Places We Go Mini Album

I found this mini album at Michaels on clearance for 70 cents. It was just so cute I couldn't resist. I had never worked with a shaped mini before, and once I got the cover the way I wanted it, I really enjoyed it. The cover was just flat chipboard and I really had a hard time figuring out what to do with it. I covered it in paper, and tried a few things, but I was lacking dimension, so I traced and cut out another car out of thick corrogated cardboard. I cut windows into that and sandwiched some Sassafrass Lass between the layers. I cut the things that go over the wheels out of the thicker cardboard as well, and covered the whole thing in thick Gesso. I pained it bright red over that. Once I got the cover done the rest was easy. Well, thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great day.

Grungepaper Button Jar

While we are on the subject of grungepaper (we were on the subject of grungepaper, right?) I want to post a project I did quite a while ago, but never posted. I made this out of an empty jar of spagetti sauce ('cause you know how I hate to throw anything away). I made the topper just a little bit larger than the jar lid and it fits very snugly. I wanted brighter colors, so I basecoated the grungepaper in white and then used Dusty Concord and Broken China Distress Ink to color it. The stitching was done by piercing the holes first and then going back and stitching. The backround stamp is Prima and the bird is a Tim Holtz stamp.

Along the bottom of the jar I cut two layers of 'grass' by hand, inked them with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, and used some Tim Holtz stamps on the backround. I added some Patina stickles in a couple areas for a little more texture. I absolutly love how the grungepaper could curl and hold it's sahpe. Super cool stuff. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Grungepaper Roses

You know how there are those projects that you always intend to do? You see something and say, wow, that is neat. So you go out, but the stuff and it sits around forever, just waiting for you to get to it? That was me with the grungepaper flowers.

But today I finally sat down and made a couple. The lavender one I used my Cricut Plaitin Schoolbook cartridge to cut out 2 1/2 inch flowers, and the brown flower I made a template. Who knew Vintage Photo Distress Ink matches my favorite hat exactly?! I used the tutorial on Wendi Vecci's blog

I had one fine time getting any adhesive to work. I eventually just got out my glue gun and used hot glue to hold it together. I used Distress Ink in Dusty concord and Vintage Photo, Stayzon ink in Timber brown and some Vanilla Breeze glimmer mist.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

I've been going through a bunch of older pictures. The pics on this layout are from when my sweet little Kevin was only 5 months old! I had a bunch of scraps from my Sassafras Lass Hog Wild collection and I cut them up into little strips, sewn down the middle. I got the idea from the Prima blog and I thought it was a great way to use up all of those itty bitty scraps!

JacksonBelle Tuesday Challenge

Well, I went a little overboard with this one. The challenge was to make a card with some of the new products in the Jacksonbelle store, and when I started with the Earth Love paper by Cosmo Cricket, I just couldn't stop, LOL! Sometimes you just get in one of those moods. you know? And I simply adore Stampavie stams! While I was making cards I decided to do another Jacksonbelle challenge, from the week before. The challenge was to make a Halloween card. I don't know if the previous weeks challenge is an entry to the contest or if it isn't , but I used this inkadinkado stamp and a little kitty die cut from Paper Doll Dress up. The paper is Cloud 9. Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Because you should never waste the Sass

This week I decided to try something new and play along with Pink Sketches. Here is what I came up with for Sketch 46.

I absolutly loved Sassafras Lass's Hog Heaven collection. I've never use a paper pack so thoroughly before. I even used the backing sheet that the sticker letters came from on this layout! I also used some trim, grungepaper hearts and buttons from my stash. Thanks so much for looking. Have a great day!

Some new cards to share

I got a little time to be creative this afternoon. Thank you Kevin for taking an extra long nap for Mama! I made a birthday card for my youngest nephew. It's not his birthday yet, but since he can't read I feel safe posting it. ~wink~ I used the Card Positioning System sketch of the week. They have a really fantastic prize up for grabs. I used an inkjet transparancy for the center portion of my card. I went into Microsoft Word and used the 'wordart' feature to get the font that way. I like that it adds a shadow effect behind the words. In this picture you can se the 'transparency' part better. The patterned paper is DCWV and the stamp is Martha Stewart. After I finished this card I went out to check the mail. I had the happiest little suprise in there! My buddy Shemaine sent me some sweet goodies and I immediatly went to work with them! Sarah Kay reminds me of my sister, Joy. So I colored her in to match! I used this weeks sketch at 2sketches4you. Stamped image is Sarah Kay and patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket.

Creativity is...

I wanted to share a little project I did a few months ago. I bought a bunch of teas that came in boxes. The boxes were so cute, that I ended up buying a lot more tea then I needed. I love recycled crafty goodness! I also love this quote stamp by Tim Holtz. "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to check out the Creative Mini Albums Blog. My work is being featured there this week!

Operation Showers of Appreciation

Check out this amazing quilt! Isn't it fab? Jessica made it. I just love her sense of style. She is quite the crafty one. And she uses the word 'gnarly' in sentences. What could be better? Jessica made this quilt to be raffled off by Scrapbook Royalty. 100% of the proceeds are going to benefit Operation Showers of Appreciation. Go ahead, click on the link. I'll wait. Anyhow, for those of you that didn't click on the link...Operation Showers of Appreciation is a volunteer based organization that assists active duty and active duty reserve military and their families expecting babies. OSOA honors these families for the many sacrifices they have made in a unique way by providing baby items and hosting large scale baby showers in their honor. I am a military wife myself. My husband is in the Navy Reserves. While I was pregnant with our son my husband was away with the Navy. Fourtunatly, with him being in the Reserves I was still around my family and friends who helped me get through the complications of my pregnancy and take care of me through 4 months of bedrest. I really feel for the military wives that DON'T have family around to help. I know first hand how tough deployments are on families, so this is really dear to my heart.

Buy your tickets here

You can purchase one ticket for $5 and for every $20 you spend you get two extra tickets. How awesome would it be to win this? And even if you don't win, you get the warm fuzzy feeling inside of you when you do something nice for someone.

A Day in the Life

I started this mini album ages ago, but I only got around to finishing it last week. The cover started with an inspiration from my friend Shemaine, I loved how she used crackle paint on exposed corrugated cardboard. I used a box I had and just stripped the top layer off of it. I used some paper from Prima, some trim that I got on clearance, rub ons and Thickers by American Crafts and the flower and butterfly pin were yard sale treasures.For the inside of the book I used coordinating papers from Daisy Ds. I also used my Basic Grey journal stamps. Believe it or not I never thought of using them on patterned paper before.

I have a huge stash of vintage buttons and a they really coordinated nicely with the paper. I used some Prina Say it in Crystals on the page above.

The felt die cut is Prima and for the bird I used the negative of my die cut. I inked it with Distress Ink and used it as a mask, stamping over top of it. The tickets are Mellisa Frances.The pages of the album itself are made from cereal boxes. I love projects that use things that would otherwise be thrown out. The mats for the pictures are made from the same box I made the cover of the album with. I just painted them with crackle paint.

I really enjoyed making this mini. It really is amazing what you can do with some pretty patterned paper and cereal boxes. Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a great weekend.ETA sorry the pictures are a little weird. Our other computer is in the shop for a few days, and that is where my jpegs are stored. I'll fix the pictures when it comes home.

Hey Dad!

Eventually, you reach the place in your life where you aren't scrapping 'cute' stuff about your kids anymore. It's a lot fun to scrap first smiles and the adorable antics of toddlerhood, but you wake up one day and your kid is 11. Thank God I still have Kevin. This page is about Larry and Noah's obsession with Death Match. ~Rolling eyes~ I don't get it, but they bond over virtually killing each other. Noah's code word for it is DM (because I am an overprotective parent who refuses to allow her 2 year old to view violence and he sweetly took it a step further by not saying the word 'death'). I used Basic Grey papers for this one. Thanks for stopping by and have a great September!

You Are My I Love You

Here is a layout I made following a sketch on Inspired Blueprints. This photograph means so much to me. My sister took it of Kevin and I. We were playing around with the settings. And I wish we could say we did it on purpose, but... Anyhow, I think this photograph just captures the essence of our relationship, just WHO we are together. For the layout I used Fancy Pants Daydreams collection. Yes, I used pink and purple to do a layout of my little boy, but this is for my album, not his, so I figured I would try to get away with it. Thanks for stopping by today.

Aloha!

Two posts in one day, isn't that a treat. I almost forgot that today is the deadline over at 2 sketches 4 you challenge blog. I made this card using Imaginescince snag 'ems stamps (Now available at Michaels- YAY) I saw these at my LSS, didn't buy them and then next thing I knew they were out of business. So I was really happy to get these little guys at last. I wanted to stamp an 'Aloha' sentiment on the card, but I had a problem with doing it on the glittered paper. So, instead of ruining my card, I put the sentiment on the inside. I colored in the Penguins with Radient Pearls and some watercolors. Thanks so much for looking.

Circular Layout Summer Means

I don't really do many shaped layout, but this was a challenge at embellished.ning.com a couple weeks ago. I used some Scenic Route paper. I loved the summery look of it. Also appearing are another part of the jeans I cut up. I made the tree paper piecing a while ago following a pattern from Scrapbooks Etc. I actually have a nicer tree that Jill made for me in a swap, but this was on my table and in hand's reach, so on it went. I made the title letters with my Cricut and inked and sketched around them to give them a little more interest. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great day.

An American Boy

I did this layout following Becky Fleck's pagemaps contest sketch. I love the pagemaps sites, but I most often use the card maps. The theme for the contest is Summer, and you can't get anymore summertime than 4th of July. I combined paper from My Mind's Eye, Sassafras Lass, and K&Co. I use a piece of denim to mat the photo. The alphabets are doodlebug and KI memories. Thanks so much for looking. Have a fantastic day.

Amazing Eyes

I made this layout for a contest over on the Embellished.ning group. I didn't get very far in the contest. I guess you win some and you lose some. I love entering challenges though because, even if you lose, you got inspired and motivated to make something. That is almost a prize in itself. I really love how the layout turned out. I stamped the piece of plain canvas under the picture with Red Brick Distress Ink. Then I frayed the edges a bit to give it more of a distressed look. This is one of my favorite recent pictures of Kevin. The kid has amazing eyes, so I am very happy with the picture and I'm very happy that it is scrapped and in the books, so to speak.

These kids grow like weeds!

I sometimes look at the kids and wonder where time has gone. It is amazing how they continue to grow and change each day. For the 'TWO' layout I used some Fancy Pants paper that I adore. I've been hoarding it forever and I'm really sad that I cut into it. I also repurposed a pair of jeans that were torn I frayed them a bit extra for the look I wanted. The idea of gluing it down or busting out the sewing machine at that moment gave me a headache, so I used my trusty stapler. I really like how it turned out. In this layout I used some older Basic Grey paper that I loved. I also used some felt and vinyl thickers. Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a fantastic weekend!

Friday Faves

Wow, I really had planned on updating a little more this week. I had layouts and everything. Serious! But we snuck in a mini vacation to Knobles this weekend. I went camping in a tent for the first time. We had a great time. And it's just been a little bit of a crazy, short week. So, for now I will give you my fave fives of the week, but stay tuned for some layouts and stuff tomorrow . 1. This week would have to be Knobeles. It's fun, and very family and budget friendly. All of their prices are reasonable, even on the concessions. We really loved it. 2. Pain medicine. Of any kind, but mostly Aleve today. I'm still having pain from the car accident I was in a couple months ago. And I got my back readjusted. Now nobody can say I'm out of whack. Anyhow, Aleve is my friend today. 3.Summer CHA. Nothing is more fun than looking out for sneak peeks from my favorite manufacturers.Search #chasummer on twitter so you don't miss a beat! craft and hobby association 4.Photo editing software. The software that came with my camera is complicated. I'm still learning it. But I've been using Aurora and I really like how easy it is to use. I love how it shows you how different things will look in one screen. And it is really cool that sometimes you can take a really crappy photo and make it much better and more interesting through the editing. 5.The way a two year old, who is learning to talk says things. Kevin's vocabuary is just growing by the minute. And the way he says things just kills me (oh, wait, that is my back...) Favorite new words this week include Choceeeeee!! (that would be chocolate) and Drackee!(tractor)and sh*t (meaning SHIRT) but it really makes us giggle when he says it. Blogger is not letting me upload pictures at this point :( But I'll try to come back and add some in later

Friday Faves

Well, everybody is doing Friday faves, so I'm just gonna hop on the bandwagon with you all. Pretty sure I owe someone credit for this, but I don't know who. 1.My first fave is my friends. Particularly Danielle, Jill and Amy, who gave me blog awards. And I've been lame and doing other stuff and I haven't had a chance to pa pass it along. But they are my girls and they are sweet. I'm lucky to have them in my life. 2. Potty training. Our first day of potty training went really well. I will spare you the gruesome details that only a mommy could love. But we are getting there and I think that Kevin is finally ready! 3. Goodnight Moon, by Margret Wise Brown. I've always wanted to read with Kevin. But he is not the sort of kid that sits still. EVER. And lately he is wanting me to read to him. I've already read Goodnight Moon to him twice today. 4. Magic Jack. You pay 40 bucks for it at Walmart, Plug it into your computer and plug it into your phone. And your calls are free for a year. I ended up calling the phone company and switching to the bare bonesiest non package thing they have for 15 bucks a month (since we get out Internet through the phone company and I wanted to keep my phone number). The Magic Jack does give you a new phone number, but that is the only downside that I see. We will save $430.00 off of our phone bill this year. That is a lot of paper. 5. PBS I used to watch it when I was a kid, before my mother went nuts and threw out our television. I love watching Mr.Rodgers and Sesame Street with Kevin because they are the same shows that I watched as a kid. I'm not going to lie, Sesame Street has changed a lot. It took me a while to warm up to it. But Kevin loves it. He really really does. And motherhood is all about compromises. Happy Friday, Peeps!