Back to School baby!

What better time of year to do a 12 page workshop for back to school, than September!  Using Scholastic, a bunch of goodies from the new idea book, inspiration from the new idea book and Pinterest, I came up with 12 pages of back to school goodness.  I'll share a few of my favorites now!

First, my absolute favorite of the group...inspired by the Studio J layout on page 43 of the new idea book.  Next, I have to confess to an unhealthy obsession with the notebook paper, the first step is admitting I have a problem, right?!? ;)  I used my Plantin Cricut cartridge to cut the apples.  And the Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge to cut the school bus.  Then the Token alphabet stamp set for the word "school" and the background on those letters (to make it look more like the notebook paper...remember above stated addiction to notebook paper).  And last, the A Typeface alphabet set for the remainder of letters.  Oh, and don't forget the paper clip.  I found a red one that I thought looked good with the new ruby cardstock that the apples were cut from.

The next favorite in the group...inspired by a sketch I found on Pinterest from the H2H challenges group.  You can find many more awesome sketches and challenges for cards and pages alike on their blog at www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com .  I used stars in place of snowflakes for the obvious reason.  And I wanted to have a layout that wasn't 100% school related, for the odds and ends pictures during the year.  My son received a couple of awards last year while in kindergarten, and I'm thinking pics from those award ceremonies will be perfect for these pages.  Now, I must confess to yet another obsession that has blossomed since the unveiling of the new idea book...the rolodex card and notebook 'cards' that can be created with the new Artiste Cricut cartridge.  Too Stinking Cute for words!!!   That is where the little rolodex card came from on the right page.  The tag stamp on the left page came from the Vintage Type stamp set (a new favorite stamp set because of the tag, pennants and super cute letters).  The star stamps and sayings are from the Reach for the Stars stamp set.

I needed a layout that would have a big enough spot to hold his class picture, thus the LARGE 8 x 10 photo space on the left.  I found a layout in the Make if From Your Heart book (pg 30 & 31) and altered the dimensions of the left photo well, and thus altered the right page dimensions as well to line up correctly...darn OCD!  I used the Chalk Shapes for the ribbon as well as both the Artiste and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges to create the ruby base of the ribbon, and the brackets.  Oh, and the important Chalk Marker to write on the Chalk Shape.  I LOVE the new canvas letters, and think they look beautimous on this layout.  The alphabet stamped on the 1/2 in strip across both pages came from Vintage Type stamp set.  And I topped off the layout with a few stickease and antiqued copper brads.

Can't wait to add pictures to all 12 pages!  I'm currently 27 layouts behind on my 2 layouts per week goal...this will knock it down to 21 in no time at all!  Booyah!!

Until next time...happy scrapping and paper crafting!

Back in the saddle!

So an entire summer managed to escape from me, with just a single blog post.  Not sure how that happened...might have something to do with having 2 young boys and a hubby with a new job!  At any rate, I had a fabulous summer, and am hoping to pick up the home business pace a bit with both boys in school this year!  Zach is just half day in Kindergarten, while Lucas is full day in First Grade.  We survived the first week of school, and a routine is beginning to emerge, however, the 3 day weekend threw it off a bit, so there's more hope for next week (if soccer practice doesn't kill me first)!!

For August's workshops I completed the Avonlea Card Workshop on the Go kit.  I couldn't leave it at that, so I made good use of the scraps and created a few extra cards, and a 2 page layout (using the new Make it from your Heart sketch book).  Here is what the layout looks like:

I figure the extra cards and extra layout made it an even more affordable kit to purchase.

I also made a menu for my refrigerator.  I fell in love with the cover of the Make it from your Heart book.  And figured out how they created the background, and turned it into my menu.  I also fell in love with a color scheme from another layout in the MIFYH book, and combined the two for this:

Sweet leaf, chocoate, desert sand and colonial white cardstock.  I used my favorite Liquid Glass to attach magnets to the back of some bottle caps I found at Craft Warehouse (yes, I know....gasp, contraband).  A little faux stitching, and some menu items and voila!  I attached it straight to the fridge, but one of my gals suggested putting it in a page protector and trimming off the left edge to keep it fresh.  And I suggested placing it in a shadow box, putting a 12x12 metal sheet behind it and hanging it on the wall.  Whatever floats your boat...

I've just finished up the 12 page Scholastic workshop for my September workshop.  I'll be back to share that soon, hopefully!

Father's Day cards

I found the best inspiration for a card for the hubby and father in law just in the nick of time...like the day before!  I follow another CTMH consultant's blog, and she had used the Superhero paper pack, and created an awesome, yet pretty simple card.  You can check out Paige's card here, on her blog at http://paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com/2012/06/ctmh-super-dad-card-for-fathers-day-at.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PaigesPaperParadise+%28Paige%27s+Paper+Paradise%29 .  While watching the movie Wall Street with the hubby I set about making it even simpler, and adapting to stamp sets and supplies which I already had on hand.  The guys loved their cards...here is my version.

Thanks Paige for the inspiration!

Now onto preparing next month's workshops...if only I had a mind to make up this process would be oh so much easier!!

Studio J

After getting re-hooked on Studio J back in February with the BOGO free with the 5-packs, and after my dad passed away, I decided it was time to create some more digital pages.  I went back several years and found some of my favorite digital pictures of my dad, and created a layout to hang up in my scrap room. 

And since I'm a Studio J member, I get free shipping if I order at least 4 layouts at a time.  So why not create a few Easter pages too!  I didn't have a gazillion Easter pics this year since the boys are getting quicker about the hunting of eggs, and we didn't get to do any of the big public egg hunts since Lucas had a soccer game the Saturday morning that all of the hunts are done.  So it worked out well that I was able to fit all my pics onto 3 layouts!

I used one of the paper packs exclusive to Studio J, it's called Hippity Hop.  Easter is the one time of the year that I can get away with lots of pink on my BOY pages! ;) 

That's 4 more layouts added to my collection in a matter of about 2 hours time on the computer.  I'm at 45 layouts for the year so far, well on my way to my goal of 104!  I think I can, I think I can!

Footloose 10 page workshop

Remembered that I never got around to posting pictures of the Footloose 10 page workshop I created using Tresa Black's workshop guide.  I wanted a beach-ier version than hers, so I used the Seaside wooden shapes, wooden badge buttons, wooden buttons, the Footloose WOTG stamp set, and Just Chillin stamp set.  I had a terrific response for the workshop this month, and I am thrilled that my ladies enjoyed them as much as I did!

Next up is a Smash Book, mostly CTMH style!  I'm excited that I found a way to scrapbook the 'everyday' photos in a quicker, easier, more cost effective style!  It will be a To Go Kit workshop for July.  Happy scrapping!

My kindergarten graduate!

Have been so busy that I forgot to post a pic of my big kindergarten graduate!  He received an award for Scholar of the Year in his kindergarten class, as well as perfect attendance!  And he completed 25 miles on the track this school year.  He's set his sights high for 100 miles next year as a big ol' first grader!  Oh, and I also had to include his chesire cat smile for his 1st place finish in his school's chess tournament in the K-1 level.  Love my little smarty pants! : )

Preschool graduation

It's official, no more kids to do the preschool thing with anymore...sniff, sniff!  My baby boy will be 5 in July, and I have absolutely no idea how the time has flown by so quickly!!!! 

They put on quite the show for the parents and grandparents at the graduation ceremony today.  And I almost cried while watching the video of the past year.  He's come a long way since starting his first and only year of preschool in September.  And he cannot wait to become a big ol' kindergartner this fall.

My handsome Zach attack...

And tomorrow brings kindergarten graduation for my big man....someone needs to find a way to slow time down!  I don't care about the fountain of youth...just more time to enjoy my lil men before they're too big to chill with mom!