Bikini Babe

I can hardly believe that summer is almost over!! Today was another beautiful sunny day. After doing yard work and getting caught up on some household chores, we decided to take a break, relax, and bask in the sun. Then the idea hit me......I should take a picture of Miss Riley!! ROFL!!!! I think she looks better in my bikini than I do!! Have a happy day!!

I {Heart} Chocolate

Everyone who knows me, knows I LOVE chocolate!! Actually I eat some every week!! It's a vice, it's a treat, it's healthy right....LOL! For my Birthday last week, my future SIL gave me a beautiful box of chocolates from Verdun. These are not the cheap waxy kind, but the insanely delicious expensive kind!! Verdun is a upscale Chocolatier in the city, whose place is so divine, it looks like a jewelry store! Each piece of chocolate is hand wrapped in beautiful foil and placed in an elegant bronze & gold box tied with satin ribbon. Well, today I ate the last piece and I'm about 5 pounds heavier!!! (and no I didn't share....I'm a pig & it was a big box too!):?

I ♥ Faces ~ Bubbles Challenge

The photo challenge this week at I ♥ Faces is Bubbles!
Since I no longer have small children living at home to do the blowing bubbles thing, I was pondering what my project might be for this challenge. After an exhausting day and enjoying some 'Me' time, it suddenly became obvious! (and yes, I did climb out of the tub to grab my camera!)
Ok, so this may not be the most creative, but it certainly was relaxing! :-)


Note: photo is SOOC all I did was add the frame

Be sure to visit the I ♥ Faces website to see all the other wonderful bubble entries!!!



Enjoy your day! :-)

My Creative Scrapbook's 7th Anniversary Contest

We're having a HUGE celebration contest over at My Creative Scrapbook!! Awesome prizes, and lots of fun, all because the Kit Club is 7 years old!!!!

There will be 4 categories...
1. Layouts - any size, any shape, just show us your layouts!
2. Altered Items- anything goes!
3. Mini Albums- these can be store bought, or you can make your own. It just has to be a mini album!
4. Cards- any size, any shape... this category is all about cards!

Now for the rules... you gotta have them, but we don't want many! This contest is all about YOUR ideas!The item must include paper in the overall design. All entries must be newly created for this contest. Simple huh? GRAND PRIZE- to be eligible for the Grand Prize you must create an item for all four categories.This will enter you into the drawing for the Grand Prize. One winner will be chosen for each catagory. You may only win one category however you will still be eligible for the grand prize drawing if you win a catagory. Dates of the Contest are 8-15-09 thru 9-20-09. The deadline for entries is 9-20-09 midnight central time. The Prize drawing will be on 9-21-09 and the winners will be posted on the message board by noon on 9-21-09.International entries are welcome, however international winners must pay their own shipping.
You do not have to be a MyCreativeScrapbook.com kit member to enter. You may enter more than one item per category.

Please post your creations in the My Creative Scrapbook General Gallery. Your entries must be posted in the My Creative Scrapbook gallery to be eligible.

Please put the following as the title of your entry:

If you create a layout put: Contest – Layout
If you create an Altered item put: Contest- Altered item
If you create a Mini Album put: Contest – Mini album
If you create a Card put: Contest – Card

And here are the prizes!!!

GRAND PRIZE

LAYOUT CATEGORY

ALTERED ITEM CATEGORY

MINI ALBUM CATEGORY

CARD CATEGORY

Sooooo.......To win additional prizes just comment on other member's contest work and participate in the contest. Pam will be watching and she will enter your name in weekly drawings for RAK prizes. She has lots of great prizes to give away…So come join the fun!!!!

Gorgeous Mosaic Art

I was blog surfing last night due to insomnia and came across this wonderful website Lavender Hill Studios. The artist Penny Carlson creates the most beautiful pieces of mosaic art! I LOVE projects like this!! Isn't this little table fabulous!! I think this is so pretty and will make a beautiful addition to my daughter's bedroom! I have been hanging onto some broken china that was much too beautiful to throw out, and I've been saving it with a project like this in mind. Plus I also have a little table almost identical to this that will work perfectly! This is at the top of my 'Must Do' project list! Once the winter rains begin, I will definitely get started on this project!! I just love being able to re-purpose, reclaim and reuse items!!

Before~


After~


If you are interested in learning how to create a mosaic project like this, the artist Penny Carlson also sells a how-to-ebook with step by step instructions.

Cards for Heroes

Cards for Heroes is a non-profit organization devoted to bringing hope to soldiers overseas by providing handmade cards. Thousands of private citizens have come together through a common love of crafting and the desire to honor our armed forces serving on our behalf.

Regardless of what we think about the conflicts currently going on around the world, we as crafters can agree that our heroes are brave, honorable, and deserve our support. These cards allow them to keep in touch with their loved ones at home.
Your lovely handmade cards will be delivered to troops overseas in bulk shipments. The cards are placed in areas where soldiers can choose their own, write a message, and send them back to loved ones at home for 'Free'. For families waiting at home, a card from your soldier is a cherished gift! It may not seem like a much, but deployments are long......and after not hearing from your loved one for long periods of time, these little handmade cards with our loved ones handwriting inside mean so very much!

I am a military Mom! Supporting projects like this is really important to me! I am truly grateful to our military for their service & sacrifice!!

If you wish to participate, all you have to do is make a card, or several cards for the Cards for Heroes program. This would also be a really great project to get your children involved in or your Scout Troup or 4-H Group.

CARD TIPS

-NO glitter! This is very important! Glitter gets on soldiers uniforms and makes them visible with night-vision goggles.

-Best size card to make is A2 (4.25 x 5.5) but any size card is acceptable.

-Dark Cardstock: This is ok to use but make sure that you put a light colored liner inside your card. Soldiers rarely have access to light colored pens.

Mail your completed cards to:

Fabre Sanders
32 Temi Rd
Holliston, MA 01746
fabre@cardsforheroes.org

Sandy Allnock
35205 13th PL SW
Federal Way, WA 98023
sandy@cardsforheroes.org

Kris Allan
12152 S Summit St
Olathe, KS 66062
kris@cardsforheroes.org

Thank you! The Gratitude Campaign

August MCS Kit Reveal

This month I had the pleasure of designing with two different kits from My Creative Scrapbook. The 'Main Kit' which features beautiful papers from My Minds Eye , and the 'Album Kit' which features Bo Bunny. Both kits are filled with spectacular goodies. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to play with both, because it would be very difficult to select just one!

So first lets start off with the Album kit since that's how it loaded up onto my blog.

This month's 'Album Kit' features the Bo Bunny Popsicle collection. Yep, they're double sided papers!! The colors in this Popsicle collection are so fresh & fun and perfect for your summer photos! I had a blast designing with this kit!! It's so versatile and is packed full of embellishments! The Little Yellow Bicycle Summer Journal tablet & LYB clear cut word stickers are so awesome!!

I love the journaling card booklet that's included in the kit, plus you get two different font stickers. Here I outlined my title and coated the alphabet stickers with Glossy Accents for a slick wet look!
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On my Eye Spy layout, this is my Grandson playing with a magnifying glass. He spent countless hours investigating bugs, and leaves, and all things little boys do.
For added interest, try mounting a sticker such as this arrow onto black cardstock. Or layer your embellishments like I did here with the painted chipboard flower, felt flower and button.
Using my Dymo label maker for journaling adds a fun touch to the page.

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When I saw this funky VW Bus I just had to take a picture of it. I had no intentions of scrapping it, but once I saw these Bo Bunny papers.....well, I just had too!! They were a perfect match!

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Several weeks ago we participated in the second annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk. This is a photo taken from on top of a bridge looking down on some people enjoying a Jazz concert in the park. I have no idea who these people are...LOL....but liked the interesting view point.
To add depth without all the bulk I backed the funky flowers with black cardstock and mounted them on pop dots. I also outlined my letters with a black pen and applied a coat of liquid glass for a more dimensional effect.

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The colors in the kits matched my gift bag perfectly, so of course I had to make a card to match!
This kit is so full of goodies! I had plenty of supplies to make 4 layouts plus this card, and I actually have enough left over that I could make a few more cards or mini book!

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Now onto the gorgeous 'Main Kit'! These delicious papers from My Minds Eye are a very nice weight and doubled sided....yay....we all love that! Plus the kit is packed full of Primas!! We LOVE that too!!

I painted the chipboard words and sealed with Glossy Accents. The heart shape I simply colored with chalk ink and coated with a layer of Glossy Accents.
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Simple stitching and loads of Prima Sprites make for a fast and pretty page.
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I love the colors in this months kit and these gorgeous My Mind's Eye papers!!
A coat of Stickles adds a nice bit of sparkle to my Thicker alphas. I also outlined the Prima Sprites with Stickles.
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I used the Prima packaging as a journaling block for my title placement. I made the white flourishes using dimensional paint. You can see wonderfully easy tutorials here and here.
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And finally my last layout with the kit. That's 5 layouts I was able to create and I still have some leftovers!
The green strip on this layout is actually the packaging that accompanied the Prima flowers included in the kit. I thought it was much too pretty to toss away and thought it added a nice pop of color to my layout.



As you can see, I was able to create quite a few projects with both kits and I still have leftovers that could be used for card making or even another layout or minibook!! Pam really knows how to put these kits together so you get a tremendous value for your dollar!!
Be sure to visit the DT Gallery for additional inspiration!! These girls rock!!

Thanks for taking a peek!!

Just for Fun

Here's one just for fun using the 'Limited Edition' kit from My Creative Scrapbook!! Who doesn't love Lemonade, especially if it's from Basic Grey!!
We have quite a few Lavender farms in our area and also some growing in our yard. So I thought it would be fun to incorporate some sprigs of fresh Lavender into my layout. (note: maybe not such a great idea after all....the little buds fall off every time you turn the page, so it wont be long before it makes a mess) I used Lavender Stickles to color the Thickers alphas. The black flourish die cut is by QK and not included in the kit. I used gold paint to make the flourishes. You can see easy to follow tutorials here and here.

Nigthtime In The City

We took a trip to the city recently and had a little fun with some nighttime photography!


We've had triple digit temps for the past week so the evening air was perfect for a scroll along the water front.
I really do like the way the light reflects on the river and the beautiful city lights.