Monday, November 2, 2015

Stampin' Up Weekly Deals


Every Monday, Stamping' Up posts some deep discounts on items that you can get your hands on!


Each week, the deals change.  You never know what you'll find each week.  Check out my site to shop and save!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Stampin' Up Weekly Deals

Every Monday, Stamping' Up posts some deep discounts on items that you can get your hands on!


Each week, the deals change.  You never know what you'll find each week.  Check out my site to shop and save!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Playing with paper dolls

I'm sure you've seen the Julie Nutting dolls from Prima.  I'm not a paper doll person, never was.  Something about these stamps has me hooked though.  Maybe all those years of not playing with them as a little girl has me itching to play with them now.

Whatever it is, I've got a small collection - mostly the boy stamps though.  I do have 2 of the girls.

I took a little watercolor class at a local store this part weekend only because I own watercolors and those cool brushes that hold the water.  I like those.  I figured I should learn how to use these things I just *had* to have - right?

So, here's my first attempt at dressing and watercoloring the stamps.  It was a bit of a challenge at first but I really enjoyed it and can't wait to make another one.

Papers and supplies are all from October Afternoon Witch Hazel line.  I made a mini album one year with this and have lots of leftovers.  The patterns and colors were perfect for what I was thinking.



 Flair button is from A Flair for Buttons Etsy shop.  Link to set....
Web doily is from Stamping' Up and is available in my shop HERE.

 I even dug out an old bottle of Stickles (its been years since I last used them!)

 I also finished up a layout I started a few weeks ago using last years summer line from Simple Stories.  Their lines are totally timeless and I feel like I can pull them out whenever and they feel current to me.  Flair button is from the selfie set available in the AFFB shop (link above).

 Lots of glossy accents on this one.  Just to highlight the fun little details like hearts and the word 'hello'.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Stampin' Up Weekly Deals


Every Monday, Stamping' Up posts some deep discounts on items that you can get your hands on!


Each week, the deals change.  You never know what you'll find each week.  Check out my site to shop and save!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Stampin' Up Weekly Deals

Every Monday, Stamping' Up posts some deep discounts on items that you can get your hands on!


Each week, the deals change.  You never know what you'll find each week.  Check out my site to shop and save!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Summer may be over but....

I'm still documenting it. I've got hundreds of photos printed and waiting to make their way into my summer not-so-mini album.  Like many, I chose to use the Simple Stories Summer Vibes line.  I love pretty  much every line they come out with and this was no exception.

I started with some inspiration from Layle Koncar - her kits are fabulous.  I own the entire line though so there was a lot of room for my own ideas.

Products are all from Simple Stories.  Flair is available from the A Flair For Buttons Easy shop.



 This line of flair was designed specifically for this line of paper.  Available only in the AFFB Etsy shop.
 I also used some flair from other sets  - like this one.  Its from a set about the weather.  Since our summer started off cold and grey, this one totally fit the mood.  We were under blankets trying to keep warm.


 Trying to document our summer activities like Lego building and making fabric wreaths for the doors.
 We spent a lot of time at the water park this summer.  We have a little water park right around the corner from our house thats part of our community.
 Lots of birthday invites from friends too.
 Layle is a genius.  I'm not a doily person but she made this one very easy.
 One of the newer products from Simple Stories are the clear stickers.  They look like digital stamps when added to photos.

 More of the matching flair for this line.



 Layle sent several of these pockets with the kit we received.  I ended up buying several packets of them because I love the idea of adding pockets to the pages.  Sometimes, you need a little more space than what you have.  These are perfect little add-ons.
 Yep, someone pooped in the water one day.  They sent everyone home and took 48 hours to clean it.  We were back the next weekend enjoying a completely clean pool!  My husband can't believe I added this to the book but it was part of our summer!
 The last day of school.  My son got out so late in June that it seemed the rest of the world was already on vacation.  These were his best friends for the year and his teacher.
 More summer activities.  My son recently asked to play games.  He's not one to sit for very long so we never played an actual game.  This summer he wanted to learn how to play Battleship.
 Our little dates.  His dad works weekends so I get to plan fun little activities for us to do - like go see movies!  We're addicted to the Cineopolis theaters.  Since they're a little more than the regular theater, we only go 3-4 times a year.

 I love the many different kinds of pocket pages you can get for the 6x8 albums.  So many choices.


 My parents took my son on a quick trip to Santa Cruz the day school let out.  I missed the little guy and we cuddled for almost an entire day when he got back.
 And then it was time for summer to officially begin.  We celebrated Canada Day with a BBQ and some maple bacon cupcakes.
 I found some really cute ideas on Pinterest for printables and recipes.  The flair is from the Canada set in the AFFB shop.  I have some other things in progress using this set.  Can't wait to share!!


 July 3rd was somewhat slow at work and my son was off school.  I brought him to work with me and he played my 'secretary' that day.  I let him make the notes for the team, write on my erasable calendar.  He likes being the 'boss'.
 We spent the 4th of July by the pool.  It was crazy hot that day but we had a nice shady spot under an umbrella.  I scrapbooked in the shade while he played in the water.

 These flip pages were perfect for documenting the fun we had that day.  I layered them with stickers and chipboard from the line.



 Later that day, we had cupcakes before heading back out to see the local fireworks.  Our community has everything so we really never have to leave.  I always joke that if they put a Target in here, I'd have everything to survive and would never leave.

 Bike riding - essential summer activity.
 I even indulged my husbands craving for In and Out.  I'm *not* a fan of their food and only eat there as a last resort.  This stems from a bad experience as a child.  I can't stand the sauce.  Yuck.  Eww.  And I don't like undercooked burgers.  That combination soured me on that place for life. I will eat the fries and malts though.
 My son goes to the school YMCA during the summer and has a blast.  They have a water slide, Kona Ice truck and all kinds of activities.  I managed to get off early one day and surprised him at school.  He was upset because I showed up before he got his Kona Ice.
 New shades and braces!  The paper clip words are from Freckled Fawn.



 Someone turned 8 and got enough money in cash and gift cards to buy the Kwik E Mart from the Simpsons.  He doesn't even know who the Simpsons are (thankfully) but he thought the building was really cool.  We also said goodbye to the rest of his Thomas the Train stuff.  We passed the last few train sets on to his cousin and donated the bedding.  I hope some other kid has a chance to love Thomas like Nick did.
 Another Saturday without dad.  We went down to San Juan Capistrano and rode the trolley around town.  We had lunch together on a train and hit the antique fair......
 where we found train stuff like spikes and a conductor hat!





 The pocket design for this page was in Layle's instructions but she didn't really do much.  I added photos to the pockets documenting our puddle jumping on a rainy summer day.


 More matching flair.


 Oh look!  We're at the waterpark again!
 You asked for the Queen Mary on your birthday so I treated you to a day on the boat.  We had lunch and explored.
 Another mini book from Simple Stories giving me more room to document the fun we had that day!



 I made a pocket with this 4x6 card and a photo.  I only glued the sides together leaving peace for something.  Since I still had photos left over from the Queen Mary, I added them to a pocket journaling card and inserted that into the larger pocket.





 Another fun summer day.  We went out on a friends boat - Nick even got to steer!

 Our final summer activity was the hockey camp.  This was Nick's main birthday present.  I gave him a hockey came with the LA Kings.  We rented a house from AirBNB up in Hermosa Beach so we could be close and spent the week up there.  This is as far as I've documented up until now.   I have a few more photos to add and I'll share them as soon as I'm done.
I adore this book.  All the memories in here are saved for a rainy day this winter where we can look back on the fun we had and start planning for next summer!