My Favorite Things

Family Photo Shoot!

Hi-ya....

Just thought some of you might enjoy seeing pictures from our recent family photo shoot!  Now that 3 of the 5 of us siblings are married, and now that one sister has 2 babies, and since the same sister and her family live an hour away and since the only brother of the 5 siblings travels with his band quite a bit.........it's just a bit of a challenge to get us all in the same place at the same time!  Hee! I'm sure some of you can relate.  It's been awhile since our last family group photo.......wait a minute.....I don't think we've taken pictures of the WHOLE clan since before the babies??  And before one or two husbands too, maybe! 

Needless to say, we were long overdue for some family photos and in an effort to keep costs down for all parties involved, we decided that I could attempt to take said photos with the Nikon, and in some cases, with the tripod and remote.  Keep in mind that I'm not a photographer.....I'm a total wannabe!  However, I am so thrilled with some of the shots we got and this way, each family can print (or not print) whatever pictures they like in whatever size, without anyone having to spend a fortune on photos.  Genius, right?  ;)

Unfortunately, it did start to rain on us so that cut our photo shoot a bit short and we didn't get a few shots that I was really hoping to get, but we did manage to take 350+ photos in a couple of hours!  HA!  Gotta love digital! 

This is my sister, Grace, and I.....and that little sweetie is Baby Malachi (our nephew).  (My sister, Diann, is his mama)  Sunday was his baby dedication at church so we were all there for that, got to have lunch together w/Mom & Dad for Mother's Day and then we headed out for our photo shoot.  Bart snapped this photo of the 3 of us after church.

This is Baby Ally.  She is Baby Malachi's big sister.....by 11 1/2 months!  Oh my WORD, she's a dolly!

And I guess you know who we are.  I was sitting next to Bart when the man all of a sudden pulled me up onto his lap and my sister started snapping away with the camera!  (I love it when he's spontaneous like that.)  ;) 

Rather than put all of the photos in this blog post, I put them in a separate photo album.  

You can CLICK HERE to view the rest of the photos or you can click the link over in the right hand side bar!

Back tomorrow with my Papertrey release projects for this month!

Night!

Kristina's Color Inspo. #42

Hi All!  Happy Saturday to you!  I'm back again with a card for Kristina Werner's latest color challenge.  I used my new Damask Designs stamp set from Papertrey to create the background as well as the sentiment.  Then I added some scallops, sewing and another bow.  I can't seem to stop using bows -- I just love 'em!

And for those of you that were asking to see baby pictures of my new nephew (as well as a picture of my hottie hubs - although you can't really see much of his muscles here - ha!), here are a couple for you.  These pictures are from a family birthday party last weekend.  This was also "Uncle Bart's" first chance to meet Baby Malachi.  Such a fun day!

Ahh.....so cute.  And here's a pic of me with the little sweetie.  Check out that hair!  :)  (Um, HIS.....not mine!)  LOL!

Have a great day, all!  I'll check in with you tomorrow!

Toodles!

{Praying for you Supplies}

Paper: PTI spring moss, stamper's select white, SU! really rust, more mustard

Stamps: Damask Designs

Ink: SU! more mustard, PTI dark chocolate

Other: PTI spring moss classic grosgrain ribbon, PTI new leaf vintage button, SU! hemp twine, SU! scallop edge punch, sewing machine/thread

Thinking of You (and some baby photos!)

Hi All!  Since I spent most of yesterday out of town meeting my new nephew, I didn't spend much time in the studio.  So I thought I'd share a card with you today that I made a bit ago using Papertrey's new With Sympathy set.  I paired the floral image from With Sympathy with a sentiment from the Faux Ribbon set.  It's a simple little card that you could make in lots of different color combos.

{Thinking of You Today Supplies}

Paper: ocean tides, ripe avocado, vintage cream

Stamps: With Sympathy, Faux Ribbon

Ink: ripe avocado, ocean tides

Accessories: ripe avocado classic grosgrain ribbon, Autumn Leaves buttons, SU! linen thread

AND NOW, for the part of the show where I put on my doting Auntie hat and share lots of baby photos!  Hee!  I'm sorry, but I can't help it!

Meet Malachi Ethan.  (My Grandpa's name was Ethan)  Help me, Rhonda!  Will you look at all that hair!!!  

My Dad was the first one to hold his new grandson once we got there.  Side note:  My Dad is affectionately referred to as "Sugar Pops" by my siblings and I, now that he's a Grandpa.....cute, huh?!  And when the babies are older, they can just call him "Pops"!  You should hear him say to Ally, "Come here and see Sugar Pops!"  It's the ca-UTEST thing!  I can't wait to hear Ally say Sugar Pops one day!  LOL!

This is my brother (Uncle Dave), my mom (Grandma) & my sister (Auntie Glo).

Auntie Dawn and sweetie boy.

Aunt Gracie and little man.

Ally, touching her new brother between bites of cheerios!  LOL!

Auntie Glo and baby cakes.

Ally, sitting with her mama on the hospital bed.  She's playing "Wheeeeeeere's Ally" which is why her hair is all over the place!  She just pulled the blanket off her head.  LOL!

Clapping at something amazing her mama just said.  :)

Mama (my sister, Diann) and her sweet boy.

Don't newborn baby legs & feet just make you smile?  You should have seen the paparazzi of family members snapping photos once the nurse pulled his feet out of his sleeper to footprint him!  Haha!

I think she's gonna be a MAC lover!  She's hooked on the iPhone already!  This was too funny.....she learned how to scroll thru the photos on my phone so she could see pictures of Uncle Bart and Riley dog ("Dot") so when we got to the hospital, she was sitting by Diann and I and all of a sudden, grabbed the phone out of my hand, layed back on her mama, CROSSED HER LEGS and started scrolling thru pictures on my phone!  LOL!  I'm tellin' ya, the whole room busted out laughing!  She looked like she was a little grown up, kicking back to surf the net on her phone or something!  Hee.

The new family of FOUR!

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes and love you've sent our way.  We appreciate your prayers for a safe delivery and a healthy baby and mama.  They're doing great!  What a blessing.  We love our new little man!  Can't wait to see him again!

The Baby's On the Way!

 

Hi All, 

My sister's baby is about to make his or her first appearance!  Diann & Phillip are at the hospital (3 hours away from here).  My mom and Glory (littlest sister) are at Diann's house with baby Ally and my Dad is heading that way soon to take them all to the hospital.  (Mom's been staying with them for a few days now.)  SOOOO.....Grace (sister) & David (brother) will be heading out with me in a couple hours to go see them.  Unfortunately, Gracie's hubs has to work today and my hubs has a game he's reffing tonight so it'll have to just be a sibling road trip this time.  

In case you're interested, you can watch for updates in my Twitter column (over there in the right hand side bar) to see how things are progressing.  I'll keep you posted today and let you know what's going on as it happens and I'll let you know when I find out if I have a new NIECE or a new NEPHEW!  :)  

For today, I thought I'd quickly share another baby's first birthday card with you that I made using Papertrey's new sets - Around & About Sentiments, by Heather Nichols & Fresh Alphabet by Nichole Heady.  That Fresh Alpha makes it so easy to personalize your cards any way you'd like!

Hope you all have a fabulous Martin Luther King Day!  I'll be in touch!  

Smooches!  

{1ST Happy Birthday Supplies}

Paper: berry sorbet, ripe avocado, stamper's select white

Stamps: Fresh Alphabet, Around & About Sentiments

Ink: raspberry fizz, ripe avocado

Accessories: raspberry fizz swiss dot satin ribbon, SU! scalloped edge punch, Hero Arts gemstone, Marvy scalloped circle punch

Baby Love and a Good Read.

Hi there, 

So last night I got to meet this little guy......is he a handsome boy or what?!  This is my dear friend, Marietta's, newest little bundle of joy.  His name is Keegan and I got to spend a few hours with him and his mama and big sister yesterday....such a treat!  I was under the weather when he was first born, so I hadn't gotten to meet him until last night.  He slept most of the time while I held him.....so snuggly!  I just love that.

In other news, I just started this new book the other day and am loving it!  (Click on the book cover to read about it at Amazon.com)  It's been a totally fast read so far.....very fun!  And goodness, what a treat it's been to even take a breather and sit down to read for a bit.  Normally I LOVE to read, but you know how it goes....there just hasn't been much time for reading lately.  So I'm hoping to remedy that, this holiday season, and soak up some quality time with a few good books.  This one gets my stamp of approval so far!  Check it out, if you're looking for something fun to read.  :)  

Happy Saturday, All!

Feelin' Grateful.

That's me today.  Feelin' grateful.  This is the first day in a week, that I've been feeling good all day long - not even a hint of the stomach crud!  (Thank the LORD!)  Seriously, what a blessing that is.  So for today, I have a happy little card for you.  For this one, I used a clear stamp set by Hero Arts called Trees, Birds & Messages.  It has a great little flourish stamp that I just stamped multiple times to get a bigger flourish behind the sentiment.  FUN!

Hope you all have a safe night tonight, whether you're celebrating Halloween or not!  Take care, Peeps!  

Be sure to scroll down to the next post to see if you're the winner of a copy of PC Gourmet!!

Oh, and just in case any of you are having a bad day today, I have a photo for you that is almost guaranteed to make you smile! 

My sister sent me this photo of baby Ally.........OH MY GOSH!  I busted into the biggest smile when I saw it!  Did it work for you???  :)

{Sending Love Ingredients}
Paper: SU! kiwi kiss, DS-Hawaii Papaya
Stamps: Hero Arts clear design-Trees, Birds & Messages
Ink: kiwi kiss, chocolate chip
Accessories: SU! tangerine tango striped grosgrain ribbon, Hero Arts orange gemstones

Papertrey Blog Hop.

Hi All, just a quickie post for the Papertrey Blog Hop tonight!  The challenge was to use polka dots!  I made a stack of baby burpies for my friend and her new baby boy and while I was at it, I decided to make sew a matching star on a baby onesie for him!  Of course, then I needed to make a fun card and coordinating gift bag and tag!  Hope you like it!!

Stack of 3 baby burpies. I used the directions that my fab friend Susan posted here.  (Thanks Susan!)   SO fun to make and not hard at all!  I can't wait to give them to my friend!  I found all of the fabric at JoAnn's and I got the cloth diapers at Target.

That's just a regular cloth diaper sewn onto the back.

{Ingredients}

Paper: Polka Dot Parade patterned paper, stamper's select white, dark chocolate, summer sunrise, ripe avocado

Stamps: 2008 Holiday Tags Collection, Polka Dot Basics, Paper Tray

Ink: ripe avocado, summer sunrise, dark chocolate, versamark

Accessories: ripe avocado swiss dot satin ribbon, ocean tides saddle stitch ribbon, super jumbo scalloped circle punch, linen thread, white embossing powder

Noel.

HELLO Friends!!  Happy Saturday to you!  I'm typing up this post while sipping coffee in my jammies.  I {heart} Saturdays!  Lots to do today, but for the moment, it's a peaceful Saturday morning and I love that.  Riley dog is laying here with a serene look on his face (except for the wrinkly forehead which makes him look slightly concerned about something, though I can't imagine what) so even he's just chillin' out this morning.  :)  

For today, I thought I'd share another fun card I made using lots of new release items from Papertrey this month.  The label was stamped using the new 2008 Holiday Tags Collection stamp set and of course that fabulous flourish is from the new Silent Night stamp set.  Also, can you see the blue color peeking out from the patterned paper?  That's some of the new Ocean Tides Classic Grosgrain Ribbon.  

I used my two-way glue pen to draw a ring around the edge of the pure poppy card stock, so I could add some dazzling diamonds glitter.  So fun and festive!

{Noel Ingredients}

Paper: spring moss, pure poppy, stamper's select white, SU! DS-holiday treasures

Stamps: 2008 Holiday Tag Collection, Silent Night

Ink: pure poppy, ripe avocado

Accessories: Ocean Tides & Spring Moss classic grosgrain ribbon, SU! dazzling diamonds glitter

And now we interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special update.

Remember my newborn little niece??  Well, she's not so newborn anymore!  My sister (Diann) decided to come for a visit on Wed. with baby Ally.  (They live a couple hours away)  They met up with my other sisters (Grace & Glory) and they came to our office on Wed. for a surprise visit!  Bart and I hadn't seen Ally since Mother's Day -- WAYYYY too long!  :)  So we had a super fun visit.  They all came home with us after work and hung out for a few hours before they headed back.

Baby Ally with Auntie Glo.

Ally LOVED Riley!  It was hilarious......she laughed and LAUGHED at him!  There's not much that's better than a baby belly laugh!

As you can see by Diann's belly, Ally is about to be a big sister!!  

Oh my word.....love the pouty lip!  She was gettin' sleepy at this point.  What a dolly!

A sleepy baby Ally and Auntie Dawn.  Sigh......what a great surprise visit!  (Thank you, Diann!!)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.  :)

Have a great Saturday, Peeps!

A Birthday Boy.

Hi All!  Here's a happy little card for you today.  Last night, we went to Seth's first birthday party.  Kelly (his mama) and I have been friends for years......and years!  She is a dear.  She's someone that I know would be there for me in a second if I needed her.......for anything.  I hope you all have a friend that like.  I love her to pieces and so we were happy to go celebrate her second baby's First Birthday, with her family.  And just in case you wondered, here is the birthday boy...heehee!  Cute, huh??  

{Seth Ingredients}

Paper: SU! pacific point, DS Prints-pumpkin pie

Stamps: rough edges alphabet

Ink: PTI dark chocolate 

Accessories: American Crafts poolside vinyl thickers, SU! on board lots of letters chipboard, American Crafts ribbon

Selah is 1!

Remember this little cutie?  She's our good friends' baby and she just had her first birthday this week and this was the card that I made for her.  What a dolly she is!  :)

Chat later, taters!

{Selah Ingredients}

Paper: chocolate chip, very vanilla, A Muse kitchen pink

Stamps: rough edges alpha, typeset alpha

Ink: chocolate chip

Accessories: SU! on board lots of letters, SU! ribbon originals-fairytale, MS butterfly punch, A Muse mini heart twinkle stickers, corner rounder punch