I wanted to do most of the pre-work on this project so that it would be easy to just add photos and journaling.  I started with a C&T Publishing Ready-to-Go Blank Board Box and decorated it with October Afternoon’s Fly a Kite papers using Fiskars tools, of course.

Each of the divider cards is decorated for one of our destinations this Summer. First stop: Cape Cod!  This is the divider for all of our Cape Cod photos.  (I shouldn’t say ‘All’ because I will snap over 300 pics during our vacation!  So more accurately, this is the divider for those I choose to print.)

 Like the ‘ringed’ border?  I used Apron Lace to make it.

As I mentioned, there will be one divider for each location, and I left a few blank for those spontaneous day trips.

All I have to do now is print my favorite photos and adhere them to a 6″ x 3 1/2″ index card.  I can print 3 1/5″ x 5″ photos or a few smaller wallet sized pics and I can journal on the front or on the back of each card.  I just love how versatile this ‘album’ is and when it’s all done we will have a keepsake of our Summer of 2010.

Well, this project officially brings my term as Lead Fiskateer to an end.  I want to thank all of You for making each day memorable.  The best thing about the Fiskateers has always been the caring and creative people who make up this community. It was all of You who made the past two years truly enjoyable.  I look forward to seeing you around, wherever my crafting road might take me.  Keep your eyes open; the internet is a big place.  You never know where we might meet up next!  But if you need me anytime soon, you’ll have to scour the beaches of Cape Cod.

Feel free to share your summer scrapping plans below.  I’d love to read them.

Then back in April, my friend Emily shared a beautiful ATC project here on the blog and Linda left a comment that FINALLY inspired me to jump in and play along.  So I hosted a 12 person, beach themed ATC swap and the results are now a beautiful wall hanging in my craft room.

Thank You to Emily and Linda and all those who create ATCs, it took too long but I have been inspired and plan to play along with several more swaps.  And if You are still unsure about the lure of ATCs (even after seeing this gorgeous wall hanging), I see them as a chance to try out a new technique or play with a new embellishment.  And You get to see new techniques when You get your swapped cards back.  They are truly beautiful works of mini-art.

So, are You inspired to join an ATC swap?

It really was much easier than I thought, thankfully because of my UltraShapeXpress.

I cut a flower for each gift card.  I wanted each flower to have a ’pocket’ so I folded the paper and moved the seam toward the center of the shape template so that it did not get cut off.  By doing so I created a pocket that held the gift card from the bottom.

I twisted 16 guage wire into a spiral to hold the flower with gift card.  Then I added a few buttons (of course) as flower centers and voila!

The teachers loved it!

This was a great way to personalize gift cards and I hope to remember this idea and use it again in the future.

One of my crafty projects was making her dress.  The Fancy Nancy fabric came pre-flocked (thank goodness) so all I had to do was sew a seam down the back and add straps.  Problem is that I decided to do this Thursday.  Why, You ask?  You should know by now that I am a world class procrastinator and of course I had something much more pressing that needed to be completed before Friday morning so why not take on another project to distract me?

I was the class scrapbooker this year and I have been working diligently for the past month completing 18 scrapbooks, each with 11 pages.  It’s been a huge undertaking, but when I handed out the completed scrapbooks (Yes, I got them ALL done!) and the kids just sat there and went through them page-by-page when they could have been running around the park playing… well, it was all worth it.  That is why we scrapbook, after all.

I also made the teacher’s gifts and I’ll share that soon!  But for now I’m living life with my brand new Kindergartener.  Congrats, Emily!
Someone asked about Ben.  He’s getting big and *a-hem*, independent.  Here he is clappng for his big sister.

Emily marched in our town’s Memorial Day Parade on Monday and as soon as I saw these pictures, I was filled with pride all over again and had to scrap them!

I wanted a star border and I don’t have a star border punch (Hello, Fiskaneers!  You listening?) so I decided to make my own using the scalloped sentiment border punch and star hand punch with American Crafts glitter paper.

First I punched the border punch and then I punched a star in the center of each scallop.  Pretty ingenious, if I say so myself.

I challenge You to break some of Your own self-impossed scrapping rules.  Scrap some recent photos just for fun or use some handwritten journaling instead of printing it on the computer.

I’d love to hear and see what You come up with so leave a comment with a link.

And Happy Scrappin’! 

Daddy and I stressed to Emily that she is never, ever, ever to practice being a beautician, especially on herself!  I don’t think I have to worry because Emily is such a good girl, but it did bring back a memory…

I remember my mother going to the beauty parlour and I wanted to go.  She didn’t take me so I decided to play beauty parlour.  I can remember leaning back and placing my really long hair in something (must have been a tall box).  Then I took my scissors and cut along the top of the box cutting all my really long hair off!  Next thing I remember is getting something in the kitchen and my daddy asking me if I had cut my hair.  I lied and told him ‘No’ and then went outside to play.

I don’t have a lot of photos from my childhood, but I’m glad to have this one taken the morning after my brief career as a beautician or this story might have been forgotten forever.

Did You ever cut your own hair or have a child that did?  Have You scrapped it?  I would love to hear the story and see Your layout so leave a comment here with the link.

Lucky for me, I found something much more fun to do with my scissors than cut my own hair.

• The preschool had 2 field trips
• A first dance recital preceded by a dress rehearsal
• Gymnastics class
• 3 library programs
• Mother’s Day
• A visit to Kindergarten

And that’s just some of the list.

Have You heard of Story People?  I am on their daily email list and here’s one of my favorites.  “feels like some kind of ride but it’s turning out just to be life going absolutely perfectly”

It’s so easy to get caught up in the ‘doing’ and forget to enjoy the moment.  Scrapbooking has really helped me ‘enjoy the moment’.  I live the moment while it is happening and then, I get to add my words to photos with some pretty stuff and create a beautiful scrapbook page full of all these special events for us to enjoy over and over again.

So we’ve been living and enjoying lots of Fun stuff.  And now the part comes where I get to relive it all and create scrapbook pages!

Here’s another one of my favorites from Story People that I hope to work into a layout.

“Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.”

What’s Your favorite quote?  Have You put it on a scrapbook page?

I hope You’re having Fun ‘living life’.

I took my demo kit on the road and shared the Fisk-a-Love with the lovely gals that were scrappin’ at Cool Crops in West Yarmouth, MA.  Cris puts on a wonderful event and this was a Fun crowd to spend NSD with.  Lots of Laughs with lots of Fiskateers!  Some new ones have joined, too, so be sure to give them a warm Fisk-a-Welcome!

Ann, Christy and I also took a road trip to Hyannis where we shared more Fisk-a-Love at Colorful Creations.  If You ever get the opportunity to vacation on The Cape, be sure to stop by and visit Jayne at her store and stock up on all things Cape and beach related to scrap Your photos.  This store has lots of goodies and project samples to keep You inspired.  Seriously, tons of inspiration.  I even found a new product that I’ve been playing with.  (I’ll share soon!)

I didn’t have my camera to record any of this, but it’s with good reason.  Nate came along with me (he drove the 3 hour trip and he needed some quiet time to finish up his case studies for college) and I sent the camera along with him.  The weather this weekend was perfect and He found a beautiful beach.  Since I was inside, he took these photos for me to share…

So beautiful.  So relaxing.  (These remind me, I still have pics from our vacation to Cape Cod last July to scrap!)

After reading through the message board and other blog posts, it looks like the Fiskateers were celebrating NSD from Coast to beautiful Coast!  Does anyone else Love the beach as much as I do?

I’m declaring today and tomorrow as Official FedEx day in my house.  All packages will be shipped!  And I have a few more prizes to award and send out, too!

• Congrats to Kelly #6446!  You are the random winner from Emily’s ATC post.
• And Jackie #4124, You are the winner of the effervescence border punch!

Congrats, Ladies.  Email Your address and phone number to me at kellyjo@fiskateers.com.

I’m so honored to be a part of Kelly Jo’s celebration!  I’ve been scrapping for too many years to count and I’ve always loved being around other crafters who share in my passion.  The Fiskateer board was one of my very first online communities that I’ve been involved in and it was such a privilege to have met 50 of them and created a life long bond.

My very supportive husband and I pastor a church on the Oregon coast and we have three beautiful children who are often the source of my inspiration.  They would be the first to roll their eyes and tell you my other passion is photography (smile kids!) as well as playing the keyboard.

I feel a tad addicted to my pattern paper and play with it nearly every day.  Every project I create uses many different Fiskars tools.  My very favorite is the mini stamp press.  Once you’ve tried it there is no going back!  On my project, I also used my Fiskars Rotary Trimmer, Effervescence Border Punch and Clear Birthday stamps.

Thank You, Julie, for the Fisk-a-Fabulous card.  If You would like to win an effervescence border punch, please leave a comment here with some Fisk-a-Love for Julie.  (Winner will be drawn after the weekend.)

I hope You have enjoyed all this Fisk-a-Inspiration and I look forward to seeing how You have been inspired.  In fact, I feel a challenge coming on so stay tuned…

I have always admired the beautiful ATCs that You all make and the ATC challenge that I had during the on-line crop help get me one step closer to making my own.  But this beautiful project from Emily has just pushed me over the edge.  Look for me to be making ATCs in the very near future!

I have taken a fancy to making ATCs. They used to scare me, and no I don’t make them all the time, but I do love creating them for my 7 Gypsies holder. I made a 12 Days of Christmas set and then when spring crept around, I decided to make a new set. My all time favorite Fiskars punch is the butterfly. Unfortunately it was last season’s spring exclusive, so you can’t get it anymore. Hopefully mine never breaks!  Anyway, I made this set of cards up using the butterfly, the bird and apron lace. I got a little overzealous with the butterfly, but I figured it was spring and butterflies symbolize new life so it was OK. They just add the perfect little touch of color and texture. I punched some out of upcycled packaging, some out of paper. Mixing them is the best part!

To see my 12 Days version (which features some of the border punches too), you can check it out in my gallery at Studio Calico where I’m lucky enough to be on the Design Team. I also enjoy working for  Write.Click.Scrapbook. and the Crate Paper blog. I have a dream job of writing the column on trends for Scrapbook and Cards Today, and if you still can’t find me, I have a blog, Here I Am, Here I Am.

Thanks and a HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kelly Jo, my favorite Fiskateer!

Awww, Thank You, Emily!  I LOVE this project and can’t wait to start making ATCs.  I don’t have a butterfly punch to give away, but I’m sure I can find something so be sure to leave a comment here with some Fisk-a-Love for one of my favorite people, Emily.