CSI Challenge blog layouts

I hope this week was a good one for you and looking forward to some fun activities for this weekend. I'm loving the weather we are having in Colorado and I'm thinking that it's time to get the garden ready for some spring planting.

For the month of April, Paper Bakery kit sponsored the challenges over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration blog and the design teams were asked to participate. I know I've shared some of the layouts that I've made before but I decided to compile them again here for you.

Little Lady

I used the colors as stated. I have ruffles, jewels in the center of my cream/beige flowers and I added a dry embossed swirl/wave design on my paper corners. I used the "tell your story looking forward" for my journaling prompt, thinking ahead of what I wish my daugther would be when she grows up.

Just Another Thing

I used the colors as given. I added a metal hinge on my page and the fence border punch is what I'm considering for the chevron/zigzag/ricrac pattern. I used the "start your journaling with once upon a time" prompt for my journaling.

Sweet{heart}

I used the colors given and added some shine and stacked items. For the title I used a song title (Mariah Carey's Sweetheart song).

So Stinkin' Cute

In this one, I used the colors as stated in the challenge. Then added circles and stars as my accents. The journaling prompt was talk about something that's puzzling you and I chose to ask why my nephew is so adorable. I still don't know the answer but I can't help but long to squeeze his cute chubby cheeks again soon. :)

So that's it for me today. Make sure you check out the CSI website here for more challenges and inspirations. Have a great weekend.

Till next time,

Grace

Pinewood Derby 2012

Marcus participated in his first Pinewood Derby last Saturday. Him and his Dad worked hard to make his car and although it was stylish, we found out during the weigh in that it wasn't heavy enough so for a last minute solution for the weight problem, they stuck some washers and pennies on top of the car. This is the row of the participant cars and Marcus' was the second to the last on the right side of the photo (blue and grey)

Our Stake has a pretty technologically advanced ramp for the cars to race on. The ramp is connected to a computer where it can detect the speed of the cars by the finish line. Then it quickly shows up on a projector screen to see who was first, second and third in that particular race. Pretty cool!

Here's Marcus' car on the first race. They had blocks off the perimeter surrounding the ramp so I was not able to come too close. I did have my zoom lens but with the speed of the cars, it was hard to find my focus fast and click the shutter.

All the boys were able to do three rounds for each races. All in all there was three races and about 18 kids so there was a lot of time waiting which didn't make Marcus happy. You know him, he likes to move, move, move!

His car didn't fare very well. It was our first attempt and (I'm blaming Mitch on this) we didn't pump Marcus' wheels with graphite to make it go down the tracks faster. We were also studying the configurations of the other cars and next year we are thinking of making a slimmer, sleek car. I noticed that the ones that are less heavy on the top went faster than the ones that do have more bulk on the top of the car.

But over all I think Marcus had fun. He was proud of his car and enjoyed the treats afterwards.

He even got a certificate for having the most "retro" looking car. I think not coming out empty handed made him happy. :)

and here's the Pinewood Derby car making duo. With the lessons learned on this derby, we are excited to make next year's car even better!

Till next time,
Grace

CREATE:Vintage projects

I recently recieved my comp. copy of this magazine. It has TONS of ideas to create the vintage feel to any projects. Make sure you check it out at your nearest newstand or local craft store.

 I was fortunate to have three projects published in this magazine. Here they are...

Congratulations Card. I made this have the vintage feel by adding gliter glue and liquid pearl accents.

She's daddy's little girl layout. When I initially made this layout it didn't have the doilies. I wasn't very happy with the result cause I felt like it was missing something. Then I decided to cut up some doilies and place them in the empty spaces of the layout and voila! now it looked done!

His and Her frames. I have had these frames for years now (bought them at the dollar store) and they had some chicken ceramic images in the center. I took off the chicken images, replaced it with papers and silhouette die cuts and then added some letter stickers, liquid pearl and silk ribbon. It's amazing how we can change a look of the frame with just a few switches of products.

Northridge Media offers a TON of inspirational magazines. Check them all out here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Grace

Project 365, Week 15 and 16

It is Project 365 photo showcase again. Sorry I didn't get them posted last week. I decided to share my take twelve photos instead. So you get a double dose this week *wink*

Whew! thank you for getting this far through this post.

Till next time,
Grace

Monday's a link up party

Hello all and happy Monday. A new week is upon us. Are you feeling excited for what this week can offer us? or are you already feeling overwhelmed by the many things on your "to-do" list? I hope that we can all get our goals accomplished and that this week will bring us all new opportunities for growth.

Speaking of goals accomplished....are trying to find some inspiration this week to get your creativity started? How about a "link party"? This is easy, all you have to do is click on the links that I'll provide and hope you'll find something that'll spark your creativity today. Sounds fun? so let's go.....

First up is one of my favorite layouts recently. It's a documentation of how stinkin' cute I think my nephew is. Don't you think he's too cute for words? I had made this page using the Paper Bakery Add on kit (which by the way is sold out! Make sure you sign up for May's kit before it sells out too.) More on this page and the Paper Bakery kit products here.

Last week, My Little Shoebox had a series of blog posts introducing the new design team members. The spotlighted me in this post. While you are there, make sure you check out the rest of the projects shares as there are always a bunch of inspirations to be gained in that blog.

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICAION

 

Having fun yet? Well we are not done just yet! At the Glue Arts blog last week, we were showcasing the versatility of the Glue Arts Raisen's. If you have not used or seen this product, it's a dimensional adhesive that is like a glue dot but 5x thicker. In my project, I used it to lift my title which I had cut from the same cardstock as my sun to set it apart from the background. Check the complete post here.

And finally....are you ready for Spring Training? Ella Publishing is offering a great series of "training" for scrapbookers. It's going to cover things from photography, to techniques to organization. It's soooo cool and I hope you take advantage of it. Learn more about it here.

So there you have it. Now go, click the links and have fun!

Till next time,

Grace

WorldWin + Spellbinders Cards

Sooo looking forward to the weekend. But before I head off and start daydreaming of sleeping in, let me share with you some cards I made using WorldWin products and Spellbinders die cuts.

The WorldWin design teams were given the Grand Calibur and some Spellbinders die cuts to "play" with and here are a couple of cards I made with this team up....

Sweet Baby Boy!

I used the Spellbinders "Labels Eight" and "Classic Circles Scalloped Large" dies for this project. I also used WorldWin new TUBE papers for the background.

Just a note

In this card, I used the new WorldWin TUBE cardstocks and the same Spellbinder's dies as I've used in the above card. I embossed the shape on the cardstock to createa subtle frame design on the card.

I wish you all a fun, safe and enjoyable weekend.

Till next time,

Grace

Four eyed boy

One of the things that we needed to do for Marcus with his new ADHD diagnosis was to get his eyes checked. We got that done about a month ago and the result (among other things) was that he got a prescription for glasses. So that same day, we went to Costco and ordered him a pair. He was super excited about it and like many things the excitement wore off about a week ago. I asked him why he wasn't wearing his glasses anymore and he said that it is a distraction for him. I thought this would make him see things clearer therefore make his life better BUT if it's just another distraction for him, I guess I'm not going to force him to wear it. After all, he needs help focusing (especially in the classroom) and if this is just another thing that would take "focus" away from him, then we are not progressing. I guess this is one of those "expensive" lessons that we had to learn.

Anyways, since he's not wearing them anymore, I'm more appreciative of the following photos I was able to take during the beginning of him wearing his glasses. He looks so grown up in these photos and so cute with his specs.

I had a pair of glasses in High School which I stopped wearing after a while and now I'm back to wearing glasses again so I'm thinking that maybe in the future he'll realize that seeing things better and clearer is important and he'll come back to his glasses. That is my hope anyways.

Till next time,

Grace

Flower Accessories Tutorial

As promised last week, here is a tutorial on how I made the hair and ring accessory that me and my daughter wore for Easter last week.

Supplies needed:

Artificial flowers, preferably with lots of layers on them. (I got mine at JoAnn's craft store and I used my 40% coupon on it to save)

Glue Gun

Felt

Hair clips/Headband/Ring

Circle punch and scissor

Rhinestone (for flower centers)

First step is to remove the flower from the stem and remove all the plastic connectors binding the layers of flowers together. We want the bottom of the flower to lie flat against our clips or headbands and the plastic connectors is not going to keep the flower bottom flat. Also, keep the flower layers in tact as you remove the plastic items so you're final flower result will be the same as the original flower.

Using the glue gun, adher the layers on top of each other. Start with the bottom one and go up from there. Only add glue on the centers of the flowers.

I had some self adhesive rhinestones in my craft stash and I used that for the centers of my flowers. Rhinestones can be found at either the jewelry or scrapbooking aisle of your craft stores. Make sure you pick a size that is proportionate (sp?) to your flower size.

I was initially going to punch out the circles from felt but my felt was too thick for the punch to go through so I ended up handcutting the circles with a scissor. Cut two.

Adhere one of the felt circles to the back of the flower.

Add some glue to the headband on the spot you want to place the flower on and then add a bit more glue on the other felt and add that to the headband sandwiching the headband between the two felt pieces.

Do the same procedure for a paper clip but glue gun it to a clip instead. I had cut a small circle to sandwich the clip between two pieces of felt.

And as if two hair accesories weren't enough for me, I decided to make a ring out of a smaller flower. I rummaged through my jewelries and found this ring band (don't worry it's a fake ring so I wasn't too worried of altering it) that would be a great foundation to add a flower to. I repeated the procedure for making the flower as mentioned above but adhered it to the ring instead. I didn't bother adding another felt piece under the ring as I thought that would make the ring thicker therefore it can't pass through my finger anymore.

and here's the result. I was telling you, this project is super easy and I betcha, you can make all of these in less than 30 minutes.
and of course we can't end this post without a display of how pretty my dear daugther was with her flower accesory.

Till next time,

Grace