QuicKutz Summer of Fun, Weeks3&4

What fun to catch fish right off the front lawn, huh!? Well that's what happens at the lake house. Grace had a blast last summer, and we hope to be able to plan a trip back there again this year. Besides Zelda, I've also used the solid nesting stars, scallop borders and flourishes.

More pics from our trip to the lake house last summer. Our silly lab, Joey, is such a princess and SO SPOILED (thanks to daddy! LOL) that she goes everywhere Randy goes and does anything he does. You should have seen her shaking so hard she could barely stand up yet still she ventured onto the float when Randy got on there. She's so silly!! LOL So, for the title, Zelda Grand and Chicken Noodle. Other dies are the Week 3 Scottie dog which is a great size for journaling, flip flops and sunglasses from the Relax gift set. Stitching is hand drawn.

And one more. Just a quick card to send good thoughts and a hug. The Week 3 teddy is a lot cuter than I thought he would be. Honestly, I'm not a lover of teddy bears but this guy is definitely huggable!

Take the Watercolor Test

Wow. Take the test and find out how accurate your profile is. Mine is right on. I laughed at the very end as I am VERY obsessive....in fact, my kids call me anal. ;)

You Are Highly Intelligent

You are a perceptive, observant, and reflective person. It's easy for you to get lost in your mind. You think amazing thoughts. You are curious about the world. You are inventive and quite visionary. You can get really engrossed in things. You tend toward the obsessive side.

Click here and take The Watercolor Test

June QK Release is in the HOUSE!

If you're into home improvement, building new, or moving into new digs, this set is perfect. The houses are too cute, the fence borders are adorable and the house number sets are fab! For my assignment this month, I'm using the house die Rev0213, clothes pin KS0955, picket fence border, and the QK club nameplate.

Layout number one, "Home Improvement, Gracie Style", is of Gracie helping me redecorate the bathroom last summer. In addition to the house, picket fence and clothes pin, I've used the paint can and roller, mini splat and clipboard. I printed my title on graph paper using a font called Rough Draft and punching the edge with the Stampin Up spiral punch for a torn notebook edge. Cute huh? For the remainder of the title I used Relax and added screw top shaped brads to give it more of a "home improvement" look. I chose this particular house and these particular colors because it matches my house! Can you see the tiny navy blue mailbox and house numbers to the right of the front door?? ;)

I printed the journaling card on the computer and added the clipboard to the top so it opens. It reads:

"Grace, we always have so much fun when you come to stay with us and this day was no exception. This time we decided to redo the bathroom. We didn't have hair nets to prevent paint from getting in our hair so you grabbed a ripped grocery bag and stuck it on your head. You're so silly. We laughed and laughed."





I used leftovers from the first layout to make this encouragement card using the clothes pin and nameplate as well as the RS0192 spider, bead border, Diesel Grand "H" and SOF alpha, Chicken Noodle.


Layout number two, Tea and Scones. For this page I thought the house was the perfect embellishment. I don't know why, maybe because tea parties seem so cozy and homey. And Gracie has had MANY tea parties, let me tell you. Here she is with her tea and milk in pretty violet print china. I apologize for the odd shade of purple shown in the scan. The color is actually a dusty mauve,not hideous purple. LOL. Dies used in addition to the house and nameplate are the cookie from the cookies and milk die Rev0130 (for the blueberry scone), mug and saucer KS0592, and spoon (shortened) from the camping dutch oven KS0694. Title alpha is Storybook and Studio skinny mini for the date.

Journaling is computer printed using the matching computer font to Storybook and reads:
"How is the tea, dear?
The tea is lovely, darling. How are the scones?
The scones are wonderful. Having a tea party was a delightful idea.
We must do this again."

This next card was a challenge for me, a stamping challenge. I'm not much of a stamper, though you wouldn't know it by my massive collection of stamps. So occasionally I like to make myself use them and see what I can do. I must admit, I am pleased with this card and I know my friend will be happy to receive it. :) Here I've used the picket fence border, but I didn't stop there. I also used the cloud border and ladybug border. Borders aren't JUST for borders anymore! ;)

Computer generated message reads:
"If I had a single flower for every time I think of you


Inside: I could walk forever in my garden."



This last card was sort of an after thought. It was idea that just popped into my head when I was getting ready to fall asleep last night. LOL I get a lot of ideas that way. But anyway, here it is. A house warming, we're moving, congrats on your new home, or welcome home card for someone who's been away. Quick and simple and full of love. :)

Inside:

Birthday cards

My sister and her youngest share a birthday. We have lots and lots of duplicate, and even triplicate, birthdays in our family! Here are the cards I made for them. Sorry for the blurry images.

For this first card I used the exclusive Stars border by Archivers.

Inside I used the funky cake and cookie cutter basic phrase, celebrate. The oval is by spellbinders.


Andy is a jokester and always has been since he was itty bitty. He's in middle school now. For his card I used the road signs, funky chicken, grass and puddle. I cut the egg by altering an oval. Inside I used the 2x2 lion, jungle leaves, stop sign and puddle.

Inside message:

Part One, SOFWk2

How fun to have a new release every week this month. I love it! This week's die is again an alphabet. You won't hear me complain.....if you know me at all you know how much I love fonts, so this is awesome! Check it out - an entire alphabet on one 4x4 die. How practical is that!? And economical too. This alphabet is called Chicken Noodle and is the perfect match to one of the older QK alphabets, Frankie, which was before my QK days. LOL Very cute and a particularly great size for cards, tags, subtitles and anywhere you need or want smaller letters. It's also a fab companion to the Relax font from the spring gift set, btw!

For this simple page of Jeffery flying his Stealth kite on the beach at Wesport, I placed the letters for my subtitle, "Windy Westport", on the waves from the Relax spring gift set. Cute, huh. For the cloud I used the Rev0182 tree, and the Relax font for the title. Handcut journaling strips will be filled in later as I don't know the particulars about this trip -- my dd took these pics.


This time I've used it right on top of the larger title letters (Diesel Grand) and outlined them with black marker to make them really stand out. The circles behind the fish are the plate from the place setting and nesting circles; nesting ovals for the mat behind the fishing pole include the journaling, and I've also used the bead border. (The fish is a Cricut shape.)



The bubbles are Skittles mini glass pebbles.

Part 2, SOF Wk 2

Oh did I have fun with this alphabet. Check out these cute place cards (from the May special occasions release)!

Having a beach party.....


or a luau.....





or a princess party?



How about a bridal shower....



a baby shower.....



or a mother-daughter tea?

Ok, so I got a little carried away and I didn't even use the alphabet on the last couple of cards, LOL, but the place cards are so much fun and can be used in hundreds of ways. Aren't these a fun way to spruce up a party table. :) The possibilities are endless!

Friday is my favorite day of the week

Do you have a favorite day of the week? I don't know what it is, I suppose it stems from school or something, but Friday has always been my favorite day. I like it even more than Saturday. LOL

Yesterday was my birthday! Mom and dad made the 225 mile trip from Longbranch (one way) to visit for the day. It was really nice to see them. They hadn't been over for several years so they hadn't yet seen all the redecorating I've been busy with the past few years. Later we went to Chinese for dinner and it was delish, as always. The place has the funniest name, and I was surprised to find they even have a website! They are grand opening a sushi bar next week end so the pics on the site are not up to date yet. The renovations they've made are real nice. Anyway here's Mommy Yum Yum, Ephrata's Asian cuisine restaurant.

Hope you're set for a fun weekend. Looks like it will be a gorgeous one here in Ephrata, Washington!

A is for Apple Turnovers

Pat (my son-in-law, Gracie's dad, Regan's uncle) decided he wanted to make apple turnovers and, naturally, the girls wanted to help. He found this recipe on the internet and it was such a big hit he has made them several times since. Grace and Regan had a ball cooking in their aprons and chef hat!

QK used here are the new String Bean Alphabet Border, MaryJane ("A), Studio skinny mini, place setting, measuring cup and spoons, recipe card, mixing spoon, and nesting circles.

QuicKutz Summer of Fun, Week1

As much as I love alphas and fonts, I have to be honest. I really didn't care much for this String Bean alphabet border when I first saw it. But it is really quite versatile, and the letters, even though they are skinny, are a great size that work well on both layouts and cards. I'm liking it more the more I use it, in fact!

For this layout, I used just the punched out border with no "filling", and the letters from the border for the title. Each title letter is matted on the smallest of the original nesting rectangles -- as you can see it's the PERFECT size for these letters! I've used the hearts and strawberry from the Flirt spring gift set for embellishment. Papers for this page are Foofala, Hall Pass; ribbon by May Arts, metal tab by Heidi Swapp, and spiral notebook punch by Stampin Up.

This is Gracie at 4 holding her cousin, Regan 6 months. Yes, I know, she is almost as big as Gracie! LOL





On this page, I've used only a portion of the border and added the "filling" for the letters. Now you might think I've used the popular exclusive arrow die by Archiver's but au contraire! It was my inspiration, this is true, but I actually cut this one by hand and punched the holes with my Crop-a-Dile as the curve in the 'real' die was too pronounced. Cool huh. The largest circle is the plate from the place setting die, Rev0124; the smaller circle from the original nesting circles. Pattern papers here are by Stampin Up (except the flower pieces, which are Making Memories), and the journaling box is a stamp--I believe it's by Autumn Leaves.

Grace and Regan enjoying great big lollipops on their camping trip to Westport a couple of months ago.

For this card I used a portion of the alphabet for my message accentuating the letters with a different color, and Moonlight 4x8 alpha for the rest of the message. The adorable little house is a limited edition die. Isn't it the cutest. The window actually opens. :) Papers again by Stampin Up.

Last, but not least, is this beach page. Grace and Regan found this already assembled driftwood fort on the beach at Westport and had a ball playing in it!

Here I've used just the String Bean letters. Again, using Moonlight for the subtitle and the limited edition house in a completely different way.....as a thatched beach hut! I cut two roofs and slit the outside with precision scissors, glued them one on the other and then attached them to the house. This time I left off the door and shutters and used my crimper to make the little hut look more "hutty". LOL The sand pieces are from the Relax spring gift set with stickles added for a more true sandy affect. Also from the Relax set are the shell, surf board, and crab. I think the crab screams for googly eyes, don't you! You can find these in any craft aisle. These are the smallest I've seen and need to be glued on, but larger sizes come with a peel off backing and self-adhesive. More pattern papers by Stampin Up.



Here's a closer view of the hut and thatched roof. What a fun, and versatile, little die this is!