The One with the Easter Card for Papercraft Inspirations

I made a card for the Papercraft Inspirations Easter Blog Party!

HAPPY EASTER CARD 

 Size: Card is 3 1/2 x 5"

How to: Cut an egg shape from white cardstock to make a card base. Roll up patterned paper and patterned vellum strips into tubes then adhere them down the card. Trim the excess with sharp scissors. Add a "happy" die cut across the middle and spell "EASTER" below with mint aqua glittered Thickers. Place aqua pom pom trim under the sentiment then embellish the card with a yellow button, pink chipboard flower, red flower sticker, and blue chipboard asterisk as shown.

 Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, patterned vellum, word die cut, button, chipboard (asterisk, flower, letters), flower sticker, pom pom trim, adhesive: American Crafts

Easter is one week from today! Gotta start making arrangements with the Easter Bunny :)

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The One with the 2Peas Gardeners' Digest March 2013 Blog Hop

It's time for another 2Peas Gardeners' Digest - a monthly blog hop hosted by the 2Peas Garden Girls! Below you will find a sneak of one of my upcoming layouts for the 2Peas Project Gallery, a couple of layouts from another scrapbooker that inspires me, a list of 5 items that I've placed in my shopping cart, and a giveaway!

Celine Navarro
Lisa Dickinson
Melissa Stinson
***Paige Evans***
Laura Craigie
Jen Gallacher
Jill Sprott
Lilith Eeckels
Corrie Jones
Janna Werner
Nancy Damiano
Marcy Penner
Wilna Furstenberg
Lexi Bridges

Julie Campbell
Shimelle Laine
2Peas

Here is a little sneak of the mint green-themed layout that I created for the April 1st Garden debut. Check out the rest of my Garden Girl creations HERE.

Leah Farquharson is an amazingly talented lady! She scrapbooks, she sews, she's a mom - I don't know how she does it all. I LOVE these two layouts she made for her monthly American Crafts assignment and shared in the 2Peas gallery. On the "Mobile Workspace" layout, Leah painted on the patterned paper - genius! Makes me want to bust out my long-forgotten art supplies.

 On this "Together" layout, Leah made such a fun collage of product - feather, foxes, ribbon, and more! Not to mention the cute photo of her and her hubby. Love love love it.

Make sure to check out more of Leah's projects on her blog and 2Peas gallery.

Here are 5 products that are currently in my shopping bag, I just need to hit the "purchase" button once Chris isn't looking :)
Composition & Color by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages 6x6 paper pad:

Chevron Snippets Wood Veneer by Studio Calico:

Maggie Holmes Fabric Bows by Crate Paper:

Sweet Girl Washi Tape by Echo Park Paper Co.:

Knee Highs Printed Chipboard Shapes by Basic Grey:

Definitely lots of cute and girly things in my cart!

I've got a giveaway to go along with this post!

It's just a dabbling of some leftover/double/extra scrapbooking supplies. Namely, chipboard shapes Thickers from the brand new Lucky Charm line by Dear Lizzy, word banners from Dear Lizzy, a 6x6 paper pad from the Sketchbook line by Amy Tangerine, glitter flowers from Dear Lizzy, and a Dear Lizzy roller date stamp. Niiiiiiiiice! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post by Thursday March 28th 2013 letting me know what your plans are for this weekend. Easy as that! I'll announce the winner that same day.

Next on the hop: Laura Craigie!

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The One with Scrap Your Stash #3

My third Scrap Your Stash layout and accompanying video is up at twopeasinabucket.com today!

TOUGH LOVE

Description: Brads, buttons, and bling, oh my! I'd guess that 95% of my layouts use one, if not all, of these embellishments. Therefore, I've accumulated quite a collection in my stash - time to scrap them! Over the years companies have found ways to make brads, buttons, and bling even more cute and enticing. Fabric brads! Glitter buttons! Epoxy, jewel, pearl, and acrylic flower brads! Flower-shaped buttons! What's next? I have to have them all cuz each one is so cute and so easy to use. It's the perfect finishing touch, or in this case, focal point. I wanted my brads, buttons, and bling to make a statement on this layout so I created a double heart border around my photos. I converted the photos to black and white so I could pick whatever line I wanted to - in this instance I was drawn to the brand new Sundrifter line by Studio Calico with all of it's vibrant colors and then I picked matching brads, buttons, and bling from my embellishment containers. The patterned papers bring out the colors of the embellishments and vice versa. 

Journaling says: One afternoon I set Jane down to take pictures of her and of course Fox wanted in on the action. I said, "Fox, give Jane a hug!" and this is what happened. I'm pretty sure Jane didn't even mind!

How to: The video shows how to create the layout from start to finish. Here it is written: Die cut a pair of overlapping hearts from scrap cardstock then trace them onto a cream cardstock background. Stitch over the hearts a few times using white thread to define the edges and help the hearts stand out. Add photos inside the hearts. Place brads, buttons, and bling around the hearts. Distribute the size and color of the embellishments to create a rainbow effect. On the top and bottom edges of the layout, layer torn patterned paper strips. Create a title along the curve of the bottom paper strips then freehand draw three lines for journaling. Stamp the date then drop black spray mist on the top left, top right, and bottom right edges.

Supplies: Cardstock, pen, stamps (date, sentiment), adhesive: American Crafts; Patterned paper, patterned vellum, acrylic flowers, spray mist: Studio Calico; Brads, buttons: American Crafts, BasicGrey, Crate Paper; Ink: StazOn; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Die cut machine (Cameo), heart dies (Silhouette): QuicKutz

Challenge: Frame a photo or other shape on your layout with brads, buttons, and bling! Every month a winner from all the SCRAP YOUR STASH entries will be drawn and rewarded with a $10 gift certificate. Winner will be announced on the 2Peas blog!

Here is the accompanying video so you can see how this layout was made start to finish:

These are a few more projects I made in the past featuring brads, buttons, and bling:



Onto Scrap Your Stash #4! I wonder what to showcase.... Ribbon? Rub ons? Washi tape? Stickers? Only time will tell!

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The One with The Voice Premier

So, I know I said I was going to settle down, take it easy, and get some work done. But after I finished work for the day I heard about the premier of The Voice and just HAD to go. When in Rome Los Angeles!
Five other girlies and I loaded up into a minivan and drove to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. There were sooooooo many people there already!

We waited in line for a couple of hours, but time flies when you're having fun so it went by really fast.

Little by little we started making our way into the theater, but we had to stop and check out the celebrities walking on the red carpet! That's Carson Daily.

Carson Daily up close!

USHER up close!

Christina Aguilera up close!

Take time to stop and snap a photo!

Once we settled in the theater, free popcorn and drinks and all, Carson Daily went up to the front and introduced returning coach Blake Shelton, former coach Christina Aguilera, and new coach Usher! Adam Levine couldn't make it cuz he's on tour or something and Shakira just had a baby two weeks ago (but who could tell from the way she looks? Hot dang!).

We got to watch the 2 hour first episode on the biggest screen I've ever seen. Confession: I've never watched The Voice before this, but now I can honestly say I'm hooked. It was HILARIOUS and sweet and sad all rolled into one.

What's a girl's night without a pit stop at Chick-fil-A on the way home?

I can't wait for next Monday, March 25th at 8pm, to watch it again and then see the next episode on Tuesday March 26th! Consider me The Voice's newest fan!

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The One with Back to Work

We've been going going going for the past week and a half (a whirlwind trip Vegas, Disneyland with the kids, finding out about the big move to Germany, attending a book signing with Stephenie Meyer, going on the WB VIP Tour) so now it's time to hunker down and get some work done!

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The One with the WB VIP Studio Tour

When I saw that Sarah sat on the FRIENDS couch at the WB VIP Studio Tour here in Burbank I was like I HAVE TO DO THAT! FRIENDS is our all-time favorite show. I mean, my blog post titles are mimicked after their episodes and we have a cat named Rachel, a dog named Joey, we used to have a bunny named Chandler, we used to have finches named Alice and Frank Jr., and if we ever get a poodle we'll name him Ross if it's a boy or Monica if it's a girl.
Moral of the story: WE LOVE FRIENDS.

We booked our tickets earlier this week, hired our friendly neighborhood babysitter for this afternoon, and then headed out.


Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were there to greet us.

'Sup FRIENDS merch!

Even the waiting area was filled with movie props and costumes. I was most interested in the Harry Potter stuff. Clockwise: Harry Potter merchandise / a close-up of Dolores Umbridge's costume / one of Harry Potter's quidditch brooms / costumes worn by Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. From one of the Defense Agains the Dark Arts teacher's office - I so want these for future Halloween parties.

After a few minutes of browsing, our tour guide came out, seemingly less than pleased to be there... and we loaded up into a giant golf cart.

Right away he started spouting off fact after fact after fact - I can't remember them all! These mountains are used in the backdrop of shows like M*A*S*H. Just on the other side of these mountains in Burbank is the Hollywood sign.

A jungle - used in Jurassic Park, The Last Samurai, and lots of TV shows.

This scary alleyway is where the famous upside down Spiderman kiss took place! It's also used in The Dark Knight and any likely any other movie/show with a dark alleyway scene.

Small Town USA! I swear they just cloned houses from South Pasadena.

This WB building is the finance department but it's used in many TV shows as a hospital or police department / Roree's (from Gilmore Girls) Chilton school front gates. This is also used as an embassy in  a bunch of shows like The West Wing - all they do is switch out the flag in front. We told our guide that we were mostly there for FRIENDS. When he said this patch of grass is where Phoebe ran through Central Park, Chris piped up and asked if we could stop and get out and take pictures!

Reenacting Phoebe's run: Here's the real deal: Who knows why, but after this our tour guide perked up and was happy as can be! I can't remember what this Courthouse has been used in, I just like that I caught a sun glare on camera. It's the small and simple things :)

This patch of grass is where Ross played rugby! Stop the cart!

RED ROSS! Everything about these buildings and exteriors is fake. This one building doubles as a school, library, and city hall. It's got three sides!

Welcome to Stars Hollow (now the town in Pretty Little Liars). The gazebo is missing from the center, but still, pretty cool! All of the branches on the trees can be removed and pinned in place. The plumbing is fake. The lights are just plugged in.

These roses aren't even real! We could see them zip-tied onto the branches - which are actually real. Lorelai Gilmore's house.

The back of Lorelai's house is Sookie's house. This house was used as Phoebe's father's house! Seeing all of these places makes me want to go back and watch those episodes.

This is where any exterior shots of New York were filmed in FRIENDS! I was so starstruck. The stairs where fat Monica came down for her prom! The buildings, inside and out, are just bare bones. There aren't ceilings because lights are brought in to shine down. Apparently the lights get really hot, like 150 degrees hot, so massive air conditioner vents also come down through the ceiling to fan off the actors and keep them cool and their make-up intact. Everything from the light fixtures to the handles on the cupboards and cabinets has to be brought in and "dressed" for anything to be filmed. So much work! Our guide said this was a set up for an Arby's commercial or something, but Chris thinks he was lying and hinting that something cooler was being filmed there. Everything will have to be put back once they're through - even as far as re-cementing the road! All that for a commercial!?!

At one point we had to put our cameras away to go through a sound stage. We saw where Two and a Half Men is filmed. It's a long building and the back is filled with seats for a live audience. The front is all the set ups - the main rooms where most of the scenes are filmed. Oh how I would have loved to sit in on an episode of FRIENDS being filmed! Then we went into a building full of costumes and relics from movies. The entire second floor was dedicated to Harry Potter. Perhaps the coolest things we saw were the original cover jacket artwork for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They were so detailed and amazing! We also got to try on one of the four original Sorting Hats. I was put into Slytherin, wah wah. Chris into Hufflepuff.  There is a ginormous building full of props that can be rented out. The price is based on 10% of the item's value as appraised by an auction house.

We went into a warehouse full of famous cars.

Lots of Batmobiles. The guide said these all actually drive, neato.

The character wall! I've only seen this from outside the gates - it was fun to see the entire thing straight on. We toured through Ellen's stage. Been there - done that :) We saw her parking spot and offices.

And last but certainly not least, the main reason we went on this tour - FRIENDS!

Before we walked into Central Perk our tour guide looked straight at me and said, "Don't freak out!" Haha. He knows me well. But really, I can control myself :) AHHHHHH! It's NUTS how big the room looks on TV, and even in these pictures, but really the square footage couldn't have been more than 600 feet! It was cramped and tiny and squished! It's such an illusion!

The coffee bar / Chris typing on Chandler's old-school laptop / I'm Rachel! / Where Phoebe sang oh so many awesome songs.

Detail shots.

I asked to sit on the couch and the guide said we're not supposed to, but I argued and said that's why we were there(!!!), so he kindly obliged and even took our picture. 

My life is now complete cuz I sat on the FRIENDS couch.

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