Stuck On U Sketches & Creative Cuts & More Summer Mini Album Blog Hop

Welcome to the Summer Mini Album Blog Hop sponsored by Creative Cuts and More! The hop is being hosted by Stuck On U Sketches and Creative Cuts and More (their blog is Die Cut Diva).

I am so honored, Terry at Creative Cuts and More called and asked me if I'd be interested in participating in this mini album blog hop! Of course I jumped at the opportunity! Today's blog hop consists of Design Team members from both Stuck On U Sketches and Creative Cuts and More (which I have previously designed for). If you want to start at the beginning now, head over to Stuck On U Sketches. Make sure to read to the very bottom where you will find a coupon code to Creative Cuts and More.

I started off with the Circle Window 6"x6" Album. The Sweet Summertime line by Echo Park jumped out at me when I found out the theme was summer.

I opted to let the chipboard show. I'm loving the look of kraft on my layouts and figured I would test it out on a mini. I'm really happy with out it came out. I fussy cut clouds and the banner triangles and then used the Echo Park alpha stickers for the title. The grass at the bottom was cut using a Sizzix die and then overlapping the pieces a tad.

This is the inside cover! I'm still not 100% sure exactly what I'm going to do with it, but I have a few ideas rolling around in my head. I think I might add some photos to the right page above and below the circle.

A close up of the inside of the cover.

I was inspired by the pinwheel patterned paper and pinwheels in some of the stickers. I created my own pinwheel on the left hand side.

Here I used the super cute Filmstrip (small) and put different patterned papers underneath.

I made a couple more of those fun little pinwheels.

I used the Scallop Oval Fram #02 - Large on these pages. I cut them in half. The butterflies are from a couple Martha Stewart punches I have.

I just love these flowers. They are two of the Flower #06 - Small. I layered two of them and used a sticker for the center.

I have recently seen some really cute pop up cards. I got to thinking that they would be fun to put in a mini!

This is the Pop Up 2A Insert Horizontal Pop Up Bar.

I used a Scallop Circle Frame Small on each of these pages.

I used the Pop Up card insert again on the final page.

And the final page...I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the center. Maybe 'Made by' and the year. Maybe a quote. I used the Filigree Square Label with Squares.

Kudos to you if you made it through all those photos!

Now hop on over to Kim Langhorst's blog!

Make sure to:

1. Become a follower of each blog

2. Leave a comment on each blog

3. Leave a comment on Die Cut Diva letting Terry know you stopped at all the blogs.

Die Cut Diva will then pick one lucky winner that will in our amazing blog hop give away that is sponsored to us by Creative Cuts & More. The winner will be announced on the SOUS and Die Cut Diva Blogs on August 5th. So do stop by and see if you are the lucky winner!

The hop today consist of DT members from both Stuck On U Sketches and Creative Cuts and More. We will be showcasing the minis in alphabetical order and the order is as follows.

Beginning at the SOUS Blog then on to:

1. Annette Gearside

2. Beatriz Guzman

3. Becky Voth

4. Bonnie Friesen

5. Dawn Gallop
6. Dawn Lotharius
7. Fern Riley
8. Kayla DuPont <-----YOU ARE HERE
9. Kim Langhorst <-------GO HERE
10. Kristine Reynolds
11. Leah Schaeffer
12. Melissa Waldorf
13. Nanne Harry
14. Noelle Reese
15. Sandi Clarkson
16. Stine Ursin
17. Taylor Usry
18. Wanda Boardley
19. Die Cut Diva

With that being said, I hope you hop along and enjoy all the inspiration and eye candy! Your first stop is SOUS. Thank you so much for stopping by today and have fun!

One more quick thing, Creative Cuts & More is also offering our readers a 20% discount this week! Just use discount code SOUS20 during check out to save 20% off your entire order!

My Beautiful Family Layout

Hello all! Birds of a Feather had a crop this weekend (you have til Wednesday to upload your layouts). One of the challenges was to use a photo that was 5x7 or larger! I have had this photo taken at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's wedding last summer for a while. I was having a hard time getting started on it. While at the Horse Races a few weekends back I saw a full page ad in their pamphlet that really jumped out at me so I tore it out and put it in my purse! :-)

This is what I ended up with:

I wish the photo was netter, I may try to retake it after I get the correct butterflies. I spent A TON of time cutting the papers just right and stitching everything! I'm not sure I'd do it again. haha! Part way through stitching around the circle Peyton came up and pushed a button on the sewing machine! :-0 I'm not sure what he did...but he changed my stitch! It adds character right? I was bummed when I got done with the stitching and realized I had forgot to ink each piece of patterned paper.

I made some satin flowers to go with the layout. They seemed to go well with the papers.
Lots and lots of stitching!
I used Cosmo Cricket Tiny Types and American Crafts Thickers for the title. The lace is layered on a piece of brown ribbon. I wanted something in the upper right corner of the photo and by the title to create a triangle (ya know...rule of 3 and triangle rule in design). I had this cute little brown butterfly that seemed to fit. But wished it was pink. I then remembered I had bought Maddy hair clips with butterflies on them. I searched and found a clip under the recliner. ;-) It was bent up and not overly pretty, but it would work for the picture til I could order some more butterflies! I hope to be able to order a itty bitty pink one and one similar to the size I have by the title. I might even order a couple extra in case one would look good by my satin flowers! Most of the papers are Basic Grey. There are a few pieces that I pulled from my stash and can't remember their brands.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure and stop back by Friday to see my mini album and play along in the blog hop I'm participating in!

Breath Taking layout and Garage Sale Finds

I've been having a lot of fun playing at Birds of a Feather Crop! I have gotten a couple layouts and a couple cards done! Wahoo! Chris has been fantastic at keeping the kids entertained and their needs met so I could scrap away! :-)

One of the challenges at the BOAF crop was to scrap a photo of an inanimate object! :-0 I had to think hard about this one. When I was thumbing through my photos I came across a few photos I have been putting off. It just so happens, the sketch worked perfect for the photos. Karen told me about the Pretty Little Studio. They post a sketch on their blog and I decided to play along with it.

I LOVE this Crate Paper line! The papers and die cuts seemed to go well with the pictures.
I scored and sanded a line around the edges to give it a little umph. The brown circle is attached to my journaling spot.

These photos were taken the day we hiked to the top of Haystack to spread my Grandpa's ashes. This is where we spread my Grandma, Aunt and Uncles ashes here and this is where I hope to have my ashes spread. Its so beautiful up there. Its quite a bit of a hike, but so well worth it! The lower photo is showing a lot of my Grandfathers land that has been in the family for over 150 years. This land holds so much history.

Don't f0rget I am participating in this next week:

I was able to get out and garage sale a bit Friday and Saturday. I found a few games for 75 cents each!
I LOVE Uno and its been years since I've played! Peyton seemed to enjoy it so I see lots of Uno in our future.
This game was BRAND NEW! :-0 Peyton has had a blast with it and it will be perfect for Chris's family reunion coming up in a few weekends.
This was a fun game too. We played it quite a few times.

I found a few other things too. I was very excited to find a 3-wheeled Princess scooter with a basket on front. And for only $3! Maddy LOVES her 'princess' scooter! A chalk board to alter for my scrap space, a pair of really nice black Levi dress pants for Maddy for a buck. Some other odds and ends too!

I'm still hoping to hit a good garage garage sale that has clothes for both kids. I haven't had much luck in the clothes area so far this year!

I'd love to hear what you were up too this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cute cute cute buttons and blog hop!

While blog hopping, I followed a link to these buttons. Go check them out! The blog is cute too and there is currently a give-away going on!

See...super cute, huh?

Also, make sure and stop by later next week. I'm participating in this:
I am super excited about my mini! Want a sneak peek?

I used the Echo Park Sweet Summertime line! :-)

Papa's Girl No Patterned Paper Layout and CROP!!!

Amy challenged us over at Birds of a Feather to create/alter our own background paper! I thought to myself...okay, that's not so bad. You could stamp, use paint or mist....but then I kept reading to hear an additional twist, after all it is a 'challenge', right? The twist...you couldn't use patterned paper!!!! Here is my take on the challenge using a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

Looking at it after I glued everything down really well, I wish I would have moved the title out a bit. Somethings kinda off but I can't figure out what.
I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the squares and a Martha Stewart punch for the butterflies.
Thank you to Karen for this super cute butterfly! Its just perfect for this layout!

I found this picture on my parents computer. Maddy's puckered lips crack me up. I can't remember when it was taking but guessed it was Winter of 2009.

This also works for the challenge over at The Paper Variety. Their challenge this week is all the colors of the rainbow or grids. I created a grid with my embossed squares. Head on over and play along! TPV is such a fun challenge blog!

What do you have going on this weekend? Do you feel like scrapping? Head over to Birds of a Feather. There is going to be a crop! Amy always comes up with fun challenges and we always have a great time! Challenges start Friday morning! Head over there soon as Laura has already posted the Bingo words!

Capture the Moments using Cosmo Cricket DeLovely

Good afternoon! I hope you all had a great weekend! Anyone get to do anything fun? I had a night out with Chris at the local horse races. Its a pretty big deal around here and I had A BLAST!

I had a lot of fun with this layout! Love how cheery and fun the DeLovely line is to work with!

This is Maddy last summer riding their roller coaster! The kids just LOVE the roller coaster. On our last move, it ended up staying at my moms cause we don't have room for it. My dad keeps threatening to get rid of it, but I have to remind him how much the kids LOVE it!

Last week, or was it the week before???? I'm all confused as to what day it is and where we are in the month! Anyhow, I chatted with my long lost twin, Karen, on Skype for the very first time! :-) My kids were not so cooperative. Peyton didn't quite understand why they couldn't just come over to play. ;-) But it was fun to see them and chat with them! I hope to be able to do so again soon. Karen took this picture and I sure wish I would have thought to do the same thing! Next time!

Echo Park My Little Travelers Layout

When I saw this layout, I knew instantly that I wanted to lift it. Love everything about it! So much so, I'm sure I'll use it for inspiration again in the future!

I've had this adorable Little Man line by Echo Park for a bit now and thought it perfect for these pictures of the kiddos in their car seats. They are such good travelers (most of the time). We tend to go a lot and since moving 35-40 min. from our hometown, we seem to spend a lot more time in the car. They were just too darn cute to not take pictures of this particular day. No, I wasn't driving, Chris was.

This line was SO much fun to work with! Its super busy, but I like it! :-)

I LOVE the alpha stickers that come with the kit. I inked everything with a dark color.
The banner in just orange wasn't doing it for me. So I layered it a couple times.
I fussy cut a cloud, then traced and cut it out of the blue and white polka dot paper.
I had so much fun with this layout! Thank you April for your inspiration!

I'm posting it over at The Paper Variety for their photo challenge this week too! LOVE the colors in the photo shared. Go check it out! That photo is FULL of great ideas!

We were invited to a bbq on the 4th of July. Pinterest can be a bad thing for me. I found these and knew I had to make them for the bbq:
Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots! Man were they delicious and didn't last long at the bbq we went too! Not the best of pictures...but what can I say, I'm not a good photographer. ;-)

I also made some of these:
The kids LOVED the chocolate dipped pretzels.

And finally these:

Our friends have the PERFECT house for summer bbq's.

Maddy had fun in the pool. Peyton fell in. It was quite funny, but he didn't think so.
Above, the kids were not scared of the rubber fishy (like the rubber ducky) war that was going on! Those fish were whizzing. Peyton still has a bruise where he got tagged with one! :-0 He didn't cry when he got hit though and it didn't stop him from continuing to gather the fish that escaped the pool!

Yes...a few hours of sun and play and we come home and do this:
Okay, WE didn't, Chris, Peyton and Maddy did!

Thanks so much for stopping by!