Crab-y - Paper Issues

I am on a mission to document one of the best days of last summer.  

We spent the day at the Short Sands, with the Mastro's.  

We dug in the dirt, made a castle, buried people, splashed in the waves, boogie boarded and more. 

 Oh, we caught crabs.  

There is a little inlet with beautiful rocks when the tide is low.  

We went over there and searched for crabs and pretty shells.  Not to keep, but to see.

So, us girls found the crabs.  The boys came over and took pictures like it was theirs.  It wasn't!

For this layout, I used a fun challenge from Paper Issues.  It is called...

What's Up?

You must place all your goodies on the top 1/3  of the page, leaving 2/3 open.

You must play along by June 3rd.

I used 2 Fancy Pants collection.  The NEW Poolside and mixed it with the old Making Waves.

Grab anything you need from Paper Issues for 20% off with code: Mary-Ann.

Pool Party Tags - Fancy Pants

Morning!

Eeeeek!  I love the Poolside collection from Fancy Pants!  So MUCH!

I decided to create some tags for either pool party invite or on gift bags from the pool party.

Wanna come to my house?

FUN - Paper Issues

Good morning!

Today I am participating in the Take 5 challenge over in the 

Paper Issues PIFF group and on the PI blog!

You can use any of the items on the list but you MUST use 5.  

This was super easy for me since I love to add lots of things to my layouts.

Here is the list....

I used: Pink, Blue, Flowers, Patterned Paper, Stripes, Bow, and Layers!  That is 7 things from the list!

Over Thanksgiving last year, my family went to see some dear friends in Texas.  

Since we were all girls, I used the girliest stuff I could find from the Paper Issues store!  I used Maggie Holmes Carousel collection made by Crate Paper.

I added a few flair for just the right added embellishments from A Flair for Buttons.  

Love This Life - Paper Issues

Have you seen the Swag Bags over at Paper Issues?  I know I go on and on and on about them.  They are just that fabulous.  I love all the small bits and pieces that help bring a layout together in just minutes.  I am serious!  All I added were the 2 large sheets of paper, that matched what was in the Swag Bag and the Black thicker words and stars.  That is it.  

I took this photo some time ago of my cheesy kid at swimming lessons.  He is so cheeky and fun.  

I forget how small he was.  I hate that time goes by so quickly.  Too quickly.  

Anyway, go grab yourself a Swag Bag or anything else you need from the PI store for 20% off with code: Mary-Ann.

Birthday Cards - Queen & Co.

Good morning!

Today I have two different cards created with the Birthday Bash Kit from the Queen and Company website!.  I really needed two different cards for May.  My mom and my aunt have the same birthday!  I really wanted to focus on the Pom Poms included in the kit so, I made sure to mix and match the colors to make them pop.

My first card, Happy Birthday was so fun!!!  The green Sparkle String just adds a touch of whimsy.  I do have to admit, the Twinkle drops dripping down the ice cream cone, was not my idea.  I 'stole' it from Wanda Guess.  It is such a clever idea!  

I used the Gloobers that are included in the kit, to add the smaller poms to the top of the larger ones.  Just be careful that you place the correct side of the paper back down on the glue that you do not use.  If you place the wrong side down, you will lose the rest of the glues.  They stick to the paper and you can not get them off.  Be sure to use the slippery side.  

For my next card, Make a Wish, I added two layers of foam behind my sprinkled paper, to obtain depth so that I could add my Poms, slightly under the paper. 

I also used to different patterned papers for the cake, giving it depth with foam behind the bottom cake layer.  

Thanks for popping in today.  Hope you are inspired to add Poms on everything you are currently creating!  They are super fun.  

Mary-Ann

Supplies Used:
Birthday Bash Shaker Kit
Gloobers
Sparkle String Green, Pink, Blue

This Makes Me Smile - Paper Issues

I have been loving all the new challenges over at Paper Issues.  

Recently, things have been changing on a monthly basis.  Makes it more fun and inspiring.  

I played a long with the "MOM turned upside down spells WOW" challenge. I used Crate Paper Chasing Dreams and Gather.  Best thing about Crate, most things work well together.  

Grab anything you need from the PI Store with code: Mary-Ann you'll get 20% off.  

I used an older photo from 2013 from when my mom and her sister came down for visit for a few days.  Bub was in his glory.  All the attention goes to him.  He ended up calling them him two moms.  Crazy.  

Here is the challenge....

May brings us so many things to celebrate — moms, mom figures, role models and flowers. Or, you could focus on mom duties, mom stuff, kid stuff, etc. Just play along. If you dare, turn things upside down!

You have until June 3rd to play along. Your entry must be new and no double dipping! That means, you can only submit each project once.

Marine Reunion - Paper Issues

A couple years ago, a bunch of Marines got together for a mini reunion.  It was fabulous.  On this day, we spent the day on the Battleship North Carolina.  There definitely is a bond of brotherhood between these men and their families.  I love being a part of it.  We have made friends for life with so many people. 

I find that we are very loyal and committed to relationships that we develop.  

It has been a struggle since we have left the Marine Corps.  

It seems to me that people have a much different perspective on what a friend is.  During my husbands 20+ years, we have made friends that are like family.  We bring them into our hearts unconditionally.  

Any-who, I played along with the Paper Issues Monochromatic challenge.  Its pretty fun.  I may have cheated because you can use black or white as an add on and I used silver.   Oops!

Oh, I used Pebbles Night Night collection from the PI Store.  Get it or anything else for 2-% off with code: Mary-Ann.

Water Country - Fancy Pants

Morning!  

For a few years now, we have gone to Water Country with some friends.  We always have a fun time. This year, the crowd grew even more!  It was fun trying to capture a complete group photo with smiling faces.  

I used Poolside from Fancy Pants, and it has the perfect colors to match my photos.  Also, since there are girls in the photos....... I get to use a bit of PINK! Win Win!

See that cut file?  It is FREE from Paper Issues.  This one is called Sunny Day but there are hundreds of FREE files to choose from.

Party Time - Queen & Co.

Good morning!

Mary-Ann Maldonado here, with a fun, pom pom filled, Birthday Bash layout.  Who doesn't love colorful pom poms?  I know I do!  

When looking through the paper pad included in the Birthday Bash Kit, I chose the most boyish ones I could.  Super easy to switch this over to girly too.  I then download and cut a FREE cut file from Paper Issues for the birthday hat.  

I placed 1 inch strips behind the opening and then machine stitched around the border of the hat and the layout.

I stamped the balloon bouquet on white paper, tied ribbon and back with foam tape for dimension.  Then I started covering the stamped ballots with pom poms!  I used the star and banner dies to add more to my page.  Then I placed coordinating Rivets on top of each star.  I touch of journaling and my layout was complete.  

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope that you are inspired to create a layout with our Birthday Bash Kit.

Mary-Ann MaldonadoProducts used:
Rivets
Birthday Bash Kit