Before you delete those photos....

I was scrolling through the pictures my sister took on Thanksgiving and I just cracked up when I saw how squirmy my Grandson was.  If you look at all the 2x2 pics and focus on the little guy while realizing the camera was shooting continuously...you see just how fast the little guy moves.  We were fortunate enough to have a very mild day and the little ones had been playing outside for a bit.  Dominic was all riled up and could not sit still.  This made it hard for Dad who was in the tree holding him.  
Being the scrapbooker in the family, I had to record this story.
Have a wonderful, safe and blessed New Year!

Jewelry made Just for ME!

A fabulous member of my extended family made this just for me! Look at the detail of that crown covered bottle of glitter (to represent my Sparkling Personality) - totally love that!!!!  On the other side of the Initial is a Chandelier with glitter.    Of course the distressed heart with gorgeous bling just makes this sing BEVERLY.  The chain is 30" long and really substantial!

Now she didn't make this:

but she sells beautiful stuff like this on her web site.  Yes, that's my arm.  I wanted to show you how big it is.

You can see what Ashley & Co makes/sells here at The Rhinestone Parlor.  I'm sure there is something special over there just for you and if you don't see it, tell her what you want and she can make it!  

Thanks Ashley, I love them both!!!!

Family is a Precious Gift

I made this to hang in my den.  The shadow box has hinges at the top so it can easily be opened from the front.  Michaels carries these and of course a coupon was used!  Got to love coupons!  

All the pictures are sepia toned and are of all my loved ones!  Since Christmas is so close, I guess I had gifts on my mind and that's where the inspiration came from.  I used Martha's punches for the "ribbon" and Spellbinders for the "bow".  

Some of the "bow" layers have pearls on them and I think the second from the bottom layer has paper piercing around the edge.  I did use quite a bit of foam tape to separate the layers.  Cricut font Lyrical Letters were used for my sentiment on this pretty wide ribbon.

You can tell by some of the pics, that some of us like to "pose" when getting photographed.  I was sure to include these pics too because this is about us.  Gifts are just that: Gifts.  We need to remember that each person's traits make them who they are.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful family that I love very much!  

No Peeking Christmas Tag

Over at the Waltzing Mouse Blog, is a sketch challenge and this is my entry for it.  I used Santa Clause is Coming to Town stamps, Spellbinders Fleur de lis Accents, Fleur de lis Motifs and Labels 21.  The Christmas wrapping paper that I bought for this year is red and white stripes so that's why I chose these colors.  The fibers are all from Michaels and the thread type fiber has a bit of sparkle to it.  A teeny bit of black stickles are used in the dots after No Peeking.

Trim really does make it different

 Same base, same paper, same ink, same diecuts and same sentiment.  These two cards are the same except the trim.  One is for a lady celebrating her 90th Birthday and the other for a gentleman celebrating his 74th Birthday (hi Dad)!


Papers are from My Mind's Eye, Twinkle, Twinkle, little Boy, Spellbinders Dies Fancy Tags 3 and Labels Twenty One, Ribbon and glitter from Michaels and trim from a fabric store.

Followers Difficulty

I really enjoy blogging and would love to return the favor for those of you who have blogs.  Right now, my blog isn't letting me see who is following me.  Actually, it lets me see on my page that there are 13 followers but on my dashboard it says 27.  That means there are 14 followers floating in limbo.  I've sent feedback to Blogger so we'll see what happens.


If you leave me a comment I will find you, and follow your blog - as long as you have that option open.  


Have a great day!

He loves the ladder!

Dominic loves to throw tennis balls on the roof.  It's his favorite thing to do with Papa.  We often wait outside for him to come home.  
I know the stars look a little busy, but I was able to tame it down a bit with the green/brown dots and photo mat.  The buttons were made with filmo clay.  The paper is from My Mind's Eye called "Twinkle Twinkle Little Boy" and the stamps are from Autumn Leaves.  The circle sentiment is stamped and then cut with Spellbinders Big Scallop Circles.  My favorite white ink pen is the Signo White Pen, it really pops on a darker surface.

Yes, I recycled my hubbys shirt for this years Christmas Cards

Being the thrifty scrapper that I am means recycling is a GOOD thing!  My hubby had on a shirt, a green plaid, and griped that he had a hole in the elbow.  He was ready to rip it off and toss it when I said "wait, throw that in the washer".  You should have seen the look I got.  


After that puppy was washed, I ripped it into thin strips and those green plaid strips are across this years Christmas Card.  I guess I'm gonna have to scrap that story....lol


My daily wander over to Amazing Paper Grace gave me the inspiration for this year.  It always takes me a bit to find a stamp I like, and paper that yells "me me", but once I saw this beauty I made my decision right away.  Becca's creations are always so lovely but I need to make 65 of these so I had to adjust my scraplift accordingly.


Here's my version

 The stamps are from Waltzingmouse Stamps and are available here.  Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornament Die and Lacey Squares Dies were used.  The papers are all bazzill, with the exception of the kraft paper.  I like the way the linen texture looks with the heat embossing on it.  The gold swirls are Aleenes Paper Glaze with Recollections Gold Glitter and I just free handed the swirls.  My ornament is hanging with a paper clip that I cut and bent.

I'm always on the prowl for Tips and Tricks in Scrapbooking

You know when you found a GREAT site when you check it EVERY DAY and are a little bit bummed when there isn't a new post on the weekends.  I have a few of those but the one I want to share with you today is My Craft Channel.  I've been to many many CK Conventions and one lady that always impresses me is Shelby Dredge from Embellish it.  Shelby does a daily Tips show at this site, it's usually only a couple of minutes long, but I've never been disappointed.  
Now My Craft Channel has several shows that cover many interests in crafting.  They also have a deal of the day (which I'm currently waiting for a purchase - p.s. it's a Christmas Present waiting to be completed for someone special).
Another show on this site that I wait with anticipation for....is....Photo Freedom with Stacy Julian.  I bought her book Photo Freedom a while back and promptly converted all my scrapbooks.  See my previous post here for a look.  I can now lay my hands on any layout I've done previously and know without flipping through album after album.  Bonus....I can find pictures of specific people/events too!
Anyways, I just wanted to pass this site along to you and I hope you get as much out of it as I do! 

Pool Buddies Layout

The background paper just screamed to me "use me" for these pics.  The cute little fishes dictated the accent colors and I love the touch of glitter.  The title was done with my cricut, Lyrical Letters for both fonts.  Spellbinders dies seem to find their way onto most of my projects including this one, Big Scalloped Circles under the circle pic. I really didn't want to try and use an ink pad or sponge to ink the edges so I used a Copic Marker to do it.  Just ran the brush tip around the edges, so easy!

Sorry about the purple border on the outside edge, I must have had the color picker still on that color when I straightened my pic.  (I can't take a straight pic for anything and have to use Photoshop to fix it)
This is my Grandson Dominic and Daughter Ellie doing what we do in the summer to run off energy.  Best $20.00 I every spent!

Courage begins....

You know courage can begin anywhere....some of us struggle with public speaking, creating or really the first step at a new task.  That being said, here's a layout of my daughter and grandson. 

So I hope you got a little giggle seeing this, I know I did. 

Now for confession time:  I use embellies to cover up my mistakes.  This is one of the wonderful things about scrapping.  Can you tell where?  Under the buttons is a little mis-alignment with my punching. 

Layout for the Sassy 6

Sometimes you just seem to "click" with a group.  This layout is about one of those groups.  Ellie (my daughter #3) and these young ladies have been fast friends for many years.  They get together regularly for "girls night" which sometimes includes photos.  Love those photos!

I found the background paper a while ago so I don't remember where I got it and it doesn't have any info on the back (so sorry).  It seemed so perfect for this layout that I took care to let some of the special meaning words show.  A teeny tiny border allowed me some journaling space and not detract from the design.  It's hard to see but the banner has a stitched line.  After stitching I realized that maybe I should have done the straight line on the back so the front side would show a thicker line.  So, that's one thing to remember the next time I want a wider stitched line.

Yep, that's my girl on the bottom :)

Card with Right Angle Punching (Thanks to Becca Feeken)

Becca Feeken at http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/ has been my inspiration lately!  Her work is truly beautiful and she has lots of "Becca Bits" (tutorials) where she shares her techniques.  The card below were made using her tutorial on Right Angle Punching.  The best part is it is a video and she makes it very easy to understand. 

Spellbinders dies used on this card are Lotus Pendant & Label Twenty.  The right angle punch is Martha Stewart punch.  The tiny pink circles under the white are also from Lotus Pendant.

Another layered card, this time in brown

The title says it all.



This has the same dies used in blue card two posts prior to this, just in brown.

Teenagers...and their silly camera antics

I have always loved taking pictures, but when I was a teenager we had these old instamatic cameras that had to have a little square light bulb on top of a spacer plus FILM.  lol  These days, taking pictures with digital cameras are so much fun.  Each of my girls had digital cameras pretty early on and my youngest (19) has been taking full advantage of hers.  She took these pics a few years ago.  Every so often, I would snag her SD card and load the pics on my computer.  It always cracks me up!  Anyways, here's a layout using two of those pics.

I used a couple of punches on this one as well as a little bling and a chippy.  This flower was made using EK Success Dahlia Punch and the border was made with Martha Stewarts Punch.  Papers from Bo Bunnys Mama-Razzi.

Congrats Card with Spellbinders

I'll be posting several cards in the next few days, all done with Spellbinders Dies.  Stacking the layers really appeals to me and I hope to you as well.

This card used the following dies: Labels 21, Labels Twenty, Lacey Ovals & Fancy Tags Three.  And of course I used up some more of my scraps!  Yay!!!!!

Hello, I'm Back and a Card

Hi, after a summer off and a complete scraproom move, I'm back into the Scrappy World.  My wonderful Brother and his Wife gave me a gift card for my 50th Birthday....Yes, 50 years old.  I used the gift card for some yummy scrappy Spellbinders Dies.  Love love love these dies and have a wish list about a mile long of these goodies.

Here's a card using some of the new dies;

The best part about this card is I used all scraps! 

Spellbinders:  Fleur De Lis Motifs, Fleur De Lis Accents, Standard Circles Large, Big Scallop Circles & Lacey Circles

Storing Ribbon

Ribbon, what can I say, there is so many colors, patterns and sizes!  My collection is average (always in need of growing), although I've seen some scrappers who have massive addictions, truly drool worthy.  I've seen many ways of storing it and I've tried some of those but I feel I've found a permanent home for my ribbon. 

I've tried ribbon cards like these and bigger ones like this,

plastic bags holding ribbon, leaving them on their original cards.  I've seen the ribbon holders from Simply Rene clip it up seen here and otheres seen here and here but none of these appeal to me and the way I store my supplies.

So I've resorted to these

I found these at Michaels in the crafts section.  I wound my ribbon around each clothes pin and doing this I

a.  got rid of the crease marks from those flat cards

b.  don't need to iron the ribbon

c.  can separate those collections ribbon

d.  enjoyed the relaxing task of winding ribbon

e.  admire how cute they look

f.  can grab them one at a time as needed easily

This is how I have them stored right now

but this is how I hope to have them stored as soon as I get enough jars

I'm one of those people who has to have everything in sight - out of sight, out of mind - So this works for me!  I would love to hear what works for you!

Celebrating 18 years with my Heart Transplant

Today I am celebrating 18 years with my new heart!  Ten days after I delivered my youngest daughter Ellie, I developed Post Partum Cardiomyopothy.  A new heart was my only option.  She was born in August and I was transplanted in January. 

Each and everyday I am thankful for the family, of the 22 year old man, who donated his organs.  Their most precious gift is the reason I am alive.

Please have a conversation with the ones you love about Organ Donation.  Here are two excellent web sites to answer any questions you might have:  The first is http://www.unos.org/   United Network for Organ Sharing, this is the governing body of transplantion.  The second http://answers.hrsa.gov/app/answers/list/c/41 is  the US Department of Health and Human services, Health Resources and Services Administration.

This conversation is not one you want to worry about during a time of tragedy.  So please have it today!

Family Reunion using Mama Razzi

Our annual weekend crop was a blast!  Over 50 women get together at a hotel for some scrappy goodness.  This was our 7th year together, mostly people from our church and friends.  I chose to work on Family Reunion Pictures from 2010.  My Dad is the 15th out of 17 children so our reunions are quite large and here are a few of the pages I did.

Family Reunion

Deep Discussions

Food

Hula Hoop Pal

Up a Tree

Monkey See Monkey Do

All of these pages were done using Bo Bunny's Mama Razzi with a little help from Cricut, Martha, KI Memories, Crafters Workshop and Prima.

Stamped Card

My stamp collection is enormous and it continues to grow.  I always find myself wandering down the stamp aisle - do you do that too?  I hope I'm not the only one.

As I was packing for a weekend crop, the need to make something hit.  Since most of my stuff was in the suitcase, I grabbed some stamps and scrap cardstock.  Using up those scraps is very satisfying.

The sentiment stamp is Technique Tuesday (Pallette Ink) and the vine stamp (in versamark) is The Angel Company.   Martha Stewart border punches are staples in my scrapping as are Spellbinders dies.  For the border punch I cut a strip of white card stock 1 1/2" and punched both sides.  A 1/2 " strip of dotted swiss Bazzill runs down the middle.  Pop dots help give a bit of dimension,

Hope you have a great day!

2011 Calendar

I use a calendar called MyBook.  It has places for pictures and it has become a favorite of mine.   This year I went to Archivers to purchase one and they only had the bigger one.  My preference is for a smaller one, small enough to tuck in my purse.  Since I waited til late in the year, I just decided to make one.

The acrylic pages are 5x7, the interior pages are 4x6 and the dividing pages are 4.5x6.5.  I just grabbed one of my matting stacks that I had in my stash, bought the acrylic covers and Teresa Collins photo holders.   Don Juan is the font for 2011 and a Basicgrey rubon decorate the front cover.

Four x six index cards are used for the week at a glance and each page has the dates stamped.

The photo holders are staggered along the length of the o-wire so it's easy to see that there are more than one.   A "notes" section was also included.  Lastly, are some premade pockets, I think these are Pebbles. Wrong, these are KI Memories.  Sorry 

All bound together with my zutter bind it all.

Easy Diecut Card

Black and pink are one of my very favorite color combos.  If you took a look in my scrap boxes sorted by color, you would find both the black and pink boxes very full.  I know that when I find some new must have embellie - I buy it in black, pink and white.  My poor little orange box needs some love.  lol

Back to the card, the pink and black diecut was made with Spellbinders dies and they are cut, embossed and stencilled.  Martha Stewart makes the border punch (one of my favorites).  A little ribbon and a tiny bit of bling completes it.

Christmas Album in a Jiffy Tutorial

If you are like me, you take loads of pictures during the Holiday Season. To keep this large group of photos “tamed” to a reasonable project I’ve been doing a Christmas 8x8 album for the past 4 years. In each album are pictures from a Family Party, Celebrating at Home, at My Mom’s and at My In-Laws. I like to bring these albums out at Christmas Time to reflect on years past.





Today I’m going to share how to do an album in one day. Do I recommend doing it in one day - NO! But I broke mine up and got it done it two days. It is a very simple design but can easily be jazzed up to suit your style. Working in Mass Production Mode helps speed things along.

1. Purchase your album and measure the size of the protector. I say this because first I purchase a “Recollections” album (Michaels Brand) and it fit a page slightly less than 8”. Unfortunately I didn’t do this first and then ended up buying an American Crafts after I had all my pages done. It fit’s a true 8x8 page.




2. Select a group of papers to work with. I chose Dasher from Basicgrey and since it is an older pattern I got the collection for $6. (Score)




3. Chose your background papers. My choice was white cardstock and I trimmed 60 sheets to 8x8 saving the extra pieces. The ½ inch piece makes great journaling spots. Once you have an idea of how many pages you’ll end up with you will know how many papers to trim.

4. Cut your 12x12 inch papers into 2”x8” pieces. Using the picture as a guide you should get 8 pieces out of each sheet. You will need one 2”x8” strip per page. I also used edge punches on some of my pages.

5. Ink all your edges. If you’re not an inker, disregard.




6. Now for the pictures. Separate them by event, for me, that means four piles.





7. Time to trim your pics! If you are working with 4x6 prints most of these will need to be trimmed. Your best pictures can stand on their own for a page while most pages will have 2 pics. Some pages, maybe even 3 if you really crop them. Remember you will need to leave room for embellishments and journaling.

8. Organize your trimmed pics into the order you want them scrapped.




9. Embellishments - Choose wisely! I stick with a few edge punches, ink, die cuts and maybe a bit of bling. For me, and these albums, my style is simple and clean.

If you have access to a die cut machine: choose a few dies and cut a bunch in complementary cardstock and remaining pattern papers. Then ink them up!

 

If you don’t have access to a die cutting machine, then consider prepackaged coordinating stickers/chipboard.




10. Time to assemble! Start with your cover page, whatever floats your boat. Then take your blank background 8x8 papers, two at a time, select 2 2x8 strips and arrange strips at either outside edges or top or bottom. You will be looking at a two page spread at a time. Chose pics from your first event in your chosen order and start laying them out. Proceed laying out two page spreads until you have them all laid out. If you are happy with the order then it’s time to glue REMEMBERING that you still have journaling and embellishments to add.

 Yes, that's my oldest daughter, in all her splendor!  lol
11. Add your die cuts. I’ve tried different adhesives and for die cuts I like using Scotch glue. Again remembering that you still have journaling to add.

12. The Hard Part, at least for me. Journaling! I take those leftover ½” by 11” strips (from the 8 ½ x 11 cardstock) and write my journaling on them. A quick outline and then paste them down.  Spellbinders makes some wonderful nesting scalloped ovals that are perfect for journaling.

13. Slip your completed pages into your album.

Here are a few examples