Punkin' Patch!

This year we visited a local pumpkin festival- complete with corn maze, pumpkin brats, and the best part- pumpkin soup! Mmmmmm. We had a lot of fun checking out the local vendors, enjoying some beer, and letting Luke run around all the pumpkins. He just loved that he could pick them up (or at least try!).

 I tried to pull as much out of my stash as possible- I'm really up to my ears in stuff I've had for over a year so I'm trying to sneak things on here and there. All the patterned paper is old- the only new things I brought out here were the alphas and the Studio Calico tag.

I took a cue from the Pebbles butterflies from the Fresh Goods line and use three layers to build my little pumpkin. I used corrugated sheets from a very old 7 Gypsies ephemera pack, inked up the raised portions and the edges, sandwiched the orange paper in between them, and then sewed down the center. Easy and dimensional!
And while we're on the subject of fall activities, I forgot to post this page I did for Pebbles last week!

I used a few different lines for this page. I hand-stitched the leaves in the background and then built the page around them. I'm starting to hand-stitch a lot more lately- I love that I can keep my hands busy while still be out with the family, rather than alone in my scrap room.

Today I'm working on that quilt I started way back when.... Hopefully I'll have progress to share with you tomorrow! Thanks for visiting!

Little Yellow Bicycle - Cycling Team

I have a post over at Little Yellow Bicycle today! I was chosen to be part of their cycling team and man, was I excited! I got to play with one of their latest collections, Head of the Class. I used the line to create a page, some lunch box notes, and a card.

I had so much fun with this line and can definitely see reaching for it a lot- not only is it great for back to school, but also boys- those primaries are great!
For more projects from this line be sure to head over to Little Yellow Bicycle and check out what the other gals did!

Thank You - Memoir

Hello friends! Just a quick post today to share some cards I made with Studio Calico's Memoir line (and a bit of alphas from Autumn Press). I finally got this order in and needed to start cutting right away and this is what came out.

I needed some thank you cards to send out for family and these were quick and easy. Now if actually mailing them were as easy...
Be sure to check out the Pebbles blog today, I have a fall themed page up over there!

Too fast...

My son is growing like a weed. It's hard to really notice until I sit down and look through past photos, or realize that everything in his drawers is suddenly too small for him. It IS easy to see how much he is learning though, like when I listened in on his "pre-naptime talk" to himself and heard him successfully count to 8. He's only been 2 for a month and I know that all these changes will just keep on coming at a rapid pace. Still, it's hard as I want him to stay my little guy forever, but it is also exciting to watch him grow and learn- and be proud of himself for his accomplishments.

I found this photo the other day and knew I wanted to enlarge it on a page. I also thought it would be fun to do the title ON it, so I cropped it with that in mind. I did something similar on this page: Road Trip. I think I'll be doing this more often as I really like the look!
I'm also working on Christmas blocks for a quilt that I've had sitting around for a  year now. I kept meaning to get it together this summer, but it's summer- so why would I be inspired to do anything Christmasy that early? =)  I'm paying for it now though- if I don't get it done in the next two weeks it will likely sit another year- we're going on vacation for the month of November and I know I won't have time to do it with the hustle and bustle of December.

So far I have 3/12 blocks finished and it takes me about an hour and a half per block. Better get crackin!

Another quick page!

I'm really on a roll this week- I've managed a page a day, just like I planned. This weekend I'm hoping to move onto some cards. I need to send out thank you's for my birthday presents! =)
This is the page I whipped up last night, using Pebble's Fresh Goods line.

You can just barely tell but I used a Studio Calico stamp behind the title- it's the confetti stamp from a couple months ago. I used champagne Versamark and it gives it a really cool but subtle shine. I needed something there because there was no texture in the cardstock I used and I think it was the perfect solution! I also embossed my thickers- love that they were "nekkid" so I didn't have to worry about finding the right font/color combo, I could just make them whatever I wanted!
Thanks for coming by, enjoy your weekend!

What time is it?

Beer:30!

I was working on a few different pages last night and neither were really going well for me. I put them to the side and pulled out my latest SC kit instead. Somehow I just started throwing things on the page and had this done in 15 minutes. I know- a record for me. Normally my "simple" pages still take an hour or two because I'm indecisive. These pictures are from "Oktoberfest"- the quotation marks because it wasn't what you're thinking, it was my small village's version of it. Still with good beer and good food and lots of people though! The best part about this day was the fact that we could just walk home afterwards!
And friends, I've made it a bit easier to subscribe to my blog- just click that blue button on the left. You can also get updates to your inbox by putting your email address in that little box over there as well! (And who doesn't like getting crafty emails?)
I'll be back tomorrow with another page!

A whirlwind week

I've been busier this week than I thought I would be, that's for sure! But I've made it a point to finish a page a day, no matter how late I have to stay up. =)
Last night I finished this one to document some of the things I'm "into" right now at my age, things I'm thankful for, how proud I am to be where I am. I really just started cutting and gluing without a plan, which is why you don't see the journaling- I just wasn't sure where to put it.

My solution was the envelope behind the picture. I actually went through my supplies yesterday to do some organizing (with my new Ikea drawers!) and found that I have about 20 of these Maya Road envelopes- guess I'd better start using them up!
And this page went up on the Pebbles blog on Monday:

I had a lot of fun using pink on a page- with all boys around here, pink rarely makes an appearance in my scrap room!
And yesterday, some of our good friends came by to help me celebrate my birthday and brought me this:

Yes friends, that's right, a SWISS CAKE ROLL cake! It had ice cream and chocolate syrup inside too. (Swiss cake rolls are my weakness). There's a bit waiting in my freezer for me right now...

Poorman's Ribbon Organizer

Hi everyone! Today is my birthday- the big 2-5! So far I've had an amazing breakfast made by my husband- potatoes o'brien, sausage, eggs, and toast, complete with a candle and birthday song, I'm going to Ikea in a hot minute to get some things to better organize my scrap room, and then I get to come home and spend the rest of the night in here making some more pretty things. It's going to be a good day!
Sorry I've been quiet lately, I've been working on a lot of pages and projects lately but nothing I can show you quite yet- hopefully sometime this week though! I've also been doing a lot of homework. I'm taking an introductory drawing course and have been learning about still-life drawings- here's my latest assignment:

Not too bad for never really being a drawer I'd say! I know there are a lot of graphic designers that don't draw or never took any drawing classes, so I hope getting better in this aspect will help me tremendously later and maybe give me a slight edge. It has been challenging but fun so far!
And, I've gotten a start on better organizing my scrap space. I'm really bad about using product I have if I can't see it. Right now, most everything is divided into large categories and put into bins on my expedit shelves. It works to keep things uncluttered, but I rarely feel like digging around to find something that will work on a page. So, I've decided to add some drawer units in here to help me further classify items and I feel like drawers will be easier to rummage through than bins. I started on getting my ribbon out of bins first, and my solution was this easy ribbon rack.

I used two curtain rod hangers that I had laying around the house and then strung my ribbon rolls onto a dowel rod.

It bows slightly without a support in the middle but I think I've accomplished my goal- the ribbon is out of the bin, I can see it all, and it's easy to pull out whatever length in whatever color I need. And for $1.59, you can't beat it! I still have about 15 rolls of ribbon that don't quite fit so I'm going to have to pick up another dowel rod to hang another below this. I also have some clips from Ikea that will hang from the second one to hold loose ribbon I've acquired.
And lastly, I have a page up at the Pebbles blog today, make sure you check it out! Here's a little sneak peek-

Well friends, it's Ikea time! I'll be back tomorrow with some more projects to share!