Monday, December 21, 2009

I won a SLICE!!!!

I am totally in shock right now!! Making memories had a giveaway on their blog today and the amazing prize was a brand new Slice. I'm the winner and so excited I can hardly stand it! I can't wait until it comes and I can start playing with it...


Thank you sooooo much Making Memories!!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Christmas cards to share...

Sorry I've been MIA lately everyone...my computer died, ugh. It's currently at HP being fixed, so I'm taking turns using our laptop with my 2 daughters. Good luck getting any time right? Lol! So anyway, in all the free time I've had, I've been making Christmas cards with some of the new Making Memories Mistletoe papers. They're gorgeous!! I love the colors and patterns and have really enjoyed working with them. Here are some of my favorites I've done so far...



















Hopefully, my computer will be back soon and things can get back to normal for me. ;) Have an awesome day!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

My first finished mini!

My niece Kasey is turning 14 in a couple of days and I decided that I wanted to make a mini album for her. I have tons of pics of her cheerleading (which is her passion right now), so I based it around that. My sister and I went through some different words and chose ones that we think describe who Kasey is. The cool thing about it is that as you go through the mini and read the words, if you take the first letter of each word and put them all together, it spells out cheerleader. Pretty neat huh? ;) Her party is today and I can't wait to give it to her!



















Thanks for looking! :)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Another one...

I did another layout with my Girl Friday papers today. I can't stop myself, lol! I guess it's because I've been eyeing them for so long and now that I actually have them, I'm drawn to them more. Plus, they're so beautiful, why not, right? ;)

This page is all about my beautiful girls. We went over to Mark's Nanny's house recently and I got a ton of good shots of them playing together (the layout I did a couple of days ago with them playing hide & seek is from the same day). I wanted to figure out a way to use alot of the pictures together on one page and I think this worked out great!


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Paper - Girl Friday; Doodlebug Loopy Lou Alphabet Cardstock Stickers - Bon Bon; Fiskars Squeeze Punches - Funky Love (Extra Large) and That's Amore (Medium); Making Memories Sanding Block, Making Memories Button, Prima Flower
*Based on Helen Croft's #4 sketch, which can be seen here

Are they cute or what?? ;) I am definitely blessed with my sweet babies. Thanks for looking!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Happy...

I actually used some MORE of my Girl Friday paper today! I'm really loving how all of the patterns go together so well. :) This layout uses 4 different sheets...


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Paper - Girl Friday; Basic Grey Paper - Urban Prairie (Leaves); Fiskars Easy Squeeze Punches - Round & Round; Martha Stewart Scallop Punch; Doodlebug Loopy Lou Cardstock Alphabet Stickers - Bon Bon; American Crafts Buttons; DMC Floss
*Based on Helen Croft's #7 sketch, which can be seen here

I've been doing some experimenting with making lollipop flowers. For mine, all I do is take the two different size circle punches I have to punch two circles. Next I ink the edges of both. Once that's done, I work my way around each circle, crumpling the paper as I go. That's it! It's very easy to do and I love how they look...

Have an AWESOME day!!!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Hide & Seek

Ok, I have to say that I'm very proud of myself right now. Why do you ask? Because I recently got a new paper pad which has Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday in it, and I actually USED some of it today! I've been wanting some of this paper for MONTHS now, but it's too much for me by the sheet. Well, last week when I was at Michael's, I saw that they now carry the double decks for $20, so I went back a few days ago, armed with a 50% off coupon, and got the Girl Friday/Everafter one for only $10! I was soooooo excited. The thing is though...when I have paper like this that I'm really loving, I can't seem to make myself do anything with it. It's just too pretty! ;)

Well today, I MADE myself get some out and start creating with it. I'm so glad I did it too because I love the layout! I used some pics of the girls playing hide & seek on a recent visit to their Nanny's house and they worked perfectly...


Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Paper - Girl Friday; Fiskars Easy Squeeze Punches - That's Amore and Round & Round; Making Memories Sanding Block; Making Memories Button; Making Memories Tiny Alphas - Chloe's Closet; EK Sucess Flower Punch
*Based on sketch #45 at 52 Sketches...52 Weeks

So if any of you are like me and find yourself hoarding your paper, STOP IT! Go make it into something beautiful. Trust me...you'll be glad you did. ;)

An awesome note: This layout was featured on Cosmo Cricket's Facebook page on 1/7/10!! How cool is that?? :)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Experimenting...

Lately I've been thinking about venturing into the world of mini albums, but I really wasn't sure where to start with making one. I went to You Tube and starting searching and found soooo much useful information. One of my favorite things I learned about is paper bag albums. Who knew you could take some paper bags and glue them together to make an album? Too cool. ;)

I tried my hand at making one today and had so much fun! I did realize that I need some new adhesive choices though, because I used sticky tabs and boy did it take me FOREVER to put all those pages together and all the papers on the bags, lol. I'm so happy with how it turned out though so I don't mind. Here are some pics...



Supplies: K&Company Paper Pads - Classic, Life's Journey & Madeline

It's gonna be so much fun decorating this with my pics and embellishments! So many possibilities... ;)

Have a great night and thanks for looking!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

I scrapped!!

My gosh, I feel like it's been FOREVER since I scrapped something! Both Emily and I got the Flu and it was a rough couple of weeks around here. Thankfully we're both better now though and I got the chance to create...finally!

I was able to get a Scripture layout done and I really love how it looks. I got some adhesive pearls on sale last time I went to Michaels and I was excited to finally get to use them. I think they look great in the scallops...


Supplies: K&Company Paper - Life's Journey; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan; Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch; Fiskars Squeeze Punch - Round & Round (large & extra large); Prima Flowers; Making Memories Alpha Letters - Chloe's Closet; Recollections Pearls

This Verse is one of those that really reminds me of the kind of person I should always strive to be. Remembering to give more than I get is sooo important...

So, that's it for today. I'm hoping that this coming week will be a very creative one and I'll have more to share soon. ;) Thanks for looking!!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Easter fun!

We had alot of fun for Easter this year. My mom invited us over for an egg hunt and the girls loved it! Plus they all got special prizes and what could be better than that?


Supplies: K&Company Paper Pads - Classic & Life's Journey; Basic Grey Chipboard Alpha; Basic Grey Brad; Prima Flowers; Making Memories Alpha Stickers - Chloe's Closet; Fiskars Scallop Punch
*Based on a November 2007 sketch at Page Maps

Have a wonderful night! :)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Nap time!

One day when we were out running some errands, Madison was having a REALLY bad day. Like the photo mommy that I am, I had my camera with me and while she was in the middle of a fit, I took her picture. Nice of me, huh? ;)
Well, not long after I snapped the pic, she fell fast asleep and was soooo cute, I decided to take another picture of her, this time sleeping. As I was looking at the pictures, I realized what a cute scrapbook page it would make and decided to take one more shot of her when she woke up, now a happy girl! She's just so cute...

Supplies: October Afternoon Paper - Cotton Candy (polka dots); Cosmo Cricket Paper - Honey Pie (orange); We R Memory Keepers Paper - Grandma's Kitchen (blue); Making Memories Alpha Stickers - Chloe's Closet; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan; Making Memories Sanding Block; Martha Stewart Clear Stamps - Hearts & Fowers (circles stamped on background); Thickers - Rootbeer Float; Making Memories Buttons; Fiskars Scallop Border Punch
*Based on the 10/1 sketch at Sketchy Thursdays

I really like how the page turned out, mostly because I actually used some stamps on it! I have so many stamps that I love, but I find myself only using them on cards, and I want use them on layouts more. I have a set by Martha Stewart called Hearts & Flowers that has different sizes of textured circles in it, so I took 2 of them out and just stamped randomly on the background paper for this page. I love the way it looks! Definitely something I'll do more of sometime soon. Have a great day! :)

Monday, October 5, 2009

Scripture Challenge - Heart

I recently did another Scripture Challenge layout. I really want to get caught up with these because they are so important!! Hopefully this week I can work on some...

Supplies: K&Company Paper Pads - Classic & Life's Journey, Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan; Scenic Route Chipboard Heart (used as a template); Making Memories Alpha Stickers - Chloe's Closet; Colorbok Life's Blessings Quote Pack

There were so many amazing verses to choose from for this one, but I really feel this was the perfect choice. The focus of the verse is about loving God, which is what should fill our hearts...LOVE for Him and for His people. That's really all that matters, isn't it?? :)

I hope you have a day full of His blessings...

Some recent layouts...

I had the chance to get some scrapping done over the past few days and am sooooo glad! I love my scrappy time. ;)

This first layout is about Emily. It's just one of those on-a-whim kind of pictures but she was so "adorable" that I knew I had to scrap it! I really love the color combination...


Supplies: K&Company Paper Pad - Greenhouse by Carolyn Gavin; Making Memories Sanding Block; Fiskars Border Punch - Scallop; Basic Grey Alpha Sticker Letters - Sugared (Inked); Scenic Route Chipboard Hearts (used as a template)
*Based on sketch #39 at 52 Sketches...52 Weeks

The second layout is about my sweet Maddie. She's only 9 months old (where has the time gone?!?) in this picture. She was sitting there playing with her toys one minute, and the next time I looked over, she was fast asleep! Of course I had to grab my camera before I put her in the crib, lol... ;)


Supplies: K&Company Paper Pad - Wild Raspberry; Cosmo Cricket Paper - Honey Pie; Lasting Impressions Rub-Ons
*Based on the Sept. '09 Super Sketch by Kelly Purkey seen here at Two Peas In A Bucket

This last one has both of my sweeties on it. I got some really amazing pictures of them one day when we were over at Mark's Nanny's house. She grows alot of flowers and the girls really seemed to enjoy walking around and smelling them all...


Supplies: BoBunny Paper; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Thanks so much for looking! Have a great day...

Monday, September 28, 2009

Christmas Memories

I did a layout over the weekend about this past Christmas. I don't do very many 2 page layouts, but for Holidays, they seem to work better. I like being able to use alot of pics and still be able to get my journaling in without it all looking crowded together. I'm really happy with the end result!

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Paper - Cogsmo & Honey Pie; Fiskars Scallop Border Punch; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Lipstick Red; Basic Grey Brads; Making Memories Edge Distresser; Making Memories Sanding Block
*Based on a sketch seen here at the Bo Bunny blog

Thanks for looking! I hope you have a great day. :)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another "sketch" book!

I recently got an amazing deal on some supplies for my Cuttlebug on eBay, so now I have a great variety of embossing folders and dies. The only problem with this is that they are all in my cabinet and alot of the times, I forget they're there or exactly what I have. Well, today an idea came to me about how to solve that problem. I made another one of Kristina Werner's sketch books, but I'm using it as a sort of inventory book instead. Cool huh? ;)

I printed out the pages and made the book just like the first one I did (see the post here for pics and a link to Kristina's blog for directions), and once that was done, I got started on the inside...

I decided that I would use the portrait boxes (in the front) for my embossing folders and the landscape boxes (in the back) for my dies. After measuring them, I realized that a piece of cardstock 2" by 1 1/2" would fit perfectly inside the boxes. I cut enough pieces for all of my embossing folders, as well as a few for the borders that I have (cut to 2" by 3/4"), and after running them through my Cuttlebug, I simply attached them all to the book. I did the same with my dies, and also the die/embossing combos that I have.
I am really loving how it turned out!!





Supplies: Cuttlebug Machine/Dies/Embossing Folders; K&Company Paper Pad - Wild Raspberry; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan; EK Success Corner Punch; Fiskars Scallop Border Punch

So if you're looking for a way to keep up with some supplies you've got, this could be a perfect solution for you! I'm thinking about making another one for ink colors and also some stamps I have in CD cases. I can see sooooo many possibilities with it.

Thanks Kristina...you seriously rock. :)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Fantastic tutorial...

I was browsing some blogs earlier and came across an awesome tutorial for making your own stitching templates. To see the entire post, you can visit Melissa's blog here. She explains how to take a shape you want to stitch, trace it onto some acetate, and then pierce holes into it to use it as your template. Is that smart or what?? :)

Well, I was sitting here trying to think of a way I could try it out today (no acetate sheets yet)and an idea popped into my head. A few weeks ago, I went through and put a bunch of my single clear stamps into CD cases. A few of these were the individual word stamps that are in Heidi Swapp's handwriting. They come in a plastic package, stuck to a piece of acetate that has the word written on it. When I took the stamps out of the package, I kept those words thinking I could use them for something later on. Boy, am I happy that I did!

I pulled them out and chose a word, grabbed my paper piercer, and went to work piercing the holes. Next I cut down a piece of paper to the size I wanted it, held the acetate in place over it, and once again pierced the holes, but this time through the acetate to the paper. After that, I stitched the word. It worked great!! Here's a picture of the acetate and also the stitched word...





I have 3 more of the Heidi Swapp words and also a few other designs that might work for this, so I can't wait to try them out. I'm also definitely going to get some acetate sheets so that I can try Melissa's idea.
You should try it too! ;)

Card sketch book...

Have you ever wished you had a cool little book to draw your card sketches in? Well, now it's possible! Kristina Werner created a wonderful PDF that you can download and print to create your own sketch book. How cool is that?!? You can find the post about it on her blog here. She even made a video of her creating a book so that you can do it step-by-step right along with her. I created one last night...


Supplies: K&Company Paper Pad - Greenhouse; Doodlebug Loopy Lou Cardstock Stickers - Bon Bon; American Crafts Clear Alphabet Stamps - Ginger; Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan; EK Success Corner Punch

I really love it! Now if we can only talk her into doing a PDF for layout sketches...hmmmmmm. ;)

One note...in the video Kristina uses a pivot point stapler to put her book together. She says that if you don't have one, you can just use a regular stapler opened up, laying against a soft pillow or cushion. Then, once you push your staples into place, you can just turn the book over and flatten the prongs yourself. That's exactly what I did, but I used an old mouse pad instead and it worked perfectly. Just sharing... :)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

WOW!!!

A few weeks ago, I read a post over at scrapbook.com about a new blog site, Flamingo Scraps. They were looking for ideas of what people wanted to see on the blog and all you had to do was comment to be entered for a prize pack. Well, I posted and actually won! I got my prize today and it is FANTASTIC!!! I got sooooooo much stuff. This is what was included...
  • (10) Sheets of Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie paper
  • (8) Sheets of Prima Morning Song Collection paper
  • Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie ribbon
  • Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie rub-ons
  • (2) Prima Say-it-in-crystals
  • Maya Road Sheer Butterfly Album
  • A VERY full bag of Prima flowers

Isn't that just awesome?!? I am so thankful for all of it. Here's a picture of my yumminess...


So, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Flamingo Scraps. If you get the chance, please visit them at their eBay store here. You'll be glad you did! :)

Cards For Kate

Jennifer McGuire is having a card drive for a little girl named Kate and her family. This is part of the post on her website that tells some info about them...

About 6 weeks ago the life of the McRae family changed forever when their precious 5 year old daughter, Kate, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Dad (Aaron) is a pastor in Arizona and he and his wife, Holly have two other children, Will and Olivia. Of course this is devastating for the whole family and many are praying for them. (Go to www.prayforkate.com to learn more about this family and their struggle). Kate has a rough road ahead of her for quite awhile. When you hear their story you will want to do anything you can to help.

To read the full post and find out how you can help by making some cards for this family, you can go here. The cards need to be sent into Jennifer by October 15th, so there's still plenty of time to help!

I made some cards last night for them and these are a few of my favorites...







I hope that in some small way, this amazing family might be blessed by receiving them. Thanks for looking...