July Card Kit Shares

Hey All! Hope you have all enjoyed your July! We have had a pretty laid back summer so far. One more month and it will be all about getting the wee ones ready for school to start !

This month I hosted the Card Kit Club at Scrappin' Mojo. So much fun putting together a kit for my online crafty friends! Here's a peek at what I made up for each of them and sent off  for them to create with:

I have loved those Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Papers for some time, and thought they would make a cute little summery kit. I stamped and die cut and packaged everything up for them and sent off 9 little crafty packages...

I had to get creating on my own and started with a card for my mama and a little gift for her July birthday. 

I love to make homemade sugar scrubs and knew she would appreciate that, so I whipped up a little batch of Honey Almond Sugar Scrub and added some embellishments from the kit to the jar.

Candles are another fave of hers and I picked up this simple scented one at Target. The label matched the card kit papers so perfectly, that I just added a little tag and Voila! 

I love this balloon bunch stamp and use it often on birthday cards. I wanted a light and airy feel and just added color with my watercolor pencils...

Just a sweet little something for my Mama...

Next up a couple more cards with the kit. One of my favorite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink is the Rosie Posie stamps and the Rosie Posie Step 2 set that goes along with it. I have both sets and the matching dies and wanted to share those with the  Mojo girls. I stamped each of them a set of flowers to use in their creations. I used mine a card with a little window that I die cut from the posie paper.

So many fun things you can do with this set! Looking forward to many years of stamping fun with these...

Here's a matching tag too, I was bumped by Cole when stamping the sentiment, but it gives it a little bit of a worn look, don't ya think? I love anything with mason jars. 

This little stamp comes from American Crafts Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Collection.

And lastly, little card with the ice cream cone paper. Love ice cream cone crafty supplies! I sent the girls some die cut ice cream cones using the Papertrey Ink "Sweet As Can Be" stamps and dies. Love those too..

Thanks for letting my host the card club this month Mojo Girls! You are the best! 

Don't forget to click on the girls' names check out their creations; they have done some amazing things!! 

Kim P

Kim O

Joni

Mary

Stella

Beth

Jan

Terri

Diane

Nite, nite!

~Nik

Always and Forever

Hope you are all gearing up for the 4th of July holiday! Next week will be full of celebrations for this great country that we all love and care for deeply. I have some crafty Independence Day shares coming your way next week, but for now thought I would share a couple things I made my sweetie pie for our anniversary which was on May 4th. May was crazy for us and I didn't get a chance to post these. Time always gets the better of me with so much going on with the kids, house and my Etsy shop, that I often don't get to post here as often as I want to. I made a simple little card with some embossing. And played around with photo shop to make some chalkboard art (see pic at bottom). Sweet and simple, just like Pat likes things.  

Pat and I celebrated 11 years together this year. I would love to say it was all total "bliss", but that would be far from the truth! Ha! But I will say that it has been a lovely, bumpy, romantic, life learning ride and I am thankful, so thankful for God putting you in my life, Patrick. I love watching you teach our kids about the "real" stuff, the hard stuff, the GOOD stuff....what it means to work hard and enjoy the simply things in life...

Teaching them how to hang on and hug tight and never let go; not until the fight is over and God steps in for you...

Supporting things you believe in with a big heart and doing what is right - always.

Pat, you are a great dad to our kids. You are a wonderful husband. I love you forever and always...

Be blessed today blogger friends! Give your lovies hugs and kisses and let them know how much they mean to you. Life is so short - make it sweet :)

XOXO, Nik

June Card Kit at Mojo!

Hey Blog friends! Hoping you are all knee deep in summer now that a couple weeks have gone by. We finally have heat and sun here in Minnesota! The kids are enjoying it and soaking up as much bike riding, dirt digging, sprinkler running and super soaker fights as they can. Feels good to see them outside and full of energy and with little tan lines. Aaaahhhhhh.....summer.................

So glad that I carved out a little time for the Mojo card kit this month! Only had time to make two cards with this fun little kit from Kim P, but so glad I got a break from Etsy orders to just be creative on my own. Look at this summery little kit - so cute! Love that umbrella! Of course it did not make it onto one of my cards since Desi decided it was hers. That's ok - she's my girl and it has been fun seeing her put it in her glass of lemonade :)

Kim tucked in lots of little embellishments and I had fun on this card making a flower cluster with them. I added one of my own lime green flowers to complete the symmetry.

Square cards - love those for a change....

And a fall colored birthday card. Great birthday stamp Kim added to the kit; love the flourishes of the font. 

Thanks Kim for the adorable kit this month! Make sure you visit the other Mojo girls and check out their creations. Leave some lovin' if you can too **wink**

Beth - bethiejs.blogspot.com
KimP - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=218
Diane - mumblebeedesigns.blogspot.com
Terri - jazzyscrappertidbits.blogspot.com
Mary - justanotefrommary.blogspot.com
KimO - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=218
Jan - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=218
Niki - ellenaspaperhouse.blogspot.com
Stella - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=218
Joni - http://kixinlife.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stoppin' by! Next month I host the kit club! Yippee! Super excited to put together a little something for Mojo ladies. Stay tuned for July....! 

XOXO, Nik

My little loves...

Hey sweet blog friends! Hope you are all in full swing summer mode in your little corners of the world. We are trying to here in Minnesota, but our weather has not exactly been cooperating with summer activities. Chilly and in the 60s all week which is not our typical June. Today the sun is poking through and the rain clouds have disappeared so it is gonna be a sweet day.....

Much has been happening over the last couple months. My little man Cole graduated from preschool at the end of May and I am so proud of him! He looks very unsure in this picture with his "diploma" and grad cap on, but I know in my heart he is going places. Just think, in 12 years, he will be wearing this as a high school senior.... I need to soak up every minute of those big blue eyes before he grows up so big and I wonder where the time went.

He also hit a milestone birthday on May 27th. He is 5!! Not too much of a birthday party for him however. He had been sick with a nasty stomach flu in the days before his birthday, so we kept it low key and he wore his jammies all day. Hard to think he is going to kindergarten in the fall......sigh......

And my girl.... Here she is on the last day of school. She is now officially a 3rd grader.

Desi also had a birthday on May 30th, she is 8! We celebrated her birthday in honor of our little friend, Brady Nelson who is battling brain cancer. Our community hosted a fund raiser at Pizza Ranch and it happened to fall on Desi's birthday. She was given a choice as to how she wanted to spend her birthday and my heart leaped when she chose to be part of the fundraiser. She is growing into such an incredible girl with a HUGE heart for others. I love how God works through her and I am so proud to be her mama.  

 Watching these two move into the next stages of their little lives is so bittersweet. Excited for them, a little sad that they are getting so big, and of course, missing my Ellie even more....

Until next time, blessings my friends! 

XOXO,

Nik

April Scrappin' Mojo Card Kit Club!

Well, I missed posting my reveal last month, but I am ready this month! When you live in Minnesota and it snows for most of April, you get more time to create! This month the lovely Mara created our kit and it was full of sweet springy colors that were so fun to play around with.

Here's a peek at the kit she made for us Mojo girls:

Mara told us to add our own embellishements if we wanted to, so I for sure did with this little sign. I spray painted a small frame in robin's egg blue and then added the polka dot paper behind it. Such cute paper - I new I had to use it for some type of little girly item! I dug into my flower stash and used pink and blue flowers of different textures and layered them up. I topped off the flowers with the buttons and pearls from the kit and added seam binding and a sweet little sticker sentiment that had been hiding in my stash.

This sweet little sign would be adorable in a little girlie's room or hanging from baby's door. It will make it to my Etsy shop in a day or two...



Next up are a few cards, very simple in nature. I love the pretty blue and pinks together. And I can always use thank you cards.

Lastly, a very simple card with butterfly punches. Makes me think of my Ellie. She loved butterflies and she for sure had HOPE in her heart...

Thanks for visiting me today! Take a peek at what sweet things the other girls have made with this month's kit. Lots to oooohhhhh and aaaaahhhhh over!

Joni

Beth

Kim P

Kim O

Jan

Terri

Mara

Mary

Diane

Happy April!

Love, Nik

February Card Kit Club!

So excited to share my creations from this month's Card Kit Club at Scrappin' Mojo! My lovely and talented friend Beth put our kit together this month and it was chock full of red, pink, hearts and all sorts of sweet little goodies. She took the time to die cut pieces for each of us and hand stamp sentiments. Take a peek at what she made up for the 9 of us girls playing along; adorable huh?

I added a little bit of pastel mint green and very pale pink card stock to my designs and love the different look it gave the brighter pinks and reds. The heart doily die cut Beth sent us is so precious; love how it creates such a focal point for this square card.

A simple little love banner card for someone special...



I wanted to make a little Valentine box and used a small heart box that has been hiding in my stash for a couple years. I covered it with the striped paper and added the red heart doily. Beaded trim and bitty flowers make this so sweet; love little details...

This little gift box contains a little Valentine ribbon bookmark. Made especially for my Mama.



And lastly, I took some 4"square coasters and made a very small mini book for my parents. Small picture of Desi, Cole and Ellie make up the pages. Desi added her little notes to grandma and grandpa.

Such a sweet and lovely kit! thank you Bethie for putting it together for all of us! For more inspiration, take a peek at  what the other girls made with their kits; so many fun ideas for you to tak in!

Beth

Diane

Jan

Joni

Kim

Mara

Mary

Terri

Enjoy, Nik

Still In Valentine Mode...

I do hope your Valentine's Day was filled with lots of love, hugs and kisses. It certainly was here in our little home in Minnesota. Even though Pat had to work the late shift at work, he surprised the kids and I by doing the grocery shopping on his way home and picking up an elaborate box of chocolates for his little love bugs to wake up to. Ahhh.... love........

I attended Cole's Valentine party at preschool and had so much fun watching cute as can be 4 year olds making heart bird feeders, Valentine headbands, and eating a yummy Valentine float with ice cream and Hawaiian Punch - so frothy, pink and cute! I made all of Cole's Valentines this year with the help of my Cricut and Papertrey Ink's Tremendous Treats Valentine stamp set. I LOVE this little set - so sweet and cute for the little ones. I stamped and colored each image with watercolor pencils and then attached the little tags to these cute library style pockets cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.

The little pockets were just the perfect size to fit a heart lollipop and a mini set of watercolor paints. Perfect combination for artsy 4-year olds. Cole has a very small preschool class; only 9 little ones which is great for him because of all the attention he gets! Of the 9 only two are girls. I felt like they needed a little extra special on love day and made their pockets slightly bigger to accommodate a couple Hello Kitty bracelets as well as the paints and lollipops.

For these I added lace and pom-pom fringe to the pockets, heart doilies and a little tag with their name. The adorable retro Valentine images come from the Crafty Secrets Vintage Valentine Kit. This is one of my go to things when it comes to Valentine's Day projects. These are the sweetest images, both retro style and vintage, complete with papers. You will love this one and use it year after year!

Off to spend some time with my Valentines. Happy Sunday All!

XOXO, Nik

Hello little lost blog!

What can I say? Life gets busy, real busy. There will come a day when I post often. I say it all the time, but I never seem to make it here as often as I want to. Maybe this year will be different, but I won't make any promises :) Just know I am here, still crafting away and being inspired by each of you out there in blog land.

2012 was a year filled with blessings and heartaches. So much has happened that has been so wonderful and I will start to share in coming posts. My kiddos are getting so big and learning so much each day. It is almost hard to see them growing up so quickly.

Here they are this past summer on the North Shore in Duluth, MN. We spent a a few days visiting my college age nieces as they took us around to all their fave spots. Love Duluth. TRuly one of Minnesota's prettiest areas. Visit sometime if you get out my way.

 I have been busy with Valentine projects and trying to stay on top of everything so I don't run out of time and cards before the 14th. Funny, I think that is where I left off last year with you all!

I have so many Valentine themed papers  that have piled up over the years and just love them; even if they are from 5 years ago. Mixing old and new can yield such pretty results some times.

What have you all been creating? If you love the lovey month like I do , I bet your projects are covered in hearts and x's and o's. I think my favorite new Valentine line is Crate Paper's Fourteen. Just love the bright colors and retro designs. More projects to come with that soon! Make your day sweet today....

XOXO,

Nik