Thursday, March 29, 2012

April Scraptastic fun!

Good morning! After the minor setback of an emergency dentist visit for Ms. Rileigh who cracked a baby tooth on an M&M last night, I am ready with today's post. It was nice to play yesterday in the craft room, even if it took having a sick kiddo to get there.

The April Scraptastic kit is AMAZING...both of them...I could only get one this month :( They also have a new stamp kit which I hope to get next month. Here are a couple of pages I made upon receiving the kit (did I mention I love this kit? All kits will be released TONIGHT, so be sure to grab yours before they are all gone when they are posted in the shop!)

Ages upon ages ago, we took one of our annual spring beach outings. Being from the seacoast, we can't stand big crowds of people taking up beach space and leaving trash everywhere, so we always go in the off season. Winter is best, but this spring day was perfect (yes, shorts and tank tops!) I love the colors of the AC Neapolitan line. I ended up using the patterned papers and cutting strips which I turned into pennants hanging from under the photos. see the stripey piece? That is the strip I cut off of the bottom of the background paper with paper info on it. I love how AC makes each part of the paper usable!
 A couple of strips are from a sheet of MME Miss Caroline included with the kit. MME Miss Caroline journal box (with the handwriting I wish I could go back and change. Stupid black marker.)
 Thickers in the kit. Love them!
 Twine from the kit and MME Miss Caroline layered sticker in the center of the grouping of photos.
 You can barely see in the pics, but I misted the background with Mister Huey in clay.
 This piece of background paper (MME Follow Your Heart) couldn't be cut up, although I did like the pattern on the back. It was perfect for this pic! Miss Caroline striped/dotted paper for two mats, and a sheet of AC Neapolitan chevron paper fussy cut. Miss Caroline embellies and rub ons, Simple Stories alpha stickers, and the two polka dot flowers are AC.
 Had to mist the background with some Glimmer Mist :)



That's all! Off to run a few errands and then hopefully the sky will be bright enough to take decent pictures of some additional creations. I hope you are able to create today, and I hope to catch up on what all of you in bloggy land have been up to creatively and otherwise. Don't forget to check out the Scraptastic Club tonight to get your hands on one of their amazing April kits.

Enjoy your day!

xoxo
Khristen

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A quick share

Good morning, I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of spring. It started out lovely last week, but of course, as is typical for New England, we went right back to the bitter cold and howling winds of winter weather. Brrrrr. That's ok though, I needed to take a break from the outdoor fun (and allergies!)

It's been a while since I've posted last. Helping my parents clear out their basement and prepare their house to sell, the start of softball/baseball season, spring concerts for the girls, and being sick have kept me from the craft room. When I was able to get up there to create, it was dark so pictures were impossible.

Today is bright and sunshine-y, despite the freezing temps, so I snapped a few inside today (sorry, too windy to take outside!) to share with you. I made these last week, including two cards that should have been part of the Dream Valley Challenges current Easter challenge. Just forgot to take pics in time!

I have made it my mission to clear out my hoard of patterned paper. It's getting out of control, and there are so many "I just have to have it" sheets that haven't moved since last year, like this sheet of Jillibean. Cutest caterpillar ever.
 Bo Bunny double dot ribbon. Scenic Route alpha. Background misted with OA Sprinklers in Robot Blue.
 Sew Easy heart piercer, orange DMC floss. DCWV vellum quote stack. Chipboard heart soaked in Spiced Marmalade Tim Holtz Distress Stain with red Liquid Pearls on top, orange floss tied around the heart.
 MME Funday wood banner with a Liquid Pearls heart.
 Pulled out the remaining scraps from the Scraptastic Summer Star kit (yes, from June! I don't let anything go!) Matted on pearlescent paper, patterned paper punched with a square punch. Used a border punch on the mat. Black Smooch Spritz on cardstock.

 OA Mini Market alpas. All patterned papers, journal strip, and "1 2 3" are MME Lime Twist.

 Pulled out some Cosmo Cricket Get Happy for this page :) OA Sprinklers in Robot Blue.
 That's a Jenni Bowlin stamp for the journaling, stamped in Jenni Bowlin Stick Candy.
 Get Happy journal card paper cutouts, chipboard heart coated in Glimmer Glaze (Icicle), and Webster's alpha also coated. Edges of cards distressed with my Heidi Swapp edge distresser.

 <3 curled up edges <3
 <3 orange paper clip <3

 Easter card for Andraia. Image is from Meljen Designs, Dream Valley Challenges' current challenge sponsor. (Head over and enter your Easter creation for a chance to win some cute images!) Image colored with Spectrum Noir markers.
 MM ribbon. OA mini market alpha.
 This one's for little man :) Isn't that the most adorable digi?
 Glossy Accents on the wings, Spectrum Noir markers colored this cutie in, and some Diamond Stickles on the swirly things in the background.
 Chip Chop Shop doily (love that turquoise!), doodles around the edges, Twinery twine, BG alpha.
There you have it! I am off to complete a couple of DT assignments for next month and then hopefully I'll be able to scrap a few pages for the kids' albums later. So far behind!

Don't forget to head over to the XOXO blog...did you know we're looking for a great designer to come up with a super sweet blog header after our switch to Wordpress? Go check it out, and while you're at it, enter our current challenge. Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog's March "Going Green" challenge is about to end so get in on that too!

Have a great day :)

xoxo
Khristen

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I need a re-do.

Today, I should have stayed in bed. My girls are driving me insane, and my son is off the wall. It is one of those days you just want to drive off a cliff to end it all. Instead, I will be removing all of the girls' toys and fun stuff out of their room due to LOTS of issues we've been having lately. They really need to learn the lesson that you have to earn the things you have: they are a privilege, not a right. Maybe having nothing to do but read all day will get the point across. Oh well, let's just hope I can hit the craft room when I'm done to improve my mood.

**WARNING: lots of pictures in this post. I was a busy girl yesterday!**

Here's one reason my day isn't going all that well...mailed off a potty chart to fulfill an Etsy order this morning, and OMG it cost me more than ever before to mail it! That's what happens when the Dollar Tree runs out of cookie sheets and you have to go buy a "real" cookie sheet, which apparently costs about 4 or 5 bucks more to mail than the dollar store's lighter, smaller cookie sheets. I spent a few dollars more than I made from the sale just to make and ship this! NEVER AGAIN! Here's the chart, hope she likes it...especially after spending an arm and a leg to ensure she gets it!

 
I changed it up a bit by using twine for the tracks. I made the train more closely resemble Thomas than the last Thomas chart (looks like I might have to find a Thomas Cricut cartridge with as many customers who've requested a Thomas-themed chart!)
 AC City Park paper provides that adorable sun. Just fussy cut and adhere! As she wanted Tidmouth Sheds, I made garage doors rather than a waiting area as I do in other train charts. I love this one! (My fingers STILL have the spray adhesive I used for those little teeny green strips all over them!)

 When I finished that up, I whipped out a quick card with the new MME Funday kraft 6X6 pad I had gotten in the mail a day or so ago, along with checking out the new punch that does borders and in a variety of different shapes. Prima blue flower and Recollections white flowers, diamond Stickles in the centers. Glossy Accents for the punched paper and on the Prima flower. Twinery Carribean twine and a Funday banner sentiment.
 Fussy cut the strip of circles from a piece of paper I don't know the manufacturer of, glued it over the penciled shapes traced with a Balzer Designs template. I started by tracing the arrow, and doodled freehand an arrow directly next to it. Love doodles :)


 This was a page I made last week, but wasn't really sure if I liked it. I'll show it off anyway! I think I would rather have the wood grain paper going vertically rather than horizontally. What do you think? Likey? Dislikey?
 These elements came from the January Scraptastic kit I barely touched.

 These are great pictures of my grandmother from an unknown year, but their condition shows they are quite old. Despite their condition, I had to scrap them. I love them whether I can see her clearly or not!
 Made this yesterday with some old Cosmo Cricket Get Happy. So fun, and I feel I've neglected little man's album lately (the fact he is currently 4 years older than in these photos appalls me.)
White gel pens and foam Thickers for the title, BG epoxy brad on the dotted strip of paper.
 <3 Three random stitches <3

 Sew Easy helped make this a bit straighter than I probably would have!
 Bo Bunny fun for this one, haven't played with a lot of the paper I got last year that I have been dying to! Yay me! Did this one yesterday, too.
 Bo Bunny border. All patterned papers are also from Bo Bunny. (Wasn't he just the cutest little baby?)
 Adhesive foam squares to lift that bracket off the page.
 The arrow is 3-D too, and there are 4 different alphas in that title.  :)  Scenic Route, Doodlebug, Webster's, and Bo Bunny from top to bottom.
 MM rub-on and white gel pen.
Ok, off to finish the big toy cleanout extravaganza of 2012. Hoping to get up in the craft room later to play more...but might end up just laying on the couch as I'm still a little under the weather. At least all errands are run for the day and all I have left to do is pick up a bunch of kids when school gets out, and take Rileigh to an appointment later in the afternoon. I hate running around when I'm sick!

I hope you are having a better day than I am, and here's to hoping tomorrow is a whole lot better!!!!

xx
Khristen