Mug Shots of Mom

This layout came together quickly! The photos were random shots John took (the first two when I wasn't paying attention) when we were in Busch Gardens over the Summer. I haven't done anything with them because I didn't like the photos. But then came Challenge #2 at the ACOT crop. We had to create a layout based on this ad as inspiration:

We had to have a title, 3 photos, and the numbers 1,2 & 3. I think i turned out cute. I used My Minds Eye Breaking Away paper for the background, leftover Sass Lass from the last layout for the photo mat. The shield is also My Minds Eye. Letters are Thickers and Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type. TFL!

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!

What a Rock Star! (Sketchy Thursdays)

I have tried at least a dozen times to get a decent photo of this layout and it just will not cooperate! So this is as good as it gets. I may try again when the sun goes down a little bit. The chipboard letters at the bottom that look black are actually a metallic teal color that match the papers perfectly! Not sure I'll be able to get that to photograph properly no matter what I do!

The photos are my daughter when she was just 5 years old. There was a store in the mall called Club Libby Lu and she had been invited to a birthday party there. They dress the girls up in glitzy, glam clothes, do their hair in the "theme" they pick out (things like Rock Star, Princess, Punk Rocker, Glam Girl, etc), put makeup on them and then at the end they all do a little dance! It was really cute. I'm not sure if they are even around anymore. This particular party, Susie chose the Rock Star theme and came home with these crazy turquoise hair pieces in and if you look closely you can see a headset with a microphone (a la Madonna/Britney Spears!) She had silver stars glued onto her face and just looked adorable! She...actually we both...look so young!! 7 years really does a number on a body.

This layout uses the weekly sketch at Sketchy Thursdays. I got to it early this week! Last week I submitted with just 10 minutes to spare! Most of the papers are Lilly Bee with the exception of the star paper at the top and the paper on the turquoise star which are My Minds Eye. The star chipboard is by Melody Ross, the letters are all Colorbok from the $1 spot at Target and the bling I am not sure as it was in my stash without any packaging.

I'm A Finalist at Sketchy Thursdays!

I'm so excited!! I submitted the below layout to be chosen as a Guest Design Team Member at Sketchy Thursdays! I just hopped over there and found out that I am in the top 5!!! If you don't mind, please go to Sketchy Thursdays and vote for your favorite - even if its not mine!! And wish me luck!!

Manufacturer Challenges

Between yesterday and today I completed two layouts.  The first one is for the Creative Imaginations June Sketch Layout Contest.  I used Creative Imaginations papers from the Christine Adolph Oceana line, felt border by Queen & Co. and felt fishies from Michael's.  Brads and photo turns are from my stash.  The photos are more from our trip to Antigua.  We took a catamaran excursion where John did a lot of snorkeling while I enjoyed the free-flowing Rum punch on the boat!  After snorkeling, we pulled up to a lovely beach where we had a lovely BBQ lunch and a performance by an incredible Limbo Dancer.  It was a GREAT day!

This layout was a tough one for me.  Its the first layout I have done that had a photo of Michael on it since he passed away.  As happy as I am right now....I have a wonderful man in my life now, my kids are terrific, sometimes I think I will never get through the grieving process.  Its been several years already but every once in a while I am dragged right back to that horrible day when I was faced with something that nobody should ever have to do....I had to tell my children that their father was gone.  Michael and I were separated at the time of his death but he was still my best friend.  He had a terrible time with alchoholism and I just couldn't live like that anymore.  I miss him so much. He was a wonderful father and it hurts me so much to see my kids growing up and knowing how much he is missing.  As I put in my journaling, I can only hope that Heaven really is a better place because its really hard to live here without him in our lives.

I did this layout for the My Minds Eye Challenge.  The theme is "Remember" and there is a sketch to follow and the layout must contain 80% MME products.  I used the OOH, LA LA line.  The journaling card is from the So Sophie line but I cut off the trim that did not match!  This layout has a lot of meaning to me. The three butterflies that are flying out of the broken heart symbolize my three kids.  They will always remember their Dad but they are spreading their wings and soaring despite the lousy hand they have been dealt at such a young age.

This was very emotional for me today, especially considering Father's Day is this Sunday.  So I think that I will take a break from scrapping, get some housework done and then pick the kids up from school and do a little shopping!  I am sure I will be back tonight as I HOPE to get some scrappy time later on!

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere!

I started this layout last night but it got late and had to put it aside to finish today after work. As much as I LOVE glitter, I have to admit that with it being the challenge at TWO of the Challenge sites I visit often, I will be GLAD to see the end of the glitter for a little while! This one has it packed on! There is a light aqua border of glitter around the whole layout, the chipboard letters are silver glittered and I got them on the clearance rack at Michaels after Christmas, the felt snowflakes I picked up at the Dollar Store over the winter and while they say they are glittered, they weren't cutting it for me! I had to add glitter SNOW by Magic Scraps to them! The small flowers are glittered and by Petaloo Dazzlers. The large pink flowers that are folded in half are Heidi Swapp and the pearls are from my stash.   Enough glitter? Nope....there's also a Fancy Pants Glitter cut under the title and running onto the photos. The papers are SEI cardstock, Bo Bunny (pink paper) and My Minds Eye (aqua). I have made such a mess making this layout. There is glitter EVERYWHERE, including my eyes! This layout is submitted to the following challenges:

1. Frosted Designs - Use Glitter

2. Practical Scrappers - Use Loose Glitter or Flocking

3. Sketch Inspirations - Sketch
4. The Pink Elephant - Use a black and white photo.

I think I'm done with the glitter for a while. I know its only Tuesday and I could get a few more entries in for the drawings, but let's just say, GLITTER wins!

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!

She can't be TWELVE!!

Exactly twelve years ago today, I delivered the most beautiful, perfect, tiny little angel and made my family complete, giving her two older brothers a baby sister. We finally had our little girl! 6lbs 5oz and 21 inches of pure heaven. The years that have passed since her birth have been filled with love, giggles, kisses and hugs, lots of tears, some heartbreak, definitely some girly attitude and a whole lot of fun. I have cherished every last second of being her mother and while I am sad that my "baby" has turned 12 today....I swear she was taking her first steps last week and sharing a bowl of soup with Daddy just yesterday (oh lordy, here come the tears) I know that I have so much more to look forward to. I may be a little biased but I think my daughter is growing up to be a beautiful person, both on the outside and inside. She has the sweetest little voice and the biggest heart you'll ever find. I love you Susan Elizabeth. Without you, my life would not have been complete.

OK....the details - this layout is for the Sketchy Thursday July GDT. The sketch I worked from is this one:

I used scraps from My Minds Eye and Bo Bunny to create the strips which I distressed with the Distrezz-it-All at 7am this morning!! When I tell you this thing is LOUD....think a chain saw cutting down a tree!! Some of the strips are raised on pop dots, others on a lower foam tape and others flat to the background page. Its hard to see all the dimension in a flat photo. I added lots of pearls which is my daughter's birthstone. I used pearls from ZVA Creations and Best Creations (Walmart's brand). I used some Prima paper flowers and added a rhinestone to the centers, some Petaloo Dazzlers glittered flowers for the Frosted Designs challenge and a few Heidi Swapp felt butterflies. The letters are Basic Grey Lemonade. Thanks for looking and listening to me boo hoo about my baby!!

Mom's Star

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! I haven't had much time in my scraproom, even though I was off work yesterday. My daughter's birthday is tomorrow and I was running all over creation on Friday making sure my baby got the gifts that she asked for! All she really asked for was a digital camera. I got her a small Polaroid Point & Shoot on sale at Target for $50! As a surprise, I bought her a hoodie and 5 t-shirts from Hollister (off the clearance rack of course!) for under $50 so mom was THRILLED! Hollister, for those that don't know, is VERY expensive in my opinion. $25+ for a t-shirt branded with their name all over it! A pair of shorts that wouldn't cover much behind were $29! YIKES! My daughter is only turning 12 yet a lot of her friends have Hollister clothing and I could never justify it. But I wanted her to be surprised so I checked the clearance racks. I was so happy when I got to the store to find out that they were offering an additional 30% off their clearance prices and there was TONS to choose from! One of the t-shirts I got her ended up being a little over $3 yet the tag says $24.50! Now that's what I call a great deal....mom is happy with the price and daughter will be beyond happy with the shirt! We are about to get ready to go out for her birthday dinner to Famous Daves. Yummy BBQ! She is bringing her BFF, Alisa, and I let her open her camera so she can take pictures at her b-day dinner!!

1. Sketch Inspirations - Sketch
2. Pink Elephant - Use a black and white photo
3. Frosted Designs - Use glitter (title)
4. Stuck on You Sketches - Embossing (I embossed the two larger stars)

 5. Scrap Fit - Use a machine - used Cricut and Cuttlebug