Gracie's Amber eyes

Gracie's eyes are as Amber as the gemstone by that name. It's a stunning combination with her gray coat and near black nose. Michael has always liked mouse gray cats and she fits right into the category accept she looks like she's been dipped in powder sugar! lol! All the ends of her fur glisten white which makes her look frosted, it's her special little quirk. :-)

Using Border pages

Have you ever walked up to a paper and thought it was beautiful but it had a decorative border on it? I have..... wondering what on earth I would do with it! Like, staying inside the lines coloring when you're a child this usually just intimidated me. Until now, using the new collection Loolah by the designers at IOD and released by Creative Imaginations, I've created a couple of layouts using bordered papers that I really like. These are from my July classes I taught at a couple of LSS'S. I hope I've inspired you in some little way!! Be blessed!

Christmas in July

I know it seems a little odd to be posting a Christmas project in the heat of the summer, although if you're going to hit the 100's today like we are, it might just be a great way to cool off for a few minutes!!

Really, what I want you to notice are the cute little Christmas trees in the corner. They were made from the wood paper from Creative Imaginations that launched last summer! They were cut out by the Epic 6, embossed with a Cuttlebug folder then inked and decorated. The wood paper comes in thick and thin weights, use the thin weight when using with die cut system.

This layout is really so simple but I love the linear look of it with all the photo's of our Christmas tree theme this last year! Enjoy!

Handmade lace flower

I haven't been working on a lot of my own things, been too busy planning classes. This is Bo Bunny's Mama-razzi papers, their all time best selling collection!! In class we made the frame, love double sided papers for things like this. We also made the lace flower by weaving a small wire through the selvage edge. Once all the lace is on the wire, create a loop end in one end of the wire, curl with lace into small circle, run loose end through the other and then fold back over. Place a brad in the middle and you've created a one of a kind, beautiful lace flower. This also works with scraps of lace and can be quite charming!! Enjoy!

Love Birds

We take a lot of kidding about all the nicknames we lovingly call eachother, blow kisses over the phone and greet eachother each afternoon with hugs and kisses, it's definitely our love language. The color palette at The Color Room was med. pink, dark pink, dove grey and charcoal. I don't have a ton of pink in my stash because it's not really my color but found an old piece of Pizzazzle from Creative Imaginations for background, a scallop edged circle from Moxxie and pattern paper from LYB. I then used chipboard icons from their Valentine collection, a printed floral border from K&Co., flourish and tag from Bo Bunny and liquid Pearls finished off the design. I really love the way it came together!

Bringing Up Daisy

I absolutely love the new IOD Loolah collection from Creative Imaginations!!! This stitched paper called to me immediately for a layout about my own Daisy. The kitten stage only lasts a short while and I want to remember some of the small details about her at this stage. She's very sweet and likes to be held, she will only use the litter box if she can scratch all the way to the bottom with nothing in the way (which made for an interesting first two weeks!!), she's cautious and careful and she's a talker.


This is the current color scheme over at www.colorcombosgalore.ning.com, one of my fave new sites. Color is really my thing and so happy to have found a couple of really neat places to hang on the web. Color Combos Galore also issues a challenge with each combo that comes out twice a month, for this one, it's circles so I used buttons, punches, and brads to create circles! TFL!!

Southern Beauty

My mother was born in 1942 and was almost 9 months old before her father ever saw her. Both her parents were from Coffee County Tenn. but my grandfather had moved to Indiana to find work during the depression. My grandmother married him at 17 and moved to Indiana. He joined the Navy a few years later and granny moved back to Tenn. to bring mom up around family. At four, mom would move back to Indiana but her heart has always been in Tenn. She married my dad at 20 years old and convinced him fifteen years later to bring her back home. They've made their home in Middle Tennessee ever since. I love this photo of mom at about 18 mos. old while living with her grandmother and mother. Her face is so sweet and round with those big brown eyes that she reminds me of a Cupie doll!! She's still a lovely lady and a southern beauty from the time she was born!!

This color palette was this weeks inspiration from THE COLOR ROOM. It has definitely been one of the tougher palettes for me although I loved the inspiration photo. I'm not usually a big fan of DCWV but adore all 4 new collections!!! Here I've used Mariposa, Linen, and Mediterranean Cafe with a script page from Glitz. I fussy cut some images from the Butterfly paper, used the back of an old punch out flower from Daisy D's for base of title work and inked a Kaiser Kraft wood swirl to frame the photo. Chipboard Beauty word is LYB.

Savor the Good Stuff

Yum Yum, sweet icing from a cake, fireflies on a summer's night, the sound of a bird's song in the air, the laugh of a child, a hug from an old friend, and the memories families share are just a few of the things I hope Audrey will savor as she matures into a young woman!

This was the new color palette from The Color Room last week and it was a great fun working with it. I Glimmer Misted the background on white cardstock, punched several borders and used the Flourish 12" die from Quickutz. I embossed the Savor tag (from Bazzill) , glimmer misted and then applied chalk ink to really bring out the design. I loved the way this turned out!! Used a small stash of ribbons and my new fave Butterfly punch from Martha Stewart to finish off design!! TFL!!

Afternoon on the Beach

Wow! It's been a while since I've pulled out foam stamps, in fact, had this one by Heidi Swapp in my stash for at least 4 years and have never used until now. This sketch and color Palette were last weeks inspiration on The Color Room, a yummy, yummy site!! This took me away from my normal style and made me try something new using so much white space. I used packing paper to sponge paint on background, used the same color to stamp BEACH. I cut circles out of paper from GCD and used scraps for the rest of the composition. I love how the red foil mimics the heat of the sun. I Glimmer Misted little doily, used wood tag from Imaginesce and adhered chipboard shell from SEI's new On the Coast.


I'm loving smaller photos and photo collages mixed in my normal one photo pages and this sketh was the perfect one to allow me a few shots ! As we all head to the beaches this summer, think outside the box and use some paint and old foam stamps to create interesting backgrounds!

Circle Mania

This is my brother in-law and his oldest daughter Breanna with her baby girl Aubrey. Not your typical beach themed layout but was inspired by the sketch last week at Let's Scrap, which featured a series of circles creating a circular frame. Mine didn't quite come out as a circle but I used up a ton of scraps from recent projects. I layered, layered, inked and inked but was actually delighted when I was done!!

Tropical Delight

I know we are all in the midst of or planning our vacations for this summer and SEI's new Boardwalk collection is perfect for showcasing beloved photos. I did this project for one of my stores and she reported yesterday all the product had sold out (in 3 days) and people were taking pictures of the layout!! I love it when I can help sell product for my customers. Part of the collection is aqua, coral and silver, which you see here and the other pieces are royal blue, black, and orange for a deeper Tropical feel. Wherever you're going this summer, this new collection is delightful and perfect!!

Quick Little Project

A quick little project with super cute results and it only takes what you already have in your cupboards. I like using vegetable cans as they have a smooth inner ring where soup cans have a raised edge once you cut the tops off. I regularly stash them aside to make these cute pencil and utensil holders for family and friends. Just be sure and sanitize them well before using!

This one features paper and chipboard elements from Bridgewater by SEI. I simply used some ribbon I already had in my stash and put the title on with Mini Alpha's by My Little Shoebox. The Crop-A-Dile from WeR makes it easy to punch holes through the soft metal. This is a super simple project, even kids could do, and you get to use something we all have on hand!! Enjoy!

2 New Baby Girls

Oh my, oh my, oh my!! I adopted two new babies about ten days ago! Daisy May is black and white and sister, Gracie is mouse Grey with a little white! They will be in the house for at least another month before getting acclimated to outside. They already love to play string, play fight with each other, and play with anything else that will move! Heeh heheeh. You ask me , yes, I've taken almost 100 photos of them already, sharing more later.

This layout was created for The Color Room as I tried to use the palette ( a little too teal) and the sketch for this week! I used old Daisy D and newer American Craft papers! I used new Pink Rox by Queen & Company to adorn the heart along with fave stickles! My journaling over took the right side but I so enjoy sharing stories on my layouts, I just couldn't resist!

Celebrating Circles

Okay girls, how long has it been since you cropped a photo into a circle?! It's been ages for me but I'm seeing this trend reappear (check out all the inspiration at www.thecolorroom.ning.com) and had to try my hand at it, hence the anniversary page for Michael and me. I love the way it pulled my eye right into the kiss! heeheheh it's a great way to use up a lot of scraps by cutting into different sizes to focus your eye on the photo!

This color scheme, which I've always loved, was The Color Room color challenge for last week. Happily it gave me an opportunity to use some old Making Memories and Kimberly Poulson paper, an ancient acrylic marker from Creative Imaginations and some Prima packaging material, which I'm also seeing as an emerging trend. Put on your Scrapbook goggles and start looking for these two trends on your favorite blogs!!!

When

When did Audrey stop looking like a little girl and become a teenager? Seems like in one year she's lost those little girl cheeks , eyes are more defined, hair style is more mature and her lips have filled out a little. I didn't get to see her from May of 'o8 to August of '09 and the changes are remarkable! Her natural beauty at 13 is stunning and she's just as sweet and thoughtful as she is pretty!


Love the new Road Show collection by Fancy Pants and the journaling pack that matches. Here I've blinged up the layout with Prima pearls, rhinestones and Daisies, which seemed younger even with the more vintage papers!


The sketch is from Pages In Time, a new site I found through Let's Scrap! I love Karen's style and Thursday sketches, so come check us out!!

A Mother's Love

A Mother's Love is constant, caring and compassionate. I'd had that little card in my stash for a couple of years from Fancy Pants and it made perfect sense to use it as a subtitle. The papers are from Bo Bunny's Mama-Razzi line as well as the 6" alpha and the rubons used on it. I think partly what is so delightful about this line is you can use the darker colors for Heritage and masculine layouts but pull out the ivory, light aqua and sea green for a delightfully more feminine color scheme!

We just celebrated our Mother's a few short weeks ago. Have you handed the camera to someone else for a photo of you and your mom? If not, don't miss the opportunity in a few weeks to celebrate your dad!

Sweet Summer Nectar

Do you have memories from childhood that have stuck with you through the years? I do ! The smell and sight of Honeysuckle in early summer brings back memories of being a 3rd grader and standing at the chain link fence that surrounded our playground and was covered in the thick vines. Many recess breaks were taken at the fence with some of my best girlfriends for a few dewy sweet drops of nectar.

This spring the fence row across the street was covered with the beautiful yellow blooms and I couldn't resist snapping a photo! I found this K&Co. stitched paper at Michaels and instantly knew it would look great with the honeysuckle photo. I layered an old Autumn Leaves transparent border over one section, added a very old hinge from EK, old quote sticker from Daisy D's and a NEW tag from Fancy Pants' Road Show and some buttons from my stash!

I loved documenting a special childhood memory!!! I hope you enjoy it too!

Just a little blip!

Hey girls! This is just a little *blip* to put on your radar! I have been a little scrap lonely for several months but this week I've done four projects that I adore! I can't wait to show you what I've been working on..... so stay tuned until tomorrow morning!!! Have a wonderful, blessed day!

Birthday Greetings

Monnita decided to make a scrapbook for Aunt Snookie, FIL's aunt down in Louisianna. I called Monnita and it just so happened she was making it in 12x12- perfect! I said, I'll get something in the mail by next Monday (this was four days before). Anyway I whipped something up on Sunday and sent her off! I thought it turned out really cute for a short turn around project. Fussy cut the flowers out of some older MME and decorated with pearl and rhinestones from Prima (love those). I'm am adoring my new butterfly punch from Martha Stewart, so many possibilities and so much fun!!! Oh, this is my first attempt at the cute banners I'm seeing everywhere too!

Go With all your Heart

Wow! Time has flown from the time my nephew, Anderson, would run across the yard, arms outstretched yelling "Me, Me" which was his version of Aunt Amie. The "Me, Me" stuck and became "Mimi". He's now graduating from High School and embarking on a new adventure as he begins the process of making his own way in the world. I just wanted to give him a tangible piece of encouragement so I whipped up this quick card from some left over scraps. Wherever you go, Anderson, go with all your heart (inside). Papers are from American Crafts, tiny alpha is MLS and laser cut star paper is KI Memories.

Mixing old with New

I do a happy dance every time something comes out of my "old" stash to use on something new. Here I pulled out old Crate Paper and mixed with Marrakesch by Basic Grey, the colors worked great together. Another item, Bazzill chips, which I have in several themes made it out of an old file and onto this birthday card. I adore Liquid Pearls so accented the cake to make icing more dimensional. Enjoy a little sweetness today!

Color

These aren't typically colors I use but I did this project for the Color Challenge at Challenge Masters, a fabulous site where new challenges are posted 3 Sundays a month, several per session. I've had a ton of fun participating in this new community with categories like Ad/Art, Color, Recipe, Blade Runners etc, come join us!!

I have to admit that I didn't like this Anna Griffin line when I first saw it last year but decided to keep a few items when cleaning out sample bags. I'm quite fond of it now and know I'll use it again and again for the simple graphics and bright colors.

Think outside your normal color choices and create something different!!

Goodbye sweet Tuck!

It's been a hard week! Monday, in fact, was crushing. My baby boy was inches from our drive way but died anyway. I never heard squealing car tires, no one stopped, I just happened to spot him while walking through the front of the house. I ran out the door calling him all the way, but he was already gone.His little collar was about 8 inches from him so I picked it up to keep it. I carried him back in the woods to bury him by Allie wailing all the way. So, to my neighbors, I'm sorry if I disturbed you that morning.

In my pain, I'm still celebrating what a cool, sweet cat he was and I can only ascertain that God gave him to me because he knew I'd love him for as long as he was here. So here's to Tuck Everlasting, Ken-Tuck-y, Tuck tuck and Lincoln (because that's the county he where he was rescued)the coolest, sweetest cat we've ever had the pleasure of owning! Rest sweetly!

Reflection

You know, scripture tells us to concentrate on every good, pure, honest thing, they are gifts from God. That is my hope for Emma as she continues to struggle with who she believes she is, who others think she is and finding her place in the world. I really hate to see her pain, as her aunt, I want her to be healthy, happy and at a place of peace. My prayer is for her healing in all areas of her life! In the meantime, I, myself must reflect on all that is good, true and honest!

Nightly Routine

I never would have guessed that Tucker would use Gunner as a pillow at night. When he was a kitten and inside the house getting acclimated Gunner would come to the back door and bounce and bark at him and he would go hide. Once outside they apparently worked things out because all winter this is where we would find Tucker early in the morning. This has become their nightly routine!

Similar Love Languages

Mom and Anderson's "love language" is so very similar. I read the book by that name several years ago and it still comes to memory when associating with people. My love language is affection and Michael is wonderful at supplying that for me. I'm one of those people who automatically hug you. Michael's is food and one of the reasons I've learned to love to cook. Mom and Anderson's love language is Gifts. They both flourish when you buy them something tangible. They have an incredible bond and I think part of it is because the "get" each other. Pick up the book sometime and see if you can't get some insight into your families dynamics.

Everday holds untold Promise

Life doesn't always look like we want it to look, but as long as you believe in a Heavenly Father who loves and adores you, everyday holds infinite possibilities. I will bow my head in prayer and raise my hands in praise to the One who holds my every breath in his hands!

New Chipboard Tools by GCD Studio

 


I have been super excited about using the new tools by GCD Studio that were designed by Melody Ross, former owner of Chatterbox. I have drawers full of chipboard and see all kinds of possibilities using these new tools. I have shown you a close up of the tools I used to "stamp" this butterfly. Soon she'll be decorated and you can see her here on a new layout, but for now enjoy the scene!

Our Haven

Celebrate the havens in your life, the little bits of perfection, which sometimes elude us in the chaos of life. Home for us is one of those little bits of perfection, a happy place to be, one full of love, kindness, generosity, and peace. It's not the size, or the address that make the difference, it's what you find behind closed doors. Yes, we still have all the chores, all the bills, all the stuff that isn't real pretty sometimes, but at the end of the day we are grateful and thankful for our little haven! Do a project about one of your happy places today!

This girl loves Webkinz!

Alexis absolutely loves Webkinz and Nana adds to her collection every time they are together. This was her newst one given to her by Mom Igou on our family vacation last year. She woke up still holding her new bunny! Her collection is bursting at almost 80 animals, a little obsessive, just like scrapbooking!

April Flowers Bring Smiles Tomorrow

Everythings coming up flowers, the crocus have bloomed, the buttercups are radiant and the woods behind my house are full of motion as birds return from their winter areas. Isn't life grand? Just soak in the beauty that surrounds us this time of year, spectacular! I've got a bevvy of scrappy ideas running through my head also and thought I'd share a few with you! These are from the new KI Memories Enchanting collection, and I have been enchanted with what I think is their best collection in a few years. Super user friendly and everything spring and flowers!

Spring is just around the corner and several holidays to follow, like Easter and Mother's Day. I adore everything spring, from Saucer Magnolias to bunnies hopping across the front yard. I'll be teaching these layouts in May and just wanted to share them with you! I haven't put pictures on them yet, but that's cool, because you can customize them all you want. They are from the new LYB ClothesLine ensemble and I've been totally watering at the mouth for the sweet, feminine and spring feel of this line. Enjoy and picture your photo's here! This one features a tone on tone embossed flower design which I colored in with Copic Markers, which won't bleed over the embossed lines. How cool is that?!

A little treat

Don't you just love using scraps?! My scrap drawer is usually overflowing so I'm always excited to use some of the stray papers to create little treats for friends and family. I used a foil piece from GCD with some very old papers from my stash. I think the foil added just the right touch of bling to the otherwise matchy, matchy papers. I stamped the greeting, added a flower with a rhinestone center and Voila! a handmade card.
As you go through today , celebrate the little successes of life!

Design Team Call

Let's Scrap, My favorite online sketch site, is looking for 4 talented ladies to serve as DT's for May, June and July. Go to www.letsscrap.ning.com for all the details! Deadline for entry is April 16th!

If only....

If only this was normal, but it's NOT! Gunner is constantly on the go , into something, like chewing off the handles of three of my sample bags last week! I have a great incriminating photo of the incident that I'll share later. This was during Christmas and he was allowed in the house to open his gifts. He and Michael had been playing pretty hard and I snapped this photo in a rare moment of rest. I keep holding out hope that this might become the norm....if only for a little while.