The One with April 2013 American Crafts Layouts


Monday, April 29, 2013

Here are my two monthly layouts for American Crafts!
2 1/2

Journaling says: This boy is ALL boy. He loves cars, planes, trains, bugs, sharks, dinosaurs, dragons, robots, and pretty much anything and everything ever associated with boys! He loves Mulan, Aladdin, Curious George, A Bug's Life, Shrek, Cars, and Beauty and the Beast. He's a good talker and can get his point across. He will copy whatever we say, so we have to be careful! He's my little sidekick. He loves signing, bubbles, coloring, and his family!

How to: Adhere a piece of striped paper with torn top and bottom edges to the right half of a concrete gray paper background. Trim the days-of-the-week tab from a patterned paper sheet and adhere it along the right edge. Cut squares and rectangles from an assortment of 6x6 patterned paper pads and adhere them over the striped paper block, using dimensional adhesive for the top layers. Add a few buttons and a fabric brad to the mix. Place a large photo and three smaller photos on the left half of the layout. Write journaling with a black pen and stitch a number using a template on the large photo. Finish the title with a chipboard fraction circle. Embellish around the small photos with shaped paper clips, a stamped grid design, and brads. Drop black India ink and white spray mist across the layout.

Supplies: Patterned paper, brads (epoxy, fabric), buttons, shaped paper clips (airplane, dog), arrow sticker, chipboard (fraction circle, sentiment label), stitching template, stamps (date, grid square), pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Floss: DMC; Spray mist: Studio Calico; India ink: ProArt; Ink: StazOn
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FIRST EASTER EGG HUNT

Journaling says: Your first Easter egg hunt was at Eddie Park with all the other South Pasadena Ward mommies and kiddies. Of course since you're a baby and teething anything we give you goes straight into your mouth - Easter eggs are no exception! In just a couple years you'll be a pro at finding hidden eggs to go in your basket!

Note: I was inspired by fellow American Crafts Design Team member and Garden Girl Corrie Jones for this layout!

How to: Adhere strips of patterned paper and patterned vellum, some with punched or decoratively trimmed edges, at an angle across the left half of a pink mini triangle paper background. Trim around heart/butterfly confetti pieces and add them to the strips. Die cut a large egg from scrap cardstock, place it over the strips, then carefully cut around it using an exacto knife. Remove the egg and back the empty space with mint green striped paper. Sew a double border around the egg. Place a die cut arrow card on the egg, top it with two photos, and write journaling around the edge with a blue marker. Embellish the layout further with acrylic flowers, a button, epoxy brad, ribbon, lace trim, and rub ons as shown. Make a title on the bottom right side using a journaling pennant sticker, mini alphabet stickers, and Thickers. Stamp the date below using the blue pen as ink. Drop gold spray mist across the top left and bottom right corners.

Supplies: Patterned paper, patterned vellum, epoxy brad, badge, button, acrylic flowers, stickers (journaling pennant, letters, mini alphabet), bow, ribbon, lace trim, die cut card, rub ons (chevron border, couds), pen, date stamp, adhesive: American Crafts; Spray mist: Studio Calico; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Die cut machine (Cameo), egg die cut (Silhouette): QuicKutz; Punches: American Crafts (border), EK Success (borders), Fiskars (border), Martha Stewart Crafts (butterflies, doily border, heart confetti); Decorative scissors: Provo Craft
 That's all for now!

The One with Jane at 9 Months


Sunday, April 28, 2013

Little Miss Jane is 9 months new today!
Here are her done-at-home stats: 
Length: 29" (75-90%) 
 Weight: 20 pounds 2 ounces (50-75%) 
 Head circumference: 18.25" (90-95%)

I took her outside this morning to do her monthly photoshoot during what was supposed to be her morning nap, and as you can see, she wasn't having it... so she took a nap and we came back outside later.
 A much happier baby! Ready for the spotlight!
If this isn't the sweetest brother/sister picture, I don't know what is! Jane is so enamored with Fox. She misses him when he takes a nap and lights up like firefly the instant he wakes up. She wants to be where he is and doing what he's doing and playing with whatever he's playing with.
Jane is officially weaned and drinks about four 4 ounce formula bottles a day. She doesn't really hold her own bottle, only for a few moments.

She's at that wiggly, always has to be entertained stage. She's distracted by everything, as seen below.

She's kind of a big fat wimp and has the sweetest, saddest sad face on earth. Sometimes I just want to let her cry because it's the cutest little face she makes.
I got Jane to laugh super hard one day by bouncing a ball. Enjoy:

Her bottom two teeth have appeared! She got a fever and runny nose the night they popped through her gums. I'm sure she's excited to start getting more variety to her diet - she could still eat all day if we let her!

She's on the verge of crawling - I bet by next month she'll be a pro. She's still refusing to use her legs. Hmmm. Not sure what to do about that, but I'm not worrying. I'm sure she'll figure everything out eventually!

She loves "rough housing" with Chris and being held over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and being thrown in the air. She mimics sounds we make and is clapping her hands on command.

And, most importantly, her daily routine!
6:30am - wake up and eat breakfast of some sort of mashed fruit and finger foods
 8:30 - 10:30am - nap in her crib (she's been sleeping better through loud noises, awesomesauce)
10am - play!
12:00pm - lunch of some mashed veggie or fruit and finger foods
1:00 - 3:30pm - nap. For this nap we put her on our bed because Fox takes a nap in his crib at 1pm and it's just easier if they're separated
 3:30pm - play
5:00pm - dinner of mashed something and finger foods
6:30pm - bedtime routine: bath, fall asleep in my arms drinking a formula bottle.
7:00pm - asleep for the night in her crib
5:00am - she wakes up and I rock her back to sleep
6:30am - repeat
She's only waking up once a night! HOORAY!!!! That was a long time coming! She doesn't even eat that one time she wakes up so soon enough she'll be sleeping straight through the night. Goodness knows I'm need of a good night's sleep! 

And that's little miss Jane in a nutshell at 9 months! Love you sweet girl!

The One with Cray Cray


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Things have been super duper pooper scooper cray cray busy lately. 
Hence the lack of daily blogging. 
Here is a little bit of what has been weighing heavy on my mind and heart:

We're probably not moving to Schweinfurt anymore. I'm not even going to begin to try to explain the rigamaroo that's been going on just trying to get someone to help us out, but we're still hoping to get sent somewhere in Bavaria, Germany. I thought published orders were set it stone, but the people in Schweinfurt don't want us. I guess they just didn't want to send us to a station that is closing down, so hopefully it'll be a blessing in disguise and we'll get to go somewhere for the entire 4 years. It's just hard to plan things when we don't know where we're going. Le sigh.

I found a home for my precious chinchilla. 
I had her for over seven years and was bawling like a baby when I handed her over. It's really really hard for me to say goodbye to pets. Now we just have a dog and cat, like normal people. I miss my menagerie.

Chris is in the middle of his last big final test EVER - the dreaded WREBS (Western Regional Exam Boards). If he doesn't pass this he can't get his license, if he doesn't get his license, we can't go to Germany. No big deal or anything.... Today was the first day and the morning was a mess, but it all worked out in the end. Tomorrow *should* be the last day, possibly Monday, but then he's free as a bird and hopefully we can cross off the last of our bucketlist items and go to Disneyland a dozen more times before May 25th.

I've been spending less time at my computer and more time being present, exercising, and eating right. I'm finally back on "operation weight loss" and since the day before Easter I've lost over 7 pounds and am feeling great. 3 pounds to go before I'm pre-Jane weight, 13 pounds before I'm pre-Fox weight! Baby steps!

I'm trying (key word: trying) to scrap 3 month's worth of assignments over the next couple of weeks because the next three months are going to be, well, cray cray :) Aaaand I need to prep 60+ pages for the last three events I'll be working. I'm sooooo excited to be able to go to three more events before we move - they've been one of my most favorite things about living here, thanks to Amy!
I've made about 10 layouts and 2 cards for assignments so far, some of which I can start sharing next week.

Plus, Jane has been teething.
And Fox is a wild and crazy two and a half year old.

Welcome to real life!

The One with the Folded Circles Tutorial


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

 For the March Garden Girl Gallery the theme was SHAPE UP YOUR SCRAPBOOKING and I had so much fun turning the most simple of shapes - the circle - into a fun and detailed focal point on my layout!
Here's how they came to be:
1) Gather your supplies: I chose the My Girl line by American Crafts, a 2 1/8" circle punch, and a ruler that is about 1" wide.
 2) Start punching circles from the patterned paper. It definitely helps to have double-sided papers because both sides will be seen!
 3) Admire your collection of circles!
 4) Take a ruler that is about 1" wide and place it in the center of a circle. Bend up the exposed sides of the circle over the ruler. Remove the ruler then press and crease the folded edges. You can either glue the edges down, stitch them down, or leave them popped up a bit for dimension!
5) Line up the pieces side-by-side in a row.
6) For the next row, tuck the pieces over then under (then repeat) the bottom edge of the first row.
 7) Now you've made a happy and fun border for your layouts, cards, and projects!
 If you get a chance to make a project using this circles technique, I'd love to see!

The One with Allie and Tate's Las Vegas Reception


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Continuing on... the reason we drove to Las Vegas last weekend was to go to Allie and Tate's wedding reception (part II!). We woke up pretty early and were on the road by 8am. The hills in California are pretty and green.
Fox pondering the meaning of life.
Vegas, baby!

Like I said in previous posts, we met my parents at the Pawn Stars pawn shop, then we did a session at the Las Vegas Temple, then we checked into the hotel, and then we went to the reception at Tate's parent's house. This awesome vintage car was parked out front for a photo-op.
We obliged. Well. As best we could in the lovely sunshine :)
There's a pool in the backyard and I thought for sure Fox was going to fall in at some point. But he didn't!

Just the girls!
The pretty bride.
Yummy yummy get in my tummy!
I had my very first macaroon - vanilla flavored. It was daaaang good.
Fox had his first macaroon too. He was equally impressed.
Pick a root beer, any root beer! I chose an IBC one and my family wouldn't let me live it down.
Reception details.
Allie cheatin' on her hubby :)
Fox and Jane were falling apart by 8:15pm so we had to leave. It was so hard to say goodbye to Allie. We hugged and cried. I don't know when I'm going to see her again, and that makes me so sad. It's the law of the jungle I guess.
Love you so much Allie, welcome to the family Tate! Come visit us soon!

The One with the 2Peas Gardeners' Digest April 2013 Blog Hop


Monday, April 22, 2013

It's the 22nd of the month which means it's time for another 2Peas Gardeners' Digest - a monthly blog hop hosted by the 2Peas Garden Girls! Below you will find a sneak of one of my upcoming layouts for the 2Peas Project Gallery, a couple of projects from a scrapbooker that inspires me, a list of 5 items that I've placed in my shopping cart, and a giveaway!

Here is a little sneak of the photo-themed layout that I created for the May 1st Garden debut. Check out the rest of my Garden Girl creations HERE.
Is it May 1st yet??? I want to show the entire thing!
Angie Gutshall is a stay at home mom of 4 with another on the way! In between mommy-ing she is an amazing scrapbooker and I love working with her on the American Crafts Design Team. Here are a few of her projects that have inspired me that she uploaded to the 2Peas Gallery:
I love these "ALTERED ONESIES" that she stitched with the new Amy Tangerine Embroidery Stencil Kits. They'll be perfect for her new bundle of joy!
On this "OH HOW I LOVE YOU" layout, I love how she toned down the background with some white paint and added both masculine and feminine details to go along with pictures of her sons and daughters. Flowers, buttons, and hearts for the girls; metal badges, wooden elements, and arrows for the boys.
Be sure to check out more of Angie's projects on her blog and her 2Peas Gallery.
Glitter Tape by American Crafts - I actually just got this set in the mail and have a fun layout in the works for National Scrapbook Day on May 4th (YES - there is such a holiday!)
I can always use a good ol' collection pack in my life! Enter Party Day by Crate Paper! With 18 double-sided papers, die cuts, border stickers, and phrase stickers, this pack comes with everything you'll need to make a whole bunch of layouts, cards, and projects - all guaranteed to look great because everything matches!
Confession: I'm not the biggest stamper in the world, but this stamp set from the Kate & Co. line by My Mind's Eye just might turn me into one!
These wooden stickpins from the Fern & Forest line by Little Yellow Bicycle would make any little boy layout, especially ones about Fox :), complete!
And last but certainly not least, these Camera Paper Clips by Freckled Fawn are just begging to be scrapped!
If only money grew on trees ;)

I've got a giveaway to go along with this post! I don't have any scrapbooking supplies leftover because of the epic purge, but I do have the PaigeBook Daybook that I made for the Amy Tan Signature Series Idea Book up for grabs!
 I made this book from scratch using wooden boards as the covers and embellished the front with supplies from the Ready Set Go line from Amy Tangerine by American Crafts. I stuck them on with major super glue to ensure they'll stay put forever and a day.
 All of the papers are from a mix of Amy Tangerine lines as well as some matching cardstock.
 I bound it with a copic style binding so it lays nice and flat when opened and used green embroidery floss for a punch of color to sew it together.
 I incorporated charms, knick-knacks, doodads, and Ready Set Go matte puffy stickers turned into charms into the binding. Too much fun.
I have a tendency to make books and not fill them up with anything, so perhaps the winner can use this book as a form of "project life" or make your own version of a "smash" book.
To enter this PaigeBook Daybook giveaway, leave a comment on this post by Monday April 29th 2013 letting me know how you know me :) Easy as pie! I'll announce the winner that same day!

Next on the hop: Julie Campbell!
Paige Taylor Evans © // Quinn Creatives DESIGN