Christmas Cards

I'm a little late posting this. Here is our Christmas card that I designed and made for this year. I designed 4 different cards but this one was my favorite.

I used a sketch from Paper Crafts Nov/Dec 2010 issue for this card.

CPS sketch 179

Yesterday I came across this tutorial on how to make paper roses. I decided I had to make some and use them on a card. It was the first one I have made in ages. I also wanted to play along with this weeks CPS sketch. Here is my take. I used the butterfly pattern in the paper to represent the lines.

new house

Wow it has been awhile. We bought a new house and Richie has been fixing it up. We were hoping to be moved in by now but there was more work to be done than we first realized. I will be losing my craft room and I'm trying to figure out how to fit my stuff into a coat closet and hutch. We will have an extra bedroom but I don't want to get settled and then have to move my stuff later when we try to have another kid. The new house is so much bigger and we will finally have 2 bathrooms and a 2 car garage. We also will have a family room so that will be super nice since we are so cramped with all of Charlotte's toys. The kitchen is open so no more galley kitchen where you can't have 2 people in it. We also have a screened in pool and enough room in the backyard for a really large swing set. I can't wait to be moved in.

Charlotte learned to clap Wednesday night. We have been working on that for the last few months and finally she did it after putting a ring on her Rock-a-Stack post. She will only do it though if she has just done something that we usually clap and cheer for.

Happy Birthday Card

The picture is not the best because I had only a couple of minutes to take it before leaving to give the card away. I also had Charlotte in my arms and it was early in the morning when I don't get the best light.

1st Father's Day Card

Here is my take on the CPS120 sketch from Card Positioning Systems. It's actually a mini photo album. I cut a few pages out of a cheap 4x6 album and sewed them in the card.

Happy Valentine's Day

I saw a card like this at Target and had to make one for Richie.

Cards and Charlotte

I made these before Charlotte was born but never had time to post them. Also here are some cute photos I took of Charlotte on the 6th.

Last night Richie took the night shift and only woke me up when she was ready to eat. It was nice finally getting close to a full night of sleep. She is getting better the last 2 nights about not being so fussy. Today we both tried to keep her up as much as possible in hopes of her sleeping tonight. Wish us luck :)

catch up and nursery

For at least the past month two of my fingers on my right hand are numb and my carpal tunnel has come back with a vengeance. I haven't been able to do any beading, play video games, type for very long, or even write. My doctor says it's due to a lot of swelling around my tendons and should go away after my pregnancy. I had a sonogram done on Thursday and still have to scan the pictures. I will try to do it this weekend and post some pics. She has really cute fat cheeks. I only have 2 weeks until my due date but really it could be anytime now.

Here are 2 cards I made for some September birthdays.

We had some sweet dumpling squash for dinner the other night and noticed that the seeds looks just like mini pumpkin seeds. Richie cleaned them, soaked them in salt water for 24 hours in the fridge, dried them on a paper over night on the counter, toasted them in a frying pan, and then roasted them in the toaster oven. Boy were they yummy. He is grilling some more squash for dinner. I'm looking more forward to the seeds.

I made white chocolate truffles with irish cream last weekend. I wasn't able to eat any but heard they were very good. I saw them made on Barefoot Contessa and thought that they would make a nice hostess gift for my baby shower. They turned out really pretty. I rolled them in finely chopped hazelnuts and drizzled the tops with dark chocolate. I forgot to take pictures of them though :( I did however take a picture of the very large tag with recipe slipped in that I made for the package.

The nursery is pretty much done. Richie made the tree thing but needs to hang it. I got a pink rocking chair pad but I have to pick it up from my parents house. I still need to get some things for the walls and have Richie put up some shelves.

huge post (should really do this more often)

We are having a girl!!! Her name is going to be Charlotte Amelia. I'm now 27 weeks along and getting huge.

I broke down and bought another printer. It is a Canon Pixma MP160 and I only paid $70 at Circuit City. We have had this same printer at work for over 6 months now and it gets a major workout and still works nicely. I haven't tried it for photos but the built in scanner does a decent job. I mainly bought it for printing text and to have a scanner.

I used this sketch from this website for this card.

I made a papercut that I'm going to frame for her room. I found this tutorial on making a papercut and couldn't resist. SkinnyLaminx's work is amazing.

I've was doing a lot of beadweaving at the beginning of the month. The beading store I shop at was offering a free class on the black bracelet if you bought the supplies there. I had a lot of fun making it and I'm working on a green one.

printer died :(

This is all I've made lately. I haven't felt very motivated. I went to print some pictures the other night for a mini book and my printer died. I got a message saying ink system failure and from what I'm reading it is a pretty common problem with the newer HP photo printers. I tried what the HP website said to do and it didn't work. They said if that didn't work to get it serviced and of course it's out of warranty. It's barely been used and I'm super disappointed. I don't think I will be replacing it.

gifts made for Mother's Day

update

Well so much for my keeping up with my blog. A lot has happened and I don't know where to begin. I'm pregnant...yay! I just hit 16 weeks and I'm wearing maternity pants. I have found I'm addicted to pickles. I have always ate a ton of them but now it's like crack. I've become super forgetful. I'm no longer lactose intolerant and it rules! Hello ice cream:) My sister-in-law has graduated college. I've been loving my moleskine art journal and watercolours. I'm obsessed with http://www.flickr.com/, pickles, chocolate milk, and Colour Revolt. I'm still totally in love with my husband and want to murder my boss.

gifts for my sis

The bead store I usually go to had a free class on this bracelet if you bought the product there. Of course it was on a day I worked but a friend went and snagged an extra set of directions for me. It only took me a few hours and turned out beautifully. I used lots of crystals and a darling magnetic rose clasp. I think I'm going to try to make it with pearls.

I made the card using this sketch from this website

drip

This was for Richie's Dad. We were in the Home Depot buying a new faucet; which by the way is beautiful, and I thought it would be cool to add some washers or something to the card. While looking around my husband found this cute little valve and really wanted me to use it on the card. He cut a piece of cheap composite board and drilled holes where I wanted them. I then glued diamond plate printed paper onto the top of it, attached the valve and hoses with wire, and made a puddle and water drop. Dad loved it. The jewelry and card were for Richie's Stepmother. These are the first earrings I have made and I was very happy with them.

This post was would have been done in January but I have been majorly slacking.