Easter Bunny

Yes, an Easter layout in August!  I work on pages as I feel inspired and last week I got the urge to play with photos of Dylan and his friends with the Easter Bunny.  Our entire playgroup (all six mommies and babies) made it out for a visit with the Bunny and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.   We had quite the adventure from trying to get all six babies to sit nicely for their photo (thank goodness for a very patient Bunny!) to arranging 5 high chairs, 1 infant seat and 6 mommies at a table for lunch.  There was a lot of laughter that day.  Anyhow, here is the layout I created using a few of the outtakes plus the "official" Easter Bunny photo of our group: 

I used a template to set up and arrange the elements.  I switched things up a bit to suit my design - ie, I deleted the scallop trim at the bottom and replaced the trim at the top with the grass; I used the paint blobs in place of the circles on the template and skewed them slightly so they were more of an egg shape than a circle.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: The Queen of Quirk Soda Pop template; Jen Allyson's Design 365 kit; Miss Mint's Kindergarten Crafts and Painted Season kits; 2Peas Island Style font.

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quick page + Friday Freebie: everyday life

One of the things I'm trying to do with Dylan's scrapbook albums is capture the everyday moments.  The events are, of course, important.  But it's the little things that make up our lives.  One example is this photo I took of Dylan earlier in the month:

It's a bit grainy because of low lighting and using my iPhone versus the camera.  I left the room for just a moment and came back to find he had positioned his bunny on the ottoman to "watch" tv with him.  It cracked me up.  When I saw a recent digital challenge on Two Peas to use a quick page to create a layout, I remembered this photo and a tv themed design by Chelsea Parsons which I thought might be the perfect fit.

If you've never digiscrapped, this is a great way to do it.  I started by opening the quick page in Photoshop and saving it as "OnTV.psd" to be sure I didn't ruin the original file.  Next I opened the photo and selected the move tool ( ) so I could drag and drop the photo into the layout.  I shifted the photo layer below the quick page layer.  This way my photo appears on the tv.

The photo was a bit too large though.  To adjust it, I used the transform tool "scale."  (Hint: hold down the shift key while moving the nodes to maintain proportions.)  After the photo was scaled and shifted to fit the tv screen just right, I moved on to the journaling.

I used the picker tool to pick a blue color from the quick page for my journaling.  This way the text would coordinate.  I typed the journaling onto a new layer so I could easily manipulate it's size and location.

The page felt a little naked.  Like it was missing something.  I chose a new color from the quick page - a shade of peach.  Clicked on the brush tool.  Then used my tablet to hand write "everyday life."

The end result:

Maybe if I create a few more this way I'll be caught up on his album.  ;)  In the meantime, as a little treat to my readers, you can download the "everyday life" .png file for free here.  Enjoy!

Supplies: Digikit - On TV by Chelsea Parsons; Batik Regular font; 2paws Designs everyday life.

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meow

Cleaning up the photo files on my computer, I came across this digital scrapbook page I created a while back and forgot to share. Loved these cute photos of Dylan and Cali. Only a couple times have either cat let him get close enough to touch them.

Supplies: Queen of Quirk's Scrap Canvas 6 template; Rhonna Farrer's Perfect Pets and Splish Splash kits; Miss Mint's Kindergarten Crafts kit; Century Gothic font.

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So Funny

When I saw these photos of my son and his friend having fun playing a game of "put your foot to mine" - I knew I had to scrap it.  These two always make me laugh with their silliness and giggles. 

Supplies: Hero Art Friends Definition; Michelle Underwood's That Was Yesterday: Add On kit; Come Unto Me font; Katie Pertiet's Curled Photo Frame.

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CSN Stores Review - coming soon!

I was thrilled when the opportunity arose to partner with CSN Stores again.  If you missed any of my previous posts, CSN Stores is like the mall online.  You can shop in any of their 200+ stores at once with one checkout.  Easy as that.  They offer a bit of everything from lights to toys to furniture to office supplies to ... well, you get the idea - they have a LOT!

A couple of my lucky readers have enjoyed gift certificates courtesy of CSN.  This time around, I'm prepping for an upcoming vacation and am doing a bit of shopping for myself.  I haven't quite decided what I'm going to get (having 200 stores to browse through equals limitless possibilities), but I will definitely share very soon.

From my past experience with CSN, I know I can count on excellent quality and fast shipping.  Now, pardon me, I'm off to shop.  ;)

Note: CSN Stores contacted me with this promotional opportunity and I am receiving a giftcard to use to purchase an item for my review. However, all opinions expressed are strictly my own.

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card: baby shower

I made this card for my sister-in-law's baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  She's expecting a little girl in late September.  I wanted something a bit girly, but not over the top pink.

Supplies: Stampin' Up cardstock; Heather Bailey fabric; American Crafts ribbon; Prima flower; Making Memories button and stitches.

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Crayon Bottle Caps

My weekend project - making crayons for Dylan.  I wanted a couple of large crayons that he could easily grasp.  Instead of buying a new box, I experimented with a handful of old crayons and some muffin cups.  The result is what I'm calling "Crayon Bottle Caps" since that's what they look like to me.  They are quick, easy and perfect for little hands:

Dig up some crayons (old or new), a muffin pan and muffin cups.  Then let's get started!

STEP 1
Remove the paper wrapper from each crayon.  Then break them into pieces so each piece is roughly an inch long.  Line a muffin pan with cups.  Place a few crayon pieces into each cup as desired:

STEP 2
Once you have all of the pieces laid out into the muffin cups, put the pan into the oven.  Bake at 250 for about 5 minutes to soften.  Longer if you want to fully melt them (ie, and pour into molds) or have thicker crayons.  I left mine for 10 minutes.  As you can see, the colorful mixes with the smaller crayons fully melted while the fatter silver crayon in the bottom mix is still formed:

STEP 3
Let the crayons cool on the counter for about 30 minutes or until pan is cool.  Place pan into the freezer and let it sit for 15 minutes.  This will speed up the firming process and help pull the crayons away from the pan walls:

STEP 4
Pull out each muffin cup and remove the crayon:

STEP 5
Enjoy!

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Fantastic Friday

It's been an adventurous week ending with a trip to the pediatrician's office to treat a mild case of croup (my poor boy!). I was grateful to stumble across Elle's idea for Fantastic Friday - make a list of fantastic things that happened this week. What a great way to focus on the positive!

Here's my list in no particular order ...

Tie Dyed t-shirt bag in progress

• Outings with friends
• Time with our extended families
• Gelato :)
• Creative/crafty time
• A rose from my husband

What fantastic things happened to you this week?

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card: happy birthday

Birthday card I made for my sister-in-law:

The design is simple.  I started with a premade card from a purchased package.  I cut the patterned paper a quarter inch less in width and half an inch less in height than the size of the folded card. Stamped the sentiment on the blue cardstock and cut it out.  Using a punch, I rounded the two left hand corners.  Then I adhered it to the patterned paper.  I used an edge scraper to rough the edges and give it a little texture.  Finally, I adhered the papers to the card.

Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; American Crafts patterned paper; Making Memories edge scraper; miscellaneous blue cardstock; EK Success corner rounder punch; Heidi Swapp stamp; StazOn ink.

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Forward Facing

We hit a major milestone yesterday - forward facing in the car seat.  Dylan didn't quite weigh enough after his 12 month checkup to turn around.  He had to weigh at least 20 pounds and came in at 19 pounds 6 ounces.  Yes, a mere 10 ounces shy.  The pediatrician told us to wait another month.  Honestly, I wasn't too unhappy because I still feel like he's safest rear facing and the seat in my car is still that way.  But ... he had received a second car seat as a birthday gift from grandparents.  When I visited the local fire department to get it installed in Trent's car (the day before the doctor's appointment), I had them put it forward facing knowing we were getting close and it would be easier than having to pull it out and reinstall so soon. 

Dylan wiggling his toes and enjoying the new leg room

Yesterday Trent wanted to take Dylan to the library and we did a quick weight check on our scale - 20.7 pounds.  (I'm blaming all that birthday cake!)  So, we strapped him into his new forward facing car seat for the ride.  Trent told me Dylan was laughing for most of the trip.  Sounds like he enjoyed the new view.

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glee

Love this photo of Dylan playing in the pool in our backyard.  The bright colors.  The big smile on his face.  (I think he was looking at one of the cats sitting inside our sliding glass door.)  As I was working on putting the layout together, I felt like something was missing until my eye hit the manila tag.  It came from a shirt Dylan received as a birthday gift and was stamped with the store name & logo on it - glee kids.  I felt the color and 'glee' sentiment were a perfect match for the page (the word 'kids' is tucked under the photo). 

Supplies: Stampin' Up cardstock; My Mind's Eye patterned paper; Fiskars upper crest border punch; manila tag with stamp from store; Autumn Leaves sticker; Micron black pen.

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Wordless Wednesday: Life is but a Dream

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Vacation

Last week we took a trip to Virginia to visit my mother, stepfather, brother and sister.

Inspired by Picture Summer, here's a triptych of our ride there:

When we arrived, my mom had a birthday cake for Dylan:

To say he was excited is an understatement.  Dylan managed to stretch his arm out just enough to swipe a bit of icing before he was given a piece to eat! 

Trent and I managed to squeeze in a few adventures while Dylan spent time with Grama.  We went to the movies with my stepfather and brother to see Salt.

Headed out just the two of us one day to visit George Washington's birthplace:

and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Battlefields:

My stepfather treated us to a day in Washington, D.C., at a Nationals game:

And we all enjoyed a lot of time playing in the pool in the backyard. 

All in all, we had a wonderful time!

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