Technique Tuesday: Happy Spring!

Hey, Crafty Friends! You know when your craft supply order comes in and you are itching to create? Last week, I got my new Technique Tuesday stamps on the same day as my order with Distress Inks. Best day of the week!

I had been waiting for the License Plate Alpha set to come back in stock. It was so popular, the set sold out when it was first released. These stamps do not disappoint. Such an awesome font and size. I wanted to create something quick with the alpha and the new-to-me Distress Inks. I'm so not a Distress Ink expert. But those adorable little minis, coupled with some serious enabling from my stamping friends proved too hard to resist (I'm looking at you Chari Moss!)

When you first stamp with Distress Inks, the look is blotchy and unlike dye inks, it stays blotchy. I love that splotchy look, but I ended up going over the stamped images with a water brush. The water makes the ink spread out a bit, and gives it a more watercolor-y look, which I love.

The other stamps I used are part of the  Smile Borders (triangles) and Love Bug Jar (butterfly) sets.

This card is fast and easy to make. I love the end result, it's so colorful and cheery!

Happy Almost Spring!

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Your Everyday Stamps!

My dear friend Ashley Harris started a stamp company called Your Everyday Stamps or YES. Clever, right? YES stamps are exactly what their name implies: not just for special occasions, but for everyday use. And what's big right now? Planners! Everyone is really into planners, organizing and decorating them. YES has some seriously useful and cute planner sets.

Check this one out! So good!

And this one.

But what if you are not into planners? (I love planners, I have planners, I just don't use planners. I pretty much rely on my phone to remind me to do stuff. Oh, like pick up kids from school...)

Well, then use them for cards/layouts/pocket scrapbooking. Here's a card I made using the arrow from the above set and a small Thank You set.

Follow YES on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with what's new. And check out the blog for ideas and giveaways! Happy Monday!

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Happy Birthday, Lawn Fawn!

Lawn Fawn is celebrating its 5th anniversary! The Fawnie team is honoring this birthday by posting some special projects.

The owners of Lawn Fawn (Kelly, Mike, and Erica) are some of the nicest people ever. They are hard working, generous, and they make the whole team feel like family.

Dear Kelly & Mike & Erica, 

and the entire Lawn Fawn team, 

HAPPY YEAR FIVE!

I used Years 2, 3, and 4 for this card. The animals, balloon, and present are colored in
with alcohol markers. The confetti is watercolor. Click for a bigger view.

(And just in case you didn't know, Lawn Fawn launches a new "Year" stamp set each, well, year. Here's this year's set. It's already sold out. So do sign up to be notified when it comes back in stock.)

A few of my fellow Fawnies are also sharing Happy Birthday projects today. Do go by and say hello!

Chari

Elena

Latisha

Lynette

Nichol

Nicole

Tiffany

Yainea

Thanks so much for stopping by, and party on!

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Catching up...

Hello hello! Since I've been a slacker-blogger, I have some projects that I haven't shared. These are some of the ones I created for Technique Tuesday's CHA 2015 release.

This layout uses Real Story and Here & There stamp sets, as well as the Hexagon die cut set.

I used a little vellum for the "this is everyday life" stamp. I got the best results using pigment ink, but I did heat set it afterwards.

That's gold ink, y'all! Love Tsukineko's Delicata gold ink. So good!

I twice tried getting into the whole pocket scrapbooking thing, but it never stuck. After doing this page, I think I might try again. I think my problem was that I was setting too many rules, and using too many products. Technique Tuesday has so many awesome pocket scrapbooking dies and stamps! For this project, I used Time Of Our Life and Hi There stamps sets, and the Just Sayin die.

If you are thinking, "Did I just see that boy in that hat?" Yup, you did. A few days ago, I created a different layout using a different photo of him in that hat from a different year. I love that birthday hat (and the boy too!)

Thanks for stopping by! See you again really soon.

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Snail Trail

Hi, friends! Lawn Fawn is teamed up with Scrapbook Adhesives this week for a fun blog hop. Scrapbook Adhesives are the makers of my most favorite foam squares. I love the rounded corners, I love how easily they come off the backing sheet. I love the dimension it gives my projects, it's just the perfect height. I'm pretty much addicted to those things, and I have to have at least a few sheets at all times, otherwise I start to feel a bit stressed out. I realize that's a bit weird, but I'm keeping it real here (hee hee)!

Snail trail was created with Versamark, Ranger Perfect Medium pen, and clear embossing powder.

This card was made with the newly released Gleeful Gardens and its matching dies. I also used the new Grassy Cupcake Liner die (as the hill). The sun is a die from the Spring Showers set.

Sorry for the super grainy photos. Dark, light-less day in SoCal. They do exist.

Please go by the Lawn Fawn and Scrapbook Adhesives' blogs for more projects and to win prizes!

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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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Lawn Fawn: Fall/Winter Release Week

Hey there! Lawn Fawn is having it's Fall/Winter Release Week, and if you haven't visited their blog during a Release Week, you must. It's filled with great cards, layouts, ideas, and the best: giveaways!

Here are two of my projects for this week.

The first one featuring Monster Mash. It's so stinking cute. When I first saw it, I was reminded of my youngest in the Charlie Brown Halloween Ghost costume I made for my middlest. I love it when my kids want to "recycle" old costumes.

I made the title using Quinn's ABCs (which has matching dies) and Riley's ABCs ("not"). The ghosts/monsters also have coordinating dies.

This second layout features the new Sweater Weather paper and embellishment collection. It's browns, yellow, greens, reds, oranges, and blues. And those cute wood veneer leaves. They stamp really well with StazOn. The title is Cole's ABCs dies, and the numbers and words are Riley's ABCs.

Can you tell I miss a proper Autumn? I know I'm lucky to live in the land of eternal sunshine, but as crazy as it sounds, I sometimes wish for a brisk day. You know, the grass is always greener and all that.

Thanks for coming by, and don't forget to visit Lawn Fawn's blog and comment each day for a chance to win all the new goodies!

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Back! And Where The Boys Are.

I'm back from my long trip through Taiwan and China. So much to share, but alas, photos need some editing first.

Meawhile…

Today marks the debut of Where The Boys Are. I'm so honored to be a contributor to this amazing blog featuring stories about raising boys. Please go by and take a peek. Whether you are raising boys or girls or both or none, I think you'll like what you see.

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