Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!! Just wanted to share some pics...I'm on vacation for couple of weeks so I've been doing a lot of crafting and puppy playing. This past week I made a couple of layouts, some cards, and also some paper ornaments. Lots of fun in my scraproom this week!

One thing I added to my house this year were mini Christmas trees for the kids rooms. I wanted to get Kendall a pink tree but couldn't find one. So I got this cute one in white and Aydan got a traditional with some giant white lights on them. Got everything from Target. Its hard to see but i used pink ribbon to hang up Kendalls ornaments.

Last year I purchased these blue and red ornaments on clearance after the holidays and used some Gin X rub ons to add some sentiments. Hung these up in my living room...

Woke up yesterday to quite an ice storm that we had...we've had a lot of snow and a lot of rain so its made traveling quite difficult.

I've been working on these paper Christmas trees since early November. Used the Jolly by Golly line from Cosmo Cricket added some Mica Powder and made a 3D star with my Slice and Fa La La card for the top.

This Christmas countdown calendar is from house of 3. Just printed up the digital papers and followed the directions. Took about an hour to make.

Used the Jolly by Golly papers again here to make some ornaments. This birdhouse is wooden and was brought home by my son last year from school. It had one crayon mark on it. I really didn't know what to do with it, so I covered it in paper. Also added a Doodlebug frill to the edge of the roof and some more Mica Powder. I gotta say that I've found a new passion in paper crafting!!

And some more ornaments that were inspired by the Maya Road Blog. They had a cute garland there and I just had to try some paper folding techniques. Used Cosmo Cricket paper again but this time I used the Girl Friday line with the Jolly by Golly Chipboard. Used the Fa La La card again to make the snowflakes and the Noteworthy card to make the square bracket shapes. Sorry there's some sun glare on the last two pics...

This card is for someone close to me who is grieving over the death of a friend. The journaling stamp is Hero Arts...just used some AC embossing powder and colored pencils to it. The sentiment stamp is from Stampin Up.

And how about a puppy update? Maui is 10 weeks old now...she is 14 lbs. Amazing how she's doubled in size in 4 weeks. She is certainly full of energy. Her favorite thing to do is to steal our stuff and hide it under the Christmas tree. It almost reaches the ground so I have to army crawl under there to get my socks, shoes, kids toys, etc.

And a LO about her....she certainly gives me cute pics to scrap :) Used the CC Girl Friday line again here and some other old elements...see the bottom right there? Thats a "scrapbook window" from Chatterbox. Old school, right? LOL! Thanks for looking.

Supplies

Baby Sleeping

PP: Cosmo Cricket

CS: Hobby Lobby

Scalloped Edge: Bazzill

Puffy Letters: American Crafts

Paper Clip, Felt Flowers, Paper Flowers, Chipboard "M", Clear Frame, and brads: Making Memories

Definition Rub On: Jenni Bowlin

Felt: Fancy Pants Design

Journaling Tag: Jellibean Soup

Scrapbook Window: Chatterbox

Dymo label maker and Ranger Glossy Accents Glue

Our New Baby

Meet Maui, our new lab puppy. We got her 2.5 weeks ago and my life hasn't been the same since. I mean that in a good and bad way. LOL. She is sweet as anything and gives lots of love. BUT its like having a toddler around. She gets into everything, poops and pees a ton, and constantly has to be watched.

These pics are the first day we brought her home...she weighs 7 lbs at 6 weeks old. So cute.


Kendall has been asking for a puppy forever. I can't even explain how excited she was...the look on her face was priceless! It just melted my heart!
5 days after we got her, which was the day after Thankgiving, she got real sick with a virus. We had to rush her to her vet because she had terrible diarrhea. It really scared us silly. She was there for 6 hours and they pumped her up with IVs and some antibiotics. Poor girl lost 1.5 lbs. She's OK now but for a while we were on pins and needles worried about her.
This is her at the vets office when we went to see her in the afternoon. She looked a whole lot better than she did 3 hours before that. Its amazing how much better IVs can turn someone around. I'm so glad she's OK.

Here she is resting at home with her little IV access in so she could go back in for more fluids . They bandaged it up (complete with a butterfly) to keep it protected and even added some bad tasting stuff so we wouldn't take it out. Well, later that night she was feeling better and took out her IV. LOL.
And just a quick layout I wanted to share. Almost everything here is from Making Memories Vintage Findings Collection. The music paper is from a vintage children's music book, which incidently I found at a resale shop while we waiting for Maui to be released from the vet.

few layouts and a coaster

Just a quick post. Did a few layouts this past week...feeling a little behind here. This layout was a ton of work, I know it doesn't look like it but I got half way through the layout and redid it. Reprinted pics and tossed out the rest. I used sketch #78 from Got Sketch. I think creating my own sketch and arranging things on pages are the hardest part of scrapping for me. I'm really finding myself using them more since I'm a lot happier with my work. and sketches just really seem to balance the page. I'm so NOT good at that. Used my Slice on "awesome", the banner, and the swirl you see on the calendar. Used the Basic Grey Indian Summer line here...love that line! I only have the 6x6 pad so this sketch was perfect for it!

Added a Jenni Bowlin calendar, and some MM Autumn Splendor leaves. Even pulled out some super old school MM Thanksgiving/Fall definition stickers. And those wooden buttons? Got them from Hong Kong on ebay...took a month to get those but I like them because they are so different.

And a change of pace here. Wanted to scrap Kendall's soccer pics. I had printed two, 4x6 pics and had another plan. But then I saw Laura's page here (see post below) and decided to lift it but using a different color scheme. I loved her layout especially because the pics stretched across the page and I had 2, 4x6 pics to use. Worked out perfect. I didn't intend on using a red, white and blue theme. LOL. Started with the red, white, and grey to go with the uniforms and then added on blue to match my husband's coaching uniform.

And I'm on a coaster kick lately. Trying to make these so that I have one out by the front door for every occasion. I ran out of my Bazzill coasters so I made my own from chipboard...just rounded off the corners. Used my Calendar Slice card here, Autumn Splendor, and my wooden buttons, and the MM definition sticker.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used

Awesome Autumn

Cardstock, Foil Paper, and Ribbon: AC

PP and Chipboard Letters: Basic Grey

Slice Machine, Leaves, Felt Letters, Staples, and Stickers: Making Memories

Border Punch: Fiskars

Stickles: Ranger

Calendar Die Cut: Jenni Bowlin

Corner Chomper: We R Memory Keepers

Soccer

Cardstock: Bazzill and Stampin Up (blue)

Lace Paper and Border Sticker: KI

Diecuts and PP: Scenic Route

Ribbon: AC and Stampin Up

Mini Staples: Ranger

Chipboard Letters: Basic Grey

Chipboard Stars: Gin X

Letter Stickers: Heidi Swapp

White Pen: Uniball Signo

Mini Letter Stickers: Making Memories

Corner Chomper: We R Memory Keepers

Thanksgiving Coaster

PP, journal die cut, definition sticker, Slice Machine (calendar), Ribbon: Making Memories

Clips and Distress Ink: Ranger

Wooden Button

Some Announcements and a Card

OK, I have to give some praises to my friends!
First off, big news here!! Congrats Laura...what an amazing accomplishment!!!
And big news here!! Congrats Heather! You finally did it! YaY! Toot!

And a cool LO that Laura did for the Making Memories blog. You can see that here. See a familiar face there? I'm on that LO. So sweet that she included me and I'm so honored to be her friend!

And a mini toot for me. My Indian Summer Cards made the Basic Grey Gallery. You can see them here. This is my second gallery project with them.

And Project Life is on sale now. Its pretty much like the 365 Project that I'm doing now. As much as I'm dying to get it, I really don't want to commit to another year. Maybe in 2011. I want to spend that time instead reorganizing my photo albums and backing up my jpgs. And if this project is a big seller (I know it will be), then I know that Becky will have this or another one for sale next year. Lastly, I made this card for a special long time friend who's father passed away. This is a lift of Jennifer McGuires. You can see that here. I love the brown with the bright flowers. Sympathy cards can be challenging...you don't want them to be all dark and sad yet you don't want a super bright cheerful card. I think the dark and the colors are a good mix. And I had to pull out the super strong red tape to hold the front of the card to the base. This sucker is heavy!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill (white textured), Stampin Up (brown, white)

Stamps: Hero Arts (background and leaves) and Studio G (sentiment)

Ink: Versamark, Staz On Timber, and Stampin Up (green)

Ribbon: American Crafts

Flowers: Prima and Creating keepsakes

Other: Embossing Powder, Pearls, and Corner Rounder

thanks for looking!

A Ton of Projects and more 365

Just some more 365 pics. I'm so behind on posting these...I'm not going to give you all the dates just to make it quick. Just a summary...I can't believe I'm heading toward the finish line! Its week 43 already!

Week 36: Aydan asleep in my arms after school...picture day for first grade...Kendall wearing her shower cap everywhere. LOL

Week 37: Homework, park, dried up worms, Buffalo Bills Wild Wings, keeping aydan busy with my phone, me and my guy at the park.
Week 38: cute undies hanging out of his pants (lol), Slice gifts, another lost tooth, Steak and Shake, my new library card catalog, and Sunday breakfast.
Week 39: Park, soccer, kids horsing around after school, kids lining up their animals in my living room, cute pic of Kendall in a mirror at a restaurant.
Week 40 (YaY!): Visit with Heather, treat bags, chicken and dumplings, Aydan making a mess as usual while eating, fun animal masks from michaels.

Thanks for looking!

Cards and Layouts

Its been a while since I've posted some projects but I certainly have been locked away in my scraproom a lot. Totally in the crafting mood...spent so much time making crafts that I kinda forgot to work on some layouts.
I HAD to scrap about my good friend Laura who lives about 2,000 miles away from me. We finally got to meet during the Slice infomercial after 2 years of friendship. She is a daily part of my life and I really appreciate her and her friendship! Her and I talk about scrapbooking all the time and I'm so glad that I finally got to put her pic on one of my layouts :)
I wanted to work on this earlier but I just didn't have any creative ideas in my head. After looking at a layout by Kandis Smith in the November issue of Scrapbook Trends Magazine, I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to lift her layout as much as possible but it really turned out a whole lot different than the original.
I really like how this layout turned out...I wanted something fun and girly! I used some of the MM Giggle collection and I used it because its fun, not just because Laura designs for Making Memories. LOL! I used black and white pics so the colors of the papers would work. and I'm terrible about hoarding my best supplies but I didn't hold back for this one-even pulled out some Jenni Bowlin. And I used some other supplies that I know that Laura loves...Swiss Dot Cuttlebug, staples, BoBunny dotted paper, and Creative Cafe tags.
I added some jewels to the border trim and also some MM Giggle glass pebbles on top of the circles of the paper. For the journaling I used some Love Elsie word stickers and substituted them for the words. Ignore my crooked handwriting!

And simple layout of my son in soccer. Everything here is American crafts. I didn't have any "C's" letters left so I made them out of "Q's". I knew I wouldn't have room for journaling so I used the white space of the bottom picture for that.


And a card I made for Jennifer McGuires Stamp Camp at Two Peas. Let me tell you that I spent forever on this card. I used a billizion techniues. This started as a simple Anna Griffith journaling spot. I stamped some text on there with a Papertry Ink stamp and then heat embossed it with some halographic embossing powder with a harlequin stamp, then used my ranger tool to rub in some distress ink. The butterfly was stamped on Basic Grey paper, then I added some Martha Stewart Glitter to it. The label frame was made using the Slice, then I added a stamped sentiment behind it. The whole thing was covered in some Diamond Glaze. The base of the card was put through the Cuttlebug and then I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the edges. The ribbon was attached with the Ranger tiny attacher...love that tool!

And for this card I used a MM journaling spot. I did the same technique as the above card. Used my Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday stamp for the sentiment on the MM Just Chillin Paper. The owl stamp is from American Crafts...so tiny and cute! Used some left over Basic Grey paper and put the whole thing on a Hero Arts Kraft card.

In a few days I'll be posting my 365 projects for the last several weeks and hopefully another project. Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

"Friends"

Cardstock: Stampin Up and Creative Imaginations

PP, Epoxy Stickers, Glass Pebbles, Staples, Foil Border: Making Memories

Fabric Letters: Scrapworks

Chipboard Butterfly: Jenny Bowlin

Tag: Creative Cafe

Corner Punch: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Word Stickers: KI Memories

Pen: Uniball Signo

Embossing Plate: Cuttlebug

"Soccer"

Cardstock, PP, chipboard, journaling spot, rub ons, foam letters: American Crafts

"Gratitude"

Card: Hero Arts

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey

Die Cut Machine: Making Memories Slice

Journaling Spot: Anna Griffith

Stamps: Hampton Arts, Martha Stewart, Hero Arts, Papertry Ink

Ink: Ranger and Colorbox

Embossing Powder and Staples: Ranger

Glitter and Border Punch: Martha Stewart

Glue: Diamond Glaze, Judikins

Ribbon: Michaels

Punch: Stampin Up

Embossing Plate: Cuttlebug

"Remember Card"

Card: Hero Arts

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, Making Memories

Journaling Spot: Making Memories

Stamps: Papertry Ink, Hero Arts, Amderican Crafts, Technique Tuesday

Ink: Papertry Ink, Ranger, and Colorbox

Embossing Powder: Ranger

Ribbon: American Crafts

Pen: Uniball Signo

My Infomercial Experience

So where do I start? OK, I’ll get right to the point…and hopefully I won’t bore you with all the details. I participated in an infomercial for the Making Memories Slice. Word is out that its being played in certain areas on TV. The whole experience was amazing and I cannot believe I was asked to participate in it. This kinda stuff doesn’t happen to me. Now I have to tell you upfront that I was asked to participate (key word here) but I didn't make the final infomercial. I was left on the cutting room floor. LOL.
It started out with an email from Making Memories asking me if I’d like to submit my Slice work and possibly be on an infomercial. At first, I was on the fence about it…ok, that’s an understatement. I developed serious anxiety and then realized that I should just go for it. When I got the call from the producer to interview me on the phone, it seemed like more of a reality…like this could really happen...it became more real. Carrie was really nice on the phone and we chatted for about 30 minutes or so. Problem was I had laryngitis and I was afraid that it would hurt my chances.
Sometime later (was it weeks or more than a month? I have no idea) I got an email followed by a phone call asking me to come to California. I was shaking in my shoes, literally. What the heck did I get myself in to? Can I do this? So I was told that I would be flying out to Orange County, California in just a couple of weeks and I would be staying for 3 days. So while this whole trying out thing was going on, I was consulting with my good friend Laura Vegas…then I found out after my phone interview that Laura might be possibly be going too. That would be way, way cool! I’ve known her for 2 years and we’ve become really good friends but we had never met IRL. So the moment I got the email that I was accepted I told Laura and she was chosen too. I think we were both had a mix of overwhelming excitement. It was also a double win since we were finally going to meet.
OK, this is getting long, sorry. Are you with me?
Fast forward 2 weeks later…yes, only 2 weeks to get ready. LOL. I’m up at 4 in the morning to travel 2,000 miles to California. 11 hours later I arrive in Orange County California. When I got off the plane Cindy Liebel was there to greet me. She was also chosen to be in the infomercial too. I introduced myself via email a couple of days before and she was so funny and nice and now we’ve become friends.

We got to the hotel and rested for a few hours. Laura was due to come in the early evening. Later, Cindy and I waited in the courtyard of the hotel for her…and when she did I pretty much knocked her down with a hug. It was nice to finally meet my good friend! Cindy took pics of us and we headed out with Lori, another participate, for dinner. It seems like we sat at dinner forever chatting away. I was a bit tired with the time change but I held on because I was having so much fun. We got back to the hotel and I think Laura and I stayed up until 2:00 chatting away forever…I actually stayed up 24 hours, I NEVER can do that. LOL. It was so nice to actually have a real life conversation with her.
The next morning I was up at 6:00, surprisingly rested for some reason. Laura, Cindy, and I hung out and then got ready for the shuttle us to pick us up around 11:30. On the way there we bugged begged the driver to please stop at Starbucks for our much needed coffee.

We were taken to this gorgeous mansion here where the infomercial was being filmed. Right away we were taken in for a make up and hair touch up. We waited in this room with some other ladies to be called into the room to be filmed. In between shots, we were taking pictures of the house and of each other. I was so nervous when I was called. I was in this dark room and all these people are looking, no staring, at me...no pressure or anything. There was no air conditioner and I could feel my face just sweating away, LOL. Carrie just asked me a bunch of questions about the Slice and I just answered. I think I was there about 20 minutes or so. Laura went a bit after me and after that we started snooping around the house. When it was time for Cindy, they filmed outside on this gorgeous patio.

(one of the make-up artists touching up the girls before filming)

(that's Cindy in the chair for her spotlight)
Laura and I got to watch Cindy…and I was trying to take some pics. Her scene took quite a while…Laura and I snooped around the patio and then snatched Cindy’s camera (since she has an awesome lens) and took some profile pics of each other. Laura was giving me some quick photography advise and setting up the camera for me since I'm clueless in that department. I took this one of her, with her advise and settings of course. She took some of me as well...which is my profile pic in the sidebar.

(some of the participants)

After Laura and I were done, we found a room with a ton of supplies and finished projects. A lot of Laura's project from the summer CHA were in there! It was so cool to see her work in person, you can't even imagine how gorgeous they all were...twice as nice IRL. Seriously!

After that it was time for Laura to head to the airport. She got picked up in this gorgeous car…first class service! It was sad to see her go. Of course I was glad to spend some time with her but it just ended too soon.
Still with me?? After we got dropped off to our hotel, Cindy and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. We sat on a patio with an ocean view. We chatted forever until it got late. (the hotel)
The next morning Cindy, Tammy, and I headed to the beach to get some pics before we headed to the airport. The 3 of us and Heather went to the airport together and went to each of our terminals together until the plane was ready. Of course, I was the last to go.

(landing back in Chicago)

I gotta say that the infomercial was quite an experience and I was so lucky to have been chosen, to meet Laura, and to make some new friends. A few weeks later Making Memories sent us a Slice design card of our choice and last week they sent me a pink Slice with a ton of goodies. So, here’s how the story ends. I just got to see the DVD the other day and I didn’t make the infomercial as well as a few other people. That was sad I have to say. But I don’t regret it at all, it was quite an experience! I made new friends and had a blast! Lastly, I have to thank Laura, Cindy, Heather, Tammy, and Lori for all their help with pics and emails...we shared pics and that helped so much.

Check out Laura and Cindy's blogs on the links below...

Laura's blog and her entry HERE

and Cindy's blog and her entry HERE