Destinations

My husband and I just returned from 7 wonderful days in Colorado! His entire family vacationed there together for his sister's wedding (who lives in Fort Collins). You'll be seeing lots of layouts from our trip over the next few months! Let's just say I filled a memory card ;)

I have a new paper love.. Simple Stories! My sweet friend, Theresa, recently gifted me the Destinations line and it is AMAZING!! I made this 2 page layout tonight of our drive from the airport to Fort Collins.

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We were very surprised how flat the land was from flying over Kansas until you reached the foothills of the Rockies. You could see for miles and miles! The title says "It's flat until the foothills" and uses mixed fonts from the same collection.

I love the sticker sheet that coordinates with these papers. I popped up this camera and "enjoy the journey" diecut.

The journal cards are by far my favorite part of Simple Stories!! I can't wait to use them all.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend.

Tic Tac Toe at TPV! :)

Good morning everyone! It's time for one of my favorite challenges at The Paper Variety - tic tac toe week! Just create a paper project that includes 3 of the requirements, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally :) So many possibilities!

And by playing along with us, you have a chance to win this week's prize sponsored by Freehand Scraps Kit Club!! :)

My project was inspired by a sketch at Sassy Little Sketches:

I used the far right, vertical combination of one photo layout, buttons, and journaling strips. 

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My paper and embellishments are all from the July kit at Artful Delight! I just love the My Minds Eye "Lime Twist" line, especially the title die cuts. I popped mine up (along with the 5x7 photo).

These buttons are so cute and glittery! I used the coordinating MME "Lime Twist" orange twine that came in the kit as well.

Visit The Paper Variety and see what the rest of the design team created and link up your own tic-tac-toe projects. You have until Tuesday at noon to enter.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Cards times two :)

I made two cards recently and wanted to share :)

The first one uses papers from the Echo Park "Splash" 6x6 pad. Love these patterns!

The flip flops were cut from the Life's A Beach cartridge and the Scrappy Moms "Summer Fun" stamp set is perfect for them!! I could certainly deal with wearing flip flops year round ;) I embossed the yellow layer with the "seeing spots" Cuttlebug folder.

The second card was a baby shower card.

I used the Baby Steps cartridge and a Peachy Keen face.. isn't he the SWEETEST! The cloud was embossed with the "d'vine swirls" Cuttlebug folder.  The sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink.

I am really happy with how they turned out! :)

Thanks for stopping by today, my hubby and I are traveling for the next week. I'm so excited about our trip and hope to have LOTS of great pictures to scrapbook with when we return.

Have a great week!

PS: My bestie Abby is having a huge giveaway on her blog. Stop by and check it out!

{{ *Summer Days* }}

How I love summer days! I am enjoying a day off from teaching summer school and catching up on blogs and scrapbooking. I was so excited to see that Pumpkin Spice is having a design team call! Their store is awesome and filled with some of my favorite lines. 

They want to see a brand new entry, just for this challenge using 2 or more of the companies they carry, so I chose Echo Park (Summer Days), Bo Bunny (Sunkissed) and My Minds Eye (Lime Twist). *Echo Park is one of my favorites!!* It is so fun and easy to pair the awesome Echo Park patterns with other lines.

I created a 2 page layout this afternoon with pictures from last summer. Since I got married (I'm the oldest!), one of my brothers and I decided to plan an amusement park road trip each summer to spend some "brother/sister" time together. We both love the big thrill rides! The title says "The 2nd Annual Brother/Sister Date at Dorney Park".

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I just love how it turned out! So bright and summery, just like that day.

Here's the recipe:

• Patterned Paper  from Echo Park - Summer Days Collection Kit; specifically:
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Rainbow; stripe at the bottom and yellow scallops
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Quilt; pattern behind photos
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Big Dots; green scallop layer
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Flowers; pink mats
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Journaling Cards; journal card
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Element Stickers; clouds, sun, banner, birds, ferris wheel
• Echo Park - Summer Days: Alpha Stickers; title stickers
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics: Aqua
• Word Stickers: Bo Bunny - Sunkissed: Cardstock Combo Stickers
• Twine: My Minds Eye - Lime Twist: "Everyday" Twine
• Scallop edge scissors
• Cricut: scallop circle
• Popdots

A few closeups :)

One of my favorite things about Echo Park is their alphabet stickers. I used an extra long title on this layout, mixing and matching the different fonts.

I am *loving* using twine in different ways on my layouts. Here, I wrapped my scalloped edged border strips in a criss cross pattern (kind of mimicking the roller coaster rails).

Thanks so much for stopping by today and for Pumpkin Spice for considering me for the team :) Be sure to stop by their store and may even treat yourself to some new scrappy goodies. It is summer afterall! ;)


Have a great Friday!!!

Make a Wish!

Well, it's in the scrapbook now - so I guess it's true. I really did turn 29 this year. I really AM going to be 30 next year. lol.

I used the latest kit from Artful Delight.... this kit is a MUST have. The My Minds Eye "Lime Twist" papers are so summery! I loosely followed this 2 page sketch.

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The coordinating "Make a Wish" title die cuts and orange/white twine are also from My Minds Eye. I trimmed the bottom off the diecut and placed my 5x7 focal photo in between. Then, I wrapped it in twine and tied a bow.

I also threaded the twine around my star shape (cut on the cricut at 10 inches on coordinating blue Bazzill cardstock also from the AD kit!)

  

Those fun, felt stars are from my friend Tessa's Precocious Paper etsy shop, you guessed it also in the AD kit. See why you NEED it? :)

Stop by Artful Delight and treat yourself!

The Paper Variety: Photo Inspiration

It's photo inspiration week at The Paper Variety!!

I just *love* this sweet picture. Lots of inspiration to draw from: the reading theme, black/white stripes, black/white with a pop of color, book title, incorporate glasses, puzzle pieces.... the possibilities are endless! ;)

Our generous sponsor this week is Nikki Sivils with her Beatrice collection.

I went with the reading theme of the photo. I made a goal this summer to use my cricut and scrapbooking in my classroom more in the next school year. I decided to make bookmarks for my first grade students. This will accompany their birthday book. The quote says "A book is a gift you can open again and again".

I really like how they turned out (and that I used a lot of my patterned paper scraps!!) and hope my students do too.

Head over to THE PAPER VARIETY to see what the rest of the DT created, link up your paper projects, and get the rest of the details on the challenge (including how to be guest designer just by linking up to our Facebook page!).

Cricut Cardz - Challenge #83

The challenge this week at Cricut Cardz is to create a card for a grandparent using any cartridge/colors of your choice!

I made this "sew" cute card for my grandma.

Stop by Cricut Cardz and see what the rest of the DT created and link up your own cards ! :)

It's Christmas in July!

I know, I know, we're in the middle of 90 degree temperatures and we're fa-la-la-la ing at The Paper Variety this week!! But, we have an amazing sponsor prize and a special TWIST in this week's challenge... you can't help but get in the holiday spirit.

That's right!! Our Christmas "gift" to you -- unlimited entries this week ONLY!! :)

So go ahead and get a head start on those holiday cards, catch up on your Christmas photos from years past, and/or create a holiday themed gift to give (you know before the hustle and bustle of December takes over). Upload them all!

We have a new sponsor this week! Check out what Scraptastic Club is offering to our winner:

I created a layout featuring my husband and I all dressed up for his company's black tie Christmas party.  I used the left side of this week's Sketchy Thursday sketch:

I love these photos and was excited to scrapbook them for this week's TPV challenge.

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I used one of my favorite holiday collections, Basic Grey "Jovial".  I inked all my layers, including my photos in black ink. I used 2 different sized scallop border punches/scissors for the edging.

I used the "the most wonderful time of the year" along the bottom and birdie from the chipboard embellishments. My title shape is from the Storybook cartridge.

There ya have it!  Stop by The Paper Variety to see what the rest of our {{new}} Team A design team created and enter your holiday projects all week!

I can count on him.

Well, unfortunately our fertility results were not what we had hoped for yesterday. I am trying to see the silver lining in it all... one thing being I have such a loving and supportive husband. He let me cry on his shoulder as much as I needed and brought me breakfast when I refused to get of bed. He also came back upstairs and dragged me out of bed and told me to go to my scrapdesk and MAKE something to MAKE myself feel better. Well okay, twist my arm I said ;)

I made this layout using the latest sketch from Artful Delight and Leanne's July kit. I love this kit! The fun papers and embellishments make me happy just looking at them.

Anyway, this is a photo of our white board in the office, featuring a little love note the above mentioned husband left me one day last week. Notice how I write things like "call Lowes" and he writes things like "I love you baby" and "you're going to be a great Mom in the whole world". How did I get so lucky?

Not my favorite layout I've ever made, but the therapy of creating was just what I needed.

With more of the kit, I made this card based on the latest sketch at Card Patterns. It's for my hubby to show him how much I appreciate what he does for me and our desire to start a family. And that I can leave him love notes other than "call Lowes" ;)

Thanks for stopping by this morning.

Have a great day!

United We Stand.

Happy 4th of July weekend!  

How appropriate that I created a layout today with my new Bo Bunny "Liberty" collection. I just LOVE it!


I'm entering this layout in their advertisement inspiration contest; following Old Navy's patriotic sale.

I used this Page Maps challenge sketch:

I used only 1 larger photo but kept all other elements of the sketch the same.

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This is my husband Dave reading the historical Gettysburg Address, which is etched on window glass overlooking the battlefields at the visitors center.

The journaling explains how we take for granted how lucky we are to live in such a historical town, where many tourists visit to see the things in our backyard - ESPECIALLY 4th of July weekend. It's packed here!

It's been a while since I took the time to stitch on a layout, but I'm so glad I did. I was immediately drawn to the bracket shape on the sketch and emphasized it with red thread. I also added 3 star gems to the bottom right of the layout, also from the Liberty collection.

The pieces on the top left of the layout are chipboard. I love Bo Bunny's thick chipboard!  This sketch was perfect for the big flourish/star piece. The "United We Stand" title is so fitting for President Lincoln's address.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Have a fun, safe weekend!