Summer is Here!

Summer is alive and doing well! I am enjoying the sunshine, daylight til 9:30 pm and watching my garden grow! I've had a busy several months! I made it through my child's senior year...*ahem* let me repeat...I made through senior year...whooo-hooo. Now I feel like I can scrap and create something non-cap and gown related :) Although I enjoyed making graduation cake pops and invitations I must say the summer colors of green, blue, yellow and pink are CALLING me!!! With all the graduation things going on I did find the time to make a card...or two, yep TWO cards...sheesh! They both came out better than I expected so I am thrilled with the outcome.

This is the front of the card. I like how the colors came together and the flowers with the bling. I used my
Gypsy to size up the dress on this card, from the Forever Young cart, Prima roses and recollection bling. Tim
Holtz distress ink (Walnut Stain) and Liquid Pearls.  

This was my first time trying perfect pearls! I kept touching them while they were still wet, ugh! but they were easy to fix

The sentiment is from AmyR stamps, very nice "Mother" stamp set.

Overall I am pleased with the outcome. I had a lot of "firsts" with this card. This was the first time I used perfect pearls, fabric trim, flat back pearls  and get this people roses!!! Yes roses...I have three boys so I don't dabble much in flowers but I will more :) There are tons of scrap layouts that need my attention :)
Thanks for stopping by and perhaps this blog of mine will get more attention now that the tassel has been flipped! Make it a GREAT day!

Taking the Time

As of late I have observed myself rushing through life. Do you ever find yourself doing just that? Rushing through traffic to get the kids to school or get to work? Getting to the grocery and rushing through the aisles to get the groceries and becoming impatient with the long line and the wonderful person who skidded in front you in the express lane with 12 items and the limit is 10? Hurrying up dinner so everyone can get to bed and then rushing to get this craft project done so you can move to the next one, only to rush through that one? When does it stop? When do you decide that today I am not weaving through traffic to get home faster, beeping my horn at all the folks in my way making me late to pick up my child (although I could have left earlier so I wouldn't be late) but in the meantime these folks need to learn how to drive!

I need to just exhale or as the little people are taught...smell the cookies and blow the soup! Didn't I want to have children to enjoy, don't I love to cook (I really do!) and aren't my crafts and hobbies for my relaxation and enjoyment? So why am I not enjoying all of these things? Why have I decided they have become problems that I need to solve or barriers to the next thing on the "to do" list to check off?

I don't want to look back over my day or even my life and realize I have rushed through it and didn't enjoy it. A few weeks ago I took the time to make a card for a fellow scrap blogger's sister. We have never met or chatted but her blog asked for her creative friends to reach out and send a card to a sick loved one. I didn't contemplate it or add it to my to do list, I just did it. I took my time and did it and guess what I enjoyed it. I didn't rush it so I could get it in the mail quickly and check that off, I enjoyed flipping through my paper, deciding on what embellishments I would use and what stamps would look best, besides this is why I create...to enjoy it right?

My challenge this week is to not rush through the day,  to act with intent and enjoy the moment I am in with purpose. Below is the card I created and it is super cute with pearls and bling! Until next time creative people...breathe and enjoy!

Really?!

Thinking of adding some bling! 

It's been a over a month since my last post! I've even started ignoring my own blog...like the one piece of mail you don't want to open because you know you need to do something about it! Really?! I haven't been feeling rather crafty lately...well...that's a lie. I have been feeling crafty..I'm just to darn tired to finish my projects, take pictures and upload them. ha! Go figure! Anyways...to spark some inspiration I have been all over youtube watching vids on everything from coloring with Copics (still trying to understand the obsession...perhaps I need to take a class) to craft room re-organizing. I found some really neat blogs and even subscribed to a few channels...there are quite the number of creative folks out there and they got me pumped and ready to go!! I even hopped back on Ustream to watch Prima live! Nice!!! Love those folks. What is the ultimate thing that helps inspire me? Glad you asked!! SHOPPING!! Yes friends shopping!!! I purchased some many great things in the past week and I just giddy!! From stamps to glue (Helmar that its) that I am thrilled to get to scrapping! For the first time since say....Christmas..I used my Gypsy...I'm on a roll people! Now that does mean I need to upload and post the pics...gotta find an easier way to do that, it drives me nuts!! Perhaps next time I'll post a haul video. Until I photo my current scrap pages I will leave you with some utter cuteness! Check it out! I am playing with the Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes and more....hmmm thinking of cute embellies... Until later...

A Salute to Love

2012 started out like a whirlwind and we are only a month and a half into it! We (my family) gave tribute to my dear Auntie who passed last month. The woman who taught me so much, from how to cook everything not only from scratch but with love. No one left her home hungry and if you couldn't make it to her home you would not sit at yours and be hungry. She was meals on wheels. I couldn't figure out how this woman could make everything taste just heavenly. She never used a recipe, wrote anything down nor did she measure a single ingredient. I used to watch her cook and it was a beautiful performance. She would hum and sing the entire time. It was magical and poetic and now it was gone.

My attempts to try and get this recipe or learn this technique seemed to have slipped through my fingers, but did it really? As I prepare meals for my family everyday I may look up a recipe but seldom do I follow it, always adding my own touch. I am always "throwing" something together with what I have on hand and rarely miss the chance to invite friends over to learn a new dish. I didn't have to try and capture what was already in me I just needed to recognize and salute it! Her love for all of us is in us and I didn't miss it. I took a few snapshots of my beloved Auntie in her young days and of her home as a reminder of where it all started. This is how I choose to celebrate Valentines Day...a Salute to a woman I love dearly!

Siesta!

With the holidays here, a senior in high school, newborn and seven year old its been hectic! I've take a bit of a siesta but will be back really soon, right after Christmas so see you then and enjoy the holidays!!
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Monique

Sweet Treats! Muah!!

I have been enjoying gaining some scrapbook and craft inspiration from others and thus I found two great projects for Halloween. I made these treats for my sons class and my sisters class as well as a few other friends and their children. They are adorably cute and can adapted for anytime of the year. Check it out below!! They are the cutest S'mores treats super super easy and Hand Sanitizer Holder!

Above: I used different halloween papers as my toppers! Love the Martha Stewart Goo Punch

 Above: these little treats are actually mini halloween hand sanitizer for the teachers, how appropriate!

                                                    All packed and ready to go!

Happy Halloween!!!!

If you are interested in creating any of these cute and adorable treats you can find the video tutorials from the Pink Cricut S'mores Halloween Treats and the Dawn's Stamping Thoughts Hand Sanitizer Holders here!

A Picture is Worth More than a Thousand Words

The past few weeks have been challenging for many of my family and friends who are dealing with the loss of a loved one. I thought there is no way I can post my regular project of the week so today I decided to interrupt my regular broadcast to talk about not the project but the subject of the project...hmmm what does that mean?

If you are anything like me your camera stays close by and you snap pictures of everything and everyone trying to capture the fleeting moments of life as it moves on, preserving memories for those who come after you and archiving your story. These pictures are the subjects of many of my projects or scrapbook pages they tell a story, my story.

As I perused through my photos I realized something, I was not capturing my full story. Of course I had pictures of every time my children would blink but what about the group of ladies who giggled and laughed all through church at one small joke, or the co-worker who wore mis-matched shoes and didn't know it or of the lovely ladies who walk past my home every morning and wave and ask how is that cute baby? What I was missing was the life that was happening all around me that is a part of my story. Of course my family will always and forever be my main subject however I can't count out the others who enrich my life daily!

I took a moment this week to appreciate this life story and I encourage you to do the same. Take a picture, capture a moment in time you'll be grateful you did!

To help you with is I found the best FREE app for my iphone! its called pic collage Oh the things you can do! Here is an example below of who else but the baby!! Need to plaster a pic of the neighbor in there somewhere! LOL

Til next time creative family!