Go with the Flow - I Heart {ippity}!

Good morning my friends! Tomorrow is Monday, but that's okay. Since getting out of hotels I have not had a case of "the Monday's" while working for my current employers. How many people can say that?! 

However, I still have many friends who suffer from the classic case of "the Monday's" so in honor of them, I created this card. I wanted to remind all of you who have a hard time getting started in the beginning of the week to just "Go with the Flow." 

I used the {ippity}IPK-109  Fishy Philosophy set for this card. I get my fabulous {ippity} stamps from my WONDERFUL {ippity} Chick Heather Flaherty from I Heart {ippity}!  You can choose her as your Chick too! Just pick her name from the list of chicks! 

This card was created for my first post as a Guest Designer for I Heart {ippity}! I am so so so excited to be a part of this team, even if only for a short time!! The ladies are fabulous! And not to mention the lovely {ippity} stamps!! What more can a girl want?? 

I kept the card pretty simple. We all need simple Mondays, right?? ;) The greens and browns complement one another so nicely. Recently I have been obsessed with greens and browns in my creations. 

I used StazOn in Forest green for the image and sentiment. I used Distress Ink  in Crushed Olive to ink the edges of my papers. The papers and glittered ribbon are from the Story Hour kit by Studio Calico. I finally just broke open this kit.... I am a kit hoarder. 

Here is just a side view of the card. I used some Scrap Dots by Helmar to give the sentiment dimension. 

Please be sure to stop by for my very first post over at I Heart {ippity} and leave some love!!! Thank you for your support!!! 

Birthday Banner

Good morning and Happy Thursday! This means the weekend is almost here! Hooray!!! Do you have any fun plans for Memorial Day? We are just planning on hanging out with the kids, possibly pulling out the kiddie pools, BBQing and maybe having a few beers in the process. Since it's going to be super hot this weekend, I was thinking we should remain low key! Apparently we will have temperatures in the high 90's! Yikes!! Here in St. Louis we get lots of humidity to go along with that heat. And it is NOT fun! 

With today being Thursday, it is my day for a project over at the Happy N Scrappin' blog. I created a banner for a friend of mine from High School for her son's first birthday. She wanted something that she could use at the party, for photos and also hang in his room year round. Thanks to Doodlebug and their Boy's Only Collection, this banner was a piece of cake! (hehe... just realized the pun!) 

My friend's son's name is Konnor, so obviously, that's what it needed to say! I love the dark blue against the green cardstock and patterned papers! It really pops! 

A side view. I love photographing banners on my backyard fence... they look super cute!!  This fence seems to be a hot spot for taking photos of projects recently! 

Here are all of the individual pennants of the banner. After I took these photos and sent them to my friend she decided that she would prefer the banner without the puff balls. (can't remember what they are called!) So, what's the easy way to get rid of them? Cut them off of course! I just cut off the little balls and now the banner looks even better! I can say she was right about them not needing to be there! Now I just have to pack it up and ship it off! I'm so excited! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hi!! 

And remember that on Sunday, I will make my debut over at I Heart {ippity}! I can't wait!!!! 

Supplies from Happy N Scrappin' used in this project are listed below. Please click any of the images to take you to the item in the store! 

InLinkz.com

Out of the Darkness

Out of the darkness there will eventually come light. I tell myself this whenever I am having one of those days where it feels like everything is falling apart. About a week ago, I had a day like this. It was really rough, and I physically lost it on some of my own artwork. I am fortunate my children weren't around, but it was still scary. I have never actually hurt anyone, nor do I want to.... I tend to take out my anger and frustrations on artwork that I have created . It's a sad way to lose a piece of work, but I have turned ruined works into better pieces after having a meltdown. These moments always come with an anxiety attack that hits pretty hard. I literally see red and have problems breathing. So you are aware, I have been to my doctor about these attacks. I do have medication that has been prescribed for them. Luckily I don't have these attacks very often, and over the years have been few and far between. They still occur though, and it is good to be aware that they can happen. 

For anyone who is new to knowing me, I do suffer from depression and anxiety issues. I am not afraid to tell anyone this, because it allows you to understand me a little better. And maybe you are a fellow sister in this battle! If so, you can always send me an email if you ever want to talk. It's not easy to live with these mental illnesses. They can make things pretty tough at times. 

Since I often need to take a breath as a meltdown is starting to occur, I created this canvas to remind myself that it will eventually all be over. I incorporated dark and light colors to signify the darkness from which the light will come out of. I have this sitting in my living room currently, since that is where my last breakdown occurred. It will probably move to a different place in the house, but this is a good place to start. 

I did a lot of misting, inking and distressing to this. Vintage book pages from a Thesaurus were used for the background. I chose very negative words that explain my feelings when I am having a breakdown. I used gold to signify the light that will eventually come. It may not make sense to some, but for me, it does, and at this point that is really what matters, right? 

I hope that you are having a great day! Enjoy the rest of it and take care!!! 

Sending some Love and Happy Mother's Day!!

If you are a mother of any kind, Happy Mother's Day to you my friends!! I hope you had a great day whether with your family or by yourself! My day was spent with my family. We went to the Cardinal's game. They played the Braves and lost unfortunately, but we still had a great time. :) 

Here are some pics from the day...

Since today is Mother's Day and there is a lot of love being shown to mothers everywhere, I thought I would share these two cards I created for those I love. I love to have extra cards around that are for any occasion. And to show someone on a random day how much you love them is a great occasion! Well, not really an occasion, but you know what I mean! LOL Always show those you love how much you love them. Tell them!! 

I quickly put this card together using kraft paper, a doily, Prima flower, vintage button and stickers. Super fast to make, but super cute as well! 

Basic Grey's Kissing Booth collection was used to make this card. Aren't those little envelopes the cutest??! Remember that you can find the whole line on sale at Happy N Scrappin'! 

Great news!! I Heart {ippity}

I'm going to be a Guest Designer for I Heart {ippity}!! I was sooooooooo ecstatic when {ippity} Chick Heather asked me! Pretty surprising to you all I'm sure... seeing that only over the past year and a half I started to stamp more!! I'm so proud of myself!! Hooray!! I will join the other Guest Designer Kristy for May-Aug 2012. I can't wait to work with her and the DT with the wonderful {ippity} stamps!!

A House Filled With Love

Good morning friends! Wow, this has been a crazy week so far!! So much has been going on! I feel like sometimes there has not been enough time to stop and breathe! Know what I mean? It's just been one of those weeks filled with both stress and good things. I can deal with it all if there is some good thrown in, so I really can't complain too much! 

Today I have a lovely altered frame that I refurbished which was originally going to end up in the trash. Luckily for this little gal, I saved her. She was actually cracked in one of the corners, but some hot glue fixed that, along with some gesso, Helmar Crackle medium and Distress Ink. It came out looking great! 

I used a lot of the Basic Grey Kissing Booth Collection, which you can find in the Happy N Scrappin' store. I adore this collection! I have some other projects I am working on using it as well. It's very girly, so it helps with making projects for my boyfriend and I as well as my daughter. She loves the papers. I actually had to hide them from her because she wanted them! Don't worry, I will give her the scraps! I always try to share with my crafty kiddos. I want to encourage their creativity. 

If you get a chance, pop on over to the Happy N Scrappin' Blog and check out my gal Gaby's work! Or just say Hi!! 

Take care, and I will be back later today with some awesome news!! 

Click on any of the images below to take you to the supplies from the store I used for this project! 

InLinkz.com

Lovely Girl

Good morning my friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and were able to get lots of creating done for NSD! Unfortunately, I was unable to get any creating done. I worked on Saturday and went out with Keith after work. We had our own Cinco de Mayo celebration. :) It was nothing fancy, we just went to the bar across the street and had a few pitchers of beer. Remind me to not drink so much draft beer the next time I tell you all I plan on going out. I like draft, but not in such large quantities! 

I thought today I would share one of my latest layouts I made using one of my Studio Calico kits. I recently had to cancel my subscription so that we could save some money, but luckily I have kits lying around that I haven't used. I am a hoarder when it comes to kits. I've always been this way. ;)  I generally will use them right away if it is for a Design Team obligation, but if not, I will save them for a rainy day. 

Speaking of rainy days, today is one! With it being a rainy day, I realized that today's layout is perfect for a rainy day, with all of the bright colors! 

There seems to be a polka dot theme going on in this layout, or a circular theme to the patterned papers. I like it! 

A close up of the corner embellishments. 

The title letters. 

Did you do anything for Cinco de Mayo? I realized that NSD and Cinco de Mayo were the same day and I immediately had this image of all of my scrapbooking friends creating while drinking margaritas. I'm not sure if any of you actually did this, but it left me wondering what condition someone's project would be in by the time the drinks were done. I've never attempted to scrapbook while under the influence. Can you imagine if that were a crime? "I'm sorry ma'am, but we have reason to believe that you are scrapbooking under the influence. Would you please put down the adhesive and scissors and attempt to line up your patterned paper along this chalk line I have made?" LMAO That would be soooo funny. If you forgot, I have a twisted sense of humor! 

Hope you all have a wonderful day! Talk to you later!