Thursday, April 25, 2013

Color Your World Crop at Memorable Seasons!

Memorable Seasons has cooked up some colorful challenges to help you celebrate National Scrapbook Day. We are so excited to share our inspiration with you and to award some prizes. So come and join us starting this Wednesday, May 1st for the fun!

Starts: Wednesday, May 1st
Ends: Monday, May 6th by 5am EST

Prize: We will have a grand prize of a GC which will be based on points. Each challenge completed will give you 1 point, one winner from each challenge will be voted (by the DT as the favorite) and be awarded 2 points, and be looking for ways to earn bonus points that will pop up anytime during the crop time period! Be on the lookout for other prizes scattered throughout the challenges also.

Rules:
  1. Challenges will be offered Wednesday evening through Saturday morning and all creations are due by Monday by 5am EST.
  2. To qualify for each challenge you must create a new layout or 2 cards for the challenge.
  3. You must upload your creation in the gallery and link back to the appropriate challenge.
  4. Bring a friend!
  5. Have fun!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Birds Of A Feather A Celebration Of... Crop!

Do you know what May 4th is? No, not the Kentucky Derby...well, okay, yes. But do you know what else it is? It's National Scrapbooking Day! That's right! And we are celebrating over at Birds Of A Feather all weekend long. The festivities start on Friday and I really hope you'll join us for some challenges, chit chat and the famous Birds Of A Feather Bingo. FYI...I am the reigning Bingo Queen so I challenge you to take me down...[insert evil laugh here]. Come join the fun!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Inspired To Scrap Weekend Warrior Class Recap

This past weekend was Inspired to Scrap's second Weekend Warrior Sketch Class. And we had some serious fun. Stacey started the class out with a fun pre-class challenge and then presented us with five brand-new fabulous sketches. If you missed it, the next class is slated for June 7th - 9th and the cost is only $5. You can sign up here! I am going to be spending some time later on today looking through the gallery at all the amazing inspiration from all the class layouts. But, I thought I'd share with you the six layouts I created for samples as I was the guest designer for this class.





Monday, April 22, 2013

Gettin' Sketchy With The Birds Of A Feather April Kit!

So it's my last April Kit reveal for Birds Of A Feather and I have to say, I LOVED this kit! But, no matter how much you may love the product on your desk, you may be stumped as to where to begin your layout. And this was my problem when I went to create these last layouts. I wasn't getting that "spark." So, I found myself surfing through my Sketches Pinterest board for inspiration. And, I found three awesome sketches that I used for creating these layouts. Once I had the sketches, coupled with the gorgeous April kit, these layouts came together quickly and easily. 

The first layout is based on a sketch from Diana Fisher. I love the way the banner title turned out and the cut in  half wood veneer circles. Just so you know, they cut pretty easily so don't be afraid to give it a try. I also had fun mixing both the My Minds Eye and Echo Park papers in the kit. They go together so well!
And here's a closeup...

For my next layout, I turned to a sketch from the fabulous Jana Eubank. I loved the layers on this one and again, mixed the two different collections of paper pretty evenly. I thought the woodgrain Echo Park paper was the perfect background for a park layout and I had to include the little tree sticker. I wanted the tree to have dimension, so I rubbed flour on the back of it to make it "unsticky" and then adhered it with foam adhesive. I also misted two of my three wood veneers with the Chalkboard mist. Love the way they turned out!
And here are a couple closeups...

My last layout is a two-pager based off a sketch from Susan Stringfellow. I am still trying to complete my own Project 12 from 2012 but I am also doing a Project 12-like spread of each month for Liam's first year album. That way, I have a place to put all the cute, miscellaneous photos of him that don't necessarily fit on another page. I pulled some super ancient Basic Grey chipboard alphas out of my stash and misted them with the blue Chalkboard mist to create my title. I also pulled some white Liquid Pearls out of my stash and used them to create my dotted circles. And, for the third time, I mixed and matched the My Minds Eye and Echo Park elements in the kit. Amy just makes it so easy to do that with her well-coordinated kits!
And here are a couple closeups...

I hope these layouts inspired you to break out your April kit (if you haven't used it all up yet already)! And stay tuned...because May is just around the corner! ;)

Monday, April 15, 2013

RAK Winner!

Thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments about my scraproom makeover! It makes all that hard work all the more worth it. And as promised, I am giving away some of the stuff I purged during the reorganization. Random.org helped me select a winner and out of the 25 of you who commented, random.org said lucky number 6 is the winner...and that's Laura! Congrats Laura! Send me your mailing address and I'll get your RAK out to you this week!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Project Life: Week 11

I'm playing Project Life catchup. And that's okay. Actually, this spread has been done for a couple weeks,  week 12 is all planned out and photos are printed and weeks 13 and 14 are planned out and I am in the process of editing and printing those weeks' photos. So I am not doing too bad in the grand scheme of things. Hope I'm caught up this week. 

So, anyways, here's week eleven. You'll notice the absence of the Turquoise Edition's red that appears on all my other pages. Well, that just sort of happened. With St. Patrick's Day, the spring photos and the dominant colors in my photos, I ended up just leaving the red out all together an using the aqua, turquoise and greens. And I like it.

And here's a closer look at the left side. Kept it pretty simple - mostly digital supplies, some Core Kit cards, some washi and wood veneers (of course). I have to point out how much I love those green tiny alphas from Basic Grey. You'll probably see those again on a PL spread.

And here's the right side. Disclaimer...that is not my photo of the Pi pie. :) I found that online. I'm sticking with my Subway art theme for holiday weeks; I really like the St. Patty's day one! This is also the first time I used one of the folded journaling cards from my Core Kit as intended. I wanted to journal a little more about the details of Liam's OT appointment so this style card worked well for that.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I'm Guest Designing At Inspired To Scrap

Hi all! I am excited to share that I am the Guest Designer for the upcoming Weekend Warriors sketch class over at Inspired To Scrap. Class is from April 19th - 21st. You can check out the details here and also sign up - it's only $5! Oh, and check out the fabulous class prize so generously donated by Fancy Pants! We've got lots of fun planned for the weekend so I hope you'll join us!

Here are just a few of layouts I created during the last class...



Scraproom makeover!

I had been wanting to redo my scraproom for awhile. Don't get me wrong...I loved my room before but it just wasn't very functional. Here are a couple before photos...
The plastic shelving was from our college days and the Cubicals units were cheap and falling apart - plus the cubed design really limited my storage and organization possibilites. My desk - actually an Ikea dining room table had a bent leg that was starting to cause some issues. 

So, I did some research about what was available at Ikea, took some measurements and found a free online room design program that allowed me to create this diagram for my new space...

And here is what my room looks like now...

Now, to point out some of the details and organization...

This is the taller of the two Besta bookshelves. On top,  in the white basket is a bunch of mementos, souvenirs and cards all in Ziploc bags waiting to go into albums. Hence, it's ugly and why it's high and out of site. Then I have my idea books held in place by white peace sign bookends. The triangular pasta  jars hold random pretties, namely non-washi decorative tape, ribbon scraps and felt shapes. The white photo boxes hold bling, paint supplies, photos I have printed and ready to scrap, and small paper scraps arranged by color. The top pink canvas drawer holds all my "use it or lose it" stuff. I make myself use something from this stash on every layout and then every six months or so, the plan is to donate whatever is in it and fill it back up with other stuff. Then I have jelly jars holding my buttons and mason jars for my flowers - both divided out by color. The wood chest of drawers holds ribbon (wrapped on 2" square cardstock) and also arranged by color. The binders contain Project Life planning stuff, my stamp catalog and sketches. Then I bought an extra shelf to hold my Cutterpillar trimmer when it's not in use. The paisley Vera Bradley box holds beads and it sits on top of several bead organizers that all hold brads. Yep, five organizers of just brads. Then my old Easter basket from when I was a kid hold various random packs of embellishments. The natural-colored basket with the striped liner holds journaling spots. The craft organizers that sit under it hold various small embellishments like wood veneers. My 4-tier turnabout tray holds mists, glitter, various tapes, die-cuts, twine, etc. The row of four canvas drawers hold acrylic and foam stamps and some stamping supplies. The bottom shelf holds all my patterned paper and kits to still use. My cardstock sits in the horizontal vertical trays to the left of the shelf and on top of that sits a basket full of mini-albums to use.

And here are some close-up shots of this bookshelf...

One of my new purchases was the Raskog kitchen cart from Ikea. The bottom of it holds my current pages in progress and kits I am actively using. The top and middle sections hold various supplies like adhesives, my stapler, my Zig Writers, craft trays, sanding tools, paintbrushes, etc.

This is the Alex on casters from Ikea. I LOVE it. I keep my Cricut on top and I can just wheel it over and connect it to my computer when I want to use it. I also use the extra surface when scrapping. The drawers from top to bottom hold (1) my current page in progress (I just slide everything in the drawer), (2) inks and embossing powders, (3) more writing utensils and office supplies, (4) punches, (5) overflow punches and wood-mounted stamps, and (6) various tools like my heat gun, ribbon straightener, circle cutters and Crop-A-Dile.

Here are my craft cubes and milk crates. The four-drawer cube holds Thickers and the three-drawer cube holds chipboard. The cube with shelves hold larger paper scraps to use and finished layouts that need to be put into albums. The milk crates hold Crop Holder pockets with various flat embellishments like stickers and rub-ons divided by type and/or theme. Five of them alone are for alphas.

 And here's the shorter of the Besta bookshelves. On the top is our printer, magazine files holding Andrew's laptop when not in use and one for his files. Then I have my two-tiered step file holding my various paperwork and files. On the next shelf sits magazine files that hold various paper and my Cuttlebug and embossing folders. The mason jars hold various sets of finished chipboard. The colored accordion files hold more mementos to be scrapped including stuff for Liam's baby book. Then I have two sets of hardware drawers - one holds various miscellaneous small embellishments and the other holds leftover alphas divided out by letter. My Close To My Heart organizer holds eyelets and other small metal embellishments. On the next shelf sits my Xyron, embroidery floss, Project Life Core Kits, sets of wood veneer alphas and two photo boxes - one for handmade greeting cards and one for bulky alphas. The bottom shelf holds my Project Life page protectors, scrappy magazines in white magazine files and two more canvas drawers - one for more Project Life supplies and one for all my spare adhesives.

And here's a shot of the one set of hardware drawers that holds my miscellaneous leftover alphas divided by letter.

And here's my washi tape. The number of rolls has doubled since I took this picture. I got the idea to use a four-tiered pants hanger from a friend over at Birds Of A Feather.

And just because I love the way they look, here's a shot of my Making Memories paint on my Pottery Barn picture frame shelves. 

Whew! And that is my new and improved scraproom. It's much cleaner and more organized for better functionality. After working out of it for a couple weeks, I have to say I am thrilled with my new room.

Now, I did purge my stash of lots of supplies so I think if you've read all of this post, you deserve a chance to win some of those purged goodies! So I am giving away a RAK to one lucky person. All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post. I will draw a winner next Monday!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Color Me Happy with my April Memorable Seasons Kit!

So, after a debacle with the USPS, Memorable Seasons scrambled to send me a second kit. All I gotta say is if anyone ever finds that first kit, they are going to be in for some fun because the Color Me Happy collection by Glitz Designs is awesome. So bright. So fun. So HAPPY! These products just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! If you haven't gotten this line for yourself, be sure to grab some up in the Memorable Seasons store here

Here are my projects I created with this kit...






Friday, April 5, 2013

My Memorable Seasons Challenge - Die Cuts!

It's my day to issue the challenge over at Memorable Seasons!

So what do we ALL have in our stash? Die-cuts! Yep. You know you've got 'em so let's use 'em!

I used this awesome layout by Lilith Eeckels that I found on Pinterest for inspiration. I love how she used all sorts of different die-cuts and labels on this one. And of course I love the overall design. You can see my pin here!

And here is my take on her layout using my Glitz Color Me Happy April kit available in the Memorable Seasons store and several die-cuts from my own stash...

So, your challenge is to use at least four pre-made die-cuts on your project. By pre-made I mean the die-cuts have to be created by a manufacturer and not made by you on a die-cutting machine. You can lift Lilith's layout like I did or do something completely different - that's up to you!

Be sure to...

(1) Create a new layout or 2 cards for this challenge, and...
(2) Upload your layout to the gallery and link back to the challenge thread in the forum by April 30th for an entry into the monthly prize drawing.

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations!