Sugar Cookie and Sweet Summertime

One of the many fabulous things about my *boss lady* Fia, over at sketches4all, is her generosity. She wanted to surprise a couple of DT members with a goodie, and chose me as one of the lucky recipients :) She contacted Nikki Sivils, requesting some paper pads, and I received the package yesterday (I was even outside when the Fed Ex man pulled up, shoveling the 8 or so inches of snow we got yesterday morning! Luckily, I was just finishing the job, so I was able to rush inside with it and make something.)

I am so in love with many paper lines, but seriously, for Valentine's Day, nothing is more perfect than this Nikki Sivils Sugar Cookie. The deep purples, bright pinks, chocolate brown, and sugar cookie tan are to die for. They make me crave sweets (seriously...I attacked some M&M's while creating this!) I'm itching to make the girls' valentines out of this paper, but before I did that, I wanted to do a layout. It feels like it's been forever! I didn't use a sketch, just kind of did my own thing here.
It was a 6X6 paper pad, so I used the sheets along the edge, making them mirror each other. I took that great heart paper and cut the heart right out of it, making a frame for the 3 pics I put together (in hindsight, I would have made the pic on the right a little shorter). I used the heart cut out of the paper for the title.

Doily from The Chip Chop Shop, brad holding it on the paper is Marcella by K fabric covered brad. EK scrabble sticker alpha. Imaginisce I-Rock pearls. Cotton Candy Stickles faintly surrounding the heart.

Pink twine from The Chip Chop Shop. I love this, it perfectly matches the doily :) More Cotton Candy Stickles around the photos.

MM alpha stickers. SEI flower sticker. The Chip Chop Shop twine.

I made this layout yesterday, soon after shoveling a ridiculous amount of snow and having nowhere to really put it (yeah, I'm already running out of room and we've only had 3 big snowstorms this year!) I used this Let's Scrap sketch:

and to kill the winter blues, made this fab 2 pager of me as a little baby, my first outing at the beach. It came together so quickly, with a little help from Echo Park's Sweet Summertime papers and embellies and my corner rounder :) I love these papers, and am so glad I finally got to use them! I've been waiting for the perfect moment.

Imaginisce I-Rock pearls. American Crafts Remarks alpha stickers.

So there you have it. My computer has been going haywire lately, and as such, I've been attempting to post these layouts all day! Luckily they are posted, hoping to be able to use the computer later without incident :/

TFL!

Will winter just end already?

Ugh. I've had ENOUGH. If it isn't snowing (just about every other day it seems...the kids have been to school 2 full days this week, and 1 and a half last week, another storm on the way tonight into tomorrow), someone is sick. After basketball on Saturday, Rileigh goes to an indoor softball clinic from 6-8, and when I went to retrieve her, she informed me her throat was sore and she was feeling "weak and wobbly." She ended up coming to my bedroom later that night, with the telltale barking cough of croup. We dealt with this a couple of months ago with Patryk, but I always forget that Rileigh gets this once a year, every year. I should have known it was coming!

She's finally better after 3 days of hell, and we celebrated my big, 32nd birthday with my parents and some chinese food last night. I got the Kitchenaid stand mixer I've wanted for years, so I'm super excited to play with it! Anywho, after cake, Andraia complained of a headache and bellyache.... *uh oh* ....and she got sick in the middle of the night.

I have a lot of work here ahead of me, scrubbing the sickies out of this house. I wanted to spend the day in the craft room, but no such luck. Maybe after hubby gets up I'll sneak away. Until then, I just wanted to check in. I have some altered jar candle holders I made to take pics of, I'll share later when I post them for sale in my Etsy shop. I need to catch up here on the blog, too. There are new DT members at sketches4all, and a big Valentine's Day event coming up, full of prizes, that I hope you'll join me for. (Oh, and I have a mess of stuff to offer as candy. I wanted to post yesterday, for my birthday, but it just never worked out that way. Keep your eyes on my blog, if it isn't up by this evening, it will be up first thing tomorrow.)

I hope everyone is having a spectacular day (and that you're all healthy!)

Hi ho, hi ho, to basketball I go...

...after posting a couple of layouts I did a couple of days ago. It seems my days have been super busy as of late, but I did get in the craft room for these babies. I have to be quick, as Rileigh has basketball this morning (and it's only about 4 degrees outside...I think I'll stay in my fleece pants!)

This one I made for a challenge over at sketches4all, but wouldn't you know the challenge ended a day earlier than I had written down! Oh well. I'll share it here.

I used a Pagemaps sketch, their current monthly challenge on their blog. It was fun to work with, I switched up the locale of the pics for mine. This made my pics fit better. Papers are all out of my scrap box...I know the baby themed papers are Daisy Hill. The other two: not so sure. Prima flowers. That flannel gingham button in the center of the pink flower is from The Chip Chop Shop. "Baby Love" metal element from MM. That cute shaker buggy circle thingy (don't you love my descriptions LOL) is from an unknown maker, received in a box from a friend who was getting rid of supplies. Very cool! The purple shape behind the photos cut from my Cricut, the Playtime cartridge. Random glitter brad. Title EK alpha stickers. Random ric rac. Pebbles I-Kan-Dee "memories of baby" twist tie. Doodles everywhere. Random bling.

This one was made for challenge 6 for the Bling On 2011 event at sketches4all, asking for glimmer, glitter, the color purple, and flowers.

No sketch for this one. I tried to go my own way here, and am pleased with the results. Used my own shimmery mist made with Pearl Ex Interference Violet all over the paper, hard to tell here as we were hit with a storm and I had to get pics taken. There is a subtle, purple shimmer all over the place! All of the paper strips are My Mind's Eye. Random chenille, glued in a flourishy way. Prima flowers (one with a Target dollar bin fabric brad, another a random glitter brad. The big dimensional flower is handmade by Leann over at The Chip Chop Shop, I attached an Imaginisce Chantilly charm with a MM pastel brad in the center for a little added pizazz. Daisy Hill alpha stickers/file folder tab sticker. White Blossom glitter alpha, and sorry to say the metal charm (which says "memories") and the mom & me sticker are unidentifiable. What can I say, I have an extensive stash! The purple photo corners are also pretty old school, I think they are 13 years old! The stamped photo corner is a Tim Holtz stamp.

That's all for now, I am in the middle of a couple of candles...one for a friend's birthday, one for the shop. I'll post them later (just have to wait for the last layer of Mod Podge to dry.) Hope you all enjoy the day! Time for me to subject myself to bitter cold and take little Ms. Rileigh to basketball :)

Sketches in Thyme guest designer!

Today the current Thursday take is up at Sketches in Thyme, and I am the featured guest designer! :)

Here's the layout I created. I came across this really old photo (I'm talking 11 year old photo) of my dearest Andraia and had to get it in my own personal album.

My Mind's Eye papers, except for the photo mat, which is gold wallpaper. The letters are Colorbok rub ons. Cloud 9 sentiment. Prima flowers w/MM brads in the center. Random ric rac. KI Good Tidings green leaf ribbon. Red strip is torn MME paper. Circle flowers w/brads random from my stash.

I ended up using this layout also at Colorful Creations for their Merry January challenge, and also sketches4all, use metallic tones on a layout (obviously, I chose gold!)

I am just about done another layout, I've been working on it all day! My computer has been acting up for the past few days (due to the nasty weather we've been having, I suspect) and therefore I've been unable to post anything or even do anything online at all! :( I have a bit of catching up to do here in bloggy-land, hope to do that this weekend. Hope to get the layouts I did today posted so I can get back to stocking up the store for Valentine's Day!

Have a great rest of the day :)

A quick announcement and a card

BUSY! That's the word of the week. I FINALLY opened my new Etsy shop, check it out! Pretty cool, I've already sold one of those owl cards I posted earlier this week. So exciting :)

Here's a card I made this morning, and I have to say I really like it! Posted it in my shop, we'll see if anyone else likes it LOL

My Mind's Eye papers, Fiskars border punch, Cricut (Doodlecharms) for heart and its scallop border, random ribbon, MM brads, DCWV vellum sentiment.

If you visit my shop you can also see an accordion album I made. Come back and tell me what you think of it, I don't have the time to post the pics at the moment. I need to make a baby girl album to put up in the shop, so I'll be a busy beaver this afternoon! For now, it's off to retrieve the loaf of bread that has finished in the bread machine, do a couple of chores, and put little man to bed. He's crabby today!

Oh, I almost forgot...head over to sketches4all, where today is my day for a challenge in our Bling On 2011 event. The challenge: scraplift the layout I've posted (you may remember it from an earlier post, *HERE*.) I include a recipe for your own shimmery mist, and there's a chance to win a prize (to be posted when I can get a picture of it.) Check it out, and don't forget to look at the other challenges. There are many RAK's being offered by our DT, I am the 5th challenge to be listed! The event goes until the 20th of the month, so hurry over!

Hope you are all enjoying the day!

SNOW DAY!

I just love snow days, especially now that Patryk is a bit older. Isn't 3 such a magical age? He has been asking since 6am if he can go play in the snow yet. I've almost had enough coffee to go out there, but thought while I meet my coffee quota for the morning, I'd share a couple of layouts I did yesterday.

I made this first one for the latest Sketches in Thyme Thursday Takes sketch. I don't really know how I feel about this one, it kind of went in a different direction, and I'm not sure if I like the flowers or not...but it is what it is. (And the pictures make it all ok...isn't he just the cutest?) I strayed a bit from the sketch...my photos were large (I've had these in a "to scrap" pile for a while now) so I didn't include all of the additional strips they showed in the sketch.

American Traditional Designs (now Momenta) Welcome Baby papers and Elevations sticker (the bird in the nest, oh so cute.) MSE rub on sentiment. Prima vine, paper roses random from my stash. Cricut Classic Font cartridge for the title (italic and italic shadow) and the oval around the photo. Epoxy stickers (Patryk's initials) random, unknown maker.

Next up, I have an entry for the Bling It On 2011 contest over at sketches4all, this is the first challenge posted (and I am a little behind and need to see what the next one is!) and it is to use pink and green colors along with rhinestones on the layout. I am also using this for the Colorful Creations large photo challenge (again) as this one is a cut up 8X10. I have decided to take the girls' old school photos and make albums of them, as I just can't bring myself to get rid of them, and don't want them gathering dust in a drawer somewhere.

My Mind's Eye papers. Random rhinestones on bottom, White Blossom floral rhinestone stickers stuck to a MAMBI Soft Spoken Childhood embellie at the top right (I am vowing to use up my ridiculous stash of embellies I have, I have too many! This is something I would now make, but when I bought it, I probably thought it was something I couldn't. I know better now!) Thickers in chestnut. Unknown maker of epoxy alpha stickers for Andraia's initials.

Hope you like them, now off to take these kiddos outside so I can shovel, and then it's up to do some more creating :) Have a great day!

K

A card for my shop and a teensy weensy challenge...

I know, I know...I said my biggest goal this year was to focus on my business, and make tons of stuff to sell, in turn completing less challenges. Well, I just can't help it. I love challenges!

My son toddled down to my room at 12:30am, telling me he needed to sleep with me (if you read my post from last night, you may recall how exhausted I was, and did not appreciate this sleep interruption.) I allowed him to clamber into bed, just to save myself from getting out of bed to bring him upstairs, and boy am I glad I did. He started to cough after about 5 minutes of tossing and turning, and I could hear his little belly gurgling...and got him off of the bed onto the hardwood floor, just in time for him to throw up everywhere (but hey, that's why I put him down on the floor...better than my bed, much easier to clean!) So after clean up, he laid down beside me and we both drifted off, making it through the night without further incident.

What does that story have to do with anything crafty, you are probably asking yourself? Well, I have created a little ***schedule*** of sorts to help me achieve my goal. I figure if I treat it like a *real* job, I'll be more successful. I took Patryk upstairs to play around 9:30 this morning, and began my *shift.* After completing 4 cards, I wondered why I hadn't heard from him in a while...here it is, 10:15am, and he's passed out cold. It kind of screws up the afternoon for him, but I wasn't about to wake him! Of course, this just meant I had to be a little more quiet...so rather than cut out the cards with my paper trimmer (that has been known to wake him when I get lazy and let go of the guide too soon and it slams down on the table), I took a blank sheet of cardstock and set to work on the Colorful Creations "big picture" challenge. It wasn't really a challenge for me, as I work with 5X7's all the time. The challenge was finding a way to do the layout and NOT use paper, thus eliminating the need to use the trimmer.

Here is the result, and I'd have to say it worked out well!

My own recipe of pink mist (again using the pink/blue Pearl Ex powder), random stash ribbon, MM epoxy brad, green leaf pin received in an RAK, Imaginisce white pearls attached with my I-Rock. The title was done by spraying the mist over a mask plastic alpha pieces placed on the page. I removed them when it was dry for future use, and doodled the letters to make them stand out. That triangle piece over the photo is from my local natural foods store, in the bulk section. I make my own granola bars, and thus buy a lot of oats, nuts, and dried fruit. These are the twist ties that go on the bags, and I had to find another use for them. Here, I altered it by cutting off the twisty part, leaving the label area, and cutting it to look like an interesting file folder tab and spraying with more mist. Love how this came out, and I didn't have to cut a single sheet of paper or dig a spare scrap out of the box!

Here's the card I made 4 of. I brushed acrylic paint on my rubber stamp, outlined it all in black pen, and used blue Stickles for the pupil of the owl eyes. Simple, quick, and easy (but messy.) Hoping they sell well!

TFL!

Quickly, before I collapse from exhaustion...

I will post this layout. It was a long day, but I had to get this one done before the deadline! Scrapbook Challenges had a blog hop over the weekend with a sketch challenge, and I loved the wavy lines of the sketch. Here's the sketch:

Here is my interpretation:

My Mind's Eye papers. The Philadelphia Group alpha stickers. DCWV vellum quote, misted with my own recipe of pink mist. Flourish is from the Classic Cricut Font cartridge. The heart in the title is a twist tie, doodled on the inside and out.

Hope you like it, now it's time to go to BED. I feel much older than I am today, can't wait for the girls to return back to school for some peace and quiet (almost.)

An update to my NVS post from last night

So I still couldn't take the pictures outside, as the wind is whipping, making the air feel like it is actually 20 below. Brrrr! Little Miss Rileigh, a.k.a. "I know more than you MOM" thought it would be a good idea to go to basketball practice in her shorts, not thinking of putting pants on over them. That would be too easy. She'd rather freeze, and STILL complain about it, even though it was her idea. Lucky for her, I brought a pair of sweats to throw on after practice, saving the day once again.

I was able to capture this page in the light coming through the window, and it showcases more the shimmer of the background, and the real amazing detail of the beaded paper. If you didn't happen to see the original post, or you want to know more about N*V*S, go to the original post here.

I used both pink and gold shimmery mists, my own recipe. I love how they shimmer, this pic still doesn't do them justice!

That's all for now, I'm off to start dinner and head up to finish a layout I started earlier but was unable to finish, due to the previously mentioned basketball practice. Maybe I'll be able to post later, but I am pretty beat from the day. These kids are off the WALL.

Don't forget...

...to head over to sketches4all to play along in our Bling On 2011 challenges! The action begins tomorrow, and if you just can't wait, there's a pre-challenge up right now in the "special events" section of the forums. Show us some sparkle for a chance to win some great prizes!

Check it...

Interested in designing for a kit company? Well, here's a great kit company! Bridgette of The Polkadot Place has a good eye for putting these kits together, here's the current kit. See those little crocheted doilies? I LOVE those little things! The vintage-ness (yes, I know, not a word. It is now, I've written it.) is just awesome, and see that baker's twine? Yeah, I am in love with this kit.

You can find info on the DT call here. Head on over and apply!

I am so nerdy...

**Read this post and click here to see the updated pic, taken during the day..........it's worth it!**

So very, very nerdy...so nerdy, in fact, after I finished this layout I became so excited, I had to take pictures of it in horrible lighting and post it anyway to show it off!

I saw a challenge over at the Nerdy *Victorious* Scrapbookers blog, and had to jump in. N*V*S is a neat-o challenge blog, a sister site of XOXO Challenge Blog, where I am a Lipstick Chick. I saw their inspiration collage for the month of January, and the white and pink jumped right out at me, along with the tiny bit of blue over there in the lower right, in the form of the baby blue bra. Here's the inspiration:

And here's my layout (see what I mean about the horrible lighting? The background paper is white in person!!):

Of course, I had to make a batch of pink glimmer mist just for this, which will show up better when I re-post this with better pics when the sun comes out. Trust me, it's amazing in person. So much shimmer, I ended up using the pink glimmer mist, made with my pink/blue Pearl Ex powder, AND the gold. You might remember the gold from my last card post. I went nuts with the gold that day!

"See that lovely handmade flower? The crocheted flower was given to me by a talented crafter, Karen Patterson. The paper strips...um, yeah, YUM. That's some beaded wallpaper right there. Yup, beaded wallpaper. I acquired a crapton of wallpaper books from my neighbor who runs a lumber yard/hardware store, and am thankful just about every day for them >

Tim Holtz flourish stamp

A closer look at that beaded paper

This is a picture of me, which I cropped my family out of *haha in my best Nelson laugh*...you might recall our family photo shoot this summer, and I wanted one of just me for this page. I am not often in front of the camera, I'm the one taking the pics. Sad, but true. I wasn't diggin' the green and red in the background, so I sanded the photo to blur them out. More Tim Holtz stamps, a flourish and a corner. The only baby blue I brought in was that blue ribbon, very sheer and barely there, wrapped around the side, over a piece of fancy wallpaper.

The butterflies were fussy cut from more wallpaper, this time wallpaper featuring tree branches, birds, and butterflies. So pretty! The pink and silver: cut up circles wallpaper.

This layout will hopefully serve as a reminder to focus on my goal this year, which is to just *BE HAPPY.* It's been a rough road, and it is smoothing out, but I need to learn to be happy with the place that I am. I have a rad family: really smart kidlets, and an amazing hubby who works hard to allow me to craft my little butt off and be here for those really smart kidlets. I can't ask for anything more. I will look at this, and be reminded to be thankful for what I have and where I am at in life, rather than think about all that I want that is currently out of my reach. I have a long life ahead of me to accomplish all that I have swirling around in my head.

Hope you like it, and head on over to the N*V*S blog to enter your own page today! Have a great night!