This Is Me Today | American Crafts Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the American Crafts 2013-2014 Design Team Blog Hop! I am so excited to kick off my 2nd term on the American Crafts Design Team with his fun online event. As you're hopping, each new team member will be sharing a little bit about themselves (ourselves?) with you.

So without further ado, here's the layout I created about me.

Supplies: Patterned paper, stickers, chipboard, stitching, embroidery floss resin bow, die cuts, wood veneer, stamps. ink, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; Spray mist: Studio Calico

I stamped and misted the chipboard and then layered pattern paper underneath it and layered it over a die cut and sticker.

I did the same treatment to this wood veneer. The heart is hand embroidered and took me forever but I HEART it!

I hand-stitched ALL OVER this page for forever & a day and then machine stitched the speech bubbles. I then journaled little snippets of info about me on each speech bubble.

I sure hope you like what I created. It's a new fave of mine. Now, on with the hop and my...

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky follower of my blog (new or existing) who leaves a comment on this blog post, telling me something about themselves, will be drawn at random and will receive a collection of American Crafts goodies from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection.  I'll pop a photo of it shortly but I am sure you'll love what I've picked out.  You have until September 14th to leave your comment. I'll announce the winner on my blog soon after. 

BONUS!
You can also find me on Instagram, where I like to share personal photos, exciting news and sneak peeks of projects. I might just have a 2nd giveaway going on over there. ;)

Now let's meet the rest of the team.

Next on the hop is the talented Gina Lideros! 

Here is the full design team list for you to hop around to:

Becki Adams

Meghann Andrew

Jill Cornell

Lilith Eeckels

Katie Ehmann

Paige Evans

Davinie Fiero

Madeline Fox

Elizabeth Gardner

Kelly Goree

Angie Gutshall

Ashley Horton

Corrie Jones

* Heather Leopard *

Gina Lideros

Patricia Roebuck

Erin Stewart

Diana Waite

Allison Waken

Janna Werner

American Crafts

Thanks for stopping by. Now go on your merry way to Gina's blog!

Peek-A-Boo | Gossamer Blue

I see you!  Yep, that was me sneaking pics of my daughter playing at the park. We weren't necessarily playing peek-a-boo but I was peeking in on her as she was fiddling with some sand and such. I mean, she just looked so cute in her hat, shirt, 2 skirts layered over each other, baby legs and fancy shoes.  Oh and a bow that you can barely see under the hat.

I used the new Carta Bella Hello Again collection pieces that are in the September Gossamer Blue kit and Add-on kit. I just couldn't resist cutting out the words from the 12x12 paper and 6x6 pad. The whole layout was inspired by those fussy cut pieces and everything else just fell into place.

I layered and tucked papers, stickers and tabs to frame out the photos and mixed the alphas included in the Add-on kit to create the title.

I used the tab stickers in their "open" state to do my journaling. I chose to journal about her love of singing and dancing and how much we love to snuggle, read and give lots of hugs and kisses to each other. This girl is the best at expressing her love!

Make sure to check out the Gossamer Blue September kit. It's filled with exclusive Gossamer Blue papers, Carta Bella, My Mind's Eye, Teresa Collins, Pink Paislee, and more. While you're there, check out the new community and gallery!

Thankful Blessings

I'm just loving this new fall collection that Little Yellow Bicycle sent me to create with. And let me tell ya, fall is a welcome site about now. We're still in the mid-90's here in Texas so the thought of cooler weather is exciting. Key word is cooler, not cold though. This new collection is very versatile, from scrapping memories of home to the obvious fall events.

I chose to scrap about my cute little Indian at her Thanksgiving program at school. They dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims and had a lovely feast. They sang songs and were just WAY too cute!

This collection has an amazing assortment of leaves, from die cuts, to chipboard, fabric and sticker leaves, they are wonderful. The colors matched the feathers on my daughter's costume perfectly so I scattered them around her photos and added a tree limb at the top to create the swirling, falling leaves effect.

The title was a breeze with the new die cut words. I just stitched over it in brown thread to give it a little extra oomph and then journaled below.

So, what's the weather like in your neck of the woods?  Is fall setting in yet or is it still hot or if you're on the other side of the world, maybe it's Spring/Winter. Hmmmm. 

I'd love to know what you think and would love it even more if you'd visit me on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog TODAY!

Little Yellow Bicycle Feels Like Home collection:

FLH-103 Fall Floral/Red Lace Frame

FLH-105 Denim Chevron/Gold Knit

FLH-279 Chipboard Shapes

FLH-134 Journaling Cards

FLH-305 Paper Crafting Kit

FLH-220 Fabric Favorites

FLH-145 Die Cut Words

FLH-135 Favorite Pieces-Stickers

Spring Creek Mining | October Afternoon Guest Designer

I am so excited to be back up on the October Afternoon blog today. I’ve been having so much fun creating with the Daily Flash collections. I used the bits and pieces of the summertime collection to create a 12x12 layout which you can see HERE. This week I created some life spreads using the photo sleeves and the new Snapshots collection.

I have to admit that I got a little carried away with the various picture and card options and ended up created 2 complete page spreads for one event but, that’s what’s so nice about this. I was able to scrap all my favorite photos of my daughter’s first gem mining moment.

When I’m documenting a moment in time, I usually only use between 1 - 3 photo on a spread and that is what gets scrapped. With Daily Flash, I can scrap those main photos and also include the others that help tell the story.

I started by choosing two photos that would end up getting scrapped on their own page, one each side of the paper and then matched up the right cards to the various sleeves and printed the photos to the sleeve size.

I scrapped this page like I would any other, knowing that the 1st coordinating page could hold my title and journaling. I had fun layering papers, cards blurbs and snap caps. I create a sort of mini title using the

Daily Flash roller stamp.

I still had a lot of photos that help show the progression from sifting the pebbles and sand through the water to finding the gems so I created a 2nd spread.

I snapped this photo of my perfect little gem showing off her perfect little gems and added it over more layers of papers, cards and blurbs. I did all my stitching on this page and the other side before I actually adhered it to the layout so that the stitching wouldn’t show through on the other side of the paper.

Finally, I added additional journaling cards and card sentiments that when read together almost form another title on their own. I outlined some of the cards with washi tape, as I did on the title card in the 1st spread.

I added final touches by hand-stitching over a few speech bubble cards and added my journaling.

Thanks for joining me again this week. I'd love to have you visit me over on the October Afternoon blog today as well. Head on over there and let them know what you think!

Smile, I'm Guesting at October Afternoon!

I was soo excited when I got an email from the October Afternoon team asking me to guest design and I was even more thrilled when I found out I'd be playing with their new Daily Flash collections.

I've created one layout already, which I posted last Friday HERE and I'm sitting here at my scrap desk looking at two completed Daily Flash spreads that will be up on the blog this coming Friday. In the meantime, make sure to visit the October Afternoon blog, where I did some Q&A and first debuted this card that I whipped up real quick for my Q&A post, using the Travel Girl collection.

I just love the colors in this collection and all the coordinating die-cuts, stickers and embellishments. I decided to pair the cute smiling gal with something that reminded me of green grass and sky rays. I cut them all to different sizes, extending some past the edge of the card and others short than the card. I then stitched them on.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be sharing 2 spreads from the Daily Flash Snapshots collection, which was so fun to create with! Take a stop by the October Afternoon blog and pay me a visit over there! Now go on and get crafty!

A Day In The Sun | October Afternoon Guest Designer

Hi there everyone! I am just over-the-moon excited to be guest designing for October Afternoon this month. I mean Hello, I've been a fan for years and years so I jumped at the chance!!! So, I'll be hogging their blog every Friday in August. I would soo LOVE it if you'd visit me over there too!

They sent me an fabulous package of Daily Flash goodies to create with and immediately got to work planning out projects. Everything from layouts to Project Life-style pages to an altered item or two - I was ready to go! I thought I'd kick this off by showing how versatile the Daily Flash collection can be by creating a 12x12 layout.

Supplies: Daily Flash Summertime collection - PP-1169 - Sunshine 12x12 paper, PP-1167 - Blue Skies 12x12 paper, DC-1172 - Memory Cards, PP-1165 - 6x8 Paper Pack, DC-1170 - Snap Caps, DC-1171 - Flash Blurbs, EM-1133 - Tin Pins

Something kept pulling me back to the Summertime collection, specifically the Sunshine paper. I started with that as my initial inspiration and everything fell into place to create this layout about my youngest daughter posing by the art on the Galveston Seawall after a day at the beach. I just couldn't resist accentuating the gorgeous sun rays with a few stitches here and there. I purposely trimmed the Sunshine paper down and adhered it to the white background. I then chose white stitching so that I could extend the rays subtly onto the white background.

After placing my photo on the page, the Memory Cards and Flash Blurbs were calling out to be used. I shuffled them around a bit until they fell into just the right places. I added a bit of layering, a splash of embellishments and voila!, the layout really started coming together. I made a little pocket for the "Summertime" Snap Caps card to peek out and added some hidden journaling. I purposely didn't add a title because I think the various cards do an excellent job on their own. It could be anything from Best Summer Ever, Dog Days of Summer, A Day In The Sun or any other fantastic summertime sentiments you see on the page.

I posted more information about my design thought process and photos over on the October Afternoon blog. Stop by and say "hi". I'll be back again next Friday with more Daily Flash goodness. Now go on and get crafty!

Live in the Moment

I love to scrapbook and I usually do it based on a set assignment, which is totally fine by me because I always have plenty of photos to scrap and it's usually good to have an assignment as a starting point so I know what to focus on. But...sometimes it's great to have a "anything goes" assignment, which is what I was given for Little Yellow Bicycle this month.

I had been dying to play with the Fern & Forest Boy collection but with a girly spin so I did just that.

I snapped this photo one day when we made an impromptu stop on our way home from a trip to stop and look at the beautiful Texas wildflowers. We hadn't intended to explore the fields but dresses, shorts and flip flops didn't stop my girls from getting a little rough and tumbly on the HUGE hay stacks.

I decided to super-size the photo on the layout to help visualize through the design on the page, just how big the haystacks were. I framed the photo with the canvas banner and border and then pulled the page together using stickers that help tell the story along with the journaling.

Supplies: PY-104 Poppy Field Damask/Aqua Script, FNB-409 Whimsical Words/Brown Multi Dot, FNB-435 Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with thermography and embossing (32 pieces), FNB-440 Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with thermography and debossing (43 pieces), FNB-579 Chipboard Shapes - with thermography (30 pieces), FNB-501 Canvas Stickers (15 pieces), VS-305 Paper Crafting Kit (66 pieces)

Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure to visit the Little Yellow Bicycle online store to get 25% off anything in the store. Just use the code LYB25 at checkout. No go on and get crafty!

Epic Discoveries Await

So here's a little fun fact you may or may not know about me...I absolutely LOVE to scuba dive! Hubby and I are pretty adventurous people and have been on some pretty amazing dives.  Of course, we wouldn't intentionally do anything to risk our lives cause we have little munchkins and well, we hope to live full lives with them. But we do have our advanced certifications and have been luck enough to dive in exotic places like Belize.

When I got the Gossamer Blue August Main kit and saw all of the travel and adventure goodies, I knew that I had to start documenting more of our travels.  This one just happens to be all about me diving the Blue Hole with my hubby, Bryan, for a 2nd time.

How amazing is this ombre chevron paper??? It reminded me of the differing colors of the ocean and it was a perfect match for this photo of me jumping off the boat into the Blue Hole. I gotta tell ya, it starts out nice and clear at the surface and gets super dark when you're 130 ft. below.

Yep, that's me up there doing what I love.  It's so peaceful underwater when all you have are you, your thoughts and whatever sea life is around you. And speaking of sea life, you don't actually see much of it in the Blue Hole. We were lucky to be the first boat out that morning so not much was stirred up and you could see pretty far and that also meant that the sharks were still resting below. You see, the nurse sharks like to swim up from deep below to about halfway up our dive so many times, they are coming up with you. Yikes. I'm told they are the more docile sharks and are also used to the divers there.  Hmmmm. In case you're wondering, yes, we did see run across a couple.

I saw the little tickets above and I knew I had to find a way to squeeze the little alphas included in the kit onto them. I really like how it turned out.

Alright now, make sure to check out the August kits shown below and visit the site. Lori has some amazing things planned for Gossamer Blue.

 
Thanks for stopping by today. Now go on and get crafty.

You Are Fabulous PLUS Exciting News

Kristen, the owner of Lily Bee Design, designed some exclusive papers and a stamp for Gossamer Blue's June kit and Lori, the owner of Gossamer Blue invited a few of the Lily Bee designers to design with the kits. You can see my 1st 2 layouts HERE and HERE.

This 3rd layout was created based on a day at the park with my little fashionista daughter, swinging on the swings. She just wanted to go higher and higher and higher.  This is one of those layouts that I look back on and just LOVE. Like I seriously fell in love with it. I put a lot of heart into it with lots of measuring, cutting, re-cutting, distressing, punching, sewing, layering, etc. Most of all, though, I love how the focus is still on that cute little girl, flying high on the swings.

My title could be any of the statements in the layout but I intended the title to be the one you see below, "You Are Fabulous". I used the Lori Whitlock file she created for this GB kit and added a pre-printed sentiment from the kit.

Mitering these prints together should have been an easy task. I cut them and then lined the paper up over the 2nd cut where I wanted it to be positioned, cut it and somehow, they didn't line up when I tried to adhere them to the background paper. Like, one side was even skinnier than the other in some places and they were cut the same size. I am sure some math whiz, like my hubby, could tell me why but I made them work.

I punched an edge using my American Crafts Knock-Out punches and then cut it off and flipped it over onto itself to give a tone on tone look. I did a simple side by side stitch to adhere it to the page. The rest of the page was a lot of tucking and layering and popping and stamping.

I hope you enjoy this page as much as I enjoyed creating it! Thanks for stopping by today.

Okay, before you go, I'm exciting to tell you my exciting news. Lori has invited me and a couple of others to join the Gossamer Blue Design Team. I am so thrilled to be among such amazing talent!  I'm busy right now creating with the August kit and the new Life Pages (AWESOME!). HERE is the new Design Team announcement details and the August LookBook. Now head on over there and leave some love!

Spring Has Sprung Home Decor

Okay, so it's officially summer now but I just realized I never shared this fun Spring project I made for the American Crafts blog. No idea why I didn't share here but anywho, here goes.

I added a piece of pattern paper behind the glass as my foundation.  I then ventured outside and found some twigs lying on the ground because I wanted to re-create a little cherry blossom tree in my own house.

I downloaded a cutting file from the Silhouette store and went to town cutting and cutting and cutting and cutting. Oh my goodness, it was a lot of flowers to cut and peel. And then I had to share the inside pollen bits, glue them to the flowers and then shape the cherry blossoms. Phew, I am tired jut thinking about it.  I then tied the twigs in a bundle and hot glued them to the frame. I did that step before adding the blossoms to the twigs so that I could adhere them exactly how I wanted them on the frame.

Then I made a paper bow, also cut with my CAMEO and used it to complete the blossom bouquet.

Lastly I made my own cutting file and made banners that say Spring Has Sprung.  You can download them HERE.

If you are like me, sweating up a storm here in my little suburb of Houston, this might be a welcome reminder that it's not always this hot. Yeah, that's why I chose to wait to long to post it. That's right.

Alrighty now, thank for stopping by. Now go on and get crafty!