Scraps of Grace

Birthday Blowout!

2012-01-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

It seems like someone is always celebrating a birthday around here. I guess that comes from having three kids and being blessed with lots and lots of dear friends. We have a double birthday party this weekend for two friends of our youngest sons. The boys are brothers so we're heading off to play some glow golf and celebrate. Sounds fun right? I for one am looking forward to helping these two very special young men celebrate their birthdays. Who doesn't like a little glow golf and some cake?

Supplies used: Card base - Michael's; Die cuts - Silhouette Cameo; Ink - Bic Mark It, ColorBox Chalk Ink (Yellow Citrus) & Signo UniBall white gel pen; Letter stickers - Sassafras; and Patterned paper - Core'dinations, October Afternoon &Sassafras

Supplies Used: Brad - Basic Grey; Card base - Michael's; Cardstock - Bazzill; Die cuts - Silhouette Cameo; Ink - Bic Mark It & ColorBox Chalk Ink (Charcoal); and Patterned paper - My Mind's Eye

Whatever you have on your calendar for this weekend...I sure hope it includes a little celebrating. Even if it's just celebrating the ordinary everyday! Be blessed.

TWO Artsy Chicks...

2012-01-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

My crafty year is getting a jump start thanks to the Cameo that my husband got me for Christmas. I've been playing like crazy and love the flexibility it gives me to virtually create anything I need for a layout or card.

I'm also anticipating all the new goodies that are going to be released at CHA and feeling the need to use up (or at least decrease the amount of) my supplies. I really mixed up product (old & new) to pull today's layout together.

I think it all works pretty darn well together though.

Supplies used: Canvas tag - GCD Studios; Cardstock - Bazzill & The Paper Studio; Clear stamps - Technique Tuesday (Studio AE August 2011); Date Stamp - K & Co.; Die Cuts - Cosmo Cricket ( flower pot), GCD Studios (border strips) & Silhouette Cameo ("TWO" & journaling card); Flowers - Sassafras; Ink - Distress Ink (Tea Stain & Frayed Burlap), StazOn (Timber Brown) & Versamark; Patterned paper - GCD Studios, Jillibean Soup & Websters Pages; Rubon - Colorbok; Stick pins - craft supplies

Well, I'm off to do a bit more creating before the kids come piling through the front door. Enjoy your day and be blessed...

My First Cameo Layout...

2012-01-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

As promised, my replacement Cameo was delivered safe and sound to my front doorstep late yesterday afternoon. I plugged it in and got right to work. The die cut that was giving me so much trouble on my original machine cut like a dream the very first time. So then I cut out a beautiful title and it too turned out great. Here's the completed layout.

Supplies used: Brad - Nikki Sivils; Buttons - Sassafras; Cardstock - Bazzill, Die Cuts With a View & The Paper Studio; Die Cuts - Silhouette Cameo; Glitter Mist - Smooch Spritz (Spun Sugar); Ink - ColorBox Chalk Ink (Pumpkin Spice), Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap) & PrintWorks (York Town Blue); patterned paper - We R memory keepers; Stamps - Studio AE; Stapler - Tiny Attacher Tim Holtz; Tags - October Afternoon

I seriously could not be any happier with this amazing machine and can't wait to spend more time working with it. The possibilities truly are endless and their customer service is fantastic too!

More Things Christmas...

2012-01-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am working on non-Christmas layouts right now but my lovely new Cameo is having a problem and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive from the wonderful folks over at Silhouette. So...I have some layouts that are almost done except for the die cut elements. I can't wait to share them with you though...soon, my crafty friends.

In the meantime I didn't want to leave you with nothing to look at so here are the Christmas cards that I made for my kiddos this year.

And the one I made for my wonderful husband...

I've made lots of kids' birthday cards lately but it's usually at the last minute, just before our boys are heading out the door to go the birthday parties. Alas, those cards have not been photographed so I can't share them.

More things crafty (and non-Christmas) to come. Hopefully my replacement Cameo will appear on my doorstep today and I can finish off the layouts that are waiting for their lovely die cuts.

Happy 2012

2012-01-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

It was a busy end to the year for us. I didn't get much done as far as scrapbooking or card making goes because I was busy finishing this...

I know he's 6 and it's about time his stocking was finished but counted cross-stitch is really hard to do when there are little people running around the house, distracting me from my counting. Anyhow...I promised our youngest that his stocking would be done this year to join the rest of the family and so that is how I spent so many of my evenings leading up to Christmas. And here it is, with the rest of the family, all safe and cozy and made with love.

Our Christmas and New Year's were incredibly blessed. My parents and brother and his partner joined us to celebrate and my wonderful hubby and I are convinced it was the best holiday ever! It seemed that at every turn, every meal, every moment...we were surrounded by those we love and who love us and it just doesn't get any better than that.

So now that some of the holiday hub-bub has died down (although our Christmas tree still stands proudly in our family room - hey, it's a lot of work to get all those ornaments off and put in their individual boxes) I am getting back to playing with paper. Not to mention the fact that the aforementioned wonderful hubby of mine got me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas. Still trying to work some of the kinks out of that super sweet machine but I can promise you there will be some beautiful die cuts on future layouts and cards.

My hope is to spend time every week in my craft room creating something beautiful, or at least meaningful, to share with all of you. Don't hold me to it though - life can get pretty busy around here and I don't always find time to sneak away to my little corner of the house to play with all my crafty goodness. So until next time...may your new year be incredibly blessed!

Cards, cards & more cards...

2011-11-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

So I've been busy making cards, and helping kids with homework, and working, and, and, and... Still busy, still trying desperately to fit crafty time into my life. Here are several cards I've made and taken the time to photograph.

The first two I used background stamps, my glue stamp pad and lots of Martha Stewart glitter. I'd seen this technique used, purchased all the supplies to make it happen but hadn't had the guts to try it yet. I love it...messy but oh so pretty.

This one was for a dear young man who is so close to our hearts. He loves music so I thought the grungy, distressed look was perfect for him.

This last one was for my younger brother's birthday. Lots of layers to make the card complete.

So as you can see, there has been lots of celebrating going on around us. I just wish I could fit some scrapbooking into my schedule. Maybe that's what I'll ask for for Christmas...time, just a little more time!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving my blog friends.

Feeling Like a Blog Slacker...

2011-10-05T16:48:00.000-06:00

But there's certainly no slacking going on in my life. I am so swamped between work, the kids' school and sports activities, my Bible study and MOPS work...the list just keeps growing. Seriously! I'm in some dire need of crafty time but it just never seems to materialize. I do have another birthday card - the one I made for our oldest son who is now officially a licensed driver! How did that happen so fast??? For those of you with young children at home - don't blink because before you know it they will be all grown up. Live in each moment and enjoy it all - I ought to listen more carefully to my own words I know because I blinked and I have a child driving and finishing up his last year of high school. Anyhooo...onto celebrating him.

Because my wonderful mother taught me the importance of sending thank you cards, I have passed this little life lesson along to my children (often to their dismay) and make sure to provide them with thank you cards they can write for the gifts they so generously receive.

These are a lot of older products that I've had in my supplies for a while but I thought the colors and distressed look were perfect for a teenage boy.

Another birthday...

2011-09-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

I told you this time of year was birthday madness in our family. Here is another birthday card I created for my wonderful Dad's birthday.

All the supplies used are from Echo Park Paper Co. For The Record line. I have used that one for SO much. The crazy thing is, I still have a lot of stuff left in my original kit. Echo Park does know how to load up their kits!

I have yet another important birthday coming up soon so I'll be busy creating another card that I'll share once the birthday passes. Until then...be blessed!

1st Days Layout...

2011-09-05T09:50:00.000-06:00

So I finally got my hands on the Lawn Fawn Say Cheese stamp set and couldn't wait to start playing with it. Seriously...that Polaroid style stamp is so stinkin cute! I had high hopes of doing a layout with the kids' pictures from the first day of school this year only to discover that I didn't have any clear pictures from that day. Really...what setting did I have that darn camera on anyhow??? I'm thinking I'll be doing a re-enactment with the kids so I can get good pictures - I'm sure my teenager will love that (wink!). Anyhow...I was set on doing a first day of school layout - it's hard to change my mind when it's set on something. I had to go back into the picture archives to find some that I hadn't already scrapped which took me back to 2009...the first year all three boys were even in school. This is what I came up with.

Supplies Used: Acrylic die cuts - The Paper Studio; Alphabet die cuts - Jillibean Soup; Brad - Recollections; Cardstock - Bazzill; Die Cuts - Basic Grey; Embroidery Floss - DMC; Ink - ColorBox, Memento & StazOn; Patterned paper - Core'dinations & Basic Grey; Pen - Pigma; Stamps - Lawn Fawn, Studio Ali Edwards by Technique Tuesday & Imaginesce; Sticker - Karen Foster Designs

I started receiving the Studio Ali Edwards stamps in July and I've been watching a lot of Nichol Magouirk's videos over at Two Peas in a Bucket for inspiration on how to use them on my layouts and I love how I can create my own custom embellishments. Besides...I love Ali's handwriting. Now if we could only convince Kristina Werner to make stamp sets with her beautiful handwriting!

In the Running at GCD...

2011-09-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

A little while back I created this card for my niece's birthday.

Since I incorporated a large amount of GCD Studios product I decided to send a copy to Heidi Sonboul over at GCD. Much to my surprise, I received an emal from her that my card was chosen in the top 3 for the month and I was in the running to win the kit of the month. I'd love your support in this. All you have to do is head over to GCD Studios Blog and leave a comment that you'd like to vote for me (Catherine Oakley). Thanks in advance for your support.

8 Years Old Already...

2011-08-26T15:36:00.000-06:00

I know I've been quite sparse around here but hey, it's back-to-school season which also means it's back to my normal work schedule and in the late summer and early fall it's birthday season in our household so I've been really busy trying to regain some semblance of a routine (I haven't had much luck so far).

Today we celebrate our middle son's 8th birthday. Seriously EIGHT...how did we get here so fast??? Crazy thing is, it's my birthday too. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing birthday gift than my sweet Zach.

Supplies used: Cardstock - The Paper Co.; Chipboard heart - Jillibean Soup; Ink - Jenni Bowlin & Signo Uniball Gel; Patterned paper - Basic Grey & Echo Park Paper Co.; Punch - Fiskars & EK Success; Stamp - Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday; Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co. & Momenta

So every year we celebrate together with dinner and presents and yummy cake. Of course the kid steals the show most of the time - but tonight my wonderful hubby is taking me out after the kiddos are tucked into bed and the teenager is home from work to babysit. I can't wait - just me and him...celebrating!

Happy birthday Zach (my bestest present ever)!!!

6 Years Ago Today...

2011-08-03T06:00:00.042-06:00

I had acupuncture to help get things going (even though contractions had started earlier that morning...I didn't want things to stop - I was READY!).

I was walking around the neighborhood with my incredibly supportive husband in seriously HOT weather trying to keep things going. I even resorted to the treadmill in our basement when it got too hot outside - seriously, my husband video taped it (not a pretty sight, let me tell you)

I was hurriedly walked from my OB's office to the labor and delivery wing of the attached hospital because things were GOING so fast they decided to not bother monitoring my labor in their office but to get me checked into my room ASAP.

With the help of my amazing husband, we welcomed our youngest son into the world and were incredibly blessed by this little boy.

Now he's not so little and he's turning SIX today. He still blesses us every day with his sweet smile, silly antics and his snuggles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET BOY!!!

All supplies used are from Echo Park Paper Co. except: Buttons - Cosmo Cricket, Michael's & craft supplies and Ink - Ranger Industries

Happy Birthday to My Niece

2011-08-01T08:00:00.015-06:00

Wishing a very special woman a very special day...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - Cloud 9 Design; Border strip - GCD Studios; Cardstock -The Paper Co.; Corrugated heart - Jillibean Soup; Embroidery floss - DMC; Embossing powder - Stampendous; Ink - Ranger Industries, Technique Tuesday & Versamark; Patterned paper - GCD Studios; Sticker - Jillibean Soup

Welcome Baby Boy...

2011-07-30T09:58:00.000-06:00

A sweet friend of mine recently gave birth to a precious baby boy. I was blessed to be able to provide her family with a meal just days after sweet Dawson was born. Which also meant that I got to hold this itty-bitty bundle of God's love for us. I don't know about you but for me...holding a baby just brings me into a state of amazement and shows me how truly incredible my God is to create such perfection in such a small package. Anyhoo...I couldn't bring dinner over to the family without a little something for Mr. Dawson too. To top off my gift, I made a card.

Supplies used: Cardstock - Bazzill; Chipboard label - Heidi Grace Design; Embroidery floss- DMC; Embossing powder - Stampendous; Ink - Versamark & Versafine; Patterned paper - Core'dinations & Heidi Grace Design; Ribbon - Cosmo Cricket; Stamps - Basic Grey & Hero Arts

Lots of bits and pieces of older papers that I've been ~~hoarding~~ saving for just such an occasion.

At the Firehouse

2011-07-25T08:45:00.001-06:00

Even though I didn't make Liz's deadline for Sketch #128 submission, she still inspired me (as she always does). Here is her sketch...

And here is my layout...

All supplies are from Echo Park Paper Co. with the exception of: Brad - Nikki Sivils; Buttons - Michael's; Embroidery Floss - DMC; and Fire Engine Sticker - Karen Foster Designs

I used primarily product from Echo Park's For the Record collection and I love how versatile this particular line is. I have used it for so many varied layouts and it works well for all of them. I hope you enjoy. I have more projects in the works that I'll be able to share with you soon - they just have to get to their intended recipients first.

It's Summer so Get Out & Play...

2011-07-20T15:57:00.000-06:00

Here's a layout I just did featuring photos from a couple of years worth of summer fun. As I flipped through the pictures I've printed, I realized that the majority of our summer is spent camping, fishing and in the case of our two youngest boys - digging in the mud! Oh well...it's cheap fun and they could spend hours doing it.

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - American Crafts and Jillibean Soup; Brads - Basic Grey; Buttons - Craft supplies; Cardstock - The Paper Company; Die Cuts - Basic Grey; Ink - Jenni Bowlin and Ranger; Label Stickers - Jillibean Soup; Number stickers - Echo Park paper Company; Patterned paper - Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin & My Mind's Eye; Pen - Zig Writer; Stamp - Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday

I based my design on the most recent 4x6 love class by Shimelle over at Two Peas in a Bucket but I only made a one-page layout instead of a two-pager. Such a great design that can be made a simple or as complicated as you want.

I've got another layout I'm working on that I'll be sharing real soon...seems my creative mojo is returning (either that or I'm hiding in the house from the hot temps outside). Until next time...stay cool!

Two in One Day...

2011-07-09T15:02:00.000-06:00

Two posts in one day...that must be some kind of record as of late. Liz over at The Scrappiest has got me inspired this week - which hasn't been easy to do with as worn out as my boys are making me with all this summer vacation fun. Her sketch was fun and simple enough that I could add my own flair to it and make it work with my photos. Here is her sketch...

You must check this one out on her blog...her design team did SUCH a great job with this one. Here is my interpretation...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - American Crafts; Brads - Basic Grey (small green), K 7 Co. (snowflakes) & Nikki Sivils (green corduroy); Cardstock - Bazzil; Die cuts - Basic Grey; Font - Digs My Hart; Ink - Copic G24 Willow; Patterned paper - Basic Grey (multi-colored), Bo Bunny (red) & We R Memory Keepers (yellow graph); Stickers - Cosmo Cricket ("daring" ), Echo Park Paper Co. (sled, swirl, "winter" tag) & Webster's Pages ("adventures")

Very non-winter color scheme for a winter layout but I love how the colors really draw you into the green sled and the yellow and greens in the boys' jackets. So glad to have had some scrappy time!

Keep on keeping on...

2011-07-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

I'm truly dumbfounded at how insanely busy summertime can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the busy-ness of it and all the fun things we're getting out and doing but seriously, it's already the 2nd week of July. The kids will be back in school in roughly a month's time...that's right, I said ONE month! I better get going on all those places we wanted to visit or I'm going to run out of time.

The boys and I spent the other morning touring the Hammond's Candy Factory. It was so interesting to see how they make all that yummy candy and I was blown away by the fact that they still make the majority of it by hand.

We spent the prior weekend camping in the Crested Butte area - beautiful, I tell you! Despite the LONG drive to get there, the western slope of Colorado sure is pretty. We have lots more camping scheduled, lots more baseball games to attend (their season will be over at the end of this month), and lots more adventures to have. In and amongst all this, I have managed a wee bit of crafting...

Here's a masculine themed birthday card I made recently...

And I'm anxiously awaiting my first set of Ali Edwards stamps...I've been looking at these for quite some time and I finally decided to join Studio AE for 6 months and see how it goes. Now if they would just hurry up and get here already!

Until next time...enjoy the sunshine.

S'more Love...

2011-06-27T15:56:00.000-06:00

I've had very little scrappy time lately - due to entertaining my kiddos while they are on summer break. Which is totally okay...I spent the first week of their break a little frustrated because I couldn't find time to sneak away to my craft room and work on projects. Then one night when my hubby and I were talking about just that, I had a total "ah ha" moment. The kids are only on break until early August and then all 3 of them will be in school full days, 5 days a week. And, despite the fact that I will increase my workload in children's ministry at church during the time they are at school and the fact that I will spend several hours on a weekly basis volunteering in the two younger boys' classrooms, there will still be plenty of time for me. Time to run errands in peace (without all the "I want this, I want that" or the "we don't want to go to the store"), time for getting the daily tasks associated with having (and maintaining) a home done, time for all that laundry (and ironing), AND time to craft as I please, in solitude or with my favorite music blasting through the computer speakers. So...my blog posts may be a bit sparse but know that I will be back in full force come August.

I do have a layout to share with you today though. I was feeling especially glum about my lack of crafting the other day and some neighborhood friends of the boys solved my dilemma for me by coming over and playing...thus, relieving me of my duty as primary entertainer of young boys for a while. I used a sketch by Jana Eubank as my inspiration.

And this is what I came up with...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - American Crafts; Buttons - craft supplies; Cardstock - Bazzill Basics; Chipboard elements - Colorbok & craft supplies; Font - CK Wood House; Journaling card - Glitz Designs; Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket (wood grain), Echo Park Paper Co. (brown wavy) and My Mind's Eye (polka dot papers); Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co.

These fun photos of our younger boys enjoying s'mores was taken last year but we have already eaten our fair share of s'mores during our camping outings this year. I think it is the boys' favorite part about camping actually. Who could blame them?

A Tribute to Dads

2011-06-22T16:53:00.000-06:00

So now that Father's Day has passed, I can share the cards that I made for the amazing fathers in our family.

The Fiskateers inspired my Father's Day card for my hubby. I can't get the sketch to link up for some reason but here's the card I made...

Supplies used: alphabet stickers - Echo Park Paper Co.; card base - Michael's; corrugated hear - Jillibean Soup; embossing powder - Stampendous!; ink - Ranger, Versamagic, Colorbox, StazOn; patterned paper - Echo Park Paper Co.; punch - EK Success; sewing machine - Singer; thread - craft supplies

Here's the card the boys gave to my hubby...

Supplies used: alphabet stickers - Deja Views; brad - Basic Grey; card base - Michael's; corner rounder - EK Success; ink - Colorbox; patterned paper - Bo Bunny; pen - Uniball Signo white gel pen; stickers - Bo Bunny

And here are the cards that we sent to my father-in-law and to my dad...

Supplies used: alphabet stickers - American Crafts; card base - Michael's; chipboard - Cosmo Cricket; patterned paper - Bella Blvd. and Core'dinations; punch - Fiskars; ribbon - Michael's

Supplies used: card base - Michael's; die cuts - Making Memories & My Mind's Eye; ink - StazOn; patterned paper - Bella Blvd.; ribbon - Michael's

I've been busy in the kitchen - taking advantage of some wonderful produce we've come across and doing a bit of cooking and canning. I'll share more on that later.

Creating Keepsakes Blog Feature!

2011-06-15T15:02:00.000-06:00

My recent layout "We [heart] Our Silly Boy" is featured today over at the CK & Me portion of the Creating Keepsakes blog. You can check it out here. I was thrilled to get Megan's email this afternoon sharing the good news. Here's to hoping I can eek out some more time for crafting in the near future. I do have some cards to share but you'll have to wait until after the recipients have had a chance to receive them before I can share them with you.

Have a blessed day!

Loving Our Silly Boy

2011-06-05T18:52:00.000-06:00

So my husband took the younger boys camping this weekend which left me and our teenager hanging out at home. He wasn't up for a whole lot seeing as he'd recently had those wisdom teeth out and things are not healing as quickly as either of us would like. It was nice however to be able to take care of him without having to worry about the needs of his younger brothers. That is a luxury I rarely have.

I also managed to fit in a bit of scrappy time which I feel I haven't had in quite a while. I worked on a layout of our youngest with a photo I have had from last Father's Day.

Supplies used: Acrylic (heart) - The Paper Studio; Baker's twine - Your Scrapbook Stash; Border strip - K & Co.; Chipboard - Basic Grey & Fiskars; Corrugated hearts - Jillibean Soup;Ink - Tsukineko StazOn and ColorBox; Patterned paper - Echo Park Paper Co., GCD (green hounds tooth), Pink Paislee (brown) & October Afternoon ( wood grain); Punch (small star) - EK Success; Rubons (date) - Doodlebug Designs; Stickers - Creative Imaginations & Echo Park Paper Co.; Staples - Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Twine - Fiskars

This was the first chance I've had to work with the Jillibean Soup corrugated products and I love that I was able to take an ink pad and ink the hearts up to be whatever color I wanted yet the kraft of the cardboard still shows. It adds such dimension and really allows customization of your embellishments. I'm so excited that I have a package of the corrugated alphas to play with too!

All of my boys are home safe and sound...a little (okay a lot) dirty but with so many fun stories to share with me. They had a blast with my husband and although they completely wore him out...I'm pretty sure he had a great time with them as well. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures he took - I can assure you they will be showing up in layouts in the future.

Congrats to the grad...

2011-06-01T13:17:00.000-06:00

Here's the card I made for my niece's graduation. I love being able to make "girly" stuff - with a house full of boys, it's not often I get to use frilly things! Plus I was able to use some of the new GCD papers that I won in a recent RAK and some of the Webster's Pages journaling cards that I ordered from Your Scrapbook Stash not too long ago.

Supplies used: brad - Sassafras; cardstock - The Paper Co.; ink - Tim Holtz and Tsukineko; journaling card - Webster's Pages; patterned paper - GCD Studios; stamp - Basic Grey; thread - craft supplies

I've also started to invest in the Tim Holtz Distress inks for the first time. I really like the way I can age the entire sheet of paper I'm working on or just the edges and how soft and natural it ends up looking. Loving them!

Our busy summer schedule is in full swing. Son #1 just had his wisdom teeth surgically removed yesterday (okay, that was not so fun and he's hurting pretty bad right now). Son #2's baseball has started and he has his first game tonight. Son #3 starts baseball next week and my wonderful husband is coaching his team. We scheduled out our camping trips - and let's just say we're spending a lot of time with mother nature this summer. All of that, along with Vacation Bible School at our church (which #2 & #3 will both attend and I will work) and the prospect of son #3 playing flag football starting at the end of summer - whew...I'm wiped out just thinking about it! Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer??? Gonna have to fit some time in for lounging around AND scrapping!

Dreams for a Graduate...

2011-05-26T09:27:00.000-06:00

Blog neglect is a bad thing...but sometimes it's inevitable so to all my wonderful followers, my apologies for my recent blog neglect. School is finally out over here and what I'm sharing today is one of the last "must do" projects on my list. My beautiful niece is getting ready to graduate from high school and I really wanted to create something special for her.

As an adult there are times I look back and wish that I had pursued my dreams more than I did...granted what freshman in college really knows what they want to be/do when they grow up??? I know I didn't but as a woman (married with children) I now realize that althought the time to pursue your dreams never ends - it sure is a lot easier to do when you don't have a family to incorporate into those dreams. Not that I would change a single minute of my past because it has brought me to the blessings that I have now but I think every single one of us wishes we had pursued a dream that we let fall by the way side because it seemed impractical or didn't "fit in" with our overall "plan". I have learned that I am so not in control of "the plan"...it's all in God's hands and has been from the very beginning. I just hope that my niece grabs a hold of her dreams and goes after them with all her heart as she moves on to this next phase of her life. Best of luck beautiful girl!

Here are some close ups of each panel in case you're interested...

The sentiment says "chase your dreams you just might catch one"

Summer send off...

2011-05-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

I don't know about all of you but my life seems to become very hectic towards the end of the school year. Not only do I have to worry about my oldest studying enough for his finals (which begin tomorrow) but I have end of year parties, kindergarten graduation, field trips, and teacher gifts to plan out. I'm telling you, I feel like a mouse running in circles on a wheel. Although I have no idea how I'll keep the younger two entertained all summer and still manage to find time for myself, I am SO looking forward to school being over - although probably not quite as much as our teenager is!

So this morning I took some time to create a thank you card for one of the boy's teachers. I still have one more to go but I'll find some time for that this afternoon - right after we shop for a new dryer since ours just quit working! Here's the outside of the card...

Supplies used: Cardstock - The Paper Company (kraft) and Core'dinations (yellow); Die cut (butterflies) - Making Memories; Border sticker, patterned paper, journaling card, & stickers - Webster's Pages; Ink - Ranger; Ribbon - American Crafts; Punch - Fiskars; Stick pin - K & Co.; Sticker (rose) - Bo Bunny

I love all the layers on this one...I wanted it to feel really built up and sweet. The inside has a small envelope that I decorated as well. This will hold a gift card that several of the parents contributed to.

Enjoy and I hope you're all keeping it together as the school year wraps up!

Some SERIOUS Happy Mail!!!

2011-05-13T18:09:00.000-06:00

I knew it was coming...Juliana told me when to expect it's arrival but none-the-less, I was stunned when I opened the box up. Thanks to Juliana over at 17Turtles and her amazing giveaway from Mother's Day I am adding this to my stash of scrappy goodness.

Is that incredible or what? I cannot wait to get my hands into that stuff and start creating. Since I'm the only "girl" in my house I can see a lot of layouts all about me and my girlfriends...maybe even a project for my niece who is graduating from high school next month. The Brave Girl stuff from GCD would be perfect inspiration for that I think. Thanks once again Juliana...hop on over to her blog and check out her amazing work!

NSD Continues at Your Scrapbook Stash

2011-05-13T13:56:00.000-06:00

Your Scrapbook Stash is continuing their National Scrapbook Day goodness through today. All of the sketches listed here are fantastic and I wish I had more time to finish more of them up before the deadline but alas...life has been busy! Speaking of busy, all of my boys will be done with school for the year in less than 2 weeks...my oldest will officially be a senior in high school at that point. Seriously, how did that happen so fast??? In honor of the end of school, I thought it was high time I created a layout with their first day of school pictures from this year. Better late than never right? I chose to work with the sketch from May 8th shown here.

And this is what I came up with.

Supplies Used: all supplies are from Echo Park Paper Co. with the exception of the journaling block from Making Memories and the "Time to go to School" sticker from Karen Foster Designs

So I had previously used some of the "B" side to the cool border paper in the For The Record collection so I had to improvise a bit. I fussy cut the remaining portion of the postage stamp shaped border and adhered it to the dictionary patterned paper. I extenededthe horizontal strips of patterned paper to help fill the space had the border gone all the way around. The more I play with this For The Record collection...the more I'm wishing I had purchased two.

Kindergarten "Yearbook" Project...

2011-05-13T13:48:00.000-06:00

It's almost done...I still have to include the zoo field trip which is being rescheduled due to our icky snowy-rainy weather we have today and are expected to have tomorrow. As much as I have loved working on this project, I really want to be done with this so I can clear up some space on my desk and get on to other layouts. I've used a real mix of materials on this one...lots of what I had in my stash as well as a couple of new items I purchased that were very "school specific". Anyhow, here it is...

Hope you enjoy!

Sweet Peaches and Chocolate...

2011-04-27T09:09:00.000-06:00

The Sweet Peach Crop Shop is celebrating their anniversary this month with several sketches from Liz Chidester. As most of you are aware, I love Liz's sketches so I had to play along. I chose to work with sketch #3 this time. You have until May 1st to play along so hop on over to Sweet Peach Crop Shop's blog and check out all the sketches. This project is also my design team project for Crop Chocolate for the month of May. The theme was "freestyle" so we could choose to create whatever we wanted. So nice to have such creative freedom!

Here's Liz's sketch...

And my interpretation of the sketch...

Supplies used: Cardstock, Patterned Paper & Title stickers (happy & day) - Echo Park Paper Co.; Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Pearls - craft supplies; Stickers (all others) Creative Imaginations; Thread - craft supplies

I adore these pictures of my husband and I that were taken at my brother's birthday bash...we were able to leave all the kids home with friends and fly out to Napa for a wonderful grown-up weekend back in October. It was such a relaxing time for us and such a great time to spend being a couple instead of being "mom & dad". I think that truly shows on our faces in these photos.

A Masculine Birthday Card...

2011-04-26T12:56:00.000-06:00

We have another special birthday coming up this week in our family so I got busy and made a card. I love this Circa 1934 paper line from Cosmo Cricket and it has such a great variety that you can easily make a card for a man or a woman. I used clear embossing powder and my polka-dot background stamp from Hero Arts on the strip of red paper, my Fiskars stamp set for the birthday sentiment and some stickers from both Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park. The ribbon is from a clothing tag that I had saved from a pair of my teenager's jeans and it goes perfectly. Love it when that happens!

So I did get a little crafty on this week (besides that kindergarten yearbook I'm still plugging away at). Maybe more to come since I have a couple sketches I'd really like to make use of. Okay...I'm off to start on some turkey stock. Can't wait to have my house smell all homey and yummy with that cooking on the stove.

Blog neglect...

2011-04-20T13:50:00.000-06:00

Sadly I feel as if I've been neglecting my blog as of late. I'm still busy crafting but am working on a "yearbook" project for my son's kindergarten class and am knee deep in pictures and paper. Thankfully the expectations aren't super high on this one - it will be fairly simple as I'm trying to cram as many photos of all those kids into a small album that can then be photocopied for the entire class. I'll try to scan and post pictures once I have it complete...which I hope is soon. I'd really like to get back to my regular crafting! Until then...be blessed.

Laurie Schmidlen's Sketch for Skipping Stones Designs

2011-04-13T13:24:00.000-06:00

Laurie came up with a great card sketch this week over at Skipping Stones Designs. I need to be making cards this week anyhow - lots of events coming up in the near future so what better opportunity to play along. Here's the sketch...

And my take on it...

Supplies used: Bling - Studio G; Embroidery floss- DMC; Glitter glue - Studio G; Journaling tag - Elle's Studio; Patterned paper - We R Memory Keepers and Daisy Bucket Designs; Pen - Marvy Gel Excel in black; Thread - craft supplies

This was a fairly quick card to put together (although my husband managed to tie 4 flies in the same amount of time it took me to make one card - his hobby certainly is faster, that's for sure!) Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day.

9 Years Ago...

2011-04-13T12:46:00.000-06:00

I married the love of my life. I thank God for him everyday and am looking forward to the many years we have ahead of us. Happy Anniversary Hunnie...I love you!

Artful Delight's April Challenge...

2011-04-10T18:53:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed I like to use sketches to inspire my creativity. I think I've adopted this style of creating layouts because my time to craft is so limited and I don't want to spend what little time I have messing around with the "bones" of my layout. I want to use that time to showcase my photographs in the most beautiful way I can. Sketches allow me to do that in the bits and pieces of time that I'm given. Here's the sketch for the Artful Delight Blog challenge for the month of April.

LeeAnne (the owner over at Artful Delight) shows her take on the sketch and her layered, punched border totally inspired me. Here's the layout I created today.

Supplies used: Alpha stickers - Glitz Designs; Cardstock - American Crafts; Decorative pin - K & Co.; Embroidery floss - DMC; Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Patterned paper - Basic Grey (kraft), Core'dinations, and Glitz Designs (all others); Punches - Fiskars (border) and EK Success (small heart); Stickers - K & Co. (tiny hearts) and Creative Imaginations (all others); thread - craft supplies

I recently received these papers as part of an order from a gift certificate I won over at Your Scrapbook Stash. I have to be honest I hadn't ever seen any of Glitz Designs papers in person but they looked amazing on the website and believe me, they do not disappoint. The colors are so vibrant and they are gorgeous, double-sided, heavy-weight cardstock. I love them and now wish I had a ordered a few more sheets. The bird stickers and several of the other stickers are quite old - a Marah Johnson collection from Creative Imaginations that I just had to have at the time and then couldn't really figure out how to incorporate them into my work...I'm thrilled with how they work with this layout. I hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Happy Anniversary Sweet Peach Crop Shop

2011-04-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

Sweet Peach Crop Shop is celebrating their 1st anniversary and Liz has created some sketches to help them celebrate - of course, I had to play along. The first of four sketches was revealed here. Here's the sketch...

And my take on it...

Supplies used: Alpha stickers- American Crafts; Cardstock - American Crafts and Core'dinations; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown; Patterned paper - Jillibean Soup; Ribbon - Fiskars; Staples - Office supplies; Stickers - Cosmo Cricket (green circle) and K & Co. ("joy")

I have longed for this Jillibean Soup line of patterned paper and FINALLY purchased some. I did a lot of fussy cutting to get all those cameras to make my circle but I love them...I even inked the edges of each camera to make it more dimensional on my layout. I also moved the title to make room for my journaling. I seriously love these pictures of my son on his new bike - he was so thrilled to receive it for his 7th birthday and was sure we wouldn't be able to find a bike just like his big brothers (which he had taken to riding because he outgrew his old bike). Well, it wasn't exactly like big brothers - it's chrome instead of army green and I think it's a rather sweet ride. and so does he.

Crop Chocolate Design Team Reveal

2011-04-05T14:15:00.000-06:00

It's time again for another design team submission over at Crop Chocolate.com. This months challenge was an Easter/Spring project. Since Spring in my household means that I will be running my younger boys back and forth to their different sports related activities...that is what I chose to scrap about. Here's my layout using mostly products that I've purchased over at Crop Chocolate.

Supplies used: Border sticker – Echo Park Paper Co. (For the Record collection); Border strip – Echo Park Paper Co. (For the Record collection); Cardstock – Kaisercraft; Chipboard circle – American Craft Thickers Accents; Ink – StazOn in Jet Black and ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink in Charcoal; Journaling sticker – Fancy Pants Kraft Kutz; Journaling strips – Echo Park Paper Co. (For the Record Collection); Patterned paper – Fancy Pants Kraft Kutz and We R Memory Keepers (distressed blue); Smooch Spritz – in Gingersnap; Star punch – EK Success; Stickers – Fancy Pants and Karen Foster Designs

We'd love to have you stop by and check out the current offerings over at Crop Chocolate...they have some pretty sweet deals!

Sketch 113 over at The Scrappiest

2011-04-03T21:28:00.000-06:00

Another great sketch by Liz over at The Scrappiest this past week. I got my mojo late this week and barely finished this one in time to submit it but it's done and it was fast and fun. Here's Liz's sketch...

And my take on it...

Supplies used: Cardstock - The Paper Co.; alphabet stickers, die cut, patterned paper & stickers - Echo Park Paper Co.; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown and Zig marker

We had gorgeous weather yesterday (in the 80's) which is highly unusual for Colorado this time of year - today on the other hand is cold and snowing...crazy!!! We need the moisture badly so I'm not complaining and we got to enjoy the day yesterday outside. A little time outside with the family, time snuggling inside where it is warm, and some crafty goodness. Overall...a very good weekend.

Your Scrabook Stash Sketch...

2011-03-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

I worked with another one of the 2011 sketches from over at Your Scrapbook Stash last night...this layout came together really quickly and I love how it fits my son. The sketch from Alyssa was perfect for my photos - minus the cute little butterflies (wink). I had to grunge it up for my teenager and had the perfect collection of embellies that I've been storing up (hoarding) for just such an occasion. Here's the final product...

Supplies used: Brad - Creative Imaginations; Cardstock - American Crafts; Doilie paper - SEI; Ink - ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink in Charcoal; Patterned paper - Basic Grey & Creative Imaginations; Photo corner - Colorbok; Ribbon - Die Cuts With a View; Rubons - Die Cuts With a View and Narratives by Karen Russell; Stickers - American Traditional Designs and Creative Imaginations

Teenagers can be so moody sometimes (almost all the time) and I love catching mine with a genuine smile on his face...not always an easy thing to do. He was truly happy to have this new cabinet to go with the vintage Marshall head we already had in the basement. I love this quote I found on a sticker in my stash - I really wanted to use it on the layout but it didn't fit in so I'll just share the quote and leave it at that.

"Don't look at your feet to see if you're doing it right, just dance!" ~ author unknown

Sweet Peach Crop Shop Sketch...

2011-03-29T07:38:00.000-06:00

Liz has another wonderful sketch up over at the Sweet Peach Crop Shop Blog and I had a great time working with it and turning her "flowery" sketch into a boy appropriate layout. Here's the sketch...

And here's my take on it...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - Bo Bunny (green) and Doodlebug Designs (brown); Banner sticker - Sassafras; Brad - Basic Grey; Cardstock - The Paper Co.; Patterned paper - Bo Bunny; Rub-ons - Bo Bunny (green flourish) and K & Co. (all others); Stickers - Bo Bunny, Creative Imaginations & Sandylion; Vintage tag - Glitz Designs

I love, love, love the bold, bright colors of this Bo Bunny paper and these photographs of my silly boys were perfect with them. How cool is that vintage tag??? I found it in a lovely pack over at Archiver's the other day and the colors and whimsical images work so well with this layout I just couldn't resist. I haven't been real crazy about the super vintage-y layouts but I do love a touch here and there on my projects. I think I'm slowly converting - better late than never right?

Scrapbook & Cards Today!!!

2011-03-25T09:13:00.000-06:00

After a very fun afternoon at the roller rink with my family, I opened my mailbox to wonderful happy mail yesterday. It doesn't get much better than that! My copies of Scrapbook & Cards Today with my VERY FIRST physical magazine publication had arrived along with some wonderful goodies they sent me. Please check it out...my layout is highlighted on page 45 of this wonderful free publication. These ladies have done such a beautiful job with this magazine and as of today, they are celebrating their 5th birthday. Hop on over to their blog and see what all they are doing to celebrate. You won't be disappointed.

Today is my first day off in NINE days and the kids are still on spring break and my hubby is off fishing with his friend. The sun is shining but the wind is blowing like crazy out there - I love how my wind chimes sound but boy oh boy, I don't like being out in those gusts. I'm thinking a trip to the library with the boys and maybe ramping up to a movie night with pizza to cap off their spring break will be fun and relaxing. I really want to craft today so hopefully, they'll give me a little time to hide out in my craft room and play with some pretty paper!

Here is one more card that I haven't shared yet...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - Fancy Pants; Brad - Making Memories; Button - Cosmo Cricket; Cardstock - craft supplies; Flower - Prima (large) and craft supplies (small); Ink - VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Patterned Paper - Fancy pants; Ribbon - Dear Lizzy by American Crafts; Washi tape - craft supplies

Sending you all hugs - I hope you all know how grateful I am for the wonderful comments you leave - they make my day!

And we're off...

2011-03-23T09:05:00.000-06:00

Another busy day planned with my boys who are on Spring break. We're headed to the Western Museum of Mining and Industry and meeting up with a friend and her boys. Looks like fun right??? They are wearing me out and it's only Wednesday...tomorrow is roller skating with the boys and hubby - woohoo!!! Before I go I have another card to share with you.

Supplies used: Border punche - Fiskars; Cardstock - craft supplies (white) and Bazzill (red); Ink - VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Patterned papre - October Afternoon; Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co. ("note") and October Afternoon (small alphas); Twine - Fiskars

I haven't had any time for crafty thing this week which makes me sad...and I don't see anywhere in the schedule where I'm going to fit it in this week. I've got to fix that!

Have a blessed day!!!

Simple Thank You...

2011-03-22T07:41:00.000-06:00

Here's another card I submitted that did not get picked up by the magazine. I really like the simplicity of it - I think it adds elegance.

Supplies used: Alpha Chipboard - Recollections; Cardstock - The Paper Co.; Glitter - Distress Stickles by Ranger; Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Charcoal; Patterned paper - Basic Grey and Echo Park Paper Co.; Ribbon - Offray; Sticker - Echo Park paper Co.

So that's it, in all it's simplicity. I'm off and running...it's Spring break around here and besides work, I'm working at keeping my two youngest entertained. It's a busy week!

A Card to Share

2011-03-18T09:03:00.001-06:00

Papercrafts magazine calls went out yesterday and I didn't hear from them which makes me a little sad but then again, it means I can share my fun cards with you sooner. I submitted a few cards based on the sketches they provided. I love how they turned out and can't wait to send them off to lucky recipients since I don't have to send them in to the magazine. Here's the first one (which will be saved for my upcoming anniversary)...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - Cosmo Cricket; Brads - Sassafras (silhouettes) and Basic Grey (all others); Border sticker - Echo Park Paper Co.; Cardstock - Craft supplies; Ink - StazOn in Blazing Red and Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Charcoal; Patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket; Punches - Fiskars and EK Success; Stamp - Hero Arts

I made the flowers using several different size scalloped circle punches. I inked the edges, spritzed them slightly with water then crinkled them up. Then I flattened them out a bit, stacked them and inserted the brads. For the red polka-dot background, I masked off my paper and stamped the image. The border sticker was originally continuous circles that I cut in half length-wise to get the look I wanted (plus I only used half the border sticker that way wink).

I'll share the other cards with you at another time...for now, I'm off to help out at the kids' school and then work tonight. Happy Friday to you all!

Kindie Countdown...

2011-03-16T14:18:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted much recently but I have been busily crafting. My son's kindergarten teacher asked if I would put together a 30-day countdown to summer vacation for the class. I immediately thought of doing a banner and my Sassafras Apple Jack paper pack hanging in my closet. Such fun colors and patterns for a kindie project. This photo shows most of the banner. The rest of the photos show more details.

Supplies used: Border stickers - Sassafras; Cardstock - The Paper Co.; Chipboard - Making Memories; Die cuts - Making Memories; Flowers - Making Memories, Prima, Sassafras and craft supplies; Ink - Copic Markers, Memento, Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink, and VersaMagic; Patterned paper - Sassafras, American Crafts, and Echo Park Paper Co.; Stamp - Inkadinkado number set; Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co., Karen Foster Design, EK Success, and Me & My Big Ideas

The numbers are stamped in Memento ink then colored with Copic sketch markers. This gave me a chance to practice my shading more (without worrying too much about the outcome since I don't really think the kindergartner's are going to pay much attention to that). Following are detail shots of some of the pennants.

My hot glue gun got a serious workout on this project and it had me wishing I had one of those i-Bond cordless glue guns that Imaginisce put out recently...have to add that to my list of tools to buy someday. I love how the project turned out and can't wait to see it hanging in their classroom when we reach the 30-day mark. I did bring it to his teacher today and she loved it which makes me happy. Our teachers have so much on their plates these days that I'm more than happy to use my time and resources to help brighten their days.

Sympathy with Skipping Stones Designs

2011-03-10T07:00:00.001-07:00

I have a very special friend who lost a very special someone in her life recently. I knew I had to acknowledge her loss and send her something to cheer her a bit at the same time. I'm not good with sympathy cards - loss is just so sad and it's hard to put that on paper...especially when it has to travel thousands of miles when really I'd rather just give her a huge hug and tell her that I love her and hope she can find some peace in all this. Heidi's card sketch over at Skipping Stones Design did inspire me a bit though and I love how the card turned out - elegant and full of love.

Supplies used: Cardstock - craft supplies; Die cuts - The Girls Paperie; Ink - VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Patterned paper - 7Gypsies; Punch - EK Success; Ribbon - Dear Lizzy American Crafts; Stickers - K & Co.

The sentiment on the front reads "In Heaven, there is no fairer thing than love..." I hope it brings her peace knowing that her special someone is surrounded by love and watching over her from Heaven.

Joy...

2011-03-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

My daily email from Girlfriends in God yesterday referenced joy. I hate to admit it but I actually had to step away from my computer because I couldn't finish reading it. See, my boys were downstairs fighting over the TV (of all things), they weren't getting dressed for school (like I'd asked them to) and I was in a rush to check my email before getting dressed for work myself. I wasn't feeling joy and I was getting more and more frustrated with myself as I read further into the email. So...I stepped away, took my shower and spent some time in prayer asking God to bring that joy into my heart so that I could carry-on with my day the way He wanted me to. I went back to the email before heading out the door and I was inspired and filled with His joy. Amazing how simply asking for God's help changes everything. He is so good!

So let's face it, we don't all walk around feeling joy every moment of every day. Things happen that throw us into a tailspin of negativity and cause our frustration levels to rise. God doesn't want that for us, he wants us to experience peace and joy. It is during those time we need to turn to God, ask for His help and allow Him to move in our hearts to change the ugly into the beautiful - the joy that only He can provide. Live with joy today my wonderful friends!

Your Scrapbook Stash Explore!

2011-03-09T08:54:00.002-07:00

I played along with Jessy's sketch over at Your Scrapbook Stash this week. It was an easy sketch for me to work with and I love that it used multiple photos. My layouts usually contain photos from one event but this one is from several hikes/camping trips we took in the same month. I love the banner craze that's been in fashion for some time now. I've taken to making my own banners so they match my layout/card exactly as I want them to. It's so simple...I cut a triangle template from some old packaging (heavy-weight chipboard) and I simply trace and cut, ink the edges to make the banner pieces more substantial and there you have it. I often attach the triangles to my project with dimensional adhesive - gotta have dimension on my layouts and why not make my hand-made creation stand out? If you haven't checked out the Your Scrapbook Stash store, they have a wonderful selection of products - stop by and check them out. Anyhow...on with the show.

The sketch can be found at the YSS link (it won't let me share the image here for some reason) and here's my interpretation...

Supplies used: Border stickers - Doodlebug Design Inc.; Brads - Basic Grey; Cardstock - The Paper Co.; Die cut butterfly - Making Memories; Epoxy chipboard circles - Colorbok; Flowers - Prima Marketing; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown and Smooch Spritz in Emerald Sprinkle; Journaling tag - craft supplies; Patterned paper - Bo Bunny; Title - K & Co.

I used supplies from several different manufacturers and several different eras once again. I'm loving my new approach to simply pull the patterned paper I want to work with and then bringing out any and all embellishments that match. I don't use them all but it puts everything I could possibly use right at my fingertips. I'm using up lots of odds and ends that I had forgotten I even had and I'm truly enjoying the results.

Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge #66

2011-03-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

I decided to play along with the Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge this week. I used a bit of creative freedom on this one but I really like how the card turned out. There are a lot of men in our family so I have the pleasure of making LOTS of masculine cards for birthdays and such. I recently recieved the Echo Park Paper Co. For The Record collection and I love the color combinations and elements so much. I thought they'd be perfect for this birthday card for my brother-in-law. I mixed in a smidge of Cosmo Cricket Material Girl...seems weird on a masculine card but the red check works great with the colors of For The Record and gives the card a little "pop".

I'm off to help out with the kindies at my son's school today - always such fun to spend time in their classroom. Be blessed!

Sundays at the Skatepark...

2011-02-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

I've had these photographs that my husband took of our son and I just love the close up one but couldn't come up with a good layout for them. Today I planned to work on Sketch #108 over at The Scrappiest so when I started digging through my pictures and saw that these two work with the sketch I was sold. I changed my mind on the papers I was going to use several times before I remembered I had this Cosmo Cricket kit in my closet. I dug it out and viola...it worked. Here's the sketch...

And my interpretation with the ultra-cool pictures of our son...

All supplies are from the Joy Ride kit by Cosmo Cricket with the exception of the following: Cardstock - American Crafts; Ink - StazOn in Jet Black and Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Stamp - Imaginisce

Why don't you pull out some photos and play along with us over at The Scrappiest this week?

A Special Wish and Papercraft Star Challenge

2011-02-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

I made this card for a very special friend's birthday...happy birthday special friend! The card is based on challenge #34's sketch over at Papercraft Star. It's yet another sketch created by Liz Chidester (I know...big surprise, huh?) I can't help it, I told you I loved her sketches. Here's the sketch

And here's the card I created...

Supplies used: Cardstock - The Paper Company; Flowers - Prima; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown, VersaMagic in Sahara Sand and Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Mist - Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist in Juneberry Wine; Patterned paper - Fancy Pants; Ribbon - Dear Lizzy by American Crafts; Stamps - Imaginisce (ticket) and Hero Arts (sentiment); Sticker - Fancy Pants; Transparency - Fancy Pants

I did a lot of distressing/altering on this one. First I cut a 3 1/2" circle out of the cute polka-dotted transparency, I inked the edges in StazOn and then used my heat embossing tool to warp the edges a bit and set the ink. Then I cut the triangles from patterned paper and inked the edges in VersaMagic to create the banner. I misted the base patterned paper which was more aqua than purple to make it match the rest of the card elements. I stamped the tickets onto matching patterned paper, fussy cut them and inked the edges in VersaMagic. I love how it turned out...I hope my friend does too!

Sweet Peach Crop Shop and exciting news...

2011-02-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Another great sketch from Liz is being used for February's Sweet Peach Crop Shop blog challenge. The sketch is round so I completed my round layout then mounted it onto a 12" x 12" piece of cardstock to put it in my album. I felt like the circle was just floating there so...I extended my embellishments and journaling to anchor the circle to the square cardstock. Here's the sketch...

And here's my layout...

Supplies used: Cardstock - American Crafts (white); Patterned paper - Basic Grey (stripe and leaf print), My Mind's Eye (blue), Echo Park Paper Co. (Brown hounds tooth), and Jillibean Soup (kraft); Chipboard - Basic Grey (alphabets), American Crafts (number) and Cosmo Cricket (clouds); Felt - Fancy Pants; Ink - VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Pens - Signo Uniball Broad in white and Marvy Uchida Gel in Black

Again I used a bunch of older supplies but I love how the colors worked so well with the photographs. You really have to try some of Liz's sketches if you haven't already - they seem to be showing up everywhere these days.

So what is my exciting news you ask??? Well, I just got an email from Catherine over at Scrapbook & Cards Today and they want one of my layouts that I submitted. I am over the moon about this as it will be my first "print" publication. I've had several layouts picked up for on-line scrapbooking magazines but this one will be in an actual, I-can-hold-it-in-my-hands magazine. So excited!!!

Another Scrappiest Sketch

2011-02-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Another great sketch from Liz over at The Scrappiest. This is sketch #107...

And my interpretation...

Supplies used: Alphabet stickers - Provo Craft; Chipboard - Me & My Big Ideas (crown) and My Mind's Eye (journaling strip); Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Journaling tag - The Girl's Paperie; Patterned Paper - Basic Grey (kraft), Cosmo Cricket (yellow & red), Crate Paper (striped) & October Afternoon (red wood paneling) ; Rub-on - Basic Grey

Liz's sketches are just so easy to work with that I can pull together a layout in no time at all (well...no time for me is a couple hours but hey, I'm getting pictures and memories on paper so it's all good). I just printed a bunch of new pictures and these photos of the old gas pump at my grandparent's farm were perfect for this layout plus I've had that crown chipboard for many, many years and it was ideal for this project. I wish I could remember the price per gallon on this old pump - I do know it's something ridiculous in comparison to today's gas prices - it would help you see just how old this thing is. In my eyes it's beautiful and it always says welcome whenever we visit the farm.

Liz is looking for a new design team, you can see the details here. The deadline is February 21st so hurry if you're interested.

A Bit of Sketch Inspiration...

2011-02-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

Sketch Inspiration has an appropriately "heart-y" sketch up this week that I decided to play along with. I've had this Technique Tuesday "chipboard" type set full of hearts and borders. Its a special cream-colored chipboard that absorbs inks and paints really well - they actually call them Technique Tiles. Anyhow, I've had them for a least 3 years and the largest heart happened to work perfectly for this sketch.

Supplies used: Brads - craft supplies; Chipboard - (swirl) Basic Grey, (large heart) Technique Tuesday; Flourishes - (blue) Colorbok; Flowers - (small white) Michael's, (large white and small red) Basic Grey; Ink - StazOn in Blazing Red & Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Charcoal; Journaling block - Heidi Grace by Fiskars; Patterned paper - (kraft) Basic Grey and (blue polka-dot & red stripe) October Afternoon; Pen - Zig Writer; Stickers (heart) - Michael's and (title) EK Success

I inked the heart "tile" with StazOn in Blazing Red, let it dry and then attached it to the fun polka-dot paper by October Afternoon. The colors of these papers were perfect with my little guys PJ's in the picture and I love how it keeps the layout bright and alive. There is a lot of dimension on the layout since everything basically "sits" on top of that heart shape...tons of dimensional adhesive! The blue swirls we an item I received for completing a Colorbok survey and I wasn't sure how I'd use them but I love how they look on this layout - the color was perfect and it adds just the right touch in my opinion.

Hope you are having a blessed week - we are expecting temperatures into the high-60's today and even though it's supposed to be windy - I can't wait!

Better Late Than Never...

2011-02-15T07:43:00.001-07:00

I have this lovely altered Valentine's Day project that I didn't get posted before our family arrived for their visit. Time with them was precious so I waited until today to share this project.

Supplies used: Alphabet chipboard - American Crafts; Die cuts - The Girls Paperie; Embroidery floss - DMC: Gems - craft supplies; Ink - Brilliance in Platinum Planet and VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Patterned paper - 7Gypsies, Echo Park Paper Co. & My Mind's Eye; Ribbon - Michael's

I received the wonderful "LOVE" chipboard quite a while ago as a RAK but it was too large for a layout and I wasn't sure what to do with it...then during that twilight time between being awake and being asleep one night it hit me - an altered project for Valentine's Day!!! I have made the rolled roses several times before but had recently seen them with the lovely glitter and loved the affect. The frame was an old picture that has been stashed in a box in the basement for 6 years - I had it in my office back in the days when I worked full time. It was a TJ Maxx purchase many years ago and I know I'll never hang the picture up in our house so I took it all apart and filled in the picture space with some pretty patterned paper then adhered my "LOVE" letters to the outside of the frame using my hot glue gun. I am thoroughly enjoying the result. Here are some close ups...

Sketch #106 at The Scrappiest

2011-02-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

We got a lot of snow last night and it was bitter cold today so after spending my morning shoveling out from under the blanket of white stuff and getting my kids off to school (I had a little extra time to do this since they had a 2 hour delay) my youngest son and I baked a couple batches of heart shaped, sugar cookies - yummy! With the dishes cleaned up, dinner warming up, and my house smelling of yummy goodness, I tackled Sketch #106 over at The Scrappiest. I'm telling you, Liz's sketches just get my creativity flowing and I can pull together a layout fairly quickly once I grab my materials and lay them out in front of me. Both my younger boys even pulled up their little stool and crafted (made love notes for their Daddy) at their table beside mine. I love when they do that! So here is Liz's sketch for the week...

And my translation...

Supplies used: Brad - Basic Grey; Chipboard Alphas - American Crafts (brown), craft supplies (negative "U"); Epoxy sticker - EK Success; Flower - Prima; Glitter cut - Fancy Pants; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown and VersaMagic in Sahara Sand; Journaling card - Fancy Pants; Patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket (Stripe & fleur de lis), Fancy Pants (sheet music), We R Memory Keepers (distressed teal); Tickets - Tim Holtz; Tools - Making Memories (sanding block and edge distresser); Vellum - Paper Adventures

I am trying to get into my older stash as I create these days and mix in what I find with what I have that is new to me. My strategy in doing this is to pull out the papers that I want to use (some of which are VERY old) and then pull out anything and everything that matches. I love how this is working for me...it doesn't all end up on the layouts but I'm certainly using more of what I have and buying less. This is very good for the budget and I almost always love the results.

My Layout Over at Scrapbooking.com Magazine...

2011-02-06T15:19:00.001-07:00

I got an email the other day from Jami over at Scrapbooking.com Magazine informing me that I had WON their Love Layout contest. I was thrilled! I love this layout of Paul and I...please head over and take a look at the article and the layout.

Sketch #104 at The Scrappiest

2011-02-04T17:13:00.001-07:00

So I'm making up for lost scrappy time by completing two layouts in TWO days! This is huge for me but I really felt like I needed to give myself a break and enjoy the time playing with paper. This layout is based on sketch #104 over at The Scrappiest...it was part of Liz's week-long celebration of reaching 100 sketches. Here is the sketch I was working from...

And here's my take on the sketch using lots of Echo Park Paper...

Supplies used:
Baker's Twine - Your Scrapbook Stash; Brads - K & Company (metal snowflakes); Cardstock - craft supplies; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown; Journaling card - Elle's Studio; Patterned Paper - Echo Park Paper Co. (Wintertime, Life is Good, and Everybody Loves Christmas collections); Pen - Zig Writer; Stickers - Echo Park Paper Co. (snowflake) and Frances Meyer, Inc. (small, pink heart)

Gotta dash...it's date night!

Timeless Friends for The Scrappiest...

2011-02-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to carve out a slip of time to get crafty yesterday. I've been so busy with work and working in the kids' classrooms that my craft table has been feeling terribly rejected. Liz over at The Scrappiest celebrated her 100th sketch last week and in celebration, she created a sketch-a-day for everyday last week and I couldn't work on any of them...not to worry, they are all printed out and sitting on my table just waiting for some attention. I did get to work on this week's sketch #105 though. I don't normally work with 7Gypsies products (a little too vintage-y for me) but I had an online gift certificate and these Victoria Papers caught my eye...I added lots of bits and pieces from other product lines too and quite like how the whole thing turned out. Here is Liz's sketch...

And here are my Timeless Friends...

Supplies used:
Acrylic stamp - Studio G ("friends"); Alphabet stickers - Cosmo Cricket; Brad - Basic Grey; Canvas tag- recycled from clothing; Cardstock - American Crafts; Die cuts - The Girls Paperie; Epoxy stickers - EK Success (circle sentiments) & Kelly Panacci for Sandylion (time sentiments & clock hands); Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Charcoal & Versafine in Onyx Black; Journaling tag - Shabby Chic Crafts; Patterned paper - striped pattern (7Gypsies), My Mind's Eye (pink cutout circle), Core'dinations (yellow embossed), and The Girls Paperie (cream with black polka-dots); Pen - Sakura; Ribbon - crafts supplies

I love this photo of my dear friends, Melissa and David...it's from 2009 but it's been in my pile to scrap for a long time. Melissa flew in for business and her husband joined her later in the week and then we were all able to meet up for lunch in downtown Denver. Melissa was our maid of honor and it's always way too long in between visits ever since we moved. Regardless of how much time passes though, the friendship remains so strong - some friends are just like that. It was such a treat to get to share a few hours together while they were here and we are so blessed to call them friends.

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Liz on reaching her 100th sketch!!! I can't wait to see what the next 100 brings.

Love U Sktech Inspiration...

2011-01-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

I eeked out a few hours to scrap despite my busy work schedule this past week (and continuing into this weekend) and this is what I worked on...

Alphabet stickers - EK Success; Border strips - K & Co.; Chipboard elements - American Crafts; Felt flowers - Michael's; Patterned paper - Cloud 9 Design (solid yellow), My Mind's Eye (blue print and blue solid), and Die Cuts With a View (yellow pattern); Pen - Zig Writer

This layout is based on sketch #204 over at Sketch Inspiration. Enjoy...I'm off to work again!

January's Sketch Over at The Sweet Peach Crop Shop

2011-01-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Sweet Peach Crop Shop has a wonderful sketch by Liz Chidester up on their blog for January. I know the month is almost over but submissions aren't due until February 7th so you still have plenty of time to play along. This is the sketch...

Fun right? Here's the layout I made for it...

Alphabet stickers - Doodlebug Design Inc.; Brad - Basic Grey; Cardstock - Fancy Pants (kraft) and American Crafts (white); Chipboard stickers - Cosmo Cricket (heart), K & Co. ("sweetie"); Flower - Prima; Ink - StazOn in Timber Brown; Metal embellishments - craft supplies (green frame, "laugh" and "relax"); Patterned paper - Bella Blvd.; Pen - Zig Writer; Ribbon - Cosmo Cricket (hearts) & Michael's (red); Rub-ons - EK Success ("We Love Life" and "Unforgettable") and Basic Grey (red floral border strip & small green flower)

I created the tags out of patterned paper from Bella Blvd. Man of the House collection and white cardstock. The top tag is simply for looks and doesn't come out but the bottom tag is where I placed my journaling so it is interactive. Here's the tag out of it's hiding place.

Once again, I really mixed up my supplies. I decided I really wanted to use this Bella Blvd. paper to go with these photos of my husband so I just started to pull anything and everything down from my pegboard wall that matched. Lots of really old stuff on this layout but I love how all the colors worked so well together. Besides...the sooner I use up those old supplies...the quicker I'll have room for all that new product coming out of CHA (wink, wink).

What I Love About You...

2011-01-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Since I've been super busy with work this past week, I haven't had a whole lot of crafty time for myself. I found a few moments yesterday though and created a {LOVE} themed card for my design team challenge over at Crop Chocolate. With the exception of the flower and the base cardstock, the entire thing was created with product that I've purchased at Crop Chocolate (at super great prices I might add). I've been seeing a lot of this color combination of the turquoise and bright pink so I thought I'd give it a whirl on my whimsical card.

Cardstock - American Crafts; Patterned Paper - Sassafras; Journaling card - Echo Park Paper Co.; Border punch - Fiskars; Border sticker - Echo Park Paper Co.; Flowers - Prima & Sassafras; Thread - Coats & Clark; Sewing machine - Singer

I used my sewing machine on this one and had fun with another random stitch pattern. I also moved my sewing machine and it's table up to my craft room - granted it's in the closet but it's a walk in closet with good lighting so it will do just fine. I imagine you'll see LOTS more stitching on my projects now that I don't have to venture into our cold basement to use my sewing machine...it's just a few steps from my work table. Oh, I'm truly in heaven with my new crafty space.

Giveaway over at Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker

2011-01-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

Nikki's away and Julie will play...Julie Tucker-Wolek has taken Nikki's blog hostage while Nikki's away. AND she's doing a giveaway. Head on over and check it out. Who wouldn't love a little bit of new Nikki Sivils???? I know I would LOVE it.

Skipping Stones Designs Sketch #60

2011-01-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Such a fun sketch over at Skipping Stones Designs this week. I had to play along in what little crafty time I've got. It's been a busy week and promises to get even busier...I'm working 9 days in a row and I'm only 3 days into it so wish me luck. Here's the sketch they gave us to work with...

And here's my take on it...

This one shows the sentiment a little better. It says "If friends were flowers I'd pick YOU" except instead of actually saying the word "flowers" I used three little rub-on flowers that were included in the Doodlebug rub-on pack. Sorry it's so hard to read the scanner just didn't want to pick up the lime green color very well but trust me, in person, it's super cute!

Blown Away by Maya Road's Day 3 Sneaks

2011-01-21T09:20:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the Maya Road Day 3 Sneak Peeks? Oh my goodness their stuff is gorgeous. Just take a look at a few of these...

How is my scrapbook budget ever going to be able to handle all this delicious new product????

Little Lovies...

2011-01-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

So for the first time in a long time, I sat down to create yesterday and didn't have a sketch or challenge or call submission in mind. It felt good to craft just for me. I mean it's all enjoyable for me no matter the reason and I love it all don't get me wrong but I often have motivation towards some sort of goal to keep me moving along. Not this time. I sat down to create these...

Some lunchbox love for my hubby...and if the kids are good maybe I'll tuck one in their lunch bags too (wink). Such an easy project to make, I used up a ton of scraps pulling them together and with all the Valentine's Day stuff coming out...well, it just put me in the mood to make some mini valentines.

I used all sorts of stamp sets and did lots of fussy cutting which is time consuming but on these little 3" x 3" cards a fussy cut element has a big impact. I can't wait to start tucking these into his lunch bag. I know he appreciates them because he asks on days when I forget or run out of time to jot a note and tuck it in with his lunch.

I'm glad I can send a little love his way in the midst of his insanely busy work day. Take a few minutes today to throw together some lunchbox love notes...tuck them in your hubby's wallet or stash one on the seat of his car before he leaves in the morning. Spread the love my crafty friends!

I Adore You...

2011-01-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

I really do adore you...my blog readers. I appreciate that someone (other than me and my husband who, by the way, is obligated to say nice things about my craftiness) enjoys looking at the stuff I create. With Valentine's Day approaching I'm feeling love coming on and thought I'd play with some soft colors to put the love on paper. I do put love notes in my husband's lunch almost everyday so this will work well for me because I do adore him very much! I played with some leftover Girls Paperie from one of my Queen Scraps kits and a little Cosmo Cricket (the green gingham). Pretty simple or simply pretty - you decide.

ABC Scripture Challenge is The Scrappiest

2011-01-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

This week I combined two challenges into one layout...what can I say, I'm working more and my time to craft is limited. Plus I love Liz's sketches over at The Scrappiest so I tend to lean towards using them naturally. So this week's sketch is shown below and the ABC Scripture Challenge to start off the year was the word Anchor. I immediately thought of the Chris Tomlin song "I Will Rise" when I read this challenge. God's word firmly grounds me on a daily basis. I often feel I should be devoting significantly more time to being in His word. This scripture challenge is letting me do just that and I can't wait to see what more God has in store for me.

Here's my take on the challenge & sketch...

I stitched my circle on my sewing machine (which hasn't gotten a ton of use since I got it over a year ago). I was thrilled to discover this beautiful vine with leaves pattern. It was SO easy and I love how it turned out.

These are the journaling cards that are tucked into the Maya Road kraft envelope that is next to the photograph. The journaling is lyrics to the Chris Tomlin song.

I think you can see the stitched circle better in this picture. I have a whole new love for my sewing machine and I bet you'll be seeing many more pretty patterns sewn onto layouts in the future!

The Band for My Creative Scrapbook Sketch

2011-01-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the sketch I worked from that I found over at My Creative Scrapbook...

And my layout entitled The Band

I dug through some OLD supplies to pull this layout together. I always have a tough time doing "teen" layouts because the typical cutesy boy papers just don't work for my teen. He's a guitar player with long hair and trains and airplanes do not compute for him! I've had this Creative Imaginations paper by Marah Johnson for probably 5 years - I found it along with a lot of the coordinating embellishments and had to have it - then I never used it. Well it's about time I did. The background polka dot paper is also really old - it's from EK Success and it's part of the "I Do" line that I bought when I first started scrapping (I was working on our wedding album at the time). I added the inked edges to the papers to grunge it up a bit and make them all work together. The die cut circle is actually Pink Paislee from one of their Christmas lines last year...it works though. There is such a sense of satisfaction when I can pull together a page about my teen and be happy with the finished product...this is one of those times.

Sketch #201 at Sketch Inspiration

2011-01-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

My husband decided to take our middle son to the fly fishing exposition today. Our youngest is happily monopolizing the Wii and our oldest is off to the mall with his friend. What's a mom to do? Why scrap of course! I pulled this one together with a serious mix of old and new product. Thanks to that peg board wall my hubby put up, I can now find (and use) all those old products that I've been hoarding! These photos are actually from Mother's Day last year but I love this "Boys Top" tag sticker and thought it spoke perfectly to my two youngest. You can check out the sketch over at Sketch Inspiration and play along if you'd like.

So my husband said to me this morning (as I was looking at sketches trying to decide which one to work on...) "How many layouts do you need to do? Don't you have enough already?" How do you respond to that??? Is it even really a question...although he totally supports my crafty-addiction and compliments me on my work, I just don't think he gets it. That's okay, I don't understand his joy in tying teeny, tiny fishing hooks with feathers and beads to make them look like bugs. To each his own I say!

Artful Delight January Challenge - ASC4

2011-01-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Another great sketch this month over at Artful Delight's blog. I thought the sketch was perfect for a card I had to make for a my amazing mom's birthday that is coming up . Don't worry I've delayed the post so her birthday will have passed before this post shows up - I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise! Once again I used stuff from the November Artful Delight kit that I won - I really love the soft colors of this kit and I think that the lavenders and blues are fabulously feminine. On with the show - here's the sketch...

And here's the card...

See...soft, feminine and perfect for my Mom. Love you Mom and hope your birthday was as special as you are!

Winter Mischief Over at The Scrappiest...

2011-01-06T20:57:00.001-07:00

Liz has outdone herself yet again over at The Scrappiest. Sketch #97 (only 3 more until she hits 100 over there) inspired me yet again. I'm telling you these sketches are SO easy to work with...you can be as over the top as you want or keep it super simple. Maybe part of it is that when I print out the sketch to reference while I'm working, it prints in greyscale so all I see is different shades of grey and it doesn't force me into anything. Whatever the reason, I love her sketches so without further ado, here is her sketch...

And here is my little mischief maker...

Doesn't that smirk just look like trouble waiting to happen? He was watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to nail his Dad with a snowball. Such fun...

Going a Little Paper Crazy Today!

2011-01-06T16:10:00.002-07:00

I know this is a ton of posts from me today - I'm feeling ultra inspired lately and have been missing my crafty time with the busy-ness of Christmas and New Years. So Stephanie over at The Stamps of Life turned me onto a card challenge this week that looked like fun. I just received these Sassafras paper whimsies for Christmas and they immediately came to mind when I saw this sketch over at CPS199.

The Stamps of Life is hosting the prize package this week so try your hand at it. I did and this is what I came up with.

Bright, sunny...perfect for a greeting to help chase the winter blahs away!

Get Your Sketch On Giveaway...

2011-01-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Get Your Sketch On is hosting an amazing giveaway - who couldn't spend $100 on scrappy goodness??? I know I'd have no problem doing that. Although I don't tweet, there are other ways to enter. So head on over...check them out, participate in a sketch (I know I plan to because I'm loving sketches these days) and get yourself entered to win. Just wanted to share!

A Wintry Greeting...

2011-01-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

I decided to play along with Skipping Stones Designs sketch challenge this week. It's a great card sketch and you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. I decided that I have a dear friend all the way in Arkansas that I wanted to send a little snail mail too and I thought she'd love this wintry greeting since she's a transplant from Colorado.

And why not take care of two (yes TWO) challenges with one project??? I used to work with one of the design team members over at The Paper Variety and I saw her project for this week's challenge over there which is...

Cute, cute, cute and super appropriate since we FINALLY have snow on the ground and are expecting bitter cold temperatures and more snow to roll in this coming weekend. Besides I have this amazing Wintertime kit from Echo Park Paper Co. that I haven't played with nearly enough since I received it. Put that all together and this is what I came up with...

The card base is from Basic Grey's kraft basics collection, the polka dot paper is Basic Grey too. The other patterned paper and large snowflake sticker are from Echo Park Paper Co., the sentiment stamp is Unity and it's hard to see but there are tiny snowflakes stamped onto the polka dot paper first in platinum ink and then embossed with kaleidoscope embossing powder. The tiny snowflake stamp is from Basic Grey. Fun card to make and even more fun to send to a good friend.

Now I really need to get working on this ABC Scripture Challenge that I've decided I'd like to participate in this year. It looks like a great way to dive deeper into the scriptures and strengthen my faith. I have this worship song stuck in my head that goes along with this week's word which is "anchor"...now I just have to find the rest of the lyrics to the song so I can get started in my study about how to better anchor myself to God in the great times and the tough times.

I Won!

2011-01-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited and had to share that I won the Sketch #94 challenge over at The Scrappiest. You can check out my layout on the post here. I can't wait to see what loveliness Liz sends my way. If you haven't ever played along with her sketches you really ought to check them out. They are FABULOUS and I am always inspired by them. Thanks Liz!!!

Off to help out in my kindergartner's class this morning. Be blessed...

Scrapbbok Challenges Sketch #234

2011-01-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Phew...it's been a busy day and it's only half way over! I promised myself that today I'd scrap - take the time for me to play in my scrap room because life is going to be busier with a more hectic work schedule coming up soon and I really wanted to re-fuel. Scrapbooking does that for me - refreshes me, allows me to reflect on wonderful memories and relaxes me. So today I played along with Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #234 which is here...

I flipped the sketch over because I really wanted to use these cute, embossed balloon stickers that I uncovered in my collection of supplies when my hubby put up my peg board wall this past weekend. I knew I'd use up more of my older supplies by having all my supplies out where I could see them better and I already have. Now I have to save up my "shopping" money so when I dwindle down what I have up on that wall, I can replace it with the latest and greatest stuff coming out at the next CHA. Can you believe it's coming up soon - I can't wait to see all the new designs for Spring. Oh, I digress...here's my take on the sketch...

Have a blessed day!

The Last Gift of Christmas and a giveaway...

2011-01-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

So over the weekend, my husband put together my last gift of Christmas and I absolutely LOVE it!

I've been wanting this peg board wall ever since we moved into the office with my scrapping stuff and his fly-tying stuff. It gives me so much more space in my storage drawers (in other words, the drawers are no longer crammed so full that I can't find what I'm looking for) and it puts many of my embellishments right out there to remind me what I have and use it before buying new stuff. Good all the way around right? Here's another shot that shows my half of the room...the other half houses my wonderful husbands desk with all his goodies for fly-tying. Granted I have a ton of stuff in the closet too but that's much less organized!

On another note, there's a wonderful giveaway over at Paper Grace Designs...seriously, who wouldn't want to win Hero Arts and Unity Stamps??? Tell her I sent you.

Upcoming Scrap the Moments Challenge & The Scrappiest...

2011-01-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I doubled up this week and took care of my design team responsibilities over at Scrap the Moments as well as working on Liz's Sketch #96 from over at The Scrappiest. The Scrap the Moments challenge is scrap a holiday layout in non-traditional colors. This one threw me at first then I started searching through my box of Christmas papers and embellishments only to find a Sassafras ad that I had cut from a magazine last season. It was an ad for their Life at The Pole collection and included cut-outs for a desktop display. I didn't make the desktop display but I did cut that ad into many pieces, added LOTS of Diamond Stickels and some Glossy Accents and voila...a non-traditional Christmas layout was born. I based the framework of the layout on Liz's sketch for this week that you can see below...

And here is how I made my Christmas layout not so Christmas-y...

I used papers from Cosmo Cricket Material Girl collection and Basic Grey Sugar Rush collection, a bit of pink embroidery floss, white chipboard letters from Basic Grey covered in Diamond Stickels to make them look like they were dipped in sugar... and I absolutely love the results. The photos don't do all the glitter and shine justice but trust me it's there. The tops of the gumdrops are covered in Stickels so are most of the cute little accents in the border strips. It's a fun, festive, non-traditionally colored Christmas layout. Join in the challenge over at Scrap the Moments and show us what you can do.

Creating From the Heart Blog Candy...

2010-12-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

You could win this...

Melissa has a wonderful giveaway over at her blog Creating from the Heart. Head on over...check out her gorgeous projects and get yourself in the running for her amazing end of year giveaways.

Christmas Delicious-ness, an Artful Delight Giveaway and List of Fours...

2010-12-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

I hope that all of you had a blessed Christmas. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with my parents, my brother-in-law and our close family friends. It was a whirlwind of a weekend but it was so wonderful! I'm looking forward to playing with all the new scrappy goodness that my husband and oldest son got me for Christmas...here's a little sampling of all the yumminess.

I know lots of the papers are older lines but I have been admiring them for SO long and just haven't had the budget to add them to my collection. So seriously, who wouldn't be inspired to craft with all those goodies? The kids are still home from school this week so I don't know how much I'll get to right away because I really want to spend more time playing with them now that the mad holiday rushing around is over but next week when they are back in school - look out because the paper will be flying around here.

Leeanne over at Artful Delight is giving away one of these

Pretty cool right? The giveaway ends January 6th so hurry over and check it out. She's got lots of great kits in her store! She also tagged me for the List of Fours so here it goes:

1. Four shows that you watch?
Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Grey's Anatomy
Detroit 1-8-7
Human Target

2. Four things you are passionate about?
God
My family (they truly are amazing and such a blessing)
Paper crafting
The outdoors

3. Four words/phrases you say a lot?
Seriously
Praise God
Stop fighting with your brother
Pick that up
4. Four things you have learned in the past?
Communication is key to a relationship (Leeanne had this one too but it's a truth that can change any relationship.)
God will ALWAYS be there for me and I can trust in Him.
You are only as happy as you allow yourself to be.
You have to make time for yourself...no matter how busy your life is.

5. Four places you would like to go?
Kauai (I could go there over and over again)
Italy
France
Spain

6. Four things you did yesterday?
Drove my parents to the airport (boo hoo)
Worked at church
Laundry
Watched Minute to Win It with the kids and hubby

7. Four things you are looking forward to?
Working on some crafty projects with my new supplies
A big snowfall (hopefully later this week)
Springtime (I'm a huge fan of flowering bulbs)
A date night with my husband

8. Four things you love about winter?
Sledding with the kids
A warm, cozy fireplace
Pajama days with the kids when it's too cold to go outside
A fresh blanket of snow covering the ground

Tag four people to play along:
Lisa: Where Chaos Meets Creativity
Liz: The Scrappiest
Mary Pat: Siehled With a Kiss
S: Snaps and Snippets

Merry Christmas Eve and beyond...

2010-12-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

So my kiddos woke up at 6am today (ughhh)...is this a precursor to what is to come tomorrow morning???? I sure hope not because we will all be SO tired! I have been so busy this week trying to finish up all the last minute baking, the cookie plate making and the wrapping of presents. It's done and I'm ready but I'm worn out. Why is it that no matter how much pre-planning and preparation I do it always seems to come down to the last minute? I've really got to get better at this because I'd rather be spending the time doing fun Christmas-y stuff with my kids during this week rather than hustling and bustling about.

My parents are here too which is wonderful - I love that they make spending the holidays with my brothers and our families such a priority every year. It's a huge blessings to us and to our kids. Today we'll attend Christmas Eve services which are always amazing and make me cry - I get so emotional thinking about the true meaning of this whole celebration. Tonight our close friends and their kids will join us for our traditional Christmas Eve tamale dinner, the kids will all get to open one gift, we'll tuck them into bed and collapse into our own bed and hope for a nice, long sleep before the festivities of celebrating Christ's birth get underway.

Before I go, I'd like to wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV)

And here's a little peak at ALL those cookies!

Wrapped up and ready to be delivered by my little elves...

Up close...

December Challenge at Artful Delight

2010-12-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to working on the sketch for Artful Delights December challenge...better late than never! Here's the sketch...

And my take on it...

I used primarily the November kit from Artful Delight that I won in one of their other challenges. I added a couple of brads, the Maya Road envelope, and the brown cardstock. I still have a ton of product left and I've made so many projects using this kit...their kits are jam packed with scrappy goodness!!!

The Scrappiest and Your Scrapbook Stash

2010-12-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Liz has done it again with another fun sketch over at The Scrappiest. I love the ribbons running down the middle of the sketch - reminds me a bit of a corset or those cute wedding dresses that were so popular a few years back with all the lacing up the back. Anyhoo...it inspired me to get crafty again this week (which truly is amazing considering I baked a TON of sugar cookies yesterday). Here's her sketch...

And here's my take on it...

And nothing like waiting until the last minute but I finally got my design team submittal in to Your Scrapbook Stash...at the last minute. It's been on my to-do list for a couple of weeks now and I had most of it written up and ready to go. It was mostly a matter of finding a few minutes to refine it and get it all sent off. This is a great site and I'd love to work for them...wish me luck!

Wintertime at Sweet Peach Crop Shop

2010-12-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

I recently received the Wintertime kit from Echo Park as part of my design team assignment for Crop Chocolate.com and was looking forward to getting a chance to work with it. I took a break today from all things Christmas and set to work on this month's Sweet Peach Crop Shop sketch created by Liz Chidester. Here is the sketch she created...

All the snowflakes inspired me to play with the Wintertime collection and the collection worked great with my pictures from last winter of Tyler enjoying his time in the snow. Here is my take on the sketch...

I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to sit down and create a layout...it's been a while with all the holiday gift projects I've been working on. That and the shopping, wrapping, writing, baking, decorating....you get the idea. It's been busy and I've missed my time at my scrapping table dearly. This was just a temporary break though, I still have hundreds of sugar cookies to bake, frost, and deliver to my wonderful friends and neighbors and my folks are coming into town for Christmas on Monday so at some point I have to get the dust cleared, the bathrooms cleaned (yuck!) and the floors vacuumed all before they arrive. Wish me luck!

In desperate need...

2010-12-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Of some time to be crafty. I'm hurrying and scurrying around trying to get through all of my Christmas "to-do's" and in the midst of it all I am seriously feeling the lack of crafting that is occuring (or truly not occuring). I have got to get the Christmas cards stuffed into their envelopes and popped in the mail, wrap the rest of the gifts (actually purchase one more for my darling hubby), and bake and frost about 1000 sugar cookies. Then I will have my time to play with paper. Sorry I have no new projects to share right now but I can share some pictures of the holiday decorations strewn all over my house. Enjoy and I will be back to pretty paper projects soon.

Scrap the Moments Deadline Extended...

2010-12-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

Some Scrap the Moments news. The deadline for the challenge has been extended to December 13th. So you have plenty of time to submit your layout! Come on everyone lets try this one! It will be fun. I am sure you have some ticket stubs, receipts, old match books, or other memorabilia to scrap or get even more creative than that and make something from stuff you have around the house like I did with my paper towel flowers. On the blog post today you can see some examples of the fabulous kit you could win if you enter! The Retro kit contains some of the Crate Paper from the Restoration line and they are gorgeous. This is the kit you could win...

And here is a more detailed look at some of the paper from Crate Paper's Restoration line...

It is a really pretty line and you get tons in the kit --So what are you waiting for? Let's get busy and make a layout and email a photo to: scrapthemoments@yahoo.com I would love for one of my followers to win!

A little birdy told me that no one has entered the contest so come on guys don't you want to win FREE stuff!

Can I brag for a minute???

2010-12-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking.com magazine picked up my Yo-Yo Christmas wreath project for their December issue. You can see the article over at Scrapbooking.com magazine website. I'm just so excited and wanted to share. These wreaths have been a huge hit with my friends and family that have seen them...they might just get a little surprise this Christmas.

Gifts, gifts, and more gifts...

2010-12-02T07:46:00.001-07:00

Seems all I am working on these days is Christmas gifts...'tis the season right? If I were more organized I'd work on these things throughout the year but well, I'm not! I decided to make a couple of sets of cards for some very well-deserving teachers that are doing an amazing job with my younger boys. Shhhh...don't tell. I had this gorgeous kit that I won from the Artful Delight blogs October sketch challenge. Leeanne over there sent me their November kit filled with these beautiful papers, flowers and other delicious embellies. She still has a few left over at their site. Just look under the past kits. I made two sets of 8 cards and still have TONS of product left to make numerous layouts or lots more cards.

So without further ado, here are the cards...I sure hope they like them.

There's also a giveaway over at the Artful Delight blog so you just might want to get yourself over there and check it out!

Sketch #152 at Sketch Inspiration

2010-11-30T09:59:00.001-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful, restful Thanksgiving filled with family & friends. We were blessed to spend our day with some very good friends and their parents. It was relaxed and delicious...not to mention the kids all played really well together and there was no fighting. Now that is something to be thankful for!

I've been super busy crafting Christmas gifts and haven't taken much time to scrap for me so yesterday I decided to play with the sketch for the week from over at Sketch Inspiration. I'm not real big on Halloween but I've had these papers that I picked up in the dollar bin at Target probably 2 years ago laying around and I finally decided to use them up.

Here's the sketch...

And here's my take on it...

This sketch was a really quick and easy one for me to use and I have a feeling I'll go back to it again in the future. Thanks Sketch Inspiration for inspiring a little "me time" into my busy pre-Christmas preparations.

A Christmas Mini

2010-11-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

I've had lots of projects going at once - most of which are gifts so I can't share them here...you never know who might be lurking - wouldn't want to spoil the gift opening on Christmas day. This project I can share because it's for my family and it's already out on the coffee table...the first of many Christmas decorations to make their way into my home.

Sorry for the not-so-great pictures. Our weather can't decide if it wants to snow or sun today so my lighting was hit or miss. This photo I spread the pages out around the binder ring so you could see a little more of the embellies.

And here are a couple of the individual pages. I used a real hodge podge of supplies...stuff from multiple manufacturers but that's the great thing about the holiday lines - they all have a very similar color scheme so you can work a lot of them together on the same project.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. I know I have so much to be thankful for. Take a moment to remember all of the good in your life and give thanks!

Scrap the Moments Challenge is Like New

2010-11-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Scrap the Moments challenge this week is to scrap with something from around your house...a tag, a receipt, a ticket stub...you get the picture. I had lots of cool clothing tags from some of my teenagers' jeans that I thought I'd use but that didn't seem "interesting" enough to me. For a little while I was stumped and then it dawned on me that I could use paper towels. Yes, you read that right...paper towels. I don't remember where I recently saw this technique but I loved the way it looked and thought it was such a clever use of materials. I hurried to my kitchen and tore off a sheet and headed back to my craft room. Here are the results and my layout for the challenge.

Start with shite paper towels and tear them into strips.

Using Smooch Spritz in Spun Sugar and Gingersnap I misted the paper towel strip heavily on both sides then set them out to dry a bit. You can't let them dry completely as they need to be a bit damp and pliable when you twist them into flowers.

To make the flowers I rolled each strip the long way on the paper towel then I simply twisted and rolled until the flower shape was how I wanted it. I set them aside to dry a bit more then used my hot glue gun to smear glue all over the back of the flower to help it maintain its shape.

And here they are on my layout. All the elements on my layout, with the exception of the Thickers, the "ring" border strip and the paper towel flowers all came from the November Artful Delight kit that I won back in October. Enjoy and make sure to head on over to Scrap the Moments and enter this weeks challenge. Catch the Moments is sponsoring and they have a fabulous prize package lined up for the winner.

Scrap the Moments Challenge

2010-11-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

The first challenge to be tackled by the new design team is up over at Scrap the Moments blog. I for one can't wait to get started on it. Head on over and check it out. Entries are due by December 6th. We can't to see what you come up with...

Exciting news...

2010-11-16T08:51:00.001-07:00

I'm thrilled to announce that I have been selected to be a design team member over at Scrap the Moments - a lovely challenge blog created by Devon Hickman. Here's the official announcement. I can't wait to get to work on my first design team challenge! Devon also has a wonderful kit site (Catch the Moments) where you can purchase some fabulous kits. Check it out here.

For now...I'm busy, busy, busy working on Christmas presents - I swear my craft table looks like Santa threw-up. What a mess it is! I'm thinking I'll have to take a break from Christmas papers and embellies and make a project completely un-related just so I don't go nuts from all the red and green. Until then...happy crafting and be blessed!

A Thankful Giveaway...

2010-11-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Melissa over at Creating from the Heart is giving away an amazing Christmas bundle. Click on over there...check out the giveaway, get yourself entered for a chance to win that yummy prize, and check out Melissa's wonderful blog.

A Little "Sass" afras...

2010-11-14T15:55:00.001-07:00

I've been drawn to the Sassafras collections for a long time for their fun and funky colors and images. They're a little sassy don't you think? I added some to my collection through a great buy over at Crop Chocolate then didn't know how to use it since I tend to scrap more "traditional" papers and embellies. I happened to have these photos of our two youngest on my table when I was organizing my supplies and the Sassafras stuff I purchased caught my eye. I love how this layout came together almost as much as I love to see my boys chilling out with a couple of books.

I mean really how often are they both sitting still (quietly, nonetheless)???

$100 Two Peas Giveaway.

2010-11-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Seriously who would be crazy enough to pass up an opportunity to win $100 at Two Peas - you know you could all easily spend that! Head on over to Iheartart and check it out.

A Crafty Kind of Week...

2010-11-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

So I seriously think I'm working on a record this week for how many times I can post on my blog...not on purpose but because I have lots I want to share with you all. I completed this layout last night based on this week's sketch over at The Everyday Scrapper.

It was a fun one for me as I did a lot of stuff that is out of the box for me. I pulled older papers from my supplies one of which (the background paper) was white with this swirl embossing. It was kinda plain by itself but smear an ink pad around it a bit and it really made the embossing pop off the page and fit right in with the fun theme of the boys' birthday party. I also mixed elements from so many different manufacturers some of the stuff was just sitting in my supplies and it had probably been there for at least a year - untouched...well, not anymore. It all made it's way onto this fun layout documenting a really fun party. Enjoy!

November Queen Scraps Kit Layout

2010-11-10T15:00:00.002-07:00

The gorgeous November Pebbles May Bouquet kit has been released over at Queen Scraps. This kit has a wonderful selection of double-sided patterned papers, flowers, Thickers (who doesn't love Thickers) and lots of bling Hurry over and check it out before they are all gone. This kit is so versatile. I used it to create an Easter related page, a Halloween related page, a fishing page of my son, and this page I'm sharing today of myself. Here's the kit...

And here's one of the layouts I completed with it...

The journaling on this one reads "She wasn't where she had been. She wasn't where she was going...but she was on her way" (Jodi Hill). I love this quote and truly feel it is where I am right now. God has big plans for my life, this I know. He is shaking things up a bit. Changing them around for the better. There are growing pains involved but He will be beside me through the entire process and when it's all over, God will still be there.

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Be blessed in all you do!

Happy Fall Y'all...

2010-11-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

It finally feels like Fall around here...we got our first snow of the year yesterday which is really late in the season for us. As a matter of fact, my boys had shorts on the day before as we enjoyed temperatures in the high 70's. I recently made this lovely wreath as a housewarming gift for some friends.

I'm a bit hooked on these Yo-Yo wreaths and keep thinking of new themes that I can make. I think I could pretty much have one for every season/holiday of the year. The manufacturers have so many amazing product lines out there that you really can transform the concept to work for any occasion you can think of.

You could even replace the little embellishments with photos - ooh, how cute would that be. Black and white mini photos on a super colorful wreath. I'm feeling another project coming on...

I'll be back a little later to share another of my Queen Scraps projects using the November kit so make sure you check back this afternoon.

Time Stands Still...

2010-11-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout I did for this week's sketch over at The Scrappiest. I don't know how she manages to do it but Liz comes up with some of the best sketches I've worked with. Or maybe they just suit my design style...whatever it is, I can pull together a layout in record time (mind you, a few hours IS record time for me). So here's the sketch...

And here's my spin on it...

I love this photo - it's yet another one I took last February when Paul and I were in Georgetown for a long weekend. There were so many beautiful, historical elements to photograph and I went absolutely nuts with my camera. This buggy was sitting alongside a frozen stream in the midst of what appeared to have been someones farm. The colors were faded but I could imagine how bright and vivid they once were. When I reflect on this photo it's almost as if time is standing still and I'm transported back to another era.