Chalk It Up with an Attitude Blog Hop

Good evening and welcome to the monthly Stampers with an Attitude Blog Hop.   This month we are showcasing the fantastic new paper pack, Chalk It Up.  You've most likely come from Christy's Blog and have seen her great artwork...makes me want a giant cookie!   The blog hop is one big circle, so just follow along and you're sure to get some great inspiration for your own crafting!

 

Up first I have a layout I've put together using some of my favorite sheets in the Chalk It Up pack.  These photos were taken during our trip to Walt Disney World for last year's CTMH Convention.  We had a great day at EPCOT...particularly the French Pavilion with all its great pastries!

 

 

Stamps: Great Job

Inks: Slate, Whisper

Papers: Chalk It Up, Kraft, Slate, Whisper, Teal Glitter pack

Markers: Chalk

Accessories: White Enamel Stars, Chalk It Up Picture My Life

Tools: Score Board, Artiste and Artbooking Cricut cartridges, Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 #3

 

I've used one of the 4x6 cards from the Chalk It Up Picture My Life collection as a journaling box...on which I still need to journal.   I love the new Great Job stamp set and used the Chalk marker to highlight the stamped images, as well as the Kraft pieces of the layout.


Next up I have a card that I made for our local team swap. 

Stamps: Great Job

Inks: Lagoon

Papers: Chalk It Up, Black cardstock

Accessories: Scaredy Cat assortment

Tools: Micro-tip scissors, Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 #20

 

I used the same stamp set again.  I think it makes me nostalgic for my doodling childhood days.

 

 

Anyway, now you're off to see Sue's Blog and the cute little gifty idea she has.  Enjoy!

 



 

Go Climb A Tree

Last Thanksgiving, we spent the holiday with family in Las Cruces, NM.  Engineer and I both went to school there at NMSU, so we knew the Horseshoe would be a perfect place to take some family photos.  (It was probably the one place we spent the majority of our college days...in marching band practice!)

The boys loved climbing in the giant trees that line the field.  We don't have trees like this at our house!  With them so happy, it was easy to get them to pose for a few photos.  Well, I say a few...but it was probably closer to 50.  

I made a Studio J layout with some of my favorites, take a look!


Studio J: Free Spirit Reflections Kit


We had such a good time, we took everyone else with us the next day for a big group photo shoot.  Now I just need to get started on that layout so I can share with everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fathers and Sons Campout

Happy Saturday everyone!  This is the first day in quite a while that I don't have some kind of activity scheduled...and it feels great to sit and think for a change.
 

I have been able to get some more studio scrapping done in the meantime though.  I love that I can leave it and come back when I have some time...and it's all ready for me to pick up where I left off! 

This summer I took lots of photos...lots.  (With a trip to Disneyworld that's to be expected, right?)  But I wasn't the only one in the family to do so.  I think I've pretty much got my boys trained to take a camera where ever they go...and get lots of photos, too!  Back in May, our church had a Father/Son campout.  The boys look forward to it every year...as do I!  I'm sad that I miss out on watching everyone have fun, but I really, really like having the house to myself for a night!  I took the photos Engineer shot and put together a nice layout for the boys to remember.

Studio J: Victory Reflections Kit

I love that every shot had the fire in it!  I don't think that was intentional on his part, but Engineer did me proud.
 

Have you tried Studio J yet?  Head over to my website and see how easy it is to get started!

Purple Is A Manly Color

It's been a while since I shared a Studio J layout with you.  And since I'm still (kinda) unwinding from Convention, this would be the perfect time to show you a quick layout the boys helped me with.

Last year we started the boys in Kempo lessons...because they sorely needed some sort of physical outlet!  (Especially Knock-Out, man that kid can wear me out by mid morning!)  A couple of weeks ago, they all took their purple belt test and passed.  We got some shots of them outside the gym with their instructors...plus lots of them acting, well like themselves.

Studio J: Moonlight Kit

Some of the boys in the class weren't too sure about wearing purple, but their instructors told them it was the manliest belt color.  I suppose it worked because they all proudly wear it now!

This is the last week of summer break for the boys.  We've been going non stop for the past month, and I'm looking forward to getting a break myself!

Art with an Attitude Blog Hop

Welcome to the inaugural Stampers with an Attitude Blog Hop!  We are a team of Close To My Heart Consultants from all over the country that have a common passion...sharing CTMH!   This Blog Hop will showcase some very creative Art with Attitude, so get ready to be amazed.  First off, if you've come from Jen's Blog you've already seen some pretty wonderful creations.  So have a peek at my Attitude inspired art!

Attitude is a very...subjective word in our house.  Of course we want the boys to have a positive attitude at school,
a focused attitude at their sports
and a loving attitude towards each other.
(Not asking for much, am I?)

But I sometimes get more of the or a attitude that comes with budding adolescence.
And what has more attitude than boys having their picture taken!

Stamps: Later Sk8r WOTG

Inks: Slate, Pear, Outdoor Denim

Papers: Later Sk8r

Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

Accessories: Green and Blue Epoxy Bubbles



This is the layout featured in the Later Sk8r Workshop On The Go.  Perfect for some shots I took of my guys at the park one morning. 

And even though I may get the "Why do you need to take more pictures of us?"   attitude from them from time to time, I know they like looking at our scrapbooks.  And that's what matters!

Now off you go to Melissa's Blog to check out her Art with Attitude!  Happy Hopping!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

May is a great month for several reasons.

1. School is almost over!   (That's also big with my boys so it goes on top of the list.)
2. My birthday is in May!  And do you know what that means? 
3. Mother's Day!
4. Family Reunion Time.  And that means road trip!

But before it's time for any of those fun things...it's National Scrapbooking Day!


So we here at Heart 2 Heart are sharing some of our favorite scrapbooking layouts from this year and years gone by.  Earlier this year, we anticipated watching the Comet Pan-STARRS.  We got all our gear ready...good tripod...batteries charged...and this is what happened.

 

 

 

They were a bit underwhelmed to say the least.
But that's okay...I still got some great shots of the boys being boys!

Inks: Sunset, Spring Iris (retired)

Papers: Black, White Daisy, Sunset, Spring Iris (retired), Silver Glitter cardstock

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge, Martha Stewart Lattice Arch border punch, ruler, piercer, Spray Pen

Accessories: Black Glitter buttons, Black embroidery floss, Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint

Crossing our fingers Comet ISON later this year will be more exciting for them!

So what scrapping do you have planned today?  Whatever it is, have fun!!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: We Moustache You To Join Us!

Good Monday Morning!  Before I get to this week's H2H Challenge, I want to thank all of you who have played along with us this month!  March Madness is really catching, isn't it??

I hope you've all had as much fun with the challenges as we have.


Now to get on with this week's theme.  Ah, the cute and clever moustache trend that is so prolific on the internet right now.  I do have to admit, I own this moustache keychain and my boys love playing with it, cracks them up!  But what to do for this challenge...

Luckily, I have a very impatient to grow up young adolescent that is sporting his own moustache these days...of course you have to look very, very hard to see it though!

So I snapped a few photos, along with his brother being silly, and made a nice layout for him.

Inks: Cocoa, Creme Brulee Dark Marker (to color buttons with!)

Papers: Buzz and Bumble paper pack

Accessories: Cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Cocoa, Clear, Colonial White buttons, Cocoa embroidery floss, 3x3 Flip Flap, Dimensional Elements Monograms

Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge, Sanding block, Embossing Stylus

 

I took a close up and hid it under the Flip Flap.  He is so proud of that moustache of his!

 

 

So now that I have totally embarrassed him with this, let us see your Moustache Themed creations!  Head over to the Heart 2 Heart Blog and see all the other DT members' artwork for more inspiration.  Then link up your blog post and join in the fun this week!  And don't forget to be on the look out for those extra March Madness goodies you can win!

 

 

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: Tag, You're It!

Another bright and cheery Monday morning to you!

Welcome to another weekly challenge from Heart2Heart!  This week we're going to play a little game of "Tag, You're It!"  We'd like to see all your Close To My Heart creations using tags...somewhere!  Be sure to visit the other DT members' blogs, their creations are just beautiful!

But before you go, let me share my "Tag" creation.  It's a layout of my boys when we visited Grandma this past Christmas.  Holy Cow was it cold!  At least, colder than these desert rats were used to!

Inks: Cashmere

Papers: Claire Reflections Kit, Kraft cardstock

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, ¹⁄₈ " hole punch

Accessories: Durables Round Studs, Colonial White Embroidery Floss

Ok, ok.  You may be wondering where my tag is.   Well, let me give you a closer look at that *ahem* awesome paper hoodie I made.

That little hood...took me some time to figure it out!  So where is this tag?

Here it is!

Ah, the ol' "Hidden-Tag-As-A-Journal-Spot" trick!  Pretty sneaky, Sis!  (Bonus points if you remember the commercial that came from!)

So why don't you play along with us this week and get those tags out!  Remember to use *mostly* CTMH product and link your post (not just your blog) to H2H!

Happy Crafting!

My Engaging Artwork

It's time I share the art pieces featured on Jeanette's blog a couple of weeks ago!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner.
   (I know, I know!)

So now is a perfect time to get some of those more romantic memories scrapped and maybe use as gifts. 

Here is the story behind my "Engaging Artwork":

When Engineer and I were in college, we were big band geeks and were part of the marching band...Go Pride!  Anyway, one of the great perks about being in the band is travel.  Our last year had one amazing trip...to Europe!
One of the stops we made was in Paris.   We had been dating for just over a year and had decided that being in Paris was the perfect place to propose.  Only thing was...we had each decided to surprise the other with a ring!  We waited until we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower and we each brought out a ring to give to the other.  Talk about a romantic surprise!    Of course we both said yes and had lots of laughs and hugs with our friends that were with us.

Then I took out a pen and scribbled our names and date on the railing.  Yes, yes  I graphittied on an international landmark.  And yes, I did take a photo of it!

So while I don't have photos of us together on the Tower, or of that special moment, I do have these two photos that mean the world to me and take me back to that evening just as well as anything else.

Stamps: Jardin

Inks: Champagne, Cashmere, Saddle, Desert Sand, Archival Black

Papers: La Belle Vie Reflections Kit, White Daisy cardstock

Tools: cutting knife, micro-tip scissors

Accessories: Opaques Pearl Flourishes, Bitty Pearl Gems

So I hope you get inspired to scrap some of those extra special moments in your life.  It's the best way to relive them with your loved ones!