Blog Break

Even a blog needs a little break every now and then, and this blog is no exception. So I'm giving it a rest for a bit. Summer is flying by. Time to slow things down. Savor life. Take a breather. I think you get my drift. But I will be back before too long! 

In the meantime, here is one of my favorite summer quotes:
"What do I want to take home from my summer vacation? Time. The wonderful luxury of being at rest. The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander. The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are. Summer is my period of grace."

Sounds good to me. See you on the flip side.

Summer Card Camp, Week 4

This is the fourth and final week of Summer Card Camp. I've enjoyed the class very much and would definitely sign up for a sequel. Here is our color palette for the week:

The class blog described this combo as pear green, teal, tranquil turquoise, sky blue and crisp white. I just hunted for 2 shades of green and 2 shades of blue that were in the ball park. Close enough is good enough for me!

After choosing paper, I decided to play with shapes and created 3 card backgrounds using a rectangle, a border punch and my Creative Memories hexagon punch.

Then I layered the greeting and clouds on top, finished some outline work with a black pen on two of the cards, and called it done. No fancy techniques here.

Since I am primarily a scrapper, keeping my cards colorful and simple works well for me. I don't want to spend more than an evening coming up with a set of cards. How about you - how much time and technique are you willing to invest in your card making endeavors?

Snapping and Scrapping My Summer

Last month's Snap and Scrap Your Summer blog series over at Two Peas was lots of fun. I even entered Kristina's challenge to use atmospheric photos to create a page about the surroundings of an event, memory or whole season. We love to spend warm summer days at Greenfield Village, so that was the subject of my layout.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye; Border Punch: Fiskars; Letters: American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket; Embellishments: Jillibean Soup, Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket

Journaling reads: "We love to spend a beautiful summer afternoon strolling the village, enjoying the slower pace of life. "Our garden" is a favorite stop. Always a photo opportunity to shoot here!"

And guess what? I was picked the winner of the challenge! Several days later, a package arrived on my doorstep from Two Peas. Here's what I found inside.

I think this is a pretty generous prize! Paper, brads, embellishments, a stamp, and even a signed letter from Jamie Sorenson, who I think is such a sweetie. Haven't had a chance to play with these goodies yet. For now they sit on my scrap table tempting me. Have you ever won anything from Two Peas?

Friday Picks

Friday Picks is a regular blog feature, showcasing my best online finds related to scrapbooking for your surfing pleasure. This week is quite an eclectic mixture. Enjoy!

#1 I think I detect a theme in these CHA Summer releases. Check out October Afternoon's Farmhouse, Crate Paper's Farmhouse and Basic Grey's Picadilly. Could you choose just one?

#2 If you've ever felt the slightest inclination to art journal but don't know how to get started, Karen Grunberg's post over at Write.Click.Scrapbook. gives practical advice and demystifies the process. I could do this!

#3 I'm loving this peek at Lynn's scrap room, especially her little set-up to photograph cards. Cute idea!

#4 Keshet has begun a Creative Journey Blog Series with some fantastic guests revealing their insights about breaking into the industry. Here are the first and second interviews. Excellent reading!

#5 And finally, enjoy a little Christmas in July with Lisa's Wreath on the Door Holiday card. Her video is very well done and helpful!

Here is the July Challenge for Scrap Our Stash.
Here is the July Challenge for Scrapbookers Anonymous.

Friday Picks will be taking a little vacation for the rest of July, but will return in August. (even a blog feature needs a little time off now and then) See you next month!

Summer Card Camp, Week 3

I think this class has helped me find my card making groove. Huzzah! I start with the color palette, pull paper from my 6x6 paper pads, add a few other items, and create a small collection of cards. This process is really working for me, probably because I find color so inspiring. And speaking of color inspiration, I love this week's palette! 

I decided to go with kraft card backgrounds. The papers are from Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, and My Mind's Eye. I kept it really simple, and am pleased with the results.

Journaling Prompt

Journaling Junkie Challenge 107: If you could live your life all over again, what one decision would you change? Wow. That's a tough one.


Considering this....

Adding up all of this....

Which results in this..... 

the conclusion is.....

Supply List - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Hopscotch; Letters: American Crafts, October Afternoon; Embellishments: Basic Grey; Border Punch: Fiskars
Design Inspiration - Sketch Support


Each decision I've made along the way has affected subsequent decisions. Alter even one of those choices, and the end result may be a completely different life. It may not be perfect, but I'm perfectly content to stick with what I have and not even contemplate a different path. How about you?

Ten Things on the 10th

My Ten Favorite Photos of Holden Beach, North Carolina
We've been vacationing here since the 1970's, so this is a very special place to our family. We don't come every year, and much to the sadness of everyone, this is a non-beach year. So I will satisfy myself with ten of Phil's best photos from years past.

First glimpse of ocean from the bridge leading to the island. Always an exciting moment.

We are a family of readers, starting with my parents. This little covered porch was a gem.

But I like to do my reading down on the beach, for several hours each day. So relaxing.

Love the colors and composition of this picture.

Love the pelicans. We watch them dive for fish while we supply sound effects.

Not as fond of seagulls, but I do like this photo with the waves in the background.

The pier is always a favorite subject.

A little shorter these days because the last hurricane took some of it into the ocean.

Love the perspective.

And the reason we come year after year: family time.

Ten Things on the 10th: Participants will share something totally of their own creation - but always ten things. Some will share ten photos, ten crafty ideas, ten sources of inspiration, ten recipes, ten things in a collection... always ten things and always on the tenth of the month. If you'd like to see more Ten Things on the 10th posts, click here to visit Shimelle's blog (and find out how you can join in).

Happy Birthday!

Today we are celebrating Theresa's birthday, one of the wonderful ladies who runs the Scrapbookers Anonymous Challenge Blog. Lea, the other half of SA, decided to surprise her with this birthday blog hop. Are you surprised, Theresa? Here's a little birthday song for you in honor of the occasion..........

Now you can hop over to Yara's blog and see what she has in store for you. Happy Birthday!

Friday Picks

Friday Picks is a regular blog feature, showcasing my best online finds related to scrapbooking for your surfing pleasure. WARNING: This week you might need your credit card or PayPal account. Enjoy!

#1 Shimelle has a new class starting July 18th called Explore. It runs for four weeks with daily prompts about using your camera, your pen, and your crafting supplies to look at your surroundings and memories in a new way. Intriguing!

#2 This coming Monday, July 11th, Elle's Studio will reveal a ton of new items, from tags for summer, everyday, 2012 calendars and more. Get ready to shop!

#3 I would be remiss not to include some of the new products getting ready to debut at CHA later this month. Here's the latest from Jillibean Soup: Apple Cheddar Soup, Sweet and Sour Soup, and Homemade 6 Bean Soup.

#4 Would you like to see one of your layouts turned into a sketch? That's what they're looking for over at Ideas for Scrapbookers. All the details are here.

#5 Also from Ideas for Scrapbookers, I loved this post where Pam and a few contributors each created a layout inspired by the design before them. It's called Pass the Layout Game!


Here is the July Challenge for Scrap Our Stash.

Here is the July Challenge for Scrapbookers Anonymous.

Busy weekend ahead, getting together with friends on Saturday and Sunday. One couple we've known for years as our boys grew up together, and he is facing some serious eye surgery next week. Praying for a positive outcome. Reminds me not to take my eyesight for granted. Still hoping to squeeze in some crafty time. Happy scrapping!

Summer Card Camp, Week 2

Our palette for this week is a Mexican Fiesta of colors: chips and salsa, watermelon, maybe a margarita. Very festive! (and making me hungry)

I started with 6x6 patterned papers from Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee and Cosmo Cricket, added a pinch of Core'dinations cardstock, stirred in a few more supplies, and cooked up the following cards:

Simple, but yummy! 

Sometimes Color Is Not My Friend

You know you have at least one. That color you never use on a layout. The patterned paper and cardstock that remains in your stash, daring you to pull it out and put it on a page. The July Challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous is to challenge yourself to make a page with that hard to use color.

My hard to use color is purple. Which is very strange, because growing up it was my favorite color. I even had a purple bedroom with light purple walls and purple shag carpet. But I digress. So I created this layout with small doses of purple patterned paper from a monthly kit. Just a few touches here and there, with lots of neutral white. And now, this is one of my favorite layouts.

Another key to working with a difficult color is to make it monochromatic except for maybe some little accent colors. All I used on this layout was the patterned paper, black and white.

I also think one of the keys to using that hard to use color is to use the least offensive shade of it that you can find. This pale purple cardstock, more like lilac, that holds my journaling is actually kind of pretty.


Now it's your turn! You have until the end of the month to submit your layout. All the details are right here.

Storytelling Sunday

Maybe not so much a story, the appropriate title would be:

Random Memories of the Fourth of July When I Was a Kid

...Eating homemade ice cream on the back yard patio, where one year my grandfather uttered his famous words of wisdom, "You can eat more standing up!" This has become a family mantra that is uttered at least once at every family gathering, but especially during Thanksgiving.


...Catching my grandmother alone in the kitchen, eagerly licking the ice cream maker paddle over the sink. She licked it clean, too. Grandma had a bit of a sweet tooth.


...Watching the fireworks from our backyard, since we lived close to the park, until that fateful year when we set up our chairs and discovered the trees were too tall. What a bummer. Except back then we would have said what a drag.


...Taking Daphne Brown the Basset Hound to see the fireworks one year. She loved the walk to the park, howled and hid under the blanket during the fireworks, and had to be carried most of the way home. Bad idea. Very bad idea.


...Watching small town fireworks. One...at...a...time. Wait. Oh, look, there's another one. Wait some more. That one didn't make it high enough. Wait some more. Shoot something like ten in a row and call it the grand finale. And we thought that was great. These days people put on better firework displays in their backyards.


...Being with family, being thankful there was still plenty of summer left, being thankful for the freedom we were celebrating. We do July Fourth differently these days, but those basic principles still apply. Something else to be thankful for.


If you've enjoyed reading my little story I hope you'll enjoy some others from those who participate in Sian's Storytelling Sunday the first Sunday of every month. 

Friday Picks

Friday Picks is a regular blog feature, showcasing my best online finds related to scrapbooking for your surfing pleasure. This week's theme is tutorials. Enjoy!

#1 The October Afternoon blog posts some fantastic projects! Check out their Firework Flowers and Fourth of July Centerpieces.

#2 Over at Your Memory Connection, Tammy shows us all about Getting Creative with Ephemera. Love these embellishments!

#3 The Get Is Scrapped folks provide a clear, 4-step process on How to Get Computer-Printed Scrapbook Journaling Onto Decorative Tags. Looks great!

#4 Is it okay to link to links? My blog, my rules, so the answer is yes! Here is Lain Ehmann's list of five Fantastic Scrapbook Video Tutorials.

#5 This last one is not a tutorial, but a fantastic blog all about color. Thanks to my fellow Pinterest-lover, Angela, for introducing me to Design Seeds! 

Is it just me, or is summer flying by? I can't believe it's the Fourth of July weekend already! Love all the outdoor concerts and fireworks, and we'll be attending our favorite one at Greenfield Village. Gotta get some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the oven, and start packing for the picnic! Happy crafting!