Out of Control!

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a few weeks since I posted anything... all of the end of the year activities are keeping me very busy!! But I am excited to share Frosted Designs new challenge with you! In honor of National Backyard Games Week, we are challenging you to make a card, layout or project with a BBQ, Picnic or Outdoor Games theme! Doesn't that just make you want summer to be here even quicker?! With all of the parties, picnics and outings that happen over Memorial Day weekend, this should be an easy challenge! Here is the layout I created....

These pictures were taken of my daughter when her school earned "THE BEST RECESS EVER!" by meeting their fundraising goals! Lauren was like a little wild woman in the bounce house!! heehee!! Her expressions were cracking me up in each picture so I wanted to use them all so this one became a two pager!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Die Cuts with a View
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Echo Park
Letter Stickers: Echo Park, Making Memories
Tickets: My Minds Eye
Stickers: Recollections
Bee Button, Doily: Purple Pumpkin
Gem: Martha Stewart
Flower: Prima
Brad: K&Co.
Journal Spot: Jillibean Soup
Punch: Fiskars
Other: Bird, felt flower, gel pen

I also wanted to let you know that Scrapbook News and Review (SNR) has posted the July calls. If you ever wanted to be published, now is your chance! Check out the calls and submit your work by June 14th... there is plenty of time!! You can get there by clicking HERE!

Thank you to all of the men and women who so proudly serve our country! Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!

barb :)

My Little Angel

I simply adore this photo of Lauren. She was about 9 months old and so sweet. The whole angel theme cracks me up since her bottom lip is split from where she fell! She was just starting to stand and move around objects and lost her balance the day before these were taken. I thought about rescheduling the photos but decided that this showed Lauren at this age! Sometimes split lips happen! It kind of adds to the charm of the photo!!

I used the sketch from Sketchy Thursdays this week and took on Fern's challenge of doing a girly layout this week at Frosted Designs!

Taking Flight

I pulled out some really old photos for this one! This is from 2003 and Matt was sooooo young! But such a cutie!!

I am entering this into the shapes challenge at Frosted Designs that Erin gave us this weekend! We had to use 3 shapes so I used: rectangle, star and circle!

Move In Day

I had these pictures laying on my desk for a while now and this sketch was perfect for it! These are pictures on the day we moved into our new house in Texas. Matt was pretty good at helping organize things and Lauren spent a large portion of the day dressing up in various costumes... total entertainment for all of us!

The sketch was from the Creative Crop NSD challenges and I also added a hidden journal tag so I could play along with Lori's challenge at Frosted Designs this week!

A Walk In The Park

I did take some time for myself this weekend and got a few LOs done and have a few more I will be posting early this week. This LO has pictures of when my daughter's club, Kids Give Back, did the JDRF. It was a rainy day but it didn't keep everyone from having a lot of fun! I still need to do the journaling but wanted to go back and look up the details like date, how much they raised, etc.

I used the sketch at Stuck On U Sketches for this one and this also quailifies for the challenge that Debbie B. gave us at Frosted Designs this weekend... to use birds and/or butterflies. I think that ducks qualify as birds and I did add a butterfly on the title!! lol!!

Another Quick Scrap!

Jessica put up this great challenge on the Frosted Designs blog.... a scraplift challenge! I had the perfect photos on my desk already, grabbed a stack and went to town on it! Here is what I did...

Sorry... didn't have time to crop it down! I am starting to really enjoy these quick scraps... it really forces me to just start placing things without second guessing it all!! I love the way they turn out too!! Starting with a sketch or a scraplift makes it even easier!

Tag Art

Good morning! I would love to sit and talk to you about the process of making this but since it is a quick scrap, I have to get this posted quickly! Here is the Tag Art I made from the challenge that Barb issued this morning at Frosted Designs!

I love the way this turned out and was surprised at how quickly it went together! I can't wait to see what everyone else made!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers today!
barb   :)

Quick Scrap!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your National Scrapbook Day! I have to admit, my day isn't exactly going the way I had it planned! About a month ago, I warned my family that I was taking the weekend off.. that I was locking myself in my office for the entire weekend to scrapbook and play along with all the fun challenges! Seriously? What was I thinking?! Like everyone would actually leave me alone if I am in town and at the house! Well, one of our best friends had his grand opening of his restraurant so we had to go to that. Then this morning my daughter's best friend was in a play and this was the only showing we could make it to and to top it off, my daughter had rehearsal for nearly 4 hours today. Of course, the rehearsals are about 40 minutes from our house so going back to my house to do some scrapbooking was out of the question! So, I did what any normal scrapbooker would do and I packed up all my supplies and computer and went to Panera!! You should see the funny looks I have gotten from people with my scrapbooking supplies all spread out on the table!! Oh well.. I actually got a page done! I played along with Karin's quick scrap challenge! (At least the best I could with limited supplies!! lol!) So here it is...

I realize that it is missing the photo and title, but I didn't bring those things with me so I will need to add them when I get home! But I was pretty happy with how this turned out in such a short time with limited supplies!! Sorry that the photos are so washed out... the LO is so much more vibrant in real life. I will take a new photo when I get home to replace this one!  I hope all of you had a chance to play along too! Be sure to stop by Frosted Designs and check out the other challenges we have issued throughout the weekend... there are several that you have until Wednesday at midnight to complete! With all the prizes up for grabs, you are going to want to play along!

The Online Crop has started!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is as excited as I am about our First Annual Online Crop!! I am hosting the first challenge which is a quick scrap! That means that you have one hour to create and another 20 minutes to get that creation posted!! I would like to see you use RIBBON on your project!! You can make a card, layout or any other crafty item but it has to be something that you start NOW!!  Here is what I created in an hour (and yes... I did time myself!! lol!!)

Be sure to link up your project over at Frosted Designs before 6:50 CST for a chance to win the prize!! Happy creating!!

barb  :)

First Annual Online Crop!

Hi there blog friends! This is just a friendly reminder that we are hosting our first ever Online Crop starting tonight over at Frosted Designs! We have plenty of prizes to give away for our fun games and challenges! And guess what?! I am hosting the first challenge! It is a quick scrap so be sure to check it out at 5:30 (CST) tonight... you only have an hour to play along!! I will be back later to give you more details!! See you tonight!!

April Magazine is Up!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with family and friends! I just wanted to let you know that the April issue at Scrapbook News and Review is published and ready to inspire! For those of you who don't know, Scrapbook News and Review is an online magazine that provides inspiration for scrapbooking, card making and mixed media. You will find inspirational examples as well as tutorials, product reviews and sketches! This is my first big month to contribute to the magazine! I have 7 layouts and 3 cards scattered throughout! I would love it if you went and checked it out!

No matter what your style is, there is something for you at SNR!

Enjoy Life!

Good morning everyone!! Today is going to be a GREAT day!! Can you tell I am excited?! My daughter Kristin came home from college last night for Easter weekend and my oldest daughter, Courtney is flying in early this morning! This is the first time Courtney has visited us here in Texas (we have been here almost 8 months now!) and it is the first time I will have all 4 of my kids staying in the house together for nearly 2 years!! We have a lot of great things planned for this weekend starting with the Ranger's  game tonight! 

But, now on to business!! It is Friday which means we have another challenge for you at Frosted Designs! Our challenge this week is to include a bird and/or butterfly on your card, layout or project! How perfect is that this time of year?! I love all things spring and I really love listening to the birds sing!

Here is the layout I created....

This picture was taken at Myra's 40th birthday party. That is Myra and her husband Scott with me and my husband. I know that they are hard to see in the photo but there are birds all over that patterned background paper and there is another bird sitting in the tree on the right side of the layout. And of course, the layout would not be complete with a butterfly added! 

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Die Cuts with a View

Transparency: My Mind's Eye

Border: GCD Studio

Flowers: Prima

Brads: The Paper Studio

Ink: Quick Quotes

Crackle Accents: Ranger

Other: Envelope, buttons, twine, felt

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to link up your project at Frosted Designs for a chance to win this prize....

It is filled with Lily Bee papers and embellishments!! Our very own Debbie hand picked and donated this kit! So... you know it is full of yummy goodness!!

Oh... before I forget, I wanted to let all of you know that Frosted Designs is having it's very first Online Crop May 6-8 in honor of National Scrapbook Day! Be sure to join us for fun, games, challenges and quick scraps! There will be all kinds of prizes you can win!!        Feel free to grab the button and share the news! The more we have playing along, the more fun we will have!

I hope all of you have a blessed Easter holiday with your families and friends!

barb  :)

Spring!

Hello everyone! I hope where you live you are enjoying some nice spring weather! I know we are here in Texas! And since I was in a Spring mood, I decided to make a Spring LO! Our new challenge is up at Frosted Designs and we are asking you to add brads to your cards, layouts and projects! Our design team has done an amazing job... you are going to want to check their work out! You can get there by clicking HERE!

Here is my LO....

This picture was taken during a family outing at the zoo. It is hard to believe that my oldest is now 21 and the baby (Lauren) just turned 9!! Where does the time go?!!

Our sponsor this week is Imaginisce and we are giving away an i-top tool. I love mine and wanted to show you what you can do with it. In this LO I used it to make the brads for the centers on my flowers! I love that I can put the cute little fox or bitty bee on the brads by using my coordinating paper!!

I also want to say thanks to the lovely ladies at Stuck On U Sketches for giving me a great sketch to use! It has been a long time since I have had time to play along so I was pretty excited when  I saw that their sketch was just what I needed for this LO! And after visiting my friend Leah's blog, I found a new challenge site... Whimsical Wednesdays! Their challenge is to do a spring LO with a bug or critter! I hope the butterfly qualifies but if it doesn't I am sure the bee does!! And... Paper Issues wants to see our Spring projects so I am submitting this to Paper Issues as well!

I hope you have time to stop by Frosted Designs to see what our gals did for you. Even better, I hope you have time to play along and submit a project! You could win an i-top!

Now... I need to get the house ready! We are celebrating Lauren's 9th birthday tonight! She is having some friends over and then we are going to the American Girl Doll Store. After that we are coming back here for some crafts and then we will call it a night!! Have a happy, creative weekend!

barb  :)

White River Gardens

Wow... it has been so long since I have posted! Sorry about that! And I won't be back this weekend because I am getting ready to take off for Las Vegas to go to the Country Music Awards! So... this post will be short! BUT... I know you all would like to see my important purchase this week that will be going with me.....

How fun are those boots?! My husband really spoiled me with those! But now... on to business! Frosted Designs has a new challenge up and you are sure to love it! I know I did!!  heehee!! We are asking you to add BLING to your card, layout or project! Seriously, could we make it any easier to play along?! Here is my layout....

Sorry for the glare on the photos. Our sponsor this week is Imaginisce! I used the Enchanted papers from their collection and I used the i-rock for the blinging flourish behind my butterfly! Soooo... guess what our prize is this week.... You guessed it!! The i-rock!! Now that is a prize worth playing for! Be sure to link up your prize at Frosted Designs for a chance to win!!

Have a great weekend!!

Memories

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great week! We are enjoying our time at the beach but it is quickly coming to an end!  I thought I would share a couple vacation photos with you along with a project I was working on before I left!

Matt is my surfer dude!

Lauren got the Kanani American Girl Doll for an early birthday gift! Aren't they too cute in their matching outfits?!

My husband and I snuck out to a date night! I love sunsets over the ocean!

Yes... that is a rooster! And Jocelyn... this picture is for you! I thought only you could appreciate this one! There are roosters all over the island of Kaua'i! Apparently, several years ago there was a hurricane that knocked over a hen house.... the result was wild roosters running everywhere!! They are cute until about 5 in the morning when they clearly are awake and want to make sure everyone else is awake too!!  :)

So.... on to my photo album....

I had this photo album sitting in my office. I had completed the pages on the inside but had not given the cover much attention. I finally decided it was time to do something about it! I got out all of my very messy supplies and this is what I created!

I love the shabby chic look of it and it looks great in my office!

Don't you just love the flower?!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit! I will be back on Sunday and will be putting the house back together on Monday so by Tuesday I might just be able to get out there and visit of few of you! As always, thank you for all the super sweet comments you leave me! They always make my day!  :)

barb  :)

Spring!

Well spring is officially here for us here in Texas. The trees and grass are turning green, the flowers are growing and the temps have been wonderful! At Frosted Designs we thought we would bring a little spring your way... so this week we have a photo/color inspiration!

Isn't that picture beautiful?! So..... this week we are asking you to use the picture and colors highlighted to inspire you when you make a card, layout or any other project you would like!

Here is my LO....

This is a picture of my parents with Lauren and her cousin Brayden when they were barely one year old! It was taken at a spring soccer game!

Funny story... I really did start with the right papers that fit perfectly for this challenge. However, as I was working with them, I like the designs on the opposite side and ended up using them instead... which is why there is so much blue in my LO!! I look at it this way.. the picture was a spring board and it allowed me to make this LO that I really like! So I guess it was successful even if it isn't an exact color match to the starting photo!!  lol!!

How cute is this darling little tree?! I was inspired by some BasicGrey stickers I had laying around but were the wrong colors! I love the dimension and the touch of bling!

You can't tell in this picture but the kite is actually raised on one side so it looks as though it is flying in the air! And check it out.... I did a little hand stitching for the string and those cute little bows on the tail! 

Please make sure you stop over at Frosted Designs to see what the amazing design team has done with this challenge. We are introducing the remainder of our Fabulous Friday Design Team members and they rocked this challenge!!

I am heading off to spring break today so I will not be visiting blogs this week. I promise to catch up when I return! Have a great week!

barb  :)

My Friends Mini Album!

It's Friday and we have an extra special post over at Frosted Designs today! We are getting to know some of the new girls on our design team a little better! Be sure to stop over and give them a warm welcome!

We have a new challenge today.... and it is a recipe!! I love these challenges! This one is as easy as 1, 2, 3... or should I say 3, 2, 1?!  We are asking you to use....

3 patterned papers
2 fonts
1 journaling tag

My daughter wanted to make a mini album of her friends so we created this together! We decided to use up some supplies I had laying around which included an old cereal box! First let me show you what we made....

This cute little mini album is for my 8 year old daugther to show off all of her pictures with her friends. The colors look great for her bedroom too!  As you can see they are a pretty silly group and we have plenty of pictures to fill this album with!

We started with a cereal box. I was able to cut it up and get all four pages from one box. The pages are 6 x 7.5. I measured and cut the tabs on three of the pages then covered both sides with patterned papers. The last page does not have any tabs.  Once all the pages were covered, it was just a matter of embellishing it the way we liked (and there are plenty of flowers and bling on it because Lauren wanted to decorate the cover herself!! lol!!)

Here is one of the inside pages that we completed. Lauren still needs to go back and add a little journaling to each page! (I will add some journaling tags for this!)

And there you have it! A very inexpensive mini that you can put together in an evening! I love quick and cheap!! Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to stop over at Frosted Designs to see what our team of ladies did with this challenge! You are sure to find some inspiration there!

And a quick side note to my blogging buddies who think I have come up missing... I am so sorry I haven't been visiting but I promise to make it up to you! Between bringing on the new team at FD and starting my new position at SNR things have been crazy busy for me! Top that off with company coming non stop,  getting the house ready, and getting ready to leave for spring break... I barely have time to sleep! lol!! I have been so busy! So please forgive me if I am a little slow visiting! I will get back into the groove of things soon!

barb  :)

Music Makes My Heart Sing!

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great week! Thank you for all the nice comments and emails I received about my watering can tutorial.... I really had a great time making them! For those of you who requested patterns, I would love to see what you make!

Today I have a quick post for you... this is a LO of my darling little girl practicing her guitar. She has a balcony out her bedroom and likes to go out there to read and play her guitar!

I wanted to make it girly and feminine but still "rough it up" a bit! I inked almost everything I could get my hands on including the white flower ribbon border! My sewing machine was acting up so I decided I would do a little faux stitching around the pink layers.

 I wish I could get a better photo of the music notes for you. I heat embossed the chipboard notes with black embossing powder. I repeated the embossing process about 4 times so it was nice and thick and then while it was still hot, I stamped some designs on them. In real life it looks really neat but I just couldn't get it to pick up on the camera! And do you like those cute little roses?! I made those with a cute little quilling tool!! :)

I printed the pictures in black and white and then added  a Prima gem frame around Lauren. To make it stand out a bit more, I decided to take my piercing tool to scratch a design in around the frame. I love how it added a distressed look to the layout! Overall, I am pretty happy with the layout.... it is so Lauren!!

Thank you for stopping by today! I will be back tomorrow with a new post so be sure to come back to see what I created! As always, thank you for all your kind comments! I love reading them!

barb  :)

Flowering Can Tutorial

With Spring around the corner, and the weather warming up, I have been thinking about everything spring! And it has inspired me to make this darling little water can!

If this doesn't make you want to get out in the yard and plant some flowers I don't know what will! Here are the directions so you can make one, or two of your own!

Let's start by collecting our supplies:

Supply List:

Glue Glider Pro with Perma Tac

Patterned Paper: Die Cuts With a View

Flowers: Prima, Memory Makers, Imaginisce

Ribbon: American Crafts

Punch: Martha Stewart

Crystal/Pearl Flourish: Prima

Brads: Memory Makers

Other: Watering Can Pattern

1. Print the pattern out on cardstock.

2. Cut out the pattern.

3. Trace the pattern on the back side of your patterned paper.

4. Cut out the pattern.

5. Use a Score board to make the folds for the tabs and the bottom of the watering can.

6. Apply adhesive to each of the tabs on the side of the paper with the pattern.

7. Adhere the tabs to the inside of the front and back sections of the watering can.

8. Add a little adhesive to the tabs that are sticking out and tuck them in to the sides of the watering can.

9. Glue the "spout" together by placing adhesive between the two ends. Adhere the spout to the front of the watering can.

10. Use brads to hold the handles of the watering can in place.

11. Fold the handle 1.25" from each end. Put adhesive on the two folded tabs on the patterned paper side of the paper. 

12. Adhere handle to the watering can as shown.

13. This is what the finished watering can will look like.

14. Decorate the watering can with your favorite embellishments.

By changing the paper and the types of embellishments you use, you can create a completely different look. Here is an example of a watering can made for spring along with a watering can made for fall.

If you would like the pattern for the watering can, send me an email at barb.craft@att.net and I will send it to you! Have a great week and thank you for stopping by!

barb  :)