Around the Yard | Early Summer

I was so inspired by Ali Edward's blog post about her yard last week.  Inspired enough to grab my camera and take photos of my own yard.  Makes sense, since my husband and I spend so much time working on it and enjoying it.

We're coming up on our 10 year anniversary in this place.  We built here, so all of the landscaping--ALL of it--was done by us.   The first year, we did the front yard, putting the lawn and landscaping in.

It has gone through a few changes here and there, but for the most part, much of it is the same. 

I designed the beds after studing yards I liked, and reading online.  We had a lot of practice in our starter home, so I knew the plants/shrubs I liked.  It has filled in nicely, and the upkeep isn't too bad. 

Around the side of our garage area above.  Going to plant a tree here in the fall.  I am excited about the prospect of more privacy.


This is the view as you enter the back yard.

We have a 720 gallon pond in our backyard.  And I love it.  I had no idea what I was doing when we dug a hole.  But with research, a great local gardener who specializes in water features, and tenacity, it has worked out well for us.

I'm a freak over hydrangeas.  I have 14 of them in the yard--in 5 different varieties.  I cut flowers all summer long, and always have an arrangement in our house.  One of my favorite things about gardening, honestly.

We have a big paver patio.  And we literally LIVE here in the summer.  Normally there is a basketball hoop here, but we put it in the garage for my niece's party, and it has yet to make it back outside.  We eat dinner every evening, weather permitting, right here.

The back corner of our property, and my daughter's favorite place to hide away and read.

I grow a lot of lavender.  The smell in the yard right now is intoxicating.

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It is our haven, our oasis, gathering place. 

I plan to do another post in the early fall, showing the progression and growth as the seasons change.  Feel free to ask questions--I'll do my best to answer!

Enjoy your day!

Thanks again, Becky.

The day after I saw this post on Becky Higgin's blog, I created my own Instagram collage and had it printed at Costco.  The best six bucks I spent all week!  Thanks for the inspo, BH!

Enjoy your day!

Packing for a trip...

I wanted to share this article on how to pack 10 days of clothing into a carry on bag, since it really is that time of year to head out and relax.  Pretty amazing read.  I think I'm going to give it a shot!!

Enjoy your day!

Rules for Mothers with Daughters.

I read this article found on Pinterest, and had to share.  Oh, it hit a lot of sensitive spots with me.  Feeling kinda sentimental toward the end of school here, realizing how fast these kiddos are growing.  I hope you enjoy the read, too.

Enjoy your day!

Homemade Backdrop

After reading this article, I had to go out and make my own ribbon backdrop.   The perfect way to use up the crazy amount of extra ribbon I have, too.  I used what I had.  Yep.  I had that much.


It was great, because I really used up a lot of scraps, and didn't spend any cash.  It went together in about an hour, and I love how it turned out!  I can't wait to use it on an upcoming photoshoot, too. 
Enjoy your day!

Graduation Party Details

This past weekend, we had the honor of hosting a grad party for our niece, Taylor. Wanted to share a few details of the celebration today...

I made her invitation using one of her favorite senior photos.  They went out with the grad announcements...

After searching Pinterest, I knew I wanted to make an area for cookies.  I used a chalkboard and waxed bags to help carry the idea out.  People filled their bags with cookies and took them home as favors.

Taylor on the left, our daughter on the right. 

You might remember the "M" I made using foam core here.  I used her school colors (blue and white), along with the "M" for "Midview."

I scored these mini treat boxes, and filled them with m&m's  They were fun!

We were lucky enough to have great weather, and enjoyed the evening with friends and family.  So proud of her...

Enjoy your day!

Strawberry Mango Salsa

A friend passed this recipe along, raving about how much she loved it. So today, I'm sharing it with you. She found it on McConkie Menu's blog, and it is to be served with cinnamon sugar pita chips. YUM!!

Strawberry Mango Salsa
3/4 Cup Strawberries, finely diced
3/4 Cup Mangos, finely diced
1/4 Cup Red Onion, finely chopped
6 Basil Leaves, finely chopped
1 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp.
 Black Pepper

Combine all ingredients and allow to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, covered.

Enjoy your day!

What's inspiring me lately...

This time of year has me crazy busy. While I love being occupied, I struggle with finding balance and patience. I'm the type that has a list of "to do" items a mile long, but instead of addressing any of them, I start a craft and avoid life. Oy. So to that end, I'm going to share what's inspiring me lately around here, amongst the flurry of activity...

Finishing up the last of the senior pictures this season.  The session I did last week was of a dear friend's daughter, and it was on the most beautiful farm.  I want to relocate because of it...

Both boys and their adorable coach (my hubs)  in travel soccer.  This season, the families and boys have really gotten along and bonded.  I look forward to seeing them at games (good thing--with practice and games, they all practically live together!)  Nice to see my kids really fall in love with something, and to hang with fun people who get it.

My daughter.  What a difference a year makes.  She's finishing up her first year of middle school, inhaling books like its nobody's business, and is almost booked solid for the summer with babysitting jobs.  She blows me away.  So proud of her.

This felt pillow and the chair its adorning.  Arhaus, I love you.

My kindergartener's artwork.  Makes me melt.  I want to savor this last week of school with him.

Finishing another round of scrapbooks for my son's 3rd grade classroom.  This year's book included washi tape and die cuts, along with printouts and photos from their year.  The kids always love this project.  (You can view last year's project here.)

And last but not least, working in the yard.  Pretty rewarding, although there is a lot to do.  Working on a container garde this year, along with planting more of my favorite hydrangea bushes.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Enjoy your day, and BE INSPIRED!!

My Trends

Hey everyone! Jamie here... Just wanting to share a little bit of what is trending in my studio these days... in hopes that maybe it might inspire you just a tad.

There are several go to elements that I am seeing popping up on my layouts recently. Well...let me quantify that statement. Actually, I find I am not doing traditional layouts as much as I use to. ProjectLife has taken over some of that in my story telling this year. So to sit down and do an actual layout is not what it use to be. But when I DO take the time to layout a project, there are a few themes that keep popping up.
Seam binding is one of those elements. I have to use seam binding on everything. I think it's a bit of an obsession. And I usually coffee-dye before using it on my project.
Misting is sort of a new technique being found everywhere on my pages too. I fell in love with paint splatters about 2 years ago when I took a class from Debee over at InspireLovely. And I have been hooked ever since. And you can see too that I used the thickers from the kit as a mask to spell 'derby' for part of my title.

A soft palette, or at least a thematic palette is one of my approaches to my layouts. I love patterns and hues that have a consistent theme about them. Like the layout that I am highlighting here. This is one of the pages from the June gallery for WIPkits.  I stayed with two color themes for the most part. The reddish-pinkish hue from my daughter's shirt is picked up in some of the pattern from the 7gypsies paper, plus the mist that is sprayed on the cardstock. It really shows up better in real life, but the tone from her derby pie is what set the tone for  the gold that is used in the rest of the layout. 

Layering is another approach I am loving right now. I start with the photo. Then add tags, tape, die cuts. banners, pattern paper under and around the photo to give it depth and feel.
And one other item of abundant usage is sequins. Love the soft subtle pop of bling with the sequins right now.
You should be seeing some of these items on more of my projects here in the near future. That is until something else becomes my 'go to' and 'have-to-have" elements and techniques.
Stay tuned.

File Folder Mania

You may remember this layout from the May Work In Progress kit...

I used several of the paper and embellishments...

To tell the story of how we spent Easter this year.
But then I worked them into one layout...and it looks like this::

See how all the pages peak out from underneath each other?
In line with my little personal file folder obsession these days, I made these three layouts into one layout by making it interactive.
The three of them are stacked on top of each other, and then attached to a 12x12 piece of card stock.

Masking tape was used to simply bind the separate layouts together.

 Here is a look at the third and final page against the 12x12.

Now I will either place the whole layout into a 12x12 page protector and add it to our ProjectLife2012 album in one piece...
or I can slit the 12x12 allowing the pages to open freely while the foundation of the page rests in it's page protector. Either way would work perfect for me.

Really like how to tell a story like this with multiple photos yet in a file folder format.
You may be seeing more of the same. {wink}.