First Day of Fall (WooHoo) and a Challenge

First day of fall, and my son's 9th birthday, he's super excited. Yes, we have another birthday in the family. There's actually five in September. I LOVE fall! It's my favorite of all seasons. So yesterday when a cold front blew in to abruptly end the summer (80's on Saturday and it barely made it to 55 yesterday), I was thrilled. It was cloudy and rainy all day. This fall-like weather is supposed to continue through Wednesday and with a freeze warning out it means Indian Summer could be just around the corner. Yeah!! In watching for fall, I see lots of little changes taking place in my backyard. Changes that will probably accelerate with the cooler weather. The bushes along the side of the house are turning hot red, the tree in the back has spots of gold tucked inside and the Autumn Purple Ash has started to turn. As I drive around the city there are spots of color and other signs of the season change. It got me to thinking, what changes are occurring elsewhere. I know the "Gold Rush" has begun in the mountains -- when the Aspens turn brilliant shades of yellow and gold, but what about where you live? Are the leaves starting to change? Are mums blooming in the neighborhood? Have you rotated out your summer linens for fall ones? Dusted off your slow-cooker? What marks the seasonal change for you? Go out and document it -- snap four photos that show the changing season in your neck of the woods. Provide a link in the comment section by Friday night and be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat. Speaking of Treats, my late posting of 5 of Friday, for 6 on Saturday garnered a win for Bessie -- Congrats! Layouts were wonderful, keep them coming! Enjoy (and document) your first day of fall!

Monday Challenge #8 - Color Inspiration

Hello ladies! Happy Monday....hope you had a wonderful weekend. Did you have a little time to scrap? Hope you did. This week's challenge is a color combination for your inspiration. Some of the kits that have this color combo are: Sept. '09 STB Dream Street Sam, Sept. '09 BTB Crate Sprout, June '09 Fancy Pants Delight, May '09 STB Crate Lillian & Cosmo Cricket Lil' Man, and April '09 BTB Bo Bunny Abbey Road. Not a member? Not a problem...use your own stash to make a LO or a card for this challenge.

Here's my take and I used this month kit of the smaller box Dream Street Sam. You can go to Apron Strings website to check it out.

Now on, to last week's winner: Maria. Thank you so much for playing along. You'll have a cookie treat on your next kit.

Thanks to everyone that is playing along...and I hope you have a wonderful week. Until next time....don't forget that you have until Sunday evening to upload your LO or card to the yahoo group or link it here in the comment section.

Happy Monday,

Bessie

5 on Friday? How 'bout 6 on Saturday?

First -- thank you to everyone who wished me and my son a Happy Birthday. As a one year old, your birthday is like any other day -- eat, whine, play, cry, sleep, repeat. As for my own birthday, well, I'm a mom so my day was pretty much business as usual, as well. Pry kids out of bed, breakfast, lunches, shove them out the door, cleaning, shuttle kids back from school, pleas to "just get your homework done," dinner, soccer practices and cooking lessons, followed by showers, baths and bed. BUT in between the usual, I did manage to get coffee with my husband. I had one sister drop by to pick up some kits (she's apparently on a scrapbooking kick -- lucky girl) and my mom came by with some super yummy cheesecake samples from a local cheesecake bakery. My husband picked-up a yummy lemon coconut cake from another local bakery - delish! Then my daughter came home with cheesecake bites from her cooking class. So it was a Sa-Weet, birthday. Then another small moment before everyone went to bed I opened a card and gift from my kids and husband. So along with the mundane, there were perks to the day -- and isn't that what makes any day special? Somehow yesterday went by without a single thought about 5 on Friday. I have no idea how that happened -- I was actually home all day, had little in the way of chores and there were no after school activities -- maybe that's the reason. It was too quiet. I'd hate to not have you scrapbooking and using "well, there was no 5 on Friday" as your excuse, so let's do 6 on Saturday. :D

• 1 sheet of cardstock - color 1
• 1 sheet of cardstock - color 2
• 1 sheet patterned paper
• 1 tag
• 1 frame
• 1 set of brads

Just like on Fridays, outside of the above listed items you're only allowed journaling and a title. We'll call this due on Sunday night -- linked in the comment section will earn you a shot at a Cookie Jar Treat.

Thank you again for the lovely birthday wishes. Since it's soccer mom Saturday, I'm off to round up boys and their gear and head off to the fields for the afternoon. It's looking to be a gorgeous day here in Colorado, deep blue sky, tiny hints of color in trees, just a touch of crispness in the air and a nice breeze to cool me off as I stand in the sun on the sidelines!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Birthday Wishes.....

Hey ladies, shhhhh, where's Lori? Hopefully getting a nice spa treatment somewhere in CO. Well, today is her birthday, so help me give her warm birthday wishes. I don't know about you, but I've always thoughts that is the little details in life that counts....and any little thing can make someone's day or smile. Lori, on behalf of all your members at Apron Strings and our amazing blog readers we wish you the best of birthdays. May the Lord bless you with health and lots of love....today and always...for many, many years to come. We can't express what an amazing woman you are...and how you deserve the best...so that's exactly what we wish for you. Enjoy your day! :-) Happy Birthday, Your AS members and blog readers. P.S. It's also our Sous Chef, Kristi's birthday, so Happy Birthday Kristi. P.S.S. Happy Birthday to Matthew as well (Lori's youngest son - yesterday was his birthday.)

Use Those Scraps - Fall Canvas

Hey there, it's Maria. Have you had a chance to go through your September kit? There are some fabulous papers and embellishments in both kits this month. I had the privilege of working with the Smaller Than a Breadbox kit for this month. After finishing up my layouts and a few cards, I had enough scraps left to make this canvas: Normally, I don't venture too much outside the realm of layouts, mini-albums and cards. But, I had this 12x12 inch blank canvas (a Big Lots find for $5.00!) sitting around my scrap area for many, many months and I finally got brave enough to use it. I wanted to share how I created this canvas, it's very easy to do. First, I took the canvas and rubbed it with a very light coat of Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink. (I used a makeup sponge to apply the ink.) This took some of the brightness away from the white canvas. I'm a fan of all things linear, so I started with a grid. I cut the papers with a square Sizzix die - 3 3/4 inch square - I used a mix of the Dream Street and Pink Paislee papers. Next I distressed each edge and inked them with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I adhered each square with FabricTac glue, it holds quickly and has a great bond. To create the photo frames, I again used a Sizzix die (postage stamp frames). I cut out some recycled chipboard, inked with the Distress Ink and then covered the frames with Distress Stickles. I also die cut (Cuttlebug die) some recycled chipboard leaves, inked with various Distress Inks and Stickled a few as well. In each square I used a combination of kit embellishments, leftovers from previous kits (the green Maya Road pin and the Maya Road chipboard tree were from a March kit), die cut chipboards and some fall quotes. That's it! It really came together rather quickly and is an easy way to create a display piece. I'm already planning ahead for a Christmas canvas. Maria

Tuesday Catch-All

Typically it will take me a few hours to create a blog post. Not because I'm that slow, but because I'm usually multi-tasking while I'm composing; house chores, work chores, baby wants to help, school pick-up -- you name it, I'm probably doing it. Today though, we'll see if I can do this in one sitting. It'll help that it's going to be short and sweet. Lucky you! :) It was so great to see the layouts from the 5 on Friday -- more ladies, more layouts! I love that. You realize, of course, that I enjoy it because I crop vicariously through you all. Sad, but true. Keep 'em coming and watch for this week's 5 on Friday. Speaking of 5 on Friday, I have a winner, provided by random.org -- Briel! Congrats, you'll find a treat in your next shipment. This week's Monday Challenge from Bessie is a great one since both September kits have diecut papers in them; both Bigger kits and the My Mind's Eye page kit in the Smaller. How easy is this challenge now?? Just go grab some photos. See -- short and sweet. I can't ramble on when I have pressing matters -- laundry to finish, a few kits to wrap up and get out, Sous Chef October kits (which are totally awesome - yes, I was in H.S. in the 80's) to get ready to go and best, of the best, November kits to select and get ordered, I have two of the five paper lines . . . choices, choices. Then there's soccer practice and the last of the back-to-school nights tonight. And so, I'm off. . .have a great Tuesday. OH, watch for Maria's post tomorrow on creating her beautiful and easy-to-do (love that) 12x12 canvas. Now I'm done.

Monday Challenge #7 - Die Cut Papers

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This week's challenge was very challenging, lol, it sure helped me step out of my comfort zone. I hope you take the challenge too. So, this challenge is to use a die cut paper as your background, whatever shape you like. I chose a scalloped circle one, but you can choose any other shape. The white background that you see here its just for photo purpose, my LO is not glue to it. :-) So here is my take: Hope to see yours! Remember, you have until Sunday evening to upload your creation to the group or link it here for a chance to win a yummy cookie jar treat. Talking about cookie jar treats...this time around our winner is Briel according to random.org. Briel, thank you for playing along. This was a very touching LO for me...as well as for you. Here's her take: Lastly, this month is National Sewing Month, so if you want a second chance to win...add some stitching to your LO, it can be hand stitch or machine stitch...no rub-ons or stickers please...sorry ;-) Thanks to everyone who's playing along...and I hope you have a wonderful week. Bessie