GROW

I haven't shared a layout in sooo long! I took these pictures of the kids while they played outside in the tree last August. When I saw the colorful tree paper from Little Yellow Bicycle in September, I knew exactly what I was going to do. Sadly, the paper and the photos sat on my desk until just yesterday.

I added some other papers, fringed the green to make it look like grass with my Martha Stewart scissors, and a Dear Lizzy glittered chipboard "grow." The little embellies next to the pictures are from Fancy Pants.

I always say how fast the kiddos are growing up. I want them to grow, but just a little s l o w e r. I miss the days where they just want to cuddle on a lap and read a book. Now, they play soccer together in the mud and have to strip down in the garage before even thinking of coming in the house. Anna reads to Elan and Mac is loosing all his teeth. Elan makes himself a snack without wanting any help and they all go on "path hiking" adventures together. I sit home and wait for someone that needs a hug or kiss... and I'm not ashamed to say that I bribe them with treats so they will sit and talk to me.

Grow on little buddies...

Oh Joy!

Like I promised... our Christmas card for 2011. I send out over a hundred cards every year- they can't ALL be handmade! So, I order some photo cards and the handmade ones get the same photo inserted.

I love the most recent comment from someone that received our card, "I love how you don't match your kids in holiday outfits and don't make them pose!" Not sure if I should be offended or not! :) I like to send out photos that express who my children are- not what they are pretending to be, with cheesy smiles and stiff poses, cringing at an outfit that I made them wear for 10 minutes and will never wear again! And actually, they do match! And this is who they are... darling, toothless, playful and full of Christmas JOY!

Holiday Festivities!

Merry Christmas, friends! This week has started off pretty good... the kids are out of school, all the stationery and holiday card orders have been placed, signed, sealed and delivered! I always try to keep the week before Christmas for myself. I love to bake and fix delicious cookie boxes for friends, neighbors and family. I try to stop and enjoy the week before Christmas with my kiddos, try to absorb their excitement and anticipation!

Last week, we had Mac's Christmas program at school. He got to play the bongo during one of the songs and he was so into it! He sang his little heart out!

Anna also had her Angel Program at school. She got to sign a solo part and she was very proud! She looked like an absolute angel, despite the fact that she had a stomach virus. It lasted a long 6 days!

I'll be back with our holiday card for 2011! Enjoy the night!

Happy 7th Birthday, Anna!

My oh my, how fast seven years has passed. Anna, sweet girl, you have grown up so much in just the past year that it is frightening. You are too old for bows and precious cotton dresses, you want to dress like me and have sparkles in your ears. You still have a taste for adventure and excitement and seem to fear so little.

Holiday World, August, 2011

You continue to excel in sports, soccer being one of your favorites. Maybe it's because daddy coaches and your bestie, Molly, plays too:

Fall Soccer, 2010

You are still a great runner and you sometimes ask to go with me on my runs. I hope you still like running in a few years so we can do a quick few together. You'd be great company!

Rodes City Run, March, 2011

All I ask of you is to be the best you can be, by your own standards. Be yourself, be unique. Never be ashamed of who you are and always stand up for what you believe in. Do what's right. Be smart. You are such a blessing, and every time I think of you, I smile.

Layout: November 2010

Happy Birthday, darling daughter. I love you.

Bunny Love

The newest member of our family is the bunny. Anna has wanted a bunny since she could talk. Well, after talking to Stephen and batting her eyes, she got one. We got it from a "rabbit farmer" if you will, and she carefully chose the perfect one. A cinnamon colored bunny that she would later name, Cinnamon. how original... :)

So, Anna has treated the bunny like a stuffed animal. She carries it everywhere, holds it and pets her until her fur starts falling out. She takes her up to her bedroom and plays, but the funniest thing I have ever seen, is Anna taking this bunny for a walk in the wagon. It needed documenting...

This little bunny just sits in the wagon and rides! It's so funny- she doesn't even try to hop out!

Anyway, all the little embellies are mostly from October Afternoon and that stitching along the edges, it's faux... drawn on with a white pen. :) 

Well, this little bunny has grown a lot since these pictures were taken. She's about 8 pounds and 3-4 times bigger than in these pictures. She is awfully sweet though!

Wanna Dance?

Hello, crafty friends! I have a layout today! This weekend was very productive in the creation department, so I got lots done and the inspiration was rollin'! I used this weeks sketch from Sketchy Thursdays, which I *loved*. In fact, I have two more layouts in the process using the same sketch... one for each of the boys. I hope to share them on Wednesday. Here's the sketch:

Here's my layout:

I had loads of fun doing this page- used some paint, tape, different borders, chipboard... Anna loves it- she wants to put it in her room. ;) It's of her and Stephen dancing at my cousins wedding we went to a couple weeks ago while we were at the beach. So fun...

Scrapping Everyday Miracles- Challenge #1

Hello, friends! Today is the first challenge over at the brand spankin' new blog, Scrapping Everyday Miracles! Be sure to check out the blog for some awesome inspiration!

Hopefully you had a chance to hop with us this last week and check out the DT and their awesome work. Each of the Design Team members made a layout showing what God is doing in their life, focusing on the little things....those everyday miracles!

My layout is of my daughter, Anna. She finds such happiness in the everyday, little things. She loves to swing, climb trees, gets giddy over finding a bug, she always brings her own sunshine. She is such a blessing!

Now it is your chance...

Little Things Challenge... What kind of everyday little things is God showing you in your life?

Don't forget our Scrap TWIST!
Please use computer journaling to journal and paint/mist. Computer journaling doesn't have to be just journaling that you print from your computer... it can embellishments that have pre-printed journaling on them. For example a sticker that has the perfect quote on it.... or a die cut frame that has something meaningful printed on it... so in short make it yourself or use something pre-made. The paint/mist is self explanatory and easy I think!

Link up your layout to the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog post by June 30th.... and you could win a prize from our lovely sponsor.... ME!... A gift certificate to choose what you like from my Etsy shop! Yay!

Not only can you possibly win some some of my cute felties, but from all of the layouts submitted for June's Challenges, the DT will pick their top 3 layouts.... and if you are our top favorite you will win a spot as our Guest Designer for August. FUN!

I can't wait to see what you create!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my beautiful mother's 65th birthday.The kids and I got to spend most of our afternoon with her, doing art, talking and eating ice cream! My mom is my very best friend and I am so lucky to get to spend so much wonderful time with her. In a couple days...a whole week with her at the beach... we leave Saturday!

My mom doesn't love anything as much as she loves her 12 grandchildren! This picture was taken 2 years ago on the beach. She is with all her granddaughters- since then, another has been born!

Mom and Anna having a moment this weekend... Anna said, "Mimi, you are the grandmother that I love the most." Mom has a very special bond with all three of my children, we are so lucky.

 I love you, Mom. You are a rock, an inspiration and the most wonderful friend anyone could hope for. Thanks for teaching me to be just like you. Happy Birthday.

JB- Sugar Plums!

Today, I am the Guest Designer over at Jingle Belles! I came across this inspiration board on the Paper Doll Romance blog and it was titled "Visions of Sugar Plums." I thought it would be a great prompt for a holiday card! It reminds me of the Nutcracker, and all that purple, glittery goodness reminds me of how sweet the holidays actually are!This is the card I came up with: I was inspired by the bottom right corner of the photo. I loved the garland and the ballet shoes, and how soft it all looked. So, I pulled out some sugar plum colors, coarse glitter, white ink and some scissors and went to town!

As I was crafting, 2 of my 3 shadows were close. So close, they wanted to make a skate card too. Ugh... I agreed and then they went to town with glitter, the Cuttlebug, ink and rhinestones. I love that they want to create, but they get everything out and make a huge mess. I still have coarse glitter on my desk... 3 days later!

Here is Anna's card. She is 6 and I believe she is adopting my "clean and simple" style. But the girl does love glitter, and more is, well, more! Her favorite tools- stamps and markers!

Here is Elan's card. He is 4. Anna was a bit perturbed that he kind of "copied" off of her card, but actually, he copied my card. How about those orange socks? He's quite the stamper! His favorite tools- the Cuttlebug and Glue Dots.I hope you will join the Jingle Belles blog this week and make a Sugar Plum card! With all this purplicious inspiration, I don't see how you could pass up the challenge! ;)

Can't wait to see all the creations!

PolkaDot Door Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome! Today, I am participating in the first Polkadot Door Designs blog hop! It lasts through the week with tons of fun, inspiration and prizes! I hope you will join us and browse from one creative blog to the next!
For the first blog hop, Polkadot Door decided on an inspiration challenge to base a layout, card or project on. I love this picture of colorful goodness, inspiration is all over it:
At first glance, I was drawn in by the colors. So fresh, bright and springy! So, I based my layout on color inspiration:

Then, I really was digging those pinwheels. So, I made another project... lots of the same colors, but with a handmade embellie!
My two boys sharing a birthday party- this layout goes in my oldests book! ;)

A close up of the pinwheel:
Now it's your turn! All of the blog hop details can be found HERE. The blog hop list is below, and I encourage you to start at the beginning if you found yourself here first! After you cruise the hop and get loads of inspiring ideas, link up your creation at the Polkadot Door Designs site!

Kim {begin here}

Natasha

Geri

Amanda {you are here!}

Valerie

Jean

Diana

Nicole

Yvonne

Amy

Polkadot Door Designs

Have fun hopping, and if you create something, please leave me a link so I can check it out! A special thanks to Sarah and Rebecca for all their hard work putting together a fantastic blog hop!

Sketchy Layout

Here is my Sketchy Thursdays layout for the week! This is the sketch: I loved the sketch and instead of using 4 photos, I substituted some embellishments and a journaling card. :) Anna and Mac have changed so much since the first day of school! I love looking back at all these photos! Have a good day! It's beautiful here, so I'm off to run 5 or 6 miles!

Anna's Creations

This past Monday, Anna was out of school. I asked her what she wanted to do. Her response? Make cards! So, we sat at my desk and started crafting. The two of us sat together and just rummaged through the scraps I had laying on my desk and in baggies that I had put aside. She want to make a couple birthday cards. This one is for my niece, Lucy, who will be 4 on April 4th. Lucy is having a "zoo animal" party, so this card is perfect! It was all part of Anna's plan! This one is for *me*... aren't I lucky!? My birthday is on April 6. She wouldn't let me see the inside, but didn't mind that I saw the front. ;)

This is the one I made. It's not as fantastic as Anna's cards, but I am still learning from her. ;)

And, even Elan joined in the card making fun, but I regret to inform you that I forgot to take a picture of his creation. His card is piled up with festive goodies!

So, if you would be kind enough, please leave Miss Anna (she is six) some crafty LOVE! She gets so giddy when people comment on her craftiness!

A Two Pager!

This week, Sketchy Thursdays had a 2 page layout sketch! Usually, I hate doing a 2 pager because it typically takes twice as long. However, this time I was into it because I had some great pictures of Anna at her sixth birthday party. I always save an invitation to include in my layouts. (I also make the invitations myself... which explains the trendy banners!)

Here's the sketch... which was intimidating at first:

And my take:Here are the pages individually:

How cute is that banner paper from My Minds Eye? It matches my invitation perfectly! This is one of my favorite pictures of Anna, she is wearing the pinata as a hat!

So, I'm just making the sketch challenge entry by the hair of my chiney-chin-chin! It's been crazy busy around here! Not to mention that I decided last night to rip down the wallpaper in my giant foyer. What was I thinking?

Pixie Challenge

I have a blog friend named Lauren. She is super talented... every creation she makes gets an "Ooh and Ahh" out of me! She is very inspiring and I visit her blog frequently because she always has something darling to gawk at!

She is on the design team for Pixie Dust Paperie and I thought I would scoot over there to see for myself what this blog is all about. There is a fantastic sketch up right now for the challenge going on. You know how I just love a good sketch! So, off I went to dig up a couple of my favorite photos.

The Sketch:

And my take on the sketch:

I love how this turned out... the layout is happy, just like my Anna!
You have until February 5 to link up your creation if you want to play along! Check it out!

Cute Cards

Here are a few cute cards...

Anna made this one by herself:

The airplane paper is from Echo Park and I'm not gonna lie when I say my eye twitched a little when she used a piece, and the fabric kite is Martha Stewart. The sentiment is a Papertrey stamp. Anna continues to amaze me with her creativity! She LOVES to make cards and I totally encourage it... as long as she doesn't use my favorite papers... I suppose I'm gonna have to get over that because she likes the same stuff I do!

These are two quick ones that I made:

The sentiment stamps are Papertrey Ink and the curly swirl is American Crafts. I made the layered fabric flowers with some scraps my mom gave me and finished them off with a button center. Super easy to make... I have been getting into fabric lately... it's a nice change and a great compliment to paper!

I fear that school will be cancelling for another snow day tomorrow. We already have about 4 inches and it's still snowing. Good thing I got to the craft store today and got some new stuff to play with! You never know when you might be stuck inside for a few days! ;)

Run... fast!

It's cold outside... and windy and dreary. The absolute perfect day to do some paper crafting! I finished a layout for the Sketchy Thursdays challenge and have finished up a few sets of note cards for friends. I'm planning for Valentines Day already!

Here's the layout...

I used all kind of pink on here, including some Tattered Angels mist and pink shimmer 3D paint.

The journaling reads: "Your first race at St. Albert was the Pumpkin Run in October, 2010. You got first place and were ahead of all the Kindergartners by 45 seconds. You even beat half of the girls in the 4th grade! Way to go, Runner Girl!"

A closer look:

The sketch:

Anna has been having hip problems again, so doing a layout of her running was quite fitting. She has been limping since Thursday... off to the Orthopedist tomorrow for hopefully some answers. Have a great day!

Just Poppin' In...

I have neglected the blog... so sorry... something had to be put on the back burner because I have been so busy. It's gift giving time and I am very thankful that I have so many loyal, wonderful repeat customers that want to give Paper Doll Stationery! I am blessed...

The Temptations show last week was very successful, I just finished the last of the personalized orders today. So, now, I can breathe for 10 minutes before I get back to working on more stock for the show at Glassworks on Saturday. Like I said... BUSY.

Anyway, I wanted to share this layout I did a few weeks ago of Anna at the beach. She was so pleased with all the treasures she found that summer and I wanted to remember it...

I have to run... by Christmas, I'm pretty sure my printer will need to be replaced. I'm surprised it hasn't started smoking yet. ;)

Soccer Mom

The challenge going on right now at These Are a Few of My Favorite Things is to scrap your fave sport. This is a no brainer for me... SOCCER! Stephen played in high school and college and all three of the kids play. So, needless to say, half the year, we spend on the soccer field. This year, however, was extra exciting... it was Anna's first year of soccer at St. Albert and Stephen was the coach. It was a great season...

I used a few random papers- literally laying on my floor, and added a few SRM stickers, black half beads, ribbon and those clouds are die cut from a PTI die and felt. I LOVE Papertrey Ink!!! Just got a special delivery from them today! ;)

Off I go... work, work, work!

Invitation & Thank Yous

Anna's sixth birthday has come and gone, but I forgot to share her invitations and matching thank you notes I made. I purchased the digital images off Etsy and designed them the way I wanted. They turned out pretty cute! I'm in love with these fill-in thank you notes, the biggest reason... Anna can write them herself!

I can't believe October is almost over. Do you have your trick-or-treats ready? Are your little ghouls costumes together? We have a Halloween event tonight, and I can't wait to get the kids dressed up- a skeleton, a cowgirl and a police officer. It will be fun! :)

I have been busy preparing for my holiday show, Temptations, and working on some Christmas gifts. If you are in the Louisville area, you should check out the show- it's November 16, 17 & 18. Click HERE for more information.

Finally... A Layout!

Look at what I have here... a scrapbook layout. These pictures of Anna, and the paper and stickers have been sitting on my desk for well over two weeks now. I finally got to get crafty today for a short time and put it all together. Elan was home sick today with the stomach bug, so most of my day was spent with him, wiping a behind and fetching drinks and Tylenol. The little guy is much better tonight. :)

Anna was in a "mood" and Stephen was behind the lens. He caught these funny pictures of her and they were begging to be scrapped! I inked the edges of the flower stickers and added some buttons and half pearls to the centers. I also hand stitched two sides of the layout- it looks really cool in person!

I used an old Sketchy Thursdays sketch for the layout too...

I hope to craft a bit more tomorrow, since the laundry is caught up and the house has been disinfected. Have a good night!