sideshow deb designs

Blog Break

2012-02-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

Holy Bananas!! Has it really been over 2 months since I last blogged?? Talk about a long blog break...and longer than I had planned that's for sure...but life around here in December and January was QUITE busy...and really that's an understatement!!

But I am back now and hopefully I can keep somewhat of a regular schedule of sharing crafty projects and sharing life. And let me just say, it's good to be back to crafting too...seemed to be in a bit of a craft rut after finishing up my December Daily 2011 (planning to share 2010 and 2011 sometime in November as the holidays approach again).

Today I want to share an older layout that I hadn't shared yet. I put it together sometime in November before I focused soley on the December Daily. I put this one together using the first prompt from Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class last fall. This prompt was all about using scraps. There are lots of bright colors and patterns reminding me of summer and I even tried stamping on white paint.

This is a much better shot of the samping on the white paint. The inks muted a little as the dried, but I love the subtle effect it has...not too overwhelming to distract from the photo or the story.

Anyway, I will be back tomorrow with more to share. Planning to make a few cards this afternoon to catch up on the 2012 challenges over at the Papertrey Playhouse blog (you can check them out too and play along if you'd like). There are a couple of great challenges over there and while I am really late on a few of them, better late than never!! Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

All About RED - A Lawnscaping Blog Hop

2011-12-09T00:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Second Lawnscaping Blog Hop!! So glad you're here!! You should have come to me by way of Tami. The theme is all about RED!!! The hop runs from Friday, December 9th to Sunday, December 11th. Make sure to comment on all of the blogs because there are LOTS of prizes to be won! All the details can be found on the Lawnscaping home page. The hop is being sponsored by some amayzing companies: Lawn Fawn, Mold Muse, and Whisker Graphics.

I am not going to lie...I love crafting with RED!! It's one of my go to colors for cards and scrapbooking!! For this project, I decided to make a card and ink up a stamp set that I've had for a while...but that hasn't seen ink yet...Lawn Fawn's Ornate Ornaments!! I LOVE this stamp set so much!! Great for those holiday cards if you still need to make any. I'm just about wrapped up with my holiday cards...I like to make each one unique and different from the last instead of mass producing a whole bunch. So this card will get sent to a lucky friend or family member very soon!! Here's what I came up with...

I started with Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey Ink as the base of my card. Then I trimmed a piece of Rustic White cardstock (also from Papertrey Ink) trimmed to leave a quarter in border all around. I then inked up the small ornaments from the set and stamped them at random to create my own pattern paper (LOVE doing this with my stamps). I adhered this to the card base and then added faux stitching lines with my white gel pen. I trimmed a strip of vellum cardstock (by Papertrey Ink of course) and stamped the Merry Christmas! sentiment from the same stamp set (got lots of use out of this set on this card) using Versamark ink and heat embossed with American Crafts Zing White embossing powder. I then wrapped the vellum around the back and adhered it (to the back of the card front). I punched a Martha Stewart snowflake from the red cardstock. I tied a piece of twine to the cream button and added it to the snowflake with a glue dot. This looks pretty detailed, but it was a super easy card to make (and if you wanted to, would be easy to reproduce...might even be fun to recreate this with a multi colored theme...may have to try that)!!

So happy you stopped by my little corner of the hop today! Hope you're having fun soaking up all the inspiration so far!! Next head on over to Tina. If you happen to get off track, don't worry!! Just head on back to Lawnscaping to see the complete list of designers and prize info!

Have a fabulous Friday and a fantastic weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

hello december

2011-12-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it's December 1st already!! Wasn't it just Christmas?? The years are certainly going by faster and faster as I get older!! How can I make it slow down a little!!!

Last year was the first year that I did a December Daily. I combined it with Journal Your Christmas (the prompts from JYC helped me fill in any days I wasn't sure what to capture). I am taking the same approach this year, except I am not even going to try to keep up with it on a daily basis. There is just no way I can live life, enjoy the season, work full time, and keep up with this daily!! I am taking a no-stress/no-pressure approach this year!! I've got my holiday planner that I will be using to capture the memories of the days when I just don't have enough time to get crafty. Then I can finish and fill in sometime in January!! I have my cover and foundation pages done, though...finished these before Thanksgiving!! So if I do find crafty time this season, I am all ready to go with most of the prep work done!!

I wanted to share my cover today (am I am planning to share my complete December Daily 2010) sometime this month as well...will likely share it in chunks so no post is super long!! But on to the 2011 cover!!!

I was really inspired by Ali's cover (check it out here). I loved the creamy paint color she used and decided I wanted to use it as well, but go a different direction with everything else. I am using the Studio Calico December Daily Kit (from November...it's sold out now). I painted the cover with 2 coats of gesso, then went over that with 2 coats of Martha Stewart's Summer Linen Satin paint. Love that color!! I stamped the spine with sentiments from the November Studio AE set and 2011 December Daily set (both by Technique Tuesday). I used Staz-on ink in Blazing Red.

I then decided to cover the entire front with Kerri Branford's Subway Art: Christmas. Love the look of it with all the insides missing!! I used Neenah Solar White for the die cut and had my silhouette cut it twice (I usually do this if there are lots of corners and I want to ensure nothing gets missed), however it took about 30 minutes to cut. I just set it up and went to do something else!! I mounted this onto Papertrey Ink's Pure Poppy cardstock, then I mounted it all onto the cover using mod podge. I sealed in the whole cover with 2 coats of mod podge (3 coats over the front only). Then I tied it up with a nice bow using striped ribbon from Hobby Lobby. The bow helps hold it all together since it already has some bulk just from the foundation pages alone (without them embellished at all)!! Love the cover this year.

Hopefully I can share some of this as we go through December, otherwise I may just plan a big post sometime in January...to wrap things up from the season!! Hope you're having a great December 1st!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

pictures of fall

2011-11-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

So Dana, from the Papertrey Playhouse has a giveaway over at her blog and to enter you need to post a video or picture of your house of neighborhood relating to the beautiful fall (or whatever season it happens to be where you live. The prize in some American Crafts goodies she is so generously sharing!! Too cool!! I had to enter!!! However, the contest ends tonight, so hopefully you can get over there and link up your own photo before it's over!!

I live in Florida, so technically (as in, according to the calendar) it's fall. However, as most Floridian's know (at least those that live from Central Florida on south know) there are really only two seasons...hot summer and cool summer (HA!). It's still in the 70's here, early this past week it was in the 80's. Our coldest day so far happened a few weeks ago and we got down to the brisk upper 50's for an overnight low...still got into the upper 60's during the day. There is usually a week (maybe a little more than that) where we get close to freezing, maybe even below freezing. But that usually doesn't last too long...hence the hot summer and the cool summer. But fall is my favorite season...still...even though I live in Florida now. I am originally an upstate New Yorker, living in central NY to be more specific. I spent 4 years in Oswego for college...and had 4 years of a lakeside view from my dorm room. I know snow!! But I love the changing of the colors of fall. My neighbors have a few sugar maple trees in their yard. One year one seed planted itself into my mom's tomato pot. I wouldn't let her pull it out. That tree is now huge (maybe 25 feet tall) and a few years back it too had seeds that planted themselves into some of my mom's pots. In 2005, she brought me three little sugar maples. One survived (they are not native to central FL and the heat really confuses them) and we have since planted it into our side yard. My mom take pictures of the big tree every now and again with Instagram to show me...so I take pictures of the baby maple here to show her. This is the most recent...

It stands about 4 feet tall right now, and as you can see the leaves are still quite green. They don't change colors but they do fall off sometime in December or January (when it gets cold) then they start to regrow in March or April (totally different from the cycle I was used to growing up). The grass is still green, and it will remain that way. It does stop growing during the fall and winter months, so my husband enjoys that a lot...no mowing. He usually uses that time to trim the big oak trees in the front yard.

I also thought I'd share the photo we took yesterday. It's pretty close up, but you can still see some of the leaves on the trees in the background...and the sun shining. It was a nice breezy 75 yesterday!! Still can't get used to that on Thanksgiving (or Christmas for that matter) no matter how long I live in FL.

I hope you Friday has treated you well. Have a super fabulous weekend (and find some crafty time if you can). Thanks for stopping by!!

Deb

4x6 photo love - October

2011-11-25T05:00:00.001-05:00

Holy Moly has it really been almost 4 weeks since I last blogged?? I guess I really needed a break from blogging. Sorry about my absence!! But, I now have tons of projects to share!! But as we get into full holiday swing, I have a feeling my posting will be sporadic at best! I am planning to do a December daily again this year and I would love to say that I will be keeping up with it daily, but I didn't actually finish the 2010 album untill well into February...so I am not making any plans or promises to myself that I know I am sure to break. I will take photos often and keep track of the daily fun with a notebook or journal (just like I did last year) so I can really enjoy the season, then put the actual book together as it fits in with my schedule. I will work on it in December, but I am not going to put pressure on myself to keep up with it daily. As long as I am recording the memories of the day I figure I will be in good shape!! So that's my December Daily plan!!

On to the layout I want to share. I put it together for the latest 4x6 photo love class over at 2 peas. This time using 10 photos on a layout. In this latest installment, Shimelle uses a 10 photo page protector (5 photos on each side). I don't have any of these specific page protectors so I just went with the layout design. Here's what I came up with...

This is very much a photo-centric layout with little journaling. I also had 2 other photos from this particular activity, not worthy in my opinion of a full page to themselves. So I decided to add an 8x8 supplemental page for those 2 photos and more journaling. Here are those to additional pages...

I used lots of American Crafts Margarita (with a few Amy Tangerine leaves) in keeping with the theme of the album. These are layouts from our Hawaii trip back in 2004 and that's the collection I am using to give the pages some continuity. I am also happy to report that I am almost done with this album!!! Hopefully I will be able to call it complete before 2011...but if not that's OK too!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

shimelle's pretty paper party

2011-10-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

First off, let me just say Happy Halloween!! I can't believe it's Halloween and November starts tomorrow!! Crazy how fast time flies as you get older!!

I signed up for Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class a few weeks ago, but I am about 2 weeks behind on completing the prompts!! It's always good to show up fashionably late to a party right. If you want to sign up and take the class you can do so here. Like all of her classes, you can sign up at any time and have access to all of the class information forever! And, no, I don't get anything for letting you know about the class. I just love Shimelle's classes so I try to pass along the info when she has a new one.

This class is all about pattern paper and using it on our layouts. I love me some pattern paper that's for sure, so this class was perfect!! And I am determined to start and finish this class...maybe a little late on both sides, but I am doing my best to get caught up and at least finish on time...or close to on time! I will be working through all the prompts (I keep telling myself that so it comes true...I feel like I should write that out on a chalk board somewhere over and over and over...HA)!!

First order of business is to share our paper. I have lots!! I am a paper collector that's for sure. I usually get new stuff, let it sit in my stash while I actually scrap or craft with older stuff. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to cut up the brand spankin new papers!!! I am slowly getting over that thanks to Shimelle's Stash Diving class from True Scrap I (I picked up the class when they went ala carte back in May). But here is a shot of some of my paper stash...

Sorry about the quality of the photo...it's a bit dark for my taste. But this is completely unedited. I didn't move papers around for this photo, so I figured I would leave it as is...exactly how it turned out from the camera.

I will be back tomorrow with my projects from the first two prompts of the class. I am up to working on prompt #7, though I received #13 this morning (we get 6 each week). Catch you back here then...thanks for stopping by!
Deb

happy thanksgiving

2011-10-28T05:00:00.000-04:00

Victoria is the latest host over at the Papertrey Playhouse blog, and she has challenged everyone to make a fall themed card, or if you're ready for the holiday season, to make a holiday card. Fall is my favorite season, even though there really isn't much of a fall in FL (it really just goes from summer to summer, with maybe a week or two of cold weather sometime in January...ha)! I grew up in central NY and went to college right on Lake Ontario, so I know fall and winter well...the last 11 years have not been the same for me with out the distinct change of seasons, leaves turning warm shades of red and orange, and not even the remote possibility of snow during the holiday's. So I jumped at the chance to make a fall themed card, and decided to make a Thanksgiving card to send to one of my family members in a few weeks. I used a stamp set that I've had for a while, but haven't used in a while. I did some masking and layered lots of ink colors.

I popped one of the pumpkins up off the card with some foam adhesive to give it some added dimension. It was a little flat without doing this. Loved making this card and I am going to be using this set again soon!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

bring happiness & joy

2011-10-27T05:00:00.001-04:00

One of my new favorite stamp sets is Candy Cane Christmas (I used it yesterday and will be using it again today)...and I haven't even busted out the matching dies or inked up the actual candy cane from the set yet...that's how much I love it...so useful in creating so many fun projects. When I saw this card from Maile Belles, I knew I wanted to try to recreate it...and it was so easy. You can check out her post of this card on her blog here.

I just needed to be a bit creative because she used the Green Thumb stamp set for the ornament strings/hooks, and I do not have that one. Instead, I use the School Time set. I found that the ledger stamp set had a perfect line that I could use to recreate the look, all I needed to do was carefully ink up one line from the ledger stamp. It was perfect if I do say so myself, and a became a new use for an stamp set I already had...you know, stretching my supplies!!

I went for a non-traditional card this time around with the color scheme. I am loving aqua, pink, and light green for Christmas cards this year...and this one would be so easy to recreate. Oh and I can't forget to mention my fondness of the new Stylish Sentiments: Holiday stamp set either. I had such a hard time picking which sentiment to use on this card. I can't want to ink up another stamp from this set. I can already tell I am going to have quite a fun time making my holiday cards this year!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

sweetest christmas

2011-10-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

I have another card to share today! I broke out some more new stamps and dies for this card, and an old impression plate that hadn't gotten much love! I am loving this color combination, too - red and rustic cream! I think rustic cream is my favorite from Papertrey Ink. I love it so! Have a looksie...

I used the new damask snowflake dies, the pinked circle die from the 1 3/4 inch limitless layers collection, and my trusty 1 3/4 inch circle punch. As for stamps, I broke out the new Candy Cane Christmas (love this set) and stamped the label and sentiment onto the rustic cream circle. I added some pearls for extra interest and dimension...plus I think they make that layeres snowflake look lovely!!

I didn't want to add any pattern paper to the card, but I also didn't want just a plain card base, so I used the Holly Jolly impression plate for the base of the card. So subtle, but it is a great addition to the finished card.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

October Blog Hop Challenge

2011-10-25T05:00:00.001-04:00

It's time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!! This month it's all about autumn and fall!! Love this time of year...just wish I was back up north and able to see the leaves change!! This is the one season I miss the most since relocating to Florida!! Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas have never been the same here!!

Anyway, on to the challenge!!! It's another photo inspiration challenge!!

photo credit

For this month's blog hop inspiration we've selected something with a bit of an autumn flair. The fabric selections and pattern combinations used on these petite pumpkins are a prime way to jump-start a fabulous fall paper project. Use the colors as your inspiration, or perhaps focus on the patterns You can also utilize pumpkins or maybe some felt die-cut leaves. Whatever you choose, you are sure to have amazing results!We look forward to seeing your projects!

I decided to use the colors of the photo as my insipiration, and pulled out a stamp set that I haven't used in a long time...Autumn Aubundance! I also pulled out the paper collection that went along with this stamp set. Here's what I came up with...

I love all of the layers on this card...though it is quiet a simple card! I started with some Rustic Cream cardstock for the base of the card and layered on the dotted pattern paper from the Autumn Aubundance collection. I then used my Mat Stack 1 die (with Terracotta Tile cardstock), Layerz Mat Stack 1 die (with Orange Zest cardstock), Doily Details die (with Spring Moss cardstock), and a 1 3/4" circle punch (with Rustic Cream cardstock) to create the main focal point. I then layered this on top of some Spring Moss ribbon. I stamped the leaf image from the Autumn Aubundance stamp set using Spring Moss ink, and then stamped the sentiment from the same set using some Stampin Up Chocolate Chip ink.

I think I may be sending this to my parents as we get close to Thanksgiving...I hope they aren't looking!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

sending holiday joy

2011-10-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the fifth and final week of blog appreciation. This week it's all about Papertrey Ink!! I discovered Papertrey Ink during the summer of 2009 though I didn't actually take the plunge and purchase anything until later that fall. I held off as long as I could, but I was smitten from the arrival of that very first order!! Love the color match stuff (cardstock, ribbon, ink, felt)...makes making cards and other projects so easy!!!

First up is a super simple and quick card that would be so easy to reproduce for the holidays!! I broke out my brand new Holiday Lights stamp set and some white cardstock...then picked out a bunch of ink colors to make this super fun card!

I love the string of lights!! Reminds me of all those black Friday's of my younger years when my sister and I would gang up on our dad to hang the lights on the house!! For many years it was the tradition. We'd hit the mall early in the morning for some black Friday shopping and then in the afternoon (after our naps...ha!) we'd hang the lights on the house. And by 'we' I really mean my dad...though we did help him check the strands for lights to replace!!

Love holiday memories!! I am starting to get into the mood to start cranking out my Christmas cards...but I just can't justify it yet except for the one here and there until Halloween has past!! I will likely wait to make my holiday cards until right before Thanksgiving...then it won't be so out of the ordinary to have the Christmas music playing in the background!! At least that's what I keep telling myself!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

witch hats

2011-10-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome to a VERY late Day 5 of Echo Park Blog Appreciation!! First I got sucked into Spawn of True Scrap which made me post late on Thursday and Friday, and then we've been having such beautiful weather here I am posting this late too!! But better late than never, right!!

I decided that halloween decor in our house was long overdue and figured I would use the Apothecary Emporium collection (with som trims from my local craft store) to make a few witch hats. And I got to give my glue gun a workout, which is always fun too!! I also added a bat and spider to two of the hats, which I cut with my silhouette using shapes from Echo Park. Here's how they turned out!!

That one with the spiders is my favorite!! That about wraps up Echo Park week here at the blog. I hope you enjoy your Sunday and I will catch you back here Monday! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

i wish i was a fish

2011-10-21T07:51:00.000-04:00

So later turned into tomorrow!! I was distracted yesterday by Spawn of True Scrap and never did get around to posting this!! But better late than never!!!

For this layout, I knew I wanted to use Echo Park's Splash collection and I decided to start with Shimelle's latest starting points. This was a hard starting point for me since everything is a bit off and a little wonky. I don't scrap like this at all. I like everything perfectly straight in terms of my papers and photos, so this was certainly outside of my normal comfort zone!! But since I too love to use the word wonky (yes, my husband always looks at me strangely when I say it) I was down for giving it a try! So here it is...

I added some Doodlebug buttons and some Studio Calico White Mister Huey splotches for added interest and dimension. I also used some basic white acrylic paint around the blue chevron pattern paper and the tag on the right side for a bit of texture and to make those pieces pop off the page a bit. Since they were both so close in color to the background paper they got lost and swallowed up a bit, this makes them stand out more...and I really like it too!!

Not gonna lie...I love those buttons and paint splotches!!

I've got another Echo Park project share planned and hopefully I will get that up today to finish out the week!! But I won't make any promises because I may get completely sucked into the entire day of True Scrap again. It was such fun yesterday and full of a lot of new learnings that I can't wait to try!!

Have a fabulous Friday and thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

just saying hello

2011-10-20T10:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 3 of Echo Park Blog Appreciation!! I have a quick card share today using the For The Record collection. I used scraps for this card and kept it very simple!!

Just a quick share right now, but I will be back later with another project to share! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

altered clipboard

2011-10-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

Hello, and welcome to Day 2 of Echo Park Blog Appreciation!! I am excited to share this altered clipboard with you today! It's such a simple and quick project, but it's great for both function and decor!! For this project, I used EP's Be Mine collection (including an image from the cover sheet of the collection pack)!!

I used a small clipboard that I got from Office Depot, traced around the clipboard on my pattern paper of choice (love that pink pattern paper), then trimmed around the tracing being sure to cut inside the lines I drew. I adhered that to the clipboard with some matte gel medium. Then I just embellished the bottom with other elements from the collection. The framed birdcage is an image from the cover sheet of the collection pack. There is a sticker on the sticker sheet, but I preferred the sizing of this image. There's really no right or wrong way to embellish your clipboard if you chose to do this. Just keep adding until it looks right to you. I knew that I might want to use this for the infamous to-do list, so I kept the top portion flat with no embellishing. But you could add more and use it to hold a photo or memorabilia. The sky's the limit!! Once I was done adding the embellishment, I gave it a good coat of the matte gel medium to cover it and seal it all in!! Can't wait to have this hanging in my office!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

climb up the pole

2011-10-17T05:00:00.002-04:00

Hello Monday and welcome to Echo Park Blog Appreciation week! It's day 1 and I have a layout to share today. I started with the latest sketch of the week from Shimelle and broke out the Playgroud collection. This collection fit perfectly with the pictures I wanted to use!!

I started with white cardstock as my base and trimmed the blue pattern paper to size (I believe it's 10x10). I put my photos down next off to the side of the blue square. I punched three different sized circles using the pink script pattern paper next, and placed them on the layout where I wanted them without adhering them just yet. I had some scraps of the heart pattern paper, but nothing that long. So to slove that problem I just trimmed two to the same width and hid the opening under the large circle!! Then I just layered pattern paper (the blue from the base, the hearts, and a green dotted paper) on the circles. I then used the letter stickers and elements stickers for each of the embellishment clusters, and used the heart and an arrow on each of the three as well for continuity. I kept the journaling to a minimum, only writing "look at me Aunt Debbie" on the banner sticker on the bottom cluster. I did another page a while back that was heavy on the journaling about this subject, and that layout will be very close to this one in my album...so there was no sense in writing all that same stuff over again on this layout.

This layout came together pretty quickly since the papers in the collection all coordinate together!! I didn't have to dig through my stash to find papers and stickers that would work together...Echo Park did that all for me!!

I will be back tomorrow with another project to share!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

merry christmas - a card share

2011-10-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

Hello Friday!! I can't believe it's already Friday and the weekend is right around the corner!! It's also Day 5 of Basic Grey Blog Appreciation and I thought I would wrap up the week with a card share. I kept it quite simple, finding inspiration from two of my favorite card makers, Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire. I was inspired by this card from Kristina and this card from Jennifer.

For this card, I used the Nordic Holiday 6x6 pad and two Hero Arts stamp sets that were made to go with this collection, the Holiday Clear stamp set for the sentiment and the Poinsettia & Berries Cling stamp set for the poinsettia and leaves.

I stamped the leaves and poinsettia onto white cardstock using versamark ink, and then embossed with white embossing powder. I then colored the flower and leaves with Studio Calico Mister Huey's in Overdue and Estate Green. Once that dried, I misted again with the new Calico Shine to give it lots of shimmer. You can sort of see all that shimmer in the photo above, but it's much better in person. I then layered the leaves and the bloom for some dimension. I added in clear gems to the center of the poinsettia for added interest.

This might be my favorite holiday card I've made thus far, and simple enough for easy mass production if I decided to go this route. Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

let's go fly a kite

2011-10-13T20:25:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 4 of Basic Grey Blog Appreciation!! I can't believe it's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday already. Where do the days go?

Today I wanted to share a layout that I created with the Indie Bloom collection and some baker's twine. I started with this starting point from Shimelle and went from there.

I am still not quite sure about those pink letter stickers on the green background for the title. From far away they disappear, but up close they look great.

I used photos from summer vacation 2010 when my husband and I both went to visit my sister and her family up north. All my little niece wanted to do with her Unlce Mike (my hubby) was fly her kite, but I think that the universe was against them because whenever it was windy we didn't have the kite, and when we did have the kite it wasn't windy. One afternoon, Mike was helping around the lawn and some wind came about. My sister and niece grabbed the kite out of the garage, and they managed to get a little air for a minute or so. While they kept tryingm it just wasn't meant to be for any length of time. My niece did have a lot of fun while it lasted though, and really that's all that matters!! A little bonding time between her and her Uncle Mike!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

welcome

2011-10-12T19:44:00.000-04:00

I am back with Day 3 of Basic Grey Blog Appreciation!! I have a layout to share using an older collection, Lime Rickey. I think it's from 2008, but I still love it. I am using this collection to maintain continuity to my nephew's first year album. He's two, but better late than never I guess!! I put this layout together as the opening page. It features the first family of four photo that was taken when they brought little Matt home!!

I did some stamping on the journaling spot using a Studio AE stamp set. I think this my jump start me working on this album a little!! I only have three layouts done so far...which means I've got a long way to go!! Maybe I will have it completed by his fifth birthday...HA!! No really, I should be able to knock it out pretty quickly...using the same collection throughout makes it quite easy for me to complete a bunch of pages at a time. I've taken a lot of the work out by having all of the items choses...it becomes more about the photos, the story, and the layout design!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

apollo may 2011

2011-10-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 2 of Basic Grey Blog Appreciation (a day late I know). I wanted to share a special project I made a little bit ago, featuring some Hipstimatic photos of my late dog, Apollo. I made this little mini book using one sheet of Basic Grey's Out Of Print paper, an Out Ot Print yo-yo, some Basics Micro Mono letter stickers, and Out Of Print journaling spot, and some silver ribbon from my stash. Yep, you heard right...the is just one sheet of pattern paper!!! Enjoy!!

I promise I will be back in a little bit with Day 3 so I can get myself back on track...not to late this time either!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

holiday planner 2011

2011-10-10T19:15:00.000-04:00

Hello Monday and welcome to Day 1 of Basic Grey Blog Appreciation week!! So excited about this week (as I have been about the previous two and the next two to be honest) as I have loved Basic Grey for a long time...since the very first collection!! And if I am being completely honest, I still have some of those early collections in my stash!!

But today, I wanted to share the holiday planner I made using a composition book and last year's Jovial collection (with some Curio Micro Mono stickers). To do this, simply trim your cardstock or pattern paper to the size of the cover and adhere with a strong adhesive. I then wrapped another pattern around the spine. I covered the inside covers as well, then just embellished to my hearts content. In this instance, since I will be actually writing in this, I wanted to keep the bulk on the cover down to a minimum. I decided to stick with the cardstock stickers. Nice and simple, but completely usable!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Deb

a sparkling christmas

2011-10-07T22:43:00.000-04:00

I said I would be back later today with Day 5 of American Crafts Blog Appreciation week, and here I am. Better late than never!! To be honest, I didn't intend for it to be this late when I got around to posting this, but it's just the way things work out, I guess!!

I decided to make a card for the final day, using the Dear Lizzy Christmas collection. I kept it very simple! That's really how I like my Christmas cards...makes them much easier to mail if they are simple and don't have too much bulk!! So here you go...

All that I used for this card was a piece of cardstock, two scraps of paper (different patterns and one had a solid on the back), a rub-on, and a few gemstones. I added the white dash lines to dress it up a little using my white gel pen.

And with that I have wrapped up the second week of Blog Appreciation. I will be back next week with more!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

my 2 dogs

2011-10-07T10:33:00.000-04:00

I totally missed posting yesterday!! The day just got away from me and by the time it had settled down and I might have gotten on to share this, I was just so tired I decided it could wait until today and I would share two blog posts!! So, on that note, welcome to Day 4 of American Crafts Blog Appreciation!! Today I wanted to share a mini created with the Amy Tangerine collection...pattern papers, fabric paper, bits, thickers, mix tapes, and silhouette designs.

The finished album size is 4x4. I trimmed two sheets of pattern paper to 4x8, scored at the 4" mark, and folded them in half. I also did this same process to some kraft cardstock for the cover. Since I had 2 4" squares left of the trimmed pattern paper, I used those to cover the front and back of the album, leaving the kraft only on the inside covers. Then I stitched the up the middle using my sewing machine and covered the spine with some fabric paper (to cover the stitching and give the book a finished look). For the title, I played off an old TV show called (My 2 Dads in case you were wondering) and I cut the camera that's on the cover with my silhouette (the shape is available in the silhouette store). I used shipping tags from my local office supply store for the journaling, and this is just a few quotes about dogs that I love. I used one of the Amy Tangerine bits for the back cover to let the person know who is looking at the book just exactly who these dogs are, when the photos were taken, and who made the album. Then I decorated the tags and the back with some of the new mix tape that I just got the other day (love this stuff)!!

I will be back later with the final post for AC blog appreciation. Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

craft buddy

2011-10-05T05:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 3 of American Crafts Blog Appreciation week!! I have a layout today that combines Dear Lizzy's Enchanted pattern papers with the stamps from Amy Tangerine. I started with Shimelle's latest starting points, which you can check out here (and you have until Saturday to play along with the challenge if you want).

This is Bum. Well, Bum III if we're being specific! My dad had the original Bum when he was growing up, we had Bum II when I was growing up, and when we were finally able to, my husband and I adopted this guy and named him Bum III. The only qualifications were male, shorthair, tuxedo cat...nothing else. He's got lots of personality that's for sure and has been my craft buddy since bringing him home. If I am at my desk crafting, he's either on the back of the chair sleeping (every now and then his leg falls and kicks my shoulder...it's quite funny actually) or he's on my second desk as in these photos. I love that he likes to hang around as much as he does!!

Have a great Wednesday!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

favorite part of home

2011-10-04T13:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 2 of American Crafts Blog Appreciation Week!! Today I am featuring a layout that uses a variety to products but the one sheet of pattern paper I am using is from the Nightfall Collection (with Doll, Rockabye, and Hardcover Thickers...love me some Thickers!!)!!

Last week, right at the tail end of the open time to do so, I signed up for Amy Tangerine's class over at Big Picture Classes called The Good Life. There is a new lesson each Thursday. The first lesson was sewing on shirts Amy Tangerine style. Love that!! Love those shirts with the cameras that she makes!! I made mine this past weekend and will share it here soon!! The second lesson was sewing on paper and/or altering a clipboard. I haven't altered the clipboard yet (thinking I might do that later this afternoon or later this week...looks so cute...sorry if you're not taking the class I can't share any links to it...you'll just have to trust me). The sewing on paper lesson is similar to this layout from Amy Tangerine's Glee Club gallery. And since I love this layout so much, I decided to scraplift it...down to the silhouette tree (swoon)!!

Love this layout! It's a pretty close lift of the original too. Not my usual style (hence lifting it), but I like it quite a bit!! In addition to the pattern paper, I used black and vanilla American Crafts cardstock, and my white gel pen for the journaling!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

hula dance

2011-10-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

In keeping with the blog appreciation I started last week, this week is dedicated to American Crafts. I am going to focus on a different collection each day this week and I am excited to break into some collections that I've had but haven't used yet!! First up is Margarita. I love this collection!! It's so bright and fun!! I have been using it for our Hawaiian vacation photos from 2004 and it fits these photos perfectly!!

This is probably the earliest that I have put together a layout for the 4x6 photo love class over at 2peas yet. The new classes come out on the 30th of each month, and with September's class we are to put 9 photos on a one page layout. You can check out the class at 2peas here, or at Shimelle's blog here (she's the teacher of this class).

I stitched the green dot pattern paper to the base paper (the leaves) to create a pocket. Inside the pocket are two sheets of cardstock that each hold 4 photos. Those 8 photos plus the one of the pocket, make for 9 4x6 photos on this one page layout!! Love this and will certainly recreate it again!!

Above is a look at the two cards within the pocket. I had taken so many photos of the hula dancing at the luau in Honolulu that I wanted to include them in our album, but many were dark and fuzzy. These were the best one's from the group.

These are the back sides of those cards. More photos of the hula dancing. Again they're darker and a bit fuzzy so under normal circumstances I might have left them out of the album all together, but this way I can include them and they aren't main focus of the page since they're tucked inside the pocket!!

And this is a look at the layers of pattern papers under the main photo and the title block. I love that American Crafts is including a print on the back of the UPC strip!! I used that under the title and brought it across the other side as well (mainly to cover a distracting part of the photo, but it works)!!

I hope you check out this month's lesson and maybe give it a try!! I will be back with another American Crafts project tomorrow! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

merry christmas

2011-10-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

I wanted to play along with the last Papertrey Playhouse challenge (to use a stamp that hasn't been used or one within a set that hasn't been used), but time slipped away from me and I didn't get a chance to. The latest challenge is another "use it" challenge, this time to use a die that hasn't been used. I decided to meld the two together and use a stamp and die that I hadn't used. So, the one thing on this project that I have used before is the white cardstock and the red and green ink. The die and all the stamps are previously unused!!

For this card I used Stampers Select White for my base. I then die cut the Simple Circles Border also using the white cardstock. I stamped Boy Basics: Simple Circles using Stampin Up's Real Red for the large circles and Garden Green for the small circles. I finished the card with a sentiment from Comminque Curves, and this is a sentiment I haven't used before. I love this CAS card. It's not thick at all, only the border die adhered directly to the card without dimensional adhesive, so that means that it will be very easy to mail. And it also means that it would be very easy to reproduce for our holiday card this year. We'll see about that as we get closer to Christmas card making time!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

ice creamery

2011-09-30T20:50:00.000-04:00

It's quite late in the day, but I am determined to get this blog post up today before the start of the weekend. Oh the weekend, I love the weekend, even if I work half of it! This is also my fifth and final post in my Studio Calico blog appreciation week. For this layout, I used more of the Boardwalk kit. I am so happy with the number of layouts I have made from this kit...really stretching it out since I love it so! I do think it's getting time to kill it though and move on to Glee Club soon!!

Normally, I post my sketch of the week layout on Monday's, but this week I was feeling a bit sassy and put it together early...so it's going up on Friday!! That makes me happy! It's for Shimelle's latest SOTW, which you can check out here if you're interested!!

I changed things up from the sketch a little. The sketch calls for three smaller (wallet sized perhaps) photos, but I decided to use two 4x4 instagram photos that I took in early August while on vacation. These are of a ice creamery shop near where my sister lives. I wish I could remember when she introduced me to this place, but it is by far my favorite ice cream. It's a very good thing I live so far away from this place because if I lived close, I would surely frequent it often during the summer months! All of the ice cream is home-made and they have some of the funkiest flavor names (i.e, playdough...and no I haven't tried this one). I am a creature of habit at restruants (ice cream shoppes included). Once I find something on the menu I love, I always get that. There are a lot of times that I go in with the best of intentions to try something new, and fully intend to do just that, that is until I am asked by the waiter/waitress for my order...then I fall right back to my old faithful. And my old faithful for ice cream is moose tracks!! So on this visit to the local ice creamery, I got moose tracks in a waffle cone...yummy!!! Can't wait for my family trip north next year!!!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

hello card share

2011-09-29T05:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 4 of my Studio Calico Blog Appreciation week!! Towards the end of last week I received my latest 2peas order with lots of the new Studio Calico. I picked up items from the Classic Calico and Memoir collections. I knew right away that I wanted to make a card with some of those yummy papers from Memoir. Love the different colors in this collection and I can't wait to pick up some of the Mister Huey's that go along with it.

I trimmed 1/2 inch strips off a few of the different patterns and adhered them to a scrap piece of cardstock on an angle. I just kept adding strips and trimming off the ends until I had covered the entire scrap piece. Then I rounded the bottom two corners. I added a few strips across the card from what was left of my original 1/2 inch strips, and layered the strip piece over that. For the sentiment, I stamped the sunburst and the hello sentiment onto white cardstock and embossed with white embossing powder. I then cut it out using a 2 inch circle punch (for the record, it's not quiet the right size, but it's close enough). Then I misted the circle with some new Mister Huey's in Dewey. I added some stitching lines to finish it off!

I'll be back tomorrow with the fifth and final day of Studio Calico blog appreciation week. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

august love list

2011-09-28T20:46:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have one of those photos that you're just not sure what to do with?? You're just not sure how to scrap it and include it in your album, but you know it has a place in your album. For me, this was that photo!!

My niece is so into the fake tattoos, so naturally she picked up two as part of her prizes from Chuck-e-Cheese. I didn't know it at the time that she picked them out, but apparently she picked the double pack so we could have matching tattoos. She tried with all her might to get me to put it on my hand like she did, but I opted for a spot on my arm that would be covered when I wore a t-shirt!! I am hoping you can all understand why! She was super exited to put hers on and put mine on me, so I played along like a good Aunt! I knew I wanted to include this photo in my album, but I wasn't exatly sure where, so I used it for my August Love List page (and one of the loves is the matching tattoos). One of the things on my 33 list was to create monthly 'love' lists (hoping to share the layout based on that soon)...so this is the first installment since my birthday was in August. I also broke out my mom's old typewriter for the journaling on this...my parents sent it to me a few weeks ago and I was just waiting for the new ink ribbon to arrive...works like a charm!!

I put this layout together as part of my Studio Calico blog appreciation week (day 3 to be exact) using the Boardwalk kit again from August. I also used their new butterfly masks and some Bluegrass Mister Huey. I am loving that color!! I used Shimelle's latest starting points challenge as the base of the layout and just went from there!

I will be back tomorrow with a card to share! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

chuck-e-cheese

2011-09-27T05:00:00.002-04:00

I had the idea a few weeks before visiting my sister last month of going to Chuck-E-Cheese for my birthday. I know it's mainly for kids, but that was just it...I figured my niece and nephew would have a blast (and if I could get in a few games of skee ball that would be just great). So that then became the plan and the kids had a blast!!

The kids had the most fun riding the car rides they had there while the adults had a blast playing the games for tickets (which we combined so the kids could get some fun prizes). Thankfully, my sister did a great job getting a pic of each kid on each ride!!

I put this together for the latest installment of 4x6 photo love over at 2peas using the Boardwalk kit from Studio Calico and the Sea Glass add-on. Speaking of Studio Calico, I can't believe it's reveal night tonight already (subbers can pick up the add-ons at noon today). I am still working through August's kit (Boardwalk) and haven't even gotten Septemeber's kit out of the box and it's reveal of October!!! Where does the time go!!

Have a fabulous day!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

family vacation 2011

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Monday!! I am going to be doing something a little different over the next 5 weeks! I wanted to do this earlier this spring/summer, but it just never panned out. I have a bunch of favorite manufacturers and over the next 5 weeks I am going to highlight 5 of them, one per week! I will call it Blog Appreciation (which I have seen many times before from other bloggers so I can't take credit) Now my list is much longer than 5 (more like 10-15), so I am already planning when I can highlight 5 more!! These will be done in no particular order, just what I was working with at the time. And, in early 2012, I will come back with the next round of Blog Appreciation. This week it's all about Studio Calico!!

This week I am going to feature projects made from Studio Calico products and/or Studio Calico kits (since I am a member of their monthly kit club). Making the decision last May to joint he kit club has been one of the best decisions I have made in a long time!! The kits are so fabulous and all of the work is done for you in terms of coordinating product from different manufactures. This layout features items from the Boardwalk kit with the Sea Glass add-on (August).

I put this layout together for Shimelle's latest Sketch of the Week, but you will notice that I decided to flip the sketch. I didn't have two portrait photos to use, but I did have two landscape photos...so turning the sketch 90 degrees made sense!! I also didn't use any confetti or paint splatters on this layout, instead using the dotted patterned paper to bring in that element. I also used a few brads on the title block and within the embellishment cluster at the top to tie that in.

I love these photos of my niece with my sister and my nephew with my brother-in-law from their recent vacation to New Hampshire. They were on one of the few train rides they took that week and I love that they thought to take these photos of mom and daughter, and father and son.

Have a fantastic Monday and I will see you back here tomorrow for another Studio Calico layout!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

september 2011 blog hop challenge

2011-09-25T09:46:00.001-04:00

photo credit

It's time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge!! The Challenge: We have another amazing inspirational photo for you this month that we just know will bring out the very best in your creativity! Look closely and there are so many directions to go in! You can choose to focus on the colors, the stripes, or the repetition. We look forward to seeing your creations!

I loved the stripes and colors in the photo inspiration!! I also loved the simplicity of this even though the pattern may come off as busy! Keeping to a few different colors and the same size stripes really is pretty simplistic if you ask me. Here's what I came up with using the photo above as the inspiration...

I used Background Basics: Chevron Stripes to create the colored stripes. I used a different chevron stamp and ink color to build the background. Then I die cut some felt and used the frame from Tag-its #5 along with a sentiment from Fillable Frames Additions #1. The inks are a mix of Jenni Bowlin for Ranger (Weather Vane, Lemon Drop, and Chicken Feed), Stamping Up! (Real Red, Regal Rose), and Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores). I am loving how this card turned out...and it's not too thick so it will mail easily (always a bonus)!

Have a fantastic blog hop and have a super Sunday!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

lawnscaping challenge #18: text

2011-09-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

The latest Lawnscaping challenge is all about text!! Text backgrounds, book print, newspapers, etc. I decided to make my own text background!! The only stamp set that I used for this card was Lawn Fawn's Happy Haunting, and I am not going to lie...it is by far my most favorite Halloween stamp. To be honest, I don't have that many Halloween themed stamp sets, but this is #1 among the ones that I do have!! I just love all of the images!! So much so, in fact, that I used quite a few on this card. Take a look...

I used the 'have a spectacular halloween' sentiment from the set to creat the background, stamped with dried marigold distress ink. Then for some added dimension, I stamped the Hero Arts envelope stamp using the same ink. I then added some more ink around the edges using the ink blending tool (more dried marigold). The ghosts, house, and moon where then stamped, colored (in the case of the house and moon), and cut from white cardstock. I added the small bat to the moon before coloring for added fun. I used a Papertrey Ink die to cut the banner and stamped the 'happy haunting' sentiment using white ink. Added a few twine tied buttons and called it done. I used purple for the base only because I thought that looked much better with the orange than black!!

I loved this challenge and it was fun to play along again, since it's been a while since I played along with a Lawnscaping challenge!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

so sweet

2011-09-23T21:16:00.000-04:00

This has got to be one of my most favorite photos of my sister and her daughter! It was taken last summer on my 32nd birthday, which we spent at the aquarium in Mystic, CT. I am not even sure what animals we were looking at at this time, I just know it was perfect for a photo op!! My niece looks so cute in those Belle sunglasses!! We all had matching french braid pigtails. My sister used to do my hair like this for marching band shows since they worked so well under our hats and still looked perfect after those hats came off. I can do a single french braid in my own hair, but she's the master at the pigtail variety!! So that day, since it was my birthday, I had asked for those braids...which she obliged. Then she did hers and my nieces, too.

I love all the fun elements on this page. While I put it together based on the latest Starting Points challenge from Shimelle, I chose my patterns and colors based on the 'so sweet' tag. I used lots of My Mind's Eye, with some Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Maya Road, Doodlebug, and Lawn Fawn thrown in there.

Love those buttons!! They really do add just the perfect touch to those Lawn Fawn Blissful Botanical leaves!! I painted the chipboard butterfly with some Jenni Bowlin paint and added another Doodlebug button to the center.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and find some crafty time!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

leaving on a jet plane

2011-09-22T17:51:00.000-04:00

I put this layout together a while ago, but am only now getting around to posting it on the blog. I have been so busy lately!! You know...those days when there doesn't seem to be enough hours or minutes!! Some days I wish I just had more time. Or maybe my to do lists are just to big for what I can handle...you know the old eyes are bigger than stomach saying...bitten off more than you can chew saying...that's been me the last few days. I had so many big crafty plans for today, but I just decided to finish one already started project and make a card...that's it. The skies got dark and it started to pour, and I just decided a lazy day was in order for me!! But I did want to share this layout!!

These are some instagram photos from my recent trip to visit family up north. These are about my plane ride back to Florida. I did my good deed for the day and switched seats so a mom could sit with her daughter. They had gotten their tickets late and couldn't get two seats together. So I took the daughter's window seat a few aisle up so she could have my aisle seat with her mom. Gave me an opportunity to get some instagrams out the window of the plane before take off and after landing!! Love instagrams!! And I love getting them developed by postalpics (iPhone app and you just order them right off the phone...LOVE)!!

I use a lot of Studio Calico on this...items from my kits (pretty sure I used 2 different kits) and items from their regular lines. And of course some Mister Huey Calico White mist (one of my faves for sure)!

Hope you're having a wonderful Thursday!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project to share. Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

a scrap-lift

2011-09-21T05:00:00.002-04:00

Lately, I have been finding myself checking out Maggie Holmes' blog because I am so inspired by her style. I loved her layouts for Studio Calico's Boardwalk (August) kit, which she showed here. Specifically, I loved this layout and decided to scraplift it. It's a pretty-darn-close scraplift, but I didn't get all the add-on's in August, so I had to make due with making some of the embellishments with supplies I had on-hand.

I love the Boardwalk kit!! I am still working my way through it! I haven't even touched Glee Club yet (September)...and it's almost time for the next kit to come out!!! While, I love a lot of the items in a few of the add-on's coming later this month, I am just going with the main kit this time around!!! At least that's the plan right now!! As always, I reserve the right to change my mind!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project to share!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

go games

2011-09-20T18:22:00.001-04:00

I've still got quite a few photos to get onto scrapbook pages to be able to call out Hawaii album complete, so I figured I would grab one of them for this layout, based on the latest Sketch of the Week from Shimelle. I'm a day later in posting this than usual, but oh well. Sometimes, I really don't like schedules...I'd much rather just wing it and go with the flow!!

We got to go to Hawaii because my husband was awarded with the Circle of Excellence award. The result of which was him and a guest travelling to our 50th state! On the first full day we had what was called the Go Games. These were team building activities, like volleyball, big wheel races, a frisbee toss, and others. We were on Team N, and this layout highlights our team photo!

The one game our team excelled at was the phone number frisbee toss. They had a big piece of wood painted like a cell phone with holes where the numbers go and the objective was to 'dial' the phone number of the team leader as many times as possible. You 'dialed' by throwing the frisbee into the hole for the corresponding number. Our team excelled because we picked 10 team members, each one having a specific number to hit, and we just kept going around and around in order. That way one person or a few people didn't have to remember a lot of numbers. We just had one to hit and needed to stay in order...easy peasy!! We knocked it out of the park!! But there weren't any prizes or anything, just a lot of fun to be had!!!

To keep continuity among the album, I have been using the Margarita collection from American Crafts, so I kept true to that with this layout as well. The journaling spot is from an old Fancy Pants collection....I think it's from 2006. I kept it out so I would use it again, sooner than later this time!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

a little something to share

2011-09-17T05:00:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post today to share a few cards I made a while back. They are a mix of Hero Arts and Basic Grey. I used some distress stains mixed with perfect pearl mist on watercolor paper to create these cards. Added in some pattern paper, stamping, embossing, and a small embellishment to create the finished card. I put it all onto some Hero Arts layering paper to create the finished card.

I am not going to lie...I am a little partial to the card on the right, but I honestly love them both. I can't wait to send the to someone special!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

dance like no one is watching

2011-09-16T18:25:00.001-04:00

This is one of those moments in life that you're thankful was captured on film!! A special moment between two sisters, a moment of obvious fun! To be honest, I didn't know the picture was even taken until I saw the proofs of it! My back was to the camera and I had spent most of the night enjoying the wine bar at my sister's wedding (making up for not drinking a drop of anything at my wedding)! Those two combined made for very good odds that I wouldn't not have knowledge of this picture!! But it was a moment that I have to include in my 2005 scrapbook!!

I was my sister's Matron of Honor, just as she was my Maid of Honor!! As I said, I didn't drink a drop of anything, well except for a sip for the toast, but not a drop of anything else. I was too afraid of having to go to the bathroom with all of that dress and stuff on. Was not going to deal with that, so I just didn't drink anything...not even water! And it worked, because I never did visit the bathroom once I had the dress on. So I made up for that ten fold at my sister's wedding!! She and her new husband had their reception at a winery in upstate New York...so it was a free wine bar. I visited the same bar tender all night and she knew my choice everytime...being sister of the bride had it's perks! Toward the end of the night, I found out my dad had been visiting the same bar tender all night as well! It was quite funny when we both went to the bar and put our glasses up, and without missing a beat the bar tender grabbed one bottle in each hand and poured them out for us!! I didn't do much dancing until the end of the evening, so it was nice that this moment was captured!

I put the layout together for Shimelle's latest Starting Points challenge. It was a grid of pattern paper with a thin stip across the middle. I chose to use a 7.5 inch square block over that and embellished from there. The flowers are the craftable one's from Prima. I used Dusty Concord Distress Strain and Perfect Pearl mist to color them so they'd match the purple in the papers, with Teresa Collins Blingage in the centers. I also used some Studio AE and Papertrey Ink stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

don't mess with me

2011-09-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

I can be pretty outspoken, or so I am told. My grandma was one to always speak what was on her mind, actually both of them were very much like that! They all too often, did not mince words at all. I admired that in quality in both of them. I have been told that I am very much like this. I like to think that I can tactfully tell someone what I am thinking, but sometimes you've just got to cut to the chase! When my sister was pregnant with her first child, my niece Julia, my Godmother gave her probably they best gift (in my completly biased opinion of course). It was a onesie that said "don't mess with me 'cause my Aunt kicks butt!" Of course, I loved it. Apparently, when my Aunt saw this she knew it was a perfect gift, because she knows me very well!! My niece fit into that onesie when she was about 6 months old. My nephew fit into it when he was about 3 months old.

Thankfully, I was visiting family when each child fit into the onesie so I could get a picture with them!! Two very different photos at two very different times!! I am honestly not sure where this will fit into my album because the photo with my niece is from 2007 and the photo with my nephew is from 2009, but I absolutely had to put them onto the same page! I guess I will figure it out at somepoint...but I am not going to dwell on it right now!!

I put this layout together based on the latest sketch from Shimelle. I used the Tag Sale 3 die from Papertrey Ink and stamped it with an image from the latest Anniversary set. I embellished the rest of the layout with Prima craftable flowers that I painted with Glimmer Glam from Tattered Angels. I used American Crafts pearl brads for the centers of the flowers. I used a bunch of pattern papers on this as well: Bella Blvd, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras, The Girls' Paperie, with letters from Cosmo Cricket and Lilly Bee (the asteriks in the 'don't' is the Lilly Bee). Then I did some handstitching around the tag because I thought it would be a a great touch!

Hope your Tuesday is treating you well!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

freckle face

2011-09-12T05:00:00.001-04:00

Ok, here's the back story on this layout. My sister has red hair, I have brown hair. She has hazel eyes, I've got brown eyes. She's got freckles all over, I've got them mainly on my face with a few here and there on my arms. My niece has light brown hair and brown eyes. My sister always said her freckles would be more like mine than like hers. Last summer when I was visiting, my niece was quick to point out her first freckle, on her arm. This summer when I was visiting, she had started to get small freckles across the bridge of her nose and a few on her cheeks...just like mine...just as my sister had predicted! I knew I had to get a close up photo of those freckles just starting out!! I don't think you'll even be able to tell in the photo of the layout, but trust me...she's got freckles!!

I was a bit unsure of Indie Bloom (new from Basic Grey) when I saw it online, but once I saw it at my LSS I had to pick some up! In fact, after I had played around with it a little, I went back for more. I love that patterned paper with the diamonds! I cut two different sections out to layer. Will be doing that again soon I am sure!!

Love those die cut tags, wheels, and fabric flowers! I love how this line layers so easily!! I know I will be scrapping with this line again very soon! I am going to use every inch of it!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

celebrate the holidays! a lawnscaping blog hop

2011-09-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!! So glad you're here!! You should have come to me by way of Eve. This month's theme is magical. Holiday projects!! The hop runs from Friday, September 9th to Sunday, September 11th! Make sure to comment on all of the blogs because there are LOTS of prizes to be won!! All the details can be found on the Lawnscaping home page.

I had originally thought that I would make a Halloween card since that is the next holiday here in the States, but it totally didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it. So I moved on to a Christmas card. Afterall, you never can start too early on those!! I featured Bows & Holly and Frosties on this card.

I decided to use a black card base for a bit of a non-traditional feel, but the focal point is very much traditional holiday colors. I stamped the black cardstock with the large snowflakes from Frosties, using versamark ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.

My focal point consists of strips of patterned paper and some paper tape. I used Bows and Holly for the sentiment and holly leaves. I colored in the leaves and berries using copics, and then added glossy accents to the berries for added interest. A touch of satin ribbon finishes it off. I then added this to the card base using foam adhesive.

I hope you are enjoying the Blog Hop thus far! I have had so much fun and am beyond excited to be apart of this!! Now head on over to Jordan's blog for more holiday fun!! If you've gotten off track, don't worry!! Head on back to Lawnscaping to see the complete list of designers.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

time for a boat ride

2011-09-08T05:00:00.003-04:00

Shimelle is doing something new over at her blog called Starting Points. She basically creates the 'starting point' for a layout in its most basic form, and that is what is to be used as our starting point for a layout of our own. She posts her finished page the day after she posts the starting point. There is a lot of room for variation!! You can check out the latest starting point here and play along if you're interested! This is was I put together this week...

I used my Studio Calico Boardwalk kit for this layout and added some white mist to the top. I also used the new Amy Tangering camera stamp since the set arrived the day I was putting this layout together. I used some liquid pearls to paint inside the heart in the stamp to tie the color in. I also used the new Weather Vane ink by Jenni Bowlin for Ranger (love, love, love this color)!!

I also did not do a lot of journaling on this layout, in fact, I didn't do any. I still have a few more photos from this day to scrap, and I am planning for that page to sit directly opposite this page inside my album. Therefore, my plan is to get all the journaling onto that page.

Stay tuned for tomorrow as I will be participating in the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop. There will be lots of prizes to be won! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

mr. fix it

2011-09-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

My nephew, Matt, is very observant! Anytime anyone is making something, fixing something, building something, or doing anything really, he's all eyes watching. When my niece was little, my parents had gotten her this radio flyer car on wheels that is pushed by the riders feet. At 4, she has outgrown in, but my nephew is perfectly sized for it right now. There were two castors on the front of the car in addition to the car wheels. I guess they are there to give it stability and the ability to turn corners since the regular car wheels are plastic and fixed (meaning unable to turn). One of those casters had broke, but the car still worked. When I was visiting them in early August, and my parents were there too, my sister had asked my dad to try to fix it. So after a trip to Home Depot to get some castors, my dad ended up replacing both. We couldn't fins an exact match to the unbroken castor, so it was best to just change them both out. And of course, Matt wanted to 'help.' His version of helping was watching everything grandpa did!! Love that!!

I used Basic Grey's Oxford collection on kraft cardstock for this layout. I did a simple embellishment cluster to the right of the two photos on the bottom. The strip of pattern paper that runs across the bottom was not long enough to go all the way across, but cutting it in half and hiding the break behind the photos makes it so you can't tell!! I did some paint spots too, with a blue dauber and a white mister.

Hope you're having a fabulous Wednesday!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

hanging with grandpa

2011-09-06T05:00:00.001-04:00

I love that my niece and nephew love to hang out with family! They are at that age where it's still cool to be around family. I know that it won't last forever and there will come a time where we will be the last people they want to hang around with. So for now, I am sure I speak for my entire family when I say that we will savor each minute while it lasts!! I knew that would be the theme of this layout when I decied upon the photo that I would use.

I decided to use Life of the Party by Basic Grey for this layout. I did do some misting on the kraft cardstock before I started layering the pattern papers. And I am loving the ric-rac patterned paper (I cut those strips from the paper to stretch my supplies a little).

Once I was finished layering everything and getting everything down on the page, it just looked a little empty. So to combat this, I stitched a border around the entire page. I used my Sew Easy tool to ensure the stitches were evenly placed then used regular embroidery floss to stitch with. Let me just tell you that while I LOVE the results, this took FOREVER!! I am sure I will do more stitching in the future though because the time spent on it was well worth it given the results.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

learn something new every day

2011-09-05T21:36:00.001-04:00

I am back with a few of my learnings from the last few days for Learn Something New Every Day.

On September 3rd, I learned that being greeted at the car door after a long day at work makes it all worth it!

On September 4th, I learned that time spent with my husband doing anything (including Sunday Starbucks), is time well spent!

On September 5th, I learned that taking some time for myself is never a bad idea (and that taking a hot bubble bath really is the best way to end a long day)!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

these are the days

2011-09-05T05:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Labor Day! It's Monday, so that means it's Sketch of the Week time. This is my latest version of Shimelle's latest sketch! If you hop over to Shimelle's blog and watch her video on how she put her layout based on the sketch together, you'll see that she played with some spray paint on her layout. While I find this to be a great idea...I am not quite sure it's for me. And that might just be because I don't have any spray paint here...otherwise, there may be a small possibility that I would have tried that. However, I decided to skip the paint all together...well, that is until I started laying everything out!! I broke out my Boardwalk kit (August's Studio Calico kit) for this layout and decided to use a photo of my niece all dressed up as Belle from Beauty & The Beast (she's in the dress-up phase!!). After I had everything all laid out, there was something missing. The patterned paper blended in to the cardstock a little too much, so I decided to paint a pink boarder around the edge using a paint dauber and a paint brush. Just gave it the extra pop it needed.

I used three different glimmer mists (Cosmos, Tutti Fruitti, and Bubblegum I believe) for the scallop strips. They are Mistables from Pink Paislee (also from the kit) and I am so in love with these!! I love the way these look all layered up. This is what I used in place of the spray paint!

I did a little stamping and a little layering, then added the sticker from the Amy Tangerine sticker book by American Crafts. That sticker also became my title. I am loving that sticker book and can't wait to play with some of the other Amy Tangerine crafty items that just showed up at my house!

I will be back later with some of my learnings over the past few days for Learn Something New Every Day. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

Papertrey Playhouse Same Tag Challenge

2011-09-04T22:51:00.000-04:00

Krista is hosting the latest challenge over at the Papertrey Playhouse, and I was finally able to play along! For this challenge, she mailed each of us a bunch of goodies including a tag that we were to use on our project. We could use any of the extras that we wanted, or none at all, just so long as our project included the tag. What a fabulous idea!!! I decided to sit on this for a while mainly because I might be the only person in our group that doesn't have any of the Jar series stamps. I wondered for quite sometime how I would get the jar that is stamped off the tag that Krista made for us to fit into the overall scheme of a card when I didn't have anything to fill it with. But then it came to me and I created this...

The heart image is from Warm Happiness, Too. I decided not to fill my jar with anything, just left it empty. I added the doily and border that I received from Krista to the left of the tag. I then used the Mat Stack 2 die cut that came in my package, stamped it with an image and sentiment from the Mat Stack 2 stamp set, added a few buttons tied with twine, then added it to the card with some dimensional adhesive. I finally broke out some Pinefeather for this card too...used it for the card base and the ribbon in the tag. I was playing off the green fabric tape on the tag.

Overall I am pretty pleased with how this turned out. It is different from any other card I've created...so it was lots of fun to put together!

I will be back tomorrow with my latest layout created based on Shimelle's latest Sketch of the Week. I will also have a few days worth of Learn Something New Every Day to share as well. Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

happy birthday

2011-09-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday! And if you get to enjoy a long weekend this weekend, too, because of the Labor Day holiday, well then Happy 3 Day Weekend to you as well. I wanted to pop on quick to share a birthday card today. This one is a bit different than the two I shared a few days back, but lots of fun nonetheless. And it will also be great for a male or female recipient...which always makes me happy since it gives me more options!!

This card is made almost entirely of American Crafts Confetti collection. The ribbon that is used is from etsy. I like how bright and fun this card is! I love that cupcake...it's making me want to bake some up!! May just have to get on that!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

learn something new every day

2011-09-02T22:07:00.000-04:00

Today was a long day at work. For some reason, Friday's usually are. And since I work in retail, it's not like it's because the weekend is just around the corner. I usually work one of the two days over the weekend. It's just for some reason, Friday seems to last forever, no matter how much stuff I put on the to-do list to stay busy. And since this is typically the case, today I learned that the couch is perfect for an after work nap!!

What did you learn today?? I'll be back tomorrow with a project share. My learning may come early Sunday. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

making the card

2011-09-02T05:00:00.001-04:00

I know it's only September, and for me to show a Christmas layout may be a little crazy, but that's what I am about to do! I don't scrapbook my photos in chronological order, so when it strikes my fancy to scrap some holiday photos, I do...whether it's in December or August! So my apologies if this holiday layout is a little early for your taste.

In 2009, I visited my sister and her family in Connecticut the week before Thanksgiving. While there, my sister asked me to help her try to get a good photo of her two kids that she could use for their Christmas card. Let me just tell you, getting an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old to cooperate is quite challenging. But as she tried to get them both smiling and looking the same direction, I just snapped away, hoping to get that one perfect shot...or at least as close to perfect as we could get. And with a little cropping, we get a pretty darn good photo if I do say so myself.

I used lots of American Crafts Dear Lizzy Christmas collection on this layout. Lots of paper layering as well. And I did stamp the border on the very bottom of the pattern papers as well.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

learn something new every day

2011-09-01T21:40:00.001-04:00

So I am taking another class with Shimelle. Love her classes. Explore was an epic fail for me in terms of keeping up with the daily prompts every day. I know exactly why and how I fell behind, it was something that I could not prevent nor stop, it happened and I have moved on. Eventually I will begin that again, start over completely, and do all the tasks within the explore prompts. For now, I am moving on and working on this new class...in a different way with a different attitude. My plan is to go throughout each day waiting for the new learning to happen...when it does, I am sure I will recognize it. I'll record that on a post-it and put it on my calendar. Then I will 'try' to capture some representation of that learning in photo form on my iPhone using the instagram app. Then I plan to blog about it here, every day, sharing the photos as we go along as well. Then when all is said and done, I will have the contents of my book. All I will have to do is print up the photos and the blog posts...and there you have it, a completed project. And since it's all on the blog, I can put the book together whenever I want. So there will be days when I post twice, or maybe even three times, and there will be days when my learning from that day is the only thing I share. I think this will be the easiest for me since my life can be so unpredictable most of the time!!

Today, I learned that I can accomplish a lot when I am focused on one thing at a time (and I get up REALLY early). Here's proof...

Six crafty projects all completed today...all from start to finish! My office was a disaster, but I am not sure I have ever gotten this much accomplished in one day before!

If you're taking the class, too, I'd love to hear about what you learned today!! Thanks for stopping by!

Deb

you're so silly

2011-09-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

These are some of my favorite pictures! I remember this moment very vividly! It was over 4 years ago, back in July 2007. My niece was in that stage where she was sticking out her tongue all the time and blowing raspberries. In almost every photo I have from this trip, Julia is sticking her tongue out!! So when my sister and I got together to take a few photos, on that very last one, she and I stuck our tongue out. Then in a split second, Julie looked over at me. She had that "what the heck are you doing Aunt Debbie" written all over her face. And I couldn't help but look over at here out of the corner of my eye when she turned to look at me. It was a classic moment that I am sure I will remember for a long time! And of course, I had to scrap those photos and this memory!

I did some misting on this layout, too which was quite fun! I used the kraft doily as a mask. Then I misted the doilies (both the large one on the bottom and the smaller one on the top left). The large doily started out as kraft, which I didn't like on the layout as there was no kraft, so I misted that with some Studio Calico White mist. But then the white doily on the top was off, being that it was too white. So I misted that with Studio Calico's Classic Calico to give it a bit of the kraft color so it would match the larger doily. Love how it turned out! Those flowers in the center were also white to start, but I made them pink using some Spun Sugar Distress Stain (love that stuff...and the inky fingers it leaves me with).

That's what I've got for today! I can't believe it's already September! Halloween is coming soon, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas...pretty soon it will be 2012! I can't believe how quickly time flies by as I get older. I could go onto a very long winded tangent here, I feel it coming, so I will just stop here and wish you all a fantastic start to your September! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

happy birthday cards

2011-08-31T05:00:00.003-04:00

It's Wednesday...which means it's hump day and the weekend is almost here!! It also means that tomorrow is September!! I cannot believe it's almost September already!! Time flies!! But on to the craftiness...I wanted to stop by today and share two cards I made using Basic Grey's Life of the Party collection.

For this first card, I inked up a Hero Arts/Basic Grey cling stamp using four colors of distress stains. I then misted that with perfect pearl mist for some shine. I stamped that onto some watercolor paper. I cut out the ric-rac paper from a larger sheet of patterned paper. For the sentiment, I used a die cut label and letter stickers from the Basics collection, which is attached using foam dots. Kept it simple so it would work for either a masculine or feminine birthday card! Since there isn't a lot of bulk, it will mail easily too!

For this second card, I made a shaped card using my silhouette. I love the layers. I stamped the senitment in two stages since this is a long stamp and not a stacked stamp as I have done here. I know there are some stampers who can cut their stamps to either stack them or make them long...I am not one of them (yet). I say yet because anything can change at any time, but for now even the thought of cutting my stamps makes me cringe (even though I am well aware that the image will go back together easily...I just can't do it!!)!! I trimmed the 'presents' from a sheet of patterned paper and tied them up with some Divine Twine. Love that this gives the look of presents and adds some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

skee ball

2011-08-30T05:00:00.001-04:00

I am not going to lie...I love skee ball!! I asked my sister if we could go to Chuck-E-Cheese for my birthday figuring the kids would have a blast, but really I wanted to play some skee ball!! Let me just tell you, that we all had a blast!! Even my parents played some of the games! While we weren't necessarily playing any games of skee ball against each other, my sister kept beating my score...that was until the last game!! That's when I finally beat her!!

Lots of fun layers on this using Basic Grey's Oxford collection. I am loving the camera stamp by Unity that I found at my LSS this past weekend too. I stamped that on some American Crafts cardstock and trimmed it out.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

playtime at the park

2011-08-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

I decided to play along with Shimelle's latest Sketch of the Week again this week after taking last week off. Lots of layers on this weeks sketch!! I adjusted the sketch slightly in that I used punched circles around the main focal image instead of paint splatters. I think some of my punches have been feeling a bit unloved lately, so I broke out a bunch of my circle punches in various sizes and just added to the layout until it felt finished. Love the way it turned out and would love to hear what you think.

When I was visiting my family up north a few weeks ago, we went to one of the local parks in the morning for the kids to burn some energy. Matt was ALL over the place, but because he's still not quite big enough to play unsupervised, he kept my sister quite busy!! Julia on the other hand only talked about that fireman's pole...hence why we went to this particular park. She didn't slide down the pole, she climbed up it! It was especially funny when three boys came over and only one of them could climb up it! Julia was sure to point that out, but she did encourage them to try!! She could only climb about half way up (she is only 4), but I give it until next year for her to be able to climb up the entire way!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

adventure

2011-08-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to share this layout for a while, and to honest, I am not sure why it's taken me so long! I had this pattern paper from a Studio Calico kit, that I figured would work great for a title. At one point, however, I had sliced right through the word between the 'ent' and 'ure.' No worries though, I just merged it back together and mounted it onto some black cardstock. Can't even tell it had been cut in half at one time!

There is certainly a lot going on on this layout! I am loving the circle embellishments lately! This set of 9 is from the lesson of the first week of Explore. Since that lesson, I am finding myself making these types of embellishments more and more, instead of relying on florals and/or butterflies! I am still needing to spend some time on Explore and get it finished. I failed miserable at keeping up...I think I made it through 3 days! But with Labor Day coming soon in the US, it also means a 3 day weekend soon...so I will be taking advantage of that time to finish Explore!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

i am so not a morning person

2011-08-25T17:33:00.000-04:00

Quick post today as we go in and out of rain from Hurricane Irene off the coast. It's ironic that I live in Florida, but my sister and her family in Connecticut should be the one's preparing for this Hurricane! Best piece of advice I can give (from someone who survived three Hurricanes in 2004 within a 5 week period, including a Category 4) is to make sure you have everything that isn't nailed down, inside!! But on to the crafty stuff!! I put this layout together for the Starting Point challenge over at Shimelle's blog. You can find it here. I also put it up over at 2peas for their weekly challenge.

I followed the starting point pretty closely, but used papers from my stash. I also didn't hide my journaling on this layout. I have done that in the past, but this layout didn't warrent hidden journaling!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

starbucks

2011-08-22T19:43:00.003-04:00

It's not secret that I love Starbucks!! Those who know me think it's what's running through my veins I am sure!! I do have a cup of coffee everyday, but I only go to Starbucks once a week...it does get expensive if I go more than that! It seems that every season, they release a special drink just for that time of year...in the fall, everyone loves their pumpkin spice latte's (well, everyone except me because I don't like anything pumpkin), one summer it was a mint mocha frappuccino, there was one season with a maple latte (that was super yum in my opinion), and I think there's even a peppermint eggnog latte around Christmas (don't quote me on that one because I also don't do anything eggnog either)!! This summer they have had the mocha coconut flavor...and it's so good!! I get it in frappuccino form of course (I do live in Florida remember...hot drinks are usually only good for a few months down here, then it's all about the cold drinks)! When I was just getting to know the instagram app on my iphone, I took a pic of a freshly made mocha coconut frappuccion...and I just had to scrap that for the memories.

Ok, here's the true story behind this layout. A few months back I decided to try a few Mister Huey mists by Studio Calico. I love the glimmer mists, so I wanted to give these a try since they were a flat mist...more options and all! When my mists arrived, I had to try them out, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to use them on, so I just grabbed this sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 kraft cardstock from my stash. It very well may have already been on my desk waiting to be made into some cards. I honestly can't remember. But the first colors I picked up were Piglet (a light pink) and Pickle (a green). So I put this sheet into a box and misted it with some pink. The results were less then stellar as the pink doesn't really show up to well on the kraft. Then I just shot it with some of the Pickle...which turned out fantastic. Then I set the paper aside figuring I would use it for something, I just didn't know what. I shuffled this sheet of cardstock around my office for a long time...moving it from the desk, to a shelf, back to the desk, over to a different shelf, to a pile over there, to a pile over here!! It just kept moving and moving because I couldn't part with a piece of cardstock that had a bit of mist on it!! Then I took this picture and once I got it back I had an epiphany...that misted kraft cardstock would be perfect for a simple layout about my summer love affair with the Starbucks Mocha Coconut Frappuccio!! Match made in heaven! I don't usually scrap this size, but it works very well for this subject and it add's just a little something extra to my 2011 album!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

spread your wings

2011-08-21T05:00:00.001-04:00

Well, I am officially scrapbooked out!! I finally finished up the last layout for all of the challenges over at Shimelle's blog!! This one is for the Bingo Cards & Butterflies challenge...another inspiration challenge. I found inspiration is the design, color, and choice of butterflies for accents. I don't typically use a lot of yellow on anything...layouts, cards, clothes I wear, etc. However, I am now in love with yellow, black, and grey!! When digging through my stash for the Hot Pink Hoopla challenge (back when I thought I would make a layout for that challenge that used hot pink) I stumbled upon some Teresa Collins Posh papers. I found one that I adored!! I wanted to make it work for the pink challenge, but I just couldn't get it to work with that airplane photo...and I was set on that photo for that challenge. Hence why I didn't actually use pink (you can see that layout here if you'd like). But, I digress into something way off topic!! Back to the paper. Loved this paper that I found...so I set it aside for this challenge!!

I kept my design similar to Shimelle's, but I used a 4x6 photo instead of a bingo card. I also used a much smaller butterfly (by Maya Road).

Since this is a layout from my nephew's baptism, I wanted to keep it somewhat masculine, even though I was using butterflies as my main embellishment. To do this, I first painted the butterfly black. Once that dried, I painted over it with yellow distress crackle paint. I used a thin coat to get the smaller cracks. Then I used my ink blending tool to rub black soot distress ink into the cracks and around the edges. I just lightly cleaned up the surface with a baby wipe. The black ink got into the cracks while the yellow was still on the surface. The title is pretty fitting given the event, and it works with those embellishements too. Ties it all together!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous Sunday!!
Deb

hot pink hoopla

2011-08-20T21:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I must confess...there is NO pink on this layout!! I did this layout for the Hot Pink Hoopla challenge over at Shimelle's blog. Thankfully, however, the challenge was not to use pink, but to use the layout as inspiration...that could have meant pink, but it could also mean many other things. I found inspiration in the smaller box on the layout and the border strip.

I decided not to do a lot of embellishing on the left side of the layout mainly because I didn't want to cover the border strip. I wanted to have those planes showing since this is a layout about the first flight of my trip. I used lots of October Afternoon on this layout, mainly from the Boarding Pass collection, but the background dots are from the Rocket Age collection. I love how well these collections go together!

I hope you had a super Saturday and found some time to do some crafting!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

seniors

2011-08-20T20:33:00.000-04:00

Well, this is the final layout that I did for Shimelle's 'proud to scrapbook' weekend of challenges...and it's for the 3 is a magic number challenge. I don't know about you, but I have really enjoyed all of these challenges!! It's like National Scrapbook Day in August!! Not to mention how many layouts I've scratched off the to-do list! Plus some of these have really challenged me creatively and I am sure I will be saving the post with all of the challenges to my favorites for when I am in a scrapping slump...these will be just what I need to jump start my creativity.

I went a little retro with this layout too...meaning I scrapped another photo from my senior year of high schoo. This time, however, I used a photo from earlier in my senior year instead of graduation. I was in the marching band at my high school for 5 years (we started in 8th grade there) and at the end of each season all of the seniors get together for a photo that is usually given to all of the coaches during the awards banquet...this is a layout of that photo.

For my 3 embellishemnts I made 3 fabric flowers using Glubers. Well, 2 are from fabric and 1 is from ribbon. I've had the Glubers in my stash for a while, but this is the first time I've used them. The design of this layout was inspired by a Real Simple Magazine. I saw it on the stands and was drawn to it, so I picked it up knowing I would use it for scrapbook inspiration. On the magazine cover, there was a cluster of paint sample strips to the right of the main element, hence the flim strip. That's a stamp that I got from one of my Studio Calico kits, and I finally broke it out. I filled in the white space with patterned paper in the same color scheme. Since I used 3 strips, I guess these could count toward the 3 embellishments too.

But, this is my last layout for the weekend of challenges. Two left, the Butterflies & Bingo Cards challenge and the Hot Pink Hoopla challenge. I have one of those done and will post it in a bit. I am almost finished with the other and am planning to have that up on the blog tomorrow. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

staying cool in the pool

2011-08-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

I can not lie, I used to find it so terrifying to just cut into my patterned paper! It would cause my huge levels of stress, anxiety, trauma...I could go on. But then I just did it. And let me tell you...it is so liberating not to fear cutting up that perfect piece of paper...because I have come to realize (and it took me a L O N G time to reach this conclusion), that tomorrow there will be another perfect sheet of patterned paper. So rather than keep things in my stash for months (ok, sometimes years) I am finding that I am using more of what I get now (and using a lot more of what I had already)! I no longer fear cutting up the paper!!!

Enter Shimelle's Chop Your Paper challenge!! This was the perfect challenge for me to do after I stressed out about the sticker challenge (HA!)!!! And I decided to show off my nephew a little because I felt like I was neglecting all the photos of him from my recent vacation!! He is such a fish and, at 2, loves to swim. He needs a little help because he just doesn't quite know how to hold his head up on his own, but it will not be long before he's swimming all by himself!!

I used a lot of Echo Park's Splash collection for this...solid papers, patterned papers, border strips, and journaling cards. I did add some of the new Studio Calico/Hero Arts cloud stamps on the top to balance out the sun. Love those stamps!! Stamp perfectly every time!! And I love that they match the Fiskars cloud punches!! The only non paper embellishment are the buttons...just needed a bit more detail and those doodlebug buttons were perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

cutie patootie

2011-08-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

A stickery challenge...I love stickers but I don't always buy they when I am buying other fun scrappy embellishments because I don't seem to use them on my layouts. So this was a bit of a challenge for me. I have so many old sticker books at home from when my mom would buy us stickers for random rewards when we did good things or stickers from the dentist/doctor...so I love stickers, I just don't seem to love them on my scrapbook pages. So when I saw this challenge amongst Shimelle's weekend of challenges, I knew I would want to give it a go, but I also knew it would probably be one of the last that I tried because it would not come easy!! Then I decided to cheat just a little and use some chipboard stickers...hey they are stickers, right!! Made this layout a lot easier for me to put together!!

This layout features stickers from Crate Paper (yes, stickers and chipboard stickers), October Afternoon, and Fancy Pants. I also used Crate Paper and Fancy Pants patterned paper, a little bit of kraft cardstock, and some white Mister Huey's mist. I used more instagram photos from my recent vacation (of my niece of course, but my sister...her mom...is in the top photo too)!! My sister 'rents' Disney dvd's from our mom (meaning our mom brings new movies every trip and trades them out for the movies they brought the previous trip) and this trip Sleeping Beauty was among the movies that were brought. We watched it two times in as many days. I don't mind as it is my favorite of the princess films. But it was so darn cute when, in the middle of the second time watching it, my niece went over and sat on my sister as she layed on the floor. So of course, I had to capture that moment!!

Happy crafting (if you are finding time to craft this lovely Saturday!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

signature accent

2011-08-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Saturday!! I love weekends and I love not having to work on Saturday! I work in retail, so I usually work Saturday and have Sunday off...but this week it's the opposite. Not that I like working on Sunday (in fact it's my least favorite day to work...even beating Monday) but every so often, I really enjoy having a Saturday off!!

I wanted to start the day off today with a layout that I put together for Shimelle's Signature Accent challenge from her scrappy weekend last weekend (still have a smidge of time left to create for these challenges if you want)!! A few weeks ago I would have said my signature accent is usually a flower or butterfly. Lately I have been in love with little layered circles. But I think that's just a phase I am in right now...I still LOVE my floral embellishments!! So that's what I went with for this challenge!! And I decided to go with homemade florals! Also as of late, if I can make the embellishment rather than buy it, I will! So that's what I did.

For this layout, I used a lot of the Classics collection from American Crafts. It's got of layers and I love it. I also love the photo, which was taken from the instagram app using my iPhone and printed by postalpix (another iPhone app). I can't rave enough about postalpix! Anyway, back to the layout!! I made the flowers using the barcode strip that can be found on the AC papers. I just trimmed them, adhered them into circles, pressed in the center slightly, layered them up (four circles for each flower), and stapled them together in the center with my tiny attacher. Then I just adhered a coordinating button to the center with a glue dot!! Super easy and add's a great element to layouts!!

I am sure to be back later with more layouts for the challenges! If I am counting correctly, I've got 5 left (including the two from this past week)!! Hopefully I get them all done..I'm sure gonna give it the old college try!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

the uss arizona - July 4x6 photo love

2011-08-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

I am super excited to share this layout! I love the idea of 7 photos on one 12x12 layout! I knew exactly what photos I wanted to use. These photos are from our visit to the USS Arizona Memoria back in 2004.

I had to photograph this layout while it was laying down because everytime I stood it up, the accordian fold opened up. I am still trying to figure out how I will keep it closed. Right now I am leaning toward sewing some baker's twine through the back to tie in the front. That should hold everything together in the album. Right now, I just haven't cut the page protector, so it's all in there nice & neatly right now!

Love the accordian on this and all the room for journaling. I took so many photos of the flag that flew above the memorial, so this page is all about that.

And this is the other side of the accordian. And yes, you'll notice more circle embellishment clusters!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

class of '96

2011-08-19T05:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday!! I wanted to share a layout today that I put together for the retro challenge over at Shimelle's blog. This challenge is all about scrapping older photos, meaning photos from before 2011. I got out my old high school albums and decided to scrap some photos of my graduation in (gulp) 1996. All of my high school photos are in 'safe' albums (meaning not magnetic) but they are certainly on my 'to scrap' list, they are just not of high priority on that list since they are already in safe albums and out for people to look at. I was even smart and wrote out all the names of everyone in those photos on little stickers that are placed next to the photo (so really, I could scrap these photos in 20-30 years and know everyone in those photos). So glad I thought ahead on that one!!!

But on to the layout. I used lots of red and white papers, because our colors were, well, red and white!

I am seriously becoming addicted to those circle embellishment clusters! I must make a layout without using them!!! The journaling on this is pretty straightforward and general because I have a TON of photos from this event. I've got photos, like these, that were taken from my parents in the stands and I've got photos that I took from the field! I have always been addicted to taking photos (and apparently documenting everyone in the photos) so it was a natural progression to scrapbooking the following summer!!

I hope you have a wonderful Friday! I will be back later with my layout for the latest installment of 4x6 photo love! Can't wait to share that layout! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

bright eyes

2011-08-18T22:30:00.000-04:00

I am blogging and watching Suits at the same time...so I apologize in advance if this seems to go astray! This has to be my new favorite summer show!! But on to the business at hand...I wanted to post this layout today, and since the day is amost over, it's time I get it up here on the blog!! I put this one together using the digital printables from this post as it is for another of Shimelle's 'proud to scrapbook' challenges from last weekend. I used the girl circles and journal boxes for this layout, combined with some older items from my stash!

This layout features two more instagram photos of my niece from my week vacation visiting family earlier this month. These were taken at Chuck-e-Cheese. We went there for my birthday, figuring the two kids would have a blast...and they did!! For the record, the title letters look really great in real life and are not as washed out as they appear to be in the photo above. This layout it all about how this little girl has that glow in her eye and I can tell that she is destined for greatness. I am so proud to be her Aunt!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

coffee

2011-08-18T05:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Thursday!! I am back with another layout!! I put this layout together for the Grid It Up challenge over at Shimelle's blog. Since the photos that I used are from our 10th anniversary dinner, I used a similar color scheme as I used here. These layouts will sit opposite eachother in my album, so I wanted them to appear to go together!

While the meal at Victoria & Alberts is fabulous, one of the parts of the experience my hubby and I look forward to most is the coffee. It is brewed in a vintage coffee pot right at the table. And, to be honest, it's better than any coffee that is brewed in my pot at home. But that's why we look so forward to this part of the dinner...and another reason it's someplace we go to only so super special occasions. We all need to have things we look forward to!!

I am planning to be back later today with another layout to share. Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

blessed

2011-08-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

I had made this layout a few months ago of me holding my niece at her baptism. That layout didn't have a lot of journaling on it...in fact, it didn't have any. So that was a perfect candidate for the Add To The Story challenge (another in Shimelle's weekend of 'proud to scrapbook' challenges).

I made my addition 8x8, which is a size I don't usually use. However, I had picked up some page protectors in that size thinking I might want to get it a try someday. Someday has come! It's the perfect addition to the page I had originally created.

What I love about this little mini-page addition is that it was made entirely from scraps! I didn't cut into any full sheets of patterned paper! Love when I can do that!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

happy anniversary

2011-08-17T13:00:00.001-04:00

I am back with another layout to share that I put together for the Color Story challenge over at Shimelle's blog. It was another of her 'proud to scrapbook' challenges from this past weekend. If you haven't checked out any of the the challenges you can do so here...and the best news...you have until Sunday the 21st to get your layouts made and posted!! So why not get to some scrapping these next few days!!

This challenge was all about color and using specific colors...red, white, and aqua. I love all three of these colors, but hadn't paired the red & white with aqua before! It's such a lovely combination!! I had a sketch in ming from my little page sketch book that I had been wanting to use, so I decided to use that for the basis of this layout. I also knew that I really wanted to use a wood element from Pink Paislee on this layout as well. As a result, this layout came together quite quickly...once the glimmer mist on that wood element dried!!

Those doodlebug glitter stickers that I used for the title are much more visible in person that they appear to be here! I used a combination of brands for this layout: The Girls' Paperie, American Crafts, Doodlebug, House of 3 for Pink Paislee, Pebbles, and Tattered Angels. Love the simplicity of this layout!

The rose photo was taken with the instagram app on my iPhone (love that app) and printed using the postalpix app. They print square photos in 4x4 and 5x5 and regular sized photos as well, all ordered directly through the app from your phone! I have ordered from them a few times and the shipping is quick and the quality is great!! My only wish is that 3x3 photo printing becomes available soon!!

My hubby and I celebrated our 10th anniversary just over a month ago, and we decided to splurge a bit and got to Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian. It's very a very high class 7 course meal where men are required to wear a jacket. In the 11 years we've been here...we've only every been two other times...that's how MUCH of a splurge it is! They give you personalized menus and you select each of your courses right away at the beginning. There are options for each course, but you pick each of your 7 options right away. It's very yummy and worth it, but only on special occasions! At the end of the meal, each lady is given a long stemmed red rose...this is a photo of that rose!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

all i want...

2011-08-17T09:51:00.000-04:00

I had hoped to get this layout posted last night, but I actually fell asleep really early! My body needed the catch up apparently! So that means today I wil have three posts! I am starting with this layout, which I put together for Shimelle's Starting Point challenge. I think this was the most popluar challenge from her 'proud to scrapbook' weekend!! Of course, it was my favorite challenge!!

For this layout I decided to use a lot of Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas collection. There are only two things on the layout that are not from this collection...the kraft cardstock and the glitter Thickers. I did a lot of layering for the embellishment cluster on the left. I used stickers from the sticker sheet, but backed them with white cardstock so I could use foam adhesive for more dimension.

I loved these photos of my nephew from back in 2009, the year he celebrated his first Christmas. Because of his size, my sister had a hard time finding 'first christmas' clothes that would fit him. Then she found this shirt and thought it was perfect since both of his Aunt's live far away.

I will be back later with another layout share. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Deb

sweet girl

2011-08-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite challenges from Shimelle's 'proud to scrapbook' weekend was the Half Page Challenge. I don't usually create a page with so much empty space, but this was fun and liberating!! Heck, I used to only scrap 2 page layouts, and now I am all about the one pager...so sometimes challenges are good and can really open up the waves of creativity! I will be putting another layout like this again soon, that's for sure!!

Since this challenge was sponsored by Pebbles, I decided to break out some of my Pebbles stash. I used papers and embellishments from the Happy Go Lucky line, with American Crafts Thickers.

Loving that cloud background paper!! Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

sketch of the week

2011-08-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

I am back with a late post today! My blog schedule is quite messed up right now!! I had inteded to get this up earlier, but oh well!! I wanted to share the layout I created for Shimelle's latest Sketch of the Week. It was the first of her 'proud to scrapbook' challenge weekend. This was a fun sketch to work with, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I saw it...down to the photo I wanted to use and the embellishments. That usually never happens, so when it does, I embrace it and run with it!! Here's what I came up with...

I created another layout for our Hawaii album from our vacation way back when (7.5 years ago...WOW time flies)!! I made the flowers using the UPC barcode strip and other strips of patterned paper (American Crafts Margarita collection). Then added buttons on top to finish them off. I stamped the journaling spot and used a details sticker for the title. I painted close to the edge to balance out the design (Jenni Bowlin's Chicken Feed by Ranger).

I knew right away that I wanted to use this photo for this sketch layout! It's of the courtyard/lagoon that was in the center of the hotel we were at on the Big Island. This was before I had a digital camera, so this was taken with my film SLR. This is still probably my favorite photo from our vacation!! I knew I wanted to showcase it on a layout all by itself!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

i love this girl

2011-08-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

I have been absent from the blog all weekend because Shimelle (one of my favorite scrappers and bloggers) has been having a 'Proud to Scrapbook' event on her blog this weekend with lots of challenges. I encourage you to check it out you can enter the layout challenges until Sunday, August 21st!! You can check out all of the scrappy challenges here. As a result of this and my job, I have either been working or scrapping...therefore neglecting the blog a but. But never fear, now I have LOTS of projects to share!! First up is not exactly what I had planned to share first, but BOTH camera batteries are dead (and therefore charging now) and this was the ONLY layout I was able to photograph. I put this layout together for the From The Heart Challenge, which calls for I Heart... or I Love... as part of the title.

This is my niece and I just love this girl!! She's also my Goddaughter and my little buddy!! I first met her when she was 2 months old (I live far away from the rest of my family) at her baptism, where my husband and I were blessed with the honor of becoming her Godparents!! That's when I became known to her as her crazy Aunt Debbie (of course, she doesn't remember that but everyone else does so she's picked it up). I was then able to travel up to see my family when she was about 7 months. On the ride from the airport to my sister's house, I was warned by my parents that my niece was very shy and often needed a bit of time before going to someone she didn't know. But when I walked in the door, my sister handed her right to me...I made a funny face and she immediatly started laughing. No shyness around me what-so-ever...though she was with my parents who she had seen many times more than she had seen me!! Some say it's because I'm her mom's sister and she could sense that...my sister and I, however, agree that it's because I am a goof ball and didn't give her the chance to do anything but laugh!! I didn't include this story on this layout because I have plans for it on another!! Just FYI on that!!

Anyway, I hope you have the chance to check out some of the challenges and maybe even take part in one!! I'll be back tomorrow with another layout to share!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Altered Serving Platter

2011-08-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

I was on vacation last week visiting my family in Connecticut and upstate New York, and while in NY we hit up a few antique shops. I didn't get a lot, only picked up two things, because I didn't want to ship anything home...it was going in my luggage or carry-on. I picked up a vintage milk bottle that I plan to use for small flowers or as a bud vase (after all this time, I don't actually have anything small for single flowers or buds...it was perfect). I also picked up an old silver serving platter that I altered with some pretty patterned paper, ribbon, letter stickers, tags, and a photo of my sweet hubby and I at a concert a few weeks ago (I will share that adventure soon...still trying to get used to being back from vacation...and get back into my crafty groove). I used lots of Authentique on this (from the Journey collection) and added some Papertrey Ink ribbon because it matched perfectly!!

I had originally planned to use the Uncommon collection, but I couldn't find a pattern that I loved for the base of this project. So I pulled some Journey and the paper with the flourish was just perfect!! Then I just started layering. I pulled some doilys from my stash, but the rest is Authentique.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

10 things

2011-08-10T13:12:00.000-04:00

It's the 10th...so that means it's time for another 10 things!! I didn't plan for this months post at all...so I am just going to wing it!! I loved Shimelle's 10 things post about her town (London) and it's making me want to get a passport and take a trip across the pond!! For me, it was the part about the history...since I LOVE history!! But for now, I will hopefully convince a few people to visit my town...Orlando, FL!!

Attractions: We are home to Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios (which...hello...has Harry Potter!!)

Space Travel: A quick drive east and you'll find yourself on the space coast, and while the shuttle program is officially over, it's still a pretty cool place to visit. The VAB (vehicle assembly building) is HUGE and it's a pretty neat sight to take in a launch pad...or even a rocket launch if you visit when one is scheduled!!

Beaches: go east or west and you're going to hit a beach...it's just a given!!

State Parks: Weikiva Springs is a natural spring you can swim in, it's attached to the river that you can canoe up, or you can just have a fun afternoon picnic!! It's a bit of country inside the city!!

Hot Air Balloons: I see them flying every morning on my way to work!! What a great way to see Orlando!!

Water Parks: Don't feel like going to the beach...we've got a few water parks to help beat the heat!! Wet n' Wild, Aquatica, Disney's Blizzard Beach, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon...just to name a few!!

Car Racing: Daytona International Speedway (and world famous beach) are just an hour away!!

Cirque Du Soleil: La Nouba...one word...Amazing!!

Weather: If you like the heat...well, this is your town!!

Discovery Cove: Did I mention that we have a place where you can swim with dolphins??

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

halloween

2011-08-10T12:22:00.001-04:00

I am up next hosting the challenge over at the Papertrey Playhouse!! I have had a busy few weeks and was sadly not able to play along with the last challenge to make a Christmas project. However, in keeping with the holiday theme of that challenge, I thought it would be fun to make a halloweek (or fall themed project if halloween isn't your thing)!! I decided to make a treat bag instead of a card. I figure this will be a just start in getting some fun things made for the people I work with!! Last year, I made everyone little glassine treat bags, this year, I think I make a bunch of these...or something very similar.

I decided to keep the project pretty simple, and yet it took some time to put together! I only used Sweet Treats II for this card, stamping the spider web all over some white cardstock to create my own background. I then used Favor It #3 to create my little bag (love this die...how have I not used it yet)!! I stamped my focal image and sentiment onto some Orange Zest cardstock and punched it out with a 3" circle punch. Then I tied some orange zest ribbon around the treat bag and adhered the focal image using some foam adhesive! Again, pretty simple in design, but packs a lot of punch!! And for a crew of co-workers that LOVE Halloween, this will be perfect...just need to whip up 29 more!! Thankfully I've got time for that!!

So the challenge: Make a Halloween or Fall Themed card, layout, or other project!! Hop on over to the Papertrey Playhouse post and leave a link to your project! I'd love to see what you make!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Deb

Congrats Grad

2011-08-05T05:00:00.002-04:00

Quick post today since I am headed back home to FL. I had a blast visiting my family and a few old friends too!! I wanted to share a layout of my neice, who graduated pre-K this past June. She's growing up way too fast, and will be starting kindergarten in the fall!! I can't believe that!! It's making me feel very old!!

For this layout I used Echo Park's Country Drive collection (and some button dies from Papertrey Ink for that embellishment cluster on the bottom left). The colors in the patterns matched the photos perfectly without taking the focus off the photos!! And how cute is she in that cap & gown??? So proud of her!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Pearl Harbor

2011-08-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

I have another layout to share today!! I haven't worked on layouts for our Hawaii trip album in quite some time, so I thought it would be nice to get back into those layouts since I don't have too many left! This is going to be the first layout in the album for our visit to Pearl Harbor.

Since I have my degrees in American History, and as someone who loves History in general, no trip to Hawaii would have been complete without a visit to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial! Thankfully, as an Army vet, my husband felt the same way!

In keeping with the rest of the album, I used a lot of American Crafts Margarita collection on this layout (there is also some Technique Tuesday, Basic Grey, and October Afternoon as well). Because of the history that surrounds this place, I didn't feel right using some of the brighter papers from this collection, instead, I kept with just the blues and greens. I did this mainly to reflect the palm trees of Hawaii and the blue water. For these layouts, I didn't want to take away from the seriousness, but I also wanted them to flow with the rest of the album. So I just made the collection work for me!! And I LOVE that is does!!!

Hidden journaling on there (much like April's 4x6 photo love class...just flipped around). And I added some stamping too, using a Studio AE stamp set from Technique Tuesday. Those sentiments just fit perfectly!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

I {heart} you

2011-08-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

I had made this card a while ago and never got around to sharing it. I made it right when I got my Background Basics: Chevron Stripes stamp set from Papertrey Ink....so it's been a while! I can't believe I haven't shared it!! I used untraditional 'love' colors on this card...aqua, pink, and white. I think this is going to be amongst my favorite color combos.

I love the simplicity of this card!! That chevron stamp set is so fabulous!! I am going to be playing around with that set again very soon! I also love that, with the exception of the ribbon, this is a single layer card, which means it should mail pretty easily!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Distress Stain cards

2011-08-01T05:00:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago Jennifer McGuire shared a technique over at the classroom blog using Distress Stains, Perfect Pearl Mists, Watercolor paper, and Stamping! I tried it and was instantly hooked. I posted a card for the last week of Summer Card Camp using this techinque (you can see that here). When I was first playing around with this technique I had to try as many stamps and colors out as I could...and as a result, I made a bunch of cards!!

I used plain white Prima flowers and colored them with the distress stains! I don't think I will ever get another package of colored flowers again because I love the customized look of these!! And they match perfectly to the stamped image!! What could be better than that??

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

Nicknames

2011-07-31T05:00:00.002-04:00

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

2011-07-30T05:00:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-21T05:00:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-20T05:00:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-19T05:00:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

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!

2011-07-18T18:14:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-16T22:01:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-15T05:00:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-14T19:16:00.000-04:00

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...

2011-07-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

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!

2011-07-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

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...

2011-07-10T13:39:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-09T23:14:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-08T05:00:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-06T00:20:00.000-04:00

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