Family Fun Activity Jar

HOLY SCRAP! Where in the world have I been? Well certainly not here posting on my blog. It's been crazy busy coming off from the holidays. First it was all the fun projects from CHA. I forgot to snap photos of some of them but I will when I get them back. Then there's something exciting that I've been working on in the background that I can't tell you about until Saturday and then there's all the projects I've been working on that I can't post yet.  But I can now so stay tuned in here...

Today let me show you something I made with the new Little Yellow Bicycle collection they sent me called Just Because. The colors are soo fun and I just love the vellum tape, canvas banners, and especially the stick pins. Liz asked me to create something unique to showcase the stick pins so after wracking my brain for something other than a scrapbook layout, I came up with this...

Family Fun Activity Jar

My hubby and I always talk about all the fun things we want to do with the kids and then the weekend comes and we can't decide what to do or we didn't plan well enough or something just gets in the way. Sooo, we decided we're going to change that. We're going to dedicate time EVERY weekend to a family fun activity. It could be something we do at home or it might involve a little field trip. Either way, it's planned family time (apart from the regular play time we do with the kids) and it's a reward for good behavior, grades or whatever we feel that deserve to be rewarded for. 

I used the stick pins from the Just Because collection as the foundation for creating the activity strips. I simply adhering them between two strips of paper and then decorated them with chipboard, twine and bits from the paper crafting kit. Each strip has a different activity that I know all of the family members will enjoy.  I randomly laid the strips down and I noticed after the fact that both showing are movie activities but we also made some for the park, the zoo, family bike ride, miniature golf, board game night, lunch at the tea room, bowling, feed ducks at the pond, go to a play or make up a play at home, go to the book store, cook a meal together (homemade pizzas are a fave of ours), go on a picnic, the list goes on...and that doesn't include all the fun activities I've pinned on Pinterest and still need to try.

Of course, we need a cute jar to hold the pin strips in so I decorated a mason jar using paper, chipboard, and more bits from the paper crafting kit. Of course, the smaller "happiness" jar on the front had to be filled with faux flowers, made from the stick pins.  

Now I just need to make more activity pins that can be switched out each month so that we have different options of things to do, while creating new memories together. 

Little Yellow Bicycle Just Because Supplies used for this project:

JB-277 Stick Pins

JB-304 6x6 Paper Pad

JB-305 Paper Crafting Kit

JB-160 Vellum Tape

JB-201 Canvas Stickers

JB-140 Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse

JB-279 Chipboard Shapes


Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure to visit the Little Yellow Bicycle blog for more ideas on what you can do with these fun stick pins.

2013 Family Memories Album

I was contacted through email last fall by Melinda from Scrapkit Studio asking if I'd be interested in guest designing. I took one look at her kits, and said YES! I really like the concept she has going. She pre-cuts all the paper to fit the album so you don't have to, everything coordinated beautifully and all you have to do is assemble it. It's really great for all levels of scrapbooking - you can assemble yours using the instructions she includes in the kit so it's easy breezy to whip up OR you can do what I did and just create your own album from scratch.

She sent me the My Everyday Life 2013 chipboard album. It's filled with Pebbles Seen & Noted goodies. I just love the rich colors. The kit includes chipboard, cardstock, pattern paper, Simple Stories Snap sheet protectors and tons of embellishments.  Take a look at what I created:

Family Memories 2013 Cover

I covered the front of the chipboard album with the grey chevron paper. I like how the rest of the colors pop on the grey. I also added some Mr. Hueys white mist to grunge it up just a tad. The grey and the red twine were also added from my stash.

Inside Cover and Front Page

 These first pages are really an introduction to the family as of today. I plan to add a note about our family and possibly my hopes for the coming year. A you can see, I'll be adding a family photo. The hello 2013 is something I added to the kit, it can be downloaded for free from Simple Stories.

 I thought I'd share a close-up of my front cover. I had so much fun creating this word collage. It kind of, sort of reminds me of subway art. The only downfall is that it used up all my words from the sticker sheet but I think the reward is worth it.

Right now, I am planning on using our highlights each month and making this a 12 month book. I've set it up that way but I didn't add any months to it yet. That way, I can see how it plays out. You'll see empty spaces for photos or more empty spaces on cards. I plan to embellish it even more once I have my photos. 

Here are the rest of the pages:

 These are set up to be my January pages. The top right says to do today. I will be adding a photo of myself, maybe by myself or maybe with the hubby & kids. I'll add the Celebrate sticker from the sticker sheet to the photo because it's my birthday. It will then read, To Do Today: Celebrate!

My hubby secured backstage meet n greet passes to go see my favorite band, Matchbox Twenty, in January, so I set these pages up like this to document the whole thing.

This spread is for February. The front pages will talk about my love for our kids.

The back pages will be about my hubby & I!

In March, we start to get to warmer weather, more time spent outside, lots of memories to be made:

April showers bring May Flowers

June, July, August are HOT! September starts to cool off but just a tad!

Then comes October!!!

We're celebrating our girl's birthdays in October. One on the 1st and the other on the 27th!

Lastly is November and December!

And of course, the final page and the back cover. 

I'll be wishing my family a great life in 2014 & beyond as we prepare to welcome the brand new year.

I even have pages, stickers and embellishments leftover that I'm holding on to because I know I will need them as I begin to fill in this book with all our photos.

I hope you enjoyed what I did with the kit! You can see the Melinda's version of the kit on the Scrapkit Studio blog. My supplies are listed below (I added additional elements that I had already in my stash - twine, washi tape, foam pop dots, ribbon, additional sentiment papers, etc.)

Supplies from My Everyday Life 2013 kit:

• 3 - die-cut chipboard pages, 7" x 9"
• 6 - sheets of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' patterned papers, die-cut to match the chipboard pages
• 12 - sheets of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' color cardstock, die-cut to match the chipboard pages
• 2 - packages of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' accent & phrase sticker sheets
• 1 - pad of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' 4x6 cardstock journaling cards
• 1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' cards & pockets
• 1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' adhesive labels
• 1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' masking tape stickers
• 12 - Simple Stories acrylic page protectors
• 12 - acrylic page edge strips to protect cardstock binder ring holes
• 12 - page edges to cover the acrylic page edges strips
• 1 - die-cut paper pocket
• assorted grograin ribbon, bakers' twine, plastic button, cardstock flowers, die-cut numbers for title, 1 binder clip
• 2 - 1-1/2" binder rings

Supplies from my personal scrap stash:

• Washi tape from My Mind's Eye & Freckled Fawn 
• Foam Pop Dots
• May Arts ribbon & other misc ribbon
• Mr. Hueys mist in calico white
• Twine from The Twinery
• Black pen for doodling & for when I journal
• Button from My Mind's Eye
• Free Sn@p printable from Simple Stories - download HERE

Melinda mentioned that these are selling fast so if you want one you better hop over and get yours today!

Peppermint Cocoa DIY Neighbor / Teacher Gifts

I made these yummy peppermint cocoa gifts to give as neighbor gifts and/or teacher gifts (as well as some of the staff at my daughter's preschool). I gave these for Christmas but I was thinking about how great these would be as a "winter" gift because it certainly stays cold for several months and who doesn't love a bit of peppermint/chocolate in their tummies to warm them up when it's cold!?!  These are relatively inexpensive and very quick and easy to make.

The Peppermint Hot Cocoa Gifts have instant hot cocoa, chopped up peppermint candies or candy canes and marshmallows, layered over each other. Here's how you make them:

1. Buy medium Mason jars from my local craft store
2. Purchase a large 27 oz. canister of Nestle hot cocoa from Target. You could make your cocoa from scratch but I wanted to make this quicker and easier!
3. Buy 2 bags of peppermint candies. You can also use candy canes but the bag of candies were less expensive
4. Purchase 2 bags of mini marshmallows
5. Pull out your favorite Christmas or Winter ribbons and papers.

To assemble:

1. Scoop hot cocoa mix and fill the jars about 3/4 full
2. Add a layer of peppermint. I used more than I expected since they are heavier than the cocoa mix and the bottom layer kind of sunk into the cocoa.
3. Lastly, add a layer of marshmallows. I packed them in because I know how much kids love marshmallows!

To label them:

1. I created an instruction label document in Photoshop, which you can DOWNLOAD HERE. Just load it into Photoshop, if you have it and change the name! If you don'w have PS, I will try to create a PDF version and will post if soon.
2. I cut a larger tag out of red cardstock and then cut a smaller tag our of green and adhered it over the red.
3. I used my American Crafts Kringle & Co stamp to stamp the to/from frame over different kinds of pattern paper. I'm a variety, no two gifts the same type of gal. :) Plus, it's a great way to use up scraps.
4. I tied ribbon (also from American Crafts) through the tags and around the jars.

The kids and I really enjoyed delivering them to the neighbors and school staff. I only hope they enjoyed the cocoa as much as we loved making it for them!

2 Years Ago This Month

It was two years ago that I opened my email from my iPad late one night and got some of the most exciting news!  Let me tell you how it started and then stay for a BLOG HOP at the end of this post.

I had been on design teams for sketch sites, kit clubs and challenge sites and I was ready to take the leap to a manufacturer when I saw a call for Imaginisce. I bought bits and pieces of their Christmas and birthday lines and went to work creating these Christmas trees & photo tutorial, which even today, are one of my most visited posts from this blog. Perhaps it's the trees themselves or maybe it's the photo tutorial but these babies get a lot of attention.

I also made a birthday layout and a Christmas card and sent my application in to Imaginisce in response to their open design team call. Apparently these got the attention of Imaginisce too because I was invited to join the 2011 team and eventually the 2012 team too!

My 2nd term is ending in just a few days and I am still soo thankful to Lori Allred for originally inviting me to join the team and becoming such a fun friend to hang with here, there and everywhere. Also to Bridget because she's just cool and we repin each other all the time on Pinterest, plus when we hang out we always have fun. And of course Cari for asking me back for a 2nd term and being so supportive, especially during my job-related stress period this year, and Don for always making me feel awesome! I made such wonderful friends on both of these teams. I will miss you all but I will keep an eye on your artistry.

You will see a little bit of me in 2013 with Imaginisce though - I designed some layouts and an alterable using their CHA Winter 2013 collections. I'll be sure to share them here on my blog.

I'd like to show you a few of my favorite things and/or most visited items from my Imaginisce gallery. These span the course of two years and the links are clickable:

Veteran's Day "Hero" Card

Monkeying Around

Necklace & Bracelet Made by Me!

Mini Album VIDEO TUTORIAL

Best Friends Forever

Altered Gingerbread House Banner

Magic Reindeer Food

TUTORIAL: DIY Clay Pot Pumokins

Detachable Ornament Christmas Card

What I Love About You Mini Album

Vacation Mini - Click to See Additional Pages

World Travelers

DIY Accessories

Friends Are the Best Accessories

Back to School

Back to School Teacher Gift

Traveling DIY Bingo Game

DIY Stocking Stuffers

Splash Zone

Bundle of Joy Card

I wish the ladies of the 2013 design team the best of luck and thanks to Imaginisce for giving me my big break! 

Blog Hop 
Make sure to leave a comment on my blog (and become my newest follower if you like what you see). Your next stop is the last stop - the Imaginisce blog. Make sure to complete the entire hop for a chance to win a Love you More collection pack (full details on the Imaginisce blog)!

Shellye McDaniel

Tiffany Hood

Guiseppa Gubler

Rhonda Van Ginkel

Cari Locken

Adora Concepcion

Heather Leopard - YOU ARE HERE

Imaginisce

Wonderful Winter Home Decor

Happy very, merry day after Christmas! I hope you and yours had a wonderful day! I know I did. It's been hard to feel all Christmasy here in Houston, since the weather's been in the 60's and 70's but we had a pretty big wind storm roll in yesterday, which knocked our power out right as we were about to start cooking Christmas lunch. Just as my parents got to our house, we opened gifts and moved from our house to my theirs, since they had power so it was all good. Our came back on a few hours later. Anyway, the storm brought the colder temps and it's definitely chilly willy and wintery today, which is perfect for this bit of home decor I am about to show you. I made it with the Winterings collection that Little Yellow Bicycle sent me.

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I created this frame to mimic the look of subway art. The Winterings Wintry Words/Worn Denim 12x12 paper was perfect for the various Winter sentiments. I just moved the paper around behind the glass until I captured the words just right and then cut them our using the glass/temporary photo that comes with the frame as a guide for the perfect fit.

I then adorned the frame with various elements from the paper crafting kit, as well as a few stickers, chipboard and clear cuts. I just love walking in the front door every day to this fun decor.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies from the Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings collection: 

WI-103 Wintry Words/Worn Denim 12x12 Paper

WI-305 Paper Crafting Kit

WI-140 Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse

WI-135 Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces

WI-279 Chipboard Shapes

WI-230 Clear Cuts Shapes

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