Check Me Out (pats self on back)...

Ok, I have raved about Gossamer Blue a gazillion times, but I have to say that Lori's kits are the bomb diggity.  Not only are the kits amazing, but the COMMUNITY Lori has created is absolutely amazing.  Every person who plays along with the Flickr posts and the challenges is great, super creative and KIND.  The comments I receive in the Flickr gallery totally move me, encouraging me to keep trying and doing and creating.  I have to say I adore this community, they make my heart smile.

That being said, check out who received her free album for playing along with the monthly layout challenge:
Gossamer Blue Blog

After seeing my layout listed in the blog post, I realized I have GOT TO TAKE BETTER PICS OF MY LAYOUTS!  Jeez, talk about a wonky pic.  Regardless, I'm proud of myself and the fact that I followed through with posting my layouts to win a free album.  I cannot wait to receive it and to keep challenging myself, sharing my work and hopefully getting some more recognition in the scrap community.  My personal goal for 2013 was to receive some type of recognition and I've achieved that goal, now it's time to aim higher.  I really want to earn a spot on a design team, so here I am, putting myself out there and making my dream a reality.  I WILL NURTURE MY CREATIVITY AND MAKE THAT GOAL A REALITY.  I will.

This little baby...

...is almost 1 year old!  Aaaack!  How did this happen?  It seems like she was barely able to roll over just yesterday.

I went a little bonkers and ordered a cake smash outfit from Etsy.  Miss Q has her 1 year pics this weekend and my BFF Winif and I are going to attempt to make a mini cake I found on Pinterest.  I have another friend attempting a mini, tiered, ombre pink cake for the party.  I've made a rag banner and plan to make another banner or two as well, which I'll use for both the pics and the party.

After receiving said cake smash outfit, I immediately had to try the headband on Miss Q.

Is that NOT the most adorable headband in the universe?

Unfortunately, Q doesn't seem to love it as much as Mama.

Here's to hoping she'll wear it long enough to get a few cake smash pics!

New Layouts

I have been having a heckuva time getting stuff made.  I finally got around to doing my 4 GB layouts with the February kit, here's a look:

You Are My Reason Why
Stamps from Studio AE and Studio Calico (bicycles)

Date Night

Sweet Words for My Sweet Girl

Lucky Love
A layout about my sister and her husband.  Love them both!
I hid the journaling behind the pic.
This is also my member scraplift challenge layout.

While I have enjoyed all the Valentine-y products and colors, I absolutely cannot wait for the GB March kits, based on the sneaks I've seen so far.  It looks to be a fun, colorful month!

I suck at this.

I'm not getting anything done.  Not. A. Thing.  My house is constantly trashed from a wild baby named Miss Q, the dishes are always piled up and I just cannot get into my craft room to make stuff the way I desire and envision in my head once my head finally hits the pillow.

I suck at this.  This blogging thing.  This crafting thing.  The mommy thing.  Ok, not the mommy thing, I'm actually having a ball with my 11 month old (aaack, her 1st birthday is less than a month away!?!?!!?!?).  But blogging and crafting and wanting to participate in challenges and get my stuff out there in hopes of ever being asked to join a team?  Ummmm, might not happen the way it does in my daydreams.  Sigh.

Here's my January GB Project 12.  It was a major rush job and (shhhhh, don't tell!), the pics are only from the first half of January.  And the sucking continues....

Again, sorry for the not-so-awesome photos, my promise to myself to use natural light and work a bit harder for better pics just hasn't worked itself out quite yet.  I used a mix of the GB January kit and (my scrap-bff) SN@P stuff I had leftover from another GB kit, along with Studio AE stamps (adore Ali!), some washi and my Tiny Attacher, which has become one of my favorite tools of all time.  There were some fun moments in January, I especially love the pic on the bottom left of my husband and Miss Q after both had twirled their hair in the exact same way, and the pics on the top right from date night w/ my BFF Winif.  And Baby Kisses :)

Promising to do better with the blog and the scrapping and the stuff I need to do to NURTURE myself!