28 in my 28th year.

1 visit a pumpkin patch & bring home a pumpkin
2 go on a hot air balloon ride
3 take a vacation to the east coast
4 get another tattoo
5 pay off my car
6 run in another race
7 take a wine tasting class  
8 take Bentley on an overnight stay somewhere (scheduled to go to New Buffalo MI August 3-5)
9 cut back on cussing
10 finish the Catcher in the Rye
11 paint the living room
12 paint the entryway/hallway
13 visit a new zoo
14 go to a ballet
15 see Chicago at Christmas time
16 stay in a cabin in Tennessee in the fall
17 donate blood again
18 set up the basement for emergency preparedness
19 get my teeth bleached
20 buy something at a farmer’s market
21 go to the tulip festival in Michigan
22 learn to use my pressure cooker
23 learn how to use Photo Shop
24 ride my bicycle more
25 be published in a magazine again
26 attend church regularly
27 be a nicer person
28 fix the patio doors

you're one of a kind.

This week I got out the popsicle puns set & found a stamp that was perfect for a quote from our vacation last month. You're one of a kind. Our nephew is six & he says the funniest things - without even meaning to. He constantly cracks us up.

So I'm not sure if you can read the journaling but TJ & I were getting ready one evening & I had a Captain/Diet on the bathroom vanity while I was fixing my hair. Q walks in & looks around, looks at my drink, wanders back out to the room & I hear him say to TJ: TJ, why do you have a girlfriend who drinks alcohol?

Cracked me up.

 I also used Studio Calico County Fair & some Jenni Bowlin rub ons.

50.

Today I wanted to do a layout for just me. I have so many papers & embellishments I want to dig into but I've been kind of limited lately with my design team work. So I found this sketch: 

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 & I also tried to incorporate the color inspiration from this challenge to use brown, coral, and sage. Here's what I came up with:

The papers are Ocotber Afternoon and Kaiser Craft. Also used some Thickers, Sass flowers, SEI & Jenni Bowlin rub ons, Glitz cardstock stickers (for the journaling, which I messed up, so I had to re-write it on plain paper and adhere over it), and some self adhesive ribbon trim pieces from here.

This photo was taken before our night out (me, my brother, my boyfriend, mom's boyfriend) in Indy with my mom for her 50th birthday! (April 26)  We had dinner at PF Chang's - no one else had ever eaten there but everyone loved it. Thank goodness. Then we went to Howl at the Moon for drinks. I think it was like $10 to get in, so we didn't want to leave. We had a good time there & my brother's ex was a server so she brought us some drinks/shots. it was a good time! can't believe my mama is 50!!

 

May 1986.

I broke out some old school photos for my layout this week. These were taken when I was almost two years old.

I used Nostalgia by My Mind's Eye which you can find at Crafting Family.

I also used some Jenni Bowlin rub ons & embellished butterflies & chipboard from Pink Paislee Fascinating.

Don't forget about our July sketch challenge! It's due July 31. You can see my take on the sketch here  as well as details about the giveaway I'll be doing!

tin of memories.

This week at Joy's Life, we're working with our tins. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this tin I had. I wanted to make a little storage piece for all of our ticket stubs (concerts, games, first movie date, etc). 

doesn't it look cute with my mini albums?

 I traced the tin onto patterned paper and cut it out. Then applied stickers from Pink Paislee and punched out some circles for variety. I stamped my image using Joy's Life Sweet Popsicle Puns and punched it out with my circle punch.

 Waa laa!

blog hop winner announced.

I'm a day late picking the winner from Joy's Life blog hop and I apologize.

The winner that random number generator picked was...

Blogger TeresaK said... I may just need to try out your cookie recipe! Love your cute recipe card! New follower! Come visit me too at www.createenjoyshare.blogspot.com Teresa 

Teresa, please send me your mailing address so I can send out your package!

Thanks to all who participated! :)

sweet little angel.

I cannot work with sketches! I tried to explain this last month. I don't know what my problem is. I get off focus and I totally lose sight of the sketch. Even though it's sitting right in front of me. This sketch even appears to be for an 8.5x11 scrapper like me. Anyway, here's our sketch:

I used the MME Nostalgia papers and the "sweet little angel" embellishment, which I adore. You can find these HERE.

Everything else is mine. Jillibean buttons, Heidi Swapp labels, Cosmo Cricket rub ons.

Have you ever seen such a precious face? I doubt it.

So I've talked before about how we rescued Bentley & the wonderful organization he came from & how we still volunteer with them & foster when we can. I've also talked about the high euthanasia rate of black animals in shelters. We love our B boy & we've been blessed to be a part of saving several dogs lives since we started volunteering in September. 

Pleasepleaseplease spay & neuter your animals. Research breeds. Adopt. Don't support puppy mills. Donate to your local animal shelters.

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Also. I'm doing another random giveaway this month. When you get your project done using the sketch, post a link to it in the comments on this post. Deadline is July 31. I will announce a random winner on August 2.

Don't forget to check out the other girls' projects on the Crafting Family blog!

happy birthday cupcake card.

I failed this week. We were supposed to make shaped cards. I don't know how it didn't dawn on me until my card was finished that it's not actually shaped. But it was too late at that point. So here's my failure for the week.

 I mean, it's mostly shaped, right?
Well anyway. I used Joy's Life Everyday Occasions  stamp set. & my Cricut Wild Card cartridge.

a close up of the stamp

& I also stamped the inside with the same stamp set. There are so many options with this set!

So sorry that I failed you guys this week. Hopefully you still like the card!

Don't forget about our Recipe for Fun July blog hop!

 

recipe for fun blog hop!

It's time for our July blog hop & we've come up with recipes for you guys! I've chosen my favoritefavoritefavorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I just discovered that these are the best ever last winter & I've made SO many since then.

These cookies I made for a friend who's last day at work was Friday. I'm going to miss her but she's moving on to better things and I'm so happy for her. You know when you give someone food, they always ask for the recipe? Well, she's getting this recipe card with the cookies. That solves that :)

 

I made a recipe card using Cricut From my Kitchen  cartridge & the papers/embellishments are from Echo Park For the Record.

The stamp is of course Joy's Life Yummy Puns. Here's another shot of the stamp:

You can purchase this stamp set HERE.

Next you wanna hop over to Maria's BLOG to continue the blog hop.

& from everyone who leaves a comment & becomes a follower of my blog, I will choose a random winner on Tuesday July 17 for a giveaway prize package from me. :)

PS This also is for City Crafter's challenge: recipe cards!

 

Studio Calico county fair kit for $15 + shipping

Wanted to share this in case anyone is interested. I found this new deal site & just bought the kit. 

County Fair kit for $15 + shipping ($8.95).

Let me refer you! :)

Check this out at Plum District! Plum Steal: $15 for a Beautiful Scrapbooking Kit from Studio Calico - a $34 Value

http://www.plumdistrict.com

Like the smell of fresh kettle corn and a kiss at the top of the Ferris wheel, some things are timeless. The County Fair scrapbooking kit from Studio Calico is filled with charm and falls perfectly into this category. Studio Calico makes some of the most beautiful kits we've seen around. Their award-worthy County Fair scrapbooking kit, which includes an exclusive Studio Calico wood veneer alphabet, decorative doily flowers, and adorable prize ribbon stickers to hold your memories in place is just the ticket to showcase your family's summery antics. Grab today's offer and show off your blue ribbon talents!

happiness & joy.

Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden
My Mind's Eye be loved accessory sheet
My Mind's Eye Nostalgia 
These items are available at Crafting Family.


I also used:
Heidi Swapp felt butterflies
Lily Bee laugh rub ons
Unity Dec 2010 kit of the month  just be you.

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bon voyage card

I used the Joy's Life Pun in the Sun again! To make this cute card:

SC So Cal kit

When I said this stamp set was my favorite, I was not lying.

I also used Cricut Life is a Beach to make the ship. Isn't it cute?

Go check out the Pun in the Sun stamp set (& all the other sets) at Joy's Life!

winner for Crafting Family sketch challenge participant...

Luanne from Sisters Craft Cafe!

Congratulations!

Your package will go out this week:) 

summer banner.

I'm back with Pun in the Sun again from Joy's Life.  Told you I'd be getting a lot of use from this stamp set! I made a cute little summer banner but it was hard to photograph. I used Cricut Doodlecharms for the sun & some chipboard shapes from Pebbles Inc for the flower & the heart. Then I used three different stamps from the Pun in the Sun set.

cheers stamp

hello sunshine & enjoy the summer

tap 'n run.

 

A few weekends ago, I ran in the Tap 'n Run, which is a 2.5 mile (4k) race with beer stations along the way. At the end of the race, you get a full size beer & a finisher's medal. I convinced my brother & my boyfriend to do it with me. It started at 5pm but it was still pretty hot. The course was easy but the carbonation killed me & I had to stop & walk for probably about 1/2 mile.

I finished with a time of 29:03 (my 5k/3.1 mile time is around 32 mins but that's running the whole time & without any fluid intake) which was 104/394 in my division & 214/844 in women's division (age group was 26-35 but they didn't list individual places for age groups).

Anyway, I used My Mind's Eye Nostalgia for this. Everything is from the collection except the letter stickers, which are Studio Calico. The papers are gorgeous; check them out HERE.