Picture Perfect

My upline had a conference call tonight, and while I was listening to and learning on the call, I played with Studio J, the free online scrapbooking design software from CTMH.  I don't know if I've ever told you that you can go to Studio J, set up an account and play for FREE!  There is no software to download and you don't pay unless you purchase.  You should really give it a try just for the fun of it!  You can click HERE and go right to Studio J.  Here's what I put together in less than 30 minutes:

How nice to get Sassy's picture that big for this layout design!  It would cost quite a bit to print a picture that size, but with Studio J, it's included in the cost.  That makes Studio J very affordable.  I like the white edges around the patterned paper as that is where I plan to do my journaling.  I want to direct you to the embellishment clusters.  The software makes it easy to cluster and then pull the one you want to the front.  I love this layout for the pet scrapbook! 

I've got to keep it hush-hush for now, but there is something fabulous and free coming up in Studio J in June!  you just might want to go and set up your account and play a little before June.  And that's all I'm going to tease you with right now!! ;)

Spoiled Rotten

I told you in my earlier post today that Practical Scrappers is featuring Bella Blvd and having a giveaway.  It will be going on tomorrow (Thursday) as well so be sure to stop by.  The collections featured tomorrow are Family Dynamix and Tail Waggers & Cat Naps.  I used Tail Waggers & Cat Naps in this layout.

Other than the bit of twine and a couple of chipboard shapes, this is all Bella Blvd.  Fun, fun papers!  This is Miss Chanel and Miss Sassy taking a break next to each other in Shane's ugly chair.  They fight and chase and "yell" at each other, but they sure do love each other!  Oh by the way, we call Shane's chair ugly because they fabric really is!  It's a spinning chair and one of the most comfortable chairs any of us has sat in.  It's been around for 10 years now and the fabric shows little sign of wear even though Shane parks himself in it whenever he is home.  Just goes to show, beauty is not always on the outside! ;)

This is one of Becy Fleck's Page Maps sketches.  You can find it HERE.  Do you have Page Maps and/or Page Maps 2?  I love these books of sketches!  I think my very favorite thing is that they have cards of all the sketches, so you can easy take them to a crop.  What a great idea! 

Okay, done talking and back to crafting! 

Well, Here I Am!

Lest you think I fell off the face of the earth (!), I thought I'd better post finally this week. It has been a full - and very enjoyable - week!

I made a couple of things in the last week that I thought I would share with you. This first picture is a little 3x3 notecard box. Isn't it cute?! Such an easy pattern, and I needed a couple little gifties for people. So I thought this little box filled with little gift enclosure cards was perfect. Now for those of you with a keen eye, I actually colored a little bit on an image. I added some color to my Little Diva card with CTMH markers.

Did I ever tell you how much I love CTMH's Level 1 kits? I LOVE those pre-printed layouts just for weeks like this. When I don't have much time, I can still put together a beautiful 2-page layout. This family (even the furry kids) truly are my greatest blessings!

I will have some days off coming up, so I am looking forward to crafting more and sharing more in the week to come!

Girlfriends

I've shown you this precious picture before, but I have finally put it to a layout. My furry kids - Chanel #5 (Shane named her that!) and Miss Sassy were sunning themselves this afternoon. It was quite extraordinary the way they were sitting. I just had to hurry and snap before they moved!

For this layout I used TPC Studio Girlfriends paper. The flowers along the middle were cut with a Slice card - Think Pink. Other embellishments used are Heid Grace clear stickers, Bazzill flowers, Petaloo flowers, and Thickers.

A Layout and a Pair of Cuties

Okay, so I'll start with this CUTE picture of my furry kids. I happened to come out of my craft room yesterday, and there they were soaking up the afternoon sun. I will tell you that they don't ever sit like this. Miss Chanel #5is just so playful that usually Miss Sassy is batting her. Just goes to show that sibling rivalry happens between house pets, too! If you open up the picture, you'll see that both of them are drifting off to sleep. So funny!



Next I have a layout for you that is going in my "Me" scrapbook. You all know that I'm huge fan of Adam Lambert fan, but it's for more reasons than one might think. Those reasons are what I put in hidden journaling behind the picture. This "You Rock" paper is new from CTMH, and it will be available January 1st from your consultant. That is primarily what I used for this layout - paper. I cut my letters, splats, and large stars from my Slice Just Chillin' card. The flourishes and small stars are "You Rock" stickease. Sunflower brads and sun-colored gems completed this layout.

Now my husband laughed when I showed him this layout. (That coming from the man who has a book with millions of fish scrapped!) But I keep a book that is just layouts about my thoughts and ponderings - things that are important to me. It is dear and a little more private than my other books - lots of hidden journaling. What is important to me is that Shane will have this book and his kids and grandkids will know these things about me that I might not otherwise share. So with all this, I am encouraging you to start your own "me" book. You will be surprised with the layouts oyu come up with!!

Simple Pet Layouts

You know, as I took out these pictures today, I thought of something. So often I work to make the most beautiful layout filled with lots of flowers, embellishments and "things." That's great! I love looking at those layouts in my books - and I will be making a lot more of them.
However, sometimes I think I just need to relax in this hobby, this craft that I love so much. I don't want to take too much time working to make a layout just perfect, so that I eventually lose that love. I also think that it can detour people from looking a blog. I want to make things that people can easily copy without much fuss. Just a revelation I had today! LOL! Enough rambling now.
For these two layouts, I used Cloud 9 pet paper. Because the colors match, I can easily put them in the pet book side by side even thought the backgrounds aren't the same. I captured my sweet pets sleeping. And what funny personalities I've got in my house! I used Thickers letters from American Crafts, and the small embellishments and sayings are random. Didn't take much time or product, but I did what I wanted to do - showcase my sleeping beauties!
**If you'd like to see the layouts larger, just click on them.**

My Furry Kids

I did this fun layout of my furry kids. They are such precious little beings in my life! These pictures are amongst my favorites of them.

I want to explain some technique I used on this layout. It's so easy that you will be able to do it with no problem! I took a piece of KI Memories lace cardstock and set it over Vineyard Berry cardstock. I sponged colonial white ink over the holes. That's what made the design and texture on my background. Easy, easy! You'll notice that I then used a piece of that lace cardstock as a border of sorts. Four of the embellishments on the page are We R Memory Keepers eyelets. It added a bit to put sparkle in the middle of them. The buttons are actually chipboard buttons covered with stickers. I also glittered the word "love." Scallop borders on the 5x7 are chipboard covered with sticker borders.

These two pets of mine have most certainly grabbed my heart!