I ❤ YOU 2 & Valentine pages for Miracles Momma Designs

In a fit of crazy, I convinced my two kids to take a quick photo outside during our bitter cold.

Might be why they appear to be wincing..needed photos for my Valentine's Day Cards though!

Thought I would use them on a page because I really liked the colors!

Anyhow wanted to share the latest sketch up at Miracles Momma Designs.

I've made two pages using this sketch, both of them with Valentine's Day in mind. It was great to use up some stash and also send a page to my next door neighbor who had the cutest Facebook profile photo from her recent visit with her granddaughter.

On my first layout, I lucked out and had these cute little hexagons left over and they matched the sketch perfectly! In fact, that is one of my favorite parts of my page! Of course those flowers also make me happy! Thanks Irini!

My second page that I made for Shirley also has some cool elements, some digital images sold by Nicecrane Designs.

See them tucked in there?

They are from Ignacio's Be My Valentine Collection! Love them!

If you get a chance, check out Heather's layouts! Let me know if you play along with her sketch!

Happy Day before the Weekend! Whhoooot!

First Scrap Page EVER for ScrapFriends

Goodness gracious why don't I just show you my underwear drawer....

Oh since everyone else is, I guess I'll post this for the latest challenge over at Scrap Friends.

Since we are talking about underwear, let me explain why I made this page. I was lactating.

First baby, first important job, all that jazz.

I worked for a wonderful Fortune 500 Company and was blessed with a state of the art lactation room. I used to hang out there and read and pump carefully positioning the pumps up against the counter so I could hold a book. It was peaceful I tell you.

New baby was no picnic. She is now 12. She looks innocent in those photos but sleep and peace was at a premium....

Most women taped up photos of whom they were lactating for.

Not me, I've always been an overachiever when it comes to photos and crafty. I made a page of photos and taped up the page protector.

Anyone recognize THE MAN in there? He looks like quite the baby. Of course, my 12 year old barely fits on our laps these days. She eats like a horse even to this day.

Oh the memories! Come on, show us yours! I showed you mine. ;-)

Further to Fly Page for Frosted Designs

Playing along with a Frosted Design Challenge which requires the use of "music on your cards, layouts, or OTP" items. I thought it was a top notch idea and used music in several ways on my page. 

Can you see my vintage sheet music peeking in there? And my title is from a Paul Simon Song:

There may come a time

When you'll be tired 

As tired as a dream that wants to die 

And further to fly 

And here is a little shot of this amazing Irini flower and my title. 

And, let me explain the thought process behind this page. We had just hit our first set of ruins in Peru, which also meant our first set of steps with the altitude change and the sun that was doing it's best to make us super hot. The whole thing was amazing, but was a great taste of what was to come! Steps, more steps, more sun, more heavy breathing...

But it was amazing!

Shaker Top Vintage Valentine's Day Ornament for LESSology Challenge

I wish I could say that I came up with this idea on my own. I spotted it AGES ago and pinned it and have been looking for salt and pepper shakers ever since. Check out the one Katalina made here. I am still on the hunt for smaller ones. May the Vintage Goddess of the Second Hand Stores shine down on me favorably in 2013. ;-)

Even though I have been extremely unlucky on finding nice & cheap salt & pepper shakers, I did find larger sized (also cheap) shakers with glass bottoms. Mine is certainly not a necklace like the one she made. It's much larger, so makes a nice ornament.

Let me show you the pile of pieces I started with.

You should be able to see that I also used a cardboard tube for my center, not a wooden dowel.

It's a great recycling project as I was also to reuse a large brass washer I had left over from a lamp, an old necklace, an Eiffel Tower earring, some vintage sheet music and a scrap of paper.

The only new stuff was that wooden frame, a Tim Holtz finding, and some flowers.

I am linking this up with the LESSology Challenge #21:  You are my Sweetheart which requires one upcycled item and also to use hearts.

I have several hearts incorporated into this project, one of which being a piece of heart ribbon, and the second being that lovely little flower & heart you see that I got from Irini and her fabulous shop. 

Here is another view where you can see the heart stick pins I included as well. 

And I'll leave you with one more side view so you can see where I added that necklace. 

Happy Sunday! Ours is bright and cold, so who knows what we'll come up with. Maybe we'll hit a second hand store and I'll finally get lucky!

13 Stitches, 1 Rollo, & Guilt Scrapbook Page for Scrap Fit Color Challenge

This was a great color challenge from ScrapFit. First off, I had the perfect photo to use, secondly I had to pull out a piece of Tim Holtz paper I had been hoarding, and third, a small person asked me when I was going to tell this story on my blog, so three birds with one stone!

Do you not love their colors!?

And I love my title, as difficult as it may be to admit to still feeling guilty over this! But it also gives you a close up of the paper I used, which reminds of bringing Luke home some chocolate rolos to make up for hurting him. 

See, we were out back exploring and trying to cross our creek. At all goes back to having a new THUMB. Ok, I'll explain. ;-)

We purchased the thumb for the tractor. That is the metal piece at the back part of the scoop.

See it there? It basically makes picking up rocks EASY PEASY. I know! I have eighteen new rock gardens planned. Lets just not tell THE MAN until spring.

So anyhow, this THUMB also picks up brush and we were in the process of making a nice brush pile for a little winter bonfire when THE MAN had to run back to the garage and get a torch.

So, while we were waiting, Luke and I decided to cross our creek over a fallen log covered with ice. We were using a really sharp stick to wack the ice off. Finally mostly clear, Chicken Momma (that is me) crosses carefully with the same stick. Half way over I say LUKE I'm scared. And he says, Oh keep going it's no big deal.

So, I do carefully because I am an old lady. I yell, I'm throwing the stick back and heave it.

Now, I cannot hit the broad side of the barn on a good day.

My son being much smaller than a barn, I could not believe I hit my son in the face right above his eye.

I could tell it hurt real bad from the other side of the creek from his cry. I then levitated over the same icy log, stuffed his winter hat in the huge bleeding crater and half carried him the half mile back to the house.

Met up with THE MAN who was like, really, stitches? LET ME SEE and don't be a baby.

Five minutes later we were on our way to emergency where I had to explain to everyone how I broke my own son.

He looks nearly perfect now, not all sad like this photo below. See how I slipped in his hospital bracelet behind the photo and near the Rolos?


I have been assured by many men that women think scars look sexy. Being that I am a woman, you would think I would have came up with that on my own...

So, taking a poll on that subject, are they sexy or not?

Happy Thursday...and go head, leave me some funny comments on breaking my son, I can handle them now...a month ago when this happened, you would have made me cry! ;-)

Lovey Dovely Cards with Nicecrane Image

I have gotten out all the Valentine's Paper I own and am making a futile attempt to make a dent in it. See Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays of all time and I hoard paper.

I am in love with the Victorian images, hearts, roses and who doesn't like chocolate. ;-)

Plus, got married one really cold Valentine's Day almost 15 years ago.

I tend to get excited about making Valentine's Day cards and I like to send them too. It's kinda like my way of celebrating the holiday and our anniversary, sending out love in the mail!

Ignacio over at Nicecrane Designs had this great image for me to use.

Here is a photo of my pile of goodies right before I got started gluing down flowers and the images. I am not a huge card maker so I make them all the same. 

Here is are the cards stand-alone. 

I did have a fun simple little sketch to use from Get Creative that I rotated. I did add the banners, what a better way to use up thousands of little tiny cool smidges of paper!

And, here is another shot of the cheese box I fancied up for my SIL. 

Yes it is really a cheese box. I added shimmer modge podge and tissue paper with some black spritz and this is the end result. See, there it is all laid out ready to be made beautiful! ;-) Hope she likes it, I'm adding something yummy inside!

Happppppy Hump Day!

GROW: Whatever the Season & Graphic

like it how it sounds good either way...

Whatever The Season:  GROW

Yesterday I blogged about something I think is really important.

At times we get bogged down in the day to day. I know I do. Where just simply making it though the day is a chore. I call that living in the rut of life! And it's cool because sometimes life is just that, getting through.

We got offered a chance to move to Northern NY a while ago. Two and a half years ago. THE MAN and I work as project managers. Meaning we project planned the whole thing. It went extremely well. New carpets throughout the whole house, the furnace had maintenance, fuel oil delivered, all walls painted, new appliances installed, etc. And for the most part, we did all the work ourselves. Kids showed up to completely painted and unpacked rooms and life was good.

Then various things happened you could not project plan for. A dog died and two people moped because they left behind people and places they missed. Plus, one person moped because she missed her big stores and talking to coworkers who didn't bark.

However, in the span of two and a half years a few things happened. We got over ourselves and our losses and saw new opportunities.

I lost 12 lbs, started blogging, learned how to shovel, got an Amazon Prime Account, and gained the ability to work anywhere. I grew. Kinda like the moss I was talking about yesterday.

I think what we did was a bit extreme, but I don't want to change back into the old me. I like the new me that is smaller and smarter.

If you are inspired to work on something in 2013, I am going to share this graphic & link with you. I set very generic goals myself. This year I want to ENGAGE and it means quite a few things to me. I think setting
one little word and perhaps making something to remind yourself like a scrapbook page or piece of Art is the same as writing down your goal. It may be perhaps even stronger than simply writing it down as you have poured your art from your soul into something and then added glitter....

href="http://www.onlineeducation.net/2013/01/07/setting-goals">

Let me know how it goes for you! I think also I will post about how I lost 12 lbs at some point. It took forever and was so slow and gradual I really did not notice until one day I had to go buy new jeans that would stay up. Just like setting a goal for a year. Enjoy your journey!

Whatever the Season: GROW page for Get Creative

The other day we went for a walk out back in our woods. The snow had melted enough and the walking was not hard through the snow.

All through the woods laid out flat on the snow like little golden gems were these pretty birch leaves. Thought with a bit of gloss spray and some glitter, they would be a fun addition to a page.

Used a super cool sketch from Get Creative along with my new flowers from Irini & her etsy store who is also the blog owner over there in Greece! Flipped it a bit and got crazy with various mediums. I just needed to get my fingers dirty!

Can you see that lovely Irini Flower in the lower left hand corner near the lovely silver deer from Jeanie? Irini also sent me a card with those cardboard banners that I used at the bottom and the base of her card is behind my photo. 

And can you see there  a rock sticking out of the snow in the photo? It was covered with lush green happy moss. 

It's deep winter here. Chilly and cold, yet this moss continues to thrive and grow. Perhaps with the leaves off the trees and all the snow, it gets more moisture and sunshine than in the summer. 

I felt there was meaning there in the moss growing in the snow and wanted to make a page. I think that we need to keep growing regardless of the season or where we are at in life.

I am a firm believer in setting goals and continual growth!

On that same lines. I got an awesome link with some great graphics that discuss goal setting. I am posting that tomorrow with a few more thoughts on growth. It's worth sharing I feel. 

Happy Monday!

Little Hand-made Topiary Tree

All you peeps in Australia and those of you enjoying summer as we trudge through snow....I'm posting a photo to help cool you off! Hear it's a heat wave! Nothing is worse than being sticky although I'd argue snow down the back of your neck is also evil. Now both at the same time might just be all kind of pleasant!

So a while back I posted a photo of the top of my china cabinet which held a partially finished project, my little styrofoam tree. 

Our nearest decent craft stores are quite far away so popping in to grab the perfect item to finish it off was not possible before Christmas. Plus, I needed to let it simmer on the project burner a bit....which is why I am just now blogging about it over a month later. 

Finally put an order in for some velvet Maya Road blooms which are some of their older stuff, but something I still love. Velvet and gems...a perfect combo! (On a side note, have you seen their new CHA flowers, holy beaners!!!!)

Was cleaning out and found some pretty off white trim for the bottom which I immediately added some dye to! It seemed to pull the whole project together and matches the antique brass lamp base I used & had previously added a patina to. 

I think it may be finished now but who knows what else I may find at some point!

I think I will leave it out until it's time to decorate for Valentine's Day and see how I feel. 

Happy Friday and hope you are all staying cool. If not, come hang with us. It's brutal out there today...I am cold just thinking about it. 

Love Glow Scrapbook Page for PageMaps Challenge

I Had to sneak in one last Christmas page. I had photos I wanted to use from when we checked out the Christmas Display at the Bellagio. Fell in love with this sketch from PageMaps too!

I wish a bit more of my paper showed through but I had one too many photos I wanted to use!

Here is a side view so you can see some of the vintage music paper and lace I used.

The ribbon came on packages over Christmas so I was making good use of that too!

Also used up some more vintage buttons on this as well. That whole part of the sketch is what drew me in to being with!

My title makes me happy too. I really enjoyed all the lovely Christmas decorations and glittery lights in Las Vegas and especially The Bellagio.

And you can see just a smidge of where I drew in part of the circle with perfect pearls. Yet another use for them!

Thanks for taking a peek at one last Christmas page!

NY New York Page for Miracles Momma Designs

Ohhh what fun a new kit and a new sketch is! Just got my Days of Our Lives Scraptastic Kit in the mail from Jessica and it's the bomb!

And check out the new sketch Heather made who blogs over at Miracles Momma Designs!

She also designs the stamps for Scraptastic. I tell you she will be famous some day.

Here is a close up of my journaling. I printed it out on regular printer paper first and then lined up my journaling card with just a smidge of adhesive. I like how it turned out a lot!


























I really wanted to capture what Luke said to me and this big card was the perfect spot. I want to remember him feeling like Garfield!

And here is a close up of that really cool die cut that was in the kit, the flower I made, and all those fun banners that Heather had on her sketch! LOVE IT!!!

And, here is another close up of my handmade blooms. I love making these. Leave me a comment if you want me to do a tutorial. I had one I used way back in the day so I might be able to dig up that link too. 

And, I betcha the kids will remember this roller coaster for years! I know THE MAN will. He was not impressed with it! Was shaking his head when he got off. Think it was a bit over the top. We are not spring chickens anymore. ;-)

And I'm glad I made a page about it. If you look above, you might guess how terrible the photo was. It was taken in a very dark area with just a cell phone. Had to tweak it a bit to make it slightly better. But still, sometimes a page is not about the perfect picture. Sometimes you just have to write about Garfield!

Happy Hump Day! Have some lasagna!

Love 2 Fly Page for Another Freaking Scrappy

Sometimes a challenge comes in two different ways! I started with the latest sketch at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge.

I personally thought this sketch was challenging but I was also making myself finish up the very snippets of a kit I had been hoarding!

Which meant I had to make my own background! 

Started with this layout as my base. Those circles I had cut out of nice cream colored paper when I was making my Christmas cards and had to be used up. 

Next, added plaster over a clock stencil I had. Sorry about the weird angle, but it's hard to see! Thankfully the plaster is a smidge purple. 

Then, inked up the plaster raised clocks once dry and added gesso over the whole thing lightly. 

Then started adding all my fun stuff like the bits and pieces I had left over from my kit and this amazing tag that Jeanie made. Added those buttons on a card for Lizzy Hill as we had been discussing using these as a whole. This happens to be the bottom half as I used the top half already!

Here is another close up of my photos and the little bits and pieces I used up. 

How do you like THOSE pictures!? My kids sprawled all over the seats as our flight back from Vegas did not have a lot of travelers so they were allowed to use all three seats! Luke took a very long happy nap under THE MAN'S coat so awoke all happy and refreshed! Sometimes it's hard work being a kid!

I could get used to flying that way. I guess I had better hurry up and win lotto!

If you get a chance, play along with us! It would be awesome! 

Happy Nearly Hump Day! ;-)