Scrappy Days

And now there are six...

2011-11-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

BLESSINGS~

We are thrilled to have our newest little angel to hold in our arms. And I do mean OUR arms. The sweet thing is passed around and around and there is usually a LINE to hold her. I have even witnessed my kids FIGHTING over "getting" to change her diaper!

I can honestly say that I have never been happier having a new baby...maybe it's because I'm old enough to have grandchildren;) I've heard being a grandparent is even better than having children but I doubt that~at least for me...I'm one happy mommy:D

Not that I'm biased, but she is incredibly beautiful ~not a stork bite in sight;).

AND she is a HUGE smiler, already!!!

I've taken HUNDREDS of photos of her already. Yes, really. I'm just wrapping up my second photography class in as many months and I'm determined to overcompensate for the remote possibility that the other kiddos could have more baby pictures. These photos were all taken at the hospital without a flash!!! So excited that I know how to do that now!

Next time I'll share some of our "at home" photos~

The Rocket Center and an easy Microbead Embellishment Tutorial!

2011-09-19T12:19:00.001-05:00

Last summer we hopped in the minivan and drove south to Huntsville, Alabama to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. It was a day of fun, family and LOTS of photo opportunities. So when I received my July Scrapbook Circle Kit in the mail {THANKS mom!} and found it filled with October Afternoon Rocket Days, I knew just which photos to print. I used a sketch from Cheri over at Let's Scrap to get me started.

Not too often that I pose for a cheesy photo but every now and then it happens;). I just love all the fun ephemera included in the kit, where else would I find rocket suit trading cards or tickets to the moon?!?

I misted the Bazzill borders with sunshine Glimmermist and added baker's twine and ric rack to the already full to the brim kit. I also added RED microbeads to the star...more on that below;).

I had lots of fun painting and then distressing the little chipboard rocket. When I started off playing with it, I didn't really intend for it to land on the layout but by the time it was finished I was so happy with it that I just had to find it a spot.

I love flags, especially itty bitty ones flying on toothpicks so I had to add one of those as well.

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Now for the quick and easy microbeads: messy but so much fun...

Grab a glitter tray, your chipboard (or whatever material you'd like) and a vial of microbeads

Next, cover your chipboard with PLENTY of adhesive. I just used my Xyron- it is quick, easy and relatively mess free. You can use a variety of different adhesives here and lots of people use a wet glue but I find working with a wet glue to be difficult as I always seem to end up with big clumps of microbeads both on and off my chipboard.

Once you have your chipboard COMPLETELY covered with adhesive, poor the microbeads right over the top. Make sure you cover your chipboard well. Then press down on the beads just to make sure they get good and stuck. This is one of my favorite steps;)

I shake my tray gently to find my chipboard piece and then I carefully remove the chipboard and poor the microbeads right back into the vial. Next I push and poke the microbeads around until they are all exactly where I want them. After all the baeds are in place it is really important to seal the microbeads onto your surface. For this I use Glossy Accents. LET IT DRY completely, you all know what happens if you don't...

Happy Scrapping,

Oregon Trip Highlights, Part 1

2011-08-19T09:11:00.001-05:00

July 2011

~Leaving Nashville~

This is what a weather delay after boarding the plane allowed us to do! Totally worth the minor 30 minute delay:)

The Willamette River in Eugene, Oregon

Time with Grandpa. I don't know what it is about this photo but I LOVE it!

At the Eugene Emeralds baseball game

He's waving at the mascot, Sluggo, who he fell in love with instantly

The Oregon Coast

Here I am trying to manipulate the results of the kids' race down the dunes...

And they finish in age order anyway;)

Bliss

Sea Lion Caves

The girls were FREEZING since they left their hoodies at grandma's house

Hood up and long sleeves on the beach. Being from SoCal, this still amazes me

Can you title the layout for this one???

Yaquina Lighthouse in the morning. Here I found out I have developed a sudden and INTENSE fear of heights.

Same lighthouse, that afternoon. Still freezing but much prettier:)

Low tide on the cobblestone beach...some of the best tidepooling ever!

More to follow,

"What's for LUNCH" Challenge

2011-08-02T18:16:00.000-05:00

With the school year upon me, lunch is going to change quite a bit this week. I must go from enjoying a cooked "just for me by my sweet 14 year old son" lunch to making 5 sack lunches and sending off all my dear kiddos. I am more than a little sad to see summer slip away, it seemed shorter than ever this year.

So, when my turn came up to post a challenge for the KITCHEN, I knew this would be the perfect time to focus on lunch. We'd love to have you come on over and join us! Here is the sample layout that I created for the challenge:

I used lots of the Savor line from Little Yellow Bicycle but the background is from October Afternoon. My favorite lunch lately is the panini, and let me just say, my son has perfected the art of creating them! I kept the layout clean and simple but couldn't resist adding just a bit of dimension:

The star is Maya Road chipboard that I inked a bit and then backed with some LYB paper. I punched the paper into a star shape with my old Creative Memories punch and then just had to trim it ever so slightly and glue it into place. The dimensional heart embellishment is made with more LYB papers and some Nestabilities dies.

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I am STILL working on sorting through my hundreds of photos from our Oregon trip but I am getting close! Here is a preview of the kids at the coast:

Look for the rest of them in just a few days...I hope;)

~Three layouts in Scrapbooking Magazine~

2011-07-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

So now my kids have gotten into a "submit one with me" contest. I have been working on so many layouts of the younger two that most of my published layouts include them but FOR the RECORD, everyone has been in at least one of my paper published layouts. This month's Hobby Lobby Idea Magazine, Stamping, Stationary and Scrapbooking includes three of my layouts and yes, all three are of the two younger kids.

HOWever, my first three kiddos have many more completed albums and tons more layouts in those albums. That is because their albums were done back when my focus was more on the photos (and on scrapping chronologically) and less on the artistic process. My goal is to find a nice blend of the two:) Suggestions welcome!

We are gearing up for school, I canNOT believe my "baby" is starting high school next week! I was looking back through his scrapbooks this week and I am so thankful for them. Time really does fly by so quickly and it becomes hard to remember all the little details. Scrapbooks keep them safe and handy...and pretty!

Happy Scrapping,

Scrap-a-Little Guest Designer

2011-07-18T17:57:00.001-05:00

Helen Croft, papercrafter extraordinaire, was kind enough to ask me to guest design for her!!!
She sent me her latest, greatest sketch to work with:

And here is what I came up with:

I used a stack of adorable We R Memory Keepers for this layout plus a bunch of punches! The big ticket and star pin are Maya Road and the memo pin is Tim Holtz. I used an old piece of blue ribbon to tie onto the pin but it was too bright so I just hit it with some distress ink and voila! I can see myself using this sketch a gazillion times...sideways, this way & reversed, thanks Helen!

I just don't know how Helen comes up with great sketches month after month, she truly amazes me. If you haven't had the chance to check our her gallery of sketches click here.

I did a little bonus layout for her based on sketch 49:

I used some great old Sassafras from my stash for this one. Lots of fun layers and stickers and stitching. I am on a use what I have kick and that is actually making scrapping pretty fun, a bit of a challenge and I do miss the shopping and the NEW stuff but quite honestly, my scraproom is FULL!

Back when we only had three children I began a tradition of celebrating half birthdays. It seemed like a GREAT idea at the time...two kids had January birthdays and my energy for celebrating is a little lacking at that time of year...so the half birthday idea was born. I keep it pretty simple really, just half a cake and one present. Well, it was pretty simple until our family grew and grew and grew and now we have a half birthday, a real birthday, and/or a holiday constantly it seems. Sigh. I do LOVE to scrap the half birthdays though!!!

I used my Papertrey Ink banner dies for these but they were too long and just looked funny to me so I altered them with a pair of scissors and got just the look I was going for. I strung a bit of Karen Foster floss through them and that made it so much easier to place on the page. I had always placed each individual letter first but that made it difficult to get that "hanging" look. Definitely worth the time to pierce holes and string floss first!

Happy Scrapping,

Surpise!!!

2011-07-07T08:36:00.001-05:00

Surprise!!!

~Arriving this Fall~

~I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to those of you who have sent me sweet inquiries as to where in the world I disappeared to for the last couple three months. I really appreciate you all checking on me...the morning sickness was super awful this time and I am just now getting back to some bit of normalcy, as normal as one can get at home for the summer with 5 kiddos~

I have even gotten back to a bit of scrapping...just a wee bit. We are heading out to Oregon shortly to visit lots and lots of relatives. My in-laws are VERY kindly putting us up at their house and with 7 1/2 of us, that's quite a sacrifice! So I am taking along a little token of my appreciation:

I used the Earth Love line by Cosmo Cricket for this ATC tray. My in-laws live in Eugene, Oregon so what other line works better than this?!?! I have a few bits and bobs from other lines and manufacturers (Maya Road, Prima, Tim Holtz, Cookbookin') scattered throughout as well. This was such a fun project to put together, I hope they like it!

Here is a progress shot just before my oldest son vetoed his photo...I thought it was perfect: teenager in mall, texting away (middle row, first slot) but he said he wanted a soccer shot and that is, really, much more appropriate. I adore that he likes to look at my work and helps with great suggestions and ideas. When I put these trays together they spend hours flat while I move all the pieces around. Then I take the plunge by adhering the backgrounds. Then there is another round of moving the pieces all over the place. Once I get the photos or main memorabilia adhered I move on to embellishing, my very favorite part of the entire process. I can embellish these for weeks! Eventually I call them "finished."

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I also managed to eeek out this recipe layout for the Kitchen:

This soup recipe is so yummy and so not for summer but it took quite a while for the heat to hit this year in the south. As a matter of fact, our friendly little cicadas were a few weeks late themselves. More on them later!

It's good to be back, wishing you all Happy Scrapping!

Kitchen Crop Coming Soon~

2011-04-16T07:01:00.000-05:00

Kitchen Keepsake is cookbooking at its finest! Come and find your creative culinary muse!

The designers have cooked up some fun challenges, games, and there are of course lots of prizes!

All challenges will be posted on Friday, April 29th and will be due on May 4th.

We hope you'll join us in the kitchen and get those creative juices flowing!

www.kitchenkeepsake.com

See you there,

Green Milk!

2011-03-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

No, no, not THAT kind of green milk. Milk NEVER has a chance to turn green in our fridge. The only time we have green milk around is when the Leprechaun's pay us a visit each March;).

I used some Little Yellow Bicycle papers that I have been hoarding for this layout. I just KNEW they would eventually come in handy. My layout is based on this week's sketch up at Let's Scrap:

I know! I kinda went a bit my own way. My layout really did start with the left side of the sketch! Ah well, there are those times that I follow sketches quite closely and there are these times when I start with a sketch but by the time I finish creating my layout the sketch is hardly recognizable. When I added my layout to the design team gallery, I thought they might just reject it but they didn't. It is up there on the main page at Let's Scrap;).

I broke out of my white thread mold on this one and used some black thread to stitch my rick rack on and to stitch together my large hearts. Then I used mini-staples {Tim Holtz} to attach my journaling strips and my small hearts. That big scrappy flower...that is just what it is, a bunch of scraps that I trimmed from my mats and they all fell in a pile and voila, an embellishment!

I added the Maya Road pins to my scrappy flower just because I thought they looked good with this Making Memories metal frame that I used around his tiny hands clutching his little glass of green milk.

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Let's Scrap is having a Design Team Call! Here is the sketch to use if you'd like to apply. Details on the call can be found here. We'd LOVE to have YOU apply. Good luck!

Is it really MARCH already?

2011-03-01T13:56:00.000-06:00

Where is the year going? I seriously canNOT believe it is March 1!

We've had an interesting couple of weeks here at the Coleman camp...baby bear "bwoke his wittle foot" on February 15th. Actually he really smashed his toes to bits after accidentally pulling the kitchen table bench over but there was a slight fracture in the foot. Then, the very next morning, his sister was diagnosed with the flu. I don't know what clued me in...perhaps her temperature of 105*!!!

All is well now though. We got her Tamiflu within 24 hours of the fever starting and would you know...it knocked that flu right out! Fever was GONE within 12 hours of the first dose and she NEVER developed any respiratory symptoms at all. AND since I isolated her before anyone else got home, NO ONE else in our rather LARGE family contracted the nasty virus. Oh, yeah, she DID have the flu vaccine this year, oh well.

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So I actually have been finding a tiny bit of scrappy time here and there. First up is this Snow Day layout. This is one of those really satisfying layouts...I thoroughly enjoyed every step of creating this project from photography to that last little snowflake detail. I am still really loving working with GCD's line, Joyful Peace. Even though it is technically a Holiday line I am loving it for a variety of projects. Some of the other bit and pieces on this layout include lace from an MCS kit, chipboard snowflakes from a Swirlydoos kit and lots of Prima. I used three MS punches to create some of my own snowflakes from the GCD papers. The title is cut with my Cricut using the Songbird cart. LOVE that cart!!!

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I also have a new challenge up at Kitchen Keepsake. It is a VERY simple challenge: use a banner on a recipe layout. Sound a little familiar? I am just called to put banners everywhere these days. They are so much fun to create and they add such a playful touch to both layouts and cards and my mantle and the dining room chandelier and...and...here is my example:

The papers are from the Gourmet Holiday line by Cookbookin' and the recipe is from my dear friend Shannon who has really been helping build up my stash of family friendly dinners. Just click on the image if you'd like to try the recipe yourself;).

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This last weekend was lots of fun...I got to dance with my darling son at his Grand Cotillion Ball. Yeah, no, he did not have the time of his life.

But he was soooo the sharpest looking guy at the ball!

He called this his "French waiter look."

Can't wait to scrap these~~~

Happy Valentine's Day~

2011-02-14T11:44:00.000-06:00

Aren't these just GORGEOUS! Thanks honey~

And for those of you wondering what my chicken feeder is wearing this month:

I used some of the yummy Echo Park papers that came in my MCS kit this month, thanks Mom!

I am really loving sewing my hearts down the middle so they have wings. For these I used Spellbinders to cut the scalloped hearts and then I backed them with a simple scalloped circle.

I also decorated this adorable little tin mailbox that I picked up at Michael's. Baby bear is VERY disappointed that he can no longer use it to park his cars in;). Kids!

I used last years Making Memories Lovestruck collection for this project...still my favorite Valentine's line:). Remember this layout {using Lovestruck} from last year:

Hope you all have a wonderful day filled with the sweetness of love~

~Sledding Weather~

2011-02-13T15:34:00.001-06:00

This has really been SOME winter here in the south...we have had 7 or 8 accumulating snowstorms...I've lost count. I could blame it all on Santa, who picked this year to bring all the kids sleds for Christmas but that wouldn't explain the storms that hit BEFORE Christmas. I think the storms are over. Today was sunny and in the mid-50's and it is supposed to go up from there all week. I know, I know it is only the middle of February. So guess what I have been scrapping lately? That's right, I have about 265,000 snow photos from this winter and here are just a few in a new layout based on this week's sketch over at Let's Scrap.

This is Cheri's sketch:

I was a bit hesitant to cut the main photo on this page but I love how it turned out! The page is also rather dimensional with lots of foam squares, ric rack and buttons. I used my favorite Pink Paislee letters and some Fancy Pants Frosted papers.

Everyone went sledding this year, even baby bear!

Tips, Techniques & Tutorials ~ Hanging Heart Valentine

2011-02-08T12:03:00.000-06:00

I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day!!!

Isn't this just soooo cute? This card is super easy and fun to make. Here is how I made mine.

Cut TWO double sided pieces of pattened paper 5 - 1/2 inches by 8 - 1/2 inches.

Fold one paper in half like a traditional card.

Fold the other paper into a W shape.

I used a scalloped heart Nestability and ran it through my Sizzix to cut out my heart.

Because the paper was folded, the heart has a big ugly fold right down the middle:(.

So I embossed that fold right out!

Love how pretty this looks!!! So glad that ugly fold was there to inspire me on;).

This card ties closed so run some adhesive down the side of your card and be sure to place a piece of ribbon on the adhesive before attaching the die cut piece of the card. Be sure to keep your adhesive in the first inch and a half or so of your card.

Stick down one side at a time.

Voila! Don't you love the way my card keeps changing colors? Flash off, flash on.

I used the scrap heart that I embossed to decorate the front of my card. I sanded it lightly and later added some gold paint.

I stamped a sentiment, decorated the corners and placed it right under the heart.

Here is the gold paint. I ran some along the edges of the card and just a bit over the sanded parts of the embossed heart.

Back on the inside, I used some more of the paper scraps to run XO strips down each side of the inside of the card. I also made a hanging heart with some of the smaller scalloped heart Nestabilities and a bit of floss. It is just taped up the back of the card with a piece of coordinating paper covering the floss tail ;).

The finished card.

~Hoppy New Year BLOG HOP~

2011-01-14T07:25:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the Hoppy New Year Blog Hop beginning today over at Let's Scrap! We have tons of fun, inspiration, challenges, and prizes planned!! And the best part is, we're hopping for an entire month!! That's right, the blog hop begins today and goes through Feb.14th, so you'll have plenty of time to work on the challenges!

You should have joined me from Roulien's incredible blog but if you didn't you can find a list at the end of this post to help you find your way. Each stop on the hop will offer you a different resolution, or challenge. Become a follower of each Design Team Member's blog and as you complete each challenge, upload your finished project to the Let's Scrap gallery. Return to each blog and make sure to leave a comment letting us know that you have completed the challenge and uploaded it to Let's Scrap. Make sure you tag each of your projects with the appropriate tag (you will find those instructions on each of our blogs-ie: resolution#1, resolution#2 etc.).

Each Design Team member will randomly select a winner of a small prize for participating. For the ULTIMATE challenge, and for a chance to win a fabulous prize from Cosmo Cricket, complete the challenges you will find on EACH and EVERY stop on the blog hop. Make sure to tag your uploads properly so you are sure to be entered into the random drawing.

You can start anywhere along the way within this great group of blogs and each one will link from one site to the next where you will find all of the great challenges! And the best part is you have four weeks to upload your challenge entries. Even if you don't win the grand prize, if you choose to complete all the challenges available, you will have 15 completed projects!

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So, you are at Resolution#7 on the Hoppy New Year Blog Hop. And this is my banner challenge for you here on Scrappy Days:

1~Use a Let's Scrap Sketch

2~Put a banner somewhere on your layout

That's it!! Make sure and upload your layout to Let's Scrap and tag it Resolution#7. Also become a follower of my blog and leave a comment letting me know that you completed Resolution#7. Don't forget to play along with all of the fun "resolutions" along the way! And GOOD LUCK in all the drawings;)

For my example I did a layout about my "word" for the year: FOCUS.

Back at the end of December I had started making some New Year's Resolutions...you know, all the typical resolutions...save money, exercise, spend more time with those that I love, lose weight. You know...those resolutions that you fail to keep, the ones that cause you to feel guilty and the ones that you forget all about by March? I decided to skip that process and to just go with a single word, one little word, to concentrate on for the year. Ali Edwards talks a lot about this idea on her blog. I read over my resolutions and the word FOCUS came to me right away. That is what I need to do. I need to focus on what is really and truly important TO ME. So I wrote myself a letter and turned it into a layout.

I used lots of Girls' Paperie goodies. I made the banner using some banner dies, Prima letters inked to pink and jute. This photo. Not the best of me certainly but it is the very first photo taken of me in 2011. It is about 12:15, just after we walked home from the New Year's Eve party we attended across the street. DS1 took the photo and I am not in focus. I love that. Perfect for my whole focus focus;). I had chosen the word focus long before this photo was even taken. I have never been so tickled to have a photo NOT be in focus;). I think I'll have him take another photo of me on the last day of this year...hopefully I'll be in focus by then!

For each of you who completes my challenge, tags it resolution#7 and loads it into the gallery at Let's Scrap you will be entered into a random drawing for this fun little Amy Butler for K and Company Mini Book kit:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

The next stop on the blog hop is Bev.

And just in case you get lost along the way, here are all the stops on the hop:

Resolution #1: Betty Anne

Resolution #2: Kristin

Resolution #3: Beth

Resolution #4: Cori

Resolution #5: Carolina

Resolution #6: Roulien

Resolution #7: Kristie ~You are here

Resolution #8: Bev

Resolution #9: Mandy

Resolution #10: Megan

Resolution #11: Wendy

Resolution #12: Debby

Resolution #13: Dawn

Resolution #14: Tracy

Resolution #15: Amy

Also!!! Please join me at Kitchen Keepsake for our "My Life in Food Crop" that begins today. We have lots of fun games, tutorials and challenges for you.
My recipe challenge is as easy as 1-2-3! I also have a game of bingo going on:

Prizes are involved so come on over and get all the details~

Snowed IN ~and~ Crop & Hop

2011-01-13T07:44:00.000-06:00

Snow is pretty, snow is fun, snow is GETTING really, really, really OLD! Brrrrr. I'm done with all this freezing-cold white stuff. What happened to the sun? Is it still up there somewhere? And how about some above freezing temps? The news said 70% of the United States has snow cover today and that Florida is the only state without ANY! I just looked out the window, sure enough more of those pesky flakes are drifting out of the big white sky. Will it EVER stop?

I do have five little kiddies who are thoroughly enjoying the stuff...

Look out big brothers...the little ones have learned how to throw snowballs!!!

The kids put this big guy together all by themselves!!!

Teenagers are so scary~~~

Best buddies~~~

Crop & Hop...tomorrow is the big day! Check back soon for details on the Crop beginning tomorrow at Kitchen Keepsake and the Blog Hop also beginning tomorrow at Let's Scrap!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T13:32:00.000-06:00

I'm finally back after taking some much needed time for family and Holidays! I hope you all had a marvelous Holiday season and that you all took LOTS of pictures.

I know many of you are dying to see these:

Santa came through and brought him the Cheetos and yes, I let him eat them right there under the Christmas Tree:)

I can't say this year's Christmas was perfect around here...not even close. We have been under fire from a variety of viruses running through the Coleman Castle and unfortunately on Christmas we were attacked again. So many of us were sick that we actually delayed the Christmas celebration! Santa brought the children sleds, we had a RARE White Christmas and they were all too sick to sled.

This photo was taken several days AFTER Christmas:

New Year's Eve, on the other hand, was FANtastic!

We were all finally well and we went to a big bash right ACROSS the street! How convenient is that?!?! I took this as a hostess gift...decided at THE last minute to whip out a little cutesy for the bottle.

...took me two minutes, start to finish.

Here's How:

I die cut the scalloped circles, layered them and adhered them together.

Then, I punched out three flowers, arranged them and secured them with a brad.

Next, I used a glue dot to adhere the flower to the circle base.

Finally, I wrapped the gold ribbon around the bottle and stuck on the "cutesy."

This year I decided to skip resolutions and just go with a single word to live by. More on that in a future post;)

The kids all went back to school on Tuesday so I have been playing in my scraproom for TWO days! I have a spotlight assignment with GCD Studios this month so I made a few new things with my GCD toys {ChipArt, Joyful Peace, Melody Ross}

Here I embellished a simple manilla folder to keep all my scrappy assignments in. I even added a scrap of GCD's Joyful Peace to a binder clip so I can hang my folder. Much safer AWAY from the kitties;)

I started my post off with this star, my latest star, y'all know how I love to alter stars! I made it with more Joyful Peace, some trims, Glimmermist and Stickles. I had such fun pounding out the word JOY! My family wondered what all the noise was coming from my scraproom and I happily told them it was my ChipArt tool.

{It doubles as a tension reliever;)}

Another thing I have really enjoyed creating lately are these sweet little paper pouches. I gave lots of these out to teachers {stuffed with the makings of Snowman Soup} this year.

Mark your calendars for January 15th! I will be part of the Let's Scrap Blog Hop {prizes} AND we will be having a crop at Kitchen Keepsake {prizes}! So stay tuned.

'Tis the Season~

2010-12-10T09:54:00.000-06:00

For making lots of scrappy decorations! This is an actual chicken feeder turned candy dish {never used for chickens;)} that I decorated for Christmas this year. I used Cookbookin's line called Sugar and Spice along with a bright gingham ribbon and a couple glittery snowflakes.

I also decorated the "back" so that if the whim hits, I can turn this around and have a bit of a different look.

And just in case you were wondering what my little chicken feeder was wearing last season...here is a shot of that:

These are super easy to make and I am currently hosting a challenge over at Kitchen Keepsake on just this sort of thing. The challenge is called "All Dressed up and Ready to Share" and runs until the end of the year. Come on over and check it out!

I have also been enjoying working on and COMPLETING a few layouts!

This is my design team work for the week over at Let's Scrap! I machine stitched along the line of the bracket...actually worked out okay. I just took it nice and slow and voila! I also used a craft knife to cute out a bit of the holly leaf so I could slide my photo underneath it.

Cheri gave us the cutest sketch to work with for this week...and yes, I am working on that second page...it's all about the cheetos;)!

I also did this layout using one of Cheri's sketches and a My Creative Scrapbook kit. I just love these photos of my oldest daughter~

I used LOTS of ink to distress the edges of my papers as well as on the ric rack which I machine stitched to my page. I don't seem to be able to finish a page without my sewing machine lately;). I loved cutting the banner from one of the Fancy Pants papers and then I added some dimension with pop dots and a random piece of green rope ribbon.

This was such a fun little impromptu photo shoot on the side of the road. Funny which photos make the best layouts.

Hope this season of joy is indeed joyful for you~

All I want from Santa is...

2010-12-03T13:45:00.001-06:00

CHEETOS! Yup, that's what baby bear asked Santa for. Santa looked at me like, did he say what I think he said and I nodded my head yes. He'd been planning on asking for Cheetos for several weeks. Guess I need to relax on my junk food rules around here...

The gang barely fits~

Baby bear must really want those Cheetos, he even gave Santa a hug this year!

AND he was even patient and sweet while waiting in the HUGE line to see Santa!!!

In case you wonder how it is taking a teen to see Santa with his siblings...;)

My kids have always asked Santa for only one thing each. This year it was Cheetos, a sewing machine, a horse set, a sled and the teen told Santa he'd just share baby bear's Cheetos. Hmmmm.

Hope your Holiday Season is Joyful~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING plus a little distressing tutorial;)

2010-11-25T12:18:00.001-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This year, one little word sums up what I am most grateful for: Family. Today much of my family is not with me so I am really missing my dad, my brother, my mom-in-law, my father-in-law {whew, this would be a very LONG list so I'll stop there}... I wish you were all here and I send you all my love and just a few photos from the last few weeks...

A little shout out to this guy...he made me an entire BOWL of pancake crispies with chocolate chips on top yesterday for breakfast...you know those crispy edges on pancakes {I LOVE THEM} and I love him for being so kind, so caring, so considerate, so thoughtful AND such a great chef!

As for scrapping...this is my slow time of year, too busy living in the moment to scrap much but I do have a special project to share with you today. It hangs right at the bottom of our stairs in the foyer so I see it all the time.

I started with an Adornit Family Frame kit and spritzed the edges and the parts that would show with a bit of brown Maya Mist. Then I began covering it with my favorite Sweet Summertime paper, Sunflowers!

I simply used some glue to adhere the paper.

Then I got to work filing, sanding, general distressing...

I was going for an antique look so I added LOTS of inks!

Once I had the backing completed I set to work on the family cutout.

Again I was really going for that antique look so I used some distress ink on all the papers.

I used my trusty no measure, just hold up in the air and see if it fits method for backing the individual letters. For some letters I used photos, for others I used some classic Cookbookin' papers.

Finally, I adhered three photos to the wooden cutouts that hang from the family plaque. I printed all my photos in sepia and even sanded them a bit to give even more "age."

To finish off my project I added a few Sassafras buttons, Prima flowers and checked ribbon.

Happy Thanksgiving~~~

So many sketches!!!

2010-11-07T13:36:00.000-06:00

I have THREE new sketches and layouts for you today! The first is from Cookbookin' and features my newest favorite recipe, Stromboli! Julie Bonner was kind enough to design the sketch for this month's challenge over at the Cookbookin' blog and here it is, isn't it fantastic!?!?!

This is my interpretation featuring my super yummy Stromboli!

~Papers are Cookbookin, flowers are Prima, pins and envelope are Maya Road~

~The BRADS are some older Cookbookin'~

If you'd like to enter the drawing for this Sugar and Spice kit from Cookbookin, just head over here for details.

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There is also a great sketch up this week at Let's Scrap! I really don't know how Cheri comes up with great sketches week after week but she does! Here is this week's:

And here is my take on the first page:

I used some of the yummy Garden Variety papers from Cosmo Cricket. I am back in love with lollipop flowers, they are just so fun and EASY plus I love how they look on a page. This layout is about my sweet baby bear picking out his very first pumpkin at Gentry's farm only two super short years ago. Hard for me to deal with how fast they change...here he is this year {looking like a little boy}, and having a little trouble picking out "just one."

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And finally, another Julie Bonner sketch, this time from My Creative Scrapbook. You can view Julie's sketch here. I used the MCS September main kit for this layout of my youngest daughter at Cheekwood a few weeks ago during the Chihuly exhibit. I can't believe that the first photo I have scrapped from that trip is one WITHOUT any Chiluly in it;)

The flowers in the kit are just beautiful! Some of them didn't quite match the colors I was looking for so I inked them with some green and yellow ink and voila!

Happy Scrapping!

Magnet Mania!

2010-11-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

I have been having oh so much fun making magnets lately!

Figures that I have a Stainless Steel fridge:(

Magnet projects are quick and easy, and they make great little gifts. My current favorite is this bottle cap magnet. I used a Maya Road bottle cap, filled it with Imaginisce paper, Prima flowers, various brads and some Making Memories trim. Isn't it cute!

I also made some darling pumpkin glass magnets with my daughters.

This is so TOTALLY simple to do that you can use it for a party craft at school!

Here's how!

Supplies:

Cardstock

One inch circle punch

Large flat glass marbles (found in craft or floral supplies)

Orange ink, non-toxic

Green marker

Elmer's school glue

Small magnets

Precut one inch circles from cardstock. Then have each child make an orange thumbprint on a circle.

Once the thumbprint print is dry, about ten seconds, have the child draw on a stem and vines.

Then the child can smear the front of the circle with Elmer's glue and stick it to the flattened side of a glass marble. Elmer's will dry nice and clear;) Use that same {cheap} Elmer's glue to adhere a magnet to the back! Voila, a cute Autumn gift for mom! I wrote a little date on the back of my girls' magnets...so that might be nice too.

And here is the little Fall display on my fridge:

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I used this same idea to make a recipe card holder with my grandma's cheese grater: This is the tutorial I ran a couple weeks back on the Cookbookin' blog:

While having coffee at a very trendy local coffee place called "The Good Cup," I saw THE cutest display of handmade magnets stuck on an old cheese grater. Of course, I jotted down a quick sketch to take home with me and here is what I came up with:

PERFECT for holding recipes in the kitchen and the grater belonged to my grandmother!!! Oh, I just love how this project turned out and making the magnets is a snap.

Supplies:

Glass beads/flat marbles

Patterned paper

Circle punch

Magnets

Mod Podge (or whatever glue you have) & hot glue

That's it!

I began my project by punching out several circles from an assortment of Cookbookin' papers. I used a punch size just a tiny bit smaller than my glass pieces.

Then I adhered the paper to the glass with Mod Podge. Fun and simple to paint on with a brush! You do want to rub all the air bubbles out with your fingers so your finished magnet looks nice and clear.

Next, I used hot glue to adhere the magnets. Hot glue has the hold and the speed to get the job done quickly.

There! That's it!!! Simple isn't it!?

There are TONS of tutorials and examples of other glass decoupage magnets on the internet. Some of my favorites are:HowToDoThings

The Michaels Book of Arts & Crafts, 2003
eHow
andCasasugar

Just in this last week I have found another GREAT tutorial on applying this idea to necklaces! Check out Scrapbook&CardsToday!

You can also find them for sale at my trendy little local coffee shop or by a variety of artists on Etsy!

But of course, I prefer to make my own;)

I'm using my magnets to display my grandmother's recipe cards on her antique grater. I just love seeing her handwriting AND knowing that the grater belonged to and was used by her. Loving her handwriting makes me realize I need to preserve my own, as much as I HATE it.

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And finally, in case you don't have ENOUGH ideas already. I have been using those magnetic business cards to make cute little scrappy magnets. These are super simple, basically just glue your photo onto an old magnetic business card but if you'd like a tutorial click here.

This magnet uses Cookbookin' papers and teeny tiny little buttons for JoAnn's.

And this magnet is simply framed with some Martha Stewart tinsel ribbon.

And with this project {and my December Daily album that is in progress ~all my pages are covered with the adorable line Cottage Christmas by Imaginisce and I even have some of the pages completely decorated} I have officially started my HOLIDAY SCRAPPING projects!

Happy Scrapping,

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

We had a FABulous Halloween this year! The kids were great all day long and we didn't get too inundated with "is it time yet?" I even had a few minutes to myself to pop out a quick Halloween necklace!

I used Cookbookin' products; more details and photos can be found on their blog.

~~~HALLOWEEN~~~

This year my kids decided on a Toy Story theme. My 13 year old actually came up with the idea as he wanted to be the "Chicken Man" from Toy Story 2. Baby bear is currently obsessed with "Buzz Wikeyear" so it all fell into place really easily. The deciding that is. Costume sewing wasn't quite so easy for me...

And NO, I did NOT sew the chicken costume OR the Buzz costume, thank you Target!

Now, for the EIGHT MILLION Halloween shots of my kids...

Off to the forest for a photo shoot with mom~

"To Infinity and BEYOND!"

CHICKEN MAN!

Little Bo Peep

Jessie

The Gang is...

getting a little cheesy and...

starting to yawn...

The End;)

I did get a couple really cute shots of Buzz Trick-or-Treating. He couldn't keep up with the group so he was often going to the door all by himself which didn't bother him one little bit!

His little wings bounced up and down as he walked...cutest thing EVER!

Hope you all had as great a day as we did!

Back to the PATCH!

2010-10-27T10:18:00.000-05:00

Or to be more precise, the farm. We finally made our annual pumpkin hunting-fall day enjoying trek out to our local family farm, Gentry's. It was an absolutely PERFECT fall day, crisp and cool but not too cold. We had had to wait a couple weeks to go since the weather has been so HOT around here!!! Here are some of the photos, I only took a couple (read as 400). These are just a few of my favorites!

We missed Grandma and Grandpa Coleman in this one as they were here with us last year...

Uhhhhh. not happening~

And we are off!

Uhhh, not happening either~

The Christmas Corner...

Mr. Jimmy sketching the girls as they run off for the hayride~

We brought it to pull HIM around in. Instead, HE pulled it around;)

We have been coming out to this farm since this big one was smaller than this little one!!! Time flies, enjoy every MOMENT!

He does!

Ahhh, finally a swing that is only six inches off the ground. She's happy!

BUSTED! Caught Jason MEMORIZING the path through the corn maze;)

Brotherly LOVE! This just warms my heart!

DS2 caught this shot~

DS1 found a stick and a big walnut and this is what he did. A true BOY!

The grain bins~

MORE Brotherly love. Am I blessed or what!?!?

And finally, my baby pumpkin. Yes, I will always call him my baby!

I could just eat him UP!

And now for some scrappy!

Kimmy designed another fun card sketch over at Let's Scrap!

Here is my take on it. I love Webster's Pages and had some leftover 6x6 papers so I used them to make this card for my dd's 7th birthday.
Whew, cannot believe how fast time flies...ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!

I used some packaging from a Prima alphabet for the base of the card and sewed on my WP papers. I added a couple sweet little blooms, stamped Happy Birthday and used my Cricut to cut out the seven. I played with popping it but decided I liked it flat. THEN, I did the inside of the card:

This is the new sketch for the week over at Let's Scrap.

It has a spot for holding a CD!!! I think Cheri is just brilliant with this one as I always get a CD full of pictures home from my kids' teachers at the end of the school year. SO I am using this sketch several times for some "school days" layouts. Come visit the site for ideas on how to use this week's sketch!

I have two sick ones home today, the "littles" as I sometimes refer to them since they are the two youngest kids. They are not being fussy but are being very sweet and watching movies...sooooo, I can't go anywhere ALL DAY LONG! I'm trapped at home WITH my scraproom!!!

Happy Scrapping,

GCD Studios Spotlight

2010-10-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

Homespun Chic. My favorite line from GCD Studios. Just the name calls to me. Homespun Chic. LOVE it! Paris Nights is a close second, love the black and white...

This month I got to work with lots of fun GCD products for my Spotlight position with them. Lately I have been in a real "altered projects" mode, here are a few of the goodies I created:

~A gift box~

I love using crystal trims on my projects, such a fun twist!

~Photo Holder~

I bought several of these little unfinished wood photo holders at Michael's a while back and I'm so glad I did, they make sweet little personalized gifts! This gift was finally for me! I used some Maya Mist on the wood then I covered it with some Homespun Chic papers, added some Melody Ross embellishments and voila!

~Sketch Book~

Super simple!!! This is just an inexpensive little notebook that I covered with some Paris Nights paper and some Melody Ross buttons. Took me about ten minutes and I keep it in my purse to sketch down ideas that I see out in the real world~

I did actually create a layout...

This was FUN! I used lots of layers, ribbon lacing, flourishes and even some antique lace that I got from THE Jenni Bowlin.

I am still working on a mini-album all about my favorite things...can't wait to show it to you!

Chihuly!!!

2010-10-21T17:13:00.001-05:00

Over the weekend we visited our local botanical garden where they currently have a Chihuly exhibit. MAGnificent!!! What that man does with glass...just have a look:

The Pond

The Japanese Garden

This is my 13 year old. I think the bright colors and crazy swirls just fit that age perfectly...

This one is from our walk around the grounds, and I can so feel a layout coming from this one!!!

The Bamboo Trail, could these be any sweeter?

It's so nice to have a third photographer!!! Jason and I actually get to be in a shot TOgether!

I have HOW MANY kids? ;)

AND MY FAVORITE from the entire DAY:

I already have this layout titled: Blue Boy!!!

Raw Beauty & Seeds

2010-10-13T15:31:00.001-05:00

This layout is REALLY titled "Roasted Pumpkin Seeds" but I suspect you may have to be the scrappy sort to figure that out as dh thought the title was just "Seeds." Oh well, that works too. I am looking sooooo forward to getting some pumpkins out onto my porch. Maybe this weekend! My house is already decked out for the Autumn season as you can see in the above photo but I still need some REAL pumpkins...

The layout is my example for the new October Sketch Challenge up on the Cookbookin' blog. It is based on this sketch by Cheri O'Neill over at Let's Scrap. Thanks Cheri!

I used some Jenni Bowlin letters, you know the itsy bitsy teeny tiny ones, to make my banner which is actually the first word of the title:

Then I used a die cut of a pumpkin for the word "pumpkin." I thought it was clear...well, at least it's cute!

I took some "artsy" photos of my girls last fall and finally got around to scrapping them using one of Cheri's sketches over at Let's Scrap.

For this layout I used some of the Homespun line from GCD Studios. The papers were pretty bright with my photo but I just WANTED to use them so I antiqued them with some distress ink, sewed them onto a piece of kraft and here it is! The dress form stamp and letters are from The Girls Paperie and the tags are from the office supply store. Speaking of GCD Studios, I will have lots to share from them this month as I am in the Spotlight over there for the month of October!

Altered Recipe Clothespin Tutorial, again!

2010-09-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

I LOVE to alter things! I really get a kick out of taking something good from the craft store and turning it into something GREAT! Here, I took a plain wooden clothespin and turned it into a fantastic recipe card holder that I use in my kitchen all the time! For those of you that read the Cookbookin' Blog, this tutorial should look very familiar;)

I began altering my clothespin by spritzing it with some brown Maya Mist. I have also made them using paints and other stains but this is the quickest and the messiest;)

Next up I found some paper that I wanted to cover it with. For this clothespin I chose Cookbookin's Preserving Memories line.

I cut out the cute little truck to use later on a card and then I grabbed my pencil and made myself a little cutting line.

Once I had cut out my papers I used my distressing tool to rough up the edges a bit. I love the distressed look and it goes just perfectly with the Preserving Memories papers.

Once the edges were nice and rough I used a little ink on them. Then I was ready to adhere the paper with some Mod Podge, another fun and messy craft staple at my house!

On this project I decided to paper over the entire side of the clothespin, sometimes I use two papers so the metal spring shows but since I knew I was going to cover that up with embellishments I took the easy road;) And THEN I decided to use a different paper on each side. Of course I decided that AFTER I had glued BOTH sides down. I just consider that part of my creative process. I am always doing and undoing and doing again. ;)

So now I am using some of Cookbookin's Cookin' Up Memories collection. This is one of my FAVORITE papers, Farmhouse Kitchen. I just adore all the little roosters!!! I'm ready to embellish...

To begin this side I tied a bow with my favorite red gingham ribbon and grabbed an old "inked for another project but didn't make the cut" Prima flower. Now, for attaching anything fabric, I like to use Felt Glue:

It just seems to hold the best.

Cute already but not even close to being finished!I wanted to use some of these cute little kitchen chips from Maya Road. I decided to cover them with coordinating papers but since I was going to glue them a bit off center I inked the backs a bit so they would look good from both sides.

I glued the chipboard to some patterned paper, here I chose Sweet Summertime, Sunflower Fields paper. OH!!! By the way, Scrapbook.com has LOTS of Cookbookin' goodies in stock and ready to ship!!!

After the glue dried I carefully cut the excess paper off with a craft knife.

Yes, things were getting pretty messy on my craft desk...

But look how it turned out!

To finish this side I added a few Maya Road Leaf pins, some tiny red ric rack and some itsy bitsy letter stickers. Now on to the OTHER side~

I decided to use different papers on each side so I could flip the clothespin around and have a bit of a different look. For this side I simply gathered some of the same ribbon {since the bow from the other side shows} and then I used one of my favorite dimensional stickers from Cookbookin's Preserving Memories line.

There, all done!

Here is another example that I made using red paint on the clothespin:

Happy Scrapping,

Scrapstreet, Gatlinburg & Scrapbooking!

2010-09-13T17:19:00.000-05:00

Guess where I have been??? Here is a hint...

On a scrappy subject, I have a layout published in Scrapstreet this month! It is called Happy Family and can be found in the Scrap-a-Little article on Blog Bay. Soooooooo excited to be in this fantastic magazine again!

The layout, Happy Family, is from our first trip to Gatlinburg this summer...little did we know then that we would end up going THREE times! We just got back again yesterday. This weekend Jason and the boys went to the big UT-Oregon game while the girls and I lounged around the MOST AMAZING cabin. Although there was lots of rain, and lots of thunder and lightning, we had a very relaxing and lovely weekend getaway.

Here is the trip in pictures:

THE cabin. This shot really does not do it justice but baby bear looks so cute strolling down the street...

The boys hung out in the hot tub...weather is rolling in behind them...

Breathtaking views...

We collected lots of treasure for art projects to be...

Had to head back to Walden Creek Stables for another family horseback ride:)))

I really should have named this boy Rocky...he would have been happy tossing rocks into this tiny little stream all day long.

UT vs. Oregon

And finally the BIG GAME! It rained all day long but cleared up just in time for the game...or so we thought. The game was delayed in the middle of the first quarter for lightning...BIG lightning and BIG rain. The boys were evacuated with the other ten million fans to the dungeon under the field. There they had to stand squashed up against one another for over an hour. I am so sorry I missed out on going to the game! Television is wonderful, I watched with the girls all cozy and snug in the little cabin on the hill;)

But in the end, it was all worth the effort and the patience. Our DUCKS smashed'm!

I also have an ENTIRE page of projects in this quarter's Scrapbooking magazine published by Hobby Lobby stores. So exciting!!!

And finally, Happy Birthday Dad, I love you.

~Naptime~

2010-09-03T18:20:00.000-05:00

Naptime. The word brings a smile to my face. I just love to watch a baby sleeping...Yes, this one will ALWAYS be my baby~

Seriously, is there ANYthing more precious???

My layout is based on this brand new sketch by Helen Croft {I flipped it}:

I used only one piece of cardstock and only one piece of Prima paper for this layout, plus the chipboard journaling block, the letters, the pompom trim and the pebbles. That's it though. No ink, no stitching...maybe I will go back and stitch around the edges with a nice brown thread...

Maybe it was the paper, maybe the sleeping subject but once I got the layout to this point it just seemed complete, enough. But now that I look at it, perhaps a little stitching...what do you think?

This layout is for the September sketch over at Scrap-a-Little so head over and check out what the rest of the design team came up with.

And don't forget to stop by the Cookbookin' blog for a chance to enter our September sketch contest and win this:

Happy Scrapping,

September Sketch Challenge at Cookbookin'

2010-09-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

Autumn is the time that I make LOTS and LOTS of these Pumpkin Cakes which I affectionately call "Boo Cake" here. My family loves it and I love the smell of the cake cooking in the oven. Mmmmm.

This layout is my example for the sketch challenge up over at the Cookbookin' blog. Helen from Scrap-a-Little provided this adorable sketch for us to work from:

I used some of the Halloween papers from Cookbookin' that are in the prize pack they are offering to one lucky random winner!

Come on over and link your project based on the sketch to our challenge for your chance to WIN!

Happy Scrapping,

Scrappy News!

2010-08-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

I have some great scrappy news! Patty over at Cookbookin' has entrusted me to write the blog for them! I am so excited!!! My first post was about our new school lunch system here at the Coleman house!

Pop over to the Cookbookin' blog for more photos and the funny little story about why our family NEEDS this bulletin board.

As you probably know, I am one of the designers for Cookbookin' and I recently got a batch of their brand new papers! SOoooooo adorable! My daughter just celebrated her half-birthday and the new pink and brown chocolate chip papers were just perfect for the layout!

Detailed photos are up at the Cookbookin' blog.

Now for even MORE scrappy news! I am heading off today for my very first weekend away scrapbooking.

THIS is where I am going:

I have NEVER left the kids except to go into the hospital to have another one. Packing was an absolute CHORE and I am sure I have forgotten something but unfortunately I won't think of it until I get there...I am sooooooooooo excited!

HUGE thanks to mom and Jason who are taking on all of my mommy responsibilities while I am away.

~Back to SCHOOL~

2010-08-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh MAN! Is it that time of year already?!?!

Here are some pictures from the first day of school:

This is me with my 6th grader!!! I canNOT believe he is in MIDDLE school!!!

Mr. 8th grade, BMOC!

Off to 1st grade!!!

LOVE this one!!! While I was taking pictures of my 4th grader I caught a moment where baby bear showed his true feelings about getting left behind all alone...

It's time to go in...

Our Principal is always there to greet the students...

Welcome to FIRST GRADE!

Welcome to FOURTH GRADE!

No meet the teacher photos for the boys...Middle School! Really!!!

Here is the first week in a nutshell:
My 1st grader thinks her teacher is the nicest teacher in the world. "School is great!" YAY!
My 4th grader loves her teacher too. They need to read 4 novels per quarter. She has completed THREE novels THIS WEEK.
My 6th grader experienced a lot of anxiety about moving up to middle school. We are working through it and it is getting better. He has fabulous teachers that I already know and LOVE! He ran his first Cross Country meet on Thursday and beat his brother by many minutes!

Yep, that look says it all!

My 8th grader has already had projects due and tests in every class. With the exception of Honors Algebra everything is going just fine...:)

Baby Bear has been left behind at home with me. I really worried about this but "Buzz Wikeyear" has saved me, and him! :)

New Card Sketch at Let's Scrap!

2010-08-18T08:48:00.000-05:00

With the temperatures STILL soaring near 100* each day, I am dreaming of cool Autumn weather. So this week I used some of the brand new Cookbookin' Fall papers to construct my card based on Kimmy's sketch over at Let's Scrap. Here is her sketch:

There are so many BEAUTIFUL versions of this sketch posted by other Let's Scrap designers, be sure to head over there and check it out!

For my card I started with some textured cardstock from The Paper Studio. Then I punched squares from the Cookbookin' paper and sewed them to the card. Speaking of sewing, yesterday I was at a fabric store looking at patterns and materials for actually sewing clothing! It felt so odd to be thinking about sewing something besides a layout or card.
I am very ambitious this year...I am planning to sew costumes for the children. Yikes! They have decided to stick with a theme for Halloween and this year they are all going to be characters from Toy Story. My oldest wants to be the Chicken Man. I don't know...sewing a chicken costume??? Anyone ever done that? I did get some cow print material to sew chaps for my Jessie and a vest for my Woody but that is as far as I have gotten.
Anyway, back to my card. Once I had sewn on the squares, I rubbed on the sentiment from Imaginesce and then I attached one of my tissue paper flowers. I ran a tutorial on these a while back and the layout featured in the tutorial is actually of my kids from last Halloween:

I really don't think we will be able to top the cute factor from last year but they are sure excited about it anyway! If you'd like to view the tutorial just click here.

Happy Scrapping!

~This is NOT Mother Goose~

2010-08-11T09:30:00.001-05:00

Ahhhhh, idyllic looking isn't it. What is it they say, that looks can be deceiving?

We met Jason for lunch up in Nashville and then went over to the park to feed the geese. I was a little worried about the weather, it was like 102 or something but that didn't turn out to be the problem...

I was kinda surprised at how big the geese looked standing near baby bear...

And he seemed a little cautious at first...

But eventually he got into feeding them

And then one goose brushed his arm as it walked between baby bear and big brother...

Winding up...

Look at the geese, they are all lowering their heads...poor animals

So we moved over to the water's edge...

And for a moment everything was okay...

Then, he THOUGHT it was coming for him...this goose never even touched him

Biggest brother tried to hug away the tears

but after that it was this for the rest of the day:

I'll be back soon with a fun five minute "recycling" project made with real scraps!

Here is a tiny preview:

August Sketch ~Scrap-a-Little~

2010-08-03T19:07:00.000-05:00

This is my take on Helen's fabulous sketch!!! I love to have my kiddos do their own journaling on layouts...captures such a moment in time. DD#1 decided to grow her own garden this Spring. She planted tomatoes, lettuce, chives and sunflowers. She was really good at the planting part, the nurturing seedlings part...and then...well...things got away from her a bit. But she did a great job decorating her own little watering can!
On this layout I used some of the super cute Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety line. AND, I finally used a funky Prima flower that I just had to have MONTHS ago. {:-)2J} I also used some more of that fun pom-pom trim on my sun and one of my MS punches for the orange border strip. Then I did some of that "real" scrapbooking...those green buttons tied with jute...those were castoffs from some other page...scraps!!! :-)

Here is Helen's sketch:

Head on over to Scrap-a-Little to see the rest of the DT's layouts! They are inCREDible!!!

~Swimming & Scrapping~

2010-07-29T12:06:00.000-05:00

We are really feeling the days of summer slipping by around here, only two weeks left until the first day of school. UGH! HOW CAN that be true!?!?
Middle school nerves have set BIG time in for my 6th grader to be. Denial has been firmly entrenched for weeks by my 4th grader to be...they all have their opinions about school starting back and well...we are hanging on tightly to summer.

Missing the lazy river...

Can y'all just SEE the scrappy page coming from this?!?!?!?

This guy is THE best BIG BROTHER!!!

The pool was really crowded this morning. Probably because it was kinda chilly, maybe only 95 today!

Still working that big brother thing!!!

Okay, okay...time to head home;)

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On to some SCRAPPY!

Cookbookin' has some beautiful new papers coming out soon and Patty sent me few to play with. I made new tray decoration for my kitchen, perfect for my challenge over at Creative Cookbooking. You still have time to play but the challenge ends on August 1st so come on over and check it out.

The new Cookbookin' papers go perfectly with my kitchen's deep red walls. Don't you just love that chain link look!?!?

I also made a new recipe flip book to hold the ADORABLE new recipe cards!

Happy Scrapping,

Dance Recital

2010-07-26T07:40:00.004-05:00

I have FINALLY sorted through all the thousands (yes, really, THOUSANDS) of pictures from the dance recital that the girls and Jason performed in at the end of June. We have a dear friend who loves to take pictures more than me (gasp, I know!!!) and he took over 4,000 pictures from the wings at the recital. Thanks Paul!!!

My oldest daughter performed in eight dances, my youngest daughter danced in two and Jason danced in two as well. Warning: VERY long picture heavy post. Scrappy stuff for this NOT EVEN STARTED~~~

First up, my youngest in THE cutest costume EVER!

She is second from the left with the big SMILE on her face

She did a tap dance to Uptown Girl and was she ever CUTE!!! Not that I'm biased of course. At this tender age they mostly stand up on stage and look cute. Or they look at each other to see what they are supposed to be doing;)

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My oldest dd led the ballet number onto the floor. I had NO IDEA she was doing this until I saw the dance in the recital. She was soooooooooo beautiful in this dance, I mean, I love all of her dances but this one...she just IS a ballerina.

Jazz was REALLY fast! Is that really my little girl out there??? She is third from the right,

She is three and a half from the right in this one. Look at that saucy little chin move!

She loves Lyrical, can you tell by the big smile on her face?

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The oh so brave dads danced to Single Ladies. Anyone watch Glee???

Each recital there is a Father's Specialty Dance and a Mother's Specialty Dance and it is kind of a competition between the two. This year, the dad's won, hands down.

Jason is number 42 and our friend Paul is OO. (Paul's wife occasionally has to man the camera...). I just cannot tell you how incredibly funny this dance was. The dads did a great job dancing very femininely in full football gear.

Yesterday afternoon the dads and their families got together for a cook-out at Paul & Jennifer's house. It was really great to see everyone and the food was fabulous, especially the desserts. One of us indulged a bit too much and had a BIG tummy ache in the middle of the night. I won't say exactly who but she danced in eight dances at the recital...;)

We tried to get the guys to do their dance again yesterday but they said NO WAY!

Now for the big tearjerker...the Father-Daughter Dance. The sweet way all these girls look up at their daddys...

The Song and Dance Company performed The Little Mermaid. She is off to the right here looking like the angel that she is.

And finally, tap

She is waaaay back in the very center of this picture, the short one;)

That's a rap!

~Canoe Trip~

2010-07-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

Our very first FAMILY CANOE TRIP! It was so much fun!!! Beautiful, serene, peaceful...

Some of us had more confidence and excitement than others...

We saw several Blue Herons and chicks. Sooooo cute, okay, maybe cute is not exactly the right word but neat for sure!

We took about three hours to travel about 4 river miles, stopping a few times for a dip. The river was THE PERFECT temperature.

We saw lots of damage from the floods and even managed to scavenge a raft that the kids took turns floating along the river on.

The river is only a few inches deep in some areas and in others I was up to my neck, like when Jason tipped over our canoe!!! No pictures of that, just a nice one of us~~~

***************************************************

And finally, on to some SCRAPPY! I've been busy with the kids home for summer but I have managed to squeak out just a few projects.

Gave this one to Jason for Father's Day. I am so loving working with 7 Gypsies trays! I used lots of Webster's Pages, Tim Holtz metals and filmstrip, and Martha Stewart punches for this project. I also used TONS of Stickles but that is really hard to see in this photo. I added sparkle to the chandelier and to most of the butterflies. Tiny little things so I had to go really slowly. Really fun project to put together.

And another tray of our family. Some of these photos are recent and some are from YEARS ago. I used such a variety of products...October Afternoon papers, K & Co. ephemera, Tim tags, Hobby Lobby trims, Maya Road & Prima flowers, Tim metals...

And finally, an actual LAYOUT! The cover page to our Christmas Album. This has got to be one of my all time favorite shots of the kids. They all look happy and cute AT THE SAME TIME! Treasure!!!

Happy Scrapping,

VACATION!!!

2010-06-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

We were supposed to go to the Gulf Coast for vacation this year but...well, you know.

So we ended up heading to Gatlinburg instead and actually I am so glad we did! It was GREAT!!!

First Stop, Miniature Golf.

We found a super fun miniature golf course where you start off taking a little train up to the top of the course, this was especially fun for baby bear~

***************************************************

On to DOLLYWOOD!

Can't help but start with this shot. Crash dummies. While it looked totally creepy it did make me feel like they take safety seriously.

We took a ride on the REAL train.

Dollywood's SPLASH COUNTRY

was an absolute blast for all of us.

We enjoyed racing each other down this big FAST slide:

The park just seemed sooooo safe that even I felt comfortable enough to try this one!

Yup, that little speck in the middle of the slide is me. Can you say water up the nose at the end?

The crowds were GREAT, just us in this shot.

HORSEBACK RIDING was another highlight. Everyone except baby bear rode their own horse, many for the very first time! It was one of the most peaceful experiences in my life and it really reignited my love for nature and being outdoors.

Finally, on a horse all by herself. A dream come true.

As we started crossing Walden Creek, butterflies seemed to come out of thin air, they were everywhere! If you click on the picture to blow it up, perhaps you can spot a few.

This man. Such a trooper. He rode while balancing baby bear, the backpack and even still managed to VIDEO TAPE the ride. Amazing.

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Altered Clothespin

2010-06-15T12:16:00.001-05:00

This is my latest altered clothespin. I just love altering these for holding notes, photos and RECIPES!

I've seen these clothespins at Joann's, Michael's and Hobby Lobby and they are only about a dollar! It is really fun to alter them, here's how I did this one.

I used some brown Maya Mist to tint the raw wood. Easy and fun but VERY MESSY! My fingertips were all brown by the end so now I know to wear gloves;)
I have also used paint and a brush to tint the wood, like I did on this one:

I had to wait about two days for the Maya Mist to dry...southern humidity is a little thick around here right now...

Next, I chose some adorable apple paper from Cookbookin' and then used my favorite measuring system to mark the paper for trimming. Y'all know how much I love to measure!

More messy fun here. I was wearing a nice BLACK shirt while I distressed the edges with Heidi Swapp's handy little tool. Now that I am writing this I realize I should have taken a photo of my shirt to include here for the "what not to do" section.

I adhere my paper strips with good old Mod Podge. Once I had adhered the papers I decided to switch the paper on one of the sides so I could kinda switch up the look:

Now, I used a solid strip of paper on this one so my clothespin sections don't really show but since I planned to cover much of the paper with embellishments, I didn't take the time. Sometimes I do use two strips of paper, totally personal preference.

Speaking of embellishments...I began by grabbing a Prima flower that I had already inked for another project (this beauty landed on the cutting room floor...). I used some red & white gingham ribbon to tie a bow and then I glued it on with my favorite glue for attaching fabrics:

I wasn't really sure where I was going to put the flower until I put on the bow. I wanted at least some of the chickens to show so I chose the center of the bow:

Next up I chose some Maya Road chipboard to cover with more Cookbookin' paper. I inked the backs as they will show for the opposite side.

I adhered the chipboard to the wrong side of the patterned paper.

Once the glue was good and dry I cut the excess paper off with a craft knife. What is your favorite craft knife? I am not sure if it is me or my craft knife but I am willing to try another brand...any suggestions?

Next I sanded the edges and inked them before gluing onto my clothespin.

I used some My Little Shoebox letters to label my clothespin with "My Recipe." Then I added the MR pins to the bow...it just needed a little more.

Time to turn the entire thing over!

I used the same ribbon but tied it simply with a piece of floss. Then I chose one of my favorite Cookbookin' sticker embellishments for the center, added a brown MR pin and a piece of inked ric rack finished off the bottom.

Cute, don't you think!

Farm Camp

2010-06-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Next week is FARM CAMP week here. YAY! The kids love this annual trip out to Gentry's Farm so much. Me too!!!

This is a page that I did about last year's camp. Journaling is hidden behind the photo:

This layout features lots of Jenni Bowlin papers and her adorable milk caps. The buttons were my grandma's and they're tied with various jutes. I used every star punch and die that I own to cut out all these stars from my scraps! AhHa! True SCRAPbooking! Some of the stars are not even whole as the scraps of paper got kinda small but I just tucked the "bad" spots behind other stars. It took forever to ink all the edges but I wanted that aged look to go with my altered photo. I ran around the edges of the kraft with my sewing machine, I just love not having to sew perfectly!

Come over to Let's Scrap this week, Cheri has this great sketch up that features a wreath on the first page.

Maybe I will even be able to get a second page done for this one...

Camping 101, Part Two - The TENT

2010-06-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

Heeheehee. This was FUNNY! After yet another campfire evening, it was time to pitch a tent. Jason and the four older kids were going to camp in our backyard. I was going to keep baby bear company in the house;). So, Jason and I gave the kids the tent(brand spanking new in box) and said "go for it." Well, they did a pretty good job. They got it all laid out, got some poles constructed and then got stuck.

We let them try for quite a while as you can see by the increasing darkness. Finally, Jason had pity on them and went down to direct.

And even help a little.

Success, a tent!

While the rest of my family worked on the tent, I stayed up on the hill and watched over the campfire, I mean, someone had to, right???

It was nice and dark by the time they finished.

Baby bear got to hang out inside the tent for a while before he and I went in the house.

Then we left the camping to Miss Flannel and Miss Satin. The kids had a great time, Jason was exhausted but they all look forward to doing it again soon.

Camping 101

2010-06-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

Jason is from Oregon. He misses camping. I am from Southern California. I miss the beach. We had planned on leaving for a beach trip in the Gulf this week but the oil spill...well, we are going to the mountains instead! Lucky for us, we have had some camping practice lately! On Mother's Day weekend, the kids and Jason built us a picnic table from a kit that we got at Lowe's. Super easy and it looks AWESOME!

Next, they built a "fire pit." Now, we are within city limits and thus cannot have any open fires so a little Hibachi resides in the center of our fire pit;).

Then, I took my son to buy his first POCKET KNIFE. Yes, those family members and friends who have dropped to the floor read that right. I let "a weapon" enter my house. He loves it and Jason has taught him proper safety ---and I keep it locked up when not in use.

The first thing he did with his knife was to make roasting sticks for our campfire.

We put the sticks to good use right away. Hot dogs and s'mores.

I just love the way baby bear sticks his bum out so he doesn't catch on fire. He is really good at roasting marshmallows. He does it in about 10 seconds.

So fast he can take them off his stick all by himself

And put them right where they belong!

Jason takes a bit more time

And knows how to properly embellish a roasted marshmallow

Mmmmmmm

Stay tuned, part two involves a tent!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Single Folded Flowers

2010-05-26T07:08:00.000-05:00

Well, it is OFFICIALLY summer around here!! I woke up this morning and got ready to post my Tuesday Tutorial and then I heard my local weatherman say "Happy Hump Day." Hump Day? But hump day is Wednesday! YIKES, I have ALREADY lost track of my days this summer and it is only the first week!!! I've got to admit, it made me smile. I love summer.

I have had lots & lots of questions recently about how I make my folded flowers so I am going to post another "rerun" tutorial. This particular tutorial was my very first tutorial EVER! I love that it mentioned Helen Croft since I now proudly serve on her design team. I KNOW when I originally ran this post that I never dreamed I'd make HER design team!

I have had some questions about my single folded flowers that I am using in lots of my layouts these days. I've seen lots of folded flower tutorials out there in cyberland, Helen Croft has awesome tutorials on flowers! This is a single fold flower similar to Helen's Dahlia but I like this just as well. Plus, it has fewer steps.

Begin by punching 9 circles out of double sided cardstock -it really needs to be pretty on both sides. I used a one inch punch for this tutorial but if you'd like a bigger finished flower, use a bigger base punch. My finished flowers measure about 2 inches across.

Next, begin folding your flower petals. It is just like starting a paper airplane. Fold the two sides to the middle making a point at the end. This is where you need to decide which side of your paper you want for the flaps and which you want for the base of the flower petals. I usually fold it both ways to see which I like best. No stress here, you can change your mind all the way up to the gluing part!

I like to use a grid under my petals while I'm folding so I can easily get them all the same size.

I use a bone folder to get my edges nice and crisp. This isn't necessary as we are going to fold them up later but it does help when you are placing the petals on the center circle.

Next, I put LOTS of glue on my last circle.

Begin placing the petals on the center circle. I place four petals on first in a cross pattern like this:

Then I fill in with the other four petals. It makes it easier to get them on evenly.

Next you carefully fold up all the edges:

Just add some sort of embellishment to the middle and you're finished!

So that's it, my very first tutorial. I have used these flowers in so many layouts since. They really are quick and easy!

Just last week I posted a layout with one of these flowers:

And last summer I made this layout with a horrible cell phone photo but it really captured "a moment."

And one more version with fewer petals:

For MANY more ideas for making flowers, head over to Helen's site!

Happy Scrapping!

And the WINNER is:

2010-05-22T16:36:00.000-05:00

The Let's Scrap Blog Hop is officially over and the winner of my Green & Yellow Challenge is Michelle Barnard!!! Congrats Michelle! Your card is GORGEOUS:

~I'll be sending Michelle her prize of this sa-weet little mini-book kit by K&CO~

Thanks to all who played along. I really enjoyed seeing all the fun ways you used Green & Yellow. Your entries were just FANTASTIC! To view them all, visit this album over at Let's Scrap!

Cookin' up some more Cookbookin'

2010-05-20T09:34:00.001-05:00

I've been playing with my design team goodies from Cookbookin' and I have come up with some new favorites!!!

I LOVE this. I usually like my creations but I LOVE THIS ONE! It was so much fun to make and it is extra special because the buttons that I used for the flower centers...they belonged to my grandmother.

I began this flower by inking it until it had that "antiqued" look and then I placed one of Grandma's wooden button in the center.

This is a fun polka dot fabric button from Grandma's stash. It has that perfect country look!

This button is actually affixed to the flower upside down. I used some green Karen Foster floss for the tie and I curled the floss by wrapping it around a pin. Yes, it is that small!
The papers on this project are all from Cookbookin's Sweet Summertime line. This is the line that I named. Makes me love it all the more -as if I needed anything else to make me adore it. The flowers are mostly Prima, including that gorgeous vine there on the left. The pins are Maya Road, milk caps are Jenni Bowlin and the ticket is TIM.

Here is how it looks hanging on my kitchen wall:

I also made this little counter top menu with Cookbookin' and a little slate that I picked up at a local craft store. ~Starts with an M!

Here's a card using Cookbookin's Modern Market line for this week's card sketch over at Let's Scrap.

Hard to see in this lousy photo but the fruit squares are all raised and the veggies are lying low...hmmmm. I didn't really mean to do that but now it has me giggling.

Here is Kimmy's sketch that I used for this:

And here is the first of the layouts about the flood. I am sure many more will follow.

This layout shows the empty apple bins at the market just a couple days after the flood. It was frightening how fast Publix ran out of goods. Just yesterday, Mom just got a care package from Publix and her neighborhood HOA. Yes, the flood was at the beginning of May but things here are still a MESS! The Opryland Hotel may not even reopen for Christmas!

Oh, credits! This layout is based on Julie Bonner's sketch for Magpie Club. Here is Julie's cool sketch:

Happy Scrapping!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Pinwheels, Part 2!

2010-05-18T10:22:00.001-05:00

This is a pinwheel bouquet that I whipped up for my daughters this morning. Pinwheels are so easy to create and make such an impact! For this bouquet I used lots of My Little Shoebox papers, perfect for the girls!
Then again, maybe with some coffee beans instead of buttons this would work in MY KITCHEN!

~OH! If you are looking for the Let's Scrap Blog Hop click here~

Moving right along...
I have ALWAYS loved making pinwheels for my layouts. It was one of the first "advanced" techniques that I mastered. Recently I have receive a few questions on how I make them so I thought I'd post my first "re-run" tutorial. This was one of my very first tutorials and I had so much fun with it. I enlisted my non-scrappy friend Shannon to follow the tutorial...I wanted to make sure it was clear enough. She did great and made a wonderful pinwheel of her own. Not too sure what she did with it though...

So here is the tutorial again:

Pinwheels are so much fun and they are super easy to make. This pinwheel is on the " Soup" layout from my last post:

Begin with a perfect square of DOUBLE sided patterned paper. BOTH sides will show so make sure it looks good on both sides.

I like to use a punch when I am making smaller pinwheels:

Next you can use a ruler and pencil to mark your cut lines. (I used a marker here so it would show up but I NEVER do this when I am making pinwheels for a layout)

I mark my lines just short of the center coming straight in from each corner:

Then just cut along your lines. Truth be told, I don't actually mark the lines. I just eyeball it and cut.

Almost time to start folding in your flaps. Choose which way looks best to you (which side you want to fold your flaps toward) and then get out your adhesive dots.

Place a nice sized glue dot right in the center of your square. I use medium Zots. Then fold in your first flap sticking just the tip of the flap onto the adhesive.

Keep folding in the flaps, adding adhesive if needed.

Depending on the weight of my paper, sometimes my flaps need extra help to stay put. I use a stapler for these occasions but that is not pictured here. Glue dots usually do the job just fine.

Once all my flaps are secured. I usually embellish with a button but you can use flowers, a tiny paper circle, gems, whatever you like.

And here is the layout that I used this little cutie on:

And here is the double page spread that was published in Scrapbooking.com magazine!

Happy Scrapping!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Felt Cozies

2010-05-11T12:31:00.002-05:00

Isn't this just too sweet!?! It is a little cozy I made for my kids' GoGurts that they take in their lunches to school. I made them very early one morning after seeing a post from Karen over at Creative Cookbooking. She was making hers for ice pops, a great idea that I will get to later. Hey, speaking of Creative Cookbooking, we are moving! Ning has started charging so we are moving to this new location on Webs. Hope to see you there!

If you are looking for the Let's Scrap BLOG HOP, go here.

So, these little cozies are so quick and easy to make that I whipped up a quick tutorial to share with you. I used my actual Gogurt tube to come up with my own measurements for cutting the two felt pieces. I cut my felt about one inch wider than my Gogurt (on each side). I cut the felt about 2 inches shorter than my Gogurt. No, I did NOT use a ruler. You know how I feel about RULERS!

Then I used my machine to stitch the two pieces together:

I did some backstitching for strength around the top opening of the cozy -on both sides.

After sewing the cozy I used pinking shears to trim the edges. It was kinda hard to trim through two layers of felt so I tried trimming the layers separately before sewing. Nope, that wasn't much easier, if any. Perhaps I am just pinking shear challenged...

For the girls' cozies, I die cut some flowers and leaves from some of the leftover felt.

Since I didn't think of it before I had sewed all the cozies together I just used some felt glue to adhere them.

I used some Sitckles to add a little sparkle to the centers of the flowers and DONE!

And here is the best part:

I gave the green and yellow (Go Ducks!) cozy to my 13yo son. I explained what it was for and fully expected him to politely bow out from taking it in his lunch to MIDDLE school. Instead, he seemed genuinely excited about it and appreciative. AND he put it right into his lunchbox. So far, the teenage years are FANTASTIC!

Happy Scrapping,

Let's SCRAP Design Team Blog Hop!!!

2010-05-07T05:50:00.001-05:00

National Scrapbooking Day was last weekend, right? Well not at Let's Scrap.
We are celebrating our scrapbooking ALL MONTH LONG. We started with some
great games and challenges during NSD weekend, and now we are back with the
Let's Scrap Design Team Blog Hop. Below you will find a list of those DT members
who are joining us in the blog hop. Each stop on the hop will offer you a
different challenge. Become a follower of each Design Team Member's blog
and as you complete each challenge, upload your finished project to
http://www.letsscrap.ning.com. Return to each blog and make sure to leave
a comment letting us know that you have completed the challenge and uploaded
it to Let's Scrap. Make sure you tag your project with the appropriate tag
(you will find those instructions on each of our blogs-ie: bloghop1,
bloghop2, etc.).
Each Design Team member will randomly select a winner of a small prize for
participating. For the ULTIMATE challenge, and for a chance to win a $50
gift certificate to A Cherry On Top http://www.acherryontop.com, complete
the challenges you will find on EACH stop on the blog hop. Make sure to tag
your uploads properly so you are sure to be entered into the random drawing.

My challenge is a color challenge: Yellow and Green!!! After watching so much devastation from the torrential rains and terrible flooding here over the weekend I want to see LOTS of those bright and happy colors of SPRING! So show me your layouts where YELLOW & GREEN are the focal colors. Here is my example:

I originally completed this layout for Helen's May challenge over at Scrap-a-Little where we had to use Basic Grey products but I love this layout so much that I wanted to use it for this as well.

I really went crazy with the sewing machine on this one...around and around and around! Everything is Basic Grey Nook & Pantry except the thread, the ink and the letters which are American Crafts.

So my challenge is very simple: Use Yellow and Green as your focal colors on a layout or a card. That's it! Tag your entry bloghop10 over at Let's Scrap. I'll choose a random winner from all the entries and the prize is this cute Amy Butler Mini Book:

You can start anywhere along the way within this great group of blogs and
each one will link from one site to the next where you will find all the
great challenges! And the best part is you have two complete weeks to
upload your challenge entries. Even if you don't win the grand prize, if
you choose to complete all the challenges available, just think, you will
have 10 completed projects!

Let's get this hop started!! Remember, become a follower and return to
leave a comment after completing each challenge. Good luck, and have
fun!!!!

1. Susan - http://www.paperdaisydreams.blogspot.com
2. Cori - http://www.creativechat.blogspot.com
3. Deb - http://debhorstcreaterofsendablesentiments.blogspot.com/
4. Jean -http://www.Pagesintime.blogspot.com
5. Sally - www.sallyschallengechatter.blogspot.com
6. Rosalie - http://www.fivetulips.blogspot.com/
7. Scarlett - http://scarlettsscrapoirs.blogspot.com
8. Carolina - http://www.caromgar.blogspot.com
9. Nana - http://www.youniquereflections.blogspot.com/
10. Kristie - http://www.lotstoscrap.blogspot.com

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Embellished Bookmarks

2010-05-04T12:11:00.001-05:00

This is a cute bookmark tutorial that my friend Suzanne posted. Super fun are really easy:

Cut a 12 x 12 pp in half diagonally.

In the center of the long side of the triangle, make a smaller triangle that measures 7 1/2" on the bottom and 5" on each side.

Score and fold and trim away the excess at the point of the triangle.

Fold and glue side flaps together.

Your paper should look like this when it's flipped over.

Trim the excess so that all that's left is a triangle "envelope."

Embellish to your hearts content!

Thanks for sharing the great tutorial Suzanne! You can find more from Suzanne on her blog.

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I just love making these bookmarks, here's a couple that I made for my cookbook:

This bookmark was my first "successful" attempt at heat embossing. The utensil stamp (from Cookbookin') is embossed!!! The Recipe stamp is from Teresa Collins, ink is Colorbox, the paper is Basic Grey Nook & Pantry and the edge punch is Martha Stewart.

The paper and brad that I used for this one are both from Cookbookin' and the heart punch is Martha Stewart. The ribbon is Offray, ink is Colorbox and the Family Favorites stamp is Shabby Green Door. Thanks again for sharing Suzanne!

Happy Scrappin'

After the FLOOD: The Sun Shines Again!

2010-05-03T13:41:00.000-05:00

Mom and Dad's backyard at 6:00am this morning.

Dad's suburban yesterday

Mom & Dad's neighborhood yesterday afternoon

And later this morning:

The waters are finally receding and the sun is out again.

The view from my front porch this morning is so different than yesterday's.

The sky is such a beautiful shade of BLUE today!!!

We went for a family walk this morning and this is a picture of the pedestrian tunnel...well, it is there under all that water. You can just make our the top of the tunnel, there to the left of the flooded tree...well, maybe you can't quite make it out. Yet.

This is the trail that leads to the tunnel...

And here is the HERO station

We walked down to Publix and treated the kids to a doughnut. They were so thrilled!
We were shocked at how fast the shelves had become empty...

I cannot express how wonderful it is to hear birds sing again. The "noise" of a flood is so incredibly strange. Rushing water in storm drains hours & hours AFTER the rain stops falling. No birds, no animals, no cars, no people in sight. It was eerie.
But now the sun is shining, people are out checking on their neighbors and life is beginning to return, not to normal but it is returning. And the real work begins...the clean up.

Thanks so much for all of your kind words and thoughts~

Kristie

The Franklin Flood

2010-05-02T18:11:00.001-05:00

We are living through the biggest flood in Franklin's history. I have lost count as to how much rain has actually fallen here in the last two days, it was at 15 inches this morning and it rained all day long again. I did hear the news say that the rain gauge at Franklin had broken so maybe that is why I don't know. We spent much of yesterday sheltering from thunderstorms and tornado warnings. I hate the sound of the sirens and they just kept going off, over and over and over. No tornado damage here, just flooding. Not our house, we are blessed to live on the top of a hill...but the water coming off our roof...unbelievable.

This is the view our our front door this morning. Yes, this was daylight today.

My parents live one the other side of our neighborhood. They do not live on a hill. This is out their back door yesterday afternoon.

And out their back door this morning.

And out their front door this morning! There should be a street, a big white fence and a nice green field in this picture.

This is the view my dad has out his bedroom window.

Remember this cute picture of my kids after the Easter Egg Hunt just a couple weeks ago?

Here is that area now. They were standing right in front of the trees that are beyond that Stop sign. Oh, and there is a street under all that water.

This is a bridge over the Harpeth River. The river is normally about 30 FEET below the bridge.

This is the nice fire truck that went to my parents house a few hours ago asking to evacuate them.

They declined!!! Uugghh. Parents! What am I gonna DO with them!!!???!!!

My parents house is at the back of the neighborhood at the back of this photo. So, they are pretty doggone surrounded by water and IT IS STILL RISING!

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So, needless to say, National Scrapbook Day passed right by without me so much as looking at a pair of scissors or a roll of adhesive. I do, however, have lots of pictures from the "event."

And I must say, I am very happy to be on top of the hill tonight.

Scrappy Days

And now there are six...

The Rocket Center and an easy Microbead Embellishment Tutorial!

Oregon Trip Highlights, Part 1

"What's for LUNCH" Challenge

~Three layouts in Scrapbooking Magazine~

Scrap-a-Little Guest Designer

Surpise!!!

Kitchen Crop Coming Soon~

Green Milk!

Is it really MARCH already?

Happy Valentine's Day~

~Sledding Weather~

Tips, Techniques & Tutorials ~ Hanging Heart Valentine

~Hoppy New Year BLOG HOP~

Snowed IN ~and~ Crop & Hop

Happy New Year!

'Tis the Season~

All I want from Santa is...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING plus a little distressing tutorial;)

So many sketches!!!

Magnet Mania!

Happy Halloween!

Back to the PATCH!

GCD Studios Spotlight

Chihuly!!!

Raw Beauty & Seeds

Altered Recipe Clothespin Tutorial, again!

Scrapstreet, Gatlinburg & Scrapbooking!

~Naptime~

September Sketch Challenge at Cookbookin'

Scrappy News!

~Back to SCHOOL~

New Card Sketch at Let's Scrap!

~This is NOT Mother Goose~

August Sketch ~Scrap-a-Little~

~Swimming & Scrapping~

~~Dance Recital~~

~Canoe Trip~

VACATION!!!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Altered Clothespin

Farm Camp

Camping 101, Part Two - The TENT

Camping 101

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Single Folded Flowers

And the WINNER is:

Cookin' up some more Cookbookin'

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Pinwheels, Part 2!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Felt Cozies

Let's SCRAP Design Team Blog Hop!!!

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Embellished Bookmarks

After the FLOOD: The Sun Shines Again!

The Franklin Flood

Dance Recital