Why Me?

We have all see Marmaduke (a talking dog movie) or the Facebook advertisments about animals with captions that represent what the animal is saying, right?  Well, this is Flo, a female dog who has an 8 yr old boy as her owner.  Instead of nail polish and hair bows, she is forced to do boy things, like dress as GI Joe.  I can not believe I had time to grab my camera, turn it on, and capture this horrified look on her face.  This post should be an advertisment, "free to a good home!"  But it is not! I need to keep her so that I can scrapbook with pink embellisments!  Here I used Wishbone, Lucky You, Pretty Poppies and Little Trinket paper from Dear Lizzy - Lucky Charm paper line.  The stickers, chipboard, die cuts and tags are from that line too.  I started with drawing a  grid formation on my base paper.  Cut my title, then scattered  small items where I thought the looked good leaving plenty of room for my Flair, all three of them because I could not decide!  On this layout I used.......Hunter 2 Flair(couldn't resist), Whatever Flair and Minimal 1 Flair. 

Thanks for taking a peek and see you soon!

Mary-Ann

Father's Day

I am over at the eP blog today sharing some of my very simple, fast Father's day cards. I need to make several cards for this holiday and I was determined after being late for Mother's Day, that I would NOT let that happen again. (shhhh, I still have two mother's day cards to be mailed!)

I LOVED the Strong collection from Authentique.  Here I used the 6x6 paper pad and embellishments. The papers in this collection allowed me to create three different cards that look like they are three different lines but they still all coordinate beautifully.

For the first card,  I layered several patterned papers and a couple Stamp Blocks and Circles.  I inked all my edges with Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo.  This helps soften the edges.  I added a FarmHouse Paper Company Trinket key and May Arts ribbon.  See that great big delicious brown button?  That gem came from an antique store in Maine.  I just love how rich it is.  Of course, I added some Scotch Foam Mounting Tape behind some elements to bring dimension to my card.

For my second card, I layered some of the beautiful blue papers.  Again, very simple but the layering makes it look richer and more detailed.  I added a couple tags and twine that I had on hand.   I again used foam tape for added volume. 

I needed this tag to add to my dad's present.  I used an Inkssentials Surface #5 Black tag an covered it with the newsprint paper.  Added a strip of the GORGEOUS woodgrain.  I added punched circles that but thought it needed something more.  I dug out my Idea-ology - Tim Holtz - Remnant Rubs chopped them up and added small pieces in different locations that helped embellish my tag, still keeping it simple.   Adding ribbon, Black Shine twine from The Twinery and foam tape finished off my tag.

With just a simple, gorgeous pad of paper, I made three completely different cards.  I hope you are inspired to start your cards a bit early.

Mary-Ann

York's Wild Kingdom

Last year we decided to take a weeks vacation but do day trips all around us.  We would travel for the day and come back to our own beds at night.  One of those days we went to York's Wild Kingdom in Maine.  You can see from the photos that they had fun, I did too but I was just always on the wrong end of the camera.  I participated but have no proof!  So, I added pink to this layout as an homage to my participation.

This layout is created using Studio Calico's May kit - Planetarium.  I love it!  Love this base page.  I think I should buy this in excess.  It already has the  words on it and I added my clouds using the Amy Tangerine stamp included in the kit.  I stapled my Michaels sequins around my clouds.  I dug deep and found this old, really old Luxe Design circle rub-on.  The word banners that you see are from the strip on the bottom a page that you typically cut off!  I layered papers, and layered some more using Elle's Studio, Amy Tangerine, Studio Calico and Crate Paper.  I loved the pink chunky stars that were in the kit but not sure where they are from!  I brought in some items from my own stash like, Dear Lizzy Thickers, Tim's Tiny Attacher, a Dear Lizzy tag, My Mind's Eye enamel dots that perfectly accent my "Love Life" pin from A Flair for Buttons - (My Life Words 1).  

  

Aren't these stars delicious!

Have a great night and don't forget it is never to late to thank a Veteran!

Mary-Ann

Free Shipping

We are celebrating a birthday over at A Flair for Buttons.  Hop on over to receive free shipping to the US this weekend.  Happy Birthday Shelley!

Mary-Ann

Lovely Cousins

My nieces came home back in October for my sisters wedding.  Roman was quite happy with this arrangement!  Here are a couple photos that I captured from the car ride to Maine. 

I used Dear Lizzy papers, label stickers, chipboard, adhesive badges and die cut cards from American Crafts.  These were all included in our monthly kit club at my local scrapbooking store, Ink About It in Westford Mass.  I started by cutting 3 inch blocks and cutting them in half to get the triangle effect.  I applied these randomly, then added very little detail on top.  The layout did not need much since the triangles created a busy background.  I loved the "lovely" chipboard word, the colorful Studio Calico tags and wood veneer geo tag.  Of course a little vintage twine can't hurt!

Thanks for stopping in.

Mary-Ann

Gun Control

Good Morning, I am over on A Flair For Buttons Blog for the first time today!!!  I am so excited to be able to share with you one of my obsession in scrapbooking......FLAIR!  I have a collection of flair that could be highlighted on the tv show Hoarders!  As you can see from the photos in my layout, my son has adopted this quality from me!  He has a serious collection of Nerf guns.  His father being a retired Marine, and his mom a hoarder, he has no chance!  The papers I used are from this months Studio Calico kit.  I brought in the appropriate "Flair" to accent my layout's title.  

Of course, if you have a flair obsession, you can go to these links below to purchase your own!!

Hunter 1 Flair  and Whatever Flair

Thank you for letting share with you today.

Mary-Ann

Family

 I love my family.  Yesterday was a wonderful Mother's Day.  After church we ate the BEST pizza evah!  Walked around Newburyport and had ice cream.  The two people in this album are the two loves of my life.  In close second are the two hairy creatures pictured below.  

I used the mini clipboard album from Maggie Homes.  I used her fabric frames, clips, and ephemera.  Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine papers are scattered throughout but all blend perfectly well with each other.  I kept the look of this album clean.  I used twine that I received as a gift that came on an antique twine dispenser.  DELICIOUS!  This collection of papers on this mini clipboard makes me happy.

Thanks for stopping by.  I get to see my mom tomorrow and celebrate again!

Mary-Ann

Getting ready for Mother's Day

With Mother's Day fast approaching, and time running out, I thought I would scratch 'making cards' off my list.  This card can easily be re-created multiple times for any mother in your life.  Here I used Simple Stories - Vintage Bliss 6x6 paper pad.

If you take a close look, you can see that I dug out my chalks from many moons ago and lightly created a 'polka dotty' look with the Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490's art stencil.  With Scotch foam tape, I elevated my stripped paper for dimension.  I created a pocket by machine sewing silver thread to accent my Platinum Shimmer twine from The Twinery.  I layered an old button with paper, wrapped the twine and topped it with A Flair For Button tin.  For a tad more bling, I inserted a crystal Maya Road Trinket Pin  and a blue My Mind's Eye pin.  The Idea-ology Tiny Attacher is perfect for attaching fine detailing  like "happy."  I also distressed all of my papers to help tone down the raw edges and help pop the gray with Graphite Black ink pad from Brilliance.

My mother is an avid, no, obsessive tea drinker and she will  be delighted to receive this card!  It will accompany her large pink (another obsession) tea cup plant pot , blooming with pink flowers!  

Happy Mother's Day to you.

Sharing some exciting news!

I was excited beyond belief yesterday when I received a message asking me to join the design team for A Flair for Buttons.  Ummmm, let me think about that........YES!!!  No hesitation.  I have been a fan for sometime now and can not wait to be a part of something so fun and versatile.  Look closely, you can probably see the smile on my face from where you are sitting.  It is an exciting time to be joining the group because today they are having a blog hop along with a coupon code for you to buy some of their delicious goodies!

I am not participating in this hop but wanted to share with you some of my previous layouts that include  flair from A Flair for Buttons which you could buy here.

Minimal 1 Flair

Hunter 1 Flair

Dream 1

I Love Tea Flair

Dream 1

Groovy Flair

Here & Now Flair

Probably my most favorite - Little Elf Flair.  These were the perfect addition to my Elf of a Shelf December Daily pages.  So, head over to the shop and see why I am so excited and honored!

Mary-Ann

Speech Bubbles

When I received my monthly kit from Studio Calico, I was amazed and overwhelmed by about 20 speech bubbles.  I have not yet figured out a way to store all my little pieces so I keep them packaged with all the papers in a cabinet.  These are just too cute to hide.  What could I do??  I searched Pinterest for inspiration and happened upon this layout...... by Nicole Nowosad.

She cut her bubbles with the Silhouette and I used almost all of my speech bubbles! Fourteen to be exact!  

  

This dates back to 2008 when my baby was just a baby. When he got attached to something, he stayed attached for quite some time.  At this stage, it was silly putty.  And, yes, it did get all over his quilt that my mom made for him.  He still gets attached to things.  He collects rocks and knows exactly where he puts them and where they are from.  Most come from the playground.  Not a fancy beach or volcanic mountain.  But to him, they are all special.  Some of them are very, very clean after a rigorous wash in my machine.  When my machine fails me, I will not be mad.  I have mistreated and abused it beyond belief.  Question is, do I take money out of Roman's college fund to get myself a new one?!!  Cause certainly, it will be his fault!

Check out this flair from A Flair For Buttons!  Did you notice the cork paper and the cork camera?  Very very cool.  I used the centers of the cameras to add a bit more cork to my page since there is never enough!

These PERFECTLY shaped Thicker letters were not quite the right color.  I don't think pink would have gone over well, so I took my trusty fingernail, inserted it under the top layer and peeled away all the color.  Love the effect!  See that rainbow stripped paper?  It's from Glitz and I just love it!  As you can tell, I loved the "Spencers" kit this month.  I got a glimpse of next month and I can not wait!

Mary-Ann