Heart decor with the Cricut, a couple of simple ideas and how to~

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

My goal for today was to actually post a little scrappy to my blog and so here it is.

So Valentine's Day brought me this! Jason had noticed that I had been suddenly using my Cricut Create like crazy and so...the big one! I have had a ball with this!! I know, many many people have jumped to the Silhouette but I have so many cartridges already AND I had never really learned to use my Cricut to its full potential. Wow. A few YouTube videos and I was off and running.

 

 I whipped up a quick Valentine's banner using a variety of carts and the Cricut Craft Room.Once I had the TONS of hearts cut out in a manner of minute I simply layered them and then sewed the together right down their little middles. Although the photo shows them all dangling together by thread I did actually cup them apart. Then I punched a hole on each side of each heart and strung some for real using red and white baker's twine from Maya Road. Maya Road's twine is a little thicker than most so it is perfect for hanging a banner.

I used the leftover's to make this sweet little bouquet. Just attached them to a bamboo skewer with some adhesive and another heart on the back! Simple. In just under an hour I had it all done and up!

This took a little longer. More on cupcakes in my next post!

And now there are six...

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~

~Three layouts in Scrapbooking Magazine~

 

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

  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!!!

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!

~Hoppy New Year BLOG HOP~

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

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!

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.