Happy Easter!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter!

I have been working on the unusual...

I haven't worked on any of my own layouts in a few weeks now...

A friend of mine asked that I put together a scrapbook for her of her recent pregnancy. I have stacks and stacks of pictures, memories, etc and I have had them for months. For months I have been staring at them and scared to start working.

I have done tons of my own layouts but never for someone else. I was scared. Scared that the layouts wouldn't come out good and my friend not like them.

Just last week, I forced myself to start and now I have 5 layouts done and it is coming out pretty well :)

I am not sure if I will be posting the layouts... not sure how my friend will feel about me posting her pictures... so this my be a private project but I am sure I will report back about it.

Another Weekend: Another 2 Layouts

I am pretty happy to say that this weekend I was able to get 2 layouts done. 1 each day. And being home with an active 3.5 year old, it honestly took me an entire day to get each layout done because of many interuptions.

2 Picture Layouts

Valentines Day 2009:

A precious time to capture. My son with his gal pal Catie on the day after Valentines Day having their own celebration with cupcakes.

I used some great supply on this layout. I received for Christmas a very large pack of handmade Velvet papers - GORGEOUS! I used the velvet paper as the back drop to this layout. I layered on top of that the Making Memories Artisan die-cut 12x12 paper and I used 3d-glue dots so it is raised.

I used my Cricut to create the entire title. I cut the hearts using my George Basic Shapes cart and used my Zooballoo cart to cut the letters. I highlighted the letters with Stickles in a coordinating color.

I was gifted during Valentines, a gift from a fellower myspace scrapper. Quick a few Valentines Day embellies which I was able to use on this layout. K&Company BW Sweet Talk banners and die-cuts. The die-cuts are not paper, they are a plastic like material, heavy duty and very pretty. On the banners I used an epoxy sticker for the first initials of the names and for the rest of the name I used rub-on letters that are 'mixed up' and it was fun putting that together.

I added a few heart brads here and there to finish it off. I am very happy the way this came out. I have done 2 other Valentine Day layouts when my son was a few months and I can actually say they are the worst layouts ever!

Easter 2008:

Easter of 2008 was the first Easter where my son could color his own eggs. He was 2.5 years old.

*first I want to say... I have an issue with photographing my layouts. unfortunately I don't know the proper way... the coloring is not great on this one. I didn't use the flash because when I did, it hit the center of one of the pictures causing the pictures to be all white. If anyone can give me a good tip, I'd really really appreciated it. **

The background paper on there is a gorgeous grass scence with Easter Eggs - simply gorgeous but also a bit overpowering to put pictures directly on it... at least in my opinion. I choose a yellow paper with little blue swirls on it and cut it down as the center of the layout. I added green chipboard corners, big and small for contrast. I cut out the title using my Cricut Zooballoo cartridge (I have a bunch of carts but I love the font on the Zooballoo). I used Sandylion Essential 'Easter Eggs' as the letter O in 'Coloring'.

The 'Happy Easter' sticker is from Soft Spoken. I also added light green and light yellow ribbon on the side, attached using my Making Memories mini stapler.

I hope you like them!

2 New Layouts

I was able to get 2 layouts done this past weekend. A nice lazy Sunday home with my son.... he played on the computer and did his own arts & crafts and I scrapped.

4 Picture Layout:

Surprisingly enough, I was able to get 4 pictures on this layout and still make it work without making it look cluttered. All the pictures were 4"x6"... I trimmed a few down, but barely.

I love the snowflake paper on the background and was able to pull out the different blues by the matts and the words. I added some photo corners to 2 of the pictures... I didn't want to over-do the photo corners.

The word SNOW is make of really thick chipboard... I am going to even say they are wood! I got them last year at Oriental Trading. I added Stickles dots to the corners and I think it looks really pretty. I cut out the words much fun using my Cricut and used the Design Studio as well to weld the words together. I used Pebbles chalk on them for some contrast and even outlined them with Stickles.

I didn't go overboard with embellishments, instead I just placed 3 brad buddies scattered.... pretty blue and white snowflakes.

The color scheme worked out really well with the supply I had on hand.

2 Picture Layout:

I had bought a Curious George paper back from Oriental Trading almost 2 years ago and never got the opportunity to use it until now.

I mean this is not the best layout I ever did... it's pretty simple.

I used 2 different papers.... one I used as a back drop to the pictures and matts. I finally learned how to use one of my Martha Stewart edge punches.... yes I couldn't figure out how to keep the punch straight and connected! I watched a video on scrapbook.com and it really helped me out, as you can see :)

I hope you enjoy these!

Awesome Ebay Sale

An Ebay Store that I have frequently visited and placed a few purchses from is having a huge huge sale! Because Daisy D's is going out of business, this store has all item from 60%-70% off!

Wow!

Scrapbooking for Less
Easy Fun Kits and Pages

I went a little crazy last night and scooped up a bunch of cool items, mostly Daisy D for $1 each! Some items I even ordered two of, not sure why, but hey it was only $1!

This is what I ordered (can't wait for them to arrive!):

I already have a few other designs of these rub-on tapes. I love them. They are so easy to use and add such a nice touch.

I absolutely fell in love with the colors in these die-cuts from Daisy D's Girlfriend line. They are so bright and pretty!

Not bad of a deal, right?!

I hope you can find something there you can use!

Happy Shopping!

Using my Green Stack: 2 Picture Layout

After the GREEN STACK was gifted to me a few weeks ago, I have been staring at it and flipping through all the different papers and wondering how and when I would use it and of course in awe because the papers are so detailed and beautiful.

I finally came up with something. I have 2 pictures of my son with 1 of my nieces and nephews and the pictures are very similar just taken 2 years apart. It is almost like a 'then' and 'now' layout.

I choose the paper with the bird background. I love the colors. So bright and happy. I matted the pictures in a coordinating paper from the same line. The chipboard embellishments are also from the Green Stack. I cut out the names with my Cricut and for the first time used my Cricut Design Studio (I purchased it last year but never got to install it on my desktop but now that I have a laptop, I installed it and I am lovin' it!). The "Cousins" title is a laser die-cut that I had purchased last year on Ebay. I actually purchased a bunch of different ones that I know I will use eventually.

I hope you like it as much as I do :)

Generousity

I have mentioned before that I am in quite a few Myspace scrapbooking groups and I have made many good friends (my husband calls them my imaginery friends because I have never met them). Some of these friends are kinder and more generous than a long time friend. I am hoping that one day we can all meet.... we are all far from each other... but you never know :)

From time to time we talk about things we like and want. We even have a "Your Wish is my Command" thread going. You list 3 wishes/wants and someone can grant it for you and they post their wish, so on and so fourth. Well I have had quite a few wishes granted and I have granted just as many.

I kept on posting that I want a Fiskar Cirle Border Punch but eventually stopped wishing for it because I hadn't realized the cost of it, it was a bit too pricey for me to expect someone to just buy. I also posted that I really wanted the new GREEN STACK by DCWV, someone granted my wish and said they would find it for me since it was just released.

Well to show how generous and thoughtful my scrapbooking friends are:

I received from Keisha, a few pieces of The Green Stack collection! WOW!!!! She sent me the 12x12 paper stack, the 6.5x4.5 paper stack as well as a box of chipboard embellishments. I couldn't get over how generous she was! I told her she was crazy but boy was I so happy!

I received from Diane, a Fiskars Circle Border Punch! As well as other goodies. I was in shock! And she sent me all of this stuff "just because"!!!

I just can't wait to use all of these goodies!

A Valentine Giveaway!

You know I am always looking for a give-away even though I have yet to win one, I thought I'd give one a try - what the heck!

The Mad Cropper has a giveaway on her blog sponsored by Scrappy Jo. There are 3 simple actions you can take in order to be entered into the drawing. There are really cool prizes too! You can win a Scrappy Jo kit, Scrappy Jo paper pack or a gift certificate. Either of those are great!

The contest runs from today, February 1st through February 14th. It is a Valentine themed contest. Check The Mad Cropper's blog for more info and to participate.

Have fun and good luck!

Christmas Card '08: 1 Picture Layout

I am calling this a 1 picture layout even though they are actually 2 pictures. The 1 picture is our Christmas Card from this past Christmas and the card itself has 2 pictures.

I thought it would be nice idea to scrap our annual Christmas Card so I started with the most recent and will work my way back to the other 3 I have.

I didn't use traditional Christmas colors on this layout just because the card itself wasn't. I stayed in the same color scheme.

The 12x12 paper is something I found in my stash (not sure the brand) and has the Merry Christmas already on it and I just went over it with silver Stickles. I put the card on a blue 8x8 paper that looks like the night sky and I tore the edge with my Fiskars paper edger (geez, is that even the name for it?).

The sled and snowman are Jolee's and I thought were cute to use since the card includes my son with both of those items.

I typed up my journal on the computer, glued it down (glue dots) and smeared the silver Stickles all over it for a nice shimmer. I placed 2 brads on it as well. The poinsettia's on the upper corner are Making Memories flowers with brads. And the ones in the lower corner are stickers by Reflections (I believe that is a Michael's brand).

I hope you like it!

Making Memories are at CHA!

Making Memories, one of my all time favorite brands are at the CHA (Craft & Hobby) show this week!

They are giving away the coolest set, Just Chillin'. This is a set that is on my new wish list for the year! I hope I win it!!!

You can visit their blog here.