Layouts to share...

Here is another card made from the Pink Paislee scraps.

I used a Maya Road acrylic label (mini) album page.  I ran it through the Sizzix Big Shot with an embossing folder.  Then I lightly ran a black staz on ink over the top to highlight the embossing.

The inside of the card says..."all your dreams come true".

So I expanded on this same idea for this next scrapbook layout.

I have a lot of great pictures I wanted to use so I made a large mosaic of all pictures and bookended each side with a bracket.

 

The large acrylic brackets are from Clear Scraps.  I used an embossing folder and just tried to match up the pattern each time I ran it through.  Then I again lightly rubbed a black staz on ink pad over the embossing.  I also tried to add black glitter, but that didn't work out so well, so I ended up just rubbing it off.  At least it was easily fixed.

I added my title with letter stickers from My Minds Eye directly over the pictures and added captions along edges of photos with Making Memories letter stickers.

Here is a close up of the brackets.  I also put patterned paper under the brackets to help highlight and give definition from the background paper.  The papers used were all from Fancy Pants.

Well, that is all I have tonight.  Off to bed!  Good night!

Darla

Freedom!

Hope is in KC with my sister Dee this weekend, so I have total scrapbooking freedom this weekend.  Woo hoo!!!!!!  :)  Ok, I love my daughter, but I really do appreciate any free time I get to scrapbook.  And the bonus, she loves spending time at Aunt DeeDee's house with Uncle Kirk and Lauren and Grandma D too.

I will share some of the layouts I have been working on the past few days when I get the chance to take pictures of them (hopefully tomorrow).

In the meantime, here are a few more cards using the Pink Paislee Amber Road scraps.

Well, we just went out to dinner (Mexican) YUM!  and now it is time to scrapbook!  :)

Have a good night, because I know I will be in scrappy heaven!

Darla

For You & You're Awesome!

What a busy few days.  Work is crazy and keeping me busy, which is always a good thing!

Hope will be heading to KC tomorrow morning, which will give me a little bit of scrapbooking time.  Yeah!  Have fun Aunt Dee Dee!

On to some scrappy shares...

These are two more cards made from the Amber Road scraps from Pink Paislee.  Have I mentioned I love this paper.  These cards are very similar and were really easy to make. 

I used an embossing folder on the card base.  I added a strip of scrap paper and tied ribbon around the card.   Then just added a sentiment to part of a die cut shape.

Super easy!

Well, I am off to bed, but hopefully I will have some layouts to share after some scrappy time this weekend.  Later!

Darla

Amber Road cards

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing good today.  I thought I would share some cards I made using the Pink Paislee Amber Road paper collection.  Enjoy!

For the Celebrate card, I used a Daisy D rub on, Kaiser Craft flower, Queen & Co red pearl, buttons and red twine.  Everything else was made from paper scraps.  Easy! 

This card included Kaiser Craft flowers, Prima gems, Making Memories stick flower pin, buttons and ribbon.  The circle die cut was from Stampin Up.  This card can be used for anything, since I didn't put a sentiment on it, or it can be added later once i know what I need to use it for.  I love those kinds of cards.

Well, I thought I better post early today since I am picking up the my sisters twins and Hope and taking them to the pool after I get off work.  I think the weather is supposed to be nice so it should be a good day for swimming.

Have a great day!

Darla

The Cake!

Well, I succeeded at making a wedding cake.  Here is is.

Now it wasn't perfect, but I thought it turned out pretty good for being my first ever wedding cake and I used fondant frosting.  The first batch ended up in the garbage and I ended up using the store bought kind.  This will likely be a one time thing, but it was fun to try.  I will probably stick to birthday cakes for the family from here on out.  :)

Here is a picture of the happy couple.  Congrats again you two!

Ok, on to scrappy stuff.  I am getting really excited about going to CHA.  You will probably get tired of hearing me talk about it.  I think I am just as excited about just getting out of town.  I love a girls weekend and it will be fun spending time with 2 of my sisters and sharing the passion we have for scrapbooking.

Ok, here are the last 2 cards using the MME papers.  Again, they were simple to make.  I also used Crate Paper Rub ons, and Glitz gems on the first card.

Sorry for the bad picture, but I only had time to take a picture on my i-phone.  I used Stampin up rubons, a clear button and a teal button, Glitz gems, and various punches for the scallop and straight ovals and the border punch.

Ok, here are the flowers Joe got me for our anniversary.  They were called tie-dye flowers, so they were all different colors.  I have no clue how they do this, but they are pretty neat.  The card above, was the card I gave to him for our anniversary.  

I guess love has been in the air with the wedding for his sister and our anniversary. 

Well, I guess that is all for tonight.  Next I will start sharing some cards I made with scraps from the Pink Paislee Amber Road collection.  

Goodnight!

Darla 

Congratulations!

Today is the wedding day of my sister-in-law Kristine and Mike.

Crazy enough, my husband decided to get ordained on-line so he could marry them.  I will also be doing some of the photography at the wedding as well, so it will be a family celebration.

Here is the card I created just for them.

On the  inside of the card it says "LOVE".

I used MME papers, Spare Parts ribbon, Melissa Francis chipboard glitter heart, Crate Paper rub on, and button and brown twine.

Nearly done!

Well, things didn't go as planned today with the cake, but it is nearly done.  I have the top 2 layers put together and will put them on the bottom layer when we get there.  Everything is packed up and ready to go in the morning.  I hope it all makes it there and we get to enjoy a nice looking cake.  It isn't up to professional standards, but I think it turned out pretty good for my first cake.

Anyway...I am off to bed.  I will post pictures after the wedding.  Goodnight!

Darla

Going good so far...

The cake is coming along.  I finished baking cakes around midnight last night and cleaned up quick and went to bed so I could get up early and go to work.  When I got off work today, I put the layers together and iced them and back into the fridge they go.  Tomorrow I need to make one more batch of fondant icing and one batch of butter cream frosting to decorate with and I will put it all together.

I am glad everything seems to be going along to schedule and I haven't encountered any issues yet.  Thanks goodness for the internet.  :)

Here is another card to share with you.

Although I made a different card for my husband for our 15th wedding anniversary (today), I could have given him this one too.  He is the BEST husband!

We just got back from eating dinner at the Olive Garden-YUM!  That is where Hope wanted to take us.

Oh yeah, he got me flowers too.  And yes there are 15, one for each year we have been married!   They are called tie-dye flowers.  I will try and take a picture of them and post a pictures.  They are really neat. 

He actually got me a funny card too.  Usually they are mushy, but this one was very true to our life right now.  :)

Ok, off to put Hope to bed.

Good night!

Darla

What was I thinking?

Some how I decided that I was brave enough to try and make a wedding cake.  My sister-in-law is getting married this Saturday and so i started the process last night making the fondant icing.  Tonight I am baking the cakes and putting them in the fridge.  Tomorrow night I will add the crumb icing and put back in the fridge til Friday.  Friday is when all the magic starts.  I have never made a wedding cake before, but everything seems to be coming together so far.  Say a few prayers that I will get it all done, and delivered in one piece.  Did I mention I live about 2 hours away?  What was I thinking!  :)

I promise to show pictures (if it doesn't flop).

Anyway, here is another card.

MME papers, MF chipboard flowers, shimmer cardstock from Archivers, American Crafts brad, Stampin Up rub on and Spare Parts ribbon.

I am off to take my last cake out of the oven and go to bed.  I have to work a partial day tomorrow and then  Joe and I are off to dinner for our 15 year wedding anniversary.  Where has the time gone?  Maybe I was just in the spirit of LOVE that made me decide to make the wedding cake.  

Goodnight!

Darla

Still soggy!

Well, all the parades and fireworks were either cancelled or postponed until today.  We ended up going to the Waukee parade, even though it looked like it was going to rain.  Well, it did rain on us most of the parade, but it was just a light rain.  The kids still had fun collecting the candy.

I couldn't get them to turn around and look at me for a picture, so everything I have is their backs.  Hope kept giving me a play by play of how many pieces of candy she had after each one she grabbed.  She got so excited when one person walked right by and put something right in her bag.  She didn't even have to battle for it.  :)  This was at the beginning of the parade, but by the end it was raining heavier and we were kind of wet by the time we got back to the van.  Oh well.  Not sure if the fireworks will go off tonight or not, so we will have to catch those some other time.

Also, since it rained yesterday, the I-cubs game was cancelled too.  So we decided to go out to eat, since it was too wet to grill out too.  Well,  we tried several places, and ended up at a Japanese steak house because it was one of the few places open on the 4th of July.  We laughed because it was kind of similar to the ending of "A Christmas Story" where their turkey get eaten by the dog so they end up at the Japanese restaurant on Christmas Day.  Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra Ra Ra!  :)

Hope is hidden behind Noah, on the far left side of the photo.  She got scared the first time he got the grill hot with the large flame, and was a little worried the second time too.  Noah kept telling her it was ok that it would just be a little fire this time.  Noah and his family love to eat at Japanese steak houses, so he knew just what to expect.

Hope was trying to catch the steam from the hibachi grill.  Our food was fabulous, and we went home and had home made strawberry shortcake.  YUM!  And we played games.

Finally, it stopped raining long enough for us to get outside to do some sparklers in the back yard.  That is all we are allowed to do in IOWA, but some of our neighbors started shooting off the larger fireworks.

I hope everyone had a great and safe holiday weekend.  Now back to work tomorrow!  Bummer!  At least it will be a short week.  Yeah!

Darla

(Soggy) Independence Day!

Well, I am sorry to report that here in Iowa, we are having a VERY soggy 4th of July.  The parade we were planning to attend today was supposed to start now, but it is raining (so we skipped it).  We are supposed to go to the I-Cubs game tonight, so I hope the rain moves out by then.  Otherwise, we will just enjoy some "indoor" time with our friends and maybe get a chance to do some sparklers with the kids later tonight.

Everyone, have a safe and happy 4th of July!

And on to some scrappy news...

Here is another card to share with you.

I used MME papers, shimmer cardstock from Archivers, Crate Paper rub ons, clear button, tulle and Kaiser Craft pearls.

The rub on on says "Thanks".  I know the colors of the card are not patriotic, but I would like to say thank you to all the service men and women and their families for their service and sacrifices to protect our freedom.  May we all truly appreciate the freedoms we have each and every day.

God Bless America

Darla

Scrappy time!

I had a great Friday!  How about you?  

I had most of the afternoon to myself, so I started creating some cards using some scraps from the Pink Paislee Amber Road line of papers from last fall.  I loved these papers, and didn't want any of it to go to waste.  I will share some of these next week, so check back then.

Hope is enjoying a movie, and I get to scrapbook tonight too.  I might actually go read for a while outside, since it is so nice out.  I started reading the "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner".  It is a short book about one of the characters mentioned in the "Eclipse" book.  I should have started it sooner, but I just picked it up yesterday at Target.  Anyway, my friend Kristi and I are going to see the movie Eclipse on Saturday night.  Can't wait!  I am definitely team Edward when it comes to story line, but (Jacob) Tayler Lautner-YUM!  :)

Well, here is another card to share with you (sorry the color seems to be off).

I used more scraps from the MME papers, Crate Paper rubons and two small pearls.  EASY!  Nothing fancy, but whoever receives this, will know it was home-made.  :)

Enjoy your evening!

Darla

Yummy tastes of Summer!

Look at what I found...

peeking out from behind those leaves!  Yummy tomatoes.  I better get some bacon this weekend for some BLT sandwiches this week.  I can hardly wait.

I am also off for a FOUR day weekend!  YES!!!!!  I love holiday weekends.

Tomorrow I plan to scrapbook for a while in the morning and then Hope and I will head to the pool to cool off.  What a perfect way to start the holiday weekend.

And speaking of summer, my "Summer Fun" mini album is for sale at The Scrappy Gourmet.  Check it out here!  It has lots of great product from Pink Paislee.

And finally, another card to share with you.

This is a fun summer card with MME, Prima flowers, Archivers gems and Kaiser Craft rubons.  

Have a good night!

Darla

Not much going on...

Well, it was a typical day...Work, Eat, Work, Eat, Work...Go Home!  The files I worked on today totally fried my brain, so I hope to relax a little later tonight and do some scrapbooking.  I call it my therapy!

Anyway, here is another card I created last weekend.

This uses more of the MME papers.  I simply tied brown tulle around the pattern paper and attached it to the card base.  I punched a label punch (stampin up) and added a Crate Paper rubon.  I used foam tape to pop the label punch up over the tulle.  Then I just added a Making Memories pearl brad at the knot of the tulle ribbon.  Simple.

Since i don't have much else to talk about, I will sign off for now!  Later!

Darla

The reason we scrapbook!

Tonight was SO awesome!  During Hope's bath time, she was asking about the last time she went to the Boone Valley Railroad train.  Tomorrow she is going there with Grandma D, Aunt Dawn and the twins.  She is so excited, so I told her I would show her pictures from our last trip.

So as I searched for the scrapbook with those layouts, she also wanted to see her baby pictures.  So for the past hour she looked through several of her scrapbooks and looked at every detail.  She even noticed all the areas where I had hidden journaling.  It was so cute to see her looking at the journaling (even though she can't read yet) looking for her name.

This is why I scrapbook!

Well, I don't have layouts to share, but I will share another card I made over the weekend.

This card also used My Minds Eye papers, Melissa Francis chipboard glitter flower, Stampin Up butterfly rubon, Basic Grey pearls, American Crafts brad and Spellbinders die (label die cuts).

Well, that is all for tonight!  Good night!

Darla

Great weekend!!!

We had a great weekend around our house.  :)

Yesterday, we had a chance to do laundry and clean up the house (we have guests coming to visit next weekend).  Ok, not that exciting, but the evening gave me time to get crafty.  Joe and Hope went to an indoor arena football game and had a lot of fun.  While they were gone, I got a chance to scrapbook.

I worked on planning out a few layouts, which I am not sure when I will actually put those together, but I will be sure to share once I do.

I also used some scraps to make some cards, which I will begin to share with you tonight.

Here is the first card.  The papers were My Minds Eye, rubon-Stampin Up, Gems-Glitz, and Flower-Prima.

Today we ended up going to the pool with the twins and my sister.  It was very nice, a slight breeze and partly cloudy.  It wasn't very busy, so that is just the way I like it at the pool.  :)

Then time to play for Hope and I finished up a few more cards and then cleaned up my scrapbooking area.  I feel like I got so much done this weekend and very rejuvenated when I get to scrapbook (with something to show for it).  :)

Everyone have a good evening, and check back for more cards to follow.

Darla

Sneak Peeks!!!!

Ok, if you haven't check out the "What's Cooking" section at The Scrappy Gourmet, then now is your chance.  My Summer Fun project includes all kinds of Pink Paislee (& other) goodies for your summertime memories.  This kit will be available on July 1st.

Also, I found a website that has a list of early 2010 Summer CHA sneak peeks.  Check it out here, and check often as it is updated as CHA gets closer.

I am so excited that I get to go to CHA this year with my sister Dee, from The Scrappy Gourmet.  I think another of my sisters, Debbie, is also going to go.  The first time I went to CHA, I described it as going to the worlds largest scrapbook store, but not being able to buy anything.  It was a lot of fun seeing all the NEW products.  I don't think I will get to stay for the superstore event at the end of CHA, where you can actually shop.

Anyway, I am sending my husband and daughter off to an indoor arena Barnstormers football game tonight and I am going to scrapbook!  Yeah!

Have a good night!

Darla

Card 19 - Happy Day

Well, this is it.  The last of the cards I created on my last retreat in WI.  This was inspired by a card in Papercrafts Feb. 2009 magazine, submitted by Eleanor McGarry.

The card base is Pink Paislee paper.  Other papers included:  Making Memories, Crate Paper and My Minds Eye.  The buttons were actually Karen Foster button brads.  The rubon and star and square punches were all from Stampin Up.  I used pop dots to give dimension to the stars.

Next time I will be back with an additional sneak peek of the summer fun album for The Scrappy Gourmet.

Everyone have a great night!

Darla

Card 18 - Happy Birthday

I have actually made many versions of this card since I started making cards with my scraps.  it is so easy and can be made to look masculine or feminine.

It rained again this morning, but when it was done it got really steamy out.  So when I got off work at 4:30, I picked up Hope and we talked daddy into coming to the pool with us.  It was so perfect.  The water was the perfect temperature and Hope met one of her future classmates, Cali.  I hope they end up in the same class.  We are anxiously awaiting to see who her Kindergarten teacher will be.

Well, check out the blog at The Scrappy Gourmet for a sneak peek of my Summer Fun project, which will be available for sale on July 1.

Off to relax and read a scrapbook magazine for some inspiration.

Darla

Card 17 - Time to Celebrate!

The last set of cards are all very masculine. 

The card base was from Making Memories.  Other papers included My Minds Eye and Crate Paper.

The stars were die cut using the Sizzix star die from Stampin Up.  The green and cream stars were the same color and I used small scallop scissors to trim it slightly smaller than the green star.  Tied twine through the button and attach in the center of the star.   I added the rubon and that was it!  

Well that is it for today.  I have 2 more cards to share with these scraps and then I will share a sneek peak of a project I finished for The Scrappy Gourmet (unless they beat me to it).

Darla