National Scrapbook Day On-Line Crop

National Scrapbook Day is only one week away and the Design Team at Two Scrapbook Friends are holding a Forum Crop with lots of fun challenges in honor of this special day.  Our challenges are designed to help you stretch your creativity - to get you to try a new technique or product.

My challenge involves a new love of mine - Washi Tape!  Some of you may or may not have heard about this fun product. Different companies call it different names:  Smash Tape (K & Co.), Decorative Tape (American Crafts and Bella Blvd.), Paper Tape (Bazzill) and Trendy Tape (Queen & Co.) are just a few. There are literally hundreds of amazing colors, patterns and sizes of Washi Tape and it is one of the hottest new trends in paper crafting!

Here is a sweet little tag that I made with some of the different tapes that we sell at Two Scrapbook Friends.

I simply started with a plain tag and began adding bits and pieces of tape to create a background. Then I added a scalloped circle, a bird punched from pattern paper and a few stickers from SRM Stickers.

Be sure to join in the fun on the Forum!  The details for all the challenges are listed there and you will have the chance to win some great prizes.  See you there :)

Little Red Wagon #130

It is time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!  Dee has challenged us to use at least 3 flowers on our project.  Hmmm...

I wasn't sure what to do at first, but then I decided to make a little project!  I had some large wooden spools that I thought would make a perfect base for some flowers.

I simply used some punches and some October Afternoon papers that I have been hoarding to create the flowers.  A bit of scrunching and inking of the circles gave them character and I used some wire for the stems.

I inked the spool top and bottom and added some paper and a sweet bit of ribbon.

A touch of twine on each stem and a small butterfly gave my project the finishing touches!

Now, do try to pop over to Little Red Wagon to see what the other Girlfriends came up with!  I am sure you will be inspired.

Hugs ~

Little Man

I love sketches! Seriously! They are such a great starting point for scrapbooking and card making. I recently created a sketch for a challenge at the Two Scrapbook Friends Spring Retreat and I finally put the finishing touches on the layout that I designed based on my sketch.

First of all, this is the sketch:


And here is my layout:

My girlfriend has the most adorable little boy and she offered to give me I begged her for some photos that I could scrapbook! He recently turned two, so she had lots of current photos for me to work with.

I paired the photos with paper and stickers from Echo Park's Note to Self line. I LOVE this line and I had great fun working with it!

I cut tickets from one of the papers to use in place of the banner pieces on the sketch. Then I added some machine stitching to secure them to the page.

I am sure I will have a few more pages using photos of this little cutie! Thanks for looking~

Little Red Wagon #129

It has been a terribly busy couple of weeks, so it felt really good to sit down last night and do some scrapbooking! This week's challenge at Little Red Wagon is brought to us by Rosanne and she wanted us to put a pocket on our creation.

I did not have a plan for my card at all. I just went to my desk, found some paper that I liked and started creating.

I also don't have a plan on who this card is for, but we have a few graduations coming up in the family, so I will have it ready to go.

If you want to see some creative ideas using pockets, be sure to visit the Little Red Wagon blog. You are sure to be inspired!

Parmesan Knots

On Easter Sunday I made some Parmesan Knots to go with our dinner and they were incredibly delicious! I found the recipe via Pinterest and I am posting it so you can give them a try!

Easy Parmesan Knots

1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Roll each biscuit into a 12-in. rope and tie into a knot; tuck ends under. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush the warm knots with the mixture.

Yield: 10 knots

Enjoy :)

Little Red Wagon #128

Regs has challenged us to use a Spring palette on our Little Red Wagon creation this week - soft Spring colours, like pinks, greens, etc.

When I saw this sweet little stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs, Riley, I thought she would be perfect on a Spring card.

I once again used my Copic markers to color her and I did some paper piecing on her little outfit. The Echo Park line, Hello Spring, gave me the perfect papers in pastel colors.

For the design of my card, I used one of my own sketches!

You can find more of my sketches at i.love.sketches.

Thanks for a sweet challenge this week Regan! Be sure to check out all the other great creations at Little Red Wagon and have a wonderful Spring day :)

Easter Joy!

I had such a wonderful Easter! It was a peaceful day with just our small family and we truly enjoyed an unhurried pace and each others company. Even though we don't have any little ones, I still had fun shopping for candy and making Easter baskets! I was even able to make a pink Easter basket as our eldest son had his girlfriend join us for dinner! How delightful!

I also had fun setting our dinner table and trying a few new recipes. I decided to do a more informal table for Easter and I loved the colors and the fun little items I added.

The three little bunnies were made by my Mom over 30 years ago and are one of my most treasured Easter possessions.

I made a yummy Peach Sangria with Strawberries...

and the most delicious Parmesan Knots! (I will post the recipe tomorrow!)

We also made some colorful Deviled Eggs that were as delightful to look at as they were to eat!

All you do is add a little food coloring to water and add your prepared hard boiled egg whites.

Then you wait a few minutes until they are beautifully dyed!

Add your egg yolk filling and a sprinkle of Paprika and you have a gorgeous plate of delicious eggs!

I even found the time to make up some paper Easter carrots. I found the instructions on the BoBunny blog and they were easy and fun to do!

I filled them with jelly beans and everyone had a special treat greeting them at their place for dinner :)

I love being domestic! That is the one thing I miss the most about being employed outside the home. But I am thankful that on special occasions, I can fuss a bit and enjoy a different aspect of creativity!

I hope you had a blessed Easter! Thanks for looking ~

He Is Risen!

I pray that each of you will have a most blessed Easter!

Little Red Wagon #127

Wow - Wednesday already? Where does the time go?

We had an amazing weekend with 70 of our scrapbook friends at the Two Scrapbook Friends Spring Retreat this past weekend! Not only did I have fun hosting the weekend, doing product demos, and enjoying the entertainment of some hilarious games, but I also managed to get two layouts and two cards done! One is the card for this week's challenge at Little Red Wagon.

Judy has asked us to use an umbrella on our creation this week. I had the perfect stamp from Whipper Snapper designs, Sophie, that I decided to work with.

She is all decked out in her rubber boots and umbrella and she paired nicely with some new Jillibean papers! Isn't she a darling?

Now be sure to puddle jump your way over to Little Red Wagon to see what the other Girlfriends created this week! Then be sure to join in the fun with your own creation!