Monday Montage #72

I love weekends. I think most of us love weekends ... and they seem to be over before they have even started most of the time!! We went up with the fam to our one of our favorite spots for the weekend ... Bear Lake!!! It's so relaxing and so much fun! And the best way to cap off the weekend is with a blog hop with the Monday Montage girls!! YAY!!!

How freakin' ADORABLE is this picture??? Are you KIDDING me???? This is my grand-niece, Sammy. This girl has SO much energy and SO much personality ... seems the birds think she is pretty great as well ... I made this as one of my OnStage samples ... hadn't done a traditional scrapbook page in quite a while. This was FUN!!

Stamps: Crazy About You
Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy, Daffodil Delight, Peekaboo Peach, Basic Black, Whisper White, 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards & Accessories, Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits, Botanical Builders Framelits, Banners Framelits, Little Letters Thinlits (Retired), White Jute Ribbon (Retired), Linen Thread, Mini Stapler

Time for a little Project Life!! (This was ALSO something I made for OnStage - as is the following layout!). I took three of my favorite pictures I had taken with each of my kids in the last few years ... they are fun. I'm glad they have grown up into such great humans ... and that we are friends as well!

Stamps: None!
Paper: 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack, Whisper White
Ink: Project Life Pen
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards and Accessories, Gold Sequin Trim, Burlap Ribbon (Retired), Linen Thread, Gold Baker's Twine

This is my boy!!! He double majored in college and this was the day he received TWO Bachelor's Degrees!!! I couldn't be more proud!!! (And we trudged clear across campus so we could take this photo with the "Y" in the background ... go Cougars!!) He's gearing up to start his Master's degree in the fall ... where DOES the time go???

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: 2016-2018 In Color Designer DSP Stack, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Dapper Denim, Typeset DSP (Retired), Gold Foil DSP, Vellum
Ink: Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Project Life Moments Like These Cards and Accessories, Large Numbers Thinlits, Hexagon Hive Thinlit (Retired), Word Window Punch (Retired), Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits, Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon (Retired), Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... ALWAYS something awesome from EACH of them!!

Monday Montage #54

So ... here I am ... AGAIN ... working on some digital stuff!!! I am STILL keeping the home fires burning at my cousin's house (which I will be doing until Tuesday). I honestly do not know HOW single mamas do it!!! I know that when my kids were little that I was the one who did most of the things with them and took them hither and yon for lessons and play dates and activities and what-not ... but I also know that I was SO grateful that my husband was home at the end of the day and I could get him to take over while I went and sat in a coma somewhere to unwind!!! I think that I have been riding the train through Crazy Town all dang week! Sheesh ... but I digress ...

I created this layout using MDS (which, I know, is retired!) ... however, I DID use the download called "2015 Seasonal Snapshot" which also mirrors the "tactile" version that you can actually buy from Stampin' Up (I'm getting pretty hooked on the Project Life stuff!)! I cheated and added a couple of old "retired" embellishments from MDS ... couldn't help myself!

My son and I did a hike up to the top of Squaw Peak in September ... it was a LOT of steep uphill kinda stuff, but the views were A-MAZ-ING, the company was great (thanks, Devan!), and it kinda smelled like magic (LOVE the way everything smells as the seasons start to change).

Stamps:  NONE
Paper: 2015 Season Snapshot (digital)
Ink:  NONE
Accessories:  MDS files - Season of Style Washi Tape (retired), Warm Weather Woodcuts (retired)

Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... these ladies got it goin' ON!!!

Fab Friday #75

My brain has apparently taken a vacation!!!! I am currently in Florida (hence, the reason my brain goes all dumb!) ... I got to do the whole Disney World thing last weekend (ohmygosh! what a RIOT!)! I am now busy taking care of my cousin's absolutely ADORABLY adorable littles (they are 7, 5 and 1 1/2). In the flurry of activity I ran through trying to get myself together, I kinda totally SPACED the fact that I had Fab Friday today!!!

Happy for me that I have the most FABULOUS Project Life App on my phone!!! And ALSO lucky for me I have Stampin' Up's "Let's Get Away" Project Life kit on my Project Life App!!! How AWESOME is THAT??!!??

I realize that this is super duper simple and easy ... but that's one of the super GREAT things about this app ... it brings the best of so many worlds together!!! Stampin' Up has some of the most fantastic Project Life Kits ... I actually own this kit in the "hand's on" version, so I could actually recreate this in "tactile" mode!!! Cool, right???

Stamps: None
Paper: None
Ink: None
Accessories: Project Life "Let's Get Away" Kit (in digital form used with the Project Life App for iPhone)

True Confessions Time ... I actually "cheated" just a tiny bit on this (aside from the fact that I went digital)! The "Tangelo Twist" color in my layout is actually Tangerine Tango ... SOOOOO close!





Excited to see what all of our challenge players come up with!!

Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach
Heather Heroldt
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Pam Steckman
Jan Tinklenberg

I will be in Florida for a few more days ... it is SO hot here!! The humidity is doing WEIRD things to my running ... I am running MUCH faster than usual (not a humidity thing, but I am SURE it is an elevation thing!), but my distance is WAY off!!! I can't run very far because it is SO hot (by the time I get the kids up and dropped off for school!)!!! Sigh ... you can't have everything ...

Stamp Review Crew - Project Life Point & Click Edition

Holy cow!! Today has NOT been my day (I am typing this on Sunday evening ... most of the day was great ... until about two hours ago!)!! I totally KILLED my Big Shot ... as in DOA ... as in non-repairable ... as in flat-lined ...

So I was FRANTICALLY looking at ways that I could create withOUT one!!! Do you KNOW how HARD that is???? SHEESH!!! I did a lot of improvising ... and sweating ... and FINALLY got this creation done!!! AND I have already placed an order for a new one ... because I have discovered that I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT ONE!!! Sigh ...

This week the Stamp Review Crew is playing with the Project Life Point and Click Set ... it has 26 images ... and they are FUN!!!

Stamps: Project Life Point and Click
Paper: Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron
Accessories: On Film Thinlits Dies, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon, Essentials Hardware Clip, Gold Sequin Trim, Mini Stapler, Subtles Candy Dots, Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Simply Scored

LOTS and LOTS to play with in here!!










Now I need to go clean up a HUGE mess in my craft space ... all of the spaces are COVERED with STUFF!!

Click on the "next" button to see Bronwyn Eastly's ADORABLE gift bag, or the "back" button to see Linda Callahan's SUPER creative card!!!

Freakin' Simple and Elegant

Simple and elegant ... you would think it would NOT be THAT difficult to achieve, right??? If you have been following this blog tour all the way around, then you just came from Margaret Raburn's fabulous blog ... and SHE makes "simple and elegant" seem EASY!!

I struggle ... I struggle with trying to keep from adding ALL THE THINGS to my creations ... sigh ... it's a weakness. Probably because I have WAY TOO MUCH stuff, right??? (Naaawwww ... not possible!!) This first card wasn't too difficult to come up with. I happened to have a bunch of stuff still out on my table from my Project Life class the other night ... and the corner rounder and stamps were calling my name ... although I DID add the arrow images from the "What's Up?" stamp set.

And I finally gave in and bought the PL corner rounder punch ... which means I now own about FOUR corner rounders (I think!)! You'd think there wouldn't be a lot of different ways to make a rounded corner look, wouldn't ya??? Apparently there are more ways then I even KNEW!!

Stamps: Project Life Remember This, What's Up?
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  PL Corner Rounder, Oval Punch, What's Up? Punch, Burlap Ribbon, Retro Fresh Washi Tape, Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape, Distressed Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Now THIS card I struggled with ... and I promise it really IS simple to put together!! It just took me FOREVER to decide what to add to it, and how much would be "too much" ... sigh ... I

Stamps: Work of Art
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, Gold Soiree DSP
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Garden Green
Accessories: Large Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Gold Sequin Trim

Next up??? Heidi Baks!! She's got this "simple and elegant" thing NAILED!