Happy hump day! The weather in So Cal is perfect which is why I love living near the beach. it's much cooler than the valley. It's been gorgeous with a slight breeze in the evenings. My husband and I are trying to get back in shape by taking the family on evening walks before dinner. Lily chats the whole way from her stroller and my son enjoys the family time as well. I personally love the breeze on my face and spending time with my family.

Today I found the time in between 2 loads of laundry and cleaning my kitchen to scrap up my two entries for this week's challenge over at 2 Sketches 4 You

First is Kazan's sketch

I loved this sketch! It's perfect for a boy birthday card which was my take this week:

I love it when they give a bonus sketch, gimme more inspiration! This week's sketch is by Savitri

For this sketch I created a Happy Birthday card

Finally I was able to complete Monday's Challenge for Unity's 1st Anniversary Party challenge posted by Jen Buck. It was a color challenge and I used one of my free stamps from my last order. I thought the little basket of apples was really cute.

I just love that Sassafras paper! Thanks for stopping by and have a scrappy day!!

New Challenge and Design Team Call

Good Tuesday morning!!! I hope you all escaped Monday unharmed {snicker} So it's reveal day at Scrapping Out Loud! This week's challenge is Color shy! - Use as your main color of your pg. a color you normally avoid like the plague.


Well I am so NOT into Orange or Yellow so this is what I came up with thanks to a little help from Sassafras and my kit of the month from Little Red Scrapbook.

So now onto the Design Team call. Our 6 month terms are coming to an end in June and Scrapping Out Loud is looking for a few good scrappers! You can read about the details over here. Jessica, Melissa & Denise are the sweetest gals and I have really enjoyed being part of Scrapping Out Loud's first DT!! Don't forget to join in the fun in June as I will be hosting June's RAK up for grabs and it's going to be a good one so stay tuned...

just a little more joy

Ohhh in all the baby news I forgot that my artwork for Paper Posies went live on the site yesterday!!! I'm so excited to be Guest Designing this month cause the kit is simply fabulous!!! Check out all the designers artwork here

First a layout of my little Lily playing with her fairy wings and septor she got in her Easter basket.

I took this photo of Lily while she was resting on the lawn during our easter egg hunt.

And here's my altered project for this month. A cute linen notebook that I sprayed with Glimmer Mist I got from my local scrappy store Sonja's Scrap Spot. Then I used the Bo Bunny rub ons in the kit and added some letters and bling. Finally to make sure the rub ons didn't come off I coated the front and back of the book with glitter modge podge. Makes a great gift huh!

I'll be showing more of my creation with this month's kit this month and don't forget Friday is the big 4th Anniversay kick off!! We'll have contests, giveaways and challenges!! A few I'm hosting are a card challenge, scavenger hunt and step by step project tutorial. So stop on by Paper Posies and sign up so you'll be ready for the fun!

A Sunday Suprise

Good afternoon! I want to say sorry for not posting my tutorial yesterday we had an unexpected phone call in the early morning from my friend Dominique. She called to let us know her and Will were at the hospital to have their baby. She wasn't due until May but the baby was weighing close to 10 pounds. I kinda thought that the baby wouldn't come til Sunday and sure enough he arrived after midnight. Baby Love weighed in right at 9 lbs and was born early Sunday morning.

I'm headed out to see them this afternoon and will post my tutorial this evening.

Last night we had an online crop over at Little Red Scrapbook. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed the challenges that Sara posted. Here's a layout I created for the Die Cut challenge using the April kit.

A little Friday Fun! And a Sneak Peek!!!

Happy Friday, hope you're enjoying your end of the week! I've been pretty busy creating projects for my Guest Designer spot in May at Paper Posies this week and let me tell you how hard it is not to post them. May's kit is SO beautiful!!! Today you're in luck because ScrapClubs.com has a pic of the May kit NOW!!! Click here to enjoy! I can't wait to show you my artwork I created with this fun kit so stay tuned...

And don't forget, May is the 4th Anniversary of Paper Posies and we've got a month long party planned with challenges, games and GIVEAWAYS!!!!! So stop by May 1st to see what we'll have in store for you. You don't have to be a subscriber to play along, just sign up here for an account and join the forum.

In the process of uploading photos of my finished projects today, I was playing with Photobucket and created me as a cartoon! Ahhh Photobucket fun!

Yep I look pretty funny and PINK! But it's me and my new layered do that I really love! OK so onto something crafty~

So I watched a great video at the Hero Blog that Jennifer McGuire posted for this week's theme of "distress" here. I created this card based on her tutorial. I used the Heart Winged Butterfly to emboss resist on the tag. I have a serious ribbon addiction and when I saw this one at Michaels, i HAD to have it. Rightly so as it went perfect with my card!

Finally, here's a second card I created just using my distress tool to rough up the card stock and ink. The paper is My Mind's Eye. I also used the new little stamp set I got in my Hero winnings

earlier this week.

Stop by tomorrow for a quick and easy tip on making your own page pebbles that you can use to embellish cards and other scrappy projects...Have a GREAT weekend!

Hip Hop and the Earth Day Winner!!!

Good Morning everyone! It's Hip Hop at Unity and you know what that means, Free Stamps and FUN! So come on over to the Splitcoast forum for a little fun here! Also Angela has created a great new Place for Unity lovers, check it out here

Don't forget to stop by the Unity Blog for today's specials here

Ok I know, you want to know who won the stamp huh. Well using Random.org we had 15 entries by the midnight deadline and Random.org chose...

Chelsey said...
Love that stamp! We recycle everything that cannot be reused, but we also reuse just about everything. I save glass jars for craft projects and to store little items in. We have our own bags and our grocery store even gives extra points for bringing in your own. We also try to conserve with heat and AC as much as possible. We invested in tupperware and lunch bags so that we dont have to use a lot of bags. I like Callie's idea with the rain barrel - I have looked around for them, but cant find them under $100. Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2009 10:48 AM

WooHoo Chelsey! Congratulations! Pls email me @Shemainesmith@yahoo.com with your address please.

I hope you have a fabulous Thursday!!

Happy Earth Day and a Giveaway!

Hey there peeps! Happy Earth day to all. Here's a little info about today:
Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. This date is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, which is often March 20, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969.

I never considered myself a green person but over the last year I've been trying to be more aware of what I can do to support the cause. Here's a list of things I've been doing to GO GREEN
1. I break down all cardboard from our home and recycle it ie: cereal boxes, fiber one bars etc that I used to just throw in the trash.

2. I re-use packaging to create cards and the plastic from Thickers for gift bags

3. I bought all green cleaning products

4. we recycle all cans and plastic and bottles and newspaper

5. we switched out light bulbs to energy savers

6. I bring my own shopping bags everywhere I go, thanks to my super huge bag from GCD I got at CHA I can now can carry all the vitamin waters in the house in one trip from the car. LOL

These are just a few things we're doing to be more green. I'd love to hear your going green tips so post them here until midnight pacific time and I'll draw a name tmr morning to win this fabulous stamp from Unity Stamp Co.



Now I challenge you to make a project today recycling something! Don't forget to leave a link so I can check it out!
Happy Earth Day!

2 Sketches 4 You Challenge + Bonus Sketch

WooHoo 2nd post today! isn't this fun!! Here's this week's challenge sketch by Laura at 2 Sketches 4 You I love the way she draws her sketches!

Here's my take

I used paper, rub on and brad by K & Company, ribbon by Basic Basic, my Cricut Home Accents cartridge, Martha Stewart Border Punch and Prima flowers.

Here's a bonus sketch by Ewonne Ek that I am currently working on

Here's my take on the sketch, I made this card for my friend Julie Adler's birthday. We're getting together tonight at Pink Taco in Century City to celebrate!! Woot Woot Mommy's nite out!

For this card I used Prima & My Minds Eye patterned paper. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the My Minds Eye paper. The flower screen is from K & Company. Sentiment is by Hero Arts and I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, gottta love those 40 percent off coupons at Michaels! I also sprayed Glimmer Mist over the Sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by again, have a great day!

Reveal Tuesday

It's reveal Tuesday at Scrapping Out Loud and this week's challenge is really fun! This week we want you to get out those rulers and get measuring, because we want to see you use the grid technique to create a LO! Here's my take on this challenge. I divided my page in 4 large squares...

I can't seem to get Lily to pose for me these days. Getting a shot of her looking at the camera is near impossible which makes for a frusterated scrapbooker mommmy! Oh well, I decided to document it for when she enters her Diva phase all bets will surely be off and I'll be getting lots of shots!

It's hot hot hot in So Cal today and with no A/C the kids and I are running around in summer clothes.

What happened to April Showers bring May flowers?

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mail from Hero!

Ohhh what a day! I've scrapped 2 layouts so far and I was working on the third when there was a knock at the door. I wasn't expecting anyone so I was curious of course and waiting on my doorstep was a box from Hero Arts! I was so excited to open my box of goodies for winning the Blinkie contest during the Blogaversary I wanted to share how generous they were!

Thanks Hero Arts!

Sunday Blues...

Janene's Sponge technique challenge at Splitcoast Stampers
Stamp: Unity Stamp Co, Bling: Petaloo, Ribbon: American Crafts

It's a funny feeling of regret that comes every Sunday afternoon. I know tomorrow is the start of a new week and also so many possibilities but I can't help getting this feeling on Sundays. Maybe it's because Mat will begin yet another stressful week at work at his job and not be home with me all day. Or Maybe it's because I'll kiss my son goodbye and watch him ride off to school on his bike from our garage and then I am really alone. I really think I get the blues on Sunday because on the weekends I am surrounded by my family and their love and when Monday morning comes it's just me and the babies after all the Monday morning hustle and bustle. Maybe that's why I threw myself into my scrap booking after making the decision to stay home with my daughter and be here for my son everyday. I thought it would be so great, no more angry customers at the bank yelling at me and no more hour long drives downtown in bumper to bumper traffic to my office. I had no idea how lonely I would really be. Now it sounds absolutely absurd to say that because I am not alone. I have the babies to watch after all day but I am alone.
It's a strange transition from working mom to well at home working mom. Mine has been full of joy being here to see my daughter's milestones and enjoying those little moments I missed with Scott but it's also been a sorrow because over the months I've really lost my identity. I've lost the will to curl my hair and wear makeup. I've lost the excitement of getting dressed everyday and I've completely lost my figure. This is the hardest thing for me to admit. I'm am completely not my former self.


Now believe me when I say that I LOVE the mother I have grown into thru this experience but I don't recognize the woman I am now when I look in the mirror.


This morning I went to take off my wedding ring and I could not get it off my finger. It was a little loose when my husband placed it on my finger and said "I do" it was a wake up call for me although in recent weeks I've had MANY.


So this is my way of laying it all out here. Sorry for a non crafty post but today is a good day because I am looking at my life very clearly and owning up to it.


Now I just need to find the courage to change it.

Hip Hop Hangover Friday!

HEY IT'S FRIDAY...YEAH!!!! Whew this week flew by for me! Hip Hop was another great Thursday full of inspiration and chatty fun. I {heart} those chatty peeps over on the Splitcoast forum! Stop by the Unity blog today for Unity goodness and Angela's generous offer of 15 percent off your order when you use the code MOTHER! Get that Plant a Tree stamp, you won't be disappointed!

Here's my challenge cards from yesterday, Hole-Y Unity challenge using paper piercing on your card

And the Give Unity a Bow challenge

As soon as I saw that owl ribbon at Michaels I had to have it!

I'm really excited! Tonight I'm taking a mini book class at Scrapbook Oasis called Random Thoughts with Laura from A Kiss on the Chic. This is a picture of the kit and her book she created for tonights class. It's amazing! She has an amazing kit club full of shabby chic scrappy goodness!!!

The weekend will be a relaxing one as we don't have plans since the big MMA Fights are on Saturday and my husband is a fan. I am really hoping Mauricio "Shogun" Rua defeats Chuck Liddel. We met Shogun one evening with his brother at In and Out over here by LAX. He was so nice and was happy to pose for a pic with my DH who was like a kid seeing Santa Claus...LOL

And finally today here is my card for 2 Sketches 4 You

I used Hero Arts Stamps for this one this week.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Hip Hop! It's Thursday! Um yea I'm a little late...

Ok so I forgot to post this earlier but better late than never and Angela has some amazing deals over at Unity on some awesome Rubbah! Be sure to check out the new release Plant a Tree for Earth Day. I really {heart} this stamp. I think cause it was from Laura is what makes it the most special.


Now before I post anything else stop reading this and RUN over to Simply Handmade's blog to enter to win a Die Cutting Machine! You can get the deets here but you only have a day and a quarter left to enter!!! So go here NOW!

The weather was so beautiful here today so I took the kiddies out to play. Here they are having fun!

See you tmr with all my Unity and SCS Creations!

Unity Addicts challenge and more...

Woot Woot it's Wednesday! I am meeting my friends at Corner Bakery in the valley tonight to send our dear friend Jenn off to Chicago. Her DH has accepted a job there and she's excited to hopefully get back to teaching and being closer to family.

Today the Unity Addicts challenge was to create a card without a sentiment on the front. Here's mine...

And this week's Technique challenge at Splitcoast was to stamp on metal. I used a soda can that I stamped these Unity flowers and heat embossed with Stayz On ink and then cut out. It was super fun!

And this card was for last week's color challenge. Carole sent me some of these Unity rainbow

stamped images. So cute!

I also wanted to show a few more projects I designed with this month's kit at Paper Posies.

A sweet layout using Cosmo Cricket of my daughter wearing the hat my mom knitted for her.

Nan, me and Dawn at Scrapbook Royalties Royal Slumber Crop enjoying our sweets that Dawn made. They are awesome cookies!

And finally a quick card with ribbon, brads and Prima flowers.

Hello Tuesday! New reveals @ Scrapping Out Loud!

Hi there crafters! It's reveal day at Scrapping Out Loud and time for a new challenge. Are you ready? This one's pretty fun! This weeks challenge is to scrap a pg. using paint somewhere/anywhere on your pg. Get out those paints and get creative ...if you have used paint before, try using it in a new way.


Here's what I came up with

I used supplies from my Paper Posies April kit along with supplies from my Little Red Scrapbook kit. I belong to both kit clubs because they have amazing kits at an amazing value! I'm still offering to pay the shipping on your first month's kit at Paper Posies if you are the first person to email me and then have Michelle confirmed you signed up. You can still get April's kit which is adorable!

Make sure you stop by Scrapping Out Loud to see what the other DT members created for this week's challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge. Leave a comment on the blog with a link to your layout. This month RAK is all about Sassafras goodness and every week you participate you get an entry to win!

Hope you had a Happy Easter, a chocolate lover's favorite day!

Mmmm, did you get your chocolate fix today? I sure did! Happy Easter to you all. I hope you had a fabulous day filled with family and fun. The Easter Bunny delivered wonderful baskets to our home filled with goodies that made Scott and Lily smile.

Here's a few pics of my sweet loves...

Miss Lily in her Purple fairy dress up clothes

Scott and cousin Gavin

Lily reading her new book from the E.B.

Scott showing off his chocolate bunny :)

We had a great time on Easter as a family. It was fun watching the kids run around and hunt for eggs at my MIL's.

Thanks as always for stopping by, I just wanted to share that I am so honored to have won Card of the Week over at 2 Sketches 4 You for last week's sketch. I can still hardly believe it! The ladies that play along every week are seriously talented! I loved the GCD papers that I found at Michaels. I knew they were going to be perfect for cards! Have a great day and be sure to check back tmr for my take on Scrapping Out Loud's new challenge for the week!

Hip Hop Hangover crafty things..

Happy Friday Peeps! A very "Hoppy" Easter to you all!! Every year my husband's mom gets up at 5:30 and hides eggs for the kids and adults. It's a fabulous hunt all over outside her house. It's always fun to see who finds their Bonus bunnies 1st. Of course we're all looking forward to the hunt on Sunday.

I've got 2 days left to whip up some Easter cards, I've only made one for my mom and dad which I had to mail the other day so it would get to them in Arkansas in time for Easter. Whatever your family does to celebrate I hope you enjoy the day!

Before I post my cards for the Hip Hop I have a special wish for a special friend who had to have some dental surgery. I hope you are doing well and not having too much pain. Hopefully some special wishes from your favorite kitty will help!

Get well soon Danielle!

This weeks challenges at Unity were super fun! First up is my card for Unity Going Green challenge, I used my new stamp that I came home to find on my doorstep from last week's hop. I won this beautiful stamp for participating in the Blog Hop and lovely Laura drew my name! I love it!! For this card I stamped the You are my Sunshine sentiment on the Martha Stewart twill and used Stickles on the tree.

Next is my card for the Unity Anytime challenge. I used card stock from Coredinations and embossed it with my Cuttlebug and then sanded to bring out the color in the core. The stamp is a Unity circle stamp with the owl journaling stamp over the circle and then I used Stickles.

Be sure to stop by the Unity blog to check out the specials for this week! Angela has some amazing new products!

Have a great Friday and thanks for stopping by!