Tuesday, May 31, 2011

hangin' in there

It's hard to believe that I've lived in Washington for 4 weeks now! The last month has been mostly a blur...getting settled, unpacking, enrolling the kids in school...all of the fun things that go along with moving. I'm still waiting on phone & internet which is driving me a bit crazy! Blogging while sitting in McDonalds is getting a bit old!

Anyway, we're discovering our new town & one of the things we love is that there is a great park just down the road from our house. My kids want to go there all the time! And since we had some beautiful weather yesterday we took some lunch & headed down there to enjoy the afternoon :)
I used the Mary Ellen kit for this layout along with the alphas from Jump & Jive. I cut out those great flowers from the OA paper as an accent on the side of my photos along with those great wooden buttons...the ones that my puppy hasn't snatched from my craft table. Apparently he likes 'em, too ;)
 
I added some butterflies as a final accent. Can't get enough butterflies these days!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Birthday cards!


Don't forget about the
"They Say It's Your Birthday!!"
challenge!

Make something birthday-ish and let us see it!
Layouts, cards, decorations, gift wrap, tags, whatever!
Play along with us!

I made a couple of cards using the Mary Ellen kit.


*****
OUT FOR

PUBLICATION
*****





In my opinion you can never have too many extra birthday cards on hand just in case!!
*****
You have until the end of the week to participate in the challenge.
There is a prize pack of some of the oh-so-cute Cupcake Love line from Little Yellow Bicycle up for grabs to one lucky winner!
So show us your birthday projects!!

*****
And have a happy Memorial Day!
God bless our troops!
:)

Friday, May 27, 2011

A croppin' good time!!

Testing...testing......1...2...3...
I am officially mobile blogging for the first time EVER and I can't tell you the pressure of not knowing how this is all going to turn out! Right now I am at a crop at my friend Terri's house and am having a blast! Here's a few snapshots of my space.

So that's all for me! What kinds of things are you working on this weekend?

just be

There are moments in life when we have to just let go of our fears and insecurities and just be who we're meant to be. The last few months have been filled with that for me. And everything has almost come together...
So I just wanted to encourage you today. If you're thinking about it, take the leap. Whatever it is for you.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Cultivating a Grateful Heart with a Gratitude Journal

I've got a little app on my iPod touch that has been fun to record the things I'm grateful for each night.... but as much as I love technology (heh good ol' Napoleon Dynamite), sometimes a girl just wants something that is more concrete.

I made this simple book so that I had a more permanent place to keep my grateful thoughts in.
It's really simply made out of paper kraft bags and patterned papers & embellishments from several NoelMignon kits (especially Mary Ellen &Jump and Jive).
I also threw in some papers from a little Jenni Bowlin Studios notebook I've had for a long time.
And masking tape. Of course, masking tape. :)




I hope to fill it up very quickly with gratefulness...

We Love Cake!


I still have birthdays on my brain so today's layout is a new one of the girls digging into their birthday cupcakes made by yours truly. My girls have food allergies to wheat, eggs and peanuts so their birthday cake has to be especially made for them. Luckily, it tastes really good! :) I played around more with "Mary Ellen" on this layout and even pulled out my Cricut to cut out a birthday hat. 


The title was made with alphabet stickers by The Girls' Paperie, Sassafras Lass and Cosmo Cricket (in the kit). The patterned paper for the birthday is by Pink Paislee and My Mind's Eye and I topped the hat with a crepe paper rosette by The Girls' Paperie (all in the kit). 


I used one of the cut out circles from the hat as an accent at the top of my photos along with a Crate Paper brad and sticker (in the shop). 


See you next week!
Jill

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Birthday Close-ups

The birthday parties have come and gone at my house but I am still working on getting all of my pictures scrapbooked. This year I remembered to take closeup shots of the food and presents. It's something I tend to forget every year. I am always more concerned about getting shots of the blowing out of the candles and the gift unwrapping. So I challenge you to do the same at your next birthday party. Take time to take shots of the guests, decorations, etc. And then remember to scrap them. Here is a layout I did of the little sweets I baked up for my daughter's tea party birthday theme.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

birthday cards

I'm still sifting through the last of my boxes & trying to get organized but I managed to get a few birthday cards done. My card reserves are pretty low so I need to replenish.

Not much to these cards, pretty simple :)
I love that We R Memory Keepers tag that came in the last kit...perfect embellishment for a card. I also added a Jenni Bowlin pearl flower that came in a previous kit.
I added some butterflies to this card accented with stickles. I just love that lace ribbon!
I also love using double sided patterned paper for cards because not only the outside of the card is pretty but so is the inside!

And that's it! Happy Tuesday friends :)

Monday, May 23, 2011

A couple things to share!

Happy Monday folks!
First of all, here is the layout I did as part of the winter tag game we just finished.
I love the layout by Kimmy that started it all off!
And I love the layout by Virginia that inspired this layout...
(I used mostly the Very Virginia kit for this layout)

This game really stretched me to make a layout differently than I normally do & I love the end result!
__________________________
And secondly, I have been playing with the Mary Ellen kit!
{there are still a few available}
I was organizing pictures on our computer last week and came across this one from a few years ago.
I love finding stuff like this that brings back a flood of memories!
And you know what that means...
It must be scrapped!
:)
(everything is from Mary Ellen except the Basic Grey chipboard numbers that I pulled from my stash)

Have a great week!!
And don't forget to be checking out Noel's Deal of the Day!
I was pumped to pick up some Stickles & baker's twine last week for a great price!!
:)
gretchen

Friday, May 20, 2011

It's a very merry un-birthday!

We are having birthday fever this month! Whether you have a birthday, someone you love is having a birthday, or you just feel like celebrating your un-birthday, here are a couple of projects you can make to fit the occasion.



I used the Mary Ellen kit, with a few extras thrown in, including some birthday sentiments from SRM and their awesome tube, too! I love creating little gifts that are quick, cute, and just add a little something extra to the regular old card we normally give out.

Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Britt

birth day


Ironically enough, when I started thinking back to my birthday this past year, I remembered that it was a little bit disappointing. No dinner out, nothing special. NOT my hubby's fault. It had to do with everything going on at the time.

Thankfully, I did make an effort to have fun when we celebrated later!
Check out the latest challenge up on the challenge blog! It's all about birthdays! 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dino Dude Birthday Part



We're all about the birthday celebrations this month on our design team... lots of family birthday parties! Jill and I both are posting today about our children's birthdays; Jill with her ADORABLE vintage girly party, and me with a dino dude birthday.

It might not be 100% scrappy, but just using the creative skills you learn by thinking outside of the box in scrapping, can help you in your birthday party planning!

My little guy turned 5, and after much deliberation, we went with a Dino Dude birthday party.

I couldn't go overboard with decorations and accessories, because I was told that wasn't very manly (or boyly, as Atticus says!), but I did what I could!

We gathered up all the dinosaurs in our home and used them to decorate our front porch.
I also made some cute cake toppers out of some die cuts I found at my LSS.
I didn't get a shot of these in action (note to self: HIRE someone to take pictures at the next birthday party!), but I wrapped patterned paper around old formula cans that I saved from when Ariana was on formula, and put pretzel rods and silverware in them.
The dino dudes quite enjoyed themselves.
For party favors, I cut out vinyl from my Silhouette machine in dinosaur shapes and adhered them to plastic cups. The boys also took home compasses and tiny dinosaurs that I found at Michael's.
Dinosaurs love dirt cake, I'm told. I made it more dirt-like by crumbling up a chocolate sheet cake and layering it in a trifle dish with chocolate pudding and crushed oreos... and worms, of course.
We had a plethora of dinosaur books on hand, to look at while waiting for our turn to play a game or two...
The dino dudes dug for wooden, dinosaur bone puzzle pieces (from Michael's for only $2!), along with donning a dinosaur costume and knocking down block towers with their tails. We also hunted for dinosaurs hidden in the yard.
With just a little creativity and a spin on old favorites, we made this party ours! It was so fun!











Vintage Little Girls' 2nd Birthday Party



I'm so excited to share the details of the girls' 2nd birthday party. We went with a little girls' vintage theme - all soft, floral and girly - and I made all of the decorations myself. I fell in love with Crate Paper's Emma's Shoppe collection the first time I saw it so that's what I built the party around. To give you a little background on the party - we're waiting until the girls are a little older before we start inviting their little friends to birthday parties. For one thing, we have so many family members come that we would probably need to have another party just for friends. So when they are older and invite friends, I'll most likely expand the party a bit by adding games and party favors. 

Here's a photo of my kitchen where a lot of the party action took place.


I created the banner using my Cricut and cutting the pieces out of Emma's Shoppe patterned. I inked each of the pieces and then sewed the tops of them together in a banner using my sewing machine and pink thread. Then, I tied pieces of light pink tulle in between the pieces. It was simple, pretty and set the stage for the party. 


I made the birthday cake myself this year. It was nothing fancy but I did use my favorite new recipes for chocolate cake and buttercream frosting that my friend, Virginia, alerted me to from KevinandAmanda.com. I'm usually not a chocolate cake fan but this is seriously the BEST chocolate cake I've ever had and will be my go-to recipe from now on. 

I also made the cake topper by creating a banner. I cut the banner pieces using my Cricut and sewed them together again. The middle piece was created using a paper doily, a scalloped circle and a "2" foam Thicker by American Crafts. I hot-glued three of the pieces to lollipop sticks and then stuck them in the cake.


My girls are allergic to wheat, eggs and peanuts so I have to make them separate cupcakes. I just use a box mix from the health food section at my local grocery store. The cupcake toppers were created using vintage little girl tags by Pretty Little Studio. I just hot-glued them to lollipop sticks and stuck them into the cupcakes. The little ruffled cupcake liners were just ones I picked up at Michael's. I borrowed vintage blue and white and red and white trays from my sister to hold the cupcakes and other party decor. 


I created the party centerpiece by placing vintage children's books on top of a tray. The "vase" is actually a recycled tulle spool (that I used on the banner). I covered the spool with patterned paper, a "2" Thicker by American Crafts and a raffia bow. The doily flower was made by scrunching up three paper doilies and securing them with a silver pipe cleaner. The red beads were something I once bought at Hobby Lobby around Christmas time. (By the way, I borrowed the red and white checked tablecloth from my mom). 


I had fun creating the girls' party hats once again this year. The bases are created by cutting a huge circle out of an entire piece of 12 x 12 patterned paper. The circle is then cut in half and folded into a cone and secured with hot glue. (You can get two hats out of once piece of paper). I accented the hats with blue and pink crepe paper by Melissa Frances (cut into strips and hot glued). 


The marshmallows were fun to make and my girls loved eating these treats. I dipped them in pink Wilton's candy melts and added sprinkles before placing a lollipop stick in the middle. These were displayed on another vintage tray. 


And here's my invitation...I kept the design simple since I had so many to make. The "2's" were cut using my Cricut and the patterned paper is also by Crate Paper. 


On the inside, I adhered the party details and a punched strip (punch by EK Success). 



And here are my little birthday cuties sporting their birthday hats and tutu's. It was a beautiful day for a party and I'm so happy everything came together as I envisioned it. 


Thanks for looking! :)
Jill

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Purge Mode


I am currently purging some of my old items that I don't feel I need any longer. Every so often, I will come across an item that I had forgotten about. Like the bright Lily Bee papers I have been holding onto forever! I mixed a few items from the Jump and Jive kit. I love this layout! It just eminiates summer!


What makes you feel like summer?

Happy creating!
Diana