Caardvarks Challenge!

The first Caardvarks challenge of 2010! It's a sketch... and here's my take...


Supplies: Light pink card base, Patterned Paper: Words, Bo Bunny; Stripe, Making Memories, Heart, Prima. Letter Stickers, Heidi Grace. Scallop Border, hand cut on brown cardstock, Swirl Acetate, Hambley.

This is a pic of the sketch. If you want to join in, post your card by midnight tomorrow! I'm a procrastinator, a day in advance is pretty good!


Have a great day!

Cool in the pool...

For those of you who wish it was warm enough to be at the pool swimming... This is Elan (2) swimming on his own at the pool this summer. He was leery of the water for several week, but by July, he was jumping in and swimming on his own. I love his little face in these pictures- he is so tickled with himself!

This LO came together rather quickly- just using what was in sight on my desk (or floor). It's not my best, but it gets the point across! ;)

C'mon and get crafty...

Put on a happy face! He- he! Lately, with this snowy, cold weather, all I want to do is sit in my craft room and create! Oh, and drink eggnog with bourbon...

The last couple of days, I have made several cards and scrapbook layouts. My mojo is back and going full steam ahead! I have to spread 'em out though, to keep you comin' back for more!

This paper was "pre-stitched" by Prima. I added my own touches with a handmade tissue paper flower, a border strip, and some half moon pearls from Basic Grey.

This layout is special because it tells about Mac's sensitivity. I want to remember these moments forever (one of the reasons I scrapbook, so I don't forget the "little" things that are actually the "BIG" things in the grand scheme of life! And I have a terrible memory!)

Journaling reads: "You cry during touching movies. You worry when someone gets hurt. Just watching Anna or Elan get checked at the pediatrician can send you into a river of tears. Being scolded by Daddy breaks your heart, and it's only happened a few times! You are moved to tears if you think about me being home alone while you all are at school, you don't want me to be lonely! Road kill crushes you. We once saw an opossum get hit by a car- you became uncontrollably distraught. You have such a tender heart. I love that you are sensitive and aren't afraid to show it. I love you and adore your precious heart and sensitive soul."

Have a great night! I'll be back tomorrow with some more sharing!

Yahoo! I made top 3!

I made top 3 at the Die Cuts R Us challenge last week with my LO of Anna's 3rd birthday! (Scroll down to see). Die Cuts R Us is also having a design team call... I am trying out for the team, so wish me luck! I already submitted my work and I'm gonna just hope for the best! To find out more, or try out for the "team", go to their blog here. Good luck to you!

While I'm here, I thought I would also share some snow fun pictures! The kids had a ball sledding! (Yes, so did I!) Mac ended up with a fat black eye from running into a wooden play set, but other than that, it was a blast!

Won't these pictures be a blast to scrap?! Snow much fun...

Tissue Paper + Chipboard

Greetings! I thought I would share with you how to cover chipboard with tissue paper. I have made several mini albums covered in tissue paper. It's easy, cheap and has a really interesting look. And, if you are like me, you always have tissue paper, especially crumpled, wrinkled, tissue paper!

I wanted to make an album to put all of my years past Christmas cards in. It's fun to look back and see how the kids have changed. So, here's how ya' do it:

Choose a chipboard album. This can be any size or you can use shapes. Then, choose your tissue paper. Mine was leftover from a gift I had received for Christmas (notice the wrinkles?).
Then, crumple your tissue into a ball to wrinkle and crease it even more. Grab a glue stick- I love the Pioneer brand embellishment glue stick, but and will do.Then, cover your chipboard with the glue stick entirely, making sure to get the edges really well.Open up your tissue and lay it on top of your chipboard with the glue on it. Smooth it out with your hand. It will be wrinkly, and that is what it's supposed to look like. After the glue has dried (about 20 minutes or less) trim the edges to remove the excess tissue paper. Then, take a piece of fine sandpaper or a file and smooth the edges. The page will look "shabby chic" and have the look of handmade paper. After your chipboard is covered, you can decorate it to your liking. I just added my holiday photo card and a date and I was done!

Here is the cover of the album and some of the inside pages:
I mixed up my pages to make it fun! Some are covered in red tissue and some are covered with the Mistletoe line from Making Memories.

Enjoy! Winter weather is the perfect time for crafting at home!

Home... cozy home...

I am a total homebody. I never liked spending the night out as a child, and one long vacation to the beach each year is good enough for me! I like to be home with all my children here with me. Weekend scrapbook trips are perfect getaways, but I'm always glad to be back home in my surroundings.
The house we are in now, we plan to stay in for a long while. There is lots to do and we plan to spread the big projects out over the years! I took a picture of our house this summer and really liked the way it turned out, so I sat it aside to scrap. When I got my November Studio Calico kit, I loved the papers and knew it would be perfect for my "home" LO. I am really trying to simplify my projects these days. I don't want to spend a bunch of time fretting over which button to use and where it should go, or deciding over papers, etc. I felt like I overcame my fear of "white space" in this LO. The layout is simple, but it works and I love it!

On another note, we have lots of snow here! It is beautiful, and our neighborhood looks like its been covered with a big, fluffy, white blanket! The kids played in it all afternoon and we are hoping for a snow day tomorrow to go sledding. The big Wrig (our yellow lab) has had random bursts of energy all day and playing in the snow with the kiddos has made him so happy (and certainly sleepy tonight!). Lovin' life in January 2010 so far...

Welcome 2010 + Challenge

Happy New Year! I welcome 2010 with open arms! I am up for some challenges, serious craft time, staying organized, and trying new things (like my new Cuttlebug that Stephen gave me for Christmas and some mists). I vow to be more calm and not to sweat the small stuff!

2010... bring it on!

To start the year off right, I am posting my first challenge submission for 2010 to Die Cuts R Us. I just ordered from the DCRU shop and they ship super fast! I purchased embellishments and some embossing folders for my new Cuttlebug that I haven't used yet! :) DCRU has fantastic prices too, so check it out!

The challenge is to make something inspired by the colors that are in the DCRU logo, which is this:

And this is what I came up with, all color inspired, but I also took a cue from the stuff she is holding to make my 4 rectangle boxes to the right of the LO:

The photos in this LO are pretty bad. It was Anna's 3rd birthday and we had her party outside, there was a lot of shade and shadows. Oh well... Anna loved all the purple and pink!

Hope you all have a great evening! We are expecting snow here, and lots of it! Hopefully, the kids will be out of school tomorrow and we can all go sledding! I have a craft plan for the evening, after the kiddos hit the sack since my DH is in Texas. I plan to share more tomorrow!