Birthdays

Above is the card I made for all my September and October-born friends... Happy Birthday, Aunt Judy, Andrea, Nicole, and Aunt Toogie! Simple and Girly. Just the way I like it!

Happy Crafting!

Anniversary

Today marks our four year anniversary and the last Oct. 3rd anniversary we will celebrate, as by this time next year, we'll be married and have a new anniversary date! I am such a lucky girl to be marrying such an amazing man! Below is the card I made for Daniel to celebrate today... Happy Anniversary, Love!

Happy Crafting!

For My ODS Graduate

Daniel just graduated from a five week officer training program with the U.S. Navy. And I couldn't be prouder of my man! I was able to travel to RhodeIsland for the occasion and see him all decked out in his uniform (photos to follow). Below is the card I made him for the occasion, with a navy blue sailboat, of course!

To make: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Kraft, Twine String

Happy Crafting!

Meet My Bridesmaids!

Here they are! These six fabulous ladies will be walking with me down the aisle, standing by my side, and I'm sure calming my crazy nerves! I couldn't imagine getting married without them!

So without further adieu...

Austin, my younger sister
Hadar, my best friend since high school
Alex and Jaimee, my cousins
Heather, my friend since college
Andrea, my after-college friend (and Daniel's friend since college)

Bridesmaid Gifts

I have been dying to post this, but wanted to wait until I could show the fiancé how I asked my girls... So here it is! I couldn't just simply ask my closest girlfriends to stand by me on my wedding day, I had to do something cutesy and crafty!

I bought cute bags and wooden hangers, black grosgrain ribbon, grabbed a Sharpie, and went to work. I wrote each girl's name in black Sharpie, then tied a bow. Easy. Simple. Cute!

The bags will be used to hold their shoes, jewelry, etc. The hangers for their bridesmaid dresses!

Happy Crafting!

Refuge and Strength

Another set for the church's silent auction fundraiser... I figured it was finally time to break out my more religious stamp set. It doesn't get much use, but it's pretty!

All is Well: chocolate chip, certainly celery, blue bayou, very vanilla
Refuge and Strength: very vanilla, so saffron, blue bayou, baja blue, chocolate chip
Precious Gift: very vanilla, baja blue, really rust, kraft, chocolate chip
Assurance: chocolate chip, certainly celery, really rust, so saffron, very vanilla

Happy Crafting!

A Little Birdie Told Me

I made another set of cards for my church's silent auction fundraiser, but I won't lie, I'm not super happy with them... They might be too cutesy given the population of bidders. Hmmm...

All four cards were made on kraft cardstock and used chocolate chip stamp color:
Weather: rose red, so saffron, chocolate chip
Celebrate: tangerine tango, certainly celery, so saffron
Good News: certainly celery, so saffron, tangerine tango
Birthday: rose red, blue bayou, certainly celery

Happy Crafting!

Season of Friendship

For our first Christmas together, Daniel gave me this Season of Friendship stamp set from Stampin Up. This was back in 2008 and I still use it all the time. It's definitely one of my favorites! Below is a set that I made as a donation to my church's silent auction fundraiser. I have quite a few more sets to make in order to complete the assortment for the basket, but I think I'm off to a good start!

For Fall: more mustard, chocolate chip, really rust, very vanilla
For Winter: real red, chocolate chip, kraft, whisper white
For Spring: baja blue, chocolate chip, very vanilla, wild wasabi
For Summer: certainly celery, chocolate chip, whisper white, rose red

Happy Crafting!

My Anchor

Daniel is away at Officer Development School for the U.S. Navy for 5 weeks... With 2 weeks, 1 day, and 6 hours to go before he's home... But who's counting? I miss him like crazy, so I decided to send him a card... He is totally my anchor, calming me and grounding me whenever my emotions get the best of me. I am such a lucky girl! I love and miss you lots ENS Northington!

It's an 80's Party!

It's my friend Erit's birthday so we're dressing up 80's and dancing! What else would we do? Below is the 80's cassette tape card I made for the 80's born birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Erit!

New Neighbors

New neighbors just moved in next door to Daniel... My reaction? "Yes! An excuse to bake cookies!" Below is a little tag and bag of peanut butter cookies I made to welcome them to the neighborhood. (cookie recipe to follow)

Happy Crafting!

come sail away with me

... To Alaska! The fiance and I are taking a cruise to Alaska and I could not be more excited! We're celebrating our engagement {even though the trip was planned before we got engaged}! I like to make him cards for our trips, so I put this one together... I REALLY like how it turned out, too. So calming. So soft. Bon Voyage!

Happy Vacationing! And Happy Crafting!

Thank Yous

I put together Thank Yous for many of my colleagues and support staff at school for the end of the year... Below is the set of Thank Yous I made for my teacher aide. She's awesome, so I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her. The end of this year was a bit crazy for me, but it's over and now I can breathe. Thank God It's Summer! TGIS!

Happy Crafting!

Owl Old Are You?

Sorry. I couldn't resist. Below is the birthday card I made for my BFF, who is totally into owls right now. Happy {belated Birthday, Hadar! It's her golden birthday (turning 28 on the 28th) and I'm going to miss it! Boo! Head on over to Hadar's blog @ Miss Kindergarten to wish her a happy belated birthday!

Happy Crafting!

Father's Day

So I know most people say that their dad is the greatest ever, but they lie. My dad is the greatest ever. Seriously. My dad kicks every other dad's butt... not literally, he's super nonviolent... which is one reason he's the greatest! My dad is unbelievably calm, considerate, dedicated, driven, ethical, honest, patient, and so super supportive! He's so awesome his initials spell dad! Seriously. D.A.D. (middle name Alvin, hehe). So happy belated Father's Day to all the second greatest dads out there. And a special Happy Father's Day to mine!

Happy Crafting!

Boys Baseball Birthday

Every June, I make boys birthday cards to last through most of the rest of the year. And I usually base the theme off of one particular boy (I can't call him little anymore!). I babysat Ethan (and his little sister) when he was smaller, but now he's turning turned 9! Yikes! He's super into baseball, so I made a baseball card. Happy {belated} Birthday, Ethan! And this card will also work well in November for my sponsored kids because they love baseball, too!

Happy Crafting!

Vroom, Vroom!

Did I mention I love June? Yes, well I have one more reason to love June... the boyfriend's  fiance's birthday! I'm pretty sure I've made him sailboat cards for every celebration over the last year, so I wanted something different. He rides a motorcycle, so this card made sense. I love going on rides with him, too. Happy {belated} Birthday, Daniel! I love you lots!

Happy Crafting!

Graduation Time!

I love June. It's warm out, but not too warm (I can wear dresses AND cardigans!). School is almost out. Community pools are now heated. And someone is always graduating! So far this year, I've been to 2 college graduations and will celebrate 2 high school graduations. The card below was made to congratulate Tyler, Jon, Kristin, and Tatiana. Congrats, Graduates!

Happy Crafting!

Happy Bird-Day

I love the simplicity of this card... And of course the pun! The stamp is from one of my go-to stamp sets from stampin' up, Pun Fun. Layer a few pieces of colored cardstock, add a ribbon, and viola!

Happy crafting!

Update!!

Ah! I have not posted in a REALLY long time! I've been crazy busy ending the school year, moving out of my classroom, traveling to Japan, then getting engaged! Crazy, right?!?! And now I'm off to Alaska! I will now be referring to the boyfriend as the fiance... or just Daniel, since by now you all know his name. I can't wait to marry that amazing man!!
So because I am SO behind on my blogging, I will be posting A LOT of overdue posts all at once. I know. You're going to hate me. But then it'll probably be months before I post again, knowing me.

A little sneak peek at the engagement...