Not so Mini Album

Today I have what could loosely be called a mini album. It's 6" x 6", so it falls into the mini album category, but I stuffed it so full of photos, that it's a little larger than mini. The whole thing is made from My Mind's Eye's Miss Caroline Dilly Dally Adventures collection. I fell in love with the colors and patterns in this line immediately, and since I had to have almost everything in the collection, I figured it would be put to best use in a large mini album.

I made the covers out of chip board, just to make it a bit sturdier. The blue star piece behind the title is actually an unfinished wood piece that is part of the Miss Caroline line. I used Tim Holtz Broken China Distressed Ink to stain it.

I love when mini albums are interactive, so the photo on the right hand side of the bottom page opens up to show 2 more photos underneath.

 The photo on the top right side flips up to reveal another photo and journaling about the trip.

 My favorite interactive page is the bottom left page. I made little pockets behind the main photo, and one photo pull out from each side (by pulling on the ribbon). The photo on the bottom right spins up around the brad in the right hand corner to reveal another photo underneath.

The journaling/title tags that go with Miss Caroline were perfect for my album, and really helped make everything come together quite quickly. I raided my leftovers from all different projects to scrounge up a few unexpected touches like the layered giraffe sticker on one of my pages, and some fun word stickers to sprinkle throughout the album. It was a great way to use leftovers and enhance the album!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Elementary

Wow! I realized, again, how behind I am on sharing a few creations, so today I have 3 layouts to share. They all use Elementary by Simple Stories.

This one is a pretty straightforward last day of school layout. What I really liked about the Simple Stories papers was the sheet of grade journaling cards. As you can see, all I had to do was cut out the preschool card and fill in some information.

The colors in Elementary also just happened to be perfect for scrapping my son with his brand new Spiderman bike. He was so excited to get this bike, but still wanted to wait all day until Dad came home from work to ride it for the first time. I just happened to have some chipboard pieces from Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend that went really well with this page.

One more bike page done with Elementary. I love when photos like this just happen. Since I had my camera out with me this day, I was able to capture this special moment between brothers. These 2 make quite the pair, and I love that these photos seem to show that unspoken bond.

Thanks for stopping by!

Geek is Chic

Last week I picked up some Geek is Chic by Imaginisce at A Walk Down Memory Lane. I still have some photos from my oldest's first year of school last year, and Geek is Chic is a great line for school photos. However, the colors and patterns in this line are so fun, I didn't want to limit myself to just school photos, so I also made this layout:


The layout is based off Imaginisce's sketch for their August sketch challenge.

I just rotated the sketch 90 degrees. Most of the paper is from Geek is Chic, however I did cut my fish and fish hooks with my Silhouette from paper from Imaginisce's Happy Camper, and the circle under the arrow is from Imaginisce's Animal Cracker line.


In case you were wondering, here's the classic school layout with Geek is Chic:



My husband and think this is just the funniest preschool picture. Our son looks utterly perplexed as to why someone would be taking his picture like this. Everything on the layout is trimmed from Geek is Chic paper or card stock stickers except for the "my name is:" piece. That was actually on his desk at school. I always think it's fun to preserve a memento or two on a layout.


Thanks for stopping by!

All Together

My husband's sister and her family live in Florida, so it's only about once a year that everyone on my husbands side of the family is all together at once (there are 4 kids total in my husband's family, all are married, 3 of us have kids and the 4th has their first on the way). Since we were all together, you can't blame my Mother-in-law for wanting to take some family photos. I thought it would be fun to put all of the photos into a little mini album. The album is from Cosmo Cricut, and all of the paper, trims, stickers, chip pieces, etc. are from Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection.
Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Card

I'm off to go do a little scrapping, but I thought I'd stop in here first and post a card that you can check out at A Walk Down Memory Lane in person (if you live in the area). If you don't live close, you'll just have to take my word for how sparkly it is.



This card was made with the Cosmo Cricket/Unity Delovely Whimsy stamp set. I love stamping on kraft card stock, there's just something lovely about it to me. The pear is also from that set. After stamping the pear I colored it in, put Score-tape over it, and covered it in Glitter Ritz warm highlight glitter. Finally, I cut the pear out and attached it to the card with foam dimensional adhesive. It sounds like a lot of steps, but it's actually a really fast, easy process...and totally worth the end result. Not only is the pear super pretty in person, it hast this great velvety texture, and the glitter doesn't rub off when you touch it.


Alright, I'm off to be creative for a little while. Have a lovely weekend!

Retro Photos

Last month I had my boys photos taken at our local photo place. They were doing something they call "Yesterday's Child" photos as part of a fundraiser for our local MOPS group. My boys had a ton of fun, and I came away liking the photos a lot more than I thought I would. In fact, I liked them so much I just *had* to order a set of proofs. From there I decided to make a photo collage to hang on the wall using some of my favorite proofs.

I used Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 in place of vertical photos.

The stickers from Echo Park's For the Record worked really well as accent pieces for Circa 1934.

AWDML now carries Maya Road Bottle Caps in 2", 3", and 4". I used the 2" for the "we are FAMILY" embellishment. The metal button is from My Mind's Eye, and the tissue tape is from Tim Holtz (I used Nostalgic).


The gears are also a Tim Holtz accessory and are FANTASTIC for anyone who does a lot of boy or man layouts and cards. You get 12 gears total in the package, 4 each of 3 different patinas. The crystal gems (for lack of a better way to describe them) are from Webster's Pages and are officially called Scalloped Flat Back Buttons.


The canvas flowers are from Maya Road. I just free hand stitched the stems in a light green thread. The buttons and stick pin are from Jenni Bowlin Studios.
I found the frame (on sale!) at Kohls.

Wishing you all a blessed Good Friday!

March's Featured Manufacturers

It's a new month which means you can save 25% on 2 new featured manufacturers over at A Walk Down Memory Lane. This month the Featured Manufacturers are Doodlebug and Copic Markers.
I made this layout using Doodlebug:
I love having a garden in our back yard. I can't seem to keep a house plant alive, but we do pretty well in our garden. It's usually overgrown and a bit messy, but its a fun family activity. I especially love picking and preserving (by canning and freezing) the goodies from our garden.

I wanted to make this layout bright and fun, and also keep a bit of an organic feel, so I freehand cut the hills at the bottom of the page, and then used foam dimensional adhesive to pop them up off the page. The brown hill is layered directly on top of the base, and the blue hill is layered on top of the brown hill.


How Does Your Garden Grow
Paper: Doodlebug (Spring Medley, Dragonfly Stripe, Nature Walk, Seedlings) Bella Blvd Sunny Happy Skies (Magic in the Skies, Alpha + Bits)
Accessories: Prima Flowers, Doodlebug Boutique Buttons, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Alphas

Seed Packet Holder

I put together a fun fun card for Glue Dots® this month. It's a card with a little extra bonus inside. There's a pocket for placing a few seed packets for the gardener in your life. I'm thinking it would be a great for a spring birthday, Mother's Day, or even Earth Day (which happens to be April 22 this year). Here's what the finished product looks like:



To make this you'll need:
Glue Dots® (whatever size you prefer)
Glue Dots® Lines
12" x 4 1/4" piece of Card Stock
Patterned Paper (I used Cosmo Cricket's Upcycle)
Decorative Edge Punch
Twine or Ribbon
Embellishments
Scoring Tool (I love my Martha Stewart Score Board!)

To make the base, score your 12" x 4 1/4" piece of card stock at 5", 5 1/4", 10 1/2", and 10 3/4".


At this point you can decorate the card stock with patterned papers.

To make the seed pocket on the inside, you will need a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of paper.
Use a decorative edge punch to punch the top edge of the paper.
Score both sides and the bottom edge of the paper at 1/4" and 3/8". Fold along the score lines to create a pocket.
Here's what the pocket should look like once you're done scoring and folding.

Use Glue Dots® Lines to attach the pocket to the inside of the card.

To finish up your card, add embellishments. Here, I used Glue Dots® to attach buttons. I also cut flowers from Cosmo Cricket's Upcycle paper. I added dimension to the flowers by Pop Up Glue Dots®.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.

Bored Box

I know you've heard it...it's usually said in a whine...those dreaded words, "I'm bored!". Today, I have a project that you can do with your kid(s). Not only will the time spent making the project keep them from being bored, but the project itself is filled with ideas to keep them entertained.

1. Gather your supplies:


You'll need
Glue Dots® Continuous Line
Medium sized Glue Dots® (I used Memory Book Dots)
Removable Glue Dots®
A wood tissue box
Paint (I used Ranger Adirondack Paint Dabber in Sunshine Yellow)
Paper (I used Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend)
Accessories (I used Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend Chipboard)
A Kid (yours or borrow a friend's :-)

2. Measure the sides and top of your box.
3. While you are cutting paper to fit the box, have your child paint the corners and edges. Paint anywhere the wood might peak out from under the paper.

4. Add Glue Dots® Continuous Line to the edges of your paper and attach the paper to the box (My kiddo is only 4, so I applied the adhesive, and he put the paper on the box. If your child is a bit older, have them do the adhesive too!).


5. To cut the hole in the lid, first attach your piece of paper to the top with removable Glue Dots®

Flip the box upside down, and trace the hole from the inside.

Remove the paper and Glue Dots®, Cut the circle out, and use Glue Dots® Continuous line to attach the paper to the top of the box.


6. Decorate the box.

7. Agree to "Bored Box" Rules and attach them to the box. Our rules say:
1. "I'm bored!" ~ Pull an activity from the box.
2. You must do the activity you pull out.
3. You must spend at least 15 minutes at it before doing something else or pulling a new slip
from the box.

8. Add activities to the box. Decide on activities together that are fun, or productive, or just plain silly. Some of our Bored Box activities are: Draw a picture, clean your bedroom, color with markers, dance, play a video game, play a board game, dust, cook something (pretend kitchen or real kitchen with mom), read books....you get the idea. You can change out seasonal items as the weather permits.

My oldest already told me he can't wait to be bored so he can try out his new box!

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.

Sister Thing

It's no secret I love playing along with My Mind's Eye's Monthly Sketch Challenges. As much as I enjoy creating my own layout, it's just as much fun seeing what everyone else does as well. After the challenge closes, MME posts a photo album on their blog with everyone's entries. I'm always amazed how 1 sketch can translate to so many beautiful pages.
Okay, on to the main event. The theme for this month's challenge is "It's a ______ thing." Here's the sketch:Here's my 2 page take:

A little bit of back story on this. In September I went to visit my sister out in Phoenix (while my wonderful husband played Mr. Mom at home). It was a short trip that we packed with all sorts of fun stuff including a trip to a wildlife park. We got to meet this guy up close and personal.

With all the cute safari animals, I thought MME's Alphabet Soup papers would be a fun way to scrap the pictures from the animal park.I added some paper piecing, a lot of hand stitching, some Lush Brads, and some Jenni Bowlin Buttons to complete the layout.

You and Me

My boys are pretty much always together. I often refer to them as Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 (Dr. Seuss fans out there catch the reference?). Some pictures just speak for themselves, and I think this is one of those photos. So today, the layout I give you simply says: You and Me. All of the paper is My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy. I've really fallen in love with the colors and patterns in this line. They're so perfect for scrapping boy pages. Believe it or not, I didn't think this was a line I needed until I saw it at A Walk Down Memory Lane. I can admit when I'm wrong...I love this line. Each of the squares on this layout are stitched with X stitches. I love the feel they give to the layout. They really make the individual squares of paper come together. The brackets behind the photo were cut with my Silhouette. The "you and me" sticker is from Cosmo Cricket. The off white button is from Jenni Bowlin, while the other buttons are from Bo Bunny.