Hey there, y’all!

Welcome to April! We’re less than a week away from Easter, and for you moms of school kids, you know this means Easter party time!…

For my son’s Easter party, I sought out inspiration from where else?… Pinterest. That’s where I found this super, duper, easy, can do it the night before, Easter treat project.

I didn’t have time to order the cone-shaped celophane bags that I had intended to use, so instead I grabbed some disposable piping bags from the baking aisle and filled those puppies up. There’s a label printed on the bags, but I tied the bag right on that spot, and hid it in the back, lol. So it’s pretty hidden by decoration and placement.

So I first tied the bags off with some green grosgrain, and then I tied on my faux grass and tags using some jute twine. After die cutting the tags, I stamped the greeting from Compact Sentiments (ummm, can you tell how much I love this darn set?!), and then I stamped the background of the label using Heirloom Patterns, a set designed by Anya Schrier for Waltzingmouse. Love this set, too! I did this all while watching a Netflix movie on my couch last night, lol. It was super easy and fast!

Ok, I’m off to pick up the kiddos!

Xoxo,

Hey there y’all! Happy Friday!

Today I have a fun card to share with you for the Embellish Color Trends Challenge…

Aren’t these colors gorgeous!? They remind me of the ocean… so peaceful. And to step it up a notch, we’ve added the theme of jewels! Add some sparkle to your projects and join us!

I created a die cut window using some label dies, and loaded that bad boy up with all of the bling I cold find, lol. This card was actually one I had already started. I don’t like to throw good card stock away, and it just so happened that the colors worked out perfectly. All that was on it was the blueberry sky panel that I had stamped with some VersaMark. To that I added some graph paper, some washi tape that I’ve been itching to use, a silver doily, a bow, my blinged out frame and the sentiment. The sentiment, by the way, comes from Say It Loud by Waltzingmouse.

What do you think? Fun challenge, no? Come on girls, any reason to add some jewels is a good enough reason to play! Lol… I’m going to pack this card up for someone special and get it in the mail before too much time passes and I forget! Yikes!

Join us at the Embellish Color Trends Challenge blog, and then check out the other DT ladies’ blogs here:

Ashley | Char | Cristina | Mariana | Tina

On a Personal Note…

I have a 31 week belly photo to share with ya! Nothing monumental going on this week. We had our 4D ultrasound last weekend and I shared the photos here, for those of you who are interested in that kind of thing. It was neat to see my little guy up close. He’s not quite 4lbs yet, but something tells me he won’t have a problem doubling in size in the coming weeks. His cheeks are a dead giveaway, lol.

Xoxo,

 Peak:

Got to see my little guy’s face! I’m in the single digits when it comes to counting down the weeks til delivery, and it half scares me (because I feel like there’s so much I still need to do) and half excites me. I’m so anxious to see this little guys face and hold him… even if we still don’t quite have a name for him yet, lol!

Valley:

Had a couple more run-ins with the morning sickness this week, but nothing serious. More annoying than anything. I’m finding my nesting is finally kicking in, now if only I had the physical wherewithal to keep up. Hips still hurt when I sit or stand for too long, and with that pain comes the dreaded swollen ankles. Oh yea, they’re  finally here.

Hey everyone! How goes it?…

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post again. I’ve been meaning to share since Monday…

…but alas, here I am. I have a little square card that I made for a sweet lady who contacted me to do some work for her daughter’s Sweet 16 party. I try to always leave a little note of thanks for people when they reach out to me for work, because I so appreciate them thinking of me.

So I used a stamp from Compact Sentiments, along with some paper from The Paper Studio. I punched a small pinking circle from a silver doily and topped that with a twine bow and a glittery Prima flower.

I love dangling things on my cards, like those mini tags, but sometimes I like to keep them in place a bit, too. To do this, I layered a couple of large Glue Dots behind each little tag. It allowed for some dimension, but still keeps them secured to the card. I’ve been looking for the perfect little adhesive for things like this and the fact that they’re clear makes me love them even more.

On a Personal Note…

How about a weekend recap? This past weekend was a busy one! Friday night I attended my co-worker’s wedding. It was beautiful, I cried, and then I went home and took a long bubble bath because I was pooped! Heels just aren’t as fun to wear anymore, lol.

Saturday morning was soccer time, and little Sie had an awesome game! He scored 3 goals, which makes mom & dad extra proud… Little man was disappointed that he didn’t score 5 goals, though, lol! Little over achiever.

After the game we went out for burgers at Fat Cow with Sie’s Godmother. It was our first time there, and man was this preggo a happy eater! Lol… it was delish. And we ate outside in the beautiful weather. Supey enjoyed his burger… apparently.

And then he and Syd spent some time on the little lookout off the side of the restaurant. It made me nervous with them near the banister, but they were actually getting along pretty well (whispering & giggling among themselves), so I took the opportunity to snap a pic. My sweethearts…

After lunch, we went to our 4D Ultrasound appointment to get a peek at our little 30 week old bun in the oven. They didn’t come out as clear as our previous experience, but it was still fabulous to see our “littlest man” one last time before we are holding him in our arms in 8-ish weeks. Here are a few of the pics:

And because I’m obsessed with finding cute boy apparel right now, lol… some sneaks I’ve started to collect for the baby…

After all of that, the boys (Supey & Daddy) went home to nap, and Syd, Sie’s Godmother and I went to check out the new JoAnne’s in town. Susan Weinroth and her gorgeous quilts are pretty much solely responsible for my new desire to sew a quilt for the kids. Her work is stunning, and makes beginners like me feel so at ease about jumping into the new craft. Here are the fabrics I chose to make this quilt with. I may go back for more to get some stripes, but it’s a start.

Oh! One last bit… Y’all know I love me some Pinterest, right? Well I stumble across things I have to want to try, and this was one of them. Here’s how mine turned out.

Done any DIY projects for yourself lately? I’d love to see!

Ok, folks… I’ll be back tomorrow with a new Embellish Color Trends Challenge. If you haven’t played along with the current challenge, you still have a bit of time left… check out the inspiration and challenge here.

Xoxo,

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday!…

Today I’m sharing a card that I made using the new Vintage Labels No. 25 stamp set by Waltzingmouse.

With all of the fun frames in this set, I thought I’d use them all to create a cheery background. I used some non-traditional baby colors because I happened to be in a bright and happy mood when I made this, lol. But I think it turned out well.

I used a sentiment from Compact Sentiments to finish it off… easy peasy!

Oh! Claire also has the coordinating Spellbinders dies in her shop to go with Vintage Labels 25, so you can grab those when you pick up the stamp set.

Well, we have a busy weekend around here, but it’s going to be fun! We have a wedding, a sleepover, a soccer game, a 4D ultra sound appointment (yay!), and hopefully a chance to see The Hunger Games (yay, again!). Oh, and definitely some more baby room prep. It’s no where near ready… but we will hopefully make some headway.

On a Personal Note…

I’m now a full 30 weeks pregnant! Yay! Wait, what?! Aaack! I am only 10 weeks away from my due date! But, since we’ll probably be inducing early, I’m more like 9 weeks away. Holy moly, where has the time gone??? Well, here’s my belly pic… Oh! Let me apologize in advance for the obviously undersized tank. I couldn’t find my maternity ones and really wanted to get a pic before bed, lol.

Anyway, here it is…

You can see an album of all of my Belly Photos here.

I hope y’all enjoy your weekend!

Xoxo,

Peak:

Little man is having lots of movement lately, including hiccups! It’s pretty cute. I’m excited to see his little face this weekend at our 4D Ultrasound appointment. It will be the last ultrasound before delivery. Other great news… I only gained 1 pound  this past 2 weeks! Woo hoo for the weight gain slowing down! I’ve gained over 50lbs at this point, and though I’m used to going through this during pregnancy… well… a girl never really gets used to gaining this much weight so quickly. Lol. Anyhow, it’s been an overall great week!

Valley:

I had a couple of bouts with morning sickness this week.  That wasn’t particularly fun. I  think I had enough of that for the first 4 or 5 months. Sheesh. Also having major hip pain. Maybe I need to get one of those belly girdles to help relieve some of the pressure. We’ll see.

Hey y’all, happy Monday!

I have another Waltzingmouse card to share with you today…

This card features more stamps from the March release. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing a lot of these stamps going forward.

The sentiment on the cover of the card is from French Country, and it’s flanked with a gorgeous flourish from Paris Nouveau. I’ll admit, when I first laid eyes on French Country, I knew I had some translating to do, lol. As pretty a these sentiments are, I wasn’t sure what some of them meant when I first saw them. So after a little Googling, I found that Bonne Fete is sort of a generic greeting that can be used in most any type of celebration… Including birthdays. If I’m completely mistaken in my interpretation, please educate me!

I stamped a small tag to go inside of the mini envelope, too. This sentiment is from Florentine Flippery, and the tag topper is from Vintage Labels 25.

I used some goodies from the Pretty Party collection by Crate Paper as well. The charm over the bird’s wing is from Melissa Frances, and the chipboard frames is Maya Road.

Well how was your weekend? Did you do anything fun for St. Patty’s Day? It was pretty jam packed for us. We had a big celebration for my Dad’s 65th birthday on Friday. The band was awesome, the food was great, and the company was so special. Family and friends, old and new, came from near and far to celebrate with my Dad. And after the big party, he got to have even more fun over the rest of the weekend with a special guys’ trip to New Orleans on Saturday (his birthday). It was really wonderful to see my Dad so happy during such a special time for him. With that said…

I’m totally pooped.

Okie doke, I’ll be back soon with more fun crafty schtuff to share!

Hugs!

Hi friends! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We’re celebrating the day over at Waltzingmouse with our monthly blog hop…

This month’s theme, of course, is St. Patrick’s Day or anything Irish. So in keeping with that, I created a stitched clover using some punched hearts.

The sentiment is stamped from the Celtic Heritage set, and then layered on a Jillibean Soup corrugated tag.

I used some pretty paid paper as my back drop and a strip of fabric, polka-dot decorative tape as an accent.

To join us for the hop, pop by the Waltzingmouse Stamps blog and upload your link! You have until 3:30pm EST tomorrow to play along. Claire has so kindly provided some free digital downloads for you to use if you want… So no excuses!

Ok, I’m out and about with my family today (posting from my phone), so I’ll see y’all later!

Enjoy your weekend!

Hi sweets!

Look at me, posting all regularly and stuff… lol…

I told y’all I would try my darndest not to fall behind, so here I am!

Well today I have a fun little Spring card for you, featuring the colors and theme of the latest Embellish Color Trends Challenge.

Theme: Rosettes

Colors: raspberry fizz + hawaiian shores + kraft + sweet blush

 Rosettes are a booming trend these days, so I know it won’t be hard for you to find some inspiration to play along. Actually, you don’t have too look much further than the gorgeous collage captured in the inspiration photo.

For my rosette, I die cut some cream felt using this die, and rolled it up into a little bloom. It was quite easy, and with practice, you learn how to maneuver your fabric (or paper) in a way to make your rosette look just right.

I used a spare piece of fabric that I had laying on my desk, (yes, my desk is a mess right now… you can find a little of everything on it!) and some coordinating trim to pull more of the colors together. The sentiment is from one of Waltzingmouse’s newest sets: Compact Sentiments. Doesn’t it fit perfectly down in that corner there?

There were some gorgeous projects submitted to our last challenge, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this one. Come on, how can you resist these fun colors??? They’re definitely going into my book of faves!

On a Personal Note…

I’m now in Week 29 and that means it’s time for another belly shot! If you want a better overall view of how I’ve “blossomed” over the weeks and months, you can see the other photos in my Belly Pics album here.

Xoxo!

Peak:

Ok, this is pretty gross (so please feel free to skip this part… I just don’t want to forget it b/c it’s a pretty big deal for me and anyone who knows me here at home), but this week I threw away something that has haunted me through all of my pregnancies. The past two pregnancies I had it with me everywhere I went from 8 weeks pregnant, til delivery. But this time… this time I was able to throw it away! I haven’t needed it in days and I think I’m finally ok without it. This gross habit that has been like a nagging big old pimple that would never go away. My spit cup. Yep. Gross. I know. But when pregnant, I get the spits. Well it’s gone. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Valley:

Doing pretty well, actually. I’m becoming more and more short of breath these days. That’s no fun. Edited to add: Oy, I spoke too soon. Had a 6am bought with morning sicknesses today. It had been weeks since the lady time i was sick. Not fun, but hopefully it’s just a one off thing this late in the pregnancy. But not really much else to complain about. I’ll throw another Hallelujah. Thank you Lord. in there for that!

Hey there!

I thought I’d share a couple of cards with you before time got away from me. They both feature stamps that were just released at Waltzingmouse this month. You can see the entire New Release here.

Up first is a card featuring a set by Waltzingmouse’s newest stamp-designer Green Room Designs (Anya Schrier). Since finding out we are having a baby boy, my love for houndstooth has grown immensely. It’s such a fun and funky pattern, and I decided to try it out in the girliest of ways… by pairing it with pink!

I love the look of the little boxes I get my Vanilla extract in, so I decided to sneak one in on this card to see how it worked. I also used a one of the pretty flourishes from the Paris Nouveau set, and stamped it in a strip alongside the left of the card. The label and sentiment are from Very Vintage Labels No. 25.

The following card continues on with the pretty in pink theme. I used some do-dads from The Girls’ Paperie and some old book paper to get this card started.

The gorgeous Eiffel Tower image also comes from the Paris Nouveou set, as does the sentiment. Just a *Quick tip* for you… To help soften the impact of the book print that I stamped on, I gave it a good spray down with some white chalk mist. It really helped tone down the stark contrast that the paper would have created had I left it in its original state. It may not be immediately noticeable now, but the impact is significant when you compare the before & after (which I guess I should’ve done for y’all, lol).

The strip of pretty foliage along the right side of the card comes from Paris Nouveau, too.

These are some pretty simple cards, but they were fun to make, nonetheless. I have some more to share with you this week, so stay tuned. Also, don’t forget to check out all of the pretty new stamp sets at Waltzingmouse Stamps.

On a  personal note…

Thank you so much for your warm and happy wishes yesterday. I know I took way too long to provide you all with an elaborate update on what’s been happening, so I’m glad to finally have been able to do that. I’m actually excited and more motivated than ever to continue to share more about this journey with you all going forward!

Talk to y’all soon!

Peak:

Some of my cravings are holding strong and are thankfully pretty healthy ones: Apples! Honey Crisp, to be more exact. Also Blueberries. Fresh, yummy blueberries. And Avocados. Preferably served over Lay’s potato chips (That part I realize is not so healthy, but hey, let’s not push it here). Also, we finished the mountain of laundry that had been piling up for much too long. Feels pretty good!

Valley:

And then there are the forbidden cravings. For some reason my body has been really craving foods that are absolutely off limits: Smoked Salmon, Brie, Fresh Oysters on the Halfshell, Red Bull (of all things), Sushi/Sashimi, & Mojitos! Also feeling lots of Braxton Hicks contractions lately. More so than are comfortable… I need to increase my water intake.

]]> http://sarahmartina.com/2012/03/13/a-couple-of-cards/feed/ 5 http://sarahmartina.com/2012/03/13/a-couple-of-cards/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sarahmartina/Gjqi/~3/dx5U_Gmw3Uk/ http://sarahmartina.com/2012/03/12/its-a/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:47 +0000 Sarah Martina http://sarahmartina.com/?p=7665

.. baby BOY!

We found out in January that we are officially expecting another baby boy!

To reveal the gender, I cooked up a yummy cake with blue center, and after icing it (very well) in white, I decorated it a bit in pink and blue. Nothing fancy…. (my Sydney helped me out with that part), but just enough to keep the secret hidden until a slice was cute and pulled out. The cake was delicious, by the way, lol. We had our closest family over for the reveal. It was a casual get together, something our family does best, with some dinner and of course the long awaited dessert.

It was a precious moment, being able to share this mini-milestone with my family. Before we cut into the cake, we went around the room and got everyone’s guess as to what it would be – boy or girl. Well, out of the 8 or so people there, I think only 1 person guessed boy! Lol. After the reveal, everyone shared their ideas for names, (no, we still haven’t decided yet… yikes!) and we ate cake and were merry.

Here are some of the reactions from some of the family:

• Little Sie:

  Went and buried his head in the couch in the other room. I’ll admit, I was worried about him appearing to have trouble sharing the spotlight. But, he’s come around tremendously since then! And now every morning he kisses “his baby” good-bye before I leave him at school. He is thoroughly convinced that there will now be 3 Sie’s in the house, as if 2 isn’t enough, lol. He is caring, protective, excited, and quite loving already toward his little brother.

• Sydney:

  In her words: “I’m so torn!” Her reasoning: She really wanted a little sister (I know how you feel, sweety!), but she also really wanted her own bedroom! Haha! We told her that when this baby got here, either Syd or Supey would get their own room… depending on the gender. Well, she got her room! As of today, she’s very excited about designing her new room. She bugs me asks me what seems like every day to browse Pinterest for more room ideas, and I think she’s accepting the fact that there will be another little man in the house pretty well.

• Daddy:

  Couldn’t be more excited! He was pretty much the only person who was 100% convinced that we were having a boy, and he’s 100% pleased. He loves imagining what this new little “combo of us” will be like. p.s., I have to give him kudos for being an exceptional helpmate to me as I’ve gone through the ups and downs of pregnancy. I’m so blessed.

• Momma:

  With every day that passes, my heart grows more and more anxious to meet my newest little man. I can’t begin to imagine what another “boy” version of “us” will be like… it’s mind boggling to me to even think about. But I’m dying to meet him and look into his eyes after all of this that we’ve been through. Now… I’d be dishonest if I didn’t mention how (being honest here) badly I wanted a little baby girl. I sort of had my heart set on it. But you know what, it doesn’t even matter at this point. I’ve let those emotions pass, and now I’m all ready for my little guy to get here.

Meet Baby Parker

For those of you who can even tell what this is, lol…. These are the ultra sound photos from my 20 week (5 months) appointment, when we learned baby’s gender. The first is just a little profile pic:

I snapped these with my phone, so I apologize for the funky color and glare… Anyhow, this second one shows his little leg all stretched out. This pretty much describes him right now… Very active and all over the place! I couldn’t feel it nearly as much when this photo was taken (I was actually shocked to see how spread out he was), as I can now. Now, you can even see little bumps and thuds from the outside if you’re lucky.

So where are we today?

• 28 weeks along… Under 3 months from our June 1 due date.
• Definitely not sick any more (thank God!), but constantly hungry!
• Eating lots of fruit and not enough protein.
• Settled on a middle name, but not so much the first name.
• Yep, sticking to “S” names this time… he can’t be the only one without one.
• Feeling great physically, except for the achy hips and bouts of exhaustion.
• Finishing up school for this semester and taking the Summer off.
• Obsessed with all things houndstooth and argyle these days. Just got a bunch of these cuties in the mail.
• Trying to imagine what his little face will be like when I finally get to hold him.

Ok, so, I’ve done a pretty poor job of taking belly pics, oy. But it’s definitely more than I’ve taken in either of my two previous pregnancies. So here’s a bit of how I’ve grown…

16 Weeks

24 Weeks

28 Weeks

Yikes!

I think I’ll end it here, even though I have a lot more pregnancy babble to share. I’ll be spending more time blogging now, so as not to forget or miss out on documenting my thoughts and reflections of this pregnancy.

Thank y’all so much for allowing me to share with you today!

Peak:

I think we’ve settled on a middle name! And Baby Parker’s movements are much more apparent these days. They’ve become more like twirls, stretches and rolling and less like little, distant bumps. And as surprised as I was to hear it, I actually passed my glucose test with flying colors! No gestational diabetes for this momma!

Valley:

My fingers are starting to swell. It won’t be long before I’ll have to where my wedding ring around my neck. Oh, and this warm weather is making me crave a mango mojito, something bad! Still trying to figure out the best sleep position.

Hey y’all! Happy Monday to ya! I have the pleasure of sharing a friend of mine’s special new craft endeavor with you today…

Shanna Vineyard, whom I know from way back in my 2 Sketches 4 You DT days (actually, I was a fan of hers before then, to be honest, lol!), has combined her love of hand-drawing and painting with her fondness of bright, happy colors to bring us a digital paper-crafting kit that is different than anything you’ve ever seen!

In celebration of Shanna relocating back home to Arizona next week, she was inspired to create this kit, “Home Is Where the Heart Is” that includes over 50 different hand-drawn and painted images. They can be used in your digital projects or can be easily resized and printed to cut out and use with your traditional scrapbooking and card making creations. The possibilities are endless and you will have them to use over and over again as much as you like for as many projects as you wish!

Visit Shanna’s blog to purchase this kit and see LOTS of other awesome samples that were created specifically to share with you today! In celebration of this fun, new release she is also doing a huge giveaway valued at over $275 with lots of fabulous new scrappy goodies and several ways you can win!  So head on over and check it out!

Both cards that I created today showcase just a few of the dozens of cute images in this digi kit. I love the whimsy and playfulness of these images. And of course the flexibility that working with diigital images gives you is hard not to love.

*View Shanna’s new kit: Home is Where the Heart is, and enter to win a huge prize package… HERE!*

See y’all in a bit with an update on what’s been going on here on the home front!

Xoxo,