confetti

birthday olympics

even though i haven't been able to stamp much, i have had a few scattered orders in the midst of my unpacking and traveling.  this one was very last minute and needed to be emailed.  if you have to email an invite, it's still fun to be able to send something cute!  and i can still print out a paper copy for the birthday girl to keep.  i was particulary excited to have an olympic theme to work with--actually this is the first of two olympic designs i created.  i love big, bold and graphic!  i was also excited to be able to create the cake...

the design was a collaborative effort between the mom and me.  sweet and simple--and this week, simple was key!  aren't the flag toothpicks she found perfect?!

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

p.s.  i'm not quite ready to post complete pictures of my studio just yet.  But if you want another peek, i did highlight my two favorite ikea pieces in today's post at craft critique.  go check it out, especially if you're looking for new storage furniture like me!

39 for the 1st time!

it's my birthday today and i'm in austin to pick up mignon from camp.  isn't this a cute cake?  geeta and fellow austin amuseaddict rae ann planned a shoebox swap for while i was here and they surprised me with a cake and treats!  last year when i was on my way to camp, i emailed geeta about austin stamp stores and we realized we went to the university of texas at the same time--small world!  it was great to actually meet her this year along with the other austin addicts.  everyone designed beautiful cards for us to make and we almost all used different stamps!  i'll share the rest of my pictures when i get home, but i thought this one should be posted today!  the amuseaddicts do birthdays well--here are a few cards sent by the brak (birthday random acts of kindness) group...

these came throughout the week--fun stamped mail is the best!  i'll have to come back later with who made the cards, but i wanted to at least get them posted for now--thanks guys!

:) lexi

i love ikea!

my studio furniture arrived on saturday and i spent the whole day and a lot of the night putting it all together.  this picture was from about half way through.  i completely forgot to take a picture with everything still in boxes, so this will have to serve as the before. i ended up with one blister and very swollen fingers, but it was worth it!  while trying to decide how to furnish my new space, i discovered that you can order ikea online.  we don't have an ikea here and i've never been to one before, but i've seen a few pieces at a friend's house and knew the prices were good.  and with the various projects we have going on, good looks at a good price was the key to filling my room--and boy did i fill it!  here's a quick shot of the many assembly directions i had to follow...
and i put together a few of them more than once!  i've been unpacking and organizing everything for the last few days, but i'm getting closer to the end--or at least a good stopping place.  i have such a different space than before.  while it's bigger, there's no closet, so i spent a lot of time choosing good storage furniture and even more time deciding where to put everything!  i hope to have an after picture soon *and* to get back on track with daily posts.  it may be another week or so, with camp pick up and the beginning of school looming, but eventually i'll get there...

'nite!
:) lexi

and she's off!

this pretty much sums up what i've been doing since my last post--more packing! fun packing this time, taking out all of the cool stuff we made for camp last year, finding costumes for this year's theme nights, and counting and labeling everything. then we headed off to houston, visited with friends and sent mignon off on the camp bus. colleen can't go until next year, so we spent an extra night in houston, but now we're home. hopefully, i can catch up with unpacking, stamping, stationery orders, etc. and i definitely have to get ready for the amuseaddicts get together in austin when we go back to texas in two weeks!!

thanks for checking in...
:) lexi

welcome home

this is the first time i've been able to get on the computer today, but i have another card to share with new, *now available* images from the saltbox studio!  both of these stamps are from the saltbox greetings set.  i'm excited to have a saltbox house in my collection and the open greetings in this release are really fun to color!  i had this key hanging around on my old desk for while and once i started working on the card, it came to mind.  luckily, i didn't have to look far for it!  i'll try to be back with another card tomorrow, but in addition to unpacking and settling in, i'm also packing mignon's camp trunk and finding the last minute odds and ends she needs--it's definitely easier the second year, but we put it off because of the move, so now it's crunch time!

'nite!
:) lexi

the new stamps are here!

today's the day that the new stamps are available for purchase from the saltbox studio!  my weekend was crazy with house stuff and a revolving door of visitors, and i wasn't able to post.  so i thought i'd kick off release day with a two-fer and two ways to use the adorable cow from farm friends.  i used the complete image of the cow in the field for the first card--the sentiment is a perfect pairing!  i chose yellow for the background layer, but i think it would also look really good on green.  for the second, i pulled out an old favorite from the launch and must-have set, fences, and cut out just the cow to pop up in front of the little picket fence...

moooving!!!  too cute and just what i need, right?!  the lime peel band note provides the perfect grass, with no extra cutting and layering.  for added interest, i positioned the sentiment to look like the cow is saying it.  clean and simple--just the way i like it!  be sure to check out my fellow designers' blogs for more inspiration and the saltbox sampler blog to see all of the new images...

happy saltbox shopping!
:) lexi

the ants go marching!

here's another peek at the new saltbox studio stamps, to be released in just a few days.  aren't these ants so cute?  i decided they needed to have a watermelon feast of their own!  now, i'm trying to think of what else i have in my collection for the ants to carry away.  the images i used are from two of the new sets--americana and simple summer--there are lots of opportunities for mixing and matching the images!  be sure to check out the saltbox sampler and see what the other designers are up to on their blogs...

:) lexi