favorite things|May [link up].

    1) Going to the Tulip Festival in Michigan! It was on my bucket list & I've tried to go the past three years. So glad we finally made it this year. The tulips were gorgeous!  

  2) My running is getting back on track. I ran my ass off in April but the first week of May I started having heel issues. Thought I had a heel spur. While I was at the chiropractor, he cracked my heel joints & I've been better since. I've been slowly getting back into it though & plan to get fitted for some good running shoes soon.  

Run Distance:	14.54 miles
Run Time:	2:16:26 min

3) My awesome Craig's List find!   4) These two boys.  Hunter is staying with me for the week while Mom's on vacation.

    5) I'm happy to report my prison plants are still alive. So far.

 

swing into summer with LCOM!

We're celebrating summer every Thursday in June with a new summer-themed card challenge at Let's Capture our Memories. 

Be sure to stop in the LCOM forums to see what it's all about! 

keep the faith. [Growing in Unity]

My GIU week is coming to a close. This is my last post! Can't believe how quick the week has gone. My last project is a card & I used the Moments in Bloom stamp set.

It was hard to photograph but I used Prima chalk inks (farmer jeans & raspberry pie) & blended them for a soft look in the flowers. The sentiment is stamped with oynx Versafine ink. The ribbon is May Arts & I thought it coordinated so well with the stamped colors.

Thanks for joining me all week to celebrate my GIU days!

You have the chance to win two Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co by leaving a comment on my GIU posts. I'll choose the winner on Saturday. 

love is the master key... [Growing in Unity]

My Growing in Unity week is almost over & I'm SO grateful for this opportunity! It's been so fun!

This card was made with the Unity Stamp Co stamp set Key to Joy. The large stamp was used as a background for the card with some Tim Holtz distress embossing powder in peeled paint. I used silver ZING! embossing powder on one of the key stamps & tied some twine through the end. The sentiment is stamped with Versafine ink in onyx. Don't you love that Versafine ink?! Such a clean, crisp image!

The fun part for you... Unity is allowing me to host a giveaway for two Itty Bitty stamp sets! To enter, you only have to leave a comment. I'd love it if you became a follower as well. This is my fourth post of my Growing in Unity week so be sure you go back & leave comments on the previous days this week! I'll be choosing a winner Saturday.

 

the best way to pay for a lovely moment... [Growing in Unity]

Thanks for stopping by today for my Growing in Unity debut! This is such a fun week for me & I'm so excited to be a part of this. Unity has such an awesome selection of stamps. 

I'm sharing a layout today using an Instagram photo. Sidenote: With the Walgreens app, you can upload & print Instagram photos. They only print in 4x4 size so I ordered a handful to try them out. I think they were 38 cents. The quality was not the best & they have more of a matte finish., but overall it's something I would try again in the future. 

Anyway, the stamp set I used for this layout is the June 2010 kit of the month fly free. These two stamps are some of my favorites EVER. That heart border is SO cute & I really like that sentiment.

 I really dug into my stash & used some old supplies on this one, which is always a great accomplishment. The papers are all from my scraps. I used an old Heidi Swapp chipboard color resist heart. The stickers are Basic Grey & Echo Park (orange arrow). The green enamel dots are Basic Grey & the rhinestones are from Studio18. The washi is Glitz Design (from an SC kit).

The inks are Prima chalk inks: farmer jeans, teal damask, coldsfoot petals, garden grass, raspberry pie, ladybug. I used them on the chipboard heart & also on the cute heart border stamp. They're really easy to blend & the colors look so pretty together, especially on that heart border but it's hard to tell in the scan.

Thank you for stopping by today! In honor of my Growing in Unity week, Unity is allowing me to hold a giveaway! One lucky winner will get two Itty Bitty stamp sets! All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment! It would be awesome if you became a follower too but it's not required! :)

balloons make every birthday better [Growing in Unity].

Today is day 2 of my Growing in Unity week & I'm SO excited to be a part of this!

This is a super simple card that is so cute for a birthday. The sentiment is on the inside & says, "balloons make every birthday better." I stamped the bicycle image on the front of the card using Versafine ink in Onyx. Then I stamped the balloons on random pattern papers & paper pieced them. I attached them with glue dots to give them some dimensional effect. 

These stamps are from the Unity kit of the month (Feb 2011) The Best is Yet to Be. So many cute stamps in this kit!

Unity Stamp Co is hosting a give away for my Growing in Unity week & one lucky person will win two Itty Bitty stamp sets! To be eligible, all you have to do is leave a comment. I'll have a new post up every day this week & I'll draw a winner Saturday! See you tomorrow!

 

Veldheer Tulip Gardens with 'love knots' stamp from Gelatins Stamps.

I'm very excited to be sharing this layout today. It took me forever to finish! I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I used the love knots stamp from Gelatins Stamps & I just love it. It's so cute. I stamped it with three Prima chalk inks in sort of an ombre effect. The colors I used were ladybug, raspberry pie, & coldsfoot petals.

Here is a close up shot of the stamping so you can see the detail:

 & here is my layout:

I used my May  Studio Calico kits + some bits from my stash. The butterfly is an old Jenni Bowlin piece from my sash, the journal card is MME, the Thickers are from a previous SC kit this year. I added some Elle's Studio tags & labels.

 

thanks so much {in honor of Memorial day} [Growing in Unity]

This week starts my week of Growing in Unity! Very exciting!! 

So in honor of Memorial day, I made a thank you card. 

Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. (source)

I used the Ippity stamp set Just Wanted to Say. It has some cute little frames & several sentiments. 

I placed one of the frame stamps on some white cardstock & used Studio Calico Mister Huey's (hot diggity) to mist the cardstock. Then I stamped the frame & sentiment in Prima chalk ink (farmer jeans & ladybug). I tied some American Crafts ribbon into a bow at the bottom & rounded the corners with my Crop A Dile Corner Chomper.

Now the FUN part. Part of my Growing in Unity fun is that I get to have a giveaway sponsored by Unity. Unity Stamp Co will give one lucky winner two Itty Bitty stamp sets! All you have to do is comment! I will have a Growing in Unity post every day this week & I'll draw a winner on Saturday.

Thanks for visiting me! :)

this sweet, precious boy. LCOM sketch #21

Hey guys! It's time to reveal LCOM sketch #21! 

& here is my layout:

This is all May Studio Calico kits. I used Prima chalk in in farmer jeans & two EK Success punches (circle & ticket). That stamp set is from Planetarium.

This is our sweet Hunter, who will be 10 this June. He started having some major health problems in March & this photo was taken on Easter, when he was still recovering. He is still not doing very well & Labs don't have a life expectancy much past 10 years. He is a sweet, gentle soul & we love him SO much.

Please go check out what the other DT members did with this sketch. 

PS Thinking about subscribing to Studio Calico kits? Use my referral link. 

Holland.

Using my May SC kits, I made another layout about our Holland, MI trip earlier this month. I added the Thickers from my stash & I also pulled out an SC stamp from a previous kit. I stamped the hexagons with the city buildings using Prima chalk ink in Shabby Tote. 

We took a trolley tour during the Tulip Time Festival & it was awesome. It was mostly an older crowd but we really enjoyed it. Our guide was awesome - her name was Jane & she had grown up in the area so she had a lot of info to share. These are two Instagram photos I took from our spot on the trolley. 

 This layout is based on a sketch I found at Sketch n Scrap but I turned it on its side. I also substituted patterned paper for the  larger photo.

garage sale finds for 5/18.

We hit up garage sales today for the first time this year. At least three different neighborhoods were having their neighborhood garage sales & those are my favorite because you can hit so many with one stop. I worked midnights the night before, was home by 7:30a.m. & we were on our way (with donuts & coffee) by 8:15. I tried to get my brother to come along because he just bought a house but he declined. 

We found some great stuff though! I'm most excited about these Cricut storage cases. I got two for $15!

Also...
two paperback books $1
Swiss Army knife $2 (mine was confiscated a couple years ago by TSA at the Indy airport - it's a handy item to carry!)
a blanket (for fostering or transporting - these are always handy) $1
a package of xmas toys & a frisbee for Bentley $2.10 

& the steal of the day - three brass chandeliers for $20! I don't know if I will use these in my future house or if my brother can use them in his house or if my mom can just put them in her booth for a quick profit. These will be great spray painted. So excited & the old couple was SO sweet.

& THEN! I responded to an ad on Craig's List for this amazing Ikea craft desk & we picked it up this weekend. Super excited about this addition for my craft room/office.

This is her CL photo but I already have it set up & am loving it.

Linking up with... Bright Green Door

'it's your day' pillowbox using Gelatins Stamps.

I have a pillowbox to share today & I used two stamp sets from Gelatins Stamps. I used the It's Your Day stamp set for the sentiment & the flower background on my tag is from the Happiness set.

 My supplies are all from a Cocoa Daisy kit & the green ink is Prima chalk ink in moss lawn. These are the two stamp sets:

 

10 things that make me really happy.

1 sunshine

2 crossing things off my To Do list

3 reading a really good book

4 fresh highlights

5 getting out of work early

6 warm chocolate chip cookies + a tall glass of cold milk

7 when my Studio Calico order arrives every month

8 good hair days

9 the feeling at the end of a run

10 something really, really funny that makes you belly laugh & still laugh about it when you re-tell it

lovelovelove.

I finished another layout last nigh with my May Studio Calico kits. This one is TJ's parents last winter at one of the nephew's baseketball games. This was inspired by the challenge at Paper Secrets to use a sketch + a polaroid. 

 I also added in the Glitz Design washi fromApril's SC kit. This is mostly Planetarium + Lyra. The buttons are from Big Dipper.

Also, are you thinking about joining Studio Calico kit club? Use my referral link!

Indy zoo.

Sharing a layout from a trip to the local zoo last fall. I used the Sept 2012 Cocoa Daisy kit & some of my new May Studio Calico bits. 

believe in yourself + tulip lanes.

It's rare that I have an entire day with nothing to do, let alone a Saturday. Not that I don't have anything to do but no immediate, pressing issues. So this morning I potted some of the plants I brought home from work (the offenders have a horticulture class & at the end of the class, staff are offered all the plants/trees/flowers that they grew - free!). I told one of the girls at work to surprise me with some & I brought home eight. The only ones I know for sure are a spider plant, a geranium, a pepper plant, & two tomato plants. The rest will definitely be a surprise! After that, I started scrapping & finished two layouts with my May Studio Calico kits. 

I used an Instagram photo from my aunt's 50th bday dinner (complete with a free tequila shot for the bday girl) for this layout & was inspired by the challenge at Scrapbook Circle to use patterned paper for a background.

 This is mostly Big Dipper with a little bit of Lyra + Planetarium. The background paper is light blue but it didn't scan well. The red ink used for the "this moment" stamp is Poppy Parade from Stampin' Up. The navy ink is Prima chalk ink in farmer jeans.

Here's the second page, a 12x12 layout, about the tulip lanes in Holland, Michigan. We went last weekend (Friday - Sunday) for the Tulip Time festival. The tulips were amazing! This has been on my "bucket list" for the past two or three years & for one reason or another I've not been able to go. This year, I was determined to make it happen. [More layouts to come soon!]

 

This one was made using Planetarium (with some Lily Bee alpha stickers from my stash) for this sketch challenge at C'est Magnifique.

& here's a few more photos from that weekend:

  Like the Studio Calico kits? Thinking about joining? Use my referral link.

friendship card for Gelatins stamps.

My card this week for Gelatins Stamps is also made for a color challenge at ScrapMuch? 

 I used the happiness stamp set along with Versafine ink which gives such a crisp image! 

 Here's my card:

I used papers from the Pink Paislee Portfolio 6x6 collection, a cardstock sticker from Crate Paper Acorn Ave, & some American Crafts ribbon.

I was inspired by the color challenge at Scrap Much?