Fab Friday!! (otherwise known as Front Porch Kit reveal day) :)

I love Fridays. Friday is my hub's day off, and since two of our three kiddos are in school, it almost feels like a date day for us. Pretty fanstastic. :)

Now I have a new reason to love Friday:

It's FINALLY the big Front Porch Kit reveal day!

Hooray!!!

So, in no particular order, here are the projects I created with the first official Front Porch Kit:

"Beautiful"

This is my favorite pic of my beautiful baby sister on her wedding day. These papers and embellishments seemed perfect for capturing a very special day.

Some of the details, in case you need them: 1) the hearts poke out of a chipboard flower and are covered in different papers. 2) The turquoise ruffle tucked behind the photo is paper, folded accordion-style, with some stitching to hold it down...and because I love the look of stitching on a layout. If you have questions about anything else, please post a comment. :)

"Remember This"

My favorite part of this project was getting to use Hank the Plank (or is it Frank the Plank?

And the ruffles were really fun. The only sewing necessary is just to hem the bottom. I actually used tacky tape (liquid glue would probably be better, but I had JUST run out...grrr.) to hold it to the piece of wood. I dry-brushed black paint on it first...making sure it was completely dry before adding the papers. And of course the paper with the numbers 1-5 was very fitting for our party of five...feel free to make yours fit your family. :)

"Play"

This one was my personal challenge. I wanted to see if I could take a kit that is geared for us girls and see if I could scrap something of my boys. I'm happy to report that yes...it is very possible. :) But I think it would happily work for a girl layout as well.
I do believe that means this is indeed a pretty fantastic kit. :)

And those birds with their funky feathers and ridiculously large button-googly eyes just make me happy.

"We Will Remember"

I used the scraps from some of my favorite papers to make this journal. It was a chipboard journal from October Afternoon that I've had for awhile. Any notebook will do, however.

The inside cover, with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs. 2010 was a big year for my family, a year that God showed His faithfulness to us again and again. It was also an incredibly difficult year for us. I thought this journal would be a great place to record the things He has done for us...you know, in case we need some reminding. :)

Ok...there you go. And I still have LOTS of product left to create with.

Happiness.

If you have any specific questions about dimensions or anything else, please leave a comment below and I will happily help you.

Now hurry up and order your kit! They're gonna fly, people.

Some other VERY important details: 1) Go to http://www.frontporchkits.com/ to order your kit. Seriously, go now. ;)

2) Know that in your kit you will receive an instructional CD to create FIVE feature projects. Also, you can view the full kit contents and the feature projects on the FP website too. :)

3) Be sure to watch the LIVE webcast tonight, March 18, at 8:30 CST. The link to that is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/front-porch-kits

4) The project gallery will be up and running on Monday, March 21.

Have fun!

It's Sneaky Peek Wednesday!

The big Front Porch Kit reveal is in just TWO days!!

You're going to want this kit...I promise.

I had SOOO much fun creating with all the fun papers and embellishments.

It's fun, girly, beautiful. AND...this mom of boys was able to make some

boy-friendly things as well. Awesome. :)

And it's a wonderful reminder that Spring is REALLY coming. Soon.

It can't get here fast enough. :)

Here are a few sneak peeks of some things I created with this kit...

You really want it now...don't you? ;)

What makes this fantastic kit even more fantastic is that after making 4 projects with this kit there is still LOTS of product left for more creating. It's greatness. It really is.

I will post full photos of my projects here on Friday.

For more information visit http://www.frontporchkits.com/

The site is up and running, but will be completely ready to go on Friday.

There will be LOTS of photos to give you ideas and inspiration.

It's going to be fab...see you Friday!

Big News!!!

I am so very excited to announce a new adventure I'm about to take off on. This month I will joining the Front Porch Kits design team, through that Little Blue House that we all know and love.

Be on the lookout for more information soon. :)
The official launch date is NEXT Friday, March 18, when the kits will be available for sale.

Be on the lookout for sneaky peeks. :)

You don't want to miss this, people. Really big, really fun stuff ahead!

Love Fest

I love a holiday.

Especially one like Valentine's Day...a day that gives permission to be as cheesey about love as you want to be. And since I'm all about hugs and talking about your feelings and saying "I love you" to the people I love again and again on any given normal day, Valentine's Day is like my Christmas.

Except it's not, because I love it too...for lots of other reasons. ;)

And speaking of Christmas..I totally dropped the ball on sending cards. But in my defense, we didn't have our family pics taken until we were home for Christmas, so I didn't really have an option there. SO I decided to send out New Year's cards, but that didn't happen either. And I was about to give up, which made me a little sad because I had these new fab family photos from the very talented Tomi Cheeks (http://www.gypsyheartphotography.com/) and no one to share them with. ;) And THEN when my friend Barbi asked if she had been bumped off the Christmas card list (of course not), she gave me the push I needed to send out some Valentine cards. So I made a few to send to family and a few friends, and now I'm thinking that Valentine's cards are the way to go~ mostly because no one is really expecting that, which makes it fun.

So there you go. A story you probably could've lived without, but oh well. ;)

On Saturday the boys and I had a crafty day. We really needed a day of nothing. We relaxed. Watched movies. Took naps. And made valentines and cookies. And it was perfect.

"Love Dude"~ made by Hud, age 6

"Heart Elephant"~ by Hunter, age 4

Hunter worked on his cutting skills...

...while Harrison and Hud made Heart People for their teachers. :)

Because heart people are fun, and having a day to decompress is even funner. Which isn't a word, but maybe should be. ;)

And here...my favorite pic of my valentine and me. Thankful that 16 years later, he still makes my heart go "pitter pat." Or however that saying goes. I'm crazy about him.

Share the love, people. :)

And just in case you're wondering why I shared this post here instead of on my family blog, here's the reason: The purpose of this blog is to inspire you to create something. Anything. Sometimes I post photos of a layout, or something I've done to the house, sometimes I'll give a tutorial...today I just wanted to inspire you to pull out your craft supplies, grab your kids (if you have them) and just have fun. So there you go. :)

Page Kits Coming to the Little Blue House!

Remember a couple weeks ago when my family was snowed in?

Stuck in the house for 5 days...starting to believe that we would never dig ourselves out? ;)

I'm happy to report that I did something productive with that time and put together some page kits that will be sold at the Little Blue House!

Spoke with Tracy today, who told me that they should be ready to sell on Thursday.

Two different two-page layouts, using some "oldie but goodie" paper lines that, in my opinion, never get old. :) You will receive in your kit everything you need to complete these layouts.

Love having the opportunity to stay tied, at least in a small way,

to one of my very favorite places.

"Chill"

Two-page layout created using the "Artic Blast" paper line by Fancy Pants. Enough pink or blue to be great for whatever snowy, wintry day photos you want to use.

Close up of page one:

And page two:

"Crazy (in) Love"

This line (by October Afternoon) has been one of my favorites for awhile. A perfect fit for our new family photos that were taken last month.

Close-up of page one:

And page two:

You gotta go check them out.

Details on pricing and quantities available at the Little Blue House.

Happy scrapping, everyone! :)

Because you asked...

Or at least someone did. Thanks Erin!

Here is a pic of our mantel. I've had a love/hate relationship with this thing.

Love that we have a fireplace again (didn't in our old house), and love that I have a mantel to decorate. But I've been fighting with this thing to get it "just right."

Not exactly sure what "just right" is.

But I think this is as close to good as it's going to get. :)

Family

We're snowed here in the Atlanta metro area, so for the first time in awhile I've actually had a little extra time on my hands. Kinda shocked myself. ;) I have been wanting something that said "family" for our mantle, and finally got around to making it.

Super easy...just need a 2x4 piece of wood (and if you're not handy with a circular saw, you'll need your sweet husband's help) ;), your cricut (or chipboard letters to trace onto paper), some paint and mod podge, and you're good-to-go. :) I made another set for a friend, but since she hasn't gotten them yet, I will post about it later. There's a very cool story that goes with her word, and I can't wait to tell it! :)

I also just (finally) packed up a couple of mini book gifts for my aunt and my cousin and his wife, who are expecting a baby boy any day now. Can't wait to see that little guy's face!

And the photos below are of a tree I was asked to put together for our women's ministry at church. This one was supposed to be a winter theme, and then I'll change it up each time the season's change througout the year. Kinda fun doing something that didn't involve paper.

Found some curly willow branches at Pier One Imports, which saved me from having to chop down some branches from a tree in our yard, glittered them up, stuck them in this urn-type thing, and added some snowflakes. And there you go.

Now I've got some page kits to finish up for the Little Blue House, and a NASCAR album (the 4th one, I believe) for a friend of Brian's....I love a project. :)