Washington, DC

Mr B and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Washington, DC and Virginia Beach. It was a much needed break for both of us and we had a great time.

I have always wanted to see the U.S. capitol and I was not disappointed in the least! In fact I was very impressed with how clean, safe and beautiful the entire area was. We actually stayed in Arlinton, VA, right across the river from Washington, so we took the subway in each day to the capitol area. From there we walked at least 10 miles a day as we toured the area! We also did a double-decker bus tour and we sat on the open upper level. It was a great way to see everything and to hear the history of area.

Here are just a few of the photos that we took in Washington.

:: Pennsylvania Avenue ::

:: the Capitol Building ::

:: North Lawn of the White House ::

:: South Lawn of the White House ::

:: Secret Service near the White House ::

:: Lincoln Memorial ::

:: Washington Monument ::

:: Jefferson Memorial ::

:: Supreme Court Building ::

:: looking up from the steps of the Supreme Court Building ::

:: the view from the steps of the Supreme Court Building ::

:: resting at the fountain at the Supreme Court Building ::

:: Arlington National Cemetery ::

:: a beautiful, peaceful and emotional place ::

:: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ::

:: Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ::

:: on the top of the double-decker bus with my handsome tour guide ::

:: Library of Congress ::

:: Federal Reserve Building ::

:: Federal Triangle ::

Despite our aching feet at the end of each day, we totally enjoyed our tour of the capitol. Our trip also included a number of Smithsonian Museums, the Zoo, the National Cathedral and some fabulous restaurants! I will be posting more photos in the next few days :)

Canadian Scrapbooker Summer 2012

Our copies of Canadian Scrapbooker Summer 2012 arrived at the store yesterday and it was a very exciting day! My layout, I ♥ Books, was published in this issue and it was awesome to see it in print!

The other awesome thing is that my BFF (Carolyn) has a layout published in the same issue! The Two Scrapbook Friends in the same magazine at the same time! Very cool :)

Plus, my other scrappy friend, Christa Uttley, has a layout on the facing page of mine, and two other scrappy friends, Sharlene Nye-Petrone and Laura Whitaker, are also in this issue! Congrats to everyone on making it into this great publication. It is wonderful to share the excitement with all of you!

Little Red Wagon #134

It's Wednesday and time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon! Judy has challenged us to make a Father's Day card - simple and to the point!

As I just returned from vacation a couple of days ago, I am a bit behind in my scrapbooking/card making. So for this week's challenge I decided to go with a CAS card. I was inspired by a card that I saw on Pinterest and this is my version :)

I simply printed a tie template onto three different pattern papers and cut them out. Then I printed a sentiment onto cardstock using my computer, added the three ties, that I popped up with foam adhesive, and then layered it onto some brown and grey cardstock.

That is about as simple as it gets, but I think it is perfect for a Father's Day card :)

Be sure to pop over to Little Red Wagon to join in the fun! We would love to see your creation!

Little Red Wagon #133

It's time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!

Most of us purchase patterned paper for our cards or layouts. But our challenge this week is to create our own patterned paper for our project.

I decided to use some Washi Tape to create my card background. (Yes... I am totally addicted to Washi Tape!)

I just alternated strips of two different tapes and it created the perfect background for my little boy card!

The die-cuts are from Imaginisce.

Why not get creative and join in the challenge this week? We would love to have you join us!

Inspiration Elevator May 2012

Welcome to Inspiration Elevator!


IE is a group of like minded scrappy friends who want to raise the bar in their own creative process through unique challenges that we issue to each other once a month. These won't be run of the mill challenges and we hope you will join us each month and be inspired by the innovative designs we create.

This is not a blog hop, and there are no prizes, but we would love it if you would take a few minutes to see what the rest of the Inspiration Elevator team created. We are sure you will feel inspired to get creative:

Ann

Audrey

Carolyn

Cathy

Christa

Joanne

Laura

Laurel

Lisa M

Lisa S

Sue

The first challenge, issued by Christa, is two-fold: to create a new design that reflects your style, and to use a new product or technique that you find inspiring right now.

There are so many awesome products and techniques in the scrapbooking world, but my current love is Washi Tape. All the different colors and patterns just make my heart happy and I look for any excuse to use them! So, of course, I had to use Washi Tape on my layout for this challenge.

I also included some of my favorite techniques: paint splatters, accordion flowers, spool butterflies, and stitching.

In addition, I created an altered border behind my background paper. I simply added bits and pieces of patterned paper in a few places around the edge of the paper. I am happy with how it adds just an extra bit of interest to the whole design :)

My overall design is uncluttered with a bit of white space. I also like working with a single photo that can be the focus of my page.

Thanks for looking and do visit the blogs of the rest of the team. You are sure to be inspired!

Washi Tape

Every once in a while I discover a new product in the scrapbooking world that I just love. My recent addiction is Washi Tape! These fun rolls of color and pattern are perfect for pairing with scrapbooking papers to create amazing layouts and cards!

I created this single page layout using papers from Prima's Doodle Deux collection and fun decorative tape from Queen & Co. I included a small photo of my niece, Sarah, and it all came together perfectly!

I had fun creating a little banner using the tape and some bakers twine.

So there you have it! I am sure you will be seeing lots more of this fun tape on my designs in the future.

Thanks for looking :)

Little Red Wagon #132

I can't believe it is Wednesday already! Life is just so busy, that if it weren't for my Little Red Wagon challenges, I don't know if I would get around to blogging at all!

Anyhoo, our challenge this week is to use mist on our creation. Yippee! We just received some new Mister Huey's mists at the store, so I played with Opaque White.

I placed a chicken wire stencil (The Crafters Workshop) on my Kraft cardstock and sprayed the mist lightly. I love the pattern that it created :)

Then I added some bits and pieces of Follow Your Heart paper from My Minds Eye - love it! A bit of stitching, a pretty button and a little bow and my card was complete.

Thanks for looking and be sure to visit Little Red Wagon to join in the fun :)

Little Red Wagon #131

It is my turn to issue the challenge at Little Red Wagon this week and I want to see everyone 'stitch it up' on their layouts, cards or projects.

I created a card as inspiration.

I designed my card background and then I did some simple machine stitching around the edge. I love using my sewing machine to add an outline to my cards.

I also added a little zig-zag stitch - just for fun!

Why not join us over at Little Red Wagon? I would love to have you play along with my challenge and share your creation with us! See you there :)

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 :)