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Please join us in welcoming our very talented guest designer, Michelle Lanning this month at Cocoa Daisy! I have to share that she is one of my all time favorite scrappers (and bloggers). Probably because we have daughters close to the same age and they are both (if I do say so myself) adorable and Michelle has a wonderful eye for photography and design…all wonderful attributes to the art of scrapbooking!
When asked to share a bit about herself, this is what Michelle had to say:
“I am a momma to an 8 year old, named Alyson. I love to do anything crafty, from sewing to scrapbooking, I love it all. I also dabble in photography which came about through scrapbooking.And when I am not being a momma, a crafter, a photographer,I am a first grade teacher. Needless to say, crafting has become my stress reliever.”
To learn more about Michelle be sure to check out her blog Tutus & Glue Dots.
I will leave you with one of my favorites that she created this month using the August Cocoa Daisy kit (which is already SOLD OUT!).
I’ve been saving my glass bottles from my IZZE sparkling juices and just knew that someday I would want to create something using them. Today was the day! I made a simple pinwheel using the template below, added one of the cute brads from this month’s kit to the center and stuck it all together on a wooden stick and stuck it in the bottle (which I had filled with sand). I cut out one of the tags (also from this month’s kit), and added the letters spelling out F-U-N and tied it around my bottle. Super easy, super cute and really adds a lot of punch to your picnic table or other fun summer celebration.
Let me know if you decide to make a pinwheel! I’d love to see it!
I have to share that Jennifer is one of my most favorite people in the scrappy world! I have had the opportunity to work with her in various scrappy related endeavors and she is so pleasant and just plain FUN! I was tickled when she agreed to be our guest designer for this month…not only because I love her as a person, but because she is one AMAZING and talented designer as well.
A bit more about Jennifer in her own words:
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Hello! My name is Jennifer Yates and I am thrilled to be July’s Guest Designer here at Cocoa Daisy!!! I live in Texas with my husband Mark of 16 years. We have two wonderful kids, who I stay at home with, Mason (8) and Maren (5). We are also the proud owner of a sweet lab, two cats and three frogs…Oh! And our recent purchase at the pet store a beta fish named Jesse! Our household is crazy and never boring!!!
Coming from a graphic design background I have always been creating, but discovered the joy of scrapbooking after the birth of our son in 2004. I am honored to have designed for some of the top manufacturers and I am also grateful to have had the opportunity to teach classes at our local scrapbook store The Little Blue House!
Currently I am designing for Provocraft on the Cricut Circle Blog and enjoying every minute of it!
When I am not scrapbooking I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, polishing up on my photography, reading or watching mindless TV!!! Thank you again for having me this month…I had a blast designing with this fabulous kit and I hope you do too!!! Please come visit me at The Pink Room.
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Thank you Jennifer for sharing your talents with us this month! Check out Jennifer’s Cocoa Daisy gallery for this month here. My favorite in her gallery is this layout featuring silly photos of her daughter posing for the camera…what’s your favorite?
Please welcome our June Guest Designer, Kendra McCracken…we were so happy when she shared with us that she could be available to design for us this month. When we asked her to share with us a bio, this is what she shared.
Growing up, I thought being artistic meant you must draw the banana and apple in the bowl on the art teacher’s desk so that people would crowd around your drawing hanging in the hall on parent visitation day and marvel at the realism of the texture, the dimension, the shadows. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is if people would have gathered around my drawing, it would have been to marvel at the unidentifiable objects amongst all the drawings of bananas and apples! So I shied away from anything related to art.
Now that I’m older and not afraid to color the grass with contrasting patterns of lime green and olive green fabrics, I wish I could tell that little girl that being artistic isn’t everyone doing the same thing the same way. I’d tell her to do her best to draw those fruits and then laugh along with everyone else. Laughter is good for the soul, your humility, your expectations of yourself. Then I’d tell her to present her teacher with a handmade, vintage-lace-trimmed fabric bag filled with homemade apple and banana muffins and say, “This is how I see your bowl of bananas and apples.”
I began to overcome my fear of all things related to art in 1998 when I went to my first scrapbooking party. Since that time, I’ve learned that using materials in unique ways, to express meaning or emotion on my projects in a way not intended, or just to add a little whimsy, is my way of being artistic. Have I also learned to draw apples and bananas? Nope. But that’s OK. I’m perfectly content to marvel at that most admirable talent in the art of someone who can.
When I’m not pulling a needle and thread through fabric, looking through the lens of my camera, or layering “mismatched” patterns of paper, you’ll find me with my husband 18 years and our 2 sons on our little farm in Missouri. You might see me trying to learn to grow a fungus-free tomato plant, chasing down a fugitive chicken, or screaming and running from a mouse in the chicken coop. But you’ll always see me in love with every little detail of my life. http://kendramccracken.blogspot.com/
Here is one of her layouts from the gallery…be sure to check out the rest of her gallery for loads more inspiration!
Thank you Kendra for inspiring us this month with your creative talents!
I think one of my favorite things about scrapbooking and creating in general is that inspiration can be found literally anywhere for a project. Inspiration often serves as a jumping off point for me when tackling a creative project and with creating scrapbook layouts it’s no different. During our recent spring crop here at Cocoa Daisy (which was a BLAST!) I participated in a challenge created by Lisa where she provided us with some color inspiration and the layout above is what I created for it. What was the challenge specifically you ask? Take a look…
It’s so fun for me and personally challenging to gather and gain inspiration in avenues other than scrapbooking and then create something scrapbook related based around it.
