sunny side up

Shades of Summer started when I was pregnant with Quincey and I knew I wouldn't be traveling anywhere that summer so we thought it would be fun to send around 10 pairs of traveling sunglasses. Surprisingly, you guys are enjoying taking dorky pictures wearing them with me so this will be our fourth year.

Last night my darling sister, Ashley, and her cute family joined us at our local Carnival. I talked Ash into being the first SOS girl this year. We might have almost broke the table we were sitting on and almost had to pay $5 to try to pop the balloons behind us but thank goodness neither happened.

Another reason I like SOS is that it encourages us to get on the other side of the camera & to not worry if anyone is looking at you while you cheese it up wearing pink aviators.

I know, I know... we've already worn pink sunnies. I was hoping for turquoise but the coupon clipper in me couldn't beat $1.50 at Forever 21.

Here we go!! Email me at ShadesOfSummer@gmail.com if you want to join in the fun. EDITED I filled up for the SOS this year! Thanks everyone who emailed me by 3:45 mountain standard time you are on the list.

By signing up you pinky swear you will do the following:

-Take a photo wearing shades and email me a picture at shadesofsummer@gmail.com.

-Place the shades back in box and ship to next SOS girl with in 2 days.

-Post a picture on your blog, facebook, etc if you want to & link back here. That's it!

If you are near Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria email Barbara our SOS organizer at scrap-impulse@t-online.de but you will still email me your photo once you take it. Thanks!

PS You can still enter the Ruche $50 gift card giveaway here!

it's that time...

Collin and I have sent out 45 sunglasses for SHADES OF SUMMER the past three years and we want to keep this tradition going this summer too! Remember the first year? I'm thrilled to make this our fourth year!

Here's our SOS ladies from all over the US and also Germany, UK, England, Netherlands etc from last summer.

How does it work?

• Check back here Friday at 11 am mountain time to sign up.
• Everyone who emails me before it fills up is put on a list. We will have 15 shades so we will make 15 lists with 10 ladies on each list.
• You will take a picture wearing the shades then send them on to the next person on the list. Please only sign up if you will quickly pass the shades along.

It's really a great way to step outside of your comfort zone and have fun taking a photo catching you in your element this summer! Have fun with it!

Check out the previous years of Shades Of Summer here.

I know it is such a bummer if you have signed up in previous years and never received them so please only sign up on Friday if you will pinky promise to keep the shades moving.

Also, email me & I will put a special request in for anyone who is bummed because they tried each year and still hasn't received them. :)

PS If you played last year and don't see your picture above please email me at shadesofsummer@gmail.com

I've got this summer's shades all ready to rock-n-roll... guess what color they are this year?

summer shenanigans

This is the third year doing Shades of Summer & I'm thrilled to do it again. SOS started the summer that Quincey was born. I knew I wouldn't be traveling much so we thought it would be fun to send around 20 traveling sunglasses as a way to connect with you awesome blog readers!

**Edited** Thanks ladies for signing up! We hit our quota :)

Want to join in on the shenanigans?

Here's the dealio:

1. You can't be moving this summer (because the package gets lots or doesn't get forwarded) or traveling extensively.

2. First, you take a photo wearing the sunglasses and email it to me.

3. Second, you will ship a small box with the sunglasses in it to the next person on the list I'll include in the box.

4. You must ship glasses & list of addresses with in 2 days of receiving them.

•The first 300 peeps to email me are included in all the fun.

•If you can follow the above rules email me at ShadesofSummer@gmail.com.

•US only but if you are in Western Europe and want to play along email Kristin Reinhard at ShadesofSummerEurope@gmail.com

•If you want to host an SOS outside of the US email me at ShadesofSummer@gmail.com and I'll tell you how it works.

I hope this year the sunglasses don't get stuck anywhere or lost because it's quite exciting to see them travel around and get to know you ladies... even in this small, silly way.

Remember I posted the giveaway winners and 300 dpi free kit below.

happy weekend

Today is the most gorgeous day! Not to mention the first day I woke up with only a slight feeling of morning sickness. I couldn't ask for more perfect timing.

Surprisingly, I haven't shared with you my recent pregnancy obsession--food and smells. Be grateful for that. ;) But I will tell you these bowls of fruity goodness are heavenly.

I'm enjoying the recent special issue, Paper Palooza, from Creating Keepsakes magazine. The page above I designed for the patterned paper section and it was fun to create a couple more in there as well.

A discount coupon code to get 20% off the issue in our store between May 17-31 is TIPS-BLOG.

A few items of business:

*Welcome my newest sponsor-- 300 dpi (dcwv)

**If you are interested in being a June sponsor with an ad on my blog... let me know via email at elizabeth.kartchner(at)gmail.com

***I'm so excited to launch 2010 Shades of Summer next week so think if that's something you wanna do while I think about stricter rules to keep the shades moving so everyone gets a chance. Here's the last pics I received from Pennsylvania, Ireland & Ohio.

****Lastly, Blue Moon has a great selection of my Dear Lizzy line in stock if you're feeling crafty.

This week flew by... happy weekend!

SOS girls

Yesterday I was faced with a harsh reality that Summer is pretty much over. The good thing is that it doesn't mean the Shades of Summer has to end... Keep them moving darlings and better yet if you have some yellow sunglasses from last year laying around in a cardboard box--open em up & have fun then send them on their way!

Every time I open a Shades of Summer email it makes me smile. Seeing my blog readers' faces, where you're from & a little peek into your life... is quite cool! I know we feel so comfortable behind the camera but it's so important to get photos of us too, even if it is while wearing some funky glasses. ;)

Thanks for playing along, my SOS girls!

Leave a comment with a shout out of where you ladies are from in the photo ... I know there are some in Arizona, Illinois, California, Texas & even Finland...

SOS

The Shades of Summer are making their way across the country! They've traveled to Mississippi, Georgia, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Illinois, Utah, Louisiana, Oregon, Texas, Indiana & were even spotted in Holland! SO cool! Sorry if I missed somewhere...Thanks for playing along Shade Girls and for keeping these boxes movin' and groovin' to the next girl on the list!

I stamped some extra motivation on the boxes like "You're the best!" and "Dude you rock!" you don't know this but they are actually subliminal messages saying, "Keep the boxes moving!" If you emailed shades of summer then you are on the list (I haven't had time to send out 300 confirmation emails) now it is all up to you--my sos girls!

sending out an SOS

These boxes are heading out to a blogger near you... I bought out all the pink shades at Forever 21, copy and pasted over 300 addresses into spreadsheets, well, Collin did that part and addressed the boxes- the rest is up to Mr. Postman. Can't wait to see the first pic! I will send out an email in the next couple days and let you know if you are on the list, but if you emailed me you are on it. :)

We spent some time at the lake yesterday... too bad instead of glass we had white caps which made it difficult for Collin to get out on the board and throw down his crazy tricks- Backside Butterslide-Tantrum-to a 180 Japan Air-Indy Slide and end with a Potato Peeler--to a face plant. But it was still great fun!

Stay tuned for a few projects of scrappy goodness for Hambly and my favorite mini album of all time!

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

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!

Shades of Summer

I am so excited this will be alot of fun, just like last year!

Rules for Shades of Summer 2009:


1 Open Box (Take out sunglasses and don't loose paper with other addresses on it.)

2 Take photo with sunglasses on

3 Print out 4x6 photo and include in box with sunglasses
optional =>scrapbook a 6x6 single or 6x6 double layout

4 Email me a photo of you wearing shades to ShadesOfSummer(at)gmail.com

5 Send out glasses within 3 days

6 Each person will pay for their own postage to ship glasses and photos. It shouldn't be more than a few dollars.

7 If you are going to be on vacation for longer than 14 days, sorry, please don't enter. And if you will be on vacation please include the dates in the email and I will work around it. :) thanks.

8 Please do not enter if you are moving this summer

9 Please only enter if you live in the US. But email me if you would like to host a SOS in your country at ShadesofSummer (at) gmail.com and I will give you the details.

10 If you are in Western Europe Kristin Reinhard is hosting a Shades of Summer for me email her at everydaycreativeness (at)gmail.com


11 If you would like to host a Shades of Summer in your country please email me at ShadesofSummer@gmail.com with "Host SOS" in the subject line.



If you can live up to the above requirements email me in the following format:

Line 1 Name
Line 2 Street Address
Line 3 City, State
Line 4 Zip
Line 5 Email address


to ShadesOfSummer(at)gmail.com







There is limited space so email me asap if you are interested!! :)

Shades Of...

Fall?! So, our fun Summer project is nearly into the fall months & at this rate we may be doing this until next summer. :) That's alright! I hear yellow is the hot color this season. ;)

My cute Fashionista friend Kimberly rockin the shades!

I'm getting lots of emails asking if you are on the list. Yep, if you emailed me your addy then you're officially a SOS girl. (Unless you live outside the US. Sorry.)

Please keep the shades movin' & groovin' cause lots of ladies want to play! :)

Shades Of Summer Update

Check out these S.O.S Hotties!! It's so fun to go check my inbox and see new photos! By the end of summer, we should have over 150 photos! I'm thinking about making a really cute slideshow of all the pics and maybe put it on a cd to give everyone, whatdyathink?

Collin was joking and said we'll ditch the sunglasses and try to get BMW to donate some new yellow convertibles for next summer...of course, shipping would be like $700 each, but who cares!? It's all in the name of Summer fun!! jk.

It seems the shades are making their way across the country. Here are some fun girls playing along!