Strawbah bah bah bababerry

Summer is here! One day it was cool the next it was a scorcher! It came like a thief in the night, literally! We cool off in the summer by splashing in the pool, throwing water balloons and eating fresh fruit. Yep that's right. Fresh watermelon and strawberries are the best.


I took this picture of my cousin not to long ago. I couldn't wait to scrap it. To me it screams summer. Her beautiful golden hair and that bright red strawberry. Perfect summer photo.

I used GCD's Melody ross line homespun chic-applique. I cut out the sweet birds and flowers to add to my white cardstock. I also punched scalloped circles to go under my title.


I love adding texture and dimension to my pages. I achieved the dimension by pop dotting the flowers and bird. The sewing around the page and under the title adds the texture I love.


The Layered frames also from Homespun adds even more depth to the layout. They are simply beautiful and set off the picture nicely.


Homespun Chic is so feminine and bright. It works for every season.

Make sure to stay cool and try some nice cool fruit to kick off the summer.
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Stoplights Are Swaying And The Phone Lines Are Down

Hi there! I would love to share with you my gcd creations. I am always so inspired by the internet. Honestly don't know what I would do without it. This photo of all these lovely dresses inspired me sooo much. The colors are simply to die for.

I wish my closet looked like this! Oh the ruffles, the sparkle and lace! *swoon*

One of my guilty pleasures on the internet is Pinterest. The abundance of inspiration on that board...Well if you are on there I don't have to tell you and if you're not, you need to be! My technique came from pinterest and I knew I had to try it out. Lets get started shall we?

supplies
scissors
new pencils with new erasers
inks or paints (colors of your choice)
cardstock
glue
*circle templates (more about this in the post)
patterned paper
*embroidery thread
*embroidery needle
(*optional)





1. Gather your supplies. I like to have everything on hand. I chose to have my polka dots in groups of bubbles. If you would like to do the same you need different size circle templates. I used things I had laying around the house.




2. I used white cardstock for my background (one of my inspiration colors). A light color will show your polka dots the best. I then traced my templates.(Make sure to trace lightly so you can erase after.) I wanted various sizes and staggered them.


3. Now it is time to have your fun. I only used one pencil to make all my dots. If you do this make sure to have a scrap paper that you can clean your eraser before heading to your next ink color. Go to town! There is no rhyme or reason to this. I even over lapped some of my dots. You want a very random look to it.



4.For my center circle I wanted to break up all the polka dots so I chose to fill it with patterned paper. I used the same template to trace my circle, cut it and glued.




5. To me the bubbles weren't emphasized enough so I decided to add a little dimension and texture by stitching around all the bubbles. The lines your drew really come in handy now. Just poke holes following your lines and you will have your sewing template. ( If you want the same look I have here is a tip. Make sure you come up through your second hole and go down through your first. Working backwards.)




6.Now all that is left to do is add your personal touches. Pictures, embellishments, title and journaling. Hope you had fun with this technique.
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A camping we will go!

I had the honor of guest designing for the beautiful and lovely Veronica at Shabby Chic crafts. She sent me so many awesome tags to play with. The ones that I HAD to play with right away were the camping ones. I mean I just did the camp in the backyard, they were perfect for that!


I first made a page using my smores pictures. I loved putting all the marshmallows in my vintage pyrex bowl. Had to take a pic. The other pic is my work of art. It took me a while to make that smore. Not a huge fan of them and that one was the first one I have ever had. My kids love them tho.

I had sooooooooo many photos of our camping trip I decided to make a mini. I wanted to use mostly the awesome tags with accents of paper here or there. I hope I achieved that.










I used a lot of GCD and of course a ton of tags from Shabby Chic crafts. Make sure to go check out her store and leave me some love on the blog post here and there! *smile*
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Blow bubbles with their gum

How cool is this?!?!



In other news...What a week! I went to take my 2 written tests for my RDA. Now you all know I went to school to be a Dental Assistant. I finished (top of my class I might add) and am indeed a Dental assistant. Now in order to make more money and of course do more I have to be state certified. That means on top of my schooling I have to pay for 3 tests. 2 are written and 1 is hands on. Today I took my 2 written which cost me about 100.00 (gas included). There is no study guide really and if I do not pass I have to pay to retake it... As I said I took my tests and I PASSED! Yay! I am relieved and happy and I just wanted to cry! Seriously. I had to hold back my tears.

The tests were difficult. I honestly thought I wasn't going to pass them. Everything I learned flew out my head. I re-read every questions at least twice and went back to ones I wasn't sure about. I kept asking myself to think logically...Oh and I prayed a lot! I have to really praise god and Jesus because I feel without prayers I wouldn't have passed.

Now one test. ONE test is keeping me from a state license. That ONE test is going to come at me August 6th or 7th. That ONE costs me 250. That ONE, if I don't pass, will cost me 250 again to take. ONE. *sigh*

More prayers needed. I will be practicing this one everyday till the day I take it. Thank goodness my school allows that. I get to use their supplies to fashion the crown as many times as I want till I take the test. YAY! I need that.

Cool part of this journey is I got to meet up with a few crafty buddies. We had a super fun time and now I have 2 new life long friends. Totally talented ladies Gina and Ashley.

Locked myself in the crafty cottage and got my guest dt spot done. Here is a peek of what I have been up to.


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Will I joke around

How was your 4Th? Mine was sweet and small. My mom, grandma and hubby's friend Walt came by. We BBQ'd, swam, and lite fireworks.




I made cupcakes. Banana pudding cupcakes to be exact.Recipe here.

Simple. Sweet.

Did a little craft'n awhile back and forgot to post pics. I love playing with sass and crate paper. Every time I touch those papers something beautiful pops in my head. It may not make it out of there but I still love the images I think up while playing. Hehehe!


I took this pic of my sister and her hubby. They love each other. :)



My daughter Raven blowing bubbles. Sass mainly on this page. Looooove sass.

Guest spot somewhere super cool to share soon!

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Giveaway!

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Hello mother, hello father

June 25th was national camp out in your backyard day. Did you? This is our 2nd year participating. Last year the kids had such a good time I HAD to do it again. This year was even better then last. Could've been because we had the pool or maybe just the excitement that the kids had this year made it better.

We set up the tent, pumped our mattress, and got all the blankets and pillows from the house.


I got all the food ready for our backyard fire pit. Hot dogs and chips of course!



Roasting hot dogs is ONE of their fav parts.

Then we got ready for the tastiest part...

Yummy ooooey goooey s'mores!


We had HUGE marshmallows as you can see.


I made my first s'mores. It was pretty good but not as tasty as everyone makes them out to be. One was way more then enough for me.


The kids of course had to have a few.

Towards the time to pack it in we all shared ghost stories around the campfire.


I don't think there was one thing they didn't like about this day. They wanted to keep the tent up all summer if they could. Wonderful memorable time. Hope you join us next year!

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