NEW October Afternoon!

Hey everyone!  Today I have a layout to share that I created with some brand spankin' new papers from October Afternoon.  October Afternoon is hands down one of my favorite companies and I was so excited to see their two new releases at the show, Fly A Kite and The Thrift Shop.  They just have such a way with colors and patterns.  The good gals at the booth (Charity and Angie) were kind enough to give me some paper to play with and play I did!  LOVE both new releases and can't wait to get my hands on some more!

I used Fly A Kit for this layout.  The colors in this line are so bright and airy.  I had these older photos of Darian just itching for a layout and I was happy to finally be able to put them to good use.

 

Since I was mostly just playing with paper I decided to have a little fun with my punches and scissors and create this cute little cloud with a sun peeking out behind it to help play off the theme of my photos.

And just a little detail shot of my title work.  I used the chip letters from the Nook & Pantry line by Basic Grey and placed them on another larger little cloud die cut.  A sticker from the Farm Fresh line by October Afternoon and a orange button tied with some brown baker's twine from Studio Calico finishes it all off.

That's it for today.  I've been reorganizing my space a bit this weekend.  I'm always in a state or constant reorganization - or at least it feels that way.  I'm always trying to find the most efficient way to store my stuff while purging a bit of the old and making room for the new.  LOL  Thanks for stopping by!

A layout to share ...

Hey everyone!  Feels so good to finally have a layout to share.  One that I actually just created and don't have to "hold on" to for some other reason kwim?  I had the gorgeous February kit from My Scrapbook Nook waiting for me when I returned home from CHA on Wednesday.  This kit features the Origins Collection from Basic Grey and can I just say that I am in LOVE?!?  Seriously I think this is one of my most favorite collections to date.  I love the color combo of yellow, green, brown and black all mixed together with delightful florals and gorgeous graph papers.  YUM!

For my layout I pulled out an older photo of my sweet little Darian.  He's only 9 months old in this picture - check out those chubby cheeks!

I love all of the new embellishments Basic Grey offers with each of their collections especially the "pieces" and the "micro mono" and "mini mono" stickers.  Talk about heaven on earth!  Here I used one of the pieces along with some of the "element: stickers and a pretty little Maya Road stick pin.

 

I LOVE to layer the element stickers.  There are tons on each sheet and you can create endless new shapes and designs by just using a few little pop dots (my fav product ever!) and mixing and matching stickers together as I've done here.

 

Since we're talking about Basic Grey I want to share a pic of me and Miss Basic Grey herself, Kelly Goree.  Love this girl!  We had the best time at CHA together and I can't wait til I can see her again. Please excuse the graininess of the photo - my camera did not play nice with me on this trip!  LOL

That's all I've got for today.  I'm hoping to play more with this kit this weekend so I should have more to share soon.  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Some more GCD Studios projects ...

Still recovering over here.  As much as my hubby kept up with the laundry, house, etc there's still lots to be done so I'm trying to work my way (slowly but surely) through it all.  In the meantime here are a few more projects I created for GCD Studios booth at CHA using the new teen line Zippity and the adorable Smoothie Shoppe.  Lots of images so sit back and ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had hoped to post some pictures that I took at the show as well but to be honest they did not turn out at all.  I was trying to not use my flash and fiddled with my camera settings and all I managed to do was take grainy, poorly lit photos.  *sigh*  Better luck next time I guess!  :)

I'm baaa-aaack! :)

Hey everyone!  So I made it!  Landed at 5am this morning after flying through the night (left California at 9pm their time) so I'm a bit bleary eyed and definitely sleep deprived but it was well worth it.  This was such an amazing experience.  To see all of the new products and to meet all of the amazing people in this industry.  Just so much fun! 

I did take my camera along although quite honestly I did not take it out as much as I should have or intended to.  I haven't even unpacked yet and need to go through photos and edit, etc but I thought I would share with you some of the projects that I created for the GCD Studios booth in the meantime. 

First up are a few projects I created using the new Homespun Chic collection as well as the Lydia collection both by Melody Ross.  First up is a wooden purse I altered using Homespun Chic ...

 

 

 And a cute little birthday card as well ...

And here is a topiary I made using the Lydia Collection (I think this might be my favorite collection from the new releases - I LOVE the colors of this line!) ...

And another little card ....

Well that's it for today!  I'll be back tomorrow to share some more projects so be sure to check back soon.  :)

Anaheim here I come!

 
In just about 24 hours I will be getting ready to hop on a plane and head to Anaheim, California for the Winter CHA show.  This trip is all about firsts for me.  My first time flying solo, first time renting a car solo, first time in California solo, and last but certainly not least my first time at CHA.  I am super excited about it all.  Which is a good thing because I think the excitement is winning out a bit over my nervousness about all of the other firsts - hee hee! 

I will be working at the GCD Studios booth (#3785) in the mornings doing Make and Takes.  If you're going to be at the show please do stop by and introduce yourself to me.  I love meeting people who share the same love for this industry that I do. 

I won't be blogging while I'm gone since I decided not to take my laptop with me (one less thing to worry about on the plane).  But I am taking my camera and hope to have lots and lots of pictures to share when I return!  Til then I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.  And I just have to add ... GO JETS!  :)

Zva Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by for the Zva blog hop.  I appreciate all of the sweet comments!

The winners have been posted.  Their names will be announced sometime today on the following blogs:

Becky Olsen
Lori Roop
Angelica Franssen
Ingrid Danvers
Lisa Johnson

Each of the 5 winners will receive a Zva prize pack worth $30.00. Congrats winners!
Remember, even if you didn't win, we will be having another blog hop soon, so you will have even more chances.

I am heading out to California in just 3 days for CHA.  I am so very excited despite being utterly terrified to fly by myself.  I just keep reminding myself that it will all be okay and that I will be able to figure it all out ... somehow.  In any case, if any of you are going to be at CHA be sure to stop by the GCD Studios booth and say hi to me.  I'll be working Sun, Mon, Tues mornings till noon time.  I'm taking my camera so I hope to have some photos to share when I return ... that is if I stop drooling over all the new products first long enough to snap a few!  ;)

Zva Creative Blog Hop!

Hey everyone, I'm so excited today for another Zva Creative DT Blog Hop!

We are joining together today to share a project that we have created using the latest Zva Creative  products that are releasing at the winter CHA craft show.  I am hoping that you will take some time to join us for a little bit of fun!  Zva is introducing 100+ brand new crystal and pearl embellishment designs at the show.  All designs have a fresh new look and are available in various popular color choices.  If you are attending, please stop by the Zva at Booth # 2991.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog.  She is linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on.  There are 12 design team members, so be prepared to be inspired along the way.  Hidden on 5 of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package!  Those blogs will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.  Our team is so wonderfully diverse, so we are hoping that you will be inspired when you reach the end.

This Blog Hop runs through midnight on Tuesday, January 19th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 20th.  We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify.  The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

My first project is a sweet little card that I created using some new blue crystal swirls and this adorable fabric butterfly.

My next project is a layout that used a few different new release crystal swirls as well as some felt flowers and crystal and fabric brads.

 

Now please hop on over to see what the wonderfully talented Lori Roop has in store for you!  

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us!

spring fever

Good morning!  Another Zva Creative project to share today.  This time I created a card with one of their gorgeous new crystal swirls in a wonderful light green color.  While trying to find the perfect papers to compliment this shade of green I stumbled across these older papers and die cuts by Making Memories from their Spring Fling Collection.  I love the combination of pink and green together - perfect for a springtime card!

You can see I also added some more of Zva's 3d flowers here as well again just snipping off the stems and adhering with glue dots.  I love grouping these little roses together - so pretty!

Well that's it for today.  Gotta go tackle some laundry and my every growing "to do" list.  LOL  I'll be back tomorrow with some more projects.  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

sweet

I'm so excited to finally start sharing some of the projects I've been working on this past week for Zva Creative.  Each design team member was sent a box of new goodies that will debut at CHA later this month - lots of new crystal designs coming your way folks!  YAY!

I created this layout using the gorgeous Cupid line from Pink Paislee.  This line is featured in the January kit at My Scrapbook Nook so if you're looking to grab some head on over and check it out.  Plus I just want to point out that My Scrapbook Nook is having an amazing sign up special right now.  Click here to read all about it!

I love this photo of Brandon and I thought I'd play around with it a bit and just keep the lollipop in color and turn the rest black and white.  It's a really fun technique if you haven't tried it yourself yet. 

And here's a little detail shot for you of one of the new pearl swirls along with some of Zva's great 3d flowers.  The flowers come with stems but I simply snipped them off and attached them with a glue dots.  Who says you can't put flowers on a boy layout?  Certainly not me!  LOL

Thanks for stopping by!  I should have more projects to share with you tomorrow so remember to come on back and check it out!  :)

lovable laughs

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I'm still on a bit of a high from the Jets victory on Saturday (go JETS! lol!) and getting more and more excited about CHA as well.  In less than 2 weeks I'll be in California drooling all over tons of new scrapbook products (okay well not literally all over - hee!).  If any of my blog readers are going to be at the show be sure to come and find me.  I'll be working at the GCD Studios booth in the mornings (Sun - Tues) and then walking the floor the rest of the day. 

I wanted to share with you a recent layout I created for the Collage Press blog.  I worked with the Knave of Hearts Collection for this one and can I just say that I am in LOVE!  The colors in this line are just so yummy - PERFECT for those boy pages and as a mama of two boys that makes me very happy. 

This is one of my favorite photos of Darian.  He seriously has one of the most lovable laughs - one of those whole body laughs - and I was so happy I caught him in the act in this photo.

I used lots of different die cuts on this layout accented with just a few little chipboard hearts here and there to carry out my "love" theme.  I also adhered some Knave Alphabet Stickers directly to part of my photo.  Against the dark background these cardstock stickers really have some "pop" and draw attention to my title.

I added a fun canvas alpha (colored with Copics to match the charcoal color in the collection) with my son's initial to one of the Knave Journaling Cuts and secured it with some tiny staples (YAY for the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher! lol!).

Well that's it for today ... thanks so much for stopping by!  I will be sharing some of my Zva Creative projects that I created for CHA this week as well so be sure to check back in and see what I've been up to! :)

My Scrapbook Nook Blog Hop

Hey everyone!  Welcome to My Scrapbook Nook's Blog Hop! There's a lot going on over at the Nook recently and what better way to share it all with you than a blog hop.  Be sure to start your hop at Leah's blog and then just follow along from there.

I joined the My Scrapbook Nook Design Team this past August and have enjoyed every minute of it. The kits are just amazing!  There are so many goodies packed into each and every kit and lots of fun extras that can be purchased in the shop.  The forum is such a wonderful place to chat about all things scrappy or otherwise and the gallery is simply awe inspiring.  This truly has been one of the best design teams I have had the honor to be a part of.

So as part of our blog hop I get to giveaway one of our recent kits - the November kit featuring the gorgeous Audrey Collection by Lily Bee Designs (pictured below).  All you have to do to be entered in a random drawing to win this kit is leave a comment on my blog.  Easy peasy, right?  And if you want to increase your chances of winning you can earn extra entries by joining our message board (1 entry), signing up for our newsletter (1 entry), posting about the blog hop on your own blog and/or facebook/twitter (2 entries), and/or joining the kit club (5 entries).  You need to just let me know which of these you've done when you leave me a comment on my blog.  And apparently "they" do have ways of checking so be honest!  Hee hee!  And don't forget to visit my fellow design team member's blogs (links are over on my right sidebar) for some more Nook inspiration!

And here are a few of my projects that I created using this yummy kit ...

"1979"

 

"grown"

 

I also wanted to let you know about a really great promotion going on right now - sign up for a 6 month subscription to the Nook between January 5th and January 15th and receive a credit of $20.10 to your account!  How amazing is that?!?  You can read all about it here.  Also My Scrapbook Nook has some special "member privileges" that will be revealed in the forum soon so be sure to check in here and read all about it!

The blog hop will close on Friday, January 15th at midnight PST and the winners will be announced in the forum on Monday, January 18th so remember to stop in and see if you are one of the lucky ones!

And now it's time for you to hop along to the super adorable Miss Britt!  Thanks for stopping by!

Recent Layouts ...

As promised today I am sharing with you a few layouts that have been published recently.  Not really sure if I've shared these before on my blog.  If so it had to have been at least 6 months or more ago since that's when they were sent in for publishing.  Anywho, here they are.  :) 

As seen in the December 2009 issue of Scrapbook Trends

As seen in the December 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes

As seen in Winter 2009 issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today

As seen in Holiday 2009 Idea Book by Scrapbook Trends

Hmmm, okay so the holidays are over and here I am posting two Christmas themed layouts and a Halloween one.  But at least now you'll maybe get a little inspiration for those very recently taken holiday photos, right?  Hee hee!  Thanks for stopping by!

Recent Cards ...

Okay so I don't have anything new for you today.  I've been working on some stuff for CHA and obviously can't share anything yet.  But I hate the idea of my blog sitting here neglected especially since it's a new year and with that means ... what?  Not exactly sure but just a need to keep the blog nice and updated.  We'll see how long that lasts.  Hee hee!  

Anyway I thought maybe I could share some cards that have been published recently.  Some of these have been on my blog before but some of them never made it here before they were picked up so you'll get a peek at those for the first time.  Tomorrow I'll be back to share some recently published layouts as well.

As seen in the December 2009 issue of CARDS

As seen in the December 2009 issue of CARDS

As seen in the December 2009 issue of CARDS

As seen in Christmas Cards 2009 by Scrapbook Trends

As seen in Christmas Cards 2009 by Scrapbook Trends

As seen in the Winter 2009 issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today

Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Scrap in Japan

A few months ago I was contacted to be a guest designer for a challenge blog called Scrap in Japan.  I had no idea that I was even "known" in Japan and was just so flattered to be asked to contribute.  Who knew that scrapbookers halfway across the world were familiar with my work. 

Here is the layout I created for the blog ...

 

Be sure to stop by the Scrap in Japan blog to check out the sketch I created to go along with this layout as well as layouts by the Scrap in Japan design team!  Thanks for stopping by! :)