Debbie's Scrappin Corner

Little Angel for Frosted Designs

2012-02-07T01:15:00.002-06:00

Isn't she just a Little Angel? I thinks so, but that's because she is my grand-daughter. I did this lo while I was a my retreat a week ago and I also entered it in the Parade of Pages- as the most favorite page I did during the retreat. Everyone loved it- so pretty and love the cute stamps as a banner- they said.
Well I got the sketch from Sketch Along Tuesdays over at Frosted Designs and these photos were perfect for the sketch.

Materials used: Graphic 45 paper, DCWV green paper sanded, white and red cs, and photo paper embossed with Cuttlebug and folders, jewel brads, polka dot ribbon , red cord or ribbon for banner, Cricut and Gypsy for Title cut "Little Angel" on Coredinations paper sanded prior to cutting. Paper flowers misted with Clear Tattered Angel Mist, Stickles in red, Graphic 45 stamps cut out, and the Seasons Greeting precut embellie. So not only is this the sketch from Frosted Designs this week I incorporated the Ribbon/twine challenge in this layout also. This will be a treasured page in her scrapbook that for sure.
Be sure to check out all the challenges and the Love is in the Air Blog Hop scheduled for this weekend over at Frosted Designs

big SIS... little BRO

2012-02-03T02:00:00.001-06:00

What a fun layout this was for me to do for the ribbon/twine challenge over at Fabulous Fridays at Frosted Designs this week. These 2 photos are of my 2nd cousins, that I had the priviledge to babysit for while their mommy (my cousin) spent some quality time for herself on her birthday. The baby (Joshua) was only 2 weeks old and I loved holding him every minute and so did his big sister.

We R Memory Keepers papers, Recollections border punch, a colorful pink / orange gross grain ribbon in several spots on the page, stamps, brown & teal inks, Journal tag, chipboard alphas in green and sticker alphas in brown, chalks and a few brads to complete this "cute" page.

I stamped the birdhouse, branches and birds on cream colored cardstock and then fussy cut them to put on the page. I used some chalks to give them a bit of color.

Also added some colorful ribbon to the "cute" tag. Well be sure to stop by Frosted Designs to see some more wonderful projects that the Design team came up with this week and enter into our challenge of Ribbon/Twine on a project for a chance to win a prize from Memorable Seasons.

Debbie's Christmas Tree- guessing game

2012-02-02T01:31:00.013-06:00

I just had to do a layout of all my trees that I had put up back in 2007 and all the fun we had with a game that I had played with all 22 of my guests(family) on Christmas Day. I just love to decorate for the Christmas season- but that year I went overboard and put of 5 treees and I counted all the ornaments on each tree as I put them on. Main tree with all handmade ornaments, SANTA tree with all santas, and 3 trees together with a variety of small and handmade ornaments. Then on Christmas Day, I had everyone guess how many on each tree and then a grand total of all ornaments ( not lights) and put them on the peices of paper that I had already designed and made copies of. There were 4 winners- who ever came the closet on their guess for each of the trees and the grand total winner - which my Uncle guessed right on the nose....Each recieved Gift cards from Starbucks- just something little for fun. Now the family wants to do this game each year...lol

I used ornament paper from Paper Heart( how appropriate) and plain cs for all the matting- tore the edges and inked with moss green , and three tags to identify each tree...simply layout-- but I love and will cherish the memories from this page.

I"M BACK..from my scrapping retreat.

2012-01-31T22:11:00.000-06:00

And I'm all fired up for the new chapter in my life to begin. I had so much fun while on this 3 day retreat sponsored by Heart & Soul Memories- I believe this was the 8th time I have gone and look forward to next time. I was celebrating 2 occasions at this retreat- my Birthday (26th) and my Divorce Day( 20th) with old and new friends, whom made this weekend extra special for me. Thanks girls!

I completed a whomping 30 pages...so I think I got my mojo back..lol I worked on some Christmas & graduation layouts from 2007 and some more recent photos of my grand-daughter and my dogs- so a variety of photos to work with. I will be posting all these layouts in the next few weeks- and I leave here with a photo taken of me and my balloons while sitting at my scrapping spot-

2 Pieces of the Puzzle...

2012-01-26T21:38:00.000-06:00

First of all ,I just wanted to post that it was my Birthday yesterday (26th) and I have been so busy I haven't had the time to post anything this week. Because at the beginning of the week the 20th- I finally had my day in court for my Divorce, which has been consuming me for the past 9 months with all kinds of worries and doubts about my future. But , now that it is final-- I am happy to say that I'm in a good spot and I'm looking forward to the new chapter in my life and can't wait to start moving ahead. I have so many goals and plans for myself- and I get to do them in the comfort of MY home and my wonderful craft/scrapbook room, which I have been organizing and filling with all my goodies for the past 4 years.
My life has been like a puzzle and all the pieces were scattered and now I'm starting to put all the pieces back together again..and here are the 2 pieces are so dear to me...my girls. I did this layout a month or so ago while on Christmas break and thought it was a good one to post with my topic of discussion. And I'm happy to announce the girls are living with me also (Jenna & Izzy)

So with that said- hopefully you will be seeing and hearing from me more often and I cant wait till this weekend to get started back into scrapping once again- on a regular basis. I am treating myself ( for my birthday) to a 3 day scrapbooking retreat here in Palatine Illinois, once again- and I'm so excited for that 5 o'clock whistle today and will be scrapping- laughing and enjoying new and old friends till 3 pm on Sunday-

I want to say and express a big heart of thanks to some of you whom have already known of my situation and all the support you have given me- on either my blog or on facebook- it means alot- So thanks for caring! And- I will be blog hopping once again too- I will have more time to concentrate and relax with what I love to do--- my passion for scrappin!

And the winner is....

2012-01-23T06:00:00.014-06:00

Welcome back- I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the Winter Wonderland Blog Hop hosted by Frosted Designs. I was thrilled to see all the wonderful comments and new followers on my blog from this blog hop-and wanted to thank all of you who played along and participated with us. Now on to the important stuff the winner of my blog candy -- a variety of sizes & colors of my handmade crocheted flowers and trims(50 pieces).

And the lucky winner is.............Heather P and her favorite technique is to use copics.

If you could send me an email with your address- I will send this package out to you as soon as I can. debbiebakk@comcast.net

I hope you enjoy using these cute embellies on your future projects.

For those who did not win and are interested in my crocheted embellies you can go to my side bar and get more info on these items that I make and sell ( click on crocheted embellies above) . And starting today till the end of February I am having a price reduction on all my handmade crocheted items- take $3.00 off each combo pkg and $10.00 off a 50 pc variety pack...... What a deal this is!!!!

Welcome...to our...Winter Wonderland Blog Hop

2012-01-20T00:11:00.001-06:00

I am so excited about this Winter Wonderland blog hop this weekend and so glad you decided to join us....hopefully you came here from the very talented lady- Fern's blog- if not you can go to the list I have below and click on anyone's blog to go to. So this week we have the challenge over at Fabulous Fridays at Frosted Designs to use of acrylic, vellum and/or transparencies- fun fun. So I have a layout, which I used an acrylic overlay- (plain sheet), I then painted a design in two colors- that fit what I needed for my layout. Then I cut out the patterned flowers and attached with pop dots -on top of the acrylic sheet, after I colored & added diamond Stickles to them. I choose a simple black and white floral/leaf patterned paper and cut out a circle with my Fiskars circle cutter and flip it to the other side to fit right in the middle. The white mat look on the photos is really white acrylic paint instead of cardstock I tend to use this technique (painting) often.These photo's are of my cousins wedding and my two sons with the beautiful bride-so this page is for my scrapbook of memories.

Well, onto the important stuff that you came here for >>>>The Winter Wonderland Blog Hop >>> and my special word for you is "and" so be sure to write them all down in order. Two ways to be entered in for a chance to win some wonderful prizes by midnight Jan. 22nd ... are email the phrases to mailto:todanica4us@yahoo.com and/or do a layout with this weeks challenge of acrylic/vellum or transparencies and link it at Frosted Designs. I also will be having a seperate drawing here on my blog= all you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what is your favorite technique is when doing a layout/project and become a follower, if your aren't already..Simple and this is what you could win if your name is choosen.

My handmade crocheted flowers and trims in a variety of sizes and colors +50 pieces all together

So here is the list of blogs in order...you will now be hopping over to Eli's blog...have fun scrapping and hopping and be sure to check back Monday to see who is the lucky one to win this prize from me.

Diana http://itsmylifeandimscrappingit.blogspot.com/

Andrea http://www.scrapality.com/

Amanda http://www.whiteruffles.blogspot.com/

Jenny http://jennygevans-mylittlescrapcorner.blogspot.com/

Ashley http://ashleyspaperdoll.blogspot.com/

Marina M. http://sunnysbasteloase.blogspot.com/

Lori http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/

Joni http://www.joniparkerstuff.blogspot.com/

Martina http://stampinggoddess-stampalicious.blogspot.com/

Fern http://www.texasstampinmamaw.blogspot.com/

Debbie B http://debbiebakk.blogspot.com/

Eli http://scrap-colors.blogspot.com/

Alison - http://missybossy65.blogspot.com/

Design Team Call at Frosted Designs...

2012-01-18T09:27:00.000-06:00

                       Frosted Designs has a new term coming up and is calling all crafters.....

     They are looking for papercrafters of all kinds! If you make scrapbook layouts, cards, altered art items, home decor items or like mixed media.... they want you!! One of the best things about Frosted Designs (in my opinion) is that we celebrate all kinds of crafters! They are not just a scrapbooking blog or a card blog. They want to let everyone share their skills and with 3 challenges going on all the time, there is something for everyone! They would like to fill some positions on all three of our teams.
          For more info and details about submitting an application by February 10th click here,,,. I have been at Frosted Designs for 2 terms know and I love it- everyone is so wonderful and helpful a great bunch of ladies to work with.

Also, this weekend Jan 20th-22nd Frosted Designs is having their Winter Wonderland Blog Hop so be sure to stop by and have some fun and a chance to win some fabulous blog candy- I personally will be giving away some of my handmade embellies during this blog hop... Happy Scrapping!!!

A-Z Challenge the letter F this month

2012-01-16T22:23:00.001-06:00

Here is a layout I did using the letter F= friends, flowers, flourishes and fun times for Scrapbookers Anonymous challenge this month.I just love this challenge I look forward to it every month- makes you go thru your stash and see what you have that starts with that letter. I went out with a few of my dearest friends whom I haven't seen for awhile and we got together for a nice dinner and one of the girls brought us all Bling Rings to celebrate us getting together and our friendship for over 30 years- we had a fabulous time and plan on getting together again- soon. So, I did a layout to remember this event and titled it- The Bling Ring Friends.

The fancy lace flowers were cut individually and added rhinestones to the center, the flourishes I used Tulip Paint and hand drew them on and the rhinestone flourishes I bought, the rest of the title "friends" is in the lower right corner which is a metal saying.

I used my Gypsy and Expression to cut out the title with the Ashlyn's Alphabet cartridge from a shiny silver and black cardstock and added silver Stickles to it for more bling. Used my new Martha Stewart butterfly punch and added 3 of them to the page with some glitter.

I pulled the colors out of the clothes we were all wearing from K&Company specialty papers I really like the color combo and it also has a floral pattern-so festive. Well can't wait till next month- for the letter G.

Color Us Happy

2012-01-13T01:26:00.011-06:00

The Fabulous Friday challenge over at Frosted Designs this week is Paint...and that is what I did here in more ways than one. I used several colors of acrylic paint and scattered brush strokes over the page and then this layout is of my son and his girlfriend painting some projects in my craftroom one evening. As you can see they were a litlle messy- I think they got more paint on them than the projects...lol I also drew and cut out my own paint-brushes and painted the tips of them.
I used a colorful patterned paper for background, torn graph paper- so the photo's would show up better, cricut cartridge- Ashlyn's Alphabet for title and acrylic paints. I think this turned out great- such a colorful and fun page. So be sure to get out those Paints this week and have fun on a project and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize at Fabulous Fridays at Frosted Designs....can't wait to see what you come up with!!!

Farwell Miss Antioch-layout

2012-01-11T06:03:00.001-06:00

Here is a page I did the other day for a challenge to use 5 or more photos on a layout - The Studio Challenge this week. The photos are of my son's girlfriend saying farwell this past summer and giving up her crown to the new Miss Antioch.

Materials used: K&Company background paper, Webster pages die cut heart, white cardstock for all matting,Gypsy and Cricut Cartridges for cuts of the title and crown, Stick pins, K&Company border strips, lots of bling. I made my own flowers from paper towels and used some florist silk white leaves.

I made this a two page layout so here is the other page that goes with this one- but there is still 5 photo's on this one page for the Challenge.

a treasured POEM

2012-01-09T06:03:00.023-06:00

This was a challenge alright- 4 of them-- First one is Frosted Designs to use cardstock only ( this was stepping out of the box for me) Scrap Our Stash "NEW" challenge - so this was a new technique of cardstock only & no pictures- a poem instead, Scrapbookers Anonymous to use either ink, mist or paint along with masking on a project and the last challenge I used was the sketch from Sketch Along Tuesdays over at Frosted Designs.

All my papers are plain cardstock- which I masked stars on the background, chalked a rainbow, embossed on the sun and clouds, and fringed for the grass. I used Tattered Angel Mist, several inks and jelly roll markers. This cardstock was a great challenge for this layout of mine- because I wanted the poem to really be the main focus of this page for my daughters scrapbook.

She wrote this poem the night her grandfather (my father) passed away and gave it to me the next day, which was also 2 days before I was getting remarried- so it was an emotional roller coaster in our household. I tried to bring out a few of the embellishments that she had written about in her poem such as the birds, clouds, the sun , rainbows and grass. I used some rain drop like rhinestones to represent rain from the clouds which she mentioned also in this lovely poem.

I drew some birds and some swirls to represent the wind- which might be kinda hard to see in this photo. This is the original copy that she wrote on -so this will be a treasured page for sure in her book. I know the sketch is not quite the same as Sketch Along Tuesdays- but I was inspitred by the sketch and tried to follow it the best I could with this poem- instead of a photo.

B & W and hint of Color Layout

2012-01-08T00:24:00.001-06:00

Black & White and a bit of Color is the challenge at The Paper Variety and this is my layout of a friend of mine's- daughter (Aubrille Lynn). And this challenge was just perfect for this black & white photo I had and I choose yellow as my hint of color with a few bumble bees and ribbon.

I used a border punch and Cricut font cartridge ( Calligraphy Collection) and did some fussy cutting of the white flowers and staggered them with pop dots on top of the black flower paper. I then used diamond Stickles on the name and the white flowers to add a little bling to the page. I think this page is so elegant and perfect for this adorable photo. Sweet & Simple.

Camp Buddies

2012-01-02T06:30:00.001-06:00

Here is my take of the sketch over at Sketchabilities this week- but I used 4 pictures instead of the 3 to keep them all together in one layout. My daughter recentlly went thru some of her older photos and is giving them to me to scrap for her book...but I have already chronilogically passed this time in her life- so I am kinda back tracking in her scrapbook.
I used Recollections-Charming Stack papers, buttons, scrappers floss, inks, pop dots, sticker alphas, scalloped punch, fine black marker and misc cardstock and scrap papers.

Some cute little gift bags and tags

2011-12-30T23:15:00.001-06:00

I made about 70 of these cute little gift bags with tags for my friends at work, my bowling buddies and my relatives- each bunch of people got different goodies in their bags. Some, I made my Christmas tidbits (seasoned oyster crackers) some received a variety of chocolates, and the other relatives got gummy bears- which everyone seemed to enjoyed what ever they received. So of course, I was making these too --at the last minute- so I wanted something fairly simple to put together 70 of them in an evening or so.

I already had the little plastic bags on hand- so that was great- didn't need to go out and buy them. Then I remembered that I had bought a few bags full of cardstock scraps from the Scrapbook Expo for $2.00 and Yes!-- I found this shiny white cardstock strips in the package- so I used it all up. I knew I would put it to good use sooner or later.

I found a simple tree cut from Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridge and again went thru my larger scraps of green paper and cut out 70 trees and also cut from Tags, bags, boxes & more cartridge 70 tags out of white cardstock.While that was all cutting went to my stash of red papers and found 5 sheets of the same floral leaf-berry paper and cut them into 3 x 3 squares and mounted them on my white cardstock -which I earlier used my scor-pal to make all the fold lines

Then when everything was finally cut I inked all the edges of the trees with brown and the tags I inked in multi colores of pink, red, blue and greens. next step-- was too get my stamps out and stamp all the tags with my saying "Joyful Greetings" and on the back I stamped a swirl design and " handmade for you" then took a red marker and wrote my name. Then with scrappers floss I curled and tied it on the tags and used pop dots to attach them to the card- for a little more dimension and then I quit for the evening after about 3 hours.

The next day I filled all the little plastic bags with the different goodies and stapled them to the back side-inside the tag holder...and put them into the boxes for each group of people I was handing them out too. Some of them I wrote their names on ( on the tree) so I knew who was getting what. I had fun making these little goodie bags this year- I always come up with a new project every year for my friends and family - so they kinda expect something from me and it is always something handmade with LOVE.
Note* the gummy bears I had were soaking in vodka for 4 days prior to putting them in their bags- (keep refrigerated)- thats why I also had names on the tags, so I knew who was getting these with alcohol (which the young/old folks really liked them) lol
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my little project last week--Wishing you all Happy Holidays and a very safe and Happy New Year.....

waiting till the last minute this week

2011-12-30T22:41:00.000-06:00

Here is the quick 2-page layout I did tonight for Sketches in Thyme. I had a few hours to spend in my clean and reorganized craftroom, so I thought I would do one challenge during these busy holidays. It's pictures (that are not very good in lighting) that I took when I took my girls ( the dogs) to Bass Pro Shops to have their pictures taken with Santa in the beginning of the month.

I used white cardstock for the background, Daisy D, and Basic Grey papers and some ho-ho ho paper from my stash. Cricut cartridges were Ashleys Alphabet & Christmas Cheer for the title and all the snowflakes. I used Tatered Angel Mist in lime green and Espresso for the title and covered the snowflakes with a light blue Stickles.And some distressing done in Vintage Photo ink by Tim Holtz.

The girls had so much fun running around the store (of course on leashes) and visiting with all the workers and customers- they just loved all the attention they received from all, and all the treats too.

My DT project for cloth/fabric challenge

2011-12-23T06:11:00.001-06:00

I decided to do a layout this week for the DT and Challenge for Frosted Designs this week instead of a project- using fabric/cloth . Which was pretty simple to do. I titled my page Apple of my Eye..its a picture of my oldest daughter and her father back in the days when she was in high school.

I had so much fun doing this layout-and I really like how it turned out- even tho it took me a few hours to do- well worth it all in the end and my daughter will really appreciate this page also.The cloth/fabric is the burlap I used behind the picture, which I unraveled the edges a bit and used the twine to tie a bow on the corner of the photo.Materials used in the page are: October Afternoon for apple/checked paper, KI- alpahabet paper, Burlap, Tree Cut from Cricut - My Community, chalks, inks, Stickles, 4 apple brads, alphabet tiles cut out and mounted on barn red cardstock and attached with pop dots- and bakers twine for the banner effect of the title
I hope you get a chance to do a project and enter it over at Frosted Designs for a chance to win some fabulous prize they have to offer- Happy Holidays to all.

My daughter H.S. graduation...

2011-12-20T06:01:00.007-06:00

I was busy this weekend and got 5 layouts done for challenges and here is another from Sketchy Thursday. The sketch called for a background broken up in 4 squares and to use 6 pictures which is alot- but I managed to find 5 with the same theme so here it goes for my take....

I used my scraps for this layout the school colors were royal blue and yellow so that was easy for the cardstock to find the blue, and their dresses were yellow and blue floral prints -so the whole thing pulled together for me. I made the banner flag using Hero Arts banner stamps amd upper case Alpha rubber stamp set for the title. Tied on some blue cord with knots in between each flag. Did some simple journaling in the middle of the page, and lots of pop dots on the banner also.

Monkey Business...

2011-12-19T05:51:00.001-06:00

Here is my take for the sketch from Sketchabilities this week...and its a silly page of some older pictures I found of my daughter and a friend of hers having a silly sleep over and monkeying arond. I used Recollections (monkey cuts outs) K&Company (Rhapsody paper) and misc scraps of black and grey papers.

I painted the mats of the circle cut out pics with white paint and added glitter to it (which doesn't show up here at all) Also with the white paint I splattered all around the edge of the page to resemble the white powder or whatever it is on their faces.

I used my Cricut to cut the scalloped piece of paper for the journaling area- which my daughter can do later. and a small circle punch for the title and inked the edges in green. other materials used were pop dots, inks, chipboard flowers, hearts and buttons, scrappers floss and a Big letter M from my stash.

Frosted Designs-ribbon challenge (DT)

2011-12-16T01:30:00.028-06:00

I was so excited to make this ornament for this challenge at Frosted Designs this week... here is my ribbon pinecone ornament.
I will have a tutorial on how to make this ornament on the Frosted Designs blog on Sunday- December 18th- so be sure to come back and check it out. (just click on the name)
It was very simple and fun to make this - and would make a great gift for anyone on your list this year. The dimensions on this ornament or 2" x 3" so it is a great size- not to big or to small- just right!
The challenge is to do any project using ribbon this week for an entry and a chance to win not 1 but 3 fabulous prizes this week from our generous sponsor GRAPHIC 45--- so be sure to give this a try and let me know how your ornament turned out.

SOUS sketch challenge

2011-12-14T01:23:00.002-06:00

I was busy this past weekend doing layouts- it felt so good and of course I had to do the SOUS challenge love that blog site- great sketches and ideas all the time.

I always try to do a layout using all my older scraps if I can and this is the one I decided to do that with this week. So all the papers are from my Holiday stash. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the trees and added Stickles to them also. Some misc gold vellum stickers on the photo corners, and ornaments cut out of paper and layered for some dimension. This is a photo of my daughter and her cousin (who is in the Marines) and was home visiting- they are the same age.

All Dolled Up...

2011-12-13T01:09:00.006-06:00

This is for the challenge over at Sketchy Thursday this week and I found some older photos of my daughter at a variety of her high school dances- so I thought I would do a page for her. I was trying to pull the colors out of the dresses that my daughter and her friend were wearing on top pic throughtout the layout.

The background floral paper is by Paper Studio"Boho Chick paper stack" and the strips are from my stash including the gold ribbon and the pinky/purple floral acetate by Mambly. I used my circle cutter for the musical paper and found some sticker alphas in the purple color that I wanted to pull out and applied them with pop dots. Inked the border of layout with black

I needed something else for this page - but wasn't sure whated- I didn't want to put flowers on this one- so I was looking at the photo and noticed the gold necklace my daughter was wearing and thought...I can make that. So I took out my acetate and Stickles and drew the necklace on the acetate then added a fine glitter in gold to really shine more than the Stickles. I then trimmed around the necklace that I had drawn and placed it on the page and I kinda like how it turned out. So why stop there I added some more gold stickles to the floral pattern paper in several areas and purple Stickles in centers for some more added bling.

Clubbing...

2011-12-12T01:56:00.001-06:00

Clubbing...back in the days that my daughter was in High School and they use to go to these teanager clubs at night(against my better wishes) and get all dressed up and stay out all night(well not all night but you know what I mean) Well I found these 2 photo's and thought I would scrap them for her book. I still have to laugh at those red leather pants my daughter had on- she must of thought they were hot stuff back then and they probably were.

I used papers from The Paper Studio and K&Company, black & white polka dot ribbon and lots of different stamps that I have in my over abundant stash. I stamped and cut out the flowers and added rhinestones to the center of them .

The title alpha's are from a book of letters that I punched out and added pop dots to attached them, and the purse and shoes were stamped also I added some silver Stickles to them

I also used more rhinestones on the center of the black and white diamond pattern and some more silver Stickles in the small diamond pattern on the paper- which might be hard to see. But this page has alot of bling which is what those girls were dressing up like back in the days..
I will be applying this over at Sketches in Thyme this week

Over the River and thru the woods...

2011-12-11T06:36:00.000-06:00

To grandma's house we go..... is the title of my layout this week for 2 challenges, one at The Paper Variety to use a Christmas song or lyric and over at SOUS to use "tree" die cuts. This photo is of my 2 daughters and their cousin in Upper Michigan after Christmas one year. The girls decided to take therir first rode trip alone to Michigan to celebrate the New Year with family. And they went over plenty of rivers and thru the woods to grandma's house --so the title is so right for this page.

I used several Cricut cartridges on this layout: DoodleCharms (trees) Graphically Speaking (snowflakes) Accent Essentials (hearts) Calligraphy Collection ( title words) . I also used my Cuttlebug and embossed the trees and layered them with pop dots and used green and diamond sStickles on them for some added bling.

Papers used were by Basic Grey -2-sided paper with houses on one side and blue swirls on the other- .also used red c.s. for mats and title cuts, brown inks, Stickles in pink, green and diamond, Rhinestones on snowflakes and my Xyron can in handy tonight to attached the title on.

I added some Stickles to the hearts and snowflakes and some pretty 3 colored ribbon and made my own journal spot. The sketch I got from my handy PageMaps 2 book page 29 a 8 1/2 x 11 layut I convereted to a 12 x 12.

BFF- glitter project

2011-12-09T01:20:00.001-06:00

Here is my DT project this week for the challenge over at Frosted Designs to use GLITTER on a project- which was so easy to do- because I put glitter on almost everyone of my pages somewhere and with the holidays - glitter is everywhere.

I love the colors and patterns in the K&Company papers I choose, which I mounted and torn the edges onto the black cardstock- so the colors really stand or pop out at ya. I cut out the butterflies from K&Comapny papers also and added glitter (purple) to them and used pop dots for some dimension. The chipboard letters- I also covered in glitter the same colors of the alpha's. I reprinted the original photo on plain paper so it would look a bit different and not as colorful and cut them in two different sizes- so they kinda look like two different photos.

I torn two areas and used black embroidery floss to weave the threads in- which I really like how this turned out...kinda represents friends tied together....

I made my own flourishes with black tulip paint and the saying is something I found in my stash of friend stuff, which I also put silver glitter on the frames edge. A simple layout but a big bang of color and I really like it and so did my daughter- which is the one with the strawberry blonde hair in the photo with one of her best friends9old roommate) taken a year ago when she came home to visit during the spring- she lives in Las Vegas and doesn't get to come home much- so this was a special time to get together with some friends.

Sketchabilities #60- Best Friend

2011-12-08T06:40:00.000-06:00

I found some older photos of my daughter and some of fher high school friends and she wanted me to scrap them for her- so here is one of the layouts I did with one of her friends (Lisa) as some candid shots of them during the school year.

I used Recollections Stack-Charming- which I just love all the papers in this stack, misc papers from My Mind's Eye, and stash sayings which the title Best Friends I mounted on 2 pieces of chipboad to give it more dimension.

I used 2 different flower punches and inked the edges and attached a rhinestone in the middle. I also hand painted with white acrylic paint a wavy border on the photos to also make them stand out a bit more. Stamped the branches with a rubber stamp and cut out- also using more of Tim Holtz distress inks.

I will be applying this over at Sketchabilities #60 sketch challenge- I changed it up a bit and used 4 photos instead of 3- but everything else is much like the sketch called for.

Homecoming 2002

2011-12-05T23:04:00.000-06:00

Here is my take this week for the sketch challenge at Sketchy Thursdays

I used School pride paper by Stampin Station and blue and yellow cardstock. The title was also from School Pride pre-cut die cut and I stamped my own other embellies with sports stamps from Paper Studio, several pop dots and black ink- pretty simple but tells the story of Homecoming and the school spirit that week.

Fun trio= Holiday, tag & glitter

2011-12-05T00:30:00.001-06:00

This month over at Scrapbookers Anonymous the challenge is to use the trio on a project- Holiday-tag and glitter. So I have done a 2 page Christams layout with a believe tag and glitter on the tree and a few other places. These are a variety of family photos taken on Christmas day back in 2006- before I was scrapbooking so they're not the best and we did not pose for any of them...lol All candid shots thats for sure.

I used several different papers by My Mind's Eye-tree patterned paper, Graphic 45=cut out tree, Anna griffin=green snowflake paper, Bo Bunny tags and strip paper in the middle, Memory Box=floral poinsetta fields design, Hot off the Press for 3 santas cut out, and white cardstock for all mats. I used my Cricut and Gypsy to cut out the title "Traditions" from a green glitter cardstock and did a little journaling on a Bo-Bunny tag

I used coffee bean (brown) ink, red Stickles on the tree and traced the word -"December and #25" and used Ivory Flower Soft on the tree to look like snow. Then in my Christmas stash I found some epoxy sayings, holly and floral stickers and scatterd them on the page.

Anything goes..at Scrap Our Stash

2011-12-02T23:55:00.000-06:00

So here goes my 2 page layout called Double Vision- which I did a few weeks back and thought this would be great for the challenge this week over at Scrap Our Stash- ANYTHING GOES. - besides this has such silly photos of my son and his girlfriend taken at college this past fall one evening...I think they were bored or something. But they sent them to me just for kicks on Facebook and I had to copy them and do some kind of page for his scrapbook.

I don't know how they did the special effects- but I like it and thought they were pretty funny... I didn't want to use to much decorative papers to take away from all the silliness going on = so I found this black and white striped paper and pulled out the color peach in the polka dot paper and a die cut by My Mind's Eye "so sophie". Plain black cardstock for all the mats and used a circle punch with Making Memories paper(black and white patterns) and scattered them on the page with pop dots for dimension.

I used my Cricut & Gypsy to cut out the arrows with the title cut out in the centers and backed with black cardstock. And use black ink on all the peach edges of thecuts.

So just for kicks....I did a silly page for his scrapbook- which I'm sure he is gonna really like-great memories for him and his girlfriend. So I will be applying this over at Scrap Our Stash-Anything Goes challenge.

Frosted Designs Metal challenge-Ornaments

2011-11-25T06:10:00.005-06:00

Here is my project for the Design team at Frosted Designs to use Metal this week....So , I thought lets make some ornaments for my 2 (girls) dogs this year and so I got my Cricut Machine and Gypsy out and played around with the different cartridges and found this. I used Graphically Speaking for the metal banner and Christmas Cheer for the tag look ornaments in 2 sizes. I used a bright pink cardstock since I like bright colors on my tree lately and white cardstock for the banner and then cut out some medium weight aluminum the same as the banner.

I use my light box and a embossing metal alpha template for the names and then used my Cuttlebug and folder to dry embossed the pink ornaments- which I then used 7 different colors of Stickles and colored over the embossed circles. I then tied and ribbon to hang the ornaments and made a bow with silver & white ribbons and glued them on the top. I used 3-D Zots in between the two different sizes of ornaments and under the metal banner to give it more demension. Which the inked edges in pink and silver helped a little bit more also.

It was hard to take a picture without the glare of the metal -which will make them show &glow and sparkle really good on the Christmas tree- This one has the name IZZY for one of my dogs. On the other side is the same thing except the banner has 2011 embossed on it- which I forgot to take a picture of the back side --oops! So hopefully this was inspirational to you and maybe you might make a few of these simple yet cute ornaments for your family tree. So be sure to enter into the Metal Challenge this week over at Frosted Designs for a chance to win a fabulous prize from One Stop Card Crafts.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!!

2011-11-24T06:30:00.001-06:00

Hope you all are enjoying this wonderful Thanksgiving Day...I am with my daughter and her fiance and his side of the family this year-due to the fact that I am going thru a rough time in my life- with my divorce, so its going to be a bit difficult to deal with the upcoming holidays....But, I know I will be with good company-- family and some new friends... so I am thankful for that this year, and knowing that my other 3 children (all in different states) are all healthy and doing well.
So the other night, I thought what can I make to bring over to Thanksgiving get together that is creative-since I love to do this kinda stuff and I thought name cards would be simple and easy- so this is what I came up with and made 25 of them in about 3 hours.

I went thru my fall stash of papers and embellishments and grabbed the fall colors of cardstock and used my Scor-pal and made the place cards first, then cut the papers to size and inked the edges and made little tags for the names and tied on some scrappers floss and curled it. The diamond shape embellishments were cut from a 12 x 12 special glitter patterned paper and attached with pop dots.

Inside I wrote on each one: What are you thankful for this year? we will fill/write it out before dinner and then during dinner we will go around the table and tell everyone what we have written. It will be a great conversion piece and a nice way to hear and talk to everyone at the table- all 23 of us - WOW- this might take awhile, but that will be the best part of it- so we can enjoy the great food that everyone has contributed to this great feast and wonderful day!
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Thanksgiving...

Pumpkin Carving-SWEET

2011-11-22T23:08:00.000-06:00

Another layout I did this week is for Sketches in Thyme #60- which I only had this one picture to scrap, so I made it work with this sketch. It's of a pumpkin my son carved back in 2007- when the Chicago Bears were doing great...lol, and he did such a great job carving the Bear logo on this pumpkin I had to scrap it for his book.

All the papers are from my Halloween stash- which is a very large 12 x 12 box full and some are quite old and have no company names on them- but they work just as well. The pumpkin saying sticker is from EK Success and I hand cut the flag banners. All the other embellies are to from the stash and put on with pop dots. I tore some paper and inked edges in purple, used black and purple pieces of cardstock for the mats. The black embossed shiny background paper kinda reminds me of the carving look on the pumpkin- and makes the whole layout really pop with the orange and pola dot papers I used.

I did a little bit of journaling and then went over it in bright green chalk to stand out a little more. Also used some halloween ribbon and stapled them to the page. The cute little saying "Sweet" is perfect for this page- because at that time -- that is exactly the word my son used to describe his carving project...SWEET

Like Father...Like Son

2011-11-22T22:55:00.000-06:00

Here is my take for Sketchy Thursdays this week. I took these pictures of my son back when he was in High School- because he reminded my of his father so much when he was the same age.
I used My Mind's Eye papers, Tim Holtz distress inks, expoxy buttons, handmade florettes with papers, brads, Stamps by Autumn Leaves and Stempendous, black inks and marker for faux stitching.

On the background I splattered/flickered white and blue-grey paint all over page before I put all the pics on.

My first layout for My Mind's Eye challenge #19

2011-11-16T05:06:00.001-06:00

I was excited to find this blog site --My Mind's Eye-- a few weeks back- but, I have so many challenges that I want to do- and not enough time to do them all. So, I put aside one day to finally do a challenge for My Mind's Eye- which I love all their papers- so pretty sometimes I don't want to use them- so I save them for that special page. Well here is my special layout I did with their sketch and to use the color brown, also. I just love this color combo.

Of course, all the papers I used were My Mind's Eye- So Sophie, Lime twist, Life Stories,and several paperes from the Complete Boy paper stack. I also used a circle punch, crimper, chipboard inked and some sticker alpha's, teal ribbon, a florette (that I made) with My Mind's Eye paper, epoxy grey sticker buttons, and hand stitched in brown embroidery floss -x- x -x- all around the edge and a few x x x on the kraft strip

Fantasy Island layout

2011-11-15T05:40:00.002-06:00

I just love the colors in this layout!!! I did for my daughters book of one of her many high school dances. I will be applying this layout to several challenges- I used the sketch from SOUS- which I love their sketches and was inspired by the other challenge they have, to use die cuts-LEAVES....so two challenges are for Stuck on U Sketches and the other one was a recipe challenge over at Memorable Seasons to have the following : Scalloped edge- 2 pics- a banner- 3 leaves - and a pinch of stitching.

Materials used:
My Minds eye scalloped die cut paper
Bo Bunny peach dot paper
DCWV yellow paper (cricle chalked)
Basic Grey-teal paper
White cardstock for all cuts
Cricut Cartridges-Lifes a Beach/Straight from the Nest
Chalks, , rhinestones, Stickles,
blue embroidery floss for waves
Jim Holtz distressing inks- several colors
pop dots, yes paste
palm tree brad

I really enjoyed doing this layout-I could vision what I wanted for this layout and it all fell into to place so well- I like to make my own embellies so this was fun for me to do with all the leaves and flowers and stitching, inking and chalking- which took alittle bit of time so worth it.

Happy Birthday-DAD!!!--- 4 layouts

2011-11-14T05:44:00.016-06:00

Wow- was I ever busy this weekend doing 4 pages for my kids scrapbooks using all the same pictures, but 4 different layouts and papers on them --I used the sketch over at Sketchy Thursday to do one of the layouts for my sons scrapbook (who is in both of the top pics) . They (all my kids) were at their dad's house celebrating his 47th birthday a few years back and they took these few pictures and wanted me to scrap them. I have uploaded all 4 of the layouts in this post - the first one I will be applying to Sketchy Thursday challenge this week.
I used Tattered Angel Mists for the background on white textured cardstock and then went thru my stash and found strips of papers , then machine stitched the border in black thread added or stamped a few swirls . I hand stamped the title and the saying then cut them out and put on with pop dots. The saying is " You never know when your making a Memory."

This next layout is for my oldest daughter's scrapbook (blue & grey sweater in center photo) and I will be applying this over at The Paper Variety for the challenge this week "Family" All the papers used in the next three layouts are from the Recollections paper stack. I machine stitched around the inside border( blue and grey circle pattern) which matches the colors in my daughters sweater and stamped (Cloud 9) design all around the edge and some misc. leaves and saying inked with a light blue. Made my own journal tag and inked all edges of mats with black. I like how I scattered the photos-and put them at different angles it gives the page some motion and fun like feeling- which is what my kids had- a great & fun time.

The next layout is for my son who is in the yellow and brown striped shirt in the photo -so that is the reason I pulled these colors out for this layout. I used my Fiskars circle cutter for the 4 circles, brown inked edges and blue/teal ink for the mats, Stamps (variety) for the title -saying -leaves -hand cut out and attached with pop dots and some journaling on the circles. I like the color combo in this layout the best-which make the pictures really pop.

And the last or 4th layout is for my other daughter who is in the top left photo - and I really didnt have a color to pull out from her clothing so I went with the pink - for her rosy cheeks....and browns. I matted all the photos with white cardstock (which make them stand out against the pinks and brown papers) and just inked the outside edge of the layout. Again, I used Papers from Recollections and all the same stamps- and did the journaling on the blue/teal striped paper. The "Dad" is not a stamp- I hand wrote them since I couldn't find a big stamp like I wanted.

I had a fun time doing these layouts this weekend and I'm glad you took the time to come and check them out. I know I have a silly madness to how I try to pull out colors and how I lay out my photos- so each child stands out in their layout- it also helps me to remember which one goes in what scrapbook...if this makes any sense ---it works for me.

Such a Cute Couple

2011-11-13T00:39:00.000-06:00

I just love the colors on this layout I did from the sketch over at Sketches in Thyme this week and also the recipe challenge at Scrap Our Stash - which consisted of : 5 embellishments- 4 words or letters in a title-
3 pictures-2 pattern papers- 1 solid paper.
All my papers are from a Recollections paper stack- and white cardstock for all the Cricut cuts. I used 3 cartridges: Calligraphy Collection-Accent Essentials and Wild Card, which then I embossed with my Cuttle bug and folders and then I heat embossed them with 3 different powders- Silver, Pink and Red which you can see a close-up of the hearts that I did this technique on. Which is also the challenge this week over at Frosted Designs- heat or dry Embossing on a project.

I also used a Recollections x x x border punch, brown inked edges on layout and pop dots. So I will be applying this layout for 3 challenges ( Frosted Designs as a Design team member). This cute couple is my son and his girlfriend when they first started dating in the end of 2006- beginning of 2007.

Embossing for Frosted Design weekly challenge

2011-11-11T04:02:00.001-06:00

Here is a photo of my (Happy looking son) in his Freshman year in High School- I know he had a better year than what his expression is saying here- but I still needed to scrap this for his book. I used several papers from My Mind's Eye Complete Boy stack and layered them. I pulled out the colors in his pinkish-purple shirt to cut out the stamps and embossed them (with my CuttleBug and several different design folders)and then layered them also with pop dots. I used my Gypsy along with the Cricut to cut out the tag and the years and the school zone -used the Graphically Speaking cartridge. Stamped with Martha Stewart varsity letters the title on the tag and colored them in with markers and added some black and white ribbons.
Well thanks for stopping by and looking at my project for this weeks challenge over at Frosted Designs to heat/dry emboss. I hope to inspire you to create some project and enter for a chance to win some great prizes from Mold Muse this week.

Creative Scrappers #180 / Humorous layout

2011-11-09T06:32:00.001-06:00

Here is a humorous layout I did of my son a few years back during the summer month of July. You know how you tell your kids everyday to wear sunscreen as they walk out the door and they kinda roll their eyes at ya- like yeah you say that all the time- I know I will" Well guess what my son didn't wear that day? or at least he didn't put any on his face, while he was sightseeing down on Lake Mischigan in Chicago for the day.
At this is the result of that afternoon. Too funny- now. But he was burning up that night. I bet he remembers to put sunscreen on when he goes out for the day!
Well this is a sketch from Creative Scrappers #180 that I used for this and also for the challenge over at The Paper Variety to do a humorous project- and I think this will qualify for that.

I used several papers from my stash along with a large scalloped die cut from My Little Shoebox. Journal tag, inked with yellow, foam stamps with orange ink, pinking shears, and a cut out embellie, and some rub-on letters. Also from my large stash some chipboard letters for part of the title.

One layout for two challenges

2011-11-07T16:28:00.001-06:00

This week over at Sketchy Thursdays I used their sketch and over at Scrapbookers Anonymous the challenge was Ribbons- at least 7 different ribbons and I did that on this layout this week. A few photos of my daughter back in 2002 at a few of her high school dances.

As you can see in the pic I used more than 7- but 9 different ribbons, a variety of silk flowers, Tulip paint for the flourishes I drew on, punches(scalloped and border), staples, green florist leaves, stickles, inks and the paper was a special on e from a K&Company stack

On the bottom border I used all black and white ribbons I had and stapled them underneath the border punch strip and looped them and made my own tags for journaling, and on the top I used marroon colored ribbons for the corner of the pictures and the bow underneath the other journal tag. The gold and white lace trim ribbon (hard to see in the photo) is along the outseide edge of each of the two photos

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your Monday!

Here's one for Let's Capture these Sketches

2011-11-03T06:46:00.001-05:00

I just love the colors in this layout I did of my Aunt and Uncle- taken this summer up in the UP on Lake Superior as the background. I used several papers from my stash to punch out all the layered flowers and added brads to the centers of them. I placed a doiley underneath the photo and added my own flourishes with Tulip fabric paints.

I used the Martha Stewart butterfly punch and added red stickles to them and pop dots to give them dimension. The main background paper is my K&company which was a Christmas paper- but it had all the colors I wanted to pull out from the photo. I really liked how this page turned out.
I will be appying this over at Lets Capture these Sketches this week.

Stuck on U Sketches-JAXS

2011-11-02T15:42:00.001-05:00

Here is my layout this week for SOUS- I turned the sketch around abit to fit my photos and angled my title of JAXS. This is a few photos of my daughter and her Fiance" and their sweet little puppy ( now a year old) taken last fall during the football season- as you can tell by the football (Bears) attire, they are wearing. I used several papers -torn and inked all edges. I stamped little paw prints on the background and used some sut out dog phrases and used pop dots for them

Then found some chipboard and painted dark blue then added fine glitter to them to shine a bit- and I just torn the red cardstock in the shape of hearts and stamped on them.

Here's The Scoop!

2011-10-28T05:28:00.007-05:00

I just LOVE this YUMMY layout of my granddaughter and I along with my daughter in-law- taken this summer while we were visiting Amana Colonies in Iowa for the day. I also was at a Scrapping Retreat a week ago and won second place with this layout- I was so thrilled. The challenge over at Frosted Designs this week is to use food/candy on a project- so this is my DT layout titled Here's The Scoop!

I used polka dot papers in the colors of pink, brown and white and lots of cardstock for all the Cricut cuts along with my Gypsy. I inked all the edges and used several pop dots. I then chalked the little ice cream cones and stamped the letters on them and added stickles to all the cherries on top. I used a precut die cut (see-thru) with words behind the pictures, which I cut out with my Cricut also in a scalloped circle shape.

I did some doodling of the sundae glass and the small cones then chalked them with a little bit of color and used brown paint and stickles for the chocolate chips on the ice cream. And added a pink spoon- just like the ones we used that day.

Well I glad you stopped by to see my project this week and hope to see your entry over at Frosted Designs-Fabulous Fridays to have a chance to win a wonderfu prize. Happy Scrappin!

Fence Die Cut for SOUS

2011-10-25T06:45:00.001-05:00

Here is a layout using my Cricut/Gypsy and the cartridge- Heritage- for all the cuts on this layout including the fences. I was visiting my daughter-in-law and granddaughter this summer for a few days and we went to Amana Colonies one afternoon. I really enjoyed the specialty shops and all the history in this little village. The best part of the day was going into the oldest working wool mill- and actually seeing them weaving rugs and blankets while we were there-very interesting and amazing at the same time. I just had to buy a wool blanket when I was there for myself.

The paper (kraft color) is by My Mind's Eye which I just layered on the pics with small white borders and cut out some places that we visited from a brochure and inked them with Tim Holtz distressing ink-" old paper". I then hand stitched with cream embroidery floss some x x x scattered on the poage. and journaled in the red barn cut in the middle of the page.

This is kinda a plain looking page- but I wanted it to look that way since life was so simple at Amana Colonies.

I will be applying this layout over at Stuck on You Sketches this week for using a fence on a layout.

Open Sketch challenge by Sketches in Thyme

2011-10-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

I love these open sketch challenges every month- and this is another one of my favorites. Of course its another picture of one of my dogs- I do have alot of pictures of them. My kids are all grown up and have moved away or are at college- So I have to take pictures of the spoiled girls (dogs). Well onto my layout that I did the other day of Jenna and used a sketch from my Page Maps 2 book. Even tho it is a 8 1/2 x 11 horizontal sketch I turned mine into a 12 x 12 page- and only used one photo instead of two.

I used Bo Bunny paper for the background and the layers of torn papers are from a 6 x 6 pack from KaiserCraft and My Mind's Eye also. I punched the circles out and heat embossed with some stamped circles on them and layered them on the side and 2 in the middle of the also heat embossed scroll circles and the flourishes with black powder. I wrote letters and dates on the circles for my little bit of journaling I did.

I also used an acrylic overlay with a preprinted design in the corners over the picture and added black ribbon to the bottom and put some stickles in black on top of the ribbon. Then did some doodling on x x x's around the torn border underneath photo and on " Adorable " title tag.

Color Challenge at Frosted Designs this week

2011-10-21T06:19:00.001-05:00

I thought this was perfect for the color challenge at Frosted Designs- This was taken back in 1991 of my daughter sitting in the middle of the pumpkin patch in her purple shirt. So that is where my purple color is on this layout- plus all the other fall colors for this great challenge this week.

I used several papers and lots of stamping and fussy cutting of the pumpkins and leaves then I chalked them in several colors. I also added a few stickers for the saying & title- which I first dry brushed the cardstock with a cream paint then put on the sticker. I used a precut tag and inked the edges and tied on orange ribbon. The sunflower paper striped is embossed and is touched with some gitter -had to see in this photo. So be sure to stop by Frosted Designs this week with your entry for the color challenge- its so easy.

A-Z challenge for Scrapbookers Anonymous

2011-10-20T06:34:00.001-05:00

I love this challenge- cause it could be anything! So for the letter "C" challenge I have clouds and Cricut cuts (trees and clouds). This first layout is of my dog Izzy and the second layout is of Jenna- I just love my dogs- American Eskies. These were taken this summer when I took the girls to the dog park and they just love going there and had my camera with me- which I usually don't take to the dog park on our walks.

I used my Gypsy and Cricut to cut the trees and clouds out of cardstock and inked them and added some leaves to the trees and Flower Soft white to the clouds. Several different papers were used by Reminisce, Bella Blvd, Paper Salon, KI Memories and Recollections.

So I will be also applying one of these layouts to the Scrapbookers Anonymous challenge to use DIE CUTS also. So one layout for each challenge- even tho they are both similar- but had to do a page for each girl!

Family

2011-10-19T06:51:00.001-05:00

I did a layout using the sketch from Frosted Designs- Sketch Along Tuesdays this week of a older portrait that my mother had and gave me a reprint of it. Its the only picture of my parents with 3 of their grandchildren back in 1990- before the birth of my 4th child/grandchild. So this is pretty precious to me and my mother since my father has since past away.

With so many colors in this picture it was very difficult for me to choose papers- so I thought I would choose a Family words- for the background and some muted colored stripe paper, which I used a Martha Stewart border punch, stamped the Title family in black. I did some fussy cutting of the photo since I didn't care to have all the background showing.

I then added alot of handmade embellies to this layout which include the crocheted lace trim on the side, the doiley flowers with buttons attached and the Tulip Fabric paint for the hand drawn flourishes in brown.

I'm back from my Retreat....

2011-10-18T18:31:00.001-05:00

I know its Tuesday and I said I would post some layouts on Monday- but been so busy and I've been scrapping some more layouts since I've been back from my fabulous Scrapping Retreat this past weekend. I met some new friends and we had a great time and plan on going again in January- can't wait.
Here is a layout I did for Sketchy Thursday sketch challenge this week.

I found some paper that already had some journaling done on it- the definition of Garden which is what the picture is all about. We made a little flower garden around our mailbox last ASpring and the girls (dogs) were there by our side helping. I realy like how the garden and the page turned out. I used my Cricut and Gypsy for all the cuts and an acetate overlay with pink flower and leaf design. I chalked some of the cuts and stamped the birdhouses. The windmill I really was glad to find in my Heritage Cartridge because we live in Windmill Creek Subdivision- so I had to put that on this page.

I will be posting all kinds of layouts in the next few weeks- because I've got my mojo back and been busy scrapping.

Fancy Trim Challenge for Frosted Designs

2011-10-14T01:52:00.001-05:00

Here is my DT project this week for Frosted Designs Challenge to use fancy trim ...wasn't sure if this qualified as fancy trim at first- but I guess it does. I used some sheer blue and pink ribbon and tied two bows and used a Martha Stewart border punch and Cricut cut the TWO SWEET and added stickles to it for some bling on the card. Then I tied lots of pastel curling ribbon around the basket and make two hang tags also one for each of the newborn twins- and on the back I put all the birth information for them. I have a baby shower that I'm attending this week and thought this would work for this challenge at the same time. I bought the wooden hangers and painted them in pink and blue and added with white paint some dots and their names. I had fun decorating this basket for this happy occasion for one of my co-workers.

Well I hope you join in this weeks challenges over at Frosted Designs for some great prizes from our sponsors. I will be at a scrapbooking retreat all weekend and will be back Monday with all kinds of pages to upload- I'm so looking forward to get away and SCRAP.....enjoy your weekend also.

Here but not here....

2011-10-12T23:04:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a little something about my situation in my life for the past few months and the next few months to come...I am currently going thru a divorce which (took me by surprise) and its been a bit overwhelming and hard to deal with on a regular daily basis- so It's been abit difficult for me to concentrate and be creative. I have been on here everyday reading and checking out others blogs and doing my DT challenges - which I find relaxing and enjoy-but haven't been participating as much as I would like to be doing.
Though -I have been preparing for a 3 day scrapbook retreat this weekend- which I know I need and this will (hopefully) get me motivated again to get back in my scrapbook room and put more energy into this craft/pleasure - which will help me out in the long run and get my mind off the negativity in my life right now. So hopefully by next week I will be posting all kinds of wonderful layouts that I will be creating at this retreat- ( Heart and Soul Memories in Palatine, Il). Again thanks for taking the time to read this and I will be back on my own two feet soon... Here are a few pages/cards that I have completed- but not for challenges in the past few months and just have not uploaded them until now.

Again- thanks for stopping by and I'm getting excited about my retreat starting tomarrow- I'm all packed and ready to go. Hope you all enjoy your upcoming weekend and keep scrapping!!!

Fussy Cutting for Frosted Designs

2011-09-30T00:25:00.000-05:00

Here is my take as a DT member over at the Fabulous Fridays- Frosted Designs. The challenge this week is to do a project with Fussy Cutting. So here is a photo of my son and his date to Turnabout back in 2006. It was hard to choose colors for this layout, because of all the blue in the background of the photo. Yet they wore colors of pinky-peach black and grey- so I choose to go with those colors in my layout.

I found special papers that had big designs of flowers so I could cut them out and place them where ever on my page, I also used some predesigned transparent design on the bottom and chalked in blue underneath after I cut it all out. Also the ttwo birds from transparent and the cute little birdcage from some papers I had in my stash

I used a star border punch for the photo and took the punches (stars) and scattered them on the page. And for extra bling added some more Stickles to the cut out flowers. Wel I hope you found some inspiration in my layout and join us this week over at Frosted Designs for a wonderful prize to be won.

Thinking of You card

2011-09-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

Here is a card I did this weekend for the Artful Delight Birthday Bash Blog Hop- this was the tic-tac-toe challenge and I did the : card/ scraps/ color light pink

This was so easy-because I have tons of scraps and had time to do a card quickly and the color pink and added some butterflies and a sentiment and it was completed. This was a fun blog hop this weekend I wish I had more time to join in on the other challenge on Sunday- maybe tonight try to work on that. And they have wonderful prizes for the entries I hope to win something...

Where's the Lemonade?

2011-09-24T00:46:00.002-05:00

I originally started this layout for the Blog Hop over at Artful Delight this weekend with a sketch challenge on Friday...then I incorporated two other challenges into this layout. Open Challenge at Sketches in Thyme and for Scrapbookers Anonymous to do stamping on a layout.
Here is the sketch we had to work with from Artful Delight 1st Birthday Bash Blog Hop with wonderful goodies to be given out- I hope I win the grand Prize one- but any prize would be a Delight...

And her is my take on this sketch. I used PinkPaislee-watermelon paper, Jillbean punch outs, Stampendous, Hero Arts and misc stamps, scalloped and circle punches, polka dot ribbon, baker's twine, brads, black ink, some scrap cardstock, and lots of pop dots

For the flowers I punched 3 patterns out and crumbled them up and ink in black and attached a green brad in the center. The black and white individual candies & fruit I stamped on white cardstock and then cut them out and attached with pop dots .

A closer look you can see all the individual stamping I did to the background in black ink- using summer and 4th of july and candy stamps. Stamped the letters for Jayden's name and cut them out and used pop dots to apply to page. I laid a red polka dot ribbon with folds for dimension.I love how the black and white pops against the birght watermelon paper. So again, another fun page is completed.

Grid Challenge = I only have EYES for U

2011-09-22T07:28:00.004-05:00

This was so much fun to work with this grid pattern- I will definately be doing this again! This is the challenge over at Scrap Our Stash for the month of September and I wasn't sure if I would be doing this challenge- but I'm sure glad I did. I was working on a layout with these fall colors - and I had alot of large scraps left over- so I decided to punch out the scalloped squares and see what I could come up with. Then I had to find a picture - which was a challenge with these colors and I found this photo of my son and his girlfriend being silly and thought this was appropriate and went from there to add the circle punches then the buttons- Then I came up with a title and everythig fell into place. So I sorta did things backwards than I'm use to doing. I usually start of with the photo first, then pick out the papers for color and then the sketch or design.

I used all DCWV- fall paper stack- scalloped square punch, circle punch and lots of white buttons. I hand drew the black border around the edge and the photo, made the banner with black cardstock and with white paint painted the letters for part of the title. With large chipboard letters I painted black with white dots and tied some yellow jute cord on and for the banner also. Also used pop dots for the flags for dimension and my handy Yes paste.

I also applied this layout as a DT for an example to use punches -which I used the scalloped square and sm 1 inch circle punch- lots of them. So be sure to go check out Frosted Designs new Fabulous Friday challenge out this week.

Two challenges in One- SOUS

2011-09-20T07:15:00.001-05:00

Stuck on U Sketches had a challenge to use die cut flowers on a project this week and so I did that using their current sketch also- so two for one layout here. I love working with fall colors- so I really liked how this page turned out of My Aunt and Uncle and their daughter with her family taken back in 2005 in Michigan while attending another one of my families wedding.

All the papers used were from the Fall Paper Stack( older one on clearance for $4.79= what a steal this was ) by DCWV -love all the papers in this entire stack. Recollections border & corner punches, misc cardstock from my stash, several colored brads, Stickles in many colors, Tulip Fabric paint for flourishes, and of course for all my flowers I used two -Spell Binder templates along with my Cuttle Bug to cut them all and layer and ink all the edges. I also machine stitched in black along around the border of the layout.

Sweet... life- time and friends

2011-09-19T07:28:00.002-05:00

Her is a combined challenge from Sketchy Thursdays and Scrap Fit #52 this week. Of course the sketch is from Sketchy Thursdays and the #52 challenge is F for Friendship from Scrap Fit. They have joined together this week for a fantantic challenge and two prizes to give to us. So her is my take a layout of my son and a few of his friends at the 8th grade school trip to the Milwaukee Brewer game back in 2005. I loved this sketch it was different and I got my inspiration from one of the DT teams layouts. I used several different papers by Jillibean, My Mind's Eye and Echo Park- tags and a florette (?) I made myself and some chipboard for sub titles and inked the edges in orange. Very simple and I did it under an hour which is great.

Remember When...

2011-09-18T07:16:00.001-05:00

This is my take of the sketch over at Sassy Lil Sketches week 2 and I used My Mind's Eye complete boy stack papers, misc stash scraps for the banner in two colors, Autumn Leaves Alpha stamps for the title, jute cord in yellow, tag punch, 3 yellow brads and a black marker. I did this page for my scrapbook- because I just loved his long hair at this time and so did everyone else, but he decided this day for me to cut it before football season started. Can you believe he trusted " Mom" to cut his golden locks off...

Good Times for Sketches in Thyme & TPV

2011-09-17T13:15:00.001-05:00

Here is my take on the sketch #56 at Sketches in Thyme and also The Paper Variety to use those stickers up. So this layout of my son at one of his 8th grade school dances was appropriate for both of these challenges.

I used papers from DCWV Fun in the Sun summer stak- did my own doodling around the border and added some Stickles in pink to a few of the swirls and around the Friends sticker in the middle of the photos.. I painted in white the mats on the photos to have them pop a bit instead of using cardstock behind them. Several stickers which included the alpha's for the title, sub titles and a chipboard sticker that says 2 left feet..Prima flowers and my own flourishes done with Tulip fabric paints in purple. Some Studio G Pink ink for distressing.

Using several Punches for Fabulous Friday.

2011-09-16T01:20:00.015-05:00

Welcome- glad to see you stopped by to check out all the punches I used on this simple layout this week for the challenge over at Fabulous Fridays- Frosted Designs. I was kinda in a crunch for time this week due to the fact that I'm going through a divorce and I have alot on my plate with court hearings and mediations- which is really no excuse- but I have been alittle preoccupied with other things lately. I am looking forward to getting my life back to normal and spending more time in my craft room and focusing on stuff that I like to do. Well enough about my life-

Punches was the challenge this week and I had a few more misc. photos to finish up so I thought I'd do a simple layout using nothing but punches . And that I did -I used 6 different punches from border, to corner, little and large flower punches here. I used DCWV paper stack from Once Upon a Time and punched the whole 12 x 12 border with Martha Stewart-star border and just let the white cardstock show through, then used some papers from my stash and used the EK Success large flower punch as a border (which is kinda hard to see in this photo) on the pink, geren and purple paper strip on top and bottom. Fiskars photo corner punch and a 3-way corner punch for corner mats on photos with white cardsstock. EK Success little & medium floral punches and some tiny purple rhinestones in the centers of the flowers. So be sure to go through your stash of punches and see what you can come up with in your project this week for a chance to win a great prize from our sponsor this week- Close to my Heart.

Bo- Bunny and some butterflies

2011-09-14T07:08:00.003-05:00

I love working with butterflies so this challenge over at Bo-Bunny really caught my eye this week and so I already had this paper and so I scrambled through some of the year of 2005 photos I'm working on and these worked out well. This is my son and his date for a dance back in 8th grade for their Graduation- dinner dance celebration. Also, over at Scrapbookers Anonymous there A-Z challenge for September is the letter B- so since I used all Bo-Bunny papers and Butterflies this really is a double whammy for the letter B.

All my papers are by Bo-Bunny and cut-outs of the butterfllies are also from the papers, what a fabulous set this is I have used this set of papers on a variety of layouts, projects and cards. I used a simple title the girls name "Jamie" and used Cricut cartridge -Gypsy font to cut it out. I used some handmade trims and flowers which I crocheted and added a pearl to the center of them- just like the necklace she is waering in the photo. I made the flourishes with Tulip fabric paint in a teal green and a cream color, a little mini butterfly punch for all the little butterflies fluttering over the page.Inked the edges in Paper Saloon brown, and EK Success and Recollections border punches. Last, I used my diamond Stickles and outlined the title and also put some on the two larger butterflies

Here is a close-up of my crocheted trim and flowers for more info on purchasing these items from me- go to my right side bar under Handmade Items for You.

Mr. Popular...with the girls.

2011-09-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

Here is my take for for the sketch over at Sassy Lil Sketches this week, also appying it for The Studio challenge= school related layout and at Scrabbookers Anonymous= using your stash of Chipboard. So 3 in 1 for this layout. This is some photo's taken at one of the dances my son attended in his 8th grade year and he was Mr. Popular with the girls- so this was an appropriate title for this page. He usually was asked by several girls to go to the dances and be their date- but he would say no and yet dance with them all.

Materials used: Misc papers from a set, lots of chipboards pieces from my stash, scrappers floss in several colors, twine cord in green, Brillance moonlight white ink, black ink for the edges, pop dots, Hero Art flag banner stamp, Marth Stewart cookie alpha stamps for the title and then cut out, recollections border punch, and a Slick black marker.

Here are a few close-ups of the chipboard flowers and button shapes which I layered and tied on scrappers floss and curled the ends with my piercing tool, and on the 3 flower chipboard pieces I wrote my sub title on them.

The Girl...Next Door

2011-09-12T01:23:00.001-05:00

I thought this was such an appropriate title for this layout of my son and his best friend from grade school thru high school and she really did live right down the street and was his first firend he met when we moved here and they have been best buds since.

I am doing this sketch #55 from Sketches in Thyme this week and this worked out great- I again liked the simplicity of the sketch- so I could get a few pages done tonight- I'm so far behind on my goal to do 30 pages a month. I used misc. papers in colors pulled from the photos, K&Company rub-ons, DCWV -quote stack vellum for title, vellum tape, pop dots, silk flowers, Stickles, Martha Stewart microbeads in peridot, and tulip puffy paint for flourishes and inked all edges in Moss Green.

Take me out to the Ballgame

2011-09-11T01:09:00.001-05:00

Here is a layout that I did for Sketchy Thursdays this week and I really enjoyed doing this one- because it has the boyish look to it -no flowers or butterflies, and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the sketch. I used misc. stash papers with no company names on them- so they must be older, misc. older sport stickers tags which I matted on cardstock and tied red cord onto them, Used Cricut cartridges Sports Mania and Jasmine for the title and cutouts, black marker for journaling and white cardstock for background.

This is my youngest son when he was in 8th grade and the whole class was taken to the Brewers game up in Milwaukeee-( we live in Illinois on the border of Wisc. and my son is a White Sox fan) way to much fun was had by all and here are a few goofy pics my son gave me to scrap. I also did this for Fabulous Friday challenge over at Frosted Designs this week to use tickets, stamps and envelopes on a project- be sure to go check that out by clicking on name of blog .

Money Money Money...

2011-09-10T01:06:00.001-05:00

Here is my take fo rthe sketch over at Nuts about Sketches...this is the first time I have entered and I just found this blog the other day and thought great- more wonderful sketches to work with...why not. I also just went through my paper stash and collected a few green papers and used my Fiskars circle cutter and a circle punch and some green brads along with a cute tree brad and Autumn Leaves Alpha Stamps for the title and brown ink and it was completed in under an hour, easily.

This was taken of my son when he received his first paycheck after two hards weeks of work at Jewel when he turned 16...he was pretty excited when I took him to the bank to cash it--his own spending money -Wow!

Fearless-Slingshot

2011-09-05T08:14:00.001-05:00

Here is my take for Sketchy Thursday-Titled- Fearless and Slingshot- which was a ride two of my children dared each other to do while in Orlando, Florida back in 2005 when we were on a 10 day vacation. As you can see by their facial expressions- not sure what they were in for-yet had to prove to each other that they were fearless.

I turned my photo horizontally instead- since it work best this way. I used papers from my large stash which had circles and bright colors for the background pieces, cardstock for the Cricut cuts, using the cartridges Graphically Speaking, Tag, bags, boxes and more, & George Basic Shapes. I inked all the edges in black and tied a ribbon on tag and cut from felt some circles and added some large brads. My little spray of colored dots in the left hand top corner - I used a pencil eraser as my stamp for the dot and 3 colors of ink-yellow green and blue.

Creative Scrappers #171

2011-09-03T20:08:00.000-05:00

Wow- I went downstairs to scrap a few pages today and this one just fell together so nicely and I did a 2-pager in under 3hours. So I had time to do a few more pages today- it felt so good to be so productive and relax in my scrapbook room...August was such a busy month for me.
Here is my take on the sketch #171 over at Creative Scrappers this week.

I used papers by K&Company special Stack- 2 sided, EK Success punches, white doiley, my own handmade crocheted flowers and trim, 1/2 pearls, Tulip Slick fabric paints, ultra fine diamond glitter, multi colored twine, and alpha stamps by Studio G.

I had a few more pictures which were from the wedding so I just continued with the 2nd page using the same materials- using my own layout for this page. Here is a picture of the second page by itself. These photos were taken back in 2005 at my Cousin's wedding in Upper Michigan, and some candid shots of the day - which back then I didn't take to many pictures- so I was limited to what to use.

If you like the handmade crocheted flowers and trim- I have a page set up for just my handmade items on my right side bar- if you would like to get more information on prices and ordering them from me- please feel free to go check them out and contact me by email or leave me a comment on one of my posts.

Finally got some time to do a layout-its been weeks

2011-09-02T23:02:00.000-05:00

The sketch is from The Scrappiest #135- and I just finished it in time tonight to post it by tomarrow. I had an open window of about an hour- so I went downstairs and did this layout of my son's Graduation party back in 2005. We had made a Pinata and had all the kids blindfolded and then had to use a flyswatter to break it open...you guessed right---that took awhile to do -even for the big 8th grade boys.. It was so fun to watch them attempt this.
I used all scraps from my stash -circle cutter, circle punch, black and yellow inks, several brads and did the drawing of the flyswatter myself and 3-D dimensional marker for the title.

Flourishes and more Flourishes.

2011-09-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

Hello there-I'm glad you came to visit my blog with my first project as a new Design Team member at Fabulous Fridays at Frosted Designs. I have been scrapbooking for about 3 years now and have done over 1000 pages- and only a handful of projects (scrapping)- so this stepping out of the box a bit for me...but it's a challenge and probably like you we like challenges, right?
Well, this week the challenge is flourishes and that I have alot of in my project. Its a book- but only two pages that open up with pockets on each side to put those little momentums in or a handful of pictures to keep with you on special occasions or trips.

I used specialty papers from K&Company- 2 sided paper- and did some folding to make this from one sheet of 12 x12 paper. Added alot of flourishes by Inkadinkado stamps "sketchy flourishes" some stamped in black right on the main paper and the others on different color pattern papers and then cut them out. Some silk flowers with rhinestones and sequions in the centers and of course my favorite bling- Stickles in black and diamond for some extra bling. I cut the saying out from K&Company paper stack and inked all the edges in Studio G brown.

I then punched a hole in the top half (through both ) of the booklet and threaded some gross grain ribbon ( I burned the edges of ribbon a little- to stop any fraying.) Then you can tie the ribbon on the side or front to keep all your treasures in this little booklet for safe keeping.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my first project and try this challenge out for yourself to enter for a great prize from our sponsor this week Kaiser Craft- I just love their line in scrapbooking supplies.

Sous - sketch layout

2011-08-27T06:44:00.001-05:00

Same Name...is my title for this layout of my son Eric and his friend Randy Fagan. While we were visiting Marquette Michigan a few years back- we noticed as we were driving down the main street a Store named Fagan's. We just had to stop and take a look and a photo outside the store- for Randy. I will be applying this layout over at Stuck on you Sketches for this fabulous sketch.

I used a plain cardstock in dark green and used chalks to highlight the back a bit and then added a precut decorative paper that I cut up and laid out to my likings to fit the page and sketch (somewhat). Some large silk flowers that I added stickles and some glitter for the centers, gold alpha' letters for the title, my own flourishes with black puffy paints, a journal tag tied on with ribbon,

A frame piece of chipboard inked and added to the top of a old dictionary page torn out and added the letters Fagan to the inside of the frame- to look like the frame in the store window. Other materials used, ribbon, decorative scissors, brads, inks, chalks, Zig writers , staples, an old stamp, pop dots and Yes paste.

Reach for the Stars

2011-08-25T06:16:00.008-05:00

Here is a take I did from the sketch over at Pencil Lines- not sure if I got it posted in time tho- but I will share it with all of you. I used My Mind's Eye paper "life stories" and sprayed with Tattered Angel Mist in the center using carmel apple and coffee shop -browns. I then stamped large stars around the circle area using stamps by Autumn Leaves.

I made my own banner that I used flag stamps by Hero Arts in two patterned papers and then cut out and stamped my title on them in black ink. The clouds I cut out of white cardstock and added Flower Soft in Ivory to them and attached them on the page. The Title reach for the Stars was a Cricut cut from the cartridge Jasmine.the ribbon was folded scrap paper and some punches were used to write on for the center of the ribbonette. Other materials used were pop dots, Yes paste, Stickles, punches, decorative scissors and twine for the banner.
In this layout I had two kids graduating in the same year- son from 8th grade and daughter from High School and within days of each other also- was a little hectic around this house back then in May of 2005, with graduations, parties and cleaning . I am so glad those days are past me I don't know if I would have the energy to do all that anymore...lol

My Favorite photo of ME...

2011-08-23T01:13:00.001-05:00

Wow- my 6 months as a member of the Design Team here at Frosted Designs- Sketch Along Tuesdays flew by and I enjoyed working with all the sketches each month. But starting in September I have moved over to the Fabulous Fridays team and will be working with a great talented bunch of ladies for the next term. So I'm pretty excited about that-exploring more with some other projects instead of all layouts. Well, onto my layout here for my last sketch #22 by Karin for Sketch Along Tuesdays I just loved working with this one and I found my favorite photo of myself- which there are not to many of those in my stash of photos- so I saved this one for last and it worked so well with this sketch. I spent a little bit of time picking out papers for this one- I wanted the blue to really stand out in the picture.

here is the take we worked with this week Sketch #22 below

I used most papers from K&Company Specialty papers stack and some cream cardstock and Creative Imaginations all inked with Studio G brown ink. I choose the blue background paper because it resembled the shirt I was wearing in the photo so well and really made the pic pop out against the little pattern papers I used. I added 2 ribbons on the bottom which I hand stitched the mother of pearls shells in blue and green too. Around one of the scalloped edges I pierced holes and then stitched in blue thread and added some clear beads to it for some bling.

I then made my own flourishes with black puffy paint and found some flowers from Prima and misc ones in my stash and added white 1/2 pearls to the center. A few cute little bumble bees from K&Company are buzzing around the page.

Made my own chipboard flag banner added some pape to the fronts and stamped with alpha letters by Studio G for my sub title and again added pearls in between each banner and a blue cord for hanging. I used some chipboard letters ( MY) inked them and tied on some thread and a few more embellies.
Well, I want to thank you for stopping by and hope to continue seeing you and your projects posted at Frosted Designs in the months to come, and see what you create with this current sketch by the end of the month. They have fabulous sponsors from week to week and love all their challenges for you and I to work on to keep the creative minds going. Be sure to check out there new card challenge starting in Sept. along with Fabulous Fridays and Sketch Along Tuesdays -- click here. Frosted Designs

IT"S Friday and I'm going Shopping...

2011-08-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

Where you ask? at the SCRAPBOOK EXPO in St. Charles, Illinois. This is so exciting to me. I went there last year for the first time and I was overwhelmed with all the stuff they had there for us to look at, work with and purchase of course...and I did alot of that. Four hundred dollars later, I finally closed the place down...lol. So this has been an event on my calendar for a year and the day has finally arrived.
I have my large leopard print tote bag on wheels all ready to go, along with my camera and a large note pad for jotting down all the wonderful ideas that I will see..and my comfy sneakers & scrapbooking t-shirt all laid out. It's about an hour and half away, so I will be up early and out the door by 7 am to arrive when the doors open at 9am. I have this feeling there will be a few scrapbookers waiting in line to get in..lol and even a few of them might be people that I have met on the blogs here online...I might run into Wendy C...

I also have some other fabulous news- I have been choosen as a Design Team member for Frosted Designs- Fabulous Fridays...I was on the team for Sketch Along Tuesdays and switched over. I'm excited to work with such a great talented group of ladies at Frosted Designs- so I'm looking forward to creating other projects - than just layouts for the challenges coming up in the next six months. Looking forward to seeing your entries and I love your comments and I enjoy leaving comments for you- also. Well, wish me luck--hope I find a few items to buy at the EXPO!

Two-2 page layouts - 3 Challenges!

2011-08-17T06:22:00.001-05:00

I was on a roll today- since I haven't been scrapping for 2 weeks- so I had alot of challenges in front of me to try to do and I did 2- two page layouts and they cover 3 challenges for this week and so I am posting them all here together since they are of our Trip a few years back to Las Vegas (2005) when we took a day trip into Red Rock Canyon.

This first 2-page layout is for Creative Scrappers #167 on left side.....and Sketchy Thursdays on the right side. I used all the same papers on both pages from my old stash- so not sure who they are by but they were from a super stack. I used some older alphabet titles from Artsy Collage and cut them out and put them on black cardstock with pop dots. I used my Cricut cartridge Mickey and Friends for the film strips used as mats for the photos and some rust colored cross stitch thread to make all my x'x's on each page. I journaled in a brown Zig writer and then used the little black squares from the film strip to write with a white gel pen for my sub titles- Las Vegas-Nevada ( which are hard to see in this photo) but there are so cute.

Above is a close-up of the left side for Creative Scrappers #167 sketch challenge.

and here is the right side for Sketchy Thursdays sketch Challenge

Then onto my next two-page layout which only one side( the right side) is for the challenge at Creative Scrappers #168. Again I used all the same papers and embellishments for all 4 pages. I also added some stamps by Stampendous, Autumn Leaves and Scrappy Cat, along with a journal tag stamp.

This layout is titled Mule Time..because as we were driving around in Red Rock Canyon several mules were taking up the road looking for handouts and they weren't taking no for an answer. Which you can see in the layout below- they are right next to the car.

The layout below is the sketch from Creative Scrappers #168 this week- which is a few photos of us in the Red Rock Canyon on a very hot hot day- temps were in the high 100's and the rocks were so hot you couldn't even pick them up and our shoes were melting to the pavement- so you didn't stay in one place to long... that's what I remember the most of this trip.

Sketches in Thyme #53

2011-08-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well its been awhile since I have posted anything on my blog- have been on a 2 week vacation and now I'm back and ready to scrap. So, here is the first challenge I did today for Sketches in Thyme #53. I turned the sketch on its side so it would work better with my photo- and I kept all the elements the same in the layout- which worked out well. I used all K&Company Designer Stack papers , cream and black cardstock.

The triangle strip on the left side & the circle cut on the right is the front cover of the paper stack showing all the different papers in the set- but I cut it out as a strip and a circle and used that as the background paper- since the patterns were similar to the other papers I am using in this layout. I inked all the edges in coffee bean brown and added Thicker letters by American Crafts for my title "ERIC" and sub title I wrote around on the circle with black Zig writer.

I then found in my large stash of flowers some multi layered yellow flowers and some little silk blue flowers and scattered them on the page. I drew my own flourishes with black puffy paints and pop dotted some K&Company butterfly cut outs

I then got out some of my favorites embellishments to use -Stickles and added some bling to the flowers and the center of the butterflies- then last I folded up the one corner and added some dots and I finished my first layout in two weeks. It felt so good to be in my scrapbook room again.

Sketch Along Tuesdays #21

2011-08-09T00:30:00.001-05:00

Keys to Sucess- is my D.T. take for the sketch over at Sketch Along Tuesdays at Frosted Designs designed by Karin Astacio. While this is being posted I am on a little vacation out in Las Vegas visitng my daughter (who is also in my layout this week) and doing a little bit of gambling -too! This is a picture of my daughter Cheryl back in 2005 dressed in her cap and gown for her High School Graduation- wow- time does fly by.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this sketch at first, so I found my papers that color coordinated with the school colors and went from there. All the papers used are from The Angel Company "Penelope set" which I just love all the rich -jewel toned colors here.

Other items used for this laout are: Tim Holtz distressing tool for the circle edges, Markers- white gel pen, silk flowers, Marvy and Fiskars scalloped punches, handmade flourish swirls- painted on acetate with fabric paint, 1/2 flat pearls, ribbon, Karen Foster "graduate" and K&Company -keys- 3 of them.

As you can see up close I punched scalloped circles and stacked them together and scrunched them a bit and added a silk florist flower to the center of them in either maroon or white, you can see part of my hand drawn swirls or flourishes, which I did with fabric paint with a fine tip to write of make dots with. One of the keys- which I added to the center of the flowers- giving my page that magic number of three (keys) for the vision of a traingle.

In the purple area I decided -after I had everything laid out and glued in place to write all the different words- because I had a hard time deciding on one for a title. So that's how I came up with "Keys to Success" So I used my white gel marker to hand write all the different words in the circle area around photo.. I added 1/2 flat purple pearls to the circle edge and thought it turned out pretty good- I'm happy with this page for my scrapbook . It's not too often I do a page for myself, but this is a favorite- one of my kids on their special day/moment.
Here is the sketch we worked from and I would love to seem what you come up with this week, especially since the challenge last Friday at Frosted Designs was circles---you could combine the two challenges together...well what are you waiting for - go create a masterpiece to get in on the wonderful sponsor prize we have to offer you for an entry/layout towards this sketch by August 8th by 10 pm.

Butterfly wall hanging-for myself!

2011-08-06T06:31:00.000-05:00

Here is another project I did the other day --for MYSELF- which I don't do to often. But I saw this idea in a magazine awhile back and thought I can do that and I added it to my very long list. So when I ran across this new lovely papers by Bo-Bunny with these beautiful butterflies- I knew what I was going to do with this paper. So before I forgot or filed the papers away I just said- Lets do it now!!

I used all Bo Bunny 2 sided papers, cut out the butterflies (Gabrielle) and attached with pop dots and added black Stickles to them. I stamped some swirls onto the greenish yellow patterned background paper in Memories Chestnut and inked all the edges in Dried Marigold by Tim Holtz and Celadon by Versa Mark inks.

Then for a little more bling I glued on some very small rhinestones in white, teal and green to the flourishes in just a couple spots in each frame. I found these little black wooden 4 x 6 frames at the dollar store for $2.00 for a package of 2- so of course I bought several packages for that price, I knew they would be put to good use someday.

Then lastly, I connected the frames together by using some teal velvet ribbon that I stapled into the back of the frame in between each one and made two hangers on the top frame and woolah it was finished Yeah a nice wall hanging for my home. And I just love butterflies- so I will enjoy seeing this hanging up every time I walk by it- where ever I decide to put it.

A Lamp piercing project for my daughter....

2011-08-04T22:41:00.001-05:00

A week ago I hosted a Lia Sophia jewelry party in my home and my daughter was my new advisor/consultant-(her first show also) So the night before, we had this brilliant idea to make some of our own display projects and boy did they ever turn out nice. We went shopping at Hobby Lobby to get most of our items- and the others I already had on hand at home in my craft room.
I had this older crystal lamp base upstairs in the spare room- so we sprayed the shade black and I pierced a design on eash side and the words LIA SOPHIA on the front. We trimmed the top and base of shade with ribbon and then punched several holes with my Big Bite on the bottom of shade, so she could hang some dangling type earrings from it- how cute is this? She is calling it the Earring Lamp Tree.

Then I took an old picture frame that I already had and we painted it in her theme colors of black white and gold- I then attached a thick piece of foam board to the back which I covered with some quilt batting and a piece of sheer cream material which we purchased earlier that day. I then hand painted Lia Sophia all around the edge of the frame. She is going to use this as her display board for all the special pieces she wants to be sure to talk about. We then used some decorative pins to hold all the items in place along with a picture of her and her fiancee in the corner as her inspiration...to make a little extra money for their future wedding next year- in the Spring.

Then the last project we worked on for the total cost of only $3.00 we made two holders- one for necklaces and the other for bracelets- and I just love how they turned out. ( I might have to make me one for my bathroom) I had my husband help me with the band saw and the drilling of the holes to screw it all together, then we painted them and added some gold glitter paint and gold strand of beads and some really cute buttons on the ends (which you cannot see in picture).

Here is a few more pictures with the whole display of Lia Sophia jewelry set up in my kitchen

And the last picture is also of the chest we purchased from Hobby Lobby for her to use as a jewelry chest of some wrapped gifts for future hostesses to pick from and the Earring lamp tree ( which is hard to see the Lia Sophia punched out) but when you walk by it- it looks like the letters are moving-- it is so cool ! During the party that night everyone was complementing on how everything look so nice and they knew that I had alot to do with all these wonderful projects or display items that were made..I even got a few orders to do some lamps for my friends.

Well thanks for stopping by and looking at the few projects that have kept me busy the past week- I was so caught up with this hosting of a jewelry party, I didn't get much scrapping done- but I sure had a good time hanging out with my daughter and doing crafty things, and the party was a big success for I and my daughter...now I can't wait till all my wonderful jewelry comes in - so I can wear them.

D E B -just for me.

2011-08-02T06:53:00.001-05:00

A project just for me----something that I have made and already have hanging in my scrapbook room. I made these a few weeks ago and thought I would have them posted while I'm on vacation in Las Vegas for 10 days. Since I won't be working on any challenges during this time.

As you can tell my favorite color is lime green and second is teal and then purple, which is represented very well in these large 7" wooden letters I purchased from Michael's awhile back for $3.00 each plus used my 20% off entire purchase coupon. They were already white so I didn't need to paint them so I left the sides white and just covered the front of them with papers from We R Memory Keepers paper stack.

With each letter I stamped with Martha Stewart alphas a word that I choose to describe myself- using the first letter of= D -delightful E- energetic B-brilliant using black Staz-On ink. I inked the edges in either teal or lime green inks and then used my Yes paste to attach all the embellies on each one.

Embellies used were: silk flowers, decorative fibers, chipboard covered in papers and cut out, floral ribbon, brads, buttons, scrappers floss, Stickles, Prima butterflies, and precut chipboard for more words.

On the little precut chipboard pieces I added a few more words to each letter that I also liked- examples devoted-determined-discover / explore-exciting-enthusiatic / bubbly- beautiful-bold. The letters already had the hardware on the back to hang so I did as soon as I finished them. So the background color of lavendar are the walls in my craftroom- such a pretty shade of purple. Well thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sassy Lil Sketches

2011-08-01T07:34:00.001-05:00

Here is my take for the sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches this week. Another green layout for me- love this color so I have lots of greens in my paper stash. So I thought I'd use some more of it on this layout of my son and me and my mother on his graduation day back in 2005.

I used papers by Jillibean, Paper Salon, K&Company and plain cardstock. Recollection and Marvy punches, ribbons, staples, pearls, CuttleBug and folders, and my own handmade flourishes.

Here is a close-up of the embossed butterfly with my CuttleBug and the handmade flourishes that I used a fabric paint in cream and made the dots on acetate and then trimmed real close to the design and attached with my Yes paste.

Love the SOUS Challenges...

2011-07-30T07:04:00.001-05:00

Here is my layout for SOUS- the second one for this month- I really enjoy their sketches. Also over at The Paper Variety for the Tic Tac Toe challenge this week. The three I used were Stitching (hand or faux)-- Multi photos-- Journal Strips.

I used all Recollections papers from a stack book, which I just bought the other day at Michael's for $7.99 originally $19.99- (on sale and then another 20% off- what a deal this was. Well, enough of my bargain shopping onto the layout. I inked the edges either in pink or brown and used white cardstock for the mats on photos. I cut out the flowers from the papers used and pop dotted them for dimension and added Cotton Candy Stickles to the center. I hand stitched with embroidery floss moss green all around the circle edge and then cut out with several green scraps of cardstock many leaves and just placed them around the stitched vine. I found some chipboard letters which had a funky design and color on them so I painted them with some pink and white paints and added a few pearls to them. M-arilyn M-onroe, the title of my layout- fairly simple- because I have a hard time with titles....

I wrote on some journal strips and placed on a green background paper and did some doodling and added another pearl and inked the edges in brown and green.

This is another one for my scrapbook...these photos were taken at Universal Studios of two of my kids back in 2005.

Uncondional Love..

2011-07-29T20:56:00.001-05:00

Here is layout I did for the sketch over at Bo_Bunny last week but didn't get it done in till so applying over at Sketches In Thyme- an open challenge and I really like how this one turned out- love the colors and the picture is one that I took of my daughter and her Fiancee in Michigan during our visit up there during the 4th of July weekend this year

Here is the sketch I worked with.

All the papers used in this layout are by Bo-Bunny except for the moss green cardstock in the background. I cut out the die cut and used the left over pieces for the punched flowers and the flip side for the blue and pink graphic pieces. The other pieces like the pink strip and little tag are some other Bo-Bunny scraps I found in my stash... I also laid a piece of acetate with predrawn stitching around the edge with a cute little saying on the right hand side-"

I used soe small scraps of the blue graph paper tpo make the banner with" unconditional and love"stamped on with Studio G alphas and braided some pink and yellow twine and attached with pop dots. Two cute decorative pink heart pins from Joann Fabric (sewing section), white, pink and blue paper flowers with brad or thread tied in knots for the center of them. And my own handmade crocheted trim/lace in pink.

I also then used some fabric paint to add my own swirls or flourishes by the flowers and hand drewn a stitch look around part of the photo. Other items used were Stickles, inks, sticker for title, punches, Cricut for 2 butterflies, and markers. I will also be applying this layout over at The Paper Variety for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge. My three items used were ... Color Pink - Banner - 1 Photo.

Sketch Along Tuesdays #20 layout

2011-07-26T00:25:00.001-05:00

Wow, time is flying by this summer and its already sketch #20 over at Sketch Along Tuesdays- Frosted Designs. And today is also my husbands birthday...the big 60 for him- . So Happy Birthday to Ken. Well here is my take on this lovely sketch by Karin- she has had some wonderful sketches here for us to work and create with and this is no exception.
I love doing layouts of the outdoors- it is my favorite subject/photos to work with- so these photos of my son and his friend out enjoying the lovely weather and views of Lake Superior in Marquette Michigan a few years ago.

Materials used : Die Cut by SEI & brown gingham paper by Daisy D'S, K&Company die cut leaf border and 3 butterflies, Making Memories "Passport" blue decorative trim ribbon, stamps by Studio G, wooden stamp, buttons, twine, embroidery floss, tulle, inks in brown & green, pop dots, my own handmade crocheted flowers and leaves, and I machine stitched on the border of die cut in black thread.

Above is a close up of a few of my crocheted flowers in tan or taupe and some lime green leaves also- something new that I tried crocheting and they turned out ok- I think I will be making some more of these in the future. I then wrapped some twine around the title of Friend for that natural look. Below you can see my machine stitching on the border and my sub title stamped on a piece of a paper bag and inked in green and brown.

Here is the sketch we worked with below. So be sure to enter your take of this sketch over at Sketch Along Tuesdays- at Frosted Designs for a chance to win a fabulous prize from our sponsor- Paper Loves Glue. They have a wonderful selection of hand-dyed crinkle ribbon in a variety of colors to give to a lucky person with an entry for this sketch. I love to see what you come up with. Enjoy your week and stay cool.

Great Lengths-

2011-07-25T07:30:00.001-05:00

Here is my take from Sketch #128 at The Scrappiest- the photo's are not the best -a bit blurry- but I remember this moment all to well a few years back of my son and his long golden locks right before we cut them all off- so he could join the high school football team. He was kinda worried about this- since he believed he was a chick magnet with this hair. Which he probably was- but football was more important and he said he could grow it back if he wanted too after the season.

I used all papers from the Recollections stack - which I just got the other day at Micheals for 1/2 off what a great deal this was. I added big gold brads to the corners of the photo's and journal strips on the side. With my Gypsy and Cricut Expressions I cut out the golden swirls to represent LOCKS of hair and the Handle with Care sign and the title Great Lengths from several cartridges- Accent Essentials, Graphically Speaking and Ashley's Alphabet. I inked all the edges with Memories-Chestnut

2011-07-24T07:14:00.000-05:00

Here is another green layout of my sons graduation day back in 2005- 8th grade. This one is for my scrapbook- and it has all the outfits he wore that day on one layout- so this sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays worked out well for me with these photos.

I used K&Company papers and some scraps from my stash, brown inks for distressing and some rub ons and a vellum for the title and saying on top of the page. I hand wrote with a white gel pen on the cap- which was a cricut cut from a cartridge which I forgot to write down?

But, I want to point out that the flourishes in black I did myself---I got this great idea or tip from Nanne the other day and so I tried it and it was so easy to do and here is two of them that I did with black fabric paint on acetate then just cut out around the flourish swirls and added vellum tape in a few places and put it on my layout. Below is a close-up.

Thanks for checking out my post and hope you all have a great day. If you would like to see the tutorial on the flourishes just click on Nanne's name - I have it linked.

I'm attending a wedding today- so here is the card I made

2011-07-23T07:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I finally made a card for a wedding I'm attending today-nothin like waiting till the last minute to do this...but it was so simple to make...Just went through my stash of papers in black and white and then decided on the extra color of choice to pop out and used my Cuttlebug and butterfly folders to emboss three of them. Well, actually I cut out 6- 2 white, 1 blue, 3 black and white ones. each butterfly is back with one so it gives them more dimension. I added some sticker prisms to the center body part and used pop dots to elevate them a bit. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the gingham checked paper and added a few silk flowers with a gemstone brad and some white satin ribbon. I found this Just Married tag in one of my many embellishments boxes and just added a little Stickles to parts of the letters and attached to some blue cardstock. Then I added Stickles- (diamond) to all the dots on the embossed butterflies to add some more bling.

On the inside I added more of the blue cardstock-edges inked in black and hand wrote my sentiment inside and added another butterfly to the lower right corner. So with my left over Cuttlebug- embossed/cut negatives- I laid them on the envelope then took two colors of my Tattered Angel Mists and sprayed a bit and removed them to come up with my mask of butterflies to match for the card and wrote Bride and Groom.
Of course I made them a gift too- and guess what it has-- Butterflies-- on it also. I have a theme going here don't I- I hope they like butterflies- I know I do. Then I went one step further and wrapped the gift in the same blue wrapping paper and stamped butterflies all over it and the words live, love and laugh - with all kinds of white and blue curling ribbon as the big bow in the middle. How cute it that. I wish I would have taken a picture of the wrapped gift- maybe tomarrow before I give it to them I will. Well have a nice day and enjoy your weekend!

Lets Capture these sketches #91

2011-07-22T21:11:00.000-05:00

Here is my take for sketch #91 over at Lets Capture these Sketches over my daughter's boyfriend now fiance back in 2005 when he graduated College from Illinois State University. This is the only picture we had so it had to do.

I used an alphabet laser cut sheet in a maroon color and some misc papers from my stash and black ink for all the edges. With black cardstock I used my Gypsy and Cricut machine to cut out the title and the graduation cap and scroll. I used some eyelets and ran some thin white satin ribbon through them and with a white gel pen wrote on the caps

SWEET layout

2011-07-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

Here is a Sweet layout of my son enjoying a waffle cone while at Universal Studios a few years back. It is also one of the only pictures that I got of him while on this vacation- he was too cool to have photo's taken at this stage and age in his life. As you can see by the expression on his face- I snuck a photo of him....

Papers used were We R Memory Keepers, scraps from my stash in strips and a sheet from K&Company for the greyish polka dot background. I cut all the pin wheels from the paper and added a brad to the center of each one. I used my Gypsy and Cricut to cut the cone out from the Doodle Charms cartridge and title sweet from Printing Press.

I will be applying this layout over at Sketchy Thursday for their sketch challenge and over at FCCB #69 to use a summer treat on a project "I scream for Ice Cream" which is almost what I titled this layout but changed my mind. I used some chalks and inks for the ice cream cone for some dimension.

PAW-SOME....always together

2011-07-17T06:18:00.001-05:00

I just think this page is so adorable...especially the photo's. One day a few months ago I was looking to see where my girls (dogs) were and I found then laying in the foyer- just like this together- facing each other with there paws touching- AWWW ...I had to quietly go get my camera- so I wouldn't disturb them, to catch this photo moment and I got it. They are always together, whether they are sleeping, eating or playing- I just gotta love my two girls (Jenna and Izzy) american eskies.

This sketch is from Practical Scrappers July Challenge and I think I nailed this one... I used a green brown cardstock and a die cut from Imaginations and cut all the large flowers out of some paper I had in my stash and some blue and brown cardstock for the Cricut cuts.

I used Mickey & Friends for the paw-some paws and chalked them for dimension and used Lyrical Letters for the words along with my Gypsy( this is such a great tool to have) A blue polka-dot ribbon, chalks Stickles, and pop dots. Other tools used was a glass cutting board, and an exacto knife

And a wrote on a few blue strips of cardstock for sub titles. I really like how this turned out and love the colors- since the photos were either black and white or brown and white.

Sketch from Page Maps

2011-07-16T07:46:00.001-05:00

Don't you just love to color GREEN? Well I do and there is quite a bit of it here in this layout from the sketch over at PageMaps.I frew the lime green out from the shirt I was wearing and my son's graduation school colors were green and gold. These photos are of my son and me and my mother- 3 generations of Love. So that is how I came up with this title.

I folded my papers and formed a fan and added a ribbon and heart brad to them and used for the first time my Martha Stewart border punch- I really like this border. I placed the llime green die cut on white cardstock and inked the edges and then machine stitched in black thread on three sides. Added the tag for my title and hand wrote in a glaze 3D marker and some Stickles to the red heart. My favorite color is LIME green can you tell?

I will be applying this also over at Scrapbookers Anonymous for using up papers that you have alot of or you find difficult to work with . Because I have lot of greens in my stash-

Together- for Creative Scrappers

2011-07-15T00:12:00.000-05:00

I just took these pictures in Michigan on my daughter and her fiancee in a cove area on Lake Superior a few days before the 4th of July and I had to scrap them right away. And the sketch #164 over at Creative Scrappers was perfect for these 2 little pics I had just printed up. They look so happy TOGETHER.

I used My Mind's Eye Paper for backgrond sheet,overlay acetate which I trimmed around the pink flower areas, Deja Views paper to cut out all the blue and brown flowers, and some misc striped paper. The decorative trims are from Making Memories

The title is cut with Gypsy Wandering Cricut cartridge, other embellies and tools were Stickles, sticker rhinestones, little flower punch,brown marker and some Inkadinkadoo stamps for the swirls and those wishy plants ( don't sure what there called..lol) And my new Martha Stewart border punch. and lots of pop sots behind all the cut out flowers

On my take of this sketch #164 - I flipped it to the other side. And I know my daughter is going to love this one ,when she sees it- I might just keep it for myself!

My Reveal for SOUS -Moments

2011-07-14T06:31:00.003-05:00

I just love working with their sketches- I also spend alot of time planning them out from the pictures-to papers and all the little embellies. Here is my layout titled " Moments". Sometimes the title is the hardest thing for me to come up with on some of my projects - do you find this a problem when your doing a layout?

We take this picture every year we go to the UP at Presque Isle in Marquette..sitting on the fallen tree log and so it is hard for me to come up with titles for these outdoor photos we take every year. But, I love working with nature scenes and colors of the outdoors. This layout will be for my scrapbook- so I put lots of flowers - and 3 of my handmade crocheted yellow flower ones with jewel brads in the center and a pretty floral paper for the background.

With my Gypsy and Cricut I cut out the tree branches and title in brown with Gypsy Wanderings cart. and punch all the little flowers with scraps of the other papers I used. And added some Stickles glitter glue to the centers of them. I also used a distressing tool on the circle cut with Fiskars circle cutter and inked the edges in brown and green. Papers used are by Jillibean, Basic Grey and 7 Gypsies and a textured brown special paper.

Two challenges in One!

2011-07-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

Another layout titled Jet Ski Fun from me- but I used the sketch from Sketchy Thursday and the challenge from Scrap Our Stash for using red-white and blue on a project. So here is my take with my son and his first tijme on a Jet Ski during the 4th of July Celebrations up in Upper Michigan back in 2005. After hours of fun- he said "hey-mom could we get a jet ski". Of course, my answer was I don't think so- but if you want to save YOUR money- you could get one.

I used some 4th of July papers from Adorn It Creations-Hero Art banner stamps, Paper Studio star stamps, starburst wooden stamp, white ribbon, silver glitter glue, pop dots, Staz-On blue ink and Brillance moonlkight white ink.
I stamped the background paper with the starburst and wrote with black marker on the stars on top of the banner 4th of July. Did my own journaling on the strips of the red and white paper. So this surely qualifies for the red -white and blue challenge.

Best Buds

2011-07-13T06:15:00.000-05:00

Don't ya justlLove the bright cheery colors in this layout?- I do. This is my take from this weeks sketch challenge over at Sketches in Thyme #51- I just love their weekly sketches, I try to complete them every week, if I can. This is a photo of my daughter and a very good friend of hers, who has since passed away at a very young age- so this page will mean a lot to her in her scrapbook - when I finish it and give it to her. I'm sure she will shed a few tears also- but so many great memories of their friendship she will always have.

I used Me & My Big Ideas- which they all coordinated with each other from the paper stack Several different chipboard letter, brown inks, border punch by EK Success, silk, crocheted and paper handmade flowers, brads, pearls, gemstones,scrappers floss, Stickles, corner punch olive green cardstock for leaves.

Here are some close-ups of all the different flowers that I made. (above)The bright orange one is a silk flower which I added one of my small crocheted doileys and a flower brad to the center. The blue and green flowers are made from paper towels and sprayed with Tattered Angel Mist with pearls or gems in the center.

And here is another handmade doiley flower large (orange one) added to 2 pink silk flowers and a glitter brad added to the center with some leaves that I cut out-inked and added stickles for some extra bling. Well thanks for coming here to see my post today and enjoy the beautiful summer weather.

Vacation.. design team layout

2011-07-12T07:04:00.018-05:00

Now that the 4th of July has come and gone- we can get back to some scrapping- I was out of town in Upper Michigan for my traditonal week vacation with family/friends and had a great time- as I always do. So here is my design team layout for the sketch over at Sketch Along Tuesdays-Frosted Designs.
We have a wonderful sketch designed by Karin to work with and here it is- using circles- I love to work with circles and so I did- but a bit different in this take. I used my Cricut for all the cuts with images to tell a story about the photo for my son's scrapbook-while we were visiting Universal Studios in 2005.

Cartridge used and my Expression Cricut & Gypsy- Going Places- which had alot of cool ones to choose from- this was the first time I used this cartridge and I see myself using it more often in the future with all my vacation photos. I started off with a graph pattern paper by Karen Foster and inked the edges in blue-stamped some travel sayings from Scrappy Cat stamps, several colors of cardstock for all the cuts, Rub-ons for the title from Swatch Book and some other misc rub-ons scattered on the page. OOOPS...I forgot to journal on the page -underneath the picture on the half circle in white- sorry- I will have to go get that page out and do that before I forget. SO BE SURE TO LINK UP YOUR TAKE ON THIS SKETCH OVER AT SKETCH ALONG TUESDAY at FROSTED DESIGNS-BY JULY 25TH TO BE ENTERED IN TO WIN A FABULOUS PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR.

In the next post is the WINNER of my blog prize for the Frosted Designs Ice Cream on the Beach Blog hop that was offered this past weekend! So go check out if you are the lucky Winner of my handmade crocheted flowers!!!

WINNER of Crocheted Flowers - Frosted Designs blog hop

2011-07-12T00:18:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a great turn out for the Frosted Designs Ice Cream on the Beach blog hop this past weekend!!! I was thrilled to see so many participants and what a fabulous bunch of ladies who visited and commented on my blog. So- it was very hard to pick one lucky winner for my handmade crocheted flowers- so I did a random drawing on my new / old followers who left the comment with their favorite color.
DRUM ROLLLLL...is your favorite color Blue/ Aqua? My lucky winner Ellen said:" I just love your crocheted flowers! My favorite color is any shade of blue-aqua is my seasonal favorite." Please send me an email with your address-so I can send you your prize package. Frosted Designs will also be posting all the lucky winners from all the other blogs as well as the Frosted Design blog winners. Congratulations to all of you and thanks for taking the time to join us this past weekend in our 1st Birthday blog hop!!!!

my email is : debbiebakk@comcast.net type in subject (lucky winner)

If any of you are interested in purchasing some handmade flowers go to my side bar and click on the picture of flowers it will take you to a page with more information about my handmade crocheted flowers.

Built Tough

2011-07-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

Built tough is a layout for the sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches this week of my son being so cool and tough looking in his attire before his 8th grade graduation dance back in 2005. He thought he was something back then- and he still does..lol

I try to do a layout every week using only scraps of everything- from my tray where I collect all the little goodies and I don't want to throw them out of file/organize them. And this layout I really used up alot of my stash from paper that I had already used the center of -so I used the left over border. The banner flags and the cut out arrows with words on them. And the title also was cut out and sitting in a basket on my tray. I chalked the background with blues and greens and tied some twine on the frame with the title in the middle. I hand painted black mats on the photos and added a little butterfly to my stamped journaling tag.

With Deepest Sympathy card...

2011-07-11T06:46:00.000-05:00

I usually don't make cards to often anymore but a very good friend of mine passed away the other day and I had to make this card for the family. So I used the color challenge at PDCC#89 using mint green, buttercream and taupe, which worked out very well for this card the other night.

Materials used were: K&Company Designer mat sheets in mint, buttercream and taupe, stamps called Summer Leaves with 2 colors of ink by Paper Salon - coffee bean and moss, twine and a stamp for the saying. On the inside I also inked a buttercream piece of paper and added 2 more cut out stamp leaves in the lower right hand corner.

Welcome to the FD ..Ice Cream on the Beach Blog Hop... Celebration

2011-07-08T00:01:00.017-05:00

July 8th- 11th

I'm so excited you could take the time to come and CELEBRATE with us at Frosted Designs- 1 Year Birthday blog hop. I have been on the Design Team here at FD since March- and have had a wonderful time with this great bunch of talented ladies and honored to have been choosen to be on this team. I look forward to every week with all the weekly challenges and tutorials and of course the Sketch Along Tuesday challenge every other week.. and to all the adorable/creative projects and layouts that you all participate in- which is such a great inspiration to me!
So here is my layout for the Ice Cream on the Beach Blog Hop Challenge to use ribbon, charms, gems etc. on a project and I used the Summer Celebration theme. I painted my title "Jet Ski Fun" on the blue shells hanging in the middle of the layout and added lots of gems-rhinestones and a few cute little charms tied on with ribbon.

So on with the CELEBRATION!!!!

You probably arrived here from Karin's blog......if at anytime you get lost you can click on Frosted Designs to get you back to the beginning or click here on Karin's to go back or Jessica's to go forward in this blog hop challenge.

I have a little personal blog candy for one of you during this celebration also... Do you like flowers? of course you do! How about handmade flowers? well again -of course you do! Well that is just what I have specially made for you-- some handmade crocheted flower doilies and some lace trimmings. I will pick one lucky person to receive a package of these lovely embellishments to use on their future projects. All of have to do is become a new follower and leave me a comment letting me know that you have done so and tell me what your favorite color is- and if you're already a follower- just leave a comment also with your favorite color. The lucky winner will receive a 24 piece package containing your favorite color (if available) and white flowers & a few lace trims. What do you think about that!!! It's that easy- If you would like more info on my handmade doilies you can click on the picture of these handmade flowers on my side bar- to take you to my page where I have prices and a list of the colors I have available.

Now-- for the important Question and Answer you are looking for in this fun Celebration blog hop...from Frosted Designs. Which all winners will be announced at Frosted Designs and at each individual blog on July 12th- So make sure you jot this next answer down and email them to ( danica4us@yahoo.com) once you have all the answers to be entered to win at Frosted Designs-- Ice Cream on the Beach Blog Hop.

                                                            My question: Debbie Bakk :
              What do you have the most of in your stash other than paper? Brads & Eyelets.
So glad you joined us and have a great weekend!!!   Next blog would be Jessica's . (click on name)
                                           Here is a list of the blog sites to visit in order:
1. Barb
2. Diana
3. Lori
4. Andrea
5. Kissinia
6. Barb O.
7. Erin
8. Amanda
9. Lydia
10. Ann
11. Angela
12. Elisabetta
13. Melissa
14. Karin
15. Debbie Bakk
16. Jessica
17. Libbeti

Creative Scrappers #163

2011-07-07T14:22:00.000-05:00

I am applying this over at Creative Scrappers for their sketch #163 this week and also at Scrapbookers Anonymous for using paper that you have a large supply of or a hard color to use...and mine is green papers_ When I go into a store that color(green) screams at me and cries out loud until I buy some more...lol. So I thought this sketch and challenge of color (monochromatic) worked out well for this photo of my son at his 8th grade Graduation in 2005. His school colors were green and gold/yellow.
I used alot of scraps from my stash and embossed the squares with my Cuttlebug/folders and then inked all the edges in a light brown. I used my Cricut cartridges Printing Press and GBS for the stars and the title blocks tied on with twine. Added a few star brads and some misc stamps by Autumn Leaves and did my own journaling and woolah!!! it was done in just over an hour...Yeah ! I'm on a roll now- so off to start another layout.