His/Her Graduation Cards

Hi! I've had the case of the blahs, blues, whatever you want to call it and decided to take a break from blogging. But I'm back today with some simple his/her graduation cards. My stepson and his girlfriend Ashley are graduating so I made these cards for them...

For Alex...

 A closer look...I used a Hero Arts stamp over and over to create the background...

 And for Ashley...

Aren't those Pure Innocence stamp images cute!?

Her school colors were a bit challenging (brown and gold) so I tried to be playful with a shaped card and clear embossing the background with my FAVORITE background stamp from Hero Arts...

So very proud of you Alex and Ashley!!! :) 

Well, that's all I got for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Weather, Winners, & Girls Getaway Layout Share

Hi! Want proof that I live in Cincinnati? Take a look....

Yep. That's hail! Cincinnati has the WEIRDEST weather. It has rained so much lately that I have considered building an ark...lol...and then yesterday it was 70 degrees out and all of a sudden a huge storm passed through with hail. Sigh. These are the days I wish I lived near the beach.

On a happier note...the WINNERS of the RAK from the last post are: KELLY RASMUSSEN and ANNA SENIW! Congrats ladies! Email me with your address and I'll get some prizes out to you. :)

Now onto a layout share. Remember when I went on a girls getaway back in March? Well I finally got around to scrapping the pics. Here is the two page layout...

 A closer look at the first page...

 and the second...

 love using the silhouette for titles...

 details of the second page...

Journaling: "It's funny how my scrapbooking hobby has introduced me to some amazing women. I had just been through a difficult time, suffering a miscarriage, and decided to go on a scrapbook retreat as planned. I did it to get away and try to start healing. I had no idea that this group of women (some I've never met before) would help me heal as much as they did. With every laugh, giggle, and smile, I felt better. I am blessed with such great friendships. God is good. (03/2011)"

That's all for now. Big hugs to all of you! :) 

Prom, Music Monday, & RAK

Feels like I haven't blogged in awhile. Sorry. THANK YOU so much for the kind emails and comments regarding my brother-in-law. He was able to come home last week but he had to go back in last night due to some blood pressure issues. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts.

Lots to share. First, my sweet son had two proms recently. I was bummed that I missed the first one last weekend (Ashley's prom) but I was out of town on a scrapbook retreat. Luckily, Ted snapped some pics for me of the cute couple...

Love how playful they are. :)   

Saturday was Alex's prom so I decided to take some pics at a local nature preserve by our house. (Am I the only person that haven't been to places right down the street from where they live that end up being great?! lol) Here's just a couple of my favorites...

My heart soars when I see such respect, tenderness, and love between a young couple like Alex and Ashley. No drama. Ted and I kept saying that night how blessed we are with Alex and the fact that he found such a good girl makes me one happy mama. ...

Switching gears...thought I'd do another Music Monday. Again, I'm not going to load the videos on here because Blogger and I are still fighting. lol Here are some links instead...

-Love THIS song. His voice melts me.

-THIS song was on the finale of Brothers and Sisters during the wedding. (love that show! just heard it was cancelled!! boo!)

-I would give anything to sing like THIS girl. Love rockin' out to this song.

-THIS song is just silly and fun. Makes me smile.

Now...how about a fun RAK? I took this pic of my new skirt I just bought....

It's scary how much this hobby gets in my brain but I bought it because it reminded me of a certain stamp I have from a fav. company! :)  Leave a comment and let me know what stamp it is and from what company and I will pick two winners who have the correct answer. The first person who answers right will win a prize and I will pick one person randomly from the comments too. :)

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Please pray...

for my brother-in-law, Tom. He was taken to the hospital Monday morning for chest pains and while there suffered a heart attack. They were able to fix the blockage with a stint but he is still in the hospital. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank You.

An Unexpected Surprise...

Hello Friends. I've mentioned on the blog before that I got a new job recently. I decided awhile ago to say goodbye to my online store, Scrapbook Bakery, and begin a new chapter. (That decision was based on a desire to try something new and being a one woman show behind the scenes of an online store is a lot of work! I was really was ready to move on especially when it was time to pay taxes! I'm still going to teach classes locally though and sell Hero Arts when teaching.)

So I thought about it long and hard and I knew that I wanted to stay in the scrapbook business but I was ready to work for someone, instead of for myself. I contacted my sweet friend Jennifer to see if she needed an assistant with kitting for classes and any type of organization for all her awesome projects going on...and guess what? she did! :) I'm officially her Mario (I joke with her that I am her Mario-Tim Holtz's assistant) It's been a few weeks now and it has been great. She has always been a good friend to me but she is just as good as a boss! Look what she sent to my house for me to play with.....

A new Silhouette!!! I've been wanting one FOREVER and trying to save up some cash. When it came in the mail, I literally started crying. Things have been so hard lately, especially with the recent miscarriage, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. So, a great new job (doing things I LOVE to do) and a fabulous boss? God is good.

So if you give Heather a new Silhouette, she will probably want to play with it. :)

I thought it was only fair that the first cuts be for Jennifer. So I made her some chocolate chip cookies and made a treat box decoration for the outside of the bag with my new toy...

 I purchased the square gift box download, cut it out of striped pink paper and assembled it, using a piece of acetate for the window. I also used this as a card. So, when she removes the cookie from the box, she will find a note written on the inside. I also purchased Loni Steven's thank you download and cut it from white paper. I covered it with pumice stone distress ink and then sprayed it with perfect pearls to give it some shine.

Also, sweet Jennifer let me borrow THIS stamp set of hers so I could make some goodie bags for my friends. I'm going HERE this weekend and wanted to put together some quick favors for my friends who are going to be there (DO NOT LOOK SHANE AND JENNIE!)....

 Closer Look...

 I love this stamp set because it makes the perfect quick gift....

(Inside is candy to munch on while we're creating.)

Okay, off to pack. Thanks for stopping by!

Memory Lane, Music Monday, & Prize # 4

So I was working on making Graduation invitations for Alex today and I wanted to include pictures from his past on the invitations. Because I didn't enter Alex's life until he was ten years old, Ted pulled out his box of photos and I took a trip down memory lane with him. It made me so happy to see pictures of Alex when he was little. Here is a couple of my favorites...

I just want to pinch those cheeks! And I love the bow tie! :) Here is one when he was three. Reminds me so much of Ted in this one...and I love his cheesy grin from his 2nd grade pic...They really do grow up fast, don't they?

Moving on to Music Monday...

I was going to post the videos on here but Blogger has not been my friend lately...so I will do links. (Anyone else having spacing issues with Blogger?)

-THIS song is my favorite right now. Her voice is perfection. I also really like THIS song from her.

-I love THIS country song. Reminds me of Ted and I. :) Love that this duo is a real couple.

-I really like THIS girl's unique sound.

-THIS girl can do no wrong in my book. Perfection.

-Ginny Owens is one of my fav. Christian singers. Such comfort. THIS is my fav.

Moving onto Prize #4 for the CARD DRIVE : A pack of Snow Layeirng Paper from Hero Arts and an envelope template from Hero Arts...

If you want to make a card for James (and a chance to win some fabulous prizes), please click HERE for details. I know they will put a smile on this sweet little boy's face. :)

Thanks for stopping by. Night!