Spring Beauty

Everything around here is really coming to life.  Flowers abound and colors are spectacular.  For the 2nd year in a row our Bradford Pear Tree has bloomed.  It wasn't loaded with blooms, but there were quite a few blooms throughout the tree.  We planted a crabapple tree at the same time as the pear tree.  It had never bloomed.  I noticed this week that it has!!  Very exciting.

I took some photos of the pear tree in bloom.  One of the photos was pretty eye popping.  The bright sky behind the flowers makes the picture stand out.  I really wanted to scrap this photo for the 52 Hour Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  I wanted to join this week's challenge at Lasting Memories as well.  The challenge is "Hopping Into Spring".  The perfect subject for my spring flowers.  They also have a nice sketch as inspiration, which I used.

And here is my page....

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge is Hexagons.  I used some Nikki Sivils paper as the background mat for the photo that has has hexagons and bees on it.  The I remembered that I had a bee charm that I got years ago and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.  I'm so glad I remembered I had it.

Thanks for looking.  I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

There's Tessa

It's been a crazy and busy past couple of weeks. Since I finished my calendar I have not had the time to create much. I did make the time to get a layout done for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. I am trying really hard not to use a pass. So far I have been successful.

The page I created, of course, was based on a sketch. I used the Boy's Rule sketch from March 15th. I really loved it. I love all of their sketches. But as time drew closer to the end of the challenge, I had to choose one to use. This one stayed right in my head and I had some photos that I thought would work well with it.

Just an awesome sketch. And here is my take on it.....

These are photos of Tessa walking around on the stone wall by our side garden. At first we didn't know where she was. She came peeping out from behind the tree when we called her. I loved the position she was in. She was wearing a purple barrette, so I wanted to match that with the papers. I really like this page.

I am also using it as my entry into the Name challenge at SnC. The challenge is to use someone's first name in the title.

My March Page

Well, I did it. I finally finished my calendar. I have one more post after this one for a page I completed yesterday. I will make posts after that of both calendars in order.

This is my March page. I followed Sketch #202 at Creative Scrappers. I was having a hard time finding the right sketch for the photo I wanted to use. I almost searched for a different picture to. But, once I saw this sketch, I thought it was perfect for this page.


The photo on this page was taken by Stew last year, one day that he was home and I was at work. He was so excited that he actually got a good photo of the boys.


I am also entering this page into Scratastic Club's Challenge #3 for March which was to include a banner and staples. I have a staple on the center circle on the banner, 2 staples at the bottom of tehe orange strip of paper and 2 at the top of the green strip of paper.

I am so excited to have this done. I hope you will stop back by and check my next posts. I hope to make one tonight or tomorrow night. Thanks for looking.

My July Page

I completed another page for my calendar last night. I'm almost done now. I can't wait to get it done and hung up in my office.

For this page I followed the March 30th sketch at Boys Rule. I totally love their sketches. I try to make it a priority to use them.


The photo is of Harley and Tessa on the first day we brought her home last year. Harley was totally in love. All of these dogs are incredibly close. Harley and Tessa especially.


I am also entering this into Scraptastic Club's March Challenge #5 to use 20 of one embellishment. I used 20 white pearls on the 9 butterflies on this page.

I am also entering this page into the 5 Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. We are to use 5 different patterned paper on our page.

Thanks for looking. You will see more posts later with my remaining pages.

My August Page

Well, the weekend is about over. And I did not meet my goal of completing my calendar. I was only able to get 2 more pages done today.

I did my April page this morning before leaving for our dog classes. And this evening while dinner was cooking I put together my August page.

For the August page I used the current sketch for Let's Get Sketchy. I really liked this sketch, so I really wanted to get a page done before the deadline, even though I really didn't have time.


I have been dying to use the Picadilly collection from Basic Grey that I won from Scrappin'-n-Chattin' for last month's challenges. So that is what I used for this page as well as the April page.

The August page is dedicated to Lola. Her birthday was the 15th of August, just like mine. She died unexpectedly on New Year's Eve, so I wanted to create special pages for her in our calendars. The photo is a collage of a few of the photos I had of her.



I used 5 papers from the collection, so I am also entering this page into the April challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin' to use 5 different patterned papers on your layout.

My new goal is to get the calendar done during the week. I'm going to fold some clothes now, but when that's done, I will plan my page for tomorrow. Thanks for looking.