It's Almost Fair Time

Good Saturday morning friends!  I'm so sorry I've been away for awhile but this is fair/rodeo organizing and planning week.  Since I'm the superintendent for the Stamping and Scrapbooking area I've been busy getting that organized.  I decided to go as all out as I could on my decorations/education piece for my area this year and thought I'd share it with you all!

 My area is a small area as entries have gone down drastically in the last several years however this year they are actually up from last year...yay!  My display is 9' x 5'.  The theme for the fair is there's magic in the fair and the official fair poster has magical pumpkins and a wand so I just incorporated that into my piece.  The pumpkins and magical word are files from Miss Kate Cuttables and the wand, scrapbook page layout, and card layout are from SVG Cutting Files. 

 Here is a view from a little further away.  I have sparkles on the end of my behemoth of a display stand and twinkle lights on top of it.  This display took lots of time and some help from my hubby to put it together and get it up there.  (I fell directly on my knees a couple of weeks ago so I can't kneel down.) 

I'm hoping everyone who walks through our building will love the display and be inspired to try something crafty. Well, I'm off to do some other volunteering today so I must run.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Wednesday friends!  How is your week going?  Wednesday always makes a person feel good, huh? Today I'm sharing a card and a fun little decoration that I put together for a Jazzercise friend's birthday.

Our friend, Leslie, turned 50 on Monday and we decided we'd make a big deal of her birthday last Friday because she wasn't going to be at Jazzercise on Monday.  I made the above card for her with a big 'ole butterfly because one of her care givers told me that she really likes butterflies.  The butterfly on the card is a cut from Miss Kate Cuttables, the sentiment and clouds are from Jaded Blossom, and the sun burst card base is from Reverse Confetti.  I added some white gel pen highlighting to the clouds, sunburst, and even some of the colors on the butterfly wings.  

I also cute some 4" and 5" butterflies so all the other Jazzy friends could write her a birthday wish then I attached some twine and hung them on the counter with scotch tape.  I think they look so bright, festive, and pretty!

Well, there you have it!  Sometimes it is the little things, like butterflies, that really make a celebration fun!  Have a wonderful day everyone!

Baby Mine

Happy New Week!  Last Wednesday evening I had the chance to go to a baby shower for a sweet friend of mine who is pregnant with her second child which will make two girls for them!  So fun!  Of course I needed to make a spectacular card for her so I thought I'd share it here too!

 Talk about a true paper crafted card...this one is it!  There is only a tiny bit of stamping on the inside of the card while everything else has been made with paper and my Cameo.  Very fun!  The file I used for this card is from Miss Kate Designs.  The elephant is my favorite animal so it was a natural for me to choose these sweet images.  The papers are from a Jack and Jill paper stack and I've added some twine and sequins to finish off the outside of the card. 

Inside I've used a swirl SVG from the same file as the elephants and added a sentiment from Jaded Blossom and some hearts.  I love the way it makes the inside super special!  This card is also larger at 5"x5" but I just had to get those cute elephants on the card ya know!

Well, there it is!  Please note that next week I won't post as much but that doesn't mean I've stopped sharing just that I will be busy.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Miss Kate Designs Guest Design Team Post!!

I am SUPER excited to be here as the Guest Designer for Miss Kate Designs.  I have long loved MKD's files and was so excited when they did a GDT call and they offered me a position this month! 

I needed to chose the files I wanted to work with way back in January so it was a decision of...what am I going to be wanting to do and get done in July.  I immediately thought of my 15th Wedding Anniversary and decided to make a card (or something) with the files I chose which are:  this prince and this princess.  Now I have to tell you I did A LOT of thinking about what I wanted this to look like and what papers I wanted to use.  I googled several words for papers and finally came up with this paper from Graphic 45 called Enchanted Forest.  It is not exactly what I was looking for but it definitely works.  Apart from the prince, princess, and photos of me and my husband just about all of the embellishments came from the paper pack and an additional tags and pockets sheet from Graphic 45.  So...shall we get on with the photos?

 I'm not sure what prompted me to try this According File Folder but I found the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers and I thought it would be perfect for the plan in my head. 

 Okay, here is where you first see the MKD files come into play.  During our story the prince (my knight in shining armor) arrives on scene to save the fair princess from her broken heart. 

 The little post card on the princesses page represents the time my husband and I spent courting long distance (I do not recommend this at all!!). These files were SUPER easy to put together and come with a PDF of how to assemble if you need it.  I actually printed it out and followed it just so I didn't have to think as much!  LOL!

 Above you can see a little more of the detail of the two files.  For both characters I have used papers from the same paper pack that I used for the rest of the project.  It totally makes this even more matchy and pretty I think.  I added a smaller panel of vanilla paper at the bottom of the pull out so I could write what I'm thinking about in our story by the characters.  Of course what princess would be without her jewels so I added pearls and rhinestones to the crown and her belt.

 On the last two pages I added a wedding photo and a more recent photo of the two of us.  The little sentiment that is being pointed to by the chipboard arrow says...Life itself is the most wonderful Fairytale.  Then the sentiment under our current photo says Happily Ever After and I die cut the number 15 for the number of years we will be married. 

 Both of these pull outs have blank cardstock on the back so I can write a note to my hubby on them.

And finally a little shot of the back of the book.  I thought it would be kinda neat to use this Enchanted Forest paper as a homage to the paper pack that I completely destroyed putting the accordian file folder together...lol!

Well, there you have it!  I know it is a super long blog post but I hope you love my project and are inspired by it to create something wonderful with Miss Kate Designs files!  HERE is a link to their store and HERE is a link the blog.  They are also on Facebook HERE and HERE is their group so check them out there as well (did I mention they have an amazing freebie every single day?)!!

Our anniversary isn't until the end of the month but I'm glad to have this finished plenty ahead so I can concentrate on making cards to give him each day of our little little trip to the coast.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Envelope Flip Book

Ya gotta love Monday, don't ya?  It's a fresh start to a new week...so many opportunities! Today I'm sharing the swap that I am sending out today.  The swap I signed up for is called an Envelope Flip Book (head to YouTube there are tons of videos tuts).  I thought it would be best to use one pack of paper and embellishment and I happened to have an older set of paper called Splash by Bella Blvd in my stash so I went with a fun summer water theme.  You'll see that almost everything is from that collection.  Well, here we go, be aware there are lots of photos!

Above is what I consider the front of the flip book.  The silver eyelet is to hold the twine in place.  I wrapped the book several times but the recipient could just cut it short if she wanted to.  The little sunglasses I cut on my Cameo and the file is from Miss Kate Cuttables (more from Miss Kate later this week!).

When you first open it up you see the above two pages.  I really love the way these two look though the OCD in me wishes I would have put the blue (for water) on the bottom and the orange (for sun/sky) on the top BUT I think it looks just great the way it is!

On the bottom the little Wet & Wild card flips over and there is space to journal and some fun stickers. 

The little fish on the top has sequins for his bubbles.  I just love that!

Next the flip book is turned to the portrait orientation and you see the next two pages. 

The above page is just a big water splash with bubbles and sequins to jazz it up a bit.  The card has space to journal on the front and when flipped over. 

On the right is the sand castle and another day in paradise.  Again, the card has space to journal and when you flip the card up.  There are more sequins for sparkle.  

Here is what it looks like all the way open.  You can see two more pages show up when it is all the way open.  These two pages are my favorite (well, that and the back which you'll see in a moment). 

On the right this panel has three journaling cards which I have held together with a cute little clip.  There are a couple of fun little embellies on each card too.

When the flaps are open there is a fun little beach scene and it says 'lazy summer day'.

Above you can see the three cards.  Again, I love the way the three cards cascade. 

Then the left side there has a fun little card that says 'i wish I was a fish).  Flip it over and you'll see...

A fun little 'sink or swim' sticker and a place for either more journaling or a photo that would be slightly smaller than 4"x6". 

Now, the two sides you see above also have pull outs that are 4 1/2"X6 1/2" so that up to four photos can be placed in the book. 

And finally...the back.  This is actually my favorite space.  I think it really sums up what the book is about...fun in the sun!  The sun is a sticker from the paper pack and the clouds/sentiment are from Miss Kate Cuttables.

I have a couple of other big projects to share with you this week as well.  On Friday I'm sharing what I made as a Guest Designer for one of my favorite SVG companies so I hope you'll keep checking back!

Father's Day THIS Sunday!!

It's coming...are you ready?  I am!!  I finished up all three of my Father's Day cards yesterday.  Check 'em out!

 The above card was made completely with cutting files on my Cameo.  Have I said I LOVE my new Cameo?  I would never have been able to get these cuts with my old Cricut (it was fine for simple things).  This card is for my FIL as my husband tells me his dad has a board just like this in his garage!!  The cut file is from the Cameo store so no link for you.

 Above is the card for my dad.  I have lots of memories of my dad cooking for us on the grill so this is just perfect!  This image is from the Wild & Crazy Guys! set by Kraftin' Kimmies Stamps.  The card itself is a cut file from SVG Cutting Files which made putting this together super easy.  Oh!  And the 'dad' on the front is a freebie from Miss Kate Cuttables (best freebies ever on their Facebook group!).

And finally this one is for my 'other' FIL.  A man who took me on as a daughter years ago and puts up with me still!  This image is from the Wild & Crazy Guys! set as well, the layout is from SSSC and papers are super old Basic Grey papers. 

I love each one of these for how well they capture the person they are going to.  So much fun and care was had making these!!  Do you have your cards ready to go? 

A first...

Yesterday was our grandson's first birthday and he was dedicated.  What a super special day!  I, of course, wanted to make some decoration for his birthday party which was to be jungle themed.  My Scrap Chick has an entire group of jungle cutting files called Jungle Zoo Too that was perfect!  I made one of each character (front and side views) and also made a banner, too.  It was a months long project as I made a few at a time and then went on to do something else.  I'm SUPER pleased with how they turned out!!

 So, above is the banner I made.  His name is also made from files from My Scrap Chick but the 1st Birthday is from Miss Kate Cuttables.

 Here is the cake his mama made for him with a couple of the decoration piecees on it.  My grandson is a blondie so this little guy is made to look like him.  Next are the five different decorations set throughout the house.

And above is a photo of our grandson with the cookie monster cake we gave him at our house on Friday.  He actually did not want to put his hand or face in it so we just cut it into pieces and he ate some that way.

I gotta tell  you it was super special making the decorations for his birthday.  A labor of love for a little boy who has totally captured our hearts!!