30 days of Inspiration Challenge

I was thrilled and honored when my friend Heather, who owns Scrapbook Bakery, asked me to participate in her Inspiration Challenge. Its easy, pick anything that inspires you: a piece of clothing, a picture in a magazine, etc. Anything that gets your creative juices stirring. I loved this Victoria Secret bag because I would never think of using pink and red together with yellow accents. Since Mother's Day is coming soon, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and take care of my Mom's card at the same time. I used some crepe paper tucked behind the front of the card to represent the tissue paper in the bag. So please visit Heather's blog HERE to participate. At the end of the 30 days, all participants who link up their project to her blog will be entered in a drawing for a prize.

Chunkers

Just a quick LO for you. My son Aydan had these huge legs with rolls in them and I've been dying to scrap about them forever! Those chunky legs are just irresistable! Used a ton of October Afternoon paper. Love this stuff! Also used my Studio Essentials Slice card for the photo corners and the tags. TFL! Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Making Memories (circle background) and October Afternoon
Date Stickers: October Afternoon
Die Cut Machine (Slice), Animal Crackers and Studio Essential Slice Cards, Staples, Epoxy Stickers: Making Memories
Ribbon: Bazzill
Rub Ons: Making Memories and 7 Gypsies
Marker and Pop Dots: Stampin Up
Distresser: Heidi Swapp
Flexible Ruler and String

Creative Scrappers Sketch

This layout is for the Creative Scrappers contest celebrating their 2 year birthday! You can see the sketch HERE! I love sketches and I'm finding myself having more fun scrapping if someone else does the hard work for me by making the arrangement for me. LOL!

This layout is about a super small but well known popcorn and candy store in my husband's hometown. Its a really nice old fashion place with cute shops and lots of tradition. The store was built in the alley between two shops. Its probably 6 feet across. Seriously! They have a ton of the old candy that we had as kids...we love visiting there. Almost everything here is AC! I love their stuff because its so bright and colorful and even when you mix the lines it still matches! Used some of the Dear Lizzy stamps as well. Thanks for looking! The supplies are listed at the end of this entry.

And someone got herself a new toy...got the new magnetic mat for the Slice. Such a nice tool. I can plop my Slice down and do other scrapping while its cutting. I use my Slice a lot and thought it was worth it! I also like it because the cuts are straight and you don't have to worry about it moving. Supplies:
Patterned Paper, Blue/Green Cardstock, Vinyl Thickers, Letter Stickers, Journaling Pen, Stickers, Stamps, Ribbon: American Crafts
White Cardstock: Archivers
Ink: Versamark, Staz On
Embossing Powder: Ranger
White Pen: Inkssentials
Punches: Stampin Up and Fiskars
Circle Cutter: Making Memories

creative scrappers celebration

I was so excited when Creative Scrappers asked me and some other scrappers to make a LO based on a sketch. They are celebrating their 2 year anniversary this month and have a ton of events to celebrate. My LO went up today as well as some other awesome pages! Check out the other layouts and the original sketch HERE...and while you're there check out the link to over 100 sketches!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill, Stampin Up
Patterned Paper: KI Memories, Making Memories
Specialty Paper: KI Memories (sheers)
Chipboard Letters: American Crafts
Badge Brads, Ribbon, Rub-Ons, Slice Die Cut Machine (Just Chillin Card): Making Memories
Gloss Medium: Ranger
Flower Gems: Hero Arts
Other: String and Cork Paper

A Dozen Assorted Odds and Ends

Just a few things going around here now:

1. Just purchased our tickets for our trip to San Diego and Disneyland scheduled for early summer.

2. Hubby and I spent the last 2 days painting our yellow living and dining room a taupe gray with a super dark wall in the back.
3. My Baby Aydan is registered for kindgarten...gasp.

4. Both kids are signed up for baseball.
Above: Kendall in her t-ball outfit last year.

Below: Her practice today for coach pitch...she hit the ball! And yes, still in our winter coats here.

5. DWTS has started, yay! Jeff and Jordan are gone from Amazing Race, boo! And American Idol is pretty bad this year :(
6. I am now a semi-redhead.
Sorry for super close up...had to take a self portrait here and I have a fixed lens. Yikes!

7. Crop Chocolate sent me a kit to make a project for their site. I haven't seen it up yet, but it will probably be there soon. I love their store! Used a ton of Slice cards here too.8. Maui is in her second level puppy course...I don't know who passed her through the first one. lol!
9. I am signed up for Karen Russell's photography audit class that starts in June! I CANNOT wait!

10. My HS classmates on facebook are planning our 25th reunion (do I sound old???)!!

(At my 10th reunion with my classmates, who were also in my church youth group. We spent a lot of time together in HS)

11. Had to take the little guy to the ER a couple of weeks ago. 14 out of 18 kids in his class got the rotovirus at the same time. He couldn't even keep down a sip of water...poor guy :( He is always full of energy so its hard to see him so quiet and somber.12. And last, I saw my very sign of spring this evening in my in-laws backyard. They were these gorgeous little blue wild flowers. So cute. And this pic was taken with my cell phone at dusk so pardon the quality.

Hopefully I'll get some scrapping done tonight or tomorrow...been a crazy week around here!

Jillibean Sketch and a Mini Album

Jillibean soup posted a real cute sketch on their blog and the winner gets some of their goodies! You can see the blog entry HERE. Below is the sketch:

Its perfect for 1 or 2, 4x6's. I decided to replace the left pic with a journaling sheet.
This is just me being totally sarcastic about how difficult it is to have a 5 month old puppy. Maui loves to dig and the ground has been wet for a long time, well you get the picture. Not fun!

Used my typewriter again for the journaling. I don't think I can stop using it!

I have a pretty long scrapbooking "to do" list in my scraproom. One thing I've been wanting to do is keep track of all my colors...inks, markers, paints, embossing powders, glitters, etc. Sometimes when I'm scrapbook shopping I see something I like but not even sure if I have that item or color. I knew that I wanted a small album that I could keep in my purse but I seriously had no idea what kind of design I wanted to make. I was rumaging through my library catalog and came across my tri-fold journaling cards from my 365 project last year. I only used a few but I saved them just in case. I trimmed the edge that is opposite of the tab and put the folded edge through my Zutter binding machine. I just got it a couple of months ago and haven't used it yet. I was able to fit 12 of those cards in there and I've already started putting my color samples in it.

To make the color samples I used my Crop O Dile and punched a line of holes through some stencil paper. Then I put the stencil paper on the journaling card and painted right through it. I also did the same for my ink pads. To make those I used a blender pen to pick up the ink. I tried sticking to the Roy G Biv route in labeling but I know that's impossible as I add colors in the future.
To make the cover I decided to find colorful letters so I chose some Alphabet soup letters from KI. I knew that I needed a cover that could handle the death trap that is my purse too. That's how I decided to use the KI sheet paper and I backed it with my favorite colored turquiose cardstock from Stampin Up.

I'm so glad that I finally started that project. And I can't leave without a few pics of my 5 month old monster.

Supplies:

Free to a Nice Home

Cardstock: Bazzill (pinks) and Archivers (black)

Patterned Paper, Journaling Sheet, Brads: Making Memories

Puffy Letters: American Crafts

Embellishments: Ki Memories

Glitter Pen: Sakura

Photo Software: Picasa (to make the black border around photo)

My Colors Album

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Sheer Paper and Acrylic Letters: KI Memories

Binding System: Zutter

Mini Alphas: Making Memories

Journaling Cards: Creating Keepsake

layouts and some V-day stuff

Have a couple of layouts to share. This layout was from a sketch by my friend Laura Vegas in CK's Tip and Tricks Magazine plus she had a challenge on the Making Memories Blog to attach elements to your page using ribbon.
I took these pics of Kendall when she was about 5 or 6 months using old fashion black and white film.
A close up of the ribbon and journaling. Used Glimmer Mist on the journaling tag, then I added the journaling with my typewriter :) and added some more rub-ons and added some pink chalk ink to the edges.

Here's a small tutorial on creating the bowed ribbon. I didn't measure the ribbon but I'm sure I used about 24". I would suggest to not cut off the ribbon until you reach the end.

Attach the ribbon with a dry adhesive until you reach the area where the middle of your bow should land.

Place a glue dot on top of the ribbon where the left portion of the bow will fall.
Fold the left side and push on glue dot...repeat on other side. Add a glue dot under the ribbon on top of the paper, in between the ribbon folds.
Add a piece of string over the glue dot.
Tie the string and add another glue dot on top of the knot. Add your button and tie the string through! Hope that was clear!
And another one of Maui and her first bath. Used the new Making Memories Flutter paper heere. Got the 8x8 muti-pack, which I love! I mixed it with some MM Vintage Findings.
I added some Key Lime Glimmer mist to the white fabric tag.

I'm a little late here posting for Valentine's Day but thought I'd still share. Made this frame for Ozan to put on his desk at work. He is totally supportive of my craft and I know that he'll display this proudly.
And the card that I made to go with it...thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Kendall and finally, a layout :)

Last week we celebrated Kendall's 7th birthday! We went out for dinner and then home for red velvet cake and some gifts, including a little stereo for her room. She's really been into music lately. I got that adorable gift wrap from Ikea and its double sided...oh, and I made that card there, even brought out some Utee to make it. Then this week, I got sick and was home a couple of days. I did manage to finally work on a page and I have another in progress here.
A close up of the journaling from my typewriter...yes, I said typewriter. I've been dying for one since like forever. Finally got a last second bid on one from Ebay for $11. Score! Its by Royal.
I purposely wanted that brand since they are compact and its easy to get the ribbon. I didn't even have to change the ribbon when I got it, still works. Tonight I have plans on making some V-day things...we'll see how far I get. Just so tired from being sick. And I have bad laryngitis...you know how hard it is being a mom to two little ones when you can hardly talk? Not fun at all.

This pic below was my original page but I thought the flowers were too heavy and the bottom was too empty. I was purposely trying to go for some white space but I think I overdid it.

Tried, I said "tried" to get some pics of my kids so I could print it and put it in a frame for Valentines Day. This was the best one. So hard in the winter to get good pics. Aydan looks so grown up here, I can't believe he'll be 5 this summer.

And would you like a tip to get your kids to look at the camera? Don't say cheese..tell them to say "smelly poopy butt" or some crazy phrase that kids like. LOL. I also hold my hand on top of my head and ask them me how many fingers I'm holding up. Works for me.

And yes, Maui, my pain-in-the rear-but-I-love-her-still dog. This girl started digging under my bushes in the backyard and came out all muddy. Not a good pic. Took this through our back door. Ozan and I were just looking at each other like "what are we going to do with her".

...ended up in the bathtub. LOL.

Supplies:
Cardstock & Border Trim: Bazzill
Patterned Paper & Thickers: American Crafts
Cork: Karen Foster
Flowers, Staples, Buttons, Leaves, Chipboard: Making Memories
Ribbon: Paper Source
Wood Bird: K&Co
Chalk: Pebbles
Transperancy: Daisy D's