My Latest Creation...

...came a little early at 37 weeks. Carter Joseph arrived via c-section at 6lbs, 9oz. He's so much smaller than his brother!


It's been a rough week - he was born on August 21st and we were home two nights when he ended up being re-admitted to the hospital for jaundice. We spent 5 days there, with him under the bili lights waiting for his bilirubin levels to drop. Finally yesterday he was cleared to come home and we are all exhausted! Apparently, he doesn't like to sleep alone at night and DH and I took turns last night holding him while he slept. I understand that I'm not setting a good precedent here, but I think it's going to take us a few days to develop some sort of normal routine. Maybe his room was too dark after the hospital? Too quiet? Any tips out there? I feel like a first time mom all over again!!

Hopefully I can find some time to stamp again soon. I have a pile of birth announcements that have to be completed and a box from SU! that I haven't even opened yet. Horrors!

One More Christmas Card for the Stash

On a recent trip to Michael's, they had this Chatterbox paper (Holiday Sprinkles) on clearance. I love the color combination and picked up a few sheets. One side is polka dots, the other side is a pattern with holly leaves and berries and swirls.

The sketch is from Mary Jo at Techno Stamper. I love this layout and it was perfect for highlighting both sides of the paper. The sentiment is from an old SU! Set, Greetings 4U.

Hopefully later today I will have more time to do more challenges. DS has been crafting with me and now we're getting ready for lunch. DH will start working on finishing my basement laundry room and we'll see what the afternoon brings. I think a trip in the pool is in order - it's hot outside!! I hope you are all having a great weekend. Thanks for looking!

Using My New Elzybells!

This week's Use It Challenge is to use a new technique, a virgin stamp, and new papers. I was the lucky winner recently of some Elzybells stamps from Charlene at Willow and Paisley and decided it was time to ink her up. She is so adorable, I LOVE this set! Go check out Charlene's blog, too - her cards and projects are gorgeous :)

For the elements of the challenge, I used the Pierced Spotlight technique from the Feb/March 2009 Technique Junkie Newsletter. I got the heart shape from a die cut in my stash. I colored the spotlighted part with Prismacolor pencils and blended them with OMS. The papers I used are from a Target dollar spot pack of dp from around Valentine's Day. The virgin stamp was the Elzybells image and sentiment. For the ribbon treatment, I cut a length of silver satin and crimped it with the pink brads from my stash. It's a tiny bit crooked, but I like the detail of it. The scalloped rectangle layer was cut with Nesties in the Cuttlebug.

Well, DS is off on his first solo play date and I have to get him soon. I hope he was well behaved. The little girl whose house he is at loves to play with cars and even has a few race tracks, so I'm sure it will be a success! Too bad it's raining and they won't be able to go outside. His recreation camp ended today and the next two weeks we'll have full days to occupy before school starts. Yikes! First grade, here he comes...

I hope you are all enjoying the summer and aren't too hot or too rainy in your area! Thanks for looking!

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!