Vicky Jo's Little World

Latest Round of Layouts

2010-04-25T22:22:00.005-06:00

Well, once again, my scrap moments are few and far between lately. Here's a collection of the one's I've completed over the last couple of months. However, my goal lately has been to complete layouts that I started and never finished (I am famous for doing that). So here goes...

Christmas '08 (yes, 2008) :o(

PP: Basic Gray (Figgy Pudding); Stamps (around title) - Stampin' Up!; Glitter letters - Making Memories; Sticker accents - K&Co.

This next one is one of those that I had stashed away for a long time, and I finally got around to finishing it!

PP: Basic Gray (Lime Rickey); Letters - AC Thickers

Another one that was on the back-burner for awhile - July '08!:

PP: Basic Gray (Boxer); Stamps/Ink - Stampin' Up!; Cricut cart (title) - Gypsy Font; Letter Stickers - Cosmo Cricut.

And here is Halloween 2008:

PP - Recollections; Edge punches - Martha Stewart; Letters - AC Thickers.

This is probably the oldest one of all - I am so happy to have finished it, and I love how it turned out! I punched the hearts out and used them as a mask on the background and sprayed glimmer mist on top. Then I removed them and doodled lines around them. The photos were printed on vellum and punched out with my circle punches.

PP: Basic Gray (Sugar Rush); Glimmer Mist; Punches - Stampin' Up!; Letters - AV Thickers & Gypsy Font (Cricut Cart)

This is a straight-up lift from Kelly Goree. I love everything she does with Basic Gray!

PP: Basic Gray (Bittersweet); Martha Stewart edge punch; Storybook Cricut Cart.

And yet ANOTHER LO that has been in the works for a while... I went crazy with all the handstitching and would work on it here and there - I finally hunkered down and finished it!!! (BTW - I have another LO sitting around that I started to stitch, and I wonder how long it will take me to get that one finished):

PP: Basic Gray (Marrakech); Tim Holtz Metal Embellishments.

This is one that I basically gave up on Plan A and went to Plan B. I prefer Plan B much better:

PP: DCWV (Mod-Retro, I think)

Another 100% lift from Kelly Goree (LOVE this paper!):

All supplies used are from Basic Grey (Wisteria).

I was surprised this one turned out as good as it did. It wasn't going that well at first:

PP: We R Memory Keepers (MVP); Star Punches - Stampin' Up!

Thanks for Lookin'!!! :o)

William's 2nd Year Book

2010-03-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

Here's the digital book I did of William's second year to give as Christmas presents last year (make sense?) lol. These are always so much fun to do!

Latest round of layouts

2010-03-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Yay! For scrapping time! These are some of the layouts I've been able to work on during the last month or so.

PP: Fancy Pants "About a Boy"; Letters: AC Thickers & Cosmo Cricket

PP: Bo Bunny; Journal Label: Fancy Pants; Letters: AC Thickers; Various Snowflake punches

Here's a close-up of the journaling!

PP: DCWV "Mi Casa"; Journaling block: MM; Letters: My Little Shoebox & "Zoobaloo" Cricut Cart; Ribbon: Fancy Pants

PP: My Minds Eye & DCWV "At Home"; Letters: My Little Showbox & Paper Studio Chipboard inked with Cateye Chalk; Diecuts from "New Arrival" Cricut Cart.

PP: SEI "Moravia"; Most Embellishments from MM "Vintage" collection & K&Co.

PP: Basic Grey "Origins"; Letters: AC Thickers & "Old West" Cricut Cart.

TFL! :o)
~ Vicky Jo

This year's V-Day mini album

2010-03-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

This year's V-Day mini album for David. The base is from Maya Road, I covered it with BG "Bittersweet" PP. I used lots of Tim Holtz metal embellies, and my SU heart punch for the pics. The scalloped heart behind all the photos is a SU embosslitz die for the big shot.

TFL! :o)
~Vicky Jo

"Finally Fall"

2010-01-05T23:58:00.002-07:00

I love how this one turned out! My favorite part is the hand-stitched swirl with the die cut leaves. PP is Fancy Pants "About a Boy" collection.

"Giving Thanks"

2010-01-05T23:48:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh! Here we go... this one's a bit better. I can't believe I'm just barely getting around to scrappin LAST Thanksgiving though. As in 2008. Man... I have a lot of catching up to do!

I broke out an old BG line for this LO - "Infuse"! Remember that one? :o)

Getting back into "scrap" shape...

2009-12-31T14:27:00.002-07:00

Ugh! All I can say is, It's been a while! One of my New Years Resolutions:

Scrap at least once a week!!!

I'm a little rusty, so these are not my favorites... but it sure feels good to just get a couple done!

PP: DCWV "Saffron" and "Indian Summer"

PP: Crate Paper "Little Sprout"

Cowboy Mini-Album #2

2009-12-14T11:53:00.002-07:00

Here's a second one I made for my father-in-law!

Supplies used: Wanted & Bronco Buster Stamp Sets (Stampin' Up!); Silver Skinny Tin (Stampin' Up!); Epoxy Stickers (Creative Imaginations); Patterned Paper "Moravia" Collection (SEI); Inks - Chocolate Chip & Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!)

Cowboy Mini-Album #1

2009-12-14T11:20:00.001-07:00

I love how this turned out! I made it for my dad for his birthday!

Couldn't resist making a matching gift bag, too! :o)

Supplies used: Wanted & Bronco Buster Stamp Sets (Stampin' Up!); Silver Skinny Tin (Stampin' Up!); Epoxy Stickers (Creative Imaginations); Patterned Paper "Wanted" Collection (Cosmo Cricket); Inks - Chocolate Chip & Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!)

Me me me

2009-10-23T10:29:00.003-06:00

OK, I was given this award by my fellow Scrappin' Mama, Jen... and since I have been so bad about keeping up with my blogging and particularly, my Scrappin' Mamas FB Group, I feel quite obligated to accept and complete this misson. So here goes... the rules of the award is that I have to come up with five categories and then list five things in each and then I have to pass it out to five other bloggers. (Sorry, Jen... I wasn't too creative in coming up with my own lists)

Five Places I've Lived:

El Paso, TX
Tacoma, WA
On a prison compound in Darrington, TX (Yes, really....)
Ashburn, VA
St. Simons Island, GA

Five Things I Miss About living in N. VA:

My Sister
Visiting all the sights in DC
Experiencing all 4 seasons
Walking out the back door of my apartment and going hiking in the woods with Chessie
Sometimes.... I actually miss going into a building to work - but only sometimes.

Five Things I Don't Miss About living in N. VA:

Traffic
Cost of Living
God-awful humidity in the summer
The Cicadas that made their "once every 17 years" visit while I lived there... that was absolutely something out of one of my worst nightmares.
No Hobby Lobby

Five Things That Drive Me Batty:

Whining- adult or child
Laziness or an "entitlement" attitude
Crowds
Driving in El Paso
Government Corruption - more specifically, how voters allow it to just continue instead of using their power and doing something about it.

Five Hobbies of Mine:

Scrapbooking
Playing piano
Photography
Gardening
Graphic Design

Five People to Pass This On To:

Tia
Jamie
Stephanie
Sandy
And my bud Michelle who hasn't started a blog, but maybe now she will! (Or at least FB... c'mon Michelle!!!!)

New LO: 15 Months

2009-10-21T08:43:00.002-06:00

I worked on this one the other night when my amiga Didi came over to scrap...

PP is from Fancy Pants (Rough & Tough Collection) I cut the title with my Cricut (Hello Kitty Font) and all the concentric circles were made using my Big Shot and a Cuttlebug Die.

Rosie's Birthday Gift

2009-10-14T17:30:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share the birthday gift I made for my MIL, Rosie! I really had a great time making this and hope to get around to making one for myself! :o)

Here's the matching card:

All PP used is from Basic Grey "Lemonade" Collection.

Pumpkin Layouts

2009-10-14T17:22:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it! I actually scrapped! It's been awhile, sadly. :o( Even more sad is that these layouts are from LAST October... so I am officially a year behind!

This first one uses PP from the "All Fall" line by Fancy Pants. The chipboard glitter accents are from MM - they were originally blue, but I re-covered them in green glitter. Letters are from AC - Thickers.

This Layout uses Martha Stewart PP, MM Letters and journaling paper, and Stampin' Up! Stamps (Halloween Frights).

"I Love Eggs" LO

2009-09-04T01:05:00.003-06:00

Very sad, but this is all I have to show for in the scrapping department for the last month! It's a 100% lift from Kelly Goree using Basic Grey Lime Rickey!

2 more LOs

2009-07-30T23:59:00.004-06:00

Just a couple more layouts I did the other night...

This one uses the Fancy Pants "papa" collection and some SU kraft cardstock.

This one uses a page from the B&W butterfly stack from M&MBI, some chip chatter letters and I cut the black music notes from some glitter paper by Marcella K using my Cricfut Joys of the season cart.

"Simply You"

2009-07-20T21:55:00.004-06:00

One more left from the night I finally scrapped...

This was using the Fancy Pants "All Fall" line, chatterbox chipboard letters and blue Heidi Grace alpha stickers.

Fun in the Sun

2009-07-20T21:53:00.002-06:00

William had a great time this past weekend playing in his blow-up water park! This little guy just LOVES the water!

And of course.... the FACE!

WOO HOO! I scrapped!

2009-07-15T15:25:00.002-06:00

I finally got some much-needed scrappin done last night!

I just love this LO - I finally got to use some of my Sassafrass and Graphic 45 paper. The "fashionista" line from G45 went really well with this.

I started this one a looooooooooooong time ago at my friend, Michelle's house. I finally put the finishing touches on last night and can say it's done! I think the whole thing is from the Crate Paper "Lemongrass" collection, except for the arylic letters (KI memories) and the twill tape (stampin' up!).

Big Boy Bed!

2009-07-13T08:45:00.002-06:00

Look who's got himself a big boy bed, now! It's a little plain looking at the moment, becuase I plan to custom-design some graphics for the car using my cricut! Hope to do that and post pics soon as soon as I dig myself out of my hole! lol. Buddy loves it though, and we've had ZERO problems with the transition!

"Da Bao"

2009-07-02T09:02:00.002-06:00

Just little guy just LOVES the Bronco! Or as he calls it... "Da Bao". He loves to hear David start it up and then sit in the drivers seat and pretend to drive!

"Howdy" Frame

2009-07-02T08:58:00.005-06:00

Dang! Feels like forever since I've been on here! :o)

But here's the first of four Father's Day frames - hopefully I'll have the rest posted soon!

Supplies Used:
Wooden Frame (M's)
PP: K&Co
Stickers: (can't remember - will edit post)
Hemp Twine: SU
Letters: K&Co

Free Dingbat Font for SCAL!

2009-05-26T11:45:00.001-06:00

Here's a great freebie font for any of you who use SCAL with your Cricut!

http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/new-free-dingbat-font-for-die-cutters/

WOAH!!!

2009-05-26T11:44:00.002-06:00

Just had to share some great pics from Megan's birthday party this weekend (Thanks to Mr. Webb for taking and sending these to me... I was a dork and left my camera at home!)

This was William's first experience on a jumping balloon and slide! He had a blast! His first trip down the slide was with mommy:

Second trip down was solo:

Then he decided he wanted to go back up by himself too.... {Spiiiderman, Spiiiderman.... does whatever a spiiider can....}

The next trip down didn't go so well....

...but he took it like a champ and got right back in again. :o)

Wedding Card (KWCIC #52)

2009-05-19T08:31:00.003-06:00

Another one for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge! I did this one for my cousin, who just got married.

Graduation Cards (KWCIC #52)

2009-05-19T08:30:00.003-06:00

It's graduation time! And we have lots of them in the family! What better way to get these cards done than to incorporate this week's Color Inspiration Challenge from Kristina Werner?

Free Mini Album Idea Book!

2009-05-17T13:55:00.003-06:00

Scrapbook Trends is offering a free download (digital version) of their Mini Album Idea Book!
http://content.yudu.com/A1700t/IBMIN08/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=

What a Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-11T09:26:00.001-06:00

Before I had to leave for Tampa, I had a great Mother's Day at the in-laws house! We had a great time swimming in the wonderfully warm pool and cooking out som amazing food!

Here's the little buddy ready to hit the "waves"

He had such a good time hanging with his cousins!

What a little hunk! :o) (Must take after his daddy!)

He absolutely loved this game.... basically, daddy would throw him up in the air, and he'd land with a big splash!

YAY! I got a picture with my buddy on Mother's Day!!! (Thanks, hon!)

"My Boys" Binder Album

2009-05-11T09:19:00.002-06:00

This is the first time I've ever done an "empty" album... I made this one for my step-mom, and left the pages "blank" for her to add pictures of my step-brothers. The binder album is from Maya Road, and the PP I used is K&Co "Rough & Tumble" line. The letters are AC Thickers, except for the last page, which are Heidi Swapp.

"Family" Accordion Album

2009-05-11T09:17:00.002-06:00

This is my first-ever accordion album, and I love, Love, LOVE the way it turned out! This was for my MIL. The album is from Maya Road and I covered the "photo side" with K&Co Que Sera Sera paper.

On the back-side, I covered some Color-boc chipboard letters with the K&Co paper to spell "Family." For the background, I painted each piece in a different MM paint color, then used my Dreamcoat Crackle medium with white on top. Then I did various applications and techniques using glimmer mist and embossed designs to "frame" them out.

This "M" background turned out really neat... after I sprayed on the glimmer mist, I heated it up with the heat gun and it "bubbled" up the paint! Cool!

"MOM" Word Album

2009-05-11T09:13:00.002-06:00

Okay! Getting ready to post all my Mother's Day projects!

Here's my first one that I made for my mom. I know, not your standard frilly, flowery m-day project... lol. I did frilly and pretty for her birthday a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to go different on this one. She loves "skullies" - so it was a hit. :o)

I used a Bo-Bunny album and covered it in DCWV "Rockstar" paper. All the Skully stuff is from Creative Imaginations.

Mother's Day Cards & KWCIC #51

2009-05-09T16:51:00.008-06:00

Here's 2 Mother's Day cards I did last night based on the Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge. I love these challenges, especially when I'm on a time crunch like I am right now... It really helped me to get focused and get 'em done!

On this first card, I used SU stamps (Packet Silhouettes & Lexicon of Love), SU Ink in More Mustard and Staz-on Timber Brown. The scalloped square was punched from my 6x6 pad of BG Euphoria, the crocheted ribbon is from Fancy Pants and I used a random fuschia fiber in my supply.

PP on this one was from the DCWV '09 Spring Stack, Michael's ribbon, and the stems and leaves were stamped from the Botanical Blooms SU stamp set. Ink colors are all SU: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, and Pink Passion. I used plain white Prima mini-flowers and colored them using the same colors in my SU markers.

TP on your LOs & Cards!!!

2009-05-06T08:43:00.001-06:00

Ever thought of using Toilet paper on your craft projects? :o)

http://scrapbookandcardstodaymag.typepad.com/scrapbook_cards_today_blo/2009/05/3ts-with.html

Niiiiice......

David's gonna kill me....

2009-05-05T09:41:00.002-06:00

... but I couldn't resist!!!

I'm just amazed he kept it on for so long!

Oh and a side story here... the rule on the pacifiers around here is "mee mees only" (Which means only when he's sleeping.) But he always seems to know where one is stashed (I think he has a secret compartment in his room somewhere) and he'll grab one first chance he gets and then he'll RUN. He always thinks it's funny though when I grab it from him and he'll even (sometimes) surrender it willingly. I think it's all just a game to him. But here's the real kicker. You know what he calls the binkie? "Puta". Yep. If you know spanish, then you already get the joke. If not.... well, it's a nasty slang word for a "woman of the night." :o) I, personally, call them his "Chupas" - because in spanish, a pacifier is called a "chupon." (pronounced "choo-pone.") So... "chupa"... "puta"... I guess I can understand how he got it. But it's still funny, and there's your Spanish lesson for the day.

ETA: According to wikipedia, in Roman mythology, Puta was the goddess of pruning vines and bushes. So next time someone calls you a "puta" - you can be flattered... imagine yourself in a Grecian garden swathed in a gorgeous tunic, pruning an olive tree.

Cruisin'

2009-05-05T09:38:00.002-06:00

I used the December 2008 Pagemaps issue to get this LO design, and I must have really been ready to scrap, cuz it took me less than an hour to get this one done! It was sitting on the side for a long time, but I finally got moving on it when I saw the Lime Rickey paper from BG - it was a perfect match! The letters are Thickers from AC and I cut the stars from fun foam using my Big Shot and the "Concetric Stars" Cuttlebug die.

Surprise, Surprise!

2009-05-03T13:23:00.002-06:00

William and David went for a ride in the Bronco to go visit Nana and Tata today... William LOVES the Bronco - he calls it the "Bao." Well, David called me a few minutes ago and said to be outside when he got home, that I just HAD to see what William was doing. So I ran outside with my camera ready.... not sure what to expect, but anxious to snap a another "super cute" pic of my monkey...

...and I wasn't dissappointed! I have been dying to get a pic of William sleeping in a "strange" situation, and I finally did! I could hear the Bronco coming from a mile away (yes, it's THAT loud) so this was definitely a great photo op! And BONUS! I got him wearing his shades (which he NEVER does) and holding his blue ring of power!

Copycat

2009-05-03T12:44:00.002-06:00

Although I am an avid lifter when it comes to Scrapbooking, I rarely copy one exactly. But that was not the case with this next LO – I couldn’t resist! I had the paper, the pics, and I loved the technique!

The LO came from the March/April issue of the Simple Scrapbooks magazine (page 68). I used a craft knife to cut away pieces of the paper (M&MBI Fashion District collection) and put a piece of shimmery CS behind (Prima). I used PS to do my journaling and matched the background color to the CS I used.

My Latest SB in a Box

2009-05-01T10:36:00.002-06:00

Here's my latest SB in a Box (yes, I LOVE making these things!). This one was for my mom's birthday.

For the first time, I opted for a larger size (4") and used (almost) exclusively SU products. The paper is their Parisian Breeze specialty textured paper (man, this stuff was THICK and sturdy!). I also went for four levels instead of my usual three.

I used the new oval stamp set ("Oval All") and the new oval scallop punch from the mini catalog to make the date labels. However, I left the phrases in the stamps out by just coloring what I needed with markers and then stamping.

The flower in the middle is from prima (the blue flower behind it is also prima):

Also new - I tried using a different edge punch for the top of each "page", and I love the way it came out!

Here are 2 tutorials I've found out on the net to make these boxes:

http://www.acherryontop.com/article?a=3828

http://imageevent.com/littlecs7/projectofthemonth/srcrapbookinabox?n=1&z=2&x=1&c=5&m=20&w=0&p=0

The main difference between the two are how the box tops are made. I prefer the deeper, sturdier version I made here, but I've also made the shallower version when I needed to show more design on the box sides.

Kwerner Design Challenge #50 - Card

2009-05-01T10:35:00.003-06:00

Here's my second creation for the kwernerdesignblog Color Inspiration Challenge:

This is a take off of the Mother's Day card we made in SU Club this month.

Kwerner Design Challenge #50 - Box

2009-05-01T10:34:00.005-06:00

I decided to do the Color Inspiration Challenge again at kwernerdesignblog! This time, there are goodies involved! We can only post one entry, and this is one of two that I created... I am still having a hardtime deciding which one to choose!

For this little gift box, I covered a box I had with DCWV "Citrus" paper and used my SU "Say it with Scallops" stamp set.

The flower on top was originally a white Prima flower, but I used my "coffee" glimmer mist to turn it brown, then added some pearl accents in the middle that I covered with yellow "sugarcoating" glitter from doodlebug design.

SU Projects

2009-04-26T22:57:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to share the projects we made at SU club this month!

3 more LOs

2009-04-26T22:56:00.001-06:00

Just a few more LOs to share!

PP on "Walking (with help)" is from K&Co "Hopscotch" line. I created the accents using my SU supplies, and the letters are AC Thickers.

Of course, this has got to be a favorite - it's my favorite messy doodly style. I hand drew most of the elements, and the pp is also from the K&Co Hopscotch line.

PP on this one is from Colorbok. I used some foil paper and my Big Shot to create the concentric circles using my CC Cuttlebug die.

"Bubbles in Bed"

2009-04-26T22:54:00.006-06:00

This was a super fun LO to do! (Special thanks goes out to my bud, Michelle, for showing me how to do the bubble technique!)

PP is from Prima, Journaling was again printed on DS PP, I cut the title from SCAL using a font called "Inspiration." The bubbles were cut from transparency paper using my Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook cart). I cut the scroll frame using the Storybook cart. I got the poem off the internet, but ended up modifying it a bit for my needs.

Here's the bubble technique -in Michelle's words! :o)

"I inked the edges [of the bubbles] with white ink and used the eye shadow applicator to make the highlight. I let it dry for a few then used that powder [it is an irridescent pearl-ex type powder]. Then just be careful not to touch it. I used the liquid glue pen [ZIG ball point glue pen] and traced the edges and voila it shoud stick to your page."

(The only thing I did different was use a white paint pen to make my highlights stick out a bit more. For the white ink on the edges, I used the Staz-On Opaque stamp pad in Cotton White.)

"Our Day in the Sun"

2009-04-26T22:54:00.003-06:00

Here's a 2-pager I started a while back and finally finished up this weekend!

PP is MME and the letters are Thickers from AC. I printed my journaling out on DS PP to get the white lettering.

WOW...

2009-04-24T14:21:00.003-06:00

...Not much more I can say about this site - this chick is awesome!
http://www.spinnvild.com/
Talk about inspiration!!!!

Getting rid of Cricut "Tick Marks"

2009-04-23T09:34:00.003-06:00

I decided to post this tutorial because I thought there may be other Cricut users like me who get annoyed with the little "tick marks" that the cricut machine cuts into things like boxes, envelopes and other items that require folding. (These are the little tiny cuts that are meant to show you where to score/fold your projects). I find that frequently, these cuts are a little too obvious and sometimes even tear open when I try to fold. So when I was making all my Easter baskets, I came up with a way to get rid of them, but still have the ability to know where to fold my paper!

Caveat: To do this, you need to have Cricut Design Studio (CDS)!

Step 1: Cut out your design (with the tick marks) on a scrap piece of cardstock paper. This will be your template - so it's best to cut onto something sturdy. Also - since you will be cutting the exact same one later with CDS, it is best to start there and cut your template in CDS in the desired finished size.

Step 2: Using a pointy object (like a paper piercer), carefully "open up" the tick marks on your template so you can fit the tip of a pencil through them:

Step 3: In CDS, go to your original file and right click on each of the tick marks and choose "Hide Selected Contour". As you do this, each of the tick marks should turn a different color, signifying that they will not be cut with the cricut.

Step 4: Cut your design out on the paper/cardstock that you wish to use for your finished product(s). You may want to do a "test cut" on a scrap piece of paper to make sure you hid all the tick marks.

Step 5: Lay your template (with the tick marks) over your "final" project (without the tick marks) lining it up as accurately as possible! (This is where I highly recommend the Basic Gray magnetic precision mat! You can use the heavy-duty magnets to hold your project down and keep it from slipping!).

Note: You should place your final project (on the bottom) wrong side up so that when you mark your tick marks, they wont be visible.

Step 6: Use a pencil to mark through each tick mark on the template:

Step 7: Remove your template, and your should see your tick marks!

Step 8: Use your tick marks to guide where you score/fold:

Step 9: When you are through folding, you may wish to erase your guides if they are too obvious:

Step 10: Assemble your project, and voila! No nasty little cuts in your project! :o)

Bronco Cruisin'

2009-04-22T12:12:00.002-06:00

The other day, William took great pride in helping Daddy put the new back seat into the Bronco. Then we went for a little cruise around the neighborhood as a family for the first time. He was a little wary at first - not sure what to think about all the fresh air hitting his face, but then I think he decided he liked it!

Basic Gray Inspiration Pages

2009-04-22T08:52:00.003-06:00

I am a major hoarder of all things basic gray, so when the "Embellish It" booth had these great layout samples, I had to take some pics so I could hopefully get to using my stash of BG paper! I have this horrible habit of NOT using the paper I love. So I thought I would share for those of you that may share my disease or just want some inspiration!

I uploaded these pics at a little larger resolution, so if you click on them, you should get better detail:

The new Lime Rickey:

The new Wisteria:

CK Convention

2009-04-22T08:50:00.001-06:00

My good friend, Michelle, and I had a blast at the CK Convention in Mesa this last weekend. We made off like a couple of bandits and had to make a trip to the car half-way through the day! There were some great deals and lots of new products to snatch up. This was my birthday present from David, so I had a generous little budget to work with. (THANK YOU, HON!!!)

SO many booths.... so little time....

We couldn't resist laying out our spoils of the day and hamming it up for the camera:

Our two evenings there were strictly reserved for some serious scrap time! Friday night was definitely the funnest - we got to play with our new goodies! Oh - and who can scrap without a Route 44 drink from Sonic?!? :o)

Almost Summertime?!

2009-04-21T09:26:00.001-06:00

Things are warming up here pretty quick! It was so hot the other day that we took out William's little water park - he had a blast!

The dogs

2009-04-21T09:24:00.001-06:00

I thought this was a pretty priceless pic of Chessie and Samson snoozin' in my craft room. Poor Chessie has to sleep next to this "bed hog." :o)

I got my Mojo back!

2009-04-21T09:23:00.002-06:00

YAY! I'm out of the scrap slump!!! I'm sure it's all due to the CK conference in Phoenix (I'll post pics of the trip soon). Michelle & I had a blast! We took our scrap gear with us and scrapped in our hotel room each night. Here's a few from the trip as well as some I started and finally got the willpower to finish!:

I know he will kill me one day... but I just couldn't resist this one. :o) PP is K&Co "Actopus to Zelephant"

I really like this one... I used:

1. Basic Gray "Sugared" PP
2. Cuttlebug "Red Tag Sale" letter dies to cut the felt letters on my Big Shot
3. Heidi Swap Ghost letters lined in white MM paint
4. Bo Bunny "Write On" stamp set (in Yellow)
5. Journal tag is from Fancy Pants "Delight" collection.

Lifted this from a CK mag. PP is from My Minds Eye. Ribbon used is from S.E.I. (Dill blossom), Basic Gray and Martha Stuart.

I love doing LOs with me in them - it allows me to get some girly stuff on the page that would otherwise never be used. :o) Here's the list:

1. PP - Prima "Nursey Tales" Collection
2. Flowers - Prima
3. Brads - Paper Studio & Creative Imaginations
4. Leaves were cut from Storybook Cart
5. Metal Embellishments - Tim Holtz
6. Glitter Letters - MM (aqua) & K&Co (pink)

This one was a lot of fun - PP is Crate Paper "Static" collection. Chipboard letters are from Creative Imaginations.

PP on this one is from KI Memories - it's from an Elise collection. I cut the letters with the Stamped cart and filled the inner letter with red stickles.

I love how this one turned out! PP is from the DCWV "Grade School" stack. Yellow letters are vinyl thickers (American Crafts) and the remainign chipboard letters are from the Tim Holts grungeboard line painted with white MM paint and then outlined in my Stampin Up markers.

Got Beans?

2009-04-13T14:46:00.004-06:00

Just a fun little LO I did about the monkey rubbing frijoles all over his face. :o)

PP is from Me & My Big Ideas, painted chipboard letters are from Basic Gray.

28 Easter Baskets in one night! :o)

2009-04-13T14:46:00.002-06:00

Here was my ambitious effort to get 28 Easter baskets completed it one night... with a little help from the Tags, Bags, Boxes & more cart, I was able to do it! Sorry I'm just barely getting these posted (after Easter)... but just wanted to share!

"T is for Time"

2009-04-09T13:37:00.002-06:00

Well, I’m really in a scrapping slump at the moment! I’m just not chugging them out as good as I should be right now (I’m almost a year behind on William’s albums). I hit one of these “lows” every so often, so I think I’ll just roll with it and when I get out of it, I should be able to go nuts and get a ton done. Hmmm…. Maybe after going to the CK Convention next week I’ll be up to the task!

NEways… Here’s the only LO I’ve managed to complete in the last 2 weeks (besides the Round Robin I did last night – which I can’t post until the whole group is done!). I used Photoshop to group and print the pictures the way I did and then went nuts (maybe a little too nuts) on the clock theme. I used a stamp set from Maya Road and a bunch of stickers from 7Gypsies. The PP is My Minds Eye.

Cool Color Site!

2009-04-01T10:38:00.002-06:00

If you're into color combos like me, you gotta check out this site!

http://kuler.adobe.com/

A few more LOs...

2009-04-01T09:45:00.002-06:00

Here’s a few more! They don’t count towards my Scrappin’ Mama’s April Goal, cuz I did them last month… just forgot to post them in the “mad rush” I did a while back…

I really like this first one... "Our Day with Fay." It is about the day hurricane Fay made her way up to El Paso and just parked on top of us for the whole day! I think pretty much all the PP and elements are from the MM "Chloe's Closet" line. My favorite aspect is the clouds - which I cut from the Going Places Cart and then I added "raindrops" coming down from them by using diamond glaze... If you click on the pic and look really close, I think you can see it! :o)

Here's a quickie I did about William opening his birthday presents. The horseshoe is supposed to be a "U", so that it says, "Lucky U" - but I'm not too sure it comes off that way. The background PP is Stampin Up!, the horseshoe paper (which I hand-cut the larger horseshoe out of) is from the DCWV "All About Boys" stack. "Lucky" is from a 7 gypsies stamp set:

Here's one I lifted from a mag about William getting into the Tupperware cabinet. To this day, he still loves to play in there! PP is Basic Gray "Offbeat" (orange, multi & Blue) and K&Co (beige & Black background paper). There's some rub-ons from American Crafts on there as well as Martha Stewart labels and AC Thickers (chit chat):

"Birthday Luau"

2009-03-31T21:36:00.001-06:00

I’m so embarrassed, but I’ve finally gotten around to scrapping William’s first birthday!

The PP is from DCWV Tahiti stack, and I had been saving these little bamboo sticks FOREVER to use on something, and I decided to wind them up together with some raffia, and voila! I kinda like it! :o)

I attached one of William's birthday invites I made and managed to print all my journaling out onto one of the MM spiral journaling sheets. I have to sadly admit that I wasted a couple of them before I got it right :o(.

"Lucky 13" LO

2009-03-31T15:38:00.002-06:00

Here’s one of my latest… again, it’s a favorite because it’s all grungy/messy/doodle-y. :o)

It's William's "13 Month" LO and PP is from We R Memory Keeper’s “Teen Angst” collection.

The Bingo Card is from Jenni Bowlin - guess I was just "Lucky" the number 13 was on there - haha.

I made the felt accents myself. The dice were hand-cut and I used mini brads to do the dots. The clover was created by piecing 4 hearts together from a sizzix bigz die. (Thanks for lending it to to me, michelle!) :o)

Fry Guy

2009-03-30T20:41:00.002-06:00

We went to eat lunch at BJs on Sunday and the kids meals came with fries in the shape of happy faces. William befriended one of these little "fry guys" and refused to eat him. He kept giving him kisses and he'd stick him out towards us to show off his new little friend with pride. But if we acted like we were going to eat him, he'd yank him back really quickly and hug him while he made the saddest little face and said, "nooooooo..." His new little friend stayed safely in his grasp in the car and all the way through our shopping trip to Target. But as we were in the checkout lane unloading our goods, I began to wonder where Mr. Fry Guy was... shortly after I spotted his half-eaten little face at the bottom of the shopping cart. I wonder what he must have said to make William turn on him so savagely....

Holy Cow! Cricut Carts for $10!!!

2009-03-28T21:38:00.004-06:00

I will begin by saying I hate Wal*Mart. It almost takes an act of God to get me to go in there. But today I must swallow my pride and admit that I went there. DH needed some things for his new toy ('74 Bronco) and I reluctantly followed with Monkey in tow. As I cruised around their greatly diminished "craft section" while DH was in the auto section, my keenly developed 6th sense ("scrapper sense") caught sight of something unblievable. I saw the cricut logo... then I saw a clearance label above it that said "$10.00". I thought, "No way!" there must be a mistake! I whipped the shopping cart around (poor Wil almost fell over) and made a beeline as fast as I could for the little green cricut dude, fully expecting a mad rampage of other scrap freaks like me to come out of nowhere and fight me to the death for this amazing deal. There were 2 solutions carts - the Sans Serif and the Basketball. I have no interest in the b-ball, but I quickly whipped up the sans serif font and matched up the bar code to the clearance price. It was no joke! 10 bucks! There were 3 left and I grabbed them all. 1 for me, and one for each of my scrap buddies. I don't know why they were 10 bucks, but I wasn't asking any questions. Not sure if this is a wal-mart wide deal, but it may be worth a trip to your local wally world to find out! (Even if you hate it as bad as I do!) I found them on one of those "end cap" isles thrown in with a bunch of random craft supplies.... but if your 6th sense is as keen as mine is, you should have no problem finding them if they are there. Just "Use the Force...."

KWerner Design Challenge #47

2009-03-28T12:06:00.007-06:00

I discovered an awesome inspiration site last night! kwernerdesign blog! I am SO moved and motivated by color that I took up her weekly color challenge on the spot!

Here it is!

I used the SU "Top Note" big shot die, the SU "delicate dots" designer series paper, the SU "Say it with Scallops" stamp set, My SU Scallop square punch, Martha Stewart brown twill tape ribbon, an MM acetate flower, a paper studio flower, and some Kaiser Kraft brown pearl accents. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the SU "in" colors, so I had to use my Staz-on ink in pumpkin. My first challenge - ever! And I had lots of fun! :o)

Enjoying Spring...

2009-03-27T13:02:00.006-06:00

We’ve been in full swing when it comes to spring down here in Texas… just wanted to share a few pics of the buddy playing outside!

I am so happy we finally got a fence installed to seperate the pool from the rest of the yard... now my little monkey can run free without me having to be 1 step behind him! (Not to mention, he was also obsessed with throwing things in the pool!):

Lately it's been hard to snap a good close-up of Wil. But on this day, he was all about stickin' his face right into the camera lens and making a silly face!

My little "Conductor"...

Right now, the nectarine and apple trees are in full bloom! So beautiful!

Another little surprise I added to the back yard. The "inner kid" in me just wants to know who lives in there!!!:

"Bud-um"

2009-03-27T12:59:00.001-06:00

I recently have been going on a gardening craze – especially when it comes to finding little nick-knacks for the back yard. We are so lucky to have such a huge back yard, I want to fill it with little “surprises” here and there for William to discover. I found this super-cute monkey at Hobby Lobby the other day and put it on a tree near his playground. Every time William sees it, he gets excited and points to it and says, “Bud-um!”

So, I guess I have to explain the “Bud-um” thing… well… William is having a bit of an identity crisis. He thinks he’s a Monkey. It’s completely my fault, though. I always call him “Monkey,” but I also call him “Buddy” a lot. So he’s great at pointing himself out in pictures and saying “Bud-um” (aka “Buddy”). He also points to himself and gladly declares, “Bud-um!” But, every time he sees a monkey… well, you guessed it… “Bud-um.” :o)

LO Round 4

2009-03-26T11:00:00.002-06:00

I saw this one in a mag and had to lift it. I think the original said "Every Boy needs a tire swing." I just changed it up a little to fit my purposes. :o) I used the new K&Co "DayDreams" paper. But I have since obtained the October Afternoon "Hometown" kit that the original used... so I kinda wish I'd held off a little. :o)

The idea for this one came from the scrappin' mamas thread, and the inspiration for the design came from a round robin we did - Thanks Stephanie! :o) The background PP is from the Colorbok "Friendly Forest" and the lined scroll thingy is from Jenni Bowlin.

This is a direct lift from Scrappin' Mama Stephanie that I finally got around to! She had such a creative idea, I just had to copy it! (Thanks Again, Stephanie!) :o):

I love love love this one. I lifted it from a digital LO I found online. The PP is from the Sassafrass "Fawned of You" collection. The title's kind of "glared-out" but it says, "Hey mom! CHeck out my new ride!":

The only thing I wish I did different on this one was use a solid CS for the title. It's a little tough to read - it says, "The Ladies Man". I couldn't resist cuz Wil's just surrounded by girls in this pic and getting tons of attention. :o) I aged the photos in photoshop and used a "70's" theme to it. PP is Basic Gray "Archaic".

The inspiration for this title came from Jack Black in "Kung Fu Panda." :o) I used a softer approach int eh design though and used the My Minds Eye "Out & ABout" stack:

Another one of my favorites... Can you tell I like the "messy/chaotic" look? :o) I had so much fun with the details on this one. PP is Basic Gray "Boxer":

LO Round 3

2009-03-26T10:59:00.002-06:00

Here's a total lift from one of my scrap mags. All the dark parts of the PP and the chipboard are foil - but it's tough to see in this pic. PP is Paper Studio "Kaliedoscope" from Hobby Lobby.

Another lift from a mag... Not sure if anyone would pick up on it, but I messed up and used two "4s"! I have since corrected it :o). PP is from the Colorbok "Friendly Forest" collection:

The title says "Top 5 playtime activities" and here are the corresponding captions for each pic printed on a transparency sheet:

I had fun doing some handstitching on this one. PP is from the DCWV "Green" stack.

I finally got a LO done just about William and our 2 weimies, Chessie and Samson. PP is Basic Gray Periphery:

This one was a lot of fun... I had some great pics of William playing in some boxes when we were getting ready to move to our new house last year:

Couldn't resist this one... William in his little Harley outfit. I just wrote the lyrics to "Bad to the Bone" for the journaling. PP is from DCWV "Rock Star" stack. I cut the letters out using Sesame Street font cart and some actual Harley Davidson PP with foil flames on it:

LO Round 2

2009-03-26T10:40:00.003-06:00

Here's a round that I just feel kind of "blah" about... but I'm going to post them anyways.... you never know what may inspire someone!

I used SCAL to cut the batman logo on this one from a batman ding font. The PP is from the DCWV "All About Boys" stack.

Just a silly LO from when DH put the head of William's birthday Pinata on. PP is from DCWV "Safari" stack.

Just another "William being Silly" LO. PP is from My Minds Eye:

I was excited to do this one, but wasn't too happy with the result. (see detailed pics below). PP is from Me & My Big Ideas "Modern Milan" collection.

I printed 2 pics - 1 color and one B&W and cut out the color version and pop dotted it on top of the b&w:

The flower was the result of 3 new products I got: The big shot, the cuttlebug flower petal die & emboss kit, and Core'dinations "Black Magic" paper. So I cut the petals using the big shot, then I embossed them, then I sanded each one to get the black off and let the color show through.

I think if I had made the title bigger, I would have ended up really liking this one. PP is from Basic Gray "Ambrosia" collection.

To make the Spaghetti sauce "splotches" I used SCAL to cut out some splotches out from a ding font and make a stencil. Then I just used some color box cat eyes to put the stencils on!

You can't really see it, but I liked the "rainbow" thread I used to stitch the purple paper on, and the purple metallic MM paint I used to paint the chipboard letters on this one:

This one just ended up being too "loud" for me. PP is Basic Gray "Obscure":

I tried to see if I could get away with the flowers and pink on this one.... not too sure I liked it.

I didn't mean to post this one in this group... but oh well. I actually really like it. It talks about each of these items and how they are such a wonderful technological advancement. But at the bottom, there's a caveat that says by the time he gets to reading this in several years, they'll probably be considered "old fashioned." :o) PP is Basic Gray "Obscure":

2 Page LOs

2009-03-26T10:30:00.003-06:00

Here are some of the 2 page LOs I've finished in the last couple of months...

This first one is from last summer and is about the love I have for our new back yard! PP (background) is from the DCWV Summer Stack.

Another "Backyard" LO from last summer... this one is about William's playground. PP is from My Minds Eye "Just Dreamy" stack

This is our trip to Dallas last June:

ANOTHER Backyard LO (lol) This one is with William and his cousins. PP is K&Co "Blue Awning"

Get ready for the overload!

2009-03-26T10:28:00.002-06:00

I know, I know… it’s been such a long time! Work has kept me so busy, and I’ve developed a phobia of my computer! At the end of the day, I just want to get away from it! I guess that’s one of the downsides of working from home!

However, although I may have been steering clear of my computer desk, I have not abandoned my scrap table and I’ve actually gotten quite a few LOs done in the wee hours of the night!

So…. Get ready for the scrapbook page overload!!!!

(I apologize in advance for not giving the best descriptions on this round. If anyone has any questions about products/techniques used, please email me or post a comment!)

William is 18 months today!

2009-02-20T12:38:00.002-07:00

And what a little clown he is! :o)

"LOVE" word album

2009-02-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

I did this one for DH’s birthday last year, but I’m posting in case anyone needs inspiration on a word album! :o)

I remember I was short on time for this one, and really just utilized a pack of Cosmo Cricket rubons and a couple of 7 gypsies sticker sheets. I’m pretty sure that’s Basic Gray’s Ambrosia paper that I used to cover it.

Heart Shaped Chipboard Album

2009-02-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

I’m posting this album for my friend who’s working on one for her DH, but if it can help anyone else needing some ideas, then great! :o)

The theme of this album was "How do I Love thee? Let me count the ways..." Each page of the album had to do with each of the numbers 1-5. The 2 key creative elements in it are:

1) I printed all the pictures on transparencies.

2) I created "pockets" on the back of each page to hide a journaling tag that pulls out & explains the number for that page. This was really easy. After I covered the back of the page, I used the same PP to create the pocket - using adhesive along the edges and leaving the one side open (no adhesive) where the journaling tag went in.

V-Day Acrylic Mini-Album

2009-02-10T11:48:00.003-07:00

Here is my first ever arcylic album that I did for David's V-Day present. Overall, I am happy with it and I learned a few lessons for next time around and even made one VERY happy mistake! :o)

Most of the paper used was from K&Company "Sweet Talk" and "Smitten" lines. A little bit of Basic Gray (Porcelain, Bittersweet and 2 scoops) was also used.

The "theme" of the album is love songs... Basically it includes partial and full lyrics to 6 different love songs.

This is just a decorated heart chipboard from an album I grabbed from the $1 bin @ M's. I distressed it with a sanding block and put some glitter on the edges then added some bling.

This "overlay" to the page below was done with mm acrylic paint and some glitter.

The first song... from the title of the album - is "Love Song" by Anne Murray.

The second overlay is just some cut out words and punched hearts from the K&Co "Sweet Talk" line. Then I added a rhinestone heart to frame the punched heart pic below it.

The second song is "Perfect Love" by Trisha Yearwood. I used photoshop to put the words on a swirl path to match the paper, and then strategically placed some pink gems in between.

On this next overlay page I adhered a pic from our wedding and used the threading water punch on the right side. Then I used diamond stickles all over to make it sparkle. I wrote the title of the song on the tab with my AC white pen.

The third song is "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King. The "Together" sticker is from 7 gypsies and I added some gems to it. Before adhering the wedding pic, I covered the back with PP and added a sentiment sticker - also from 7 gypsies.

I tried embossing on this next page... I think it worked out "Okay." I had to be very careful placing the stamp because it wanted to slide around on the slick surface. When using the heat gun, I had to be careful not to do too much at one, because it was bending the page. However, it ended up flattening back out after it cooled off. I also used more punched heart of PP and various pics. The pics were backed with more PP.

The next page is just a 1/2 page of a photo of us that I used my scallop punch on and applied ribbon. (I'm just noticing that the ribbon is coming off in this pic... I better go fix that!) lol

The 4th song is from "Blessed" by Martina McBride. I pieced together a flower, used an old canvas embellishment I've had forever and added some vines with stickles. The bottom flower (brown) was treated with copper glimmer mist from tattered Angels.

Here is my HAPPY mistake page... I started out trying to cover the entire back and front of the acrylic page with PP and a transparency that had the words on it. Did not work at all... So I removed them and the acrylic sheet was pretty much ruined. So I took my red glimmer mist and sprayed the whole front with it and let it dry. The result was amazing. The liquid ran to the sides and corner creating a shaded area and the whole page was a beautiful shimmery transparent red! I ended up using my dymo to apply the words and wrote the song title and artist with a silver marker along with some happy little hearts.

For the page underneath, the last sentence of the song verse ("and give her wings when she wants to fly") is shown along with a photoshopped pic of me. In PS, I converted the pic to b&w and added a grungy overlay and edges to it. I used a wing brush to add some wings to me and then created a path along the top to add the words. Then I used sticker letters to add my own quote at the bottom of the page.

I added a dedication and personal note using 2 pages from a MM spiral journal adhered together.

And the last page has a Bon Jovi song called "Thank you for loving me".

*Phew*! So glad I got through that! I'm looking forward to doing another one! I think I'll use that glimmer mist technique through the whole thing!

SNOW?!?

2009-02-10T09:36:00.003-07:00

I’ll believe it when I see it!

{ETA} Okay, as soon as I posted this the flakes started to fall! YAY! Now... let's see if it sticks!

{ETA#2} Check it out!!!

My most favorite LO in a while...

2009-02-09T22:12:00.002-07:00

You know how every once in a while you complete one of those LOs that you just wanna frame and never put away? Well I finally got one of those... it's been a while! lol

(It's funny cuz this one had been in the LO planner for a looooooooooooong time.)

Sorry for the picture over load... I have lots of details I wanna point out! :o)

First off, the paper is from the Me & My Big Ideas "Fashion District" stack. I just love the vintage/shabby/thrown together look so tons of supplies were used on this... I'll try to list them all!

My favoite thing in the whole world right now is the spiral journal notepads from making memories and anything with old ledger like print on it! You'll find a few rub-ons and stamps on this piece tucked behind the pic. I also used the threading water punch and weaver ribbon through the top of the matted pic and then left it "unraveled" after coming around the top right corner. I added a flourish rub-on the the pic from Autumn Leaves.

For the left side, I simply used my craft knife to fussy cut along the flowers in the PP to create a "pocket" to slip the pic in. I added various flowers (all prima) and brads on top of the flowers in the PP.

ALong the bottom of the matted pic I used a flower ribbon I found at Michaels and put a sequin and brad in the center of each individual flower. I finally got to use an awesome felt decorative border I've had for quite a while from Autumn Leaves. The big flowers are also from Prima, but they have been treated with Tattered Angels' "Glimmer Mist" in Silver. If you have not yet tried this awesome product, I HIGHLY recommend it!

At the bottom right, I used Ranger distressed ink to stamp an awesome mega background stamp I got from Stampin' Up, then added letters: Rubons from Heidi Grace, glitter stickers from Memory Makers, and Felt Thickers.

A few more LOs...

2009-02-09T21:44:00.003-07:00

Here's a few LOs I got completed before the big work rush...

This one was using the new Animal Crackers stack from DCWV, and the cute little monkey from the ZooBaloo Cart!

Super easy 2 pager lifted from a mag about our move to the new house. I honestly can't remember the paper right now... but I used velvet thickers and some cool foil chipboard letters from making memories. Niether stuck very well to the paper, so I had to break out the zip dry!

I did this next one right after getting the DCWV Green Stack. The paper worked perfectly! A fun little tidbit of info... I wanted to use this particular paper, but my bathing suit and the towel just didn't match... they were the completely wrong shade of blue. So off to photoshop I went to play, did a "Replace Selective Color" and a few minutes later I had the perfect matching picture!

V-Day Notepads

2009-02-09T21:31:00.001-07:00

Got the idea for these notepads from my bud, Michelle. I got the notepads 5/$1 at Big Lots and covered them with 2-sided paper from the K&Company “Smitten” stack. I used a scallop punch along the top and the big bite to punch through the whole thing and then tied ribbon through the holes. Voila!

Here’s the text for the inside that I came up with if anyone wants to steal it:

Instructions:

Use this little love note pad to write “sweet little somethings” to your valentine throughout the year. Hide them in places your sweetheart is sure to find them when you’re not around.

Some Suggestions:

Tape them to the toilet lid, the rear view mirror in the car or to their forehead when they’re sleeping. Or you can be a little more subtle and slip ‘em in their wallet or purse.

V-Day Card #2

2009-02-09T21:24:00.001-07:00

I wasn’t going to post this, but I got DH to promise he wouldn’t check my blog until after V-Day. :o)

I followed a tutorial in the January ’09 Basic Gray newsletter – but I used Prima paper and used the scalloped heart from the All Mixed Up Cart.

Hello Kitty V-Day Card

2009-02-09T21:22:00.002-07:00

Here’s another card that I did with the Hello Kitty Cart. Perfect for Valentine’s day! She’s so cute! The shimmery pink cardstock came from the Prima "First Blush" cardstock stack from Michael's.

Last minute V-Day ideas!

2009-02-09T09:25:00.002-07:00

OK... I'm trying to get back into the swing of things here after finally meeting the hectic deadline for work. I have tons of stuff to post! But for now, I'll start with a a link to a great idea for a quick v-day idea with lollipops!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9hQ2njMcs&feature=channel

R.I.P. Beefcake :o(

2009-01-27T11:48:00.002-07:00

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while… I’ve been super busy with work and putting in a lot of extra evening and weekend hours. I hope to have some new stuff to post soon!

Today was a particularly hard morning though… we had to put our kitty, Regan (a.k.a. Beefcake) to sleep. This was a first for me and it was just an awful experience. Beefer was 8 years young but had a bad case of “megacolon”. She was being treated with medicine, but it wasn’t working anymore and she was suffering too much. Here’s a little tribute to my “Fat kitty in a little coat:”

Taken earlier this month, hangin' with her sister Emily (a rarity) on the dog bed in my office:

She had the longest whiskers I've ever seen!

Here she is hangin' with her other sister, Chessie.

One of my favs: "It puts the kitty in the basket" :o)

One of the times we shaved her - I can't repeat what she was saying in this picture... this is a "family" blog. :o)

She always loved to find "hide out" spots.... that she could fit into.

Here she is basking in all her furry glory:

Hangin' out with the whole family (pre-buddy & samson)

Rollin' in the cat nip with Emily:

She always loved to just lay on "stuff", lol:

I don't think she liked her new little friend in this pic:

Me & my kekker - when she was still a little one.

The day I brought her home:

My favorite picture: :o)

Thanks for lookin'... just wanted to share :o)

My Cricut cut Foam!!!

2009-01-14T11:50:00.003-07:00

David got me the Cricut Deep Blade for Christmas, and the first thing I tried it on was foam! You know... those dirt-cheap packs of craft foam you can get at HL, Ms, etc? Yeah, those! And the cricut cut right through them like butter! I believe I had the blade set to a 5 or 6 and the next-to-the-last pressure setting. I used a medium speed and no multi-cutting!

I just had to bling 'em up a little and added some sugar coating glitter to the tops!

FYI - I used Cuttin' Up for the title and the bath bubbles from New Arrival.

Doodling is fun!

2009-01-14T11:49:00.004-07:00

I had so much fun lifting this scrap technique from Scrappin' Mama, Stephanie! Her advice guided me through the whole thing, so I'll go ahead and post it here, as it worked wonderfully for me:

"The best advice I can give for the doodling is do it imperfect on purpose! Give your lines a little wiggle on purpose, and maybe draw back over a line one or two more times, but not directly on the first one. Just off on either side, as though you were in a really big hurry while trying to thicken the original line. And make sure to slightly cross lines coming from different directions that meet. Hmmm…I try to make my writing somewhere between cursive and print. I guess it looks like I’m just jotting notes as quickly yet legibly as I can. This is about all it takes. I tend to just put the LO’s together the same as anybody else’s but then I feel it needs something, so I just pull out a trusty pen and start throwing outlines around stuff! So, all-in-all my basic advice is to just throw some imperfect lines onto a LO!"

So here is my result in following her great advice! :o)

LO "Extreme Makeover"

2009-01-14T11:49:00.003-07:00

One of the challenges this month in my Scrappin' Mammas thread was to make over an old LO you were unhappy with. I immediately thought of this atrocity:

Yes... an explosion of mismatched fibers and letter beads. YUK YUK YUK! So here's the "Extreme Makeover" - or complete re-do into something much more tolerable using the Basic Gray "Two Scoops" line:

This is a new technique I started using where I gather some tule under a "pop-dotted" layer. To make the top layer, I hand-trimmed the wave pattern in the paper, then distressed the edge and added some pearl gem stickies for accents:

For the title I used Tim Holtz grungeboard letters painted with MM paints and embellished them with jewels, silver colorbox ink and stickles:

For the flower accents, I stamped some flourishes and embossed them with silver. Then I added flowers by punching a big flower from the BG paper and curling the petals down and then placing a cream-colored prima flower on top of it and finishing off with a silver brad. I adhered the flowers with Zots. The border underneath was done with a bottom layer of crochet edging I found in the ribbon isle at Michaels and then using the threading water punch on the pop-dotted top layer and weaving a thin sheer ribbon in & out - making sure to leave some slack for "texture":

The journaling paper is from the MM "Noteworthy" collection. The embellishments include more tulle, a flower set, and a tied piece of twill tape from stampin' up!

First Haircut LO

2009-01-14T11:47:00.002-07:00

I really enjoyed doing this LO documenting William's first haircut that I gave him! I used the "My Guy" page kit from Pebbles, Inc. and kept a lock of his hair in a 3L clear envelope. For the title, I painted some raw paper studio chipboard with my mm paints for "1st" and used AC stickles for "haircut."

The journaling is just a simple text box from MS Word with a background color of navy and white font. I often forget I can use this technique!

I loved adding this touch - We R Memory Keepers grommets with some ribbon from the kit weaved through.

Close-up of the 3L envelope with his hair:

Denver 2 pager!

2009-01-14T11:46:00.002-07:00

Here's a long-overdue 2 page LO I did using the Basic Gray Granola line, the Doodletype font cartridge, some vellum, and a whole lot of buttons!

I had to slip in a pic highlighting how William slept all the way through his first plane ride... both ways!

I didn't apply adhesive all the way up the mountain layers so I could slip in the trail map from our hike (I couldn't find the original I'd saved... so thank God for the internet! :o))

A plethora of sketch sites!

2009-01-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

Another great site – compliments of Michelle!

http://www.sketchlover.com/id6.html

First DigiKit & Freebie... and IMS is online!

2009-01-10T22:18:00.005-07:00

I'm so excited! I have finally completed my first digital kit EVER! And furthermore, after many hours of toil and troubles my store is up as well! So basically, I have a store with one kit... haha. But rest assured, 2 more are on the way!

So, I would like to introduce everyone to "Winter Chill":

You can find it at my new store: imotionstudios.com! I'm having a major sale for the time being until things get up and running over there!

And here is the freebie for it - the freebies for my kits will only be available here on my blog! You can click here to download it!

Hope you digiscrappers out there like it! :o)

My latest online discoveries...

2009-01-09T11:15:00.001-07:00

The Basic Gray Newsletter! Beautiful PDF downloads with tons of inspiration and projects using the basic gray line! http://www.basicgrey.com/index.php?src=news&category=Newsletters&osCsid=6dd04e46bdb6669f73a30d45f413bd3c

Free Card & Scrapbooking Mag! http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/index.html If you wanna subscribe, you have to pay for S&H, but you can download the PDF version for free!

Awesome Page, Card & Tag sketches by Beck Fleck! http://www.pagemaps.com/ (Thanks Michelle!) :o)

Puppy Dog Hat

2009-01-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

William got this super cute puppy dog hat from his Aunt Didi and Uncle Rick for Christmas. He’s never been much for wearing hats, but he wore this to play in all evening the other day! I couldn’t believe it, and it was so cute I just had to share!

Photoshop Fairy Tutorial

2009-01-04T22:25:00.005-07:00

I wanted to post my first tutorial, so I "jazzed" one up that a created a while back for the fairy image above. The instructions are for Photoshop CS3, but should work for most other versions. And as long as you are fairly familiar with Elements, you should be able to get by there as well. Some steps are optional, but they can teach you many different PS techniques to use on other projects!

CLICK HERE to download the tutorial in PDF format.

Enjoy! :o)

Awesome Calendar!

2009-01-04T13:49:00.002-07:00

Just found this at Two Peas while browsing with Didi! We’re taking this project on! Anyone else wanna join in? :o)

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1426636

First Digital Photobook - Wil's first year

2009-01-03T14:22:00.005-07:00

I am very proud of my first printed digital scrapbook ever! I made all the pages using lots of my favorite designer's kits (see their links under my favs to the right). I had several books printed up at Shutterfly.com as Christmas gifts this year - it was a great gift and so work the time and effort to see how much everyone loved it!

Click Here to go take a look at the entire book on Shutterfly!

I also have to give proper credit to Melanie Colosimo and her awesome layout templates. Without them, I could never have put this together in the amount of time I had!

Latest Round of Layouts

2009-01-03T00:49:00.003-07:00

Here's the latest round of Layouts I've churned out... now that Christmas is done, I'm looking forward to scrappin' a whole lot more! I've got lots of catching up to do!

This LO is all about William's first attempt at crawling. I picked up the SEI "Dill Blossom" paper line at HL the other day and I love it! I also expiramented with the SEI Linen and Velvet specialty paper to cut the title out with my Alphalicious cart - the cricut cut right through it like butter! Click on the 4th picture down to get a great view of it!

Finally getting around to documenting William's first teeth! (He got the bottom two at the same time!) And I have to give credit to DH for this one... he came up with the title for me! :o)

My Mother's Day LO using Basic Gray's Urban Prairie Line:

His first swim! Lifted from Scrappin' Mama, Julie! :o) I believe the paper is from Me & My Big Ideas.

Big Boy Jammies

2009-01-03T00:21:00.001-07:00

I bought William his first pair of “Big Boy” Jammies the other day and he looked SO darn cute wearing them! My little man is growing TOO fast!

Hello Kitty Birthday Card

2009-01-03T00:16:00.001-07:00

I made this SUPER CUTE b-day card for my friend, Michelle using HER Hello Kitty Greetings Cartridge (lol) :oP I now know the font cart isn’t enough… I must have the whole enchilada! The real fun part was decorating it with gems, stickles and frosty pink fabric paint!

Fun with Mickey & Friends

2009-01-02T23:53:00.001-07:00

William has shown a great interest in Mickey Mouse (he says “Mu Mou” whenever he sees him). So I borrowed my buddy Michelle’s Mickey & Friends Cricut Cartridge and went to work designing these for his playroom! I found the perfect 12x12 frames for these at Hobby Lobby for $4.00! (They were originally $7.99 marked 50% off). He’ll have a set of Pooh & Sesame Street on the way soon! :o)

More Visor Clips

2009-01-02T23:49:00.002-07:00

These were a hit the first time around, so I ended up making a few more for Christmas gifts! Now if I could just find time to make one for myself! :o)

Altered Notepads

2009-01-02T23:47:00.002-07:00

Another Chick N Scratch Idea! (I love her site!) http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/stampinacademy/2008/03/notepad-tutoria.html

These can be addicting! My friend, Michelle, actually (carefully) takes out the spiral of each notepad and then punches out the holes after covering with PP. Comes out much cleaner and neater… I’ll definitely try it that way next time around!

Post-it Note pads

2009-01-02T23:44:00.003-07:00

A great tutorial for these is posted on the ChickNScratch blog (http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/stampinacademy/2008/07/bind-it-all-pos.html). Lots of fun to make and I finally got to use my Bind-it-all! Unfortunately, this is the only one I remembered to take pictures of!

Snowman Soup

2009-01-02T23:39:00.001-07:00

I made several of these “Snowman Soup” baggies to add to all my gifts this Christmas. Super easy to make and very cute! Google “Snowman Soup” and you’ll get tons of sites with different takes and tutorials for this easy gift idea!