Make It Monday

I realize that it's been almost a month since I've last posted here... Ever since our trip to Nashville, I've been going through some time of getting back to being the person that God created me to be and it hasn't been an easy process but I'm starting to finally feel like myself again. Life has been super busy here and I can't believe how close we are to Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday. I made this centerpiece and had to show it off. I seriously love it and have now become addicted to hybrid projects, lol. During my time off from this blog I've decided that I'm going to start a new blog for just scrapbooking stuff and this blog will get back to what it's titled to be which is my life as a modern day hippie. I know that scrapbooking is a part of my life but with so much scrapbooking, I've decided it's probably best to have it's own blog. Stay tuned for the details.

Here's the centerpiece that I'm so excited about!

Softly Falling by Dani Mogstad
Perfectly Square by Kelleigh Ratzlaff
Paper Roses by the Cutting Files
Autumn Leaves by Kelleigh Ratzlaff

Extras:
chipboard letters, glitter, mod podge, quill tool, glue dots

Make It Monday

Well, we just got back from Nashville yesterday and decided in honor of World Cardmaking Day which was on Saturday, to make a Thank You card for my dear friend who treated us to an amazing museum which turned out to be Moriah's favorite activity of the week. I hadn't seen this friend since she moved to Nashville 10 years ago and it was so good to catch up with her. This museum had a wonderful kid's part of the museum with all sorts of crafts and art projects for the kids to do. They had a blast!

Here's the card I made last night.

card template by Julie Billingsley - available at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Simply Summer add-on by Krystal Hartley - available at Sweet Shoppe Designs (quarterly assortment)
Color Box Chalk Ink
"many thanks" stamp from Archivers
button
glue dots

Make It Monday

OK, my blocks that I showed you last week are done... well, mostly done since I want to add a few more coats of Mod Podge to really seal them and so the kids can play with them.

Here they are!

the bottom pic is a name we are thinking of for our little dude due in January... shhhhh! LOL

credits:
Alphabet Soup for Boys by Zoe Pearn
Alphabet Soup for Girls by Zoe Pearn
Alphabet Soup for Boys: The Collection by Zoe Pearn
Alphabet Soup for Girls: The Collection by Zoe Pearn
DJB Skritch Skratch by Darcy Baldwin
School Days alpha by Zoe Pearn
kite template from Go Outside! by Penny Springmann
owl (recolored) and branch from Falling For Her by Traci Reed and Melissa Bennett
Paper Clips: Leila's Alpha templates by Libby Weifenbach

I've had several people ask me how I made them... well actually more like tell me they want a set, lol... but really they are super super easy. I wasn't planning on doing a tutorial but I'll just share some quick instructions, so there won't be in progress pics unfortunately. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions though.

OK, first I bought my supplies:
-the main kits I used were the first two listed above - Alphabet Soup for Boys and Alphabet Soup for Girls (there are some 2 x 2 tiles in there and I used all of them and then used one as a template to create the rest of the letters
-5 - 2" x 2" wooden blocks
-sand paper
-paint
-white cardstock
-Mod Podge (I used Matte, though you can use Glossy if you prefer)
-sponge brush

OK, here we go...
1) sand the edges of your blocks
2) paint all sides of your blocks... making sure the edges are well coated since that's the part that will show, let dry
3) create the tiles... I used one of the 2x2 tiles in the kit and then shrunk it down to 1.75"x1.75", and then I created a template and then used that as a guide and had to make 3 pages worth of tiles to complete the alpha and additional tiles to cover all sides of the blocks.
4) print at "high" quality on white cardstock (I use double sided matte presentation paper)
5) cut them out
6) paste using Mod Podge to the sides of the blocks (I wanted to make sure that I was able to spell each of the kids' names so I did those letters first and then randomly placed the rest of them)
7) let dry
8) coat all sides of the blocks with Mod Podge... you only have to do it once if you're using them for display, but since I don't mind my kids playing with them I plan of doing several more coats.

Make It Monday

I've gotta little tease for you. This is what I'm working on right now and I'm going to be finishing it up on Friday night at Archivers while hanging out with some of my scrapping/stamping/card making friends. We usually try to get together every few months and I just love the time together. Next Monday I'll post the finished project. Last night we went to Michaels and I picked up some of these.

This morning I sanded the edges and painted them with some of my leftover Behr samples. I really only needed to paint the edges since the rest of the blocks will be covered up. During naptimes and the evenings I'll be working on the rest and hopefully have them printed out and ready to go on Friday night.

And of course I had to share with you my little elves...

I also plan on doing some card making too if I have some time.

Scrappin' Saturday

Once again I took advantage of my mojo and had a blast working on some scrapbook pages for the portfolio challenges at Sweet Shoppe Designs and also for my creative teams and even tried my hand at "hybrid". I was a little nervous with the hybrid project but it was super easy and I can see myself doing more hybrid in the future.

I made bookmarks for each of us... this was so much fun and helped to use up some of the mini-kits in my unused kits folder.

bookmark tempates from Zoe Pearn's blog by Keely~B
1) Smart and Pretty by Jenn Barrette (2010 QA, vol 3)
Suzy Q alpha by CD Muckosky
2) My Way or the Highway by Misty Cato (retired, 2010 summer sampler)
3) This Little Piggy by Lliella Designs (2010 QA, vol 3)
4) It's a Guy Thing by Dani Mogstad and Shawna Clingerman
Extras:
M chipboard sticker
Color Box chalk inkpad
random ribbon from around the house

this next one was to only scrap in the corners of the pages

Memories by Sweet Shoppe Designs (Donna Downey blog freebie)
small and mighty alpha by Zoe Pearn (newsletter freebie)
guess whooo alpha by Shawna Clingerman (retired)
Hugantic Frames by Shawna Clingerman
Skritch Skratch by Darcy Baldwin and Zoe Pearn
boosters no.2 by Jaclyn Bernardo

this one was a Topsy Turvy Titlework and also was featured on the Gallery Standouts blog.

It's A Guy Thing by Dani Mogstad and Shawna Clingerman
template by Janet Phillips from 2010 quarterly assortment, vol 3
Tacky Caramel Alpha by Darcy Baldwin (retired)
Don't Leave Home Without It alpha by Lauren Grier
DJB Coffee Shoppe Buzzed by Darcy Baldwin and Shawna Clingerman
My Date Is Bubbly by Lauren Grier

and this one was to be inspired by one of the prompts on the Sunday Scribblings blog, I chose "wait"

Take Out Tuesday template 9/7 from SSD blog by Libby Weifenbach
Brotherly Love by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Meg Mullins
DJB Coffee Shoppe Espresso and Buzzed by Darcy Baldwin and Shawna Clingerman

and well this one was to scrap a page about football... I was excited to finally scrap these pics of Mark and Moriah the year the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears.

MVP by Dani Mogstad (retired)
Worn Cluster - Take Out Tuesday from Sweet Shoppe Blog by Penny Springmann
DJB Coffee Shoppe Espresso by Darcy Baldwin and Shawna Clingerman

this next challenge is to create 2 pages using the same template but to flip or spin the template for the second page...

Don't Rain On My Parade by Dani Mogstad and MandaBean (retired)
Boosters no.2 by Jaclyn Bernardo

and the second page uses Melissa's new release for today and a re-release from Darcy

Grins and Giggles by Melissa Bennett
DJB Rebecca Print by Darcy Baldwin
Boosters no.2 by Jac Bernardo

this one is probably my fave for the week and it was to scrap a page about a life lesson you've learned and uses a re-release from Darcy.

Family Tree by Penny Springmann
DJB Jewel by Darcy Baldwin
Skritch Skratch by Darcy Baldwin and Zoe Pearn
Teeny Type Alpha by Zoe Pearn
Paper Stackers: Rounded by Jac Bernardo

Journaling reads:
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is that it’s really short. I never realized it until I had you kids and watching you grow up into bigger kids. It really seems like yesterday when you were born and that infant stage is just so short. I know it doesn’t exactly feel like it when we’re in the middle of each phase of life but that first year goes by too fast. I try to get as many cuddles in as I can because I know that one day you’ll want to be totally independent and won’t want me giving you kisses and hugs all the time, especially in public. I know there will be a day that you’ll be leaving the house on your own and becoming the grown up you’re supposed to be. For now I’m going to keep you close and love on you as much as you’ll let me. I also want you to be able to be a kid as long as possible. One day you will have to grow up and do adult things but for now you just enjoy being a kid, ok? If you could just let mama love on you for a few more years, that would make me really happy too, ok? XOXO

and this one was a prompt to scrap "Teacher"

At The Bus Stop by Lauren Grier
template by Cindy Schneider from 2010 Quarterly Assortment, vol 3
Layered Up In You: Frames 2 by Lauren Grier
Don't Leave Home Without It alpha by Lauren Grier
Skritch Skratch by Darcy Baldwin and Zoe Pearn

this one is Traci's new release which is a collab with MandaBean and it also fits the portfolio prompt to use a series of at least 3 pics

Conversations w/ kids by Traci Reed and MandaBean
Inspired by Lydia template by Darcy Baldwin
Bad Sewing Machine - Kinda Kleen by Traci Reed

and this one is another collab from Eva and Flergs, a seriously gorgeous fall kit and I used the portfolio prompt to use an apple in the layout.

Leaf It To Me by Eva Kipler and Flergs
Skritch Skratch by Darcy Baldwin and Zoe Pearn
Paper Stackers: Horizontal by Jac Bernardo

and last but certainly not least this is a gorgeous new kit from Penny...

True Beauty by Penny Springmann
DJB Brittany Script by Darcy Baldwin