Fun Safari Nursery Gift

My cute niece Amy had to have a virtual baby shower a few weeks back with everything that’s happening with "social distancing". I didn’t get these done in time to send to her but she just got her package so that means I can share what I painted for her baby’s nursery. I found the idea on Pinterest (posted that so you can see down below) but I went with four 8x8 wood panel/frames I found at Michael’s for only $2.49 each!!! Crazy inexpensive gift! My version came out a little darker than I wanted but it was still fun and Amy loves them so that made me happy to hear this morning! Just thought I would share one of my creative “projects” I’ve done while having extra time at home. I didn’t get cute staged photos of them hung on the wall before I shipped them cause my brain doesn’t always go there DARN IT!!!! But hopefully you can see how cute they turned out. Have a fantastic weekend friends! 

Get out and get a little sunshine!  

 

 

 

You Gnome Me So Well

I know a lot of folks are taking creative advantage of their extra time at home during this crazy quarantine. ME INCLUDED. It's actually shown me I have always had time if I made it and was just better about sticking to a schedule. I also forgot just how much JOY it brings me to create things with paper and not just 

CRAFTS or digital projects.  

So I played some more this weekend and created this fun GNOME card using the die cut cardstock pieces from the Tulla & Norbert Collection by Photo Play. I love the color combo on this card and I have a HUGE obsession with polka dots so no surprise here. I searched around online last week and found a couple more scrappy challenges to inspire the direction I took this card. 

The actual design of it was based off this week's sketch challenge over at My Favorite Things. I used their Cute Critters Clear Stamps set to make that sweet tree stump. And the paper is from their Birthday Blowout 6x6 paper pad which are both older products. The THEME of it however... was inspired by the KNOCK ON WOOD challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. I love that I got to incorporate the little Gnome from the April SCT Sampler kit too!! Lots of fun goodies in that every month if you're looking to get some current products to play with for only a few bucks a month! I purged EVERYTHING a couple years back so I feel like
I'm starting from scratch! 

This next card was one I created and submitted to Scrapbook & Cards Today's Summer Call but it didn't get picked up. I DID HOWEVER HAVE MY WHOLE WEEK MADE when I had a layout I created for the same issue get requested for publication and I am still happy dancing about it. It's literally been like 6+ years since I've submitted any of my work so you can imagine my excitement!
This card was created using PhotoPlay's line called Monterey Bay! I was looking at both of these cards today before coming here to share and realized you could sum my style up in ONE WORD.... LAYERS!!! Ha ha .... I LOVE DIMENSION.
That lends to BULKY cards but that's okay. I love it. It's fun and I'm pretty sure I can't make a card without it. LOL

The last thing I want to share before I go is my BEAUTIFUL SENIOR!!! I am, like all parents of Seniors in High School, sooooo sad about them losing the best part of their last year of High School! We are still working on her Graduation Announcements to mail out but I thought I would share this digital layout I made using some of her Senior Photos. She's an amazing girl and I love the young woman she has grown into! She is going to Northern Arizona University (NAU) in the fall and can't wait to see where life takes her! PROUD OF YOU CASSIDY!!! <3

HOME, WELCOME & GRACE

Wow.... so much has happened the last couple years. 

Back in 2018 I made the decision to get my Real Estate license and work on another stream of income for our family. It's been the BIGGEST blessing ever and I actually surprised myself with what I was able to accomplish even though it was HARD HARD HARD!!!! 

Within a few months of getting my license Shane and I bought our very first home together and we are SUPER proud of that having rented for the first 10 years of our marriage. 

I have REALLY ENJOYED making it feel like home. It would be close to impossible to catch up on all that has happened since I last posted here so I am not going to try. Just wanted to jump right in... share a few of my favorite home decor projects I've done and then HOPEFULLY find time to check in on a much more frequent basis!  

This HOME hanger was one of the first projects I made for our front door. I found the idea for it on Pinterest and then had a friend cut the word "HOME" out of 1/8" birch using her laser wood cutter. Super easy and fun! I have a thing for buffalo plaid so I hope it stays around for a while. 

This project was inspired by one of my crafty
 crushes..... Rebecca Propes!
Here's a link to hers so you can see it! I have this hanging on the wall outside our door in our entry way on the porch. I love the boho-chic vibe and the fun succulents!

This last project is a canvas I painted when I decided what my OLW (One Little Word) would be for 2020. Grace is something I constantly find myself NEEDING and also trying to extend as well.
I have this near my desk in my room so I am always
keeping GRACE in my heart.

 

Okay ..... I guess I will end with that. I have so much to share but want to focus on the future as well. Hopefully I can be better at posting all that's going on creatively and with my amazing family. 

The other INCREDIBLE thing that happened last year is that my 26 year old daughter who I placed for adoption so long ago FOUND ME because of the site 23 & Me and a family member who was on there as well. This is something that I have PRAYED FOR ALL MY LIFE. Shane, my girls, Brody and Chloe... everyone LOVES HER and she fits into our family perfectly and fills a whole in my heart that has been forever missing. I can barely type this without my eyes welling up with tears. I will have to share more about all of 

that in a future post. 

Life is blessed even in the middle of a CRAZY unprecedented quarantine and Pandemic with COVID-19. Praying things get back to normal soon! Until next time!  

Birthday Monkey Invites

Hi there! So happy you found your way to my blog! I share creative things here of all kinds and mediums. I like to call myself a Lifestyle Crafter. I lead a super busy life with a large family and I run my own business in my home as well so carving out SPECIFIC time during the days and weeks isn't always something that takes priority. BUT... the need to design and create and use my hands to express my love of color and art is something I NEED to make time for or it bottles up inside meand that's not good. 

SOOOO.... when every day life happens I tend to use times like these to CREATE and then my heart is happy and my soul is creatively nourished!  It may sound silly to some but this is part of who I am. My sweet Chloe Bug is celebrating her 7th Birthday TODAY!!!!  We have much planned over the next 3 days but one thing she is SUPER EXCITED about is a trip to the Phoenix Zoo with a few of her favorite friends! Since it didn't require sending out A LOT of invitations I decided to make the three of them super special and handmade from the heart!  

Before I show you the invites.... 

here's a fun photo of my Birthday Girl! 

She's our darling caboose and making birthdays fun for her is something I look forward to!  When she decided she wanted to visit the ZOO for her birthday and I asked her what animal she wanted on her invites she immediately said... "Monkey!!!" The monkeys are her favorite exhibit! So it was only fitting. I started first by finding a free monkey png file online then added the leaves and wording to it using PicMonkey.com (ha ha that's funny!) But seriously I love PicMonkey for editing my photos and creating fun graphics. Once I designed what I wanted I saved it and printed them thru Walgreen's one hour photo as 5x7 prints. Here's the base design I saved for future use. I keep them saved to share or make invites again for someone else. 

You're welcome to save this and use it too!  

Here's the final after I added the wording and then matted it on white cardstock. Also a little machine stitched sewing around the edges for a handmade touch.  

We found some generic wooden Monkeys at Hobby Lobby that I just added the bows and heart to then tied them on to the front of these large polka dot envelopes I made. Personal touches make things fun and sweet!  These little ones are only small for a short time so I try and add a little sparkle to their lives when I can! That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by!  

MFT Sketch 302

Yay! I got a little time to create this morning! I've been itching to play with the little cactus in the Llama Love Clear Stamp set by My Favorite Things.  Of course being a native of Arizona I had to have this set and decided the saguaro needed a Santa Hat. 

Anyway.... this was a fairly quick and easy card to put together but this week's sketch from MFT is one that can have limitless possibilities!  Thanks for stopping by! 

Season's Greetings from Arizona! 

MFT Products used on this card:

Llama Love Clear Stamps

Christmas Cuteness Clear Stamps

Joyous Christmas Sentiments Clear Stamps 

Donut Thank You tags with Free Printable

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by! 

I thought I would share something fun I made for all our teachers at our monthly Enrichment activity at church!  I took a photo with some yummy donuts bagged up so you could see how fun and simple this little thank you gift was!  They were a hit! And these could be used for anything really!
Here's a link to download the PDF I created....

Donut Thank You Tags Free Printable 

Have a fantastic weekend!

Halloween Black Snake Wreath

So super excited about this wreath! I found it online from a friend or through pinterest... I honestly can't remember. But there's lots of versions of these when you search on Pinterest. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween over here and I especially love fun holiday wreaths for our front door! This was too easy and unique and creepy to pass up making! Between the Dollar store, Michael's and Walmart for the wreath, spray paint and plastic snakes.... this was a REALLY FUN and inexpensive project at around $15 total!  I used E6000 glue to adhere the snakes because hot glue and me don't get along. I also want it to last more than a few years!!! Anyway.... all I did was randomly glue on a ton of snakes then covered the entire thing in several coats of matte black spray paint!  EASY PEASY!!!! 

If y'all have any questions just post them in the comments and I will do the best I can!  Excited to hear how you like it!  

Happy Halloween!