Happy Little Studio

Home. Sweet. Home.

2012-02-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

I spent the past few days in California at CHA with the awesome ladies from Creating Keepsakes magazine. Catching up with friends, making new friends and of course seeing all the amazing new crafting and scrapbooking products that will hit the store shelves soon! It was so fun...oh and we went to Disneyland too. You just can't beat Space Mountain - I hadn't been on that ride since I was fifteen and it was still just as fun!

But even with all the fun I had, it is so good to be home. I missed my hubby and my little monkeys terribly. And I don't sleep well when I travel, so I was crazy exhausted. So today, after ten hours of sleep - thanks to my sweet hubby who let me sleep in - I'm feeling somewhat rested. I have lots of unpacking, laundry, and catching up to do - but I promise to be back with lots of photos to share from the show. I have a long list of new products that I saw and now "need" - a hazard of attending the show. ;-) And I can't wait to tell you all about them!

Head over to the CK blog today for a look at some of the trends we spotted as well as a chance to win some of those products before they're available in stores!

Stay tuned. I'm off to conquer that mountain of laundry! Hopefully I won't get lost in it...maybe I'll take a flare gun with me just in case.

Amy Tangerine Blog Hop

2012-01-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to share a peek of Amy's new collection, Sketchbook, that will be released later this month at CHA.

Vibrant colors drip off the page in the latest AmyTangerine collection, Sketchbook. Featuring hand-drawn details and a boldwatercolor effect, Sketchbook bursts with eclectic goodness for your everydayprojects. Splash some color on life.

Doesn't that description sound awesome?! I loved Amy's first collection and cannot wait to get my hands on this new collection! Here's a little peek for you.

Be sure to stop by Amy's blog for more on her amazing new collection. Next stop (and peek) on the blog hop is Shimelle.

After you visit all the blogs, be sure to go back to American Crafts and tell them what you liked best to be entered to win the entire Sketchbook collection!

Thanks for hoppin' by!

CK Giveaway Winner!

2012-01-16T09:06:00.000-05:00

The winner of Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season is

Congratulations Ange! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to all who entered and have a wonderful day!

CK Giveaway!

2012-01-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

Creating Keepsakes released another awesome special issue this week, Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season. This issue has you covered with lots of great ideas and scrapliftable layouts for every season!

How about a peek inside the issue?

Open publication - Free publishing - More photography

Now how about a giveaway?! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking Ideas for Every Season on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, January 15, 2012 at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Monday, January 16th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

AC Projects

2012-01-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

I hope your 2012 has gotten off to a great start! Mine has been busy, but good. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with the kids back in school and Allan back to work. It was nice having them home, and even though I'm enjoying the quiet house, I miss them. Though their absence does make writing a whole lot easier, and I have lots of writing to do this month.

Today I have some American Crafts projects to share.

I created this page for my Mom. Photos are from our last "girl's weekend away." We (Moya, my Mom and I) go somewhere for a long weekend every summer. It's always such fun and something that we all look forward to. I really need to start a separate album for documenting all our trips.

Here are some thank-you cards I created using American Crafts Daydreams collection. I still need to write some notes in these to loved ones for the wonderful Christmas gifts I received.

Finally is this wreath I created (inspired by this) to display favorite photos. I love that you can easily change the photos at any time. I'm still trying to decide where to hang it in our home. You can create your own with this tutorial I wrote for the American Crafts blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

2011-12-25T13:42:00.001-05:00

Wishing you a very merry and blessed Christmas!

One more.

2011-12-22T12:48:00.001-05:00

My final project is up on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog. Here's a peek.

My post on the LYB blog includes a tutorial for making paper balls like the one pictured above - go check it out and have a Merry Christmas! Thanks for stopping by!

Fa la la la Little Yellow Bicycle Winner!

2011-12-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Little Yellow Bicycle prize package is...

Congratulations Jenny! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and I will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to all who entered! I loved reading what you love about the holiday season and so many of them rang true for me too!

Merry Christmas!

Little Yellow Bicycle Giveaway!

2011-12-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hello! Hello! Who's ready for a giveaway? Today my third guest post is going up over on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog AND I have some goodies to give away (here on my blog), compliments of LYB.

Don't they look awesome?! (Sorry for the bad photo - it's dark here, so no natural light to snap my pic in.) To be entered to win this package of Christmas-y goodness simply leave a comment sharing something that you love about the holiday season. Also, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

Only one entry per person please. You must live in the continental United States to enter. You have until Tuesday, December 20th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post their name here on Wednesday, December 21st.

Good luck!

Little Yellow Bicycle

2011-12-11T17:07:00.001-05:00

I hope you're enjoying the last bit of your weekend. I can't believe the kids have just one more week of school and then they're off for winter break! I really need to get wrapping those Christmas presents while the kids are still in school. Where are you in the gift shopping/wrapping part of this holiday? I'm pretty much done shopping and have just wrapped a few - lots more wrapping to go! The few I have wrapped I embellished with Little Yellow Bicycle products.

I used this plain lunch sack and a sheet from this LYB Paper Pad to wrap a gift for Moya. You can see it along with two other gift wrap ideas on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog. Go check it out - and have fun wrapping those gifts!

Twinkle Lights

2011-12-05T13:17:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! I hope your week is starting of wonderfully - I myself am still trying to wake up. I didn't get the best sleep...I was awakened around 1:00 a.m. to the sounds of clanging pots and clinking silverware. I was startled by it at first, but then relieved to discover it was my husband in the kitchen. He couldn't sleep, so he decided to empty the dishwasher and reload it. Now I would never want to stop Allan from doing the dishes...but 1:00 a.m. might not be the best time for it. Oh well, I may be tired, but at least I don't have dishes to contend with!

Now, on to the purpose of this post. I have a tutorial up on the Creating Keepsakes blog for making twinkle lights with reflectors for your Christmas pages and projects. Go check it out and have a happy Monday!

Little Yellow Bicycle

2011-12-02T11:10:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! Today I'm super excited to share that I am the guest this month over on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog for their Wonder & Wishes collection! I had so much fun creating the projects for them and today the first one is up on their blog.

I used this fun Confetti Garland on today's project - isn't it awesome?!

And how about these little cuties?!

I just love the packaging too - wooden spools and tiny corked bottle - you can bet I will be using them for projects once the product is gone! And actually, the mini pom poms are just about gone because I did this with them to use on my layout.

So head over to the LYB blog to check out my scrapbook page using lots of goodies from the Wonder & Wishes collection!

Happy Friday!

p.s. I'll be having a LYB giveaway on my blog in a couple weeks so be sure to check back!

Moya's Skinny Scarf

2011-11-30T16:21:00.001-05:00

Do you remember this post? I promised to share a photo of the scarf once I had all those yarn tails hidden. Well, I'm finally making good on that promise a month and a half later! I actually finished a while ago, I just finally snapped a pic of Moya modeling it.

I think it looks great on her and just so happens to match the hat she is wearing that I knit for her last year with the same yarn. Those thin stripes at the bottom of the scarf are a happy coincidence - totally did not plan for that to tie in with the hat. I love happy surprises like that!

Now about weaving in those yarn tails. Terri commented and asked if I had a secret to it...sorry to say, no I don't...though I wish I did. Oh how I wish I did! I can tell you that there are a lot of great videos and tutorials online though if you are looking for some tips. And if any of you reading this has some of your own secrets or tips on the subject I'd love for you to share them in the comments. I for one would be forever grateful! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

More AC Chap

2011-11-23T15:11:00.001-05:00

I'm telling you, I cannot get enough of American Crafts Chap collection! I love it. Love. It. And I'm back to creating with it again. Here's a layout I made for my dad - I figured after making this one for my mom I should make one for my dad too. :) I dug deep for these photos captured four years ago. Okay, I didn't have to dig, but rather scroll through several thousand pictures in Lightroom to find these. It's crazy how little my kids are in these photos. They grow up way too fast!

How do you like the journaling? Moya wrote it. Just what every grandfather wants to hear - that he's his granddaughter's favorite horse! Tee-hee. The kids do love how he will get down on the floor and play with them. He's a fun Papa for sure!

I pulled out my Studio Calico spray ink and another new mask from The Crafter's Workshop for this page. Love the misted circles. That red grid is a stamp from the Chap collection, and I made a banner with patterned paper for my title. I had lots of fun creating this layout and hopefully my dad will get a kick out of it!

Thanks for stopping by today and to all my U.S. friends, Happy Thanksgiving!

Another winner!

2011-11-21T14:30:00.001-05:00

The winner of Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations is

Congratulations Linda! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to all who entered and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

So happy.

2011-11-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

Oh so very happy about this bit of news. I love working with the talented ladies at Creating Keepsakes, fellow contributing writers, and the Dream Team. I'm feeling so blessed to be able to work with all these amazing ladies for another year.

Thanks CK!

Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations

2011-11-16T12:00:00.001-05:00

Right on the heels of Scrapbooking with Fabric & Notions comes another great new special issue from Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations! Now who couldn't use great ideas for scrapbooking holidays right now?! And even though this issue is coming out around Christmas time, that is just a portion of the issue - this issue covers holidays and celebrations year round!

Below is a layout that I created for this issue that features Valentine's Day photos of my cute hubby and me as well as a budget friendly do-it-yourself border.

How about a bigger peek inside the issue?

Open publication - Free publishing - More celebrations

Now how about a giveaway?! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking Holidays & Celebrations on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, November 20, 2011 at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Monday, November 21st. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck!

Drumroll please!

2011-11-12T09:11:00.001-05:00

The winner of Scrapbooking with Fabric & Notions is...

Congratulations Amy! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to all who entered and enjoy your weekend!

Scrapbooking with Fabric & Notions

2011-11-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Today I have a couple of things to share. First, I have a technique blog post up on the CK blog today that is perfect for fall pages! The photo on the left is a little peek - you can see the full page along with technique instructions on the CK blog.

Next, I have a new Creating Keepsakes special issue, Scrapbooking with Fabric & Notions to share with you - literally - I have one copy to give away to one lovely blog reader, compliments of CK! First, a bit about this special issue.

As the title suggests, it is filled with awesome ideas for using fabric and notions - aka sewing stuff - on your scrapbook pages. I love, love, love fabric and sewing and am so excited to see this new special issue. I was blessed to contribute both layouts and chapter opener art for this issue. You can see some of my chapter opener art here.

Below is the cover featuring a beautiful layout by Piradee Talvanna and a page from inside the issue featuring one of my layouts, "Interactive Fun." My page includes a mini book that I created using fusible web, fabric, and wool felt.

Here's a bigger peek inside this issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More fabric

Now for the giveaway! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking with Fabric & Notions on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, November 11, 2011 at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Saturday, November 12th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Best of luck!

And the winner is...

2011-11-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

The winner of Kelly Purkey's Sketchpad class is

Congratulations Vinnie! Kelly will email you soon with the class PDF!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Sketchpad Class Giveaway

2011-11-04T13:11:00.000-04:00

As promised, I have a giveaway of the uber talented, Kelly Purkey's Sketchpad class!

Sketchpad is a brand-new class from Kelly Purkey, spinning off fromher series of successful Sketchbook classes. Sketchpad is a downloadable,self-paced class featuring 12 original sketches, 35 exclusive layouts fromKelly + and her talented contributors, 35 MORE sketches made from thoselayouts, and 12 amazing cards based on the sketches from the talented, Kristina Werner... allin a full-color 75 page PDF. Visit Kelly'sblog for more details on the class and how to purchase.

For your chance to win Kelly's class simply leave a comment, along with your email address (so Kelly can send you the class if you're the winner), on this post by Sunday, November 6th at 12 midnight EST and I will post the randomly selected winner Monday, November 7th.

Have an awesome weekend!

Grateful

2011-11-02T16:54:00.002-04:00

What are you grateful for? I'm grateful for so many things, and so many people. I am crazy blessed and love to reflect on those blessings, especially in November - with Thanksgiving on the horizon it just seems the perfect time for it. So I was thrilled to receive my American Crafts November blog assignment which was to create a layout and card with an "I'm Grateful for" theme. I chose to create the page about my mom and for my mom. You can read more about it and see my card on the American Crafts blog. I thought it would be fun though, to share a tip with you here that I like to use, and used on this layout.

I used a lot of letter stickers for my title – or journaling, it could be called either - its pretty long, right? By the way I found my awesome title on Pinterest. So how do you figure out how to arrange the words for a really long title without sticking down, pulling up and re-sticking the letter stickers until you like the results? Here is what I do. First I trace my selected letter stickers, forming the words of my title, onto something clear – like product packaging – with a Slick Writer or Sharpie.

I then trim the traced words out and arrange them on my layout. Sometimes I find that the letter stickers I've selected just won't work in the allotted space, so I select new ones and trace them. Once satisfied with the arrangement, I add the letter stickers to my page. Doing this might sound a bit extreme or time consuming, but it works for me and saves me from a lot of grief in the long run! It even saves my letter stickers...I can't tell you how many I ruined before starting to use this method...it was a lot.

Notice the little 2" x 3" white cardstock pieces? Those are templates I cut to represent my photos. I use them when designing my layouts before printing my photos. I have quite a collection of sizes cut out that I keep in a clip at my workstation. These really help speed up the process of figuring out photo sizes and layout of them on my page! I know there are some great templates out there for purchase, but I simply made mine with some cardstock scraps. Easy and affordable!

Have you seen this bit of news yet? It's another sketch class from Kelly Purkey! I was honored to contribute a layout for Kelly's class and if you come back to my blog on Friday I'll be posting a giveaway of the class!

I hope you are having a wonderful week! Mine has been crazy busy, but what's new, right?! :) Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!

New American Crafts!

2011-10-24T14:37:00.000-04:00

I was so excited to receive my DT box filled with American Crafts newest collection, Chap! The colors and designs are perfect for masculine pages. I always have such a hard time finding great scrapbooking products for guy pages, so I'm really happy AC created this one! Here's my first page using Chap.

Allan and Elijah are messing around on the deck in these photos...Allan is forcing Elijah's shoes to fly off his feet. Boys.

I started my page with this fun stamp from the Jared stamp set. It's actually one row of the arrow shapes and I just stamped it several times in opposite directions to create this pattern. You could use it to create a chevron pattern by simply lining up the arrows to create continuous zigzag lines. I misted the card stock with ink after stamping.

Check out the cool stripes in the drop shadow of the Josh Alpha Thickers. Isn't it awesome?! Little details like that subtle stripe make me so happy.

I really loved working with this collection and can't wait to create with it again!

Thanks for stopping by!

His First Marathon

2011-10-17T19:20:00.000-04:00

I am crazy proud of my amazing hubby for running his first marathon on Sunday.

He was hurting pretty bad, but he played nice and let me get a few photos before giving his feet a good soak. Isn't the sign Moya made so sweet?! We are all so proud of him. 26.2 miles. Amazing.

Too many (yarn) tails!

2011-10-14T08:10:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of this lately.

Playing with fiber. Knitting. Crocheting. Making stuff for those I love (while watching football - Go Lions!). And much to my chagrin, weaving in lots of these.

Yarn tails.

I loathe those two words. Not when used separately mind you. I'm perfectly okay with the word "yarn" (actually I'm more than okay with it, I LOVE that word) and I have nothing against the word "tails" - but when they are together, side by side, in that order...I do not like. Do. Not.

(Yarn pictured is Fourth of July from Briar Rose Fibers. Scarf is a simple k2, p2 rib.)

I knit this long skinny scarf for Moya and I'm looking at it now thinking, "why didn't I just knit it one color? Or make all the stripes wider, MUCH wider? But I know why. It's because I wanted to knit a striped scarf for my little miss...or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. It's definitely one of those two. Stay tuned for photos of the final scarf modeled by Moya...hopefully before winter has come and gone.

So what part of your hobby could you do without?

Easy Canvas Prints

2011-10-12T10:17:00.000-04:00

I recently had the opportunity to try out an online canvas print shop, Easy Canvas Prints, that will turn your photos to canvas. Let me tell you, the name is fitting! It truly was so easy (and fun) to design my own canvas and order! I selected a family photo from a recent self-portrait session, selected my canvas size, uploaded my photo (which includes a preview window that allows you to size and position your photo however you want it on your canvas), selected my border style, and that was it. Easy peasy. My canvas arrived on Monday, and I love it!

I really like how it looks above our piano.

I went with an 11 x 14 gallery wrap canvas. The gallery wrap border is 1 1/2 inches thick. You can select a solid color border or they will actually wrap your photo image around the canvas frame - I went with the later option and love it!

With the 1 1/2" depth, you really don't need a frame either. I was really impressed with the quality of the canvas material itself and the color is so vivid! I'm sure I'll be ordering more in the future...wouldn't these make great Christmas gifts?! Go check them out - they have a sale going on right now for 25% off plus free shipping!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back Friday to talk about knitting.

Weekend Randomness

2011-10-10T09:06:00.000-04:00

I'm always sad to see the weekend come to an end...okay, maybe not always. But I am today. Our weekend was busy, fun, and at times thankfully a little lazy - though there could have definitely been more lazy to it. I had a friend filled Friday, meeting one friend for coffee in the afternoon and another in the evening. Those times with friends are so special and so refreshing to the soul. Elijah sold a lot of Boy Scout popcorn this weekend. Here he is in his brand new uniform. I still need to transfer his patches from the old uniform.

I can hardly stand how adorable, er, I mean handsome he is! I know, the shirt is pretty big but he will grow into it before long.

We've had a bit of unseasonably warm weather here, which, after a round of cold weather food has put me back in the mood for more summery fare. I decided to try some of the recipes that I've pinned to my Food board on Pinterest. (If you're not familiar with that site, it's awesome and you should totally check it out! Though I warn you, it is very addicting. I seriously have to limit my time out there.) This is what we had for dinner last night.

I made this amazing Artichoke Bread from Closet Cooking. You've probably noticed mine looks a bit more like pizza than bread, well, that's because it is. I didn't have any Italian bread so I opted to spread the artichoke mixture onto what I did have, which was pizza crust. Yummy! We didn't miss the bread at all! The salad is actually quite simple - spinach, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil, topped with a vinaigrette dressing. I wish there were leftovers for my breakfast!

So how was your weekend?

CKU Blog Hop

2011-10-07T11:01:00.000-04:00

Hi! Welcome to the CKU Blog Hop! We’re excited to share with you projects that we hope get you excited about CKU Reunion, whether you’ve already registered, are planning to come, or wishing you were coming. This blog hop is from Friday, October 7th at 10:00 am MT until Saturday, October 8th at 10:00 am MT. If you get lost during the hop, come back here for the hop order. Have fun hopping!

Stacy Julian
Michelle Hill
Jodi Sanford
Kim Watson
Deena Wuest
Cindy Tobey (You are here)
Stacy Croninger

If you’re following the CKU Blog Hop, you should have come from Deena Wuest's blog. If you stumbled upon this blog post and want to see all the CKU Blog Hop participants, make sure to go to Stacy Julian’s blog to start from the beginning.

Attend CKU Reunion in San Diego, CA October 27-29 for a weekend of creating, connecting, and inspiration. You’ll spend one day completing an album that will be ready for photos when you get home and another day creating in four 90 minute classes including mixed media canvas art, fabric creations, jewelry, and more. Plus, there are evening crops, bonus classes, goodie bags, a commemorative tote, and so much more all for only $295! And you’ll be learning from some of the industry’s finest such as Lisa Bearnson, Teresa Collins, Stacy Julian, Michelle Hill, Megan Hoeppner, and other inspiring teachers. You know you want to come, so register today so you’ll have plenty of time to pack your supplies for the trip.

Check out this description of Megan Hoeppner's class for CKU Reunion.

Album Track: Got Your Number
We've got your number in this incredible 11 page 12" x 12" album class. Join us as we count the ways numbers impact your everyday life. You'll look back on important numeric events in your life, such as memorable milestones (marriage, graduation, etc.), and significant (and playful) quantities (the number of children you have, the amount of times you indulge in your favorite vice every day, etc.). And you'll have a blast personalizing your album with numbers unique to you-your home address, your lucky number, etc. Plus, as you add up the numbers of your life, you'll learn innovative techniques such as coloring with Twinkling H20s, stitching, and misting all while using Pink Paislee's NEW Daily Junque line. Top it off with clever ideas for using unexpected supplies, such as cupcake liners, washi tape, bakers twine, and more, and you've got one fresh album. Whatever your digit, this album is rated a 10.0 for fun and creativity!

Sounds awesome right?! Just by reading the description I was inspired to create a number themed layout to share with you today.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, badge, stickers, and adhesive: American Crafts; Rub-on: Fancy Pants Designs; Brads: Queen & Co.; Spray ink: Studio Calico; Pen: Uniball; Die-cut machine: Silhouette America; Font: Constantia; Other: thread.

My son, Elijah, selected his Halloween costume a month early this year and has been wearing it every chance he gets! He is ready and waiting for the big day, October 31st, and that's what this page is all about. Displaying a large 31 on my page was definitely the only way to go for this page about my anxious Wolverine!

Here's how I created the large numbers for my page.

I first selected a font and used my Silhouette SD to cut out a very large "31." I used what would normally be considered the waste portion on my layout and set the numbers aside to use later. (I plan to use them on a page with the photos I'll take of my son on Halloween, which will tie in nicely with this "before Halloween" page.)

I traced the numbers onto my background paper so I could easily fill them in with spider web accents. I added a rub-on to the "3" and a sticker to the "1," but they didn't seem quite finished.

I used black thread to extend the webs within the letters. Having the number tracings was very handy when stitching the webs. I knew exactly how far to go with the thread so that it would go beyond the number edges. Once I was finished stitching I simply adhered the number cut out to my background paper.

Be sure to head over to Stacy Croninger's blog next!

Punk Projects Guest Blogger

2011-10-07T10:36:00.002-04:00

Hello, hello! How is your day going so far? Mine has been good - I grocery shopped first thing this morning and am back home now to do some blogging. Although, the hubs and I were awakened by a smoke detector loudly chirping for a new battery early this morning. We really need to get on a good schedule for changing all the batteries in those buggers so they don't wake us up at 2 a.m.! The worst part is trying to pinpoint which smoke detector it is, which mind you, is not easy when you are half asleep! Oh, and this is so funny. Allan, after finding that it was Elijah's smoke detector, was in his room fighting with the thing when Elijah briefly woke from the ruckus. He looked at Allan, said "Raaar!" then proceeded to roll over and fall back asleep. He doesn't remember it either...so my son sleep raaar's at night. Tee-hee.

So, finally getting to the point of this post...today I am super excited to be Katie's guest on the Punk Projects blog! Go check out my post there. I had so much fun creating the layout for it. Here's a little peek.

Have a super day and weekend!

Granny Square Baby Afghan

2011-10-03T13:37:00.001-04:00

I finished the baby afghan a little over two weeks ago and have already given it to my mama-to-be friend. She said it matches the nursery perfectly. Sigh of relief. I'd only seen the nursery once briefly so I was really hoping I had selected the right colors.

Oh, and I'm happy to say there were no more snipped stitch mishaps! I made 25 basic granny squares and stitched them together for this super quick and easy afghan.

I went with solid blocks, except for three multi-colored granny squares thrown into the mix to add a bit of interest and quirkiness to the afghan. I love to add something a little unexpected to the quilts and afghans that I make.

This is the first time I've added a single crochet striped border to an afghan and I love it! I'm really not sure why I haven't tried this before now. I really love the look of those stripes!

I hope your weekend was lovely. We celebrated our little miss turning twelve with family, friends and lots of sugar...too much sugar. I made these yummy Cream Cheese Brownies. Cream cheese and chocolate. Two of my (and Moya's) favorite foods in one delicious little square. Yum! Moya loved them, which is good, since it was her party and all. ;-)

Have a great week!

Today she is twelve.

2011-09-29T09:04:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday sweet girl!
I'm so proud of you and I'm so blessed to be your mom.
I love you.
Enjoy your year of being 12!

We have a winner!

2011-09-23T08:25:00.000-04:00

The winner of the American Crafts Spooky Night stamp set is...

Congratulations Mary Ann! Click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and I will get your prize in the mail!

Thank you all for your kind words about my layout! Have a great weekend!

His First Glasses

2011-09-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

The little man came home from his second day of school stating he couldn't read the board from his seat in the back of the classroom. Wait. What? His words sounded strangely familiar...and with good reason. Rewind three years to the same classroom, the same teacher and the same grade. It was Moya who came home stating she couldn't see the board from the exact same back of the classroom. Odd. Odder still, my mom said that's the age my brother got his first pair of glasses too. So. Can somebody tell me? Is fourth grade or age nine the age for eyesight to start going bad?

Anyway, I took the little man in for an eye exam and sure enough! He needed glasses. We picked them up two days ago. Doesn't he look handsome in them?! He picked them out all by himself.

It's fun to hear him "ooh" and "aah" over how crisp and clear things are now...to see individual leaves on trees rather than just a green blob. And he is serious about keeping them clean and taking care of them! He had me go through the cleaning process with him step-by-step and he is determined not to miss a step. Honestly, I'm not surprised by this. He's the type who wants to read the instruction book from cover to cover before starting the task...yep, he gets that from me...that, and the poor eyesight. Sigh. Allan is now outnumbered. He's the only one in the house without glasses.

Before I go, I have a layout featuring American Crafts products to share with you. That's Elijah enjoying the annual bonfire at his grandparent's house. This boy loves s'mores...especially the marshmallows!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Ribbon Lacing Tutorial

2011-09-20T08:48:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Today I have another American Crafts layout to share with you. This layout features the new Garden Cafe collection and went up on the AC blog yesterday. You can read more about it (and enter a contest) over on the AC blog, but I thought I'd share my ribbon lacing technique with you here. It's really pretty simple...just like lacing up a shoe, but with a little extra something at the end.

Let's get started!

1. Measure and mark where you want the holes to be on your layout.

2. Punch the holes. I punched fairly small holes which can make it challenging for pulling the ribbon through, BUT the holes will not show as much as bigger ones would once the ribbon is laced through them. (I used my long reach hole punch from We R Memory Keepers...I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this tool! I put off buying one for a long time and then finally had to get one for an assignment. I seriously wish I'd bought it sooner - oh the holes I've missed out on punching! ;-)

3. Erase the pencil marks from your layout.

4. Push your ribbon through either a top or bottom hole from the back to the front of your paper. Lace the ribbon through the holes just as you would shoes. Either tie ribbon ends together to show on the front of your layout or secure ends of ribbon to the back of your layout with tape.

5. Use a needle or paper piercer to pierce a hole under the ribbons where they cross over one another. Pierce another hole about 1/8" directly under the first one.

6. Push the floss through the top hole behind the ribbon from back to front.

7. Cross over the top of the ribbons with the floss and push the floss through the second hole from front to back of your page.

8. Pull floss tight to gather ribbon. Continue in this manner for each ribbon "X" and secure floss ends to back of your layout with tape.

Pretty easy right?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

AC Blog Hop!

2011-09-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

Good morning! Welcome to stop number 4 on the American Crafts blog hop! Our challenge was to create a layout combining the new, summer 2011 collections.

Honestly, it was way more fun than challenging since AC collections combine so easily! Here's what I came up with for the blog hop challenge.

Supplies: 12x12 Cardstock Kraft (71464) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Cherry (71026) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Peacock (71471) - AC Cardstock, Daisy's Diner Paper (35539) - Garden Cafe, Work In Progress Paper (35546) - Amy Tangerine, Is It Any Wonder Fabric Paper (35556) - Amy Tangerine, Wishing (42216) - Remarks, Good Times (42213) Remarks, Amy (42212) Remarks, Basic Chalkboard (42208)- Remarks, Spice (72016) - Delights, Spells (72015) - Delights, Elm Vanilla (53216) - Thickers, Nightfall (89409) - Ribbon, Garden Cafe (85564) - Elements, Nightfall (85561) - Elements, Baby Boy Mini Brads (85383) - Elements, Tropicals Mini Brads (85377) - Elements, Primaries (85375) - Elements, Dot Glue Runner (61721) - This to That

I love the fabric paper in the Amy Tangerine collection. Did you know that you can use a circle cutter on it to easily cut perfect circles?! I was afraid the small blade wouldn't cut through the fabric cleanly, but it did! I simply flipped the paper over (fabric-side down) and cut my little circle that you see here. Easy-peasy and a perfect circle accent!

I created my own little star accent to compliment the small Amy Tangerine star sticker. I simple punched a circle from the Work In Progress paper (blue) and added a star punched from Peacock cardstock, which matches the Amy Tangerine collection perfectly!

And aren't the little chalkboard labels, from the Night Fall collection, the bomb?! I do so love these. I added the letter "A" to this label using chalk. A white opaque pen would work great too.

I also wanted to mention that I swapped out the cute "Autumn" sticker on the gold Delights accent for the fun fabric heart sticker from the Amy Tangerine collection. I simply placed the "Autumn" sticker back on the carrier sheet to use later!

Now for a giveaway! I have this super cute set of Halloween stamps from the Nightfall collection to give away compliments of American Crafts. If you'd like a chance to win these stamps simply leave a comment on this post, along with your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

Only one entry per person please. You have until Thursday, September 22nd at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post their name here on Friday, September 23rd.

Next stop on the blog hop: Corrie Jones

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop by all 20 designer's blogs and then go back to the AC blog post for a chance to win two entire lines!

Crochet Mishap

2011-09-13T12:15:00.000-04:00

Last week I started crocheting this afghan for a friend who is expecting. It's not finished yet, but it's getting there and I thought I'd share a peek of it in progress.

I worked on it a little each evening last week, and then pretty ferociously over the weekend. By Sunday evening I had the entire thing together and the border well underway. Then it happened. The thing all knitters and crocheters dread. Somehow one of the blocks had started to unravel.

Gasp!

I had just crocheted seven rounds of border stitches around the entire afghan (including the unraveling block)! After closer inspection I realized that I must have accidentally clipped the yarn! How on earth did that happen?! (Maybe working on it while watching football had something to do with it...) Has that ever happened to you? I've dropped or missed stitches before, but never clipped one. I almost cried. I had worked so hard on the border for most of the day and I was going to have to pull it out! I reluctantly pulled out the seven rounds of border stitching, repaired the problem block and got to bed way too late.

So here it is, with just one border round completed. I do like the way it's turning out...now if I can just keep my scissors in check!

First Day Back

2011-09-06T11:09:00.000-04:00

The first day back to school is always fraught with so many emotions. Every year Allan and I both take the kids to school on their first day, walk them each to their class, take photos to the point of embarrassment, and leave them with a big hug...this year was different. This year I stayed home and Allan took them to school. I snapped all my photos here at home before they left. They're growing up. Moya is now in 7th grade and Elijah is in 4th, and well, it's just not cool to bring a whole entourage to school with you. As Allan and the kids drove away this morning I felt a sense of loneliness...which was new for me. Then I realized it was because I wasn't in that van going with them to walk them to their classes. Change can be difficult.

Some things seem as though they will never change though...like this one. She loves school and is always SO excited for her first day back! She's been counting down for school to begin again since the beginning of her summer vacation!

And then there's this one...I think this photo speaks for itself. It's the same every year with him too - he never wants to go back to school. And of course knowing that makes me miss him even more.

I do take comfort in knowing that his pout will fade as he gets back into the routine of school and catches up with all his friends.

How was your morning for the first day back to school?

We have a winner!

2011-09-04T16:45:00.000-04:00

The winner of Budget Friendly Scrapbooking is...

Congratulations Kate! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to all who entered and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I want candy...

2011-09-02T11:53:00.002-04:00

Having a sweet tooth when you have as many food allergies as I do is One. Big. Bummer.

I love me some candy. I have a sweet tooth, I do. I admit it. I know it. I own it. The only problem is I also have lots of food allergies. What is most candy sweetened with? Corn (corn syrup, glucose, dextrose). What am I allergic to? Corn. What's a girl to do?! This girl searches the candy aisle of the health food store every time I visit! I don't always buy, because, one - I don't need that much sugar (even if I do want it), and let's face it, if I buy it, it's going in my tummy, and two - it's so stinkin' expensive! I try to just treat myself with some every once in a while, like when I need snacks for a trip. While snack shopping for a recent trip I came across these.

Seriously, I spotted these and it was just me and this little bag of root beer candies in that store. Everything else faded away. I think someone had a spotlight on us too...or maybe it was just on the candy, I can't be sure. And I think there was music, maybe the angels were singing. It was a beautiful moment.

When I was jolted back to reality by the sound of my kids arguing, I snatched the bag up, checked the ingredients, kept myself from yelling "yes!" (while doing a fist pump) when I realized I COULD actually eat these, tossed them into my shopping basket and went on my merry way.

You have to understand. These are root beer flavored candies. Root beer! I loved root beer barrels as a kid. LOVED. THEM. Honestly, I really didn't think these would be as good...oh my yum! Was I ever wrong! They are even BETTER! Disclaimer: Now, they may or may not be better than root beer barrels. It's hard to know for sure since I haven't had a root beer barrel in over eleven years. At any rate, these are awesome and I'm so glad I found them...now I just need to keep from buying them every time I visit the health food store. :)

For those of you who may wonder what ingredients are in these little sweets, here you go. Also, you can buy these online from several places. Check out this list at the Yummy Earth site.

If you haven't entered the CK giveaway in the post below make sure to do so by midnight EST tonight!

Happy weekend all!

CK Budget-Friendly Scrapbooking - Giveaway!

2011-08-30T11:09:00.001-04:00

Now who doesn't LOVE to save money?! Which, let's face it, is pretty hard to do in this hobby of ours. There are always, ALWAYS new products that we just have to, no, need to buy. Well, this new special issue, Budget Friendly Scrapbooking, by Creating Keepsakes will help you stretch and reinvent those "must-have" supplies. I actually haven't seen the issue yet but I cannot wait for it to arrive! "225 money-saving scrapbook solutions?!" I'm ready. I could use some money-saving solutions in my creative life!

Below is a layout that I created for this issue showing you how to reinvent some of those flowers that you have on hand. You could even make these with fabric scraps. Use a die-cutter or good old fashioned pair of scissors to cut your flower shapes.

How about a peek inside this issue?

Open publication - Free publishing - More inexpensive

Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Budget Friendly Scrapbooking on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, September 2nd at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here by Monday, September 5th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck!

Organizing Your Ideas

2011-08-25T15:18:00.000-04:00

Most creative types have some way of storing ideas and inspiration, be it digital or a good old fashioned sketch book (you know, the kind with actual paper in them). I have a small, hardcover, black sketchbook filled with inspiration. I love my little black book of ideas. I really do, but the thing is - so many of the ideas have gone unused because, well, it just doesn't work for my overly organized self! Those of you who know me...stop laughing. Seriously. Stop.

Since I organize much of my crafting supplies by theme I thought it might work much better to organize my ideas by theme also. Yeah, I know - of course it would! Well, I decided to take it even further and keep a little sketchbook in each of my themed product drawers with the themed products themselves, which means I'll need something like 15 to 20 sketchbooks. Now purchasing 15 to 20 sketchbooks? ...not a budget friendly idea. So here is what I came up with.

Blank note cards + clip rings = inexpensive mini sketchbooks!

I even printed a cover with a digital label for the front of each book. I made my own label in PSE but there are lots of cute digital labels online or you could use a sticker instead.

Do you want to know my favorite thing about this method of organizing ideas?

You ready for it?

Okay, here it is...

I keep these little blank index cards in my purse, tote bag, on my bedside table, next to my favorite magazine reading spot, etc. I always have some close by so I can quickly sketch out an idea and then later add it to the correct themed book. Stellar!

Okay, I've given you enough reasons to laugh at my over organization today. I would love to hear how you organize your own ideas and inspiration - let me know in the comments.

Happy idea collecting!

The New Camera

2011-08-22T14:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I had hoped to have some new projects to share today, but life has kept me too busy. Lots of driving Moya to basketball practice, laundry, shopping, being sick with allergy symptoms, etc. I thought I'd hop on to tell you about my new camera though.

Oh how I LOVE my new camera...oops, did I say "my" new camera? What I meant to say was "our" new camera. I have to say "our" because I have to share it with my husband. He likes to play family photographer too. Which is good I suppose, mostly, except for when we both want the camera at the same time. Something about "sharing" and "playing nice" comes to mind...but I'd rather they didn't, because when it comes to this new camera...I want to shout, "IT'S MIIINE!" Yep, real mature right? It's the camera's fault. It's just too awesome not to be stingy with.

We've been dreaming of upgrading our Canon Rebel Xti to a 5D for quite some time now, BUT then Allan visited our local camera shop to purchase a new point-and-shoot (this little number which is awesome by the way!) and he started asking the camera shop guy questions. He always does that. Asks lots of questions. Which is good, except for when it leads him to a new item that he really wants to buy...anyhoo, this time it led him to the Rebel T3i. After lots of talking, comparing, and questions, Allan was pretty much sold on the T3i being our next camera. He came home and told me all about it...I however, was NOT convinced (after all, I'd been dreaming of a 5D for a loooong time). I needed some serious convincing! So Allan did some research online. Found some great info and he actually ended up talking me into it! I'm so glad he did. So far we LOVE this camera. Our biggest complaint with our Xti was that it didn't perform well in low light conditions. The T3i does. Much less grain in photos at higher ISO settings. This was definitely a good upgrade for us, especially at the much cheaper price tag! We found out the T3i actually has the same sensor as the 60D and 7D. You can check out this blog post by Allan that expounds on this. Oh, and this camera has HD video too!

Allan took these photos at Elijah's swim class the other night. He used our Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens, and shot at 1600 ISO. There is still some grain in the photos, but with our old camera there would be a LOT more. We always had to use our 50mm f/1.8 lens in low light settings, which is a bummer if you want to zoom in or take a wider shot. I can hardly wait to try out our new camera at Moya's baskeball games! Of course, I'll have to fight the hubs for it...or, I suppose, we could just take turns with it. It's so hard to be an adult sometimes. Sigh.

AC Happiness

2011-08-16T11:33:00.001-04:00

Hello, hello! It's been a while since I've blogged hasn't it? Summer tends to lure me away from my blog, especially August. The urgency to accomplish everything you planned to over the summer sets in and it's a race until school begins for the kiddoes. While heading up north for our annual "girls weekend" with my mom, I received an email with this bit of happy news.

I'm so excited to work with AC for another year. They are such a great company and I absolutely love their products! I can hardly wait to get my hands on this new collection by Amy Tan! Don't you just love it?! So fun!

Speaking of AC, I have a project and tutorial on their blog today. Here's a little peek of it. Check out the AC blog for the details and "how-to."

I also have a project on the CK blog that went up on Friday as part of the 2011 CK Summer Camp. Here's a little peek of that project. You can get the details, including two tutorials on the CK blog.

Well, that's it for today. I'll hopefully be back later this week to share some projects. Have a happy and creative week!

and the winner is...

2011-07-31T18:59:00.000-04:00

The winner of Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Summer Fun & Travel is...

Congratulations Pegg and thanks for your kind words about my layout! :-) I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Also, I have a post up on the CK blog sharing another layout from this issue along with a tutorial. Check it out for another fun way to use scenic photos!

CK Summer Fun & Travel - Giveaway!

2011-07-25T12:06:00.001-04:00

Have you seen it - the latest Tips & Tricks edition from Creating Keepsakes - Summer Fun & Travel? This issue is full of so many great ideas, including a gallery with over 90 ideas for summer and travel scrapbooking. And isn't the layout on the cover by my friend Deena Wuest AMAZING?! I just love her work so much!

I have an article, "The Scenic View," in this issue all about taking and using scenic photos in your scrapbooking. Here's one of my layouts from the article about a favorite cafe of mine in Michigan's upper peninsula, Java Joe's. If you're ever in St. Ignace, check it out - and I highly recommend the Almond Joy Latte. Yum.

Check out these fantastic downloads, tips, and ideas from the issue. Here's an online article I wrote, in conjunction with my scenic photos article, on creating and using panoramic photos, and here's a bigger peek inside the issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More photography

Looks amazing right?! You can order this issue from Creating Keepsakes online store and use the code CKFUN10 good for free shipping in the US on all orders of $25 or more. (Expires 8/8/11.)

Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Summer Fun & Travel on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, July 29th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here by Monday, August 1st. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck!

Cleaning, Happy Mail, & Scrappin'

2011-07-08T22:28:00.003-04:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this here before or not - but I hate to clean. I love to organize, and make sure everything is put away. I guess I don't mind surface cleaning, but deep cleaning? Nope. Not my thing. Well, today, as much as it pained me, I made it my thing and tackled our bathroom. The kids have been taking turns cleaning it to earn money...well, today I realized just how well they haven't been cleaning it. I knew it was bad, I'm in there everyday...but it's easy to put on blinders when you yourself don't feel like cleaning it. Well, the blinders came off and man was it disgusting. My arm still feels like jello from all the scrubbing. I thank God for Softscrub with bleach and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers! Now we have a sparkling bathroom that will last for I'd say, oh, about...one day.

Yesterday I received some happy mail. Don't you just love happy mail?! I had ordered some twine from Two Peas and some washi tape from Cute Tape last weekend. They both arrived yesterday. Yay!

I decided to put some of the tape and twine to use right away on a layout. I created this page using mainly American Crafts Peachy Keen collection. I think this is one of my all time favorite collections from AC. I just love the colors and patterns so much. I mixed in some of the blue diagonal stripe tape and blue twine. Love the tape and twine! I think I'll be using both quite often.

This photo is from a trip to Mackinac Island that Moya and I took with my Mom last summer. I love to bike around the island - such gorgeous scenery! As many times as I've been there it never gets old.

I created a few cards using lots of AC goodness earlier this week since my card stash was getting low. I love to create cards every so often, not only to replenish my card stash, but to create some small, quick designs. Sometimes layouts take me forever, but cards are always quick and fun. And many times, creating one or two is just what I need to break out of a creative rut!

So what does cleaning my bathroom, have to do with scrappy stuff? Nothing - just thought I'd throw in some grime today to keep it real! Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

New BasicGrey!

2011-07-05T13:23:00.004-04:00

Hello friends! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and for my friends in the states, a lovely 4th of July. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and I truly loved our city's fireworks display...but the late night/early morning fireworks from the neighbor kids - night, after night, after night - are getting old. Trying to fall asleep to a chorus of firecrackers right outside your house is not easy. I start to drift off and then another round of fire crackers jolts me wide awake. The topper last night was when a car alarm went off down the road...so yes, I am starting this work week sleep deprived (and longing for a home in the country - away from the noise). Thankfully my cute hubby (gosh I love that man) brought this home for me over the weekend.

I think it just might get me through the day...or at least as far as nap time.

Okay, time for the really good stuff. BasicGrey's 2011 Summer release.

If you've been to Kelly Goree's blog recently you already know that BasicGrey has revealed their brand new 2011 Summer releases...can you say YUM?! They are gorgeous, and lucky me had them in my hot little hands not too long ago creating some pages to share after the reveal. Have I told you lately how much I love. my. job!?

I do. I really, really do! So, here we are after the reveal and I have some pages to share.

I created this first page with Indie Bloom. (swoon) I love the bright colors and bold patterns of this collection! The florals are absolutely gorgeous!

Next up is Nordic Holiday. Aren't the snowmen adorable?! This collection also has a great combination of winter and holiday prints.

Little Black Dress is such an elegant collection. At first glance you might think, "wedding collection" but the neutral colors and classic patterns make this collection so versatile! I love that!

And finally, my favorite collection this release (though Indie Bloom is a close second), Picadilly! I love the retro colors and prints of this collection, not to mention the cute little birds and that rooster! Love.

So there you have it, my layouts showcasing BasicGrey's four new collections. Be sure to hop over to Kelly's blog to see all of the papers from these collections as well as Kelly's gorgeous layouts!

We have a winner!

2011-06-27T11:23:00.000-04:00

The winner of the Family Trivia Mini Album Kit is...

Congratulations Terri and thanks for your kind words about my work! :-) I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Tombow Guest

2011-06-24T10:12:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I just hopped on to let you know I'm the guest today on the Tombow blog. This is a little peek of my project. I've combined Tombow's awesome adhesives with American Crafts gorgeous new Margarita collection to create this happy summer layout. I also share a fun technique using Tombow adhesive. Pop over there and check it out!

Be sure to also check out the post below, right here on my blog. There's a giveaway involved! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Family Trivia Kit - Giveaway!

2011-06-22T14:39:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this new mini album kit from CK? It's based on the awesome "Family Trivia" feature in the July/August 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine and I had the honor of designing it! :) Let me tell you, making it was
SO.
Much.
Fun!

I often think of interesting little bits of family trivia that I should scrapbook, but the event and seasonal themed scrapbooking comes so much more easily, and I hate to admit it, but I usually push those interesting little bits aside and scrap what is easier. Designing this kit forced me to scrap some of that trivia, and honestly, that trivia makes for much more interesting pages anyway! And once I got started, the stories came pretty easily, plus I had so much fun digging through boxes of old photos and letters.

This kit is such a great way to record all those, lesser known stories and fascinating tidbits about your family that you don’t want to forget. And this kit makes it so easy! If you don't know where to begin, don't worry! This kit includes several prompts to help you discover and share your own family trivia! You can find all the details about this mini album kit on the CK blog in this post I wrote not too long ago.

You can purchase your own kit from the Scrap & Paper Shop and you can enter right here for your chance to win one!

Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one Family Trivia Mini Album kit to one of my lovely blog readers. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this fun kit!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, June 26th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this kit and post their name here by Monday, June 27th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck!

Spray Ink Swatch Book

2011-05-29T15:33:00.002-04:00

I love to be organized. It just makes me happy...and less stressed. (Just ask my family!) Keeping up with all this organization, and reorganization is tough though, especially when it seems like stuff around here multiplies like rabbits...especially my scrappy stuff. ;-) Not that I'm complaining, mind you. And so, I've been on an organization kick as of late, and yesterday I finished organizing my spray ink. I'm super happy with the results and thought I'd share with my lovely blog readers in case you're looking for ways to organize your own spray inks.

I decided to first make a swatch book of all my inks - to make it quicker and easier to find the right color when working on a project. I cut up small rectangles of white cardstock to spray each of my ink colors on. By the way, I LOVE this Color Catcher box by Clearsnap. It's not real big so I also have a large plain cardboard box for spraying larger items, but this box from Clearsnap is great for small projects! I hang this little one up on a wall hook in the closet when I'm not using it.

Here are some of my swatches drying. As you can see I have lots of different brands of spray ink, and I love them all!

This next step isn't really part of creating the swatch book, but it will make it a lot easier to find the color I'm looking for at a glance. I simply punched a small circle from each of my color swatches and added them to the tops of my ink bottles with strong adhesive.

I created my swatch cards using a drawing program, printed them, and then cut them into approximately 2" x 3" rectangles.

I used a square punch to cut squares from each of my color swatches and added them to my little cards just below the color and brand name of each ink. The square overlapped the edge of the card and I trimmed the excess away.

My completed swatch book with plenty of room on the ring to add to it. ;-)

I mounted the color samples flush with the edge of my swatch book pages to make it easier to match my ink with my other project supplies.

Finally I placed all my ink bottles into a bucket along with my swatch book. I can easily pull this bucket off the shelf where it's stored and bring it right to my desk when working. I know, I know, this bucket is already packed to capacity. I think I'll start looking for a bigger bucket. :)

Happy organizing!

and the winner is...

2011-05-23T08:41:00.000-04:00

The winner of Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Fabulous Flowers is...

Congratulations Savannah! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Family Trivia Kit

2011-05-21T09:14:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone! I hope you're weekend is off to a great start! I just wanted to let you know I have a post up on the Creating Keepsakes blog with a giveaway for this mini album kit! Go check it out and enter (by commenting on my post on the CK blog) for your chance to win!

Happy weekend!

Fabulous Flowers

2011-05-17T17:36:00.001-04:00

I have another fun special issue from Creating Keepsakes to share with you! This issue is all about scrapbooking with flowers! It includes ideas to use premade flowers as well as ideas and steps to create your own - plus a whole lot more!

And here is one of the layouts that I created for this special issue featuring some flowers that I made. You'll find the steps to make these paper blooms inside the Fabulous Flowers issue. :-)

How about a bigger peek inside?

Open publication - Free publishing - More flowers

Looks pretty awesome doesn't it?! You can order this issue from Creating Keepsakes online store and use the code FLOWERBB for free shipping in the USA for orders over $25 (expires June 3rd).

Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Fabulous Flowers on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Saturday, May 21st at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here by Monday, May 23rd. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck and have an awesome week!

creative spaces winner!

2011-05-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Nitasha! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

Happy weekend all!

ck creative spaces & giveaway

2011-05-09T10:32:00.001-04:00

I have to be honest here, I love, love, LOVE room ideas - make that creative rooms, and my heart is all aflutter! This new special issue from Creating Keepsakes - hitting the newsstands tomorrow - is chock full of inspiring rooms, organization ideas and cool projects to decorate your space with! And there are ideas for ALL room sizes - even shared spaces like mine. For those of you who don't already know, my craft space is in our master bedroom and it happens to be one of those featured in this fun new issue!

Wanna peek inside? Here you go!

Open publication - Free publishing - More craftroom

You totally want this special issue now don't you? I have a special coupon code for the Scrap & Paper Shop which just happens to sell the Creative Spaces issue. Use code: SPACESBB - good until 5/27/11 for free shipping in the United States.

I also thought I'd share a tiny little change I made to my scrap space on Saturday. My room has places for all of my scrappy supplies, but all those papers and notes I need to deal with, new magazines I want to read, etc. - I've never come up with a good place for those items, so they end up on my desk right next to my computer. Not the best spot, and trust me, this photo is not the full ugly truth - this pile gets much bigger and messier!

I started looking for some sort of hanging file/paper organizers a while ago to move this pile of stuff to. I finally found the perfect system at Target from their Real Simple collection.

I hung them on the wall at the end of my desk so they will be within view and reach when I'm at my computer. Hopefully these babies will keep my desk clean, and I'm thinking I'll be forced to get through these items more quickly so I don't overload the organizers. We'll see. ;-) These cute little organizers would also make the perfect home for paper scraps or your newest scrappy supplies that you want to use right away.

Okay, I know, I know, I promised a giveaway. Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Creative Spaces on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, May 13th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Saturday, May 14th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck and have an awesome week!

p.s. Be sure to stop by the Creating Keepsakes blog - they are throwing a week long Creative Spaces party!

Pebbles swap week

2011-05-06T12:19:00.000-04:00

This has been Pebbles Swap week on the American Crafts blog and today I have a layout up over there using AC and Pebbles products together. Here's just a peek - head over to the AC Studio blog to see the entire page and lots of other AC/Pebbles inspiration!

Happy weekend!

technique time

2011-05-04T08:32:00.001-04:00

I'm sharing a technique over on the Creating Keepsakes blog today using these supplies. Go check it out! There's a giveaway over there, plus some free downloads too!

Happy Wednesday!

National Scrapbook Day fun!

2011-04-24T15:32:00.000-04:00

In Celebration of National Scrapbook Day Big Picture Classes and Creating Keepsakes Magazine are teaming up to bring you a fun-filled Creative Crop for National Scrapbook Day! The online event will kick-off on Saturday, May 7th at 9am PST. You can look forward to 12 jam-packed hours offering creative challenges every hour, live chats with industry professionals, amazing giveaways, and constant inspiration and interaction!

The best part? It's all FREE!

I hope that you’ll join me for the Creative Crop! I’ll be issuing one of the challenges during the day, and I can’t wait to chat with you in the classroom!

See you there!

toilet paper flowers

2011-04-20T08:20:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm back to share another quick post with you. One of my projects in the current issue (May/June, page 99) of Creating Keepsakes magazine is a candid photo of Moya. As a fun bonus they have my page - that features the photo - online. You can check it out on the CK website. I also have a tutorial there on how to make these fluffy white flowers using squares of toilet paper!

The t.p. flowers were actually kind of Allan's idea. I was talking to him about creating this page (when I was working on it) and he said something along the lines of, "Heyyyy, you could use toilet paper on your page." Then he laughed hysterically...funny guy. Little did he know he was actually onto something. :) They're fun to make and super economical too! Check out the tutorial on the CK website if you'd like to give them a try.

Have a great day!

FP peek

2011-04-15T07:42:00.000-04:00

I have another peek for you today. This time it's for a project that is on the Fancy Pants blog. Head over there to see my Pocket Chick Pick, Dayna Howard's page as well as my own page based on Dayna's beautiful design.

Happy Friday!

AC layout peek

2011-04-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I've posted and I have so much to share, but for now I'll have to keep it to this peek of my layout that went up on the American Crafts blog today. I used one of my favorite new collections to create it! To see the entire page hop over to the AC blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

drumroll please...

2011-03-25T17:12:00.000-04:00

The winner of the American Crafts Patchems is...

Congratulations Tamii! I will email you shortly to get your shipping information so I can send you your prize. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your mailing info.

Have a great weekend everyone!

and the winner is...

2011-03-21T08:53:00.001-04:00

The winner of the spot in Kelly's Sketchbook 3 class is

Congratulations Anya! I will email you shortly to get your information so we can get you signed up for the class. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and we'll get you all set up.

Happy Monday all!

Sketchbook 3!

2011-03-18T09:54:00.001-04:00

My super cute and talented friend Kelly is having a 3rd installment of her popular Sketchbook class! Pretty sweet, right? It get's sweeter. For you and for me. For you, Kelly is generously going to give away a spot in her class to one of my lucky blog readers! For me, Kelly has invited me to be a contributor for her class! Such an honor! I know this class is going to be a lot of fun and you do not want to miss it!

You can check out the details, see the list of contributors and sign up for the class on Kelly's blog.

For your chance to win a spot in Kelly's class simply leave a comment, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner), on this post by Sunday, March 20th and I will post the randomly selected winner Monday, March 21st.

Have an awesome weekend!

it's a blog hop!

2011-03-17T11:25:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Today I'm participating in the American Crafts Blog Hop! I have a layout to share with you that I created using American Crafts new Campy Trails collection and it features my favorite new product from AC - Patchems!

There are two different sets of these cute little patches in the Campy Trails collection and I just love them! We're not big on camping in the Tobey house since I'm allergic to practically everything outdoors, but this collection is perfect for scrapbooking Cub Scout photos of my son. We just attended Elijah's Cub Scout banquet where he received his Bear Badge - I knew the bear Patchem would be perfect for these photos of him with his new badge.

Supplies: 12x12 Cardstock Truffle (71504) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Dandelion (71037) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Apricot (71031) - AC Cardstock, 12x12 Cardstock Storm (71472) - AC Cardstock, Appleton Cove Paper (35348) - Campy Trails, Campy Trails Journaling Cards (64009) - JustWrite, Hike (42190) - Remarks, Squirel (77250) - Patchems, Path Dimensional (42189) - Remarks, Pine (53167) - Thickers, Forest Chestnut (53159) - Thickers, Meadow Mediterranean (53165) - Thickers, Hotdog (89397) - Ribbon, Campy Trails Medium Brads (85537) - Elements, Campy Trail Buttons (85536) - Elements

If you'd like a chance to win your own patchems (pictured above) simply leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win!

Only one entry per person please. You must live in the continental United States to enter. You have until Thursday, March 24th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post their name here on Friday, March 25th.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to head over to the next stop on the AC Blog Hop - Jen Jockisch's blog!

hello sunshine!

2011-03-15T12:58:00.000-04:00

I have some cards, using the new Hello Sunshine collection, over on the American Crafts blog today. I LOVE this new collection! The colors remind me of spring and just make me happy!

I hope your day is full of sunshine! It's cloudy here, so maybe I'll get out my Hello Sunshine papers to look at. :) Whether it's sunny or cloudy where you are, I hope you have a lovely day!

easy embellishment techniques

2011-03-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has fun weekend plans. The kiddoes are enjoying a long weekend with a day off from school today. I've had the flu all week and will be happy if I can head into my weekend minus the bug.

I wanted to hop on real quick to let you know I have a blog post over on the CK Editor's Blog, sharing a couple of fun and super easy embellishment techniques. This is just a peek at my project featured there. Bella Blvd is also sponsoring an awesome giveaway that you won't want to miss (on the CK blog)! Go check it out and enter.

Happy weekend all!

and the winner is...

2011-03-05T10:02:00.000-05:00

The winner of the It's Your Day card kit and Ribbon card is...

Congratulations Julieann! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and I will get your prize in the mail!

d.t. projects and a giveaway

2011-02-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

March. It's just a couple days away. How did that happen so fast?! Anyhoo, I have some February design team projects to share and a fun little giveaway. :)

I used American Crafts new Confetti collection to scrapbook these sweet birthday photos of Elijah from a few years ago. When I look at these pics I can almost hear his adorable little giggle.

I created this card for my in-laws who just celebrated 50 years of marriage! I used American Crafts Love collection as well as some of the new Filter Paper from Fancy Pants.

A Birthday card featuring AC's Dear Lizzy Enchanted collection as well as Filter Paper from Fancy Pants. I used some spray ink from Studio Calico on the top Filter Paper for the pretty green color.

These photos were taken after that monster storm hit us...there was a lot of shoveling involved! ;) I used the To the Moon collection from Fancy Pants. Aren't those robots super cute?! Love 'em!

Finally here are some birthday cards I created using Fancy Pants' It's Your Day collection.

And now for the giveaway. I have one It's Your Day Card Kit and Ribbon Card to give away to one lucky blog reader! Simply leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win!

Only one entry per person please. You must live in the continental United States to enter. You have until Friday, March 4th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post their name here on Saturday, March 5th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

rest.

2011-02-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the Father/Daughter Dance at Moya's school....this photo cracks me up. Allan has that deer in the headlights look going and I'm pretty sure Moya is thinking, "Let's get this over already so I can get back out on the dance floor!" They do make a cute couple though don't they?

While Allan and Moya were boogying the night away, Elijah and I had a Mario Bros. smack-down! Okay...it wasn't much of a match really. He wiped the floor with me as usual. But there was that one time I stayed alive for like a whole minute! Yeah, I'm definitely getting better...

Yesterday (Valentine's Day) was wonderful, it included the people I love, homemade cards, a rose, Starbuck's, a little shopping, and a meal out with my favorite guy. It was perfect. How was your February 14th?

Okay, getting to the title of this post...finally. I have so many good intentions. I'm full of them! I had intended to post about my One Little Word the beginning of January. I had intended to complete the first two prompts for Ali's, One Little Word class that I am taking - I use the word "taking" loosely because it would imply that I'm actually doing the class work. So as I'm sure you've picked up on, my One Little Word is ironically, "rest." Ironic because I've been too busy to share my word with you. Ironic because I've been too busy to start the class I signed up for to help make my word more relevant and a focus in my life. Ironic because I was up until 2 a.m. this morning working...and changing smoke detector batteries, but that's another post for another time.

I did actually create a layout focusing on my One Little Word. Here's a peek at it. You can see the entire page on the Fancy Pants Blog, along with some "get to know you" stuff about me. I have been thinking about my word a lot and I have done a bit of research on it too. Here's a great quote I found:

"Take rest, a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." -Ovid

Such true and wise words.

Here's one that I'd love to incorporate into my schedule...often.

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward." -Spanish Proverb

And here's the journaling from my layout on the Fancy Pants blog. It will explain a bit more about my word choice.

Rest, my one little word. Something I struggle to get enough of, or do at all really. I’ve always been a “doer.” I have this need to keep busy. Even when I’m “resting” I have to be knitting, reading, sketching, working on my laptop…the list goes on. If I’m on the couch it’s resting, right? Being busy isn’t a bad thing, as long as there’s some rest mixed in too. Real rest. This has been on my mind for quite a while. I know I will be more productive, less stressed and healthier if I can just get this rest thing down. So for 2011 I will be focusing on it. Rest.

On that note, I need to get to work! ;-) Have an awesome day and if you've chosen a word for 2011 I'd love to hear what it is!

new basicgrey!

2011-02-07T12:46:00.000-05:00

Sweet Threads is one of BasicGrey's brand new winter releases. I just love the texture in this collection! I created this layout for the BasicGrey CHA booth. Photos are of miss Moya after Colonial Day at school. She came home with all sorts of fun crafts that she had made. I think this new collection fit these photos perfectly!

I also had the pleasure of designing some layouts for the new release Page Kits. I'll start with two single page layouts I created for the Sweet Threads Page Kit.

Next are three pages I created for the Hello Luscious Page Kit.

Here is one I created for the Life of the Party Page Kit.

And finally here is one I created for the Lauderdale Page Kit.

All four of the new BasicGrey collections are so fun! Be sure to check them out on the BasicGrey website!

Thanks for stopping by today!

drumroll please...

2011-02-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

The winner of Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Texture is...

Congratulations Tenny! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

set the scene

2011-02-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

This is just a peek of a layout I created for the CK blog. Today I have a post there talking about my article, "Set the Scene" from the February 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Check it out and be sure to leave a comment on my post at the CK blog for your chance to win some great scene setting products from Fancy Pants Designs!

ck tips & tricks

2011-01-31T19:21:00.000-05:00

Exciting news! Creating Keepsakes latest Tips & Tricks issue just hit stores and it is a must have! This issue is all about adding texture to your scrapbook pages, and I can tell you first hand that it is chock full of awesome ideas!

Here's a page from this issue featuring a layout, "The Explorer" by Piradee Talvanna as well as a layout that I created, "That's My Girl."

See below for an even bigger peek inside this issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More scrapbooking

You can purchase Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Texture online at Scrap & Paper Shop. Enjoy free shipping on orders of $25 or more with coupon code TEXTDT from now until March 31, 2011.

Now for a giveaway! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Texture on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, February 4th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Saturday, February 5th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck and have an awesome week!

love.

2011-01-31T16:58:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow begins the month for it. And there is plenty of Love in the air this week on the American Crafts blog. You can check out my projects in Monday's AC blog post. Here's a little peek for you though, just because I like, I mean love you.

Fancy Pants new releases

2011-01-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day! CHA begins in Los Angeles, California. I'm not even sure what the weather is like there right now, but I'm sure it's tropical compared to Michigan...I'm sitting here wrapped in an afghan, with my space heater on high, trying to warm up! Trying.

The Fancy Pants blog has been full of sneak peeks and new release projects for the past two weeks. There is lots of great stuff to see there so be sure to check it out! I wanted to share the things I created for the Fancy Pants booth here on my own blog with all of you.

This "Love Banner" features the new It's the Little Things collection, which I must admit is my favorite new line from Fancy Pants - not that the others aren't fabulous as well, they are all gorgeous collections - this one is just my favorite.

"Sweet" features the new Beach Babe collection. I love the fun bright colors of this line. Did you notice the cool Filter Paper from the Artist Edition I used on my page? They come in white, but can easily be colored with spray ink (that's what I used) as well as paint and other mediums.

Finally is this boy themed layout using the fun new To The Moon collection. Fancy Pants does boy collections so well! I've loved every one they've come out with and this is no exception. The colors and patterns in this line are so fun, bold, and well - boyish!

Be sure to check out each of the new collections on the Fancy Pants website. FP has added some fun new products to each collection that I'm sure you'll love!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

JetPens winner!

2011-01-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of the JetPens gift certificate is...

Congratulations Jenny! I will email you shortly to send you your gift certificate. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me an email.

and the winner is...

2011-01-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

The winner of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker is...

Congratulations Lesley! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

JetPens giveaway!

2011-01-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

I received this awesome package in the mail from JetPens - last month I think...the past month and a half has been a blur!

Anyway, back to the package. I thought it would be fun to use all (well, most) of these products on one scrapbook page. Here's what I came up with.

I used a combination of American Crafts, The Classics and Love collections along with the goodies from JetPens.

I used this mini envelope template to create the fun little envelopes out of patterned papers, which made for really cute photo mats!

I LOVE these butterflies - which just happen to be my favorite color! The pattern on them is beautiful, and even though I love the bright blue centers of some of the flowers, the blue didn't fit well with the colors on my page. So, I used this awesome Uniball Signo pen in gold to color over the bright blue dots.

I really love this pen! As well as the other Uniball Signo pens that I received - they really do glide on easily and cover very well! I can't wait to use the white one on a project! I have the hardest time finding a good white pen that really covers. This one DOES! I'll try to use it on an upcoming project that I can share here.

The scissors...look at the number of blades on these babies! I think these are my new favorite scissors! I used them to make a little decorative fringe along the bottom of my page right under my title. Such an easy way to add a little extra detail!

Now for the really fun part! JetPens has generously offered to give away one $25 gift certificate for their online store to one of my blog readers! Pretty awesome, right?! Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive the gift certificate!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, January 23rd at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for the gift certificate and post their name here on Monday, January 24th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck and have an awesome day!

another ck giveaway!

2011-01-17T10:26:00.000-05:00

I'm back with another Creating Keepsakes idea book giveaway! Let me tell you a little bit about the book first. The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker by Wendy Smedley & Aby Garvey is not only full of great organization ideas, but helps you discover the best way to organize your space based on your own unique personality and the way you scrapbook. I LOVE this book! ...and not just because I love to organize. It's truly an awesome book!

Here's a little peek inside:

Open publication - Free publishing - More scrapbooking

You can purchase The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker online at Scrap & Paper Shop. From now until February 11, 2011 enjoy free shipping on orders of $25 or more with coupon code: DS25DT.

Now for the giveaway! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome book!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, January 21st at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Saturday, January 22nd. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

This week is also Organization Week over on the CK blog. Today I have a post over there on "Tips for Organizing Your Scrapbooking Tools." There are some great giveaways too! For even more organization ideas check out my article, “Cure Your Scrap Space Growing Pains” in the January 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Good luck and have an awesome day!

we have a winner!

2011-01-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

The winner of The Best of Digital Scrapbooking is...

Congratulations Julie! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

ck giveaway!

2011-01-13T08:29:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the latest special issue from Creating Keepsakes magazine, The Best of Digital Scrapbooking? It hit stores just this week! I took a peek at it and even though I'm not a digi scrapper, I'm excited to try some of the ideas and tutorials inside this book. Some chapters I can't wait to dig into are:

Chapter 2: Organize Your Files
Chapter 3: Perk Up Your Photography
Chapter 6: Artistic Techniques for Your Pages

Those are just a few of the awesome chapters inside this idea book. See below to take a peek inside the issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More scrapbooking

You can purchase The Best of Digital Scrapbooking online at Scrap & Paper Shop. From now until February 11, 2011 enjoy free shipping on orders of $25 or more with coupon code: DS25DT.

Now for the giveaway! Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of The Best of Digital Scrapbooking on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post, along with your email address (so I can contact you if you're the winner) for your chance to win, and I will randomly select one winner to receive this awesome special issue!

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, January 16th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for this issue and post their name here on Monday, January 17th. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Good luck and have an awesome day!

watercolor pencils

2011-01-10T20:03:00.002-05:00

I love my one-on-one time with Moya. For the past few months I've really been focusing on making it a part of my weekend schedule. We've done things like go to the mall and shop, Barnes & Noble to chat and enjoy some Starbucks, watch a chick flick and knit...and our latest (my favorite so far) - drawing and painting together. Drawing and painting is where it all started for me creatively and is still my true creative love. It makes me so proud and happy to see Moya's talent and love for it as well.

Moya recently received a nice watercolor tablet and her very first watercolor pencils. She loves to paint and draw but wanted a bit of instruction on using her new pencils. And this artist-mom was more than happy to oblige!

I pulled out my own watercolor pencils, mini watercolor block, brushes, etc. and some flower reference photos and we took over the dining room table with our mother-daughter painting!

It felt so good to draw and paint. After such a busy December I've been feeling a bit burned-out, but putting paint brush to paper was so refreshing! It was just what I needed creatively! Previous to this, I think I finished my last watercolor painting 4 or 5 years ago! That is way too long. Moya and I will definitely be painting together some more!

Here's the little flower that I painted.

Moya working on her flowers.

And Moya's final painting.

Thanks for stopping by today, and if you're looking for a fun, creative jump start, get some paint out and play!

december daily 9 - 25

2010-12-31T00:58:00.000-05:00

How was your Christmas? Merry I hope! I've had a great time with family and friends over the holidays. It's been busy though and I kind of dropped the ball on posting my December Daily pages. I thought I would do a little catching up tonight now that everyone is in bed and I have a quiet house. :)

This is a little backwards, but I never posted the cover or intro pages of my album so here they are...

That catches me up to Christmas day. I'm actually continuing my album through the end of the month, but I suspect I won't post anymore pages until after the new year. So stay tuned.

I've been thinking a lot about Ali Edward's One Little Word concept. There is one particular word that has been coming to me repeatedly the last couple months. I think I may actually follow through with the One Little Word idea and focus on this particular word in 2011 - I'll share my word in an upcoming post. I think I may also take Ali's One Little Word online workshop. It looks really good and sounds like just what I need...but more on that later.

Happy New Year friends!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T15:10:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your time with friends and family.

stocking stuffer

2010-12-22T13:11:00.000-05:00

How's your week going so far? Has it been filled with lots of holiday preparations and activities? I've been enjoying having my kiddos home - hearing their sweet voices and laughter throughout the day. Love that! Yeah, I'm pretty much blocking out the sounds of their arguing. ;-)

Today I have a fun and easy project to share with you that would make a great stocking stuffer! Pretty hair pins made with Dear Lizzy + American Crafts products.

Here is what you'll need to make your own.

To make the Flair hair pin, remove the foam adhesive from the back of the Flair badge. Adhere the badge to a crochet flower with hot glue.

Trim a small circle of felt and slide it into a hair pin as shown.

Adhere hair pin to flower with hot glue. Don't worry if the glue seeps out. Once it hardens you can use micro-tip scissors to trim away the excess.

The Dear Lizzy plastic rose brads also make a cute center for the crochet flowers. You can come up with all sorts of cute combinations with these fun products!

To gift wrap these little hair pins I used a Laughing Cow Cheese package. These little round boxes are perfect for so many different crafts. Simply cover with patterned paper and embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of this Christmas week!

ck @ cafe press

2010-12-20T11:23:00.000-05:00

The other day I received this package in the mail from my sweet friends at CK.

Did you know that Creating Keepsakes magazine has a shop at Cafe Press? And they have some really fun, new designs that you can get on several different products: t-shirts, water bottles, tote bags, clocks, and lots more!

I love the Cafe Press packaging! Isn't that little owl the cutest?!

Totally love the kraft paper wrap and Cafe Press sticker. But even more, I LOVE the t-shirt design!

Umm, okay. THIS is by far, THE coolest t-shirt I have ever owned! (Sorry honey, but it IS cooler than any of my sports team tees.) And I really do believe that scrappers are WAY cooler than ninjas! Though I'm sure my eight year old son would disagree...but he'd be wrong. ;-)

I love the little scrapper ninja with camera and scissors! I think I may need to get myself a red band to tie around my head too.

I love my new tee! And I'm glad it looks cute over a long sleeve tee since short sleeve weather is a few months away.

So this is just one of several fun designs at CK Gear & Gifts, there are lots more! Go check them out and order yourself a little gift! You'll be the envy at your next crop! :)

2011 ckc

2010-12-15T09:49:00.001-05:00

2011. It will be here in just over two weeks. It's crazy how fast 2010 has gone. I know, I probably say that every year. Of course my kids would disagree and say it went by too slowly. They're still in that, "I can't wait to be insert age because then I can..." age range. Actually, there are some days that I miss being in that age range myself. ;)

Okay, back to 2011. Recently, I was asked to create the projects for a 2011 CKC class, involving two of my very favorite things - fabric and stitching! I have to tell you, I was pretty excited about this assignment! Here's a peek at one of my pages as well as a class description.

Material Girl
There’s a little “material girl” in all of us and if not, there will be when you’re finished with this class! Join us as we complete two, 2-page layouts designed by Cindy Tobey, CK Dream Team and Contributing Writer. In class you’ll learn new techniques for incorporating material, ribbon, embroidery floss and other notions in your scrapbooking pages. Your class kit contains amazing papers from the Thrift Shop line by October Afternoon, which you’ll use to create four beautiful pages with plenty of product left over to use when you get home. This vintage inspired line is timeless and will leave you inspired by its nostalgic colors and patterns. Come express your material girl and have fun learning and creating.

Registration is now open for Louisville, Kentucky and Portland, Oregon. If you click on the Class and Activity List for either city you can scroll down to the Material girl class and see one of the pages I created for the class in it's entirety.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

december daily 5 - 8

2010-12-12T19:41:00.001-05:00

Will there be a snow day tomorrow? Won't there be a snow day tomorrow? That's the buzz around here tonight. Of course the kids are hoping for one...and honestly, if the roads are going to be nasty, I'm hoping for one too. I've lived in Michigan since birth and I'll admit it, I still detest winter driving! But I do love the snow. Just not on the roads. Yep. That sums it up. Okay, moving on, the real reason for this post - my next 4 days of December Daily pages...

These two spreads were a little more fun to do because of the smaller shaped page. It breaks things up a bit and adds some variety. The smaller page is from the Tradition Journal Book by Fancy Pants.

I have never been one for die cutting machines but I am loving my Silhouette! I haven't had it for very long, in fact this is my first project using it. I'm cutting out the numbers for my album and some bits and pieces here and there with it. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it! I guess now I am "one for die cutting machines," or at least the Silhouette. :)

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome week!

ck idea book winners!

2010-12-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

The winner of Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Stamps & Ink is...

The winner of Scrapbooking Everyday Memories is...

Congratulations Irma and Keianna! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Creating Keepsakes will get your prize in the mail!

For another chance to win a great prize visit the Creating Keepsakes blog today where I am guesting as part of their 12 Days of Scrapbooking Giveaways! Here's a peek at my project over there.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Weekend all!

ck idea book giveaway!

2010-12-07T13:24:00.002-05:00

As promised I have another giveaway! Two actually. Creating Keepsakes recently released two new special issues.

First up is Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Stamps & Ink. I love this issue! Most of you probably don't know this, but several years ago I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - I loved to stamp! LOVED it. But since then, I have to admit, I've strayed away from my stamps. But while reading this issue I found myself getting excited about stamping again...it has so many ideas that I want to try - I'm just going to have to dust off those stamps!

"Dream Come True" (shown above) is a layout that I created using "digital stamps," printing them onto patterned paper, and dressing them up with flock. Below, you can take a peek inside this issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More stamping

Next up is Scrapbooking Everyday Memories. Another great issue! This one is filled with so many amazing layouts capturing those everyday moments, tips and sketches! Plus it is divided into categories such as "friends, hobbies, town, etc." so you can quickly find great ideas for the theme you are scrapbooking!

"New Supplies" (shown above) is a layout that I created about shopping for back-to-school supplies with my daughter. Below, you can take a peek inside this issue.

Open publication - Free publishing - More scrapbooking

Use coupon code CKDT15 to receive 15% off all items in the Scrap & Paper Shop from now until December 20, 2010.

Creating Keepsakes has generously offered to give away one copy of each issue on my blog. Just leave a comment on this post for your chance to win one of these great issues and I will select one winner to receive Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Stamps & Ink and one winner to receive Scrapbooking Everyday Memories.

Only one entry per person please. You have until Friday, December 10th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner for each issue and post their names here on Saturday, December 11th. Please include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Coordinates Collections Winner!

2010-12-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Coordinates Collections December kit is...

Congratulations cardstockaholic! I will email you shortly to get your mailing address. If for some reason you don't receive my email, just click the "email me" button to the right and send me your address information and Coordinates Collections will get your prize in the mail!

Thanks everyone for entering and be sure to come back tomorrow for another chance at another great giveaway!

december daily 1 - 4

2010-12-05T15:31:00.000-05:00

I successfully completed my first four days. Yay for me! This seriously will be a bit of a challenge to fit in, but I'm already finding that it is SO worth it! I'm going to treasure this album and the memories that it holds. And it's funny, I'm already thinking about how I'll do next year's album!

As mentioned previously, I'm using mainly Fancy Pants' Tradition collection for my album. I selected two fonts Forelle (numbers and some titles), and Print Clearly (journaling), to use in combination with the Fancy Pants alpha stickers.

Today we took some family photos in front of our Christmas tree...and of course the first batch where we were all happy and smiling were a bust! Major glare on Moya's glasses. The next round, no glare, but seriously forced smiles...and lots of grimaces. Here's hoping I find at least one gem in the batch! You'll be seeing at least one of those pics in my next December Daily post...good or bad. ;-)

Happy Sunday all!

Coordinates Collections Giveaway!

2010-12-03T08:33:00.002-05:00

For my first blog post of December I have an exciting giveaway! Cooridnates Collections is offering one of their Decemeber kits (winner's choice) to one of my blog readers!

Coordinates Collections is one online scrapbooking site that offers endless possibilities:
• a monthly scrapbook Kit Club that offers 2 kits per month
• an Online Store with the latest scrapbooking supplies
• fun & friendly Message Board, Blog and Idea Gallery
• Monthly Contests, Challenges and Sketches

The winner of this giveaway will get to choose either the Frosty Porch kit, or the Vintage Attic kit. Frosty Porch includes some yummy products from BasicGrey's Jovial collection, and Vintage Attic includes goodies from BasicGrey's Curio collection.

Frosty Porch

Vintage Attic

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post stating which one of the collections you'd like to receive if you win. Please include your email address with your comment and I'll contact you if you're the winner.

Only one entry per person please. You have until Sunday, December 5th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post their name here on Monday, December 6th.

Thanks for stopping by!

november projects

2010-11-30T17:55:00.001-05:00

Seeing how today is the last day of November and all, I thought I'd share a few pages I created this month.

Kitchen Chit Chat features photos of my brother and me in our mom's kitchen, contributing to the Thanksgiving meal last year. I used the Happy Together collection from Fancy Pants to create this page.

Higher features the City Park collection from American Crafts. My son had a blast on this tire swing! He's being pushed by his uncle in these photos, but I think he got everyone at this family gathering to push him on it at some point during the day.

She Loves to Play also features City Park and Dear Lizzy Enchanted. I used a Heidi Swapp mask with spray ink from Studio Calico for my background. The journaling on my page reads: Art Van had pianos set up all over downtown during ArtPrize. You were super excited when we happened upon this one. It was fun listening to you play. You even had some passersby stop to listen and applaud. Daddy and I were so proud watching you play. You would’ve been happy to just spend the day finding all the pianos and playing a song or two on each one!

I can't believe tomorrow is December 1st and with that, the start of my December Daily album entries. I will also be challenging myself to taking at least one photo a day for the month of December. And who knows...maybe I'll carry it into a photo a day for 2011 too! Who's with me?!

Thanks for stopping by!