What's your dream?! LGC Blog Party Day 1

Hi friends! I'm so glad you're able to join us for another Lucky Girl Crafts blog party. If you're new to the party, check out the post above for more details. The Lucky Girls have prizes in store for you, you'll just need to follow along!

This month's kit is more kid-themed, so I thought it'd be fun to take a more mature spin on it. The embellies this month are so luscious, and can be used in so many ways that it's really easy to stretch the kit for all kinds of different projects. Don't you just love it when that happens?

I'm the guest FITGirl at ScrapFIT this month (wootwoot!) my first layout goes along with their challenge prompt, "Dream".

One of my biggest dreams is to travel the world with my hubby, with Italy being in my #1 dream destination. I've never been, but my 2010 calendar was filled with gorgeous architecture, historical sites and rolling vineyards. You could almost taste the delicious food! What better place to get great pictures for a place you've never been?

I used one of the main 13x13 pictures for the large photo, and just traced a plate to get the circle. I took some of the thumbnail prints from the back of the calendar for the smaller photos, then embellished with the yummy scrappy goodness from the February Lucky Girl Crafts kit. (Who doesn't love Prima flowers?!)

For the centers of the flowers, I added a big dollop of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, and sprinkled a bunch of seed beads in various colors. I was so pleased when it turned out better than expected!

And now, finally - do you want a chance to win some Lucky Bucks?

Each day of the blog party (Feb. 1-3) we'll have another chance for you to enter to win $7 Lucky Bucks to the Lucky Girl store. At the end of the party, the Lucky Girls will each choose one winner from their blog who played along. Here's how you can enter:

Earn 1 entry for referring a friend to the LGC blog party

Earn 1 entry for answering today's question: "What's your favorite childhood tradition (or) tradition you've got for your own children?"

Earn 10 entries for the giveaways on all of the Lucky Girl Crafts Blog Party when you place any order with Lucky Girl Crafts between now and February 3!

Fancy that...

It's Frosted Designs time again!

This week's challenge prompt was to use 3 or more pictures, which was perfect since I just got in a huge order in from Snapfish. Among the piles of pictures I received was this grouping from the mini-vacation my hubby and I took for our 11th anniversary last year.


I won a getaway to this great little B&B in the middle of the Colorado mountains called Fresh & Wyld. They had a delicious gourmet dinner featuring local meats, veggies and wines. Though the little town didn't have much in the way of entertainment, the people were sweet, the scenery was amazing and it was a neat treat for us. I'd definitely go back.

I used part of the brochure for both my sub-title and title block. The name of the B&B is featured in metal frame, and the deceptive part was my main title block. this layout features nearly all products from the January Lucky Girl Crafts kit (or what's left of it - I've gotten so much out of it!). The white script letters from the kit were colored in with Bic permanent marker so it'd actually show up against the busy background.

For the center of the flower, I popped a circle photo out of one of the many chickens that were found on the property, then added a dimensional glaze and chunky glitter for extra emphasis. Check it out:

Be sure to stop by the best of the rest of the Frosted Designers (not to mention for your chance to win this month's awesome prize!!!) We hope to see you soon!

Crazy for Patterns... Practical Scrappers Challenge

I don't usually work with a whole bunch of patterned papers in a single layout, so this week's challenge at Practical Scrappers, which was to use three or more patterned papers, made me think outside of my comfort zone. But man, am I glad I went there!

I chose bright and fun papers to document Sophia's special trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with her Nana & Poppa. They had "adopted" a wallaby at the zoo and she got to go for adoptive parent day, where she got to pet a baby wallaby. It was such a neat treat for my little girl!

Everything used on this layout is from Close To My Heart, and almost everything was patterned paper, including the fun little animals and the "buttons" popped up off the sub-title stickers. They were all just trimmed out from the patterned paper to accent the rest of the layout. I also used some cardstock and stickers, which were also from Close To My Heart.

Be sure to stop by Practical Scrappers today to check out the rest of the amazing design team's work, including a whole bunch of new members!

Boy layouts

Andrew's baby album is a constant work in progress. Here's what I got done last weekend:


This layout features a page from one of Close To My Heart's level 1 kits - which means that the hard work is done for you. These kits are great for beginners or scrappers in a hurry as they give you the pre-printed layout already done. All you have to do is add pictures and accents to complete the look. I used a clear accent from Close To My Heart - with brown StazOn ink and a Stampin' Up swirl. The ribbon is also from Close To My Heart, but the flowers and button are all Making Memories.

To attach clear embellishments with glue, you spray the back evenly with a spray adhesive, like 3M, or run through a Xyron, but be careful with the latter because it can get messy! Whatever method you prefer, just make sure that the adhesive is applied evenly. You can also attach clear embellishments with ribbons, staples, brads and/or eyelets.


This Poppa & Me layout is created with Close To My Heart papers & buttons that I've had for years. I added little stitch marks with a piercing tool and the guide from Stampin' Up. The cute letter stickers are from Doodlebug Designs.

Lots of layouts!

My goal for the scrapbook weekend was to catch up on some of Andrew's baby album. He turns 10 this year, so I figured I should get the ball rolling if I want his album done by the time he graduates from high school!

I used a lot of old pictures, making me miss my chunky monkey baby of a boy, but I also used a lot of old papers and stickers that I've had almost as long as he's been alive. It made me feel so happy to finally be using some of my excessive stash.

Silly Little Mess uses some alpha stickers that I got forever ago at Target - I think that they're ColorBok. You could tell they were really old because I had to re-glue all of the letters to actually have them stick to my page. The dimensional stickers are from Sandylion - also from a long time ago. The pictures of that silly little boy? He wasn't even three yet.

I don't scrapbook in chronological order, so this next page is just from last Christmas. Here Andrew's on the slopes with his uncles. Cardstock, stamps, inks & rub-ons are Close To My Heart. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye - and I've only had it for 1 year!

I think this is my best layout from my scrap weekend. I could not even guess where the papers came from, but they were double-sided and I've had them for ages. I added some fancy-dancy little star brads from Stampin' Up and the title is in alpha stickers from Doodlebug Designs - both recent purchases.

I also tried doing a few pages of the sweet girls in my life:

Here's my Sophia - girl getting all grown up. We got her ears pierced (finally) right before last Thanksgiving. The lady who pierced her ears was a little crazy and convinced that Soph was only 3 (she was actually 5) and kept telling me that I was going to scar her for life. That should have been a red flag, right? No, I'm stubborn and made her go ahead and pierce my baby's ears. On the first ear, she got her rubber glove pierced too, and had to remove the whole earring and re-insert it into the new hole after she removed her glove as my daughter's accessory. The second ear, the gun got stuck on the earring as it went into Soph's ear, and it took some wrestling to get it off. Poor girl. But through it all, Soph didn't cry or so much as whimper. She was so brave!

This page uses Close To My Heart patterned papers, ribbon, stamps, ink & flower, cardstock & brads from Stampin' Up, photo corners by Martha Stewart and sparkles from Wal-Mart. The crown & title are from the Cricut Storybook collection.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm most creative in the middle of the night. That's where this page came from of my beautiful little niece, Kaelee. Everything here minus the buttons and pen are Close To My Heart. The die-cuts are from last November's Dazzling Die-Cut campaign. I ripped the bottom of the "T" - it was late, after all, but hid it with a flower so it's all good.

More fun old pictures! Here's Sophia and her uncle (no joke), my youngest sibling Max from a few years ago. Little Max is such a gentleman! Papers are from the Life Delights line from Close To My Heart. I cut out the big flowers from one of the patterned pieces to add as embellishments. The white flowers are also Close To My Heart. Photo corners are Martha Stewart and rhinestone swirls and flower centers are from Wal-Mart.

This last layout uses more stuff from my stash. Here Andrew is enjoying his new bike that he got for his fourth birthday.

By the way, all of the very limited journaling you see on these pages are done with the Bic Mark-It permanent pens. They are ultra-fine point, acid free and come in TONS of colors. I've heard them called the poor girl's Copics. My kind of pens!

February club fun!

Here's the Unforgettable layout we completed at our monthly club meeting yesterday. It was inspired by another CTMH crafty chick - Heather Gerard. {Almost} everything here is Close To My Heart.

I used my fancy new Boho Blossoms punch from Stampin' Up for the little orange flowers - much easier than having to cut out stamped images. I added pewter brads to the centers and popped them up with pop dots.

I slip-knotted the satin ribbon through one of our new Foundry Bookplates and did a little ink distressing to finish it off.

If you enjoy projects like this, join us for our next Club meeting, Sunday, March 15th from 12:30-5 p.m. at my home in Glenwood. We'll be creating cute Easter pages using the Emporium paper packet.

Perfect Projects for Perfect Days!

The newly-released Perfect Day paper pack from Close To My Heart has quickly become one of my favorites. I love that the colors can be used for so much - they're great for Mother's Day (like my layout here), 4th of July, fall, Hanukkah, Christmas and more.

Even better, the B&T Duos (patterned paper) now has designs printed on BOTH sides. One side you get the full-color images, and on the reverse, you get a monochromatic version of the same image. It's awesome. Look at the "Love Generously..." card, which I created in both the full color and monochromatic versions.

I created this fun little gift box using the monochromatic reverse side of the Juniper Damask paper & the colorful side of the stripes paper from this set.

All stamps, inks & papers in these projects are Close To My Heart. Ribbon, flower & pearl are Stampin' Up.