A beautiful mess

 

I scrapbooked. That should be a miracle in itself. But I scrapbooked about me again. Yay!

 I love the mixed fonts and messy spray inks:

 Fabric and felt flowers:

 I watercolored some of the flowers on my paper:

 And some hidden journaling:

 

I'm entering this into the Zeus and Zoe April challenge which is "Life as it is now".



Adventure

I'm not exactly sure what I'd use this card for - maybe wishing someone well as they leave on a trip??

Yes.

That's it!

Now.....just waiting on someone to take off on an adventure!

 I stamped a script background on the gray panel. But then realized it was too bold. So I smeared some gesso over it to mute it down. Then I sprayed the black and blue mists, stamped the sign and suitcases and added some fussy-cut pieces to the sign. I put a strip of travel washi tape on the left of my panel and tied some twine.

Linking up to:

Travel/Cityscapes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Challenge

Unity Friends with Flair

 

Thanks for stopping by today!!



love is all you need

 The current challenge over at The Paper Girls challenge blog is to use rain, umbrellas, and/or flowers. So I made this card that I wanted to make look black and white with just a pop of color.

 First I stamped this great image from Unity Stamp Co.
I spritzed some mist (masking my stamped image first) to make my rain.

I colored the couple using only gray shades of alcohol markers.

Then I used bright colors for the umbrella.

 

A little coordinating twine and a simple sentiment from this set.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

Linking up to:

Simon Says Stamp challenge blog - Anything Goes

Making the Workd Cuter Monday

Take it on Tuesday at Romance on a Dime

Link up Tuesday at Sara Haymer Designs

Time to Sparkle at Love Grows Wild

 Unity Friends with Flair



April Fool's Day

Do you "celebrate" April Fool's Day? I was never big on it until my kids got big enough to have fun with it. I have no idea what I'm doing this year, but here's what happened last year:

 

On the menu for dinner was meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cupcakes for dessert.

Here's the joke - the "meatloaf" is really rice crispies treats made with chocolate rice crispies and shaped in a loaf pan. The "mashed potatoes" are really vanilla ice cream and the "gravy" is caramel sauce. I would have liked to have cut up green and orange candies (like laffy taffy or starburst) into little pieces to look like mixed vegetables but didn't have any in the house.

 



They could tell it didn't look right but no one was sure what was going on.

The 12-year old asked if the meatloaf was made with rice and she just stared at it. Of course I am just dying waiting for them to take a bite. So is the hubby. Finally, the 8-year-old takes a bite and proclaims that "These are the best mashed potatoes EVER!"

 

And so the "cupcake" was really the meatloaf baked in a cupcake liner with mashed potato frosting.

I used a metal liner so the grease wouldn't leak through and give it away. 

Here's what it looks like without the wrapper.

 

This was totally fun and no one got hurt! The kids talked about this for months. And they've been asking what I am doing this year. So if you have any ideas please share with me!!!

 

Or do you do anything else fun that doesn't involve food?  I need some fun ideas. :)

 

Thanks for stopping by today!



Left brain, right brain

I've got an art journal page to share today.

 

I took the colors from this inspiration photo over at the Paper Girls challenge

Here's some close-ups:

My writing is hard to read over the circle "stamp" (I used a paint dabber on a mask and stamped it on the page) but it says: analytical, rational, mechanical engineering, computer programmer, detail-oriented, practical, organized, math, science

  

This side says: crafter, scatterbrained, cardmaking, scrapbooking, mixed media, daydreamer, creative, procrastinator, impulsive, easily distracted.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

Supplies:

life definition stamp is Unity's Giving it all meaning

book stamp is from Hodge Podge of Happiness

heart with wings stamp is from the Just You kit of the month



Where have I been??

So...I haven't blogged in over a month.

What's up with that?

 

Here's a recap of what happened in that month. I was in the Practical Scrappers card contest. I made it into the Top 25 with this love-themed card:

(This card is also currently on the ScrapbookSteals.com blog as one of their top project tutorials - I did a stamping marker tutorial for them. You can vote for your top 3 projects on their Pinterest board and win a big $140 Bo Bunny prize package through March 24th. http://scrapbook.steals.com/wp/2013/03/15/scrapbooksteals-pinspiration-giveaway/)

 

I was then voted on to the Top 20 and submitted this for the next challenge of birthday card with polka dots:

 

Again, I was voted on to the Top 15 and submitted this based on an inspiration photo:

 

I moved on to the Top 10 and had to create a black and white card with a pop of color so I made this:

Of course, secretly I was kinda hoping to not make it because the pressure to create was so hard sometimes and waiting a week between rounds to find out who moved on was brutal!

I somehow managed to make it to the Top 5. What?! Well, I did! The next assignment was to make a card using our favorite manufacturer, favorite color, and favorite technique. Well, I don't have favorites :(  I tried so many different things and started so many different cards and nothing was working. I just over-thought everything.

 

So the very last morning one hour before the card was due I managed to make this. I didn't really like it too much and knew it wouldn't make it to the top 3 but
I had to submit something and it was the only card that got completed.

So I sent it in. And it's better to finish last than not to finish at all right?? :)

Well, I did not make it into the top 3 and win any of the prizes. But it was fun to compete with such talented ladies and see some friends win.

And March is a very busy birthday month for us. 4 of the 6 people in this house have a March birthday!! My "baby" turned 3!! My niece turned 14, hubby turned 38, and my oldest will turn 9 in a few days. Whew. I've had more cake than you can imagine. Plus, we had an extra party at my hubby's grandparents' farm to celebrate not only our kids and hubby's birthday, but also his sister's birthday and the grandparents' anniversary. C-r-a-z-y.

 

blowing out his candles at his playdate party:

 

shortly after all the guests left:

 

some photos from the birthday dinner out:

And I changed my blog design. I thought it was a bit busy and chaotic before. But now it may be too boring. It needs some color and flowers or something I think.

 

Anyway. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with my Paper Girls Challenge project.

2nd grade

 I scrapped! It's been so long. I really should do this more often. One page done, a thousand to go...

This is my oldest son's school pic from last year.

 

I used Unity's new {be inspired}layout sketch and lots of washi for The Paper Girls current challenge.

Everything patterned is washi - the banners, the strips along the top and bottom edges, the graph print behind the photo and in the corner, and of course the strips on the photo corners.

I heat-embossed some gears and fussy cut some as well.

A stack of books was necessary for this kid who always has a book in his hand!



That's my guy!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 


Supply List

Unity stamps:
Nuts and Bolts - awesome word, gears and nuts
Hod Podge of Happiness - book stack
A Little Grunge Love - arrow
Tattered Chicken Wire
What I Know {KOM 8/11} - notebook journaling block

Sweet Stamp Shop:
Geek Chic - apple, book worm

Talk Nerdy to Me...

I love this stamp set from Sweet Stamp Shop and just had to use it for the next round of the cardmaking contest I'm in. We were to use an inspiration photo and the card was to be for a male. SO this was my valentines card to my hubby!

 We are such geeks. It was just perfect.
 

I started with black ink splatters and strips of washi tape. Then I colored that little bookworm using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers from Crafters Companion and popped her with foam.







She is SO cute!

Of course she needed a stack of books and that awesome sentiment!

 

Voting for this round is open until Wednesday night. So if you don't mind - would you go vote? Pretty please?? http://www.practicalscrappers.com/2013/02/card-contest-top-16.html You can vote for up to 3 cards. Which was really tough since I have 5 friends in the contest too.



 

Thanks for stopping by today!



A Trio of Valentines

I finally convinced both my boys to let me make their class valentines this year! They always love picking out their favorite licensed characters at the store. But they were kind enough to let me make them this time!

 

 

First up is my 6-year-old's Army man:

This is our interpretation of this original idea. He loves all things boy and Army and this was perfect for him!

 

 

My 2-year-old saw big brothers getting cards and wanted his own too. I'm sure you've seen several fishbowl ideas all over the internet and Pinterest. Some have Swedish fish, some Goldfish. Lots of "Glad we're in the same school" sentiments. But he isn't in school. So we adapted this sentiment instead. It says I o'fish'ally like you, Valentine!

I found the image in a Word clip art and sized it to fit in these clear goody bags and added the sentiment. Just throw in some Goldfish crackers (because what 2-yo doesn't love those!) and you're done. Try this doc I made if you'd like to make these yourself.

 

 

And finally is my 8-year-old's ipod. he just received his first mp3 player for Christmas and is really loving music right now so these were just perfect! Original idea is from Spoonful (formerly Family Fun magazine). They used mini peanut butter cups, but I chose to use Hershey's kisses like she did here.

Spoonful gives you a premade scrollwheel and playlist and one you can customize but there is only one to print at a time. I needed way too many for that. So I created my own and am sharing them here and here to save you time! I hope these work - I've never tried sharing a doc before!

 

Directions

 

I started by cutting cardstock to 4" x 6 1/4" (I got 3 out of 12"x12" cardstock)

Then I scored at the 2.5", 3", 5.5", and 6" marks.

Below you can see the score marks and where the printouts will go too. You can add them before or after assembly.

Then you'll just fold on the score marks and tape shut. I used my tape runner to run tape on that last 1/4" of cardstock and taped that to the inside of the box.

 

Now for the earbuds I taped 12" lengths of twine to 2 Hershey's kisses (make sure you remove the flag from the candy). You can use round stickers if you have them. I did not. So I punched paper circles and placed them on glue dots.

 Then the glue dot stickers were used to tape twine to the kisses.

 

To attach to the candy I punched a hole in the side of the box. A standard hole punch was too big and my mini punch was too small. So I just punched three small holes with the mini to get a good sized hole.

 

Feed the middle of the twine through the hole and tie a knot on the inside. I kinda placed my holes too high. Put them a little lower and they'll look like they are plugged in!

My son really wanted m&m candies so we put a little Fun Size bag inside. I just used a glue dot to attach. The bags are kinda waxy and won't pull the glue dot off the sheet. So I had to pull it off with my fingers and stick it to the candy and then press on the inside of the cardstock.

 You could use any candy of any thickness by just adjusting the scoremarks to make this box thicker than half an inch.

 Here are some of the many that we made!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

Linking up to:

Think Pink Sunday

Making the World Cuter Monday

Link Up Tuesday

Take it on Tuesday
Your Whims Wednesday

GIU Winner!!

Thanks to all of you who stopped by my blog last week and commented!

And an even bigger thanks to all my new followers! I tried to follow you all back. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

My week as the Growing in Unity gal was so much fun!

 

 

And now for the winner of the 2 Unity Itty Bitty stamps of their choice....

 

Denise Bryant

 

 

Denise, please email me at amberloyana @ yahoo .com and let me know which 2 Itty Bitty stamps  you would like!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great week!