GIVING BACK SOME LOVE

This morning I wanted to quickly share a layout I worked on, off and on (well, more off than on) over the weekend.  I used Elle's Studio Love You More Collection that I got during a recent fantastic sale at the My Scraps and More Online STORE.  I also used a gold doily and a heart punch to make my gold hearts that are scattered across my layout.  Now, I gotta tell you, I am new to the Elle's Studio party.  My interest was piqued when I saw my friend HEATHER playing with this very line at our last ever Archiver's crop (still crying over the loss of that store).  But, in playing with these papers and all the coordinating journaling cards and strips that I can fussy cut to my heart's content and then use however I want - well, call me a fish because I am hooked!  This Elle's Studio collection is some awfully sweet bait, though!!!

Can you tell I had a lot of fun layering?  Repeat after me: layers are our friends...

Now, you are probably saying, "Yes yes your layout is pretty but who won the sweet Pretty Little Studio gift certificate?"  Using my fabulous random method of asking my youngest daughter to pick a number between 1-18, THE WINNER OF THE GIFT CERTIFICATE IS SUE DOWNEY!  Sue, I will order your gift certificate today and email the code to you once I receive it!

Thank you to everyone who played along and who left some love and kind words, not only for me but for others!  Words of kindness leave such an incredibly large impact on our lives.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I hope you have a happy crafty week ahead of you.  And if YOU have created something you would like for ME to see and comment on, leave a link in the comment section.  I would love to leave YOU some love, too!!!

Zombie Apocolypse - How We Take a Family Photo

Don't think I ever shared this layout on my blog (don't quite know how that happened) and I SO want to make sure it doesn't get left out because 1) it is made using Pretty Little Studio's Nature Walk Collection that I luuurrrrvvvveeee, and 2) because it has one of those extremely rare photos that includes ALL of our children - at the same time!

We tried to take a nice, normal photo like a nice, normal family.  We really did.  But did I choose any of the nice, normal pics to use for our family photo?  NO!  Instead, I chose the one where, right before I clicked my camera remote, I yelled out, "The zombies are coming!  Quick - what should we do?!"  And...this is what I got.  Yes, I am there doing my super stealthy ninja zombie move - it's apparently designed to kill zombies by making them laugh to death, or maybe that's laugh to a more complete state of undeath....whatever. But I love this pic, and I love our crazy family! *smile*

Want a few close-ups?  Here you go!

Happy Thursday, y'all!  The weekend is almost here!

Back to School with Practical Scrappers

Today at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS, we are showing off our back-to-school themed layouts.  This was a great challenge for me because I usually struggle with fall-themed layouts and that includes back-to-school stuff - maybe because it still feels like summer when the temperature gauge keeps steadily hitting 100+ degrees here in Tejasland!

The Huntress actually has one more week left of freedom before school starts, so I decided to do a little journaling and create a quiz reflecting her current likes (and a dislike) and what she hopes to accomplish in school this year. 

Just like a real quiz, the categories are on the front and the answers are on the back.  Want to know the answers to my 8th grader's quiz?  Yeah?  Here you go:

1.  Favorite movie (A: Scott Pilgrim)
2.  Fave T.V. show (A: Adventure Time)
3. Favorite New Song (A: Wow by BtoB)
4. Besties (A: Crystal and Kamber)
5. A fun activity (A: Getting crafty with Pearler Beads)
6. Can't stand (A: It's still brocolli)
7. Fave Foods (A: Pizza and Spaghetti)
8. This year I hope to... (A: get good grades, have nice teachers, and improve my singing)

My journaling tag tucks nicely into a pocket sewn into the back of my photo frame.

I used CRATE PAPER'S Portrait Collection to creat this layout - an older collection, yes, but it contained the "back-to-school" colors I was looking for without being overly "fall-y" or in-your-face back to school.  In other words, just the right papers for my project!  One thing I love about Crate Paper is that their collections always include a page of paper die cuts, which are perfect for creating clusters or titles - like mine! 

 

I also used this SKETCH found at Page Maps to get me jump started.  My layout doesn't look much like the sketch at all - but it got me going and that's all I needed!!!  By the way, Page Maps is having a contest with this sketch right now which is open for another few days - be sure to check it out!

 

That's it for me today.  Before I go, tell me, what kinds of papers do you prefer to use for your back-to-school layouts?  Do you go traditional and use themed collections or do you buck the trend and do your own thing?  I'm curious...

Be a Rockstar!

An imperfect picture of my perfectly wonderful daughter - playing with a guitar that she wants to learn to play "for real, Mom" - and letting her inner diva shine.  The perfect papers to use were HEIDI SWAPP'S Sugar Chic Collection, of course.  That was pretty much a no brainer!  Those zebra stripes, hot pink, and bold colors are fun and a little funky - just like my daughter!

I Love these H.S. envelopes, which are perfect for journaling that you may want to keep private.  And I wanted to use these American Crafts accordian flowers that were left over on my desk, but one of the buttons didn't work with my layout.  No problem!  I simply added a circle-punched piece of my paper and a heart on top of it, and it was perfect!

Here's another view showing off my sweet cluster and my handmade banner (because, let's face it, I'm a banner addict).

And speaking of banners, reminds me of flags.  And that reminds me of these WONDERFUL flags which are part of the H.S. Sugar Chic Collection.  Pretty cute, huh?

That's it for me tonight.  I'm heading off to bed where I will hopefully dream up my next fun project.  Hope your week has been going well, and you have a happy, crafty weekend!

Remembering the Good Times...

We just came back from one of the best family vacations I have ever been on.  It started out with a long road trip, where we played the alphabet game, sang songs, napped, talked about anything and everything, and stopped at convenience stores and produce stands; and it ended in Florida on a beach with white sand, gentle waves, and beautiful turquoise water.  We didn't do anything particularly special once we got there, but that's exactly what made our vacation so wonderful.  We relaxed.  We played on the beach.  We spent time together.  And we didn't rush anywhere - not once.

Of course, a vacation means pictures, and I still managed to take lots (and lots and lots) of them.  For my first layout using my vacation photos, I chose to go with Heidi Swapp's Sugar Chic Collection.  I had just finished using it for another layout, one that didn't use beach pics.  I still had the papers out and being the completely lazy innovative person that I am, I decided they would do quite nicely for my beach-themed photos, too!

I used a punch to make my flowers - so simple and so pretty!  The small journaling tags were actually from October Afternoon's 9 to 5 Collection, but they matched perfectly so I decided to use them.

If one layer is good, five is better.  Add a little paint and some stitching, and it's practically perfect (in every way)!

I wanted to get Hunter's impressions and thoughts from our vacation, so I conducted a quick interview and typed out her answers.  I fashioned a pocket from the paper behind the pictures, and I made a simple little booklet to place in it, with a picture on the outside and my daughter's answers to my questions inside. 

Vacation may be over, but we have those wonderful memories filed away - just waiting for us to pull out and read (and remember) in the years to come.

Happy Summer, and Happy Fourth of July!