She Leaves a Little Sparkle Wherever She Goes

I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law who is due to give birth to a baby girl in August. I wanted to do a pink, black, and gold theme and was really excited to see the "Pop of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper" coordinated perfectly! I started with her invitations and incorporated gold heat embossing on these. I used some retired Melon Mambo ribbon I had in my retired stash to run around the top.

Once I got the invites in the mail, I started focusing on the décor and dessert table. I used the adorable new "Popcorn Box Thinlit" die for the popcorn treat boxes, and the coordinating "Ready to Pop" stamp set (which I also used on the cupcake toppers that I heat embossed with gold powder).

The only other thing that took a little bit of time were the diaper gummy bear favor treat pouches that I made for each of the guests. You can find the full tutorial on how to make these super easy diapers here on a previous blog post.

Hello Sunshine

I'm having so much fun with the "Sunshine Wishes" thinlit! For this project, I also incorporated the new "Swirly Scribbles" thinlit as well. (I'm keeping my Big Shot busy!) These fun flower bursts on a white card stock background really make them pop! I used the water color technique on the "sunshine" cut out again for the ombre color. This simple, but bright card, would brighten anyone's day!

Happy Birthday Beth!

One of my zoo friends is having a birthday today, and over the weekend in my crafting free time I decided to make her a birthday card and coordinating 3D treat. The "Confetti Celebration" stamp set is such a fun birthday stamp set. It's been a while since I've really had a birthday stamp set that I'm excited to play with, but this one is so fun I had a lot of great ideas when I ordered it.

This shaker card is easy to make, but still gives off a fun "wow" factor for the recipient. To learn to make your own, check out Stampin' Up!'s official YouTube video tutorial. I took Stampin' Up!'s example from the catalog and added some Bermuda Bay to it and changed the ribbon to coordinate. Since I don't have the new Sprinkles punch, I improvised and punched stars from a retired small star punch.

No birthday card is complete without a coordinating 3D treat! I love the new Popcorn Box Thinlit. I bagged up some peanut M&M's for my friend to finish it off! Happy Birthday Beth!

Sending Sunshine and Hugs

I recently had a good amount of time to spend in my craft room, and new product lent itself nicely to new ideas and creativity. It's nice to get the juices flowing again, and not for any sort of agenda other than to be creative on my own pace. :)

One of the first things that I found in the new Stampin' Up! catalog that screamed "MUST HAVE" is the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies and coordinating stamp set "Sunshine Sayings." I am in love with the word cut outs from the thinlit die, and took Stampin' Up!'s idea from the catalog and used the water color technique onto the "sunshine" cut out to add an "ombre" faded look to the word. In fact, this card is an example of a CASE (Copy and Share Everything)--I just tweaked the colors of their example, but it's basically the same thing.

A Flamingo Day

Stampin' Up! has a brand new catalog as of June 1, and it's jammed full of awesome new goodies! One stamp set that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine is "Pop of Paradise." I've been seeing flamingo stuff all around, and this stamp set lends itself to some really cute stamping projects.

These projects are what we created in my most recent stamp club night a few weeks ago. The French fry die cut was retiring so I wanted to get one more project in with it. To add a little cohesiveness to the envelope, I just added some of the "Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack" to the flap.

Bold as a Lion

Oil pastels have quickly become my favorite medium for Bible journaling. The richness of the color makes the images come to life. It's taken me a few entries to get my groove on the best tool to use for blending, and quite honestly I think I favor the good ole fashioned Q-tip the most.

For today's entry, I used Proverbs 28:1 as the basis for my drawing: "The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion." I've known since I got my journal Bible that I wanted to do an entry with a lion. There are so many wonderful passages that talk about lions, but this one was a favorite of mine for this image.

Rest.

For Mother's Day, we had a guest speaker at church. She talked about something that I struggle with a LOT: the busyness of life, and how we are constantly on call and never take time to rest. Rest is a word that has been ingrained in our lives as a dirty word--a curse word, if you will...so much so that if we try to do it, we are made to feel guilty. Our society has turned us into 24/7/365 working machines, never shutting off for a break. Even when we are taking a break, we are thinking of all of the things we should be doing and before you know it you are going at it again 90 to nothing.

Rest is something we all need. It's okay to rest and not feel guilty....there, I said it. I don't have to feel bad about not replying to your email at 11:00 at night, or answering your phone call when I'm trying to have dinner with my family. All of those things will still be there tomorrow. Taking a Sabbath, or a rest, is not only necessary for your body to stay healthy, but it's also scriptural.

It's okay, mother-of-three, to leave the dishes in the sink long enough for you to play with your children 30 minutes before tucking them in at night. It's okay, businessman, to enjoy dinner with your wife without checking in with the office. It's okay, teenager, to actually watch the entire movie without picking up your phone to see how many comments you have on Instagram. It's okay for you to rest. God will balance you out. If you don't take time to rest, He will force you to.

I Surrender

Last week's worship service inspired today's journal entry. I knew immediately I wanted to have a silhouette and a sunset and this was the end result. It has been so refreshing to have another creative outlet through artful worship. I hope that my Bible journal entries inspire you to look at Scripture in a new and refreshing way or to find other creative ways to build your relationship with Jesus.

For today's entry, I did a pencil outline of the silhouette and the "I Surrender," then used my Stampin' Up! ink pads and sponges to sponge the color. I punched a circle into some card stock for the sun and sponged it first, then added the other color after. After sponging the entire page, I went back over the pencil outline with my trusty Micron 08 pen. Before I sponged the page, I masked off the scripture for the page so it would stand out from the color on the page.

Last week's worship set list included:

Praise Goes On (Elevation Worship)

Fill This Place (Red Rocks Worship)

I Surrender (Hillsong)

I Will Exalt (Bethel)

Happy Spring

Spring has arrived, one of my favorite times of year! Flowers are blooming, the weather is gorgeous, the sunshine lasts longer...this month's Paper Pumpkin project was this adorable spring wreath. Paper Pumpkin is a monthly craft project kit that you can subscribe to for less than $20 per month (that includes tax/shipping!). Each month, you get a different craft project with all of the necessary materials (except regular adhesive) to assemble the project. These projects are designed with the busy crafter in mind and should take less than 30 minutes to complete. Super simple, and you're left with something adorable! :) New to crafting? No worries! You can feel confident with Paper Pumpkin using the detailed (simple) instructions to complete the project!

For more information about Paper Pumpkin, or to start your monthly subscription, visit the Paper Pumpkin website and just put in my name (Amy Watson) when it asks for your Demonstrator. :)

Happy Mother's Day

It's never too early to start thinking about Mother's Day...and what better way to say "I love you" to your mom than to give her a handmade card? Okay, so there are a lot of things your mom would probably like better, but a handmade card pairs very nicely with a great gift. ;) This card and 3D box features the Pansy Punch. The 3D box was made using the Gift Box Punch Board, making 3D boxes super simple! This box measures 2.5" x 2.5" x 2.5" and would hold a lot of nice little treasures for your mom.

(Sorry for the spoiler on your card Mom!) :)

My Soul Finds Rest

Painting with acrylic paints has become a new favorite for me for Bible Journaling. The layout/design for this page was inspired by this post on Instagram, but I focused on Psalm 62:1-2, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will never be shaken." Such a great reminder when your mind is unsettled. He is always with you, and you can rest in knowing He will take care of all of your needs.

Be Still and Wait

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." Psalm 37:7....this scripture has always been hard for me, mostly because I struggle with patience a lot. We live in a world that demands immediate answers and attention, and as a person I'm not different. But through the years, over and over again, it's in the times where the Lord tells me to be still and wait that the outcome always comes out better than I could ever imagine.

I was reviewing some old journal notes today and came across this scripture and the following passage that I had included with it (a blurb from the She Reads Truth daily devotional): "It's easy to forget God is in total control. We serve a God who fulfills His promises, and it is His delight to reveal Himself amidst a swirl of troubles. He calls us to be still and wait patiently, and in His goodness, even gifts us with the faith to do so. Even before the floodwaters swell over our head, He has already prepared a safe passage." I knew immediately that I wanted it to be today's journal entry.

I used this journal entry from my Pinterest board for inspiration, though since her post was just an Instagram photo I had no instructions on how she created the page, so I just stepped out and tried to recreate it on my own. I stamped the image using my "Blended Bloom" stamp in black StaZon ink, followed by adding the journaling with my Micron 01 black pen. For the color, I mixed hot pink acrylic craft paint with some water to dilute it down and used my Aqua Painter brush to do a water coloring technique. For the lighter pink, I mixed hot pink and white acrylic craft paint and then mixed in some water to dilute it further. Be sure to put a piece of wax paper behind your page before you paint to keep it from bleeding through. As you can see, the back side of the page looks brand new with nothing coming through!

The acrylic painting medium is becoming a fast favorite of mine. I love the vibrant color it gives. I look forward to doing more with paints in the future. It's not so scary--give it a try!

Basketball Birthday

My brother-in-law just celebrated his milestone 30th birthday. As part of the celebration, my sister planned a surprise party for him and enlisted my help on some of the festivities. With Brad being an avid basketball fan, she opted for a basketball/OKC Thunder theme. I made a birthday banner for the fireplace, food name tents, water bottle labels, the invitations, and the candy favors. I enjoyed making these and "free handing" the basketballs after punching them out using my 1-3/8" circle punch.

I'm currently smack dab in the midst of a craft room makeover and my craft room is inaccessible, so I haven't been able to craft anything to post here. Photos and a post from the makeover coming soon! :)