Nicknames

I had put this layout together a while ago and just realized that I had never shared it. I made this when I got my first order of Studio Calico Mister Huey's mists, just playing around. I was inspired by a layout from Maggie Holmes on this one!! And now I am quite addicted to those mists!!

In addition to being addicted to the mists, I am also addicted to iphone photos!! I love the square, vintage photos!! They are so much fun to scrap!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

4x6 photo love

Wow...I haven't blogged in a while!! Work has kept me super busy this past week, but thankfully I have some much needed time off and I am going to be spending it visiting family. No worries, I will be sharing lots this week!! I wanted to pop on quickly and share the latest layout that I put together for the 4x6 photo love class over at 2peas. I'm not too sure that I'm loving this layout so I will take some time away from it, but I reserve the right to come back and change some things if necessary. Something just isn't right with it yet. Take a look and let me know what you think...

I used a lot of My Mind's Eye on this layout, and est. 1776 from Papertrey Ink. And of course, my Martha Stewart punches (the circle and butterflies).

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

love birds, that's us

Quick post today. My husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary just one week ago and I wanted to hop on to share the card I had made for him. I kept it super simple, but I loved that I could personalize the message inside the card just for him.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

thank you card set

A few weeks back (let's be honest...it was just over a month ago), Kay challenged us over at the Papertrey Playhouse blog to create a Thank You card set, and I was finally able to play along!! I didn't do alot of stamping on this, instead I wanted to keep it pretty simple with a few exact steps so I could mass produce a few cards. In all, I made 6 cards.

I used distressed dots patterned paper layered onto white cardstock. I stamped the thank you sentiment from Simple Sentiments onto vellum using Fresh Snow ink and scored 1/8" from both the top and bottom, attaching it to the card with scor tape. I then used coordinating felt to die cut a flower using one of the Beautiful Blooms #1 flower die (I think it's the middle size flower). I attached the flowers to the card also using scor tape. Finally I tied knots in the buttons using the cream twine and adhered them to the flower using...score tape!! I had the score tape out...normally I use glue dots to attach buttons!! But now I've got a cute and simple set of thank you cards on hand!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

summer card camp - week 4

It is a little bitter sweet to think that this is the final week of Summer Card Camp!! I hope Jennifer and Kristina have plans to join forces again on another card class soon!! This was so much fun!!

I got to play along pretty early this week! I can not lie, my card was completely and totally inspired by this post that Jennifer did over at the CLASSroom blog!! If you have not tried the Distress Stain Watercolor Technique...you must!! I had distress stains and hadn't used them...but now I can't stop using them!! Love having inky fingers!! Anyway, here's what I cam up with using this week's color combo and the distress stain watercolor technique...

I may try to make another card before the week is over...but for now, I will just love this one!! Please make sure you hop on over and check out the student galleries...so MUCH inspiration to be found there. You can find the week 4 gallery here.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Explore

This is my second post today. I decided that I wanted to get this up right away rather then let it wait until another day and then it never gets posted at all.

I signed up for Shimelle's latest class called Explore. We started today. The first assingment was to take a self-portrait (in front of a mirror...with the camera showing), create our playbook (or use the printable workbook) and make a few notes to self. I took the self-portrait (with my dslr after a few attempts with my iPhone failed to turn out the way I had hoped) and put my playbook together, but I have yet to get to the writing portion. I am planning to work on that tonight. I will be quite busy at work over the next few days so, while I will be keeping up with the class, I won't have another explore related post until Friday. I just wanted to be honest about that going in! I am going to do my best to keep up with this class and share as much as I can when I can (even if it means a second post in addition to what I had already planned to post here on the blog).

This is me...freckles and all (though you can't see them too well)...

And this is my playbook...

I made the playbook from Echo Park's Country Drive collection papers and stickers. I trimmed 12 sheets down to 6x12 and then scored each sheet at 6 inches, so I would be left with a 6x6 book. After scoring each paper, I measured one sheet down the center at 1", 3", and 5". I used my paper piercer and poked holes at those spots, then I used this sheet as a guide to put the holes in the other 11 pages. I then bound my book with baker's twine (which you can see on the left). I tied a double knot bow to make it a little more secure, and if the twine frays a bit, or unravels a bit at the ends, I am OK with it!! I put the cover together using some scraps, a journaling tag from the collection, and some of the letter stickers from the collection. So excited to get going and get this little baby filled!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

you are the cat's meow!

It's Monday, so that means I am back with another layout based on Shimelle's latest Sketch Of The Week (which you can find here). If you go check out the sketch, you will notice that I changed it slightly and made it my own. First, I turned it 180 degrees so the title would be on the top right instead of bottom left. Second, instead of a square background, I made it a circle. Here's what I came up with...

Once I saw the sketch, I thought that Lawn Fawn's Say Cheese polaroid stamp would be a perfect fit for this page. Add some of my hipstimatic prints of my oldest cat, Rocky, and I've got a layout. I used some of May's Studio Calico kit (which I finally killed and put the remnants of into my stash...especially I still have the boxes with virtually untouched June and completely untouched July kits sitting in my studio begging to be used). Normally I don't distress edges unless I had planned to from the start, but those stars just didn't fit without it!! The cardstock background star was just to bright given the rest of the colors on this layout...so distressing of the edges was, in my opinion, required. Then I also had to distress the outside edge of the polaroid frames as well because the white became just too stark!! Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Deb

For Dad

I realized that I never shared the cards I had made for my Dad for his birthday and Father's Day, both back in mid-June, three days apart. I made them so close to the deadline of when I needed to send them that it completely slipped my mind to share. I wanted to make masculine cards without a lot of frills...but I wanted them to really show that they were made for him. This meant blue (his favorite color) and wood (he is very handy at building things and fixing things). So these are what I came up with!!

I tried to get close to show the woodgrain (PTI's impression plate...LOVE)...

Kraft, polka dots, woodgrain (impression plate again aged with some distress ink) and Fillable Frames...perfect non-frilly Father's Day card...

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Starbucks

Quick post tonight! I wanted to get this up earlier, but life happened instead! I was playing around in my studio, ended up with many inky fingers, and lost track of time. But, better late than never!!

This is another layout for our Hawaii album (a trip my sweet hubby and I went on over 7 years ago now...why rush into anything). We loved being so far away from home, just the two of us, but it was nice to find a Starbucks at the shopping center near our resort...kinda like a little bit of home in paradise. The main photos along the bottom are of the view from the outdoor landing, with one photo of the cup (couldn't resist that)!! I followed the sketch for June's 4x6 photo love class over at 2peas (but put this together late...so I am now on to July's class...which hopefully I will have done soon...again, why rush into things)!! Anyway, here you go...

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Summer Card Camp - Week 3

I missed playing along with the color combo from week 2 (maybe I will have time to use that combo during my long weekend this weekend), but I was able to play around with this weeks color combo. I love the combination of neutrals with a pop of color. I love when that pop of color is pink or red!! This was perfect. And, I just received some new stamps that I have been dying to get inky!! Talk about perfect timing!!

I made two cards for this combo and both are pretty thin!! Perfect for mailing!! The first one is quite simple! I used Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream cardstock as my base, then inked up Mehndi Medallion with Stampin Up's Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, and Dark Chocolate. I then used PTI's new Think Big Favorites #5 inked with Stampin Up's Real Red for my sentiment.

For my second card, I went with a little more detail, but it's also still pretty simple. I kept with the same cardstock (though I did add a small piece of Sahara Sand cardstock) and inks, but I also added a piece of patterned paper from Authentique's Journey 6x6 pad, which I then die cut using PTI's Simple Circles die. I also used their double ended banner die to ground my sentiment. As for stamps, I used PTI's Boy Basics: Simple Circles, Grunge Me, and Communique Sentiments.

Love the splash of red on both of these cards!! And, as always, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

10 years

Today my sweet hubby and I are celebrating our 10th Anniversary!! I can't believe it's been 10 years already...feels like just yesterday we were getting married!! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun!! So in honor of our 10 years, I have a layout featuring a photo of us!! I put this layout together for Nichol's Scrapbook Stamping class over at 2peas, and if I am being honest, I totally scrap-lifted one of this month's guest designers, Kelly Marie Alvarez (which you can check out here).

Not gonna lie...I am totally smitten with the camera stamp!! That's the main element of Kelly's layout that I loved!! Makes for such a lovely stamped background!! Anyhow, enjoy and I will catch ya back here tomorrow!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

To Have and To Hold...

I could not wait to get my hands on some of the new Authentique paper. Of course, since my favorite color is pink...I had to play with Uncommon first! I am so in love with that rose paper!! I decided to cut out some of the rose clusters for this layout.

I had been waiting until I found the perfect paper to scrapbook this photo. This is my favorite photo from my sister-in-law's wedding a few years ago. For the record, this photo is not cropped and zoomed. I used my long lens to take most of the photos I had taken of their wedding. I love to capture the non-traditional photos. I took some traditional one's too...but these moments are my favorite! This was right after the exchange of rings.

I am so happy there are still word stickers!! Ironically, most of these words were together on the sticker sheet. Couldn't be more perfect!! I am loving that text pattern paper too!! Makes for such a fabulous background!!

I then used a die cut shape for the title, which I handwrote. I didn't want the title to be too overwhelming with all those roses. I really wanted the focus to be on that photo.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

Turning 30!

Well, I turned 30 almost 3 years ago now (yep...I'll be 33 in about 3 weeks), and right now I have no worries about sharing my age!! That, of course, may change!! I was lucky in that my parents had come to town the week of my birthday and my sweet hubby and I went with them to Disney's Hoop-de-do Musical Review for dinner. It's a great show for kids and adults!! The humor is perfect to entertain people of all ages! If you're in headed to Disney World anytime soon, I highly recommend it!!

Anyway, I had made a mini album around my 30th birthday, but I figured that this also warrented a spot in my main album. I used Shimelle's latest sketch of the week for this one, and had so much fun putting it together! Since red and blue seemed to be so prominent in the photos, I pulled out some scraps I had from The Girls' Paperie On Holiday collection (so sad that The Girls' Paperie is no more, but I am loving Margie's newest venture Authentique...so much so that I am going to share a layout tomorrow using Uncommon...but I digress)!! There is quite a lot going on on this layout...but I honestly love it!! I love that it's a little busy and your eyes need to keep moving around the page! I love that I was able to incorporate stamping and die cutting. I love my new doily die...why did I wait to long to pick this up?!?! But...on to the layout!!

I love the banner at the top!! That is actually some patterned paper and I simply cut the triangles out then pieced the banner! I did some hand stitching just to add that extra detail. I also added a photo on the left side of the layout.

My embellishment clusters are layers of die cuts and stamped tickets using Papertrey Ink's Just The Ticket stamps and ticket border die. I used my much loved Martha Stewart butterfly punch, but thought that the red polka dot paper was just a little too bold...so I toned them down with some Flirty Glimmer Glaze.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

10 things...

So it's the 10th again which means another 10 things from Shimelle's Beyond Blogging For Scrapbookers Alumni!! I love these posts!! They can carry a lot of meaning or be competely random! Over the next few weeks, I have got a lot going on...so I am going to share 10 things coming up within the next month!!

1. Celebrating my 10th Anniversary with my sweet hubby.
2. Harry Potter released into theaters!
3. Victoria and Alberts dinner reservations for our anniversary (at Disney's Grand Floridian).
4. NKOTBSB tickets (yes...I am a huge fan of both groups and NOT ashamed!!)!!!
5. Vacation starting at the end of the month!
6. Going to see my neice and nephew!
7. Going to have much cooler weather in upstate NY (I hope)!!
8. My birthday the first week of August!
9. Canoeing with my sweet hubby.
10. Road trip around FL with my sweet hubby.

I love summer (even in FL...when it's REALLY hot and humid...that I could live without) but it usually means that there is a lot of fun stuff going on!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Lawnscaping Challenge #13: Don't forget the inside

Ok, I am not going to lie...I had SO much fun making this card for the lates Lawnscaping Challenge!!! I won't dilly dally in sharing either...here it is...

Yes...it's a winter themed card...but I couldn't resist with what I wanted to make for the inside!! I used shades of Aqua and White for this front of the card, and did some masking to keep it flat. The only bulk I added to the front was the ribbon. I wanted to add most of the bulk to the inside!! I decided to break out my Silhouette and do some die cutting...and I came up with this...

Yep...I made a pop-up snowglobe!! I used my Silhouette to cut one solid snowglobe, then created the top layer by added an oval to the solid shape. I then attached a transparency to the top to hold in the beads. I used foam tape between the two layers making sure to cover every inch of space so the beads coulsn't escape!! I then used my PTI Woodgrain Impression Plate to add some texture to the kraft cardstock base (also cut from my Silhouette), then added LOTS of Walnut Stain distress ink to make it look like wood!! Love the extra detail on that and how the Kraft impressions have depth because of the distress ink!! I made my own pop-up by cutting cardstock, basically into an 'I' shape, and attached my snowglobe so it would 'pop-up' when the card was opened!! So Cool!!

Then I just stamped the "Let It Snow" sentiment from Frosties three times across the bottom. Love those Penguins and Igloo from Critters In The Snow!! Colored them in with some Copics then just sponged on some PTI Aqua Mist Ink around the edges before stamping a few Frosties Snowflakes around the left side (also in Aqua Mist ink).

I think this is the best challenge yet and I had so much fun making this card!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Palm Trees

Happy Friday!! How about another layout from my trip to Hawaii a few years back with my sweet hubby?? I realized that I never posted this one, though a put it together a few weeks ago!! GASP!!

I am not going to lie...I am so in love with the Margarita collection!! It's so perfect for these photos!! I have even figured out how I am going to use them, combined with some stamping, to really capture the photos I have from our visit to Pearl Harbor! Can't wait to get those scrapped and then to share them! By far, as an American Historian, it is the best place I have ever been too! But I will save that for another day. Here is a closer look at my title spot.

 Love those Thickers so much, I got them in three different colors, and I have already had to order extra since I was running out of certain letters. I am ok with mixing different colors of the same font style, but not so much ok with mixing different fonts!! Just not there yet...and honestly, I am not sure I will ever be there!!

Love thsoe butterflies!! Cut the three from a sheet of patterned paper!! Super quick and easy embellishment!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Oma

Just a quick post today of a layout that I did for my husband a few months back. He had just lost his grandmother who helped to raise him for the first few years of his life in Germany. His mother had given him a beautiful photograph of her taken many years ago, in her youth. I happened to find it in his office one night while I was crafting away and browsing blogs late at night after he had gone to be (I'm a night owl, he's an early bird). I loved the photo and wanted to do something special to honor her memory for him. So I put this together for him, and I am so glad that he loves it as much as I do!!!

Lots of Prima on here, a few Papertrey Ink stamps and die cuts, and custom painted American Crafts Thickers (love those kraft thickers that can be customized to match any layout).

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

My How You've Grown

I am finally getting around to posting up this weeks layout based on the latest sketch of the week (mainly because of July 4th), but it's up before Wednesday nonetheless. I found this weeks sketch to be a bit tough, and I almost passed on it and took the week off. But then I decided to take it on as a challenge to scrap outside of my normal box. I also chose to scrap more photos of Apollo. The photo in the center was taken the day we brought him home back in 2001. It was taken with my old point & shoot camera, so the quality isn't the greatest. He was so darn cute when he was that little!!! The two photos on the outside were taken this past May while he was still with us. He was certainly a much loved member of our family!! I also decided to break out more of my June SC kit (especially since July will be on its way soon...and I still have some left from May's kit). Enjoy...

I also want to add that I am loving the new October Afternoon sprinklers (paint spray mists). They have lots of color and a little goes a long way!! I used some of the navy mist on the kraft cardstock and some red mist on the light blue cardstock (sorry...the official names escape me right now...if I remember, I will edit this with the names).

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Happy Fourth of July

Happy 235th Birthday America!! Enjoy all the festivities today if you are celebrating and be safe!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb