Taking a break - Beach Report!

Being a Cali girl (yes I still consider myself a Cali girl

even though I haven't lived there for years!)

I had to go check out the Gulf Coast!
Although my kids have not grown up around the beach

(I did and I miss it) we have taken them to Cali and they love the beach,

so although it's not super close we had to take them!

We went to Rockport, Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, TX.

We took the whole gang and then some!

We brought our 5 kids (1 didn't want to be in a picture!)  a family friend (LT blue t shirt)

who is visiting from NV - we have known him since he and our oldest were
in the 3rd grade! We are so happy he is here visiting!

On the other side you see our sons girlfriend.

We are so lucky to have friends - we also met up with Michelle

and her sweet daughter!  I met Michelle online a few years ago,

we have been on several DT's together and met in person

last year at a scrapbook convention! How cool is that- our little

girls hit it off like they had known each other forever!

The Internet makes things possible that would probably never happen!

I love having friends all over!

The girls.

This was in the evening in Rockport.

      Hubby had  a meeting and then we drove 6 1/2 hours to the beach!

 Baby girl was so happy walking wit her daddy!

Of course I have a ton of more pictures but that would make for a VERY long post!

***

I still miss Cali - maybe more so now, but I will say the Texas beaches were much

cleaner and not crazy crowded! (We did not go on a Sat though - I hear it's

crazy busy then!) The water was really warm! You could boogie board but you

aren't going to be surfing out here, waves aren't big enough, at least not when we went.

It is family friendly - but it didn't have all the surrounding cute shopping like Cali

beaches have. Still, we all had a good time and it was really nice to get away

from our daily life !!!

If you are looking for my creative space for the 

 "Where bloggers create" blog hop post

 please scroll down below!

To everything there is a season...

Hey there bloggers!

Today I am sharing several projects as this is my last post as a DT for The Rubber Cafe.

I have had such a fun time with all the wonderful products that I couldn't just share one

last project! These are some of my favorites I made in the last six months.

Here is a card I made with these stamps:

 Medium Quaking Aspen Leaf

& Ecc 3:1

I used glue to stamp the leaves and foil on top.

Perfect stamp for the occasion don't you think?

This is from

The Rubber Cafe and Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop

The top of the dress was stamped  with the  Floral Heart Stamp

Here is a journal page I shared on

The Rubber Cafe and Faber-Castell DMC blog hop

Stamp : Fleurididy 1

Here I used the dress form and the
 stamp set : Steampunk

I loved working with these quality products, Melissa is

extremely generous and the girls on the team are sooo sweet!

It has been an honor to work with all of these extremely talented ladies!

(and Reggie)

general supplies used on all projects:

You're So Fine Glitter

Scrap Happy Glue

Faber Castell-Design Memory Craft Gelato

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stampers Big Brush pens

ATC anyone?

 Did you know that Clear Scraps has ATCs?

These are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2  - an easy way to experiment with acrylic!

I stamped the image with Staz On Ink, used a rub on for the word FLY

and outlined some of the stamped images with Viva Decor Paint Pens!

Underneath I added a stamped peice of cardstock and

some Mica flakes from Stampendous. 

I held it together with Viva Modelier creme in bronze!

You have to try this - it looks way cooler in person!

SUPER Excited I have to share!!!

Hey bloggers!!!! Please watch this video!!! (You have to watch it to the end!!!!)

Not only is this such a cool way to announce their new
DT but to my surprise this week I got these in the mail!!!

I just thought this was such a neat way to tell us!

Here is the back..

How cool is that?

 I already feel special!

Now this is the first time in a long time I did not go to CHA
for personal reasons but if any of you are there and can take a picture

of that last frame in the video in person - can you please email it to me?
I would love to scrap it!

Sooo excited!!!

DCWV! YAY!

Where this woman creates! Operation Clean Up: Mission Accomplished!!!

Welcome to my blog!!!!

Today I am participating in the 4th annual "Where Bloggers Create" blog hop!

If you are new to my blog you can see a sample of my work HERE as well as

through past blog posts below! 

I am so excited to  show you my finished room!

It has been such a long time since I have had everything organized and in it's place!

I will show you my room as you walk in the double doors,

the first wall (orange) ...

is what I look at from my desk so in addition to the TV, it houses things I love. 

Things that make me happy. 

All my pattern paper is sorted by manufacture. The large plastic containers

are manufactures that I have ALOT of their collections - too big to file, although I prefer
hanging files. The candy jars house buttons by color.
The bottom baskets on the left house mini albums that are empty.

A few of my Tinkerbells

and my button collection from my MIL.

 Jasmine - hubby bought this because it reminds him of me and wanted me to have it.

In the corner a new finished project! 

A hat box I painted over with one of my favorite quotes,

"When love and skill work together

expect a masterpiece."

John Ruskin

The first half of the next wall is where I do any misting or painting-

anything messy. The drawers house stencils, stamps, sponges etc.I can also have

a friend over now that its not so crazy in here anymore!

The bottom left hand corner is all my shipping stuff.

You can see the sunfairy in the corner-also one of my favorite pieces.

I have a tutorial on here HERE.

The next half of the wall (this is a long room 13x24 feet),

I have room for another friend :)

Big tools in this section: Paper scorer, cutter, scanner, Cricut Expression, Eclips,

all electronic die cutting accessories, as well as cardstock separated by color.

Underneath the cubbies house my DT projects by manufacture before getting shipped to CHA.
Above-The big frame has printed journaling & pics just waiting to be scrapped.
The smaller frames have people that make me happy.

The corner houses any type of bag/storage I might need for a crop.

In the corner a recently finished project in her new home!

She is painted on a box that 

originally housed toy make up! It has a handle too.

I have a step by step tutorial on her HERE.

The back wall - the cabinets look a little weird because 

they were still drying but I took the picture anyway!

I have changed these cabinets so many times this year

but I am finally happy with them. 

You cant tell, but they have texture on them - they look really cool in person!

The large plastic bins on the left (I would prefer something prettier but this works for me) are the Manufacture companies I work with.

All of these are embellishment drawers. Except the far left has all printer paper.

(If you want to see inside any of my cabinets and drawers check out

my Where I Create page !)  I hang my latest/favorite layouts

for a couple of days before I decide if they are truly finished.

Once they have been hung for a few days I can tell if there is something I need to fix
or if it's ready I put in the manu cubbie or appropriate scrapbook album.

This sign was given to me from a sweet friend - it cracks me up!

The far wall with TONS of stuff separated and labeled!
The little black drawers is on wheels and I move it around to my side
when I am at my desk. It houses all my  "go to" stuff like adhesives...

Inks and scissors...

Paint brushes, markers, pencils...Not my Faber-Castell,

that caddy is on my left in the cubby!

 And back to the beginning!

There is so much in here I know, but it is organized and ready for action!

Unfortunately I wont be home to use it this weekend-
I am at the Heirloom Stamp and Paper Expo in Grapevine TX with 

Marcos Paper Company doing a make and take for
 Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft!
Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures to post on the blog,
if you are in the area stop by and introduce yourself!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

*** 

If you leave me a question in the comments section
please include an email so I can get back to you!

I don't know why but I only get some of the comments in my inbox,
 if it doesn't go there I have no way to get back to you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. in a few weeks I will be doing a huge giveaway as I have almost done 500 posts!

Clear albums...

Hey bloggers!

I love mixing different elements to come up with something beautiful! 

This is a top load 12x12 clear acrylic album from Clear Scraps

decorated with odds and ends from my stash!

Here you can see the full cover- 

on the far left the spine was covered with iridescent paste mixed with Gelatos™.
* If you do this, do it last as you have to set it aside to dry.

I used gel medium to adhere all the different elements onto the acrylic,
some of the elements are on top - some are underneath the cover to give depth.
On the far right I used a stencil with the iridescent paste on top of the acrylic.

The gold alphas are very old stickers from my stash.

The paper underneath is from Pink Paislee, it already has 

a resist design on it - I added color with Bubble Gum and Lemon Gelatos™.

I think this would make a great coffee table book don't you?

Fun stuff in progress...

I have been working really hard on getting my scrapbook room in order for

the big blog hop reveal on Sat the 14th!

So in the meantime I have some fun posts this week including
today's work in progress!

 Pencil drawing...

 Filling in with black PITT® Artist Pens, lucky for me they 

come in different size tips so I can fill in even the tiniest spaces!

 I traced over the pencil lines with PITT® Artist Pens so I can erase any

  extra lines before painting. They are filled with India ink so they won't  bleed when 

I add paint or water.

 I used Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils (reds) for the hair color...

  I blended the color with a wet paint brush.

 I used the Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils

for the skin color as well. 

 I added a little bit of Peach Gelato™. 

 For the background  I used PITT® Pastel Pencils, 

starting with the edges, blending with my fingers and gradually adding more color.

Last but not least I added a quote

 and filled in the wings with PITT® Artist Pens in various colors...

Don't forget to check back Sat to see my finished 

(for now-because it's always changing to suit my needs)

scrapbook room and the other fantastic rooms from the blog hop

"where women create"!