Meeting Minnie Mouse

Hey there! I turned in my projects yesterday for the final round of the Design Team call at my LSS. It feels great to be done...I am proud of all the work I have created and hope it will be enough to get me a spot on the team. My oldest son asked me the other day, "What if you don't get on the design team Mom? That would be sad." It was the perfect teachable moment. I let him know that what was important was that I had tried my best and that God has a plan for me which may or may not include being a part of this team. Also, that it has been a great experience, that I am glad I tried, and that I am proud of myself and all the wonderful projects I have made.

So, for this final round I was given a huge packet of Disney themed products and asked to make two 12x 12 layouts and a mini album (though not a very small one - 16 - 5 x 7 pages). Only one minor problem...we haven't taken our kids to Disneyland or Disneyworld yet...a challenge for sure! They said it was okay if I just matted where the pictures would be for the mini album (which I did and I love how it turned out). But I had to use pictures on the layouts so for one of the single page layouts I found a picture of the first time I met Minnie Mouse...take a look:


And the fireworks paper was perfect for a 4th of July page:


Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #42

Do you love photography? If so, you will love the beautiful pictures in this week's Etsy shop, Tony Carlisle's Photo Gallery.

I was inspired by this gorgeous photo:

I can almost smell this rose! :)

So this pretty pink flower inspired me to create a card featuring a little pink flower of my own!


Check out the rest of the team for some more inspiration and then go create a project of your own for your chance to win this week's prize!

• Ashley (Link your projects up here)
  
• Carole (June Guest Designer)
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Jackie
• Jenn (June Guest Designer)
• Joy
• Kristen
• Lee
• Shannon
• Tiffany
• Tonya

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!


P.S. My apologies for this not being posted until 8 am PST...I had scheduled it to post early this morning but blogger chose not to do it I guess...at least it didn't mess up on the main post! :)

Work out Wednesday!

Hello all! Can I just say how exhausted I am today! Somehow I got talked into doing a little boot camp on Wednesdays with a group of friends...what was I thinking?! Actually, I know what I was thinking...it will be good for me, I should get back into a regular work out routine...etc., etc. But I am wiped! I honestly do not think I have worked out that hard for about 7 or 8 years...not that I don't exercise (occasionally) but I just do a little treadmill or bike and some weights...none of this running up hills, push ups, and medicine ball stuff! :) But it WILL be good for me, right?!

Anyway, how about I share two of my latest projects?

I have been enjoying decorating my own gift bags lately and even had a custom order for a few at my Etsy shop.

This card was also something I made up for my shop...I just love Cosmo Cricket's Everafter paper...such great colors and pretty patterns.

This week I am working on my final projects for my LSS Design Team call...wish me luck!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #41

It's Saturday!!! Time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge and I just LOVE the shop this week! Potato Patch has some really adorable onesies and shirts for babies and kids.

This one would be perfect for either of my boys! :)

But this is the one I was inspired by:


I created a fun Fourth of July card with a child (specifically a young girl) in mind. This project was also one that I submitted for my LSS DT call.


Those adorable big buttons with the polka dot ribbon are actually a bracelet. The clasp is on the inside of the card and all the recipient has to do is cut an extra piece of ribbon that is holding the bracelet in place to release it from the card. I thought it was a pretty cute idea for a little card/gift to send to a young girl for the Fourth of July.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Etsy Inspired Team!

• Ashley (Link your projects up here)
  
• Carole (June Guest Designer)
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Jackie
• Jenn (June Guest Designer)
• Joy
• Kristen
• Lee
• Shannon
• Tiffany
• Tonya

So, on a personal note...my oldest graduated from Kindergarten yesterday which is exciting and sad all at the same time. I can't believe how much he has grown and learned this year...he is already reading chapter books and his math skills are quite impressive too. Can you tell I'm a proud Mommy?! :) I don't know how I am going to be able to let him go to first grade ALL day next year! :(

Anyway, thanks for visiting me today! I hope you enjoy your weekend!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

I just got a phone call from my LSS and I have made it into the final round of their Design Team Call! I am bouncing off the ceiling over here...I am so excited! Over the weekend my LSS had the round 2 layouts displayed for everyone to see and when I saw my competition I wasn't sure if I would be making it to the next round...there was a lot of talent on those pages! And I didn't think my layout was quite as good as the one I submitted for the first round (which you can see HERE). However, I did really like my extra projects and I guess they did too! :)

Want to see my layout? I actually did one about myself for a change! :) Here it is:



The card on my layout is one my Dad made for me for my 30th birthday. I get my creative jeans from him! :) I usually just scrapbook pictures but when I was working on this layout the card fit in so perfectly and I thought it would be such a nice way to treasure this extra special card from my parents.

Thanks for stopping by today! I will keep you updated on the DT process...I have an interview on Monday! :)

And if you haven't yet checked out the Etsy Inspired Challenge this week be sure to check out THIS POST...you could win a great eco-friendly prize!

Have a great day everyone!

To My Valentine

I know Valentine's Day is a LONG ways away but Deanne's sketch for this month had a heart on it and I was inspired to create a Valentine's Day Card. You can check out Deanne's sketch HERE. And here is my card:


For this card I used some patterned paper from DCWV spring stack, rub ons from Hambly, and Taylors Tiny Twinkles from Taylored Expressions. And you may be wondering about that adorable crocheted heart, which in my opinion 'makes' the card...I met a sweet and talented seller on Etsy, Anna from Betafly, and she crocheted up the most adorable little flowers (to be seen on a project soon!) for me and sent me a few of these hearts as an extra special surprise. Thank you Anna! If you are interested in some crocheted embellishments, be sure to check out her shop...she is super nice and willing to do custom orders, not to mention she's a fellow Washingtonian which gets her an extra star in my book! :)

Thanks for stopping by today! I will be back in a day or two to share another one of my projects that I made for my LSS. Have a great day!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #40

Hello all! Happy Saturday! Today I am taking my boys to a picnic and my oldest has a baseball game too...so we will be out enjoying all the beautiful weather we are having here in Washington! :)

This week's featured Etsy shop is Naturally Felt which has some wonderful, eco friendly, reusable bags...gotta love that right?! We definitely use way too many plastic sandwich bags so I LOVE this idea...too bad I can't win this week's prize! :)

I was inspired by the colors on this bag ----------------------------->

and the butterflies on this one.


Since I have been working on all those projects for my LSS I have been trying out some new ideas and found a fun little butterfly box template by QBee on SCS which you can find HERE.

Here is my version:


And I made 4 little mini cards to go inside too.

Well, that's it for me today...I will be back tomorrow or Monday to share another project. Go see what the rest of the Etsy Inspired team created today:

• Ashley (Link your projects up here)
  
• Carole (June Guest Designer)
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Jackie
• Jenn (June Guest Designer)
• Joy
• Kristen
• Lee
• Shannon
• Tiffany
• Tonya

Have a great weekend!

Another Round Completed

Hello everyone! For those of you who visit me regularly you know I have been busily working on projects for the 2nd round of my LSS Design Team call. I turned in my 10 projects today!!! I won't know until next week if I have made it through to the final round or not but I definitely gave this round my all and tried to showcase my style through various projects. I will be sharing my projects with you all throughout this week and next.

So, the challenge for this round was this: They gave me 4 sheets of colored cardstock, 4 sheets of white, 3 1/2 sheets of patterned paper, 2 large flowers, 3 large buttons, and 1 sheet of cardstock stickers and I was to make a 12 x 12 double page layout and as many other projects as I could make using the supplies I was given. It was definitely a challenge but I am really happy with how my projects turned out.

Today I am going to share one of my favorites with you...



Don't you think this turned out cute?! :) It is my own design...no die cuts or templates. And I also decorated a little container of chocolate covered cherries to go with it.



Hope you all are enjoying your day! I am going to take a break from crafting tonight and clean up the mess I have created in my crafting area! :) I'll be back on Saturday with my Etsy Inspired project!

YART SALE on Etsy!!!

Did you know that Etsy has a Yart Sale? There will be a ton of shops participating...offering discounts, free shipping or free items with purchase. The official dates for the yart sale are June 10 - 14th, however I have started my sales already this evening.

I just put several brand new stamp sets up for sale including a few from Papertrey Ink! And I am including 2 matchbook notepads for free with every order made during the yart sale.


So come take a peek at my shop, CapturingCreativity.etsy.com, and while you're on Etsy be sure to browse a little...you might just find a fabulous item for a great price! Have I enabled you enough yet?! :) Okay, well have a good night...I am off to see what I can find! :)

I will be back Thursday or Friday with pictures of some of my projects for my LSS Design Team call.

Etsy Inspired Challenge #39

What a beautiful week it has been...I hope yours has been just as wonderful! Today is Saturday which means it is time for another Etsy Inspired challenge! This week's shop, Chicy Creations, is full of adorable hair accessories, tutus, and onesies for little girls.

I love ribbon and was inspired by these little polka dot hair bows.


These bows and the shop just felt so fun, bright, and cheerful to me. So I inked up my newest Unity stamp set, Mix Up of Cuteness and along with some polka dot ribbon I created these tags:

Simple but sweet! Check out all the fun projects from the other DT members:

• Ashley
• Carole (June Guest Designer)
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Jackie
• Jenn (June Guest Designer)
• Joy
• Kristen
• Lee
• Shannon
• Tiffany
• Tonya

And then go find some inspiration from Chicy Creations and come up with a fabulous project of your own! Make sure to link it up to Ashley's blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win this week's prize!

In other news...I made it to the 2nd round of the Design Team call for my LSS! I am super excited but this round is extremely challenging and I only have 8 days to complete several projects. Wish me luck! :) I will post my projects next week sometime and hopefully they will be good enough to get me a spot on the team! :)

Brothers

Remember when I said I was going to try out for my LSS Design Team? Well I just turned my 12 x12 double page layout submission in today and thought I would share it with all of you too! I, of course, had to do a layout of my two boys! :)




Aren't they the cutest?! :) Watching them together brings me such joy...they are very loving brothers.

This layout was based off of a sketch provided by my LSS...I didn't follow it exactly so I hope I don't lose any points for that. But I should know by Thursday if I have made it through to the next round (there are 3). I will keep you posted! :)