Stars and Stripes

happy independence day friends! I am thankful to be off today and hope to enjoy some fireworks this evening on the river. Just have to start packing the picnic basket and do a few little things around the house then we will head out in a few hours.

I wanted to pop in and share a little door decor that I made last week using a pre-painted heart that I found at dollar tree. It was already decked out in stars and stripes. I just added some pod modge with some paper I had with vintage freedom stamps. I also used my Tim Holtz distress ink in vintage photo to 'antique' it a bit. All that was left to do is add a burlap bow and hang it on the door!

Here are a few pictures:

Other than that, I am officially done with designing for Frosted Designs for the next 6 months at least. I have really enjoyed the past year with this team and it was a hard decision for me to make. I have made many scrappy friends from all over the world, and have been so inspired by their work. I just felt like it was the best decision, I just got a promotion at work, we are trying to help get Jimmys mom moved out here by the end of the year and we are also starting the process of looking for a home ourselves to purchase in Portland...so needless to say alot going on. In the midst of that I would really like to enjoy the awesomness that is an Oregon summer and get my Etsy shop back up and running. I have lots of ideas of things I would like to do, just have to get a few of them going and listed!! So that means I hope to have lots of crafty fun stuff to share with you for the rest of the year! Stay tuned for off the page projects, wall decor, layouts, mini albums, cards, and art journal pages! I can't wait to get started.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

FDFF Challenge: Up, Up & Away!

Hello friends. It's another late night here in the Hollister home. I tend to find that I am more and more of a night owl these days. It's not something I've been doing on purpose- staying up until all hours, I just find sometimes that I do my best work then. I enjoy retreating  back to my little scraproom, however small it may be, and spending sometime with all my lovely things, Pandora, a cup of hot tea usually, and Carmella (my kitty!) as my companion. She has her own little fluffy chair right by my Cricut station!

I'm talking about all this because it brings me to this conclusion- scrapbooking is not just simply a hobby for me, it's a release. It's therapy. It's comfort. It's joy. And tonight as I started to think about how I could tackle this challenge, I came across some photos of my Peepaw from 2011. I immediately started tearing up looking at his warm, friendly face. He's no longer with us, and he was such a rock for my family. He was someone I could always go to and ask for help, whether it was advice or simply help with my math homework. He had a full, long life, one to be proud of. After we lost my Meemaw, he even volunteered at the hospital for several years as a way to deal with his grief. He was sort of the unofficial 'mayor' because he was so well known in town. I looked up to him so much. Looking at these photos of his overjoyed expression when he was asked to be a member of Honor Flight South Alabama #6 just made me remember so many happy times with him. The HFSA is a non profit organization that sponsors veterans of WW2 from all 4 branches of the military to get the chance to visit the WW2 monument in Washington D.C. which was just dedicated in 2004. My Peepaw was in the Navy, and I know that this day was a very memorable day in his life! He also got 5 minutes of fame when he was interviewed on our local TV station. I am so honored still to this day to call him my Peepaw, he was such a great man.

Honor Flight Special WKRG News 5

Ok, sorry about all the mushy stuff! Here's the pictures of my layout. I did a simpler style that I usually do because I didn't want to take away from these special photos. 

So there's plenty of time now if you want to play along with our challenge! Here's the all the info:

 Up, Up & Away- your project or layout must include: things that go up... clouds, birds, planes, kites, butterflies, etc. and be uploaded to the Frosted Designs by March 28th. Good luck! You could win some awesome stuff from our Sponsor: Creative Chaos.

Ok Friends, until next time, Peace Y'all! And thanks for listening :)