Fall has arrived in most of the United States!
It's that time of the year when temps drop to a tolerable level, while nature shows off by displaying gorgeous colors for all to see. The kids can run outside without becoming sweaty little buggers and there's a crisp scent to the air that is simply refreshing! Since the winds are changing all around us, we decided to change up our blog a bit too!
Pssst: Don't forget our Live With Prima class today at 11:00 AM PST. Click here for details! You won't want to miss Julie's FUN, FUN, FUN class!!!!!
Once or twice a month we hope to share a bit more with you than just projects.
We want you to get to know us better too! Today we will start with Sharon Laakkonen (that's ME by the way! I do almost all of our blog posts.) I hope to bring you inside stories from the fabulous people who work for Prima, along with some fun stories, step-by-step projects...maybe a recipe or two, and lots of other interesting tidbits. Let us know what you would love to see and we will try to get it for you!
So let's get going!
Professionally: I started with Prima over five years ago by applying for their first ever design team call...and, thank God, I made it! The rest, as they say, is history! I now coordinate our international design team of 20 absolutely amazingly talented gals, work with media relations, plan and co-coordinate events, create and teach projects internationally, work hands on with our Creative Director, co-moderate "Live With Prima" classes, and a bunch of other things that need to be done! I cannot imagine working for any other company since Prima and I are a great fit. I love their products, love the people whom I work with, and love the company's vision.
Personally: On a personal note I'm a pretty simple girl in a crazy, busy household in Kentucky!
I recently celebrated 25 years with my hubby, Bill (whom I met in pre-school. I wish I could find a pic of the two of us from back then! I'm pretty sure I was WAY taller than he was. :) )
Together we have three beautiful daughters-Brittany, Breanna and Bethany (who all happen to be in college right now-$$$)
...and four handsome boys- Brayden and Billy in the back and Jonathan and Josiah in the front-whom all happen to be at home with me. every. single. day. Haha. (We home-school-EEK! Now there's an adventure for you. It's our 18th year...which seems totally crazy to me, but it works and we love it. Only 12 more years to go...)
Our oldest daughter, Bethany, is married to a wonderful guy, Jon...
...and they JUST had a sweet little girl in February named Amariah Grace. (Somehow she ends up in a LOT of my layouts...I have no idea why! Do you?)
Things I Love: Photography, reading, a clean house, caesar salad, chicken fingers with honey mustard sauce, traveling, my mother-in-law's potato salad, dates with hubby, laughing, Bible Quizzing, hanging out with my kids and their friends, politics, history, games, snuggling with my grandbaby and...get ready for this...SCRAPBOOKING! Haha...I absolutely LOVE it. As soon as I take a new batch of photos I cannot wait to print them out and dig out my Prima products and art supplies. Sometimes I even dig out my sewing machine...hehe...(it gets used for scrapbooking ONLY now!)
Since it's fall and I just took my boys to the zoo (boy was that funny...think teen-age boys' humor and animals...in the same place) I made a special layout commemorating those fun memories just to share with you.
Favorite Season: I had so much fun trying a new technique on this project. First up...I sent the boys out to collect leaves. (I only needed about 5, but, SOMEHOW, got a lot more...along with a gorgeous purple flower that Josiah found. I REALLY hope it wasn't from the neighbor's flower garden.) I sealed the leaves with a bit of Tattered Angels Golden Goddess Glam. Here's a "before" shot:
And an "after" shot...look at that sparkle and shimmer! Make sure you coat both sides with a healthy amount of Glam.
Next I stamped on the leaf with a Jack and Jill text stamp with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. (I LOVE that whimsical stamp. The text is all haphazard. Simply adorable.)
Next I added a hint of gold (with the same stamp) right on top of the brown ink:
After the ink dried I added the leaves right on my layout in a banner shape. Now how fun is that? I know they MAY dry a bit, but so far they look good! (This is a project I would frame and hang up instead of putting in an album just to protect the leaves.)
Here's a close-up of the leaves and our amazing 3-D letters which I popped up with foam.
And a shot of some of our gorgeous flowers and crystal leaves.
Thank you for letting me share so much with you! I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a bit better.
Be sure and try this technique on a fall project. I think you will LOVE it! And if you send your kids out to collect leaves I hope they bring you back a flower too!
Stay tune for a fabulous week of inspiring projects, wonderful "Live With Prima class" info and MORE...right here on the Prima blog!
Supplies:
- 841751 - Fairy Flora Summer Storm Paper
- 841720 - Fairy Flora Paper
- 536640 - 3-D Letters
- 542849 - Vivian Anastasia Flowers
- 540791 - Say It In Crystal Leaves
- 542580 - Sweet Taffy Crocheted Flowers
- 542016 - Jack and Jill Stamp
- 543716 - Sugar Plum Roses-Chestnut
- Tattered Angels: "Favorite" Acrylic Tab
- TA Glimmer Mist: Apple, Pomegranate, Sugar Maple
- TA Glimmer Glam: Golden Goddess
- Ranger Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap
- Autumn Leaves Gold Ink
- Border Punch
Wow, Sharon, this is awesome. Love this technique, and can't wait to see how it holds up! So fun learning more about you!
Posted by: Alyssa | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Sharon! So fun to see you and your beautiful family. But you still look like one of your girls. Lucky girl! ;)
Posted by: JenGallacher | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 10:24 AM
Lovely family Sharon! It's like your daughters are your sisters.
Posted by: Jan S | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 11:03 AM
What a beautiful family you have, Sharon! I really enjoyed reading about you. And thanks for that wonderful leaf tip too.
Posted by: Sue | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 11:26 AM
How great that you shared a little bit of your personal life with us, Sharon! Thanks!
Posted by: Kathy M | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 11:59 AM
How wonderful to see your whole family and to learn to know you a little bit more:) I have to try your leaf tip, it´s beautiful and fun.
Posted by: Maria | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 12:52 PM
You are too cute my friend! Your family is beautiful!!
Love the leaf tips-awesome idea I will have to scraplift!
Posted by: cari fennell | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 01:39 PM
Loved reading about your family! Love your page too :)
Posted by: Jen | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Sharon, i don't often comment but that leaf tip is amazing. What a beautiful idea. I might just scraplift that one.
Your family is just beautiful, i didn't realise you had that many beautiful children. So lovely to see a really loving family.
Posted by: Steph Devlin | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 05:07 PM
Hey that was fun....I loved learning a bit more about you Sharon. What a beautiful family you have and man you must be b-u-s-y!
Love your leafy layout too...those golden leaves look scrumptious.
Posted by: Linda L | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 05:33 PM
Oh, Sharon, you are an amazing woman and so much to have time, admire you, forgive me my English, please
Posted by: Светлана | Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 06:35 AM
So wonderful to get an update on you, and to see such a fun technique! Glad you get so much international exposure! I still pray for you and your family regularly! I know with so much going on there must be great joy, and I praise God for that!
Posted by: Susan Beth | Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 09:38 AM
I love getting to know the designers! And I love the idea of using real foliage... I'll have to try that out!
Posted by: Kelli | Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 03:43 PM
You are so sweet. Love reading about you!!!! Beautiful family and that layout is stunning!! Thanks so much for everything!
Posted by: Daniela | Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:31 PM
Thank you for sharing your privacy with us - you'vegot a beautiful, full of love family!
Great leaf idea :)
Posted by: finnabair | Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 05:15 PM
Sharon it was great reading about your family i had no idea you had such a big family. i also have a big family 9 to be excat, It was nice to know . And your girls are very pretty they look a lot like you , they could pass as your sisters. Handsome boys also. Love your tec about the flowers. Thanks for sharing your family with us.
Posted by: maricella cruz aka( bluucaca) | Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 08:29 PM