October Afternoon In June

You know that the October Afternoon papers I picked out didn't make it in time for my DT month at the store. Lucky for me, they did decide to use them the following month... so I did get to play with the yummy patterns after all.


I was really happy with my two-pager. The idea to make my larger photos look like old postcards using deckle-edged scissors was a winner. I added the title to the large photo in Photoshop Elements and then finished the title with a shot I took of the orchard sign.

My sketch layout took a little finessing until I was happy with it. The bright papers just made me smile... the blue is Sprinklers and the yellow is Dandelions. Yummy!

This one of Adrianna at the playground was the last one I finished, but I think I love it the most. Love the orange, love the buttons, and love, love, love her pose!

It's hard to believe that this layout is from the same papers. Using the pale pink cardstock and selectively cutting up the Ice Cream paper gives the line a completely different look. Alas, I still have to add the journaling... but I'm not sure if I want to talk about books in general or the book she's holding (It's time for bed... the illustrations are so beautiful and the words just lul you to sleep). Hey mom, recognize the onesie? :)

I still have a few more to share, but it's getting late and I need to get to sleep.

much love to everyone,

erin

Cards, Cousins & Good Times

I just wanted to share a couple of the projects I finished up for July. I was really inspired by the Bo Bunny papers and found everything coming together really quickly this month. The red, white, and blue is not what I normally pick up... I'm more of a greens and browns person. And, well, Adrianna's outfits usually require a fair amount of pink. But I guess it's good to do something a wee bit different.

First up, this great photo of Adriana with Neva and Wyatt outside of Pappadeaux's in Houston. {The dinner there was fabulous. I'm still wishing for more of the spaghetti squash that was on Shan's plate. It was SO good! My food was delicious too... 'cept I can't remember what it was. That's how it goes sometimes... I remember what I missed rather than what I got. Sad but true!}

I really worked on the little details, trying to layer pieces together. The papers are all Bo Bunny and the red scalloped floral piece under the title came from the little journaling spiral notebook that goes with the line. I added Basic Grey paper lace as well as kraft journaling stickers and borders. The large flowers are from Making Memories and the buttons are from Rusty Pickle. Although it's more layered than my usual, it's still fairly clean and neat. The title was causing me trouble... but finally a freak cutting accident brought it all together. Accidents work out for the best sometimes! :)

I am especially proud of my cards this month. The papers immediately reminded me of the Star Prints stamp set from Papertrey Ink last year. I splurged and ordered them just to get me motivated for the cards I knew I'd have to make. Their stamps are so very nice. Great quality, great packaging, very well thought out. Perfect for card makers. I drool over them often.

When I was window shopping in Reston, I popped into Paper Source and saw this woodgrain stamp from Hero Arts. Right away I knew it would be perfect for card fronts... it's just the size to cover a standard card. I picked it up and tried stamping with embossing ink and clear embossing powder on brown cardstock. I love how it turned out! Simple and fun! I only added a photo corner sticker and some scraps leftover from layouts to finish it off.

I have a few more projects... but I'll share them next time.

much love,

erin

In The Pink

Yesterday was Adrianna's first dance class. She picked out a couple of leotards... including this one with a little attached skirt. Of course they both are pink. Pink is her favorite, and it works well for little ballerinas, so it's a good fit. I have to admit, it is totally adorable! The class is a Ballet/Jazz/Tap combo class... so maybe next week I'll get some tap shots to share.

Although I was tempted to take some pictures through the classroom window, there was a mob of moms and grandmoms blocking the way for almost the entire time. That's okay... these turned out very cute!

Not cute at all... but kind of funny are my surprise pink feet. I was spray painting the new lamp we bought for Adrianna's room. Later, we headed to Walmart to take care of our shopping list. On the way into the store I noticed a pink line on my foot. Upon closer inspection, I found that I had the outlines of my flip flops sprayed on my feet... but not around the flip flops, only underneath. How exactly does that happen? Not sure, but I got to walk around all day making sure that my flip flops didn't shift and expose my "operator error"... too funny!

We finally got some rain yesterday and I went out to check on the garden. We've kept the rabbits and groundhogs at bay with my little 3 foot fence... but the deer discovered my tomatoes and did a number on them. :( I had put extra cages up around my Juliette to make it a little bit harder to reach and they don't seem to like the squatty Roma plants much, so my two Lemon Boys took the brunt of the attack. Hopefully they'll recover. The neighbor has lost most of her plants to the deer so I guess they are shifting over to us. I keep turning the side house light on at night and checking on them periodically, but no deer sighting yet.

This is the garden in mid-June. My great idea this year was to snake a soaker hose through the length of the garden as I planted everything. I can pop out first thing in the morning and turn the water on and then turn it off an hour later when I go to work. Much easier than dragging watering cans back and forth! I may get more of these for the side flower beds once they are finished and planted and do the same thing.

That's all for now!

much love,
erin