Madison Avenue

Giving Thanks

I hope all of you have a very happy, healthy Thanksgiving and that you take some time to reflect on all the positive things in your lives.  I am thankful for so many things, among them:

• A loving, generous, hard working husband
• My funny, independent, smart as a whip 5 year old
• My healthy, happy, growing like a weed almost 6 month old
• Funny, pretty, smart, wonderful, caring sisters
• A hilarious brother who is a wonderful father to his baby
• A beautiful inspiring sister in law who seems to do it all with ease
• A supportive, wonderful, talented, beautiful mother
• A crazy but caring father and lovely stepmother
• The roof over my head and food in my belly
• Papertrey Ink and the opportunities it has given me
• An understanding boss who puts up with a crying baby everyday
• The beautiful place I am lucky enough to call home
• My best friends who are always there for me even though one is far away

There is so much more that makes my life full and happy but these are all I've got right now...and of course a quick picture for you.  Isn't this boy amazingly adorable?

Long Week & Some Holiday Cards

First of all, thank you to everyone for their nice comments on my Maddie post.  As you know if you have read any of my sidebar links, Madison was our little baby girl who had a heart defect and passed away 3 years ago whe she was only 15 days old.  This time of year is always a little tough for us cause it brings back lots of memories from that time and thoughts of what might have been.  Anyhow, this year we celebrated her birthday and short little life by releasing 3 pink balloons with messages to our little one.  Jacob wrote I love you Madison on a heart and we tied it to the balloon, he is so sweet about his sister even though I know he doesn't remember her (he was only 2 1/2 when she was born).  I also made a pink (strawberry) heart shaped cake just like Jacob requested, he said she would really want to have a cake. 

Other than all of that, the week has been fine and busy.  A good friend of mine was visiting for a few days so that was really really nice to see her.  Jacob had his feast day at school last week, he had fun and dressed in a little indian costume they made.  He really didn't eat much of the feast, except the fry bread and little fruit, but what can I really expect I guess.  He is just not a vegetable eater, especially if someone tells him he doesn't have to eat everything if he doesn't want to. 

So I have some holiday cards to share that I made a couple of months ago for the Papertrey Holiday card group post.  I just didn't think they were simple enough at the time.  These cards use Heather's Rustic Snowflakes set in non-traditional colors, Lavender Moon and Plum Pudding with a bit of silver added in.

 

I really like the background I created with the little flurry stamp and one of the open dots from the set.  I added a little ribbon treatment to the bottom with White Sheer Polka Dot and Plum Pudding satin.  Another great thing is that I just used the Stampers Select White Card Set, which has all the cards already cut for you and includes the envelopes.

 

Here is a close up of the little silver snowflake stamped on the Plum Pudding cardstock with a piece of Silver Shimmer underneath.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope to have more holiday inspiration for you in the coming weeks.  I am also working on some recipe books that I will probably share soon.  Have a great weekend!

3 Years Old

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl.  I miss you and love you Madison.  We will never forget the time we were lucky enough to share with you. 

 

Papertrey Release November

There are so many great sets released this month from Papertrey.  Of course you already saw my project for Teacher's Apple...but how cute is that set?!  I can't wait to use it for more projects!

Let's see, first up Out of the Box and Out of the Box Sentiments from Lisa Johnson.  This set has so many possibilities for all different occasions.  I really like sets where you get a lot of options and only have to buy one thing.  I decided to create a little background paper to compliment the focal point in my card and I used a bright and cheery color combo - Summer Sunrise and Berry Sorbet.  Those wonderful little flower jewels from Hero Arts fit in the flowers perfectly.

 

Next up, Background Basics Stars, wonderful set full of possibilities.  I can't wait to create more background pieces with it.  I used an emboss resist technique for this one, embossed the star background in clear on SS White, then sponged color over the top until I created something I found pleasing.  Added a little ribbon tag with a sentiment from Favor It Baby and some gingham ribbon in the new Spring Rain color.

 

Next up is Men of Life, from Melissa Bickford, it is a truly wonderful set full of different sailboats and wonderful sentiments for all the men in your life.  I used Faux Ribbon as well to create a little striped background on Kraft cardstock, really like how that turned out.  Added some twine and a big red button, my son is always asking me to give him buttons to play with or craft with so I thought he would appreciate it on this card. 

 

Lastly is the new sentiment set (also from Melissa Bickford), Heartfelt Basics, a truly great set with lots of great sayings and many individual words with great possibilities.  I paired it with another of her sets, Floral Frenzy, and Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Ripe Avocado, and Spring Moss - wonderful color combo.  Also used the new Labels One dies from Spellbinders, loving these so much!!!

 

I hope you have gained some inspiration here today and have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Teachers Gifts Galore

For this months' group assignment, Nichole asked us to create a gift and coordinating card for a teacher using the new wonderful set Teacher's Apple that will be released on November 15th.  It is such a fun set, a must have for anyone who makes items for their children's teachers.  I chose to do a little framed piece for the teachers desk or wall to remind them of why they are there teaching everyday in a classroom with all those crazy kids.  They really do make a difference in children's lives I know many of my teachers (good or bad) made a difference in my life growing up.

To make my set I started by creating some patterned paper with three of the different apples and three different colors, Pure Poppy, Ocean Tides, and Dark Chocolate with the leaves in Ripe Avocado.  I stamped the pattern on Vintage Cream cardstock and I love it, I plan to make more!!

    

I used the Labels I die from Spellbinders on the card and made some paper with Faux Ribbon to mat it and match one of the apples.  The card is 5x5.

 

A closer look at the framed piece shows the new Vintage Cream twill, which I sponged to give a little aged/vintage feel.  I love the three little buttons added at the center of the knot in the twill.  I of course also used Polka Dot Basics for some additional accents.

 

Okay that's it for now, but stay tuned for the rest of my Papertrey projects on Saturday.  I am still feeling pretty sick so I need to get some rest.  Thanks for visiting and please make sure to visit the other Papertrey girls blogs to see their projects.

Sickie

Bleh, I don't feel good today, fighting a cold, I think.  It is the only time you will find me drinking tea cause I have a really annoying sore throat and that is all that tastes good.  Wanted to quickly upload this simple card using Holiday Tags Collection, Polka Dot Basics, and Mixed Messages.  This went in the mail to a dear friend for her birthday yesterday...hope you had a great day Erin!  I used the new Polka Dot Parade patterned paper, some lovely Ocean Tides stuff, Dark Chocolate, and Aqua MIst.  Sorry for the completely horrible picture, my "studio" must have been a little dark, well it is a closet so I am not sure what I expect!!!

 

Okay, off to snuggle in my bed (nevermind the baby just woke up!), I can't wait to share the stuff I made for the Papertrey Release, it comes out this Saturday the 15th!

Holiday Tag Collection

Just a quick post, I made this card with some of the leftover pieces from my gallery projects for the 2008 Holiday Tags Collection, which is such a wonderful set.  I have actually made a ton of tags with it that I will share soon, they are so easy to make and turn out so pretty without a lot of embellishments.  So this card is simple - using Vintage Holiday Prints, Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, punches, sponging and that's about it. 

 

Hope you all had a great Tuesday, we had a lot of rain this weekend which is now behind us and we also lost power two nights in a row, so things are nice and back to normal now.  But the power issue did put me a little behind on my November PTI projects so I am playing catch up now!!!

Halloween

Just a couple of pictures of my firefighter and 3-Eyed Monster last night...we all had a fun Halloween despite the rain!

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!