The Procrastinating Scrapper

Dreaming of Spring

2012-02-18T07:41:00.000-05:00

Old Man Winter hasn't been too unkind to me here in Virginia this year, but that still doesn't stop me from dreaming of Spring. I love when the birds start returning home and the flowers show their faces, and everything starts to warm up a bit. And of course, I love bunnies! So this week I made a card with a new bunny digi from A Day for Daisies and added in the quote myself before I printed it out. Isn't he the sweetest little thing?

Our challenge this week at The Outlawz for the Saturday Paper a la Mode is "Dreaming of Spring", so this is what I created. It's a simple little card, but sometimes simple is most effective. I colored the design with Prismacolor pencils.

And speaking of Prismacolors, I am taking a class in May with Marti Wills so I can learn some real coloring skills. I am also taking two Copics classes with Suzanne Dean. Now where am I going to be getting all this crafty goodness at you ask??? At our first ever Outlawz Rodeo Retreat!

If you have never visited us over at The Outlawz, please stop on by and say hello. We are going to have a great time in May, and the more the merrier! We hope you can join us!

Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

I Heart You

2012-02-04T08:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody! Well, here it is February, and of course I have been procrastinating as usual! My son is at the end of wrestling season - this is his senior year and I am the Team Mom, so that takes up almost all of my "free" time, but I love him and all of his teammates, and I don't know what I'll do with myself next year when he's off at Virginia Tech doing his college thing. But for now I just try to enjoy it. The newspaper had an article about Chris and two of his teammates last week - I am so proud of him - this is the photo they had in the paper - Chris is in the middle:

My love abounds for him and his entire team. And in honor of all that love, we are doing an I Heart You challenge over at The Outlawz this week. The challenge is to create a project that uses at least two hearts, so I made two cards, because I just love hearts and can't get enough of them (and I didn't have time to create something more elaborate).

Thanks for stopping by! I am off to the district wrestling tournament - Chris is wrestling in the finals today, along with 7 of his teammates - that's 8 of 14 guys in the finals - a huge accomplishment! Wish them luck!

It's January - time for a White Sale

2012-01-14T05:13:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Well, here it is January 2012, and this is my first post for the year. It isn't quite so obvious these days, but when I was younger, January was always the month when retailers held their annual white sales. I guess that was the time when housewives purchased their new sheets and towels and other similar items, and of course, back in the day there weren't quite as many color choices and pretty pattterns - everything was mostly just basic white.

So this week's Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz is the "White Sale" challenge - create a project using mostly white. I have to admit that's a tall order for me - I typically do not use a lot of white in my projects. But I decided to make a card, and I went a little CAS this week. I added just a touch of color with some alphabet stickers.

One of these days I've got to work on getting better photos. The lighting in my house is terrible, so I need to create a light box for myself. This picture isn't very good - I think the card is a lot prettier than it looks here.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope 2012 brings love, health, and happiness! Big hugs!

All Buttoned Up

2011-12-11T16:15:00.000-05:00

Oh my, what a week I had! Busy, busy, busy - but I guess we're all in that boat! My son, Chris, is a senior in high school and captain of his wrestling team. Wrestling season is BUSY, and yesterday was an all day tournament at another high school, where Chris placed 2nd in his weight class (182). I know we aren't supposed to brag, but I love bragging on my children! Here's a cute pic of him I took while he was chatting in the stands before his final match - I love my handsome boy!

And this is him with his medal:

Okay, enough of my proud mom act! On to some craftiness!

This week's Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz is "All Buttoned Up" - make a project that features buttons. I chose to make a button tree. I have seen photos of several of these over the years, and finally got myself in gear and got one completed. I have the supplies to make a couple more, but I just haven't found the time to get them done - at this rate, it will be next Christmas before I make them!

It's just a styrofoam tree base, which you can get at any craft store, and lots of buttons and pins. I dipped some of the pins in glue and then microbeads to add a bit of texture.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope everyone else is doing better with their Christmas preparations than I am. Gotta get busy and get some shopping done this week! Big hugs to you all!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

Whew! I don't know where the time has been going. I have barely been in my house this past week. So I am, as usual, trying to play catch up. It's wrestling season now for my son who is a high school senior, and I am the team mom, so that's almost a full time job, on top of running my two businesses, so I don't have a lot of time for being crafty these days! I have so many projects I want to do, but there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge this week over at The Outlawz is to make an ornament or a card with an ornament on it. I decided to make an ornament using a paper rosette that I already had made for something else and never used. I added a variety of other elements to it, and voila, a handmade ornament for the tree!

Thanks for stopping by a sharing my time woes! Hope you are having a better time managing your 24 hours each day! Big hugs!

A Recipe

2011-11-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine, and for those who live in other parts of our world, someday you'll just have to come visit and celebrate with us! I ate too much, and have had lots of leftovers since Thursday, but that's about over now and time to move on to some non-Thanksgiving foods.

In that vein, our weekly Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz uses a "recipe" for designing our projects. I decided to go with a Christmas card as the result of my use of the recipe:

I dug into my healthy stash of Christmas themed papers and embellishments for this one - I love this time of year, because I get to play with all my "stuff"!

I also made another card this week. It uses a gorgeous digi from A Day for Daisies and some little scraps of paper and ribbon that I had in my scrap pile. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils:

Thanks for stopping by this week. Stay tuned because we have a couple of great challenges coming up that will hopefully inspire you to get creative! Big hugs!

Christmas is just around the corner!

2011-11-19T18:28:00.000-05:00

Oh, where does the time go??? Thanksgiving is this week and Christmas is just around the corner. Time to get all my Christmas cards made and sent out pretty soon!

In that regard, our Saturday Paper a la Mode challenge over at The Outlawz is to make a holiday related project (doesn't have to be Christmas, because not everyone celebrates the same) based on your own family traditions.

As far as traditions go, we don't have a lot of specific traditions - I guess mostly we tend toward the traditional colors and images and designs, but occasionally throw a curve ball into the mix.

So, I have a few cards I want to share. This first one I made for the card front swap at Crafters Digital Art Center. The vintage image is from the Etsy shop iralamijashop. I threw some colors into the card that are perhaps a little non-traditional, but then I guess that's how new traditions are made - sometimes you've got to step out of the box.

This next card uses a digital stamp from A Day for Daisies. I just adore this cute little sweetie!

Now I'm off to work some more on a special Christmas tree I am making. Hopefully it will turn out nice and I will be able to share it with everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to you, and big hugs too!

Thank You to All Our Veterans!

2011-11-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

I am a Veteran! I served almost 9 years on active duty in the U.S. Army as an officer, and another 5 years in the Reserves, before resigning my commission altogether so I would be assured of being around to raise my son. Since leaving the military, I have continued to work with the military in some capacity, either as an employee of a defense contractor or as a business owner. A huge majority of my friends and acquaintances are either in the military, retired from the military, or are family members of military. It's been my life and that of my children for a very long time - it's what I know and love. It's my family!

Today I wanted to create a project that honors veterans. Over at The Outlawz, our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to make a project that honors veterans in some way. After a lot of thought and a million ideas - too many to actually make - I decided to create a scrapbook layout to honor my dad. My dad served in the U.S. Air Force as a young man during the Korean War, and he was very proud of his service, and even more proud of mine. This is one of my favorite photos of my dad - it's old and a little fuzzy, but still precious to me!

Much love and thanks to everyone who has served our country, and to their families and loved ones. Hugs to you all, and thanks for stopping by!

Time to Give Thanks!

2011-11-05T00:01:00.004-04:00

I love Thanksgiving! Nothing better than family, friends, and food all meshed together at one time! But sometimes it's hard to actually enjoy it! Everybody is rushing toward Christmas before Halloween is even over. So I have promised myself this year that I will make a concerted effort to focus the month of November on being grateful and giving thanks to God for all the wonderful blessings in my life! And try to mostly put off any Christmas preparations until after Thanksgiving is over and we have given God his due, at least for a short time.

I got that cute graphic from Facebook - thought it was appropriate to share it here!

Over at The Outlawz this week, we are doing Thanksgiving projects for our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge. I have two projects to share - the first is a CD holder that I made. This one is for storing away my fall photo CDs of football games, Halloween, Thanksgiving, back to school, and all those other Autumn events. You could give these to family and friends as gifts, or try decorating it a bit different and put music CDs in it as a gift.

Then this next one is strictly for Thanksgiving - a pretty little card where I applied some leaf-shaped brads and sewed on some pretty golden beads.

I hope everyone can find more reasons to be thankful than they can even list! Hugs to you!

Update: I decided to put a series of photos together with some brief instructions about how to make the CD cover - if you can't read the words, just let me know and I'll send it to you in an email or something. I apologize for the lighting in these photos - it was hard to get in a good spot for lighting in my craft room.

Here I Go Again!

2011-10-31T14:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm batting 1000 - late again for posting what should have been done Friday night. I just don't know where the time goes anymore!

Our challenge for Saturday's Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz this week is to use stitching on our projects. It can be either machine or hand stitching, but it has to have some sort of thread on the project.

Confession time: I recently bought a new sewing machine - about a month ago - and it's still in the box. I have been holding out on setting it up because I wanted to get my craft room purged and rearranged, but at the rate I'm going, that will be next year this time. So ... I had to use hand stitching. But I thought it turned out pretty - sort of an embroidery effect. I like a lot of texture to my cards and layouts, so on what would have been a rather CAS design, the stitching adds a lot of "oomph"!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be a bit more proactive this week in getting my blog post done! Hugs to you!

Time is flying! And I'm slow with my posting!

2011-10-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I am a few days slow with posting for Saturday's challenge. I took my son, who is a high school senior, for a college scholarship interview at Virginia Tech this weekend. It was a great trip, and so beautiful with all the leaves changing colors. Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is down in the southwest corner of the state, and the terrain is a bit mountainous, so the views and scenery are incredible. Virginia Tech is so beautiful, with almost all of its buildings being made of stone, so it has a very regal and distinguished air about it. Chris did well with his interview, so help me keep my fingers crossed that he gets offered this scholarship.

For our weekly Paper a la Mode challenge at The Outlawz, I made a fall-themed banner - it covers both Halloween and Thanksgiving, so I can leave it up hanging from my mantle for a couple of months. I used some cute tree and house-shaped chipboards as the base, and alternated 7 of them for the banner. I made each one unique, because really, who wants to be boring and make the same thing over and over. Here are a few photos of the individual pieces and the overall banner.

So, which one is your favorite? I like each of them for different reasons. I put the whole thing together with some beautiful orange satin ribbon, but it's a bit difficult to see in the photo of the entire banner - it's the same ribbon that you see on several of the individual banner pieces. I got that ribbon, and most of my ribbons and lace, from Martha Pined's Etsy Shop, Creating Is Fun. She has gorgeous stuff, and you can't beat her prices and customer service. And she has lots of sales!

Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to everyone!

And Even More ...

2011-10-09T11:17:00.000-04:00

Got a couple more cards done yesterday with a couple more of my new A Day for Daisies digis.

This first one is for one of my little nephews - I thought he would enjoy the spiders. There wasn't much coloring involved - just the bodies of the spiders with some gray-scale Copics. Then I used one of my distress ink pads to blend some orange color around the edges, since it is for Halloween. The papers are a hodgepodge of scraps that I had from previous projects.

This next one is for my sister. She loves cats - we call her "The Crazy Cat Lady" - and so I always make cards for her that have cats on them. She always love them, and keeps every single one. I colored the cats with a mix of Copics and Prismacolors and put on a sentiment sticker and some pretty buttons from my extensive button collection, otherwise known as the "Stash"!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Saturday is A Day for Daisies! (and pretty birds)

2011-10-08T13:01:00.000-04:00

Soooo ... I got my new October digi kit from A Day for Daisies yesterday, and there are so many beautiful images. I love this little bird, and I decided to modify it a bit by adding some words to it. Not sure where this quote came from, by I thought it was appropriate. I made this card for a sweet friend of mine who has been going through some tough times this year, so I'll put it in the mail on Monday and hopefully it will cheer her up a bit.

I used some My Mind's Eye papers, my favorite Stampin' Up Top Notes die, and some ribbon and buttons from my stash, along with a little Tim Holtz ticket that I've been hoarding for several years! And of course a little black cardstock, because it just makes everything look prettier!

I think I'm going to make another one of these and put it on kraft cardstock, because it also makes everything look prettier!

Thanks for stopping by, and love and big hugs to you!

3-Dimensional Designs - The Outlawz 1000 Member Party

2011-10-03T00:01:00.006-04:00

Hi everybody! Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I made. It's always nice to have visitors.

Over at The Outlawz, we are having our 1000 Member Party all this week, starting today, October 3rd. We have a blog hop going on, which is perhaps how you wound up here. We also have lots of challenges and games going on this week, so if you aren't already playing along, I recommend you get on over to the party and have some fun with us. We have over $800 in sponsored prizes being given away for the party - you can check out the sponsor list and prizes by going to The Outlawz home page.

Now on to my 3-dimensional creations. Our challenge for the Paper a la Mode group is to use Autumn colors for a non-Autumn themed design, and do something in 3D. So this first design uses a 3-D heart for a "love"-ly little card.

This next design is a decoration I made for my fireplace mantel. I love fall - it's my favorite time of the year. I don't do a lot of holiday-type decorating throughout the year, but I always have some things around the house to celebrate this wonderful season. The air cooled off here in Virginia this weekend, so it definitely feels like fall now, at least for the next few days. We will have a couple more hot spells I'm sure, but there's nothing like that first nip of cold air!

And then I made a couple of pumpkins to go along with the half pumpkin on the framed design. These are pretty good size - about 3" across on the scalloped one and about 3 1/2" on the larger one. They use up a couple of sheets of paper each, but they are just so darn cute and very easy to make. I'm going to make several smaller ones and create a tablescape for Thanksgiving with these and some larger real pumpkins and candles. Can't wait!

Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope you'll take a moment to become a follower of my blog and leave me some love! I recently realized I've gone over 100 followers, so it's time for some blog candy soon!

I hope you are having beautiful weather wherever you are, and don't forget to stop by The Outlawz and play some games, join some challenges, and win some prizes! Big hugs!

School Days!

2011-09-17T17:54:00.000-04:00

Our weekly Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz is to make a project with some sort of back to school theme. I opted for a bit of a CAS style this week. I made a little folded fan pinwheel and used an apple digi for the center. I also used a school paper digi for the background. Both of the digis are from The Stamping Boutique. I inserted the digi into powerpoint, then added text in a font that looked something like what a kid in school would write like. I like the rainbow colors against a black background - makes them pop - and I guess it looks a little bit like a blackboard in school.

It was a long week this week. Today I am being overly lazy, hence my lateness at getting this posted. I just ordered some chinese food from my favorite local place - to be delivered - so hopefully it shows up soon. I plan to eat and go read my book. I need to catch up on a couple of projects, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs!

1000 Member Party at The Outlawz!

2011-09-15T16:17:00.000-04:00

Make plans to join us for some crafting, games, friendship, prizes, and just good fun!

Saturdays are for ...

2011-09-10T17:58:00.000-04:00

So it's Saturday, and as the sun started fading, I decided to get busy in my craft room. I put this card together for another of my A Day for Daisies digis I colored last weekend. Yes, it's another bunny. Yes, I think he's adorable too!

I used a combination of Pink Paislee and Jillibean Soup, a variety of edge punches from Martha Stewart, Stampin' Up, and EK Success, the Top Note die from Stampin' Up, hand-dyed seam binding, and ink for edging by Ranger Distress Inks (Antique Linen). The sentiment frame and stamp are from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me some love! Big hugs!

Thankful ...

2011-09-10T00:02:00.002-04:00

Hi everybody! I have been on an A Day for Daisies kick for the past week. I spend last weekend coloring up a bunch of new digis with my Prisma colored pencils, and now I've spent this week trying to turn some of them into cards and things. This week's Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz is to celebrate autumn, since summer is heading out the door and we're heading into the new season. I decided to make one of my new digis into a "thankful" card. This little bunny is showing us some of her carrot harvest - isn't she just adorable!

Autumn is always a time that makes me reflect, not just waiting until Thanksgiving, but there is just something about that first cool air, the leaves turning beautiful colors, the day growing a little shorter, that makes me remember how blessed I am. I may not be "rich" monetarily, but I have two wonderful children, two funny fur babies, fabulous friends all over the world, and I am in good health. A girl can't ask for much more, but I am blessed in more and more ways all the time, and I am Thankful to God for all that He has given me and continues to bless me with! I wish you all many blessings in your lives!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Thinking of You ... More ADFD

2011-09-08T17:52:00.000-04:00

Okay, still trying to play catch up and turn some of those sweet little digis I colored over Labor Day weekend into cards, so this is one I finished last night. I started out making something entirely different with an entirely different digi, and somehow ended up with this. It was sort of like surfing the net - I started out in one spot and ended up somewhere entirely different and can't explain how I got there. But I think the card is sweet and pretty. I love all the soft colors together. The stamped image, which is doubled up and raised with foam squares is from Ippity by Unity. I get all my Ippity from the dear Rona. The pretty paper is from Pink Paislee. That lovely lace is from one of my favorite Etsy shops - CreatingisFun - Martha always has such beautiful laces and trims, and she is almost always having a sale, so check her out if you are a lace lover like me.

Okay, back to my craft room to work on more designs. It's Thursday evening, I just got back from a trip to DC today, and I need to get busy with my creation for Saturday's Paper a la Mode challenge over at The Outlawz. Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

The Fruits of My Labor ... How I Spent My Labor Day!

2011-09-05T14:54:00.000-04:00

If you are not already familiar with Tammy Thompson and her digis at A Day for Daisies, I highly recommend you check it out! She sells her designs on her site, and she also has an Etsy shop. I fell in love with her designs from the first time I saw one, and I especially love and adore her nature and animal digis. This past week her new releases (she has a new release every Friday) just knocked my socks off! It's been a long time (probably almost a year) since I touched my colored pencils, but I got so inspired this weekend I printed out a bunch of the digis and started coloring. I had forgotten how much I love to color! I have both pencils and Copics, but I have to say that most of the time I prefer the pencils. For me, with my lack of Copic skills, the pencils give me a lot more control over my shading and blending (and of course they are much less expensive too).So I got a bunch of the digis colored up, and I decided to make a card from this little cutie - oh my goodness, isn't she just adorable. I thought a Thanksgiving card would be appropriate, since it looks like she's busy with her harvest of goodies from the farmer's patch! And wait until you see the other sweet digis - I am just in love with all of them!And of course I had to add some lace and pearls and ribbons and buttons and my favorite Ippity stamp (you can get all your Ippity stuff from my dear friend Rona) with some Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type letters (my favorites). The papers I used are from Jillibean Soup and Sassafras. I'm still undecided on whether or not I like all the papers and things I used, but I definitely love that little bunny! And I am going to enter this one for fun in The Outlawz Monday Greeting Cards Challenge this week, because the challenge is to use pearls and lace on a card (and what fun is a card without pearls and lace).

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Labor Day! My not-so-little one (he's 17) started his senior year of high school tomorrow, so a big day! I'm excited - life holds so many wonderful surprises around each corner. I hope you are all blessed! Big hugs!

Banners, banners everywhere!

2011-09-03T06:40:00.000-04:00

Another week and another banner! I know, I know, but I just can't seem to stop making banners. This week's challenge over at The Outlawz for our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to use canvas or fabric in your project.

I decided to make my banner panels from canvas, but I wanted to make sure the beautiful papers I used from Pink Paislee also got to shine, so I alternated the banner panels for my AUTUMN banner between the canvas pieces and the paper pieces. So for each panel I cut a larger piece and a smaller piece and layered them together.

I used some rubons to decorate the canvas pieces, and who knew rubons would work so well on a rough surface, but they did. I wanted to keep this banner relatively simple, so I used a Papertrey Ink stamp and die set to make the little center medallions, then used some more Pink Paislee alphabets in the centers to spell out AUTUMN. I wanted an odd number of panels, so I added one extra on the end and put a Basic Grey flower in the center.

I used beads to connect the panels, and the larger oblong center "beads" are actually roll up strips of paper that I taper down a bit with my paper cutter. I got the idea from my daughter's jewelry collection, because she has all sorts of jewelry from Light Gives Heat, an organization that sells gorgeous products produced by ladies in Africa. They are so pretty and colorful, and they are made from paper beads. Mine aren't nearly as gorgeous as theirs, but they serve the purpose, and I think they turned out pretty well - they add some nice coordinating color, some space between the panels, and a nice new dimensional element.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by this week! I appreciate all the love and support! Big hugs to all!

Irene is gone!!! And I'm late with my post!!!

2011-08-28T18:48:00.000-04:00

Today I am so thankful that Hurricane Irene turned out to be much less intense than forecast. My home and family came through with flying colors - just some debris cleanup outside. But my heart and prayers go out to everyone who have had their property damaged, or worse yet are injured or killed. Having been through this before, I know the recovery is going to be long and tough, so please remember those affected.

Saturday's Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz started yesterday, but I was so focused on the storm that I completely forgot to post my creation - my quick creation. This entire week was full of work and home storm preparations, but I found a little time on Friday to try to put my thoughts about the inspiration photo that is the focus of the challenge onto paper. The colors and lines are just so bold and beautiful, and I had to make a couple of tries to get something pulled together that I was happy with, but this is my "inspired creation":

I used some Pink Paislee papers that I had in my stash, along with a little chipboard tree and a variety of little gems and pearls that are supposed to look like leaves in the fall, although I'm not sure how successful that turned out.

But thanks for stopping by, and thanks to everyone for all the prayers and positive thoughts as Hurricane Irene approached and passed us by. Hugs to all!

Banners - Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge

2011-08-20T13:25:00.001-04:00

Okay, it's time to talk about one of my favorite things in paper crafting - BANNERS! I love making banners, and I have made quite a few over the last couple of years to celebrate different seasons, holidays, as gifts, and now have made a tiny one to put on an Artist Trading Card (ATC) for this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz.

I made the banner pieces, which are quite small - maybe 1/2 inch for each piece - using Power Point. PP has a lot of different shapes built into it, so I used a triangle and sized it to what I wanted. Then I typed a letter into each piece - in this case I was spelling out "joy" because my ATC is for the Christmas season. I made the border of each triangle red, and the letters black. Then I printed it out on plain white cardstock and cut out the pieces - easy peezy! (If you would like to use the same idea, let me know and I will send you the file to use) I love the little digi bunny - I colored that with Copics and added a little Stickles to the fur on the hat for some bling.

My last post had the ATCs for the other 3 seasons, and this is the final one. These are for a swap over at CDAC where we had to use digi images to make ATCs, and we could pick one or more seasons - I am doing all 6. I've got to get these in the mail to the swap organizer this week, and I am so looking forward to getting back the ATCs that everyone else in the swap has created. This will be my 3rd swap with CDAC - if you haven't tried it, it's a lot of fun. They do different ones for stickpins, cards, ATCs, mini albums - just about anything.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by! Big hugs to all!

Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz

2011-08-12T21:40:00.000-04:00

Ooh, I have been soooo remiss with my blog lately!!! And with my paper crafting too for that matter!

So now for this week's challenge, and hopefully a little inspiration for you! Over at The Outlawz, we do a weekly challenge called Paper a la Mode. There is usually a twist, and you can use the twist to make pretty much anything involving that twist. This week's challenge is to make anything but a card (so a layout, banner, mini-album, wall decoration, etc.).

So I decided to try my hand at some ATCs (or artist trading cards), which are tiny in size ( 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches ).
I am making these for a swap, in addition to this challenge, and they are seasonal. The swap requirement is that they each have to have a digital image of some sort on them. I struggled and struggled with this, because I am just not accustomed to trying to work with something so small - my typical card size is 6 inches by 6 inches!!!

So this first one is for Summer - it's the first one I did. I thought the canning jar with the flowers was just so "summery", and I tried to put it with some colors and patterns that reminded me of summer - I guess mostly because they reminded me of summers at my grandmothers house a million years ago, but my best memories ever!

This second one is for Spring, and might just be my favorite. I used an adorable image from Arielle at the Wax Fruit Company - I actually won this in a sneak peek contest, but just had not taken the time to use it yet. I think it's just too cute!

And then the third one is for autumn, and in this case I made it Halloween-y with one of my all-time favorite digis from A Day for Daisies! I love cats!

There is a fourth one that I am doing for winter, or in my case Christmas, but I am saving it for later. So stay tuned for that one coming along in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I hope you join us over at The Outlawz for some fun! Big hugs!

Blog Candy on Gabrielle Polacco's blog (Such a Pretty Mess)

2011-07-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let anyone know who is interested that you should head over to Gabrielle Polacco's blog, Such a Pretty Mess, and leave a comment to be entered in her blog giveaway. This lady is so incredibly talented - I have been following her for a few years, and her eye for detail and beautiful things is amazing. She is on several design teams, so she has lots of extra goodies that she wants to pay forward to someone.

The Visitor

2011-05-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

I have always been a huge nature lover. I grew up in the country, and have raised a coyote, two squirrels, a crow, and much livestock and domesticated animals. The back of my house faces an old peach orchard, so I get to see lots of bunnies, pretty trees and flowers, and other assorted wilflife. I have lived here for six years, and have only seen a fox on one other occasion during daylight hours. This morning before I left for work, I was sitting at my computer, which is always at the kitchen table, and I looked up and saw this fox on my back deck. I occasionally feed the stray cats that people have discarded and roam around the neighborhood, so I guess he/she has been coming around to dine and was looking for a snack. Boo Kitty raced to the window and scared it away, but it was just such an unusual sight I just had to share it here on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to you!

Pin Swap ... Come Join In

2011-04-21T14:21:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! I hope the weather wherever you live has been behaving in a nice way. We had some devastating tornadoes in my area last weekend, and we almost never have tornadoes. I live in Hampton, Virginia, and my family lives in Arkansas, and they have had a lot of tornadoes there too in the last week. Major damage and several lives lost, so my prayers to all those affected.

A couple of months ago, my dear friend Jenn invited me over to join Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC) and particpate in a beaded stickpin swap. The swap was to make pins in spring colors to be used to decorate cards, scrapbook layouts, or whatever you like. These are a couple of photos of the pins I made.

This first one shows the packaging that I made to present the pins. Inside I used a fabric-wrapped piece of cork as a holder for the pins.

This one is a bunch of the pins I made (yes, I got carried away) stuck into a little blending sponge I had handy.

This shot shows a closeup of a few of the pins.

These are extremely easy to make. There is a quick tutorial on the CDAC Pin Swap thread in the Swap Group that shows you how they are made - the rest is up to your imagination.

I had never worked with beads before, and these were so much fun, that I signed up for the new pin swap, where we are doing various groups for different holiday themes - 4th of July, Halloween, Fall/Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. I signed up for all of the groups!

We would love to have you join in the fun, so please come on over to CDAC and check it out! You can find the main CDAC site at http://priscillastyles.ning.com/
. After you join, just look at the "Groups" and find the one for "CDAC Swap Central" and look for the Swap No. 7 - Holiday Colors Beaded Stick Pin Swap. You can sign up for one holiday group or all five - it's up to you! You'll love it!

Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs and Easter blessings to everyone!

Baby!

2011-04-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

Lucky me! I needed to make a baby shower card for my friend Christina who is expecting a little girl, and today's Tuesday Color Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts uses my favorite color combo of pink/green/white, so it was just the motivation I needed to get going on that card.

I lined up a series of pink and green papers that I like, used a variety of edge punches to add some interest, then glued them together and ran them through my die cutting machine using the Stampin' Up Top Note die.

Then I used my Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 2 Collection die and stamps for the sentiment and frame. I stuck everything together with some foam squares, added a bow made of seam binding that I dyed myself, and then put on a pretty stickpin that I also made myself.

I love making those stickpins. I had never done anything with beads before I started making those for a swap over at Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC), but I had so much fun, I signed up for the next swap. Go over and check it out - you can find it in the Swap Group - it's great fun and you get lots of pretty things from other ladies who make lots of pretty things.

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Happy Birthday ... and some Echo Park

2011-04-10T18:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's Question of the Day over at Simply Scrapping Crafts asked what was my least favorite line of papercrafting supplies. I really don't have a least favorite, but I did comment that I didn't understand all the hype over Echo Park, and that I don't generally care for their papers.

Well ... fast forward a few hours, and my lovely friends over at The Outlawz have a nice Sunday CAS Challenge, which I felt inspired to participate in. So guess what I used? You guessed it - Echo Park - their new Playground papers. The challenge is to have at least two punches (I used 3), use the color blue, and have some plain cardstock that isn't embossed or stamped upon. So here's my take on the challenge:

I also found myself one of those little flower frogs (at least that's what I think it's called) at Michael's to hold my cards while I photograph them. Now to just make myself a lightbox - one of these days!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll leave me a sweet comment - I always enjoy knowing that my friends stopped by! Hugs to you!

Love ... and a Bird

2011-03-31T20:34:00.000-04:00

Was in another crafty mood tonight - I haven't gotten this must craftiness accomplished in ... well, probably never.

The Outlawz Thursday POM Challenge this week is to add stitching to your design, and of course you are to use Prismas or some other medium of your choice. This week I decided to use some Tim Holtz Distress Inks, for both my stamps and to distress around the edges of the patterned paper. The stamps are from Unity, the patterned paper is from BoBunny, the ribbon came out of my stash, and I made the stickpin.

Thanks for coming by, and I always appreciate the sweet comments and encouragement that everyone leaves. Big hugs!

Hi!

2011-03-31T19:05:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! I've been feeling a need to create lately - I think it's just a way to release stress and escape from whatever is on my mind. I wanted something "pretty", and that usually means that pink and green are involved - not sure why that is my sort of "go to" color combo, but it just is. I also wanted to use this Hero Arts stamp I've had for awhile but just couldn't make work for me yet. I am not a very good stamper, and I usually think my stamped images look too flat or something. So I decided to stamp it onto some patterned paper, then I added some color highlights with my Copic markers and some Stickles. Then I framed it up with a darker color so that it would really stand out against the white background.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my latest creation - it always makes me feel so good when someone leaves me a nice comment! Big hugs to everybody!

Easter Egg Tree

2011-03-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

Back last fall I made a card that had this awesome stamp on it from Unity Stamp Company, and I added golden beads to it for Autumn. Well, now that Spring is approaching - I say approaching because even though the trees and daffodils are blooming here in Virginia, it snowed and sleeted the last two days (yuck!) - I decided to make another similar tree for Spring!

And as luck (and careful timing) would have it, I have two challenges that this card is perfect for. The first challenge is Clare's Wednesday Card Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. The challenge this week (actually last week, but I was slow at getting this done) was to use only one stamped image or sentiment. Actually, that's pretty easy for me, because I am not a huge stamper, but I do love this tree!

The second challenge is over at The Outlawz. The Monday Greeting Card Challenge is on today, and the new challenge is to use your favorite image, color, or sentiment in your card. Since this is my favorite stamp, and these lovely Easter colors are some of my favorites too, I think this should work out nicely!

I used the Sassafras Lass Sweetly Smitten Wee Bundle patterned papers, some Bazzill cardstock, the Unity stamp, some random ribbon and embroidery floss from my stash, and those fabulous beads came from Lisa Keifer's Etsy shop. If you don't know Lisa, she is a fabulously sweet friend and is on the design team at The Outlawz (along with many of my other fabulously sweet friends)! The beads on the tree are sewn on with just regular white thread, so they swing freely. The ones around the bottom of the tree are also sewn on, but I put a dot of glue under each one to keep them in place like eggs laying on the ground.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to everybody!

Friendship ... is a Million Little Things

2011-03-27T10:51:00.000-04:00

Good Sunday morning to everybody! The weather here in yucky today - can't believe it was actually sleeting this morning when I got up! But since I'm staying indoors today, my friends over at The Outlawz have a great Weekly CAS Challenge this week with a sweet sketch by Amy, and I couldn't resist playing along. I've had this collection of Teresa Collins on my table for the last several weeks, so I just keep using it however I can - I love that blue and black color combo.

Oy vey! I just looked outside and it's sleeting again - just in the time I could type up this post. What happened to "in like a lion and out like a lamb"? Oh well, Spring will be here sooner or later!

Thanks to everyone for stopping by!

CAS "Hello" Card

2011-03-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

The March 25th CAS Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts has a little sketch and the challenge to add texture to your cardstock. It's a sweet, simple sketch, so I couldn't resist. This is a pre-made card base that I added those embossed lines to with my Scor-Pal. The scalloped strip is from some Prima papers that I had already cut last weekend but never used. I hand-dyed the seam binding and made the stickpin myself. The alphabet stickers are from Cosmo Cricket, and I colored two tiny pearls with my Copics and added them as a little accent.

I have a list of challenges I want to try to do this weekend, so back to my craft room for a bit to see what I can get done.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs!

A Little Birdy Told Me ...

2011-03-20T20:59:00.001-04:00

My best friend and business partner's birthday is tomorrow. Of course, procrastinator that I am, I waited until today to make him a card. I contemplated just buying him a card, at least for a few minutes, but since he is always so good to me, I decided to invest the time and make him a card. I was looking for something "manly", and I happened to have some Teresa Collins papers on my table from a few projects ago (yes, I procrastinate at putting my things away too). And I had this cute little feltie bird from Basic Grey that I have been hanging onto, and the whole thing just sort of came together from there. It's cute, but not in a girly way, and his favorite color is blue, so I think he'll really like this.

Update: This card fit handily into The Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge. The challenge this week is to make a design for a man. I'm probably a bit borderline on mine, because I can't completely go "guy" on my stuff - just too outside my style.

The cardstock is Core'dinations, the patterned papers, glittered border, and clock transparency are Teresa Collins, the felt bird is Basic Grey, and the letter stickers are all Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to you all!

And More Butterflies!

2011-03-19T17:55:00.000-04:00

I've been on a butterfly tangent lately with my crafting, but that's not a bad thing. Who can resist such beauty and color? They are such heralders of Spring! I made two new butterfly cards last night and today.

The first one is for the CAS Friday Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Doris has a great sketch to inspire our creativity, and frankly I could have made at least a hundred different cards from all the ideas that sketch brought to my mind. I used the new Bo Bunny Gabrielle paper (that's the one with the butterflies on it), and Sassafras Lass (it's the pink paper under the white lace). I got the lace from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Creating Is Fun. The dyed seam binding and the stickpin I made myself. The rubon letters are from K&Co.

I made this second one for Clare's Wednesday Card Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. I used some K&Co papers and big butterfly diecut from my stash, along with some hand-dyed seam binding and a handmade stickpin. The sentiment is on the butterfly's wing, and was made with Cosmo Sticket Tiny Type.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and sharing in my love of butterflies! Love and hugs to you all! Now off to have Italian for dinner at my friends' restaurant - I just love hanging out there!

Butterfly Blog Linky Party, Double Bows, and Punches

2011-03-12T18:53:00.004-05:00

Sooo ... Eva Dobilas is having a Butterfly Blog Link Party starting at midnight on Saturday night. I found out about it through Angie Blom, and thought it sounded like a good way to use some pretty Spring-y things to help herald in some beautiful weather.

Also, Clare put together a lovely Wednesday Card Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - the challenge is to use a double bow on your project, and she even provided a tutorial video.

And ... over at The Outlawz, Colleen has a Greeting Card Challenge to use punches or die cuts, so this card fit all three needs. How sweet is that!!!

I used a butterfly shape as a mask and painted around it with a paint dabber. Then I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch to create a flutter of flies, and added some pearls that I colored with my Copics. I also added a "hello" tag and a stickpin that I made using a corsage pin and some beautiful beads.

I love the Spring colors against the black background - even after a long, cold, dark winter, Spring always shows up!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you like the card and are inspired to create something today! Big hugs to all!

Visit Eva's blog for the entire Linky List of beautiful creations!

You Make My Day Bright

2011-03-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

Clare had a great Wednesday Card Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts where your card had to be "bright", and the Outlawz had a great Sunday CAS Challenge with a sketch, so I combined the two to come up with this card.

I used a kraft cardstock base, then added some Basic Grey paper strips and a flower cut from the same papers, along with a Teresa Collins paper cutout. The pretty crocheted flower and twine were a gift from Rona, so I added those on for some texture and interest. Then I used a variety of alphabet stickers to make the sentiment. This came together really quickly, and I love the pretty, bright colors - not really my norm, but I had been hoarding this paper for awhile now, and this seemed like the perfect project for it!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! Hugs to everybody!

Friendship

2011-02-19T13:48:00.000-05:00

I made this card a couple of days ago. I was itching to make something, and happened to have these old Teresa Collins papers out on my table, so used these and Clare's sketch for this week's Card Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts to put together a card.

Little did I know what the idea of "friendship" would mean to me before the week was over. My dear friend's mother suffered a massive heart attack. I know she is going through unspeakable pain, and I wish I could be there just to hug her and assure her that everything is going to be okay, even though she probably feels like it never will be. Please pray for my friend!

Thank you all for stopping by! I know it's been a long time since I felt like or had the time to make anything.

OUTLAWS SHOWDOWN

2011-02-08T07:11:00.001-05:00

And the Winner Is ...

2010-12-08T09:24:00.002-05:00

Marilyn Nimmo!

I did one of those random number generator things, and Marilyn's number was the winner. Congratulations Marilyn - as soon as I get your address, I have a little RAK goodie bag to send you!

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge all of you wonderful ladies who took the time out of your busy schedules to participate. I appreciate each and every one of you, and will make the time to send each of you a personal thanks on your blogs or emails or on SSC messaging. Your comments were very sweet and really made me feel special! Big hugs to you all!

And many thanks to Nikki and all the SSC Design Team for putting together the blog hop. Simply Scrapping Crafts is planning a weekend crop for sometime in January, so keep your eyes open for that one. This will be our fourth weekend crop, and the last three were so much fun and everybody had a great time. I hope everyone will come out and join us!

2010-12-04T00:01:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Simply Scrapping Crafts First Annual Holiday Hop! We have quite a line-up for you today filled with lots holiday inspired goodies! Our DT has been busy at work in Santa’s workshop creating a sled full of gorgeous holiday projects to help you decorate, scrapbook or use for gifts!. Be sure to comment all of the blogs along the way because we have "hidden" some extra special treats along the way. There is no way to tell where we have them stashed, so be sure not to miss out! Some of our hop hosts are giving an extra entry for becoming a follower. Who doesn't appreciate more chances to win right? All winner will be announced on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 via the DT blogs and also in the hop room at SSC, which can easily be accessed here . You have until 11:59PM EST tonight, December 4th, 2010 to comment for your chance to win. All you need to do is click on each link and leave a comment as you hop along to the end of the list. Are you ready for a Holly Jolly Holiday Hop? Let's get to hoppin'!

Maureen http://stampandscrapwithmaureen.blogspot.com/

Theresa http://procrastinatingscrapper.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)

Nikki - http://gracie33.blogspot.com/

Rona http://scraprona.blogspot.com/

Colleen http://cardsdelight.blogspot.com/

Amy http://amybeansblog.blogspot.com/

Clare http://bearydocardsinc.blogspot.com/

Pryn http://mochavation.blogspot.com

Tammy http://tmaynard.blogspot.com/

Now, for the good stuff! I have two projects to share with you today. The first is a tree made from a paperback book. I saw one of these on the internet a few years ago, and was entranced. I finally took the time to look up the directions for how to make one and tried it myself. This is my tree.

Unfortunately, my busy life has been extra busy this week and I did not have time to make a photo tutorial, but this is really easy to make. It takes less than 30 minutes to put the whole thing together, so it is also friendly for busy schedules like mine. I would love to have an entire "forest" of these little guys.

Supplies needed:
Paperback book
Sharp craft knife
Decorations (I used glitter and a pretty star, but you can use whatever you like - the possibilities are only limited by your imagination)

Directions:
Choose a paperback book with a strong spine and remove the covers.

Slice the spine with a sharp knife to separate the first 30 pages. This will make the first half of the tree.

Begin folding the pages. First, fold the top right corner toward the spine to form a right angled triangle.

Fold the triangle toward the spine again.

The bottom edge of the page will overhang the bottom of the book.

Fold the overhanging triangle at the bottom of the book back up to form a straight line along the the bottom of page.

Repeat with all thirty pages and set aside.

Use the knife to slice another 30 pages from the book. Turn this section so the spine is on the right, rather than left. Repeat the steps above to create a mirror image.

Glue the two halves of the Christmas tree together and add your decorations.

Tips: I tried using Glimmer Mist on mine, and that is not a good idea. The moisture in the Glimmer Mist made the paper "sag" a little bit, losing some of the crispness fo the folds. I did end up putting dots/globs of glue along the folded edges of the paper and sprinkling with some flaky Martha Stewart glitter. The tops of the folded star has a lot of natural slits in it, and I put strong glue on the end of my star and adhered it down into one of those slits.

NOTE: If you have any questions or need any assistance making one of these, please let me know. I am more than happy to help.

The second project I wanted to share is a little banner that I made for my Secret Sister. I should have mailed it to her already (they don't call me a procrastinator for nothing).

I used a cool banner die that I got from The Cat's Pajamas. I cut banner shapes from a variety of papers and added a bunch of various elements to make a Joy, Joy banner. These are quick and easy to make, they can be as fancy or simple, or elegant or rustic as you like. I try to make at least one for myself for each season of special holiday of the year - I hope you'll try one for yourself! And I hope my Secret Sister likes this one!

Thanks to you all for stopping by and taking a look. I have a great little prize package of paper crafting goodies to send to a random hopper who leaves a comment here on this blog post. I will also be giving an extra chance to win the RAK to each person who is already a follower and leaves a comment or becomes a follower today and leaves a comment.

The next destination on the hop is Nikki - http://gracie33.blogspot.com/.

Big hugs to you all! And happy hopping!

Holiday Blog Hop this Saturday!!!

2010-12-01T17:40:00.002-05:00

The Simply Scrapping Crafts design team is hosting a holiday blog hop this Saturday! Hope you can stop by and maybe even play along. There will be prizes and great inspiration projects and a chance to get to know some new crafters!

Merry Christmas!

2010-11-15T07:31:00.003-05:00

Woo hoo! I actually got some crafty things accomplished this weekend! I decided to try my hand at a clean and simple look, and this is what I came up with:

I used a Tim Holtz stamp and added some Stickles to those gorgeous snowflakes. The ribbon is from Stampin' Up - love that gorgeous stuff - perfect for Christmas cards! The rubon is from Kaiser Craft. That's it - just that simple. Actually I was going to go for just the snowflakes, but I just couldn't resist blinging them up a little bit!

Now I've got to get busy and get some more cards together! Time is flying and I'm pretty much standing still!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

I'll Be Home for Christmas!!!

2010-11-14T14:45:00.005-05:00

Two posts in the same day? This is a record for me! Woo hoo!

I just couldn't resist finishing up the card for this cute little image from A Day for Daisies - is this not the cutest little baby ever??? Tammy has several other coordinating images on her site - she is such a talented artist!

I colored the iamge with pencils, and added some glitter - what is a Christmas card without glitter??? The patterned papers are from Pink Paislee and The Girls' Paperie. That gorgeous ribbon is from Stampin' Up. The sentiment is from Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Thanksgiving is Coming ... and I'm Not Moving Fast Enough!!!

2010-11-14T13:06:00.004-05:00

Okay, trying to get caught up on my projects, but not making a lot of progress! I've been teaching myself how to color with colored pencils and how to color with Copics at the same time, and with limited available free time, I haven't actually finished very much.

I did manage to finish these four Thanksgiving cards this weekend. They all use the same image from A Day for Daisies - Tammy's art work is amazing! But I made each of the cards themselves slightly different. The photos aren't all that great - too much shadow when I took them, so you can't really see the subtle backgrounds on each image - I think they look much better in person.

As far as papers and embellishments for these cards, I used Basic Grey Pyrus collection (from a 6x6 pad). I used my favorite Stampin' Up Top Note die to cut out the images - Catherine Pooler is an awesome Stampin' Up lady! Those GORGEOUS ribbons are from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Creating Is Fun. I used Prismacolor pencils. And those awesome little alphabet stickers are from Cosmo Cricket.

Now back to work finishing up some other cards that I'm making with other A Day for Daisies digital images!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs to all!

Yah!!! Winners!!!

2010-10-18T17:00:00.001-04:00

We at Simply Scrapping Crafts would like to thank you for making our very first Blog Hop such a smashing success! We had so much fun creating our projects for you and hope that they inspire you to create ones of your own and share them with us!

As you know, we had some prizes "hidden" on certain blogs. Without further adieu, here is our master winners list:

Barb's Boys...prize hidden on Deb's blog

Julie M....prize hidden on Georgia's blog

Lisa (Purple Place) AND Trina...there were 2 prizes hidden on Theresa's blog

Andrea6760...prize hidden on Rona's blog

Helen...prize hidden on Amy's blog

Terry G (T)...prize hidden on Emily's blog

Denise...prize hidden on Clare's blog

Roxann...prize hidden on Pryn's blog

Again, we would like to thank you for your participation and look forward to bringing you many more hops in the future :) Please do not be a stranger and stop back anytime you would like! We would love to have you :)

********************

Another big personal thanks to each and every one of you who stopped by my blog and left me some love! Some of you I have "known" for a long time, and some of you are new friends. I appreciate each and every one of you, and look forward to spending much more time together! Big hugs!

A Big Thanks and Many Hugs to Everyone!

2010-10-17T15:22:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I apologize for not getting a photo of the prize up before the hop, but I wanted to see what I could find at the stamp show yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that great, but I did pick up a couple of things that I think will be useful to the recipient.

I decided to have two RAKS, and here are the photos of each:

This is one of the RAKS. The Crate Paper Restoration collection is almost impossible to find - it was a huge sellout. But I managed to find one of the 6x6 pads, which is a great size for card makers. I also threw in a cool bow maker that I found yesterday, a glitter pen, a glaze pen, some ribbons, buttons, and miscellaneous goodies. No, Baby Boo doesn't come along with it - she just wanted her picture taken!

This is the second RAK. These are also papers from Crate Paper, some alphabet stickers, die cut papers, ribbons, buttons, and other goodies.

And since Baby Boo got her picture on my blog, Boo Kitty insisted that she be included as well. This is the queen of the household!

I will have the winner list from the entire hop up later tonight or sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to say a big "Thank You" to everyone who participated in the hop. I hope you had fun and got a little bit of inspiration. I appreciate all of your sweet comments, and I thank everyone who became a follower of my blog. I feel like a Rock Star, thanks to all of you!

Big hugs and much love!

Halloween Blog Hop - Simply Scrapping Crafts

2010-10-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Simply Scrapping Crafts First Annual Haunted Hallow Hop! We have quite a line-up for you today filled with lots of tricks and treats! Now what would trick or treating be without candy? Eye candy that is! Our DT has been busy at work in Dr. Jekyll's lab creating just the right formula to inspire your hauntingly sweet projects this year. Be sure to comment all of the blogs along the way because we have "hidden" some extra special treats along the way. There is no way to tell where we have them stashed, so be sure not to miss out! Some of our hop hosts are giving an extra entry for becoming a follower. Who doesn't appreciate more chances to win right?

All winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 via the DT blogs and also in the hop room at SSC, which can easily be accessed here . You have until 11:59PM EST tonight, October 16, 2010 to comment for your chance to win. All you need to do is click on each link and leave a comment as you hop along to the end of the list.

Are you ready for a frightfully wicked Haunted Hallow Hop? Let's get to hoppin'!

Deb
Maureen
Georgia
Theresa - YOU ARE HERE
Nikki
Rona
Colleen
Amy
Emily
Clare
Pryn

*********************************

Hi everybody! Welcome, and thanks so much for stopping (or is that hopping) by! I am so glad to have you here!

Are you having fun yet? Getting some good inspiration and ideas? I certainly hope so, and I hope to be able to inspire you a bit more today.

I decided to make an Autumn banner for the Hallow-Hop, but went for some non-traditional shapes - 4 chipboard trees and 3 chipboard houses. The trees are from Maya Road and the houses are from Creative Imaginations. I put all seven of the pieces close together to get this photo.

This photo shows the banner hanging outside on the deck - I can get much better photos outside than inside.

So here are some individual photos that show each of the seven pieces up close. I used all sorts of embellishments for these, but all of the patterned papers are from Basic Grey.

This first tree shape uses Webster's Pages Bloomers and American Crafts rose ribbon pieces, along with Webster's Pages Sparklers and Basic Grey felties.

This second section, one of the house shapes, uses some lace pieces that I had in my stash to accent the roof, along with some green vine ribbon that I also had in my stash (I bought both of those at a recent scrapping convention, but they were generic). It also uses AC Thickers, a Cosmo Cricket cat rubon, an Ippity by Unity stamp as the base for a 3D pumpkin, and alphabet stickers by Cosmo Cricket. I get my Ippity stamps from Rona, my dear friend and favorite Ippity Chick at http://scraprona.blogspot.com/. She not only brings us fabulous stamps, but she throws in wonderful goodies with every order!

The second tree is my favorite I think. It uses a chipboard tree from Little Yellow Bicycle, Bazzill cardstock that was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, and pieces of a Magnolia garland purchased from Lisa Keifer's Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Paw2Reflect. I love the elegance of the soft colors and the gorgeous garland gems.

The center piece is for Halloween. I used several chipboard pieces from Little Yellow Bicycle, a stamp from Cosmo Cricket accented with Stickles, rubons from Cosmo Cricket, and some cute pumpkin and spider brads from Queen & Co. I also added a bit of glittered cardstock behind the chipboard house for some sparkle in the windows. Like that ghost coming out of the chimney? I thought that was a cute touch!

This next tree was also decorated for Halloween. I used some more of those Little Yellow Bicycle chipboard shapes and a few buttons. The spider stamp is from Ippity. That crazy looking cat is my favorite! The spider's web and all of the faux stitching on the trees was made using a Glaze pen by Sakura.

This last of the three houses is in subtle colors and geared to Autumn in general. I used an Ippity by Unity tree stamp and banner stamp. I accented the tree stamp with gems from Kaisercraft. The banners are accented with tiny type stickers from Cosmo Cricket. I also added some Basic Grey border stickers and Stickles to the roof, along with a cloud shaped chipboard piece from Little Yellow Bicycle.

This final piece, the fourth tree, was covered with little circles of glitter cardstock punched out with a Stampin' Up punch, then another layer of Basic Grey buttons in various colors. A couple of felt leaves from Queen & Co. were placed at the base of the tree. I get my Stampin' Up goodies from http://www.catherinepooler.com/ - Catherine is a doll!

The gorgeous orange satin ribbon used throughout the project was purchased from this awesome Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Creatingisfun. Martha is the owner, and she not only has fabulous goodies in her shop, but the prices are awesome too!

Soooo ... thanks again for hopping by and I hope I was able to get your creative juices going at least a little bit.

Please leave a comment for an opportunity at a random drawing I will be doing for a RAK, and if you become a follower of my blog (please make sure you tell me in your comment so I don't miss it), I will give you an extra entry in the drawing.

The RAK is full of yummy goodness of the non-caloric paper-crafting type - I did not get a chance to take a photo and post it, but you will definitely enjoy all the great "stuff"!

Big hugs and Happy Hopping to you! Now head on over to visit Nikki and see what yummy goodness she has to inspire you with!

2010-10-13T21:10:00.000-04:00

Lovable Inspiration

2010-10-10T16:39:00.000-04:00

Aren't these little kitties the sweetest? This digistamp is from A Day for Daisies (http://adayfordaisies.com/) - Tammy, who is the artist, is so awesomely talented. I love cats, so just couldn't resist this cute little Halloween image. I colored it with pencils and gamsol, then made a card out of it, which I will probably send to my sister for Halloween - she loves cats and always enjoys getting one of my handmade creations!

Getting ready for this Saturday's Simply Scrapping Crafts First Annual Hallow-Hop! I have a really fun creation - well, it's really seven creations in one - to hopefully inspire everybody. Can't wait to show it to everyone!

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget about the hop this Saturday!

You Color My World - with Doodles

2010-09-22T09:52:00.001-04:00

The Week 3 challenge for Creative Corner at Simply Scrapping Crafts (www.simplyscrapping.ning.com) was to use doodles in your project. I put this layout together last night using colored pencils, a Zig Writer pen, some alphabet stickers from American Crafts and Pink Paislee, and fuel from a French martini!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Stamping and Stitching

2010-09-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

Our challenge for the Stamp & Scrap group over at Simply Scrapping Crafts (www.simplyscrapping.ning.com) this week is to use a stamped image as the outline for stitching. I used this gorgeous cardinals stamp and some Bazzill floss to stitch portion of the pine needles. Unfortunately I'm not sure who makes that stamp - I just happened to have it in my collection, but it's one of my favorites!

I also used a Tim Holtz stamp for the snowflakes, some Webster's Pages papers from a 6x6 pad, an Imaginisce jeweled snowflake, a Stampin' Up brad, and a transparency from Little Yellow Bicycle.

I had never tried this technique before, but now I'm in love with it!! I don't have a lot of stamps in my collection (yet!) but I'm sure I'll be searching my stash for another one to try this on!

Thanks for stopping by, and visit us over at SSC in the Stamp & Scrap group to see what everyone is making, and maybe you'll get inspired to try this yourself! We'd love to have you!

Big hugs!

Be Well

2010-09-21T07:24:00.000-04:00

My friend Angie had some surgery yesterday, and I made this card over the weekend to send to her. As usual, I am a bit late, because the card won't get to her until she's probably well on her way to recovery, but hopefully she likes the card anyway. She is a sweet, special lady, and I pray that her recovery is swift!

I used a paper from a 6x6 pad of the newest Prima line, which is beautiful enough to stand on its own, but you know me - gotta add a bunch of stuff! I distressed the edges a bit. I couldn't decide which color of the dyed seam binding I liked the best with it, so I added all three. I also got a new stamp from Stampin' Up, and used that to hold the sentiment - I added a bit of color with Copics and a few pearls. The sentiment is made with Cosmo Cricket tiny types.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to School Weekend Online Crop

2010-09-12T21:31:00.000-04:00

Whew! It's been a busy weekend between Chris' football game in Gloucester Friday night and keeping up with all the challenges and games on our Simply Scrapping Crafts Back to School Weekend Online Crop.

We've been planning the crop for a few weeks now - I have to give it to my Design Team sisters - they really put their thinking caps on and came up with some fabulous ideas and inspirations for this crop. I spent some time last week putting together a couple of examples to be posted with my challenge and one of Angie's challenges.

This first example was for my Back to School Shopping Challenge. The little guy is on his way to get his new clothes so he can start school!

Angie put together an Art Class challenge. She had an inspirational photo of a paint palette covered with a bunch of beautiful colors, and I made this card as a sample for her challenge. Her photo was really inspiring, and I used a cool technique I recently found online to make the background colorful portion - it's actually a baby wipe that has been wadded up and pressed against different colors of ink pads.

I have been hosting one challenge - Back to School Shopping, and one game - the Pop Quiz. Since there wasn't a whole lot I had to do once I got my challenge and game posted to the community, I took the time to play along with a bunch of the other challenges and made some cards, layouts, and even an altered project.

This first layout was for my challenge, Period 1: Back to School Shopping. The challenge was to make a project inspired by your memories of back to school shopping for clothes. I used these photos of Chris' first day of 11th grade, which was last Tuesday, along with some tags and packaging from his new clothes and backpack.

These next two layouts were made from photos of Chris' football game Friday night. The first one is for Drama Class, where the challenge was to create a project that somehow illustrated drama.

This one is for Music Class, where the challenge was to create a project inspired by your favorite song. Kenny Chesney's "The Boys of Fall" is a great song, and I especially love the video. I think it is so inspiring to young people, but also brings back great memories of my time in high school and college always looking forward to the big game each week.

I made this card for Emily's Home Ec Class. The project was to make a fabric flower following her tutorial, then use it in a project. I've been wanting to learn how to make these flowers, and thanks to Emily now I can.

This card was for Clare's History Class. The challenge was to use paper that was at least two years old. I wasn't sure I had any, as I like to frequently purge my supplies (actually I have to purge them or I wouldn't be able to get into my craft room). I have been hoarding this Blue Awning collection from K & Company, which is one of my all time favorite paper lines. I made this card with some Webster's Pages lace and a fabulous ribbon from Rona Mallard.

Amy hosted Literature Class, and the challenge was to make a project that in some way uses a book. I had seen a tree online a couple of years ago like this and even went so far as to buy some glitter and things to make a set of them for Christmas decorations, but never did. This was the perfect opportunity for me to look for directions online and try my hand at this. It turned out really well, although I learned not to spray the tree with Glimmer Mist, as the moisture caused the sharp folds to wilt a bit. We are going to make these in one of our upcoming Creative Corner weeks, so I'll have to put a tutorial together.

Angie put together an awesome tutorial for a bookmark, and I played along. I seem to always be making things with cats on them. I had these really cute felties from Basic Grey, and just had to use this little cat with some other embellies. I'll probably end up sending this to my sister Liz - we call her the Crazy Cat Lady!

Brianna hosted Lunch - and who doesn't love lunch - and the challenge was to make a cute little snack sack. This is my take on the challenge - I opted for a Halloween theme, and will probably fill this with goodies and give it away to one of my trick-or-treaters.

And last but certainly not least, Pryn hosted a tutorial on making notepaper, and after you made your notepaper, you were supposed to write a note to someone and pass the note - you know, like you did in school! Well, Roxann started the whole thing with a note to Edward to meet her behind the buses. Nikki followed up with a note to everyone saying she was sorry she couldn't play in the classrooms more than she's been able to do this weekend. So I followed up with this note to Nikki!

We all had a fabulous time this weekend. We had a lot of participants, and these weekend crops are always a big blast! Thanks for stopping by, and if you didn't get to play along with us this weekend, hopefully you can make it next time!

Big hugs to all!

I Miss You

2010-09-10T10:11:00.000-04:00

Our Creative Corner challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts this week was to make a design with a nested shape. I had a cool new heart stamp from Stampin' Up, so I wanted to use that as my nested shape. I also had some new stamps from Ippity, and one of them was this awesome vintage postcard. So I played around for awhile trying to come up with something, and this was the card I made. I like the whole frou-frou vintage Victorian feel sort of thing it's got going on.

Card making is my recent trend in paper crafting. I started out making mostly mini albums, transitioned into scrapbook pages, and now I am doing mostly cards. However, I have noticed that the way I designed mini album pages carried over into my scrapbook pages and now carries over into my cards. I love dimension and lots of different textures and shapes - I am definitely not the CAS type of paper crafter!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Scrappin' Up Saturday

2010-09-04T21:29:00.000-04:00

I got some new Scrappin' Up goodies from my dear Catherine Pooler (http://www.catherinepooler.com/), and I was crafting like a crazy woman. I ended up making three different cards - two just because, and one for a challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts that will post later this week.

This first one uses the new fall line of patterned papers - so yummy! I also used some Stampin' Up stamps from 2002 (somehow that makes me feel old - oh wait! I am old!), some alphabet stickers from Cosmo Cricket, and dyed seam binding that Clare Prezzia made for me (http://bearydocardsinc.blogspot.com/p/seam-binding.html). I used a Martha Stewart Punch for the border.

This next one uses the Sizzix Top Note die that's exclusive to Stampin' Up. Everything is Stampin' Up except for the patterned paper (that's one sheet front and back) and sentiment sticker, which are both Cosmo Cricket, and the tiny pearls which are from Want2Scrap. I used a Martha Stewart Crafts punch for the little butterflies.

Now I got a bunch of new Ippity stamps in the mail today from my dear Rona Mallard, so I'll be busy playing with those tomorrow! One of these days I'll get all the housework and things done that I keep putting off so I can play!

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Scrapbooking.com publishing the Autumn Is ... design

2010-08-31T21:34:00.000-04:00

Scrapbooking.com online magazine is publishing the "Autumn Is ..." design that I created for my dear Amy's housewarming gift. It will be published in the October issue. I had to remove the photo of it from here on my blog and on the other places where I had posted it. How exciting! This is actually they third time they have published something of mine - it's always such an honor! Jami Petersen, who is the Editor in Chief, always seems such a nice lady. I think she spends a lot of time looking for artwork to publish, because she has always found mine and approached me for publishing without my submitting it to her. I'm excited!

An Ippity Weekend

2010-08-22T12:44:00.000-04:00

Spent some time this weekend playing around with my new Ippity stamp sets that I got from Rona! I made 3 different cards.

This first one is my favorite. I love the way the flat-stamped images on the card base work with the stamped and cutout images on the different patterned papers. The flower and the houndstooth corner are from the new "You Deserve" set, and the sentiment is from the "So This Is Love" set.

I decided that houndstooth corner could be used to make a pleated flower, so I stamped and cut out 8 of them, glued them together, and added a Prima paper flower and a coiled rose I made on top, with a little lace on the bottom.

This was the first card I made Friday night. I was trying to get something together, but my brain just couldn't pull the idea together. It's an odd color combination, but I think it turned out okay - nothing to write home about, but a decent stab at something. I still want to come up with a better way to use those background trees - I love that stamp!

Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling a Little Ippity (or not)

2010-08-21T16:40:00.000-04:00

I got some new Ippity stamps this week, and have just been too busy and tired to play with them. Last night I really wanted to create something, but just couldn't come up with a design that I liked. I did finally come up with this card - it's a weird color combo and an odd design, but I guess it turned out okay.

I used stamps from 4 different Ippity sets to make this, along with some Scribble Scrabble papers that were left over from my "Autumn Is ..." layout, a couple of scalloped ovals that I cut with one of my punches, and some Ranger Distress Inks and Colorbox cat's eye ink.

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs!

Autumn Is ...

2010-08-18T14:16:00.001-04:00

Every Wednesday at Simply Scrapping Crafts (http://simplyscrapping.ning.com/) we have a Paper Scraps challenge. This week's challenge was to make a paper-pieced landscape. I had an idea in my mind to make a housewarming gift for my fellow design team angel Amy, who I also call my "Scrappy Daughter", and I started out to make a sort of "Home Sweet Home" sort of project, but somehow it morphed into this Autumn Is ... thing.

I especially like those round "leaves" I made from some leftover glitter cardstock - I used a small circle punch I purchased from Stampin' Up via Catherine Pooler (http://catherinepooler.com/), and that little mighty mite cut through that thick stuff like butter - I'm getting rid of all my other little holes punches - they wouldn't even scratch that thick cardstock!

I also used my favorite Ippity stamp that I got from Rona Mallard at (http://scraprona.blogspot.com/) - it's what I used to make those journaling banners. That is the best stamp EVER - I would use it on everything I make if I could figure out how to work it into the design.

All the patterned papers and cardstock are from my scrap drawer. I happened to see the new Spellbinders design for cloud-shaped Nestabilities, so I mimicked it for my clouds. The house is a couple of Maya Road chipboard shapes stacked on top of one another. The little bird is from the same Maya Road chipboard set. The tiny brown alphas are from Cosmo Cricket and the tiny orange ones are from My Little Shoebox - I love those tiny alphas. I have over 10 sets of them now in all kinds of colors - they are just so versatile, but I admit to loving the neutrals best. Those two pumpkins are made from oval scallops cut out on my Cricut, folded and glued together, with a couple of little pieces of vine ribbon stuck out the top. The larger chipboard alphas are all American Crafts, and those rubons are Pink Paislee.

Now I need to get this thing into a frame (Target sells those great 12x12 shadowbox frames fo4r $9.99) and into the mail to Amy!

We also had our Creative Corner weekly challenge, and the challenge is to use cardboard. Angie Blom (http://angiesscrappinspot.blogspot.com/) made an amazingly gorgeous and creative cardboard mini-album. I can't even hold a candle to that, but I made a cute little card with a piece of cardboard that just happened to be laying around.

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs to everyone!

Pretty Cards and Things!

2010-08-13T07:22:00.000-04:00

I made this card for the Simply Scrapping Crafts August Week 2 Creative Corner challenge. The challenge was to make a pinwheel and use it in a card or layout. I made 3 pinwheels, but only used 2 of them on this card. I also got my Ippity groove on and used 4 of their stamps: 1 for the sentiment, 1 for the banners, 1 for the sheet music background, and 1 for the dotted background along the bottom. I just love all these new Ippity stamps I got - amazing quality and designs!

I used an Antique Linen distress ink for the background stamps to give them a subtle nature.

The pinwheels were fun to make - haven't done that in a zillion years!

After I made my "Sisters" layout last week, I used some of the scraps to make this card for the SSC August Week 2 Paper Scraps challenge. The challenge was to make rolled paper flowers - I made one medium-sized one and two small ones to add to this card. I also used an Ippity stamp for the sentiment, some additional Prima flowers, and a Stampin' Up little flower punch for some tiny flowers to accent the larger ones. I used gems and Liquid Pearls for their centers.

I was on another Ippity groove, and made this card with some more of my "Sisters" scraps. The bird and the diecut label are both cut from a Cricut cartridge. There's that gorgeous Ippity sheet music background stamp again - I think it looks really pretty on top of that Prima patterned paper. That stamp is in the same set with this sentiment stamp. And that fabulous soft blue ribbon was a gift from Rona when I purchased my Ippity stamps from her - check out her blog and Ippity stamps (an entire new fall stamp menagerie was just released yesterday) at http://scraprona.blogspot.com. Rona will take excellent care of you!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Friday!

Expect a Miracle

2010-08-09T19:05:00.000-04:00

I am LOVING all of the fabulous Ippity stamps that I got from fellow SSC Design Team member and lovely lady extraordinaraire, Rona (http://scraprona.blogspot.com). And talk about a deal - she not only sends you the stamp sets, she sends a load of wonderful papers and ribbons and other goodies - I thought Christmas had arrived early when the box she sent me arrived on Saturday. Is that ribbon not FABULOUS? That came in my shipment from Rona.

I decided to use the scraps from my "Sisters" layout that I made over the weekend, and I put this card together with a birdcage that I created with my Cricut. To make the birdcage take on that curved 3D form, I cut two copies and glued them together, which gives it body and holds a shape when you bend it. It's best to use a gluestick when using this technique, as the gluestick tends to have a special "bendability" that other glues do not give.

Thanks for stopping by! I've got another card that I made for one of my Simply Scrapping design team assignments that I will reveal on Wednesday - it also incorporates the same papers and more Ippity, with a special technique for using up some paper scraps from your stash!

Sisters and Rob's Stash

2010-08-08T13:15:00.000-04:00

Grace and Bernice are two beautiful ladies who I have known for quite a few years. They are sisters. Grace recently passed away, and I had this photo of them together, so I decided to make something for Bernice as a memorial gift. I put this layout together and put it in a shadow box frame (Target for $9.99), and I will give it to Bernice this week.

One of the young men I know is heading off to college next week, so I made him a container full of goodies. I used a shortbread tin, spray painted it, then covered it with cardstock in his new school colors with some inspirational quotes and rubons. I filled it with popcorn, cookies, candy bars, other snacks, and added a sewing kit, some gift cards for local restaurants, a roll of quarters, and some cash. I think he's really going to like this.

Thanks for stopping by to look. I've got to head out to deliver Rob's gift to him this afternoon.

Big hugs to everyone!

2010-07-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! I saw a card in a magazine recently that had a 3-dimensional heart on it, and so I decided to try to create something similar. This card contains one of the hearts I made, along with some flourishes made from Liquid Pearls, that were used to cover up my disastrous attempt at paper piercing. It turned out okay in the end, but I had to apply a couple of layers of the Liquid Pearls because the first layer seeped down into the holes that I created with my piercing attempt.

I put together a little tutorial for making the heart and posted it over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - here's the link: http://simplyscrapping.ning.com/forum/topics/3dimensional-heart-for-your

This is another card I made with the same heart technique. On both of these cards I used the Basic Grey Capella line of patterned papers - I think they are fabulously beautiful. The pearls and sentiment stickers on the first card are from K & Company. The banner on the second card was made using a stamp from Ippity by Unity. They have some amazing stamp sets, so visit my friend Rona Mallard and see what gorgeous things she has to offer - that link is: http://scraprona.blogspot.com/

On a personal note, I got a new little kitten last night - well, actually Chris got the kitten from his dad's neighbor, but Kitty Mommy here gets to take care of it. She is an absolute tiny little doll, but BooKitty isn't so sure what to make of the whole situation. We haven't quite decided on her name yet. Chris wants to call her Amore', which I told him is too hard to say. I want to call here either Too Kitty or Mercedes (because she looks like my car - white with a black piece on top). Here is a photo of my two furry babies!

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to everyone!

More Catching Up!

2010-07-21T09:09:00.001-04:00

Whew! I just realized how behind I am on posting my projects! This post is just catching me up with posts - a whole variety of projects I made for various reasons, mostly as Design Team projects for Simply Scrapping Crafts.

This first project is my little nephew Michael, and I made this sample for SSC July Sketchy Saturday Week 2. These are Cosmo Cricket papers, alphabets are Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, and Cosmo Cricket, and I used a variety of trims and jewels.

I made this little 3" x 3" mini book for SSC Paper Scraps July Week 1. I cut apart a piece of flat cardboard that I had, painted the edges with Ranger crackle paint, used The Girl Paperie patterned papers, and added a variety of embellishments from my collections. The book contains small photos of my mother along with facts about her life, family, etc.

This card was for the SSC July Week 1 Creative Corner challenge. The challenge was to use recycled and/or repurposed materials, along with newsprint or bookprint. The flower and shaped edge are from a Prima flowers package. The acrylic portion of the flower is from packaging also. The bookprint background is from an old book I purchased at a local antique shop for a couple of dollars.

SSC June Week 4 Sketchy Saturdays. I modified the sketch into a card. If you like the flowers, they are so easy to make. Just punch two of the same image, glue them together using a GLUE STICK (only a glue stick gives you the right bendability), let them dry for a few minutes, then bend them into the shape you want.

I made this card for the SSC Summer Kickoff Weekend challenges. Clare had a bug-inspired challenge, and you had to use some sort of bug(s), but not butterflies. Our dear Amy had done this digital stamp of a dragonfly, so I colored it using pencils and gamsol, and added it to this card.

This card was also for the SSC Summer Kickoff. There was a little recipe of items that your card or layout had to use, so this was my creation. I ended up using this for a graduation card for one of my dear young high school friends.

During the SSC Summer Kickoff, I did a Lemonade Stand Recipe Challenge, where you had to make a card or layout with certain items/shapes/colors to represent a lemonade stand. This was my creation.

June Week 4 Paper Scraps Challenge was to create a frame around your photo or main image using paper scraps. This was my creation. This is my son Chris when he was about 4 years old - he's now 16!!! He still has his Buddy!

This is my daughter Michelle at Disney World. She is my princess! This was for the SSC June Sketchy Saturday Week 2.

I fell in love with this image from Bella Design Studio - what an adorable little cat! I colored him using gamsol and colored pencils, and added the flower made from Webster's Pages Bloomers and trim.

This card was for another SSC challenge for the Creative Corner June Week 4. The challenge was to use this flower template and make a flower to use on a card or layout.

Whew! Well, thanks for hanging in there with me, and thanks for stopping by! Hugs!

Catching Up

2010-07-20T19:07:00.000-04:00

I recently purchased the Basic Grey Capella collection, and boy, are those some gorgeous papers or what??? I just had to make something with them, even though it hurt to cut into those beautiful designs, and I decided to make this wedding card just because. I don't know anyone getting married, so I'll just keep it in my stash until the occasion comes along. The wooden cutouts are from KaiserCraft - I painted them with a Ranger paint dauber. The sentiment sticker and pearls are from K&Co. I don't know about the lace and ribbon - just something from my mucho grande stash of ribbons and lace!

Thanks for stopping by!

WonderFall - Webster's Pages New Line for Autumn

2010-07-13T16:08:00.000-04:00

Webster's Pages has unveiled a sneak preview of the first of four new lines for the coming season on their Inspire website. The colors are a bit out of the norm for autumn, which provides an alternative to the typical browns and golds. The line is also versatile in that it is suitable for patriotic themes, school layouts, and other events that aren't strictly related to the autumn season.

You can check it out over at http://websterspages.ning.com/forum/topics/wonderfallimagine-what-you-can?commentId=2089723%3AComment%3A98964.

Thanks for stopping by!

Webster's Pages Summer CHA Preview Party!

2010-07-08T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! As most of you know already, Webster's Pages is my favorite scrapbooking manufacturer - the soft, girly, frilly style of their products is right up my alley! Well, they are having a Summer CHA Preview Party over on the Webster's Pages ning, Inspire Me. Go check it out, become a member, and you can get a chance to be a guest designer for Webster's Pages - how awesome is that???

http://websterspages.ning.com/forum/categories/cha-summer-2010-preview/listForCategory

Summer Kickoff Party/Crop over at Simply Scrapping Crafts

2010-06-14T10:57:00.000-04:00

Come on over to Simply Scrapping Crafts this Saturday and join us for some fun scrapping challenges, games, and tutorials! We are a fun loving bunch and everybody is welcome - the more, the merrier! Look forward to having you there!

Butterfly Tree

2010-06-09T21:22:00.000-04:00

The June Week 2 Paper Scraps challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts was posted today. The challenge is to make a butterfly tree. This is my try at it. The design team made some fabulous inspiration trees, so hop on over and check them out and try your hand at making one.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Superstar!

2010-06-05T08:46:00.000-04:00

I made this layout for the June Week 1 Sketchy Saturday challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. The sketch had a clean and simple style, which inspired me to make something with some of my son's wrestling photos. I tend to get a bit carried away with the frou-frou stuff on my layouts, so I knew he would appreciate it if I kept it a bit more "manly" on this one.

Chris has a lot of energy, and he always paces and paces around during the wrestling match while the other weight classes go before him. I don't know how he has any energy left over to wrestle when his turn comes, but he is a superstar - he just has a lot of extra energy that he has to burn off. These photos were taken during the Virginia Duels in January 2010 - he did so well at that tournament that there was a newspaper article about him! Yes, I am a proud mommy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Grandma's House - FINALLY!

2010-05-31T17:55:00.001-04:00

Sooooo ... I began working on this layout a year ago ... ran across it today while I was reorganizing my scraproom after moving everything from the small upstairs bedroom to the downstairs spare room Saturday and yesterday. I decided I just had to finally get this thing finished. I was originally going a little bit different direction with it, but was just never satisfied with what I had arranged, and now I am much happier with the design.

This was my grandmother's house and my mom's house when she was little. This house was torn down when I was about 2 years old. The Corps of Engineers was building a large new reservoir in East Texas, so they built my grandmother a new house about 200 yards away that was on higher ground. Many years later when I spent summers with my Grandma, we would walk around at the edge of the water and find old bottles and other artifacts from when the house was there. My grandma's was my favorite place in the whole world to visit - she passed away when I was in college, and I miss her and visiting the old family place terribly, even after all these years!

Thanks for stopping by!

Book of Me Page 2 (What's In a Name?)

2010-05-31T07:05:00.000-04:00

This is the layout I made for the second page in the Book of Me group over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Of course, I'm still on the Webster's Pages wagon, so more of the Life's Portrait collection. I like the whole banner craze that's going on in the paper crafting world these days - it's such a versatile design! I had fun making this layout - there's something satisfying about cutting with scissors and getting my fingers dirty with a little ink and glue!

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Banner (part 2)

2010-05-23T11:35:00.001-04:00

I took some better photos of the summer banner, and have some individual shots so you can see the details of each piece.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Banner

2010-05-22T19:32:00.001-04:00

Simply Scrapping Crafts has a Wacky Wednesday challenge each week, which might be to use a particular technique, design element, etc. May Week 3 challenge was to make a card or layout that incorporates a handmade banner. Last summer, Laura McCullough from A Kiss On the Chic used one of her kits (which I purchased at the time) to make a beautiful banner. I used her design as part of my inspiration, and came up with a banner that incorporates some of the colors and themes of summertime.

These photos were taken in the evening when the lighting wasn't so great - hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow and I will hang the banner and take better photos. Here's a closeup of part of the banner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love these butterflies!

2010-05-15T19:36:00.001-04:00

Amy, one of the beautiful and talented design team members over at Simply Scrapping Crafts, designs her own digital stamp images. She is soon going to have them available for sale, but in the meantime, she has so graciously allowed the other DT members to use them. Wellll, she has this butterfly that just SPOKE to me when I first saw it, and I just couldn't resist getting creative with it. I printed it in two sizes, and flipped the image on the smaller version. I colored them with colored pencils and blended the colors with gamsol. The papers on this card are all Basic Grey Kioshi.

I also made a card for the Simply Scrapping Paper Scraps May Week 3 challenge - the challenge was to use narrow strips of paper to make a card or layout inspired by a colorful photo of a maypole.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Book of Me

2010-05-13T12:01:00.001-04:00

Over at Simply Scrapping Crafts (see the blinky in my left margin) we just started a new Book of Me group, and our first assignment was to make a title page. This is what I came up with.

I used a sketch that was for the May Week 2 Sketchy Saturdays challenge, and just turned it on its side so that it would fit what I needed. All of the papers are Webster's Pages Life's Portrait collection. The trims, flowers, and other embellishments are a variety of things from my stash. The two paper roses are made from a tutorial that Brianna, another of the design team ladies over at Simply Scrapping, provided.

Thanks for coming by to look, and we would love to have you join us over at Simply Scrapping Crafts!

Miscellaneous Creations

2010-05-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

I spent last weekend working on some random scrapping projects and just trying to get my scrapping mojo back in general.

This first layout is of my little nephew Michael, who is an absolute heart stealer! I used some BoBunny papers that I had in my stash, along with some various embellishments. I used a sketch from Simply Scrapping Crafts as the inspiration for the design.

This layout is inspired by Ingrid Gooyer, who does a lot of designs with a plain white background. She was the guest designer for My Creative Scrapbook kit club in April, and I fell in love with her style. The papers used in this layout are Basic Grey Kioshi and Webster's Pages Life's Portrait. The photo is of my two older sisters, taken some time within the last year - the original background of the photo is wood paneling (yes, my mom is still living back in the 70's), so it looks a ton better with the background cut out of it.

Thanks for coming by to look!

Simply Scrapping Crafts NSD Online Crop

2010-05-04T13:13:00.000-04:00

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day, we had an online crop over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. We started on Friday, April 30th, and ended late on Sunday evening. There were loads of games and challenges and tutorials, with prizes and loads of fun and camaraderie!

The first challenge I tackled involved making a particular type of flower, and it was hosted by Bev. I made this card for my mom to send her for Mother's Day!

Then I tackled another of Bev's challenges, which was to use blocks of scrap papers to make a card of layout, so I made another card.

Then I was on a roll, so I decided to try Patricia's blind challenge. She gave us a "recipe" and some basic measurements and directions, and if you followed her directions, you came out with something like the following. This is my youngest nephew, Isaac - he's such a cutie pie!

Then there was a challenge to make a toilet paper roll brag book, hosted by Ginger, so since I happened to have some toilet paper rolls that I had been saving for just such a project, I made the following:

Then I decided to try the paper scraps challenge, hosted by my dear Amy. I used some of the scraps from the toilet paper roll brag book to make this:

And last but not least, I made a little tag album for Rona's challenge. Her example was really unique, but I just went for the easy route. I had all of these K&Co Blue Awning products, which are from my all time favorite line, so I decided to put something together with pictures of my cat, Boo Kitty, and my little dog Brandy who died almost two years ago, but who I still miss!

After all that I was too pooped to pop! I like to stand up when I scrap, because I move around a lot looking for particular things that I want to use, so after spending large portions of two days on my feet, I was ready to go back to work on Monday and recuperate (not really, but you know what I mean).

My daughter also joined me for the weekend. She was home from medical school for a few days, so she got into the scrapping groove also. She made the following as a Mother's Day gift for me:

It was a wonderful time for everyone, and we have a fabulous group of ladies over at Simply Scrapping who enjoy a good time, good friendship, and making beautiful things out of paper and "stuff". Please come over and join us anytime, and thanks for looking!

Webster's Pages Card and Layout

2010-04-20T10:05:00.000-04:00

Simply Scrapping has a challenge going on in their Embellish It group. Brianna put together a nice "recipe" for what the layout needed to have, and I was intrigued, so I played along. I had these gorgeous Webster's Pages papers and some various trims and other embellishments, so I put this together.

The photo is of a garden angel on my mom's front porch - I thought it looked nice with these papers. I used some other odds and ends elements on this layout, including that piece of gold ribbon that came wrapped around a package I got for Christmas.

I also decided to make a card, and it ended up being a card for my sister. I am going to add it to her album I am still finishing, the one in the previous post with the 3D photos and ribbons. There are some elements from Prima, Cosmo Cricket, and miscellaneous stuff from my stash in here too.

I have an entire kit of the new Webster's Pages Life's Portrait collection that I got in my April kit from My Creative Scrapbook - they make some awesome kits. Those are next on my list to work with.

Altered Book

2010-03-15T10:04:00.000-04:00

I needed to make an altered book of some sort for Simply Scrapping Crafts, something I had never attempted before, so I decided to make a gift for my sister to showcase photos of her flowers. I envisioned making the flowers 3D by using layered photos, and beyond that I wasn't sure what to make or how to make it - I usually design as I go, so I figured I could wing it okay.

I first went on a trip to a local second hand store and found a great book for $2 - it had gorgeous photos and instructions for making various crafts - it was actually a shame to cut on the book. Once I had the book, then I decided that I would make it into several sections that would each be somewhat of a shadow box and would showcase an individual photo.

Then I needed to make the 3D photos. For each photo, I needed 3 or 4 identical prints of the shot, depending on how many layers I could identify. The following is a shot of some of the finished photos in layers.

Then I went into actually making the project. The following are some photos of the project, which is semi-finished at this point. I got all of the individual sections done, and now I will go back and finish the cover, and add additional embellishments to the two-page spread where each section opens up. I especially like how the photos turned out with the 3D effect and the silk ribbons that I used to edge each section - I purchased those ribbons a couple of years ago because I was going to try silk ribbon embroidery (but of course I procrastinated and never did), and I thought they looked especially beautiful on this project.

Hopefully I will have photos of the completed project up pretty soon. If you have any questions about anything, just let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Card Holders

2009-12-21T16:34:00.000-05:00

I spent last weekend making 17 gift card holders - I used every single one of them! That's a lot of gift cards ... and holders! I had a great time making these though, and they are extremely easy to make. I followed a tutorial by Diane Davies that she posted on Simply Scrapping Crafts, and then I dragged out my loads of Christmas papers and embellishments and tried to be creative without over-complicating things. The following photos are a few of what I made!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek, and I hope that everyone has a glorious Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year!

Top 10 on Two Peas in a Bucket!!!

2009-11-16T10:21:00.001-05:00

Okay, I've reached scrapping nirvana - my project with the Christmas advent calendars has made the Two Peas Top 10 for views and votes!!! Now I have to think of something new to aspire to for my craftiness. This was the photo I used as the "cover".

I also recently made some Thanksgiving cards for the same set of little ones - I think maybe they look better in person than in these photos (I am photo challenged sometimes), but I figure a group of little kids will just think they're cute and won't care how scrap-worthy they are.

And I made a cute little Christmas card with a new stamp I recently got.

Okay, I think I'm caught up on my blog postings for now. Thanks for stopping by to look.

The Season is Coming!!!

2009-11-15T20:27:00.001-05:00

Spent the weekend making five (yes, 5) advent countdown calendars using the Melissa Frances 3D calendar boxes. I made four of them for my young nieces and nephews, and one for myself. It was a lot of fun planning out what papers to use for each one - I actually cut enough squares to make 3 or 4 more of them, but kept editing the papers and placements until I got it just like I wanted it. Thankfully I borrowed a square punch from Tanya, who owns my LSS, to punch out the squares, then used a circle punch to cut out the half circles. I bought a bunch of candies and small toys to fill the boxes with, and they are not boxed up and ready for shipping to my sister in Arkansas, who will give them to the kids on Thanksgiving, so that they'll have them for December 1st.

These first two shots are "group" shots where you can see several of the calendars at the same time. I used several different paper lines and a load of various embellishments.

This "pink" one is for Anastacia, my little grand niece who recently turned 3. These papers are primarily Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses line and some My Mind's Eye papers.

This one is for Bridget, who will be 8 years old next month. These papers are all from K & Company Brenda Walton's Christmas line.

This one is for Lily, who will be 13 in February. Since she is the oldest, I made her's a bit more sophisticated. These papers are all from Webster's Pages.

This one, which is "blue" themed, is for Michael, who will be four in December. These papers are all Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses and My Mind's Eye.

And this one is for me. I used Webster's Pages papers and embellishments, along with a few odds and ends. I did not put on the numbers, because I wanted to keep the soft color pallet, and I didn't want the numbers to interfere with the writing on the paper or what I added with my own journaling. I like this more "artsy" look, which I think is sophisticated.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Finding Time for a Challenge

2009-10-20T07:40:00.000-04:00

Simply Scrapping started a new sketch challenge format, so I decided to try my hand at the card challenge this week. I like making cards, but I question my abilities when comparing my work to the likes of Lesley, Clare, or some of the other Simply Scrapping members. However, I consulted with my trusty (and sometimes annoying) assistant, Ace (who you can see in the background "assisting" with my photography, and we rooted around in our stash to come up with this design.

The patterned papers are from Making Memories Mistletoe collection, the rubons are from Cosmo Cricket, I used a few dots of Stickles on the tree for ornaments, and the other stuff (jewels, rickrack trim, fabric) are from my stash. In fact, that fabric is at least 20 years old!!!

This card is for the October Challenge #1, so if anyone is interested in participating, just hope on over to Simply Scrapping, join up, and have some fun with us.

On the procrastination front, I have been working diligently (or not) to get my scraproom/office in order. It looked like a bomb went off in there since about May, and I just could not get myself motivated to get things organized. I did purchase a couple of wall shelves at Ikea in July, but purchased the wrong size brackets. Since Ikea is a 2 1/2 hour drive from me up near DC, I had to find the time/opportunity to get up there to purchase the correct brackets, which I did a couple of weeks ago. Now I am getting back on track and should have everything completed (except painting the room) soon. As far as painting, I decided that I would figure out where I want all the shelves and things that have to be attached to walls to go first, so that if I do any damage to the walls making extra holes, I can patch all that up before I paint. (Yes, I know it just sounds like another excuse to procrastinate, but just go with it for now.) I will post some photos of the space when I get done in a couple of weeks. For now, at least I can get into the room, and can even do some work in there without getting buried in a pile of scrapping paraphenalia.

Where did the time go? (Part Deux)

2009-09-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

Wow - almost October already, and my crafty/scrappy efforts have been nil for the last few months. Lots of exciting goings on in my life though - new kitty Ace, business growing by leaps and bounds, daughter started her 3rd year of medical school, son a high school sophomore and playing varsity football.

I did finally make some time for Halloween cards for my little grand-nieces and -nephews though, so here are a couple of shots of those cards. I saw a display at my LSS with Queen & Company supplies, and derived these cards from one of those designs. They were fun to make, and my new asssistant Ace was busily trying to "help". I will probably be finding embellishments under furniture and rugs for the next couple of months!

Ace was a barn cat that would not let anyone pet her. When my son saw her, he knew she was the one he wanted, so he spent over an hour luring her to him. Once we got her home, it was as if she had been born here. She has made herself quite at home.

Here is another picture of her greeting her new "neighbor" the squirrel. I have a pecan tree in my backyard, and this squirrel spends all day, every day, carrying pecans across the deck to his secret stash. Ace just happened to be at the window looking out as he crossed the deck one time, and I just happened to have my camera handy.

Here's another one of the little princess!

Where did the time go???

2009-07-02T09:37:00.000-04:00

Okay, it's already July 2nd, and where did June go??? I have been busy the last couple of months with other things, including reorganizing my scraproom, so I have not done any actual scrapping. Plan to get back to it this month.

I also wanted to provide an update that two of my layouts were published in the latest version of Scrapbooking.com online magazine. I am excited and honored!

Scrapbooking.com Magazine

This link takes you to a page where you can sign up for their newsletter. Just click on "Table of Contents" in the left column, and scroll down until you see the article titled "A Rainbow of Ideas".

The article is about these two layouts, "Colors of a Mother's Love" and "Lizzie's Garden". Both of these layouts were previously published here on my blog, but I had to "send them out for publication", so they were taken down for a while.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Got Published on Scrapstreet.com Magazine

2009-06-01T15:32:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! No, I have not been procrastinating, even though I have been absent for awhile. I had to study for an extremely difficult certification exam, so had my nose in the books for the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, the exam is over and passed, so woo hoo! and a pat on the back to myself!

I did want to say that my "Grandma's Gaggle" layout got published on the new issue of Scrapstreet.com Magazine at http://www.scrapstreet.com/mag2009/2009june/fixtures/pet.htm . Of course, my mom (who happens to be "Grandma" in the layout with my son) does not have a computer or internet access, so I asked my niece, who lives near her, to show her the page on the internet. I think she'll get a kick out of that!

No new scrapping projects, although I intend to get busy this week and make something. I am in the process of reorganizing my office/scraproom - if you saw it, you would know why!!! Most people would shriek and run away. I am sorely tempted to, but will get it rearranged and cleaned up and organized, and hopefully that will last at least for a few months! If messiness is a sign of creativity, then I must be really high on the scale - hee hee!

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Y'all come back now!

Aunt Tee's Gang of Munchkins

2009-05-16T18:03:00.000-04:00

These are my grand-nieces and -nephews. Lily is the oldest, then Bridget, then Michael (those 3 are brother and sisters), then Anastacia (their cousin), then Isaac (brother to Lily, Bridget, and Michael). I only get to see them a few times a year, but I love them all dearly and enjoy spending time with them.

This layout is the third in my series of color spectrum layouts, in which I have used the same set of patterned papers. The first two layouts are out for publication (yah me!) on Scrapbooking.com, and will be published online on July 1. I have placeholders for them here on my blog.

I really enjoy seeing how many ways I can use those sheets of paper. I don't know what made me think of this design, but it just came to me. I think we used to make these woven paper baskets when I was a kid, or maybe my kids did it when they were much younger???

I cut out the photos as silhouette shapes and used foam tape squares to adhere them to the design.

The base and the white woven part are Bazill cardstock, the papers are an assortment that I chose from my stash for their colors, and most of the embellishments are assorted things I had laying around. The blue gems are K & Company, and the rub-on letters are American Crafts Mini-Marks. The large black chipboard letters are from Colorbok - I painted them black with Ceramcoat black acrylic paint by Delta.

Thanks for stopping by!

Grandma's Gaggle

2009-05-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

This is my Mom, my son Chris, and just a few of the gaggle of various sorts of ducks and geese that have made themselves my Mom's pets. When my Dad was sick with cancer, my Mom started going down to the pond everyday to feed the ducks and geese - that was her way to get away from the stress of caring for my Dad, if only for a few minutes. My Dad passed away a few months ago, but she still goes to the pond every evening around 5 pm, and her pets scurry over from wherever they are - most of them are usually there waiting for her arrival (or maybe the food's arrival).

I made this layout from my May kit from A Kiss On the Chic. It features October Afternoon papers, Bazzill cardstock, Thickers, Pink Paislee letters, and various other embellishments that came with the kit. The alphabets and the lacing string were the only things I used that were not in the kit.

Here are a few closeups of the details:

Thanks for stopping by!

Wheee! (redux)

2009-05-09T17:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I just wasn't satisfied with the Wheee! layout the first go around, so I had to go back and fiddle with it a bit and add some things. I thought the big green title in the center of the page, with very little other green, just wasn't balanced. So I added some Heidi Swapp butterfly masks with the same green paint, and went back in with some stickles around the masked images and added some Stickle flourishes. I think it looks better now - still not my favorite, but I think the photo saves it! The photo is priceless!!!

Wheee!!!

2009-05-07T19:01:00.000-04:00

I visited my family in Arkansas around Easter. One of my favorite things to do is spend time with my niece and nephews (who are all now adults), so now my Auntiness is directed toward my grand-nieces (11, 7, and 2.5) and -nephews (9, 3, and 6 months). They are all such adorable dolls!

This is Anastacia - she was a preemie, weighing only 1 lb 6 oz when she was born. She is now 2 1/2 years old and runs around like the Tasmanian Devil - wish I had just a fraction of that energy! My parents' house is across the street from the elementary school, so I took Anastacia and one of my grand-nephews, Michael, over to play on the playground after we had our Easter egg hunt. They both LOVED the slides, and I had a grand time shooting as many photos as I could, hoping a few would turn out well. This turned out to be my favorite of Anastacia! You just know she is having the best time ever!

I've had this package of Daisy D's papers for a while now, and thought this was the perfect opportunity to use up some of those bright, funky colors! I used Heidi Swapp alphabet masks and Pebbles Inc. paint for the title. Everything else is miscellaneous embellishments I had in my flower, button, and ribbon jars up on the shelf.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fairytale Princess

2009-05-06T10:15:00.000-04:00

I got these fabulous My Mind's Eye papers (the Bella Bella collection) in a kit from A Kiss On the Chic last month, and finally got around to playing with them. Fell in love with the paper with the fairytales and things on it, so cut a piece out and highlighted it with some metallic watercolors I bought about a year ago and never used (now you know why I call myself a procrastinator)!

Found this photo of my daughter Michelle, who will be 24 years old this summer (yikes), and thought it was a perfect match for the papers and the colors. Of course, I have to say here how proud I am of my daughter - she is in medical school, just about to finish her second year. She has always been a hard worker and dedicated to whatever she sets her mind to. She is a wonderful young woman, and I know she will be a fantastic doctor and whatever else she decided to be in life. I knew she was something special even way back then 23 years ago when this photo was taken - she's laying on my waterbed, her favorite place to snooze!

The flowers are Prima, the "fairytale" letters are from DaisyD's, the "princess" letters are Cosmo Cricket rubons, but the papers and all other embellishments are from the kit. There is a link to AKOTC here on my blog under "Other Sites 2 Enjoy".

Here are a couple of closeups of the layout:

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Simply Scrapping Blog Candy

2009-05-04T08:15:00.000-04:00

Simply Scrapping's blog is offering some awesome blog candy. All you have to do is hop on over to the blog at http://simplyscrapping.blogspot.com/, leave a comment, link the blog to your blog (if you have one), and join the Simply Scrapping community! It's that simple, and doesn't cost you a thing! Judy has put together a fast-growing community of scrappers from all over the world who just want to have some fun, share ideas, and learn more about the craft. So come on over and have some fun, and maybe even win these awesome goodies from Glitz Design, Prima Flowers, Kaiser Gems, Bo Bunny, Pink Paislee, and Bazzill Cardstock!

But hurry, the blog candy ends on May 31st!

My Mom Through My Dad's Camera Lens

2009-05-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

Happy National Scrapbooking Day! In an effort to work on not being a procrastinator, I decided to get busy and actually complete an entire layout in honr of the day, so here it is.

This is my Mom, Hazel. My dad took this photo in 1952, shortly before they got married. This is my favorite photo of her - she just looks so confident!

I had the half of the round paper left over from the layout I did of Brandy, so I got the idea to make a fan from it. Then I had these new K&Co Madeline papers and elements, so decided I need to go with a vintage look, and what better to go with a vintage look than a vintage photo? So that's how I came up with the idea. Then I just started arranging stuff around until I decided I liked it.

Everything is from K&Co except for the American Crafts round paper that the fan is made from, the flowers (which are all Prima), the ribbon, the Stickles, and the stamped image on the fan which is from Fancy Pants.

I think I might find a couple of stemmed flowers to put up in that top left corner with the tulle sticking out, but otherwise I am happy with my National Scrapbooking Day project.

Thanks for popping in!

My G(u)ARD(ia)EN Angel

2009-05-02T13:02:00.000-04:00

Brandy was my little Pomeranian princess who died last August from just being too old. She was such a sweetie - she fought hard those last few months to stay with us, but the old age and heart problems finally got the best of her. If there was ever a dog who deserved to be in Heaven, it is certainly Brandy.

I took this photo May or June 2008 while we were having some renovations done on the house. Brandy hated all the noise they made, especially the nail guns, so she spent most of her days out back on the deck, lounging on the chaise in the shade. Of course, she waited until I wasn't looking, and everyday would sneak off down the street to inspect the neighbors' yards for invading critters. Brandy was my constant companion and I miss her terribly.

I had some new Crate Papers, and along with some Prima pearls, my Martha Stewart border punch, my set of Paper Shaper retro flower punches, and various flowers, bangles, buttons, and beads put together this layout. I also journaled around the outer edge of the layout with a white Uniball Signo broad pen - the edges of the green background paper were already distressed white, so the journaling blends in somewhat, but in person it is easily readable, but not obtrusive.

This is a closeup that shows the stitching and the little "angel" charm that I got in a kit from Laura over at A Kiss on the Chic - she puts together awesome kits, so you should check her blog out.

The white letters are Thickers, the letters spelling G(u)ARD(ia)EN are from sei, the glittery blue letters are from Making Memories, and the little crown is from Heidi Swapp, which I embellished with Turquoise and Crystal Stickles.

I started this layout yesterday and finished it this morning after I cleaned the downstairs of the house and chaffeured my son to a carwash and ate Burger King, so I am officially declaring this my "National Scrapbooking Day" layout. Maybe I'll be industrious and finish another project today in honor of the event.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Lizzie's Garden

2009-04-29T19:01:00.000-04:00

My sister Liz (with the affectionate moniker of "Lizzie Pooh") has a natural green thumb. I was visiting the family at Easter and the yard was in full bloom already, so I had a good time taking lots of pictures for her. My plan was to make a mini-album for her of the photos, but I got so inspired with the "Colors" layout, I kept driving in that direction and came up with a new layout using the same sheets of paper that I cut the strips from for yesterday's design. I used up a few of her prints, so now I'll have to have those reprinted so I can get to that album - I might even use a similar concept for the album design (when I get around to it).

Here are a few closeups of the layout. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the little butterflies. The large white letters are Thickers. The large butterfly was traced on white cardstock and cut out, then journaled on. I have had that variegated ribbon and the little round epoxy letter that I used to spell "Lizzie's" for awhile now, so they are just part of my mystery stash. I wish I had made the "caterpillar" curvy instead of straight. The background dots were made using a Heidi Swapp stamp and some Pebbles Inc. paints.

Thanks for coming over to take a peek! I'm having more visions of color spectrum arrangements, so I'll see where those ideas take me!

Colors of a Mother's Love

2009-04-28T13:50:00.001-04:00

I was looking for some new design inspiration, and ran across a layout on Two Peas In a Bucket by HelpMeRonda (see link to her site in my sidebar) titled "Colors" - it just knocked my socks off! I immediately knew I had to scraplift her design, so I did. Mine isn't anywhere near as fabulous as hers, but I hope I did her proud anyway. Since Mother's Day is coming up (heck, isn't every day Mother's Day when you are blessed with kids?), I wanted to do something about my children or about myself as a mom, and since I had this awesome black and white photo of my kids, I knew this was the one. Aldean Tendick, on Simply Scrapping, had a forum post about the meaning of colors, so I used that as inspiration for the color meanings and their relationship to being a mother.

This was great fun to make as well - got to root around in my overflowing paper supply and put together a rainbow of papers to use. Then I just sliced a piece of the edge of each one, arranged them as I wanted, added a few other embellishments and things for variety and interest, and there you have it. I realized as I was laying everything out that I had a bit of a circles theme going, so I just reinforced that a bit throughout. And I had a cool Cosmo Cricket chipboard heart that I painted white and sprinkled with clear glitter - I thought it was the perfect accent to all the color.

Here are a couple of closeups of the top of the layout:

The words on the colors up top are "Love" on the red, "Joy" on the orange, "Happiness" on the yellow, "Growth" on the green, "Faith" on the blue, and "Widsom" on the purple.

Thanks for coming over to take a peek! Now what can you do with a little color?

How I Arrived at the Card Swap

2009-04-27T16:02:00.000-04:00

Okay - signed up for a card swap on Simply Scrapping, and needed to get those 10 cards done before the end of April. Mind you, I had a couple of weeks to get them done, but what would my life be without a little procrastination. I am not a card maker by any stretch of the imagination - have only ever made 3 or 4 individual cards EVER - so dug through books and magazines looking for some inspiration.

My friend Janice called me on Saturday to vent about some personal things in her life, and I decided that Janice definitely needed a little card to help lift her spirits. SO, that was my inspiration - I started playing around with a couple of ideas, and came up with this card to send to her.

Then I decided that was a decent start on a design I could use for the card swap, but wanted to use different colors, so hopped on my broom and flew on over to my local scrapbook store, Picture to Page, and found the new Wisteria line from Basic Grey. Picked up some of those yummy papers, along with some fabulous new embossed cardstock and some lavender linen cardstock (and of course some stamps and other goodies), and headed back to the batcave and got to work. This is my design for the card swap:

And a closeup of that embossed cardstock I used - punched out a scalloped square and added some Crystal Stickles to it.

I got all the cards put together (the assembly line technique works really well), got them in envelopes and stamped, and dropped them into the mailbox this morning, so they will be headed to my friend Janice and all my Simply Scrapping swap friends via our friendly neighborhood postal carriers!

Thanks for taking a peek at my weekend's craftiness!