Have you started....

...your Christmas cards yet? Do you make them or buy them? Photo cards or no? The possibilities are endless and oh so creative! I recently picked up the Holiday Cards publication by Paper Crafts. Wow - what inspiration! I think I must have marked up the whole magazine with circles and folded corners. So many ideas by such wonderful designers. I had a little card making party with my sister-in-law LeeAnn a few weekends ago and we had tons of fun using up our stash and cranking out some cute little card creations. But first, I'll show you a little idea I came up with using the new Noel line from Teresa Collins. It just screams Christmas glamour and sophistocation. The classic styling is a true winner in my book - love it! Teresa has a knack for adding the perfect little companions to her lines. I love the cardstock die cuts and the library pockets - so pretty and functional.

For this fun card, I took the larger library pocket and and adhered it to the card to have a place for the tags to be inserted. I like the idea of having the tags pull out and used for display somewhere; maybe tie on the Christmas tree?

A little pom pom fringe, tinsel and pearls compliment these festive papers. I cut the word "believe" from the ribbon in the Noel collection; such a great font and not one stamp involved! Ahhh, too cute. Might have to leave it sitting out to bring some early holiday cheer...

   

This next project has been long in coming and I have been working on it here and there. It's a little book, about 7x7, of Ellie and her kindergarten pictures. This one is tough for me to create since the memories flood back with each paper that I lay down, but it is also very therapeutic in a sense. I have collected school themed papers ever since Ellie started preschool in 2006. I have a ridiculous stash of all the adorable school things that hit the scrapbook store shelves every August. And I still love each one even though some are 4 years old. So, they are making their way into this book, all mixed and melded together along with my precious few kindergarten pictures of my angel girl. Here's a few peeks at a couple of the pages:

Remember this fun line by Foof-A-La/Autumn Leaves? So cute and still a fave of mine. The little mini banner stamp is from American Crafts' Dear Lizzy line. Love banners...

Missing you always Ellie Belle; thank you for giving me the chance to be your Mama and truly understand what it means to love, hope and walk by faith. Thank you for the strength that you showed me each and every day. You taught me so much, little girl....

Hug those kiddos extra tight before they head out your door this morning. Have a blessed Friday all.

Love to you, Nik



Sweet November

Here we are into November already. Time goes so fast and it seems that life never slows down. I hope you are all enjoying all the beauty that autumn brings. I think it must be my favorite season; so much to breathe in and savor. We have had glorius weather in Minnesota. Lots of sun and temps in the 50s. So not normal for us here in the north. This could all change by Friday since they are forecasting snow for us. Not sure I am ready for it just yet, but I will welcome it as a different kind of freshness.

 One thing I love about this time of year is the creative side of me that jumps at the change to make something earthy, bursting with colors of cinnamon, pumpkin and deep olive green. I am not much into Halloween, but I sure do love the other fun things that fall brings. A couple years ago I began this little "box" for whatever reason never finished it. The paper is an oldie but goodie from Daisy Ds -oh boy do I ever miss seeing their pretty products on the shelves. I got busy and finished and the result is the little container above; a pretty setting to dress up our home a little this November.

The kids had a great time trick or treating and below is a sweet little picture of Cole and Desi just waiting to be scrapped. Desi was a pink cheetah and since Cole is only 2, I simply picked through his closet and turned him into a little mechanic. Nothing like being thrifty, right? If you look closely, you can see that Desirae dug into her candy stash early and has a big ol' wad of bubblegum in her mouth. That's my girl....

As November continues on, I am reminded to keep moving forward. Keep creating, keep the focus on God, and keep creating joy. I think "Give Thanks" is going to be my little motto this season; maybe make it your too if you so desire. We are all so blessed in so many ways.

Love to all, sweet blog friends! May your November days be filled with laughter, big blessings, good friends, and much, much JOY.

XOXO, Nik

Summer time...

Hi Bloggers! Oh my stars how I have missed you all. Summer has flown by and I have not had too much computer/blogging time.  So I thought I would give you a little recap and post a few pictures for you to enjoy. I wish I could say that I have had a crafty, scrappy summer, but my projects have taken a backseat to being mom. I am just now getting back into my creating and will have some pretties to share with you all in the months to come.

May began with my nephew Joe graduating from high school. The entire Willaert family was present at Pat's brother Gerald's farm and we had a great time eating and socializing. The above picture was taken at the farm and I played around with it in Photoshop to get the effect I was after. So wish I could tell you what I did, but it was so long ago I can't remember. That's Desi and Cole running for the corn field.

Desi celebrated her 5th birthday in May and we had a super glamorous time at her "Make-Over Party". We performed manicures, pedicures, hairstyles and applied makeup to 10 little girls. I could not have pulled it off without the help of my nieces and sister-in-laws. Thank you ladies - you did a phenomenal job! Above are the party invites I created using my Cricut and the Forever Young cartridge. I liked the idea of the little mirror and Desi was able to help apply the pieces of the invite together. Such fun!

Here she is getting her hair straightened by my niece Whitney. She has curly hair, so whenever someone will take the time to straighten it for her, she is all smiles and oh so grown up. She opted for cupcakes and below you can see her getting ready to blow out her candles.

One of my favorite lines that made it's way to the stores early in the season was Melody Ross's Homespun Chic by GCD Studios. I could play with these papers over and over again, they are so shabby but bright, simple but complex. Love them and would buy this line all over again! Ellie made her way onto the layout below and of course I shed several tears while piecing it together. I loved this line so much I even used pieces from the packaging!

And a little birdie house. This little house had been painted and crackled back in December and then sat unfinished for the winter. The Homespun Chic papers dressed it up nicely and it is now displayed in my kitchen.

Cole also celebrated a birthday as he turned 2 in May. We kept his "party" very simple since I was spent from Desi's little gala. He is big into anything that drives, moves, bales hay or digs dirt. His cake was simply adorable and decorated with an excavator that now takes its place in his sandbox. A little dump truck adorned with brown sugar dirt completed the look and Cole could not have been happier. He held onto the excavator the entire time he "ate" his cake and fed some to Grandma Joy. Precious - cannot wait to scrap the abundance of pictures I took that day:)

Ellie's memory garden was just gorgeous this year. Delphiniums, yellow peonies, clematis, johnny-jump-ups and yellow roses bloomed brilliantly in May and June. I was thrilled to see that all of the work we had done last year planting Ellie's favorites came back with such beauty. Oh so pretty - she would have been so very proud of me.

We have had lots of crazy weather this summer too. Very heavy storms and lots of tornadoes. The stormy picture below was taking from my window looking out over the backyard. We were headed for the basement that day. Below I captured Desi in the rain and was able to scrap a cute little page using some fun products from KI Memories. The colors in the Posh line were so fun to play with. KI was the sponsor over at Scrappin' Mojo for June and they were more than generous with their product. Thank you KI Memories!

I have not posted a picture of my sweet hubby in some time so I thought I would do that in this post. Here's Pat and Colson snuggling while we watched Desi at her swimming lessons. I love getting pictures of my two guys together; Cole is the spitting image of Pat at age two! They look so much alike, don't ya think?

I will leave you with a little something that I made for my mom's birthday. Keeping Ellie's memory alive is something I do on a daily basis and I enjoy creating little pieces of art to hang here and there. Often they have scripture on them to remind me to keep God first; and many times they have pictures of my precious angel child, my Ellena. I say it in every post, but my heart continues to ache for her. She continues to inspire me to keep moving forward and so I do. Each step a little tougher than the last, but none the less, a step.

I will leave you all now. My kiddos need supper and my thoughts are starting to blend together. I hope to be back sooner than later with a few more shares for you. Be Blessed my sweet blog friends!

XOXO, Nik

Rainy Scrappy Tuesday

Rain, rain go away; come again another day. Unless you are a crafty mama like me who waits for a day like today and all the creative bliss that only a day of showers can bring. What a perfect day to watch the rain fall only to bring about new life when the sun shines again. I love its smell, its cleansing beauty, and its freshness. And I can't wait to see the peonies and pansies open up when the drops from the sky cease. So relaxing...

.

So I am gonna sit down with a cup of coffee and Desi and see where the day leads us. Maybe a some scrapbook time, maybe some story time, maybe some American Girl doll dressing time or maybe just some snuggle time. I am sure Cole will join us when he wakes up from his nap time  - perfect day for taking one of those too.....

And maybe tonight we will head over to Aunt Wendy's to deliver this little gem...

A very much overdue Christmas gift that I was unable to finish in December. I love trinket boxes and making them for others. This one was specially made for my sister-in-law, Wendy, for her to keep any little treasures she likes in it. The pretty paper is from the Prima Indeed collection, which has been nesting in my scrapbook stash for some time just waiting for the perfect piece to adorn itself with. Here's to you Wendy! Thank you for all you do and all you have done. You are a blessing!

Enjoy the rain and breathe it in today -

XoXo, Niki