Scrap, Scrap Scrappin' Away

I have been using my Epiphany Crafts tools like mad! The more I use them , the more I love them, it's true. Couldn't tell you why Emma has lost it here, I know that she recovered in about a minute. She was never a super emotional or dramatic child, but lately the water works have been coming quite freely and frequently. I am surprised that she still looks lovely , even making that terrible face....ahh.. youth.
OOOOO, look at that, I think the wood grain from Crate Paper looks SO good under The Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio. Of course that is May Arts jute twine right there, did you even have to ask?
Any one else out there obsessed with these Studio Calico alphas? I am hoping they come out with more colors this summer!
More pics from Hawaii, I will be scrapping Hawaii and Easter for another month, bear with me! I really like using wood grain papers for lay out base and this aqua and white wood grain from Lilybee is a beauty. Seriously, I may go back and pick up a few more. The little numbers and starburst are from Shabby Chic Crafts.

There they are, My Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio. I used Crate Paper again. have the Emma's Shoppe 6x6 paper pad. The smaller graphics are perfect with the Epiphany Crafts tools.
Thanks again for stopping by today. And thank you for the comments, I love reading every single one of them. Have a wonderful week.

Right Now

Right now, Emma is obsesses with the animal kingdom. Ask her what her favorite animal is and after a long pause, she will list at least 20 critters. We are lucky to live a short drive away from La Jolla where a large group of sea lions reside. She was amazed. Living in San Diego, wild animal sitings are rare, so she was excited to see these animals in their own habitat.

I am thrilled to be a part of the Epiphany Crafts design team. I have quickly learned to love my new tools and I think you will too. I will let you know when and where they are available as soon as they hit the stores! For this stick pin, I used a Tim Holtz Memo pin and glued my Epiphany Crafts heart on with a dab of Beacon's 3 in 1 craft glue. I will definitely be making more of those!

I made a little pocket for my journaling, the Lily Bee die cuts make it easy peasy.

My favorite part of this lay out was this little banner in the corner. I was so excited to find out that my new Mini Banner Alpha stamps from Pink Persimmon are the most perfect size for my Epiphany Crafts Design Studio Epoxy Circles. Love it. I stamped my alphas first and then used my new tool to make the embellishments. I lined them up on my paper and used a pencil to mark where I wanted to machine stitch. I stitched my lines and then glued on my circles with my craft glue.

I am loving these banner stamps, stay tuned for more projects with them!

Please check out the Pebbles Inc blog , my friend Suzanne Sergi and I were challenged to do a scraplift of ourselves, come see what we created HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today,

xoxoxo Samantha

Introducing...Epiphany Crafts

Looking for a fabulous new tool? I've found it and I am terribly excited about showing it to you today...right now...ready? Pictured below is the Epiphany Crafts Button Studio and Design Studio. Both create embellishments made from your choice of papers or photos. You can make buttons and epoxy shapes in a manner of seconds. It's as easy as pushing on a punch!

See, you can use any choice of paper, mine is from the delightful Lily Bee, Vintage Poppy. I pushed my paper in, looked into the viewfinder to center the pattern, added the epoxy circle, punched and that was it.

This lay out is from a sketch that you can see right HERE. It was based on a lay out by the amazing Stephanie Howell.

I used a heart epoxy shape and also the circles for this lay out. I love how shiny and smooth they are and I like that they are fairly low profile. I think the Lily Bee text looks fantastic under the epoxy. A sweet little heart made with the same red paper that I used in the lay out, a perfect match!

More of the pretty little hearts...

I used the same Lily Bee papers to make the hearts. Perfect every time!

And this lay out is based on a sketch by Catherine Matthews Scanlon and you can check it out right Here.

I have one more lay out to share, here's a peek. See you manana!

I Really Really Love Elle's Studio, Really.

Have you tried Elle's Studio? You won't be sorry, I think the tags add that extra something something to what I am working on. For this first lay out I used Full of Color Scalloped Tags .

For my journaling here, I wrote it out first and then used my sewing machine to make the lines.

Pretty chipboard butterflies from Maya Road, spritzed with Blue Hydrangea Maya Mist. I think that I have already told you that I adore the American Crafts Lullaby Foam Thickers. I just can't understand why they only come in 3 colors. (pink, yellow and grey)

Love the date and place strips, they are small and skinny, I love love the colors they come in.

My girls are infatuated with their older cousins. Pure adoration. The big girls love them as well. This is a photo from Easter 2009.

I used 2 different sets of Vintage Flashcards for this one. I think the number word flashcards are genius. All in one package, you get numbers 1-31, the possibilities are endless, they could represent a quantity, like how I used it. You could use one to represent a date, age, months of a baby, week in the life ...see, lots of good things!

If you haven't had the chance to click on over to the Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery, I highly recommend it. Every month I am simply amazed by what Jenni, Laurie, Mel, Paige and Daniela create. Very talented girls.

Pink Persimmon and Copics and Store Credit

Pink Persimmon and Lily Bee papers go very well together, I also love PP stamps with Jenni Bowlin. Both papers have the vintage feel that pairs perfectly with Pink Persimmon. Coincidentally this paper from Lily Bee is called Vintage Poppy. The ribbon here is actually a piece of fabric that I frayed a little and stitched onto the card. I used the very cute Singing Birds clear stamp set and colored in with Copic markers. Kind of hard to see, but I covered the entire image with crystal glitter for a little sparkle.

Umm, I took all my unused scrappy stuff (tons of Close to My Heart from years ago when I sold it) to a scrapbook store's garage sale ( I priced it all super extra low-I didn't want anything coming home with me!) and I made about $300 in store credit!!! I can get a Slice now! Should I? Hmm, I need to put a list together of my all my needs! Funny thing, with all that stuff gone, I really can't say that I have any more storage space. My husband is not excited about this. He dreads the store credit....just means more stuff is coming back into our tiny house!

You Brighten My Day Ms. LilyBee

Would you look at these bright lovely colors! Such a happy ensemble, "Hello Sunshine" is the most perfect name for it. LilyBee has a card sketch posted and it's my favorite type of sketch, simple and sweet. I used papers from their newest line and rub ons from an older collection. The brad at the center of the flower was made with the Imaginisce I Top brad maker. I applied a few LilyBee rub ons to white paper, punched them out with my I Top large punch and made the brad...love that tool.

I Promise, it is Super Easy

What is easy? See below! It would appear that I am back into bows these days. For this string of buttons, I used a needle and crochet string and strung them before adhering them to the card.

Okay, remember the April challenge for Elle's Studio? Create some wonderful cards, print out this packing slip, and mail your cards to Operation Write Home. Easy Peasy. For each card you send in, you will be entered in a drawing for a $30 shopping at my favorite ...Elle's Studio of course. By the way, Elle's new line is launching this month!!!!! So if I were you I would be sending those cards in. Oh, and Operation Write Home is a fantastic organization. They send handmade cards to deployed troops, so that our troops will have beautiful cards to send home to their loved ones. What an amazing journey for one of your handmade creations! Whatever you do, DO NOT USE GLITTER OF ANY SORT PLEASE.

So to show you what an easy process this is, I took pictures! First I clicked on THIS LINK and printed out the packing slip. I filled it out and clipped the mailing address that was closest to my home, in my case that is the Washington address. I recycled a mailing envelope and glued the mailing address they provided. I went through my stack of cards and selected about 15 that I thought would be perfect and of course they don't have any glitter. By the way, seems like I use a lot of glitter on my cards.

All I need to do now is send from the post office. I plan on doing this on Monday.

That cute wood grain packing tape is from Tapeswell! Couldn't resist.

October's Gallery....It's already October?

I know you must be in disbelief as well. One minute it is summer and the next, BAM, it is October! I really can't believe it. A new month also means a brand new kit from Heidi over at Freehand Scraps. Beautiful kit, beautiful papers and fun embellishments to play with.

The photo above is Emma on her third birthday. I love the light coming through the window. I love this photo.

Below is a cheapy one dollar frame from Michaels, I think the oval ones are perfect. This is a picture I will always treasure, took it a few weeks ago during a Sunday afternoon out. Emma said , "this is the best day mommy". I agree.

This next lo is my favorite. A pumpkin patch photo of little Emma, she wasn't walking yet so it was super easy to prop her next to a big pumpkin and she would just hold on while I snapped away with the camera. She was an easy baby like that. Not Lily.

For the wood grain on the chipboard house and on the lo, I painted with acrylic paint first and then went over it with the Hero Arts wood grain background. I really like the way it turned out and I wish I had painted a larger area on the lo.

Do you love the tulle flower as much as me?

A lot of Miss Emma this month! Here she is with her best buddy at dance class. they are so cute! The Fancy Pants frame reminded me of a large ornate mirror. If you are ready too see what the rest of the dt did with the October kit ...click HERE!