:: the butterfly whisperer ::

I'm up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today with a new layout using the September Kit Here + There and a sketch by Diana Fisher!  I stayed pretty true to the sketch this time. I mean, why mess with a good thing?  I love Diana's sketches; they always inspire me!

Here is my take on her sketch:

I threw in a bunch of my favorite things for this one….stitching, layering, photos of my B, etc.  I also did a bunch of fussy cutting (those butterflies are not a punch, they are from patterned paper by Crate Paper)!



I used one of the scraps leftover from all the fussy cutting for a little extra texture and fun (and another chance to layer a bit)!

It has been so fun working with Scrapbook Circle this month!  You'll see a couple more projects that I created as part of the Guest Design Team pop up over the rest of the month! Check out the sketch on the Scrapbook Circle blog here!  And play along with us, it's such a great sketch!


Since I'm showing you my "mad fussy cutting skills" I couldn't resist linking this one up with Paper Issues current issue!  There a couple more days to play along on this issue before a new one starts on Monday (spoiler alert, I'm on that issue)!

Hope you are enjoying your September!  As for me and mine -- we are off to St. Paul to see The Replacements play for a hometown crowd!   Yessssss……

:: Scrapbook Circle Guest Design Team ::

Hello!  Happy Friday! I am so excited to be up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today with my first layout using the September kit (Here + There)!  This month's kit is full of yummy goodies from Crate Paper (Notes & Things), My Mind's Eye (Market Street), Pink Paislee (Solstice), American Crafts (Shimelle and Homemade), Studio Calico (Brighton Pier) and more, including some Scrapbook Circle Exclusives!

I stuck with Shimelle's new line for the main patterned paper and added some from the coordinating 6x6 paper pad, as well as her alphas. The "word" background paper is from the Homemade collection at American Crafts.  I added some stitching, some stamping with the exclusive stamp set, a tag from the Notes & Things collection, and some stickers from the kit.  This is a simple layout, but I like how it turned out!

I will share more creations from this kit soon! Grab  The Here + There kit at Scrapbook Circle while they are still available!


See you soon!

:: colorful fun ::

I am up on the Paper Issues blog today, sharing an August Swag Bag creation!

I started with white card stock and gelatos (see tutorial below).  Then I got out the Swag Bag, which is particularly yummy this month!

Don't you LOVE all of those stars?? See that chevron stamp?  THE SWAG BAG HAS A STAMP!  Woot!  Love it!

All of those fun layers are created from cards included in the kit. Seriously fun kit this month.  Have you got yours yet?  They are available here.

An extra for today: video about having fun with Gelatos!  :-)  I show you the technique I used on this layout as well as a few others to get you started!


Thanks for stopping by!  See you again, soon!

:: beach friends ::

A few weeks ago we took B. to the "beach".  It's about as close to a beach as we get in the middle of the US.  It's really a river, but there is sand and back channels free of currents that are perfect for wading, swimming and building sand castles.  We went there quite a few times last season, but haven't been there yet this year due to flooding.  Two of my close friends brought their children and grandchildren and they had a blast!  So did the adults!  So. Fun.  Soon after arriving home I had a chance to sit down with my Paper Issues July Swag Bag and I created a LO to share this story.



Nearly everything in this LO (besides the white background paper) came from either the July Swag Bag from Paper Issues (or previous bits and pieces from past Swag Bags).  So fun!  Have you picked up your Swag Bag yet?  The July bags are sold out, but the August bags are now in the shop -- grab one here! Don't forget, if you use my code (orangegearle) you can save 20%!

Thanks for stopping by!  See you again soon!

P.S. I just got my August Swag Bag, and it is awesome (there is even a stamp)!  I cannot wait to create with it. Srsly. Get one, and subscribe while you are at it! :-)

:: cotton candy cousins ::

Hi all! Today is my first post over on the Paper Issues blog!  So. Exciting.  It's also the last day to link up with current issue, Mix Tape.  I'm linking up this layout, just in the nick of time.

There are many ways to interpret this issue. I chose to go with a "mix" of collections, and use a song and use some washi "tape"!  This layout is about B, and her cousin L. eating cotton candy (the real story, told with hidden journaling, is all about them sneaking more by going off and hiding in the closet, eating handfuls at a time)! 

Link up by midnight tonight!  Link back to Paper Issues to be eligible for an awesome prize by Hazel & Ruby!

Guess what?  I have a code to share with you!  It gives you (yes you) a 20% discount at the Paper Issues Store! Woot!

See you again soon!

..:: project life : week 14 ::..

Week 14 left

Lots of black, white, and red this week!  It was a rough week -- including Bea home sick and my coffee maker breaking!  Some more tragic things too.  It's all in there.  The card that says "status" is where I wrote 10 awesome things to remember, so that I could try to forget the not so awesome!  It was actually a status message of mine on Facebook, so I added it here as well.

Week 14 right

The "hello sunshine" is stapled to a piece of clear acetate, and so is the partial card.

Week 14 spread

And there it is. Week 14.  No inserts, lots of content though.  I love this project!

Thanks for stopping by!  See you again, soon!

:: darling boy ::

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of babysitting my grandson, B.  He is so flipping cute!

For this layout I used a bunch of Amy Tangerine 6x6 papers and the stamps that are in the Plus One collection. I also used a few random embellishments from some past Swag Bags at Paper Issues.

See that awesome cut file in the background?  I purchased this at a (newish) etsy store that my friend Ashley Horton has called The Cut Shoppe.  Ashley also has a blog of the same name where she frequently has challenges and sketches to go alone with her cut files! I think I'm going to try to play along with the August sketch & challenge.  Don't worry, I'll share!


Thanks for stopping by!

:: hello august ::

 

hello backyard buddies.

hello catching fireflies.

hello wishing we could stay up later.

hello meal planning.

hello no more excuses.

hello PiYo.

hello back to school supplies.

hello back to school (what????)

hello paper issues design team.

hello happy dance.

hello making pretty things.

In case you missed the announcement, I have been asked to be on the Design Team over at Paper Issues!!!  Awesome!!  So exciting!  I'll share a discount code with you all soon!  Woot!

..:: project life : week 13 ::..

Week 13 left

The colors in this whole spread were inspired by the polkadot 3x4 card that you see above.  I got this in a SwagBag from Paper Issues and loved it immediately!  I looked through my PL cards to find others that could carry the colors throughout the two page spread and inserts.  This week TWO inserts were required -- including some mud-inspired artwork by B.  I love this project!

Week 13 spread with insert #1

The first insert houses 5 photos and a journaling spot (see where it says, "Yes" that's the insert).  This was all about going to my folks house and decorating an egg tree with Grandma!

Week 13  spread with insert #2 (and back of insert 1)

Above you can see the other 3 photos for insert 1, and the mud masterpiece that my daughter did during "worm day" at preschool.  I love including this stuff!

Week 13 (back of insert)

I enlarged a photo from "worm day" and added it on the back of the mud art work.

Week 13 right

My bank card was hacked on April Fool's day!  NO FOOLIN'! Ugh.  But it was documented.

Week 13 Panoramic Play

See where it says "lift"?  My Soul Mate was playing around with the panoramic feature on our iPhones and I had to include it in this week's spread.  Fun!

Also, I had some scrapping time with my sister-in-law this week!  Awesome!  Love it when that happens!

Thanks for stopping by, come back soon!

..:: project life : week 12 ::..

Still plugging away! I do love this project.  This week was part of my Spring Break week.  There is an insert: there were lots of stories!

Week 12 spread with insert

This week:

• My One True Love and I got to spend some alone time together being goofy eating out and drinking adult beverages during the day!
• We also bought some goofy "presents" for B., including the Frozen movie (came out on BluRay this week).
• We became obsessed with Breaking Bad.
• It was warm enough to go on our first park visit!

Week 12 right

Week 12 spread with back of insert

Also this week:

• We visited Urgent Care for a cut on B.'s finger (all was fine)!
• The iPad that we took to Urgent Care didn't return home with us (stolen!)

Week 12 right

And finally this week:

• It was March Madness week (I don't really dig basketball, but we went to a bar to watch it anyway).
• Batman (girl) made an appearance. 
• When we returned to school, there was a dusting of snow.
• It was also Iowa Assessments for students (blah).
• Early in the week light jackets and parks, later in the week heavy coats and snow!

Wow!  Full week!  Documented!  Love this project!

Also, I love Scrapbook Circle (but I bet you knew that)!  The great Melissa Mann lifted me -- awesome sauce -- check it out here!

Thanks for stopping by!

..:: project life : week 11 ::..

I've been pretty good at keeping up with Project Life this year -- I've recorded our memories and organized our photos.  I've even gotten the photos printed, added to the book, journaled and embellished! I'm mostly caught up. But I have failed as a blogger and I have not shared since week 10!  YIKES!  My plan is to share week 11 today, and continue to share more frequently until I'm caught up!  So…here goes!

week 11 full spread

week 11 left

I got a bit fancy this week and used a stitching template by Amy Tangerine to highlight "March" and the dates this week's spread covers.

week 11 right

That green eggs & ham card is actually a flip up -- I love doing these because there is so much room for journaling underneath.

flip up

The insert this week is all about Dr. Seuss!   They were celebrating his birthday at preschool, so B. brought home this cute Cat in the Hat paper plate art.  It fit almost perfectly in a 6x12 page protector (I had to cut little inserts on both sides for the little ears to pock through!

week 11 insert

week 11 insert back

I just stapled the Cat in the page protector without backing it with paper because I wanted to be able to see her signature! I added a little green circle, and then a 3x4 card for the journaling on the back.

Lots of green this week for St. Patrick's day! (yes, that was a long time ago!)

Thanks for stopping by!

44 by forty-four

In April I shared this post with you. Since that post I have gotten rid of a lot of stuff!

But I'm still overwhelmed with how much I have left to tackle!  YIKES!  This is the longest I've lived in one house (11 years this fall) and I think maybe that's part of it (I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder, except maybe pretty papers).

So far:

• socks (see my last post) = 2 bags
• a few items from the storage closet either thrown or given away = 2 bags
• Bea's closet is now free of all items (that were hanging) that are too small (given away or sold) = 4 bags
• de-stashing my studio (and organizing my embellishments  & alphas by color!) = 4 bags
  
• the stuff hanging in my closet is free of things that I won't wear AND in proper RoyG. BIV order! = 5 bags

Total =  17 bags (nearly 40% there!)

The good/bad news is that I still have plenty of places to get the rest of that 60%, and meet my goal of 44 bags by the time I turn forty-four in October!  The storage closet is horrific, and my bedroom needs some work (to name a couple places).  With just a few weeks of summer left -- I need to get busy!  :-)

I will be sharing a bunch of Project Life posts over the next few days!  Please come back and check it out!

:: horseshoes :

Simple, but fun layout for today! 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the title. I started by typing "Horseshoes" in bebas font. Then, I went in to the symmetrical letters and erase one half. Finally, I added a dashed line on the edges of those letters so they would fold easily. Before I cut, it looked like this:

I used Mister Huey spray ink to spray the wood veneer triangles at the top, and then added some white with a white out pen.

I'm linking this up to Paper Issues Current Issue : In The Navy.  The link party goes through July 6th -- plenty of time to join the party!

Thanks for stopping by!