Finding Joy!

Wow!  It has been very long time since I blogged on here. Our store, Scrapbooking's Inn closed several years ago and it was bittersweet.  I have found my true passion in helping people with Reiki sessions, and using holistic approaches to healing.  You can check out my website at http://www.erikaessentialyou.com/  I still love to be creative in scrapbooking and other crafts so I plan on posting more projects here.  I hope my blog inspires you to be creative in any way that you love to.   I will be back soon. Until then, Happy Crafting!

Fabscraps!  I love you!  This company is located in Africa and I love their collections.  It is rare for them to discontinue a line.  I recently introduced their "Rustic" Collection to my customers in my store, Scrapbooking's Inn.
http:www.scrapbookingsinnllc.com  We are located in Hellertown, PA.  If you live in the area or passing through town, come visit us!

 I created this layout for an upcoming class. 

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead...

This is a little old, but I had to share this.
So February my daughter wanted to have a "Wizard of Oz" themed birthday party.  I thought, "oh boy this should be interesting".  How was I going to keep the cost down for this.

Well, we ended up hiring a very talented face painter for an hour and we had themed games and cupcakes. 2 Hours and the kids had a blast.

I created this banner with a pendant banner I won at my yearly Scrapbook retreat (this is non business related trip that my husband treats me to for my birthday every year).

I glued gingham patterned paper on it with some themed stickers.  The rosettes were made with a rosette diecut from Stampin' Up! using the big shot.  The letters of my daughter's name was stamped and circle punched.  It is simple and sweet.

 

Here is a close up . . . 

I borrowed a handful of themed library books to display around the house . . .

 

I got a themed poster that I used as a back drop for photo taking of each child's painted face.

Then my daughter sent each child a thank you card with the photo.

I got spiral lollipops and put them in little blue pails with fake grass.  The lollipops didn't taste that great but they made a cute center piece.

 

I must have forgotten to take a photo of the cupcakes.  I displayed them on the white two-tiered stand.
I made half chocolate and half vanilla cake.  The icing was white vanilla whipped topping.  I do recommend using a cake decorating bag and pipe the icing on like you would soft serve ice cream (in a circular motion).  It is so much quicker that spreading the icing.

I used a green vinyl table cloth and had yellow and green streamers hanging in the dining room. I used a yellow streamer on the table as the "yellow brick road" and had the wicked witch, Toto and Dorothy figurines displayed as well.

Each kid got a goody basket filled with themed candy and lip gloss.  This was probably the most expensive part of the decorating.  Goody bags sure add up, but I was running out of time to think of my own ideas.

For games, we had a rainbow pinata and I drew a Tin Man on poster board for "Pin the Heart on the Tin Man".   I also found a "Wizard of Oz" themed Adventure Game Capsule.

The kids also played Bop-It.

It was a fun time for all!  Now I must start planning for next year . . .

Fun project

A customer came to Amy and I and wanted a "My Adventure Book"  scrapbook like the one in the movie "UP!".  Well we had two days to come up with an idea and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of creating this.  He didn't want any photos scrapbooked in it, so we gave him decorative black photo corners to use (also were in the scrapbook in the movie).

This is our creation . . .

If you would like one, we would be happy to make you one.  Just contact me at scrapbooksbyerika@gmail.com for more information.

Here is a little spin off of the Adventure Book.  My daughter's school was celebrating Teacher Appreciation week.  The classroom parent, Carrie decided to have each child finish a sentence about their teacher and kindergarten class and draw a picture.  Then Carrie and I put the children's work into a scrapbook.

This is what we came up with . . .

 

The only difference with the cover of this one is the colors and I added some stickers from a Close To My Heart paper kit I had.

You are my Valentine...

Finally have some time to get my latest works on my blog...

In January, my family and I fell in love with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and found the puppy of our dreams!  I made this 3-panel collage as a sample to teach a Moms Club group at my store.  They wanted to make it as a Valentine's Day Gift for their husbands.
I made mine about the day we brought home our new puppy.

 This is the inside . . .

and this is the left and right side on the outside . . .

 

I used BoBunny paper and distressed the edges with a brown stamping ink.

October HIS Challenge

Here is my layout for the October HIS Challenge. 
Go to: www.happyinspirationalscrappin.blogspot.com to enter this months challenge.

I actually used pet paper from Bella Blvd.  I really liked the patterns on the other side.
I distressed the tags with ink and I added "cajun craze" ink from Stampin' Up! to add a vintage look to the background paper.

September HIS Challenge

I am a little behind in my posting, but here is September's HIS Challenge.
I used some old paper I had with coordinating cardstock and ribbon.  I cut the leaf our with the Cricut and distressed the edges with ink.  It is a simple layout for 1 photo.  I liked how it came out.