Hello, Handsome!

And hello, again! If for no other reason, these extra off weeks sure have been productive for me. I wandered around the blogosphere more than I've been able to do for the past couple months. When I took a moment to stop in at Sketches In Thyme, I noticed something special. They now design their own sketches for use. How awesome is that? How fun does this sketch look?



I like the cute colors, and it seems I've had a thing for the simplicity of circles lately:


One of the many things I love about my husband is his smile. He has a couple of them, at least. Normally, his loved ones get the cheesy grin that follows a remark showing off his smart-mouthed charm. When you actually try to get him to smile for a photograph, it will look like he's under duress. And sometimes.... Sometimes if you look fast enough and have been blessed, you'll see him really smile. He has one of those "light up the room and twenty feet around you" smiles when it's real like that. There's a sparkle in his eyes. There's honesty and hope. It's as hard to capture that smile with a camera as getting a butterfly to stay put for the same reason. I know it's hard to see all of that in this photo, with his sunglasses on, but I know that was the kind of smile I got in that moment.



I don't know if it was the act of watching Elizabeth Town while pondering this page...or hormones because, I did bawl (and wish for a very special road map all my own)... or just simply noticing I do A LOT of blue/green pages lately... but I felt compelled to keep this page as green as possible. The chipboard circle (Technique Tuesday) is coated generously in Distress Ink and Distress Stickles. I like how the Stickles somehow lubricates the ink to truely go every where because there were spots that were still white before adding the the pretty sparkles.



The bingo card behind the photo is from Tattered Angels. I've hung onto it for quite some time and swore I was going to use it. Well, it took over a year, but tada! The original title on the card is Family, but I had wanted a more accurate title. Luckily, I recalled a few sheets of Scrabble tiles I had printed (and found on the blog of Scrapperlicious). It was a bit bigger than the card, but I like it. Above my husband's head is his age. I decided to coat it with glossy accents and frame it with some more of the Distressed Stickles.

OH! Speaking of Scrapperlicious (and all the cool things that can be found on her blog), she is celebrating her millionth hit this month. Click on this link to see how she's chosen to celebrate!

Hmm, I guess I'm feeling a little tired, but good....And, I'm wondering what my little boy is up to right about now. Thanks for stopping by! One more project I'm working on, some cards that are looking kinda cute, too! Think I'll get a chance to share?

Rainbow Master

Good Sunday Morning! Okay, so yes, it's still very early and even I am not exactly a chipper-whipper just yet. It's the down side to trying (yet again!) to remove coffee from my daily routine. The upside, however, is that I have a better focus when working all day on a scrapbook page!

On Friday I included the Rainbow Master among my finds. I knew I was going to scrap this moment because it's a very big deal for him. I decided to use this Creative Scrappers sketch:



And here is my take:


The papers are some that I picked up at Hobby Lobby earlier this week. They were on sale and I was in a very Crayola-8-pack frame of mind. The two large circles are Technique Tuesday Technique tiles, painted and topped with Basic Grey Oliver rub-ons. It was nice to feel the need to add some dimension to this page; like I'm getting back into the old swing of things. Slowly but surely, my groove is coming back.

I think I'll also enter this in the Open Challenge at Sketches In Thyme this week. It's been a very long time!

Thanks for stopping by! Now it's time to find a perk-me-up so I will actually WANT to shovel the three inches of snow that's in the driveway this morning. Grrr.....

Friday Finds 6: Really? I've been doing this for six weeks now?!

Good Friday Morning! At least, it's morning while I begin to type this. It's also round about the time that my son wakes each morning (6 AM, he's a morning person!), but I'm hoping he sleeps for another hour. He had a big day yesterday and no nap. Wow, does that child still need naps! I digress, that's not what I've found this week.

What I have found is....

* The Rainbow Master:



My son, self-proclaimed Rainbow Master, went from being the crayon muncher, as a baby, to a perfectionist as a toddler. He'd try to color (or even draw) but would quickly lose control of the crayon and throw the biggest fits. In the past year, he's become more comfortable with simply drawing, but coloring a pre-printed page still frustrated him. As of Thursday evening, that's all changed and you can't get him to STOP coloring in his book for very long.


* In other finds, my good friend Carol is participating in a project sponsored by Dockers to make the world a better place. She is quite good at making things happen. Ever heard of Make a Difference Day? She was part of that, too.

* The Color Room has a fun palette out, starting today:



* How do you feel about Dusty Attic chipboard? If you love it, you may want to head over to the blog, Simply Paper. In several weeks she will be a well-stocked retailer of those beautiful pieces. In the mean time, she's also hosting a little give away:


I was glad to read her blog this week for a couple reasons. Obviously, these are amazing pieces! Thanks to a generous giveaway from Mandy, I've been able to play with some pieces on my own and am instantly in love with them. But also, I was wondering why I wasn't seeing much product in specific Etsy stores. In reading Simply Paper, I learned why and will be more than willing to wait.

* Are you fairly new to scrapbooking? Have you been a round for a while but wonder about how one might define your style? Practical Scrappers has run a week-long informational piece on the most popular styles of scrapping. Evidently, I am a Classic scrapper, with a few grungy tendencies.

* If you're looking to just read something that has NOTHING to do with paper crafting, I recommend a post by Single Dad Laughing from this past week.

* Do you like stamps? I was reading Gina's blog yesterday. She shared a link to a Sweet Pea stamp RAK.

* Whew! Looks like this week has been busy, huh? And I'm not even done yet! Frosted Designs has a fun challenge this week -- use metal. Jinkies! I love using metal! Jinkies! I love Frosted Designs!

* I also love Sketches In Thyme! They have an open challenge this week. Use a sketch of your choice to submit a project to their challenge.

....And.... It's now 6:30 in the morning. I'm tired again. Oops! I wish you all a fabulous weekend and warm sunny days ahead!

By Way of Mental Note:

Wow! That title reminded me of even more than I wanted it to. I had an idea last Saturday to create a weekly feature on my blog, Friday Finds. In part, I hoped the blog would be a way for me to post something new at least once each week because I'd make myself post a bunch of cool links and fun stuff each Friday for everyone else to check out in turn. In part, it's just fun to share. We all travel in slightly different directions through the blogosphere and web. Why not share something potentially new and different?

.....Why not make this my first Friday Find? Afterall, I'm about to share a link and source of inspiration. Wasn't that my plan all along?

Okay, so first up: Punky Scraps is a site I've only begun to loosely follow. I've gathered that they have a Friday Challenge and they seem to lean a bit more to the rough and tumble of life. This appeals to me. I focus most of my scrapping on my son and my husband. Both my husband and I have an affection for heavy metal and rock music. This week's challenge is to gain inspiration from this quote:



Oof! I know, but it appeals to me.

Next: Maximum Embellishment, is a blog by Sandi. I discovered her via the blog roll over at Bella's Creations. She has been frequently sharing THEE CUTEST Valentine images lately. I've marked a couple to use in cards pretty soon but I'll wait to disclose which when I see that I like how they turned out.

And: Frosted Designs has been putting forth amazing Friday Challenges all their very own. I just wish I was able to participate more often. This week's challenge is to use vellum, transparencies or acryllic on your project. For better details, check out their blog here.

Want a good laugh? Check out Hyperbole and a Half. Her blogs are the epitome of brilliance!

Sketches in Thyme has a gorgeous sketch this week:



Feel inspired? Create and share your page with Sketches In Thyme. Upload for a chance to win a really cool goodie package.

Kelly Goree shared a super cool link for a chance to win some embossed Coordinations card stock. Interested? Click on her name to learn more. Hurry! Your chances end with this evening.

And one final share: a blogger by the name of Bitch Cakes has been inspiring me and getting me to think more about my own food choices. She's a Weight Watcher and she reached Lifetime a while ago. This week she shared a great recipe for a new take on fries....using delicata squash. Looks good and I'm trying to find this variety in my own local produce sections so I can give it a try.

I don't know about you, but that's a lot of information, isn't it? I don't think I'll always have so many finds, but I'd say this is a pretty good start. Until next time!

Dem Bones

Good Friday Evening! Just a simple post tonight. I had made a commitment last week to create a page based on this sketch:



And, while it's most definitely too late to enter into their weekly challenge, here's my take:



Last week, we took advantage of gifted tickets to the local children's museum. DS had the most fun assembling this rubber 2D skeleton. At first, it was the shortest li'l almost-human you ever did see. Once he saw that there were "extra parts," he worked on figuring out where they were supposed to go.

.....I should feel more chatty tonight, but I'm mainly just sleepy. I'm just beginning to feel my crafty groove return and this page is fairly self-explanatory.

The paper is Bo Bunny, Mama Razzi collection. The alphas are part of the pack; but I covered them with Distressed Stickles. Both skulls with crossbones (hinges, too!) are part of a Tim Holtz grunge board packages I've had for a couple years now. I painted them with Distress Crackle Paint and added a couple rub-ons on top for a bit of detail work.

If you took the time to look and read, I thank you. You're too kind! Now go, enjoy the rest of your evening and weekend with something REALLY fun!

Tanenbaums and Guest Design Team Reveals

Good Thursday Morning! How's the first week of a new year treating you? Happily, I'm starting to suspect I'm getting back into the swing of things. I even have a crafty project to share (and two more to finish up)! Wanna see it? Of course you do.

This is my first submission as a Guest Designer for Sketches In Thyme. It's based on this sketch from Jana Eubank.


By itself it's a beautiful sketch, isn't it? Here's my take:



Simply put, it's our Christmas tree this year. My son (three-and-a-half) had a lot of fun helping me place the ornaments. For a little while, those were the best three days of his life (because I purposely drag out decorating the tree for that long). The paper is almost entirely Graphic 45; Christmas Past and Renaissance Faire.



The three flowers and bronze flourish are handmade by Stephanie. You can find her Etsy here.

I cut a couple 12.1 strips from one of the G45 papers and played with a couple distressing techniques. I crumpled the strips until they were pliable, then golded and glued them down to look like pleats. I also inked the folds in the pleats and stapled them down.


Sorry you have to tilt to look! At the bottom of my pleated paper, I attached an origami Christmas tree. I saw this tutorial on Practical Scrappers in November and swore I was going to try it. Fun and easy! The paper is from an old-ish pack of K & Company with Stickled red ornaments all over the place.



The title piece is a combination of Technique Tuesday chipboard (died with a mixture of Glimmer Mists and water on wax paper), older K & Company paper, Prima bling and Stickled accents.

And that's all I have for today. Be sure to check out all the amazing pages based on this sketch at Sketches In Thyme! Create one yourself! I look forward to seeing what everyone makes.

Cooking Class

Hello! Hello! Hello! How does the life find you today? Personally, life today finds me excited and moderately focused...and wanting time to reflect on a few details that have escaped my attention for some time. Think, keeping all the plates spinning at once. Yeah....

In the mean time, I found some fun inspiration at Sketches In Thyme last Thursday morning:



I really like the clean lines of the sketches that originate from Creative Scrappers. I'm pleased that I've finally stopped being shy and started digging in to have some fun. Here's my take on the sketch:



Now, if you find yourself thinking this is a beautiful page.... Well, first of all, thank you, BUT the real credit goes to both Creative Scrappers (for the design, of course) and Graphic 45 (the makers of the patterned paper. The vast majority of this page was created with the Domestic Goddess line. Okay, so Mr. Holtz is responsible for the Distress ink on the edges, too.

One of my favorite details is thanks to my friend, Steffanie, who created this flourish on a transparency:


She has the patience and artistic talent that I lack so I was happy to snag many flourishes from her Etsy shop. She's also brilliant at making paper flowers (an eternal love of mine!).

And for the fluke files, the Distress Stickles (glitter glue) in the center of the Prima flowers dried in a perfect bubble. That never happens!



Lest I forget, the photos are my son and my Mom. It was a special day -- chicken and dumplings from scratch. It's a family favorite and absolutely amazing. My son enjoys the dish so much that he insisted on "helping" us put it together. In our house (to a reasonable and safe extent) that is absolutely an option. He gets to make his own peanut butter sandwiches. He gets to help pour the cereal into his bowl. Occasionally (if the jug is empty enough) he gets to participate in pouring his own juice. He helps us stir and dump measured ingredients into a bowl. He gets to read the numbers/quantity linked to the ingredients we need. He gets to mop up if he helps us make a mess, too.

Cooking is a family event that he truly enjoys. It's something we love to do together whenever possible. Sometimes we use the time to talk about life and thoughts and dreams. Sometimes, we just have fun and laugh. It's part of who we are as a family and what we do. To have him WANT to participate and know this aspect of our love feels good and right.

I share all this because I know that it would be easy to assume (just by looking at these pictures) that we might be crazy. My mom is slicing celery beside him in one photo; and standing beside her at the stove for the rest. He was so intent to practice "slicing" with his dull children-size knife that he didn't care about her plate. He's also received over a year's worth of stove and oven safety lectures from us and knows to keep his hands off....and the burner below the pan was off -- they all were. We did not turn the stove on until he was back to his toys in another room.

I believe that's all I wanted to cover for now. In a few minutes it will be time to wake my son. *sigh* I'm really going to miss these naps much more than he is someday, aren't I?

Giddy to be a Guest Designer!

Good Sunday evening! Granted, it's another gray day, but I'm so giddy that I can barely contain myself. You've likely noticed that I've been inspired by a number of sketch challenges posted at Sketches In Thyme. I've had so much fun that I decided to apply for their new Design Team a few weeks ago.

Since the new team has been posted on their blog, go ahead a take a moment to check them out. Go ahead. I'll wait....


Pretty great group, huh? As excited as I am to be exposed to all that incredible talent, I'm also excited that I've been offered an opportunity to be a Guest Designer for Sketches in Thyme in January and February of next year! Woohoo! The Mavens pick so many amazing sketches that I LOVE; this is going to be an outstanding start to the new year!

So, that's why I've added the new blinkie off to the right. It will take you to the main page for Sketches In Thyme so you can always see the latest Challenge and/or news. Oh, and how about those cool links in the upper right? I'm so happy to see that they've created sections where you can find past sketches in case you want to use them again -- scrapbook pages, cards, even tips and tricks for paper crafting goodness!

Yeah, it's a good day. Hope your Sunday treated you beautiful and well.

Keeping Play Time In Your Heart

Good Saturday Morning! How does this fine...gray...leafless day find you? I'm probably a little too giddy to steal some blogging time while my son puts together some puzzles with one of my Aunts. Family has come to visit and I've become third fiddle. Normally, my presence is requested for a vast amount of the day; and no one else will do. This weekend, however, he has "new" people to play with and has no desire to play with me. I'm torn.... LOL

I digress. I'll make the most of it by sharing a page I created yesterday. It was inspired by this week's sketch at Sketches In Thyme:


Fun one, in my opinion. So fun, that I've also decided to dive into the sketch of the week at Creative Scrappers, from where this one originates. It's just about finished and I hope to share it soon.

For now, here's my take on the sketch above:


Last weekend, we joined my brother for dinner. My son was so happy to see that the one puzzle he played with last time we were over had multiplied into three! He was in heaven and simply HAD to put them all together immediately. Unfortunately, dinner was also ready. He informed us that he just was not going to come to dinner yet because (and with a solemn face and a hand over his heart) he had playtime in his heart. I stifled a laugh and my husband and I gave him a few more minutes to fill his heart before we insisted he fill his stomach. Unfortunately, I didn't get the exact moment on film, but I tried my best to get a picture of him with his puzzle anyhow. Not the best, but it's what I had.

Since then, I've thought about and used his phrase several times. How cool (and smart) is it to recognize that we all could use more playtime in our hearts? More time running around the slides and rock walls. More time running through the leaves. More time putting puzzles together and helping baby dinosaurs get back to, and rescue, their Potato Head mothers from wicked traps. More reasons to laugh and sing and dance and jump.

More time playing when putting together something as simple as a scrapbook page. I've been wanting to try a new technique for a couple months now; water distressing. Essentially, you get the edges of the paper wet and scrunch them up to create perma-crumpled edges. Turns out, it's pretty easy; fairly quick and another reason to get dirty with ink. Why was I refusing to play for so long?


It does plump up the page a bit, too. I think next time I'll use the technique on a larger background piece so I don't have to worry about bending or warping my photo. Foam dots are helping support it, but still.

I've been afraid of getting it wrong and refused to play around with it. I'm also quite hesitant to use something so simple and fun as the stickers you see here. They are a mix of the stickers that coordinate with the Oliver line from Basic Grey (shown here along with a polka dot page from their Jovial line) and some pieces from Sassafras Lass. I tried playing more with some by popping them up with foam, too.


It appears puzzle time is nearly over; as is my post. I hope you had a chance to enjoy today. Here's wishing you a playful weekend in which you enjoy everything that life has to offer. For now, I'm going to prep for a trip to Target.... Maybe Hobby Lobby, too. THAT's where I find playtime in my heart.

Dude! (How many times will that be a blog title I use?)

Good Morning! How does this day find you? Yes, I really like to know these things. In my house we are taking turns with a head cold; right now my son is "IT." This means I get to play rousing games of Make the Three Year Old Blow His Nose; but they aren't as tricky anymore. Woohoo for that, huh?

I digress. I have another little story and a layout to share; based on Challenge 22 at Sketches In Thyme:



And here is my take:



As you may be able to tell, I had a lot of fun with this one. I was able to start it quickly so I could spend most of the week on the details. I inked the edges of the photos. I wasn't terribly concerned with staying in the lines; which is also why I went with sepia tones to play on my own messy tendencies.



I decided on the stamp shape AFTER I had glued down the photos and green paper. Rather than overlap onto the photos, I cut off the excess to create a double frame. Initially, I was only going to stamp the misted chipboard and leave it alone. Then I got the urge to highlight the feathers on the end and stitch my little heart out. It was an experiment...I'd do it differently if I tried it again.



The title threw me for a little while (like four days). I knew where it was "supposed" to go but it wasn't working for me...Then I got the urge to paint up some grunge stars, ink the edges and put the title on them. That made me happier.



The button tag was a matter of playing with a pool of glimmer mist left on wax paper AFTER I had finished misting the stamp frame. I added some red and just covered five Jenni Bowlin journal spots, two stickers and a few bracket chipboard shapes to be used later. Since I like the colors, I know they'll get used somehow in the upcoming season.

The subject is my nephew. A couple months ago, there were a number of teen and tween cousins at my Mother In Law's house; just spending some time hanging out. Often, she'll get up two twenty family members filter through in a day just because. My husband and I were also filtering through because the days are getting more rare when schedules mesh and our little boy gets to spend time with his older cousins. So, in the spirit of hanging out, I grabbed my camera and clicked like there was no tomorrow. This was especially true when zee nephew decided to jump hurdles over four bales of hay in the back yard. Half way through, I remembered I had a Sports setting on my camera and had even more fun than he.

One of my constant thoughts was, "Dude!"

Dude, I cannot jump four bales of hay! I don't even know that I can jump one. This is very cool.

Dude, he's got good form! I wonder if he'll try out for track someday.

Dude, he's having fun!!!!

The fact that he was having fun warmed me the most. He has fun often in life, but I firmly believe he could be having more. He's a great kid and I consider it an honor and privilege to have watched him grow from an infant into the beginnings of a young man. He's so smart and so strong and I want him to know that he has every capacity to take on the world and win it all, because, well...

Dude.

So, I think highly of my nephew. He is one of the people for whom I am thankful to know on this rock. In the spirit of preparing for Thanksgiving, I wanted to capture this special moment all about him.

Patch

Good Wednesday Morning! How does this middle day find you? To be honest, I'm not even sure how it finds me. I'm pre-writing on a Tuesday night, while my husband takes his turn at putting our son to bed. Tuesday night, I'm sniffly and sneezy... and a little content to have finally watched Toy Story 3 with my son. The boy is a fan. I get a chance to relive my childhood conviction that the toys really do come to life as soon as we leave the room. I'd always try to sneak up on the dolls I had lined on my made bed to see what kind of bouncy dances they'd try because I was downstairs. *sigh* I never saw a single jig.

Anyway, this is approximately what my son looks like while watching the movies:


It's from last June, and I'll get back to my real point; a scrappy page of our annual trip to Montrose Apple Orchard. Each year, I start asking my husband, around August, if it's time to go to the orchard. Each year, he tells me I have to wait until the weekend before Halloween. This year, he tried to make me wait until October 30th! Time got away from him moreso than from me. After an adequate amount of irritation and point-making, we went on the 23rd. Woohoo! We also went a few hours before a decent rainstorm would have ruined the day. Double Woohoo! Throw in an added bummer for good measure, though. We never stay as long as I'd like so I always feel like there's a bigger reason to come back next year.

I based the pages on the weekly sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

And my take on the sketch:



If you're a stickler for details you may/not notice that this one is much flatter than pages I've created in the past. It certainly feels flat to me. I think the stuffy nose is throwing me off, but more than that, I've noticed my son's annual album is getting a bit thicker than I'd like so I'm trying to slim the pages up a bit. Perhaps an upcoming page about my niece in her Halloween costume will balance it all out. I'll get to use thick flowers and bling and actually do something girly! Woohoo again!

For now, I will love my flat page and the fun memories it holds. I wonder if my glittered up jack-o-lanterns ever dried.

Falling For You

Good Friday Afternoon! What a way to start a weekend; and a crazy busy one at that! There are multiple projects being tackled by teams of people, all in the name of Fall Fun and Preparation. Crazy as it gets today, at least we know it will be worth it when the freezing cold days hit and all we want to do is stay inside and snuggle by a fire... with a cup of cocoa, of course.

Speaking of Fall and warm fuzzies and all that preparation jazz, that's pretty much the point of my post today. I had mentioned earlier that I've spent a good amount of time raking leaves in the back yard. I could probably wait until the leaves are three inches deep, and heavy with rain, but why? So, I've been getting in my physical activity... and dragging my son along for a good time. He looks forced, doesn't he?



We absolutely caught a break with Indian Summer! It's a lot easier to go out and play if you're not getting blown around in the process. I loved the bajillion and four photos I took so much that I knew I'd have to put at least a million on paper. But how?! A million is a lot of photos, isn't it? Even in an exaggeration, that's a lot.

In my last post, I mentioned that every now and then, I come across a moment or a source of inspiration that just screams for me to get crafty. I had another one of those moments on Thursday, thanks to a new sketch at Sketches in Thyme



Here is my take:



I was first drawn in by the clean lines and fun pattern. Then... I started looking some more...and finally getting around to my first sips of coffee. The semi-circle at the top grabbed my attention the best. If you look just right, you might be able to see a giant thumb spot for pulling out extra photos from a giant pocket... So that's what I did:



I felt pretty clever. I also enjoyed incorporating the flourishes at the top. This is actually one of the two that I used to mask two previous pages (one being my last post!). It was cut with the Cricut and the Cindy Loo cartridge. Because it was used on two separate pages, it's also covered with two different shades of Glimmer Mist -- Coffee Shop and Red Velvet. I did tear it apart in a couple places to make it work; but I dig the whispy feeling.



The grunge alphas were originally destined for a good sanding and inking once the orange paint dried, but a couple hours later, I really liked them as they were.

The bottom was a sticking point for me. Evidently, I'm on a squirrel kick. Which makes sense, as this is one crazy looking squirrel. Hint: It's actually the leftover schtuff from a package of Tim Holtz Grunge elements. I noticed last year that, once I pulled specific flourishes out, I could recognize odd shapes of trees and squirrels and roosters... I think I even found a magic lamp! Once you paint it up, draw out a few key points and squint your eyes to the side, you can't miss it. But then how to make him pop a little? Evidently, you surround him with Prima flowers, right?



And that's what I have to offer the world today, for now, I must wake zee child so he may supervise those around him. Thanks for stopping by.

Bl{OH} Joy!

Good afternoon! How's your weather today? After several days of glorious Indian Summer, we're getting wet, cold rain. On the upshot, some of it is actually getting down to the grass for one of the last drinks before winter. I saw to that when I spent two days raking. Granted, it was the same flipping area two days in a row...Because the trees have a sense of humor and like to drop more where I've already raked! Evidently, my son has a sense of humor to, as he decided to run through my piles again and again. Then I made one just for him at the bottom of his slide and life was good. I'll share a picture of that at the bottom, because what I really want to share is something else My Little Wonder did yesterday. Actually, he did about 100 different things, but this one, I got on camera. He discovered...THE LEAF BLOWER!!!!

This was fun for two reasons. He doesn't like machines that make loud noises; but the blower certainly isn't quiet. He learned that he could ruffle my mom's feathers by blowing out her leaf piles...and create a general mess. We have my father to thank for showing him how. Thanks, Dad! Sometimes, I get this compulsion to make a page almost as soon as I take the photos. This was one of those moments. I'm so glad I stumbled upon the latest sketch at Sketches In Thyme. The sketch image is a bit blurry, but I think I was still able to figure it out.



My take on the sketch:



I really had fun with this one. Using the Amber Autumn stack (DCWV), layered the background, then masked flourishes (created with the Cricut and Cindy Loo cartridge). On top, I painted a chipboard circle and added my favorite of the two photos on top to try to draw more attention to it. In the bottom corner, I have used three hand-cut leaves from the same paper stack and a squirrel cut from the Cindy Loo cartridge just for fun.

I do hope to steal more time soon to post detail photos for these. Thank you for stopping by either before or after... or both!