explore this way **Flamingo Scraps**

This past April I got both boys a scooter, they LOVED them.  It is a bit of an investment, but some of the best money I have ever spent.  It took them all but 5 minutes to "learn" how to sue them well and then it was all about scooting every where we went.  At the park, down the street, at Grandma's house, in our house, to school, down the driveway, etc, etc, etc.  The boys scooted around until it just got to hot here in Texas to even be outside for longer than 10 minutes.  So in the pictures you can see my boys, Morgan in front in Orange and Brandon in the back, scooting down our sidewalks in front of our house as I sit in the front yard grass with Catherine enjoying a beautiful spring day.

The journaling says "Bruised hands, scraped knees, falling off, running into stuff, the wind in this face, laughter, and endless moments of fun with their first scooters.  They played until the heat of Texas summer set in, then they moved to scooting indoors in our hallways.  What fun these scooters have been in 2013."

I
I got to play with another fun set of items for the July Flamingo 4 from Flamingo Scraps.  We got wooden pieces from Pink Paislee, resist paper, a tag, and a plastic roll used for trims.

I used the resist paper as my background adding in mist of orange and teal to pop out the colors.  I then layered the cut of tops of the trim reel (painted with gesso and misted orange) along with some of the wooden parts and the journal tag under the pictures with a few added flowers.  I used the wooden words and arrow and misted them in the same teal color to match the paper.  I then wrote the journaling on the same teal color in cardstock to bring it all together.

Supplies Used
Cardstock - Bazzil
Patterned Paper
Punches - Martha Stewart and EK
Mist - Heidi Swapp and Clearsnap
Flowers - Prima
Pen - Recollections
Mediums - Ranger
Wood - Pink Paislee
Found items - other

2013 Xmas Cards **Flamingo Scraps**

I never seem to have the time to make Christmas Cards in December, so when Suzanne over at Flamingo Scraps gave us the Christmas kits in July I thought I can make a bunch of cards now to give out to my kids teachers, friends, family etc.  Get them done now and get not have to worry about it later!!

 For all of the cards I used a Kraft card base (24 pack bought at Michaels that come with envelopes).  Kraft paper goes with every color so it make for a great base and it makes card making much faster and easier.  I then used the same layout and papers from the Christmas Brights Kit, this speeds up making lots of cards fast.  I used different tags and stickers, but the basic idea for each card is the same.  

Tips for making multiple simple cards fast

1) When making cards like this set up and assebly line. 
2) Make the prototype card, then once known all dimensions start cutting for the rest of the cards, one paper type at a time, don't try and cut everything for one card, then start all over, this takes way to long.
3) Inked everything for all the cards at the same time.  If you are doing a stamp, stamp everything at the same time too.
4) start gluing one color at a time.  For these cards I glued all the background red first, then all the blue dot papers, then the paper strips, etc.
5) Add stickers and you are done.

 Another fun way to dress up your cards to add stickers to the envelopes.  As long as you are not mailing the envelopes as is to people (hand delivery or mailed with other objects in a box) then decorating the envelopes just adds to the fun.

Supplies used

Card base - other

Patterned Paper - Carta Bella and Echo Park

Stickers - Echo park

Ink - Prima

Welcome Home Daddy **Memory Maze**

Mike got to come back to the states early from being deployed to help train the next unit replacing their unit in Camp Phoenix.  The bad part was that he was 3 hours away for over a month, so close yet so far away.  During this time I took our youngest child (Catherine) to see him and spend a weekend with him.  Catherine has last seen her daddy when she was 2 weeks old, and even though we Skyped and talked on speaker phone so she could hear his voice, she had not seen him in the flesh for 8 months.  We were all a bit worried how she was going to react to him, as with every other male that tired to hold her (including grandfathers) she cried.  Within minutes of Mike walking through the door he laid on the bed next to her and I got this wonderful picture of the two of them.  Neither could stop smiling, it was such a sweet and wonderful moment to watch, father and daughter together at last.

I wanted the flourish to speak for itself, it is just so pretty that all I wanted to do was enhance it with some ink, a few embellishments, and a picture.  I had so much to say with this picture that in the end it would have taken up the entire layout to write the story, so instead I wrote nothing and decided to write the story when I posted on-line, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Memory Maze Chipboard Supplies

12 x 12 flourish corner set 8 sold 3's - Z0024

 

Supplies Used

Cardstock - Kaisercraft

Patterned paper/journal cards - Prima

Buttons, flowers, black bling - Prima

Pink gems - Kaisercraft

Punches - EK and Martha Stewart

Ink - Clearsnap

Butterflies - Petallo

Twine - Other

Chipboard - Memory Maze

Enjoy!!

Thank you - Card **Memory Maze**

While my husband was deployed to Afghanistan this past year he got numerous boxes and letters from a lady in the States who got his address from her Church.  A couple of the boxes made there way home to us and the kids (who has a blast with them and all the fun goodies she sent along) because he came home early.  As a thank you to her for her kindness she bestowed on my husband I made and mailed this card to her.

I did not want the card to be to bulky for the mail, so the thickest part of the card is the chipboard.  For this chipboard I used Tim Holtz distress ink in Black Soot and just pressed the chipboard into it to give the a slightly distressed look.  I wanted the feel of the card not to be too feminine, so I went for darker colors and a simple and clean feel to the card.

 Memory Maze Chipboard Supplies

Boarder 40- NO 11 PK 25 - E0011 

Supplies Used

Card base- Recollections

Patterned paper - Prima

Ink - Ranger

Chipboard - Memory Maze

Punch - Martha Stewart

Twine - other

Stamp - Recollections

Enjoy!!

2013 Tri Fold Mini **Flamingo Scraps and Memory Maze**

Every year I make a mini album for the grandparents of the kids from the past year.  I do all kinds of different things, this year I found two identical tri-fold mini's in my scrap drawer I had forgotten about as I was purging and packing my scrap apace for our up coming move.  They are from a kit a friend had given me (2 identical kits) that were so old that they stickers in the kit had lost their stickiness, i think the kits are circa 2000 or earlier.  So I salvaged the tri-fold part and set forth to make the ancient become new.  

I used the wonderful bright colors of the Christmas kit from Flamingo Scraps, and since I was only covering the fronts of each of the tri-fold it was easy to make identical pages for each grandparent, why recreate the wheel twice?  I did have to alter the flower and brad colors, but everything else is identical.

So here are the bases for the minis I am giving the grandparents.  The only addition is pictures (I have not done it yet since the year is not over yet), and since I have three children with me, one girl and 2 boys, the boys get the green and blue sides and the girl gets the pink and red in the middle.

I added to the left side the wonderful Memory Maze chipboard.  By accident I flipped one of the flourishes upside down when I painted it (painted with gelatos and water), but now I can't decide which direction I like more, they both look great.

Memory Maze Chipboard Supplies

Flourish Corner Small Pkt 2 - S0524

Supplies Used

Cardstock and Patterend Paper - Carta Bella

Chipboard - Memory Maze

Flowers - Prima

Brads - Carta Bella

Ribbon/charm/gems - other

Ink/paint - Faber Castel and Prima