*shares*

This blog has been looking a little deserted lately, but it isn't for a lack of love. We've been so busy winding down the last of Hazel's cheerleading season, which finally ended at their national competition this past weekend at Myrtle Beach. We made a small family vacation out of it, and really enjoyed ourselves. Plus, her team came in 4th! Go Storm Tiny Twisters! Here's a quick snap of her and a couple of friends with their team trophy...



Hazel had a great time competing, checking out the aquarium, eating some fabulous (and some not-so-fabulous) seafood, and swimming with her teammates at an indoor pool. And hopefully, it won't be long before we can do something fun like that again. Now, I have the kids at my great aunt and uncle's beach condo for a week. Unfortunately, Bryan had to return home... such is the military life. I'm trying to enjoy myself here. It's a bit of a stretch to actually call this a vacation with a going-through-the-terrible-two's-year-old and a precocious almost-five-year-old in tow. But, I'm trying... I'm really trying here, people. It isn't often that we get very far outside of Fayetteville, might as well make the best of it.

Speaking of the best of it... Label Tulip's March kit, in my opinion, was the best of the best. I LOVED everything in it! It is one of my favorite kits that we've had in quite some time. I just wish I had more time to play with it, and wasn't rushing through everything trying to get ready for this trip. (Did I mention that I had to help make 60 goodie bags for the girls, a bunch of signs, and decorate some cow bells... all last week?) Nonetheless, I did get to make some pages that are my personal faves I've made in quite some time!



I lovie this page! Love, love, love it!!! I'd been dying to get my hands on some of those new Gal Friday papers, and they were even more perfect in person. I'd been hanging onto these old photos of Hazel's first time on a bike, and that little biker babe from the Sass papers was the perfect accent for these photos. Said biker gal had the whole "Dick and Jane" look about her... thus, the title "See Hazel Ride." It's my favorite page by, like, a lot a lot. ;0)



Now, these cheer photos have been kinda' a bitch to work with. Their team colors (blue, gold, silver and white) aren't colors that I normally scrap with. And this kit, at first glance, didn't really look like something I could pull it off with. But, lo and behold, there WERE bits and pieces that came together nicely to work with the photos. In all of my harried craziness before the trip, I hadn't realized that I accidentally rolled the monthly challenge and the member lift all in to one layout. Doh! And, of course, I didn't realize it until I was uploading photos of my pages late at night in our hotel room... scrapping supplies hundreds of miles away... no time to create another page. So, it is what it is.

But, our monthly challenge was to use product packaging on our layouts. These days, it seems like some of the packaging that our products come in are just as pretty as the products themselves. And, in this economy, who isn't trying to stretch their scrapping budget further? I know I am, and using up that packaging is one fix for that problem... not to mention all that excess packaging isn't just being dumped into a landfill. ;0) My packaging uses were as such...



I used the acetate indexing from the "Express Thought" LT exclusive stamp. The way that the photo on the layout was oriented, I needed the LT exclusive to be flipped in the other direction. Rather than stamping, I cut out the thought bubble from the index packaging it came with. Then, I flipped it over to be facing the direction I needed and adhered it, using small dots of Diamond Glaze around the edge, to a piece of patterned paper. Once the Diamond Glaze dried, I trimmed the excess patterned paper from around the edges. Now the thought bubble is all ready for a title!



And, Prima seems to have some of the most beautiful packaging these days. I trimmed out the dies-cut vine edges from the Flower Frillies packaging, and used them as fancy photo corners with some added sparkles for this layout.

This month, we had the added honor, as a team, of creating a little farewell book for Cindee. Our esteemed leader, since the launch of Label Tulip, is stepping down. We will all miss her terribly, and wanted to create a little tribute in her honor. All of the Tulip Girls created an 8x8 page for Cindee. Now that we're all done, we'll be popping these in the mail to her so that she can make a little album for herself. Thank you so much for all you've done for us, Cindee! The kits, the opportunities, the community... it has all been amazing! And, I'm sure that Cathy will continue on with the tradition in the true spirit of what Label Tulip has already become! Here is my tribute for Cindee...





Last, but not least, the full reveal of my project kit! For everyone that guessed a spring-themed wall-hanging... you were correct!



If you love scrappy home decor projects as much as I do, you can still purchase the kit here. With your purchase, you will receive full instructions for making the hanging pictured here. Likewise, if any of you have purchased the kits and have questions for me... please feel free to ask away! :0)

Well, I am off to enjoy my "vacation" some more. I've been taking lots of pictures that I'll share in the coming days (and print out for plenty of scrapping with the upcoming April kits). ;0) Oh, and I have a new project up at the Pink Paislee blog. Check it out!