The One with the Osterbaum / Easter Tree

Happy Easter 2015!
Chris had Friday off so we took a little day trip to a small German town called Saalfeld to visit the famous tree with 10,000 easter eggs! This is the family's last year doing it because they're getting too old. It was now or never - we chose NOW! It snowed. Guess the April Fool's Day joke was on us!

Gosh. I just love Germany. Oh so much.

There wasn't any designated parking, but there were lots of people, so we just parked on the road and started walking up and up the hill, passing a light pink house on the way, be still my heart.

There it is!!!

God bless this old couple for setting this up every year for the masses far and wide to enjoy!

Fox's "homework" is to take pictures of him and "Stanley" on our Spring Break adventures.

Speechless. Everywhere you look - EGGS!

All the colors make my heart so happy :) Some pics of the eggs up close.

Swoon.

There are a few other little trees in the yard with some eggs.

Evans family on Friday April 3rd 2015 at the Egg Tree in Saaldfeld, Germany.

Isn't the old couple's house adorable?

More shots of the tree, I couldn't get enough.

Was it worth the 4 hour round trip drive? Absolutely. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

On the Eierbaum website he listed daily updates - from March 7th-17th he placed about a thousand eggs a day. CRAZY! AMAZING!

This might be my favorite pic of the tree - eggs galore!

This is the photo I took with my phone and shared on instagram, hence the quality is a little different. 1228 people liked this photo! Blows my mind.

So glad we got to see this phenomenon!

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The One with 3 Years on Instagram

I love instagram! I love it I love it I love it. Such a fun and easy way to see what my friends, family, co-workers, and even people I don't know, are up to. I have to restrain myself from overgramming every day! 

Today is my 3 year "instaversary"! Gotta love that first pic of the dog of all things haha.

In three years I have grammed 1214 pictures. I started out mostly sharing everyday moments and things we were up to - now it's almost exclusively things I've made and places we've traveled to.

Here are my top "liked" pics according to iconosquare (it's a website where you can see all kinds of statistics about your instagram!). Coincidentally, my most liked photo was taken yesterday - a tree with 10,000 eggs on it! I'm blogging about it tomorrow - trust me, you'll want to see the pics of this phenomenon :)

I also reached a really awesome goal on Thursday - 10,000 followers! CRAZY!!! Humbling. I can't believe it. 

To celebrate these achievements (3 years/10k) I'm hosting a giveaway over on my instagram account: @paigetaylorevans

I asked people if they'd rather have a giveaway with scrapbooking supplies or a paigebook. I think a paigebook won by a landslide - your wish is my command :)

So this is a 4x6" coptic style book.

I painted the wood covers mint green.

The papers are from every single one of Maggie Holmes' collections with Crate Paper. Yes, I've been hoarding them. I still have lots left.

I turned the embellishments into charms and sewed them into the binding.

I used light pink thread to sew the book together - definitely has a "spring" vibe to it - perfect for Easter tomorrow!

This might be my favorite book I've ever made. Dunno if I can part with it :)

Thanks for letting me celebrate this little slice of my life!

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The One with Pinkfresh Studio Layouts

I got to do a little guest designing for the whimsical and beautiful Pinkfresh Studio!

ELSA JANE by Paige Evans

Description: Can never go wrong with a pretty floral background :)

Journaling says: You are definitely the world's cutest Elsa, there's no doubt about it pretty girl!

How to: Watercolor over white cardstock using colors from the Up in the Clouds collection by Pinkfresh Studio, blow dry it, then cut a floral background (design ID #32344) from the watercolored cardstock using a Silhouette Cameo. I rotated the floral background 45 degrees, FYI :) Cut petals to back a few of the flowers from the beautiful Pinkfresh Studio papers then adhere the entire piece on a white cardstock background. Layer a photo on a card and embellish with puffy stickers, letter stickers for a title, wood veneer sentiment, journaling written with a black pen, and more.

Supplies: Patterned paper, wood veneer, stickers, die cuts: Pinkfresh Studio; Cardstock, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Watercolors: Mr. Huey's by Studio Calico; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo; Floral cut file: Design ID #32344

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TOP KNOT by Paige Evans

Description: Butterflies are the name of the game for this layout! One repeated shape using the lovely Up in the Clouds collection :)

Journaling says: Uuuuummmm could you BE any cuter with your hair piled on top of your head and adorable bangs?!

How to: Watercolor a rainbow across a vanilla cardstock background then blow dry it (cuz I'm too impatient to let it air dry.) Punch butterflies from lots of patterned papers then use a sewing machine to stitch through them using gray thread. Adhere the butterflies to the corresponding color of paint using a pop dot and bend up the wings for dimension. Apply gold leaf rub ons to the bottom right corner then layer on a gold edged die cut, photo, letter stickers for a title, journaling with a gray pen, the date stamped below, and puffy star sticker as shown. Trim a wood veneer hearts piece in half and glue it on the left and right layout edges. Embellish with a few more bits and pieces over and tucked into the butterflies. 

Supplies: Patterned paper, wood veneer, stickers, die cuts, rub ons: Pinkfresh Studio; Cardstock, pen, adhesive, roller date stamp, butterfly punches: American Crafts; Watercolors: Mr. Huey's by Studio Calico; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

As always, such a pleasure to work with fun, new, enchanting supplies!

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The One with the Ali Edwards SERENDIPITY Layout

Today I'm sharing my newest Ali Edwards Digital Creative Team layout!

SERENDIPITY by Paige Evans

Description: I played with the new "Magic Digital" set by Ali Edwards and focused on just one of the dozens of words: SERENDIPITY.

Journaling says: Love you to pieces and love you whole!

How to: Trace the three "SERENDIPITY" found in the "Magic Digital" set by Ali Edwards then enlarge and repeat it five times. Ungroup each letter then move the words over by a letter each row. Copy and paste into a new document and off-set the entire background. Delete the inner letters then use a black sketch pen in a Silhouette Cameo to draw the off-set background on vanilla cardstock. Cut some of the inner letters from patterned papers using a Silhouette Cameo - I used the new Confetti papers by Maggie Holmes. Adhere the patterned paper letters inside some of the pen letters. Layer three white doilies across the center then pile on the Maggie Holmes embellishments and a trio of black & white photos. Drop black India ink over the layout and journal with a black pen to finish.

Supplies: "SERENDIPITY" cut file title: "Magic Digital" set by Ali Edwards; Cardstock, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; Patterned paper, die cuts, chipboard, fabric frame, ribbon bow, resin flower: Crate Paper; Doilies: Wilton; India ink: ProArt; Die cut machine: Silhouette CAMEO; Black sketch pen: Silhouette America

Many more layouts in the works :)

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The One with Sketchbook 2015 with Kelly Purkey!

I'm contributing to Kelly Purkey's latest and greatest sketchbook class at Studio Calico called SKETCHBOOK 2015!

Here are some sneaks of the layout and cards I made for this class:

WHAT YOU'LL GET IN SKETCHBOOK 2015:

- 58 sketches: 8 original sketches and 50 variations based on the class projects.

- 4 videos and 8 all new projects from Kelly Purkey.

- 42 new projects (layouts, cards, pocket pages & mini albums) from our contributors (Allison Waken, April Foster, Ashley Marcu, Chantal Philippe, Deb Duty, Donya Gjerdingen, Geralyn Sy, Ginny Hughes, Jennifer Chapin, Kelly Noel, Lisa Spangler, Lisa Truesdell, Maggie Massey, Marcy Penner, Melanie Louette, Paige Evans (teehee!), Pam Baldwin, Patricia Roebuck, Peppermint Granberg Jones, Stephanie Bryan) - all using Studio Calico kits!

- Ideas for adapting a sketch to fit ANY project - layout, card or pocket pages!

- PDF lessons posted each Tuesday and Thursday in May.

- Digital printable journal cards & accents from In A Creative Bubble:

- Digital die cut files from In A Creative Bubble:

RECOMMENDED SUPPLIES:

These sketches can be adapted to any style, so this is a fabulous opportunity to dig into your favorite Studio Calico kits (or paper, embellishments, stamps, and alphabets from your stash!) and make something beautiful!

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS FOR THIS CLASS:

Hope to see you in the SKETCHBOOK 2015 classroom!

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