Bear---glitz design paper...

this kismet paper from Glitz is in the July kit at Scrapbook Circle. I was looking at it--it had me stumped. I liked it yes, but how to use it? Then I decided to trim off the stars and use it as a separate embellishment:

The stamp again is one of those .99 cent We R Memory keeper stamps. they added just the right touch. the sequin? it's vintage! Given to me from my mommy--thanks again!

The title--I love. That crackle accent paint from Ranger is SO fun to use. It's easy all you do is put it on the project and let it dry. Voila--gives you a unique title without having to do much.

supplies used:

pattern paper: fancy pants, glitz designs

stickers: Pink paislee

stamps: We R Memory keepers

scallop circle: cricut

title letters: Girls' paperie

sequin: unknown

punch: EK success

Thanks for stopping in today!

World cup fever....and a crafty share....

Anyone watching the world cup?! Did anyone see the game yesterday between Argentina and Mexico? Crazy! Now that the US & England are out we are routing for Argentina! I guess our second choice would be Brazil. It just amazes me how good these guys are--and how DRAMATIC--my goodness.... here is the official song for the World cup by Shakira--LOVE it! Keep your eye open for the guy in the black shirt, they show him a couple of times. It's Messi from the Argentine team--he is AMAZING!

Isn't it fun?!

Now that I've got that out...here is my crafty share for today:

I made this on Saturday at church, it's a family home evening board. The wood is painted brown, and there was a piece of metal glued to the front I covered it with some lovely October Afternoon and Bella Blvd. The stones have magnets on them. I still need to take pictures of everyone so that we can make their assignments for Family Home Evening.

Busy getting ourselves ready for a fun trip--TOTALLY looking forward to getting out of the heat and enjoying family.

Thanks for stopping in today!

chocolate cake from scratch!

• I made this cake for Father's day last week. I've been meaning to share this recipe with you now for a week! It's really yummy and if you have all the ingredients on hand a cinch to make! Keep in mind that when you make it, it will have the consistency of pudding but when it bakes it will look like a normal cake. It is however RICH!
• 
  
• Hershey's Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

I don't use the frosting they suggest I use another one of their recipes that doesn't require cooking AND it is SO rich and YUMMY! (I have a niece who will just eat the frosting off the cake....cracks me up! means that this frosting is GOOOOD! :) )

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

We are having a quiet Sunday before church, it's sort of nice not having to run somewhere..... Thanks for stopping by! I will have something crafty to share tomorrow, I need to put the finishing touches on something and take pictures of others! Have a Great day!

Our Day...

As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention.." I created a layout with my remaining 3" x 3" crate paper squares...I had to get VERY inventive on how so be able to use it all.

To start off I sprayed the cardstock with some Candy apple red glimmer mist.

And then for this border I cut my piece of paper at 3/4"--I got 4 pieces and folded them and sewed them together.

I then drew different sized flowers, cut them out and sprayed them with glimmer mist clear coat gold and scrunched them up then dried them with my heat emboss gun and CAREFULLY unfolded them and assembled them. they look very pretty in person.

My hearts were also hand cut. (I folded the paper in half and drew half the heart and then cut.)
the title the top word actually said out I just cut an r off of another word in the strip....

I think the best thing about this layout is that it all came from my stash! Glad I used the jeweled swirl--it's glue was starting to get gummy and almost hard to get off it's card (guess I've had it for a while!) I'm just pleased with how it all turned out.

I forgot to tell you this is my brother-n-law & sister-n-law a couple of years ago, it was so cute the kids waited SO patiently to see them. Then they followed them around like a little flock of birds....

I do have to tell you last week I bought myself a new pair of scissors--I've waited for a 50% off coupon from Michael's and they were SO worth it!

They are sharp enough to cut my thread from my sewing machine. The handles are soft and pliable, and the cut is such that you can get in there and do fine detailed work. I haven't cut anything sticky yet but they are also supposed to be non-stick too! So if you are in the market for a new pair of scissors, these are pretty nice!

well, it's supposed to be VERY hot here today like 112 degrees! Yuck! Glad we have inside activities to do today. Thanks for dropping in!

supplies:

cardstock: Bazzill

letter stickers: Girls' paperie

pattern paper: crate paper

pearls: Basic Grey

jewels: Basic Grey

sewing

rubon: pink paislee

felt: creative impressions

string of pearls: Kaiser

embossed cardstock: coordinations

punches: ek success, martha stewart

Scrapbook Circle is having a Design team CALL!!!!

Here are the details for the design team call:

Design Team Benefits
Our monthly kits of newly released scrapbook supplies delivered to you
Exposure on Scrapbook Circle’s gallery, blog and Facebook Page
25% off any add-ons you want to purchase (shipped free with your kit)

Design Team Responsibilities
Complete 4 layouts each month using the kit of the month
Post weekly on our blog
Participate daily on our Facebook Page
Post your layouts in 2 web galleries each month
Host 1 blog challenge during your term

How do you apply?
Email the following to lisa@scrapbookcircle.com:

5 images of your favorite layouts
Link to your blog
Short bio including why you want to be on our design team
List of other current design teams you participate on
List of any scrapbook forums where you regularly participate

All submissions are due by Friday, July 2.

We will announce the new design team members by Wednesday, July 7. The design team term will be from August 2010 – January 2011.

International submissions are welcome.

I have to tell you on a personal note Lisa is AWESOME to work for, you don't know unless you try! So what are you waiting for?

crazy for cards, crate paper, and just plain CRAZY!

Yesterday morning I got rolling early making cards, some were made with scraps from my May Scrapbook Circle kit (which was PACKED with Crate paper--LOVE it!) And some were made from 3" x 3" pieces that I got from CHA--I liked the paper SO much I saved it!

The stamp I used here is from Provo Craft.
The stamp I used here was Hero Arts.

The stamp I used here was Close to my heart.

All the stamps I used here are from the $1 bin at Michaels. In fact the flower and branches are just new last week.

Yesterday, was just plain CRAZY busy--but good. DD had her first babysitting job yesterday--quiet exciting for both of us. She did well and wants to go again. Gym, haircut, piano lessons, swimming, reading, returning dead plants to Lowe's, and getting a Bosch mixer tuned up.

Today, USA is playing in the world cup! In fact it's on RIGHT now! Thanks for stopping by--make it a GREAT one!

July page share and a toot!

As promised a layout from the July kit:

my daughter took this picture of my hubby and I last 4th. I was so glad to be able to scrap it with this AWESOME red paper from Glitz. The kraft paislee paper is from Jillibean Soup..this was just so fun to do! Everything you see is included in the July kit except the pearls, I punched the smaller butterflies with the "borrowed" punch from my mommy... :) It's by stampin' up!

For my flower, I took a coffee filter and sprayed the tar out of it with candy apple red glimmer mist. The first spray was just SO light I had to see how far I could go with the color. I LOVE how it turned out. I scrunched it after I sprayed it and then because I'm not patient--I blew it dry with my heat embossing gun. I recommend you don't get to close and you do it on the back side--it got a little charred.... :) I then topped it with a cork button and pearl from stash.

As for my toot! My birthday card (the one I made for girl's camp, scroll down a few posts to see the others.) using the delovely line from Cosmo Cricket was featured on their blog today! Yeah, Me!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting! It's a hot one here--THANK GOODNESS for air conditioning! :)

Just gotta tell ya....

that the new site is up at Scrapbook Circle and it looks AWESOME!!

And this is a look at the July kit--this is sure fun to work with AND you don't just have to do patriotic things with it! I'll start sharing my layouts here in a couple of days..

I have it on good authority that there will be a Scrapbook Circle blog hop coming up with some fun prizes STAY TUNED!

Hello--it's been a WEEK?!

Man, has it ever been a fast paced, busy, tiring week! I did manage to make some layouts with the July kit for Scrapbook Circle but I gotta wait to share with you! they are fun! I did make this little diddy from cut scraps off my desk in a good clean out:

What you can't see is that this paper is embossed, therefore the stamp looks a little wonky...but I still like it! The butterfly was cut with my cricut. The paper? DCWV one of those big pack things I got it from Joann's....

We've been watching the world cup between all of our events this week--CRAZY some of these calls! Ah, well...sure is fun to watch!

Speaking of watch we got this from Netflix:it was cute. a chic flick--DH thought is was okay. I laughed and it entertained me...it's worth a red box rental..

Speaking of ENTERTAINING:

This was SO funny! We went last night as a family. It was so nice to be able to go to a family movie and not worry about "stuff". The theatre was packed with kids and adults alike. EVERYONE was laughing. Without spoiling anything I do have to say that I haven't laughed like that in a movie in a LONG time. This is a DEFINITE purchase for our house!

I promise to have more creative things to share here in a bit. It's a balancing act between gym, kids, and who's going where here this summer. Breathing easier today not really having to go anywhere right now.

Thanks for stopping by!

#7 layout-- Lucky boy

Okay, this has to be my FAVORITE layout in the whole bunch that I made...

I even used pink lettering--love the affect....It's a busy Saturday for us, changing brake fluid, going on a hike, baking bread, laundry.....was hoping to do something creative but not so sure today. The weather has cooled down and the wind is blowing--it's SO nice! Have a great day--thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous chefs

Okay if you're keeping track here is layout #6 from the June kit from Scrapbook Circle, first off look what is on the camera:sweet huh?!

Here is the layout:

The apron, t-shirts, chef's hat and necklace all came as freebies from CHA this year. I took these pictures the morning after I came home--the kids were so excited about their free things. It also happened to be chocolate pancake day and they had to test their hats, and apron out! The border on the bottom has a story, they were actually just square pieces of paper I cut them to about an inch, folded them and then sewed across them. I like the fun affect of the "different" border!

Well, I gotta run go wake up the kiddos. Hopefully they won't be as cranky as yesterday, this is the last night of Soccer camp, I'm glad because they don't do well when they stay up past their bedtime, they just don't!

Thanks for stopping by!

Echo Park--ROCKS!!

I just LOVE this new paper company Echo Park! The colors are so bright and fun--PERFECT for those summer photos. here are a couple of pages I did the other day:

For this first layout I just added a little glitter glue & jewels to the sun to make it stand out. The splash jewels are from my stash too and they are from Basic Grey.

These pictures crack me up! this is little Ella her first time at Grandma and grandpa's house-they live in a rural area, so there are lots of INTERESTING smells and things to see for a little puppy. She couldn't figure out what the horses were. TOTALLY funny!

The stamp is we R memory keepers--99 cents--can't beat that! The letters are Making Memories--oddly enough there is no more stick so i had to glue these bad boys down. The page is simple but I REALLY like how it turned out.

I'm off running again! We are on day 3 of soccer camp (at night!), I've been up since about 5:25am--have the whole day to play with the kids! Have a great one--thanks for stopping by!

Camp Cards

So I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was asked to make cards for Girl's camp this summer. I showed you one, now here are the other two:

I'll be honest card making is not "comfortable" to me--don't know why...As I was scouring the net for ideas I came across THIS CARD by Michele Kovac and knew I needed to lift it and make it my own. (Remember the girls are not going to have access to a sewing machine....and I want to make this as simple as possible seeing as their crafting skills vary)

The papers I used are from the Delovely line from Cosmo Cricket-so BRIGHT and fun! The punch is from my new EK success punch and the butterfly (lost it's antenna...was cut with my cricut from the Hannah Montana cartridge.)

This is the last card:

very simple but I like it.

Supplies:

cardstock: Bazzill Bling--love this stuff!

pattern paper: My mind's eye--it's actually Christmas Paper

stamp: Hero arts

flower: Cricut--Graphically Speaking

brad: Bazzill

punch: Fiskars

So the Cards are now all bagged up with instructions typed up--(I won't be going). I just need to get the adhesive and glitter glue and it will be all set for camp which is in July.

Yesterday was the first day our pool was back in swimming order -- the kids and Ella the puppy dog LOVED it!

Hope you have a FANTASTIC day, thanks for stopping by!

Awesome Kid

This layout I did of my DS letting him know just how AWESOME he is. When I told him I finished a page about him he went right in and read all the journaling and came out with a smile. THAT is why I scrapbook. yes, it's to preserve memories but it's also to let them have one more thing that let's them know that I love them.

If you are keeping track this is layout number 5 of 7. This layout was inspired by something my friend Melanie Blackburn did. I love the clean lines AND the only thing I added from my stash was the American Craft letters.

The heat has finally found us here in AZ--it's supposed to be 110 today--NO ONE likes that! I'm just glad I have a vehicle that has REALLY great air conditioning!

On Friday I went to see this with a group of girlfriends:

I thought it was cute, it's definitely a chick flick. What was fun is that we went to the first showing of the day which was only $5 AND we were the ONLY people in the theatre so we could talk like we were at home. We laughed and giggled and just enjoyed ourselves. I SO needed that!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope it's a GREAT one for ya!

Love 2 Read

Okay, I LOVE this layout:

This was the last layout I made and I only had scraps of paper left--have I mentioned I REALLY liked the June kit? I did some hidden journaling on a tag behind the main picture. I was inspired by Jen Jockisch I was so happy to be able to capture this daily routine with my 1st grader--he really does make these expressions, I didn't coach him at all!

Anyway the top scalloped border I made with THIS punch:

it's made by EK success. It's a great little punch--it punches cleanly--I find myself trying to use it on EVERYTHING! :)

Well, it's Saturday I have coupons for Costco that expire tomorrow, I REALLY dislike going to Costco on Saturdays it's extra crazy but I've got some great coupons! :) I will go and be patient-I don't have anywhere else I need to go....

Have a GREAT one today! Thanks for stopping by for the visit!

2 Sketches Laura's #53

We pause between June reveals to bring you this card based on Laura's #53 sketch:

I did double duty on this one. I was asked to design cards for girls camp and REALLY wanted to do something patriotic (I just got some 99 cent WeRMemory keepers stamps) AND I wanted to play along with 2 sketches. I REALLY wanted to sew on this one but it is for girls camp and well....that might be a little complicated for the girls.

supply list:

paper: Pink Paislee

stamps: Hero Arts, We R Memory keepers

glitter glue: ranger

jewels: Bazzill

Off to go eat and get ready for the gym, we are swimming today! Should be fun--I might even go down the slides today....

Baptism day and change

Here is layout number 3 of my 7 from the June kit from Scrapbook Circle:

I've only had these pictures for almost 2 years! I was so proud of myself for FINALLY scrapping them. Do you ever set rules for yourself when you are scrappin' ? Like for instance....I have a bunch of pictures I know I want to scrap, I don't want to trim down, but I know I want to use ALL of them. I gave myself permission to put them in protectors. (The 4 x 6 photo protectors are made by pebbles and are pretty cool. you just slide your pictures in there (the whole dimension 12 x 12 in size) The empty slots you can put your title and journaling--it was quite liberating to know that my pictures were "scrapped" in a different way--still telling the story that I wanted to tell. ANYWAY, that being said here are some closeups of my layout:

I LOVE this paper by October afternoon, I used every scrap. I used the back side for my love birds layout (see post below) But since I knew I REALLY liked this paper I cut out the paper that was right behind the matte.

the rubons, brad, letters, and jewels are from my stash the rest is from the kit.

Change, it's hard sometimes, uncomfortable, and strange other times. Change happens all the time.

I read a quote on my friend Claude's blog the other day that has really struck a cord with me I wanted to share:

Whether you can or you can't YOU'RE RIGHT!

It's true our attitude determines how we experience things. Sometimes it's tough shaking the rain clouds but it is possible!

Thanks for stopping in and reading the ramblings!

Ah--summer is here!

And today happens to be the day I can SHARE one of my layouts from the Scrapbook Circle June kit (I made 7!! So I want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it out):

The cardstock is Coordinations--I've never really used it before--sort of fun to sand it and drop mist on....the only other thing from my stash (besides the coordinations paper, and mist were the letters, the foam is American Crafts the other is cosmo cricket)

Funny story about these pictures, they were the VERY first I took with my Droid phone. When I showed up and the fire fighters were there (happened to be on a Thursday when I help in the class) I was in a panic because I didn't have my camera! DUH!! I had my phone! :) I was pretty excited to see how well they turned out.

I used up EVERY piece of paper in this kit I LOVED it that much!

Summer is here so that means I have to be creative with my children and the time they spend at the TV, video games and computer. This year I decided to be a little more scheduled with certain things that had to do BEFORE they turned on the TV. Such as chores, practice the piano, work in their summer bridge books, and so on. Then the time they get to watch TV is limited and so is how long they can play video games. There are other options to the TV and computer such as reading a book, swim, (the list is fairly long). If they do not behave themselves they can loose privileges--that is sort of empowering--I hate to take things away they want to do BUT it's part of being a mom. And THEY are making the choice knowing the consequences. I made sure to make a list of ALL of these things and they're printed out and posted on the fridge with the times listed of my gym classes so that they know when to expect to go to the gym with me. So far so good, of course it's been like 2 days with only a handful of melt downs....and NO they were not mine! :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Sure hope that you had a wonderful weekend.