Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop!

Do you love Taylored Expressions? If you love to stamp this line is essential for you - but beware there are TONS of cute stamps to choose from!! For this blog hop, we were asked to use a product from the past. I decided to use the delicious "Berries & Cherries" line. This set has SO many possibilities! If you noticed, I used tidbits from all of my leftover scraps from my Schoolhouse Album project that I posted last week. I just love "going green" and manipulating my scraps in a way that no one would ever suspect they were bitty pieces that almost hit the garbage.

Recipe for this card:
paper: October afternoon; american crafts (cardstock)
stamps: Taylored Expressions Berries & Cherries
Ink: Stazon stone grey
Other: ribbon; baker's string; vintage buttons; vintage book paper; cork board


Thanks for stopping by! Now get hopping!

The Fabric of Our Lives

beautiful 8 page album showcasing fabrics of long ago

So have you ever gone through your wardrobe and found yourself not being able to part with certain items for sentimental reasons? Baby blankets, your favorite high school T-shirt, grandma's apron? I tend to hold onto these items and sadly they get shoved in a drawer or bin - their memory becoming dusty and sometimes forgotten.

cover of album with vintage ribbons holding its pages together. you can also tear fabrics and use them instead

I tried to think of a way to keep the sentimental moments of these fabrics and bring them back to life and came up with this adorable vintage sewing album using Crafty Secrets "Sew Nice" creative scraps. By snipping these fabrics, you are able to tell a story of love, friendship, and family. I added baby blankets, baby's 1st hospital outfit, fabrics from loved ones and myself. Now this little keepsake can be put on display - cherished for many years. Become a conversation piece for family and friends - instead of the back of my closet.

papers used: papertrety ink and websters pages

baby's first outfit

using your own handwriting gives your work that personal touch

love this cut from the "Sew Nice" creative scrap. Add a few vintage buttons for dimension

vintage textiles and baubles like this spool or thread and doily can be added throughout your album

i just love this image! perfect for my wedding gown! vintage buttons and earring worn during the ceremony make beautiful embellishments

back view which shows how the album was decoupaged with layers of a vintage sewing pattern

You can create albums for each child, weddings - any special loved one!

*if you are interested in the svg file for your cricut to complete this album - just become a follower and drop me an email and I would be happy to send it to you! (pieces_of_home@yahoo.com)


The Crafty Secrets Design Team has many more creations to share with you today - using the LATEST and GREATEST products. Stop on by the other design team members' blogs to see their goodies for the month!

Crafty Secrets New Product DT Challenge

· Vicki Chrisman Team Leader

· Pam Hooten

· Heidi Blankenship

· Marisa Grosson

· Linda Duke

· Michele Kovack

· Melissa Phillips

· Flo from France

· Julie Campbell

· Heartwarming Vintage Blog

· Crafty Secrets website

Wanna hear a secret...

....a Crafty Secret that is? I am so excited to announce that I was asked to be on the Crafty Secrets Design Team! So I am just ecstatic to work with this group of amazingly talented ladies and share my creations using products from Crafty Secrets.

If you aren't familiar with Crafty Secrets you just have to look at their products! Crafty Secrets combines wonderful vintage images with nostalgic phrases. Their high quality products come in a variety of mediums - including stamp sets, stickers, cotton scraps, journaling pads, chipboard albums - just to name a few. The images owner Sandy Redborn chooses are priceless and sure to bring a smile to your face. The products you can create are endless - and it is my job to show you that! So make sure you join me every week to see what I have designed. And be sure to join our blog hop every month to see what the lovely Design Team members have created.

Tomorrow is the day I will be officially announced as a new designer - it is also the day of the monthly Design Team blog hop. So be sure to stop on by tomorrow!!

Become a "follower" today!

vintage blue bird - after....

Welp....remember that pile of goodies from yesterday? Now they are all brought to life in this lovely 12x12 blue layout. I just fell in love with this delicate paper. So much that I thought using three sheets was a "waste" - lol! Do you ever get protective of your paper and then ask yourself - WHAT AM I DOING? I have enough paper to last lifetimes! And new beautiful ones are always being released. Sigh....I hope I am not alone in this paper power struggle! lol!

This layout is available to purchase here.

Enjoy!

vintage blue bird - before...

Some of you may have read my post on how I plan my projects. After going through my vintage goodness I just had to take a picture! So here I am with another project "planning pile" to share with you. Tomorrow I will show you what I came up with using this pile of yummy goodies!

Little Red Schoolhouse Album

Although red is not the only color used to paint schoolhouses in olden days - why the scarlet color? Being a librarian I just HAD to do a little research. Apparently, farmers did a lot of their own "paint mixing" back then. Many paints were a combination of milk, lime, linseed oil and iron oxide -- a mixture that hardened quickly and wore well. The red color that was seen was a side product of the iron oxide that was added to the mix.


To celebrate all those back to school kiddos getting ready for their first days back, I created a schoolhouse shaped album to capture the important moments throughout the school year. The album is eight pages total (including back and front covers) and has many pull outs and photo mat areas. I really liked how it turned out! It would also make a good coffee table album! As always, you can find this album for sale here.

Hope you enjoy!

Back to School - already?

Where did the summer go? Don't they just seem to get shorter and shorter? Many of you have little ones (or big ones) heading back to school during the nest week or so - maybe they are already back! Well this big one has to go back too :o( *sniff* *sniff* Teachers at our school report Monday for a two day teacher's workshop to prepare MENTALLY and physically - lol!

To "celebrate", I created a vintage themed Back to School Layout for this wee's Pink Elephant sketch challenge. You can see what all of our other designers came up with here. Pop on over to be inspired!

Not feeling in the mood? That's o.k.! This layout is for sale here.

Thanks for dropping by!











Recipe for this layout:
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Flowers: Prima
Vintage: Doilies; buttons; flashcard; ribbon; ticket; book paper
Ribbon: Offray
Metal embellishment: Making Memories
Pencil Sticker: Provo Craft

Yep - that's me! High School graduation (i'm on the far right) :o)