dec 15th? really?

is this time of year FLYING by or what? We are doing our best to try and slow down, soak it all in, but it hasn't been easy. Feeling thankful that school break has started and with it a chance to catch up on a few things..like...
October Afternoon's LAST Santa Sack sale.

If I were ordering one, this would be the one to get. Pretty certain I spy some brand spanking new Sasparilla and Holiday Style, along with a Sprinkler and lots of other goodies. Find out how to order yours on the OA blog. And while you are there, check out the Monday Challenge from this week. It's an "add a bag" challenge and I would love some crafty people to play along...maybe add one to a card

or a layout

Over on the Crate Paper blog we are sharing lots of holiday inspired ideas. Yesterday I had a little paint/doily/snow technique if you'd like to give it a try. Super easy.

The new Paper Heart collection just arrived--some of my FAVORITE Crate Paper papers (hee hee!) EVER. Excited to play over the break and hopefully this will mean more blogging time. It also means more Silhouette Cameo playing and wrapping. We shall see ;)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

& she blogged

quite the blogging break ;)
Is everyone bustling and hustling now that the holiday season is in full force? I know we are around here. In fact, it hardly seems possible that "Elfie" is due to appear at any time. Elfie, of course, is our Elf on the Shelf. My 6 year old asked tonight why we didn't just name him "Elf". We ARE pretty creative, no? Of course he also asked if tomorrow I could show him how babies come out. NOPE. Not ready for THAT conversation! I quickly changed the subject to watching Olive the other Reindeer ;)

I had a sketch challenge up on the October Afternoon blog, brought to you by this INSANELY awesome ad:

I busted out the new Holiday Style line (LOVE!) and created my own version.

The whole post, including a beautiful card by fellow DT member Roree, can be found here.
I had a scrap weekend with some friends recently & during that crafty weekend I played around with some non-assignment layouts, like this

Lots of &&&&& ;) My boys are a different super hero, or cowboy, on almost a daily basis & I wouldn't have it any other way.

The stamp is an older Purple Onion one I believe. The ink is JBS stick candy, malted milk and seed packet.

I actually hand wrote some journaling, instead of using my trusty typewriter, and it felt good. I'm not really a fan of my handwriting, but I am certain my boys will not care and might actually like looking back at momma's handwriting.
Enjoy your day! I am planning to hook up my Silhouette Cameo and decorate for Christmas...and avoid any more "where do babies come from" inquires ;)

Handmade holiday winners!!

Renee & Stephanie, you have won a spot in Handmade Holidays!! I am taking a blogging break this week, but email me (ljbridges33 AT hotmail DOT com) and I will pass your info onto Latrice!
Hope everyone is having a great week. Ours has been "magical"..... ;)

giveaway day

So are you getting into the holiday spirit yet? I know, I know..it's only October, but I am already so excited! LOVE this time of year. I mean, halloween candy..what's not to love?

(This was up on the October Afternoon blog for a color challenge last week.)
Yep, a fun time of year indeed. Pretty sure I have had our fall decorations up since just after school started....and today did a little Christmas shopping. It's only 73 days away you know ;)
Speaking of holidays...

 I was asked by a sweet online friend, Latrice, if I would be interested in making a project for her online Handmade Holidays class. The class is reasonably priced: $10 for 10 projects--can't beat that! There will be a variety of fall & Christmas projects, as well as a supply list to get you started. You can find out all the info here on the handmade holiday's blog! 
Here's a peek at my contribution:

And guess what? I get to giveaway 2 spots! Would you like a virtual seat? If so, leave me a comment, with a way to email you if you win, and I will draw a winner in a few days :)

And more holiday fun in the form of Holiday Style! Do you see this christmas release from October Afternoon?! Some of my favorite pieces:

 It can all be seen HERE, along with a chance to win some of the goodies! Can't wait for this to arrive on my doorstep!
Did I mention I LOVE this time of year? ;) Happy Wednesday!

Sprinkler tags

Making a color comparison for my October Afternoon sprinklers was long overdue. I kept finding myself spraying on scraps of paper each time I wanted to see how a color would look--how wasteful! I found some lonely white shipping tags and decided that combined with some labels, stitching and a jumpring they would make a perfect comparison chart to keep handy.

I just love seeing all those pretty colors laid out :)
I took some individual shots so you could see the way the colors differed too.

Here is the red/pink group. Hopscotch is a new color releasing with the Sidewalks collection. Strawberry Cream is more peachy pink, as you can see.
I will admit, I don't use these colors AS much, for a few reasons...

1. When I see red mist on a layout I automatically think blood. Even if it totally fits the theme of the layout, even if it's for Christmas or Valentine's..I see blood! I do like the color of Red Wagon, especially because it isn't so bright and is not a deep red. I use it mostly for covering chipboard shapes.

2. I have 2 sons. I don't use pink a whole lot in general, regardless if it is paper or embellishments or whatever.. NOW I do LIKE pink, and have used it on "boy" projects, but I definitely do not use them as much as the blue/green colors.

These colors, I use LOTS! I think Lemon Drop is  a soft, creamy yellow..if that makes sense. Brown Bag is pretty much a kraft color. It may seem silly to spray Paper Doily white ink on a white tag, but I had to do it! Looking at the bottle it is hard to see what Buttermilk will look like, but compared to the white here it gives you a great clue...almost like an antique white. Love it. If I were new to misting and wanted to start with some basic colors, I would start here. You pretty much can't go wrong using these colors on any project. (If you purchase the Art Box set you get the 3 colors on the right, and Tin Type below. I know I broke them up, but needed the grey below for comparison to the blues :))

A VERY much used section of my misting colors! Tin Type is the perfect grey. I might have used this color more than any other. By the looks of my bottle that is a good assumption. Looking at the labels on the bottles it seemed like Frequent Flyer and Robot Blue were almost the same, but when you have them side by side you can see, not so much. Frequent Flyer is more of a greyish-blue. Miss Mary Mack (don't you love these names?) on the far right side is my newest fav. It is a pretty aqua color from the newly released Sidewalks collection.

When I looked at Night Sky and Set Sail in the bottle I honestly thought they were pretty much the same. But again, you can tell they are very much NOT the same at all. (SO glad I went ahead spraying these tags for reference!) Set Sail is more royal blue and Night Sky more denim. Comet Tail, oh my love for the color orange. This is one of my most used too, then again I love orange :) I find that people seem to love that color or hate it, much like purple. (For the record, not a purple fan.)

Finally a few greens. Treehouse is a new color from Sidewalks. It's an olive green, which I love. I think it will look pretty on some fall layouts. All Aboard is a green that can work for Christmas and spring and everything in between. A good, basic green to have on hand.

So there you have it! All 16 Sprinkler colors with a bit of explanation. Why have I not done this sooner? I love having the bigger swatches of color as a reference and all together so I could just throw them in my bag for a weekend crop or whatever. For now I have them hanging by my sewing thread since misting and sewing seem to go hand in hand when I scrap :)

I already have the labels typed up for the new Farmhouse collection (I played with the colors at CHA--SO pretty!) and tags waiting. Sasparilla has colors to be released as well. Fun Stuff! If you have any questions about the sprinklers or colors, just ask!

Enjoy your Sunday! We are planning on worshiping & serving (church & special needs sunday school), eating (smoked ribs---my husband makes THE BEST) and watching (the Packers beat the Bears)-hee hee!

brought to you by the letter "o"

1. October Afternoon has fabric now. Say what?! Yes, it's true. Some of the design team girls whipped up projects to showcase it on the blog this past wednesday. I made a fun little pincushion.

The fabric line is currently from the Farm Fresh collection, with Fly a Kite line coming. I am a sewing wannabe. Think I just need to stick with using that machine only on paper. But still, it's fun pretending I know what I'm doing ;)

2. Ombre. Combined some new sprinkler colors (miss mary mack & treehouse) from October Afternoon's Sidewalks line & this super awesome stencil by Balzer Designs for The Crafter's Workshop

to try and create an ombre effect. I am not really an ombre fan when it comes to fashion, but digging the look on paper.

2. Ormolu. Got some goodies from here today. Super fun stuff. Thinking of combining these into a december daily

and these into a project life album...

..if ever I start :)

Thank you letter "o" for the sponsor of today's post. EnjOy yOur Friday!

For real

Trying to keep it real around here...which is that I *think* we are finally in a school/preschool/errand-running/busy routine. Took a few weeks, but I think we have arrived. Something else that has arrived.....FALL!

And we really couldn't be more excited. We have already busted out some homemade caramel apples. My favorite time of year for sure.
I have a few scrapbooking items to share...on the Crate Paper blog last week I had a fun little ode to candy cane joe-joe's layout:

The candies we made using the Silhouette. The design was actually 3 lollipops so I just deleted the sticks and bows that were on them and used them as peppermints. The swirl part was pop dotted over the negative circle image. Makes me excited for when those are available again. Only 96 days until Christmas people. It's never too early ;)
On the May Arts blog I shared some ribbon rockets, inspiration coming from pinterest.

My space loving son was excited to see a rocket paired with his astronaut pictures.  I was happy to use some of the cardboard paper tubes I seem to accumulate. You can check that tutorial out HERE.
And today on the October Afternoon blog, an envelope challenge. Do you use envelopes on layouts often? How about on cards?

Ever used the security lining of an envelope before? Some have great patterns to punch out :)

The full post can be found on the OA blog today.
Enjoy your Monday! It is a laundry folding, dishes putting away kind of day around here...but I have a sewing project (gasp! using actual fabric!) to work on tonight. Will show that soon :)