(diva)logues

Have Passport, will travel...

Here's one last project I created for Nikki Sivils' booth at the 2012 Winter CHA trade show in January, using the brand new Exit Here collection.  I love this travel-themed collection & especially love the Passport cut-out that's included.  How CUTE is that?!  I decided to use mine as the cover of my mini book, even though I obviously didn't have to leave the country to attend this particular event.  My book includes photos + memories from the Summer 2010 CHA trade show that I attended in Chicago that year.  What a FUN event that was!  

I was actually there to represent 2 manufacturers... Nikki Sivils and SRM Stickers... but since this book was to be used on display in Nikki's booth, I only included photos from her booth in here for now.  I will add all my SRM Stickers photos + memorabilia to the book eventually... 

I just adhered my patterned paper (or photos) onto scrap pieces of cardboard, cut to size, as the foundation for each of my pages...

No matter what good things happen to me in this industry... NOTHING will EVER top Nikki naming a piece of patterned paper FOR DEANA after me & I got to see it in her booth at the show.  Still gives me goose bumps...

Just a simple book ring to hold it all together and still plenty of room left for the rest of my photos! 

TGIF and yay for the weekend!  Bob is going Downtown to watch the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament games tonight & Sunday.  I'm subbing a Zumba class tomorrow morning or I'd be going out late with him tonight!  Gotta behave sometimes.  ;-)  BUT... we'll have fun celebrating a birthday out tomorrow night, so I'm looking forward to that!   

Hope you have a GREAT weekend everyone!

"Wrap it up... I'll take it..."

Just trying to finish things up around here... wrapping gifts and also cleaning the house since we'll have my family here on Christmas Day.  The grocery store was mayhem today, as was Target's parking lot, but thankfully most people were smiling.  Love people that are smiling.  ;-)

Making gift tags is about as crafty as I could get for our gifts this year.  I used the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection for my letter stickers.  I hand-cut my trees, stacked 2 of them on my hand-cut tag, machine-stitched it down the middle, then added a small folded piece of ribbon to the top & adhered it with a staple... 

... same process here, only this time I used a large snowflake punch & stacked 2 of those...

Notice how lazy I am at changing the thread on the sewing machine?  They all got green thread.  LOL

Also, just wanted to share this version of Ave Maria that put tears in my eyes the first time I heard it the other day.  What doesn't put tears in my eyes these days?   I have issues... like hormonal... LOL 

This is my last post for the week, so I'd just like to wish you all a very MERRY Christmas!  Enjoy your time with family & friends this weekend & make sweet memories.  And thank you SO much for always leaving such kind and funny comments.  You all keep me smiling, for sure!

XOXO...

Grazie, Bella!

Bella Blvd's August e-newsletter was sent today & one of my pages was featured in it this month.  You can see the entire newsletter here if you're not already on their mailing list.  Thank you, Bella Blvd!  Your fun & colorful products make it so easy for me to get inspired to create...

 

And speaking of Bella Blvd... I used some of my Family Dynamix line (the yellow patterned paper for my "bow" and the red letter stickers + a blue Baby Blooms flower on top) to make a gift I wrapped just a little more personalized.  I really love those funky letter stickers...  

 

As a matter of fact, I've created quite a few things recently with the Family Dynamix line.  What a fun, fun collection!  More on that later. 

We did end up seeing "Horrible Bosses" on Friday night.  Totally hilarious.  I laughed out loud for most of the movie.  Even when no one else was laughing.  No one else meaning... like out of all 10 of us in the movie theater.  Guess it's been out for awhile.  Go see it if you need a good laugh... assuming you're not easily offended.  LOL 

Oh and Bryn's back home as of yesterday.  Yay!

Have a GREAT week everyone!

A little Christmas in July...

 

The new Gingerbread Land collection from Nikki Sivils is adorable... and perfect for documenting winter time memories.  I love the pastel colors in this line, and of course... those clouds had me at hello.  I created my journaling for this page using some of the word cut-outs from the cut-ups page + Word for the rest...

 
    

 

Nikki also asked for Christmas ornaments for display in her booth, so I made one like I made a few years ago... using a foam ball, my circle punch & some colorful stick pins...

 

I found both of these projects on display in Nikki's CHA booth photos.  You can see all her photos here if you haven't seen it yet!  I swear her booth just keeps getting cuter & cuter for every show! 

"... thank you disillusionment... thank you frailty... thank you consequence... "

Bryn had her first of 2 birthday parties on Sunday.  This party was with her friends.  We still have the family BBQ coming up, for which I've made almost zero plans.  Help.  One thing we have tackled before the next party though, is the thank you notes.  Bryn had 3 of them written before I even woke up this morning.  Love her determination! 

 

One of my favorite ways to send a thank you note is with a photo attached from the party.  This one is very simple... black cardstock, with a piece of white paper on top, the photo (which was edited in Picnik where I added "thank you" in the color pink onto the photo) and some pink ribbon at the top.  The color scheme for the thank you notes matched the color scheme of the cupcakes and treat bags...

 

The party took place at SkyZone where there was a whole lot of jumping going on... thus the sweaty face!  

My homemade cupcakes were topped with some edible Duff cupcake "tattoos" I found at Michaels.  What is it about animal print that I love so much? 

 Mine don't look quite as "perfect" as the example.  The instructions say to place the tattoos on a fondant icing OR buttercream icing.  Since Bryn is allergic to both, we went with what she COULD eat!  I had a room full of impressed 10-year olds though, so that's all that matters! 

The treat bags were black, white & pink too.  I'll show you how I made those this weekend during the ELMERS & X-ACTO BLOG HOP!  And speaking of the blog hop, have you seen who has been announced so far?

• Amy Heller
• Amy Parker
• Deana Boston
• Davinie Fiero
• Danielle Flanders
• Gina Hanson
• Jenni Hufford 

The last 3 designers will be announced in the next 3 days and then on Saturday morning the HOP begins!  Hope you'll be there, too! 

Volleyball is life... or at least it was anyway...

Last night was our final night of volleyball for awhile... maybe for a long while, as Bryn seems to have lost interest in the sport.  To be perfectly honest I wish she'd keep at it.  I think she's improved SO much in the past year and could be really good with more practice.  But, right now it's not working for her and I'm not going to push it.  At this age, I think keeping yourself open to trying new things is good.  It's only in trying new things that we figure out what it is that makes us happy.  So this summer we'll look into doing gymnastics and I'll be registering her for a 1-week soccer camp that she's participated in for the past 4 summers as well.

Anyway... with the final night of volleyball looming & lots of SRM tubes on hand, I decided to make a little something for all the girls on Bryn's team.  I know Bryn's been into changing out her shoe laces lately, so I thought it might be fun to fill each tube with a pair of shoe laces.  I started with all of these that I found at Target.  I do love things in rainbow order...  

 

I used my SRM volleyball stickers along with a star punch, the Soiree line from Pink Paislee & some random ribbon I had in my stash to embellish my tubes...

 

I put it all together on Tuesday night while watching The Voice.  Not sure if I'm loving that show or not, but Dancing With The Stars was over & I wanted to pass the time with something I didn't actually have to sit & watch.

 

I love how the volleyball stickers fit perfectly on top of each tube...

 

 

Check out the SRM Stickers blog for more inspiring ways to use the SRM tubes.  The ideas are endless!

And now... I'm happy to say it's Thursday which means it's time for some dancing in Zumba!  And even better than that?  It's Cinco de Mayo... so I'm thinking we have some celebrating to do after class today. 

Adios muchachos!  :-)

And PS... Don't forget to check out the My Memories Suite Giveaway + the special coupon code!

It's all fun & games until someone gets hurt...

It's Friday... the weekend is here!  And for some weekends that can mean "Game Night" at our house.  Popcorn, wine & the "80's Game"... makes me happy.  Whether it happens this weekend or not remains to be seen.  We have plans to go out to dinner tonight, while Bryn is at a friend's house.  Not sure about tomorrow night yet because "Game Night" can tend to mean we aren't as likely to get up & go to church in the morning... so we'll see.  ;-) 

Anyway, speaking of "Game Night," I adore the new Game Night line by Bella Blvd.  In fact, I really love all their new lines & had trouble limiting myself to just purchasing from this one (for now!).  I bought a couple pieces of the paper to use on a future page, but it also worked really well for a little thank you gift I wanted to make for a friend who's traveling to Vegas this weekend.  I started with a small plastic tumbler I found at Target, filled it with some shredded paper & then added some Vegas-themed goodies.  I taped my greeting card on a wooden skewer because it wouldn't fit inside the cup...

 

I filled 3 SRM tubes with rolls of pennies because she's won BIG on the penny slots... go figure!  These tubes are the perfect size for rolls of coins if you want a fun way to give the gift of money... especially with graduation time right around the corner! 

 

 

My "Good Luck" sticker came from the SRM Thinking of You sentiment sticker sheet... 

In addition to fun + games this weekend... I'm looking forward to participating in a fun charity event tomorrow with 2 hours of Latin Hip Hop and Zumba!  If you're local and looking for the most FUN workout EVER, please join us for a great cause!  Leave me a comment & I'll get you the details!  

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Nikki Sivils' love..

It's Nikki Sivils' birthday today & in honor of that, I thought I'd create a collage of all the layouts, cards & projects I've created in the past 2 years with her products (minus about 12 that are not yet posted and/or are temporarily "out for publication").  I LOVE her products SO MUCH! 

 

You can see the birthday card I made for her, along with all the other birthday cards created by the rest of the design team right here!  And maybe you can leave her some birthday wishes while you're there!

PS... There is a give-away going on!

Some HIP Valentines...

There's always a TON of product included in the HIP 2B SQUARE kits every month.  I was able to make 5 layouts (which I posted yesterday) all these cards plus a mini book using the main kit & the add-on kit!  There's still plenty left-over, so I may just make a few more Valentine's before all is said & done.    

My first card is based on this Card Maps sketch that was given to our team this month...

 

I used the ribbon in the kit to make a flower & then just added one of the My Mind's Eye buttons on top...

 

And just a few more Valentine's here...

The Pink Paislee flower rub-ons in the main kit look SO realistic!  I rubbed them onto white cardstock & then added a pop dot underneath each one to give them a bit of dimension...

 

The coordinating envelope for the next one was made using one of the Maya Road envelopes included in the add-on kit...

 

For this one I used the Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Paint (the Flirty color) I received as a freebie from Northridge Publishing to cover my chipboard LOVE piece & then added some pink glitter on top.  I love that the Glimmer Glaze paint includes a little brush like nail polish has...

 

 

And just a little pillow box here for holding sweet treats...

 

I'll post the mini book I created with this month's kit on Monday!  Check out the HIP 2B SQUARE blog for more information on their monthly kit club!

Happy Friday!  I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend! 

We are family... get up everybody & sing...

So what do you think of all the new releases from Nikki Sivils so far?  Aren't you loving all the fun cut-outs that are included with each line? 

How about some more with the new "We Are Family" line!  Another perfect line for the SPRING time (and it can't get here soon enough... SO over all the snow right now!)...

 

I bought a cheap unfinished wood heart frame from Michaels... I think it was only a dollar.  After painting it white, I just embellished it with some of the paper & cut-outs plus a little baker's twine for the kite...

 

 

Love the fun trees, houses & kites in this line!  There's also a full sheet of fun journaling tags with this line that I love! 

Ok... so no school AGAIN today due to all the ice on the ground and the "blizzard" in the forecast of up to 12 inches of snow. A lot of businesses are closed today, including the YMCA, and Bob is home from work, too.  Yesterday school was released 2 hours early due to ice.  At this rate, we'll be going to school until July!  

What a crazy winter this has been.  And it's not even over yet.  Thank goodness we made plans for Spring Break.  Something to look forward to...

It's Your Day!

Happy Monday and day #4 of the brand new Nikki Sivils' lines that are debuting at the CHA Trade Show in California right now!  Today is "It's Your Day" and it's perfect for creating birthday-themed projects with all the cute party hats, cupcakes & presents!  I think it's adorable! 

 

I used an old photo of Bryn to create a page about her 3rd birthday...

 

... and more use of my Glossy Accents on the candle flames...

 

I also made a pair of birthday treat boxes.  Love making them.  They're so easy to create & so perfect for holding candy, gift cards, etc...

 

 

Speaking of Nikki Sivils, there's a new challenge posted on her blog for February.  Create a goals or resolutions-themed project and post it here for the chance to win one of Nikki's new releases! 

Have a great week!

I could use a little SUMMER right about now...

The new "Summer" line from Nikki Sivils just might be my favorite line of hers EVER.  I adore the lined paper with the scalloped border.  The cameras, rainbows, clouds, ice cream, birds... it's all just tooooo CUTE! 

 

I ended up making more projects for CHA with this line, than any other.  And you know there will be MORE to follow in the coming months! 

I thought I'd use some of my photos from last summer's CHA for this first page + a lot of the cut-outs & stickers.  I had so much fun meeting Nikki & seeing her booth in person...

 

Just a fun card, with another cut-out on the inside...

 

 

This next project was a basic black photo storage box that Nikki sent to me.  I'm not sure what company sent it to her?  I put a photo into the cover & then "framed" it with the camera border strips.  I also added some Glossy Accents to the bigger camera in the corner...

 

 

And finally, I made a birdhouse.  It was a left-over from my Kid's Art Camp that I hosted last summer, and I thought it would be perfect to use some of the little bird cut-outs on it...

 

 

 

Don't you just love all the fun colors & patterns in this line?  I LOVE IT!  

Check out the Nikki Sivils' blog today to see lots of photos from Nikki's booth at CHA!  It's simply adorable! 

Congratulations are in order...

... and what better way to celebrate, than with POPCORN!  Oh... okay, okay... maybe a little wine, too...

 

 

Did you see the announcement on the SRM Stickers blog?  The 2011 team was announced today!  A huge congratulations to the new team... you are going to have a really FUN year!  And I'm very excited to still be part of it all in a small way! 

 Happy Monday!  Have a GREAT week!

"...bad decisions, that's alright... welcome to my silly life..."

It's finished.  It's thick, too.  Was beginning to think I might need bigger rings, but I think I'm going to leave it as is.  It's such an undertaking to get this thing accomplished every year, especially considering the timing of it during the craziness of the holidays PLUS some mad CHA deadline creating going on.  I'm always SO glad I did it though.  There's no way I would document all the detail of our daily life in my normal scrapbooking of events that occur.  It always makes me want to do more of a daily journal all year, but then I wake up from that nightmare-of-a-thought & come back to reality.  Ummmmmm... no.    

 

 

  

 

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa signed the bottom of Bryn's note she had left for him with his hot chocolate, cookies & carrots for the reindeer.  She was pretty excited when she saw it on Christmas morning.  

Sigh... going to miss all this innocence.  If only it could last forever... 

Time to finish this project up...

I'm in the middle of finishing up this December mini book today.  If you've missed any of it, you can find all the pages here.  The last couple years I made one of these books, I finished the last page on the 25th.  I'm half-way thinking I may just finish on the 31st this year since we have so many things going on this last week, but we'll see if that works out...

 

 

 
 
Now that I've put that thought out there, I'm thinking maybe I don't really want the extra work & the 25th will be just fine! 

Have a great week!

Nice package...

I made some gift tags the other day.  I also managed to rope Bob into making some paper snowflakes for me per this tutorial, because I wanted them for gift toppers.  I was having trouble figuring out the folding instructions and thought maybe it was a right brain/left brain thing, so he said he'd help.  Usually when one of us can't figure something out, the other one picks it right up & does it.  It's weird.  When he said he couldn't figure out their instructions either, I felt a lot better.  Determined to make me happy though, he persisted & figured it out.   

 

 

 

 
 

Bob said his weren't as pretty as the How About Orange version, but I was thrilled with them.  One less thing I had to do! 

Had a FUN Zumba class this morning... Bryn joined me since today is her first official day of Christmas break.  We're just finishing up lunch & then we're headed to Illinois to see Bob's daughter & her family to celebrate Christmas with them for the rest of the day.

 

Oh... and the class party yesterday was fun!  Ok, ok, I'll stop taking pictures of you...

HIP 2B SQUARE for November...

Yesterday I had Basic Grey on the brain, probably because there's LOTS of it included in the November HIP 2B SQUARE kit... the "Jovial" line to be exact.  This month is full of holiday colors & patterns, and I was able to use the kit for most of our recent holiday memories.

On this first page, I sprayed the Maya Mist (included in the add-on kit) on the chipboard Maya Road flag banner.  Love the metallic sheen to it.  I also used some white paint on the scalloped triangles that I layered underneath and then laced the brown twine through each one... 

 

Kimberly likes for us to stitch all of our buttons that we use in our projects.  So on the next page, I had quite a few buttons that I put on my "tree" for "ornaments."  Had this not been a page I made for HIP 2B SQUARE, I would've stopped right there with no stitching.  So... I'll admit right now that I bribed Bryn to stitch my buttons to the tree.  I told her I'd agree to buy the more pricey tennis shoes she wanted.  It was worth every single penny too, as I was able to finish up the rest of the page while she was stitching away.  I know you're all wishing you had a little assistant now, aren't you?  She doesn't come cheap...   

 

I used the negative space of the chipboard packaging on the next page to frame my photo, journaling & some of the embellishments...

 

This next page was based on the Pencillines sketch #216 that Melanie gave the team to use this month.  If you recall, it's the Christmas photo shoot gone awry & the story definitely needed to be on paper...
 

 

And finally, just a simple masculine page with a funny title & no journaling.  It's not my typical style to have a page without journaling, but this was just for grins... 

 

I also made a card, some gift tags & a gift bag...

 

 

 

Go here for more information the HIP 2B SQUARE kits!  They are PACKED full of great products every single month!

'Tis the season for gift card holders...

I secretly wish I could give everyone on my shopping list gift cards.  Totally impersonal, I know.  But oh, how it would make life at Christmas time SO much easier & stress-free, wouldn't it?  Frankly I LOVE receiving gift cards, myself.  But that's probably because I love to shop... especially when it's free.  Heehee!  Anyway, back to reality here.  I do give out a few gift cards during the holidays.  I know that teachers, for one, enjoy them a whole lot more than having 85 "favorite teacher ornaments" collected over the years.  So, I'm always trying to find a creative way to package them.   

The other day while blog-hopping, I came across a free download for a pillow box cut-out found here. 

 
The orange pattern is cute & all, but I wanted to make it my own, using some of the product I had laying on my craft table.  So after I printed it out, I traced that pattern onto my Cosmo Cricket paper, cut that out & then scored it according to faint lines that were on the original. 

 

 

Adhere on the fold lines with a double-stick tape or glue & insert your gift card before closing it...

 

I embellished the front of the pillow box with a cut-out tag from the Cosmo Cricket "1934" line, a SRM happy holidays sticker sentiment, some of my never-ending supply of bakers twine, some pleated cardstock folded into the shape of a flower & a simple little jingle bell...

 

For more inspiring ideas for gift card holders, check out the SRM Stickers blog today!  I plan on using some of the other great ideas myself!  ;-)

Quick + easy...

Here's a quick & easy idea for making napkin rings for your holiday table settings.  I made these for Thanksgiving, but this project could be easily duplicated for any occasion.  All you need is some cardstock, a decorative-edge punch & some SRM sticker sentiments...

 

 

I just stapled it to keep it together.  Could not be any easier!

Like totally tubular...

In addition to having the most fabulous clear stickers & calendars, did you know that SRM Stickers also has the coolest little clear tubes?  Everyone on the SRM team chose a holiday for featuring these tubes & I went with Valentines Day... 

 

... and surprise, surprise...more dimensional embellishments... this time with hearts!  There's lots of bakers twine on each tube, too!  If you need some inexpensive bakers twine for the upcoming holidays, check out my etsy store here!

 

Check out the SRM Stickers blog today, Tuesday & Wednesday for more inspiring ideas on how we all used our tubes.  You will LOVE all the great ideas! 

More HIPness from October...

Yesterday I posted all the layouts I made using the October HIP 2B SQUARE kit.  You can see them here if you missed it.  Today it's a few more things I created with kit! 

Here's a couple more little treat boxes I made using Carole's tutorial.  Will definitely be making lots of these!  I just gave one of the Halloween treat boxes I made a couple weeks ago, to Bryn's teacher.  It was filled with candy corn + a Starbucks gift card.  If you missed those, you can find them here, along with a link to Carole's tutorial.

 

... and a couple cards...

 

Did a little more machine-stitched paper pleating on this one...

 

I made a couple more cards with this month's kit for other assignments.  Will be posting those soon!  Go here for more information on this month's kit or to find out how to join the HIP 2B SQUARE kit club!

Just returned from a quick weekend in Scottsdale.  Bryn had a 1/2 day of school on Thursday + no school on Friday, so we flew out right after school on Wednesday.  Just did a few of our favorite things while there & we were also able to see my friends, Sally & family and Julie & family...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a GREAT time!  It could've been a longer trip, but there's always next time... 

SRM Stickers loves Marvy Uchida (& so do I)...

Recently, SRM Stickers teamed up with Marvy Uchida!  They were so generous to send us some of their new products & I've been having fun creating with them.  I've always been a fan of their punches & these new products are just as GREAT!  They are so easy to use & really make creating border punches so EASY... leaving no room for error! 

And guess what? They are giving several away to SRM followers! Check out the SRM blog for details!

For my first project, I used the new Clever Lever Quick Borders Craft Punch (scalloped shell cartridge) to make my "grass."

 

To make my tree, I used the oak leaf Clever Lever embossing craft punch,   which I just purchased at Michaels.  Love it!  I framed my project using one of Michelle Baca's 12x12 Everyday Scrapbook wooden frames. 

For my card, I used the ribbon stitch cartridge (my favorite cartridge) & the new Paper Trimming Buddy.  I used 3 different blade cassettes... straight, scoring & scallop.  So easy to use... love it! 

 

For both projects, I used the same Thanksgiving-themed SRM Stickers...

 

Thank you again for your generosity, Marvy!  Your products are the BEST! 

Crafting with kids...

Today on the SRM Stickers blog, there's a feature on "Crafting with Kids."  This is something we do frequently around here, so this challenge wasn't too difficult for Bryn & I to complete as we had 26 treat bags to assemble for her class party last week. 

We kept this project simple & started with your basic brown lunch bags.  They are very cheap & the brown color works well for this time of year.  We also used my 6x6 Cosmo Cricket Matilda mini deck, white cardstock, a couple punches, a pumpkin stamp & our Halloween-themed SRM Stickers...  

 

Bryn colored in all the pumpkin stamps with orange & green colored pencils...

 

We stapled a simple piece of ribbon on top of our tags after adhering our punched circles together...

 

Just to add a little more interest, we used our Martha Stewart border punch on top of the bags...

 

It's always easier to complete a big project when you have a little helper!  And quite frankly, treat bags don't need to be too fancy when they're for a big group of 9-10 year olds who really just want the candy that's inside them... right?! 

My October HIP 2B SQUARE kit arrived yesterday, so I'm getting started on it today!  Have a FABULOUS weekend! 

Mini Halloween treat boxes...

The talented Carole Kisch , from the SRM Stickers team, posted a little treat box tutorial on her blog the other day.  It inspired me to to try it out with some of my Nikki Sivils Bootiful collection, along with a couple of the new Halloween SRM Sticker sentiments...

 

I filled little celophane bags with candy corn & then tied them up with some of my bakers twine...

 

To make little treat boxes of your own, check out Carole's tutorial here!  It's a quick & very easy way to make a little gift holder!

Some HIP extras...

Yesterday I posted the layouts I created with the September HIP 2B SQUARE kit.  If you missed it, you can see it here!  Today... it's the cards I made, along with a little fold-out mini book.

For the first card, I used some green mist on the Sassafras paper before adding the embellishments on top.  The peach-colored card is the packaging from the Sassafras flowers, which I used on my "tree"...

 

... and another school-themed card (can never have too many of those when you have kids!)...

 

We were asked to make a travel-themed project.  I went with a fold-out mini pocket book to add to my Austria album (assuming I ever get started on it, that is!)...

 

I machine-stitched the 2 pockets & have added little extra things from our trip, like receipts & tickets.  My favorite little "extra" is a diary-style note Bryn wrote on a bus ride detailing our day.   She has such cute hand-writing... 

 

Head over here for more information on the amazing HIP 2B SQUARE kits!

One last thing!  Just incase you missed Martha Stewart on Oprah yesterday, there's a 50% off any one Martha item at Michaels COUPON on Oprah's website.  You can find it HERE!  Make note, though, that the coupon will only be posted on the website for 24 hours from the airing of yesterday's show.   So HURRY & print it TODAY!  Happy shopping!  ;-)

You want to meet when? Let me pencil you in...

I'll pencil you in on my new calendar, that is! 

Today on the SRM Stickers blog, they are featuring calendars!  I, along with a few other designers, decided to tackle one.  I have to admit, it did take me a few days to complete this calendar.  But, I left it on my craft table & would work on it as I found free time.  It was fun to make & now is the perfect time to make one for yourself before the holidays are upon us! 

To make my SRM Stickers calendar, I started with the 8x8 size.  They also have 6x6, 12x12 and Baby's First Year calendars! 

And from there, I used some old stuff + some new stuff and LOTS of SRM Stickers!  I mean seriously, I think I may have used 1 sticker from every single SRM Sticker sheet ever made to complete this calendar.  Ok, maybe not really.  But there are quite a FEW!  If you have any questions on a particular product though, just leave me a comment & I'll let you know what I used!  

 

With the holidays quickly approaching, these calendars would certainly make a great gift!  You could personalize them even more by adding photos!  Check out the SRM Stickers blog today, to see how the other designers created with their calendars!  I swear the SRM girls provide ENDLESS inspiration for me every single day! 

I'm blogging here today if you have a chance to hop on over!  Have a GREAT week!

Just the girls...

Our mini Girl's Day Out on Bryn's first "early release day" was lots of FUN!  Bob was amused when he said to Bryn yesterday morning, "You sure are dressed up for school."  She said, "Well, Daddy, it IS Girls Day Out after school today."  I mean, duh... have to be fasionable for that, right?!  LOL!  The girl cracks me up.  Our afternoon began with an appointment at the nail salon... manicure for Bryn, pedicure for me.  I think she was excited and amazed when she was asked to pick out her nail color after we signed in.

She asked for some flowers on her nails & ended up with a pretty cool design on 2 of her fingers.  (Cool for little girls but I'm more of a plain polish girl myself).  And only on my toes... finger nails are always clear. 

Stopped & got her some french fries + an orange soda for a treat afterward...

Next stop was Michaels, armed with my 50% off coupon.  All their punches are on sale this week 40% off, too.  Sooo... I picked up another border punch.  Clearly, one can never have too many of those.  Then we went to Charming Charlies.  I needed a couple cute girly gifts and that's the perfect place to find something!  We ran through the grocery store on the way home, had an early dinner & then took off for volleyball practice.  Bryn enjoyed her day (& so did I!)

On Monday, SRM Stickers is featuring their calendars.  I, along with a few other designers, tackled one.  It took me a few days to complete it, but I finished it... my first hand-made calendar.  Here's a sneak...  

Come back on Monday for all 12 months & stickers GALORE! 

This weekend is the annual Hot Air Balloon Race.  Tomorrow is the actual race, but tonight is the Balloon Glow... when they inflate all the balloons, lighted by their burners.  It's supposed to be quite a site, but we've never made it to this part of the event... only to the actual race day.  Bob's going to take Bryn to see all the action tonight, while I'm out with the girls!  I'm hoping he can get a few decent photographs.  It will certainly be a great place to take pictures!  Future page in the works! 

Hope you have a FABULOUS weekend! 

Embellishing with stickers...

With back-to-school time still fresh on my mind, I decided to use some more of my school-themed SRM Stickers to make a little set of school necessities.  I have to admit though, while it does make for a cute set, the likihood that the sticker on the water bottle will withstand a washing is unlikely.  The pencil, however, was perfect for a long strip of sentiments!  The ways to use these clear stickers really are endless.  Check out the SRM blog daily for more inspiring ideas!

And speaking of school, Bryn is officially involved in 3 school clubs now, making for some early mornings.  Would you believe that she wanted to be in the Scrapbook Club?  Didn't think you'd be surprised by that... although I did try to talk her out of it.  I told her she has a huge scrapbooking room at home with way more supplies than she'd find at school & that maybe she should pick a different club.  Nope... no way.  Oh well, I tried!  She's also involved in Dance Club again, as well as Honor Choir this year.  Then add on the volleyball class she's taking on Tuesday nights to get her up to speed with the rest of her teammates, volleyball practice on Thursday nights & games on Saturdays... she's busy.  But as long as the grades stay up, I'm all for cooperating!  

SRM Stickers + Cosmo Cricket = "Togetherness"...

SRM Stickers is featuring Cosmo Cricket's new Togetherness line on the blog today.  Cosmo Cricket sent us Togetherness + 1 other new line (for me it was the Matilda line... I love it!).  They have been SO generous with us this year, that I thanked Lindsay personally while I was at CHA.  Thank you again, Cosmo Cricket!  And can I just say that I LOVE the Togetherness line?!  It was easy to get inspired with it, especially when adding SRM Stickers...

I used a few different sticker sheets to make the page... the new Hello stickers, Everyday Girl & Everyday Boy stickers and the new We've Got Your Number stickers (great for making list-type journaling!)

I'm into this new little paper technique I picked up from the oh-so-talented, Nina, while at CHA.  The red border strip was cut & curved a bit to look like ribbon.  Then I added my sentiment stickers on top of that.  You'll see that technique again on this next card, which was made using the sketch that Jenyfur provided...

 
 
The sentiment, heart, cherries & strawberry all came from the new Sweet sticker sheet.  Here's a closer view of the paper technique I used again...

Another card here using the new Spring Sticker Sentiments...

I made a little window on the front of the card using a square punch.  Then I added a frame around that by using a scalloped square punch that was slightly bigger.  The kite was just paper-pieced together...

And a little something I made for Bryn, with school in mind.  I used the Fourth Grade stickers with the School Days stickers.  She loves to read, so it should come in handy...

Check out the SRM blog for more inspiring ways to use the Togetherness line with SRM Stickers... you will be amazed & inspired!  And did I mention there's a huge prize up for grabs if you play along with the card sketch challenge?  How about some Togetherness & SRM Stickers?!  Head over to the blog for details!

Noteworthy...

The July HIP 2B SQUARE kit includes a Maya Road Large Tag Coaster book.  At 4 1/2" x 8" it's a decent size to use for photos that don't have to be cropped too much.  I like that!  However, rather than use it to make a mini book, which I had originally intended, I decided to make a couple notebooks instead.  I painted the front & back covers white & then embellished from there.  I like how the accordian flower turned out using the zig zag paper in the main kit.  It was totally unintentional that it turned out like that... I may have to make some more!

 
The inside is simply lined paper that I adhered by stapling the stack to the back cover. 

It's always nice to have gifts on hand when you need something at the last minute.  It could also make a great little teacher's gift, too!

I spent the entire day yesterday cleaning the craftroom, getting rid of unused supplies, reorganizing, etc.  It was not what I planned on doing... it was just something that evolved after cleaning the rest of the house.  "Spring cleaning" in August perhaps?  Anyway, I'm thinking of doing a post this week, with photos from my room.  And I have come to the conclusion that the amount of supplies I have here is somewhat insane.  But then again when it comes to this hobby... so am I.  LOL

We have a busy 2 days coming up... trying to fit in some errands like the orthodontist & a haircut before school begins, plus some fun stuff too!  But first... Zumba!  Hope you have a great week!