Hey there, hope your week is going great so far! The rain clouds are rolling in here this morning but the crisp sea air is blowing and the sun is still shining. Lily and I just came home from a walk and breathing that air is so refreshing, I'm ready to scrap again today but first I am off to take a trip to my friend Sonja's Scrap Spot to pick up my glimmer mist I ordered.

Yesterday I worked on a couple challenges and first up is the 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge. Here's Laura's Sketch




And here's my interpretation of the sketch using GCD paper




Here's another card using the same GCD paper I made for Mother's day, {no Mom this isn't your card!}


Next I have a couple of entries for this week's Hero Arts beyond paper challenge



I used Tim Holtz crackle paint on the bird and then stamped on the image


For this card I used a chipboard tag and inked it with Tim Holtz distress inks then used white ink and embossed the image.



Tomorrow is Hip Hop at Unity Stamp Co. wonder what Angela is cooking up for us this week!

It's Tuesday!!! New Challenge at Scrapping Out Loud

It's time for a new challenge at Scrapping Out Loud. This week's challenge is to scrap a page using at least 3 different patterned papers. Here's my page for this week.

I used the Sassafras line and some new letters from American Crafts and chipboard from Cosmo Cricket.

Come on by and play along with this week's challenge for a chance at our monthly RAK.

Have a super Tuesday!

Some more challenges

I recently found another sketch blog I like called Card Positioning Systems. They have a fantastic DT with lots of inspiration not to mention great sketches!

This morning I finished my challenge for CPS 110. I loved this sketch! SO whimsical and so many possibilities. I am sure I'll be making some more cards for this one. Here's the sketch

Here's my entry for CPS110

I flipped the sketch and cut a window to stamp the birdcage image inside and used a Cuttlebug die to emboss the patterned paper to add texture.

Supplies:

Hero Arts card stock

DCWV patterned paper

Hero Arts stamp

Hero Arts bling

Prima flowers

CTMH metal rimmed tag

CTMH sentiment stamp

Craft n Craftin overlay

Cuttlebug embossing folder

Here's another take using some more Hero Arts stamps amd Maya Road velvet flowers and Prima leaves.

Another take without the whimsical vines but ribbon instead.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a great Monday and feelin scrappy!

Sunday Scrapping

Happy Sunday what ever you are doing this afternoon!

I found some time this afternoon to do this week's challenge for Method Playground. I picked up this scalloped cardstock at Michaels last week. It's so awesome they are getting big name brand scrappy stuff and overylays and die cut cardstocks. I must have been in there over an hour looking at all the wonderful new items although I think I'm in there an hour every trip.

So the challenge is : Use a monochromatic color scheme on your page...

Here's my take

Now that I finished this challenge, I have major scrappy mojo! Gotaa scrap some more. See you tomorrow

2 Sketches Challenge

I found the 2 Sketches 4 You blog and I was able to play along about a month ago and life has just gotten SO busy that I always kept missing the deadlines. So tonight I set out to scrap a little and have fun with Kazan's sketchthis week! The Design Teams takes were fabulous as always.

And here's my take, I had fun with this one!

Supplies:

Sassafras Lasspattern cardstock

Craft n Craftin overlay

Studio G stamp from the $ bin at Michaels

Prima flower

Dress it Up! blingy flower

CTMH bigger brads

Martha Stewert doily lace scallop punch

I also wanted to try the Bonus Sketch by Berdien Weideveld

here's my take on this one with the same paper line and cupcake stamps

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Hip Hop Hangover and TGIF!!!

Good morning Hip Hoppers! Yesterday's baby themed Hip Hop was tons of fun! It was sweet to see everyone's avitar baby pics. I'll share my favorite baby pic of my sweet Lily today. This was taken when she was 4 days old. So beautiful!

Here are my cards for the Unity challenges. First is the 3+3=Unity. The challenge was to create a card using no more than 3 colors & 3 layers. I love how this card turned out.

Next is the Unity, Yeah Baby Challenge. Create a baby card using Unity. Well this little guy is the only baby stamp I have from Unity. I used a MS punch, bling from Hero Arts and some cute little button brads.

Skip on over to Unity today to check out Angela's awesome deals and take advatage of her generous offer of FREE SHIPPING thru Sunday!

So it's TGIF!!!! Next week is Sping Break and my son is out of school. He'll be spending tonight thru Weds with his dad and then he'll be home thru Easter with us.

I won't be babysitting since the parents I sit for are teachers YAY! So I'll have LOTS of scrappy time!

Have a great weekend whatever you do!

Scrapping Out Loud New Challenge!

Happy Blogaversary Hero Arts!!!!

This week's challenge at Scrapping Out Loud is Favorite Day of the Week.

For this week we challenge you to Scrap a page about your favorite day of the week and tell us why it is your favorite day, or what makes it your favorite day.

Of course my favorite day is HIP HOP!! I love the HIP HOP gang! You girls make me smile. I look forward to our chats and the challenges every week! It's definately a highlight for this stay at home mom!

Come on over to Scrapping Out Loud and see what days the other Design team Members enjoy!

And don't forget to stop by the Hero Blogaversary Celebration and Grab your Blinkie to win!!

It's a Blogaversary Party with Giveaways at Hero Arts!!

Day Two: Grab Your Blinkie and post on the thread to win!!!


Happy 1st Anniversary to Hero Arts!!!!
I totally {heart} their stamps and enjoy the weekly tips and challenges. With amazing talent like Jennifer McGuire and the Hero Web Artists
Laura Griffin
Barbara Hache
Tami Hartley
Jacki Jones
Sheri Reguly
Kandis Smith
Robyn Werlich
You'll always find inspiration at Hero. One of my favorite lessons the Hero Blog has taught me is how to use my bling to really make my stamped images stand out. Here's my favorite Hero Card I've made during the challenges.



For me Shapes week was the most imspirational week and I could have never made this card had I not learned about shaped templates and techniques!



***So don't forget to stop by and post to the thread today, they'll be giving away prizes all day and one lucky person will win every hour from 9-5 pacific time!! Make sure you come back and tell me if you won! Best of luck to all!!!

Unity World Famous Blog Hop Day!

Wow this is SO exciting and fun, you've just come from the sweet and oh SO purdy Shannan's blog. I hope you are enjoying the World Famous Blog hop so far. For my part today I wanted to create something with Unity that would make my little girl lay still on her changing table.

So I got out my favorite Butterfly stamp from the UK-178A Butterfly Beauty set and created this oh so girly butterfly mobile to hang in her room.

Supplies:

Basic Grey patterned paper

Prima flowers

CTMH Window Charms

Kaiser Craft bling

Unity Stamp Butterfly

Petaloo Glittered Chipboard flowers

Doodlebug Designs Sugar Coating

Assorted Colored hemp from the 99cent store

And here's my quote to share with you today, I was a BIG fan of Danny Kay as a girl and cherish the movie Hans Christain Anderson still...

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." ~Hans Christian Anderson

So glad you came by now Hop on over to the sweet and talented Amber to see what she has in store for you and don't forget to check out the amazing specials Angela has extended thru the weekend for you at Unity!

Happy Friday!!

Well it's Friday and I'm excited. I'm finishing up my project for the Unity World Famous Blog Hop tomorrow!!! Be sure and stop by to see my post and enjoy the amazing Artwork that each of the girls will have in store for you. We're all passionate about this company and it's owner and her amazing generosity and kindness. Unity Stamp Co. has amazing stamps and cutting edge stamping blocks. Check them out if you haven't yet here

Yesterday was the fun filled Hip Hop and I created this card for the Unity Thinks Spring challenge.

I also created this card for the Splitcoast color challenge this week.

And here's some more Hero Arts window challenge cards...

This card is 75 percent recycled products. I love the re use and recycle and Making Memories has been using some fun packaging that can be recycled for card stock.

And a baby girl card with this cute little baby stamp from Hero Arts.

Lastly I'd like to share another adorable moment with my daughter. I always know something is going on when she gets very quiet. This is what I found her doing yesterday

Hmmm what do you think? Future scrapper? Oh I really hope so! Have a fantastic weekend and see you tmr for the HOP!

My Guest Designer debut!

I've been a member of Paper Posies kit club since November and was asked to Guest Design for them in April. I was so totally honored to have been asked to be a part of the creativity goin on over there!
I am SO not good at keeping secrets {hello Aries here} and when I got the April kit with my March kit I was totally blown away!!! I wanted to show you all SO bad what I had been creating the last 2 weeks with this beautiful kit but couldn't!
Well, now I can!!!!
Check out this amazing kit!!!!


Paper Posie's owner, Michelle has an eye for getting amazing goodies that not only compliment the cardstock and embellies but continue to go with the next month's kit and the next! Now for a frugal scrapper like me, that's my kinda kit club!
So check this out, the 6 month sub is 34.00 per month and shipping is only 7.50. That's really a great value for all this amazing scrappy stuff!
I also want to share with you one of the things that drew me to Michelle's kit is every month she includes a mini project. Notice the Maya Road teacup chipboard album above? That's the mini kit for April and stay tuned for more pics of my project I did with this fun little album.
Ok , so I know you're gonna want to sign up so here's the link for all that info here. If you do decide to sign up for the 6 month sub be sure and mention that I sent ya and Michelle can let me know. I will pay the first month's shipping costs for the first person that signs up from my blog.

The idea gallery is loaded with artwork that's amazing! Come on over here and check out my projects with the April kit and sign up for the newsletter! You don't have to purchase a kit to sign up for the forum and newsletter. I've got more artwork that will be featured so it will be fun to have it delivered to your in box!
Also we're having the 4th annivesary in May and there are gonna be games and giveaways so stay tuned!

Woohoo! I got a make over!!!

Check out my new DO! I love my new look courtesy of House Of 3! Super Easy and totally fun although I did panic when I saw they suggested you use Photoshop to edit your banner. I was thinkin "Oh man!"

I can't afford to buy Photoshop right now and then I put on my thinking cap and went to Photobucket. I was able to figure out how to customize my banner with the tools there and VOILA!

So whadda ya think? Well worth the 3 bucks I think! Totally me and totally fun!

Here's some cards I made for this week's Hero Arts windows challenge

Scrapping Out Loud New Challenge and Reveal!

Hey everybody! It's Tuesday and time for a new Scrapping Out Loud Challenge. This week's challenge is a Color Wheel challenge! - Use only 3 colors on your layout that are complimentary. Here's my take on this week's challenge :

You can get the link to the color wheel and get the colors split by visiting us at Scrapping Out Loud here. And remember when you participate in the weekly challenges you get an entry for each week into our drawing for an amazing RAK of scrappy goodies.

Here's a small peak at this month's RAK



Look's like lots of scrappy goodness! So come on over and join the fun!

**************** IT"S COMING SATURDAY

Stay Tuned:

Happy Monday!

Thank you all SO much for all the birthday wishes! I had a really great day with my family and got to go out on a date with my husband which is rare so we really enjoyed the evening! i couldn't believe all the activity on my Facebook account and my super talented friend Kelly posted a little shout out for me on the Hero Arts Flickr group.

I have made some amazing friends thru blogging and challenge groups that I am really thankful for. I am humbled by your amazing praises for my work and creations. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every comment left on my blog and artwork.

I normally don't read my Horoscope except on my actual birthday so here's yesterdays message

"Your Optimism is mostly founded in fact this year, and when it isn't, you believe anyway and it comes true."

Hmmm that's a pretty huge affirmation for me because lately I have been putting myself out there only to fail in some things that mean a great deal to me but I take the failure with a grain of salt and not a blow to my self esteem or beliefs in my abilitites. I leave the experience with a smile and move on knowing that the rewards I seek will come and eventually with greater meaning. It's wonderful to know I am on the correct path with my attitude :)

then it goes onto say "your good deeds in April will change a life in April. Wow...I am excited to see what unfolds with that one.

"Higher learning allows you to go for a new position before the end of the summer." I am really happy to hear this since I have been debating returning to school for a Graphic Arts degree.

and finally "romantic notions lead you to showcase your talent in September and November, Pisces and Taurus adore you"

Well all in all sounds like good stuff. I am jazzed up about this year and enjoying the last of my 30's. I'm not even phased about being 40 next year, I have a long life full of love and family ahead of me and for that I am deeply thankful.

I scrapped up this layout for Hero Arts spring challenge, I used the stamp I got from them in a recent order to create my own pattern on the yellow card stock and embellish the layout at the top. I also played with my gel pens my mom gave me in my scrappy birthday loot. Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great Monday! And a special Happy Birthday to my SIL Melissa who's 38 today! Happy Birthday Sissy! Thanks so much for all you do for us, we love you!

Happy Birthday to Me...

It's my Birthday today, another year older and not necessarily wiser. I really can't believe that next year is the big 40!

It's going to be a pretty mellow birthday for me. We're meeting my MIL for brunch along with my SIL and Nephew. Her birthday is tomorrow the 23rd and my MIL's is the first week of April so lots of birthdays to celebrate.

I went shopping for a few scrappy goodies today and got one of the Sassafras paper pads with my 50 percent off coupon. I was thrilled to see the Slice is now at Michaels. I really want one and Mat said that he'd get me one next week :)

Scott, Lily and I went for pre-birthday ice cream at Ben & Jerry's Saturday evening. They had this amazing new flavor Coconut Seven layer Bar. YUM! Here's a few pics I snapped of Scott with the goods all over his face.

I love this kid! He's such a fun boy and he loves to giggle which makes me laugh because his voice is changing and it sounds funny when he does.

Miss Lily was only interested in the waffle cone, no ice cream.

Last but not least the winner of the Frugal scrapper contest was announced on the Prima blog Friday. It wasn't me but I was flattered that they featured one of my entries on the blog. The winner created a truly original project you can see here.

Have a great Sunday and little ice cream today in honor of my birthday. I have a special friend who takes hers with a bit of Magic Shell on top...you should try it, it's fabulous!!!

My class with Donna

Wow! Thursday already! What a day I've had. My computer keeps turning off and I can't seem to figure out what is going wrong. Sure I can tell you how to get stains out of clothes you never thought you could and I'm really talented with paper and glue {wink} but for the life of me I can not seem to unravel this technical stuff!

I finally gave up and got into a mini album I am working on that I got this weekend at the Royal Slumber Crop. One of the things that drew me to the event was the class with Donna Salazar. She had a really cute mini album class using cardboard for the cover. I love to rip, tear and distress and I am also starting to play with paint! So it was just the right fit for me and where I'm at right now. The class was an hour and what I loved about it is we got the supplies and basic instruction and then she let us run with it. I love that! I've gone to past classes where the instructor wanted you to create the project exactly as she had designed it. One actually frowned at me when she saw I had distressed my card stock...lol When I had my workshops I loved it when the girls would put their own spin on the project and make it their own.

So here's my cover. I love that worn a rugged look but what to the longest was using liquid glass to embellish every little cherries on this paper which by the way I totally {heart}. I've been wanting to do a little mini book about Mat and I when we were dating. I have so many photos I haven't done anything with so it seemed perfect to title the book All about Us.

Stay tuned for more pics of this cute little book! I hope to work on some more tonight!

Recently I was asked on a message board how do I take such great pics of my artwork. I have to thank Blogger land for the tips I picked up from other artists. I found a blog awhile ago explaining how natural light is the best light for photographing projects. I also learned that taping your project to the wall at eye level and turning off your flash was a great way to get great shots! I have a Fuji FinePix 6.3 that I think takes decent pics for a no fuss digital camera but I am still dreaming of the Nikon D60. I think my hubby is getting the message loud and clear since my birthday is coming up Sunday. I saw him getting our tax stuff together. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

So I'll leave you with a sneak of the layout drying as we speak on my table...I mentioned I was playing with paint these days. This pic was taken after I lost the natural light for today. See what I mean about the difference

Have a great night!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & SOL Reveal Tuesday!

"Top O' the Mornin to Ya!" It's St. Patrick's Day! The holiday you love to hate because in grade school no matter if you wore green, someone always pinched ya!

In Honor of St. Patrick's Day I scrapped a layout of my daughter's 1st St. Patrick's Day. This photo was taken last year when I was still buying those silly onesies. This one said Kiss Me I'm Irish! We are Irish from my mother's side of the family but you won't be smelling Corn beef and Cabbage in my house. I never like that dish.

I used the current sketch @ 52 Sketches for this layout titled My Lucky Charm

I also have another green project to share with you. I altered my sketch book with the left over letters from the Tattered Angels class I took last week. This is the book I write all of my challenges down and things I want to get done. I also used some Glimmer Mist and some of the masks I bought.

Now over at Scrapping Out Loud this week our challenge for this week is to use a line or phrase from the song "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick anywhere on your layout... (click on the title for the complete lyrics). Here's my take using some Hero Arts stamps and Prima flowers.

So that's it for today, I'll have some pics to share from the Royal Slumber Crop later in the week.
Enjoy your day and may you find your own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

1 more day...Updated

I leave for the Royal Slumber Crop tomorrow morning and I am really excited! I'm so looking forward to meeting a lot of the Who Gives A Scrap girls as well as Heather, my Unity pal from the Hip Hop! I am taking all 4 classes and I'm really looking forward to Leah and Donna's classes.

I haven't even packed my scrappy stuff yet because I am still working on projects. I did make some cards yesterday for Unity's Hip Hop in between cleaning my son's room {ick!} Hope you enjoy and I'll be back later to post my Tattered Angels banner from the class I took last night.

Update: Here's my banner

what was really fun is that she had us design our own background paper with overlays to go behind the letters.


The class was only an hour long and no one finished their projects on time and she had a second class scheduled right after so I need to finish it this morning. Wendy was super sweet and so passionate about her product. I learned so great tips and got a few goodies thanks to Sonja's generous coupon that came with the class.

I got this little kitty in my Unity mixed stamps a few weeks ago. Isn't he cute!

This card was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's card in my latest issue of Creating Keepsakes. In the tools & techniques article she gave some great tips for cards.

I used the laser cut paper from my Paper Posies kit to create this fun and fresh card, I love this owl journaling stamp from Unity and I've been finding fun non-journaling ways to use it!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend whatever you are up to!