Monday, September 28, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

Spent this past weekend in Portland, ME with the Cool Crops Crew. Beautiful location and great company. A slightly different set up for my booth, it's never quite the same every time, and this has to be my favorite one.
It took me a bit to find the pool and gym at this double circular tower hotel...and it was amazing. Why do I never bring a swimsuit with me? How many of you hit the pool at the hotels during a crop?
 
And class was a hit. Girls...thanks for joining me in class and making it so much fun and going along with me and my hair spray pinkie out directions.
Thanks for a great weekend Cool Crops!

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

Must be the crisp air in the morning, the red tips on the sugar maple trees and pumpkin spice everything popping up everywhere...pushing me towards fall colors and themes. Today's sneak peek is of Just Scrappin's FREE 2 page Make-n-Take. Armed with a pack of papers and a pack of embellishments, we will put together a beautiful 2 page layout to showcase your favorite fall activities/photos.

If you couldn't join us at Just Scrappin' and would like a kit, I'll have extras (if there are any left) available for purchase at future events.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Upcoming Events

Today I am headed to Portland, Maine to spend the weekend with the Cool Crops crew.

Next weekend is my crop, Just Scrappin' in Westboro, MA. I will be there 8pm Thursday to Sunday if you'd like to stop in to shop.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

I then have most of October off and hopefully it will still be beautiful sunny mild days so I can head out with the family to enjoy Fall and Football and Cross Country meets.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Share A Card

As you know, I have 2 boys and boy cards, especially TEEN boys, are hard to come by. When I saw these two stamp sets, I had to get them and then of course, I got stuck. How do you use these little bitty stamps and random greetings?
Well thank goodness for Google and Pinterest, I found a bunch of ideas and made some cards for our birthday card stash. Just add a gift card to Game Stop, iTunes, Best Buy, etc. and you'll have some very happy teen boys. Here are 2 other cards I scraplifted.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with a new-to-me group, Cropical Getaways. The location was amazing and the hostesses were just as amazing. If you're looking for a low-key crop to attend, other than Just Scrappin', do give Cropical Getaways a shot.

Here's my store all set up...it gets a little bit bigger every season and if you look closely, you'll see that I finally found an alternative to digging through the basket for chalk colors, YAY!

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

Finished a new layout kit this week and it's quite different from what I have been working with. The papers are by Fabscraps and the fun snap shots embellishments from Paper House. I put them together with some coordinating bazzill and coredinations cardstock, added some distress ink and a little elbow grease distressing to get a beautiful vintage distressed 2 page layout. What do you think? It's perfect for your wine tasting photos as well as a girl's night out.
Kits will be available for purchase at Cool Crops Portland for $10 per kit. Pre-orders are always welcome!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Garden Tales 09.17.15

My garden is still going strong mid-September and I do have to say I am amazed. By now, I'm usually done with it and packing it in. I truly believe it's the new soil I bought to add to the raised beds that made the difference. To be honest, I have never had my marigolds grow so big and have so many flowers! 
Even the basil is growing like crazy...anyone want some basil?
The zuchinni and summer squash didn't make it through the summer, not unusual for me, and I've pulled them out and planted a salad mix. It didn't take long for the seedlings to com out and before long, we'll be (hopefully) eating lots of salad.
Another herb growing crazily in my beds are mint. I have since learned that they are perennials and come back year after year. They are planted within a pot in my garden since they spread like crazy. their flowers are also something else!
Sugar snap peas also don't make it through the summer so I plant them twice, once in the spring and again in the fall.  They're coming up beautifully and we are looking forward to the fall harvest.
Last but not least, the raspberries are getting ready for round 2 of flowers. I didn't know theyy produced twice a year. Any raspberry growing experts out there?
How is your garden growing?





Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Share A Card

As promised here full photos of the cards I put together using leftover paper my Summer Lovin' class. I made 5 cards total - 2 of these and 1 each of the ones below. This card would look even better if I broke out my sewing machine and stitched along the edges of all the papers. But alas that is too much work and I am all about quick & easy.
Every single time I emboss, I feel like I need more practice. It looks messy but I love the look and it gives the card a little something extra. Just need more practice ;)
Running out of paper and ideas...don't think it came out too bad. I wish the color of my faux stitches were a better match but it was all I had. Maybe I should draw around the squares and trace around the words. Thoughts?
This card came about my mistake...I cut the flamingo paper too short...and decided to cut it into three pieces and added a little bling. Came out well for a mistake, eh?
Stamps used are a set from Paper Smooches called Many Thanks and Hero Arts Absolutely Awesome stamp. If you need the stamps, I can special order it for you...just let me know.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

It was nice to have a few weekends off from structured activities but it's now back to our normal weekend. Flag football games started this weekend and I can't believe how big my kid (and his team) looked compared to the other team. I remember when J started and I thought he was going get hurt since he was so small compared to the other team. Now the shoe is on the other foot!
Ice hockey also started back up this weekend with evaluations...a little practice on his own with his personal 4-legged defense-man helping out. Sitting in the cold rink waiting for the kid meant I got to pull out my knitting, a start to one of two baby boy blankets.
I wasn't kidding about my  kid getting big!
Sunday was also roll on your own sushi night...have you ever tried making your own sushi? It's a lot of prep work and quite messy but so much fun and it gets everyone together at the table for a nice chunk of time. In case you're wondering, we made avocado rolls, salmon avocado rolls, california rolls, spicy salmon rolls, mayo tuna rolls and spicy tuna mayo rolls.



How was your weekend?

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Sneaky Sunday

The Summer layout classes are finally done and ready to roll. The colors were super pretty and the layouts came together with plenty of supplies left...see what I did with the extras below. 

Summer Lovin' layout class $15
We will use Carta Bella's Summer Lovin' line to create 4 pages that are perfect for all your summer adventures. In this class, we will distress, ink, and use mists (optional). 

With the leftover pieces, I made a few cards to add to my stash :)


Friday, September 11, 2015

Fave Finds

Good Morning! With the start of a new season, I usually sit down and set goals. The goal this year is to have a good work-life balance. I do have a pretty awesome one right now but there are a few things that I would still like to tweak. Mainly the amount of time I spent on the computer and on my devices. I would much rather spend that time with my family, reading, knitting and scrapbooking! With that goal in mind...
- emails will take a little longer to get a reply...I am going to try to check it twice a day, before and after my day job.
- the iPhone...ugh...I'm just as bad as my kids. No hard plans but I leave it on my nightstand as much as possible. So if message or text me, I may not reply right away.
- this blog will still get updated but not as frequently. I'm thinking posts on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays and some Sundays. I may post more often if there are things to share but otherwise, I'm sticking to that schedule.

Now that I've gotten that out, a Friday post...something different from the Fave Five and Nailed It posts...Fave Finds. Just a compilation of things that I've found on pinterest or the web that I think are cool and want to share with you.
loving the idea of fruit and yogurt parfaits for breakfast
this is contender for this year's X'mas card except it looks like a TON of die-cutting
anchor set-up how-to = no more drifting when we're out fishing
beautiful FREE digi + printable back-to-school cards from Simple As That blog 
quote and print - just perfect
want to try this Crock Pot Beef Carnitas recipe
Another freebie - a cut file for the silhouette plus a DIY mist tutorial

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Weekend Wrap-up

LWhat a fabulous weekend to say goodbye to summer! Although I don't think summer is ready to go quite yet. We cleaned up a little around the house Saturday morning before heading to the beach,  Spencer Fair on Sunday and Rutland State Park on Monday with friends. Pretty much squeezed as much as possible into a long weekend.
Oh Summer you will be missed! Bring on Autumn...first crop of the season is Cropical Getaways in Hartford, CT...looking forward to it!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday

Another stamp set I picked up at an RSC yard sale (they have the best stuff there) and justt had to play with. Just a little something simple...colored with copic markers and using scraps from way back!
Colored in the hearts with Wink of Stella markers and I love how sparkly they came out. The sentiment inside says, "thought you could use a little pickup!"

Thursday, September 3, 2015

September Bazzill Bulk Buy

A Bazzill Bulk Buy is an opportunity to stock up on Bazzill cardstock at a reduced price.  New to my cardstock bulk buy?  Here's the scoop...

  • You will receive 60 sheets of cardstock, 5 sheets each of 12 different colors.
  • Price includes tax and shipping to me.
  • Price is for local hand delivery only - It does NOT include shipping to you. We can meet up or deliver at an event (check my schedule here).  Cardstock will be available for delivery at Cropical Getaways Hartford, Cool Crops Portland and beyond.
  • Mailing from me to you will be actual USPS cost for a priority flat rate box. I can fit 2 orders in a box.
  • Order Deadline is noon, Wednesday Sept 9
  • Payments in advance by check are appreciated or cash upon delivery.  No CC's or paypal please.
The cost of this month's buy is $28.  Email me (sluvs2skrap at yahoo dot com) to purchase, please include # of buys, payment method and delivery location.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Share A Card Tuesday

I bought this stamp set at a RSC yard sale since I can't seem to pass up on anything froggy. The card looks cuter in person AND obviously Mr. Froggy is falling off the mushroom! My masking skills are good, just the lining up part needs major work, not so easy with wood mounted stamps. Any tips? Suggestions? Mat the image and patterned paper? Ribbon/twine?
I colored in the image with Copic markers and used the color blender to hit certain spots to get the marbled effect and a dab of the white souffle pen gives it a little dimension. 
Hope you like it!