Step into S-P-R-I-N-G Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to my blog! Today we are celebrating the beginning of a new season with the Step into Spring Blog Hop brought to you by the Design Team from Memorable Seasons! If you did not start your hop today on the Memorable Seasons blog, please jump back over there so you do not miss anything. Today we are looking at the word S-P-R-I-N-G and taking you through all the steps for creating a fabulous layout using an exclusive sketch created for this blog hop by Liz Chidester , which was the first step! You have already hopped through the letters S, P, R, I, N, and now you are here for the letter G.

Today, G stands for "Give that layout a title and some journaling!" Here's my layout up to this point.
Now, I am a stickler for having a title of some sort and some journaling on every layout I complete. The only ones that I do without titles are the ones that the photos speak for themselves so clearly that no title is needed. And if I don't at least tell the date and some basic information, then the journaling isn't complete. I usually wait until the end to do both my title and journaling. I like to think about what I'm going to say as I'm doing all the other steps. This gives me time to think about the photo and what was happening. Sometimes, the title comes so easily and other times I have to really ponder. Same with journaling. If you ever have trouble giving your layout a title and journaling, I advise you to leave a place for it so that you can come back and add it when you have had time to let your mind clear.

Now to see my layout with my title and journaling added, you will have to head over to Memorable Seasons to check out the Blog Hop post! There you will see a complete reveal of all of the Design Team's finished layouts!

Be sure to leave me a comment telling me what you think about titles and journaling. By doing so, you will be one step closer to a fabulous Memorable Seasons prize as well as getting your name entered in a RAK from me!

Thanks for joining in on our first ever Blog Hop at Memorable Seasons! We hope you have enjoyed your time doing this!

“Friends with He{art}” Blog Hop

Welcome to your 4th stop on the “Friends with He{art}” Blog Hop sponsored by Scrap Friendzy! If you are following the links from the beginning of the hop, you should have come from Jean's blog. If not and you wish to participate in the blog hop, start back at the Scrap Friendzy Blog.


Today, I am excited to share a project that I made especially for this blog hop.
You may have seen these before, as I'm sure they've been around for a while, but I just happened to stumble upon some in a gallery earlier this week and wanted to give them a try! I found a tutorial on how to make these Paper Strawberries on this blog. I used Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection from last year which worked perfectly.

They are so cute and I felt like they'd be the perfect little something to make for my kids' teachers for Valentine's Day this year! Each little strawberry has two Hershey Kisses in them. Here's a few pictures of them.
If you want to make some for yourself, then you can go here to print a template out and back to the above mentioned blog for further instructions! Hope you have fun making them!!

Your next stop on the blog hop will be Cheryl's blog. Don't forget to leave a comment here, and on each stop on the blog hop. Then, make sure you finish up at the Scrap-Friendzy forum and post that you have completed the hop. Your name will be entered into a drawing for a fabulous prize! We're also hosting a weekend crop from Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13 on the forum – hope you will join in the fun! In addition to the Blog Hop prize given by Scrap-Friendzy, I'm offering a small RAK too!! I'll be sending someone special a prize pack consisting of several different Valentine themed papers! You just have to do 2 things...1) Become a follower of my blog and 2) Don't forget to leave me a comment!! Easy-peasy!!! You'll have until the end of our Crop on Sunday, February 13th and then I'll draw a winner and announce it on Monday, Valentine's Day!! Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Scrap Whispers Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome! If you are just joining me, you may want to head back over to the Scrap Whispers Blog so you can start this hop off from the very beginning. Today, the designers at Scrap Whispers are shining the spotlight on one of our very talented members. This person is Mary Eason! Her gallery is full of such wonderful inspiration, it was so hard for me to choose only one layout in which to lift. I finally decided on this one:I loved not only the design and the colors, but the way in which she titled it down the side. Here is my scraplift:I used the Bo Bunny Gypsy line from the fabulous October kit by Simply Obsessed. The colors were perfect for my pictures of Andrew playing ball in that orange dirt!

Head on over to Karry's blog, so you can see more scraplifts of Mary Eason! And don't forget to give Mary some love too!

Scrap-Friendzy Birthday Blog Hop-Stop #6

Happy Birthday, Scrap-Friendzy!!! I'm so glad that you have come by to visit me here on my little 'ole blog!

If you've just popped in and you've missed the other stops on the hop, go HERE to start from the beginning!!

October 10th will be the last day of the hop so keep visiting Scrap-Friendzy each evening to find out which design team blog to visit next.

Also, make sure you leave me a comment and again at each stop to get your name in the drawing for an awesome prize. If you visit and comment on all 10 blogs for the 10 days of the birthday blog hop, your name will be entered 10 times.

At Scrap-Friendzy we have a point system called friendz points. For each challenge that you complete, you will earn FPZ which could earn you another great prize at the end of the month!

You have until the end of October to complete all of the BLOG HOP Challenges for Friendz Pointz, but only until October 15th to leave a comment on all of the BLOG HOP STOPS to get your name in the bucket for the BLOG HOP Prize Drawing!!!

Now on to the fun part! I love birthdays! I also love giving homemade gifts and most everyone enjoys getting them too. I have come to discover that mini albums make great gifts for just about anyone. There are all sorts of mini albums: chipboard, acrylic, and accordian-fold just to name a few. You can buy these albums and decorate them as you wish. I like to make them as well. Here are some examples.

Paper Bag Albums:There are several ways to make these cute and inexpensive mini's. I have put together a tutorial for you in another blog post that you can see here. These are so much fun and VERY easy to make. My daughter likes to make them too.

Altered Picture Albums:Here, I took one of the $1 picture albums that you slide your photos in and added my own paper. I punched holes into the spine and added some coordinating ribbon.

Altered Chipboard:This album was made from pages of an old board book and coasters. Simply sand them down, cover them with your paper and pictures and you have a mini album!

Cardstock and Transparencies:This may be one of the easiest mini albums to make because you probably already have these supplies on hand. Just use some scrap pieces of cardstock, transparecies or other items and voila...you've got a great mini album to give.



Now for the challenge! I want you to create your own mini album. Use one of my examples, or create something completely different! Upload it to the October Challenges Gallery and then link it to this thread and you will receive 30 FPZ!!!!

Scrap-Friendzy Birthday Blog Hop!!!

As you may remember, I joined the team at Scrap-Friendzy on September 1st. Well, October marks their 2 year birthday and we are ready to celebrate in a BIG way! Please make your plans now to join us for a 10-day Blog Hop Extravaganza. That's right....10 days of blog hopping and 10 awesome challenges from our design team that are sure to inspire your creativity! And wait...there's more! Everytime you visit and leave comment on the DT's blog, your name gets entered for a prize.

We would love to have you join us and become one of our Friendz at SF. Why not head over there now and sign up! You will meet some fab ladies, be inspired by a gallery full of amazing yumminess, and have a blast. I have a special RAK that I want to offer. If you go sign up for SF (or if you are already a member but make yourself active), I will enter your name into a drawing and pull out a winner on October 1st. The winner will receive the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper pack!
Hope to see you at SF very soon!