Waiting for Daisy...

Hello Hello!  I hope your day is filled with sunshine today! 

Yesterday, I decided that after finishing 42 pages in my Alaska Project, I would take a break and scrapbook some photos that I've been wanting to work on since I took them last May. 

As you know, we have two dogs ~ Jazmine & Pico.  They love to go out in our backyard and play together.  Well last spring the little schnauzer mutt who lives behind us, saw our dogs playing and she little by little, she  inched her way closer and closer to our yard.  Before we knew it, Daisy was running around like crazy with our dogs and it's become a daily play date ever since.   Now if Daisy isn't out, our dogs will sit at the edge of the property and wait for her.  And if our dogs aren't out, Daisy will sit and wait for them.  It's so cute!  On this beautiful May day, Jazz was waiting & I'm so happy I captured it.

I used four different pattern papers from the October Afternoon collection called Modern Homemaker.   Since I only have an 8x8 pad of this paper & my page is 12x12, I decided to do a color block page.  I also used some chipboard flowers on my page from Maya Road because her name after all is DAISY!

Here is a close up of the smaller photos and the journaling.  I didn't have a decent photo of Pico and Daisy and wanted to make sure Pico was included in the layout, so I added her to the smaller yellow scallop circle.

The cool polka-dotted letters are from American Crafts & I think they are perfect for this page!  I can't believe I had them in my stash ~ AND...I can't believe I found & used them!  Usually I find things after the project is finished.

Here are Jazz and Daisy playing in the sprinkler ~ they are so funny!

So that's what I was up to yesterday ~ I hope you enjoyed my page.  I'll have some cards to share this week, but right now I'm having fun with my pages.

THE ALASKA PROJECT ...part 4

Good Monday morning!  Gosh...it's almost afternoon!  I was going to work on this post yesterday & I just didn't get around to it & one thing after another came up this morning...  but here I am with another post on my favorite "in process" project. 

So I was poking around on the internet last week and landed on the Simple Stories Blog ~ love that place!  They posted a layout sketch & I just had to stop what I was doing and give it a try.

For the title, I cut out the word VIEW with my Cricut machine & then added some of the little letters from the Simple Stories Destinations Kit.  I also added a big flourish sticker to the top of the photos which is also from the kit.  Then I took the ticket border sticker and trimmed them apart & popped up every other sticker for a little bit of texture. 

For the layered elements under the ticket border, I cut out pieces from one of the pieces of pattern paper & then edged them in a little bit of black ink to make them stand out.   This is the full sheet of pattern paper that I used ~ and I still have more elements I can use on other pages.  I used the full sheet as is on one of my earlier pages & now I've cut it apart ~ super fun options!

Here's a close up of the layered elements.

And then I popped up the airplane I cut out for a bit more texture.

Hope you enjoyed my latest page ~ I'll have more to share very soon!

Diner Club Preview...let's take a peek!

Happy Saturday!  I know I don't usually post on the weekends, but today I have a special reason ~ it's the 25th and that means it's time to show off the latest Diners Club set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Prescription for Spring.

For my project I used the spring postage stamp image and added just a little bit of color with my Copic Markers and Spica Glitter Pens.  The paper is new from My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection called Howdy Doody.  I also used the Weekly Recipe sketch for my card today.

I know you'll want to check out the full set on the GRS Blog & then make sure you hop around and see what the other DT girls came up with ~ I know you'll be blown away!

• Deb Felts
• Jeni Allen
• Joy Stagg
• Kendra Wietstock - You're Here
• Kelli Palmer
• Pam Hornschu
• Rose Ann Reynolds
• Taylor Usry

If you'd like more info on how to sign up for the Monthly Diners Club ~ take a look HERE. 

Have a great weekend!

OCL Challenge #106...Sketch Day

GOOD MORNING PEEPS!  So what season is it for you?  Today it's winter, but a few days ago it was spring.  Me thinks Mother Nature is confused...  I think I'm confused too with all the school days that my kids have had off this week, but yes, it is Friday & that means it's time for the OCL Challenge.  This week it's a sketch!

So the card I made this week uses the set called Under Lock & Key.  I really wanted to use my new pattern paper pack from My Mind's Eye & thought this wood grain paper would be fun to use with this great vintage set.  I also used some beautiful black velvet ribbon from May Arts.

I'd love to see what you make too ~ so take a look at the details on the OCL Blog and add your link when you've done a project.

I'll be back tomorrow for a rare Saturday appearance with a preview of the new Diners Club set for Gourmet Rubber Stamps.

THE ALASKA PROJECT ...part 3

WOW ~ I never post this late in the day!  I've been so busy getting ready for a class I have tomorrow night & haven't had the chance to get this post done.  I'm waiting to find out how many students I have in the class, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to post a few of the projects I've been working on for my ALASKA PROJECT.  

This album holds a very special place in my heart because it was THE BEST VACATION EVER.  As you know from reading my blog over the years, our family loves to travel ~ but this vacation was so special and we enjoyed it so much. Since it was so wonderful, I am savoring each and every picture and page I create.

This page includes some beautiful sepia photos I took of my kids.  The color photos are gorgeous & are also included in my album; however, for the first page of this particular day, I wanted the photos to coordinate perfectly with the page.  I haven't finished the other page just yet with the color photos, but I will when it is completed.

For the elements on this page, I stamped the map background (tone on tone) at the bottom of the page.  I've done this for most of the elements in this vacation album so the pages would coordinate.  Then I added stamped words from the Technique Tuesday Travel stamp set along the top and bottom of the page.  Once the initial stamping was done, I added pattern paper from the Simple Stories Destination kit that's I've been using on the entire album.  After printing and adding the perfect photos, I added some cardstock stickers from the Simple Stories kit to the page ~ (photo corners, a border, label stickers and a big accent sticker).  I stamped the date and location of the photos with my Hero Arts alphabet stamps, added a wooden button with twine & then added a "page title" of sorts at the bottom ~ "You are my most favorite memory".   I LOVE IT! 

Next up, I decided to make a quick card using the same Destination kit from Simple Stories but this time I added some great coordinating stamps from Unity Stamp Company.  The pretty ribbon is from May Arts.

The explosion in my creative space ~ and it's gotten worse since I took this photo, but I've also gotten a lot more pages done on my album.

Over the next few weeks I will have more fun pages to share for this project ~ creative pocket pages, more full-sized layouts & some creative ways display the brochures and memorabilia I picked up along our journey.

If you've missed out on the other posts I've done about my ALASKA PROJECT, check them out.  I can't wait to hear what you think of my project so far!

Sunny Monday = Happy Monday!

Hello Peeps ~ I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  We have an extended one, so I'm late getting a post done for this morning. 

Today I have a few cards to show you using the latest Gourmet Rubber Stamps Diners Club set called Abracadabra .  On the first card I used three of the whimsical images and sentiment in the set.  I cut out the rainbow and popped it up so it would really stand out. 

On my next card, I used the magic wand and sparkly dust to bring some magical wishes.  This card would be great for a guy, don't you think?

Later this week, we'll have the preview for the next Diner's Club set & I'm also planning on showing you part 3 of my Alaska Project.  I've been busy working away on it.

Have a delightful Monday!

OCL Challenge #105... Ruffles!

Finally Friday ~ I know everyone is looking forward to the weekend and in our case, it already started.  The kids have a long weekend from school for a winter break.  It's always nice to have a few days where the routine is put aside!

Today I have another OCL Challenge card to share for this week.  We are using ruffles on our cards ~ paper, ribbon, or fabric ~ whatever you find!

Now here is my card.  I'll admit that my ruffles didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but I do love the card.  I used two springy sets ~ Pretty Petals & Say it with Flowers.  The pattern paper is from October Afternoon's Sidewalk Chalk collection.

Now it's your turn to play along ~ you have until next Thursday to add your direct link to this fun challenge.

Thanks for buzzing by & have a great weekend!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps DT Challenge...Recipes!

Woohooo ~ I'm back again today & this time with a fun Design Team challenge from the Gourmet Rubber Stamps team.    Each month we have a new challenge and today's was to do a 6x6 recipe card. 

As I began looking through my stamps for ideas, I ran across this fun Sweets & Treats set from a few years ago.  Then I remembered that I had these adorable pictures of my son not only making the ice cream, but also eating it!  So I had to make the recipe card into a scrapbook page as well! 

I used the ice cream sprinkles around the edge of the page & then added some glitter to the sprinkles on the ice cream cone.  I also added the "cool treats" sentiment from the set as a recipe tab.  By the way, this ice cream is REALLY GOOD & it's totally fun to make with a group of kids.  It's our 4th of July tradition in our neighborhood.

Now it's time to hop along and see what other sweet treats are in store for you today! 

• GRS Blog
  Jeni Allen
• Joy Stagg
• Kelli Palmer
• Rose Ann Reynolds
• Taylor Usry

Happy {Heart} Day!

Ahhhh...it's the official day of LOVE!  This is one of my favorite days to create cards and cute projects ~ I'm all about hearts, flowers and chocolate {when I'm not dieting, that is}.

I have a surprise for you today!  But first I want to share a sweet little Valentine card with you.  It could actually be for any occasion since I didn't use the traditional Valentine colors of pink or red ~ but it still conveys the same message of love.    I used the Love in the Air set from Our Craft Lounge along with this fun paper by October Afternoon (the Sidewalk Chalk collection).

OK ~ now for the surprise.... would you like some Valentine Candy?  Well run right over to the OCL Blog and the OCL Facebook page and leave some love for your chances to win some AMAZING Valentine Blog Candy! 

OCL Challenge #104...Vintage Valentine

Good Monday morning crafty friends.  I'm so late today with getting a blog post up, but I still hadn't finished my OCL Challenge card for last Friday.  There's still plenty of time to play along because we don't put a new challenge up until Friday. Since I was hosting another challenge last week, I decided to wait until today to post my OCL card. 

So this week's challenge is to make a Vintage Love card.  I'm not really a vintage girl ~ so I do "fake" vintage.

I decided to use the pretty Vintage Traveler stamp set along with this great paper from My Minds Eye in the Lost and Found collection.  I'm pretty happy with the end result!

OK ~ get going on your challenge card because tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  Once you post your project, add your direct link to the OCL Blog and you'll be entered to win a gift certificate!

GRS...my turn for the weekly recipe!

Here's another edition of the Weekly Recipe for Gourmet Rubber Stamps on this wonderful Friday morning. Today, it's my turn to host & I have a super fun and easy sketch for you to play with this week.

The card I came up with for the sketch uses some of the Lizzie Anne Singles ~ The Ship (which I stamped in a light ink on the bottom right side) & The River Bends (the sentiment I stamped directly on the pattern paper. I also used the script background image from the Sealed with a Kiss set on the die-cut flowers.

Your turn to play along! Just add your link this week to the GRS Facebook page. Can't wait to see what you make!

Just a little note of thanks...

The week is winding down now isn't it?  Well I'm back today with a card that I just sent to a friend of mine to say thank you for this adorable mustache pin she gave me.  It's a fun little joke for the Concord Band Mom Group from the marching band season.  We've had such a blast together and when we all went out to dinner last week, she handed these out to us.  Well I immediately knew I had to make a card for her using this fun paper from Echo Park!

Have a great day & we'll see you tomorrow!

Wonderful Wednesday...

Howdy there... It's mid-week and I hope it's going well for everyone.  I've been super busy around the house, with the kids and working out.  Since I've scaled back and made some adjustments in my creative goals, I decided it was time to work on some health and fitness goals.  I'm happy to say that things are going well.  I've worked out every single day in 2012, I gave up diet soda completely and I've lost 11 lbs since January 7th.  Today, I'm heading to the gym for a new workout for some strength training.  Very excited to see the changes!  I'll keep you updated as I continue on this journey to a healthier lifestyle.

So on with a project that I finished up yesterday.  It's a cute little stamp from Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Dog with a Heart Balloon ~ snappy title huh?

I used this week's GRS sketch as a jumping off point ~ take a look and play along. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ See ya soon!

THE ALASKA PROJECT ...part 2

Good Monday Morning!  I hope your weekend was SUPER!!!!  Did you watch the BIG GAME!  I love that the game was in Indianapolis & that our great state was so well represented.  Gotta love that midwestern hospitality! 

Well speaking of great states, it's time to share another edition of THE ALASKA PROJECT!  Today I have some fun photo sleeve pages to share with you using the Simple Stories Destination kit & the coordinating stamps from Unity Stamp Co. 

We loved walking around Downtown Anchorage & we had wonderful weather while we were there. The visitor's center was really cool.  It had a grass roof and gorgeous flowers everywhere ~ it was the hub of activity with the free shuttle stop going all over the city.

These photo sleeve pages from We R Memory Keepers are great for creating fast pages because you just slide the pictures inside.  For the top picture of this layout, the photo I had wasn't the right direction, so I cropped off the top and added a journaling block with some of the sticker letters that came with the kit. 

The kit comes with tons of great journaling blocks & fillers that you can leave as is or add things to them.  They are perfectly sized to go with the photo sleeve pages.

I like adding some other stamped elements to my pages and pictures.  I've been using the map background stamp to stamp a tone on tone background on all of my kraft cardstock.  Also, I stamped up a bunch of these little half circle journaling tabs to add to pictures throughout my album.  I can either use my little Hero Arts alphabet stamps or write on them.

My next photo sleeve page is the backside of the one above so it has the same layout, but looks totally different with new elements added.  We found this booth with fur hats so everyone tried something on ~ while I'm NOT a fur person, I do love their goofy faces.

A new layout look for this photo sleeve page.  Just a hint of pattern paper and then I cropped off the photos on the right side and added sticker words from the kit.  A few other stamped images were added to finish off the look.

On this layout, I added a clear photo overlay on the center picture for some added embellishment and I also trimmed a few photos and added mats to the pictures to set them off and tie in with the pattern paper on the right side.

Some of my pages have very little added ~ this new layout just has one little photo block filler where I added a few alphabet stickers and some stamped words.

And on this page, I decided not to add anything at all because the photos were so fun.

Another thing I really like to do, is when I get home from a trip, I look up information about the places we've been or the things we've seen so I can add more information to my journaling.  We saw this sweet little polar bear cub while at the Alaska Zoo & I couldn't quite remember all the details, so I Googled her and found all the info I wanted to add to my page.    I cut down one of the larger journaling blocks for the center square and added the journaling with my Hero Arts mini alphabet stamps, sticker letters and handwritten journaling.

Well...there are some of my photo sleeve pages so far ~ you'll see lots more as I continue to work on my album.  I hope you're enjoying my pages and trip so far.  I have more fun posts planned to show some of my full 12x12 layouts and pocket pages to hold memorabilia.  Those posts will be up in the next few weeks.

Have a lovely Monday & thanks for buzzing by today!

OCL Challenge #103...Up, Up and Away

Hidy Ho Crafty Friends...I hope you've had a wonderful week.  I'm in such a good mood today ~ I scrapbooked and made some card this week, it's Friday & hubby is on his way home from Asia.  He's been gone for a week & I'm ready to see his handsome face!

Since it's Friday, I thought I'd share my latest OCL Challenge card with you.  Today we are going up, up and awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay....  Anything that goes up in the air ~ easy peasy huh?

And here's my five-minute card ~ super easy and oh so sweet with the little heart made into a balloon.  I used the heart from the Every Heartbeat set and the sentiment is from Love in the Air.  Both sets are just so much fun!

Now if you'd like to play along just go leave your direct link on the OCL Blog ~ you have all week to play.

Have a GREAT weekend!

THE ALASKA PROJECT ...part 1

Hello!  Hello!  I know my blog has been a bit quieter now that I've decided not to blog each day; however, I have been crafting...just not so many cards.  Instead I've been working my my scrapbooks.  Now cards are great because they are usually fast and provide instant gratification.  But is past time for me to get into my books!  You see, our family loves to take vacations & they have really started to pile up on me!  So my goal this year is to get our vacation albums in shape! 

I have to say, every time I start working on pages I fall in love with scrapbooking all over again.  It really gives me joy when I look at all the wonderful memories we've created as a family.  One thing I can say for sure...Tim and I have definitely passed on our love for travel to our children!

So today is part one of THE ALASKA PROJECT & I'm really excited about it!  I thought I'd take you through my scrapbooking process ~ yes it can be time consuming; however, at the end of the project ~ it's exactly what I want!

Step 1: Sort through your digital images and print your photos.  Don't print everything!  My hubby is a shutterbug & he took about 7000 photos in Alaska this summer ~ not to mention the photos the rest of us took.  It was a huge job narrowing down the photos I wanted for my book.  I downloaded (or is it uploaded) them to Snapfish.com and ordered them when they had a special going because I knew there were so many.

Step 2: Decide on a theme for your project.  By coming up with one set of supplies, it helps your album go together so much faster.  Figure out coordinating cardstock colors & limit them to 3 or 4 colors.  These are the supplies I came up with...

I decided to use the Simple Stories Destinations kit for this project.  I fell in love with the rustic feel and colors of this set & thought it was perfect for the theme of this album.  There are lots of great supplies included in the kit, but for a project this size, I ordered 2 - 12x12 kits so I would have enough to finish the huge album.  I'm only about 20 pages in & I actually think I may need to order a few more of the coordinating papers. 

The stamps I decided to use:

Unity Stamp Co. (Co-Brand Simple Stories Destinations kits) & other miscellaneous images from Unity. 
Hero Arts ~ Alphabet blocks
Technique Tuesday ~ travel set

Step 3: When I ordered my photos, I also ordered several packages of photo sleeves in different styles.  I like using 3-ring 12x12 binder albums because I can move things around while I'm working.

Step 4: Once my photos and page protectors arrive, I start by putting my pictures in chronological order.  Then I make a day by day list of what we did each day and little details I don't want to forget.   At this time I also pull out any memorabilia I collected on our trip ~ maps, ticket stubs, brochures, postcards, etc...

Step 5: Next I start putting my photos in the photo sleeves ~ probably one of the most important steps in my process!  I like to mix up the sizes and styles of the page sleeves.  I also through in some 12x12 pages & I add notes in pockets of things I want to journal when I get to that page.  Don't get discouraged, this part can be time consuming ~ but it's worth it because it makes the next part so much easier!

One of the things I love about scrapbooking this way, is that once the photos are in the photo sleeve pages, you are ready to enjoy & share them ~ even if you haven't added all the other fun embellishments.   You don't have to pull out boxes or envelopes of photos to share with family or friends ~ just pull out your book in progress.

Step 6: Once the pages are all in place, I start adding bits and pieces from the Simple Stories kit.  I love these kits because the are specifically designed for scrapbooking with the photo sleeve pages and to help make scrapbooking SIMPLE!   It's really all about getting the project COMPLETED!

So that is the process I follow when preparing our vacation (or other theme) albums.  I'm about 20 pages into my album and it's coming out just as I hoped it would!  I LOVE IT!  Here are some pictures of the first few pages.

First up ~ a 12x12 title page with a few of my favorite photos from the trip!

My second page is a piece of 12x12 pattern paper from the Simple Stores kit that I've added photos, journaling, stamping, and stickers to give a fun overview of the entire trip. 

Now we get into some of the photo sleeve pages of the album.  Along with the photos of downtown Alaksa, I have a title block at the top & a journaling block at the bottom to give some of the details of the day.  This is a theme I'll uses throughout the book.

And my last page {for today} ~ is the opposite side of the page above.  This includes another journaling block for Day #2 along with some embellished photos and a piece of memorabilia included.  Side note: Gotta love photo editing software!  In the original photo of Matt in top left corner, there was a cleaning cart and 2 people in the background ~ not anymore!

So that complete part of of THE ALASKA PROJECT.  I hope you enjoy taking this scrapbooking journey with me.

GRS...The Weekly Recipe

Hello Peeps!  Is your week going well?  I've had a nice quiet one ~ lots of scrapbooking, reading, and some odd jobs around the house.  Feels great!!!

Yesterday, I was playing with one of my older Lizzie Anne sets called L'Amour and thought I'd try my hand at this week's GRS Weekly Recipe Sketch Challenge. 

And here's my project for the sketch ~ it's a little different, but I used the sketch as the starting point.  I just felt like it needed another flutterby ~ LOL!

Have a great week ~ I'm hoping to share my scrapbook pages with you in the next few days.