A "Glory-ous" Father's Day

Father's Day hasn't always been an easy holiday for me to celebrate growing up. My dad was never in the picture. So today, I give praise to my mom, who not only played the role of a mother, but she also acted as a father to her 3 children. 

Even though my dad was never in the picture, there has been one man who has been a constant in my life, my grandpa. He is one of the kindest, wisest men I know. While everyone else was always out there celebrating Father's Day, I always dedicated this day to spending it with my grandpa. 

This is a very old photo of my "Papaw" when he was in the service. It's just a copy, I had inked it up a little as I used this photo for a printmaking project in college. I couldn't find the original, or my prints that I made, so this is all I had to post today. 

Not only did my papaw act as a husband, father, grandfather,  to our family, he also served for our country. I wanted to tie that in with my project for today...

I made a banner using Authentique's "Glory" collection. This line incorporates nostalgia and tradition and is great for projects celebrating not only our patriotic holidays, but a wonderful way to showcase photos of loved ones who served for our country. 

Here's a few close ups of my banner...

Make sure you stop by the Really Reasonable Blog and play along with our Red, White, & Blue challenge! 

Happy Father's Day to all of those Dad's & Grandpa's out there! 

Authentique Paper June Inspiration Color Challenge!

I woke up this morning and thought Wow... is it Saturday? Already? The weeks sure seem to fly by fast! Luckily, today you are in for a treat!

Do you play along with the challenges on the Authentique Paper Blog? If so, you might remember that we had a "Color Challenge" last year, right? We did away with it because of the lack of participation, but decided to bring it back with a "Fresh" new look!



I designed the color storyboard, so I'm a little fond of it ♥. We wanted to give you a series of colors as well as some inspiration photos to get your creativity flowing! I really have always been a fan of color challenges though. Much more than sketches! You all know, I am not a layout or card guru. I am an altered artist for sure! I love that with the color challenge, you are given a series of colors to play with, that's it, the rest is where your creativity comes in handy!

So for today's color challenge project, this is what I came up with...

Here is where the idea started...

I had this little tray that I bought from the $ spot at Target this past Spring. It DID serve a purpose.... I was holding all of my Authentique stickers and die cuts in it... until now! 

I thought it would look much better altered! 

I LOVE the beach. As you all might know from my posts here on my blog. My living room decor is all beachy, so that's where this pretty little project will be displayed!

Aren't the little crabby's cute? I cut them with my Silhousette Cameo. The file for them came fro mthe Silhouette Online Store. 

I added some shells that I had laying around, I always keep a ton of shells, you never know when you might need them for a craft project!

Stop by the Authentique Paper Blog today to see the inspiration projects from the rest of the DT and play along with us! You have until July 18th to link up your projects!

Products Used: 

Authentique Paper: Fresh- 12x12 Paper Clear, Light; "Details" 12x12 Stickers, Elements 12x8 Stickers

May Arts: EM02, 363-09

Want2Scrap: Funky Swirls White Pearls

What's Up, Buttercup?

It's finally Friday! It's bright and sunny here in Southern Ohio, so I thought I would share a bright & cheery mini album that I made! 

Last month, one of my DT assignments for Cord Camera Scrapbook Studio was Lily Bee Design's Buttercup collection. I fell in love with this collection when I saw previews from CHA. 

Teal/Turquoise/Aqua is one of my all-time favorite colors. Pair it with some pretty yellow tones & we're in business! 

I didn't decorate the inside yet... I wanted to wait until I put photos in and then embellish. I thought this album would be nice for black & white photos. 

I LOVE making paper roses! They are so simple to make & much easier to match to the paper when you make your own! 

I also added some pretty May Arts Ribbon to the album... which by the way, I found out today that I made it to round 2 of the May Arts DT Call! I'm super excited about that! What a great way to start a Friday! 

Make sure you stop by the Cord Camera Scrapbook Studio blog today! My project will be there and maybe some others! 

May Arts/DCWV Challenge

I was oh-so-lucky to get to play along with this past month's May Arts/DCWV challenge! I normally try to participate in the May Arts challenge, but this one was extra special because not only did I get to play with specific ribbons, but I was also given some pretty papers to play with too!

Each participant got half a stack of the "Snapshot" stack from DCWV. I LOOOOVE this stack! The colors are so beautiful and there are so many possibilities with this stack!

We also got to choose 4 of the ribbons to play with. I chose all but the jute. I have a ton of jute and the others stood out a little more to me. 

See... I told you the colors were beautiful! 

I started out with this pan/baking sheet. I'm not really sure what it is, but I spotted it at a thrift store for $2 and thought it would make an awesome magnet board! Plus, I thought the handles were cool to tie ribbon to!

Here's my finished product... don't worry, I have lots of close ups to show as well! 

When I saw this sheet of paper I thought it would make a PERFECT little notepad!

So I cut it up and tied it together and viola! A little notepad on my magnetic memo board! 

The little rosettes have magnets on the back, so they can be used to hold little notes. 

Originally, I wanted to make a banner for my project, but later changed my mind. The little Polaroids really stood out to me as something that would make a cute banner, so I decided to incorporate them in! Plus, I wanted to showcase a couple of my black & white photos as well and use it as a home decor piece in my bedroom. 

I also scored a bag of clothes pins at the thrift store for .50 cents. There's nothing that a little Glimmer Mist can't spruce up! 

There you have it! My May Arts/DCWV challenge project! I am loving how it turned out and I'm very excited to hang it on my wall! The colors match my room perfectly and this project is multi-functional! It's a home decor piece and a magnetic memo board all in one! 

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure you stop by the May Arts Blog and check out all of the other fabulous entries for the challenge! 

RRR June Blog Hop!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the RRR Blog hop! If you came here from Cherry's blog, you're on the right track! If not, make sure you start at the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog to start from the beginning and see all of the fabulous projects that the team made for today!

Have you checked out the RRR Ribbon club yet? This month on our hop we are featuring ribbons from the ribbon club assortment shown below:

Make sure you CLICK HERE to become a member of the awesome RRR Ribbon club!

Now on to my project...
Ok, ok... I know that the red, white, & blue assortment SCREAMS July 4th and patriotic, but I dare to be different as usual... To me, I see reds and blues as Summer picnic colors and I just had to use them in a different way!

I took one of my latest goodwill finds and made some home decor out of it. I absolutely LOVE the new Summer Fresh line by Simple Stories, it screams picnic! So I paired it up with a few ribbons from this month's ribbon club assortment. 

I used the smaller red & blue ribbons to tie at the bottom of my rosettes and make them look like flowers. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

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

RRR Blog - http://www.reasonableribbon.blogspot.com/
Trudy - http://truesgiftsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://lindaabadie.com/
Bonnie - http://www.maketime2craft.com/
Judy – http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/
Heidi - http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/
Patti - http://mypiecesoftime.blogspot.com/
Misty - http://mommyof5kidz.blogspot.com/
Dawn - http://www.dawnscraft.com/
Gloria - http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Cherry - http://cherrysjubileehome.blogspot.com/
Emily - http://createserendipity.blogspot.com/
Debbie - http://www.debbieseyer.com/
Jeanne - http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Corri - http://buglvr.blogspot.com/
Guest Designer -Angela Maine - http://fromthetoolshed.blogspot.com/ 
Cheryl - http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/
RRR Blog - http://www.reasonableribbon.blogspot.com/

SWEET Project Round-Up!

Here I am again, AWOL from my blog for weeks! I'm alive, don't worry! And I actually have been posting projects, but I always seem to neglect my own blog! I need to get in the hang of posting here too! 

Today, I have a few Sweet Stamp Shop projects that I have made over the past couple of weeks. These were too cute not to post! 

I made a little party hat & party favor with my Silhouette. I thought it would be a fun little project. 

Reagan thought that I made them for her... even though her birthday isn't until November :-) 

For this project I used the following stamp sets:

Cool Scoop

Sweet Tooth

 This project was supposed to be for the New Release blog hop, but my internet went out and I couldn't schedule it...

I made a little box with some cute coloring pages for Reagan with stamps from the new release. 

The little box will hold crayons as well as the little pages, so we can take it with us for her to color when we are out to eat, etc. 

For this project, I used 2 of the BRAND NEW just released sets

Made By

Out in Space

CLICK HERE to check out the Sweet Stamp Shop Design Team Call! We have extended the call until Friday June 22nd, so there's still time to get your applications in!

Team Authentique!

About a year ago, I was shopping & cropping at my local Archiver's store with a bunch of friends. Little did I know that my spending behavior that day would later change my life! 

As I was shopping, I spotted the most BEAUTIFUL paper! It was by a new company that I had never heard of called Authentique. I asked my friend if she had ever seen or used their products, and of coarse she had, so she told me a little story about them, etc. I had to grab up some of their paper, so I decided to start with a little 6x6 pad and some of the noteables, tabloids, icons, and excerpts from the  Blissful Collection. I'm not a vintage kind of gal, but something about this paper really inspired me to change my views on vintage.

I had tried out for a few design teams at that point and had been rejected, so I was really unsure about trying out when I saw the Authentique DT call. At the last minute, I decided to send over my application and crafty resume, which at that point, wasn't much. A few days later I got the most awesome e-mail! I had been accepted to the team! I will never forget the day that the UPS driver delivered my very first package of Authentique goodies. I sat and started in awe at all of the beautiful papers. I literally did not want to cut them up, but I knew at some point, I would have to. 

In April we transitioned over to a smaller design team and I started helping out as Coordinator. It was the least I could do for a company that I love and feel so much passion for the product and the people who work there. I've been doing a lot of cheer-leading for the Authentique DT over the past year, the girls on the team are absolutely fabulous. I really couldn't ask to be surrounded by a better group of people! Not to mention the folks on Team Authentique out in Utah, Samantha, Bret, Melodee, David, etc. All just wonderful people to work with! 

A few weeks ago Samantha called and asked me if I would like to continue helping out with the Design Team and take on responsibilities of their Social Media and be an "official" member of team Authentique. Well, that was a no-brainier! To be offered an opportunity to "work" from my home doing what I love is like a dream come true for me. Not to mention, I still get to play with lots of pretty paper! 

Long story short, I am now "officially" a part of Team Authentique. You can see the full announcement HERE on the Authentique blog. You will want to check it out, we also added 3 new super talented ladies to the team! 

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/beauthentique/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthentiquePaper

Twitter: http://twitter.com/beauthentique

e-mail: emily@authentiquepaper.com 

Classes with Simple Stories!

I have a few upcoming classes that I will be teaching at Cord Camera Scrapbook Studio in Indianapolis, IN  on June 30 and I wanted to share the projects with you all! I'm very excited about these classes! Not only are they bright & fun, but you get a lot of bang for your buck by taking these classes! If you're in the area, please please please don't hesitate to sign up! We would love to have you! You can find more details at the bottom of this post. 

Summer Canvas Banner Class

In this class you will learn how to make this beautiful canvas banner made with Simple Stories new collection, "Summer Fresh" 

You will also learn how to use mists to brighten up any plain canvas. I just love the added look that a couple sprays of Glimmer Mist adds to this project!

This banner screams SUMMER and would look lovely hanging on your front door or as a decor piece at a Summer Gathering!

Fabulous Mini Album Class

The second class I will be teaching is a fabulous little mini album class! This mini album is simply adorable! 

As you can see, the mini is jam packed full of fun embellishments and spots for photos! The class will highlight one of Simple Stories new collections this year, "Fabulous."

Here's a little peek at the inside pages:

This album class kit will also be available in a boy version using Simple Stories "Awesome" collection.

Both classes are full of fun products from Simple Stories, May Arts, Basically Bare, and more!

To book a spot in either of these classes (or both!) please contact Vicki at: 

Cord Camera- Nora Superstore
Scrapbook Studio

1300 East 86th St. #28
Indianapolis, IN 46240
(317) 846-7729

If you don't live in the area and would be interested in purchasing a class kit for either class (comes with full step-by-step photo instructions), please e-mail me at createserendipity@gmail.com