Think.Happy.Thoughts.

Two weeks ago I stumbled upon this cool website, unscriptedsketches.com, and it was my catalyst to start posting again after I create.  Here is a picture of prompt 152 and pictures of my Key West page below!

I really must try to get better lighting in my scraproom.  It's great light for creating, but not exactly the best for taking pictures late at night.  Although, I must say that my debunked project to make a shutter bill rack (a la pinterest) has now come in handy for displaying my artwork.  Next project?  Altered clothespins.

Detail pics below:

Fussy cutting in the corner and paper pieces all the swirls and dots together.  The flowers are from Hero Arts and the rhinestones are from the dollar rack at a scrapbooking convention.

I've gotten bitten by the stamping bug.  Ink is Adirondak in Watermelon.  The alphabet is acrylic stamps from Autumn Leaves (Scribbles) and the block lettering is a re-gift from my mom (source unknown).  The ribbon is from Sinamay and is 100% Abaca Fibers (fancy!)

Thanks for looking!  And I encourage you to post your creations at Unscripted Sketches!

Cards Cards Cards

I am definitely feeling the March stamp set from The {Stamps} of Life. And lately I've been inspired by yellow and grey. I'm not sure if it's because it's the spring and all I can think about is sunshine, or if you make me happy when skies are grey :)

Picture one is for the Mother/Daugher Challenge that I do with my mom every month. I took the stems from the mum and made patterned paper in both yellow and grey. Added a touch of wild plum for the sentiment. (All inks are Adirondak).

Card number 2 is for my grandma's birthday on the 27th. The size is a little deceiving, it's actually only a 4x4 card, and I attached it to her birthday present (chocolate from Josh Early Candies!)

The third card is for my neice, Claire, who turned the distinguised age of two on March 23rd. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, but it also had a mum, and it was inked in a little spring scene. Today we celebrated in a parisian party theme, she looked adorable in her pink paris party dress, and loved the play food, plates and chef's outfit that Uncle Hans and I got her.

I must really get one of those card stands to take better pictures. Although, maybe I'm on to something by using my (old) glasses as a stand! Take no notice of me in the lens reflection.

Lastly, I found out about this Tuesday Trigger at my Moxie Fab World and decided it was fate to repost! Fun and funky must be in the air...check it out here! http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2012/03/tuesday-trigger-happy-happy-joy-joy.html

Thank you for looking!

MIA is an understatement

I think it's hysterical (and mildly embarassing) that my last post was in October. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, it's jus that I haven't been posting! Here is a recap of what I've done since then:

The Chicago connection came to PA for mom's birthday, all TEN of us (M/D, B/K/C, J/K/R and J/H) went to the Philadelphia Zoo. I think everyone's favorite part was the oragutans. There's just something about my father and monkeys that is absolutely hilarious.

I had posted about my prototype for my Christmas cards a while back, here is the finished outcome. I made 60 cards. Between Hans and I, we are blessed to have a lot of family and friends that we like to share the holiday season with.

Our Pittsburgh family surprised us with tickets to a Steelers game over Christmas. We had such a blast. It was Hans and my very first Steelers game, and we walked away with a W.

Santa came to Pittsburgh this year and brought, unfortunately, a nasty illness that took down everybody one by one. However, somehow by the time Christmas Day was here, Santa brought everybody good health, and signed Steelers stuff ;-)

New Years was celebrated with the C Family at our casa. We had a homemade pizza bar which all the nieces and nephews enjoyed. Then on New Years Day I took my first stab at pork and sauerkraut, and also BBQ pulled pork sandwhiches. We started off 2012 with full bellies and good fortune.

I've had a long (and strong) love/hate relationship with our fireplace build. Hans is doing an amazing job at it. Dad helped in some parts. To date, we have a working fireplace - just need the inspector to come sign off so that we can put up the stone. It's taken a while, but in the end, it's totally worth it.

For Christmas last year, I had promised K and K that I would make baby books for R and C's first year. It was a long undertaking, but I'm so happy with the results. C got her book on Christmas this year (my favorite page above, and the whole book below)

R got his book on his second birthday in January. My favorite page above, and the finished album below...Please pay no attention to how messy my desk looks in any of these pictures. It was very late when I was finally finished...

I saw my little man turn 2. He's the sweetest boy, and I love our Skype dates more than he can even fathom. Even though January it's bitter cold, it's always warm in the L house when we come to visit!

My friend B is getting married, had to celebrate her Bachelorette in style! Picture taken outside of Devon in Philadelphia. Had mahi mahi, which was a mazing, and a side of mushroom, leeks and gorgonzola cheese. It was delish. We then continued to celebrate on the party bus and at club G. Happy Nuptuals!

I did a complete overhaul to my scrapspace. All contents of the office were removed and then put back to my meticulous specifications. I'm so happy with it, and I can find everything again! Can't wait for the new island desk that I have my eye on that was post to my pinterest. Maybe that'll end up in the new basement scraproom (hint, hint).

I've also made some cards. Above is the card made for the Mother/Daughter monthly challenge at Stamps of Life. This is the February stamp. I must admit that I have been MIA for a while, but I'm back and very creative!

This card is being sent to a new, but very dear friend that moved away. She's starting her own etsy business and is super talented. I wish her nothing but the best in all of her new adventures! We decided that we were going to write letters and send them to each other. It's an old way to communicate, but it seems like our style.

And her's the bridal shower card for the Bachelorette. Same umbrellas, so many ways to use it!

So that's a brief synopsis of what's been going on with me. Today I'm spending the day with my momma. I've been looking forward to some time together for a while. Can't wait!

I have a list of cards that I want to make, scrapbook layouts that I want to create and a laundry list of items I want to complete in the house. I'll continue to take pictures and will post more frequently!

Christmas Card

Okay...so maybe it's a little too early to be thinking about my Christmas cards, but I'm pretty sure this is my prototype. My inspiration? The Mother/Daugher Challenge for the {Stamps} of Life. Stamp set is Penguins4Christmas!

Feelin' like Fall

The newest addition to the decorations around the house is a series of 7 picture frames that hangs in our front room. For the fall they will look like this and read "HARVEST." I'm really excited for what the other seasons will bring! See below for close-ups :)

Halloween in Paradise?

So Hans wanted to be Jimmy Buffet for Halloween. Somehow I was elected to be the Parrot.

369 days...

Three hundred and sixty-nine days ago I married my best friend. This weekend we celebrated our year anniversary by having a Staycation. We went to Emeril's Chop House, watched our favorite movies and defrosted the topper to our wedding cake. Hans surprised me by even knowing that the 1-year anniversary present is paper! We had a great weekend and watched the wedding video of our ceremony. It brought back so many amazing memories of the day. Here are some to share :)

How pretty I felt in my dress.

My favorite picture of Hans from the day.

Our wedding vows.

The kiss!

Another kiss with bubbles!

A relaxed wedding portrait under the big tree on Muhlenberg's campus.

This was an amazing day that just marked the beginning of our marriage and time together. We have had some ups and downs over the last 369 days. I am fortuante that the ups are more than the downs. And the downs are what makes the ups that much better!