Welcome Baby Boy...

A sweet friend of mine recently gave birth to a precious baby boy.  I was blessed to be able to provide her family with a meal just days after sweet Dawson was born.  Which also meant that I got to hold this itty-bitty bundle of God's love for us.  I don't know about you but for me...holding a baby just brings me into a state of amazement and shows me how truly incredible my God is to create such perfection in such a small package.  Anyhoo...I couldn't bring dinner over to the family without a little something for Mr. Dawson too.  To top off my gift, I made a card.

Supplies used: Cardstock - Bazzill; Chipboard label - Heidi Grace Design; Embroidery floss- DMC; Embossing powder - Stampendous; Ink - Versamark & Versafine;  Patterned paper - Core'dinations & Heidi Grace Design; Ribbon - Cosmo Cricket; Stamps - Basic Grey & Hero Arts  

 Lots of bits and pieces of older papers that I've been hoarding saving for just such an occasion.

At the Firehouse

Even though I didn't make Liz's deadline for Sketch #128 submission, she still inspired me (as she always does).  Here is her sketch...

And here is my layout...



All supplies are from Echo Park Paper Co. with the exception of: Brad - Nikki Sivils; Buttons - Michael's; Embroidery Floss - DMC; and Fire Engine Sticker - Karen Foster Designs



I used primarily product from Echo Park's For the Record collection and I love how versatile this particular line is.  I have used it for so many varied layouts and it works well for all of them.  I hope you enjoy.  I have more projects in the works that I'll be able to share with you soon - they just have to get to their intended recipients first.

It's Summer so Get Out & Play...

Here's a layout I just did featuring photos from a couple of years worth of summer fun.  As I flipped through the pictures I've printed, I realized that the majority of our summer is spent camping, fishing and in the case of our two youngest boys - digging in the mud!  Oh well...it's cheap fun and they could spend hours doing it. 



Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - American Crafts and Jillibean Soup; Brads - Basic Grey; Buttons - Craft supplies; Cardstock - The Paper Company; Die Cuts - Basic Grey; Ink - Jenni Bowlin and Ranger; Label Stickers - Jillibean Soup; Number stickers - Echo Park paper Company; Patterned paper - Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin & My Mind's Eye; Pen - Zig Writer; Stamp - Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday

I based my design on the most recent 4x6 love class by Shimelle over at Two Peas in a Bucket but I only made a one-page layout instead of a two-pager.  Such a great design that can be made a simple or as complicated as you want.

I've got another layout I'm working on that I'll be sharing real soon...seems my creative mojo is returning (either that or I'm hiding in the house from the hot temps outside).  Until next time...stay cool!

Two in One Day...

Two posts in one day...that must be some kind of record as of late.  Liz over at The Scrappiest has got me inspired this week - which hasn't been easy to do with as worn out as my boys are making me with all this summer vacation fun.  Her sketch was fun and simple enough that I could add my own flair to it and make it work with my photos.  Here is her sketch...

You must check this one out on her blog...her design team did SUCH a great job with this one.  Here is my interpretation...



Supplies used:  Alphabet stickers - American Crafts; Brads - Basic Grey (small green), K 7 Co. (snowflakes) & Nikki Sivils (green corduroy); Cardstock - Bazzil; Die cuts - Basic Grey; Font - Digs My Hart; Ink - Copic G24 Willow; Patterned paper - Basic Grey (multi-colored), Bo Bunny (red) & We R Memory Keepers (yellow graph); Stickers - Cosmo Cricket ("daring" ), Echo Park Paper Co. (sled, swirl, "winter" tag) & Webster's Pages ("adventures")

Very non-winter color scheme for a winter layout but I love how the colors really draw you into the green sled and the yellow and greens in the boys' jackets.  So glad to have had some scrappy time!

Keep on keeping on...

I'm truly dumbfounded at how insanely busy summertime can be.  Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the busy-ness of it and all the fun things we're getting out and doing but seriously, it's already the 2nd week of July.  The kids will be back in school in roughly a month's time...that's right, I said ONE month!  I better get going on all those places we wanted to visit or I'm going to run out of time.

The boys and I spent the other morning touring the Hammond's Candy Factory.  It was so interesting to see how they make all that yummy candy and I was blown away by the fact that they still make the majority of it by hand. 

We spent the prior weekend camping in the Crested Butte area - beautiful, I tell you!  Despite the LONG drive to get there, the western slope of Colorado sure is pretty.   We have lots more camping scheduled, lots more baseball games to attend (their season will be over at the end of this month), and lots more adventures to have.  In and amongst all this, I have managed a wee bit of crafting...

Here's a masculine themed birthday card I made recently...

And I'm anxiously awaiting my first set of Ali Edwards stamps...I've been looking at these for quite some time and I finally decided to join Studio AE for 6 months and see how it goes.  Now if they would just hurry up and get here already! 

Until next time...enjoy the sunshine.

S'more Love...

I've had very little scrappy time lately - due to entertaining my kiddos while they are on summer break.  Which is totally okay...I spent the first week of their break a little frustrated because I couldn't find time to sneak away to my craft room and work on projects.  Then one night when my hubby and I were talking about just that, I had a total "ah ha" moment.  The kids are only on break until early August and then all 3 of them will be in school full days, 5 days a week.  And, despite the fact that I will increase my workload in children's ministry at church during the time they are at school and the fact that I will spend several hours on a weekly basis volunteering in the two younger boys' classrooms, there will still be plenty of time for me.  Time to run errands in peace (without all the "I want this, I want that" or the "we don't want to go to the store"), time for getting the daily tasks associated with having (and maintaining) a home done, time for all that laundry (and ironing), AND time to craft as I please, in solitude or with my favorite music blasting through the computer speakers.  So...my blog posts may be a bit sparse but know that I will be back in full force come August. 

I do have a layout to share with you today though.  I was feeling especially glum about my lack of crafting the other day and some neighborhood friends of the boys solved my dilemma for me by coming over and playing...thus, relieving me of my duty as primary entertainer of young boys for a while.  I used a sketch by Jana Eubank as my inspiration.

And this is what I came up with...



Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - American Crafts; Buttons - craft supplies; Cardstock - Bazzill Basics; Chipboard elements - Colorbok & craft supplies; Font - CK Wood House; Journaling card - Glitz Designs; Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket (wood grain), Echo Park Paper Co. (brown wavy) and My Mind's Eye (polka dot papers); Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co.

These fun photos of our younger boys enjoying s'mores was taken last year but we have already eaten our fair share of s'mores during our camping outings this year.  I think it is the boys' favorite part about camping actually.  Who could blame them?

A Tribute to Dads

So now that Father's Day has passed, I can share the cards that I made for the amazing fathers in our family.

The Fiskateers inspired my Father's Day card for my hubby.  I can't get the sketch to link up for some reason but here's the card I made...

Supplies used: alphabet stickers - Echo Park Paper Co.; card base - Michael's; corrugated hear - Jillibean Soup; embossing powder - Stampendous!; ink - Ranger, Versamagic, Colorbox, StazOn; patterned paper - Echo Park Paper Co.; punch - EK Success; sewing machine - Singer; thread - craft supplies

Here's the card the boys gave to my hubby...



Supplies used: alphabet stickers - Deja Views; brad - Basic Grey; card base - Michael's; corner rounder - EK Success;  ink - Colorbox; patterned paper - Bo Bunny; pen - Uniball Signo white gel pen; stickers - Bo Bunny



And here are the cards that we sent to my father-in-law and to my dad...



Supplies used: alphabet stickers - American Crafts; card base - Michael's; chipboard - Cosmo Cricket; patterned paper - Bella Blvd. and Core'dinations; punch - Fiskars; ribbon - Michael's



Supplies used: card base - Michael's; die cuts - Making Memories & My Mind's Eye; ink - StazOn; patterned paper - Bella Blvd.; ribbon - Michael's



I've been busy in the kitchen - taking advantage of some wonderful produce we've come across and doing a bit of cooking and canning.  I'll share more on that later.