Christmas in July and some special news ;)

I can't believe July is almost over! That means my littlest one is already a month old and my sister is soon to have a baby boy too. (She's due in early august).. this also means I'm running out if time to make Christmas cards in July! I signed up for a swap on a Facebook group and this is the card I came up with. 

I always wanted the Greeting Card Kids stamp set and when it retired I missed my chance.  Then I stumbled upon it at a yard sale for $4! Score!! This is the first time using it and I love it!

I'm learning with 3 kids now that it's easier to cut everything and then assemble.  You never know when one, two or all three are crying! 

I gave the card some dimension too.  The boring white card was bugging me so I had to distract the eyes :)

Can't wait to see the swaps I get in return! ;)

Now on to the cool news!  Yesterday my (unnamed) childhood friend sent me a message saying she and her hubby are expecting their first child! This makes me so giddy :) I'm secretly hoping she has a boy.

So I got this new stamp set and I knew it was perfect to make her card with.  I've actually never sent a "congrats/I'm happy your expecting" card .. Never had the stamp set for it.  Plenty of friends to send one to, but never sent one!  I guess she's my lucky friend :)

So here it is: 

I used the new hostess set Hello Love (adorable) and I added lots of dimension and flare.

 I don't know what I love more - the card or my friends exciting news!! 

Kidding... you know it's the card.

Kidding again! It's the news! Yay for the soon to be mom and dad ;) (love you guys!)

Kinda Eclectic gift box

I've lived so far from family over the last 9 years. Being stationed so far away in the military, I always sent home money or gift cards. Now that I'm a little closer to home, I can enjoy making gifts and packaging presents. I used the burst from kinda eclectic on the butterfly. Love it! I think this is my go to stamp set at the moment.  I hope you don't get annoyed! 

This is for my niece who will turn 5 this month.  The little dress fit perfect in the kraft box. And the best part, this year it will be hand delivered :)

I also used the new edgelits to cut out the letters.  I had to do one at a time because they tend to slip on the magnetic board (I need new scoring plates). 

Here's a close up of the butterflies. I love the starburst on them :) too cute! 

This is the dress I bought her that fit so perfect in the craft box.  Is it not adorable!?

Man, I would be broke if I had girls... Boys clothes are cheap and simple! :) 

while were on the subject of the awesome stamp set Kinda Eclectic, here's a card I made last night.  This was my first sketch challenge.  It was nice having a sketch at dimensions already layed out for me.  Made things quick and simple! Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

Thanks for stopping by :) 

Blessings,

Holly

Be the Star!

Happy Friday! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far :)  I had a few minutes to stamp today while grammie entertained the kiddos.  She sure is a great help!  I'm trying to stock up on cards because I got awesome news yesterday that the local artsy store in town is willing to sell (consign) my cards! I'm very excited about this.  I'm hoping to make a little extra money and maybe even get my name out there so I can become a demo again :)

Here is the card I made today using the Be the Star stamp set and the star framelits.  

I'm not a huge fan of the sentiments that came with the set--don't think I'd use any of them anytime soon, so I used a retired set for the saying.  

So here's a question for those still reading this...

Would you pay $3.50 for this card? Or a handmade card in general? The consignment shop is a 60/40 split.. Trying to figure out the best price to make it worth my time/resources.  I was selling them for $2 at my craft booth, but that was 100% profit.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend :)

- Holly

Watercolor Wednesday

Tonight I finally busted out the Calling All Heroes stamp set.  When it was released I wanted to get it before it was sold out.. So I placed an order that night.  And I'll be honest, even if I weren't pregnant at the time it arrived, I still would've waited this long.  Once it arrived, it just didn't speak to me anymore.   Sometimes we jump the gun too fast.

But then I stumbled across this card on Pinterest from understandblue.blogspot.com

I think her's is so much nicer, but I was pretty happy with my card. Definitely wouldn't have thought of this on my own.

Here is her card: (tempting turquoise, blackberry bliss, so saffron)

She did say that she couldn't get the water colored paper to work so she used a non-SU brand. But that's all I had on hand.  It worked okay but I did toss the first attempt. 

Here's my CASE'd copy: (I used island indigo, elegant eggplant and so saffron)

My only complaint is where I put my sentiment ... Should've done it in the bottom corner so it would be more noticeable.  Oh well.. You live and learn :)

Thanks for looking!! 

-Holly

Manly mustache ;)

Today was my father in law's birthday. He has been here a week visitng his new grandson so I was able to wait until today to actually make the card.  I'm never on time for cards at the beginning of the month. They always seem to sneak up on me!

I used the new stamp set called Age Awareness and the new mustache framelit.  I was hesitant to buy the mustache, but thought for $8 I could have some fun.  Plus, I found this oval and 'Stache idea on Pinterest and it reminded me of monopoly - too cute! The age awareness set is cute and I like the one saying that says "I remembered your birthday... Thanks Facebook" :) too often the case!

So here's the card! I think he liked it, but maybe he was too distracted by his free dessert.  We went to the Red Parrot in Newport tonight for dinner.  Great food if you're ever there.  We also did a portion of the cliff walk and we were able to see the backyards of some of the huge mansions. 

Such a fun stamp set :)

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend! I just realized I never posted my 4th of July card, so I'll go ahead and share that too :) I definitely need new plates for my big shot (you can see my letters shifted on me...)

Enjoy the rest of your week! Thanks for looking :)

-Holly

"Supermom" Bruschetta

That is the compliment my sister-in-law Nicki gave me... Of course, it was over the fact that I made this dinner a week after having a baby.  My sister Kelly agreed and said she would not be making food like this a week after having her baby... But she totally could!

The thing is, this was THAT easy that even new moms can do it.  Of course, Grandma is here helping out and that is an added bonus, but I'm certain anyone can whip this up really quick.

I purchased a French baguette and some tomatoes from sams club yesterday.  I can't wait til I'm harvesting my own tomatoes!  I used fresh basil from the garden, shredded mozzerella cheese, garlic infused oil and a black fig vinegar (both from a local store in mystic, CT).

First I brushed the bread with garlic olive oil and pressed it in my panini press.

Then I assembled the toppings - tomato (sliced went quicker), cheese and chopped basil.

Made 3 with just cheese for Eli - he's slightly pickier than Drew.

Then I placed them under the broiler at 450 degrees.  I would say this was 3-4 minutes... Long enough where I could clean up pee in the bathroom and console and upset toddler.

This is also when the grandma factor comes in.. She watched the bread! :)

This was so good, my husband who doesn't like tomatoes said "it's good - even with the tomatoes"...

But really, how do you make bruschetta without them? :)

We pair this with marinated flank steak and grilled zucchini. (This was my husband's job.)

Then we ended the night with dessert.  We picked strawberries on Sunday.  I made 7 jars of jam (new moms "can can" too).  The extra berries went towards this :) 

Isn't summertime the best?  :) gardens, grilling and fresh berries! Yummmm!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Family photos ;)

So I just wanted to post some pictures of our adorable family. Yes, I'm bias. 

Our new friends from church let us use their barn as a backdrop because the barn in our "backyard" has reeeeally tall grass right now, and I'm not about to go and find some snake while taking pictures of my family. (Are there many snakes in Rhode Island?)

I'm glad these are pictures that I took because if Eli made the amount of goofy faces that he did, and I was paying someone else to take pictures, oooooh momma would've been upset.  Fortunately, I took them and I was able to get a few cute ones. (He's cute even with the goofy faces, but seriously - 95% of them he's being funny). Made my selection slim!

I LOVE this one of my boys - love the natural warm smiles and all I said was "Drew, look at daddy" and everything fell in place :) this one is getting blown up and framed! Proud mom :)

My sister-in-law Nicki makes AMAZING blankets - 

you can find her shop on etsy under Hop Hop & Honeybees :) 

Seriously... Look her up when you're done!

Daddy and Eli

Daddy and Andrew

My husband took this one of me and Sam. :) melts my heart..

Then grandma took a few :)

We are so incredibly blessed.  I praise God every day for the family I have... He has given us three amazing boys and I have a wonderful supportive husband.  God is good, all the time!