{ The Simple Woman's Daybook, Purple Onion Designs }

Love this simple documentation idea from The Simple Woman's Day Book.

For today...

Outside my window...darkness; it is 11pm here.

I am thinking...about what I need to get done tomorrow before we leave for the park.

I am thankful for...kids menu.

From the kitchen...nothing today. We went out for dinner to celebrate late Father's Day.

I am wearing...Strawberry Shortcake pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.

I am creating...some fun cards for a reveal next week.

I am going...to catch up on favorite shows.

I am reading...Parenting magazine...going to the library on Wednesday to check out some new stuff.

I am hoping...for rain.

I am hearing...baby monitor noise.

Around the house...toys to put away.

One of my favorite things...Eskimo kisses with Alex in addition to regular kisses.

A few plans for the rest of the week...I need to get busy, busy, busy and finish project due this week. Park tomorrow, library Wednesday, water park Thursday and something fun for the 4th.

A photo to share... Here are two more cards I created with Purple Onion Designs stamps for Caardvarks. I used the new Baby Noteblock Set. The challenge is window cards, there is still time to enter here.

{ Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - June }

The challenge: Summer is FULL of so many wonderful colors, sights & sounds! This month your challenge is to get inspired by the lazy days of summer and reflect your inspiration in a project of your choice! Whether it be the colors in your favorite summer treats, the pattern on your bathing suit & beach towel or even the texture of the sand between your toes, use any or all of these things as a springboard for your design. Please be sure to share an image found online, in a magazine or a photo you have taken yourself that communicates your point of inspiration within the body of your blog post! 

 My inspiration came from Better Homes and Gardens magazine (see photos below). I fell in love with the red, blue, and yellow color combination. In addition, I used the star frame as a shape for my card. I loved the star in the middle so I cut my paper in the shape of a flower. The idea came from a chipboard frame that was sitting on my desk. I traced the flowers and cut them out with exacto knife. The center of the flower is stamped. Supplies: Papertrey Ink cardstock, paper and stamps (Guide Lines Two, Mega Mixed Messages). Making Memories (yellow) and Creative Cafe (red) flowers, Karen Foster Design white floss, Fiskars border punch, machine stitching. Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collections 2009.

{ Purple Onion Designs, Project 365 - week 25 }

Here are couple of cards I created with Purple Onion Designs stamps. They were very generous and sponsored the Caardvarks DT. I used the new Baby Noteblock Set and Small Number Block Set. The challenge is window cards, so make sure you enter your beautiful creation here.

Project 365 - week 25

6.15 - Alex wanted to go outside first thing in the morning...what you can't see is that he does not have a diaper on. 6.16 - at the park. He still likes to wear his hat. 6.17 - one of his Wii poses. 6.18 - he is so cute, I ask him where the flowers are and he pints to them. 6.19 - I was finally able to find a water mat for him. These little mats are awesome. He was trying to "catch" the water. I thought this photo was so cute, too, from the same day. I had way too many to choose from. 6.20 - we were on the way to the playground and stopped to check out the pool. 6.21 - I taught him to smell the flowers. 6.22 - He started taking only one nap per day this week. There are two extra hours in the morning that need activities and this is one of them. In addition to watercoloring he wanted to drink the water!!! ***Any tips or ideas for toddler activities would be great.

Have a great night!

{ One more peek from CupCards {to go} }

Did you all enjoy Danni's peek?! If you haven't seen it, I would definitely go back; as a matter of fact, you can start at the beginning of the hop over on the Cupcards {to go} site and go from there.

Here is my little peek. This is my favorite kit. I just couldn't stop making cards. I can't wait to show you more. It's bright and beautiful, perfect for summer and celebrations. Be ready, July 1st, when this kit goes on sale. It's first come, first serve and you need to be fast.

Make sure you leave a comment on the main site and all the DT blogs to be entered in the giveaway. Sonda has some Sweet Stamps that will be going to the lucky winner.

Check out what my sweet friend Melanie has for you !

Have a great day!

{ Purple Onion Designs, Caardvarks challenge and window cards }

THE CHALLENGE: We are teaming up with Purple Onion Designs and creating *WINDOW* cards. And as a special treat, all Caardvark readers get a 25% online discount by entering "Caardvarks" at checkout. The Caardvarks crew made so many beautiful creations using Purple Onion stamps. Check out the Caardvarks blog for more details. In addition to the blog, there is a special Purple Onion Flickr Gallery for you to browse through as well! THE PRIZE: enter your NEW Window card(s) by July 3rd, Midnight PST for your chance to win a $50 Online Shopping Spree at Purple Onion Designs.

Be on a lookout for Project 365 photos and CupCards {to go} sneaks. The winners from our blog hop were announced...maybe you are one of them.

{ Impression Obsession DT challenge #22 - no patterned paper }

I love no patterned paper challenges, I just have a hard time deciding which stamps to use for my background. I stamped my background with a stamp from Family Sentiments (see the end of this post) and the flourish is from Butterfly Bliss stamp set. The sentiment is form Happiness Is set, I only inked "Smile" portion of the stamp.

I used 2 Sketches 4 You sketch #28 for this card. The ribbon and tag are Making Memories and flower is Prima.

I hope you'll take the time to visit the other designers' blogs for inspiration! Here's a little secret..ONE of the designers has blog candy...go find her! Julie, Deborah, Dina, Laura, Jeanne, Jenny, Shirley, Kelli.

{ CupCards {to go} Blog Hop }

WELCOME TO NEXT STOP!

Did you all enjoy Chrys' peek?! If you haven't seen it, I would definitely go back; as a matter of fact, you can start at the beginning of the hop over on the Cupcards {to go} site and go from there.

Here is my little peek. What do you think??? Just a few of my favorite pieces from this wonderful kit. It's bright and beautiful, perfect for summer and celebrations. Be ready, July 1st, when this kit goes on sale. It's first come, first serve and you need to be fast.

Make sure you leave a comment on the main site and all the DT blogs to be entered in the giveaway. Sonda has some Sweet Stamps that will be going to the lucky winner.

Check out what my sweet friend Danni has for you !

{ I won !!!! Project 365 - week 24 }

Remember this post from last week, my final challenge. Well, I won! I won first place and I get to be on the Design Team through the next term. I am so excited and I can't wait to get started working with the awesome kits at My Scrapbook Nook.

Sharing two more layouts I created during the scrap-off. Do these photos look familiar?

The challenge was to use at least two photos, flowers, 3 patterned papers and color yellow.

The main paper is a transparency that I adhered to white cardstock. The butterflies are rub-ons that I painted with yellow paint from the other side. I added other touches of yellow with American Crafts paper and letter stickers. The flowers are printed on the transparency and I added Making Memories flowers over the top.

This was one of the first layouts, a challenge about me. The photo is from the Dallas Arboretum in April.

Project 365 - week 24.

6.8 - this week, since daddy was out of town, Alex was very clingy. I let him have his snack in his "room" (the pantry).

6.9 - at the park. He had so much fun climbing through the tires.

6.10 - filling his water table.

6.11 - I thought this was a cute photo of Alex drinking his juice.

This was what he was like most of the time, trying to climb up. Love this photo, camera strap and all. 6.12 - just Alex being silly, with food in his mouth. 6.13 - love this photo. He can safely climb up those steps. He is still pretty slow and cautious. 6.14 - I have been cutting up his banana in very small pieces, but I guess he can bite into it with his two, little, teeth.

***There is a Project 365 album link, with ALL the photos, on my side bar, if you want to look back. Each post is tagged with Project 365 and that will show you all the blog posts with the weekly photos.

***Be on a lookout for a sneak peek from CupCards {to go} soon!!!

Have a great night!

{ Memories - final challenge project }

I don't have a card to share until next week with some awesome sneak peeks from July CupCards {to go} kit...you will love it...it is sweet. There are sneaks on the blog and chances to win prizes!!! Go check it out.

I have been participating in a month long challenge at My Scrapbook Nook. I was able to complete 13 layouts and several cards. One of the layouts was picked up the other day for publication by Scrapbook Trends Magazine. It's been a long time since I had a layout picked up. This is the final project for my competition at My Scrapbook Nook. I made it to the top ten last week. The challenge was to create a Masterpiece! No, "make a layout that speaks of YOU and your style. Make something interesting or beautiful. Make something that says something about you, about your life, about whatever YOU want to say." So I did. The idea came right away and I sketched this (see the end of the post for my sketch). Top of the page is cut out and the paper curled down and distressed. The butterflies are attached with the floss and tied to pins. The original plan was to hang clouds from the top in the empty space, but when I started working these butterflies by Heidi Swapp were sitting on my desk and this idea came to mind. I applied rub-ons to the butterflies. I had a hard time choosing photos, I have so many. These are from different points in my life that take me back to special memories. Journaling is a poem that I love. I used Jenni Bowlin and October Afternoon paper. I love this journaling stamp from Journaling II stamp set by Impression Obsession. The crochet flower that my mom made was a perfect touch. Sorry about the bad scan, this is all I have. The supply list is on the next page written with a sharpie and it shows through. Have a great weekend!

{ CPS #119, Caardvarks challenge, Project 365 - week 23 }

Great American Scrapbook convention was last weekend and I finally got my hands on some paper that I missed out on. The paper is Basic Grey Lemonade and Lime Rickey. I don't know if you can see in the photo, but I did spray the journaling spot, stamp from Impression Obsession, with Glimmer Mist. I bought couple of bottles to add to my collection. I am going to give this spray one more chance. So far so good. I added some yellow paint to the edges and did some creative stitching, which I covered up with a flower and the ticket, ha ha. I love these colors together. I didn't go all crazy, but I did buy several sheets from my favorite collections. CPS card sketch #119.

If you are for a little challenge, check out Caardvarks.

Create a **NEW** 3-D paper crafting project. It can be an interactive card, book, gift bag, trinket box, home decor item, altered anything... You have until June 17th at Midnight PST to post your creations here. The prize is a HUGE assortment of product from Club Scrap! Head on over to Caardvarks check out the challenge details and all the beautiful creations made by the Caardvarks Crew! I got to play with this tri-fold card. It comes with these vibrant die cut panels. I stamped the front with Butterfly Bliss stamp set and embossed it with white embossing powder. The butterflies and the sentiment are from Lucky Ladybugs stamp set. Project 365 - week 23.

6.1 - I finally planted flowers and the patio is pretty again. Alex can climb and sit in a chair!

6.2 - it was nice spring week and Alex had his snack outside. 6.3 - hello, I need help. I think he is waiting for someone to turn the water on, he knows how to turn it off. 6.4 - hello, let me in, please! 6.5 - watering the flowers, just like his mommy. He saw me do it, went in the house and grabbed the second pitcher and did exactly what I did. 6.6 - I caught him with the ball. When the wind blows it away, he points, and wants me to get it. 6.7 - you can't see the mess he made with all the Tupperware containers.