This year is going to be my first official year as a Mom on Mother’s Day!  I’m ready to celebrate and hopefully will be getting my third tattoo to commemorate the occasion! I saw a similar design on Pinterest and was excited to incorporate an image of Kennedy’s actual heartbeat from the first Doppler!  

I’m still going back and forth on whether to include her name in the design.  Which do you like?

Tattoo Option 1 with name

Tattoo Option 2 without name

Better Late THan Never

I’m happy to say I’ve finally gotten one of my Mother’s Day designs done!  I was hoping to offer three designs this year, but my unexpected injury has made that a bit difficult!  I may still make the other two designs for sale direct, but I think the Etsy ship has sailed on them.

Mom’s Greatest Lesson

Mom’s Greatest Lesson ©mbsquareddesigns2015

Mom’s Greatest Lesson ©mbsquareddesigns2015

Mom’s Greatest Lesson ©mbsquareddesigns2015

This was the first draft of my design.  As you know by now, I’m never satisfied with my first attempt!  I re-sized the lettering throughout the card, altered the alignment on the writing throughout (especially because the 2nd layer was showing through when the card was folded), and I changed colors on some of the paper, adding another panel on the inside left flap.  I also added some rolls of toilet paper for a fun little embellishment inside!

I had my Cricut Explore write the lettering and then hand-colored it with my brown Wink of Stella pen for a hint of glitter.

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

©mbsquareddesigns2015

It’s been so long since she’s slept in my arms. Such a special moment!

So this past week has been pretty interesting, trying to take care of an 11 month old with a pretty messed up finger (you can read all about that right here).  But there have been some great moments I probably would have missed out on had I not been hurt, see the pic on the right!

I’ve been able to start working again, though I’m quite a bit slower and can’t cut anything by hand (and my writing is atrocious right now).  Who knew how important a pinky can be???

One of the highlights of my week was my very first International order on Etsy!  I have three Baby on (Surf) Board cards headed to France right now and I’m SO STOKED!  I thought this would be a good time to show you what you can expect when you order from me online.

making mail fun

So this order is a bit different, as it’s headed overseas and it will be in a USPS Priority Mail Envelope, but I decided I wanted Emmanuel to still have the same experience she would if she were in the states, so I packed the order the same as I would, minus the postage and labels.

I used to just send everything in a plain white 6″ x 9″ envelope but I really wanted to send out something I’d be excited to open.  I know when I order something special it’s like Christmas when it finally arrives on my doorstep!

I package each card individually with it’s envelope inside of a clear cellophane bag. For orders with multiples, they are then put into a larger bag with a backing board and the invoice.

The order is then wrapped in tissue paper.

This order includes a thank you card for my first international client!

I wanted to dress up the plain white envelope. but definitely want the postman (or woman) to know it’s Fragile, don’t want the cards showing up creased!

My favorite part: My Snail Mail Mascot! I thought it would be cute to have a snail dictating the address to the postman!

On a US order, the white spots would each be filled with labels, the return address, customer address and, of course, the postage!

i’m just going to go make some sweet potato fries

Kennedy Shey & Momma

Those were my famous last words.  Yesterday was a generally good day, Kennedy was pronounced healthy at the doctor (after running a fever for 3 days) and by the evening she’d lost the terrible sick look from her eyes.  I’d planned on making barbecue chicken with beans and homemade sweet potato fries.  I wanted to get them made…

Starting this week, Friday is going to be something of a Day in The Life here.  I want to allow you a glimpse behind the scenes if you will, into who I am behind the crafty goodness I usually share.  So here’s a shot of me with my daughter yesterday afternoon.  Isn’t she cute?

currently i’m…

Reading… all about becoming a successful Etsy shop owner!

Playing… the Drop It Game with Kennedy.  (She’s totally enjoying it more than Momma!)

Watching… I watched the Vampire Diaries this morning, and maybe if K takes an afternoon nap I’ll catch up on Scandal!

Trying… to organize my life!  It seems like there’s too much on my plate sometimes, so I’m hoping to set up a routine and tackle everything piece by piece so it doesn’t pile up.

Cooking… Banana bread if I get home from errands quickly enough!

Eating… Turkey, Swiss and avocado.

Drinking… Smartwater

Calling… no one currently.  I prefer talking in person or via Skype.

Texting… pictures of the little eating lunch to her dad

Pinning… new techniques for cards

Crafting… sets of Thank You cards

Scrapping… Still working on my Belly Book.  Trying not to think about the fact that I haven’t even starting thinking about her Baby Book!

Going… to Target for a couple of essentials and Michael’s for some paper!!

Loving… the daubers I finally ordered!  I used them on the card I’m showing today!

Hating… that there never seems to be enough time in the day

Discovering… it feels like I’m discovering everything alongside my daughter.  The wonder she shows at everything makes me appreciate the small stuff again!

Enjoying… a quiet afternoon before running errands.

Thinking… I should’ve switched out her carseat by now.  I feel like she’d be more comfortable in the other one.

Feeling… excited to work on more cards!  I’ve been reinvigorated lately and I can’t get enough!

Hoping (for)… the paperwork to go through on the house so we have a month without a mortgage payment!

Listening (to)… Oldies with the little.  Ani Difranco while she naps and I work.

Celebrating… Kennedy’s persistence in this whole walking endeavor!  She is bound and determined to leave crawling behind!

Smelling… freshly cut grass

Considering… that it’s getting way to late already!  I have too much to do!

Finishing… my post so I can get a move on LOL

Starting… the part of this post which details my new card!

simon says make your own background

I’m entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.  Check it out here.  After checking this morning (it’s been a hectic week) on the theme, I was SO excited to see the challenge was to create your own background!  I’ve been dying to try the bokeh background, and I just received my daubers in the mail yesterday from Scrapbook.com

I gathered my supplies (above) and got to work!  I watched a lot of tutorials on YouTube about the bokeh technique before finally getting down to business.  I started my stamping the flower border with Versamark using an old Fiskars Continuous Stamp.  I then used Recollections Embossing Glitter in Charcoal and heat set it.

Now comes the fun part!  I used my new daubers and colors from my Colorbox Paintbox pigment sets.

the bokeh background

I used three shades of pink and then used a dark yellow for a pop of color.  I cut out a stencil using a flower from my Cricut Design Room subscription in three sizes.  I then used white in to make my flower bokeh!  

I used a square of my pale pink cardstock and stamped Thank You using a stamp from Inkadinkado’s Thank You set, which I embossed with the Charcoal Glitter Powder.  I then used Fiskar’s Lace 3-in-1 Corner Punch to finish it off!

THE finished product

So without any further ado, here is the finished product!

I hope you like it!  I think it came out pretty good for my first time!  I had a good time giving you a glimpse into my life and I hope you’ll keep checking back!

I could’ve gone with the map idea which the original artist used, but I like to put my own spin on things and not outright copy, so I opted to use the state shape instead.

An idea is born

A simple print with a clever name was enough to get me off of Pinterest (no easy feat, that) and onto Cricut Design Space.  I had to upload the image of the head silhouette, while the rest of the project involved all images which come with my Design Space subscription (minus two images I had to buy) and a healthy amount of Slicing and Welding.

The above shows the original mock-up idea, with one design and only one round of Slicing!  (As some of you know, Design Space has been a bit finicky about the use of the Slice and Weld features lately, so it took a lot of trial and error, as well as 7 save files to complete my project)

assembling the cards

After a trip to Michael’s (major paper sale happening this week!) I set to work armed with the Recollections South Beach cardstock in hand. I also used an older style paper from Recollections which they don’t offer anymore for the card bases.

the finished product

California Dreamin’ (Mickey)

California Dreamin’ (Dolphins)

California Dreamin’ (Surf)

California Dreamin’ (Palms)

I hope you like them!  You can find them over on MY ETSY SHOP.

My favorite is the Dolphins, I’d love to know what yours is!

PROJECT #1 BIRTHDAY BALLOONS CARD

Back on March 5th, I posted about the Birthday Balloons Card, which I had made for my brother in law.  The response was immediate and I knew it would be added to my lineup, but first I needed to make some changes!

Here is the original card I made.  I wasn’t able to spend much time on it, and that was clearly the first thing which needed attention!  I also felt the colors could pop more so I selected a different color for the card base and also switched colors and placement of some of the balloons.

If you want to see the original project and details of it, please check out the post BIRTHDAY BALLOONS CARD here.

Here is the final product:

If you’re interested in purchasing this card, please check out my Etsy shop here.

PROJECT #2 BALLOON SHAKER CARD

Here is the original design of my very first shaker card!

If you remember from my post on March 13th, I was so excited to use a few new techniques on this project.  It was a birthday card for another of my brother in laws (I have 3 amazing BILs, 2 SILs, 1 brother and a sister)

I was overall really pleased with the outcome and made mostly cosmetic changes for a more polished overall look to this card.

I left all colors as they were, but I added a black border to the window opening, and changed the font for the background to create a more uniform look.  I truly hope people enjoy giving and receiving this card, as it is easily my favorite offering!

If you want to see the original project and details of it, please check out the post BALLOON SHAKER CARD here.

If you’re interested in purchasing this card, please check out my Etsy shop here.

I would love to hear what you think of the changes!

POLL! I know how much you like being heard!

and I would LOVE to hear from you!

I’m working on creating new products for my line and your opinion will help me narrow my focus!

Take Our Poll

Thank you for your input!

March is a big birthday month around here!  Just in the immediate family, there’s the 5th, 10th and 15th.  That’s not even touching on all of our friends and extended family!  The fun part is testing out some new designs and techniques on cards!  Here’s the latest project for my Father-in-law’s birthday today.

I found inspiration from a couple of different cards which I came across on Pinterest.

Shaker cards are big right now in the card world, and I really wanted to try my hand at one.  Luckily, March is a big birthday month around here and gives me the perfect opportunity to try out some new techniques!

In looking around on Pinterest I found quite a few shaker cards, most filled with sequins, glitter or beads and the wells for the filler were circles, squares or hearts.  I decided to make my well a balloon and I wanted to fill it with balloon confetti, so I picked out my shapes and got my Cricut ready to work!

99 red balloons

Cricut Explore in action

Removing spent paper

Green balloons

Black outline balloons for something a little different!

Wavy blue balloon tubes

My confetti is done (and then some!) and now it’s time to use another technique I love but haven’t tried before.  I’ve seen some really great monochromatic cards, where the artists will use a pattern or lettering the same color as the background and will layer them.  Here’s a shot of my background being laid…

I decided to use chipboard instead of layering cardstock to make the well for my confetti.  This saved a lot of time and allowed for me to skip the meticulous layering and gluing which is usually involved.  If there are any gaps between layers, the confetti will get stuck and the card will not work.  This was really the only thing that went the easy way for me on this card!  But I must say I’m really pleased with the finished product overall!  I hope you enjoy it!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So I decided to submit to SimonSaysStamp.com’s Monday Challenge. <—–Check it out here.  The theme for this week is “B is for…” and that was the whole of the instruction!  So I had a quote I’ve loved which I stuck on my Inspiration board on Pinterest for a while (link here) and this was a chance to use it!

The quote is:

Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she became a butterfly.

And as I’m typing this I realize I totally misspelled caterpillar on the card I made.  Wow.  Moving on…

I’m not sure if I need to fully list products I use and techniques, as I’ve never entered one of these before and have bought A LOT of my stash of paper over five years and most do not have brand names attached.  So I will do my best.

All of the cuts I used were from Cricut Design Space.  My paper came from Michael’s, the black and kraft coming from the Recollections 12×12 paper pack, while the colors for the butterfly came from Recollections 8.5×11 inch “Moroccan” pack.  For the writing inside the card I decided against using the Cricut midnight marker and instead used the black marker from the Recollections Masterpiece II Markers set which fit in my Explore machine nicely and offered a much darker black.  My go-to adhesive is Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive.  Annnd, the other product I used was a selection of colors from the Wink of Stella 12 pack of glitter pens.

Here is the finished product… hope you enjoy!

The latest addition to my line blends the two in a card which is perfect for any recipient for many different occasions.  Here are some pictures of the original Open Heart Cards:

I was very excited to use glitter paper for the first time!  The previous versions of this card were made the old-fashioned way, with a lot of effort and mess!  Granted, I have learned some glittering techniques since then that are easier but the pre-made paper from Michaels is a huge time saver!  I also took the opportunity to use my new Wink of Stella glitter pens as an extra touch on the lettering!  Here’s some shots of the work in progress:

As always, I tweaked a few things before coming up with a final design I was happy with.  I changed the title border, got rid of the white for a more subtle gray and added in the background inside of the card.  Here’s the final product:

Hope you enjoy it, I had a great time putting it together!

Click here to purchase or browse the other cards I have for sale on Etsy!

I hope you enjoy it!

I’m adding another one to the lineup!

While the original Baby on (Surf) Board design remains my most popular, the Baby on (Skate) Board card has been hot on it’s heels.

That’s why I’ve now added another Board to the mix:

Baby on (Snow) Board!

Coming soon to my Etsy shop!

I’ve had the idea for this card for a while now, but never sat down to design it until tonight.  I’ve been feeling really inspired the past week and am excited to be working on some new projects!

I came across this photo a few years ago.  (I’ve been trying to trace the source, but have been unable.  It’s been posted on many blogs but no one has credited the work.)  This is where my inspiration…

This is the first card I ever made.  It was created for my sister-in-law’s baby shower almost five(!) years ago.  This was before I ever thought of selling anything, before anyone had ever asked.  I just knew I wanted something special for her to celebrate the impending birth of my first niece.

Now that I have a baby of my own, I’ve found it difficult to find the time to actually make new cards…