sleepin' in

After a few years of renos in our house, there are finally completed areas in our home. Now......I love to decorate, so I can't imagine that our place will ever be completely decorated........I will forever change things up....I just know it....(sorry, Ron).......I love it too much. But there are some spaces that, when I walk into that room, I just LOVE the way it makes me feel.

Our bedroom is one of those places. Not because of what happens in there {lol} -- edit later for younger viewers & my mother -- the room just has that calming feeling.........and who wouldn't want to spend time in a room that calms you. With it's old painted-door headboard, the wrought iron scroll above the bed, the personalized photos in chunky frames, the calming blue comforter, the Eiffel Tower prints (I'm gonna get there someday) & the yellow throw pillow on the bed -- I am IN LOVE with my room (call me crazy).

So.... I just wanted to share the layout above that I created a few weeks ago while scrappin' with my sister-in-law.

I used a variety of LAYERING techniques to create a few collections all over the layout. I created a grid pattern on my background pattern paper by machine stitching with black thread. Did I measure these lines out?????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!!!! Not a chance. Don't measure -- just stitch. It's WAY more fun that way. period.

I sanded this little chipboard bird before I used the teeny tiny flower stamp from the Funky Flowers stamp set from my Stamp BOX.

And that gorgeous black vinyl title you see.....yes, it's from my little sister over at Cut Your Way.

Hope I've inspired you to create a layout about a special place in your house..........and to sleep in a little more.

enjoy your bed & your coffee this morning ....... or tonight.

{from the farm},

j.

summer mini

Head on over to the mSB blog today for my Design team post. I created this little "summer celebration" mini album to showcase some cute little pics from a fun & adventureous afternoon at the park.
I created the album out of plain chipboard & fabric -- a mixture of canvas, printed fabrics & felt. I used my sewing machine to bind everything together.......no, Lise, you can't buy it anywhere {lol}.
Go check out more photos of it here. And visit my DT gallery on the website to see more of my layouts.

And........if you want to check out some other yummies I've created for the Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker DT.......click here to see my last blog post.

{from the farm},
j.

little moths

tonight while combining, i saw the most beautiful sight.
hundreds of little white moths dancing in the air just beyond my touch.
i'm sure i disrupted their sleep.
i needed my camera (but it's too dusty in a combine it).
we'll take a break from working tomorrow, and meet the little moths again on monday.

good night everyone {from the busy farm},
j.

coffee friends

just bumped into one of my best friends in a Walmart parking lot.............didn't have enough time together................let alone have a cup of coffee & a chat. just missing her & her little guy.

harvest will be here in a few days (maybe even tomorrow) and there are not enough hours of summer left.

will miss my friends in the busy season.

journaling: It's not like we're related; we haven't been friends since birth; we are JUST CUZ FRIENDS. We enjoy each other's company; we have commom interests; and we will be there for each other for always.

phone a friend today.

enjoy your day {from the farm},
j.

you can open your eyes now

The "sneak peeks" are over and here are some of the layouts I worked on last week. There are some others, but they will be upcoming DT posts (Aug. & Sept.), so you can't see them yet.

On all of these layouts, I used myStampBOX stamp sets. I'm needing to add to my gallery on the website (www.mystampbox.com) so I thought I'd rock out some layouts with some of the fabulous new stamp sets I received a few weeks ago. I also used some incredible new pattern paper from KikiART. They are a product partner with mSB, so it was only fitting that I use them both on these layouts. AAANNNNNDDDDD........her pattern paper totally ROCKS.....it's so bright & colourful & fun & funky & hard-to-not-use!!!!! Hello......get me some MORE!!!!!

playHOUSE:
I heat embossed the "HOUSE" part of the title after I stamped with the Rustic Outlines letter stamps. I love how grungy these little letters look (even heat embossed).
The KikiART pattern paper used were: Antologia CHINA - Llamarades; Antologia Familia - Botones y costura; Hot Air Balloon - Clouds (this one is my absolute FAVE)!!!!!


books:
What better way of telling the story of how Carter adores books than by using some fun & quirky KikiART paper: Antologia FAMALIA - Parejita, Casilleros & Puzzle chico; Antologia Magica - Arbol Magico. Check out her website for this very funky pattern paper.....it'll rock your next layout.
I used the mini letters stamp set from mSB for the title -- (i circles one of the titles with my journalling marker to emphasize it).

HOT new WHEELS:
Okay....so......we are all enjoying the banners so much these days that I thought I'd create one using some mSB stamps (funky flowers). Pretty cute, eh?!? I just stamped, cut around them with my scissors, cut them in half & stitched them on with my machine. Just love these funky, little stamps -- so incredibly versatile for sooooooo many layouts. (Hhhhmmmmm........maybe THAT will be one of my next posts.......how to use one stamp sets in a variety of ways....hhhhhhmmmmm).KikiART pp: Hot Air Balloon - Clouds & Balloons (another one of my FAVES -- LOVE this whole line)!!!!!!; Antologia CHINA - Llamaradas.

Wings:
On this layout I used the Colourful Companions stamp set (better order one of these for yourself -- everyone LOVES them)!!!!! and heat embossed a bunch of them onto light green cardstock using white embossing powder. Then I rubbed purple dye ink over the cardstock AND the embossed butterflies. The dye ink sticks to the cardstock (of course), but will be resisted by the embossed butterflies. I fairly "old-school" technique, but I just hadn't tried it again for a while {lol}.
I used some of the newest pattern paper from Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker on this layout -- Tree Love, Blueberry Hill & My Friend Birdie. They are all so whimsical & fun to play with -- I love mixing all the lines 'cuz the colours don't necessarily match then; something I LOVE!!!!!!! Gotta get some more DT stuff together for her as well.............yikes!!!!?!

journalling: Asha, you have the most lovely little wings that you love to play with. Whether your wings are those of fairies....of a butterfly.....or those of an eagle....I pray that those wings will take you wherever you wish to go. I pray that you will use those wings to make all your dreams come true.

Hope you're inspired to enjoy your own crafting today {from the farm},

j.

busy, busy, busy....playing

Here's some sneak peeks of some Design Team layouts I've been workin' on:

Come back next week to see the real deal.

BIG SCRAP "fun" DAY tomorrow at my sister-in-laws..........i'm sure i'll have tons more layouts to show next week again................YEAH!!!!!

enjoying the heat {from the farm},

j.

re-connecting

i'm not lost.
but i'm finding myself lost in a summer of wonderful moments.
i'm re-connecting with my family.
i'm enjoying small things.......like.......


watching this little peanut discover the mermaid inside herself and watching her swim through the sparkling underworld every day.

sharing backyard fires with family & friends.
taking in the silence as i canoe on a beautiful afternoon with very special people.

reconnecting with a best friend i haven't seen in "way too long".

watching 5 boys stand silently to enjoy the view.

playing with my new vintage bike from my mom.days spent with my great kids (probably the greatest in the world)!!!!!!

blooms discovered in the gardens around my yard.


what are the connections you have made this summer?

enjoy your day {from the farm},

j.