enjoy the summer.

This week at Joy's Life we're doing summer colors for our summer projects. Summer is my favorite season & I think of cool yellows & oranges & turquoise. 

For this layout I used Studio Calico So Cal kit, which really screams summer to me.

The stamp is from Joy's Life's new stamp set Pun in the Sun which you saw highlighted on our recent blog hop (Remember this project?). I adore this stamp set & I know I will get sososo much use out of it.

Instead of scanning this since it's a little bulky (the butterflies are 3 dimensional & the thought bubble is on a pop dot) I photographed it. It doesn't show the detail quite as good as scanning - sorry!

A closer shot of the stamp.

Go check out Pun in the Sun & see the other stamp sets too. I think Yummy Puns is back in stock - better hurry & get it while you can!

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Heroes card drive.

Just wanted to share this link for a card drive for the US Navy so they have some cards to send back home to their families & loved ones. They are collecting cards through the end of July.

 For the safety and to meet the desires of our troops, we have a few simple guidelines that we would ask you would adhere to:

• NO STORE BOUGHT CARDS. Cards must be handmade. Use quality products that won't fall off in extreme temperatures. A good quality adhesive is a must. These cards have a long way to travel and once they arrive, they will likely be cherished and kept and perhaps even saved in scrapbooks or collections. Send your best, because our troops and their families deserve nothing less. Make sure that your card will stand the test of time. 
• ABSOLUTELY NO GLITTER! This is a serious one. Glitter that has flaked off on a soldier's uniform can become a real threat to their lives, as it makes them visible to night-vision goggles. And as anyone who has ever worked with glitter knows, the stuff just gets everywhere. ;o) The last thing we would ever want to do is put one of these brave men and women in harm's way. Glitter glues that do not flake off such as stickles or glitter pens such as Sakura StarDust Jelly Rolls or Copic Atyou Spicas are acceptable.
•  KEEP IT RELATIVELY FLAT. Some dimension is okay, such as lifting images up with pop dots or adding twine or ribbon, but try to save the buttons and other large, bulky embellishments for other projects. We want to make sure these cards make it through the postal system and arrive at their intended destination in one piece.
• LEAVE THE INSIDE BLANK. We don't want to use up any space that our heroes could potentially use to write their own personal message to their loved ones. In fact, if you use a dark cardstock for your card base that makes it difficult for someone to write legibly on, we ask that you would line the inside with a white or light colored cardstock so that the recipient has no trouble whatsoever discerning their soldier's words.
• DO NOT SEAL THE ENVELOPE. We want the troops to be able to open it right up, personalize it and send it to their loved ones. For this purpose, please include one blank envelope with each card INSIDE the envelope you mail them in.

Send cards to: 

Laurel Beard

P. O. Box 15198

Jacksonville, FL 32239

Card themes that the troops have expressed a desire to receive:

• Birthday
• Love
• Thank You
• Missing You
• Thinking of You
• Blank (no sentiment)

the arch.

Time to share my weekly project for Crafting Family! This week I jumped right into our recent vacation photos & scrapped about our stay in St Louis last Thursday night. 

The tag you may recognize from this post  earlier this week. I used Pink Paislee's Nantucket line for this entire layout. Pink Paislee is one of my favorites & this line is no exception. Even though that background paper is seahorses. If you want to check out the Nantucket line for yourself, go HERE.

** Don't forget -- there's still time to submit your creation for our June sketch challenge at Crafting Family. More details & how to enter MY giveaway can be found on my post HERE! **

Bentley's (second) 15 minutes of fame.

I sent B's adoption story to the Love of Labs blog & they posted it. You can read about it HERE.

winner from the blog hop!

I plugged all the commenters into the random number generator & the winner is ...

  Lisa R. said...

Such a fun cute gift box1 Great embellishing. TFs joy4umetoo at hotmail dot com

June 16, 2012 7:09 PM

Lisa  I am sending you an email shortly.

Thanks everyone! Be sure to tune in next month for our next blog hop!

U + Me

For Joy's Life this week I am sharing a tag I created. This tag is going on a layout I'm making about our recent vacation & I'll share the layout on Sunday :) 

Pink Paislee Nantucket line

 I used Tim Holtz antique linen distress ink to the base of the tag to give it an aged look & then I used the same ink to stamp the "xoxo" from the Joy's Life Sweet Popsicle Puns set to jazz up the background a little bit. The "U + Me = <3" is also from Joy's Life Sweet Popsicle Puns.

The patterned papers, trim, & chipboard hexagon shapes are all from the Pink Paislee Nantucket line, which can be found here.

vacation...

 

Since we are on vacation right now, I thought I would post a layout of our last vacation :) 

These papers are all from Studio Calico take note collection & are available from Crafting Family.

I also used Crate Paper border stickers, Studio18 rhinestones, & Sassafrass blooms. The stamps are Technique Tuesday & Unity Time for Travel.

Joy's Life *summer* blog hop!

Welcome to our summer blog hop!

I created a little box with my Cricut using Tags, Bags, Boxes, & More & I also used From My Kitchen for the little cocktail drink one one of the sides. I decorated all four sides of the box using stamps & other embellishments like chipboard frames.  It's the perfect size to hold a little shot glass for a friend who's turning 21 soon.

cheers!

 I got to play with a couple sample stamps that Joy's Life will be releasing soon!

love this stamp!

Here's what it looks like when you open it up:

Soooo I mentioned Joy is releasing a new stamp set... & I have a peek to show you!

Pun in the Sun

 Yummmm Isn't this stamp set the cutest!? Summer is my favorite season so I definitely LOVE this set! I can see a LOT of layouts in my future with these stamps! Ok, one more thing before you move along to the next blog on the hop. Become a follower of MY blog & leave me a comment here (I'll give you until Monday June 18 since I'm out of town anyway) & I will pick a random winner for a prize from ME! (Winner will be chosen when I get back from vacation on June 20).

Alright, Click  HERE to go to your next location!

If you find yourself lost along the way, here is the hop order:
Joy
Laura
Jennie
Cyndy
Megan
Lori
Jeannie
Sarabeth
Stacey
Me!
Amy
Maria
Nina
Patty

winter fun.

Here is my layout that is slightly altered from the sketch provided by Tiffany for the Crafting Family design team. I don't do good with sketches - I can't ever seem to stay on track with what the sketch is. But this one I altered a little bit since I scrap 8.5 x 11.

I dug out old photos recently for a project I am working on. I always think it's fun to look back at old photos. Anyway, it started me thinking that I'd like to start scrapping some of my "baby" photos. Now I know I'm not a baby baby in this layout but I was only about three!

Here is the sketch:

I used Basic Grey hopscotch, My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine & pink houndstooth Lush. These papers & more are available HERE.

I also used Cricut Winter Woodland for the title & Jan 2011 Unity kit to the moon & back for the journal spot.

Now you should go visit the Crafting Family blog... You have a chance to win two prizes from Crafting Family this month by participating in this sketch challenge! Submit your creation to the Crafting Family Facebook site, become a fan of the Facebook page, & become a follower of the Crafting Family blog. Deadline to enter is June 30 & the design team will choose two winners by July 2.

First place wins 12 sheets (one of each design) of double-sided Graphic 45 papers!

Second place wins 2 sheets of each flocked paper from the Lush line!

& if you participate in the sketch challenge this month, become a follower of my blog, & leave me a comment on this post by June 30 with a link to your blog post with your project, I will choose a random winner on July 2 for a special prize package from me! 

Also, Kim is doing a giveaway on her blog as well, so be sure you visit her blog: Crazy About Scrapin.'

new blog design!

So, I have a new blog! & a new name. I just want to give a shout out to Shaina.

She did such an amazing job & I love my new blog. It makes me happy every time I see it. She was so professional & so quick! I really had no direction other than I like pink & I wanted to change the name to Markland & Main. She took the ideas & ran with them.
If you are considering a blog re-design, you truly need to talk to her. Her designs are all pretty amazing. But I think mine's the best ;)

birthday project for Joy's Life.

For the third week assignment at Joy's Life, we are doing birthdays. It works out great because my Grandma's birthday is right around the corner. So I made this card for her using a stamp from Joy's Life  Tag You're It set two.

 I also used my Cricut Sweethearts & From my Kitchen.

Here's a close up of the stamping:

 

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Dr Scholl's massaging gel insoles

In brief summary: Don't waste your money! 

I received a pair of women's massaging gel insoles & was kind of excited to try them. These insoles provide superior shock absorption and added support. There are different kinds: work, extra support, & sport replacement. 

I work anywhere from 6 hour shifts to 16 hour shifts & my feet sometimes ache by the end of the evening. On my long shifts I wear compression socks as well but at the end of 16 hours of (mostly) being on your feet, you're just tired! 

As a side note, I recently bought new shoes for work. I got the Reebok Real Flex (which are now much cheaper than I paid!) & have been super, super happy with them. They are the most lightweight shoes I've ever owned, they're so flexible, & they're so comfy that it feels like I'm walking in the clouds! They're awesome.


Anyway, I think I only worked 8 hours that night that I used the new insoles, but I didn't notice any improvement. In fact, to be honest I felt they made my shoes less comfortable. So I took them out & didn't use them again.


They can be added to a variety of shoes, they come in men's sizes (8 - 13) & women's sizes (6 - 10) & are available in the foot care aisle of most drug stores, grocery stores, & discount mass retailers. I have $5 off coupons if anyone wants to try them out! I will mail you one. They retail for $12.99 & there is a money-back guarantee so there's no risk in trying them.

moments that take your breath away.

 While we were on vacation earlier this year in the Bahamas, we found these amazing starfish along the beach. I had never seen one alive before & was completely fascinated. There were actually probably about 10 of them. They were so, so cool.

The background paper is My Mind's Eye lost & found. The pink cardstock is Die Cuts with a View pink #2. There are also bits of AC Letterbox & My Mind's Eye Lush navy damask & So Sophie never enough. I cut the little starfish charm using the Cricut cartridge Life is a Beach.

You can find these products (& much more!) HERE available through Crafting Family.

As for the stamps, I used {Ippity} stamp set Life is the Journey & Love in Return.
 

country throwdown tour.

Last Sunday we went to the Hoosier Park Casino for the country throw down tour. It started at like 3pm & there were many artists there but the ones that I knew didn't start until 6pm.

Josh Thompson was good. He sang a lot of songs that I didn't realize were him. Sometimes with all the one man bands in country music (Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Josh Thompson, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, etc) I can't keep track of who sings what. Rodney Atkins was good too but I was so distracted by his super tight pants that I couldn't concentrate on him singing.

My favorite, of course, was Gary. He is always good (it was my 8th time seeing him since 2008). He changed it up this time. Usually wears jeans & a t shirt but looked all fancy in a suit. It rained a little bit when he first started but that didn't matter!

Overall, it was a good time. We ate at Johnny Rockets inside the casino & they have a free 24 hour shuttle to take you back to your hotel. I think the concert was over by 11pm. We stayed at theHoliday Inn in Anderson. The king size bed was wonderful! & the staff was so friendly.

father's day project.

happy father's day, dad

Our project this week at Joy's Life was to create a father's day project. I made this card for my dad using two stamps from the Tag You're It set one stamp set, which can be found HERE.

I also used Circut Beyond Birthdays to cut the "dad" & Accent Essentials to cut the sun.

May running stats.

Total Distance: 6.8 miles 

Total Time: 1:07:19 min 

Run Distance: 6.8 miles 

Run Time: 1:07:19 min 

let's chat.

For the design team at Crafting Family. I used My Mind's Eye So Sophie & you can purchase that HERE.

I used this sketch:

I found on the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge blog. I also used Perpetual Bliss Paper Smooches stamp set.

Molly's Cupcakes.

My first post for Joy's Life design team! Our assignment this week was... scrapbooking!

From our trip to Chicago a couple months ago.

Using Joy's Life stamps sweet popsicle puns & tag you're it set one.

I also used Circut Celebrations.