you are here [August Citrus Twist kit].

Remember when I won the sketch contest at Citrus Twist? Well, my prize was the August Citrus Twist kit "tropical heat."I got it earlier this week but haven't had time to play with it until today. I've been excited to dig in. Loving the Heidi Swapp papers, the Amy Tan sheet is so cute, & the My Mind's Eye Indie Chic was gorgeous. Cannot get enough. & the layouts the design team has posted are awesome. So here's my first layout:

I used Mister Huey's sorbet on the stars & stamped with the chalk ink on the circles, which are punched from the Heidi Swapp paper. LOVE the washi tape that was included & the heart border was actually the label strip (that always gets thrown away) from the Amy Tan paper. I just love those hearts.

(You can read more about my Super Bowl experience here.)

real life.

Thanks for joining us on our August sketch challenge! 

As always, I altered the sketch a little bit.With this month being the one year anniversary of the collapse of the stage at the Sugarland concert at the Indiana state fair, I wanted to document about my/our experience there as kind of a tribute to the people who were killed & injured.

Here is our sketch (chosen from Page Maps), which I rotated on its side:

August sketch challenge

& here is my layout:

sorry it scanned light again. I think I need to check my settings.

The first photo is one I took with the camera on my phone before we left the bleachers. It seemed to happen in slow motion, like time just stood still for a few seconds. I talked about it after it happened last year but we all knew some bad storms were coming. Right before I started to say that we should probably go find shelter, the stage started to sway, people started screaming, & it just fell. In slow motion. I think I screamed. Lots of people screamed. Then there was just pure craziness. People running everywhere. People curled in in balls on the floors of the bleachers. Sirens. & then I think I snapped out of it & was like let's get the F out of here.

The bottom photo is one I snapped of my laptop screen (Yahoo homepage) the following morning. 

The papers are from Studio Calico Take Note collection. I also used AE Technique Tuesday Real Life stamp, (Mist) a bles by Pink Paislee & a couple stickers in the upper right corner by Pink Paislee Fetching.

*In case you haven't yet heard, Christine is now selling via the Facebook group Scrapbook Deals. Request to be a member of the group & you'll see everything she formerly had posted in the store. It's cheaper for her to list this way & therefore saves you money too!

**Your sketches are due by the end of the month, August 31. As per my usual, I will be doing a random drawing for a winner from the participants who post a link to their project in the comments section of this post by August 31. (I ordered a box from the recent Pink Paislee warehouse sale so expect some goodies from that!) Winner will be chosen September 1.

Here's the nitty gritty:
 (1) Submit your creation to the Crafting Family blog using the Link It up tab at the top right sidebar of our blog or on our Facebook site  (2) become a fan of the Facebook page (if you aren't already) (3) become a follower of the Crafting Family blog (if you aren't already). 

Deadline to enter is August 31, 2012 & the design team will choose two winners by September 5, 2012.

 

Here is the prize from Christine:

Joy's oldies but goodies.

This week we're using one of the older Joy's Life stamp sets because they're still goodies. For me, that doesn't leave a lot of options since I'm newer to Joy's Life stamps. I chose a stamp from the everyday occasions set: appreciation. 

 

This scanned super light for some reason. The background is actually a creamy light tan color. Anyhow, this photo is of our oldest nephew at his basketball senior night earlier this year with his parents. They were really a tight knit team & they loved their coach so this night was as much senior appreciation as it was coach appreciation. That's kind of nice to see.

I also used The Echo Park For the Record line: Borders, Noteworthy, & Newsprint, as well as the sticker sheets. The ink is (my new favorite) Stampin' Up poppy parade.

carefree moments.

I created a layout tonight for the August sketch challenge for Lily Bee. Here is the sketch: 

& here is mine:

I used papers from Vintage Poppy, Audrey (Classy), & Happily Lost (Stroll) & the "carefree moments" laugh rub ons are so, so old. I just have always loved them so I use them sparingly. I also have a few die cut pieces from French Couture.

Also used a Maya Road rub on, Scenic Route cardstock label sticker, Studio18 rhinestones, & some chipboard from Pebbles Inc (the large star is chipboard covered in Tim Holtz washi tape). Oh, & a Mist a ble from Pink Paislee misted with olive vine glimmer mist.

The photos are from when we went to Indy to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday this past April.

#tebowtime.

I'm not a Jets fan. But when I saw they were coming to Cinci to play the Bengals pre-season I had to find some tickets so I could see Timmy. 

 

You can watch the highlights here.

love across the miles.

I've had my eye on this stamp set from the Sweet Stamp Shop for a while & when Nicole had a recent coupon code, I couldn't resist ordering it. It is adorable & there are so many uses for it.

Immediately this layout came to mind...

Sort of inspired by Kelly Purkey's map layout that I thought was (& still think it is) amazing. I used Studio Calico Hey Day & a little bit of Abroad. You'll have to see if Christina has any left because she's been selling like crazzzy. She is actually selling now via a Facebook site, Scrapbook Deals. See if this link works. I think you'll have to request to join. Anyway, it saves her money to sell there (instead of ebay - no ebay fees!) which in turn saves YOU money.

Jenni Bowlin butterfly, Prima Marketing flower, & MME button. Ink is Stampin' Up poppy parade.

15% off + BOGO

This post brought to you by Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine.
at Famous Footwear!
Famous Footwear is celebrating their victory in providing famous brands + easy shopping just in time for back to school shopping. Their back to school promotion only lasts until August 18 so hurry! You can print a coupon here for your 15% off:
BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon
That will be sure to make your back to school shopping (or as in my case, just "welcome fall" shopping) a little easier on your wallet.
Also, Famous Footwear offers a reward program (& if you are a rewards member - or become a rewards member - you get 20% off!) where you earn one point for every $1 spent in store or online. You can accumulate points to get certificates for up to $100 per year. You get a special discount just for signing up & there are other special discounts & perks offered throughout the year.
There are over 1000 Famous Footwear locations & they offer hundreds of brand name shoes in thousands of styles. Famous Footwear says it's so easy to shop there & you'll love what they have to offer so much, that you can buy three pairs of shoes in 20 minutes. I know I found at least three pairs I want while I was browsing online!
If you can't find what you're looking for in the store, they will get it to you through home delivery or via www.famous.com  You can also order shoes online & have them shipped to the store for pick up at no charge.
What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

Bic Soleil Savvy review.

 

Bic sent me their new razor to review. It's a disposable razor with refillable cartridges. There are four cartridges per package. (I love the pretty pink color!) It features an easy grip rubber handle with flexible blades, a pivoting head, & strips lubricated with vitamin E. It sells for $7.49 & I have coupons for $3 off so if you're interested in trying it, let me know!

I currently use Bic Soleil Bella disposable razors that have four blades (but definitely lack the flexibility & pivoting features of the Bic Savvy). I love these; they give a really close shave. I believe they retail for about the same price as the Bic Soleil Savvy but I only buy them on sale & usually they're around $4.79. With all of that sad, I will not be switching to the Savvy. I like the razor, the results are fine, but I've never been one to use the refillable cartridges & I just prefer the four blade razor.

bloom & grow.

Today I'm sharing a pillow box I made for my project at Joy's Life this week. There are tons of templates out there for how to make your own pillow box but Joy sent us some so I just used it as a template & traced around it onto patterned paper.

The stamp is from Tag You're It - set two stamp set. I used Stampin' Up "poppy parade" ink. I just love the color. The papers are from Studio Calico county fair kit. I thought the flower design was pretty & went perfectly with the stamp choice.

Don't forget - Joy's It's all Fall puns starts shipping this week! Lots of cute stamps in this set!

Citrus Twist winner!

Citrus Twist announced my layout won their sketch challenge! Here is their sketch & my layout.
Now I'm off to pick out my prize! :)
 

Goodwill and garage sale finds.

We love to go to Goodwills & local antique/thrift stores to look around. Almost every Saturday in the summer, we hit up garage sales. We went to a Goodwill Wednesday evening & spent $60. I got some clothes, which almost never happens, & we got several books, which are hard to pass up at 99 cents for paperbacks & $2.49 for hardbacks. Plus, I do paperbackbookswap.com so that's a lot of fun.

Anyway, some of the things we found.

50 cents. Thought it would look cute spray painted. Maybe bright red?

$3 or $4. No idea what to do with it, but we both liked it.

I found this adorable vase that I loved & it was only a couple dollars. I'm going to spray paint it. & when I turned it over...

it's Crate & Barrel!

The bottom one I found at Goodwill for 99 cents months ago. The top one I found at a garage sale a few weeks ago for 25 cents! I looove these.

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl.

exciting news...

Some exciting news to share today. One of my favorite stamp companies has offered me a guest design team position! 

You can read about it here. Look for that to becoming this fall.

Right now, 4x6 stamp sets are only $10 with the coupon code JN04. You better believe I ordered this set:

For the big release, there's a huge prize package & two ways you can enter early. Go check it all out!

my blog winner for July sketch challenge...

Your layout is super cute - I also love your commitment to our 4 legged friends. Here is my link for the sketch challenge. http://tee-myspot.blogspot.com/2012/07/crafting-family-july-sketch-challenge.html Tee 

Tee, please email me your mailing address so I can send out your prize!

well done.

It's back to school week at Joy's Life & I did a layout based around my high school graduation. 

 The stamp I used is from Yummy Puns stamp set.

Rhinesstones are Studio18, cardstock stickers are from Cosmo Cricket.

This is based on a sketch I found:

via

Also, Joy is releasing a new stamp set just in time for fall. It will be available August 9.

isn't it the cutest?!

July running stats.

Run Distance: 2 miles 

Run Time: 22:06 min 

Total Time: 22:06 min