a 2-pager!

Good morning! 

I've got a 2-page layout to share with you today. 

I find that I end up making a lot of 2-pagers because I take too many pictures & have a lot to say about them! 

The page I've got to share with you today is about a trip I got to make out to Utah back in April. 

{click on it to see larger}

I used the "Our Summer" kit to make this one.
I really didn't even use a lot of product on this page.
I used cardstock as the background, some patterned paper, chipboard letters for the title, and then a bit of twine. 

Sometimes there is just not room for too much product or else it starts to look too busy!
Here are a couple close up shots of the page...

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Have a good one!

:)

Running Mix

Hi!

Gretchen here and I've got another layout to share using the super fun "Our Summer" kit !

There are a couple of cute "musical" papers in the kit so I thought it was time to do another "running mix" layout!

Just for fun, here are a couple of ooooooold layouts I made about the music I was listening to at the time.

Hey, quit laughing! 

They aren't too bad!!

:)

But I think it is time to do a more up-to-date layout!

:)

"Our Summer" to the rescue!

Apparently I still love strip journaling.

That hasn't changed in 6 years!

*****

These chipboard Thickers from American Crafts are rad!

The size is smaller than a lot of other Thickers and that comes in very handy sometimes.

And I love the "cork" look!

Here are a couple more close up pics of the page...

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

:)

gretchen

Challenge: Writing letters home

Hi! 

It's time for the second challenge of the day!

Get excited!

When I went to camp as a child I looooved when the mail came everyday. 

I loooooved getting letters from home.

And it was a really good day if I got a letter & a fun care package!!

Score!

So here is your last challenge for the day: 

Make a card and then actually give it to somebody!

Make somebody's day with a handmade card!

Then put the card in the mail, slip it in your husband's car before he goes to work, leave it on the desk of a co-worker, slip it into your child's lunchbox, etc.
*****
Here is what I made for this challenge: 

My grandmother just moved to a new home so I am going to send this to her as a little "welcome to your new home" happy!

I used the "Our Summer" kit to make this one!

*****
It's not too late to get in on the fun over at Noel Mignon's Summer Camp!

Join us over on the Facebook page!

:)

gretchen

Challenge: Archery

Good morning!

It's my day to post challenges for Summer Camp!

YAY!!

It has been an exciting week so far!

And it is only Wednesday!

*****

One of my favorite activities at camp every summer was archery.

Was I any good at it??

Absolutely not!

I was terrible in fact.

But it didn't matter.

I signed up every year!!

So my challenge to you this morning is an archery challenge:
Use arrows on a layout!

Here is the 2-page layout I made for the challenge:

This is kind of an easy challenge.
Arrows are all over the place these days!

Hint: If you have the "Our Summer" kit you are all set!

There are lots of arrows in this kit:

arrow embellishments, arrow patterned paper, even arrow washi tape!

It's not too late to get in on the fun over at Noel Mignon's Summer Camp!

Join us over on the Facebook page!

:)

gretchen

Gift card holder

Hi there and good morning!

*****

There is a sweet girl at work (let's call her Sally) who is pregnant with her first girl and we are having a baby shower for her on Friday. 

There are a few of us who are going in together to get her a gift card. 

And of course I need a cute card to put it in!

:)
Beach Blvd kit to the rescue!

I pulled out a lot of the pink from the kit and made this...

That butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch.

It's an old one but I love it still!

On the inside of the card, I used the sweet little bag in the kit as the holder for the gift card. 

Then I realized that I didn't leave much room to write on the card!

Oops!!

To remedy that problem, I cut strips of white cardstock and tucked them in the bag. 

Then we can use the strips to write messages to Sally and put them back in the bag along with the gift card. 

*note to self: GO GET THE GIFT CARD!!*

:)

*****
Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

P.S. 

Come back later...I will be sharing a bit about my scrap space!

:)

gretchen

Happy Wednesday

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

I've got another layout to share with you using the Beach Blvd kit. 

The other 2 layouts I have done with this kit have been pretty girly. 

So I decided to change it up a bit and make something a bit more masculine. 

AND I don't know if my brother would appreciate me putting flowers & hearts all over a layout with his picture on it!

:)

I made this layout about the 1/2 marathon we ran back in February. 

Here are a few close up shots of the page...

To keep it manly, I've got lots of yellow and blue going on here.

And I pulled out the ole stapler!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
And have a very happy 4th of July tomorrow!

:)

Celebrating

Hi there and happy Thursday! 

Gretchen here with another layout to share using the Beach Blvd kit.

I know this is a bright, summer-y kit, but I've managed to pull off 2 wedding layouts with it! 

This layout is all about the makeshift bridal shower we had at work for my friend Melody. 

It's also about the shower that almost got us all fired because we did not get it "approved" first. 

Oh lordy!

That's another story for another day!
:)

But here is the layout that I hope you "approve" of!

Here are a couple close up shots...

I reeeeeally love the cute Basic Grey candy buttons!

Of course, I still love brads so certainly I would also love these!

Every now and then I like to go a little vertical with my titles.

:)

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Have a great one!
:)

gretchen

Using the pinwheels!

Hi there!
Gretchen here again and I've been playing with my Beach Blvd kit!

Don't you just love the fun and cheerful pinwheels from Crate Paper in the kit??

I made a couple of cards with the sole purpose of using the pinwheels!

The design of these cards is pretty similar. I do this a lot on my cards. I will use the same basic design and just change the papers and embellishments...I can make more cards in less time using that strategy!

I cut up this sheet of Crate Paper to use as part of the background for each card.

Then I made sure the pinwheels were front and center!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Have an awesome day!

:)

gretchen

Love her

Hi there!

It's Gretchen here with another layout using the fabulous Beach Blvd kit!

This one is all about our sweet dog who {unfortunately} we are watching get older and more fragile on what seems like a weekly basis. 

But we love her and will continue to enjoy her as long as she is around!

:)

Don't you just love the hearted paper in this kit??!

I used the blue sheet on my first layout {here} and I couldn't wait to use this pink/yellow sheet too!

****

Here are a couple of close ups of the layout.

I cut the stitched-heart border in half to embellish one of the pictures. 

And the scalloped border here I actually cut off of the bottom of one of the sheets of Crate Paper!

That's all I've got!

Thanks for stopping by today!

And be sure to check out the Noel Mignon Members Facebook page for all kinds of inspiration and come chat with us!

:)

Have a great day!

gretchen

Hey!

Good morning good people!
It's Gretchen! I'm back for another term and I am pretty pumped about it!

I got my Beach Blvd kit over this past weekend and I couldn't wait to dig in and make something.
And since June is such a big month for weddings, I thought I would use this summer-y kit to make a sweet wedding layout.
My friend Melody got married this past April. I had a few pics from the wedding printed out polaroid-style at Persnickety Prints and I have been looking forward to scrapping them!

I got really doodle-y on this layout! It was pretty fun!

I originally learned this doodle-y border technique from our very own Virginia. I was scrapping with her once and watched her doodle a swirly scalloped border on patterned paper and then cut it out. Genius! And now I copy that idea all the time! :)

One more close up...I love the look of the polaroids! 

So there you go! It's a wedding layout with a summer-y kit! Thanks for stopping by the blog today and thanks for having me back!

Have an awesome day!!

:)

gretchen

Best Friends Forever

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be here sharing my first post and layout with the fabulous Boardwalk kit. From the moment I opened the July kit, it felt like it was hand-picked just for me. I love the bright, cheery colors and the fabulous mix of embellishments...perfect for all my summer photos, like this one of my daughter loving on the dog.

I love the dimensional flowers included in the kit and placed one on each side of the banner. I made a third flower to place next to the title from a piece of patterned paper and secured it together with a brad.

I wanted to use a script font for part of my title so I cut the words "best friends" from the blue cardstock using my Cameo.

I added my journaling to strips of cardstock and added a cluster of butterflies and brads to finish it off.

I'm sure you will love the Boardwalk kit as much as I do and I can't wait to see what YOU create with it!

Thank you so much for coming by! Have a fabulous day!

Orange X thingys.

I remember going to my very first crop like 8 or 9 years ago.

It was here in town and I went with my mom.

I even remember seeing the flyer for it at a local scrapbook store that I drove 45 minutes to get to because I needed to feed my habit.

**Bama Scrap Blast**

"36 hours of Non-Stop Cropping!"

Anywhoooo the crop started on Friday and went through Saturday evening.

We didn't get there until Friday evening because for some reason I did not take off work.

We were the last people to get there dangit!!

:)

As we sat there for a little while we noticed that everybody had these orange X thingys on their tables.

They were everywhere!

But not on our table!

We decided that this must have been a freebie we missed out on because we arrived so late.

So my mom, always on the look out for a deal, proceeds to ask the nice crop director {bless her} about the orange X thingys that everyone seemed to have but us.

I don't know for sure what she said to my mom, but I am pretty sure she nicely told her that she was crazy, go get your own orange X thingy at Wal-Mart, and leave me alone because I have some wacky crop games to play!

And then the nice crop director proceeded to demonstrate how the mysterious orange X thingy was, in fact, a super neat sticker maker and all cool kids have them.

We couldn't wait to get one!

Sooooo we proceeded to scrap as late as we could stay awake.

Then we stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home at ~3:00 in the morning to purchase our very own orange X thingys!

When we got back to the crop the next morning after very little sleep, we were totally in the IN crowd with our brand new orange X thingys!

*****

Now that story was all a lead in to this layout.

{and if you are still reading this, bless you!}

I still have that orange X thingy we bought at Wal-Mart that night.

And, yep, I still use it!

So I thought I should make a layout to preserve that fun memory!

I used my "Summer Wind" kit to make this...

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
Have a good one!!
:)
gretchen