and the winner is....

Christy at Scrap Your Story had to deal with some health issues and was unable to post the challenge last week. So, Jessica and I will be trying our best to fill her shoes for a while.  Here is the most recent post at SYS, please play along! :-)

My SYS post with tutorial can be found here.  I still have something to give away! These lovely little wood veneers go to:

Chelsea! She said:  

Chelsea  July 19, 2013 at 12:44 PM

I love that little pocket you made for your PL! Thanks for a chance to win I love wood veneers too :) I follow you on Bloglovin!

Thanks for following me Chelsea! Please email me with your info. and I'll get that right out to you!  orange-gearle (at) mchsi (dot) com.

That felt so good I'm going to do it again!  See below for another give away! But first here's a simple layout that I did this week:

This lovely paper was in my stash and is probably old (I think Echo Park, playground maybe?)! All I did for this LO was outline "love" with my white pen, add a few heart stamps in the corners, stitch around it, and add a little journaling. Love how easy this was!

I have another little giveaway for you. Once again, to be eligible to win you need to:

1. Become a follower of my blog.
2. Leave a comment below.

I don't have a photo of the prize, but I will add it as soon as I can!

..:: currently ::..

Currently I am...

playing catch up with Project Life (and still loving it).

enjoying my last few days off before heading back to school.

thinking about a co-worker going through some health problems.

wearing scarves when it is not too hot and skirts when it is!

watching Bea play with the neighbors, outside, as much as the weather will allow.

feeling blessed to be home for a few weeks to experience her.

loving the Hello Story class I am taking right now from Big Picture Classes.

needing to get physically healthy again.

listening to Songs for Slim


Don't forget, I have a giveaway going on. Last chance to enter. Details at the end of this post.

thirty things :: twenty random facts about me

So...I found this blog...

I was just minding my own business, reading the blogs in my daily feed and found this post by Monica Bradford, which lead me to this post.  And now I'm hooked!

I'm going to make a mini album "Thirty Things My Kids Should Know About Me" At least that's my hope! To start it off, like Monica and Jennifer, I will share twenty random facts about me (not sure how I'm going to put these in a book yet, but at least I'm getting them written down)!

1. When I am anxious (or sometimes angry), I do the dishes (or just clean something).
2. I have a super flexible body, no matter what my weight is.
3. I like light -- soft light, but lots of it!
4. Listening to music can almost always get me out of a cranky mood (if it's LIVE music, it happens even faster)!
5. I have always wanted long fingernails.
6. I have a calendar in my head that helps me know what day of the week a date falls on several months  ahead (no calendar needed).
7. Even though I have a calendar in my head, I am absolutely horrible at remembering dates of important events in history (like, REALLY bad).
8. I find politics fascinating and frustrating.
9. I love orange (duh). But mostly, I just like LOTS of color. But I also like neutrals.
10. I am decision-making challenged -- especially when it comes to the small stuff.
11. My family is more important to me than anything else.
12. I can almost always tell which way is North, even if I am in an unfamiliar place.
13. I have always loved the smell of coffee, but I wasn't a coffee drinker until I was in my late 30s.
14. My feet prefer to be bare.
15. When I take a shower or bath I have to brush my teeth right afterwards, even if I haven't had breakfast yet. Have to.
16. I love babies. Love them.
17. I'm addicted to paper.
18. I love stories. Reading stories, short or long, real or fiction -- and watching movies.
19. I would love to grow all our own food and eat completely home-grown products.  A happy second would be some home-grown and the rest from a farmer's market.
20. I want chickens.

Don't forget, I have a giveaway going on! Details here.

Scrap Your Story :: project life week 27

Caution: This post is full of fun. Proceed at your own risk. I have a new challenge from SYS, a tutorial, free cut files, and a give away!

This week at Scrap Your Story, we are creating our own embellishments, Do It Yourself style! For this challenge I created a Project Life layout to share with you and I prepared a short video tutorial to show you how I created elements on my iPad, transferred them to my computer, and then cut them with the Silhouette Cameo. A great way to get your own handwriting or hand drawn designs onto your LOs or other projects. Fun!

Here is the two page spread (plus an insert) :

This week I used a mixture of the Seafoam Core kit, some of my scraps, and my first Studio Calico Project Life Kit.

What's included in this week's spread: I made a trip to the DOT, we had a family reunion, prepared for our trip north, and celebrated Independence day at my brother's house. This left side of the two-page spread reflects pretty much everything up to the Fourth of July. I had so many photos that I wanted to use this week, that I didn't put in a journaling card, I limited my journaling to one or two sentences per photo, with one exception:

I had another photo from the family reunion that I wanted to include, and I also wanted to include a more (private) story about that day. So, I added a pocket -- when you lift the photo of the four siblings, you see the other photo I wanted to share, and I had a big 4x6 space to share some journaling! Perfecto!

I used the front of the 6x12 insert to focus on the fourth of July. The photos pretty much speak for themselves, so I just stitched around them and added a decorative square. I made the stars/boarder on my iPad, and then cut it out with my Silhouette (this is my "DIY embellishment"). I used the inside of the stars on my title/date card (I also wrote the "hello" on my iPad and cut it out with the Silhouette). I will share how I did that later in this post!

I used a fun paper clip to attach a few of the items from our trip to a piece of "map" patterned paper (cut 6x12) and slid that in the page protector as the back portion of the insert. One of the things I love about Project Life is a place to put all the little bits of stuff that would normally be thrown away -- or be piled somewhere, now they have a home.  :-)

The entire right side of the spread is about our trip to the zoo and the concert. I am actually doing a mini-book about the whole trip, so I didn't feel the need to add a lot of journaling. One of the reasons I'm doing the mini-book is because I knew that I would have too many things to share about the trip; too much for a PL layout at least! So, the highlights of the trip only for this -- the zoo and the concert -- most specifically, Bea got her 15 minutes of fame (yep that's her on stage with Rick Nielsen -- more in another post)!

Don't you love that "Travel - take me away" card?! It is part of the July Studio Calico PL kit. So is the "Adventure" transparency. It came in the mail this week and so I decided I had to use them right now and document the week of the trip (even though I am terribly behind on PL)! I have some wood veneer letters that are coming (I hope) and I will add a few hand written words and the wood veneer letters to that travel card when the alphas arrive (I'm thinking "Apple Valley, MN" will probably be out of wood veneer letters).

OK, you've made it this far, congratulations, I'm impressed with your endurance! Next, a video tutorial. Be kind, please. It's my first. I just want you to know that I say, "diagonal" and I realize it should be "diagonally". Argh. And there are a few "ums". Please forgive me.  It was 11:30 at night when I was recording the audio, and I went outside so as not to disturb my family. I'm pretty sure my neighbors were out on their deck listening to my....ahem...err...uhh....several takes...so I decided to leave it as is!


Wow!  I'm assuming you have now made it through the video! As a gift to you, I have three (really five) files for you to download if you'd like! The first folder contains two of the "stars" cuts that are on my PL insert. One has the stars filled and the other is exactly like you see on the layout! You can get those here.  The second is the "hello" that I used on my title/date card. You can find that here. And finally, the "life everyday" cuts can be found here (I'm including the one I used, and a bonus one that has the words in a different place).

Oh, but there's MORE! As part of the DIY fun -- the other DT's at Scrap Your Story are also doing tutorials!  Make sure you check them out here.

And you thought that was it??!!  Of course not! I am giving something fun away! Wood veneers. I'm totally addicted. For realz. I'd like to share my addiction with you. I'm giving away two packages of wood veneers to one lucky winner!

To be eligible to win you need to:
1. Become a follower of my blog.
2. Leave a comment below.

That's it! You have until Thursday, July 25th, 11:59PM CST to enter. The winner (chosen by random.org) will be announced on Friday, July 26th!  Winner is Chelsea!  See this post for another giveaway!

Freckled Fawn is not sponsoring this blogpost, this is more of a Random Act of Kindness, from me to you. :-)

:: road trip + free cut file ::

I'm currently working on a minibook to document our short little road trip up North. I'm using a small Smash book as my base.  This is the first time I've used one! It's been fun. I have the first day and 1/2 of the second day complete.  Will share more about the trip and the book soon. Here's a peek at the cover:

I made that "July 2013" cut for my Silhouette!  It was so fun, I decided to share it with you! This is my first time sharing, so I am not even sure it will work, please let me know if there are any problems! You can download the .studio file here!

It's not too late to play with Scrap Your Story and the great sketch this week! Check it out here! I'll be back tomorrow with another freebie (if today's works -- feedback please!) and a new Scrap Your Story DT post!

:: hello princess rock & roll ::

'Ello Kiddies (sorry, I am still singing Cheap Trick songs from our trip earlier this month)! Back with my second layout from this month's Scrapbook Circle Kit!

For this layout I used this awesome sketch by Diana Fisher for the July Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook Circle. I pretty much always enjoy working with Diana's sketches! Instead of three photos, I used two and placed the journaling where the third photo would go, other than that, I stayed fairly true to the sketch. Since I only used two photos, I scaled down the size of the patterned papers, too. I absolutely love the colors in this kit. Everything you see here (except for the "hello" and "rock & roll" alphas) came from the kit and I still have tons more to work with. I'm telling you, the kits that are put together by the Scrapbook Circle gang, are totally fab. They just keep getting better and better. I love opening the kit when it arrives because usually I will have several ideas right away. What I don't like is getting the kit and having no time to use it! July is the exception - no meetings, and basically off work. Whew! :-)

I love these pics of B. dancing to her daddy's guitar playing. We had to put on the tutu (right over her PJs) and a flashing tiara, all rock and roll princesses need those things, right?

Here are a couple of close ups!

Don't forget: my blogaversary is coming up (it's Sunday)!!! I will be doing a special giveaway on my blog -- check back later this week for the details.

:: b & a ::

I don't know about you but I love kraft and white together. I also love Ali Edwards. I think that she is a genius when it comes to telling stories, documenting life, and making it beautiful; artful; all at the same time. That's why, when I saw this layout on her blog November 2012, I pinned it with the idea that I would use it as inspiration at some point. What I didn't know is how little I would change the basic design. Why mess with perfection, right?

I used the July Scrapbook Circle Kit and Ali Edwards stamps for this layout. In fact, I got the stamps in the mail the same day I took the photos of this tea party. As soon as the stamps arrived, I thought I'd try them out with my new frost white ColorBox pigment ink. When I stamped it, I loved the sentiments and the softness of the white on kraft. It reminded me of the Ali layout I had pinned, so I got to work!

At the same time I had been working with this awesome Studio Calico Mister Huey's Mask that I'd gotten in the Scrapbook Circle July Embellishment add-on kit. I tried the mask with Mister Huey mist, then stamps, then paint, but none of them really gave me what I wanted. So, I tried the absolutely magnificent White Signo Pen (an aside: I was about halfway finished making this background paper when the mail arrive with the Ali Edwards stamps.....). Here's a close up of the mask + pen:

Remember me saying that I like the softness of the white ink on the kraft? Well, the signo pen, while usually perfection, is very.....WHITE. Not soft. So I covered the whole background with vellum. Love! It brought the focus back to the photos (another aside: the photos were taken right after I stamped the stamps for the first time....I added the softness to them in Photoshop, because I knew I would use the photos, with the stamps).

I added a bit of tiny circle stamping (from an Ali Edwards December Daily stamp set that I can't seem to find to link up)! 

And pretty much nothing is complete these days without a bit of stitching! :-)

Thank you to my friend Kirsten for taking my scrapbooking emergency text while I was creating this LO. (I couldn't decide on b&w or color photos)!

I will have another LO to share with you tomorrow, using the same Scrapbook Circle Kit.  Here's a sneak:

Did you know that my blogaversary is coming up (it's Sunday)!!??! I will be doing a special giveaway on my blog -- don't forget to check back later this week for the details.

It's not too late to play with Scrap Your Story and the great sketch this week! Check it out here!

Scrap Your Story :: Hello Cheap Trick

It's FRIDAY!  You know what that means, a great challenge @ the Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog! This week we are working with an awesome sketch!   The sketch (as seen on the right), was a fun one to work with! Two photos, a giant circle,and both a vertical and horizontal line. I stayed fairly true to the sketch, but remember, you can flip, rotate, tweak, whatever you need! I hope to see you play along with us this week!  I grabbed my June Kit from Scrapbook Circle, a few scraps from my scrap box and this is what I came up with :

This past weekend the three of us attended a concert at the zoo in Apple Valley, MN. We had front row seats at this outdoor, all-ages show.  It was Bea's first concert! You will see more photos from this trip at some point; I am currently working on a mini book all about it!

I took the main background paper (Basic Grey :: Bow Ties :: kick the can) and cut a big circle on my Silhouette, then placed another piece of patterned paper (Farmhouse Paper Company :: where ideas take root) behind it. I machine stitched around the circle to define it a bit more, and then added a few stitches in other locations (can never have enough stitches!).  The bright orange arrows are all from the kit as well, they are fuzzy rub-ons (part of the Hipster collection by Basic Grey). I also added some wood veneer shapes that I tinted with orange ink. The "hello" is also from the Hipster Collection, and the "cheap trick" is from Recollections. This was a fun layout to make!

Check out Scrap Your Story and play along this week! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Scrap Your Story :: Beatrice @ bat

UPDATE:  I'm linking this up to Paper Issues Feb. 7, 2015 Issue Hip to Be Square (I used square photos and some {aflairforbuttons} flair.

It's FRIDAY!  Scrap Your Story Challenge blog has a new challenge posted! This week we are all about childhood!

This week I was fortunate enough to be able to hang out with a friend and scrap & chat all afternoon! Love getting that time to catch up, and share some creative juices! I had the basic idea of this page (and even some of it created) before we met, but it was so awesome to be able to say, "What do you think of this....or this...or..."! I think we each created 2-3 pages that day -- we must do it again soon!

Most everything came from Jillibean Soup :: Irish Farm House Soup collection pack.  I added some wood veneers, washi and "today" flair from A Flair For Buttons.

For the painted stars in the background I made a stencil using my Silhouette Cameo.  Then I used Tim Holtz Distress paint (Antique White) to paint the stars on. Best part: I used blank stencil "paper" (did you know you can purchase that at Michael's?) to create the star stencil, so I can use it over and over again!

Fun!  We are off to a great adventure this weekend!  I am going to attempt my first "Smash" book to document the trip! I'll update you soon!

:: hello baby mini book ::

In this post I shared our wonderful family news -- my oldest daughter will be having a boy on or around October 7. We are excited for this wonderful addition to our family! For the reveal party, I started a mini book as a gift. My daughter has asked me to go ahead and keep it, add to it, and give it back to her when it's finished. She has a busy few months ahead of her, including moving, and so this makes complete sense (and I am excited to do it)! Thought I'd share a few photos:

Both the front and back covers are chip board that I covered with white card stock, and added a bit of washi tape that goes around the edge. Before putting the card stock on, I used Gelatos and Tim Holtz distress daubers to create a fun pattern.

Foot Stamp + StazOn ink + Transparency = fun title page

For the inside pages I found a great 6x6 pad of American Crafts papers at Target. The pad is called "Hip Hip Hooray" and there are two of each pattern.  I love the colors because most of them are gender neutral. When I started this project we didn't know if she was having a boy or a girl. 

Most of the tummy and ultrasound photos I stole off her Facebook page! 

The book is complete up to the present.  :-)  I plan to put some photos of the baby room and any other tummy/ultra sound photos that she takes. Then, I will leave a few pages at the very end for when we get to meet that baby in person! 

Check back here tomorrow for a new Scrap Your Story Challenge! Here's a sneaky sneak!

Happy 4th of July!  Have a safe one!