Celebrate Today and Everyday

I have to admit that I haven't come down from cloud 9 since Tyler has been home  :o)

It feels so great to have him here, to see his face unexpectedly come around a corner and to hear his voice from another room lifts my heart to the highest heights. It is little things like that where I find the most happiness, and reminds me what the really important things are. So today is the perfect day to share this sweet card. It is snowing here in Utah and my crocus have just started peeking out of the ground this week. A few posies in the baskets of colorful bikes are perfect for the spring weather that is just around the corner don't you think? And I really want a bike like this adorable Hero Arts stamp, so cute!!

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Be Yourself

So often we have pressure to make others happy, adjust to meet the expectations of the workplace or our peers. Today I am reminding myself and you (if you are interested) to be yourself.

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Susiebee Studios in da House!

Just a few weeks ago a very talented and sweet friend asked if I would have some time to help her with a project. I love to help, and the kind of help she needed is one of my favorite kind to do  :o)
She needed a few people to play with her new paper line, and then share what they had made, I can do that!! So BIG congrats to Susan Weckesser on her product line Susiebee Studios, and BIG thanks to her for letting me "help/play" with her papers, so fun!!!

I am really excited for her, she is living her dream!
These papers are so bright, and beautifully designed using Susan's personal art, I felt inspired to make of layout of Laurel from her graduation picture that reflected that same idea, live your dreams! The title is fly, and how appropriate is it that we use all of the hard work we do everyday to get us closer to our dreams?

I added a little stickles in scattered straw from the distress line on some of the darker parts of the yellows in the sun and stars and the flower, and some bright sparkly yellow stickles on the lighter parts of the same images. Just a little extra dimension besides the parts that I had fussy cut out.

A banner, kite, flowers, clouds and sunshine...
so many of the things that make me happy, and all on one layout, sweet!!!
I hope you will stop by and congratulate Susan, and maybe find some time to live a little of your dream today, I know I was inspired to live a little of mine  ;o)

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Grateful to Have Tyler Home!

It has been a little over a week since my last post, and I want to thank everyone who came by to see my little "reject" card and for all of the really nice comments, so thoughtful and kind!!
Here it is with the small change of going from a baby card to a welcome home card. Nothing earth shattering, just a sentiment change and a design line around the card base.

My family and I spent the last week anticipating and preparing for my oldest son to arrive home after being in Brazil for two years serving an LDS mission. His flight was scheduled to arrive at 3:55 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and we eagerly awaited him at the airport, constantly checking the arrival board to see the change from "on-time" to "arriving".

My status at facebook was:

"At the airport waiting....
Big stomach butterflies from anticipation!!!!
If I get any more anxious that stomach might fall right out of my butt!!"

There were some very funny and appropriate replies, but the one that made me giggle and seemed the most realistic was from Leslie Ashe. She said "or if butterflies are following you, we know why  ;D happy waiting!"

Thank goodness (or there might have been butterflies following me around!), Tyler's flight ended up arriving a few minutes early, at about 3:47 (give or take a minute, lol!) I spotted him and snapped a few pics as he made his way out of the secure terminal area and spotted me spotting him  :o)

As soon as he saw all of us, he started walking a little faster, trying not to be rude or to break into a run. But he was dodging other travelers like he was in an obstacle course, and then bee-lined right into my arms and we hugged for a few long sweet, happy, sobbing mommy moments before I remembered I needed to share him with the rest of the family  <3

Another missionary mom whose son was not on this flight but one soon after was so sweet and grabbed a family shot for us, thanks to her for letting me be in the picture!!

The rest of our afternoon was spent doting on Tyler and his every whim :o)
It was awesome!! We had pizza from his favorite pizzeria (The Pie!), we got our 7-11 trip in so he could have a big Dr. Pepper and we put in Iron Man 2 and sat back and enjoyed watching it with the sound so loud you could feel the furniture shaking, good times!

Welcome home Tyler!! I am so proud of you for serving with a loving and generous spirit, and thrilled to have you home where I can enjoy your wit, charm and enthusiasm for life!
I love you!
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Sweet Baby Boy

The emails requesting projects for the latest Paper Crafts project Go-To-Sketches 2 went out today and I was thrilled to have a few cards make it into this special issue! But with all calls come rejects and I thought it would be fun to share this one tonight, because tomorrow I am going to do a little makeover on it and have it ready to give to Tyler when he gets home in just 6 days!!!

Watch for this special issue to hit the stands, because with only 288 cards being selected from 2,760 submissions, it will be knocking our socks off!!
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Happy Birthday Kit

Very excited about this kit, I worked on it during December. It is now in the Scrap and Paper Shop ready to for you to make at least 6 cards (with plenty of product leftover to make more!) with a price of under $3 for each, you can have a card for most every birthday occasion.

And in other news, our son is only one week away from being home!! We are so excited, he shared some really cool pictures from the center point of the South American continent last week, hopefully someday soon we can go back with him and see all of the places that he has been telling us about for the last two years  :o)

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UTEE and Mold and Pour Beauty!

Okay, that sounds kind of cocky, but I sure do love this little card that was made with Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 line and some very unique embellishments that I created using UTEE and Mold and Pour products. I am always wanting the "perfect" match for my projects, and this technique with these products lets me get great results!

I wrote a tutorial over in the CLASSroom, would love it if you would pop by and check it out  :o)

Happy crafting!!
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