My Prince Charming

Time has been getting away from me this week, and so I thought I would combine two challenges this week. The first challenge I have been meaning to enter is the Frosted Designs Black, White and one other colour challenge. And as usual, I love entering the CASology challenges!

The CASology cue word this week is:

I immediately thought of some crown embellishments I had, but when I went to find them, all I could find was the cut offs and chipboard negatives. Always thrifty, I decided to use the negative part of the crown chipboard. I inked it up in Not Quite Navy ink, and then cut around it to form my own chipboard embellishment.

 

I was sure I had a Prince Charming sticker somewhere as I am making this card for my husband, but ended up finding some other quotes. I am currently reading A Clash Of Kings (part of the Game of Thrones series) and this quote jumped out at me and reminded me of all the royal battles I have been reading about lately. So my card started going in a slightly different direction but I am still happy with the result!

 

The final piece of my card was adding the sentiment onto a banner, as banners are always a very Royal touch.

 

There you have it, a card for my very own Prince Charming.



Mother's Day Q&A

I saw a list of questions over at Storybook Reality of things to ask your children about their Mum. I knew some of the answers would be great, so I decided to document Lucas' answers about me on a digital scrapbook page. Here is a three year old's perspective of me!



Q&A with Lucas about his Mum.

What is my name? Mum Moore.  

How old is Mum? 7, or maybe 11. 

What does Mum like to do? Do lots of things with me.   

What does Mum like to eat? Chocolate, nuts and raisins. And muesli bars. I suppose that's it.  

What does Mum like to drink?  Water. 

What is Mum's favourite colour? Pink.

 What is Mum's favourite toy? Bowling skittles. 

What does Mum like to wear? Dresses. 

What do we like to do together?  Lots.  

Mum's house is... (he said our address here so I have blanked it out!)

What makes Mum smile? Me.  

What makes Mum sad?  Me going "pppfff" (blowing a raspberry). 

I love Mum because... Just because I do. 

Mommy loves me because... Just because you do!

B.M.W.B- Love Languages

A lot of you may have heard about the Five Love Languages book written by Gary Chapman. The five love languages can be broken down in to:

• Quality Time
• Words Of Affirmation
• Acts Of Service
• Physical Touch
• Gifts

image source

I have never really thought about applying these to my children until I came across an article on how to love your child using the five Love Languages. I thought about this one for a while, and I am very sure that my three year old's language is Words of Affirmation. He always tells me he loves me and says the cutest things, and responds well to praise.

I really enjoyed reading the suggestions on how to use Words of Affirmation to show Lucas how much I love and appreciate him. Too often, my tone of voice can sound very exasperated and he picks up on this and gets frustrated. The tips I put into use were:

• Telling him how proud I was of him for doing things well such as playing nicely with his brother, eating all of his dinner and sharing his toys.
• Saying "I Love You" with eye contact.
• Apologising when I do something wrong.
• Taking more notice of my tone of voice when speaking.

I have found these four things have greatly impacted on how I speak to Lucas. I tell my boys I love them every day, but changing my tone of voice when I am angry or asking Lucas to do something has really helped him to understand how I feel.

Adam was a bit harder to figure out since he was so young, but he loves to be cuddled and held so I decided to use the tips on loving him through Physical Touch. The ways I did this were:

• Cuddling him when reading a book
• Lots of hugs
• Pats on the back

This was a lot easier, as who doesn't want to hug a a baby! Also, my Love Language is touch, so hugging and cuddling are how I express love anyway. Lucas also responded well to lots of cuddles during storytime, and hugs always make everyone feel better.

I also want to focus on Quality Time with both of my boys, as I feel that this Love Language is the secondary language for them. So far I have:

• taken Lucas on a hot chocolate date
• let Lucas help me cook
• Played games with Lucas
• Taken Lucas with me when running errands

Too often, my time is spent multitasking, and focusing all of my attention on Lucas when Adam is asleep has been a great way for both of us to connect again. I also spend a lot of time just with Adam due to his age and the fact that I am usually the one settling him! Reading books to him or just talking to him without looking at my phone or watching TV at the same time have made me realise how special it is to be a mother and how lucky I am.

I really urge you to read this article, it has made me realise that how I express my love isn't necessarily how my sons want to be loved. Using these tips, I can have some ways of showing them how much I love them without just saying it.

Linking up with Becoming the Mama I Want to Be.

Photo Friday

Reading books with Granddad. Such a sweet moment!

Jam Sandwich biscuits

My son and I really love to bake together, and finding recipes that are easy enough for his little fingers can be challenging but fun at the same time. He is such a fan of jam on toast, so these biscuits got the big thumbs up from him!

Jam Sandwich Biscuits

You will need:



200g butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup cornflour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Your favourite jam

Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

Sift flour, cornflour and baking powder together and mix into creamed mixture. Roll dough the size of small balls and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Flatten slightly with a fork.



Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes or until cooked.

Lucas was pretty happy to get to lick the beater!

Cool the biscuits and then sandwich them together with jam.

These are yummy served with whipped cream as a dessert, or simply eaten on their own.


Linking up with Real Family Fun!

Woodgrain Birthday Card

It was my brother in law's birthday yesterday and so I made him this masculine card to go with his present. It corresponded nicely with this week's challenge at Just Add Ink with the challenge to Just Add...Woodgrain.

This background stamp has been in my stash for a while and never used, so I decided to finally ink it up as it reminded me of an old wooden shed. I also embossed the Crumb Cake sentiment accent using the Woodgrain Folder to add some texture to the card. I experimented with a few different colour combinations and finally decided on the red and brown combo.



I am really pleased with the rustic effect of the background, and plan on using this stamp a lot more in the future!

Supplies used:
Stampin' Up: Tool Shed background stamp, Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamp set, Woodgrain embossing folder, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake cardstock, Early Espresso ink, Curly Label, Petite Curly Label and Modern Label punches.
Creative Memories: Tape Runner, Foam Squares.
Provocraft: Cuttlebug.

Seize The Birthday #16

It is my sister in law's birthday today (Happy Birthday!) and so I made her a card just in time for the Seize The Birthday sketch challenge this week.

 

I haven't had a chance to use my cupcake punch yet, so this was a perfect reason to break it out of the packaging! A few stamped embellishments and some paper ribbon and vellum made this card easy to work in with the sketch, and I found the fun balloon vellum paper in my stash, which worked perfectly.

 





 

I hope my sister in law likes it, cupcakes are fun for any birthday!

Supplies used:
Creative Memories: Pink cardstock, Carrot cardstock, Purple cardstock, Tape Runner, Vellum Paper, Simply Beautiful Paper Ribbon, Green Apple cardstock, Foam Squares, Chalking Inks, Shape Maker system with 2" Circle punch.
Stampin Up: Cupcakes wheel, Lucky Limeade, Elegant Eggplant and Tangerine Tango inks, Create a Cupcake punch and stamp set.