Hello Hip Hopsters! Thanks for coming by today! Well if you watched Angela's video you know there are some exciting things happening at Unity today! What??? You missed the video? Then go back here and start at the Unity Blog to hear all about it!

 The design team created some special projects with these 3 sets that Angela posted on the Unity blog (Oh and did you hear they're on SALE! $15.00 each and 30% OFF!!! Get em here!

And of course I had to create something else special just for you Hip Hopsters so here we have Camera Shy with the Unity Scrapbooking Set Grateful You!

My daughter Lily, she is so camera shy or should I say camera stubborn. Lately it's been near impossible to get a nice full face photo with a smile. This little stinker will purposely look away from the camera and say "cheese"  Ugh Ugh Ugh...kids!

Now your next visit is onto Brooke's blog where she will WOW you with her talent!

Don’t forget we’re chatting it up in the Unity Splitcoast Forum starting at 10AM Central time. Come chat it up and win some prizes too!!

Finding Peace within the Chaos called Life

There are days when things get to me. When worries overcome my positive thinking and stress tends to get the best of me. When this happens I talk hubby into loading the kids into the car and heading 10 mins from our house to the beach. As soon as I get out of the car I smell the air, feel the warmth of the summer sun on my face and...as soon as I see this...

Everything is OK. I breath, I relax and I am thankful. I may not live in a big house or have an unlimited crafting budget but I do have the beauty and peace of the ocean. It comforts me, helps me feel renewed and empowered but most of all it makes me feel at home.

 And then there's my kids...I love them so much!

Scott is not a big fan of me taking his photo right now so I snuck this shot. Must be a teenager thing. Hmmm 13 was a tough age if I remember. I do remember hanging out at our local theater in Atascadero with friends a lot. I know it's an awkward age but I do tell him that I think he's awesome a lot and he gives me a big smile.

There was a Volleyball Tournament at Manhattan Beach this afternoon and lots going on down on the sand near the pier. It was a nice evening. Hubby said he also really enjoys these walks. We really try for every other Sunday evening but sometimes life has other plans for us.

It was busy this past week at the Smith home. I am still getting settled with my new daycare baby and learning how she likes to be cared for. It is interesting having one so little (she's 9 mos) and Lily together but honestly the baby is easy going and Lily, well that kid is just plain amazing. I am such a proud mom to have such a sweet and loving little girl.

This week I'll be posting Paper Posies October kit designs and we have a Halloween themed add-on kit this month so keep an eye out for that. I'll also be showing you some ideas for place cards for Thanksgiving with Imaginisce's Apple Cider Line and of course Thursday is Hip Hop!!

Don't forget World Card Making day is Sat October 2nd and I will try to let you in on some fun events happening around Facebook and my favorite blogs this week!

Have a fantastic week!

Yippity it's an Ippity Swap!!

Hello friends and a big Hip Hop Hello! Thanks for coming by today to see what I created with my Ippity for the Flip Flop Hip Hop! Whew! That was a lot to say but Oh So FUN! Since I'm one of the scrappy Unity Design Team girls... you guessed it, I created a layout!

Supplies: Patterned paper My Little Shoebox Who's There, Ippity's Now and Always Set, Prima flowers, Fabric Tape from Love My Tapes and Thickers from American Crafts. 

I stamped the large flower stamps onto the patterned paper in two different colors of green ink but I'm sorry that the lighter color is not showing up very well. I also used the Sentiment "may you never forget what is worth remembering" as part of my title and added the butterflies for my finishing touches.

Now below is a quick video I recorded for today with a little message for you. When you are done watching hop on over to the gorgeous Brooke! I'm sure she has created something fabulous for you today!!

Thanksgiving hostess gift with Imaginisce

Hello friends! You know Thanksgiving is only a month away and I have a great project to show you today that would make a perfect hostess gift. We all have that special lady or sometimes guy who makes Thanksgiving dinner perfect for our families. Why not create this quick and easy project as a great way of saying "Thank You"

 

All Supplies unless noted are from Imaginisce's Apple Cider Collection

• You can pick up these bare wood frames at Michaels for only a $1. 
• Simply place the frame on your desired patterned paper, trace and cut it out. I used Spray adhesive to spray the wood frame and then placed the paper over and smoothed it on. 
• Then I used my glue gun and some twine to go around the window of the frame. 
• I also picked up a wood maple leaf die cut and also sprayed that with liquid adhesive and sprinkled Martha Stewart glitter all over to cover easily. 
• Finally I added the chipboard sentiment from Imaginisce's Apple Cider collection and some of the coordinating ribbon and a button to finish it off.

I hope this inspires you to create a nice hostess gift for your holiday get together! If you have any questions about this project please leave me a comment with your email and I'll be happy to get back to you. Thanks for stopping by today!

Paper Secrets Spooky Blog Haunt is coming...

Hello friends! It's been a bit busy for me lately and I feel like a bad blogger! This weekend I attended a Women in Business conference and it was amazing. I learned so much and was inspired by the women speakers. I want to share one thing that really stuck with me that the 1st speaker said

"We are not here to live small"

If you have a dream, live it. Ask yourself "how" you can achieve your goals and set a path to reaching those goals. I want to encourage you to believe in yourself. I set two goals for myself in 2009 in regards to crafting. One was to get on a Design Team and the other was to get my work published. In December of 2009 I made the Imaginisce Design Team after applying for SEVERAL Design Teams only to be turned down again and again. I did not give up! And finally not giving up paid off. I did not meet my goal of being published until just last month. Sometimes we don't reach the goals we set for ourselves in the time frame we set out to but I want you to hear me when I say to you "don't give up" It's so important to believe in yourself but you are special and everyone has something inside themselves to give that will make someone else feel good about themselves.

I just wanted to share this with you today...now for something crafty that I am excited about

 

Paper Secrets is a free crafting community and just for participating in the monthly challenges you can win a really nice RAK each month! Sign up today here

I'll be participating in this fun event so stay tuned for more info on how you can win prizes too!!

Hip Hop It's Thursday!

Hip Hop hello! Thanks for making my blog a part of your day today. I really do appreciate the comments everyone leaves {they really do make me feel special}

So today I am thrilled to share a little altered project I created with Unity for the upcoming Scrapfest. I am so bummed I can't make it to this event but I know someday these types of trips are ones I'll look forward to when my lil chicks leave the nest. Speaking of chicks, check out my little chickadee in this layout I created on canvas!

Supplies: Websters paper, Journaling tags & Glitter Sparklers. Glimmer Mist and Glimmer screen, Prima flowers, Prima pearl swirl, Love My Tapes Fabric Tape, Wilton doily, American Crafts Thickers, canvas fabric and Martha Stewart butterfly punch. 

Sentiment reads: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart"

I used these sets from Unity on my project

 Insightful Meadows

Good times Vintage Banner

I picked up some light canvas fabric at Joann's and stamped the Banner images with brown Staz-On ink. I added some spritz's of glimmer mist the to banner to tie it in with mist on the canvas. The fabric tape was perfect for holding the banner pieces across the layout.

Next up is Brooke's blog. She got herself a sassy new haircut this week and I am sure she'll have a sassy little project for you today!

Don’t forget we’re chatting it up in the Unity Splitcoast Forum starting at 10AM central time. Come chat it up and win some prizes too!!

More inspiration with Apple Cider

 Hello friends! It's hard to believe summer is already over and fall is here in many states. One thing about living in Southern California, we don't really see the seasons change round here. Sure some streets are tree lined and you'll catch a glimpse of fall but nothing grand like there is in some states.

In the spirit of fall I created a couple of cards with Imaginisce's Apple Cider line...

 Supplies: Patterned paper and embellishments Imaginisce Apple Cider line, Cricut Accent Essentials cart       ( used to cut the circles for the pumpkin), misc twine and cork board, EK Success punch, KaiserCraft bling.

 Supplies: Imaginisce Apple Cider collection and Cricut Accent Essentials cart for the leaves

Don't forget our latest sketch is posted on the Imaginisce blog. Enter your project to win a nice prize pack from Imaginisce AND stay tuned for some fun projects that will be showcased on the blog soon with our latest release

 Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Stamping Fun with Taylored Expressions

Hello friends! At CHA in Chicago I met a sweet girl named Taylor and her mom. I recognized her business, Taylored Expressions from the weekly sketch challenge she hosts on her blog when she mentioned she owns her own business. I love those sketches! She and her mom were both such sweet people. 

At the Consumer Show Taylor had a booth with all her fab stamps and was doing a fun make and take. I totally loved her images and the style! She has some cute products in her store here.

I inked up the hot air balloon from this set called Cuppie Love Scenes

and created this 

 

 Supplies: Patterned paper Webster's Pages, lace Webster's Pages, buttons Papertrey Ink, Waxy Flax Close 

 To My Heart, Stamped image Taylored Expressions

I am so excited to share that Anna Griffin is part of HSN's 24 Hours of Craft! Please watch at 2pm Pacfic time! I create some samples for the show and I am excited to see them on TV!

New from Unity

Hello friends! It's the second Saturaday of the month and Unity has 2 new scrapbooking kits for you only available online and at brick and morter stores that carry the Unity Scrapbooking kits.

All About The Journey & Bold Insight

I got to work with All About the Journey and I love love love this set! It's prefect for vacation and travel photos and even a quick weekend away in Vegas Baby!!

We went to Vegas for my 40th birthday in March just Mat and I. It was a great time for us since we had not been away alone since our honeymoon. I used a collection of my favorite photos from our Vegas getaway for this layout. This stamp set was easy to incorporate into my layout and there are so many great images!

Stop by the Unity blog to check out where to purchase these sets and see what the other Design Team Members came up with for their projects!

Today we remember those that were lost on Sept 11th 2001 and the brave passengers on flight 93 who gave their lives to stop the terrorists that took over their plane from taking more lives that day. We will never forget.

Hip HOP with the newest KOTM!!

Hip Hop Hello!!! I am lovin this month's kit with the fabulous fall images! Unity's Artists are truly talented and their designs month after month continue to WOW me! There is so much sweet goodness in this month's kit! If you'd like information about becoming a KOTM member click on over to Unity's KOTM page to read all the deets!

I have a confession to make...I never scrap a major holiday until the following year. I know it's crazy but I just don't. This layout is a perfect example of just how thankful I am that I got a SLR camera for Christmas last year. There was also a glare when my husband's mom took the pic. Anyway it's still a memory to record but a good example of how important it is to have a good camera if you are a scrapbooker.

Supplies: Kaisercraft paper and embellies (from my sweet friend Laura) and Unity's Sept KOTM!

Don’t forget we’re chatting it up in the Unity Splitcoast Forum starting at 10AM central time. Come chat it up and win some prizes too!!

Next on your hop is Brooke! I’m sure she has something beautiful for you today!!

I'm today's Guest Designer at Making Memories!

Hello friends! I am excited to share with you that today I am the Guest Designer on the Making Memories blog!

Supplies: Making Memories patterned paper, Glimmer Mist (dragonfly), Slice Vintage Findings cart and stamps by Donna Downey (Insightful Meadows and The Artist in You) for Unity Stamp Co. 

Please stop by the blog and check out my tips for using negative images to create this project! Thanks so much for your support friends. I am so lucky to have so many creative friends that leave beautiful comments on my blog. Thank you so much for your kindness!!

Good Bye Summer...picture heavy post

It's hard to believe that summer is over. School starts for Scott on Wednesday and this is the last year my little girl will be home with me. My heart drops at the thought of that but I know that she needs to grow but I won't take any of the time we have left for granted. Our cuddle sessions and trips to the park are times well spent.
Scott also begins his journey as a 8th grader. He has changed so much this summer and is very much a teenager now. I love his funny personality and laugh. I am sure this year will be full of many fun things including his first school dance.
This summer brought us so much fun! I thought it would be cool to recap some of our adventures!

We kicked off the summer with a visit from our friends Sam and Elise and a day at the beach!

Then Nana and Papa made their vacation plans to come visit us. Mom and I spent their first day in CA at the CK Convention in Riverside



We took Teri's class and a bonus was meeting the super sweet Kelly Marie from Lawn Fawn




Teri was sweet enough to take this pic of Mom and I




Then we all enjoyed Lily's first trip to the Magic Kingdom for Father's Day



She even got a cute button too!

We also had a first visit to the Aquarium in Long Beach

She was fascinated by the fish



We celebrated birthdays....Lily July 18th




Scott August 2nd



We played at the park near our house...alot



Had more trips to the beach (the boys are in the background with their Boogy boards



I went to Chicago for the first time to work at CHA and hang out at the Imaginisce booth. A highlight was teaching a make and take with my fellow design team member Pinky



We swam with friends...



And we had FUN!

That's life in the big city...and a summer full of great times and memories. I wouldn't have it any other way! I hope your summer was a full as mine was. I am so thankful for a loving husband and wonderful children.
Life couldn't be better! Simple as that...