What's Up, Freaky Dude?!??

Honestly?? My life is just NOT that interesting!! I think I have posted to my blog FOUR times this week ... and I have nothing "new and cool" to tell you! But the GOOD NEWS is that I am going to share what I made with you for this month's Control Freaks Blog Tour. I am on a ROLL lately!!! Probably because I have so many NEW and LOVELY things to play with!!! We are celebrating the "dudes" in our life this month by creating masculine projects. Did you just come from the blog of my friend, Melissa Stout??? She is SOOOOOO SOOOOOO good!!!

So I posted a photo here the first part of last week of the collage I made for my hubby's hangar wall. I had a BUNCH of pictures blown up (enlarged??!??) to frame and add to the collection. This scrapbook page was from an 8x10 that I ended up NOT using ... and it looks like it was MADE to go with the Best Route Suite, don't ya think??? The colors in the sky and the sign (and even from my t-shirt!) match the colors in the DSP sooooooooo perfectly!!! I couldn't resist!! And I think the new Corrugated Dynamic Impressions Embossing Folder is going to be VERY well used at my house ... it's DA BOMB!

Stamps: Best Route
Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Gray Granite, Whisper White
Accessories: Stitched Shapes Framelits, 1/2" Circle Punch, Classic Label Punch, Corrugated Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Night of Navy Bakers Twine, 5/8" Burlap Ribbon, Stars Framelits (ok ... sorry that these are RETIRED ... but I couldn't help it on this layout ... it just NEEDED some STARS!)

This is what you call a "$100 card"!! I used so many different things on it, that I am SURE it is "cheaper to make your own card than to buy one in the store!" Hahaha ... we have all been there, haven't we??? I just kept going as thoughts were popping into my head while I was making this ... what can I say??? I LOVE my toys (TOOLS!!)!!

Stamps: Itty Bitty Greetings, Tree Rings
Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede,
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies, Seasonal Layers Thinlits, Pinewood Planks Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Nature's Twine, 5/8" Burlap Ribbon


Next up???  ... incredible Kelly Acheson!! You are just gonna LOVE what she has made!!

Isn't She Lovely???

Isn't she loooooovely? Isn't she won-der-ful??!?? Ok ... Now that I have all of you singing along with Stevie Wonder in your heads (or out loud, whatever the case may be!) ... I have been wanting to scrapbook some of my daughter's bridal photos from last spring. Can I say that there were SOOOO many to choose from that were FABULOUS that I had a VERY hard time choosing??? We had an A-MAZ-ING photographer that took so many PERFECT photos!!! I really need to make an entire album just of my daughter's bridal photos ... and engagements photos ... and wedding photos. Maybe this layout will get me started!

When I saw Stampin' Up's Springtime Impressions Thinlits Dies in Las Vegas this past March I KNEW that they would be coming to live with me!! Just as surely as I KNEW that I would be creating some scrapbook pages from my daughter's wedding ... if you look closely at the beading on Amelia's dress you will see that it is a PERFECT match with this beautiful corner border die ... I mean, SERIOUSLY??? I had fun using the die as a stencil as well. I made kind of a "boho" pattern in the upper-left corner to tie the page together. It's my new favorite die, I think!! (And we all know how quickly that can change, depending on what we are using and how much we like the finished product, right???)

Here's a close-up of some of the detail. The little cross-stitching from the thinlits die??? The fraying on the edges of twine ... and, of course, the "messy" stenciling from the beautiful flower corner die ...

Supplies: Stitched All Around
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink:  Crumb Cake
Accessories: Springtime Impressions Thinlits Dies, Stitched Labels Framelits Dies, Crumb Cake Nature's Twine, 5/8" Burlap Ribbon, Pearl Basics Accents

I struggle with trying to keep my creations "simple" ... I know I have mentioned that before! I want to use #allthethings #allthetime!!! I'm glad I was able to restrain myself on this particular layout ... the pictures are so "lovely" that I didn't want to detract too much from them. This was FUN!!! Now to make the other 547 pages I need to make Amelia's wedding memories COMPLETE!! Hahaha!! Perhaps she can just look at the photos in our GoogleDrive!

Monday Montage #72

I love weekends. I think most of us love weekends ... and they seem to be over before they have even started most of the time!! We went up with the fam to our one of our favorite spots for the weekend ... Bear Lake!!! It's so relaxing and so much fun! And the best way to cap off the weekend is with a blog hop with the Monday Montage girls!! YAY!!!

How freakin' ADORABLE is this picture??? Are you KIDDING me???? This is my grand-niece, Sammy. This girl has SO much energy and SO much personality ... seems the birds think she is pretty great as well ... I made this as one of my OnStage samples ... hadn't done a traditional scrapbook page in quite a while. This was FUN!!

Stamps: Crazy About You
Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy, Daffodil Delight, Peekaboo Peach, Basic Black, Whisper White, 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards & Accessories, Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits, Botanical Builders Framelits, Banners Framelits, Little Letters Thinlits (Retired), White Jute Ribbon (Retired), Linen Thread, Mini Stapler

Time for a little Project Life!! (This was ALSO something I made for OnStage - as is the following layout!). I took three of my favorite pictures I had taken with each of my kids in the last few years ... they are fun. I'm glad they have grown up into such great humans ... and that we are friends as well!

Stamps: None!
Paper: 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack, Whisper White
Ink: Project Life Pen
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards and Accessories, Gold Sequin Trim, Burlap Ribbon (Retired), Linen Thread, Gold Baker's Twine

This is my boy!!! He double majored in college and this was the day he received TWO Bachelor's Degrees!!! I couldn't be more proud!!! (And we trudged clear across campus so we could take this photo with the "Y" in the background ... go Cougars!!) He's gearing up to start his Master's degree in the fall ... where DOES the time go???

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Dapper Denim, Typeset DSP (Retired), Gold Foil DSP, Vellum
Ink: Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards and Accessories, Large Numbers Thinlits, Hexagon Hive Thinlit (Retired), Word Window Punch (Retired), Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits, Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon (Retired), Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... ALWAYS something awesome from EACH of them!!

Monday Montage #26

Who's up for another go-round with the Monday Montage girls???? MEMEMEME!!! So let's get started!!

I am SO excited to be able to share this scrapbook layout with y'all ... I did this as one of my items for the Convention Display Boards ... and I did something with it that I have NEVER done before ... I actually made TWO of them so that I could keep one!! (I swear, Stampin' Up has owned ALL of my best scrapbook layouts for the past several years ... I decided I was just gonna do the work and make a duplicate this time around!)!!

This is a picture of my daughter on her 17th birthday (she just turned 20). I have loved it from the moment I took it ... and knew I needed to do a whole page just for this (something I don't usually do, either ... I'm kinda of the mindset that scrapbook layouts NEED more than one photo ... but I couldn't help myself this time around!)!

Here's a closeup of some of the details ... I cut the "celebrate" out using MDS and my trusty ol' Silhouette ...


Stamps: #hello, Chevron Background
Paper: Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Hello Honey, Basic Gray, Moonlight DSP, Brights Color Collection DSP, Vellum
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Crump Cake
Accessories: Circles Collection Framelits, Hearts Collection Framelits, Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Banner Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Word Window Punch, Chevron Border Punch, Brights Candy Dots, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Sewing Machine, Silhouette eCutter
MDS Downloads: Moments Ago ("celebrate"), Christmas Countdown ("17")

It's been quite the week, I tell ya!! We just got back from a quick trip to Zion National Park ... hiked 13 miles through The Narrows ... I'm wiped out but oh-so-grateful to have been with people I love in such a beautiful place!! Counting my blessings ...

Click "Back" to see Marvelous Melissa Stout, and/or the "Next" button to see Awesome Amy O'Neill!

Revisiting Zion ...

I guess I'm going to "give in" and admit that summer really IS over (I mean, it's OCTOBER, for cryin' out loud!!)! I had such a great summer!!! It was VERY busy, to be sure (and a bit DANGEROUS ... manholes, and baby savin' and what-not!) ... it started off on the BEST foot possible at the end of May with a family trip down to Zion National Park ... and so, I'm sharing a couple of scrapbook layouts I did of our adventures.

This first layout was at the end of a VERY long-but-beautiful hike across the West Rim Trail. The last part of the trail (after hours and hours and miles and miles ... about 7 hours and 14 miles) puts the hiker on the "downside" of Angels Landing ... and lemme tell ya, doing a VERY steep vertical drop after hours and hours and miles and miles DOES things to ya. I could DEFINITELY feel my quads for a few days afterwards!

I haven't done a "photo-on-photo" thing for a long time. I love the look of this ... I used a 4"x6" and 5"x7" copy of the same photo and layered them on top of one another (with a little trim of cardstock in between).

And FLAGS!! I kinda got carried away with those on this (umm ... and I'm not sure WHERE this thing is gonna find a "home" since it now sticks out on BOTH sides too much to fit in an album OR a frame!)! This is gonna make me THINK, I'm SURE!

Here's a close-up of the title ... I think this is the layout that finally pushed me over the "edge" with Gorgeous Grunge ... I mean, you can use that set with ANYTHING (EVERYTHING!)!!!

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Natural Composition DSP, Brights Collection DSP
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Accessories:  Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies, Natural Trim Ribbon, Designer Naturals Button, 1" Square Punch

After we finished hiking, we went back to the house and played some croquet (and Weixler Family Vacation Standard, to be sure!)! My sweet little grandniece, Sammy, was SOOO interested in following her Daddy around ... it was just fun WATCHING them. It's pretty obvious that the feeling between them is mutual ...

Here's a close up of the "love banner" ...

... the "title" ...

... and the "digging" ...

Stamps:  ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet, Tag It
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Brights Collection DSP, In Color Collection DSP
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake, Real Red
Accessories:  Chalk Talk Framelits, 3/4" Circle Punch, Hearts Framelits, Decorative Label Punch, Linen Thread, Brights Candy Dots

I gotta a WHOLE lotta stuff coming your way this weekend ... Fab Friday, Control Freaks Blog Tour AND Monday Montage will be going up back-to-back-to-back, so stay tuned!!!

Of Hiking and Manhole Covers ... Yep, That's My Life!!

First things first ... I am NOT getting old(er) ... (-ish) ... at least in my MIND I like to think that I'm not!! However, today IS my birthday (yes, it's true ... I'm 27 ... again)! I feel like I am more adventurous and willing to try fun, new things than I have EVER been (activities, food, music, friends!)! Heck, how can ANYone who goes to a restaurant and tells the server to "surprise me" NOT be considered adventurous??? But ... sometimes ... I seem to get myself into a pickle ... but, I digress ... I'll come back to that and the reference to manhole covers in a minute ... READER WARNING ... this is loooonnng ... and EPIC ... and SOOO totally TRUE!! None of the names/events have been changed to protect the innocent ...

Scrapbooking myself is something I just don't do ... pretty much EVER!! However, having had to create a myriad of things in this past year for Stampin' Up has often pushed me out of my comfort zone (something ELSE to which I have easily adapted ... most of the time ... which ALSO proves I am NOT too old, right??). Anywho ... I did this layout to highlight a hiking adventure I went on with my family this past June. We did the West Rim Trail at Zions National Park. It is a beautiful and scenic 17-mile undertaking, which I was MORE than happy to tackle. I LOVE being outdoors ... I LOVE hiking ... and I LOVE my family, so it was a winning combination all around. (Not to mention the fact that I LOVELOVELOVE my Woodstock "Happy Camper" shirt!!)

Stamps:  Hello Lovely, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Natural Composition DSP, Neutrals Patterned DSP, Brights Patterned DSP
Ink:  Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  1/2" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Brights Candy Dots, Sewing Machine



What on EARTH does ANY of this have to do with manholes, you ask? Well ... it seems that, lately (as in the past couple of months) I have apparently misplaced some small mount of finesse that I would like to think I HAVE had up until this point in my life. I run ... I run pretty much every day (and the odd fact is that I really don't LIKE to run ... but I DO love that I live in a place where I can be in a lovely canyon within minutes of my front door ... and the scenery distracts me from the fact that running is not always the MOST fun thing!). Many of my SU buddies KNOW that I run. And many of my SU buddies have asked if they could run WITH me while they were here for Convention in July!! No PROBLEM!! GREAT!! FANTASTIC!! What's NOT to love about having some of your BFF's along to run with ya?? Seriously, right?? So, at 4:45 AM (yes, you read that right!!) I went and picked up several of my stampin' buddies at their hotels to come and share my run with me (that's Mindy Backes, Marla Reed, ME and Bree Renwick in the photo). It was dark, but we watched the light come up over the mountains. AND ... just as we were coming out of the canyon something TOTALLY unexpected happened (while I was with my friendies ... of course ... because this has NEVER happened to me when I was ALONE!) ... I fell.flat.on.my.face!! SPLAT!! Have absolutely NO clue what happened there!! One of those instances where you try to just "jump up" and pretend nothing happened ... and that you are TOTALLY fine and IN CONTROL (even though your hair is screaming and you've ripped the freckles CLEAN off about half of your arm!)!! "Yeah ... I MEANT to do that!" I needed a better story, though ... telling people I have the grace of a hippopotamus is kinda embarrassing. So my daughter's BFF (hey, Tiffy!) told me that I should just tell people when they asked (because my arm looked THAT pitiful that people WERE asking!) that I had saved a baby ... I was kinda thinking something along the lines of a Zombie Apocalypse ... so my story was that I had saved a baby FROM the Zombie Apocalypse ...

It's a long story, I know ... but I AM getting to the manhole cover!! Just the other day (barely more than a MONTH from my baby-savin'-Zombie-Apocalypse experience) I was walking about a BLOCK from our business to our church in order to attend the funeral of my brother-in-law's father. It was particularly windy and I decided that I needed to avoid walking through the sprinklers at the corner ... the wind was blowing the water SIDEways into a big, wet ol' misty cloud ... and of COURSE I didn't wanna get my dry-clean-only skirt wet, right??

Soooo ... I stepped onto the grass adjacent to the curb .... and proceeded to walk around THIS fire hydrant ... took just a few steps and my whole perspective on the world changed ... I suddenly found myself dangling with one leg down inside that freakin' manhole!! My very FIRST thought was, "Sinkhole??? Are ya KIDDIN' me??" Then I looked down and realized that this little manhole had tried to EAT ME!!! The dumb lid had NOT been secure and it flipped up when I stepped on it! And I was now doing a semi-split ... in a skirt ... in the mud ... and my SHOE had fallen off down into the abyss of the manhole. Sooooo ... as I dragged my bruised, bloody and muddy leg outta that dumb hole I was feeling kinda NON-FINESSE filled. Here I only had ONE shoe and I was a hot mess!! And the funeral was starting in about FIVE MINUTES!! One of the neighbors who lived close to the fire hydrant saw the whole event in all it's spectacular glory. She seemed VERY concerned and wanted me to knock on the door of her surgeon-neighbor's house. I declined, reassuring her that I was FINE (despite my somewhat pitiful - there's that word again! - appearance). I hobbled over to the church ... shoe in hand ... and somehow managed to get a bit cleaned up and sneak into the service without too much fanfare. The fanfare??? Oh yes!! There WAS fanfare! As soon as the services were over we all took our turns exiting the building. As I was hobbling out one of the funeral directors looked at me and my one pitiful shoe in hand ... and the mud on my skirt ... and the ROAD RASH and LUMPS on my leg and blurted out, "Oh!! Are YOU the woman who fell into the MANHOLE??" What.the.HECK??? Has THIS been on the NEWS already??? Holy COW!! Apparently, the woman who saw me fall in was a bit concerned and called 911 ... which prompted a FIRE TRUCK and AMBULANCE to show up at the funeral (unbeknownst to me!). They came into the back of the chapel and peered around looking for the (again) pitiful soul who needed help!! I HONESTLY would not EVEN have had ANY idea that they were there for ME even if I HAD seen them! And I canNOT believe I MISSED the opportunity to have HOT FIREMEN giving me their undivided attention!! Dang!!! (But they did, thankfully, rescue my shoe!) I need to call the city AGAIN and have them send someone over there to secure that dang thing ... it's still kinda skeewompus! And I would HATE to think that there is another non-finesse-filled pitiful soul who may wander into its path!! (Not to worry ... I will make sure ... TODAY ... that that thing is made safe for all the world!)

Sooo ... today I am going to spend my day in Disneyland with my BFF and sister-in-law, Diann!! And HOPEFULLY I will not save a single baby ... or encounter a SINGLE zombie ... and I will do my UTMOST BESTEST to avoid ALL manhole covers!!

2013 Artisan Finalist Blog Hop - Day 8

Welcome to Day 8 everybody!!! I canNOT believe how quickly these past 8 days have FLOWN by!!! And I am STILL in AWE of all of the wonderful things my Finalist Friendies have been sharing (I know, I know ... I've said that BEFORE ... but it's TRUE!)!! So, let's get to it!!!

Another family-treasured photo! We took this photo of my daughter WAAAYYYY back in the day!! My husband had JUST taught her how to fish the day before this photo was taken ... and she got up VERY early the next morning, grabbed a fishin' pole and dangled it over the side of the boat ... NO BAIT!!! Then she started yellin', "Daddy!!! Come quick!! I caught a FISH!!" How's THAT for expert fishermanship???? She was SOOOOO pleased with herself!! And this picture is framed in our house (has been since the day we had it developed. HAPPYHAPPYHAPPY!!

See?? Isn't she stinkin' ADORABLE??? (and that bluegill looks MASSIVE, doesn't it?? I think it was more of the photo angle than anything ... but it's FAB!!)!

I used the yardstick image that I snatched out of MDS ... printed it out, then tore and crumpled it all up ... then added the fishes on the line with a little help from some linen thread and mini safety pins from the Vintage Trinkets!

I used the Canvas Creations to make the little "fringe" under these letters (which I ALSO created in MDS). I just pulled the threads on the side of the canvas to make it fray ... VOILA!!

This is one of those pages I wish I could get back ... which means I should probably make another one just like it, right???

Stamps: By the Tide
Paper:  Naturals Composition DSP, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, This and That Epic Day DSP, Crumb Cake
Ink: Island Indigo
Accessories:  Canvas Creations, Naturals Trim Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread
MDS:  A to Z Wordpress Letters, Fan Fair (ruler)
Font:  2Peas Ditzy

Choosing the "Next" button will take you to a FABULOUS project by Amy O"Neill ... and choosing the "Back" button will take you to something EQUALLY as wonderful from Melissa Stout!!
         

2013 Artisan Finalist Blog Hop - Day 6

Happy Day #6, everyone!! Here we are again to share some of the projects we made for the Artisan Design Team Contest. I am having fun kinda revisiting the things I made (and forgetting what-all I used to make them with!)!! It's amazing how even just a DAY or two can go by since ya make something and you FORGET what you USED! I choose to think it's "Creative Genius" causing me to scatter my thoughts other than my age ... which is STILL 27 ... but I digress ...

Here's another scrapbook layout I did. As I mentioned when I shared my last one, I used photos for my entries that were really special to me. I took this photo of my kids oh-so-long ago! I was almost tearing up looking through the lens as I took it ... knowing that I couldn't keep them this little ... and sweet. Oh how the time has flown by!! WHOOSH!! It seems like I just barely took this photo (and you will notice, by the date, that it has been QUITE some time!)!!

Here's a close up shot of the photo and sentiment ... sigh ... don't they look so cute???? (says their mama!) I miss those days ... and I had a LOT of fun making the little hanging tag with MDS. I LOVE me some hybrid projects, I tell ya!!

Stamps: NONE!
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade, Summer Smooches, Brights Designer Series Patterned Pack, Subtles Designer Series Patterned Pack, International Bazaar (Sorry if I missed some ... I THINK I got 'em all!)
Ink:  Various Colors in MDS
Accessories:  Ticket Builder Punch, 1 3/8" Square Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 1" Square Punch, Word Window Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Small Butterfly Punch, Brights Buttons, Whisper White Baker's Twine
MDS: Timeless Type Junior Punches, Walk in the Park II ("happy"), Get It Done (punch 3)

Click on the "Next" arrow to hop on over to Awesome-Amy O'Neill ... or on the "Back" button for the Marvelous-Melissa Stout!!

Come back tomorrow!!!