And this is why I scrap....

My daughter already loves looking at the pictures of her, but mostly she loves to look at the pictures of other family members too! Whenever she wants to see grammy or papa, we grab the book and she flips through the pages. Her excitement over wanting to see other family members has encouraged me to add more family members into the LO. She is the guiding force of these scrapbooks, so I figure who else would be best to pick the subjects of some of the LO!

 

She also loves playing around in the scraproom - I'm hopeful that I have a little scrapper in training! I just can't wait for the day that we can put a little table and chair set in my scraproom so that we can do projects together!

 

Until then, I'll just settle for letting her play with all of the cut out shapes. They've already proven to be great learning tools. We take all of them out of her bag and talk about shapes and colors! What fun!

 

I'm thinking about putting together some flash cards using my supplies... Anyone have any good ideas or links for those types of projects? Either way, I am hoping that I can now justify some of my scrapbooking spending habits as learning tools - at least that's what I'll be telling the hubby!! Haha!

Tweet

Catching up...

Like many of you out there, we've been dealing with a little bug that started at the babysitter... Hoping we are finally on the backside of the sickness!!! Amidst all of the fun, I've managed to put together a couple of more LO for my Ali Edwards class - I've finally made it to week 11! Yay for me - I'm in the homestretch!

The first couple of pictures are for a pictureless LO called "This I believe." Basically, the task was to put together a list of things that you believe in... I was a bit worried in the beginning that I wouldn't have enough to fill a page, but suprisingly enough, once I got started, the words just started flowing.

The LO was a 2 pages in the 8.5 X 11 inches format. I actually had a lot of fun putting this together - it was a nice change from my usual picture filled LO...

 

This second LO was a 2 page 12 X 12 formatted LO. The task was to basically journal an entire day from start to finish...

 

It was quite a task to make sure I was writing everything down. The finished project was well worth the work though... It's funny how quickly things change - our schedule has already changed somewhat from just a couple of months ago - I'm sure this one will be a fun one to look back on in a few months/years!

 

 

I'm definitley planning on doing this one at least 2 times a year. I think it will be a treasure that not only I will love to have, but my daughter will love to see it when she's older too! TFL!

Tweet

BlueMoon Scrapbooking - LOVE IT!

Yay! I'm so excited! I just found out that I won a give away on the BlueMoon Scrapbooking website. Here is a picture:


Check out their website it's a really fun place to hang out! Thanks BlueMoon for the American Crafts giveaway! Fun Stuff!

Tweet

Still #1!

Our Jayhawks are still ranked #1 baby!!! And on Monday night, we clenched the Big 12 season trophy... This season is shaping up to be another stellar year. But best of all, my dad and I went to the game on Saturday and had a lot of fun! Suprisingly enough, for as long as we've had tickets, we've never actually been together. He's probably the number one reason that I am a fan... growing up, we watched every game on t.v... but it was A LOT more fun watching it with him in the stands... He's definitley one of the biggest Jayhawk basketball supporters, so it was a lot of fun hanging out with him and cheering the hawks onto victory! Thanks for a fun day, Dad!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!

 

 

 

Tweet

So Thankful!

Being a mom has been such a wonderful experience for me. It's definitley changed my outlook on life and what I consider to be my priorities. It's also changed the way I view my relationship with my mom. As a kid, you kind of take advantage of the fact that mom is there and that she does EVERYTHING for you. Now that I am a mom and I'm the one doing EVERYTHING, I can really look back and appreciate all of the wonderful things she's done for me. I can also see the things she does for me now without a second thought to her herself (i.e. coming to our house at the drop of a hat to watch PJ because the babysitter closed unexpectedly; washing our laundry, cooking us dinner...and the list goes on!). Also, I love the relationship that she's built with PJ - they just adore each other!

So today, I just want to say - Mom - YOU ROCK and I appreciate everything you do for me and our family! Love you!

 

 

Tweet

The Verdict Is In....

After 8 responses, the verdict is in....Pattern Paper is the Winner! Although, I would like to mention that several of you liked both, so I still want to give my cardstock friend some props!!! Thanks to all of you who replied - we can all be happy knowing that we share each other's crazy paper fetish! In fact, one of my friends, Katey refers to us as the "paper snobs!" LOL!

Today's LO is another Easter theme... after another weekend filled with ice and snow, it was fun to think more about springtime... Would love to hear what you think!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Tweet

Cardstock or Patterned Paper?

If you had to choose one or the other, which one would it be?
If you asked me a year ago, I'm sure that I would answered this question very emphatically with a 'cardstock' response while adding little bit of "why are you asking me such a silly question" attitude attached to it. Boy, times have changed for me... I actually used to be scared of using patterend paper and probably would have freaked out had anyone given me a project that involved using more than one form of patterend paper. I also would have told you that anyone that uses more than one patterned paper on a LO just couldn't make their mind up on which one to use so they used both...

Today, I would definitley answer this question with... 'patterned paper' and would have used slightly less attitude in my response (that's what a baby does to you!). This LO is an example of my willingness to try new things and to try different bright colors and use them together...

 

So what will it be for you? and you can only pick one....
please leave a comment - would love to hear what you think!

Tweet

Pretty, Pretty...and a Prius

So, lot of my family and friends and fellow bloggers have been asking me a lot of questions about my Prius and whether or not it's really safe and whether or not I will have to have a tiny piece of metal the size of a quarter installed to repair the accelerator issues (which I still find odd). I've also received a lot of questions about whether I will buy another Prius in the future. Let me just start off by saying... I LOVE the car! I drive around 30 miles per day and get right around 50 miles per gallon. So for me, the idea of saving a ton of money AND saving the environment means a lot. I love being able to fill up my tank, drive all week and spend less than $15.00. That's right folks, $15.00 TOTAL! I've been reassured by Toyota that because my car is a 2008, that they software glitches that the newer models have are non-existant in mine. To this date, I have not experienced any issues with the accellerator or the brakes. I did, however, take heed to the the floormat issue that was originally released and removed it, but other than that we are good to go!

Okay, so now for a LO. I'm really pleased with how this LO turned out.

 

I used my Tim Holtz Crackle Paint on some chipboard pieces to get the effect listed below. It took a good 3 hours for the paint to dry before the letters were ready to be added to my page.

 

Here is a shot of the journaling spot I used. It was a sticker on an October Afternoon kit that I got about a million years ago. On all of the black and white pieces I tinted them with the new Shimmerz Spritz color - barn door - I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out...

 

I also utilized a recent purchase of some really cute Jenni Bowlin Bingo Cards and Calendar Cards. In addition, I used some fun Archivers flowers along the ribbon border and added some buttons that I picked up from a kitchy antique store in my little town!

 

As a Prius owner, I am one of those granola types that loves to recycle and re-use whenever possible. That's why I love visiting antique shops and picking up little pieces here in there... That's where I picked up my Smith Corona too... next on the hunting list... some (really) old door keys!

Re-use, and Recycle when possible...Happy Thursday Everyone!

Tweet

New Tool and a LO!

For Valentine's Day the hubby and I decided to make a purchase for something that we we really want. The thing I decided to get was a Epson 1400 wide format printer and I am SO EXCITED to get to use it! It prints images up to 13X19 and I love the image quality it creates - Now I will be able to finish up the rest of the LO for Ali Edward's class and start doing more hybrid LOs...

Today's LO is called "Doing that thing YOU do." I've been loving my BG Origins pack and have been getting a lot of good use out of it....

 

I used thickers and the BG letters included in the pack to do the title work....

 

Here is a close-up of the corner do-dad - that's what I like to call those!

 

And of course my signature date tabs....

 

Would love to hear what you think - and thanks for stopping by!

Tweet

Looking for the Easter Bunny!

I am so ready for spring to start! We've pretty much had snow on the ground non-stop for the past 2 months - I am looking forward to the 60s and 70s and getting all of my fun spring clothes back into the daily mix...

Here's a sweet picture that Jake took of PJ and I on Valentines Day - she is just the sweetest little thing! She's wearing a cute little shirt that says "World's cutest valentine."

As for LO - I have been working on a lot of paper projects lately and I'm going to share a spring LO with you from last Easter. Haven't really been doing a lot of 2 pagers, but it just made sense with the supplies and pictures that I was using - would love to hear what you think!

 

Tweet

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Have a Great Valentine's Day everyone

Tweet

Good Times and thankfully no accumulating snow!!!

I've been reading a lot of other people's posts lately and have realized that I'm happy that I don't live on the Atlantic Coast... Man - you guys are really getting hit with a lot of snow right now - good luck with that... We've been complaining a lot in the midwest about how much precipitation we've been receiving, but you guys are set to get another foot of snow on top of the 30 inches you got over the weekend - Yikes! I'm just glad it's not us... :)

I've finished another LO using My Scrapbook Nook's February Kit. I had fun using the different browns and yellows. Up until now, I've primarily focused on using one color of cardstock and one patterend pp. Here is an overall look of the LO below:
For the journaling, I used my typewriter again - Oh how I love my Smith-Corona!

I've recently purchased a set of four bottles of the Shimmerz spray and will be doing a product review on that in the near future...In the meantime, I thought I would share a close up of an attempt to use the spray on fabric... Didn't work out so well - at least not using the white - bummer!

This time, I've decided to shake it up a bit. I really wanted the focus of the LO to be on the pictures, so the title work is a bit blended into the background paper. In real life, the title work shows through a little better...
My next project is going to be scrapping our Easter photos from last year - I've already picked out the paper and the supplies, so that should be a fun one! Stay tuned!

Tweet

Product Review - Tim Holtz' Distress Crackle Paint

For those of you who are regular readers, you may have noticed that I am trying out some new things to sort of add of some new spunk to my pages. One of the newest items that I have been tryingout is Tim Holtz's Crackle Paint. I decided that I would test out the product on a piece of chipboard to be used in a future LO. I didn't realize it when I purchased the bottle that it had an application brush built into the lid...wanted to be sure you all knew that so you didn't make the same mistake I did and buy separate brushes - silly me! I discovered that if you want the crackle to really show through, you will want to put a good thick layer on your chipboard. However, I would note that if you put a good thick layer, you are going to have to give it a few hours to dry. Below is a picture taken immediately after application. The picture listed below was taken approximately 20 minutes following the application. As you can see the crackle begins to take place on the corners as it dries...

Overall, I would give this product an A+; I think it brings a little something different to the page - you just have to be willing to let it sit for a good 24 hours before you put the finished product in the page protector. Enjoy!

Tweet

Fun News and some BG Bling

Happy Tuesday everyone! I wanted to take a quick minute to share some fun news. I received a letter in the mail letting me know that someone nominated me for my high school Athletics Hall of Fame - how exciting! A commitee of 16 people will be determining who will be selected and the inductees will be honored at the Homecoming Football Game in the fall. For me, the nomination was truly unexpected and a great honor and feel blessed that someone would think of me for this honor!

As for the BG bling... I wanted to share one of my recent LO that I've completed. I used my February Nook kit that consists of mostly Basic Grey papers. I tried a new technique of using the embroidering floss on my page... Here is a view of the finished LO:
Here are some closer looks at the embroidering floss:


Here is a quick peek at the journaling:

I had a lot of fun using this new technique - I would encourage anyone who is looking for something new and fun to add this to their list to try. Have a good day everyone!

Tweet

You're a Hoot - tearing technique

Like many of you, I'm always looking for new things to try when it comes to scrapbooking. Today, I would like to share the LO I completed this week called - You're a Hoot. On this LO, I tried out the ever cool tearing technique. Here is a quick peek at the project in progress...

I started off by sewing the solid color to the printed paper background using my Singer Sewing machine making sure that I left a quarter inch of paper beyond the sewing line. After that I just made my way around the paper tearing at different angles back to the edge of the sewing line. In addition to tearing, I also made sure to bend and curl sections of the edges for more effect. After I completed the tearing, I began adding embellies, pics and journaling...

For the journaling, I simply got out my Smith Corona typewriter (found at a local antique shop) and typed out a couple of short rows of journaling. Then, I cut strips and inked the edges to add dimension.

I finished off the LO by adding some pompoms and what seems to be becoming one of my signature finishes - a date stamp from the date the pictures were taken...

Here is the finished look:

I would encourage anyone who is interested in trying something new to try this technique on their pages - it brings a lot of dimension and interest to the page and it's also FUN!

Tweet