Paper Princess Studio

Yee haw a new year and new projects

2012-01-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012!! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas season filled with many Blessings spent with you and yours. I've been MIA myself as I enjoyed the season with my own family. It was a busy season but filled with blessings I will forever treasure.

Now that Christmas and New Years is behind us that means it is full force ahead working on my sweets 2nd birthday party. Makayla will be 2 in just 2 weeks so that means party time at the Mellstroms house :). I've been storing away party ideas this past year and settled in on hosting a 'Rhinestone cowgirl' themed party for M's birthday this year. First things first with the party....designing the invitations to set the tone for the days events. When I designed the invite, I knew I wanted to incorporate her photo that my friend Gail of Gailmiya Photography took of her during our family shoot a couple months back. The challenge was how do I incorporate the photograph, burlap (my fabric of choice for her party.... of course it is!! LOL), as well as a few other design materials I had in mind. When I sat down to design, it all came together wonderfully and I could not be happier with how it turned out :) Here it is the invite the M's rhinestone cowgirl birthday
When I re-open the shop these will be available for purchase. I have MANY more projects in the works for her party so I will do my best to share those as they come along....Yee haw!!

The truth...

2011-11-11T08:16:00.001-08:00

The truth about where I have been and why I've been MIA from my blog...Let me introduce you to
MonMell Designs is a new business venture that my friend Stephanie and I have begun :). MonMell Designs has been in the works since early summer and last weekend was the big reveal as we finally launched our business at the Believe Boutique in Chandler, AZ.The response to our product has been overwhelming and such a huge BLESSING!!! Right now our line consist of 6 everyday decor pillows, 5 Thanksgiving decor pillows, and 8 Christmas pillows. We have been busy, busy working on new lines for the new year- holiday pillows for the remainder of the holidays, a wedding line, baby line, kids line, and much more then pillows too :)!

If you are interested in purchasing one of our made with love pillows you can purchase them from our Etsy store. We have a website that is currently under production, so soon (very soon) you will be able to browse and shop directly from our website :). You can also find our pillows at the Rusty Chandelierin Oak Harbor, WA as well as One Wing Boutiquein Chandler, AZ.

This business is a dream of ours and we pray that the Lord will have His hand upon it and that we would bring glory to Him in how we handle and operate our business.

So there you have it friends, that's part of the reason I've been MIA...Please forgive me :)

Happy Fall Ya'all

2011-10-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Whoa...November is almost here and I'm just now getting some of my Halloween decor put out. This is VERY late for me to be getting my decor out, as I usually begin fall decorating the end of Aug. or the first week in Sept. SO much has been going on recently that I've slowly been dragging things out. Not to mention there are a TON of projects I was hoping to work on/create. One project I really wanted to create was a burlap wreath for our front door. Usually I have a sunflower wreath but with my new love of all things burlap I just had to create one :) This is what I came up with
It worked out well because I have A TON of burlap scraps laying around (thanks to a new endeavor that I will be announcing next week). This is a easy peasy project- All I did was take a wire hanger and formed a wreath, then I slipped my burlap on the wire making a ruffle sort of speak as I went. I thought a raven perched on a small pumpkin would be the perfect embellishment to 'spook' it up for Halloween.
For a FREE project, I'm super pleased with it- I only wish I was able to finish it earlier so I had more time to enjoy it. Perhaps I'll have to keep it up for Thanksgiving and switch out the raven with a different embellishment.

Follow the yellow brick road...

2011-10-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my family and I headed out to Cali. to take our lil' princess to Disneyland and to see my best friend Melinda Koen as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. If any of you live in the S. Calif area you MUST go see this production- it is fantastic (and I'm not just saying that because my BF is Dorothy). Hurry though, this coming weekend is the last weekend it is showing- you don't want to miss it!

Anyhow, in typical performance fashion I wanted to bring Melinda a little something other then flowers. When I came across these darling ruby slipper socks I knew they would be perfect to pair with a handmade ruby slipper card that contained the sentiment "You knocked our sock off as Dorothy" :)
Besides the socks I also enlisted my mama's help in creating some sweet treats to stick in the basket- ruby slipper cookies along with a melted witch of course :) Aren't they sweet- thanks mama for your help :)!
To add that lil' something, something to them I created lil' tags that had quotes from the show, "There's not place like home" etc.
Don't forget to follow the yellow brick road and go see this awesome production if you are in the So.Cal area.

In color with Scotch Blue Painting Party

2011-10-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome friends and a very warm welcome to those who are visiting as part of Scotch Blue Painting Party Blog hop. What great fun that Scotch Blue has organized this blog hop where you can move from one blog to the next gaining inspiration for DIY projects that all use Scotch Blue painters tape. If you have not participated in a blog hop before you simply start at one blog and move to the next as you are directed down the path of DIY inspiration. Here is a list of the other bloggers participating in the paint party today in order of the blog hop- Make sure to check out all of the fabulous DIY motivation from:

Denise at the Painted Home
Lisa at Serendipity Chic Design
Me, Heather :) at Paper Princess Studio
Kacey at Refreshed Decor
Samantha at Two Become One

Those of you who have been friends for awhile, know my infatuation and need for color in my life and in my home. When my hub and I purchased our home 3 years back we fell in love with so many things about our home. One huge bonus with our home was that the previous owners had left all the walls in the house white, meaning it left a blank slate for us to have fun with :). Over the past few years we have painted nearly every wall of our home. I know you all know how dramatically some paint can change a room and I LOVE seeing the transformations.

Well, when I was contacted by Scotch Blue to participate in this paint party blog hop I knew exactly what DIY paint project I was going to tackle= our guest bedroom. Our guest bedroom was one of the last rooms in the house needing a make over and I couldn't wait to start this project. I knew I wanted something fresh and light for this room so I decided to add some of my favorite elements and textures= burlap (of course!!), board and batten (have never done this but love the look of it so decided to give it a try), and a little splash of color for the walls. Here is the before:
And here are a few after shots:
I adore the look of the board of batten- so fabulous!!! And so easy to create! There are many DIY tutorials for the board and batten out there in the blogosphere so I simply followed the tutorials in no time the room was transformed. My ScotchBlue painters tape was a life saver in this project as we actually used Liquid Nails to adhere the board and batten to the walls. That was not part of 'the plan' but we ran across a bizarre obstacle as we attempted to attach the board and batten to one of the walls- the nails would not hold to the wall. Of course we came across this obstacle after we already had 1 and half walls complete so we had no choice accept to resort to liquid nails. That's when my ScotchBlue came to the rescue; we simply applied a bead of Liquid Nails to the back of the board and batten, placed it on the wall, and then used the ScotchBlue to help hold the board and batten while the Liquid Nails dried...thanks goodness for ScotchBlue :)!!

I also picked up a gallon of 'Oops paint' from Lowes and used that to add a splash of color to the top of the board and batten. Again, the Scotch Blue was a huge help in aiding in the color transformation of this room.
Once the board and batten was up, color was on the walls, it was time to create some window treatments. I simply purchased a drop cloth, added some burlap ruffles to the top, and in no time some texture was added to the room via the quick, simple, and very inexpensive window treatments.
This part of the room is still in progress but I thought it would be fun to create some visual appeal on the ceiling using a large stencil. I'll be honest this is turning out to be MUCH more difficult then I thought it would be. It takes A LOT of time as you have to wait for each area to dry before you can move your stencil to the next area. Being patient is only half the battle though- the most difficult part of this task is that the paint tends to seep under the stencil= no bueno :(! This is what I have concluded...you must use spray adhesive to assist and holding the stencil to the ceiling, painters tape will be your best friend in this project also aiding in holding your stencil to the ceiling, a little paint goes a long way (the more paint on your roller the greater the chance of paint seeping under your stencil will be)), and after many failed attempts I now know that you must use a high density foam roller to apply your paint. If any of you out there have any helpful hints on how to make this task any easier I would love to hear :)!!

I'm still adding some decor elements to this room and I'll share those as they come along. But at least for now I have the canvas done so now I can have fun embellishing...

Like adding some fun pillows(hint..hint....the pillows are part of a very exciting announcement I will be sharing VERY soon- so stay tuned for that ;)

I thank those of you who are new to my blog 'Paper Princess Studio' for stopping by- please come back soon, I love having/ meeting new friends!! Don't forget to continue along ScotchBlue Painters Party blog hop by moving on to Refreshed Decor by Kacy.

If you have a DIY paint project you would like to tackle, no doubt you will need some Scotch Blue painters tape to get the job done- Would you like the chance to get this for FREE?!? Well make sure to leave a comment on how you would use the painters tape for a chance to win some for yourself. For a chance to win another sample, make sure to weet “@scotchbluebrand I want #supersharppaintlines for my next project!
Make sure you also 'like Scotch Blue on Facebook so you can stay in the know for upcoming promotions and paint party info.

*ScotchBlue Brand reached out to me to participate in the ScotchBlue Painting Party to celebrate the launch of their new ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. My post represents my honest experience with ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape. I am not being paid for my answers, but I did receive ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape to assist in completion.

Tis' the season

2011-09-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

Tis' the season for weddings (including my own that was 5 years ago). I have been keeping pretty busy as of late creating many custom items for several couples who are getting ready to say 'I DO'. I love creating items for weddings...and of course it's always such a honor to be able to make someone's dream wedding a reality. What I do is the lil' stuff but one lady who truly makes and creates fabulous one of a kind dream weddings is my friend Shannon of Sassy Soirees. She has been such a Blessing in keeping 'Paper Princess Studio' hustling and bustling with orders- Thanks girl I appreciate it!!! Anyhoo, last weekend was one of the weddings Shannon hired me out for so I thought I would share some of the goodies:

Pillows for the cocktail hour (the happy couple was having furniture/couches/chairs set up for the their cocktail hour so these were some custom pillows I created to dress it up a bit)
A sign directing the guest to the after ceremony fun (cocktails, dinner, dancing)
A custom sign the flower girl carried announcing the grand arrival of the bride
Burlap bunting that was hung between the pews along the aisle
Burlap bunting that was hung on the sweetheart table during the reception
Moss covered monogram (these are so hot in wedding decor right now, and I adore them :)
And last but not least a magnetic frame created with all my favs (burlap, moss, vintage jewels, and pearls) This was used to direct guest as to what to do in regards to the anniv. box.

Aaahh...I just love weddings, Don't you!?!

Oh where, oh where, has Heather been???

2011-09-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Geesh- my last blog was July, REALLY?!?!!!

For any of you friends still out there who may have been wondering what happened to me- I'm still here (Praise God for that btw). I know I always say that I will be better at blogging and then I seem to go on a hiatus but this time I promise- I will be better. After all you may have noticed that things look a little different around here :) :) My blog had a much needed face lift thanks to the FABULOUS Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary. Can I just gush about how wonderful it was working with her- pure fabulousness ladies!!! If any of you are in need of a bloggy make over you must go to her (not to mention she has the best pricing by far).

SO, because I have this new look believe me I now want to blog- can't let all this cuteness go to waste. Not to mention I have SO many projects that I've been working on and that are in the works that of course I would love to share with all of you. Here is a little of what I've been up to since my last blog:

Making banners

Party Hats

and Wedding items galore :)

All of the items pictured are available in my shop (which you can now find by simply clicking the 'shop' button on the top of my blog :)
**The pillows you will not find in my shop but they are part of another VERY exciting announcement I will share soon :)**
See you all soon (I PROMISE!) ;)

Back to School as seen on Sonoran Living, ABC 15

2011-07-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Wowzers...I've been on a B-I-G blogging hiatus, Sorry! Life has been very busy for me but in a great way :) I hope to not neglect my blog any longer though. Even though I haven't been blogging I can assure you I've been busy, busy crafting away :) Will share some of the projects I've been creating in the next few days/blog post.

First things first though- Can you believe it is already Back to School time here in AZ?!? I've been living here for almost 7 years and that is the one thing I can never grasp on to- school starts the end of July-beginning of Aug. here!! It just doesn't seem right to me as growing up in S.California we always started school after labor day. Anyhoo, with the kiddos headed back to school it was time to come up with some fun Back to School ideas to share on Sonoran Livingtoday. If you missed the segment you can see it here:

Much thanks to Cakes by Cassiefor the fabulous school themed cookies and the adorable apple cake pop pencil toppers (they were super yummy to boot :)! And of course this segment wouldn't have been complete without the great talents of the ladies over at Anders Ruffand their new School Day printable collection. Don't forget to pick up your FREE printable luggage tag/backpack tag here.

PS- I have the silhouette totes (Customizable with your own childs silhoutte)
And the school ornaments
Available in my Etsy shop now :)

And for those of you who know me well- here's a lil' laugh for you

Do you know how difficult it is to take pics. with an almost 8 month old german shephard puppy around!?!

So 'Berry' Sweet

2011-05-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Once again, I"ve been MIA (Sorry) I had a few Etsy orders to catch up on (Praise God for those orders though- always nice to make some extra mula on the side ;)

Anyhoo, I had a few people in my life who have been 'Berry' sweet in helping me out recently so I thought I would make them a lil' something,something to show my grattitude. A cute lil' card
paired with some berry sweet cookies was the perfect solution.

PS-I've been a baking machine over here this week- will share some more soon :)

A TEA-rific time!

2011-05-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

A lil' late in posting this but I just couldn't let another day go by without posting some pics. of the 'Tea-riffic' royal tea I was Blessed to attend over the weekend. What a fun time!!! A time of fellowship with such God loving women, delicious goodies ranging from tea sandwiches, scones, lemon curd, and of course tea. Let me tell you, every detail was just superb. Look at the center pieces on the table

These were actual center pieces used at one of the hostess' weddings. They are 100% handmade even down to the graphic of the bride and groom...Amazing!!

Look at this, what's not to love about this spread :)!?!But even more sweet then all the goodies and the incredible eye candy was the time spent with these sweet ladies
Much thanks to these two 'tea'-rific' hostess' for having such a fabulous event!!!

PS- I know you can't get a real good look at my hat in these pics. I will take some close ups this week and post later so you can see how easy it is to take a straw beach hat and make it fab...so fun :)!

A Lil thank you for the royal treatment...

2011-04-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, today I am attending a tea brunch to view the royal wedding with the wonderful ladies of our church. My hair dresser (and friend), Bethany mentioned she wanted to host a brunch to watch the wedding a few months back and I was elated when she shared her idea. Her sweet and very talented mom, Lynda, agreed to host it at her house and thus I am just about ready to walk out the door to partake in this fab. event. I didn't want to show up empty handed, so I created this lil hostess gift for the ladies
I altered a terra cotta pot, created a crown digi image for the top, and then filled it with some English tea and English shortbread cookies. I then finished it off with a card created just for the occasion

Printable for the card found here

Cheers, I'm off to the tea. I can't wait to share pics. soon :)
Have a fabulous weekend!

Celebrating the big day in a royal way

2011-04-29T15:37:00.001-07:00

Ok friends, How many of you stayed up late to view the royal wedding? I did not, BUT tomorrow I am attending a royal tea brunch with many of the wonderful ladies from our church. I am over the top excited to fellowship with all these gals and to dress up :) :) :) . In true high tea fashion I will be sporting a hat :) And I must say, I am so excited :)!!! Of course I didn't have one and had to have one so, I bought a cheap straw beach hat and dressed it up with a little of this and a little of that (will share pic. tomorrow- I can't reveal it before the tea ;) One thing I can share a little peak of is the little treat I will bringing along to share with the ladies-
These are lemon blueberry muffins topped off with lemon curd and fresh berry...SO yummy!! I found the recipe here(she has many other yummy recipes too). After the muffins were cooled it was time for the fun part...the display. I found some fabulous free royal wedding printables here on Hostess with the Mostess . When I spied the printables I knew I had to do something with them for the tea- they were just too perfect to not use! To finish off the presentation I made some elegant cupcake wraps with my Cricut...SO lovin' that cartridge right now!

Did you do anything special in honor of the royal wedding?

Easter fun- 2011

2011-04-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter! I am amazed that the time is a tickin and here we are almost in May and Easter 2011 has come and gone. We've had a lot going on recently but despite the busy'ness, I still had a desire to add some fun lil' touches to our family Easter celebration this year. And let me tell you, printables are the way to go!!! I am SO in love with printables because they allow you to add fun, unexpected touches to any celebration without taking a ton of time to do. Anyone can incorporate printables into a celebration and they really do add that extra that makes any celebration ordinary to extrodinary :) It seems like printables are all the rage recently and consequently you can find them for any occasion. There are many talented 'printable artist' out there but a few of my fav. are Anders Ruffand Fresh Chick Designs.

Here's a peek at how 'printables' were used to dress up my family's Easter celebrations this year

The Easter lollie tree I created for Sonoran Living's craft segment I did a few weeks back also used the same printable EAster kit from Anders Ruff.
All printables purchased from Anders Ruff
Even though Easter has come and gone this year, you MUST go check out the photo shoot and styling shoot Anders Ruff did for this Easter collection...it is the MOST darling set up I have ever seen....LOVE!!!
Anders Ruff also offered up this sweet freebie this year, Easter hershey kiss printables These 'kiss printables' were used on my Bunny Kisses board I crafted for the Easter Sonoran Living segment I did a few weeks back
I know Easter has come and gone for this year but I'm telling you, you must bookmark/remember Easter printables when Easter approaches next year...They are Egg-stradinary!!!

Egg-strodinary Easter Crafts

2011-04-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

So sorry that I've been MIA for over 1 month!!! So much has been going on (good things) but life's been a lil' crazy never the less. Anyhoo, I have been crafting and wanted to share a few of the latest crafts.

There are so many crafts that are on the 'to do' list for Easter so we'll see how many more actually get done! What have you been up to?

Dog's aren't are whole lives, but they make our lives whole...

2011-03-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

Our life is a lil' empty as of late as we said goodbye to one of our families nearest and dearest-

This fella, Duke, was the most loyal companion. He has been a part of our lives since the beginning
Everyone of us adored his companionship (especially his sister Dakota) She misses him so very much!!
We traveled with him, planned our lives around him (in part), and just loved on him more then a family can love their pet. If you were to look up the meaning of 'Man's Best Friend' in the dictionary, no doubt you would see this

My hub, David and his dog, Duke were inseparable!! Those of you that know our family well can truly attest to that. In fact, for the past 4+ months David and I haven't even slept in the same bed as he stayed downstairs with Dukie, took him out 2-3 times in the middle of the night, and often times would just lay down next to him wherever he was. We knew this time was coming but nothing can prepare you for having to say goodbye to someone who has been an integral part of your family for the past 11 years. Our hearts are aching yet we are rejoicing; rejoicing that Duke has a new set of legs that allow him to run without pain, rejoicing that he is with our heavenly Father in heaven, and rejoicing in the marvelous grace that Christ Jesus is surrounding our family in and this time of hurt and sorrow. We miss you buddy....We look forward to being reunited with you someday in heaven. Goodbye Duke, Love you!

The Happiest Place on Earth + a Giveaway!!!

2011-02-17T17:14:00.000-08:00

You've all heard it, "I'm going to the happiest place on earth....Disneyland". Well since home and being with the ones I love is my 'happiest place on earth', I thought I would bring a lil' slice of Disneyanna right in to my own front door. What the world am I talking about you are probably asking yourself about now?!? :) I'm talking about my latest venture in decorating and crafting= Makayla's playroom a la Disney style :)

You see, we had an extra bedroom in our home that wasn't being used and I had my eyes set on that room as a playroom for my sweets. And now that M is mobile (very mobile I may add) my hub was finally on board to convert that room into a playroom,,Yippie!!! When I set out on this task I was a bit tied as to what direction to go; I LUV the playrooms that PB showcases, I knew I had a TON (and when I say ton, I mean a ton of Disney stuff/things/collectibles, after all I worked for the mouse for 11+ years, and at the same time wanted to make it somewhat gender neutral. Gender neutral, in case the Lord decides to add to our family in the future and perhaps bless us with a boy (not to mention I wanted M's 'boy'friends not as in boyfriends/boyfriends but you know lil friends that are boys (like you Luke and Ryker :) to have fun in the room too without it being overly girlie girl. Now don't get me wrong I will most definitely have a girly girl area of the room as in dress up time for my pretty lil' princess (after all how could I have a Disney room without Disney princess'!!!) but over all wanted to keep it Disney'isqu as in primary colors (black, red, white and touches of yellow). As you can see my vision has created a bit of a challenge but nothing unattainable....SO I have set out on my mission/vision:

I started by painting. And here is where the fun part comes in...the REALLY fun part!! I was contacted by the wonderful folks over at 3M who had graciously offered me a package of their new product painters tape a la edge lock technology to try out on my next painting/crafting endeavor. I was thrilled when I received my package of goodies and knew instantly what I would use it on, M's playroom of course! I was anxious to try it out because I always have used 3M painters tape but admittedly have had my fair share of issues of the paint seeping through the tape. Their new tape has an edge lock technology that claims to get er' done and keep the edges crisp and clean with no paint seepage...so I was curious/excited/anxious to try it out.
**Love my paint/project/fixer upper helper :)** The most handsome helper ever! And my prince charming too!!
I must say, the new 3M painters tape does deliver on what it promises. Keep in mind that I really wanted to put the product to the test so I painted both a red wall and a black/chalkboard wall just to see how good it was..it was great people!

SO, not only was it fun because I received a complimentary paint pack of goodies from 3M to try out for myself BUT they have also graciously offered to give away 16 Yes people, I said 16 rolls to my friends/readers/followers.....that's YOU! I can't wait for you to try out the new and improved 3M painters tape :) I thought I would give you a few ways to win one for yourself so
. leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
. become a friend/follower of Paper Princess Studio (1 entry)
. Tell a friend to come visit Paper Princess Studio and leave a comment (1 entry)
. Like Scotch Blue 3M on facebook (1 entry)
I will leave the contest open for 1 week and pick winners/numbers 1 week from today....Enjoy! Make sure to leave a comment letting me know what you have done so you can receive an entry for each one.

I'm still in the decorating mode finishing the room so I'll post after pics. soon. I just couldn't wait any longer to do the giveaway, now that I have the room painted. Here is a lil' peek of what I have done so far:
.This is the chalkboard wall with a craft table in front

. And here is the main wall- complete with framed Disney art (I've had these posters for years...so thrilled to dust them off, frame/hang them, and enjoy them!
PS- Yep, I painted/am painting/stenciling the ceiling and it's turning out to be a complete disaster!! A disaster as in I'm going to start from square one, repaint the entire ceiling white and try the stenciling again...Boo :( I was so excited to do it but not as easy as I though...more on that later (probably a complete blog post devoted to the do's and do not's of stenciling your ceiling.Ha! Live and learn, right?!?

Here's a peek at the molding on the same wall

The top half of the wall is red...the bottom portion is framed molding....and in the works are silhouette's of some our fav. Disney characters peeking out from the frames :) Love it! Although I can't finish it until I get my Disney cartridges back from my mama (hint..hint...mama ;)

More pics. coming soon...having so much fun creating this room! I especially can't wait to create the princess nook (I'm taking the closet doors off and creating a princess palace complete with a dress up vanity...princess costumes, and a mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all... :) Fun times!!

Much thanks to 3M for being so generous!!

Pillow talk

2011-02-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

I've been minorly obsessesed/enchanted with pillows as of late :). You may recall that this mild obsession of mine began in the fall when I created my first subway art inspired Halloween pillow followed by my Thanksgiving subway art pillow. Somehow I missed Christmas as far as my subway art pillow obsession goes (got to busy...surprise, surprise) but fear not my friends I have not forgotten about this lil' fond obsession I have ;). I present to you my Valentine day subway art pillow-

I'm starting to get quite the collection of subway art holiday pillows ;)...I LUV!

February Crafts on Sonoran Living

2011-02-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

I had so much sharing some V.day craft inspiration today on Sonoran Living Live! In case you missed it, you can see it here:

To my Valentine....

2011-02-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous day today! I had the honor of being a part of Sonoran Living Live on ABC 15; I showed how to create the cute as a button v.day mailbox (pictured in previous post) as well as a quick yet hip host/hostess gift for the big game on Sunday (Superbowl). Both projects I demoed used my new favorite must have crafting tool....
Image courtesy of Silhouette

Yep folks, I have added to my never ending collection of crafting gadgets and gizmo's a plenty.....whose it's and what's it galore....Oops, flash back to my Disney days ;) LOL

Anyhoo, the kind, generous, fantastic, wonderful peeps over at Silhouette graciously offered me a Silhouette. Of course I was elated and on cloud 9 and quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes, I would love one!". I must tell you...I LOVE it! As many of you know, I have been a big fan of the Cricut but man oh man this is even easier, smaller, and less hurt on the pocket book then having a Cricut. If you do not have a cutting machine but have been thinking of getting one, the Silhouette is the way to go! I was elated when I plugged in my Silhouette for the first time and honest to goodness, all (I said ALL) of the fonts I have on my computer were readily available for me to use to cut with the Silhouette. That's thousands of fonts (for FREE I might add). With the Cricut you have to purchase every cartridge for every font...that's a lot of mullah folks. Anyhoo, I LUV (if you can't tell ;) :) ;)

Thanks to my new gadget, creating the projects I showed on 'the show' was so quick and easy and fun to boot. I will post a link to the segment as soon as it's available.

In the mean time, for those of you who are visiting Paper Princess Studio for the first time from either the live studio audience or on air audience, Welcome! I am so very glad you stopped by- I invite you to come back often for much more crafting, decorating, and well anything really. I would also like to give everyone who is stopping by my blog a gift (call it an early Valentine from me to you) I came across my M.I.L collection of vintage V.day cards from when she was a child and thought I would share with you
Download here

This is what I created with it
**A limited quantity are available for purchase in my etsy store**

You've got mail-Valentines style

2011-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Happy February 1st. Can you believe we are already in Feb?

With Valentines day quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to leave my 2 loves (my hubby and daughter) love notes on all the days leading up to February 14th. Of course the love notes need to be left in a cute, clever spot. Like this mailbox I created for Makayla.

**For all my AZ peeps, tune into ABC 15, Sonoran Living Live, this Friday at 11am for the how to on this project**

And for my hubby's love notes, I turned a ordinary plastic file folder into 14 days of love notes for my one and only

Oh how I love holidays....any excuse to create fun crafts and traditions for my family :) XoXoXoXoXoXo

A Special day for our Lil Lady

2011-01-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Whew, what a day yesterday....We had a 1st. birthday bash for our lil lady :). As I mentioned recently, I've been MIA as of late because I've been buried working on party goods for M's 1st. bday. This is going to be a l-o-n-g post because I have much to share...I guess I'm making up for my absence all in one post ;)....

The day begun by getting the party girl all dressed up in her party gear. I had purchased a personalized onsie from MaddieBug Baby on etsy, made her a matching ladybug tutu to match, and finished it off with some adorable ladybug shoes/slippers from baby Gap. I made my lil' lady a headband to match but quickly switched it to the one that my dear friend Steph made her as part of her gift...SO cute! Thanks again bird ;)

Mommy and daddy had to get adorned in their party gear too. Our party gear consisted of shirts that I screen printed with my Yudu machine. Mine said 'Ladybug' and Davids said, "Real men love ladybugs". I needed a lil something, something to finish off my outfit so I quickly made a matching hair pretty to go along with my ladybug themed charmed necklaces. I had found an adorable ladybug charm at the Hob

When the guest arrived, they were greeted by a lil' lady on the doorstep so there would no mistaking that they were at the right house (my mama had found a cute metal ladybug at M's on clearance last summer so we snatched it up knowing it would be great for the party. That's a huge bonus of planning your party early...you can collect goods throughout the year and can pick a lot of them up at clearance prices...love that!) Once inside, the decor consisted of our entry table adorned with pictures of the guest of honor followed by a poster sized ladybug I created with M's monthly pictures as the ladybugs spots.

The guest didn't have to travel very far to see the sweet treats that awaited. Front and center was the most adorable cake any lady could ever ask for...made with love by grandma (my mama). Those of you who have been friends of my blog for awhile now may recall that my mama has recently self taught herself the art of cake decorating with fondant....LOVE! It is so great to have a cake maker in the family :) :) :) The cake turned out even more perfect then I could have imagined and M thought it was delicious too! Of course we all did for that matter.

Behind the b.day cake was the sweet treat buffet that was loaded with all sorts of goodies for the lady's and bugs.
Treats included ladybug cupcakes (another creation by my mom), ladybug straws (red and black licorice), ladybug spots (atomic fireballs, and choc. candies), bug bites (ladybug wrapped mints), lady in a garden (sour apple candies layered with vanilla pudding, oreo dirt, a gumpaste leaf, and chocolate ladybugs made by me), lady lollies (choc. ladybug lollipops made by me), flower sugar cookies adorned with
fondant ladybugs, and lastly b.day cake sugar cookies adorned with the number 1.
To go along with all the sweet treats I created some printables to label the treats. I purchased graphics from both BabyStar Design and Woofyworldfrom etsy.

Above the sweet buffet was a b.day banner I created for my lil sweets with some tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling.

On one side of the treat table was a hot chocolate buffet that included hot chocolate on a stick, choc. sprinkled covered marshmallows on a stick, and truffle bugs (peppermint truffles)
On the other side of the sweets buffet was treat bags, party plates/napkins, and beverages. I dressed up the island we keep on our patio to house all the goods...I simply ruffled some fabric and adhered to the island to dress it up.

Other party deets included an autograph plate complete with her lil footprints and well wishes from all the party goers,ladybug candle holders, party whistles, party hat, and high chair party bunting (all made by mommy..me :)
For party favors we gave our sweet guest the choice of a ladybug sugar cookie, or a lady they can pick straight out of the garden (ie. a ladybug sugar cookie on a stick). The baby bugs had their choice of 1 of 3 ladybug board books. All that 'buzzed' by also left with a lovebug frame that we put together as a craft at the party. I had found a cute unfinished ladybug wood mask at Joanne's so I had picked that up, gave it a coat of paint, and had hoped to snap all the guest pics. with the mask to put inside their frame, but go figure, the only person I was able to snap wearing the mask was papa bug- Ha!

I had so much fun planning this party! We are so very Blessed by all those who surrounded us in sharing in the 1st. year of our lil girl, a huge thank you to you all! A much deserved thank you to my fellow bird who took over 300+ pics. for me (many of them are in this blog post) I so appreciate you and everything you do for me and my family. And last but not least thank you to my family...I couldn't do it with out you- especially you mama- You are the best ever!

This past year has been the best year of my life....all because of this lil' life that my hub and I get to call our own- our miracle- Happy Birthday sweet girl

We love you you lil lady! Indeed, Our sweet baby is becoming a lil' lady.

Getting ready to party from head to toe...

2011-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

I've been buried in party preparations for my lil' sweets 1st. b.day party :). It seems right when I think I'm done with the party preparation this pea pickin' mind of mine comes up with another project/ lil' detail to make the party just right. Perfect example...my party wardrobe would not be complete without a ladybug pedi, right ;) LOL
In all honesty, I have not had a pedi all winter long and my tosies were in desperate need of some painting. Today I finally decided to put a coat on and thought it would be fun to add some polka dots in honor of M's ladybug party..I'm a dork, I know- HA!

And since I can't get M to sit still long enough to give her a party pedi I thought some party shoes were the next best thing.

I can't wait to share all the details of lil Miss M's B.day...stay tuned.

An invite for our lil' lovebug

2011-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

I hope this new year, this new decade has been treating you and yours well- Happy New Year friends! It has been quite a busy one for my family; cars breaking down, found a stray dog (trying to find a home for it), and most importantly getting ready for a VERY special day- Our sweet baby girl is getting ready to celebrate her 1st. birthday in a few weeks! In truth, that is why I have been MIA for the past couple of weeks- I've been deep in preparation for her party :). There are SO many fantastic party blogs out there and I've been in awe at so many fabulous parties that have been featured. What are some of your fav. party blogs?

One of the first task I've tackled for M's 1st. birthday party is the party invitations, of course :). Her party is going to be a ladybug theme so a cute, sweet ladybug invite was in order.
I embossed the ladybug to give it some added texture and loved what it did to the card- really took it up a notch
When you open the ladybug's wings, you see a picture of our lil' lovebug all dressed up as a lil' lady (She was a ladybug for Halloween and my friend Steph took the most fantastic pic. of M all dressed up- SO perfect for this invite!) I placed a banner across the pic. that reads, "Our sweet baby is turning into a lil' lady"

When you move the picture aside, you are then greeted by the invite. The invite reads, "Our lil' lady Makayla Grace is turning one so please come join us and have some fun....Hope to spot you there"...All of the other party details are included as well.
And lastly to finish it all off, I created a cute address label wrap with some matching return labels. This is the backside of the wrap on the envelope.

All of the invitations have been sent off, so now it's time to concentrate on all of the other fun details of the party. I can't wait to share them with you all!

Paper Princess- Top 10 Projects of 2010

2010-12-30T21:14:00.001-08:00

So hard to believe that today is the last day of 2010! In looking back on 2010, I thought it would be fun to share my top 10 projects of the year:
1- Book Page Wreath
2- Chalkboard Pumpkin
3- Silhouette Pillow
4- Subway Art Burlap Holiday Pillows
5-Craft Studio (I'll be adding more this next year...I can't wait :)!)
6- Makayla's Baby Nursery (I never showed pics. of the full reveal, will do so soon)

7- Silhouette on Silver Trey Frame
8- Guest Bathroom
9-PB inspired NEST pillow
10-Photo Pillow
And saving the best for last, my fav. one of a kind project that took this whole entire year...my sweet baby girl :)

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

I have some fun plans for Paper Princess Studio in the new year :) The first is of which will be dedicating this blog completely to crafting. That means A LOT more projects and some give aways :) :) In fact, I already have a giveaway that will take place in Jan. so make sure to follow Paper Princess Studios so you'll be in the know ;). I will be launching a new blog for my family happenings, so those of you that check in here for the latest with the Mellstroms be sure to be on the look out for our new blog address to be delivered to your inboxes shortly.

New Year's Hostess gift ideas- As seen on Sonoran Living ABC 15

2010-12-30T01:53:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas has come and passed and now it is time to get ready to ring in the new year. Whether you are getting ready to glam it up and attend a snazzy New Year's Eve party, or choosing to stay home and celebrate with some of your closest friends, you will be in need of some quick, simple, and fun ways to present food/treats, set the ambiance, and of course keep track of whose glass of wine or champagne is who's. Here is my New Year's gift to you, the 'how to', to create the perfect hostess gift:
Chalkboard pedestal plate
Supplies: Ceramic plate (any shape or size will do), Chalkboard paint, Candlestick (again, any shape or size will do. Just keep in mind, the higher the candle stick the taller your pedestal plate will be), apoxy adhesive, Chalk
Directions: Tape off any area on the plate that you do not wish to have chalkboard paint on. Paint on your chalkboard paint and allow to dry (the longer you can let your chalkboard paint cure, the better). Once your paint is dry, adhere your candlestick to the bottom of the dish using an apoxy glue (again, allow a good amount of drying time). Once dry, write your sentiment on the chalkboard, place some yummy treats on top, and Enjoy!

Chalkboard wine glass charms
Supplies: Chipboard/cardboard/poster board, chalkboard paint, template for your circle (anything that is round and about the same size as the base of your wine glass will do), scissors, circle punch, scissors
Directions: Trace your circle template onto your chipboard and cut. Paint your chipboard circles with chalkboard paint, allow to dry. Once the paint is dry, punch a smaller sized circle in the middle of the larger circle (this is the part that will wrap around the stem of the glass), cut from the outer perimeter into the small circle, write recipients name onto wine charm..Cheers!

Candle Glam
Supplies: Pillar candle, burlap, ribbon trim, decorative charm and or button
Directions: Adhere strip of burlap around the candle, layer decorative ribbon on top of burlap trim (tie into a bow if you wish), finish off by adhering decorative charm or button.

Happy New Year's 2011!

Heather Mellstrom
Paper Princess Studio
www.pppaperprincess.blogspot.com

Home for the Holidays...

2010-12-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, so hard to believe that in LESS then 1 WEEK it will be CHRISTMAS!!! It seems like every December the time seems to sneak by quicker and quicker. Are you all ready for the holiday? I've been busy, busy, busy, as I'm sure you all have. This past weekend I hosted a Christmas cookie exchange with some of my closest girlfriends from church...It was a blast (Pics. to come). In preparation for the exchange, I was having a ball putting all the finishing touches on our holiday home. I absolutely adore seeing every one's homes all decked out for the holiday, so I thought I would welcome you into our holiday home 2010-

From the street, a shimmery snowman greets youWe didn't get around to putting up our icicle lights or many of our other lights...since D just had knee surgery, we figured it was better to take it easy, but next year ;)

As you make your way to the front door, you see the beauty of the Christmas lights sparkling on our tree (I've always loved homes that have large windows in the front and you can see the tree as you walk by...that was one of the things I was most excited about when we found our home 2 years ago...I could finally have our own tree planted behind the glass of our large living room window- I love it :)!

Please come on in
Dasher greets you in the entry (Dasher was a paper mache reindeer that has been collecting dust in our garage for about 4 years now..I FINALLY got around to dressing/decorating Dasher up this year with a fresh coat of paint, some vintage glass glitter, and some silk ribbon. Sorry it took me so long to get to you Dasher but at least you have a good home now...perfectly perched in the arch between our entry and living room

As you step inside, the dining room area is decked out in her holiday finest
The buffet is adorned
The kitchen is adorned with holly garland hanging from the pot rack
Festive platters are displayed and ready at a moments notice to be used to serve sweet treats and holiday cookies
The kitchen nook area is housed with holiday serving dishes, holiday favorite cookbooks, and any and everything gingerbread

Including this metallic tree :)
The family room is all aglow with a fire roaring (Ok, it's a fake fireplace but never the less it does provide a warm ambiance :) the fresh aroma of a real spruce Christmas tree (this is the 1st. year we got a real tree and I love it...I think this will be a yearly tradition now!)
The stockings are hung
Photos of Christmas' past and Christmas' present adorn the mantle; I have photographs of David and I with Santa Claus when we were young children as well as M's photo from this year.
My collection of Nutcracker's are housed on top of the armoire hutch (the perfect perch where you can look but can't touch, a must when you have tiny little curious hands in your house ;) HA!)

I love my collection of Nutcrackers displayed with my pointe shoes; I performed in the Nutcracker for over 13 years so it has a huge place in my heart and brings back wonderful memories of Christmas' past.
Our first real tree is perfectly perched in the nook of our family room
While our artificial tree is perched in the living room behind the large window
The manger is displayed

And the scripture advent I created this year sits right next to the tree- the perfect place to gather as a family to read the scriptures that tell the story leading up to our glorious Saviors birth on Christmas- the reason for this season!

As you make your way up the stairs, you can see the glistening of lights as they adorn the small tree in our study loft that is home to many of our favorite scripture/Biblical ornaments

While you are up there, If you peak into our lil' princess' abode, you will see her cute miniature pink tree all aglow

Or you may even see the lil' princess herself all adorned in her holiday best :)

Well, there you have it friends a little glimpse into our holiday home. From our home to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas

Love, The Mellstroms

Having a ball...making Christmas bulbs

2010-12-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

What a week, I've been up to my eyes in Christmas bulb custom orders. Some of you may have noticed that I have started to sell some of my projects on etsy. In the few short weeks I have been listing things, I have been richly Blessed with quite a few orders. It is such an honor to be in listed to create a keepsake for someone else..to create an item that year after year they will take out, place on their tree, and reminisce of that special moment (whether it be a family photo from that particular year, a birth, a wedding, etc). Creating special ornaments has become a passion of mine for the past few years so I thought I would share some of my favorites.
This is an ornament that I'll forever hold dear to my heart..it is the ornament documenting the miracle growing inside of me last year when I was pregnant with M. It has a photo of D and I when I was 8 months pregnant on one side and her ultra sound pic. on the other

And here is this years ornament...our sweet lil baby girl

This one is another fav. It has our wedding photo on one side and dried roses from our wedding ceremony on the other

Here is another wedding ornament..simple yet chic

This is our family ornament for this year=LOVE!

And here are the monogram ornaments I showed on Sonoran Living a few weeks back...classic
Since we have so many ornaments, I decided that another tree is a must! This year we bought a REAL Christmas tree!!!!!! Yippie, can you tell I"m in love??? We have made an executive family decision that every year we will buy a real tree to place in our family room and that is where I have decided all of our special photo ornaments will be housed :). I love having a real tree in our family room, it makes it so very nice and cozy. I could seriously sit in here all day long and be one happy camper...although more orders are a calling so I guess I really can not sit in here all day long :( Sniff...sniff...

**If anyone is interested in placing an order for custom photo ornaments, this is the last week to order before Christmas, email me for more info**

A tree obsession

2010-12-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

As I have been decorating our home for the holidays, it has become very apparent to me that I have a Christmas tree obsession :) I'm in luv!! At the moment we have a Christmas tree in the living room, a real on in our family room, kitchen, dining room, patio, loft, master bedroom, and Makayla's room. What's even more disturbing then the fact I have so many Christmas tree's, is that I want more :)! I'm in the market for about a 5' flocked tree for Makayla's playroom (It will be the Disney tree...Yes, I have that many Disney ornaments-HA!) I also would like either a feather tree of vintage tinsel tree for my scrap studio (that will become the vintage tree, as my grandma has graciously given me MANY of her handmade vintage ornaments from Christmas' long ago). I hope to do a Christmas tour of our holiday home very soon so you will get a glimpse of our tree haven over here :). In the mean while, I thought I would share one of our latest tree/trees to our collection-These are pedestal table top trees I made this year
I needed a tree to display the ornaments I created for Sonoran Living a few weeks back so that's when these babies came to be. I'm pretty much in love as they are just too cute! They are perfect for that little space that needs some jazzing up Christmas style and are also fun to customize...by adding your monogram

or a decorative cross
I have many more ideas for these babies. although we may be running out of room to put them here at our home so maybe they'll have to be gifts..hint, hint ;) . Well, off to do some more holiday crafting...What have you been working on?

Oh, some of you have asked questions in regards to how I made the advent scripture calendar- I will do a more detailed post on that in the next day or two :)

Just hanging

2010-12-05T19:03:00.001-08:00

Today the littles and I are sick but that didn't stop me from hanging up ornaments, hanging up Christmas decor, and creating a fun place to hang the Christmas cards we are beginning to receive in the mail. I have never had a great system for displaying our cards so this year I set out to create a lil' something, something and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out :) I'm going to be listing some in my etsy shop and am also working on some others that will allow you to hang more cards (the same concept just longer words that will have more dowels in between). If any of you have any unique ways you display your cards, I would love to hear :) Quick post, but time to go hang out with my littles before bed time :) Night!

The countdown begins

2010-12-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Whew, Here we are friends- in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas! I can not believe that it is already December, let alone December 4th.!!! Every year I say I'm not going to get so busy that I don't have time to sit back and enjoy every moment of my most favorite time of year. This year especially, I desire to take in every little moment spent with my loved ones..especially with this little one

Don't judge, I have no make up on, was putting up Christmas lights, and am sick to boot.
Oh, and spending time with him too!

I am happy to report that I'm well on my way to relaxing a little bit more and enjoying the season because for the VERY 1st. time EVER I got my Christmas cards in the mail on December 1st. ! That has been a l-o-n-g time goal of mine for a quite some time and this year I did it :) :) :).
I don't know what it is about Christmas cards but knowing that they are sent out is such a huge relief for me. Speaking of cards, I'm in the midst of conjuring up a cute way to display your cards (pics. coming very soon ;)

In the mean while, I'm counting down the days until December 25th. How do you count down the days? There are so many C-U-T-E advent calendars out there. Speaking of which, I've been on a mission this year to create a new advent for our family. Some of you who have been friends for awhile, may remember this one I created a few years back

Well, this year I desired to have an advent that not only counted down the days but also was a daily reminder to our family of the true meaning of Christmas=Christ. A friend of mine had mentioned that she had seen an advent that had scripture on it and that got my wheels turning. I couldn't find anything like the vision I had in my head so I set out to create my own. It's been quite an undertaking the past few days but I'm almost done. In fact, I did finish one...
this one is a Christmas gift for a very dear friend (I knew I would be seeing her last night so I rushed like a madwoman to get it finished so I could give it to her so she can use it this year). Mission accomplished, she loved it and I do too..now I just have to put the finishing touched on ours (will show a pic. soon but it's going to be pretty similar). Each day you pull off the magnet, open the card and read the scripture that tells the Christmas story.
Once all the cards/verses are pulled off, you are left with this
A reminder of what this season is all about!

Makayla is 10 months old!

2010-12-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

I could not let another day pass by without posting this post- a week ago our little sweets hit the double digits and turned 10 months old! It's bitter sweet- bitter in the fact that in just a couple months she is going to be 1 yr. old!!!! I know I say this every month, but it literally seems like yesterday we were holding our baby girl for the first time. It is oh so sweet in the fact that she is growing and developing more each and every day- such a sweet, sweet process to be a part of :). This month Makayla has changed more then any other month prior-
At 10 months Makayla is:
*Completely mobile! Although she is not walking I would be willing to bet that that day is just around the corner. She stands up ALL the time- she will grab a hold of whatever or whomever is near and pull herself up to a stand. The doggies even make a great support :) LOL
*Made it up 2 flights of stairs in our house all by herself!!!! David and I were astonished when we caught her climbing up the stairs. We decided to watch and see how far she would go..well, she went all the way to the top in no time flat! Now we have to keep a keen eye on her because she loves to climb up the stairs whenever she has the chance (especially since we have a set of stairs on each side of our home/a dual staircase)

*LOVES her bottle! Whenever she sees me walk in the room with a bottle she gets a huge smile on her face and makes a very happy babble

*Is eating all sorts of goodies these days- Fish, cheerios, goldfish crackers, juice, yogurt (she loves yogurt), string cheese, and her latest adoration little citrus cuties

* Refuses to stay put in her highchair. If she is not strapped in she will stand up time after time after time again. Lesson learned, she MUST be strapped when in her chair and she is not such a fan of being confined ;)
* Helped her daddy heal as he recovered from knee surgery. Daddy has to get his knees in tip top shape because he has a little sassy pants to run after now!

* Went Trick-or-Treating for the 1st. time. We adore our lil love bug!

We spent the evening with our friends Steph and Carlos and Makayla's buddies, Landon and Ryker- SO fun!
* Helps mommy in the kitchen frequently. She consistently crawls into the kitchen whenever I am in there and never ceases to find something to entertain herself...like the dishwasher- there is all sorts of fun stuff in there! Spoons especially make great toys when you can bang them on things :) HA!

*Has a morning routine that consists of waking up between 7-7:30am, having a bottle, and chilling in her exersaucer while watching Sesame Street and Cat in the Hat while mommy cleans up the kitchen and puts dishes away.
* Has superb hand/eye coordination. Daddy rigged up this tennis ball on a string recently and she LOVES it! She giggles like no tomorrow as she tries to grab it as Daddy swings it back and forth in front of her.
Daddy is determined that she is going to win 'Wimbleton' by age 16 so he is working on her hand/eye coordination early ; )
* Has a ball playing with your pal Luke (Noah too!) These 2 sweet babes are only 6 days a part in age- it's been such a blessing to watch them grow. I can't believe how much they have changed in 10 months!! And much thanks to my sweet friend Heidi (Luke's mama) who has graciously watched our littles when I had a hair appt. and was filming my craft segment on Sonoran Living Live- You are a life saver Heidi, Thank You!
* Had a special visit from the man in the red suite (her daddy ;) News has it, she has been a VERY good girl this year!
* Receives complement after complement on her big baby blues. We constantly get stopped in the market, the stores, pretty much anywhere we are and people comment on her blues (mommy and daddy wish we had eyes as beautiful as hers!)
We are SO very Blessed by this little miracle. We are so excited to spend the Christmas season with her coming up- She is the BEST gift we could ever have!
Love ya sweet baby girl

Getting my craft on

2010-11-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the honor of being a part of ABC 15, Sonoran Living Live show this past Friday. It was a blast

But then again, how can it not be when you get to work with the most fabulous tv host ever :)!!!!!!!

Mwa :) with Stephanie Sandoval the host of Sonoran Living on ABC 15
It was a quick segment but I hope I was able to convey to the viewers that by simply thinking outside the box, you can make some fantastic ornaments this holiday season. You do not have to spend a ton of money or even be 'crafty' to make a great looking ornament. Here's one example of a fun easy ornament-
All I did was simply use the wrapping paper that I adorned the gifts with, modge podged it to the back of a glass bulb, and then embellish. What a simple way to add a lil something, something to a gift ; ) I'll post more pics. of the ornaments from the show within the next few days.

What are some of your fav. ways to create ornaments?

All decked out

2010-11-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

Our home is all decked out for fall and I'm loving it! As I mentioned previously, we have a tradition (a strange one some may say ;) but here in our home, we get out our Christmas tree in September :)! This is the 3rd. year that we have done so and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the ambience that our tree exudes and I adore changing outfits on her throughout the season. Because Thanksgiving is quickly approaching she is adorned in her fall decor. She wears glitterazed pinecones, embellished acorns
Glimmery leaves (recently picked these up at Walmart for $1.00!)
And is beginning to accumulate an array of 'Thankful' ornaments. Every year I like to make an ornament with a special photo from that year and then on the back of it, I document what I'm thankful for

Oh, speaking of ornaments...tune in today on ABC 15, Sonoran Living Liveat 11am MST. I will be on the show sharing some quick, easy, and fun Christmas ornaments. Just in time for the holidays :)! Here is a peek at one of the ornaments I'll be showing on the show

Setting the table

2010-11-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I shared my quick and simple decor with the chalkboard tub filled with fall goodness for our kitchen table. Today, I wanted to share my budget friendly decor for our formal dining area where we will be feasting on Thanksgiving day. I've been very inspired by Pottery Barn this fall and used their fall catalog for the inspiration for our Thanksgiving table
I love the simplicity, the texture, and the warmth that many of their set ups exude. I have set upon to give my table a similar feel but on a budget friendly dime :)

First things first, off to the dollar store to grab a glass hurricane cylinder and a glass sundae cup. Next up, off to the Hob (Hobby Lobby) to load up on some fall foliage which is now 80% off people!!!!!! Seriously, run don't walk to your nearest HL and load up on some fall goodness. (If there is any left, because I have seriously horded this from the 2 nearest Phoenix locations ;) And when I was there, let me tell you- I was not the only one hording- wink ;) :)
Ok, now we have 'our goods' let's get to work. I started by flipping the sundae glass over, applying an epoxy, and then placing the glass hurricane on top. When that was drying, I added some blingage to our chandelier (found the chandelier crystals on clearance when I was @ HL) I love these things...a simple magnet= some serious C-U-T-E bling. Ok, by now the epoxy is dry, so I flipped that baby over, filled with dried pinto beans, and then stuffed my fall foliage inside
Whatcha think?? I'm pretty much loving it! I was originally going to purchase some fresh floral and place those inside a hallowed out pumpkin for our Thanksgiving table but decided to go this route because it was cheaper, and I can now use it year after year...score :)!
Now this is what I call fall fashion on a budget...total cost=about $5.00!!!!!

FALL-abulous

2010-11-16T21:59:00.000-08:00

Whew, the littles and I were battling a cold this past week...all better now though :)

Now that we're all better, we've been 'Fall-afying' the house. Next week, we will be hosting the first Thanksgiving in our new home- SO excited! In typical fashion, I have been tackling the never ending 'to do' list to get ready for the holiday. My first task has been to fashion our tables for the holiday. Although we will be feasting in the dining room, I wanted to add some festive decor to our kitchen area as we'll be eating there on Wed. evening when our guest arrive. I browsed around the house to see what I could use from things we had laying around and well wouldn't you know, I found this old (well it's actually new) but old in the fact that I had purchased it a couple years ago from the Goodwill, garden tub. It was hunter green which doesn't exactly go with our decor so I decided to use chalkboard paint (big surprise, I know ;) Wink. I figured it would be fun to change out messages through out the year and then fill the tub with seasonal decor to match the season. For Thanksgiving I added a scripture (Psalm 136:1) and filled the tub with gourds, pumkins, pine cones, and other fall goodness.

I'm diggin it :)

In other news, the Christmas cards that I wrote about in my previous post have already been ordered and delivered! I ordered the cards from Shutterfly on sat. night and they were on our door step today!!! We are thrilled with the way they turned out- the best Christmas card we have ever had (of course having our littles in the pics. with us, makes it that much sweeter). Here are some of the pics. we used on our card:

Photos by Amanda Chandler Photography

You've got mail...

2010-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

With only 46 days until Christmas friends, it is never to early to start thinking about your holiday cards! Each and every year it is a goal of mine to have all of our Christmas cards ready, sealed, addressed, and stamped by November's end. I would love to be able to have our cards in the mail on December 1st. Now does it ever happen you ask...NO never :), LOL. This year will be an exception, I will succeed with my quest! There are a few reasons why I believe I can make it happen this year:

For one, we just had our family photographs taken this past Sat. The M.O.P.S group that I belong to offered a fabulous deal as part of a fundraiser. The best part about it, is we will get all of our images on a cd within the next 2 weeks..SO excited. Now just hoping that there is at least one great shot of the 3 of us :) fingers crossed! I know the photographer got some fabulous shots of Makayla because she showed us a few and they were to die for...SO cute! The second reason I feel like I'll be able to get er' done is thanks to my good ol' friends at Shutterfly. Clearly you all know of this great company that makes it so very easy and fun to preserve our cherished memories via photography products. My family and I have been using Shutterfly for our photography printing needs for the past few years and we have never been happier. We adore the photo books, the quality of the prints, and the expedited door to door service is always a huge bonus. For the first time ever, I have decided to use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards. Have you seen the gorgeous designs they have. Check These out. There are so many great designs to choose from, surely there is one to fit every one's taste.

The design I have decided to use for our families Christmas cards is the Joy Sage Christmas Story 5x7. I love this design and I know it will fit our needs perfectly! The color combination will be perfect with our photos as we coordinated touches of dark red throughout our wardrobes. The photographer took several shots of us against a sage wall so the colors will no doubt be a perfect combination with this card. The other element of this card that I just adore is the story photo design option on the inside. Being that this is the first Christmas we will have Makayla as part of our family I wanted a way to share pictures of some of her significant milestones over the past year, this card gives me that option...perfect! This will be the first year that I have done a folded card, as we usually send out single sided stationary styled cards. Speaking of which, Shutterfly has some great options in that area too, check them out here. Such chic designs, I love them all! I am so very excited to create our cards this year..as soon as I receive our pictures back from the photographer I will be jumping on to Shutterfly to design our cards. I will do it this year, On December 1st. the cards will be on their way to the recipients, "You've got Mail!"

Thankful

2010-11-07T17:50:00.001-08:00

I have so very much to be Thankful for! This time of year I love to reflect on my life, the things I am grateful for, and most of all my everyday blessings.

One of the things I am VERY grateful for is my hubby. He works SO very hard for our family so that I can stay home and be with Makayla as well as allowing me to devote time to a hobby I love- decorating/scrapbooking/creating. Before Makayla came along, I worked full time and well, frankly it didn't allow me very much time to explore my passion. Now that I am home I have been able to spend more time doing what I love like making fun things for our home...such as this
You must have saw this coming..After creating my Halloween subway art pillow, I just could not wait to make more. More for every holiday that is :)

Another thing I'm grateful for, is that I was able to rescue my sweet yellow labby not once but twice today!! More on that later :)

Change...

2010-11-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

As of late, my life has undergone 2 big changes :)...

The first is this_
Here is me on Sunday (notice the blah, ho hum hair=Ick!

And here is me as of Mon. :)
I'm so loving my new do. I feel like I finally have a style. I feel younger, feel sleeker, and am looking forward to the many possibilities with this new do. Like C-U-T-E headbands :)

The hub loves it too...that's always a huge bonus :) He says I look like a mommy but in a good way. I suppose he means I have soccer mom hair-ha!

The second big change was saying goodbye to my Nikon point and shoot camera and falling in Love with this
My sweet, sweet hub bought me this DSL for my bday and I'm SO madly in Love with it!!! I couldn't wait to dress her up (yes, my camera is a she ;) I took her drab camera strap and made it into this fab. and fun glam strap

I added a ruffle (I'm SO in to ruffles right now!) and a bit of velvet trim (loving velvet too!)
And then finished it off with some silk blinged out flowers..loving it :)
Embracing change, and loving every single stinkin' second of it :)!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Hope you get lot's of sweet treats today, and no tricks!

We'll be taking our sweet lil ghoul out for her 1st. time 'Trick or Treating'

Isn't she just 'BOO-tiful'

Happy Hallo

2010-10-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

Whew, just finished in the nick of time. This week I have been taking advantage of Makayla's nap time to get inside my studio (which btw is such a disaster, whenever I work on a project, it seems like my creative juices only getting flowing if my studio looks like this

Anyhow, I wanted to finish a mini book documenting Makayla's first Halloween and, it's just about done. You see, a few years back I had taken a class at a local scrapbook store to create an adorable paper mache haunted house that housed not one, but two mini books inside. How cool is that! When I took the class, I purposely never finished (or started for that matter) the mini books because I knew they were worthy of a special moment and some cutey pattoty pics. David and I never celebrate Halloween or dress up so we didn't have much to make into a mini album other then carving pumpkins or dressing up our pooches. Well, fast forward a few years and now we have our own little ghoul...I mean girl :). M's first Halloween is most worthy of this special spooky house and mini albums, Don't you think? Here is the house and the 2 mini books inside

I plan on putting pics. of trick or treating in the smaller album.

And here is a peek inside the larger album

I had so much fun getting back into my studio and actually scrapbooking!! For those of you that are new friends to my blog, scrapbooking is where it all began for me. I started crafting many moons ago and creating mini albums kinda became my thing. However, ever since we moved 2 years ago I've spent much of my creative juices on creating home decor items for our home. It felt SO good to go back to my roots and play with paper, glitter, and all the other fun glitz and glam I enjoy adding to my albums.

My incentive to getting this book done was so I can start working on some Thanksgiving and Christmas projects I've been dying to start :) :) I told myself I couldn't start those until I finished this, and I have...Woohoo! I also can not wait to pull out this house every year at Halloween and look through the albums reminiscing of special moments from long ago..I can only imagine sitting next to M when she is a teenager and showing her the pics. of her very first Halloween--sniff, sniff

It's a Sign....

2010-10-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Literally, it's a sign :).

I adore adding a little bit of holiday whimsy to unexpected nook and crannies throughout our home. You see, I had purchased this wooden arrow sign that had a big red heart hanging from it a few years back and well, it's been gathering dust in our garage ever since we moved 2 years ago. As I was perusing the latest pages of my Chasing Fireflies catalog I noticed that they were selling the exact same sign with a Halloween decor element hanging from it and that's when it hit me...get that dang sign out of the garage and use it :)! So, that's exactly what I did. I created a festive Halloween sign to hang from the perch. Here is one side of the sign,
And here is the other. The one I saw in the catalog, was the same design on both sides but I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and add a different design to each size; hence depending on what angle you are looking at it you'll see something different. Here it is hanging in our mud room area between the garage door and kitchen area. I adore it! It adds just a little something to an area that would other wise be ignored for seasonal decor. Of course that cute lil yellow isn't to bad either :)

Ok. I must share a funny story about this project though:
Yesterday I went to Ace Hardware to get some chain so I can hang my sign. Well you see, I also needed some rope for another craft project I'm working on so without even thinking about it one of the sweet old men that works there approaches me to see if I needed assistance. Yes, I said, "I need some chain and rope" I know, I know chuckle now because that's exactly what all the men in the hardware aisle were doing as I loudly declared it :). I still didn't even realize how it sounded until the men started chuckling and then the sweet old man helping me says, "That sounds kind of kinky..."We have spikes in the next isle!" Ok end of story, funny..yet a bit embarrassing at the same time.

Oh, thought I would share a few pic. of some littles who are just too cute!

The other day Makayla and I went on a play date to the pumpkin patch with some kiddos and mommies from church...we had a blast! Here is M with her sweet lil buddy, Luke. These 2 are only 6 days apart and we've had more fun watching them grow together. As you can see, they had more fun exploring the hay bales, in particular putting the hay in their mouths. Forget all the other fun activities they had (animals, train rides, corn mazes, and games) the hay in the mouth is where it's at!

Halloween glamour pillow

2010-10-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just a few days away (I can not believe that we are already nearing the end of October!!!). Anyhow, I've been wrapping up a few more 'Spook-tacular' projects that I thought I would share over the next few days. My mind is already consumed with Thanksgiving and Christmas projects but before I move on to those projects, I promised myself that I would finish the Halloween projects I have already begun- in particular finish Makayla's mini album for her 1st. Halloween. My studio is a mess right now! Well, here is one project I have done, a few more festive pillows for the bench on our front porch
I made a stencil for both pillows by using my Cricut, fabric paint, and then a little blingage on this one with fabric glitter

Because I plan on creating festive pillows throughout the year to coordinate with whatever said holiday is approaching, I decided to make slip covers for these pillows- this makes it easy peasy to slip out for the holidays throughout the year with out accumulating 100+ pillows to store throughout the year :)

9 months

2010-10-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

9 months ago today our sweet lil miracle joined us in this great big world :). It is so hard to believe that she has now officially been with us longer on the outside then she has spent growing and forming in mommy's tummy. This month Makayla has grown considerabaly, more then she has any other month up until now. I feel as though our little tiny baby is now approaching toddler-hood (sniff, sniff).

At 9 months old, Makayla is:

*Completly mobile. Although she is not walking she is EVERYWHERE! She has been scooting in the kitchen, the hallways, the dining room, the living room, basically anywhere you sit her down she will be traveling into the next room in just a matter of minutes/seconds.

*Loves to stand like a big girl and has officially taken her first steps with the assistance of holding onto the couch, table, or a hand helper (like grandma :)
*Attended her 1st. park party hosted by her buddy Ryker's family

* Had her 1st. trip to the pumpkin patch. She was by far the cutest pumpkin in the whole patch but I'm of course bias because I'm her mommy :)!

* Is not enjoying the savor flavors of teething biscuits and yogurt in addition to all the veggies, fruits, and meat that mommy conjures up.
*Celebrated her great-grandmother Myers' 89th. B-day
* Loves, loves, loves her bouncy. We can sit there for a very long time and be completly enterained by our lil sweets who will literally jump FOREVER. In fact, sometimes she wears herself out so much that she will catch some z's inbetween bounce sessions. Ha!

* Loving her bottle bear that great-grandma Stoughton made for her (especially since she is lil miss independent now that she can give herself her own bottle ;) Actually it's kinda nice because it takes a good 15 min. off of our getting ready routine :)
*Is starting to get into A LOT of things (time to baby proof!!) Mama has had to tell her "No" in a very stern voice and every single time she looks at me with those big blue's and then gives me a huge grin. How can I not laugh when I see this

Baby girl- You amaze us each and every day. You are a constant reminder of the grace of God- Your daddy and I look forward to the many more precious moments we will share together as a family- We love you pumpkin!

Pick of the Patch

2010-10-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited because today we are taking Makayla on her first trip to the pumpkin patch :). In honor of her 1st. trip to the pumpkin patch I conjured up this sweet spell of a tutu set :) :)
This was my first attempt at making a tutu for my sweet lil girl and I could not get over how easy it was! I for see MANY more tutu outfit's in my babes future :)!! For the top of the set I simply stenciled the pumpkin and monogram on with fabric paint and then finished it off with fabric glitter
So C-U-T-E (my lil pumpkin that is)
I doubt we will find a cuter pumpkin in the patch today!
Have a Blessed fall weekend.

All treats, no tricks

2010-10-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

With the holiday season in full force, I have been busy doing one of my fav. things to do for holidays=baking and making gifts for loved ones. Last weekend we went to the Halloween park party hosted by my friend Steph (pics. below). I wanted to bring a lil gift for the hostess so I conjured up this sweet spell
SO easy, yet so cute! I just added some hand stamped crafties to a canning jar, hung a crystal for some added blingage, and then filled with sugar cookies
- I baked up this batch
and my mama baked up this batch
Trick or treat...give me something good to eat!

A 'BOO-tiful' day at the park

2010-10-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been superb! This past weekend my parents were visiting from Cali. and we got to partake in some fall celebration. My mama and I had fun baking up tons of Treats (No tricks here, simply delectable treats!) Just look at all this sweetness

Of course nothing is near as sweet as this lil treat- My sweet, sweet baby dressed up as a lil lady :)!!
SO much fun seeing all the cute lil kiddos all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Such a 'BOO-tiful' day at the park, many thanks to Steph for hosting such a fun time.
Steph took a liking to Makayla's 'BOOty' onsie so I had to craft one for lil Ryker's tiny lil 'BOOty' :) :) :)

BOO-tiful Baby

2010-10-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to craft some onsies for my sweet baby girl FOREVER. Now that the holiday season is in full effect, I thought it would be the perfect time to start. Here is my BOOtiful baby girl

It was a bit of a challenge to get a pic. of her where you can see the whole front because she is at the stage where she is constantly moving and grooving but you get the idea :)

I made a matching flower headband to match the ruffle collar

And then finished it off with a ruffle butt BOOTY :)

Faith

2010-10-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share a project I volunteered to create for elder appreciation at our church. My family is completely Blessed by our church, Grace Bible church, and it's elders. So many times when we faced challenges and struggles the elders and pastor of our church have instantly been by our sides offering prayer and assistance. An incredibly talented woman from our church came up with the idea to have volunteer artist of the church create a shadow box that will then be presented to one of the elders of our church in honor of our appreciation and gratitude for all they do. Of course, I instantly jumped on board and this is what I created
I used scripture as the backdrop of the box and then highlighted Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I wanted the focus of the piece to be on the cross as the cross is what it's all about- I added some dimension by adhering a decorative cross to the outside of the box and finished it off by adding some vinyl and a little bit of bling (of course ;)

What have you been working on?

At it again

2010-10-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Uh oh, I've been at it again...I got the chalk board paint open :) :) :)!!!!

I am not even exaggerating when I tell you, that when ever I open the can of chalkboard paint, I literally walk around my house to see what else I can paint with chalkboard paint. This time around this pumpkin got the coat :)
I thought it was pretty fun and you can really do quite a bit with it:
*Count down the days until Halloween

* Write down what year it is and take your child's pic. by it every Halloween when they are dressed up
* Write fun messages to your family/friends/guest on it
* Write out your fav. recipe for pumpkin pie and gift it with a pie to give to your neighbor or friend
* Greet your house guest or trick or treaters

I'm sure there are a million other things you can do with it, SO you must make one and have some chalkboard pumpkin loving fun for yourself!

I added a bit of pizzaz to the top of my chalk pumpkin by glittering some fall leaves and adding some twigs. I thought this curly twig would be great to add because it allows me to slip my chalk right in :) Linking up to

Posh Squash

2010-10-05T19:21:00.001-07:00

Woohoo, It's October...SO excited!! October means the holiday season is in full force so that means lot's of crafting for me :) :) The other day my girlfriend came over and we crafted these
Posh Squash

We had spotted these bean bag pumpkins in upscale boutique's in the Phoenix area for the past few years and have always loved them. These sell like hot cakes in the stores here and carry a pretty price tag to go with them- most run between $15-$30. We have always wanted to try and make them ourselves but have never had the time. Well, since we both have recently given birth to 'baby birds ;) and are currently not working we decided it was time to tackle them...We are so glad we did because they are so easy and SO cute!!! In typical birdy fashion we dressed our pumpkins up a bit more then those sold in the boutiques- the ones sold in the boutique simply have the pumpkin stem on top. We added some feathers, leaves, and an antique tag with a scripture printed on it. Here's a close up of our posh squash

Now to tackle some more fall projects :) What's on your fall crafting list?

For the love,

2010-10-01T10:37:00.001-07:00

Of pumpkin :)

Those who know me well, know that I'm infatuated with all things pumpkin...I LOVE pumpkin!! Whether it's decorating my home with the posh squash, baking with it, or simply sipping on a pumpkin spice latte there is just something sweet that warms my heart about pumpkin. Now that it is officially fall, I thought it would be a great time to share some of my favorite ways that I enjoy using pumpkin.

A few days ago, I had some time on my hands when my lil sweets napped so I whipped up this baby-

A burlap subway art inspired Halloween pumpkin adorned pillow :). Truth be told, I was over the moon thrilled with how it turned out...I didn't have a plan for it other then dusting off some of my good ol' foam stamps and seeing what I could come up with. SO easy and SO cute added to the wood bunch on our front porch. I think it's time to make some more friends for this pillow- I think I may have to do some more foam stamping adorned pillows ;) hint,hint...

Anyhoo, Happy Fall Ya'all!
*Linking to the parties listed on my side bar*and to
Hugs,

Pillow talk

2010-09-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have had pillows on my 'to do' list. I am mildly obsessed with pillows ;) There is just something about a pillow that warms a home to me. Seeing a pillow nestled upon a chair just seems to invite you to it- It's almost as if the pillow is saying, "Come sit down, relax, take a load off, and stay awhile" ;) My craft studio is loaded with fabrics and many of those fabrics I have purchased with pillow making in mind. My fabric pile is getting a bit ridiculous and there are many spots throughout our home that are begging me to make a pillow to warm it up SO pillow making is exactly what I've been up to. I created this small lil pillow for our master bedroom

I adore the picture on the pillow but thought it needed just a lil something, something so I embellished with a key (Representative of my love, David, who holds the key to my heart), an antique tag with 22 stamped upon it (representative of our wedding date), and a flower (representative of our love that continues to grown and flourish with time)

*Linking up to the weekend parties on the bottom right of my sidebar*

Finally....

2010-09-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today was such a great day! I got much accomplished (thanks to my sweet babe taking 2 very long naps). I started the day by getting some of my Bible studying completed and followed it up by some sweet, sweet time spent with Makayla. I adore seeing her discover new things, It is such a joy!!! When she went down for her 1st. nap I got some much needed cleaning complete on our back patio as well as getting some new veggies planted in the garden. When M went down for her 2nd. nap I thought I would attempt my Yudu machine (again). Speaking of which, I don't think I have ever mentioned that I invested/splurged in a Yudu machine. The possibilities are endless with this machine but man oh man, I have had A LOT of problems with it! The key to the machine is applying the emulsion correctly and I just haven't gotten the knack for it. Do any of you have a Yudu? If so, any helpful hints for me? When I have had luck in getting my screen burned correctly, I have made some fabulous projects with it (will share soon). Anyhoo, I attempted to Yudu again and to no avail was not able to complete the project I had in mind, BUT I was able to FINALLY complete this:
I have been wanting to make a burlap runner for our kitchen table for a L-O-N-G while but have not gotten around to it. I am so happy with the way it turned out, and boy was it a simple project. I love when such a simple project really adds that something a room/area needs. I adore burlap...I'm using it on everything these days :). Since I already had the M stencil cut out I decided to make a pillow for the bench on our front porch...

LOVE :)
*Linking up to the weekend parties listed on the bottom right of my sidebar*

8 months

2010-09-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a sweet day-Makayla turned 8 months old!!

This month we have seen a change in our sweet baby girl like no other. At 8 months Makyla is
*Standing!!! She started this a few weeks back and now we can't stop her from standing anywhere and everywhere. She is constantly standing and loves to show mommy and daddy what a big girl she has become.

*Sprouted her first 2 teeth. I noticed her 2 bottom teeth breaking through last Sunday.

*Tackling her first colds. She picked up her 1st. cold a few weeks ago and has been sneezing and fighting a runny nose again this past week. Poor pumpkie...notice the snot bubble in this pic :(

*Enjoyed a ride on the big kid swings for the 1st. time. I met my friend Michelle at the park this past week for a lunch date with her kiddos and we put M in a swing..to my surprise, she adored it. Every time the swing would swing forward she would giggle which in turn would make mama giggle. SO cute to watch her experience 'New' things in life!

*Celebrated mama's bday with her. This year my bday was especially sweet as I got to spend it with my sweet baby girl. Further proof that when you make a wish and blow out your candles on the cake, they do come true ;)

* Celebrated mommy & daddy's anniversary with them. Having our sweet baby girl join us for our anniversary celebration was the greatest Blessing to us. She is a reminder of our answered prayers that we get to look at, love, and treasure each and every day.

*Is enamored with the pets more then ever. She is constantly climbing all over the pets and just adores her brothers and sisters, the fur babies. Now the fur babies, they are not so fond of the new affection that there baby sister has developed; Duke (our gentle giant) will growl and bark at her but then just turns around and licks her. Dakota will scatter away as soon as she reaches out to touch her (or grab a huge handful of fur as it will be ;) and the kitties, well they just let her do her thing

*Has developed a fondness for tags. I noticed it awhile ago, when I would go to check on her in her crib and there she would be inspecting and observing the tags on her teddy bear, blankets, etc. So what else was mama to do, accept make her her own taggie blanket :)
She looks SO grown up to me in this pic...sniff, sniff...Where did my baby girl go??

*Moved up from a size 2 to a size 3 diaper

*Added meat and pumpkin to her repertoire of food (she's not so fond of meet so I have to mix it in with squash or carrots in order to get her to eat it)

*Has become quite the social butterfly!! This past month I started a women's Bible study at our church as well as joined a M.O.P.S group. Both activities allow for me to bring M so she has gotten to experience play time with a bunch of kiddos. I've really gotten a kick out of watching her interact with other babes. I am Blessed to serve in the children's ministry @ the Women's Bible study for an hour so I get to watch her interact 1st. hand and well, we have a happy social butterfly on our hands :). There are some children who enjoy being held the whole time, are crying, want your attention, etc but not M...she is perfectly content to sit there and entertain herself while chatting up a storm. I do have to say, she is the loudest one in the group by far ;) Hmm..I wonder where she gets that ;)!!!
*LOVES to demolish my magazines!!! I have now had to strategically move some of my magazines so that our family room doesn't become one big paper trash pile!
* Has taken a fondness to cartoons. Just a couple of morning ago I stumbled upon Sesame Street and she couldn't take her eyes off of it. Of course, the Disney movies are still top of the list at the Mellstrom house though :)
*Has started to get into things. Time to start baby proofing ;). When I have her in my studio with me she is easily entertained, as there is all sorts of things to get into
Like this sticker tag, this looks yummy...let me stick it in my mouth!
*Started to stick out her tongue..LOL

*Started to give herself her own bottle

*Can successfully escaper her car seat if not strapped in.

The other night, we were eating dinner and she was in her car seat in the family room. All of a sudden I look over and see her sitting on the outside of her seat playing with the ribbons on her car seat cover...Hmm...how did that happen?

This month has been such a huge Blessing in our lives. We have seen life through a child's eyes and have become more aware of the precious gift of life, the little things in life that make it complete.

Baby girl, you are our most precious treasure- You are our heart. We love you!

A true love story

2010-09-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

4 years ago today my own fairytale begun as I married my prince charming
David is my Best friendOur 1st. Anniversary 2007

My Mentor Our 2nd. Anniversary 2008

My Supporter Our 3rd. Anniversary 2009
And the one who gave me the most precious gift I could ever ask for 2010

This year we have much to celebrate...our love, our marriage, and our family of 2 becoming a family of 3 :)
Happy Anniversary my love! Thank you for the best fairytale I could have ever asked for. You are my Happily Ever After

Everyday Blessings

2010-09-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA as of late because this lil one has been keeping me busy :)!!

A week ago when I was at the women's retreat for church David was watching her. Not only did they spend some quality father/daughter time with one another but D also taught her how to stand (not really but she did start to stand in her crib when I was gone). Now that she has figured out how to stand she is doing it all the time...She pulls herself up on her play gym, toys, and even crawled over to me yesterday when I was on the couch and pulled herself up to a standing position). This lil girl has quite the determination and I fear that she may be walking sooner rather then later.

Not only has her mobility been taking up my time but this past week we have also faced some napping challenges. This last week I started a weekly women's Bible study with our church as well as joined a M.O.P.S group in Chandler. I am so excited about both of these activities as there are so many fabulous women who are deeply rooted in their Faith in the Lord and I know I will not only learn much from them but will also make some wonderful friendships along the way. The challenge these 2 activities present is rest time for my lil sweets; she normally takes a A.M. nap but both of these activities take place during her 'normal' time of rest. Both groups provide a nursery set up where there are cribs for M to rest but she absolutely refuses to close her lids when she is surrounded by other sweet babes and in a new surrounding. I know we will get through it but this week has been a bit of a challenge as a few days she has absolutely refused to rest and of course that subsequently leads to fuss, fuss, and more fuss.

In the moments that my sweets has rested I have been busy crafting some fall crafties that I am so excited to share very soon :). I did get the house fully dressed in its fall fabulousness and will take pics. to post soon-It is all of these wee lil things in my life right now that are my everyday Blessings!

3 years and counting

2010-09-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I grabbed the mail and was pleasantly surprised to find out,

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I had no idea that my work was going to be published in this years issue of Somerset Studios, Holiday and Celebrations. I had sent a box of my art work in around April but unlike the past few years I never heard back from them in regards to my work being published. It is always such an honor to have my work published especially to be included in this particular publication for the past 3 years and running :). The piece they published was this Such a fun and easy project! I have many more vinyl pumpkin projects up my sleeve for this year (will share very soon :).

Here are some vinyl pumpkins I have made the past few years....
**Sorry about the photos not showing up when I originally posted this**

A Sweet surprise

2010-09-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

Exactly 1 week ago today I celebrated my 33rd. B.day :). What a delightful and quite fabulous day it was!! It begun on Wed. evening when I stopped by Trader Joe's to grab some groceries. The gentleman at the checkout carded me ;)- I chuckled and told him 'Thank You' especially since the next day I was turning 33. He was a very sweet boy and as he was loading the bags into my cart he told me to turn around and pick out a bouquet of flowers in honor of my bday. I was shocked...

I have always loved TJ's but man talk about customer service!! What a great way to brighten my day.

The next day (my actual b.day) I awoke to a beautiful bouquet of roses that were delivered to my doorstep (care of my best friend who is currently across the world in the middle of the ocean as a lead singer for Holland America cruise lines).So, so sweet for her to think of me even though she is literally across the world! The day was as great as can be..my mom and dad traveled from Cali. to AZ to celebrate and made it to my house at around noon. That evening mom and dad took us out to celebrate (I choose to go to Mimi's cafe...one of my fav. restaurants ;). David had to work late so he met us at the restaurant- When he arrived he was toting the most beautiful bouquet of red roses I have ever seen.I was spoiled by all the beautiful flowers, many sweet bday phone calls/emails/and wishes and even more so to spend it with the people I love most...my hub, my daughter, and mom and dad. This years bday was especially sweet to me as last year Makayla was in my belly but this year I actually got to hold her in my arms (my wish did come true when I blew out my candles last year ;).

The next day (Fri) my mama worked ALL DAY long on this spectacular piece of yumminess...

Isn't it just Divine!!! Everything on this cake is edible (accept the rhinestones and the candles)I was speechless that she had created such a delectable piece of art (with out any classes I might add).

Many people ask me where I get my craftiness from...it runs in the blood!! The cake was just as yummy as it looks. Such a sweet way to end a very sweet b.day!

Makayla is 7 months old!

2010-08-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

7 months ago my sweet baby girl came into this world.

At 7 months old Makayla is:

26" 15lbs. 4oz.

*Developing quite the personality :)!! She is very vocal and often squeals or s

queaks in delight. In fact, when we went to pick her up from the nursery at church this past Sunday those serving were telling us how happy and vocal she is- they said she was just squealing in delight.

* Developing her motor skills A LOT. When I place her in her exersaucer, swing, or playmat gym she is constantly grabbing and manipulating the toys- she knows how to push all the buttons, pull the tabs, etc.

*Sleeping in her crib all by herself! This is a biggie because she has been in our bedroom with us since she was born. I thought that it may be a tough challenge but I'm pleased to report, it was easy peasy :). One day I just put her in and to my surprise she just rolled over and went to sleep. She adores her crib- even is she isn't tired when I put her down she'll sit in there and entertain herself.

*Celebrated her great-grandmother's 95th. Birthday! She took her 3 road trip out to Cali. the beginning of August and was able to be with Grandma Stoughton to celebrate her 95 years of life...what a Blessing!

* Is entertaining herself in the exersaucer. A HUGE thank you to my friend Michelle who has graciously allowed us to borrow this among countless other things- You are a lifesaver Michelle :)!

*Watched Cinderella for the 1st. time :). She is really starting to take in the movement/colors on the tv. She especially seems to enjoy Disney movies (that's my girl for sure!)

*Is sitting up on her own (she just started to about 3 days ago)

*Had her 2nd. play date with Zachary. It was so fun to watch these lil kiddos play together; Makayla was quite the flirt and particularly enjoyed putting her hands in Zachary's mouth and sucking on Zachary's fingers.

What a joy to share in first time parenthood with one of my closest friends, Tracy!

*Had her 6 month pics. taken. We had to attempt these in 2 different photo shoots because she was a bit moody the first time around. She still refused to crack a smile the second time around but regardless, I think we still managed to get some great shots.

*Started rocking front to back. When I sit her up or sit her in something she rocks A LOT..I think it's her attempt at trying to get scootin and move.

*Continues to add new foods to her repertoire. She is now eating;

peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, pears, avocado, cantaloupe, apples, banana, and oatmeal.

*Is sitting at the table with mommy & daddy while sitting in her own chair- Great.grandma Stoughton bought her this high chair...it's come in great use! Not only does it allow her to sit at the table with us, but it also allows her to hang out with mommy in the kitchen while I'm making dinner, etc. She loves being a part of the action.

*Saw her 1st. rainbow- What a beautiful reminder of Gods promise to us

We love you baby girl- You bring such joy into our lives! You are a miracle and we love you

A new twist on an old time classic...

2010-08-20T16:08:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I've been making magnetic boards for quite some time. Well, I have a new twist on one of my fav. crafty things to make....Instead of dressing up the boards with patterned paper or paint, I have now turned to fabric. I love the way the fabric dresses the boards up, gives it an added texture, and well simply takes it up a notch in my opinion. Recently I had a few gifts to make so I decided to gift magnet boards. This is one I made for a girlfriend of mine- she has recently decorated her craft studio. It just so happens, that she is using chandeliers throughout as a theme so I thought adding a lil something something to the fabric would make it a welcome addition to her studio...I luv the way it turned out :)!

And this one was created for our neighbors; David and I had volunteered to take care of their doggies and kitty for 6 weeks while they were in Europe. I left this sitting on their counter with pics. of their fur babies and a welcome back sentiment to welcome them home.

I'm having a ball creating these boards....what's next??? The holidays are just around the corner, sooo many fun ideas :)!
Have a great weekend!

95

2010-08-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

We recently went to Cali. to celebrate my grandmas 95th. Birthday!!
It's not every day that your grandma turns 95 so we wanted to make sure to be a part of her special day and to celebrate the many wonderful years of life that the Lord has blessed with her. It was a quick trip (out on Fri. night, back on Sun) We so wish we could have had more time out there...not only to spend with the fam. but to also enjoy the awesome Calif. weather (it was only in the mid 70's when we were there :) To help grams celebrate we took her out to dinner at the traditional family dinner at 'El Cholo'. El Cholo is my absolute fav. mexican restaurant and there is nothing I enjoy more then celebrating special days with special people while eating the BEST food ever :). Grams of course got to wear the sombrero when the waiters came out singing to her 'Happy Birthday" Makayla wasn't quite sure what to make of the silly hat grams was wearing...LOL

After we filled our bellies with yummy grub we headed back to grams place to indulge in some sweets. My mama made this cake for grams special day-

Isn't it incredible? I can not believe that my mama made this, let alone made it with out even taking a class! She has learned how to use fondant and gum paste by watching on line tutorials...at least the internet is good for something. Hear is a pic. of the card I created for all of us to give to grams....
Such a fabulous time celebrating 95 years of life with my one and only Grammy Bear!

One year ago today

2010-08-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly one year since this

The car accident that would change my life forever more. It is by God's grace and His grace alone that one year later I am still alive, breathing, and miraculously holding this sweet miracle.

At the time of the accident I was 3 months pregnant. Two days after the accident I began to hemorrhage A LOT- the Dr.'s at the hospital told us that there was a high probability I would miscarry. Hearing the prognosis was devastating for David and I as we had tried to get pregnant for over 3 years and the thought of loosing this precious miracle was devastating. When we had first decided to seek assistance via fertility specialist, we were told that our chances of conceiving via IVF were 10%. After prayerful consideration we went ahead and attempted the first round of IVF knowing that with God all things are possible...well, wouldn't you know it He placed a little life in my womb as I was pregnant. Needless to say, after the emotional ups and downs with the process of becoming pregnant to hear that this may be taken away was a difficult concept to grasp. Once again, we put our faith in God knowing that He is a sovereign Lord and all things work to His good...His glory. He showed mercy on us as He sustained the life in my womb through the remaining 6 months of pregnancy. It was a test that tested my complete and utter trust in God as I did continue to hemorrhage and face complications in the months ahead.

Finally after months of putting our trust in the Lord He brought our lil miracle into the world on January 24th. of this year...what a precious life changing event! I can not put into words the feeling I felt when I held Makayla in my arms for the very 1st. time..she was Gods grace all wrapped up into a tiny 7lb. 4oz lil body :). The minutes after her birth brought forth yet more trials and more struggles as I began to hemorrhage severely- I was rushed into 3 emergency surgeries to stop the bleeding and yet again Gods grace protected me as the bleed was finally put to rest.

When I look back on all of the events of the past year there is one thing I constantly see- Gods mercy on my life, on the life of my sweet daughter, and His continual grace upon my family. Today I am choosing not to get in a car but rather stay home and reflect on Gods grace in my life and thank Him for life- My life that He has graciously given. I also thank Him for the lives of those around me- my amazing husband, my sweet daughter, my wonderful parents, loving family, and fabulous friends. Life is precious..embrace it and be thankful for every sweet second you have.

Christmas in July

2010-07-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

It is officially 148 days until Christmas friends :)!!!!!!!!

I absolutly positively can not wait until Christmas this year; spending it with my lil sweets is going to be the BEST ever :)!! Christmas is my fav. time of the year, although fall comes in a close second. I have been spying Christmas decor at Hobby Lobby and could not be happier to see the isles trimmed with trees, ornaments, and decor of the like. Although, it does stress me out just a wee bit as I feel like I have so much to do before the season arrives.

Anyhoo, if you haven't stopped by Tip Junkies Christmas in July you MUST! It is chalk full of ideas to get you ramped up about the Christmas season...the one that is only just a few short months away ;). There are so many craft ideas, gift ideas, decorating ideas, and more that you will leave inspired to start creating and counting the days until the holiday season too. I'm honored that Tip Junkie shared my Christmas countdown calendar that I created a few years back- you can find it Here and you find other advent style's and inspiration Here.

I am seriously so giddy with excitement for Christmas and fall this year. In fact, I'm already thinking up some ideas for hosting a cookie exchange with my girlfriends as well as a cookie decorating party with all the kiddos...Do you have any ideas?

Well, make sure to go visit
And go now, it is the last day to enter for tons of fabulous prizes :)

Baby love....

2010-07-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, today I get to go meet one of my closest friends sweet baby boy that came into the world yesterday :). My friend, Stephanie, is so dear to my heart- I am so very thankful that the Lord put her in my life. It's kinda funny how we met; a few years ago I was managing 'Annalis scraptique' scrapbook store and Steph was a frequent shopper. Well every time she would come into the store we would chat away and quickly found that we had SO much in common. She was/is in the entertainment sector as she is the current host of Sonoran Living Live on ABC 15 and has been a news anchor for many years- I can easily relate in some aspects to her profession as I have performed for most of my life and worked in the entertainment industry for many years. There are so many other aspects of our lives that are so similar, at times it seems like we are made of the same genetic makeup...we seriously think the same about SO many things. It wasn't long into our friendship that we began talking about our faith- we share the same beliefs and are very passionate about the redemption and grace we have found and accepted by the love of Christ and what He did on the cross. I can not say enough about how much her friendship means to me- we laugh together, we pray together, we cry together, and of course, we craft together :) She is my 'Birds of a Feather fine feathered friend'..love ya birdy :)

Anyhoo, a few weeks back there was a lovely shower thrown in Steph's honor to welcome in her soon to be sweet baby boy. I wanted to make her something special and I knew she would appreciate anything I conjured up for her so this is what I came up with:

A momento box for her sweet baby boy. I made the front frame adjustable so she can replace his ultra sound pic. by his baby pic.

Inside the box I filled it with handmade 'Thank You' cards.
Because she is so much like me, I knew she would refuse to send out store bought thank yous, yet I also knew she probably wouldn't have the time to make them so I thought she would appreciate these (and she did :) I went ahead and addressed them all (for all those who were attending the shower) and stamped them so all she literally had to do was write them and slip them in the mail.
I made 2 different designs on the cards...this is design #2
A couple of Christmas ornaments with her maternity pics. and baby Ryker's ultra sound pics.
A magnet board and onsie- I went with a sports theme on these since that's the theme she is using in his nursery
Closet organizers- I made some of these for Makayla recently and they are such a life saver...luv them!
And this wish/prayer book for Steph and Ryker. We had the book out at the shower so everyone could write their prayer and well wishes for the mommy to be and sweet baby boy.
There is nothing I like doing more then creating special keepsakes for those I love :)! And what a Blessing that the Lord brought our 2 lil sweet babes into the world just 6 months apart so we can raise them together!
Gotta go, it's time to go meet this sweet lil boy :) Sooooo excited!!!!

Homemade with love-

2010-07-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is the latest venture my mama and I have taken on=Baking :).

For mother's day this year I took my mom to a cookie and cupcake decorating class and well let's just say it took off from there. My mom and I have always loved to bake and we were ready to take it up a notch so we have been testing our skills. This is my moms 1st. attempt at fondant

Not bad if you ask me. I was actually quite impressed at this masterpiece she created for the 4th. of July.

While my mom has really taken a liking to the cake making aspect of this art, I have taken a liking to the cookie decorating. These were the cookies I made at the class we took

And these were some yummies I conjured up for the 4th. I used red cinnamon candies in the middle to make a stain glass effect on these red, white, and blue babies.

My mama is currently working on my grandmas 95th. B.day cake and then will be working on my b.day cake in another month...I can't wait to see what she comes up with- no doubt it will be a masterpiece. My mama also just purchased a Cricut cake...I so can't wait to play with that machine :). Having my lil sweetheart will no doubt give me LOT'S of practice at making sweets for b.days, holidays, and everything in between. Do you like to bake? If so, what is your fav. thing to bake?

6 months ago today

2010-07-24T21:29:00.001-07:00

It is so hard to believe that 6 months ago today this lil miracle came into my arms, into our hearts, and in to the world
She has changed so much in just 6 months and boy has the time just flown by! I'm still just in awe that the Lord has given me this child to call my own- I pray that I will raise her in the ways of the Lord and more importantly that she has been called to be a child of God before the foundation of time. There is not a day that goes by that I'm not reminded what a miracle she is...she is my precious lil baby girl whom I love and adore more then words can express.
At 6 months old Makayla is:
*Moving and a groovin all over the place! If I place her on her activity mat and leave just for a minute to grab something, by the time I come back she is no where near where I sat her down. I was perplexed at how she was accomplishing this as she has not crawled YET (I say yet because she has a whole lot of determination and I know soon she will be mobile....God help me when that day arrives ;). Anyhoo....I took a peak the other day to find out how and the world she was managing to travel so far with out crawling and to my dismay saw her roll her way across the room. That's my girl...places to go, people to see.
* Teething, teething, and more teething. She is chewing on EVERYTHING she can get her hands on. I have yet to spy any teeth but no doubt they are on there way.
(PS. The green on her nose, etc in the pic. is avocado not buggies ;)
* Had her 1st. vacation with mommy and daddy- We had a fabulous road trip up to Durango, Colorado. What great memories we will always hold dear of our 1st. official family vacation.
* Went swimming for the 1st. time. While in Colorado we went to a hotsprings which housed a large pool...we took our lil sweets in and boy did she love it. I thought she may fuss and cry as the water was pretty cold but not a peep...just smiles. (Maybe she'll take after mommy and be a water baby...I was on swim team in HS so who knows maybe she will take the H20 too)

* Celebrated her first 4th. of July. She even saw fireworks and was pretty amused by them
* Is chatting up a storm....Just last weekend she started this new thing where she yells at the top of her lungs (not a mad yell but a happy yell) She'll babble away and boy does she love to talk...I can't wait to hear what her voice sounds like when she really talks :)
* Can sit up by herself but literally only for a second. I think she realizes that she can move around much more if she is on her tummy so pretty much right after I sit her up she'll plop over and roll over onto her tummy.
* Is taking naps on a regular basis :) :) :) This is huge because we didn't have much of a schedule before hand but now we do- Yippie. She almost always goes down between 9:30-10:30am and again in late afternoon.
*Is really taking to the animals. She has shown a big interest in them before, but now she is really into them (in fact she is petting Dakota this very minute as I write this) The animals all adore her and are quite protective over our lil babe...soooo cute!
* Continues to eat and explore new foods. This month she added pears, banana, sweet potatoes, and avocado to her repertoire. Her fav. is frozen bananas in the mesh baby feeder.

What a blessing it has been experiencing all these 1st. with our baby girl. Happy 6 month Birthday love...Your mommy and daddy adore you and love you more then words can express!

It's all in the pages...

2010-07-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make on of these FOREVER....

And Yeah, I'm finally done :)! I first came across this reading wreath tutorials on Living with Lindsay and immediately knew I had to make one for our home. I thought a great place to house it, would be on the double doors leading in to my craft studio. I loved the idea that the wreath incorporated book pages, as the entrance to my studio is off of our loft which has been made into the library and David's Biblical study area. The perfect combo for this space- book pages to tie in the library/loft area and a crafty unique wreath leading into Paper Princess Studio :) Could it get any better??

I thought I would share the how to, in case you are inclined as I was to make one for yourself :). They are really pretty easy but be warned, a bit time consuming (but in my book, so worth it!)

Materials needed:
wreath (foam, wicker, whatever you may have on hand- I purchased mine from the dollar store)
An old book that you don't mind demolishing
A Cuddlebug, Cricut, or hand punch (I ran my scalloped circles through my Cuttlebug using a scalloped nestability die I had)
Ink (if you choose to antique it as I did)
Hot Glue
And A LOT of patience :)

Ok here we go:
. I started by spray painting my wreath black. I don't think it is necessary to do it now that I've completed them but it sounded like a good idea at the time- LOL
. Punch and or cut a million circles (size and style of your choice) Like I mentioned above, I used a scallop circle die because I liked the softness and touch of femininity it added. Oh, and btw- don't cut literally a million but do cut A LOT. I was to lazy to count how many I used but I did take a pic. so you get a good idea of how many it takes to complete ONE wreath...That's right, all of these circles were used to make just 1 wreath.
. Now come the fun and L-O-N-G part of this project...adhering them to your wreath
-Begin, by folding your circle in half
-now fold it in half again, like so

- Now 'fluff' out your folds like this
Adhere to your wreath.
.Once your wreath is good and full, it's time to add that old world charm by antiquing the pages. My fav. way to antique is to use my absolute fav. ink...Chestnut roan. Simply dab your foam brush in the ink and rub directly onto your pages.
.When I was done antiquing mine, I still wanted a lil something something, so I decided to take my wreaths outside and spray paint them. I was a bit hesitant on doing this because what if it ruined my wreaths after all the time I had spend on them, but let me tell you, I am Soooo glad I did it. I actually used 3 different color sprays on them (Caramel latte, champagne nouveu, and sesame something)...sorry I don't have the exact name but they are currently outside on my patio table and it is way to hot to go downstairs and get the name- It is 116+ here in Phoenix people ;)- LOL. I can tell you, they are all by Krylon and they are all beautiful shimmer sprays.
. Ok, almost done- After all the antiquing and spraying there was still something missing to give it that WOW factor so I decided to add some rolled fabric rosettes. Now we're talking :) A lil more fluff added using feathers, and tulle and we are totally in business

I am so loving these wreaths, the perfect element to dress up this space.

*Tips*
The fuller your wreath, the better (it looks so much better the fuller it is. That does mean more time but so worth it!)
There are many great tutorials out there so check them out and get inspired. Here are some that I found- The Red Chair, Katydid and Kid,andShow and Tell.

The best of times....

2010-07-14T14:40:00.001-07:00

Wow...where had the time gone? I can't believe it is already mid July!! I've been neglecting my blog as of late but for good reason- I've been vacationing and enjoying time with my fam :). David and I just got back from our first family vacation with Makayla :) :). We drove up to Colorado and had an AMAZING time. Makayla was such an angel the whole trip. She also experienced many 'first' to include:

Her first time swimming

Her first time inside of a mountain (mine and David's 1st. time too) We went on a goldmine tourHer first train ride- What a beautiful ride it was chugging along the beautiful Colorado mountains

We had so many amazing moments shared with one another on this trip. I am so humbled to call David and Makayla, two of the most amazing people, my family...my husband and my daughter- I am Blessed.

Now that I'm home, it's time to start working on projects again- many to share and many to create :)

Makayls is 5 months old!

2010-06-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Two days ago our lil sweets turned 5 months old!
As I reflect on the past 5 months I am just in awe of the moments we have been Blessed to share with this lil miracle. She is amazing and has radically changed my life in ways I could have never dreamed of. There is not a day that goes by that I'm not reminded that she is a creation of God and it is by His grace she is here with us today- Thank you God!
At 5 months Makayla is
* 13 lbs. (according to our scale here at home)

*Started solid foods
(started out with rice cereal, moved onto oatmeal, and most recently started carrots- which she loves by the way)

* Is moving A LOT. I have no doubt that sometime soon she will be on the go...this lil girl has a lot of determination!
* Napping regularly (mommy is happy about this one). She usually takes a mid morning nap around 10am, a cat nap sometime in the afternoon, and is still sleeping through the night wonderfully :). She has begun to sleep in her pack and play at night which is right next to our bed (she had been sleeping in our bed with us until recently)

* Has started to gain a big interest in the animals. She pet's Bella
and cuddles with Dakota :) SO sweet!!
* Is attending nursery at church on a regular basis. We are so thankful for the amazing people who serve in this ministry and take such good care of our lil girl.
* Has found her thumb (the other morning I heard her sucking and look to find her thumb in her mouth) She still prefers her paci to anything but on occasion her thumb, fist, or foot can be found in her mouth.

* Is putting EVERYTHING in her mouth (so glad that mom bought us Sophie the girraffe :)

* Celebrated her and daddy's 1st. Fathers Day together
*Experienced the AZ sunshine...the temps are now in the triple digits here at home
*Escaped her bouncy chairEach and every day with this kiddo is truly amazing- We can't wait to see what this next month has in store for us.
Thanks for the best 5 months ever baby girl- we love you!

Paper Princess Studio

2010-06-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to - The Studio

I am participating in Where Bloggers Create II hosted by Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage. The premise of this blog hop is exactly as it sounds- bloggers coming together to share the space where they create. Apparently there are over 450 participants this year!!! No doubt that there will be some gorgeous studios and fabulous inspiration!! I can not wait to visit all the blogs and be inspired by where bloggers/artist create.

Well, Let me take you on a tour of my studio- Paper Princess Studio:

This is the view as you enter my studio
I love chalkboards so of course I had to create one at the entrance of my studio. Chalkboards are so versatile and so fun to change up the messages on :)

Don't be fulled...These suitcases are not just for show and tell- they are jammed pack of supplies :)
This is one of my work spaces (I have 3: a desk, an island, and a round table) This is the island
This is the wall art that is next to the island work space
Next, is this large bookcase that houses all sorts of crafting goodness

Like vintage game pieces and ephemera

Next to the shelf are more hidden treasures
This shelf houses one of my crafting addictions...Cricut cartridges ;)
And no, I did not purchase all of these. My old boss (who owned the scrapbook store I managed) worked out a very sweet deal with me; I would watch her boyfriends dog when they went on vacation and in return, I got FREE cartridges :) Talk about a sweet deal! Not to mention, my fabulous mom & dad have bought me a few here and there too- I'm a spoiled girl!

Now these Ikea cubes I must tell you...are a crafters best friend. David bought me my first one about 2 years ago and now there are 4 in my craft room. I love them- they store so much. And well, when your a crafting horder like me you NEED the storage :)

On the opposite wall are yet more cubes
If you lay them on the side, they are the perfect counter height. Not to mention you can pile more 'stuff' on top of them
The shelves on top David built for me to house my published projects and the magazines/books I've been published in. What a sweet man I have :)!
Rounding the corner is my desk area
More shelves
That house more 'stuff'And my photo wall.....Preserving memories is the reason I craft/scrapbook. It's sweet memories like the ones displayed on this wall that I Blessed with each and every day
Here is the lil server I created to house snacks and beverages on when 'the girls' come over to craft
Well...that's about it (there is more to show but those pics. will come later- or maybe next year ;)
Thanks for stopping by and touring

40 years of wedded bliss

2010-06-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the great honor of celebrating my parents 40th. wedding anniversary. What a Blessing to have two beautiful souls who have sustained 40 years of a Christ centered marriage...and the best part of it, I get to call these two mom and dad. I wanted to create something that was special so I came up with this-
A mini album, photo coasters, and a bottle of 'Honeymoon' wine topped with a feathered cork.

Here is a close up of the album-
My mama loved it so much she cried...that's when you know you've given a great gift :)
Here are the photo coasters-
My intention was to put a pic. from their 10,20,30, and 40th. anniversaries on them but I wasn't able to round up the pics. so instead I used their wedding pic, along with 3 other pics. from various anniversaries through the years.

And to complete the assemble was a bottle of 'Honeymoon' wine. My parents had given a bottle to David and I when we left for our actual honeymoon and well, I just couldn't resist to give them a bottle to cheer in their 40th. honeymoon :). I topped the bottle with this decorative feathered topper.

Cheers to you mom & dad...to MANY...many more anniversaries!

Picture Perfect

2010-06-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've finally got around to making some more photo albums- These are picture perfect albums to house your treasured pics. in. I created these a few years ago

I love how they turned out. I've been wanting to make some new albums with M's pic. on it so that's what I have in the works right now...I can't wait to get them done! These albums make fantastic gifts too; I've gifted them as wedding presents and the recepients just love them. So easy to create too...Just print your pic. on photo fabric then gather coordinating fabric and embellishments and go for it (simply adhere your fabrics around a scrapbook album and you're done) Oh, but beware...I've received many a glue gun burns when working on these albums. Well off to finish the albums I've started- be back with more pics. when I'm done. Hope you all are having a fabulous week!

Linking up to:

Magnetic Attraction...

2010-06-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

If you have visited my blog in the past, then my magnet boards are not new to you. But since I have some new friends I thought I would share another magnetic board creation, this one is Ballard Designs inspired. I can not even begin to tell you how inspired I am when I turn the pages of my Ballard catalogs...I l-o-v-e them :). I recently stumbled upon these
I was surprised to see the magnet boards (could it be that perhaps they have gained inspiration from us crafters???Gasp ;) LOL. And even more surprised when I saw how much they were charging- $69 for the large size and $39 for the small..wowzers! Creating your own is a fraction of that price. Anyhow, when sprucing up my craft studio recently I thought it would be fun to use some of the accent fabric that I've used on my drapes and memo boards to create these

I created them the same way I did all of my other boards- if you missed the tutorial in the past, you can find it HERE. These are so simple and so fun to create!!!
Materials Needed:
.Magnet Board .Fabric .ModgePodge/PVA .Scissors .Glass marbles .Magnets .Ribbon
*You can find large metal sheets at your local hardware store and cut it down to size or contact me (I have both large,small, and folded sizes that you can purchase if you would like)
NOTE- The boards I used for my project are 'goofs' from when we were selling them in boutiques. I had left over boards that the paint had smudged on so that is why mine are painted (red, etc) You do not need to paint them...just leave them the plain ol' metal.
*Cut your fabric to size (You just want a little lip on all four sides.
*Apply modge podge or PVA adhesive and adhere to your board. Folding as you would a package (see my tutorial for more instructions/pics)
To create the magnets
To create the magnets, simply adhere coordinating fabric/paper to the back of a clear glass marble. When thoroughly dried hot glue a magnet to the back of the marble. These are the magnets I used on my boards (I already had them made, as they were left overs from when I made magnet boards for favors for my friends bridal shower I hosted).
Here are the finished products
.This one is made out of the same material as my two large memo boards in my studio

.This one is made out of the drapery fabric in my studio
.And this, this one is my absolute fav! It kinda happened by accident by I luv it :). I covered it in burlap with the intentions of spray painting it white...however the burlap kept sucking up all the paint. No matter how many layers of paint I applied, it just would not turn white. I decided to go with it and make it this shabby chic version complete with fabric rolled flowers (another one of my new fav. things to create!)

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NEST- A Pottery Barn Inspired Pillow

2010-05-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that inspire me- one of my favorite places to be visually inspired is Pottery Barn. Although I can't afford to fully decorate my home from the store/ catalog, it does inspire me to create my own one of a kind home decor items from the inspiration it stirs up in my mind :). This is my latest PB inspired home decor item-

When browsing through one of my latest PB catalog's, I came across this-
And well...fell in love.

I decided to make my own and save myself $49.00. Considering I had all the supplies on hand and didn't have to spend a dime on this, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I used burlap instead of linen and luv the look...especially because I'm going to be placing it on a bench on our patio.

Oh, and funny story- at the same time I was making this pillow we had a nest right outside on our patio. The mama/papa birds made refuge on top of one of our patio drapes and a few weeks later we heard baby chirps :). Here are the babies on the day they flew the coop...literally :).
The bench where this pillow is going is right below where the nest is- now that's apropo!

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend Nesting!

White Elephant...

2010-05-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you bring home from a white elephant gift exchange.

David had a white elephant exchange at his work a few years ago around Christmas and what did he bring home....this cute lil sundress from GAP. And now a couple years later he has very own lil baby girl to put in it- Praise God!

I've been framed...

2010-05-26T09:38:00.001-07:00

I L-O-V-E displaying photographs of my family/friends/loved ones and hence I enjoy creating unique frames to display my treasured photos. I have received a lot of positive feedback about the antique tile picture frames I created last year SO, I thought I would share a quick and easy idea that leaves you with a very similar frame style as the antique tiles. The antique tiles can be a bit pricey (although I majorly scored on mine and purchased them for an antique store that was going out of business...I only wish I would've purchased more then I did). Anyhow, I found these tin artwork pieces at Hobby Lobby and instantly thought they would make a great frame. You can paint them if the color doesn't match your decor but lucky for me these did match so all I had to do was print a photo to size and adhere it in the middle. So easy, inexpensive, yet makes a great impact on your walls.

Makayla is 4 months old!

2010-05-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to believe that our lil miracle has already been with us for 4 months....They have been the most amazing months ever!!! David and I thank God each and every day for making our family of 2 become 3 :)

At 4 months old Makayla is:
11 lbs. 1oz. 24"

*Sticking everything in her mouth (especially her hands)
...And at time even her feet!!
*Has found her feet and L-O-V-E-S them...she even falls asleep with her foot in her hands
* Drools....drools......and drools ....A LOT
* Celebrated Mother's Day with mommy :)
* Spent special time with daddy watching the Twins game
* Is taking less and less 'cat naps
*Babbling A LOT....she's going to be a talker :)!!
* Standing on her feet when you hold her up- she's ready to start moving

Watching our lil peanut grow is absolutely amazing- we look forward to the months, days, and minutes to come!! We love you sweet baby girl

Silhouette Addiction

2010-05-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

I wasn't kidding when I told you recently I have a silhouette addiction ;)- LOL. I've been up to a few more silhouette projects that I thought I would share. I made this frame to place on our entry table- Made the same way I did Here.

And this (one of my fav. projects to date) was made in much the same way. Here's what I did on this baby;
.Printed out a profile pic. just like I did with the other silhouette's

. Cut out the profile pic. and traced it onto cardstock

. Cut out the traced profile pic. with an exacto knife

**When you are done cutting out the profile you should be left with a stenciling template that looks like this:
LOL- when I went to take a pic. of this step my sweet lil girl was right there....so funny :)

. Tape the stencil you just created to your fabric and then paint inside the template

**Note** Make sure to put a piece of cardstock, cardboard, or some other object that you don't mind getting paint on between your fabric layers as the paint may seep through (I use a plastic cheapo placemat)

. If you would like to add a sentiment/name as I did create a stencil with your cricut (or use a stencil template you may already have) and apply paint in the same manner as you did with the profile pic.

Of course I had to add a bow like I did on my other silhouette projects :) On this one I created a fun little burlap flower layered with some fabric and tulle

And... done- such a C-U-T-E addition to add to your home- I'm so in love :) Now what else can I do with a silhouette ;)
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Silhouette Necklace

2010-05-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

After creating the silhouette frame for my studio recently I have been on a silhouette kick :). I thought it would be fun to make a necklace of M's silhouette on it to wear with the beautiful necklace D. got me for V.Day. So easy and super cute....I made it the same way I did Here. I found the glass pendent at Hobby Lobby

All I did was add some patterned paper, add the silhouette, and then throw on a crystal on the bottom- so easy :)

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Cool down fashion-

2010-05-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

It's starting to warm up A LOT outside and so my friends, It's that time...time to stay hydrated. When ever I leave the house I always try to carry a bottle of water and another bottle of iced tea with me- It keeps me hydrated and helps to save on money so I don't have to buy a drink when I'm out and about. I recently stumbled upon a stainless steel bottle at the dollar tree and knew it would be perfect to carry along to store my iced cold beverages this summer (and better yet, knew it would be fun to dress up a bit ;). I just added some chalkboard vinyl that I cut out with my cricut and of course some bling and in an instant I had a fun and unique water bottle. I thought it would be fun to get D. one too so we can leave each other love notes on the chalk board vinyl :) (cheesy I know but fun never the less).

I also needed a little gift for a friend of mine so I thought it would be cute to make one for her with her monogram- So cute :)

Such a fun personalized gift! A fun extra to add to the gift is one of those ice cube trays that makes the long skinny ice cubes to put inside water bottles (I found those at the dollar tree too)

Another girl friend of mine had mentioned that she was looking for a plastic cup with a straw and I wanted to give her a little thank you gift for taking some pics. of M recently so I found one and added her monogram with bling to that too. When I found her cup I got myself one and settled on adding a crown to mine (big surprise I know). These plastic glasses can be found at Cost Plus for $6.99 and at Costco/ 3 for $18.99 (the ones I used were from Cost Plus...I just saw the Costco ones the other day).

If you are looking for a quick gift these are great!!! A few of my girlfriends who have seen mine are going to make them for end of the year teacher gifts- If you still need a teacher gift these would be great :)