fancyscrapper

Addys for Class Instructions

2010-10-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, fellow scrappers! This weekend I'm teaching 4 (maybe 5) classes in a Mini Scrappy Retreat right here in town. I'm super excited about it, and have been putting kits together all week. We will be doing 2 Scrappy Layouts, an Exploding Box (like the one I made for Kath's birthday), and a mini book with hand-stitched pages. I pondered over how to send the unused kits home with the guests who opt. to spend their time crafting on their own projects instead of following along with the classes. Plus there is one guest who will only be staying one day instead of both days, and I wanted her to have the benefits of taking the kits home that we'll do the day she's not there. But how will she know what to do with the materials if I'm not there to tell her?

Bing! Dawn's the light! I found instructions on-line! All my friends who will do these projects with me can just refresh their memories on how to do these projects by copying and pasting a link right here in my own little blog. The instructions for the mini book are actually the original ones that I saw and altered for my own style. So glad to have found it again!

So here goes:

Here's the addy to the exploding box: http://tinyurl.com/ye86j4

And the video instructions for the mini book: http://tinyurl.com/23hebo2"

So for those of you who did NOT get to join us (sad face here!), you can see a couple of things we did this weekend.

Tim Holtz

2010-08-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

I made a mini-rolodex of stamps featuring Tim Holtz! I love his creative style, and look forward to eventually getting a copy of his book "A Compendium of Curiosities."

The Artist's Way

2010-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

There is a book by Julia Cameron I've recently heard about. My friend said it's like a twelve step course for artists. It's a course in discovering and recovering your creative self. In the book, the artist is encouraged to free-journal 3 pages every day. She says not to read back over what you've written for at least 7 months.

Hmm. That would totally be a challenge. Not to read back over what you write? Really? Well, since I can totally relate to some artist buddies' skitzy mental ADD attitude sometimes, I think if they are lovin' the 3 page journalling, I probably would as well. I've not committed to such a thing before.

I should probably just get the book. I'm into creativity.

Donna Downey

2010-07-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here I am with Donna Downey! She is absolutely amazing!

Here's my favorite page out of the sample album Donna passed around. I got pics of every page, but I'm not sure she wants those shared around unless you get them from her site or at her class. She was so sweet! She said we could take pics of anything at all, and could even touch her hubby's hair! This was funny since she'd said there was a guy at the Atlanta Gift Show who told Bill, "I really like your hair!" Bill said that was kinda weird.

This is the only pic I got with Bill in it, and it's out of focus! Yikes!

Here's some goodies just waiting for me to play!

I'm working on completing the album today. Of course, I may not actually finish it today, but I'm working on it!

Tabbed Tall Mini

2010-05-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I love this album! It's still a work in progress, but I'm having a great time just putting in pictures and embellishments that make me happy. In fact, that's what I decided to make this whole album about. The title is "This Makes Me Happy." I chose a paper line that I simply adore, and is no longer available. I bought it at JoAnn's in Alpharetta, and it's made by Colorbok. It's called "Memory Boutique," and I don't think they made much of it. When I found that they were clearing out all they had left at stupidly low prices, I made a game of finding all the JoAnn's I could within a 45 minute driving range. I spent a lovely afternoon chasing down the sales. I was spending some time alone, and really had a blast doing it.

The next few pics are sideways. It seems that the problem stems from my camera. It formats the pictures in horizontal or vertical position based on internal programing. Then the pics are sent to my computer thusly. I turn them in my programs and files in my computer, but blogger does not take this into account. So there you have it.

The first open page of the album features my guy. The "house" you see here is our first Christmas ornament. I made a large shot of it, and cut the house out. Now that the ornament is over 20 years old, the fireplace is not always lit. I love that there are matching purple mugs and cute pillows on the hearth. It's so "US!"

Also, you see a pic of me on Charlie's lap huggin' on his head. We have such fun together. I love that we can recall the joys of early romance even in the midst of our middle years. Gotta keep that affection alive ON PURPOSE and not let life's challenges get in the way of what's REALLY important!

The next page features a journal block at the top that says, "My favorite fellow in my favorite setting." And the picture below shows him on a raised boardwalk on the east coast of Florida.

Then there's the sad sideways shot of the two pages together. :(

And I am so pleased with how the next page has turned out! I only have a sneak preview for you here. I used my cricut and layered papers with a black and white cutout of my two oldest girls all dressed up for a dinner out with friends. This definitely makes me happy!

Art Journal 4

2010-05-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

So. No matter HOW I turn my photo, it seems to come up sideways. If anyone has a clue as to how I can make the picture turn the right way, I'd love to hear it. I'm not lovin' the Blogger way of photo uploading. I may find that wordpress is better, but for now, I continue to be frustrated with the photo side of this blog. And photos are such a big part of the whole point of having a fancyscrappin' blog!

Enough grumbling.

It's been a great crafty weekend, and I have more to share if I can get it to work right. First, I have posted the last project I did this weekend, which was this journal page. I made a comment to my Honey yesterday that my love language is "Quality Time," and he said it's just not that simple or clean cut for me. He added that I'm more complex of an individual, and little bits of ALL the love languages linger in my personality.

So I made this journal entry. I'd already painted the pages a few days ago, and I'd tried a "resist" technique by stamping and embossing the flourishes on the main page before painting it. It was a fun project.

I've been wanting to use my tools more, so I used a Sizzix Sizzlet set "Eternal Love" for the lettering. I looped the lowercase "l" over the "O" overhead. I'm really happy with how it came out.

Also, on the opposing page, I wrote in white ink, which I think stands out quite nicely on the dark background. Though I didn't take a pic of it, in the folder is a pull-out tag on which I printed all five of the Love Languages (Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Physical Touch, and Words of Affirmation).

I totally love the concept of Love Languages. It makes it so much easier to act in ways that truly communicate love to the recipient.

And here's a sorry sideways pic of the whole double layout in the book.

Art Journal 3

2010-05-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got another page done. I really like it. I painted it with three colors, then added making memories stamps in an old favorite of mine: a Quickutz Label. I layered some flowers with mm snaps and paper circles I free-hand cut for centers. I really like the ribbon stems.

All in all, I'm happy with the outcome, and I enjoyed the process.

I'm gone from home and the fam. I had hoped to make some lovlies while away, but, alas, have had little to no creativity, and have instead spent the time on-line and reading books. It's still been so nice to have the peace and quiet all to myself. Selfish? Yeah, I know; but the end result is that I am a more rested wife and mommy, and eager to cook, clean, and care for my fam. It's just such a blessing to have the break.

I went to a Scrapbook Store I'd never visited before today. Of course, they are all dying out with this blasted economy, but this one is small, and is about to begin their 5th year. Nice, huh? Just real people like you and me, trying to make a living in a field they enjoy. Adapting to what customers want like kits all ready to put together. It was a nice place, and I bought one little book I'm about to cover. Should be fun! I'm trying to redeem the last few hours when I am alone and can set my own schedule. Granny and PaPa will bring the Littles back tomorrow, so I have the sheets in the washer, the towels are already washed and folded, and I'm going to have to put all my happy scrappy stuff away either tonight or tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I'll have another project well on the way before then though. = )

Art Journal 2

2010-05-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

This was fun! I love how it all came together!

You'll have to click on it to see it closer and in detail.

Charlie surprised me with a Cricut Expression for Mother's Day (okay, "shocked me" would be a better description), and here I've used it for the bird, the bird in the cage. and the "TOTALLY" with brackets. Also the swirls on the left side of the page. I added details to the large bird on the left page, and I inked the word "TOTALLY" with Tsuneko's pigment ink "coffee bean." I pulled out an old happy font with my Sizzlets "Girls are Weird" for the "INTO" part of the page. I also added white ink with a gel pen to highlight that word.

I'm totally off the 12x12 groove. I've not done anything in 12x12 in months, and I so enjoy looking back through my albums, that I want to get back into this size. I'm going to challenge myself to do that next! Bye for now!

Art Journal

2010-05-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is my first art journal page. I have recently been inspired by Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday's free videos. I also found a wonderful quickutz die set of birds at Hobby Lobby for a cheap price. The antique trunk you see here is a Sizzix Sizzlet die. The brackets are also a Sizzlet die. The letters are from Cosmo Cricket. I painted the background and the tree.

My "Art Journal" is actually a found book. I was driving home one day in the rain when I saw something in the road. I stopped to check it out, and found that it was a book! Obviously someone had the book on the top of the car or something when they picked up their child at the school near my house. There was no way to find the original owner, and the book was quite damaged, so I thought, "how can it be made worse, right?" This made me feel better about painting over the printed page, and I decided to use the entire book as an art journal.

This page is inspired by Melody Ross's blog post about flying again. Google it, and you'll find it, it's just amazing! I totally related to what she had to share there, and it's helped me during a current challenging time in my life. Seriously, you must read it.

So I am TOTALLY HAPPY with how these pages turned out. I meant to do only one page when I started, but ended up enjoying painting the tree so much that I spread it out to the opposite page which turned out quite well for the journal portion of the layout.

Nicey nice!

Paperclipping Entry!

2010-05-02T17:12:00.001-07:00

Alright, so if you are familiar at all with my picture posting, you understand that my pics often get posted sideways. So frustrating. It's not sideways in my photo file! Hrumph!

None the less, here are my pics of the National Scrapbooking Day layouts! In truth, they are only a part of a paper bag album I'll be working on for awhile, but they still qualify as part of the Paperclipping challenge! Woo hoo!

Thanks to Noell and all the awesome sponsors of Paperclipping for the opportunity to participate!

Happy Scrapping everyone!

Paperclipping's National Scrapbook Day Event!

2010-04-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

I have found myself to have some time to be creative, and I was getting ready to roll when I realized I might be able to participate in a fun challenge at the same time! Noell over at Paperclipping.com has issued some challenges, and these pictures represent my offering to join in on the second challenge she's posted so far. I am to choose a color scheme and embellishment that represents myself, so, here you have it!

I chose this lovely set of papers from K&Co., and I'm using flowers as my embellishment. I'm relating with the flowers currently since I feel my creativity is blooming in several areas of my life, scrapbooking being only one of them.

So without further ado, let me get at this project! Woo Hoo!

New Cricut Cartridge!

2010-04-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

I still had money from my birthday- - -last year! Woo Hoo! I decided to get this amazing cartridge. I am so excited! I love all the shapes it will cut. I can't wait to play more with it. Since Emily will be turning 13 on Sunday (I know, I'm fainting too, HOW can she be that old?!), I first played with the cartridge to make these crowns for her birthday. So fun!

A Birthday Box

2010-03-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

*NOTE*
Once again, my technical blogging woes haunt me. I selected these pictures to be shown in the "small" setting, and yet, they are still too big for the blog. In order to see them complete, you will have to click on each picture. How inconvenient is that?!

Anywhoo, back to the original post!

This was so fun to make. I recently won a random drawing on Ella's Blog. I have been following this amazing lady for just a little while, and she was a guest blogger there on Ella. I commented on her post hoping to win the scrappy goodies in the drawing, and much to my surprise, I won! She sent me a wonderful treasure trove of goodies including My Mind's Eye paper (double sided cardstock! A total fave of mine!), a cute bunny punch by Fiskars, and an alphabet stamp set by Fiskars as well. I got all excited to make something special with it, and I did it! I love what I made. I had such a good time doing it too. I was glad I had some black and white pics lying around waiting to be used since black and white look really good with the papers. Here goes!

Another Give Away

2010-03-15T06:48:00.001-07:00

I've been entering more opportunities lately, and it's been fun to participate. The latest one I'm entering is Epiphanie's camera give away, and also the camera bag they're giving away at Donna Downey's site here: http://tinyurl.com/yzxbsxp

Be sure to check them both out! Here's the link for the camera. Have a great day!
http://tinyurl.com/yejcmkl

Journal Update

2010-02-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

I've taken lots of pictures of projects I've done (like my honey's amazing Valentine card), but, alas, the blogging of them has not yet happened. Why is that? I wonder?

Oh! I know! I've chosen to be busy doing other things.

Like keeping up with my journal I made. I knew I could keep up with the daily posts since I did such a fabulous job of that last year (go, me!), and I hoped that the option of putting pics in on a weekly basis would provide a welcome project that I would enjoy, especially since I like those papers so much.

So far, so good! It's proven to be fairly easy. I'm glad I have done two December Daily works, which have given me a little taste of taking pics on a more daily basis. I still occasionally miss a day, like yesterday, but I have another picture from last week that will fit our experiences of yesterday. Today I hope to take a pic of the Littles over at a friend's house. They are there right now, baking goodies to sell in our lovely Victorian downtown tomorrow. That event may prove to be tomorrows pic as well.

So, here are a few shots of how my home made journal is coming along.

I am sorry this picture is rather washed out. Maybe one of these days I'll learn the amazingly easy editing process.

I am making each month/page as I go along. I like the format of the stamped name outlined in a cricut frame. I took my time with this one, and I like the way it came out. 'Course, I tend to take my time with all my crafty stuffages. The only things I really speed on is making gift wrapping. But that's another story.

This one was simple with just lots of pretty paper. It's the end of the month, so there are not 7 days to cover on this side. It's a picture of my honey making a fire in the fireplace for me. What a guy. I didn't even have to ask. In fact, I had just tweeted that I wanted a fire but wasn't sure I wanted to build one. Then he hopped up to do it. He didn't know I tweeted! You can guess what my next tweet was about!

I didn't take many pics this week at all! This is changing now that I'm chronicling my 42nd year of life in daily pics. The words "Dinner Guests" on the tag are rub ons. I don't hardly ever use them, but I really like the way they look here. Also I made a pull-out tag behind the pic. I love pull-out tags.

So, it's coming along! Soon I will have some pics of a new project (my Project Life album) that I just started this week. I am so excited to add it to what I'm already doing. Super fun!

Have a great day!

Why Not?

2010-02-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

Donna Downey is offering a drawing for this awesome print (or another of the winner's choice), and I entered the drawing. Last year I decided to start entering to win all those awesome bloggy-goodness-giveaways that many scrappy bloggers are fond of offering. I used to be afraid to put myself out there in the big wide web for all the world to see, but then I thought of my friend, Julie, and how she doesn't seem to have such qualms. She's an "I can do that" kind of girl in a way that inspires me to jump on out there! What am I afraid of that I can't enter a drawing? That someone I don't know will find out my name? Or what? It's just silly.

So last year I entered two different drawings without thinking too much about it really, and I actually won! I got fun stuff via snail mail, and I've been entering more frequently as a result. Seriously, the crafty bloggy world is a great place to connect, and the occasional random drawing is just icing. I find lots of food for thought and inspiration for creativity out there, and I'm glad I looked.

Donna's blog stays pretty busy, and she's fairly widely known now, but if you like crafty bloggers, you should hop on over there and peruse her site. It's fun!

Have a great Saturday!

A Mini Book

2010-01-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

This was my project for the day. Charlie bought me these awesome dies from Spellbinders and I used them to make all the pages and covers the same. I love this shape. So uber much! This is the largest of 7 nesting dies, and it's apx. 4x6". I covered a cracker box with paper and then cut the shapes out for the front and the back. The cracker box provided a thicker material for covers. Then I took more patterned paper and covered white cardstock with it before cutting the pages out. It made for sturdy pages inside the little book.

I plan to hang the book on a towel rod on a stand. It's the little kind that holds mini-towels on a bathroom counter. You know, it's shaped like a "T" to hang two towels on. 7 Gypsy's has come out with something like this at the Winter CHA, and I thought to myself, "I could just make one!"

So I did.

Of course, I don't have the towel rod yet, but I'll find one. Until then, I'll enjoy this book in progress. It's just a book of random current brain wanderings. It MIGHT mean something to me (or someone who loves me?) in ten years or so.

The Saving of a Sad Weekend

2010-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend would have been completely sad due to a disappointment. I had planned to travel to Alpharetta (over 500 miles round trip) in order to take this class:

Fabric Scrapbooking
"gotta love the everyday"

20 page 8x8” canvas fabric album - workshop duration 5-6 hours
Fabric Scrapbooking is an exploration in melding the best of the paper world with the best of the fabric world to create one of the most outstandingly visual and completely tactile memory album experiences. Filled with dozens of techniques and applications for using my new Fabric scrapbooking line just released with Prima, in this workshop, you will create this album using the entire line of products at your fingertips. And best of all, NO SEWING NECESSARY! but be sure and bring an apron because we are going to have some messy and creative FUN!

It was a pricey class, but hey, it's Donna Downey! I bought one of her books a few years ago, and it continues to inspire me today. I've been following her blog for a couple of years as well, and I was so excited to have scored a spot in a small class she was teaching. I was going to get to spend simply HOURS learning new techniques with paint, fabric, modeling paste, and the like. They were going to serve a small lunch as well. Donna was going to use ALL the fabric elements of her new line (it was included in the supplies we would receive at the beginning of the class). My anticipation knew no bounds.

It's a journey I am on here. I am embracing this creative side of my heart in a new way. I am celebrating something I enjoy. I am becoming more involved in the internet community of other like-minded folks. It's so exciting! My husband is an amazing support. In fact, he really started me on the journey of It's-okay-to-spend-time-and-money-on-your-hobby with his birthday purchase of a Sizzix original machine for me. I think that was perhaps, five years ago. Or was it longer? I'm not sure, but since then when I started making paper piecings to sell on eBay with my closest friend (who could churn those layouts out, let me tell ya! Amazing!), I have careened wildly into the awesomely fulfilling world of paper, wire, paste, ink, fibers, fabric, photos, books (hand-made), journals, and all kinds of things that make my heart go pitter patter.

I used to be embarrassed about the fascination. I thought, hide your interest: it's weird. Keep it on the low-low, ya know? But no longer! The freedom I have found in embracing and celebrating this process called "scrapping" or "paper crafting," or whatever you call it, has been nothing if not delicious. I'm sure the fact that my family is growing and is not full of toddlers has helped me to find the time for my interest as well.

Alright. Enough retrospecting. The day I was supposed to leave to drive north was a bad day weather-wise. We are in an unusually cold trend just now, and the temps are not going up very much. We here in the South are not used to these colder temperatures, and the ice up in Atlanta was causing lots of accidents. The class I was to take started at 10am in Cumming (even farther north), and I would have left Alpharetta no later than 9:30am. It was likely to still be icy up there at that time. I could not countenance the expense of gas to take a class I might not be able to safely get to. Would I risk a wreck for a class? No, I would not. Such a disappointment. Within hours of my trip, it was cancelled. Thankfully, I had not actually paid for the class. I was going to take the cash with me. The nice lady at the store had saved my place anyway. I hope she was able to fill it. I sent her an e-mail as soon as I'd decided not to go, and she sent back that she was still at home due to the weather keeping the roads dangerous. I hope Saturday was a better driving day than Friday, and that the class happened without a hitch.

None-the-less, I felt such disappointment. I tried to just think in my head that it wasn't really important, but it was.

We left all the rides and meal plans in place as though I actually was gone, and it freed me to be in the Happy Place. I decided to make a journal for the year. Last year my sweetie bought a Thomas Kinkade Journal. Each week it had four lines per day to write down what happened. It was so NOT intimidating as a memory recorder. You know how a blank page looks intimidating sometimes? I think to myself I don't have that much to say. And I don't write anything at all. But four lines? THAT, I can fill. The result of having that journal last year was that I was more likely to fill those lines in on a more daily basis (or sometimes retrospectively going back four days at a time or so), than if it was just a blank journal book. I loved it, and wanted to make another since the year ran out!

So I made one. I LOVE it! I will add embellishments as the year progresses. I think it will be lots of fun to fill in! I used papers I love, and I'll enjoy looking at them all year. Each week is on one sheet, and the facing sheet is a patterned paper. I just printed the weekly entry lines on the back of patterned paper so that I could write on one side, and embellish or just enjoy the print on the other side. Also I wanted to leave the book in such a way that I could add to or take away from it (as in a binder), but the size is not standard binder size. I wanted it to be a little smaller, so the pages are 8.5"x7.5", and I love it! I also made a hard cover out of thick cardboard. I wanted it to be nice and sturdy. I couldn't find my book binding tape, which is nice and flexible, so I just used paper instead. It's working fine.

Enough words! Here are the pics!

I used simple loose binder rings, and I tied them onto the spine. I love how pretty it turned out too! They are not as loose as I feared they might end up being, so I am really glad about that!

A close up of those rings.

Love me some tabs!

Once again, my poor html skills have resulted in my simple horizontal pics coming up vertical. I do not know why, but, well, there they are. Above you see a random week later in the year.
And this is the first week of the year. My family gathered for the first ever Freeman Christmas with all four households! What a blessing!
This first page includes a pic with some embellishing and journaling.
Here above and below you can see the first page of the book. I used cardstock for all the monthly dividers, and patterned tabs over cardstock as well. I am looking forward to embellishing each monthly divider as the year progresses. Fun fun!

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Fabric Bags with Scripture Cards

2010-01-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

Check it out: I had to share these cute little guys. I love that they have a different fabric inside. I really like the little metal charms. They got wrapped up before Christmas and doled out to a few cute girls. I hope they all use the cards. The little bags are cute, and the labels can be changed out for something else if they like. I had planned to make the bags for Kath and Caroline (cousins who like to match), but Samantha was in the room with me when I made them, and she declared that she wanted one as well. I'm such a push over.

2010-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

One more final scripture card folder. I really took my time with the stamping of these cards. They are stamped on both sides, and ink has been rubbed around the edges of every card, front and back. I know it's kinda funny to take so much time to focus on the details, but the end result is so satisfying. Here are a few more pics following. Gotta get this one wrapped up, since it's goin' to its new home on Monday the 4th.

I'm actually a bit frustrated with the photo uploader since the photos I turned horizontal are still showing up here in the vertical. One day I'll figure this techy stuff all out. Until then, turn your laptop or monitor sideways. ; )

Gotta get back at it. Got another gift to make before I can do as I please in the Happy Place.

Christmas Gifts!

2009-12-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Here is what I am working on now. Actually, I have this one finished. I got the idea from my Mom, actually, when we discovered that we both were writing down our favorite scripture verses on 3x5 cards. The only difference was that I had embellished my cards with pretty stamps, and hers were on colored cards. She suggested that I make her some pretty ones for Christmas. What a great idea! I decided to make a set for each of my closest female relatives (the grown up ones especially).

Here are some more pics, and if you know my relatives, don't give out my surprise gift ideas to them!

As you can see, I've made a folder out of cardstock. Although I don't show a picture, I'm really pleased with the pocket and how that came out. I cut one inch strips of cardstock, and scored it every quarter inch, alternating folds. This resulted in a good side for my pocket. I cut the strips into appropriate lengths for the sides and bottom of the pocket, mitering the ends so they would not hinder movement. Clear as mud, right? Suffice it to say, it works great!

I started the packet out with three of my favorite verses that encourage me. I don't want the recipient to be afraid to write on these cards.

I tried to make the stamped images different, but color-coordinated.

Here are some of the blank cards. I think there are over 20.

And a close-up of the key. My camera battery gave out at this point, so I don't have a close-up of the lock. I am using whatever supplies I have on hand, and I know I am amply supplied, and have no fear of not finding something to add to my gifts. My hubby has been so supportive of my habit, uh, art and creativity, allowing me to buy a fix, uh, I mean supplies for my creative endeavors. Seriously though, it's such a blessing to have supportive family. I am so enjoying creating gifts this year!

SmileBox Friend's Birthday

2009-08-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a great new SmileBox!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Growing in techy stuff?

2009-08-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

I am attempting to add Type Pad connections to this blogger blog of mine. I just followed a rather detailed series of instructions that required me to find specific HTML code and insert previously copied snippets and such. I can't believe I even just typed that sentence out! I DO know what HTML code looks like. I just have no idea what any of it means!

But one can grow, eh?

Have a scrappy day!

Tea Time by Candlelight

2009-07-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

This was so fun. It's interesting since I set the pictures down and wrote a journal block, but then ran out of inspiration. That was, like, a year ago. Just last month I finished it out with the needed embelishments. I'm experimenting with a horizontal 8x12 album. I'm enjoying the change and the challenge.

I love that these pictures show Sam with her hair so tightly curled. She DOES love those rag curls. Recently she got her wish and her hair is now bobbed in an adorable style, so rag curlers will not be employed for quite some time to come. Again, the pictures that I took here of the layout are not the quality I'd like, but they are here anyway. Seriously, I started this blog some time ago, and have failed miserably to post much at all! I'm quite embarassed. I hope to post more regularly as I continue to figure out how to use Picasa to upload the pics.

Baptism

2009-07-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

These pictures are woeful at best. None the less, they are offered here as proof that I HAVE been scrapping. I actually have quite a few more pages and projects done, but my sweet oldest daughter has my camera at camp, and will not return until tomorrow. These pictures I scrapped are of my sweet third-born several years ago when she was baptised. I love that my hubby baptised her among so many caring church family members. It was a lovely day, and now is captured on a lovely scrapbook page.

This page has some of my super faves: wire work (nice and curly), tabs, machine stitching, and tags with ribbons. Obviously, the base is the beautiful picture of Em with her Daddy captured candidly. Love that!

A SmileBox Hair Cut

2009-07-04T22:38:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Gift

2009-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my gift for my dear friend. We have been friends for half of our lives, and have shared so much. I made her a special gift for her 40th birthday. She made an AWESOME purse for me for my birthday, and I get compliments on it all the time. She said after she made it for me that she was tempted to keep it herself since it turned out so amazingly cute! Plus she had not done a zipper in a bag of this sort before (she made the pattern up!), so it was an adventure to figure that part out.

Anyway, now I'll have to post a pic of the purse for ya! I love it.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about the stuff I make and the stuff that inspires me. I've been working on her gift for over a month. I'm super slow, but it's alright, there is no wrong or right way to be creative. My friend who will recieve this gift is super speedy, and I admire that about her so much. We inspire each other. I think we need to get together just to create again. It's been way too long.

Digressing again.

Sooooo, this gift was fun to make, and I'll post pics of it later. Right now I'm showing pics of the Package. I love creative packaging, don't you? This is the first time I actually put wrapping paper in my sewing machine though. My friend loves the zig zag stitch, so that's what I did on the outside of this package. Then I just went crazy with stuff on the outside, layering and sewing. I love it. It's a good representation of what will be found inside.

Then I decided to add a note to it. There was a pocket in the back of the package (it was inadvertantly made, btw), so I got to making a cute little missive to tuck in there.

I hope she likes it all!

Scrappy Withdrawels

2009-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

I've been running around with my popular girls. I've not scrapped in a week. I started this blog to post stuff I make, but, well, I've not been able to get into my Happy Place to create!

I had a little time yesterday, but you can imagine that much has gone unattended due to the high level of activity around here, and I spent my time catching up on other things. I had neglected a pile of mail for a couple of months. Yeah, a couple of months. I'm talking bills 'n' such. It's okay though, since we are going through the ugly process of bankruptcy. I just didn't know what to do with those bills, so they have been piling up on our butler's pantry. I got to pass them multiple times daily, and be reminded. . .

This didn't seem healthy, and though the rest of the house needed tidying attention, I decided to tackle that pile. The thing about bookkeeping time is that though an hour or more is required, the effect isn't extremely obvious when you are done. I mean, if you spend time straightening a room, dusting, vacuuming, putting out different bits of decorations, things like that, your hour shows something when you are done. Not so with bookwork. I think that's why it's discouraging to me to take the time to work with such unpleasant and unfulfilling tasks as bookkeeping.

Still, the pile on that counter was QUITE a PILE! And so the effect was obvious once I was done. I took all the pertinent bankruptcy-related items (which was like, half the pile!), and added them to our stack of other paperwork on the same subject. Apparently, lots of people are filing, and our lawyer is somewhat swamped, so our original paperwork we filled out and gave to them is just waiting in line. It took us a month to fill out the original form, since it was around 100 pages. Good gravy! No one said filing bankruptcy is an easy out! Not by a long shot!

Anywhoo, there's a big weekend happening this weekend, and usually I tag Saturday as my scrappy day. In fact, one of the things I'm working on is a set of books for a group of girls who are gathering this weekend, and I had hoped to get them done through the week, but, alas, my time has been brief! The other book I'm working on should have been done before April 16th (this represents the birthdate of the recipient of the album). Still, it sits there, surrounded by all the goodies I intend to use, waiting, waiting. . .

Oh I've started these projects! They are all nearly done.

I just need some time and energy. Sometimes I have the time but not the creative energy. Other times I have ideas, and no time. Right now, I'm a little shy on both! And today promises to be no less crammed with activity than the earlier portion of the week. In fact, I must sign off and get with it right now.

Here's to hoping for a scrappy few hours at SOME point soon!

A Year of Creativity

2009-04-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

This year is totally exciting. Yeah. We are filing for bankruptcy. My husband has started a new job. My daughter has her first-ever job. I turned 40 this year already (February). That's big, right? My children will all turn big ages this year, all evens. By the end of the year they will be 18, 16, 12, and 10.

So it's a big year! I plan to scrap it all in lots of ways. I've spent the afternoon today getting inspired by reading long-neglected scrappy blogs. Here's my most fave: My Inner Martha I totally love this girl's style! You gotta just scroll around there. It makes me think of the stuff Donna Downy has been doing with pictures and fabric. Elizabeth is more on the paper side (which I like), but she's incorporated so much fabric and lace into the process that is looks totally cool and super dimensional.

I'm all about photos, paper, punches, scissors, paint, stamps, staples, etc. My favorite time of year is the Fall when school supplies go on sale. I stock up on color crayons, notebooks, and glue every year. I just love all that stuff! I think it's one of the reasons I am a home schoolin' mom. All the supplies make me happy!

I'm off to create something unique and beautiful. Do yourself a favor, and make something lovely today!