Cool your Jets!
I don't think anyone needed to cool their Jets… it was more like light a fire and cuddle up to stay warm ..for us adults anyway. The boys ran around enough to stay warm and watching them and keeping up was enough for us not to freeze! We celebrated Ethan's birthday on his actual birthday yesterday! It was a great time and was a perfect excuse for me to make something aside from cards and scrapbook pages! Of course those are fun too and I will be back with his birthday card to share but for now I'll share his birthday and the projects we made to decorate and to give away for favors. All these little things also gave me an excuse to use my Stampin Up! product in a variety of ways! …not like I really need excuses!
I should add that up until a week ago, we were going to have his party at a pottery painting venue which was going to allow/require very little prepping or decorating on our part… but with the unusually nice weather here we couldn't resist attempting to throw Ethan his first ever outdoor party! So, with under a week to prepare, we threw the original plans out the window and pulled out all the stops (or tried to) to give him a Jets (our local NHL team) themed Back Yard Mini Sticks party! HE was TOTALLY thrilled!
I joked that I put as many hours into prepping for his party and got as little sleep getting it ready as I did for his birth (although that isn't a joke, it's true!). My labour with him was about 51 or 52 hrs (I lost track) and I'm sure that in the days immediately leading up to his party I put at least that many hours into the crafting (along with Ryan just like the labour was <wink>) to get ready for his big day! I have to say that although I'm exhausted now, I'm really happy that recovering from the party is much faster than recovering from his birth! Every. Single. Second. of both events has been absolutely worth it! It makes my heart smile to see the smile(s) on his face!
I have to admit that I go in spurts with using our digital crafting software, My Digital Studio (MDS ~ YOU can try for FREE for 30 days by clicking here) and really need to use it more often. It made some of these projects do-able! The theme wouldn't have been quite the same with out these little details! After creating his invite we decided we'd create 'player cards' for the kids to each take home. Using Jets symbols that Ryan found online, we came up with this player card. Unfortunately iphoto wasn't co-operating with us, so the kids will receive theirs next time we see them (after Spring Break)! I've mounted the front and back together and have laminated them for durability. The cousins got to take theirs home last night and were pretty happy with them!
Here are the front and back views
I think one of Ethan's favorite parts of his party were the 'jerseys' that he gave to all of his friends when they were 'drafted' to a team. I used the Serif Essential Alphabet and the Big Shot Fabric Adhesive Roll to create their names for their jerseys. This made it much simpler than sewing them on! We played 'pick a number' (the captain chose a number between 1 and 10 and the first player to guess the number was on that captain's team) to determine who got drafted to each team. As the players got drafted, they received their jersey and then had a photo op where I took their photo to be inserted into the template I had ready to go for the player cards. The captains took turns until all the players were drafted and I had taken each player's photo. Then, the game was on! Ryan was the ref and came up with reasons to send them to the penalty box or subbed them off to sit with me while I 'interviewed' them and filled in their stats! It was fun. One child's favorite number was 100,000,000! They were so much fun and it was kinda cool to hear all of their different answers and to see the trends amongst the kids and hockey!
We also gave the kids Trophies with a lanyard to use to attach their player card to if they wanted to. Inside the trophy was a bag of Oreo's. We gave those out in keeping with the theme of Ethan's cake, an oreo ice cream cake and because we had read somewhere in our scramble of looking for Hockey Themed party ideas that Oreo's make a great 'puck' treat/favor. Not sure if the idea behind them would be interpreted or not, we came up with this tag to attach to the the bags.
My Digital Studio totally saved me with prepping for this party! This tag literally took me 5 mins from the moment I decided it needed a tag, to designing it to printing it and punching them all out! Did you know that if you apply a 'punch' to your MDS project, it will print out in the actual size of our punches. This made is super simple to create these tags and get them on the bags! MDS also made customizing each trophy a breeze! It took more time to apply sticky strip to them so that I could adhere them to the trophy!
Here they are!
While the kids got to take their favors home and as such might have noticed a theme there, I'm sure the decorations are not something most kids (aside from the birthday kid) will notice. THIS birthday kid, TOTALLY noticed and was right into it. His words to me as he came into our room on his birthday morning after seeing a banner hanging in the living room along with tshirt pom poms were, 'I love all the stuff you made for my party Mom!' THOSE words were music to my ears and made every single detail and every single second worth the efforts. He is one boy who definitely appreciates all these little things! We were so happy to do this for him! We have a decent sized yard for living in the city and while the decorations definitely don't fill the yard, they filled our boy with happiness!
Here are the yarn balls that hung near the trophy table! I found a few tutorial on Pinterest and then just had to wing it/improvise! They were so fun and we're already planning more for Lennon's Pirate Themed Party in July!
Here are the banners we made in the colors of the Jets to decorate the fence. I was really hoping it wouldn't rain and it didn't thank goodness. These did look really neat blowing in the wind!
I also found a tutorial for these tshirt Pom Poms on Pinterest (my new favorite site) and thought they went great with the two Banners Ethan already had in his room. We'll hang the set in his room together now. He already has a place picked out!
If you remember the invite that I shared last week, I wanted to share it again with a new twist to show a new bar code that I created. I realized after I shared it that Ryan had used someone else's ticket (that he found online) and 'cased' it to come up with the first one I shared. So, even though I had already shared it here, I wanted to come up with my own barcode. It was very easy to create in MDS. I've attached it below the invite here. (turned landscape to save some space). Ethan also wanted me to update his photo!
I had quite a few more photos I wanted to share, but they were adding up so I put this together instead. The photo of all the boys all lined up totally cracks me up…pardon me for saying this, but it looks like they are 'taking a break' of the potty kind on my fence! I have also included a couple of Ethan all geared up to be goalie and a shot of the sticks that the kids all tossed in a pile in a hurry to run for cake! Enjoy!
Here's one last one of Lennon keeping watch!
Thanks for sticking with me! Hope you enjoyed the party and that our party has given you some idead for your own party! I'll definitely be back between now and then, but I'll use some of these same ideas for Lennon's party in July and will be sure to come back to share what some of this will look like with a Pirate Theme! Have a great week! I might even be back later with my Apothecary Art and Framelit Labels Class! …if I don't fall asleep before then, I'm exhausted…all this partying has tired me out!
Subscribe to the comments for this postAll Mixed Up & Classes are Back!
I'm back again to share a couple of classes with you! In the midst of birthday planning and funny weather, I'm teaching two fun classes! It has been so long since I've offered any extra classes (besides my clubs) and we have enjoyed some much needed quiet(er ~ I won't say it's really been all that quiet) time at home. After having a couple of months to catch up at home and with my boys, I'm back with some Stamp A Stacks to fill your card making/giving needs!
I have two classes to offer you this week. I may have a spot or two in the first one and have space available in both time slots for the Mixed Bunch class that I will picture first!
The first set of photos I have to share are actually of the 2nd class I have to offer, but the cards are my most recent creation and I'm excited to share! This is the set that's 'all mixed up' and these cards are full of a variety of techniques! This class will be offered Saturday, March. 24th at 1 pm and again on Tuesday, Apr. 3rd at 6pm, I will be offering this cute Mixed Bunch Boxed Card Set. Contact me if you'd like to join us!
Here is the full set of cards and the box. the box is pictured at the top.
I love how easy this style of box is to create and really love how nice it makes giving a set of cards to someone as a gift. A selection of hand made cards ready to give is always a useful gift! …even if you're me because those of you who know me, know I like to keep at least one of each sample! <wink>
Here are a couple of views of the inside of the box. I see myself making more of this style of box!
Here are the three cards. I love this 'peek-a-boo' idea and the variety of ways you can implement it!
The talented Erica Cerwin of Pink Buckaroo Designs designed the Mixed Blossoms card and I was immediately inspired! Thanks Erica for never ceasing to inspire!
I have also recently discovered a technique that I have featured on this card, Versa Shadow. I believe that Erin Gonzales, a US demonstrator came up with it and I just love it's impact! …and there is no surprise that I found her idea via Erica! You can just see a hint of the technique on the Island Indigo Cardstock. I will be using this technique at my clubs this month and shared it with my Technique Club last night…it was a hit! Thanks Erin!
Before I forget to share them, these are the cards that we'll be creating at this Thursday's Stamp A Stack. If you'd like to join us, I might have a spot or two left. Contact me if you'd like the details and would like to stamp with us!
The cards and flowers aren't all that's all mixed up! I mentioned earlier that we have had some unusually warm and dry (there is NO snow left) but rainy weather! I'm still holding out hope for Ethan's party to be outdoors (for the first time ever)! On the weekend, it was + 20 something so while we were outside and the boys were playing hockey in the yard I snapped some photos! They obliged me and sat down for one together! Here they are being 'good buddies' as they called it and spent the majority of the weekend getting along determined to be continue to be good buddies…I hope that part sticks too!
Thanks for stopping in again! I hope to be back with more projects to share tomorrow!
GAME TIME!
The game is about to begin! …well, we really have 5 days left and we are going to need every one of them to get ready for the best game of all time! …Ethan is turning 8 and we are counting down the days to his Hockey Themed Birthday Party, which will of course include a game of hockey (mini sticks)!
I had other things to share but I'll save those for tomorrow. The other things will have to wait because I am so excited to share the My Digital Studio creation that RYAN…(that's right, not only is he cute, he's crafty too! ..but don't tell him I told you!) created for Ethan's birthday party invite! (with just a little bit of help) Ethan will be so excited to see it and to share it with his friends tomorrow! I can't wait to see the look on his face! ….update: he woke up to use the washroom and came to find me and I couldn't resist showing him…even half in slumber he cracked a HUGE smile!
One of Ethan's teachers this year had started the kids on earning tickets from already played Jets games. Ethan is a huge Jets fan, so he's been collecting them ever since! He is proud of his collection! So, Ryan came up with this 'Ticket' to attend Ethan's Jets party! I can't wait!
Here it is in all it's glory…and it will be far more glorious when it lights up Ethan's face in the morning!
Thanks for stopping in! What was your favorite birthday as a kid?! I don't remember themes… I remember, hot dogs, chips, pic-a-pop, playing (running around the house screaming is probably what my Mom remembers us doing?), cake (with real coins hidden inside) and presents (the next gift opened was determined by spinning an empty pic-a-pop bottle and opening the gift from whomever the top pointed at! Thanks Mom for all the hard work you must have put into each of our parties throughout 'birthday season'! I can still vividly remember sitting in the middle of our living room floor with a gaggle of girls and a boy or two over the years!
Have a great week, I hope the sun is shining and that you have nice weather like we are going to have on Sunday (I'm willing it to happen, can you tell?!)
Fun Folds ~ Take Two!
a day late, but I'm back to share the 2nd of the two Fun Fold cards that we created at stamp club this month. We had a busy week this week with Ryan away all week. We were lucky to have Grandmas take turns coming to the city to help with the boys so that I could run my clubs/classes. Their sleeping space is a futon in the studio so that meant no late night stamping and more time with the computer so I actually stuck to blogging a little better (okay much better) than I did over the past 10 months…I can't believe I made it back here 4 times in one week. I hope you've continued coming back to see my projects and to read my LONG posts.
I had seen a few different versions of the Box Card shared lately and wanted to share this fun style of card with my stamp club members! All the the ones I had seen were created with DSP (patterned paper) and I knew that with having more club members than any one single pattern of DSP in my stash, I had to make it work with cardstock. I know…those of you who have seen my stash are probably skeptical that I didn't have more than enough DSP, but with 30 club members and even though I have many more packages than that of DSP, I still didn't have more than 30 sheets of any one particular color/pattern of DSP and I like for everyone to create the same project! It's just much simpler that way! So, I came up with this box card made out of cardstock and accented it with DSP. Enjoy!
The other thing I love about creating it with cardstock (CS) is that I can just use the whole sheet of 8.5 x 11 CS and not have to cut into a bigger sheet (12 x 12 DSP). With this side-by-side open and closed view, you can get a bit of an idea of how it uses a whole sheet to fold up into this box. I'm working on a way to come up with a tutorial for this one…any suggestions on how to do a video..I'm open to them, i have no clue! ..with Ryan home now, maybe he can help with his techie skills (that I am lacking)!
One of the really fun things about this card is that the Cherries from the Mouthwatering stamp set are scented with the Cherry Scented Embossing Powder and they pop right out of the card! The Sweet Shop sign from the Sweet Cake stamp set is also embossed using Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and Vanilla Scented embossing powder. I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo, but the icing on the cupcake is also embellished with the clear Dazzling Details that is on the Carry Over List. This is one yummy smelling card! Hope you like it! You can see the rest of the Sweet Shop line here
I'll be back tomorrow to share another project and perhaps some photos from today…it was an unusually warm day here for St. Patrick's Day. We're normally still in the midst of Winter and are lucky to have it nice enough to scrape the ice off the driveway in time for Ethan's birthday (Mar. 25th) but it was +20 here today and the boys had a blast playing outside in t-shirts and shorts! Spring just may actually be here…I hope it's to stay!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Happy St. Patricks Day!
Fun Folds ~ Take One
It amazes me how some fun or creative folds, some stamping, die-cutting our punching and an embellishment or two can transform paper into such beautiful creations!
I saw this card over at Diary of Two Crafty Girls and knew right away I wanted to case it and had to learn how to create these butterflies! These are two super talented girls and I am always inspired by their creations!
I started off with pretty much a total case of Natasha's card with the exception of adding a little texture to the colored card stock by embossing it with Perfect Polka Dots and the Big Shot and then sponging over the dots with the matching ink color.
Then, Diana Gibbs shared this beautiful diorama card and a great tutorial, so I decided I wanted to alter the Butterfly Sale a Bration Goodness card and came up with this. You can earn almost all of the items used on this card for free. During Sale a Bration you can earn a free Sale a Bration item for every $60 you purchase. The In Color Carstock, the DSP (patterned paper) that creates the butterfly, the brad and the stamp sets used both for the greeting, Sprinkled Expressions and the inside of Elementary Elegance are all Sale a Bration offerings! I did have to completely change the orientation of the diorama card as well as the msmts so that I could maintain a standard card front size (and not have to alter the card front at all) and stick to using 8.5 x 11 cardstock. I plan to come back with tutorial of some kind for you so that you can see how to create this card base. I have some other cards in mind with this style as well! Thanks Natasha and Diana for your inspiration!
Here is my case of Natasha/Diana's Card:
I love how Natasha did the butterfly with Stampin' Up! adhesive back pearls! Don't you think it's clever?! I also love how she separated elements of the greeting from the Sprinkled Expressions stamp set by coloring on them with different colored markers!
I hope you can see how the card opens up to a diorama and that you can see how the window on the cards peeks through to your greeting! This cars style definitely seemed to be a hit! I know I'll be creating more. Thanks Diana!
Thanks for stopping in to see a creation that was inspired by someone else's talent! I hope you enjoyed them. I'll be back tomorrow with the 2nd of the two fun folds cards!
Have a great day!
Gratitude
"For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends."-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Each day gives me so much to be grateful for. As a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I have the blessing of being part of a wonderful thing! Stampin' Up! partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities and what that means is that us demonstrators have an opportunity to volunteer at our local Ronald McDonald House. 2 years ago, I became the Lead Volunteer between Stampin' Up! and our local Ronald McDonald House. As the lead volunteer I have the honor and privilege of leading and organizing a team of volunteer demonstrators to go to our local Ronald McDonald House. I have arranged that once a month we will provide a night of crafting for the families there. This experience fills me with gratitude for everything listed above and so much more!
Every time we share an evening of crafting with the families there I leave filled with such a range of emotion. Of course gratitude is one of them. I feel extremely grateful for the opportunity that Stampin Up has offered to me to share these nights with the families and other volunteers. I feel so much for each and every family there and feel grateful for every single little victory that they experience! Last Thursday, my good friend and fellow demonstrator, Susie and I went to create some very simple but cute little cards with the families there. This time, we left with such happiness and full of laughter. It was a night to treasure for sure. I'll share a bit about why, but want to share some projects with you along the way.
I have a card to share with you as well as the three little cards that we created that night and also want to share one girls fun spin on the cards we created!
The first card I have to share is actually one I received in the mail not long ago from Stampin' Up! Can you believe that they are so wonderful to us that they not only give us the tools to share with others to create beautiful projects, but they also take time to create them and send them to US?! I've received other cards in the mail from Stampin' Up! and I tell you that each time is more exciting than the last…a handmade card truly is a treasure!
I love the simplicity of this card… I tend to go a little overboard a lot of times, but I just love this one. I see more of this card being created in the studio! I've been hooked on using this butterfly die (Beautiful Wings) lately too!
Here is the super simple little set of cards each participant got to make. Stampin' Up! has this fabulous scented embossing powder offered in Vanilla, Cherry and Melon. Cherry is my favorite scent of the three! It was great to stick to something simple and with that, the kids enjoyed themselves and felt quite accomplished! Another nice thing about these cards is that you can get exactly 4 bases out of one sheet of cardstock. I cut an 8.5 x 11 sheet into quarters and that was what I used as the base for the card. All I needed aside from that was whisper white, the crumb cake word windows, the popsicle stamp from Mouthwatering, the three colors of craft ink (Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Certainly Celery) and the three scented powders. The certainly celery ink with Melon embossing powder is on a Pear Pizzazz base. The Vanilla scented powder is on Chocolate Chip. They smell delicious! Luis (a staff member at RMH) almost ate one!
Here's the Cherry one close up…. so close you can almost smell that Cherry Popsicle!
The kids and parents alike loved creating these cards and blowing the scent around each time we used the heat tool to emboss an image! …. the fun and happiness shared that night is exactly why we left there so full of happiness that night…i'll get to the laughter shortly!
Here is another version of the card that I helped one of the kids come up with. (this was just taken on my phone) When we were all done with the set of 3 for each person, she wanted to do something with the ice cream cone (also from the Mouthwatering stamp set) and all three scents…there was no resisting putting a smile on her face over this one, so we worked with what we had and she created this card….while her hands were all bandaged up no less… a little determination goes a long way! She had fun working away on this card!
I hope you enjoy the simplicity of these cards and feel inspired to share some creating with your loved ones or someone who needs a friend or someone to spend some time with. Crafting and friends are two big parts of my life and I love it when they come together. I'll share with you a bit about why we were full of contentment after last week's visit. I'll be honest and say that sometimes (always), once we're all finished and packed to go home, that I can't get home fast enough to sneak into my children's rooms and give them a snuggle! While I was of course excited to see them this time too, I/we were overjoyed to share the night with a little 4 year old girl we met a year ago who at the time was too sick to join us. This time, she is on the recovering side of the battle she's been faced with and this time she bounced around singing in between trips back to the table to craft with us. She'd make a card…bounce away for a bit and then bounce back! As we were getting ready to go, I thanked her for making cards with us, she thanked us back and then with a big wave of her arm shouted, 'I love you' and then as she walked with us to the elevator, she called out, 'don't get lost on the way home and with another wave of her arm, 'take a flashlight!' She sure made us smile and laugh. It was so great to see how far she has come in almost a year since we last saw her. The day we first met her was the last time Susie was able to attend Ronald McDonald House with me (before having some serious health complications of her own), the very next day Susie had something occur that resulted in her being the recipient of a kidney transplant that saved her life. (She is the dear friend I posted about here and received her transplant 2 wks following that post). Susie, that victory is yours and I'm so grateful to be witness to your victory and to be your friend. Seeing such a tremendous change in both of these two amazing girls in less than one year and seeing them both together and living life truly made my heart content! Each of the families had a special story and a special way of touching our lives and we only hope we were able to make at the very least, a small difference in theirs!
Thank-you Stampin Up for this opportunity!
Have a wonderful day… if you stuck with me this long, thank-you! What was intended to be a short post turned out rather long, but thanks for letting me share!
It’s been awhile…
….a REALLY LONG while! I'm glad to be back, I hope you'll welcome me and join me again! I hope this time around I can keep up a little better with the blogging and not disappear for 10 months! … I can NOT believe it's been quite that long…. a lot has gone on in almost a year.
On the Stampin' Up front we have had some opportunity for travel. Ryan and I enjoyed a trip to Alaska, I got to share convention in Sale Lake City with a group of my friends and downline and I was honored with a trip to St. George, Utah for Founders Circle!! It was an absolutely amazing experience! With the help of pretty much the same group of friends and downline who attended convention (plus a few more), I ran a Fundraiser for Dreams Take Flight last September and I've kept up with offering clubs and classes here at home. Speaking of home… home life has been busy (as it is for everyone) and over the past few months I've enjoyed having a little more time to share with my boys! They sure are a lot of fun and they are definitely full of reasons to make me laugh.
Lennon (my 4 yr old) had us laughing plenty this week with all of his talk about 'LOVE"! I do have a couple of 'love' themed pages to share with you, but first I'll share a bit about Lennon's love story. One day this week on the way home from preschool, Lennon said to me about his 'girlfriend' at school, 'Raelynn, would be a wonderful wife for me'. I later asked him what would make her a wonderful wife. He said, 'we'd marry' (that's what makes her his wife). When I asked again what makes it wonderful his answer was, 'playing together'! He also said that Ryan and I are a wonderful husband and wife because we play together and love each other. I love his outlook on how simple things can be. Maybe as adults we complicate things too much?! I really think he's onto something with the simplicity of his idea on what makes things wonderful! While he did say that he still needs me to take care of him for now, he seems to have his life all planned out! Later that day when we picked Ethan up from school, he shared that he is going to be a teacher and a beautiful husband. Even though his little love story is super sweet and made me laugh, I'm happy to tighten the reins a little and hold on to my little boy so we can snuggle up together, play lego or playmobil, and sing abc's! You've got a whole lifetime to grow up on me, my boy….let's just slow down a little. :)
With all this love in the air I wanted to devote some time to get back to my blog to share these pages with you!
We created this first page at Scrapbook Club this month. It was an intense one. We had PLENTY of die-cutting to do on this page but overall most people loved it! This page was inspired by one I found on Pinterest! … one of my new favorite places to visit! :) I simplified it a little and changed out the supplies to all Stampin' Up! product. Although it was a case, it took me quite a long while to choose what products to use and to create the sample. I do really like the end result and especially love those two boys on the page! I'll find the original creator of the page that inspired this and come back to share.
Update: The original page was created by Nichol Magouirk. Her work is stunning, I followed the links on Pinterest today (in my search to find her name) and ended up at her blog. There are definitely more projects there that inspire me! 
Thanks for sharing your talent NIchol!
I'll share some of the details. Here I attached the button to the heart by putting the brad right through the holes in the button and then into the heart. It definitely won't fall off this way!
I loved how Carrie Gaskin had used the negative space of the embosslit, Fashionable Hearts to create a 'Quilt Square' so I knew i wanted to add one to this page. 6 passes through the big shot later, I'm happy with how it turned out and I had plenty of hearts left over to decorate this page. We also used an Early Espresso marker and the I Love Love wheel to stamp/roll love onto the tag.
Hearts to adorn the page
I used a piece of Twitterpated Fabric and a Twitterpated button to add a little touch to this tag
Here is the second page we created. It was definitely the much simpler of the two. I cased a layout on the cover of a magazine as inspiration and used the Twitterpated line of products by Stampin' Up! as well as Letter It alphabet set and P.S. I Love You to come up with this page. Enjoy!
I actually prefer it without the ribbon tails, but in attempt to take them off, I ripped the DSP underneath, so they are staying put for now! Just a tip to save you a little time and cost though, it looks great without those little tails!
With tokens and tickets being a popular trend in paper crafting I wanted to show them how I came up with creating customized tickets so we added this one to our page.
I hope you've enjoyed the pages today and that some of you who followed me almost a full year ago will come back again! I'm looking forward to soon sharing a new blog design and with a 10 month hiatus I've got plenty of samples piled up to share! Have a great Sunday!
My Heart is back Home
I'll do my best to be back later today with a project to share, but in the mean time wanted to share what has been consuming my thoughts this week. While I'm fortunate that where we are, we are not experiencing this flood issue my heart is back home and with others who are in immediately affected by unprecedented levels of water. The photo here is of my hometown and is where most of my family and many friends live. A 'State of Emergency' has been declared and many people have been evacuated from their homes and businesses. Please keep the people of Brandon and surrounding area as well as the people in Elie and many other areas of Manitoba in your thoughts and prayers. Our good friend who will be staying with our children while we are cruising Alaska is right in the path that the water will take now that a dyke has been intentionally breached in efforts to save a much larger area of land and homes. My thoughts and prayers are with all who are affected. During this time my heart aches for all affected and I wish I could be there to offer my help and support. I commend all people who have helped and rallied together to fight the flood efforts!
These photos are files that I'm sharing with permission and were put together by Dale of Photography by Dale. Thank-you so much Dale for allowing me to share these photos! Dale captured the flood shots and the 'befores' were from Google Earth. I believe it has been a week with still rising waters since Dale's photos were taken.
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Hang in there Brandon, Elie and all affected by these waters. While we can't live your ordeal for you, know that you have our support, thoughts and prayers.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I wish the Happiest of days to all of you Mothers on this Mother's Day. Extra special wishes are sent to my own Mom for being the most amazing and loving role model! I love you Mom! We also send extra special wishes to Grandma Patti and to Grandma Grandma as well as to my beautiful Sisters-in-law, to my many Friends who are Mothers and to those of you who are like a Mom to someone and who have the Spirit of Motherhood in your heart! This day is to celebrate you! Enjoy!
I had a really sweet start to my day! Ethan is always the first awake in our house on the weekend, so I awoke to him standing beside our bed anxious to show me what he had made me for Mother's Day. Last Sunday during one of my classes he hauled a bunch of my supplies up the stairs and made me this adorable card! All he needed was paper, stamps, ink and his own touch of creativity! He even added some ribbon, that is a boy after my own heart!
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This is what he made at school! Check out the adorable paper-pieced tulips!
I just LOVE his poem! …and can't get over the tulips! He is pretty proud of them too! These projects will definitely make it to a scrapbook page along with some photos of us from today!
Here is what Lennon created at Preschool! This explains the orange finger nails one day last week! He told me he was painting with his hands and surprisingly kept it a secret! ..he's a good little keeper of secrets…we're in trouble in his teens!
This is how it was wrapped!
This is what was inside, now if this doesn't tug at the heart strings, I'm not sure what will?!
Another sweet poem!
All of this sweetness was a wonderful start to my day! ..and it got even better!
Ethan set the table all by himself this morning…can you tell?! Love the kid dishes he chose along with the sparkly cups! He even got out the table cloth that was a special gift from Susie and family that her Dad brought back from Portugal. Don't you love the DQ napkins?! I just love it all!
The Boys all made breakfast and to top things off Ryan created this in My Digital Studio (all by HIMSELF) as a surprise and played nice music to set the mood. We all loved it! I have to admit I was quite surprised that he came up with this and that he played his hand at MDS! This was a template that he added the photos to and changed a couple of things. I'm impressed and feel very loved! It doesn't take much to make me happy! A few handmade cards, love shared and time with my boys is all it takes!
Have a wonderful day! I hope you get to share it with loved ones and that you keep your loved ones who are afar close at heart today!
Happy Mother's Day!
Good for the soul…
So many things about the page I'm going to share are good for the soul! They say laughter is the best medicine and I believe that to be true! What's not to love about (or laugh about) 3 & 4 yr olds running in all directions… including with the ball towards their own net?!
Lennon played his first soccer game EVER tonight! Oh my goodness…. 3 & 4 year old soccer is hilariously funny to watch! What was even better than the laughter was sharing it with friends! We are lucky that Lennon plays with his friend Aaron AND that our good friends, Susie, Vasco and John made it it out to the game to watch. Laughter IS the best medicine and is a double dose when shared with friends! Thanks so much for coming out guys & thanks Jaime for making it possible for me to be there! Jaime is a wonderful friend and fabulous downline member and was my 'substitute teacher' for an hour so that I could go watch Lennon play in his first game ever! I can't thank you enough for letting me share this experience with the boys! I'm a lucky girl to have such a great Stampin Up Family!
Now on with the page! Another theme that many of my club members wanted to create a page about was Soccer. It's definitely a popular Summer Sport here. Soccer has always been Ryan's sport (or one of them) so I was happy to oblige. This page can absolutely be switched out to any sport or theme. It could even be a birthday page and the flag used to journal a date or an age! This is another versatile one! When creating a page with a specific theme for Scrapbook club I try to make sure it's adaptable so that everyone can make use of it. For now, mine is of Lennon's first soccer game! …and I'll be whipping up a 2nd page to create of Ethan as well…it didn't go un-noticed this morning that this page was all about Lennon!
The Dandelions haven't arrived here yet but I'm sure it won't be long before they do and we have a team of Dandelion pickers! For now, this is how Lennon started his game! I used the 2 1/2" circle punch to punch my photo mat. The Soccer Ball is actually from a retired set. In the mess of our basement I couldn't find the new Soccer set, Goal when I created the page but alas it is now found! The Goal 'post' is created out of the negative space from the Mix & Match Onboard set. Further down, you'll notice more pieces from this versatile set of chipboard.
Here is what the new Goal Stamp Set includes. It is available in either wood or clear mount options. (the link in this line is to the wood mount and the link above is to the clear mount option)
Here is the Mix & Match Onboard. I love the versatility of Onboard and applying color with our Craft Inks!
You can see how I've used different elements of the Mix & Match set on this page to add dimension to an otherwise simple and quick page.
I'm not sure if Lennon's Buddy, Aaron thought he was signed up to play Soccer or if he was aware it would become a game of 'Tackle your Team-mates'?! Lennon spent the entire game following the flock of kids around and I don't think he had a clue he should be after the ball….he was too busy trying to catch up and dive on top of the other players. It was cute and funny, but also very worrisome! I spent the game trying to keep him from hurting someone else or himself by diving on someone and starting a pile-up….it happened more than once! He looked like this pretty much the whole game….arms spread open to grab someone …maybe Football is his game?!
This little bracket is also from the set and I've used it here to summarize the game… Lennon tagging along with Aaron. I LOVE to take plenty of photos of the boys at their games and hoped to capture many at last night's game since it was a treat that I was able to go. …but for spending the game coaching Lennon to TRY to stay on his feet (as my job should be…in this case the photos had to come 2nd or not at all) I wasn't able to capture many shots. …that just makes these photos a representation of what the game really was!
This was the closest to a photo of him facing the camera that I was able to get between trying to keep him up on his feet, not taking photos with any of the other kids in the frame …he did spend most of the game on top of someone and I try to be pretty careful about not catching other people's kids in the photos without permission first … and then picking him up at the end of the game when he and another boy head-butted each other! (the other photos of him on this page are of him practicing while at Ethan's game the night before. I'm looking forward to getting some photos of Ethan tonight. Hopefully the wind is calmer tonight!
The Scallop Trim is inked with Baja Breeze Craft Ink and a Dauber.
I can't lie and say that he finally figured it out, this next photo was taken during a little warm-up practice before the game. The coach has informed us that they don't all catch on until about the very last game of the season and they all actually play the game (sort of!). I'm happy to watch them as they play now, that laughter is worth every penny it cost to sign him up!
The flag is from the stamp set, Party This Way. I stamped it and then cut off the scallop trim around the banner and mounted it to the flag post.
I hope you like the page and find other occasions to create it for. For the Grandmas and Grandpa who aren't able to come to his games for living 2 hrs away here are some extra photos! Enjoy!
Ethan warming up for his first game!
Lennon running tongue out and all during Ethan's first game. …the concentrating face comes from his Dad! <wink>
Thanks for stopping in again today! I hope the weather is great wherever you are and that you have plenty of photo opportunities, even if they are of the smaller details in your every day life. …new blooms in your yard or where you live, signs of new life or even of something that inspires you. Have a great day!
