Classic Games & Comfort Food

It's not the happiest day, the day we have to leave the beach and travel home. We really never want to leave! Now it's become a bit of a tradition that, at the end of our week at the beach, we comfort ourselves with comfort food on the drive home. Lunch at Cracker Barrel makes everything a little more bearable. 

In the photo below, my son is challenging himself with a Cracker Barrel peg game while we wait for our dinner. Yep, we love classic games and comfort food!

Everything on this page is from Scraptastic's Elastic Heart kit. The black and gold letters were a great mix for my long title:

The 12x12 cut file was trimmed into a triangular shape, in deference to the game my son was playing:

Oh, and that gold embossed washi tape...so cool! On this page, I ran it along the edges of my photo to frame the image. It's a good thing the roll is large, because it's fast becoming a favorite. 

Goggles

This title has been on my to-do list for quite a while. When I saw the photo below, I knew it was time. If you have a swimmer, you've probably already seen this on a T-shirt...the word "Goggles" in the same font and colors as the Google logo! And here it is, on my colorful scrapbook page:

After cutting the title with my Cricut, I backed the letter openings with patterned papers in colors that correspond to the Google logo. Sifting through my Bella Blvd. Star Student, Campout, and Color Chaos collections, I found the perfect papers:

And a great journaling card, which I embellished with brads and star clips:

"Practice makes awesome"<---yes 5:15="" ack="" all="" am="" and="" another="" are="" begins="" course="" does="" fact="" forward="" fun="" high="" in="" it="" looking="" nbsp="" next="" p="" practice="" school="" season.="" short="" swimming="" to="" we="" week="">

Go Sharks! Go Jays!

I Got A New Blade For My Cricut...

And just in time! I love using my digital cutting machine to enhance scrapbook layouts, so when The Cut Shoppe had a design team call, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. And guess what...I made the cut! (Pun totally intended.)

I'm thrilled to be a part of this amazing group of artists:

I found out about the design team call from the newsletter introducing the Life's a Beach set of cut files. Isn't it awesome?! I LOVE that lifeguard stand, those waves, the beach sign, and the Lifeguard On Duty circle. My youngest is lifeguarding this summer for the first time. He's one in a long line of lifeguards, as four of my five kids have had that summer job. I was a lifeguard as a teen too, so I guess it's in the blood. Sorry, I digress! Take a look:

Anyway I'm thinking this will be one of the first files to make it onto a DT project! You can get it yourself from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store by clicking on the image above.

For daily inspiration, visit The Cut Shoppe Blog. You might just find a project from yours truly every once in a while! ;)

My Many Creative Obsessions

So much to do, and so little time! I love doing artsy things, and, while my main obsession is scrapbooking, I keep finding NEW things to try. A while back it was stamp carving. My first attempt is shown in the photo below:

 Yes, I've sewn, quilted, cross-stitched, smocked, painted, sketched (horses)...the list goes on.

Would you believe I have another couple of artsy things on my to-do list?! I bought all the supplies for one of them: artboard, matt medium, old magazines. Well, the magazines were free from my mom. Now I have to decide on my subject. THAT'S going to be the hard part! ;)

The Graduate

So proud! Number four is DONE! Fourth kid that is; done as in graduated college. Now if he could only find that awesome job. ;)

I chose a pretty bold pink and white background sheet from Scraptastic's Elastic Heart kit for my page featuring the graduate in his cap and gown, holding that oh-so-expensive diploma. I loved the celebratory feel of all those pink dots gathering along the bottom of the page, but wanted to minimize some of the bright color. Patterned strips of black and white did just that. Everything is from the kit, a stunning collection of black, white, gold, and pink papers and embellishments.

Three of the strips I used are tear strips, while others were cut from the patterned paper in a similar width. Are you familiar with a "tear strip"? It's that little piece of patterned paper where the manufacturer, collection, and paper names are written, along with a barcode. In fact, the Scraptastic challenge for the week is to use those tear strips. It's a good way to stretch those favorite papers!

Here are a few closeups of my page:

Do you use those little bits of pattern at the bottom of your papers? I have a vase FULL of strips, and need to put some more of them to work!

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Pair a favorite quote with a favorite vacation photo and the resulting page is a favorite too! Papers are a mix of two Crate Paper collections: Craft Market and Confetti, with several of the patterns showing up underneath the large letters. Some are sewn together; others are stapled.                                         

A little cluster of elements fills an awkward spot at the top of the page...

and layers of ephemera mat the photo at the bottom...

Every summer has a story, and unfortunately, the last chapter of ours starts this week.

Hard to believe it's almost over. I'm enjoying these unscheduled days and warm weather.