October 22, 2012

Wicky Witch


Hello Monday! I am up on the Clearsnap blog today with a new tutorial for creating this witch canvas with the new Stephanie Barnard Sprays! inks. 

Come take a peek and have a great week!

October 18, 2012

Halloween Treat Bag


Hello again! I am up on the Pink by Design blog today - click here to see the rest of this Halloween treat bag using the Chevron Background, Nature Walk and Instantly plus pigment inks from Colorbox.

Hope your day is great!

Animal Mask Pattern @ The Odd Girl


Hi there. Just popping in today to share about a guest post I have up at The Odd Girl. Kristy kindly invited me to celebrate her blog this month and is sharing tutorials and giveaways all month long - I hear there is even a Copic marker giveaway so be sure to check it out! She designs the cutest stamps - digital and acrylic - too so be sure to visit Some Odd Girl stamps to take a peek!

I am sharing a pattern and tut for these felt animal masks. Super easy to create and perfect for everyday play or a last minute Halloween costume! View the entire post here.

I made a few extra too just in case you don't have time to create your own - they are available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Thanks and have a great day!

October 15, 2012

Fall Always Love You


Happy Monday! My little babe is now at the 3 week old mark and I'm finally feeling like things will be back on a schedule soon. Not quite yet but I am starting to see it on the horizon :)

This is a layout I created for the last theme over at Paper Issues - Fall'n For Flair, sponsored by A Flair For Buttons.  Sadly the page was finished waiting for photos and I only got to finish it this weekend. Better late than never!


The photos are some I took via Instagram on school picture day and the product is mostly valentine's day stuff inked and altered to give it a more weathered, autumn-y look.

There are a few goodies snuck in too from my Last Summer Romance kit in the PI shop - only 2 left in stock!


Our little sweeties. However did we get so lucky to have such good looking kids? I bet every mom says that :)

Have a great day!

October 13, 2012

Halloween Harvest

Paper Issues - Halloween Harvest Theme DT Projects

Hi there! Are you busy carving Jack-o-Lanterns and putting together some spooky decor this weekend? I wish I was!! Halloween is the new theme at Paper Issues - generously sponsored by Gossamer Blue Kit Club!

Link up your paper projects and enter to win here.

Find a lotta inspiration from our talented creative team on the blog hop starting here.

Pick up some new goodies in the Paper Shop. How about this gorgeous fall wreath kit from Maya Road? Use code LOVE20 for 20% off your order.

Have a great weekend!

October 11, 2012

The Story of Eli

(Just a fore warning: This is a birth story - it may get gross so feel free to skip this post if those kind of details are not for you.)


My tiny Eli.

You forget just how small a newborn baby is until you're holding them in your arms. All those months spent preparing, all the pain and pushing that will seemingly never end and then there he is lying on your chest - time just stops.


So here are the official facts.

name: Eli Everett Alery
born: September 22, 2012 - 3:00am
size: 7lbs 11oz - 20.5 inches long


Tyler said as soon as he made his official entrance and the doctor laid him on the table, he rolled onto his side and started screaming like a bobcat.  At this point the details are a little hazy for me but this description of a little warrior sounds about right for a son of my husband.

So here's how we got to that point.

Friday night I was lying in bed watching episodes of 90210 on Netflix (teen drama shows are my guilty pleasure, don't judge) when suddenly there was a big sploosh of fluid and I realized my water just broke. Doesn't that only happen in the movies?! That was 10:45pm.


Of course this was the only night the hubby had went out in the past 2 weeks so I had to call him away from the truck pulls wondering if I would be driving myself to the hospital. Turns out I didn't. No contractions had started yet so I began packing up the car in a frenzy, running back in the bathroom as amniotic fluid is dripping all over everything and panicking because surely I will forgot something important.

We made it to the hospital at midnight. I had several contractions on the 30 minute drive there that got up to only a few minutes apart but we were chatting and laughing the whole way up. This is going to be so quick and easy, I kept thinking.

Hubby dropped me off at ER entrance and I started making my way to the maternity wing. Somehow I got lost, stopped to breathe through a contraction in the hallway and a nurse leaving from her shift found me and pushed me in a wheelchair the rest of the way there.


Next was the tiny check-in room. It was disappointing to find out I was only dilated to 3.5 (it was at 3 just two days earlier.) The nurse also thought there was meconium in the amniotic fluid so she had to hook my belly up to a stress monitor to keep an eye on the baby. Turns out there was none and it was just darkened blood from something else.

At this point my contractions are getting more intense and they moved me to the last room left in the maternity ward. We finish up the paperwork and check in process just in time for the real pain to begin. My baby is facing up and the contractions are all in my back now. It hurts worse than anything I could have imagined. I keep switching positions, sitting on the ball and nothing is helping. He keeps turning around too so I feel the contractions move from the front and just as I get comfortable they are all in the back again. Tyler is pushing with all his strength onto my lower back and while it brings some relief, its not enough.

I really wanted to have this child natural, with no epidural or pain medication (I did with my daughter and even said "I could do that again" immediately after her birth) but this is just too much. I tell my husband I can't do it - the back labor is too intense. His tries to convince me through 3 more contractions when I break down and ask the nurse what the options are without the epidural. IV meds that will progressively become less effective with each dose and will have to stop before delivery becomes imminent as to not affect the baby. I consider what to do through 2 more contractions and that's when I feel the urge to push.


They lay me down on the bed to check dilation and see I am at 8 or 9. Too late for any pain meds. My baby has turned back face down, the back pains decrease and I push through the contractions. I pushed and pushed and his little head would just not pop through. Tyler didn't think it was possible. I was screaming, panting and bearing down with every ounce of strength in my body when finally his little head popped out. Then the shoulders. Then his body; the placenta. Sweet relief. It took a lot of pep-talk telling myself just keep pushing, it's almost over, he's almost here.

And then he was here. Time stopped, my heart swelled and all the bustle of nurses in the room and the doctor stitching me back together just faded into the background.

Although this time I said I am definelty not doing that again.

Welcome to the world little one. <3

October 6, 2012

World Card Making Day!


Hello and happy world card making day! It's been pretty busy around our house with a new little boy babe these past couple weeks so I probably won't have a chance to craft along with you all today but I do have a card to share and some good stuff to give away too so keep reading!



This is a card I made one night after reading the kids In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak before bed. After they finished giggling about the naked boy in the story and settled in, I snuck off and put together this card inspired by the image on the very last page. It kind of has a 70's vibe, do you think? My great grandma used to have a bunch of these odd sized cards with funky images on the front from that era. Plus the sun rays kind of look like an afro :)

Okay so onto the giveaway, but first to support a couple company's that I love....


Post your cards onto the Paper Issues FB page for a chance to win one of 4 $20 gift certificates to the Paper Shop! Woot Cassie!!


Pink by Design is also doing a challenge to celebrate the day for cards other than your typical A2 size. Stop by the blog to link up your square, easel and gatefold cards.


And I am giving away this half pint set called What's Your Number - super cute right?! Also a box full of card-making goodies from my stash - didn't have a chance to take a pic so it'll just have to be a surprise :) A mystery box!!

If you would like to be entered to win, please leave a comment below about anything you'd like, and if you are not already a follower of this blog, then please become one! I'll keep entries open through Monday night.

Have a wonderful day of card crafting!!

October 4, 2012

Let's Get Dolled Up


I'm up today on the Pink by Design blog with a card using the Girlfriends stamp set!

Seriously overestimated the amount of free time I would have after the baby arrived. Also hoping to post a little more about him soon :)