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