Amazing Grace

As in a previous post, I mentioned I attended the bridal shower of my soon to be SIL.  The church, St. Ann's, is located in the South Side of Peoria.  When I pulled into the parking lot, my aunt told me this was the same church my grandparents were married. I have a picture of them standing in front of the double doors.  At that time, the church was St. Boniface.

Here is the picture in a frame. I'm too afraid to take it out as some moisture has gotten between the glass and photo. 

My cousin Dawn, Aunt Wanda, and cousin Rachel in front of the doors. 

I love when things like this happen. It makes me feel connected to my grandparents. My grandfather has been gone for almost 25 yrs and grandma passed away last spring.  I miss them both a lot..especially with my brother getting married. 

The Scrapbooking Studio Design Team Call!

It's time for another team call!! Both stores are looking for new designers!  Check out the store's blog here for more info! :)

Growing family....

Not in the baby way, but in a sisterly way. My baby brother, Josh, is getting married on Saturday. I attended his beautiful bride to be's bridal shower on Saturday.  We just love Lisa...she is the perfect partner for my brother. We actually told Josh not long after they started dating that if he messed this up, we'd disown him and adopt Lisa! LOL
It was a fun and emotional day. My youngest sister, Jenny, wrote a heartfelt letter to Lisa that pretty much summed up how we all feel about her marrying our brother.  We know that our mother is proud and sending her blessings from heaven.  I will admit, it's been hard to go through this without her. I keep wishing she was here..she'd be so happy!   One thing Jenny wrote is that Lisa is a lot like my mom: kind, giving, and gentle. She always has a smile and a hug for you.

Coconut Lime Soup mini banner book

Happy Thursday everyone! So hard to believe that July is almost over. Summer seems to go way too fast.  I'll admit, though, that there are days school can't come soon enough! LOL We've definitely had a hot summer here in Central Illinois!  

Today I'm sharing a mini album I did for The Scrapbooking Studio as a class back in June.  The album itself is one of the new banner corrugated mini albums from Jillibean Soup. They also have one in the shape of a butterfly, as well as a starburst. You need to check them out!!

I used Jillibean Soup's Coconut Lime Soup collection. I found it very fun and easy to use. As with all Jillbean Soup collections, they offer a 12x12 sheet of die cuts as well as stickers. 

I lightly sprayed my cover with Bubblegum Pink Dylusions.

I love the Unity Stamps that coordinate with this line! My favorite is the mason jars!!

For this page, I used Studio Calico's butterfly masks with the Bubblegum Pink and Vibrant Turquoise.

I made my own pennants with toothpicks, which is an easy embellishment and a great way to use up your scraps!  I simply cut a 3 inch strip of paper and folded it in half. Using my square punch, I cut a notch in the end.

I created this fun banner using a small scalloped circle punch. I looped baker's twine down the center of each circle, added adhesive, and then folded each circle in half. 

Everyone have a great weekend!  :)

T-ball T-bow

Funny title, I know. It's what my son used to call t-ball.  Love the things that come out of little ones' mouths sometimes.  Noah is 6 1/2 and life is never boring with him.  One of his favorite things to do is don his swim trunks and "wash" our cars with the hose.  A few weeks ago, my husband set Noah up to do some washing. I went out to check on him and Noah had all four of my car doors open. He had told me he wanted to wash the inside of my car. All I could do was laugh. Now when he wants to play car wash, I make sure all the doors are locked first!

Today I am sharing two layouts I did using Jillibean Soup's Game Day Chili. I love this line because you can use it with any sport/activity.

I cut these pennants out from one of the patterned papers to make my own banner!

Here is another layout I did using the same line.

I punched out circles of the patterned paper as well as cardstock and then embellished a few of them.

Metal number from Tim Holtz's Ideology collection

Cut this star on my Cricut and then stamped with an old star stamp I have from Technique Tuesday. Added some stitching to the edges. 

One of my favorite stamps from Catslife Press!

That's all for now...I need to head down to my scraproom to do some projects for the design team at The Scrapbooking Studio.  :)

Summer CHA highlights!

Last week, my scrap partner in crime, Malika Kelly, and I attended the summer CHA show in Rosemont, along with many of our coworkers from The Scrapbooking Studio.  I love show because it's a fun day to see all of the new lines in person. Plus, it's great to talk to the designers..and stalk them a bit :)  

Erin, Lori, Bobbi and Malika from our Bloomington store

Shelly, Deb, Lynn, Stacy, Amy, Angela, and Holly from the Moline store. So great seeing these ladies!

First off there are many great lines that are coming out!  So much paper, so little time right?? I think I'm going to have to find a way to support my scrap habit.
Our first stop was in the Ranger booth to see all of the awesome samples done with Tim's new products!  Loving the Halloween!!

Love this Halloween configuration box!! Tim has a new mini lantern that actually lights up! Also you can see one of his new trees in the right hand of the photo...you can color them with alcohol inks!  

Next, we hit the Simple Stories booth and they didn't disappoint at all!! I love love love their paper! The Christmas line is awesome!  Here are some photos I snapped of their samples.

Next we hit the Maya Road booth...which is always one of my favorites! Can't wait to get my hands on some of their new embellishments and trims!!!

cute Halloween countdown canvas! Love all the little embellishments!

One of the new chipboard books. Cute!

Love this layout..especially how the designger took two of the canvas flags to make a bowtie :)

LOVE these new craft stick pins!! Must have!

Mal with one of the MR designers

Malika and Amy Tan...we love her new line!  

Next, we visited the Glitz booth...the ladies were super nice and even followed us on Instagram! LOL  Malika and I absolutely loved their lines.  Hoping Amy decides to order from them!

Loved their matching dresses!!

One of the highlights of every show is seeing Teresa Collins' new lines. She is my top favorite designer!  I can't wait to get the Christmas line, as well as the other two! Her papers are beautiful..and I am loving the new embellishments! I'm going to have to save my money! LOL

It's always nice to see Teresa, Sesil, and Gentry!

Here we are with Lynn and Stacy from the Moline store.

The My Mind's Eye booth was right behind Teresa's so we went to visit our favorite guys!

Jason was nice enough to give us some MME t-shirts!  :)

We are loving the Merry and Bright Christmas collection as well as the Lost and Found Halloween.

Next up is Pink Paislee who had two new lines, plus new additions to Heidi Swapp's lines.  

Their Christmas line, City Sidewalks, is adorable and will be a great seller!

We also liked the the Portfolio collection which would go well with anyone doing Project Life.

Echo Park was our next stop. As always, they have some great lines coming out. I didn't snap as many pictures as I would've liked, as they were pretty busy!

Cute banner with their new Halloween line, Chillingsworth Manor.

Receipt tray with For the Record 2

Echo Park is also coming out with a Photo Freedom line which helps you make layouts a little faster. Looks cool!

After Echo Park, we had to go scout out Wendy Vecchi and found her doing demos in the Ranger booth. Love Wendy..she is a sweetheart and I'm excited to have her teaching at our store in September!  While chatting with her, Dyan Reaveley came up behind to give Wendy a hug. Got a perfect photo (especially since Wendy hates having her picture taken! LOL)

Before we left for home, we did a make and take with Dear Lizzy aka Elizabeth Kartchner. She is a doll and I love her new lines.  

Malika and I even made her blog...well our make and takes did. We feel semi-famous! LOL

I feel like we saw so much but not enough. I was a little jealous looking at everyone's CHA posts on Wednesday and Thursday. I think next year I will have to go to the show for two days just to see what I missed! I will probably need to convince my husband though!  

Other lines I loved (but didn't snap pics):

Authentique :  LOVE the Halloween and everything else. I think I have convinced them to bring their pug to the next show! LOL

Farmhouse Paper: a new company with awesome paper and even more awesomer mini books (yes that is a word).

Studio Calico: always an absolute favorite. Love the little embellishments!!

Elle's Studio: have loved her stuff for years and so happy she had a booth at the show. I want everything of her new collection!!

Jillibean Soup: EVERYTHING! I actually sighed with frustration when looking at the booth..I'm going to be so broke! I'm loving the Unity Stamps that coordinate with their lines!!

LilyBee : Cute cute cute paper. And an absolute lovely owner!  

Crate Paper: Love the Christmas..very non traditional! And the owner is a sweetheart!

Be on the lookout for these lines to start rolling in to The Scrapbooking Studio soon!! I'm not sure what Amy has ordered but knowing her, she won't disappoint!!