Cardabilities #36

yes, it's been a week since I blogged last!  But I went to girl's camp with my girl Monday, was a walking zombie on Thursday, felt a little more like myself yesterday, and today I think I've finally caught up on my missing sleep.  It was a BLAST!  (I'll post some pictures later on, right now my iphoto is being upgraded and I can't post anything!)

So today is the reveal for the Cardabilites sketch #36:

I really like the fact that it's simple, I went a little overboard myself--but had SO MUCH fun!  (I used Echo Park Splash line.)

as you can tell because of the direction of the umbrella I flipped the card a bit.  I especially like the googly eyes on the crab. 

 *One little tip to add dimension is pop dots on the back of the stickers.  you don't have to back the sticker with anything just apply directly to the sticker--it just adds that little touch.*

Thanks so much for popping in for visit!  If you feel like you want to play along the link for the Cardablities is HERE.

  

Happy Birthday cards--makes me laugh!

I've been working on birthday cards and wanted to share:

this line from imaginisce is just SO fun to play with!  I had a good clean out a couple of weeks ago and found so many fun things I forgot I had.  LOVE that!  (it's been a fun challenge to work in my "old" stuff with my new)

My SIL posted something that made me laugh and continues to make me laugh EVERY time I see it!  i thought I would share:

Source: thechive.com via Diana on Pinterest

Give it a second.....ever have something in your mind you wanted to create and it didn't quite turn out how you pictured?  ME TOO!
Have a great day!  Thanks for popping in for a visit!

Echo Park feature! A sketch and my take!

So as I was reading my "blogs" this morning, there was my card featured on the I spy Echo Park feature on the Echo Park blog!!  I was so excited and surprised.  Yes, this is my second card featured but it was still SO surprising and EXCITING! :)  you can see it HERE.

The challenge on the Scrapbook Circle blog involves a sketch (by our own Nicole Nowosad), several of the design team girls participated with some fun takes, you need to check out the blog!
here is the sketch:

I loved how straight forward it was! 

 here is my take:

no, you are not seeing double!  I've scrapped these pictures before, I usually do more than one page with the same pictures for whoever is in the page--I know I'm crazy but it's fun! :)
here is a little closeup of the button flower thingy in the corner:

now you can play a long with the sketch as well.  the instructions are as follows:

1. Create a layout using the sketch above. We would love to see a Scrapbook Circle kit in action, but any materials will do.

2. Post your layout to your blog, a gallery, or our Facebook page. Come back to this post and leave a comment with the direct link to your posted page.

3. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, August 3rd, 9:00 pm PST.

You could win a $15.00 credit to Scrapbook Circle!

Good luck!! Thanks for stopping in for a visit, hope your day is wonderful! 

Want to win a Blast off kit?

Scrapbook Circle is sponsoring a giveaway at Sketch inspiration this week (it just so happens to be the blast off kit!)  The designers were give their sketch to work with:

And this is the layout I came up with:

this was a fun layout to get a little messy with, the paper is a little distressed so it was fun to add that affect to the rest of the page.....  I misted the background with yellow mist then my darker mist, (I like to think that's how it is when you are in art class for the first time with finger paints!)  This picture totally pulls at my heart strings--my youngest on his first day of preschool...

here's a closeup of the layered embellishments:

So if you would like to win a BLAST off kit.   go get scrappin with this sketch!  you have until the 23rd--whatcha waiting for? :)

Thanks for the visit today!  Hope your Monday is FANTASTIC!

(all supplies minus the mist are from the Blast off kit!

The mist can be found in the Scrapbook Circle store)

Cardabilities #35!

My first card for Cardabilities went live today!  The sketch is super fun and we would love to have you play--just make sure that you link your card up on the BLOG.
here is the sketch:

and my take:

I had a blast playing with Echo Park Summer days on this card.  I was also excited to pull some of my older embellishments that have been buried (buttons, bling around the sun) I just did a SERIOUS clean out of my stuff and it feels good to know what I have and where it's at! :)

thanks for stopping in for a short visit!

in honor of the release of the last Harry Potter movie....

are you going to see it?  ANYONE?!!  we are going saturday first showing (it's the cheapest....)  So VERY excited weird that Harry Potter has been such a phenomenon for SO long--but cool at the same time as it got a lot of non readers READING!  this is one of my most favorite series of all time, and yes i'm a nerd and PROUD of it! :) Just had to share this quote from pinterest for those that know what I'm talking about! :)

Thanks for dropping in!!

deep cleaning, fans, and layout! (not necessarily in that order!)

I loved the pictures for this layout!  I was so excited that this paper just fit right along with the theme, a field trip to the AZ science center.  I was borrowing a 50mm lens and felt certain that I could get some great shots in this VERY dark unphoto friendly place and I did!

these shots were not posed in anyway, meaning I didn't say do this or that.  I just had the camera focused on my subjects and got great results!  Love the miscellany from October Afternoon included in the Blast off kit!  this so far this year is my favorite, I made 5 layouts and a card and still have enough paper to make more! :)  I used the cork stars in the kit to trace and cut out these stars....

so today was the day....the day to clean the boy's bathroom...DISGUSTING....toothpaste, dirty floor, mirrors, I'll stop so I won't give you nightmares.  I avoid this bathroom like the plague, today though I couldn't stand it anymore!  It's now beautiful towel holder is back up on the wall. I've done a walk through with the boys showing them how it would look after they "clean it" it will probably last a day...

ceiling fans, this is sort of long story. but we had fans in three areas upstairs they are all different, one doesn't really work.  2 of our bedrooms upstairs needed them, so the kids and I went and picked four fans out last week. DH with my assistance (I only assembled the blades...) got the last two up today--wonderful!  The man at Lowe's tried to tell me it didn't really matter what I put up on the ceiling no one looks.  Ummm, DUDE!  i do and it matters to me!  I want to replace the one in my bedroom too, but it'll have to wait it's working and I haven't found just the right one anyway... I feel complete....ALMOST...but seriously I feel better and my kids who now have founds are proud to share with whoever will listen. :)

Thanks for the Saturday visit--hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Capri Sun Lunch bags....

I don't know about you, but it seems like I have to buy a lunch bag EVERY school year, and really I don't like spending $5-$10 on something that really isn't that cute anyway!  Anyway, in my search for something else I came across THIS tutorial for capri sun lunch bags!  I went a step further than what they said BECAUSE the bags that you buy at the store are insulated and I send frozen juice to school to keep their food cold....what to do?  I researched and found this stuff called Insul-bright, they actually sell it at Joann's. With this information I bought a yard of it (a yard is a ton, but as I don't have a clue how to sew that sounded like a good # to start with!)  So if you are going to be doing this you will need 48 bags not the 24 they suggest....

Now for the collection of Capri Sun bags!  I happened to come up with this idea at the end of the school year, very convenient as there were quiet a few parties going on.  I just asked the teachers to collect them for me!  My boys were excited to be in charge and reminded their classmates to not throw them away.

bag #1 front and inside.

bag #2 front and closure

bag #3 front and inside.

some  things I learned on my "experiment":

1.  rinse all the bags thoroughly let them dry--it does take 3 days.
2.  make sure that you have a heavier gage needle.
3. you will want some goo-gone as the straw plastic leaves sticky residue.
4. don't cut you insulation as large as the front of your bag, leave about 2" so that it will fold over.
5. the lined inside should be silver so that you don't have to remove all the sticky it will help the insulation not move.  (the first bag I had the front facing out, so I had to remove all the sticky, that mean I was STICKY!  my fingers were all stuck together--it was gross.)
6. Be patient!! :)

I really did have fun making these bags and I feel like the last one was the best, only because by that time I knew what I was doing!

today my daughter and I are creating other things, hers has to do with can pulls, and mine?  Capri suns....don't want to spoil it!  :)  Thanks for checking in--hope you have a FABULOUS day!

yesterday's haboob and a lift!

So last night we were sitting in our house playing video games.  We looked out the window and noticed the clouds, and that the wind had started to blow, you could still see the sky.  There is a look that everything gets right before a monsoon storm, the air gets a yellow tinge.  anyway, it was beginning to look this way.  the next thing we knew everything was dark like night.we went out front to dust and a lot of it (this was taken by a coworker of my husband):


A haboob (Arabic هبوب) is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world.  In the USA, they are frequently observed in the deserts of Arizona, including Yuma and Phoenix^[2][3], as well as New Mexico and Texas ^[4]. During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. 

When this downdraft, or "downburst", reaches the ground, dry, loose sand from the desert settings is essentially blown up, creating a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds can travel at 35-50 km/h (20-30 mph), and they may approach with little to no warning. 

these don't come that often here but when they do it sure makes you feel very small....okay, there is your nature lesson for today! :)

I do have a layout to share, my assignment was to lift this layout by Alison McGuinn:

here's my take:

this is my niece isn't she adorable?  I shot the batting picture standing right up to the chain link fence (you can sort of see the outline of the fence) the others I stood just outside the dugout.  The cork stars in this kit are so fun to work with.  I just added some stickles to make them shine--looks really great in person.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!  Hope you have a FANTASTIC day!

Happy 4th of July--foto shoot 2004

Happy Fourth of July!  I wanted to share with you (real quick!) a layout I made with the new Blast off! kit from scrapbook circle.

I took these pictures our first summer here in Arizona from moving from Colorado the month before.  We did the shoot in the morning but still---it was so warm, but these kiddos were such troopers!  These are some of my most favorite pictures, I have individual shots from this I have up on my desk all the time, funny how kids grow up SO fast!

a little break down of the layout, for the star (which came in the Miscellany kit from October afternoon), I misted the star with white chalk glimmer mist and while STILL wet I put it in my embossing folder--looks pretty neat in person.

the i smile rub on is from Studio Calico and just seem to fit!  Really pleased with how this all came together and QUICKLY like 30 minutes!

I wanted to share one more crafty thing before I go:

My boys and I made this star garland the other day.  I cut the stars using my cricut, and then my boys embossed them with some of my embossing folders:

what's funny is my 10 year old didn't want to help his younger brother.  but after he saw how cool the embossing was he wanted a turn too!  I was in the office and they were in the kitchen (using the table) and I could hear them "oh! look at this one!  Wow, I want to do that one!"  It was pretty cute.

I hope that you have a WONDERFUL day with your family!  Thanks for visiting me today!