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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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: 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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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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Lawn Fawn: February Inspiration Week

Let's just ignore the fact that I haven't posted here since last September...

Jumping right into scrappy stuff: Lawn Fawn is having its monthly inspiration week right now. That means loads of eye candy and loads of giveaways.

Here are my contributions to this month's projects:

This layout features all new Winter CHA stuff: Scripty Sayings stamps, Happy Birthday border die, and Lawn Fawn Fundamentals dye ink. And it features my littlest wearing the birthday hat I knit for his first birthday. He wears it on his birthday every year. It barely fits him now, but as long as he lets me, I'm going to keep stretching it over his noggin on his special day.

So let's talk about the Lawn Fawn Fundamentals dye ink for a minute. So amazing. Sooo good! Check out this video about them:

And another layout from yours truly:

This one also uses new goodies: Flirty Frames stamps, and Let's Polka, Mon Amie papers.

Bad news: these new products won't be available until February 19. Great news: you can win them by entering the giveaways on the Lawn Fawn blog. So hop over there right now and leave a comment for a chance to win. Don't forget to scroll down to each day of the Inspiration Week.

Thanks for stopping by! Here's to more blogging in 2015.

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Lawn Fawn: September Inspiration Week

Hello again! Lawn Fawn is posting all the winners of their most recent giveaway. Don't forget to drop by the blog to see if it's you!

Here's another layout I created using some of the new goodies. The background paper is this year's version of my favorite bokeh paper ever (from last year's holiday collection, see it here.) The alpha is Milo's ABCs. And the snow flakes are the super cute Stitched Snowflakes.

I cut a bunch of Stitched Snowflakes, and then applied some watercolor randomly. I stuck to a yellow/orange/pink palette to bring some contrast to the teal-ish background. Even if my kids made comments about yellow snow… Boys. Sigh.

The layout came together pretty quickly. The photos and journal are printed together on matte photo paper. I stamped the titles directly onto the photos using Hero Arts dye ink. The snowflakes were adhered with some 3M Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. And that's it. The bulk of the time was spent die-cutting and waiting for the watercolor to dry (I cheated and used a heat gun, which then curled the snowflakes. I'm loving that effect!)

Thanks so much for coming by. My kids have today and tomorrow off (Rosh Hashanah). I'm hoping to get some hiking time with them and some crafting time by myself. Hope you have a great week (and weekend).

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Lawn Fawn: Snow Day Collection

It's time for another Lawn Fawn Inspiration Week! And this time, Lawn Fawn is featuring its holiday line, Snow Day. I know right? Christmas! Snow! Eeep! Not sure I'm entirely ready for this. Especially since the temps around Los Angeles have been in the 100s.

I created this layout about one of our Christmas trees. Back when we lived in Philly, one of our favorite traditions was to drive out into the country to find that perfect tree, cut it down ourselves, and haul it home. We've done it once here, and the experience was a bit surreal. There we were, cutting down a pine, surrounded by palm trees. PALM TREES! And we were all in shorts and T-shirts. SHORTS! But it's not going to stop us from doing it again this year.

To create this layout, I used the Hoodie paper, which is all journaling cards on one side and tiny polka dots on the other.

I printed photos in 3x4 and one in 4x6. Each photo has a little paper detail that I punched out (Fiskars punch) from the Snow Day petite paper pack. I sewed the scallops directly onto the photos. Then adhered them right on top of the journaling cards using pop-up dots (Scrapbook Adhesives). The alpha stamps are Riley's ABC. The tiny snowflakes stamped on the "Jolly Holly Days" card are from Deck The Halls set. I finished off with my printed journaling, and wooden snowflakes. Easy peasy.

Now, I can't wait for the weather to cool off a bit around these parts. I hear we'll be getting Fall-like weather soon. Los-Angeles-Fall, that is. (Meaning, we'll still be in shorts.)

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget to visit Lawn Fawn's blog, and leave a comment to win. See you again tomorrow.

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Technique Tuesday: Layout

Hey there! Happy Thursday! I'm sharing a project for Technique Tuesday, which is also up on their blog. If you haven't been there lately, do go by! It's filled with so many projects and ideas and giveaways!

This layout is my ode to dim sum. Although I'm quite certain I've made at least another page about dim sum before. How can I not? If you have never experienced it, it's like Chinese tapas. Lots of little dishes shared between friends. The twist is that instead of ordering off the menu, there are ladies walking carts filled with hot, steaming food. You flag them down, they show you what they have, and you choose to take a dish or not. Very interactive. We eat dim sum at least once a month, and my kids love it.

Anyway. Layout. Clean and simple. The journaling is printed directly on the cardstock, and the sentiment (I Like You set) stamped directly below it. I adhered and hand stitched the photo right above that. The little flag is made using Weekly Review stamps. I stamped it, colored it a bit, cut off the edges, nipped it on one side, and finished the new edge off with black marker. It was then attached with a tiny stapler. Super easy!

Thanks so much for coming by! I hope you have a great weekend. I'm going to spend mine cleaning my work space and going to my kid's baseball games/practices/clinic. It's that season again!

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Lawn Fawn: Inspiration Week, part II

Looking for the Technique Tuesday blog hop? Please click here.

Hello again! Today, the Lawn Fawn blog is featuring the circle and scalloped circle dies. These dies work with most cutting systems. I have a really old Cuttlebug, and these dies work without any extra shims. Just the A, B, and C cutting boards. The circle set features 8 dies and the scalloped set has 7. And of course, they match in size. Yay for that!

This layout is about our hike in Joshua Tree National Park earlier this year. That place is really magical. Such a strange, beautiful world. If you are ever in that area, I highly recommend it. Although, consider going during winter. It's hot as heck during the summer. Yes, I've been there during the summer. Ten minutes in that heat made me want to cry the ugly cry. Plus, summer is when the rattlesnakes are awake and perky... Just sayin'.

To make this layout, I cut up a sheet of Elle's Studio paper to 8.5" x 11". Those pink and red stripes at the bottom are part of the patterned paper. Love that paper!  The photos are cut using the dies. And the title was stamped with Harold's ABC. A little stitching, and I was done.

Speaking of stitching, I created a heart and arrow template for the Lawn Fawn class I taught at CKU-San Diego this past weekend. Simple design with dots, which is where you should poke holes for stitching (I use a Maya Road star pin – perfect for this job!) I've uploaded it to my box.com account, and you can downloaded by clicking here. (Be nice and download this for personal use only.)

Thanks for dropping by today. Don't forget to go by Lawn Fawn, and leave a comment to win awesome prizes!

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Lawn Fawn: June Inspiration Week

If you are here for the Technique Tuesday blog hop, please click here.

Yo! I can't believe it's mid-June already. My kids are still in school, but this is their last week. Woohoo!

This week, Lawn Fawn is celebrating its monthly Inspiration Week. That means, lots of ideas, creative eye candy, and amazing prizes!

Today's focus is on Quinn's Capital ABCs. This is a companion set to the other two previous Quinn's lowercase alpha and numbers (I made a layout with the numbers a while back...) And let's not forget the dies! So good!

I used Quinn's Capital to create this layout about my love of washi tapes. Although, c'mon, let's be honest here. You love it and hoard it too! I'd say my collection is on the small side. I'm trying really hard to only buy ones I love. Which is a lot. But I'm pacing myself. A few rolls every now and then as a treat. Although there's enough that even my kids have taken to taping stuff around the house with it. I'm trying my best to share, because, uh, I have more than enough, but I kinda (selfishly) want to put a stop to that...

This was a super fun layout to create. The letters were easy to cut out, and then it was just a question of sticking down some tape adding a photo and some journaling, and stitching around the edge. The letters were then adhered with my favorite wet glue (3M Scotch Tacky Glue). Quick and colorful!

Thank you so much for coming by today. Don't forget to drop by the Lawn Fawn blog and leave a comment to win some awesome prizes! See you again soon.

ps: because a few people have asked... the tape dispenser in the photo is from Target.

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Technique Tuesday: Happyville Collection

Happy Monday, friends! I had such an awesome Mother's Day. It's so nice to be spoiled. But I did miss spending it with my mom, who is in China right now. She really is my hero. She is brave and true. Plus she's an amazing cook! Win-win.

My dad took this photo of us last November, at my brother's wedding in San Francisco. Please ignore my gross wrinkly hands. 

So back to my regular routine!

My dear friend Teri Anderson designed the adorable Happyville Collection for Technique Tuesday. It's 7 sets that can be mixed and matched to your heart's content.

I created this layout here about my love of traveling, and a bigger love for coming home. You know how they say distance makes the heart grow fonder? True! Distance, and my super comfy bed. For this layout, I used the airplane and a sentiment from the Travel set and a few words off the Home set. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the airplane and the little lines behind them are stamped in gold. The lines are from the (super useful!) In Stitches set. The patterned paper is super old Basic Grey. I've been hoarding and (yay) finally used it. I'm kinda wishing I had more of it.

Thank you for coming by today. Don't hold me to it. But I might venture and do a Project Life post this week...

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Lawn Fawn: May Inspiration Week

Hello there! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I've been sick and busy. Then busy and sick. Happy to be back.

Lawn Fawn is holding its monthly Inspiration Week. Which can only mean one awesome thing: tons of inspiration and lots of prizes.

Here are the two projects I contributed.

This one is clean and simple and quick. Totally my kind of scrapbooking! I used the cloud, the arrow, and the sentiment stamps from the Blue Skies set. The journaling is stamped with Sharp Backgrounds in a light grey color.

I have been waiting to scrap the photos in this other layout for a long time. It's my youngest Luke, when he was 3. He really wanted a dog. More specifically, he wanted our next door neighbor's dog Lady. Lady was an old, old retriever. Such a sweet dog. Luke would call her: "Lay-tee!" and she would run over and let him pet her through the fence. Never mind Luke would get super shy when we went over to their house. Probably because she was a very large dog. Large, but always gentle. It's quite possible that we were the only people in our little town in Pennsylvania without a pet. Or at least my kids said we were.

This layout uses stamps from Critters In The Dog Park stamp set, Daphne's Closet papers, and Narrators letter stickers. The pups were cut out using the new matching dies! How do I love those! Makes everything easier. And I'm all about the easier.

All the new stamps and dies will be available tomorrow. (But you should go by Lawn Fawn's blog today and comment to win!)

Thanks for stopping!

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Technique Tuesday: Studio AE February 2013

Hello hello! Technique Tuesday revealed Studio AE's latest stamp set today. It's called Super Fantastic. Because, well, it is. If you haven't heard about Studio AE, all the stamps are designed by Ali Edwards. And when you sign up for a membership, you get a nice discount on your sets. Find out more about Studio AE here.

So this is Super Fantastic:

It's eleven stamps with everyday sentiments that are perfect for scrapbooking as well as cardmaking. And here's my first project using this set:

stamps: Technique Tuesday Super Fantastic by Ali Edwards / cardstock: Neenah / patterned paper: Echo Park / tags: Elle's Studio / washi: Freckled Fawn, Bella Blvd. / ink: Clearsnap Colorbox Pigment Ink / thread: DMC / staples: Tim Holtz / adhesive: Tombow

I love the mix of the typewriter font with Ali's handwriting. For this layout, I stamped them in various colors, and did some hand stitching with some (kinda sorta) matching thread. It's a layout about my family's recent visit to an Orange County beach. It had a lot of tidepools, and my youngest was fascinated by them, and all the sea creatures he was finding. Usually, he wants to dig in the sand with his brothers (or swim if the water wasn't so cold). But because of these tidepools, he chose to explore the beach with me. WITH ME! Woohoo!

Thanks for visiting today! The Technique Tuesday team will be doing a blog hop on the 10th. So don't forget to come back. Have a great weekend.

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Happy December!

Yikes! Another year going by. I read something the other day that is so true: "The days are long, but the years are short." It needs to be a poster, doesn't it?

Anyway...

I've got a layout to share today. It's in Creating Keepsakes' latest special issue, Scrapbooking Babies and Toddlers. It's about The Nose! That would be my nose. Which is also my mom's nose, and grandmother's nose. It might have been her mom's nose too, but I never met my great-grandmother, so I cannot attest to that. When I was little, growing up in a sea of people with perky little ski slope noses, I really hated my nose. My mom sold me some story about our nose being lucky. But apparently she knew what she was talking about. I've been nothing but lucky!

When my littlest was born, he had my nose, which seriously, is so much cuter on him. A most adorable button nose. Alas, the button nose is not too buttony anymore. It's definitely following in the direction of my husband's Northern/Eastern European ancestry. A more... uhm... prominent shape. Oh well.

That would be little me in the circle. Yes, wearing three piggy tails. As seen in the Scrapbooking Babies and Toddlers special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

Thanks for dropping by! See you tomorrow, when I'll share Lawn Fawn's new release. We are talking Valentine's Day! Already! See? Time does fly.

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Elle's Studio Guest Designer

I'm so honored to be guest designing for Elle's Studio this month. I've been a big fan of their products for a long. Then I met the Elle! And I became an even bigger fan. She's such a kind, and giving person!

This first layout is about the costumes I create for my kids each year. I've tapered off on the sewing quite a bit, since my two oldest said they were too old to dress up. I do miss seeing them going from house to house trick-or-treating. But can I say that I'm also a bit glad that I don't have to make three costumes anymore? Ha! I know... nice mom... I've been trying to convince my youngest to go as the Lorax this year, but he's having none of it. He wants to be a tree, but "not a Truffula tree. Just a normal tree." I guess he was reading my mind...

tags: Elle's Studio Spooky Tales Large Journaling Tags + Spooky Tales Pennants + Spooky Tales Thankful Pennants + Spooky Tales Tidbits / patterned paper: My Mind's Eye / stamps: Hero Arts Basic Lower Case Letters / washi: MT / sewing machine

That Halloween card was perfect for my journaling. I ran it through my printer, and then I couldn't resist adding one googly eye to the O. So Despicable Me minion, no? (Maybe the littlest could be a minion...)

This next layout is all Fall also. It's about one of last visits we took to our favorite pumpkin patch in Philly. It's this amazing, organic farm with the cutest farmer's market.

tags: Elle's Studio Spooky Tales Large Journaling Cards + Hello Summer Lil' Snippets + Summer Lovin' Note Tags / stamp (chevron): Lawn Fawn Interlocking Backdrops / ink: Clearsnap Cat's Eye Pigment Ink / flair button: Ormolu 2-day Hooray Month / sewing machine + typewriter

I used three 4x6 journaling cards as the base for the photos. For two of those, I trimmed around the "tags", and tucked the photos underneath. It creates the look of layers without adding more bulk.

tags: Elle's Studio Summer Lovin' Cutouts + The Sweet Life Note Tags / stamps: Lawn Fawn A Birdie Told Me + Happy Everything / ink: Tsukineko Versafine / markers: Letraset ProMarkers / sewing machine

And I made a card. I cut one of the smaller journaling cards apart to use the pretty stripes. I layered it with another card, and added some adorable Lawn Fawn stamps on top. The chevrons are from one of the cut apart tags. Easy peasy!

Thanks for dropping by. And thanks to Elle's Studio for asking me to guest! Don't forget to drop by their blog for the design team gallery reveal!

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