A Different Kind of Miracle

Hello, all! Today I am featured over on Authentique's blog. I created a layout using the Miracle collection. I wanted to show how versatile the collection is by using it on a non-baby-themed layout. For this layout, I used a sketch from scrapbooksteals.com, which was created by guest sketcher Becci Manies.

Here is the sketch:


And here is my layout:


I love the whimsical feel that the banner, pennants and rosettes give this layout. I definitely had fun making it for my friend!

Be sure to check out Authentique's blog to see detailed pictures of this layout!

A Labor of Love

Hello all! If you've been following the Authentique blog, you'll know that today February's sketch challenge went live! When I saw the sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Executing my brain child was a different story, though.

Here are the sketches for this month:


After 6+ hours of hand-stitching, here is the final product:


And here is a close-up of some of the detail work:


The picture is of my daughter with her Godparents, who also happen to be my best friend and her husband. It means the world to me that they are in my daughter's life, as well as ours. I only hope this layout shows how much they mean to me.

I hope you all will play along with this month's challenge! I look forward to see what you all create!

My two favorite things!

Happy Friday, everyone! If you've been following me since the beginning (whenever that was!), you know that I am a HUGE fan of scrapbooksteals.com. I've been avidly stealing their amazing products since December 2009 and have made many life-long friends through their facebook page.

Well, as an Authentique design team member, it makes my heart happy to know that you will be able to steal some Uncommon goodies on their website today! Hooray! If you've been having a hard time finding Authentique or are a thrifty buyer and won't spend full price on anything, then you HAVE to check them out today! Also, check out their blog today to see some examples of projects the design team has made with this collection!

Happy Stealing!

Just scootin' by...

I know I keep saying things like this, but am I the only one in complete disbelief that it's already January 19th?! Where is the time going?! It's scootin' on by, that's for sure!

Speaking of scootin' by (you'll appreciate the segue in a second), I recently purchased a new stamp set from the Sweet Stamp Shop. It's called Scootin' By and I'm in love with it!


The card I made with it is the first of it's kind in my novice book, as I've never paper pieced anything together using a stamp as a guide before. I have to disclose, though, that my card is a blatant copy, er, card lift of another card I found which was created by Donna Mikasa. I wouldn't be able to do fun stuff like this if I didn't have amazing examples to follow!

Here's Donna's card:

And here is mine:

For this being my first time paper piecing, I'm thrilled with the way it turned out! I stamped the flag and the body of the scooter on patterned paper, cut them out, then adhered them to the stamped image on a separate piece of cardstock. I almost don't want to give this card away! :)

Hope you enjoyed this card and that you are inspired to try something new! You never know...you might like it! =)

Until next time,

It's a Miracle!

Hello all! Just wanted to stop by and let you all know that I am featured today on Authentique's blog. Our design team is promoting Helmar adhesive products this week, so I created a cute layout with the help of their products. Oh, and I used one of Authentique's BRAND NEW collections, Miracle! This collection is a mix of new and revamped old papers from other collections. It is a gorgeous collection.

Here is a sneak peek:

If you want to see the rest, be sure to head over to Authentique's blog!

I'm still here! I promise!!

Hello friends! I'm sorry I've been MIA a lot lately! It seems like ever since Christmas passed us by, things have gotten a little hectic around here. (Isn't that supposed to STOP once Christmas is over??) Both of my girls were sick one right after the other and the past week or so I've been busy making some projects for Authentique to take to CHA. That, folks, is pretty exciting for this scrappy novice! =) I hope to be able to show you all some of my projects in the near future, but for now, I'll show you a Christmas project I did using Authentique's Wonder collection.

I found a naked wood block set at my local big box store and decided to give it a whirl. I'd never attempted to do anything like this before and there's a first time for everything, right?

I started by tracing the letters on to the paper I wanted to use and then cut them out. I also cut out the papers that I would be putting on the blocks. I used my Xyron X sticker maker to adhere everything to their respective wooden piece.

The papers on the blocks overlapped, so I used some sand paper to file it down on all of the edges/corners.

Then I used a Colorbox Chalk cat's eye ink pad (in Chestnut Roan) on the edges of the blocks and letters.

I glued the letters to the blocks, added some buttons and floss and VOILA! My project was complete!

For being a first timer at doing something like this, I'm pretty excited about the outcome. Not to mention, this is the first project that made some sort of ripple in the waters of the craft world...Xyron featured this on their facebook page and it can even be found on Pinterest as pinned by Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine. I have to say, I was pretty psyched about that. =)

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! I will be back soon with some cute layouts!

A Splendid Photo Display...

Hello friends! It is January 4th...am I the only one in disbelief? It seems like just yesterday was Halloween and somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas have zoomed past us. Where does the time go? In any event, I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season.

Moving right along, I am featured today over on Authentique's blog. I created this cute frame:

Be sure to head over to their blog to see the tutorial! Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!