so...within the past 15 minutes, i just decided that i want to do project life...and that i'm going to start it as of october 2011. what? that was going on 3 months ago? huh? i'm already behind? oh snap.
i just ordered my kit by becky higgins from amazon. picking a color scheme was no easy task but i went with the cobalt collection. or at least i think that's what i finally decided on...guess we'll see when it arrives in the mail! :)
i'm suddenly very excited about this and cannot wait to document my first year of motherhood!
xxo andie...
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
a very merry christmas
Thursday, December 15, 2011
happy mail
i got happy mail on friday from susan at paper crafts magazine! woot woot! the publication is called "card creations: volume 10." i just love paper crafts mag...this will be my 2nd card published with them. the first was in their stamp it! volume 8 that came out this summer. that was super exciting! i don't think i've blogged that card yet...better put it on my to-do list! and i'm still waiting to see my ultrasound mini album in northridge publishing's create: mini albums!!! i think that one should be coming out soon. so glad that this year i was able to get published...it was on my "dream list." :)
my little westy is 2 months old! my sister took this picture of us when we were home for thanksgiving. so thankful to have a happy & healthy family! (by the way...if anyone has any cute pictures of a medium length hairstyle, send them my way! my hair is looking too long i think and i'm ready for a change!) :)
xxo.
andie...
my little westy is 2 months old! my sister took this picture of us when we were home for thanksgiving. so thankful to have a happy & healthy family! (by the way...if anyone has any cute pictures of a medium length hairstyle, send them my way! my hair is looking too long i think and i'm ready for a change!) :)
xxo.
andie...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
a very merry christmas bear
hi ya'll!
whew...where did a the last month go? when i just logged in, i saw that my last post was almost a whole month previous to today. that's just insane! i've been too wrapped up in my little sweet boy. i have to leave him on monday and go back to work...which has made me cry about a xillion times today. ugh. majorly stressed about that! but at least he will be at home with my husband and not have to go to daycare for the time being, so that makes it a little bit better! i can call and check up on him as many times as i want!
anyhow, just popping in to share a christmas card. i picked up this cheap, cute bear stamp by imaginisce from their outdoorsy/camping line...so i suppose he's really suppose to be a brown bear, but hey, there are no rules, right?! so i turned him into a cute polar bear :) i also used some white paint on those jenny bowlin chipboard banner pieces to give it a snowy feel...plus some awesome martha stewart glitter!
whew...where did a the last month go? when i just logged in, i saw that my last post was almost a whole month previous to today. that's just insane! i've been too wrapped up in my little sweet boy. i have to leave him on monday and go back to work...which has made me cry about a xillion times today. ugh. majorly stressed about that! but at least he will be at home with my husband and not have to go to daycare for the time being, so that makes it a little bit better! i can call and check up on him as many times as i want!
anyhow, just popping in to share a christmas card. i picked up this cheap, cute bear stamp by imaginisce from their outdoorsy/camping line...so i suppose he's really suppose to be a brown bear, but hey, there are no rules, right?! so i turned him into a cute polar bear :) i also used some white paint on those jenny bowlin chipboard banner pieces to give it a snowy feel...plus some awesome martha stewart glitter!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
make it monday no. 40
for this week's papertrey ink make it monday challenge, i kept sifting through my die-cuts to figure out what to create using the reverse applique technique. i decided that i wanted to use this pretty butterfly and as soon as i opened up my patterned paper drawer, this awesome butterfly paper jumped out at me. what a perfect combo! it's one i picked up at hobby lobby awhile back when they had their paper sheets 50% off...gotta love that! they have some really pretty papers nowadays over there. :) anyhow, i also added a punched butterfly to the middle of the reverse applique...which wasn't how heather did it in her video...but i thought it looked pretty like that, so what the heck, right?! thanks for visiting & taking a peek at my card! have a great evening!
xxo andie...
Sunday, November 6, 2011
make it monday no 39
just popping in quickly to post my card before the make it monday no 39 deadline!
i believe this is quite possibly the first time i have created a card without using pattern paper. it was a fun challenge, and i keep thinking of background possibilities using just stamps. for this stamped background, i used papertrey's mehndi medallion set, along with the flower fusion no 7 set. i really like the combo i used on the focal image as well, which was the notebook image from tag its #7, with a sentiment from tag its #2 and a smaller medallion in the corner.
xxo andie...
i believe this is quite possibly the first time i have created a card without using pattern paper. it was a fun challenge, and i keep thinking of background possibilities using just stamps. for this stamped background, i used papertrey's mehndi medallion set, along with the flower fusion no 7 set. i really like the combo i used on the focal image as well, which was the notebook image from tag its #7, with a sentiment from tag its #2 and a smaller medallion in the corner.
xxo andie...
my first baby!
this is my documentation of the birth of my first child...a sweet little boy born on october 19th, 2011. his name is weston charles.
my due date was october 18th. when i woke up that morning, i had what felt like normal menstrual cramps...and they lasted throughout the whole day. around 8:30/9pm that night they started feeling a little stronger and almost like they were spread apart. i was at work but around 10:45 decided to head home. i called my husband because i was contemplating going straight to the hospital to get checked out. he wanted me to just come home, since i had a doctors appointment the next day at 1pm. an hour later when i got home, the cramps felt worse. we called the hospital and the doctor on call told me to take some tylenol and try to lay down and get some rest. ok. once i got in bed, michael rubbed my lower back for awhile, but then he fell asleep. my pains were coming and going more regularly, it seemed like every 5 minutes. i kept trying to time them, but i was hurting so bad that i couldn't concentrate. i ended up getting out of bed because it hurt to lay down. it even hurt to sit down. so from about 12:30am until probably almost 7am, i was awake, walking around the house all night long. around 4am i tried to wake michael up to say "take me to the hospital now!" but he wouldn't budge. ugh! i was sooo tired. all i wanted to do was lay down and get some sleep. so around 7am i tried getting back in bed. i managed to lay there for almost 2 hours, suffering through the cramps and trying to get a few minutes of sleep in. at 9am, i woke up, talked to michael and we decided to call the hospital to see if i could come in ahead of time before my appointment. i quickly took a shower, then when i called the office, the lady asked me how long i had been having pains and how spaced out they were...i said about 5 minutes apart for the whole night...she said to come to the hospital immediately! i had the phone on speaker at that point because i was on hold for so long and once michael heard that, he jumped out of bed! told you i was not making it up! i was having contractions all night long. the first stage of labor!
we got to the hospital and in to see dr. miller at 11am. i was 1cm dilated (thats it?!) and i had one of those pains which she confirmed was a contraction. since we live about 35min from the hospital, she didn't want to send us home...so she sent us to the 2nd floor to get a delivery room. she said i would have my baby around 7 or 8 that night!!! eeek! call the grandmas!
we went ahead to the next floor down and were checked into room number 12. the lady told me to put my gown on, and shortly after a nurse came in to ask me a bunch of questions, which she filled out on the computer. another nurse came in to start my IV line. she said many people think this hurts the most out of everything...great! thanks a lot. but michael held my hand and she got it on the first try, so it wasn't that painful. thank goodness! she was able to start some pain meds for me to help out, which she warned me would make me feel drowsy and possibly like i was drunk. yep, she was right. the stadol made me feel weird and out of it. it was around 1:15pm at this point, and michael decided to run home to take care of rocket and pepper since he knew we'd be there for the rest of the day. i would wait until he got back before i got the epidural because i was scared.
basically right after michael left, another nurse came in to check how far along i was. she said i was 4cm dilated and while she was doing that, my water broke! oops. it felt so weird...like someone just poured water all over me in a big gush. i was feeling pretty wacked out still because of the stadol. i'm not sure if she had me get so she could change the bedding, or what?! but let me say, after my water broke, those contractions were 100 times more intense. it hurt bad! they were coming about every 5 minutes. i somehow made it through about an hours worth of pain...i told the nurse that i was waiting until michael got back before getting the epidural. i wanted him to be there for me to hold my hand because i was very scared of getting such a huge shot in my spine! however, she could tell how much pain i was in and went ahead and called the anesthesiologist ahead of time. meanwhile different people had been coming in the room to go over paperwork with me, something about a living will, etc, but i couldn't focus on anything they were saying...the stadol was making me so drowsy that i kept falling asleep while they were talking to me! finally the anesthesiologist showed up around 2:30ish and got me prepped for the epidural. he had me sit up, feet hanging over the edge of my bed. he felt my spine a little to get the exact entry position, cleaned my skin and gave me a numbing shot first. that one stung a little. i think there was actually 3 different needles. i remember the nurse being right there, but her phone rang and she took it out of her pocket and answered it. how rude! she was not the kind of support i had hoped for during this. but while she was talking i guess it provided me with a distraction because in went the epidural needle and it barely hurt...i remember it just feeling weird and taking some time to fish in that catheder line into my spinal column. but he got it in there with no problem (thank goodness) then taped me up so it wouldn't move. phew, that was over! then he administered the pain meds and i couldn't feel the pain of the contractions anymore! that was the best part...it was like magic! i barely remember the doctor coming in to meet me, but again, i was out of it, so she said she'd come back later. her name was dr. grider...i never got the chance to meet her during my rotations through the doctors at women first. i called michael a little while later, probably shortly after 3pm to see when he would be back...he was just getting to the house because he had stopped first to have the car seat inspected. so i took the opportunity to take a nap since i had been up all night!
by 4pm-ish michael was back and we were watching tv together. a nurse came in to check my dilation again and i was still at a 4cm. apparently you are suppose to progress by 1cm per hour after your water breaks, so i should have been at a 6cm by then. which meant it wasn't happening right. throughout the day there were several nurses who came and went, but now the nurse who would be with me for the rest of my delivery was there. now i can't even remember what her name was. anyhow, she started me on pitocin to speed up the dilation. at 6pm they came back and i was at full dilation! whoops! so they backed down the pitocin levels to bring me back down. call the grandmas again! they are still in southern indiana, about an hour away. hurry up, cause i'm gonna have a baby in the next hour! around 6:45 several nurses all rushed in at once, and without saying a word, started heave-ho-ing me from side to side on my bed. what in the heck was going on? it totally freaked me out. (also forgot to mention after the epidural, they made me wear an oxygen mask, which a. made it hard to talk, and b. made me feel ridiculous). so here i am, totally freaked out, wearing my mask and being thrown all over the place. i started to cry. i finally asked what was going on and they said the baby's heart rate had dropped into the 40s which is not good at all. it is suppose to be closer to 150 beats per minute. they were rotating me side to side to try to find a spot that the baby liked so that he could get his heart rate back up. the doctor explained that if it didn't work, they were going to take me in for an emergency c-section. more crying ensued. it was very scary. finally they were able to get his heart rate stabilized and wanted to monitor it for awhile before totally ruling out the cesarean. thankfully it stayed where it needed to be and the grandmas (plus kate) showed up around 7:20pm. it was so good to have my mom there with me finally! since kaitlyn is under the age of 14, the poor thing had to sit out in the waiting room the whole time. it made me feel bad! we kept asking if she could come in, but the nurses wouldn't budge...which i somewhat understand because of sicknesses children can pick up in schools...but still. she felt bad for being left out of everything :(
from that point on, it seemed like they were constantly cranking up the pitocin, then taking it back down again for the next few hours. i was suppose to be having my baby by this time...but then i spiked a fever of over 100. great, more talk of an emergency c-section! they gave me tylenol, and i ate some ice chips to try to get it back down. i was starving too, by the way. i had a half bowl of cereal for breakfast around 9:30ish but that was all...but i just kept crunching away on the ice chips because it was all i was allowed!
now around 9:15ish i was able to pick my legs up off the bed...which totally freaked me out. the nurse explained that the epidural meds are given in a concentrated dosage, and as the day wears on, it will start to even out...but i was scared that i would be able to start feeling it when it came time to push! she assured me i would be fine. she also said that the doctor had planned to deliver all of the other babies first and save me for last, so that if any complications arose, all hands were on deck to roll me to the surgery room. scary! so there i sat just waiting! then in the next half hour my fever broke and it was about time to push! how exciting...except for the fact that i was starting to now feel pain in my lower back! it was a steady dull pain, but hurt enough to make me uncomfortable. i'm sure they thought i was a big baby, but if they wanted me to push this baby out, i needed some more meds! they called for the anesthesiologist to come administer more medication through my iv. he gave me one dose, disappeared for awhile, then came back to give me one more. that took care of the pain problem!
finally a little after 10pm, a whole swarm of nurses (probably 6-8 of them) plus the doctor and anesthesiologist, plus the pediatrician arrived. it was time! the nurse instructed michael and my momma to come over...they were going to hold my hands and push on the bottom of my feet while i curled up and pushed! haha, my mom wasn't even sure that she wanted to be in the room (she says she didn't want to see me in pain) but boy was she right there in the middle of it all! :) it took me an hour, (which i never thought it felt like that long) but finally weston's head emerged (they kept saying almost the whole time that they could see his dark hair so i was getting frustrated that i couldn't get him out right away) but anyhow, the very next push was the last & our little weston was born. he was perfect! right away, i heard one of the nurses say "he's got 10 fingers and 10 toes!" lol, dont' know if that was her only purpose for being in the room...to count my little guy's fingers? but that made me happy to hear...even if we do have to pay her $300 for being there to do that. lol.
so our little baby boy was put on my chest immediately, covering in all that glorious goo. it was such an amazing experience! can't really describe how good it felt. then of course, they had to clean him up, weigh & measure him, get fingerprints, give him a shot and all that other fun stuff. meanwhile the doctor had to give me some stitches, which i did not like at all. i could feel it and it hurt! she pushed my morphine button for me several times...which means i can't remember everything that happened the next couple of hours, except that my little boy was here, he was perfect and our little family was so happy!one of the nurses got my finger prints at that time too, but i vaguely just remember that...my mr. had to remind me about it, when i saw the paper the next day and was very confused about how my fingerprints got on it when i clearly never did that...haha!
i got to do kangaroo care with weston which was also very special to us. :) everyone left the room for about 1/2 hour, then the next half hour my mom came back in. she got some videos on her camera which are so good, they make me cry. i didn't even realize she had been videoing anything, so that was pretty special to see afterwards. it was a long day...but so worth every single minute. i'd do it again in a heartbeat! we are very blessed!
weston charles. 10.19.2011. 20" long. 7lbs 12.5oz. complete with chubby cheeks ;)
my due date was october 18th. when i woke up that morning, i had what felt like normal menstrual cramps...and they lasted throughout the whole day. around 8:30/9pm that night they started feeling a little stronger and almost like they were spread apart. i was at work but around 10:45 decided to head home. i called my husband because i was contemplating going straight to the hospital to get checked out. he wanted me to just come home, since i had a doctors appointment the next day at 1pm. an hour later when i got home, the cramps felt worse. we called the hospital and the doctor on call told me to take some tylenol and try to lay down and get some rest. ok. once i got in bed, michael rubbed my lower back for awhile, but then he fell asleep. my pains were coming and going more regularly, it seemed like every 5 minutes. i kept trying to time them, but i was hurting so bad that i couldn't concentrate. i ended up getting out of bed because it hurt to lay down. it even hurt to sit down. so from about 12:30am until probably almost 7am, i was awake, walking around the house all night long. around 4am i tried to wake michael up to say "take me to the hospital now!" but he wouldn't budge. ugh! i was sooo tired. all i wanted to do was lay down and get some sleep. so around 7am i tried getting back in bed. i managed to lay there for almost 2 hours, suffering through the cramps and trying to get a few minutes of sleep in. at 9am, i woke up, talked to michael and we decided to call the hospital to see if i could come in ahead of time before my appointment. i quickly took a shower, then when i called the office, the lady asked me how long i had been having pains and how spaced out they were...i said about 5 minutes apart for the whole night...she said to come to the hospital immediately! i had the phone on speaker at that point because i was on hold for so long and once michael heard that, he jumped out of bed! told you i was not making it up! i was having contractions all night long. the first stage of labor!
we got to the hospital and in to see dr. miller at 11am. i was 1cm dilated (thats it?!) and i had one of those pains which she confirmed was a contraction. since we live about 35min from the hospital, she didn't want to send us home...so she sent us to the 2nd floor to get a delivery room. she said i would have my baby around 7 or 8 that night!!! eeek! call the grandmas!
we went ahead to the next floor down and were checked into room number 12. the lady told me to put my gown on, and shortly after a nurse came in to ask me a bunch of questions, which she filled out on the computer. another nurse came in to start my IV line. she said many people think this hurts the most out of everything...great! thanks a lot. but michael held my hand and she got it on the first try, so it wasn't that painful. thank goodness! she was able to start some pain meds for me to help out, which she warned me would make me feel drowsy and possibly like i was drunk. yep, she was right. the stadol made me feel weird and out of it. it was around 1:15pm at this point, and michael decided to run home to take care of rocket and pepper since he knew we'd be there for the rest of the day. i would wait until he got back before i got the epidural because i was scared.
basically right after michael left, another nurse came in to check how far along i was. she said i was 4cm dilated and while she was doing that, my water broke! oops. it felt so weird...like someone just poured water all over me in a big gush. i was feeling pretty wacked out still because of the stadol. i'm not sure if she had me get so she could change the bedding, or what?! but let me say, after my water broke, those contractions were 100 times more intense. it hurt bad! they were coming about every 5 minutes. i somehow made it through about an hours worth of pain...i told the nurse that i was waiting until michael got back before getting the epidural. i wanted him to be there for me to hold my hand because i was very scared of getting such a huge shot in my spine! however, she could tell how much pain i was in and went ahead and called the anesthesiologist ahead of time. meanwhile different people had been coming in the room to go over paperwork with me, something about a living will, etc, but i couldn't focus on anything they were saying...the stadol was making me so drowsy that i kept falling asleep while they were talking to me! finally the anesthesiologist showed up around 2:30ish and got me prepped for the epidural. he had me sit up, feet hanging over the edge of my bed. he felt my spine a little to get the exact entry position, cleaned my skin and gave me a numbing shot first. that one stung a little. i think there was actually 3 different needles. i remember the nurse being right there, but her phone rang and she took it out of her pocket and answered it. how rude! she was not the kind of support i had hoped for during this. but while she was talking i guess it provided me with a distraction because in went the epidural needle and it barely hurt...i remember it just feeling weird and taking some time to fish in that catheder line into my spinal column. but he got it in there with no problem (thank goodness) then taped me up so it wouldn't move. phew, that was over! then he administered the pain meds and i couldn't feel the pain of the contractions anymore! that was the best part...it was like magic! i barely remember the doctor coming in to meet me, but again, i was out of it, so she said she'd come back later. her name was dr. grider...i never got the chance to meet her during my rotations through the doctors at women first. i called michael a little while later, probably shortly after 3pm to see when he would be back...he was just getting to the house because he had stopped first to have the car seat inspected. so i took the opportunity to take a nap since i had been up all night!
by 4pm-ish michael was back and we were watching tv together. a nurse came in to check my dilation again and i was still at a 4cm. apparently you are suppose to progress by 1cm per hour after your water breaks, so i should have been at a 6cm by then. which meant it wasn't happening right. throughout the day there were several nurses who came and went, but now the nurse who would be with me for the rest of my delivery was there. now i can't even remember what her name was. anyhow, she started me on pitocin to speed up the dilation. at 6pm they came back and i was at full dilation! whoops! so they backed down the pitocin levels to bring me back down. call the grandmas again! they are still in southern indiana, about an hour away. hurry up, cause i'm gonna have a baby in the next hour! around 6:45 several nurses all rushed in at once, and without saying a word, started heave-ho-ing me from side to side on my bed. what in the heck was going on? it totally freaked me out. (also forgot to mention after the epidural, they made me wear an oxygen mask, which a. made it hard to talk, and b. made me feel ridiculous). so here i am, totally freaked out, wearing my mask and being thrown all over the place. i started to cry. i finally asked what was going on and they said the baby's heart rate had dropped into the 40s which is not good at all. it is suppose to be closer to 150 beats per minute. they were rotating me side to side to try to find a spot that the baby liked so that he could get his heart rate back up. the doctor explained that if it didn't work, they were going to take me in for an emergency c-section. more crying ensued. it was very scary. finally they were able to get his heart rate stabilized and wanted to monitor it for awhile before totally ruling out the cesarean. thankfully it stayed where it needed to be and the grandmas (plus kate) showed up around 7:20pm. it was so good to have my mom there with me finally! since kaitlyn is under the age of 14, the poor thing had to sit out in the waiting room the whole time. it made me feel bad! we kept asking if she could come in, but the nurses wouldn't budge...which i somewhat understand because of sicknesses children can pick up in schools...but still. she felt bad for being left out of everything :(
from that point on, it seemed like they were constantly cranking up the pitocin, then taking it back down again for the next few hours. i was suppose to be having my baby by this time...but then i spiked a fever of over 100. great, more talk of an emergency c-section! they gave me tylenol, and i ate some ice chips to try to get it back down. i was starving too, by the way. i had a half bowl of cereal for breakfast around 9:30ish but that was all...but i just kept crunching away on the ice chips because it was all i was allowed!
now around 9:15ish i was able to pick my legs up off the bed...which totally freaked me out. the nurse explained that the epidural meds are given in a concentrated dosage, and as the day wears on, it will start to even out...but i was scared that i would be able to start feeling it when it came time to push! she assured me i would be fine. she also said that the doctor had planned to deliver all of the other babies first and save me for last, so that if any complications arose, all hands were on deck to roll me to the surgery room. scary! so there i sat just waiting! then in the next half hour my fever broke and it was about time to push! how exciting...except for the fact that i was starting to now feel pain in my lower back! it was a steady dull pain, but hurt enough to make me uncomfortable. i'm sure they thought i was a big baby, but if they wanted me to push this baby out, i needed some more meds! they called for the anesthesiologist to come administer more medication through my iv. he gave me one dose, disappeared for awhile, then came back to give me one more. that took care of the pain problem!
finally a little after 10pm, a whole swarm of nurses (probably 6-8 of them) plus the doctor and anesthesiologist, plus the pediatrician arrived. it was time! the nurse instructed michael and my momma to come over...they were going to hold my hands and push on the bottom of my feet while i curled up and pushed! haha, my mom wasn't even sure that she wanted to be in the room (she says she didn't want to see me in pain) but boy was she right there in the middle of it all! :) it took me an hour, (which i never thought it felt like that long) but finally weston's head emerged (they kept saying almost the whole time that they could see his dark hair so i was getting frustrated that i couldn't get him out right away) but anyhow, the very next push was the last & our little weston was born. he was perfect! right away, i heard one of the nurses say "he's got 10 fingers and 10 toes!" lol, dont' know if that was her only purpose for being in the room...to count my little guy's fingers? but that made me happy to hear...even if we do have to pay her $300 for being there to do that. lol.
so our little baby boy was put on my chest immediately, covering in all that glorious goo. it was such an amazing experience! can't really describe how good it felt. then of course, they had to clean him up, weigh & measure him, get fingerprints, give him a shot and all that other fun stuff. meanwhile the doctor had to give me some stitches, which i did not like at all. i could feel it and it hurt! she pushed my morphine button for me several times...which means i can't remember everything that happened the next couple of hours, except that my little boy was here, he was perfect and our little family was so happy!one of the nurses got my finger prints at that time too, but i vaguely just remember that...my mr. had to remind me about it, when i saw the paper the next day and was very confused about how my fingerprints got on it when i clearly never did that...haha!
i got to do kangaroo care with weston which was also very special to us. :) everyone left the room for about 1/2 hour, then the next half hour my mom came back in. she got some videos on her camera which are so good, they make me cry. i didn't even realize she had been videoing anything, so that was pretty special to see afterwards. it was a long day...but so worth every single minute. i'd do it again in a heartbeat! we are very blessed!
weston charles. 10.19.2011. 20" long. 7lbs 12.5oz. complete with chubby cheeks ;)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
giveaway from dear lizzy
have you seen the december daily kit up for sale at studio calico? it looks amazing...but i don't have an extra $80 to buy one...so i'm trying to win one! who doesn't love a fab giveaway, right?!
from the dear lizzy blog:
"December Daily celebrates and documents the traditions and everyday stories from the 1st to the 25th.
from the dear lizzy blog:
"December Daily celebrates and documents the traditions and everyday stories from the 1st to the 25th.
Well, today I'm thrilled to giveaway one of Studio Calico + Ali Edwards December Daily kit. They teamed up and hand-selected everything you need to make a festive mini album!"
the supplies all look awesome...crossing my fingers tightly! :) but if i don't win, that's ok too. i will just pull together some of my stashed supplies and make my own...but the winning this kit would totally make my day!
xxo andie...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge
hiya!
i started following kim hughes' paper smooches SPARKS blog awhile back and am finally able to participate in a SPARKS challenge this time around...it couldn't be more perfect because the inspiration pic is that of a volkswagen bus driving through a huge tree...probably a giant sequoia?
my husband is a vdubb mechanic...& he used to have a volkswagen bus in high school just like this one, although his was red. we'd love to get our hands on another one someday! :) i don't own any paper smooches stamps yet (although i am in LOVE with most of them) but thankfully we are allowed to use some of the free digital stamps available on the blog! how cool is that?! that's where the sentiment came from that i used on my card, along with a papertrey ink vw bug stamp from the set "enjoy the ride" which is the closest i could come to a bus for right now. anyhow, thanks for visiting & have a wonderful evening!
xxo andie librandi...
i started following kim hughes' paper smooches SPARKS blog awhile back and am finally able to participate in a SPARKS challenge this time around...it couldn't be more perfect because the inspiration pic is that of a volkswagen bus driving through a huge tree...probably a giant sequoia?
my husband is a vdubb mechanic...& he used to have a volkswagen bus in high school just like this one, although his was red. we'd love to get our hands on another one someday! :) i don't own any paper smooches stamps yet (although i am in LOVE with most of them) but thankfully we are allowed to use some of the free digital stamps available on the blog! how cool is that?! that's where the sentiment came from that i used on my card, along with a papertrey ink vw bug stamp from the set "enjoy the ride" which is the closest i could come to a bus for right now. anyhow, thanks for visiting & have a wonderful evening!
xxo andie librandi...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
october 2011 blog hop
howdy! just dropping in to share my card for papertrey ink's october 2011 blog hop...but first, let me say that i've been a busy bee lately...i started creating this card for last week's make it monday...but got sidetracked with a little stay over at the hospital...in the labor and delivery unit!!! weston charles smith entered the world on wednesday, october 19th, 2011! my husband & i are so blessed with a beautiful and healthy little boy. i won't go overly crazy in this post about him...i'll share a separate post about our whole experience as i want to have it documented so i won't forget any of the details, but please let me induldge with one cute picture at least! i'm a very proud mommy! :)
ok, thanks for that! :) anyhow, luckily for me, the card that i started last week fits with the theme of the blog hop! what a happy accident! the pumpkin is an imaginisce stamp that i paper pieced together with some pattern paper scraps, pti cardstock and dies along with a few extras from my stash (bakers twine, crochet fiber, gems, pins). hope you enjoy & happy autumn!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
make it monday no. 36: faux watercoloring
just dropping in to quickly post my card for papertrey ink's make it monday no. 36...faux watercoloring technique :) it's a bit hard to tell in the harsh photo i just took, but i watercolored in the owls wings, around his eyes and ears and also on the leaves...the color didn't spread as well as i had hoped, but it did soften the lines of the stamp somewhat, which left a nice effect. i ran the background paper through my cuttlebug with a woodgrain embossing folder almost 3 times before i realized what i was doing (made this card while watching the chicago bears) and it really roughed up my argyle paper. it ended up stretching my paper so much that i just tore the edges and really like how it turned out...goes nicely with the woodsy theme. :)
baby update: tuesday (october 18) is my due date! um, yes, as in 2 days away...) i can't believe it...but this little one is not ready to come out from hiding yet. i think i will probably go a few days past. my doctor told me at last week's checkup that she will let me go until oct. 25 and then we will have to schedule an induction. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will come on his own. he is sure performing a circus act in my belly right now as we speak! lol!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
september 2011 blog hop
hiya!
just dropping in with a very quick and easy card i just fashioned up for the papertrey ink september 2011 blog hop. our inspiration this month was this lovely photo:
thanks for stopping by! sorry i don't have much to say but i'm a bit tired today...we were up late at my husband's cousin's wedding and reception last night and i had to work all day so i'm headed to bed! :)
xxo andie...
just dropping in with a very quick and easy card i just fashioned up for the papertrey ink september 2011 blog hop. our inspiration this month was this lovely photo:
and here is my card:
thanks for stopping by! sorry i don't have much to say but i'm a bit tired today...we were up late at my husband's cousin's wedding and reception last night and i had to work all day so i'm headed to bed! :)
xxo andie...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Cards with Foxes
howdy there! i made this card for the create blog weekly cards challenge...this week's challenge is to create a card with foxes. i always want to participate in these challenges but usually run out of time. not this time...i had to squeeze this one into my busy week.
i paper pieced this cute little fox image...whew those little paws are tiny...it took me awhile to stamp, cut out and glue back together but so worth it! (stamp is from imaginisce...so cute!) and i really love the fall-ish color combo on this card! and the woodgrain texture is a new embossing folder that i got at hobby lobby (the paper studio brand) for $4.99 plus a 40% discount...so it was only $3.00 a.ma.zing! :)
p.s...T minus 4 weeks till baby (give or take a little) eeek! getting so excited to meet him! i hope he comes a little bit later though cause i have lots to do still...plus i want to be off through christmas so crossing my fingers that he waits till 40 weeks at least!
p.s...T minus 4 weeks till baby (give or take a little) eeek! getting so excited to meet him! i hope he comes a little bit later though cause i have lots to do still...plus i want to be off through christmas so crossing my fingers that he waits till 40 weeks at least!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
make it monday #30
another busy week's going by...just made a tiny card for this week's papertrey ink make it monday challenge. this time we're suppose to use colored pencils to shade. so i broke out the trusty prismacolors to shade in that cute little witch's face. that halloween stamp set is from the paper studio and fillable frame and polka dot circle are both from papertrey ink. the finished card size is 3in x 4.25in. after i finished it i realized that the bottom frame kind of looks like a big witch's cauldron lol. halloween will be here before we know it! i love fall so maybe i'm getting a little bit ahead of myself...but i can't wait for warm apple cider and pumpkin decorations!
Friday, August 26, 2011
make it monday #29
welcome to another papertrey ink make it monday post! i busted out those darn cute little strawberries...again! mostly because i only have 3 copic markers...fuschia, pea green and a light grey...so i'm a little limited in choices. haha. i'm working on it though. after using copics at stamp-a-faire on a card for one of heather's make-and-takes, i was hooked! but i'll grow my collection slowly because they're an expensive little marker! :) so this is just a tiny little tag that i created using the bookmark die. i just ran it through the cuttlebug with the paper overlapping just enough to make it as long as a little tag, then rounded the edges when it came out. pretty cute! i also tried my hand at stamp masking for the first time on this little project as well. i simply stamped the strawberries at the sticky end of a post-it note, then trimmed it out, placed it on my white cardstock, then used the ledger stamp from tag-its #6 to stamp over that. just remove the sticky note and stamp the actual strawberries in the blank area and you're all set! i've seen on nichol magouirk's blog that she has special masking paper that she uses which looks fab because you can save the masks to reuse! have to add that to my scrappy wish list! it was a little tough for me to get messy with those markers though! haha, it's funny how strange it felt to color outside the lines when usually you try to make it look so perfect and tidy! anyhow, thanks for stopping by! xxo andie...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge
can't believe how quickly august is flying by...sheesh! it's the 25th which means blog hop time! this month, nichole supplied us with this inspirational photo to use as a jumping off point.
gorgeous, right? i chose to break out my pti friendship jar stamp set, which i purchased at stamp-a-faire. it's the first time i've use it and i love love love it! it's such an adorable little jar. the strawberries are from pti tiny treats: birthday. i've used those strawberries a lot out of that set! they are too cute! and of course that's a stamp from fancy flourishes up there in the corner.
thanks for stopping by to take a peek...i'm off to work now. ugh. would rather stay at home all day crafting! :) back tomorrow with my make it monday post!
xxo andie...
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Make It Monday #28
howdy!
back again to share a quick card i made for my sister-in-law's birthday...i used the technique shown in papertrey ink's make it monday challenge which is how to add glitter to your card using a die-cut as a template. it's super easy and a fun idea! i wish i had used some finer glitter after the fact, but still like how it turned out. the glitter is from martha stewart crafts that i found at michael's awhile back...it's a huge container that will probably last me a life-time literally and it was marked from $12.99 to $2.99 on clearance! couldn't pass up a deal like that! :) the die-cut i used is dawn's "signature series: butterfly." it's the first time i've used the stamp...love it! the sentiment is from the set "enjoy the ride."
i've been busy this week finishing up a couple of cards for a magazine submission (got my fingers crossed) and painting the window in the nursery so that i can start on the tree branch wall painting i'm planning to do! yippee...baby will be here in about 2 months!
thanks for visiting my blog!
xxo andie...
Monday, August 8, 2011
Papertrey Ink Stamp-A-Faire
i am so lucky and got to attend papertrey ink's 1st ever stamp-a-faire a couple weekends back. let me tell you, i had so much fun! i ended up driving to cincinnati on saturday morning...leaving around 6:15am and finally getting home at about 11:30pm that evening. it was a long day, but oh so worth it!
everything about the day was so well-planned out by nichole and the papertrey team. once we got checked-in and found a table, the day pretty much began! there were 5 make-and-take stations in the morning, then 5 more after lunch. each designer had her own table with a different card. it was a very stress-free process...you just jumped in line for whichever card you wanted, sat down when a seat opened and got started! i met dawn first, then mish, betsy, heather and lisa. they are all just as sweet and nice in person as they seem on their blogs :) but of course, i totally expected them to be.
they had a "mini store" set up with all of the beautiful cardstock colors, with matching buttons and ribbon. you were also able to place an order that day, and they had runners going over to the warehouse all day long to collect your stamps and bring them back to you. that was pretty exciting! if you spent $100 or more, you were given a special stamp set. everyone also received an exclusive stamp set called "iconic images" which is absolutely beautiful.
i met some lovely ladies from canada (dee, avril and reagan) and maria from delaware...hi girls! they were so nice to me and took me into their group to hang with them that day. we went to archivers and joanne's during our dinner break, then ate at chick-fil-a. yum! a couple of them had never been there before (can't believe it...i eat there once every couple of weeks for lunch) so it was a fun time. i also met a couple of nice ladies who actually live in louisville (kate and betsy) so that was a happy surprise that i sat down at a table next to kate and started a conversation with her. i am meeting up with betsy and some of her friends at archivers in a couple weeks for a crop night. how fun! i'm looking forward to that :)
i took so many supplies anticipating getting some crafting done, but ended up not working on a single thing besides the make-and-takes. it was just too much fun visiting with new scrappy friends, walking around to see what other more productive ladies were making, and planning your order! i definitely can't wait until next year!!!
everything about the day was so well-planned out by nichole and the papertrey team. once we got checked-in and found a table, the day pretty much began! there were 5 make-and-take stations in the morning, then 5 more after lunch. each designer had her own table with a different card. it was a very stress-free process...you just jumped in line for whichever card you wanted, sat down when a seat opened and got started! i met dawn first, then mish, betsy, heather and lisa. they are all just as sweet and nice in person as they seem on their blogs :) but of course, i totally expected them to be.
they had a "mini store" set up with all of the beautiful cardstock colors, with matching buttons and ribbon. you were also able to place an order that day, and they had runners going over to the warehouse all day long to collect your stamps and bring them back to you. that was pretty exciting! if you spent $100 or more, you were given a special stamp set. everyone also received an exclusive stamp set called "iconic images" which is absolutely beautiful.
i met some lovely ladies from canada (dee, avril and reagan) and maria from delaware...hi girls! they were so nice to me and took me into their group to hang with them that day. we went to archivers and joanne's during our dinner break, then ate at chick-fil-a. yum! a couple of them had never been there before (can't believe it...i eat there once every couple of weeks for lunch) so it was a fun time. i also met a couple of nice ladies who actually live in louisville (kate and betsy) so that was a happy surprise that i sat down at a table next to kate and started a conversation with her. i am meeting up with betsy and some of her friends at archivers in a couple weeks for a crop night. how fun! i'm looking forward to that :)
i took so many supplies anticipating getting some crafting done, but ended up not working on a single thing besides the make-and-takes. it was just too much fun visiting with new scrappy friends, walking around to see what other more productive ladies were making, and planning your order! i definitely can't wait until next year!!!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
make it monday #26
hello again!
this week's papertrey ink make it monday challenge on nichole's blog is to create a project using decreasing apertures. that basically means busting out those great die-cuts and layering them in such a way that you go from larger to smaller. it was a fun project! i used the pti mat stack die #5 plus a circular punch and the martha stewart punch all over the page butterfly punch. that beautiful patterned paper is from basic grey's indian summer mini paper pad. it's been out awhile but i haven't used many of the sheets yet...the colors are just beautiful and gave my card the perfect punch of color! :) plus i love the idea of a glitter window! why didn't i ever think of that?
xxo andie...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Make it Monday #25
xxo andie...
Monday, July 25, 2011
Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge
why hello ya'll.
i had an amazing time on saturday at the papertrey ink stamp-a-faire in cincinnati! it was so much fun...it was wonderful to meet the design team and some great new friends! i'm so thrilled that i was able to go! more on that later though :)
for my blog hop card, i featured the new pitcher stamp from the exclusive iconic images set. it really is a beautiful set filled with great images. i think i'll be using it a lot! the sentiment is from a new little set that i purchased on saturday which is dawn mcvey's signature series: butterfly. hope you enjoy!
xxo andie...
Friday, July 15, 2011
why hello there!
here's a little bit about me:
my name is andrea, but you can call me andie.
i'm a 27 year old wife and mommy-to-be :)
my husband's name is michael. he's a volkswagen technician...he runs his own shop from our home.
we are expecting our first child in october 2011. couldn't be happier!
i am a graphic designer by profession. i work in the broadcast field, at an nbc affiliate.
my absolute dream job would be to design for a scrapbook or stamp company! get paid to scrapbook...ummm yes please!
we have three pets: rocket, a border collie. pepper, a sweet little kitty. we call them our "black and whites" because they match. and lastly, rosie, the goldfish.
of course, i am a lover of all things crafty...especially scrapbooking and cardmaking.
i just recently was published for the first time in stamp it! vol. 8 and will have a mini album published in create: mini albums this winter! eeek! so excited about that!
xxo andie...
my name is andrea, but you can call me andie.
i'm a 27 year old wife and mommy-to-be :)
my husband's name is michael. he's a volkswagen technician...he runs his own shop from our home.
we are expecting our first child in october 2011. couldn't be happier!
i am a graphic designer by profession. i work in the broadcast field, at an nbc affiliate.
my absolute dream job would be to design for a scrapbook or stamp company! get paid to scrapbook...ummm yes please!
we have three pets: rocket, a border collie. pepper, a sweet little kitty. we call them our "black and whites" because they match. and lastly, rosie, the goldfish.
of course, i am a lover of all things crafty...especially scrapbooking and cardmaking.
i just recently was published for the first time in stamp it! vol. 8 and will have a mini album published in create: mini albums this winter! eeek! so excited about that!
xxo andie...
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