{ My little monkey }

Alex has many nicknames, and this is one of them. I don't even know when it started, but ever since then I see monkey stuff all over the place. His shirt (see below) gave me an idea for the card. I had these Autumn Leaves stamps since I was pregnant and just now got to use them. The paper is new Die Cuts With A View Nana's Nursery collection Baby Boy. I stamped the tree branch and the monkey on patterned paper and then cut it out. I embossed the background with Sizzix embossing template and then sanded the embossed lines. Die Cuts With A View cardstock had that white core that I love.
Look what I found the other day at Target. I just had to get it for him. I went back yesterday and they have many other monkey themed things. I saw a piggy bank, cookie jar, lunch box.... I found another blue outfit for him at Kohl's that has a monkey hanging on the front and it comes with a bib that says: "My little monkey". And then yesterday I found the same one, but in pink, for his little friend Mia who has the same nickname.
I actually have more things to show you, but no time to write it all up. My husband comes home on Friday and I will have more time then. I want to give away some crochet flowers this week so be on a look out for that post. It is late and I need to go to bed. Alex is sleeping, but not for long. Doing all this by myself is totally exhausting.

{ Sketch challenges and Emma's Paperie }

This first card I made for CPS #57 sketch. I received this beautiful Basic Grey Sugared collection of papers to work on a special project and I had some left over. I just love Tami's sketches and I wish I had time to do them every week. This one was a late night project and I messed up the first time. I had different flowers on the top and when I flipped the card over to cut a piece of that label that was sticking out, I cut a part of the flower. After that I just went to bed. This is what I came up with the next morning.
This second card is made for SCS sketch challenge 169. Once again I used the papers from Sugared Collection by Basic Grey. I know, they don't look like they belong, but they are all in the set. The stamp, of course, is from Impression Obsession called Bloom Spray. I stamped it on watercolor paper. I colored it using SU ink pads and my blender pen. I just happen to have the colors to match the paper. After I was done coloring, I cut it out. The butterfly is from Butterfly Wishes clear stamp set and the sentiment from Mini Messages clear stamps set.
This little gift came from Emma's Paperie. I tried out for March guest designer and she sent me a little gift. Thank you Cindy. Her store is full of wonderful goodies and her blog is filled with beautiful ideas.

{ Impression Obsession Design Team Challenge }

New stamps from Impression Obsession arrived last week and I love them all ! Since Spring is here Kelli challenged us to use springy colors to make a cards in shades of lavender, blue and green (her favorite color combo). The large image stamp is from Butterfly Bliss clear stamp set, and the sentiment is from Mini Messages clear stamp set. I just love that little sentiment set. It has a little bit of everything and they are small and can fit anywhere.

Check out what the other DT members created:
Deborah
Julie
Kelli
Laura
Penny
Tina

If you would like to play, make a card in shades of lavender, blue and green. Post a link in the comments section and I will come by and visit.

Here are two more cards I created (not for the challenge) with Impression Obsession stamps. I used SEI patterned paper and the collection came with a sticker sheet/labels. The flower is from Petite Flowers II clear stamp set. I used a scratch piece of paper to cover the bottom of the label to stamp the image "inside" the label. I used markers to color the image. Sentiment is from the Mini Messages set.

For the second card I used different flowers from the Petite Flowers set and colored them with markers, again. Just love those flowers. I love them because they are different and I can color them any color I want !
I think that is all for tonight. I have more cards to share with you, yes, I have been busy. I wish I had more time to post. Have a great day!

{ Baby's first Easter }

I hope everyone had a great day! I made this little Easter basket/box for Alex's gift. When I was shopping for him they had a ton of baskets, but they were all too big and I didn't like any of the colors. I did find a small one that I did get, but it was too small. I have this new patterned paper from Die Cuts With A View, Nana's Nursery collection - Baby Boy. It is adorable !!! The colors were perfect so I made him this. I did put a handle on it, but I didn't like the way it looked so I took it off. He was in a very good mood today so I had to take photos of him with his goodies. Daddy got him the rabbit. Mommy spilled a bag of eggs all around him, just for photos. I had those eggs for at least two years. Got them one year after the holiday, on sale. I am glad I was able to use them today. Thanks to my friends, Dayna and Gina, who gave me the idea the other day. I took around 300 photos of him because he was just so adorable. He had his two month check up on Monday and his first vaccinations so he was not himself all week. I could tell that he was feeling better today. He weighs 12 lbs 6 oz !
I made some cards this week and I will share them as soon as I can.
Here are photos of my cutie.

{ Impression Obsession stamps and Beate's weekend sketch challenge #39 }

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I made this card for Beates's sketch challenge. The stamp is St. Patrick's Stamps from Impression Obsession. It is one large stamp that I stamped and then cut out the pieces I wanted.
Here is a spring card I made with Spring Seals and Word Circles. Impression Obsession has a ton of new stamps that came out. I will be able to show you some of my work with them really soon. Here is a link to 2008 Spring Clear Catalog and 2008 Spring Stamp catalog. (Let me know if the links are not working).

Here are some of my favorites:

{ Do you crochet? }

I tried to learn, but it didn't go too well. I need more uninterrupted time, LOL. My mom made this beautiful crochet flower in about 20 minutes. I hope I can do that someday. She made me a box full of flowers. I want to take a photo and show you. The paper and rub-ons are Tinkering Ink, "with love" rub-on is BasicGrey.The idea for this next card came to me one night while I was feeding Alex. I got this set of baby rub-ons (American Crafts) in a goodie box from Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and I just love the blue and brown color combination. I made the tree and cut it out of felt. I just love the way it turned out.
Have you seen the new issue of Paper Crafts April/May 2008? I have three cards published in there. I was at a bookstore last week and paged through the magazine and thought about getting it because I didn't renew my subscription in time and figured that I wouldn't get that issue. Couple of days later I get my two complementary magazines with my three cards. Wow, what a surprise. The next day my regular subscription arrived. Good thing I didn't buy that one. I will give the extras to my mom, she likes to make cards. I gave her a ton of stuff to take home with her. I wish she could have taken more. Too bad they have weight restrictions for luggage. Here is one of the cards in that issue. OK, just one more before I go. My little one is sleeping. I gave him a bath and fed him and he passed out. He usually doesn't go to sleep until 10 pm. I hope this doesn't mess up his wonderful sleeping schedule. This morning we both slept until 9:30. That was nice, especially for me.
I published my post before I was done, sorry. Anyway, here is one of two cards in Paper Crafts March 2008 issue.
I can't leave without showing you this adorable photo of Alex. We went for a walk yesterday and it was sunny and very bright. He is two months old and his first well check up is on Monday. I can't wait to find out how much he weighs. I think he is about 12 pounds or more. I can't believe this long post. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

{ Still here.... }

I am still here, just busy, busy, busy. Now that Alex is 6 weeks old, 7 tomorrow, I am taking him out, so we are gone all the time. By the time we get home it's time to eat and get some things done around the house. My mom is still here, but she leaves in 9 days :( I can't believe how time flies. I am trying to show her around town and do some shopping before she leaves. I will have more time then. She is making crochet flowers for me, I can't wait to show you, she is so fast. I am learning, but I need more time. I do read your blogs in my google reader when I have time, so don't think that I forgot about you. Here are some new photos of my baby boy.