Anything But a Card Challenge-Summer Lovin'

Hi! I am so happy you stopped by today!  It's my turn to share my project for the Summer Lovin' challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  I am sure that for most people, summer brings to mind beaches, barbecues, and swimming. Those are all marvelous summer activities, but in our household, summer has always meant SOFTBALL!  So I created a scrapbook page of DD#2 playing softball.  

This was her second year of softball-back when it was all about the cute socks, visor that matched the uniform, and picking clover in the outfield.  Now she is much less concerned about the socks, traded her visor for ultra cool sunglasses, and enjoys the constant activity of playing third base.  Of course, you can still catch her and her teammates giggling in the dugout, probably about boys... Sigh...

I started with a softball themed dp which made the background quite simple.  I did dress up the letter o in softball with a handmade softball embellishment.  I also added 'stitching' to the yellow mat.  The softballs on the journaling card were made using the retired stamp set, Home Run.

I hope my softball page has encouraged you to document your favorite summer activity too!  If you're not into scrapbooking, why not try an ATC, art journal page, mixed media, or just about anything else you can think of!  We would love for you to link up with us!!

Page Recipe: Paper-softball dp (not sure of creator), crumb cake, yellow cardstock from my stash, Stamp Set-Home Run, Just Journaling, Ink-crumb cake, real red, Accessories-1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, real red stitched ribbon

Flashback Friday-Return of the border stickers....

Did you ever go through your supplies and cringe at some of the things you purchased?  Things so bad that you smack your forehead as you say "What was I thinking????"  You know...those things you had to have because they were so cute/cool/trendy/on sale/in the store...    I may have made a few irresponsible purchases over the years, but most of my 'yikes' supplies were at one time a great purchase.  Border stickers are a perfect example.  When I started scrapping, these were all the rage.  No page was complete unless you had the perfect banner spanning the length of your page.  Coming up with your own title was crazy talk!!  So I had a huge pile of these wonderful stickers for every occasion you could imagine.  My mistake? Buying waaaaay too many of them and then realizing I could make my own titles and use paper I already had for a border.  So now I have a file folder full of various borders.  I could throw them away (and honestly a lot went to my girls for them to use for whatever), but I decided to challenge myself to use some of them.  I cut several apart and used them to frame photos on some pages, filled in some gaps on others.  I won't bore you with those pages, but I couldn't help but to share this one which is quite a throwback style...

Check out the fall border stickers in all their glory!! 

Top AND bottom!!  Gotta have the bookend effect!!

I am telling myself that the pages will be fine since the photos are several years old (not quite border sticker old, but still).  Maybe no one will know that they were put together in the present time!!  

So sorry about the glare on the page but with all of the rain we have been getting, I could not get a decent photo... Notice the glare off of the lovely glossy sticker! LOL!

So what was your 'I can't believe I own this' item?  I would love to know!!!  Even better, use it to make something and share a link to your creation!!!  Who knows, I might even give away a prize for the the best forehead slapping item!  Have a fabulous weekend!!

Scrappy Saturday

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  I managed to get a few scrapbook pages put together this week.  Most of them were extremely simple, like five pages at a sitting simple, so I'm not going to share those.  They were much more about getting the people, place, and story onto the page.  I did however want to share this one-also very simple but a bit more interesting to view!

I am once again determined to use up some of my older paper stash and the green base has been with me for a long time.  The stickers were also as old as the hills... Felt good to use them and have a little fun at the same time!  I love the 'spunky saucy silly sister' one! Perfect for both girls!

The photos were from several years ago.  We would often go to the riverwalk in a nearby town after seeing the free movies they offer in the summer.  My oldest loved these trips because when she was a preschooler, we lived in that town and would often visit this park.  That is one thing we do miss about living in town, but now they have a whole farm complete with fields and woods to explore, and an awesome sledding hill for the winter!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I am so glad I am back in blogland!  It has been so much fun this past week catching up on my visiting.  If I haven't been to see you yet, I'll be there soon!! Have a marvelous day!

Page Recipe: Paper-green from stash, daffodil delight, Floral District (ret), Stamp-School Lines (ret), Ink-basic gray, Accessories-lots of stickers from stash, scallop tag topper punch, lucky limeade bakers twine

Another play with Blendabilities and the pits

Blendabilities and the Pits, sounds like a Motown group! Hee! Hee!  I am far from a blending expert; I am never quite sure where to shade and where to highlight, even after watching 'how to' videos.  But I was actually ok with the results of this card, not perfect but to horrific either!

I really like the tongue in cheek sayings in the stamp set Giggle Greetings!  Nothing like a little sass to brighten a dreary day.  I didn't really have a purpose for this card, but you never know when someone could use a smile.  So now I'm ready!

I don't really have too much to say today.  We are getting ready for a camping trip with some friends and I'm looking forward to some campfire therapy!  Bring on the S'mores and fire pies!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Card Recipe: Paper-old olive, cherry cobbler, whisper white, Stamp Set-Giggle Greetings, Ink-memento tuxedo black, cherry cobbler and old olive blendabilities, Accessories-vine street embossing folder, cherry cobbler seam binding.

Shopping list? I don't think so!

Hi! I am so glad you are here!  I'm not sure exactly what I should call today's creation, but one thing it is NOT is a shopping list holder!  Let me elaborate.  One of the things I set out to accomplish is getting some of my older Paper Pumpkin kits put together.  Today's kit was supposed to make a shopping list holder.  It even has a roll of lined paper that was to be attached at the top.  Don't get me wrong, I like shopping lists.  They are essential to me actually getting real food in the house instead of all of the impulse buys I would otherwise make.  But I already have a system.  We have a magnetic list on the fridge and the theory is that when someone uses the last of something, it goes on the list.  It works about 60% of the time with the other people in the house, but I use it 99% of the time so I call it a success.

So there I was, looking at a kit that I knew I really did not want to make, when I started thinking the lined paper would make a wonderful journaling strip for scrapbooking.  Then I studied the thick woodgrain embossed base...way too nice not to use for something... I'm still not sure exactly what to call this, but it will probably have a photo placed on it in the future.  Let's call it a wall hanging!  The only thing from the kit that I did not repurpose was the extra wide rubber band that was supposed to hold the paper at the bottom.  I still have it, but it will likely end up with a more practical purpose rather than decorative.

I also added lots of goodies from the artisan kit and even used up a

skinny strip of leftover dsp to make a rolled 'thing'.  It's not exactly

a flower, but it still looked pretty good with the other embellishments.

As I was making this, I was thinking about a fellow blog friend

who is going through a very rough time and decided

to use this sentiment from the Trust God stamp set.

I'm pretty sure everything but the punches, very vanilla cardstock, and soft suede ink are retired.  Felt good to use up a bit more of the older goodies!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Trust God, Punches-decorative label, 1 3/4" circle, Accessories-paper pumpkin kit, linen thread, victorian crochet trim, artisan kit, inka gold metallic rub

Anything But A Card Challenges you to Summer Lovin'!

Hi! We have a brand new challenge at Anything But a Card.  Summer Lovin' is our theme and we would love to see your summer lovin' creations-beach, bbq, camping, vacation, sunny colors, anything that says summer to you is great with us!  The only thing you can't share is a card, hence the name of the site!  However, I am not sharing my DT project this week, so I CAN share a card with YOU!

This would be perfect for the theme if we could make cards! Mr. Riley is so ready to cool off in the pool, lake, or ocean...yeah! Let's go with ocean!  I made this for my nephew who has a birthday next month.  He would enjoy celebrating his birthday in the water too!

I played with the new Blendabilities markers on this one!  They are similar to copic markers, but Stampin' UP groups them in sets of three so coloring challenged people like me don't have to figure out how to get the perfect color shading.  Oh, how I love that!  I do have to confess that the flippers and the antlers were colored with copics.  While I'm admitting things, I fudged a little on the colors.  The marker family and cardstock is coastal cabana, but the blue in the dsp and twine is pool party.  But hey, at least they are both water themed!!  Honestly, I really couldn't tell that much difference.

Well, I hear the laundry calling my name (why doesn't it ever call my DH?), so I better get busy before it takes over again!  Have a wonderful week!

Card Recipe: Paper-coastal cabana, whisper white, basic black, sweet sorbet dsp, Ink-memento tuxedo black, coastal cabana, skin tones, and cherry cobbler blendabilities, soft suede, Stamp Set-Remembering Your Birthday (sentiment), Riley the moose from Riley and Co., Accessories-pool party bakers twine, scallop tag topper, crystal effects

Every day is kids day...

I just realized I had not posted my cards I made for Mother's Day.  Sheesh! It's amazing I managed to get anything done this month!  I really wanted to get this one posted because after June 1st, this stamp will no longer be available.  It is in the Celebrate the Everyday catalog and I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.  The sentiment, while absolutely wonderful, can easily be changed by adding a new one using the decorative label punch.  Beautiful and versatile!!

My post title probably doesn't make a lot of sense at a glance, but it comes from a family discussion that occurs every year on Mother's Day.  I come from an amazing, large family and we are still very close, even though we are all very busy with our own families.  We still manage to get together for special occasions like Mother's Day.  The guys do all of the grilling and the moms get to go through the food line first.  This usually starts the discussion from the guys.  "Hey, we cooked the food; we should go first." followed by "When it's Father's Day, you can be first, today is OUR day!".  Then the kids chime in "We NEVER get to go first... When is Kids Day?!" to which the response is always in unison "EVERY DAY is kids day!"

It is all good natured fun and we all have a great time teasing each other.  I am so blessed to have a wonderful mom who is such an awesome role model, and two fabulous sisters who mean the world to me.  I would not be nearly as independent if not for their examples of strength.  Mix in the mother-in-law and all of my sister-in-laws and I am surrounded by amazing women!  I hope my girls will learn from the women in their lives and turn out to be strong, amazing women too.  They are already well on their way!!!

There won't be much time for crafting this weekend, but I am hoping to get some scrapbooking done.  Haven't made a page in quite some time and I'm hoping my mojo hasn't packed up and moved out!  Wish me luck!  I hope you have a marvelous weekend and find some time to be creative!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe:  Stamp-People Like You, Ink-rose red, lucky limeade, baked brown sugar, Paper-whisper white, floral district dsp, lucky limeade

WAHOO! It's summer!!

I am so glad you stopped in today! I am officially on summer break and can not wait to get in some late night crafting!  Of course, morning and middle of the day crafting is good too!  I managed to find my table after a little cleaning yesterday and couldn't resist going there with my morning coffee this morning.  I had a Paper Pumpkin kit on my shelf that was waiting to be put together for quite some time.  I thought the WAHOO stamp was so fun and perfect for a graduation card I will be needing. **Confession time-I made 3 graduation cards earlier but completely forgot to take pictures before giving them away.  They were pretty cute too...**  The kit came with supplies to make four cards, but I didn't need four graduation cards so I changed the 'you did it' to 'happy birthday'.  I can always use more of those!

After I finished the cards, I was thinking how perfect the cheer was for scrapbook pages of the girls' sports.  So I'm sure you will be seeing more of 'wahoo' in the future!  

Speaking of sports, both girls are finished with school sponsored sports for the summer.  DD#1's softball team made it to the second round of Sectional before being defeated 1-0.  They are a very young team (only 1 senior), and we were very proud of their efforts.  DD#2, our tennis pro in training, completed her first year with only two losses.  She played doubles this year, but has been approached about playing singles next year.  I see a lot of summer days at the courts for us...

My summer taxi service hasn't completely shut down; DD#2 is playing softball for the community recreation league, and DD#1 is still taking voice lessons.  But it is much easier to only have two things to worry about instead of school, softball, tennis, choir, voice lessons, etc...

Well, it is almost time for a ballgame so I will sign off for now and be back soon with more paper goodies to share with you!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 35-Live Simply

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by!  We are in week three of the challenge at Anything But a Card and it is my turn to share!  We are changing things up a bit with a color challenge this month!

The current Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #35 - "Color Challenge"!! Last month was and open theme so this go round we are giving you a gorgeous color palette for your inspiration. Feel free to use one {and go monochromatic}, two or ALL of these colors to create whatever your muse desires... as long as it's anything but a card!

I decided to try using as many colors as I could and ended up with five out of the six offered!  While I loved the subtle shading in the inspiration photo, I ended up with a less 'blended' project.  My quotes journal received a new page and I had a great time playing with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to create a random background for my dahlia. I thought the three peachy shades worked pretty well for my flower.

I hope you will make the time to play with these colors and link up with us!  We would love to see how you were inspired!

I am preparing for my final week of school and can not wait to stay up late being crafty, without worrying about having to go to work the next morning!  I have some new stamping and coloring supplies that are begging to be used!

Have a wonderful week and I hope you find lots of time to play and be crafty!

Project Recipe: Stamp Sets-gorgeous grunge, trust God, regarding dahlias, Ink-midnight muse, wisteria wonder, crisp cantaloupe, calypso coral, blushing bride, pastels

Umm... Happy Easter??

As most of you know, things have been quite hectic in my household lately and I've not been able to do a lot of crafting or blogging.  I also just realized that I never did post the other cards I made at the crop I attended last month.  This wouldn't be such an obvious oversight except one of the cards is an Easter card... So here is my Easter card for this year!

I also made a few sympathy cards because I like to have these on hand.  I really have a hard time making them when the need arises.

I am so glad I got the Blessed Easter stamp!  The tulip image is so pretty and easy to color as well!  I love that I can color only the flowers to use this for birthdays and other occasions too!

There is less than a month left of school and I am hoping that soon I will be back to a regular visiting schedule!  I'm having blogland withdrawals...  See you soon!! Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!