Mojo like Lightening!!

One brilliant FLASH and then it's gone!

I've noticed that April seems to be a slow mojo month for me.  I usually do some travelling in April, and then with the rainy season I'd rather curl up under a blanket with a good book!  I did notice that I'd finished a project that I'd forgotten to blog about, which is surprising because I was pretty stinkin proud of it!  A girlfriend of mine has a two year old that recently celebrated a birthday, and I knew she loved to color.  Now every girl has to have her accessories, right?  So this is what I came up with:

Isn't it cute?  I took a look at a few of them online, and got out my handy dandy little ruler and designed my own!  There is a layer of muslin/duck cloth in between the pink and blue pieces to give it a little more stability.  I wanted to make sure this would stand up to a two year old!  I measured each pocket to hold two washable crayons, and used a taylor's pencil to mark on the felt where the seams should go. 

As you can see, I have yet to master the art of sewing on seam binding, but I don't think she's gonna complain!  Here's a vew of the back when it's unrolled, I love the little detail the brown thread gives to the roll!

She sure seemed to like it, and Mom liked that the crayons were washable!  Now she can tuck this into the diaper bag when they are headed out somewhere and the Birthday Girl will have something to keep her hands busy!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Back with a BANG, baby!

So there's nothing better to break a long scrapping hiatus than an extremely large, almost overwhelming, and completely last minute project!!  The Bling Fairy dropped off some photos (ahem) yesterday afternoon for a Mini Book I offered to do on their new home.  She wanted something to bring with on a trip they're taking to visit family.  When's the trip, you ask?  TOMORROW!!

Those who know me well know that I do best when faced with an immediate deadline.  The plan had been to pick up the photos on Saturday morning on my way to a Scrappy Shopping excursion, this way I could get a feel for paper colors and such.  Thanks to a game of Hide-and-go-Seek with a rogue printer cable, I ended up doing my shopping without the pictures in hand.  Surprisingly, this made me a lot more careful about my paper choices.  I perused several new collections from my favorite design companies, and went with a Double Deck from Cosmo Cricket.  It's the Girl Friday/Everafter paper stack, and I chose it not only because I thought the reds and grays would go well with the house pictures, but I also saw myself actually using every. single. sheet. of paper in this stack.  Most of the paper stacks I've purchased in the past are ones that I've only liked a third (or less) of the designs.  Two of the designs in this pack I've actually purchased as single sheets of paper, AND I've already cut into them!

I started out with 14 sheets of 4x6 chipboard from a package I got on clearance last summer.  The photos are all trimmed to 4x5 for simplicity, while keeping the feel of the book uniform throughout.  Here is the front of the book with a photo of their sweet pooch:

I used my Labels 1 dies from Spellbinders, and used a stamp from Autumn Leaves to make journaling tags to go between the chipboard pages.  There is a journaling spot on each side of the tag so she can write a little bit about the before and after pictures.

Here you can see the detail of the punched strips I added to the "binding edge" of each page.  I chose five designs from the paper stack for the front and back covers and the border strips.  This kept the overall book very simple and cohesive, but still added a bit of a design element.  I punched a strip of patterned paper, and backed it with a punched strip of gray that coordinated.  The gray helps to deliniate between the patterned paper and the photo.

A sweet mulberry flower from Recollections (thank you Clearance aisle!) added to the photo on the front and voila!  Not too bad for a few evening's work!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Purge (almost) Complete!

This is the load of stuff I brought down to the Rummage Sale over the weekend.  *sigh* I tell you what, it sure feels good to have so much breathing room in my office!  Now I just have to corral the last little bits and bring that down after work one day this week, and I'll be good to go!

Cheers!

Time for a Reboot!

Ya know how frustrating it is when your computer completely dies and you're left with re-installing your entire operating system as the only possible sure-fire fix?  It's frustrating because it will be a big time sink to get everything reloaded, but at the same time it's quite liberating!  It's a great chance to get rid of all the extra programs and junk that you either never used or you wasted a lot of time on.  You know the ones, the silly little game that you really don't enjoy but somehow felt like you HAD to finish it??  And now that you have to start from scratch, you realize you really don't want to invest that time and energy into it after all?  Then you also have the different programs you "made do" with. They weren't really meeting your needs, and you KNOW there's something better on the market, but you didn't want to take the time to install and learn the new program.  Well, reformatting is the PERFECT opportunity to make these changes!

Over the past few weeks I've come to realize that *I* need to go through a mass reformatting.  Doing all of this purging and sorting in my craft room has made me think hard about what I REALLY want to be spending my time on.  There are a lot of areas in my life that I am putting too much effort into, and really not getting much out of.  At the same time there are other areas that have fallen by the wayside, turning me into the kind of person I do NOT want to be.  Thanks to a few personal revelations lately, my priorities have shifted into a much more positive track, and I definately need to embrace that going forward!  Don't worry, Dear Readers, this doesn't mean I'm going to stop crafting or quit my job or shave my head!!  This is just an awesome opportunity to really focus on what I love, and pour my energies fully into that!  See ya next week!

Cheers!

Here comes the Sun!

Well, here's proof that there IS some benefit to getting up rediculously early!  This gorgeous sight greeted me as I went in for a coffee refill this morning:

Have a Fabulous Weekend everyone!

Cheers!

THIS is why I use my "sippy cup"

People laugh at me because I normally use a cup with a lid.  Wouldn't you after you saw this?

Apparently she had just woken up from a nap on my desk, and the water dish was just too far away for her.  Sheesh!

Cheers

Hooray for Rummage Sales!!

The closest Scrappy Store to me has a Rummage Sale every year, when you can bring in the stuff you no longer use and the store sells it for you for in-store credit!  Schweet rewards with very little work!  I like it!

Of course, this means that I have spent several hours going through every. single. nook. and. cranny.  I have looked realistically at EVERYTHING I have in my stash, and thought about if I really would use it.  It's depressing how much I've purchased just because it was on sale!  Here is my To-Go pile so far:

Now all I have to do is package things up, put price tags on it all, and put it in a box to drop off at the store!  Here's hoping I don't fall back in love with stuff and try to re-integrate it all back into my stash! 

Cheers!

My girls aren't spoiled...

Well, at least not TOO much!  I plan on making another batch of dog cookies this weekend to use up the rest of the canned pumpkin.  The cookie cutter I used for our Diva Mascot was a smidge too small for the cookies to stay in the Kong toys my girls have.  I was off on a quest for the perfect cookie cutter, and this is what I found!

Aren't they sweet?  The Christmas Tree is about 1/4 inch wider than the one I used last time, so it should stay in the Kong.  I thought the Big Bone cutter would make for some uber-cute christmas cookies.... maybe something dipped in carob like you find in the Pooch Boutiques!  The Mini Bone is about 1 1/4 inches wide, and that one is for all the Mini Dogs in the family!  There's a few "cousins" of the girls that are the size of Scooby Snacks, and they just look silly trying to eat a full sized cookie!

Cheers!

Slug Bug Baby Card

Yet another Sliding Pop-Up card!  I used the same papers as my Rain or Shine card, but gave this one a Baby theme instead.

I used a stamp set from Paper Tray Ink and the fabulous die that coordinates with it.  I tweaked the Pop-Up design and split the front mechanism to hide them behind wheels of the car.  I added a lil' birdie to the sky, which I sponged in a pale blue from SU!  The sky definately needed a little something to give it some depth, and this little bird is from a stamp set given to me from one of the Diva's.

One thing I really LOVE about this stamp set, is it has these tiny images meant for the license plate that coordinates with the sentiments for the inside of the cards.  I made a couple versions of this same card to have on hand, since I don't have enough cards on hand.... *snort* yeah, I didn't think I could slip that one past ya!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Rain or Shine

I'm definately loving the Sliding Pop Up card design!  Here is another I put together over the weekend. 

The image and sentiment are a Itty Bitty set from Unity.  The two patterned papers are from my Scrap Stash, and the word paper is actually Little Boy themed!  The way the scalloped mat covers most of the words, it seems appropriate for a Love card instead!  I colored the image with Copics, and added Crystal Lacquer to the rain boots.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Mister Bear Card

This is a VERY belated birthday card for my Dad.  One of these years I'll get a card in the mail to him on time!

I inked up the Beary Busy set from CTMH and colored him in with Copics.  I decided to only use scraps for all my cards this Diva Weekend, and these patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Granola collection.  I added tiny brads to the centers of the wheels, and some Crystal Lacquer to the headlight and door handle.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

The Things I Do For My Divas!

Now most people, when they're getting ready for a scrappy weekend away from home, will plan out page kits or specific projects that they want to work on.  Not me.  Oh no, who needs to plan actual projects?!?  Here's what I do:

I bake!  You see here a batch of Pumpkin Dog Cookies (for our Diva Mascot,) a batch of Muddy Buddies (a.k.a. Puppy Chow,) and a double batch of Zucchini Spice Cookies (NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!!!!)

The actual project planning stage of my preparation really consists of "How much can I cram into my vehicle?" and "What tools should I bring that the Divas can play with??"  I usually bring all my Nesties, all my stamps, and (almost) all of my embellishments.  I think the Copics will be going on this trip as well!  Other than that, who knows?

Cheers!

Here comes the sun, and It's All Right!

We've finally had a bit of sunshine!  It has been a loooooong time coming, and the Little Man decided to soak up a few rays.  *sigh*  I'm so jealous, but I think the neighbors would look at me strangely if I laid in the window like this!

Cheers!

Rearranging Again!

As I've been going through all my various drawers and cubbyholes, I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff I won't use.  Some of it I actually wonder why I bought it!  It's probably that accursed Four Letter S Word.... you know the one.... SALE!  Anywhoo, as I've been emptying, I've come to realize I'm finally at a point where I have more storage space than stuff!  WOOHOO!! 

I decided I needed to rearrange some of my paper, because it is just not getting used the way it should be.  I have all these lovely paper stacks that sat well away from my actual scrapping desk.  I actually forgot I had most of them!  I consolidated the stuff I stored in my two 4-square cubes down to one, and replaced the other with a "spare" paper cube I had planned on passing on.  I moved all the paper stacks from the bookshelf into the cube, and integrated a lot of the onsey-twosey 8 1/2 x 11 papers I had in my Solids storage.  Some of these were really odd colors that went right into the give-away pile, and others were stained or water damaged from a leak we'd had at the Store before it closed.  I was surprised how far I got this all condensed!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Sometimes all you need in life....

Is a fresh from the oven cookie, and a cold glass of milk!

This is about the extent of my creativity this week, but it sure was delish!

Cheers!

Koala Sliding Pop Up Card

Last week's Try a New Technique challenge was to create a Sliding Pop Up Card.  I thought it looked intriguing, and figured it'd be a good use for this cute little Koala I did when practicing my coloring.

The paper is 29th Street Market (I think) and the pale green is actually the back of the blue crosshatched paper.  I used some leftover Bazzil for the mats and the bottom band, and fussy cut the little Koala out.  I have found that the paper that works well for copics is very difficult to fussy cut, so I may need to practice my shading so I don't *have* to fussy cut images!  I used two CTMH inks to sponge the background to give it a bit of depth, and I tried to use minimal embellishments since the card itself is pretty thick.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Gentle Reminders

This is what I saw when I looked out my front window this morning.  I wish the camera had captured the colors better, because the sky was a deep purple when I took the photo, and had changed by the time I got the pic uploaded to my computer.

It was a nice reminder that no matter how bad the week has been, the sun will always rise and tomorrow will be a new day!

Cheers!

Funny Face

The next challenge for VSBN was to include some Tie Dye on your layout!  I had a slew of pictures of the entire family goofing off during our last family gathering, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to scrap some of them! 

I caught a LOT of candids of people making funny faces at the camera while others were all posing.  I wanted to showcase them and document just how goofy my family really is!  I used the Bouncing Brayer technique on the title panel for my tie dye, and had to use three seperate ink pads since I don't have any Rainbow pads, but I really like end result!  It's hard to see, but the center is yellow, then a pale blue, and finally the darkest blue at the edges.  The papers are actually the front and back of the same sheet of a funky paper from Creative Imaginations.  The mats and ribbon are all Outdoor Denim from CTMH, and I pulled out these acrylic tiles from the depths of my stash.  The colors matched the papers perfectly, AND I managed to use almost all of them!  Yay for Stash Usage!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

I Hear Voices!

My challenge for this weekend's VSBN was inspired by the song I Hear Voices by Chris Young .  You can find it here.

My challenge was to document advice given to you when you were younger that has held true through your adult life, or to celebrate something you heard as a child that you still use in your family today!  I wanted to document some of the ways my Sister-in-Law has inspired me as I've grown up.  I have known her since I was a child, and would spend a week with her and my brother every summer when I was a teenager.  She always has a project or two going on, and has some AMAZING concoctions in the kitchen! 

The journaling is hidden on the tabs to the right; you know I love my hidden journaling!  One of the tabs reads:

When I was barely a teenager she said something that I would come to cherish in later years. She said to me, 'Why would I be kinder to a stranger than I would be to my own husband?' Many years later I realized how important this idea really was. I try to treat everyone in my life with kindness every day... and my marriage is definately better for it!

 The papers are all from Basic Grey's Kioshi paper pack, and the letters are my favorite Clove cardstock.  The bird is a sticker from the Kioshi pack, and I used a SU! punch for the branches.  A little bit of Chocolate CTMH ink distressing to round the whole thing out, and Voila!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

2011 Here I Come!

Lura had a great challenge during the Mini VSBN.  Here challenge was inspired by Pink's song Raise Your Glass!

Her challenge was to start with a picture of your scrap room, yourself, or anything else in your life that you would like to change and to tell what your dreams were for it.  Since I'm pretty pleased with the current state of my scrap room right now, I decided to finally document what I had planned!  My journaling reads:

"2011 Here I Come!

Here it is. It's official. It's in writing so I can't back down now! I am finally going to do something about all my pie-in-the-sky crafty goals. I WILL get my Etsy store up and running. I WILL get my photos scanned and scrapped. I WILL finish projects before starting new ones. I WILL ring in 2012 with a long list of accomplishments instead of a long list of "goals!"

Bring it ON, Baby!"

I hope to accomplish at least half of what's on my To Do list!

Cheers!

Mega Swap = Mega Haul!

Holy cow!  Look at these fabulous samples I recieved back from the Mega Swap I did a few weeks ago!!

There are six 12x12 layouts, plus 34 cards in all shapes and sizes!  There is some incredible talent in this batch, I tell ya!

Cheers!

A Night at the Oscars

Here is the layout I did for the first VSBN Challenge on Saturday.  The JoyceAnn's challenge was a great primer to get us all back into the Groove of scrapping again!  The challenge was to start with two or three photos, pick two main colors and one accent color, find two patterned papers in those two main colors.  Then you were to include a title, embellishments in odd numbers, and a journaling block. 

The journaling block I used is from My Minds Eye (I think) and the flower embellishments are stamped with the Aspiration set from CTMH.  I stamped each one twice and cut them out, then curled the petals of the top flower over a pencil and added some liquid pearls to each one.  I wanted to bring out the little touch of rose that is in my dress.  The photos are from the "Oscar Night" we had when I was in 8th grade for our Drama Club.  I won Best Actress in a Comedy for my role in Oliver Twisted.  The play itself was a hoot and these were the only photos I had that were even remotely related!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

VSBN Mini is almost here!!

Nothing to post today, since the stuff I've been working on is for tomorrow's VSBN Mini!  Be sure to join us tomorrow at Splitcoast at 2 EST!  See ya there!

Cheers!

Coloring Fun!

I finally saved up enough cash to get my first set of Copics!  They arrived yesterday, and I've been doing a little bit of experimenting with them.  Aren't they pretty??

 

I inked up this fun stamp and used some generic cardstock to do some playing around.  I tried a few different techniques, and I definately learned quite a bit!  My first bit of advice would be to work in VERY small areas; it's easier to blend the colors before the ink totally dries.  I also learned that as much as I love my VersaFine ink, it tends to feather with Copics!  I tried a few different color combos too, as you can see on the one pink-ish petal.  I also started with the darkest color on that petal, and starting with the lightest color works much better.

Here's a close up where you can see the shading.  Unfortunately, you can also see one petal where I dropped one of the markers!  Yeah, that didn't work out so well!

You can see my progress in my practicing, too.  I started with the leaves, and as you can see they are pretty blocky.  Then I did the pink flowers. and those are a little less chunky-looking.  Finally I did the orange flowers and started with the lightest color first (an AHA! moment) and those blended very nicely!  I can definately see more coloring in my future!

Cheers!