Loving some Cosmo Cricket

Yes, it's true. I DO love me some Cosmo Cricket! It's perfect for the photos of my kiddos, and I love how it's distressed yet bold and colorful. So totally me, which is why I love to design with it. I'm anxiously awaiting a couple of kits that are packed full of their "Early Bird" line and I'm sad that I can't share those creations that are yet to be made with it. I have a feeling that "Early Bird" will be my favorite line yet! So instead I'll share a few LOs I've done with other Cosmo Cricket lines and continue to stalk my postman for those kits.

(And in case you have no clue what I'm talking about, Cosmo Cricket is a scrapping manufacturer who has put out a call to show them your best/favorite Cosmo creations, which is what I'm doing.)

So here goes..

"Little Swimmer"



My sweet Caroline having the time of her life at the lake last summer. Yes, the water really is that green, and completely clear. I used the "Snorkle" line with this one, popped up some "bubbles" and stitched the circles.

"Sunshine"

One of Caroline gleefully playing with bubbles. It's made with a combination of "Hello Sunshine" and "Cogsmo" plus buttons, ric rac and a row of pom poms for good measure (and texture).

"Summer Bliss"

Yet another one with "Snorkle" because I have sooooo many lake photos, and this line's just too perfect for them!

"Embracing 30"

Me. duh. This past year I turned 30, and once I hit the milestone I realized that it's not really as "old" as I thought, that there was SO much life still ahead of me. It's made with the "Hello Sunshine" line as well.

"Slip Slidin' Away"

Another one I made with a kit that had some "Snorkle" line mixed in with it.

Well that about sums it up! I'd be beyond THRILLED to make this team, but even if I don't I'm still gonna love me some Cosmo Cricket!

Lucky

Just a little LO to celebrate Josh. I forget sometimes, or atleast forget to acknowlegdge, just how lucky I'm am to have him in my life. I know I'd be lost (literally sometimes) without him. He's also a fabulous daddy, a dutiful son and son-in-law, and I couldn't ask for more. Guess it's not how lucky I am as much as it is that I'm so blessed that he's a part of my life.

"Lucky"




Product used: Collage Press "Camden" line of papers with a little bit of "Jackson Lodge mixed in too, Jenni Bowlin bingo cards and chipboard button, Bo Bunny rhinestones, corrugated cardboard, misc. ribbon (brown dot) and Pop Dots

Winner and a sneak peek!

What an awesome turnout for the Urban Anthology blog hop!! Wow! And what great answers you all gave! Sounds like everyone's had at least one WONderful b'day present given to them over the years, but I'm sure it's been more too! And just in case you were curious, my favorite birthday present (hands-down) was this past year when I received my Nikon D60 from y wonderful dh and family!!! (Sometimes I wonder if they wish they hadn't given it to me seeing as it gets shoved in their faces quite a bit. But I love it! :D )

And now for the winner......The winner of the $5 Urban Anthology GC goes to:

Brandi, who wrote "Jason gave me a "promise" ring for my 19th birthday 1.5 months after we started dating! It's a little heart outlined with diamonds."

Awww! So sweet! So Brandi, if you'll email me I'll let ya how to get that GC!

And now for a sneak peek of Urban Anthology's July Kit, "Grandma's Kitchen:


Wooohooo! Can't WAIT to get my hands on that yumminess!

Urban Anthology birthday blog hop!

"Welcome to the first ever Urban Anthology Birthday Blog Hop! Thanks so much for joining in! Please note that this is a progressive blog hop and my blog is number 2 out of 8, so to start at the beginning, please click the here to start at the beginning.

As you may know, this blog hop is progressive. Each of the UA DT members are blogging about a page element or technique. THEN, once you've read all the blogs, combine all 8 elements to create your own layout and become eligible to win the Birthday Queen Grand Prize! So, are you ready?

The technique I want to share with you is a simple one, nothing new, but it adds LOTS of texture to your page.

**For my challenge, I'd like you to use a masking technique somewhere on your layout.**

It doesn't matter to me if you use paint, glimmer mist, other dyes, or whatever. Just somewhere on your layout, add a masked image. It's that easy, it's that simple.

Here are some examples I have for you, both of which are masked titles.

First up is one I did with the UA June kit "Puttin' on the Ritz".

"Sunset Stroll"



Here, I used paint over alpha stickers to create the mask.

And the 2nd is with some Bella Blvd. papers.

"She's got Spirit"



And here I used Glimmer Mist (Cherry Limeade flavor) to make the mask. Then I decided to outline the letters in pen so they'd show up even better. One idea I'd like to try is to mask a title and then stitch the letters instead of outlining them. ;)

For this challenge though, you don't have to mask your title. It can a mask of anything and be on any part of your LO. So go have some creative fun with all your artsy supplies! :D

And that's element #2 of 8.
For the next element, visit Jana Eubank's blog here.

REMEMBER: When you've gathered all six elements, get creating, and don't forget to post your project in the Urban Anthology gallery by Sunday June 28th at Midnight (PST) for a chance to win the Urban Anthology Birthday Queen grand prize!

And lastly, I'd like to give away a little RAK of my own. For a chance to win a $5 GC to the Urban Anthology store, tell me this:

What is a favorite gift you've received for your birthday?

Please leave a blog comment on this post, and I'll pick a winner on Monday morning!

Happy blog hopping and creating! :D

Piggy-tails and a purse!

Oh to be 2 again! hehehe! First it was purse to the pool, now it's purse (with cell phone and compact mirror) to the ballpark! What's next? Trips to the mall? :D



These are SK's first pigtails. Her hair is FINALLY barely long enough for them! They're actually just little sprigs. Not sure if they officially qualify as real pigtails.

Quick weekend in review

We've been up to a lot and there's lots to tell, but so little time that I'll let the photos speak for themselves. ;)

First, Josh and I got to see my all-time favorite duo, the Indigo Girls, Friday night.


Then we spent the rest of the weekend at the lake. Here's a quick rundown.











The self-proclaimed princess hopes you had a good weekend too and bids you farewell.

Urban Anthology reveal

But first a funny story. I took the girls to see Madagascar 2 today because it was showing for free at the Rave. As usual we were running a bit behind, and by the time we'd manuevered through traffic, bought popcorn and found our theatre, my Caroline balked. She saw the dark tunnel, only lit by the tiny blue runway strip of lights, and she was done. Frozen. Wouldn't budge. It didn't help that apparently the movie was at the point where the lions were fighting so all we heard was roars and growling. Poor kid. She was sooooo scared! And me, I couldn't help but chuckle. Bless her heart! Well, then SK chimed in after taking her cues from Caroline and started chanting "it too scarwee! it too scarwee!" So there I was with a overflowing bag of popcorn (who knew that a small would be the equivalent of a large from back in the day?!) and 2 toddler frozen, eyes bulging, too scared to take a step any further. It finally took me 10 min. to talk Caroline into just peeking around the corner to see the actual screen, to see the cartoon, and convince her that the lions weren't real. I carried her through the "dark tunnel" while SK just trailed behind me, not really scared at all. Anyway, it was a funny moment. Frustrating, but funny. And I didn't want to forget the details.

Anyway.....on to the real stuff.....the reveal.

Introducing Urban Anthology's June kit "Puttin on the Ritz"


This month's kit features Basic Grey "Wisteria" and My Mind's Eye "Andrea Victoria". The kit also contains custom designed journaling tags and custom made beaded pins. Here's what I've gotten done so far...

"Sunset stroll"


"Celebrate"

My sorority Big Sis and I at her wedding a couple of years ago.




This final close-up is an example of the tinting overlays technique I did for Urban Anthology yesterday. You can see the blog post here. I tinted the middle flower, which is a white My Little Shoebox overlay, so that it'd be purple instead of clear.


"Easter 09"

Mom and the girls on Easter Sunday.




and a card


That's all for now. Gotta meet hubby for lunch! Hope you're have a great day!

Little Fish

Just a fun little LO I wanted to share. I did for Ellen's STAY-cation "Lake" challenge from the Serendipity crop this past weekend. Sadly, it's the only LO I got done, but I'm really happy with it. I did A LOT of stitching on it, and it's a fun photo of C at the lake last summer. I also have been LOVING everything that Cosmo Cricket has been putting out lately, and had to use up some of my "Snorkle" line. It's just too perfect for my trillions of lake photos. I'm sure you'll be seeing it again. ;)

"Little Fish"






And don't forget that it's not too late to sign-up for Serendipity's Last Scrapper Standing. The first challenge went up today, and the deadline is Wednesday, June 17th at 8am! So head on over there and jump in the fun!

What a weekend!

Lots and lots going on, and I've been busy busy busy! I also spent another 8 hrs. in the car yesterday. This time it wasn't to Alabama, but I traversed the state of Tennessee for my sister's baby shower. It was a really special time, a time of giving thanks for these babies, and remembering that God is faithful. She even let me take (just a few) shots of her. Here's my favorite. The ETA right now on the twins is sometime in July.



And then at the shower.


There's lots and lots going on in my scrappy world right now too! Today I'm hosting the 4th birthday challenge over at Urban Anthology, which is a birthday altered item. You can check out the challenge here on the blog.

For this challenge I made Caroline a birthday hat using the May kit. I'm really excited with the way it turned out!


I used Pink Paislee butterfly paper, Basic Grey's Porclein (paper)lace with Prima flowers. The pearls and the Thicker '3' are from my stash.

Also for the challenge I quickly came up with this cupcake table decor piece. I've been wanting to make something like this since I saw Jennifer McGuire's Christmas tree one she donated for the Scrap Etc. (now closed :( ) Fall Event. I saw how quick and easy it was to make, but what a fun way to decorate too, so I made mine for a birthday. I literally made it in 5 min. using a cupcake diecut and some scrap papers. I'll need to go back and add some stickles and bling to it to make it more festive. But I still wanted to share.




And my last little tidbit of fun info is that I heard from Julie over at 52Sketches!, and she's asked me to be a part of her sketch DT! I'm thrilled, and can't wait to get to work on the LOs based on her awesome sketches. They totally inspire me to create!



I think that's all for now, so I'll stop rambling. Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and a great start to the week

need some mojo?

Look no further than Serendipity Scrapbooks! This weekend we're having a STAY-cation crop, because even though we all want to go on a big vacation and travel all over the world, unfortunately that's not always possible. So we're staying at home and visiting those places through our crop challenges! I hope you'll come and join us!

Here are my 2 challenge examples:

African safari challenge

These are a lot of the zoo pictures I took last year. I combine the Glitz Designs papers with sketch #14 from 52 sketches.

Road Trip challenge

Who doesn't like a road trip, right? We used to take them all the time in college. I got the biggest thrill by calling home and asking, "Hey, guess where I am now!" I know I called from Destin, FL on a Tuesday (hehe!) and I distinctly remember calling Dad from the Grand Canyon. He's always wanted to go, and I wanted to tell him I was there. Yeah, I guess that was cruel. Sorry Dad! This photo is of me AT the Grand Canyon. (I didn't know it snowed there!) The journaling talks about how much I love to travel, and the checklist is of all 50 states. I've been to 29. The goal is to go to all 50 before I'm 50. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, if you can't join us for the crop this weekend, you'll definitely want to check out the Last Serendipity Scrapper Standing contest that starts on Monday! This contest will last from June 15th to July 17th, and is action packed with challenges coming every other day. And the prizes are AMAZING! 1st place receives a prize pkg. valued between $75-$100!!! WOW! Check out this thread for more information!

Creative Discovery Musuem and more peeks from the "doghouse"

Another fun excursion we got to go on last week was a trip down to the Creative Discovery Museum. The girls just love it, and this time we were lucky enough to tag along with Emma and Nonnie! They came up for the day!






These were just some of the highlights. They also each made some really cool sand paintings, put on a puppet show, and really loved looking at the creatures in the dinosaur exhibit area. (yuck! And I thought I was raising girlie girls!)anyway, they had so much fun that they fell asleep while we were stilllunch! So much for playing in the fountains at Coolidge. That'll be another day I guess.

In scrappy news, check out these new lines (and embellishments) from Nikki Sivils! Aren't they CA-UTE???!! I can't WAIT to work with them!!!

"My Sweet Cherry Pie"



"Victoria's Street"