I'm Not MIA...

...but I can't believe I haven't posted in over a week! We are in baby-preparation mode around here and most of my time has been taken up by laundry. I think it was easier with the first one and everything was brand new. Things still needed to be washed, but there were no stains to soak out! Things are under control, though, and a day or two each week for the next few should take care of the rest.



I did have a bit of time to craft yesterday morning while DS was at camp (sadly next week is the last week!). I made this card for our family friend who just had her baby girl. I am also going to send her this frame which I actually already had decorated - I just added the baby's name in polka dot chipboard letters. The small Bella images are from their Christmas special and are the perfect size! I popped up the belly in the center image and did some paper piecing for the outfits. The dp is SU! and the border was punched with the Fiskars Upper Crest border punch. Sentiment is A Muse, ribbon is American Crafts, ovals were cut with Nestabilities in the Cuttlebug. The base card is Pink Pirouette.

The papers on the frame (from Ikea) are from the DCWV Spring Stack. I swear, that is the neverending paper pad - I don't think I'll ever use it up! Chipboard letters are from Target.

Well, I have a few hours of quiet this afternoon since DH took DS for a long errand. I am beginning working on decorations for the nursery, but might give in and take a nap. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak in more craft time this weekend. I got my work area cleaned up this morning as I was poking around, so it's ready to go!

I hope you all have a good weekend! I'll at least be back to post some great happy mail I have received in the last couple of weeks. And I think there's a blogoversary to be celebrated here in the next couple of days. So look out for some candy :)

Thanks for looking!

Baby Girl Gifts

Today I continued on the girly-girl path and made a monogram frame to match the card I made yesterday for our friends' new daughter.  Also today I want to show the onesies, because I want to get them in the mail this week.

I had this dollar frame in my stash of alterables for quite a while, and today it jumped out at me.  I got this great outline alphabet from Mandarin Pixie before they closed last year, and it's just the right size.  The papers are DCWV and Bazzil.  I used craft store acrylic paint to paint the frame, and the ribbon is American Crafts.  I did stamp the flourishes in Close to Cocoa, but since I don't have craft inks, it faded to a gray.  The flowers are Primas and the centers are Queen and Co Mini Sprinkles brads.

Below are the onesies. I used the directions from Taylor, but went one step easier and bought the cute patterned iron-on patches instead of using fabric with Heat N Bond.  It helped me because the patches were all coordinated!  I think I should have set the ink in the dryer before washing the onesies, because it did fade.  Any comments on this process for me?  I didn't have Palette Hybrid ink, so used Staz-On.  The diaper on the baby is paper pieced.  The butterflies are from Verve, the hearts are from Kim Hughes for CHF.

Sweet Boy

Today was my last appointment with my hairdresser before she goes on maternity leave. I have a backup hairdresser while she is away, but she will be missed! She knows she is having a little boy, and it's been fun to see her belly grow...

I made this simple frame for her, painting a plain wood frame with light blue acrylic paint and stamping the images with Saddle Brown and Azure Staz-On ink. Did you know that you can color with Prismacolor pencils on the acrylic paint and blend with OMS with no smudging??? Yeah, Ok, you probably did. But this was a fantastic discovery for me and I had fun coloring the images, from SU! Toybox. The letters are SU! Brushstroke Alphabet...

Thanks for looking!

Chippy Frames

DS was content to "be busy" with me in the craft room yesterday, and I was able to complet the Ways To Use It challenge on SCS. It was to use chipboard on a project. I got these very cute letters from Teri a while ago and have been wanting to use them. Yesterday was the day the lightbulb went on over my head and out came these IKEA picture frames!

I made one frame each for our nieces, who live in AZ. They are girly-girls and I think they will like them. I used Berry Bliss dp from SU! and added some ribbons and primas for a bit of decoration. Can I say how much I LOVE Mod Podge??? Every time I use it, I am amazed at how that stuff sticks. These letters are not falling off the frames! It's hard to see the pink pattern in the photo. It's been raining here and the lighting was not great in my craft room last night.As I was cruising around the web today, I spotted the Scotch ATG gun at Overstock.com for $49.99 with $2.95 shipping. Has anyone purchased from them? I'd like to hear some feedback before placing an order. They also had a bunch of Nestabilities listed, who knows if they're actually in stock or will be backordered.

Tonight, I am babysitting my girlfriend's daughter, and will be alone with her and my DS. Hopefully they will cooperate at bedtime and I will get to play some more. If not, I will have to wait until Sunday, when the boys give me some quiet time to craft. I've been in a pink rut lately, and have to use more colors before you all get sick of seeing it! We have some birthdays and my brother and SIL are celebrating 15 years of marriage next month. I'll see what I can come up with for them. I might just have to go to IKEA to get more frames, too :)

Hope you all have a nice Friday! Thanks for looking!

Teacher Gifts, Yankee Swap Gift

Here are the beaded pens and altered notebooks I made for the teachers at ds' preschool. It's hard because there are soooo many teachers and assistants! I decided to just give gifts to the three that spend the most time with him. I got the tutorials for these gifts at Emily's blog. They were so much fun to make! It was my first time with Mod Podge, and now I'm ready to alter the other things I have been collecting - frames, more notebooks, paint cans...I also made a few matching notecards for one of the teachers. The others got gift cards in these adorable little holders. I found the instructions for these little cuties HERE. SOOOOOOOOO easy and better than the generic rectangle holders you get at the store.

The final item is a Criss-Cross Box that I found through Nichole Heady's blog. The instructions and template are HERE. My DH needed a quick Yankee Swap gift for work, so I whipped up this box, filled it with chocolates and another gift card in a holder. They loved it!

Phew! This is the last of the Christmas postings for me! I'm going to spend the weekend cleaning and getting the house ready for guests. And we still have all our wrapping to do, so I'll be getting all that done, too. We still have to put up the tree, which will probably be done on Sunday when the guests arrive. And ds has requested a Green Goblin birthday cake, so I'll be hunting for pictures for that! Is it January yet?

Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for looking!