Sassafras Lass - Nerdy Bird, Apple Jack and some Felties!

I got a chance to play with Sassafras Lass's newer collections Nerdy Bird and Apple Jack this weekend. These collections, along with the fun Felties can be found at That Scrappy Girl. What I love about Sassafras Lass is that you can mix the different collections together so easily - like I did on the layout. And of course I am never one to pass up using bright colored product either! I even went a little environment friendly and used some of the packaging from the Felties on the Thank You card.

Another Christmas Layout - October Afternoon Very Merry

It's a Christmas miracle! I made two layouts at the last crop! This was a picture I snapped of Parker and Emma right before Christmas (and right before she lost her two front teeth!) when they were dressed up for church. I would have loved this for my Christmas card, but of course I'd already sent them out by then, argh! I used October Afternoon's Very Merry collection, some Bazzill ribbon and embossed cardstock and Tombow permanent adhesive. I am getting braver on my bow tying and hopefully getting better!

Krusty Klaus - Crate Paper's North Pole Collection

*This will be featured in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes*

Here is a layout I made this weekend using Crate Paper's North Pole Collection. I have been wanting to make a layout about this goofy Christmas Eve tradition for a long time. On Christmas Eve Krusty Klaus visits my husband's family bringing gag gifts for all. He wears a moth eaten suit, dirty work boots, goggles and is generally just pretty crusty! This year he even brought reindeer poop (Cocoa Puffs). Last year Emma figured out Silly Santa was Grandpa, but had to explain to Parker how she figured it out - Grandpa is always missing, it looks and sounds like Grandpa etc...lol. You can find this cute collection from Crate Paper at That Scrappy Girl. Other goodies I used were some Bazzill ribbon, Making Memories mini abc stickers, Tombow permanent adhesive and a Martha Stewart border punch. And a lot of pop dots - I put behind the ornaments, the blue strips of paper and the main photo.

Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs - Star Intracacies

My husband's birthday is on Monday and I'm giving you a peek at part of his birthday present. He doesn't read my blog or Facebook, so I should be safe :-) This is a picture of Steve with our two kids, taken a couple years ago. I wish he'd been smiling more!! I used the Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs Star Intracacy die cut paper in white. It measures 11x11 so it was easy to place it on a 12x12 piece of patterned paper and not have to trim. I used Doodlebug rubons to spell out 10 things that make their dad a superstar and added some red Hambly star rubons. Background paper is from Bo Bunny and ABC and number stickers are Creative Imaginations. I plan to get this framed so he can hang it up at work.

Scrap Within Reach - Paper Boy Collection

Here is another layout and card I made last weekend while at the crop. I thought the colors of Paper Boy went perfectly with the photos I snapped of Emma after she FINALLY lost her first tooth. She has only lost one more since and appears to be a delayed tooth loser...LOL. She is not happy about this! Especially since she is one of the oldest kids in class and she knows of kids that are still 6 that have lost 4 or more....gasp!

A Couple More Alphabet Soup Kit Projects

* This will be featured in the September 2010 issue of Scrapbook Trends magazine.*

I am making this a super quick post as tonight is trick or treating at the nearby college and I need to get Mario and Woodland princess ready and out the door. I made both of these projects with the October Alphabet Soup kit at That Scrappy Girl. Jillibean Soup is so great to work with, so of course I'm in love with this kit!

That Scrappy Girl's November Kit featuring Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg

*This card will be featured in the April 2010 issue of CARDS magazine.*

Here are a couple more creations from Saturday's 15 crop. I was able to create a couple things with the new That Scrappy Girl November kit. (The kit picture will be up soon on the website) I still have a bunch of ideas swirling in my head, especially cards. I always think Cosmo Cricket's lines work so well for cards because of all the different elements. The layout also tied in with an "I Love Your Smile" layout contest over at Ella Publishing. I just love this picture of my son Parker. He is my serious, analytical child, with a bit of a perfectionist streak (and isn't always a smiler). I bought this quarter map when he was a baby (which of course got lost somewhere in the back of the closet). We found it about a year ago and he immediately got obsessed with getting every quarter out there. He finally got to within one quarter and no matter how hard we tried, we could not find Pennyslvania. Bless his heart, Pastor Gene at church hunted one down for him.

That Scrappy Girl Kit Giveaway featuring Pink Paislee Twilight!

Here is a layout I made with the October add on kit from That Scrappy Girl. For this being an add on kit, I sure have made a lot of projects with it and still have some goodies left! How would you like to win the kit below? Stop by That Scrappy Girl's blog, leave a comment on Monday's post and the winner will be drawn this Friday, October 30th.

Twitterpated about Thomas!

I went to a 15 hour crop yesterday and actually got a lot done! I know shocking! I'll be updating the blog all week with different projects. These projects I made with Imaginisce's Twitterpated line. I love the cute little animals in this line. This is my daughter Emma when she was 3 years old (she just turned 7 so I seem to be a bit behind on...lol). We took her to see Thomas the Train for her birthday and to say she was excited is an understatement. We treated her to a tshirt and she proceded to try to strip right in front of everyone so she could get that new tshirt on! She actually had really long hair, but these were snapped as soon as she put it on so it's still tucked in the tshirt. You can't see it very well in the picture, but she is also wearing her Thomas tennis shoes. I added the fox sticker, because she looked so "foxy" in that new tshirt :-)

Here are a couple cards I also made with this line. The green paper is actually some of the packaging from one of the sticker sheets. I love their papers because some are perfect for fussy cutting!

Alphabet Soup Kit + Cool Page Sketch

Here is my take on Julie's sketch this month over at That Scrappy Girl. (click on the layout for a better look). I used the Alphabet Soup Kit and am loving this line by Jillibean Soup. This is my daughter Emma on her graduation day from preschool. I even hand journaled a bit on this! She is quite the little reader (even when she was in preschool) so I wanted to do a page to document this. I used the top part of the Read card from Jenni Bowlin and also cut out the "e" from the papers to add additional emphasis on her name and her reading skills.

That Scrappy Girl would love to see what project you make with this sketch. Don't forget to enter it in the sketch challenge, as you could win some fun Jillibean Soup product. You can find the original blog post here.

Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs Stick Ons

I am a flower nut when it comes to scrapbooking. (Real flowers though are another story. I hate to garden and I can't seem to keep the houseplants alive either). When deciding what project to work on this month, these Flower Garden Stick Ons immediately caught my eye. These were extremely easy to use and when I decided I didn't want the flowers straight up and down, I curved the stems without any problem. I also added a chipboard circle and pearls to their centers. Although I chose not to alter the color on these, you can easily use alcohol inks, pens, paints or markers to change their color and appearance. I even have 2 left over for another project!

This is a picture of me and my daughter Emma (who just turned 7 last week) this summer at her first concert - Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. She loved it and stayed awake almost the entire time!

(This was my monthly post over at the Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs blog today. The papers used were Pink Paislee Vintage Moon and ABC stickers, brads & ribbons were also Pink Paislee.)

A Mish Mash of Jillibean Soup

I sat down to make a card and a layout happened instead. Happy accident! I used a variety of Jillibean Soup lines on this layout - Lentil, Cream of Mushroom, Talk Soup and Minestrone. I love that you can use the different lines together. I was really trying to stick a sprout somewhere on here, but I lost. I used some Alphabeans for the title. All of these products can be found at That Scrappy Girl for purchase if you are interested. I even used another of my Happy Bingo Cards from ShopMyKI that I won at ScrapNWin last month. I am not always good at journaling (because I hate my handwriting) and I even did that on this layout too!

I also wanted to share the kit That Scrappy Girl has available this month - the Alphabet Soup Kit. LOTS of Jillibean!

Alphabet Soup Kit Includes:
2 ground round - Jillibean Soup
2 hot water - Jillibean Soup
2 vegetable juice - Jillibean Soup
2 mixed veggies - Jillibean Soup
2 alphabet pasta - Jillibean Soup
2 beef bouillon - Jillibean Soup
2 brilliant white scallop - Bazzill Basics
2 pinecone - Bazzill Basics
2 festive - Bazzill Basics
2 sour apple - Bazzill Basics
2 fireheart - Bazzill Basics
2 festive - just the edge strips - Bazzill Basics (varies by kit)
Assortment Brads/Buttons - Basic Grey (varies by kit)
Metal Rimmed Tags - Chatterbox (varies by kit)
Scarlet Blackboard - Cosmo Cricket
Foam Stickers - white - Thickers
Clear Cuts Word Stickers - School - Little Yellow Bicycle

Some Simple Shares

Here are a couple more things I made at last Saturday's crop. I made this layout in a few minutes after spending WAY too long (hours....) on the Concert layout on an earlier post. It's another picture from her dance recital this Spring. I printed all kinds of pictures, so beware...you'll probably see more of the pink and white polka dotted outfit! Papers are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday available from That Scrappy Girl. And of course I had to add some gems! I scrap in both 8 1/2 x 11 and 12x12. I eventually put my layouts in 3 ring binders so you can mix sizes easily. When I only have one picture I want to scrap, sometimes a 12x12 seems like way too much surface area to decorate.

Also made a quick and easy wedding card using some Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon and Making Memories Mini Alphas.

My Noodle

Noodle is one of the many nicknames I call Emma. I also shorten it to "Nood", and I'm sure some people that hear me think...what did she just say? Here is she all gussied up in her recital costume with her makeup and hair done. She is a bit of a tomboy, so the hair and makeup were no small feat! The lighting is a little off in the picture, but you know what...that's ok! I just love her cheesey grin in this picture.

(This layout originally was not on white paper, but I put against it to take the picture and kind of like it with the white too).

Papers/Frame Die Cut/ABC stickers: Pink Paislee
Chipboard Flower Sticker: K and Company
Paper Frills (pink): Doodlebug
Rubons (birds): Glitz Designs (I absolutely love these birds. But I wouldn't let myself hoard)

Size: 10x10 without mounting on white background

Some Scrap Within Reach Shares

Went to a crop yesterday and here are a few of the things I made...more to come!

First Concert (click on picture for a better view)
Papers: Scrap Within Reach – The Cottage
Kraft Cardstock: Paper Reflections
Transparency: Hambly Studio
Mini Alpha Stickers: Adorn It (brown), Making Memories (blue)
Large Alpha Stickers: American Crafts
Journaling card: Making Memories
Buttons: Creative Café, Others
Pearls: Mark Richards (white), Queen and Company (brown), K and Company (blue)
Brads: Making Memories (flowers, white/green), Pink Paislee (white)
Thread: DMC
Colored Pencil (brown)
Distresser: Heidi Swapp (used on the edges of the flowers I fussy cut from the patterned paper and on the edges of the striped paper)
Embossing Machine: Cuttlebug (used on some of the flowers to add the dotted texture)
Journaling: Keith Urban, Taylor Swift – I had an extra ticket ($20) to the concert, so Emma was my date! 6-27-09
Size: 12x12 (2 pages)

Emma Altered Paper/Mail Holder
Papers: Scrap Within Reach – Emerson
Paper/Mail Holder: Creative Imaginations
Glittered Paper: Doodlebug
Butterfly Punch: The Paper Studio
Jewels: Darice (green, pink), The Paper Studio (red)
Felt ABC stickers: Making Memories
Size: 8x9

Scrap Within Reach debuted two adorable new lines at Summer CHA Paper Boy and Carnival Ride. I'm loving both lines and will have some things to share with you in September.

Some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird

And some more of my creations from the girls scrapping weekend. Haven't had time this week to make anything, but hoping to get my scrap on this weekend. I had a number of items picked up for publication recently - yeah!! and so after the kids go to bed instead of scrappin' I've been typin' and packin'. Here are a couple simple little cards I made using mostly Cosmo Cricket Early Bird. I also got out one of my Martha Stewart punches to make a fun edge.

Not totally loving this layout, but I'll be brave and share anyway. And then of course immediately after I create the layout I find a 3rd picture that would have gone with it. Too late now :-) This is my daughter Emma and her cousin Sydney (my brother's daugther) from a couple Christmases ago. They are pretty close in age, but very different in size - one Amazon, one petite - both are divas so they have that in common anyway...lol. Now I'm not saying Amazon in a mean way...Emma has gotten used to being a head taller than most kids her age!

Basic Grey - Lemonade Projects

Here are some more things I created during the Girls Scrapping Weekend recently. The line I used here was Basic Grey Lemonade. I LOVE this lace paper they have come out with and didn't want to cut it apart, so instead I put it down on some kraft colored cardstock. I punched circles out of the various papers, stiched on some buttons, used one of the transparencies and some Pink Paislee ABC stickers (which are actually darker IRL - it says Fishin With My Daddy) and I was done. I'm even debating eventaully finding a shadow box type frame and giving this to Daddy. (This is featured in the Basic Grey Gallery)

*This will be featured in the February 2010 issue of CARDS magazine*

I used some more Lemonade papers and stickers on this card, another transparency, a Making Memories acrylic sentiment and Queen and Co pearls.

*This will be featured in an upcoming issue of Paper Creations magazine.

On this card was my first attempt with Glimmer Mist. Now I've had a few bottles for awhile, but had not been brave enough to use yet. The butterfly is a Glimmer Mist chip also from Tattered Angels. Another Making Memories acrylic sentiment, Cosmo Cricket ribbon, some Lemonade papers, and a button and the card was done. Sidenote: After I snapped this photo and was cropping it I noticed that the acrylic circle had moved. Originally it was in the center of the button, but kind of like where it ended up so we'll leave there, at least for now.

I found a home for the cute little felt doggie - Basic Grey June Bug

I'm making this quick as once again I'm up tooooo late and meant to be in bed an hour ago. Pretty much everything on this layout is from the Basic Grey June Bug line found at That Scrappy Girl. That little felt dog reminds me of our dumb, but loveable pooch that we have at home and I was determined to use it on something! These are pictures of my kidlets crashed out. Parker never naps, so to catch a photo of this was no small miracle. In his defense the picture is a couple years old or so :-)

October Afternoon Road Map Collection

*This card will be featured in a future issue of Paper Creations*

Here are a few things I made this weekend while at the Craft Cottage with my sissies and a couple of other friends. I have a lot to share over the next week or so and probably could have gotten even more done...if I hadn't been yapping, eating and shopping so much. Oh well...that's what a girls' weekend is for isn't it? On these projects I used October Afternoon's Road Map line (click on each pic for a better view) which I picked up at That Scrappy Girl's last crop. You can also find this line in her online store if you aren't local. The pictures are from the Vegas trip I took with my two sisters and my Mom this March. It was Mom's first time on an airplane! None of us killed each other while we were there, so I deem the trip a success :-)

While I was at my 48 hour scrap fest this weekend I got invited to join a couple of design teams - Creatively Green and The Scrappy Shack. Both have entirely different products, so that will be fun to use my creative juices on all kinds of different projects. I will be posting a lot more information about both companies on some blog posts later this week (once I get caught up from being gone this weekend). Creatively Green has green/environmentally friendly products - some from other "green" manufacturers and some products they create themselves. They will have monthly kits, sketches, challenges and all kinds of things going so be sure to check it out. The Scrappy Shack is all about detailed die cuts. You can use them on all kinds of projects - layouts, cards, home decor, anything! There is one that is soooo Emma and I can't wait to use it. They will also be having a big giveaway later this week!

October Afternoon - Cherry Hill and Road Map Collections

I don't know what has gotten into me, but I've been on a layout kick lately. Not a bad problem to have I guess! This layout was made with the Cherry Hill collection. I loved every single part of the collection, so I ended up buying the whole collection pack - oops! The bird was my favorite die cut and so no matter what, this bird was ending up on this layout somehow :-) Extras include some Making Memories ribbon and Creative Cafe buttons.

*This card will be featured in Crafts N' Things February 2010 issue*

While cropping with That Scrappy Girl last week, I also picked up most of the Road Maps collection - oops again! I need to get some trip pictures printed and hope to put together a mini album soon. This line will be listed in her online store soon, so if you are interested, shoot her an email for now. Extras include Adorn It mini alphas, Pink Paislee brad and some ribbon from who knows where.