A Little Hello...

Spring has arrived!  The sun is shining here and my tulips are popping up...we are enjoying riding bikes and going for walks....gotta love it! :)  I thought I'd share my 2 cards that did not get picked up for the most recent Paper Crafts submission call.   I created these cards using the 2 go-to sketches.

My first card uses the gorgeous Collectable: Unforgettable collection by My Mind's Eye. 

I love the colors in this collection and the fabulous chipboard pieces made this card easy to put together.  I was able to get more out of the scalloped border by cutting it into three pieces and for that bottom row I separated the two pieces where the flower is (since it would have just covered it up anyway).


My next card was created using Carta Bella's So Noted collection. I had fun layering all the frame stickers and using a frame to feature my sentiment too.

I am looking forward to the weekend...Easter celebrations and time with family.  But I'll be back before Sunday with a little home decor item to share!

Lucky no. 5

This past year, my middle child turned 5 and it was quite the event.  Not because we had some huge party but just because, to him, it seemed to mean a lot.  Months beforehand he would talk about turning five, how close he was to turning five, etc.  He told us he wanted us to hide and surprise him when he came downstairs on his birthday.  A lot of thought and conversations were had about him turning 5. 

Then his birthday came and he was so proud to be 5...making sure to tell everyone (repeatedly).  We did surprise him after dinner by telling him to clean up his room and then come downstairs.  We turned off the lights and yelled surprise when he came down.  He loved it!  I'm not sure why 5 is such a special year for him...maybe because he was born on the 5th, or because 5 seems to be more a 'big kid' age.  Whatever the case, it is special to him and it is special to watch his excitement and pride about being 5 so I definitely wanted to make sure to document it.

When I saw Bo Bunny's current challenge to use the word LUCKY on a layout, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to scrapbook my boy and his lucky no. 5!

I don't know if I was feeling St. Patrick's Day or just coordinating with the color of my son's sweatshirt, but I do love all the green and how it really pops off the white.  I used products from Bo Bunny's Double Dot, Peacock Lane, and new Surprise collections for this layout.  (The card stock is Bazzill, alphabet stickers are American Crafts, and I added Doodlebug glitter on the die cut present.)

I went really clean and graphic with this layout.  At first I was going to do a 1 page 12x12 layout but I really wanted to include the professional photo of my son and it just didn't go with the evening birthday photos.  So I decided to switch to a double page 8.5 x 11 layout so that I could highlight/separate the professional photo and I think it worked well. I even love the look of the title page by itself...but it just doesn't tell enough of the story alone.

I am also entering this layout into Chic Tags Sunday Challenge because it inspired me to use stars!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Cute and Simple with My Mind's Eye

The weekend is here...hooray!  One of my boys is fighting an ear infection and I am lacking sleep but other than that, we're good!  The current challenge over at the My Mind's Eye blog is to use their die cuts like their journal cards, titles, etc.  I immediately pulled out my Alphabet Soup playing cards (hoping they count) to make some fast and fun cards.  I just love all the adorable images on these playing cards.  I bought both the girl and boy sets back in 2010 and since each set comes with 52 cards (2 for each letter) I still have lots to play with...gotta love that!  :)

Anyway here are 4 cards I whipped up last night using the playing cards along with various MME papers, brads, and stickers.

Ahhh...summer.  Can you feel it?!  Since I have two of each card, I was able to cut the sails out of the second card and pop them up on foam squares to add dimension to this card. 

I love this little robot and thought pairing it with the new Boy Crazy collection would make a great Valentine/love card for one of my boys.

 

**OUT FOR PUBLICATION**

And finally....

The heart/polka dot flag on this card is actually the back of one of the girl playing cards that I just trimmed.  I love how the cards are so colorful and just the right size for card making.  As you can see, I just simply needed to dress them up a bit to come up with some fun cards in a short amount of time.

And if you are looking for more inspiration, here are the links to two more of my favorite cards using these Alphabet Soup playing cards:
http://capturingcreativity.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-home-etsy-inspired-challenge.html
http://capturingcreativity.blogspot.com/2011/02/wont-you-bee-mine-mme-challenge.html

To participate in the My Mind's Eye challenge or to see the other entries, click HERE.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Creating Keepsakes Magazine - Readers' Pick Poll

Hello friends!  Well, I have busy crafting away but don't have much to share yet since they have all been for possible publications (one already accepted...yeah!).  But I am stopping in today to share that one of my layouts has been picked for CK's Readers' Pick Poll!!!  There are 3 layouts up for voting and the one with the most votes will get published in the magazine! 

To vote, click this link and then click on the VOTE tab to see the the 3 layouts:
http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/contests/readers_pick_poll.html

I, of course, would love your vote!  However, the other two layouts are fabulous too...so please just head on over and vote for the layout you like best! :)

Here is what mine looks like:

Quick and Easy Easter Card

Happy Saturday!  It is a lovely day here in the Pacific Northwest so we enjoyed some fresh air (after some spring cleaning) this afternoon.   Last week I stumbled upon a (new to me) company called Chic Tags...have you heard of them?  Well, they have some fabulous tags, journal spots, flair, etc.  I especially love these Note Clips, Road Trip Tags, and Autumn Days Mini Tags!  Cute, right?!  Anyway...they also have a challenge each Sunday, and although I don't have any of their tags yet, I decided to play along with their great color challenge this week.

  When I saw these lovely spring colors along with the beautiful examples from their DT, I was inspired to see what I could come up with.  I found these colors in my stash of Echo Park Sweet Summertime papers and, along with a little washi tape, came up with a quick Easter card. 

 

For my egg, I first layered the scalloped border stickers on a scrap piece of white paper and then cut it using my cuttlebug...this way the edges are nice and clean (compared to me trimming the stickers after the egg was already cut).  Love these colors together...so fresh and springy! :)  Thanks to Chic Tags for the inspiration!  If you are interested in checking out their Sunday challenge/blog, click HERE.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

Similar and Different - My Mind's Eye February Sketch Challenge

Hello friends!  Are any of you waiting for new CHA crafting goodies?!  I just got a box of some new MME Collectable today...love it! :)  Knowing that my box was on it's way I thought I better start using up some of my MME stash.  So, I created this layout based on this month's sketch challenge over on the MME blog.

When each of my boys were 6 months old I had this same picture taken of each of them.  I think they totally look like brothers and have a lot of similar features but these pictures very clearly show their differences too.  And since each child has traits that are unique to them, I also documented how they are similar and different in other ways too.  While I am not totally in love with the final look of this layout, I absolutely love the story it tells...and isn't that the whole reason for scrapbooking?! :) 

This layout uses products from Follow Your Heart, Alphabet Soup, Lush, Stella & Rose, Quite Contrary, Lime Twist, Miss Caroline, Boy Crazy, and I just had to add some brads and those fun tiny word stickers from the Collectable Remarkable collection that I opened up today! :)

Do you find yourself not adding journaling on your layouts because it might not look 'pretty' or may overwhelm the layout?  Any favorite tricks you use to combat this?  Once I took a class that recommended at least writing the story on the back of the layout in order to preserve the details of the story.  I thought that was a great idea and try to do that when I don't have much journaling on the front.

Enjoy your evening!

All Aboard...The Love Train! American Crafts XOXO

Today I am super excited to share my project with you all!  I know Valentine's Day has come and gone but I was lucky enough to win the American Crafts XOXO collection this past week over at the Moxie Fab World and I just had to play with it!  Plus, it was the perfect collection to use for Paper Crafts February Gallery Challenge!  I was so inspired that I came up with this...

 Cute, right?!  And just so you know, it does actually fold up (although it is pretty thick).  I think the idea first came to me because of this sweet, Valentine card my son got from my parents.

But actually creating this train card from design to execution was a bit of trial and error. 

For the final design, I started with a 4 1/2 x 12" piece of cardstock which I scored at 4 and 8" and then folded.  For the engine I actually created the template myself but you could probably make it easier on yourself and find some clip art online to print and trace.  My adorable train engineer is from My Mind's Eye's Alphabet Soup Boy Playing Cards.

For the wheels I punched circles out of patterned paper (love those little arrows!) and adhered them to cardstock circles (a must if you want the train to be able to stand up on it's own).  I used 3D foam squares to adhere them to the train cars and then used a border sticker to create coupling rods.

For the two train cars, I cut the cardstock to just 2 1/2 " high.  Then for the middle car I adhered a piece of white cardstock and attached several sticker, die cut, and layered heart embellishments.

For this last train car, I attached a piece of black cardstock which I trimmed with decorative scalloped scissors...I was thinking coal.  Then I just adhered the xo Thickers.  Obviously I covered all the main bodies of the train cars with patterned paper and various stickers/diecuts.

I love how this came together.  Wouldn't it be fun to add 2 more cars and a caboose?!   I might give it a try and use this as Valentine decor...I'm thinking it will look great on my mantle next Valentine's Day!  And I just got some of the BoBunny Surprise collection so maybe I'll make a birthday train next!

I hope I've inspired a few of you to create a train card...I'd love to see yours if you give it a try!  So, feel free to link it up in the comments section below.

Have a wonderful weekend!