happy ♥11th♥ birthday, madeline!!!

i'm having a really hard time believing my youngest niece is eleven already, but last night we cut into an ice cream cake with enough candles to risk melting it, so i suppose that makes it official! miss maddie is even more beautiful than the day she was born (which is saying something!) and is as lovely in character as she is to look at, which is pretty awesome. of course we had to mark the occasion with a present or two, so i had to make a fancy bag to hold them:

pink croc-embossed giftwrap backed with plain white index stock and cut into the shape of a capital M in "sherwood" font, printed at almost 8x10" and then used as a template, with white machine stitching around the edges to look like a fancy monogram; florals: petaloo, prima, recollections, making memories and some funky ones from the flower section of michaels; butterfly: prima; epoxy flowers: making memories; brads: american crafts, my mind's eye, making memories, doodlebug, oriental trading co; bling flourishes cut apart and scattered around the design: recollections; adhesives: xyron, elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots; ok YEAH, there's A LOT of stuff on here, but my nieces share (or at least humor, lol!) both my love of PINK and my maximalism in design. so it's all good. :) :) :)

i was inspired by the flowers, the awesome springtime vibe, and of course the dreamy PINK-ness (!) of the shabby tearoom's current challenge, "pretty in pink"... here's the inspiration photo:

i also set out intending to use miss leslie's current crooked stamper sketch challenge (#4), which involves a bold sentiment on a fun background. as it turns out, i only hit one outta two on that, so i'll be having another go ASAP... luckily it goes until the 21st. it's a great sketch, though, so i thought i should mention it:

hope everyone who is celebrating has had the loveliest mother's day imaginable, and lots of extra ♥♥♥'s to my own mother, my mother-in-law, and all my mom friends!