Mini Book/Graduation Card

I made this little book/graduation card using one 8 1/2" by 11" sheet of paper!  I love that the inside middle is a surprise.  I got the butterfly, bird, and girl silhouette stamps from Simon Says Stamp and also am entering in their Anything Goes challenge this week.  The zinnias are from Flourishes and the rest of the stamps are Close to My Heart!  The base is kraft cardstock and the rest is either Crate Paper or DCWV.

Thanks for looking! I made this for my son's girlfriend for graduation.

Hope you have a great week!

Old Point Loma Light

Point Loma in the San Diego, California, area is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. And, we've seen a lot of places during our travels throughout the United States over the years! I literally had tears in my eyes when we drove along the road that parallels the ocean at Point Loma. I was happy to do this layout which I am entering in Simon Says ,,,,, Anything Goes :-)!!

Thanks so much for visiting! I'd love it if you stopped to say "hello" in the comments!!!

Hiking - a Different Look

The Paper Variety is having a celebration! They are having all sorts of challenges.  For this one, you were to make a layout using your favorite manufacturer! I have about 20 favorites, but I chose to use this darling collection from Bella Blvd.  This is Steve's younger brother and family on a hike!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a sunny day!

This weekend we are doing a show with my husband's work.  He is demoing turning on a lathe, too! People love to watch it, and he loves sharing!!!!

Mini Book with Skewer Binding

I've been thinking a lot about hand-made books for the last few weeks. I found a great book on them at my library a few weeks ago, and you might say that began my complete fascination with them!  I made a mini a few weeks ago that was so simple.  This skewer binding book is a little more complicated but not so bad--especially when you happen to have a fantastic blog in your reader whose author just so happened to post a tutorial via Ustream video  yesterday!!! It was made from Handmade Decorative Books!  Sarah's work is so great! She makes the best shabby chic stuff and is just an all around nice lady. I love listening to her voice in the video!  If you go visit her, please let her know that Kelly Massman sent you over!  Needless to say, Sarah's books are much prettier than mine, but I had so much fun making mine that I will probably make more!!!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you are having a great weekend!  If you have time, please leave me a comment--I'd be thrilled! I'm a little behind in blog commenting myself, but I'll get there soon!!! :-)

Koalas at the San Diego Zoo

I used a cute sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches to do this layout of some of the koalas at the San Diego Zoo.  I could have watched them all day!   I think the koalas are so cute that they didn't need a lot of embellishments!  Card-stock and stamp are both from CTMH. The patterned paper and flower are Prima. The butterflies are Martha Stewart, and the pearls are from Kaiser. The letters are American Crafts Thickers. The hemp is from my stash.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you aren't sick of zoo layouts because I have MORE pictures!!!!

San Diego Zoo-Take 3 - Giraffes

I made this layout of the giraffes at the San Diego Zoo for Scrapfit's Workout #49!  I used some older CTMH giraffe paper which I put in the Cricut to make a fun background! This qualifies it for a little challenge I found on Scrapper Creations' blog.  I also did a little embossing with my paper cutter. I made the banner out of some  tags I stamped and some hemp! Simple-but picture focused--which is how I roll!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you'll leave a comment so I know that you were here! If I haven't already visited you in the last day or so, I'll stop by your blog and say HI to you, too!

Have a great day!

In the Mood for Orange

I made this for The Paper Variety's Challenge 38 to use two or more types! I used 4 technically.  This was made from an 8 x 10 collage I got at Walgreen's this morning.  We were at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix!  The paper and arrow are Scenic Route! The cactus was from Destinations Cricut cartridge which was then embossed and inked!  The sun is several layers of Cricut images with a fun button type thing I got at the Phoenix Scrapbook Cottage!

This is the first of many layouts to come from our Phoenix trip!!! The collage made it pretty easy to do!

Also, while you are here, look at these cuties that I recently had sent to me from some very talented ladies!  Thanks again ladies!!

1.  This beautiful clutch is from Edeenut  from her Etsy store.  Isn't it darling?  She also has some fun bags for kids!! Check her out!

and

2.  This lovely hair clip is from Maria Angelina Gonzales from her Etsy store! It is so pretty! I know someone who is getting married next year with an orange/hot pink theme. Wouldn't this look cute in the flower girl's hair??!! I'm sure Maria could customize to any color/fabric combo...

P.S. Don't forget to look at the review of my favorite Phoenix area restaurant in the post below!

More Memphis Zoo Photos

Here's a simple layout from the Memphis Zoo. It seemed rather cruel to have these particular animals facing each other from across the path!  The cat kept pacing trying to figure out a way to get to the poor little guy--and you can see the look on the little guy's face. The photos tell it all!  I think I'm completely finished with our Memphis trip now, but I still have a few layouts to post on the blog.  The little wooden flower button is Studio Calico. Isn't it cute? I also tried my first Gluber from Cosmo Cricket. It is the ribbon flower with the big yellow button. I got to make it at Archiver's over the NSD weekend...

Thanks for visiting!

Embarrassing Photos Show What Kind of Friendship We Have

I used Crate Paper's sketch to make this!

All is Crate Paper except for the Thickers letters, the ink which is SEI (I inked up some punched images for the butterflies), and the trim. I also used an EK Success border punch!

Thanks for visiting!