Almost Father's Day

I'm having a hard time believing that the year is almost half over! In just 2 weeks, school lets out for the summer. Donovan will no longer be a kindergartner...he'll be on his way to first grade. Unbelievable!

This Sunday is Father's Day! Hats off and big hoorays to all the Father's who are making a difference in their children's lives just merely by being present!!!

Father's Day always makes me sad. You see, I never really had the relationship that I wanted with my dad. The first time I remember meeting him, I was 10 years old and he was married with 4.5 children (his wife was pregnant). I later found out that he had 2 other children (so 8 of us in all and believe it or not, we're all pretty close knit). I always wanted to be a daddy's girl, but I didn't have the opportunity and I never will since my dad died the year I graduated from college. Even as a grown, 30-something year old woman, I still feel a slight tinge of jealousy toward women who have the opportunity to have a wonderful relationship with their fathers . I always get a lump in my throat whenever I hear Luther Vandross's song "Dance With My Father" because it's something that I never had the chance to do...and will never do in this lifetime.

I'm happy that my boys don't have to feel that way. They have an awesome dad who loves them so much. He works very hard to not only show his sons the way a man handles business, but also the young men in his school and on his basketball team that look to him for guidance. He's a great mentor, a disciplinarian...and a roller coaster ride (LOL). I can't tell you how many times in a day I hear fits of giggles followed by pleas of "do it again daddy"! As soon as they hear him arm the alarm on his car, they drop whatever they are doing and bolt to the front door. I'm sure even the neighbors can hear the loud "daddy's home" squeals!

I made a few projects in celebration of the man in my life.

First up is a card that I made for Bella Blvd's winter CHA booth. I posted it here before, but I thought I'd post it again since I made it for the boys to give to their dad on Father's Day. I used Bella Blvd's ROCKIN' line, Man Of The House. This is one of my favorite product lines--as you know I live in a house full of testosterone and need lots of awesome masculine supplies in my stash.

The guy here is actually an old SEI iron-on. I ironed it onto a transparency and them traced the pieces onto patterned paper, cut them out, and adhered them to the back of the transparency. It took a lot of patience (something I have very little of on most days), but I like how it turned out.



The next 2 projects were created for the June issue of Bella Blvd's newsletter. If you don't receive the newsletter, just head over to the website and sign up. Each issue is loaded with inspiration and all of the latest Bella news!

I took these photos of the boys and Troy this past Easter and have been dying to scrap them. Although they aren't the "perfect" shots, I love how comfortable they all look together.

I used more products from the Man Of The House line (the houndstooth paper is from Camped Out).

close-up of the title

I was still able to keep this layout masculine although I added a flower. I simply took out the yellow layers (the flower was yellow and brown), scrunched it up for dimension, and added a chipboard button tied with jute to the center.

Finally, I created this simple layout of my little man, who will one day be a father himself. I wanted to keep this layout simple, but colorful and the color blocking helped me to achieve just that.

I snapped this picture of Xander at one of Donovan's soccer games. He such a boy...wild and destructive, ornery yet sweet!

here's a close-up of the flower and pleated ribbon


I layered alphabet stickers in different colors to add a dimensional effect without the bulk.


Hope you've enjoyed these projects about the men in my life! Until next post...happy scrapping!

It's Time For Bella Blvd!!

As you read this post, I am on sensory overload taking in all of the yummy new scrap goodies at CHA in sunny California! I am so glad that the rain went away before I landed and the beautiful sun is shining. I am severely jet-lagged and can't sleep, but I am having a ball. Of course at the end of my trip, I'll probably be a delirious zombie by the time I arrive back in New Jersey.

I have been DYING to show you the last of my CHA projects. I was asked by the super sweet and adorable Stephanie Hunt, owner and designer of Bella Blvd to design a few projects for the booth--I have to laugh at myself because when I read the email, I began bouncing up and down in my chair and doing that little whisper scream--I sent her a reply email with lots of "yes, yes, yes"! I can't tell you how much Bella Blvd's products excite me. I love that you can get so many different uses from the Bits A Bella sheets and now the new Billboards sheet will help you stretch your scrap dollar a little further, which is so important in this economy. If you hop on over to the blog, you'll see all the new additions their product line-up, including chipboard alphabets!!

The new lines, Man Of The House, Estate Sale, and All Inclusive, are just simply fab! I truly loved them all, but I have to say that Man of the House REALLY excited me. I love it when a company puts out a strong masculine line. How cute is the mini argyle paper?

OK, so I ended up creating a Father's Day card, a mini album, and 4 layouts. I took pictures of the booth and let me tell you...it's AMAzing--I'll post those later, though...

I created this acrylic mini album using Man of the House. Look at how wonderfully this line goes with Fall, Winter, and Christmas photos of my boys. Versatile is certainly a good word to describe this line!

I also adore the new alpha sticker font!

Next is a layout I created using Estate Sale. The pink, taupe and navy blue colors in this line makes it perfect for masculine and feminine layouts. OH my goodness, what a great combination! I have a few layouts in mind featuring my boys and I using papers from this line!

OK, now I know this may sound a little biased considering I gave birth to him, but is this not the cutest darn smile you've ever seen? I mean good gracious, now wonder he gets away with murder!

I can't tell you how quickly this page came together! The shaped stickers add the perfect sentiment! Did you notice the new dictionary printed paper? Yeah...I'm so loving that, too!!!

I popped up a few elements with foam adhesive to add some dimension.

It's so easy to create your own embellishments simply by cutting elements from the papers...another smart way to stretch a buck!

This next layout was created using All Inclusive. My mom took these photos of me on our trip to Bermuda and they're a great fit for the colors and theme.

Orange and blue is at the top of my list of favorite color combinations--the green and brown really add a nice pop factor to the papers as well!

Here's a close-up of the flower--it was originally yellow and white, but I took it apart and used orangesicle glimmer mist to change the yellow to orange and then spritzed the white petals with baby's breath shimmerz. While the petals where wet, I crumpled them and then used a heat gun to help fluff up the petals. Once dried, I added orange and stardust stickles to the edges.

I cut circles from the patterned paper and layered them for a happy, "bubbly" effect. I love how I didn't have to do anything for the title, except cut it from the billboards sheet and add stickles. I couldn't have worded it any better!

Ever since I took these pictures I have wanted to scrap them, but nothing I came across did them justice so they sat and sat on my computer. When I opened the box of Bella Goodies and saw the Man of the House line, these pictures immediately came to mind. I love that I was finally able to tell the story of Troy's first Father's Day tie!

I took apart the flower and removed the yellow petals, then spritzed it with shimmerz and added a chipboard button to the center.

I think of all the projects, this one is my favorite! My little Boo-Boo who at the time could barely talk, learned to tell me that he loved me. That feeling is just....indescribable.

I had just gotten my hands on some new smooch spritz, so of course, I had to play with it. I used hearts as a mask and lot of stitching accents. I used the yellow petals that I remove from the previous layout on this one. I cut the smaller petal into 4 hearts and stitched them together to create a mini border and scrunched the larger petal and used it to highlight one of the chipboard stickers.

I especially made this card for my basketball coach hubby...my mocha daddy. I poured over this card for like 2 hours! I ironed an SEI iron-on onto a transparency and then traced each little piece onto scrap paper and then used the scrap paper to cut each piece from the Billboards paper, just to get it customized to my liking. I think this is at the top of my list of favorite cards that I've ever made!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you've enjoyed the projects and have gotten some ideas. If you're LSS doesn't carry Bella Blvd products, tell them to get on the ball because they simply ROCK!!!

Family Date

This past Saturday, the 4 of us piled in the jeep and headed to the Bronx Zoo. Although it was hot as hell and the bees were annoying, we had a great time!

Donovan had us cracking up because anytime we'd see an animal he'd ask "do they eat people?" Too cute!

Here are just a few of the photos I took that day. I'm certain you'll be able to tell that World Of Birds was my favorite exhibit. I wish I'd taken a pen and paper with me so I could have recorded the names of the birds.

I'm so happy that I was able to capture some updated pics of my guys one on one with daddy! You know these are definitely going on scrapbook layouts!

Xander's little taste of freedom

getting a ride on the daddy roller coaster

birds, birds, birds

The Great Blue Turaco

Donovan's favorite exhibit was the reptile house. Take one look at his hat and you can tell how hot it was that day!

I love big wild cats--this one is simply beautiful

A polar bear in the middle of NYC...

thanks for stopping by!