In The Garden

Hi again! Back with today's and Wednesday's projects for our In The Garden theme over at the Pink by Design blog. Things have been a bit crazy around here with strep throat and snow days so I am a bit behind!

I stamped the Big Hexagon Background for the under layer and added some jumbo die-cut flowers on top along with a sentiment from the November SOTM - Joyful Tags. This card was actually inspired by fellow team member Liz - she is so amazing at mixing up bold patterns that I wanted to try it out too!

The large rosette was easily created with a border punch - these often go neglected in my craft arsenal so I was happy to find another use for them.

1. Cut 12" long by 1.5" wide strip of paper.
2. Punch edge of paper strip with border punch. Start in the middle for best results.
3. Score paper strip every 1/4 inch and accordian fold.
4. Adhere ends of strip together to form a rounded shape.
5. Secure center with heavy duty glue and punched circle. Add bling or embellish as desired.

Today's inspiration is anything other than a card - I put together this gift bag for the twins' grandma who is celebrating her birthday today. Since she is named after a bird, I thought this tag with feathers would be perfect for housing a gift the kids picked out for her.

I used a sentiment from What's Your Number and the heart is from Pocketful - both are the mini Half Pint stamp sets which are so cute and affordable!

You have until tomorrow night at midnight CST to link up your take on the garden theme - remember, you don't have to use PBD but we certainly love to see it! Do it here or take this link to visit the Pink by Design blog for more inspiration.

Enjoy the weekend!

Christmas Mini Album

One last project to wrap up the week and also the current challenge at Pink by Design. Today the team is sharing projects that are anything but a card. I knew there wouldn't be enough time to make a December Daily album this year (and honestly my one from last year isn't even completely finished) but we still need some kind of album to commemorate this Christmas. It will probably just be shots and journaling from Christmas morning and that's okay. This month is flying by way to fast and our tree isn't even up yet!

The outside sleeve is a mix of patterned papers from Echo Park and stamped and/or inked die-cut triangles. They are all glued onto a backing paper. I am so in love with this random combo of colors! They came from a page in 'Olive the Other Reindeer." Children's books are such a great source of color inspiration.

I used What's Your Number to stamp the 25 and on the background - Houndstooth Background and Fresh Goodies.  Some of the pennants are just inked and blended with Colorbox Pigment Ink and then spritzed with spray ink.

The inside pages are all ready for pictures and text. I glued more patterned paper down to an accordion folded album.

Linking up to these challenges:
Moxie Fab World - Keen On Neon
Two Peas In A Bucket - Echo Park Project Challenge

And that's all for me today. You have until tomorrow to link up for a chance to win a $10 GC to the Pink by Design store. Good luck and have a fantastic weekend!

Fabric Pumpkins

** This is my second post today. If you are looking for the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, please scroll down or click here.

Today is the final post for the favorite challenge project on the Pink by Design blog and we are sharing projects that are not cards. I have been seeing these fabric pumpkins all over pinterest and just had to make some too! There are lots of patterns going on here but each one incorporates a little bit of gingham.

This version is a little more squat than others I've seen and is quicker to stitch up too! Rather than sewing together three sides of a panel, cut a circle and stitch up only the edge. It's so quick and easy that you can even do it by hand - which I had to since my sewing machine is on the fritz!

This large one is my favorite and used a jumbo gingham fabric. I added some die cut leaves (felt and glittered paper), a sentiment and tag from Everyday Banners and a couple buttons. 

The middle one is extra girly with a pretty floral fabric. One leaf is stamped with the Gingham Background and again I added an Everyday Banners sentiment and tag plus a glittered button and bow made with my 3 Girl Jam bowmaker. To balance out the feminine quality of these pumpkins and to make them a bit more seasonal, the stalk is cut from an actual tree branch wrapped with hemp twine to give the look of a dried up vine. 

And if were wondering - yes that hemp is leftover from my middle school hemp necklace making days. How it stayed around so long, I have no clue :)

The smallest pumpkin uses a few of the circles from Nature Walk to stamp onto fabric using Crafter's Ink. This time the glitter is on the fabric and the gingham comes in the form of a bow. 

If you have a chance, link up your projects using your favorite pattern on the Pink by Design blog for the chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the Pink Store. It can be a card, layout, tag, altered project - whatever you have in mind. We love to see your PBD stamps but any stamps are okay too!

Have a great weekend!

Thankful For You Friend

My boys in camo.

I am going to have to start posting our photos and notes here to come back and reference as it seems my mommy brain is letting our memories slip through the cracks! And I never get around to posting photos to Facebook.

Tyler is so proud and loves being able to impart all of his man knowledge onto the boys. Love them <3

Today I have another card to share for the Pink by Design challenge theme. More gingham! But you can link up with any pattern that is your favorite. Add your card to the linky for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the PBD store!

I used the Everyday Banners stamp set (quickly becoming a favorite) along with the Gingham Background to create this thankful card. The vellum is stamped with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan and heat set to dry. The color combo came from a Fiestaware display at Younkers - love those colorful dishes!

Am also linking up to these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - Thanksgiving/thank you.
My Mind's Eye - Gratitude

 Have a great day!

Happy - Instant Photo Mini Book

Hi and happy Thursday!

I'm up today on the Pink by Design blog - stop over to check out the details of this mini album for storing all your instant phone photos!

December Daily: Day 9-12

edited in Picasa

Hey there! Hope you had the merriest of Christmas', I know we did!

The last couple days I seemed to have caught a stomach bug, combined with a enormous headache and now I am so behind on many things. Mind if I just jump right into the next four pages of the DD so I can cross blogging off the to-do list for today? Thanks :)

Day 9 and 10 spread. A fun mix of colors and patterns.

Day 9. At the Nutcracker ballet.

Journaling reads, "This was the first year either of us attended the Nutcracker and it was an amazing experience. You asked questions about little Clara throughout the show and couldn't pull your eyes away from the enchanting dancers. Hoyt Sherman is such a beautiful building and we had lots of fun exploring the corridors, stairways and antiques, all dressed up in fancy clothes."

Envie contains some extra Instagram photos from this month.

Day 10. Pierced ears

Journaling reads, "Today we went with Grandma Nette to have your little ears pierced. You were both excited and scared. Leah was very brave and went first while Rora left with Grandma. When Rora came back for her turn, we assured her it wouldn't hurt but Leah looked at her very seriously and said "It hurts!" The piercing lady could not stop laughing! You both cried but were fine after about 5 minutes, a sucker and a long gaze in the mirror.

Day 11 & 12 spread

Day 11. Birthday girl

Journaling reads, "Today we celebrated Aurora's 4th birthday! Your party was small but fancy and Grandma Nette was able to come down too. You requested a chocolate cake and cupcakes with raspberry frosting and sprinkles. You wore your lace birthday dress and a crown and gave an enthustistic "thank you" after opening each gift. I couldn't be prouder of my big girl!"

Day 12. Building a gingerbread house

Journaling reads, "We attempted to build a gingerbread house today with graham crackers, frosting and lots of candy. You each decorated your own side, but Leah especially loved putting each little piece of candy in exactly the right place. The house never did hold together, but we sure enjoyed munching on the rubble!"

Again, most of these supplies were a gift from Sarah of The Paper Bakery and the rest is older product from my stash. Links below.

Enjoy your vacation week!

-

InLinkz.com

A Charming Afternoon - Paper Bakery Sketch #1

It feels like it's been a long, long time since I've made something just for fun and not for an assignment so yesterday and today I decided to ignore the things I need to be doing and just make a layout for fun. If felt really good and not I am so ready to get back on task.

For this page, I used a sketch by Grace Tolman for The Paper Bakery. Have you checked out this kit club? Love the stuff they put together and the fact that they have project kits. Good stuff for sure.

Also tried out some new dies and brand new Design Adhesives - can you see it there on the right side? The glitter is so light you can't really make out the design but it's a bird. The flower is made from pattern paper scraps from the Halloween costume patterns.

The journaling reads "You become terribly bored on the weekends your bro & sis go to visit their other family, so we stay busy by taking trips to the park to play." Very true. She can hardly stand playing by herself anymore. We often head up to the Martensdale park to ride on the bike trail, swing and play on the equipment.

Also used the sketch to take care of a few leftover paper scraps. Grids just make life easier don't they?

Here's the sketch in case you want to play along too. Have a spooky Halloween weekend! The hubs is taking me to a haunted house tonight - my favorite!

Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill, American Crafts

Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye, Sassafras Lass, Crate Paper, Studio Calico, Echo Park, Basic Grey

Ink: Colorbox Decades Antiquing Ink - Venetian Lace, Colorbox Mix'd Media Inx - Leather

Glitter, Design Adhesives - Clearsnap

Embossing Powder - Top Boss

Stamps - My Mind's Eye, Papertrey Ink

Mist - Maya Road, Studio Calico

Die Cuts - Pebbles, Crate Paper,

Punches, Dies - Martha Stewart, Marcy Uchida, EK Sucess, Spellbinders, PTI

Jewels - Cosmo Cricket

Button - Pebbles

Brads - Basic Grey

Twine - My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee

Alpha Stickers - October Afternoon

Adhesive - Clearsnap Glue Gloss, TomBow