The Bell Still Rings (and other gift items)

I was inspired by a project on Pinterest to make this.  I made this for a raffle item for my son's bowling tournament.

I bought a 12x12 canvas and painted it blue with acrylic paint.

I used Paper Lace 2 for the font.  I sized the letters to 1.59 inches and left space for the bell.  I bought the bell and ribbon at Michaels.

For my next project (also inspired from Pinterest), I used a 12x12 tile from Home Depot.

The star is from Winter Frolic.

The letters are from Lovely Floral.

The swirl is from Home Accents.

I hid the background piece of the star from Winter Frolic.  It is sized to 5.64 inches.

I sized the letters to 2 inches and centered them to form the tree shape.

I added the swirl to the bottom as the trunk at 4.99 inches.

I just love the details of these letters.  I purchased this cartridge (Lovely Floral) specifically for the font!

I cover journals a lot as gifts.  I stock up on these journals when the back to school supplies go on clearance.

I found this apple filled with "teacher" words and printed it off onto cardstock.  I covered journals with school themed papers and layered on the apple.  I used tissue tape on the binding and added a little ribbon.

These were given to Tanner's Kindergarten and First Grade teachers, the art teacher,  and one other favorite teacher.

For my next gift - I had to get creative when our spirit wear order did not come in before Christmas.

Our youngest son will be playing select baseball for the first time this spring.  We ordered Grandma a shirt, and Grandpa a shirt and hat.  I had to wrap something, so I made my own out of paper:

He is playing for the Papillion Storm Chasers and will be #2!

I used Baseball for the cap.  I cut two out at 5.82 inches, one in white and one in black cardstock.  I fussy cut the white part.

The SC is from Hannah Montana sized to 1 inch.  The 2 is from Varsity Letter sized to 1.39 inches.

I used my white gel pen to draw the line at the top of the bill.

I used a circle punch to create the button for the top of the hat and trimmed off the top.

I used Paper Dolls for Everyday for the Jersey and sized it to 18.11 inches (5.5 inches using Real Size).  I cut it out in white and black cardstock.

I used Varsity Letter for the 2.

I made two of these, one for each!

Now back to my favorite one...

I hope you still truly believe!!!

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Place Layout

This week at Frosted Designs, our challenge is "Happiness Is....." and I have to admit this stumped me!!  I finally settled with my original idea of a layout of our recent trip to Mexico to celebrate 20 years of marriage.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of things to be happy about, but I feel like I am in a bit of a creative rut!

I made this coordinating page because I HAVE to scrap in 2 page sets!!!

 My inspiration for the first page came from a layout on Pinterest:

Instead of stitching, I layered my Creative Memories paper on top of a brown piece of cardstock.   Instead of strips of paper or washi tape, I used some flourishes to mimic the design on the paper.  I added a second photo and cut out my letters with my cricut.

I used Lovely Floral for "Happy" and sized the letters to 1.27 inches.  The "{}" are also from Lovely Floral sized to 2.41 inches.  I hid the inside cuts.  I cut them out of mossy green cardstock.

I used Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art for "place" and sized the letters to .76 inches.  I cut them out of dark brown cardstock.

The flourishes came from Picturesque and Home Accents.

I cut apart the swirls to create a background behind the photos. 

It is hard to see my journaling in this photo - I used a brown marker to match the paper.

I pop-dotted the photos on my layout.

Every time I look at the photo of the beach I sigh and just want to go back!!!

For the second page, I started out with a new Layer in my Gypsy. 

I put some bamboo trees on my Gypsy mat from Life is a Beach and sized them to 4.06, 5.00 and 5.47 inches.  I cut them out in a dark mossy green cardstock.

I inked the bamboo, letters and flourishes with Vintage Paper and a Fantastyx before I removed them from my cricut mat.

We had a blast snorkeling at Xel-Ha.  This is a salt water river that feeds into the ocean.  We got to snorkel, cliff dive, zip line and swim.  It was a fun day trip!

Our trip was amazing!!!  I hope I don't have to wait another 20 years to go back!!

My Inspiration LO ~ BugBytes Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Bug Bytes Blog Hop!!  We were asked to create a project around the sketch below.  When I think of my "Crafty Me" I always start with photographs when creating a layout.  So, instead of a photo of me crafting, I thought I would share a photo of what inspires me most ~ my family!  I also loved this orange paper and since I was wearing orange in the picture it just made sense to combine the two!!

Here is the sketch our wonderful Pam created!  I liked it so much that I used it for a layout of my nieces too! 

Here is the complete Blog line up in case you get lost along the way:

1) Pam - http://www.thebugbytes.com

2) Elizabeth - http://www.217creations.com
3) Michelle - http://ladyofleisureink.blogspot.com/
4) Beatrice -  http://beatrizguzman58.blogspot.com

5) Jen -http://3catsandabug.blogspot.com/

6) Debbie - http://debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com

7) Lori - http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/

8) Bobby & Jill  http://cricutcouple.blogspot.com

9)  Kelly  http://kamscraftplace.blogspot.co.uk

10) Chris - http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/

11) Kimberli - http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/

12) Sheila - http://shesasassylady.blogspot.com/

And now on to my layout!!

Look at all of that patterned paper!  This is the most patterned paper I have ever used in one layout!!

I put my piece of "negative" paper down to use as a template to line my letters up.

Stuck them down and carefully peeled away the template.  Perfect placement every time!

I added some twine and hemp cording to the banners.

I added some journaling to my layout.  I used one of my edge punches to detail the side.  This paper is the reverse side of the striped paper.

I LOVE flip flops!  I just had to include these because you can see Tanner's flip flops in the picture.  I put a piece of hemp cord right above the flip flop paper with five knots tied in it ~ one for each of us.  I used mini glue dots to keep it in place and taped the back of the paper.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my inspiration for scrapbooking!!!  Your next stop in the hop is the fabulous Cricut Couple!