fresh cuke salad

I recently shared the recipe for a summer favorite in our home on my blog at bluebirdchic.com - and yes, it's favorite enough that I had to scrapbook it! This is one of my very final projects for American Crafts, whom I had the privilege of working with for three years to make samples for and promote their products. 

I still love their products dearly and will be shopping them lots now that I won't be receiving the special boxes that I did from them every few months. (In fact, I just grabbed some adorable Halloween goods at a local Target while on vacation that included sequins in gold orange and black with STARS. Go look. Really.)

The really fun thing about this layout for me, is that my mom used to store this summer salad in the fridge in a quart jar - just like the embellishment on the right. In fact, she still does!

Hope you're enjoying an awesome week, and your weekend is fabulous!

say cheese

I'm so blessed to have these two little hams in our lives! Being a mom and dad is a lot of work, but definitely worth it!

monochromatic and lovely

I've always loved the look of monochromatic projects. And this month I put together three cards for the American Crafts blog to share with you!

Sorry for the smaller than usual size! I formatted these for the assignment and forgot to make another set - and now I'm not at home on my computer with the original files. Oops!

Hopefully you can still see the details. What says "I miss you" more than a puppy?

Funny enough, this was inspired by the opening of one of my list of favorite kid's shows that our oldest son used to watch when he was little - Little Bill. He used to end the opening sequence with, "hello, friend!" I love the soft mint colors of this.

And I love the soft and subtle colors of this - a graceful acknowledgment of a lovely accomplishment - twenty-five years of (hopefully happy!) marriage. These soft blooms were created using plain old crepe paper that I had left over on my shelf from some party decor. Just fold them in half lengthwise, stitch up the edge to gather, and wrap to form the bloom. Once you're happy glue it together.

Hope you're inspired to create some lovely monochromatic projects!

pretty party decor

I thought this was a fun twist on a sweet banner for a birthday party if you're looking for something a bit new!

The bows were cut on my silhouette cameo, and the tassels were just made using ribbons...

And a fun little favor box to stash goodies in - which is actually two pyramids glued bottoms together. The sides open for filling. :)

To see more info and a complete supply list, stop by the American Crafts blog!

Happy Friday! WooHoo!

mix and match

One of my assignments this past month for American Crafts was to create a couple of projects that mixed and matched products from various lines that they recently released. Honestly, that's one of the things that I love about them as a company - you can mix and match your favorite products across lines.

Our sons always look forward to shaved ice as a part of their summer treats - so I had to take the time to document it this year when our oldest son snapped a photo while I was making them. For a complete supply list, you can stop by the post on the American Crafts blog!

you make my heart sing

I'm so blessed to have a partner in life that meets me halfway, supports me, and helps out with every aspect of our lives. I'm met my soulmate, and consider myself very fortunate.

Happy Monday!

his & hers

I've had this printed photo sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks and it was so fun to finally use it! I have loved the line of Amy Tangerine Yes, Please goods as much as any line she's come out with, and can't wait to use her newest one, as well!

Happy Thursday!

tiny fawn

My brother works in landscaping in the summer and out of the blue he texted me this photo one day - it brightened my whole week! He had stumbled on the little one while working at a home that bordered a small patch of woods. I love this Amy Tangerine line - if you're interested in grabbing a supply list, you can check out the gallery post at two peas in a bucket.

nautical party placesetting

I shared a fun, whimsical, nautical themed party place setting on the American Crafts blog last week or so, and wanted to take a minute to post it here! The post there includes a little step by step to create the burlap napkin rings, too!

visit to the farm

Last August when we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, our boys took their first trip to the farm. They are "city boys" and were a bit skittish around the animals at first, but since then, they've fallen in love with the open spaces, ATV rides with grandpa, and racing the dog up and down the fields. They spend lots of time throwing things in the river (I grew up in a river town on the Mississippi) and watching for wildlife. Country life was a big part of my childhood, and I'm so happy that we are starting to bring a bit more of it into their lives. Boys need the outdoors. :)

The Mayberry collection has been so fun to use for summer projects and pages! I like how it's not specifically beachy or water themed... For a specific supply list for these projects, you can stop by the American Crafts blog.

Happy Thursday!

thicker winner and a last May JBS layout

I loved working with the May kits from JBS Mercantile! This is the last of the layouts that I put together for the month!

Random.org chose #80 from the comments from the NSD Thickers giveaway post! Congrats, Tash! I'll be contacting your email for your mailing address! ^_^

Tash said...

Happy NSD! love the colours here

May 4, 2013 at 10:55 PM

 

Sorry for the delay in picking a winner!! We were traveling last week, and spent lots of time hanging out with family! We played lots of baseball, basketball, bike riding, threw stones in the river (the mighty Mississippi), rode four wheelers, played with doggies, saw the calves on the farm, went to the movies, hung out together, and just laughed - a lot.

Not to mention I got another contract sewist trained up! Yay! I'm getting the hang of this business hiring thing! {for more on my business adventures, I'll be posting at bluebirdchic.com starting in June!! ^_^}

Happy Hump Day!

my balcony garden

Debbie share ideas for scrapbooking your garden/yardwork from the creative team this week! I'm in love with my balcony garden. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to check on those little plants every day, and be able to add a few fresh herbs into our salads and other foods!

I'm a bit sad that I'm using up the very last bits of the Soho Garden line.It took me by surprise, but I totally fell in love with it!

American Crafts National Scrapbook day hop

It's a blog hop with American Crafts to celebrate National Scrapbook Day! We're sharing ideas for challenges, inspiration, and giveaways to make your day {and weekend}a fun celebration of scrapbooking your memories. 

I had so much fun playing with the brand new Mayberry line - it's got lots of fun touches like chalkboard accent stickers, and real {not printed} burlap texture on the thickers and tags!

Rainbow hues are very popular right now - my challenge to you today is to incorporate at least five colors from the rainbow in a layout! I've used red, orange, yellow, green and blue in mine. It's a fun way to create vibrant layouts filled with color. Last weekend, I made a red velvet cake from scratch to share, and I had to photograph it! If you haven't made red velvet before, here's a link to my favorite recipe for it! {though I cute back to just one bottle of food coloring...}

Paige Evans

Jill Cornell

Corrie Jones

Patricia Roebuck

Leslie Ashe

Becky Williams

Jen Chesnick

Monika Głód

Heather Leopard

Andrea Budjack

Allison Waken

Kimberly Neddo

Diana Waite

Leah Farquharson {you're here}

Michiko Kato

Melissa Mann

Angie Gutshall

Erin Stewart

Carina Lindholm

Lilith Eeckels

American Crafts

One last thing before you move on - I'm offering up a chance to win all of these thickers - I put them up for the last hop, and the winner never contacted me to have them shipped, so I thought I'd offer up another chance to win them. But please, please leave some way of contacting you, either in the comment or through your blogger profile would be great! 

To enter for a chance to win all fifteen sets of thickers, comment with your contact info {or make sure it's available in your profile, before 11:59 Sunday, May 5. I'll choose a winner by random number generator on Monday or Tuesday!

Good luck and Happy National SCrapbook Day!

getting trendy with arrows

Creative design prompt for Get It Scrapped - using arrows. I've been doing lots of introspection and inner growth these past few months, and I loved the idea of using arrows to show all of that inward looking perspective. You'll notice that I stared with the background paper that has arrows that all point to the center, and then built even more. Anyway. Lots of fun. I've been doing a lot of mixing and matching with the current collections from American Crafts - they really go well together overall. :)

If you want more ideas for using arrows, be sure to check in at Get It Scrapped and see what the other ladies made!

Happy Friday!

off the edge

I loved this assignment for Get It Scrapped this month! I love clustering elements together on a page - it allows me to add more things without a feeling of clutter. I used the idea of pushing things off the edge to create a sense of movement in this fun page about our oldest running for his track and field day fun.

Check out more ideas for pushing page embellishments off the edge at Get It Scrapped.

Happy Monday!

sunny with a chance of rain - scrapbooking weather

Debbie shares prompts for documenting the weather on the Get It Scrapped blog today! Weather is a huge part of our lives and we shouldn't just document that big snowstorm that hits every once in a while. I chose to talk about the monotony that has built around the weather in the place that I live. It's so very different from where I grew up - here you wake up to the same exact thing every day with very little change. What's the weather like where you live?

Happy Wednesday!

journaling a heartfelt struggle

{unique journaling post on American Crafts blog}

Sometimes life is a struggle. Not every day is easy. I had one of those moments when I was struggling to forgive someone who made some decisions that affected our life. I had lost site of the fact that I'm not responsible for other people's action - only my own. So I let go. But not before these prose came my way and struck my heart.

And don't forget to pop in and check out the opportunity to save BIG at the Simple Scrapper. Jennifer is also offering great opportunities for VIP's that register before the upcoming Everyday Storyteller 2 release! ^_^ Jennifer always has great ideas and advice to offer that can simplify and speed up the process of scrapbooking your memories.

Happy Friday!

a current fave - together

This was done for a prompt to make an old/classic trend new - my bunch of feathers done in bright colors seemed like the perfect fit! ^_^

Happy Tuesday!

stencils and paint

A couple of my favorite things to play with on my pages:

I had so much fun combining the bubble mask with a couple of paints to mimic the look of the beach sand and waves. For more ideas on using paint and stencils on your pages, check out the article on Get It Scrapped.

And Happy Friday!!

Mobil Workspace - you're changing my life

Having a mobil workspace really is changing my life - a lot for the good, but I also have to draw a line, since I'm able to work from anywhere, now! lol I loved using the very same watercolor technique for the flower paper on the right, and I used in this post. I adore this pattern - the flowers on the bookprint. Sigh.

For more tips on using navy as a neutral for your layouts, stop by Debbie's post at Get it Scrapped!

Happy Friday!