sometimes "done" is good enough

Sorry for the lousy photo...couldn't get the lighting right no matter how hard I tried. Oh well.

Never could quite get this layout to come together to my satisfaction. Love the photos. Not happy with the accents on the right. Love the ghost flower that I slopped some paint on and added the brads to the center. Not happy with the title. Love the tag cut in two and used as a base for the title. Not happy with the flowers at the bottom. Love the sewn photo frame.

Okay, there's more "love"s than "not happy with"s, so it's not a total wash. And it's more photos into the album...and that's always a good thing, right?

the first of many?

Isn't he just the happiest little fella?

It was so fun picking up a crochet hook after so long. And I adore how he turned out! I can see many of this cutie pie to come...probably everyone I know will get one. :D

But this one's for my Mom!

The pattern can be found here at Planet June.

goodbye slump

Okay, I have no photos, no projects to share at the moment. I can't believe it's been a year since I've posted here...it's been a doozy of a creative slump. I have done some layouts this summer, but forgot all about posting them here.

Anyway, I'm sooooo verrrrrry excited! Why? Because those old creative juices are flowing like crazy again! I'm so full of ideas that I'm dying to try. So full of ideas.

And I am DETERMINED to make the time to play. No wonder my life has felt less full of joy lately...that "all work and no play" thing...yeah, it's dead on. Well, NO MORE!!!

Hold me to that, would you?

it's been a while

Seems like forever since I actually did a layout. Though the picture I took of this layout came out awfully wonky, I actually like the layout a lot. And for the most part, I used stuff I had scattered atop my scrapping table. Bad, bad me. I'm supposed to clean up after every project, but I haven't been following my own rules. I figured using up bits and scraps would save a little on the clean up...plus it just feels so darn good to use up scraps, doesn't it?

Nothing fancy here. Flowers cut from patterned paper. Stamped bees covered with paper glaze. Hand stitched bee trail.

an almost birthday present

I wanted to make Rich a mini album that he can keep in his office at work. Nothing fancy, just a picture of each of the kids. Now, this was supposed to be a gift for his birthday, but as so often happens, once I got it made I just couldn't wait to give it to him!

Anyway, it's nothing fancy, but I still think it came out pretty cute. I just covered the pieces of a dumb little jigsaw puzzle that one of the kids got in a kid meal at some fast food joint when we were on a trip somewhere. Love being able to make use of something that would have otherwise been hauled off by the trash/recycle man. Added bonus, I just used scraps I had strewn around my scrap table. And I finally got to use my cool 7 Gypsies stamp, too! Oh yes, this little project put many a smile on my face as I created it :)

happy birthday, Sara

I was so excited all those years ago when I was pregnant with Annie to find out that my wonderful friend Kim was going to have a girl, too. Turns out Annie and Sara are very, very different. Still, on the rare occasions that we're able to get together, the girls get along wonderfully. Each year, I try very hard to come up the perfect birthday gift for Sara...but finally, this year, I was stumped. Annie told me to get her gift cards. But I didn't think that was exciting enough. Annie assured me, "Gift cards are a preteen girl's best friend! Trust me, Mom, she love them!" So, I decided to trust her, but I still wanted to jazz them up a bit, so I made this special holder for them. I hope she likes it! Annie totally flipped over it, and made me promise to make her one for her birthday, so I hope that's a good sign.

The front cover:



















And this is what it's like opened up:















(click on photo for a closer look)

uninspired

Not sure why, but I just can't seem to get inspired while creating these "prizes" for Annie's contests. This is the super plain one that July's winner will receive.