Swirlydoos' August Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party

Welcome to Swirlydoos' August Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!! Have you SEEN this month's Passion Berry Kit???  Well, you are in for a treat! 



If you came here from Rae's blog (http://scrappingfancy.blogspot.com), then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog (http://www.swirlydoos.blogspot.com) and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today!! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

We were provided with a gorgeous sketch from the uber talented Beggahuna to work with this month - here's my take...

I love using the packaging from various products - they often have the perfect tones and textures to compliment your projects.

I opted for some square embellishments in place of the photos that were originally in the sketch.  Keep in mind, sketches are meant to inspire you to create so whatever you come up with artistically is just perfect - regardless of how closely it 'matches' your sketch.

 

Included in this Passion Berry kit was the most beautiful acrylic glaze which matched seamlessly with the bold, bright hues found in the pink papers.

I used it to stain some white flowers I had in my stash and they came out just wonderfully.

To make my flowers stretch a little further, embellishment-wise, I tore off the centers of most of them and saved for other areas of my project.  I then smooched up the larger base of the flower and secured with some tacky glue for a more dimensional looking bloom.

 

 More scrunched up blooms with those gorgeous stick pins - so awesome!

 

My last creation with the August Kit.  AHHHHH the fence!! LOVED this embellishment and I actually cut it in half and used on another one of my layouts as well.  Tons of fussy cutting on this project with more painted blooms.  Its good to mix up your embellishments - 3D & 2D, different textures as well as different mediums so that your layout doesn't have a 'flat' look in the end.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday 8/7 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 8/8. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : "mature"

The party continues over at Paulien's blog (http://paulienvandenbosch.blogspot.com). Have fun!

Here is the order and blog addresses:

Swirlydoos CLICK HERE
Rae CLICK HERE
Tara CLICK HERE
Paulien CLICK HERE
Angelica CLICK HERE
Andie CLICK HERE
Lisa CLICK HERE
Back to Swirlydoos!!

Thanks so much for your visit.  Come back anytime!

Miss Me??

EGAWD! Where does the time go in the summer!?  We've done a few camping trips, day trips, playdates, etc. etc! The weather has been unreal for the entire month of July - can't stand it.  Today and yesterday were the first icky days since school was let out.  I love it and am soooo grateful that the kids have managed to stay occupied for the most part - rather than tearing each other's heads off!

I've got a few scrappy projects to share with you all but thought I'd spread them out over the next few days.  The entire family (my peeps, sis, bro and their significant others) is headed to Hawaii in less than a week - CANNOT wait!!!  Until then, here's a layout I created with Bo Bunny's Key Lime Collection - my sis and I in Hawaii a few years back.  Looooove it there!

Enjoy your weekend!  Be back in a few with some more scrappy stuff to share.

A Camping We Will Go

Okay, let me just preface this by stating that I RREEEEAAAALLLLYYY do not like camping - the bugs, the dirt the noise, the lack of privacy... but I really love my kids - a lot and for whatever reason, they adore camping. So, this past weekend I sucked it up and headed out for 3 days.

Golden Ears Campground on Alouette Lake - was absolutely breathtaking. 

We made it!! First things first - nature walk!!

The lake was gorgeous, super clean and absolutely FREEZING!  I'm talking glacier here people!! 

I honestly think kids feel the cold differently than adults do.  They were all in the water in a matter of seconds - didn't even phase them.

I on the other hand, took a GOOD 20 min to get use to that frigid water - holy mother of gawd it was COLD!

Oh my, do I ever love camping - this is SUPER fun, not cold at all (as you can tell by my stiff stance) - trying to look as natural as possible - LOL!

Daddy snuggles...

He just loved the water - first one in and the last one out and then spent the rest of the time searching for treasures and the perfect skipping rocks.

This kept the boys occupied for quite some time - blissful until the batteries wore out (then all hell broke loose)

 The best part of the night! The kids were soooo looking forward to roasting marshmallows.

 Yummo!

In case you're wondering how to make the perfect smore, THIS is the perfect ratio of chocolate to marshmallow to graham cracker...

 There were lots of silly times, lots of fun, lots of UNO and 31 and poker and go fish!

 

We were back at the beach first thing the last few days - loved it and the weather was totally beautiful the entire time - huge bonus!

 I'm on top of the world!! She made claim to the 'rock/mountain' and called it the daddyeden rock.

Our campground, although not exactly the most private, was the perfect mix of sun and shade.  Right before dinner just a peeking of sunshine hinted through the trees - so beautiful (still don't like camping)

I have to say, I was expecting MUCH worse.  Bugs - yup, but not horrible.  Dirt - yep, but there were showers (which I made use of - couldn't help myself) Privacy - such is the camping life - totally nonexistent.  Would I do it again............

I could swing a once a year camping trip with the family for sure.  But honestly, 3 days is my total limit!! What's this talk of a week or 2 camping?!  Are you people insane!?  HAHA!!  Sorry for the long post - maybe I took so many photos because I knew it would be awhile before I'd be in the wilderness again.....