Sweet Memories & Tea Parties

It seems like yesterday when my girls were little. Now they have little ones of their own. I found these photos of my girls the other day, and they brought back so many great memories. We didn't have a great camera when my kids were small, and I wasn't very skilled at photography - not that I'm great now, but I do understand a lot more about it.

I used Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess for this layout. I used kraft paper for my background and worked up from there. I distress the newsprint paper and inked it heavily. The "tablecloth" behind the teapot was cut with a Tim Holtz die. The tea pot and cup are Papertrey Ink stamps (as are the tea party tags I stamped). I stamped in blue, cut out the teapot and tea cup, then smudged them in a soft cocoa brown. The title letters are Thickers. The princess and strawberry cards are cut from the G45 paper. I added a journaling tag behind the top photo.

The journaling reads: When you two were about 3 years old and 15 months old, you loved nothing better than having a little tea party for your lunch. We'd drag your little wooden table and chairs into the kitchen. Kimmer, you were still so short that we had to put a pillow under you so that you could reach the table. Traci would be the perfect little hostess and help me get your sandwiches and drinks to the table. I loved watching you two have your little tea parties, never dreaming that time would fly by so quickly, and that before I could blink, you'd be having tea parties with your own children. I miss those simple days!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time.....

Hugs!

He's Got Charm

Today started off slow and lazy. I love days like this! So, since the day is mine to do with as I wish, I decided to finish up a little of the "decorating" in my scraproom. My son put up some shelves and a photo collage frame for me last night so I wanted to get it all set up. I played around with Photoshop Elements printing out photos for the collage frame. The first photo I printed didn't look quite right. Well, what do you know...I'm out of ink..AGAIN! So off to Office Depot to purchase the cartridges I needed, then back home. After getting the printer all set up with new ink cartridges, I finished up the pics for the new frame, and moved on over to my scrapping table.

During a conversation with my oldest daughter last night, she informed me that I scrap more photos of all the other grandchildren more than I do of her son, Jacob...DUH! It's very difficult to keep up with who get scrapped the most when you have 16 grandchildren to scrap for!!! LOL! Anywho...she's right (sort of), it's been a while since I've scrapped a picture of Jacob, so I printed these cool photos of him that I took last fall (worked much better with ink in the printer!)and got busy scrapping! Here's the layout...and I must say, I like the finished product!

I used Basic Grey Cappella papers for this layout. I matted the larger photo with brown then a larger black piece. I tore to bottom of the black piece and the brown piece I matted the smaller photo with. The chipboard stars were bare chipboard that I painted green, then coated them with glitter glam. Once that dried, I smudged all chipboard with a little walnut ink stain. On the smaller photo, I added a bit of twine and tied a button on top. I added a couple of little metal embellies (because I was challenged to do so by a group of friends).

That's about it for now. Thanks so much for stopping by...Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW21 - Inspired by Nature

It's time again for the One Layer Wednesday challenge. If you haven't tried a one layer card...give it a chance. It's definitely challenging! I am, however, getting a little faster with my creations. This week Susan Raihala, at Simplicity, has challenged us to make a one layer card using nature as an inspiration. Since I live in Florida, I haven't seen snow in a number of years. I think I kinda miss it...or maybe not, now that I think about it! I remember one winter when my girls were small that we were snowed in at home for almost a month! That was one LONG month! But, I digress....Here's my take on the challenge this week.

The stamp I used is an Inkadinkado stamp. I stamped with embossing ink and then coated it with white embossing powder. I must say, each time I try embossing, it gets just a bit easier. Once the embossing was completed, I sponged the sky in with a couple of shades of blue ink...stamped the sentiment...and just that quickly I was finished! Gotta love it! Oh, and I learned something new. If you emboss first, THEN ink the background, the ink just wipes right off the embossing, and you don't have to mask anything...COOL! I'm probably the last to figure that one out! LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by...and if you leave a comment, please know I appreciate the time it takes for you to do that! Until next time...

Hugs!

Pretty in *Pink*

WooHoo!!! Two posts in one day! LOL!!!

Here's another new layout for me. This is a photo of my daughter, Kimberly, with her daughter, Maggie. The photo was taken on Mother's Day by Charles Walton. Mr. Walton was the head photographer with Southern Living Magazine for 25+years. I love the colors Kimberly chose for the family to wear for the photo shoot. Bright, happy colors! I'll definitely be scrapping some more of these photos!

For this layout, I used some KaiserCraft papers call Bloom. I've had them for a while, and when I was flipping through my huge stash of papers, I couldn't believe how perfect they were for this beautiful photo! I added some bright pink and green cardstock. The big scalloped border is a Martha Stewart deep edge punch, and the small scalloped border is also a Martha Stewart punch. I added a few green bling to the scallops. I had to darken the small bling pieces with a little alcohol ink. The big butterfly is a Prima butterfly that I colored a bit with my Copics to match the papers. The medium sized butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch and the small butterfly is a EK Success punch.

Mood when I finished this layout....Happy!

Thanks for stopping by...as always, you comments are much appreciated! Until next time....

Hugs!

Creative Scrappers - Sketch #122 Reveal

Here's my final layout for Creative Scrappers. This is a family photo of our oldest son and his family, made just before the oldest (Galen) entered the Air Force. Papers are My Mind's Eye, Prima blooms, and some swirls cut with the Quickutz.

Here's the sketch:

Give it a try...you'll love it!

Thanks so much for stopping by...Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW20 - Three Plus One

It's time again for the One Layer Wednesday challenge at Susan Raihala Simplicity blog. This week's challenge was to make a one layer card using 3 different stamps plus a sentiment. This is what I came up with:

One piece of white card base folded in half creating a 4 x 5 1/2" card. I used Close to my Heart stamps - the ground, the tree, and the little boy. The Hello Friend stamp is a Hero Arts stamp. I did this in a hurry this morning before heading off to work, so I probably could have done a little better job with the mingling of ink where the tree limbs meet the leaves...but it is what it is for a 10 minute card! I do love these stamps, and this is the first time I've used them.

If you're in a card making mood, pop on over to the Simplicity blog and join in the challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time.....

Hugs!

Scrapping "Just for Me"

I've been on vacation for a week now, and I've FINALLY scrapped something just for me! It took me all day long to get it done. I think I've lost my mojo! LOL! I've been doing some cardmaking and some scrapping, but most of it was for someone else....so this one was just something I wanted to scrap!

Photos of my newest granddaughter, Maggie, who was born last November. I took these photos when she was about 9 days old. The shaped paper is a Jenni Bowlin paper, the pink and green patterned paper is from Paper Hearts. I matted the photos with a piece of bright pink and punched the bottom edge with a Martha Stewart deep edge punch, then tied a ribbon around the bottom. The title tag was made by stamping the gerber daisies (Flourishes stamp), and then cutting out parts of it before cutting the Spellbinder label. I colored the daisies with Copic markers and inked the tag with some pink inks. The Sweet Dreams label was printed on the computer then cut with a Spellbinders die. The big rubon (I love you) is a Daisy D rubon that I've had forever. The pearl swirls are Prima pearls...and the little pearls on the title tag are from Robin's Nest. The two tickets in the top left were cut with the Tim Holtz ticket die, then I stamped the sentiment on them and hand drew the border lines. The shaped mat was smooth edged, but I trimmed it with my scalloped scissors and added a little doodled dot to each scallop. I also added a bit of faux stitching around the edges of the large mat. The journaling is tucked behind the top photo with a little scalloped pull that I added pearls too.

WHEW! Now...off to go grocery shopping (UGH!) and then hopefully I can get a little more crafting done today! Thanks so much for stopping by....Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW19 - Black & White with a touch of color

It's time for another one layer Wednesday challenge by Susan Raihala at Simplicity blogspot. This week the challenge is to make a one layer card with just a "touch" of color. One of the quickest cards I've made in a while. I think it took me longer just to figure out which stamp I was going to use! LOL!

The stamp I chose is a Flourishes stamp called Fanciful Flourishes. The sentiment stamp is Birthday Basics from Papertrey Ink. I scored two lines above and below the sentiment (well, actually, I scored the lines and then stamped the sentiment.) My touch of color is three small red pieces of bling. That's how easy this card was...and I love it!

Thanks so much for stopping by...Until next time...

Hugs!

Creative Scrappers - Reveal #120

Here's today's reveal from Creative Scrappers. I absolute loved this sketch.

I used Bo Bunny papers for this and the title work is cut with Quickutz and the Silhouette. The photos were taken at Pensacola Beach and are photos of my grandchildren, Adam and Katie.

Here's the sketch. Give it a try!

That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time...

Hugs!

Susan

Fall To Layout 106

Here's another card...this card was designed using the fabulous Fall To Layout sketch #106 from the Clean and Simple blog.

I used a white card base. I scored at 1/4 inch intervals around the outside edges of the card. I added a piece of solid green cardstock, stamped a sentiment on it, and then added the little K&Company butterflies. Simple, quick, and totally cute! Here's the sketch, now you can give it a whirl! Quit buying birthday cards...save some money...and use up your scraps all at the same time!

This one was definitely one of the quickest cards I've finished in a long time. Fifteen minutes...tops!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by...Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW18 - Trees

This week's challenge at Susan Raihala's Simplicity blog was to create a card with a tree on it. Well, this was a great challenge for me...or so I thought! LOL! I have 8 or 10 different tree stamps and was anxious to get started. I wanted to try something a little different for me...and here is the result:

I covered the bottom part of the card with a mask (to be colored as the ground), then punched a circle as a mask for the sun. I inked the sky with several different shade of ink (blue, dark blue, and 2 different purples). Then I masked the sky, and took the sun mask off and inked the sun in oranges and yellows. I added a mask to cover the sky and sun and then inked the ground with several shade of green, yellow and brown. Then I stamped the tree with a cocoa brown ink and colored it with some Copic markers. It was a lot of work to do this...and I think I like it, but I wish it was a little more perfect with the blending of the colors...Ugh! I think I might be my own worse critic! The sentiment is from Stampin Up.

That's my take on the challenge this week. I've been spending as much time as possible getting things ready for Bella Blvd and Creative Scrappers. I love these teams, but I have such a hard time holding on to my layouts and not sharing! LOL!

After putting so much time in the card, I'm going to have trouble giving it away...would you?

Until next time...

Hugs!