May SFYTT Reminder

Just a reminder that there are just a few days left to play along with the May Sketch For You To Try! And don't forget about our fabulous sponsor this month, Skipping Stones Designs. Here's a final look at this month's sketch:

And a look back at my May SFYTT creations with links to my original blog posts for product details. First this fun Hybrid Baby Card:

And next this cheerful Everyday Verve Card:

All details and upload information can be found on THIS POST on Jen's blog. I hope you find time to play along this month!

May SFYTT, Post #2

 

It's the 3rd Saturday of May and that means it's time for some more Sketch For You To Try Inspiration from a few of the SFYTT Sisters! Have you had a chance to play along with this month's sketch yet? You've got until March 31st at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month! And don't forget we have another amazing sponsor this month - Skipping Stones Designs!

Today, half of the SFYTT Sisters are posting another sample on their blogs using this month's sketch. I decided to play with some fun new digi papers and a mix of old and new Verve Stamps to create an everyday card for my stash. My old hand-made photo-taking set-up bit the dust this week, so I had to take this picture without any type of setup and it's pretty blurry and you can see my messy room in the background. But for a little while at least, this is just how it's going to be.
 

All of those patterned papers are from the Quilting Bee Paper Pack by Robyn Meierotto (Design House Digital). As for all the Verve goodies, I went with my trusty Love Notes label stand-by along with the matching Classy Label Die with a sentiment from All About You layered on top. And those yummy flowers? They're from the new Joyful Blooms stamp set and cut out using the coordinating Joyful Blooms Die Set. I LOVE how well all of my Verve stamps and dies mix and match together - it's so fun digging into my massive stash of Verve and using a little of this and a little of that to create something truly unique.

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone! Aloha!

Project Life 2012 - Week 6

Thank you so much for the positive feedback about Project Life. Over the next few weeks I'll try to get caught up with sharing my PL Album pages here on the blog. When I'm feeling ambitious I'll include product links, but sometimes I won't. If there's ever anything you want to know about, just leave a comment and I'll mention the product with a link in my next Project Life post.

Week 6 - February 5 - February 11, 2012:

 This was another busy week and I really liked the way the two pages came together - lots of bright colors and lots of the "everyday" documented". Above is a photo of both pages together with the 6x12 journaling insert (it's a Cathy Zielske template from Designer Digitals). Below is a closer look at that (I'm not sure if you can actually read it, but if you click on the photo you might be able to if you care about the nitty gritty of our week). The highlights of the week were the Superbowl and booking our Disneyland vacation package (which actually happens next week!! YAY!).

 

This week I chose to document some of our current favorite TV shows and what we seem to be watching a lot of right now. I also included a calendar of February, a Superbowl graphic, a photo of Dean at drop-off at school as well as with a hat he made for the 100th day of school which was that week (I included a 3x4 journaling card with some extra journaling about the activities they did for the 100th day of school too). And finally a photo of Dean doing some artwork on his easel in his underwear. This kid is most comfortable in his underwear! And his "artwork" was actually just a list of alternate names for his cat - so cute!

The right side of the layout includes a Disneyland graphic - I chose something sort of retro-ish because I just liked it. I also journaled about a funny story from Joel taking Dean to get his haircut. If you can see that journaling card, you should read it. It's classic. There are also photos of Dean's library books from the week, some flowers Joel picked up from a roadside stand, Dean and I working on his Periodic Table puzzle, this month's book club pick (which I read in one sitting), and a collage of pictures from a trip to the Maui Tropical Plantation to feed the ducks and fish.

And that's about it. It was a good week and so many bits and pieces of life I would have already forgotten if not for Project Life!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #158

It's Sunday again and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Karen has a fun sketch for us this week (and YAY for no tilted panels!!):

I made a hybrid card to give my son Dean. It's just an everyday card that I plan to give him next week before our vacation with a little note inside telling him how excited I am to make some really fun memories with him.

Are you guys tired of the whole space theme yet? Well, too bad! ;-) Dean's *slightly* obsessed with all things space, so get used to it. I used some fun printed digi papers from the Rocketman kit by Deena Rutter (Design House Digital). And I finally used my PTI Out of this World stamp set for the very first time!

Be sure to stop by the other Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch:

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

AND...we have another fabulous Guest Sweet Sunday Stamper, Erica Cerwin! Be sure to stop by and see what she's created with this week's sketch too!

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Project Life 2012 - Week 5

OK, so I really am totally caught up on my Project Life album through Week 17, but I've totally slacked with sharing it here on my blog. Mostly because it's just a pain. And I'm not really sure if anyone cares? I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this project. I think I've said that before, but now that I'm 1/3 of the way through the year I know without a doubt that I will continue doing this beyond 2012. Not only has it completely changed the way I scrapbook, but (and I know this might sound silly) it's kind of changed my life. For real. It's made me slow down and really enjoy the day to day. I appreciate all those little moments a bit more. Before when I was just scrapping the big events it felt like I was kind of missing the little stuff, sort of just floating through my daily life, waiting for the next big event, and not really appreciating the little things. But now that I'm forcing myself to really document all of those little moments I'm appreciating them so much more and find that I also appreciate my family more and am spending more quality time with them. I really think this project has helped me prioritize my time and I'm so thankful my friend Sarah convinced me to do this (even though she totally bailed on me before the year even started!). So thanks Sarah! :-)

Anyway, I'm going to share a few more weeks, starting with where I left off the last time I shared - with Week 5 - and see if anyone cares. If nobody comments or seems to give a crap, I'm not going to waste my time sharing this stuff. Initially I'm not going to post product links either because that's a lot of work. But if you want to know about specific product, leave a comment and I'll add that info. If there seems to be any interest in this, then I'll continue sharing and start adding product links.

So anyway, Week 5. January 29 - February 4, 2012. Here's a look at the 2-page spread with inserts:

It was a fun and busy week. It started out with a Birthday Party at one of Dean's friend's houses on Sunday morning followed by a trip to the Maui Pops Orchestra Sunday afternoon. A journaling card on the left-hand page told about that trip. It turned out Dean was getting sick and ended up missing school and gymnastics on Monday. I included an e-mail from Uncle Jeff at Valley Isle Gymnastics, a photo of Dean sleeping off a fever on the couch, and a photo of meds and a thermometer to document Dean's illness. There's also a picture of Dean doing some homework on the left side of the layout.

I tried something new this week as it was the end of the month of January. I burned all of my January photos onto a CD and created a little folder to hold the CD in my Project Life album. I back up my photos several ways (External Hard Drive, online backup, and burning them onto CDs) and I thought this would be a convenient way to store those CDs. Unfortunately, we're now into May and I haven't done this since January. It's on my list of to-do's. The other insert was Dean's Runner Number for the Run for the Whales. He ran in the Keiki Run (a 2k race) on Saturday and I wanted to keep his number.

And here's a look at the right-side page with the inserts removed. I documented about returning to my old tried and true self-care / beauty products that I've used since High School but can't get on Maui, Origins. (I had stopped using them because I didn't like having to order them online, but had been unable to find another natural beauty product that I was happy with, so during Week 5 I went back to Origins). There are several pictures from Dean's race in the Run for the Whales as well as a funny conversation we had on our way to the race. A filler card, a Facebook status update, some yogurtland eating, and a Week in Review finished up Week 5.

So what do you think? Do you want to see more of my Project Life? Do you want me to share the rest of it? I have 17 weeks of 2012 done and plan to continue. Please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for stopping by!

May 2012 SFYTT

Well, it's that time again already - first Saturday of the month and time for another fabulous Sketch For You to Try!! I hope you all had a chance to play along with us last month - Lots of exciting things in store for participants of the monthly SFYTT this year, including a chance to win another fabulous huge prize package at the end of the year!! All of the details can be found on today's post over on Jen's blog, with some of the details outlined in the "In a Nutshell" graphic at the end of this post. We have another amazing sponsor this month - Skipping Stones Designs!

First, how about a look at this month's fabulous sketch:

 For my sample card this week I created a fun hybrid baby boy card using a new digital kit from Libby Pritchett and a stamped sentiment from Verve Stamps. I did *slightly* change a few things with the sketch - I smooshed the two horizontal strips together a bit, and I changed the top rectangle layer to an oval (I just couldn't get the rectangle to look right with the main image I chose to use).

All of the papers and that cute little giraffe image are printed digital goodies from the new A Blue Elephant In The Room kit by Libby and Jeff Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe). I added a small sentiment from the Small Phrases stamp set by Verve.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch! And a very warm welcome to our Designer of the Month, Dawn Barghorn! Don't forget to stop by her blog to see what she's created as well.

Jen del Muro and Guest Designs Annie Rosentiel
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

And a very special welcome to NEW SFYTT Sister, Tracy Schultz!! 

Verve Diva Inspirations May 2012 Blog Hop

It's May 5th and that means it's time for another Verve Divas Inspirations Blog Hop! On the 5th of each month, the Verve Divas Inspirations Team will be sharing creations using some of our favorite Verve sets from both past and present, and as always, there are PRIZES!!

You can start the hop at the beginning on the Verve Blog and continue on through each fabulous blog - be sure to leave a little comment love along the way and you just might win some Verve goodies of your own! If you arrived here from the talented Jen d's blog, then you're on the right track! (I can't seem to get the graphic for the entire hop list to work, but the entire list should be posted on the Verve Blog or on someone else's blog along the hop).

I was in need of one last Mother's Day card, so I dug into my digital files and printed out some paper and pulled out some of my favorite Verve stamps and got to work.

First, all of that fun paper is printed digi paper from the Sweet Life Digital Paper Pack by Robyn Meierotto (Design House Digitals). The orange scalloped oval label is from the Sweet On You stamp set, a super versatile stamp that I often forget about using (and I still think Julee needs to add this to the Die List!!). The bright pink flower is from the Meditations set while the sentiment is from the gigantic Love Deepens set. I'm really happy with how this card turned out - honestly it's probably one of my favorites I've made in a long time. I love the mix of stamps, colors and patterns. Here's a closer look:

OK, that's it from me. Julee is next on the Hop List and I can't wait to see what fabulousness she's created! Head on over to her blog and check it out. Thanks for stopping by!