TESC #94 - A housewarming card and scrapbook page :)

Good Morning Everyone,

I don't know if you are feeling the holiday crunch - but things have definitely been busy in our household and I feel like a chicken running around, forgetting her lists of things to do and then adding more things on the list. I was in some major need of some stamp therapy last night and so I was so grateful that I had a chance to sit down at my craft corner and make some special things for my loved ones.

I used Taylor's awesome sketch #94 for these projects. I loved the simplicity of this sketch and found that it was perfect for both a card and a scrapbook page.

I made this scrapbook page for my children. Some of you might know that this last week has been a rough one for our family - we have been dealing with some issues that my son has been having to deal with and I wanted to make something for them, so I made a little 6x6 scrapbook page that I loved to display in our calendar stand. I absolutely LOVE this stand - and they love to see themselves displayed at the house too :)

I got a little weepy making this page - I absolutely love love love this picture of my kids (and it always melts my heart when they are giving each other hugs and kisses and doing special things for each other - such a nice change from sibling rivalry!).

I love this moment that I captured of them laughing together at a joke. And I love the quote from Helen Keller which is in the Discover Your Wings stamp set that simply describes this moment perfectly: " The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

I wanted to write to them something special - It is hard to see them growing up and knowing that I can't always protect them. As they grow up - its almost like each day - I am slowly letting go and watching them learn to sail by themselves... and its both heartbreaking and heart fulfilling... sigh...

Here is what I wrote for them on the page - I hope you don't mind me sharing :)

To the dearest loves of my heart: "As I felt you grow inside, my heart was filled with gratitude and wonder, you both are the sweetest blessings, the apples of my eye. You are what makes me try to be the best mom I can be. Whether near or far, I am always with you - always loving you - always praying for you - always cheering you on. I feel our hearts are one. Always know that I am here - loving you!"

Page Ingredients:
Paper: MME (Oooh La La) and Cosmo Cricket, Girl Friday
Ink: Memento Black
Stamps: Discover Your Wings Stamp set from Taylored Expressions
Accessories: corner rounder, flowers from Making Memories, bling and ribbon from stash, Sakura yellow gel pen, calendar stand and EK success punch

It always amazes me how therapeutic it is to stamp and create something - especially when it is for those whom you love! I loved showing them this page this morning and I love displaying it in our house. I think that's one of my most favorite features of this calendar stand - that it can display your pages and they don't have to hide away in a book somewhere on the shelves :) Also, my kids LOVE pages about them! I think I want to paint the stand and decorate it up - but I am still filling it up right now - so I think I am going to wait till its all done and I can figure out what I want for a color scheme!

This next project is a card that I made using the Sweet Occasions stamp set that was Jami's orginal idea! My dear friends are having a housewarming party this weekend and I wanted to give them something special. I love that this stamp set has so many multiple uses stamp set - it makes it so versatile! LOVE that!!! I used the congratulations stamp set with the cute house on it and then underneath I used the sentiment: on your sweet new home - and I LOVED that it fit perfectly underneath the house image!

And my favorite part of the card was creating a little patterned paper out of the stamps in this set - like this mini cupcake or mini sundae set! So cute! I loved coloring them in!

And it was so much fun to decorate and color this house - I added a little sun for a bit of whimsy :)

Card Ingredients:
Paper: MME buttercream and snow white choice cardstock from Taylored Expressions
Stamps: Sweet Occasions stamp set from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Memento Brown
Accessories: Corner rounder, sponger, threading punch from Fiskars, dimensionals, ribbon from stash and tombow, Martha punch, sakura gel pens.

I loved making these projects and feel so grateful for my family and my friends - both IRL and in blogland - you guys have no idea how much you mean to me - your support, love and sweetness always makes me feel not alone!

Thank you for all of your sweet words! And thank you so much for letting me share this with you today!

Sending each of lots of sunshine!!!

Hugs!

Sankari :)