I made the Crop Addict Design Team!

I am so excited! I found out this week that I made the Crop Addict Design Team. From January - July 2009, I will be a design team member for this fantastic site. Crop Addict is one of my favorite scrappy sites - they have a fabulous community of ladies on their message board, a great store with lots of selection and great prices, an inspirational gallery and some awesome monthly kits! Debbie, the site owner, is also fabulous. If you have never visited Crop Addict, I highly suggest you check it out. Everyone is super friendly - just register and pop on the board and introduce yourself! You'll find me there under my standard alias Daisymeh. Yay! I am so excited! Did I say that already?

Christmas Scrapping!

In order to get into the Christmas spirit, I have been busy scrapping photos from last year's Christmas and our trip to Orlando last December. It is so much fun reminiscing about last year's festivities while looking forward to what the weeks ahead will bring!

Thank you Robin!

So I participated in a Secret Santa Swap on A Page At A Time, and I received a fabulous package from my scrappy friend Robin today. She did me right I must say - loading up a box with goodies from Basic Grey, Heidi Swapp, Doodlebug Designs and Autumn Leaves. I can't wait to break into all these yummies! Thanks again Robin!

This year's christmas project.

So last year, I went totally crazy and made 90 homemade Christmas cards and two albums as gifts. The year before, I made three albums as gifts. This year, I am cutting back on my workload and have decided not to send Christmas cards at all (GASP!) and am not creating any gift albums. Instead, I am making perpetual calendars for various people and I am creating nine sets of greeting cards (10 cards in each set) for various friends and family. The set below I created to be auctioned off on Christmas Day at our family charity auction.

You got to join the next sketch class at Feeling Scrappy!

We are halfway through Sketchapolooza II at Feeling Scrappy and it is so much fun! The design team worked so hard on putting together a wonderful set of sketches and the new class forum is awesome. I definitely suggest checking it out next time around.  Below are the layouts that I have made based on the sketches created by the magnificent design team. Thanks Jayne, Stacey, Amy and Becky!

An Attitude Of Gratitude.

So this week's challenge on Feeling Scrappy was to create a layout about a person you are grateful for and list 10 reasons you are grateful for them. I chose to do the layout on my little brother Kevin.

Reinventing a family tradition.

When I was growing up, my grandma always took us grandchildren apple picking each Fall. It's a tradition I will always remember and truly miss about my childhood. Well, this past weekend, Andrew, Ashley, Justin and I took Sunday to drive the Mt. Hood scenic drive. So, we took the chance the while on the drive to stop at one of the many orchards to apple pick. Here's the layout I created about our apple picking adventure and I also created it for the Fall challenge over at Feeling Scrappy.

Seven Random Facts...

I have been tagged by my new scrappy friend and owner of A Page At A Time, Jennifer at Inking Obsessions! So now it's my turn to share seven things about me you may or may not know...

1. I am a game fanatic! I love card games, board games, party games - I love them all! Some of my favorites are Taboo, Monopoly, Euchre, Apples to Apples, Risk, Cranium, Scattergories, Risk and Sorry!

2. My dream is to retire to a horse ranch in Montana one day. I want to have enough money to run a ranch and have people come up and vacation at it - kind of like a working retirement.

3. I have two tattoos - a cross on my lower right back and a hummingbird on my left foot.

4. I have been scrapping since I was 13 - about 14 years. My first album was on a trip I took to England and Scotland with my grandma. It's full of silly doodles, stickers, postcards and shaped photos. And since I used Elmer's glue all the photos have little orange dots in the corner!

5. I come from a HUGE extended family. My father is second oldest of eight kids and I am the oldest of 28 grandchildren on his side. My Mom is oldest of six kids and I am second oldest of 10 grandchildren. My mother-in-law is second youngest of 11 and Andrew has I don't know how many cousins. Family functions are always such chaotic fun!

6. If money were no object and I could go to school to get a degree in anything I wanted and get any job in the world, I would want to be a photographer for National Geographic. What a fulfilling experience to travel all over the world and document such a fascinating world.

7. I am afraid of feet. I hate feet. I don't really enjoy pedicures or foot massages because of this. My college roommate had the ability to pinch people with her toes and she used to love to sneak up on me with her "party trick" and watch me freak out!

Now it's my turn to tag five other fabulous scrappy friends who blog...
1. Erin at Flutterinby Girl
2. Jayne at Feeling Scrappy
3. Kim at Croppycatter's Corner
4. Char at The Chronicles of Char
5. Cristal at Much Ado About Nothing

A layout dedicated to our new friends!

I created this layout using some photo booth shots from a couple weeks ago. Out new best buds, Ashley and Justin are fabulous and we have such a great time and so much in common with them. I also created this layout for the Crop Addict November Design Team challenge and also used a Feeling Scrappy sketch as inspiration.

I finally did some scrapping!

I have been such a bum when it's come to scrapping lately. So, I finally made it to my scraproom and got a couple layouts done. These were true use my stash layouts - I found the fabulous July Crop Addict kit that I never broke into (gasp) and used it to create both layouts. Also, the photos are old - the rockclimbing ones are from 2002 and the ones of Dan and Jamie are from 2006. It feels great to have them scrapped. I did the top layout using a fabulous sketch by Amy Layne which can be found on Feeling Scrappy.

Feeling Scrappy Has A Whole New Look!

Feeling Scrappy, one of my absolute favorite scrap sites, has revamped their look and have lots of exciting stuff in store. If you haven't had the chance to check out this awesome site yet, now is the perfect time - so check it out!

A Page At A Time

 I just found a great new scrap site that was just started a few weeks ago. They have a store and a nice message board. The site owner and admin, Jennifer, has fulfilled a dream of hers by starting this site. You should check it out!

So I didn't make it to Round Three in the Scrap 4 Life DT contest.

But I am going to try again in six months. I unfortunately hadn't been around the board much this summer due to all the craziness with the move and new job, and I know that factors into the decision. Oh well - with rainy season starting, I know I'll be around more. Nonetheless, I was pretty happy with both my entries.

For Round #1, we had to create a layout using our circle cutters and punches to create a background. I created "iPod Music." For Round #2, we had to create a seasonal layout using only seasonal colors and no seasonal-themed embellish- ments. Even though I didn't move on, I love my layouts!

Thank You Cards!

My family and friends were generous for my birthday and I wanted to show my appreciation with some homemade cards...here they are!

I earned one of the GDT spots over at Feeling Scrappy!

Feeling Scrappy, one of my favorite sites, just had their Design Team call, and I earned one of three of the GDT spots! Yippee! I will be designing during the months of December 2008 and January 2009. I am so excited, especially to help plan the site's online class in January. So much fun! If you haven't checked out this site, you have to in time for Sketchapalooza II which starts October 27th! The layout above is the one original layout I made for the contest - I love the result!

Crazy times!

So sorry I have been scarce online. To recap, I will copy verbatim my post over at Treasured Scrapbooking...
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This month has been a whirlwind - I can't believe it almost over! To recap my September...

• We went camping Labor Day weekend.
  
• We went to the coast the weekend after that.
  
• My parents were in town visiting for a week.
  
• We went on an extended weekend trip to Oregon wine country.
  
• We had two weddings to attend.
  
• We are now house-sitting for one of the couples while they are on their honeymoon.
  
• I've gotten back into a workout groove (yea me)!
  
• I've been a GDT member this month on another site.
  
• I earned another GDT spot for Dec 08 - Jan 09 on another site.
  
• I HAVE NOT updated my blogs in ages (hope to tomorrow).
  
• Chase got hot spots and we had to shave him some (no fun).
  
• My mini-album is up on Simple Scrapbooks web site.
  
• Then there's the daily 8-5 job.
  
• We have a good family friend in the hospital at home and it's not looking good.
  
• My cousin just won $20,000 in the Golden Tee World Championship in Las Vegas.
  
• Oh, and my birthday was the 12th.

I think that about sums it up! I am looking forward to next month because it should be a little more relaxing.

My mini-album is up over at Simple Scrapbooks!

I made this as a gift for my best friend Katie and she hasn't even received it yet. I got notice to submit it for this online publication before she had a chance to see it! Simple Scrapbooks is highlighting some of the more non-traditional holidays and celebrations that occur during the months of September and October and my mini album is featured for National Women's Friendship Day. Head on over to their site and check it out!

Check out Crop Addict's September kit!

I am so fortunate to have earned the coveted guest designer spot for the month of September over at Crop Addict. I received the beautiful September kit a couple weeks ago and had so much fun creating six layouts and a very fun project - an earring frame. The kit features elements from both the Little Yellow Bicycle Vita Bella collection and Basic Grey's Sultry collection. Both lines are absolutely gorgeous and very versatile. You definitely should check the kit out for yourselves!

The Road Trip Rescrap Project is coming along nicely.

My Road Trip Rescrap Project is over halfway finished. For those of you who don't know what I am referring to, let me explain. In the Summer of 2003, right after college graduation, Andrew and I took an 11,000 mile road trip out West, visiting 22 National Parks, Las Vegas and the Oregon Coast. I created a complete album of the trip when we returned, complete with a daily log of our adventures. But, this was in my early scrapping days, and needless to say, the album is not very sophisticated. So, I have decided to create an Appendix album to go along with the original album. I chose only my absolute favorite photos from the trip and am rescrapping them in this new album. Here are the latest pages created for this album:

So I didn't make it past the first round.

The Treasured Hunt is the biggest contest of the year on Treasured Scrapbooking. The talent is tremendous and you have to just make it past the eligibility round to be able to participate. I submitted my layout "Happy Jack" to pass eligibility which I did. As one of 28 contestants, I participated in the first round. The challenge was to create a one page, one photo layout that contained both scallops and felt and journaling that began with the phrase "Today I." My layout, "Proud To Be American" was my entry. I am very happy with the way it turned out, but I am sad to say it did not get me into the second round. There is such a huge talent pool in this contest and as it winds down to it's final days, I am so impressed with the creativity pouring out in the Treasured Hunt Gallery. Good luck to all those that still remain!

I won the Crop Addict GDT spot!

My last post talks about the contest I entered to earn the guest design team spot at Crop Addict for the month of September. Well, I won! I got the call last Thursday from Debbie offering me the position. I am very excited to get my September kit in the mail and find out exactly what I need to do. What an honor!

Crop Addict GDT Contest!

Crop Addict is having a contest for a Guest Design Team member for September. They have teamed up with Scrapdragons for this and they have a kit you must use to create a layout based on the following challenge - to scrap a layout about your life right now but the photos you use cannot have any people in them. So my take is the layout titled "Our Fridge." I also created the other three layouts using the kit.

Next sketch is up at Sketchabilities - enter to win!

Sketch #6 is up at Sketchabilities and this month's contest is still running through July 31st! If you complete this sketch or sketch #5 (either will make you eligible), you are entered to win a prize pack donated by Create My Keepsake. I hope you'll consider entering and I am looking forward to seeing your creations! All you have to do is post a comment on the sketch blog linking to your layout. Oh, the sketches are really cool!

I've been busy working on cards.

I have been getting my scrappin' mojo back slowly but surely after my very long break by making some long overdue cards. Here are just a few of my favorites:

An anniversary card for my parents:

(Circular stamp is from the "Remember This" My Acrylix stamp set from Close To My Heart.)

A birthday card for my mom:

(The paper is Making Memories and Scenic Route.)

A thank you card for my brother:

(The paper is Scenic Route.)

Sketchabilities Contest!

Sketch #5 is up at Sketchabilities and we are having a contest this month! If you complete the sketch, you are entered to win a prize pack donated by Create My Keepsake. I hope you'll consider entering and I am looking forward to seeing your creations! All you have to do is post a comment on the blog linking to your layout. Oh, the sketch is really cool!

My new scraproom!

So we are finally settled. We made it to Portland after one major hiccup halfway through Idaho - our car's transmission died. Check out our family blog for the complete story. We are unpacked and the apartment is put together - including my scraproom.

The desk is actually the 68" Melltrop dining table from Ikea. It works fabulous as a scrap desk because it is so long and spacious (and relatively cheap)! The plastic shelving unit next to the window is one of those piece together units that we had in the basement at the house in Ohio. It now holds one of my embellishment hardware drawer chests, all my photo boxes (which contain photos, paint supplies, flowers, fibers and ribbon), my printer and letter size paper and all my patterned paper is in vertical Crop Hoppers along the bottom shelf. I have a mobile plastic chest of drawers underneath the table that houses all my stamps and most used supplies that can't fit in the turn about that sits on my desk. Between the chest of drawers and window on the floor (you can't see it) I have 10 stacked acrylic paper trays that hold my cardstock. The Cubicals unit holds my other hardware drawer chest, the fax, all my scrapping books and magazines and more tools and embellishments. The two stacks of plastic drawers to the right hold more tools and embellishments and the four photo shelves above neatly display all my paints. The white basket to the far right holds Crop Hopper pockets container all my flat stickers and rub-ons organized by theme. The wall across from the windows contains a huge closet that runs the length of the room, but there's no scrapping stuff in there - that's where all my clothes are! (Andrew's got the closet in the bedroom.)

On the other side of the room, right next to the door sits my file box for all my Close To My Heart stuff and on top of that is my tote bag with all my research files for the heritage albums I am working on. The three craft cubes also double as a stand for the TiVo and DVD player. The stands hold (from top to bottom) embellishments, extra commonly used colors of cardstock bought in bulk, and chipboard. The bureau the TV sits upon is sans-scrapping too - it holds more of my clothes. On the shelf above the heating/cooling unit and under the window sit two small chest of drawers. The brown one is for general office supplies and the green one holds all my ribbon. The pasta jars on the ledge hold flowers and buttons.

Scrapping has been placed on the back burner.

I am sorry I haven't been around as much on the boards and keep my blog up-to-date. Things have been chaotic lately. For those who don't know yet, Andrew accepted a new job and we will be moving to Portland next month. I am excited but extremely overwhelmed. The house just got listed this week so we have been crazy busy getting it all ready for that. All my free time for scrapping has been dedicated to my DT/CT responsibilities for Sketchabilities and Feeling Scrappy. I'm sorry all! I hope that after this upcoming week, which will be crazy with me being out of town for a few days, I should be able to dedicate more time to scrapping. I really hope so because I am going through withdrawal. 

I made the Sketchabilities Design Team!

Whoo-hoo! I made the design team over at Sketchabilities! I am so excited to be a part of a brand new, fabulous sketch site. For sketch fanatics, you gotta check us out. Holly's come up with some really unique sketches to really get your brain working. We should have a new sketch up every other week. The one we had to do for the Design Team is up there still and a new sketch and the DT samples should be up May 15th. Be sure to come and visit!

Published in Memory Makers!

Please check out my layout titled "A Second Chance At Love" on page 83 of the May/June issue of Memory Makers and feel free to tell me what you think. I'm very exited about this publication because the layout is very near and dear to me. It is of my grandfather and his second wife on their wedding day and I was their "photographer" for the event. It was so exciting to see my grandfather remarry after my grandmother passed away. I'll post the layout at a later date once the magazine is off the newsstands and the July issue is up.

My first published layout!

It was so cool seeing my very first published layout in print. Here it is - as shown in the March/April 2008 Memory Makers on page 81. I created "Grand Teton National Park" for the Reader Idea Gallery on Earth Day. The quote I chose is one that I have always loved and I kept the layout colors neutral to keep the focus on the photo, which was actually taken by my husband, Andrew. So it was as exciting for him to see the publication because it was his photo!

Cece's Birth Announcement

I created this announcement for my new baby cousin who was born on St. Patrick's Day this year. It took me awhile - I made 60 of them. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I hope you like it!

I will be published in Simple Scrapbooks!

So, I am surfing online tonight and I see I have a new email. I think "okay, it's a notification for a thread I've been viewing." But oh no...it's an email from Elizabeth Dillow from Simple Scrapbooks. My "Friends to the End" Mini Album has been chosen for publication in the September/October Simple Scrapbooks! This will be my first time published in Simple Scrapbooks and I am more than thrilled.

I applied to be the May guest creative team member at Feeling Scrappy (AND GOT IT!)

Feeling Scrappy is an awesome site if you are looking for a fabulous group of scrappy friends, encouragement in your scrapping endeavours or to educate yourself on all that's out in the scrapping world. They are currently accepting applications for the Guest Creative Team member position for May and I decided to give it a go. I applied to be part of the six-month Creative Team back in February and did not get selected (oh don't worry, I will apply next time around) so I thought I'd give the guest spot a shot. Cross your fingers!

UPDATE: I GOT IT!!! YAY! I am so excited to be part of the team at Feeling Scrappy for the Month of May! Whoo-Hoo!

Submission for the Sketch-abilities Design Team

Sketch-abilities is a brand new sketch blog that will feature totally cool sketches designed to make you think outside the scrapping box. I gotta tell you, when I first looked at this sketch, I was a little intimidated...but I am so happy with the result and I got an awesome layout from it. Here's hoping it lands me a spot on the design team because I have this feeling that this site is going to be very fun! You should check it out if you are a fan of sketches. This will definitely be a site that's not your "grandma's sketch site."

Noel Mignon's Hopscotch Kit Rocks!

You got to check out the Hopscotch Kit from Noel Mignon. It is awesome and comes will all sorts of girly goodies that are perfect for scrapping those Easter and Spring photos. Check out two of the creations I made with this kit...and I still have plenty left to do more pages! But hurry...Noel only has 5 left in stock!

I signed up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant!

I just signed up to be a Close to My Heart Consultant! I am so excited. My starter kit should arrive in a couple weeks so I can begin my new business in scrapbooking! Yea! Check out the full line of Close To My Heart products on their website.

Anxiously Awaiting...

So I reapplied for the Sketch This Design Team since Janelle's computer crashed and she lost everything (which really stinks). I am crossing my fingers. Sketch This is full of some talented ladies and I would be in great company if chosen. This was my entry: Happy Jack. Here's hoping!

UPDATE 4/16/08: I did not make the team. Oh well - back to the drawing board. Congrats to all the talented ladies that did make the team though - I can't wait to see what you do with Janelle's sketches!

Button, button, whose got the button?

So, a Feeling Scrappy friend named Kari Ann posted a topic a few days ago about a friend of hers who makes her own buttons out of Sculpey III clay. It sounded like such a fun project so I decided to make some of my own. They were super easy to make and turned out really well. Here's how I made them:

1. I bought nine different colors of clay from Joann's at $2.37/block.
2. I took clay and rolled it into balls to make it soft and then molded it to my desired button shape.
3. I used a corn-on-the-cob holder to poke the holes in the center of each button.
4. Bake the buttons according to package directions.
5. Decorate the buttons using acrylic paint or paint pens. I also used Puffy Velvet markers to achieve a textured look.

I hope you take some time to try them out. You can also choose to leave the buttons unpainted until you know what layouts you want to use them on - then paint them to go specifically on that layout. Have fun!

Published in Memory Makers!

It was so very exciting to see my layout there in print inside one of my favorite scrapbooking magazines. The feeling was almost surreal. Getting published was a personal goal of mine for so long and to reach that goal was very rewarding. Please check out my layout titled "Grand Teton National Park" on page 81 of the March/April issue of Memory Makers and feel free to tell me what you think. I'll post the layout at a later date once the magazine is off the newsstands and the May issue is up. But, having the May issue released is also good news for me because another layout of mine will be featured in that issue!

I thought I'd share my scraproom.

This is my desk in my scrap space. I finally finished the room in August 2006 and it only took me nine months. The cabinets are actually premade kitchen cabinets from Lowe's & a premade 10-foot formica countertop from Lowe's. It stretches from wall to wall and is so easy to clean off. My Dad, Mr. Bob Villa v2.0, is awesome for installing this for me. The shelves used to hang (at one time) in both my brothers bedrooms and now I have them. They are great because I can adjust the heights. The 4 colored foam bulletin squares are from Office Max. On my desktop sits my MacBook Pro, my Canon MP600, a Pampered Chef tool caddy with all my essential tools, magazine files to house my scraps, journals and planning stuff and a TV. On the shelves sit boxes, baskets, jars and two sets of hardware drawers full of supplies. In the drawers are more tools and supplies and in the cabinets sit organizers for all my paper and cardstock. The inspiration for the bright Caribbean colors comes from my aunt and uncle's folkart which decorates the room (see my other picture). They are professional artists located in St. Petersburg, FL.

This is the lounging side of my scrap space (primarily used by my hubby and golden retriever). The wall art and pillows are my aunt and uncle's folkart I spoke about previously. I have 2 rope chairs, which were my mother's for 30 years and are now mine. The cubed shelving unit is actually Closetmaid Cubicals (bought at Lowe's). The Canvas drawers are made by Closetmaid just for the Cubicals line. They are great for storing all kinds of scrapping stuff. I use them to store my foam and acrylic stamps, punches and larger tools. In the photo boxes are extra photos and more embellishments. The side tables are actually craft storage drawers by JMax bought at Target. I use these to store chipboard, die-cuts, ribbon and fibers. The large white baskets that sits upon one of the cubes is full of 12x12 pockets that hold stickers & rub-ons.

So I finally did this blog thing.

It seems that everyone has a blog now and I feel really behind the times. So, I decided to get with it and create a scrapbooking blog. I figure it's the place to start since I want to eventually earn a spot on a Design Team and I know a blog is a great thing to have to do so. Therfore, here's my blog and my first entry. I hope you all like it!