a two page layout

Up until recently, I almost never made two page layouts. I don't know why, I just really didn't like them. Only every now and then when I had a lot of birthday pictures or something would I do one. They were hard to work out in my mind or something lol. But, when looking at othe people's layouts, especially Nichol Magouirk's, I really liked how they looked and thought it might be fun to try some. I was very surprised to find that I really did like them, and that more often then not, they came together more quickly than my 1 pagers. Now, lately I have made at least as many 2 pagers as 1 pagers. Who knew?! :)
Here are a couple of the 2 page layouts I have made lately:

I had several of these pictures I really liked of Leah and Levi together, so I thought this would be good way to get lots of them on a page. I used tons of Fancy Pants paper on this layout. And several Quickutz dies too.

This one is a birthday layout, so of course I had way more pictures than I needed.

This is pretty much all Little Yellow Bicycle papers. And Quickutz, of course :)

I had fun making these 2 pagers that were pretty different from what I normally make. How about you? Are you a 1pager or 2? Don't you LOVE the cake? Tomio decorated it :)
Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:
Simply Sweet layout
cardstock: diecuts with a view
pattern paper: fancy pants
diecut letters and shapes: quickutz
felt accents: fancy pants

Yummy birthday layout
cardstock: bazzill
pattern paper: lttle yellow bicycle
diecut letters and flourishes: quickutz
button: doodlebug

some mojo fun

For some reason, I didn't get a chance to participate in last week's mojo monday.So I really wanted to be sure to make something for this week's sketch. It was a little tough for me though. This is actually my second attempt at this sketch. I just wasn't happy with the first one, so I made this instead:

I like this version :) I was so glad to get a chance to use my new Hearts on Fire stamps from Verve . And I loved how well this image fit in my new spellbinders label die:) (I'm not sure, I *think* it is "labels 4"?! maybe...) The tag at the bottm is hand cut. I love dark brown combined with any kind of aqua-ish color lately. And I really like PTI's hibiscus burst. I was afraid it would be too bright or PINK when I got it, but it just the right shade. Love it!!

And in case you were wondering what my first card looked like, here is a peek ~lol:):

It's...I don't know, something just wasn't right... lol. Not sure what exactly... not my typical style anyway, I guess that's why :)

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope you have a fun weekend :)
suppplies:
cardstock: papertrey ink dark chocolate, stampers select white
pattern paper: fancy pants
stamps: verve
ribbon: papertrey ink hibiscus burst
button: papertrey ink hibiscus burst
other: nestabilities, pearls

oatmeal cookies and layouts

wow, it was SO much cooler today!! I love cool fall evenings:) so much better than hot summer nights :)

Anyway, I made some oatmeal cookies the other day :) I am always wanting to find THE perfect oatmeal cookie recipe--moist, chewy, full of yummy spices...ahhh :) But I haven't yet... So I thought I should just start trying a few different recipes and go from there. This time I made some that are actually called "Cowboy cookies". But I didn't add the chips or raisins it calls for because I wanted to try them plain. It wasn't full of spices, but it was definitely yummy! The key is to not over cook them so they are still nice and chewy in the middle. The kids all loved them too. And since it made a nice big batch they actually lasted for a couple of days AND we were still able to eat some dough :) Don't they look heavenly yummy?

I haven't made a recipe card for them yet, but I definitely will be :)
I was noticing that I have been sharing alot more cards than layouts here. Which is actually interesting, since if I HAD to choose, I would say I prefer making layouts. And I do make them just as often really. SO, I thought I would try to share more layouts ( I think the main reason is probably just that cards are easier to take decent pictures of, so its quicker to upload them...)ANYWAY, here is a layout I did recently:

I love how it turned out. These were some of my favorite pictures of Leah and Emma that I have taken recently. It was fun to make such a girly layout :) I also really enjoyed using my stamps on a layout. I love my stamps, but I usually end up using them mainly for cards. Now I really want to try to use them on some more layouts:)

I have also been really into adding a little bling lately :) I love adding just a few gems or rhinestones here and there. Just a fun touch. The pattern paper here is some Fancy Pants paper I had kind of been hoarding :) It was just so cute he he, but I am glad I finally used it! There's not point in having it just to keep in my drawer, right?! ( I know I'm not the only hoarder out there though!! what do you hoard? buttons? ribbon? I'm definitely the worst about my pattern paper :))

I did the journaling on the computer--tons prettier than my hand writing will EVER be :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:
cardstock: bazzill basics
pattern paper: fancy pants
diecut letters: quickutz
label diecut: spellbinders
stamps: papertrey ink, verve
buttons: sei

good intentions...

I don't know about everyone else, but I am one who always has good intentions, but then I have trouble following through... sigh. Even if I really DO want to do it, I find it hard to see things through till the end. But this time I didn't let that happen. I don't know if you have heard about the card drive that is going on for Kate and her family. You can read all about it here. Once I heard about it, I knew I wanted to send some cards. I told Leah, Rhys and Levi about it and they all wanted to make cards too. They all made lots of cards and origami shapes for them. It was really nice to see. Levi kept saying "Kate might like this. It's pretty." And they are all sealed up and addressed and ready to send out. SO glad I didn't let them stop as just "good intentions" this time. Hopefully the cards we sent can help put a smile on their faces and let them know that there are people praying for them all over the world.

I didn't get any pictures of the cards we sent before I sealed them up :(. But I wanted to share something. This is a card I made for Tomio for Father's day this year. Simple but to the point :)

I always try to let him know just how much we appreciate what he does for us especially on Father's Day:) (Isn't this tree stamp ADORABLE?! It is from Stamping Bella . I use it all the time :) )

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Try not let those good intentions you have stop there--follow through with something this week!! (if I can, ANYBODY can !) And if you do, leave me a comment and let me know what you did :) I love comments!!

last cute....

I think this is my last card for the Moxie Fab challenges. (I think!!) For some reason, I have been making some long, skinny cards lately :) I loved these little gingerbread people from Quickutz. Aren't they too cute?! I thought kraft was the perfect color for them.

This is another pretty simple card. I like it when a card comes together quickly AND I am happy with the results :)
Thanks for stopping by!

more cute

Here is my second "cute" Christmas card :) No good detail shots of this one :( But is pretty simple, so I'm sure you get the idea :) It went together pretty quickly. I really like this K& Co. Christmas paper :)

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:

cardstock: worldwin

patteren paper: K & Co

ribbon: bazzill basics

other: gems

more moxie ~cute~

I got to make some more cards for the Moxie Fab "stretch your style" challenge. Unfortunately, I'm not a good judge of what category my cards should go in...I *think* they would probably all fit into the "cute" category, so that is where I will put them :) This is my first "cute" card:

I really like how it turned out :) No stamping on this card, which is unusual for me. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:
cardstock: core'dinations
pattern paper: fancy pants
ribbon: papertrey ink
felt "joy": fancy pants
other: straight pins, fiskars scallop punch, twine