[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!