quick page share today

Sometimes when I sit down to scrap I don't give myself any restrictions like I have to do for assignments for a team project.

I grab from here and there and add whatever "floats my boat," so to speak.

That was the case on this layout.

I used some products that I've had sitting in my stash for far too long waiting for that "perfect" project.

I tucked stickers and rub-ons here and there and added some fun Heidi Swap word and star chipboard stickers. The yellow frame and scalloped border bits are October Afternoon. The little dots and flowers are Amy Tangerine. 

Come back tomorrow and I will have my first project as a returning Noel Mignon kit club team member. 

Have a great day!

♥♥

to the Moon and Back with Studio Calico

Good morning!

Today I have another quick and easy page to share with you.

It was quick and easy because the die cut "to the moon and back" cut on my Silhouette Cameo takes up the bulk of the space on my page. 

The papers and wood veneer are all from Studio Calico and the little chipboard tabs and squares are from October Afternoon. Spray mists are all by Heidi Swapp.

Using a simple design left the focus on this cute picture of my daughter from a recent trip to Palo Duro Canyon State Park and also made it quick and easy to get some much-needed scrapping time in that day!

♥♥

playing with buttons, butterflies and burlap

I shared a new layout on the Noel Mignon blog yesterday and wanted to share it here as well.

For this page I used the Sweet & Simple classic kit (did you know that they have a Project Life-ish kit now?)

When the Fancy Pants "Burlap and Bouquets" collection was released one of the things that stuck out most to me was the burlap bows and I'd been saving it to use on a fun project. I thought I might use it for a home decor item or for a hair bow or something but decided instead to use it on this page.

I really liked the collage-y feel of the October Afternoon paper I used for the background but didn't want it to overshadow my photograph of this cute girl so I used a piece of Crate Paper Road Trip patterned paper (with the white brick) to soften it a bit. I added lots of buttons from October Afternoon and really like how this turned out: 

I added some of these cute chipboard frames to my page and was adding buttons later when I got the idea to add some buttons inside the little slide frame. I think it turned out cute!

I also added some Heidi Swapp Color Shine mist to a few of the wooden butterflies to add some sparkle to my page. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

another Project Life card layout and reminder

How many of you are glad it's almost the weekend?

I sure am, and we don't have any big plans so we can stay home and relax and recuperate from the stomach bug that is going through the house.

Yesterday I shared with you a page that I made using Project Life-style cards and I have another one for today.

I used some of the new My Mind's Eye pocket page cards, stickers from My Mind's Eye ("you rock") ( Jillibean Soup ("you"), October Afternoon ("are") and Heidi Swapp ("fabulous", hearts, stars, arrows). The wood heart is from Dear Lizzy. 

I used Heidi Swapp Color Shine mist on the background and mixed some Heidi Swapp star stickers in. 

For those who "collect" pocket page cards, using them on traditional layouts is a great way to keep them from taking up too much room in your scrap supply ☺ 

If you would like to win a mixed selection of cards please scroll down to the post just below and leave a comment. I will choose a winner on Monday and will send you some from my ever-growing stash. 

Have a great weekend!

♥♥

learning to love the swing

Baby Lily hadn't been on the swing much before our camping trip this last Spring Break.

It took her a little while to warm up to the idea but after a few minutes she'd gotten over the fear of it all and started to really enjoy it! We bought her a little swing for her birthday and it's one of her favorite places to be, in fact she throws a fit when we try to take her out.

I created this page using a mix of Pebbles Inc. papers, American Crafts Thickers and some smaller alpha stickers from October Afternoon. The rub-ons are also October Afternoon and the tapes are from K & Co and Bella Blvd.

I have this thing lately for adding small strips at the top and/or bottom of my page. I hope you don't get tired of seeing it ☺ I think it's been a trendy thing in scrapbooking for a while but I haven't done it all that much until recently.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

it's Friday!!

We have just about survived our first week of summer vacation with the house and all of the children intact.

YAY!!!

We have been playing outside lots, doing some cleaning and crafting and scrapbooking and just taking it easy this week. For the weekend one has a gymnastics camp and the rest of us are going to play!

I hope it's been a great week for you, too.

Today I have a layout to share, created using a mix of Pebbles Inc. products. I love it when I don't have a pending assignment for a team and I can create using some of my older supplies.

Everything here is from Pebbles Inc. except for the twine (The Twinery) and little gray alphabet stickers (October Afternoon). I used my Lifestyle Crafts starburst template- actually, I cut it from the leftover scraps from one I'd cut out. I had the negative piece left over so I cut around the edge for this thin outline of the shape. I also used my EK Success big and medium retro flower punches.

I hope to do some more scrapping this weekend and will have more to share (plus a giveaway) for next week. Have a great day!

LIfestyle Crafts embossing folders

Good morning!

It's going to be a scorcher here today!

I sure hope it's a lot cooler where you are because we're supposed to hit 100 degrees and it's still only May. I think we're in for trouble this summer.

Today I have some quick cards to share that I made using these embossing folders from Lifestyle Crafts:

These two can be found here:

http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/embossing-folders/happy-birthday-1912.html

and

http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/embossing-folders/springtime.html

I kept my card design fairly simple which made it easy to create these cards quickly. 

I cut the white cardstock to size, ran it through my Sizzix Big Shot with the Lifestyle Crafts embossing folders and then added some details to each one and was done in less than 30 minutes with all four cards. 

(tag from American Crafts, twine from The Twinery)

(alphas from October Afternoon, balloon sticker from Pebbles Inc.)

(stickers from American Crafts with the exception of gray alphas; those are from October Afternoon. Twine from The Twinery)

(paper and candles from American Crafts, alpha stickers from October Afternoon, twine from The Twinery)

There are a lot of new dies and embossing folders at Lifestyle Crafts. 

If you see something that you like please don't forget to use my code for a 20% discount. Simply click on the Lifestyle Crafts button on the right sidebar here on my blog and have fun shopping!

Have a wonderful day!

twirly girls layout

Hi! How is your weekend going so far?

Great, I hope.

I just wanted to share a layout that I made this week and hadn't shared with y'all yet.

We went to a friends' house last month to see their little baby chicks and then Aimee and their little girl (Aimee says that she is one of her BFF's) got all dressed up in fluffy skirts and danced around the yard.

Of COURSE I saw this as the perfect picture-taking opportunity and used those pictures on this page.

The paper is from Lawn Fawn and there are stickers from Sassafras, October Afternoon, Crate Paper and American Crafts with tapes from Bella Blvd and KI Memories. The spray mists are from Studio Calico.

Have a wonderful weekend.

I'll have some more projects to share with you next week!

Thanks so much for stopping by. ♥

Texas blubonnets and a giveaway for you

Good morning!

Can you believe it's almost the weekend?

What are your plans?

We have eggs to dye and other eggs to hunt today and tomorrow and then I really want for Sunday to be focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter. I am trying to come up with some kind of meaningful "treat" for the kids in my class at church.

I guess I forgot to post my giveaway yesterday but you are in luck today. I mentioned something about wanting to share some of my HUGE stash of My Little Shoebox and that is just what I am going to do. I have paper and stickers and more alpha stickers and it's more than I will be able to use in this lifetime so I want to share with one of you. Simply leave a comment on this post before midnight Monday and you will be entered in the drawing. Good luck!

And now for a new layout! While we were on our camping trip with some family from Houston during Spring Break a couple of weeks ago the kids and all but me and Lily (she didn't sleep the night before so she took a LONG nap that morning) happened upon a patch of bluebonnets while out hiking. I am so glad that my sister-in-law loves to take pictures just like I do and she knew that I would be oh-so-grateful for the pictures of my girls with the pretty flowers.

For this layout I used some Crate Paper (woodgrain background from last year's Christmas collection), American Crafts blue Thickers, Queen and Company pearls and everything else (stickers, diecuts, paper) came from the Farmhouse collection by October Afternoon.

Have a wonderful day, a very happy Easter, and don't forget to leave a comment on this post for your chance to win a box full of scrappy supplies! I will announce a winner next Tuesday. 

mixing it up again

Good morning!

I know it's a little early, I am not even sure why my body thinks that 3:30 is an acceptable time for me to wake up but it seems like the last couple of weeks at least it's been that way. I really need to figure out what the deal is. I am usually awake long before baby Lily starts to make a peep.

So, since I'm up and I hadn't yet scheduled a blog post for today here I am.

While I should be addressing Christmas cards so that they can get in the mail before Valentine's Day (that's what happened last year) instead I have been checking friends' blogs, reading this and that other interesting/fun thing but not doing anything particularly productive. I need to get a package ready to send but I haven't done that, either. It's not that I am bah humbug this year but there is definitely something different and I am not so cheery- wanting to get the halls decked as soon as Thanksgiving was over this year like I normally am. I have been a bit too cranky. We still don't have all of our decorations out, there's nothing out on the lawn like we usually have because Matt's been working and recovering and we've been dealing with sick kids and running here and there and everything else. We're just behind this year.

Most of the scrapping that I've done lately has been for an assignment but the other day, at some insane hour of the morning since I was up anyway, I scrapped a page using some new things in my stash- a bit of Crate Paper Peppermint, some October Afternoon Farmhouse, some American Crafts Thickers. It was fun to play a bit and mix things up the way I like to do.

The pictures were taken a few weeks ago when we actually had a little bit of snow- it wasn't much but playing in it after the kids got out of school was a necessity because it's not often that they actually GET to play in snow. Homework waited that day and we got out and played, did snow angels, had a snowball fight- the kids thought it was hilarious to throw the snowballs in a way that I'd get hit right in the face or so it would run down my shirt since my coat wasn't zipped up enough, apparently. It was nice to be playing with them instead of feeling like a drill sergeant trying to get them to do homework or chores or to stop fighting or banging on this or that.

Anyway, here is the page with pictures of Hailey making snow angels and having a wonderful time.

I used some Twinery twine on the flowers (Fiskars punch) and a mix of embellishments from OA, AC and Crate.Funny thing, if you are much into scrapping you totally know what those initials are and we commonly get into our scrappy lingo where other people have no idea what we're talking about! Ever since I saw those cute gray American Crafts alphas I'd been coveting them and finally got some. 

Good grief, I get overly chatty at 4 in the morning. 

My 4 year old shared a new word with me yesterday- spectabulous. 

So, whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope that it is spectabulous!

getting ready for the holidays

It's so hard to believe that this year is almost over, isn't it? 

It's the middle of November and before we know it Thanksgiving Day will have come and gone and Christmas will be right around the corner. I have to say that Christmas is my very favorite time of the year. I love the spirit of happiness and goodwill that seems to permeate more than it does any other time during the year. I love to find fun/meaningful gifts for my family and do little acts of service with my family for those who might not otherwise have a very merry Christmas. 

I love family traditions and we have many. One of the things we've started doing every year is making gingerbread houses. It's messy but so much fun to to do as a family. Here is a page that I created for ScrapStreet magazine a while back but never shared here on my blog. 

What is your favorite thing about the holiday season? 

I am going to do some scrapping today!

(one can dream, anyway)

it's Friday!

What a week it has been! It seems we are hardly ever at home anymore, always running here and there for something. I am always happy when the weekend gets here and we can stay put a bit more.

Last Friday I got to go to a crop at our local store and happily had 4 mostly-finished layouts and 2 cards when I walked out the door about 5 hours later. Here are a couple of them:

Amy Tangerine collection with a few accents from the AC Daydreams collection.

(mix of KI Memories paper, October Afternoon rub-ons, washi tape from a SC kit, Sassafras and OA stickers. Yeah, I went a little crazy with the rub-ons. 

And because you're all so nice to visit my little blog, here's one more that I made a week or so ago that I'd forgotten to share here: 

Crate Paper Neighborhood collection

Have a fantastic weekend! We're off to birthday parties, soccer games and hopefully a bit of the gymnastics meet at the girls' gym on Saturday. Should be a fun one! 

super quick post this morning

Good morning!

It's another busy one with chauferring kids around, church meeting, speech therapy, soccer practice, etc. so I am going to make this super quick!

Here's one of the pages that I made at the crop at my local scrap store this past Friday. It was fun but bittersweet knowing that they're closing at the end of the month.

This is our cute Aimee, almost 4 years old. She can be the sweetest thing and then at the flip of a switch she can be the biggest screamy grump! She's a cutie for sure and we love her a ton. 

For this page I used lots of the new Sweet & Sour collection from Jillibean Soup. I just love the cardstock sticker sheets with the alphas, journal spots and other accents. 

I used a KI Memories calendar page, Jillibean Soup Sweet & Sour Soup collection, American Crafts buttons and Thickers as well as some rub-ons from October Afternoon. 

Have a fantastic day!

something good from yesterday

Yesterday wasn't my favorite day of the year so far...not by a long shot.

We still don't have running water and the plumber couldn't figure out the source of the frozen pipes.

We do have each other and a good friend brought over dinner and some water last night. The funny thing is, we have lots and lots of food storage and have three big 50-gallon barrels in our garage. Do we have water in them? Of course not. A lot of times we kinda go through the motions of getting the food storage but don't necessarily think we'll ever need to use it. I remember vaguely a conversation that Matt had with someone recently and they were talking about food storage and Matt mentioned that we didn't have a lot of water stored. That might have been a good time to fill up those barrels if only to have enough water to warm up to bathe in and for flushing the toilets. As it was, Matt was running to the closest gas station so that he could go without dealing with the hassle of dumping a gallon of water down the toilet afterwards. We stocked up on paper plates, cups and plastic forks and spoons since we don't have enough water for washing dishes right now.

We take so many things for granted.

We really do.

The garage door, at least, is fixed. I really should have taken a picture of that yesterday.

Oh well.

So, today we'll fill up some buckets with the little bit of snow we have outside and use that to flush toilets.

I was having a rough time yesterday with all that was going on on top of me not feeling well but there were some miracles, some answers to prayer. We carpool with a neighbor who we go to church with and it is our turn to pick up the girls this week. She called in the morning, though, wondering if we'd sent Hailey to school since we had her home a day last week and she said she could pick up her daughter. I ended up asking her if she could pick up the girls, which she was happy to do. At the time of our conversation Matt was working on the garage door, trying to get the bent panel off so that it could be repaired. I didn't know if we'd be able to get our van out of the garage to pick up the girls. Blessing number one.

Later in the afternoon I was making calls to the girls in my Activity Days group (I work with the 8-11 year olds at church and twice a month we have an evening activity- last night we were going to frost heart cookies and leave notes of gratitude on the Bishopric's door. Nicole- don't tell Jeff because we are planning to do this later ♥). Anyway, so I was making calls using my groggy flu voice and one of the moms called me back to see if I was okay. Of course it had been a rough day and I shared some details and she offered to bring some water and drinks over and said she'd bring us dinner later. Blessing number two.

Yesterday I decided to escape the stress and hide away in my scrap room and make a page just for fun and this is what I came up with- a page using a fun little quote from Aimee. It started at least a few months ago when I would tuck her in, tell her goodnight and say " I love you" and she'd say, "I love you, too" and I'd say, "I love you three" and you get the idea and one time I said, "I love you a million zillion billion" and then we'd say "and one more than that' and it kinda stuck. Now it's a nightly thing and I love it and had to scrap it so I wouldn't forget this fun little thing we do.

For this page I used some of the new Sassafras Paper Crush line mixed with some October Afternoon Homemaker line and some other Sass and OA and then embellishments from Sassafras, American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Maya Road, Crate Paper and October Afternoon. It was such a fun page, and nice to scrap for me instead of for an assignment- I was free to use whatever I wanted and it was so fun. Oh, the cute orange die-cut paper is from KI Memories. I love those papers and just might have to get more.

Here are a few detail shots:

So fun!

Well, cross your fingers or say a little prayer for us today if you think about it. 

We just hope we can figure out how to get our pipes unfrozen in this freezing cold weather. 

And, you can sure bet we'll be filling up those big water barrels soon. 

♥♥♥

p.s if you would like some Valentine's Day card ideas you can check the American Crafts blog today, hint..hint. I just might have something over there today. ☺

http://americancrafts.typepad.com/studio/2011/02/love-cards-by-becky.html

My Scrapbook Nook May kit class

Good afternoon!

How is your Sunday going? It's hard to believe that the weekend is just about over, isn't it?

We've had a very busy but fun weekend and just spent the afternoon munching on breakfast yummies and playing games with some friends. It was so nice to have people over again since it's been quite a while since we'd invited another family over to hang out with us. Well, besides family here in town, that is.

I wanted to quickly share with you a class that I put together using the May kit from My Scrapbook Nook. This kit features the "Fly a Kite" collection from October Afternoon and has been an absolute blast to play with.

You can see the class instructions here:
http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28078&sid=66afba5e3a0d2ca1d05e69c6bed10319