Sugar, Spice and Blocks

Little girls are more than sugar, spice, dress up and dolls. Playing with blocks can be fun, too.

This paper came from my stash. I used three different punches for this layout. Lots of Stickles and Liquid Pearls. Most of the flowers are cut from a printed page design and topped with bling. The bottom flower is a super giant punch; I bought the large button and the heart doily from my local store Jazzy Crafts.

The flourishes are painted acrylic and topped with Stickles. The small silver butterflies are punched out and shaded with chalk. The title card is typed, cut out, shaped with a rounder. I stamped tiny designs on the face of the card. Everything is distressed with either ink or chalk.

Punch around the Page

I'd like to share something great with you. Martha Stewart has developed a line of edge punches called "Punch around the Page." They are a bit pricey, but with a 40% off coupon from Michael's, you can buy a set for $15.00.



This is a set of two punches. You can use it on the sides only, or in the corners only. But when you use both of the set, you can "punch around the paper." See below:



I want to credit the Martha Stewart site for these photos that I borrowed. If she's out of stock, you can buy this product from Scrapbook.com and Two Peas in a Bucket online. Or take a trip to your favorite Michael's store with a coupon in hand. If you sign up for Michael's email list, the store will send you coupons you can print. I was hoping for a 50% coupon this month, but I'll settle for the 40% coupon I received.

Isn't this amazing? I think there are four or five "Punch around the Page" punches, but I choose this one called "the loop." Take a look at what you can do:

Let's Ride

When it's cold outside, I move the chairs, so the kids have a pathway in which to ride their little bikes....as long as they don't leave skid marks. Even when they leave marks, they love to clean the floor, so all is good.



My paper layers came out of my stash. I distressed nearly everything with Decorating Chalks by Craf-T Products. I painted the chipboard stems and the grungeboard letters in "RIDE!" with acrylic paint, and I highlighted the circles with chalk. The "Let's" letters are Blue Alpha Transfers.

Toddler Fashionista

I grabbed my camera the minute I saw our little fashionista. Lots of layers of clothing for a little girl. She looks as though she was put together by Betsey Johnson. Take a look at Betsey Johnson's runway models. Notice how they wear layers of clothes, usually over tights or big stockings:



Now, here is our little fashionista:

Super Soaked

I keep extra t-shirts at my house so the kids can get as dirty or wet as they want when they visit. These pictures follow our fight with the super soakers. These photos show how to ring out a t-shirt while you're still wearing it.

Soft Shades of Red and Green

I love this photo from Christmas Eve 2008. Isn't this the cutest Santa's elf you've ever seen?

Playing in the Dirt

At my house we have fun playing in the dirt. On this layout I did something a little different---for me.

Washing the Yellow Car

Let's add some yellow to my blog. Here's a layout that I did over, partially anyway. I did not know what to do with it, and now I love it.

Simple Quilt Top

Several years ago I started this simple quilt for my son's twin-sized bed. Fast-forward to today when my son has two children of his own, and these rows of quilt squares have sat in a drawer until recently. I decided to adapt this simple quilt top to fit a double bed for my guest room.

A Splash of Pink

Instead of putting this photo in my black and white album (and embellishing it with neutral colors), I thought a splash of pink would be refreshing. I cut some of the flowers from a beautiful 12 x 12 sheet and added bling to their centers. The other flowers are painted chipboard with rub-on centers.