guilt-free giveaway

page from Jan. Creating Keepsakes

Have you ever seen the sometimes cool-sometimes dorky monthly highlight in Glamour magazine called, "Hey, It's Okay." It sparked an idea for a scrapbook page where I filled thought bubbles with "It's okay..." statements. There's no doubt in my mind that you are like me and we tend to be hard on ourselves with everything we are balancing in life. That's why I am asking, no pleading, to be a little more easy on yourself. Take a break on me. hmmmm, that doesn't really work. Try this... how about some free stuff-that's way better than my virtual pep talk. :)

First up, my favorite art journal etsy shops-Evalicious! I love checking out her shop and seeing what delicious treasures Eve has cooking up. Right now she has put together some rad Coptic Journal kits and yummy embellishments that she wants to giveaway to one of you. Sweet! I also just noticed that she added some of her Everyday art journal kits similar to the cool Christmas one she had... they seriously sell like hot cakes!
the owl book is showing what the finished kit looks like but not included in kit.

Next, there's the glorious Elle's Studio! You must check out the cool stuff that Elle designs. They are super easy to incorporate into scrapbook pages and projects. I recently made a mini with some of her adorable tags that I will be sharing asap. (asap meaning 'as soon as I get off my tush and finish it.') I love her date tags, calendar tags, stamps... I could go on and on. It's a rainbow of goodness I tell ya!
To be entered to win one of the prizes it is quite simple. Leave a comment with an "It's okay..." statement that relates to you. You can be serious, funny, witty whatevs... just do it & really mean it, or at least pretend just for me.
Supplies:
AC: thought bubble paper, circle rubons, pen
Sassafras: bottom border, patterned paper

minis with maggie

It's crazy how much q&a have grown since last summer. While we vacationed in Newport Beach the digital orange took these awesome photos. This summer I am super excited & stoked that the Maggie Holmes will be in Utah for the July 4th weekend and is taking our family pics!! Not only is it fun to hang out with my cute friend but she's crazy-talented behind the lens... I'm sure you already knew that. ;)
You should check out her site & schedule a 'mini' family session... which is the perfect amount of time for my two busy bees.

kick back

and have an extraordinary weekend!
Drink grape soda, ride a ferris wheel, watch the sunset, connect with an old friend, have a water balloon fight, eat pancakes... whatever your summer heart desires. :) Hopefully I'll see you at Bijou Market or Nie Nie's birthday celebration.

PS I love all your enthusiasm for SOS. If you emailed me before today 6:30 pm mountain standard time you are in... Note to Self: buy more pink sunglasses. :)

SOS season 2

*edited* SOS signups closed at 6/26 6:30 pm mtn standard time*
Let's kick off the Shades of Summer season 2! I am so excited to see all you cute ladies workin' these pink pretties. For those of you who are new to SOS-- Last summer I connected with bloggers all over the country with yellow stylin' shades. They would take a photo wearing them and then send them onto the next person on the list. Collin and I ended up sending out 10 boxes of shades to over 150 bloggies. It was a blast even though only 1 box made it's way back home... :)

We had so much fun we had to do it again this year!
**Edited*** thanks for your excitement we've hit our quota. If you emailed me by June 26th at 6:30 mountain standard time you are in. ***
If you would like to play along click here to read the requirements and how to sign up! There is limited space so check it out if you are interested.

*We are also going worldwide-- Kristin Reinhard is hosting SOS in western Europe so email her at everydaycreativeness(at)gmail.com to join in on the fun.

*Click on the details here and let me know if you want to host and SOS in your country.

I am organizing my office so stay tuned for a scrapbook giveaway. xo

Best 4 quarters I've ever spent!

This summer I will happily hand over mucho money in return for a cup of sugar flavored ice! :)

hello summer

My calendar says it's officially summer so you know what that means... the return of Shades of Summer. Last year I sent out 10 boxes of traveling sunglasses to over 150 ladies. I'm so sad that some of the shades didn't make it to everyone so this time around there will be stricter rules to play along...;) Stay tuned this week for the info and a chance to sign up on Wednesday.

A simple album for Collin from his darlings. I love how their cute faces peek through the circle transparency on the cover page. The mini album was made with an Accucut die mixing chipboard and acrylic pieces then my trusty Bind-It-All and coils to put it all together.

I wrote little love notes on the back of the October Afternoon wild cards, sewed a pocket with vellum and tucked the notes inside.

Hambly: Circle transparency; Teresa Collins: black ruler paper from Documented collection; Heidi Swapp clock; Jenni Bowlin bingo card; October Afternoon Wild Cards; Studio Calico: Alphabet Paper; KI Memories: red circle paper; Tim Holtz: word tickets. The sun is out so we are off to the pool. Happy Monday!

hey daddy-o

Remember this morning when Avery kept sticking her foot right in your face and saying "this one now" and you had to tickle each cute piggy over and over and over...
Or when both kiddos were up probably 3 times last night and you didn't get any sleep.
You are such a great dad that sacrifices and gives your all to make sure they're happy-even half of your milk shake if that's what it takes.
We probably don't say it enough-- thanks for all you do! We love you!

Happy Father's Day!

as seen in February Creating Keepsakes Magazine.

Making Memories: diecut paper, vintage trims

SEI: patterned paper

Prima: flowers

Sassafras: buttons

Rhonna Farrer Vintage Tool Kit: Frames and Photo Textures

Bijou Market•pretties for you

Once upon a time my sister Emily had a brilliant idea to get local handmade artists together to sell their pretties in one magical night. Well, it's time again for the 2nd gathering of Bijou market-a handmade event. I am extending an invitation to join us::: You'll find apparel:we have t-shirts for the whole fam, skirts dresses, tops for women, girls and baby girls, baby shorts for boys, scarves, belts, aprons, and tutus Accessories:bags, purses, hand painted sandals, headbands (feather, flower, crocheted, rubysue looking ones, trim, lace, bows) headbands for babies (a lou and lee knockoff) bobbies, necklaces, bib necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings Home Decor:candles, cupcakes, letterpress prints, cards, posters, photography prints, frames, vintage cake plate stands, beach cruisers, jewelry organizers
Whether you are attending or wishing you lived local in Utah---join in on the fun and leave a comment to win one of the 3 darling prizes:

•A Sassafras Skirt•$20 gift card to Rachelli Designs • Skeleton Closet Ring• Bijou Market See you there... Charity did such a fab job with the visuals.

bubbles & ruffles

Because it's summer, time for a tea party, dress up time, a birthday party, for twirling or storytime, naptime or chasing bubbles... so many reasons to wear a poofy skirt. Found at Emze. Finally, here's the link for those of you who asked where I got it... but clearly you can click on it even if you didn't ask. ;)

...only in Puerto Rico

Just got back from the pool, while the kiddos are napping, I thought this was the opportune moment to throw some blog love out to the world wide web.

Puerto Rico was ah-maze-ing. Collin and I arrived a couple days before the event to hang out at the beach, eat yummy food and basically just relax. It was kinda tricky to switch gears from our regular routine of go-go-go... but definitely worth it. We missed our little munchkins so much but they were having fun with Auntie Charity, Auntie Mimi, Yaya, and Gigi. Thanks a million for taking care of them!

With out further ado... meet my friend Yamille:
Yamille is the owner of the Memory Box store and ran the Puerto Rico scrapbook event I taught at. I met her a couple years ago at CHA and was thrilled when she asked if I would teach at her first event. We've been emailing and chatting on the phone but I didn't know how spunky and fun this girl was... she makes the Energizer bunny tired. I've never laughed so hard than when she jumped on one of the tables while singing karaoke at the crop! :) She put so much heart into this event and helped unite scrapbookers all over their little island to make one big family. Thanks for everything Yamille!

More photos of the event... Collin & Camille were my TAs. Loved the students' enthusiasm & meeting bloggies! Thanks for the sweet gifts & laughs. It was a blast.

Where will you find scrapbookers dancing to macarena when they win a Silhouette?

... only in Puerto Rico!

Where will you find scrapbookers lip syncing Ricky Martin when their name is drawn for a prize?

... only in Puerto Rico! Can't wait until next year.

Next stop on the event express is::: CKU Provo

Hola!

from Puerto Rico... yes, we pulled an all-nighter and are here! We spent the day enjoying the ocean & sunshine-- it' s beautiful here! Can't wait to teach some classes this weekend and meet lots of fabulous ladies. The word on the street is that there's going to be karaoke on Saturday night... i'm sure Collin's picking out his song choice as i type.
~~

A couple weeks ago when i opened my recent issue of Cookie magazine while enjoying a bowl of strawberries i immediately was drawn to the words and energy from one of the ads, so i had to recreate my own version. Then i had one of those ah-ha moments & want to share on my blog some of the random things that inspire me. if you don't mind. ;) Starting with this one 'inspired by a magazine ad.'

i will share things that enliven my mind and excite my creative soul. Not only for scrapbooking but for photography, crafting... and my life. What inspires you lately?

the birthday post

A Party last night means that I get to eat cake for breakfast and blog while the kiddos are busy playing with new toys.
We ended up switching the party to Sunday but still hung out at the pool all Saturday afternoon. It was the first time my white leggies saw the sun all summer-it was a bright sight... ;)
Quincey literally giggled the entire time. She reminds me the simple things like splashing water and yummy treats by the pool are far more terrific than we give them credit for.

I could go on & on about how I can't believe she's already one, how fast she's grown, how happy she makes me, how if I need a pick-me-up I just cuddle up to her, how we are so blessed to have her, how it's crazy that she is walking around like a pro, how silly she is and laughs at everything, how much she loves her big sister and follows her around, how much we ♥ her--but I won't bore you with all of that.

Instead here's one of my favorite photos... "I want some cake!" she says while showing off her new teefers. Her little bruise on her cheek looks like a dimple all the time. :)

The party hat and banner were made by Jennifer for a Breast Cancer Fundraiser auction at the Scrap Etc event. I missed the auction but was gushing like crazy over it at the crop, so the sweet Rebecca who was the highest bidder made me take it home. I don't think she had to twist my arm too much. This hat sat on my lap on my flight home from Georgia and was safely hidden from curious fingers until yesterday when it made its grand appearance on this little munchkin's sweet curls. Happy Birthday Q bear!

part deux

Another page for the Studio Calico kit club that I wanted to share...

One of my favorite things when scrapbooking is to design my own embellishments. For this page I hand cut the flower branches from word paper then punched out the circles with a 1 1/4" circle punch and hand cut some leaves from green floral paper.
Love October Afternoon's new line Cherry Hill and Cosmo Cricket's new line Early Bird. The cool alphabet paper is by Studio Calico.

We're off to Little Gym for Avery's Graduation, she's the first Kartchner ever to receive the coveted Little Gym Diploma! Next step...Potty Training University!

Happy Friday!

cheese ball

planning the details for this lil sprouts birthday party this weekend.

sorting through all the fun ways to decorate for her 'tea party' but now looking at this photo from Memorial weekend it reminds me how much fun we had splashing in the water...

a pool party it is!

home

Home from CKU-Nashville--- it was a blast! details and photos to follow...
After a few quiet hours of pondering on the plane home wish I had a picture of both kids asleep on daddy's lap. I realized 2 things.
One being that Collin is officially super dad. He watched the kids all week & amazed me! Second, that the last few months are catching up with me & am feeling a bit spread to thin... just breathe is my new motto! June 1st feels like a fresh start for me. Excited to take some liz time, get all the creative ideas out of my head and onto photos, fabric and paper, start fun business ventures with Collin, oh, & breathe.
~~
Very flattered to be guesting this month for Studio Calico... which is one of my favorite kit companies!! April & Scarlet rock it every month with the hottest products! When the kits are released you'll find me checking out the design galleries for major inspo. Here's one of my pages.

Some of the questionaire included with my projects over at Studio Calico...

according to me

When I was a child... I was a tomboy in a skirt
I can't imagine my life without... laughter
If I could be anywhere, I'd be... at the beach

My least favorite chore is... folding laundry

If I could be on any tv game or reality show, it would be... 'Press Your Luck' no whammies... no whammies
If a mystery package arrived on my doorstep, I'd hope it would be... a shiny, new pair of shoes. or any shoes they don't even have to be shiny.

My guilty pleasure is... root beer floats

I thought I would never... marry my first date

If a genie granted me three wishes, I’d wish for... another day to spend with my dad, to be able to fly, and Coldplay to do a live concert in my backyard.

You would never guess it, but I... once worked at a Juvenile Detention Center

It was fun to fill out--feel free to post a comment and fill in the blanks 'according to you.'