Introducing Adilane Rose Vernagus

Adilane Rose Vernagus

Sorry for my absence recently...our lives have permanently changed recently. At 3 weeks and 1 day early, we welcomed our daughter into the world! She came into the world very quickly (only 2.5 hours after my water broke and contractions started!!) and has melted our hearts instantly! We are at home and adjusting to the new family dynamics. So far my son, Elijah, is doing well in his Big Brother role...likes giving her kisses, wants to hold her, and tries to help out. Adilane (Adi for short) is doing well and is just too sweet! I hope to eventually hit my stamping area, but it may be a little bit as I learn to adjust to my new schedule and life!

The Engineering Details

Birthdate - May 20, 2008; Time - 8:27 pm; Weight - 7 lbs, 1 oz; Length - 20 in

The Best Big Brother!

Our New Family

For my Son

Using Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge 48, I created this special card for my son. Well the card itself is not anything earth-shattering, but the sentiment behind it is the important part. This is a card for my son from his soon to be born baby sister. The inside (didn't take a picture because it really is nothing beautiful) says "Thank you for being my BIG BROTHER!".

We are having Baby Girl give her Big Brother a gift (Lightning McQueen Car...something he wanted) and this card. Knowing that she will be getting a lot of gifts, we wanted to make sure that he doesn't feel left out. It is a big moment in his life too afterall!

Anyway regarding the card, I stamped the crocodile and flower in Craft White ink and then rubbed pastels over top...think this is called the chalkboard technique. I think it probably would have looked better on darker cardstock, but my son will still like it. Gave the croc a heart (from the Happy Heart Day set) and popped it up on dimensionals and made it sparkle. Not much else...everything I think it pretty self-explanatory.

No consistent contractions yet! Just some Braxton-Hicks contractions sporadically. My girlfriends and I went and had pedicures (they are both pregnant too), so now I have pretty feet all ready to go! Just waiting for Baby girl to decide it is time!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Wild About You, Happy Heart Day, Crosshatch (retired); Paper - Handsome Hunter, Mellow Moss, Barely Banana, Ruby Red, Kraft; Ink - Handsome Hunter, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Craft White; Accessories - Stampin' Pastels, Q-Tips, Scissors, Diamond Stickles, So Saffron Brads, 1/16" Hole Punch, Dimensionals

Whoa Nelly & a Late Mojo Sketch

This will be a somewhat quick post, as my computer is being very slow and therefore very frustrating! Trying to run a disk cleanup, so hopefully that speeds things up once it is done.

Anyway, I am late in posting my take on the Mojo Monday 37 Sketch Challenge. I made the card for some dear friends 6th Anniversary...Happy Anniversary Eric & Stephanie! As usual, I didn't get them the card until their anniversary had past, but I was only 2 days late. That is actually pretty good for me!

I am really trying to use patterned paper...I think I have mentioned I am pattern paper challenged...so I am pushing myself to use it so I can get used to it and hopefully get better! I like how this card turned out. Fairly basic: the flower was colored with pastels and a Q-tip, I used a white gel pen to add white dots along the edges of the Taken with Teal cardstock to mimic the pattern that was in the Bali Breeze DSP. Beyond that, I just added some antique gold brads and ta-da, a beautiful anniversary card.

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Doodle This, Everyday Flexible Phrases; Paper - Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP; Ink - Taken with Teal, Basic Black; Accessories - Stampin' Pastels, Q-tips, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Antique Gold brads, White Gel Pen, Dimensionals

Now on to the Whoa Nelly part of my post! I had my 36 week appt on Wednesday last week, and the doctor surprised me with the information that I am already 2-3 cm dilated and 60% effaced! Whoa Nelly! Things seem to be progressing along too...won't give you any details...but I have a feeling that Baby girl may be coming this week! Needless to say after that news, I have been frantically getting stuff ready for her arrival and getting my pre-baby checklist completed! Wow...still in shock a little! I will keep you posted!

Thinking Baby and a Birthday Card

I totally meant to make this first card for my friend’s son’s 2nd birthday (so it would have had 2’s all over it instead of 4’s), but I didn’t get to it in time! So I decided to make it in advance for another friend’s son’s 4th birthday. Hey I actually planned ahead somewhat…look at me go! So the idea for the card popped into my head when I saw Jen del Muro’s (I {Heart} 2 Stamp) Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT) sketch from last week.

I made the front panel the “opening” part of the card. I made just the front part of the truck visible on the small square and then when you open it, you can see the whole truck with presents in the back. The truck was paper pieced…basically to give it some dimension with the different colors layered on top of each other. I added some Crystal Effects to the windows to give them a shine like windows.

The green and yellow “dew drops” or “baubles”, which I believe are the brand names of them…not sure what the generic name is (I’ll go with acrylic dots), are from Michael’s. I think I read at Jen Del Muro’s blog about finding cheap versions in the floral section at Michael’s, so when I was there the other day I found them…on clearance for $2! So I got all of the colors they had left. I have no idea how they compare to the actual “dew drops” or “baubles”, but they work! So run out and get some for yourself…at that price how can you say no! I attached them using Tombow Mono Multi and that seemed to work really great.

The Engineering Details
Stamps – Load of Love, Loads of Love Accessories, Quirky Numbers (retired), Brushstroke Numbers (retired), Typewriter Numbers (from Wal-Mart), Funky Numbers (from Wal-Mart); Paper – Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Whisper White, Bashful Blue DSP from Hostess Print Pack, Green Galore, Summer Sun; Ink – Basic Black, Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue, Green Galore, Summer Sun; Accessories – Crystal Effects, White Gel Pen, Acrylic Dots (Michael’s), scissors, Tombow Mono Multi

Since I was so late with doing Jen’s last week sketch, I decided to try this week’s Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT) too. So since I am trying to get prepared for baby girl to arrive, I wanted to use the sketch to make up some baby thank you cards. I used some ribbon (on sale) that I also found at Michael’s as my starting point for the colors. The colors aren’t the typical baby soft colors, but I really liked them! On a side note, I haven’t been to Michael’s in awhile…for some reason I had been going to JoAnns more often…there was a lot of great stuff there! I was trying a couple of different things with the cards (emboss or not to emboss, eyelet colors, etc.) so they are both “examples” of what the final thank you card will look like. I think I like the second one better…I like that the colors contrast each other more than on the first card. I will be using both though because I only have so much ribbon on each roll!

When I made the card at first I didn’t have the crimped portion above and below the baby carriage and it felt like it was too much white space. I was kind of impressed I thought to break out the crimper…I really like the look of it! I decided I also like the “baby” word being embossed instead of not embossed. The non-embossed version (on the first card) of the word “baby” just didn’t show up real well. I also decided that I need to get some Bravo Burgundy eyelets for the second card (they have been ordered now) because I want to carry that color across the card.

I decided at the end to try adding some Stickles to the center baby carriage. While I like the idea of it, all I had was Diamond and Crystal Stickles…I think a colored Stickles will show up better. So what do you know, I have some on the way! Maybe I will repost the truly completed cards once I get all of my new supplies for them. Hopefully the difference will be noticeable.

The Engineering Details (Pink and Orange version)
Stamps – Something to Celebrate, Baby Set (Studio G - $1 deal acrylic stamps at Michael’s); Paper – Pink Passion, Whisper White, Only Orange, Pretty in Pink; Ink – Pink Passion, Only Orange, Pretty in Pink, White Craft; Accessories – Pretty in Pink eyelets, Diamond Stickles, Striped grosgrain ribbon (Michael’s), paper crimper, Crop-a-Dile

The Engineering Details (Pink and Green version)
Stamps – Something to Celebrate, Baby Set (Studio G - $1 deal acrylic stamps at Michael’s); Paper – Pink Passion, Whisper White, Green Galore, Bravo Burgundy; Ink – Pink Passion, Green Galore, Bravo Burgundy, White Craft; Accessories – White eyelets, Crystal Stickles, Striped grosgrain ribbon (Michael’s), paper crimper, Crop-a-Dile, White embossing powder, heat gun

Anyway, that is it. My next pre-baby task is to design up the announcements…I have an idea floating in my head, but haven’t tried it yet. I won’t be posting that though until baby girl arrives since it will include a picture of her. Other than that, I have some other cards to work on as well and eventually a decoration for my son’s room. We will just have to see what I can get done. Tomorrow I am taking a day off for me! Plan to try and get my stamp area more organized (labeled and such), so maybe I will show some picture of that soon as well! Have a great week!

Gettin' My Verve On

I once again tried out Julie's from Poetic Artistry Mojo Sketch Challenge. This week it is a contest in hopes of winning one of the awesome Verve Visual stamp sets (which I have been coveting for some time, just haven't created an excuse to buy!). I needed Mother's Day cards, of course, so I decided to use her sketch for those cards...by the way, HAPPY MOTHER's DAY to all of the Mommies out there! (I am having a great Mother's Day...my husband has been entertaining my son all day, so I have been able to stamp and blog my little heart out!)

I think I like the first card the best out of the two. Both like I said use Julie's sketch, but the first one stayed completely true to the sketch...the other one deviated just a tad. Anyway, as you can see I actually used patterned paper! I swear I am such a patterned paper novice...I have a hard time figuring out how to use it. I am actually quite pleased with myself for using it.

The close-up shot show the cool sparkles on the card. My son even commented on the "pretty sparkles". It really made the flower stand out beautifully!

The Engineering Details

Stamp Sets - Heartfelt Thanks, By Definition (retired), Happy Everything; Paper - Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP; Ink - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Craft White, Always Artichoke Marker; Accessories - Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Chocolate 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Mat Pack, sponge, dimensionals, Crystal Stickles

This is the second card. This one turned out nice as well...it just deviated from the sketch just a little (does it still qualify, Julie??). Terrific Tulips is one of those sets that I will love forever and will never get rid of! My husband's grandma really likes pink, so I wanted the card to be pretty and pink for her...I think I accomplished that! I really like how I framed the tulip image in both the Pretty in Pink and the Apricot Appeal, ensuring that the split line followed the split line of the 4 base panels. Probably one of those things that only I noticed, but it makes me happy!

One thing I noticed when making these cards is I don't have many sayings that fit in the scallop circle...hence the generic "For you". Oh well, something more to buy at some point.

The Engineering Details

Stamp Sets - Terrific Tulips (retired), Happy Everything; Paper - Designer Series Prints Pack (hostess set), Handsome Hunter, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White; Ink - Handsome Hunter, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal; Accessories - Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Pretty in Pink eyelets, Crop-a-Dile, sponge, dimensionals, corner rounder punch

Busy just not Posting

Wow it has been awhile since I posted! A little bit more time than I planned…oh well! (Edited to Add: I had this entry ready to post quite a few days ago, but just now got to posting it...but I will have more posts very shortly) Things have been a little hectic around our house and I have been trying to get to bed early to get enough sleep…all of which cuts into my stamping time! We finished grouting the tile in our bathroom (so now my husband can start putting up the drywall and maybe get a toilet and sink back in there), we visited Ludington, Michigan and climbed to the top of the Big Sable Lighthouse, my husband started another MBA class, and we had another ultrasound! All good stuff, just made for very busy times.

I did create some projects for a Friday Stamp Nite Out I am holding at my house on Friday, May 23 (if you are in the Southeast Detroit area and would like to attend, let me know…I will send you the Evite which has a preliminary picture of what we will be making). I am trying to squeeze one last event in before our baby arrives…hopefully she doesn’t come before then so I can still hold the event! Since I technically need a couple of supplies to finish the projects, I won’t post them here until I get the supplies and can officially finish them. But they are really great…at least in my humble opinion!

I plan to work on a birthday card and Mother’s Day cards in the next couple of days, so I will be posting those fabulous creations once they are done. Until then I will leave you with some great pictures from our last couple of weeks:

Our baby girl at 34 weeks…only 5 weeks now (or less!) to go!!

My boys at the top of Big Sable Lighthouse…love ‘em!