Seriously Silly

When my sister comes to visit, we often get together and do something touristy. It's not like she's never lived here! She grew up here, and comes back to visit at least 2-3 times a year. Still it's fun to experience the city of New Orleans and appreciate it like a tourist. 

On this particular day we wandered the French Quarter. Lots of window shopping and picture taking. Give me an old building, door with character, etc. and I'm all over it. 

Every once in a while I'd ask Kevin and his cousin to stand in front of an edifice and snap their picture too. And every once in a while I'd get a silly shot like this:

I'm really getting good use out of these papers from the Boys Rule collection. When I ordered a 12x12 paper pad (2 of each paper) I was worried that it was going to be too much! No way...I love this stuff!

With double of each sheet, I don't have to be stingy...and can layer to my heart's content!

And here's a little tip: To make that REALLY dark foam word coordinate better with the chalkboard look background paper, I rubbed a little bit of powder over the letters. Voila!

Do you ever play tourist in your hometown? What do you like to do? 

Lake Loot!

Through out the year, on the drive in to school, Kevin and I would listen to the North Shore (across the lake from New Orleans) radio station, Lake 94.7. Weekday mornings they have a fun thing going, called Lake Loot. The DJ finds some random fact or bit of information, poses a question to the listeners, takes calls, and rewards the person with the first correct response. Sometimes Kevin and I will try to call in and guess! Sometimes we are wrong. Here's what happened recently...

The question was this: "A study has shown that 50% of Americans cannot pass this test. What test is it?"

by biologycorner

I called in and guessed a citizenship test. Actually, I've heard that MORE than 50% would not pass the citizenship test (unless they studied for it)!

I was wrong. Bummer. Other callers incorrectly guessed driver's license eye exam, cholesterol test, etc. So I thought some more. Hmmmm...what about the test for obtaining a GED (General Educational Development) or high school equivalency exam? "Gotta be it," I thought.

I got through again, but while the phone was ringing, the DJ had just announced one tiny clue, stating it was "more a seasonal test", so at the last minute I changed my answer!

Tentatively I asked..."some sort of swimming proficiency test????"

Ding! Ding! Ding! I was right!

The DJ found it a funny coincidence that I happened to be dropping my son off at swim practice when I came up with this answer.

Kevin was wishing for free passes to Blue Bayou Waterpark, but free drinks and food at the Times Bar & Grill is not too shabby a prize. Except we live on the other side of the lake. Can you say Roadtrip?! :)

Live Long & Prosper

When I picked up carpool on the last day of school last year, we had to go celebrate immediately. It was a bit early for snoballs. Pandora's was not yet open, so we opted for beignets at Morning Call in City Park, just a hop, skip, and jump from their school. Completely wound up and anxious to start their summer, the boys could barely sit still. While waiting for their order, Kevin and Evan practiced Vulcan hand signals. This one, I am told, means "Live long and prosper."

Most of the supplies for this page are from the Crate Paper Boys Rule collection (paper, stickers, wood veneer, and lettering). The large ampersand (Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party wood veneer) was stained with a wash of gelatos. The same orange gelato was rubbed on the edges to give a shadow effect.

 Long live summer break!

Be Loud!

I was really stumped...and short on time...but somehow created a scrapbook page that was not only quick (for me) but one that I absolutely love! My assignment for the Scraptastic blog was to be inspired by a Pinterest pin. Heaven knows I have enough pins on my boards, over 3,000, and the majority of them related to scrapbooking. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't inspired. 

Then I watched a YouTube video that someone else had pinned and it came to me. It's not as much a visual pin as a literary one...Kid President's Letter To A Person On Their First Day Here. As usual, Kid President is adorable, and full of kid wisdom:

While listening to the advice on this particularly cute YouTube video, I picked up a couple of phrases that I thought would make cool scrapbook page titles! 

"Pay attention. Take brain pictures." 

"Love is always louder." 

"You're awesome. Live like it." 

"Let your life be loud."

That last quote is the one I chose for the layout below. So perfect!

Here are a couple of closeups:

It is easy for me to figure out why I like this page so much. It's colorful, it has banners, and there's a glimpse of the beach in my photo. Ooooh, I can't WAIT to go back there this summer!

This page was created with Sail, Scraptastic's June kit, add-on, and stamp set, with the addition of washi tape from my stash. 

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April Showers Bring May...

FLOWERS!

It was flower week on the American Crafts blog last week, and they featured three of my cards on Thursday. So before we get wrapped up in all that June and the rest of summer has to offer, let's take a look at those May flowers.

The first is an all-purpose "thinking of you" card, in an eye-catching color scheme of black and yellow. Die-cut cardstock was fringed, inked and layered to create one focal point flower, with a twine-wrapped fabric brad center. Leaves and sentiment were die-cut from patterned paper. This card simply exudes cheerfulness!

Next is a pretty little card whose flowers were fussy cut from one of the Amy Tangerine Plus One patterned papers. The black and white blooms stand out against the layered tags and chalkboard frame behind them.  

Finally, I used the new #Summer collection to create the birthday card below. Flowers and leaves were die-cut and hand cut, and the sentiment printed directly on cardstock. A fun striped straw completes the scene on this happy little card!

My best tip on making your own flowers for cards, scrapbook pages, etc. is to play up their dimension. Roll the petals, fold the leaves, and let fussy cut flowers lift off the page. They will add so much to your projects.