THESE BLUE EYES.....

Are what inspired me to create my most favorite scrapbook layout to date!!!!
Sometimes the best things just kinda happen by accident. I was actually working on a journal that I purchased from the Inspired Workshop back in may. I had painted the the first page of that journal in a pretty teal blue.
Not one to want to waste all the excess paint on my brush ( I always seem to put too much paint on), I decided to smear it on a clean sheet of cardstock. I literally grabbed what was closest to me, which was a grayish-taupe kinda color.
I then just brushed the paint on the center of the paper until there was nothing left on the brush.
When it dried, I really liked what I saw. A happy accident~~
I am in the process of trying to complete a scrapbook from our recent trip to Colorado to visit family. Believe it or not, it will become the first book actually completed from start to finish.
Anyhow, when I saw the pretty blue color, I immediately chose this photo of Madelyn. I liked the play of the blue eyes, blue paper thing going on.
Clean and simple is what this page is- and I love it!!

Again, I went to my desk and reached the closest scraps (honestly, these were the ones just sitting there). After distressing them with my Heidi Swapp tool, I just adhered them in a random row to the left of the photo.
I made the flower by using a pink base, a hand stamped neutral color, a turquiose flower and a beige rosebud that I made myself. I made it out of 5 prima flowers I had laying around. Remember the old ones that we all got when there wasnt much choice of flowers, yep- thats them. a little glue and you now have a beautiful rosebud!!

Lastly, I added this rub on, and Voila!!! My favorite page is now complete!!

Cound'nt have been easier~

Please let me know what you think of my page~

Many thanks for stopping by....

BLUEBERRY PIE

Although this is not a recipe blog, I wanted to share a yummy summer pie with you all...
In North Carolina, we grow some awesome blueberries and even have a huge (for our standards) blueberry festival. It takes place the last weekend in June. There is music, dancing, crafts, a beer garden, antique car show and everything blueberry!!!!
The blueberries are sold in large cases and they often sell out before the day is half over. We buy the large case, eat some right right away, cook with some, and freeze the rest.
The other day I took a pint out of the freezer to make this awesome Blueberry Sour Creme Pie. Oh, the fair also sells a little cookbook each year with local people submitting recipes. This recipe is from the 2005 edition and is one of my favs.
Here is the pie before it goes in the oven for the first time:
It goes back in after a bit, as you need to add the topping.
Heres what it looks like when its all done!!!
If you have some blueberries available~ give it a try!!

FILLING:
1 cup sour creme ~~ 3/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup sugar ~~ 1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour ~~ 2 1/2 cups fresh bluberries
1 egg beaten

TOPPING:
6 Tbsp flour ~~ 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chilled, unsalted ~~ 2 Tbsp sugar
butter, cut into pieces

1 FROZEN PIECRUST

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in blueberries. Spoon into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

For topping: mix flour and butter in medium bowl until small clumps form. Mix in pecans and spread evenly over pie. Bake until topping browns lightly, about 12-15 minutes. (mine took a bit longer). Cool pie to room temperature.
Refrigerate any leftovers.

Many thanks for stopping by....
Let me know if you bake it!

BEACH WALK

This is one of my pages I did at the crop on Saturday. I am also using it as my submission for Artful Legacy this week.
I love the colors on this page, they are so soothing and beachy... The photo is of my son Michael walking into the ocean near our house. I love photos of the back of people. I also love that the ocean color looks the same as the paper color.

The SEAHORSE AG441J and LG SHELL CLUSTER AL348J were stamped in Versamark and embossed
in copper Embossing powder. They give thepage a nice, finished look.

Take a look at their great seletion of stamps. http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com.

Many thanks for stopping by...

MY FIRST CROP

Well, I did it!!! I attended my first crop. After papercrafting in many forms for YEARS, I had never gone to a crop. Well I thought it was high time I did. So my friend Sharon and I signed up for an all day crop at a great scrapbook store in Myrtle Beach South Carolina called Scrappin At The Beach. Even though it is about 1 hour and twenty minutes away, its is our closest scrapbook store.
We went from 11:00 to 8:00 and it included dinner. We had the best time and cant wait to go back and do it again. So much can be accomplished when there are no distractions and you have great people and products all around you. The store has a great selection of papers and embellishments to choose from. And Patti, the owner is just as sweet as can be!
This is me working on a page with a family photo on it. Look at all the room I had to work in~ It was awesome! Here is my friend Sharon,who sat right near me, working on her stuff.

Here is a sneak peek of a beach layout featuring my son Michael. I just love that file thing on my table. It holds so many photos, even 5 by 7's with strong, sturdy dividers. I got it in Hobby Lobby while I was in Denver, CO. a few weeks ago.

And this is just a random adorable picture I had to throw in!

Mr. Kody Biscuit~

Many thanks for stopping by...

Happy Mail!!

This week I went to my mailbox and look what I found!!!
I had left a comment on the Pink Persimmon blog, as I love their style and was excited to see their new stamps.
Well, I was even more excited to get an email from them letting me know that I had won and to pick which new sets I wanted. New sets??? More than one? Well, they had released 4 new stamp sets, but it was a set of images and a set of sentiments/alphabets. So, since the sets were related~ they let me choose 2 of the coordinating stamps!!! YIPPEE!!!! I chose Baby Clothesline and Baby Sentiments. They are even cuter in person and I cant wait to start using them.
Check out this great company at http://pinkpersimmon.com. You wont be sorry~

Tomorrow I am off to my very first crop. Can you believe I have been doing papercrafts for years and have never gone to a crop??? I guess theres a first time for everything. I'll let ya know how it turned out.

Many thanks for stopping by...

WHAT A SLACKER!

I do apologize!! I went a whole week without posting!! How does that happen? Im really not a slacker, I promise. (at least when it comes to blogging-LOL). Summer fun has just gotten in the way. Its fun to enjoy the kids when there is no school. I also have a sick doggy at home. More to come on that.
Anyhow~ it is already time again for my Artful Legacy Design Team submission for this week. I wanted to make a happy, summery little card~ and I think I accomplished that pretty well. The card kinda reminds me of Hawaii~ which is actually where my Mother in Law is flying to this very evening. Lucky her!
Back to the card. I used the Artful Legacy stamp "There Are Many Beautiful Things ALS1055 J". I stamped it in a plum dye ink and sponged the edges with a bright pink chalk ink. The sentiment was mounted on a scalloped rectangle in a bright green. Designer paper is from a big summer stack from Me and My Big Ideas. That paper was the inspiration for this card, as I just fell in love with the colors~
The card base is A-2 sized and is a pale baby pink. The flowers are a couple of hydrangeas to which I added crystals in the centers. Inside is blank.

Many thanks for stopping by...
Hope you are all "out playing" in this great summer weather.

ARTFUL LEGACY

Hi all! Its Wednesday, so that means its time for me to reveal my submission to Artful legacy for this weeks DT post. I am actually revisiting a stamp I used a few weeks ago. But this time I have used it a bit differently.
It was once again heat embossed after being stamped in Versamark, but this time I have used a dark Cobalt Blue EP to make the image really pop! In the photo below, you can see where it has been embossed with all its shiny goodness.
Flower stamp is "WILD FLOWERS LG ALF 657N". This is the sentiment on the bottom of the card. I love what it says.
The stamp is "YOU CANT LIVE A PERFECT DAY ALS 205H" It has been stamped in Denim ink by Adirondack.

Here is the full card. I have added some primas and rhinestones. The inside is blank.

You can see other DT posts on http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com/.

Many thanks for stopping by...