Anna & Elsa

When planning our trip to Disney, and in trying to make it as happy as possible, we asked the kids what kinds of things were their top priorities. Was there a specific ride they'd heard of or a treat they wanted to try or a character we really hoped to find...? My husband hoped to try and do everything, but we wanted to make sure the "important" things were done first. Our youngest wanted to meet EVERY character, but Anna and Elsa (from the movie Frozen) most of all. Anna has always been her favorite princess.

On our second day, we spied them here and RAN down the road to not miss them. She was happy to wave to them (which was all we could do anyway...) and stand for a picture but I felt they were really not friendly and were really kind of rude. Kind of like saying hello or congrats or something to that really cool girl at school who is way too full of herself... But my daughter didn't notice so I didn't really say anything.... And we joked that she was set, we could go now. HA.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Snowflake Spot
Ink: Whisper White craft 
Paper: Coastal Cabana
Accessories: White embossing powder, Heat tool
Journaling Font: Frozito

Then on our very last day, we caught a parade, start to finish. This bus was carrying a number of princesses and Minnie Mouse, but Anna spied our youngest, wearing the same dress she was (our daughter has an Anna dress up dress), from a fair distance off, and continued to wave right to her and blow her kisses and gush about her dress and it was SO amazing!!! I was crying happy tears, haha, and I might be right now typing this too... One of my teenagers was taking video and you can hear all of us making sure our little one knew that Anna saw HER. haha... This was easily one of the best moments of the whole trip. 

(One thing that was amusing to me was when we were texting family and friends pictures and how amazing that was, my husband and both teenagers all stated that we thought the other Anna and Elsa were snotty and rude, but no one wanted to complain. mmhmm. They seriously were. Not cool ladies, not cool.)

Later that same day we watched this Frozen parade...which really was just this one float, haha. But once again, that same amazing Anna from a few hours earlier saw our daughter, still in her dress up, and once again, enthusiastically waved just to her. Then Elsa noticed that our girl matched her sister, haha, and she also waved and blew kisses. 

When we left the park super late that night, for the last time this trip, I told the man at the gate that the Anna and Elsa that were in the parades at this park today were INCREDIBLE and should get a raise. And don't you worry, I also let him know that just maaaaybe the girls from the other day at the other park should find a different line of work............ I wasn't any more blunt than that, because I didn't want to affect my daughter's opinion. But seriously. Polar opposites. And the ladies in the parade were truly some of the best moments of the entire week.

MDS Supplies:
Anna:

Colors: Baja Breeze, Brilliant Blue, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Font: Frozito

Frozen parade:
Stamps: Snowburst snowflake, Lemonade Stand snowflake 
Colors: Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Font: Frozito

August 2023 Calendar Pages

Happy Saturday to you! 
Today I've got the August calendar pages, from the Christmas gift we give our parents every year. 

First the page for my inlaws, which just has our own little household:

and then the page for my parents and siblings, with as many of them on there as I can fit!

Obviously I went with hot colors for these pages. Is it hot at your house?? It's not here! We had a few little snow storms come thru yesterday and it's supposed to snow most of the weekend. 

Stay cozy, friends! And make something pretty! 

Sale-A-Bration scrapping!

I hope your Friday is off to a great start! I am working on scrapbooking today. I've gotten three pages done so far today for three different books so I am excited! And this time, the page I made is 100% current product (What?!) so I have to share it, hahaha!

In spite of all current product, these pictures are almost twelve years old, which is crazy, but there you go. My daughter has recently discovered she loves the look of lavender plants and this paper is kind of perfect for that, thus, a page was born! It also worked out perfectly for a challenge to use the newest-to-you products! 
Bonus tip - if you bought the supplies to recreate this exact page, that would qualify for the free DP!   

It's a bit snowy out, so the photo of the page isn't great, but that's what I can do. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Alphabest
Ink: Blackberry Bliss ink & marker
Paper: Fresh Freesia, Dainty Flowers SAB DP
Accessories: Brushed Brass Butterflies

Black & White!

I got a little crafty time, and decided to play with the current SUO Challenge which was to make a black and white project! Glancing over my stamps, I decided this map of the world was pretty much perfect for that!
And then when I linked it here, I noticed it says to have black and white be the "predominant" colors. That could change things.....! But for now I have this, ha! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Watercolor World, Inspired Thoughts

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black card stocks

Accessories: Red & Green Pearls, Dimensionals

Disney Churros!

This was a fun page to make, even if it was not my favorite treat. Since it was digital, I could easily "stamp" white and brown specks all around the page to resemble the cinnamon and sugar on churros. I also liked recording the cost of things as part of the "real" side. 

MDS Supplies:
Colors: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White Pool Party
Font: It Started With a Mouse, Candy Round

School Scrapping!

Happy Monday to you! I hope your weekend was good! I spent most of it sleeping because I am sick, but thank goodness this mama got sick on an open/boring weekend and not a jam-packed one!  

I'm sharing a lot of scrapping right now, because that's what I'm making. And don't you worry, I am still doing plenty of traditional scrapping with paper and stamps, haha. May as well use the stash I already own, right?? 

One project I have for myself this year is to get as much done as possible for my middle child, who is about to graduate. I set a bit of a precedent with my first graduating in 2020 and not getting a yearbook til late August, so now I feel like I need to work hard on getting her life done too. So she is definitely a main focus for me right now. And while it's fun to scrap the latest happenings, she has a shoebox full of photos that have already been printed, ranging from 2010 (seriously!!) to 2022, so I'm starting there. Ahem.

So on that note, here are three first days of school I've done for her this month! Ha! 

Supplies:
Paper: Pool Party shimmer?? Texture card stock (retired), Just Add Cake DP (retired)

Accessories: In Color Sequins (coastal cabana) (retired)

And as *very occasionally happens, two of these pages are NOT exclusively Stampin' Up!, because the local scrapbook store sells paper and stickers customized for our school! How can I resist that?? 

Supplies:
Paper: Pacific Point

Accessories: misc store stickers 

Journaling Font: Dreaming Out Loud Script Pro

Supplies:
Stamps: Number of Years (retired)
Ink: Pacific Point
Paper: Basic White, misc store DP
Accessories: misc store stickers 
Journaling Font: Baguet Script

What are you making this week?

July 2023 Calendar Pages

Happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend is going well! 
Today I have the July calendar pages for you. Again, this is what we give our parents every Christmas- a calendar of photos from the previous year to enjoy! 

First my inlaws page, which is just my own little family:

And then the page for my parents which has as many of my parents posterity on each page as I can possibly make work.

I hope you get to make something happy today! 

Mr Toad's Wild Ride!

I'm going to go back to sharing some Disneyland trip pages a lot more often than I have lately, haha... I can't even believe I haven't shared any since November! I have tons of them done, I may as well share them and see what it inspires YOU to make! 

So as a refresher, we took our kids to Disneyland for the first time ever, last February. I was hoping to get it all scrapped before it had been a year, but we'll see...! I do have two FULL books (the D-Ring style book....I'm not kidding about the word "full") but there is more to do. Mostly I haven't shared the digital pages, but that's still Stampin' Up!, even if it isn't current. My scrapping is usually not done with current products anyway. 

Also, I noticed that I apologize over and over and over that my pages are simple and I just decided this month that you know what? I am a simple scrapper, and that is FINE, haha. My kids love the pages, and I am not going to care any more if someone else thinks they're too simple or plain. 

With all that out of the way, here's a page I made last February of a ride we actually did twice! It seriously amazes me how many things I have in my stash that are just perfect for Disney. Who would have guessed? 

MDS supplies: 
Everybody's Business DP
Storytime frogs

Journaling Font: Garamond, Curlz

The process...

Taking most of December off of any crafting means that it takes me a minute (or a day or two...) to get back into a groove where I feel like I know what I'm doing. Yep, still does. 
So when coming up with ideas for my upcoming class, I knew I wanted to use this gorgeous stamp set....and this gorgeous paper.....but then what?? I tried out an idea but I didn't love it... 

So I did it a little differently.... but I still didn't love it....

and then I tried this and liked it a lot better. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Happiness Abounds

Ink: Starry Sky, Melon Mambo

Paper: Melon Mambo, Hues of Happiness DP

Accessories: Opal Rounds, Dimensionals

And then for good measure, haha, I asked three of my stamping buddies which they liked the best. 2/3 agreed with me, so that ended up the winner. 

Which one do you like, and why? 

Everyone agreed the white flower and greeting was too stark, but it probably would have worked if I'd used a white base and matted it with the Melon Mambo. I felt the die cut flower got lost in the DP, which is why I stamped it subtly on the background. 

So are you coming to the card class tomorrow, or on Friday? Let me know ASAP- I'm prepping supplies now! 

Birthday Class Owl

Happy Tuesday morning! We had an extra long weekend here and now I am excited to dive into prepping for my classes later this week! 

So today I have another birthday owl (again with the Tweety Bird look....hmm...) with this cute Sale-A-Bration freebie, but this time for my upcoming class. Once again I colored him with Stampin' Blends (more colors are on my list, really!) and again he's on a circle die cut. For something a little different, and totally easy for anyone to do- I just stamped off the greeting repeatedly. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Adorable Owls
Ink: Memento Black, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Balmy Blue & Basic White card stocks
Accessories: Black Gingham Ribbon, Dimensionals, Circle Dies, big shot

and here are the Blends I used, if you're curious: 

Face/Tummy: Light Daffodil delight
Back/Head: Dark Daffodil Delight
Eyes: Light Balmy Blue sparkle, Dark Balmy Blue iris
Talon/ Beak: Bronze
Hat: Dark Pumpkin Pie

...and, just a thought, but five sets of Stampin' Blends markers will earn you this owl set for free! 

June 2023 Calendar Pages

Happy Saturday to you! 

So here's the June pages for the calendars our families are enjoying this year. This first one is one of my favorites this year. It's funny to the rest of my family because these pictures were taken all on one day in February, not June. To make it look like the waves breaking on the sand, I used the tearing edge tool in the very long-retired MDS, which I don't use very often. Even tho it isn't perfect, I still like how it worked out. 

And here's a typical page with a bunch of random photos for my parents calendar. 

What are you making this weekend? 

Peaceful Colors

I have needed to mail out an unreasonable number of sympathy cards over the last 8 or so weeks, so this time, my card class has a pretty and peaceful looking sympathy card. This uses one of the beautiful papers that is a FREE choice from Sale-A-Bration. It coordinates with a lovely bundle in the Jan-April Mini, but I just really liked the prints. This shows both sides of one sheet. Then I just added a sweet sentiment and a bit of ribbon and voila- done! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Inspired Thoughts 
Ink: Old Olive
Paper: Fresh Freesia & Basic White card stock, Dainty Flowers DP
Accessories: White crinkled seam binding ribbon, Dimensionals, 

Perched on a Tree Class

Here is another card for my upcoming class. 

I love this bird and I love the coordinating dies but I admit I struggle just a bit using it all. Coloring the bird is a bit tricky for me, maybe because I'm not sure how it's supposed to look... but I've seen a number of different ways to color it! This time I used the Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pens because they blend so easily, and they're super forgiving.

Supplies:

Stamps: Perched In A Tree
Ink: Stazon Black, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry
Paper: Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pens, Dimensionals, Aspen Tree dies, big shot

If you're curious, this is how I colored the bird this time: 
Bird: Head: Crushed Curry
Beak/talons: Daffodil Delight
Throat: Cherry cobbler
Breast: Cajun Craze
Back, Early Espresso blended into feather lines 

Watercolor World

In the excitement of Sale-A-Bration, don't forget the new January- April Mini Catalog! Not only is it like every other Mini and packed with great products, it has lots of fun things that coordinate with the Sale-A-Bration freebies too! 

My first purchase from the Mini is this map of the world background stamp. As soon as I browsed the sneak peek of the Mini, I knew I was going to own this stamp. I love globes and maps and I have purchased a number of the ones Stampin' Up! has released, ha.... And after asking for a globe since I was about eight years old, I got a real globe for Christmas this year! Anyway, this first map card is for my upcoming class. And this sentiment from a few years ago was a perfect match! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Watercolor World, Lovely You

Ink: Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen

Paper: Basic White, Soft Succulent

Accessories: Soft Succulent Open Weave Ribbon, Dimensionals

A Sale-A-Brating Owl

Happy Monday! 

Today I've got the final owl I colored last week. This one used brighter shades and I thought that was fun with the party hat. And this is fun because today is my childhood best friend's birthday. Her card has already been sent, but this could have worked too! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Adorable Owls

Ink: Memento Black, Melon Mambo, Stampin' Blends

Paper: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Opal Rounds, Circle Dies, Dimensionals, big shot

And then the Blends details on the cute little owl, if you're curious: 

Beak/talons: Dark Pumpkin Pie

Eyes: Light Old Olive

Tummy/face: Light Daffodil Delight

Back/Head: Dark Daffodil Delight

Hat: Light Melon Mambo

altho now I'm thinking this little owl is colored just a biiit like Tweety Bird..... 

What are you making this week? 

2023 May Calendar Pages

Today I've got the May calendar pages for you. These are so simple, but I think they still turned out fun. When you think about it as a kind of wall art, for several different homes, you don't really want a calendar page all decked out with some of the traditional scrapping styles.
(or maybe that's what I tell myself when I'm cramming.....?)

Sale-A-Bration Owls!

If you don't get my emails, or follow me on facebook, you might have missed that Sale-A-Bration began yesterday! (it's on my sidebar for you!) Sale-A-Bration is so much fun, because for every $50 you spend (before tax and shipping) you get to choose a FREE gift! This year it's all stamps or beautiful DP! You can also earn gifts with every $100, or by hosting a $300 workshop, or if you place a $300 order or more! 

The first free item I picked was this fun owl stamp set. The other day I took a little time to try coloring them in with the Stampin' Blends I own (not enough!) and see what I might like. 

And then another day I made them into cards, but today I'm just sharing two. These use the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, and I'm putting it with the Inspire.Create.Challenge for something new to me. And it totally qualifies for the SUO Challenge too which is to make whatever you want! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Adorable Owls

Ink: Memento Black, Soft Suede, Balmy Blue, Stampin' Blends

Paper: Petal Pink, Balmy Blue, Basic White cardstocks, Hues of Happiness DP

Accessories: Circle dies, big shot

Do you have a preference on the card? 

How about the owls? haha.... 

Here's exactly what I did for each of these guys:

Owl 1:
beak & talons: Light or dark pumpkin pie

Eyes: Light Petal Pink
tummy/face: Ivory

back/head: Bronze

Owl 2:

Beak/talons:  Light or dark pumpkin pie

eyes: Light Balmy Blue

Tummy/face: Light Petal Pink

Back/Head: Dark Petal Pink

             

Owl 3: 

beak & talons: Light pumpkin pie
eyes: Light Daffodil Delight

tummy/face: left plain
back/head: Light Petal Pink

Owl 4: 

Beak & Talons: Light Pumpkin Pie

Eyes: Light Old Olive 

Tummy/face:

Back/head: Ivory

bowtie: Light Balmy Blue, Dark polka dots

But there are more coloring tools and this is going to be a fun little set!