Monday -Oops Tuesday-Gone Fishing

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.  We did here. On Saturday we went to Kings Island with the boys.  We have season passes so it is very nice to go for only a couple of hours and then go home, and that is what we did.  We got there right when it opened and spent 3 hours there--just the perfect amount of time with 2 little ones.  Jack hit the mark and was able to ride any ride he wanted to in Kiddie Land.  He rode the kids roller coaster (which is still a great coaster).  He was scared to death! He said that he was proud of himself but he doesn't know if he is going to ride it again--Go Jack!

Sunday I took a class at Simply Scrapbooks with Jennifer Mcguire and Sheri Carroll from Hero Arts! I had a blast! I want to give Brenda (from Sassy lil Sketches) and Sarah ( from 2Peas) a big shout out! It was so much fun meeting people you only chat with on the blogs or message boards!  We had a blast.  The class was awesome.  Learned some great stamping techniques.  Jennifer's classes are always the best!

Monday we just hung out.  Mom came over and we just relaxed all day.  It was AWESOME!  We also went to the pool.

Happy Mail

Becky from Fourth House on the Right sent me the prettiest card last week.  I love how she used the flower stamp and clear embossed it to give that tone on tone effect.  It is just so pretty.  Thanks so much Becky.  It meant a lot to me!!!  If you haven't checked out her blog she has the best cards and projects!

Gone Fishing

This is a layout that I completed awhile ago and I forgot that I hadn't posted it yet.  It is one of my favorites.  We went over to a friend's house who has a little pond in his back yard and Jack went fishing for the first time.  He had a blast.  I used the October Afternoon camping line.  I love this line.

supplies

cardstock-bazzill

paper-october afternoon

tags-october afternoon

journal tag and title-silhouette

mini clips-tim holtz

tools-ek success border punch, silhouette

I hope everyone has a fantastic week.  This is my last week of school.  The kids have exams Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then we have an In service on Friday and then Summer can BEGIN!

 I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  See you all then! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Friday + Winner+ Class Layout

Hey everyone,
Boy, am I glad it is Friday!! I am so excited about the long weekend.  We are keeping the weekend pretty low key but we are surprising Jack with a trip to Kings Island, our amusement park.  We have season passes and so far we haven't gone but we will go on Saturday.  He will be so excited.  He wants to see if he is tall enough to go on the  kids roller coaster.  It should be really cute and fun because this will be Michael's first time there.  We shall see if he likes it or not.

The winner of my Giveaway from The Twinery is...............#11  Blessed Ladybug!! HOORAY!!!  If you could email me you mailing address that would be great and I will pop this in the mail to you!.

There will be another Giveaway coming soon--lots of fun here at Siehled With A Kiss!

My next sketch layout class is June 25th.  I will be featuring this month the Basic Grey Life is a Party Line.  For my first layout we will use it as a typical birthday line.

These are pictures of Michael's 2nd birthday.  They are my favorite pictures taken that day.  I really love this line.  It is just perfect for a celebration.

supplies
cardstock-core'dinations
paper-basic grey
embellishements-basic grey

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  I will be back on Monday with some happy mail I received this week.  I have to say the kindness from my blog friends is just so wonderful (you know who you are) .  I will also be back with a new layout.  Thanks so much for stopping by! See ya on Monday

Nikki Sivils Challenge-Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone!

On the Nikki Sivils blog they are having a challenge to be a guest designer.  Yesterday I posted a card made from the Nikki Sivils Beatrice collection, and  today I have a layout for the challenge.  Ana Stubbington came up with an awesome sketch.  I really loved it, but I needed to make a 2 page layout so I converted it into a two pager, and I am very happy with the results.


For those of you who are wondering Who are these girls? They are my goddaughter and her sister, Ruby and Eliza.  These pictures were taken after Ruby's mother's day party at her preschool.  I just loved the girls dresses and thought that these pictures would be perfect for the Beatrice line. 

Here is a close up of the left side.  For the clouds I cut them with my Silhouette and then stamped them using the Hero Arts cling stamps.  I then went around the clouds with a Stampin' Up marker.  I then placed some bazzill brads and one making memories brad.  I also cut the title using my Silhouette.

A close up of the right side.  I cut out the sun from a sheet of Max and Mollie and then added the clouds.  I stamped them with the same Hero Arts stamps.  I also added some of the brads again.

Supply list

cardstock-bazzill, neenah solar white

paper-nikki sivils

die cuts- niiki sivils silhouette, paper trey ink

brads-bazzill, making memories

stamps-hero arts, ali edwards

ink-versamagic, hero arts

tools-ek success border punch, silhouette

I would be so honored to win a spot as guest designer.  There is such awesome talent on the blog.  I would be so excited.  If you haven't checked out their blog here is the LINK.  Crossing my fingers!

This week has been flying by!  I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  I will also be announcing the winner of my Giveaway! If you haven't entered yet, please go to Monday's POST and leave a comment to win some twine from the Twinery in beautiful colors (red, purple and pink).  Have a good day and thanks for stopping by!

Nikki Sivils Challenge-Wednesday Card

Happy Wednesday!

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I am so excited this week because I got to play with the Nikki Sivils paper.  My lss just got their first shipment of the paper in and I went in right away to play with it.  I wanted to play with the super cute Beatrice line with a touch of Max and Mollie thrown in.  It is so easy to mix the papers from different collections.   So for today's card and tomorrow's layout I will be using this awesome line, and it just so happens that they were having a challenge on the the Nikki Sivils blog to be a guest designer.  How fun would that be?  TONS!!!!!

Ana Stubbington came up with this really fun card sketch.

And here is my take on the sketch.  I just love the colors and Beatrice is just way too cute.  For the "just a little note" I added some faux stitching with my signo black gel pen.

Supply List

base-recollections

paper and embellishments- Nikki Sivils

I really had a fun time playing with this amazing paper. 

I will be back tomorrow with a new layout using this line.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Oh yeah and don't forget to stop by Monday's post (HERE) and leave a comment to be entered in my little Giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow!

**Note** my blogger has been acting crazy and I can't leave any comments on blogs that I have to put in the code word.  Please note that I am looking and seeing some awesome stuff. I know many people had the problem yesterday and it was fixed but for some reason mine is still not working.  Not sure what to do.  Does anyone have any advice? Thanks for understanding!

May's Imaginisce Challenge

Happy Tuesday,

As you all know I LOVE the Imaginisce challenges each month and this one was no exception.  Here were the guidelines:

This month we want to challenge you to:



create a masculine themed layout/card/project


use one of our Snag'Em Stamps from any Imaginisce collection


you must use at least 75% of Imaginisce product

Well this one was a no brainer for me.  I only have the boy lines.  I started with these cute pictures of my Michael.  I can't believe he is growing up so fast.  At 2 1/2 years old he is just way too funny.  I always like to do a layout of my boys at each year and 1/2 year just to see how they have changed in the 6 months.  I knew I had to choose the Let's Roll Line from Imaginisce because it was one of my favorite lines.  I just love the colors  and the line worked well with the colors in my photo.  I have to say I am a little bummed because I have just enough scraps to complete one more layout and then I have used it all up.  Do  you ever get sad when the last little drop of paper is gone from your favorite collection?  Boy, I do.

I did not have any coordinating snag'ems for this line but I have a ton so I pulled the little journal spot from the Apple Cider collection and colored the outside edge of the stamp with my copics.  The color matches so well with the cardstock. I then cut it out and stamped the date.

The second snag'em is from the Animal Crackers line.  I used the ticket stub.  This was perfect to tuck under my chipboard embellishment a bit of journaling. I stamped this with my Tim Holtz Barn Door ink.

Supply list

cardstock-bazzill

Everything else- Imaginisce

Have I mentioned yet that I only have 7 more days of school left not counting today! I am getting so excited! I am super busy at school. I am just so excited to be able to spend the entire summer with the boys. I have tons of fun activities for all of us and I can't wait!

Don't forget that I have a little Giveaway going on right now.  Go HERE to enter!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I will be back tomorrow for Wednesday's Card.  See ya then!

Echo Park Fresh Face Challenge

Hello Everyone,

I was so excited when I read on the Echo Park blog that they were having a "Fresh Face" contest to be a guest Design Team Member.  As many of you know I LOVE Echo Park paper.  So far I have bought every line that has been made and I have used every drop of paper from each line.  I never throw any of it away.  I save the smallest bit because you never know when you might need it.  I teach a monthly sketch layout class at my lss and the people always laugh because I always want to do a class using the Echo Park paper.  May's class used the Playground line and I can't wait for July's class because we will be using Summertime collection.  The paper is so versatile and I just love the designs and especially all the embellishments.  Ok enough of me raving on about how much I love Echo Park and let's get down to the businesss of my 3 projects.  It was really hard for me to pick only 3 since I have so many but these are some of my favorites right now.

My first layout is "King For A Day".  This layout  was published in the May issue of ScrapStreet EMagazine.  I was so excited that my first publication used the Echo Park paper.  When the release came out of the Little Boy line I called my lss everyday until it arrived. I was crazy but I bought 3 paper packs of this line.  I have 2 boys and I just fell in love with the wonderful colors and designs.  I have made so many fun creations using this line.

Jack, my son, was playing with a King's hat and I snapped these photos.  When I got them developed I knew that the Little Boy line was perfect.  The first thing I did was cut a 10x10 square of the paper and pulled out my sewing machine. I love to sew on my layouts.  Next, I cut several strips of the paper all 2 inches in width and used my EK Success border punches and layered them.  I love the look of layered borders.  To anchor the ends I used a button just to tie it together.  I then cut out some random circles and layered them. I placed a button in the center just to finish it off.  I used my Silhouette and cut a King's Hat to add an an embellishment.  One of the things that I love the most about Echo Park is that the alphabet stickers are always so fun and the fonts are awesome. I placed it all together and then added my journaling block.  I did add for just a little touch a tab created by using the Ali Edwards stamps.  I love to include a bit of stamping on my layouts.

Supply list

paper-echo park

buttons and twine-paper trey ink

tools-silhouette, ek success border punches, coluzzle, sewing machine

stamps-ali edwards

ink-hero arts

sketch- liz qualman for scrapstreet

My next layout is one of my all time favorites. You will always be my little boy was created using my son's fall school picture.  Again when I saw the picture I knew exactly that this collection would be perfect.  This layout shows my love of pattern paper.  I love to layer it.  It just adds so much dimension to the layout without adding all the bulk that heavy embellishments can create.

Again I used all my scraps from other projects.  I used the navy sheet as my base and then kept adding layer upon layer to add brightness to the brown.  I tucked little pieces under the picture at different angles. I also tucked the candy stripe on each end of the brown.  I cut a small sliver of paper of the different stripes and used my border punch --love those punches.  At the bottom of the layout I used my scalloped punches again to tie the two together. 

For fun I paired the Echo Park paper with Jillibean Soup journaling spots.  The spots were perfect and they matched the paper perfectly.  I love the one I tucked under the photo that says "smile".  It was just perfect for the layout.  I also loved layering the spots.  I added some stamping (of course) and stamped my journaling spot with ali edwards stamps, and I also stamped the month spot. My son is 5 so I just tucked the five spot underneath.



supply list
paper-echo park
journaling spots-jillibean soup
title-echo park
stamps- ali edwards, jillibean soup
ink-hero arts
button- paper trey ink
tools-ek success border punch

My third layout today is "Catching Snowflakes"

For this layout I combined Echo Park with Core'dinations cardstock.  The colors with the Core'dinations matched perfectly with the colors in the patterned paper.

1.  Using my Martha Steward Score Board I scored around each side 2 times creating a frame effect.  I then lightly sanded the score marks to bring out the lighter color.
2. Next I cut a 2 1/2 inch strip of the red cardstock and punched it using my EK Success border punch (I am totally addicted to my border punches). 
3.  I then scored the paper 3 times and again lightly sanded the scored marks.
4.  I attached the 2 border pieces to a 10X10 piece of Echo Park paper.
5.  Using my Silhouette I created my title and snowflake.
6.  For the snowflake I used Tim Holtz distress ink "Stormy Sky" and with my blending tool slowly added some color to the die cut.  I didn't want the snowflake to be too dark so I used my Ranger mat and worked my blending tool on the mat and slowly moved onto my snowflake.  This gave the flake just a hint of color.
7.  Next I added just a hint of bling on to the edges of my snowflake.
8.  When I say I am an Echo Park addict I mean it.  I don't throw any paper away no matter how small.  The rest of the layout I used my scraps from other projects.  I first matted my photo and touched the edges again with the Stormy Sky.  I then matted the picture again with a larger piece of Echo Park paper.  I then had some left over pieces that I tucked underneath. 
9.  Finally I used a journaling spot and inked the edges with Stormy Sky.  I added again just a touch of bling to the center of the snowflakes.

I have to say that I love this layout.  The Wintertime collection was just so pretty and the colors were incredible. 

supply list

cardstock-core'dinations

paper-echo park

journaling tag-echo park

bling- I Rock- imaginisce

tools-martha steward score board, sand paper, ek success border punch

I had so much fun putting my layouts together for the fresh face contest.  Winning would be such a dream and a huge honor!  I love everything about Echo Park.  If you check out my blog you will see tons of layouts and projects--here are a couple more links to some of my favorites cube, mini album, bigfoot, and first snow.  I have so many projects that it is so hard to pick just 3.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Monday + Giveaway!

Happy Monday,
Wow what a weekend we had.  On Saturday we were gone the entire day.  We left at 10:00 in the morning and we got back at 8:00 that night.  It was such a fun day.  The town that I grew up in and where my mom still lives had their big festival.  It starts with a parade and then at the high school stadium they have rides and games.  I always meet my high school friends and we all go with our families.  It is just a day of fun.  Then on Sunday we stayed home all day but what could go wrong did go wrong.  I tried to print pictures- my printer acted funny, I tried to cut some die cuts-my silhouette acted funny, I tried to get my blog together for the week-my internet was down for most the day.  So I just stepped away and we all went on a 2 mile walk and bike ride.  It was so fun. I was able to get a layout finished and photographed and brought in the store.  So I felt good about that.   I am entering some challenges this week and tried to get them all wrapped up.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Did you do anything fun?

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Well as promised I have a little Giveaway for you all.  I have 3 (15 yards each) of twine from the Twinery.  The colors are Maraschino, Lilac, and Pink Sorbet.  They are sooooo  pretty.

All you have to do to win is:

1) follow my blog

2) leave a comment

Good luck! You have till Thursday to enter!  The colors are sooo pretty!  You can have 2 chances to win if you leave a comment that you follow and another comment about whatever.

Spring Fun!

This is a layout that I did using the Jillibean Soup line Dutch Mustard. 

I just love this line so much! It just makes me happy.

supplies

cardstock-kraft

paper-jillibean soup

tools-ek success, silhouette

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  See you then!



Happy Friday! My Bargain

happy Friday everyone!
Boy, I am so glad it is Friday!  For me it was a long week.  I finally got out of my funk with missing Bailey.  I want to thank all of you for your kind words.  They really helped me.  I know we did the right thing with her but it was just so sudden.  One day she is playing ball with the kids and then next day she has a seizure and then 5 days later is is gone.  Wow --it was too much for me to handle.  I am much  better now though.

As I mentioned yesterday I just wasn't able to get in my last 2 pager.  I still have a couple of things to do on it and I just ran out of time.  So instead I wanted to share with you my HUGE bargain for my scraproom.  Have you ever heard of the catalogue Ballard Designs?  Well I love this catalogue.  I just love their home decor accents etc.  Well about a year ago I saw a desk that I have wanted --it was perfect--it was a partners desk.  The table was oversized and I could sit on one side and the boys could have their side.  They are always sitting at my little desk with me.  There is never enough room.  We are all crowded together.  However, this desk was waaaaay out of my price range.  I brought the magazine to look at school and a fellow teacher told me that there was an outlet 2 minutes from where I worked.  I about flipped out.  I was soo excited.  As soon as the bell rang on Friday I jumped in my car and went to the Outlet.  I walked around for about 5 minutes when I saw it--the pieces to the partners desk.  I about had a heart attack.  There are 5 pieces--4 file cabinet/drawer/cubbie areas and then a desk top.  I had my heart set on a white table because my other shelving units were white --they had 4 of the file cabinets in white but no desk top.  I was bummed but then I thought how cool would that be to mix and match.  My shelving is white but I have black leather cubbie holders on my shelves.  Well I put it on hold and went home to think about it.  I am not an impulse buyer.  I thought about it all night and then I sent hubby down to get it for me.  He brought it home and we put it together in about 5 minutes and I was in LOVE. 

Here is the first view of the desk.  You can see the two file cabinets.  The left one is actually 3 drawers and the right one is a drawer and then cabinet.  Love it.

This is another view of my side of the desk:

Plenty of room for my large MS cutting mat and my caddie and still have extra room on each side for all my "junk"!!!

Here is the boys side;

They have their own set of drawers and then an open cabinet.  They put their crayons, markers and stickers on that side and then just odds and ends in the drawers. 

So I got this entire table at the Outlet for about the cost of One filing cabinet with shipping.  WOW I am still in shock!  I can't wait to really give this table a work out.  I am still organizing my drawers.  I am not used to having extra space so I just love to organize and then test it out to see if it works etc.  I will post more pictures once I get my room reorganized.

Now on to some other fun stuff.  I mentioned last week that a GIVEAWAY might be coming up when I hit 125 followers and we have surpassed that soooooo on Monday check back in for a little giveaway from the Twinery! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  We have a busy but fun in store for us so I can't wait.  I will be back on Monday with details of the GIVEAWAY and a new layout!  Thanks for stopping by! 

Fun in the Sun

Happy Thursday,

The one thing I love about being on the Simply Scrapbooks design team is that I get to play with paper that I would not normally buy, and this was one of those times.  I have never played with pink paislee before.  I think because I have boys I tend to stay away from "pink" things.  So when my name was on this kit I was a bit nervous, but excited. 

For this layout I took several different pictures from last summer and created this layout.  I really liked how I incorporated the pink colors on my layout but then again summer pictures have bright colors so it all seemed to fit.

Supplies

cardstock-bazzill

paper and embellishments-pink paislee

title-silhouette

I was supposed to show another 2 pager but I don't have it done and Jack has soccer tonight so I won't have time to finish it.  So instead I am going to show you my bargain of my lifetime!! Are any of you bargain shoppers?  Well I was soooo excited about this purchase that I just have to share with you because it is scrap related.  I have totally rearranged my scrap area so I will take pictures tonight and get it ready for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and I will see you all then!

Wednesday Cards-Green card set with ribbon

I love that the week is marching on.  I have a list again and I keep marking things off.  The weather has been another rainy week so the boys and I have been going down the basement after school so I have been getting tons done. 
1. I needed to finish up my class information for my June class.  I need to get everything ready to display in the store. 
2.I am also participating in my lss garage sale.  I have to pack up my stuff and mark it with the price.  I am glad to get rid of my odds and ends.  Plus what we sell we get store credit.  Got to love that.  I am NOT a hoarder when it comes to supplies so after I have used what I am going to use for layouts and cards I put it in the bin for the kids or the garage sale. 
3. I also have been trying to finish up a challenge that I am going to enter-I enter Imaginisce's challenge every month and always look forward to working on it but this month it is just hard for me to get it done--something always comes up.
4.  Working on my Scrap Our Stash June challenge.--Right now I still have NO idea what I am going to do for this one.  I am drawing a HUGE blank!!!
5. Finally I am trying to get some scrapping in just for me.  I have been stretched a bit with my DT commitments that I really haven't had time to work own stuff.  Teaching my class is a dream come true but I have to produce 4 projects every month on top of creating 2-3 layouts for the store.  Don't get me wrong I am not complaining -- I love it but I just wish I had 2 extra hours a day to get some stuff done.

Green Card Set
I wanted to give a little hostess gift to one of my friends, and she loves my cards so I thought I would make her this quick card set using the tone on tone colors of the hero arts papers and coordinating inks.  I also got to use their new matching ribbon.  Green is her favorite color so this is what I came up with.

Supplies

cardstock-neenah solar white, hero arts

ink-hero arts

stamps-hero arts

ribbon-hero arts

I hope everyone has a great day and I will be back tomorrow with a new 2 page layout using Pink Paislee.  See ya then!

My Cutie

Hey everyone,

I was so excited to get to play with the Little Yellow Bicycle  Babysaurus line.  When Amy put the kit together she called me and told me that I would go crazy over it.  I had so much fun playing with the embelllishments.  When we get a kit from the store we have to use all of it on the layouts --soo  there are a touch more embellishments than I like but I like it!

These are spring pictures of Michael.  I thing the pictures turned out so cute.  He just has a cute smile and a funny personality and the pictures do him justice.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day today! I will be back tomorrow with my Wednesday Card.  See you then!

My Bailey & Zing Zang Zoom

Hey everyone,
Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Not so much here.  Last week on Mother's day my dog, Bailey had a seizure and then another one early in the week.  We took her to the vet and she had good blood work results and the doctor said lets wait and see.  Well she had 4 more during the week and then she started to have problems with her hind legs and she was falling.  Sunday morning we decided to take her to the emergency vet and they doctor said she probably had a brain tumor.  Bailey was 12 years old.  We could have tried to give her seizure medicine but the Doctor said she would not have a good quality of life.  This prayer helped me with making that decision as it once did with my other dog Molly.

A Dog's Prayer

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.
Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside... for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements... and I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth... though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land... for you are my god... and I am your devoted worshiper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the Great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest...and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.
-Beth Norman Harris

My sweet girl-I will miss you so much! This was one of the last pictures that I took with her!

On the lighter side-This week on the blog I am going to feature 2 page layouts!  I have been really busy making things for the store.  The owner likes to display 2 page layouts.  There has been a ton of new products so therefore I have been busy.  Here is the first:
 

 
I have to say--I like the design of the layout but I was not happy with the results.  First, I didn't like the pattern paper.  I like bright and fun and this was vintage and washed out.  Second, I should have used a darker color cardstock, but I was out of black and had to get this layout done in a hurry. 
 
Supplies
cardstock-kraft
pattern paper and embellies-G.C.D.
 
I hope everyone has a great day!  I will be back tomorrow with another 2 pager.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Friday-beautiful sunshine

Oh Yeah it is FRIDAY!  Have you heard the little girl singing "Friday" on youtube yet.  It keeps going through my mind!

What is everyone going to be up to this weekend?  Saturday we have Jack's soccer game and that really is it. I may call a couple of his friends tonight to see if they can come over and play.  Then on Sunday I have my class.  So overall it is a pretty calm weekend.  I still have to prep my kits.  I need to cut the titles with my Silhouette and run through some strips of cardstock through my Cuttlebug.  I will be able to do that while we watch our Friday night movie.  This Friday we are going to start Meet the Robinsons.  I have never seen this Disney movie so I am looking forward to it!

Speaking of my monthly class.  This Sunday from 1:30 - 3:30 I will be teaching my Fun with Sketches class at Simply Scrapbooks.  This is the third layout in the class (and I do have to say my favorite!).  I love the use of the clouds and sun.  I think it is just a fun layout.  For this layout we will use the scraps from the other layouts.  The topic for this class is using scraps. With the scraps we will make this layout and the card from Wednesday.

supplies

cardstock-bazzill

paper-echo park

stickers-echo park

ink-tim hotlz

Well I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  Next week is going to have a theme--and that theme is 2 pager layouts.  I usually don't do 2 pagers but with my class and work for the store I have been making a ton of 2 page layouts.  Hope you will enjoy it.  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Catching Snowflakes

Happy Thursday!

Oh another week is almost over! I have been busy at work and I am just tired!! I need a rest.  Haven't really looked at our schedule yet to see if we have a busy weekend or not. 

On Mother's day after everyone work up from their naps we decided to get on our gym shoes and head out to Cox Arboretum.  It is a park that is 15 minutes from our house and it is just a slice of heaven when it comes to nature.  The day was a bit cloudy when we left and a bit chilly but when we started out on our hike it became warm.  This park has 3 walking nature trails.  We took the smaller trail due to the fact that we were getting a late start.  Oh my did we have fun.  We saw so many different types of spring flowers and animals.  Here a couple of pictures.  When we were leaving Jack kept saying he wanted to come back ASAP.  I think we will since this is the first time he really went crazy for the nature walk.

Now on to my layout-I have to say that I LOVE this layout.  The picture is just so adorable of Michael and I love the simplicity of the layout.  Now this is just MY OPINION --the trend right now seems to be about putting as many embellishments on a page as we can.  The focus is more on the embellishments and not on the pictures.  I do have to say that for awhile I was really getting into this craze (well as much as my style allows), but with this layout I went back to the basics and I just love that the attention is on the picture.   I made a huge snowflake using my Silhouette and used to distress inks  to give it a hint of color.  I also added just a couple of clear gems to the ends of the snowflake just to give it a bit of bling.

Supplies

cardstock-core'dinations, neenah solar white

paper-echo park

Ink-Tim Holtz distress ink

tools-Silhouette, EK Success border punch

I hope everyone has a great day today! I will be back tomorrow with a new layout from my upcoming class on Sunday.  Thanks for stopping by and I will see you then!

Scrap Our Stash May Challenge

Hello Everyone and Happy Wednesday!

This month's challenge over at Scrap Our Stash is  a good one!! It is Bring in the May Flowers.  You need to create a card, layout altered item that has flowers on it.  How easy is that?  Easy Easy.  I am sure you all have some flowers in your stash.   Well let's break them out and enter the contest!  Your project will be featured on the Scrap Our Stash blog and then you have a chance on winning!  What could you win?  You will be invited to be a guest design team member--how fun is that?  Way fun!!!!

So here is my entry.  For my upcoming class at Simply Scrapbooks I am featuring the Echo Park Playground line.  I had some scraps left over and a couple of stickers left over.  I had them laying around on my floor and I kept sitting at my desk totally stumped by this challenge because guess what?  I don't have any flowers.  I was about to clean up the floor when the idea hit me to make a card using my scraps along with this adorable sticker with flowers on it.  I then decided to throw the card in my class as an extra bonus.    I love it when I am hit by excellent ideas. 

supplies

cardstock-core'dinations

paper-sticker-echo park

sentiment-hero arts

So come on everyone let's get busy creating something with flowers and then hop on over to Scrap Our Stash and submit your work to Kathy!

I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  I hope everyone has a fantastic day and thanks so much for stopping by!  See ya tomorrow!

the perfect storm

Well I hope your Monday went well.  So far so good for me.  I wanted to share today a couple of things from my Mother's day.  I have to say it was the best Mother's day ever.  First my mom came over and we snapped some photos.  Here is a picture of my mom:

As I have said a million times she is the BEST.  She has been through Breast Cancer TWICE (once at 43 and again at 63) and she never complained once.  She has some other illnesses that might keep others down but she keeps going on.  When my father died 2 years ago (they were grade school sweethearts and had been together since the 5th grade) and I thought maybe she might not make it but she pulled herself up and she is just my INSPIRATION.  I hope everyone has someone in their lives that motivates you to be a better person (it doesn't have to be a mother, could be a friend, a relative, or anyone). I know my mom is that person for me! I love you MOM!

Anyway after we had a little time together My mother in law came over and we had a lovely brunch.  I decided not to cook but to get brunch ordered in from a local restaurant.  I have never done that before. I always enjoy cooking; however, with being gone for most of the day on Saturday I just didn't want to be in the kitchen all morning long.  I wanted to relax.  I have to say it was perfect. Everyone had a fantastic time.  After everyone left and Michael went down for a nap, hubby and Jack went downstairs to watch Star Wars and I stayed in the family room and cuddled up on the couch with my blanket and my remote control and watch 2 episodes of my "bad" t.v. (Bethany ever after).  I had a blast and I loved every minute of it.  Tomorrow I will share the rest of the my mother's day because we all had a blast.

On to my layout of the day.

The Perfect Storm

We had the worst ice storm this past winter and I went out to take a couple of pictures of the ice collecting on the tree branches.  I was also trying out some different features on my camera and I loved how the pictures turned out.

cardstock-bazzill

paper, stickers, tag-echo park

buttons-paper trey ink & basic grey

I hope everyone has a great day today! We have a chance of rain but the temperatures are finally starting to warm up! 

I will be back tomorrow with my Wednesday Card.  Thanks for stopping by! See ya then!

Happy Monday-First Snow!

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I had the best one!!! We did so much and it was just perfect! there is so much that I think I will break it down into pieces. 

Saturday--

We went to Jack's soccer game.  The weather was a touch better that last week.  So that was good!  Jack was goalie and I snapped this adorable picture of him doing the "watching you" sign--he really got into the game.  It was way to cute!  After the game I went into Simply Scrapbooks and helped out a bit.  Several people bought my NSD Kit and I helped them with some inking techniques and using border punches.  I had a great time.  I stayed for a couple of hours.  I bought a couple of things.  The new D-Stress tool from Imaginisce and then some Bakers's twine (mmmmm there might be a giveaway coming up soon--you will have to stay tuned--we are almost at 125 followers--once we hit that there could be some goodies!!!!!).  I also got some scrapping in.  I loved it! What a perfect day!



First Snow

So I finally finished up Christmas so now it is time to start the winter pictures.  This was the first snow and I snapped these awesome pictures of Jack.  I was really able to capture his joy in the first snow.

Supplies
cardstock-bazzill
paper - echo park
stickers-echo park
tag-paper trey ink
ink-tim holtz
title-silhouette

Well I will be back tomorrow with a new layout! Thanks for stopping by and I will see ya then!

NSD Layout- Happy Friday

Oh Yeah--It is Friday,

I am so excited!  I am going to rest tonight and just hang out with the family.  If it is still nice after dinner (chance of rain) I would like to go on a walk or maybe the park with the family.  If it is bad weather I  think we might have a bowling Wii tournament.  I do love the Wii sports.  Hubby and Jack really get into the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter.  I really don't get into those, but the sports I like. 

Saturday is going to be busy.  Jack has a soccer game.  I don't know if they will get it in because it is supposed to rain yet again.  I also need to start making the food for my Mother's Day brunch.  I am having my mom and my mother in law over for a brunch.  Why do I do this?  Why do I create more work for myself--this is my day too--BUT I want to do something nice for my mom and hubby's mom is in town and I felt bad that her husband recently died so I invited her as well.  On top of all that I need to be at the scrap store to help out with my kit. 

Sunday we will have the brunch and then in the afternoon it is all me!!! I haven't decided what I am going to do--do I want to scrap or sit and have the couch all to my self and get caught up on my secret shows (Bethany ever after and real housewives of new york).  What a decision. 

I hope every mom out there has a wonderful day on Sunday!!!!

NSD Layout and Kit.

For my kit I was given the new Bo Bunny line Ad Lib.  At first I wasn't too crazy about it.  It was a bit to wild for me, but as I started to play with the papers and I began to love it!  I wanted my page to use the caption "document every day life"  Jack loves to go to the grocery with me every Saturday.  He loves to get his own cart and he is a very responsible 5 year old.  I give him his own list and he has to get the things on the list.  He is just so darn cute.  I had taken this photo using my iPhone.  So I knew that I wanted to capture this everyday moment.  So I created this layout with the title and photo in mind. I like how it turned out.  I forgot to straighten the photo so it looks a bit off center--sorry about that.

supplies

paper-Bo Bunny

cardstock-bazzill

ink-vintage photo tim holtz

I want to give a huge shout out to all my new followers-WOW-- I am so honored! I thank each one of you! I truly enjoy getting your emails and reading your comments, and I love visiting everyone's blog.  So fun and so much inspiration (well maybe too much inspiration ----- BECKY! hehehehehehehehhehe).  Thanks so much! 

If you have time maybe you might want to try out the Scrap Our Stash May Challenge.  It is Bring in the Flowers.  So I know you must have some flowers in your stash.  I will have my DT entry next Wednesday.  This was a bit of a challenge for me because guess what?  I didn't have any flowers.  So hop on over there and check out the challenge.  You could win a guest Design Team spot.  You know you want to do it!

I hope everyone has a great day and weekend! I will be back on Monday.  Thanks for stopping by and see ya then!

Thursday-Snapshots

Happy Thursday,

The week is almost over--YES!!!  Today we are supposed to have our first day in a week to have it partly sunny and no rain.  I will believe it when I see it.  I really feel like I like in Washington State versus Ohio.  I am just so craving sunshine.

Still plugging away at my to do list.  On Monday I made a list of 22 things that I need to do and each day I take another thing off the list.  I have been waiting for my order to come in on paper and supplies to kit for my class on Saturday--getting a touch nervous that the supplies aren't here yet.  Maybe today after school I will get the call and then I can kit and then drop off the kits on Friday.  I also have to finish my kits for my May Class on May 15th.  Lots on my plate.

Speaking of my class here is my second layout we will be making for the class.      I just love Echo Park paper and this paper is so versatile.  Even though the line is called Playground you can see you can use it for really anything.  I also combined once again the Core'dinations cardstock with the Echo Park.  We are going to be learning about how to emboss the paper as well as sanding the paper.  I think it will be a bunch of fun. 

Supplies

cardstock-core'dination

paper and embellishments-echo park

I hope everyone has a great day.  I will be back tomorrow with my layout that I will be teaching for National Scrapbook Day! Thanks for stopping by and I will see ya tomorrow!!!

Teacher Appreciation Day Card

Hello everyone,

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I made Jack and Michael's teachers a card to say thanks so much for taking such great care of them while I am at work.  I know they are loved and cared for.  So I made this cute little card using the Tim Holtz Collection at Core'dinations. 

Steps
1.  First I made a base that is 4x5.5 for my card.
2.  I made a 4x5.5 piece from core'dination.
3.  I scored the cardstock at a 1/4 inch on all 4 sides.
4.  I sanded the cardstock to reveal the lighter core.
5.  I cut a smaller piece (purple) that was 3X4.5 and placed it in my Fiskars wavy paper crimper.
6.  I sanded the piece of paper.
7.  I stamped the large butterfly and cute out.
8.  I sanded the butterfly on the wings just a bit to get some shading.
9.  I punched using my MS butterfly punch a set of 3 butterflies.
10.  I stamped my sentiment and cut a  V shaped to make a little banner.
12.  I attached everything together.
13.  Finally I added some gemstones using my IRock.

And here is the final product:

I love how it turned out.  I never get to use pink , purple and teal on my layouts, and I just love adding butterflies.  I am including a little gift card for Starbucks too!

supplies
cardstock-core'dinations
stamps-hero arts
ink-memento
tools-paper crimper, MS scoring board

I hope everyone has a great day and I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  See ya then!

Tuesday-King For A Day!

Hey everyone,

Well it is yet another rainy day here in Ohio.  We had 2 weeks straight of the stuff and then had 3 days off but now we are back in the cycle of the rain and chilly weather.  The only plus side to this cycle is that I have been getting a ton of scrapping in.  I have been so busy with work for Simply Scrapbooks.  The owner changed up the design team and now only has in house people working on the displays.  Since I am teaching classes I am considered to be "in house"  I worked on some brand new paper that was really fun this past weekend.  I worked with GCD, Little Yellow Bicycle (you know how I love them) and then finally pink paislee.  I am finishing up that layout even as we speak.  I also need to work on my kit for National Scrapbook Day which is Saturday! WooHoo!  I will have a layout featured as a quick kit and class.  I will share the layout and kit with you on Friday once I have it all finished.  It features the new Bo Bunny line Ad Lib.  This is a really cute line!  Not my typical paper so I made me step outside my box. Loved it!
 
I have to tell you I was so excited on Sunday when  the May issue  of Scrap Street Magazine came out.  If you haven't visited this magazine you really must!  They have such talented people in this magazine and I was so honored to be part of the May issue.  They had a sketch challenge (you know how I love sketch challenges) and I made a layout using the sketch and submitted it.  I never thought in a million years that I would be selected to be published.  I really had a fun time making the layout with the Echo Park paper.  I know I say this about every week but I just love their papers.  They are so much fun and the color were perfect for this layout.

Here is the link to my layout:
King For A Day

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back tomorrow with my Wednesday Card.  See ya then!

Happy Monday-Jack

Happy Monday Everyone!

Did you all have a great weekend?  I did, but of course it wasn't long enough.  Saturday we started off with Jack's soccer game.  It was very cold and windy.  Michael was not happy about being out in the cold.  He cried the entire time.  Jack did really well.  He played goalie for the first quarter and did great.  I was very pleased with his progress AND he really had fun!  That is what truly matters.  We then decided to go out for lunch and we went to our favorite ice cream shoppe.  They have the  best little hamburgers and of course I got a hot fudge sundae.  MMMMM Good!  After every one's nap (yes me too) we went over to my mom's house.  She watched the boys while hubby and I went out for a quick pizza for dinner.  It was a quick date night but we had fun.  Sunday we went to church and then just hung out.  It was chilly and rainy (again) all day.  I was able to work a bit on some scrappin' stuff.

I had some really fun new last Friday.  I know some of you frequent the Core'dinations blog, but if you didn't I will tell you my awesome news.  They featured one of my layouts on their blog.   You can click HERE to see the layout and the little blurb they did about me.  I was so excited.  I really love their cardstock and it was truly an honor to be on their blog. 

Here is  a layout I did with Jack's school picture from September.  I put it in a drawer and forgot about it till I was finishing up 2010 pictures. So glad I found it because it is so cute!  I combined different companies for this layout.  I used up some scraps from Echo Park and used my Jillibean journaling stamps.  The colors just worked so well together.  I LOVE how it turned out.

Supplies

paper-echo park

stamps-jillibean soup, ali edwards

journaling spots-jillibean soup

ink-hero arts

button-paper trey ink

tools-ek success punches

I hope everyone has a fantastic day and I will see you tomorrow with a new layout.  Thanks for stopping by and see ya tomorrow!