Busy Day

I went scrapbooking at another all-day crop on Saturday. I brought Erica with me for the first few hours and did crafts with her that whole time. She loved it all! Once I brought her home and returned, I got 3 layouts done as well as a card and a tin can to hold candies on my desk at work. The first layout is based on the Midweek Mojo at Scrapbook Steals (Jade #1b):

I completely forgot to write the list of materials, but I do remember that the paper with the trees and polka dots (the reverse side) are from Doodlebug. The glitter tape is America Crafts and the title was done with Thickers.

Here are my other 2 layouts:

The other items still need to be photographed. It seems like lately I am scurrying from thing to thing trying to get some sort of sanity. I just returned to work last week after a year of maternity leave. Hopefully things start to calm down and I can get some semblance of order back in my everyday life...

Christmas Card for 2012

Last year I took a "Make 'n Take" at my LSS and decided I wanted to "steal" some elements of the card we made for the next card I would send out for Christmas. When the Boxing Day sales hit, I bought a background stamp with snowflakes (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE snowflake designs?), a set of angel stamps and some Perfect Pearls mist. It has now been a year and the eagerly anticipated cards got started last night while cropping with friends. I knew exactly what inks I wanted to use to color the card. So, I started with plain white cardstock, stamped and embossed the snowflake background and then blended my 3 different ink colors. I then stamped and embossed the angel and sentiment to stick on the front of the card. I am quite happy with the look. It's softer than I usually go, but I love the colors and that they are non-traditional for Christmas. All that is left to do is spritz the Perfect Pearls for that final overall sheen. I have managed to finish putting together 6 cards and get the pieces all ready for another 10. I plan to make about 40-50 this year (last year was just over 70 and I had some leftovers). So, here it is:

I am also submitting this for The Paper Girls Challenge Blog (#20). This is definitely Christmas themed.

Here are the items I used:

Stamps: Impression Obsession (Snowflakes), Heartfelt Creations (Elegant Angels Precut Set)

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Dusty Concord), VersaColor (35 Lilac) and Studio G Chalks (a baby blue color)

Back to Layouts...

Finally! After all the ATCs and the crafts for the craft fair, I got to work on some layouts Friday night. These are the 2 that I got done. I was sooooooo happy to get back to scrapbooking as that really is my first love.

This first layout was of a picture that makes me giggle every time I see it. It's almost as if Alexis was saying, "Enough with the pictures already, Mom!". This was within the first month she was around and already showing us a bit of attitude (she is a strong-willed girl, but I prefer that than a wishy-washy one). I love the bright colors of the papers. They are from the Neon Chic paper stack by DCWV. I love bright and bold colors...I am not often someone who uses muted colors (I struggle with those). The letters and numbers are all Thickers (Lovely and Dazzle Stickers in Taffy Pink).

Here is my second layout. This one took a lot longer to do because I really struggled with what papers to match up and how to place the pictures. All in all, a major labor of love because now that it's done, I am happy with it. Whoa boy, did it ever take a lot to get it done!

These were all papers that I had in my stash. They were not labelled, so I cannot tell you where they were from. I also used some washi tape to add some "zip". Again, all the letters are Thickers (Powder, Taffy and I still have to look up the other ones). I keep looking at the picture furthest to the right and can't get over those big eyes. My little cutie! Well, she isn't so little anymore as she is quickly approaching 11 months...where did the time go???

Winter ATCs

Well, I took part in another ATC swap with my online scrapbooking gal pals. The only rule: the card must be 2.5" x 3.5". This is what I came up with (I made 22 of them):

I used this stamp and sentiment for my Christmas cards 2 years ago (the first time I made cards for everyone on my list). I love this set and was excited to use it again. I also colored with alcohol ink markers for the first time! I'd say this isn't too bad for my first time.

Products:

Papers: Bazzill cardstock (snow), Recollections

Stamps: Stampendous Christmas stamp set

Markers: American Crafts Chromatix (Rouge, Grape, Sapphire and Skin Tone sets)

Stickles: Diamond and Yellow

Upcoming Craft Fair...

I have decided to take the plunge and see if I could actually sell something that I made with my own 2 hands. Tonight I made this piece that measures 13x12. I cut everything on the Cricut (Songbird font and Winter Lace cartridges). However, because the Cricut shading was too subtle for my taste, I freehanded the cutting of the shadow behind the words. It took a bit of time, but I think it was worth it. I love the lavender and pale blue on white. It is a winter scheme I gravitate to...

I have signed up to have a table with a dear friend of mine and we were asked to be sure that some of our items were for the holidays. I like that this can be for winter and not just Christmas (not everyone celebrates Christmas). I must say that I am quite pleased with how this looks. Now I need to make some more items because only one will not help fill a table or garner any interest...

Hands...

I am a bit late with this post. This layout was done LAST Friday. It's of some pictures of my baby girl from sometime around June. She was only able to turn around in circles at that point in time and was rolling to get from Point A to Point B (now she is climbing on everything and will be walking before we know it!!!). She was fascinated by her hands and was always clasping them and looking at them very intently. I just love these photos...they remind me that the simple things warrant our attention.

I used Bo Bunny paper (Jasmine collection from 2010) for the background and also used the flowers and chipboard stickers from the same line to add some dimension to the layout. I matted the pictures with AC cardstock (I love matting pictures) and the letters are, of course, Thickers (with some Stickles to make them sparkle).

I love the overall look. It's feminine, but not lost in too much softness and I just love those photos!

Coral #3a & 3b

This week's mojo at Scrapbook Steals had 2 sketches. I have combined them to do a double layout. As you can see, I adapted it to fill in the paper spaces with pictures. I used a total of 12 pictures (which is awesome because they really do belong together and not strewn throughout several pages). I am really pleased with how this turned out:

I do plan to add an embellishment on the far bottom left in the "white space". The papers I used were from the Desert Blooms first edition paper pad. The soft peachy/coral color went well with the orange that seemed to dominate the clothing choices that day (I swear it was not planned). And the more muted grey/brown of the background papers lends to the "outdoorsy" feel. The buttons are from AC and Doodlebug, the Thickers are Amy Tangerine and the ribbon is something from my stash. It all came together so easily!

Here are some pages I did last Friday:

These were a lot of fun to put together as well. The page that says "Nature Gal" has some of my favorite pictures of Erica (especially that bottom right action shot). She is just a fun girl with such a good heart!

The rest of the pictures are of family that were together on that day (my hubby, sister-in-law, niece, nephew and my 2 girls...I'm the one you see as only a torso in the aqua shirt behind my youngest...such is the life of the scrapbooking mom who is usually taking all the pictures). I kept these 2 pages very simple because the pictures were enough to make beautiful pages. The brown sparkly flourishes are from Making Memories.

Scrappy Time

OMG, a post not including a Midweek Mojo! So weird...

Tonight I finished my "fall-ish" ATC's for a swap with some other Canadian/US scrappy friends. I must have changed my mind about a million times. Here is what I finally ended up with:

The chevron background and the fussy cut images are all from a stack of Teresa Collins paper I recently found on a visit to Winners. This is also my first time using twine (American Crafts) on something (yes, I am so late on getting on this bandwagon). The twine was a find at Winners as well (I am finding more and more scrappy stuff there...I even found a Cricut cartridge for $19.99 the other day!).

I also got a layout done tonight. The only paper line used was Bo Bunny's Alora (including the stickers and rub-ons).

These are pictures for Alexis' scrapbook so that she sees later on who we shared our cabin with for Labor Day weekend. This was a simple layout (as was intended) as I just wanted a simple collage of the overall weekend. Mission accomplished!

Go Big!

The Paper Girls Challenge Blog put up a challenge called "Go Big" which was about scrapping any picture sized at 5x7 or more. I chose to look through some of the 8x10 pictures from my wedding nearly 5 years ago (will I ever get that album done?). I used several different papers from different companies and like how it all came together:

The background paper was Quick Quotes paper (cherry truffle). I then used some American Crafts POW! glitter paper in caramel to outline the top and bottom of the picture. The 2 sayings were from Bo Bunny's Apple Cider line and Simple Stories Documented line. They all worked so cohesively that I am extremely pleased with the final result. The title was done using Making Memories glitter alphas in red. This picture is a personal favorite of mine because it captured my husband kissing my forehead which is pretty much something he does on a daily basis. I love it!

I continued being productive tonight as I got 2 more layouts done. They are both from Labor Day weekend. The first one is of Erica learning to roll down a hill (which she absolutely loved doing which you can tell by her expression). I used Moxxie paper (Easter green/orange) for the background, Thickers for the title and Bo Bunny Hello Sunshine for the journaling corner. The other layout is with the bench and butterfly wings again, but this time with me in the pictures with Erica (I am so rarely in pictures because I am the one usually taking them). I used the DCWV Glam Gal stack again so that I could pair this page with the previous one I did (see here).

I also worked on my ATCs tonight (8 of the 16 are done). I will post a picture as soon as they are all completed. Time to get some sleep as it was a BUSY day today (did I mention that the grand opening of Michaels in our area was today? I stood in line for an hour with Alexis to get some stuff...phew!).

I Am Perfectly Pearl!

I was able to get 2 layouts done this evening. The first one was for the tenth sketch in the pearl series for Scrapbook Steals. Here is what I came up with, based on Pearl #10:

I love working with a black background and for this one I had some B&W pictures just waiting to be scrapped. I added an additional photo to the layout, but kept with most of the style set by the sketch. I am not a fan of round elements, so I used my 1" square punch and gave the round part some more angles (much more my esthetic). I really like how the black allowed all the color from my papers to pop. The paper squares and strips are all from Doodlebug's Hello Spring line and the flower and butterflies are once again from the DCWV Glam Gal papers. I also used Thickers for the title and find they filled the "white" space well and kept the black from being too dark. My littlest girl has only been crawling for a few weeks now. These are pictures from when it was still relatively new for her to get around. She just loves motoring everywhere!

My second layout of the night is of my oldest girl. The paper and all the embellishments are from My Mind's Eye (Indie Chic - nutmeg and ginger). In fact, the embellishments and journaling card were all things I won for one of the previous Mojos by Scrapbook Steals. I have come full circle!

This was such a fun day. She was all smiles! Face-painting, a fairy wreath and ice cream? What more could a little girl ask for?!

Now, I have to mention that I was having a conversation with one of my scrappy friends about something she saw on tv last night for the 9-11 stories. She had seen a story about a family where the mother was one of the ones lost on that awful day and the father was left to care for two 18 month-old girls. The story was about how he explained that he used to make fun of his wife for always taking pictures of EVERYTHING. She was a fan of the day-to-day stuff and documented her entire pregnancy as well as all the daily things the babies did once they were born. She had even been taking pictures of their messy faces at breakfast on that final day of her life. It turns out that the father decided to take up where she left off...This is why I scrap...I want my girls to have lots of memories documented for when they are older and I am not around to tell the stories (or can't remember the details any longer). I want them to see that even on a regular day, they were happy and loved. It's not about all the "special occasions"...those are easy to focus on...it's the days when my oldest got her first pedicure, my youngest was having fun crawling around and then managed to get stuck...it's the messy faces while trying to eat on their own for the first time...it's the quiet moments when I wonder what they are thinking...it's the emotions, the faces and the crazy expressions on their faces that make them who they are as individuals. It's all of those things. It's their story and it's where they came from and who they are and will be...I love this hobby!

Pearl #9 and a bonus...

Last night was my regular Friday night out with my Scrappy Sistas and we were celebrating the birthday of one of our own. All in all, a good night with lots of laughs. I managed to get 2 layouts done which was quite a feat what with all the chit-chatting, dinner running a bit late and just carrying on. One of the layouts was for the Mojo this week at Scrapbook Steals (Pearl #9b, as there were 2 sketches this week). I love the pictures I used on this one and totally played up the vibrant colors of Alexis' surroundings. Here is my take on the sketch (turned sideways and changed a little bit):

Unfortunately this week I did not take note of the papers I used (and some have been in my stash for some time). I can tell you that the 2 papers used to mat the pictures were from the Mango Frost papers by DCWV, but that's about all I can name. I love how bright and happy this turned out. A great sketch to work with!

Here is another layout I did from Labor Day Weekend when we were in the Lake George area in NY. My older daughter, Erica, loves the water and proceeded to "catch rocks" while in it. She made me laugh when I asked her if she was catching them and she said, "Yeah!". She brings a smile to my lips on a daily basis with her enthusiasm. 

For this layout I used papers from Kaisercraft (the Rock Pool collection). I love the more muted colors...they just have a warm natural feel to them. Plus, there are lots of great little cards with sayings that add nice embellishment to the pages. The background papers are from My Mind's Eye (Kraft Funday line) which were the perfect backdrop.

I am very current with these layouts because the pictures are from this past week. Although...I should probably get back to some of the baby pictures for Erica from a few years ago....no pressure!

My Little Butterfly...

Here is a layout I did last night that I am quite proud of. For the long weekend we went to the Lake George area in NY and I ended up with lots of great pics, but there was just something about this one of my oldest daughter standing on a bench with a big butterfly piece on it. She has a huge grin on her face and the butterfly is in her favorite color: purple! I happened to stumble upon a great find the night before. I bought several stacks of patterned paper at Winners. The papers used for this layout were from the DCWV stack Glam Gal. I love the background paper with the hearts and words on it. It was the perfect backdrop for my picture. I decided to cut the picture so that anything distracting was removed and allowed the butterfly piece to really be the focal point. I matted the picture with another sheet from the same stack as well as the long vertical purple piece. All the butterflies were from another page as well and I did some "fussy cutting" and layering to give them some dimension. Of course, I needed to use my metallic pen to add the "flying marks" for the butterflies (I love that effect...so simple, but a nice detail). So here is my finished product:

Can I just say I LOVE this layout?! The colors, the subject...it's just a nice marriage of everything (and trust me, I am not always a fan of my own work). Now I need to find a way that will allow the dimension of the butterflies to show...

Pearl #8 and then some...

Here we are again, dealing with another Midweek Mojo from Scrapbook Steals. The sketch for Pearl #8 can be found here. My layout below started out from that sketch and somewhere took a HUGE turn into something else. Most of my layouts are fun and very light-hearted. This one is of a more serious nature and touches upon a time early this year that was very scary for my husband and I as we feared for our baby's health and potentially her life. Not to worry, she got through it and is a very active and healthy 8 month-old now. So here is that layout:

I wanted Alexis to be able to know the story of what happened in the beginning. I didn't want to lose the details as time went by until she was old enough to understand the gravity of the situation. It's her story and I felt it needed to be documented. Life is full of bumps along the road and this was a major one in the very beginning of her life. Hopefully it will help inspire her whenever she faces an obstacle.

Pearl #7 and more...

Here I am once again posting another Midweek Mojo from Scrapbook Steals. The sketch for Pearl #7 was one I really enjoyed and the layout I created had a visual "trick" that allowed me to place the pictures in a similar fashion to the sketch. You will notice that the blue color goes straight across vertically:

I wanted to add different embellishments, so I kept the papers simple and decided on only using cardstock and no actual patterned papers. I LOVE my Life's a Beach cartridge for my Cricut. In fact, after making that adorable title, I think I may just use a mermaid theme for my older daughter's next birthday...

I also worked on this adorable frame with Erica. We went to our LSS the other night and I told her she could pick one glitter paper and 3 pattered papers. What you find on this project was all from her choices. The frame is one I picked up some time last year in one of those $1 bins at Michaels. I painted it lavender and cut out the Tinkerbell for it, but Erica placed all the squares where she felt they needed to go (not bad for a 3 year-old, eh?). I think this turned out really well and am so happy my daughter enjoyed making it.

The patterned papers were all from Doodlebug Designs (Hello Spring line) and the Tinkerbell paper was from EK Success. Everything was stuck and sealed with Mod Podge (matte finish).

Here are some other layouts I did this week:

I'd say it was a pretty productive week and I am happy with how the layouts and frame all turned out (and the bottom 2 layouts were done using Bo Bunny - like I could go without doing something with their papers ~ *wink*...and the lines are Hello Sunshine and Alora). I think I may just love the heart font from Rock Princess that I used for "Wagon Full of Cousins". Any time I can get scrappy and be creative always leaves me feeling good about my accomplishments when I am done. I look forward to the day my girls each get their scrapbooks and look through all the fun moments and smile at all the captured memories.

And...this week I picked up a new line from Bo Bunny. I got the kit for Apple Cider (I love anything fall-themed...especially to do the pages for my own wedding album).

Pearl #6 and on a roll...

I am on a roll with the weekly mojos at Scrapbook Steals. I have not missed one in this Pearl series and intend to keep riding this creative wave that has hit. I am so happy when I get pages done, especially when I really like the end result! This week was Pearl #6 and it was another fun sketch. Here is my interpretation:

The entire layout was done with one kit: the Alora line from Bo Bunny (I know, I know...do I ever NOT use Bo Bunny). I just love how the saturated colors went so well with this shot done outdoors. Plus, what is not to love about a kit I won for free online! (*wink, wink*)

And just because I hate to waste the back page of doublesided sheets:

Same kit and pictures from the same day (only the Thickers were not in the kit). I was very happy with both...they look so different and yet are just so right.

So here I find myself on my regular Friday when I head out to my LSS to crop and my mojo is already done. That means I either should find some other sketches or come up with my own designs (perish the thought ~ *dramatic sigh* ~ lol). Hopefully others are doing the same thing (well, other than my regular circle of scrappy friends who will be there with me...and also heading for ice cream when we hit our "break time"). Have a great weekend everyone!

Pearl #5a

Well, here I am once again with this week's mojo from Scrapbook Steals. I wasn't sure at first what I wanted to do with it nor if I had a stand alone picture on hand. Once I found the picture it was easy to get the page done because I could use just about any color combination since the picture was neutral. And once again, I used my Bo Bunny papers...have I ever mentioned how much I love their bright, bold colors? So here is my take on the sketch for Pearl #5a:

Here are some of the products I used:

Patterned papers: Hello Sunshine (Bo Bunny)

Buttons (American Crafts and Doodlebug)

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Foam letters: Thickers - Rockabye in leaf and white (American Crafts)

It was kind of fun to do everything on a bit of an angle so that I didn't have to painstakingly line everything up. I also really liked adding the buttons to all the starburst shapes...a nice touch if I do say so myself ;)

Yay For Me!

Just a quick note to say that today I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was the random winner picked for Pearl #4a. Not only did I get a gorgeous layout done for my littlest girl's scrapbook, but I will be getting some goodies from Scrapbook Steals. Plus, this morning's steal was from Bo Bunny (the Mama-razzi line)...which, of course, I stole...And now back to your regularly scheduled programing...

Pearl #3 and #4a

Well, here I am once again with some layouts done for the Midweek Mojos from Scrapbook Steals. I did Pearl #3 last week and this is what it looked like:

I used the floral paper and accents from the Bo Bunny Hello Sunshine line and the striped paper from October Afternoon 9 to 5 line. Perfect for pictures that are outdoors. You can't help but smile and be happy when you see these vibrant colors.

I did Pearl #4a tonight and actually kept a list of all the products I used:

Papers ~ Splash (Little Yellow Bicycle)

Cardstock ~ Cherry Cheesecake (Bazzill), Orange Citrus Vintage (Bo Bunny double dot)

Ink ~ Chipped Sapphire (Tim Holtz Distress Ink)

Letters ~ Cinnamon foil Thickers (American Crafts)

Washi tape ~ Wood grain

And here is the result:

These are the little ones in my baby girl's play group. The first 3 were born within 2 weeks of each other and the last one was 2 months after them. We have pictures from a few months ago and it's amazing how much they have already changed (my Alexis is 7 months old). I LOVE this layout and will definitely use the sketch again. I can't help but smile when I see these cuties all in a row. I have to take a bit of credit for the pictures as it was my suggestion to have them lay down in that position.

Pearl #1 and #2

After all this time I finally got the last 2 mojos done for Scrapbook Steals (although I forgot to post Pearl #1 in time for the draw ~ guess I was out of practice). The first one is of me and my youngest. I really liked the sketch and thought these 2 pictures would work perfectly. Even though the background paper is quite busy, I think it all works really well and is not too overwhelming:

This week I got Pearl #2 done pretty quickly and it is a rare layout of my husband. I particularly like the shot of his profile (hence the reason it is the focal point). I used Bo Bunny papers (and we all know how much I LOVE Bo Bunny):

And I finished another 2 layouts last Friday. I laugh every time I look at the one that has the picture of a very dirty niece of mine...the other is my youngest, once again:

That's it for now. Let's hope I get back into the swing of things so that I am not so absent from this blog. Although, we are starting to look at houses...our first attempt to move into a house ~ scary!

Card Craze

I went out last night for one of my weekly nights out to scrap. I did not work on any layouts, but made 12 cards within about 2 1/2 hours. How's that for being productive?! I was really happy about that because now I have a stash that I can use when in need of a "Thank you" card. I am by no means an expert card maker (I am more of a scrapbooker), but I am pleased with them. Here are the fruits of my labors:

Hopefully the future recipients will like them. Here's to hoping...