Bella Blvd Sneak Peek Week, Day #3

Today is Day #3 of  Sneak Peek Week on the Bella Blvd blog. Each day this week, Bella Blvd will be giving away one full set of that day's reveal. Be sure to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog today and every day this week to check it out!

Up today is the Birthday Girl collection (you didn't think there would be a Birthday Boy collection without its counterpart, did you? :)):
 

The bright colors in this collection are so much fun! My three favorites from this collection? The Sugar Rush and Dancing Queen patterned papers and the buttons. My daughter loves to dance, so I already know what I'll be doing with the Dancing Queen paper!

Remember to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog for a chance to win the entire Birthday Girl collection!

Bella Blvd Sneak Peek Week, Day #2

Today is Day #2 of  Sneak Peek Week on the Bella Blvd blog. Each day this week, Bella Blvd will be giving away one full set of that day's reveal. Be sure to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog today and every day this week to check it out!

Up today is the Thankful collection:
 

I love the colors in this collection and those fun turkeys! My favorites? The Turkey Tracks and Borders papers and the flags (especially the turkey flag :)).

Remember to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog for a chance to win the entire Thankful collection!

Bella Blvd Sneak Peek Week Is Here!

Trust me, you don't want to miss Sneak Peek Week on the Bella Blvd blog, as each day Bella Blvd will be giving away one full set of that day's reveal. Be sure to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog today and every day this week to check it out!

Up today is the Birthday Boy collection:
 

As is always the case with Bella Blvd collections, this one includes both fun themed papers (aren't those birthday frogs cute?!) and colorful basic patterns. My three favorite pieces in this collection include the designer tapes, the orange star buttons, and the About A Boy patterned paper.

Remember to click on over to the Bella Blvd blog for a chance to win the entire Birthday Boy collection!

Happy 4th of July!

I have a rather lengthy 4th of July blog post up as part of the Summertime Dailies at write.click.scrapbook. today, so I won't blather on and on here. Feel free to click over there to hear my take on scrapbooking about history.

I will, however, share here one of the layouts from that post:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics + Patterned Paper: Pebbles + Accordian Pennants: Pebbles + Twine: May Arts + Punches: Fiskars, EK Success + Fonts: Pacifico, AL Uncle Charles + Die Cutting Machine: Silhouette

 
To those of you reading this from the U.S., happy Fourth of July! 

Red, White, and Blue

Here in Colorado, with fire bans in effect statewide, we are anticipating a very different kind of Fourth of July: one without fireworks. Every year our tradition has been to see the Glendale, CO fireworks on July 3rd. Glendale is a small city-within-a-city, located within Denver and not far from where we live. They put on an amazing fireworks display and we have a fantastic view from the park that's just a few blocks from our house. While I'm a little sad that the fireworks have been canceled and we'll skip the tradition this year, I completely understand the reasoning behind this and similar events being canceled across the state. Rumor has it that at least one of the annual fireworks displays in Denver proper will proceed as planned, so we might try to catch that one on the 4th.

All week this week, Bella Blvd is celebrating Patriotic Week. Thus far the Bella Blvd team has shared layouts, cards, and projects for Canada Day, Australia Day, and the Fourth of July. Today, I have a layout featured on the blog that celebrates our annual Fourth of July art tradition:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics + Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd + Flags: Bella Blvd + Stickers: Bella Blvd + Chipboard: Bella Blvd + Button: Bella Blvd + Punches: Fiskars + Twine: May Arts + Pen: Sakura

Be sure to check out the Bella Blvd blog to be inspired by other patriotic projects all week long!

 

Dude!

If you are reading this and are a parent of a 10-year-old boy, you can probably relate to this:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics + Mini-album Pages: October Afternoon + Stickers: October Afternoon + Button: October Afternoon + Brad: October Afternoon + Die Cut: October Afternoon + Pen: Sakura

This was a really fun layout to make! October Afternoon has a new product on the market: Here & Now Chapters. They are mini-album page sets that include a fun mix of patterned pages, die cut pages, and tabbed divider pages. I used two of the pages on this layout: the green polka dot paper with the speech bubbles, and the grid-print tabbed page. (As you may recall, I have a fear of mini-albums, but love using mini-album pages on layouts and cards.) 

My "Dude" layout was featured today on the October Afternoon blog as part of a challenge that was right up my alley: use Here & Now Chapter pages in a non-mini-album project. In addition to my layout, there is an amazing set of gift card pockets by the talented Danni Reid. Be sure to check out the blog post there, as you don't want to miss any of Danni's gorgeous work!

Weekend Recap

We just returned from a whirlwind weekend away in the mountains. We've lived in Denver for nearly eight years now, and Eli, Sadie, and I have never traveled west of Vail in Colorado. We fixed that this weekend, heading out to Aspen, Snowmass, and Glenwood Springs. 

I can definitely say I've gained a new appreciation for our state! You'd have thought we were outdoor people or something given what we did this weekend. :)

We saw yellow-bellied marmots:

Walked amidst aspens:

Hung out at (and took too many photos of) the Maroon Bells:

Drove part of Independence Pass, stopping to let the kids wade in the (obviously, cold) water:

Checked out the ghost town of Independence:

Somehow managed the ridiculously challenging hike up to Hanging Lake (Sadie had to be bribed with the promise of extra dessert, but it worked!):

After the Hanging Lake hike we headed back to Glenwood Springs, found somewhere to get smoothies, and then headed home. Phew! We've decided that next time we head west we will do a trip focused more on leisure, where we will hang out at pools and fancy restaurants and skip the strenuous stuff! (Seriously, that Hanging Lake hike is insane - nearly 1.25 miles straight up!) Meanwhile...this evening is all about the laundry. :)

While we were away, I missed the launch of the write.click.scrapbook. July gallery: Five is Fun! The July launch post also introduced our two newest team members. I'll post my gallery layout below, but be sure to check out the launch post for all of the information and more inspiration from the team.

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics + Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup + Stickers: Jillibean Soup + Twine: May Arts