A Delightful Waste of Time

Thanks...

2017-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

I am super excited for today's post...

I have kind of been out of the blogging loop the last while (like... long while) because of... well, life!

But when Veronica asked me if I might consider doing a guest design spot for the challenge, Inspired by... All the Little Things, I couldn't say no. Especially when she sent me this inspiration picture:

I mean... that's essentially a vision board for my living room, and how *awesome* is the pumpkin quilt?

I think I answered "YES!" about thirteen seconds after she contacted me.

Now, like I said... I haven't been a regular in my craft room in way. too. long. So I have stamps that might be older, but have barely been inked. It was time to dig them out!

There's a gift card pocket on the front of the card, making this a gift and greeting in one!

The pumpkin stamp is from WPlus9, and I just adore it's homespun feel. The plaid paper and earthy tones were drawn from the quilt colours, and the rough edges of my paper were inspired by the beautiful chippy painted pieces in the inspiration photo.

The photo made it so easy to find my groove with this card, which is always the best way to craft!

Thank you so much to Veronica and the other ladies at the challenge for having me.. I am so flattered you asked me to join in!

I hope you're inspired by the beautiful photo, and if you do play along, I would love to hear about it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday...

2017-10-11T14:01:00.003-07:00

Hello out there!

I can't believe it's been almost a year. Where the heck does time go?!

But... and I've said it before, I know... I see a light at the end of the tunnel. We moved into our house four years ago, and have spent nearly the entire time we've been here working on a whole-house, DIY major renovation.

If you follow me on Instagram, I've shared some of our progress here and there...

We have been spending most of the last few months (read: way. too. long.) working on finishing our basement. We have basically never properly utilized an entire floor of our house since moving in...

And it's almost done.

So I am making all kinds of plans for living life like a normal person.

Which means stamping. Lots and lots of stamping.

And blogging... I can't wait to get back to blogging regularly.

So I have ideas and am working on some things, and I am hopeful that in the New Year, I will be revamping, and unveiling a new and improved blog. I've already got some balls rolling, and some ideas twirling. So I hope you'll remember me, and check back here and there when I manage to resurface!

I am hoping I can include more about the other things in my life that take up my time... other creative endeavors and such. It will evolve as I do, I am sure.

Anyway!

I do have a card to share with you today, because even though I don't spend nearly enough time in the craft room, I definitely still watch stamp releases every month... and sometimes I can't help but bring new things home to live with me!

When Dawn from WPlus9 started peeking these Southern Summer Florals sets, I literally had heart palpitations. She knows how to do florals, that girl! And these are so easy to use - and I don't even own a Misti! (That's what happens when you stop crafting properly. Fads and trends pass you by!)

Also, word dies are becoming my new favourite thing.

Christmas is coming, and so is the need for cards to mail... so I *will* be blogging more as I create our cards for the season. What I'm saying is that I won't be letting a year pass by before I post again!

Thanks for popping by, and if there's still anyone out there and reading, let me know! I would love to hear that you remember who I am... *wink*

Have a great day!

Season's Greetings...

2016-11-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

So because I am pretty rusty with this whole stamping, cardmaking gig (I used to pump out so many cards whenever I would sit down... now it's one or two!), I need a lot of help getting started. I've been cruising Pinterest and filling up my "Inspiration Love..." board.

So this card was born from something I pinned, and I really loved stamping on the coloured background, which is something I forget to do when I'm left to my own devices!

It's a little different for me, but the inspiration piece really drove me out of my comfort zone, and that was the whole point.

Also - a cutesy deer? Who saw that coming?! But I've really been enjoying this set from Lawn Fawn, and it hasn't been as difficult to work with as I might have thought, given that it's so different than what I've worked with in the past.

So that's what I have for you today, and I have a few more coming! Thanks for popping in, and I'll be back soon to share some other cards that were inspired by the magical world of Pinterest!

Season's Greetings...

2016-11-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

For all the ways my husband can play indifferent to mostly anything, when it comes to penguins, he's smitten. He thinks they're just cool. So for most of his Christmas cards, I use the same old penguin stamp in some reinvented fashion.

So I thought maybe it was time to seek out a new penguin stamp set.

If you've spent any time around here, when I tell you I really loved this set from Lawn Fawn, I think you'll agree that it's kind of shocking! But I thought this was a fun one for my penguin loving hubby, and my cutesy loving kiddos, so it just made sense to go ahead and get it.

And it turns out, it was really fun to use... usually this sort of stamp style really eludes me and I can't quite figure out how to bring something together. But this one just kind of came together, and I was really pleased with how it turned out!

And a penguin throwing snowballs at another penguin's head is very much something that will speak to my husband...

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Joy To The World...

2016-10-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

I know I should be sharing pumpkins and colourful leaves, but I can't help it... I'm all about Christmas! You know this about me already...

Our whole house has been sick for the past week... I am pretty sure we've been hit by the Norovirus, and I can tell you it's not been fun. But it has meant lots of downtime, and so I've been filling my sketchbook with lots of Christmas card ideas and I even ordered some new stamps (you know... to make myself feel better). So I hope to build up a good stash to mail out this year, since I didn't manage to send cards last year (we still had a newborn then!).

I wish I could properly capture the shimmer of the Delicata ink I used on the gold accents... it's beautiful!

And the word dies from Reverse Confetti are quickly becoming a favourite....

Finally today, I am feeling better, so my plan for Friday is to hole up in the craft room and bring some of my sketches to life... now if only my box of goodies could get here quickly!

Have a great weekend friends!

Festive Friday - Warm Winter Wishes...

2016-10-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hello there, friends!

It's been a couple of weeks again... finding time to make cards is one challenge, but finding time to photograph them is a whole other thing!! All these children who want 3 meals a day... *every* day!

So for this one, I stepped out of my usual box... For me, this is quite the departure!

He's never so obvious with his compliments, but I think this might be my husband's favourite card that I've ever shown him. He likes this kind of 'scene' card, if he's card shopping, and his preference is far more cutesy than I've ever been comfortable with... so my cards are never really what he's drawn to (I say that like he spends any time looking at cards).

I broke out an older WPlus9 set that I still really, really love... it's called Iconic Christmas, and it's just the perfect name for this one! I wanted to keep it very pale and simple, and just used glitter to emphasize the accents. I love how it turned out, actually, even though it's so far out of my usual zone... and now I have ideas for how to draw on this same idea.

So is anyone else antsy to get the decorations out? I'm *so* ready for my trees! But my brutus toddler might think I put them up just for him to dismantle, so it could be a testy season.........

Festive Friday - Holiday Joy...

2016-09-23T12:55:00.002-07:00

It's Friday! So I saved posting this card until today so that I could make it a Festive Friday post.

I have been stamping a lot of similar cards using different colours and different sets, but the result is that I have quite a pile of 'easy-to-mail' (read: not my usual layers) cards. It will come in handy, I am sure, but I think it's time to branch out a little!

The photo does not do the gold justice on this card... I finally bought a Delicata ink pad and holy WOW is it ever sparkly. Worth it. I like the vintage appeal of this colour combo... I think that's why I like stamping backgrounds so much; I get to really play with colour combinations and manipulate them to make whatever my mood feels like. It's therapeutic, for sure.

The kids are leaving school early this afternoon, so I am off to soak up the last hour of peace before I have to go get them for the weekend. It's been one of those weeks... *wink*

Bundle of Joy...

2016-09-21T20:32:00.002-07:00

Hey there!

Popping in really quickly, before the battery on my laptop dies... I have a card that I put together for my friend who is expecting a baby girl in a few weeks... this is her third, but together with her new husband, this will make four girls and one boy for them... life is about to get all kinds of busy!

I went crazy for the Little Bo Peep line that Crate Paper released a couple of years ago, so I purchased tons of it... which means I have lots to use up!

I am for sure way out of practice... every time I make something, I am reminded how rusty I am!

Anyway... I better skip out. I know this is a short post, but like I said... my computer is on borrowed time!

Have a wonderful night, my friends!

Season's Greetings...

2016-09-17T13:29:00.002-07:00

I sat down yesterday, determined to create *non*-holiday related cards.

That totally didn't happen.

For good measure, after I finished the Christmas cards, I did do a couple of layouts to get my 13 month old's scrapbook started. You know... not to rush or anything...

I had this idea last year, to create some form of rainbow effect using snowflakes. I just love love LOVE snowflakes (I've never been shy about admitting this), and this was a really out-of-my-box type of card for me, so it took awhile to pull together, given it's simplicity. The stamping was easy... it was deciding how badly I wanted to cover up that beautiful background...

So I decided to use a circle cut from vellum to ground my sentiment without covering up my rainbow.

Stamping the pattern came together pretty quickly, and I can't properly describe the love I have for these Simon Says Stamp snowflakes. I have a lot of snowflake sets, but I really do grab for this one probably the most. It's hard to tell from my photo, but the die cut sentiment (another favourite from SSS) is covered in glitter. I also debossed the background with a linen cover plate from Papertrey, but it's definitely a subtle effect.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, wherever you are... it's a drizzly, true fall day here, and my whole family has left me alone in the house, so I'm in my glory. Happy Saturday!

On Your Special Day...

2016-09-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

You know what my favourite part of back to school is? The part where the kids (one of whom is starting her fourth year at school) have no idea what it means to get ready every morning, have no concept of speed, and love to hear my yell every morning. It's just the highlight of every day for me. You too?

Anyway... this is why I've made such a point of carving out time to stamp and create again... to keep myself somewhat sane.

I have used up a lot of my birthday cards, so even though I want to stamp everything Christmas, I am trying to throw a few of these in to build up a stash again.

I have also been trying to really use the stamps I have that have been sitting idle for a couple of years... it's so easy to get caught up in the new stuff I see and want to bring it all home, but I am doing my best to resist!

I have a few holiday projects coming your way in the next little while too... I didn't say I was able to resist the urge to make everything festive!

Festive Friday - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

2016-09-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Festive WHAT? That's right... I decided to do a Festive Friday post... I even did a post over on the old challenge blog! Not with any challenge link at this point, however... But, I thought it was only fair to share with fellow Christmas lovers...

When I was working on my card for the Muse: Christmas Visions guest gig last week, I had a couple of designs in mind and decided to just putter with my supplies - like I used to. I can waste the hours away working on holiday projects any time of year. I just love all things snowflake.

Simon Says Stamp has some of my favourite snowflake stamps going... and I have a *lot* of snowflake stamps.

We had a snowflake themed wedding nearly 11 years ago, and since then, I adore them. I have a Christmas tree covered in them (there are a few other ornaments thrown in, but the bulk of them are flakes), I have many dies, many stamps and lots of other things in between. Also, a plan for a snowflake tattoo is in the works. I love them.

See what I was saying in my last post about my style of card being more simple lately? I don't know if it will stick... but at least I finally have some cards that are easier to mail. That always proves a snag when it's time to finally send these things out!

I think I've worked out a tentative schedule for creating, so if I can manage to stick with it, I should be able to make a good pile of cards to send out this year, and who knows? Maybe I'll manage some blog posts!

No promises...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...

2016-08-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, if I've learned anything in my years as a mother, it's this; the more children you have, the faster the years pass! I remember when my little guy was born, and the nights were so long and the exhaustion all-consuming... and I would think to myself in those wee hours that I just needed to remember how quickly he'd be a year old and all that newborn craziness would be over, and I'd miss it... and even at that, it's been a shock to realize we are there, and he's a year old!

This was probably one of my favourite parties to date... It's one that I've been drawn to before, but the girls always had ideas of their own, and it inevitably was pushed aside. But very quickly when Charlie was born, I was drawn to starry-themed things for him, and it sort of became his 'thing' (my girls have their own 'things'!)... so I knew this was the perfect chance!

I really invested myself in this one... we decided that since the oldest and the youngest celebrate their birthdays only 5 days apart, that this would be a family celebration for both. So that meant roughly 25 people and a whole lot of work! But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was so pleased with how it all came together.

I stuck to simple colours - navy and gold, with lots of cream and white.

I also decided that I would serve more 'fancy' and grown up food this time... I prepared everything myself (I love to cook but don't feel like I get to stretch my skills too often with three little ones and their picky dad), and it completely exhausted me... but everyone loved the spread, so it was worth it.

There wasn't much left over at the end, so I call it a success!

We had cake as well as the cupcakes since there were so many guests. It helped give everyone something sweet without having to bake a huge cake or an entire table of cupcakes. Variety is more interesting!

I also made cookies for decorating, which usually I intend to pass out as favours and usually at the end of the party, I have a pile of prettily packaged cookies left behind. So this time I plated them and put them out to be enjoyed. Worked far better...

It also helped to get the point across that this was, technically, a joint party.

Since the focus was on Charlie (because Emma had her friends' party a week later, where she got to be the center of attention), I chose to use my Instagram photos from his monthly photo sessions and create a banner behind the main food table. It wasn't easy to take this down, and I only did so because it didn't fit with the following birthday party!

Well, those are the key parts... I did take lots of photos of our following party, so I'll try to get those edited and posted before too long! Thanks for sticking through such a long post... Hopefully it wasn't too dull! *wink*

Guest Designer: Wishing You Joy...

2016-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Told you I'd be back!

I am here for such a fun reason... a few months ago, my friend Ardyth (the lovely soul who kept my Festive Friday blog going for awhile there when I couldn't...) asked me if I would be interested in Guest Designing for her fun challenge blog, Muse: Christmas Visions. As if I even needed to think twice about it!

I am so glad I had this push to create something... I really miss it so much! And Christmas themed at that... you know how I feel about Christmas projects!

I have never stopped adding to my collection of goodies to play with, even if I rarely use them... I can't help myself when I see pretty things that inspire me! So I have some new-to-me Christmas supplies that I was so happy to have an excuse to use.

I find the longer I am 'away' from creating (only in a hands-on sense; I still prowl blogs and Pinterest and dream up creations of my own that never come to execution...), the more my style seems to change when I sit down at the craft table. I'm drawn to simpler designs, and while my hubs used to tease me about all the lace and buttons you would find on nearly everything I created, I seem to be leaving those behind more often than not.

But I still couldn't resist stamping myself a background!

I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge! I'll be happy (and humbled and honoured) to come and see what you've done with my little card here...

Wish Big - Gryffindor Style...

2016-08-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, just when you might have given up on me, and thought I'd given up blogging for good, here I am! I've carved out time the last little while to create a few things, and would you believe I'll be a guest designer next week? You'll have to keep an eye out for that one...

The baby had his first birthday last weekend, so I have photos to work through and share from that... and almost immediately following, my oldest has her birthday on Friday. It's been busy with projects for these celebrations, and I've even managed a couple of extra projects too. I hope it becomes a trend!

So the oldest has caught the Harry Potter fever... she ordered a Gryffindor themed party (okay, I confess that was my persuasion... she wanted every detail from every movie in every room of the house, and I gently suggested we pick the House colours and use them as our theme...), and I had to figure out how to rise to the occasion.

That was all easy enough and then it was time to make her a card. I was stumped for a minute, but then I figured if I just replicated the Gryffindor tie as a backdrop it might just take itself from there...

So there it is. I hope she can see what I was going for, because so long as she likes it, then I say it worked. I figured the owl silhouette maybe helped seal the theme... maybe not? *wink*

I'll do my best to post the projects I've been creating before too much time passes, and maybe even make time to create some more! And I really do plan to post photos from the parties this month... just can't promise they'll be before Christmas... Ha!

Check back next week, as I have another post coming your way for sure... see you soon!

Happy Birthday...

2016-04-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

The girls are at school, the baby is hanging out with Grandma, and I'm taking a break from cleaning toilets to eat some leftover pasta. Glamour, all glamour around here! But I thought it was a good opportunity to visit my neglected blog!

I have found a couple of pictures of projects that I don't think I've shared here before... but I'm also completely out of touch with reality, so there's a very good chance I have absolutely posted this card before and I can't remember. But I couldn't find it when I dug around, so here's hoping the crazy isn't taking over.

Three kids will do it to you, I'm tellin' ya. My husband even looked at me a couple of weeks ago and said, "This third kid has really taken it out of you." He never notices *anything* so that's an indication of how I must look.

Anyway.

We are getting ready to get back into birthday parties around here already. I am completely in denial that my youngest girl is going to be *six* and that the baby is closing right in on his first birthday. Don't even talk to me about the oldest one finishing grade two already. Who let this happen?

So this card I am sharing is actually from last year's birthday party. The oldest had her birthday only 5 days after her baby brother was born via c-section, and since we knew that's about how it was going to play out, we picked a super easy theme for our party. One I could prepare for very easily with little effort, and one we knew we could count on Dad and Grandma to be willing to do all the food prep.

This girl loves all things Day of the Dead, and I firmly believe I was a Mexican in a past life, so we combined our two loves, and threw a fiesta for her seventh birthday.

I used a set from Avery Elle (which I can't find a link for, so will assume it's retired), which was *so* perfect!

I also snuck that skull of there from a Halloween set that I have from Waltzingmouse (also no longer available), because this girl loves sugar skulls, so it sort of seemed fitting.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and *not* retired, so there's that! Maybe being so out of the loop for this long means I'm using all 'collectible' stamps (sounds better than no longer available)!

Well, those toilets apparently aren't going to clean themselves. And if I wait until the children are home, well... there's no point then, is there?

Thanks for popping by! I hope to share another few things before too long... but I will leave you with this beauty, who is almost nine months old already...

Let's Catch Up...

2016-03-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello old friends!

I can't believe it's been so many months since I posted... time really does fly, doesn't it? I keep thinking to myself "this is the week I'll start blogging again..." because I so miss being immersed in Blogland... but then life happens, and it's Spring Break.

So I thought I'd catch you up a little and share the few projects I have managed to create in the last few months.

The main keeper of my time...

And that's already a month ago... he'll be seven months old tomorrow. The first few months were quite cranky... people would ask how he was and I'd always reply, "Bitchy!" because he was just so grumpy all the time. Then we took him to Disneyland (right before the above photo) and life clicked for him. He's now a very happy, very smiley boy, who is very attached to his mumma. I won't lie; I kind of love that last part! But it means that when he's around me, I get very little done because he figures he should be, in some way, attached to me. I know this time will pass so quickly, so I don't mind and I definitely indulge.

The girls are so completely in love with him that we have to remind them constantly to give him his space. My oldest can't stop picking him up, even though she can barely handle his huge self (he's a big boy!). They are always showering him with kisses, and if he fusses, they race each other to be by his side and talk to him. It's a good help for me!

We are also gearing up for another pretty huge renovation... we *still* have a lot of finishing work to do on the main floor from the renovations we did last year, and now we are getting ready to completely gut our basement. My hubby has decided that it's time to get another bin parked in our driveway and start filling it. We've filled the workshop up with things like doors and tiles, and so there's not a lot of actual work space. So it sounds like we'll be gutting the basement, hanging trim in the kitchen at the same time we're hanging drywall downstairs. It's a little chaotic, but at this point, I'm just along for the ride!

Cards... oh I miss stamping so much! It wouldn't be a trip to my blog without a Christmas card, right?

I adopted a penguin for my husband's Christmas present (he loves penguins!), so this was the card I put together for him. It's a mish mash of products, and it takes me forever these days to put something together, but it's so damned cathartic when I do!

Our anniversary was at the start of February... we've somehow been married for ten years! We had a snowflake themed wedding, so I made a card that reflected our theme and colours:

I feel like I was channeling my inner Debbie Hughes with that one...

Then it was Valentine's Day, and I wanted to create a little something for the kids... I was lazy though, and they all got the same design. Hopefully my son forgives the girly factor!

I love love LOVE Rifle & Co. and tried my best to emulate their beautiful style when I stamped these out. I was happy enough with them for being quickie cards I punched out before we left for Disneyland (we got back the day before Valentine's).

The girls are on their Spring Break so it's going to be a couple of busy weeks ahead, but they have both asked to spend a day in the craft room stamping, so that means we'll dump their brother on Grandma, and hopefully I'll blog again before another six months goes by...

If there's anyone reading this... thanks for stopping by! I say it every time, but I really *do* hope to get back into regular blogging sometime soon. We've got some parties and things coming up, which forces me to create... I just have to make a point of blogging those projects!

I hope all of you are well, and please know that even if I'm silent in my corner over here, I AM still checking out what's going on out there, and seeing what you're all up to! Have a great Sunday, friends!

Red and Green - PTI October Blog Hop...

2015-10-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there friends! I am so excited that I managed to make not just one but a couple of different cards so that I could participate in this month's Blog Hop over at Papertrey!

My kids had a day off from school on Friday and my oldest asked if we could spend the day making cards. Of course that sounded like fun to me, so I asked Grandma to be in charge of the other two kids (I was on call for baby feeds only!) and off we went. It's always so relaxing and lovely to just stamp the day away!

**forgive the terribly boring photos - I had to snap these quick while the baby was happy!**

I couldn't pass up this month's holiday theme, since my favourite projects to make are for Christmas! I dug out some of the things I picked up last year but haven't had enough time to play with yet, and created a couple of different things using the colour theme from the inspiration photo; red and green.

So I only recently finally got the dies that go with the Sparkle & Shine sets that were released last year; which I got at the time, but have barely touched. So for this one, I stamped some snowflakes in Soft Stone for my background (those are from Simon Says Stamp), then dug out Bells & Boughs (still a favourite) to add my stamping in the top corner. This one came together quickly, and I really like how it turmed out.

I had so much fun stamping this background... these are the stamps from the mini set that was included in the Tinsel and Tags Make it Market kit last year... and I *love* how easy it was to pull this together.

One last one!

Again, I used all stamps from the Tinsel & Tags kit... this one was also so fun to make! I really like how the little layers in the scene came together, and it actually isn't *that* thick for popping this in the mail!

That's all I have for you today... thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your hop!

Happy Birthday...

2015-09-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

August has turned into the month of birthdays for us. My new baby (six weeks old already!) is first, then his oldest sister is just a few days later. Then just over a week after that is my husband. It calls for a lot of card making! I don't mind...

So I'm realizing that I'm going to have to learn some new tricks... I could sometimes pass off a very frilly card to my husband because he would realize it's just how I do... but with a new little boy in our house, I'm thinking flowers and pink lace may not cut it any more! I tried a new (to me) technique for my husband's card this year, hoping to create something more masculine.

I used to have such an aversion to this shade of green, but when you pair it with gold, it's too perfect not to love! I was inspired by a tag I had seen that Dawn Wholeslagle had created in this post (scroll down) and decided to try it for myself. Basically, just stamping in white ink, then on top of that with coloured ink. I liked that the colours became really muted this way.

I thought it turned out okay!

I have been trying to post this card for a couple of weeks now, and I have others to post as well. My little monkey is growing so quickly and time passes in a blink... he'll be seven weeks old at the end of this week! He's becoming more alert and not super cranky every time he's awake, so that's a nice change. I still can't wait for a full night's sleep though... *wink*

He is very much a mix of his two sisters, and I am so in love with seeing him grow into himself. He's filling out quickly, and I swear he looks different every time I go in to change a diaper. I know I'm biased, but I do think he's pretty handsome!

Thanks so much for popping in, I so appreciate your visits!

He's Here...

2015-08-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

When I first started dating my husband, we would talk for hours about our future together. Almost from the start, we knew we were destined to be partners forever. One of the things that came up very early on was the fact that the MacRitchie side of the family really only produces boys. When I had my oldest daughter (shocking!), she was the first girl born into that side of the family in three generations.

For the last 7 years, I've been a mum to girls, and loved every single second of it (though, dreading the teenage years, and planning a parenting hiatus when the hormones kick in). I knew I was destined to be surrounded by all things pink and frilly and my husband thoroughly enjoyed being wrapped around the fingers of two little girls.

When I got pregnant for the last time, I kept thinking that it had to be a girl because that's just what we make! And I wasn't shy about the fact that I was terrified that if I had a boy, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I kept saying that if they announced 'boy' in the delivery room, I'd need a moment to really come to terms with it. I just hoped the doctors wouldn't think me a terrible mother.

But... there were signs, and I felt for a lot of my pregnancy that this little bean *was* going to throw me on my ear.

I didn't share much with many people, but about halfway through my pregnancy, my placenta started to be a bit of a drama queen, and I was considered high risk. So two weeks ago, when I went in for one of my many scans and tests to check that all was still well, they felt that we were really starting to push our luck, and it was just time to get him out. So, c-section it was. This was scary for me, since my last two were born naturally and very easily, but in the end, it's worked out just fine.

And that moment, in that room, when the OB said "It's a... boy!" I just started to bawl. How could it be anything BUT a boy? My hubby said, "Are you crying because it's a boy?" and I had to assure him I was just overcome with joy.

Little Charlie.

It's been quite a trip, being back in the baby zone after five years, and I definitely have to remind myself that it gets easier (oh, to sleep for 8 consecutive hours!), but I've realized that we never felt complete before. I thought we did, but now that I have children everywhere I look, and there's a blue one in the mix, I know that *this* is complete.

Happy Birthday...

2015-08-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

I was doing so well with posting there for a minute, and then it went all quiet again, didn't it?

The nesting urge has taken me over, for one thing... We've lived in our house for two years, and had yet to hang a single picture on the wall - since we knew we were going to renovate, we didn't bother when we first got here, and then we were so exhausted from the renovation itself that we just sort of collapsed. Rooms were put together, but they lacked personality. I was too tired to care for a long time, but then all of a sudden, I just wanted it to look like we live here. So, at a snail's pace, I've been waddling around, hanging pictures and adding the finishing touches. We still have some work to do in terms of finishing details (caulking trim, touching up paint, hanging trim around the cabinets)... it's a slow process, but I figure by the time the kids are in university, we might be almost done.

One day this week, though, Emma wanted to play in the craft room... we got some new stamps a few weeks ago and I still hadn't played with them, so it was easy to convince me!

I know this one is from an older PTI release, but since it isn't my usual style, it took me awhile to bite the bullet and actually order it. Finally though, Emma convinced me, because she loved it so much. She's actually really developing her own tastes and styles in cards, which is fun to watch.

I loved the way I could make the fox suit my usual shabby style with paper piecing... Easy peasy! I think it turned out okay, too... Usually the 'cutesy' stamps really stump me.

When it was all done, I traced over the outline with a sparkly black gel pen. It kind of married it all together, and also gave it some glimmer, since the black was pretty stark against my papers (I might have gone with grey if I were to do it again...)

Thanks for popping in on me! I so appreciate when you take the time to look, and all of your comments make my day... see you soon!

Thinking of You...

2015-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure so many of you do, I spend a *lot* of my kid-free time surfing Pinterest. I absolutely love it there, and of course have started a board of things I love for our new baby. Normal things like paint colours for a nursery, photography ideas, products I want to remember to look for when we know if it's a girl or boy. You know... all those things I'll never actually do anything with.

I've learned, thanks to Pinterest generating baby-related pins for me, that having a baby in the Pinning Age vs. 5 years ago are two very different things. Apparently there are at least 10 different apps I need on my phone, otherwise I will not know how much to feed my baby, nor will I have a clue what my baby's cry could possibly mean. Not to mention the fact that without these apps on my phone, my husband will be completely useless to me. Also, Pinterest wants me to believe that the first month of baby being home is something I will need help 'surviving'. I've done this before; I'm fully aware that a baby who sleeps 20+ hours a day compared to a Threenager is not something that requires a survival kit.

My 5 year old, on the other hand...

It's usually around this point I go looking for pretty flowery things so I don't have to roll my eyes anymore.

So I'm in love with so many of the modern florals you see in stationary these days (I want to wallpaper my whole life with Rifle Paper Co. patterns...), and I wanted to try to use one of these trendy colour palettes in one of my cards - with colouring.

I can't remember the last time I touched my Copics. But I remember now why I love them so...

It's so relaxing to just sit and colour like my kids do. And I knew that, but it's been so long...

The flowers are from a Flourishes set, so it's no longer available... And this was the first time I stamped in grey ink before colouring, and I love the soft look it lends. So probably I'll do that again...

I'm off to find some more hilarious birth stories... did you know that was a thing? Putting the story of your labour on the internet for strangers to read? I've found a few that are *hilarious*, full of bad words and comedic visuals, and it's my new favourite hobby to read them.

Shall I plan on sharing my labour with you all, my friends? *wink*

Festive Friday - Joy...

2015-07-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's July, we're in the middle of a record breaking heat wave, there's water shortages from months of no rain and all sunshine, and here I am, craving a Christmas card... I just can't help myself.

My friend said it best (but she's exactly like me, so...); "The whole year is just one big countdown to Christmas". So true...

I can't remember the last time I played along with a challenge, with the exception of the odd blog hop I've managed. So when I saw a sketch challenge over on the WPlus9 blog, I wanted to play along. It's a fun way to get the juices flowing!

I'm embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to complete this card, but that's just more incentive to keep playing in the craft room on a regular basis!

This poinsettia set is probably my absolute favourite (and I do have a few!). It's hard to tell fully from my photo, but I used a very light gold ink to stamp the veining and details. It adds a fun shimmer to the whole thing.

My oldest also wanted to play along, so she did her own, very simple take on the sketch.

I know I biased, but I was truly impressed with her ink colours and how well she lined up those stamps. She's not even seven!

So it's been forever since I did a Festive Friday post, but I have one for next week too! I've worked on a few holiday things the last few days, as I'm going through my stash and finding things I want to play with... like I said, Christmas is my first love...

Thinking of You...

2015-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

I think I've told you this story before... my aunt is quite an accomplished artist in Edinburgh. She teaches art courses, she sells her beautiful creations, and she is proficient in pretty much any medium she tries. My house is full of her illustrations, and I adore her work. Also, I adore her. She's the most lovely woman, and has always been my favourite person to sit and putter with - the few times we've been able to do it (since there's an ocean in the way).

Years ago, during my first visit to her flat just outside the city, she promised to tutor me in watercolour, since I always struggled with using them. She was sure I would be just fine, with a little coaching.

And after a couple of hours, she finally just said, "I don't think watercolour is for you. You're far too literal."

It was so honest and straightforward, and I loved it. I laughed, she laughed, and we both agreed she was right.

I am so in love with the cards popping up all over the place using this technique, and I keep convincing myself I can do it. I watched a few of Dawn Wholeslagle's tutorials, and felt like it was just too easy for me to *not* be able to do it!

Yeah well... it's still not for me.

I feel like I did pick up a few of her tips when I was working on this, but I still think it's time for me to put away the paint brushes. Doesn't mean I'm going to... but I should!

Emma watched the same videos, and she wanted to do her own attempt. Here is how hers turned out;

Don't adjust your eyes. She's a pro at 'shadow stamping'...

Also, she's discovered embossing powder. Her exact words were: "One of the greatest things EVER!" and she wants to use it on every single think she creates. And in the last little while she's spent hours and hours stamping and creating. So we're burning through the powder around here...

She's asked me to share a few of her things with you, so I hope you don't mind. She's quite prooud of herself, so I'm happy to indulge.. I'll include them here and there as I post!

Farm and Floral Birthday Party...

2015-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Okay. So there's this thing when you're a mum... how you can feel two completely different emotions at the exact same time. You know what I'm talking about... that first time they can do something for themselves, and you're so excited and thrilled for their independence and achievement. And so heartbroken that they're growing up way too fast in front of you.

Also, it's getting harder to manipulate their little brains into doing what I want, my way. It's my husband's favourite thing.

So for the longest time, my soon-to-be-middle child (!) wanted a girly super hero party. I tried and tried to steer her elsewhere because it just didn't 'speak' to me. But hubby pointed out I had to get on board, since it was her birthday and she should get to choose. Blah blah. Whatever, so what if he's right?

And then out of left field she starts talking about her animal birthday party. Animal? But you said super hero! Oh mum, that's so last week. So we went through a couple of weeks where we kept asking her what she wanted so I knew for sure before I started spending money. Since the super hero cape I bought is now just for dress up, and all...

Animal stuck, we narrowed it down to the farm variety and I started Pinning. Then we were at Michael's and she saw some bridal stationary that was very floral and vintage and all the things her mother loves, and she said, "I want this for my birthday party." But what about the animals?! Well, she wanted both.

Okay, this girl might be starting to outshine me in the party planning department.

I had so much on hand for this one, so it actually just sort of came together itself. And when I set this table up off the kitchen, I kind of wanted to just leave it there because it looked so pretty. But then I'd have to have cake at the ready all the time, and that just sounded like work.

We picked some pretty spring pastel colours, and went from there...

Not a huge amount of paper crafting this time around... but we did make these pretty favour tops. I just picked up some candies that fit the colour theme, and my oldest assembled it all together.

We tried to make the food serve the theme by giving it farm themed names, and Emma (not quite 7) did all the little chalkboards for me.

Also, fruit in jars. The strawberries were almost too ripe, so I made them into a syrup, and put them on the bottom, then added the other berries. Because they look so cute, you don't even realize you're eating something mostly healthy!

I wanted to put my old scale on the table because I thought it added to the feel, so we decided to prop our 'hay stacks' on top of it, using one of my grandma's antique china plates. Did I mention this was for a five year old? My hubby shakes his head at me often, but I just don't get why...

And then I borrowed some stamps and dies from a local stampy friend, and created cupcake toppers.

When it's piping hot outside, you can't get picky with icing style. So I decided we were doing things rustic and simple. Which means, I got what I got, and went with it.

I've seen these 'naked' cakes all over Pinterest, and absolutely adore them. I am not joking when I tell you I had to negotiate with said five year old to let me decorate her cake this way. She was more interested in layers of lacy looking fondant and airbrushing. I guess they don't understand that just because it's on Pinterest doesn't mean real people can actual make these things...

Now we're in the midst of getting ready for a birthday party at the end of August, scheduled for less than a week before my due date with #3. Also, the popular birth date for the baby pool my oldest is hosting. I'm just crossing my fingers I can fake my way through it well enough for her to feel like she got what she wanted!

So that was our Farm and Floral party, and I loved how it all turned out. Maybe dad's little clone is more like me than I realize? In any case, thanks for stopping by, and hopefully you liked it too!

Happy Birthday...

2015-07-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

I forgot how much the third trimester *rocks*.

Let me preface this by saying that I am very aware that my pregnancies (all three of them) have been a lot easier than what a lot of women go through. So I try very hard to not complain. I want to WIN at being pregnant, handle it like a champ, look for the positives........

But let's be honest. It isn't fun to hand your body over. I'm short, so I have no room for what I'm feeling is going to be a big baby (they said that about my first, and she was tiny. Who knows?) and I'm definitely at that stage... you know the one; drop something on the floor, look at it, and say to yourself 'screw it' and leave it where it landed.

And the peeing. All the peeing! And by peeing, I mean dribbling. Kind of. Every hour.

Then there's a kick or a roll, and I remember that there's a pretty good reason to go through it all, and remind myself I'm just lucky my body can do this for me. Suck it up, Princess.

SO. Here is one major perk of being slow, tired and less than mobile. I have every excuse to just sit on my butt and if I am sitting on my butt, I might as well stamp. Win win!

My oldest and I were out shopping (which means walking a few feet, finding a piece of something to sit on, parking it for a few minutes, then starting the process over again) the other day, and we found a really pretty card that looked like watercolour florals with gold accent outlining. We both loved it and felt we could make our own versions. This is mine.

I am so in love with Altenew's Painted Flowers set - it is showing itself to be such a versatile set! For this card, I stamped a couple of the blooms, and blurred the edges with some water. Then I embossed the outlines with gold powder, but I left the heat on longer so that instead of the result being raised, it just looks like it's painted in gold.

I really love how these stamps worked for this effect, so I might have to try some more colour combinations!

Also, I have decided I am sequin challenged.

I finally edited the photos from Josie's fifth birthday party last month, so I'll share those with you in a few days! It's been awhile since I shared a party on the blog, so I feel this one is well overdue! Stay tuned...