[handmade] puppet show birthday party invitations

Hi everyone!  I'm thrilled to share this invitation set I created recently for a wonderful client.  For her daughter's 2nd birthday, she is having a puppet show party.  Isn't that adorable!  She wanted something sweet and pink with plenty of fabric.  She also found these adorable finger puppets to incorporate.  

I love the shabby puppet show "curtains."  We decided to line the envelopes, make a card stock insert, and add a label sticker so that these very textured invitations would mail easier.  

I'm sure this party will be magical! 

{wordless wednesday} how times have changed

{scrapbooking post} dadda loves his boy

I posted this layout on my Facebook page awhile back but realized I never shared it here!

I'm so in love with this picture of Matt and Jonathan when he was just a little over a week old.  I like to have a good amount of negative space on my page so they eye has a place to rest and so the photo shines. Usually I use a plain white, grey, or kraft background but it was fun to use a neutral graphic print instead.

I have some project life pages to photograph and then I'll share them here.

Have a great day!

banner party pack

I showed a sneak of these invitations a bit ago and here is the whole party pack!

The pack includes 25 fill in the blank invitations, 35 cupcake toppers, and 25 goodie bag tags.  They all use the same banners from a mix of yellow chevron paper, multi colored doodle paper, and orange card stock.  They are gender neutral and fun for any age.  

I'm loving the mix of bright colors and kraft.  And those scalloped cards?  I die.  

This exact pack is already spoken for but I'll get some more together and put them in my etsy shop (which I'm planning to have open on June 1st!).  

Have a happy Monday!

{scrapbooking post} love & happiness

Being a stay at home mom, I've had to learn a whole new way of managing my time.  Yes, I'm home all day so I'm sure it seems like I should be able to get a lot done, but that just isn't the case.  Jonathan is now napping about 3 to 3 1/2 hours a day.  During that time, I need to get myself ready, fed, clean the house, do laundry, pay bills, do anything else on my to-do list, and be creative.  

The whole "be creative" part is super important to me.  I feel like myself when I'm able to work on something creative - preferably using paper.  But, I also have to balance this because there is much else to do.  I'm often working on a project for a client so I don't have a lot of time to do project life or other scrapbooking layouts.  

In a recent episode of Paperclipping Roundtable (I'm sorry, I can't remember which one) the panelists were discussing how to complete a layout in small stages.  This was such a revolutionary thought for me! Up to this point, I would wait until I had a large chunk of time to work.  I realized that I could do bits and pieces and over the course of a couple of days, I could have a layout complete.  

That's what I did for this layout. 

I started with the picture.  It was taken by the super talented The Why We Love photography team during our maternity shoot.  I love this picture of Matt.

Once I knew I wanted this picture, I just gathered a few supplies and as I had time, I added something.  The layout was always on my table so each time I walked by it, I added an element or changed something.  I didn't glue anything down until I was sure I liked it as is. 

I love the heart stitching and the sprayed ampersand.  The color combo of aqua, yellow, and grey is definitely my favorite right now.

Another close up of the handsome man :)

If you are having a hard time fitting creativity into your life, try this idea.  Just do a little bit here and there.  You'll be surprised by all you can get done!

banner invitations

I love banners.  I know that banners/pennants/flags/whatever you want to call them have been big for a long time but you know what?  I am still into them.  And chevron.  I think I'll be riding the chevron train for a loooooong time.  

Anyway, here is a little sneak peak into some fill in the blank stationary I'm doing for a friends auction.  I like it!  What do you think?

scrappy post: sweet boy

It's been awhile since I shared a scrapbooking post here!  It's about time!

This is a layout I made several months ago.

That glorious yellow chevron is an old Amy Tangerine sheet that I saved and saved until the perfect time....then I bought a few more pages.  I also took a lesson from her book and hand stitched the title.  

He looks so little there!  I can't believe how fast it goes and how much he's already grown!  

The grid matting and the people strip are also Amy Tangerine.  I used some Elle's Studio and that's about it!

Here's one last look of the page.  I always like to leave plenty of white space so they eye has somewhere to rest.  Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed if every spot of the page is filled with embellishments.  

It's funny how much my style has already changed since making this page.  I really am working on trying to look for the story of each picture and making sure I tell that somewhere on the page.  

Thanks for stopping in!

wordless wednesday: those eyes!

floral stationary

I love making stationary and cards.  Love it.  My mom just had her birthday this last week and I thought some handmade stationary would be the perfect thing to round out her gift.

This was  a pretty easy design.  I had been going through my patterned papers to get rid of the ones I was no longer inspired by (all I have to say is that my babysitters always have a nice size stack of crafting stuff to go through and keep when they are here!)  Anyway, while I was going through my stack, I saw a piece of floral paper that looked just like my mom.  I put it aside knowing I'd come to it later to make something for her.  Then her birthday was getting close and I was ready to create.  I cut out the flowers, glued them to card stock, and added a little shimmer mist.  That's it!  

In my opinion, handmade gifts are one of the best ways to say, "I love you."  I love you, mom!  

happy easter

Happy Easter everyone!  We had a lovely weekend celebrating the fact that He is risen!

On Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt hosted by our friends, the Mobleys.  Of course Jonathan isn't old enough to hunt for the eggs but he did love sucking on them!

Perfect for his little teething gums.  

This was such a fun week working on so many projects.  Can't wait to share here!

7 months

How is my sweet boy 8 months tomorrow?!  I really don't understand how it happened so fast.  In honor of his little birthday, I'd like to review what he was like as a 7 month old.

As I'm sure you've noticed, this post is always a hard one for me to get out in time.  I'm so so so glad I do it .... make the onesie, do a photoshoot, blog his month.... but it has been a challenge!  I know I usually never take the pictures on the day he actually turns the next month but my goal has changed to at least doing it at some point during the month.  I know that as I look back on these in the years to come, I'll care more that I did it, not that I did it perfectly.  In my house, I'm constantly listening to Paperclipping Roundtable and it has seriously changed the way I view memory keeping - mainly that I don't need to follow any rules, that I do it my way, and that some is better than none.  This episode really changed my perspective and helped me realize that as long as I do something, even if there are holes and it isn't done perfectly, I'll just be happy that I did it.

Ok, enough of the long tangent and on to my little boy!!

At 7 months, J ...

... is such a little delight!  So many smiles and giggles!  We've had our share of crabby days as well (I mean, he is a baby after all) but over all, he's so even tempered and happy.  Just like his daddy!

... LOVES his solid food.  He has now currently had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, peaches, pears, mango, avocado, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots.  So far, he likes it all.  Initially he wasn't a fan of avocado but I think it's hard to live in California and keep that up!

... still doesn't love his bottle and formula.  He drinks it but it can be quite a challenge...especially now that he is getting so busy and would rather play!!

... is on the move!!  He is crawling everywhere and I have realized that life is changing a little bit.  I've gotta keep my eye on him! It's so much fun though.  He loves to be moving around and checking everything out.

... is now finally liking his doorway jumper.  He does more of a run/dance in it than a jump but does it with squeals of delight.

... still has two bottom teeth but is now working on the top two.  When will they make their appearance?!

... LOVES "talking."  He is quite social and I know that when he is able to talk, we'll be having some lengthy conversations.  Can't wait to hear what's on his mind. :)

.... sits up all of the time!  When he was learning to walk, he would take one step and then sit for while.

... still loves his sleep.  He loves his crib and enjoys playing in it for awhile before he actually goes to sleep.  Yes, I know I'm very lucky.

... loves his momma and dadda.  Matt gets more giggles and peels of laughter than I'd ever dream of getting.  I get adoring looks and coos.  Yeah, we're in love.

Can you tell that we love parenthood!?  There have been challenges and I know there will be so many more but we feel so blessed.