December 1st means...

... two new featured manufactures at A Walk Down Memory Lane. This month you can shop Bella Blvd and Stampin' Scrappin' at 25% off! I created this layout with Bella Blvd's Hello Fall line. I hope it inspires you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lovely Pumpkins

These are photos from way back at the end of September. We had a gorgeous, warm fall day out at the pumpkin patch. This layout focuses on my oldest son's choice of pumpkin. I have to admit, fall is definitely one of may favorite seasons for taking photos.

I fell in love with this paper from Lily Bee when it came into A Walk Down Memory Lane. Since I have a lot of pumpkin patch photos this year and I've already created fall layouts with the fall lines from Jillibean, Bella Blvd, and Bo Bunny, I thought Id try my hand at turning this somewhat frilly line into a boyish pumpkin patch layout.

After a bit of paper layering, some of my favorite border punches, and a few buttons and brads, I came up with a layout I'm pretty happy with.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper: Lily Bee Lovely (Charm, Whimsy, Parasol, Trinket)
Accessories: Jillibean Soup Apple Cheddar Card Stock Stickers, MME Lush 2 Brads, Jenni Bowlin Brads (Delicate), Bo Bunny Forever Fall Buttons
Tools: EK Success Deep Edge Punch Circles, Fiskars Give It A Swirl Border Punch

Fun in the Sun

I had to share 1 last Simple Stories 100 Days of summer layout. This one is so much better in person! I added Stickles to the sun in the title strip and the word "sun". I added Glossy Glaze to the "fun in the sun" and blue swirl part of the title. It was a simple way to really make the title strip pop, and add some texture.

Featured Manufacturers

It's May, which hopefully means more time outdoors AND 2 new featured manufacturers at A Walk Down Memory Lane. For the month of May you can enjoy Fancy Pants and Fiskars for 25% off.

Today I have 2 layouts featuring Fancy Pants:

Mullet Bay
Paper: Fancy Pants It’s the Little Things (Headed South, Pecking Order, Honeysuckle)
Stamps: My Favorite Things Polka Dot Greetings
Accessories: Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, Fancy Pants It’s the Little Things Chipboard Stickers, Jenni Bowlin Stick Pin, Webster’s Pages Flat Backed Scalloped Buttons, Jillibean Soup Mini Kraft Alphas Brown

Pool Fun
Paper: Fancy Pants Beach Bum (6 x 6 paper pad)
Accessories: American Crafts Day in the Sun Heat Wave Flair, The Girl's Paperie Tinsel & Twig Sticker Book

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!

Wood Blocks with a Twist

Maybe it's the amount of snow we've had already this year or maybe it's the long stretches of single digit temperatures but cabin fever is hitting early this year. I'm longing for spring, so what's a crafty girl to do? Grab some pretty springy papers, Glue Dots®, wood blocks, paint, and a photo that has you thinking spring...then create some spring photo blocks:


I started by gathering my supplies.


My blocks measured 4" x 3 1/4" but you can use any size you'd like. I started by painting any part of the block that wouldn't be covered in paper. For me, that meant the tops and bottoms were painted green, and I painted the corners with a cream colored paint.
While my paint was drying, I cut and embellished panels for the front of my blocks. Each panel got 1 letter, for a total of 6 blocks to spell out "spring". I used Glue Dots® Memory Book Dot 'n Go and Glue Dots® Pop Up Dots to attach my letters and embellishments to my paper.
When my front "spring" panels were completed I used Glue Dots® Glue Lines to attach the "spring" panels to the front of the wood blocks.


For a twist on these decorative blocks, I covered the back side with a large photo instead of paper.


To create the photo on the back, take a favorite spring photo, and have it enlarged. I enlarged my photo to 8" x 10" photo, then cropped it to 8" x 9 3/4" to fit my blocks. Next, I cut the photo into six 4" x 3 1/4" pieces and attached them to the back side of the blocks with Glue Dots® Glue Lines.
To finish the blocks, add a piece of patterned paper to the sides of the blocks.
Here are a few more close ups of the finished blocks. You will find a supply list after the photos.


Supplies
Adhesives: Glue Dots® Memory Book Dot 'n Go, Glue Dots® Glue Lines, Glue Dots® Pop Up Dots
Paper: Crate Paper Restoration 6" x 6" paper pad
Embellishments: Crate Paper Restoration Brads, Jillibean Soup Corrugated Alphas (red), Jenni Bowlin Embellished Butterflies (Navy)
Paint: Jenni Bowlin Acrylic Paint Dabber (Malted Milk, Seed Packet)
Tools: Silhouette SD

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.

Who Says

Who says it has to be complicated? I always admire people who can make cards with very few elements and still have that wow factor. When I try that, my cards usually just look empty, but here's one I came up with where I really think less is more. Enjoy!
Patterned Paper is from Jenni Bowlin Studios, as is the butterfly.

My Sunshine

My husband teases me about having a frame addiction. I just can't go into a store without browsing the frames, and if I can find a good price on a unique frame? Oh, boy am I in Heaven. My theory is that I'll always be able to find a use for it eventually. Why am I confessing this? Today I have a project with one of those "I'll use it some time" frames. I got this frame about 2 months ago at Walmart for $9! It's been sitting in the closet in my craft room since then. Tuesday night we had family photos taken outside. My brain started connecting a few of the photos (taken on this great red chair) whit the frame in my closet. Then, I saw my pile of Crate Paper Season Papers, Brads, and Chipboard pieces sitting out and I knew I had an awesome project on my hands:
Here's a bit of the detail:

I also took a photo from the side so you can see the dimension to the frame:

Supplies:

Crate Paper Season Art Brads, Chipboard, and Friendly Patterned Paper

Jenni Bowlin Studios Alphas

Photos were taken by Van Maanens Photo Studio

One more note, I'm headed for vacation next week, so you may not hear from me until after the 4th, but I promise to have lots of good stuff again then!

Moxie Mother's Day

This is Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger this week:I think I need that bag!

I decided to use the color inspiration here to make a Mother's Day card, since we all know what Sunday is!I'm sighing a little because this picture just doesn't do this card justice. I've been having a blast playing with these beautiful butterflies from Jenni Bowlin. All Jeni Bowlin stuff is on sale 25% off at A Walk Down Memory Lane this month (woo hoo!). The paper (isn't it gorgeous???) is October Afternoon Fly a Kite and Thrift Shop. The stamp is from Stampin' Up! and the border is done with Fiskar's Apron Lace punch.
If you want to play along in the Moxie Fab world details be found here.

A tale of 2 cards

Well, I know I've said it before, but I do like stepping out of my comfort zone to make cards. It helps me grow as a paper crafter, but it's not always ad successful as I'd like it to be. I have 2 cards today. 1 is 100% in my comfort zone and the other is way outside it. 1st up is the not so comfortable card.

This is for Moxie Fab World's Doilies and Lace challenge. Vintage, shabby chic, or whatever you want to call it isn't really my style, but hey, it was fun to give it a try. Most of what you see up there is from my February Scraptiv!ty kit. I cut some of the lace into strips and twisted it up to make the lace flower. Then I used some brown ink to dirty it up a bit. All of my non-kit items came from A Walk Down Memory Lane (AWDML) and include the journaling tag from My Mind's Eye, the pretty stick pins from Jenni Bowlin, the i love you stamp from Heidi Grace, and the Sunburst border punch from Fiskars.

Now up is a card that's 100% in my comfort zone.
This card uses paper from My Mind's Eye Andrea Victoria Collection. The border punch is one of my favorites, Apron Lace by Fiskars. The Happy Birthday stamp is by Cornish Heritage Farms. The rhinestone brads and ribbon are from Stampin' Up!