Birthday celebration recap

July came through like a whirlwind. There are so many things that we've captured and yet so little time to recap. But I'm going to try with revisiting birthday celebrations for me and my son. 

Dinner at Tucano's 

So Marcus and my birthday are just three days apart. Because of that, July is always filled with celebrations. This year we tried the Brazilian buffet called Tucano's. I've heard so many good things about this place from my local friends and they even gave me a tip that if I signed up for their birthday club, I can get my meal for free. I did just that a week before our birthdays and we got our postcards in the mail not long after that. The great thing about having two family members share a birthday month, we get to have two meals free. Super! 

The food was delicious and the "experience" of some one cutting scrumptious meats and grilled pineapple right at our table was fun. They even sang a Brazilian birthday song for Marcus. He was super thrilled about that "experience."

My last note on Tucano's...because it's an all you can eat meat place, make sure you make room for it. We had a very light breakfast that day and had a small, light dinner afterwards as well. The calories that we consumed during our meal at Tucano's sure filled our intake for that day, and maybe a few more for the next day. 

My Birthday

My birthday fell on a Sunday this year. We went to church and did all the normal Sabbath day things that we do. The only difference....I didn't have to lift a finger at home. My dear husband and kids did all the cooking and prepping of food plus the dishes. I did however, make my cake (the day before) because I knew that that's something I cannot fully entrust to hubby. I had a homemade pound cake with cut up strawberries and drizzled with caramel sauce. 

Marcus Birthday Party

Our dear boy turned 10 this year. In the past, July seemed to be extra busy for me (I don't know why?) and I never get around to making a fondant covered cake for him. I owed him big time, so I thought this year was the year that I made amends. We not only gave him his fondant covered cake, but we even threw him a small party. In the beginning asked him what he wanted his cake to look like. At first he was telling me all of this outrageous sounding cake ideas.My eyes were big and my heart was beating fast, as I felt overwhelmed with his request. So while he wasn't with me, I took a peek at Pinterest for 'easy' cake ideas. I found  a Lego themed cake to be more up my alley, so I presented my idea to him. Thankfully he was on board and that's when our party planning started. After a few more browsing hours at Pinterest, we were able to get game, treat bag and decoration ideas pinned down. Another major challenge we had for this party was that it had to be on the "cheap". Thank goodness for an over abundance supply of paper and crafting supplies, we were able to make it happen with just a few change under our budget. Whew to that! 

The party went off without a hitch. Marcus was surrounded by a few of his good friends and was entertained by friends and new toys. 

So there you have it, another year and celebration recorded in the book, or rather in this day and age, in the blog. 

Till next time,

Grace

Pile it up series video 1

Happy Monday dear friends. Today I'm starting a 4 part video series I titled "Pile it up". I was thinking of ideas or topics to share in my videos and while sitting in my scrapbook room, I was feeling overwhelmed by all of my "stuff". So to help me, and hopefully you as well, I'm going to try to "pile up" products on my page. Please check out video #1...

and here's another look at the final project...

Denver Temple Layout

Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel so be informed of the latest videos once I've uploaded them, which should be next week. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a creative week. 

Till next time,

Grace

Paper Beach Bag with Sunkissed Collection

I am amazed at the many things we can create with paper. The possibilities are endless. Since it’s the summer month, I decided to push the envelope a little and try to create a beach bag from paper. I’ve sewn bags before so I used that experience to put this project together.  I made a few changes since the paper cannot be turned over after stitching and at the end, I found that nothing is impossible with paper and a dose of the right inspiration.

Instructions:

1. Cut a 3” wide strip from 12x12 paper. Score the two long ends on the ½” marks and fold. Repeat the process on another strip.

2. Sew the strips on two 12x12 sheets of identical papers.  To connect all strips, sew a stitch on the last fold and then adhere the edge to the paper. *Since this is paper and cannot be turned over to its right side so you will create the look of sewn edges without actually sewing the last strip to the bag.

3. Cut another 3” wide strip and score the long ends on the ½” marks. Add adhesive to the folded parts and adhere on the bottom of the bag. Add a die cut border on the front side of the bag.

4. Cut 4 1 ½” strips from 12x12 paper.  Score the one of the strips on the ½” mark, fold and overlap two together. Connect the strips with some machine stitch. Repeat the same process on the other two strips to create handles.

5. Round corners of the handles and place on the top center of the bag. Attach some big buttons on both ends with embroidery floss.

6. Decorate the front of the bag with paper, flowers and stickers.

*This bag is for decorative purposes only. Using it near or in water will damage the bag.

 Here are some close up look at the finished project..

Summer Lovin’ Paper Beach Bag

Size: 12 x 22”

Products Used:

Sunkissed (#2057 Sassy Swimmers; #2061 Pretty Swimsuit;  #2065 Tickled with sunshine; #2033 Label Stickers; #2036 Die cut borders)

Other Supplies:

Flowers, Buttons, Embroidery Floss, Photo Corners, Thread, Sewing machine, Corner Rounder punch, Adhesive

Have a fantastic day,

Grace

Hexagon...three ways *Epiphany Crafts*

Hi friends and happy Wednesday. 

Hexagon shapes are a big trend right now in the papercrafting world. It's a great new way to show off geometric shapes. I wanted to see how many ways I can use this shape and the result....three different cards. I used Epiphany Hexagon tool and bubble accents for my projects. 

Here's the result...

and here's the close up of each card...

To learn more about these cards plus the supplies that I used, please click here which will take you directly to my Epiphany Crafts blog post. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,

Grace

Inspired By Stamping sketch + cards

This is a special weekend post. I'm sharing the latest challenge from Inspired By Stamping. It's a sketch one and I for one love sketches. They are the perfect foundation for projects. Having a sketch to start with helps me just worry about the papers and products to use. With the design already provided, it makes for an efficient card making. If you would like to to play along, please click here.

Here's my take on the sketches...

Wishing You Many More card

 In this card, I used a combination of patterns and shapes but with a coordinating theme of soft, feminine touch. I used the a sentiment from this set and a banner from this. I also used a flower and trim from Inspired By Stamping.

Happy Birthday card

 With this one, I used some awesome flowers from the Inspired By Stamping store to create a visual triangle for my page. I used two stamp inks to create my title which is from this stamp set.

Thank you for stopping by. For more stamping inspiration, please visit the Inspired By Stamping website here. 

Till next time,

Grace

Latest Design team work (Epiphany Crafts and Die Versions)

It's Friday! Woohoo!!!

Today I'm going to share some latest work for Epiphany Crafts and Die Versions. I feel so blessed to get to design projects for them. 

Kindergarten Round Two

This project was made for the Helmar and Epiphany Crafts team up. I used some Epiphany Crafts bubbles and Vintage accents to add some fun flair to the project. I used Helmar adhesive to put my page together. 

Pet Store

This one was for the Epiphany Crafts and Pink Paislee team up. I used papers from the She Art and Luxe collections and tools and bubble accents from Epiphany. 

Congratulations card

Die Version is offering a sport themed die set/package for the month of July and this card shows off some of these beautiful dies. I decided to make my "winner" cut more colorful so I cut three of the words from different cardstocks and then layered the colors over the orange one to reveal a multi-colored word. 

All Star Winner layout

These photos are from a wrestling camp that my son participated in, a few summers ago. I used the jersey die to create my sport's themed banner and used the word dies to create my title. 

To learn more about fun products from Epiphany Crafts, please click here. See Die Versions products here. 

Till next time,

Grace

Lake Isabelle and Pueblo River Walk

It's been a great summer of exploring for our family. One of the places we recently visited was Lake Isabelle. It's about 1 1/2 hours drive southwest from Colorado Springs. The lake was surrounded by some beautiful hills and mountains. We visited this place on a Saturday and you can tell that it's a famous lake for fishing because of all the people around the lake that had fishing poles in their hands. The people fishing were of all different ages. We even saw a kid, about 10-12 years old, catch a fish. It was a neat experience. Here are some of my favorites from that excursion...

When we got there, we decided to do a hike. We weren't sure how far or how long the hike was so we never got to see the end. While hiking, we found out from other hikers that the trail led to an old mining cave. Mitch was pretty interested in that, unfortunately we never made it to the end of the trail. We will definitely have to go back and do that hike soon. After that, we decided to explore the lake. While at the lake, it rained on us. It was pouring hard for about 30-40 minutes. We ate our lunch in the back of our truck till the rained stop. After walked around the lake. I found it interesting how many different angles someone can photograph Lake Isabelle. I was stopping often because the Lake seemed different with every step I made. 

Pueblo River Walk

After the lake, on the way home, we stopped by Pueblo (city south of Colorado Springs). I've always heard of the "Pueblo River Walk" and have always wanted to see it for myself. The river walk was built in the middle of downtown Pueblo. The water that runs through this water way is the Arkansas river. I love the paved walk way and the beautiful scenery. We took pictures by the river, the many different sculptures surrounding the river walk and even some ducks. 

It was a long day of exploring and sight seeing. We feel so blessed to have some many neat things to see and do around Colorado. It makes living here an exciting outdoor experience! 

Till next time,

Grace

Some layout shares...

Today is my son's birthday. I can't believe he's 10 now. It seemed like it was just yesterday when, after two hours of pushing, he came out of this world. I have learned so much about myself and the beauty of selfless love through him. Happy Birthday Mr. Marcus!

One of the many opportunities I discovered through having children is my passion for memory keeping. Marcus was nine months old when I attended a scrapbook class at my local church. The nice lady that taught it showed me the basic and from then on, I caught the bug. Here are couple of layouts I created, just for fun. 

Atlantis Playground

There's this awesome park back in Southern California that we loved to go to. It's interesting how this park has been around for a long time. My husband even remembered playing in the big dragon slide. These photos were taken way back in 2010. 

I decided to use some fun, happy colors in this page so I can evoke the feelings of joy and excitement, my children had during this trip. 

I added some handmade buttons using Epiphany Crafts button tool and buttons. 

Beginnings of a Book Worm

These photos were taken back in 2011 when my son was a 2nd grader. His class/grade participated in a reading program where they got a belt, similar to a karate belt, every time they read a certain amount of books. My son quickly caught the reading bug after this program. 

I decided to add some texture to the punched out tags by running them through my embossing machine with a star embossing folder. I then inked the top edges to show some color and finally, I punched out a star in the center and then added pattern paper under the tag.

I found this strip of books from a GCD Studios paper and I thought it worked perfectly with my layout theme. 

So there you have it. Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,

Grace

Exploring Colorado with Friends

One of the things we've come to really appreciate are good friends. Since we don't have family living by us, we've come to rely a lot on friends. That's why we are so blessed to have met the S family. They live near us and have kids that are about the same age as ours. Here are some photos of our latest excursions with our dear friends. 

Miniature Golf

The kids participated in the reading program of our local library. For their first prize, they got some coupons to use at different establishments in the area. One of those coupons was a free 18-hole game of miniature golf. At first, my kids were just hitting the ball with their clubs as much as they want. I guess I forgot that they don't do golfing often and I had to remind them of the "rules" of the game. After constant reinforcement, they learned to share and wait for their turns. I was not prepared for the heat though and my kids were mad at me for not bringing waters.The kids learned their golf lessons while I learned to always be prepared!

Hike to Seven Bridges

We didn't have any plans for Fourth of July and so we were very excited when our friends invited us to go hiking. Mitch and the kids have been to this hike before but this was my first time. It was a fairly easy hike. There's no major hills and we were walking under the shade of trees so it wasn't too hot. The kids got wet in the river and they even tried some Yucca leaves. Our friends brought their dog and my kids just loved every minute of it. They tired the dog by playing catch with her. Fun stuff! 

What about you? What are your favorite activities with friends? 

Till next time,

Grace

Back to your regular programming *latest video share*

Hi friends. Yesterday was my birthday and I'm still recovering from all the "partying" I did this weekend. Okay, so I really don't "party" anymore BUT I did do a lot of eating and shopping so I need to recover with exercise and balancing the checkbook today. *wink*

I'm starting this week's blog post with a video. I haven't done one in a while and although this doesn't show any technique or tutorial, I hope you enjoy some product share. I've been busy and haven't had the time to do much playing in my craft room besides fulfilling design  team assignments. I have been buying though and I thought I'd share my latest finds. Lots of clearance aisle finds. I hope you'll find some inspiring ideas in there. 

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any ideas on upcoming videos, please leave a comment and I'll try my best to put that together for ya! 

Till next time,

Grace

Inspired By Stamping July Online Catalog

Hi friends. If you remember last month, Inspired by Stamping released it's very first online catalog. Well I'm happy to share with all of you that with the July release comes a brand spankin' new catalog....

Each page provides details of our stamp set! Plus, inspiration from our designers! This new

catalog was designed to give you even more inspiration and interaction than ever before with Inspiredby Stamping products.Cool Features:- Browse the catalog with ease on your tablet or computer.- Get the entire release in one spot! Plus, zoom in on your favorite products, projects and cards.- Watch video tutorials from our YouTube channel right inside the catalog!- SHOP ONLINE! Order products by clicking on the stamp set which takes you directly to our onlinestore.Here’s a few peek at what is inside!

View the design team cards and projects that they used with each stamp set!
Where can you find our Online Catalog?
You can download it here, today.
All future catalogs will be available for download at our Store. Click Here!
Over the next few weeks, we will be putting together catalogs for all our releases from January 2013 to
May 2013!
We’d LOVE to hear what you think! After flipping through our catalog, leave a comment below or at Joanna's bloghere.
We hope you enjoy our new inspiration catalog!

Till next time,
Grace

Family stories...much needed recap

If I thought June was flying by way too fast, July is trying to change that. My family and I have been doing and going, and my camera was present during all those times. The good thing...many moments captured and will be ready to scrapbooking soon. The bad thing....there are so many,  that it's hard to post them on the blog. Here's my attempt to capture three events from June...

Craft camp was a blast! I had a great group of kids this year. I held it at a local church and we had plenty of room to spread out. I created themes for each day and the kids seemed to have enjoyed that. I had a good friend assist me through out the week and I couldn't have done it with out her. I also had some fantastic families. Everyone was so supportive of craft camp and the opportunities for discovery it brings to each participant. It took out a lot of my energy and brain power BUT at the end of the week, it's the hugs and smiles of the kids and family saying goodbye to me that made it all worth it. It hasn't even been a month and my mind is already starting to plan out next year's camp details. 

The last Friday of June, we attended the annual dinner and baseball game hosted by our local Realtor. It's the only time in the year that we watch our local Skysox team at Security Service Field. The kids enjoyed the game zone while Mitch chatted with his old friend Tracy. We usually stay for the whole game and watch the fireworks at the end of the game, but we were leaving bright and early for Utah the following day so we opted to make an early exit. 

My husband has a childhood friend and unfortunately we found out that his friend's mother lost her battle to cancer in early June. The funeral was set for the last Saturday of June. We debated if we should go with him to Utah for the services and at the end, we decided that it's best to come as a family and support our friends as a group. It was a very quick road trip leaving early Saturday and coming back late Sunday. We got to stay at my husband's Aunt's house in Mt. Pleasant. Our friend's mom was a big motorcyclist and her ashes were placed in a fancy wood box covered with his leather motorcycle jacket during the funeral services. They even had a motorcycle caravan from the funeral home to the family's home in Manti. After the funeral, we stopped by a local malt shop. It peeked my interest since you don't see malts being offered by restaurants that much anymore. They only had chocolate ice cream as a base for the malts and that affected the overall taste of our orders. It was still good though,just a bit messy! Before we left Manti, we stopped by the temple and took some photos. Next time, I'll like to actually go inside. 

So that's how we ended June. I hope to catch up on July's events sooner than later. 

Until then,have a great rest of the week. 

Till next time,

Grace

Inspired By Stamping July Release (Banner Stamps)

It's another day of stamp share. Inspired by Stamping is getting ready to release the July stamp sets and I'm here to show you what I've done with the Banner stamp set...

Hope your Day is Fabulous! card

I love how the banner stamp set are the perfect backdrop for my card sentiments. In this one I used it with the sentiment from the Happy Occasions sentiment set. I also added a blue flower and orange ribbon purchased at Inspired by Stamping store. 

Happy Birthday card

With this card, I stamped the banner image on map designed paper then cut it out and used to lead the eye to my title. The title was heat embossed using the Happy Occasions set. 

To see more inspirations from this stamp set, please click on the links below...

Joanna - http://wp.me/p2QJN7-3eQ

• Leah -  http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/2013/07/vintage-banners.html

• Shea - http://glitterandbonbons.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-new-release-everyday-tabs-and.html

• Grace  YOU ARE HERE!

• Vicki - http://allidoisstamp.blogspot.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july-sneak-peeks_8.html

• Rose - http://roseshappyplace.blogspot.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july-release-day-3.html

• Shani http://paperesse.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-vintage-banners-and.html

Tabs

• Deb - http://aworldofimagination-deb.blogspot.com/2013/06/inspired-by-stamping-july.html

• Irit -http://iritshalom.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-day-3-tabs-and-banners.html

• Colleen http://www.colleendietrichdesigns.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july-releases_8.html

• Calypso- http://calypsocandycraft.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-you.html

• Tina -- http://woodedviews.blogspot.com/2013/07/faith.html

And here's more info for you...

• Free Shipping will be available on all orders over $25. This will start on the 10th and be available for only 48 hours. July 10th at 7pm to July 12th at 7pm Brisbane time only. Coupon Code: IBSJULY

• All stamp sets will be offered as a bundle for a 10% discount. 

• July 10th will be the full release on my blog and all items will be available for purchase at 7pm Brisbane time.

Contest!! 

July 6th – July 10th, we will be giving away blog candy. Each Day one lucky winner will receive the featured stamp set/ or sets for that day. 

Winners will be announced on July 12 on our Winners Page at 7pm. 

You must leave a comment in Joanna's blog to be eligible to win on my blog 

Only One comment per person 

Each winner will be randomly selected. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Till next time,

Grace

Inspired By Stamping July Stamp Release (Octagon Stamp)

Hi friends. It's that time of the month when the Inspired By Stamping design team gets to share a peek of the this month's stamp release. Today we are sharing projects with the Octagon and Arrow stamps. Here are my  cards using the Octagon Stamp...

Happy Birthday card

Octagons are such a fun shape to use. In this card, I stamped the border one and placed part of my title sticker inside the shapes. I also stamped some octagons with designs in them, handcut it from the paper and then adhered them in the card using foam adhesive. 

Hello Friend card

With this one, I decided to heat emboss some chevron design inside some of the octagon shapes. I added a flower rubon to add some design on the top of my  pink cardstock and added rhinestones to create a visual triangle. 

To see more inspirations from this stamp set, please click on the links below...

Joanna - http://wp.me/p2QJN7-3eO

Leah - http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/2013/07/faithand-octagons.html

Deb - http://aworldofimagination-deb.blogspot.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july.html

Kendra - http://luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-octagons.html

Grace- YOU ARE HERE!!!

Vicki - http://allidoisstamp.blogspot.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july-sneak-peeks_7.html

Arrows 

Irit- http://iritshalom.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-day-2-arrows-and.html

Shea - http://glitterandbonbons.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-new-release-octagons-and-arrows.html

Colleen 

Calypso-http://calypsocandycraft.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibs-july-release-you.html

Rose - http://roseshappyplace.blogspot.com/2013/07/inspired-by-stamping-july-release-day-2.html

And here's more info for you...

• Free Shipping will be available on all orders over $25. This will start on the 10th and be available for only 48 hours. July 10th at 7pm to July 12th at 7pm Brisbane time only. Coupon Code: IBSJULY

• All stamp sets will be offered as a bundle for a 10% discount. 

• July 10th will be the full release on my blog and all items will be available for purchase at 7pm Brisbane time.

Contest!! 

July 6th – July 10th, we will be giving away blog candy. Each Day one lucky winner will receive the featured stamp set/ or sets for that day. 

Winners will be announced on July 12 on our Winners Page at 7pm. 

You must leave a comment in Joanna's blog to be eligible to win on my blog 

Only One comment per person 

Each winner will be randomly selected. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Till next time,

Grace