Coming Full Circle

Many years ago, I signed up for Shimelle's class, "Blogging for Scrapbookers 2", and it gave me the tools I needed to develop my blog... I even created my first YouTube video for that class. It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone but it was so worth it in the end. I also participated in her "Journal Your Christmas" class starting in 2010, and I've completed a December album every year since then. Her "Pretty Paper" class taught me to use product while I love it and quit hoarding it for the perfect layout. As you can see, Shimelle has been a great influence in my scrapbooking journey and I thank her for that.

Fast forward many years and I am a Guest Designer on Shimelle's blog!!! I was lucky enough to get to pick my date and subject so I chose stars and July 4th (of course!) Click here to see the post and layout.

It's an honor (and a bit surreal) to be able to design for someone that has had so much impact on my creative journey. Thank you, Shimelle, for your inspiration and this opportunity. I've definitely come full circle and it's a great feeling! ♥

A Crop + Empty House = Productivity

Sometimes the scrappy stars align and make for the perfect time to create. This past weekend was one of those... I had an empty house and Cocoa Daisy was hosting an online crop. Seriously, how lucky can one girl be? :) The challenges the design team put forth were fabulous and (luckily), my mojo showed up for the party. The weekend was full of chats, fun, inspiration, and general craziness and I loved every second of it! There were 7 challenges offered and so far I've completed 4.

There's nothing like a crafty weekend to feed your creative soul! There is still time to participate in the challenges, so head over here and check them out!

I'm Not Defeated, I'm Determined!

This week has been wild and woolly in the scrap community. Two Peas In A Bucket announced they were closing and sent scrappers across the globe into a panic. How would we survive without our beloved Message Board (yes, even the NSBR!), and all the wonderful inspiration we find there? I will admit that it put me in a little bit of a funk because 2P's has been a daily stop for me, for at least 10 years. I have now accepted the fact that they are closing. Peas are gathering in different locations on the Internet, reconnecting, so all is well in my scrappy world. Rather than putting my head in the sand to accept this scrappy apocalypse, I am digging my heels in, and finding my passion for this hobby all over again. Disclaimer: During my panic phase, I may or may not have overspent on scrappy supplies this month. Thank goodness, the panic only lasted a couple of days! :)

This week I've had some forced downtime, so I decided to attempt to use my own handwriting to create a cut file on my Silhouette. I watched this video on You Tube and gave it a shot. If you haven't give it a try, you should. I just love that it's my own handwriting, it's so personal and unique! The challenge at Cocoa Daisy this month from Nicole, was to use strips of paper on a layout. I took strips of paper and made fun stars to start my layout. I took my "love" cut file and painted it with a Jenni Bowlin paint dauber to make it pop off the page. Since the handwritten cut files are pretty delicate, I just machine-stitched it to one of the stars. I added a few stamped stars and a few more extra strips/pieces of paper and my layout was complete.

My tip of the day is, focus on why we love this hobby and the reason we started it in the first place. Scrappy sites will come and go, but my love of documenting life moments will never fade. Thanks, Two Peas, for a fun and fabulous 10+ years. I learned so much, and grew as a scrapper because of the community you created. ♥♥♥

Silhouette Sunday

A couple of weeks ago, I helped a friend learn the basics of cutting on the Silhouette. I will admit, I'm a little lazy when it comes to using it, but after helping her, I realized how much I love this machine and it's a shame not to use it more. The Sunday Sketch from Studio Calico's blog today, was all the inspiration I needed to fire up my machine. I started with the large star and decided to back it with a couple of circle cuts. The title is from Kerri Bradford's July Fourth collection. Since the title is so delicate, I machine-stitched it to the star. It's amazing how quickly a layout can come together with the Silhouette!

I'm going to challenge myself to use my Silhouette more often, starting with the rest of these photos from July, 2012! ;)

Summer Fresh = Summer Fun

I started scrapping July 4th, 2011 photos last year but never finished them. I just couldn't get into a groove, but it's all good because along came the Summer Fresh collection from Simple Stories along with Cocoa Daisy's June kit. ♥ This collection captures the essence of my photos with it's simple, fun designs with a homespun feel. The first two layouts are a mishmosh of My Mind's Eye, Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico...

The following layout was created from the 6/24/12 Sunday Sketch at www.StudioCalico.com. I used a blank tag and embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. I then used Distress Ink to highlight the stars. I think it's my favorite thing on the layout!

I love using WRMK divided page protectors. It's a great way to add lots of photos with touches of scrappy products.

It was such a beautiful day -- we had just set up for lunch outside and a huge thunderstorm came rolling through (of course.) We opened up the barn and took the party inside. You may think the fireworks pics are from our local show but you would be mistaken -- yes, my dear husband is responsible for the pyrotechnic extravaganza! Here's to waiting a whole year to finish a group of photos. Thank you, Simple Stories, for coming to my rescue. Wishing you all a fun-filled summer!

10 Things

Today I'm starting a new monthly feature on my blog. This concept was introduced to me by Shimelle Laines's blogging class. There will be many other bloggers participating and I'm looking forward to a good blog hop!

It's 10 things on the 10th of the month. The things can be anything... pics, lists, random thoughts, etc. For my first "10 things" post, I'm going to share an ongoing mini album I'm creating. It's simple snapshots I take every July 4th of my children. I keep this 8x8 album on my coffee table. It's so amazing (and bittersweet) to see how the kids change each year. It's one of my favorite albums.

Wow, can you believe how quickly time flies?! 10 wonderful years of memories. Now let's go out and make some more!

Happy Summer!

Scrappy Goodness

I just wanted to share a couple of layouts I've done recently. Ellen S. from For the Luv of Art recently challenged us to use stitching on a layout. I enjoyed the challenge so much I decided to do more sewing with the fabulous papers from the Sept. kit. Thanks for looking!

July 4th Celebration

Wow, what a busy and fun day we had. We went to Sunday School, grabbed some Chinese food for lunch and came home to prepare for our cookout & fireworks extravaganza! Paige & I made the Flag Cake from Ina Garten's cookbook and it was a huge hit! :)
As usual, my hubby put on quite the fireworks display. Some friends from our old neighborhood stopped by to watch with us, so it turned into a fabulous evening for us and especially, our kids!