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  :)

You're Simply the Best!

Happy Friday everyone! I am really excited because today I am headed to a scrapbook convention with a friend and I know it is going to be a great day! I can't wait to buy some new products and learn some new things!

We have a new challenge for you at Frosted Designs! June 8th is Best Friends Day so we are celebrating our friends this week! We would like to see a card, layout or project using Friends as the theme! Here is a card I made for one of my friends...

Supplies:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Patterned Paper: Echo Park

Flowers: Prima

Ink: Ranger, Quick Quotes

Stamp: Inkadinkado

Punch: Fiskars

Other: Embossing Powder

I also wanted to let you know that Scrapbook News and Review, the online magazine is looking for some Clean and Simple card makers and scrapbookers! If you are a Clean and Simple kind of person and would like to have your work published and possibly even become part of the staff, go to SNR for more information! Click on the calls tab, then submit your work, and then go to Special Calls! We would love to see what you create!

Have a great weekend!

Barb  :)

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!!