enjoy today.

When I was in fifth or sixth grade we took a field trip to Wolf Park. I remember it as being a really fun time - I always love zoos and anything to do with animals. I had been telling TJ I thought his nephews would enjoy going & one evening this summer we had a chance to go. 

 I didn't take this photo - we bought a few in the gift shop for the boys & this was one of them. The photos I took were through the fence & kind of far away. Anyway, we arrived a little late & the question/answer session had already started. We learned a lot from the speaker & then she & another lady interacted with the wolves. The cool part, especially for the boys, was hearing the wolves howl. Once they got started, all the wolves in the park joined in & it was really neat to hear.

Based on this challenge & this color challenge.
I used ephemera from Pink Paislee Portfolio, a label sticker from MME, & some die cut cardstock shapes from Amy Tangerine. Papers are Echo Park rose garden (green)& Lily Bee Design double dutch lemonade (yellow). The woodgrain paper is MME.

Thanksgiving tags

 I decided to try something different this week. I wanted to work on a smaller scale so I made a couple of tags with a Thanksgiving theme.

I used the Mistable die cut tags by Pink Paislee & I misted them with Glimmer Mist in sun sisters. The cardstock is all from the Tim Holtz kraft core collection. I inked the edges of both tags with Tim Holtz distress ink in walnut stain.

Here's a close up of the misting:

other supplies: 
button: Crate Paper 
white ink: pigment ink by JoAnn craft essentials 
orange label sticker: Studio Calico 
decorative tapes: Pink Paislee; American Crafts
scallop punch: Fiskars stamps: "so grateful" Unity June 2010 kit of the month Fly Free; "give thanks for all things" & "leaf" Unity August 2010 Harvest of Memories 

happy adventure.

SC Daydream Believer

 Based on this blog post from back when we were preparing to foster. We never imagined it would lead to adopting Bentley!

Also used this challenge at City Crafter. The papers are all from Studio Calico Daydream Believer kit & the embellishments are all from the Pink Paislee Portfolio line.

sweet.

Happy November! I can't believe this year is almost over!

I've got a layout to share for Your Memories Here. This photo was from LAST summer but I'm trying to finish up my 2011 photos. 

My background is Mistble Pink Paislee sheet coated with Ranger Distress Ink in walnut stain & crushed olive. Most of the papers & embellishments are from Pink Paislee Portfolio collection. I used my Helmar tape runner to attach everything.

This layout is based on a sketch I found HERE.

pretty girl.

using the SC Holga kit/based on this sketch

I hope my friend Shan doesn't mind that I used her wedding invitation on a layout. & that I stole her photo from her Facebook.

Everything is from the SC Holga kit - except the Making Memories silver letter stickers & the sherbet Mister Huey I splattered. & the the pink lady Glimmer Glaze I painted the buttons.

Reggie.

A little late on sharing Reggie, since he's been gone from us for about six weeks now, but Reggie was our last foster dog. He was the sweetest, most gentle little yellow boy I've ever met. I We both wanted to keep him forever. *sigh* If only we had that house with a fenced in backyard. 

This is my last post for Crafting Family as Christine schedules down time through the holidays. The Crafting Family design team will be back next year!

My layout is done using the Declaration line from Pink Paislee. I was at first skeptical of this line but I have been able to make a few layouts using it & avoiding the patriotic look.

Thanks for hanging out with me & Crafting Family over the past few months. Christine, it has been a joy working with you. You're so sweet & such a generous person. Enjoy the time off for the holidays - you deserve it!

dog tired.

I'm not usually one for puns but I couldn't resist this title. I snapped this photo of a sleeping Bentley this summer while we were in Michigan. We spent a few hours one afternoon at the beach & B just swam & swam. He was so tired on the way back to the inn that he just passed out. He likes to rest his head in between the seats on the arm rest, right between us, so he can be in the middle of the action.

I used the Pink Paislee Nantucket collection. What I have left of this collection is dwindling down. You guys know Pink Paislee is one of my favorites anyway but I especially loved the colors in this collection. I inked the edge of the background paper with antique linen distress ink by Tim Holtz.

I also added some Prima center kisses. The colors in the package pretty closely matched the Nantucket line.

Also included: fabric Thickers doll (I didn't care for the yellow letters included in the Nantucket packet - they were too big for this page), American Crafts decorative tape, Elle's Studio The Sweet Life Lil' Snippets:  Labels, & Amy  Tangerinei die cut cardstock shapes. I based this on this sketch.

so very wonderful.

Supplies:SC Knickers kit, & Technique Tuesday Simple Joy stamp set. Based on a sketch I found here.

ugly sweater party.

We're coming to the end of the term with Crafting Family! I'm sharing a layout from last Christmas using Christine's newer stock of papers from The Paper Company. 

Other embellishments are from Elle's Studio (The Sweet Life Lil' Snippets: Labels) & Amy Tangerine remarks & die cut cardstock shapes. Letter stickers are Thickers.

miss you [card].

I'm sharing a card this week for Your Memories Here.The papers are from the Tim Holtz kraft core cardstock & Cosmo Cricket double deck.

I used Tim Holtz distress inks in walnut stain on the Pink Paislee Mistable tag & antique linen distress ink around the stamped sentiment, which is Paper Smooches. I added a strip of Prima cotton tape at the top with Prima say it in crystals.

Crafting Family October sketch challenge

I can't believe October is half way over already! Time goes by so quickly. 

That means we have the October sketch challenge posted & ready for everyone to enter! The details can be found HERE.

Your sketch is from Page Maps:

& here is what I did:

I used MME flocked paper for the background & all the other bits are from Studio Calico Take Note collection. The letter stickers are Studio Calico as well. I included our ticket from the tour. The brewery tour itself was kind of cool. They take very large groups of people & move you through pretty fast. The best part was obviously the two free beer samples per person at the end. & these are not small samples - they are regular sized beers. I tried Shock Top, which is their Belgian beer, & I liked it. Kind of heavy though. & I also tried Bud Light Platinum & liked it too. If you ever get the chance, you should do it.

Details about the prize are on the Crafting Family blog. I'll also choose a random entry from those who are a follower of my  blog & who post a link here to their project. Entries are due October 31.

This will be our last challenge for the year as we break for the holidays & will resume in January.

B's first snow.

I'm trying to finish up the photos I want to scrap from 2011 so that I can get the 2011 officially finished. I don't scrap in chronological order so I have to organize all the pages before the album can be complete. So I saw Bentley's poor face during his first snow last November, which were just flakes, but nevertheless he was not impressed. 

The background paper is Tim Holtz kraft core cardstock. There are also some bits of Pink Paislee's Declaration line. The snowflakes are cut from Cricut Winter Woodland at size 4 1/4". Then I cut them in half to use one on top & one on bottom. The tag is Pink Paislee Mistables which isn't misted at all. It's actually swiped with a foam brush using Memories baby blue dye inkpad. The stamps are PTI Holiday Tags stamped with poppy parade by Stampin' Up. Then I dotted the snowflakes with Stickles.

I made this layout based on sketch #229 at Creative Scrappers.

trick or treat.

I'm back! Autumn is in full swing here & Halloween will be here before I know it. I'm not sure if I'll be decorating this year since I'm still getting settled in my apartment. But I can still get in the Halloween spirit with scrapbooking! I found this sweet photo of me & my little brother from way back in the day. He's a football player & I'm a cheerleader.

So for this layout I actually used some paper from Pink Paislee Nantucket - the B side of the patterned paper Jumbo Shrimp. You can view it on the Pink Paislee website here. My background paper is this misted with Maya Road carnation pink mist (which looks red in the bottle - my bad!). Then I layered on top of it with another sheet of the same but not misted.

The other bits & embellishments are from my stash & from the September Citrus Twist kit. From my stash I have a Heidi Swapp invisibles bird, a corrugated frame, the stamps are from {Ippity} That's Creepy set. The tag is from the Citrus Twist kit & I used the Prima chalk ink in old road for stamping the witch hat.

let the good times roll.

I've got a layout to share for the YMH design team this week. A few weeks ago after I got my tattoo we hit up a new line dancing bar, Saddle Up. We were too amateur to try to dance but we were ok with hitting up the photo booth. 

For this layout, I used the Pink Paislee Mistables as the background misted with limited edition Sun Sisters glimmer mist. The striped papers & the cassette tape paper are from the Cosmo Cricket double decker stack. The yellow flowery strip along the left side is from Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar. I just love those papers. 

Other embellishments are Pink Paislee Enchanting & Fetching stickers, Cosmo Cricket tiny type stickers, Jenni Bowlin rub ons, & Pink Paislee Fetching rub ons. The stamps are Paper Smooches Perpetual Bliss.

28 in my 28th's year [update].

Remember this post? Time for an update...
 
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 (9/7/12)
5 pay off my car (DONE 9/12! with Dad paying the last $884)
6 run in another race
7 take a wine tasting class 
8 take Bentley on an overnight stay somewhere (New Buffalo MI August 3-5, 2012)
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 (in progress - have gone the past 2/3 weeks!)
27 be a nicer person
28 fix the patio doors