M is for Megan

My title for this post was either going to be M is for Megan or This Post Brought To You By The Letter M. I went with the shorter one obviously :) Plus I liked it better. This is a super quick post, gotta go feed Megan :)

On the kids doors they each have their initial on the door. Logan has had his same one since he was born. The DSP is so old. But I decoupaged over it so the DSP would last but I keep wanting to update it with our much cooler newer DSP. His is a wooden letter L that I got at a craft/hobby store years ago when he was born. And it's covered with 2 different DSP's. We thought about doing that same thing for Megan but I wanted something a little different and a little more girly, so here's what I did...

Isn't is cute! I used my big shot and cut a large scallop circle and letter M out of chipboard. TIP: Make sure you cover your chipboard with your cardstock before cutting it. Just makes it 1000 times easier for you. I cut a butterfly our of a thick window sheets then put it through the polka dot folder. I added little pearls to the butterfly and all around the edges of the scallop circle.

It's difficult to tell in the pictures but the letter M is sprayed with our smooch spray so it's nice and sparkly. It's so cute on her door.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Blushing Bride CS and DSP, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle Die, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Simple Letters Alphabet Die, Scallop Border Punch, Pearls, Chipboard, Tombo Multi Glue, Blushing Bride Ribbon

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Baby Announcements-The Non Chocolate Version

I finally have the non chocolate baby announcements done and ready to show you. They're ready to be mailed too, just gotta somehow find my way to the post office to get stamps. I hate going to the post office--ugghh! Maybe I'll pick up the stamps for our Christmas cards too while I'm there. I wonder if they have the Christmas designs out yet? Dan would know, I'll check with him. Anyway, that's just me thinking out loud-or in writing as it turns out. Here's the announcements.

I did them super simple, they're actually just a card front and the belly band slides off to reveal the birth info.

It occurred to me after I had assembled them all that I forgot to put the year on there. But I think that's ok. Everyone that's getting them should know what year anyway. I had everything done except the birth info and I just plugged that in after she was born. I love them and they were really easy to make. I got the idea for this kind of card from one of Heather Summers online classes months ago. I loved the design and thought it would be perfect for baby announcements.

Megan is 2 weeks old today. We're still working on a sleep schedule. She does really good until about 2am then decides, I'm done sleeping let's just sit here awake. So we're working on keeping her awake more during the day so she'll want to sleep more at night. I think once we achieve that we'll be on a really good schedule. But we're still getting sleep, just not as much as I would like but isn't that the cry of all parents with newborns? And anyway, I'll take the sleepless nights any day over the constant nausea and being sick. So I'm not complaining....too much :)

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Teddy and Train

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Pack

Ink: Staz On, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: 1 3/4 Circle Punch, XL Scallop Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Blender Pen

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Sanitizing Christmas Treat!

Before we get to the project today. I had to show some Halloween pictures of Logan and Megan. Today Logan and Dan are at the Zoo Boo. Logan LOVES the Zoo Boo. It's basically trick or treating at each of the animals habitat. It's very fun. Each animal is sponsored by a different company or group and they hand out the candy and also some fun coupons or other treats. Last year (or the year before) Logan got a football from the State Farm people. McDonald's always has coupons and the tiger exhibit is always sponsored by a local dentist so we get free toothbrushes. So it's a pretty successful morning of trick or treating. And Logan has a ton of fun. This year Logan wanted to be a knight. So my Mom made his knight costume out of a pillow case. She cut a hole for the head and arms and sewed a cross on the front. It turned out really cute.

We found the shield and sword at a hobby store here and the crown Logan and I made with our Brushed Gold Cardstock and Chunky Glitter.

Isn't he cute?

Megan also dressed for the occasion even though we're not going to the Zoo Boo this year.

This is her little pumpkin outfit. Super cute! Tomorrow she has a shirt with a bat on it that says "I'm batty for Daddy" That one is super cute too!

Ok well here's the project for today. We had our demonstrator meeting on Thursday and I of course forgot my camera. So unfortunately I don't have swaps to show you or the other 3 minute demos to show. But I have my 3 minute demo to show you! I saw these on Kimberly Van Diepen's blog. She's amazing too. She has a video on how to put them together so make sure you check that out. I'll post the measurements but check out the video anyway.

These would make the cutest co worker gifts or stocking stuffers.

Inside the box is a small hand sanitizer!!

Isn't that just awesome!! I LOVE it!!! I'm going to make a gazillion of these and give them out this flu season.

They're super simple to make. Here's the dimensions and remember to check out the video to figure out how to put them together.

2x11 piece of cardstock.

Score at .5, 1.5, 3.5, 4.5, 7.5 and 8.5

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Thanks!

It's been over a week now and things are still going well. All the sunbathing and supplementing with formula has helped Megan get over her jaundice without a stay in the hospital under the billi lights!! Yay! Thank goodness, we've had enough hospital visits and doctors appointments for a while :) I'm sure our insurance company thinks so too :) The only downside of it all it that with all the supplementing we had to do with formula, Megan started nursing less and less knowing that she would get a bottle in the end. So even though we nursed for almost an hour every time, she wasn't eating enough to get my breast milk to adequately come in. We went through this with Logan too, and even after pumping, pumping and more pumping it wasn't helping. So Dan and I made the decision to formula feed her like we did with Logan. And based on all this I've come to the conclusion that some women have bodies that are just made to have babies and some don't. My body is not built for pregnancy or breastfeeding. But since I'll NEVER do it again it's ok with me.

Today's card is super quick and easy and I've made a bunch of them. Dan's coworkers gave him a surprise baby shower the week before Megan came. We got tons of diapers, wipes and more! So I whipped up a bunch of these for him to give to his coworkers.

Aren't they super cute? I saw a card similar to this on Splitcoast Stampers and loved the idea, so I changed it up just a little and came up with this card.

The little flowers are from the bitty punch pack and with the little rhinestone in the center just makes the super cute! The greeting is stamped twice, once in Pear Pizazz and then in Soft Suede. I cut out the Thanks from the Soft Suede then popped it up with dimensionals on the Pear Pizazz one. Super cute card-that's so quick and easy to make!

We're working on getting on a feeding/sleeping schedule this week. It might take a few weeks to get it down to a system but once we do I'll be able to post and stamp more since my days will be a little more predictable. I think today we're going to try a visit to the library. Logan has some books that are pretty overdue and should probably be returned :)

Supplies:

Stamp Set: So Many Thanks

Cardstock: Pear Pizazz, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Pear Pizazz, Soft Suede

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Scallop Border Punch, Bitty Punch Pack, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

The Last of the Chocolate

Thanks to everyone who's left comments the past few days. I've read them all and I've been truly touched by your kind words. So thanks so much!!!!

We're slowly but surely adjusting to being a family of 4 now. Megan's doing good and even sleeping for about 3 hour stretches at night, which has been really helpful to Dan and I (even though I'm not sure how much he *wakes* up). Nursing has been a little challenging, as it was with Logan. We've had to supplement with formula after most feedings, especially so the jaundice doesn't get worse. But the good news is that I don't think we'll need a hospital stay to treat the jaundice, like we did with Logan. She's had to go the lab 3 times to get her blood checked and the numbers have been in the normal range and seem to be slowly coming down now. So that's good news. We have another appointment with the doctor tomorrow and I'll get all the info then. But the sunbathing and constant feedings seemed to have done the trick. Logan is being really helpful. He brings me diapers and even takes the dirty ones away. He been really helpful at bringing me burp cloths and clothes too. He's even adjusted to her crying, he was really scared about her crying at first. Once we explained to him that she wasn't crying because she was hurt or sad, it's just the only way baby's can tell us they're hungry or need a diaper change. He was ok with the crying. And he has slept through it at night so far, or at least he's not telling us he's waking up. We certainly don't hear him wake up. Hopefully after tomorrow's appointment we can start settling into a routine and things will be a little less chaotic around here, and hopefully I can start to find time to stamp. I did finish the baby announcements yesterday, so that was a plus! As for me, I'm recovering as best as I can. Recovery seems to be a little more uncomfortable with her than it was for Logan. I'm not sure if it's because she came out so fast (and did a little damage on her way out) or if I just don't remember it as well with Logan. Either way I think it's going to be a long road to recovery for me. But at least I'm not nauseous anymore or on tons of different medicines. I'll deal with being uncomfortable for a few more weeks and then hopefully I'll be back to my old self.

Ok then, that's a lot of rambling and possibly more than you care to read about. Last week right before the induction day, I decided that I needed more, YES more, chocolate announcements. I know there's just no stopping me! But I think I love these the MOST. They're super cute and I just love them. I made 15 of them. So the grand total of various chocolate baby announcements is somewhere around 75 :) But tell me these aren't the cutest one yet!
It's hard to see in the picture because the ink is light but the bottom of the tag says 'Welcome Baby'.

Aren't they cute!? (Sorry for this picture-didn't realize it was so blurry). Inside all the boxes are a snickers bar. The boxes are made from the Candy Wrapper Die in the Mini Catalog.

I just love the little punched toy duck. It's so cute. I'm going to try to remember all the punches I used but it's been a while so forgive me if I forget one.

Head: 3/4 circle punch

Beak: Boho Blossom Punch

Wheels: 1/2 circle punch

Wing: 5 Petal Flower punch

Body: Key Tag (retired) and I pretty sure it's the 1 3/8 circle but not positive on that. To get the look of the tail. Punch the key tag first then the circle around it. Hope that makes sense.

While I was making them. Logan wanted to make one too for him. So he changed the colors a little and here's his little duck.

He also changed the feet too, he didn't want wheels. Not sure why he wanted a black duck but that's what he wanted :)

We're off to feed again now. Keep checking back, I'm not sure when I'll be back to post. I'm hoping to get back to posting daily soon but for now it may just be hit and miss. This week is our demo meeting and I DO have a 3 minute demo to show you later this week but no swap this month for me. But I'll try to remember to take my camera and get pictures of the swaps at the meeting. No promises though :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

She's finally here!

The pregnancy is finally over! YAY! I'm so happy and I'm not nauseous anymore. I finally have my appetite back and have been scarfing down meal after meal, with no worries about it making a comeback-if you know what I mean :)

So Monday was quite the day! I had my final Dr appointment at 1pm, then we would head to the hospital to be induced at 4pm. We got there around 3:45 and they started induction around 4:45 and 6 short hours later we had a baby, Megan Ann. No one thought it would go that fast. My doctor told me to pack things to do, DVD players, magazines, etc. So there I was with a bag full of activities and in full blown labor by about 7pm. Thank goodness for our doula too, she made everything go so smoothly and kept Dan calm, cool and collected-or as much as he could be. So Megan was ready to come and once she decided to come, she was packed up and moving out as fast as she could. I was checked around 10:15 and was told I was 6cm so we decided to move to the tub (worked wonders with Logan). After 3 contractions in the tub I was convinced it wasn't going to work and I wanted IV drugs so we got out she checked me again and I was 10 cm and ready to push, no time for drugs now! With only about 6 minutes of pushing she was out. She literally came out so fast that her head is so perfectly round. She looks like a c-section baby. All the doctors and nurses were even commenting on it. But anyway she's here and we're both doing well. She has a little jaundice, nothing too serious (we hope) so we've been spending lots of time sunbathing by the windows and lots and lots and lots of time nursing to try to avoid a hospital stay under the blue billi lights like Logan. As for me I'm resting when I can. I am very tired, but who isn't with a new born in the house? Sleep will come back. I'm getting in a few short naps during the day and at night. Dan has been super helpful, and even Logan has helped out--a little. :)


I have 3 or 4 projects to show you but I think it will be a few more days until I can get them up. So bear with me, the next few weeks will be on and off but soon we'll be in a routine and I'll be able to post more regularly. Here's a few more pictures from Monday night's action.
Dan holding her for the first time. He was so great in the delivery room. Even when things were moving so fast he kept his cool. He kept saying for HOURS after "I can't believe you did that without any drugs"

So cute!!

Logan holding Megan for the first time. She wasn't having a good afternoon. But Logan handled it well.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Quick Announcement

Just a super quick announcement. I'll be back later with more details. We welcomed little Megan Ann on Monday 10/18/2010 at 10:51pm. She weighed in at 8lbs 9oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. We're all excited and tired. More soon! Thanks for all the well wishes, I sure appreciate them!

Sparkling Christmas!

Today's card was more of an experiment than a planned project. I was trying some Christmas color combos and had my glitter sitting on my desk and went a little, or maybe a lot crazy! Originally I was just going to do the tree with scallops but then thought, well I have the matching glitter-lets see what that looks like!

So what do you think? Do you like the glitter, does the color combo work for a Christmas Card? It took a little longer to do this card then I had originally planned. I did each color of glitter separately and wanted each color to dry before I did the next color.

I actually really like it. Next time I may go with a smaller tree and position the greeting in a better spot but over all I think it's a cute card. I wouldn't make a ton of them though :)

Plus I love it because it's super sparkly!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Christmas Greeting

Carstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Brushed Silver

Ink: Real Red, Basic Black

Accessories: Chunky Glitter, Scallop Border Punch, Tombow Glue, Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Black Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Got Treats?

Today is the big day. I'll be induced this afternoon (unless baby has already come). As of the time I was typing this baby had not come :) So by the time you're reading this baby may have already come. I really don't like pre-scheduling my posts but I also HATE to not have any posts go up at all. So if I have to pre-schedule as opposed to no posts at all, I'll pre-schedule them. I hope you understand.

Last week when I was stamping I had a glitter craving. You know how it is when you haven't used an accessory for a while and you really want to. Well that was my glitter craving-or maybe it's a pregnancy thing :) Anyway I pulled out my chunky glitter-which I hardly ever ever ever use and thought that would be perfect for this project.
I used my XL scallop circle punch and went around the edge with my tombow glue and then covered it all in black glitter. The pictures really don't give it the sparkly justice it deserves but trust me the glitter is there. I used my markers to color the pumpkin stamp from the Got Treats set and then punched everything out with circle punches. For the little purse. I used my Scallop Envelope Die and cut 2, attached them together and made a super quick, easy, cute purse. It's the perfect size for holding 2 Ghirardelli chocolate squares. I added some ribbon for a handle and voila your done!

It's super cute, and you could modify this for any holiday in the Got Treats stamp set! Isn't the awesome!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Got Treats

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Old Olive Markers

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Die, Sticky Strip, Pumpkin Pie Ribbon, XL Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4 and 1 3/8 Inch Circle Punches, Tombow Glue, Chunky Glitter, Crop a Dial, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Fabulous Thanks!

We're now on day 3 of my CASED cards. I'm so thankful to have such a large source of blogs, websites, catalogs and other sources to copy cards from. I want to stamp but I think my creative juices are taking a break during the last part of this pregnancy :) So I'm ok with coping that means that I still get that stamp.

Today's card came from Renee Van Stralen's blog. I look forward to checking out her blog everyday. I just love her work. It's always so pretty! I think I may have stared at this card for a few minutes too just in awe of how pretty it was. So I made my own. I changed the colors slightly though. She used Cajun Craze but I'm going to use Cherry Cobbler. Both have deep, rich colors but I just like Cherry Cobbler more!

Isn't it just so pretty. Now I will warn you, if you don't like sponging and you don't like tearing (I have a few of those customers-and that's ok), but if you're not a sponger or tearer you might not want to try this card. I sponged every single layer of this card and there's lots of tearing. But I love the result of it! I left the ribbon off mine, but I still love it.

I love the colors, I love the pearls, I just love it all!!!

Thanks for coming along with me this week on my week of copied cards :) I think this one is my favorite but I sure love the others too!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Fast and Fabulous, En Francais Background, Short and Sweet

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Ink: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, and Old Olive Marker

Accessories: Sponges, Adhesive Pearls, Dimensionals, Word Window Punch

Thanks for looking see you soon!!!!

Diagonal Birthday

I had a Dr appointment yesterday and baby is being as stubborn as can be. Baby just doesn't want to leave! Well the eviction notice has been given and baby has until Monday at 4pm to move out or I'll be induced. So we're really hoping it happens over the next few days. I'll keep you up to date as always but please send good baby thoughts this way and hope and pray baby comes in the next few day on her own.


This card just blows me away it looks so cool. And it's pretty easy to do especially with SU's DSP because it all coordinates with each other! I first saw this card on Connie Collins's blog. She got the idea from Kristina Werner's blog. It's such a cool idea I love the look of it so I had to give it try! Kristina has a video on her blog on how to do it so I won't go into detail on it. It probably wouldn't make much sense if I tried to explain it anyway. So if you're interested in making this card I recommend watching her video.

Isn't it cool though. I love the look of the DSP on this card. And may I also say how much I am LOVING our In Colors!! And yes that's Cajun Craze, it really is starting to grow on me, but I think only when I use it with Peach Parfait :)

Don't you just love that glittery brad! It's hard to tell from the picture but it really is glittery. I made this card for my Dad's birthday that was this week. But I had so much fun making this one that I made another one too!

I think I actually like this one better. I like the greens and I like the diagonal rays coming down from the top. Plus I added a little ribbon to this card and we all know that ribbon makes everything better :)

Logan also stamped a card for my Dad's birthday and I thought I would show it with these cards too. I had no input on this card. I just cut the cardstock for him. And you can't tell from the picture but it actually opens backwords, the fold is on the right instead of the left. But he was so happy with it I couldn't bear to tell him that. He's even getting really good at using my SNAIL by himself :)

Isn't it cute! The greeting says 'Lucky You and lucky me for knowing you'. He even sponged the edges of the tag!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Afterthoughts, Word Play, Fox and Friends

Carstock: Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Whisper White, Pear Pizazz, In Color 6x6 DSP pack, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist

Ink: Cajun Craze, Pear Pizazz, Basic Black

Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Glimmer Brads, Pear Pizazz Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Thanks a Million

As I'm typing this (Sunday afternoon) there is no sign of baby making an appearance, but just in case I'm spending the afternoon typing up blog posts for the week so that if anything happens you guys aren't left hanging :)

I did alot of stamping this weekend. Some on Friday, lots on Saturday so I have lots to show you! Everything I stamped though I pretty much copied. But as I tell my customers all the time, it's alright to copy, I do it all the time! Our catalog is full of ideas for you to copy and so is my blog!

Today's card I saw on Linda Heller's blog. She had a downline meeting and this was one of the techniques showed at it. Trish showed it, and I've actually had the pleasure of meeting Trish at convention and she is one of the funniest, sweetest demos I've ever met! There's a video on how to do this technique by Trish on Linda's blog so make sure you check it out.

Here's the card.

Isn't it just stunning! I used the Square Lattice embossing folder and then used my brayer with Rich Razzleberry ink over it and the raised part of the folder will pick up the ink while the rest stays white. It's just so awesome!! I love it. Trish has a ton more samples that she shows in the video so make sure you watch because the samples are gorgeous!!

It's super easy and super quick! Makes a really great monochromatic card, don't you think? I just love it!! Thanks Trish for the awesome idea!!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Word Play

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice folder, Brayer, Rich Razzleberry Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Friendly Butterfly

This card is so easy and so pretty that I could make a ton of them! I posted this similar card in September. This butterfly was made at the same time. The only difference is the base of the card and I used rhinestones on this one instead of the pearls.

I love both cards but I think I like the simplicity of this one more! I love the texture from the polka dot folder!

There's not much else to say about this card. It came together super quick and I just love it!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Perfect Punches

Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Autumn Spice DSP

Ink: Early Espresso, More Mustard

Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Sponges, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!