Happy Birthday...

To my brother, brother-in-law, and uncle.... 

Happy Birthday! 

(I got a little lazy... and all 3 guys got the same design. Hope they don't mind!)

22....

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet baby sister.... She is not so much a baby any more! She just started her senior year of college!!!  She has grown into a beautiful young woman with an even bigger heart. She has a contagious laugh and a smile to light up any room. 

I am glad to call her my SISTAH!!! 

Happy 1st Birthday!

How cute is this guy??? 

Noah's birthday party was this weekend. 

It was so fun watching Noah eat his cake... open his gifts.... 

and chase after his balloons! 

Happy Birthday Noah! 

Happy Birthday Nancy

To the "greatest" on her birthday.

Cake Decorating 101

I have discovered something I have no desire to dabble in... Cake Decorating with Fondant.  I will leave this to my dear sweet sister, Heather. I do not have the patience to deal with the preciseness needed to complete the various stages. I did learn that I am good moral support during the 4 hours needed to complete a birthday cake for a cute little girl who just turned 1! 

Here are the pictures I took to document the stages...  I give Heather an A+ for her first attempt in fondant cake decorating!

1st bake cakes and ice with a thin,
smooth layer of buttercream frosting.

Kneed and Dye Fondant (you will need elbow grease...)

Roll out the fondant...
(1/4 inch thick... measure diameter of the cake, plus the
 height and add two inches for wiggle room...)

Make sure you have a good supply of powered
sugar and keep moving and flipping the fondant
so it doesn't stick to your work surface! 

Carefully move fondant to the cake
smoothing and forming it to the cake.

Cut off excess fondant.

Repeat the process if you are daring or
crazy enough to add more tiers.

Come up with a creative way to hide the seem.

This is where I helped... otherwise Heather might
still be working on this cake!

Use cookie cutters to make pretty designs to
decorate the top and sides of your cake.

Ta-Da! 
Four hours later and you have a very pretty cake!

Carlene loved it!

She also enjoyed how it tasted!

So, if you are brave, daring, and very patient... give fondant a go! But, it you are like me leave it to the professionals or someone like my sister! 

Happy Birthday Carlene!

My niece turned 1!!! 

How can a year have already gone by?

Happy Birthday Carlene! 

I have been lazy when it comes to anything crafty... especially since February. I think this is a trend. I get so busy with the end of the year at school and I don't make the time to keep up with my hobbies. Using Picnik I have been able to make card that reflect how I make them out of paper. 

Here are a few examples of the cards I've made...

Happy Birthday Sara!

Happy Birthday Melissa! 

Happy Birthday Grampy!

Happy Birthday TL!

"A friend is one of the nicest things 

you can have, and one of 

the best things

 you can be."

 -Douglas Pagels

Happy Birthday Tammy! 

I hope you had a wonderful day. You are near and dear to my heart. I am so glad to be part of your life.

Happy Birthday Eliana!

Years Old! 

Ellie turned eight last week and I spent one of my "ice" days crafting for her. She is a creative crafter herself. I love to watch as she makes and draws and continues to grow into the person she was created to be.

I was at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago and noticed these really cute clothespin magnets on her fridge. I took a minute to sneak a peak at how they were made. I tweaked the idea by using ribbon create a place to hang photos or artwork. I chose pink because pink reminds me of Ellie. (And she "LOVED" the colors I picked out for her!)

Clothesline Decoration

I decoupaged a small box for the little gift.

Crafting in 2011 gets underway!

Happy Birthday Mary! 

Mary and I share a love for little owls! 

It has been a crazy first week back to school after Christmas vacation. I had a lot of meetings before and during school, I started my winter quarter class at The Ohio State University... and my sister is visiting (or should I say waiting for me to take her back to college). Somewhere in all of this busyness I carved out an hour or so to make a some cards to give away and a birthday card to accompany the gift. Without further ado here is the first handcrafted gems of 2011.

Happy 40th Andy!

Andy turns 40 tomorrow! 

Here is the card I made to celebrate. I got this great new stamp. I love it because I can color in the letters with my choice of colors depending on the theme of the birthday card. I used Watercolor Pencils to create the light blue wash. 

Happy Birthday Ruthie! 

Happy Birthday Tom-Tom!!!

Thomas... 

or Tom-Tom as his Auntie likes to call him.... 

turns 1 (in 10 days)

I spent my Spring Break visiting my family back in Massachusetts... 

I spent lots of time cuddling with this cutie-pie! How did I get to be so lucky? I got his birthday card and present ready early so I could give it to him in person. I am looking forward to the summer when I can spend more time lovin' on this kid! He is so easy to love! Happy Birthday Tom-Tom! Auntie loves you very much! 

Happy Birthday and and (very early) Father's Day!

Take me out to the ball game...

Take me out to the crowd...

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks

I don't care if I ever come back

For it's root-root-root for the RED SOX!

If they don't win it's a shame 

For it's 1--- 2---- 3---- strikes you're OUT 

At the old ball game!! 

Happy Birthday Dad! 

I can't wait for the game in July!

Happy Be-VERY-Lated Birthday

I love making cards for my "people" and Tammy one of my most special "people". I love that she is an encourager, gentle-spirited, kind, and generous. She is a great wife, mom and friend. I am so glad that I live close and we get to share in one another's life. Happy Birthday Tammy.  

Happy 7th Birthday Ellie!!!

Eliana is 7!!! Eliana is 7!!! Eliana is 7! 

If I keep repeating that phrase it will help me remember that she is indeed seven years old. I can hardly believe it. The part that is hard to believe is that I moved to Ohio a few months before Ellie was born, so that means I have been living in Ohio close to 8 years. Where does the time go? 

Ellie, age 7

September Birthdays....

Happy September Birthdays!!!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister!!! It is hard to believe that she is now 20 years old.

I can still remember the day she came home from the hospital.

My Brother-in-law celebrated his birthday the same week!

Happy Birthday John!

The month isn't over yet... there are still more to come!

(I wonder what the color of the next cards will be?)

Happy Birthday!

Every Friday the teachers of Riverside stop everything so they can get together and eat breakfast and celebrate birthdays... When I say stop everything... I mean nothing gets done for the 45 minutes before school except eating, laughing, and story telling. We even try to avoid scheduling meetings for Friday before school. This week we had a chance to celebrate Deb and Jos. I made cards for each of them... here they are! I hope they both had a great weekend celebrating their b-days! 

Happy Birthday Becka!

This is the year everyone is turning the BIG 3-0! This one is for your Becka! I hope you enjoyed your super special day! 

Happy Birthday Heather!!!

Heather turned 28 over the weekend and it's spring so here is a little card to celebrate them both! 

Happy Birthday Sistah! 

Happy 30th TL!!!

Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday dear, sweet THIRTY year old.... Happy Birthday to you!  

Happy Birthday Tammy Lynn.

I hope it isn't as scary as you thought it would be. I know I have months to go until my big day. Thanks for testing the waters for me. Here is the card I created for this momentous occasion. Enjoy.