BFF Kit...

Hi friends. Back today to debut the November Kit of the Month, Best Friends Forever Kit:

All of the patterned papers are double sided with solid colors on the back...
This month Dream Team Artist, Laura Vegas created her magic with this kit. Here are some of her projects...
Aren't her projects awesome? Thanks Laura! You can find more details about the kit HERE and more info. on Laura's projects HERE. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone. Just thought I would pop on and show you some of the games I made for my nieces and nephews. First up, a Halloween bingo game. You can find the blank printable bingo card sheet HERE. I just used some of my Halloween stamps to create the game boards and call out cards....

I also made my nephew a Halloween Memory match game.... Speaking of J.T. ....I just got back from trick-or-treating with him: (Isn't he adorable?)
I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you stop by tomorrow. I'm debuting the kit of the month....

Rasberry Suite Color Challenge #18

Back today with a challenge from Dawn. I had a hard time with the colors this week....

The colors are so pretty but I just wasn't feeling the creative mojo. So, after I let it sit for a few days, I went back to it and it seemed to finally come together.....

I think using some new stamps helped! :) You can find the flourish background stamp HERE and the butterfly HERE. I love those images!

Well, that's all I got for tonight. TFL!

Chicago Trip...

Ted and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary on the 16th. It's hard to believe that five years have passed since our wedding day...

We talked about what we wanted to do to celebrate for awhile. We both thought a trip to Chicago for the weekend sounded perfect.

After arriving in Chicago on Friday afternoon and getting settled in, we stopped for a bite to eat at Portillo's and then walked to Navy Pier. There was so much to do there. They even put on a fireworks show at night. I loved being by the water.....

As soon as we got to Navy Pier, we headed to go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel...
Me and my hubby inside the Ferris Wheel... A view of the Chicago skyline from the Ferris Wheel....
On Saturday afternoon, I met up with my blog buddy Carla and her cutie daughter Kendall for a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza lunch and some scrapbook shopping. It was so nice to meet up. She is super sweet. You can read all about our visit HERE on Carla's blog. THANK YOU Carla for hosting the day and taking pictures!
When I got home from my trip with Carla, Ted and I wanted to try a restaurant that was just around the corner. Weber Grill had the BEST steak.
After dinner we went to Michigan Ave. to do a little shopping. A few streets over, we stumbled upon the Hershey Store. Oh my. It was so cool...When we got back to the hotel, I broke out my new Slice (that I bought from Carla) and started playing while Ted watched the last few laps of the Nascar race. :) We stopped at Lou Mitchell's (one of Dawn's suggestions) for breakfast before going to the Brown Elephant for some vintage/antique shopping and then heading home on Sunday. It was SO good! Their not kidding when they say it is the best breakfast in the world. :) Ted and I really enjoyed the vintage, diner-like atmosphere.
The trip was fantastic minus the traffic. lol It was so nice that Ted and I got to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just spend some time together. I can't wait to go back!

I'll be back soon with some creative shares. Thanks for stopping by!

Erin joins our dream team...

Hello, Hello! I've got some super exciting news to share. Erin Terrell Clarkson is joining our dream team! Erin has been a favorite scrapper of mine for a long time. I always knew when a layout was hers because of her unique style and I remember drooling over her work in some of the making memories beyond books. I have to admit I was a little intimidated to contact her because of her famousness (lol...is that a word!?) but she put my nerves to rest as soon as I emailed her. She is so down to earth and sweet. A big shout out goes to Laura (a fellow Erin fan) for letting me know about Erin's new blog which you can find HERE. Here is a little more about this talented scrapbook artist:

"Erin began scrapbooking in 1997, shortly after the birth of her daughter, Daisy. She wanted a creative way to share photos with long distance friends and family members. After browsing through a scrapbook magazine at a local craft store, she found herself captivated with a new hobby!

Erin has contributed to numerous idea books with Making Memories, Provo Craft, Creating Keepsakes magazine, and Scrapbooks etc. magazine. Since 2002, Erin has been a frequent contributor to Scrapbooks etc. magazine and currently works as one of their contributing editors.
Her favorite thing about scrapbooking is being able to meet so many wonderful new friends who share in her enthusiasm and who love to be creative!".

Welcome to the team Erin. Can't wait to work with you!

In other random news, I was feeling bit bad/scared today after visiting an oral surgeon. Yep. I have to get my wisdom teeth pulled. Sigh. So it was a great surprise to come home and see THIS. It definitely put a smile on my face and made me forget for a few minutes about my future appointment!

Gotta go get a work out in. I'll be back soon with trip pics from our Chicago trip. We had so much fun!

Christmas Cards...

Yep. I have all of my Christmas cards done. You may think I am crazy but I wanted to pack light when I went on a recent trip to Cornerstone (a scrapbook retreat) and wanted a project where I didn't have to think so much and just sit, cut, assemble and watch movies. I'm sure my friends thought I was crazy for making Christmas cards in August but I had so much fun creating without the pressure of the holiday right around the corner! Here is my Christmas card for this year (Shane and Jennie, don't look! lol) ... I really wanted to do non traditional holiday colors (these yummy papers are from Crate Paper). My starting point was THIS stamp set. I fell in love with the mug image and it is kinda hard to see in the pic but I added diamond sticklez to the steam above the mug...it gives is a nice effect.

So what is that you see inside the card? Yep. Each card will have a packet of hot cocoa inside!

To make the holder for the packet, I just used a piece of ribbon and two brads on the ends. Works great!

And since I knew I wanted the recipient to see the hot cocoa packet inside, I made a acetate window by stamping THIS stamp with white Staz-On ink . Here is a better picture of it without the packet inside...

And if you are not quite ready to think about Christmas and are looking for a fun Halloween idea you can look HERE. I did this project/video last year using THIS adorable stamp set. Thought I would post about it again for all of my new readers to the blog.

Speaking of great stamps, I just put in a whole bunch of new ones in the store. Here are some of my favorites....HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Can't wait to play with them when I get back. Need to log off and go pack for our Chicago trip. My hubby and I leave in the morning. Can't wait! I'll be back Sunday to tell ya all about it. Have a great weekend! :)

A couple of layouts....

I forgot to share some layouts that I mentioned here awhile ago that I wanted to finish up. They are both of Alex, the sweetest 16 year old I know. Love him so much. :)

The first layout is of his first day of his junior year of high school.... (Please ignore the wire that is poking out on all sides. I just purchased a new stand to help photograph layouts and its a little too big but it has to work for now!)

Isn't it great that he still lets me take first day of school pictures. Maybe its because he realizes that there is no point in fighting it, I will win. lol I didn't want to do a lot of journaling so I thought I would mix it up and have him sign his name and put the date. It was a way to have him involved on the page.

(BTW, that tag was white so I blended Broken China distress ink over it.)

The next layout is of his band playing before the football game....

Lots of mixing patterns and textures. Here's another shot...

I'll have to keep this post short because my hubby and I are planning a trip to Chicago this weekend for our five year anniversary. So excited! Be back soon...