IT"S A BLOG HOP....with PRIZES!!!!

Welcome to the Scrap Our Stash Christmas in July Blog Hop. If you did not come here from Scrap Our Stash go back and follow the blog hop in order (click HERE to go back for all the details). This will allow you to discover the secret phrase which will make you eligible for the grand prize.

First I will share my "Christmas in July" layout....  I didn't do a traditional Christmas layout (it's 115 in Phoenix..I can't even think about Christmas right now!!)  so I used the Christmas concept a little differnetly and using a recent photo of my son Joseph...(minus lots of teeth)...ended up with this......!!!

Second, I'm giving away a PRIZE......  it's the ENTIRE COSMO CRICKET COLLECTION PACK of the GARDEN VARIETY line

....  ohh...ahh....to be eligible to win this prize, you must be a follower of my blog.  ......  and also leave me a comment telling me about your favorite HOLIDAY recipe, food or tradition.... The BLOG HOP ENDS on SUNDAY 7/25 at 6PM.  I will choose a random winner on Monday 7/26...come back here to see if you won.  Remember you must be a follower and leave me a comment to be eligible to win.

Third, so the words you need from me for the BLOG HOP are "THE MAGIC" (yep, 2 words from me)

Fourth, you need to go to the next blog.... the fabulous & talented RACHEL ... (click on her name to go to her blog).


Last and certainly not last, for my layout I used my July Scrapbook Circle kit and a sketch from SKETCH SAVVY ... (#33)
I love the border pieces...so cool!!!

Friday -- Double Design Team posting day!!!

Ok...another Friday and 2 more DT layouts...

This week at Alphabet Challenge the letter is L....L is for LACE....  so, I did a layout about myself (which I don't do too often)...Joseph took this pic of me right before our haircuts last month.   I used Basic Grey Capella line, some Prima bling and a few embellies from Girl's Paperie.  (and of course AC Thickers, CC Tiny Types & a Jillibean Sprout-June)

AND layout #2 is for the wonderful fabulous Frosted Designs where this week my BFF Erika is the featured Designer.  Our challenge is to use border punches.  Funny, I already had this layout sitting on my table....it's actually Erika's Birthday present....I guess since she was being featured and the challenge is border punches it was time to finish it up!!  We can't figure out if the photo is from 2006 or 2007.... you'd think I could tell by the size of Joseph, but he'd have been 2.5 or 3.5 and now since he's 6.5, I can't tell the difference between 2.5 & 3.5...is that weird???   I used a Stampin' Up Heart punch up the right edge on the brown paper, just for a subtle accent.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today!!! 

Haircut Time

This month at Scrap Our Stash the challenge is to use Eyelets and/or Brads.
I also used a sketch from Sketch Savvy (#30)-- wow are these cool sketches!!
This is just Joseph "pre" and "post" haircut.....
I used LYB Gen Z papers & hand cut the yellow frame around the top & used a negative strip of stickers from Sasafrass's border sheets and added a bunch of coordinating brads.  Also the clock is Maya Road w/a LYB Gen Z "gear" center (attached with a brad).

Here's Susan Stringfellow's sketch from Sketch Savvy...

A few misc layouts

Here are a few layouts that I posted in galleries or such that never got posted here on my blog....

No Teeth No Cob -- Memorable Seasons Sketch challenge

This Boy - Memorable Seasons LSS contest -- solid background & 2 handmade flowers

We 3 - Scrapbook Circle June kit

JAKE challenge blog - "HOT"

Scenic View

This week at Sketches in Thyme the sketch is:

And I did this layout of one of my favorite pics I took in San Fran....Pier 39, Sea Lions and you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Fun at the Fountain

This layout is for 2 different "challenges"
1)  Memorable Seasons Last Scrapper Standing -- Week #4 --- plain background and use a household item to decorate the background.  I used a toy tractor rolled in ink to make the wavy pattern.
2)  Sketchy Thursday sketch this week

Fridays are now DT Double Duty Day (4 d's?)

I now have 2 DT's that post on Fridays...so this post is doing Double Duty today!!!

Well, I'm very happy to officially share my first Design Team layout for the Alphabet Challenge Blog .

Each week there is a new challenge based on the letters of the alphabet....this week is K for Kids.

So I did this layout of Joseph wearing his clown nose & being silly in the car after we had just left the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus.  I also used a sketch from The Scrappiest (#71)

The paper is all Bo Bunny's new Block Party line. 

And this week at Frosted Designs our challenge is to use FELT....

I caught Joseph calling the Grape Arbor ... "GrapeBARBER"....(all one word). So, I immediately took a photo and jotted it down to document. I used Fancy Pants Orange Felt Border (adhered w/brads), Queen & Co Leafy felt border up the right side & Jolee's felt leafs clustered under the Maya Road owl. Journal spot, chipboard accents & paper is Bella Blvd Man Around the House line.

Get over to the FD blog and enter your felt project for a chance to win an awesome prize!!!

Hang out & Shop!

Julie's challenge right now over at My Favorite Things is about your FAVORITE STORE.
Ok, I don't SHOP much....Fry's, Costco....yea, necessity, but not necessarily fun?.... Oh wait, I online shop....and my favorite online Scrapbook Store is Memorable Seasons ... so I asked Jill if I could use one of her banners on a layout and she was gracious enough to say YES... (love that girl... really, you should go check out the store... she lists NEW product at 20% off MSRP......and don't even get me started about her sales..... danger danger danger!!!)

Anyhoo...here's my layout.  (yes, there is a lot of orange, as my dh so nicely pointed out!!  -- I like orange, so I'm good with it)

Patriotically, not patriotic.... huh? (2 layouts)

This week at FROSTED DESIGNS our challenge is to use STARS, STRIPES and RED, WHITE & BLUE.
I don't often do 2 pagers, but I had a lot of photos that supported the story of Joseph's FIRST EVER donut at the age of 6...yea that's why it was layout worthy!! I actually had this layout and paper picked out when I realized it was red, white & blue AND had stars and stripes on it!   I didn't ever think about it but a layout didn't really have to be "patriotic" and still fit that theme.So with that new realization flashing through my head, I did a second layout, also not patriotic, that meets the challenge. Now I've got to be honest, I almost left off that big star and called my layout "SCARS and STRIPES"....but I opted for the big star to fill that space and I think I made the better choice!!

Having a Blast

JULY & a new challenge at Scrap Our Stash!!!!   This month's challenge is Eyelets or Brads.... 
We also have a Sketch challenge that runs 6/15-7/14....  So I did a DOUBLE WHAMMY !!!
My layout uses the sketch & I used eyelets.....  Go me, Go me...(singing)...

I replaced one of the photo spots for a title box, otherwise I stayed pretty true to the sketch. I used Fancy Pants Rusted Sun line & added a few extras here and there. The sun/flower at the top left is just a strip of paper accordian folded and then adhered into a circle and then "pushed" down and adhered (it likes to pop off... so I ended up using wet glue) and then a fun brad in the center. This is one of my favorite easy embellies to make...usually it looks like a flower, but I kind of like how it looks like a sun on this page. When I was finished, I realized the layout needed just little extra "umph"...so I added the eyelets to the bottom dotted paper in random matching colors.