Goofy Girls

This was such a fun layout to do. The bright colors of the papers along with the fun of the photo just made it come together so easily!! I did this one for the Supply List challenge at A Cherry On Top. You had to use 5 patterened papers, a button, chipboard and the color yellow. I knew this photo would be perfect and as I was going through my paper bins, this We R Memory Keepers White Out paper jumped right out! The rest was easy! The journaling card was a free download from Creativity Prompts. She has quite a few freebies so be sure to check her blog out! Letters are Thickers that I got from Crafty Steals . The photo is Susie and her bestie Emily in Busch Gardens. In every shop we stopped in they tried on all the silly hats. This particular one had me cracking up because they added coordinating sunglasses and stuck out their tongues which were BLUE from the Icees they had been drinking. Susie's hat had these crazy tube things all over it that lit up but you can't see that from the photo. Emily chose a lovely HOT DOG hat! LOL!

Those Eyes

I snapped this picture of Susie using my Blackberry while we were on vacation last week. When I looked at it after I had printed it out, it was just like looking into her father's eyes. Maybe its just that the anniversary of his death is nearing that really hit home with me, but she definitely does have her daddy's eyes. Both of my boys and myself have blue eyes, she has the exact shade of brown that her father had. Sometimes she doesn't like that she is the only one without blue eyes and I just remind her that its part of what makes her special. And special she is. As the journaling reads: "Every time I snap a picture of Susie I am surprised and amazed at how much of a beautiful young lady she is becoming. This photo was taken at Busch Gardens and is proof that she has her daddy's eyes." I used the sketch posted today at Practical Scrappers and used some new Melissa Frances papers and journaling spot, Thickers glitter chip letters, and the pearls, gems, butterflies and gem brads are Creative Charms. If you like them, I suggest you keep an eye out on Crafty Steals as you NEVER KNOW when something like that could arrive! I have also created this layout for the Color Challenge at A Cherry On Top. The challenge was really NO color....as in background. Your background had to be 50% white. Easy Peasy for me as I am still a fan of a white background!!

TGIF!

TGI my Friday is all I can say. The past few weeks have just not been on my side. I was so excited to come home and scrap tonight but apparently my scrapping mojo is lost somewhere! Hopefully it will just be one "eh" layout and it will return! I did this layout using the sketch by Helen Croft which is the challenge this week at Sketches In Thyme. I love the papers which are My Minds Eye that I got from a steal at Crafty Steals a while back and I love the pictures of my Valentines Day traditional breakfast and candy for the kids, but I DON'T so much love how the layout came out once I put it all together. I almost feel like I am trying too hard and nothing is coming together. I have so much on my mind....my mom is still in the hospital and not doing much better but seems to be taking all of her frustration out on me, I'm having major work related issues which have been weighing on my mind and will probably come to a head on Monday so I am not looking forward to this weekend ending, my kids are busy with the startup of Fall sports and I just feel overwhelmed, like there is not enough hours in the day to do what I need to get done. I haven't scrapped in what feels like forever....probably close to 2 weeks! Man am I a whiner or what! Phew...I feel better now! I knew I could count on my blog buddies to let me vent! What? You didn't have a choice, you say? Sure you did....you could have stopped reading at the first set of whines but you are still here and I and thankful for that! I need to refocus my brain on things that I AM thankful for and stop the woe is me! OK I think I got it all out of my system! At any rate, here is the first of what will hopefully be several layouts and challenges completed tonight! Miss you all!!

Guest Designer at Crafty Steals

Have you heard of Crafty Steals? Its a "deal a day" site that offers great deals on scrapbooking supplies at a great discount! But act fast, once the deal of the day is gone, its gone! I am so happy to be the Guest Designer for the month of August! My first assignment was actually for TODAY'S steal!! American Crafts Blue Skies collection. Make sure you check it out before its gone! Here are some layouts I created with this line and I have a TON of paper leftover for more!! Stay tuned for more layouts using upcoming steals and make sure to stop by the Crafty Steals website!!!

Now that's more like it!

This is post #2 for today. Scroll down for other posts.

OK, NOW I feel much better. This is more like me!! After I posted the last one, I hopped over to my friend Barb's blog at Crafty Girl. She is on the design team at Practical Scrappers and showed her take on the weekly sketch that I had forgotten all about! I looked around to see if I could get immediate inspiration and I did! I had just received an order from Crafty Steals containing some nice KI Memories paper assortments. The photo was already sitting on my desk as were ALL of the other embellishments except for the

Making Memories epoxy shapes (the heart, the love tag and the photo corner). THOSE I had to dig for and have had them for well over one year (probably closer to 3) so yep....another one qualifies at Practical Scrappers for the weekly challenge! My title started with the "Be Mine Forever" woven tag. Frosted Designs challenge this week is to use a song title on your page. I was a little annoyed at myself because last week I had done the Pina Colada page and that would have worked but it was done and posted long before the challenge came out. I'm sure people do that, but I figure if I'm going to play along with all the challenges out there, I want to create something new and make a dent in my scrapping. Besides, I don't really do them for the prizes...even though its fun to win stuff! I just LOVE challenges. Simple as that! That is not to say I don't LOVE when I can combine several challenges into one layout as I have done here!

I basically used the sketch to a "t" but added the flowers and bling up the right side. The title is a line from the song "Forever" by John Michael Montgomery which qualifies it for the Frosted Designs challenge. The pink letters I got on clearance at Walmart and are by Martha Stewart! They are blowing all Martha's stuff out and I've been able to get a few really good deals! The black letters are Doodlebug and the woven tag is Making Memories. All of the paper its from KI Memories. The flowers are my cheapo wedding aisle paper roses and some small blue silk flowers from AC Moore....a whole stem with 25-30 flowers was only 49c. I used some leftover pieces of bling and vinyl flourishes that have been floating around so I got rid of some stuff, finally made a layout I like and am ready for the next one! But first I MUST go to the bank!!!! So this time I really mean it....I will not be back till later!  Sorry about the not so great photo...I had a hard time finding a shady spot on the porch...its HOT and BRIGHT out there today!

Scraplift Challenge and Monsters!!!

I got a great box of goodies in the mail today from Crafty Steals!! My Minds Eye Holiday paper sets! I LOVE My Minds Eye paper! As soon as I got home from the baby shower for my friend, Lisa, I sat down and created two layouts! The first one is my adorable baby girl on the merry-go-round! I just love how happy she looks!! I used the "Be Loved" line and this is a scraplift of a layout done by LilKoala at the A Cherry On Top forum for the Scraplift The Guest Design Team challenge. Here is her layout:

The second one uses a PageMaps sketch from 10/09 and is all three of my kids dressed up for Halloween 2001! I used the MME Boo To You line for this one and it qualifies for the color challenge, also at A Cherry On Top. The main color had to be ORANGE.

And now, for the MONSTERS. Nope, its not the monsters in the above layout! Its the monsters that I live with! The other night I was sitting at my desk when John asked me something from the kitchen. There is window between the two rooms and I rolled back on my chair to answer him when all of a sudden it was lights out! I went backwards on the chair, the chair popped out from under me and scrapping supplies began pouring down on top of me! Instead of rushing to my aid to get me out of the chair...trust me...I could not MOVE....what did they do? John and Matt both ran for the camera. This is the result. 

 Yes, I was laughing.....I laugh at myself all the time because things like this happen to me ALL THE TIME!! I was on the phone with my mom when this all happened and scared her half to death! LOL!! All she heard was a crashing sound and Matt asking if I was alright, in between his hysterical laughter! Yep. I live with monsters!! Hope this gives you a giggle too!

Guest Designer for Crafty Steals!!

Boy, its been an exciting two weeks for me as far as scrapping goes!  To think that just 6 months ago, I never took photos of my layouts, never shared them online, never entered a challenge or a contest!!

My news today is this.....I will be the Guest Designer for the month of August for Crafty Steals!  If you have not checked them out, you should!!  They are a "deal-a-day" site for scrapbookers, with really great deals!!  You know all those layouts I have been posting lately using the My Minds Eye Just Dreamy2 line?  Yup, got that HUGE pack of paper at a steal from Crafty Steals!  I've also received a great assortment of Jillibean Soup papers and today ordered a steal of Cosmo Cricket!  All the brands you know and love, at a fraction of the retail cost!  I can't wait to see what the steals for August will be and what I get to play with!

I'm hoping to get some scrapping done tonight after work.  Not sure though, as Crew has started and both Susie and Matt are doing it....of course they couldn't be rowing for the same Rowing Club...oh no, that would make Mom's life too easy!  Instead Susie is rowing for Viking Rowing Club in Ventnor, NJ on Mondays and Wednesdays   from 6-8 and Matthew is rowing for Brigantine Rowing Club in Brigantine, NJ on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-8.  Its a 20 minute ride to either one so its not close enough to make it worthwhile for me to drop off, come home and go pick back up.  With the price of gas, and besides the fact I'd be home about an hour and have to leave again, you know where I will be 4 nights a week!  I just keep telling myself that I can sleep in 6 years when they are both out of high school!!

Sassy Little Sketches & Frosted Designs

I didn't clean up after my last layout ("Already Twelve"...see post below) so after returning home from grocery shopping, watching the end of the Nascar race and getting the lasagna for tonight's dinner prepared and in the oven, I sat back down. While watching the race I was also blog hopping and came across this sketch at Sassy Lil' Sketches:

I had already printed this photo of Susie and our cat, Cloudy as I was going to use this one for the layout I did earlier but changed my mind. I grabbed the photo, looked around at the mess on my desk and thought "I can do something with this". Everything on this layout is leftovers from the earlier layout with the exception of the title letters (you can't tell but they are glitter) which I picked up on Friday at Target on the 99c rack! The only other items I had to dig out were the buttons and the doily. All the papers are scraps from My Minds Eye. I got an assortment pack about a month ago at a great deal from CraftySteals and boy have I gotten a lot of use out of it. The patterns are so nice and work well with so many themes. The butterfly brads as well as the center of the two larger flowers are from CreativeCharms Deal of the Month from May. I have also gotten a ton of layouts out of that assortment pack! The felt butterfly is leftover Heidi Swapp that I coated with crystal glitter (gotta get that glitter in for Frosted Designs. The tiny flower is glitter Petaloo Dazzlers. The doily is by Wilton and the pearls under the flower on the doily that you can barely see in the picture are by Wrights.

Now I really must clean up my desk a little. I'm about tired of pink and greenish-blue!