Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Get to Know....Tara Orr

Well hello to all you amazing Bo Bunny fans!! Its Tara Orr here and the Bo Bunny Spotlight is on me today - yippie!! I've been designing for Bo Bunny for just over a year now and am so very fortunate to design for such an amazing company. Thank you Bo Bunny for creating such fantastic products and thank you to everyone here today who has come to learn a little more about me.

I live in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada with my gorgeous husband of 10 years and our three amazing kids. My eldest son is 7, my youngest son is 5 and my daughter is 3. They are the heart and soul of my projects.  I am now a SAHM to my precious little kiddos but before that I worked as a webmaster in the Technology industry for many years and loved it.  I think I will return to the 'work' force one day but for now, my job is at home, raising my kids (and squeezing in a little scrapping on the side).

Meet the Family!
 All five of us this past Canada Day wearing our 'handmade' Canada Flag T-Shirts!
Owen: My eldest son. Straight as an arrow and does everything by the book. He is a natural leader which can sometimes come off a titch bossy (according to his siblings). He is sooo much like me in the sense that he follows the rules to a tee, loves structure, routines and detailed lists.  Plays amazingly by himself -solitare, chess, checkers, lego and adores crafts.  He is brilliant and I know he will accomplish anything he sets his mind to. He will always be my 'baby'.
Quinn: My youngest son. He is a real boy's boy.  LOVES anything to do with every kind of sport and he must be moving - constantly!  He is super athletic. He wants to play hockey or baseball or kick the soccer ball around 24/7.  He seriously cannot sit still for even 2 seconds.  He is totally not interested in watching TV at all but loves playing videogames. He is super sensitive and extremely affectionate and empathetic. He is a little angel boy.
Eden: My little spitfire - my diva princess/tomboy.  She is by far, my biggest challenge as a mom.  She can be the sweetest little thing but can also be a little devil.  She challenges every rule, is super defiant and tough as nails.  Don't let that adorable face fool you - this kid can hold her own!  She loves dressing up, painting her nails and reading books but would rather play Star Wars with her borthers or with lego guys than with Barbies or dolls. She loves to cuddle - actually all my kids do - which is fantastic for me! Shs is a daredevil and will try anything at least once.  But... she is totally adorable and I cannot resist scrapping her on almost ALL of my projects (as I'm sure you've noticed)!
Jamie: My husband of 10 years, although we've been together for closer to 13. We met at the gym (ha - I don't even know what that word is anymore!), I went to visit him one night at the nightclub that he was 'bouncing' at (it was a phase), he gave me his number (I never called - I'm old fashioned like that) but he called me (thankfully) and it was history from there. He is an amazing man and an unbelievable daddy - the kids adore him. They love playing rough and tumble, wrestling and active stuff with him that I don't normally do.  He loves to 'do' stuff with the kids - bikerides, roadtrips, parks, etc. rather than the 'pretend' play that mommy does best. 
Random Facts about Me: I have a degree in Psychology, a green belt in karate, love horseback riding (although its been way too long since I last rode), I order a grande dark from Starbucks almost every day, prefer chocolate to any other sweet - although I'll eat any other sweet over chips/salty stuff any day, I'm the oldest of 3 siblings, gave up hope of maintaining my 'Monica from Friends' (as my husband would describe) cleaning habit once I had kids of my own, have earned more grey hairs and wrinkes in the past 7 years than I could have imagined and love my family more than anything else on the face of this earth! 
This is where I create.  Its actually not really a 'scrap room' per say, more of me taking over our dining room (who really eats there anyways) and converting into 'mommy's craft stuff' area. 
I started scrapping in November 2008.  Instant addiction.  I love papercrafting - LOVE it.  It challenges me, it relaxes me and it lets me escape into a world of creativity that I adore.  I love to explore different techniques and styles but I feel that my style has settled into shabby chic with lots of distressing!
Initially, I only created 12x12 layouts. Forget cards, forget altered items and mini albums and double pagers? no way hosay!  Now, I love crafting everything! I actually welcome an altered project from time to time as it helps to refresh my scrappy mojo for future layouts!
  
Okay, let's see some scrappy projects! I have a few that I'd like to share with you using some of the new CHA Summer Releases from Bo Bunny. I will be posting close up shots of all my creations on my blog today should you wish to see these projects in more detail.
My first project is a layout featuring the beautiful Garden Girl collection. Beautiful purples, greens and pinks make this the perfect release for your summer and spring photos!
Angel by Tara Orr
Bo Bunny Supply List:
Patterned Paper: Stripe, Garden Girl, Arbor, Wisteria/Garden Girl
Die Cut: Garden Girl
Noteworthy: Garden Girl
Chipboard: Garden Girl
Chunky Chips Chipboard Alpha: Clear

Secondly, I decided to do another layout featuring the same collection but using a completely different combination of papers and tones.  I love how one collection can give you such different looking projects!
Garden Girl by Tara Orr
Bo Bunny Supply List:
Clear Stamps: Midnight Frost
Patterned Paper: Wild Flowers, Poppy, Dot, Cut Outs, Garden Girl/Garden Girl
Trinkets: Garden Girl
Noteworthy: Garden Girl
Chipboard: Garden Girl

Lastly, I couldn't resist diving into some of the beautifully vintage and wonderfully classic holiday papers in Bo Bunny's Father Christmas line.  Here I've altered an old mailbox I picked up at the local thrift store for $2.50!  I was thinking it would be perfect for all those letters to Santa I know my kiddos will want to write. 
Altered Mailbox by Tara Orr
Bo Bunny Supply List:
Patterned Paper: Cut Outs, Dot, Stripe/Father Christmas
Brads: Father Christmas
Combo Stickers: Father Christmas

These Holiday Tags were also created with the Father Christmas collection.  I love making a series of similar tags as once you get the composition of the first the way you like, the subsequent ones take no time at all to complete!
Holiday Tags by Tara Orr
Bo Bunny Supply List:
Patterned Paper: Dot, Stripe/Father Christmas
Trinkets: Father Christmas
Layered Chipboard: Father Christmas

Here are a few of my Bo Bunny faves over the past year...

















PHEW! Well.... that's all for me today (thank goodness you're all probably saying!)  Oh - I almost forgot about the PRIZES.....
Do you want to win some Bo Bunny Goodies?? All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and at the end of the month there will be a giveaway for each Designer Spotlight!  (Be sure to visit throughout the month as there's a new designer featured each day!) 

Want another chance to win?? Leave a comment on MY BLOG by 12:00 PST on August 17th and I will randomly choose a winner to receive this Gabrielle prize pack!
You'll also find another 'sweet' project that I've done with Bo Bunny's NEW Sweet Tooth Collection so come on over for a visit!!
Thank you so very much for taking the time today to get to know a little more about me.

122 comments:

  1. Wow! I have to say I absolutely love the color choices on your LO's! The bright colors with the B/W photos are amazing, I love that look! Def. want to try it sometime, thanks for the inspiration!
    Lisa

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  2. Huge fan of yours and have learned a ton of neat techniques from checking out all your great layouts and projects. Thanks for amazing inspiration. You have a beautiful family!

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  3. This is amazing!! I absolutely love your work!!

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  4. Wow, Tara! I love all your wonderful works!!!

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  6. I am simply delighted!!
    His work is incredible! His beautiful family!
    Here in Brazil we do not find easily Bo Bunny products. We always think the most decorated papers, and embellishments are always forgotten.

    His works are rich in ornaments, and I love, I'm crazy about them.
    kisses

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  7. Hey Tara,love to know more about your beautiful family!! Your scrap place is so so nice and pretty.Of course your work is amazing,you know I love it!!!

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  8. Stunning work. I love all the tattered edges. Simply inspirational!

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  9. So nice to learn more about you--your kids are so darn stinkin' cute, it would be hard to stop scrapbooking them!!! Lovely work!

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  10. Wow!!! I LOVE your style!!! Beautiful!

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  11. Your work is beautiful. I love all the layouts, especially the first one with the purples.
    Your area is super cute and cozy.
    Thanks for sharing your projects and area.

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  12. Love your work,and enjoyed getting to meet the family! going to have to try some of your techniques!!

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  13. I am enjoying meeting the design team. Fantastic layouts Tara!

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  14. thank you so much for sharing. You have a gorgeous family and your work is AMAZING!!!

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  15. Thank you for sharing a little of yourself with us! Your Quinn sounds just like my son, I love your your projects and visit your blog daily for inspiration! Thank you.

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  16. Tara is fantastic!!!

    Well all of your designers are, but here I have found much inspiration and I wish all the beautiful accesiries for the papercollections would arrive to Sweden, too, not only the papers...''

    La Vikinga

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  17. Gorgeous work Tara! I love your style. You use the Bo Bunny papers perfectly.

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  18. Wow! Such talent! I love all your projects and you have a beautiful family to scrap! Thanks for all the inspiration!

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  19. My favourite to date!
    And Tara your "spitfire" sounds exactly like my 2yr old daughter. Lol..
    Thank you so much for sharing your stunning family and amazing talent!!

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  20. Your family is so cute!!
    And your projects are awesome!!! So bright and vivid!
    Wish you the best!
    Hugs,
    Ann.

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  21. OMG what beautiful work. Looks like you spent hours on the pieces of art.

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  22. What a gorgeous family you have! and i can't believe how talented you are! love your work.
    thanks for sharing it with us.
    greetings from the netherlands

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  23. What a beautiful family. That little girl is adorable. I like it that she is also a handful. God knows what he is doing. I always would say, "it is a good thing God made him so cute," when mine were little.
    Your work is amazing. Love the colors. I am such a fan of
    Bo
    Bunny....esp. their minis.

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  24. I love your layouts and the altered mail box is a great idea! You inspire me!

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  25. Amazing work and a beautiful family!!

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  26. Tara, thanks for sharing your scrap room creative space. I thought that you would have a dedicated room. You must have another spot for product storage....smile
    ava

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  27. Love Tara's work! Have been a fan of hers for ages! (she has the cutest subjects to scrap too!)
    Loved getting to see your space and learning a little more about you Tara! TFS

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  28. Amazing and gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your talent.

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  29. I've been a fan of yours for quite a while now, so its great to see where you create...love all the techniques you use and your stlye of distressing....

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  30. Love your work Tara, your projects are amazing!

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  31. Wow, great stuff. My fav is the Bloom lo. Love the orange and pink and great photo!!

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  32. Gorgeous projects! Love what you create.

    Allison M.

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  33. Gorgeous products and design! I am now following Tara.

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  34. I am a HUGE fan of Tara! Her projects are always awesome, her blog is full of amazing inspiration!

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  35. I love all of your work and have been a huge fan and follow your blog!Thanks for sharing!

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  36. I just love how different you are able to do you layouts! I will garanteed come back for more inspiration!

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  37. I love Tara's work, it's so detailed and creative. Wonderful inspiration.

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  38. Loved getting to know you more...big fan of your work.

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  39. Tara rocks!! I LOVE all the items you've shown, but I fell most in love with Garden Girl. It's sooo fab and the photo is GREAT too!

    It's fun to read more about you! :D

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  40. It was nice to see you at my blog. So immediately I wanted to know you better.
    What I wonderful lo's and cards you make.
    What anice kids you have. I love kids. I was always working with kids. Most of the time with teenagers. I love them.
    Josephine

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  41. Another amazing designer! Great work Tara!

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  42. Love your layouts. Have been a fan for a while.

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  43. You are so gifted!! I've seen your things before and it was nice to put your face with your work. I loved it all!

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  44. Beautiful projects, Tara! Love all the layers and texture you use, and of course your photo subjects are pretty darn cute too. (Your "Sanity is overrated" page rocks! Gonna have to borrow that quote. :) )
    thanks for letting us get to know you you and your family better, as well as giving mis a peek into your scrap space.

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  45. You have WOW'd me!! Love learning about each family member and your layouts and projects are fantastic! I especially love the layout stating how you used to have a normal life :)

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  46. Hey Tara Have always loved your creations. You are one of my favorite canuck designer. Speaking as a fellow canuck. thanks for sharing some of your story, it sounded so romantic. AWWWWWWWW.

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  47. Your work is lovely and the scrap space looks so organized.

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  48. Beatiful family, fantastic room and great projects1 Love your style, girl!

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  49. What an amazing family- so pretty! And your projects too. Adi
    adiabada0212@hotmail.com

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  50. Wow, Tara, your work is so amazing! Everything you create just blows me away! You always do the most beautiful rough distressing and detailing on your pages and you're such a sweet person too. It's wonderful to be on this amazing team with you:)

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  51. Wow! Such amazing work!! I'm in awe. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  52. Your projects are fabulous! Thanks for all the inspiration!! I'm off to your blog to check it out!

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  53. I follow Tara on her blog since a while ago. i love her style. her layouts are full of details, layers and beauty :D

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  54. Beautiful projects and family!
    -Cher

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  55. Wow I have been stalking you for a while...lol... I mean following! Great work! Very inspiring! Thank you for this chance to win!

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  56. Your work is absolutely fabulous, I love the color combinations and the different types of embelishment and bling. I look forward to seeing a LOT more work from you. truely inspirational! and being at Bo Bunny Id say you are a perfect pair.

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  58. Love, love, love your creations! Absolutely stunning!

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  59. I loveeeeeeeeeee Tara's work!! And such fun facts and photos of her family! :):):):):):):):):):)

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  60. All I can say is WOW, Tara! Your work is awesome! And you have a gorgeous family, to boot!

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  61. Oh, it was so nice to get to know you and your family better. :) The projects and pages are amazing -- and thanks for the chance to win a prize, too! :)

    Happy creating,
    Birgit

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  62. Yay Tara! Fellow Canadian! Always a fan - good to learn a little about you too.

    Love your projects, every single one of them, your style is always so exciting for me, love your distressing!

    What I admire the most about you Tara, is your photography and photo editing. I love the way you colour wash your photos and get that unique angle. Amazing, as always :o)

    Lorena
    www.scrapingcorner.blogspot.com

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  63. I love Bo Bunny!!!Tara you do great work!!

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  64. Great selection of your projects and nice to get to know you and your family and where you craft.
    slrdowney at hotmail dot com

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  65. Wow - Tara's work is just stunning. I am a new follwoer of her blog!

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  66. Tara you have major talent girl!!

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  67. I really love your style and your colour combinations are wonderful. I shall be tuning into your blog to get more inspiration!

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  68. Love your scrap area and I'm definitely jealous of your Bo Bunny stash!!

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  69. I love your work. You make the Bo Bunny hop right off the page :o)very inspiring.

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  70. Tara, I love all of your layouts but your holiday tags have totally inspired me to get into my craft room and play. Thanks for sharing.

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  71. I love the spirit and versatility of your work, Tara! I can tell you have fun making every piece, and that is also one of the things I most enjoy about papercrafting. Thanks for sharing your heart and soul!

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  72. So much inspiration. Just love all the colors.

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  73. Oh wow!!! I don't think I could pick a favorite...thEy are all beautiful. Great job Tara.

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  74. Love all the photos of your beautiful family. Beautiful work as always!

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  75. Love your work, all of it is amazing!!!

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  76. Tara your work is absolutely amazing! I love everything. Absolute magic!!

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  77. I LOVE your layouts - so rich and full of textures. I will definitely be checking out your blog!! Go Canucks go!!

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  78. I love the stockings and the Just Twirl page.

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  79. Nice to learn more about you. Your projects are amazing.

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  80. Tara Orr is THE BEST! I especially love her monochromatic style and her versatility!!! She is an inspiration through and through :)

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  81. Tara your amazing!!!! I love everything you do. Actually, your what I want to be as far as doing layouts!!!! Your style is exactly what I strive for ( and never seem to do). Im a cardmaker and even your cards are so beautiful, that I now want to be your crafting twin!!!!! Thank you for sharing your beautiful creations and your beautiful family!!!!

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  82. Beautiful layouts and other pieces, Tara. And I LOVE the handmade Canada flag shirts - yay, Canada!!!

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  83. Gorgeous. Your layouts leave me drooling. YOu have amazing talent. Fun to get to know you.
    p.s. I'm a Starbucks girl too! :)

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  84. You have an amazing talent. I love, really LOVE, your layouts. I am always inspired to create my own work after looking at yours. Thank you so much!

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  85. Wow! Precious children! . . . and by the way, I also love your projects and layouts.

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  86. wow tara what an amazing and talented lady you are and your family is beautiful!
    thank you for sharing!
    marie

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  87. I love your work...very inspiring!

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  88. Fabulous work! Love all the details! TFS!

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  89. Love bo-bunny & your layouts are awesome!

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  90. Hi Wow your family look awesome ! I craft on our table too lol ! I could not even pick a favourite ! So talented and so many ideas to share. The invitaion is out of this world !! So beautiful. Love Bo Bunny I just love thier colour combinations and quality ! I am off to visit your blog now ! Thanks Kitty ;0)

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  91. Love the garden girl lo's. The colors are so rich and beautiful. Congrats on the spotlight.

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  92. wow- these pages are all absolutely stunning - i am such a huge fan of your amazingly beautiful and detailed work!

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  93. Your style is vintage, chic, I love it ! Your projects are so gorgeous.

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  94. Love your tshirts that you and the family are wearing.. Your work is gorgeous

    Hugs,

    PattiM
    {Pattie's passion}

    I Scrap So All Moments Are Remembered!

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  95. Wow! You have such beautiful projects!!!

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  96. Your lo's are wonderful....and I totally love your titles.....thanks for sharing!

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  97. Wonderful projects! Can't wait to see what you come up with this year!

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  98. Great getting to know more about you Tara! Your work is gorgeous and inspiring!!!

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  99. I am in awe of all your gorgeous creations!

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  100. Tara, you never cease to amaze me with your amazing layouts, cards and altered items. Great getting to know more about you and your family x

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  101. So awesome....I still just love that little beach house/album you made!!

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  102. Oh dear! don't know how I missed your post....crazy busy with the kiddies off school ;)

    Such a delight to see your pages and projects Tara, your lovely style is always recognizable at a glance! xx

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  103. I love looking at your layouts/projects. I get so much inspiration from them. Look forward to seeing more of them. Everything you do is just simply gorgeous.

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  104. I will definitely find some inspiration in your projects, thanks for sharing them!

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  105. Tara's layouts are a work of art!!! I love her unique style and always enjoy her beautiful pictures of her children!

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  106. It is lovely to learn more about you Tara and your family is just the cutest ever, I love how close knit you are and all the fun things you do together like the T-shirts! Your work...well it is always just stunning and I love everything about it and I look forward to another year on the DT with you :)

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  107. What a great family! Mirrors mine in that I have two boys similar to yours and a girl on the way! I love your projects!

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  108. Very fun getting to know you! I've long been a fan of your LO's! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  109. Just love your work...and WOW, those photos of your craft room have me drooling!! I will definitely be checking out your blog on a regular basis!!

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  110. Love your work, love your blog! Bo Bunny rocks and they have some fantastic designers. Like you, Tara! Thanks for sharing!

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  111. The way you showcase Bo Bunny's wonderful products is just amazing!

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  112. Beautiful projects, and love that you do more than just layouts with the papers. The mailbox is a great idea. Thank you for sharing.

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