Are you a . . . .

BRAVE GIRL?

Well, sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not, just depending on what it is. But I know one thing for sure, I was nowhere near as brave when I was a little girl as my 7 year old daughter is. She'll try anything and shows no fear (and yes, I definitely realize this may not always be a good thing!) She is up for adventure of any kind and I have spent many moments this summer cringing as she rides her bike down hills, does front flips off the high dive at the city pool, being pulled on a tube behind a boat on the lake and her new love-- waterskiing-- which is the subject of my layout this week.


I am pretty sure I was at least 12 years old before I attempted to waterski, but not my daughter-- she outshone her older brother and several cousins by learning this summer and her usual comment was "Go faster." What a girl!


I stuck to the basic sketch for this layout but wanted to mix it up just a little from last week and so I tilted the sketch a different direction and then added three smaller pictures to the side of my main image. I used the fabulous new collection from Echo Park called Splash-- you have got to check it out! Kimm just got it in the store this week and it is perfect for summer activities of many kinds. I just love the bright colors. I did add some hot pink in the mat for my main photo and the letter stickers to make it a little more "girly." I used Element Stickers from the Splash collection pack to accent my page instead of the flowers on the original sketch and added Stickles for a little shine to my wave.

Supplies Used:
Echo Park Splash Collection Designer Papers and Element Stickers
Echo Park Summer Days Collection Designer papers (hot pink)
Stickles-- Turquoise
Glue dots
Misc. letter stickers
Misc. buttons

So go on, be a brave girl and do something a little adventurous this weekend! Or just spend a little time crafting and enter your take on our sketch in our current Beary Sweet Challenge.

Summer Sandals Inspiration

I have been enjoying some golden summer days this week-- my son's baseball games are finally over, the weather here is beautiful (high 80s, no wind-- that no wind part is amazing for Idaho!) and we finally have a little time to relax and enjoy some gorgeous summer nights outside. This mood has definitely carried over into my project for the week as here is a picture of something from my closet that inspired my card today:



My current favorite pair of sandals! I love sandals, I would wear them all year if I could. Unfortunately, the snow here kind of limits that but I do basically wear them April through October anyway! I love the big flowers on these sandals and so I borrowed this element and translated it into a summer card.



I made my flowers from sheets of artist canvas-- the ones that are ready to be put through a computer printer. I found a chipboard flower I liked and traced it three times. The first flower I cut right on my tracing lines, the second slightly smaller and the third slightly bigger. Then I stitched down the middle of each petal to copy the stitching on my sandals and put them together with a brad. I love the result!

Other supplies used:
Bo Bunny Double Dot Paper-- Gingerbread and Sunflower
Echo Park Summer Days Designer Paper (yellow with white polka dots)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink-- Vintage Photo
Seam Binding-- White
My Little Shoebox Mini Alphabet Stickers-- Butter
Kaisercraft Pearls-- Yellow
Bo Bunny Bodacious Brads (On Clearance, a super great price!)
Miscellaneous tag and doily
Glue Dots

I hope you are enjoying a little summer (or winter) sunshine this week, depending on where you live and you have time to fit a little paper crafting into those relaxation hours! You still have a few more days to enter our Inspiration from Your Closet Challenge so make sure to get your project posted for a chance to win!