Whatcha' Thinkin' ?

I did this layout to play along with the Sketch Inspiration sketch of the week.  I used up stuff that was in my supplies like this scalloped border paper from Crate Paper - it's been hanging around for a long time just waiting for some inspiration to strike.  The circle pieces are Cosmo Cricket blackboard that I painted and then sanded a bit to rough them up.  It truly is a hodge-podge of my supplies but I love how they all work so well together.  Most of all...I LOVE this photo of my Tyler.  My boy that is getting ready to celebrate his 5th birthday - how did my baby get to be 5 already?  It isn't fair how quickly they grow up and how fast our time flies the older they get.  I'm convinced it's because our schedules get so busy that we don't take the time to enjoy all the little moments.  Thank goodness my camera lens captures some of them so I can look back and reflect.

CHA Delisciousness!!!

So it's CHA time again...for you non-paper crafters, that's the Craft and Hobby Association event where manufacturers show off their new releases for the upcoming season.  There is some seriously gorgeous stuff showing up this time around.  Like these...

Aren't they gorgeous.  They are the newest embellishments from Sassafrass.  They have lots more goodies to look at, you can check them all out here.

Queen Scraps Kit Giveaway

Can I tell you how excited I am that I am hosting my first EVER kit giveaway???  I'm thrilled that I can share some of the Queen*Scraps goodness with all of my readers.  This Basic Grey Max & Whiskers kit is now available in the store and I'll be giving one kit away thanks to the generosity of the crew over at Queen Scraps.  I had the opportunity to work with this kit over the past month and had so much fun.  I love the deep, rich colors of all the papers and elements.  Plus, it's Basic Grey and you just can't go wrong with Basic Grey (at least in my humble opinion you can't).  So, how do you win this wonderful goodness you ask... I'd love it if you'd become a Follower of my blog, it isn't a requirement but I will be hosting more giveaways in the future and I'd hate for you to miss out.  To win, visit us over at the Queen*Scraps forum, become a member and look for the post titled "Max & Whiskers Giveaway" for more details.  I'll post the winner next Monday, August 2nd both here on my blog as well as on the Queen*Scraps forum. Thanks for visiting and good luck.

A Walk in the Park

I got this new kit from Echo Park Paper Co. called A Walk in the Park and I just love it all.  Fun prints, double-sided, heavy weight papers and cute stickers and borders, alphas and banners to go along with it.  I did this layout for Sketch #74 over at The Scrappiest. 

Max & Whiskers fun...

I had such a good time playing with the Basic Grey Max & Whiskers kit from Queen*Scraps this month. At first I panicked because we don't have pets of any kind in our household but I got lucky in that we had recently watched a friend's dog for them. Plus, the papers are such great colors and hues that I was able to make an additional layout that had nothing to do with pets. You'll see that one later this month.  There are some great ad-ons to go with the kit too...I'm waiting on an order of alpha stickers so I can use the remaining papers and embellishments to make some cards.  There is such a great selection of product in these kits and so far I've been able to make a minimum of 2 layouts and some additional cards too.  I just love it when I can stretch my scrapping dollars! 

Queen*Scraps and Sketch Inspiration

This week Queen*Scraps is sponsoring the sketch over at Sketch Inspiration .  This is my take on the sketch using the upcoming Doodlebug Sumemrtime kit from the ladies at Queen Scraps.  Look for the kit in August!

Star Light kit giveaway...

Julie's got a great Queen Scraps kit giveaway over on her blog but hurry, time is running out!

Can't stop at just one...

I had more pictures from our tomatillo canning experience this past fall that I really wanted to include in my last Garden Variety layout so I decided to expand the single page layout, that I shared in my previous post, into a double page layout. Here is page two. Still love this paper from Cosmo Cricket and the kit it came in from Queen Scraps.

I looked out at my garden this afternoon when the rain started coming down hard and realized that I've been so busy I haven't seen the incredible progress that has occurred in the last 5 days...oh my goodness, everything is getting SO big! There are a few more green tomatoes out there and some zucchini that will be ready to harvest in the next day or so. The tomatillo plants have their blossoms - that means more canning this fall. Yeah!!! I love having our own produce to eat all winter. A little hard work in the dirt and we can eat organic, home-grown produce year round.

Which reminds me...I need to keep growing too. Just like I have to work hard to make my garden produce, I also have to let God work in me to produce His fruits (which is sometimes hard for me to do). I'll admit it, some days I just don't want to let God work in me...I'm tired or grumpy or the kids are pushing all my buttons so I just don't see how I can find peace or joy. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Jesus says to Paul "...My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you..." May we all remember our own weaknesses for it is in those times that Christ can show how truly powerful He is.

Garden Variety...

I imagine that many vegetable gardens are in full growth right about now. Sprouting out their green leaves with just the hint of a green tomato or a few radishes ripe for the picking. At least here in Colorado that's where our garden is at. The boys LOVE harvesting the fruits of their labor and are absolutely elated when they can bring me a radish fresh from the dirt. Granted, they hate the taste of radishes but they grow fast so it's almost like instant gratification and when you're 4 and 6...instant gratification is important. I ordered this Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety kit from Queen Scraps a while back but had to finish editing my photos so I could get them printed and when you wait 6 months to edit photos - let me tell you, it takes a looooong time to get through them all. Anyhow, I had these great photos from last years tomatillo canning process and knew I wanted those photos to go on this paper so here it is. I used sketch #71 from over at The Scrappiest for the weekly sketch challenge.

Queen Scraps July Kits

They just posted the new July kits over at Queen Scraps...aren't they gorgeous? I'll be working with the Basic Grey Max & Whiskers kit later this month and can't wait to show you what I've done. A bit ironic that I got Max & Whiskers when we have zero pets in our house. I was a little worried about that until I got started on my layouts and realized that I could easily use it for non-pet projects too. I also got lucky and had the photos printed from when we doggy-sat for one of our friends...so you'll see one non-critter and one critter related layout from me for this kit. Be sure to stop by the Queen Scraps store as they are having a HUGE sale 25% - 75% off on a great selection of inventory. Gotta clear the way for the new product lines from summer CHA you know. Stay tuned for sneak peeks a little later this month and you might want to become a follower so you can keep watch for my next give-away.