Gettin' By

July Comes Sneaking In

Hard to believe it almost already July! (And, uh, Time, in case you're reading, it's OK to go slower in the summer!!)  Thought I'd share some Jenni Bowlin kit sneaks with you all before the kiddos and I go hit the pool!

There are lots of fun pennants in this kit - I am digging this trend!

The reds & yellows are perfect for pool photos (not to mention the red pennants work wonderfully on a swim meet page!)

The Studio Calico Rip Strips and the vintage orange soda tops coordinate fabulously (both are from the add-on kit).

This Girls Paperie pattern was my favorite in the whole kit - it's perfectly summery (and the B-side is an amazing red & white polka dot - I'm such a sucker for good polkies!)

I'll be back later this week with the full reveal - and don't forget to grab your JBS kit on July 1!

Sponsor Spotlight: BIC Mark-It™

Please welcome my newest blog sponsor, BIC Mark-It™!

BIC Mark-It™ Permanent Markers come in 36 colors in Fine and Ultra Fine tips and are the perfect tool for inspiring creativity! A soft rubber grip provides all day comfort when working on detailed projects. These permanent markers give you everything you need for any craft project you can imagine. Set your creativity free with these 36 acid-free* colors. Click here to find them on Facebook®!

*No added acid; no measurable pH

Five on Friday.

We just got back last night from our trip down south and I'm scrambling to catch up today.  So here's a quick post with five of my favorite photos from the vacation!

1.  With all the hot Texas weather (and humidity we are NOT used to!) we spent ample time in the pool and floating on the lazy river at our resort.

2.  Got the kids to pose in one of the many covered wagons on our way to the campfire and nightly s'mores!

3.  Hayden's favorite ride at Schlitterbahn - the Boogie Bahn!  It's a crappy phone photo, but proof he's a natural surfer boy!

4.  Chilling on the lawn before the nightly movie at the resort.  Note the animated character in the background - what a cheeseball!

5.  Playing some billiards while waiting on our pizza dinner.  Hayden now thinks we need a pool table in our basement.

Hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend too!

I'll fully admit she gets her artistic gene from me.

Last week Riely presented me with an piece of art she had spent much time working on.  Not only did it involve coloring with various markers, but it also was embellished with a decorative scissor border on top.  Needless to say, she was very proud of her masterpiece, which she entitled Field of Roses:

 

It's lovely, don't you think?

And if, like me, you happen to turn it upside down...

 

...you just might start to giggle profusely and realize a more appropriate title might be Attack of the Swarming Male Organs.

It's moments like these - moments that simultaneously make me realize the creative genius burgeoning in my young daughter and yet also make me laugh like a 12-year old boy - that make the pain of labor totally worth it.

The Colors of Summer.

I've recently noticed that the scrapbook pages I create tend to reflect the current season's colors.  I love warm, earthy tones in fall...my winter pages are often blue, silver, and sparkly...in the spring I love to scrap photos with greens, pinks, and yellows.  And summer seems to be no different. The bright, sunny days outside inspire me to bring the same palette to my scrapbook pages. My summer pages also tend to be pretty simple, as my scrap time is limited and scheduled around two very active kiddos.  Here's two recent creations that exemplify my summer scrapping style (both using recent releases from KI Memories, who rock at making summer-friendly scrap goodies!)

Twinkle Toes  • lace cardstock, rubber stickers, chipboard (KI Memories) + fonts (DJ Fancy - "twinkle"; Bohemian Typewriter - journaling)

I adore this photo of my little girly's striped legs.  Something about the combo of a tulle skirt, striped tights, and patent leather mary janes just make me happy.  I used the back side of the KI Lace Cardstock, which is white (the other side is a gorgeous coral) and added some small pieces of hot pink cardstock behind it.  I topped it with several rubber KI Softies for some added dimension.  The title is a combo of a handcutting (the word "twinkle" is cut from the font DJ Fancy) and white cardstock-covered chipboard letters (the pink Headline Alpha from KI Memories.)

Disney Magic • patterned paper, chipboard letters, epoxy stickers, metal stickers, rhinestones (KI Memories) + pen (American Crafts)

This page was inspired by a KI Memories Idea Gallery layout by Staci Etheridge (click here to see both layouts).  Every time I go to scrap a photos from last summer's Disney adventure, I reach for some KI.  The bold, bright colors are so perfect for these shots!  Here I used a mix of chipboard letters plus some epoxy alphas for my title and scattered lots of circular embellishments across the page (epoxy stickers, metal badges, and jewels).  I loved the way this page turned out and I'm thinking a mini album using very similar colors and patterns needs to be on my to-do list. (Amongst other things - but hey!  It's SUMMER!)

Enjoy your Monday, alrighty?!

Five on Friday {Texas Edition}

In honor of our upcoming vacation to Austin, I thought I'd make a not-so-comprehensive list of the things I'm looking forward to enjoying while in the Lone Star State (time with family and old friends notwithstanding, of course!)

1.  The Don't Mess With Texas propaganda.  It may have started as the slogan for an anti-littering campaign, but this phrase has turned into one kick-ass state motto.  Even as a die-hard Colorado native, I sported a Don't Mess With Texas bumper sticker on my car for years after I no longer lived there.  I love seeing theses signs that unabashedly state the love Texans have for their homeland. 

2.  Texas beer. Yes, I can buy Shinerbock in Colorado (and also the Blonde, Hefeweizen, and 101 varieties!)  And I could probably even find Lone Star if I looked really hard.  But there's just something about enjoying a Texas brew within the state lines that makes you want to toast the Alamo, Longhorns, and Lyle Lovett with every swig.

3.  Dinner at the Salt Lick.  In college, we made many crusades from San Antonio to Driftwood to enjoy the delicious BBQ, live music and outdoor setting of the Salt Lick.  Always toting fully stocked coolers (Driftwood is in a dry county), we'd trek to this seemingly middle-of-nowhere site and to drink beer, eat amazing food, and burp loudly. (OK, the burping part is just me.)

 4.  Taco Cabana.  I'll fully admit to making hotel reservations and immediately MapQuest-ing the nearest location of this fine dining establishment.  It is quite possible that during my four years of college in Texas, I subsisted solely on their bean and cheese tacos and diet coke.  It is also quite possible that this is the reason my "Freshman 15" turned into the "Freshman 45".  But OH THE HOMEMADE TORTILLA GOODNESS!

5.  The Music.  I'm not a huge country music fan, but something about being in Texas makes me want to sing along with the three-name legends like Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe, and Robert Earl Keen. Really, is there any better accompaniment to beer and bbq than a cowboy song?  Once again with the food and alcohol thing - I'm nothing if not consistent, yeah?

Hope y'all have an amazing weekend!  Come back now, ya hear?!

On the Grid!

Today I wanted to share a few layouts that feature one of my favorite design elements - the grid! Whether you stamp it, stitch it, draw it, or create it with patterned paper, it's a super easy way to start a page.  These three layouts were featured in the latest Ella eZine, Scrapbook Ellaments, and you can check out the entire article here.

patterned paper (Studio Calico, Creative Imaginations, Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin Studio) • letters (American Crafts) • stickers (Making Memories) • rub ons (Creative Imaginations) • pearls (Basic Grey) • stamp (Studio Calico) • scissors, punch (Fiskars) • fonts (Typenoksidi, Modern 20)

chipboard letters (Making Memories) • stickers (October Afternoon) • stamp (Studio Calico) • ink (Stampin’ Up) • patterned paper (Lily Bee, October Afternoon, Studio Calico, The Girls Paperie) • flower (American Crafts ) • font (King) • baker’s twine

patterned paper (Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Studio Calico) • stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio) • brads (Sassafras Lass) • font (Bohemian Typewriter) • embroidery floss

Enjoy your Thursday!

Our {rainy} weekend in photos.

It was a rainy, wet, and generally very soggy weekend around here, but we still found plenty to keep us busy, despite the weather.  Hayden started a new summer science project of growing crystals (this is the citrine quartz he's working on!)

Then we headed to the mall to get a baby gift for a friend and some new Crocs for Miss R (which are only fashionable if you wear them on the wrong feet and have your mama take an out-of-focus photo of them!)

And in a complete impulse buy, I got a new ceramic watch. Yes, it's made from the same material as a toilet.  But it keeps much better time and doesn't require bleach to clean.

We then headed to our annual neighborhood block party and car show, where despite drizzly conditions, we enjoyed BBQ, beer, and live music while watching a BMX bike stunt team and admiring some pretty sweet rides.  Riely's day was made when she discovered a face painting booth and got adorned with sparkly strawberries:

Since all the rain made some lovely mud puddles (and it's impossible to keep boys out of mud puddles!) Daddy took us for a hair-raising four-wheel adventure in the FJ:

Can you guess what chore has now been added to this week's To-Do list??

And finally, since it was still raining on Sunday evening, we wrapped up the weekend with about the only thing you can do after two days of endless precipitation:  go dance in it!

Hope your weekend was equally enjoyable!

Sponsor Spotlight: Lemon Poppy Shoppe

Please give a warm welcome to my newest blog sponsor: Lemon Poppy Shoppe!  If you love the latest and greatest in scrapbook supplies, you'll definitely want to check out this online scrapbook store.  They carry some of my very favorite brands (Jenni Bowlin, American Crafts, Lily Bee Designs, Elle's Studio and Crate Paper, just to name a few!)  Plus they offer Scrappers Advantage (think of it like a Costco membership for scrappers!) for a low yearly membership fee of only $9.99, which automatically gives you significant discounts on all their products, plus free shipping on order over $60.  I already have mine, and I have no doubt it will pay for itself in just a few orders. So go check them out!

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Lemon Poppy Shoppe is an online store specializing in discount scrapbook supplies.  Retail prices are comparable to other scrapbook stores but the exclusive Scrappers Advantage membership saves members between 15% and 25% off retail prices on all products.  Members also receive free shipping on all orders over $60.  The membership fee is less than $1.00 per month ($9.99/year).  The membership fee enables us to specifically target people who are frequently looking for trendy new products at low prices.  We also have a team of designers creating new project ideas, tutorials and video demos on a regular basis at LemonPoppyStudios.com.

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And be sure and keep your eyes open later this month for a fabulous giveaway from Lemon Poppy Shoppe.  I guarantee you won't want to miss it!

It's a Playdate (with a trip to the Dime Store, too!)

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U P D A T E:  D I M E  S T O R E  W I N N E R !

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!  Here's the winner of the Dime Store kit:

 

Ana Roat, please email me your address so Jenni can send you your kit!

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Today I'm sharing my layouts from the June Jenni Bowlin Mercantile kit, which features lots of her newest line, Play Date.  It's quickly become my new favorite because of the rich shades of red, blue and yellow. And the adorable butterfly (and pennant banner) stickers!  The kit has sold out, but you can buy the individual pieces at Two Peas and still grab the add-on over at JBS.

Sweet Girl • patterned paper, journal cards, stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + ticket (Maya Road) + punch (Fiskars) + pen (American Crafts) + twine, machine stitching

I knew the Play Date papers would look great with these pics of R in her denim jacket, so I used several of them, along with the JBS journal cards and those sweet little butterfly stickers.

Numbers • patterned paper, journal card, label, stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + flower (Prima) + pen (American Crafts) + button, pearl

To make a simple mat for my photo strip and journaling, I wove 1/2" strips of kraft cardstock and trimmed them randomly.  It's a great way to add a bit of texture without bulk!

Gala • textured cardstock, patterned paper, butterflies (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + flowers (Prima) + tickets (Maya Road) + pins (Tim Holtz) + fonts (Arial Black, Bohemian Typewriter) + stitching

I can already tell this red lace paper is going to be one that I hoard. :)  I used two strips of it here and attached it to the textured cardstock with stitching.  The title is cut from the font Arial Black.

Mexico • textured cardstock, rub-on, stickers, bingo card (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + buttons (Webster's Pages) + font (Traveling Typewriter) + stitching

I used one of the new Beach bingo cards from this month's project kit, along with the gorgeous yellow butterfly rub-on for this clean & simple page.  Instead of using patterned paper, I stitched a grid in the blank spaces to allow the swiss-dot texture of the cardstock to show through.

And now for some other exciting news:  Jenni Bowlin Mercantile is now introducing a new quarterly Dime Store Kit. This cute little kit will be packed with classic JBS products at a special price - 25% off of the total retail value! It comes with a project idea and basic instructions to get you started. The premier edition comes with everything pictured below:


You can use this kit for your upcoming July photos and it also works perfectly with the June papercrafting kit!  Or you can use the contents to make this mini album:

So here's the best part:  leave me a comment today and you can win one of these Dime Store kits! (And check out the JBS Inspiration Blog for more chances to win!  The contest ends Thursday, June 10th at 8 p.m. CST.