly swelling feet in the sand.) We are spending some days back and forth to a nearby beach house, where a bunch of eric's family are visiting/staying this week. One of the perks of living near the beach, I suppose. . .you don't have to drive far to get to a beach house!!! (And I get to come home and sleep in my own bed at night!) Bryce LOVES the beach - and we hardly ever go. So this is quite a treat for him! So I'm braving the heat, and the giant polkadot bathing suit, and we've been hitting the beach.

Tomorrow I will come back and share my CPS card for this week, okay?! For now, I need to go do some dishes, get life organized, and head to my dr. appt, before we head back out to the beach this afternoon.

Have a wonderful day!!!
XOXO

Perfect Pair. . .Pear. . .Pair

When I got this Cosmo Cricket paper, and saw the pear, I knew I wanted to use it with the new pear stamps in Unity's June Kit. The fun thing, is that the words "perfect" and "pair" are seperate. . .and the kit also includes the word "pear". . .so you can choose however you want to phrase your sentiment. I went back and forth about which one to use on this card. . .and I am still not sure whether I made the right choice. I think maybe they were BOTH the right choice, because either way, I like how the card came together!! Lots of inky edges on all this patterned paper and cardstock, which meant lots of inky fingers when I was done!

(card goodies: patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird", stamps - Unity June KOM, felt flower, ribbon - American Crafts, button brad - Around the Block (i think!) ink - Close To My Heart)

Hip Hop, Daddy-O!

Happy Father's Day. . . Hip Hop Style!!!! Are you getting lots of Father's Day card inspiration!? (I can't wait to do the blog hop myself, because I need to get going on Father's Day cards as well!)

I used the June Kit of the Month for both of these cards. The first is probably a little more "fatherly" than the second, but I wanted to keep working with the fun Daisy D's paper!
I have to tell you about the ribbon on this second card. I wanted brown, and I had exactly the right color. . .but it was just too thick and too much for the card. It was just a regular old piece of grosgrain ribbon, but I cut it in half!!! Seriously - this was just a 4.25 in piece of ribbon, I trimmed off the edges, and cut it longways. In person, it made the card a little more rustic, which I liked.

And now, continue hopping to my sweet, sweet friend ***Christi***

Be yourself!

When I got a giant package of SEI Eerie Alley paper, I wasn't quite sure what I would do with all that HALLOWEEN paper! But thankfully, I have come to realize you can do a lot more with it than just Halloween. . .as seen HERE! I paired some of the fun geometric patterned paper, with one of my favorite Close To My Heart stamp sets, a little purple bling (that I NEVER thought I would use. . .I am a little challenged by purple.) And Whaa-Laa.

I gotta keep this short and sweet today, as we are heading out of town this afternoon for a few days. But not to worry, I will "be here" for Hip Hop tomorrow, and throughout the rest of the week, with some wonderfully PRE-SCHEDULED posts!!!! (Thank you Blogger for that great invention!!!)

Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Although I won't really be here. . .I'll be HERE! ;)

look what's cooking. . .

This week CPS is being sponsored by Hanna Stamps. This is the first time I have used their stamps, and I had FUN with it. . . all these little cute food and drink stamps that came with this set were really fun to play with. It sort of made me want to play with paper dolls, or a doll house, and make a bunch of food for them to eat. (I LOVE little miniature things. . .so tiny bowls of spaghetti really get me!!!) My photos don't really do it justice, but I added Liquid Glass to some little spots, so the wine glass and bottle LOOK shiny, and so do the bowls and pot.
I used my brand new Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper on this card - I am LOVING this line of product!!! Such a . . ."Mom's 1950's kitchen" feel to it. It's just FUN!

I hope you have a terrific rest of the weekend!!! I am heading out with the boys, after church, to a baseball game. I am sort of relieved that there's a good chance of rain, because hopefully it will be cloudy. . . .and not so hot . . .but hoping it DOESN'T RAIN, all at the same time!

XOXO

a little inspiration. . .and a lack of inspiration!

Here is another card using the June card kit from Apron Strings! These little felt buttons (I am thinking they are from Creative Imaginations???) are such fun!!! They layer perfectly, and I was able to create this cute little flower! I just added some tiny scraps for a stem and leaf and I love the way it turned out. (The stamp is from Close To My Heart.)

I seem to have seriously lost my card-making mojo this week . . . things just aren't clicking when I sit down at my desk. I know it happens to everyone from time to time, and it is SO frustrating. I've been cruising the galleries, and flipping through old magazines. Next to try is some serious cleaning at my desk. Hopefully that will help the situation!!! I'm getting things accomplished - I'm just not loving what I make. So irritating!!!

I hope you are feeling much more inspired these days!!! (And I hope to be soon, as well!) And now, I am off in the never-ending hunt for maternity shorts. (It's only never-ending, because I keep NOT GOING out to look.) Consignment store. . .here I come! Have a great Saturday!

Hip Hop with a Cherry on Top!

It's a new month, and that means I have a project from the NEW Unity Kit of the Month to share with you today.

I used October Afternoon paper on this . . .and i hand-cut that border along the bottom, which YES, took FOREVER. But I think it was worth it, I'm happy with how it turned out! :) I am not sure WHERE that cute ticket is from, but it was fun to use!!! One more detail I added is the embroidery floss tied around the cherry stems. I just poked two tiny holes on either side of the stem, and tied the thread through. A quick and fun little detail. (Use a piercing tool, or even a thumbtack to poke your holes!)

Enjoy the rest of the hop, and all the inspiration with the NEW June Kit!!! Have a great day!

From here, hop on to ***ROBYN***

a little Apron Strings goodness

I thought, since it's JUNE now, that I would share a few of my cards using the June Apron Strings Card Kit.

These two cards are using KI Memories paper, and Creative Imaginations chipboard letters. This DAD card is using one of my favorite card layouts. I know it was one of Tami Mayberry's sketches from way-back-when, but I always come back to it when I am stuck, or have a couple of really fun different papers I want to showcase.

I better keep this short and snappy today. . . .my little shadow is ready for me to PLAY, (and what we really need to do is make a grocery list, and get to the STORE!!!) Any bright ideas for dinners this week????

Have a great day!

Hope to see you tomorrow for Unity's Hip Hop!

Oh Happy New Kit Day!

Oh happy day!

The first of the month is so much fun, because it means a NEW Unity Kit of the Month is making its grand debut! I have one quick card to share with you today . . .but there will be lots more to come!!!! I love this SWEET ice cream cone image. It's a really terrific size (this card is 5.5x5.5 to give you some perspective!) I paper-pieced it with some DELICIOUS October Afternoon patterned paper, and whipped up this sweet little card in no time at all. I think it might be loosely based on Tami's CPS sketch for this week . . .I had it on the brain anyway! :)

Have a great day! And be sure to stop by the Unity blog and website to see the full June kit!