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.

Looking Back...

Now that school has been out for three whole days, let's take a look at why this summer break is particularly welcome and a much needed reprieve.

The layout is titled Homework After Hours. I used Boy's Rule from Crate Paper, along with goodies from several other collections. Although they photographed dark, the gold stars from Studio Calico are shiny, shiny, shiny, and so very pretty!

There were quite a few nights like this! It's not that he doesn't budget his time; sometimes there's just so much. Sometimes he is up after midnight.

On this particular night, everything else was done and Kevin was completing a science lab on potential/kinetic energy. Using a really cool interactive program, Energy Skate Park, he was manipulating the path, adding a loop, adjusting gravity, friction, etc. for a virtual skateboarder, recording the results, and completing a worksheet. Fun stuff...if it wasn't homework!

I am beyond thrilled that we are getting this 2 1/2 month break. Yes, WE. When it comes to school and homework, the misery is shared. Happy summer!

Sweet Summer

Isn't it true?! Summertime is the sweetest season. There are so many delicious ways to cool off: lemonade, watermelon, ice cream, sno-balls, and ice cold soft drinks, to name just a few. The snowball stand near our house opened up a few weeks ago and I can't wait to stop in for a treat. After I picked up Kevin from his last exam, we tried to celebrate with a sno-ball from one of our favorite stands, Pandora's, but they weren't yet open in the middle of the day.

Meanwhile, I'm sharing a picture from last year that I scrapped with the #Summer collection from American Crafts.

I love all the tropical colors of the papers, and the wide variety of embellishments. Here I used cork, stickers, die-cuts, flair, and more to accent my page. The hibiscus flowers are a free cut file from Susan Stringfellow. You can find it on her sketch blog HERE. 

At our house it is now officially summer! School is out, heat is in. Wherever you are, stay cool!

A Flatlander's Fascination

A window seat is the ONLY way to go! I love to watch the world in miniature below me as I fly, and I snapped a photo of the mountainous snow-covered landscape from the airplane window as I flew from New Orleans to Seattle last year. I thoroughly enjoyed the view, and had a crick in my neck by the end of the flight! Here is how I scrapbooked that picture:

The page is a mix of Basic Grey, October Afternoon, and Simple Stories travel-themed papers, chipboard, die-cuts and flair. 

 

The mountains were pencilled in and watercolored, their peaks highlighted with shimmery Stickles glitter glue! The plane is a stamp from American Crafts/Amy Tangerine.

 

I love those grey fabric Thickers, and the casualness they add to my page.

As a flatlander, AND a southerner, I never get to see such beautiful snow-covered peaks. This is just one more reason it's worth the extra $ for Early Bird check-in when flying Southwest Airlines. I need that window seat!

Teacher Conferences

Arriving at the school an hour early, I took a photo of the empty hallway...and then created a layout about the quarterly conferences I must endure!

The page was shared on the Scraptastic blog last week, and it features one of my favorite go-to designs...the grid. In this case I created a very orderly top half with various squares of patterned paper. I punched several and then moved them around until I was happy with their placement. It still left me with half a page on which to play, plenty enough room for a photo, embellishments, and journaling. 

The two softly colored squares on the second row were just the right spot for my title and I was able to use the straight lines of my grid (and the ledger paper below) to help align my letters.

My photo of an empty school hallway had just enough "white space" for a die-cut, banner pieces and an arrow to be placed right on top of the picture. Journaling fits right below the photo.

Then on to my embellishments. I cut out a couple of stamped images, mounting the globe image on a tag, and giving the world image a punched and distressed notebook edge. The Scraptastic Let Me Go stamp had such fitting images for my school theme! The washi tape banner tied everything together nicely.

Journaling: "I've got it down to a science! Science (literally) is first...on 3rd. Then down one floor to Algebra I, always a long line, and English, always a pleasure. Next, it's back up to 3rd for Spanish and Christianity. Then down two floors to World Geography. It's quite the workout...both physically and mentally! Only 4 more years of this. :)"

School is winding down...finally! Four more exams and he's off for the summer. Waaaahooooo! Who else is ready for a reprieve from the stress of keeping their child(ren) on task with homework, studying, etc.?! 

Runaway Mine Train

On the layout that I am sharing today, softer colors and lots of pink compliment the scenic photos of Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Entitled Runaway Mine Train, my page features four photos, two large and two small. 

***The smaller two are actually two sections of one larger, very busy picture, each cropped and matted with a chipboard frame. I find that it's easier on the eyes this way! 

With little room left, additional embellishments are small and kept to a minimum: a few banner bits and tabs, 2 journaling cards, a floral die-cut, and flair. And I still get to tell my story on one of the journaling cards. (Note to self: Waiting in a long line after lunch is never a good idea!)

The red letter stickers and round chipboard Thickers (shown above) are from my stash, but everything else is from Scraptastic's The Story I Heard kit and add-on. 

I don't often use more than 2 photos on a page, but I really like how this turned out! I think the chipboard frames are what make it work.

Say What? We've Got A Winner!

The winner of the American Crafts' NSD Blog Hop giveaway on my blog is:

Lucky Number 24:

Congratulations Chelsea! Please email your address to me at madelinefox [at] cox [dot] net. And if anyone else knows how to contact Chelsea, please let her know that she is a winner!

Now on to a page I created with the most recent Scraptastic kit, The Story I Heard. It's a Disney page! I've scrapped so much of this Disney trip already, and yet I keep finding more pictures, more stories. But who's complaining? Not me!

The telephone theme of the kit couldn't be more perfect for this photo taken at the UK exhibit in Epcot. The bits of red in the papers and embellishments nicely highlight the bright red phone box.

Several banner pieces and a puffy heart (all from Pink Paislee's Switchboard collection) combine with Scraptastic's "Let's Talk" flair to dress up the "Hello" die-cut. 

A smaller supporting photo finds its home on a tag. A transparency tag peeks out from underneath the kraft tag framing the photo. Matting the picture on a tag keeps it from getting lost on the page.

Check back tomorrow, for another Disney layout is on the agenda!