Another great blog and giveaway!

I just discovered that the girls at mixology crafts are giving away an E2 tonight, too!  Check them out at www.mixologycrafts.wordpress.com!  Thanks for the chance to win, ladies!  My fingers are crossed!!!

Have you heard???

The big release is tonight at midnight est, and Joy and Melonie at www.everydaycricut.com are giving away a BRAND NEW CRICUT E2!!!!  My entries are in and my fingers are crossed!  Stop by and check them out for great ideas and giveaways.  Thanks for the chance to win ladies! 

Happy Birthday, Braeden!

Caden and I have a birthday party to go to this afternoon for a friend's little boy who is turning two!  Caden really loves playing with both of the Sapp boys, and we are so glad that he loves them as much as we do.  I used the Create a Critter Cartridge, some We R Memory Keepers patterned paper, and various cardstock from my scraps stash to creat this card.  I hope you like it!

Caden is turning one!

It's hard to believe, but my little boy is turning one a week from Sunday.  I haven't had the time to post  anything in MONTHS, but I love his invitations so much that I had to share them.  And hopefully, now that he's getting bigger, I'll be able to post more often!

I used Celebrations for the cupcake and candle, Give a Hoot for the banner, Echo Park's Little Boy patterned paper, and Stampin'Up!'s  scallop border punch. 

So here you go:

Thanks for looking!  :) Jessica

Excitement is in the air (or at least the UPS truck!)

Happy Friday, my scrappy friends!

I'm back, and though it's been a long week, I'm starting to feel a little normal again!  Thank you all for your condolences and kind words!

This is just a short post to get me back into the swing of things, and share some things I have created over the last two weeks.

I made this little bag using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, but I can't wait to get my Big Shot to make these with, since I know it will go so much faster.  The squirril is from Create a Critter, and the tag is EK Success's Curly Label punch. I have two people in my life who are having baby girls this month, and this little creation is destined for one of them!

Paper: Designer paper is from my stash; all other paper is Stampin' Up!, which is cuts awesomely on the Cricut.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo

This is the gift bag I made for my husband's birthday last week.  The font comes from the A Child's Year cart (one of my favorite fonts), and the arrow is from Going Places. 

Paper: Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip & Whisper White; Orange striped paper is scrap from my stash.

Ink: Chocolate Chip

And finally, a picture of my favorite creation of all time with my favorite husband:

Isn't he cute?  Since it was his dad's birthday, I let him wear a shirt that says "Rad like Dad".  I am blessed!

Before I go, I have to say that I am uber excited, because I just found out that my two (yep, that's right, I ordered enough to fill two boxes!) boxes are in route from Stampin' Up! and will be here Monday!  Hence the title of this post.  I can't wait! Come on, Brown Man! 

Thanks for looking, and please leave a comment to let me know you were here!

Until next time,

Jessica

P.S.  Don't forget the new Idea Book & Catalog was just released!  Check out my site using the link at the top of the page to get all of your scrapping goodies, and if you are in town, plan to stop by my house on the 17th sometime between 2:00 & 4:00 to get a book, see some great projects, and make a couple for yourself! If you aren't in town, contact me and I will get one in the mail to you!

My first blog award!

So, as for that goal of posting every day...well life happens, right?  I have to say I'm sorry to my loving and fabulous followers for my unannounced absence, but it has been a rather difficult week.  After a long life lived blessing others, my grandmother passed away Friday night.  She had been ill for some time, and losing her was expected, but it has been difficult none the less and has made my attention span extremely short.  In fact, it has taken me nearly a week to write this post.  But on to the good stuff! 

My first blog award!  My good friend from high school, Sarah over at SaySomethingSarah.blogspot.com has blessed me with the Beautiful Blogger award!

Isn't she sweet?  Sarah's blog brings out the best in it's readers, reminding us to cherish our blessings, do our part in making the world a better place, AND eat our veggies.  (You can't blame her-she is a dietician!) 

The rules of this award are that I am to tell you a few things you may not know about me and then pass this award on to other new bloggers.

Here are five things you might not know:

1) I love lima beans and asparagus, both of which disgust my husband.

2) I have an immense fear of the dentist.

3) I continued being a band nerd long after high school by being a color guard sponsor (and I didn't even twirl in high school!)

4) I was addicted to the CW show Gilmore Girls; I've seen every episode at least once.

5) My husband first picked me up in a parking lot.  Literally.  Picked. Me. Up. 

So now to pass this on to new bloggers.  I'm not really sure that all of my blogs will count as new, but I do love them!

1) One of my lifelong friends from my college years, Adam Frazier, is the amazing photographer at www.artisticimaging.com/blog.  Adam actually flew all the way from Vegas to Kansas City to photograph my wedding, and everytime someone new views my photos for the first time they always say "These are the most amazing wedding pictures I have ever seen!"  Check him out, and you will see why!

2) Number two goes to a new friend (I can hear that old Camp Fire song running through my head now!), Stephanie, over at www.stephanieandthebug.blogspot.com/.  She is a wonderful artist, a soon to be fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and loves her "bug" as much as I love mine!

3) The third slot goes to a blog that details the (sometimes) weekly musings and adventures of a high school friend of mine.  I would never have known about her blog, except that she posts her updates to Facebook, and now everytime there's a new FB update, I'm sure to drop by.  What can I say?  I'm a stalker.  Want to know the random, amusing, and sometimes thought provoking events in someone else's life?  Check out http://www.thebenicas.blogspot.com/. 

Since I've spent nearly a week writing this post, I think I must leave it there, but there are so many other blogs that I follow that deserve Beautiful Blogger awards!

Thanks for your patience with my lack of posts.  I have been able to spend some time in my Craft Cave this week, thanks to my wonderful husband who knows that sometimes a girl just needs to clear her head by making a mess with paper, and I will have plenty to post soon because I JUST PLACED MY ORDER FROM THE NEW CATALOG!!! Can you tell I'm excited?  I've been plotting and planning my projects for my display board and my make and takes for the open house I'm hosting on July 17th.  I can't wait until the great big box lands on my doorstep.  Hopefully that will be very soon--there isn't too much time left for me to prepare!

Need to place an order for yourself, or just want to see what all of the hubub is about?  Check out my SU! website by clicking on the tab at the top of this page.  You'll be hooked!

I had planned to leave you with a quick project I made using my Cricut and my SU! products, (I LOVE the way they work together!) but the photo loader isn't working for me.  Let's hope it's just a glitch in the system and not my memory card!  Guess I'll have to try again later.

Thanks again for hanging in there, and have fun checking out some beautiful blogs!

Until next time,

Jessica

My Creations

Happy Sunday!

I ran downstairs this morning to find a card for one of my husband's college buddies who recently got married and was inspired to pick up my camera and document some of my past creations, so I thought I would share a few with you!  I'm running against the clock (read: Caden is sleeping), so I'll have to keep the recipes to a minimum, but if you see something you have a question about, let me know!

I cased this pop-up card formula from a YouTube video, but I can't remember the lady's name.  If you recognize it, please leave me a comment, and I will edit this post!  I do have the measurements needed to make it, if anyone wants them.  The Mr. & Mrs. and the rings are both from the Sweethearts Cricut cart, the shiny cardstock is Bazzill Bling, the punch is Martha Stewart Scallop Dot, and I'm not sure about the stamps or the ribbon.

Here are  a couple more views of this card:

This is one of the thank-you cards I made for my baby shower:

The monkey is from the New Arrival Cricut cart and the scalloped frame is from the Storybook cart.  The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Spots & Dots folder.  Sadly, I'm still working on sending out thank-you's, and my son is two and a half months old.  Perhaps I should be doing that instead of blogging...... ;)

I made both of these cards using the Paisley cart:

I must say, I was hesitant to buy that cart, but I really love it!

I made this card for my friend Stefanie's wedding, but she got married in Georgia (we live in Missouri), and in all of the hustle and bustle of getting a seven week old ready to fly for the first time, I left it here.  I should probably mail it, now that I'm thinking about it!

Inside:

The entire card, base and all, was made using the Sweethearts cart, another one I use all of the time!

I cased (aka scraplifted) this layout for my son's baby book from a lo in Creating Keepsakes several months ago.  I know I still have it; if you want more info, just let me know!  I've taken pictures of important things that we use to make this a comfy place for Caden, such as the nursery rocker and his playmat, and I will place them in each of the "balloons".  The print font is from the Alphalicious cart, the cursive font is from Opposites Attract, the circles were cut using Plantin Schoolbook, and the house is from Going Places.  I also used the Scallop Dot and Doily Lace border punches from Martha Stewart.

This last lo is also cased, but this time from a book called Oh, Baby! by Memory Makers. 

The font is also from Opposites Attract, and the circle at the top is from Plantin Schoolbook.  I cut the heart freehand and embossed it using-you guessed it!-the Cuttlebug Spots & Dots folder.  A 5x7 of me and my son goes onto the blue mat, and all around the edges I've written a list of my favorite things, like rainy days, the beach, and Garth Brooks, though it's too tiny for you to see very well in this picture.

Thanks for stopping by and sticking it out with this really long post!  I hope you found something that you liked, and I would love it if you posted a comment to let me know what you think!

Until next time,
Jessica

P.S. Don't forget to use the tab at the top of the page to stop by my Stampin' Up! business site to get the latest and greatest products for your scrapping and stamping needs.  Remember, the new catalog goes live on Thursday, so you only have a few more days to shop before the retiring products are gone for good and only a few more days to wait for the great new colors and sets that are coming!