My Happy Place

Happy Saturday. It's been really hot here so we've just been spending time at the pool or inside. Today, I took Ryan and his little buddy roller skating. It always brings back such fun memories. I love watching him whizz around the rink.

I have a couple of new layouts today to share. I'm still on my 8.5 by 11 kick! This first one was one I did of a favorite Marco Island photo. I was sitting on a lounge chair, margarita at hand, soaking up the sun and watching Ryan swim in the pool. This photo is now my screen saver on my phone so I can think of our trip everytime I turn it on. I decide to call the page My Happy Place. Since that's exactly what it was!

 I finally got to break into my Studio Calico kit - So Cal.  It was perfect for my page. I did it using their Sunday sketch.

 This next page was on the Webster's blog this past week. I used Game On and cut the title with my Silhouette.

 Pulu was really interested in Ryan's Bakugons one morning. :)

Yep, so that's about it. Sweet and simple! Off to hit Friendly's for dinner tonight.
Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend. :)

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by the other day for my Bazzil Card Shoppe giveaway. The Random Integer Generator chose:

5


Timestamp: 2012-06-28 10:06:06 UTC

...which made Pattyo our winner! Congrats Patty!!! Email me so that I can get your prize package to you. ;)

In other news, I have a sweet Webster's Pages project to share with you today. A while back, my mom asked me to make a card that all of her classmates could sign for their instructor. (She attends what's called the Academy of Lifelong Leaning through UD. It's for people 55 and older and they offer a ton of different courses. My mom loves it. At 81 she's going strong!) Anyway, I digress.  :) Since there were over 30 people in the class, I decided to make a mini book for them to write their thoughts in.

First, I took an 8.5 by 5 piece of cardstock. I scored it at 4 and 4.25 inches and folded it to create the book.

Cut several pages of white cardstock, 8 by 4.75 inches. Score them at 4 inches.

Lay the papers onto the cover and zig zag stitch them down the middle to secure them.

Now your little booklet is ready to go! I covered the front with the sheet music paper. Then I added a doily, layered on a transparency frame and added the door cut from an Everyday Poetry paper.

Then, I embellished it with a princess petal, some dazzle me gems and a stamped sentiment. I added some lace to the spine and tied some twine around the spine, as well.

Here’s the finished product!

I love how this booklet can be so versatile. You could use it to jot down favorite quotes. You could make several and place them on tables at baby showers or weddings for guests to write their comments. Or, you could add your favorite photos and make a brag booklet. Whatever you do, it’s bound to turn out lovely!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!

Bazzil Card Shoppe

It's Monday again! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine went far too quickly, of course. I can't believe it's the last week of June already.

I have something fun to share with you today. Recently, Bazzil sent me a pack of their new Card Shoppe cardstock to try out. It's 8.5 by 11, 100 lb. and smooth finished. The colors are really bright and fun. Here's the image that shows the variety of shades they carry. (Click on this image to get a closer look.)

 Here are the cards that I created with it. I chose to use Crate's Little Bo Peep line to make a set of baby girl cards.

 This first card uses Candy Heart and Cotton Candy. I found that the cardstock was super easy to use. I added the label sticker and trimmed it. I found that I could very easily cut through it even though it's nice and thick. It didn't bend or crease.

 My next card uses Sour Lemon and Robin's Egg. I embossed it and used my Spellbinders die on it and again, it took it perfectly. I added some chipboard and stickers, too. Isn't that bird image adorable?

 On this last card, I used Cotton Candy as a base.  It coordinates perfectly with Little Bo Peep! I painted and stitched the chipboard frame and added some Stand Outs as embellishments.

Now for the best part! Bazzil not only sent me a pack to play with, they sent me a pack to give away! Just leave me a comment by Wednesday, June 27 and midnight EST to be entered for a chance to win it. You'll get a pack containing two of every color shown above.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day! ♥

Wave Runners

Well, as I mentioned in one of my posts recently, I am loving doing 8.5 by 11 layouts lately! They are so much fun. I have two more to share with you today.

This first one is a lift of a page by Jen Gallacher, Webster's GDT for July.  I just love Jen's style and had so much fun doing this page.

 The story behind it is that one day Ryan and my niece were playing with a huge box that a hot water heater had come in. They played inside of it, then used it like a sled to ride down the stairs. Then, when it was falling apart, they cut it up and made themselves into 'robots'. It's amazing how we spend so much money on toys and electronics when all these kids need is a good box!

 I used the Unity background stamp here on a couple of the banners. The paper is from the Girl Land collection.

 And I embellished one of the journaling cards to make the title.

This next page is about another fun Florida memory. We rented wave runners! I had never been on one before. It was a blast. :) Palm Beach was the perfect line to use on this page.

 My Silhouette got a work out on this page. I cut the title and backed it with paper strips. I also cut those fun flowers.

 And see the shells? I found them on the beach and thought they would be cute on here!

Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!

A Couple of Crate Projects

Well, looks like Summer is officially here. And it's arrived with a vengeance. It's going to be 100 degrees today - YIKES!

I have to say, I've been feeling like it's been summer for a while, since we were in Florida last week. We got a head start. I'll be scrapping my pictures for a while for sure. Here is the first one that I did. It's my friend Amanda and me floating around in the Gulf. Yes, it WAS pure heaven. :)

 I made this for the CP blog's Creative Weekly for June. The challenge was to use yellow. I LOVE yellow, so it was definitely a fun task. Stop by the CP blog here, leave a comment and you could win a collection of yellow Crate goodies!

 I cut the background sun rays with my Silhouette and added some twine to the edges to give it even more texture. As you know, I'm loving the 8.5 by 11 pages right now and this one is a new favorite for sure!

This next project is a Memory File I created. I made 12 envelopes so that I could record all of the memories from Ryan's first year.

 I added a photo of him at each age on the front of the envelopes and placed a card with the information on the inside.

 Creating this project was such a walk down memory lane. I can't believe this sweet little baby is 9 already.
(He's still my baby, though. ;) )

If you'd like instructions on how I did the whole thing the tutorial is HERE on the CP blog.

Hope you enjoyed my projects today. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Monday Morning

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Mine was busy, but fun. Our neighbors had a big Father's Day bash, so we hung out outside all day. The kids had a blast in the dunk tank they rented and crabs were picked by all.

I have been busy in my scraproom this week, and will be able to share the fruits of my labor later on this week. But, for now, I have a project I did for Emma's recently. I made this gift card set for Ryan's teacher at the end of the year.

 I used a variety of Echo Park papers on these along with some of their chipboard.

 These little crocheted flowers are so sweet! I added some MME brads to the centers and tucked a Jenni Bowlin butterfly in behind them.

 I placed all of the cards into a glassine bag and wrapped this ribbon around it. Then I decorated the tag using some AC flowers and we were good to go. I tucked a little gift card in under the bow as well.

That's about it for today. I'll be back later this week with some more goodies. Thanks for stopping by!

Back from Vacation!

Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in a bit, but I was basking in the sun in beautiful Florida for the past week or so. We visited Orlando and Marco Island with good friends and had a blast. This is the view I woke up to every morning.

And this is the view that I spent much of my days seeing. :) I"m editing photos now and hope to get them up on Facebook soon.

 I'll be certainly scrapping lots of them! Here is a page I did for Emma's using lots of Echo Park. It's about how Ryan loves watching the Haunting Hour even though it scares him big time. I caught him hiding behind the corner and watching the TV and knew I had to scrap it!

 I added some Mr. Huey Clay and Pumpkin on here along with a few sequins.

Another Emma's project that I made recently is this card. I used a bunch of Crate Storyteller on here. The flowers are Prima.

 I love the mix of colors on it. Don't you?

Well, I'm off to unpack. Ugh. That is the worst part of vacation.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

8.5 by 11

Well. as always the weekend went way too quickly. It was a fun one for sure! How is it that Monday always gets here before we know it? Oh well...

I've been busy doing assignments and such recently and decided to take a break and scrap a photo I've had sitting on my table for a while. I chose to use this week's challenge sketch at Elle's Studio. Here's what I came up with.

 Notice anything? It's an 8.5 by 11 page! I hadn't made one in years, and did one for an assignment last week. I discovered that I really love this size! So, I made another.

 I think I might be hooked! I will never give up on my 12 by 12s, but I'm certainly going to be doing these more often.

 I used lots of Elle's tags on here. Along with some other goodies in my stash. One thing that made it really fun to do was that I could print right on my background paper.

 I did a white on white thing with the doilies and white letter stickers, too. Then, I used the colors from the picture as accent colors.

So, this is my tribute to my favorite food and drink!
I'm really excited to try some more.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. ;)