~heart~ u, then & now

It's Thursday and you know what that means!!!!  SKETCHES!!!!!  Today not only do I have a Sketchy Thursdays sketch, but also a Design Dollies one.

This week's Sketchy Thursday sketch:

The layout:

January 2011 issue

Every single thing on this layout (except the thread) is from the Ninja Addicts "Three Little Birds" kit, which is incidentally the prize on this month's Sketchy Thursdays Guest Design Team Challenge.  You have until next Saturday 3/20 to play along!! 

I just love all the touchable elements.  That giant fabric & tulle flower is awesome!!!!

Lacey, sparkley, shiney.  Yum!  That blue sparkley paper by American Crafts is amazing.  It's the thickest cardstock I've ever encountered.  It was even a bit hard to cut out the "u" and it's not even that small.

How cute is this felt & fabric birdie.  Toooooo cute!!!  Ally & Nely did such an awesome job with their debut kit!!

Incidentally, this has always been one of my favorite pictures.  I turned my bedroom into a little photo shoot one morning when they were so much smaller and clicked away.  I don't know why this particular pic stands out to me.  I've never been able to put my finger on it.  It just does. 

Be sure to hop on over to the Sketchy Thursdays blog to see what our amazingly talented Design Team made for your inspiration.  And up for grabs this week...some yumminess from Sweet Twee Lab.  Be sure to check out their etsy shop.  Lots of lip-smackin goodness there!

This week Design Dollie Kristy outdid herself with the sketch:

It was a Ninja Addicts sort of crafty evening:

January 2011 issue

This one is almost entirely made from the Addicts' "Don't Get It Twisted" kit.  Only the base paper (My Mind's Eye) and alpha stickers (My Little Shoebox) aren't from the kit. 

Again, had lots of fun with texture.  Cloth, tulle, stitching, glitter.  Yummy!!!  I know it's hard to see but the two pics are our first posed family pic in 2006 and a posed family pic in 2009.  (Yes, I just noticed I wrote 2004 on the layout...gonna have to correct that.  Little girl didn't even come along until the end of 2005!)

I love how this whole kit is so bright and whimsical. 

And who wouldn't love this adorable Fimo cloud friend?  Smile!!! 

Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT made over on the Dollies site for your inspiration. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Heidi

If I Had A Time Machine - Category Stories February GDT!!!

I'm so excited!  I'm the Guest Storyteller over on Category Stories this month!!!!  The prompt is:

If I had a time machine I'd give my kids the opportunity to meet and get to know their namesakes, my grandparents. 

Everything on this layout is from the Pink Ninja Addicts kit "Three Little Birds" except the stamps, microbeads, and thread.

March 2011 issue

Head on over to the Category Stories blog this month and show us what you'd do if you had a time machine.  You have all month to play along and one lucky winner will receive an awesome prize supplied by Bre from Category Stories!!

Have a great Monday!!

Heidi

Relax - Pink Ninjas Are Baaaaaaaaaack Baaaaaaabbbbbbbbyyyyyyy!!!!!

Julie, you are infectious (in a good way)!!!  LOL :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

I'm so excited to reveal my first Pink Ninjas layout since the new team and website were revealed this year! 

Now, we're gonna do things a bit different this go around.  The prompts will run once every two weeks and each will consist of three parts: a prompt, a technique, and a pink twist. 

So, let's get this party started!

Prompt - Resolutions
Technique - Use black & white photo
Pink Twist - Alphas

Be sure to pop on over to the Pink Ninjas blog to check out what the Legion of Awesomeness (otherwise known as the Pink Ninja Design Team) made for your inspiration (and you will NOT be disappointed or underinspired) and PLAY ALONG WITH US!!  You know you wanna!

Almost everything on this layout is from the Ninja Addicts Three Little Birds kit.

I'm telling you (and I am NOT being compensated in any way for repeatedly saying this!) every time I look through this kit I notice something new and awesome - it's just that stuffed with juicy goodness!

The only things not from the kit are some Glimmer Mist used with a Heidi Swapp flower mask, a large Martha Stewart border punch (used on the pink woodgrain paper - LOVE that), and some Martha Stewart microbeads.

Love the gorgeous pink tuille, the Felties snail ("be the snail"), the flowered ribbon, the acrylic pink mushroom, and can you see it?  The pink iridescent ponchello??!!!!!  It's that rad mesh stuff to the right of my picture. 

Can you see the microbeads on the letters? They're my hot "pink twist".  OMG I only bought a 3 pack of these beads and since making this layout I HAD to go get the entire sample pack. They are so much fun!  And how stinkin cute are those wood panel chipboard letters??!! 

"Relax" is my "one little word" resolution for 2010. My journaling says, "2010 resolution o*l*w - Just relax already! Calm the f**k down. Trust your first instinct. Enjoy the journey. Be the snail. Love them for all they're worth."

I used that "one little word" to encompass a lot of areas I am hoping to address this year.  I stress about everything and I'm sick of it. It makes me quick tempered. Road rage is a daily occurrence. (My mantra in the car these past few days has been, "It doesn't matter.  Maybe they really ARE in more of a hurry than you.  It doesn't matter."  Just because I'm going 60 in a 45 zone and they're riding my ass, apparently just because I'm in a mini van I am obviously going too slow and ~deep breath~ "It doesn't matter.  Let them pass..." )  I stress about every little thing in every layout (which causes them all to take hours and you know I make a lot of layouts each week). And, funny enough I usually like best the layouts that I did in a hurry. I need to relax in every aspect of my life. Stop and remember my priorities are to raise happy kids, get them wherever they need to be in one piece and without drama, and document our lives knowing that in 20 years or even 20 days no one that matters is scrutinizing every little aspect and detail of HOW I put it to paper. They'll just be happy it's there to begin with.

As a wise woman recently blogged, "sometimes when youre not ready,,, for anything,,, putting a bow in your hair makes it a tad bit easier,,,, sometimes,,,, "  In my case, maybe a flower...
 
Loves,
 
Heidi
 
Details - All items from the Pink Ninja Addicts Three Little Birds kit except:  Glimmer Mist; Heidi Swapp flower mask; Martha Stewart large border punch & microbeads.