I was recently offered a job with Pinkfresh Studio as their marketing & promotions manager!  It is part-time, and I can work remotely...which is something that I've been wanting since this past summer.  Josh & I have made some decisions about how we want our life to look, and this is an exciting step in the direction of those dreams!

I am so excited to be part of the Pinkfresh Studio team- they have some really AMAZING products, and have recently added stamps & dies to their product line!  And I'm really looking forward to the future of this company, and getting to be a small part of it.  You will see me more often on their Instagram & Facebook accounts, so I hope you'll follow along with me!

Today's post is going to look a little different, as I don't have photographs of a project to share with you.  But I did my first Facebook Live video on Sunday evening, where I created a cute little gift bag using items from the newly release Wrapped {With Love} class kit!  Check it out!


As excited as I am to start on this new path in my life...it would be remiss if I didn't share my gratitude towards the place of employment I am leaving.  They brought me on and gave me a sense of purpose when I was lost...when I felt like a complete & utter failure at life.  I'm pretty sure I cried in my interview when they asked what brought me to Minneapolis.  And I'm pretty sure that I stared at them with a blank look on my face when they asked me where I wanted to be in 5 years.  When they noticed that I was visibly shaken by the question, they started to pull it back....but I interrupted them and said I just wanted to be happy again.  And then I'm pretty sure I cried...again.

Somewhere in all of that hot mess, they saw a person who knew the television business well (it's what I did prior to attending photography school) and would be a good fit for the job.  I feel very blessed that they saw past the crying and vulnerability that I just can't hide any longer.  The past 10 months have been a very big time of healing for me, and having a purpose was a large part of that.  In the end, creativity is calling me home....and I am also so thankful that my current bosses understand that this change is the right one for me.



In true Crafty Comeback Party fashion, I am of course offering up a giveaway!  Pinkfresh Studio has graciously given me some items from their new December Days collection for 1 lucky winner!
You will get the 12x12 paper pack, puffy stickers, gold foiled wood stickers, enamel dots, chipboard alpha stickers, stamps & coordinating dies!

Please just leave me a nice comment on today's post in order to qualify to win!  I would also love for you to follow Lea Lawson Creates & Pinkfresh Studio on Facebook, as well as  follow Lea Lawson Creates & Pinkfresh Studio on Instagram!  I'm not using Rafflecopter for this giveaway - the winner will be chosen just from my blog comments!

 I hope that you have an amazing Halloween day & night....and I will see you back here tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday!

Good morning, and Happy Monday!  I hope that you've had a wonderful weekend!  I am feeling a lot better, which I am so thankful for.  I photographed an engagement session on Saturday morning - it was COLD, but beautiful, and my couple had such a great time!  I consider that a win!

We are in the final week of my crafty comeback party, and today is all about Pretty Pink Posh!  Paulina creates such fun stamps & dies, and really amazing sequin mixes too!  She also is such a kind human being, which is far more important than anything else.

Today I have 2 shaker cards to share with you (is that really a suprise when there are sequins involved?!).  They are two of my very favorite colors - pink & blue!

Happy Friday, friends!  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been quite under the weather this week.  So, today I am going to post a recap of the event so far, and then will be back at it on Monday for one more week of comeback inspiration and giveaways!

First off, I want to thank all of the companies that so generously sent me new products to work with and provided a giveaway so that my comeback to this wonderful industry could be special and so much fun!  When I dreamed and planned this - I didn't expect that it would become such a big event.  Honestly, I am still floored by what the event became, and I honestly couldn't think of a better way to get through these past weeks.

October & November aren't particularly easy for me.  Ellie's due date was supposed to be October 22nd.  October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss awareness month, so I get bombarded with that.  And then we lost Layton in November, after he fought so hard for 5 months to live.  It's just a lot.  And I've really enjoyed being able to have something more positive in my life as I try to navigate getting through these days unscathed and not embittered.

From the bottom of my heart, I also want to thank YOU.  I can't really put into words how much it means to me that you've taken the time out of your days to visit my blog & leave comments.  I know that there are giveaways and all that, but so many of you leave such heartfelt comments each day and I want you to know that I read them all and am so very thankful for them.  I hope that even once the event is over you will still head on over & see what I create each week.  It would mean so much to me!


I would say that this event has been fruitful...this photo is just from the first 2 weeks of the event!  It doesn't include anything I've done this week or for next week!!  It's been a labor of love, and time set aside each day to create as I think about my little ones and create in honor of them.  I can wholeheartedly say Ellie & Layton are now the inspiration behind what I do.  I just want everything I touch to have beauty in it....they way that those two brought so much love & beauty into my life during their very short time here on this earth.

Alright - so now here is a recap of all the posts so far & the possible giveaways, just in case you've missed anything!

Happy Thursday, friends!  We are almost to the end of the week!  I seem to have been hit with a terrible cold that has been going around the city (country?  probably)...so it has been quite a week for me.  Busy & under the weather - never a fun combo.  Here is hoping I start feeling better very soon!

One thing that always makes me feel better?  Featuring amazing product & companies, and today is all about Avery Elle!  They have some of the cutest stamps & dies, and they are amazing quality!!

Today I created a card using the Avery Elle "Snowflakes" clear stamp set, and the Snowflakes Elle-Ments dies!

Happy Wednesday!  As you may have noticed, Wednesdays are afternoon posts due to my schedule.  I hope I haven't kept anyone waiting to long!!

The middle of the week is brought to you by none other than My Mind's Eye!  I used to be a card designer for this company in the past, and I have always loved their paper collections!  They have branched out into party goods & stationary, but they do still produce paper crafting collections as well!

Today I am taking a break from stamping & background techniques, and focusing on paper products & diecutting!  I made a collection of gift boxes with a matching card using the Joyful paper collection.  This paper collection has a modern feel to it, and is black, white & gold foil.  I love the non-traditional color palette!  Check them out!

Good morning!!  I hope this Tuesday finds you having a good week so far!  I find myself STILL needing to decorate for fall.  I'm totally rolling my eyes at my own self - seriously.  I need someone to hold me accountable.  Lol!

Instead of decorating for fall, I was doing something MUCH more fun - stamping the day away with stamp sets from The Ink Road.  Lara's stamp sets are refreshing, funny and full of attitude - and I seriously LOVE them.  If we were friends in person, you would know that I am fairly sarcastic, a little bit jaded and some would say, witty...and Lara's stamps so speak to that side of me.  They are amazing, and you should go and check out all of her sets!!  {She put up her presale of her 1st Christmas release...and let's just say, I HAVE to have them!}

Today I am taking a little bit of a break from holiday stamping, which is a nice little caveat.  I love holiday creating as much as the next person, but these stamps were a welcome change for the week!!  My first card feels very fitting, considering what this event is all about.  I used the Majestic AF stamp set for this card!

Good morning and happy Monday!  I hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was pretty quiet, which is always nice.

I've got a great way to start of the week, and that is with Concord & 9th!  If you guys haven't seen their latest release of holiday stamps & dies....you MUST!  It is amazing!  This company is new to me since coming back to the crafting world, and I am SO impressed.  Their stamps & dies work beautifully and the designs are fantastic!

Today I have created 3 Christmas cards with different background techniques using the Blooms Fill-In stamp set.  I combined it with the Ornamental stamp set to make them Christmas themed!!  Here is a peek at all 3!

Good morning, and Happy Friday!!  I hope that you have had an amazing week so far, and are gearing up for a great weekend!

Today I am joining in with Hero Arts & their creative team for a "Jump into the Holidays" blog hop!!  We are hopping to celebrate all things fall and winter - and to rev up your holiday cardmaking motors!  The blog hop lineup is full of amazing designers, and you are sure to be inspired along the way.  I know that I can't wait to grab a cup of coffee and check it all out!

I am the second stop on the hop, so you should have come from the Hero Arts blog.  If you've happened upon my blog and want to take part in the hop, no worries!  I am at almost the beginning, so you can head over to the Hero Arts blog and start.  I will also include the full blog hop list at the end of my post.

I decided to create with Christmas in mind!  I've created 3 cards, showing 3 different ways to use the Star Confetti Fancy die.  Here is a peek at all three of them!


For my first card, I blended a block of white Strathmore Bristol art paper with Distress Oxide inks (all colors linked below) until it looked how I wanted it.  I then layered the Star Confetti cutting plate directly to the top of it.  I spritzed it with water so each star filled up with water, then soaked it up with a paper towel.  Because this ink is reactive to water, all of the beautiful stars reveal themselves in the blended ink!  After that I misted it with white Heidi Swapp color shine to give it a shimmer, and flicked white watercolor droplets to the front.  The finished result looks like this!

I used the same design for all three cards so that I could focus on creating three distinctly different backgrounds.  The rest of the card design is fairly simple.  I cut the snowy scene from different glitter papers using the Hero Arts Snowy Drifts die, and layered them together with dimensional adhesive.  I cut circles using the Hero Arts Infinity Circle dies from blocks of Neenah solar white cardstock, then stamped the sentiments in the white space.  All of the sentiments come from the Poster Christmas Carol stamp set....which is amazing!  I adore Christmas music, so this stamp set was a must have for me! I know it is going to get a lot of great use this holiday season!

Once everything was diecut, stamped & dry...I just layered them together with my trusty 3M foam tape to create three beautiful cards!!



For my next card I created a watercolor galaxy background using a standard watercolor cake palette, then misted it with white Color Shine & flicked white droplets to the front.  Then I diecut some of the Star Confetti from white glitter cardstock, and scattered them to the top of the watercolor panel.  I adhered them down with a glue pen after, but scattering them first gave the star placement a more random feel!


For my final card, I created an ombre sky by brushing the top half of the background with a Zig Clean Brush marker in turquoise.  I then used a large watercolor brush to fade it to the bottom of the base in an ombre fashion.  Then I cut the Star Confetti from this background, and mounted it to light yellow cardstock so it peek through the cutout stars!


There you have it!  Three really fun ways use the Star Confetti fancy die!  There are so many other ways to use this die that I can't wait to try in the very near future - like using it as a stencil, or with embossing paste....the possibilities are endless!  This is definitely a must-have when it comes to cover plate types of dies!!

Good morning and Happy Thursday!!  It's almost the weekend, friends!  I know that I'm looking forward to gorgeous fall weather, crafting & college football!

Today is day 9 of my Crafty Comeback Party, and today I am featuring Honey Bee Stamps & Dies!  This company is new {to me}, and I honestly LOVE their beautiful products!!  They've got such FUN designs and a whimsical style...I just adore them!!  You've got a chance to win a Honey Bee Stamps giveaway, so be sure to read through the end of the post!  

I am so excited to share my card today, but also a little nervous.  If you've frequented my blog in the past, you will know that I embrace many styles in cardmaking.  I truly love the freedom that creating gives you - and I LOVE this card that I made.  I think a few years ago this style got named "freestyle collage" or something like it - I don't know if that is even a thing any longer.  I'll just call it a little eclectic! :)

Happy Wednesday!  It's the middle of the week, and I hope you have had a great one so far!  I STILL haven't put up my fall decorations...it needs to happen this weekend!  Thankfully I keep them up through Thanksgiving, so they will still get a good bit of time on display.  So, that is for sure on my to do list for the weekend!

We are at day 8 of my Crafty Comeback Party, and today I am featuring Neat & Tangled.  The Neat & Tangled stamp designs have a beautiful hand drawn feel to them, and stamp with a perfectly crisp impression.  Not to mention....the dies!!  I think it is well known that I am a lover of dies, and Neat & Tangled dies do not disappoint!  They are amazing!

I decided to keep with a Thanksgiving theme for my cards today.  I chose to use a rainbow color palette, but muted the tones to give it a more autumnal & rich feel.  I really love how they came together, and I hope you do to!  Check them out!

Good morning, friends and Happy Tuesday!  I hope that you had a good day yesterday!  We went to the Imagine Dragons concert last night...and it was AMAZING!  But why, oh why, are concerts always on work nights?!  I am SO tired.  But, it was totally worth it!

We are on day 7 of my crafty comeback party, and today is all about Lawn Fawn!  I have known Kelly forever - since Lawn Fawn was a relatively new company.  Kelly has always been generous and sincere and loving - and I credit that for what a success Lawn Fawn is today!  I am so thankful that she joined along with my comeback party, and I had SO much fun creating with some of their latest goodies!

I focused on Thanksgiving for my cards today, and I LOVE how they turned out!  They are centered mostly around diecutting, and seriously friends....Lawn Fawn has some of the most AMAZING dies.  I think you NEED them.  Lol!  You have a chance to win one of 2 gift certificates, so be sure to read the full post!

Good morning, friends and Happy Monday!  I hope that you had a wonderful weekend!  Other than going to an overwhelmingly large, but very cool, candy store....my weekend was quiet & crafty.  I love those kind of weekends!

Today marks week 2 of my Crafty Comeback Party, and we are going to kick it off with Taylored Expressions!  I have worked with Taylor a lot in the past, and I LOVE her product!  Taylor's stamps are high quality, rubber cling mount stamps that leave BEAUTIFUL impressions.  She also designs dies that cut beautifully, and so much more!  I highly suggest checking out all her company has to offer - you won't be disappointed!

I created two cards for today, and love them!  Be sure to keep scrolling, because you will get the chance to win some of the very product that I used today!

We've made it to Friday!!  I hope that your week has been amazing, and that you are ready for the weekend!  I know that I'm ready for it!

Welcome to day 5 of my Crafty Comeback Party!  What a FUN first week this has been...and we've got 3 more weeks of this!!  It has been amazing getting back into the creative groove again, and hopefully my projects have been inspiring you to create too!

Today's Crafty Comeback Sponsor is Ellen Hutson!  Along with carrying the latest art & crafting supplies, Ellen Hutson also offers their own stamp & die sets called Essentials by Ellen!  On Sunday I shared a card using some of their newly released items!  You will definitely want to check them out!

For today's projects, I am using the Modern Christmas by Julie Ebersole stamp set, and the Concertina Tag die by Julie Ebersole.  Here is what I came up with!

Happy Thursday afternoon!  I had a little issue in my schedule this week, so today's Crafty Comeback Post had to happen later in the day.  Changing it up can be a good thing sometimes...don't you think!

Today I is all about Flora and Fauna!  This is a new {to me} company that I found once I started checking out the paper crafting world again.  And I absolutely fell in LOVE with their stamp sets & diecut designs!

Today I've created a galaxy watercolor background, and featured the Iceberg die, along with a sentiment from the Winter Woodland stamp set! (All products are linked at the end of the post.)  Here is how it turned out!

Good morning, and happy Wednesday!  We've made it to the middle of the week!!  I hope you are having a great one so far!

We are on day 3 of my Crafty Comeback party, and it has been so much fun so far!!  I'm loving getting back into the groove of creating, and seeing my ideas come to life.  Today is all about Lil' Inker Designs, who is so near & dear to my heart.  I have been working with Laura forever now, and she creates some of the cutest stamps with matching dies!

About 3 years ago or so, I created this cute Halloween card for Lil' Inker Designs that had adorable cut-out ghosts that I popped over the top of tulle.  I STILL love that card to this day - in fact, I loved it so much that I kept it & use it in my Halloween decor.  I got to thinking about that card when I saw the latest Ghost Shaker Dies, and decided I wanted to take it a step further!  I kept the tulle, but also turned it into a shaker card!!!  I combined the new Ghost Shaker Dies with the previously released Stitched Ghost Dies, which go together perfectly!!  It is so cute...check it out!

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Welcome to day 2 of my Crafty Comeback Party!  Depending upon how long you've been hanging out with me on my blog, you may or may not know that my start in the paper crafting industry was through scrapbooking!  My paper crafting journey evolved away from scrapbooking, and more towards cardmaking & gift decor...but I still LOVE using scrapbooking product on my cards!

Today's post is all about Prima Marketing!!  Awhile back I was a card-maker on Prima's Creative Team, and I LOVED my time with them!  While I stamp & dabble in the artsy side of cardmaking, I still have a strong tie to my roots in scrapbooking and I've recently decided that one of my prominent styles is as a "scrappy cardmaker"!

One of the amazing things about Prima Marketing is that they have all the great scrapbooking product in their collections, but they typically have stamps as well!  That way you can be stampy & scrappy at the same time!  Plus - it is so nice when an entire collection just goes together.  It takes any guesswork out of creating, and you can just enjoy your time!

Prima also has amazing art supplies, like watercolor paper & paints, which I can't wait to get my hands on soon! 

But today I am using Prima's GORGEOUS "Amber Moon" collection, and my cards are all about PUMPKINS.  If you know me personally at all...you know that I take my Pumpkin Spice season VERY seriously.  So - only someone very special gets a card with a sentiment like, "You're the pumpkin to my Spice".

Happy Monday!  Welcome to the technical first day of my Crafty Comeback Party!  Although - it has already been quite a celebration over the weekend!!  Be sure to check out all my weekend posts so you don't miss out on any fun or giveaways!

Today is all about Little Things from Lucy's Cards!  Lucy creates the most AMAZING sequin mixes...if you've never seen them, make SURE you go & check them all out!  AND....you are going to get the chance to win some!  Giveaway details will be at the end of the post, so be sure to keep scrolling!

My first card uses the Rainbow Bright Diamonds mix.  I seriously LOVE the dimension that these have, and they are SO fun in a shaker card!  Here is how I know that! ;)

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope that you had a wonderful World Cardmaking Day yesterday!!

Today I am getting the privilege to do something I haven't before...I am participating in a blog hop featuring the latest Essentials by Ellen release!  There will be 4 mini hops throughout the week, and today marks the start of all the fun!  I think you are going to LOVE these new stamps & dies....they are amazing!!

You should have arrived here from Svitlana Shayevich's blog.  If you have gotten lost along the hop, or happened upon my blog and want to start from the beginning, then head back to the Ellen Hutson LLC blog.  I will link your next stop on the blog hop at the end of my post! :)

I decided to mainly work with the Thistle stamp set, and pulled my sentiment from the Snailed It stamp set.  Both of these stamp & die sets were designed by Julie Ebersole, and they work beautifully together!  You are going to love using them...I know that I did!

I have been hearing amazing things about distress oxide inks, and I'm excited to use them - but they haven't arrived yet!  So - I used the Ranger distress inks (all colors are linked below) I have on hand, and created a really beautiful background.  The colors are a bit nontraditional, but they have a lovely fall feel when paired with the gorgeous thistle stamps!  Once I was done with the inked panel, I spritzed it with white Heidi Swapp Color Shine, and it added a gorgeous layer of shimmer to the front!  You can kind-of see it in the photographs, but there is so much more pretty shimmer in person.

The sentiment is heat embossed on a banner cut from dark purple cardstock.  In order to keep a good exposure on the rest of the card, the purple cardstock photographed a little dark - so I just wanted to let you know the true color!

I had every intentions of there being some green in this card!  I inked a very subtle green onto the upper left & lower right corners, but because there was already some other color in both places - it turned more of a greyish brown.  And you know what?  I think I prefer it the way it is!  That is one of the things I love about cardmaking - it doesn't always go exactly as planned, and often works out better!

As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions in the comments!  All of the newly released Essentials by Ellen products will be linked below, along with the other product I used to create this card for your shopping convenience.

Your next stop on blog hop is to Jennifer McGuire's blog!  Happy hopping, and have a wonderful Sunday!


For your shopping convenience, all products used are linked below.  {Includes affiliate linking where possible - this allows small compensation for me at no cost to you.  Never fear - I will only ever link to products that I truly love & use!}

Welcome back, friends!  If you are looking for my blog hop post, CLICK HERE.  If you are looking for my rainbow color challenge, then you are in the right place!

Winnie & Walter has a whole day of festivities going on - and Shay has created a page that gives you the links to everything you need for the day!  Check it out HERE, and guess what...if you take a "craftie" {a selfie of your crafting area} and link it up in that post, you will be eligible to win a $25 credit to the W&W Shop!

I am hosting the 3pm Rainbow Color Challenge!!  I've created a fun little shaker card using some amazing W&W dies.  I seriously LOVE how this card turned out!  I knew I wanted to figure out a way to use all of the sentiment cutaways included in the In A Word: Birthday Tiles die set.  I love the graphic font, and it paired perfectly with the In A Word: Happy cutaway!!  Check it out!

Well friends, the time has come.  I'm making my official comeback to this amazing little creative world that I love so much.  I can't thank you enough for giving me the time & space I've needed as I figure out how I grieve & long for my babies while still continuing to do the things that I love.  Thank you for checking back when my blog was completely silent.  And thank you for supporting me as I make my way back to a semblance of who I once was creatively.

First, some blog hop details!  You should have arrived here from Emily Leiphart's blog!  If you've lost your place, or happened upon my blog and want to check out the entire hop, then start at the Winnie & Walter blog!  Winnie & Walter is giving away five (5) $25 gift certificates to the w&w shop! Just leave a comment on every destination along the Hop to be in with a chance to win!

I will post your next stop on the hop at the end of my post!

It took me a little bit to figure out how creating works with grief.  I've decided I am choosing to honor Ellie & Layton by creating for them.  My creative process and style is intrinsically woven with thoughts of them and inspired by them.  Mostly, I want them to be able to look down and be proud of the person I'm becoming after them.  Broken, wounded & forever changed...but stronger, more passionate & driven.

Today marks the start of a month long event that I've planned!  It's my Crafty Comeback, and I am SO excited that it's here!  This event wouldn't be possible without all the amazing companies that enthusiastically jumped in and chose to sponsor it!  I hope that you will check back through November 4th (there is something going on EVERY day, except for weekends - excluding this weekend, of course.)  There is going to be tons of inspiration & GIVEAWAYS, challenges & more!

It just felt fitting that the event would start with Winnie & Walter!  Shay has continued to send me her product, her support and her love even though I was mostly silent.  I didn't expect such generosity, and I look forward to creating with everything that I wasn't able to when it released.

Today is World Cardmaking Day, and I am sharing the first card I've created since losing my son.  I thought of him every moment as I created it.  It's light & airy & whimsical...just like I imagine life must feel like in Heaven.  It's the colors I expected to decorate his nursery in, and dress him in.  And while it was far too short, the sentiment conveys my gratefulness for being able to spend almost every waking moment with Layton for the 5 months he graced us with his presence.

And I'm grateful for this community, who checked on me, prayed for us, and who are rallying around me as I make my way home.  I appreciate it all more than I can say.

Well, here we go... The card that starts it all again.  :)

{If you had forgotten, or didn't know me before today....I take A LOT of photos of each card.  It's the wedding photographer in me....I LOVE details.  Lol!}

One thing I've found about the way I create cards is that it is hard to put step by step instructions to.  I pull things out...I push & move them around until they find their perfect place...I add layers until I feel like it's done.  So, I won't be including step by step instructions any longer.  I will likely do videos in the future, but I'm still figuring that out!!  If you have any questions about something, please let me know in the comments and I will absolutely answer!!  And products that are still available will be linked at the end of the post so you can shop your little hearts out!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and check out my card today!  Have an amazing time along the blog hop...it is packed FULL of amazing designers!  I know that inspiration will abound, and I can't wait to grab a cup of blueberry coffee (my favorite!) and hop along myself.

Once you've left a comment, your next stop in the blog hop is to Nichol Spohr's blog!  I will be back this afternoon at 3pm CST with a fun WCMD Winnie & Walter challenge!  Check back then and join in on the fun!!