Living In Paradise

That's how I feel when I'm walking around my yard marveling at the beauty God has created! Each year I take multitudes of photos that just beg to be made into a layout. The problem is that they are all so colorful it's hard to choose paper and embellishments that don't compete.This year I gave in to the color and used some gorgeous floral Basic Grey paper with even more colorful flowers :) The pop of yellow on the left seems to balance it nicely.

My interpretation of a Creating Keepsakes sketch.

 

I love Basic Grey sticker sheets. They have so many cute icons, aren't the birdies sweet! Martha Stewart border punch and my ever favorite Thickers.

 

I loved how the sketch mixed squares with circles.

 

Prima and Recollections flowers.

Splattering on the background helped keep it from looking too stark. 

 

Another sticker from the sheet, such a pretty journaling spot.

Dad is slowly getting around. The catheter in his chest is quite annoying to him and necessitates sponge baths instead of showers. Hoping the new fistula will be ready in another month or so. Thankfully it's football season and he's semi distracted!

Matthew had an awesome last game of the season with several tackles, 2 quarterback sacks (one sent the quarterback to the hospital :/ Sorry to his Mom), and he ran a 2 point conversion in for his first ever points!!! They moved him up to Varsity for playoffs, hope it goes well. My nails will be gone before the game is over :(

My poor Mimi is burning the candle at both ends. Volleyball, Colorguard, Student Council, Peer Helping, Health Careers Club and I could go on! She is sick with an ear infection now. Thankfully her last Colorguard appearance will be next weekend, so no more practices in the cold & rain.

Off to bed, work tomorrow. As they say...no rest for the wicked!

 

He's a Future Heartbreaker! (Out for Publication!)

My little hunk when he was 2 years old. You can't see in this photo but my husband was pushing him around in this Little Tykes Coupe, he loved that car :)

Cut a heart out with my Cricut and used it as a mask for the spray ink and paint splatters. A little tracing with a marker helped it stand out a little better.

  I never imagined that he would grow up to look like this...

 

Destined to break a few hearts. Sorry in advance to the parents of those ill fated girls.

Dug through my old chipboard stash and found this perfect little stoplight.

Inked the Thickers and accented the bottom of the red letters with some of the blue ink. 

This boy themed collection from Echo Park  is one of my favorites.

I know I've been a sporadic blogger lately. Unfortunately I can't promise to be better. Someone has to take all these photos to scrap. In addition to this job and my full time nursing job, I'm also expected to find lost articles of clothing, keep everything washed and ready, run up to the school umpteen times a day to bring forgotten items, come to games or pick up the persons responsible for this list from practice. Oh and I forgot...bake cookies for the bake sale, come to meetings and be a "Band Mom". I'm sure you all know what I mean...but that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it!

Thankful for You & The ScrapRoom September Reveal!

There are 2 great lines in this month's Doubleshot Kit, Jillibean Soup's Country Pumpkin Chowder and We R Memory Keepers' Hall Pass. Country Pumpkin Chowder was perfect for these photos of my daughter a couple of "Falls" ago and to express how thankful I am for all the blessings God has given me...especially her!

 Aren't these scalloped circles cute! You can do so much with diecuts, add some foam, ink the edges, and layer. I'm sure there is more that escapes me right now.

These little orange alphas are included in the kit, they are a great size for journaling or creating a long title.

Count your blessings everyday.  My new mantra :)

A little brad pizazz.

More layouts with the ScrapRoom's September Doubleshot Kit coming all this week :)

Hello Spring! *The ScrapRoom*

One half of the August Doubleshot kit from The ScrapRoom was Little Yellow Bicycle's Hello Spring line. can't get enough of those bright, cheery colors! The sticker sheet included was loaded with cute, versatile icons and I used nearly every one :)

Mixed it up by using 2 different colors of the cardstock included as the base, kinda a yin yang type of thing.

I've been on a circle kick again and this time with crazy stitching added.

 I didn't add any journaling, sometimes the photos say it all.

I want to kiss those little, serious sweet cheeks every time I look at this picture!

Look at this face, what a cutie...and that bunny is too!

It was so much more fun to stitch out of the lines :)

A little hand stitching too.

 The title is Basic Grey naked chipboard painted white and covered with glitter.

That tree is so stinkin' cute! Kudos to whomever designed it :)

and I have even more to share...

Trimmed the scallops from the diecut included in the kit and made a banner.

Finally broke out my Sizzix Bigz takeout box die and made this cute little gift box.

The opposite side.

The view from the top.

 Even the tag is from the sticker sheet, backed with paper and perfect to jot a name on.

Take some time to hop (pun intended) over to The Scraproom's blog for more inspiration!

 

Love, Laugh & Be Happy *The ScrapRoom*

Hello Spring from Little Yellow Bicycle is right up my alley! I was truly doing a happy dance when I opened the August Doubleshot kit from the ScrapRoom. Bright saturated colors, the cutest icons and happy phrases...who could resist?!

This is my favorite photo of the summer ! Love these girls bunches & bunches :)

The white paper in the center was a diecut with scalloped edges, I trimmed them off and layered the pink over it. The pink is the 'B" side of the adorable madras plaid.

It was fun stitching in a free form circle, much easier that following a straight line.

Used foam squares to add dimension to the stickers, gems and Stickles for some bling.

I can't wait to share the rest of my projects and the other line that came in the Doubleshot kit...

I'm in love :}

If you want to see more amazing inspiration and check out the kits and ScrapRoom store, pop on over to http://scrap-room.com/ and http://thescraproomblog.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for stopping by!

Outdoor Adventures

Is the name of a club for 8th graders at our middle school. One of the science teachers created this club to foster interest in hunting, fishing, and just enjoying the outdoors. One of their excursions is a charter fishing trip on Lake Michigan. It kind of creeped me out that there are fish that big, in a lake I swim in :0

Once again I used an Allison Davis/Sketch Support sketch. My go to site for inspiration. Here is the sketch...

and here is my layout.

Love this Doodlebug paper!

The branch is from the Straight from the Nest Cricut cartridge. The zigzag pattern on this paper made a perfect guide for the stitched waves.

The "Catch of the Day" sign was too bland, a double mat of orange and white were just what it needed.

I hate it when all the fishes face the same way, why can't they make some going both directions? Lol!



I'm starting to lose hope that it will rain before a good portion of my perennials and shrubs die from the drought. Having our own pump has saved the ones closest to the house. Off to do my rain dance...does it work if you aren't a Native American?

Do You Remember...

Is the title of my sneak peek layout using the Pebbles Sunnyside line for the The Scraproom. I was thrilled when Tammy contacted me and asked me to be her Doubleshot guest designer for July, August, and September! Stay tuned for many more projects from this awesome kit :)

A litttle misting, a little confetti, plus some stiching = festive!

Have a great holiday weekend!

All American Girls a *thinkingthroughdesign* Thursday Thought

Our assignment at *thinkingthroughdesign* this week was to demonstrate some form of fussy cutting on a layout. I wanted to convey a patriotic, homespun feel for this layout. This paper by K and Co. was perfect! What says homespun more than a quilt!

This photo was taken at sunset on 4th of July weekend, hence the patriotic theme.

Found some old Tim Holtz Grungeboard letters and embossed them with some glitter powder. The Dresden quilt embellishment was fussy cut and layered, then popped with a die cut from the same line.

A little stitching added to the homespun feel. This was my interpretation of a Sketch Support sketch. I'm so sad that Sketch Support is hopefully temporarily taking a break.

 Take a moment to check out the amazing layouts demonstrating different types of fussy cutting at *thinkingthroughdesign* ! Don't forget you can share your creations too!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Snowgirl *Out for Publication*

Continuing with my Winter train of thought, here is a layout featuring my very own snowgirl. I wasn't always enamored with her sock monkey hat but I admit it's grown on me :) It was love at first sight for me and this Pink Paislee "Snow Day" paper. Love the blue, red, pink combo!

We hardly had enough snow this year to even build a snowgirl :(  Sprayed the kraft background with some Smooch spray ink and stitched it down onto the yummy candycane stripe.

Used a portion of an old K I Memories snowflake laser cut paper and layered a Basic Grey border strip over it. Can't get enough of these borders! This one is layered fabric, felt, stitching and buttons.

The giant snowflake is cut with the "Joys of the Season" Cricut cartridge. I chose this snowflake because it resembled one ot the snowflakes in the laser cut paper. It makes a great frame for my favorite photo.

Still using these very old Sassafrass letters. Popped them with 3L foam squares. Maya Road wooden snowflakes and Pink Paislee diecuts.

Ok...I'm done with Winter for a while, I didn't take many photos this year.

Thanks for stopping by!