So a NEW YEAR after the crazy that was 2020.

How ya holding up?  I can't complain, and well, how does that old

saying go, "even if I did who would listen anyway?"  We're all in this

 together.  And honestly I'm so much more thankful for what I have,

One thing being: crafting.  It's my happy place.  It's like fresh air!

So even though it's been a while, thought I'd share a recap of my faves

from 2020 to bring you a little "fresh air" and fresh inspiration too!!

 I'm all about the little red truck.  Love that vintage country vibe!

(Clear Scraps Blog: HERE)

Not only do I love the picture (memories of the beach trip we had to

miss this year) but the G45 papers and the Clear Scraps flip flops.  LOVE.

  (Clear Scraps Blog: HERE)

 

And the bible journaling.  Love to stamp, stencil, paint, and

in general, get creative while giving a lot of the last year's

turmoil to God.  It truly has anchored my soul.

 Yes, another beach memory.  I might have been missing this trip.

The stenciling/shading was fun--I love to create backgrounds with

stencils and stamps.  Great way to customize!

(Clear Scraps: HERE)

And this one?  The colors and the ombre background I created

just make me happy.  That and the big smile on my oldest!

(Clear Scraps: HERE)

Well hopping right into holiday crafting.  This acrylic card was fun!

The alcohol inks, the cute little witches hat.  Yep, love it!

(Clear Scraps: HERE)

 

And to finish off my "Year of Favorites" a couple of cards,

 

highlighting the thankfulness, and another of those just for

fun happiness cards.

(Clear Scraps HERE and HERE).

Well thanks for taking this little trip down memory lane with me.

I've already been creating Valentine's and winter goodness for 

Clear Scraps and Hannah's, and more bible journaling soon.

Here's to 2021--Happy New Year!

Summertime Project Fun

Oh so long since I've posted! 

Life does keep one busy sometimes! 

I have been crafting quite a bit tho, and I've

got some fun projects that were created

for the Clear Scraps blog.  You can see

all the details over there....check out the

links at the end of this post!

Are you familiar with Clear Scraps?

If not, stop over to their store, you can

find it HERE.  The blog is always full of 

inspiration and great ideas to use their products!

So here are a few of the projects created this

summer using the Clear Scraps goodies!

How cute is this beach frame?  Clear Scraps +

 Bella Blvd Splash Zone = adorable!

They have adorable shaker mini albums!

I'm a little obsessed with mason jars

at the moment....you too?

This one was from a cross over with Stampendous

stamps....they have amazing stamps, and are a

perfect pair with the Clear Scraps DIY Medium Pallet!

One of my favorite things to unleash some creativity,

the 12x12 Acrylic Sheets and stencils.  They 

have so many great ones to choose from and

yep, even the chipboard is from Clear Scraps!

Another patriotic project, and another DIY 

Medium Pallet shape!

This one was another cross promo this time with

Joy Clair stamps!  And this time a mini pallet!

Love, Love, LOVE Clear Scraps!

Hope you are inspired to do some fun summer crafting....

even great ideas of things to do with the kids over there!

Thanks for stopping by today!

LINKS:

Beach Frame 

Mason Jar Shaker Album

Life in the Jungle Pallet

12x12 Acrylic Beach LO

Patriotic Heart Pallet

Home Decor (Our Home)

Valentine's Instahop!

Love is in the air, and it's also over at the Instahop on Instagram, 

where Clear Scraps wants to share a little giveaway love! 

I've got a great creative project to share, and a

lot more inspiration to be found too!

Stop by the Clear Scraps Instagram page

to get started!

Happy Valentine's Day!

New Year.....Let's Create!

Ahhh.....another year goes by.....and January FLEW already.....I was sorta sick for a good chunk of it unfortunately.....as were many people, but at least I got in some crafty time!  Time to play a little catch up!

I was both excited and honored to have several of my projects at the big Creativation show this year!  Clear Scraps had a booth there, and they have truly knocked it out of the park with their new releases!

So here's a little of what I was up to in late December, early January:

This sign was made with one of the many new stencils in the Clear Scraps collection!  And the perfect size wooden pallet is theirs too!  You can find all the details on THIS POST over on the Clear Scraps blog.

Next up.....the absolutely ADORABLE new medium size DIY Pallets from Clear Scraps.....they come in all different shapes.....I'm seriously in LOVE!!!

And you guessed it.....all the details on where to find them and how I created this one, are over on the Clear Scraps blog RIGHT HERE.  The "I Love Us" is also a Clear Scraps newbie.....along with sooooo many others. These are great for home decor projects like this. You can find them all in the Clear Scraps store HERE.

Maybe I was needing a perk up in a dreary January, but this project sure did it.....how can you look at the
bright fun colors on this one and not "Choose Happy"?!!

And yep.....you know the drill.....check out the Clear Scraps blog for all the deets!  You'll find it HERE.

Well thanks so much for stopping by today!  I've got sooooo much more to share.....I have a bunch of projects I just completed.....stop back soon!

Christmas in the Air

Hi everyone!  Ahhh the joys of working retail during the holidays!  It means my blog posts have been few lately.....but I wanted to share some of the fun Christmas craft ideas I've been working on.

The above is a sneak of a home decor project using one of the fun DIY Wooden Pallets from
Clear Scraps. Want to see more?  HERE is the blog post with all the details.

Next up.....my last post was about a fall home decor frame....well here's the Christmas version
using the Blank Wood Card, stencils and chipboard embellishments from Clear Scraps.

Find all the details and supplies used to make this cute and simple project over on the Clear
Scraps blog right HERE.

And a great idea for a gift and card in one.....this Joy Shaker Card project.

It looks a little complicated, but I'll break it all down for you over on the Clear Scraps blog.
It's really just a modified easel card.....super fun and easy!

Thanks for stopping by today for a little Christmas cheer!  Hope you're inspired to get a head
start on Christmas next year!  You can find all the fun products to create and much more over
at the Clear Scraps store.  Make sure to stop over, you can find them HERE.

Happy Holidays everyone!  I'll have a fun New Year's project.

Fall Crafting and Home Decor

Well, in the last week we went from our week long fall into the start of winter here in the midwest!
Since fall is my favorite season....it's disappointing when it seems so short, so I'm going to keep fall crafting going, even if the weather is telling me different.....lol.

One item I recently created was this cute little frame project.....it's using some items from Clear Scraps, their Damask Stencil, and their Blank Wood Cards.

The best part, you can interchange these pieces to create a home decor piece that you can change with the seasons!  If you want to see how this one was created and a few more details, check out the Clear Scraps blog HERE.

Another item I crafted up using the Pumpkin Wood Shaker Album.....instead of an album (which is super cute too!) I used the album to create this fall home decor banner:

If you'd like to know how this one was created and a little more about it, check out the blog HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Make sure to stop by the Clear Scraps blog to check out all the great inspiration!

Halloween Home Decor and Clear Scraps!

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to announce that I'm part of the Clear Scraps DT!! Not familiar with Clear Scraps?  They are an amazing company for anyone that loves to scrapbook, create fun home decor, gifts, albums, mixed media and so much more!

My first project is this cute Halloween home decor piece made using their DIY Wooden Pallet Shape.  I used the picket fence and some Simple Stories and Pebbles goodies:

This project was so fun to create!  And it's now a part of my Halloween decor!  If you pop on over to the Clear Scraps Blog HERE you can find out the details on how I created this and where to find this cute pallet and more in the Clear Scraps store HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sentiments for the Season

Hi everyone!  More of the amazing new JustRite release today!  This time I'm sharing a card created with the Season's Greetings to You set!

This set has sooooo many cute stamps to create great backgrounds, and it has the sentiment included!

The snowflake in the set makes for a great background:

It's stamped in Versamark, then clear embossing powder.  This is the same snowflake that was stamped  in brown ink, fussy cut and foam taped to the card front.

The lantern was stamped using Memento Luxe ink and then clear embossed:

then a touch of Distress Ink and Wink of Stella, creates the look of a glowing lantern.

Thanks for stopping by today!  More new to come.

Supplies used: JustRite Season's Greetings to You,  Ink: Versamark, Memento Luxe, Stephanie Barnard. Other: Wink of Stella clear, Ranger clear embossing powder, Trendy Twine-kraft, Prima Santa Baby, PhotoPlay enamel dots.

JustRite Release Time!

Yay.....who's ready for new stamps?  Especially adorable stamps!!  JustRite Papercrafts has an adorable new Christmas/holiday release! And I've got inspiration for you for the next few days too!

I'm a huge fan of cards that look layered and fun, but really are easy!  This one just layers up some glitter paper, red cardstock and white cardstock.  A simple green organza bow with a touch of twine holding.....what??......the cutest little red mittens.  They are from the new stamp set Winter is Here,    and the fun background....ANOTHER fun new release from JustRite, Dotted Lines Background.

They are fussy cut out, and hung from the bow......so cute!  The sentiment is from the new sentiment set Merry Christmas Sentiments.  This set has such a gorgeous font.....these are gonna get a lot of use!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Make sure to stop back soon.....more new releases coming!  And check out the entire release HERE.

Supplies:  JustRite: Merry Christmas Sentiments, Dotted Lines Background, Winter is Here.
Other: red cardstock, white cardstock, Gumdrop Green cardstock base-The Paper Cut, Trendy Twine white, red tinsel embossing powder-Ranger.

TN and Planners from Paper House

Hi all!  Are you into the planner craze?  I've got a few cute idea today with planners and traveler's notebooks!

As someone who is a scrapbooker/cardmaker, ok, home dec too....thought, really planners too?  But then I thought, hey.....a mini scrapbook to keep track of trips, and just life in general.....it's a bonus to my scrapping.

I'm taking this one along on our NC beach trip.....

The numbers and borders are Paper House washi.....layer washi onto cardstock and diecut for the numbers......cute for the beach!

Love the stickers and papers from the Sun Drenched collection from PH too.....perfect match!

I've left spaces for photos I'll print while we are there using an HP Sprocket!  A great way to remember out vacay!  Then I'll scrap a few of my very favorite photos when we get home.

This one is a full planner.....what could be more inspiring for getting things planned and done than Wonder Woman (TM)??!!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Make sure to check out Paper House and their Life Organized collections HERE.

Stop back soon!  Have a creative weekend!

Supplies:  Paper House-Wonder Woman Planner collection, Journey Notebook, washi, Sun Drenched 12x12 Pad and stickers. 

Paper House and Xyron: A Perfect Pair!

Hi all!  As much as I love scrapbooking, I also love doing home decor pieces to use as a way to display family photos instead of just plain old frames.  Over at the Paper House blog, I've got a project up that does just that.....combines family trip memories, with a great home decor printer's tray, and also everything comes together using Xyron adhesives!

Yep, this is just a sneak......stop by the Paper House blog to see the entire project, and learn about the Paper House and Xyron items I used to create this fun, colorful project!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Sharing some planner goodness soon....

Paper House and Spiegel Mom Scraps Team Up!!

Hi everyone!  Paper House and Spiegel Mom Scraps (SMS) have an awesome blog hop going on this week!  So many amazing projects!

I'm over there sharing a shaker pocket page that I created using the fun sequin mixes that come from SMS!!  And guess what's new?  The Paper House Faux Enamels Stickers!!! 

These are gorgeous! So many to chose from, I used the gorgeous mermaids for my shaker page:

Those little bubbles around the mermaid are from the sequin mix too!  The Marbleous paper pad from Paper House has the gorgeous background, and the alphas too!

Thanks for stopping by today.....and make sure to check out the entire page over at Paper House HERE on the blog!  Check out the other great projects this week and remember to enter for the giveaway too!

Destinations With Paper House

Paper House, in a scrapbooking market that keeps shrinking it seems.....is one of the few amazing companies left if you LOVE to scrap specific memories.  I love their stickers for sports, holidays, and yes, even VERY specific locations!

We travel to NC every year, and the new Paper House Destinations stickers make for some quick fun LO's!  Here is a peek at a LO done using the North Carolina Destination stickers:

The lighthouse, and the license plate, road sign and little photo.....all from Destinations.  So cute, right?!  I also used the Marbleous 12x12 paper pack too.  Really gorgeous for backgrounds on your LO's with a lot of gorgeous colors.

Thanks for stopping by today, and if you like to see the entire LO....please stop by the Paper House blog....you can find it  HERE.....and if you are inspired to do a little shopping for these awesome stickers.....use the code PH18LAURA to receive a 15% discount on your order!   You'll find the store HERE.

The Great Outdoors Fishing Kit and Paper House Productions!

Hi everyone!  Sharing a sneak of a project I've done for Paper House using one of their amazing kits!

Just a sneak yes....but you can see the entire project over on the Paper House blog HERE.  Stop by and say hi and find out more about their amazing Great Outdoors kits!  These are an amazing value with a 12x12 sticker sheet (amazing quality too!), papers, and even 3D stickers!  And guess what *hint hint* you can find them at Hannah's in Antioch, IL too!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Always more creative fun coming!  Stop back soon! 

Top Ten Blog Hop 2017

ETA:  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Congrats to the winner of my prize pack.....Random Generator picked #12.....Nicole!  Please pop me an email at lauracox@lycos.com!!  Again Congrats.....and thanks for all those who left a comment and participated in the hop!!

Welcome to your next stop in our Top Ten of 2017 hop!!!  You should have hopped over here from Marcia Dehn-Nix's blog and your next stop will be Irit Shalom!

I'm so excited to be blog hopping with these talented crafters.....make sure you visit everyone!  A lot of talent, a lot of giveaways, and soooooo much inspiration!  See the bottom of this post for the entire list to make sure you don't miss anyone!

And here we go with my Top Ten of 2017:


#10: BoBunny, Blessings, and Kreaxions

This shaker card combined stenciling, die-cutting, bright cheerful distress inks with BoBunny papers for my #10 fave....more info.....check THIS POST.


#9:  Halloween Blocks.....Carta Bella is always a fave....and you can see that in several of the projects I've created this year....these blocks were one of my fave projects.....and on display at Hannah's (local scrapbook store and gift store in Antioch, IL)....this one with the Haunted House collection.

#8: Christmas Blocks....Carta Bella for the win again....their Very Merry Christmas collection (also live and in person at Hannah's)

#7: Fall Flip.....

This home decor project was a two-fer.....fall on one side, and Halloween on the other....and all made with the Pebbles Midnight Haunting collection.



#6:  Cozy Winter LO....more Carta Bella love....the Cabin Fever collection....
 

 
Ok....had to share this one even tho my pic isn't perfect (this one is on display at Hannah's also, and the lighting was sub-par that day)....but I'm anxiously awaiting some snow so I can fill this one with pretty snow pics....it's SO fun....right down to the sparkling copper gold deer ribbon border. ;)


#5:  Home is Where the Heart Is.....and where home-made home decor is....

Carta Bella's Welcome Home Collection and a little creativity = adorable every day home decor.....this collection is one I have more projects in mind.....just LOVE.


#4:  He Pulls at My Heart Strings....and even more of a fave since it's this little guy that has just left for college....time flies!  Perfect with the Fancy Pants Sweet Nothings collection.

More info on this post HERE.


#3:  Julie Nutting Halloween Home Decor

I'm a huge fan of these doll stamps....and seldom get the chance to play.....so this project was a fun one to do at one of the crops I attended this year!

#2:  Believe and BoBunny

This memory verse clipboard with it's twine and tags and bright colors....love....more info HERE.


and drum roll for my #1 of 2017.......

My first try at mixed media/art journal creating.....a combination of Color Burst, Distress Crayons, stencils/paste, stamps, black ink, and a Julie Nutting doll ended up in a colorful bold statement that reminds me every day and in every way that:  I. AM. BLESSED. 


Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I have a fun little giveaway....I'm kinda into the buffalo plaid craze this year.....are you?  If you are, make sure to leave a comment today....you'll be entered to win a sweet little buffalo plaid set of goodies, and a few fun scrappy/paper crafting goodies too.  Not going to spoil the surprise, but will be a great prize pack--so make sure you comment....will post a winner on January 1st to start 2018 with a bang!

Blog Hop List

Christine Meyer

Kathy Skou

Kathleen Graumüller

Teri Anderson

Susie Bentz

Janice Daquila-Pardo

Giorgia Rossini

Laurel Seabrook  

Aimee Kidd

Mary Ann Jenkins

Keren Tamir

Lee-Anne Thornton

Heather Leopard

Tifany DeGough  

Sue Eldred

Melissa Elsner

Laura Whitaker

Anita Mulcahey

Ashley Smith

Simone Schermann

Shelly Kurth

Monique Liedtke
Suzanna Lee

Marcia Dehn-Nix  

Laura Cox

Irit Shalom

Nicole Martel

Carolyn Johnson

Tenia Nelson

Samantha Taylor  

Rebecca Keppel

Judy Hayes

Isha Gupta

Traci Penrod

Tracy McLennon

Karen Hunter

Lyne Blodgett

Anna Sigga

Lisa Moen
Kat Benjamin
Wendy Antenucci