Lawn Fawn: December Inspiration Week

Hey, y'all! I cannot believe we are into the second week of December. I'm not sure why I'm caught unprepared every year. We celebrate Thanksgiving, and then it should be the start of the Christmas season. And yet, I find myself mid-December-ish all flustered. Like I had no idea it was almost Christmas. Oy!

At least I've got the tree with lights on (no decorations yet) and I've ordered my holiday cards (which I didn't even bother to send out last year).

Meanwhile, over at Lawn Fawn, we are debuting our Valentine's Day stamps, dies, and inks. Yup. You know, the usual: super cute stamps and really awesome ink colors.

I made this first layout with the new XOXO die. This layout couldn't be any simpler. Every time I try to take a photo of my three boys, they make crazy faces until I break down and get fake-angry. But I usually just keep shooting (crazy faces and all) because I never know when I might get a good shot. Put them all together, and I get a cute photobooth effect. I cut the XOXO out of various cardstock to add a few dabs of color. The sentiment is from the new Pizza My Heart set.

For this layout (8" x 8"), I used A Birdie Told Me stamps and dies to create those speech bubbles. Typed my stats in each, and stamped the little hearts (from Pizza My Heart) using the new and awesome Plastic Flamingo ink. The I Love You title is from the new die, and I created the ombré effect with the same ink. Love pink on red!

By the way, I just recently got a metal shim to use in my Cuttlebug. The awesome Teri Anderson told me about it when I was kvetching about how hard it is to get a good cut out of a detailed die. I got one and it's like magic! Really! Teri, you are a genius!

All the new stamps/dies/inks will be available on Lawn Fawn's site (and probably everywhere else) starting on December 10. But you could win them first, by going to the blog and leaving comments!

Hope you are having a great holiday season! Thanks for coming by.

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Fawny Holiday Week & Share Handmade Kindness

Hi friends! Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here? Yikes. Time has flown by. This year more than others for me.

Over at the Lawn Fawn blog, we are celebrating Fawny Holiday Week. The design team has gotten together with the folks at the Lawn Fawn headquarters and our friends from Lawnscaping to create lots of holiday projects. We are hoping to inspire you to create some handmade kindness to share this holiday season (more on that below).

I've never made cards in bulk before. But inspired by Jennifer McGuire's Share Handmade Kindness project, I agreed to create lots and lots of cards for my Littlest's elementary school fundraiser. Things I've learned: 1. keep it simple; 2. get a Misti, which sadly I didn't have. But I'm working on that. And I have to say that I truly enjoyed making all those cards. There's something about creating multiples of the same thing.

I made Christmas cards and Hanukkah cards. Both simple and super easy to recreate.

Materials used for the Christmas card:
Winter Penguin stamps and die
Toboggan Together set (sentiment)
Various inks
Alcohol markers
Stickles (on the scarf)

For the Hanukkah card:
Love You A Latke stamps and dies
Various inks and gold embossing powder
Alcohol markers
Gold pen
Yellow cardstock

For the tags:
Handmade With Love stamp
Winter Gifts stamps
Tag, You're It dies
Holiday Party Animal stamps (dreidel)
Lawn Trimmings Gold Sparkle cord

The cards themselves were just blank prefolded ones from American Crafts (envies too), and the cello baggies were the ones holding the AC blank cards. I recycled them. Let's make it easy on ourselves, people!

While that looks like a long list of supplies, the real key is to use whatever you have!

Do drop by Lawn Fawn's blog to see many more holiday projects and enter for a chance to win some stamps.

And now, Share Handmade Kindness. If you follow me or other stamping/cardmaking folks on Instagram, you've probably seen Jennifer McGuire's amazing challenge. One of the (many!) things that makes Jen an amazing person is that she's so kind and generous. She's a "what can I do for you" person, and NOT a "what can you do for me". That is so incredibly rare these days.

We, crafters, are prolific makers of the good stuff! But I hardly use any of the cards I make. The idea is to put these creations to use. You know how amazing it is to receive snail mail. And if you get a handmade card? Even better. So please go by her blog, check out the challenges, and share more of what you create.

Thanks for coming by today!

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Lawn Fawn X Chameleon Pens

Hi there! This week, Lawn Fawn is partnering with Chameleon Pens to bring you some fun projects. Chameleon Pens are alcohol markers, but totally unlike anything else in the market. Instead of many pens of the same color in varying tones, each Chameleon pen uses a toning medium to create variety. That means a lot less pens to store. Caveat, you'll need lots of practice! I know I'll need a lot more practice. Luckily, practicing coloring falls under the "fun" category. There are lots of videos and tips on the Chameleon blog.

For this card, I used the Spooktacular stamps and dies, Beachside Petite Pack, Black Tie Lawn Trimmings, Black Licorice ink pad, and the Chameleon Pens Pastel Tones Set.

I made the banner with some orange ribbon and eyelets. I haven't used eyelets in so long! I even broke out the Crop-a-dile. Ha!

Thanks for dropping by! Hope to see you again soon.

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Lawn Fawn: October Inspiration Week

Hey friends! Lawn Fawn's October Inspiration Week is drawing to a close soon! This month's theme is winter/holidays. And Lawn Fawn has so many new super adorable stamp sets.

I created two layouts for this week. This first one uses Red, Set, Snow stamps, the matching dies, Lawn Trimmings, Let's Bokeh In The Snow papers, gold embossing powder, and my most favorite white ink!

I've always loved snow. It requires very specific conditions to happen. And while it happens regularly in some places, it always feels magical to me. I remember the first time I saw snow falling. I was mesmerized. I was also at work, and spent a good 15 minutes staring out the window until my co-workers called me on it. Nothing like peer shaming... Sigh. But anyway, now that I live in the land of eternal sunshine, I really really miss snow. I miss staying in with the kids and getting all cozy with our hot chocolates and a movie. I miss going out and playing in it. I miss shoveling. Yes, shoveling! I miss it a lot.

Let's also talk a little about this white ink created by Lawn Fawn. It's called Yeti (insert heart icon x 2.) It's a pigment ink, so you can stamp on dark surfaces and it shows. It's honestly the best one out there. And I know, because I've tried them all.

This other layout is about the foods we eat around the holidays. I love a good traditional turkey/ham/stuffing/biscuits type meal, and I look forward to it all year long, until Thanksgiving. But by the time Christmas rolls around, I want something else entirely. And apparently so does my family. So a few years ago, we started eating either dim sum or xiao long bao on Christmas Eve, fondue on Christmas, and various other foods between the 25th and New Year's Eve. But we still stick to Hoppin' John on New Year's Day. Because, tradition. (And the hope for a lucky and prosperous new year.)

This layout uses Let's Bokeh In The Snow papers, Lawn Trimmings, Merry Christmas and Stitched Circle Tags dies. The little gingerbread person is from the Oh Snap. Cutest stamp set this release!

Thanks so much for coming by. And don't forget to drop by Lawn Fawn's blog and leave comments to win the new goodies! See you again soon.

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Technique Tuesday: Besties

TGIF! I'm super excited about this weekend. I'm off to Philly see some old friends. It's so good to catch up with people who know your history.

And speaking of friends, I love this little sequence of photos I took of my Littlest and his buddy. I like capturing them in a silly mood. I have a feeling this is a friendship that will last a lifetime (his mom and I are besties too!)

I took the photos with my iPhone and put them into a strip using Photoshop. The stamps are from Technique Tuesday's Besties set. The inks are Colorbox's Pigment. The stamped circle can be easily punched out using a 1.75" punch, or one of these Circle dies. Because hand-cutting circles? Not for the faint-hearted. Meaning, ME!

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you have a great weekend!

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Technique Tuesday: Back To School

Happy Tuesday! It's almost October, so the whole of the North Hemisphere is probably back in school now. My kids went back since August 11. Totally insane.

Since my three boys started going to three different schools, back to school photos were a bit different this year. Last year, I forgot to take them altogether. It was my first time not taking those first day photos since my oldest started preschool 14 years ago. It still bums me out, but what can do... This year, I remembered right as they got home. Phew. So there are no backpack photos, and Middlest is not even wearing shoes. But I'm okay with that. These photos are a measure of the passage of time for me. Maybe when they are all in college, I'll make a book from all the photos (except 2014, sigh.) It will be so awesome to see them going from little to giant (the oldest two are way taller than me), from babies to men.

For this layout, I used school paper and Learning Curve font, which is an awesome cursive font. If I could only write like that... I also used Technique Tuesday's Random Thoughts stamps (you can cut these out using Little Labels dies, but I used my little hands and little scissors because I was too lazy to bring out my diecut machine. That's lazy!)

Those stamps are also perfect for planners. I used to use planners (like back in the dinosaur age) and I really want to get back into using them, but I can't quit the phone reminders. Sniff. Planners are so pretty!

Hope you are having a good week and way better weather than me! It's still in the mid-90s here. Blergh.

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Lawn Fawn: September Inspiration Week

Hey friend! Happy Wednesday! My kids have the day off. Which I love! Even if we don't do anything special, it's always nice to just hang out with the boys.

It's also the last day of Lawn Fawn's September Inspiration Week. If you have never checked one out, you have to. Lots of projects/ideas/prizes.

I created a couple of layouts for this fun week.

The first using a combination of the Let's Bokeh In The Snow papers, Toboggan Together stamps and dies and Stitched Snowflakes dies. These are probably the last snow-filled photos I have. Unless we decide to go chasing snow this year. Which never happens because we are beach people. I'm possibly the worst skier. Ever.

This next layout uses more Let's Bokeh papers, and the super cute Baaah Humbug stamps and dies. And photos of my boys when they were much smaller. Like shorter than me. Sniff.

Sad news: some of these stamps are already sold out. Great news: you can head over to the Lawn Fawn blog and leave comments for chances to win. Yay!

Thanks for dropping by!

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Technique Tuesday: Cath Edvalson Blog Hop

Edited: Yikes! My comments section was not working. Sorry about that. Fixed! Thank you Elizabeth Dillow!

Hey, y'all! After much summer hibernation, I'm back! And for a great reason. Today is the blog hop for Cath Edvalson's amazing stamp and die designs for Technique Tuesday. You are probably arriving from Lisa Adametz's blog. Welcome welcome!

If you don't know who Cath is, you'll arrive at her blog at the end of this hop. Or really, you should go there immediately. And then come back to the hop. She's that awesome. And to top it off, she's a super nice person. Win-win.

Here are a couple of projects I made using the new goodies:

I love this Instagram I took of my parents. They are so cute together.

I used Garden Leaves Die set to cut those vellum leaves. Then I cut one out of green cardstock and trimmed off the lower two leaves for that little detail. I love that the focus is on the photo and story. But that bit of leaves and green pick up the background of photo (Huntington Gardens).

For this card, I used two sets of stamps, Heartfelt Thanks and Garden of Life. I cut out a heart slightly larger than the Heartfelt heart stamp on the top flap of the card base. Then I stamped the sentiment from Garden onto a piece of vellum and embossed it with black powder.

I stamped the heart on another piece of cardstock, embossed that and colored it in with markers. Not the fastest card, but super easy! Just what I like. By the way, black embossing powder? Messy!

So now what? Well, you are almost at the end of the hop. Next up is my dear friend Teri Anderson's blog.

And then, PRIZES! Technique Tuesday is giving away 3 prizes. One person will win all of Cath's new products. Two people will win $25 gift certificates to get whatever they want from the Technique Tuesday store.

For chances to win, leave comments along the blog hop. The winners will be chosen randomly from all the comments from all the blogs. So leave a comment at each stop for more chances of winning. Easy peasy! You have until September 16, 2105, Midnight PST to leave comments. The winners will be announced September 18 on the Technique Tuesday blog.

Here is the hop list, in case you are lost:

Technique Tuesday
Julie Ebersole
Laura O'Donnell
Heather Campbell
Julia Stainton
Daniela Dobson
Kimberly Crawford
Jocelyn Olson
Tobi Crawford
Laurel Beard
Melissa Phillips
Laura Williams
Jaclyn Miller
Donna Mikasa
Birgit Edblom
Kalyn Kepner
Laura Bassen
Julie Campbell
Lisa Adametz
Linda Barber --> you are here
Teri Anderson
Cath Edvalson

Thanks so much for coming by! I'll be resuming my blogging again soon.

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Catch Up Post

Since I'm such a slacker blogger, I end up with projects that I forget to share. Oops.

This is a layout using Your Everyday Stamps Planner set. Alas, my dear friend Ashley has had to close her stamp shop. Here's to hoping it will reopen again soon!

This one was created for Lawn Fawn. I used the Best Pun Ever stamps and dies, Quinn's ABCs stamps and dies, Hearts wood veneer, and Pint-Sized: Beachside petite paper pack.

And lastly, a card created for PageMaps using Technique Tuesday's Here and Now Flair stamps, Happy Day Flair stamps, Lots of Dots stamps,  Hello Pocket die, and Chevron Strip die. You can see what the TT design team created here.

I think I'm caught up. I think.

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Lawn Fawn: Inspiration Week, Day Two

Hey there! I hope you've been visiting the Lawn Fawn blog and checking out the latest Inspiration Week. There are so many great projects, new products, and lots of giveaways! Giveaways!

In this layout, I used the So Jelly stamps and dies, and the Stitched Borders dies, as well as the Pint-Sized Patterns: Beachside Collection and the Let's Polka, Mon Amie paper collection.

Since the photo is fairly small (Instagram), I wanted to make sure we knew that my kid is the pitcher. So I cut a piece of vellum the same size as the photo, punched out a circle, and used it to highlight my child. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the vellum. Give the ink lots of time to dry (or you can heat emboss it). The starfish was stamped onto yellow cardstock and cut out using the matching die.

That cool border around the journaling is made using the new Stitched Borders. I just kept them together, ran them through my diecut machine (Cuttlebug), then I tore a small piece of the patterned paper off each end. I love the results so much (as in, brace yourself, because I'll be doing that again and again...) The little flags are from Party Animal set.

Thanks for dropping by today!

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Lawn Fawn: Inspiration Week

Hey there! This is my kids' first day of summer vacation, and we are in full holiday mode around here. So good! This week (and the next) is also Lawn Fawn's Inspiration Week, meaning lots of new stamps/dies, lots of ideas and inspiration, and lots of giveaways at the Lawn Fawn blog.

My first project uses the brand new Party Animal stamps and dies. I'm also using the Pint-Sized Patterns: Beachside Collection.

This layout is about my Littlest's birthday last year. He's a funny kid. He usually wants one thing on his birthday, and it's usually something small. He's not the kind of kid who has lots of expensive things on his wish list. This past year, he wanted to go to Palm Springs and feed wild lizards. Yup. Lizards. There's this restaurant in PS, where we eat each time we are there, where they feed lettuce to these lizards. They are fairly friendly and will come out of their holes to munch on the lettuce. On our last trip to PS, the restaurant owners told us they would be closed all summer to travel to Mexico. Littlest got really worried about the lizards. He was pretty determined to go there and feed them.

So we did. But we also stayed for the weekend. And we got him an iPod Touch. Because really, he deserves it. He totally didn't expect it, which makes it even sweeter. We all had a great time, relaxing in the pool. The lizards were thankful too! (I misspelled "lizards" a million times in the layout. Sigh.) See the "make a wish" sentiment? Stamped using a new Lawn Fawn ink color (Fish Tank).

I cut around the cute bear's arms with an x-acto knife, and tucked in behind the upper photo. All the tiny icons are popped up.

Do go by Lawn Fawn's blog and leave your comment on each day's post for chances to win the new stuff! And while there, check out all the projects from the design team. Happy Friday!

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Technique Tuesday: Man Week!

This is my kids' last week of school. Woohoo! I can't wait for lots of fun times together. This is also Technique Tuesday's Man Week, in celebration of the men in our lives (Father's Day is June 21, by the way).

I have four guys in my house: three sons and a husband. Meaning, my house is stinky most of the time. It also means that my kids go to a lot of birthday parties for boys. And guess what? I hardly ever have any boy-appropriate cards at hand. The craft world is just geared more towards girls.

That said, boy cards are pretty easy to make. And they don't have to be sports-related, plaid-filled, navy blue projects.

I created this card using two Technique Tuesday stamp sets: Say It - Smile and Smirthday.

I stamped the balloon on cardstock in a variety of colors. I wanted the card to be happy and bright. Then I stamped the "smile" and the sentiment inside a couple of the balloons. The shapes were easy to cut, and some of them are adhered using pop up dots. Then I added the strings with a black marker. I used a neutral grey card base to hold all the balloons. It's a great color that is neither somber, nor too over the top bright.

Super duper easy, right? This card is perfect for many occasions. And by changing the sentiments, or adding a name to a balloon, you can customize it even more.

Don't forget to go by the Technique Tuesday blog for more man-ly card ideas. Also, if you spend $20 on TechniqueTuesday.com by this Friday, you'll get a free Dude stamp. Enter "FreeDudeStamp" in the comments field at checkout.

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Technique Tuesday: Look Out World

Hello there! Almost June! Can't believe it. My kids will be done with school in less than two weeks. I can't wait for the freedom to roam without a schedule. Alas, two of them want to take summer school, so that freedom will end soon. But I'm planning a full schedule of fun for when summer classes are over.

Next year, I'll have one in 11th grade, one in 9th, and one in 4th. Yikes!

My middlest is such a character. He's my one kid with curly hair. If you've seen photos of me (check out my Instagram) or know me, you know that I have straight hair. So I have no idea what's going on with his hair or what to do with his hair. He hates to have his hair cut. But instead of getting longer, it gets puffier, and puffier. And then it gets all lop sided because he hates to brush it. He pushes the brush around just so he can tell me he did his hair. I'm not buying it, but then again, I know to choose my fights. And hair combing, apparently, is not one of them. That's how he ended up leaving the house in a suit and tie to have his 8th grade graduation photos taken with that hair!

We joke that he's harboring little hamsters or baby birds in there, but truth is: girls love that hair. As in, girls looooooove that hair. Not sure that's a good thing for me. But apparently it is for him.

Hair aside, I used a piece of patterned paper that I've been hoarding for a few years now. I loved that Story Teller line from Crate Paper so much. It's time to put it to good use.

All the sentiments are from the Look Out World stamp set. That torn paper die is called Memo Pad Card. The little I *heart* U half-circle is from the The Best Things set and the matching die is from the Hexagon set. I've stamped them using Versafine (black), Colorbox Pigment Ink (red), and Zing embossing powder (gold).

Thanks for coming by! Hope you have a great Monday. xo

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Technique Tuesday: Awesome Overload

Happy Monday! Nothing like a shiny, new week. Oh the possibilities... (Alas, all of my plans involve some sort of decluttering/reducing/scrubbing/laundering. Good times!)

I've been planning a layout using these photos for a while. That's my youngest when he was three years old. He chose that yellow bicycle (Spider Man pattern on it), the pink helmet (his favorite color), and teeny water bottle (tiny version of dad's). Since we had struggled teaching our older kids how to ride bikes, my husband decided that we shouldn't even attach the training wheels. Apparently, that was not a problem for the Littlest. Two weekends of riding down the side slope of our house, and boom, he was riding that two-wheeler on his own. I was seven when I learned. Whose kid is this?!?!

The stamp sets I used for this are: Hello Flair, Matter of Time, and Kinda Wonderful. I used a combo of dye and pigment inks. On the photo (matte paper), I used pigment ink. I find that pigment ink works better with matte photo papers.

And that is it! Thanks for coming by today. Hope you have a great week!

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YES: Quick and Simple Cards

Hey, y'all! I'm blogging at Your Everyday Stamps.

More info on the YES blog. Thanks for dropping by!

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Lawn Fawn: It's Magic

Hey, y'all! I'm back with another Lawn Fawn Inspiration Week project. This one uses the Pint-Sized Patterns: Beachside papers and Stuck On You dies (it has a matching stamp set).

I just love blue and orange together. Ah, complementary colors.

The heart and cactus are from Stuck On You. The alpha die set is called Finley's ABC. My fave!

The location is Joshua Tree National Park. If you've never been, add it to your bucket list. A total must! (Tip: go during winter and stay late for stargazing.) But for now, head on over to the Lawn Fawn blog and leave comments on this week's posts for chances to win the new stuff. Thanks for coming by!

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Lawn Fawn: Lucky Me!

Lawn Fawn is hosting its monthly inspiration week right now. And here is one of my contributions to the week. A pint-sized layout (6x6) using the new Pint-Sized Patterns: Beachside papers. Love love love how scrapable they are! I know... that's not a word, but the papers are just so awesome for scrapbooking! And truly great for card making too. I have always loved the smaller patterns on the B-side of papers more, and this is a whole line filled with them. The colors are pretty fab too. For this layout, I used a combo of the 12x12 sheets and the petite paper pack.

Please ignore the bad grammar and possible typos. I forgot to proofread it before I printed it. Adds a certain level of charm? Uh... no.

I'm also using the new My Lucky Charm stamps and die set. The set includes the asian lucky cat! I've been wanting a big one for my workspace. If you ever see one, alert me! But anyway, back to the layout...

I printed the journaling directly onto matte photo paper. I used an Instagram photo of my youngest sporting a leprechaun hat. Well, more like I forced him to wear it. But he was a good sport about it. Kinda. And added the die cuts with pop up dots. The title is from the same stamp set and I used Lawn Fawn Freshly Cut Grass ink.

And that's my story. Don't forget to come by tomorrow for another project, and do go by Lawn Fawn's blog today and leave a comment to win new goodies!

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Technique Tuesday: Puppy Love

Hey, y'all! My brother and his wife have this new puppy: a fluffy white 2.5 lbs Maltese named Luigi (first dog is Yoshi, I really thought this one should be Mario. My brother thought it should be Bowser, but it technically belongs to the SIL and she was not taking suggestions. Harumpf!) When I was visiting them around the holidays, I could not get enough of Lui. Like all babies, he wanted lots of attention, to play, and to nap. Oh, and to poop and pee. Did I mention that he wasn't house trained yet, and that we had him at my mom and dad's house? And that my mom is a clean freak? And that there were many accidents? He's not my mom's favorite right now.

But back to cuteness overload.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen this photo.

That's him. That's my Luigi. (Well, technically not mine. Bummer.) The 'gram ended up on this layout using Technique Tuesday's stamps and dies (All You Need Is Love, Williamsburg Alpha, Pockets of Love dies)

The "loves" on top and the arrow were from the die set, watercolored with these awesome crayons. The heart was stamped and cut out by hand. I all kinds of love the combo of light turquoise-y blue with pink. And I love that little fur face.

How about one last cute photo? Here he is being "forced" into a snowman suit. Poor creature. My husband wanted to get him a warm jacket, but they didn't have anything small enough for Lui. The one thing that would fit him was a snowman suit, which Lui hated. I mean, HATED! Can you tell?

Every time, he wore it, he'd try to shake it off so hard, he'd do a flip. Poor pup. By the way, Luigi is almost 3lbs now! Monster-size dog! Ha!

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