Sunday, September 28, 2008

Big Toot

This was a hard secret to keep the last couple days.... I have been chose to be on a Design Team at Sassy Cards N Scraps! http://sassycardsnscraps.com/ I'm very excited to be a part of such a great group of women. It'll be fun helping to grow a new community for scrapbooking & other crafts. Many of us belong to the "big" sites but it's nice to go to a site that is smaller each day too where everyone knows you.... I really look forward to being apart of the new site.


I hope you've been able to join us for the Grand Opening online crop this weekend great challenges & prizes.... there's still plenty of time since deadline is Friday! http://sassycardsnscraps.freeforums.org/sassy-grand-opening-crop-c10.html. When you you create an account remember to tell them who sent you.....

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Enabling Alert

I don't know about you but I love decorative borders on cards & layouts.

I have a few Fiskars, Martha Stewart & Hobby Lobby. I have a bucket of the decorative cut scissors. I'll also use my corner rounder to make my own scallop

I bought the Fiskars Threading Water & like it but sometimes I would just look at it & think I wish it was a smaller scallop (especially for cards) & didn't have holes.....

Well I've found the answer..... Stampin' Up scallop border punch is smaller, no holes & just perfect.

during the crop I went to a couple weeks ago I met a woman who was new to selling Stampin' Up. She let me look at a catalog & the front cover edge was punched - I knew I had to have it.

It ran about $15 & was so worth it! Love it - great product

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I'm "Royalty"

Woke up early this morning & was checking some of my favorite scrapbooking "hang-outs"....



I saw that I was "Crowned QUEEN of the Crop" over at Mon Ame!


I won both of the new lines from Cosmo Cricket - Paper AND Embellies.


They have a great DT who came up with so many creative challenges that really brought out the best in us all.


Check them out if you're looking for a nice smaller spot to chat & be inspired. They have a great monthly kit too. http://www.monamememories.com/forum/


See you at paperclipping live tonight at 9:30 eastern time http://www.paperclipping.com/ broadcasted on ustream.tv - just follow the link to the live show. Noell Hyman is the host & she is very creative & shares her knowledge of design concepts. I've learned so much watching these last couple months & I think my layouts are the better for it.... The chat is always lively & such a great group of women.... What better way to spend Tuesday evening than watching a live scrapbook show & chatting on the internet.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Cyber Crop Weekend


P.P.K. says Hi y'all & welcome to show & tell....

I've been hanging out this weekend over at Mon Ame

http://www.monamememories.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=54

There's plenty of time to join in on the fun Sunday - great challenges & prizes.

Here's some of the layouts I've completed this weekend










Saturday, September 20, 2008

Want to win a great prize...

Check out this giveaway for an amazing storage unit

http://www.vanillajoy.com/blog-giveaway-minibox-by-the-original-scrapbox.html#comments

Just leave a comment & you'll be entered for a chance to win.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tuesday....

Looking forward to joining in the fun at ustream tonight for the live paperclipping show. Plan to join us - it's always a great time of creativity & chatting. www.paperclipping.com The show starts at 9:30 pm eastern time.

I was shocked to see I won another contest & was featured on another scrapbook website!

http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesetc.com/category/just-a-blog/ features one of my favorite layout of my dog Maddy. To top it off I won $10 store credit!

Today was a busy day of running around doing errands & a couple of doctor appointments. Thankfully I'm pretty much back to my old self.

I put the finishing touches on the layouts I started at the crop over the weekend & now I'm working on some ATC cards for a swap & cards for soldiers.

Hope you have a great day & take some time for yourself....

Monday, September 15, 2008

Memory Makers Magazine Website




It really was exciting seeing my layout featured on their website. I like their magazine so much & their website is filled with lots of great info.

http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/page_ideas.aspx

Featured Page Idea
Creative Spirit
My younger son's girlfriend Stephanie is very artistic. She is a Photoshop whiz and puts up with my endless questions & need for help.This is a photo of herself that she edited. I liked the background she added & decided to make a scrapbook layout about her. It stretched my style a bit as my pages are not usually so modern with such clean lines. Layout title: "Creative Spirit"Supply List:Bazzill Basics - Cardstock; Luxe - Pattern Paper;American Crafts - Pattern Paper, Chipboard Letter Stickers & Pen;Beader's Paradise - Beads;The Beadery - Wire;The Jewelry Shoppe - Jump Rings & Crimps;Coats & Clarks - Thread;K & Company - StampColorbox - InkJournaling reads:Stephanie is such an amazing talent. She has such an eye for design & composition. Only a few have that uncanny ability to translate a vision into reality for all to enjoy. Her sketches are amazing in detail & accuraccy. A memorable one of Angelina Jolie captured even the spirit of adventure in her eyes. Steph's photography & graphic design are surreal & edgy. In Photoshop her editing is flawless."
Suz Gray Lawrenceville, GA, USA

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Quick Toot

I got an email from Katie at Memory Makers Magazine. They are featuring on their Online Idea Gallery page on tomorrow. http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/page_ideas.aspx)

It's the layout I did about my younger son's girlfriend Stephanie "creative spirit" that I posted below on Friday.

It really tickled me.

I also had 5 layouts & 1 card picked up on http://www.scrapnart.com/ & http://www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com/ this month. Make sure you check out both websites for great inspiration. Their ezines are packed with ideas.

Great time at the crop

Hi all - hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.


I know many are dealing with terrible weather so y'all are in my prayers.


The crop yesterday was a lot of fun. Since Charley pretty much packed me since I wasn't feeling well & almost didn't go - I didn't have everything in page kits like I usually do so I ended up getting 5 pages started but none finished. I have a lot of Thickers but you know how I like to mix up my titles/fonts using the Cricut & figured I finish that at home. I really love to socialize at crops but I haven't gotten the knack yet for having all I need to get anything done. I think a lot of that is just my style as I change my mind so many times as I'm creating. Some of the ladies at my table finished 12 layouts! I sometimes wish my style was more simple so I could get caught up - but it's now so I try not to think like that....
That's the beauty of scrapbooking.... no right or wrong just whatevery you like. The best layouts are the ones where you stay true to your style & not try to be who you're not.


When I start a layout I'll pull out way more patterned paper than I need for photo/photos. It sounds crazy but most of the time I feel like I let the supplies/photo "talk" to me about a direction I want to go with the design.... no I'm not saying I hear voices (lol) but I really get a lot of inspiration from the papers themselves. I don't usually have a sketch that I am going by so I just start playing around with placement before I cut into anything.


The title is the next part I work on. I like to make them interesting & the easy way is to use Thickers/stickers but since that gets $$ I try to use the Cricut Expression a lot. You've seen on a lot of my layouts my "faux chipboard".
I will cut 4 layers of a letter/shape out of inexpensive kraft cardstock from Hobby Lobby pictured here. I stock up when it's on sale - you can't beat less than $2 for 25 sheets!
Then I will cut a 5th layer from good quality kraft paper or textured cardstock if I'm going to paint, ink or leave plain.
Have you tried the new cardstock from American Crafts? I bought a pack of the white - 60 sheets for $19.99 retail & I used a 30% off coupon at Archivers. I really like the quality of it - a great alternative to Bazzill
Another great look is to cut the 5th finish layer from patterned paper & ink the edges.
This method is a little time consuming but since I enjoy the whole creative process & it's so worth it to have the option of having any size, shape, style, color letter you need withouth heading to the store.


I'm working on a tutorial for next week's blog posting..... I had it almost finished & lost it last week when we thought the computer was backing up every evening but it wasn't & my son had to erase the hard drive & reinstall windows so I lost things I thought were saved on the external hard drive..... oh well another hard lesson learned.


Sorry "chasing rabbits".... back on topic of how I create a layout...


I then look around thru my embellishments stored mostly on the homemade paper towel holder clip it up that I love! It holds so much & is easy to turn the pages to find what I want - I really use my stuff now and it helps keep in mind what I have bought so I don't buy again.... we've all done that haven't we...


With all that said I'm sure you can see why it's hard for me to pack a page kit for a crop! But that is something I will have to work on if I want to join in on the fun. It'll just take more planning on my part.
Hubby is home from Alabama & I'm going to spend some time with him...
Have a blessed day,


Friday, September 12, 2008

What a Week

Had some computer problems & my son ended up doing f-disk & reinstalling everything. That would have been wonderful had the computer been doing what it was supposed to be doing by backing up everything every night at 2 a.m..... Andrew didn't check to make sure so I lost a couple weeks worth of work & photos - yikes... when am I going to learn.... so the blog video tutorials are now a little behind.....

Anyway now it's all running like new again & the Internet is super fast. It was taking minutes to load my email page & we have the 10 meg of speed from the cable company!

I'm so excited about the Breast Cancer crop tomorrow at EMI Scrapbooking in Cumming! It's 100% sold out & there are going to be loads of freebies along with a yard sale. I got my totes packed and ready to go. I love to crop with others but it is such a production making page kits, packing up & I always take too much. As usual I'm sure I will socialize more than I create lol but it will be a great time for a wonderful cause that is close to my heart since both my mom & I have fought this growing disease.

I'm going to take my camera to capture the day.




Make sure you check out Jennifer McGuire http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/another-card-drive.html & Stephanie Howell's blog http://www.stephaniehowell.typepad.com/. Jennifer is doing a card drive for our troops. Stephanie's hubby is in Afghanistan so she had to get in on promoting this important card drive. My cousin's son, daughter & son-in-law are all in Iraq/Afghanistan right now serving so it's another thing that is important to me. We so need to encourage, pray for & support our troops & their families.




Here's a layout I did this week of my son's girlfriend Stephanie. I admire her creativity so much & she is a beautiful, wonderful, talented young woman. She did the photo shop work in this photo. I've seen photos she has "shopped" where she has taken parts out of mulitple different photos and her work is seamless and amazing! I would swear that the two people were originally in the photo.



The design is a little more modern & "clean lined" than I usually do but still true to my style with the beads & a lot of journaling. That's so important in anything creative we do - to not try to be something we're not. No I'm not saying don't try new things or take inspiration from layouts we love - the best layouts are really unique & personal. That's the best part of scrapbooking - there are no rights and wrongs just do whatever you want on your pages and have fun.

I got picked up for another couple of layouts in Scrap N' Art & Scrapbook News & Review. It's fun to have someone want to publish something you create.

Have a great weekend.