Daily Activity Pinwheels

I run a pretty loose ship during the summer, but I do require my kids to to a little math and reading, and help out a little more with cleaning during the summer. I wanted a way for my kids to be accountable for some daily tasks without me having to always be asking them. Of course, I also wanted it not to be an eyesore, so I came up with these Daily Activity Pinwheels.

These are the supplies I used for this project.

• We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Punch Board
• We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Attachments
• We R Memory Keepers DIY Party Cardstock Pad
• We R Memory Keepers DIY Party Patterned Paper Pad
• Bazzill Smoothies Huckleberry Pie
• Pebbles Basics Ash Dot
• Mason Jars
• Paint for the Mason Jars (I used Krylon Spray Paint)

I have the We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Punch Board and LOVE it. You can make this project without it, but the punch board makes creating pinwheels super fast and extra easy. 

I used my Pinwheel Punch Board to make 2 different sizes of pinwheels. I made a 3" pinwheel and 4" pinwheel for each individual pinwheel.

 To be able to have a double pinwheel, all you need to do is cut one pinwheel on the A side of the guide (Here this 3" pinwheel is lined up with the white lines of the guide).

Then, cut your second pinwheel on the B side of the guide (this 4" pinwheel is lined up with the red lines of the guide).

When everything was punched and cut, I assembled my pinwheels with the Pinwheel Attachments. They fit right on the paper straws, and the attachments allow the pinwheels to spin like real pinwheels. Something my kids definitely find fun!

I also attached little paper tags to each pinwheel. I have 2 boys, and each one has 4 daily tasks  (thus, 4 pinwheels each for a total of 8 pinwheels). The 4 daily tasks are: Reading, Math, Cleaning, and Free Choice. My kids read every day, so that one's a fun one for them. The math pinwheel counts if they do a math work sheet, flash cards, or play some math games on the computer. For cleaning, they have to come get a task from me (dust, clean your room, etc.). Free choice is pretty much what it sounds like. They can do just about anything that doesn't involve a screen (bake cookies with me, play with the neighbor, play LEGOS, work on a craft project)...they just have to tell me what it is they're doing for their free choice that day.

We're in the middle of painting our walls, so I wanted something that I could set out instead of hang on a wall, so placing the pinwheels in painted mason jars fit the bill. We put them in the center of our kitchen table, and they have the added bonus of being a great conversation piece at supper time. My husband gets to hear all about what the did for free choice that day, or they tell dad all about how they organized something during cleaning time.

So each morning our pinwheel jars start out looking like this. Each kid has his own tasks in his own jar (grey pinwheels for one kid and aqua pinwheels for the other).

Then as they complete their task, they move the pinwheel with that tag on it from their jar into the big blue jar. By supper time the blue jar is filled and the white jar is empty. It has the added joy of being a fun summer decor item, too!

Makeup Themed Thank You Cards

Today's makeup themed thank you cards come with a bit of an explanation.
 

I'm not much of a makeup person. Until recently most of my makeup came from the drug store, and I didn't even own any lipstick anymore. I also have very sensitive skin, so I do things like make my own soap ( like Hot Cocoa Soap, Beer Shaving Soap, Summer Mango Butter Soap, and Shea Butter Soap), my own lip balm, and my own lotion. Recently, however, I was invited to an online Younique party, and I fell in love with their quality natural beauty products (you guys, this is not a paid plug, I just really love the products). On top of that, the Younique presenter, Julie Borges, who I order my makeup through may just be the sweetest person I have ever met. She likes to spoil her customers and send them extra goodies. Whenever she sends me goodies she always sends along a thank you card.

You see where this is going, right? I figured it would be a lot of fun to send Julie some makeup themed thank you cards to send out to her customers. I had a few designs in mind, but didn't have any makeup stamps, so I headed to the Silhouette online store and found some perfect makeup cutting files for my cards.

Julie is one of those happy, bubbly people, so I kept these cards bright and vibrant. I chose the card stock for color, not texture, so I have a mix of Bazzill Smoothie card stock and Bazzill Classic card stock on the cards, and a pop of Bazzill Mirrored Silver. All 3 kinds cut beautifully on the Cameo. I also kept the cards very flat, since I know she will be sending these through the mail.

I love that I could come up with a bit of an obscure theme and find exactly what I wanted in the Silhouette store! Have you ever created a set of cards as a gift for someone?

A Colorful Birthday Card

My father-in-law and my youngest share a birthday. I love that they get to share a special day. Both of their birthdays are coming up in less than a week, so I need a card for my father-in-law. I decided to go with a colorful birthday card for him.

I used the same Poppy Stamps Stitched Borders die that I used on the birthday card from last week. I used 2 of the dies from the set (there are 3 total in the set) to cut out a section from the center of the card. Then, I layered 1/4" strips of colored card stock in the empty space.

I wanted to share a picture of how I layered up my card stock strips. I marked straight lines to help me get my card stock lined up straight. I put my adhesive on my white card stock and then just layered the colored card stock over the top of it. 

When I was all done layering my colored card stock, I placed my die cut white card stock on top. I used a happy birthday stamp from Altenew's Birthday Greetings for my sentiment that I colored in with matching markers.

A few simple enamel dots put the finishing touches on my colorful birthday card.

Let it Snow!

Well, there's snow on the ground now, and instead of grumbling about the cold, I'm going to remember that snow means I get the chance to take and scrap photos like these:
Keep warm, and keep your camera handy!

Snow Fun Supply List
Paper: Pebbles New Arrival (Peek-a-boo, Brand New)
Accessories: American Crafts Thickers (Giggles)
Tools: Silhouette SD, We Are R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Bazzill In Stitch’z template, EK Success Edger Punch Bracket

Believe

One of the best things about being on the in store design team at A Walk Down Memory Lane is that when Lisa (the owner) came back from CHA this summer, I got to play with a whole bunch of the goodies she brought back. When I saw this sheet of paper from Fancy Pants' Tradition: I just knew what I had to do with it. That tree was screaming to be cut out and adorned with jewels, pearls, Stickles, candy dots, and even drops of Diamond Glaze.
I actually built my layout around the tree, once I had it finished.This layout is makes me excited for Christmas already!

Supplies
Paper: Fancy Pants Tradition (Shimmer, Christmas Morning, Tradition Strips, Tradition Cards)
Accessories: Prima Flower Centers, Basic Grey Pearls, Kaisercraft Rhinestones (Red, Green, Blue), Stickles (Waterfall), Pebbles Candy Dots (Brown)
Tools: Bazzill in Stitch’z Template

Crate Paper Layout and a Glue Dots® Tip

Crate paper's monthly sketch challenge is going on right now. I've been wanting an excuse to use their gorgeous Restoration line, and when this sketch came out, I knew I finally had a good one!
This is the sketch:I love this photo of my grandma and was happy to finally have my own copy down on a layout:The 3 papers behind the photo pull out to reveal journaling:The flowers were made with my Silhouette, and the beautiful centers are brads from the Restoration line. Now it's time for the Glue Dots® tip: There is a bit of stitching along the sides of the journaling pocket. This stitching was done by hand, using a stitching template from Bazzill. I figured out that you can use the Removable Glue Dots® to hold the template in place while you are piercing your holes. It makes the piercing go a lot faster and keeps the template from moving around. I had a total Eureka! moment when I figured this out. Finally, here's one last detail shot of the layout. If you're wondering how I knew June 12, 1950 was a Monday, I'll let you in on my secret...I Googled it! I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.

Fall Fast Approaching

It appears that Labor Day truly marked the end of summer here in NW Iowa. As soon as the weekend was done the weather turned cool, breezy, and sometimes rainy. However, that cool weather has gotten me in the mood to scrap some old fall photos.
The paper is from Studio Calico, and some of the accents are these cool adhesive backed canvas pieces that SC makes called Fabrips. What I like about the fabric pieces that SC makes is that you can cut them, tear them, and punch them with a paper punch, but you still get a fabric/canvas look when you use them. Very cool! The title letters are from Prima, and the fabric brads are from Bazzill. The scallop border was created with the EK Success Circles Border Punch.

Quick Cards

I know I've been neglecting you all lately, so here are 2 quick cards to keep you looking.

This one uses Jillibean Soup papers, a Bazzill corduroy button, Fiskars scallop border punch, and Unity Stamp's Noteworthy Occasions. The flower was made using a scallop circle punch.

This one uses Pink Paislee Papers, Fiskars Apron Lace Punch, and a Pink Paislee Brad. The flower was made using quilling.
And remember, you can find all this stuff at A Walk Down Memory Lane for 15% off for the remainder of August!

So Much Vacation Goodness

I have a big post today with lots and lots of photos. I almost split it up into 2 posts, but it all goes together, so 1 post it is. First, I have to start with a big, big thank you to Imaginisce. A while back I did this post on making a flower with the I-top punch. Imaginisce picked up the post (which was cool enough in and of itself), and then sent me a box full of Scooter's Vacation goodies. I'm pretty sure they sent me 1 of everything in the Collection. What a generous company! So, everything you see today (unless otherwise noted) is from Imaginisce's Scooter's Vacation Collection. I made 2 - 2 page layouts, and I still have a ton left over. I haven't even touched the stamps yet. I'm also hording a few of the stickers and am planning on using them on my Italy scrapbook that I'm hoping to get a start on some time this summer.
Okay, so I can't resist a sketch challenge. Imaginisce is holding one right now, so I started with that. You can find the challenge details here. Here's the sketch:I turned it into a 2 page layout:
I know you all know I like to challenge myself to step outside my comfort zone, and boy was this one of those challenges. I usually like to combine lots of patterned papers, but I didn't want to overload the page with bright papers and a zillion stickers and accessories, so I toned down the papers. The only non-Imaginisce products here are the white card stock and the silver glimmer mist that was sprayed on at the end (also a product I haven't used yet). The words on some of the photos are rub-ons. I cut words from one of the patterned papers to incorporate into the journaling around the photos.
Here a few detailed pictures. Check out these great card stock and chipboard stickers:
If you look closely in this picture, you can tell that the suitcase is what they call a mirror sticker, it's reflective. So cool!Now onto my 2nd Scooter's Vacation layout:
It's hard to tell from the picture, but that background paper has a bit of shine and texture to it. It's so lovely and perfect for this ocean picture.

Here's a close up of some of the stitching...I just can't resist stitching. This was done with a Bazzillstitchz in- template. You can also see a bit of the Scooter's Vacation ribbon peaking out at the bottom of the photo.
These flowers are too cool. They come layered up like that already, all you have to do is peal the backing off the adhesive, and stick. I cut the leaves for the flower from the cardboard backing of some of the stickers.
The "paradise found" sticker is another great product. It's a puffy sticker (remember those from when you were a kid). They add a great touch of whimsy to the layout.
Here's another one of those mirror stickers:And finally a close up of the journaling in case you wanted to read it:Thanks for stopping by, I hope this post got you thinking about how you're going to scrap all those photos that you're going to take this summer on vacation!