Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday

OWhile at Ready Set Crop a couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to shop their yard sale. One of the main offerings were some vintage Stampin' Up stamps. I bought a few and couldn't resist playing with this one, Basket Full of Fun. Not a lot of time to play around but I got two cards done. Not in love with this card.
For the second card, I decided to leave off the distressing inks and make it a little more colorful. I think it might need a strip of solid cardstock behind the striped paper. 

Which card do you like better?

Monday, June 29, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

What a weekend! Friday, we bought Diego his own doggy pool ($5 at Walmart) and he seems to be loving it. Even stuck his nose underwater and blew bubbles. Darin is lobbying for a bigger deeper pool to see if Diego can swim!
Saturday saw us on the ball field for a double elimination championship game. The boys lost their first game by mercy rule...get your act together geesh...and won the second game to emerge West Side Babe Ruth 2015 champions! It was a battle right down to the end and this momma is so proud of her boys...Jori pitched the last inning and Darin played amazing defense on 2nd.
Sunday evenings are hockey evenings...we've been stuck with the 7:20pm time slot for the last few weeks and boy was it tough to drag ourselves out in the rain last night! He  played great as usual and despite getting their butts handed to them by the elite team, Darin and his house league team managed to score 2 goals.
Summer vacation is in full swing here and I've bought myself some time every morning to work while they accomplish a few things on their to-do list (summer reading, physical activity and chores). How's it going at your end?

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

I've been busy in my scrap cave designing and kitting new layout kits. The goal is to get a kit per week done throughout the summer. I started with the cutest paper line from Kaisercraft called "Hello Sunshine" and made 4 pages - two 2 page layouts - titled Wild About You and Hello Sunshine. These layouts will beautifully highlight baby or toddler photos...and for once I actually have pictures in mind, just need to print them out!
 These will be in stock for my next crop, July Scrap-A-Way.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Garden Tales 06.25.15

Not much difference that I can see in the garden except for bigger raspberries, more flowers, plenty of snap peas and creepy crawlies (warning you may not like the last pic). Not too happy with these pics either...the camera is acting up a little and I couldn't quite get the right settings...ugh!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday

Quick & Easy seems to be a theme when it comes to my card making. This card is one of a bunch that I made using some older papers in my stash as well as a very old SU stamp set. A little inking, a little coloring with copics and some fancy glittery paper made the card.
ps. I'll try to get a better pic when I pull out the big camera

Monday, June 22, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

How was your Father's Day weekend? We had a nice quite weekend with a little of everything mixed in. We started off Friday evening with some quiet family time at home, getting some chores done and an early bedtime. Saturday started with a baseball game, where some of our friends came to cheer Jori's team on followed by lunch at a chinese buffet with said friends. Totally impromptu but so much fun to get to hang out with our friends. Then it was home for some rest...the Mr. napped, the boys played video games and I kitted (needed to be done so I could claim my desk back).
When dad woke up, the boys went out for some baseball in the backyard where they got a good workout learning not to drop the ball because this happens...
Sunday, we celebrated the Mr. with a waffle breakfast and a movie, Jurassic World. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and had ourselves a late sushi lunch. It was back home for a little bit before we headed back out to hockey. He couldn't be happier that his cast was off and could be back on the ice...he's the kid in the bottom right, gray jersey, yellow socks.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

Kits using 6x6 paper pads are back! Introducing my latest creation called "Best Day"...this is a 4 page (1 two page spread and 2 one page layouts) layout kit. It also comes with a 12x12 sheet of chipboard stickers to make embellishing easier. Kit is $18.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Flashback Friday

Flashback to, I believe, the very first crop Jean and I hosted. We started with all day crops at the Hampton Inn in Sturbridge, MA. We had their small conference room and were allowed to bring in our own food. This first one, Jean and I both brought our stores and it eventually evolved to taking turns. I still miss those all day crops :(
Prizes...it's not a crop without prizes!
Look at those design runners and bags. We are really dating ourselves here!

Fast forward to 2015 and we're getting ready to start a new season with THREE weekend crops. We're still working on the contracts with the hotels but I can tell you to save the following dates...October 1-4 and February 25-28. We have one more for Spring but are still working on dates, we'll let you know as soon as we can.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Garden Tales 06.18.15

The weather has been all over the place the last few days but today is looking like a beauty. I took these pics with my iPhone 5 after a walk with Diego. Everything seems to be blooming and growing...happy looking plants without my help whatsoever! The pollinators are out and it's looking like a good start.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Bella Blvd's Rover Collection

Another layout share instead of a Nailed It post. My Riley and Rover collections came in and I just had to play with the Rover line. The industry seems to go through phases of what theme comes out and right now it's all about pets. It seems every manufacturer has a pet line out right now and Time2Scrap has quite a few of them in stock. I had taken these pictures of Diego's head tilts and just had to scrap them. Isn't he adorable?



Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Share a card Tuesday

We attended a baptism on Sunday and I needed a card. I browsed through pinterest and found this one, loved it and decided to lift the idea. I used SU's Special Blessings stamp set, it was all I had on hand, the SU bird punch and a Martha Stewart butterfly punch. Die-cuts are a set of Spellbinders nestabilities set I've had forever and this may have been the first time I used it. It was easy enough to put together and my friends loved it :)

Monday, June 15, 2015

Weekend wrap-up

It's always a great weekend when you get a text with this happy face wishing you a good morning. Isn't he cute? I just want to squish him! And check out the blanket...so happy it's getting so much use and looks like it'll fit him for a long time :)
We spent the morning at back to back to back baseball games starting at 8:30am. Great weather for baseball and we won 2 out of the 3 games. I brought Diego with me and he behaved like a champ. That is until another dog showed up and needed potty breaks next to us...seriously?
The rest of the day was spent doing chores and yard work. D also managed to pick up poison ivy on his chest...goofing around with his friend while walking home from the bus stop. They were throwing sticks at each other and his friend grabbed a handful of leaves to throw at him, not realizing he was grabbing poison ivy. So I guess in this case, "you should see the other guy" is appropriate?

Sunday, we slept in a little and I got talked into joining hubby in starting the "Insanity" workout. I thought I was in decent shape, the workout kicked my behind and I am hurting today. We cleaned up and headed to a baptism mass but realizing we wouldn't make it on time to their church, we stopped at our church to attend mass before heading to the baptism party. I took this as the guests gathered for group pictures.
A good weekend...just the right balance of sports, friends, work and downtime. How was your weekend?

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

It had to happen eventually, a Good Puppy layout is in stock and up for grabs. This is a 4 page (one 2-page spread and two 1 page layouts) layout kit, $18.


Friday, June 12, 2015

I Am...

enjoying the beautiful weather

reading Gone Girl...and not sure if I like it


spending the day with the Mr. since he has the day off



pinning ideas on outdoor spaces and raring to get started on a patio and fire pit

researching sewing machines because I want a new one and the fabric stash is piling up


looking forward to a weekend home with the family. No events on the schedule for 6 weekends!

loving the fence we put up in the backyard...and taking advantage of it to do some work with Diego.
bracing myself for the last day of school, T-15 days, and summer break. What do you do with your teens during summer vacation?



Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Moxxie's All Star Baseball paper line

I don't think I would specifically call this a Nailed It blog post but since there is a lack of "Nailed It" projects in my craft space, I thought I'd share how I used this paper line for my own scrapbooks. I do have these papers in stock...no stickers, just the papers with matched cardstock.
I had pictures from a Fenway Tour we took with my parents when they visited back in 2011. If you don't know this yet, I scrap chronologically for each of my boys. When I scrap an event that involves the both of them, I scrap both layouts at the same time. Basically making two of the same layouts and using similar pictures...pictures that highlight them. Here are my two layouts...one for each kid.
The stars are cut using a thin die I had on hand, adhered to the pages and painted over with clear Wink of Stella to give them a little shine. I added some Red Sox paper and embellishments, picked up at my local Joann's. If you were scrapping a different team, you could use other baseball embellishments as well as some washi tape. Quick and easy!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday

I can't believe I haven't shared this card yet. Another SU stamp set...actually 2 different stamp sets that should be sold together! A little bit of fussy cutting, some brown ink and a few strips of washi tape pulled this cute card together. Now who to send these to, hmmm...

Monday, June 8, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

Good Morning! It took me a few days to get this post up...I've been busy talking to hotels and trying to work out some contracts for our Just Scrappin' events. Can't spill any beans until I sign on those dotted lines so hang tight. We'll share details as soon as we can.

Back to my regularly scheduled post - a wrap-up of my weekend. I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with the Ready Set Crop crew in Leominster this past weekend. The store was set up by noon Friday...love that this location is 40 minutes from home and that the crop room is only a few steps from the back door.
At Ready Set Crop, the vendors have the opportunity to present a Scrap Chat where we present a quick 20 minute demo on a product of our choice. My Scrap Chat was about Core'dinations cardstock and the many different ways to use it. Would you like to see a post on it?
And a crop isn't complete without a slew of class offerings. Thanks to Tiffany, I have pics to prove that I actually taught a class and the girls did enjoy my class. Look at those smiles ;)
The best part of all is since this crop is so close to home, my family could come visit. I chose to stay at the hotel over the weekend and they took the chance to stop in and use the pool. After, since White Mountain Laser had the whole family there as well, we decided to have dinner together. Proof that vendors have fun at crops too!!!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes when I design a class or layout kit? This isn't quite that but I thought I'd show you what happens when I get stuck on a layout. This is what I originally came up with for my Been there Pinned that layout class. I had too much stuff I wanted to add to the layout and it just looked too busy and I did not love it. It's hard to teach or sell a class that I personally don't like.
So I reworked it and this is the layout I have for sale currently. It looks so much cleaner and there are spaces for your eye to rest upon. There's even some visual triangle work going on.
It's in stock and selling for $10 if you're interested.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Fave Five Summer Edition

Had a similar salad at a cookout last weekend and it was delicious. Looked up the recipe on pinterest and found this one. Time to get in the kitchen to re-create it.
And this Watermelon Slushie looks absolutely yummy. Going to have to give it a try...wonder if my boys will like it.

What a great idea for lights to hang on our new fence. Looks like I am on the hunt for these cool solar lamps...wish me luck! Original idea found on pinterest and here is the original blog link.
 Another backyard project...maybe for Father's Day weekend. Our store-bought fire pit is on its last legs and I think this one would be an easy weekend project.
Lastly, I think this would be a fun addition to our backyard. I would have all the places we've lived and visited on it. This will maybe make a dent in our wood scrap pile.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Garden Tales 06.04.15

The rain helped the garden quite a bit and everything is just taking off. All the transplants are doing well except one. Not worried about that since I have extras. One major development to the backyard is this...
We put in (hired some people actually) a fence around the backyard. There is chain link on the sides since there are privacy hedges and wood privacy fencing along the back, to block the encroaching jungle from the back. We are loving it and I can safely say, so is Diego. Weirdly it seems to make the backyard look bigger than it did before. More work to be done...looking forward to a finished backyard.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Nailed It: Store special easel

I stumbled across this tabletop easel at a local crafting store and thought it would be a great addition to my store. One side is chalkboard and the other, dry erase. Instead of re-writing the same info over and over, I cut out my store name and the title "Weekend Special" from vinyl using my new Cricut Explore Air.
The transfer was easy peasy using masking tape instead of transfer tape, didn't have any handy. And here is the result...cute, right?
I know it should read "specialS" but the last letter didn't fit. It's going to bug me so I'll probably have to take the letters off and try again.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday: Graduation cards

Graduation season is in full swing and I've been stocking up my stash with a few cards. This first card was made in a pinch and I used what I had on hand. Some scraps on the table and a greeting. Nothing fancy...for a college graduation.
While at our crop, I purchased a "graduation" themed stamp set from our Close To My Heart consultant. I had a thin die for the stars and used American Crafts POW glitter paper...I have these in stock and the glitter does NOT come off. Stamped the greeting and cap, fussy cut the hat and tassel, popped it up and I have another graduation card.
On the inside I added a pocket and slipped in some cash. I found a cute idea to fold a $20, $1 and $5 notes so you see "2015"...make it any dollar amount by multiplying the 20's and 1's.