Another Layout from the...

"Big Book of Scrapbook Pages" to share. I originally did this one for a Creating Keepsakes call for layouts using glitter. The negatives from the chipboard sheet saved me! I had the big flourish but had used the smaller one on a previous layout. Tracing the negative onto another sheet of chipboard and cutting it out solved the problem!

Fussy cut the flowers from the patterned paper and the vellum underneath. Doodlebug glitter on the flourishes, then sprayed them with fixative to help the glitter stay! I still had glitter everywhere when I was done. I would go somewhere and people would say " Do you know you have glitter on your face?"!

Those 2 had such a great time that summer!

Time to work outside for a while & then to Saint Joseph for a trip to Silver Beach, the carousel, giant fountain and whatever else we can find. My sister is here from TN with my niece. Our Great Uncle passed away and the funeral was yesterday. He loved fishing...maybe that is who Matthew inherited from :)

A Bumper Crop

of lightning bugs has caused a flurry of activity at our house. Mariel & my Niece Grace are dashing around the yard chasing literally hundreds of them!

I've noticed some fellow scrapbookers are posting their layouts from the "Big Book of Scrapbook Pages" so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon :)

This is my favorite layout of the bunch. Sometimes the imperfect pictures are the ones that inspire me the most! Mariel was trying her best to get into and stay in the hammock at my BIL's house during their son Kyle's graduation party. I took a lot of pictures that day but this one jumped out at me.

I used the Cropodile to punch holes in the chipboard circles and inserted gems into them.

The thumbnail photos were the perfect way to symbolize the difficulty of mastering the hammock and life sometimes!

My day ended with happy mail :) A request from Creating Keepsakes for the January issue! Hope you had a good Monday!

Productive Day

In a non scrappy way. Spent 3 hours outside edging, weeding & planting. Roasted my hinney off (I wish) and got a little sun. Sat on my deck and listened to the birds & waterfall while admiring what I'd accomplished :)

Here are a couple of pics of the view from our deck. I had to resize the pics to cut down on the upload time so they aren't as clear as usual. If anyone knows how to get crystal clear pic on here I'd love to know!

The pond

 Quick shower then a trip to Kalamazoo for an orthodontist appointment followed by meeting up with my friend Lyn and shopping. Found some capris for myself and a couple of outfits for Mimi. who knew it would be so hard to find shorts with an inseam bigger than an inch!!! What are these designers thinking? Do they let their 12 year olds run around in short shorts?  Mimi is so sweet, she always remembers to say thank you :)

Quick stop at Guitar Center for strings & picks for a very put out Matthew, "Why can't I go too?!". Sorry dude...girl's night out. Here is a pic of my own Bubba Ruth :) at his last baseball game.

Yummy dinner at Noodles. I highly recommend the Japanese pan noodles with shrimp.

A stop at Hobby Lobby for a new Cuttlebug embossing folder "Allegro" (lovely music notes), a SEI paper pack from the clearance section, and a new ultra fine point Sharpie. Off to Micheals, not one thing to entice me so I purchased adhesive. Our final stop was Jo Ann's. Can you believe I'd forgotten my coupon! I actually walked out with nada!

Sorry no scrappy goodness to share, just everyday tidbits :) Hope you had a great day too!

I'ts a Good Day

When I'm on call for 8 hours & don't get called in! Eric cooked his own Father's Day dinner, apparently he likes his cooking better than mine, now that he's a house husband :) Ribs, baked beans, pasta salad and fruit salad (I made at his request), YUM!

Had a few hours to scrap and completed this layout. There is a little glare on the transparencies in the photograph.

 Here is the sketch:

 

My take on the Becky Fleck Pagemap.

A Red Headed Woodpecker, Cardinal and a squirrel were just a few of the feeder visitors that day.

I punched and layered the transparency over the circles & used it on top of the picture matting. I love how it brings out the branches in the photos.

Supply List: Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Basic Grey, K&Co.;Transparency: Making Memories; flowers & border stickers: K&Co.; letter stickers & ribbon: American Crafts; punch: EK Success; circle cutter: Coluzzel, Provo Craft; diecut: Cricut, Provo Craft; pens: Marvy Le Plume II, Sakura; adhesive: 3L, Tombow; misc: floss.

Now I'm off to do some much needed mowing! Thanks for visiting my blog :)

Snips & Snails

and Puppy Dog Tails. Love the phrases on the "Boys Will Be Boys" Cricut cartridge! I was in love with this sweet boy from the minute I held him but these pics really made my heart melt :) He looks so GQ, posing in my magazine basket. It's hard to believe he is almost 15 years old.

I instantly thought of these stickers and the adorable puppy dog. I'm so happy Echo Park came out with this line, it's so hard to find primary colored papers! I trimmed the photos down to minimize the clutter in the background and used the embellies to hide our dog's blurry head in the foreground.

The vellum helped tone down the bright colors so your eye is drawn to the photos.

Title is popped and yellow accents are DCWV glitter paper. Of course no layout of mine feels complete without some stitching.

Snips & Snails Supply List:
Cardstock: Bazzill, Die Cuts With a View; diecut border: Bazzill; patterned paper: Echo Park; letter stickers: Making Memories; stickers: Sticko, EK Success (dog,plane), Martha Stewart (tag); flower: Recollections; punch: EK Success; circle cutter: Coluzzle, Provo Craft; pen: Marvy Le Plume II; adhesive: Paper Studio, Tombow; misc: floss, vellum.

Off to the Farmers Market to try & sell more plants tomorrow. Wish me luck! Thanks for stopping :)

Finally...

A new post! Sorry to those who've been checking for new & exciting things to appear :)

I finally have a new layout to share. Everytime I see these photos, I smile.  Matthew wouldn't climb into Santa's lap until he had that little pack of cookies in his hands...never mind that they were being handed out at the end of the line. He wasn't going anywhere until he had his cookies :}} Isn't it funny how some personality traits follow us to adulthood ,teenagehood in his case.

The background is misted over a mask I pieced from a lace diecut by Anna Griffin. I love how it created a spot for the title. The sparkly steam was created by cutting vellum on the cricut and then (without removing the diecut from the cutting mat) covering with dry adhesive and glitter. Carefully peel and voila! If you use liquid adhesive on vellum it will curl up pronto and is nearly impossible to uncurl! (life/vellum lesson #1)

Sorry for the teaser...had to remove :)

The cup came from the "Joys of the Season" cartridge and is popped with foam dots. The chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread boy are created with the "From My Kitchen" cartridge. I couldn't find a plate by itself so I used the slice of cake icon and cut the cake off the plate!

Supply List for Cookies for Matthew:

Cardstock: Die Cuts With A View; diecut patterned paper: Jenny Bowlin Studio, Anna griffin; patterned paper: K&Co.; letter stickers: American Crafts, Artic Frog, October Afternoon; chipboard stickers: Basic Grey; gems, glitter dots & pearls: Recollections; spray ink: Smooch, Clearsnap; marker: Marvy Le Plume II, Sakura, Sharpie; diecuts: Cricut, Provo Craft (Joys of the Season, From My Kitchen, Storybook, Straight from the Nest cartridges); glitter: Jo Ann Crafts; misc: floss, vellum.

I'm also thrilled to say that The Big Book of Scrapbook Ideas is out in the stores and I'm a contributing artist *insert happy dance*. Look for 4 layouts from little ole me! There is so much talent and inspiration in this book, you will be amazed!

Highlights of Last Week

Tuesday I received a *star* day. This is a day off without pay when the census is low. The downside is that I still have to be "on call", ready to come in if they need me. This means no gardening or heavy housework as I'm known to get very dirty doing these activities ;) So I wandered around the gardens taking pics. Here are a couple...

               Chartreuse Spiderwort        

My Matthew Kitty & Jinx

 Wednesday, busy at work! Off early Wednesday to dash home for
Mariel's band concert...

Then a mad dash to the soccer field for the end of her last game. Next to Pizza Hut for the end of the year party. Holy moly...who knew 10 preteen girls could be so loud! Don't you love the expression (not!) She hates having her picture taken right now. She'll soon figure out I'm not going away :)

Yum!

Baseball game Friday night...

In the dugout. Matthew is the one with the cheesy grin, who knows what they were talking about :)

Through the chain link. Finally figured out to put the camera setting on landscape to get it to focus through instead of on the link!

Saturday was  dance recital dress rehearsal and pictures...

I did her hair and the curl fell out within an hour, grrrr!

Grandma Carole did it on recital day. Thank You Grandma!

Sunday was recital followed by my best friend Lerita's parents 50th wedding anniversary! No pictures from their celebration, I was too pooped to putt by then!

So hard to take good photos onstage, these didn't turn out too bad...

She was so beautiful,  I cried.

Thanks for sharing my busy week! Hope to get back to scrapping by the middle of June :)



"Happy Dance"

Received one of those "jump up & down" emails yesterday :}} Watch for me in November Cricut Magazine!

Busy weekend...2 baseball games, dance dress rehersal and recital. Hope to have time to post photos tonight or next week. Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend too!