Yeah, it's time for CHA!

CHA is here and I am so excited. I don't know if I am more excited about the show or about having 3 days off from work. I guess it doesn't matter - either way I know I am going to have a great time. I can't wait to see all of the new things that the manufacturers have to offer. I will post updates on my blog starting tomorrow.

I <3 Thickers

When I find a storage solution that really works, I like to share it with others. I really love using Thickers (from American Crafts) on all of my projects. I have aquired so many packages of Thickers that I had to find a way to store them so I could find them when I needed them. I found this great container one day when I was shopping at Target. Now I can easliy flip through my Thickers and see what I have very quickly.

Sewing

Have you ever tried sewing on your scrapbook pages? Here a look at a page I did this morning. I thought I would add a little detail by adding some stitches to the page (I have never tried this before) I think the results were pretty good.

My first 8 1/2 x 11 layout

Here's my first attempt at a 8 1/2 x 11 layout. I think I like this size - less space to fill up. This is one of my favorite photos of all time. This photo was taken by my friend Luis. That little cutie is his son, Caden (about 4 - 5 years ago).

Another creative stretch for me was the use of stickles. I love the way stickles look but I often struggle with when and how I use them. The Mickey icon and the letters for Caden's name have been "stickled". I have never used this much of my "stickles" on a project.

Hope this inspires you to stretch your creative muscles ;-)

Happy Father's Day

It may seem a little odd but this is what I made my dad for Father's Day. He loves this dog and has hardly any pictures of him.

Photo blog updates

I have finally figured out that I should just use my camera phone to take pictures for my POTD project. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. The pictures aren't high quality but I am not striving for perfection. To view my photo of the day blog, click the link on the right side of the screen.

An oldie but a goodie...

Our IT guy in our office recently found out that he will have a new addition to his family in December. He is a great guy and this is going to be their first child. I think it is very cute how he comes into my office and will just drop some random baby information. This week he came into my office and said "Well, it's just one..." One what? I was thinking, but quickly realized he was talking about the new baby which I have lovingly nicknamed "Sea Monkey". Any one who knows me knows that I LOVE babies! So having a new little one on the way to buy cute stuff for thrills me. Plus, we get to have another baby shower! (YEAH!!!)


That leads me to the photo below ... this was a diaper wreath I made for a baby shower we had in our office last year. Super easy to make and functional because you decorate the wreath with small baby items (botties, mittens, teething rings...) You could also use the diapers if you wanted to. This is a super easy, super cute project that is sure to WOW the parents to be!

Flip flop album (Cosmo Cricket)

Here's a peek at my first attempt at a mini album made out of flip flops. I think it turned out pretty good. Just need to find some photos. Patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Snorkel.

Bungle Jungle mini

Here is a mini album I made for some pictures of my favorite little guy using the Bungle Jungle paper from Sassafrass Lass. I absolutely love this paper - it is so great for pictures of kids. I have been doing a lot of mini albums lately. This one is called a flip out album.

You've gotta love Disney!

Who doesn't love Disney? Growing up so close to the House of Mouse it was required that you like Disney. That's probably why when Debbie suggested a Disney album for a March class a jumped at the chance.

The class will be on March 28th. Please contact Scrap Paper Scissors for more information: http://scrappaperscissorsinc.blogspot.com/

New projects

I just finished two projects. I think they turned out pretty good. The first is a small baby book made with a Maya Road Scalloped ring album. I think I am going to add a couple more touches to this album. It's going to be a great class. Also the papers are double sided. I used the sides of the paper that were kind of gender neutral but this could be totally frilled up for a girl or toned down for a boy.

My next project was a Valentine's Day explosion box. I told Debbie that if I was going to do another explosion box class we were going to make this one special. On this box the base layer has flip out panels and the middle layer is a clear acrylic sheet. Super COOL!!!

Now it's time to start thinking of ideas for March!

Happy New Year!!!

Normally I am not excited about a new but this year is different. I am glad 2008 is over. Don't get me wrong, 2008 wasn't a bad year - it just wasn't a great one. Like many years, 2008 had it's ups and downs but we made it through ok.

January has brought me a renewed sense of hope. I feel inspired. I feel like I can do something. Not sure what that something is but I know it will be great. This year will be the year Thomas & I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. This will be the year I turn the big 3 - 0!!!

I hope 2009 has something special in store for all us....

Countdown to Christmas - Day 10

As of today, Christmas is 10 days away. It is hard to believe that this month has gone by so fast. This year I have decided to document the time leading up to this big holiday.

As of right now, I am starting to enter panic mode. I still have so much left to do and so little time to do it in. After an aggravating day at work, I came home and got to work on my to do list. My first task was to complete some assignments for school. Unfortunately, this left me with no time to wrap these presents -

We have had our tree up and decorated for weeks now. Now we seem to running out of room for all of the presents. Thomas and I always pledge to cut back on our gift giving every year, but some how the Christmas spirit gets the better of us -

We have gifts scattered all around the house. This is really frustrating for Thomas since he always wants to keep our home neat and tidy (I can't fault him for that). This is a stack of gifts that we will be delivering this weekend -

Still have a lot of stuff to do before Christmas arrives. I hope to cross more things off of my list everyday.

Scrapping for a good cause

I thought I would spread the word about this project that I heard about on the Two Peas website. The Sunshine Album Project collects scrapbooks or "mini books" to give to children in the hospital facing an illness. Here is a link to the person's blog who is organizing the project, Deb: http://debwisker.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/10/sunshine-albums-for-children.html

All of the requirements for the project are listed on Deb's blog. I encourage all of you to get out those supplies that you are probably ready to purge from your stash and put together a couple of mini books for this great cause.

Below are some photos of the first book I made. Deb sent me some simple instructions for a mini book and I put this together using 2 pieces of cardstock and some patterned paper that has been sitting around for a while.

What a night!

I am sure most of you were watching the election results last night. While I was watching something struck me. This is only my third presidential election and I am ashamed to say this is the first time I REALLY paid attention. I watched every debate, researched the issues, and carefully considered my choices. After voting yesterday I felt great - I had renewed my hope. The hope that our country could come together. I didn't care if people were supporting a different candidate than I was - the point was that our nation had a dialogue going.

As I was driving to work this morning, I drove past an American flag waving in the breeze. That flag means different things to different people, but for me - this morning - it reminded me of what a wonderful nation we live in.

Now it's time to get to work.

Weekend Project

Here are some photos of a project I finished over the weekend. This little book is for one of the owners of the company I work for. I hope she likes it.

Yay!!!! A day off!

I am so happy today. I have a day off to just do nothing. Today I am going to be working on some scrapbook projects and doing lots of laundry. I love days like this :-)

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone got to have a a little time of from work this weekend. Thomas and I had breakfast with my parents, Charles, and Sofia. We then went to the mall and to a LSS. This is not the normal LLS I frequent and I was so uninspired by their selection. When we got home I spent most of the afternoon working on an AWESOME explosion box for a class at Scrap Paper Scissors. I am really proud of this project because I incorporated some pop up elements. I think it's really cool (I will post some pics as soon as I can).

Well it's back to work tomorrow. We have someone new starting tomorrow so I will be training most of the week. This week will be busy but the weekend will be here soon enough.

Fay, Fay go away!!!!

So today is our 3rd day straight of non stop rain. Today we are also getting wind gusts of 40 mph. Of course, this is the day they decide that it is ok for the kids to go back to school. I just don't understand it.

This weather is really bringing me down. Hopefully it will all clear up soon.

Glitter

Glitter and I are NOT friends. Glitter never cooperates with me. Glitter never does what I want it to do. Glitter always makes a mess everywhere. Glitter stays around for days even after I clean it up.

I am sure I am not alone in this struggle. I want to like glitter, I really do. But everytime I give it a chance, it proves itself to be not worth the aggravation. My husband also HATES when I use glitter because of the mess it makes. It has offically been banned from our house. That doesn't bother me though because I hate it almost as much as he does.

So for now, I will stick with using Stickles for my glittery effects. At least then I can just put away the bottle and not worry about the clean up.