Latest Published Projects

This week I reminisce on the good 'ol days of when there were plenty of scrapbook and card magazines to choose from. Remember Memory Makers, Better Homes and Garden's Scrapbook Etc. and Simple Scrapbook? 

Like most publications, scrapbook magazines are deciding to go digital. There will only be a handful of crafting magazines that would offer their content in print format next year. This really makes me sad and that's why I am treasuring my latest complimentary copies of the issues that I've been published in. Here are the latest two, in print...

Homemade with Love

This layout was featured in this magazine from Creating Keepsakes...

And this layout, which I made for Die Versions is found in the latest Scrapbook and Cards Today Fall issue...

Archibald Farm layout

They also offer this magazine in digital format, free for everyone to see. Check it out here. 

I don't know about you, but something about curling up in the couch or on the bed with one of these inspirations in my hand is one of my most favorite relaxing activities. What is your favorite part of a crafty magazine?

Till next time,
Grace

Field Day 2013

Another school year and that means another Field Day for the kids. This year fell on a Thursday and the weather was, at best, mild. The sun would show up once in a while but for the most part, it was a bit chilly. But that didn't stop the kids from enjoying the many events planned. Here are some photos from Field day 2013...

This year the school changed up the schedule for field day. They had the younger grades (K-2nd) do their events in the morning while the older kids (3rd-5th) had theirs in the afternoon. It was a good thing, as I was able to be with each kid throughout their activities without worrying that I'm missing out on the other's events.

Maddie got an assortment of ribbons ranging from 1st to 4th.

Marcus on the other hand got a 2nd, 3rd and a few 4th place ribbons.
He almost lost one, which caused him much distressed (a meltdown that I don't really want to elaborate on) but thank the heavens...it came up and his world was normal again.

I love the energy on this boy. You can tell he was putting his best efforts in all of his events. He even got a 2nd place ribbon for the 40 yard dash and he was competing with one of the best athletes in school.

And that's it! It's honestly hard for me to talk about this year's Field day and not sound redundant from the previous years' notes. So all I'm going to add now is that..... it's great....the kids tried their best in their individual events...and that....nobody got hurt. I say that's call for some celebration.

What school activity do you enjoy attending?

Till next time,

Grace

Latest Die Versions projects

October hasn't even arrived yet and I have Christmas in my brain already. Blame it on the beautiful products that I've been getting as part of my design team commitments. Die Versions released Christmas themed dies this month and I got to use it for a layout about one of my family's new Christmas tradition...making fudge. I also used it to create a Holiday themed card. Check them out below...

Tis the Season to be Jolly layout

Featuring:

DVH-003 “Holiday” Half Pints

DVE-037 “Believe” Express Edges

DVW-285 “Christmas Word Tree” Whispers

Notes:

I decided to use three dies in my page. I cut them out from the same paper, helping me create a visual triangle between them. I didn't need to add too much after than since the dies perfectly convey the theme of the layout.

I wanted to use this vintage pattern paper in the background but didn't want the photos and dies to clash with its design so I adhered a piece of vellum paper in between my background and the rest of the items in the page to make that distinction.

Peace, Love, Joy card

Featuring:

DVCC 007- “Peace Love Joy” Cute Cubes

Notes:

Layering pattern papers and journaling block plus adding the cute cube die made for an easy and well put together Christmas greeting. 

To learn more about these and the other fantastic products that Die Versions offer, please visit them here.

Till next time,
Grace

Mitch's Birthday Celebration recap

Last week hubby turned a year older. His special day fell on a Tuesday and because of work and school plus my church calling, there was no way we could celebrate that day. So we ended up celebrating a bit early. We tried a local Mexican restaurant called Amanda's Fonda on Saturday night. Here are some photos of our dinner celebration...

This was our first time to eat here so we didn't know what to expect. Even though the ambiance looked good and the service friendly, the food was not comparable to the yummy food we were used to back in Southern California. Unfortunately, we were disappointed by another local Mexican place. Makes it harder not to miss So Cal and the diversity and authentic food we had there. :(

I tried their combo plate with tostada and enchilada

Mitch had the taco and enchilada plate.

Marcus and Maddie both had taquitos kids' plates.

The following day (Sunday) we fed the missionaries dinner so I made a German Chocolate cake with the Pecan frosting that Mitch likes as a dessert so we can sing to him and have him make a wish. He didn't even want us to put candles in there. I guess he doesn't want anymore reminder that his "numbers" are going up. 

Over all it was a pretty good birthday. Even if it was celebrated a few days early. :)

What's your favorite tradition for celebrating birthdays in your home?

Till next time,

Grace

Latest Epiphany Crafts Projects

Happy Monday Crafty friends. It's another start of a week. What's in your agenda? As for me, I am plugging along with my school homework. I have totally forgotten how much reading that entails. I'm more of a hands-on learner, so having to read chapters and chapters in a Science book doesn't really excite me. But I know that I just need to plug along. I also plan on spending some time in my craft room this week. Now, that I'm excited about! 

Speaking of crafts, here are two Wedding theme cards I made recently for Epiphany Crafts. You can see these cards along with supply list and instructions on how to replicate them in this post.

Happy Ever After card

Mr. & Mrs. Card

I am honored to be a part of the Epiphany Crafts design team for 6 more months. With this new term...EC decided to share a little bit more about the each member of the team in the blog. You can find my Q&A in this post. 

I really feel blessed to be a part of this industry and have the opportunity to create. I don't think I can ever live without paper, glue and the possibilities of creating with them. 

Have a happy Monday.

Till next time,

Grace

Happy Thanksgiving card (Paper Secrets sketch) *Inspired By Stamping*

Happy Saturday. Today's special post is my take on the latest Paper Secrets card challenge sketch. Inspired By Stamping is sponsoring the card sketch challenges at Paper Secrets this month and their latest design is this...

and here's my take on it..

Happy Thanksgiving card

I used one of the latest stamp sets from Inspired By Stamping called Happy Fall. I used the leaves as my "triangle" inspiration based off of the sketch. I also picked my "fall" type colors of paper to match my stamps.

Stop by the Paper Secrets blog here and play along. There's a sweet prize that awaits the winner. 

Have a great weekend.

Till next time,

Grace

Huntington Beach layout *Paper House*

It's project share time again. 

I'm super excited to be sharing my first project for Paper House since being officially chosen to be in their design team. I was given a lot of paper designs to work with and my first project features some beach themed designs. 

Huntington Beach layout

I loved the Beach paper line from Paper House. The glittered papers were really cool and I wanted to incorporate that on my page so I cut them out using some fuzzy cutting technique and adhered them to the corners of my page. Because some of the papers from the line had some big bold photo designs, I added the sand pattern paper over them so I can have a clean background for my photos and embellishments.

Supplies Used:

Papers- Sand Pattern (P-0450E), Beach Snorkel (P-0446E), Ocean Breeze (PGL_0021E), Getaway (PGL-0020E), Beach Chair (P-0447E)

Stickers- Life’s A Beach (STDM- 0028E), Fun Beach 2 (STCX- 0163E)

Others- Letter stickers, Pen, Tag Punch, Adhesives

Instructions:

1. Cut out two Sand pattern papers into 11 ½ x 11” pieces. Adhere to the center of the Beach chair papers.

2. Adhere the photos to your layout.

3. Handcut the glitter accents from the Getaway and Ocean Breeze paper. Adhere the cuts on the edges of the layout.

4. Cut a strip from the Beach Snorkel paper measuring 8 ½ x 1 ½”. Cut the long ends into notches. Add the title stickers. Cut in the center and adhere to the layout.

5. Punch out two tag shapes from Beach Snorkel paper.  Tuck under the left bottom photo and adhere to secure.  Handwrite your journaling.

6. Decorate the page with both flat and dimensional stickers from Paper House.

This was definitely a fun project to create. To learn more about Paper House products, please click here. 

Till next time,

Grace

Quote laser cut frame *Inspired by Stamping*

It's me again. We had some major rains in the area last week. Thankfully we were spared from having to deal with basement flooding. Our home is not in the area where we would have been affected by flash flooding but we have had an issue before where water got into our basement and you can even read that story here. I have seen some images about the effects of the flooding in and around our area and my heart aches for all of those affected by it. Mother Nature sure knows how to keep us Coloradans on our toes. If it's not wildfires, it's flash flooding. 

Anyways, because after every rain comes the clear blue skies and greener grass, I figured I'd share a post about an altered frame I created for this beautiful photo of a flower. I shot this image at the Denver Botanical Garden a couple of years ago. I love the light purple color of the flower and the way it hung on the branches. 

I found this wood frame at the clearance section of my local Michael's store. I love the intricate design of the frame. I wanted to show off the beauty of this frame so I decided to paint instead of covering it with paper. Besides, with all of the intricate design, it's going to take me forever to do that! I then added some stamping (using Inspired By Stamping stamp sets) and pen lines then added my image. I love that quote as well, it very much sums up faith and hope for me.

Supplies used:

Frame- Laser cut frame, ArtMinds; Cardstock- (yellow) WorldWin Papers, (kraft) The Paper Company; Stamps- (lines) Friendly Flowers, Paper Smooches, (quote and banner images) Words of Inspiration, Background Basics ll and lll, Inspired By Stamping; Twine- The Twinery; Pearls- Le Crème, Baby Bling Pearls, Want2Scrap; Embossing powder- Black, Zing, American Crafts; Ink- Stazon, Tsukineko, Memento, Tsukineko, Colorbox; Toothpicks- Source Unknown; Paint- Victoria Green, Apple Barrel, Plaid; Adhesives- Xyron, Glue Dots

Instructions:

1. Paint the frame with acrylic paint. 2. Adhere the photo on the back of the frame. 3. Stamp the stitch lines on the frame. 4. Stamp the background images on kraft and yellow cardstock. Trim into banners. Adhere to toothpicks with Glue Dots. Tie the two picks with twine and adhere to the top right corner of the frame using foam adhesive. 5. Heat emboss the quote on yellow cardstock block using black embossing powder. Mat on kraft cardstock. Adhere to the bottom left corner of the frame. 6. Add pearls on the bottom of the quote. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

Die Versions Blog Hop

Hi friends. Today I'm here with a special project for Die Versions blog hop. 

Hops are fun as it is a great way to go on an "inspirational" train that takes you to different stops (blogs) and at the end gives you a chance for a great prize. So what do you say? Hop on over!

The line up for this blog is as follows:

Anne Temple http://www.annemade-anne.blogspot.com/

Emilia van den Heuvel (Emmy): http://few-favourite-things.blogspot.com/

Grace Tolman:  ------YOU ARE HERE

Liz Chidester:  http://thescrappiest.blogspot.com/

Lori:  http://loriskreations.blogspot.com/

Mary Moisan:  http://madebymarymoisan.blogspot.com/

Penny Ward:  http://www.pennywardink.com/

Tanya Johnson:  http://little-scrapper.blogspot.com/

Die Versions Store Blog:  http://www.die-versionsblog.com/

Here's my project featuring some of the Fall released dies from Die Versions..

Miss Fashionista

Do you or someone you know blows your mind with their fashion sense? Well I have a pint size fashionista at home through my 7 year old daughter. Sometimes her choices are questionable but I love how she's already got her own "sense of style" and knows how to rock it. 

In this page, I documented this trait of hers with a photo showcasing her "eclectic" style. I added the Corner Concept scallop die, Half Pints 2013 die and the Leaves and Vines Whisper die. I know that we are in the Fall season but as you notice, my page has a more "spring" color theme. That's because I used the colors from my daughter's outfit as an inspiration. This shows that these dies can be used for any season, all you need to do is change up the color of the paper. 

Here are more close ups of the layout....

Ok so now it's time to hop again. You will go here next.

Remember...Hoppers will need to comment on all the blog stops and then on the last stop, you need to tell us which die, out of all the projects that you've seen, is your favorite.  

One lucky winner will get the grand prize which is a $50 gift certificate to be used in the store

Plus more – 5 lucky participants will receive $10 gift certificate to be used in the store

The winners will be randomly choosen from the design teams blogs so make sure to comment on ALL stops. Happy Hopping!

Till next time,
Grace

Oh my Monday

Hi there my friends. I got a few posts planned for this week but today, I'm starting off in a rather random fashion. I "officially" start my fall semester of school today and that makes me nervous. To add to that would be laundry, getting the house in order, some photo edits to accomplish and yada, yada, yada. If you are a mom who juggles so many things, then you know what I'm talking about. And if you're not a person who has a long list to do on Mondays...well...you are my hero! 

So before I go off and try to check off all of those things on my list, I'd like to personally invite you to the first every Die Versions blog hop that starts tomorrow. Please come back to this blog tomorrow to learn more about what we have in store for you or visit the Die Versions blog here. 

and because I can't help but love how this video shows a "slight" resemblance....ok I'll be honest....it shows all of my obsession with Pinterest, I'll leave you with this. Watch it and tell me you don't have an inkling to create a board specifically with Paris/Carnival inspired projects. Warning...if you get the "Pinterest" craze then this will make you burst into laughter.   

Happy Monday.

Till next time,
Grace

Denver Art Museum *latest Saturday excursion*

I found out recently through my friends' blog that the Denver Art Museum was holding free admission days. I checked the site and found out that they do this on the first Saturday of the month. Our family went and explored this museum last Saturday. 

We started off a little late because we had to do some cleaning that morning. We got to Denver at about noon and because there were so many exhibits to see, we didn't get to see them all. Note for next time, just pack a lunch so we don't have to rush through it all. Also, pick the exhibits that you really want to see. We later realized that some of the walking time we did through certain exhibits would have been better used in areas that we really wanted to look at. 

Here are some of the photos we captures. Sorry for the low quality of images, I brought my Nikon D40 to this excursion. It's getting harder to tow my big baby of a camera everywhere nowadays. 

This is a "coral reef" art made out of crocheted items. I though it was pretty neat to combine all of this creations to make one giant "wow" project.

They even had volunteers on hand to teach you how to crochet. We didn't do that part since there's already tons of people waiting for their turn.

This one was another underwater inspired project but made out of beads instead.

And here's the family with another underwater inspired artwork made out of crocheted items.

Next door to the Crochet displays was the "abstract" room. This one was one of those places that I wished I would've skipped. I'm not one that totally appreciates abstract work but I did find this circle/dot piece to be inspirational. I took a picture of it so I can use it for future scrapbook projects.

Then we went to the deck of the museum and got a pretty view of downtown Denver. The building itself is of unique architecture, hence the low slanted ceiling.

We found some pockets of interactive stuff for the kids within the different exhibits. That was good as I was getting a bit tired of telling the kiddos to keep their hands to themselves. In this one,they put together their own sculpture.

They even had places where you can listen to music. In this particular spot, we were listening to African tunes because the room was filled with African inspired art and artifacts. 

I really liked this floor/exhibit. They had a famous fabric designer (Jacqueline something) display some of her artwork. It was very neat seeing all of the cute creations done on fabric. I picked up a few ideas for papercrafting ideas. *wink*

In our visit, we noticed a lot of Native American artwork displayed. They had a room strictly for handwoven blankets. It's amazing how the chevron trend goes far back as 1800's. There was a blanket on display with this pattern. The Native American sure know what looks cute!

The building was structured where they had placed windows specifically so you can appreciate the view outdoors. Here's a look through a panoramic window. You can see the front range on the back side of the image.

After a couple of hours of walking around the museum, we headed to the 16th street mall (which was only a couple of blocks away) to have some lunch. On our way there we passed by some city buildings that had impressive architectural designs.

After lunch and walking around a bit in the outside mall, we headed back to our car passing through this neat rotunda.

This photo makes me feel I'm somewhere in Europe (minus the skyscrapers in the back)

When we got back to the museum, we stopped for a little bit to watch a Native American dance presentation. The group of men in the foreground were banging a big (and loud) drum.

I'm amazed at how much costume they are sporting. It was pretty hot last Saturday and I'm sure with all of this garb plus the dancing makes for some good calorie burning exercise.

Last itty bitty note for the museum, Art is definitely interpreted many ways and although I have respect for those that create it, there are certain pieces that I would not want my children to see every again. (Interpret that however you may want)

So that's our latest excursion. Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace