Photo Friday- Buds in Bloom

It's Friday!  This week sure has gone by fast.  I guess that's what happens when all four of my boys are home all day.  Our neighbor has some beautiful flowers that have been blooming this week.  I just had to get some photos of them.  I shot these with my 18-105mm lens (I really wish I had a macro, oh well).  These are my favorites.  I hope you like them too.  Thanks for stopping.

  

6 Weeks

The end of the school year sure throws a lot of extra stuff in my schedule!  Between field trips, school programs, and other end of the year activities I've been swamped.  Sorry that I haven't gotten any scrapbook layouts or cards up in a few weeks.  I'm going to try to be better about that.

Here is a cute little layout that I've actually had done for a few weeks but didn't have time to photograph.  My title was cut using the Cricut and to emphasize the 6 I used the same papers I used for my embellishments.  I have always loved using square photos on a layout and this is a fun way to arrange them.  Matting them with a thin white border really helps unite all the pictures.  I love how Zach's face is a little different in each shot and Alex just doesn't seem to care.  :) 

Once again I used a paper pack for my layout.  They make putting together a layout so easy!  I picked four papers that I really loved from the kit and used them to make my embellishments, title, and photo block.  I love circles and they are easy embellishments to make.  Different sized circles, a stamp, a button, and some twine and you have a super easy and cute embellishment for your layout!

I wanted to use these supplies but create a little different embellishment so I made a banner for the top of my page!  I used my square punch to punch out the banner ends which made this super easy.  Banners are so in right now too and I love the way they look on layouts.  They add interest without being too distracting from your photos.  I also love how different from the circles this looks yet it still works because I used the same supplies.  This is also a great way to use up scraps! 

My journaling card is also from the kit.  I spruced it up a bit by using Glossy Accents on the truck.  This gives a little added interest without a lot of bulk and also makes the truck look more realistic.  I matted the journaling card with the same paper as my background paper and inked the edges of the card with Black Soot Distress ink to help it stand out a little more.    

There you have it.  Another page kit = another page done.  I hope you enjoyed this one, I know I really like it.  Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping!

Supplies:

• cardstock- misc
• patterned paper- Echo Park Paper Co. (Little Boy Collection)
• Cricut cartridge- Robotz
• stamp- Close to My Heart (Star Struck D1237)
• ink- Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• pen- Project Life journaling pen (black 03)
• tools- Perfect Layers, Creative Memories (circle cutter), Fiskars (square punch 1 1/2"), EK Success (circle punch 1 1/4")
• misc- buttons, Glue Dots, Glossy Accents, Doodle Twine (Boy assortment)

Photo Friday- The Beginning and the End

Today was both the beginning and the end.  The beginning of summer vacation and the end of school.  I think my boys are ready for a nice break but I'm not sure I'm ready for them to be home all summer!!  We have some wonderful plans for our time together and I can't wait to see what fun things we will do.  It's always an adventure with four boys and I love every minute of it!  Here is a look at how they've changed this school year.  One photo from the beginning and one from the end.  Thanks for stopping!

PS  I promise I'll have some paper crafting up next week on the blog.  These last few weeks have just been crazy so stay tuned. 

Photo Friday- iPhone Style

Lets face it.  We all have a cell phone and we all use it to take pictures.  In fact, that is one of the reasons that I got an iPhone.  I wanted a better 'camera' with me at all times for those random moments.  I have a small point and shoot camera but for many reasons (the main one being the battery would not stay charged) it just didn't fit the bill.  My iPhone on the other hand is wonderful!  I don't always have my DSLR with me but I do have my iPhone.  Even though it is a phone, you can still get frame worthy photos from it.  That was my intent when I went to the zoo this week.  All of these photos were taken with my iPhone 4S and are unedited unless noted.  I also only used apps on my phone to edit a few of the photos (except for adding my watermark which was done in Photoshop Elements).  These are apps that I have on my phone but usually don't use (except for Instagram) so I thought I'd play a little with them too.  Fun!  So the next time you find yourself without your main camera don't forget about that little guy in your pocket.  Thanks for stopping!

edited with Luminance

edited with Instagram

edited with Snapseed

edited with Picfx

edited with PicTapGo

  

Photo Friday- Super Squirrel

This is not my typical subject but I just couldn't pass up taking pictures of this squirrel.  We often watch squirrels in our backyard eating crusts of bread that we throw out.  This squirrel was different though.  We could tell something was on him but couldn't tell what.  So I got out my 55-300 mm lens and started snapping away.  That's when we realized this poor little guy had some plastic around his neck/front legs.  We are really hoping that he will be OK but this really shows that littering is not a good idea.  My boys were very concerned about the squirrel and are now even more aware of littering and how it hurts the environment.  We hope that we will see 'Super Squirrel' again just to know that he is alright.  Thanks for stopping.     

What's Up? Rainbow Card

This weather we've been having is taking me outside more and in my craft room less.  I guess that's what happens when spring finally arrives.  And boy are we glad that spring is finally arriving!  Enough of winter (or as I have been calling our weather lately Sprinter). 

Guess what happens to be the theme over at Playing in Paradise this week.  Springtime Joy!  The challenge is to create our own springtime and show what brings us joy during this season.  When I saw this challenge I immediately thought of rainbows!  I love rainbows!  I use ROY G BIV (even my four year old knows the order of colors) to organize all of my scrapbook supplies (our closets too) and have even been known to buy 'every color of the rainbow' of an item just to have a complete rainbow!!  I love a gentle spring rain with some sun and the beautiful rainbow it can create.  There is just something magical about a rainbow and they just make me feel happy.  That brings me to my card today.

My original vision of this card had a rainbow with some rain falling on some flowers, but when I sat down to make this card it changed slightly.  I decided that I didn't need those spring flowers and would let the rainbow speak for itself.  I used some masking tape to make some masks for my rainbow.  I drew out a little sketch, cut out the pieces, and then stuck them all onto a piece of white cardstock (I stuck the cloud at the end of the rainbow down first and layered the rainbow pieces on top).  I then peeled away each band of the rainbow one by one and stamped with the polka dot stamp.  Once I was done with that I used my ink blending tool to rub some of the same color ink over the same area.  I then replaced the mask over that band of the rainbow and moved on to the next one.

After I finished with the rainbow I removed all the masks except the cloud one.  I used my ink blending tool to create a little 'sky' by inking around the cloud and moving it around the rest of my cardstock.  I just love the way my clouds turned out!  I then added a few 'raindrops' to add some sparkle.  I wasn't sure what sentiment to put on this card but as I looked through my stash I found this 'What's Up?' stamp and knew it would be perfect.  A shiny mat and some foam squares and this card was complete.  I hope you like it and thanks for stopping!

Supplies:

• cardstock- misc, Bazzill
• ink- Tim Holtz Distress ink (Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass), Close to My Heart (Sunny Yellow)
• stamps- Glitz Design (Distressing), ScrapAce
• misc- foam squares, Eclipse (masking tape), Imaginisce (iRock gems)

 

Photo Friday- Wild Weather

What a wild week of weather we have been having!!  From sun to snow, this week we've had it all.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from this week (all taken with my iPhone 4S).  Thanks for stopping. 

Stretch Those Supplies

Since the snow made it's appearance and tomorrow is going to be a cold and gloomy day, here are a couple of birthday cards to brighten your day.  Both of these cards were made with the leftover pieces of patterned paper from yesterdays blog post pages!  I love stretching my supplies and I also love when I use something up (then I don't feel so guilty when I buy something new)!

For this first card I just cut the patterned paper slightly smaller than my card base and cut out a sentiment with my Cricut.  I applied Versamark ink all over the black sentiment, applied clear embossing powder, and then heat embossed it.  Once I added it to my card I then outlined it with my white gel pen!  Yes, that isn't a white paper shadow it's a white gel pen shadow!!  Love it!!  It really helped the sentiment stand out from the bold patterned paper. 

I only had a few small pieces of the patterned paper left but needed to make one more card.  I decided to make my own 'patterned paper' with a background stamp and some Distress Ink.  I just stamped the image right on my card base, heat embossed it, and then applied the Distress Ink.  After rounding the corners of the patterned paper pieces I adhered them to the card.  I then stamped the star and cut it out.  I added the sentiment, a little scrap of twine, and adhered it to the card with some pop dots!  Super easy and super cute!

So there you have it.  I made three cards (two of the first one and one of the second) and two single page layouts with one sheet of patterned paper!  I just loving stretching my supplies.  Thanks for stopping and if you are in my neck of the woods stay warm!

Supplies:

• cardstock- misc scraps
• patterned paper- I received this from a friend and do not have a manufacturer
• stamps- Close to My Heart (Seasonal Celebration D1112), Gel-a-tins (Super Star), Hero Arts (Life of Party Words)
• ink- Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Wild Honey, Black Soot), Versamark (Watermark Ink)
• embossing powder- Ranger (Superfine Clear)
• Cricut cartridge- Wild Card
• tools- We Are Memory Keepers (corner chomper 3/8")
• misc- pop dots, twine