Fun Finds!

I am not really into cards but I did make this one today with a sketch from 52sketches52weeks. I did a lot of fun techniques today, got out some old product I had and had some fun! First lets talk about the butterfly!
The base of the butterfly is actually from a VP paper. I cut it out, inked the edges and used a little memory maker glitter glue.

The top layers of the butterfly are the plastic packaging - you get it when you buy stamps or other various embellishments. I cut two pieces using the butterfly as a stencil. I then used a Versamark ink pad to stamp swirls on the wings. Then I took a dry paintbrush to my very

cool and iridescent mica powder! I brushed it on and wiped away the extra with a paper towel. These are the coolest products and best of all I just found out they are made in the USA! You can mix these with water, use them dry or use an adhesive like the Versamark pads. I wish you could see how pretty and vibrant these really are in person! After the two top layers were done I bent them in half and adhered them to each other and to the base butterfly with tiny glue dots.


I used my favorite standby stickles down the center of the butterfly. I made the antennae with rhinestones (paper studio). I also stickled the edges of each layer of the butterflies.

Lets talk about the color squares! I started with green paper, inked them a little with my "brilliance" grey ink pad. I added clear embossing powder and embossed them with my heat gun. Then I added alcohol inks to two of the squares! Magenta and blue. I wish you could see the effects- the camera doesn't get the very cool depth and glimmer effect!


The bigger square behind that I used this very neat stuff called glitz spritz!
in this color! It is so pretty in person! It has this tye dye, metallic, iridescent effect going on! This and the mica powders are made in the USA and they can be found here http://www.lindystampgang.com/index.html


Look at these colors! I bought this stuff years ago at a craft show, loved them but didn't know how to get more. Gotta love the Internet! I looked them up and found out that they are still in business, are made in the USA and have great prices!

The last part of the card was stamping the last layer (or first depending on what order you go in!) of the card, inking the edges and adding the leather photo corners(making memories).
A ton of techniques in one card!

Oh and I just found out that another one of my favorite things is also made in the USA - get a load of this! Yumm!!! Love Sees Candy - OK I know it's not scrapbooking but hey what's scrapbooking without a little chocolate! This one is my favorite- the scotchmellow! You wont catch me eating dark chocolate very often but if you do this is it! Dark chocolate, marshmellow and carmel!

(Of course it's not this big in person! LOL!)Growing up mom always bought these- nut and chews, yummy yummy! We don't have this store anywhere close to us so I have to drool online until we make the next road trip!And Easter is coming so I leave you with this beasutiful work of art! I love chocolate!

Texture & Color

I love texture! I started with this beautiful flocked paper from GCD Studios and matted it with Bazzil (also has texture). Then I added this fancy glitter paper from SEI. (Note that it starts light and gets darker as you go down!Love that!) You must click on this to make it bigger so that you can see the richness of these papers up close! So Pretty!

This is my sweet baby girl in the morning. You know you're a scrapbooker when the first thing you reach for in the morning is your camera because you don't want to miss a shot! I love catching and scrap booking those every day moments!
These totally fun flowers were made by my multi talented friend Jenni! (See my "friends" layout below!) Don't they look so fabulous! I amazes me that someone can create something so pretty out of kite string! HA HA! At least that's what it looks like to me! She made these while I was driving back from our crop last week! So talented! I can't do this! (Pearl brads are "Spare Parts", the tiny pearls on clear string is from Wilton.)

Somebody gave me that cute corner embellie on the photo, I'm sure it came from a fabric store. The cute pearl "S" was a gift too- it's on a bendy wire, so fun! The chipboard letters are from Heidi Swapp, covered in stickles and glossy accents. The cute scalloped oval was in a kit, no info on that either! Hm mm, not doing so hot tonight on the info department! LOL!

Well, the weather was a little windy today, no snow. Hence the allergies are back and so is the Benydryl...getting sleepy.. Must call the doc on Monday...Must be time for those allergy shots!Thanks for lookin' and goodnight!

The Queen

Oh my goodness! So yesterday I had every intention of bloggin' but guess what? I fell asleep at 9pm! :O! Anyone who knows me knows that is totally unheard of for me! But alas I must admit the allergies were driving me crazy and I finally gave in and took the dreaded sleep inducer and allergy stopper Benadryl. Seriously! What is in that stuff! Well, today lucky me the weather is very confused and it snowed! So not only was I well rested, but my allergies were non existent today! Oh yeah it's a good day. Even better my hubby was off and after homeschooling my little guy I had a very scrappy day! He took care of the kids and cooked a delicious lunch and dinner! I am a VERY blessed girl. So, wanna see what I did?
Here is a layout I did about with the picture from the crop I mentioned the day before. Just a few of my friends and I getting away from the kids and experiencing some scrappy goodness! My friend Laura is pretty new to scrapbooking so I'm sure it was overwhelming! In a good way! Stacey is a total veteran like me and Jenni wins every time we go to these things! It's a good thing she's my friend and likes to share! ((Love you guys!)) We had so much fun!





Everything in these layouts are from the March Vintage Plum kit called "Hill Country". The top papers you may recognize as Basic Grey and Pink Paislee, but the bottom is an original from "Vintage Plum". It has butterflies on it too but I cut them off because I have different plans for those babies! The tree is a transparency from My Minds Eye. Here is a close up of the little trees - I cut them from another Vintage Plum paper.(You'll see more below.) I heat embossed all three trees-on the green ones I used pearl Utee. Love that stuff! I inked the "friends" with this cool metallic pigment ink called "brilliance".
"Who's that girl?" OK if you know that song you might be my age, but I digress! Over at VP a lot of us wrote challenges and they picked mine for their first one!


If you win you can be a guest designer at VP for the month of April.
The challenge is April Guest Designer Contest, March 10th-24th, 2009
Challenge Idea Submitted by Rita Barakat
Got Vintage?
In honor of Vintage Plum, create a 12x12 layout that includes these two parts: 1) Vintage: Use a vintage photo! If you don't have one you can edit one (hint...sepia) 2) Plum: You must use something that represents royalty somewhere on your layout



This is my layout- I couldn't enter because I am already a part of the team but I liked the idea. So "that girl" in the picture is me! (If you didn't already read the journaling! You can click on it and it gets bigger.)
One of the things I love about VP is that everything is made in the USA, the bummer is that they haven't been able to find a company that makes flowers in the USA. And I LOVE flowers! So I have been busy trying to make some myself!

I made these with scraps and my Sizzix heart die. I folded the hearts in half, inked and stickled them. Put a tiny brad in the middle and fanned them out. The center is a tiny flower punched then stickled. They're OK but not as cute as I'd like. I still want more flowers - so if you know of any made in the USA let me know! SOMEBODY needs to make some scrappy flowers home grown in the USA!

I've had this layout but I could not share until VP did a reveal over at Willow Traders. This was the example for a sketch challenge. Jenni (from VP)gave me the sketch and I came up with a layout using the March kit.

You may recognize my beautiful daughter, I used similar photos for some other layouts but I used those for my wall and I wanted to include these pictures in her album. I still can't get over how grown up she looks with straight hair! (It is naturally curly but you know how we women are, if it's straight you want curly and vice versa! I don't blame her and she's not as bad as I was, I got up every morning before school it took me 2 hours to blow it dry and straighten it!)

All the products here are in the same VP kit except the brown distressed letters. Made the flowers here too- the centers are from the ribbon I tied into knots. Basic Grey are the pattern papers except for the tree paper - it's another VP original! What's really cool is that all our names are on the paper! All of us who were the first chatters on the VP message board, it is new company! How fun is that?
The rub on underneath "the best is yet to come" is from Scenic Route". I felt it was appropriate!

Oh! I had to show you this crown! I stamped a piece of that plastic that stamps and other scrapbook stuff comes in. I embossed it, cut it out and used a mini dot to adhere it to my page. And you know, today I felt like the queen. Not a bad life, thanks God!

Favorite new color!

I love this picture of baby girl! And I am lovin' this color paper! I don't know if you can see this but this has a great sheen to it! (These papers are GCD studios) I love when something just comes together! I've been wanting to scrapbook this picture for a while, don't you just love when you get that perfect shot? She sits by that window daily, about 5:30 pm waiting for her daddy to get home. How cute is that? Just a little detail. Flowers are from Prima, pearl brads are Spare Parts, flourish is by Maya Road; it was raw chipboard I used chalk ink to make it green.

I don't usually use stickers but I will use what I have at the time. I was at a crop and had these letter stickers by Scrapworks- they fit the layout. The bling is Spare Parts, scalloped edge is from a QVC chipboard kit, and the sticker border is from K&CO.
Did I mention I was at a crop? Yep! That's right went to a crop with a few of my scrapbooking friends! I didn't get too many layouts done, too busy havin' fun with the girls! Of the few layouts I did this was one of them. I did a lot of shopping! I did get pics of and the girls- I will put in a layout tomorrow! It was so fun to get away, but it's also nice to be home.

pattern paper!

I am on pattern paper kick! Here are two of my latest layouts with fun pattern papers! The first layout has pattern papers from Imaginisce. The die cuts are from Crate paper. They are so fun and spring like! (The sketch is from GCD STudios)

These are the little ones last year on Easter Sunday - BEFORE church! LOL! AFter church they looked like something else...They look so cute in their Sunday clothes. The tie belongs to my hubby because our little guy absoloutely insisted on wearing one!

These are new (to me anyways) pattern papers I found at Michaels! The line is called GCD studios. The papers are so cute! I had fun with these! When I saw these I knew exactly what pics I would scrap! The sketch is from 52 weeks52 sketches.com

Here is the title, it was cut with my cricut. I used a white gel pen to journal on the dark purple.

My little guy was determined to to a hand stand ! He spent all afternoon doing this! He is going to be someone great! I just know it! TFL!

Made in the USA

I must confess that I am not always looking for things found in the USA, mostly I am looking for the best prices. I am excited to be a part of the Vintage Plum team where everything is made in the USA. As we have so many people out of work in the USA I think it is important to support our local economy! It is very frustrating to me that everything seems to be made in China. I went to Hobby Lobby to find some things made in the USA, I had no idea how hard that would actually be! I did however find these really cool felt squares made in the USA!

This is the front - how pretty it is! I love the pattern! There were several patterns, some with glitter, some plain. And you ask what will I do with these felt squares?

I made these flowers! One was already swiped by my oldest to wear in her hair!

I made these flowers with my sizzex dies, a few brads and stickles . So I challenge you to check those labels before you buy! If you have the option by made in the USA!

Motherhood

Today I homeschooled my 6 year old for the first time. Suprisingly it went alot like homework. This was something I thought I would not be doing again- at least not for elementary school. I homeschooled the older kids for years but he is the one who needs the social aspect of school! This is a compromise with the school, and I feel it is the best thing for my little guy. I want him to love learning, not be frustrated by it. So it was the right descision to make for now. At least there's only for ten more weeks of school.

I was feeling like supermom when I told him - he has hated school all year long. School is very difficult for him and I don't think his teacher was a good match for him. After months of trying different things I had finally had enough and decided it would be best to pull out at least part time and teach the core subjects at home. He goes to school in the afternoon for music, P.E., computers, library, one on one tutoring in math and reading, and a social skills class.

It took two days to try to get him to hear me as I tried to talk to him about the changes that we were going to make for school. If I even mentioned the word school he would get hysterical, crying he did not want to go back. Well when I finally got him to understand that he would not go back to that class after spring break he was so happy! He wrapped his arms around me and exclaimed "oh thank you mom, I love you!" He was so happy! I felt good about our solution.

That same day the pedal somehow fell off his bike and I was able to screw it back on - again he was estatic!I was feeling pretty good!

-------------------------------------------------

This picture is not fabulous but in "mommy mode" I felt it appropriate. My other little guy has had night terrors on and off for years, he is only five. Lately they have become very frequent; so much so that even during the day he is terrified of the"bad guys" that are coming to get him. When he wakes he is soaked in a cold sweat, he is shaking and still sees the "bad guys". We have been so exhausted that we finally gave in and made him a bed in our room. When these things happen it's like he doesn't even see us, he is terrified and it breaks my heart. I want him to know that we are here for him, that we will protect him, that he is safe. Iwish that I could take away the fear. the journaling on this page reads---------------------------------------

"And I'll be by your side wherever you fall, in the dead of night whenever you call.

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you. My hands are holding you.

I love you, I want you to know, that I will never let you go." ------------------------

It came from my favorite song right now "By your side" by 10th Ave North. The lyrics are so powerful I had to share them with you. I would like to use these again, the whole song for another layout because it really ministers to me.------------------------------------------

"BY YOUR SIDE" 10th AVE NORTH

Why are you striving these days?

Why are you trying to earn grace?

Why are you crying, let me lift up your face,

just don't turn away.

Why are you looking for love?

Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?

To where will you go child?

Tell me where will you run?

To where will you run?

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall

in the dead of night, whenever you call.

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you.

My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and my side

They swallowed the grave on that night

when I drank the world's sin, So I could carry you in

and give you life. I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)Cause I, I love you

I want you to know. That I, I love you

I'll never let you go.----------------------------------

Pretty cool huh? have a blessed day!

Not so perfect

I was thinking today about "not so perfect photos" and these have been laying around for over a year. They are not perfect but I wanted to scrap them- first of all look at baby girls teeth! Or lack there of! It cracks me up with those tiny baby teeth just barely peeking through! Look at her hands and tiny she looks next to her big brother. I also love that although not perfect it shows the love between them! She adores him and he adores her! He would do anything for baby girl! So imperfect pictures? Nope - they look good to me and when they are older they will look good to them too!

The details..

page 2 because you know I must do a 2 page layout!

more details...paper is Websters pages from a kit from Scapperrie. Flowers are Prima. TFL!

Acrylic anyone?

I love creating small things! This cute litle acrylic album is 2x3 inches. The edges are like those of a postage stamp! So fun! The quote here on the cover is "The most important thing in life is to give our love and to let it come in." I used white rub ons as they show up nicely on acrylic. My oldest daughter- I am blessed with beautiful children! Rub ons here too. Cute dangling little heart on the side.

My middle guy- black and white rub ons and epoxy letter stickers. The trick with acrylic is to hide the adhesive you use with decorated stratigic mini pages. I use the flat pop dots. You can also use brads or snaps to hold your pictures on the page. I love fibers and ribbons too!

One of these days I will figure out a better way to take pictures of acrylic and overlays! It's so hard to get true colors and no glare! My oldest son. You can also emboss acrylic- I stamped and embossed the"believe in yourself" onto a piece of paper this time.

Baby girl (pics are from 2008). I was able to dangle that little charm by using the big bite cropadile to punch a hole in the acrylic! I love things that that sparkle and dangle! Baby boy - note the brad? Journal strips read "Love cannot be written on paper for paper can be erased, nor than on stone for stone can be broken. But is inspried on a heart and there it shall remain forever." I covered the paper with decopauge since it will be handled alot. I made this because here I am a scrapaholic and when people asked about my kids I never had any pictures on me! Now I do! If you haven't tried doing an acrylic album you should try it they are so fun! TFL!

Blog Candy!

Ok being new to the "blog world" I amazed by the kindness and generosity of people. So I was looking at someones blogs. and then ran across this one http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-candy-time.htmlwhere Melissa is giving away this:

****UPDATE!! I have added a Making Memories Distressing Kit (brand new) worth $30 to the candy!!*******Ok, here is what I am giving away this time! Ready? Here we go!~ 1 set of Spellbinders Nestabilities Die Labels One~ 1 6x6 Basic Grey Porcelain Paper Pack~ 1 package of BG Porcelain Buttons~ 1 package of BG Porcelain Glazed Brads~ 1 package of Jennie Bowlin Printed Frames Tickets~ 1 Maya Road Clear Stamp Set, Build a Tree

So go check it out! Pretty cool huh?

______On to stuff - I did manage to put a layout together but didn't have time to finish, and being that I cannot leave you with out eye candy! Let me show you this!I made these for my project at allyscraps - the are attached to rubber hair bands for my girls. Then I put them in this container!

I guess I'm just into birds lately, who knew?

The end of the first VP kit

This is my very last bit of the crush lit from Vintage Plum ,the paper for this card is from My Minds Eye. I cut out the flowers from the pattern paper, inked, curled and layered them.

This one is a "love note" - get it? I know, a little corney! :) This was a stretch because I literally used scraps left over from a layout! So I inked the edges added the "love" rub on from Hambly in the middle and then added a little glitter- stickles of course! That was my last bit of ribbon from the kit as well. I have to say this was a really good kit!

I don't know what I will do with myself tommorrow! Just kidding! I have five other people in this family that will be sure to keep me busy ! Why do they call it spring break? Well, spring break for the kids I guess, not for the parents! Maybe I'll take some pictures! Thanks for looking!