Altered Journal Swap Sneak Peeks

I'm hard at work on the journals for my altered journal swap, so I thought I'd share a few sneak peeks.  If you are my swap partners -- no peeking!  Avert your eyes!

This swap has been really fun.  I will be sure to share full photos after I get these journals in the mail.  I had the same basic idea for both journals, but my swap partners wanted different colors: one is into neutrals, and the other is more of a pink and aqua gal.  So, I got to create two very different looks.

Back soon with the full reveal!  Hope you're having a great week!

Fun with Decoupage

My sweet oldest baby girl is now 11 years old.  It's hard for me to wrap my head around how this happy little toddler could possibly already be a "tween!"  Ugh!  To celebrate her birthday, she wanted a slumber party with a "Night in Paris" theme.  I came up with an art project for the girls, in keeping with the theme.

Using flat canvases (available in packs of 8 at Michael's), we made decoupage collages with antique papers, old sheet music, French-themed scrapbooking papers, and all sorts of fun embellishments (including lace, of course!).  Here's the sample that I made so the girls could see a finished project:

I did several layers of paper, used lots of distressing ink, added lace and flower trims, and at the very end, embellished with bronze-colored Stickles (I love that stuff). The whole process took a couple of days, so that each layer had time to dry.

Here's the busy project table that the girls used at the party:

And here's the birthday girl's project, almost finished:

This was a fun, multi-step project that kept the girls busy in small doses over the course of the evening.  I think they enjoyed it, and their artwork really looked fabulous!

All that said, if anyone has a magic potion that will turn my tween back into a 5-year-old, please pass it along!

Odds & Ends

I love this new paper line from Cosmo Cricket.  It's got a great vintage vibe, and neat lacey accents.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us here -- summer has arrived!!  My goals for the summer include scrapbooking (scrapbooking and more scrapbooking -- I'm so behind!) and some personal crafting time.  I'd like to get back to stitching, and I've joined my first ever tag swap, which is exciting.  I'm also writing again, so I'm trying to find time for that.  And, of course, summer is full of down time and play time with my girls.

What are your summer plans?  Any new papers you've found for inspiration?

Bookmarks for my Bookworms

I haven't had a lot of time for creating lately, but I bought some new scrapbooking supplies that I couldn't wait to use!  My older daughter saw the chipboard embellishments from this line and fell in love with the gumball machine, and that got me thinking: rather than use the chipboard for a scrapbook page that would rarely be seen, I decided to make bookmarks that my girls could use and enjoy every day.  This darling paper, with its vintage book design, is just the perfect thing for a bookmark!

I added some embellishments from my stash -- no reason a bookmark can't be girly, right?

I also decorated the back, adding some pretty papers and making a little pocket with a secret note in it for each of my girls.

This was a quick, fun little project!  It was fun to make something again!