Keeping with our “what’s gold to me” post series… living in Sunny San Diego is GOLD to me. I absolutely love the “spring forward” time change, longer days and sunshine! I know the weather here spoils me to death! Although some would say our morning news report is somewhat boring, “70′s and sunny” and we don’t really have “seasons”… I can live with it! Here are a few snapshots from my Instagram (@beckylaunder) collection of Sunny San Diego!

What’s GOLD to me today… FAMILY! I am so lucky to have an amazing family that all live within 20 minutes from me! I am also so thankful that I have amazing in-laws and brother-in-laws (and soon-to-be a sister-in-law)! They are all a total blast. I have plenty of stories that I could share about my awesome family, but I thought I’d share a few photos today from a trip we took back over Thanksgiving to visit Jeremy’s grandpa. His mom, aunt, cousins and brother joined us out in the desert of California to celebrate the 75th birthday! These are just a few snapshots of the fun we had together…

We rode a Rhino off-road vehicle!

Even Jeremy’s mom and aunt took part in the fun!

The cousins!

Me driving!!

Cheers to a weekend of fun!

In spirit of St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, I thought I’d share a series of posts called ”what’s GOLD to me”! Enjoy a week of  my favorite products, people and places! 

First off, I’m SO excited to share that I’m officially on the Basically Bare Design Team!!  I absolutely LOVE their products and I’m thrilled to represent the company by creating adorable mixed media albums. You’ll probably see some of my projects here on the blog, but be sure to check out their blog, as well. I’m so humbled to be among an amazing group of designers. I’m confident there will be some serious eye candy and inspiration for you! I’ve included a list of the team below so you can check out all these fabulously talented friends!

I absolutely love being inspired by creative friends (and family)! I thought I’d give a few shout outs today to a few of my favorite girls. They are pretty amazing!!

First up, let’s start with my Sis, Lauren! Not only is she a fabulous graphic designer and photographer, she always has creative DIY projects! Check out this Pinterest-inspired project to create a customized iphone case!

My “twin” Nubia is also one of my favorite gals. We met at CHA-Chicago last year when helping out the Charity Wings team and have become great virtual friends. She’s my go-to-girl when I need crafty advice. Check out her tutorial on creating this oh-so-cute post-it (and pinterest inspired) goal list!

Next up – My friend Calista! Calista and I met at a networking event awhile back and she introduced me to her business, Custom by Calista! She makes the most adoarable baby shower gifts – custom bibs, burp rags and diaper cakes! So cute. She had an adorable tutorial (that was featured on JoAn’s) on creating a super cute canvas wall art starburst!

There are so many other creative friends in my life… these are just a few. I also have all my bloggin’ friends that I follow.  Oh, and Pinterest! And, my new Basically Bare buddies! Endless inspiration!

2012 Basically Bare design team:

Christina Colon
DeeDee Catron
Erin Bassett
Jennifer Matott
Rebecca Price
Sandra Wilson

Becky Launder (woo hoo – that’s me!!!!)
Daniela Costa
Emily Lanham
Linda Brun
Moe Mahoski
Tanisha Long
Veronica Johnson

Angela Holt
Frank Garcia
Katrina Hunt
Kristin Tweedale
Miae Rowe
Sarah Bargo

I’m back on the blog today with Part 2 of Jake’s birthday mini album! Isn’t he a cutie? I love his personality and fun expressions!

I’ve bragged about the cuteness factor of Baby Jacob, so I thought I’d show him off a little more. This is a cute little mini 6×6 album that I made for his one-year-old birthday. I love how you can download the hi-res versions of photos on Facebook! I secretly stole and printed these photos of Jake to surprise mom and dad with the album! Here’s part 1 of 2!

Well, I can’t take credit for this ADORABLE party theme, but I can take credit for helping with a few of our DIY Projects. Throughout my time in Hawaii, we did a lot of party-planning! What is cuter than an UNO themed birthday party. In case you don’t speak Spanish, UNO means ONE. (No, this wasn’t a Mexican theme — even though there was a pinata!) Here are a few of the projects we put together for Jake’s Uno Birthday Party!

We put together treat bags that were filled with M&Ms in red, green, blue and yellow colors. Evelyn found these adorable mini Uno cards that we added to each bag, as well.

Even Jake helped fill the goody bags!

We created an UNO pinata. This was by far the most tedious task. We covered a rectangle shaped box with tissue paper puffs. Think back to elementary school – you probably did some kind of project with tissue paper puffs. Basically, you cut the tissue into small 1×1 squares, then take the eraser side of a pencil, cover with the tissue square, dip in Elmers glue and stick it on the box. Simple, but long tedious process. To make sure the pinata looked like an UNO card, we traced the outline on the box. This was a pull-string pinata, so the bottom of the box was preferated with scissors and strings were tied to the inside of the box. Pretty simple!

Next up – We created an UNO cake as a decoration for the party. Each layer of the cake is a styrofoam cylinder. We then hot glue gunned the Uno cards around the outside of each layer. We finished off the top of the cake with birthday party blowers. The metallic ribbon added a little pizazz to the cake. Oh, and we used our favorite little mini uno cards to create a nice little border on the bottom layer. Perfecto!

Pom-Pom Tissue balls were also a fun, easy project! I had never made these before and they were pretty simple. The instructions are pretty simple. You take maybe 5 or so sheets of tissue paper about 15×15 in size (the bigger the tissue square, the bigger your pom pom), then you create a fan with the tissue. On each side of the tissue fan, round the edge so it has a nice decorative look. Fold the fan in half and use a pipe cleaner to secure the tissue in place at the crease. Then, peel back each piece of tissue and a circular pom pom will start taking shape. Feel free to fluff it up to best position the tissue paper.

We also made a card box for Jake. This is pretty much a covered and embellished box! Easy peasy.

I had THE most fun time on my vacation to Hawaii. I was so lucky to spend a week with my best friend’s family and meet her son, Jake! I pretty much had my camera, ipad or phone (with camera) glued to my side the entire trip. Side note — if you are my facebook friend or follow my instagram photos, you most likely thought I adopted this adorable baby last month. I just couldn’t get enough of his cute little face !

He turned one during my stay there and we had loads of fun planning his “uno” themed birthday party. I have a few projects to share when we were in party-planning mode coming soon to the blog. For now, just a few photos of Jake’s adorable face! I love this kid!

We stopped by the new Disney resort on Oahu, as well. Jake got to meet Mickey Mouse!

Evelyn and I have been friends since we were in middle school. We can pick up just where we left off with our silly jokes and giggles… even if we live across the ocean from each other.

Happy Monday! Why not kick off the week with a giveaway!!! I’m super excited to be a FINALIST for the Basically Bare Design Team! If that’s not cool enough, Basically Bare is generously giving away a huge prize pack of Basically Bare goodies! All you have to do is leave a COMMENT on this post for a chance to win!!

Have you checked out Basically Bare? They are a relatively new company that offers alterable items for paper artisans! I discovered their products at CHA Chicago last summer and have been a huge fan since! You’ve probably seen a few of my projects here on the blog – Orrin & Shawndene’s Engagement Album, Hooey’s Brag Book, Hey Cupcake, Jeff & Sue’s Anniversary Album, Baby Evanna’s Album and Kim’s Family Brag Book.   

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Basically Bare products AND some inspiration of what you can do with these awesome products!! I’d love your ideas on what you would do with these fun products if you win the giant prize pack which includes all of their brand spankin’ new releases!

First up — Tiny Tabs Mixed Media Album! Ok – first off – this album is $4.99. Ummm… yes, please!! Ever since I first laid my eyes on this cutesy album I’ve been thinking about how it will be PERFECT for my growing obsession with Instagram photos!! (You can find me on Instagram @beckylaunder) I think it will also coordinate with Bella Blvd’s Sunshine Hapiness collection.

Meet Polly’s Pockets! This amazing little Basically Bare booklet has POCKETS. Who doesn’t love pockets? This album inspired a travel-themed album. Having little pockets for additional photos, ticket stubs and maps is not only super functional, but really cute, as well. I picked a few coordinating products from Glitz - I love the vintage-inspired travel embellishments. This album is paired with a few photos from a cruise to Mexico that we took last year.

My third Basically Bare product to show off today was a tie — I love the Betty’s Brackets booklet and embellies. I was especially drawn to Betty’s Brackets because I’m learning more about all the fun things I can do with canvas so this album really jumped out at me. The Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist works perfect with the canvas. Who doesn’t love a little “glam” on their albums?  I also LOVE the Basically Bare embellies — the “celestial” theme is adorable and will convey a bright, sunshining day! One of my favorite releases from CHA is the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection with mason jars, banners and clouds – it would coordinate perfectly! For this album, I picked out a few “fun in the sun” photos from my sister’s bachelorette party last summer. Cake pops and lemon sliced jello shots- how can you resist?

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. Don’t forget to leave a comment so you can win an awesome prize pack! Winners will be announced Friday, March 16. Also, be sure to follow Basically Bare on facebook for more inspiration and great products! Happy Crafting!!

Hello! So sorry for being MIA on the blog the last few weeks. Life has been hectic!! And, I’m fighting some kind of awful cold, allergy or sinus infection – ugh! Luckily, I headed to the doctor and got some good meds to kick it out of my system! I sure don’t have time to be sick!

Anyway, this is a little “old news” by now, but I couldn’t resist to share some of my photos from CHA-W. If you are not familiar with CHA, it is the Craft & Hobby Association tradeshow. Each company has breathtaking booths full of tons of eye candy showing off all of their new products! I scoped out the purchases I plan to make in the next six months and had a fun time browsing the booths with my mom! I should have taken a photo of mom and me because we had such a blast together – We grabbed some chai tea, drove up to Anaheim, participated in the Charity Wings FLASH MOB, browsed the tradeshow (mom hadn’t been before and was blown away with all the goodies!!), then had a delicious late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a perfect day!!

To start – here’s our Charity Wings Flash Mob! Mom and I are way in the back, so it’s a little difficult to see. There’s an interview with my dear friend Elena, then we are up to show our moves!

Here’s the DCWV booth. Love the festive tree!

Beautiful flower arrangement!

I love Pebbles and want to create a wall like this in my office!

Or, maybe a wall like this one?!

More fun floral displays…

I just discovered these fun DIY albums… love!

Mason Jars were certainly hot! This is over at Jillibean Soup. I’m in love with their kraft paper look-and-feel.

And, I love the oh-so-many things that my Silhouette can make for me.

The designer tape, buttons, flags and crocheted flowers from Bella Blvd. are adorable! Can’t wait to play with those!

I think I would just like beautiful garland of gorgeous paper all over my house. Pretty sure the hubby would not be a fan, but it’s SO pretty!

The Doodlebug Designs booth is always over the top! What an adorable studio set up!

Pinwheels and fun vintage signs — yes, please!

These are just a few of my favorites that I had to share… Hope you have a beautiful, creative day!

Just a quick “hello”! I just dug up this cute little detail shot from the Summer Mini Albums and thought it was a fun one to share to get you in the Valentine’s Day mood! Have you seen our adorable Love Mini Albums? There’s still time to place your order before February 14th!