Thanks to Studio J...

...I got 24 scrapbook pages done in less than a week!  David is the Scout Master in our Ward and he took the boys on a 3 day hike and then they participated in a Triathalon earlier this month.  He asked me to make some sort of display to share the pictures - the scrapbooker in me immediately wanted to do a scrapbook page, so I turned to Studio J and completed twelve 2-page layouts in just 4 days.  I loved that there was no mess to deal with afterwards, and the best part is that if any of the parents want a copy of the pages I can order more with just the click of a button or share my free jpg file with them to print their own!  My pages will get here tomorrow and then we can display them at the church.  Here is a quick glance at the pages I did - I used the Free Spirit papers on the camping pages and Lucky papers on the Triathalon pages.

Thanks for looking!



Name Frames

This last weekend we attended one of my step-sister's wedding reception.  It still feels so weird to say that I have step parents and siblings and I have a hard time calling them that especially since I haven't met half of them on my mom's hubby's side, and I used to babysit the ones on my dad's wife's side!  We didn't make it to SV for her wedding the weekend before, but her reception was closer to us, so my dad and his wife came over on Friday and then we drove a little less than 2 hours that afternoon for the reception.

This is the gift that I made for the newlyweds - I wish I'd know what strong Scottish ancestry they had before I made the gift and I would have used the plaid paper from the new Roxie kit instead.  I knew how much they love the outdoors, so I figured these papers from Olivia covered that theme.  I really like how this turned out and will have to stock up on more of these frames!  I used to make these as baby gifts with the baby's name on it, but I really like this twist.  I had a hard time getting a good picture before I wrapped it up because of the glass - everything is under the glass except the flowers and gems. 

I used the new Art Philosophy Cricut Collection to cut the letters in the name, the large green flourish, and the 3-D flowers.  I also added some Mocha Gems.  Here are some close-ups of some of the details.

After cutting the flourish with my Cricut, I sponged the edges with New England Ivy ink and once it was all under glass, I added some gems on top of the glass to accent the flourish.

Here are the flowers and the letters - I sponged the edges of the flowers and sprayed them with a clear sealer to protect them.  I also sanded the Barn Red letters (there is a solid Sunset letter behind each Barn Red letter - it shows through the holes)

I used the Tiny Typewriter stamp set to stamp 'EST. 2011'

It was a beautiful reception - I loved the Scottish decorations and the bride was beautiful!

Thanks for looking!

Event Calendar Workshop

My latest Event Calendar - it's finally done!  These are some of my favorite projects to create (I've made at least 3 different styles in the last 6 years).  This one I started well over a year ago, but it sadly kept getting pushed to the back burner or was forgotten.  I started this as a gift for my sister-in-law's birthday.  Then we moved and I packed it all up.  Then I didn't get my scraproom unpacked as soon as I had hoped.  I actually gave her the blank Event Calendar for her birthday last fall and told her I would eventually finish the month toppers.  Well I finally pulled it out again, and thanks to my Crop 'Til You Drop event last week, I finished it - woohoo!  It really didn't take long to do if you added up the time spent on it, and it is such a fun project, I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to complete it all!

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If you are interested in making one (or more - they make great gifts), I am planning a Workshop next month to make these - I will have all of the pieces pre-cut and I will walk you through the whole creation process including some fun, easy stamping techniques (but of course you are welcome to do your own thing as well).  I promise you it won't take as long as it took me ;-)  Cost is $10 per calendar and includes all supplies (Event Calendar and all pre-cut pieces and accessories) - I just ask that you bring your own adhesive.  I will be giving away a door prize to everyone who orders a workshop kit!

***For those of you unfamiliar with what these calendars are - these are calendars that are not specific to any year.  You fill in each month with Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc, and you can use it year after year!  There is a blank square at the top of each month - that is where these will go!

Most of these use retired stamps and papers, but I will link the items that are currently available.

JANUARY

*Uses white textured cardstock (you can't see it in the picture, but I tore layers to create the look of snow), paper piecing technique with Aspen papers for the hat, Sparkles for the buttons, and Liquid Applique for the snowballs, along with the retired stamp set called Snow Friends.

FEBRUARY

*Uses some more textured cardstock, along with retired Sweetheart papers, Black Waxy Flax for the stitching, Togetherness stamp set and Stitched Together stamp set.  Wishes: Middle Ground pattern.

MARCH

*Uses Wings Creative Basics paper, hemp, So Lucky stamp set with stamp rolling, Wishes: Layered Look pattern

APRIL

*Uses Sophia papers, Stardust Glitz Gel, retired Easter Eggs stamp set, Wishes: A Cut Above pattern

MAY

*Uses Mayberry papers, watercolor pencils, Garden Green brads on the bike wheels, Pair-a-Phrase stamp set (which you can get FREE this month with a qualifying order) Originals: Background Blocks pattern

JUNE

*Uses retired Twitterpated paper, Chocolate Flower Buttons, Treetops stamp set, Originals: Side Accent pattern

JULY

*Uses Fanfare papers, brads created using retired Sunny Yellow embossing powder, retired Star Struck stamp set, Originals: Center Focus pattern

AUGUST

*Uses retired Zipidee paper, You're Sweet stamp set, red buttons for the cherries, Originals: Matted Square pattern

SEPTEMBER

*Uses retired Animal Cookies paper, paper piecing technique using the retired You're a Hoot stamp set, red brads for the eyes, Wishes: Mini Combination pattern

OCTOBER

*Uses retired Hooligans paper, stamp rolling technique using the retired Frightenin' Fun stamp set, Liquid Glass to make the face shine, and some curly green waxy flax for the vine, Originals: Fun Flap pattern

NOVEMBER

*Uses retired Olivia papers, retired Autumn Splendor stamp set with more stamp rolling, Opaques Gems, Originals: Triple Triple pattern

DECEMBER

*Uses retired Evensong papers, retired Holiday Trinkets with Olive heat embossing for the trees, Sparkles for the tops, Originals: Side Focus pattern

If you're looking for more ideas for Event Calendar toppers, here are some others that I have created:

Click HERE to view a perpetual calendar that I created last year - you could use these ideas for an Event Calendar as well.  You just wouldn't need the month name on each square as that is already printed on the calendar.

Thanks for looking!

CTMH Spotlight Hop - Circle Cards

Welcome to this month's Close To My Heart Spotlight Blog Hop! If you came here from Nikka's blog, you are on the right track. If you are starting here, then just keep hopping along to see all of the other creations.

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This month we are featuring Circle Cards - I forgot how much I love circle cards, I really should make them more often!  I like using the Colonial White and White Daisy circle cards and envelopes - I love that they come with their own envelope, I always struggled finding the right size before.  I also love the Clear Cards, I need to play around with those some more!
First up I have a card that I made for a niece's first birthday.  This one was really simple, I just cut a Hollyhock ring, a Blush piece for the sentiment, stamped and cut the candle using the Candlelight stamp set and Sophia papers, and added a few pink buttons.  I will admit, I always like to thread my buttons before I put them on a project, they just seem naked without something.  This time I made myself leave them plain - not so bad, right?

Here is another circle card that I made a while ago but haven't posted yet.  I also used the Sophia papers but this time with the You're Sweet stamp set.  I used Liquid Glass on the orange.

I have more circle cards posted below, but if you are ready to continue along the Blog Hop, the next stop is Amie!

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These cards have been posted before, but if you missed them and want more details, just click on the card title to go to the previous post and find out more!

Halloween Card

Owl Card

Flower Thank You

Father's Day Card

Baby Boy Card

Celebrate Card

Thanks Card

Baby Girl Card

Thanks for looking - don't forget to hop along to Amie's Blog!

Summer Vacation - Week #8

I'd better do a quick catch up before I get further behind!

MONDAY

The kids have had fun this summer getting up super early with Dad to help him pack his lunch and help me fix his breakfast.  Here they are watching him drive away this morning.

I usually make them go back to bed afterwards.  David's brother and his family stopped by later this morning on their way home to Montana to say some quick goodbyes.  After that Brailee had a playdate with a friend so the older girls wanted to have some friends over too.  We couldn't get any of Brianna's friends, but we did get one for Kaylee.  The kids wanted to do our craft day so we made Clay Creations.

I failed to take pics of our creations - we made beads, Petite Pets, and other fun shapes.  The next time we play with clay I will take pics. Trysten enjoyed it too.  He loved making snakes and balls and poking the clay with the tools.

That evening it was so smokey due to a fire in the mountains west of us.

TUESDAY

This morning we headed into Trysten's last day of summer preschool.  Then we came home and got stuff done around the house.

Trysten loves Peanut Butter - right out of the jar!  This jar was all but empty so I let him finish it off.  It kept him busy for quite a while trying to get every last bit!

WEDNESDAY

This is our playgroup day.  We all met at one of the pools and had a blast!

Brianna found a ladybug in the water - she loves ladybugs!  You can barely see it here on her thumb - our water camera quality isn't the best but we love it.

The kids love our water camera - we got lots of pics of the kids with their friends so I either won't share them here or I'll crop them out.

I finally let Trysten go down the big slide all by himself - he is fearless!  I would either go down first (and make sure he was coming right after me) or Brianna would go first so she'd be waiting for him at the bottom.  So now by myself I can really get some speed!  I lay back, put my bare shoulder blades against the slide and hold myself up with my heels and I fly down!

Here he is waving at me on his way down.

We would have stayed at the pool longer that day but Kaylee ended up with a migraine so we had to leave.  She fell asleep the minute we got home and took a nice long nap.  That evening David was taking the Scouts to hike Roundtop and we had wanted to go with them, but I wasn't sure if our plans would change because of Kaylee.  She woke up right as he was leaving and when we asked her if she wanted to go she said yes, that she was feeling much better, so we got ready and met them up there.  We took some fun pics with one of our old cameras, but afterwards one of the Scouts was careless and set an open waterbottle down on the console where the camera was sitting in the Yukon and ruined the camera.  I can take the card out and view the pics through the card reader on the computer but I can't save or copy them to anything.  I am open to any suggestions to recover them!  I did get a few pics with the iPod.

The sky was beautiful when we got there - this picture doesn't do it justice at all.

That's our Yukon parked way down there.  David and the Scouts left from the church but we met them at the bottom of the mountain.

Kaylee had her hat and water and was ready to go!

Trysten had it easy - one of the older scouts carried him up and Dad carried him down.

The view from the top

Between going up the slide steps at the pool over and over that day, plus my 2 mile run that morning, then the hike, I got quite the workout that day!

THURSDAY

Kaylee and Bree had a friend come visit from R-ton with her grandma so they went to the pool again to play.  We skipped our cleaning day this day as we were packing and getting ready to leave town to head to SV for my family reunion.  We left that night - we didn't drive the whole way but we wanted to get started.  We took our camper trailer with us so when it was getting dark we just pulled into a quick lake campsite just off the highway and slept for the night.

FRIDAY

We didn't get up and going super early this morning, but at least we saved ourselves 2 hours that day from driving the night before.  We sure love our view heading to SV...

Even with all of the construction...in fact that was Trysten's favorite part, he loved all of the big machines.

We got to the family reunion campsite after lunch - we haven't been to this reunion in 6 years so it was good to see a lot of family that I haven't seen in that long or even longer!

We started off clean...

...but it didn't take long to start getting dirty!

Spudd took the kids for a ride in the Scout - after a while I was wondering where they were as I didn't expect them to take so long.  Eventually they came walking back into camp - thanks to the hitch on the Scout they got stuck, so Spudd had to walk back with all 5 kids all by himself and then he and David went and pulled him out.

That night we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.

Love this idea with the chocolate syrup!  I will definitely be doing this from now on since our pack of 9 Hersheys bars was completely gone within minutes.  So fast that by the time Brailee had her marshmallow done there was no chocolate to go with it - she was a little upset.  Seems like this wouldn't disappear as fast.

When it was time for bed - look how dirty Brailee's feet and face were - love the face she is pulling here!

SATURDAY

We woke up and helped Daddy make breakfast - french toast, our favorite!  The older girls were already long gone playing with their new cousin friends that they made the night before.

See - here we are clean again to start our day ;-)

Accessorizing with wildflowers!

We had really wanted to go hike the Intermitting Spring but by the time we got done with breakfast and got cleaned up we didn't have time to go in and do the hike and be back in time to start our coals and dutch oven meal for the big potluck lunch, so we skipped out this trip.  Hopefully one day we'll get to go as I have NEVER taken my family - how sad is that!

Here we are fixing our lunch - we did Dutch Oven Tacos and my dad did his famous Dutch Oven Potatoes

Brailee played a little bit of ball to pass the time.

This is how you haul such a huge dutch oven filled with 20 pounds of potatoes!

Lunchtime!

Hey, wasn't this face clean once upon a time?

After lunch there was a small program (I won't go into details over the Yankee's vs. Boston voodoo doll) followed by a home run derby...

...where the girls were catching bugs along with the balls...

David, Spudd, and Grandpa were catching his truck on fire while trying to find out what was wrong with it.

Later that afternoon Grandpa T and Grandma Shelly took the kids back to their place to ride horses and David and I just stuck around and were super lazy - we even got a nap!  We were going to go into the Demo Derby but changed our minds.  Yeah, we were kindof bums this trip.

SUNDAY

We got up and joined everyone for breakfast and then we hit the road for our 6+ hour drive home.  We enjoyed our time there and hope we'll get to make it back next year!

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Last but not least, one of the biggest highlights for me this week is that Trysten finally decided to be potty trained!!!  It's been a work in progress over the last couple of months - started off really strong, but then we had issues with not wanting to go #2 on the potty (sorry TMI) - he had #1 down but that was the only thing holding us back.  Then after a while he decided he could do #2 but then he couldn't get #1.  Then he went through a phase where he didn't want to go, and another phase where he couldn't tell me when he needed to go so I'd have to just take him once in a while.  Finally this week it all came together.  He wore his big boy underwear everywhere that week (except for bed), he would always tell me when he needed to go, and he did awesome!  So as we approached the weekend we hoped and prayed our trip wouldn't completely throw off this accomplishment.  We put him in a diaper for the drive since there are long stretches of no chance to go potty, but he stayed dry for the entire trip, both ways!  We are so excited and proud of him!  He only had one accident while we were camping, and he was on his way to the bathroom, so at least he was trying.  So I'm hopefully officially done with buying diapers - yay - he currently only wears one to bed and hopefully by the time we make it through our last pack of diapers he will have that down.  He wakes up dry most mornings, so it looks promising!  Thanks for letting me share!