Sweet Ivy!

After prepping for Jan's gathering next week, I couldn't help but make a LO with the leftover pieces.....


Ivy has taken over alot of my scrapbook pages over the last 18 months. She is just so darn cute! Now, that she has a little sister Ruby.... I can't wait to get creative with some pages of her. I have this great 8 x 10 just screaming scrap me.... I think that will be my next project.


I don't know about fellow scrapbookers, but for me, the more I create the more creative I am. It seems like one project leads into inspiration for another. Love this hobby!

Grace papers.....

I love these fall papers! They are perfect for Thank you cards and Thanksgiving LO's....



I was looking for a fun card idea for a workshop next week. We will be making this card and a candle at Jan's Gathering! Can't wait! Let me know what you think :)

Good intentions......:)

I woke up this morning all ready to clean! I turned some music on, started the laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, swept the floor.....Then decided to clean out a "junk basket" that sits on the counter. All was moving along great until Zane and Tyler left for the night to a friends cabin for this weekends youth hunt, Emily went to stay the night with her friend Kylee..... Then it was just me and the housework. Blah! I thought gosh, the house is quiet, the coffee is brewing, I cannot possibly clean when I could be in the scraproom with uninterrupted creating! Off I went...... 9 hours later, the "junk" is still on the counter,

the wet clothes are still in the washer, and the shower still hasn't been cleaned. All is not lost though, I did clean up the scraproom (again), found some great ideas on the web, and finished the 2 LO's from the crop with the scrappy friends at the LSS last night. So all in all a very productive day, just not cleaning :) Now the coffee is brewing again, so I can scramble to get the cleaning finished. I can't have everyone coming home tomorrow thinking I scrapped the day away now can I?

Onto the good stuff, the pages I finished up..... I am determined to get Emily's sport album caught up, I think I only have 5 or 6 pages to go. Yeah! I am so happy to have used up some old paper from at least 4 years ago. I love mixing old stash with the new.....

This page is pretty basic supplies... just some PP, cardstock, chipboard, ink, and 1 stamp. Goes to show, you really can create with minimal supplies.

The stamped strips were stamped with this great border stamp from CTMH Delightful Things. I really like this set, and think I will use the corners on my next LO. (after the cleaning is done of course).

The second page I finished up, I used allot more product... The banner and baseballs I cut with Cricut Baseball solutions cartridge, The TEAM letters were cut out of left over packaging. I love doing this with the Cricut! Great transparent letters for FREE, and recycling what would otherwise be garbage. I stamped the design on the back of the letters to make them stand out a little. The faux stitching on the banner and around the page was done with the CTMH piercing tool and a white uniball pen. LOVE this technique, the look of stitching without hauling out the needle.

The tags on each side of the page for the players names, I used this AWESOME bracket stamp that came with the CTMH celebration kit.You can get this for free this month by purchasing $60 in stamp sets. The stamp is actually about 5 inches long, I just trimmed the paper to fit where I wanted them to go. Here is what the entire set looks like....

The other new items I added with the old stash of PP is the small American craft letter stickers. I just picked these up and they are a great bargain.... 7 pages of letters for $5. I also used the giant felt border from the CTMH heartfelt whimsy collection.

That was today's adventure, now off to finish cleaning up the "junk" I dumped on the counter hours ago!

If you would like to purchase any of the CTMH products used.... Let me know :)

being true to myself.....

I am sad to say my CTMH workshop did not go as well as I would have liked. I am blaming this on the economy, the weather was gorgeous outside, Sunday afternoon.... a day most people like to spend lounging the afternoon away at home. I am actually glad I did not have a big turnout because this gave me a good "practice run". I learned some things to do / not do and all in all was a good learning experience. Now, I will feel more confident the next time around. That is the plan anyways.

Last night, it felt so good to create something for me! Let my inner artist flow, the quiet of my scrap room.... this is why I love this hobby! I had a great big "Aaaah Ha" moment..... with the DT work I have been doing, and preparing projects to get my new endeaver off the ground, I have not been creating for me. I must stay true to my "style" and not be persuaded to ever let my hobby become a "job".... I will continue to do the DT work and pursue the CTMH consultant, but I will create my way while incorporating their products. If others like them great, if not great! The important thing is I enjoy what I create and never let anything stand in the way.

Here is the page I created, using a past kit from http://www.scrap-room.com/ featuring American Crafts Everyday paper line. Such fun summer colors!


When I talk about my "style".... it is all the little details. I don't care if a page takes 4 hours, I love adding the finishing touches that make the page mine :)
Here I used the CTMH postorboard alphabet to stamp the letters, cut them out, embossed them with the Cuttlebug Stars embossing folder, then added the white pen lines.



Buttons never look complete to me without some floss ran through them.... adds just the finishing touch I strive for....


The felt frame is CTMH felt embellishments, love them! This is the first time I have added stitching to felt. I really like the look and will definitely do it again and again.....



These little details all take time, but to me it is time well spent. It is like I have added my "signature". Anyways, the moral of my post is.... if you enjoy how you create, what you are creating then don't change a thing. Everyone has a different unique style and that is awesome! Just enjoy the process!

How did this happen????

Pretty soon I will be turning 50! Not really, but geez where does time go. I have not been very good about blog posting the last 2 weeks. Have been very busy getting ready for my first CTMH gathering on Sunday. I am very nervous but very excited. I know I can do this, Scrapbooking is what I do. It is what I am passionate about. I promise on Saturday I will post some pics of the projects we will be creating as well as the bulletin board I have ready for display.

I really could not believe it today when I checked in here.... The last time I was on I had 23 visitors, since then 11,000...what the Heck! How did that happen? Either the counter is broken or I really need to get busy putting some scrappy goodness on here.

Some big exciting news! Well for a scrapbooker anyways... I do some design work for the Scrapbook Nook in Ludington, she sent me an email wondering if Quickuts sent me some free dies a month for a few months if I would be interested in creating some displays to promote the product in her store. WELL HECK YES! Not only do I love using machines in scrapbooking but I love free stuff and prizes! My scrapbooking buddy Lynne always laughs at the contests and "prizes" I am trying to win. LOVE IT! Don't get me wrong, I love to share and give prizes as well! lol! Anyways, back to the Nook.... I am really looking forward to this adventure... My brain likes to be pressured into creating something fantastic :)

Last weekend was a blast! 7 crazy girls spending the weekend at a crop together. I am very embaressed to admit I only created 4 pages and 16 cards the entire weekend. Its a good think I took the entire scraproom so I didn't run out of supplies... tee hee! You would think after 10 years I would know I am not going to get much done, too busy chit chatting! The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night Dinner.... Poor Dee Intoxicated after one White Russion, she sure did like the bartender though.

We are into the second week of school now, kids are glad to be back. Zane and I are happy to be getting back into a routine. It is hard to believe Tyler is in 8th grade and Emily in 5th.... Where oh where has the time gone. I do enjoy that they are becoming more independent but really miss the sweet moments of toddlerhood.

Emily started her 7th year of dance this week. This year she will be stepping it up a notch, so am curious to see how she likes it if she is having to put more effort into it. There are only 4 girls in her Ballet class and 3 in Tap. I think she will enjoy having less kids in class.

There now that I did a brief update for all these viewers I am getting... I feel much better. I will have some fun scrappy stuff tomorrow or Saturday. Promise!

Well I did it!

I am very excited! I have been contemplating for 2 months now, if I should sign up to be a CTMH consultant. I finally took the plunge and did it. Now, I am sooooo excited! They have a great promotion this month, so it was a good month to start. I just think they have such fun stamps and great paper. I just need to get past the nervousness of booking my first party!
Now..... waiting for the consultant kit! Hopefully it comes by next Friday before my scrapbooking weekend!