Aug 30, 2011

Best Creation Blog Hop and a GIVEAWAY!

If you are looking for the Precocious Paper blog hop please go to THIS POST.
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If you are looking for the Best Creation blog hop then you are in the right place!


Today we have a fun blog hop with projects using thread! Visit each blog listed at the Best Creation blog to find the secret FALL words! Once you have found the FALL words, email them to mel@bestcreation.us for a chance to win our new 12x12 Hello Fall collection kit ! 

Here is the collection you have a chance to win:



Winners will be announced Tuesday, September 6th!

You definitely want to start at Best Creation blog if you haven't been there already. And here is the stitched layout I made using the Back 2 School collection:

I machine stitched around every piece of patterned paper I used. I love the way a plain straight stitch finishes or borders an edge.
And then on the cardstock strip I used a  zig zag stitch to mix it up a bit:
Machine stitching is a quick and easy way to add a unique, handmade look-- don't you think?
Thanks for stopping by! And now you'll continue you on with the hop by travelling to Karen Taylor's blog.
But if you leave a comment on this post I will put you in the running for some of your own Back 2 School goodies! You may leave a second comment to let me know you are a new follower of my blog or that you already follow.
Thanks for stopping by!
♥ Rebecca

Aug 29, 2011

Precocious Paper Blog Hop!

Do you know Tessa, owner of Etsy shop Precocious Paper? If you are not familiar with her creations, run right over to Precocious Paper and check out the many gorgeous flowers and goodies she has to offer.
(This is the Autumn Afternoon--September Sampler--I love these colors and that mix of texture!)

Not only is Tessa exceedingly talented, she is also super sweet and so for her 30th birthday she is offering all kinds of prizes if you take part in this Precious Paper blog hop.

If you just happened upon my blog (thanks for stopping by) you will want to start the hop at Tessa's blog.  You definitely want to start at the beginning of the hop and make your way all the way through because the birthday girl is offering tons of prizes along the way! If you complete the entire hop, leaving a comment on every designer’s post, you will be entered to win the grand prize – the September, October, November and December Samplers! That’s a $54.00 value and dozens upon dozens of hand-crafted scrapbooking embellishments. Follow Tessa’s blog to be entered to win a $20.00 credit to the shop, and if you follow Precocious Paper on Facebook, you could win another $20.00 credit. Tessa is also giving away surprise credits to blog hop participants, so be sure to leave a comment on this post!


Now on to my projects. Tessa sent me a handful of gorgeous layered flowers to work with. I suppose you could totally use them all on one project, but I had all sorts of plans for these beauties For example, one on a brightly colored but simple card steals the show.
I knew when my daughter saw Tessa's flowers, she was going to want me to make her a big flower hair clip. So I pulled out my Imaginisce i top and got to work making a large Twist Daddy with some bright American Crafts paper that seemed almost a perfect match to this Precocious Paper flower:
 Next, I covered the Twist Daddy with Therm O Web double sided sticky tape.
I pulled off the red backing once the entire twist was covered and stuck it in the center of the back of my flower... 
 and voila...
 The quickest hair accessory I've ever made in my life because Tessa did all the work for me!
My daughter loves it and she wants me to use all remaining Precocious Paper flowers for her hair accessories! So I made this layout about my daughter's new clips:
I love the lace and felt combination because it adds so much texture and interest:
But the patterned fabric she has chosen for the flowers are AMAZING too:
Tessa has added many new things to her shop as part of the celebration, so be sure to stop by and take a peek. If you use this code during check out RKBBHFREE you will receive free shipping and a free thank you gift. (Within the US, there is no minimum purchase needed to use the free shipping code; international buyers must make a $5 minimum purchase). You will be able to use this free shipping code at Precocious Paper from now until September 5th!
Now it is time to send you along to the next designer: Clair Rigby – www.obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com 
But before you go, please dont forget to leave me a comment here! You may leave a second comment if you become a follower of my blog (for an extra chance at the random blog hop participant prize) or if you want to let me know you already follow.
Happy Birthday Tessa!
♥ Rebecca

Aug 25, 2011

Time to take a Country Drive...

So I don't have Echo Park's new line Happy Days yet--can not wait to get my hands on that one! But I do have Country Drive and I have to say it is one of my favorite Echo Park lines. Not sure if it is the colors (yellow is featured prominently and I love to scrap with yellow) or the happy graphics--buzzing bees, vintage sunglasses and a cool green truck.

Probably it is the fabulous combination of both. While I await the arrival of my Happy Days collection pack, I used a ton of Country Drive on several projects--enough that I may have to get another pack just to HAVE. Sick, but true.
For some reason, I am not usually a fan of making birthday cards. Maybe because they are so required I find them tedious, but this little number came together in a snap because I combined a Country Drive sentiment (popped up with Therm O Web Foam Squares), fun patterned paper and the cutest little beetle car ever. I loved adding the mini flower stickers to the headlights.
Next, I did a layout with a ton of embroidery stitching, which I felt was perfect for the "country" aspect of this collection:
Ok, so the cardstock and thread were from my stash, but everything else on this layout is from the 12x12 collection kit, including the patterned paper, stickers and journaling tag--love having everything all included. 
And finally, my favorite layout in a LONG time...
Truth be told, no one really gives me a hard time about Little Man and his craftiness, although I do get the occasional eye roll from Scott about how he is my little scrapbook buddy lol.
Notice my typewriter is getting plenty of action?
 Love that little bee sticker. Funny thing is bees and wasps totally freak me out. I got stung once when I was completely minding my own business and a nasty yellow jacket or wasp was just feeling ornery so now they make me edgy, but little bee graphics are just so cute.

 Wanna know my new favorite way to adhere ribbon? Therm O Web Sticky Lines. They seriously ROCK and make ribbon adhering easy and lasting.
 You can find them HERE.
Ok, that is enough for tonight. Be sure to stop by tomorrow. Best Creation Inc. is having a blog hop including stitched projects and my blog will be one stop on the way--there will be PRIZES!
♥ Rebecca

Aug 24, 2011

A little bit of this and that

I know some of your kids are just starting school or not starting until September. For us, this is our third week. After the first couple of weeks of settling in, things are starting to get serious. Little Miss came home with a few graded tests--92 and 100 on math and 100 on reading comprehension. And this week her homework includes studying for a spelling test. Even Little Man has a homework folder now! Each Monday he gets to take his homework folder home and has until friday to complete it. Since he is just in Pre K the homework is not mandatory, but he does get to go into the class treasure box if he completes it. This was his second week and both weeks he completed all his homework items on Monday afternoon lol! Following in big sister's footsteps I guess.
Here he is post hair debacle. Yikes that hair is short! But it has been 115 everyday this week and we are all melting so short hair is probably best for now. I probably wont have to cut it until October lol!
Ok, on to business... 

Have you seen the sneak peek for Scrapbook Circle's September kit---let me just say it DOES include some Amy Tangerine!!! Yaaaay!

And calling all stampers:
ATTENTION all stampers and myStamp BOX fans!
We are looking for new Designers to join our team. If you are enthusiastic about our stamps, love to stamp, are a good team player, and know a thing or two about blogging, you are the right match for us! We are interested in designers with a variety of styles who can creatively showcase myStamp BOX designs in their layouts, cards, altered art and other projects. No previous design team experience is necessary. International applicants are welcome to apply.
Our Term is 6 months from October 1st, 2011 to March 31th, 2012.
Team requirements:
* 4 projects per month
* 1 blog entry per month including good quality photos of a project and instructions/tutorial
* Upload all projects to the myStamp BOX website gallery and other online galleries
* Submit at least 2 projects per term for submission to print magazines of your choice
* Occasionally help with additional design opportunities – new stamp sets, classes, etc.
* make myStamp BOX the only stamping company you design for during this term
Team benefits:
*bio and picture on the website, with links to your blog
*a starter kit of stamp sets and additional stamp sets throughout your term
*other free scrapbooking supplies from product partners as they become available
*30% discount on purchased myStampBox stamps during your term
Please include in your application:
*personal information (your name, address)
*a short paragraph about yourself and why you think you’d be a good fit for myStamp BOX.
*link to your blog and gallery
*3-5 examples of your work showcasing your stamping ability and style
This call ends Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Send your application to bettina@mystampbox.com
myStampBOX website:  www.mystampbox.com
We can’t wait to hear from you!



I will likely have another post today with some recent projects AND should have a post this week with my first Best Creation projects (AND A GIVEAWAY!!!) but for now...
Remember this post, where I made my little guy an ABC decor for his room? Well if any of you have two kids, you know that you NEVER make ONE of anything lol. So of course Little Miss was very upset that she didnt have an ABC hanging for her room--even though she is obviously well past learning her ABC's (in fact the book she brought home to read to me this week is one of the Magic Treehouse books and she is actually doing pretty well at reading it.  But that's besides the point. Fair is fair in their mind everything MUST be equal, SO...
I got to use up some Thickers (I hardly ever finish the X's or Z's!!) and used a frame I had gotten from IKEA from FOREVER ago. Alright, with that said, we are all equal and fair now lol! Have a great day!
♥ Rebecca

Aug 16, 2011

Best Husband Ever, Worst Haircut EVER and a winner...

I was feeling a little down in the dumps lately. Probably just the heat getting to me. We're all experiencing a bit of cabin fever and the kids have been fighting like cats and dogs. So, the other day, Scott and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We didn't go out--we don't have a sitter and no family lives nearby. And the kids fought ALL DAY LONG. I was worn out and drained. The one bright light was a listing I found on Craig's List. On Monday, the best husband ever brought this home for me:

It needs a new ribbon, but other than that it is in perfect condition! It weighs about 32 pounds lol! And I adore it.  It totally makes me smile. I've been looking on ebay and other places for a manual typewriter and they always seem so expensive.

This one in perfect condition--every key works--was only $25. So, best husband ever!  Not only that....we had a weird situation with our oven door the other day. One screw came off the handle of the door, but in an attempt take the door off to fix it, the insulation from the door shattered--EVERYWHERE. I should've taken a picture it was so crazy, but I was so frustrated and upset. Buying a new stove just wasn't in the budget this month. Again, the best husband ever looked on Craig's List and found someone in our neighborhood selling her stove. She said it worked fine, she was just getting new appliances. Turns out the stove she was selling was the exact one we had! She sold it to us for $40! So we joke, "this NEVER happened..." lol.

Ok, best husband ever...check.

Want to see the worst hair cut ever? Little man was sitting 5 feet away from me cutting out pictures. He came over twice to show me what he was cutting. Both times I said, "oh, nice, but make sure you are sitting with the scissors, not walking around with them." I looked away for a minute or two and when I looked back he had the scissors on top of his head! The damage was already done! This time I did remember to take a picture:
You know how people usually say, the picture doesn't do it justice, it looks better in real life? Well I can assure you this looked WAY WORSE in real life. It was a HUGE patch. I immediately shuffled him upstairs to cut his hair, but the short guard on the clippers didnt take off enough to make the bald patch unnoticable. So I threw up my hands in the air and told him he'd have to wear hats for a while lol. Best husband ever was brave enough to buzz it on the shortest guard and it looks MUCH better albeit it VERY short. I guess I can laugh about it now, sort of. Definitely scrapworthy, dontcha think? 

And finally, as promised, how about the winner of my giveaway from last week? I used Random.org 
True Random Number Generator
Min: 
Max: 
Result:4
which makes Doreen my winner. Doreen, I will email you!
Ok, I am (understandably, I think) wiped and ready for bed. Have a great night!
♥ Rebecca


Beautiful Eyes--i heart faces challenge

I read the i heart faces challenge every week, but never enter. Why? Not sure, but this challenge, Beautiful Eyes was begging to be entered. People comment on Little Miss's eyes ALL the time. Every where we go. So I decided it was about time. Without further ado, here is my entry for this week:
Thanks for looking!
♥ Rebecca


Aug 10, 2011

Keep it Simple

If you're looking for my giveaway, go HERE.
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I was feeling greedy with my patterned paper the other day. Do you ever get that? Find a piece that you love and maybe cut a tiny bit off. Look at it again and cut another small piece and then carefully put it back. Sometimes I just don't want to use it all up at once. Well I only had a few sheets from American Crafts Peachy Keen collection and really wanted to use it, but didn't want to use it all on one layout. So I punched out a few squares and sewed them on and hoarded the rest lol! It makes for a simple layout, but one I am simply happy with:
Let me first say, that I did NOT edit her eyes at all in that photo--that is exactly how they look in real life.
I figured the Pearl brads were perfect for a layout about her pearly whites :)
More sewing, I can't seem to stop sewing on layouts, and I can't seem to find the energy to learn how to sew anything else lol:
Speaking of energy levels, this has been a draining week. Both kids started back to school on Monday (Little Miss in 1st Grade and Little Man in Pre K). We are all trying to get back into a good routine, making lunches, going to bed on time, up early, homework etc etc. Wanna see how cute they were on the first day?

 Those last two were edited with The Coffee Shop Blog's awesome new action Caramel Dreams, which I absolutely love.
And this one I just had to include because I rarely get one with both of them.
And with that...have a great night!
♥ Rebecca

Aug 9, 2011

My Memories GIVEAWAY!!!

Recently I had the pleasure of trying out the My Memories Suite digital scrapbook software--WHAT FUN! The software is downloadable from the My Memories site for $39.97 and does EVERYTHING. Photo collages, scrapbook pages and albums. It has pre made pages or you can make your own. I made a simple photo collage:
Wouldn't an 8.5x11 photo only collage like this print out nicely to be added to a 12x12 paper layout for a perfect hybrid layout!?
Then I tried my hand at a full digital layout:
I know it is super simple, but you all know that's just how I roll ;) It was SO much fun! Best part is the folks at My Memories are letting me to do a giveaway! One person will receive the My Memories Suite software! You will love how user friendly it is and how quickly you will get going on making photo collages, layouts and more! All you have to do is go over to http://www.mymemories.com/ and find your favorite digital paper pack then come back here and leave me a comment telling me which is your favorite.
I am going to offer lots of extra entries for this giveaway:
1. Leave comment with favorite digi paper pack from http://www.mymemories.com/ on this post
2. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you do or already did
3. Follow the My Memories Blog.
4. Follow the My Memories Facebook Fan Page.
5. Follow My Memories on Twitter.
That's five chances to win! I will leave the giveaway open for a week and will draw on Tuesday August 16th. But if you aren't the lucky winner I do have a coupon code for everyone! For $10 off the price of My Memories Suite just use this coupon code:
STMMMS32701
How cool is that? So go on over to http://www.mymemories.com/ and look around and tell me what you think, but be sure to do so by August16th! Good luck everyone!
♥Rebecca

Aug 7, 2011

ABC's and GCD Studios

I know a lot of people are only half way through their summer, but we go back to school tomorrow! I was thinking about making my son something for his room and he is going into the Pre K class at school this year so he is getting excited to learn to write his letters. I had a 12x12 canvas laying around just asking to be altered so I decided to break out a pack of GCD Studios chipboard alphabet. I individually prepped each letter by spraying it with water 

and then embossed each letter with the same letter.
Once all my letters were done, I misted them a few different colors and glued them onto the canvas. I added a few chipboard pieces from the GCD Studios collectionGreat Outdoors coordinating with the letters near them like a canoe for the letter "c."
I outlined the embossing on the blue letters since I was adhering them to a blue patterned paper.
Finally, I famed the whole thing with a dry brush stroke around the outside and tied some twine from the Fun House Collection Ribbon Spool.
My son loves his new room decoration and can't wait to get back to school!
Supplies Used:
GCD Studios Picnic Table and Bandana Patterned Paper from the Great Outdoors Collection, layered Chipboard and Chipboard Stickers from the Great Outdoors Collection, Bottle Cap pin from the Great Outdoors Collection, Bakers Twine from the Ribbon Spool from the Funhouse Collection, Medium Chip Art Alphabet by Melody Ross, 12x12 Canvas by My Mind's Eye

Aug 4, 2011

Last Few Days

Here we are in our last few days of summer! Yikes! We are BUSY! Meet the teacher tonight, Karate, hair and nails appointment tomorrow, packing bags for the first time since May, buying things for lunches, editing photos of my friend's new baby, catching up with deadlines, etc etc. But I did want to pop in and share a few more things.
First up is a layout I did for GCD Studios using this color combination (the layout appears in this month's Newsletter which you can download HERE):
Living in the Southwest, we see a lot of the sun and to stay cool we spend a lot of time in the water. Even when most of North America is heading back to school and starting to pull out their Fall clothes, we are still wearing shorts and tank tops and trying to keep cool. Two places my kids love to be when it is hot? Either in the pool or at a splash pad. Last year we visited the splash pad until it closed for the winter and we were swimming in our pool well into September. So I decided to make a big sun as the background for my water pictures. I cut 2 large coordinating yellow patterned paper circles and a bunch of triangles for the sun rays:
I added some stitching for texture and thought this big flower was the perfect compliment:
And finally, I pulled out a photo strip chipboard sticker from the Funhouse Collection to pull my pictures together:
The patterned papers, flower and photo strip are from 4 different GCD Studios collections, but they work so well together! When working with a color combo I love I am not afraid to mix and match collections, sometimes they are just perfect together:
Supplies Used:
GCD Studios Homespun Collection (Vintage Birdie and Blue Calico), GCD Studios Material Girls Collection (The Sweetest Thing), GCD Studios Fun House Collection (Photo Strips), GCD Studios Sweet Surrender Collection (Layered Flower), Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts Alphas, EK Success border punch.
Next up is a layout I did for Scrapbook Circle's One Item Wonder Feature on the Scrapbook Circle Blog. I was challenged to use the mini canvas Maya Road tags in August's You are My Sunshine kit. This is what I came up with:
I misted the tags in a gradation of colors to match the Sassafras cloud sticker, added the mini My Mind's Eye Alphas from the kit and strung them from some baker's twine I got from the Scrapbook Circle shop.
Everything is from the August kit (except the twine) even the Kraft cardstock--it is American Crafts Kraft cardstock and I ♥ it--definitely will have to get more!
Ok, that is it for now, but I will be back soon! And for my digi friends or those interested in trying some digital scrapbooking, I have a BIG giveaway coming up so stay tuned!
♥ Rebecca