Little Girl Lost: A Night in the Woods at Age 7

When I was a child, I loved hearing stories from my parents of their own childhoods. They had such interesting ones. Childhood was different back then. More innocent.  But both my parents were in scary, news-making events as a child that were covered by the national media. 

Today, I'm sharing my Mom's story.  When my mom was 7 years old, her family moved to a new house in the neighboring county.  They lived out in the country down a long dirt road. On her first day at the new school, my Mom took the wrong school bus home.  She got off the bus with other kids at the first stop. It looked familiar - woods, dirt road - but it wasn't the right stop.  Mom knew it was a long walk from the bus stop to home, so she walked and walked and walked.  At some point, she remembered there was a shortcut through the woods and she tried to find the path. She didn't. It was the wrong woods and she was lost overnight.

The story was covered by the national media.  In this photo, which was widely distributed, my Mom is still missing. Newspaper photographers took this photo of my mom's parents holding a photo of her and pleaing for her return.

The story does have a happy ending. More than 1,000 volunteers searched for my Mom and a fireman found her the next day.  His first name was Richard and Mom later named her first born son after him.

I made a layout about this story last year, based on an interview with Mom, which is in the journaling block.

I couldn't blog this last year because the layout was picked up for publication.  It was published in March/April 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes.  Mom got a kick from the article because the editor's note talked about ways to preserve the oral histories of your "ancestors."  

Here's a closeup of the newspaper article that's tucked under the photo:

Now that I am a Mom, her story is heart-stopping to me. I can't imagine my fear if my little boy were to go missing.  But when I was a kid and Mom told this story to me, it was always as a fun adventure and I loved for her to tell it to me over and over.  One good thing that came from Mom's unexpected adventure were some great family photos and news clippings from all over.  There was television coverage of this too and I hope to recover it someday.

Pink Paislee: Beach Bum

For my baby’s first birthday, we took him down to the beach. It was an unusually warm April weekend, yet not too many tourists were there. We had the beach to ourselves and had such a lovely, relaxing time.

My little one couldn’t have loved it more. He was so content to sit on the shore and play in the sand and watch the waves. And I was so content to sit on the shore and watch him play. And take photos, of course. I generally had him all covered up, shirt, swim trunks, hat, sunscreen. But I did manage to sneak a few less covered-up pics....

I used Pink Paislee’s Nantucket and Snowday collections on this page. I love how well they work together. That plaid Snowday print looked so summery to me with the turquoise and apricot hues. And even though the paper was in a different color scheme than my son’s plaid hat, I thought the paper worked well here.

At the beach, planes often fly overhead, carrying banners advertising cheap tee shirts and all you can eat buffets. I wanted to mimic that idea here with my title work.

This layout actually is a do-over. I first made this page when I was a beginner scrapbooker and I wanted to make it a bit more contemporary. The original page was made with Cosmo Cricket’s Snorkel line, and you can still see remnants of the original layout here: the weathered wood background paper, the plane, banner and clouds.  Alphas are Webster's Pages.

Cards with Cosmo Cricket Journaling Spots

I've have a deep fondness for journaling spots and cards and collect them from many manufacturers. Cosmo Cricket's were the first I fell in love with.  Cosmo Cricket used to sell its journaling cards, which they call elements, as a cut-apart paper sheet in the collections.  Starting with the newest collections. Cosmo Cricket now sells its journaling spots as shaped element decks, which are super cute and easy to use.  I used the Tea for Two element deck on both cards below.

I used a simple design for both, cutting the journaling spot at the top and bottom, with the decorative ends meeting in the middle. I'm thinking maybe I need to send myself this first card and tuck a massage gift certificate insde....

Some of the element cards have vintage images on them. I love this image of the little girls running outside to play and it immediately made me think of the old playground ditty: Say say oh playmate, Come out and play with me. And bring your dollies three. Climb up my apple tree....When I was a young girl, this was a favorite jump rope song and clap along song.  I made this card for my dear friend who's having a birthday this week.  I haven't seen her in a couple of months and am so looking forward to an playdate with her.

I made these cards as entries in last week's Cosmo Cricket journal card challenge. You can find all the entries here as well as information on the new challenge to use something old.

Quilted Card - Cosmo Cricket Challenge

The Cosmo Cricket blog posted a challenge last week to use stitching on a project. This one was easy for me since I stitch on most projects. I had been holding on to this cute sheet of squares called “Ivy" from the Clementine collection because I knew immediately when I saw it that I would want to quilt the squares. The challenge gave me the perfect excuse.

I cut a 5“ x5“ piece from the patterned paper and lightly tacked it onto a card base. I try to use as little adhesive as possible so I don’t gum up the needle. Then I stitched down and across each row and column to quilt the squares. It was super quick to do.

To finish the card, I added a journaling spot from Cosmo Cricket’s Upcycle line and a chipboard butterfly from the Togetherness line. For the sentiment, I used a sticker and attached it to a toothpick to make a little flag.

Fun, quick, easy. And I won the challenge to boot. It was random draw!  LOL. And now I am the proud owner of all 4 chipboards from Cosmo Crickets CHA release. I love them! Cosmo Cricket has a new challenge this week, which coincidentally is to use chipbard on a project. Hmmm. You can find the details here. The challenge ends Sunday.

Journaling: 20 Random Things About My Life

Like many scrapbookers, I began this hobby when I had a baby, or more accurately, when I adopted a baby, as a way to document my son’s early life, recording his photos and capturing his milestones.  Along the way, I’ve found that, every once in awhile, I'd make a page about Mommy too.

This particular layout, though, isn’t about me as a mommy. It’s just about me.  Just random things about my life before my son came along. Twenty things, because that is a nice round number and because, well, that’s all that would fit on the page.  In truth, when I went to design the page, I needed to cut the last three items from the list to fit the journaling block so I added those three things to the tag under the photo. It's always a bit of a design challenge to fit in a lot of journaling.

I used a mix of paper lines here: Cosmo Cricket, Little Yellow Bicycle, Crate Paper and October Afternoon. The border sticker is from Echo Park Paper and the alphas are from Bella Blvd , October Afternoon, Studio Calico and Basic Grey. Chipboard is American Crafts and Cosmo Cricket.

How about you? Do you make layouts to capture you? If so, feel free to link your projects in the comments or tell a random fact about your life.

My Mind's Eye: Banners and Chevron

I am really digging the popularity of chevrons and have seen this trendy pattern in so many patterned papers and embellishments. I love it. It’s so fun and versatile.

The Paper Issues blog has hopped right on this bandwagon and is currently hosting a “Show Me Your Chevron” challenge, which runs through April 14. Paper Issues is giving away six terrific prize packs of new CHA releases for this challenge. You can find all the details here including how to link up your own chevron project on the PI blog.

I decided to play along using My Mind’s Eye chevron collection, On The Bright Side, which was included as part of the March kit at Birds of a Feather Kit Co. I thought the sunny, happy papers perfectly suited this photo of my toddler last year, enjoying a Fall festival.

In the photo, there is a string of pennants in the background and I recreated the look beneath my photo with some small pennants. I also added a yellow chevron banner peeking out from both sides of the photo mat and added a blue chevron flag waving above for a festive feel. On the left, I stitched a small chevron border to the page and repeated the pattern in three half-circles above the photo mat.

After I finished the layout, I used some of the My Mind's Eye leftovers to make a quick card. I punched out three squares in the denim paper, backed the negative punches with chevron, then machine stitched the two together, following the white doodled stitches on the patterned paper.

To complete the card, I added a sentiment sticker from Echo Park Paper and a butterfly die cut from Cosmo Cricket. A quick and simple card: my favorite kind!

You Make Me Smile

Cosmo Cricket has a challenge on its blog this week to make something happy and sunshiney using the color yellow. For every project made and linked to its blog or Facebook page, Cosmo Cricket will donate $5 and a can of food to their local food bank. How awesome is that? I think we should load them up with all things yellow!

I really love the new Cosmo Cricket collections from Winter CHA, which feature wonderful shades of yellow. But those lines haven’t made it yet to a store near me. Instead, I pulled out some patterned paper and chipboard from Delovely, one of my favorite happy CC lines, and made a sunny card.

The sun is a doily from Martha Stewart that I inked and misted and the little die cut butterfly is from Cosmo Cricket’s awesome “butterflies and doilies” that coordinated with its Social Club, Salt Air and Upcycle lines. The stickers that spell “smile” are Echo Park. The yellow alphas are CC Tiny Type, which I have in every color. They are so handy!

If you have a chance this weekend, rustle up your own yellow creation and send it over to Cosmo Cricket. The local food bank will be awfully glad you did.

Cards from Color Combinations

Two sites that I love and often visit for challenges and inspiration are Two Peas in a Bucket and Birds of a Feather Kit Co.  Both had color challenges this past weekend and I played along.

Birds of a Feather posted this photo for its color challenge:

I love yellow, orange and pink together, but this isn't a combination I often use on layouts.  One of the perils of being a mom to a boy.....But I thought I could easily work this combination into a card.

I added a bit of blue to ground the card a bit.  Papers are Echo Park. Chipboard is October Afternoon.  Twine is from The Twinery.

The challege at Two Peas this weekend was to pull together these colors into a project:

I thought this was a really fun color combination:  sherbert-y brights and a deep black. For a challenge with this many colors, I decided simple would be best. I modeled my design from several projects I've seen with butterflies sewn down a column. Love that look. Laura Bassen, in particular, made a sweet card similar to this that I saw on Pinterest.

I posted my take on this color combo on Sunday, using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, papers from various Cosmo Cricket collections and a bit of stitching:

A happy surprise awaited me yesterday at Two Peas.  Of the 658 projects uploaded to Two Peas in the last 24 hours, the butterfly card was the voted as the most liked.

The card also made the top three most bookmarked projects:

 Sometimes, it really pays to go simple!

Sweet Baby Piper

One year ago today, my sweet little niece was born.  How wonderful it was to welcome a new baby into the family. I ran right up to the hospital - with my camera - on the day she was born. There's just nothing sweeter than a newborn baby. And a girl, to boot. I could use pink!

Her mom indulged my picture taking and I made this layout with photos of her just a few hours old.

The layout was published in Create Magazine.

We were all pretty happy about that. Even my toddler agreed that it was a really good read.

An Early Valentine with Trendy Twine

I'm a firm believer that it's never really too early - or too late - to send a Valentine. I made this card using Little Yellow Bicycle's Cupcake Love and Trendy Twine's new Valentine twine.  The sentiment says: I love you cherry much.

The cherry was super easy to make. To wind twine into a circle:  punch a circle from cardstock and cover with adhesive of choice.  Cut about a foot of twine.  Tie a knot in one end.  Put the knot in the center of the circle and tightly wind the twine around the knot until you reach desired size. Trim any excess cardstock.  

Here's a closer look at the cherry on the card:

And here's a closer look at Trendy Twine's new Valentine Twine: It's pink and red swirled together.  Love that!

You can find our more about Trendy Twine here.   This card and other projects using the Valentine twine are featured on the Trendy Twine blog today.

Card supplies:
CS: Bazzill Basics
PP: Little Yellow Bicycle and Crate Paper
Die Cut: My Mind's Eye
Felt cupcake: Little Yellow Bicycle
Border Punch: Fiskars
Paper Clip: K & Co.
Alpha Stickers: Lily Bee and Cosmo Cricket
Twine: Trendy Twine
Sewing Machine: Bernina

Wave Another Year Goodbye

How fast 2011 is closing to an end! It’s been a really wonderful year for me personally and creatively. I’m so thankful to my blog readers and paper crafting friends for supporting me and inspiring me. I’m looking forward to another great year together in 2012.

Below is a card I made earlier this year while guest designing for Birds of a Feather Kit Co. I used the July kit which was packed with goodies from October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket. The script letter stickers are Webster's Pages. You can find Birds of a Feather kits here.

　

I was really excited when Cards Magazine picked this up for publication as a New Year’s card in their December 2011 issue.

　

Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you the very best in 2012.

Home for the Holidays

It's good to be home for the holidays.  All the lights and sights and sounds and smells and festivities really put me in the Christmas spirit.  It's fun to pull out the holiday boxes and decorate the house for Christmas.  I wanted to capture a few of my favorite things around the house for this layout.

I decided to use patterned paper and embellies that weren't Christmas themed because the photos clearly indicate the topic. I used an 8x10 photo collage as my centerpiece, tucking a little journaling card behind it on the top left. Underneath, I added a border strip, spelled out the title and added a little chipboard house from the Pink Paislee Hometown Summer line and trees from My Mind's Eye. I finished the page with a little pop of color in the upper left, using a flower sticker from October Afternoon and a few buttons, and stitching around the page.

Wishing all of you a beautiful Christmas. I hope you find yourself home for the holidays.

Ornament Card

The Create blog by Northridge Publishing is having a challenge this week to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colors.  I made an ornament card using Mitten Weather and Pixielicious lines from Cosmo Cricket. The little red star is from October Afternoon's Rocket Age collection. Love that line!

The ornament detaches from the front to hang on the tree.

For more details on the challenge, visit the Create blog.

Update:  My card was featured on the Create Blog on 12/1/2011. You can find the post here.

Supplies:
cardstock: Bazzill Basics
patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket
chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
stickers: Cosmo Cricket (tag); October Afternoon (star)
doily: WRMK
gems: Martha Stewart
twine: The Twinery
sewing machine: Bernina

Cosmo Cricket Card Challenge

On the Cosmo Cricket blog this week, DT member Debbie Olson posted this card sketch:

I loved it and used it to make this card that says: What's canoe with you?

I used patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's new Clementine line, mixing in a bit of Salt Air, an image from Snorkel's element cards and a die cut circle and butterfly from Social Club. The alphas are CC's Tiny Type.

The card has a lift-the flap element.  The top flap is the striped paper down to the red and teal scallops.  If you lift the flap at the scallops, the card reveals a journaling spot where you can write your own note to the recipient.

Would you like to play along with the card challenge?  Visit the Cosmo Cricket blog for details.  Entries are due on Aug. 27.  Cards magazine will choose one entry to feature in an upcoming issue.

Guest Designer for Birds of a Feather Kit Club

I am so excited to be a guest designer this month for Birds of a Feather Kit Co. The July kit gave me joy! It was filled to the brim with summer fun from Cosmo Cricket's "Salt Air" line and vintage goodness from October Afternoon's "Five & Dime." Plus added embellishements from Webster's Pages, K & Co. and Kaisercraft.  I had a really wonderful time playing and creating with all the goodies.



Here is a picture of the kit and the patterned paper add-ons:

 These are the projects I created:

12x12 layouts

                                

Cards

Altered Frame and Mini Album

For more information on BOAF kits, follow the link below and be sure to check out the projects by fellow guest designer, Janet. The site also has a great message board. The posters there are warm and inviting and oh, so smart. It’s a great place to hang out, meet new friends and get some crafty inspiration:  http://www.birdsofafeatherkitco.com/  I just saw a peek of the August kit and it looks fab!