the moments in between

marks & co PL + toolbox

for me, the marks & co PL kit is all about one thing. the kal barteski stamps. (okay, and maybe that ampersand clip, too). i mean, the cards are awesome and all, but that stamp? love. here's what i made for this month's project life gallery : 

week 27 - june 29-july 5th // sleepy sam. library. 4th of july. swimming. new dishwasher.  this was a busy summer week, which translated into a lot of photos, which translated into a spread that's a bit all over the place. which seems fitting. =)

week 25 - june 15-21 // ben's little league tournament. too many meals at the snack shack. teeball games. a CWS game. this week was all about baseball. which is kind of obvious. ;) so instead of trying to achieve any sort of balance, i just rolled with it.

also - today is the last day to register for toolbox at studio calico. we're taking on four techniques in august - one per week. amy tan, celine navarro, geralyn sy and shanna noel are teaching stitching, mixed media, misting and digital. whether you're new to those techniques or just want to pick up some cool ways to use an old favorite, this class is packed with info. here's a peek at the printables for the class - i am so in love with these. the rest of the freebie files are previewed here. 

i got to put together a bonus layout for toolbox - i combined stitching and misting (my two favorites!) on this one.

happy wednesday! we had a quiet day yesterday, as alex was recovering from having some teeth pulled (ouch). thinking we may need to squeeze in a small adventure today. =)

marks & co layouts

how do i love thee, marks & co? let me count the ways. 1. brand new just released CHA goodies from amy tangerine and dear lizzy. 2. GOLD WASHI TAPE. 3. that wood veneer alpha 4. an exclusive stitching template from amy tangerine. 5. a whole set of chipboard asterisks. Ahhhh, happy.

my marks & co gallery is a return to the square. ha. lately, most of my pages have been 8.5x11. my CHA assignments were all 12x12s, and when i started my marks & co LOs i went back to the rectangle, only to make two pages i really wasn't happy with. a little slicing and dicing later, they both became 12x12s that i liked.

photo booth | be still my heart.. we ran across a photo booth, and my boy asked if he could do it. um, YES. we shoved them all in there and let them have at it. well, i did intervene to put sam on his brothers' laps mid-shoot since he was too short to be seen otherwise. what we got? classic.

i love the ombre aqua paper from maggie's new crate release, so i started there. i randomly stamped the phrases over each section, making the stamping more dense as the color got darker. the vellum pockets in the main were screaming for confetti, but when i added it in it was hard to read the words. i fixed that by stitching around them. the title is cut with bebas from watercolor paper, and i backed it with the star paper from the kit.

100* | this page has had a crazy life... it got a full on makeover just before i photoed to upload it. ;) the original version just wasn't working for me, so i'm glad i went ahead and chopped it up. the only bits salvaged from the original are the top journaling block, the block with the strip of ombre paper, and the embellishments to the left of the photo.

i started this page with the pieces from the original, and then layered in a bunch of paper and journaling cards and washi.

hello summer | i really couldn't resist using this paper from the bronte add-on - i'm a sucker for a starburst!!

i stamped the "hello" stamp from the project life kit in gold to fill in the circle, and then made a big arrow out of washi tape. i cut away a few sections of the starburst and backed them with text paper, and then finished with some embellishment groupings. 

happy monday! we're kicking off a crazy busy week - starting with sam turning six. <---- i may be having a hard time with that one.

studio calico marks & co

the marks & co presale is live!! and between CHA work and a quick trip out of town, i haven't even shared my sneaks. here's a look at what i've made - and i'll be back to post the full projects soon!

photo booth : 

hello summer : 

100* : 

PL week 27 : 

PL week 25 : 

 

summer update | 03

after the last summer update, we sat down and looked at what was left and did a little adjusting. we opted to give up the idea of an okoboji trip this year, and instead added more time to our trip to des moines. and since that extra time was spent at adventureland, we nixed fun plex from our list. we missed seeing 12th night at shakespeare on the green - too tired after being out late the two nights before it. we also added a couple of new items to replace what we'd crossed off - seeing despicable me 2, a movie night at home watching hugo, and rewatching ALL of the harry potter movies (this one will probably extend into fall)!

so, here are our new checkmarks as of  last week : 

e-creamery. yum.

college homerun derby. and fireworks!

pool (x2) - so glad it's finally warm enough that this doesn't seem like a bad idea.

KC royals game - matthew, his dad and the bigs made a day trip down to see a game.

descipcable me - worth dragging sam against his wishes. i'm not sure why he was so anti-minion, but he ended up loving it like the rest of us.

lake day - we went w/ grandma. and a zillion other people. =)

and two movie nights. loved hugo, though it was a bit slow. alex and matthew have both read the book - i'm putting it on my "to read" list. and what better way to prep for the wizarding world of harry potter this fall then by rewatching all of the movies? it was actually pretty cool to go back and watch the first after seeing most of the rest of the series (i haven't seen the last one yet).

FLEA MARKET from Maggie Holmes

since i love flea markets and maggie (and crate paper, too!) you know i'm all about this new line! ;) 

Introducing FLEA MARKET Maggie Holmes’ second signature product line with Crate Paper! If you liked Maggie’s first collection, then you will love this one too! Staying true to her well recognized style, she has infused the collection with lots of beautiful colors, gorgeous florals, vintage inspired elements and of course, GOLD! In addition you will see some fun and inspirational twists on your favorite products from her first line up!

here's a little peek from her new collection. these bows were WAY popular in her first line, and i love the patterns here : 

maggie has arranged a blog hop with lots more detailed photos of the products and also some peeks at how she is using them on her own layouts and cards!!

the next person on the hop is : marcy penner

be sure to check out all the blogs on the hop and then make your way to maggie’s blog because
she is giving away the ENTIRE COLLECTION to one lucky winner!! good luck!

(congrats on your new line maggie - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)

Studio Calico CHA-S project sneaks

the mad rush to finish CHA projects is done...  and i can still see my desk. i'm honestly shocked that things aren't more of a disaster. my favorite scissors aren't even lost. ;) i'll be sharing my projects next week, but here are a few sneaks of what i made : 

studio calico thataway : 

studio calico storytime : 

studio calico magical :

storytime and thataway (my fave!) are shipping in august, and magical will ship in september. the lines are up in the studio calico shop so that you can click "notify me" on your favorite products, and you'll get an email the second they come in!

Atlantic page + Marks & Co sneaks

before i finally gave in and cleaned my desk, i made a few things on top of the mess. yes, on top. i plopped a chalkboard on top of everything and started working. desperate times, desperate measures.. 

on top // i took SO many photos the night ben's team won the memorial / hillside tournament, and there are a lot of stories to tell. i'm sure i'll make more pages but i wanted to start with this one - the moment the game ended and the team came together to celebrate. i used mostly atlantic for this page, but couldn't resist grabbing my favorite abroad thickers (i'll be sad when i run out!) and the cork tape from the valley high PL kit. 

InLinkz.com

i also put together a couple of sneaks for the marks & co kits - first the PL kit: 

i am head over heels in love with the stamp set in this kit - it was designed by kal barteski. i've been stalking her blog since i found it during a late night nursing session when sam i am was a baby, and i have been a fan of her style ever since.

next up is a PL sneak featuring the add-on stamp set by marcy penner. this is definitely a stamp that i will reach for month after month : 

in addition to the stamp set and a rainbow of inks, i used watercolor paper + watercolors to make the week card, as well as the exclusive amy tangerine stitching template from the main kit. the patterned paper and enamel dots are from the marks & co card kit.

happy monday! i gave in and cleaned my desk over the weekend, and now it's time to mess it all up with CHA projects. =) i have a feeling it will look worse than before i started before it's over!

fourth of july fun with long exposures

a few weeks ago, matthew and sam played around with some long exposure photos and glowsticks. so when we broke out the sparklers on the 4th, sam asked if we could try it again. i was pretty impressed that he remembered, and i can honestly say i wouldn't have thought to do it if he hadn't asked!

i didn't have time to look up ideal settings, so i just winged it. these were taken with a canon 60d + 50mm 1.8lens. iso 250, f9 & a 10 second exposure. we had 6 boys and several sorts of sparklers in action - the colors & spark variations are so fun!

whirlwind

so far, summer has been FULL. that's really the best way to describe it. playing hard, working hard, crashing hard at night. but apparently not cleaning hard, AHEM.

i'm going to HAVE to clean hard, because it's CHA time. which means mad scapping time. studio calico revealed the first of their three lines today, and i can't wait to have it on my desk. =) you can check out thataway now - the other two lines will go up wednesday and thursday.

in other SC news, we launched a new blog. and to celebrate, there's a free home sweet home set of journaling cards available, as well as a fun contest. check it out here. 

and now, it's time for a little play. cleaning my desk can wait - it's pushing 100 and the pool is calling. ;)

happy 4th