{behind the pages.}

Happy 7th Birthday, PAGEMAPS!

2013-05-17T21:21:00.001-04:00

Hey, everyone!!

Guess what!? It's PAGEMAPS 7th Birthday and I am so excited to help them celebrate! You know how much I adore that site and all the FREE (yes, FREE!!) inspiration it provides so I'm all about sharing the love for them at every opportunity!

My challenge over on the PM blog was: PaperMixology! I love mixing patterned paper and usually have anywhere from 4-6 on a given page. This layout below is just slightly different where I used a textured cardstock as one of my prints. Read below to find out a bit more!

Supplies: BasicGrey PP, buttons, brads, alpha stickers; Scenic Route PP; Bazzill CS; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L adhesive; Uniball pen; twine; Fiskars star punches & circle punches.

First, I've had this photo to scrapbook since 2008. Seriously. 2008. It's one of my favorites of my two youngest but I never could figure out just what I wanted to do with it. And let's be honest, that royal blue is so vibrant so adding patterned paper with it could make it overwhelming if I wasn't careful.

So I decided to minimize the patterns just a bit and go more for texture. I used textured cardstock in place of where I would normally use a pattern and it gave me the same result but with a bit less busy-ness. I added elements like buttons and brads and even chipboard under some of my punched stars for extra dimension and "oomph." And to really go crazy, I lifted up the photo with foam adhesive to make sure it stood out and was noticed.

Mixing patterned papers can sometimes be tricky, but if you break down your papers by scale, you'll discover it's much easier to bring them all together!

So try your hand at some paper mixology and you could win a BasicGrey collection pack of your choosing! Just create a layout, based on this sketch, and mix up some patterned paper. You can even convert the sketch to 12x12 if you'd like! This contest starts today and ends at midnight MST on Thursday, June 7, 2013. The contest is open to everyone, everywhere! Be sure to link your project up in the comments section on the PageMaps blog!

And speaking of winners....Hey ABBEY! You're lucky winner of the Hipster+Mint Julep prize package from BasicGrey! Email me at kellydotgoreeatgmaildotcom to claim your prize!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo,

COLLECTION COLLISION: Hipster+Mint Julep

2013-05-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there!

Welcome! I'm so excited to have a fun little surprise to share with you! I have a little stint over on the BasicGrey blog today! And even better it's featuring one of my favorite things - the COLLECTION COLLISION! Most of you know I've always loved mixing patterned paper and this time I got quite the challenge: combining the soft florals of Mint Julep with the retro-rad Hipster!

When I was initially asked to do this collection collision between Hipster & Mint Julep, my first thought was, “WHAT?!” I couldn’t think of two more opposite lines that BasicGrey had ever developed, but since I live for a challenge I plunged right in.

To get started, the first thing I did was lay out all the papers from each collection trying to find something that might coordinate. I didn’t have much luck! The pinks and the peaches/oranges from the two collections were so very different. Then I started looking to the solids and found that the pretty crackled off-white/yellow paper from Hipster went so well with the yellow/creams in the cobalt floral pattern in Mint Julep. As I started putting those two together, I added in some more of the pink from Mint Julep and then the baby blue from Hipster and it all just fell into place.

Supplies: BasicGrey Mint Julep: MIN-4122 Zola, MIN-4124 Carolina, MIN-4128 Bonnie, MIN-4132 Marion, MIN-4144, Printed Chipboard Shapes; BasicGrey Hipster: HIP-4097 Betty, HIP-4090 Neato, HIP-4099 Hip, HIP-4095 Nifty; Other: BasicGrey brads; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Stampin' Up! scalloped border punch; Fiskars large circle punch; Silhouette electronic cutting machine; thread.

This layout is of my sweet niece, Jennifer, and features some of her senior photos. Jen will graduate from high school next month and it’s such an awesome accomplishment. I’m so proud of her and what a beautiful young lady she is inside and out. I based this page off an fab sketch from Becky Fleck. I love how it featured such a nice space for either a title and/or journaling. Since I wanted a large cut title and some of what I wanted to say to/about Jennifer was private, I featured the journaling on the tag tucked on the left side of the page. Then I was free to play around with the title work a bit and create something fun using the beautiful quote I found on the internet.

I hope this inspires you to do a little collection collision of your own! I can't wait to see what you come up with! And of course to get you started, how about WINNING a little Hipster+Mint Julep prize pack of your very own?! Simple hop over to Facebook and "like" BasicGrey, then come back here and tell me that you did or do :) It's that easy! I'll choose a random winner sometime tomorrow!

xoxo,
k.

May PageMaps + BG Album WINNER

2013-05-06T15:45:00.005-04:00

Hello, all!

In the craze that has been both Crop & Create - Burnaby (SO amazing) and National Scrapbooking Day (equally amazing), my PageMaps post had been put a bit on the back burner! But now that I have returned home from the most incredible weekend, I wanted to fix that really quickly...

This was the fun sketch I got to do this month. I really loved how the elements went right across the page and gave them all the focus. I had some American Crafts Studio Calico Here & There in my stash that I have been itching to use and this sketch gave me the perfect excuse.

The backstory is this:

Last August we (my family) rescued the most adorable chocolate lab. He was around a year old and seriously the sweetest dog ever. He was very timid and had visual cues of the abuse he had taken (I so wish I could get my hands on whoever did it to him), but he absolutely flourished under the love of 3 energetic boys (and my husband and I too :)). Not long after we had him, we took him on a Boy Scout canoe trip. It was his first real family outing and his first time at the water and you would have thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was sooooo excited!

It wasn't long before the boys discovered a rope swing along the river. Everyone got out and took turns jumping off the swing and making splashes. The dog who was running along the bank went crazy! He couldn't stand to see his boys out there in the water and one by one he started bringing them back to shore. I couldn't believe it. We really knew he had become "ours" that day.

This photo below captures Scout rescuing Carson and tells the same story. :)

Supplies: American Crafts/Studio Calico Here & There patterned paper, diecuts, stickers, brads; PageMaps for Spellbinders pennant dies, bracket die & border die; BasicGrey alpha stickers; BoBunny carstock; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Zig pen; Silhouette electronic cutter; toothpicks.

So speaking of PageMaps - this month is PageMaps' 7th Anniversary! Can you believe it?! All month long there will be fun things going on over on the blog & site and you won't want to miss it! I promise oodles of inspiration and PRIZES!!! (I'll be posting on the 17th with a fab BasicGrey prize!)

And one more thing before I go - the winner of the fabulous BASICGREY ALBUM BUNDLE is KATHERINE (Sutty)! Katherine, please email me at kellyDOTGoreeATGmailDOTcom to claim your prize! Thank you to all who entered!

xoxo,

2013-05-04T15:06:00.002-04:00

HELLO, everyone!!

Happy National SCRAPBOOKING Day (and Derby Day, too, to my Kentucky friends!)! I'm so excited to be here with you today on the blog as well as with the amazing ladies at Crop & Create - Burnaby! We have been having such an incredible time and learning so much and eating tons of chocolate...it's been a perfect weekend - weather included! I totally HEART VANCOUVER!

But since we couldn't all actually be together today, we have cyberly (do you like that one?) gotten together over at the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog for tons of inspirational posts, tons of prizes and even more good times!

The post I get to share with you is a PageMaps inspirational post. My challenge was to grab a PageMaps sketch from Scrapbook & Cards Today's Spring 2013 issue and create a new project with it.

Those of you that know me even a little know how much I love Becky and her sketches, so I was all over this one. And here is the fun sketch I picked:

I had just gotten some of the wonderful new Fancy Pants Trendsetter line and wanted to put it to work. The papers were so fun that this project almost scrapbooked itself. And yes, I know I can't seem to get away from my framing in a page and those stars. What can I say, I like what I like ;)

Supplies: Fancy Pants Trendsetter Patterned paper, alpha stickers, stickers; PageMaps for Spellbinders die; Colorbox ink; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; BasicGrey alpha stickers; Fiskars star punches.

And finally a look at the sketch I used (lower left) and my layout side by side. You can see that I almost took this sketch exactly as it was. That's perfectly okay! There's no reason to reinvent the wheel if you don't want to. Sketches are such a perfect way to jump start your creativity and inspiration.

Please stop by the SCT blog all day today for more inspiration and PRIZES! My hour they are giving away an amazing prize pack from FANCY PANTS featuring TRENDSETTER - the very line I used for this layou! Whoot!

Have a wonderful day!
xoxo,
k

ONBC + Crop & Create BURNABY!

2013-05-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Happy Wednesday and Happy 1st day of MAY! It's MAY DAY! How exciting! I so remember dancing around the May Pole and all the fun May celebrations when I was in grade school. I really miss that tradition, but I'm also getting WAY off topic!

The first of the month for me always means that the new installment of my OLD NEW BORROWED COOL blog post at Scrapbook & Cards Today goes up! This month, the old was this adorable photo of my mother & me (circa 1974 or 75) and it's just in time for Mother's Day, too! I hope you'll hop over there to find a bit of inspiration, a little challenge and learn a bit more about me when you do it! Full blog post HERE.

Supplies: American Crafts Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm & 5th & Frolic PPs, flair, epoxy flowers, stickers; BasicGrey alpha stickers; My Mind's Eye word stickers; Montana Misfits twine; Fiskars circle punch; Zig pen; Bazzill cardstock; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L adhesive; Stampin' Up! butterfly punch.

Also, the arrival of May also means the arrival of NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY and this year some of the SCT and I will be celebrating from VANCOUVER at Crop & Create BURNABY! Catherine has generously decided to allow more ladies to attend even if just for one day so she has opened up registration to allow for "Day Passes" as well as for the entire weekend! So trust me when I say it's NOT TOO LATE to join us! I promise, you don't want to miss all the fun we're going to have there as well as on the SCT blog!Click this link HERE to find out more!

Have a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow with just a bit more!

xo,

BasicGrey Album Bundle + Giveaway!

2013-04-30T11:10:00.002-04:00

Hello, everyone!

Happy last day of April! (Can you believe it?!)

I have something so fun to share with you today. I created this Year of Us album using my Project 365 photos and BasicGrey's amazing BowTies album kit + a few BowTie embellishments. I absolutely LOVED doing this project and getting all those fun photos down in one place where I could look at them and remember rather than just have them sitting there on my computer. And I have to tell you. I have never been a Project Life-r...The large scaled intimidated me and to be honest, my family isn't all that interesting ;) but this small scale (7x9) was perfect for letting me try the PL style and not feel overwhelmed. And I LOVED it!

What is even more fun for you is that BasicGrey is giving one of my lucky readers a kit of their very own to make their own special album!
You will get the album, inserts, page protectors, 6x6 pad, snippets, alphabet stickers, element stickers and either buttons or chipboard pieces!
Seriously! Isn't that amazing!

Here are a few images of the album I created below (and you can see a few more pages in the BasicGrey promotion material as well).

Now, here's what you have to do: Simply leave me a comment here on my blog between now and Saturday, May 4th at midnight est (National Scrapbooking Day, of course!) telling me what kind of album YOU would make and you'll be entered to WIN!

Now, don't despair if you don't win - BasicGrey is offering these albums kits to EVERYONE for just $25!! What a deal! You want want to miss out! In fact, I suggest getting yours now and if you win, then it's a double bonus! ;)

Have a wonderful day!

xo,

PageMaps!

2013-04-17T10:39:00.000-04:00

Good morning!
I know, another post, right?! But I have at least one more thing that I wanted to share today - something that has me so excited!

If you know me and my scrapbooking at all, most likely you also know how much I adore Becky Fleck and her website PageMaps. Beck and I have been friends since my very early BasicGrey days and I have admired her and her work since then. I truly think she's a scrappy genius but don't tell her I said that, it might go to her head ;).

Anyhow, I have never been able to get enough of her sketches. I have a folder on my computer that constantly keeps new Becky ideas in there and it is one of my first "go to" places when I'm stuck creatively. I LOVE THEM. Seriously.

So when Becky asked me if I'd like to be a part of the first ever PageMaps design team, I couldn't say anything but YES, YES and YES again! Truly, it's a perfect match for me.

We started with February's newsletter and this is the very first page I did. It also features Becky's new PageMaps dies for Spellbinders - this one uses the tickets. We LOVE family game night at our house.

Supplies: PageMaps for Spellbinders dies That's the Ticket, MME Sweet Caroline PP, BoBunny Cardstock, Pink Paislee Portfolio PP

And here was March's newsletter. It was a bit different for me with all that fuchsia and pink, but I loved it! Some fun BasicGrey Hey Girl! here along with the "Charmed I'm sure" and "On the Border" PageMaps/Spellbinders dies. We have the cutest little bakery literally right down the street and Carson & I had to check it out when it first opened.

Supplies: PageMaps for Spellbinders dies Charmed I'm Sure and On the Edge, BasicGrey Hey Girl! PP and alpha stickers, Assorted Butterfly punches (Stampin' Up, Martha Stewart, Fiskars), Queen & Co. pearls, BoBunny Cardstock

And then finally for April's blog - this one was a bit of a flashback for me - This was Carson in kindergarten! Oh, how I miss that baby face! More BasicGrey Hey Girl! here along with the "On the Border" Pagemaps/Spellbinders dies.

Supplies: PageMaps for Spellbinders dies On the Edge; BasicGrey Hey Girl! PP, chipboard, brads, alpha stickers; Bazzill Cardstock

I hope you'll subscribe to the PageMaps newsletter and check out the amazing monthly inspiration. Not only are there always design team contributions, but many other guest designers as well showing how wonderfully versatile sketches can be!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
xo,
k.

I'm Bella Blvd's APRIL Guest Designer!

2013-04-16T22:37:00.000-04:00

Hello! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Now don't fall over that I'm posting two days in a row, but I had to share another fun thing with you all. A bit ago my sweet friend Laura asked if I would be interested in doing a Guest Designer gig over at the Bella Blvd blog during the month of April. Of course It was a total no-brainer for me as the bright fun colors of Bella Blvd. products truly make me happy!

Supplies: Bella Blvd Sand & Surf Collection, Ciao Chip - Self Adhesive Chipboard - Icons, Alphabet & Bits, 12x12 Cardstock Stickers

I was sent the beautiful Love & Marriage and Sand & Surf collections plus what is quite possibly my new favorite “staples,” the Freestyle Sophisticates line. Truth be told, I immediately gravitated toward Sand & Surf with its cool blues and hot orange and yellows. I *am* the mom of boys, after all! It didn’t take me long once I sat down to do this layout - it practically created itself. I layered way more chipboard onto it than I might usually use but all the pieces were so cute that I couldn’t help myself! I especially love how I was able to take the word “vacation” and with one minor alteration using some orange cardstock I created the word “captain” for my title. The only thing brighter than my little man’s smile here is that fun chipboard sun!

Supplies: Bella Blvd Love & Marriage Collection, Ciao Chip - Self Adhesive Chipboard - Sienna Alphabet - Frosting, Alphabets & Bits, Cardstock Stickers Miniatures - Wedding Day.
Next I grabbed hold of Love & Marriage. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with all that pink, but I fell.in.Looooove. with the beautiful polka dot paper and I knew something great was going to come out of it. Luckily I had an entire cd of photos from my niece’s recent senior session and it gave me just the right excuse to break them out. This photo captures her inner spirit while the gorgeous papers allow it to shine. I loved using the sticker sheets on this project along with some more of the awesome chipboard shapes. One of my favorite things to do with stickers or chipboard is to chance their size and/or shape like I did here – I split the scalloped piece and used it to perfectly frame the sweet photo.

Supplies: Bella Blvd Love & Marriage Collection, Alphabets & Bits, Cardstock Stickers Miniatures - Wedding Day.

With one more project to do I thought for sure I was going to go back to Sand & Surf, but those sweet polka dots called to me one more time! I had just come back from a trip to Canada for one of the best Crop & Create events yet, and the colors in Love & Marriage were perfect for our color scheme and these happy photos! Again I clipped and snipped some stickers to make them work for me. I have no problem using lines in ways that they were not originally intended. I only find that makes them more versatile and extends their longevity and use in my scrap stash, right? This time the “love” in Love & Marriage was all about my love for what I do and the amazing ladies I get to do it with!

So thank you again to Laura and Stephanie over at Bella for allowing me to work with your gorgeous products! I really had a great time!

That's all for today! I hope it is a great one for you.

xo,

BasicGrey's NEW Carte Postale

2013-04-15T19:45:00.000-04:00

Hi, all!
I know it's been a long time and I have no promises for just now long it might be until the next post, but for now I just have to share THIS news!

Check out BasicGrey's new CARTE POSTALE colletion - a gorgeous mixture of colors and patterns with a travel-inspired theme! I promise you that if you like these photos, you're going to LOVE the actual products because they are SO.MUCH.BETTER. in person!

First up, the paper:

And then....making your patterned-paper adventure complete, they’ve provided an assortment of coordinating embellishments to take with you as you embark on this creative journey; including: 12” x 12” Elements and Alpha sheets, Title Stickers, Snippets, Metal Flair, Chip Buttons and Shapes, Mini Envelopes, Mixed Die Cuts, Garland, and assorted Cling and Clear Stamps.

Did you see that travel journal? Seriously. I die. LOVE this stuff. (Have I mentioned that?) And that wood veneer diecuts? Swoon.
Okay, here's more....
And finally, here are a few projects I designed using this amazing line....

So there you have it! Carte Postale begins shipping in June – just in time for summer vacations! And because BasicGrey doesn't peek any new line without giving you a chance to win it yourself, of course they are giving away one awesome prize pack complete with several goodies to a lucky poster! To be entered, let them know which of the products shown today is your favorite…best of luck! ENTER HERE!

Hopefully this eases the yuck of Mondays and Tax Day!

xo,

Christmas Wrap-Up!

2013-01-15T11:17:00.000-05:00

Hello!

We're now solidly into the 2nd week of January so I have to ask...How many of you have gotten your holiday decorations put away and are ready to face the rest of January?!

::Raising my hand and flapping it wildly over here::

I admit, this year my decor came down almost the day after Christmas. I love the pretty and the glow of the twinkling lights, but I was ready to move on. (Do I hear a chorus of ME TOO's! out there?)

But before I completely wipe Christmas 2012 off the books for good, I wanted to share this fun layout with you. I did this using some PageMaps for Spellbinders dies and the beautiful Carta Bella Merry & Bright Collection. I did a few step outs in case you'd like to make one of your own.

1. Cut a 10"x10" piece of white cardstock and adhere to the center of the pink cardstock base.

2.Using the PageMaps dies, cut four strips of green scallop border. Adhere around the white square and trim excess.

3. Trim a 4 1/8"x4" block of lt. blue polka dot patterned paper and a 5 1/4"x4" block of numbered patterned paper. Adhere side by side at the bottom of the white cardstock square leaving a small border at the bottom and each side.

4. Trim a 12"x.5" strip of striped paper. Adhere across the page flush with the top of the patterned paper blocks as shown.

5. Trim a 3"x5 1/4" strip of white cardstock. Notch the bottom into a banner and add journaling. Adhere centered over the numbered patterned paper block and flush with the bottom of the page.

6.Using the PageMaps Jar Labels die, cut a bracket label out of pink patterned paper. Adhere along the striped strip centered over the white journaling strip.

7. Trim "Merry & Bright" out of Carta Bella patterned paper. Adhere over the pink bracket label using foam adhesive.

8. Using PageMaps dies, cut several heart shapes. Punch holes into the ones that don't already have holes and string them on white twine. Add Carta Bella flags as desired.

9. Secure twine on white brads stretched across the lt. blue polka dot patterned paper.

10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 for two more rows of charms/tags. Adhere as shown.

Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock and brads; Carta Bella PP, diecuts, alpha stickers and stickers; PageMaps for Spellbinders die templates; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L adhesive; twine.

11. Add photos and embellish as desired with Carta Bella stickers as shown.

12. Cut small banner out of white cardstock and adhere in the upper right of the page as shown. Add Carta Bella sticker and alpha as desired.

13. Add bow of white twine around the "Merry & Bright" label as shown.

I can't tell you how much I love these fabulous dies. Their possibilities are endless! I'm so honored to have been selected to be on this year's 2013 PageMaps design team where I will get to use them on a regular basis. And I'm even more excited that I will get to be able to share more projects like this with you in the future!

And with that, may I now (thank heavens!) put "The Holidays, 2012" to rest! Have a wonderful new year!

xoxo,

Spellbinders + PageMaps = AMAZING!

2013-01-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Hello, all! Happy Saturday!

For those of you out there that are crafty types, you probably know that the entire industry is anxiously awaiting the start of the Craft & Hobby Association's Winter convention next week in California! Manufacturers are busy getting their brand new product ready to show and I have the huge pleasure of getting to work with bits of it here and there. I hope you had the chance to catch my post featuring some of Hero Arts' gorgeous new stamps. They are not to be missed (as always!) And today, I get to show you these new PageMaps dies by Spellbinders!

They are so stinking cute, I can hardly stand it!

I used both of the above die sets, the "Say What?" and the "Charmed, I'm sure", on this fun layout below. I had such a great time creating the background paper to set the tone for the story of how my son - while he loves the ladies - is definitely a one woman man! ;) (It does his mama's heart good!)

Supplies: Simple Stories SNAP! patterned papers, Bazzill cardstock, My Mind's eye wooden pennant, washi tape and baker's twine, BasicGrey alpha stickers, Stampin' Up! scallop border punch, Uni-ball Signo pen, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L adhesive and PAGEMAPS by Spellbinders dies

I can't wait to see what else Spellbinders has in store. Their products are always fun and incredibly unique!
Have a wonderful day and I'll be back soon with a few more fun things to share!
xoxo and happy crafting!

OLW: HAPPY New Year!

2013-01-01T20:07:00.003-05:00

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that it's already 2013! I am now the mom to a TEENAGER (gasp - Ethan turned 13 on the 28th!) and I know it's going to go warp speed here on out. So to start the year off right, I wanted to find myself a focus word - that one little word that would be my talisman or reminder all year through about what I wanted/needed to devote my time towards. I need that. Boy, do I need that. (Focus is one of my issues! J) A couple of years ago I picked the word “change.” And trust me it was a year of change. With 2012 being a bit tumultuous for me and my family at the end, I was looking for a word that would both focus and inspire me.

And I finally settled on: HAPPY.

Happy. When I got to thinking about it, it’s what I really wish for most for both me and my family – to be Happy. Once upon a time, many moons ago, I was known for having a sparkling personality. My nickname at one of my very first “grown up” jobs was “Ms. Sunshine.” And while I know that most still think of me that way, the issue is that I don’t think of myself that way. So I want to bring the HAPPY back for 2013! That means (among other things) doing things for ME, surrounding myself with things that inspire, looking for the pretty or the good wherever I can find it. And in this layout, as my first project for 2013, I did just that!

This project was for my OLD NEW BORROWED COOL Challenge over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. I really hope you'll hop over to learn more about it, the products used and my challenge to do a NON-PHOTO layout or scrap about your OWN one little word.

Here's to a wonderful, HAPPY 2013!

xoxo,

2013 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop

2012-12-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hello, everyone!

Welcome to the 2013 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from my amazing friend Stephanie Howell's blog. I know she had something spectacular to share with you and I bet by now you've seen so many gorgeous things! Please remember, if you find a link that doesn't work or if you happened here by means other than the hop, if you wish, you can always jump back to the Hero Arts Blog for a full list of direct links to all the fabulous eye candy on all the blogs in the hop.

AND if you want to see ALL the eye candy Hero is going to be releasing this winter at the Craft & Hobby Association 2013 show, you can go HERE! (I promise it's a MUST see!)

To create my project, Hero sent me a several of their brand new stamps and I completely fell in love with the two shown below. Not only do I adore wood-mounted anyway, but WHO could resist that sentiment (not me!) and the herringbone pattern had me swooning!

I've been wanting to do something with the sunburst idea for quite a while and the "Special" stamp (K5656) couldn't be more perfect. I stamped the imaged onto cream cardstock, embossed and cut out. Then I emphasized the word "SPECIAL" with a salmon-colored gel pen.

The lime green and salmon-colored rays were both stamped with the herringbone pattern (S5654), but the green was embossed while the salmon got a tone-on-tone treatment.

I finished up with some twine and ribbon and of course gems along the rays for some shine.

Supply List: Hero Arts Stamp K5656 (Special), Hero Arts Stamp S5654 (Herringbone background), American Crafts Zing Embossing Powder, Ranger Inks, My Minds Eye & KI Memories patterned papers, BoBunny & Coordinations Cardstock, Zig pen, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Adhesive, Xacto Decorative scissors

Other: Twine, ruban, rhinestones, gel pen

Now for the extra "good stuff": The super-generous folks at Hero Arts will be giving away several prize packs with winners randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received by midnight PST on Monday, December 17 - so be sure to leave one HERE and at all the blogs you visit along the way such as the talented Mariana Grigsby, the next stop on your Hero Arts blog hop!

And again, please remember, if you find a link that doesn't work, you can always hop back to the Hero Arts Blog for a list of direct links to all the blogs in the hop.

Have a wonderful Friday and HAPPY HOPPING!

xo,

A Little December Daily Share + Holiday FUN!

2012-12-12T11:08:00.005-05:00

Hello, everyone! Happy 12-12-12!! (The math geek in me is seriously loving today's date!)

I have so much to share with you today so I hope you'll indulge me just a little. I promise at the end there will be a great reward! Or at least something fun for you anyway!

Today I wanted to put up a little of my December Daily. If you recall, I have/had? great hopes of finally finishing one - after three attempts! I must admit it's not looking good as it's now the 12th and I've only completed through the 5th but it is what it is. I'm going to try and keep plugging along, cross my heart.

Anyhow, after initially starting my album, I revamped it just a bit. I added a bit more sparkle and bling to the spine as well as some shimmer mist that doesn't show up well in photos but is SO gorgeous in real life. I've been loving my Pink Paislee Portfolio album to hold my DD. It is larger than any I have done before and I'm digging the size AND the divided page protectors it comes with. It might just convert me to a project life gal in the new year.

For the snowflake, I punched several pieces of paper and glued them together with my Xyron, then sprinkled them with glass glitter. The star is covered with red Stickles and the gems are old Heidi Swapp. The little hook at the top was designed by Janet Hopkins and was a Heidi product back in the day. I've had mine since a Creative Escape years ago and have horded it for just the right project to use it on. So glad I had it for this!

I always like to do a little intro with my December Dailys. I especially love white on white so I had fun with the snowflake punches on the left side of the binder as well as stringing them with twine on the right side. The music note paper is BasicGrey Aspen Frost and the other papers/stickers are Echo Park's This & That. (My album is mostly Echo Park this year :))

This is the completed page one spread. The title was cut with my Silhouette (I created it - my first attempt at my own such design!) and I made the envelope myself out of white Bazzill Cardstock.

And by flipping the envelope over, this is the the completed Day 2 page spread.
The envelope contains the story of my boy's favorite tradition (I think you can read it in the photo below) as well as a photo of C during it on the other side. There's more Echo Park here (I love love love that newsprint paper) as well as some BasicGrey alpha stickers and My Mind's Eye washi tape. That yellow stripe is just speaking to me right now!

This is Day 3 and Day 4. More Echo Park with some BasicGrey Aspen Frost and the snowmen from BasicGrey's holiday line a couple years ago (Jovial - my fave ever!). And if anyone is wondering, the awesome snowflake punch is from EK Success. I love the size of it.
Day 3 features the triumph of me getting the boys' holiday photo and Day 4 the littles and I watched Rudolph on TV. I didn't have any photos of that so I relied on images from the internet to show it.

And finally Day 5, our holiday parade. For this day, I used the Pink Paislee divided page protectors because I had lots of photos I wanted to show (there is the back of the right page as well filled). I made my favorite Santa photo large and then fitted in the photos I thought told the story best into the dividers. (And I swear there is even a selfie of me and the oldest on the next page!) The large star is old Technique Tuesday chipboard and the black metal "5" is I think old Making Memories.

So enough of that ;) Just a couple more things for you today.
First is the new January/February 2013 (WHAT?!) issue of Creating Keepsakes. It hit the newsstands yesterday and it is a wonderful one!

Here is a link to the online sneak peek where you will find one of my favorite layouts I've done in a while. (There's another little peek below.)

And finally, my amazing friends at Scrapbook and Cards Today are once again doing their 12 days of HOLIDAY GIVING!! I promise, promise, promise you that you don't want to miss it. I've never met more generous people or generous sponsors! And as *I* can't win, I would LOVE it if one of you would! So please, hop on over and check it out HERE!

Have a wonderful 12-12-12!

xo,

SCT Winter Issue and a Holiday Giveaway for You!

2012-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

*******CONTEST NOW CLOSED. WINNER ANNOUNCED AT THE END OF THIS POST! THANK YOU!*******

Hello, all!

I have something fun to share with you today! The new WINTER issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today will be LIVE at 10:00 am Eastern which means you can download some absolutely amazing scrappy inspiration just by clicking HERE!

But because I know some of you (like me) adore hard copies of their reading material, I've got you covered, too. I'm going to give a brand spanking new copy of this gorgeous issue to one of you lucky readers!!

And as a little teaser - the talented Amy Heller provided the content for our Easy, Detailed, Expert column this issue and I FELL.IN.LOVE. with this layout....(swoon)

And if that just isn't enough to get you excited, I'm going to throw in a copy of the 2013 Scrapbook & Cards Today/PageMaps sketch calendar too!

I'm telling you, you'll have just about all you could ever want for Christmas if these two items showed up at your door! So tell me. What do you want most for Santa to bring you this year...if you've been good, that is?!

Leave me a comment in the comment section by midnight (Eastern) tonight and you'll be entered to win and these awesome copies could be coming to YOU!

Have a wonderful day!
xo,

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Congratulations to MARGIE!! The Winter issue of SCT and the 2013 calendar will be on it's way to you! Please email me using the "about me" contact in the upper right of this blog page.

Happy December & the start of my DECEMBER DAILY!

2012-12-01T09:08:00.000-05:00

Hello, everyone!

I’m so happy to welcome you to DECEMBER and as such my last post over at Scrapbook & Cards Today's blog for 2012 in my Old New Borrowed Cool series! I can only hope that you have enjoyed this little series even half as much I as have doing it for you.

I thought quite a bit about what I would do for a final project and it just seemed fitting that it take the form of a December Daily album. For those of you that are unfamiliar with one, a December Daily album is meant to document the daily activities of the month of December – all those wonderful holiday traditions that we have – and get them down into one place. And while it may have been someone else’s idea once upon a time, I have to give credit to the awesome Ali Edwards for inspiring me to give it my first try several years ago.

Now that said, I have two confessions. (Yes, I know. Another of my confessions!) The first is that I absolutely despise scrapbooking the Christmas holidays. I know. Shocking, right? I’ve done it tons of times and yes, I know that it might *seem* like I enjoy it, but the truth is…well, I don’t. Maybe it's because I'm just not happy with the pictures I take because of poor lighting situations or I get bored with the same old holiday papers, or whatever the case it at the time, but it's true. I’m sure at least *some* of you feel the same as me, right?! (Please tell me I'm not alone!)

The other confession is that while this will be my third (attempt at a) December Daily, I have never managed to complete the entire album! I’m trusting you all to keep me accountable this time! But the beauty of a December Daily is that by doing a little something every day, you keep from getting overwhelmed with the larger picture. And when it’s finished (and we WILL finish, right!?!) you’ll have a wonderful keepsake that will be treasured forever. So let’s dive in....

Here is the cover of my 2012 album.

Supplies: Pink Paislee binder and tab, Echo Park stickers, Bazzill Cardstock, BasicGrey bookplate & alpha stickers, twine, EK Success punches (scallop, circle & snowflake), Silhouette electronic cutting machine, Folk Art acrylic paint, twine.

And a little detail shot here - I cut out the 2012 with my Silhouette and layered up the snowflake and "25" circle with some pop dots.

Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Echo Park PP * stickers, BasicGrey PP (music), EK Success Punches.

Since this is my 3^rd December Daily (and I swear I’ll finish it this year!), I wanted to include a small introduction to this holiday season like I have in years past. I love the look of white on white and since the interior of the album was a kraft that wasn’t in my desired color palette, I choose to cover the inside front and back cover with white cardstock then scattered snowflake punches as if they were falling from the corner. I have also found that sealing not only the outside cover but inside cover is so important, especially if they are going to be handled for years to come.

For more of my December Daily, please hop over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. I'll also be posting more here as the days go by. For now, we're off to a Christmas Parade....Advent Calendar item #1 about to be checked off! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo,
k

It's a Silhouette Christmas Countdown.

2012-11-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

Hello there!

Happy Friday & Happy Last Day of November! What!?! I swear time hits warp speed once Thanksgiving has passed! And even though it was an early one this year so there "should" be more time to get things done, I sure haven't seen or felt it! (Seriously, where did it go?!)

In a valiant effort to stay on top of things, every chance I get I've been burying myself in holiday prep so that I can actually enjoy the wonderful festivities when they do get here! And this is just one project that I was so excited to complete!

Count down to Christmas with the Silhouette advent calendar. This limited edition advent calendar kit comes with a full set of shapes that can be arranged any way you like. Use your Silhouette and your favorite paper to customize the calendar in your own style. With different decorations, the advent calendar can be used for any occasion.

The fabulous folks at Silhouette generously offered to send me one of their new Limited Edition 2012 Advent calendars to play with. I was so excited as I absolutely loved the one I did of theirs last year, but that one was a bit bulky and I was looking for something more streamlined. This one is just PERFECT! I especially love that this year's calendar is more "activity" related than filled with treats. Anything that gets me spending more time with my family is awesome in my book! And of cours this is still going to look adorable holding some Instagram pics AFTER the holidays! I love giving things dual purposes.

I admit I opted for a non-traditional holiday palette, but I really wanted this calendar to hang in my family room that has lots of kraft, aqua and chocolate browns. By picking limited colors I was able to keep a nice clean look to the project.

Supplies: Bazzill & BoBunny cardstock, BasicGrey stickers, Stampin' Up Snowflake punch, Fiskars star punches, EK Success circle punches, Bazzill brads, Jute, Silhouette files (banners, etc.)

Isn't it so fun!? Each little pocket or envelope holds a little note with an idea for a family activity for the day. So perfect! Now I have to admit I didn't have the easiest time coming up with 25 holiday inspired things to do, but I gave it my best effort...me and some of my close friends on Pinterest (how I love that site!).

Here's the list I compiled that fits into our Christmas plans. Please feel free to incorporate some (or all) into yours!

1. Participate in our town's Christmas Parade.
2. Take time to appreciate the true meaning of the Season. For unto you a Child is born...
3. Drink Hot Cocoa while watching a favorite Christmas movie.
4. Write letters to Santa.
5. Set out shoes for St. Nicholas to fill.
6. Have a family game night.
7. Spend time deciding on a family service project.
8. Make chocolate peppermint cookies with mom.
9. Do something nice for someone...just because.
10. Pick your favorite Christmas carol and sing it at the top of your lungs.
11. Visit Santa.
12. Take a trip around town to admire the holiday lights.
13. Kiss someone special under the Mistletoe.
14. Host a cookie exchange.
15. Attend a Christmas pageant or play.
16. Go ice skating.
17. Make handmade gifts for neighbors and friends.
18. Decorate a gingerbread house...with EXTRA candy.
19. Have the kids (and adults) donate to a bell-ringer's bucket.
20. Wrap presents for each other.
21. Dinner by Candlelight on this, the longest night of the year!
22. Camp out under the Christmas tree.
23. Open one present from a brother of your choice.
24. Read the full Christmas Story from the Bible.
and
25. ...who is Christ the LORD. Merry Christmas!

So as a special offer to my awesome blog readers, you can get one yourself for 40% off if you order TODAY and use the code BLACK at checkout!
Here's to a wonderful Holiday Season!
xoxo,
k.

It's the start of the HOLIDAY Season!

2012-11-22T21:10:00.003-05:00

Hello!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. friends! I hope it was a wonderful one for you and that you were able to spend it with those you love. We had a spectacular 60+ degree day and spent a great deal of time sitting outside chatting with family. It was perfect. I truly adore Thanksgiving - it's one of my favorite holidays because it focuses on gratitude, family, friends...and food! It doesn't get much better than that....unless you count the kicking off the HOLIDAY SHOPPING season! ;)

Anyhow, in the spirit of the gift-giving, I wanted to share with you what could be a really fun and "not too difficult" project for you to tackle that I'm sure anyone would love. Recently I spent a couple of days over at the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog talking about Pinterest and how I spend way too much time pinning all the eye candy and not nearly enough time "doing." So I decided to fix that. I challenged myself to make at least one item from my many pins that I've been meaning to make for a while.

This is what I came up with:

After searching in my “one day when I have time” pin folder I came across these gorgeous stretched burlap letters. I had hoped that it would be a tutorial, but when I checked further, it turns out that those lovely letters are by a talented Etsy seller by the name of The Virginia House. So I did a little research on her blog and found out a bit of info to help me make some of my own.

Here is what I found I needed:

Burlap (I went to our local feed store and bought an actual burlap bag for 1.99. I think I’m going back to buy more to turn into pillows using the cool print you can find on them!)

Wooden frames

Scissors

Reynolds Freezer paper (WHY hadn’t I known about this stuff before?)

Black paint

Sponge brush

Pencil

Staple gun

Craft knife

Iron

Before I get going any further, I just have to talk about this freezer paper. I had NO idea it existed but check it out – right on the packaging it mentions its specific uses in the crafty area! How cool right? It’s basically got a paper coating on one side and a waxy coating on the other. It makes perfect stenciling templates as I’m about to show you!

First, I printed the monogram I wanted onto a sheet of paper. I checked the size to make sure that’s what I wanted, then I laid the freezer paper over it (paper side up) and traced it.

After tracing, I carefully cut out the letter using a craft knife.

After the monogram is cut out, lay the freezer paper (paper side up) onto the burlap cut large enough to wrap around the wooden frame (Trust me, this is important as with my first attempt I cut a piece way too small!) then iron it on. Do not use steam and make sure to really hit the areas that have the fine cuts so that they are extra secure.

Using a sponge brush, paint the letter with paint color of choice. I think a thicker paint would work better so that it doesn’t get the chance to run. However once I did that, I came back with a slightly thinner coat to really make sure the letter was covered. Take caution at the finer areas so that they don’t get over-saturated. Let dry completely. I used a hairdryer to help speed this up a bit as I’m not very patient!

Remove freezer paper template once the paint is completely dry then stretch the burlap onto the wooden frame and secure with the staple gun.

Then display your piece of artwork with pride! (This is a shelf in my scrap room, of course!)

What I learned in the process:

1. Most of this went beautifully, but I didn’t cut the canvas large enough the first time and therefore it was extremely hard to stretch. Give yourself plenty of working space.

2. It can be a little tricky to center your monogram onto your frame once it’s been painted. Practice patience!

3. Gallery wrap the at the sides of the canvas rather than at the top and bottom so that if you want it to sit on a shelf, it sits a little flatter.

4. MAKING CRAFTS IS FUN!

I hope this has inspired you to get your creative mojo going and I can’t wait to see what you’ve created! Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

Giveaway CLOSEDIt's MY Birthday, but I want to give YOU a present...

2012-11-02T08:32:00.002-04:00

***CONTEST NOW CLOSED***WINNER ANNOUNCED AT BOTTOM OF POST

Good morning!

I hope you are having a wonderful day! It's been a bittersweet one for me already as I have just sent my oldest out on his first class trip and on my birthday, too! The house is eerily quiet without him and I think I miss him already!

But speaking of my house and my birthday (what a segue, I know), I am excited to share a little of both with you today. Recently I have had the honor of working with Little Yellow Bicycle and my amazing friend Courtney Walsh in promoting LYB's new release, Acorn Hollow, and celebrating Courtney's brand new Sweethaven book series.

Courtney's heartwarming novels include themes including friendship and scrapbooking (Hello!!) and they pair so amazingly well with Little Yellow Bicycle's fall line Acorn Hollow so I absolutely jumped at the chance to work with them both.

Here's a little bit about my challenge from Courtney and what transpired:

From Courtney---One of the most important things in my life is that sense of "home." Perhaps that's why it was so important to include the word "Homecoming" in the title of my second novel... because I think there's something universal about that feeling of belonging that you only get when you're home. It's a common theme throughout the novels as Sweethaven is the place my characters can go and truly feel like themselves...

Having moved around a LOT the past few years, Home is more important to me than ever...which is why for this second Sweethaven-inspired prompt, I asked my sweet and hugely talented friend Kelly Goree to create an Acorn Hollow layout that highlights the things she loves most about her home.

I didn't expect that topic to strike such a chord, but for Kelly, it's the home itself that has the most meaning. Having been in her family for four generations, there's something special about those four walls...and what better way to document it than in the pages of her scrapbook?

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And here is the page I created with Acorn Hollow based on Courtney's prompt:

One of my favorite things about my home is my home itself. It was once my grandmother's and four generations of my family have lived here. The layout is a replica of my house and the doors and windows all open to show features of the house as well as provide journaling about why this house is special to me.

The detail shot of the front door pretty much shows you exactly what you see when you open my front door which I thought was fun.

And a couple more images:

And as I mentioned, I can't share pretty paper without having a giveaway. Besides it's my birthday and I want to do something nice and fun for you. So what is better than ONE giveaway? Why, TWO of course! So here is how you can win:

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And the WINNER IS:

Congratulations! PLEASE Contact me at kelly(dot)goree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!
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GIVEAWAY 1 - Hop on over to the LITTLE YELLOW BICYCLE BLOG where they are giving away a copy of Courtney's book A Sweethaven Homecoming. Just tell them what home means to you and they'll will choose a lucky winner from the comments left on their blog.

GIVEAWAY 2 - RIGHT HERE!! Just leave me a comment letting me know what you love most about fall and you'll be entered to win your own collection of Little Yellow Bicycle's ACORN HOLLOW!

Have a wonderful day!

xo,

Happy Halloween & WELCOME NOVEMBER!

2012-11-01T18:22:00.001-04:00

Hello, all!!

Welcome to NOVEMBER!! Whoot! So glad to see October its way out the door. It was one doozy of a month, but before we let it go, the Goree family sent it out with a bang - Halloween style!

It's long been known that I freaking adore Halloween!I love the colors, I love the crisp air, I love the falling leaves, and I have the most fun making coordinating costumes for the boys! Unfortunately as always, I was running behind in getting these made and they may or may not have been completely dry when we headed out the door! ;)

This year's theme as thought up by my husband - and executed by me (I have to get that in there!) - was PAC MAN. I have to admit as a true child of the 80's I was a Pac Man champ! It was my game - even above Centipede and Donkey Kong - so this was SO much fun (and relatively easy) to do.

A couple of moving boxes, a few cans of spray paint and some of my cardstock stash and voila - a video game come to life. Wocka, wocka!

Even Ms. Pac Man got in on the deal. Looks like I got run down by the red ghost, Blinky. Better go eat my large white dot....

And now I get to chase them!

It was chilly, but at least the rain stayed away. It reminded me of my Halloweens of childhood!

LOL I loved seeing the back of their costumes walking down the street. It made me smile!

I hope your Halloween was just as festive and that everyone stayed safe. Please come back tomorrow because even though it's MY birthday, I'm giving one of you special people a gift and sharing some more fun with Little Yellow Bicycle's Acorn Hollow & the amazing Courtney Walsh!

Here's to NOVEMBER! (here here!)
xoxo,
k

Wow. Catching up. Big Time. Meet Scout.

2012-10-27T12:47:00.000-04:00

Well, hello out there!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! It has been brought to my attention (sometimes not so subtly ;)) that I haven't really posted about anything to this old blog except for work-related stuff and I know even that's been limited. That's been somewhat intentional, but as I got to thinking about it, I realized that I really do love looking back at past posts and seeing what had been happening in our lives at that moment.

So in a *small* effort to fix that situation, let's start with one of the biggest things that happened to us this summer.

Meet Scout!

(Scout is very fitting name for this pup since all my boys are scouts and my husband is a Scout Master! I just can't get away from it!)

Scout is our (at the time) 11-month-old chocolate lab rescue pup.

Isn't he the cutest?! The story of how he came to us is really very serendipitous (and long!) but I'll condense it by saying both our family AND Scout got really lucky when we found each other. Scout was adopted through the WAY HOME RESCUE ALLIANCE and they and his foster mom, Lori, were amazing.

Ethan and Me on one of our first visits with Scout.

He fit right in with the crew if you couldn't tell. In this photo he'd just been with us a few days and already owner & pup were starting to look alike! ;)

One of the first activities we did with Scout was canoeing. I think at this point we had only had him for a couple of weeks. We weren't sure how he'd do, but he was amazing - or at least he didn't roll the canoe which was all we could ask for!

I swear this photo should appear in an outdoor magazine which is really comical since I am so NOT an outdoorsy person! This is Dad, Turner and Scout as we first set out. I was in another canoe with Ethan and Carson and trying to take pictures. (Er, that didn't always work out so well.)

This was the day, though, that led to us realizing that we couldn't have gotten a more perfect dog for us. Not long after the photo above was taken, Scout decided he needed to use the restroom. The only place we could find that had a bank for him to get out on also had a giant rope swing. So while Scout did his business, the boys took turns jumping off the swing and into the water. It was great fun! At least the boys thought so.
But Scout? He wasn't so happy.
He was so anxious that his boys were in the water and the next thing we know, this happened:

The pup started jumping in the water and "rescuing" them from the river! He grabbed Carson by the shirt first and dragged him back to shore. Turner was next on his list. Just look at the determination in his eyes! Bless him. We stopped after this because we didn't want to give the pup pure fits, but I was so proud of him!

Now he's a true part of the family. The boys love him and he loves them. It's crazy. I guess it really is true that every boy needs a dog and every dog needs a boy...or three.

We celebrated his birthday complete with balloons (okay, so it was really the neighbor's birthday, but we took good advantage of the timing!) and belly rubs around.

I'm sure you'll be seeing much more of him in future posts and pictures. And before anyone asks, yes, now I have FIVE boys - my boys, the husband and now the dog. sigh.

It never ends!

xo,

Welcome to the BasicGrey Serenade Blog Hop CONTEST NOW CLOSED

2012-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

****CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED AT BOTTOM OF THE POST****

Welcome to the BasicGrey Serenade Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from the blog of the talented Shannon Tidwell and I know she had something amazing to share with you!

The Serenade Collection captures the refinement of bygone years, where tea was served with crumpets and your dinner guests retired to the parlor for sparkling conversation. Full of refined grace and delicate simplicity, you’ll love adorning your projects with Serenade’s layers of petticoats, bustled tea gowns and prim parasols.

Supplies: Serenade Patterned Paper, Mixed Brads, Petals, Element Stickers. Other: Pen, Adhesive, Mod Podge, Scalloped Heart Punch

Photo by Emilie Ahern.

I made this super-fun project using the gorgeous SERENADE Collection and one of the BasicGrey unfinished 7x7 frames. As a side note I adore these frames anhd have several in both the 7x7 and 12x12 sizes! And while I'm not usually a home-decor type, I absolutely adore the colors in this line (that that they match my office/craft room is a double bonus!) and wanted to give something different a try. I created the rosette from the Petals package and clustered them with a few more Petals flowers for a totally feminine feel - See! VERY different for me! ;)

And I can't share a "coming soon" project without giving you a chance to win some of your own. So how about the chance to win a full Serenade collection pack or 6x6 paper pad + embellishment of your choice if you prefer! Simply leave me a comment here in the comments section to be entered to win!

If the chance to win a collection pack is exciting, what about the chance to win one of each product in the Serenade collection? We thought you might be interested! Simply head over to the BasicGrey Facebook page and let us know your favorite product in the Serenade collection! A winner will be selected at random from all comments received today.

Next, it's time to hop over to our last blog for the day, the amazing Shari Carroll and see what she has in store. Remember, if you find a link that doesn't work, you can always hop back to the BasicGrey blog for a list of direct links to all of the blogs in the hop.

Have a wonderful day and good luck!

xoxo,

k.

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ETA: Congrats to the winner:

Congratulations! Please email me (through the link at the sidebar) with your addy and we'll get your prize out to you!

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Crop & Create: MARKHAM

2012-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Good morning!

I'm so excited to let you all know that the fantastic CROP & CREATE event is coming BACK to Markham in February! We had an absolutely fantastic time last year and are thrilled to be returning once more! Even more exciting is that besides having me and incredible ladies Becky Fleck and Vicki Boutin returning, we will also have the awesome Kelly Purkey and Carmi Cimicata as well as special guest Caroline Lau from Maya Road!

Some of the event highlights include 24 hours of cropping time, a delicious dessert buffet, two gourmet soup/salad/sandwich lunches, AMAZING prizes, special make n’ takes, challenges and a goody bag you will be talking about for a while! Trust me, you will not want to miss it! Crop & Create Markham is going to be a very special and inspirational event where we celebrate papercrafting...together!

Now for the full details:

REGISTRATION: October 22, 2012 @ 8:00 p.m. EST

with Crop & Create ALUMNAE getting the jump and being allowed to register at 8:00 p.m. EST TONIGHT, October 21st!

Event Date & Location:

February 9 & 10, 2013

Hilton Suites, Markham, ON

All this for only $149!

Classes 3 for $109, 6 for $199 or 1 for $45!

All Day Album Class** for $89!

** 3 or 6 class packs do not include the All Day Album Class

(Please note you must be registered for the event to register for classes)

We can't wait to see you there! I promise it will make memories you'll keep for a lifetime! And as an added little incentive, here's just one small peek at one of the classes I'll be teaching - My Inspired Sketches class!

Don't forget to get full event and class information HERE! Have a great day!

xoxo,

Little Yellow Bicycle, Friendship, Scrapbooking & Courtney Walsh

2012-10-19T10:25:00.003-04:00

Good morning, all!

Today I have something very exciting (for me especially!) to share with you. I have had the honor of knowing and calling the talented Courtney Walsh a friend for a very long time. We met ages ago in the scrapbooking world and I even worked with her on one of her first books - The Busy Scrapper. I have always loved her writing style so when she took on her latest endeavor - novelist - I was one of the first in line to gobble each book up as they came out. I have to admit I would have read them anyway because they were Courtney's but because they were about friendship and scrapbooking, it was a no-brainer!

So the other day Courtney asked me if I would work with her and Little Yellow Bicycle (who's gorgeous new collection ACORN HOLLOW resembles the cover of Courtney's 2nd novel, A Sweethaven Homecoming) for a special promotion I jumped at the chance.

From Courtney---One thing that's always fascinated me is the female friendship. It's one of the most rewarding--yet challenging--relationships of all, and that's why I chose to focus on this theme when writing my Sweethaven series. I also wanted to pull in the idea of a beautiful old scrapbook bringing friends back together after too many years apart...In my mind, friendship and scrapbooking go hand-in-hand...after all, many of my favorite friends are those I've met because of this wonderful hobby.

I asked one of those friends, the wonderful Kelly Goree, to create a layout inspired by my books, more specifically, on the idea of friendship and she used a little Acorn Hollow to do just that. This layout is as fun as it is meaningful, and I'm sure both Kelly and her best friend will cherish the sentiments (and the layout) forever.

Scrapbooking is such an important part of my life--and such an important part of the whole Sweethaven series. I think (and hope) you'll be able to relate.

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And here is what I created. This is my best friend and me in some of our fun photo booth photos from the 90's (Yes, big hair and all!)

Journaling: "To say I was blessed the day you walked into my dorm room almost twenty-five years ago wouldn’t even begin to describe it. There was no way of knowing that you, my mid-term replacement roommate freshman year of college, would become my lifelong best friend. I know physically we’re as different as two people can be (and you got the good end of that deal!) but we were soul sisters from the very start. We complimented each other. I talked you into trying things you never had done before (including coloring your hair for the first time – sorry!) and you taught me what true friendship was all about. I am so grateful and humbled that you are my “person.”

I hope you'll hop over to the LYB blog and then on to Courtney's for the chance to win some Acorn Hollow and Sweethaven magic of your very own! I promise they are two things you won't want to miss! And stay tuned in the weeks to come for even more from me, Courtney, Little Yellow Bicyle and Acorn Hollow!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

Love is in the Air: Introducing BasicGrey's TRUE LOVE Collection

2012-10-18T12:02:00.002-04:00

Good morning, all!

Check out what went up on the BasicGrey blog today!! That's right, the 2013 Valentine's line is making it's debut! Introducing TRUE LOVE (and as you'll see - it's not just for the girls!)

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Look out, crafters! Cupid’s arrow is about to strike creative hearts everywhere with BasicGrey’s True Love collection, releasing in December 2012. It’s a classic tale of romance, but rather than boy meets girl, vintage meets geometric in this patterned paper love story. On the vintage side, prints include soft florals, lovely lace, and romantic roses, while its geometric companion offers diagonal stripes, colorful herringbone, and lined-up ledger.

Of course, BasicGrey doesn’t stop at patterned paper. True Love offers a full symphony of crafting supplies to make the creative heart sing. New to the embellishment line-up are the absolutely adorable Mini Bottle Cap Epoxy Stickers—a sweet treat for any project.

Additional adoring accents include:

Wax Seals: No heat required to seal this conversational deal, QTpie!

Chipboard: With letters and shapes now packaged separately, crafters can choose just what they want.

Alphabet Stickers: An impressive assortment of three fonts, colors, and sizes makes it easy to spell out all of those sweet nothings.

Die-cuts and Transparencies: See through all the facades and go straight to the heart with this impressive assortment.

Element Stickers: From trendy tabs to bitty banners, this 12” x 12” sheet of sentimental stickers will add charm to any love note.

Layered Stickers: These dimensional designs will add deep and adoring statements to every project.

Snippets: Back by popular demand, this bundle includes 24 versatile scraps in an easy-to-store 4” x 6” pad.

Mini Envelopes: Send micro messages in bitty envelopes that are sure to make a big impact.

Stitched Brads: When it comes to stand-out projects, texture is the trick, and these brads are just the ticket.

Title Stickers: Whether it’s a sentiment on a Valentine or a loving statement on a scrapbook page, this sheet has everything needed to write the book of love.

Woven Labels: In this case, being labeled is a very good thing!

Garland: Don’t let the smaller (6” x 12”), more convenient package fool you; this giddy garland assortment still includes six double-sided designs to adore.

And what True Love story would be complete without a great big hug and kiss? BasicGrey is tickled to add its XOXO Chipboard Monogram Kit to this heartfelt collection, which includes everything crafters need to make a heartfelt, handmade statement in the home. (This is one of my pet projects! You will definitely want one of your own!)

See what I mean? This line is SO versatile. This is my sweet Turner making out his Valentines in kindergarten. Have you ever seen cuter cheeks?!

And my little monkey man - They made these mailboxes in pre-school and he loved it. He was all about the mail and the Valentines!

Of course you wnt a chance to win some True Love of your own! Simply hop over to the BasicGrey blog and find out how to get entered!

Have a wonderful day!

xoxo, k.

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