PAPER GIRLS CHALLENGE BLOG 154: Bicycles

Hello! I just started Summer Vacation, and loved the challenge of Bicycles for this week's Paper Girls Challenge 154! 

I knew that I had the cutest bicycle stamp from American Crafts. This is from their Peachy Keen collection from 2011! I couldn't find a good purchasing link, but I know that there are bits and pieces in various places. The papers are all retired as well, from the Sidewalks collection from October Afternoon.

 Make sure you come and play with us with our current challenge!!

Products:
Peachy Keen stamp (American Crafts), cardstock (Core'dinations), ribbons, embellishments (Prima) Pin It

June 2016 Projects From the June Gossamer Blue Main Kit

I had to wait a few days to break into my June Main Kit from Gossamer Blue. Summer just started, and we are already having a blast at a our house. The girls and I crafted quite a bit today, and here is what I ended up with!

I loved this Pinkfresh paper. It went perfect with this lovely black and white photograph of the wonderful spot in the painting studio of my alma mater. The flair is from my stash, and the sequins are from an older GB Life Pages kit.

This photo sums up my littlest to a tee. She's funny, she's silly, and she's all mine. I added a little bit of black cardstock and a print and cut file by Simple Stories.

We have spent much of our Spring at some lovely T-Ball games. My little player is fierce, bold, and such a good team player.

I think I craft about this little monster every time I have a set of projects. The past month or so, he has put us through the ringer. A few issues and a few visits to the vet. Thank goodness that's over now. I love all of the pops of black, and the enamel dots.

And of course a few cards. I snagged an older GB Life Pages card, using some Glossy Accents on the balloons for a great birthday card. The other two use another print and cut, this one by Amy Tangerine.

I think I will try to figure out how many extra cards I can make with the little bits and pieces that are leftover from the June Main Kit. I'm guessing about eight more :)

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You Both Mean the World To Me (November Shop Your Stash Kit)

This is just a fun memory of the girls and I going for a cute donut date while Daddy went to a Seahawks game. These two are just too darn cute!

Supplies are all from my November Shop Your Stash Kit!

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Lucky Us Home Decor (Tutorial Linked)

Today on the Authentique Blog, I am sharing a tutorial using the Lucky Collection, my Xyron 9" Creative Station, and Silhouette Cameo. A special shoutout to Michelle Buck for her amazing photography of the girls in 2013.

Make sure that you stop on by the Authentique Blog and check out how to make your own home decor! Pin It

Kid Birthday and Birthday Cards!!

With Littles... You get Little Kid Birthdays, which of course always need cards. Sometimes, I let the munchkins help out, sometimes, they direct what the subject of the card is. Anyway, here are a couple of fun kid-friendly cards. 

The dinos are from a ColorBox set, and of course some Lawn Fawn (Critters Ever After, Say Cheese, Say Cheese Lawn Cuts)

You can't stop smiling when you see these little hearts peeking at you!!

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: A "Radiant" Layout!!!

I share this layout over on the Authentique Paper blog on Tuesday, and hope to send a few of you their way in order to possibly win a couple of sets of Authentique's NEW Authentic Life Cards. They are amazingly fun 3x4", double-sided cards with both journaling areas and fun images and quotes. Lovely little things really. Make sure you stop by this week for some fun! So far, the Authentic Life Cards come in the Harmony, Radiant, Classique: Pretty and Favorite Collections.

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Halloween Parade Layout

This has been kicking around my scraproom since, well, Halloween. I love this picture of all of the children in my kiddos' school... Even though mine aren't even looking at the camera. Hilarity! I used mainly Elle's Studio products, including pieces from their monthly kits and a couple of random pieces of patterned paper.

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Sweet Little Girls and the Smitten Collection

Today this wonderfully sweet layout is being featured on the Authentique Blog. I love the pinks, reds and browns especially in the Smitten Collection by Authentique Paper. I even used a  Kiwi Lane DT Doodles. I love sketches. They take out all of the second guessing, and sometimes, that is exactly what I need. For this layout, I only used one page from the Week 43 Doodle.

Check it out today! And tomorrow I will update you on some CHA news, my One Little Word for this year, and a very brief update on my hiatus from the blog. Not completely intentional :)

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Xyron and Doodlebug Help Celebrate Fall!

I am loving the fall weather. Fall in the Pacific Northwest is usually gorgeous, but this year has been all about rain and thunderstorms. I kind of love it. It was on one of these very days that we took a ferry ride that this adorable photo was taken. I love my little monkeys, and they normally aren't this sweet with one another.

For this layout, I really wanted to play off of the aqua skirt that my oldest was wearing. I used the Happy Harvest Plentiful paper in the background, and die cut a piece of Happy Harvest Sunflowers to base the layout from. I'm a sucker for woodgrain of any kind, and the Happy Harvest Sunflowers paper is a beautiful red.

I used kraft paper to give the photo a little bit of a natural border, then popped that against the opposite side of the Happy Harvest Plentiful paper. The journaling was created by running two die cut pieces of kraft and Happy Harvest Autumn Leaves through my Xyron 9" Creative Station and using a Signo Uniball pen for the journalling.

A sweet banner made from pieces of the Happy Harvest Fancy Frills stickers and Happy Harvest Doodads, along with some burlap alphas finished off this layout.

This little foxy card was so easy to put together using mainly stickers from the Happy Harvest Icon Sticker and Happy Harvest Quotes stickers. I also used a corner punch to add some detail to the Happy Harvest Apple Orchard and Happy Harvest Autumn Leaves papers then ran all of them through the Xyron 9" Creative Station. And the aqua blue makes the orange stand out. LOVE!

I cannot stand to see scraps of paper lying around without a purpose, so created this card using some die cuts that reminded me of Fall using the Happy Harvest papers, Happy Harvest Quotes, Happy Harvest Doodads and Happy Harvest Pumpkin Gingham Washi Tape. I even popped in a little ticket from the Happy Harvest Fancy Frills sticker sheets. The leaf was easy to create, just die cut, then wrinkle it up as much as you can right before gluing it down with Xyron’s Adhesive Solutions 3/16"  Dots. This way, I could get the leaf to look a little more realistic.

Lastly, a sweet little card for a friend who just bought a new house. I loved the Harvest Homes paper, and it will be perfect for moving in the Fall. I didn't want to busy up the streets too much, so added a few simple touches with the Happy Harvest Quotes, Happy Harvest Doodad and Happy Harvest Fancy Frills border sticker.

Thanks for celebrating just a little bit of Fall with me! I hope this inspires you to get some adorable Doodlebug papers and your Xyron products and start creating!

Supplies Used:
Xyron: Xyron MegaRunner, Xyron 9" Creative Station, Xyron Adhesive Solutions 3/16" Dots
Doodlebug: Happy Harvest Collection: Autumn Leaves, Apple Orchard, Plentiful, Sunflowers, Harvest Homes, Icon stickers, Fancy Frills stickers, Quotes stickers, Doodads, Pumpkin Gingham Washi
Other Supplies: twine, dimensional adhesive, cardstock, kraft paper, die cut machine, corner chomper Pin It

AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: A Thrilling Way to Add Interest to Layouts

On the Authentique blog today I show how you can recreate this great layout from the Create-N-Connect/Craft & Hobby Association show. There is a of interest by using almost every pattern in the 6x6 pad, and this is an easy way to use them all at the same time. Check it out!

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Happy Birthday ScrapbookSteals! It's a July Blog Hop

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCRAPBOOKSTEALS! I seriously love both the Steals Network, and the community that they have built. I consider many of the ladies that I met through ScrapbookSteals as some of my absolute closest friends. When Melodee asked if I would help to celebrate ScrapbookSteal's 4th birthday, I jumped at the chance.

You should be here from Cyndee's blog. I love her work.

If you want to start from the beginning:
ScrapbookSteals: http://scrapbook.steals.com/wp/?p=18660
Cathy Caines: www.inthecatcave.com
Cristine Redmond: http://onescrappynovice.blogspot.com
Venetia Holbrook: www.atomicvenetia.blogspot.com
Cyndee Kawa: http://scrappydaylily.blogspot.com
Heather Conklin: http://goldiecar.blogspot.com   (You are HERE!)
Van Nguyen: http://likethecar.blogspot.com
Staci Jones: http://scrapbookingischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com
Charissa Miller: http://www.akihasmommascraps.com
Brenda Smith: http://theimperfectscrapper.blogspot.com
Erin Colby: http://oursliceofcheese.blogspot.com
Erica Bass: http://stampingstarlette.blogspot.com
Kristy Lee: http://lifescrapped.blogspot.com

Challenge #1: Use 4 types of products
For this challenge, I used patterned paper, stickers, Elle's Studio tags and flair. I LOVE Sanuks, and have too many pairs!! They are super comfy.


Challenge #2: 2009
I found a photo that was taken just a few months after Miss I was born. It was a rough time. Babies are a whole lot of work, and I know that we had idealized what real life with babies was all about. And now she's four and has a little sister. A lot has happened in four years.

Challenge #3: Favorite Vendor
I chose to spotlight this fantastic photo of my oldest with some of my lovely SS purchases. I chose to use the now defunct (BOO!) Sassafras Lass. My first "real" purchase of scrapbook paper was Sass, so I knew that it would be a personal thing for me to include the company that got me out of the Target scrap aisle and using really quality products, alongside the wonderful company that helped me to develop into the crafter I am today. 

Challenge #4: Washi Fever
I had this cute little notebook lying around, that I wanted to spruce up. What's better than to decorate it with a little bit of washi. 

If you leave a comment on how you follow my blog. Email, Twitter, Bloglovin', Feedly, or Google Friend Connect, I will put you in a drawing for a 6x6 card kit that I will be making this weekend. I usually combine 15 or so papers, with stickers, wood veneers, ribbon and other embellishments. All in matching color combos, so it's easy to mix and match. You can even choose the color or color combo that you would like it to be, just make sure you note it on your comment!

Leave a comment by Midnight, Wednesday (July 17th) for the card kit. Check back to see if you are a winner!! And make sure that you link up your projects to the ScrapbookSteals blog by the same time for some great prizes from the Steals Network!!

Now, head onto one of my favorite people ever: Van Nguyen!! Pin It

AUTHENTIQUE: Be(You)tiful Baby!!

Make sure you check out today's Authentique blog post. My wonderful layout using Misty's enamel dot remix is located there today!!

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Ro's Birthday: Pretty Little Studio Sketches

I finally found them! I had purchased a set of the Word Flashcards forever ago (when we lived in our last house...) and promptly lost them in the sea of randomness that is my craft room. I searched, and searched and FOUND THEM!! Woot!!

So, here is this week's fabulous Pretty Little Studio sketch. I even got my pics for it this week!! I used a piece of woodgrain Crate Paper that I've been hoarding saving. Seriously though, this IS my favorite woodgrain so far. I also am trying to use up some of the more theme-based papers that I have and used my October Afternoon Cakewalk paper set that I got from Scrapbooksteals.com awhile ago.

I loved how I could use all of those patterned papers, and not have it be too busy. Isn't she just a funny monkey? Love that little scrunchy face. It's her happy face!

This is the Pretty Little Studio sketch from last week. I had it all completed and sitting on my craft table... yet hadn't stopped by Costco to snag the pics. Oh well. It's another cute layout for Ro's book. I used all Cakewalk papers, then used a Distress Ink to antique them a little further.

I loved the Silhouette cutouts. Although I found out that vellum is harder to cut on a large scale than I thought. I tried to make a Birthday cut, but It kept ripping. I kind of hid the crunched part with a button.

You can't tell all that much, right?

Supplies Used:
October Afternoon papers, Word Stickers, Sticky Keys, Little Flyers, buttons, Tidbits
Pretty Little Studio Word Flashcards, Distress Ink, Crate Paper woodgrain paper, Heidi Swapp Gold Shine, Silhouette cuts: birthday, chevrons, life cards, circle hearts Pin It

A Daddy's Love (ScrapbookSteals' MWM Peridot 8)

I love sketches. And I love Elle's Studio. Combining the two was pretty fun. I even broke out part of my Gossamer Blue March kit and one of my sacred (okay... I'm trying to use my Sass stash more!) Sassafras Lass Starters papers as my background paper. There's even a tiny bit of plain paper in there. And slightly hidden journaling behind the Elle's vellum heart paper from the May 2013 kit.

If you would like to play along (and I suggest that you do!!) Here is the linked sketch.

Supplies Used: 
Elle's Studio: Day To Day Paper, Good Morning, Lil' Snippets (Day to Day & Days of the Week), Serendipity Tiny Tags, You and Me Note Tags, June 2013 & May 2013 kits.


Other Supplies: MME enamel dots, Sassafras Lass Starters, Studio Calico heart, Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine, AC cardstock, MME patterned paper, LillyBee alphabet stickers Pin It

Scrapbook Steals DIY Thickers Blog Hop!!

Hello fellow Scrapbooksteals.com fans!! Today we are featuring American Crafts' DIY Thickers. You can either read ahead, or start from the beginning! I know that there is both a prize from Scrapbooksteals, and many of the blog hop participants (including me!!), so you will want to stop by each blog!

Here is the Blog Hop order:

1. ScrapbookSteals Blog
2. Lanette Erickson - Stacks of Scraps  
3. Teresa Fenstermacher - Teresa Jaye Is Here to Play 
4. Candace Zentner - Scrappin 2 Little Princesses  
5. Misty Buck - Lil Buck's Creations   
6. Jennifer McDermott - Wonky Wares  
7. Brenda Smith - The Imperfect Scrapper  
8. Heather Conklin - Goldiecar Designs <-------you are="" font="" here="">

For my first project, I created a layout using mostly products from American Crafts' lines. Mostly this is from the Maggie Holmes Crate Paper line, with a little bit of Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine tossed in for good measure. I hand cut the clouds, then used a water soluble marker to add some blue detail on the white cardstock. 

The fantastic DIY Thickers that you see are two sets: Poolside and Shoebox. For the Poolside DIY Thickers, I used a fine pink glitter from Hampton Arts. On the Shoebox DIY Thickers, I used Hampton Arts flocking. I really loved how both of these Thickers turned out.

I did find that the glitter did come off a little bit, but I used some Blick Matte Fixative that I have for charcoal drawings. Hairspray would also do the trick!!

Aren't those just too cute?!?!?!

I really like how that flocked set looks like grass. And just in case you want to play along, I made a sketch for my layout. Feel free to take it and use it! Let me know what you create with it.

My second project used a different kind of glitter, thick, chunky glitter! There is a trick to this one too! I covered the entire DIY Thicker first in Stephanie Barnard glitter, then in Glossy Accents. The Glossy Accents made the glitter on the Thickers stay put. I needed a card for one of my seniors this year, and I knew that pink was not his favorite color, so I kept with the white glitter.

The DIY Thickers were so changeable, I was able to make three variations. And this is only the beginning!! I know that I will grab these sets and play more this summer!

Now for the fun part: PRIZES!! I love followers, and I know that Google Reader is going away soon... I have two ways for you to stay in touch. Become one of my Blog Followers, and/or also follow me on Twitter (@goldiecar). You can do one or both (comment once for each) to be put into the drawing for this set of a Crate Paper Pier 6x6 pad, and 15 (I know it says 33... misprint) cardstock stickers from their Darling Dear line. They are both perfect for summer cards or Project Life! 

Just make your comment, then fill in the Rafflecopter information! So much fun!! I will notify the winner on Monday morning!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Sisters: And Best Friends... MWM: Amber 6

I love my little monkeys. They really are pretty darn funny. This was created before my computer went all wonky... Hence the Silhouette file. I actually used an older Gossamer Blue kit (August '12) for this layout. I really liked all of the yellow that was in this kit. Yellow isn't a normal color that I go to, but because it was tempered with aqua and pink... It was perfect.

For this layout, I used the Amber 6 MWM from Scrapbook Steals as my sketch. Rather than the separate photos, I combined them into a collage. I really liked using the three photos. So cute!! Pin It

It's a Good Day (GB February)

The only problem (and it really isn't a problem!!) with using a kit service, is you do run out of full 12x12 sheets. My solution, (OH DARN!) is to go into my extensive stash and find something that both works with the kit, and the photo. In this case, I went searching through my Sassafras Lass papers. I found this great sheet of Simply Smitten, and checked the back for the most fantastic matching page. It even has journaling lines!!

I even was able to use up almost all of the Amy Tangerine letters that I got earlier! I love when a title makes me use a bunch of otherwise wasted letters.

What isn't shown, is the little kraft envelope behind the photo is actually filled with another photograph taken about seven months after the main image. It's of the two girls laying together on the bed. My hope for the two girls to get along is so far happening. I couldn't be happier! Pin It

Could You Be Any Cuter?? (GB February)

I just loved making this layout. Seriously... It just came together wonderfully. I really enjoyed seeing the pinks and greys that were in February's Gossamer Blue box. The Pink Paislee flowered paper, against the Carta Bella So Loved paper was just too perfect. I added a Silhouette sentiment, an October Afternoon tag that had been lying around from the Cakewalk collection and OA sprinkles, and some AC washi tape from Dear Lizzy and Dear Lizzy Christmas.

Lastly, a couple of Basic Grey embellishments to finish it off. Such a sweet little layout of my cutest 8 month old.

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Gossamer Blue Guest Design Challenge with My Mind's Eye

It's no secret that I love my monthly dose of Gossamer Blue. If I wasn't at work when the postman came, I think I would probably start stalking him about the time my GB box was to arrive. This last month, GB had a challenge for a Guest Design spot featuring My Mind's Eye products. Just another reason to go and snag some more of their enamel dots!!

For this layout, I combined quite a few new and older lines together. Stella & Rose, Alphabet Soup, Collectible and The Sweetest Thing with a little bit of twine and white cardstock. Seriously though... I love those enamel dots!! Pin It

AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Beautiful Decor with Renew

Check out my fantastic decor item using the Renew Collection. There are even a few tips and tricks for creating fantastic decor items.

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