Quilt for K

I made a quilt for our expectant birth mom K. (She's due in just 2 weeks!! Can't wait for baby Emily to make her arrival!! She is 70% effaced and dialated to a 1. Same as last week, but baby has dropped a little.) We also made a matching one for the baby. (Not my original idea to do matching quilts as a gift. Not sure who's idea it was. But I love it!) I asked her what her favorite colors were and I found out they are pink, purple, orange, blue & green....... yeah............ I thought it would be difficult trying to incorporate all those colors into the quilt, but it actually wasn't. The hardest part was picking the fabric of course. But once I picked those it was easy. I am a basic quilter. I do squares. That's it. I am going to have my mom teach me how to do other styles, but for now, squares it is. I forgot to take a picture of K's quilt before I gave it to her. But her's is the exact same as the baby's with 1 exception. K's squares are 5 inches finished. The baby's quilt has 3.5 inch finished squares. This of course makes the baby's quilt smaller. Anyhow, here is the baby's quilt. My mom, aunt, and a family friend helped me to tie K's, and I tied the baby's.

Each of the colors had 3 different fabrics. Then I found one that had orange, purple and pink to tie them all together. It is bound and tied in purple. The quilt is 11 squares across, and 11 down. I am so thrilled with how it turned out. Here is a close up on the some of the fabrics.

1 layer cards, late, but as promised!

O.k. I totally suck! I know, I updated a couple of weeks ago and said I stamped. I am just now posting those cards! I'm sorry! Between issues with my computer & getting ready for baby (any day now! Our birth mom is 37 weeks so baby could come any day now! But I think we're ready. LOL)

Anyhow, here are the cards I did. I did multiples of some of these. On all cards I use Whisper White cardstock & Tuxedo Ink from Momento.

On this first one (one of my favs) I used the SU dots embossing folder (EF) with the big shot. I have a cuttlebug, and I love it. But I find that the big shot gives the impression way better than the cuttlebug. For some projects I will want a subtler (is that a word?) impression so the cuttlebug will work great for those. For these cards however, I wanted a deep impression, so the big shot it was! Anyhow, back to the card. I used the dots EF and the Kind & Caring Thoughts from Stampin Up (SU) as well for the sentiment. I used a purple gingham ribbon which I am not sure where I got. I'm assuming HL (Hobby Lobby) or Michaels? Anyhow, very simple, but I love it!

This next one is almost the same but instead of the dots EF from SU, I used the Stylized flowers EF from Provo Craft.

This one is one of my favs. I used the Kind & Caring Thoughts set (SU) for the image with Rose Red, Lovely Lilac & Certainly Celery markers (SU). And then the sentiment is from Watercolor Trio set (SU). I used the SU dots EF on the right side, the image on the left and a ribbon from Michaels down the middle.

This one was using all Kind & Caring Thoughts with the Rose Red & Certainly Celery markers (All SU). This one and the next are using repeat stamping (ink your image and stamping it a couple of times before reinking). Also used the pink ribbon from Michaels.

This card is my next to favorite one. It is using the Watercolor Trio set with Rose Red, Certainly Celery, & Lovely Lilac markers (all SU). Also using the Michaels ribbon. I love how this one turned out!

This last one is my absolute fav! I need to make more because I wasn't how it would turn out so I only made 1. I used the dots EF from SU, purple ribbon from Michaels & the Kind & Caring Thoughts set from SU for the sentiment. This one is actually the only one that is not a 1 layer card. I had to do the dots on a seperate peice of cardstock and then adhere it to the card base so that the dots could be on the top. I also used the Elephant die set from the Cuttlekids collection from Provo Craft. Seriously, how cute is this!!

As soon as I can I will add some more projects that I have been working on, including quilts (3), more cards and a few other goodies.

Still Alive

Yes, I am still alive. Life has been hectic since being chosen to adopt our baby girl. Our birth mom is due in just 6 weeks. I can't beleive how fast time has gone by!

I have kept myself busy with lots of quilting projects, a couple of cakes and shopping for baby! Up until tonight I hadn't stamped in literally months (other then the once a month stamp club which I haven't been to in a couple of months).

Well tonight, I found myself itching to stamp. Rather then just going to bed like I did the last time I wanted to stamp, I opted to stay up and "scratch the itch" to stamp so to speak.

I popped in the movie Sense and Senseability and stamped away! I finished 16 cards just as the movie ended. Not too shabby! Most of the cards are 1 layer cards, but I love the way they turned out. I will take them out in the morning and take pictures of them. In the meantime, I thought I would share with you some photos that my friend Ashley of Monarch Photography took of us with our birth mom. For her privacy we refer to her as K and ask that if you know her name, you do the same. We also don't show her face to protect her privacy as well. We have a lot of photos with her face, but like I said, for her privacy, here are a few for you to enjoy that don't show her face. These photos were taken on Memorial Day when K was 31 and a half weeks. She is now 34 weeks. Almost Baby Time!! Enjoy these photos and tomorrow I will have some cards to share with you!

Project for BABY!

We have been getting ready for our new little one to join us in just 115 days. It still seems so far away, but the time is going quickly. With today being Easter we had a nice relaxing day. So I spent a couple of hours making a project for the nursery. Right now the nursery has a pink crib set (which I love!). But I want to make another one (an additional one) that will be, what else but purple and green (with Roses since the baby's middle name is Rose which is her sweet birthmom's middle name). ;o)

A while ago I bought some letters from HL spelling the word BABY. Since we hadn't been chosen yet, and didn't know if our future little one would be a boy or a girl, I hadn't decorated the letters yet. So since we had been chosen now, and our little one is a girl..... Well, see for yourself:

I used the Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper from Stampin Up! I also used some ribbon from the craft store for embelishment on the letters and to hang the letters on the wall. I used Prima Flowers with brads in the center for embelishment as well.

I inked the sides of the letters with Mellow Moss Craft ink (SU) and a sponge. Then I inked the edges of the paper letters. I then attached the paper to the letters using modge podge and then applied a thin layer of modge podge over the finished letter to seal it. I added the ribbon and flowers and used sticky tape to attach the ribbon to the back for hanging.

I hung the letters above the crib:

I love it!

(For some reason everything in these pictures look a little more yellow then what they actually are, but you get the idea. :D)

O.k. Sharon, where have you been? ;o)

I know, I've been out of blogging for awhile. Why you ask? Well, I've been a little preoccupied! We were being considered for adoption by a wonderful birthmom. On Wednesday she chose us! Our baby girl will be born on or around July 29th! We will have a very very open adoption and could not be more thrilled! For more of the story, and for an ultrasound photo, check out my family/adoption blog.
http://jacobandsharon.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-birthmom-k.html

I will be doing a lot of crafting in the next several months. July 29th is still 4+ months away and I need something to keep me busy! I will post some projects soon! I have a few for you to see. But for now, I'm heading to bed to take a nap. For some reason, I've been too excited to sleep lately. ;o)

Build-A-Bear Birthday Card

Sunday was not only Valentine's Day, but Sunday was also my mother-in-laws birthday. She is such a fun lady that I wanted to do a fun card for her. I hadn't used my Build-A-Bear set yet really, so I wanted to use it for her birthday card:
I like how it turned out!
Stamps: Aida BG, Build-A-Bear, Build-A-Bear Word set (SU) (not sure what the word set is called)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White, Nursery Paper Pack (all paper SU exceot paper pack, got that from HL)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Access.: Signo Gel Pen, Copic Markers, white grosgrain ribbon

The bears dress is paper peiced. Seriously love how this turned out. I know, it's a little more like a little kids card, but I just loved these colors together. Very springy!

I found this fabulous sign at Hobby Lobby and just had to get it for her. ;o)

Gift card holder

Seriously, can I be any worse of a blog mommy? Sorry to anyone out there still reading my blog! I will try my hardest to be better and post projects more often.

I haven't felt much up to stamping lately, or doing anything crafty. But I determined to do the challenges on SCS in hopes of getting some creative mojo back.

My neice Kim turned 19 at the end of Decemeber. I can't beleive she is so grown up!
What do you get a 19 year old? I asked my 14 year old daughter Tammy what she thought her cousin might like. Kim and Tammy are really good friends and if anyone knew what she would like, it would be Tammy. Tammy suggested a gift card to one of Kim's favorite stores, Plato's Closet. Gift care it is! But that meant I needed to make a gift card holder. So here is what I came up with. Not my best work, but o.k.

Tammy chose the colors, they are some of Kim's favorites. And Kim is obsessed with fairies. I don't have any measurements for this, I just winged my way through it, and this is the result:

The colors Tammy chose were Taken With Teal, Elegant Eggplant, and Basic Black. I used the Build A Bear stamp set from SU for the flower on the outside. I also did the scallop edge punch from SU for the border. I paper pierced the edges of the sleeve thing and used the circle and scallop circle punch for the front focal image.

The inside looked like this:

I used some scrap cardstock to make the pocket for the gift card. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the SU Sell-a-brations set Whimsical Words. This is one of their new unmounted sets! SU unmounted, who knew?! I love it! It's the best of both worlds! unmounted stamps take up less storage space, and you can see exactly where you are stamping your image, BUT you still get the awesomeness that is the unbeatable SU quality rubber stamps! Love it!

Since Kim loves, and mean LOVES fairies, it was only fitting to put a fairy on the inside! For this I used the Enchanted Fairies set from Artful Inkables. I colored it using Copic markers. After I was done my daughter thought it needed some bling. So I added some stickles to the detailed parts of the fairy's wings.

Like I said, not my best work, by any stretch, but not awful.