AS PROMISED...

Here, as promised in yesterdays post, is the baby card I made to go with the little boy scrapbook. It came out so cute. Those aqua colors in real life are just sooo pretty~
Its made with Baby Edwin from Magnolia. He is colored with my Copics and sits in an oval nest made from Nestabilities and cut with a 1" circle punch. I wanted to make the circle bigger, so I actually punched it again next to the first one to make it more like an oval. Since he sits in it, you cant tell its not a perfect oval, but it does the job just fine. The verse is from Verve stamps and stamped in Memento ink. The card is 5 1/4 square. I got the idea for this card from Becca Feeken of Amazing Paper Grace. She is so talented and has a way to make every card beautiful. I changed it up a bit to make it my own~ and there you have it!
p.s. the new parents loved it!
Many thanks for stopping by...

GIFT FOR A BABY SHOWER

Yesterday my husband and I went to a "couples" baby shower. I had only been to one like that , actually the year before I met my husband, and he had never been to one before. The new dad is a co worker of my husbands and they are fairly recent transplants to N.C. from the midwest.
It was fun~ alot like a typical baby shower, but without the games that ladies play. A nice way for everybody to get together.
I made them a paper bag album scrapbook. They know the baby is a boy, so with that in mind I turned to some of my favorite baby paper~ Nanas Nursery. the boy stack. I love this paper and hope that I have bought enough for quite some time.The book has 8 pages, and a front and back cover. Since I dont know them too well, I left the book pretty much open for almost all photos. Some people dont like if you have too many bows or flowers on a baby boy book. I have kept most of my "chotchka" things out of it this time.
This is the cover, with a large mat for one of his first photos. The green ribbon is from Stampin Up and is a twill which was absolutely wonderful to work with. I will be buying more of that type of ribbon. This is pages 1 and 2. Page 1 has a pocket for tags, photos or journaling.

Here is a closeup of page 1. These stickers, which I have matted and then popped up are from K and Company.

I have popped up all of the embellishments on the photo mat areas, so the actual picture can slide right behind them. This gives a nicer, more finished look. And you dont have to trim off as much of your photo.

Pages 3 and 4. More photo mats.

Pages 5 and 6. Page 5 is another pocket type page~ this time horizontal. I couldnt resist putting a little purple bow near that cute frog.

Pages 7 and 8. Page 8 has a 3-d sticker clothesline~ which I hung from butterflies made from a Martha Stewart punch.

Many thanks for stopping by.

Tomorrow I will be back with the adorable card that went along with this gift.

A little candy anyone???

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http://alatteinkinfun.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-candy.html

Hurry! here are 2 great prizes up for grabs this weekend~
Go visit these great blogs and leave them a little love for a chance to win some great blog candy!

TWINKLE TOES RECITAL CARD

My little niece Jacqueline is in her first dance recital this coming weekend up in New York. I am sorry that I wont get to attend, as I live in North Carolina, but I am sending this cute little Amanda in my place. She is part of the House Mouse collection from Stampabilities, and her official name is "Twinkle Toes".
This card came together very quickly, and would be easy to reproduce for birthdays, thank yous, or invitations to a sweet little ones party. I used a premade card base and envelope in ivory. The pink DP and cardstock are from my scrap bin. The sentiment is computer generated because although they make a stamp just like that~ I either dont own it, or cant find it~LOL. I stamped her in Memento Tuxedo Black, colored her in with my Copics, and then used Ice Stickles on her tutu. I always use PTI Stampers Select White to stamp on if I will be coloring with my Copics. It doesnt smear and works really well for blending the colors.
I then used my Nestabilities to cut her out, using the peonies die. This was my first time using that die, as I have just gotten it in the mail. I think I am going to really like it!!

Not too bad for a 15 minute card~

Many thanks for stopping by...

FATHERS DAY DUAL PURPOSE CARD

Todays card actually fufills two purposes. One~ it is a fathers day card for the best dad in the world~ MINE!!
He is so awesome, and such an inspiration to whomever he meets. He will be turning 83 in less than 2 months, and worked full time up until a little more than a year ago. He is sweet, kind, generous and caring. I love him to pieces, so Dad~ this is for you.
Secondly, this card was made for the Stamps and Smiles sketch challenge #20, which can be found on The Fresh Batch blog. I had alot of fun making last weeks, so I thought I would try it again. Sketches are great because they can get the creative juices flowing almost instantly.
My papers are by Kaleidescope, ink is Mementos Tuxedo Black, and the ribbon is from Michaels $1.00 bin.
The horse stamp is from Serendipity Stamps. Its one of the nicest horse stamps I have seen. The sentiment is from Verves newest Fathers Day release. Shapes have been cut with Nesties.

Many thanks for stopping by. I hope your enjoyed seeing my entry for this weeks sketch challenge!

HINGED CARD NUMBER 2

This is my second attempt at hinged card making. If you have not yet tried one~ I suggest you give it a go, as they are really fun to make and a little something different.
This girl is one of my many favorites. She is Daisy, an Elizabeth Bell stamp. To me, she can look either carefree, just sitting in a pretty flower field daydreaming~ or deep in thought on one of lifes mysteries.
Today we will make her the happy and carefree Daisy. I chose my paper first for this card, which is Chloe's Closet by Making Memories. From there I went with those same warm sunshiny colors to color her in. I sometimes do the coloring first, then the paper choosing.
Embellishments are Prima flowers and some hot orange ribbon I had sitting around.

The sentiment stamp on the front of the card is by Print Works, and the inside was an unmounted that I had in my stash~ so I'm not sure where it came from.

Both of these hinge cards are for sale in my Etsy shop~ which is listed in the left sidebar.

Heres to hoping you had a sweet a day as Daisy did....

TILDA WITH ROSE HINGED CARD

Ok, so maybe this card holds a bit of a double meaning. I think I'm a bit of a late bloomer, so the fact that this adorable Tilda is holding a bloom doesnt go unnoticed~ although it was quite by accident. I happen to love this image of Tilda. And its great that she is in the pink collection, bringing awareness to breast cancer.
The other part of the "late bloomer" is that this is the first hinged card I have made. I have seen them all over blog world and have admired them from day one. Not sure why it took me so long to try them myself. She is made with some older Making Memories designer paper, Some Lilac Stampin Up Cardstock, which I ran thru my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot embossing folder, and assorted scraps. I stamped the image on PTI stampers select white cardstock. I like this paper for stamping when I am using my Copics to color with.

The cute sentiments are from Stamps and Smiles. The set which they are from is called "Happy Birthday Cupcake" and thats also the set I used in the previous post.

Flowers are by Prima, Crystals are from a giant size bag I purchased at Joannes some time ago.

The ribbon is by Offray and another one of my favorite things. The black plaid is so versatile and looks so pretty (or masculine if need be).

Sorry my photos all seem to be a bit crooked today.

I made another hinged card the same day and will show it to you tomorrow, or you can see it now on my SCS gallery.

Many thanks for stopping by...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUPCAKE~

I enjoy seeing all the great things the girls do on the Stamps and Smiles blog, so this week I thought I would play along in their sketch challenge. Anyone can participate and it was lots of fun.
This is the sketch provided..... And this is the card I made...
I used "Happy Birthday Cupcake" stamp set and some older Making Memories paper. The cardstock is Stampin Up. The glitter is some cheap kind that I fouund in the kids aisle. I used this on purpose, as I was trying to give the effect of some bigger particles of glitter. The pretty, more expensive kind is usually so fine in texture.

Many thanks for stopping by...

FLIP FLOPS ALBUM~ TAKE 2

These photos took one whole afternoon of trying to upload them to blogger with no success until now. This comes after me trying to download them onto my computer since the other day, also to no avail. It turns out that my camera software was somehow mysteriously deleted. This comes even after I tell my family member (who shall remain nameless) that "yes honey~ I do use everything on my sidebar" . He was trying to clean up my computer so it would run faster, and likes to think I have all kinds of things that I dont really need or use.LOL~
Once I figured out what happened, reinstalled my software (which I actually was able to find), I could now do what I've been trying to do all weekend.
I made this cute little flip flop album, which stands about 6 inches tall to get an early start on summer scrapbooking. Who am I kidding~ I'm about 6 years behind on my scrapbooking, if not more, but I do love to make these little books. They are somehow not as intimidating a task as taking on a whole 12 by 12 book.
And its a great way to display some fun pictures. It can sit on a table, or be sent to grandmas house as it pops in the mail quite easily. What I intend to do with this post was to save you from making a common mistake that I have done time and time again. I love to make these little books and such ahead of time, or to send as a gift, but I always forget to mark the size of the photo mat. When you forget, you then have to go back and remeasure all the mats which are attached to the album, sometimes this becomes a little difficult when there are embellishments in the way.

Also, if this is being made for a gift, the recipient will have a much easier time picking out pictures to fit that particular size.

I have written the size of the mats in the middle of them, so when you place your photo over them, no one will be the wiser as to whats underneath.

You will cut your photos 1/8th inch smaller than the sizes given, so they will have a nice border around them.

One more tip for today~ if you look at the picture with the closeup of the pelican, you can see that I have placed some of the backing acetate between the embellishment and the photo mat. This is so you can slide your photo inbetween the two. Then you remove the acetate and throw it away.

This is a shot of the back cover. For now I have left it blank, but another photo, or journaling can be added at a later date.

This was some simple stuff that many of you probably already know, but if it saves some time down the road, or taught you something new, it was well worth it.

Many thanks for stopping by....

Camera Trouble

Hi everyone. I have made a cute flip flop shaped album this week out of some chipboard, and tried my best to show it to you, but I am having some issues with my computer or camera. The photos seem to download, but then magically disappear into the dark depths of my computer. I am not sure if its the camera software, the camera, or the computer.
I am going to have my husband or son help me straighten this out tomorrow so I can show you all what I made.
Have a good one....

I have returned home

I am back as of yesterday from my trip to Tampa Fla. to attend my uncles funeral. Although I had to do quite a bit of flying , I am very glad I went as it is very inportant to be there for family when they need you. Thats what families are for.
The last day before we left, my Mom, Aunt and I took a ride to Tarpon Springs. This great little fishing town was a favorite place of my uncle and aunts in the days when he was feeling better. We went to lunch at one of the most unique restaurants I have ever visited. I grew up in NYC and have been to many types of restaurants from the very fancy to the quirky~ but none quite like this. Its run by a couple and their children, in fact , their adorable 12 year old daughter was our waitress and she did an excellent job. This is a shot of the front, along a narrow street with a large bicycle path in it. The cusine is Creole, French, Greek, Cajun and Italian. Some combination right?? I ordered a Cajun chicken gyro. Bet you never heard of that before!!
It was so delicious, blending Cajun and Greek flavors together in a way like no other. It came with greek roasted potatoes that were just as delicious. My drink was a cold green tea with honey.
for dessert we shared homemade Tiramisu that was the best I ever had. My mom had New Orleans style crab cakes with a remoulade sauce and my Aunt Pat had some type of cajun sausage dish.

We had no idea what to expect before we got to this place, my aunt had just said it was a favorite of theirs. So needless to say, when my Mom and I spotted this guy at the door, we knew we were in for something different.

There are piles and piles of antiques, junk, memorabilia and everything else you could think of just piled up everywhere. This was the stuff right behind my seat. There is even a baby crib in the middle of the place where their kids slept as babies, although you can barely see it through all the stuff around it.

Here is my Mom (on the left) and my aunt as we wait for our food.

This is just a photo of one of the tables by the front window. All of the placemats, silverware and drinking glasses are different. The food comes served on all different dishes also. My green tea came with its own little white antique pitcher.

We had a great lunch, and were glad we were able to make my aunt smile a bit.
If you are ever in Tarpon Springs, leave yourself an afternoon to go and have a wonderful meal in a most unusual setting.

Many thanks for stopping by. Off to do some stamping.

I'LL BE GONE FOR A FEW DAYS

We had a death in the family this week. My uncle in Tampa passed away yesterday, so I am going up to NY to escort my Mom to the wake and funeral. Yes, I will be flying in the complete opposite direction than where I have to go, but it is what it is. I promised my Mom I would fly with her as she is not so comfortable flying alone. I'll see ya back on Sunday.
Have a great week. Thanks for stopping by.