Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Lookin' Good

Here is a quick card I made using my good ole' Unity Stamps, the paper is Recollections. I used gold Brilliance ink, stamped the sentiment with Memento Rich Cocoa and dry embossed it with my 5x7 swiss dot folder. I think its not called swiss dot in the 5x7 size but you get what I'm doing right? I made it for my husband since he decided to give himself a new look and grow a mustache and goatee. Just a little note to let him know how much I really like him :-)



Tomorrow I will start to share Christmas Cards! Yay!!!! I just love, love, love making them!  Until next time Amigas!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Wild Card Goodness



Hi Friends, Just popping by on a BUSY Saturday to share a couple of cards. I made these using my Cricut Wild Card Cartridge. I scored this for like 17 dollars at Target when they stop carrying Cricut stuff. The top one uses DCWV paper and a Martha Stewart cupcake sticker. Ther lower one has the same DCWV paper with a Making Memories center thingy  (yes that's a technical term), a Wilton's doily, Jolees circle lace thingy and some Joann chiffon ribbon. I inked everything with chalk inks and Tada!!

That's it for now just wanted to share some goodness. I actually had some time to craft yesterday and will be sharing that with you next week. Hope you have a great weekend, until next time Amigas :-)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Gratitude is homemade Day 1-8 Aunt Teresa

The center can is Crafty Secrets, the other stickers are Recollections (Michaels)


The white cardstock is Wausau Papers (love it!) it's a bit shimmery and holds the embossing well. The pink gingham and twine is Martha Stewart, the kraft is Coordinations.



Hello Friends, today I have a sweet card that I made for my Aunt Teresa. I was raised by my Grandmother so my Aunts and Uncles are like big sisters/Aunts all in one. I have to say that although I really didn't have my Mom in my life I always felt like I had a bunch of Moms. Sometimes that's good, sometimes (like in my teens) it isn't so good. I am so very blessed that I have 6 Aunts and 2 Uncles that I grew up with. With a family that big you really get all kinds of personalities. Every one of them has an AMAZING talent, they are ALL amazing mothers, sisters and daughters. Like many other very close, very big families we are each other's best friends. For sure there are times we don't always get along. Duh, anyone who says their family doesn't disagree sometimes are TOTALLY fibbing! But we ALWAYS love each other.

I am so grateful that I know during the most difficult times in my life I have these BEAUTIFUL women there by my side. Actually there was a day in my life that I was in a very critical situation and was living 12 hours away from my family. I made a phone call to my cousin at 4 pm one day and all of my aunts and uncles were there the next day! Like at 11 am. They had rented a big old van and went to get me. In the dead of winter. Ready to bring me and my girls home. Those are the things that make you love your family forever and ever. Yeah lucky me right?  

 We always have a birthday to attend, wedding getting planned or a baby being born. Being a member of my family is a full time job! So a little about Aunt Teresa. She is an amazing strong woman. She has the most kids of all of us, 5! She is the diplomat of the family, she has the kindest personality, she is the definition of grace under pressure. She is a great baker, an AWESOME Mom, and a loving devoted follower of Christ. One of the things I notice about her is she is such a sweet wife. You never see her talking down to her husband or being disrespectful. Her and my Uncle's marriage is an example to me, they just are a great couple. So this is for you Aunt Teresa. Thanks for being an example of awesomeness and grace.  
In honor of this month of gratitude I will post a month of gratitude. I have 8 aunts and uncles,  so they are my first 8 things to be grateful for.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Oh Babies!


Hello out there! Just wanted to share a mini album that I made for a sweet church friend that had twin boys. Tons of different companies used and I realized you get a nice look a my very ink stained dirty fingernails, lets just ignore that part, LOL. I have 16 year old twin girls so I can totally relate to her. Having twins is INSANITY. First you usually have some kind of difficulty during your pregnancy. Bed rest, one growing more than the other, high blood pressure, and twice the pregnancy nuisances. I delivered the twins almost 2 months early via C-Section. NO fun! Then after they are born you are worried about them thriving. This is in addition to being sleep deprived and lets not mention the expense involved and your hormones going CRAZY twice as much! I remember just breaking down like my dog had died because they went through a case of diapers (yes, a case from Costco) in like 3 days. I was totally hormonal and exhausted. As much as I struggled and thought it would never end, I miss it. This being said, I also got a horrible case of the baby blues. Like crying at the drop of a hat, feeling overall hopeless and miserable and then feeling guilty for not being elated that, despite the odds, I had 2 healthy little babies. Two years later we added a little sister to our collection of children. They are now teenagers two 16 year olds and a 14 year old, all girls.

   All I can say is I MISS THOSE DAYS. I miss the days that I could hold them, feed them, change them and their needs were met. These days we are in now are about preparing them for the big scary world out there. For letting them slowly interact with all of those strangers that you told them never to speak to, to talk to boys that could break their hearts, make decisions that could impact their lives forever. The worst part of all? The look you get from them when they are little of total adoration is gone. Yes, heartbreaking. This Momma does not want to let go. I'm certain that sometimes my heart actually hurts at the thought of all of the temptations and dangers out there. I am so in awe of my family and all of my dear church friends that I see beaming as they see their children take successful steps to adulthood. I see daughters getting married in the temple, sons going on missions, going off to college. Now that I am in the trenches I understand what a battle, journey, odyssey (insert dramatic word)  it is.
  I'm going to get a little Jesus in here, how much did it hurt Heavenly Father to send his son out in the cruel world. I have worked so hard to keep my daughters safe and have a happy childhood. What is that in comparison to what He went through. How does He feel when he sees all of us making bad decisions? He has sent us all of the tools we need to succeed but how many times do we refuse them and think we know it all. We do not need any help. The feeling I get with my daughters of wanting them to know at their young age what I know now at an older age is impossible. Yet is still wish. How does Heavenly Father feel? Gives me so much to think about.

The other day I was upset and told my Husband that I wish I knew what to do next to help them and keep them safe. I wondered why was all of this happening. He just told me, " when you look in the mirror can you honestly say to yourself that you've done your best so far?"  I thought for a moment and answered , "I can honestly say that considering all of the circumstances,  yes" I had been praying so much for wisdom and for peace. This simple question from my Husband brought me back to reality and out things into perspective. We both came from very sad childhoods and our Grandmothers were our Guardian Angels, so we know bad childhoods. My girls still have free agency and they will have to make mistakes and stumble. But my job as Mom is to never give up the fight, I've been entrusted with these little spirits by Heavenly Father and I have a job to do. Yeah world, I'm going to fight you to the end for my Babies. Because they are my heart and they will still always be those little girls with pigtails and overalls at the playground.  

Sorry to go on and on but one of the reasons for this blog was to have something for myself to share and create. Maybe one person will read this and not feel so alone. So I made this for my sweet friend because I cannot picture her having any time for scrapping her sweet little boys stuff. I know that the first 6 months go by in a whirlwind so hopefully this will help her remember a little bit.

Thank you for visiting, until next time Amigas.