missing her…

Meagan has been gone all week to EFY.  I know for many of you, that’s not really a big deal – but for us it most certainly is!  We don’t do sleepovers, so for any of our kids to be gone overnight is pretty rare…but it’s especially rare for any of them to be gone for an entire week…so rare, in fact, that this is the FIRST time it’s ever happened!  But we know she’s having a GREAT time because she’s called a couple of times to let us know.   EFY is an amazing week-long “camp” of sorts…only without tents, hikes, and “rough” stuff.  I can’t wait for tomorrow so I can pick her up and she can tell me all about it!

I guess it was my missing her last night that inspired this card.  It’s not really for her, since she’ll be home in less than 24 hours, but she was certainly my inspiration. :o)

 

I’m STILL loving this line by Cosmo Cricket – Upcycle – the colors are just so bright and happy and fun!  I find myself going back to it again and again. :o)

Upcycle Elements Paper (the big flower is from this sheet)

Upcycle cardstock stickers

Upcycle buttons (I LOVE these buttons – the colors work great with so many of my favorite lines!)

Upcycle 6x6 Pad (Those tiny dots are super cute – I love how the large designs are reduced in size in this pad – perfect for cards!)

Upcycle Carnation/Elephant Paper (I love the light gray paper that comes with this set and the back side is a perfect pink!!)

Pink Tiny Type Stickers (for the word “miss”)

White Cardstock for the card base (I had previously cut a 12x12 piece of cardstock down to 8 1/2” wide for a layout…this card uses that 3 1/2” strip that was left over – I hate to waste any of this cardstock – the texture is perfect!)

Corner Rounder (a staple in my tool box!)

fabrique friday…

It’s Friday…and I have another fun little tip for using your Slice Fabrique!  Did you know you can cut wool with your Slice Fabrique?  You can!  I used wool felt for a fun project earlier this year – these fun little coasters & coordinating card:

Here are a couple of tips for getting the best cuts on wool/felt:

• use a high quality felt – the more inexpensive felt isn’t wool and it’s pretty flimsy.  It’s hard to get a good cut on this cheaper felt.  It’s not impossible – but you’ll save yourself a headache or two if you just invest in the wool felt!
• Use fresh adhesive on your cutting mat
• Remember my tip a few weeks ago about cutting twice?  (You can see it HERE)  You’ll definitely want to cut twice when you are cutting something this heavy.

Have you tried cutting wool or felt with your Slice?  I’d love to hear any tips or tricks you might have! :o)

Remember to check out the Slice Fabrique page on Facebook as well as the Slice Fabrique Website & Blog for lots of useful tips, and fun project ideas!

Happy Friday!

the small things…

I am having so much fun with Cosmo Cricket’s Odds & Ends line!  I used it (exclusively) on my latest 8 1/2” x 11” layout. 

I think I mentioned a while back that I’d kind of gotten away from this size of layout, but the last few months I’ve made several.  I feel like I’m “coming home” in a sense – I was really reluctant to ever jump the 8 1/2” ship and get on board the 12” x 12” party.  But now I can say I’m glad I tried it – and now I love working with both sizes and incorporating many sizes in our family scrapbooks. 

I cut a bunch of these fun circle shapes from one of the patterned papers and used them as embellishments on my layout.

Of course I had to add machine stitching and some buttons as well. :)

It’s true – it is HARD to get all four of my kids to cooperate with me and actually hold still and look at the camera at the same time.  I used to think when they got older they’d be more cooperative…not so much.  Now it seems one (or more) gets an attitude or just plain doesn’t want a photo.  So when they’ll hold still, look at the camera, and even smile – now that’s a good day in my book…and just like the layout says – I’m going to cherish the small things…like getting all four kids in a photo! :o)

To see (and purchase) the entire Odds & Ends line, click HERE!

• Sampler Paper
• Eclectic Paper
• Junk Drawer Paper
• Remnant Paper
• Scraps Paper
• Vintage/Grass Cardstock Paper
• Odds & Ends Cardstock Stickers

Social Club Buttons

19 photos later…

I was looking through some older photos on my computer last week when I came across this fun set of pictures.

 

I was so excited to take pictures of the first day of summer vacation a couple of years ago - and, as usual, I took way too many!

 

Oh well - that's what photoshop is for, right? I loved reducing the photo sizes so I could fit a LOT of photos on this 2 page spread. There are a total of 19 (yes, NINETEEN) photos on these two pages!

Since we took the kids to a state park up in the mountains of Midway, these great outdoors/campy products worked well. :o)

I shared this layout on 2 Peas yesterday – you can see it here.  The theme for the design team for July has been “Summer.”  Be sure to check out all of the garden girl layouts for lots of fun summer project ideas!

White Cardstock

Elk Creek Trail Paper

Big Pine Creek Paper

Salmon Cove Paper

Cedar River Trail Paper 

Timberline Resort Paper

Social Club Elements Paper

Hello Sunshine Delights

Campy Trails Tags

Hot Dog Ribbon

Campy Trails Path Stickers

Mixed Ledger Tiny Type Stickers

Aquatic Hardcover Thickers

Corner Rounder Punch

happy happy…

Sometimes a super simple card is the best kind – at least I think so. :)

Happy Friday! :o)

Upcycle 6x6 Pad (gray and green papers)

Upcycle Borders (tag and stitched strips)

Scallop punch (I just tucked the circle portion under the other paper)

foam tab circles (under the flags for dimension)

good morning…good morning…good morning…

Can you hear that Echo?  There’s a lot of that going on here today…actually there has been a LOT of that going on here for the last couple of weeks.  Echoing, I mean.  But not that kind of Echo…I’m talking about the Echo Park Paper Company type of echo! :o)  I let the information out a little early – about joining their in-house design team, so you probably already know that – but what you may not have known is that I’ve been busily working on projects for their booth at CHA.  And today I get to share some of my projects – wanna see???

I was able to work with three of the new lines being released this week:

The Apothecary Emporium is a fun line for Halloween.  I love that it’s not super “cutesy” but not totally distressed and vintagey either – it’s a good balance for me.

And here are a few projects I created with this fun kit:

First up – a layout:

And a few cards:

And how about a candy tube (before it had candy in it):

Next up – Victoria Gardens – this is such a pretty line with soft feminine colors and designs – but you KNOW that won’t stop me from using it on some BOY projects, right?!?

Here’s a layout I made for the booth:

(these are not the best photos of my projects – I was in a hurry so I could get them sent off in time and so I had to take the pics outside…in full sun…so they look kind of washed out – but they are so NOT washed out colors in real life – they are gorgeous!)

The old fashioned lamp post sticker is my favorite! ;)

Of course, there are cards too:

And finally, here’s their 3rd release that I was able to play with – and this one was a big secret until today!  Happy Days! :o)

I opened up this package and all of a sudden I was a little kid watching re-runs of Happy Days while my mom cooked dinner…yes, I am old – but that doesn’t mean you have to be old like me to appreciate this collection! ;)

Here’s a layout:

And some cards:

And a quick little treat bag:

Working on these projects for CHA was so much fun – I truly love all of these lines and I’m looking forward to sharing a lot more Echo Park projects here on my blog in the very near future!

But wait, there’s more! 

Echo Park is actually revealing an ADDITIONAL three lines that will be coming out soon – they shared the big announcement on their blog this morning.  Here’s a peek:

Holly Jolly Christmas:

Season’s Greetings:

And Dots & Stripes Christmas:

You can click on the images to see each line in it’s entirety – and you’re definitely going to want to take a peek – not only to see the gorgeous papers and designs…but some of these lines even have coordinating brads, extra stickers, and even stamps!!

And now…because you’ve read this HUGE long post, I’d love to share a little something special with you.  Are you ready?  Listen carefully…how about a giveaway…giveaway…giveaway?!?  Leave a comment on this post telling me which of the first three lines is your favorite and you just might win it for yourself!  (The holiday lines are not available quite yet – but watch for possible giveaways in the future.) 

So…which is your favorite out of these lines:

Apothecary Emporium  -  Victoria Gardens  -  Happy Days

Leave a comment with your favorite out of these three, along with your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.  I’ll choose a random winner on Thursday morning.  Good Luck! :o)

my very first garden project…

No, not that kind of garden…I still don’t have a green thumb – quite the opposite actually…I’ve had people give me plants and flowers that “anyone can grow,”  “nobody can kill,” “don’t need any extra attention at all,” and I can kill them.  It’s almost guaranteed!  I wish I could garden…but I can’t – maybe I’m cursed.  It’s a good thing Brad can plant, tend, and nurture all things green (especially since we now live in a home surrounded by trees, bushes, and lots of grass, lol). 

Anyway.,..that was a tangent I didn’t mean to go on.  What I meant was that I wanted to share my very first project as a “Garden Girl” at Two Peas In a Bucket. 

You can see all the details HERE!