Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone,

Yesterday Jack and I had our mommy and me day and Jack wanted to go to Kings Island again.  No problem since we have the season passes.  I am calling Jack " my little thrill seeker".  He is really loving going on all the rides that he can at his height.  He really wanted to go on the kid's hanging coaster but he needs to grow one more inch.  So hopefully in the fall when we go--who knows.  I pack our lunch so that we don't have to pay for anything inside the park because it costs a fortune for things.

When I heard about Jennifer's online card class I knew I had to sign up.  I absolutely love her classes.  She is such an awesome teacher and I know that I am very fortunate to have taken over 10 classes with her.  This class has tons of inspiration. Here is this weeks color challenge.

I use a lot of blue and some orange but I rarely use pink or purple.  Why??? I don't know. So when I saw this challenge I thought this was great.  Here is my take on the color challenge.

I decided to go with a very clean look for the card, and I wanted to go with a more muted color palette.  I used this design before with some jillibean soup and I loved the design and this was perfect for my new stamps that hubby got me from the boys.

Steps

1. First I ran the card through my cuttlebug and embossed it with the dots.

2.  I stamped my images on neenah cardstock using a pink, purple, blue and orange inks from hero arts.

3.  I then used my 1 inch circle punch and punched the images out.

4.  I stamped one circle with the "hello' sentiment from paper trey ink and then arranged my circles on the card.

Very simple and very easy.  I love how it turned out!

supplies

cardstock-neenah

stamps-hero arts, paper trey ink

inks-hero arts

misc- pop dots, cuttlebug, embossing folder

I hope everyone has a great day.  I am heading out today for a "my day" and I am going down to Cincinnati to have lunch with my old roommate from my early 20's when we were first starting out.  I can't wait. I then am going to pop into Archiver's.  I was so excited when I got their email and they have a coupon--whoot whoot! I am on a spending freeze though right now so the item will have to be something awesome!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I will be back tomorrow!

set of 2 birthday cards-clean and simple

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week.  So far so good with me.  Hubby is coming home today and I am so excited!  The kids really miss him too.

Yesterday I was able to play a bit with the July kit from Burlap and Buttercups and  I have to say I had so much fun.  This kit is amazing and there are so many different products that I had never played with.  One of them was Doodlebug Glitter.  Now I know I am late on this craze but wow I love this stuff.  I can't wait to show you my layout. 

I also went to lunch with one of my college roommates.  We try to get together 2x over the summer and catch up.  We had a blast! I love catching up with "old" friends.  I can't believe we graduated 23 years ago.  Where does the time go?  It is interesting because she is my first friend who has a child going off to college this fall.  We always joke that she has one going off to college and I am in the mist of potty training my 2 year old. heheheheheh

On to my Wednesday Card.  This week I used up the rest of my Imaginisce rub ons.  I have 6 birthdays in the month of July so I needed something clean and simple to make 6 of them.  Here is the end result.

Sometimes I just love the clean look. 

supplies

cardstock- neenah solar white

rub ons- Imaginisce

stamps- hero arts

ink-hero arts

I hope everyone has a great day and I will be back tomorrow.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blog Award

Hey Everyone,

Did you all have a nice day yesterday?  We did.  Jack went of a field trip with his summer camp.  He had a ball and Michael and I had a mommy and me day.  We did errands for most of the day.  Michael LOVES to go on errands.  I think he likes to flirt with all the ladies that are shopping.  This week I am on a mission to go to Michael's everyday this week.  I am totally out of adhesive.  I only have 2 rolls of my ATG tape left, and I have tons of scrapping to do in the next 3 weeks.  I go in spurts--I go everyday for like a week and by a box and then I don't go to Michael's for a couple of months.  I am going to have to take my Mom because I need a couple of other things as well- glue dots and pop dots. 

Over the weekend I was totally honored by 2 people who awarded my this award:

I want to give a big shout out to:
1.  Maria
and
2. Becky

Thanks so much girls! If you have not checked out their blogs PLEASE do so!!!!

You have to tell 7 things about yourself.  ( I always find this to be the hardest part because I never really talk about myself).

1.  I just completed my 22nd year teaching high school Spanish.
2.  I was 42 when I had my last child.
3.  I love to read (when I get the chance).
4.  I didn't get married till I was 36.
5.  While I was single I was able to travel through Europe every summer.  I literally moved to Spain every summer.  I loved it!
6.  I am now a home body. 
7.  I have been scrapping for 12 years now.  I started out scrapping my dogs!

Now the rule is I must give this award to 8 other bloggers.  I checked several of my blog "friends" and noticed that they already received it sooooo I am going to do something different.  If you leave a comment the award is yours!!!!!!!!!  I really enjoy reading all my blogs each day and I think EVERYONE deserves this award!

I hope everyone has a great day.  I will be back tomorrow with my Wednesday card.  Thanks for stopping by!  See you then

Monday Post- Irish Eyes

Hello Everyone,

Did everyone have a nice weekend?  Mine was good.  Saturday hubby took the kids to the park and I got to have an hour or so all to myself in the house,.  It was so wonderful and QUIET!  I had to finish getting stuff ready for my class.  I had my class and that was a ton of fun.  I had a couple last minute sign ups that made things hectic ( i didn't have any materials for them), but we made it through.  I have a week off and then I have to start kitting my class for my Jillibean Soup class.  This is going to be fun!

The weather was so nice out on Saturday night that we let the kids play outside till almost 8:00.  It was just that perfect summer night with a light breeze and no humidity.  Jeff and I sat out there and watched them.  It was perfect.  Then we had to get hubby ready for his 3 day "bonding" vacation with the other executives of hubby's work.  The owner of the company flies everyone to his place in Florida and they "bond".  Lucky hubby!  Needless to say I am exhausted!


Irish Eyes

Over at Jillibean they were having a challenge to work with Julie's sketch.



And here is my take on the sketch.

supplies
cardstock-core'dinations
paper, alphabet, journaling spots-jillibean soup

This layout is of Jack on St. Patrick's day.  It was a nice day out and we went outside to play and I snapped this photo.  I just love his eyes.\

I hope everyone has a fantastic day.  Thanks for stopping by! 

A Sneak Peak

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to pop in and say WOW I just received my kit from Burlap and Buttercups and it is AMAZING.  The paper is just so wonderful and summery.  I just wanted to to show you some sneak peaks from the blog.



and a layout made from the kit by Rachel:


I hopefully will be able to play with my kit this weekend when the kids take their naps.  I can't wait.  Be sure to visit the link above and check out the blog and kits.  There are a couple of challenges going on right now and you don't have to have the kit to play along.  There is an awesome monthly prize.  So check it out and I will be back on Monday!
mp

June's Imaginisce Challenge

Hello Everyone,

Well it is that time again.  Time for theImaginisce Monthly challenge.  I love the challenges here.  This month was really fun!  Here is the information on the challenge:

Here's the criteria:


- Create a card, layout or off the page project using atleast 75% of Imaginisce products.
- Use the delicious picture from Pinterest as your inspiration
- Somewhere on your project you must incorporate some of the lyrics of the Cliff Richard song, Summer holiday
- Upload your project using the Linkitz at the bottom of this post by Saturday, 25th June.

The Song:
Summer Holiday
We're all going on a summer holiday
no more working for a week or two.
Fun and laughter on our summer holiday,
no more worries for me or you,
for a week or two.

We're going where the sun shines brightly
we're going where the sea is blue.
we've all seen it on the movies,
now let's see if it's true.

Everybody has a summer holiday
doin' things they always wanted to
So we're going on a summer holiday,
to make our dreams come true
for me and you.
for me and you.

Well here is my take on the challenge

Fun and Laughter

I loved this challenge.  I took these adorable pictures of Michael over the weekend at Jack's last soccer game.  Michael had a great time sitting in his chair and watching the game.  I had such a fun time taking pictures of him and Jack.  I knew these pictures would be perfect for the challenge.  I have been wanting to use the line Berrylicious for such a long time now.  I bought it when it first arrived at my lss but haven't had a chance and this paper was perfect for the challenge with all the pretty green, yellow,  blue, and orange colors.  (Perfect for the challenge right?) 

I am really into the sun and clouds on my layouts and this was a perfect way to add some embellishments to the page.  I used my silhouette to cut the sun and clouds.  I stamped the clouds with my hero arts stamps with my jenni bowlin ink (love love love these inks) and then used my SU marker to make a faux stitch.  I also got to use my bakers twine from the Twinery  and Paper Trey Ink on the little tags.  Love it!  The title came from the song and I used my silhouette to cut it.  I am really happy with how it turned out!

Supplies
cardstock-bazzill
paper-imaginisce
chipboard and 3D embellishments-imaginisce
stamps-hero arts
ink-jenni blowlin soap powder, lemon drops, chicken feed
twine-the twinery, paper trey ink
die cuts and title-silhouette

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend-do you have any big plans?  The weather is supposed to be PERFECT here so we will be outside.  I can't wait!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I will be back on Monday with a new layout! See ya then!

My Day

Hello,
The week is marching on.  The weather has been unusually cooler this week plus it has been rainy.  I have been getting tons of crafting done! I love it.  I know I won't get much in this weekend because it is going to be perfect weather and we are planning to be outside the entire time!  Jack has a playdate over at our house and then we will go to Kings Island.  Too much fun! Plus I have my monthly class to teach on Saturday @ 1:30.

Today's layout is the last layout for my monthly class at Simply Scrapbooks.  It is My Day.  All the pictures were taken on Mother's Day.

This layout showcases all the people who mean the most ot me.  I love my family!

Supplies
cardstock-core'dinations
paper-basic grey
stamps-ali edwards
ink-tim holtz
title-silhouette

I hope everyone has a great day and I will be back with a new layout.  Thanks for stopping by!
mp

Wednesday Card with Basic Grey

Happy Wednesday,

How is your week going? So far mine is pretty good.  Trying to plan some upcoming parties at the house.  We usually host a cook out for hubby's side of the family in July and then we are going to have a cook out reunion type party for my side. We are moving the annual Christmas party to the summer.  Trying to firm up dates and so forth.  Should be fun.

I have been so happy to get some scrappin' in just for myself.  I love it when that happens.  Earlier in the week I finished up my class layouts for July and yesterday I finished up my layout for Scrap Our Stash so the rest of the week is totally free to scrap my stuff. HOORRAY! 

My card for this week is one that I will include in my class this Saturday at Simply Scrapbooks  I used the basic grey life of the party line along with core'dinations cardstock.  I scored the cardstock using my MS scoreboard and then lightly sanded the cardstock to expose the lines.  I added some stickers from the line, stamped my greeting using Hero Arts stamps and the presto it is done!  Very Simple!

 supplies

base-recollections

paper, stickers-basic grey

cardstock- core'dinations

stamps-hero arts

ink-hero arts

I hope everyone has a great day.  I will be back tomorrow with a new layout.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Birthday and Happy Tuesday

Hello,

The kids and I had a busy day yesterday.  I needed to run errands --Target and Sam's Club.  My mom decided to come along and help out with the kids which was awesome.  We had a great day.  I also stopped by Simply Scrapbooks to pick up the supplies for my sketch class on Saturday.  Wow I haven't been in the store for over 12 days and there are so many new products.  I just love paper.  It is just so fun! I do have to stay away from buying right now because I am at my capacity in my scrap room.  My cropper hoppers are at the max.  I need to get busy and start using up my paper. 

As I mentioned before, my sketch class this Thursday features the Basic Grey line Life of the Party.  Here is a layout that I did using the paper as a birthday line

Supplies
cardstock-core'dinations
paper,stickers-basic grey

Today I have a quick doctor apt. and then I am heading into Simply Scrapbooks and crop with the girls for a couple of hours. So excited.  I am going to try and get February done.  I just have a couple more layouts to finish.  I do not scrap chronologically but  sometimes I  do like to have chunks of time finished.  I also need to work on the new challenge for the July challenge over at Scrap Our Stash.  I am going to dip into my archives of pictures that I have never scrapped AND use up some paper that I bought about 5 years ago.  whoot whoot!

I hope everyone has a great day.  I will be back tomorrow with my Wednesday Card.  Thanks for stopping by!
MP

I'm Back!- Happy Monday & a Guest Designer

Happy Monday everyone,

Well we are back from vacation.  We all went to Pompano Beach, Florida for a week.  Every year we take a week or so and head to Florida.  I have been  going to Pompano since I was a little bitty girl, and I just love it even though when we go it is 90 degrees and above, but when we are at the pool or the beach it doesn't seem so.  Every day is the same--head to the beach at 9:00 a.m. hang out and then around 10:30 or so we head to the pool.  Finally around 12:00 we head in and I make lunch and we all relax.  The boys take a nap and then we shower and get dressed and head out to eat.  Florida is just our speed and we hit the early bird specials.  Love it!  When we come back we all get back in our suits and take a nice night swim.  We are all exhausted and then we all fall asleep.  For me--AWESOME!  We always plan to do one adventure and this year we went to Lion Country Safari and we had a blast.  I really do not like zoos because they have a small area for one or two animals and they just lay in their cages.  This zoo was AMAZING!  It wan unlike any other I have ever been.  The animals roam free over tons of acres of land.  You drive through it in your car and the animals just move about.  Simply amazing! The animals just roam around and many times you have to just sit in your car till the pack moves from the road.  the animals always have the right away.  Here are a couple of pictures.

When we got back on Saturday Jack and I had to get busy with hubby's father's day present.  I already took care of it (books--hubby LOVES to read!) before we left, but Jack had the idea to decorate a bag (like mommy does he said--how cute is that?).  So I got out all my Imaginisce stamps and ink pads and Jack went to town.  I think he did a fantastic job.  So my guest designer is once again my son, Jack.

The front view:

The back view:

I love it when the little ones get so excited to create something.  When Jack gave the gift to hubby he was so proud of it!

supplies

bag-recollections

stamps-imaginisce

inks-tim holtz distress inks

I want to thank everyone for the kind words about being the sketch artist at Burlap & Buttercups. I am really excited! You all are so kind! I missed you all on vacation.  I can't wait to explore all the posts that I missed for the last 10 days.  Hubby and I wanted to have a technology free vacation.  It was nice but boy am I ready to get back to blogging PLUS I have not scrapped in TEN days.  I was having serious withdrawals.  I had my sketch pad with me so I have tons of new ideas so now I just have to carve out some time and I will be set! 

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



Still On Vacation But..........

I had to just pop in real quick today (yes, I am breaking my 10 days off rule) to let you know some big news.  I have been asked to join the Burlap and Buttercups design team.  Burlap and Buttercups is a new monthly scrapbooking kit company.  Rachel, the owner, puts together some AWESOME kits and she has put together an awesome design team.  I will be heading up the sketch design part.  I am so excited.  Each month (starting in August) each person who purchases a kit will receive 2 of my sketches PLUS I will be heading up a monthly sketch challenge.  It will take place every 3rd Monday of the month and the winner will be announced on the last day of each month.  I hope you will will "tune" in each month pop on over to participate.  I would love to see you all over there each month and try to win her amazing giveaways! 

If you have not heard of Burlap and Buttercups feel free to stop by--the link is above.

Having a fantastic time on vacation.  Here are the boys having a great time---but I must say I am totally missing my craft room (hehehehehehe)

This is my favorite picture!  My Guys!

I will be back on Monday. I have NO idea what I will post because I haven't been crafting in awhile.  OOPS! better go-hubby is calling and it is time to go for an evening swim.  I am not supposed to be posting (hehehehhehehe) --Oh Well!! Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and I will see you all in a couple of days!

happy friday-celebrate

happy friday! 

just a quick post today.  This is a layout that I will be teaching June 25th at Simply Scrapbooks.  Hubby and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary of our first date.  Next month we will celebrate 8 years of marriage together and I wanted to do a layout to celebrate it.

supplies
cardstock-bazzill, core'dinations
paper-basic grey
ink-tim holtz
tools-fiskars paper crimper, ek success, silhouette

Just a quick note.  I am taking a little over a week off from the blogging world, and can you believe it I am not going to paper craft at all for this time as well.  Need some time off.  Burning the candle at both ends. I hope everyone has a great week! I will miss everyone.  Thanks for stopping by today and I will see you in 10 days!!

Prince Michael

Happy Thursday!

Hope everyone is having a great week.  I have been swamped on my first week of break.  I have been working on layouts and cards for the store and for my classes.  Right now there are 4 layouts on my floor and desk that I have been working on.  3 of the layouts are for my July sketch class and the other is a VERY cute layout using the new Bobunny --I am drawing a blank with the name.  When it is done I will post it!

Nothing else is really going on.  It actually has been too hot to go outside.  Today the temp is 95 degrees and the heat index is over 100.  We have been having fun though creating new projects.  Jack is so wanting to write and read so we have been working on that.  He is just so eager to learn--I just love to see it.

This is a layout I created awhile back.  I used the echo park little boy line.  I also used my new paper trey ink stamps and dies to create little tabs to stamp on and to journal.  I so love them.  I know I will use them a ton.

supplies

paper-echo park

buttons-oriental trading, paper trey ink

stickers-echo park

dies-paper trey ink

stamps-paper trey ink, ali edwards

tools-ek success border punch

have a great day & thanks for stopping by.  I will be back tomorrow!

Lime Twist Card

Happy Wednesday,

Hope your week is going well.  This week the boys are still finishing up at school.  They still have to go to daycare 2x per week so that it saves our space for the school year.  They are really nice and we can pick our days-so Jack will go on the field trip days.  It keeps him busy!  I like to have Mommy and Me days.  I spend one day a week with just one of the boys and we do something special.  Jack loves to go to the waterpark at Kings Island with me since Michael can't swim.  Michael  loves just to hang out with me and do whatever.  He is my easy going one.  He would be happy if we sat on the couch all day and read Clifford and Curious George books.  I so love hanging out with my boys! 

 Supplies
paper-mme key lime twist
buttons-doodlebug
greeting- hero arts

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

Jack & Michael

Happy Tuesday!

I had a great couple days off blogging.  School was so busy.  I found out that next year I will have to travel to 2 different schools and it was all stressful.  So I just slowed down and now HELLO SUMMER!  I will be taking several weeks off this summer from blogging as well.  Going to try and leave the computer behind a bit this summer.  Focus on other things--playing outside, taking day trips with the boys to the zoo and other children's museums, various parks, and other amusement parks.  Oh looks like I will have a ton to scrap--oh yeah!!!

I was reading a couple of threads recently on 2Peas about being stressed out with scrapping because they were "behind".  Do you ever get stressed out about your hobby?  I know I don't.  I like being "behind" in my scrapping.  If I were all caught up then what would I do? Plus I have my hobby as a stress reliever.  I "escape" into my little hobby to get away of the stresses I have at work.  I also use the time as time to spend with my boys.  (Right now they are both into my punches--way too cute!)  So does your hobby stress you out?  Just wondering

Here is a layout I made awhile ago using Echo Park's For the Record.  I love this line.  So cute, and I have to say I love this layout.  This was the boy's school picture from last Fall.  Way too cute!

supplies

paper & embellishments-Echo Park

ink-tim holtz distress ink black soot

Have to say that I am going to be teaching a new class at Simply Scrapbooks in July.  It is a card class using the Jillibean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho Soup.  I am finishing up my displays even as we speak and then I need to set a date.  I am so excited about this new project!  I will post some sneak peaks in the weeks to come.  I also have to start on my displays for the July sketch class--we are using Echo Park Summertime.  I love this line!  Can't wait!!!

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



June Somthing Challenge at Scrap Our Stash

Hi Everyone,

The June challenge was so much fun! The theme for this month is Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue. At first I was stumped so I went to my lss and went shopping for Somthing New. I found it right away the new line from My Minds Eye Key Lime Twist. Love this paper! Then I went home to shop in my stash to find something old. My something old and blue was my blue cardstock. I bought this cardstock back when QVC sold huge packs of Bazzill. I used my Silhouette to cut the sun and the clouds. I wanted to ink my clouds with a grey and light blue ink but my Tim Holtz distress ink in Pumice was dried out--( I think my 5 year old got into it and didn't put the lid back on). So at my crop I borrowed some grey ink to blend into my clouds. Here is the end result.





 
I really liked like how it turned out.  This is my little Michael at our local state park. We went there on Mother's Day to go hiking.  He looked so cute with all the flowers around him. 
 
supplies
cardstock-bazzill
paper embellishments-my minds eye key lime twist
die cuts- silhouette
title- silhouette
inks- tim holtz distress ink pumice and weathered wood
buttons-doodlebug
 
Now it is your turn to take the challenge go HERE to read more about the challenge and how to enter.  You could win a spot as a guest Design Team member.  How cool is that??? So let's get to it!

Happy Thursday

Hello everyone,
This is just a quick post to let you know that I am taking a couple days off from the blog.  This time of the year is always crazy for me and I am just a bit burnt out.  I have been working triple time and I just need a bit of a break. I will be back next week.  See you all then!
mary pat

Wednesday Card -Butterfly Card Set

Wow, it is Wednesday already.  I can't believe it!  I love it!  Is everyone having a good week?  I hope so!

I wanted to give a shout out today to Practical Scrappers because they published my layout Pretty in Pink.  I was so honored that they spotted my layout and wanted to publish it! Thanks guys!  They have amazing work over there if you have never stopped by.

Butterflies

For this card set I wanted something very clean and simple.  I also wanted to color a bit so I broke out my butterfly stamp and went to town.

1.  First on a Hero Arts note card I stamped the background image using the coordinating Hero Arts ink.
2.  I then stamped my butterfly on my Neenah solar white cardstock 2 times.  Once for my center piece and then again to be colored and cut out.
3.  I then colored my butterflies with copic markers.
4.  On my center piece I stamped a greeting.
4.  Next I cut out the images.
5. and then pop dotted them onto my center piece.
6.  I matted the center piece with a coordinating color from the Hero Arts collection and then assembled the card. 

Very simple and very easy but I loved the end result! 

Supplies
card-hero arts
cardstock- neenah solar white
stamps-hero arts
markers-copics

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