New Baby Card & Scrapbook Page

I made this card for Nate's sis Stephanie because SHE is having a baby! I am so excited for her! I stamped "Happy Mother's Day" in the inside. I was inspired by the following sketch at The Studio. If you want to see the challenge, click here!

I added the boarder at the bottom as I didn't measure things out and also added in spaces between my pieces of paper. I love my flower with a gem...just a few paper flowers from CTMH that I had stashed. Loved the paper too and how pretty it was!

Got inspired today with the paper I had left out from this card and decided to make her a blank page so she can add her own photos! I made it kinda open ended. She can add cute couple shots OR baby photos later. I was inspired from this sketch posted on Sketch Support. If you want to check it out, it's posted HERE!

Seeds

I had open house at the school tonight and I had pulled a baby photo for Luke. It happened to be the same one I used in this layout and so I thought it would be fun to post. There is also a challenge over at Show Us Your Stuff and I thought I'd participate! If you want to check out their blog, click here! They have the coolest layouts and challenges!

Tim Holtz Challenge II

Just another quick card tonight while I had all the Tim Holtz stuff out for the scrapbook page. Don't ask me about the sentiment. I was thinking back to a story I heard about a young life that ended too suddenly and was reminded of Robert Frost. The umbrella is symbolic of keeping someone safe...and of course there is the nice little Tim Holtz bird...also symbolic of soaring or escaping the problems that crop up day to day. And of course a little spinner, those are just fun! Background paper is all Tim Holtz.

Beginning: Lydia Rose

I LOVE this challenge blog, seriously! Somehow pairing a word up with a page makes me stretch! If you want to check out Bird is the Word blog, click here! I added an "S" to my title because I thought it was not only a beginning for my friend's new daughter Lydia Rose, but ALSO a beginning for her FIRST daughter Evalyn (having a new sister) and also having two is much different than just one, so a beginning for my friend. I had a lot of fun playing around with the photo software. There is never a nice background in the hospital, so I really wanted to add something to my main photo.

The key "LIFE" dangled off the ribbon is Tim Holtz and was a contribution from my neighbor. She was trying to help me in my Tim Holtz challenge (see previous blog) but I just HAD to have it for this page. OH yeah, meant to mention, most of this page with the exception of the doilies (dyed during egg coloring), brads, and ribbon, is ALL TIM! You know, I am pretty fond of the hubby, but there might just be one guy I'd trade him in for....nah! Just picking.

Pencil Cups for the Teachers

Spotted these cardboard pencil/pen holders over Easter and realized I skipped my normal teacher presents in the hurry of getting ready for vacation. So, thought maybe I'd make it a SPRING present instead! I aways enjoy making flowers. I would like to buy more flowers, but due to not having a craft store close, usually end up making my own. I used my Modge Podge that was shimmery and always love how that ages something nicely. Added a monogram on the opposite side, I love how these letters turned out!

Tim Holtz Challenge

I've been keeping supplied in new material from a monthly club put together by We B Scrappin' out of Syracuse. They have challenged us to make a card using only Tim Holtz items. They included some purple distress stain and also some grunge board. I'm super excited to try both of those items since I've never used either. So, cut a background using my sizzix and my Top Note die from Stampin' Up. Then I used the stain on that. I didn't have any Tim Holtz stamps, so pulled out a new favorite from Close to My Heart. My flower is just a simple white ribbon that I dyed to match the Tim Holtz paper background (there are hot pink lines on the paper). I also used the purple stain around the edges of the Tim Holtz paper I used on the background. I had so much fun getting this card together. I might just go do a few more...my neighbor gave me a little baggie of Tim embellishments that need to be tried!

Oh, the last pic is of a clear envelope I found on an adventure to Malone...I am not sure who makes it, but I really designed the card around using it.

Egg Tree

Had so much fun with this tree! Lexi and I made the eggs in two different sessions...and then in a third session with Shirley, I hot glued some tissue paper flowers on! What fun! Marilyn had sent along this tree when we stopped to see them after DC and I had to decorate it! I love the kit for the egg where you apply the gold. Very time consuming, but really pretty at the end.

Show Us Your Stuff and Bird is the Word Blog Challenge

I just can't resist! Seriously! I love these word challenges! And they always seem to correspond with something I want to do! So, the title on this post is inspired by Bird is the Word. If you want to check out their post, click here! My other inspiration was a layout posted on Show us Your Stuff...that had some cool colors, a layout, and also a requirement of a hand made item! So, if you want to check them out, please go here! I mostly stuck with the pink, yellow, and blue requirement...and of course used a kraft base....and my flower is way hand made...it was a lot of fun actually....Anyhow, I think I will leave my mess for the morning and wash the glimmermist off my hands!

My Pages for Marilyn

So, Marilyn left me alone in her scraproom with her cutter, some photos, and a huge rack of paper. I felt giddy! We were exchanging pages...and I had made the "Spring Magic" one for her at home...and finished it off at her house with flower photos from around her yard. Still needs some journalling...but that is pretty easy. The blue and yellow page I put together from stuff that Lexi cut on the cutter and with a couple of photos! I chalked up the flowers and before I was completely finished, I got called away! Lucky for me, Marilyn could finish up the journalling AND added the super cool chalking around the edges. I LOVE this page! It's so pretty!
It's super fun to make a page base and have someone add the surprising twists!

And the Prize...Goes to Shirley!

I had SO much fun with this project! I love making paper flowers. I cheated for the lacy one that is from Prima, but the rest are mine. If you want a sweet tutorial for making flowers and a variety of different kinds, visit this blog here.

Shirley won the wallpaper project! She got tons of comments...and people e-mailed me too! Congrats!

Ideas for Scrapbookers...

I love seeing my stuff on blogs! It's awesome! Check me out, I'm the second one down!

Check it out HERE!

Lost-Day 2 in DC

Another page with the same CTMH paper. This one is telling the tale of Luke getting lost at the Smithsonian and how scared he was not to mention how freaked I was! I love my flower and the brad I found with a bi-plane on it! I had to write a lot of journaling and it still doesn't really cover how scared I was!

The gears and doily are from Dusty Attic. I am still enjoying some pieces I got a bit back from there.

IRS

I had so much fun on this page! I spied this cool layout on Ideas for Scrapbookers and wanted to make it mine! Thanks Heather for a cool layout. If you want to take a peek at her page, go HERE!

Mine is a bit different, she has her embellishments on the opposite side and her squares are smaller. Plus, she had room for the cool little scallops all around her page. That is in my head now for a later project. Again, this is more of the same paper from CTMH in keeping with the idea it was all the same trip.

The tree branch is Dusty Attic. I am slowly working through a recent purchase! And the green fabric button is from Purple Pumpkin.

I used Lo-Fi software on the photo to get the bright colors and letters to stand out on the IRS sign. And check out the photo, their pockets are hanging out! Hubby just had to have this photo!

Here is my main page for our DC trip! I was so pleased with the stamping...and my little calendar! I am now planning on using up this paper on the whole trip. Might keep the pages similar in style too. Love my little tree branch too, that turned out cool! That is something I got off Etsy and is Dusty Attic. If you look, I have a stamped legend for our trip! The yellow J & M is for Joe and Marilyn! On a side note, she let me into her ATTIC space, which is FULL of scrapping and craft stuff. Oh my! And then, she handed me some photos and left! I had so much fun. I made her a page, so hopefully I'll get a photo of that at some point (hint hint) and can share it!

Oh and do you love that fat robin? He was cracking me up! I watched eight or nine of them this morning working around the snow looking for worms. They are such good little things!

Spring in NY Challenge Page-Marilyn

Marilyn surprised me with a double page spread she made for our challenge! It's so pretty, showcases some amazing photos she's taken. I love the bluebird eggs! And don't you love the cool leaf die cuts she made? She started them in Photoshop and then cut them out! And check out her Egg photo too! It's one she made! Love it! I should have a photo or two of mine shortly to also post.

DC Day 1

I had SO MUCH FUN with this layout. Normally two page spreads can be a bit daunting. So can the HUGE pile of photos from a vacation. WELL, I turned to a cool blog that helps out with layouts. Sketch Support has great layouts and typically gets me going. If you want to check out their blog, click HERE. The blooming trees and sunny day really helped me capture a huge amount of awesome photos. I also kept in mind that I like to really use one or two photos once in a while in special layouts, so I kept a few back for later! The paper was the first thing I put my hands on when I was rooting through my stash. I can't recall the name of it, other than it was one from a while ago made by CTMH. The little cherry blossoms by my title I made by hand with a punch and some glimmermist.

Egg Fun

A couple weekends back we went to see HOP with a whole bunch of friends. It was really cute! I have been screwing around with Lo-Fi, a software package that uses a lot of filters to give you various affects. I like the grunge look with these photos and used a stamp on my page to give the edges a similar look. I cut the tree out with my Silhouette. Marilyn cut me the two little bunnies with her Cricut.

Regan

I LOVE it when I get photos. I was asking my buddy Cody how his new baby was doing and voila! Cute pictures! So, I had to scrap him a page. Hope he doesn't mind all the roses!! PLUS, I got scrappy goodness in the mail all the way from Calgary! One of my favorite places in Canada AND she sells Dusty Attic! If you want to check out her blog and from that go to her Etsy shop, click HERE!

Here is a super cool page Marilyn made for me with more of that wallpaper. I LOVE IT! Look at the strings! Isn't this adorable? And check it out, she has cut outs on her paper so you can see what's under it! Love it and thank you so much. We are trading pages, so I'll post what I'm sharing with her shortly!

More Tissue Paper Flowers

I had to make a couple of samples for Lexi yesterday...and I didn't let her keep them because I said it was HER project. So, here is another quick card I just threw together from scraps that were sitting on my desktop. Flowers are so much fun!

Easter Bonnet

So, the other day, my friend Lisa says...let's go to JoAnne Fabric in Malone. I was like, sure, no problem. Now, all you people reading this from civilization are thinking, so? Yeah, I know. A trip to any of the craft stores from where we're from is 20-30 minutes away. Malone is more like a good solid hour. But, I am writing this to show my progress! I am getting into the swing of things...I jumped at the shopping opportunity AND didn't think twice about the drive. Well, Lisa drove so no complaints from me there!! Anyhow, while there Lexi picked out items for her Easter Bonnet she needed to make for school. Well, I say picked. Mostly she stared at the wall with all the birds and butterflies and changed her mind eight times over on which ones she wanted. And then she thought maybe we should put FLIP FLOPS on this hat. I was like, really? I think she just wanted Lime Green Flip Flops...but it was a good idea. Part of the assignment was a possibly using a recyled item. I like to call this REVERSE RECYCLING. It's nice, everything is safety pinned on. So, when this bonnet returns home, voila! We have a new summer hat and flip flops that will get used. The flowers were a blast. I had just read a post the other day about using coffee filters. I made one to try and put everything out for her to make her own. She is really quick at making flowers. And they are so pretty!! I will post a card I made with scraps that shows how pretty they are! Anyhow, we had lots of fun on this project!

Circle Inspiration and a little Cutie!

I LOVE blogs about scrapbooking so much more than a magazine! Maybe it's my ipad and being able to scroll through them in the evenings...but there is such a wealth of information out there. One of my favorite blogs that always has something interesting is this one. The designers were asked to not use ANY SQUARES except photos...I had to try it, plus there was this awesome doily I downloaded from Silhouette... So, in standard fashion I made the background of the layout and looked at it for a couple of days...and then started begging for photos. One of my most recent dog acquaintances is Pip-Squeak. What a darling! I added a nice orange leaf for his owner behind my hand made paper flower because not only does she have good taste in dogs, but she is also fond of orange. The paper is a new selection out from CTMH that I am using up...someone on a blog said once that she likes to work from kits...and use it all up! I love that idea! Not done with the Wings kit yet, but I've made a nice dent in it!

Peace

I spotted this page a while back in the most recent CTMH magazine and wanted to do a page like it with buttons. Of course that meant I had to BUY a whole ton of buttons, but that was also fun! Here is my take on it! I decided to use this pictures of my desk in response to a challenge on The Studio's blog. If you want to see it, click HERE. Basically the challenge was to:

create a page about a place that is significant to you - What does that place mean to you? Maybe it has great memories or not so great memories. It could be a town, a house or even a whole country!

I spend a large chunk of my day at my desk. It has a great view onto the field in front of the house and also is my connection to the outside world with two computers, a cell phone, house phone and ipad. Not to mention itunes. Did you spot the dog sleeping under my desk? That is his normal spot all day!

Scrap Challege Ending!

The inside journaling to Marilyn's page!

Teri's Double Page Spread

Marilyn's Page

Michele's Double Page Spread

Jean's Double Page Spread

Julie's Page

Shirley's Page

A while back I posted a challenge on my blog that involved working with a piece of paper that was special to me. I had pieces of my childhood wallpaper cut up and scalloped and shared those pieces with friends! If you want to read the two posts that correspond to this one, click here and here. A quick run down of the the pages again are above. It's time to end the challenge and ask for votes! Please post your favorite page as a comment either on this blog or in Facebook. And the prize? Check out my next post! The voting is over on April 17th at six! We have another entry! Thanks for viewing!