Gone apple pickin'!!

Every year (until I moved this year) my sister and I would take our kids to a local apple orchard to take pictures ummm I mean pick apples!! Actually, we were pretty bad!! We were like papparazzi in the orchard!! There were certain pictures we always wanted to make sure we got and this is one of them...

We love the picture of the kids walking hand in hand down the row of trees! Isn't this so sweet?! I guess it is a good thing we got these pictures while we had the chance!! 

This LO was made for Sketches in Thyme this week. The sketch is another one by Helen Croft... don't you just love her sketches?! They are so easy to work with!! Here is another view of my journaling (I really am trying to do more of this, but it is hard since I hate my handwriting!!)

We would love to see what you do with this sketch! Be sure to link up your layout at Sketches in Thyme for a chance to win this months prize! Most of the papers and embellishments on this LO came from my Lucky Girl September kit! It arrived right as I was moving into my new house and this was the first chance I had to open it up!! So much scrappy goodness inside!!   This LO also qualifies for the Sisterhood challenge which is asking for 3 or more flowers so I will enter it there as well!!         

So...now if you will humor me.... I would like to brag about my daughter a bit!! I know you have heard me mention the club she started when she was six called "Kids Give Back"!   Well, one day I opened a Disney email that said they were holding a contest to see who was the "Fairest Princess of Them All!!!" I decided to take a photo of Lauren in front of her 7 ft. castle my dad had built for her room and then wrote and essay that talked about the things she had already done for our community. Well... guess what?!! She won the prize!! The grand prize was hotel and airfare for 4 to Disney World with a day at the bibbidy bobiddy boutique (where she will get a full princess make over including a new gown and shoes!), breakfast with the princesses, 5 days of park hopper tickets, VIP seating at the fireworks or parade and so much more!! Click HERE if you would like to see her winning photo! If you click on the smaller photo in the bottom left corner, you will be able to read the winning essay!! Needless to say, she can't wait to go!! We leave Saturday morning and will be gone a week! So... when I can't stop by and visit all of your blogs, I am sure you will understand!!

Remember that Frosted Designs is having a Design Team call and we are also giving away some candy to some faithful followers!! Stop by and check it out!!

Thanks for stopping by today!!  Barb  :)

Frosted Designs is having a Design Team Call!!

Good Morning! I hope your Monday is off to a great start!! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that Frosted Designs is having a Design Team Call!! You can click HERE to find out more information about how you can become part of this amazing team of ladies!! 

We have a Color Challenge for you!!

Happy Friday everyone!! I can't believe it has been an entire week since I posted my last project!! This moving thing is really getting in the way of my scrapping!! But, pretty soon, I will have the house all unpacked and then I will have all kinds of time to create!!


At Frosted Designs this week, we are challenging you to use peach and cream on a layout/card/project! And if you want to get really crazy, you can throw in some ribbon or something sparkly!! I chose to scrap this LO of my oldest daughter with her grandparents (my mom and dad) from about 15 years ago!! My parents have been so good to Courtney over the years and they have a really special relationship!! I am so glad they still live close to her since I moved so far away!! I miss my baby girl!! (okay.. she's 20... not really a baby!!)

I used a Martha Stewart die cut paper for the background and then layered it with several different DCWV papers!! And then I just went to town layering all kinds of flowers on it!! I added gem brads to some, glued microbeads to others and inked a few more!!  I painted a few chipboard embellishments with my perfect pearls, added some Prima flourishes and a butterfly and there you have it!!

So, now you need to head over to Frosted Designs to see what the rest of the design team did for you!! I always love how we can be given the same challenge and then come up with things that are so completely different!! Be sure to link up your project for a chance to win some digital stamps from Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Barb  :)

Frosted Designs Challenge

Well... it's Friday and that means that we have a new challenge posted at Frosted Designs!! This is Pat's week to host and she is challenging us to CUT UP A PHOTO!! Can you believe that?!! Actually, I am thrilled she picked this challenge because it pushed me to do a LO that I have been wanting to do for some time now!!

These are pictures I took of my family at Cedar Point Amusement Park a year ago!! I loved the photo of the ferris wheel and I loved that I got a picture of the first roller coaster Lauren ever rode and I wanted to put it all on a LO! But everything I tried seemed to get cluttered and the pictures were getting lost! Until I tried this technique!! I used a square paper punch to cut the squares in the photos and the patterned paper. That way I knew everything would be even!! I lined everything up into straight rows and added a few embellishments! I even added some chipboard squares under some of the photos (which isn't showing up well in this picture) to make some of the photos "pop!" My family loved the way it turned out!!

Now... we would love to see how brave you can be.... can you really cut up those fabulous photos?! Or a picture you worked so hard to color?!! You can do it... we know you can!! Show us what you've got!! And be sure to stop over at the Frosted Designs site to see what the design team did this week!! Their layouts and projects blew me away!! Link up your project for a chance to win some digis from Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More!!  Enjoy you weekend!!

Barb  :)

Finally... moved in and back to scrapbooking!!

It has been a long few weeks but I am finally in my new home and have all the boxes unpacked!! (We aren't counting the garage yet!!  LOL!!)  Now if we can get a few pictures hung on the walls, it might actually start to feel like home!!

And of course, I have a husband who does not let any grass grow under his feet... so the same day our furniture arrived, the pool company began digging in our backyard for our new swimming pool!! In fact, the pool people were already digging before our furniture showed up!! It was crazy!! But I am glad we started when we did... they are making great progress!! It has been less than 2 weeks and it already looks like this:

And I am so thankful that I had my parents here to help me!! They came all the way from Indiana to help us get settled into our new home in Texas! My mom is an unpacking machine!! And my dad is Mr. Fix it!! By the time they left Monday night, we had the boxes unpacked, all the fix it up projects complete and still had time for a game of cards!!

Thanks Mom and Dad!! You guys are the best!! Love you bunches!!

Now on to business!! This week we have a new sketch at Sketches in Thyme!! It is a sketch by Helen Croft at scrapalittlesketches.com!! These sketches are wonderful and so easy to work with! I used a picture of Greg and I with my parents in Cabo a few years ago. Instead of using two photos like the sketch, I decided to stick to just one! I love these papers from the Mi Casa stack from DCWV!! They are so perfect for my LOs from our Mexico trip!

Be sure to stop by the Sketches in Thyme blog and see what all the fabulous Mavens did with this sketch!! And then be sure to do your own LO and share it with us!!

And before I go, I really want to thank all of my fabulous friends who continued to stop by and leave comments and send emails throughout my move process!! It really means a lot to me that you took the time to check in from time to time... even when I wasn't always able to check in on your blogs!! I am so lucky to have met all of you through my blogging!!

Barb  :)

Name Plaque

Good morning everyone!! I am slowly making progress on the boxes in my house... I pretty much have all the main living areas complete!! Now it is time to go shopping for some new furniture!! I love a good reason to shop!! Today is my day to be the guest designer on She's A Sassy Lady!! Since I have been busy with the move, I decided I would share a project with you that I did while I was staying with my parents before the move. My mom wanted to make a name placque for one of her friends so this is what we did!

We started by finding a 12x12 tile that was pretty neutral. Then I got out my Gypsy and designed the placque the way my mother wanted! (She's my mother... I have to do what she says!!)

Once we had decided on the sizes, I moved the pieces around on the mat so that they were grouped together to save paper. The last name and the corners were cut with the same cardstock. The large initial was cut with a patterned paper,

Once we laid the pieces on the tile to see how it looked, we decided that the "B" needed a little something to make it stand out on the tile. (We put newspaper behind the tile so it wouldn't scratch the table we were working on!)

So.... we decided to ink the edges of the "B"!

We laid it out again and liked the way it looked, so it was time to start glueing it down!

We started by brushing on some Mod Podge to the center of the tile using a foam brush. The key is to cover the surface without letting it get too thick and wet. If it gets too wet, the cardstock will start to buckle. Once the Mod Podge was on, we put the "B" on top.

While that was drying, we did the same thing with each of the corner pieces. We gave it a few minutes to dry, and then coated the entire tile with a new coat of Mod Podge.

We then followed the same procedure to add the entire last name over the initial.

Once the tile is dry, it is ready to display! It makes a great and inexpensive gift. I made several of these last year as gifts and had many requests to make more!

I hope you learned something new today! Thanks for stopping by!!

Barb  :)

Life is Sweet

Hello everyone!! I am literally unpacking the boxes in my new home as you read this (thank goodness for being able to schedule posts!!) I was only able to get this one LO done this past week which wasn't easy considering all of my scrapbooking supplies are pretty much packed!! Thank goodness my mom was generous with her stuff!! And... I was able to use a digi from this months sponsor at Frosted Designs!! This month Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More is offering the winner of the challenge a chance to win 5 digis of their choice!!! And they are giving this away each week for the month of September!! Now... you have to play along for that!!!

I used the Ms. Birdie digi on this LO!! Is it not the cutest?!! I colored her with my new Prisma pencils and then added some Stickles because I thought she needed a little bling!!

This weeks challenge at Frosted Designs is a photo inspiration challenge! Please head on over to Frosted Designs to see the photo and all the great things the design team did with this weeks challenge!! Please forgive me for not providing all the links this week.... I have a few things I have to get busy doing!! You can click HERE to get to Frosted Designs for all the information!!

This house is not going to unpack itself!! lol!! I had better get busy!! Thanks for stopping by to visit!! Hopefully my next post will be from my brand new scrapbooking room!!!