6 years...

And it seems like just YESTERDAY...

My daughter turns 6 today!  Wow.  What a lucky Mom I am.  She is beautiful, loving, caring and thoughtful (most of the time ;) ).  She is growing into such the little lady, and her Dad and I are very proud of her, and all she has accomplished in her young life.

She started walking at 8.5-9 months old, and hasn't stopped moving since - lol.  She always has us on our toes, and you never know what will come out of her mouth next...last night, when she woke up and saw the balloons we put in her bedroom so that she knew it was her special day - she said "I like looking at them - they are fascinating to look at, aren't they?"  What 6 year old says that?? lol.

She has a big heart, one full of love and kindness, but one that easily broken and hurt...that big heart drove her to donate her hair to Locks of Love at age 4...she even inspired her cousin to donate her hair -- (here's a post about that)

I know some day she will make a difference in the world, she's destined to.  I will enjoy, God willing, watching her life unfold...

Happy Birthday baby - I love you!

Normally, I would have posted her birthday card, but I actually made it for an upcoming Pink Cat Studio Release, so I can only give you a teeny peek at the card...so stay tuned for the full view!

A CUTE Cutesy Cover...

Hope the rest of the weekend treated you well.  I had planned to post this yesterday, but life happened.  Never got a chance to find the camera, and get the photos off of it - lol.

Anyway -- I made this Cutesy Cover © for my niece's birthday gift.  She's 13, and I tried to come up with something that would appeal to her.

I can't WAIT to be able to show you more of what Lauren has in store, some of the new papers coming out are DELISH -- but for now, I'm sharing with you some of what I already have on hand.

The polka dotted paper is from the digi kit that my blog design was inspired by -- "Peace, Love and Happiness, by Libby Weifenbach.  You'll see I made it into double sided paper, using another pattern from that same kit.  I LOVE that kit -- lol.

To print your OWN double sided paper, just print, reload, and print the other design on the opposite side - easy peasy!  I just recently started using matte finish double sided brochure paper.  It has AMAZING results.  The colors are so vibrant, and I just LOVE the look!  I got mine at Staples, but I don't see it listed on their site...which makes me nervous -- maybe I should go stock up! ;)

This was cut the original size with my Cricut, and the little jewelry box fit inside perfectly!

I used a big Martha Stewart border punch for the Raspberry layer, and tied it up with a little avocado ribbon.

It closes with a basic grey magnetic snap, so she can use it to re-gift, or find something else to keep in it.

So, have you used the Cutesy Cover © template yet??  or any of Lauren's new templates?  I'd love to see what you've done with them.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Cake Anyone???

Hello Friends :)

I those of you that celebrate had a great Christmas.  I did, except for when my almost 6 year old daughter woke up at 3:30 am and WOULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP! - It made for a long day, but it was a good one, none the less.  BOTH of my girls said more than once today "This is the BEST Christmas EVER!" so I think we did alright :).

It's Saturday, and time for a Just Us Girls Challenge.  This week we have a sponsor, and guest designer  Kelleigh Ratzlaff!  I was so excited to get to use one of Kelleigh's templates -- fun, and easy to assemble!

I chose to use the Hexagon Box Template for my project.  When I saw the template on her site -- all I could think of was a wedding cake.  Not sure if it's all of the episodes of "Cake-off" or "Ace of Cakes" that we've been watching or what. lol.

So, I printed out the template, and got to work.  VERY easy to cut out, so that's a bonus too!

I assembled the boxes, and then trimmed them up with some 12 Days of Snowflakes digi paper.

Added some ribbon, and then the confetti flowers.  I tried to make it like those really elegant cakes, and had the flowers crawl up the side of the 'cake' to the middle of the top layer :).

Each flower is adorned with a clear flatback swarovski crystal, for that little bit of elegance, and sparkle.


Be sure to stop by the rest of the team, as they've all made some FABULOUS creations with Kelleigh's templates -- and don't forget to stop by Kelleigh's blog too!!

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  Alicia Weiman
  
  
  
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  Dana Gustafson
  
  
  
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  Kristin Bueter
  
  
  
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  Lisa Kind
  
  
  
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  Maria Levine
  
  
  
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  Mona Pendleton
  

  Pam Imholz
  

   
  

  Kelleigh Ratzlaff
  
  
  

Have a SUPER day -- I'll be back tomorrow with a Cutesy Cover project!

Who would like to win $400 worth of stuff?!?!?!?

I know I would!!!  Tab, over at 7 Kids College Fund is sponsoring a contest, and here are the deets:

In exchange for your donation to an organization that helps single moms who are fighting cancer by providing meals, housekeeping, bill-paying assistance and general help during their treatment, I will enter you into the drawing for this awesome prize package below!!!

Watch this Video - maybe grab a tissue first tho --

Click here to visit their site or click here to make your donation!

A donation in any amount will qualify you for the drawing. After you make your donation, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from Singleton Moms. Just forward that e-mail to me as your entry at 7kidscollegefund@cox.net. 

All entries must be received by midnight Christmas day. I will announce the winner on Saturday, Dec. 26. There are just 4 days to make your donation and send your entry in to win. Your donation can be as little or as much as you like. This is a truly beautiful way to make the season even brighter by helping those who are certainly struggling at time when many of us are celebrating and enjoying life. Plus, you could win a SUPER PRIZE!!!

 

This treasure trove of prizes includes multiple stamps (Sarah Kay, Crafty Secrets, C.C. Designs, Whiff of Joy, Stampendous, Sassafras Lass, Rachelle Anne Miller and Basic Grey), stickers from Crafty Secrets and Stampendous, Spellbinders dies, Cuttlebug Folders, Sugar Rush paper pad from Basic Grey, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, All-Purpose Ink, Ink Potion No. 9, Distress Stickles, Distress Ink, Glitz Stickles, the complete Kaiser Craft Pina Colada 12x12 paper colllection and the COPIC BASIC MARKER COLLECTION!!!  

Take a peek at Tab's post here for photos of the goods!

My JUGS Color Challenge :)

Good Morning - and Happy Saturday to you!

Thanks for all of the kind words on my post yesterday.  It still doesn't feel real, but I'm quite excited about this new venture with Lauren.  If you don't know what in tarnation I'm talking about - check this out!

But -- today is about COLOR.  All over the place I see beautiful color combinations, but for some reason, when I sit down to make something - I never reach for those...I always 'play it safe'.  When I signed up to do this color challenge - I decided that I would reach out a little bit - and get people to stretch, and put together some colors they otherwise might not.

Here's my challenge for you:

These were some Christmas ornaments I got a few years ago, and I just LOVE them!!  Just so happens they match up quite nicely with some popular cardstock colors -- gee, how convenient!

For my card, I used Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, and New Leaf, but you can substitute with whatever colors you may have --

I had this design in my head for DAYS...I cut those ornaments out with my Cricut.  I made the shapes in Photoshop Elements, and used my SCAL software to trace the shape and cut it out.  How AWESOME is that?!?!?!?! 

Finished it off with a sentiment from Papertrey Ink - and that was that -- I kept it simple and clean - but yet fun!

Hope YOU have fun, and come play with us this week!

Thanks SOOOO much for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Signature Holiday (PTI), Fancy Flourishes (PTI), So Swirly (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Memento Rich Brown, Fresh snow, Versamark
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, brushed gold

Accessories: gold cord, Martha Stewart glitter, EK success border punch