You make me happy...

Hello friends!  Last week over at the American Crafts blog it was Thickers week and they featured a ton of great projects.  One card especially caught my eye (HERE) and inspired me to create a layout.  I have always loved to sing "You are my sunshine" to my boys so when I saw that card, it immediately got me thinking about what papers/picture/thickers I had to create a layout using part of that song. 

First I found one of my recent favorite pictures of my oldest son and this great kraft, raindrop paper from American Crafts. 



Then, I knew I needed some clouds and this fabulous doily patterned paper spoke to me.

I kept the layout simple...wanting to focus mostly on the picture and title.  But I made it so that the picture lifts up to reveal journaling about all the ways my son brings laughter and sunshine into my life.






Here is the end result:

 
Thanks for visiting today.  We are preparing for our big move followed by a small vacation so if I'm a little absent from my blog I'm sure you all will understand.  Hopefully when I return I will have some more exciting news to share...stay tuned! :)

Up In a Tree

This summer my Dad decided to build a treehouse for my boys in his backyard...what a great Grandpa!  :)  For several weekends the boys and I helped him with this special project and although it's not 100% completed (my Dad still has some grand plans!) the boys just couldn't wait to try it out once the ladder and slide were put in place.  So, of course I had to get some pictures and scrapbook this fun memory!

I thought the American Crafts City Park paper was perfect for this layout!  And it inspired me to create my own tree that I think provides a great anchor for the pictures and adds a playful element to the page.  I used some of American Crafts Campy Trails papers to create the tree along with a variety of green cardstock.  And of course I finished it off with some Thickers and AC brads (Campy Trails collection).  The mini alphabet stickers are My Mind's Eye.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back later this week with a new card to share!

Birthday Celebration

Hello all!  I'm back today with some fun birthday decor items I created this past week using American Crafts Confetti collection as well as some of their yummy ribbon and glitter cardstock!

First I made this fun cupcake...it was pretty time consuming since I didn't have any die cuts or patterns to work with but it was all worth it in the end.  I started with a styrofoam ball and fan folded the happy birthday paper to create the cupcake wrapper.  Then I punched out a bunch of circles and used straight pins to attach them to the styrofoam ball.  Finally I finished it off with some fun ribbon and of course a birthday candle! :)

Then I wanted to make a coordinating decoration using the great new large Flair from American Crafts so I decided it would be the perfect centerpiece for a birthday banner.

How fun would these be to surprise a teacher or someone at the office?!  I think they would be a great way to decorate someone's small work area on their birthday.

Okay, I am off for a day of shopping and packing!  I'll be back soon with a new layout to share!  Have a wonderful day!

Pumpkin Spice Design Team Call

Thanks to my sweet blogging friend Savannah, I discovered a great new online craft store today and they just happen to be having a design team call!  Pumpkin Spice carries some of my favorite brands such as My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, and Crate Paper and they have fabulous prices too!  So, for the DT call the challenge was to create a project using two of more of the paper brands that they carry. 

I am having such fun using these MME playing cards (you can check out two other cards here) and I love the challenge of mixing different papers...such a great way to use up scraps and get extra creative!

Supply List:
Paper:  Crate Paper (Snow Day); My Mind's Eye (Happy Go Lucky); BoBunny (Double Dot)
Bee Card:  My Mind's Eye (Alphabet Soup Playing Cards - Girl)
Ribbon: American Crafts
Alphabet Stickers:  American Crafts
Border Sticker:  Crate Paper
Brads:  BoBunny

Another part of the DT call for Pumpkin Spice is to list my FAVORITE paper company...ack!  I think this is a bigger challenge than actually creating a project!  How can I choose?! :)  Well, frankly, I can't!  I LOVE My Mind's Eye...their boy collections are some of my favorites for scrapbooking my boys (although I love their girl lines too), American Crafts has such fun, colorful collections and I can never have too many AC Thickers or ribbon,  BoBunny Double Dot papers are a staple in my craft room, and I love Crate Paper's eclectic collections.  Honestly there are a few others I could list but I'm sure all of you paper crafters understand!

I hope you all are headed for a lovely weekend!  We will be packing for our big move!  I will be back next week with a layout or two along with some fun birthday decor I've been working on!

Exciting News!!!

After having our house on the market for almost a year, I am excited to share the news that we sold our house!  And just this afternoon our offer on the house we were wanting was accepted!   We have lived in our current house for 9 years so there are so many things we will miss about our home and neighborhood but I know we will create new memories in our next house too.  I was inspired by all our house excitement to create this card.

I love this sweet little HOME playing card by MME.  Some of you may remember the first time I used it to create this card. 

I think I am going to leave this card with a little note for the new owners of our current house.

I just had to share my excitement with you all!  Now I better get packing! :)

hip hip HOORAY!

All the entries are in...the Paper Crafts team is deciding who will get a chance to be their Idol this year.   I know they are going to have a hard time deciding since there are over 1400 inspiring entries.  I submitted 3 cards.  Here is one that I had a lot of fun creating.

Big award-type ribbons seem to be real trendy this year so I decided to create my own version using some yummy May Arts and American Crafts ribbon, Doodlebug Designs chunky glitter, a Papertrey Ink stamp, and some MME LUSH rhinestones.  The colorful, glitter paper is American Crafts as well...love it!
Have a wonderful day and good luck to everyone who submitted cards for the Gallery Idol contest!

And since my sweet blogging friend Savannah introduced me to a new challenge - i {heart} ribbon challenge - I am also entering this card into the current challenge which is to use at least two or more ribbons.  Click here to see the details on the challenge and link up your own ribbon project!

Fourth of July Barbeque!

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope you all have some fun plans to celebrate today.  We are taking the family to see CARS 2...it will be my 3 1/2 year old's first movie experience!  Then later we'll have a BBQ and of course light off some fireworks!

I was inspired to create a treasury on Etsy for the 4th and thought today was the perfect day to share it with all of you!  Enjoy!

You can click HERE to find the links to all these great shops!

All Star

Hello all!  So, I finally found some time this weekend to create some cards for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol challenge.  I thought I'd share one today that was inspired by my oldest son.

He just finished a week of soccer camp where he excelled, is getting ready for tennis camp, and tested into a high level for swimming...yes, I'm a proud mama! :)

This card features several My Mind's Eye products.  I hand cut all those little stars for the banner...a little time consuming but soooo worth it!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!  I'm sorry I've been a bit absent lately but I have good reasons...I'll share the exciting news next week!