Summertime in OCNJ

I've been working on some more layouts. This one uses not only my Expression, but also a bunch of newly purchased products, including Sure Cuts A Lot 2. While I'm still going to buy Cricut cartridges, I thought it was a good investment for when I'm only looking for a certain type of image or a title for a layout. I found mine on Pumpkin Crart Crafts and got it for $54, plus I got a $10 gift card to use on svgcuts.com blog. That's where I found the "Summer time" title. It was one of their free downloads.

The paper I used is from the My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine Boy kit. I thought the paper would be great for summer pictures at the beach. These pictures are from my son's first time in Ocean City, New Jersey. He was just over a year old and had such light blond hair, you can hardly see it! I love how you can see the ferris wheel in the background in the picture where he's sitting on my shoulders.

I used my Simply Charmed cart to cut the bucket and shovel and the beach ball.

The stamp underneath the beach ball is from Fiskars' Good Times Quotes set which I won on a blog hop. I used my Versamark ink and white embossing powder to make it pop off the brown paper.

I still need to add my journaling onto the tab at the bottom, but other than that, this layout is done.

Enjoy!

Two Blog Awards

Two of my newest followers, Gina and Martha, were kind enough to give me blog awards recently.

Gina over at Ginascraftingspot gave me a Stylish Blogger Award. She's alomost at 100 followers, so I'm sure she'd love it if you stop by.

As part of the award, you share 8 things about yourself and let others know about 8 new blogs you've found recently. (I combined my awards to come up with 8 total)

Here are som fun facts about me.

1. We have an 11 year old border collie named Skeets.
2. I just finished reading the Hunger Game series and thought it reminded me of a teen version of the 80's movie, "The Running Man."
3. My brother has red hair.
4. Had my first "Rita's" of the season last night...Mint Chocolate Chip cream ice.
5. Just reached 100,000 miles on my car.
6. Is in the midst of planning my 20th High School reunion...when did I get so old!
7. Am looking forward to an upcoming "girls weekend" in NYC with my BFF.
8. I am buying a Martha Stewart Score Board today using my 50% off coupon from Michaels! LOL

New Blogs i've found. Not all of these awards are for card making or scrapbooking, but they are all really crafty ladies and have fantastic ideas to share.

1. Fingerprints on the Fridge
2. Eighteen 25
3. Moxie Fab World
4. Meesh's Pieces
5. Love is in the Details

I also got a Leibster Award from Martha at The Card Boutique.

Martha has some crazy good designs and she's a party planning girl like me. Check out her blog to see the amazing safari party she recently did for her boys. A Liebster Blog Award is a way to let others know about new blogs. It's a great way to check out new blogs that you might not have known about before.

Here are the other three blogs I've found recently that I am loving!

1. Dreaming in Scraps

2. Happy Life, Crafty Wife

3. The Polka Dot Spot

Thanks Gina and Martha!