Hoping to get lucky with LYB

I love St. Patty's Day, I love a good sketch, I love a challenge and I love Little Yellow Bicycle...one of my fave scrappy companies ever!! So imagine how happy I was to work on a layout about St. Patty's Day using a sketch for a challenge by LYB! So stinkin happy that's how happy!!!! I saw the sketch on LYB's facebook page the other day and knew I just had to play around with it and I knew as soon as I saw it I was gonna work on a layout for St. Patty's Day...for 2 reasons...reason one...I own alot of LYB's lucky me line and reason 2...my favorite beer swigging holiday is just around the corner! Yeah for beer! And yeah for all sorts of LYB cuteness! Even though my inspiration was the LYB Lucky Me line I rarely work with one line exclusively...I usually like to mix things up...so when I did this layout I ended up using a little bit of stuff from a bunch of LYB lines including Lucky Me, Wonders and Wishes, Zach's Life and Pack Your Bags. The orange hexagon paper from Pack Your Bags line was a definite must use...it's just an awesome paper. The only thing on this layout that isn't LYB is th little orange letters ...those are sandylion...and the labels which are from October Afternoon and the paint which is by Ranger.
Here's the sketch...


 

and here's my take on the sketch...



I already submitted mine to LYB for the Sketch Challenge ...wish me luck...the winner takes home $50 in LYB goodies. Whoot Whoot! If you want to try your hand at the sketch challenge you can check out LYB's facebook page or blog. Happy scrapping y'all!

cutest cookbook evah

OK so I don't know for 100% sure this is actually the cutest cookbook evah...after all cuteness is subjective...but to me it is no doubt the cutest thing evah and my niece, who I made it for, 100% agrees! She got it for Christmas this past year and she absolutely loved it...like clutched her chest, held back tears, oh my, oh my, loved it! She was so excited to see what it was when she opened it and I totally loved that she loved it. After all as a scrapper we all know homemade gifts can be a big hit or a complete and total dud. It's so unfortunate that so many people just don't appreciate the time, effort and lovin that goes into a stellar handmade gift...luckily for me my niece is not one of those people. She loved it so much it's just too bad it wasn't from me. LOL. See even though I am the one who spent 20+ hours lovingly crafting this amazing cookbook, it was actually a gift from my sister to her. Let me explain...see in our family my sister is the cook...I am the crafter. Our niece is a little bit of both of us...she loves to craft and loves to cook and of course we are both more than happy to share our talents and teach her everything we know....especially considering none of our combined 7 kids have any interest in either subject. So since my sister has been teaching my niece to cook all of the great family recipes my grandma's handed down to her she thought it would be great to give her a family cookbook for x-mas so being that she isn't the crafter she asked me if I would make it for her if she gave me the recipes...so naturally since I only had 100 other things to do before Christmas I said sure, why not! LOL.
Since I have never done a cookbook before I had pretty much zero in the way of cooking related supplies in my stash...so poor me had to go shopping. Had to keep the shopping to a minimum since this gift wasn't actually from me so the plan was to find something stellar to kick off with and fill in with generic scrappy supplies from my stash...luckily my scrap store had some of the Savor line by LYB in stock so I snagged the super adorable chip board shapes to get me started and then spent a little more buying some cooking related die cuts that my LSS sells. At another store I bought the Nan's Favourites paper pack from Kaiser Craft which has super cute papers and a bunch of kitchen/cooking themed die-cuts. All together it was only about $10. Everything else I used on this album came from my stash which was a few embroidered pieces, some papers and some labels including the mega adorable and totally perfect labels from Fontwerks...love that they looked just like recipe cards. I also used lots and lots and lots of letters from my stash...especially the little ones from Cosmo Cricket and My Little Shoebox....good thing I have lots of them! The album I used is an old 8x8 album I had from Pioneer...it was perfect for a cookbook because the cover is vinyl covered fabric and can be wiped clean.
OK enough typing...time for some pics...enjoy!

purge, clean, shop, create, repeat

Here's what I learned this weekend..it's amazing how much stuff you can get into in 3 days time when you are trying to avoid doing what you really should be doing. See I am supposed to be selecting, editing and printing pics in preparation of the 4 day crop I'm going to in 3 weeks but instead of doing that I ended doing everything but. Seriously... I cleaned, created, shopped, purged, cleaned some more and then shopped some more...everything but edit pics. I know I will so regret the procrastinating but on the plus side I got tons done this weekend. ...one layout, 2 projects, purged a bunch of stuff, put away some stuff and got a bunch of great new stuff.
First I did some creating...I did an absolutely amazing layout using lots of fun ink techniques...cool right...except I can't show it to you cause it's for a page call for Creating Keepsakes :( sorry ...I really really really wish I could show it to you all cause I was major happy with how it turned out. I couldn't finish it right away though cause I needed a heat gun...I had one but the cord was all chewed up and I thought best not to use a super hot tool with exposed wires around a ton of paper...thinking that was a pretty good call. Anyways this is the part where the shopping comes in...I had a couple 50% off coupons for ACMoore so off I went to get my new heat gun. Since I had more than one coupon I dragged the kiddos along to make the trip worth it...I got the heat gun for 10 bucks after the coupon and they each got a couple packs of WRMK page protectors for me...total bargain at 2.99 for a 10 pack. So with heat gun in hand it was back to creating...didn't take too long and my masterpiece was done. So naturally after all that creating it was time for some cleaning...had to put away all the shtuff I used to create the layout. That didn't actually take so long...since I was working with inks I tried to keep my workspace pretty clean while I working so I didn't accidentally ink something that should'nt be inked....since I've been known to do that on occasion (read: all the time). After cleaning I got pics taken of my layout and off it went to CK. Fingers crossed.
That brings me to Saturday...another day with no desire to sit and edit pics. Instead I started working on putting away a pile o'crap from a bunch of kits I was done with...a totally overwhelming task but I really needed to get it done. I started working on it but it wasn't long before I got distracted and started yet another entirely different project...purging. For this i am blaming my friend Tina...it's her fault I had purging on the brain in the first place...she was telling me Friday about how she was purging her scrap supplies and how her space was so clean now yadda yadda yadda...so in the midst of working on one project to avoid working on another project I started working on another...crazy right! I know. I know. I did get through a lot though...in the time it took to watch 2 Harry Potter movies I managed to get through all my boxes of theme stuff and purged quite a bit....seriously......check it out...

all of this lovely stuff is destined for a scrap swap and sell event in the not so distant future...really pathetic to see all this unopened stuff in this box but I am glad to finally have it all one step closer to being out of my house and I am majorly looking forward to the cash this pile can bring me...after all I have more scrap stuff I want to buy...it's such a never ending cycle! So after I got all this stuff purged it was back to my big ol box of scrap crap to put away. I started sorting it into little piles and putting it away a little bit at a time. I made a little progress but once again before I could make a real dent in it I got distracted....this time with more creating. See as I was going through my box of stuff to be put away I found a big bag of chipboard circles and squares that were the leftovers from some x-mas calendars I made like 3 years ago. Of course I held onto them because that's what I do...I hold onto stuff ...not because I have specific plans to use it but because the stuff has potential...and who can throw out a big bag of potential. Apparently not me. But since it had been 3 years since I had even laid eyes on the bag I figured it might be time to bite the bullet and just toss it....that was until I opened the bag....and whoosh just like that all that potential came rushing out and before I knew it I had all the circles and squares out of the bag and was moving them around and around and around until bam!!...there it was...an idea...a really cool idea...so out came the glue and the glue dots and before long I turned most of those circles into this...

A fabulous Christmas wreath!! Isn't this the coolest. I think so ...and to think I almost threw them all in the trash. Fueled by my success with the circles I tried to come up with something to make with the squares and after a little trial and error here's what I made with those...

Not quite as cute as the wreath but I like it. I still have a ton of the squares left so I think I will be making some more of these. Not bad huh...two great projects from a bag of stuff that was minutes from the trash barrel and as an added bonus it's only February and I already got 2 Christmas projects done!

So by the time Sunday rolls around my scraproom looks like a bomb was dropped in there...guess that is to be expected after working on too many things at once...so I decided it's time for more cleaning...I cleaned off some of my workspace...got it to that good nuff stage.. and then it was back to working on the box o'scrap crap again. I really really did try to make some progress on getting it all put away but it wasn't long before I decided what I really need to do was some more shopping. This I blame on ACMoore and their clever marketing...see when I went shopping for my heat gun, etc. with my 50% coupons they gave me 55% off coupons for Sunday and Monday...naturally I couldn't pass up using those...so this time I dragged the hubster and the kids and off we went for a quick trip to ACMoore. Top of my list for my 55% off coupon...a Martha Stewart score board. So happy to finally own one...and just $11.25 after the coupon. Since I had more than one 55% off coupon I looked around for more stuff I just had to have...finally decided on a new corner punch because my old one is being held together by scotch tape..$4.95 after the coupon. I also found an amazing deal on American Crafts ribbon...24 rolls (4 feet each) for $6.75 after the coupon...works out to .21 a yard for lots of polka dot rainbow goodness. I used my last coupon on a practical purchase...glue dots...got the 4 pack for $7 after coupons. I also got some thickers since all the stickers were 40% off...after all who can say no to thickers for 2.99. I also got some stickers from ATD...love their stuff..super cute and super cheap at 40% off. Here's a peak at my haul...

Of course when I got home I had to put all of this away. Oh well...it was a productive weekend. Hopefully tomorrow I won't find so much stuff to do and can get to editing those pics....but I doubt it.

Tweek Tweek

So remember how I said the other day I was doing my scrappy chores and putting all my layouts in albums and it was taking forever...of course you remember...anyways even if you don't I guess it's not that important...see the thing was it was taking forevah and it was taking forevah cause I couldn't help but inspect and critique them before I put them in...not a good idea I know...when it comes to layouts I believe you should live by the motto..."whats done is done" ...but I couldn't help myself. Some of the layouts in my stack were from months and months ago and because it had been so long since I worked on them I was looking at them with a fresh perspective...which basically means I was looking at them and going I could of, should of, would of. Most of them I was perfectly happy with and put in as is but a few of them bugged me...one had crooked ribbon...an easy enough fix with the magic of un-du, another needed a bit more color, another simple fix...just added a few buttons and it was done. But one layout really needed some tweeking. I loved the layout when I did it but after I got it done I did my journaling by hand directly on the layout and totally wrecked it...I never never never should've done it...but oh well what's done is done...right...wrong!! When I saw it again it was still bugging me and I couldn't put it in the album with the cruddy journaling so I tweeked it...I added a journal spot to cover the old journaling which made a humungous difference...but even after I fixed the journaling I couldn't stop tweeking...I added some twine to the tag and a chipboard heart too which was just the perfect finishing touch and then because I had a small empty area on the new journaling spot I added a few more embellies there too. I was totally thrilled with all the changes...amazing what a few tweeks can do.
Here is the new improved version...



doesn't the tag look better with a bit of twine...so cute...



and there is no denying the new journal spot is 100% times better than the previous disaster...



here's the original to compare...



So glad I made the changes to this layout...note to self for future layouts...journal spots are my friends!

Some stinkin cute cards

Happy VD everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday and by that I mean I hope you all got big boxes of chocolates...after all that is the best thing about today...lots and lots of chocolate! Hubster got me a box of my faves...chocolate covered cherries...yummers!! It was a nice treat since we usually don't exchange gifts...just cards...his store bought and mine hand made of course cause as you all know...nothing says lovin like a handmade card!
This year's cards were full of lots of love and some major cuteness...lots and lots of fuzzy cuteness.
This is the one I made for the hubster...



this is the one I made for son...



and lastly ...the one I made for my daughter...I just love the deer...it's so cute...



They are mega adorable right!! That great embossed heart paper is from american crafts and all those adorable critters are from Martha Stewart...I know...martha...yuck...I hate her too..but some of ther stuff is cute.
The hubster and my daughter loved theirs...my 18 year old son was like eh, whatever. LOL...at least he liked the big bag of candy the card was attached to.

Using some old stuff in a rocking way

If your anything like me (or the bazillion other scrapbook hoarders out there) you probably have all sorts of amazing, totally terrific, super duper, mega awesome scrap crap you just can't part with. Lawdy lawdy knows I totally have more than mere words can describe. And like everyone else who is just like me I eventually get to a point where I begin to think about whether or not I should or should not part with the afore mentioned scrap crap. Granted I never really get much past the "thinking about" stage so none of my stuff is in real danger at the moment so no need to panic. But I do think someday fueled by too many 5 Hour Energy drinks I may just go buck wild and purge, purge, purge but I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.
For now it all just sits there...waiting...waiting to be used, waiting to be loved again, waiting to be part of something, something totally awesome. Well the other day for one lucky little embellishment that dream came true! Yep it was a good day for one of those old, forgotton embellies and a good day for me cause had I gone on a purging spree it probably would've ended up in the gotta go, see ya later alligator pile which would've been so sad cause it was absolutely without a doubt perfect for this rockin layout I did of my super adorable rocking doggie.
I had the whole layout almost done and realized I left a pretty large space all across the bottom of the layout and as much as I love my white space it just wasn't working...I knew I need sumthing to put there and was totally clueless about what until I thought about some ribbon and as soon as I thought of ribbon it was like WHAM...flash of brilliance..and I was super excited cause I remembered this awesome bad ass looking trim I bought cause it looked like a dog collar. I must've bought it at least 3 years ago maybe even longer and I never evah used a single piece of it ...until this layout...



Isn't my pups just too cute for words! She definitely has the rock star look...if only she really knew how to play.



and isn't that trim just too stinkin perfect for words!! I mean without it the layout was cute...with it ...it ROCKS!!
So the moral of the story today ladies...procrastinating and hoarding are not always bad things. ;)

Recent Layouts

Here's some of what I have been working on the last couple weeks...



my hubby and son at the nascar race in loudon, nh. I had some nascar stickers but they were pretty cheesy so instead of using them as is i added some of them to cardstock to create embellishments...I used a circle punch to cut out the dupont sticker from a much larger sticker and added it to a piece of chipboard to create an awesome little embellie.



a simple graphic layout of my son in his first roadrace...to make him stand out in the photos I added a wide oval vignette around him and removed the color leaving only him in color...I really love the effect.



I layered thickers to create the title ...instead of using white pop up dots under the top layer which would probably show I used another letter from the same set of thickers and cut it apart and used it like pop up dots.



Was super happy with how this layout turned out... the awesome die cut paper and leaf transparencies are from little yellow bicycle ...so cute...love their stuff...there is another transparency around the photo in the lower left corner but it doesn't show up that well in the picture.



Aren't the flowers on this layout awesome! I wish I could take credit for them but I didn't make em...my scrap buddy Tina made them and then was nice enough to share...she made them by wrapping twine in a circle on a piece of cardstock and then painted them...the colors worked perfectly with my pics! love!

Long time, no posts

So umm yeah it's been a while since I posted last...to be super specific it's been 12,506, 760 seconds since I posted last...talk about a long time. And for those of you rushing off to grab your calculators I will save you the trip and tell you that 12,506,760 seconds is 144 days 18 hours and 6 minutes....or about 5 months!!! Yikes!! I've got all sorts of excuses to throw at ya as to why I've been absent....I was busy at Christmas, I have been watching way to much Big Bang Theory, I have been busy couponing, I have been busy with the kids, etc. etc. etc... I could go on and on but the biggest reason I haven't posted is cause I haven't really had much to post about. I haven't really scrapped much in the past 5 months. I did get a couple day long crops in with my buddy Tina and an occasional night in with my other scrap buddy Jenny but for the most part I haven't done squat. Just wasn't into it anymore. The few times I went into my scraproom to do anything I only lasted about 15 minutes before getting back up and going to do something else. The only time I did manage to get anything done was just before Christmas..I made a recipe book for my niece...and I only did that because I had to cause it was a gift...although I have to say it came out awesome and I was totally obsessed with it..but after it was done I had no desire to scrap again. I guess I was just in a slump...a huge mega long ridiculous slump.
Well good news peeps...the slump is over...actually not only is it over but I am back with a vengance! Seriously I have been doing something scrap related for like 2 weeks straight. It's crazy...it's like I can't stop now that I've started again. It all started 2 weeks ago when I finally got together to scrap all day with my buddy Tina...we hadn't scrapped together in months so it was really good to get together...well good except for the packing...always hate the packing. Anyways we scrapped from 10 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and I got 4 layouts done!! And while I know 4 layouts is not a big number to be super impressed with what was so awesome about our little crop was how the moojo was just flowing...seriously it was just oozing .. OK that sounds a little gross..but you get the picture. Anyways since then I have been a scrapping fool...I scrapped the next day...a couple times during the week...and then skype scrapped with Tina the following Saturday. I even brought some layouts to work so I could work on the journaling during lunch. And this week I finished a few layouts and worked on a ton of scrappy chores. I mean a ton.
For some reason even though I haven't scrapped in ages my scraproom was trashed!! I had tons of stuff to put away including all the paper I bought last year...all 8 inches of it...yep I'm a paperholic!!! So that took 2 nights of steady work sorting it all and putting it all away. After I got all that done I moved on to going through my scraps...that was another night of non-stop work. Got them all sorted and put away and even started a super fun project with them all....will share that later ;) Anyways today was spent doing more scrappy chores...I took pics of the layouts I finished and uploaded them and then spent most of the day putting all the layouts I got done in albums...again it's odd how I rarely scrapped in the last 5 months but I had a huge stack of layouts to go though. It took all day to put them in the right albums...probably would've gone faster but naturally after I got most of them in I realized I missed one ...ugggh! I finally finished a little while ago and proceeded to clean my entire desk off. Thinkin that is definitely enough chores for today. Unfortunately I still have more to do tomorrow...I have to fix a couple old layouts, put away a huge box of random embellishments from all the layouts I've done and backup all my photos....oh and post about my fun scrap project. That should keep me pretty busy tomorrow.