This & That

That's the name of the paper I used for this layout - This & That Christmas from Echo Park.  I wanted to enter their Christmas project challenge, and I really liked the ruby red in this snowflake paper.

I cannot believe that this unbelievably cute picture was taken 20 years ago.  I do not know where time goes or how Shane grew up so fast.  I tend to get a little nostalgic around Christmas, so I like to pull out his "little boy photos" to scrap.  I am glad that I have never been a chronological scrapper because that means I get to pull out these memories and think on them while I am scrapping.  I think I feel this way around the holidays because holidays change so much when children grow up.  It becomes less about the presents and more about our faith and family time.  There is not one present in the world that can match precious time we spend with loved ones.

The twine is from My Mind's Eye, but otherwise all the embellishment is from the This & That collection.

Cut it Up Challenge #5

What a wonderful month of gratitude!  With that thought in mind, at Cut it Up, we'd like to see you make a thank you card .  Of course, don't forget to use a die-cut!

I am all about using up my scraps, so I grabbed these Echo Park Times & Seasons scraps.  I finished off this card by making some rolled flowers from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The vintage crocheted ribbon pairs very nicely with the flowers.

The random winner of this challenge will receive the Wild Horses stamp set from Mark's Finest.  Be sure to play along!!

ScrapFIT Workout #65

Have you been having fun playing along with the ScrapFIT workouts?  They are always so varied and so much fun!  We have a picture this week to inspire you:

I LOVE this inspiration photo!  I have had a picture of my father-in-law for quite some time.  It is from 1942, and I loved the shot and the whole background.  It was perfect to use for this challenge!

This is Echo Park's Times and Seasons paper.  I edge distressed all the paper as I thought it gave even more character to the whole page.  I added a few CTMH embellishments, a Tim Holtz tag, and the layout was finished.  I am so glad that I am not a scrapper that likes to hurry through photos to get them in a book.  If I were, I may not have had this precious photo to use for this page!

We have a great sponsor this week - My Divine Inspiration.

Stop by ScrapFIT to see the other design team member's work, and then try this challenge for yourself!  I'd love to see what you do!

Dots and More Dots!

A friend gifted me with some lovely paper from Echo Park, so I put together a couple of cards.  Of course, I put my Art Philosophy cartridge to work!

I love flowers, and I so love making flowers with the AP cartridge!  If I could, I would roll flowers for every single project - LOL!!  Let me give you a little tip.  When you sit down to roll these flowers, have a bottle of Liquid Glass handy.

This is such an affordable product and has so many uses!  It gives "glassy" dimension to your images, makes beautiful water splashes, raindrops, and dew drops, and it is the best adhesive I've ever used.  When people look over the projects I've made, they can't believe how firm the rolled are.  That is Liquid Glass!

Okie-dokie, I cut the card bases, layers, and flowers from the AP cartridge.  On the yellow card, I've used Honey Mini Medleys (does this card remind you of sunshine?!)  On the pink card, I used some discounted pink blush ribbon that I've been hoarding (do my CTMH friends remember this?) and a blush ribbon slide.  For both cards, I've used some rub-ons for sentiments and I created a scalloped border using my corner rounder.  You can cut a scalloped border with your Art Philosophy cartridge, too!

It's Sunday, and it's going to be 80 degrees again here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota!  It is unseasonably warm, and it's just beautiful!  I've got lilies, yarrow, and catmint (does it surprise you that I have this?  Sassy and the neighbor cats LOVE this!) popping out of the ground, so I will be tending to them a little today.  I don't cut my flowers down in the fall rather choosing to leave the dried for protection.  Then I'll be back in my craft room creating more cards and designing some classes.  Originally, I was going to take a day off with Jerry, but he's got a terrible spring cold.  So I am steering clear of my hubby, spraying a lot of Lysol, and letting him get the rest he needs!  I spent a greater portion of the day running errands with Shane yesterday, but he is working today, so I have plenty of time to get some of my own things done.  I planned our summer vacation last night, and I am thrilled as to where we are going!  We will be heading up to Bemidji (northern Minnesota) in June.  We've stayed at this resort before, and we've chosen the same little cottage that is about 6 steps from the lake.  Bemidji State Park has the most beautiful bog walk, and if we are lucky we'll catch a glimpse of the elusive Lady Slipper (Minnesota's state flower).  We'll also visit Itasca State Park again.  This park is so rich with Minnesota heritage!  And of course, we'll head to Forestedge Winery where they make wine with the fruits of Minnesota.  In between, Jerry will get a lot of fishing in, and I'll get to spend some time sun bathing in the boat.  Sounds like an ideal vacation to me!

Off to catch up on a little blog reading to see what's up in your lives!

Grace

It's been very stormy in our area, so it's been a wonderful day to sit and scrap.  I love these lazy days when I can just putz and take my time on a layout.

We took these pictures last summer.  The young man, Caine, is my god-child, and my aunt and uncle, Esther and Chuck are my god-parents.  I thought it was a nice way to put things all together and create a keepsake page.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been working through my papers and buying just as little as possible.  It's unrealistic to go on a scrapbook spending freeze (I have heard of people doing this), because I just think our pages have to turn out the way we want them to look.  I was able to use up my Echo Park For the Record by cutting the flowers from one sheet.  I've had these Primas sitting around for awhile, and the last swirls of some Zva bling.  So not only do I love this layout, but I was able to use up some supplies!

Items used: Echo Park For the Record; Prima flowers; Charlene's buttons; Zva Bling; October Afternoon letters, and loads of pop dots

Happy 5

I have been outside quite a bit, so I only managed to squeeze in one card today.  It's not really that warm yet (50's), but that feels fabulous after such a long winter!  I saw a challenge to create a gift card holder at Moxie Fab.  I turned to my favorite pattern for this - Scalloped Money Holder - from Jeanette Lynton's Originals Card Confidence Program (CTMH).  The templates for this card is on CD that comes with the book.  It made this bright and cheery card very easy to put together.

I've used Echo Park's Little Boy paper, but this could easily be used for a boy or a girl.  The ribbon and button are CTMH, and the stickers are Echo Park.

I walked in the woods with Miss Chanel this afternoon.  Wish I'd have been quick enough to get the picture of her with her head up a hollow tree!  I am quite certain that there is something living in there and her beagle nose sniffed it right out.  There are possums in the wood pile and woodchucks under the shed.  You know, that's why we leave our yard to nature.  So fun to see all those critters!  But this is the best discovery of all.  When the lilies peek out of the ground, then I know spring is here and summer is coming!

Sassy Lil Sketches Card Sketch

I am a day late in posting, but be sure to head over to Sassy Lil' Sketches to see the card sketch!  There is absolutely some AWESOME inspiration for my fellow design team members, so be sure to leave some love!

Don't you just love Cherie's sketch?  Here's what I came up with using a digital image from one of our sponsors this month - Sassy Studio Designs:

Be nice to me, bloggy friends!  I am so very new to coloring, but I think she turned out all right.  I used my watercolor pencils and ranger blending solution.  That cute little phrase is from a very old CTMH set, and the paper is Echo Park.

Puppy Love

In our household, we are of the thought that every house needs a pooch.  Yes, they are trouble sometimes, and they make a lot of extra work.  But there is nothing like that doggie hug and that happy doggie smile just when you need it the most!

This layout is for Your Scrapbook Stash.  The challenge is to create using any Echo Park papers.  How easy is that?!  I used A Walk in the Park paper and stickers for this one.  I added some gems using the Imaginisce i-top tool.

I didn't realize that it's been so long since I've posted!  I have been busy looking for another job.  I have a couple really good leads (one of them is even teaching again!), and I'll know by the end of the week what I am going to do.

What I know right now is this.  Life is short - and I especially learned that after I had a mini stroke a few months ago.  For those of you that have been following me for awhile, you know that I have been blessed with many health issues, huh?  I say blessed in the most serious of tones.  I believe that God never allows more than we can handle.  AND I sometimes think that He allows things because we need a good wake up call.  With that being said, I am deciding to be very particular about where I work now, and that's why I am looking again. Respect and high standards of excellence are important to me, and I am quite certain God will lead me exactly to the right place!

It's also very busy with Shane at home again.  I LOVE that!  He starts cosmetology school full time in December, and I am very excited for him!  Maybe a little excited for me, too, because this is free haircuts and pedicures for life!!  Most recently I dyed my hair blond and Shane put some brown and red highlights in my hair.  Wow - was that tough to get used to!  But he had fun playing, and I am now having fun with something a little bit different.

After this post, I am heading to my recipe books.  This weekend is my sister's annual cookie bake.  She has had these for years and years, but this is the very first one I've been able to attend.  Shane and Jerry are coming with me, and I know everyone will be happy about that.  Some of my family members haven't seen Shane in over 2 years.  I'll be sure to share loads of pictures so that you can get in the mood for Christmas baking!

If you stayed with me, thanks for reading through!  Every once in a while, a girl's jsut gotta ramble!!

New Sketch at Let's Scrap

Here is the new sketch over at Let's Scrap.  Don't you think it's a fun one?!  Hop on over there and give it a try.  Cheri always creates such nice sketches!

I wanted to enter the challenge at Echo Park.  I love this new company and their fun papers!  They provided the haunted house image, and the challenge was to use the element on a page along with their Happy Halloween paper.  I had the perfect pictures of Shane from Halloween 1991.  That year was known as the Halloween Blizzard dropping 28.4 inches of snow!  We bundled Shane up and put his costume on over the winter clothes and took him to a few houses in the neighborhood.  He's could hardly walk because he was so bundled, but at just 2 years old, he has a blast! The bats were fussy cut from EP paper.  I used my Slice card - Holiday Words - for "trick or treat."

Outdoor Layouts - Blog Award

Jerry and Chanel went fishing this morning, so I am spending the day in my craft room.  It's kind of humid and gray outside, so I think this is the perfect day to get some paper crafting done!

I've used all Echo Papers today.  I received these as free goodies, and I am really impressed with the versatility of this line.  It could literally be used for anything or anybody.  I LOVE that!  The first LO I want to show is a sketch from Sassy Lil Sketches.  Play along during the month for a chance to win the monthly prize!

I left this sketch pretty true to it's form choosing to use only a few colors and not many embellishments.  The colors really make the pictures stand out!

The next sketch is from Let's Scrap.  Did you know that if you play along on this site, you have a chance every week to win a prize?  Such lovely, complimentary women over at Let's Scrap!

I LOVED this sketch because I could get so many pictures on these two pages.  Again, this is Echo Park.  I lvoe the papers and embellishments for this line!

Here are the pages singly:

And finally, I want to tell you about a Blog Award I received!

My wonderful and dear friend, Kim bestowed this honor on me!  This was so sweet of you, Kim!!  You know I am sending this right back to you.  You inspire me through your artwork, and I love that I have gotten to know you so well just through reading your blog!  (Blog world is a great place!)

This award comes with a set of rules...

1) Thank the person who gave it to you 2) Tell seven things about yourself 3) Pass the award on to five bloggers whom you think are fantastic..

I am passing this award on to Irena, Dawn, Diana, Laurel, Debbie, Susan, Jamie, and Barb.  Okay, so I went over five, but these women really inspire me!

Now to tell seven things about myself:

1. I am a terrible typist.  I am fast enough, but there are usually some letters mixed up, and I just don't find the need to correct them.  (If you've been reading me long enough, you alreadly know this!)
2. I am pretty darn honest.  In my younger years that was much to my detriment, but now I think it's a great quality.  Along the same lines, my biggest pet peeve is lying.  Gracious, the truth may seem hard, but in the end, it's always the easiest.
3. I don't like pants.  If you were to come to my house, 99% of the time I would be in a dress or skirt.
4. I love going to wine tastings.  I don't know that is tasting the wine so much as it is the atmsophere.  Wine tastings always leave me remembering our day in Tuscany.
5. In 6th grade, my teacher told me I was a horrible artist.  I still remember how I felt and I did not even try anything artistic for years.  I scrapped my first pages when Shane was just a very little boy, but I didn't like them.  It wasn't until a few years ago that I understood that I am not a horrible artist.  Perhaps that's why I encourage individuality in all the classes I teach.  Everyone's artwork is a reflection of who they are, and that makes it all good.
6. I listen to all types of music.  I only steer away from music with angry lyrics.
7. I miss all 4 of my sisters almost every day.  I don't live near any of them, but they are a part of me.

Now, I must get back to crafting.  There are so many fun challenges sitting on my desk!  I am going to catch up on readng blogs this evening while watching tv.  I can't wait to see what you've all been up to!!