Smooch Projects

That is the most boring title ever. Perhaps I should add a plethera of exclaimation points after it to boost the excitement. "Smooch Projects!!!!!! Yeah!!!"

I don't think I have the energy for that today (I stayed up way too late reading the last book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and I'm in a melancholy now that I've finished--not that they weren't good. I'm just going to miss the characters and I'm pouting). Even though I think these projects are totally rocking. They are the projects from this video. Yep, finally managed to get photos of them. Go me!

Anyway, here are the cards. Pretty standard, except they glimmer. Glimmer is good.

Then there's my favorite project, the birds on the glass.

Their white bodies are on the front, and the designs are on the back. I think it turned out adorable, and this is going to hang out in my craft room forevermore.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Smooch Review--Northridge Publishing Video

Hi everyone! A couple of awesome things coming your way.

First of all, I'm finally getting a new camera (yeah, feels like forever to me, I'm pretty sure I have at least two new gray hairs since my camera broke), it should be here very, very soon, so hopefully, new pictures galore will be flooding the blog soonish! You might get sick of all the pictures I'm going to take.

Secondly, my sister started a food blog and it's awesome. I helped her think of the name, so you definitely want to go check it out. I can personally vouch for her cooking. I generally go over to her house, go straight to the kitchen table, sit down in a chair, pick up a knife and fork, look up at her with my big brown eyes and say, "Feed me." AND IT'S ALWAYS DELICIOUS. So, run to the The Generous Teaspoon.

Lastly, I realized that I had not yet shared this video of me visiting Northridge Publishing studios and Kristine McKay. I'm reviewing Clearsnap Smooch, which I was great to work with! Once I get the camera, I will get some shots of my projects up on the blog.



By the way, I did emphasize its greatness for detail work, but you can tilt it to the side and get larger areas. I feel a little bit bad for not mentioning it, because someone in the YouTube comments got the impression it was only good for small areas and that's not really the case.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

A Hoot and A 1/2 Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

I think I might have missed the owl trend craze by a little bit. I've heard that roosters are the new owl (although that is almost a year old). I think that is crazy talk. I love owls. Chickens scare me. Hopefully, we won't move onto ducks/geese from here. If we do, I will be the trendiest person ever, because my thrift store is full of ceramic ducks of all shapes and sizes, and I can totally do that for nearly nothing.

Anyway, considering I still like owls, I ignored the trend and designed this kit. I'm cool challenged, so I will continue to like owls.

This layout is my nephew, Miles, with two of my little guys. Miles is a hoot. He's freakin' hilarious, even though he doesn't really talk much and when he does, they are all one syllables and sound exactly the same. Only my sister has the code cracking skills necessary to understand him. Doesn't matter. He's got a glint in his eye that always makes me grin right back. It's like I don't even have a choice.

(Click to Download)

Kit Contents: 9 Pattern Papers, 4 Colors Ric Rac, 2 Journaling Blocks, 1 Date Label, 1 Set Stitching, 4 Owl Stickers, 1 Branch Sticker

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Easter Egg Hunt Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

You know, I don't like scrapbooking layouts with set themes. I'm not a theme kind of girl. Probably because they tend to be repetitive. I mean, Christmas comes every year, so does Independence Day, plus all the other holidays, and then on top of that, you have birthdays, all of which provide photos that are basically interchangeable. That's not to say I don't think they are important days. I do. I think traditions and rituals especially in family life are enormously important. It's just that they are repetitive.

So, I was surprised this year when I was excited to design an Easter kit. I knew we were going to my dad's side of the family for their annual Easter egg hunt, so I started this paper about a week before that. It wasn't until I got the photos in front of me that it really started to gel, and I think this is one of my favorite kits ever. Aside from these papers (which aren't in the thumb, you couldn't see anything but the top), the rest aren't overtly Easter and would be perfect for other themes.

Anyway, I was pretty excited about the pictures I took, especially this one of Aubriana and my nephew, Miles. I knew it was going to be the star of my layout.

Which it was:

 (Click to Download)

Kit Contents: 15 Pattern Papers, 1 Overlay, 3 Bunny Masks, 2 Styles of Grass Masks (that just makes me laugh), 3 Egg Masks, 1 Butterfly Mask, 3 Labels, 1 Journaling Spot, 1 Set Stitches

As a bonus for this kit, I made my layout into a two page, 12x12 quick page (it's a .psd file), that you can easily slip your pictures into--you know, in case scrapbooking the same holidays over and over makes you a little crazy too. And, there's room for 10 shots; a must if you are a click-a-holic, like me.

I made sure that the title was able to be edited, in case you want to change it. If you want to leave it how it is, you need to make sure you have Franklin Gothic and Titillium on your computer (again, I can't verify these fonts are free from viruses--use caution). I used a font called Fish Face for the "egg," but I actually couldn't find Fish Face even with my mad google skills, so I also rasterized one layer and left one the font, just delete the one you don't want.

(Click to Download)

Enjoy! I hope you have a fabulous Easter!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

The Xander Digital Scrapbooking Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

Awww, it's the last in my four part series. Maybe I need to keep going with The Kara and The David, because I had a lot of fun designing these kits for my kids.

This week has two inspirations. A while ago on Project Runway, Amy designed these pants:

Now, I'm not saying I like these pants or that I would like to own these pants or that these pants should exist in a world where you can buy perfectly sane black pants that don't do that fluttering thing, enlarge the look of your butt and turn you into a strange mermaid from the waist down, but I do like the colors together and the pattern was really inspiring.

The judges main criticism was that they were a weird color combination. Now, I can see criticizing the weird petals and too many colors, but the color scheme is your basic complimentary colors. Blue and orange are across the color wheel. This makes me wonder about the judges. Have they never studied color theory? Because I guarantee that blue/orange is one of the first ones you learn.

On the other hand, isn't that petal skirt on the girl so cute!?! I must make one for Aubrey, ASAP.

The other inspiration would be some vintage fabric, and I could throw Xander in there, for being totally adorable and sharp as a lawn mower (and nearly as loud).

I love the slightly retro feel of these papers. The blue and orange really pop. And here is my cutie, Xander. He's one of the smartest kids you will ever meet and he's super affectionate too. I did this page about how he is starting to read chapter books on his own (he's in 1st grade). I don't get it, but he really likes non-fiction. I keep thinking he'll like fantasy, but he doesn't. Of course, his favorite series is the Magic Treehouse series, because those are packed with non-fiction type information. I mean, I love some types of non-fiction, but they generally have some sort of meaningful or deeply interesting story, while Xander just wants to memorize the facts.

(Click to Download)

Kit Contents: 5 Pattern Papers, 2 Background Papers, 1 Overlay, 1 Journaling Block

(Do you see my pant-inspired paper there at the bottom? Love it!)

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Crafty Organization Week 4

Thank goodness for a quick and easy week. This one is not that impressive, but I think it's going to work for me and it's much tidier.

Ok, a quick couple of before shots:

I keep my letter stickers and regular stickers in page protectors. I have way too many Thickers to try to fit them into a binder and I'm not a fan of the Clip It Up because I have way too much for it to ever be organized that way. I'm still not sure this is the best way to store them, because they aren't very portable. I think that is my main challenge in organization. I love to crop, but I don't want to bring everything (that would be an impossible feat, not to mention heavy), but I don't want to have two systems, yet packing for a crop is worse than packing all six of us for a vacation, and we practically take along the house and our own mattresses when we go someplace. I cannot do the whole "pack light" thing whatsoever. I've tried page kits, but I don't plan that much and it's difficult to pack everything I need, plus I tend to get bored with them very easily. Maybe I will just knit from now on at crops.

Funny thing about this was that I was sort of sad the other day because I didn't think I had that many Thickers left, but then I started gathering them and opened that box and yeah, I have enough for a good while, especially at the rate I've been paper scrapbooking lately, which is like one page a month.

Anyway, sorted them first by alphabet and "shapes" and then by color for the letter stickers and type for the others (rub ons, stickers, journaling spots, etc). Once they were all sorted and labeled, I stuck them back into the box, so stickers are done.

I'm debating what I should do for this next week. I think I will tackle embellishments next. At some point, I need to start thinking about my non-scrapbooking supplies, like fabric, notions and yarn.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

The Griffin Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

Last week things were just too crazy to get a kit up. I might have finished earlier if I didn't get completely stumped on the journaling. Sometimes I wonder if I should just offer the kit without the layout, because it's what takes me the most time by far, but then, I think that it's easier to see how it might be used if I do a layout, plus, it's makes me do a layout every once in a while. My kids have been looking through their scrapbooks lately and it's a reminder to me of how important this is. Sometimes I get caught up in the creativity of it and the fun of designing it all and I forget why I do this in the first place.

Anyway, I finally got through my mental block and wrote Griffin a letter, which I think turned out beautifully. I seriously cannot believe the type of conversations we have. He asks the most interesting and intelligent questions. Right now as I'm writing, we are having a discussion about what happens if you cut off various parts of your body--sometimes it can get quite gruesome--but he wants to know if you can live if you cut off your head (I explained what the brain does), then he wanted to know if you could live if you cut off your arm, (so I explained that yes, but you could loose a lot of blood if that happened), then he wanted to know how you could cut bones (I told him doctors use saws when they do surgery), then he wanted to know if you could live if your ear was cut off (yes, but it might make it harder to hear). Then he asked, "What about the blood?" so I had to explain about coagulation and how blood clots and major arteries, then he asked if everywhere in your body has bone, so then I explained about cartilage. This is going to be great for my diet. I'm sure I won't want to eat for at least six hours after that conversation. He's either going to be a doctor or an axe murderer.

Anyway, here's the layout:

 

(Click to Download)

Kit Contents: 7 Pattern Papers, 3 Colors of Brads, 1 Overlay, 1 Paper Mask, 3 Thought Bubble Stickers

Enjoy! I'm sure you all will be cursing me for all the grisly talk, but at least you get a freebie out of it.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Crafty Organization Week 3

Like I mentioned last week, I focused on my scrapbooks this week. I had a huge stack of layouts that needed to be put away into scrapbooks. A while back, I bought a bunch of the stuff I needed for it, so I had plenty of page protectors and albums, thank goodness.

This ended up being a much more involved process than I was originally thinking. I mean, I just needed to stuff a few layouts into albums, right? Wrong. First, I sorted the stack of layouts that I had either recently finished or had been returned after being away at various companies (I think I still have a few things out there, but nothing I can do about that right now). I had a huge stack, probably 6 or 7" high. I wish I had a picture, but I didn't realize I didn't until I went to write this post.

So, I sorted them all and put them into albums. As I was doing that, I went through the albums and pulled any layouts that had damage. A few years ago, I had a bad batch of adhesive, so there were quite a few layouts where nothing was sticking. Also, when Aubrey was 18 months or so, she got a hold of one of Maxton's albums and ripped a bunch of things off layouts. Most of them were salvagable, but I hadn't repaired them yet. I also got out my box of unfinished layouts. These are usually from crops, when I get really stuck or sometimes they are all the way done except for journaling.

It looked about like this (and the label actually says "Pages to Finish"). It looks really sad and depressed. Poor little box:

After looking at that stack and then back at the stack that needed repair, I sort of wanted to quit. I mean, this is the most boring type of scrapbooking imaginable, even worse than digi scrapping (I kid, I kid). So, I thought, "Well, I'll just repair the ones that can be repaired really quickly." I got out my trusty ATG gun (we are, like, best friends forever) and started adhering things down.

After that chunk was done, I thought I'd write all the journaling that hadn't been done in one sitting. So, I did that and if the layout was already mostly finished, I slapped on the journaling. Then I went through and sorted which ones still needed dates, which I added. See how this was a much more involved process than I was thinking?

Once that was all done, I had a finished stack about like this:

There were layouts that I started, but left incomplete for years. I think the oldest one I finished was this one of Xander as a baby (about 5 months old), that has been sitting in my collection of "Pages to Finish" for about 6 years. That is really sad.

I started in on the ones that still needed title work or extensive design work. And I couldn't find anything, because, well, you've seen my craft area, nothing is where it was supposed to be! Everything was in my way, I had no clear spot to work and it's really annoying to scrap like that, I felt like I wasn't getting a thing done and I really wanted to move on in the organization process.

So, I stuck all those back in a box and I'm going to have another "organize scrapbooks" week at the end of this whole thing.

This is my box:

Much improved! I'm calling this week officially over (for now).

I lined up all the scrapbooks on my shelf. Since they are color coded (Xander is blue, Maxton is red, Griffin is Green, Aubrey is pink and family scrapbooks are tan/brown), I grouped all the colors together and I think the result is so pretty! When we move, I'm going to either buy another shelf system like this or have David build me one (or if I get really desperate, I will build it myself), to go in our family room to house these, so I can have my storage back, but for now, I love they way they look across my bookcase. Don't you agree?

Next week is sticker week! I know I have quite the collection and I have no idea what to do with it.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Crafty Organization Week 2

Well, it took a lot longer than I was thinking to organize my papers. It's been a really long time since they were all put away all in the same way. I have a paper problem. Not only have I designed for several companies which make paper, but I also have an slight buying problem. I somehow feel more justified in buying a few sheets of paper than buying pretty embellishments or stickers. I love patterns. When I get a new piece of paper, I want to smell it and rub my face against it and love it forever. Basically, I'm like a cat with catnip.

Look! All in one spot:

It's been a long time since my papers have been all in one place, like I said. Maybe Xander was a baby and I only had a hundred sheets or so (a long, long time ago in my scrapbooking career). One reason for this is that I ran out of space in my storage and hadn't a clue what to do with all of it (read the above explanation of my paper addiction). I also had about half of them sorted by brands, in alphabetical order, but I didn't have any way to tell when one brand ended and another started, so it was a pain to put stuff away. I just don't have that kind of dedication to organization. Big surprise, right?

First, I pulled out all my papers and grouped brands together. This was mostly already done, but I had stuff that wasn't sorted (remember that large box of papers from last week?). So, I alphabetized all of that within the box, then I integrated to the ones already sorted. While I was doing that, I made some dividers out of file folders I pilfered from my mom's house--lots of them were used, which is great. Love re-purposing things. I unfolded the folders and cut off the bottoms so they would peek up through the paper, like little happy prairie dogs. I can't believe how easy it was to sort paper this way. I may actually put new paper away, although I can't imagine that I would ever need to buy another sheet. But, since when does need factor into any of my scrapbook supply buying decisions? Just about never.

Look! I can see what's where:
After that was all done, I still had to deal with my scraps. I scrapbook quite a lot from my scraps, because whole sheets of paper are nearly sacred. I feel like an executioner when I have to cut into one of those beautiful, whole sheets. I try to let go of the small ones (like less than 4x6), but the larger ones, I feel compelled to keep.

I use beat up sheet protectors to keep scraps together. I didn't actually have that many unsorted solid scraps, but I spent about 2 hours sorting the pattern paper ones. I luckily had kept the file for the labels, so I printed out another set of labels and slapped them on the front of the protectors as I came across scraps of that brand. After all that was done, I filed the page protectors with the whole sheets. I'm still not sure if I will like that system, but it works for now. I'm used to having the scraps all together, but I didn't want to make another file folder system, because it was surprisingly time-consuming to put together.

Now, I have a huge plastic bin stuffed with paper and not a clue how I'm going to do permanent storage for it all. However, since I have the actual organization done and all my paper together, that is a huge step in the right direction. I'm thinking about having David build me a huge storage system with desk space, but that is going to have to wait for now.

Since I freed up space from my "magazine" holders that used to hold pattern paper, I had enough room to sort all my full-sized sheets of cardstock. I think it looks so pretty on my shelf in color order. I think I like this for cardstock, but for pattern paper, I like to be able to flip through it more. Plus, I couldn't find any more of the holders at the scrapbook store.

Look! Cardstock is pretty:Step one is done. This next week I think I'm going to focus on my scrapbooks. I have dozens of layouts that don't have homes yet and the completed books are a bit jumbled--plus there are a few layouts here and there that need repair work. I'd love to have some company, if you need to work on the same thing!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

The Max Digital Scrapbooking Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

When I design a kit, I normally do whatever I feel like doing, then find photos that will work with the kit I just created. This time, I went backwards, choosing the photos first (of course, the photos of the hat I just knit for Max, because I can't resist his dimple), then creating the kit from the photo. I really enjoyed creating this way, and I think I will do a kit for each of my children. I could not think of a name for this kit, so I finally came down to calling it "The Max," which fits it nicely and neatly takes care of thinking of names for the rest of the series. If you haven't noticed, titles are not a strength of mine.

(Click on Thumbnail to Download)

Kit Contents: 6 Pattern Papers, 2 Background papers, 2 Journaling Blocks, 1 Set Brads, 1 metal label, 3 Paper Labels

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Fall Breeze Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

I took some time out of my studies this week to make a new kit. I wish I could keep up the pace of doing one a week, but that's probably not going to happen, so I'm aiming for one or two a month. We are supposed to have nasty weather tomorrow, so it feels appropriate to put up a fall kit.

I don't know what happened last year, but I don't have any fall photos, so this layout is of photos from two years ago. My boys have grown so much! They look so tiny in these photos.

(Click thumbnail to download)

Contents: 5 pattern papers, two styles of journaling blocks, 3 labels, 1 word art ("fall"), 1 background paper mask

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

David is amazing.

This is a blatant brag post. If you don't feel like reading a gushy post about my husband, back out slowly now and run away. I won't look.

I'm still very slowly adjusting to school. I knew it would be a lot of work, but I was unprepared for the roller coaster of it all. My husband has had to endure a week of texts from me that go something like this:
Tuesday:
"I am feeling really stressed."

Wednesday:
"I can't do it."
"I feel horrible and overwhelmed."

Thursday:
"I am feeling so overwhelmed again."
"I have so much to do."

Ok, those might be direct quotes. And he didn't once tell me to shut up. I know, he's a saint. Not only that, but on Wednesday he came home and cleaned for hours.

After giving me a clean house, he came home on Thursday and Melissa, my friend Heidi, and I were scrapbooking. He spoiled us. He went to the store, got supplies for dinner and made dinner for all us adults and the 7 small children running around. After serving us dinner, he made us brownies and served it with ice cream and caramel sauce. And none of that was hyperbole. I know. He's frickin' amazing.

That is all.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Wrapped in Love Digital Scrapbooking Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

This week's kit was inspired by a sweatshirt I saw in Costco a few months ago. I can't even remember exactly what it looked like, but the flower print is the general idea. It looked warm and cozy and for a while, this kit was named "Cozy Sweatshirt." Since I did the layout about Xander's sweetness with his little sis, I renamed it.

Here they are almost a year ago together. He is so kind to her.


Look at this close-up of her eyes in that photo. I think they are so cool. They look a little blue-green here, but really they are gray. I never thought that was a real eye color, but hers haven't changed much at all from the day she was born.

(Click thumbnail to Download)

Contents: 14 Pattern Papers, 1 Background Paper Mask, 1 Journaling Block, 3 Chipboard Flowers

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Tutorial: Dealing with School Papers and Kid Artwork

Since we are at the beginning of the school year, we recently had an Enrichment activity (church meeting for the women held on weekdays doing all sorts of fun and interesting things) on school lunches and how to deal with all those papers kids bring home. They asked me to teach the section on school papers and artwork. I'm no expert, but after poking around the web and combining it with what I already do, here's what I came up with.

1. Have a designated place for each child to put their work throughout the year. I use simple cardboard boxes.

2. At the end of the school year and then go through the pile, keeping only the very best papers and artwork. It will be easier to sort at the end of the year, because the special papers will stand out from the rest and it will be easier to toss or recycle older papers.

To deal with larger/3D artwork: Have the child hold the artwork and take a picture. Here's Xander with his star of the week poster last year. He didn't make it, but you get the idea.

3. Now that you’ve picked your favorites, a few things you can do with them:

Very simple: Decorate a keepsake box. This can last all through the school year.

Simple : Buy a binder for each child and grade and a whole lotta page protectors. Put artwork + pictures of artwork + anything else special from school in the protectors.

A little more complicated : Take your stack of artwork and papers and have them spiral bound at an office supply place. This is relatively inexpensive. Make sure to get a sturdy cover and back.

Most complicated : Scan (or have scanned) all the artwork and have it bound and printed in a photobook. This is the most archivally safe of the methods if this is important to you. Very cool if you can’t bear to part with it and the child wants a copy too. This would be a great way to deal with your own school papers that are lurking about your home. Books range in price and are simple to put together and order. I use mypublisher.com.

4. Ideas for very special art:

• Scrapbook a page featuring the art, artist and story behind it all. Layout of Xander and a spider he drew three (three! three!?!) years ago.
  
• Have them made into a pendent. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22472308
• Frame it. This would look especially cool in an eclectic grouping in their bedroom.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

End of Summer Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

My favorite season is just about over. The kids have been in school for a few weeks (so weird right now, Griffin is the only one around and awake--weird) and I start college classes tomorrow. In case you didn't read that carefully, I am going to attempt 13 credit hours, while being Mommy and taxicab and chef and all that to my four children. If I suddenly disappear for several months, don't worry. I'm holed up with my laptop trying to jam information into my over-taxed brain and wringing my hands and mumbling.

The layout is my kids getting ice cream from Grandma via an ice cream truck. This was a highlight of the summer. I love how out of eight feet, only one has a shoe.

(Click thumbnail to download)

Contents: 14 full-size pattern papers, 1 journaling block, 1 set stitches, 1 background shape, 1 scallop mask

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Dandelion Digital Scrapbooking Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap.

The dandelion graphic was actually something I made for when I was screen-printing with the Yudu, but I loved it so much, it had to be made into digital scrapbooking paper.


The pictures in my layout are from a picnic we had in July. I've been meaning to get pictures of the way Aubrey holds hands and I finally did. The journaling reads: Aubriana, you don’t hold hands, you hold a finger. If we try to do some other arrangement, you will wiggle until you’ve got just one finger. It melts my heart. You often will volunteer to hold hands and you will turn to a brother and ask them to join you as well. Honestly, I don’t know how I cope day to day with that kind of cuteness. Love ya, little girl!

(Click to download)

Contents: 13 Pattern Papers, 1 journaling block, 1 Dandelion Sticker

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Fruits of the Crop

A Maxton and Griffin hug! Everyone say "awwwww!" I'm liking this layout, because I've had the paper forever and I'm so glad to use some of it. Maxton is getting close to 6 years old and I bought this paper to use on a layout of him when he was one.

I handcut the leave motif. I've got something really cool in mind using that technique and digital scrapbooking if I can get around to it. I love hand cutting because it's fast and gives an organic feel to your layout. Here I crumpled it and distressed it a bit after cutting.

Another great tip is to use tags as blocks of pattern paper. Here I stamped mine and I think it adds another layer of dimension. Paper is Making Memories and Chatterbox, Sticker is Heidi Swapp, Stamp is Cactus Pink (one of my most favorite stamps, EVER), Letter Stickers and Pen are American Crafts.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Fruits of the Crop

This is one I did last week at my crop! I didn't get a whole lot done, but it was sure fun. I love to scrapbook pictures of Miles, because he is always grinning. He has a great grin.

Paper is Scenic Route, cardstock is Bazzill, pen, sticker and brads are American Crafts, Cricut cartridges are Street Sign and Planton Schoolbook.

I don't think I've shared this one on here before, so I'm going to do it now. I love how tiny she is. This is just before leaving the hospital.

Paper is Heidi Grace, chipboard is Making Memories, journaling spot and pen are American Crafts, stamp is Cactus Pink, letter stickers are KMA.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.