Top 15 at 15

Hello!! Hope you had a great Labor Day! My kids all started school today so I could not sleep last night---
I decided to go into my craft room and create--Here is the page I came up with: I love documenting Cara's music lists at different ages. Someday she will get a laugh at her favorite songs. This one features her Top 15 at 15.

I used Echo Park's Happy Days collection for most of this page. It was perfect for the theme!

I used the jute box sticker as a focus for the page...changing it up a bit by adding the fan behind it and adding a button and a rhinestone stickers for buttons:

I added a lot of machine stitching and some SRM stickers (the large numbers and the sticker stitching on the photo) to complete the page:

Supplies: Patterned paper- Happy Days (Echo Park Paper Co.); element stickers- Happy Days (Echo Park); buttons; SRM stickers (We've Got Your Stickers plus- Sweet, We've Got Your Number, Extra Large); rhinetones (Recollections, Michael's); sewing machine; ink-pink (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (The Paper Studio)

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Echo Park Projects :)

Hello! Happy Monday (groan!) We have about two more weeks before the kids go back to school. I am excited because I know that once they have more of a schedule, they will adjust to life here more quickly :)

Today, I have a few Echo Park projects to share in my attempt to be a Fresh Face Designer. The first is a scrapbook page of my two girls.
Photo Booth-You & Me

Cara and Lauren snuck

off to the photo booth

when we were in the arcade.

Although they are nine years apart,

they are

so much alike.

For this page, I used The Happy Days Collection of paper as well as the Happy Days chipboard accents and brads. I used my circle dies (Spellbinders) to cut circular shapes from some of the patterned paper. I added some stitching and some tiny pearl accents to add some interest to the layout.


Next, I have a few cards:
Hello Sweet Friend
I used a Happy Days element sticker (Ice cream cone) as the focus of this card. The hello friend is a SRM sticker. I added some rhinestones to the bottom of the ice cream dish and the sweet banner (Happy Days: Journaling card) tied to the top.
Supplies: white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Element sticker-Happy Days (Echo Park Paper); Patterned paper- Happy Days: Journaling card, Borders (Happy Days); rhinestones (Recollections); hemp; ribbon (Stampin' Up!); sentiment sticker- Sweet (SRM stickers).


Happy Snow Days

I went back to an old favorite collection, Wintertime, for this card. I paired the Wintertime stickers and patterned paper with some Happy Days patterned paper and a Happy Days decorative brad. I added some rhinestones to the snowflake and some machine stitching around the edge to finish it off.

Supplies: white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Patterned paper- Wintertime: Pine green (Echo Park Paper), Happy Days: Scalloped (Echo Park Paper); element stickers- Wintertime (Echo Park Paper); brad- Happy Days (Echo Park Paper); rhinestones (Recollections, Michael's); ribbon (May Arts); sewing machine.


Thinking of You

For this card I combined an element sticker from Little Boy with Splash patterned paper. I love the boat floating along on that journaling block. I used a SRM sticker for the sentiment and finished the card with a fun yellow ribbon.

Supplies: white cardstock (Gina K Designs); Designer paper- Splash: Journaling, Big Striped (Echo Park Paper); SRM sticker sentiment- Hello; Element sticker- Little Boy (Echo Park Paper); ribbon; corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); mini attacher- Tim Holtz.

Hope you have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Scrappin'

Happy Saturday. I have another scrapbook page to share today. I created this one of my son using Echo Park Little Boy Line. I love this line, (not just for little boys) but on this one--I couldn't resist :) My 8 year old boy: I am trying to capture my kids as they are today...all the little things that I might forget later on or that they might have fun looking at when they are older. Journaling reads: My 8 year old son Loves playing sports Loves wearing team jerseys Loves being outdoors Wears shorts.... (as in ALL the time!) Goes through a lot of Band aids Wears through sneakers in a month Here is a picture of the dimension on the page (Not actually a great picture...but I just liked it...so here it is):

Have a GREAT day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Scrappin'

....I have been waiting to find the perfect papers to scrap these adorable pictures of my youngest huddled up with her two best friends telling secrets while on their class trip- Secret Friends: I love the interaction between them and wanted to keep that as the focus. I spelled out secret with a combination of corrugated letters and stickers from Jillibean Soup. I layered some of the letters on Sprouts for more dimension.

Here is a picture of the page lying down so you can see some of the dimension:

I used a butterfly by the title and then two others by the opposite edge:

All supplies are by Jillibean Soup: Die Cut shapes- Spotted Owl Soup, Dutch Mustard Soup; Cardstock stickers- Blossom soup; Patterned paper- Blossom Soup: Cornmeal , Blossom Soup paper pad; Kraft; Jillibean Soup Sprouts-assorted; Bean stalks twill & twine- blue/green.

Other- pearl accents (Recollections-Michael's); heart punch (Marvy); cardstock-white; sewing machine; tab punch (SU!).

Thank you for your kind words on my last post. I am so grateful for all of you and for the happiness you bring to my life :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sunday Scrappin!

Hello!!! Happy Sunday. Today is a busy one here---- have to get three kids in three different places and sometimes at the same time...gonna be a fun one!

Today, I have a scrapbook page to share. Instead of my own kids, this one is of my niece-Carly. She is my little sister's baby and she is named Carolyn after me. They call her Carly.
Here is some detail on the page. On this shot you can see the stitching and sponging around the edges a bit better: And here is the page---Just a little Carly!

Pretty much everything on this page (minus the baby) is by Jillibean Soup!

Finally, here is the view from my front door yesterday morning. Notice the white stuff----it's NOT snow. We woke up at 6:30 to the pounding of HAIL against the windows. Some crazy weather.....by the afternoon it was sunny! ONLY in Texas :)

Have a WONDERFUL day!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Miss Me?

...you don't have to answer that!

Sorry for the lack of blogging---Life has been getting in the way this week:
1. My son had his first baseball tournament (two games on Saturday and one on Sunday)
2. My mother-in-law came for a visit
3. We found out last Wednesday that someone wanted to come see our house (from out of town) and were asked by our realtor if we could have it ready by Saturday
4. (In case #3 was confusing) We are moving and JUST put our house on the market (two weeks earlier than originally planned)
5. My son had a fever and was sick right after his Sunday game
6. We had two showings in the first two days our house was on the market
7. My son has been out of school since Monday so I am trying to keep him caught up at home (btw....Teachers do NOT earn enough money)
8. So....things have been busy :)

I did sneak in a little play time last week. (Just an hour or so in front of the TV). I HAD to play with the Little Girl line from Echo Park (esp. since I now have their newest lines sitting here.)

I have been wanting to scrap this special tradition that my youngest daughter and I had last year (when she was in pre-school). Here is a detail shot:
Here is the page-- Table for Two

These are pictures of my youngest enjoying our Friday ritual---- we would go play at the neighborhood park and then go to lunch at her favorite restaurant- McAllister's. It is the only time I ever saw her eat everything on her plate. It was our special time (because the rest of the weekend was spent taking her siblings to all their activities and social events.)

I miss those days and seriously consider pulling her out of kindergarten one Friday for one more trip :(

Anyway...sorry for the absence. I promise some super FUN things are coming. Things I am excited about and things YOU will be excited about too.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Back to neurotic cleaning :)

I DID it!

...I finished this!
So...remember I created THIS PAGE a few months ago and promised to come back and complete the page that would be next to it....'cause I had a GREAT picture to pair with it??


Well, I finally did it. Here are the two pages together---Just the 4 of us Summer Boys:



And here is the companion page I just finished. Again, I used October Afternoon to go with the original page but I designed this one to be a bit less detailed so that the two pages together wouldn't be overwhelming. Most papers are from the Seaside Collection:

Gosh I love that picture. It is of my son, Ben (taller blond kid on the right hand side) and his three buddies (his cousins).

I was so excited when I took this picture in the summer. I asked them to take a minute and come over so I could take their picture. And THEY posed....and it just makes me smile. Totally fun. Totally random. Totally THEM!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wintertime!

Hello! Hope you are keeping warm today. It seems like it is cold everywhere in the US today. Our temperatures are lower than usual and it is hard to get out of that warm bed in the morning.

Here is a scrapbook page I created of my littlest, Lauren. She was really excited to see snow again this year when we visited my parents over the holidays. She LOVED sledding down the hill and building a snowman.


I used Echo Park's Wintertime line on this page.

When we visited my parents in PA over Christmas, there was snow.

Since our kids don't see snow very often, they get very excited at the chance to play in it.

Lauren woke up every morning and got dressed in her winter clothes so she could go sledding.

Luckily, her daddy was willing to bear the cold to make her happy.

ETA: Some questions answered-- This is a 12 by 12 page. This is the size I usually scrap. I typically do some sort of hidden journaling if I am using my own handwriting (which I hate). If I incorporate the journaling into the page (like this one), I usually type the journaling in Microsoft Word and then print it and cut it up to add it to the page. I stitched around each photo and along the scalloped circle (Spellbinders) to add some texture.

Stay warm!
Thanks for stopping by!

My BIG Boy!

Remember that little boy in the layout below this one------

Well.....this is the same kiddo---over 7 years later-

I used the same patterned paper - Little Boy Collection by Echo Park to create this. Just used it is a more "Big Boy" way!

At Age 7, We weren't sure that you were old enough to play on a select team...

But your drive, energy and passion convinced us to give it a try.

It is so much fun watching you do what you LOVE to do!

I also used some stamps on this layout-Sporty Accessories by Gina K Designs. They were the perfect addition to the photos and paper!

REMINDER: If you are on FACEBOOK...can you PLEASE go to the Echo Park Paper Page and hit "LIKE" and then comment that I sent you! It is for a contest they are having and I am trying my hardest to win!! Thank you so much! Contest ends Monday night!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Can you please do me a favor???

If you are on FACEBOOK...can you PLEASE go to the Echo Park Paper Page and hit "LIKE" and then comment that I sent you! It is for a contest they are having and I am trying my hardest to win!!

Here is a page I created using their Little Boy Line---such a cute collection!

This picture is of my son when he was a few months old.

We tried so hard to get you

to look at the camera..

But you just kept staring at

the clock on the wall.

Thanks so much!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Feeling Kinda Witchy!

Here is a scrapbook page I created with the Halloween Paper from Echo Park! I LOVE this collection and have used it lots--
I wanted to capture my youngest daughter's costume choice in a page. This is the 5 year old who always wants to wear a dress and be a princess to trick or treat:

Lauren was adamant that she

wanted to be a "scary" witch for Halloween this year...

She had so much fun giving me her "witchy" look

for these pictures.

Shhh....Don't tell her but she was

the cutest witch EVER!

Yep...scary!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Just the Four of Us!

Hello! Happy (almost) Friday. Today I have another layout to share. I am trying to get some of the fun summer pictures scrapped but I didn't realize I took so many--it is gonna take awhile.

For this layout-I picked a few of my favorite close ups of my favorite boys. My son, Ben, and my nephews- Steven, Michael and Nicky. These boys are my son's "buddies"...they don't get to see each other a lot but every time we get to PA for a visit...they pick up right where they left off.

They have so much fun together. This is eventually going to be a two page spread...however, I only have this page done so far. When I get to the other one, I will be sure to post a picture of them side by side cause the picture for the other page is hysterical.

Here we go:
The sun detail was created by die cutting some patterned paper with the Sunshine Die-namics die. I popped up the inside layer and then added a button on top.



Here's a picture of the layout lying down (less glare on the pictures):

The title sticker originally said "Just the 2 of Us" and I just popped the 4 sticker right on top:

Papers/stickers are from October Afternoon: Seaside Collection.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a GREAT weekend!

Trick-or-Treat

Hello...Happy Monday! Today, I am sharing a scrapbook page I created with the Echo Park Halloween Collection. I had just gotten this paper in the mail when they issued a challenge on their blog to use a haunted house image on a layout---PERFECT! Here is what I came up with:
I used a Halloween sticker from the collection for the page title and then added a half fan accordion fold under it. I cut a scalloped circle (Spellbinders) to help ground the sentiment (and to glue the accordion piece to.) Then, I added some bling to the sticker and cut out a bat from some of the patterned paper to add to it as well. You can see some of the glimmer mist I sprayed on the page in this picture too:

Here is the house download. I shrunk it down a bit and printed it out twice so I could layer the roof (s) and I added some black stickles to the edges:

Here are my little gremlins dressed for Halloween last year:

Hope you enjoy this page!! Enjoy your day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Back 2 School

Happy Sunday!
Things are jumping around here. I have another scrapbook page to share but first I want to let you know that I will likely be MIA for most of the week.

Why? ........Cause I am getting ready for the Heart to Heart Alzheimer's Card Drive that will take place on my blog one week from today.
What is it? A joint effort of the most amazing and generous companies and designers to provide a MASSIVE blog candy which will be awarded to one person who takes part in the card drive for Alzheimer's caregivers.

All I can say is that it is gonna be HUGE.

So excited!!!

Be sure to stop by on Sunday, September 26 for all the AMAZING details!

Now onto some scrapification--My three kiddos started school a few weeks ago and I made sure to take the traditional first day group shot in front of the house. But, this year, I also took some close ups of them getting ready to leave.

I just loved how they turned out because their expressions capture all of their emotions....so I had to scrap them--
I used several new lines of October Afternoon on this---Seaside, Campfire, Schoolhouse and Modern Homemaker. They all work so well together. I paired them with some Report Card shape stickers and Wild Cards and some Mini Market Stickers.

To create the title--I cut the bus shape from some patterned paper and then added the lettering and some wheels. If you look closely, you can see I used two letter"o" stickers from the Report card line to make the wheels and then just added some buttons in the centers. Here is a close up of the title:

I layered some wild cards and a sticker above my journal block:

Materials used: October Afternoon--Patterned paper- Seaside:Seashells; Schoolhouse: No 2. Pencil; Campfire: Tent Trailer; Campfire: Camp Stove; Modern Homemaker: Party Line; Stickers--shape stickers-Report Card; Mini Market Stickers-Green & Cream, Red & Cream; Wild Cards--Report Card.

Buttons, olive ink (SU!); sponge; sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by today!

A BUNCH o Jillibean

Hello!!! It has been a busy few days with the kids starting back to school. Yesterday..the nurse from school called and asked me to come get Lauren because she was feeling sick. But...as the day wore on --It became very clear that she just needed some rest and hugs. Her "sickness" was very short lived.
Fingers crossed that she stays in school today!

Today, I have lots of Jillibean Soup projects to share with you. First up--these two cards that were featured on the Jillibean blog last week along with some cards from my super talented buddy Rae (yipeee!). They both feature the new Monster Stew Line--what fun to play with!

Jillibean used- Monster Stew: Bunch of Monsters; Monster Stew: Pinch of Hair; Monster Stew: Pointy Teeth; Monster Stew: 3 arms.

Jillibean Soup used- Monster Stew: Pinch of Hair; Monster Stew: Pointy Teeth; Monster stew cardstock stickers; Monster Stew journaling sprout.

Next I have a a scrapbook page to share with you. This page is of my 14 year old. "Plugged In" is my page for her to remember how much she loves to unwind listening to her Ipod. I added a few of the songs from her play list so that she can look back and see the music she loved when she was a teenager.

I went with a teenage helter-skelter-funky look for this page. It features the new Monster Stew line from Jillibean Soup! I cut out one of the frames on the designer paper to draw the focus to the picture:

Here is the full page: Materials list: Jillibean Soup: Monster Stew: Pointy Teeth, Monster Stew: 3 arms; Monster Stew: Pinch of Hair; Monster Stew cardstock stickers; Diced Damask Alphabeans; Blanched Black Alphabeans.

Thanks for stopping by today!!