While I know that this isn’t the best picture, I had such a rush creating this project today that I had to get it up on my blog as soon as possible. Like most moms, back to school has overtaken my life as of late.
Now I’m late to the game of getting ready for the winter craft show season. So, I’ll be busy creating cards, mini albums, and shadowboxes like these and selling my wares to those who will buy. But don’t worry… I’ll see you soon!
Happy Fall!
But soon it will be.
I had no trouble with this layout as I kinda had a good idea of what I wanted to do. (That always helps, doesn’t it? 
In any case, while I wasn’t 100% happy with my stamping job, its always fun to work with different applications of paint, especially the fun kind that comes in spray bottles! I used a little Tattered Angels and Mister Huey’s from Studio Calico. And then I mixed a quick concoction of white acrylic paint and a little water and created the larger, splotchy “snowballs.” I used some scraps up and cut several different sizes of circles and used them as masks to leave room for the embossing. I really like the way it turned out.
In other news, I’ve finally gotten caught up with my son’s scrapbook. The bad news? I now only have about 8 months to get caught up with the next one. Oh well…a mama’s job is never done!
I had a lot of fun creating this layout, even if the photos are a little old. When I look at them and how happy he was during this visit with his Sesame Street friends, I can only smile. And that’s how I wanted this layout to feel–joyful.
I wanted to let the photos speak for themselves and since they contained a lot of primary colors, I wanted my decoration to be a little more complementary and a little less exact. Also, I did a couple of things that I rarely do on layouts–create my own embellishments and use a sticker.
This cutie camera is a stamped image from Lawn Fawn, one of my new favorite stamp companies. I did a simple paper piecing with some Basic Grey paper and left over scraps. I filled in the lens with some Glossy Accents. (I admit I held back…when I get some GA in my hands, I can be pretty dangerous.)
This is a close up on another handmade embellishment. I call it a button cloud. After I had finished the layout, I wanted to add a little something to break up the frame a bit. I had these die cut clouds from Jolee’s and since they were transparent, I put a little cardstock behind the die cut to help it show up more. The button was an afterthought, but it was my way of keeping the transparency of the cloud without using glue, which would have been too obvious. I sewed the button down to the cloud and added it to the layout with pop dots.
I hope we will get back there soon!
So….I’m behind on my son’s scrapbook. Way behind, as it were. However, I’m catching up. The sun outside is warm and bright, but the color and feel of this layout is oh so cool…
I used acrylic paint and black cardstock for the background layer. The scalloped-edge paper is from Pink Paislee. I wanted an interesting way to crop the photos, so I found inspiration in the oh-so-hot banner trend and cut them with an oval shape. Although this layout took longer than I wanted, I like the way that it ended up turning out. It was definitely a bit of a departure for me.
I can’t stay too long…I’ve got several more layouts to add to the book. Off I go!
June has been a busy month, but I don’t think that it’s been any more busy for me than anyone else. Lots of brides and dads, lots of beautiful flowers (and the pollen that goes with it…) and I’ve been dealing with all of it.
First things first–my wonderful younger brother got married yesterday so I have a brand new sister-in-law! I’m very excited about everything, but more than that, I’m just so supportive of my brother and his new bride. They are both beautiful people and I wish them much deserved happiness.
As most young couples planning a wedding, money only goes a short way. My gift to them was to create their invitations (with all the needed extras) as well as programs for the wedding and a few other little things that they wanted. This process in creating each handmade, hand-stamped piece of paper was tedious and intricate but it was worth it–because I could stamp a little love on each piece.
Here are the things that I learned in creating custom invitations, etc.:
At the end of the day, you should attempt to deliver your client’s vision before promised and at or below budget. Luckily for my brother and his new bride, I was able to deliver to their satisfaction!
I was able to personalize these programs with the same ribbon that I used on the original invitation, I used the same plum-colored paper from The Paper Source, and I embossed the feather stamp with the same color embossing powder that was used on the other materials.
While I definitely helped behind the scenes, I chose let my son, who acted as the ring bearer, take the spotlight. However, I thought that it was important dress myself appropriately and stay close to the color scheme of the wedding. So I pulled an oldie-but-goodie from the closet (we won’t talk about what it took to actually get into this frock!) and jazzed up my accessories, namely my hair. I am not the type of girl to fuss for hours in a salon, although I did spend some time in one getting ready for the wedding. And… I did want to get myself as primped as possible because I know that it will probably be a long time before I spend that much time and attention solely on myself. To that end, I decided to make some special hairpins using some hot glue and a few flower picks from the local craft store. The result?
A very simple but pretty adornment that looked effortless to create. I didn’t take the time count how many I made, but I suppose it was about 30 or so and it only took me about an hour after I got going. With these beautiful hydrangea petals, I wanted to use the color of my dress to complement the lavender/purple theme of the wedding. These were pretty simple to create:
I was trying to think how else to use this pins after I got home. They could make pretty bookmarks, don’t you think? 
Last but not least, as part of my continued commitment to the Glue Dots team, I created this pinstriped-project just for dear old Dad:
The hardest and longest part of this quick craft was getting the die cut letters cut out. With the help of my Cricut, it didn’t take me long at all. Once you’ve got the letters cut and adhered with Glue Dots, you simply use whatever size Glue Dots that you like to decorate the letters. In this case, I used some to help adhere metal beads. You could also use glitter or confetti dots or anything else that you would like and simply press down on the Glue Dot to make sure that it stays. Add your magnets and voila…and instant surprise for dad to find!
There you have it. I told you I was busy!
This is the noise that my son makes as he goes flying by me on his chosen mode of transportation–scooter, feet, or in this case, his first tricycle.
I took these photos one day with the concept for a layout already in mind. My simple point and shoot camera is quite easy to use. Although I am able to manipulate how it takes photos, it’s one of those things that I never really put a lot of stock in learning how to do. (Am I the only one?) One day I hope to learn to use it better. But this time, I only wanted to capture his movement, him whizzing by me as fast as his little legs could carry him. I didn’t even really want his face in the shots, even though his face is quite adorable. I just wanted to focus my energy on capturing his and I think I did a really good job of that.
Like a lot of moms, I’m always reminding him to slow down or watch out. So much so that sometimes he recants with a sing-song chorus of “Mom, I know…” and then I think to myself, I must be doing something right.
PS If you are interested in learning the process of how I put this layout together, please click here for a demonstration video.
This layout is all about my son’s scarred knee predicament that he was in a couple of summers back. I know that it is always easy to scrapbook the happy-go-lucky times in our lives. But this time, my son had been experiencing a couple of rough tumbles on the playground. You see, it was his first summer at preschool and when you’re a kid (especially a kid that doesn’t know what a video game is) you spend a good amount of your time outside playing with your friends. And when you’re a kid who is still trying to figure out your body while it is growing at an alarming rate, you tend to have some bumps and bruises. And great, big, monstrous boo-boos.
When I originally took these photos, his body was already healing, but the scars were left to tell a tale. And, I really wasn’t planning to make a layout out of them. However, I’m glad I did. It’s a snapshot in time. He was just starting to learn a little about himself and the way he moved in the world. He was still extremely uninhibited. So much so in fact, that he wasn’t aware how fast he was moving, pushing the air out of his way, as he bounded about running to and fro.
I’m happy to say that he’s still running….and still smiling. A not so “Cruel Summer” after all.
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