Scrafty Paper lady

When you wish upon a star!

2011-06-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yet another Disney page from me :) My album is coming along beautifully but all it's making me want to do is go back YESTERDAY! This is my pretty princess at The Grand Floridian 1900 Park Faire Restaurant. It took forever and a week for her to finally get to our table and quite frankly we were all pretty much over this experience by the time she got there, but Elli loved it nonetheless! This layout is based on a really cool sketch from The Scrappiest, which has quickly become my go-to spot for sketches! Here is sketch #124 and I think it's such a creative one!

Cool right? Ok what says Cinderella more than tulle... um nothing!!!! Tulle is such a cheap and easy to use material that gets overlooked way too often in girly girl scrapping.I used some on my paper strip here and you'll see some more below as well!

Also on the top of this paper strip I dolled it up a bit by punching out a butterfly and then using the butterfly from the punch to add a little 3-Dness (probably not a word) to an otherwise boring area of my page!
Here's some more tulle as promised :) I also added a little charm brad I've had hanging out in my stash for ages.
And finally that interesting little embellishment strip in the top right hand of the sketch. Love this!!!!! You can't ever go wrong with hand cut flowers, stickly butterflies and foam dots galore :)

Gettin' Inked!!!!!

2011-06-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Lexi and Elli just HAD to have temporary tattoos when we ran across this booth in Animal Kingdom :) Elli got a Minnie Mouse and Lexi got Winnie the Pooh characters. This layout was based off of a sketch from The Scrappiest. It's a really different looking sketch and you can find it right HERE.

The two strips pictured on the sketch and I had a battle of wills.... the sketch won for quite awhile ;) I just couldn't find a look I really liked, until I went into my fabric stash and found a giant bag of yellow fabric strips I bought for 50 cents at the thrift store.... thrift store WIN!!!!!

I've been holding on to this layered cardboard and felt flower for AGES! Glad I finally got to use it :)

Yo ho yo ho a new Disney layout for me!!!!

2011-06-08T17:41:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad I finally got all these Disney pictures printed! It was just what I needed to get back in the scrafty mood! Pirates of the Carribean was BY FAR Jacoby's favorite ride at Disney World! Once the boat goes into the pitch black it goes down a hill really quickly. None of us were expecting it, and to be honest it kinda scared me at first (half cause I'm a chicken and half cause it came out of nowhere), but our little fearless Coby yelled WHEEEEEEEE! It was so adorable :) Here's my journaling for this layout :) I made all of the paper more old/distressed looking just by folding up all the edges a bit!

I just love how this little skull strip turned out :) I used some plain white cheesecloth, sprayed it all over with Glimmer Mist and stamped some skulls on it with Stayz-On. Easy peasy and it was exactly what this layout needed!

For the Yo ho yo ho part of my title grabbed some plain old shipping tags, added a little matching paper and made blocks for the words with some other complimenting paper. So simple but adds a fun layer up there behind the photo. As an aside.... I got many amounts of screamed at by a Disney cast member for using a flash in the boat.... whoops. Totally worth it though, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite of all the pictures I took!

There has never been a truer title....

2011-06-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Without question we're all mad here!!! I could have used this title for about a hundred pictures of everyday life as well ;) But, of course, it was most perfect for the pictures of the Mad Tea Party ride at the Magic Kingdom! I started with a sketch from Sassy lil' sketches. You can find the sketch HERE!

I just love how this little journaling block area turned out :) I grabbed a really large playing card from my stash of cards for making albums (Queen of Hearts of course!), some Sassafrass paper made a little stamped embellie from a Unity Stamp!
Because I can't ever just put a sticker on a page I made this title out of some stickers that match the paper line and popped them off the page. I am soooo pleased I got to use this banner stamp finally! I dressed it up with some fabulous Stickles! Love those Stickles!

Let the sun shine in!!!!!

2011-06-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

What an appropriate layout to work on on the first beautiful sunshiney day here at the beach! These pictures were taken last June on one of the first sunny days of the year :)

This layout was made with the PageMaps sketch for the My Little Shoebox contest! It's really quite a unique sketch I think and I love how my layout turned out :) You can see the sketch right here!

I had a lot of fun making my embellishments for this layout out of the Fancy Pants Rusted Sun collection. I used one of the journaling cards to make the fun little "Let the Sun Shine In" multi-level title!

The first thing I thought of when I saw the Fancy Pants paper in this collection with girls swim suits on one side and boys swim suits on the other was.... hmmmm I KNOW I have some little chipboard people around here somewhere. After much digging I found them and I'm so glad I looked! Don't they look cute in their little outfits?

Back in the saddle again!

2011-06-03T13:15:00.001-07:00

After the world's *longest* scrappy hiatus I finally got my creative mojo back :) Thanks in great part to having our Disney World trip pictures printed (finally) and finding this great sketch on the Sweet Peach Crop Shop blog! Check out the May sketch challenge right here! I actually also used one of Sweet Peach's monthly kits that I bought awhile back when I took my first stab at being crafty ;) This picture is Miss Elli meeting Belle at the Akerhsus dinner in Epcot! The papers and embellies in this kit were justthe right color! I also used a piece of the folder that the her professional pictures came in..... sometimes it pays to be a super hoarder of all things paper-like :)

Sketches and Flowers and New Paper OH MY!

2010-03-02T00:12:00.001-08:00

Welcome back to blogger Nessa... why thank you other voice in my head I very much appreciate that! Yes, I have been a bad, bad blogger, but now that I am scrapping more both for myself and my Etsy store I hope to blog a whole lot more! This week I received a phenomonal sketch from Tamara at Sketches {by tamara} to use as her guest designer for the first week of March! How fun is that????? I saw the sketch and the first thing I thought of was using these gorgeous new papers from Prima and making a vine up the left side.

So I sat down with them, the sketch, and some photos we had taken of Abrielle when she was all of 10 weeks old and this is what I came up with.... my favorite layout of all time! Ok, ok, ok those of you that scrap with me know I say that A LOT, but I really mean it this time! It's even Steve's favorite :) Anywho.... because I am so in lust with it I had to take about a half million pictures. I'll spare you THAT many, but there are quite a few detail pics below!

This paper is soooooo up my alley! Soft, vintagey and lookin like it's been in a box in grandma's attic for the last 75 years or so. It absolutely begged to be made into flowers with actual vintage paper.

So of course I had to make the paper happy! These little darlings were made from prima flowers topped with paper flowers made from a 1940's dictionary :)

Oh you want to see it even closer.... well all right then! These little guys are coming to Scrafty Paper Lady in the very near future as part of sets of themed embellishments all made from vintage books.... awesome right?

And those flowers looked awfully lonely, so Ipunched them out some butterfly friends made from patterned paper by Prima and topped with some Stickly goodness.And because no vintagey paper is complete without it.... I was forced to rip, crumple, tear and ink every surface of this layout. And then hand sew it all together. I think Steve may have thought I was nuts when he walked by and I was crumpling all the paper. *Shrug*I'm pretty sure the part I love best on this layout is the vine. I tried every lace and string I had trying to figure out the best way to make a vine for my flowers and butterflies :) It finally hit me to just ink some twine in a matching color! It didn't ink the whole twine on all sides, but I think that looked even better!

I was stuck on the date box but ended up using a lace scrap and it turned out just as I pictured it :)

The layouts title, "Love and Adore," is at the bottom on paper strips surrounding more pictures of Elli at 10 weeks and also Elli with my Neice Evy who is a few weeks younger than Elli.

All in all I am just in love with this layout! So much so that it got the prime real estate of above the fireplace in my scrappy room :) Thanks Tamara for such a great sketch and for allowing me to design for you this week!

Holy mother of adorable Batman!

2009-04-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

So.... I've been working like a mad woman trying to get enough things in different price ranges to open an Etsy store, and in the meantime I've also been pouring over the forums there trying to learn as much as I can about store promoting and whatnot. But, I keep getting distracted by pretty shinys LOL Last night I was wandering through a thread with shops that have $5 and under items thinking I'd find some great stocking stuffers and I found... wait for it.... a DRESS made out of a PILLOWCASE. Are. you. kidding. me? I bought the darling one above that looks like a fruit bowl of fabulousness and I can not WAIT to get it :) It was supposed to be a B'day present for Elli, but I don't know if I can wait that long to put it on her! And the prices are ridiculous! The one I bought was $12, but I think it was the most expensive one. If you have a little girl to buy for head over to Tsurfer's shop HERE and snatch up your own, she has quite the selection of patterns :) She also has some other cool funky stuff, but I can't show you the other thing I bought cause it was a present for Lex and she actually knows how to use a computer LOL

Day 31 WOO HOO rounding the corner :)

2009-03-31T14:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh I can't believe I got all 31 days cards done at 365 Cards :) It's been such a crazy, stressful, ridiculous month and if it weren't for the blog and cards I would have gotten nothing done! Now I have 31 gorgeous cards and a huge sense of accomplishment WOO HOO

Touchy feely Friday

2009-03-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

Friday's 365 cards challenge was all touchy and feely LOL The challenge was to create a card using at least 3 texturing techniques. I used all coredinations cardstock and sanded and crumpled the daylights outta them. It actually looks kinda cool how they stand off the page like that :)
then I stickled all the dots on the ribbons and also on my stamped sentiment :)

365 cards sketchy sunday

2009-03-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

Oh i just love this sketch!!!! I got to play with my new circle cutter :) Again I dipped into the scrap pile and found some oldies but goodies! I just love this giant ticket! And I used a fun little stamp and stickled it up a bit :)

Scraplift myself you say?

2009-03-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ha what a fun idea :) I might have to do this more often cause I really like how this turned out! The challenge at 365 Cards was to scraplift one of your layouts and turn it into a card. I used this layout of Miss Lexi And I used it as a sketch to make this card :)

A happy little scrapper

2009-03-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

The very best thing about the 365 Cards blog for me so far is I'm using up SO much stuff that I had saved!!!! Thid day's challenge was to have a ladybug as your inspiration. I had a good laugh when I saw that! I have had this ladybug ribbon in my stash for years! Several times I've thought about RAKing it out to someone else who might use it, but it was so darling I just couldn't. And WOOHOO a ladybug challenge LOL I used a couple PP scraps and several ribbons to create the stripes on this card.

Love me a good crossword :)

2009-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Over at 365 Cards they had this printable I love you crossword to build a card around.... FUN! I went back to my Little Yellow Bicycle scraps for this Love card :) My printer was being all wacky.... it needs ink in a bad way LOL I didn't really love the blue tinted black so I cut out tiny squares for all the black spots. Dontcha just love it when an "oops" turns into something you love :)

I had to take a closeup of this little do-hicky. I have no idea where it came from but it just is so darn pretty :)

365 Cards ad challenge

2009-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a fun ad? 365 cards had it as an ad inspiration challenge this week! I wasn't really sure what to do with it except it reminded me of these clear American Crafts stickers I got in a kit and had had lying around for awhile. I went through my scrap drawers and also found papers that fit with the ad colors and here's what I came up with!

Back to nature

2009-03-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

One challenge at 365 cards this week was to make a card with a nature theme. I wasn't so sure about this one at first, but it's definately my favorite one of the week now that it's done! I received these My Little Shoebox papers in a RAK and they were the first thing I thought of when I read the challenge.
I cut out a strip of trees and adhered them with pop dots and of course stickled the apples LOL I had this acrylic bird laying around so I covered it in pink and brown Stayzon and tacked it down with a couple brads. I ususally stay far far away from the clear stuff as they're a pain in the rear to adhere to paper, but I really love this little birdy :)

And I had a die cut that matched so that one went on there with some pop dots too :) Thanks for lookin!

Is there ANY color I don't like?

2009-03-29T02:10:00.000-07:00

the answer is no LOL One of the challenges this week was to make a card with your least used color. Ummm.... yeah it took me more time to figure out a color than it did to make the card :) I really don't have one that I don't like. But I noticed I don't use a lot of red except around valentine's day, so I went with it. I had all these really cool red textured papers and some fun scalloped cards and here's what I ended up with :)

Oh so behind.....

2009-03-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

Blah what a week LOL I had very little time to play with paper this week, but I did manage to squeeze a few cards in here and there :) This card was for last Sunday's super sketch challenge at 365 Cards. Here's the sketch....Isn't it fun?????
And here's what I did with it! I am working on some items to sell and I made this card with some scrap left overs from the baby boy album I'm making :) I just love these Making Memories baby papers!

And because everythings better with sparkle I had to make the elephants just a little more fabulous :)

I don't usually do the insides of cards, but it just felt like it needed it on this one! Very simple but I think it looks darn cute how it all came together!

Oh how fun!

2009-03-22T01:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm super dork, but this Card of the Week award at 365 Cards just made me so happy! Isn't it nice how little pick me ups like that always seem to happen when you really need them? Anywho... it was for the rainbow card I made with last weeks Sunday Sketch, which is probably my favorite I have made for the 365 challenges so far!
And here's my last card for this week. And it's still Saturday for me so I got them all done on the right day except for one WOO HOO! I have a ginourmous pile of gorgeous cards.... I really need to start sending them LOL This days challenge was to use the song "Lean on Me" as inspiration. I found myself really wishing I had a super cute stamp with people leaning on eachother but hey.... what are you gonna do? So I settled for using the song title and making a pretty card to go with it :) Really do love how it turned out!

Inside out day

2009-03-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

What a fun challenge this was! I don't know that I've ever done this before? the challenge today at 365 Cards was to make an inside out card by having most embellishments and the sentiment inside the card. :) It turned out really fun! And there's that pesky bow again LOL

We had another fun day of picture taking today :) Coby was on the floor having the dreaded tummy time again and Elli layed down next to him! It was SO darling :) So my dear husband who understands the importance of pictures to the scrapbooker grabbed the camera and startedshooting away. Of course the second the camera came out Coby decided not to hold his head up anymore.... perfect. However all is not lost LOL Check out the expressions on Elli's face as she waited patiently and then not so patiently for him to pick his head back up!

Sunshiny card and Picturepalooza

2009-03-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

So this challenge has been runnin around in my brain all week.... of course they post a springy sunshiny challenge days after I made TWO sunshiny cards LOL So I rummaged through my paper tonight and found this darling birdy paper I've been hanging onto for awhile. :) It totally makes me think of spring as we've finally begun seeing a lot of birds other than gulls wandering around our yard! I stickied him to some chipboard and added whatever else to this card that I found laying around that even remotely matched :) I've been doing a lot of stuff lately with all the same line of paper so it was kinda fun to mix and match again.

I was so excited to find that one of the birds already had HELLO written on him! So I stickled him and here's a closeup. In person it really stands out on the card!

I realized today it's been a long time since I posted pics of the kidlets for my Mom and Dad to see so here goes.... some snapshots of the kiddos bein their normal crazy selves :) So this was a classic Elli.... she was mad at Steve and I cause we stole her TV to watch our show (the NERVE), and she informed us she was running awaw. Below was part of her "running away dance."

Steve said "Elli where are you going?"

Elli said "To the store"

Steve "What are you getting at the store?"

Elli " A new vacuum for Mommy!!!!!!"

No one really understands that but what the heck it was cute LOLhave you met our new friend the nanerpus????? Wendy was kind enough to introduce Elli and I to the wonderful world of the Denny's Nanerpus commercial.... Elli watches it about a gazillion times a day. So of course we had to make a Nanerpus of our own. Here he is in all his glory..... Lexi drew his face and said he was nerdy nanerpus :)

In case you haven't seen it.... here's the commercial (Ok I cant figure out how to get it here... "nice" but here's the linky)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur0LENvY5TE

And here's poor sad nanerpus meeting his untimely demise. Elli decided she was hungry LOL

One night after Elli went to bed Mr. Coby pulled his usual trickery and stayed up to play with Mommy and Daddy! I swear these two conspire all day... when one falls asleep the other wakes up. Like immediately. Anywho... here's Coby having the much detested "tummy time." Poor kid just hates it but he's getting so much better at holding his head up when on his tummy :)
HA I got Lexi LOL For my blogging friends whose kids are not yet teens this is what you have to look forward to! I have to sneak up on her and hope she doesn't have enough time to roll her eyes or glare :)

This is what Lex and I were doing at the time. Watching Coby work on his rolllllllllling :) He can get very easily from his tummy to his back. Poor kid hates being on his tummy so much he had to learn real quick how to get back to his back LOL Every once in awhile he'd roll a little too fast and cry a little when he ended up on his back :( Poor little sweetie! Later that day.... Miss Elli pulled out her dress-up stuff. Daddy was SO pleased when Elli dolled Coby up a bit :) It was just hilarious and so fun to watch her really play with her new little brother. About a hundred times a day now she says "Mom I love having a new baby brother!"

Here's Elli and Coby doin what the do best.... snuggling :)

Here's Mr. man on his 3 month birthday :) Isn't he getting so big?!? He looks so much like a little man LOL He's doing his very best thing here which is eating his own hands!
Steve got a bunch of funny pics tonight of Elli having a hair obsessed day! this kid has not let me "do" her hair or have a pony in for more than five seconds in the last three years.... and today she was ALL about the headband and the "pinky" tails as she called them :)
Sadly for Gracie.... she got involuntarily involved in the dressup game. Elli dressed her head to toe and it was hilarious! Poor silly dog!

It's a travashamockery..... AKA my epic post

2009-03-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

So... I usually keep my blog pretty scrap related.... my crafty friends you will have to bear with me here. I. AM. SO. UPSET. Travashamockery indeed! Anyone who has known me for 5 minutes or read my blog when I was pregnant knows I love Costco hot dogs that they make on a cart in front of Costco. I don't just love them..... I worship them. Some days I had two when I was pregnant with the Cobymeister. Seriously.... if Costco hotdog was a man I'd makeout with it, divorce Steve for it and have tiny cocktail weiner babies with it. So... in case you wondered I love Costco hotdogs. Yesterday we went to Costco and I asked nice Costco worker man where they had moved the costco hot dogs too (if you don't have a Costco, you can buy the same hot dogs and buns at Costco.... not the same when you make them at home but eh not bad.) So he walks me over and on the way he says... you know they CHANGED the kind we sell outside right? UMMMMMM no I did not know. He says yeah the new ones suck and are mushy. Then he points out that the old kind are still there in the store, but are on CLEARANCE because they aren't selling them anymore either. I could have died right there on the dirty, sticky, nasty floor. So I stand there staring at the hotdogs... pondering whether I need to tell Steve to go grab a $500 garage freezer so I can buy every pack they have left and nice Costco worker comes back... it was very obvious he shares my love of the hotdog and needed to commiserate with someone else. Kinda funny actually. So in the end I bought two packs. Froze a bunch. Cried a little. Steve asked if I wanted to try the new ones on the way out.... ummm no. Like I'd cheat on my hot dogs. :( Sigh.... I will miss you Costco hot dog friend.
P.S. Wendy.... shut up! I can hear you laughing at me all the way over here. :0)

In happier news, I am in LOVE with these cupcakes :) If you haven't seen them before the coaster book is below. They are SO super easy to cover and alter and they really look cool on a B'day card! This card was for a challenge at 365 Cards to not have a sentiment. I thought it would be a toughie but it really wasnt and I kinda like it with no sentiment :) I covered the cupcake with pretty paper and some little red gems, and then covered a couple chipboard squares with coordinating papers :) AND I made another bow LOL 365 Cards has corrupted me into bow making! Ok.... someone get me an intervention. I am obsessed with Little Yellow Bicycle. Seriously I could just scrap with it all day and never get tired of it! I bought the new little baby boy line and am going to make a page for every one of Coby's first 12 months :) Here's month #1! It's based on the week #11 sketch at 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. They have these darling little one through twelve tags that I just love! And the acrylic stuff is awesome! I added some of my adtech dot adhesive to the back of Mr. Froggy there and it looks like scales.... well at least I think it does LOL
Yet another reason to love LYB.... the darling chipboard animals they came up with for this line!
And here he is.... the little man on his one month B'day! I also used my new Fiskars border punch again.... LOVE IT!

Cards, cards, cards :)

2009-03-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

thank goodness for cards or I'd never get anything completed LOL Here are 2 more inspired by 365 cards. I'm only one behind my goal of getting one done everyday so that's not too bad :) I still need to do the Sunshine challenge.... sadly TWO of the last few cards I did were sunshiny and I'm runnin outta the happy paper LOL Anywho... here's my take on the challenge to make a card with mainly green. I used up yet more scraps... these challenges are heavenly for my scrap drawer :) These are mainly from a DT thing I did with making memories Passport line and then another PP from 3 Bugs in a Rug that matched nicely. I used this weeks sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You for this card! It's a great one go check it out!

So..... yeah. I have found a new gadget I adore. And must have all of. Sigh..... I've seen people talk about these Fiskars border punchers, but since I live in the middle of nowhere I can't just go grab one to try. I found out my teeny Joanns has them and I got a lace one and Oh my Hell.... are you joking me with how fun these are???? Stupid things I want all of LOL

And I used it again on the little flower thingy here. :) You can expect to see much more of the lace punch on my stuff LOL

This week at 2 Sketches 4 You the challenge was to do a card with your child. Miss Elli is 2 and makes cards ALL DAY LONG :) It's her very best thing to do and I just love it! Here is her card she made :)

this card is for the 3 bows and 3 buttons challenge.... WARNING I do not do bows LOL I really don't remember ever making a bow? Anywho... i might have to start every now and again cause they do look kinda cute :) Took for stinkin ever to get them to look right thoughI just love it when I randomly save something and then have a use for it later. I'm such a pack rat.... but I recently purged in a big way and gave Elli a ton of my stickers. This Reminisce sticker was just by itself and I almost gave it to her, but I decided to keep it. I just love it for this card and I'm so glad I saved it from the Elli mess LOL

Woo Hoo I did it....

2009-03-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

well for one day at least LOL My goal this week is to make the cards for the 365 Cards blog on the actual day they're posted... one down six to go :) The award for this great feat goes to Mr. Coby who is actually.... wait for it.... SLEEPING :) Who knew he could do that at night like a reasonable person? So Sunday's challenge was this fabulous sketch by Pam.

I just love it! I flipped it on it's side and created this sunshiny card:

I had these scraps left over from a layout I recently did and I just can't get enough of the rainbow paper :)

Ok so here's my new love.... Ott Light. Are you kidding me WHERE has this thing been all my life????? So I've been thinking about trying one for awhile and we ventured to the craft store today and there was a 40% off coupon so I figured eh what the heck. I bought THIS guy.

and oh my gosh it's awesome. It really is like real sunlight in my living room! Usually the only time I get to take pics is way late at night.... and really let's face it even during the day I have no natural light 99% of the time. "Great" northwest my arse. I guess I could save up all my layouts and photograph them every six and a half weeks when we have ONE day of sun. Anywho.... the above pics were taken in my family room. Lex and I were watching a show and Coby is actually sleeping a marathon in his swing. So the overhead light is off.... it was literally darn near pitch black but for the TV. Unbelievable how much better the pics are under this lamp :) YAY lamp :)

Oops I did it again.....

2009-03-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

LOL I had such good intentions to do a card everyday... and here I am again uploading six cards. Well I did one better than last week and only have six this time :) These are all from challenges at 365 Cards They just have the greatest challenges over there! This first card is my favorite :) It's from the bonus sketch at 2 sketches 4 you and for the challenge to create your own flower at 365 sketches!

Here's my paper flower! I used lace for the smallest circle and really love the way it looks!

This card was for a theme challenge of "new home".... whichever of my friends gets this one I apologize in advanced LOL I dunno why but themed cards just never work for me :) I am however really happy to have used this Love, Elsie paper that I've been hangin onto. The floor plan paper is actually really cute :)Another day's challenge was a red, yellow and blue card. I've had this balloon ribbon for YEARS and it was nice to finally use a tiny bit of it :)

Next was a card with a picture on it! I've actually done this a few times before, but what I usually do is have the kids hold up a sign that says happy B'day so and so, but this time I wasnt sure who it was for so I didn't. I really do like it though :)

This was a fun one! The challenge was to use at least 5 patterned papers and 5 embellishments! That's never usually a problem for me LOL I used some BG archaic scraps and 5 buttons. I'm really diggin making these little boy cards lately!

I totally love this new stamp set I got :) See the ticket on there? It's from a set of them from Autumn Leaves and there's SO many of them with really fun sayings :)

And finally here's a card from the sketch challenge! This sketch was a great one from Kazan and really is SO versatile. I again dug into the scraps and used up some more of one of my favorite Cosmp lines :) This site is SO good for my scraps stash LOL

Warning..... crazy picture heavy :)

2009-03-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

I loved all these things so much I had to take a ridiculous amount of pictures of them LOL This card had inspiration from two sources! I am having such a blast with this 365 Cards blog! Does it really get any better than a challenge every single day???? I think not :) This challenge was to use only scraps and I used Bo Bunny scraps from the layout of Mr. Coby below! I also used Laura's sketch #21 from 2 Sketches 4 You for this one! It's a really versatile sketch and I'd like to use it again!
So I've been all about the Making Memories tiny letters lately and I discovered My Little Shoebox has them now in a bunch of colors too! I think I'll be seriously lost if they ever stop making them cause I use them on darn near everything lately LOL
Ok here comes the flood of pictures! :) These two layouts are both made with sketches from the talented Julie Bonner of 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. I wish I could pay her to just live in my scraproom and make sketches for me all day! This one is from week 9's sketch. Again.... you can see my ridiculous obsession with Little yellow Bicycle LOL I seriously cannot get enough of these paper lines! I'm finally getting around to scrappin last years Halloween pics.... hey better than last year when I didn't get around to it til a year later :)

I bought these stamps last year and have been looking forward to them! I've rediscovered my stamp collection latey and have been lovin them! Amazing what can happen when you put stuff where you can see it LOL The scroll looking thing was part of a grey patterned paper in the set and I used some chalk for the first time on this layout! the grey just didnt work for me so I used some orange chalk... now I finally know what it's for LOL

I think this is my favorite part of the layout! The background notebook paper had holes and it really worked out well to punch them out and add some ribbon in there :)

I also used my dear friend Stickles to embellish the background paper. There's a big section here in the corner and a few smaller places around the page!

Here's a peak at the journaling about my cute little Elli :) I really love the die cut polka dot paper from LYB too!

Steve and I had such a good laugh when we saw these pics of Coby! He SO hates the camera!

Here's the journaling :) It was so hilarious to capture the progression from glee at playing with Daddy to horror at the appearance of Mommy's camera!
Here's the title.... again with my favorite tiny letters!
What I found most inspiring about this sketch was the circles across the bottom of the pictures! I had ordered the button collection from Bo Bunny that matches the papers and they were just perfect! I also used some rubons and cut them out for more of the circle border.

I've been trying to dip into my stash and use "old" stuff as much as possible! I had fallen out of love with my massive chipboard collection, but this star thingy was really perfect for this layout :)

seven cards.... it was a looooong night

2009-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

Long story, but I was up ALL night and had a whole lotta time on my hands, so I decided to try and tackle the whole weeks worth of challenges at 365 cards Have you seen that site yet? They post a new card challenge EVERY single day! Crazy fun :) As a bonus challenge... I challenged myself to use only scraps :) And I did! Challenge #1 was based on a sketch and here's my take on it: Challenge #2 was to use two or less embellishments..... really not easy for me LOL For this card I used my pretty Little Yellow Bicycle scraps and one flower and button. It was really all I could do to not add more junk on there :)

Challenge #3 was to use a button, ribbon and flower on your card and I just love how this one turned out! I chose everything else for the card around the bright and blingy blue flower :)

Day #4 was to find an ad and use it as inspiration. Here's the ad I found on Google images

And I used the upper right hand corner of it as kind of a sketch. It made for a patchwork look that I really like and I loved using up some more Urban Prarie Scraps! Way too pretty to not use up :)

Day #5 was to make a simple thank you card that you could easily reproduce over and over. Here's my take on it! My favorite part of this card was the coredinations cardstock that I sanded.
Day #6 was all about zee bling! I made this positively blingtastic card by going through all my scraps to find the blingiest stuff LOL

I had way more shiny stuff in my stash than I realized. I used some glittery paper for the base of the card and then added this imaginisce swirl and bling up in the corner and then for good measure added a couple glittery butterflies and more stickles.... there is no lack of shiny here :) Then the sentiment is a glittery fabric heart and glitter Thickers.

I also cut out some butterflies from the rest of the patterned paper scrap and added even more glitter with some more stickles.
Day #7 was all about the circle! I used two different polka dot patterned papers for the background on this one. And then used a Bazzill big chip circle and flower for the sentiment area :)

March Scrap City reveal

2009-03-07T01:30:00.001-08:00

A big huge thanks to Charlie from Crafter's Alley for sponsoring us at Scrap City this month! She sent our creative team a TON of Coredinations cardstock and flowers to play with! You can see all the Coredinations for sale in her store HERE. It's just ridiculous what you can do with this stuff! It left me wishing that I had WAY more texturing plates to play with! Some of the other paper DT girls made some amazing projects with texturing stuff! This paper made really fun cardtsock strips for behind my picture! they really stand out when sanded!

I made this layout of Coby and I loved using the coredinations to make a background paper, the title and the journaling spot :)

I made this layout of Coby for my Mom and I loved using the coredinations to make a background paper, the title and the journaling spot :)

This paper was just perfect to make a flower from! I crumpled and sanded the circles before putting it together and I think it really pops off of the page!

I used the coredinations to make a tiny journaling spot to go in between the rubon phrases at the bottom of the page. I think it really makes for a cool look :)
this card was made with a Pagemaps sketch. I really like how the torn strips look against the background
I have all of two embossing plates LOL But I used one with the Sizzix to make this card. Embossed and then sanded and I think it looks really cool!

Butterfly Heaven!

2009-03-07T01:02:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows I adore butterflies! I've saved every shred of this Basic Grey paper and have used it all LOL This crad is based on this sketch from Card Positioning Systems. I looked at this sketch and actually said out loud.... WOW! I think the four postage stamp look of it is so fun! Makes me think I need some sort of postage stamp punch :)

How stinkin cute is this stamp from Teresa Collins? I added a picture of it below. I bought it on a whim at a 50% off sale and when I got it my first reaction was UGH it's a rubber stamp? BUT they are rubber stamps that cling to acrylic blocks and have a pic on the back so you can see where it's going and now I know I like those LOL I stamped it on the backside of the coredinations paper I used, cut it out and punched some holes and added lace and fibers and really love how it turned out! And here are the fabulous butterflies :) They're a pain in the rear to cut out but SO worth it! I stuck down the middle with adhesive and then popped up the sides of each wing with some pop dots. It's hard to tell in the pics but i also added some glittery pen to details on the wings and the body of the butterfly.

What a yum yummy sketch!

2009-03-07T00:37:00.000-08:00

And truly yum yummy papers from Teresa Collins! I just got these papers in the mail yesterday and when I went over to 2 Sketches 4 You and saw this fantastic sketch and that the DT had used Teresa Collins papers it all clicked in my head LOL

As you can see my corner rounder and I had a blast together on this one :) This card is for my Mommy who is so good to me so I wanted it to be really special. I went through all my odds and ends and found this really cool fabric heart and some lace scraps and I really love how they look on the card!
I also found this super chunky heart button that I think is just perfect :) My very favorite thing from this Teresa Collins line was the sheet of patterned paper covered in these darling tickets! They were just callin out to be cut apart :) Thanks for looking!

Wow I love crops :)

2009-03-04T02:01:00.000-08:00

I just love when we have a crop and I get so much done! I think this was my favorite crop at Scrap City! It was ALL sketches and I've been lovin the sketches lately! With the exception of the last layout these were all made from sketches from our crop!

I really love how these two cards turned out! I got these Little Yellow Bicycle papers and goodies from a kit and discovered I just love this company! They have so many fun coordinating clear embellies and die cuts!

This "Little Man" layout was also inspired by a SC sketch. And it's another one with LYB papers LOL This was a paper set I got quite awhile ago and I had been so excited to use it for my little guy! I just ADORE these pics of him. I had gotten him all dressed in a football shirt to watch football with Daddy on a SUnday afternoon and he looked so boyish! Steve held him up the counter to "stand" and just the way he was standing made him look like he had big broad football player shoulders :)

How stinkin cute is this rainbow paper from Sassafrass Lass? Love it! This was such a fun day with Elli. She is such an outdoors girl! This fall day was absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast outside. Elli was digging in the dirt and literally had it EVERYWHERE on herself :) There was just a ton of sand in her hair. I really wanted to be upset about it but she was just so darned cute LOL I love how these flowers turned out too! I had these felt flowers, felt circle embellishments and these really odd plastic circle things that I think were Rob and Bob studios. I remember awhile back thinking about giving them to Elli and I'm so glad that I saved them. :) I love that you can cut out your own coordinating paper and stick it in the center of the circle! Too fun!
These pics of Elli were taken the day before Valentine's Day. At the grocery store I grabbed some premade dough and frosting and we just had a blast with it! Elli had so much fun playing with the cookie cutters. The cookies didn't look anything like the shapes they started as but we sure did have fun :) I had been waiting to use this cupcake chipboard and I really like how it turned out with it's brad sprinkles :)

And finally this layout was based on a sketch from 52 sketches 52 weeks sketch #8. It had been awhile since I made a layout with so many pics but I really like it! When we were in the hospital there were a TON of pics taken and I love the idea of a kind of collage of his first day :)

Woo Hoo scrappy weekend :)

2009-02-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

So lately I've been lucky to get a layout done in two days.... this weekend I got five done so far YAY! Miss Lexi was at her Dad's and Miss Elli spent the weekend with Nana and Papa so it was just me and the Cobymeister :) Thanks to two crops at The Scrap City and Serendipity Scrapbooks I had tons of inspiration! Scrap City's is actually going on til Friday so come by and check us out..... TONS of sketches to choose from! I am so in love with this picture and layout :) Julie Bonner from 52 Sketches 52 Weeks made me this gorgeous sketch to share at the Scrap City crop this weekend and True Love is my take on it. I made it mainly with a kit from Treasured Scrapbooking.

We got a rug for the hardwood family room floor where the kiddos spend most of their day and Elli has been having so much fun rolling around with Coby on it :) I really love this quote that I cut out of a patterned paper from Little Yellow Bicycle! It's really true for Elli and Coby, she enjoys him so much more every day!

This one was for a challenge at Serendip. I just stinkin LOVE these pics of Elli. She is such a nut. The journaling is all about how hilarious Daddy and I thought it was and we thought she looked like Beavis..... a la Beavis and Butthead LOL It's so funny that she'll have no clue who that is and will have to google it someday :)

This one is also inspired by a sketch from 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. This is for week #7's sketch :) I used a Prima paintable and colored it with colored pencils and then cut out all the vines to layer them over the picture mat. It was also for a challenge at Serendip and the challenge was to use the same element in 3 different ways.... I used butterflies (patterned paper, beads and acrylics.) So since I found out I was having a boy I've been SO excited to use this paper LOL I bought Coby this dino outfit from Gymboree JUST so I could use this paper :) This was based on a sketch posted at Scrap City for the crop :) Coby was learning how to roll from his back to each side in this picture :)

Oh Costco hot dog I heart you... basketball i do not heart you

2009-02-16T02:50:00.000-08:00

Over at the Page Maps blog they have this great sketch posted :) Isn't it a cool one? I love how the shaped paper is cut :) Here's my take on it!

Anyone who was around during my pregnancy knows about my insane obsession with the Costco hot dog LOL There's a hidden journaling tag but I'll tell the story here too :) My very first job when I was 16 was working in a hot dog stand... I ate SO many hot dogs that summer the smell of them made me sick for years. Even when that reaction wore off I still didn't want them! That is until I got pregnant with Coby. Costco has a hot dog cart outside the warehouse and a giant hot dog and a pop is like a buck and a half..... what a deal!!!! Many a day Steve was informed he had to grab one on his way home.... many an evening he was sent BACK there LOL I'm so glad I finally got to use some of these cute little retro die cuts :) And the scrabble tiles just seemed to fit on the page :) This 7 Gypsies tag is one of those things that I never figured I'd use but saved forever anyhow.... SO glad I did! It was just the perfect way to add a little journaling to the page in addition to the hidden journaling!

Ok.... so despite ALL my talking to Coby about this while Daddy's at work I caught him enjoying his first sin... enjoying basketball I thought I had made it very clear that we only like baseball :) But they were enjoying themselves so I figured I'd better give up and take some pics!

I just adore this picture I got of Elli and Coby playing on the carpet together :) It's so fun to see her really enjoying him now and seeing him as a playmate! I'm so torn I want him to stay little but it'll be SO fun to watch them play together like my brother and I did! Now if only I could get Lexi to allow me to photograph HER playing with her sister and brother!

I finally uploaded some old pics on my memory card and this one was SO much cuter when I could see it bigger! Doesn't he just look like a little man :)

All about my Elli :)

2009-02-16T02:22:00.001-08:00

This kiddo provides me so many funny things to take pictures of and put on paper :) This layout was from the week #6 sketch at 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. I've been holding on to these papers and pictures forever but just didn't seem to be able to figure out what to do with them..... Julie's sketch was PERFECT and I thought of that stuff as soon as I saw it! I just love this paper :) My dear sweet husband picked it out for me for scrapping Elli all by himself :) He just rocks! He got me this really cool thing from the LSS for Valentine's Day too. It's a scoring tool thingy for making cards and boxes! I remember seeing it on HSN or QVC once and I just can't wait to try it! I just love these die cut sayings and this froggie that I cut off of a tag on the die cut sheet! I really like these papers :) It was a brand I had never heard of but they are really great quality and very thick! You can find their other paper lines at Time Flies.

So lately Miss Elli has been obsessed with my scrapbooking stuff! For Valentines Day I filled up a giant storage box full of new stuff and stuff from my stash so she can scrap with Mommy :)She was so excited when she opened it she had to throw it all over the floor...... "nice."

Elli and I had SO much fun making her very first page for her album together when Coby was napping! She picked out the picture, the pages and everything else on her page! The picture she picked is of her and our dog Grace last summer :)

We tried to master the use of scissors... but yeah not so much LOL Instead she told Mommy what shape to cut and then pasted them on where she wanted them!And here's her finished product! I think she did a great job!!!!!!

Some tiny baby yummies for ya

2009-02-09T02:01:00.001-08:00

I've gotten some really great pictures of my cuddle prince and his big sister princesses lately that I just have to share :) I think Elli finally "gets" that her baby brother will eventually be a fun playmate for her! She has been SO interested in holding him and playing with him lately. Now he kinda sorta interacts with her and she really gets a kick out of it! Here they are lounging in the bean bag together!

Poor Miss Elli was all tuckered out from such a long day of playing with baby brother. She, Steve and I were sitting in the family room and she was all mad because we were watching a show and had stolen "her tv" from her. About two minutes before this picture was taken she was screaming bloody murder about wanting to watch Dora..... then we realized it was silent LOL Poor little kiddo had fallen asleep hanging off the recliner foot stool :) And Steve is such a well trained husband of a scrapbooker... his first reaction was to run for the camera!

These were taken today! I am SO glad that I remembered to take a picture in this cute little dinosaur oufit.... yes I do have dino papers I've been saving ever since I found out I was having a boy LOL

I didn't get a great picture of it, but Coby discovered today that he can roll to one side, back to his back and then to the other side! What a strong boy he is :)

What I DID finally get a great picture of is his unbelievable smile! This kid just melts my heart with this smile :) He looks so much like Elli when he smiles!Lexi helped me make mashed potatos for dinner tonight and Daddy was on "Coby duty." They watched a basketball game together and played the game that ELli always loved when she was a baby. Steve had him in his lap propped up against his knees and made his tiny legs "run" and made funny noises. Coby was smiling up a storm til I came in with the camera and then we got a lot of untrusting scowls that looked a lot like this LOL

After dinner Lexi held Coby while I was doing the dishes. All of a sudden she said Mom Mom come here I taught him how to sing... ummm ok? SO I went over and she was singing "I loooooove Youuuuuuuuuu" and sure enough he was singing along :) It was SO darn cute! Whenever she sang he cooed away LOL

Then Elli wandered over and started singing with them :) Coby's so lucky to have such wonderful big sisters!

And the end of the day.... I finally discovered the secret to getting a little peace and quiet at night! This bassinet was a Craigs List find and I was so sad that Coby wouldn't sleep in it! Turns out I wasn't doing it right LOL Last night and tonight I've carried the top part out by my scrappy studio and let him sleep in there on his tummy and I've gotten like SIX hours between the two night of uninterrupted me time! Oh how I needed it! He has hardly let me put him down for more than a few minutes for the last couple weeks. I'm just loving a little creative me time :)

Scrap City February reveals

2009-02-09T01:12:00.001-08:00

This month at The Scrap City we were sponsored by Beatriz Jennings. She has a store full of wonderful goodies that you can see right HERE! Thanks so much Beatriz! With the goodies I was sent I made a layout and three cards. What a fun bunch of papers :)

We also did the coolest thing that Audrey thought up :) We each had a partner and we made a kit obe for ourselves and one for our partner. Then we sent off our kits and each made two layouts with our own kit and two with the one we got from our partner. Here are the two from my kit: This is my little Elli learning to tumble for the first time :) It was quite a hoot to watch her try and fall to the side over and over before she finally had Daddy get down on the ground and show her and she "got it"

And this one is Lexi's 7th grade picture :) I really love it but she doesn't so much LOL I just can't get over how grown up she looks to me this year.

Here's my layouts from my partner Telah's kit! I just love the bright bold colors that she picked out! This first layout is of a picture I took of Lexi on the 4th of July. No matter how much I begged she just would not turn around and let me take her picture. Sigh.... I sure am proud of the young woman she's become, but I kinda miss the tiny girl who got excited over things like firework shows.

And my final layout is of Elli and her Papa. We were at Chuck E Cheeses and I think my Dad and Steve had as much fun as Elli did :) This picture is of Papa helping Elli play the basketball game. She and I are so lucky to have a Papa/Dad who loves us so much and it makes me so happy to see her have a Papa who plays with her and brings so much joy to her life :) Lucky girls we are!

Home sweet home?

2009-02-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

So through Wen's blog I discovered My Scrapbook Nook and oh my stars do they have awesome crop challenges! I got all of one done because of Captain You Must Hold Me 24/7, but the one I got done I just love! The challenge was to have Home in your title, the color black and at least 4 sentances of journaling. Here's what I came up with :)
Out here on the coast we rarely get any snow and if we do it's the piddliest little amount. I think Mr. Coby brought us snow as his present to us when he was born :) This is what our house and yeard looked like the day we brought him home from the hospital. It was SO cool to look out the window both at the hospital and at home and see all the gorgeous white!I've had this acrylic house for ages and never knew what to do with it... it was PERFECT for this layout and I really love how it looks! That's always my favorite thing when you hang onto something and it ends up being useful LOL

2009-02-06T00:19:00.000-08:00

I made these layouts for a contest at Page Plans. In usual Vanessa fashion i left the picture taking til thelast day and that day I was sicker than I've ever been in adult life UGH! But I really love them so here they are!

I just obsessively love this BG Urban Prarie paper! It's so girly and has butterflies :) These pictures are of Miss Lexi and her "fashion" sense LOL Unfortunately it seems she's maybe as fashion challenged as her mother is! I sure do get a kick out of the outfits and accessories she puts together!
I just love making these little paper flowers! These patterned papers were just perfect for it!

Here's the butterflies I love so much from these papers! I decorated it with stickles and inked it and lifted up the wings with some pop dots :)

It's been a long time since I made a page with a bunch of pictures, but these pictures really needed to be together! When we first looked at this house we all thought we would have the BEST hill for sledding! Sadly you never get much snow on the Oregon house so we figured it probably wouldn't happen. This year we got many many inches and shockingly there was nowhere to buy a sled LOL So Daddy improvised and used a plastic storage bin. Elli had such a blast sledding down the hill!

I embellished this snowflake that was supposed to be an ornament and I really like how it turned out even though it took forever! I inked it and sprayed glimmer mist on it.

Scrap Schemes

2009-02-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

This blog, Scrap Schemes, is new to me and I just love it! I saw the challenge and it instantly made me think of these BG papers I just found the other day when I was sorting my mountain of paper LOL I also used the inspiration picture as a sketch kinda..... using the horizontal stripes! This picture is of my Elli and her cousin Evy who is a couple weeks younger than her! They had so much fun playing when they came out to the beach to visit us!

What a fun game of tag :)

2009-01-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

Ok usually these kinda bore me LOL but this one is really fun! Becky Fleck from Page Maps tagged me and here's the dealio..... you just go to the place on your computer where you store your photos, then to the sixth folder, then to the sixth photo. Take that photo, put it on your blog and tell it's story!

So here's mine :) This is our tiny rat dog Zambrano.......Ok not really a rat, he's actually a Cavachi (1/2 chihuahua and 1/2 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), but he kinda looks like a rat. He's named after my favorite pitcher who is up in my header up there. :) My two year old really really loves to dress-up the poor guy LOL Looks like Mr. Potato Head might have lost a pair of glasses this day! Poor little rat was very unhappy with the whole situation, but it really did make for a funny picture!

It looks like most ofthe people I know have been tagged LOL My circle appears to be way too small! But I'll go tag 6 people whose blogs I have just started reading from another site!
Stephanie

Can't wait to see all your pictures:)

Week #4 and my favorite picture of all time!

2009-01-28T01:12:00.000-08:00

Julie who runs 52 sketches 52 weeks is just so crazy talented at making sketches! Four weeks into it and every single one has produced a layout I just adore! I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture ever...... Ellis a character and this picture is just so very her! She was really unsure at the hospital and very quiet which is so unlike her. I was starting to worry a little bit until in true Elli fashion she started to be a ham again!

After I showed Wen this picture she spent about an hour making up the most hilarious titles for it! In the end I went with the one Steve suggested on his way up to bed tonight :) Some rejected titles include.... But I ordered a pony, He isn't really that cute????,What am I supposed to do with this.... Wen feel free to chime in with the rest LOL

I just had to take a close up of this little embellie cluster too! Aren't these Chatterbox felt thingys just too cute?

And I just had to share this card Miss Elli made:) She has been wanting to make cards NON STOP lately! Today I was taking a picture of another layout and she said.... Mommy take one of MINE! So here it is :) It's so fun to have her play with me!

A month full of fun!

2009-01-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

First off... we're having our very first chat night at Scrap City tomorrow night! It should be a blast and there will be chattin and a project to work on and a prize! Hope to see you there!

Then on the weekend of February 20th we're having an all sketch crop! It'll be a blast! Come check out our new look and be entered to win some great prizes!

Also the weekend of the 20th we're having a DT reunion crop at Serendipity Scrapbooks! You won't believe how many challenges and prizes there are! It's be a great time so come join in the fun :)

Week #3

2009-01-24T00:37:00.000-08:00

Oh I am just addicted to these weekly sketches at 52 Sketches 52 Weeks! It was funny because before I saw this sketch I had printed out these three pics thinking.... I love them but what the heck am I going to do with them? This sketch was just perfect! Elli has this new routine whenever Daddy leaves that she HAS TO give him a hug and a kiss or she gets really upset! She'll chase after him to the door yelling.... "I have a hug and a kiss for you Daddy!" It is SO cute and just melts Daddy's heart :) Lexi and Coby worked on some "tummy time" the other day. We got him all dressed up in this darling little outfit from our friends the Tanner's (can you see it has a buttoned area on the bottom.... are you kidding me with how cute that is?) It started out really well with him flashing that darling little smile that we've been getting more and more frequently!
Then he decided he just wasn't interested in looking at hinmself in the mirror anymore.... this boy can throw a whopper of a fit when he is not amused!

So Sissy helped him dance and forget all about it!

Page Maps sketch "20 Sweet Yummies"

2009-01-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Isn't this a great sketch from the Page Maps blog? It just screamed baby layout to me :)

A smile and a Sketch!

2009-01-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

Our little man smiled for the very first time a couple days ago for Mommy! We finally got a semi-OK picture of his cute little smile tonight when Daddy was playing with him :) It just absolutely melts my heart to see his little personality starting to come out! Can't wait to get this one printed and scrapped!

And speaking of smiles..... how fun to have pics of BOTH of the girls smiling at once LOL I am just addicted to Julie's site 52 Sketches 52 Weeks! She has the coolest sketches and I so look forward to Sundays when they're posted! This picture of the girls was taken after Lexi had helped Elli dress up and they made a "house" and played in it all afternoon. She's such a great big sister! And I adore these We R Memory Keepers papers! They were just perfect to cut all up and layer like crazy all over!

Here's some more pics I can't WAIT to get printed and get my hands on to scrap! My little Elli is such a ham and a half! Does anyone else look at this picture and think Beavis and Butthead? Iam cornholio........

And sadly for her it appears she may have gotten Mommy's fashion sense... poor kiddo LOL And over here we are rarin and ready to go for baseball season.... isn't it HERE yet? Coby got these way cool Cub's shoes from Grandma for Christmas and I have the coolest baseball rubon that Wen sent me for him that I can't wait to play with! Man I really need to print out some pics! Walgreens hurry up and have a sale already!

It's card month at The Scrapcity

2009-01-15T01:12:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo it's card month at The Scrapcity and we're playing with card kits that Wen sent out! Here are my four cards made with the kit! Make sure you come check us out over there too as we have a rockin new look!And this special one was made by me and Elli! She's been making cards lately and having so much fun!And this one I made just for fun while I was in the card makin mood! I love this Mr. Campy line and I was really glad to get to use it since we never ever camp lol

Pictures for my Mommy

2009-01-09T21:02:00.001-08:00

Here's the picture Mommy :) This is Elli opening her dolly Rose on Christmas! I had no idea how stinkin cute this picture was until I lightened it on photobucket!

Oh I adore this paper!

2009-01-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't bear to throw this pretty paper in the scrap bin so I had to make a card with it! Card Positioning Systems has a great sketch up right now and it's where this card got it's inspiration :) I just love sketches like this that are so simple and have so much possibility!Here's a picture of my little buddy at just about 3 weeks :) Between 1-2 weeks he had gained a whole pound....little piggy! I don't know how much he gained this week but he looks so much bigger to me! I just had to snap a pic of him in his swing after I set him down. He looks like he's just hangin out :)

And here's the reason I never get any sleep at night anymore. I try and try but when I lay down all I do is love on him and kiss his tiny fingers LOL Darn cute kids!

I'm so glad Steve thought to snap a picture of Elli with her Rudolph nose on! My mom brought it out for her when we were in the hospital so I didn't get any pics then. They were hanging up where our keys hang and yesterday she was like.... hey I need my red nose :) It took steve 25 pictures to finally get ONE with the light on since it blinks off and on!

These "nap with Dad" pictures are by FAR my favorite pictures of our kiddos. I have one of Steve and Lexi when she was about 4 that is framed and stays by our bed and quite a few of Elli and Daddy over the last ucouple years so I just had to get one of Daddy and Coby nappin together! DOncha just love his baseball jammies? And geez isn't it baseball season yet???? Go Cubbies :) I really need to take pics of the Cobster in his many many amounts of Cubs clothing!

What a cool new place to play!

2009-01-06T23:21:00.000-08:00

I love sketches and this new site, 52 Sketches 52 Weeks, is so fun! I just love the first sketch too! I'm hoping to do all of them which will ensure I do at least ONE layout every week :) I've been holding onto this picture of Elli since last year. I just love it and I wasn't sure what to do with it! I took it while we were in the car waiting for Daddy and Sissy to run into the Dairy Maid and get some ice cream. I turned around and she just looked so darn cute back there :)

Yay for the returned Mojo!!!!!

2009-01-06T00:40:00.001-08:00

I just can't keepmy hands OFF the scrappy supplies! Thank goodness! My dear friend Jan owns Scrappin Mojo and she promised me some Mojo inspiration if I wandered by and she sure did deliver! This is for her technique challenge and is combined with her blog hoppin challenge for the challenge at One Little Word to use the word START. The technique was to layer embellies on your page so I used a background paper that I had two of and cut out the images and lifted them up with some pop dots and added various embellies all over the page. I just love, love, love how it turned out! This picture was taken of me getting to snuggle Jacoby minutes after he was born. I didn't even know this was an option after the c-section, but the anesthesiologist helped steve get him up on my chest so I could hold and kiss all over him! What a great moment that was! I was SO lucky that my doctor, the nurses and the anesthesiologist were not only willing to stick to all my wishes (like having Steve and Coby go to the recovery room with me) but they even went above and beyond by doing little things like helping me hold him right after he was born!

Caardvarks Sketch challenge

2009-01-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here's my card for the first card challenge of the year over at Caardvarks! What a cool sketch! I had been wanting to play with these colorful Dreamstreet papers for awhile and I LOVE these new shiny bright flowers I found at my LSS! My new obsession is all the transparencies I have laying around and never used! For this one I made a tag from a transparancy and stamped and embellished it.

Back in the scrappy mood!

2009-01-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know WHY... but I lost all will to play with paper while I was pregnant! After Coby was born while I was still in the hospital all I wanted to do was play with my stuff! I did get one heck of a cutie pie from the deal though LOL

Are you kiddin me with all that hair? I'm obsessed with makin him tiny boy mowhawks :) Look for it on a layout coming to theatres soon LOL

Speaking of layouts I have been a scrappin fool the last few days! Here is my "virgin" layout I made a few days ago.... It's from the January sketch from Scrapbooks Etc at Scrapcity!

Don't forget to come by and play! We have ELEVEN challenges for January and mine is a four week long card challenge with a prize pack from Cosmo Cricket that's awesome!

Memories From the Attic is having a contest called Scrap in the new Year and I'm getting a ton of inspiration from it! It's all month long so swing by and check it out! Here are a layout of Elli and her new baby brother and a calendar for my scrappy desk that I've made so far!

Homegrown Scrappin

2008-08-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ok Wendy I'm bloggin LOL Wendy and I ordered the super monster KIT from Homegrown and have been having a blast with it! She challenged me to get four layouts done and I did WOO HOO! Thanks for the kick in the butt Wen :) I just love this picture of Lexi! It's so rare to get an actual smile from a pre-teen LOL

This is my new fave picture of Steve and Elli. It was from the fourth and they were waiting for the fireworks that we never got to see :) I just love this apple paper!

Here's Uncle Nick and his neices playing! He is just so great with the little ones :)

And this is me and my SIL and our two girls who are almost the same age wearing their cute little matching outfits from Nana!

Holy KIT Batman

2008-07-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

I think I'm in love :) These gigantic kits from Homegrown Scrapbooks rock! These layouts are from the Summer Survival Kit! I had gotten the spring too, but was just too darn exhausted to play LOL This time I'm following along with the class and having so much fun! The second layout is from a sketch that was posted on the Homegrown Blog! The first layout is of Elli opening her card from Lucas! She was SO very excited to get mail from her buddy! The second is a picture I took of her playing on the playground at the lake :)

Elli and the tree: Triple the Sketch

2008-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Triple the Sketch posted a fun CHA special sketch :) What a fun sketch and just perfect for these two pictures I had of Elli picking leaves off of our tree!

Some scrappy fun.... and some other stuff too :)

2008-07-14T18:58:00.001-07:00

I found this newish blog called Use Your Stash that I just think is SO fun! The challenge was to use your stamps.... I have SO many of them and I never use them, so it was really fun to get some out to play with! I used a butterfly stamp and colored it in with my Heidi Swapp colored pencils (also something I never use!) and also used up some chipboard and the clear border thing that I had been meaning to use! It's hard to tell, but I had been dying to use this new coredinations cardstock and I LOVE that stuff! It was black with orange and it looks so cool sanded! In other news... I have recently learned how to make those cool black and white pictures with some color added back in and I'm addicted!!!! I was always so in awe when the portrait studio made them and I love being able to make my own! I did this one of Miss Elli coloring on her feet with chalk and just love how it turned out! Also on my list of things that are AWESOME is Costco hot dogs.... if anyones keeping track, this is my pregnancy craving of the moment. Poor Steve has had to bring me Costco hot dogs everyday after work all week! I told him it would be a lot easier on him if he would buy me one of those machines that rotates the hot dog while it cooks and makes them so delicious.... I'm just sayin. And yes I did take this picture so I could scrap it for the baby book LOL

Sassy Scrappers reveal :)

2008-07-07T15:10:00.001-07:00

Steph made this ridiculously gorgeous kit for the Sassy DT! I totally think she should go into business designing kits! Thanks Stepher I had a great time playing with all these pretty goodies!

Baby's first scrapbook :)

2008-07-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

Now that everyone knows about the baby I can share this darling album Wen sent me for the baby! Thanks Wen! You rock :) I had just been thinking.... where am I going to put the baby layout? And then a package showed up at my door! Isn't it pretty?

Thank goodness my scrappy blahs are FINALLY over! I was starting to worry for awhile there LOL I made this fun friend card from a sketch at Triple the Sketch. She has a really cool concept over there! There is a sketch and then the DT makes layouts and altered items and cards with the same sketch! For this card I used this weeks sketch and turned it on it's side.

What??? The heck you say!

2008-07-07T00:42:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right.....The Scrap City now has kits :) You would not believe all the amazing stuff that Jen has packed into this kit! I was so flattered that she asked me to design some goodies with her new kit and I just love how they turned out! Totally brought me out of my scrappy funk!

And if that isn't quite enough excitement for you.... The Scrap City is going to have a store too! Woo hoooooo! Please join us the weekend of July 25-27 to celebrate the opening of the new store :)

The "fourth" that only kinda sorta was

2008-07-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well we tried LOL Fortunately Steve, Lex and I weren't too invested in seeing the fireworks, and Elli is so little that everything thrills her :) First we went to the parade in downtown Warrenton. We missed it last year since we were manically unpacking still, but I am so glad we went this year cause Elli loved it! They had a Coast Guard helicopter and an old plane fly over Main street where the parade was going on and Ell was SO excited! She kept yelling "plane plane!" and "heliplopper helliplopper!" The look on her face as the plane flew over was just priceless :) Made me about have a nervous breakdown though! I can't believe how low they flew! I just love this picture of Elli waving at the firetrucks, police trucks and military vehicles :) The whole parade was mostly public service and military vehicles of people throwing candy and Elli and Lex got some! There were also some clowns and horses that Elli really loved and talked about all day long.... and today too!

We had to drag Miss Elli kicking and screaming from the parade when it was over, but she was OK after we told her we were going to see the fireworks later, which she had learned all about from watching Max and Ruby! Sadly seeing the fireworks didn't go quite as planned although I don't think she knew that :) We had heard that the marina which is just blocks from our house was a great place to watch several firework shows.... yeah not so much! We piled in the car a little after nine and Elli was just plain ticked off at being in the car LOL So we got out and waited.... and waited .... and waited some more LOL It was WAY foggy and we finally saw a tiny bit of fireworks way off in the distance, but they were half covered by clouds SO we gave up and went home to watch the vancouver ones in HD :) Elli didn't know the difference and LOVED them and fell asleep after about ten minutes! All in all it was a VERY fun day!

Finally made this mini album!

2008-07-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

So awhile back Wen sent me these cool coasters! They make such a neat little album! I had these papers that I bought just to use for Lex (Bo Bunny Xtreme Teen), but I had no clue what to do with them and this was just perfect! I made the coasters into a mini album with places on each page for a picture of her friend and a place to write thier name, phone #, etc. My plan was that she could hang it in her locker since she'll have one for the first time next year.... whether or not it's "cool" enough for that remains to be seen LOL

Wowsers :) What a Xmas present!

2008-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to finally feel Ok sharing this layout with all my internet buddies! I have just had so many darn problems in this pregnancy so far that I really wanted to wait til we were pretty sure we were "in the clear" :) I found out two days before Miss Elli's second birthday that we were pregnant again! Wow what a surprise! Although I knew it was possible I really wasn't expecting the test to be positive! I had had this whole creative plan for telling Steve if it WAS positive, but I just could not wait til the next day and had to tell him immediately :) I came downstairs with the test and showed it to him and we both just stared at it for awhile LOL My due date is.... of all the days Xmas!!!! However I'll be having another c-section, and as long as my blood sugars behave, this baby should be born right around the 15th of December :)

Summer is FINALLY here!

2008-06-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness! I had a good laugh this morning when I looked at our weather forecast and there was a SEVERE WEATHER ALERT! Oh no right..... wrong! It was a high temp alert for the coastal area... and our forecasted high is 72 :) Now for us that IS high, but not warranting an alert so much LOL Elli and I enjoyed our afternoon in the sun though! She dragged her blankie outside and plopped it down by Gracie who was enjoying some shade! They looked so darn cute sitting there together :)
I had to share this funny picture of Gracie too! She looks SO fierce.... yeah not really :) She's chewin on a stick! I thought it was a funny one cause she looks like she's about to attack when in truth she'd let you bite her before she ever bit you LOL

Thanks Wen :)

2008-06-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

So tonight I asked Wendy where she got her blog template from and just LOOK what she found :) I am in Cubbies heaven! Then she made me a carlos banner..... sigh. I could look at him all day :) What a pal you are!!!!! And look I even made a DAMN post too LOL

Now this is funny :)

2008-04-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wendy had this at her blog and she found it at Jessica's :) What a fun quiz!
MOUTHOLOGY
Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A: Ranch... if it's Gregg;s brand, blue cheese if it isnt
Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A: Burgerville, but we don't have any out here in nowhereland.... so McD's
Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A: olive garden.... oh I miss olive garden :)
Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. I always leave 15%... even if the service is not so good. I was a wiatress and everyone has a bad day. I usually leave 20-25% for good service and whatever I feel like/can afford if the service is EXCELLENT..... no better way to make a strangers day!
Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sickof?
A. salads or this cajun chicken alfredo they have at the place we get takeout from YUM
Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. always pepperoni... if it's just me eating it I get the deluxe one with all the peppers and onions and other meats :)
Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. I'm not a big fan of toast... I'd rather have an english muffin, but when i was preggers I had to eat certain stuff because of the diabetes so I always had a toast with peanut butter and butter :)
TECHNOLOGY
Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. Do you really have to ask LOL It's a picture of Wrigley field!
Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. 4
BIOLOGY
Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Right
Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. just my babies :) I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth removed a fe months ago but I'm a big wuss
Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A. Elli..... she is SO heavy now :) Oh yeah and I moved some furniture yesterday when I was "cleaning"
Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. No
Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were goingto die?
A. Oh yuck no
Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A. Diva dan......
Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. hmmm..... I like yellow and pink :)
Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. I'm sure I have but I dont know what..... Steve likes to traumatize me by telling me that you swallow spiders in your sleep every year..... UGH
Q. Have you ever saved some one's life?
A. No.... tried once in a nursing home I worked at but it was unsuccessful. I could though
Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. maybe not literally but yes
DAREOLOGY
Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. hmmm.... who is this girl? Yeah sure why not
Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for$200,000?
A. oh heck no
Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. yeah probably LOL
Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. Ummmmm yeah no
Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. I would probably do that for free lol..... I LOVE hot sauce :)
Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for$1,000,000?
A. heck no
DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A. my sweats don't have pockets.... I'm not wearing the fancy ones today LOL
Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: YUCK I hated that movie.... i didnt like it so much that i didnt even watch the end of it
Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: Both
Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: Ummm.... stand... we actually do have seats in our shower, but why sit?
Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: Yup and I have. My brothers were my roomates for a long time :)
Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: A whole bunch :) I LOVE flip flops :)
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: ummm.... a stay at home mom.... well how convinient
LASTOLOGY
Q: Last Friend you talked to?
A: Miss Wendy online
Q: Last person who called u?
A: Lexi... whi got back from outdoor school and is puking at school... sigh
Q: Person you hugged?
A: Miss Elli :) and my dog
FAVORITOLOGY
Q: Season?
A: Summer!
Q: Ice cream?
A: chocolate and peanut butter or peach sorbet
Q: movie?
A: All things Adam Snadler and Chris Farley
Q: type of music?
A: Barry Manilow.... I'm a super geek
CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A: yeah my Mommy
Q: Mood?
A: ready for Steve to have a day off
Q: Listening to?
A: Elli scream, dogs bark, Bob the Builder and Lexi tell me about Outdoor School
Q: Watching?
A. Bob the Builder..... can we fix it?
Q: Worrying about?
A: Nada
RANDOMOLOGY
Q: First place you went this morning?
A: ummmmm the potty???? :)
Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: scrap chat and watch the Cubbie game... what a great time :)
Q: What's the last movie you saw?
A. The one with adam sandler and that funny guy..... Chuck and Larry
Q: Do you smile often?
A: Yup :)
Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: Most of the time LOL

Elli's new love

2008-04-22T23:13:00.001-07:00

is her brand new Dora swimsuit! She is just crackin me up with this thing! She wanders around the house wearing it over whatever she happens to have on :) What a turkey! She's going to be so confused this summer when she realizes that it's really for going in the water! I think what she REALLY likes is the material of it! I just can't believe my sweet baby is going to be two on Saturday.... I do not accept!

In other news.... I have been SUCH a bum lately! I had this big master plan to "spring" (even though it's been SNOWING) clean the house before Saturday.... hasn't happened, and paint the bathroom this week.... hasn't happened, and scrap.... really hasn't happened much either! But Elli's in bed, the pictures are printed and hopefully I can get a little mojo back tonight :)

Notes from the crappy blogger.....

2008-04-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Man I did SO GOOD for awhile there! :) So here's my super duper loooooong post to catch up!So the very best new thing in our house for Elli is her "my Lucas"! It all started when my dear internet buddy Wendy randomly sent me a video with her son Lucas talking on it. Elli saw it and LOVED it! She wanted to watch it all day. And that is how two tiny kids started being internet buddies! Now they send videos back and forth and have even sent eachother snail mail cards :) This layout is of Elli watching Lucas' video and blowing him back some kisses! This layout was made with sketch #10 over at Gettin Sketchy!We have some WAY COOL stuff goin on this month over at Scrapcity! We are having our next crop the weekend of the 25th-27th and you for sure don't want to miss out on all the fun challenges, games and prizes :) We have also started a brand new challenge system over there! Each month on the first of the month there will be nine challenges to get your mojo goin! For every one you complete your name will go in the hat for a prize! Woop Woop!

You are cordially invited to our Mad Hatter Tea Party at Serendipity Scrapbooks. Since Mother's Day is right around the corner we thought that a Tea Party would be appropriate. So come on out and celebrate the many different hats we wear as women. There might be even a little May Day Celebration thrown in to our Tea Party. (note: crumpets and tea will be served!) The Mad Hatter Tea Party will begin on Friday April 25th through Sunday April 27th. We will also have pre crop challenges that will begin on Friday April 18th. All challenges will be posted by 12 noon est/9am pacific. Our awesome Design Team is busy coming up with some really neat challenges and games to keep you inspired. The Mad Hatter Tea Party will consist of 20 prizes to be had in one small weekend. Oh and you can't forget about our Blue Light Specials. They can be any where from 20% off to 50% off of specific items. Everyone loves our Blue Light Specials and you never know when they will appear over the weekend. You can also compete for points to be crowned Alice in Wonderland of our Tea Party. We hope to see you there for some wonderful inspiration and loads of fun!

We are also having another celebrity chat at Serendipity! This month our guest chat is with the Owner of the wonderful new company called Pink Paislee!! Come and join us on Tuesday the 22nd at 9pm EST. This is 6pm Pacific/7pm Mountain and 8pm Central time in our Chat room. Just come to the forum and at the top click on Chat.

Over at Sassy Scrappers we are halfway through our fabulous month long grand opening celebration!!!! There are SO MANY challenges it's just plain ridiculous :) We have two awesome sponsors! Big thanks to Treasured Scrapbooking and Cupcake Scrapshop!

So I have been in a total scrapping funk lately! Thankfully last night my buddy Wendy picked a challenge for me and gave me my orders LOL This layout is for the Scrapcity monthly challenge, which was to make a layout about your signifigant other :) This layout is of a sweet picture that Lexi took of them at the park a few weeks ago! This one actually made me get all teary when I was makin it :) Thanks Wendy for the kick in the rear! It was made with this months kit from Treasured Scrapbooking!

Hold Still!

2008-03-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

What a crazy crazy kid my little baby is! These pictures are SO how she is all day long :) This was made with the awesome I Deserve it All kit at Serendipity Scrapbooks! I just LOVE this Two Scoops basic Grey! And it was also for this weeks 12x12 sketch challenge at Serendipity courtesy of Lucy at My Sketch World!

Love how this card turned out :)

2008-03-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so I got inspiration from ALL OVER for this card! It is based on a sketch from Lucy at My Sketch World, made with a kit from Serendipity Scrapbooks and for a challenge to make a card for a special somebody at 4 Scrappy Sisters!

My very favorite part of this card is the key, antique lace doiley and the flower that my eldest DD put together for me :)

How Many.... hairdos will you have this year?

2008-03-07T02:07:00.000-08:00

I combined two great challenges for this one! Over at Sassy Scrappers we are having a week long member drive crop! This layout was based on Shana's awesome sketch :) I had been waiting to figure out what in the heack to do with this cool die cut number paper and am SO GLAD that I finally figured something out! I swear it's been sitting on my table taunting me for so long! :) The second challenge that I did on this layout was a daily challenge at Serendipity! The challenge was to alter something felt! I never would have thought of this on my own and I love how it looks! I used Making Memories glitter paint on these flowers (also from Making memories) and it added just the right tough of bling :)

Sketch Challenge at Stuck?!

2008-03-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

Steph found this fun challenge blog called Stuck?! and I think this is quite possibly the coolest sketch I've ever used :) I actually had a picture and a bunch of papers on my desk all ready for tonight and I found this sketch and had to switcheroo! :) This sketch has definately produced my new favorite layout! Steve took this darling picture of Elli peeking between my legs at the punkin patch last October. She goes through phases where she is SO clingy and this day was definately in one of those phases! I love these papers from We R Memory Keepers.... I don't think the blue and orange could have matched the picture any better! My favorite part of this layout is the large white flower that I cut out with an exacto and tucked her picture behind! I also love all the little buttons from Making Memories! Their Blossoms and Buttons containers have to be my new best thing! They are just filled with all sizes of funky buttons!

Serendipity DT review *My Mind's Eye**

2008-03-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

I must admit.... at first I was a little nervous about these My Mind's Eye papers that I was sent from Serendipity because I wasn't sure if I had any photos that would do them justice! Turned out to not be a problem :) The first thing I realized is they are absolutely perfect for black and white and sepia pictures! this first layout is a photo I had been holding onto for awhile cause I just didn't know what to do with it! it is of my baby Elli and my neice Evy who are a couple weeks apart in age! Evy is the daughter of my big brother Kevin, whom I am very close to, and it was so special for myself and Senja to be pregnant at the same time! This gorgeous vine paper was so delicate and pretty behind the sepia picture and antique lace doily!

This second layout is actually me and my oldest daughter 12 years ago :) I scanned it and reprinted it in black and white and it was just wonderful with these papers! I love the soft yellow background that was on the back of one of the patterned papers! These papers are super thick cardstock quality and look great when sanded!And speaking of my brother Kevin..... this mini book is all pictures of me and my two brothers Kevin and Nick! These papers are perfect for older photos from the 70's and early 80's! I covered some jumbo playing cards and just embellished away!

Serendipity DT review *Heidi Swapp**

2008-03-07T01:11:00.000-08:00

I just LOVE these chipboard letters! They matched perfectly with the My Mind's Eye papers I was sent to design with! I think they really stand out on the page when you sand the edges too!

They were just the perfect size for this bookmark I made, which also used the My Mind's Eye papers!

And after sanding them they really stand out of this plaque I made for Steve! This is a picture of Steve and his Grandma and also his Father and Grandfather who have passed away. I was so thrilled to also finally find the perfect project for this antique quilted heart I've been holding onto!

DT Review work for March at Serendipity! Queen and Co

2008-03-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

I got a package of SUPER FUN stuff from the Serependipity store to review this month :) I just LOVE these little jewels! they are just perfect for any brown project you are working on!

They were so fun for adding to flower centers!

My very first attempt at paper piecing :)

2008-03-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

This little card is for the Caard Trip challenge over at Caardvarks! My good buddy Amy found me this fire truck pattern for my very first paper piceing effort LOL It was actually kinda fun! I also love my new corner rounder toy..... why the heck didn't I get one of these sooner??????

and the rest of Treasure Box Club!

2008-03-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to need anoth one of these kits from Treasure Box Club for this year's Easter pics too! Made these fun little treat boxes for my nieces and nephew for Easter! This new American Crafts ribbon is so darn pretty! And the second layout is of Miss Lexi! I found these pics she had taken of herself on my memory card when uploading projects! What a fun surprise! Isn't that scalloped circle paper just the cutest? And my favorite thing of all from this kit was the little magnifying glasses! What a cool way to finish my title!

and some more Treasure Box Club

2008-03-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Boy I wish Blogger would let me upload more pics at once :) Miss Elli was so funny for her very first Easter! She was so less than interested in everything...... other than the Easter grass! Now I have to say... I'm not usually a huge fan of shaped brads, but I LOVE these little butterflies, flowers and bunnies from MM!

Wowsers wowsers! Check out this kit from the Treasure Box Club!

2008-03-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Yum yum yum Making Memories!!!! This line of Easter goodies is just awesome! Thanks so much to Tracy at the Treasure Box Club for sposoring us at Scrap City this month! I had a blast with all these gorgoues glittery papers and the tiny shpaed brads are so much fun! First I made these three Easter cards! For the one with Easter eggs I used some fun little Easter egg shaped playing cards! Gotta love the Dollar Tree! These papers were just beggin for some fussy cutting and pop dots :)

CPS 54, Oh Baby!

2008-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

What a perfect time for a baby challenge! I was hired to make a baby book for a friend's sister and wanted to make a card for her to give along with the present! This has been a real toughie for me since they don't know the sex of the baby! I just love these We R Memory keepers patterened papers! And this sketch over at card positioning systems was just perfect!

Materials: Patterned Papers by We R Memory Keepers; Joann's lace; Pebbles Inc charm; flowers and buttons by Making Memories; May Arts ribbons; Making Memories transparancy definition; Bazzill cardstock.

We've gone Iron Chef CRAZY over at the Mojo

2008-02-21T03:28:00.000-08:00

What a fun contest this has been over at Scrappin Mojo so far.... and it just began :) Michelle and Martha sent us all envelopes with the "secret ingredients" inside to complete our challenges! This week was buttons and they sure did send us some fun and funky ones. Here's my entries! The layout challenge was to create a layout using the buttons to embellish andothe embellishment. My layout is called "Always smell the roses" and it's of Miss Elli smelling the flowers that Daddy brought Mommy! I used the buttons to embellish the photo mat and also the outside of the giant chipboard flower. Our card challenge was to create a card using the buttons and also stitching! I love that some of the buttons were flower shaped so I made a flower garden with the buttons as centers for the chipboard flowers and some of the shaped ones too as tiny flowers. Then I hand stitched their stems :) Thanks Michelle and Martha for such a fun contest!

Scrappin Mojo February Sponser C&T Publishing!

2008-02-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

OK the only thing wrong with this month's sponser is that I don't have MORE of these awesome little boxes! I have saved these bracelets that were mine, Steve's and Elli's since she was born just waiting to do something special with them and this box was absolutely perfect! Our time in the hospital was so special and wonderful! Since I had a c-section with Elli we stayed for longer, and the plan was that Steve would go back home, be with our dogs and oldest daughter and work a couple days and then take a couple weeks off after she was born..... sweet Dh just couldn't be pulled away from her for anything and ended up staying on the crazy uncomfortable couch for all the nights we were there! I LOVE having all of our bracelets showcased in such a beautiful way! Here is the link to check out more of C&T Publishings great product and of course we have many more of these fun boxes on display at Scrappin Mojo!

Finally got back to scrappin!

2008-02-15T02:13:00.000-08:00

It's been a long coupla weeks with no mojo for me :) Thank goodness Serendipity Scrapbook's had a crop and got my rear back in gear! I had so much fun creating for the crop and ended up with some of my very favorite things I've ever done! The Rock Star layout of Miss Elli has been proclaimed to be Steve's favorite layout ever and I'm quite in love with the Hubba Hubba layout and the fact that I FINALLY got Lexi's school pics scrapped..... 6 years later for some of them :)

Serendipity Scrappbook's chat with Jenni Bowlin!!!!!

2008-02-15T02:09:00.000-08:00

I think Jenni Bowlin is so awesome! I discovered her papers via a kit club and have been hooked ever since! Here also is a link to check out her new paper line on her blog! Lovin those butterflies! Hope to see you at the chat!

Jenni Bowlin Date: February 26, 2008 Tuesday Time: 9pm est, 8pm central, 7pm mtn, and 6pm pst. Place: Serendipity Scrapbooks chat room www.serendipityscrapbooks.com Here is a little bit about Jenni: I am a wife to Jared. I am a mother to two handsome little boys, Noah and Christian. I am a preservationist. I am a writer, a photographer and a collector (aren’t all scrapbookers?). I am thankful to have made a living doing something that celebrates all of the above. For seven years now I have worked and played in the scrapbook industry. Beginning with the Creating Keepsakes 2003 Hall of Fame, I have been published in this magazine and associated idea books more than 100 times, and continue to work with the magazine on a regular basis. Other recent work: “Timeless Techniques”, self authored and published by Li’l Davis Designs “Full Circle ”, published by Li’l Davis Designs “Pockets, Pull-Outs, and Hiding Places” by Jenn Mason (published by Quarry books) “The Brain Freeze Rescue Kit”, by Jenna LaRose Family Circle Magazine, January 2006 “The Look Book” published by Autumn Leaves, December 2006 I have also had the privilege to travel the country and teach classes for the past three years. You may have taken a class from me at a Creating Keepsakes University, at The Scrapbook Oasis in Irvine, CA or at Scrap It in Hermitage, TN where I am on a regular basis. Here is a link to her blog with some wonderful eye candy and sneek peeks of all the new beauties http://www.jennibowlin.blogspot.com/ We are so excited and can't wait to see you there!

Check this out!

2008-02-01T01:54:00.000-08:00

This is for Serendipity Scrapbook's blog challenge this week. The challenge was to blog about your favorite technique..... not quite sure if this qualifies as a technique but heck it is my very favorite new thing! My pictures of my work have always frustrated the heck outta me! I would make all of these things that I loved and then when I tried to photograph them they would look TERRIBLE! I knew that once upon a time I had seen directions to make a photo box of sorts, and after many many failed attempts at googling I finally found them! Here's the link! Almost everything you need to make this macro box is probably lying around your house.... unless like me you had just gotten done throwing away all your carboard boxes :) It was super simple to make and it has made such a huge difference in improving the quality of my photos! Check it out and give it a try! You won't be sorry! Up above I posted a couple of my new pics with the box and a couple of my old ones too! The main difference in my opinion is that you can control where the light is around the subject and there aren't shadows! I think the clarity of color is markedly improved as well!

And another card!

2008-01-30T02:22:00.000-08:00

This one is also for the Scrap City blog challenge! Week #4. This gorgeous sketch came from the Celebration Moments card sketch challenge. I got these Bazzill stitching templates awhile back and have been wanting to use them again! Knew this sketch was just perfect for them! The flower is done with the template and the vine and leaves are Bazzill rubons and jewels :)

Materials: Bazzill CS, rubons, stitching template and floss; Junkitz PP's

I've gone card challenge crazy :)

2008-01-30T02:07:00.000-08:00

Here's my first one :) This one is for Dawn's blog challenge #3 over at Scrap City! I love this sketch from Di Hickman's blog because it is super simplae and you can dress it up any way you want! Really love the design with the 3 seperate blocks that make one large block! I got the color scheme of blue, brown and purple from Naureen's weekly card challenge over at Priceless Scrapbooks

materials: Bazzill CS; buttons; Prima flower; Bazzill floss; Gin-X PP'sJunkitz rubon and gold uniball pan.

All kinds of fun stuff going on!

2008-01-28T23:52:00.000-08:00

I have been having a TON of fun playing at the brand new site Priceless Scrapbooks! First fun thing is an altered challenge :) and there is a prize to be won! Here it is!
Altered Challenge

Lists... we all make them... but can we FIND them? Clipboard altering is a great way to have a home for your lists and also add something pretty to your home! The possibilities are endless and they are so useful! Here are some clipboard ideas to get you started! Grocery lists Chores Scrap challenges here at Priceless Scrapbooks Phone messages Christmas list Stuff to do lists Upload your clipboard that has been altered for a purpose to the clipboard contest section of the gallery Clipboard Gallery by February 29th at midnight EST. We are awarding a nice prize package to THE BIG WINNER. GOOD LUCK! We can't wait to see all the entries!

And also, Kenzie is running a DT call! Here are all the details!

Priceless Scrapbooks currently has several Design team member opportunities available. We are looking for individuals who can and will meet deadlines, are creative, enjoy being on a message board and contributing to a team environment. http://pricelessscrapbooks.forumcircle.com/portal.php REQUIREMENTS 1. Our Design Team members will be asked to: Commit to a 6-month term to start. After the 6 month term has commenced, the current members will have an option to remain on the DT team pending performance in the current term, and at the discresion of the Site Administrators and the Company in which you will design for. (Hence, we want to keep our cream of the crop and add to it!) 2. Design either layouts, cards, altered items based on your monthly assignment as instructed by the Company Representative, Site Admin and/or DT Coordinator. 3. The projects you create each month will be used to showcase manufacturer products, in our galleries, in our monthly newsletter, and in other promotions as desired. The monthly kit you receive will be sponsored by a specific company and we appreciate any positive advertising that company receives. 4. You will also be required to participate by completing a class, creating challenges, be active in crops (thus meaning being there during the crop every other month), actively comment/chat/encourage, etc on message board. 5. Post question/poll threads (LOTD, QOTD, etc/ if applicable) in the daily forum and create a monthly contest challenge on a rotation with other design team members. 6. You will also be required to contribute to a monthly newsletter (rotation basis not every month) an article, tips/technique, pick and highlight a member from our message board, etc. 7. Post additional projects in their own personal design team gallery. 8. Participate in forum discussions on a daily basis to help facilitate the growth of our online community. The community involvement is very important to us here at Priceless Scrapbooks, so we ask that each member try their best to devote time to our forum and gallery every day. 9. It is your message board as a design team. We ask you to watch for negative comments, spammers, etc and alert either the Site Administrator or the Assistant Site Admin/ Coordinator. 10. Promote Priceless Scrapbooks to friends, family, and colleagues to help facilitate the growth of our online store, our newsletter registration, our gallery and our forum. PLEASE EMAIL THE FOLLOWING TO ME NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT FEBRUARY 23, 2008. THE NEW DESIGN TEAM WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE SITE ON MONDAY FEBRUARY 25, 2008. THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS: OWNEDBYSHIHTZUS@AOL.COM. All of your projects should for this DT call should be newly created. To apply, please complete the following steps: ** Please email Kenzie with attachments of the following: 2 of your best layouts showing YOUR UNIQUE STYLE ***one layout must be about you. Tell us who you are! 1 of your best cards showing YOUR UNIQUE STYLE ***this must be a valentine card 1 Altered Item And tell us: What is your unique Scrapping Style? Describe it. AND **Please email Kenzie with your answers to the following questions at: ** ownedbyshihtzus@aol.com I. Why do you think you would make a good fit for Priceless Scrapbooks? a. Why do you want the position? What about the position entices you the most? b. What can you offer to Priceless Scrapbooks as the DT Member? Be creative. c. How often are you online? d. Show me your creativity. List one new idea for the site and tell me a little about it. II Past Experience? a. Do you have any prior experience as a design team member, or coordinator? Give examples of a frustrating situation and a rewarding situation? b. Do you have computer knowledge? How well do you know a computer? Give examples. III. Are you committed currently to other sites/blogs/stores? a. What level of commitment is at those sites? b. Do you feel it will affect your commitment to Priceless Scrapbooks? IV. Why do you scrapbook? a. Give me three reasons on why you scrapbook? b. Do you want to be known in the scrapbooking industry? c. Where do you mostly scrapbook? At home, with friends, weekend retreats, etc? d. Do you attend CKUs, or other similar events? Please link me to your blog, your work, scrapbook resume, or whatever you have Priceless Scrapbooks does not mind you being on other DT’s however, we do expect you to fulfill your requirements with Priceless Scrapbooks. You will be required to sign a 6 month contract, to start.

ALSO.... there are so many fun challenges and a charm system for completing things!

Check this out!

2008-01-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

For the blog challenge over at Serendipity Scrapbooks our challenge was to link up fellow bloggers project that we loved! And I LOVE this acrylic wedding album that Wendi made! I can't believe that it was your first one! I have two of these sitting on my desk and Wendi inspired me to get going on one! I think wedding pics would be a great place to start :) Here's Wendi's blog! Go check it out :)

Scrappin Mojo's Iron Chef Contest

2008-01-26T03:16:00.000-08:00

Can you smell what the Mojo's are cookin?????? Come on over to http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/index.php for the Mojo Iron Chef! You could be our first place winner and come join our super fun team for a month :)

Do you have the chops???? Are you creative enough??????? Play IRON CHEF!!! Here’s how it will work: You MUST sign up to participate by February 7th. The first challenge will be posted on February 14th and be due on February 20th at midnight CST. You must register in the forum AND in the gallery. All challenges will be posted in the forum and your creations must be posted in the gallery and linked to the contest thread to count for the week’s challenge. On February 8th, the “secret ingredients” will be mailed to all participants. There will be four secret ingredients, one for each week of the contest. You will be challenged to use the secret ingredients on two separate projects for each week of the contest. You are required to use at least some, if not all, of the ingredients provided. Each week, a secret panel of judges will rate your creations on: ------use of the secret ingredients ------creativity ------overall visual appeal Some of the participants will be eliminated each week. The secret ingredients are yours to keep! At the end, one winner will become Mojo’s first Iron Chef!! She/he will be the recipient of a prize package worth at least $30 AND be an intern Maven for one month….. and be able to post challenges weekly for our members! We will also have two runner-up Sous Chefs… They will receive a little gift from Mojo too. PLUS… we’ll choose one random winner from all the participants who complete at least one challenge to receive a prize too. So, you can win, just for playing!!

WOOOO HOOO!!!!!

2008-01-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

I got some great news! I was picked for the DT over at Serendipity Scrapbooks! I am so so excited! I have always wanted to design for a kit club and they also do product reviews which is really cool! When I checked my E-mails I was on the phone leaving Steve a message and I got so excited I hung up right in the middle of talking :) Can't wait to show you what I get to create with the fabulous kits from there!

Valentine's/ Anniversary card

2008-01-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

Love, love, love this line by Cosmo Cricket! It was just perfect for this card for my parents who celebrate their anniversary on Valentine's Day! I like that it's got the Valentine's colors but isn't too girly so it can be for both of them! I used the tags that come with the kit as multi layered embellies and lifted them up with pop dots, so it's a very multi layered looking card! Might have to hand deliver this one LOL! Found this great card sketch at

CPS http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/ It's sketch #26!

Materials: Cosmo Cricket PP; Bazzill CS; Colorbox ink; Magic Mesh; My Mind's Eye lace; assorted brads and ribbon

Sketch #27 from Sketches {by tamara}

2008-01-23T02:09:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Dawn for turning me on to a great sketch site! What a super fun sketch :)

http://sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/2008/01/card-sketch-27.html I made this fun B'day card witgh my leftover scraps from the altered kit over at Serendipity Scrapbooks! I just LOVE this lace paper!

Materials:

Scenic Route Loveland: Jade Drive; Creative Imaginations Sweet Pea Noir; KI Memories lace cardstock; Heidi Swapp flower ghost shape; Bazzill floss; Thickers and misc. ribbon and button.

And one more :)

2008-01-19T14:40:00.001-08:00

I made this with the Serendipity altered kit for January. You know I love an altered anything and these kits ROCK! This is a 7 gypsies tag book altered with pics of my girls with my parents for them for Valentines Day and I also altered one of the take out boxes that came with the kit to give it to them in!

and more......

2008-01-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

Serendipity Scrapbooks DT call

2008-01-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

I dig this new site I found :) Tons of fun challenges and they do a really cool recipe tag swap! Fun stuff! Here is all the stuff I put together for the DT call over there! I had a blast making it and am really pleased with how it all turned out :)

Another great sketch challenge! Mojo Monday week 20

2008-01-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

Found this great blog that's new to me http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com/2008/01/mojo-monday-week-20.html courtesy of Dawn's blog challenge over at Scrap City! I had fun with this one! I turned it on it's side and added tags down the side and tags in the center sentiment box for my two girls pictures on this card for Grandma's B'day!

Materials: Colorbox ink; bazzill cs; Arctic Frog PP; K and Co pp; Junkitz PP; DCWV sparkle paper; Fabric strips; Stickles; Studio G stamps

Caardvarks Sketch Challenge

2008-01-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

LOVE this Becky Fleck sketch for Caardvarks! http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/2007/12/happy-new-year-happy-new-challenge.html

I am currently working on making ALL my families B'day cards in the month of January and this was a great sketch to work with!

Materials: Heidi Swapp masks; Making Memories paint and glitter paint, Arctic Frog rub on alphabet; gems; American Crafts patterned paper and ribbon; My Mind's Eye chipboard and Colorbox ink.

Where I've been....

2008-01-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in soooo long and here's why! Our area of the north coast got SLAMMED in December by what they are calling "The Storm of the Century" around here. Although the wind blew out the weather center's wind meter, they estimate that the wind gusts were around 123 mph. We lost our power for almost six days..... thank goodness for satellite cable and generators! That was the best large purchase we have ever made! The night the winds were the worst, Steve and I stayed up all night, blocked all the windows as it really sounded like they were just going to shatter, and watched our girls sleep! We ended up losing half our roof, everything in our fridge (it just would not work with the generator and then proceeded to break altogether), our fence, a shed and we have a leaky roof. BUT we are all OK thank goodness! It was a crazy time. Our area was completely cut off from the rest of the state as the freeways were blocked, and we had no phone or cell service. It took 3 days before Steve could get to a phone 2 hours away to call our family! What a month! So we have spent the last month cleaning up and getting back to normal. Glad to be back to blogging :)

My new addiction.......

2007-11-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Is these paper bag albums :) I just can't get enough of them and need to go get more bags!!!!!! thanks Jen you enabler :) LOL

And more Halloween pics :)

2007-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand LOL :) From Halloween and the punkin patch :)