2 More Layouts

Well, I tried to finish 4 layouts today but I only got 2 of them done. But they are cute!

First of, I have another adorable layout of Miss Gorgeous--aka Kira! I used Floral Embellished for the cute flowers and Opposites Attract and Birthday Cakes for the title. I love how it turned out! This is my first time using Floral Embellished and I need to use it more.

And the other one that I finished is of my nephew on our first trip to the zoo on our new zoo pass! It was last June and I have been to the zoo countless times since then. I love the bright colors on this one. The stars didn't photograph very well but they look pretty good on the layout. I used Birthday Cakes for the title.

Back to work tomorrow...counting the days til the weekend! :)

Kira's Rainbow Birthday Party

Saturday marked the 3rd birthday party for my lovely, talented, sassy, silly niece Kira! She is a little spitfire and always makes everyone laugh. We celebrated her big day with all things rainbow.

First, a few pictures of the birthday girl! I made her tutu and hairbow and bought her sweet leg warmers here--they were $7.50 when I got them and they were so worth it! They looked perfect!

And some sweet rainbow decorations...most via pinterest! Check out my inspiration board for the original sources and many other fabulous ideas.

The ceiling treatment was hard to get a good picture of but we draped plastic tablecloths from the ceiling fan in the center of the room out as far as they would go, then left a little extra hang down for the effect of a tent.

And the cake...oh the cake!

Isn't it fabulous!?! I spent last weekend making and freezing 6 layers of cake, 3 in an 8 inch square pan and the bottom  in a 10 inch sqaure. I used Wilton gel coloring to get these great colors. I used a super yummy buttercream for the filling and then to put a good layer on the outside before covering it in fondant. The fondant wasn't perfect (especially the spot I stuck my finger in) but it looked decent and no one judged me too harshly! :)

I also made the decorations for the cake, but I used gum paste for them. My lovely hubby helped me mix up all of the great colors and I cut the stars with a cookie cutter (easier and quicker than using my Cricut Cake) but I cut Kira's name and the #3 using Birthday Cakes. I also shaped the rest of the gumpaste into a sweet rainbow for the top and used marshmallows as the clouds!

My niece kept yelling "Aunt Manda! Aunt Manda! Dis is the best cake you have EVER made!"

Fill up the cake table with rainbow candy, rainbow sugar cookies and birthday cake popcorn and you have a sugar high worthy of a 3 year with a major sweet tooth--Kira!

Isn't that cookie so cool!?! Again, the amazing hubs helped with those and I got inspiration from Pinterest.

The birthday was a success! My niece was over the moon about everything, I took care of the cake, yummy goodies and outfit, my mom and sisters worked on the food and decorations and my hubs helped with cake duty at home and cuddling my nephew so we could work!

Yup, that's the face of 2 very pleased rainbow girls!!!

Finished Layouts!

I finally have some layouts to post! I just decided to make some crafty time and embellished some of the layouts that I had set up.

These are some pictures that I took when my nieces were home from Florida. They could not wait to get in the creek and find some crawdads. They were too wimpy to actually grab them but we had so much fun! I used From My Kitchen for the "crawdad" and I can't remember what I used for the font.

Isn't she a stinkin' cutie? We had a wonderful time baking the Father's Day cake. I adore baking with my beautiful little assistant. I made border with images on From My Kitchen and I also used that cartridge for the oven and the piece of cake. I used Lyrical Letters for the title.

I decided to make a layout of the first pumpkin roll that I have ever made! I like how it turned out and I put the steps on each picture. It's simple but I really like it. I used Birthday Cakes for the title and made the pumpkin from Mini Monsters.

I like how this one turned out. My hubby and I went to see Jim Norton last April and we had sooooo much fun! The title is made from Lyrical Letters and Boys Will Be Boys. It's a bit cheeky because he is so crass and inappropriate so I wanted to make a "fancy" title! The microphone is from Rock Princess.

Hopefully I can get some more done today!

Christmas Projects

I have not gotten my hands on any paper lately and I am sad! But I have however, used some etching cream, glass bulbs, fabric and hot glue.

Here are a few projects that I have been working on for Christmas presents.

I made these cute rolled flowers and put them on a pin for a cardigan that I got for my mom-in-law. I really like how they turned out. I plan on making her a few more in different colors so she has a wide array to choose from.

Tonight was the first time I have ever used etching cream. I ruined one of the ornaments but I really like how these other 3 turned out. I made them using cuts from Winter Frolic, Accent Essentials and Birthday Cakes. I made them for the teacher that I share a room with--the middle bulb says The Thackers for her family tree.

I also have been making hair stuff...some to give away, some to keep. Here are a few headbands that I finished yesterday.

I am going to give the top one to my sister and I believe I will keep the bottom one. I don't think the picture does the top one justice. I really like it and I think she will too!

And finally, just for the fun of it, here is a picture of a blackberry pie that I made for my hubby on Saturday night. He really wanted a pie--I can't explain it, but he just did--so I made this for him.

It was pretty good and made a really good late night snack for a lazy weekend!

Hoot Hoot!

This layout has given me soooo many troubles today! I swear, it has taken me all day to complete it. I cut things wrong, I couldn't decide on simple papers to go with it, I had to re-arrange my pictures. Ugh. But it is complete and I love it!

These are pictures that I just took a few weeks ago of my niece and my newest baby nephew! I just love how the pictures turned out and I couldn't wait to make this layout.

I got the cute owl papers from the $1 bin at Target and I used Hoot n Holler for the great owl cuts and Create and Critter (Hoot) and Birthday Cakes for the words. I went crazy with my white pen and added just a touch of journaling.

I also have one quick addition to show. I had a simple family layout that I shared the other day and I added a few things to it to jazz it up. I am pretty sure I like the new additions.

Here is the original.

And here is the new one.

Thanks for looking!

Life. Wow.

My life has been insane for a few weeks. After a month in the hospital, my beloved Papa James passed away. He was a wonderful man and the center of our family and it was very difficult to lose him. He means the world to me and will forever remain in my happiest memories. Between that and Thanksgiving/Black Friday craziness, I have not had any time to just relax and scrap. I am greatly enjoying my long weekend off of school and already counting down the days til Christmas break! 17...

I have two cute layouts of my niece to share today. I have gotten into the bad habit of starting layouts by doing the background papers and putting down the pictures, then I stop and work on a different one. I have several that need finished and I just might get to them some day soon!

First, I have a funny "had-to-be-there" moment of my silly niece. She was 'drawing' her face on the coloring book pages. Basically she was trying to trace her nose, ears, eyes, mouth and face on the page and it was soooooo funny!

The title is a quote that she said she was drawing. Hilarious!

I used some Stickles to accent the title and the crayons, which we cut from Makin' the Grade.
I also have one more from when she first got her new trampoline. I used paper from the DCWV Playtime stack. I love how the kraft paper looks with the prints.

I only used Birthday Cakes for the font. I didn't make any other cuts because I just couldn't think of what I might embellish with. I am a person that has to use something that directly relates to the photos and nothing I had worked so I did nothing! I have already used the trampoline cut on another layout so I didn't want to use it again so soon. I still really like how it turned out. Kira is just soooo sooo cute!
Last day off tomorrow...I am going to watch lotsa football, do some layouts and make some pizza.