November Blog Hop: An Adventure in Wonderland

Time is up and I'm not sure where the month has gone!  I am excited to tell you that I have started a new job as an Administrative Assistant!  It fits in nicely with my volunteering and Stay at Home Mom gig, but I am re-learning how to schedule my time.  I'm sure I will get everything to fit together nicely soon.

Because of that, this month has been light on scrapbooking.  Boo for that. My daughter's birthday was this month and we planned an Alice in Wonderland party for her.  Actually, SHE did most of the planning.  She had a pretty firm idea about what she wanted.  I love being able to get some milage out of my scrapbook supplies to make some fun home decor items.  My husband loves that, too.  He is so cheap  creative!

From the invitations:
**Hand stamped and paper pieced tea pots, people!

To the banner on the fireplace mantle:
**The banner is a board mini album from Michaels.  I took it apart and painted the pages cream...painted over that with crackle finish....and painted over that with blue paint.  I added some die cuts from my Cricut layered over doileys left over from Valentine's Day projects.



To our garden display:

And our table setting:
**Yes, we had a chocolate fountain!  So much fun!

Oh, yes!  And she requested TULLE instead of streamers.  LOL  I added playing cards, butterflies and some hanging lanterns.  We had a great time!  And I am glad that is over with. 



Last up on our hop is Emily, so get over to her blog to see what she has made for our viewing pleasure.

And don't forget to comment on our Counterfeit Kit Challenge post HERE to be entered in the drawing for the $20 gift certificate from Scraptastic!



Gadanke Journals!

I was extremely intrigued to discover these sweet handmade journals from an online store named Gadanke.

Gadanke Shop

Don't panic! I'm not loosing my mind and giving up creating my own scrapbooks, but sometimes, it is nice to take a break and have someone else do the creative part. Sort of like bringing a yummy cupcake to a professional baker. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the cupcake even if you didn't slave over it yourself.

Now I admit that I am a bit indecisive at times, but WOW, did I have a horrible time trying to decide which journal to get. I looked through every. single. one. Twice. Then I asked Billy (the hubby) for his opinion. He told me which SEVERAL he liked. Ugh. Then I asked my kids. DUH. They liked the kid's journals. That was no help. Here are some of the reasons for my brief brain freeze moment:

SEE why I had such a hard time? I finally decided on the Love where we Live journal. I thought it would be nice to do something as a family. This is what it looks like on the inside (I picked the cheery yellow cover.).

Okay, I will admit that even as I was pushing the send button, I still thought about a few others that I should have ordered. They all look so good!

After that tormenting decision (yes, I tend to lean towards the dramatic), I sat back and waited for it to come. I just love mail! And I did not have to wait very long. Fastest shipping time ever! I love that it was addressed to: the fabulous Bethany Hardy. How on earth did she know, right? Katie (the owner) does a lovely job with the details that make this such a special purchase. It comes tied with a cute rafia bow and even had a note to me in the package. I felt pretty stinkin' special.

The book itself is 4x4.5 inches, which is the perfect size to put in a basket with all of your other mini albums. For me, the hardest part of journaling is thinking of what to say (I know...but I am an English Teacher...weird, huh?). Katie has such a creative and fresh outlook on how to journal about your topic (in this case, my house). I love all of the journaling prompts (like what we do during our together time and what big splurge we made for the house) and the meaningful quotes scattered throughout the album. It is all designed to really get you to think about what you are writing. Even the photo spaces are marked with suggestions for pictures to take and put in them. I LOVE that. She really walks you through how to make a meaningful book. I think my favorite part has got to be the mini maps. They are so cute! I have some good ideas for those!

Basically, I love that the book is ready to use, as is, but lends itself to adding your own special touches to it to make it uniquely yours.

If you want to check out Katie and her Gadanke shop, here are some ways to do it:

Gadanke Shop
Twitter
Facebook
Blog

Intrigued by these journals? Katie is offering YOU a special code for 10% off your order. Hurry! This offer expires November 25th!

Code: COUNTERFEIT10

Tag You're It Challenge

I LOVE tags!  My big thrill on Pinterest lately is finding cute tags to inspire me. (Don't judge me!  It is not as crazy as it sounds.)  I had fun exploring my Tag options and came up with two projects to share with you.

I loved the idea of using different shapes for banners...and tags are a nice addition to that.  I loved sketch 14 from Sketch support and really liked the idea of doing a "shadow" on the banner (go HERE to see the sketch and inspiration banner).  Do I have the cutest kid ever or WHAT?

I found some great inspiration at the Crate Paper Blog.  I love the layers Keisha's card has and was inspired to create my own version. 

I stamped and heat embossed the leaves and dry embossed and stamped on the tag.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and mixed several different patterns.  I love the way it came out.

November Kit Reveal!

I am very excited about our kit to counterfeit for this month!  Head on over to Scraptastic Club to see the neat kits and other things they offer!

One thing I LOVE LOVE LOVE about their kits is the awesome Sneak Peek they give.  Other kit clubs should be this detailed and organized!  They show pictures of the kit, each individual piece in the kit and then have a product list!  Love that!

This month there are two great kits, Autumn Splendor and Home Sweet Home, and two add on kits to go with these.  I picked the Autumn Splendor kit because it seemed a bit less themed and easier for me to make more general neutral (I do tend to go girly on my kits, which is rough for my son.)

You can go HERE for a lovely break down of the kit.

I pulled patterned paper from some fun collections to make up the base of my kit.

I mixed matched from:

Here is the paper I added to my kit:

I am DETERMINED to use more chipboard!  The tags I already had, the clouds/butterflies/buttons I made with my cricut/cuddlebug/punches.

I had fun stamping and embossing on some grid paper.  I think they will make great bases for some layering.

I FINALLY made some of these flowers.  I was nervous, but it was super easy.  I also made a hair clip for my daughter, who has requested more in different colors. 

These are from the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge made from different sizes and layered.

**I am sorry for letting a half finished post go live.  We lost internet for a few days unexpectedly and I couldn't get on to fix it.