"Any Old Time" with Polka Dot Whimsy...

It's April and that means there is a new kit from Polka Dot Whimsy. (Yes, I realize I'm a little late...) I really liked the color palette for this kit - "Any Old Time." It's very versatile and so far I've completed two Valentine's layouts and one birthday. "Oh So Happy To Have You 3" came together pretty quick. I mixed patterned papers by My Mind's Eye and Echo Park.I loved used the Tim Holtz tickets and border stickers by Crate Paper. The only thing I added not from the kit was the black twine I tied through my button and the Marth Stewart border punches. I cut out a few flowers from a sheet by My Mind's Eye for a corner grouping.

For Valentine's Day, I had made heart-shaped pancakes (but they looked more like Mickey Mouse!). Kevin loved them anyway!

Instead of using the MME frame as a frame, I used it behind my photos. I liked how the top and bottom looked sticking out. The stickers from the Echo Park "For the Record" sticker sheet made the perfect mixed title. I also liked adding a strip of the Tim Holtz tissue tape mixed in with my patterned paper strips and border sticker.

I used a Fiskars punch for the hearts. LOVE how white pen looks on black cardstock.

Finally, I scrapped one of my birthdays.

Little bits of embellishments in an upper corner is becoming my finishing touch on may layouts.

The tissue tape framing the oversized photo mat was sort of an afterthought. I thought it completed the page nicely.

Because of delays, my kit was missing a few items this month. The remaining products should arrive soon and I can't wait to complete more projects with them added to my kit.

Happy scrappin'!

"Freshly Picked" by Polka Dot Whimsy...

The March add-on "Freshly Picked" from Polka Dot Whimsy included a mix of papers from Jillibean Soup and We R Memory Keepers. I instantly fell in love with the hearts on one of the Jillibean papers and knew I wanted to cut them out and line them up in a row. I had this photo of our family from a couple summer back that worked perfectly with this add-on kit. I remembered seeing fellow DT member Mel use fabric strips from a previous kit tied through a tag, so I copied that look here. I loved the simplicity of the heart sticker and my title on the kraft tag.

And finally...my hearts. I even added a few stitches to finish them off.

This add-on kit had a great family feel. Last fall we stopped off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast while on our way to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard. Instead of scrapping the photos with that event, I decided to make a whole layout just about Cracker Barrel. It's Tom's favorite restaurant and we end up eating there often. Any time I have ruled paper, I am inspired to scrap something that has a long story to tell. Lines help me tell that story neatly. ;)

Oh look...more hearts and stitching.

I have enough product from this kit to crank out another layout or two. There just aren't enough hours in the day... Right now we are on Spring Break from school and I am enjoying my time with my boys. I hope everyone has enough time in their day for some quality family time, too.

Happy scrappin'!

"Butterfly Gardens" from Polka Dot Whimsy...

I really enjoyed working with the March "Butterfly Gardens" kit from Polka Dot Whimsy. Even though the kit appeared really feminine color-wise - lots of pinks, pastels - it worked perfect with my spring and Easter photos. When I saw coffee filter shapes included with the kit, I wanted to mist them with some of the new Mr. Huey mists I had recently picked up at CKC. I thought the scalloped ones looked like clouds. Now that I have the layout posted, I realize that they look much better in person (trust me!)... This layout of Blake shows him crowing the Virgin Mary during the May Procession at church last spring. I was so proud of him. I used a mixture of papers by Echo Park, Kaiser Crafts and Pebbles.

It was fun grouping some embellishments for my title placement. I layered a couple flowers with a sequin. I also opted to keep the Jillibean Soup corrugated frames in their natural kraft state.

The only thing I used that wasn't in the kit was a section of Pink Paislee baker's twine that I wrapped around the larger photos to hang a tag (from the kit).

I love making 2-page layouts, but since the kits only come with one sheet of each color of cardstock, I usually stick with single page layouts. I really wanted to use our egg decorating photos from last Easter with this kit, so I got creative. I decided to split up the 'strip' paper by Kaiser Craft across a sheet of polka dot patterned paper and a solid cardstock. The solid pink cardstock was a bit bland with the rest of the spread so I placed some of the corrogated Jillibean Soup shapes on top of the cardstock and sprayed them with white Mr. Huey mist. I thought the cardstock tied into the layout better after creating the mask.

I loved adding the row of buttons to separate the two rows of photos. I have a confession to make... I'm a bit OCD when it comes to buttons. I MUST have them either sewn on the page or at least tied. I can't have a "naked" button on my layouts.

For my title, I again layered a couple die cuts. I did do something that I hadn't done in years though - I got out my old Creative Memories pens and added "Coloring" to my title in multiple colors. I thought it tied in with the theme nicely. And, even though the background paper wasn't ruled, I was still able to journal (a lot!) directly on the page.

The next page is a lift of myself. A few weeks ago I had created another layout using Easter photos. I liked it so much that I decided to stick with the same design, but flipped, for this layout.

I have another confession to make...I really wasn't a fan of the Basic Grey papers in this kit. BUT I really liked the finished product here after using the brown/floral pattern I used as the large back piece on this page.

I used a border punch on the dot paper, but then cut the scalloped edge off to give it a postage-stamp edge. Isn't the felt bird, cute?

Oh, and what good is a pastel/floral-y kit if I don't finish a Reese page with it? I loved these shots of us together in August. "2 Fun" seemed like an appropriate title.

I used one of the Jillibean Soup frames to frame a butterfly from the fabric piece included in the kit. I thought it gave a bit of a "quilted" look.

This was a fun kit to work with. I still have a lot of products left so you may see more with it in the future.

Life of the Party...

I recently picked up the new "Life of the Party" line by Basic Grey. I am in love. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to cut my birthday photos back to a manageable number! I think I have more birthday party photos than I'll ever be able to scrap!

The first night I had this paper line in my hands, I pulled out some photos from Blake's last birthday and went to work.I made my own candle to double as a "1" and I hand cut the banner out of another sheet of patterned paper to string across my page. Birthday photos make me soooo happy!

Catching up - mid-March...

Recent warmer weather has kept us outside more lately. The start of spring sports (practices) has added a couple nights of activities to our schedules. I've neglected to add some of our recent events to the blog.

Blake had his cast removed on the 9th. After 5-1/2 weeks, he was happy to have his wrist healed and his right arm back! I still caught him using his left hand for almost everything for a few days though.

The cast came off just in time for him to participate in his last Upwards basketball game. The doctor gave him the OK.

Although he missed both of his free throws (hit the back of the rim), he still scored 16 points. That was a great showing after missing five games though!

It was good to wrap up the season with his team.

In other news...

Hotwheels seem to be one toy that never goes out of style.

Tom and I enjoyed watching the boys play with them in front of the tv one night. I love how they used one of my throws since the tire tracks showed up so well on. I remember playing with Hotwheels as a kid!

Finally, I've always enjoyed having our boys participate in Scouting. But, this year I think they are really understanding the service aspect of it. Kevin is getting to experience a lot of Blake's service activities Blake is now offering to help when Kevin's group participates in one. Last week Blake asked to help when Kevin's pack worked to bag trees for the local extension office. It got pretty messy, but it sure was fun!

I love that spring is here now. Everything is starting to green up and you can see buds on the trees. Our neighbor even mowed over the weekend. I love that smell!

Springtime just warms my heart!

Easter is on the way...

Lent is here and we are preparing for the upcoming Easter. This year our church is promoting small group meetings. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss our faith and remind us why we practice the way we do. I am participating every Wednesday night. I really enjoy the other four women in my group. We made a plan to be more "present" this week in how we worship.

I think being "present" is something I often take for granted. I might be somewhere or participating in something, but am I really "present"? Often, I'm probably just going through the motions. Since Wednesday, I've been trying to be a lot more aware while doing everything. Not just at church. Not just in prayer. But in EVERYTHING.

While driving the boys to haircuts yesterday, I was aware of the beautiful way the sun's rays were coming through the clouds. (Instead of stressing about being on time.)

On Thursday instead of staying home to catch up on housework during the boys' baseball practices, I went along too. The weather was beautiful and it was so much fun watching the boys with their new teams.

And, in church today I was more aware of the readings and my responses. I heard every word of the songs and really thought about what they were saying. I sat between my two boys and enjoyed seeing them participate as well.

I have to admit though, all this being present has pushed my scrapbooking to the backseat a bit. That and NCAA basketball! My evenings have been a bit occupied while I watch games with my guys.

I did manage to finish one layout recently. This layout is an assignment for Crop Chocolate. I used the new Echo Park "For the Record" paper line. I just added a set of Thickers for my title. I thought it was fitting to include an Easter layout in this post. I love celebrating Easter with my family. Back to scrapping...I also love all the journaling and accent stickers that come with the Echo Park paper lines.

With the new week starting, I hope you all take some time to be present.

Happy Spring!

It's almost baseball season...

Today was our league's baseball draft. Yay!!! That means practices are right around the corner. And yes, I am VERY excited! In our house, we live for baseball season!


However, this year Kevin will be moving up to Minor League (kid pitch). That means our days of Rookie League (machine pitch) are gone. Forever. Rookie League has been my absolute favorite.


I starting thinking back to when Blake played Rookie. (And made all-stars both years.) And then about Kevin's three years in Rookie. We moved him up a year early. He was also a 7 & 8 year old all star.


Last Saturrday, my latest design team package arrived from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff. The timing was perfect. I had selected the new Teresa Collins Sports Edition II products to work with this month. I decided it was the perfect time to scrap some of Kevin's photos from his last weekend all-star tournament last summer. These layouts document the end of his Rookie "career."

This 2-pager documents the teamwork the boys had in the dugout helping Kevin in and out of his catcher's gear. It also shows Kevin leading the team in the cheers.

I mixed a couple American Crafts Thickers for the title.

To embellish my page, I cut different shapes/designs out of the patterned papers and layered them. I like adding pop dots for dimension. Here's another 2-pager. I love the ledger and grid patterned papers that came with this paper line. They made great background papers and allowed me a lot of space for journaling.

It was sad documenting the final photos of Kevin's last Rookie game. The coordinating brads from the line made great embellishments for this layout of Kevin catching.

I even used one of the coordinating trims.

Kevin's team had the best all-star season. They went undefeated and he brought home six championship trophies/medals.

I hand cut this label accent from a patterned paper and added mini Basic Grey alphas for the year.

I used a mix of Pink Paislee and American Crafts alphas for title with a chipboard word from the paper line. Although "Run Forest, Run!" comes to mind when I see this photo of Kevin running in his gear, I asked Tom to come up with a title for me. He selected "hustle" which was more than appropriate. Kevin really does hustle. You can tell he loves to play baseball.

And I love to layer embellishments...And alphas, too...

Oh, and more embellishments.If you have sports layouts to scrap, this new line is a must have!