Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Things I Have Been Up To and A Card

Hey everyone,
Well I am still trying to recover from the weekend (as usual).  I forgot to mention this past weekend that my older son had his first flag football pracitce.  It was just so darn cute!  On his first hand off he scored a touch down!  He loved it. For the 5 year olds flag football is basically a fun version of tag just with a football.  At first I was a bit nervous but then I saw them just running around trying to catch the person with the ball.  That is ok by me.  He had a smile on his face the whole time and for me that is all that counts!  Plus when we got home he was exhausted!  I like that--early bedtime!

I didn't get any scrapping done this weekend.  I am falling a bit behind.  I did however make a cute card.  A couple of weeks ago i made a card with a big flower on watercolor paper and the distress inks.  Well I made a couple extra (which I always do when I have all my supplies out).  So I needed to come up with a card using those extra flowers and here is what I came up with. 

Flower Card


For the card I cut out a card that is 4 x 4 inches and stamped it with the Hero Arts background stamp.  I then attached the flower (click on this post to see the directions on how to make the flower). I then attached I Rock gems in the center to put some bling on it.  Then I added the greeting and I called it a day!  I didn't have a lot of time to come up with something with a lot of details, but I was happy with the results.

My Tip:  When stamping an image--stamp a couple of extra so that you don't have to waste time stamping and inking or coloring again.  If I am making a card set of 4 cards, I always stamp 6-9.  Just to have a couple of extra if I make a mistake or to use a later date.  I just put the extra images in a baggie and wait till I need them!

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Hero Arts, watercolor paper
Inks: Tim Holtz distress inks, Hero Arts
Stamps and Greetings:  Hero Arts
Gems:  Imaginisce

I hope everyone has a great week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Cruisin'

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend.  I know I am.  As usual very busy, but I was able to get an hour or so in of shopping.  I just fell in love with the store Chicos.  I bought a couple of their no iron shirts--you got to love those.  Does anyone iron anymore?  I wish I had some more time today to scrap but nope.  Hopefully I can get some in tomorrow when the kids go down for a nap and hubby is watching football!!

Well I mentioned that I had two favorite paper lines.  I shared 2 new layouts from Basic Grey and today I will tell you about me other favorite line.  I guess I like this one so much because their designs are just too cute for kids.  Their paper always just seems to match perfectly for us.  The line is Imaginisce.  I have to say I love everything from them!  It would be my dream job to work for their design team!!!  OK I will stop day dreaming--On to my layout.  This is just a very clean and simple layout but I just love it because it just fits Michael to the T.

Cruisin'
Michael loves to play outside and one of his favorite things is to get in his car and spin around in all directions.  It was just too cute. 
Supplies
Cardstock: Bazzill
Pattern Paper: Imaginisce
Random buttons
Twine:  Paper Trey Ink

Well I am off---the hot weather has left us again and I am going to spend some time outside.  Hopefully I can get the whole family motivated to take a long walk/bike ride.

Thanks for stopping by!  See ya later in the week!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Another Basic Grey Layout!

I love dogs!  I grew up a beautiful golden retriever named chevy!  She was my best friend.  As soon I was on my own and I owned my first house I went out and bought a dog.  Her name was Molly and she was a yellow lab.  I loved her so much, but unfortunately I had to  put her down when she was only 1 1/2 years old.  She developed bone cancer in her rib cage.  I took her to Ohio State University with the vets there but they said there was nothing we could really do.  It was the worst day of my life.  My mom and dad loved Molly so much, and they wanted me to feel better so they went out and bought me Miss B or otherwise known as Bailey.  She was a terrible pup.  She ate the arm off my couch while I was at school, she would attack peoples legs and bite them.  I went through months of training and she still was bad.I knew I couldn't give up on her even when family members were telling me to get rid of her.  I finally found a trainer that figured out Bailey's problems and she trained her all in German.  Finally Bailey became manageable and she became a loving member in our family.  She is simply the best! 

Last year my Dad died and my mother was afraid to be alone.  She loved Bailey very much.  I knew what I had to do.  I had to give Bailey to my mom.  There is something about a dog who just knows instinctively when there is a problem and Bailey was right there to help out Mom.  I miss her terribly but we do get to see her every week.  My boys just love her (as I mentioned in yesterdays post).  So this layout is a tribute to my fur baby.  The picture was taken this summer.  Bailey is not 10 years old.  Her face is getting all white, but she is still so beautiful!

My Girl!


Supplies
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar white
Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey
Buttons:  Basick Grey
Twine:  Paper Trey Ink
Die Cut:  labels 8
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Inks:  Tim Holtz distress ink Vintage Photo

If you have a pet give them an extra big hug today!  They are truly amazing!  thanks for stopping by!

Oh yea, can anyone guess what my 2nd favorite paper line is?  I will post tomorrow with a layout using their paper!

Friday, September 24, 2010

What is your favorite paper line?

I don't know about you, but I love paper!  There are so many wonderful paper lines, but there are 2 that I seem to love the most.  Today I will focus on one of them--BASIC GREY! I always get so excited when they introduce new lines.  They are always so awesome.  I think I love them so much  because they really try have lines for boys!  The colors and patterns are always just fabulous.  As soon as Max and Whiskers came out this Summer I knew I had to buy the entire line.  I have been trying to use up my stash and I haven't had the chance to play with this line, but I finally broke it out this past weekend.  This line is just so fun.  I made a couple of layouts with it and it is just so easy to mix all the patterns and colors.  Today I will focus on my first layout:

A Boy and His Dog





I just love these photos!  My little Michael just loves my dog Bailey.  Because it is hard for him to say Bailey we call her "B".  Michael just yells, "B" all the time!  One of his favorite things to do is the walk around the house with Bailey.  My mom is so awesome and walks with them all the time.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill, Neenah Solar White
Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey
Buttons:  Basic Grey
Button Twine:  Paper Trey Ink
Die Cuts:  Labels 1
Stamps:  Paper Trey Ink
Ink:  Tim Holtz

So what is your favorite paper line?

I hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by!  I am trying to reach 50 followers--if you want please help me and recommend my blog to a friend!  Thanks for your help!  See ya tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Happy Wednesday & A New Card

Hey everyone,
I hope everyone is having a great week!  I know I am (at least so far), but I am trying to recover from our busy weekend.  On Saturday we went to see Thomas the Train and then on Sunday we went  to pick out pumpkins.  We decided to do it early this year because there is a pumpkin shortage in our area due to the extremely dry weather we have had, and the place where we go had all their pumpkins out.  We had a lot of fun!  I took some great pictures. I love to scrap the fall--changing leaves, pumpkins, fall festivals, halloween, Thanksgiving etc.  I just love it!  I can't wait to use this paper by Imaginisce (Apple Cider):

On to my card of the week.  I am in love with this card!  Since it is hard for me to incorportate butterflies on my layouts with the boys, I try to use my butterfly stamps on my cards.  First I used the nestabillites labels 8 and stamped it with antique lined distress ink with the hero arts old world writing stamp.  I then stamped the swirl with different colors of distress ink( concord grape, tumbled glass, peeled paint) and then spritzed water on the stamp then stamped it on the label.  I then stamped my butterfly on neenah solar white cardstock and colored with copic markers.  I then used the glossy accents on the circles on the butterfly ( I love glossy accents).  I cut those out and then went back and added my I Rock gems to the swirl just to give it a big pop.  I then attached the butterfly with pop dots.  I attached the label to a hero arts note card. 



A close up of the IROCK gems and the butterfly!

Supplies
cardstock:  neenah solar white
Card:  Hero Arts
Stamps:  All Hero Arts
Inks:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Gems:  I Rock by Imaginisce

Hope everyone has a fantastic week and I will be back this weekend with some new layouts.  I have been going crazy over Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers paper.  Thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate all your wonderful comments.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

New Imaginisce Paper--Dino Roar!

Just wanted to post a link to the new paper collection from Imaginisce.  It is just so darn cute-love love--love it!
Here is the link to their blog if you want to see more--it is just so darn cute!
Imaginisce Dino Roar

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Imaginisce Sketch Contest Layout!

This months sketch from Imaginisce was so cute.  I just had to play with it, and I had the perfect pictures and paper for it.  I just love Birthday Bash.  The colors are so great and the designs are just too cute and yummy! Here is the original sketch:

And here is my adaptation of the sketch.  I cut out all the little circles for Happy Birthday and used pop dots to raise them just a touch to make a cute border.  I then used the I Rock to make the little gem corners.  I also used the jornaling die cut from spellbinders and then used the coordinating stamp from paper trey ink.  i love the look of this.  I also cut out the little present and used that for an embellishment.  Plus used there spring cake for the title.  Just love it!



Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Imanginisce
Embellies:  Imaginisce
Gems:  Imaginisce IRock
Journal label:  Spellbinders labels
Ink:  Distress Ink Barn Door

Hope everyone enjoys their day!  I will be back on Wednesday with another card!  Thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, September 18, 2010

Some More Shopping and A Layout!

OK, here is the main question for today--Is scrapbook shopping an addiction?  I would have to say yes to that (at times).  Went in to Simply Scrapbooks after school yesterday to see what new lines they got in.  Last weekend I bought two new lines from Basic Grey, and yesterday I bought the new paper pack from Echo in the Park for Halloween.  That paper is just too darn cute!  I just love Halloween paper.  It is one of my favorites.  I already bought for Halloween the Little Yellow Bicycle line Booville but when I saw the Echo in the Park paper I just had to have it.  So I bought it even though I already had Halloween paper. Am I addicted to paper?  When it is gorgeous and just yummy--yes I am!!! Here is a picture of the Echo in the Park paper just in case you haven't seen it already:

Talk about cute!  I love everything about it!

Today's layout is one I did using the Little Yellow Bicycle Travel line of paper.  I really liked this paper.  It was so fun.  I had the boys all packed and ready to go for our vacation.    Again it is a one page layout with 3 pictures.  I am really liking this combination.  I seem to be doing it all the time now. Any hoo here it is:

Ready To Go!
Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Little Yellow Bicycle
Embellies: little Yellow Bicycle
Font:  Quickutz Frankie

Well I am off to enjoy my Saturday.  Thomas the Train is in town so I think we might take the boys to see it and then stop at my favorite little ice cream shoppe for lunch!  And then I need to get working on some projects that I have in mind.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Wow This Week Went By Fast + A Layout

Wow,
I can't believe how fast this week went.  I am so glad it is the weekend!  I need to catch up on some sleep and get some scrappin' in.  Do you all miss scrappin' when you don't have the time to scrap?  I know I do.  I miss just being in my scraproom and just playing with my supplies.  To me it is just so relaxing to be in there.  My scrap area is part of the basement.  I can watch my boys play and they have a desk where they can color and play with my scraps.  It is just a great place to be.

I have a quick layout to share today.  This is a layout I did for a challenge at 2 Peas in a Bucket.  I just loved the colors in the paper.  I have become a HUGE fan of Little Yellow Bicycle!  Their papers are just to cute and the colors are fabulous.  I inked up the edges of the paper to get the colors to pop more.  i was happy with the effect.

Siehls By The Sea

Supplies
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Little Yellow Bicycle
Ink:  Chipped Saphire Tim Holtz
Die Cuts:  Quickutz and Coluzzle
Tools:  Fiskars border punch

Hope everyone has a great day and I will be back tomorrow with another layout!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I will be trying to find sometime this weekend to stop by some of your blogs!  I can't wait! 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Some Shopping and A New Card

Ok, I got an email from Simply Scrapbooks (my LSS) and it said that it had the new Basic Grey paper lines in. I have been wanting these papers since I saw them on posts at 2 Peas.  Well I was just going to get one of the lines, but I ended up getting two of the lines Wander and Oliver (I know this came out in July, but they just got it in this weekend).  I love them!! I cant wait to play with them.  There is just something about Basic Grey.  I love how they always come out with boy lines!!

Well on to my card for this week.  I just love to use my stamps,  inks and my copics and this card has a little bit of everything on it.  I also got to use the masking technique.  I love this technique when stamping.  First I stamped my hydrangea on my label.  I then stamped the flower again on a post it note and cut it out and placed it onto of my stamped image.  I then inked up my Friends Defintiion stamp from Hero Arts and stamped right over the mask to get the great background.  I then took my blending tool and inked up the sides just to blend it a bit.  I then colored in my flower with Copic markers.  I added a white center in them with my Signo pen.  I then went around the edges with a Stampin Up marker to creat the faux stitching effect.  I think it turned out great!
Supplies
Pattern Paper:  My Little Yellow Bicycle
Cardstock. Neenah Solar White
Stamps: All Hero Arts
Die Cut:  Spellbinders Labels 8
Copics:  YG17, YG67, B32, B34
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique linen, Shabby Shutters
Pens:   Stampin Up, Uniball Signo

Well I hope you have a great day!  I am looking forward to the weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

A Big Thank You and A Layout!

Hey everyone,
I just want to say Thanks to everyone for all the nice comments and a big Hello to all my new followers.  Thank you all so much.  I will be trying to visit all your blogs in return. I get so much inspiration when I see all the talented people.    Things have been crazy this past week.  I still don't seem to have a good routine going with trying to balance work (I am a high school teacher), motherhood,  my scrappin' addiction, my design team work, and my new love-my blog.  I know it seems like a lot, but I am a highly organized person so I know I can do it!  Plus the past two weeks have been crazy--we had my birthday, my husbands birthday and then my oldest son's birthday all within 7 days.  Today was my son's party.  It was very small but he had a blast!  I love it when he has a good time.  I will post pictures later in the week.

On to the layout!  I really had fun making this one.  I bought the Cuttlebug right when it came out but I didn't open it until this summer.  I must say I love the little machine and the embossing folders!  They are so much fun.  I love the texture they give.

Rollin'
A close up of the embossed paper.

  Supplies
Cardstock:  Bazzill, neenah solar white
Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey
Buttons:  Basic Grey
Button Twine:  Paper Trey Ink
Ink:  Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Tools:  Fiskars border punch. cuttlebug embossing folder

I really like this layout (of course I say that about all of mine, but for some reason I just like it more than usual) because I tried something new with the embossing folder.  I just love the look plus it gives that added texture. 

I hope everyone has a great Sunday.  My friends just adopted a little baby boy, and we are going to go meet him for the first time.  I can't wait!  Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Some Pictures and A layout!

Hello,
On my last post I promised you that I would post a picture or two of my son and his camera.  I can still say that the camera is still his favorite gift.  He takes it EVERYWHERE with him.  It is just too cute.

I am just so happy he likes it. 

On to the layout.  On my last post I told you about being inspired by the WE R Memory Keepers cardstock with the sewing, and I liked the effect.  So I made another very quick layout using that same idea again.  I stitched around the layout to create the border (sorry it is hard to see in the picture), and then I fit in the pieces of the pattern paper around the 5 x 7 photo.  I then added some buttons and cut the die cut in half and went around the edges with a white pen ( I wanted the "stitching" to really pop!) and called it a day.  A very quick and easy layout!

Those Eyes!


Supplies
Cardstock:  Bazzil Kraft
Pattern Paper:  Close to My Heart
Buttons:  Basic Grey
Button Twine:  Paper Trey Ink
White Pen:  Signo
Die Cuts:  Quickutz Frankie, Spellbinders labels eight

I hope everyone has a great Saturday and I will be back tomorrow with a new post and layout!  Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Happy Friday!

Hey there,
T.G.I.F.  I am so glad the weekend is here.  It is going to be a busy weekend for us.  Jack has a little birthday party with a couple of friends and family.  It should be a fun time.  The theme is Transformers.  I am going to surprise him with a Transformers Piñata.  It is so cute.  I will take lots of pictures to show you.

I have another layout to share using my favorite Echo in the Park Summertime.  This is will be my last layout using this paper because I have used up the entire pack. I love the summer time when you are out playing and then the Popsicles come out.  There is nothing like a good Popsicle to cool you off in the summer time.  It is our little afternoon treat in the summer to go outside and get in our chairs and have a Popsicle around 4:00 in the afternoon.  These are pictures of Michael's first Popsicle.  He was just so darn cute with his first bite.

 I was inspired by this layout while shopping at Simply Scrapbooks.  I saw there some really cool cardstock from WE R Memory Keepers.  The cardstock had the sewing around the edges already done.  Well I love to sew on my pages so I thought I could create this look on my own, and I did.  I used my sewing machine to go around the cardstock to create a border effect. I love the look.  I will have to do this again.  I think it gives the layout a nice clean look.  I also used on my layout the Paper Trey Ink stamp set that goes with the Spellbinders labels One for my journaling block.  I used the Tumbled Glass to give the border and then used the blending tool to soften the edges.  I was really pleased at how this layout turned out.
Cooling Down

Supply list
Cardstock: Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Echo in the Park
Embellies:  Echo in the Park
Die Cut:  Labels One Spellbinders
Stamp:  Paper Trey Ink
Ink:  Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I have some heavy duty picture uploading this weekend.  I will promise I will try to post some pictures of Jack with his new camera! 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I Can't Believe My Son Turned 5! + A Card!

I just can't believe that my son turned 5 yesterday.  It seems just like yesterday that he was born.  I keep saying this but where does the time go?  My son's favorite gift was a digital camera.  He started to take an interest in taking pictures while we were on vacation so I decided to get him his own camera.  It is made by VTech.  It seems pretty good. It also has a video mode.  He has been running around taking pictures and movies.  It is so cute.  I will post some pictures this week of him taking pictures.

On to the card I made this weekend.  I first embossed the card on watercolor paper with with embossing powder.  I then used the distress inks all over it I then took a mini mister filled with water and perfect pearls and sprayed it until the ink pooled up. I then let it dry overnight.  Then I took  the stamped the background stamp (canvas) and stamped that with the distress ink and then stamped it again using the distress background stamp.  I placed that on a a coordinating layering card.  To make the leaf I stamped the flower again and did the same process as above, but I used green ink.  I then attached the flower with pop dots and add the I Rock gems (still love that tool) and a couple of pearls.  I then stamped the greeting on a small strip of layering paper and added it. 
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I am very happy  with the results. 
Supplies
Everything is Hero Arts except the neenah solar white cardstock, concord grape ink, milled lavender, barn door, wild honey, peeled paint, perfect pearls, I Rock gems, and white embossing powder.

I will be back this week with another layout to share.  I don't know why but the mojo is just flowing these past 2 weeks.  I think it is because you all have left so many wonderful comments and I have visited so many new wonderful blogs.  Thanks everyone!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Happy Labor Day! + A New Layout!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!  I know I am.  We just got back from a wonderful walk and now the boys are down for a nap.  Now I can have a little bit of "me" time before I have to start making lunches and dinners for the upcoming school week.  I do have one question though--Where did the summer go? It went by so quickly.  It seems like yesterday was the last day of school and we were so excited for the time off. 

I have been working hard on getting this summer scrapped and I just finished a new summer layout.  I have to say this again--I love Echo in the Park Summertime collection.  I have used it over and over again.  I bought the paper pack and I think I have used almost every piece.  It has just the perfect summer bright colors.  I just love it! With this layout I used a lot of the cardstock stickers that came with the collection pack. 

Fun In the Summer!
I really liked the scalloped border stickers and the journaling tags.  It makes it so easy to embellish the page.
For the title I used the Spellbinders Labels One and inked with distress ink and then used the cardstock alphabet stickers and some on the little circle stickers to embellish it.  I finally added just a hint of bling from the I Rock gems.
My mom brought over some bubbles one afternoon and we sat outside and played with the bubbles forever.  What is it about bubbles that makes everyone smile and have a good time? 

Supplies
cardstock:  bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Echo in the Park Summertime
Die Cut Title:  Spellbinders Labels one
Inks:  Tim Holtz distress inks  barn door
bling:  I Rock gems
Embellies:  Echo in the Park

I hope eveyone has a fantastic day and I will be back soon!  Thanks for visiting!



Sunday, September 5, 2010

I Can Feel Fall Just Around The Corner + A Quick One Page Layout

The weather has finally changed a bit.  The hot and humid weather has left for a couple of days and we have a beautiful day in store for us.  I can almost feel fall.  Fall is my most favorite time of the year!  I don't know about anyone else but I always love the new fall scrapbooking line.  This year my favorite is the Imaginisce Apple Cider collection.  I just love the colors and the images.  If you haven't seen it yet I will post some pictures of it soon.  Fall also means Halloween.  I have to say the Little Yellow Bicycle line is my favorite.  I am going to Simply Scrapbooks this weekend to buy it up. It is just so cute, but there are also so many to choose from.  I just love it. 

Well anyway on to my quick layout.  I entered the 2 Peas in a Bucket weekly challenge last week and this is what I came up with.
Bouncin'

Michael just loved playing in the bounce house this year.  He had a smile on his face the whole time. It was just so darn cute and I love how he is wearing his sun hat.  Too irresistible for me!  (Sorry you can't really see his face.  There was a bit of a glare.)

Supplies
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  Echo in the Park Summertime
Die Cut:  3 Bugs in a Rug Tool Time
Font:  Mickey Mouse font
Buttons:  Paper Trey Ink

Well I am off.  I am going to enjoy the day outside today.  Hopefully we can take a bike ride or go to a park.  It is just too pretty to stay inside.  I hope everyone has a great day.  I will post again soon.  I am working on a cute layout --hopefully I can get it done during the kids nap time today!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

A Quick Post Today With A One Page Layout!

Hello everyone,
Just a quick post today.  It is Jeff's birthday today so the kids and I are going to try to give him an awesome day! Plus the weather is supposed to be perfect today.  Hopefully we will get in a great bike ride today! 

So on to the layout.  This is a layout that I did for Jack's award night for soccer.  He was so excited to go.  He did not know he was going to get a trophy, and that just sent him over the edge.  He loved it.  Unfortunately I did not get great pictures for some reason.  So I didn't know what to do with just ok pictures etc and I came up with this idea.  I was actually quite please with it.  As I said in my post last week that I bought the I Rock and I wanted to put some bling on it and I did on the journaling tag.  I like how it turned out.  I also  dug deep into my stash again (trying so hard to use up the old so I have room for all my new paper lines) and I came up with this old like from Basic Grey.

Award Night

A closer look at the Silhouette journaling tag (love this design and the I Rock gems:


Supplies
Cardstock:  Bazzil
Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey Cupcake
Tools:  Martha Steward border punch Loopy and I Rock + gems

I hope everyone has a great Saturday.  I will post again soon. 

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

3 Bugs in A Rug Layout

I was so excited when I got to play with the new line from 3 Bugs.  It is Tool Time and it is just so awesome for boys! I created this 2 page layout using the new line.  First here are some pictures of the new line.It is very versatile.  Yes, there are tool on one side but the pages are double sided and the other side is striped or solid colors.  Just love it!

Tool Time
Supply list
cardstock: bazzil black & guacamole
Pattern paper: 3 Bugs
embellies: 3 Bugs
chipboard alphabet: cosmo cricket

I hope everyone is having a great week.  Super busy here but just wanted to pop in and post this cute layout.  It will be in Simply Scrapbooks if you want a closer look.  Thanks for stopping by!