& currently:

I finally caved...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this piece of paper.  And so didn't want to use it.

Unless it was to frame it alone, or at the very least NOT cut it up!

We have been so busy with end of school activities, house renos and just 

general business that I haven't done much scrapping this week;

I find myself starting to become buries in beautiful products calling my name!

So, I decided to just go for it

I really wanted to just have the paper and this photo (there are so MANY pages

that start out like that in my mind!)...and then I thought I should accentuate the bokeh effect 

with some Elle's Studio tidbits...and some other polka dots...and before I knew it, 

I was in my usual layering frenzy...yup, that's ok!

I wanted to have some hidden journaling for my kids to read later, 

so I added this kraft bag and the kraft ES tidbit in the top left corner to tie back to it.

I wanted to journal a little note about how they are currently not shy about showing 

each other love and support...and that hopefully it will stay that way.

I also used this Elle's Studio tag from the "You & Me" collection to help

bring in a bit of the dark floor in the photo...

Hopefully, now that school has ended, I will have a bit more free time...
oh wait, who am I kidding??
Well, I am hoping to start getting into our summer routine that still allows me some creative time!

EXPLORE @ 1968...Scrapbook Circle April Kit

This is part of the batch of Polaroids from my in-laws that I have been scanning 

and trying to scrapbook!  One of a couple beach photos of my mother-in-law...

Every time I look at this pic, I hear the Beach Boys in my head!

Not only is she a hottie, but how cute is that swimsuit?  

I would love one like it...but she isn't fooling anyone into thinking she was surfing! ;)

Still, it is a great pose, my daughter thought she really was surfing, for about 3 minutes.

I used some leftover pieces of the Scrapbook Circle kit from April "Happy Place"

The colors were just perfect and I loved the ghost alphas from Heidi Swapp.

I have also been going thru a large lovely stack of chipboard that is about 3 years old

and misting it, or using it in some way...It has been wonderful using something that

was gathering dust!  Almost enough motivation to buy some new things to play with...:)

 

I also used a Christy Tomlinson mask and some Amy Tan fabric stickers from previous kits, 

many months ago!  Trying to incorporate as much of them as I can...showing love to all my stash! 

I had to throw in some of these new sequins from Studio Calico, 

some Elle's Studio vellum & other miscellaneous pieces lying around on my desk...

 This started to get me more in the mood for Summer and the beach, 

especially since our Spring lasted all of 4 days!

This is our kids' last week of school, so I had better start getting ready for summer!

ALMOST there!!!

We are trying to reach 8,000 Likes on Facebook today!  It is really close!

Help us reach our goal and one lucky fan will receive our limited edition May kit! 

For your chance to win, go to the Elle's Studio FB page and simply Like us,

 then comment below or on our other contest posts from earlier this week. 

Help us out!!  It is a really cool kit too!

Love My Tapes - Washi as a Tool!

 I focused on washi tape as a tool rather than an embellishment for my LMT post this week...

Washi tape is adhesive, but non-stick...not a lot of tapes can do that well!

I used my washi, masking off a piece of watercolor paper to paint ombre effect for a card.

I started by taping my paper down to my board.

I tore a couple pieces of tape and used it to roughly divide the piece of paper into thirds.

I painted a pale blue wash over the top two halves and painted a sand color at the bottom.

  

I tore more pieces off and then tore each of those in half to get a rough edge.

I randomly placed those pieces of tape & kept painting washes on top off each other.

I didn't keep using more washi, I just moved the other tape down,gradually adding more color!

  

I finally pulled off all the tape pieces and the borders too.

I stamped and embossed a piece of vellum with StazOn and gold Zing!, 

added a couple other embellishments and a piece of patterned paper.

Check out all the washi & other tapes available from Love My Tapes HERE!

And check out our Facebook page for other inspiration & ideas from the Design Team!

Thanks for stopping by & Happy Friday!

When Will It Be Spring? * Elle's Studio {featuring new May kit!} *

I got to play with the new May 2013 Embellishment/Tag Kit which just began at Elle's Studio!

I used it for this layout, "WHeN will it bE SPRING?"  

Our weather has been especially crazy this year...like most of the country it seems.

We usually have a blissful 2 weeks in between the time when the pollen is over and it becomes 

too hot to be outside!  Seriously...This year it was cooler longer, which was great, but we were 

all ready for sunnier, dryer weather!  Especially when the kids just want to be outside...

and the parents want them outside ;)

I can't say enough fabulous things about ALL the products at Elle's Studio.  They are constantly 

surprising us with new products...vellum papers & tags, vellum photo strips!  And new patterned 

paper photo frames...so many cool patterns and colors, but perfect because they all work together!  

I have never worked with a collection of papers that changes between white & ivory based papers 

& products so seamlessly.  It makes matching and working with any of the collections effortless!

You can see the new May Kit and the other new collections at Elle's Studio HERE!

And stay tuned soon for new DT projects featuring the new Cameron & Saltwater Collections!

Elle's Studio MAY DT Gallery Card

 

This was a birthday card I made for the Elle's Studio May DT Gallery.

Just a quick, bright card that could be for a variety of occasions!

I used mostly the Day to Day collection with some of that lovely vellum that is a part of the

 Limited Edition Serendipity Vellum collection...That vellum looks really cool layered over

 another color, like red, because the aqua makes it almost a pink-ish/purple hue. 

I used the Day to Day stamp at the top of the tab and used the snippet tag to

 bring in a little pink, trying to highlight that pinky color...

Thanks for looking!  You can check out all the collections at Two Peas, Scrapbook.com,

A Cherry on Top and of course at Elle's Studio, including the new Serendipity collection.

Sadly, in writing this post, I found out that the vellum in that Limited Edition collection is sold out...boo. 

I wanted some more as well.  BUT, the May Kit which is a part of lots of new surprises from 

Elle's Studio does have some vellum included in it, 6 photo strips and a 3x4 tag!  

You can see it HERE!

Happy Mother's Day & quick cards...

Happy Mother's Day to ALL the Mothers, 

Grandmothers, Mother-in-laws, Stepmothers, Foster Mothers, Mothers to animals...

I hope didn't I leave anyone out?

I made some quick cards for some special ladies in our lives and came up with a 

quick formula to make it easier! :)  I picked out several large stamps, watercolored

some little pieces of paper really quick and let them dry...

I stamped over the watercolor with black Versamark Ink, added some sparkle with Stickles
and adhered them to some matching patterned paper from 6x6 pads!  

I need to use more of those...Not super involved but I love the way they came out...

It would be great to have a lot of these on hand and then stamp whatever sentiment I needed!
Hope everyone had a great weekend, mother or not!
Thanks for stopping by...