Precious

I have a ton of layouts and projects I haven't posted yet, so I'm trying to play catch-up. I think I've set a new record for myself for the most projects created in a few weeks' time, and I still have a busy scrapping week ahead of me. It's been crazy, but fun!! Here's a Prima layout I did based on Prima's July Build-a-Page sketch:

And here's a little card I created for the Prima booth at CHA using some of their NEW crystals, flowers and Donna Downey canvas paper (the little bird house), and stamps:

I'll be posting a lot more projects in the coming weeks (including a dozen or so projects I made for CHA), so please come back and visit!

Lily Bee

Lily Bee has three fabulous new collections coming out for CHA!  Check them out here: New Lily Bee collections.  Aren't they great?!!?   I can't wait to play with them!

Here's a layout I did with Lily Bee's Hello Sunshine line:

One of my favorite things to do on my layouts is crochet. On this layout I crocheted around the edge of the paper and the outer cardstock. 

The Lily Bee rub-on sentiments are perfect for so many layouts.  In fact, I used one of the rub-ons as my title on this page.  For a slightly different twist, I used the rub-on on a piece of thick fabric:

I added a little bit of crocheted trim underneath the title fabric piece. I cut that trim from a vintage cloth napkin that I found at my local flea market, then I colored it with Shimmerz -- a combo of Eucalyptus Spritz and Jeni B Bleu Vibez.

Lastly, I stacked a few of the Lily Bee chipboard pieces.  I flipped over the middle chipboard piece and added glitter to the sticky side. I colored the Prima flowers with a variety of Shimmerz colors:

 Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Happy Friday!

I just mailed off a big box filled with Prima projects that I made for CHA next weekend. I had SO much fun working with all the new Prima CHA goodies! I think I can start posting my projects soon.

In the meantime, here's a layout I did that was published in the March/April issue of Scrapbooking m.m., a fabulous Swedish scrapbooking magazine:

I did this for an article on using mini frames on your pages. I printed out dictionary definitions for words that describe what I think is going through my daughter's mind in these photos -- believe, dream, imagine and wonder. I used the mini chipboard frames to frame the definitions.

I colored strips of burlap with Shimmerz Spritz, then I tucked the strips behind the patterned paper.  I made the leaves out of polymer clay.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

A few oldies but goodies to share

I've been busy working away on projects for CHA, but I can't share those projects just yet.  In the meantime, here are some of my older layouts that I don't think I've posted here before. These are a few of my layouts that have appeared in Creating Keepsakes in the recent months:

I used the selective color tool in Photoshop to turn everything in the photos black and white except for the purple and green coffee cup I'm holding.   On this page about my morning coffee fix (I can't start my day without it!!) I went with a kitchen/coffee theme and used a bunch of non-scrapbooking items.  Sometimes it's fun to throw caution to wind when it comes to the whole lignin and acid free rules of scrapbooking.  Here are the kitchen and coffee items I used: 

*Coffee filters -- I cut and punched flowers from coffee filters. I sprayed and painted them with Shimmerz paint and Spritz, then I layered the flowers on top of each other.
*Cheesecloth -- I cut out flower shapes and added them to my coffee filter flowers
*Plastic coffee can lid -- I punched flowers and cut out leaves from the plastic lids, then I colored the plastic with alcohol ink and Staz-On ink.
*Instant coffee -- I mixed a little instant coffee with gesso and painted around the edges of the photos. The plain white gesso was a little too stark for my Photoshopped photos so the coffee grounds helped tone down the color a bit.
*Twine from our kitchen junk drawer -- I hand-stitched the twine around the border of the layout, then I painted it with Shimmerz for a little sparkle.
*Cardboard coffee cup/jacket insulator from Peet's Coffee (the BEST coffee around, in my opinion) -- I punched a couple little butterflies out of the cardboard, then I added some Stickles and pearls.

But I was a good girl and only used scrapbook safe (I think) products on this one:

 

And here's a wedding layout I did a while back (it appeared in the June issue of CK):

Have a great weekend!

Happy almost 4th of July!

The long 4th of July weekend is almost here.  We're looking forward to going swimming and having a barbecue at my parents' house on the 4th, and maybe we'll watch some fireworks at night.

Here's a little scrapbook share for the day.  This layout was published in the June issue of Scrapbooks, Etc.  It features pictures of my older daughter blowing bubbles in our backyard.  You might have seen the layout I posted a couple weeks ago here with photos of my younger daughter blowing bubbles (a couple posts down).  I gotta give my girls equal billing!

This layout was included in an article on creative uses for adhesive.  I used clear liquid adhesive and alcohol ink to create the bubbles:

Here's the technique:  I first painted a chipboard circle with gesso (white paint would be fine too). Then I coated it with clear dimensional adhesive (Diamond Glaze), and I immediately added a few drops of two colors of alcohol ink. I used a paintbrush to swirl the colors around until I got a marbled effect. I used different colors and amounts of alcohol ink on each bubble so that they were slightly different from one another (because no two bubbles are alike, right?  Or does that only apply to snowflakes?  But I digress).

On another note, I took the girls to the Los Angeles Zoo yesterday.  Here are a few of the highlights:

 

And a picture of my two little monkeys (as I affectionately call them):

For all of you in the US, have a wonderful 4th of July!!

Flower card box

Today is my mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!!  We had a lovely brunch to celebrate her special day.  For one of her birthday gifts I bought a box of thank you cards and altered it with flowers, lace and pearls:

 

I made the paper roses from Lily Bee's Lovely line.   I'm totally addicted to making these paper roses.  There are different ways to make them, but I first learned how to make this version when I was blog hopping one day and stumbled upon a great tutorial on Maria's blog:  paper rose tutorial.  I colored the lace with Shimmerz Spritz (Cotton Candy). 

And here's the card I made for my sweet mom (also from Lily Bee papers):

 

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Summer is officially here!

Summer is officially here! My girls are out of school and we didn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn this morning. Yay!!!

I was feeling very emotional about my youngest daughter graduating from kindergarten last Friday. It made me acutely aware of how quickly time passes, and I've been missing the days when my girls were really little. My 8-year-old daughter is way past the little girl phase and she acts more like a teenager most days (but she's adorable, nonetheless).  Luckily my youngest is still very much a little girl -- she still loves dolls, pink and princess stuff (actually, I don't think she really likes princess stuff anymore, but she says she does just to humor me). She's such a sweetheart . . . when I commented on how my "little girls were growing up," she responded, "Mommy, I'm ONLY 6, not 20!!"  True!  Most importantly, this transition time reminded me of how quickly time passes and how important it is to enjoy each and every day with my family and to be grateful for all the good stuff in life. This is something I'm going to try and be more consciously aware of on a daily basis.

On a scrapbook related note, I realized that I have a quite a few layouts that I haven't yet posted here, so I'll slowly be playing catch-up. Here's a sketch I created for a challenge at the A Million Memories online crop last month:

And here's the layout I made based on my sketch.  I used Cosmo Cricket papers and chipboard:

 

Yes, she's still my little girl (and always will be!)

Have a great week!

Lily Bee Facebook Giveaway

Lily Bee is having a Facebook giveway! Here are the details:

We want to get to 1600 friends who LIKE Lily Bee Design in the next week on our Facebook Page SO here's the incentive for you to invite your friends. We've teamed up with Jill over at A Million Little Things and are giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to her store.

Simply have your friends who LIKE Lily Bee leave us your name over on the Lily Bee's Facebook page and you will automatically be entered to win. The more friends you send over the more chances you have to win.

Good luck to all who enter!

Prima Design Team!!

Somebody pinch me . . . I made the Prima Design Team!!! You all know how much I absolutely LOVE Prima, so I'm super duper excited about this (to put it mildly). I'm honored to be working with some of the most talented scrappers from all over the world.  A huge congrats to the new Prima DT members:

Alyssa McGrew-US

Amanda Muirhead-Canada

Anabelle O’Malley-US

Birgit Koopsen-Netherlands

Candice Reszko-US

Daniela Dobson-US

Jaime Warren-US

Jamie Dougherty-US

Janine Koczwara-Australia

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer-US

Ingvild Bolme-Norway

Karola Witczak-Poland

Liana Suwandi-US

Nic Howard-New Zealand

Stacy Cohen-US (that's me, that's me!!!)

Trina McClune-New Zealand

Sharon Laakkonen-US (Coordinator)

Cari Fennell-US

Iris Babao-Uy-Philippines

You can see the full announcement here:  Prima DT.  I can't wait to get started!  Thank you, Prima!!!!

Blowing Bubbles and Dreyer's Ice Cream

Happy Monday everyone!  Here's a layout I created using more of Lily Bee's "Lovely" papers.  My daughters love to hang out in our backyard and blow bubbles.  There's something so simple yet magical about blowing bubbles, don't you think? 

I cut strips of paper and placed them where I wanted them on the page, then I cut out circles of varying sizes.  I filled the circles with the fun Lily Bee chipboard pieces and topped them with Prima flowers and rhinestones.  I used Shimmerz paint and Spritz to color the Prima flowers.

I saw a fun beading technique on Lollychops' fantastic blog, and I decided to give it a try.   I embroidered around the circle and added seed beads as I stitched.   Lolly did it on fabric and felt, and I figured that it would work just as well on paper.

And one other thing to share today.  This is something that makes me VERY happy.  I have a nightly ritual . . . after we put our girls into bed and I settle down for some "me" time, I have a small bowl of Dreyer's Light ice cream.  As I mentioned a few posts ago, our old fridge/freezer has been on the fritz for a while, so I've had to contend with soft, mushy ice cream every night . . . which is NOT the way I like it.  We finally got a new refrigerator a couple days ago, and the freezer works like a charm!   The first thing I did was go out and stock up on my favorite Dreyer's ice cream flavors.  Here's a little glimpse . . .

Do you think maybe I went a little overboard??   Anyhow, it makes me happy to open the freezer and see all the SOLID -- not mushy -- ice cream in there!  Ahhhhhh . . . the little pleasures in life.

Have a fantastic week!!!

Those Eyes

It's only Friday, but for us the long Memorial Day weekend has already started.  Our local school district decided to close my girls' schools today to save a few bucks.  That's fine with me!  I got to sleep in this morning, and now I get to spend some extra time with my sweet girlies.

Here's a layout I created with the FUN and vibrant "Hello Sunshine" line from Lily Bee:

I added some Shimmerz Spritz to the cardstock and Prima flower.

A lot of people have asked me how I  make the crocheted borders like you see on the layouts in some of my earlier posts.  I'm not the best person to give crocheting lessons because I learned how to crochet years ago,  but I never learned the names of all the different stitches.  Thankfully the VERY crafty and  talented Lolly Chops has come to the rescue with an awesome video tutorial on crocheted borders.  Lolly also has a fantastic blog, so be sure and check it out! 

Have a wonderful long weekend!!

A "Lovely" Day

The first time I saw Lily Bee's new "Lovely" paper collection my heart went pitter pat.  The color combo and the patterns are just gorgeous!   I love every single piece in this line, and they all work so well together.  Here's a layout I made featuring my little princess:

She's getting close to the age when princesses aren't "cool" anymore (I know because my older daughter reached that stage last year), so I wanted to capture the little princess inside of her before it's too late.  Here's a close-up of the journaling:

I hope you have a LOVELY day!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!  I hope all you mothers had a nice Mother's Day!  I had a great day myself.  We had a lovely brunch with my mom, stepfather, dad and stepmom (yep, we're all one big happy family!).  And I got lots of wonderful snuggles and kisses and homemade goodies from my darling little girls.  For Mother's Day my hubby wanted to buy me the new camera lens I've had my eye on for a while now, but I wasn't sure if the cost is really justified.  Well, it doesn't matter at this point, because the freezer portion of our old refrigerator is on its last leg, so we have to go buy a new fridge today.  Fun, huh?  Since we have to make this big purchase, I decided to hold off on the lens for the while.  That means that my photos won't look any sharper, but at least I won't have to eat mushy ice cream anymore.  And as a girl who NEEDS her bowl of Dreyer's Grand Light ice cream every single night, mushy ice cream just wasn't workin' for me.  

I have a little share for the day.  I've really been into crocheting on my layouts again lately.  Here's one I made with all Prima goodies:

The wording says:  "My Wish for you is that you have as much joy in your life as you have brought to mine."    Here's a little close-up.  I curled back the paper and stuck some tulle and other netted fabric behind there.  I lined the curled-back paper with lots of Prima flowers:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Joyful

My intended little scrapping break hasn't quite started yet. I got an idea for a page last night and I wanted to jump right in and begin working on it.  I'm hoping to finish it up tonight or tomorrow night. Maybe I can start my little scrapping break this weekend.

In any event, here's a layout I created with Prima's April BAP:

The journaling says: When I was a little girl, I was happy and playful just like you.  But somewhere along my path to adulthood, I lost a little part of that fun-loving little girl inside of me.  You have brought out that joyful, playful side of me again.  Thank you for that, my sweet Rebecca.

Now go take that playful little child inside of YOU and have some fun today or tonight!!

Sisters

This is another layout that I made for Scrapbooking m.m. (the March/April issue). I used almost all Prima goodies:

I've been really into crocheting on my pages again lately, and this time I used some pretty teal yarn. I used Shimmerz to create the rainbow of color on the background:

I have a small stash of vintage rhinestones buttons and broaches, and I save them for special pages. I really need to find a good (and cheap!) source for more of these treasures. Here's a close up:

Things are quiet for me right now in terms of my DT and other scrapbooking assignments, so I'm going to do something I haven't done in a very long time . . . I going to take a little break from scrapping for the rest of the week and weekend.  I think it will be just what I need to recharge my creative batteries!