....a birthday card

hey there.....AGAIN, sorry for the LOOOOONG space in between posts !!  

I was all set to be home for a  few days and my husband called and asked the kids and I to meet him in Banff for a few days......of course we said YES......so I rearranged our schedule, called our dog trainer to take the puppies, packed the truck and set out for the 13 hour trip :))

I've got some great pics to share so make sure to come back tomorrow to check out a bit of what we did while on our mini vaca......

Until then tho.....in honour of my birthday (yep - it's today :))  

I've got a card to share with you.

I've been making sets of gift cards for a few girls upcoming special days and this is one of my faves......

I am LOVE LOVE LOVING the new 'Country Picnic' collection by Pebbles and have been using it for a few projects lately !! 

......Those of you that know me know that choosing to make cards is NOT my first choice, yet lately I have been making card after card....weird......

Anyway.....this one was super fun and EASY......

I cut a strip from (5) of my fave patterns and cut them at different lengths, snipped a 'v' from the bottom of each and adhered them to the top where the card folds.

Then I wrapped some American Crafts ribbon thru the inside of the card and tied a bow on the front.....I added these FABULOUS mini adhesive backed buttons to each 'flag' piece......Adhered a cardstock flower and the word sentiment using the Mini ABC Stickers (love these)......

EASY EASY to create this with scraps from your layouts too.....for ANY occasion....

I hope you have a fabulous day and check back tomorrow as I PROMISE I am not going anywhere for at least a few days and I have LOTS of projects to share :))

Talk soon.

j. xo

a Diaper Cake & Mobile too......

So for those of you that had guesses about why I bought the diapers.....here you go :))

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Baby Girl Collection from Bella Blvd. and with a good friend having her 4th baby soon it was the perfect line to create a few extra special gifts for her shower !!!

I'd heard of these cakes but had never seen one before, so it was fun to create this 'sight unseen' if you will. It had been many years since I'd purchased a bag of newborn diapers, but I was excited to get started!

First, I cut (2) different sized circles from heavyweight cardstock and covered each with 'snuggly safari' and lightly sanded the edges. These became the based to build the cake onto.

Then I wrapped each diaper with fishing line and tied them tight so not to slip. Once I had them set onto the bases I tied the entire section again with fishing line.

I then chose a couple of border strips, cut them out, sanded the edges and adhered them together at ONE end. Once dry, I wrapped them around the diaper layers to cover the fishing line. Because I chose to make larger 'cake pieces', these did not meet in the center which gave me the perfect spot to add embellishment.

I precison cut some adorable shapres from the 'cute cuts' and adhered them to the front of both layers. I used a journal card to give this cake a title to welcome baby alayna and added a chip flower and some sweet flags too!

.......and then there was this super sweet  Baby Mobile......

I chose a few strips from the borders sheet and sanded the edges, then adhered them together, slightly overlapping each. Once these were secure, I wrapped this whole piece around to form a circle and adhered again. I then punched (3) small holes in this piece and tied thin fishing line through each hole to create the 'hanger'.

I punched (4) holes in the bottom of this circle and added strings of different lengths using the fishing line. I punched several circles from 'pretty in pink' as well as precision cut from the 'cute cuts' paper. I punched small holes in each of these pieces and threaded then on to the fhishing line. The circles had an additional circle added to the back to keep them from shifting.

I tied 'pink flowers' buttons on the bottom to give each line weight and added a few 'miniatures' stickers to come of the circles as well! This is going to look so sweet in 'baby alayna's' room in just a few short weeks!

I hope you enjoyed these fun projects ...... I still have more layouts to share so come on back !!!!

Talk soon.

j. xo

the Shower and a Card....

Okay....so April is turning out to be the most crazy busy 'i'm seriously never home' month so far this year !!

I came home from Milwaukee and had one day to pack the camper and horse trailer and then we were off to a (5) day horse show......TOTALLY worth the trip as my girl had some of her best rounds EVER.....

here's a pic of her in the jumper ring riding a 3' course .... (yep - I'm super proud :))

.....okay so back to what I promised days ago - SHOWER pics and crafty shots too !!

So as I mentioned, I was in Wisconsin to visit friends and attend a very special baby shower......The host of the shower is a super creative girl you all know and she really outdid herself on all the decor for this fun afternoon.....

Allyson's theme for baby Alyana's room is SOCK MONKEY'S.....who knew there were so many monkey's out there ??!!

So Stephanie being the super crafty girl she is had monkey's EVERYWHERE......

.....they were holding the mini Gigi's Cupcakes.....

......they were sticking out of the mini cupcakes....

.......they were covering the water bottles.....

.......and of course they were on the 'Candy Buffet' table (which by the way was AMAZING)

.....ALL the candy was labeled all around Monkey's.....Such as the liquorice was 'monkey stix' ect.....

The chocolate bars had personalized wrappers welcoming baby Alayna......

There was even a sock basket for Mommy.......she received over (40) pair of new socks.....good thing she loves fun long socks :))

.......and as we left we each received a sewn cloth bag with treats from Bath and Body Works too !!

.......and if we didn't eat enough at the shower, a few of us headed out to have appies, dinner and dessert too !!

I really had the most fun on this trip and can not wait to see these great girls again soon......

......BUT before I go I wanted to share with you the card I gave Allyson with her gift.

....i LOVE the new baby girl collection from Bella Blvd. and of course had to use it for the baby card......

........I used patterned paper border punched for the background, added a couple of punched circles, precision cut pieces from the Cute Cuts, added a chip shape, a button with twine and finished off with ribbon folding my fave new designer tape :))

I've got a few more posts to share before I head out AGAIN this week....this time with my kids to Banff to visit Scott for the weekend.....it was a quick decision surprise trip and I can't wait to hang out with my family for a few days ..... for sure I'll have pictures to share next week !!!

Talk soon.

j. xo

....i'm baaack !!!

hey everyone......SUPER sorry for the little break but I took a trip !!!

I spent 5 fabulous days travelling to Wisconsin to visit friends and had the BEST weekend.....we talked and laughed and ATE enough food to last me clear thru to next month (okay, not really but we ate A LOT)

I've got some great pics to share with you along with some fun projects too.....YES, we even got in a night of scrapbooking at a local scrapbook store called 'Polka Dots' - Thanks Therese :))

I'm going to come back each day for the rest of this week and give you a little taste of what I was up to while on my mini vacation........

.....first I got to spend some downtime scrapbookin' with Allyson, Stephanie and Morgan and then.....

.......ate CUPCAKES from the most incredible cupcake shop called Gigi's Cupcakes.....seriously the BEST ever.....and I should know as I definately had more than one (....more than 2 actually but I'm not telling the total number of cupcakes I ate over a 3 day period :))

Allyson & Stephanie gave me a great tour of downtown Milwaukee that included shopping, food and a ton of laughs......

......We walked through the Historic Third Ward that is home to unique shops, restaurants and even a street with nothing on it but pubs and clubs !!

Lunch at 'The Wicked Hop'....so yummy.....

laughed our way through this amazing antique market......

....it had MANY pieces that I would've loved to have been able to bring home.....

BUT....I absolutely was not leaving without these 2....been looking for an old typewriter for my office for forever and fell in love with this one AND i could not let this fantastic green bucket stay in Milwaukee....so yes, it came home too !!!

Once we were shopped out we went for a drive along the lakefront and saw sights like this......

.....and this.....

.....I've got more to share including a baby shower with crafty goodness you won't want to miss.....

Make sure you come on back tomorrow and check out these pics and some great project ideas too !!

Oh, and YES the project I was working on with the diapers turned out BEAUTIFULLY....so you will see them online soon :))

Talk soon.

j. xo

bubbles and fingers crossed

My kids LOVE blowing bubbles so they were super excited that the Easter bunny left them these great bubble blowers......

.....always a good time and lots of laughs !!

.......now I have not had to buy these for 5 years so it felt super strange taking them to the counter.......but I had an idea to use these.......

.......and this FABULOUS Bella Blvd. 'Baby Girl' Collection !!!

Now if it works, you'll see it here soon....if it doesn't, my girlfriend will be getting a (60) pack of diapers for her new baby :))

Fingers crossed........

Talk soon.

j. xo

happy easter

Well it's 7:15pm and my kids are ready for bed - yep early I know but when you're up @ 5:30 to see what the Easter bunny left for you and the hunt is over by 6:15.....7:15pm doesn't seem so early anymore :))

I'd thought I'd share some pics from the last couple of days....

first there were cupcakes......

....and cupcakes and pencils for Alex's class.....

Then came the colored eggs.....

PERFECT !!!

....and then the loot this morning.  They ate and ate until they finally asked me for 'real food' at lunch time - cute :))

.......and this was at their place at the breakfast table - they loved it !!!

After a fabulous dinner at my parents we are all completely stuffed and ready to sleep it off :))

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday.....

Talk soon.

j. xo

(4) Layout & Mini Album Workshops

I hope all of you are enjoying the first day of your 4 day weekend !!

I wanted to give you a few sneak peeks and send you over to PHOTO EXPRESS in Maple Ridge to REGISTER for (2) super fun workshops that I am teaching in store on April 28th. 

First is a (4) Layout Workshop featuring Bella Blvd. "Spring Things and Easter Things".  We'll cut and sand and punch and stick our way through (2) single and (1) double page layouts using this collection that is prefect for all those great spring and Easter photos you're going to take this weekend.

REMEMBER:  You'll enjoy full alpha and sticker sheets in your kit so if you'd like to change a title or two you absolutely can make it your own !!!

THEN.........after this fun class we're going to create an ENTIRE MINI ALBUM using the fabulous Amy Tangerine by American Crafts

We'll be creating fun fold out pages and pockets throughout for you to add all your special memories in this mini album.

  This is PERFECT for a recent or upcoming vacation.

Make sure to call or stop into PHOTO EXPRESS to get you and your friends registered ASAP so you don't miss out on all the fun....

I can't wait to see you there !!!

Talk soon.

j. xo

Baby Boy & Designer Tape

The girls over at Scrapbookin' Adventures are having a 'tape it' challenge on their facebook page and I thought I'd play along......

I used the new Baby Boy collection from Bella Blvd. and had so much fun with (2) colors of the new designer tape :))

I adhered the yellow cloud patterned paper (heaven sent) with Blue Gingham Designer Tape and then ran strips of Pickle Juice Dot Designer Tape along the long sides of the base as well !!

Not only does it look super cute but it doubled as adhesive in a few spots too :))

Make sure you head over HERE and get your new Bella Blvd. collections, and then post it HERE to win a great PRIZE PACKAGE !!

Talk soon.

j. xo