Summer Bucket List

So, this weekend Big Picture Classes had a great Creative Crop for National Scrapbook Day.  There were 10 challenges and I found time to play along with a few.  Challenge #3 by Tami Morrison was to create a Summer Bucket List layout.  I LOVE this idea and was so inspired that (instead of just making up my own list) I decided to have conversations with everyone in my family to see what was on their 'wish list' for this summer.   Then I used journal cards to document everyone's Top 5 and created this page...

This was so much fun!  And I am really glad to have this documented as I think it captures a lot about us as a family, my kids' personalities/ages, and what our summer 2013 will likely look like.  I put each person's  first initial on the journal cards to remember which list is whose in the future and  I put boxes by each item so we can check them off when we do those activities.  Hopefully we will check them all off by the end of summer!  :)  Then I plan to create another 12x12 layout with some photos that highlight items from our lists.  I am soooooo going to use this idea again!  Thanks Tami!

I hope you will consider giving this a try too!  It would also be a fun idea to do on New Year's Day...hmmm...I might just have to see what my family's bucket list will be for 2014!  :)  I'd love to see your bucket list if you give this a try so link it up in the comments below and I'll come take a peek!

LOVE Our Family - Echo Park NSD challenge

Well, I managed to get one layout completed for National Scrapbook Day.  I don't know about you, but I am not a fast scrapbooker so trying to complete one (let alone multiple) layout in a day is a challenge itself.  :)  My scrapbooking usually looks like this...Day 1: pick some photos I want to scrapbook and find papers that compliment them  Day2: Play with the layout of photos/papers and think about the story I want to tell  Day 3: Put the layout together and add embellishments/details 

I can be a bit of a perfectionist so I like to revisit my layout over several days.  So, needless to say this is probably not my most impressive layout ever but I am proud that I completed it in an hour and sometimes I just need to remember that it is the telling of the story/capturing the memories that is most important!

I created this layout for Echo Park's NSD Challenge #2 - Layout of Love and also for Big Picture Classes' Creative Crop Challenge #5 - a sketch by Lisa Day.

 

The journaling leaves a little to be desired but I wrote...love this man, these boys, this life...

And at the heart of it all, that is what I feel when I look at this photo...blessed.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy National Scrapbook Day!

 

 

Bring on the Sunshine! - Echo Park NSD Challenge

Hello all!  I hope you are having a fabulous weekend!  Are you doing any scrapbooking?  There are so many great challenges to participate in since yesterday was National Scrapbook Day.  I am hoping to get one or two layouts done but usually I take a few days to complete a page (especially when the weather is so gorgeous!).  However, yesterday I did get have time to create a card for Echo Park's Summer Card Challenge.

Back in 2010, when Echo Park released their Sweet Summertime collection I immediately fell in love with this company.  I bought TWO of the Sweet Summertime collection packs (so I still have some in my stash).  I just love the happy, colorful, and playful designs that Echo Park comes up with and Sweet Summertime is still one of my favorites (although I am loving all their new Photo Freedom collections too!).

Sunny, yellow paper just makes me happy...how about you?!  You know those little strips at the bottom of scrapbook paper that show the pattern on the other side?  I often cut them out to use as a little accent strip or little flag but for this card I just cut my patterned paper so that the strip is still connected.  I love how it immediately creates a little border for my card and you could switch it to the top if you wanted and tie the twine around the little strip of white that separates the two patterns.

Hopefully I will be back later today with a layout!  Click HERE to see all of Echo Park's NSD challenges.

Sweet Baby Decor

So, we all have jars of buttons sitting around (right?!...please tell me I am not the only one!), probably getting a bit neglected since there are so many embellishments to choose from these days.  For me, my jars of buttons are almost more décor at this point!  However, for my project today I dug into my jar of Papertrey Ink Spring Mix Vintage Button Collection to create this...

I love the look of button frames so I got to thinking about how I could use the idea of framing with buttons to create a home décor item and came up with this pretty little wall hanging...perfect for a baby shower decoration or baby room décor.

First I die cut 4 circle frames out of chipboard which I then painted white.  I backed them with patterned paper (Echo Park's Love Story Collection) and added the AC thickers in the middle of each circle.  Then I adhered the circles together, punched a hole in the top of the first and last circle frame, and began laying out the buttons until I was happy with how they looked and adhered them.

Next I punched holes in each corner of the slide frame (from Crate Paper's new collection, The Pier), backed the frame with patterned paper and added the sentiment and buttons.  Finally I threaded some ribbon through the slide frame and connected it to the circle frames for a cute wall hanging.  And after I made a sweet card to go with it yesterday (see HERE), I decided it needed a little something more and added those pretty pink flowers (Maya Road) to the ribbon.

Other ideas/tips:
* Fill the circle frames with pictures of the new baby.
* Add the birth date to the slide frame.
* Use buttons to create a frame around a sentiment on a card.
* Instead of putting buttons all around the frames, consider clustering buttons in random spots around the frame to create a more dramatic accent to the frame.

Are you wanting to dig into your button stash?!  If so, Chic Tags' Sunday Challenge is to Use Buttons on a project!  I am entering my project into the challenge and you can too, just click HERE.

I hope you all have a lovely day!  The sun is shining again here in the Pacific Northwest so I am going to go out and enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Shabby Chic Card - Look Who Just Arrived

Oh what a lovely day...the sun is shining, I got some weeding done, played with my boys, and had time to make a card!  Hooray for a good day!   :)

I was inspired this week by the new Fusion Card Challenge (sketch only) and Cath's beautiful Tuesday Trigger (shown above) over in the Moxie Fab World.  When I saw the trigger a few thoughts came to mind...Spring, pretty, soft and sweet, floral, pink, and white.  So, I started digging through my stash and when I came across this gorgeous floral paper from Echo Park's Love Story collection I knew it was the perfect starting point for my card.

The paper inspired me to stray a bit from my normal style and go more shabby chic...

I based the layout of my card off of the Fusion #4 sketch (shown below).  I began by distressing my Core'dinations cardstock just to soften the look a bit.  After adhering my patterned paper I layered some pink ribbon and crocheted lace (Hero Arts) across the card.  Then I added some tulle behind my pink flower (Maya Road) and pleated some pink ribbon across the bottom of the slide frame (from Crate Paper's new collection 'The Pier' {insert puffy heart here!}) and adhered both to the card.  Finally, I distressed a small piece of the cardstock so that a lot of white was showing and stamped my sentiment in Antique Pewter (just a touch of metallic like the Tuesday trigger), trimmed it, bent it a bit to give it more dimension/interest, and adhered it with the button to the corner of the frame. 

Here is a close up so you can get a better look at the distressed sentiment flag, slide frame, and lovely ribbon layers. 

I hope you've enjoyed my project today because I will be back tomorrow with a coordinating gift/décor project!  :)

To play along in the Fusion challenge click HERE or the Tuesday Trigger challenge click HERE.

Hope you are enjoying some sunshine where you are today too!

Birthday Party Decor & I'm a Cover Girl!

Well, I have been busy crafting for some submission calls but I wanted to stop in to share one project that I decided to make just for fun!  I am getting ready to celebrate my little guy's first birthday so I have been looking around the blogosphere for all kinds of inspiration and trying to decide on a theme and decorations.  So, last night I was playing around with my supplies and came up with this project...perfect to add a little fun to your food/dessert table or even to place at the birthday boy's place setting.

 

Fun, right?!  For this project I wrapped a little juice can with washi tape (4 layers to hide the images on the can).  Then I had fun decorating the can with Echo Park's Scoot stickers.  To create the flags I used a wooden dowel (although wooden skewers work well too).  I made a larger pennant style flag and decorated it with more stickers then accented it with the two smaller flags.  I love the candle and confetti paper...if you are in a hurry, simply creating a few of these would add a little whimsy to your party table decor!

 

Still not sure what I'm going to do for my little guy's party but I'm sure I'll have more party decor items to share soon!  And in July, Paper Crafts' new Birthday Creations magazine will be coming out and guess who has a project on the cover?!  Me! :)  Sooooo excited!  

Finally, in my search for great birthday party ideas I discovered a fabulous blog that I'm sure many of you would love as well...The Hostess With the Mostess.  There are truly some AMAZING birthday themes/parties that people have come up with and photographed beautifully. 

Have a lovely day!  I am hoping to get a few more projects started...

Fall Fun Layout

Hello all!  I am in my last trimester and am full of energy to get things done around the house...yeah!  I have also been making time to catch up on my scrapbooking.  I am using submission calls to really help motivate me with the hope that at least one or two might get picked up! :)  This one, however, did not so I thought I would share it with all of you.

Also, I wanted to remind you all that you still have time to play in the first Unique Crafters Challenge to win a fabulous prize!!!  Check out all the details HERE.
Thanks for stopping by...I'm off to get more done!  :)

Joy - Etsy Inspired Challenge #130

Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured Etsy shop is Artwork by Lori which has fun and unique prints and paintings for you to be inspired by.

I really liked these retro circle canvas paintings and they inspired me to create this card.

This card was super easy to put together. I just used a piece of Echo Park's Sweet Summertime paper and a bunch of the coordinating stickers too. I love when a project comes together so quickly and the result is still great...these colors and fun patterns just make me smile!

Our sponsor this week is the Charleston Scrapbook Company which offers a huge variety of crafting goodies. Would you like to win a $10 gift certificate to their store?! Or a print from Artwork by Lori?! Head on over to Artwork by Lori and find an item that inspires you. Then create a project of your own and link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday at noon for your chance to win!

Stop by and visit the rest of the design team to see more Etsy Inspired projects!

• Angi
• Ashley
• Carole
• De
• Emily B
• Jackie
• Joy
• Kerry
• Libby (March Guest DT)
• Ruby
• Savannah
• Sherry
• Virginia

We have had a busy week and our weekend shows no sign of slowing but we will be spending a lot of time with family so I'm not complaining. For those of you who may have family or friends affected by the earthquake in Japan, my heart goes out to you...you are in my prayers.

Celebrate! - Etsy Inspired Challenge #125

Hello! Welcome to another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week I have a feeling you'll be getting out your flowers and bling to create. Our featured shop, Daisy Petal Designs, offers vintage glamour earrings and lots of pretty accessories! I was inspired by all the floral pieces and these colorful earrings to create a fun layout.


I just love this paper from My Mind's Eye and the sticker accents are from Echo Park's Summertime collection. I was inspired to create my own layered flower using a few different types from my stash.

This picture is from my oldest son's first birthday...we made everyone put on Tigger party hats and take pictures with him! :) I love that my aunt and uncle were more than happy to oblige! I can't believe my little guy is turning 8 this weekend...such a big kid now!


Our sponsor this week is Shannon's Sentiments. Some of you may remember Shannon from our Design Team awhile back. Now, along with creating beautiful cards, she is creating lots of great digital images and sentiments too!

Check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details on how to play along in the challenge and what you could win!!!

And visit these lovely ladies for extra inspiration!

• Angi
• Ann (February Guest DT)
• Ashley
• Carole
• De
• Emily B
• Jackie
• Joy
• Kerry
• Ruby
• Savannah
• Sherry
• Virginia

Have a wonderful weekend! We will be having lots of fun celebrating my son's birthday with friends and family!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #110 - Capturing Creativity (Hey that's me!) :)

I am super excited about this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge because I am the featured Etsy Shop and Sponsor!!! I love the Etsy Inspired Challenge, am so thankful to Ashley for choosing me to be a part of her team (over a year and a half ago), and it actually is partially what inspired me to start my own Etsy shop! So, I can't wait to see which items of mine inspire you this week! You can check out my shop HERE.

I was inspired by my Peace on Earth card to get out my chipboard shapes and Doodlebug Designs chunky glitter (love this stuff!) to create this fun card.

a is for apple

I used the current sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You to create this card, along with some Echo Park Summertime paper, PTI cardstock and buttons, and American Crafts foil thicker. I think it will be perfect for giving to my son's preschool teacher.

So....want to know what you can win from my shop if you play along?! One person will win a creativity kit filled with fun supplies for creating a mini album, scrapbooking, or card making. And another person will win an Accordian book and stamp set.



All you have to do to play along is:
- Visit my shop!
- Find an item that inspires you and create your own project
- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday the 22nd at noon

Be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team to see what inspiring projects they have come up with! Some of them have even used goodies from my shop!

• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Joy
• Rebecca (October Guest Designer)
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

Have a wonderful weekend! We will be enjoying some soccer, a birthday party, and probably a trip to the pumpkin patch too...fun times!

Bee Mine - Etsy Inspired Challenge #98

Well it has been quite a week for me...tons of projects, a possible new home on the horizon, and lots of activities too. I am looking forward to a slightly quieter week next week. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful so hopefully I can find some time to enjoy it! :)

This week's Etsy Inspired Challenge features a great little shop, EmenGee Designs, filled with fun purses, jewelry, and hair accessories. I absolutely loved this little Bumblebee mini clasp purse, which they just happen to be giving away to one lucky winner this week!

Here is my bee card:

I love these sweet little bees from Doodlebug Designs and paired with the cute blue and yellow paper/stickers from Echo Park's Sweet Summertime collection, I think this card turned out to be pretty adorable! :) The fun glitter letters are American Crafts Dear Lizzy Thickers.

This week we also have a great new sponsor, Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and one lucky winner will receive 3 digital stamps of their choice!

If you are new to the Etsy Inspired Challenge, you can read a little bit more about the rules HERE. But it really is quite easy to play along with us. Simply visit EmenGee Designs and find an item that inspires you. Create a project of your own and link it up to the Etsy Inspired blog by Friday at noon PST. Then check back Friday evening to see if you've won one of the great prizes!

Also, the Design Team always loves your comments and they might just inspire you a little more too!

• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Heather (July Guest Designer)
• Joy
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

And our 100th challenge is coming up in two weeks...mark your calendars because you are not going to want to miss the amazing prizes we have in store! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

2 Sketches 4 You Challenge

Well, I have been crafting my little heart out this week and I absolutely had to make sure to create a few cards for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge because the winner will be getting a spot on their Design Team! What a fabulous prize!

So I came up with two different cards based on Laura's Sketch #56.

First up is a fun little Valentine/Love themed card.

This pretty in pink card uses Papertrey Ink cardstock, Bo Bunny double dot paper, Doodlebug Designs chunky glitter (love this stuff!), a ticket from Teresa Collins (Crush die-cut charms), and some seam binding. I love how perfectly seam binding threads through my sewing machine so I can easily create this ruffled look. I actually did two layers to give this card extra frills. :) I also popped one of the hearts up on some foam squares for added dimension.

For my second card I went with a fresh color combination and simple sentiment.

Can you tell I'm on a bit of a glitter kick this week?! :) For this card I used some of Echo Park's Sweet Summertime collection and American Crafts Thickers. Do you ever use up all your semi-colons, periods or dots for the i's and j's? I don't...so I've been working on some creative ideas for using them up. For this card I used them to create the circle. I like how it adds focus to the sentiment.

Okay, that's it for me today but I will be back tomorrow! Have a great afternoon!

love - Etsy Inspired Challenge #95

Today is an exciting day for the Etsy Inspired team because we have 4 fabulous new design team members and a new guest designer for the month too! I just want to personally welcome the new gals...I have already stopped by your inspiring blogs and I can't wait to see what you have created for your first week! :)

I love the shop we have for you to be inspired by this week! Kimmie Prout is filled with fun and colorful polymer clay embellishments...perfect for card making and scrapbooking!


I adored the colors and designs on these buttons and immediately pulled out my Echo Park Sweet Summertime collection to start crafting. I was also inspired by 2 Sketches 4 You current sketch challenge. Instead of squares I used hearts and I really like the end result. The letters are from American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection and the cardstock is Bazzill Basics.

If you like these buttons too then you are definitely going to want to play along in the challenge this week because Kimmie Prout will be giving one winner $15 plus free shipping for her shop. And we also have another wonderful sponsor this week, Pink Cat Studios, who will be giving one winner 5 free digi images!

Okay, now I know you are ready to play so head on over to Kimmie Prout's shop and find an item that inspires you, create a project of your own and link it up to the Etsy Inspired blog for your chance to win!

Before you get started be sure to visit the new Design Team! I know they have some amazing projects for you to be inspired by too!

• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Heather (July Guest Designer)
• Jackie
• Joy
• Kerry
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Sweet Summertime Pinwheels

Happy Friday everyone! I have been trying to find time to craft lately but I have been too busy playing outside with my boys! :) I did make some time this morning though to participate in a new challenge that I have had my eye on for awhile now, The Shabby Tea Room.


The challenge this week was to be inspired by this photo which immediately made me think of Echo Park's Sweet Summertime collection. I also was inspired by Scrapbook Trends current challenge to use circles on a project.

If you want to participate in either of these challenges you still have time...projects are due by Sunday.

Okay, that's it for me today...off to play some more with my boys! Don't you just love summertime?! Maybe I'll have enough energy to work on some projects after they go to bed tonight! :)

Bring on the Sunshine!

Today was absolutely gorgeous here in Washington! It was great to finally have some sunshine and play outside all day with my boys. It has been busy, busy around here with the end of soccer season and end of school drawing near...so many events to attend and help out with! :)

My card for the Etsy Inspired Challenge this week fits in perfectly with this lovely day, my sunny mood, and our featured Etsy shop this week, My Zoetrope!




For this card I used Limelight's Sketch and one of my favorite new collections for the summer, Echo Park's Sweet Summertime.

I was inspired by all the beautiful colors in My Zoetrope's shop...I especially loved this butterfly painting. And here is a closeup of my card. I added some rhinestones (Taylored Expressions tiny twinkles) to the butterfly and pinwheel and folded the butterfly's wings up a bit for some added dimension.

I'm sure you will find lots of inspiration from My Zoetrope's shop too! If you play along in the challenge you will have a chance to win one of her prints or some fabulous pens from our sponsor this week, Sakura of America. Check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details!

Pay a visit to the rest of the Design Team to see their Etsy Inspired projects!

Alex (June Guest Designer)
Ashley
De
Emily
Joy
Shannon

I have a mini album and scrapbook layout to share over the next few days so stay tuned! :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!