Hey There June Bug!!

This is my ATC for the June Swap at Life on the {scrap} beach, hosted by Hope. The theme for this month is "Hey There, June Bug!" This was the first time that I used my Cricut for an ATC - the mushroom came from the "Paisley" cartridge. I altered it with paint, ink, & stickles. (of course, I can't ever leave well enough alone)
The bugs I found at GASC a few weeks back, are rub-ons that are a little too realistic, the dragonfly is more to my liking. I used the new Tim Holtz Ideaology Paper Tape, it is paper however, my stickers were resisting sticking to the slippery surface of the tape, to fix this I glued them down with glossy accents and covered over the entire tape section with matte finish Mod Podge. Used a bee and fly stamp. The bee wings are covered with Frosted Lace Stickles.
Thank you to Hope Simpson as well as the rest of the girls who played along this month, I had lots of fun, I'm hoping you did too!!
I appreciate you stopping by, wishing you and yours a healthy, happy weekend - after all it is TGIF!!
~Jill

Printing pictures

I am having some photos made at Walgreens and I was thinking it's probably time to have some black and whites made. My first experience working with B & W's was this time last year, even though they were problematic at first, the end result was really rewarding.
Since I didn't have my blog at the time that I created these I thought I would share them with you now.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a healthy, happy scrappy week!
~Jill

LTC Challenge

This is my entry for the challenge at Live.Teach.Create on their FaceBook page. I struggled with this layout. I wanted to keep the extreme distress edges on the corners of the page so I folded it in the middle, which resulted in a mini pocket. Very strange, and different but it worked. The paper collection is Lemonade something from Basic Gray? The challenge was to express why I scrap, that's easy - it's to remember the good times with my friends / family!!

Thanks for stopping by, hope everyone is having a healthy, happy, scrappy week...♥

~Jill

our Cruise

This layout was "designed" at GASC with my gal pals during our crop (which was awful, btw)- luckily, we made the best of it with girl time. I took a picture of it all laid out so I had an easy repeat on the digital camera (what did we do before digital??)
Thanks for stopping by - - have a happy, healthy, scrappy week!
~Jill ♥

Lookie what I made!!

I picked this little chest up at Hobby Lobby about a month back, I don't remember if it was on sale or if I used a coupon. I do remember it was less than $5. I (of course) had the paper, paints, and mod podge.
This was to be a birthday gift for Emma (my 3 y.o. granddaughter), unfortunately I didn't complete it in time. We are going to Austin next weekend, she will get it then... 3 weeks late! This seems to be my theme song lately, a day late and a dollar short!!
I considered altering it further with flowers and trim/lace, however with her recently turning 3 I thought best not to give into the temptation of destruction...lol.
Have a wonderfully scrappy weekend!
~Jill ♥

Tomorrow I turn 48 years young...♥

However, I celebrated my birthday this past weekend, it was the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington Texas. Even though I only live a little over an hour away, 3 girl friends and myself stayed at the convention center hotel for Thursday and Friday night.
For those of you who follow my blog you know that I hang out at Life on the {scrap} beach. It is a ning site that has the most amazing women, I am blessed to say that I have made friends and met artist from all over the planet that we all share. Kathleen (Kat) who I met thru that site but had never met in person came and stayed with us at GASC, she fit right in with the rest of us crazy broads like a glove...
We were lucky enough to have been joined at GASC with some additional friends that we have met on that site.

I met Tim Holtz while we were there and at the last hour I was also lucky enough to get my picture taken with him (even if straddling the table).


I gave him a copy of the ATC that I made (using his bird cage die) for the beach ATC swap hosted by Hope and he seemed really pleased.My friend, Jenn, gave me a copy of his new book and he was sweet enough to sign it & wish me a happy birthday.

This is a really good friend (BFF ♥ Kim Carey) who I have known since our daughters were in middle school (they are now in their 30's with children of their own). Our sons also grew up together and played sports together forever - what wonderful memories...♥

Lisa and Jill - it was the end of the day and I was pooped!

From left to right - Kim, Jill, Julie (a friend of Kim's who's in way too deep now to ever get away) Look for her to join us on the Beach, & Kathleen
We went out to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and a drink (or two), the food was good, the staff was friendly and especially the company was the BOMB!! The girls got me good with a good old fashioned embarrassing round of "Happy Birthday" sung by the staff!! - all I can say is pay backs sux!! lol

Later that night we took the hotel shuttle to The Fox & Hound where Lisa and her BFF Tracy (who was visiting from Midland) joined us for a night of Shuffleboard, Shots & tying cherry stems into knots.... no explanation necessary!! We were smart to have taken the shuttle cause it forced us to take a taxi at 2:00 am - although a bit pricey, it was cheaper than a DUI!

Lisa enjoying drink #1...of many haahaheee We all have to be VERY sweet to Lisa for the rest of eternity, she has video from this night... rut ro

Kat enjoying a little friendly competition of shuffleboard!!
I want to say a special thank you to the girls who took the Ten Second Studio class with me at GASC, I have been trying to get into one of their classes for over a year and was lucky enough to do so this time, it was even made more special by having friends to share it with. For those of you who do not know Cheryl and Megan from TSS you must start following their Taco Tuesday videos on their web site, I guarantee a laugh, probably more than one, and you will learn tonz along the ride!
THANK YOU ALL!! Please remember what happens in Arlington - STAYS in Arlington!!
And, for those of you who weren't able to join us....there is always next year!!

~Jill ♥

One month later...

This is where I was during NSD, not that I'm complaining mind you, but Vinnie and I were cruising out of Galveston to Mexico. It was our celebration trip for the two of us for having 2 wonderful children. (See, thats what you do when the baby graduates college and finds a great job.) We figured that it was finally time to take a deep breath and pat each other on the back for a job well done!! On the way back to Dallas we stopped in Austin and spent a few days with our daughter and her family (another success story)!!
Yes, I'm still a kid, and had tons of fun playing on the slides on the ship!!

This is Vinnie and I in Cozumel Mexico at Fat Tuesday!

I have been in the loft since our return working on May commitments, of which I took on too many. Tomorrow is "must be post marked" day and I just "might" make it!!
We have the grand babies for Memorial weekend, it is my son-in-laws 30th birthday they are off to Las Vegas to celebrate. While the grand babies are here my son and his fiancée are coming down from OKC to visit and play with the niece and nephew. It promises to be a busy weekend.
Hopefully, I will have time to post some updates of the creations that came out of the loft over the last 2 weeks after the kiddos leave.