Grow old along with me the best is yet to be.....

Nothing like a little Robert Browning poem to start of my post today.  So beautiful!

I am here with a super fast post....some of you may know that my little sister Beth is getting married very soon....and between wedding preparations, school tours for my son and some other things that are going on in my extended family my crafting time is very limited at the moment.  AND I miss it!!!!  But family always comes first so I am only crafting for the wedding currently with the hope of getting everything done in time!
Cross your fingers for me!!!!

So....thought I would share really quickly some photos of what I have been working on:

Table Reserves for the reception:

 I used some of the lovely gold tape from the first Papertrey Ink "Make it Market Kit" along the bottom of the tent. 

I also used some of the kit items to create a wedding card:

 Betsy had some lovely ideas on her blog for using the kit and I tried adding some gold embossing powder to the two feathers that I added to this card for my sister and new brother-in-law.  There wedding theme and colors are all about nature with greens, copper, gold, and cream along with sedums and various flowers and ferns. 

I think I need to do something more to make the sentiment pop more.  But if I run out of time this card will do just fine for them as I know they will love it and to be honest I am so busy I may not have time to make another!

Here are some of the many pictures I took at Beth's Bridal Shower.  I am trying to finish an album for her as part of her wedding gift:

This is my beautiful Mother Jackie with my sister Beth - the beautiful Bride-to-Be: 

She had just opened her gifts from my Mom and Dad which included this handkerchief that comes from my Great Grandmother who emigrated from Italy through Ellis Island.  We all choked up and I was so happy I got this photo! 

 My sisters Natalie and Diana did an incredible job with the decorations and the food!!!

 One of my favorite things that they did were these hanging sedum planters on fishing line coming down from the sky light!!!!  GORGEOUS!!!

 Veggies in dip inside baguette sections: 

 This is just one of the desserts that were served:

 My youngest sister Diana created this incredible tea bar because my sister Beth loves her herbal teas!:

 

The picture below is from left to right:  My mother Jackie, my youngest sister Diana, the bride-to-be Beth Ann and my older sister Natalie:

 And since I was doing all of the photography one of my sister's snapped this picture of Natalie and I.  We were born on January 12th and January 14th almost Irish twins - we missed it by 2 days.  We are often mistaken for each other though I think we look so different!   But what fun!!!

 And here are some of the girls gathered around our sweet Beth as the party was getting under way.   On the left is my oldest brother Tony's sweet girlfriend Gillian!  We are hoping she will be the next one to be a bride!!!!  :)

 My little sister Joanna and our friend Heidi are on the right side of Diana.  Joanna is Beth's wedding coordinator!  She is incredible!!!!

It was a beautiful day!!!!  My sisters are all so wonderfully artisitic and talented!!!!  I can't wait until we all bring everything we are creating for Beth and Jimmy together at the wedding!  It should be an incredibly beautiful event for them and all of us.  Not to mention a TON OF FUN! 

Well I really have to run now.....thanks for taking a look!  Marybeth I am still praying!!!!  GREAT BIG HUGS!!!!!!! 

Jill

Sending Springtime Hugs....The Shabby Tea Room - week #209

Good Monday Morning to you friends!
I am here today with my design team post for The Shabby Tea Room - week #209.  This week's host is Aneta with the theme of "Spring is Near" and this lovely inspiration photo:

Aneta asks that you create a card or project inspired by the photo and INCLUDE BABY BLUE, BIRDS AND SPRING FLOWERS.  

Here is my card:

  The "baby blue" and "flower" elements are obvious but I thought I would add a detail shot to show the "birds" which are from an embossing folder.  I embossed a piece of vellum with the birds and butterflies folder and then added some color with some aqua blue ink on the birds and some kraft ink around the edge of the vellum. 

 The sweet wheelbarrow is a digital cut file from our sponsor this week:  - The Cutting Cafe!  
I used the pdf version and hand cut the wheelbarrow for my card.   I love how sweet it looks filled with flowers!  The sentiment on my card is from a Paper Sweeties stamp set called:  Sending Springtime.

The Cutting Cafe is your one stop shop for affordable cutting files and printable stamps. They offer a huge selection of products for just about any occasion. 

Thanks for taking a look at my project for this week. I hope you will hop on over to The Shabby Tea Room to see all of the inspiration for this week's challenge and to hopefully join in the fun!
 Have a great week everyone!
:) Jill

Egg-stra Sweet Easter Wishes! Week #208 at The Shabby Tea Room

Hello my friends and Happy Monday!
I am here with my design team post for week #208 at The Shabby Tea Room!  This week Debbie is our host and she has chosen the theme of "Pretty Polka-dots" along with this beautiful photo for inspiration:

 Debbie asks that we create a card or project inspired by the photo and include polka dots!

Our sponsor this week is Debbie's lovely company "Paper Sweeties"!   The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $20.00 gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties boutique!  A lovely prize indeed!!!!

Here is my design team project for this week:

I used the sweet "Abigail stamp and die bundle" along with the stamp set called "Jelly Bean Time" to create my card.  After stamping and die cutting Abigail I also snipped along the edge of her arms so that I could have her hold an Easter egg.  I placed some pop dots under the egg to create lots of dimension!

Here is a close-up view of her arms and the Easter eggs. I added some glossy accents to the eggs to make them shine!  For my polka dots I used an embossed mat as well as this lovely pink and cream polka dot paper.  All of the patterned papers on this card are from a 2011 Crate paper 6x6 pad called "Pretty Party".  I love the papers in this collection!  So sweet!

Thanks for taking a look at my card.  I hope you will head over to The Shabby Tea Room to see what the entire team and guest designers have created to inspire you this week.  I look forward to seeing your take on this week's inspiration.   And a great big thank you to everyone that participated last week!  Gorgeous projects my friends!  GORGEOUS!!!!!  Congratulations to the winners too!
Hugs,
Jill

Spring is Sprung!!!! SSCB#28 - Sheet Music or Newsprint

 
Hello Friends,
Are we all ready to be able to say those words - "Spring has Sprung!"  I am!  But they are predicting some snow in Seattle this weekend again so we may not be quite there yet.  But as it is March 1st today we can at least begin looking forward to it for sure!!!!  We actually had a wee bit of sun on a couple of days this week which was very welcome!  Here in Seattle the chances to soak up some vitamin D in the winter can be few and far between.  It always brings a smile when the sun shines down!

I am here with a card for the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog.  This month's challenge is to use either sheet music or newsprint on your card.  I used a lovely digital paper with some newsprint on it from Iralamija Shop on ETSY and started creating.  I chose to make this sweet new bunny die from Serendipity Stamps the focal point of my card along with their lovely "Spring is Sprung" sentiment!  So perfect as we get ready for spring! 

Thanks for taking a look at my card!  Happy Weekend everyone! 
:) Jill