Define Good...

I love this justjohanna sentiment! :) The little owl here has a halo on to imply that maybe she hasn't been so good! I mean, just THINK of all the trouble this cute little owl could get into! I only have a few Christmas cards finished, and this is one of them. I really need to get crackin' on those because I already have Cameron's Christmas pictures ready to go out in them! (Thanks again, Mom.) Have you finished yours? Christmas will be here before we know it!

Stamps: Allison, define good, tiny gift, halo (justjohanna). Ink: VersaMagic Brilliance Graphite Black. Paper: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Basic Grey DP. Accessories: Stickles, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch, Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Black Eyelets.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you have a wonderful day full of good food and good fellowship! I have so many things to be thankful for, and God has truly been developing that in me. I am learning to be thankful and content in all situations. I am especially thankful for my family and friends; it IS the PEOPLE in life who mean the most, isn't it? I am blessed with a wonderful, godly husband and a sweet, amazing son! And we are about to experience the blessings of a new little baby girl soon! It doesn't get much better than this here on earth, does it? :)

To all of you, count your blessings. Thank God for them. Thank God for being GOD.

To all of you who are dear friends and/or family, I love you and thank God for you today.

Love,
Mandy

Baby Announcement Cards

Okay, so I got a good prod to get finished with (read:start working on!) baby announcements! We are due in six weeks, and last Thursday night I had to go to the hospital because I was having minor contractions. Everything is fine, but it was a wake up call more than anything. I was thinking, "Hmm...I'm not ready yet!" And then I thought, "Hmm...I should probably start feeling ready!! It's coming soon no matter what happens!" So anyway, I put together a simple baby announcement using Groovy Guava and Blush Blossom. I really like that combination! It is very soft and girly without being the "usual" pink and purple (which I like, too, by the way). What do you think? I am planning on probably putting the baby's picture on the right side above the pearls. HAVE A GREAT TUESDAY! Tuesdays are ALWAYS great for us.... It's House, M.D. night! ;)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Oh, yes. Our Christmas tree went up on Monday night this week. Monday. Usually it is Drew who wants to decorate for Christmas in, oh, August. We actually pick on him for it. But I've been the one itching to decorate and do Christmasy things for a while this year! I think it is because our baby girl is due January 1, and I want to really enjoy the season and do all the things I'd like to do...even if she is early. We decided to do all the fun, bright, crazy colors on the tree this year. I think it turned out pretty cute! We both like it, and it makes us happy! I think Cameron likes it, too...maybe that's why he keeps messing with the tree. ;) You should have seen him trying to "help" us put the ornaments on. He would go and get the ball ornaments out of the package (BEFORE they had hooks on them!) and threw them into the tree! It was pretty funny.

I made an ornament, too! This one is like the ones Emily Giovanni posted on her blog at http://www.emilygiovanni.com/. All you do is punch patterned paper with the scallop punch, fold them, and glue them together! So easy! I would like to try to do a stamped image on cardstock in the next few days! This ornament was made with some penguin paper I had leftovers of (I'm not sure who makes it - sorry!). I added some Crystal Stickles to accent the bellies of the penguins. Black sheer polka dot ribbon finishes it off.

Thanksgiving is Coming...

THE TURKEYS ARE HIDING!!!

My Turkey Lurky is disguising himself as a pumpkin! :) Can you believe that there are only 11 days until Thanksgiving? Wow! Time really is flying! Hope you are enjoying the season despite the rush. It's so easy to get caught up in having so many things to do and to prepare for, so be sure to take some time to just....be thankful. God is good. And, thankfully, God is GOD.

Stamps: Turkey Lurky, Pumpkin Hat, hi pumpkin sentiment (justjohanna). Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White. Ink: StazOn Black, White Craft. Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Ribbon from Sherbet Ribbon Originals, Silver Brads, 1 3/8 circle punch, Corner Rounder punch.

Simply Cupcakes

I love cupcakes! Something about them is so cute and fun. And even simple! This little cupcake image from justjohanna is so cute! I love how it can be used alone or clustered/grouped with other cupcakes for a cute effect.

In other news, many of you know that I had to have another ultrasound yesterday. This was my FOURTH ultrasound for this baby, and the doctor wanted to check on her size; she was feeling a little small. That was really not fun to hear two weeks ago when I had just found out I had gained SEVEN pounds in the past two weeks! Yikes! But anyway...the ultrasound showed that all is normal and the baby is doing very well! :) Yay! I am about 32 and a half weeks pregnant, and I need to work on some decorations for little Katy's room and also the baby announcements. Hopefully I can work on some of that in the next week or so. I'll post when I get that done! I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Stamps: Mini cupcake (justjohanna). Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Salt and Pepper DP from Reminisce's French Kitchen line. Ink: StazOn Black. Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, AquaPainter, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Pink Jewels (Heidi Swapp), Corner Rounder Punch, StarDust Stickles, Dimensionals.

Wedding Dress Card

I made this card to send as a congratulations card to my sister-in-law. She just got engaged! I drew the template myself, and it was pretty simple to do. I've actually been making these dress cards for quite some time. I have trouble finding wedding stamps that I like, so the solution for me was to design something I could be happy with! The dress is very shimmery in person; it is embossed with Iridescent Ice powder. Congratulations to Tara and Steven!

Stamps: Floral Flourish (justjohanna). Paper: Whisper White. Ink: Versamark. Accessories: Iridescent Ice EP, White Organdy Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, Small Adhesive Pearls (K and Company).

Turkey Feathers!

I created this cute treat tin for the justjohanna design team call. I was pretty excited about it mostly because I had this idea without having seen it before! That is always a good feeling, isn't it? I saw some Indian Corn (like candy corn but brown, orange, and white and chocolatey), and thought it would go well with this super-cute turkey! Turkey feathers! :)The turkey (Turkey Lurky) is actually glittery and there is Apple Cider designer paper wrapped around the tin. I had a hard time photographing this project! Gotta practice with projects like this. I hope you are all having a great day! Can you believe Thanksgiving is only SIXTEEN days away! Yikes!

Stamps: Turkey Lurky (justjohanna), Rough Edges Alphabet (SU!). Ink: Dew Drops Graphite Black. Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Apple Cider DP (Getting hungry yet?). Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Scallop Punch, Coluzzle, Paper Piercer, StarDust Stickles, Sponge.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

My brother turns 25 years old today! Hope it's the best one yet, Mike! Cameron thought Uncle Mike (Mack) would like me to post this picture of the two of them from last week. Crazy guys!

Trunk or Treat!

We did a Trunk or Treat at our church on Halloween night...SO MUCH FUN! It is the first time we tried this event, and it was sponsored by our youth (my husband is the youth minister at our church). Our youth did a fantastic job with the kids and our church members really outdid themselves with their trunks AND treats! Cameron, of course, had a great time walking around and seeing everything and everyone. The above picture is of him with two of our youth who are always so sweet to him! He loves hanging out with Madison and Jessica! :)