unconditional gratitude

hi.

thanks for stopping by.  (please don't go yet, i just wanted to be grateful to start!)

we all have something to be grateful for, right?  i know sometimes it's really hard to come up with something to say, but if we think hard enough, there's always something.  even if it's little.

a long time ago (at least it seems like a long time ago) i was on a missions trip to Ecuador.  it was awesome.  but one of the days i was getting ready to serve, i wasn't feeling so great.  like, i just didn't want to be there/ going where we were going/ doing what we were going to do.  but see, that just wasn't going to fly.

i knew i had to think of something to be grateful for...  because when you're thankful for something it changes your whole attitude.

so i asked the people sitting next to me in the van (people i knew btw) to "play a game" with me.  in turn, we would name off things we were grateful for.  in no order of importance or anything fancy like that.  nothing was too small to mention.

we mentioned the food, the weather, our families, the van, the air we were breathing, our friends, etc etc etc.

it changed my attitude.  and when we got out, the rest of the people in the van (who had been talking amongst themselves, but stopped to listen to us) they were thankful too.  we had a great day that day.

(yes, i have a point, bear with me!)

then i did this again with an entirely different group of friends, in an entirely different place, with an entirely different purpose.  we took turns saying out loud what we were thankful for.

it didn't matter what we said (some of it was 'silly').

we still ended up thankful and grateful and just a little bit happier because of it.

so...

today, i want to share a card i made for a friend.  i was seriously blown away by something she did for me.  i couldn't stop thinking about how awesome it was, what she did... so i made a card and sent it off to her.  

i used sassafras lass paper, a pebbles flower, some turquoise and ruler washi tape, melody ross chipboard sentiments, and a fun inkable flower.

something bright to thank someone who brightened my day.

ya know?

so, what about you guys?  got some gratitude going on?

here's a quick list from me before i head out for the day...

1. friends. the kind that text, the kind that call, the kind that leave Facebook messages on your wall (hey, that rhymed!)
2. the Olympics and my favorite sport, water polo... i am having so much fun watching it!
3. brothers and sister that make me laugh.  ALL.THE.TIME.
4. nail polish (*smiles sheepishly*)

there you go.  your turn!  i'm serious, it helps your day :D

thanks for stopping by, xoxo

manicure monday: neon french manicure + stamping

happy monday!  hope you had a great weekend... it seems like there's never enough time to do all the fun things i want to do (even if it's just taking a nap or reading a book), but i won't complain... :D

it's summertime!  that means NEON everything... you want to make sure that you stand out and make a statement.  what better way to do that than sport some neon colored nails!

i turned to my Pinterest boards for inspiration on this one, and i have the original idea starter and photo credit below my finished manicure.

i picked "Pool Party" by China Glaze for this one... it's such a great bright pink, and it's really easy to apply.  I wanted to make sure that i had a mani that would work with the cute Old Navy shirt i bought (one of those $10 tees they have during summertime--uber comfy and uber cute!)

now, when i removed my old polish, i actually had some staining/ yellowing of my nails, and i knew i had to apply a nice blush pink as a base for my funky french manicure.  i used Essie's "Ballet Slippers" for that base (a few coats and i was covered) that i got from my sister--what a sweetie!  it's the perfect color for the base on any french tip you want to do, even if you're going neon! :D

photo credit HERE

and this is the photo i looked at to start...  you can see that i don't have the same bow image for Konad stamping (mine was the M3 plate) from amazon.com, but i think that the effect was awesome all the same.

so let me know what you think!  thanks for checking in!

xoxo

have a blast!

"E.T., phone home!"

okay, i must confess, that movie freaked me out when i was 8.  my family was moving cities/ houses, and my sister and i were unloaded allowed to stay at a friends house.  we'd been there a lot before.  we liked it.

and then we watched E.T.

i'm now 27 and i still haven't re-watched that movie.  i have scars.  i don't know if i'll ever recover.  cecelia, have you recovered?  ugh.  maybe it's just me.  it always is.

:D

anyways, you didn't come here to read about my movie experiences as a child (or maybe you did and you're peeing your pants right now.  if you are, you should probably find some wipes or paper towels or something like that.  might be the sensible thing to do.  instead of, you know...)

HOW DO I GET ON THESE TANGENTS???

okay, :D i'm done screaming.

i did a robot card.  perfect for a boy.  same idea as the other one from earlier in the week.

slightly more work because of the thickers (American Crafts) and letter stickers (instead of stamping a sentiment).  only because i really am particular about my alignment on those things... i like straight lines if they're supposed to be straight.  which obviously these are not meant to be straight.

just ignore me today.

(ugh.)

aside from the robot body, everything else is card stock (kraft for the base, and then some collection of randomness from an unknown DCWV pack).  but i made sure it all coordinates.

what little guy wouldn't love to see this smiling face on a birthday card?  hehe, he even makes me smile even though i have numerous horrible bad memories from watching an alien movie when i was younger which isn't even the same as a robot.

what do you think?  little guys?  approved/ not?

thanks for putting up with me stopping by.  i love ya! xoxo

happy day mini album

i have another mini (or not so much) album to share with you today.  the papers, book, embellishments, and ribbon came from a Button Farm Club kit a long time ago.

like the last mini album, there are some similarities:

1. no pictures yet.
2. i followed about 1/2 of the directions for the kit, made up the rest.
3. i added extras.
4. LOVE doing these!

so... let's get down to business (sorry, not "to defeat the Huns...")  haha, do i have you singing that Disney song from "Mulan" yet?

anyway, the front of my album was really fun to make (lots of layers and elements).  probably my favorite feature of the whole album is the hexagonal shapes throughout... the honeycomb if you want to call it that...  it just makes designing a scrapbook so much fun and keeps it different from everything else by virtue of its shape!

hexagons FOR THE WIN! :D

you can see the cute bicycle on here, the fun big flowers (hey check out those small white flowers too!), and the ledger paper, the woodgrain paper, and the postcard peeking out on the right side...

here we have a close up of the brads on the flower, and you can also see a chipboard element underneath the main element.  butterflies are going to happen throughout this mini album.  fair warning!

postcard... "happy"... and the honeycomb!

first inside pages. the top left page has an element that peeks out from the top (you can see it when you look at the cover of the book), and i covered it with some fun paper from the collection.  added a doily as well.  doilies + projects = perfection.

and that chipboard kite element?  too awesome.  also, please note the double sided paper.  the biggest reason i digressed from the original directions on this album is because sometimes i thought the other side of the patterned paper was prettier.

also, how can you not love the randomly scattered quotes already on the paper throughout this thing?  "i absolutely adore you" would work for ANY type of album.

next pages.  more doilies, layers of paper, and some awesome brads!  seriously, this collection had the coolest brads ever, and i almost hoarded the majority of them, but they go so well with the rest of the elements that i restrained myself.  you should be proud.

it was hard to do.

another quotation, "not all those who wander are lost." -JRR Tolkien

i could love this collection solely for the fact that they quote the author of "The Lord of the Rings."  that's a fact.

okay, here's where i switched things up a LOT.  the chevron bag (LOVE!) holds a perfectly trimmed piece of ledger paper.  then we have some striped banners, a brad or two, flower here, hexagon there...

basically this album pulled itself together.

the right page has another element poking out of the side.  it's another postcard that gets some different patterned paper on the back, you'll see in the page below...

these pages were so fun to do!  the background paper isn't super standout (in my opinion), but the polaroid frames and the doilies, and the honeycomb, and the banners, THOSE are the fun elements.

also, there are some thick flowers on here... gives my album an "it's hard to close up" feeling.  which might be good, might be bad.  dunno yet :D

yay for a checkerboard smattering of patterns.  super fun.  i did follow directions on this one.  another fun banner w/ a quotation on it as well.

"wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."

when i was working on this album i was in MAJOR recovery mode with my cellulitis.  like, i was staying at my best friends house for a total of two months because i couldn't at the time live on my own or be on my feet long enough to take care of myself.

so i made this album on her couch.  at night.  with a computer lap desk (which fortunately had a cup holder that i converted to a crafty-thing-holder).  and both her and her husband were cool with it.  sometimes we watched "how i met your mother," sometimes we drank wine (after i decided that it didn't matter/ wouldn't react with the antibiotics i was taking 4x a day), sometimes we sat and talked or folded laundry... 

that quotation was a great reminder.  that was not a sunny time (situation-wise).

more polaroid frames.  some tags from a different collection tucked behind them.  more banners.

"sometimes i just have to stop and play a little catch up so i can remember the good times."

how perfect.

brads/ flowers/ borders, and we're set!

these pages were fun to assemble.  i got to browse through the honeycomb papers and pick the best suited ones for the arrangement i was going for.  i think it turned out great, and there's even some negative space in between!

cute little tag on the right hand page... "happy day" and a flower.

"here comes the sun" and "dream" paired together.  there were SO MANY awesome triple layer embellishments in this collection, i really really really almost hoarded them.

but i didn't.

they're here, on these pages.  they look fabulous if i may say so.

you're welcome :D

on the top left side of the album you can see a smattering of the elements that i made to poke out the top of the book... i think it gives some more visual interest and dimension when you look at the overall thing.  might look a bit out of place when you're looking at just one page, but luckily, you get the big picture at the beginning!

"how sweet it is to be loved by you" (now doesn't that quotation just get you singing the James Taylor version?  or maybe Michael Buble?  hehe :D  both, for me!)

the back.

"adorable and oh so charming.  inside and out."

what a perfect quotation for the back!  doilies, some washi tape (didn't use a whole bunch on this one), a border, and the few remaining chipboard buttons or brads were added.

such fun.  

and there you have it.  now my fingers feel like falling off.  do your eyes get tired after looking at all these pictures?  i sure hope not!

i'd love to read your comments on this album, the collection, the design, WHATEVER!  you can even bring up Disney movies if that makes you happy... they make me happy :D

thanks for stopping by, xoxo

you make me smile

i made a masculine/ boy card.

i had to get that out before i even said "hi" or anything else.  so now i'll back up a bit...

HI!

okay, so now that universe has aligned again, i'll explain my (lapse of) judgement in putting this together.

...

...

...

neverrrr mindddd.  i don't really know why i made this one, i just know that i think it's kind of cute, and it's not girly AT ALL.

i mean, that robot paper?  so.awesome!  (btw, the sheet comes with all these different strips that can be cut up and sectioned off and used as different elements on a card... hence, my card!)

the "you make me smile" sentiment is one designed by Dawn McVey from PTI fame, and i think that sentiment is seriously one of my favorites--it can be used for LITERALLY any occasion.

unless that occasion is someone's death.  or dismemberment.  then this card wouldn't work at all, and i'd need to find someone for psychiatric help (for you, duh!)  haha.  okay, i'm done.

but seriously, this one was way easy.  some matching card stock was adhered to the card front, and then the strips that matched the colors of this robot heat were applied to the left, i stamped the sentiment in black ink, and then i glued that robo-dude to some white paper and cut him out (more definition!) and popped him up with dimensional adhesive.

basically a one layer card.  no frills, buttons, or flowers.

not even a strip of washi tape...

*GASP*


i.know.

anyway, aside from all that stuff this card isn't... what do you guys think?  i like it regardless of it's masculinity.  which is good.  cause i have three brothers.  and guy friends.  okay, again, i'm done.

ALSO >> i have a small announcement!
i will be participating in the DeNami Design "Bright Bold and Beautiful" Blog Hop on August 12th.  so you should pencil that into your day planner.  because i'll be here bright (ha, no pun intended) and early with a cute project... it definitely fits the bill for this blog hop.

anywho.  superrrrr excited.

come again soon!  xoxo

(p.s. i promise to try to not be as crazy anymore.  try being the operative word here.)

green with envy

hi there!

i must be on a color kick lately... yesterday was 'flamingo pink' and today is green green green!  hehehe, well, you've always known that i'm a fan of color!

oddly, there's another similarity between today's and yesterday's card...

patterned papers are from Melody Ross (again) from the same pack (and i used front and back)!  maybe you can't tell, but the slight green strip towards the bottom is actually the back of the paper in the background on the main portion of the card.

the Anna Griffin elements are playing a large role as well: the swirl, the 'date' die cut, the stamp, and ledger paper as well.

but that yellow flower... (*le sigh*) is from Recollections and i love it.

i don't think there will ever be a time when i don't love these flowers.  if there is a time, please take me out back and... well, not really.  just maybe hit me on the head a few times and call it good.  i must have a good reason to not love these creations (they might've come out with something better... highly unlikely,  but i'll just stop rambling now).

and i don't think i'll stop loving washi tape.  but that's beside the point.

the point is, i made an all occasion card, and with the exception of the flower, it's not too girly, and i could see myself giving this to a guy if i knew he appreciated this kind of thing.

nevertheless, i have another creation to add to my stash, and i must thank you for coming by again.

i so appreciate you! xoxo

flamingo pink!

hehe, here i am again... did that title catch your attention?

you'll understand why i picked it in a bit.  but for now, i just want to say thank you to every single person who stops by and reads my posts.  it means a lot to me that you're staying updated on my life.  i appreciate when you leave comments.  i love reading the stats on who dropped in and from where (this is especially true when i don't have comments but see that people have read the post).  so keep coming back!

i appreciate it!

...which brings me to my flamingo.  the sentiment on this card should look familiar (it's studio G and it's in the same brown ink as a card just last week).  but that's where things get different.

first of all, there's a flamingo on this card.  how could i not use this guy from Anna Griffin (and how do i know it's a dude?  i don't.  but i think he mush be.  but i still spruced him up with a pink striped ribbon around his neck.  kind of like some of the Olympic opening ceremony outfits, eh?) 

so while the flamingo is taking front and center, i have to point out the pretty paper behind him...

we have some patterns from Melody Ross, and thankfully those papers are double sided, and i got to use EVERY side.  how amazing!  usually with double sided papers i either don't like one side or like both too much to use them at all (hence my hoarding habit), but today, i didn't do either!

the patterned paper was helpful itself as well--they cooperated by coordinating or being a neutral.  that always helps, right?

well, be sure to let me know what you think... were you surprised by my flamingo choice?  does he belong somewhere else?  if so, where?  :D

thanks for stopping by, xoxo