Party and Peeks

Erin is turning five on Tuesday.

So we had a small party with a few people this past Saturday.

with an Angry Birds theme because that is what she wanted :)

Including cake and...

pinata. You can't say my little girl is not determined. And that was one tough pinata. It took quite a few rounds before we finally had to tear it open. But the kids came close :)
I have to say it was a fun time.

And I loved her reaction to finally getting her very own ipod Shuffle. She has been listening to it non-stop since daddy downloaded some songs for her. With everyone else in the family having an ipod, she was feeling pretty left out. Even to the point of pretending she was listening to an ipod in the car like Evan does. Since the shuffle is pretty reasonable price wise and easy to use, it seemed a good idea. Especially with how amazing she is at the ipad! And so far so good :) She is doing great with it!


And now on to a few more peeks of layouts I created for the August Escape kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out.

All of these layouts will be in the design team gallery on Wednesday. But I will also be featuring them on the blog throughout the month :) I am really looking forward to this reveal!

Scrapbooking From the Inside Out Blog Hop!

Welcome to our blog hop!
The purpose of our hop today is three fold :)
We are sharing the July Communication kit one last time, giving you a chance to get to know the design team members, and posting a peek or two of the new August Escape kit.
In addition, we have a great prize to give away to one of you :)

I have already shared my five projects here on my blog this month. But for anyone new to my blog, here is a quick look at how I used the kit.

You can see the individual layouts a little closer as well as all of the other design team members terrific work in the SFTIO gallery here!

Now that I have worked with the July and August kits, I have noticed that I have a specific approach to planning and completing my projects.
When I first learn the theme for the month, I brainstorm ideas and think about photos I have that might fit.
Once the kit comes, I sort through the product and see if any of it inspires me. Let's just say that all of the little rotary phone embellishments that kept popping up, inspired my "Those Were the Days" layout in a big way :)
Another great place to look that may spark some ideas is the SFTIO inspiration page! Each kit has it's own page with journaling prompts, a link to our Pinterest board (one for each kit), music playlist, and quotes. The work is done for you!
Then towards the end of the month, Rachel provides amazing, thought provoking challenges on the boards.

I love these kits because for me it is about sharing the good as well as the rough times. And it is about lessons learned. How I get through those rough times and feel stronger as a result.
It is also about the memories of times gone by that won't be coming back. But I have those memories to share and that is what counts!
And maybe by sharing a piece of myself, I can inspire or help someone else going through something similar. : Or just give them an "aha" moment :)
Like C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."

 And now, here is a peek at the August kit...

 And here is a peek at one of my layouts...

I will share a few more peeks on Monday and then the reveal will be on Wednesday.

And now for the prize! Leave a comment on my blog today and you will be entered to win this collection pack by Nikki Sivils...
You may recognize a few pieces of paper from the July kit in there :)
The deadline to enter is Sunday, July 29th at 9pm Pacific time.

Next up on the hop is Nicole Martel.
And if at any point you become lost, the SFTIO blog is here.
Thanks for stopping by today!

WOYWW and Craft Your Nest!

Welcome to my work space this week. A little messier than usual, but I have been crafting like crazy this week! Five layouts done and one of them (which you can see a tiny peek of to the left) is a two pager. All for the August kit at www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com
So once I clean up this mess, I am starting on two projects that I have due for the next issue of Crafting Ireland. Everything is ready to go, I just need to have room to work :)
If you want to see other fun, creative spaces from all over the world, you will want to check out  Julia's blog.
Thankfully, she organizes us every week.

And now that it is Wednesday, my post for Craft Your Nest blog  is up!
Do you remember this Instagram mini cover from a few weeks ago?

Well, I finally have a few completed pages that I am sharing over there today.

One last thing to share!

Scrapbooking from the Inside Out is having a blog hop this Friday which I will be a part of. If you are around, I hope you will come by and say hi! :)


Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Chance to win SFTIO's July Communication kit!

I usually don't post on Saturdays, but just wanted to share!
Rachel from Scrapbooking From the Inside Out had a great post up on the Creating Keepsakes blog this past Wednesday (which I just saw today)
Each of the design team members has a layout featured as well. Mine is the "Face to Face" layout.

She is giving away a kit and all you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Monday, July 23rd at 9am mountain time.

Here is another look at the kit:

Hope you will enter! :)

I Miss Snail Mail!

I have an Exclusive Content post up for Scrapbooking From the Inside Out today.
You can see the actual post here, sharing tips on using the Tim Holtz distress marker that came with our kit this month.

This is my last layout to share for the month using the July Communication kit. As you can see, I used the marker in quite a few places. The journaling, dotted lines to mimic stitching on my pocket, and the stamped images. But I share a few more tips at SFTIO as well.
Also, for a great review and some cool projects created with the distress markers, check out a fun post by Tammy from her blog a few days ago. I really enjoyed it!

As for my layout, I just wanted to reminisce a little about how much I have always loved getting mail. And I have a few of my favorites in here. Wonderful letters from friends, a card from my mother-in-law, a special card from a friend after a miscarriage, a thank you note from my nephew, and an envelope from my sister-in-law with the stamp. You just have to wonder sometimes if mail will also become obsolete eventually. It kind of pushes me to want to send more physical mail :)

When I created this layout, I actually adhered each piece down in the position because I wanted it to keep it from wiggling around in my page protector. So truthfully the pocket is just for show and is attached with glue dots :)
So there you have it! A page that expresses my love of "snail mail".


I also want to share a great find that was posted on the "Communication" board in the SFTIO community by Bernice. It is about"listening and hearing" and I found it to be pretty interesting
One more thing and then I will let you go! If you are looking for some fabulous challenges, Rachel has started to share the monthly kit challenges
here!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

WOYWW and a Layout!

Today for What's on Your Workspace Wednesday, I am showing you a side of my space you haven't seen yet.

Under the counter. Yes, it's not so neat under there, is it? Really, it doesn't always look like that. But I have a ton of stuff to sort through and projects to work on, and just no time to do it. I will get to it eventually. But right now, I just want to start making layouts with the August Scrapbooking from the Inside Out kit. I can't tell you the theme yet. That would be on August 1st :) But it is a good kit with lots of pretty product inside!
So the mess will wait and I will just step around it, or move it to the corner if it's really in my way:)

To visit other crafty spaces, you will want to go here. Julia's blog. She organizes our little, or should I say very large group! And I have to say it really is fun to visit so many wonderful, crafty people from all over the world :)

Also, since it is Wednesday, I must mention that I have a post up at Craft Your Nest.
I am doing a piece on how to stretch your kit alphabets.
This is one of my Scrapbooking From the Inside Out layouts featured on the CYN blog today that I haven't shared here yet...

I cut out the title at the top using an old stencil I had on hand. And I used my smallest circle punch to cut out the smaller letters at the bottom from a piece of patterned paper by October Afternoon.
The layout talks about my relationship with my son, and how I am so glad that even at ten years old, he still feels he can talk to me about things. He wants to talk to me! I better enjoy it while it lasts right? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will be back on Friday with another layout!

I just have to do a post like this before each Craft and Hobby Show, and the summer one is coming up next week already! Lots of peeks and reveals from the different scrapbook manufacturers are popping up here and there on blogs and websites.
So here are a few of my favorite products I am looking forward to seeing:

1. Love these tags from the new Dear Lizzy collection by American Crafts. It is called 5th & Frolic and you can see more of it here!

2. Amy Tangerine also has a new line coming out with American Crafts called Ready, Set, Go! Love the colors in this collection and the alphabets! That blue, brown and orange together are perfection to me :)

3. I am a sucker for label stickers, and love the ones that My Mind's Eye have been creating lately! Jillibean Soup has some great ones as well and you can see my favorite from them at the end of the blog post I just linked.

4. I love anything mistable right now and these wood veneers by Studio Calico are amazing!

5. As are any mistable Thickers! There are a few of these being released this time around :)

6. Love these Thickers!

7. And these die cut frames :)

8. Oh and I think this is one of their best misting masks yet!

9. I am going to end my list with one of my new favorite companies, Simple Stories. I think their new line, Harvest Lane, has great colors. So will be looking into that one :)

What are some of your favorite lines or product you have seen so far? :)

WOYWW and Crafting Ireland!

Lots of fun scrappy things to share today on the blog, but I promise to keep it short for WOYWW.
I have missed the past two Wednesdays due to traveling and the holiday, but I am back!

Starting off with my workspace for all of us who link up to Julia's blog.
Right now I am using an Amy Tangerine Daybook to create an Instagram photo mini album. Using lots of Amy Tangerine sketchbook product, stamps and washi tape! And to the right there you can see a little tag my daughter Erin created from the star scraps I had leftover from this project.

Now for some fun, big to me news!
Issue 11 of Crafting Ireland magazine is now out. It is a free online craft magazine, and one of my cards from my card set article is on the cover

The summer card is mine. It is part of a Summer card set tutorial and article inside on page 43.
I can't post the actual card set here on the blog yet :)
I will also have a wedding layout featured on their blog in the not too distant future.

 *ETA* sorry, I must have messed up something with scheduling the post. It's there now :)
And I also have a challenge up over at the Craft your Nest blog today.
So a busy Wednesday for me :)
Hope you have a fun, craft filled Wednesday as well!

Back From the Lake and a Free On-line Class :)

Some really, really great neighbors invited us down to their lake home to hang out with them this past weekend. Since we really needed some relaxing family time away from work and home, we packed up and went. And yes, Erin jumped off that platform not once, but many, many times. She is so brave and adventurous!

Evan, true to his style, took his time getting used to the water :)

But then he warmed up pretty quickly and actually took his sister kayaking!

and the four of us went tubing. In fact, there was lots of tubing this weekend. And lots of boating, and floating on rafts and eating. In all it was so much fun and we really needed it. I think this is the most relaxed the four of us have been all year :)
So thanks to our good neighbors for a wonderful weekend!

And if you are looking for a fun scrapbook class to take on an upcoming weekend, Crafting Ireland online magazine has a free class for you...

Here are some of the details...

Crafting Ireland is hosting a free online class on the 21st July at 3pm BST. In the class we will create some mini scrapbook layouts. These layouts are perfect for card makers who want to get into scrapbooking or for scrapbookers who find they are running out of space for bigger layouts! We will also make a desktop flip display stand for the pages so you can show them off where ever you like! 

Supply list for the online class
Mini layout pages:
*4 sheets of cardboard/chipboard at 13cmx13cm
*10 sheets 6×6 paper cut down to 13x13cm – keep the off cuts!
*This will make 4 double sided pages so you will have 8 pages in total, you can of course make more if you wish!
* Polaroid style photo mats: photos are 7.4 x 7.4 cm and the white card to matt them on is 9.6cm x 8.1cm.
*You will need 8 photos and 8 photo mats
*Adhesives, border punches, trim, score board, duct tape and tools as usual
*Binding rings or ribbon (Binding rings do work the best)
*Crop a dile/eyelet setter and eyelets (optional)
*Hole punch
For the stand:
*1 x Sheet of chipboard 30cm long and 15cm high
*2 x pieces of chipboard 15cm high and 6cm wide
*Duct tape
*Paper or paint to cover it
*Optional – embellishments. I use tissue tape. 

If you are interested in learning more or in how to sign up, you can check their Facebook page here!

Issue 11 of Crafting Ireland is due to be revealed sometime today. I know that one of my projects will be in the actual magazine, and the other project will be in the blog article. I'll let you know which on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to this issue :)

Two Layouts :)

I have been featured on the Scrapbooking from the Inside Out blog twice this week.
On Wednesday they shared this layout...

for a "Behind the Scene" piece with me which you can see here.
When I found out the theme for this month's kit was Communication, this Instagram photo of my daughter was one of the first to pop into my mind. And then I saw all of the little rotary phone and other communication pieces in the kit, well that just sealed the deal. :)

Then yesterday, they had a blog post up about the current kit and which included layouts from all three of the new design team members. This time they used a layout which you can see here...

and the blog post with layouts by Diana and Kate as well can be found  here.
This layout was a bit of a challenge for me. I knew I wanted to use the lyrics from "I'll Hit You Back" by Jane's Addiction because it says so much about communication. I can relate because there have been so many times in my life I have been tempted to "hit back". In the long run though, I have realized that sometimes it is just better to let go and be the "better person".
But as far as the layout coming together, it definitely changed a lot from the original picture I had in my mind. Lots of moving pieces around and cutting things down. Plus the titles first five words are stamped and hand cut from patterned paper. So that took a lot of time!
In the end, I am happy with the message of the layout because essentially it is who I am. And I am proud of that!

I hope you have a great weekend!
I will be back on Monday with the release of the newest issue of Crafting Ireland.
Looking forward to seeing which of my projects are being published this month :)

*Happy 4th of July*

Well, it is Independence Day here in the States and I have a little mini tutorial up on the Craft Your Nest blog about these tags...

I made these for my son and daughter for fun!
I love scrapbooking just for fun, don't you? :)
And since it's the holiday, I am once again missing What's On Your Workspace Wednesday, but plan to be back next week for sure!

Hope everyone celebrating has a safe and fun Fourth of July!

It's July!

And it is time for the kit and design team gallery reveal over at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out! 
It was fun to see my photo under the newly expanded design team section on the home page. I still can't believe I am part of the team sometimes :)

Anyway, the theme for the month is Communication, and has lots of great product by October Afternoon, Echo Park, Nikki Sivils, Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, My Mind's Eye, Clear Scraps and even a small stamp set by Lawn Fawn!

I am sharing one of my layouts today and you can see the rest in the Design Team Gallery.
I will also be sharing them throughout the month for various blog posts. :)

When I think of communication, I think of how lucky we are that we can talk to Mike using a computer camera when he is traveling. It really makes all of the difference for us. So much better to actually see him face to face instead of just talking on the phone :) I used white mist on the chipboard frame and then actually pressed a wood grain acrylic stamp into it to give it a little more texture.
Also, the white alphabet in my layout today is actually leftover from the June kit. But you will be able to see how I used the current kit's Thickers alphabet on two other layouts this month.

And as for it being July, well that just blows my mind.
It is super, super hot here with temps in the 100's and not looking to cool down any time soon.
Although it sounds like a great deal of the country is dealing with extreme temps.
Hoping to get some pool time in this week and just enjoy Mike being home all week for the holiday :)
See you on Wednesday!