More OMG albums

 I've been busy making some more OMG albums.  These are for my sister-in-law.  She has 4 kids and the youngest was just born on April 19th.  She chose lime green and dark pink for Vicrtorie's album.

This is the front.  Doesn't it look feminine?   Love the embossed boder and the flowers.

And the back - faux stitching with the white gel pen and an embossed frame.  A window sheet will protect the photo she inserts.

One of the pages just inside as you open the album.

The center of the album.

A pretty little flower.   I did this type of flowers in all the albums for the girls.  One of my favorite embellishments.

Added a couple onesies with elephants (my sister-in-law loves elephants) and a little banner saying Sweet Baby.

A couple inserts to either add another photo or journal about the birth.

I also made one for Doris.   It has a lot of the same features as Viktorie's but a few little differences.

Some flowers and a butterfly adorn a couple pages.

And a little birdie. 

Lots of hearts....

Some zoo animals.  These also have the inserts to add more photos or journal.

And the one for Ejmi is very similar to the one for Doris - but different enough to be unique.

And then there is the one for Lukas the oldest child and the only son.   I added a denim ribbon for his and the stars are attached with brads so they can be spun around.

The back of the album.  I always put a window sheet on the back so the photo added there is protected from handling.

Inside flap.

And another flap.

The center has lots of stars but also lots of places to add photos.

And the back is decorated with hot air balloons.

A close up of the balloons.

Hope my sister-in -law likes them :-)  They were fun!

Thank you cards

My daughter has a need for Thank You cards after the birth of our granddaughter and all the wonderful friends who have provided meals for their little family.  They will be moving next week and some of the ladies at church will be providing freezer meals for them to help out while they get settled.  No more sitting and holding the baby for hours with nothing else to do :-)  Plenty of unpacking and setting up the house.

I made these using prepped items I had for the Simple Card Workshop a couple weeks ago.  The cards work up so quickly when the cutting is allready done.   The Designer Series Paper is retired but one of my very favorites!

Another retired DSP.  I got the idea for these on Pinterest.  Someone posted a one-sheet-wonder layout where you take an 8 x 8 inch square of DSP and cut particular sizes so very little waste. I had already cut this DSP for another project and then did not use it so did not have an 8 x 8 inch square so just cut what I wanted and went with that.  

I love the linen thread and crochet trim.   The beautful warm brown for the sentiment and floral stamp is the new Baked Brown Sugar IN Color.  



Another idea from the one sheet wonder layout.   So simple but attractive.  You can do this with any DSP and just use coordinating colors.



This one is nothing like the one I saw on Pinterest. :-)  Sometimes you just have to go with your own mojo.

So - since I just had a few scraps of that one sheet of DSP left, I went ahead and made a few birthday cards since I am always in need of those.

 I really do like the crochet trim and the linen thread so had to do that on one of my cards.  It was hard to give my daughter all the thank you cards but this helped.

 And something different here with the seam binding pulled through the card stock and tied.  I like the off-centered circles.  So easy!

Seeing lots of cards with the banner type strips of DSP and card stock.  The one on the left has some 3/8 inch ribbon tied on with the linen thread.

And this was the last of the DSP.  Just random sized pieces so I threw them together on a couple cards and topped with the postage stamp punched sentiment. 

I have also been working on another OMG album.



  This one is for my husband's niece, born last month.  Mom picked out the dark pink and lime green colors and I am excited about doing the rest of the album (I just have the front and back done but will finish it up this week I'm sure). 

Look who came to see Grandma and Grandpa this evening.   She comes to visit and always falls asleep - guess we are boring old folks :-)  That are we just have that touch and she feels comfortable in our arms.  It is such a joy to hold her.

CASEing the new catalog

 Some of the products I used are not in the new catalog but I got the idea for these cards from one shown in the new catalog.  I used scraps of ribbon from the Mother's Day workshop today to put together my colors.

 This one uses Pear Pizzazz and Soft Suede.  The embossed piece was a scrap I had leftover from another project.

This one has Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette with some Whisper White. I like how the stitched grosgrain ribbon coordinates with the gray with white polka dot stripe in the paper. 

It really has been a fun and productive day in the craft room.  I need to get busy on some scrapbooks - so maybe the mood will hang around for a while and keep me motivated.

Chilly weekend - so lots of cooking!

I love to cook when it is chilly in the house.  And I love to cook on the weekend, sometimes making things we will eat later in the week. 
Saturday I kept busy in the kitchen.  First I made some Cabbage Soup.  I had a bag of cole slaw mix that was in the frig in the garage and it started to freeze so went looking for a soup recipe.  I did not use any one recipe but combinations of several and some of my own ideas to come up with my recipe.

 I got the soup done in time to have some for my lunch on Saturday - it was wonderful!  Had more tonight with some of the Pepper Jack Scones leftover from Saturday evening.
And that brings me to the next recipe.  I found a recipe on Pinterest for cheddar and chive scones.  I did not have cheddar cheese but had a block of pepper jack so used that and omitted the chives. 

These were a big hit with everyone. I can't wait to try some other flavors - both sweet and savory.  Surprisingly, one of my daughters does not care for biscuits but she likes scones. 

Along with the scones, I made some Zucchini Mini Quiches for supper on Saturday.  I had 3 zucchini from the co-op last week and even with doubling the batch, I only used one of them so I will have to find some other uses for the 2 that I have left.

The mini quiches were really a recipe I found on Pinterest for Zucchini Tots but mine were more like a quiche.  Everyone liked them - just not what I was expecitng.   I may make these again with what zucchini I have since the recipe said you could freeze them after baking by placing on a backing sheet and then place in a freezer bag. Bake from the freezer (do not let them thaw). 
So with all that good eating, I need to go work out - do some Sweatin to the Oldies.  Tomorrow starts the last week of the Wellness Wins challenge at work and I have exceeded the weight loss goal so I want to behave and not gain any this week.  I should get the full $200 this year - woo-hoo!!! Of course, I already have it spent on Stampin Up products from the new catalog.  But at least I will have that extra money coming in.

Repurposing kits

I made up some kits for a Kids' Mother's Day workshop and had extra since I made about twice as many as I need.  Wanted everyone to be able to pick the color and paper they liked for their mom.  So when they were finished and gone this afternoon, I repurposed the paper that was already cut for layering.  It was fun trying to come up with some different layouts - some are not so different.

This is the one that started it.  One of the kids mis-punched the holes for the ribbon and then made another mistake so we just started over on that one with a different kit.  I knew I would be able to use the pieces for something else.   I love the colors on this paper ( and they would have been a good choice for the mom - but oh well).   The patterned papers are all retried and some of the card stock will be soon.

 Here is another.  For the Mother's Day gift they used one side of the paper for part of the design and the back side for the other.  I really like these two patterns together.  Some did not work so well.

 The back side of this paper did not look right so I just did all three with the same side.

 For this one I modified a little.  It was fun trying to come up with new ideas.

 I am not an 'orange' lover but I do like it with the red and blue.

I love the soft suede with the blues.  I quickly got the 6 cards done with the leftover from the kits and did not have a lot of leftover scraps.  I do haves some of the solid card stock so might work on another design I want to try from the new catalog.

Another OMG album

I made 3 of the OMG albums for a friend when her third daughter was on the way - one for each of her daughters - and now she has a new niece so asked me to make an album for her.  You can see how to make these albums at OMG Album.

This is the front of the album.  The colors are Primrose Petals, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla.

When you open the album this is the first flap you see.  The album opens up to may different pages which is why I call it an OMG album.  Everyone who looks at one can't believe how many pages there are and says "Oh my gosh! There's more!"

Open the flap and you have this group of three sections.   I like the scallop circles.  The mom can add cropped photos in the blank areas or use them to journal about the birth etc.

The two end sections open up into this...

More areas to add cropped photos or to entry journal information. 

This is the flap on the back side.  Lena was born at 30 weeks and is doing great - a true miracle.

The backside is also 3 sections.  Love flowers with little pearl centers. 

A closer look at the flowers. 

The back cover.  I have a window sheet behind the large heart so they can insert a photo and it will be protected from finger prints, etc. 

I always try to make a coordinated gift card with my albums.   Sure hope Lena's parents will like the album. I sure enjoyed making it. I work for hours on these but just can't stop until it is done.  I just want to see it so bad :-)

New catalog, New colors, New products!!!

One of my favorite days of the Stampin Up year - the new catalog arrived today with my preorder items.  I just had to play a little :-)

This is a quick card using the new IN Colors. (The photo does not do justice to the colors.  You really must see them in person!) 
The card base is Crisp Cantaloupe. The two bunting type stripes were cut using the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die from card stock in Coastal Cabana and Strawberry Slush.  The sentiment from the Petite Pairs set was stamped using Baked Brown Sugar ink on Pistachio Pudding card stock.  That was layered on some Baked Brown Sugar card stock.  Don't recognize the punch - it is a new one that I already am in love with - Artisan Label.  Unfortunately the coordinating stamp set was backordered but can't wait for it to arrive. That won't stop me from playing with it.

This is the card we will be making at the Open House on June 1.  It uses some new products and some that were in the spring catalog but are still available in the annual catalog.  A $30 purchase at the Open House will get you a free big catalog. 
The card base is Pear Pizzazz which was one of the 2011-2013 IN colors and was added to the Subtles collection in the Color Refresh this year.

I used the Tasteful Trims again to cut a scalloped piece of the Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper.  Love the colors in that paper - Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Island Indigo, Night of Navy and Pear Pizzazz.. Interestingly I meant to put the strip of DSP on the left side of the card front but goofed - so went with it on the right.  I like it this way :-)  So guess I didn't goof, just surprised myself with my design.

I took a couple random pieces of the washi tape.  It is a sheer tape that has designs similar to the Gingham Garden paper.  Then I placed a strip of the lace tape on top of the washi tape.  Topped that all with a piece of the Tea Lace Paper Doilies. 

And topped it all with one of the Petite Pairs sentiments stamped in Night of Navy on another piece of the Gingham Garden paper.  I punched that with the new Artisan Label punch and then punch two more 'halves' from Night of Navy card stock and placed them behind the whole.  Wrapped that up with some Island Indigo baker's twine and tied on a Vintage Designer Button.

There are so many more exciting things coming in the new catalog.  You won't want to miss the Open House. Come see the new colors and products face to face.  There will be snacks of course, and attendance prizes.  It is Saturday June 1 from 9 am to noon.  Hope to see you there!