My first digi page!

So I finally decided to try my hand at digital scrapbooking and I LOVE it! I had so much fun putting this together and love how it turned out!

Supplies used: Shabby Princess Harvest Spice & Happy Go Lucky

Traditional paper scrapping will always be my first love, but this digi stuff is just too fabulous! I tend to have a fear of commitment when it comes to actually cutting into some of my precious scrapbook paper, LOL. But with digital, I always get a do-over if I change my mind. I can't wait to start on some more projects!

more baby pics

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to come over and take some pics of my new little god-daughter for her birth announcements. It was sooooo hot that day! But we actually lucked out. I've read that professional photographers have to keep their studios super warm to make sure newborns stay happy during photo shoots. Little PJ did an amazing job. She slept through the whole thing! She's just 6 days old in these pics. Isn't she a doll?!

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Here's the one that made the final cut. We converted it to black and white and added text to the top that included her name and stats at birth. The coolest part is that by the time we finished and had them printed, they ended up costing a whopping $2.50!

Happy Birthday Baby!

So, once again I've been MIA for a bit. I've been enjoying summer with the kiddos and trying to get a little work done for my Etsy shop. I've even **gasp** been working on personal scrapbook pages!

Today, I'm just too excited not to share; I had the honor of being by my best friend's side while she gave birth to her daughter on Sunday evening! It was truly amazing, exciting and humbling all at the same time. Little "PJ" and her mommy are both beautiful and doing wonderfully. God is so good!!



This is the card I made for her. When I saw this stamp, I immediately knew I had to have it for Traya's card! This image instantly reminded me of these figurines of angels, and mother with baby, etc., that she collects. Perfect!

Supplies used: Cloud 9 Design papers, Whiff of Joy image, Prismacolor markers, fiskars border punch, buttons, Whiff of Joy challenge sketch

Team Edward!

My Friend LaTraya is totally not into the whole Twilight thing, but her lovely teenage daughter is. She hasn't finished reading all the books yet and is currently undecided on whether she's Team Edward or Team Jacob (ummm.... hello of course the best choice is Jacob!!!!) Little Edward is exceptionally cute though isn't he? Now if I could only figure out how to make him sparkle!

Supplies used: DCWV papers, M&MBI paper, Greeting Farm image, CTMH sparkles, Prismacolor markers, (card layout borrowed from Sparkle)

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 30

Sparkle's challenge this week was another sketch challenge. I {{heart}} sketches! And I love this image, the bear is too cute in his little hat and mittens! He looks like he's all ready to hit the slopes!

Not sure what's up with my picture, the card is much brighter in real life, but I got tired of trying to fix it in photoshop.

Happy Thursday!

Supplies used: My Mind's Eye papers, C.C. Designs image, Prismacolor markers, CTMH sentiment & ribbon

2 cute 4 words!

Here's a set of pages I came up with for a little beginner's scrapbook class last Saturday. I had the worst time coming up with a title for these pages! It was terrible! I even had to enlist the help of Christine, and we came up with what we both agreed was a super cute title idea.

This is not it.
Supplies used: Making Memories papers, cardstock, ribbon,

Ha, ha, ha! You see, I then ran our super cute title idea by one of the ladies who would be attending the class, and she thought it was weird didn't care for it. Soooo... back to the ol' drawing board I went. In the end, everyone loved the pages and we all had really fun afternoon!

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 29

Sparkle's Challenge this week is a sketch challenge. I LOVE card sketches! The hardest part of making cards for me is figuring out the layout, so I love it when the thinking is already done for me. This little guy is an image I got from Sparkle several months ago. Not sure who he belongs to, but he is quite a cutie! Thanks for the challenge Sparks!

Supplies used: K & Co papers, CTMH sentiment, image?, Prismacolor markers, Prima flower, Liquid Applique, button

Gone Fishin'

On Father's Day, Sammy had fun hand-delivering this little card and a tin of some favorite cookies to my dad. It's funny, when I was making this little card, I thought to myself how much this did not represent the way I think of my dad. He doesn't fish or hunt or do any really outdoorsy things. He's an athlete through and through. He's played baseball since he was a kid and has been a coach for our local high school ball teams for over 40 years. He loves it and the kids love him. I do remember him taking my brother and me to one of those little u-fish, trout farms when we were really little. I also remember catching a wee little trout and then shrieking in terror at that same wee little trout. I prefer my experience with fish to be limited to the breaded and fried variety, thank you.

Supplies used: CTMH papers & sentiment, Hanna stamps image, Prismacolor markers, buttons

Riley in pink?

Who says real men real moose can't wear pink? I love that little Riley is so versatile and looks good in any color. This little image is perfect for baby themed projects and I whipped up this little card the other day. Seriously though, could Riley ever not look adorable?

Supplies used: Making Memories papers, Hanna Stamps image, Prismacolor markers, CTMH paper flower, button, brads

Happy Friday!

Busy Little Ducks

Here's another set of pages for a custom ordered baby album I made earlier this year. I made sure to use lots of bright colors as requested for the new mommy. She wanted a 2 page spread for both everyday playing pics as well as some from baby's bathtime. Viola! I really love how the bubbles and the tub turned out. You've just gotta love those chubby little ducks!

Supplies used: My Mind's Eye papers, Gautier Designs paper pieced artwork, brads, ribbon, hemp fiber

Thank you Anya card

When I first saw this image, Sparkle and I disagreed on whether Anya's hair should be red or blond, whether her apple should be green or red...Well, Sparkle was right,lol. Red hair, green apple is quite cute.



Supplies used: K&Co papers, Greeting Farm image, Prismacolor markers, CTMH ribbon & paper flower, button

Happy Wednesday!

Another Bella Baby Card

I found this in one of my files and thought I'd share it today. I made this at the beginning of the year for one of the ladies at church to give to her at her baby shower. She was so funny about making sure EVERYONE knew that she HATED pink and that her daughter would only be wearing lavendar. Unfortunately for her, I'd already picked up something for the baby months earlier and it was very, very pink. But hey at least her card was the "correct" color! She actually ended up loving both the gift and the card, so no worries.

Supplies used: My Mind's Eye papers, Stamping Bella image, Prismacolor markers, Jolee's rhinestone flowers

Surprise!

This image cracks me up! I wonder what the surprise is, lol!

Supplies used: My Mind's Eye paper, Stamping Bella image, Prismacolor markers, Stickles, Prima flowers, Making Memories button brads, ribbon

I've only been the guest of honor at a surprise party one time and I was REALLY surprised! It was a few months before Beanie was born and my hubby said he wanted to take me out for a lunch date, just the two of us. So I got all dolled up and we left for our date. My hubby designed and maintains our church's website, and told me that we'd need to stop by the church to get a couple of cd's with info updates so that he could add them to the site later that evening. Totally normal, he's always doing website stuff. So we get to church and both go inside. Surprise! The women of the church had all gathered together and thrown me a baby shower! A truly awesome surprise.

Have you ever been the guest of honor at a surprise party? I'd love to hear about it!

Sweet Pea's Birthday

This is a set of scrapbook pages I made a while back that my BFF fell in love with when she saw them. Sweet Pea happens to be one of the little nicknames the family has given to their youngest little girl. So as part of "Sweet Pea's" birthday gift last year, I included these scrapbook pages for her mom.

Supplies used: K&Co papers, chipboard letters and flowers, ribbon, rhinestones, brads

Today the fam and I are headed over celebrate at "Sweet Pea's" second birthday party. In true Gautier fashion, we'll be picking up a gift for her on the way to the party ;0). Plan ahead? No Thank you! I much prefer the frantic, search for the perfect birthday gift, followed by the elegant "wrapping" of said gift en route to the party. I'm just fun like that.

Hope you all have a fun Saturday!

What's Brewing?

I love my Riley! He's just the cutest with his little cupcake and coffee. I mentioned a few posts back that I'm not a coffee fan, but everyone else I know is. That got me thinking that maybe I should give it a try again, so I tried one of those new mocha things from McD's (probably not a wise choice in itself, but it was only $2). Yeah..... I'm gonna have to stick to my non-coffee drinking status. In the words of Randy Jackson "Dude....It was not good."


Supplies used: K&Co papers, Hanna Stamps image, Prismacolor markers, prima flowers, brads

Happy Friday!

Baby pages with a splash of red

I haven't posted any scrapbook pages to share in what seems like forever, but that would be because I haven't actually made any in what seems like even longer than forever. I've been having the worst scrappers block for the past few months, it's been so weird. This week seems to be a bit better, so hopefully I'll have some newer stuff to share soon.

These pages were part of a custom order I did back in December. The album was for a new mommy who loves red, and I was told would use it everywhere if she could. I love a twist on the traditional so this was a fun layout to put together.


Supplies used: K&Co papers, Gautier Designs paper pieced artwork, ribbon, brads

Yard work is sooo fun!

Isn't little farmer Anya so bright and cheerful? I made this little card a couple weeks ago and it kind of reminded me of my kiddos when they were helping with our garden project last weekend.

Supplies used: CTMH paper, Greeting Farm image, Prismacolor markers, Prima flowers, Making Memories brads, ribbon

My kids just seem to love helping us out with our projects around the house. Nick is kind of on the small side, yet seemed completely unphased by hauling and stacking these 15 pound bricks.

And of course "if big brother can do it, so can I!" Sammy even managed to move a few for us too.


Our Quality Check Dept. Manager

Ummmm...... I'm pretty sure it'd be easier for you to move the wagon if you were not actually inside it.....

"But I don't want to take a break!"

Even Bean was happy to lend a hand!



Thanks for being such awesome helpers guys!

Wishing you a Happy "bee" Day

My hubby's birthday was late last month and he just loves the little Huggabug images from Stamping Bella because they remind him of Beanie. So naturally, I had to make him a card with a little red-haired bug on it. :0)


Supplies used: CTMH papers, Stamping Bella image & sentiment, Prismacolor markers, Stickles, ribbon

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 27

For this week's challenge we were to make a card without using Christmas or winter stamps. I cheated a bit since I didn't actually make a new card for the challenge. This is a card I made last Christmas for one of my hubby's best friends, Chris. When I saw the one that Kim Burmeister made on her blog last year (thanks Kim!) I was so excited and had to make a similar one of my own for Chris who just happens to be COMPLETELY OBSESSED with Rock Band. He loved it! Rock on Chris, rock on.....


Supplies used: DCWV paper, CTMH chipboard label holder, brads

Welcome Baby Riley Card

When I first saw this Riley stamp, it was love at first sight! This adorable little guy instantly reminded me of my Sammy. Supplies used: Making Memories papers, Hanna Stamps image, Prismacolor markers, buttons


He even has pjs very similar to Riley's, now all we need is to find him a matching hat!

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 26

This week Sparkle's challenge was to make a card using your scraps. I used up some of the scraps I had leftover from the Christmas cards I made last year. I think I even get a extra point for using Bella on my card, Woo Hoo!

Supplies used: Imaginisce papers, Stamping Bella image, CTMH sentiment stamp, Prismacolor markers, stickles, buttons

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Thanks a Latte! Bella Card

Doesn't Bella look bright and cheerful? That must be a really great cup-a-joe, lol! It's funny, I'm totally not a coffee drinker but it seems like EVERYONE else I know is! Oh well, more for them I guess :0)
Supplies used: Chatterbox paper, Stamping Bella image, Prismacolor markers, prima flower, American Crafts jewel brad

Happy Friday!

Sarah Kay card

I've been all busy with baby shower preparations for the past few weeks and haven't gottten around to posting, but I still wanted to share a few things I've made recently.

This is the card I gave to my mom this Mother's Day. I tried to color it to look kind of like me as a wee one, though I'm pretty sure I wasn't even close to being this stylish. :0) The curly hair is spot on though. My mom also shared with me that my head was always too big to find a hat to fit me. Ouch.
Supplies used: Chatterbox papers, Sarah Kay image, CTMH stamp, Prismacolor markers, buttons

Happy Thursday all!

LaTraya's Baby Shower

Saturday, I hosted my BFF LaTraya's baby shower. I'd been working on it since February! She is so very special to me and I wanted to treat her to an over the top kind of party. My inspiration, was this picture from Social Couture
It turned out beautifully! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day.

This is what the table looked like. I really wanted it to be elegant, but also within my budget. I found clear plastic serving platters at Dollar Tree, spray painted them silver and used them for chargers under the white dinner plates. The champagne flutes and pink votive holders were also Dollar Tree finds at 50 cents a piece.


I made the little cardstock tote bags to hold all the different little party favors. The mini baby bottles were filled with pink and green M&Ms that I picked up at Walmart at Easter time. I was so thrilled to find these there because they were half the price of the custom kind you can buy on the M&M website and they didn't even have Easter bunnies or eggs printed on them! Awesome find indeed!


This is the scrapbook page I made for guests to sign their well wishes to the new baby. I borrowed the layout and idea from Becky Higgins' blog.


This is the diaper cake I made for Traya. It's kind of hard to see behind the other gifts, but like everything else, it matches the rest of the party. :0)
I also baked my special homemade, vanilla sugar cookies. We've had such beautiful, warm weather the past few days and unfortunately that caused the cookies to spread out way more than they should have during baking. Oh well, at least they still tasted yummy!

I decided to use paper lanterns for the decorations instead of balloons as they added that extra special touch to the party. I found these at Dollar Tree too.


My Beanie and her "Mama Traya"

The beautiful mommy-to-be

a wee little mouse

I don't know about you, but I have the hardest time coming up with masculine card designs! Sometimes I just think a card isn't finished without paper flowers or some bling stuck to it. Kinda weird, right?

Anyway,I needed to make a "get well/ thinking of you" card a few weeks ago to give to a friend from church and this is the best I could come up with from my stash of stamp images, lol! Fortunately though, he's a really sweet, laid-back kind of guy, so I know he'll love it even if it does have a wee little mouse with a flower on the front of it. ;0)


Supplies used : CTMH paper, buttons & stamp, House Mouse stamp, Prismacolor markers

Diving back in there!

Hey all!

Today seemed like a good day to jump back into the bloggy world. I know it's been a VERY long time and I am happy to report that my Dad is still doing wonderfully. Thank you all for your prayers, your heartfelt messages and kind emails, they've truly warmed my heart!

I even have a card to share today!
Supplies used: CTMH paper, Bazzill cardstock, Greeting Farm stamp, CTMH stamp, Prima flowers, K&Co pearls, Prismacolor markers

I made this for my Taylor's 14th birthday, earlier this month. She's really into learning about Asian culture and as soon as I got this image (thanks Sparkle!) I knew it'd be perfect for my birthday girl! She loved it but did wonder why Anya's head is so big, lol! That's Taylor for ya! She's always willing to ask life's more important questions ;0)

It's good to be back! Hope you all are having a great Monday!

Just a quick post...

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything....AGAIN....but it's been a rough couple of weeks for my family. My dad went in for minor surgery last week and at his follow up appointment on this past Monday, he got the news that he has prostate cancer. I had to just go to what I know and put all my faith in Christ that the outcome will be alright. I actually find it quite relieving and peaceful that I don't have to shoulder this burden alone and that Christ will carry our family through.

There is a ton of hope for my dad already too. At a second appointment yesterday, he received a write up that further explained his condition. His cancer is slow growing which means he doesn't need to undergo any surgeries, chemo, or radiation treatments, which at his age would be more of a hindrance than a help. He just needs to have his blood checked every 3 months to monitor his condition. They also told us that men with this condition have a 99% survival rate and live on for many, many years. Praise God!

So I've not been feeling up to posting much lately, but I hope to get some new artwork up here again soon. Please keep my family, especially my dad in prayer and God Bless!

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 9

For this week's challenge, we were to make a Christmas card without using any glitter, sparkle or bling. I got the inspiration for this card from one the my friend Christine designed a few months ago. Thanks to you both for the inspiration and the challenge!

supplies used : My Mind's Eye paper, Cuttlebug embossing plate, CTMH stamp, ribbon

Just a Note

I love how this card turned out! I think Riley is my fav little guy to use on my cards, he's just the cutest! I showed one of the Rileys to my Sammy a while back and told him that it reminded me of him, so now every time I make a card with Riley on it, Sammy says "look it's me!" When he saw this one, he said "look, it's me naked drinking coffee!" LOL! That kid's such a goof ball! And just for the record, naked coffee drinking, no matter how cute you are, is frowned upon in our house! ;0)



Supplies used : Bo Bunny paper, Hanna Stamps, Prismacolor markers, CTMH button & waxy flax, stickles ; Sketch from Taylored Expressions (TECC48)

Thanks Sew Very Much!

This little card is going to a couple of friends of ours who sent over two custom made princess dresses for Beanie this past Christmas. They are the cutest little dresses and Bean just fell in love with them as soon as she saw them. I'll see if I can catch her later and take a picture or two :0)



supplies used : Chatterbox paper, Stamping Bella stamp, Prismacolor markers, Stickles, ribbon

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge week 8

For this week's challenge we were supposed to make a square card. I decided this image would be perfect for a gift card holder. I wish I looked that cute when I went Christmas shopping, lol!





supplies used : K&Company paper, Stamping Bella stamp, Prismacolor markers, CTMH Sparkles, Stickles, KI Memories ribbon, grosgrain ribbon