The Big 3-0

My best friend turns 30 today. For her special birthday, I wanted to make her a special gift. I've been dabbing in mini albums lately and came across a tutorial on a mini album made out of No 10 envelopes. I love how it turned out.

It's an accordion style design - 5 envelopes made 10 pockets and 10 surfaces to design on. 

Here are the front and back covers...or the back and front cover depending on which way you start.

Here is the side view. Once I added all the embellishments and tags, it got thick. 

A view of the inside. 

A few of the tags.

I also made her a card

I love the bright colors...although I don't believe the yellow background was the right choice for the picture.

Happy Birthday BFF.

Kid at Heart

Some of the best fathers are those who are kids at heart. The ones that look forward to racing home to play with their children. Although they realize the importance of doing homework and completing chores, they love to play everything from Wii to Candy Land to a game of basketball with their little ones. This card goes out to the biggest kid at heart I know.

I have seen him play video games with his 11 year old son and 15 year old daughter. Taunting them the entire time, even laughing an evil little laugh when he won. Then he hugs them, kisses them on the cheek, and asks them to play another game. This time, in between taunts, he asks about their day. He knows how to be their friend but still their father.

Happy Father's Day to the Kid at Heart!!!
The next time I am in town, I challenge you to a mean game of Pac Man!

My Friend

Fathers, like mothers, should be celebrated and praised for all that they do. This series of cards will honor the fathers in my life.

There is no guide book, no manual, or perfect way to raise a child. Bringing a new life - a new soul into this world is not an easy decision. Fears, doubts, and the uncertainty of the future all way on the hearts and minds of soon to be parents. Being the man of the house, the provider, these fears way  more heavily on the the father.

The father that is receiving this card is a new father. His wish is not unlike the wish of many new father - to be the best father he can be to his son and to be a better father than his father.

No matter how tired he is, how stressed he might be, he always greets his son with such love and excitement. His day is made 100 times better by seeing the smile on his son's face as he enters the door and hearing his son's laugh. He loves spending time with his baby and often spends a full day together, just him and his son. Although my friend has only been a father for a short period of time, he has already fulfilled his wish - he is the best father his son could ever ask for. 

Happy Father's Day friend!

Hats off to the Graduate

This is one of my favorite times of year - graduation time. There are only a handful of events that can compare to the feeling that comes with graduation. The bitter sweet feeling of knowing a part of your life has ended and a new life is fast approaching. Thus far I have graduated 4 times - kindergarten, middle school, high school, and college (soon that number will be 5). Each time I felt the excitement and fear of the unknown. What a great feeling.

This year one of my nieces is graduating from high school. She lives out of state so I only get to see her once or twice a year, but I swear she was 12 only yesterday. I am so very proud of her; of the young woman she has become; of the wonderful person she is. She is going to college in the fall - studying to be an engineer. She is one of those people who knows what she wants, works hard to achieve her goals, and doesn't settle. I can't wait to see how she takes over the world.

Congratulations to all the Grads!! Job well done.

Favorite Mama

I'm sure you guessed it, I saved the best for last. My favorite kind of mama is MY MAMA!!! Now I know that most people think their mama is the best. But hands down, my mother can beat your mother in a mother contest....whatever that would entail.

I always tell her she is my favorite mama to which she replies, "But I am your only mama" (my mom is smart as well as adorable). My response is "But if I had other mothers, you would be my favorite." And it's true. She would be my favorite.

She is the cuties 4 ft 10 inch - 73 year old - nicely round and squishy mother you will ever come across. She is soft in all the right places; the perfect partner to snuggle up with. She makes the best tortillas this side of the border. And she has this laugh.....I can't explain it, you have to hear it to fully understand what it does to you.  No matter what we are doing - whether it's playing Wii bowling (yes, she is in an senior citizens  Wii bowling league) or playing cards (you better watch her - she cheats) or just sitting on the couch talking, I always have the best time.

Happy Mother's Day to my FAVORITE MAMA!!!! I love you!

And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Thank you for being your child's favorite mother!

Special Mama

There are many different ways of showing support for your child. You can be on the sidelines of every single game, you can give a standing ovation to a performance you know sucked, or buy a violin after you were promised (for the 4th time) that this is the one. But there are a select few who go a step or two further.

It's instinctual to want to protect your child. It's in a parents DNA. When you see your child hurting, all you want to do is fix it. Kiss it and make it all better. Unfortunately, there are situations in which a kiss won't fix it. And there are situations in which perhaps, a mother should not get involved. This story could possibly be one of those situations.

Rumor has it, there was a lovely girl who like a boy. The lovely girl told her best friend that she liked this boy. Evidently, the "best friend" also liked the same boy and began telling the boy lies about the lovely girl. The lovely girl found out what was happening and was understandably very upset. She went home crying and told her special mom what had happened. This mother did what any..what most....what some...what few mothers would do -she called the "best friend's" mother. The outcome is not relevant. Sufficed to say, there was yelling, perhaps naming calling, a few tears shed - but in the end, the lovely girl went to bed knowing her mother had her back.

 Happy Mother's Day Special Mama. You are in a class by yourself.

New Mama

Motherly instinct is a wonderful mystery. Although modern medicine and science try to explain the phenomena of instinct there are no words or definitions that can nail it down. When a woman becomes a mother she somehow taps into a psychic and connected power with her child. That's how they know you are sneaking Oreos to your room and that you are dating your ex for the third time. Most mothers worry whether or not they will be good enough for their baby. They worry about organic vs processed baby food, Barny - is he really worth it, and will their child love them more than they love their father. They will read many books on parenting hoping that someone has the answer and is willing to share. But in the end, all they have to do is follow their instinct.

This card goes out to a mother of one adorable baby boy.  She is a new mom and like most new moms she was worried for nothing. She is perfect. She spoils him just enough (and allows the grandmas to spoil him rotten like every good mom should), she talks to him in English instead of baby gibberish, and she is not worried if he stands up and bumps his head on the table - according to her, how else will he learn to be careful.

It is my firm belief that in the end, all that mothers have to do is love their child more than anything else in the world. As for the rest - let psychiatrists figure it out.

Happy mothers day New Mama. You're doing great!

What is your favorite childhood book?

A good friend of mine was having a party for her son. She wanted to do something special for his first birthday party but she didn't want gifts. More specificaly, she didn't want toys or clothes. Her son is her first and the first grandchild on both sides. Believe me when I tell you he has more toys then he will ever play with and more clothes then most adults. For example, I am pretty sure he has more shoes than I do.

She loves to read. She read to him almost everyday he was in her womb. So I thought, why not have everyone bring him their favorite childhood book. Great idea right? His library would grow and their gift would last longer than if they bought a simple toy or piece of clothing. This little boy made out like a bandit.  Guests brought varies children's books as well as young adult books. I personally bought him the Percy Jackson Series. I did not read this as a child, but I truly loved the series as an adult.

Her theme was monkey. I helped make her party invitations, which came out super cute. We did a waterfall card (similar to a previous post). A few days before the party, I decided to make a gift for her; some thank you cards.

These were so easy. Here is what I used:

The cuddlebug was used to emboss the leaf background. I used my cricut (everyday paper dolls cartridge) to cut out the monkey and a 2 inch round punch was used to add some interest to the card. I decided to use white on white because I wanted the monkey and the thank you sentiment to stand out. She loved them.  I hope you do to.

What was your favorite childhood book?

Simple Invitations

I love dinner parties. I love everything about them. The preparation, the selection of a theme, the invite list, the invitations themselves etc. I do have one rule; never serve the same thing twice. Of course this means I serve my guest new recipes...ones I haven't tried before....once that may require us to order pizza (that has happened only once...ok maybe twice). I look through every single cookbook I owe. I post-it all the potential appetizers, sides, main course, and of desserts. I normally have about 20 to 30 choices which get dwindled down to 10 -12 and then finally down to 2 choices of each course about a week and a half before my party. The week of the party I make my final decisions. I know this is a very tedious process but I never know what I want to eat until the week before. Then there is the table setting, the flowers, entertainment... I could go on. Basically, I love the details of a dinner party. The details make me happy.

Currently I am planning a dinner party for two friends who share a love for crafts like I do. Well, one of the two shares a love for crafts, the other is coming along because she likes to hang out with us. This will be the first time they will be visiting my home so everything has to be perfect. Beginning with the invitations.

 I thought about doing a digital invitation but how lazy would I be if I couldn't make two invitations? These are simple in nature in that they are a pattern repeat - circle and square. I stamped "you're invited" with versa mark ink and then embossed it using white embossing powdered. The butterfly and dragonfly are brads. I of course rounded the corner edges. And did you notice, I used two of my kraft envelopes from maya road. I love them. I think they will too.