May Arts, Simple Stories, & Xyron Blog Hop!

Welcome to the May Arts Ribbon, Simple Stories. & Xyron blog hop! 

For my project, I wanted to display a couple of photos from my trip to the Outer Banks, NC last year. We go every year, but I had a couple of really great photos that I took over the 4th of July. The Simple Stories "Sea to Shining Sea" collection was PERFECT for this project!

I started by printing some photos from my trip and finding the perfect chipboard banner to do the job.

I used my Xyron Mega Runner to adhere the paper to the chipboard.

I took this photo at the Cape Hatteras light house... that was before I decided to go up in the lighthouse, that's a once in a lifetime kind of thing ;-)

This was one of my favorite photos, we found a little beach that was pretty private and spent most of our days there. Very serene. 

This is the same beach in the photo above. We actually spent the 4th of July there relaxing and my husband fished a little. I love embellishing with the stickers from this collection kit.

I chose to display this banner in my hallway over my "beach" shrine. It's the perfect finishing touch!

I LOVE making banners for the sheer fact that I can make them shine with some lovely May Arts Ribbon. The anchor ribbon is one of my faves and I couldn't wait to use it on this project! 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Hop on over and visit my fellow ribbonistas today! 

Jen Shears

Gini Williams Cagle

Be sure to visit the Xyron and Simple Stories blogs as well this week! We have  3 sets of prize packs of - a Good Day Sunshine Kit, a spool of ribbon (winners choice), and a 2.5" create a sticker to give away! 

Products Used:

May Arts Ribbon- 424-18-14, 455-38-03, 419-03, SM-14, DD-8-14, 376-1-01, 392-58-14

Simple Stories- Sea to Shining Sea Simple Sets Collection

Xyron- Mega Runner
Petaloo- Flowers

Leaky Shed Studio- Chipboard Banner

CHA Summer 2012 Re-Cap!

Ok, so maybe I'm the last person on the planet to re-cap my trip to Chicago last month for Summer CHA 2012. Better late than never, right? 

My trip to CHA started out a little rocky... I missed my 6:40am flight to Chicago... I got to the gate as the plane was taking off. Totally my fault. I will blame it on my husband but shh... it wasn't his fault. I thought I had plenty of time to stop and use the ladies room to freshen up then grab some Starbucks! Note to self: don't ever schedule a flight before 8am. Anytime before that, I will not be functioning properly. Luckily, I was able to catch the next flight. 

When I landed in Chicago, my FABULOUS friend Sue (from itsalwaysfabulous) picked me up. We had a little morning shopping trip to Target, then went to get pampered. 

Yep, I got my nails did for the occasion (this is a rare thing people)... and a pedicure to match!

On Monday morning we each had a few classes, and since I had an exhibitor pass, I was able to get on the floor to help with set up... except my people were not early risers like me!

It was like a ghost town up in here!

Once everyone arrived, we were able to get things all set up and pretty in the Authentique booth. Ready for the show to begin! 

I decided to walk the floor and meet people ... and hand out my brand spankin' new business cards that make me look all professional!

and I also decided along the way to make some cool stuff...

Silhouette had a really cool make & take to make this little messenger bag using their iron on transfer sheets. I must get some of this stuff! Really cool!

There was a huge display of pretty dresses. Being a child of the 80's, this one was my fave! I could totally see Madonna wearing this 25 years ago!

I saw a crowd so I thought I'd see what important person was having a demo... it was Dyan Reaveley showing off her Dylusions mists for Ranger. Very cool stuff! 

I love her style! 

I really didn't take a ton of pictures. I think I got so caught up in everything (since this was my first show) that I forgot to grab my camera and snap some shots! 

But... I did meet some very cool people! And I got pics with them!!!

I ♥ this girl... if you don't recognize her pretty face, it's Samantha Wheatley from Authentique Paper! AKA My boss! 

Then I happened to run into my Sweet Stamp Shop Design Team Sister Laurel Beard! 

Of coarse I met Thienly from Mod Paperie! She's awesome I am glad we finally got to meet!

Last but not least.... You all have your photos with Tim Holtz... well... I skipped that photo op... instead... I have mine with...

John from Imagine Crafts! :-) I learned a lot at CHA from watching John's demos! I'm excited to use my inks now that I know HOW to use them!

That's it from me today! Have a great weekend! 

Beach Party Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Beach Party Blog Hop! We are having this hop to kick off the Summer and share with you some fun Beach themed projects! If you've arrived here from Erika's Blog, you're on the right track! If you are just stopping by my blog today and would like to see all of the fabulous projects in this hop, please start at the beginning on Abby's Blog. This is a 2 day hop, so if you don't make it all the way through the hop today, make sure you come back tomorrow to finish hopping! Abby is offering up lots of blog candy for those who hop through and leave comments on every blog!

For those of you who know me, you know that the beach is my favorite place on earth! I could live there! This past September, my husband and I too the kids to the Outer Banks, North Carolina and had a honeymoon BEFORE our Beach wedding. I know, sounds odd, but we had the week prior to the wedding off of work, so we decided to take a little vacation. I love North Carolina, but had never been to the Outer Banks prior to this trip. Wow. What a beautiful vacation spot! No wonder it is a tourist hot spot! We were there the week after Labor Day, so most tourists had cleared out and it was pretty nice. There was always something fun to take the kids to do there, and my favorite part was being woke up by the sunrise over the ocean every morning shining in my window.

While we were there, I went to a little Beach Memories scrapbook store and found some great papers and embellishments. Finally, I had the perfect project for them! So for today's project, I decided to make one of my cascading paper bag albums, but I wanted to do one for myself with my own photos. I rarely scrap my own photos, but this strip was very special to me, so this hop was the perfect excuse for me to scrap my trip :-)

I had to hold the album to get a good photo because it kept popping open. I tend to load my albums with embellishments most of the time!

Brandon bought a boogie board and had a lot of fun "catching waves." This was the first time that the kids had seen the ocean and they were simply amazed!

I also added little pull out tabs so I could fit a few more photos in my album. This photo is of my daughter Reagan getting her first glance at the ocean. She just kept staring. I'd say it would be something quite amazing for a 3 year old to see for the first time!

We took a trip down to Okracoke Island, which is about a 60 mile drive but takes several hours to get there because there is only 1 road that runs through the Outer Banks and also, you have to take a ferry ride to get down to the island. On the left is us on the ferry, and the right photo is Reagan and I playing on the beach at Ocracoke Island.

The kids had a lot of fun playing in the ocean and looking for seashells.

And there is the beautiful sunrise that I was talking about earlier! See why it's my favorite part?

And here are the kids playing in the ocean at Okracoke Island. As you can see, they are having a blast!

And after a whole week in the Outer Banks... we drove down to Sunset Beach, NC and got married :-)

So... to say that I love the beach is just an understatement :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm glad that I got to share some of my own personal scrapbooking with you all today!

I don't have any blog candy to offer here on my blog today, but make sure you check out all of the blogs and leave comments because Abby has some candy for some lucky winners who hop with us!

Also, if you are looking for some steals and deals, I am having a moving sale (yes, I am sadly moving next week and need to downsize on my inventory) in my etsy shop! Just enter code MOVING20 at checkout to receive 20% off your entire purchase!

Now hop along and see what Christine has in store for you today!

And if you need the whole lineup, here it is:
Abby http://www.scrapbookaholicbyabby.com
Sandra http://365daysofcricut.blogspot.com
Pammejo http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com
Michelle http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com/
Meighen http://scrappin3rdeeschik.blogspot.com
Maria Elena http://mariaelenaworld.blogspot.com/
Liz http://www.lizspaperloft.com/
Kristin http://pinkldycrafter.blogspot.com
Kim http://rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/
Karla http://kalittlescrapcorner.blogspot.com
Gaby http://www.gabycreates.com/
Erin http://www.erinleecreative.com/
Erika http://cricutlove1.blogspot.com
Emily http://www.createserendipity.net/
Christine http://scrapbookingtechnique.blogspot.com
Celeste L http://touchedbyabutterfly.blogspot.com
Celeste B http://ccscards.blogspot.com
Carley http://the-real-icarley.blogspot.com
Candace http://papercraftsbycandace.blogspot.com/
Angelica http://www.handmadebyangelica.com/
Amber http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com
Ashley http://myscrappinpalace.blogspot.com
Alina http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com

I'd Rather Be At The Beach Blog Hop!

Welcome to the "I'd Rather Be At The Beach" Blog Hop. This blog hop runs from May 18-22. We’ve had so much fun creating this hop, and we have a wonderful line up with some oh-so-talented crafters. You will find loads of projects with a beachy theme throughout this hop! If you love the beach as much as I do, then you won't want to miss this one! We have LOTS of blog candy to offer! Please check back daily for your chance to win!

REMEMBER, you MUST hop through the entire hop and comment on each blog to be eligible for any blog candy throughout this hop! There are lots of beautiful projects and lots of great blog candy, so by hopping along each day I can assure you that you will not be disappointed! :)

Here's the lineup:
Emily: http://www.createserendipity.net
Dawn: http://dawnsdesignsthatdelight.blogspot.com/
Tricia: http://lshdesigns.blogspot.com/
Margaret: http://auntmargaretdesigns.blogspot.com/
Janet: http://www.createatdreamscrapbooks.blogspot.com/
Lisa: http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
Theresa: http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com
Lisa: http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/
Elsa: http://justafewdesigns.blogspot.com/
Martha: http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/
Dana: http://danascraftycorner.blogspot.com/
April: http://www.curlsngrins.blogspot.com/
Kim: http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/
Gill: http://www.creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/
Jackie: http://jackrabbitscrappin.blogspot.com/

Now for my project for today! I was very excited when I got a custom order for a beach themed album about a month ago. Beccy wanted a Beach themed chipboard album to send to her family in Germany who came for a visit. She also wanted a page that was asian themed because they visited an asian garden. So I took her suggestions and this is what I came up with...

Now for today's blog candy!

Kimberly from My Craft Spot has offered some of her lovely crinkled hand dyed ribbons in these beautiful beachy colors!

To win all you have to do is:
1. Stop by Kimberly's blog here: http://craftspotbykimberly.blogspot.com/ and make sure you follow her blog!
2. Become a follower of my blog if you aren't already
3. Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you stopped by and became a follower of my blog as well as Kimberly's

Thanks so much for stopping by! Check back daily for more projects & prizes! Make sure you hop along and see what Dawn has in store for today!

I've been Workin' Hard (or hardly workin!)

This week, I decided to actually scrap some of my own photos! Since I rarely do that, I thought it might be fun! I actually had fun doing it and I think the layouts turned out quite nice! I used some sketches from Page Maps for ideass, they helped me out a lot!


This is a 2 page layout to add to my cruise album. It's several photos from the shore excursion we took to a private island when we were in the Bahamas.


I bought this cute paper a few weeks ago and I HAD to use it with this picture of Reagan from her first Halloween. I never thought that pink & red would go good together, but those are the colors in the paper and I think it turned out quite nice!

This is my first time ever scanning in layouts. I had a bit of a problem with the colors/shadows. I figured out how to stitch them in photoshop, but when adjusting the colors, that was the tricky part! I don't know how much I like scanning them, though you can see them in a little more detail, you can't see all of the pretty glitter on both pages! They are much prettier in person!

Back Home & Still in Vacation Mode!

Hello everyone! I just have to say, I had the best time on my cruise! I had so much fun that I have already booked for The Rock Boat X which will be next year (Jan 7-11, 2010) from Tampa to Cozumel. I'm pretty excited!!! The picture above is of the ship that I was just on, The Carnival Destiny.

Here are a few highlights of my trip!


On the way down we stopped at Disney world (yes, we drove from Ohio.... not doing that again!).


I rode a carousel, it kinda made me feel like a kid again!


This is a pic of Miami from the boat. Isn't it beautiful?


Amanda & Me during the lifeboat drill. Thank God we didn't go down! I couldn't stand another minute in that life vest!!!


This is a view of the Lido deck on the Carnival Desitiny.


The atrium on the ship.


We went to the Lido deck at sundown to watch Tonic preform.


Our first stop was at Nassau in The Bahamas. Some friends and I decided to do a shore excursion that took us to a little private island. It was so nice I didn't want to leave!!!


The Bahamas was nice... and warm!


Look who I ran into in The Bahamas! It's the middle Hanson brother, Taylor!


Amanda and I enjoying the Graham Colton show in the Palladium.


I found a new drink that I love! It's called an ultimate sunrise... I had "4 or 3 of them"... well that's what I thought... turns out I had 8! So THAT'S why my friends wouldn't let me sing karaoke! lol


We didn't get to land in Half Moon Cay because of the weather... so we walked around and found stuff to do. This is me in the atrium.


I even got to watch the innaguration while laying out!


This is us before we got off the boat. We were incredibly tired!

In the end, this trip was so much fun and I hated to leave! On the way home we ran out of gas on the loooong Florida Turnpike which made our drive home take even longer! Next year we are flying for sure!!!