Time flies when you’re having fun right?!?! I’m having a hard time realizing July is almost over!  So, I know it’s been a long time since I posted, but there is a really good reason!!! Maybe this will give you a hint:

You guessed it – we’re expecting our 2nd baby!  Laurie over at Doodle Pantry was kind enough to create her Crazy Cravings digital stamp and coordinating Sweet and Salty digital paper sets for me – I wanted a unique and fun way to spread the news so to speak. We’re well into our 2nd trimester now – a huge relief as the 1st one was pretty rough this time around!  Between the nausea and fatigue, I had to put my DT and creative ventures on the back burner – I’m really enjoying the time with Nadya as well.

Now for the give-away portion: I’m happy to say Uprinting.com, is offering a fabulous prize to one of my blog readers!

• 100 Standard Postcards
• 14pt Cardstock Gloss
• Front Printing
• 2 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
• Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only

With school activities gearing up and baby announcements on my mind, I was thrilled when Cornelia contacted me! You can view the postcard design options here or create your own and upload it – winner will select one of their choice.  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post by midnight August 4 – then Random.org will choose a winner. Super easy!!!

I guess that’s all from me – at least for now.  I was fortunate enough to spend last week with my Nana – we were quite busy creating and I’m looking forward to sharing the results with you.

Have a FABULOUS day!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, an online printing company, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive postcards for hosting. See more information about postcards and available postcard designs on UPrinting.com.

New Releases and Great New Sales from Tiffany Doodles!

Spring has sprung and Tiffany Doodles has all kinds of exciting ways to celebrate, including a stunning new release in the Granny’s Yard series, the latest release is Cherry Blossoms, available from Friday 1 April.  There’s a special offer until 7 April:  buy the cherry blossom set plus 2 more flower sets, get 10% off your order.

There’s a further Spring sale in store for the weekend, click on the picture to check out the Spring Babies Sale

And there’s more….  we’re having an Easter Egg hunt this weekend in store, starting Friday.  Find the eggs and you could be the grand prize winner of a Level 3 Membership to Tiffany Doodles for 1 year that includes 6 freebies, stamp sets, PLUS 20 Doodle Soup Rewards points =  $2.50 value.  Click on the Easter Egg picture to play along, starting Friday:

And finally, throughout April, we have a Spring birds and flowers April Sale for you

So, what are you waiting for?  See you at Tiffany’s!

I’ve often admired the altered journals/composition books displayed in my ARTHaven group, but hadn’t tried to create one myself.  That is until my friend Robin’s mom was diagnosed with Cancer.  I knew immediately I wanted to create something for Bobbie and I recalled the wonderful love gifts my fellow artists had been creating and sharing. So, with lots of determination, a bit of trepidation, and a fair amount of 2nd guessing myself, I set out to create my first altered journal.  Robin said her mom was a fan of pastels, so I selected these gorgeous papers from Melissa Frances – they’ve been hiding in my stash – waiting for the “perfect” project. The solid cardstock is from my stash and happened to match my DP perfectly. The ribbon is also a stash find – just a bit of sparkle without being overwhelming.  I created the sentiment with Rub-ons, another tool waiting to be utilized.  The flower is one of Tiffany Doodle’s Doodle Blooms – from Volume VII.  I printed it several times with the intent of layering.  I painted each layer with Twinkling H20 watercolors – I wanted shimmer but not glitter that could flake off or be messy and then trimmed everything before pop-dotting – using thin glue dots to avoid being bulky. For the inside, I used Bazzill textured pink – I wanted a soft solid coordinating color since I knew I would be adding a pocket to the inside front cover. I have been lifting Robin and her family up in prayer and I had asked for guidance as to what verse to include – I wanted something that would bring inspiration and hope – God led me to Philippians 4:6 over and over and fortuitously, I had a wonderful Doodle Pantry Sentiment stamp with that verse.  I printed it out, then trimmed and matted it using my nestabilities and a Micron pen. I punched the holes in the paper using my Rubicoil but found out too late that my covers were too thick to fit inside my punch, so using one of the papers as a guide, I used my American Tag HomePro LR punch to manually add the holes to the front and back covers so that the spiral binding would fit (note to self – punch holes in covers and cover cardstock décor BEFORE adhering).

Recipe:

• Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Doodle Blooms Vol. VII; Doodle Pantry A Loving God
• Ink: HP LaserJet;  Twinkling H2O watercolors; Sakura Micron Pen
• Paper: Neenah White; Bazzill Pink; Melissa Frances Charlotte; SU Almost Amethyst
• Other: Tombow Mono Adhesive; Elmer’s Glue Dots; PVA Glue; Foam Brush; Foam Roller; Nestabilities; Composition Book; Rub-on Alphabet; Ribbon; Spiral Coil
• Tools: Fiskars Paper Trimmer; Scor-It Score Board; Bone Folder; Big Shot; Rubicoil Machine; HomePro LR; Scissors; Paint Brush; Photoshop

Well, there you have it – my 1st foray into the world of altered composition books! I do hope the family is able to use the journal and that each time they see it they know of the many many thoughts and prayers being said for them.

Have a wonderful week!