The Perfect Routine!

Before I get to today's post, let me just say..... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas together and a blessed new year! 

Now, on to business!! We have a new challenge up at Frosted Designs and our Design Team has out done themselves again!! I love the variety of projects our team shares each week and I promise you will not be disappointed! This week we are asking you to use Fabric on your cards, layouts and projects! I know it sounds a little intimidating but really, it is not hard at all. Take a look at what the Frosted Designs Design Team did by clicking HERE!

Here is the layout I created....

I can't believe this is my little Lauren! She is growing up way too quickly!!

If you look closely, you can see that I used tulle on the flowers in this layout. See! It's that easy!! We would love to see what you can do! Hopefully all of you will get a break from the holiday celebrations for yourself and you can play along! We also have a link to an adorable scarf that Becky made.... you are going to want to make one too!!  Have a great day and an fabulous weekend!

More projects to share!

I am back with a few more projects that I created this year! I am still learning how to make cards so I don't always share them, but here are a few...

I had a lot of fun making these so I am sure I will make more in the future! I know the people who receive them always love the personal touch! 

I will be back tomorrow with a new layout for our newest Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs!

Sharing some layouts!

Hello everyone! It is hard to believe that Christmas is just 4 days away! I lucked out this year... my parents came for a visit, helped me finish all my shopping, wrapped all my gifts for me AND took them back to Indiana where we will be celebrating Christmas this year!!! It is so nice going into the holidays and not being completely stressed out! We are going to have a little fun tonight... we are going to Christmas in the Park at Six Flags and then tomorrow we are going to hang out at the Arboretum!

Since I am relaxed and ready for Christmas, I thought I would share a few layouts I created this year that never got  posted to my blog!

Looking back over some of my layouts this past year, I realized that my style really varies depending on who I am using in the layouts! I kind of like that! It keeps all my pages from looking the same!  :) 

I have some more projects to share with you tomorrow! See you then! 

Miss You!

Wow! I can't believe that we are half way through December! November and December were very busy travel months for me and if I wasn't out of town, I had company!! All of it has been fun but it has kept me very busy! I wanted to share our newest challenge at Frosted Designs! This week we would like to see how you use Ribbon on your cards, layouts and projects! I know I always say this, but this time I really mean it.... our design team has created some incredible projects with fabulous ideas!! You really do need to check them out!! Here is the card I made...

Pin It

If you link up your project, you have a chance to win some Graphic 45 papers!! Click HERE to go to Frosted Designs to get all the details!

The staff at Scrapbook News and Review has been very busy too! We just completed the 12 days of Christamas! Each day we made a tag or some other mixed media project with set by step directions so you can make them yourself! Here is the tag I created....

SNR sent out emails with the information on all of the projects but in case you are not on their email list, you can still find them on the SNR home page!

Guitar Wall Hanging

Good Morning! Can you believe it is December already? Wow! Where did the year go? I wanted to share a project with you that I completed with the help of my dad! My daughter, Lauren, wanted a rocked theme bedroom so we thought it would be cool to have a giant guitar to hang on the wall!  :)  I used the Hannah Montana cartridge to cut a pattern and then used the pattern with an overhead projector to make it really large. I traced the pattern on a piece of wood and my wonderful father cut it out for me!! He even sanded down all the edges and put lights on the back of it! All I had to do was paint it and add a few flowers and gems! I love the way it turned out and it looks great on my daughter's wall... especially at night!

Seriously... how cool is that?! Thanks for stopping by to check it out! Have a great weekend!

Wrap it up!

Hello! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Mine was so busy with Thanksgiving, shopping and spending time with family and friends! But it was a good busy! Now I am directing my attention towards Christmas! It will be here before we know it! Today, on the Robert's Arts and Crafts Store blog, I am sharing how to make these cute little gift card holders....

If you would like to find out how to make one yourself, head on over to Robert's Arts and Crafts Store Blog! You can get there by clicking HERE!!

Have a great week!  :)

Back from Vacation!

This week has been wonderful but I am a little sad.... it is the end of my vacation! Tomorrow morning we pack up and head home! We have had so much fun in Cabo but it will be nice to get back and get into a normal routine again!

It's Friday so we have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs..... Die Cuts! Let's be honest.... the possibilities are endless on this one! You can use die cuts you made using a die cut machine or you can use the die cuts from your favorite manufacturer!! Here is a layout I did with my brother, Greg, and Lauren when she was just a little tyke! Boy do all the kids love their Uncle Greg! What a special man! We are so blessed to call him family!

I love how this layout captured the fun of summer! I know I should probably be working on layouts that have more of a fall theme, but I wanted something bright and cheery!

I am so glad you stopped by to visit today! I hope you get a chance to join us in this week's Die Cut challenge! You can get to Frosted Designs by clicking HERE!! Have a great weekend!

Toddler Trouble!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a fabulous week! It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Where has this year gone?!  :)  Frosted Designs has posted the new Fabulous Friday challenge.... Embossing! The embossing can be dry embossing or heat embossing or both! I love the look of both techniques but sometimes I forget to use it! Here is a layout I created of Lauren when she was a toddler....

She thought it was great fun to go into the bathroom and unravel all the toilet paper! But with that cute little face, I couldn't possibly get mad!  :) 

Most of the supplies came from an American Crafts kit I had. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder, some buttons and fibers, threw in a little rik rak and some flowers and finished it off with the darling little bird I made myself! I tried to make it look like the birds on the paper! Not an exact match but pretty close!

We would love to see what you can do with embossing! Be sure to link up your project for a chance to win a prize from Mold Muse! If you haven't heard of them, you need to head over to Frosted Designs to check them out.... cool products!!

Sisters!

Hello! It is Friday which means we have a new challenge up at Frosted Designs! This week we are asking you to make a card, layout or project with Family as the theme! I chose to do a layout of me with my two sisters! My older sister is in Japan right now and my younger sister is in Indiana. I am really missing both of them!!

This picture was taken at my niece's wedding a little over a year ago! Once the storms moved out, it was a gorgeous outdoor wedding!!

Supplies:

Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants, K&Co., Die Cuts with a View

Flowers: Prima

Brads: The Paper Studio

Letter Stickers: Adornit, Making Memories

Stamp: Tim Holtz

Ink: Quick Quotes

Punch: Marvy

Glimmer Mist: Tattered Angels

Journal Tag: Colorbok

Spellbinders: Label Four

Other: Twine, brown paper bag, cheescloth, stamps, button, thread, kraft cardstock

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend! I am sneaking away for the weekend with my wonderful husband to Phoenix! Yay for a night away!!  lol!! 

It's all about the candy!

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about all of you but my house is going to have a VERY busy weekend! But, before I get to that, I want to share Frosted Designs new challenge with you! It's all about food and candy! We are asking you to use food and/or candy in your card, layout or project! You can use photos that include food, images/stamps of food or projects that include food! You choose!! Here is the layout that I created.....

We have the cutest little candy store here in McKinney that Lauren loves to go to. I couldn't resist snapping a few photos the last time we were in there!!

Now.... about my busy weekend! Tonight, Lauren is having a Halloween party at our house! We have been very busy getting things ready and I thought I would share a few photos with all of you!

This is our table in our foyer.

Lauren and I made these darling little coffins filled with candy and then Lauren and her friend made the mummy soda bottles!

Lauren and I had a great time adding webs to the inside of the house! And the good news is.... there really is no need to clean! The messier the better!!

It is not showing up well in the photo but I found this darling Haunted House.... the perfect decoration!

I hope you and your families enjoy the weekend!

barb  :)

Halloween Treat Baskets

Hello everyone! Happy Monday to you! I have been so busy this past week that I completely forgot to tell you about our challenge over at Frosted Designs! This week we are asking you to use Fancy Trim (fancy ribbon, ric rac, lace, etc) on your cards, layouts and projects! There is an amazing prize up for grabs so be sure to head over and check it out! Here is the layout I created for this challenge...

This is my precious Lauren at 9 months.... now she is 9 years old!! Where, oh where does the time go?!!!!

Today is also my turn to share a tutorial on the Robert's Arts and Crafts Blog. I created these darling little Halloween treat baskets for my daughter's upcoming Halloween party! Stop over at Robert's to see the tutorial! You can get there by clicking HERE!

I hope each and every one of you have a fabulous week! Thanks for stopping by today!

The Graduates!

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted something! I have been so busy with some of my design team responsibilities that I haven't taken the time to update my blog! I promise to do better!!  lol!! Well, it is Friday and that means that we have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs! This week is a recipe challenge!! I love those kind of challenges! If you go to the Frosted Designs site, you can find out what the recipe is!! Here is the layout I created using the recipe....

This layout is of my daughter and two of her best friends on graduation day. I wanted to make something that didn't involve school colors or look like school type paper. I am pleased with the way this turned out! Now it is your turn! We would love to see what you can create for our recipe challenge! And the best part is, we have an amazing prize we are giving away! Be sure to join in on the fun for a chance to win!! 

Have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by my blog!

A Father's Love

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you but this was a busy week for me! I am ready for the weekend! And even better, we really don't have any plans so we can just relax and take it easy! My husband is in a pretty good mood since football is starting... I think Lauren and I may just have to take advantage of that and do a little shopping!! lol!!

We have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs! This week we are asking you to use tickets, postage stamps and envelopes on a card, layout or project! And since Graphic 45 is our sponsor, this challenge is perfect!! I love their papers! Here is the LO I created using the G45 Communique line....

This is one of my all time favorite photos! It is my mom with her dad. Actually, he was her step dad but you would never have known it. He was the only dad she knew and he treated her like a princess!! He was an amazing man!

Please stop by Frosted Designs and see what our design team did for you! We are introducing the rest of our Fabulous Friday Design Team members and you are going to love the creative ways they used tickets, stamps and envelopes!! There are also 2 prizes from G45 up for grabs! Play along with us!

Have a great weekend!

barb  :)

Kids Give Back

How was your weekend?! I had a wonderful time cooking out and swimming with friends this weekend! Now that Labor day has come and gone, I am starting to think about fall! It is also the theme this month at Robert's Arts and Crafts blog.... and today is my day to share a project! Here is the layout I created of my daughter and her friend raking leaves for an elderly lady who needed the help in her yard! They had so much fun raking and playing! It was a great day!

If you would like to see my tutorial on how to make these cute little pleated flowers, head on over to Robert's Blog. You can get to  my post by clicking HERE!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a happy, creative week!

barb  :)

Frosted Designs Challenge

Happy Friday everyone! I bet you are looking as forward to the long weekend as I am! I have a busy weekend of parties and get togethers but I am hoping to get in a little scrapbooking time as well! We have been busy over at Scrapbook News and Review with all of our manufacturer events. I hope you have had a chance to go check them out. They can be found in the SNR forum. If you leave comments, you can win some fabulous prizes!! Definitely worth checking out! You can find the forum by clicking HERE! Click on the forum tab and you will find the events!

This is an exciting week for us at Frosted Designs! We are starting to introduce some of our new team members (you will meet 3 today) and welcome back some of your favorite designers! This week our challenge is to use flourishes on your cards, layouts or projects! Here is a layout I did using one big flourish!

I really had fun with this layout because I got out the paints and mists and perfect pearls and went to town!! It is not my usual style but I sure had fun creating it! Now we would love to see what you can create with flourishes! KaiserCraft is sponsoring us this week and has donated TWO incredible prize packages! Be sure to play along for your chance to win! Click HERE to find out more!!

I have been so busy starting homeschooling with my daughter that I completely forgot to post last week's Frosted Designs layout! Silly me! The challenge was to use school papers (notebook, ledger, etc) on your project! Here is the layout I created for that challenge:

My mother is the little girl in the photo with her sister and mother! I love this photo!!

Well, that is all I have for you today! Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the extra day!

A Summer fun layout!

**SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ROBERT'S ARTS & CRAFTS DESIGN TEAM BLOG HOP!!**

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I can't believe we are almost half way through August already! We have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs this week.... Animals! We would like to see animals in your card, layouts and projects! Since Nikki Sivils is our sponsor, I wanted to use some of her papers and I had the Summer line laying around. Here is my LO...

Every summer we go to Myrtle Beach for a week and we have gotten to know a few of the families that go the same week we do. My daughter, Lauren, absolutely LOVES to get smoothies down by the pool... or in this case, IN the pool!! lol!! One day while swimming, Lauren talked her dad into getting her and her friend Lexi a smoothie! What a life! Laying in the pool on a hot summer day slurping down a cold fruity drink! Does life get anybetter at 9 years old?! lol!!

We would love to see what you can create! You can use animals as the main theme or just make sure there is an animal on it somewhere (like I did - see the cute little birds?!)

We are also on our last few days of our Design Team call! We would love to see you apply!! Click HERE to go to Frosted Designs to find out more!

Robert's Blog Hop!

Hello!  I am so excited to be part of the brand new Robert's Arts & Crafts Design Team! Welcome to our Blog Hop!

We have a pretty impressive line up and I am honored to be part of this Design team! You should have arrived here from Yolie's blog. If you did not start at Robert's, click HERE so you can start from the beginning. I would love to tell you a little about myself....

I have been crafting my entire life! I grew up with a mother who always had some kind of creative project going at all times. We did everything from knitting, to cross-stitching, to sewing, to every kind of paper craft you could imagine! My mom was the person who took me to my first Creative Memories class nearly 20 years ago and I was hooked! I must admit, I am glad to see all the changes that have come to scrapbooking since the beginning!

I have an amazing husband (we just celebrated our anniversary yesterday!) and 4 wonderful kids! I have three girls (ages 21, 20 & 9) and a son (age 18). Right now we only have our youngest living at home so she is the one you will see in most of my scrapbooking layouts! I was a classroom teacher before my husband took a job in Texas last year. Since our move, I have been a stay at home mom. I am so blessed!

I thought I would share a couple of layouts with you that I completed recently...

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Feel free to look around! When you are ready, here is the next stop on your hop.... Gaby!

Here is the order of the hop in case you get lost along the way...

Robert's
Celeste
Theresa
Faith
Jenny
Brooke
Zoe
Kari
Yolie
Barb - You are here!
Gaby
Katie
Nancy
Michelle
Gina

It's all about the circles!

Happy Friday everyone! We have a new challenge posted at Frosted Designs that everyone should be able to play along with! We are asking you to use circles on your cards, layouts or projects! Seriously! It's that easy!

I am a little bummed right now. My 18 year old son has decided to go back to Indiana and live with his grandparents for his senior year of high school. I can't blame him... all of his friends are there and he has a great social life in Indiana (not so much here in Texas!) But I am going to miss him so much! He took off this morning with his truck all loaded! He is such a big boy now!

So I thought I would share a LO with you of when he was little, and cute, and wanted to hang out with mom all the time!

Seriously... isn't he just the cutest little guy?! I wish the photo of the LO would have turned out better but sometimes you just get what you get!! I did manage to get a lot of circles on this LO for the Frosted Designs circle challenge!! heehee!!

If you play along, you have a chance to win this wonderful prize from our very own Andrea....

So what are you waiting for? Create something with a circle and link it up at Frosted Designs! Have a great weekend!

Fabulous News!

I couldn't be more excited to share that I am now part of the

Robert's Arts and Craft Store Design Team!!

I am so honored to be part of this team and can't wait to start sharing my posts with all of you and all of Robert's fans and customers!! Starting in September, I will be sharing some of my newest creations over on the Robert's Arts and Craft's blog! But be ready.... we have a blog hop coming your way in August so you can meet the entire team!

If you don't live near a Robert's store, no worries! They sell everything you would possibly want and need online! Be sure to sign up for their emails and follow them on Facebook to get discount codes!!

************************************************************************

On a different note... the July issue of Scrapbook News and Review has been released! Personally, I think it is one of their best!

And for a limited time, they are running a special deal for those of you who want to subscribe to the magazine! Your pretty much get 2 years for less than the price of one full year!! How is that for a deal?! If you want to find out more, check it out HERE! But hurry.... this deal ends at the end of the month! (July 31st!)

Giveaway time!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to check out my post for Robert's Craft store! As promised, I have the Crop-A-Dile II to give away to one lucky winner! And that winner is....

Kasey!

Congratulations Kasey! You have 48 hours to email me your address at barb.craft@att.net.  Have a great day!

Children Wall Hanging

***SCROLL DOWN IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENTER MY GIVE AWAY FROM ROBERT'S CRAFT STORE!!***

It is Friday and that means that we have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs!  We would like for you to use a quote on a card, layout or project! This quote can be a famous quote or something your child said! Anything goes! Here is a project that I completed...

A while back, I took a Quick Quotes Class and this is what we made! I love all the vellum and quotes and the layering of the canvas pieces!

 And some close ups for you! This picture was taken when Courtney (orange dress) was a senior and Kristin (green dress) was a Junior. Lauren (munchkin in the middle) wanted to get dressed up and glammed up so badly! She was more than willing to pose for some pictures with her sisters!

And I just couldn't help myself from putting the Sweet Sunny Smile tag on Matt's picture! This is the age where he was too cool to smile for any of my photos!! Gotta love him!

Thanks for stopping by today! I would love to see what you can do with quotes. Be sure to link up your project at Frosted Designs for a chance to win the prize from Little Red Cottage! Have a great weekend!

Guest Designing and I have a Give Away!!

.....


Hello! I am so excited to be guest designing for Robert's Craft's again! If you don't know about Robert's Crafts, you are missing out! They have a large variety of every crafting product you can imagine! I don't live near a Robert's but I can still shop online with them!

When Brie contacted me, she asked that I do something with a Summer theme. Well, that is easy enough! I just got back from vacation with my family (and when I say family I mean parents, sisters, brother, brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews and of course my own children!) We had so much fun and between me and my sisters, we took over 1000 pictures!! How crazy is that?! But, it is not entirely my fault! I have a 9 year old who is constantly yelling, "Mom! Take a picture of me!" So, I do! Here is a layout I made from some of the pictures I took in the state park.....

Most of the supplies for this LO came from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Kit which can be purchased at Robert's Crafts. I also did a tutorial on the cute little pinwheel which you can find on Robert's Crafts Blog. You can get there by clicking HERE!

One of the tools I used to make the Pinwheel and add eyelets to the banner is the Crop-A-Dile II so Brie thought it would be fun if I gave one away to a lucky winner!

Robert's is also going to throw in some Patterned Paper! So, would you like to know what you have to do to win?

1. Leave a comment here for one entry

2. Become a follower of my blog (if you already are, just let me know) for an entry

3. Leave a comment on my post on Robert's blog for an entry. You can get to the post by clicking HERE!Make sure you leave a comment here letting me know that you did!

4. Become (if you aren't already) a follower of Robert's Blog for an entry

That is four different ways you can be put in the drawing for the Crop-A-Dile and Patterned Paper! Be sure to leave a seperate comment for each thing you did right here on my blog!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you take some time to browse around here at Crafty Girl and see some of the other projects I have created! You have until noon (Central Time) on Wednesday, July 20th to leave your comments to be entered into the drawing! That gives you exactly one week!

Blog Hop winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in  Frosted Designs Blog Hop this past weekend! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about our design team and were inspired along the way! And as promised... I have a prize to give away!

The winner is......

Connie!

Congratulations Connie! Please send your mailing address to barb.craft@att.net and I will get your prize mailed out to you right away! You have 7 days to claim your prize!

Be sure to check out Frosted Designs... we have a new sketch challenge posted and our design team totally rocked it!!

Frosted Designs Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Frosted Designs First Birthday - Ice Cream on the Beach Blog Hop!! We are so excited to be celebrating our first birthday and what better way than with a blog hop!?! You should have started at the Frosted Designs site where you will find a list of questions and answers. Copy and paste those questions and all you have to do is figure out who answered which question! Once you visit all the Design Team members blogs, email you answers to Diana at danica4us@yahoo.com!

Here is what you can win by figuring out who answered each of those 18 questions and hopping along with us...

Blog Hop Prize

The kit includes 10 Little Yellow Bicycle papers along with several flowers, ribbons, brads, and so much more! Be sure to take notes and email your answer to Diana at danica4us@yahoo.com!

Now for this weeks Fabulous Friday Challenge for you!

This week will be a Recipe Challenge! You need to use:

 ribbon or trim
a charm
rhinestones or pearls

And since we are celebrating summer on our blog hop, I created this fun summer layout...

This is a LO of my daughter and her cousin! I included ribbon, bling and a charm! I also used the current Frosted Designs sketch for my inspiration!

And what would a blog hop be without prizes along the way?! If you leave a comment on this post, you will be entered into a random drawing for this prize....

If you get lost along the way, head over to Frosted Designs..... you will find the complete line up there! Happy hopping!!

You could win this Me & My Big Ideas Summer kit! It has 12 12x12 papers, stickers and rhinestone gems!

Leave a comment for one entry. Leave a seperate comment to let me know you are a follower for a second entry!

Oh... I almost forgot! You are looking for my question... Do you like to scrapbook alone or with a friend? I like to scrapbook with friends (Especially my sisters!)

Your next stop is....

Diana!

Going Vintage!

Silly me! I have been so busy vacationing that I forgot to schedule my post yesterday!! We have a new challenge at Frosted Designs... Vintage! We would like to see you use a vintage photo or picture on your card, layout or project! Here is the layout I created....

I would love to stay and chat but I have another week of vacation to enjoy! I will be back next Friday for our Frosted Designs blog hop! Be sure to come check it out... we will have a lot of inspiration and plenty of prizes to be won!!

Sisters Mini Album

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about all of you but the weeks seem to be flying by! My kids have been out of school for 2 weeks already! This summer is going to fly by! I have been busy with family so I have not had a lot to post lately but today, I have a mini album I created of me and my sisters! Our challenge at Frosted Designs this week is to use a journaling tag on your card, layout or project! Easy, right?! Well, this week at Frosted Designs we have a wonderful sponsor... Amy, from My Monster Creations! She sent some of her mini albums to several of the ladies on our design team and you will be blown away by the gorgeous, creative ways they decorated them! Here is mine....

The front of the album had a flower cut out that I turned into a cute little shaker box! I filled it with seed beads and outlined it with twine.

That's me with my two sisters. Cindy, on the left is the oldest and Jennifer, on the right is the youngest! And of course I am in the middle!

I love creating pockets in this mini. On the right side, I created two pockets where I could place several tags. Each tag contains a story about me and my sisters from childhood!

I wanted an extra page in my mini so I took a paper sack, sewed the sides and added it to the mini. It also gives me an extra pocket to store extra photos.

I had so much fun putting this mini together! Be sure to stop over at Frosted Designs to see all the minis our team created! Also be sure to stop back throughout the week.... we will be posting more pictures of each mini this week! If you want to make a mini of your own, be sure to check the Frosted Designs site for a special deal that Amy is offering for our followers! At her special price, you are going to want to order several!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and spoil all the wonderful dads in your life!

barb  :)