Sow

Well the flu caught up to me after all and I've spent the day the cleaning up the aftermath of a sick family of 5 - ick. But after much sleep we are all feeling better today and may even get out in this gorgeous snowy day to take a belated Christmas card photo!

Here is a layout completed for the final Elements and Color challenges of the year over at Design Dollies. The Elements wanted 1 photo, 1 title word, 1 cardstock, 1 patterned paper (Bella Blvd Chance of Rain) and 1 embellie (the cloud balloon bouquet). For Color there is orange in the title, tan as the background, royal blue in the clouds and chocolate brown as the journaling.

The journaling reads: "Sow: to scatter seeds in freshly plowed earth, hoping that with a little sunshine, rain water and weed maintenance a bounty of fresh, nutritious and delicious fruits will fill our stomachs in the fall.  Last Frost 2010: May 9th." 

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones!! I'll be taking a little blog vaca while the kids are on school break - see you soon!

First Snow

Just have a quick layout for you today - we are busy passing around a flu bug that is taking us down one by one - I have a feeling I might be next.

It was created using this sketch found on the Trailmaker's Challenge blog:

Hope you are feeling well and are all prepared for Christmas...

Last Minute Christmas Gift Idea

Looking for a last minute gift for grandparent's or other's that love your family just as much as you? You already have all the supplies, so why not make a photo book with photos and stories from each month of the year.  I started with a sketch from Jessica Sprauge,  altering it where it felt appropriate and added some embellishments to the cover for a custom look.

Please excuse the photo here, my mom enjoys a little potty humor.

Using the sketch, this came together in an afternoon. To make it even quicker, use a paper stack or other coordinated kit. I know Grandma will enjoy this (if only because she asked for it last year) and it's a far better than any purchased gift.

Have you finished all your handmade gifts or do you wait til the last minute?

Supplies: October Afternoon Fly A Kite and Thrift Shop 8x8 paper stacks, Inkadinkado month stamps

O Christmas Cards!

Maybe it's the lack of caffeine pumping through my veins this morning, but I'm feeling at a loss for words. In lieu, here are several photos of the Christmas cards I made this weekend to accompany the homemade treats we are handing out to teachers, neighbors and friends:

This first one was for my sister and her BF. It's tied at the bottom to keep her from peeking at the gift card within. (And don't you be untying either sis!)

It's misted to give the look of a snowy day.

I like the pieced background of this next set.

Gold looks so pretty with traditional Christmas colors!

A little bling makes a big statement!

Gosh, that snowflake punch and stamp were really put to good use this season!

And one more closeup. Too bad I don't have many more of those bracelet gems - they are so pretty! All these cards were created with Basic Grey Figgy Pudding and Wassail. The papers still feel so modern even though they are a few years old.

I'll be linking these up at Paper Issues...don't forget to stop by and link up all the Christmas related projects you've been working on this season!!

Princess Birthday Week: Day 5 - Decor

Here is a peek at the birthday decorations. I seriously need to learn how to take indoor photos! We made a bunch of tissue paper pom-poms, a hanging floral wreath and my favorite - a doily happy birthday banner!

To make the wreath, I wrapped some tulle netting around a store bought wood vine wreath, pinned punched and layered flowers around it and hung it from the ceiling with ribbon. I am hoping to eventually turn this into a pretty canopy to hang over her bed by attaching a length of sheer material.

And here is the banner! It doesn't stand out so well against the white wallpaper but it really turned out so girly and pretty! Its a mix of Basic Grey Euphoria, Dear Lizzy Enchanted and a few other random bits mixed in.

The base is a paper doily cut in half. They are stitched together with some paper bias tape. The next layer is a cupcake liner, then a pinked circle, an accordion folded paper flower and some extra toppings.

No two are the same.

The letters were originally patterned but I made them work by misting with Mr. Huey in Dark Calico.

Was happy that Euphoria worked into this so well - it was the first line of papers I purchased after really discovering this whole world of paper crafting but the colors make it kind of hard to use.

Hope you can find some inspiration in the posts this week even if we are all knee deep in the craze of Christmas. I'd love to see the birthday decor you've made - please leave a link in the comments!

Have a great weekend!

Princess Birthday Week: Day 4 - Games

As it turns out, all the kids were far too nervous to play any of the games we had prepared! Next time we will definitely put the kids in a separate area so they aren't in the middle of the room with everyone starting at them. Here are 5 fun and simple games to keep the little guests entertained at your next princess gathering:

Dress-up
This one is easy! Just hang a variety of pretty dresses, jackets, hats and tutus on a rack and let the little ones put their imaginations to work.

Princess Musical Pillows
A princess take on the classical musical chairs. Instead of chairs, lay down a row of pretty decorative pillows. If there are 6 kids, only use 5 pillows. Turn on some princess music, have the kids dance around the room and stop the music. The child who doesn't sit on a pillow is out and the last one standing gets to wear a special tiara.

Cinderella's Slipper
This is very similar to hot potato. The children stand in a circle and pass a pretty high heel around while music plays. Stop the music, strike the clock midnight (ring a bell perhaps) and the child left holding the slipper has stayed too late at the ball and is out. Again, the last one standing gets to wear the tiara.

Face Painting
I don't think one ever gets old, even for me!!

Princess I-Spy
Put a variety of items on a pretty serving tray (jewelry, doll clothes, ribbon, polly pocket size dolls, candy, etc, etc).

For younger children, give them clues to help them guess the item you are thinking of. For instance, "I spy with my little eye, something pink." Let one child guess, give another clue and choose another child to guess until the item is chosen. Let the one who guesses correctly keep the prize, but limit it to one item per child until every child gets a prize.

For kids a little older, you can also turn this into a memory game. Let them look at the items on the tray for 10 seconds, cover it and have them write down what they remember. The one with the most correct items gets to choose a prize from the tray. Rearrange and continue until every child has a prize.

Check back tomorrow for my final princess party post - some close-ups of the party decor!

Princess Birthday Week: Day 3 - Dress

Didn't get the chance to take any more photos of the dress I made for Rora's birthday today - the hubby invited me on an impromptu road trip to Atlantic, IA (which by the way had a thrift store chock-full of wonderful treasures!!) - but here are some more party pics which hopefully give you a closer look.

The pattern used is Simplicity 2767, which I also used to make this dress. Love the mandarin style color even if it is a pain in the butt to pin down. There are several variations of the dress that could be more princess-like, but because she was already getting a dress-up gown as a gift, I decided to make a less formal dress that could be worn for everyday.

The blue fabric (her favorite color) is Hunky Dory by Chez Moi for Moda. LOVE the little spring buds on this fabric - they make me so happy!  

The red polka dot is leftovers from a project earlier this year. Spy the little vintage buttons at the shoulder seam? They were the only extras added since the fabric is already so busy. Thanks for those Grandma A!

And just one more indulgent pic - she is so excited about this Rapunzel wig!

Check back tomorrow for some fun princess games!

Princess Birthday Week: Day 2 - Invitations

Today I am sharing with you the party invitations made with the magical new Dear Lizzy collection, Enchanted. Seriously these papers are so fun and girly - the color palette is perfection! Doesn't it remind you of Liberty of London fabrics? But enough drooling, and on to the close-ups:

The cards are basically the same layout with the only difference being the journaling card - I only had two of each design. This one has a little hand stitching.

The glittery butterflies add that extra princess touch ;)

And this one is my favorite - I imagine the frame is a magic mirror.

Tomorrow I'll share some more details about her dress - thanks for the nice comments from those of you who saw it yesterday!!

Princess Birthday Week: Day 1 - Treats

Maybe I mentioned this last week, but Saturday was my daughter Aurora's 3rd birthday! It's hard to believe she is almost out of that toddler stage and is growing into such a lovely and polite little girl!!! I spent nearly 3 weeks planning and prepping and making decorations for the party only to have a blizzard warning cut back the attendance. What a shame. But we still had lots of fun and I wanted to share all the details with you in an entire Princess Party themed week!! - just in case you are planning your own princess party (minus the Disney).

I looked through lots of photos from Marie Antoinette for inspiration and although I probably couldn't bake any French pastries to save my life, was inspired to use a stuffed cupcake as her main dessert. Here is the recipe I used for the plain white cake (check out the reviews too - you need to add extra milk to keep the batter from getting too dry).

For the stuffing, I just mixed whipped cream with raspberry preserves and used a piping tip to fill after the cakes were baked. Here is the recipe for the buttercream icing - I added a few tablespoons of jam to it as well. Double the icing recipe if you plan on making more than 2 dozen cupcakes. Oh and leftovers will need to be stored in the fridge because of the whipped cream.

Mmmm, now which one shall I start with first?

Quick Christmas Tags

Simple is definetly my theme this Christmas. We have family on the way tonight for my daughter's birthday this weekend so last night I threw together these tags to adorn the gifts they will take back home with them.

I didn't purchase any of the new Christmas lines this year - maybe just a paper here or there - and used Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding line to create these tags. The tags were precut with a pattern I didn't care for so covered them with the new paper and just inked around the edges.



The jewels came off a broken bracelet and really take the tags from plain and simple to simple but sophisticated - just the way I like it.

Have a great weekend!!

Giveaway: Elle magazine

Okay, so Elle sent me a notice - "last chance to renew your subscription" before it runs out in March 2012. Do other magazines send these notices out so far in advance? And in my fear of missing out on an issue - my connection to the big city life I've always dreamed about - I often get tricked into securing my subscription far, far in advance. But this time they sent a little something extra - renew and get a FREE gift subscription. Well, by golly, you've sucked me again Elle! Would you like to be the lucky recipient of a magazine subscription with relevant articles not only on fashion but relationships, politics, media, and general out-of-reach luxury?

There are three ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post and become a follower of Honor Roll.

2. Repost a link to the giveaway on your own blog/twitter/message board

 and leave a comment letting me know where.

3. Do both for two chances to win!!

I'll randomly choose a winner on Dec 17th and will post the winner here. Good luck!

XOXO December Challenge #14 - Maleah

Isn't my little step-daughter just a doll? You might remember these photos from this post - they have been begging to be scrapped! It's hard to believe she is already 3 and a half!

I used these pics to create my layout for XOXO this month. Since the pics have an autumn feeling I stuck with a warm, earthy palette punctuated by a pop of pink (hee!) - her favorite color. We did a little interview to get to text for the journaling, which she enjoyed.

So what do you think? Liftable? Head on over to the blog to check out what the other Lipstick Chicks have put together to inspire you this month. To enter this month's challenge, scraplift one or more creations and don't forget to link up! You could win a fabulous prize from Candy Shoppe Designs!