Making Gifts for Life

Monday, November 18, 2013

For Sale


Beautiful Infinity Scarf Adorned with Rose Broach

This handmade infinity scarf is simply stunning.
It adds elegance to any outfit.

Made from black chunky soft yarn, adorned with a beautiful rose broach made by Tori Spelling.

One size fits all.

Perfect gift for Christmas or Hanukkah.

Price $28.99 plus tax

Saturday, November 16, 2013

My Sweet Angel

My Sweet Angel


My Sweet Angel

For those of you that have been to a show I have been in and have grabbed a business card of mine, then you know who this is. Her name is Roo and she is my sweet angel. We were out playing in the leaves that I had just raked up in the front yard. She hopped around in the pile, having a ball.
This is when I miss having littles the most. The leaf raking and the Christmas season. So I treat my puppies (all 6 of them) like my kids.
Roo is so gentle and loving. She broke out of her cage this morning after daddy let her out to go outside. She tends to be Houdini when she wants too. She had to have her snuggle time with me. She came running into the bedroom, crawled under the covers, put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. Who wouldn't love that? It's one of my favorite times of day.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you all to one of the reasons I make my amigurumis.
Our rescues are provided with the food, shelter, and medical treatment they need.

Later this week I will have some new products to showcase that I am very excited about, on my other site http://sweetamigurumis.blogspot.com
My etsy store will have some patterns listed on it, that you can purchase and download.
Also I have a finished pony who is slightly different then Penelope, to share.

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Blessings


Blessings

Hi, how are you doing today?
If you had the time change, did it screw up your sleeping patterns as much as it did mine.
This is the first year that the fall back (gaining an hour) messed with me so much, normally it's just the spring ahead that disrupts my patterns.

Today I am sharing a layout that I made for the November 2013 My Mind's Eye Challenge.
The subject was to be about something that you are grateful for or blessed with.
My subject is my husband.
Even though my husband and I have had many hard times, we have had many good times also. He has always been there for me. And for that I am so very grateful. I don't think there is one successful marriage out there that hasn't been though some rough times. 

I always looked at my grandparents relationship and envied what they had. I love them both so much and I always wanted the lasting relationship that they had. My grandparents had been married 68 years when she had passed away. That is amazing to me and I so want our marriage to be that successful.

Anyway, I used the Lost & Found Two paper collection to make this layout. I love the papers in this collection. It's one of my favorite collections that MME has.

I used my Making Memories Slice machine to make the scalloped striped circles, the journaling tag and the title. To make the big background circle I used a circle cutter. 

I used Studio Calico wooden hearts. And a flower from Prima.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

I will be at the Brainery Bazaar, located inside the Village Gate Square on Saturday 11/9, from 10-6pm, selling the amigurumis that I have been making.
To see some of the little friends that are for sale click the link below:



Friday, November 1, 2013

Autumn Celebration



Autumn Celebration

Happy November 1st!
I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Halloween.

A couple weeks ago my hubby, the kids and I went to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins. It was really sunny and not rainy for the first time in days.
We took the hayride out to the field, went through the corn maze, ate donut with apple cider and had a really good time.

So I made this layout for the My Mind's Eye October Challenge.
I used the Stella and Rose Collection of papers.

It's a simple layout that went together fairly quickly once you decide what color papers you want to use.
You need a base paper, then 6 small pieces of paper, you don't really need a lot of the 6, so using up scraps here would be a great idea.

I found some buttons I bought a long time ago, that happened to match perfectly.
I didn't have an already made title tag for the layout, so I made my own, with my Making Memories Slice machine.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

If you live in the area, we will be at the Brainery Bazaar next Saturday 11/9 at 10am to 6pm. I will have all my amigurumi friends with me for sale. The Rochester Brainery is located at Village Gate Square. I hope to see you there.

Thank you for visiting my blog.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Trick or Treat




Trick or Treat Layout -

Don't you just love the smells of fall? The pumpkin pie or pumpkin chocolate chip bread cooking in the oven. The warm apple cider with a cinnamon stick or the hot chocolate with whipped cream, and yummy cinnamon donut from Kellys Apple Farm.

It's the season I love so much. You can still go outside without freezing your butt off and everytime you go out the door, you are surrounded my all the marvelous colors that fall has to offer. The air is brisk and wonderful.

I don't know about you but I hate being hot. I hate sticking to things and sweating. Ick! I am definitely a cold weather baby. I don't wear jackets ever pretty much and I love to cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and read my favorite book or watch a good movie. (Both high calorie burning activities.)

On to the page description, that is what you can here for right? Not my witty banter or my wonderful writing skills.

I made this page using the Authenique papers from the Enchanted collection. I simply love their papers. I will not go on about them again, but just know I love them. Hehe.

I didn't have a picture of a moon or something that was moon like and 7 inches around so I went online and found an image that was usable and printed it out. I then added detail to it by inking the edges all around with black ink.

I used my Wishblade to cut the tree. I needed a tree that was fairly big and my Slice will not cut something that huge. I rarely use my Wishblade for paper anymore, normally it's my son using it for making his own vinyl for his truck. The Wishblade is great for that.

I added two bats from a pack of that sticky ribbon by Recollections (I just cut two bats off), a few K&Company printed cardstock embellies, and a Prima black rose. The large Roman numeral clock is stamped onto cream paper.

Very simple page and it went together fairly fast and easy. That's the way I like scrapbooking, getting a very elegant page without it taking hours to complete.


Thank you for visiting my blog today. I hope you have a great weekend. We will be heading out to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins and maybe grab a hayride.


P.S. - Tell me do you notice something about this page and the last I posted? Comment below.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Darkness There and Nothing More...


Darkness There and Nothing More...

Either you like Poe or you don't. But in my opinion, The Raven is by far one of the most popular poems of all time and one of my most favorites. Maybe it's because of the movie The Crow, which is my all time favorite movie or maybe it's because the poem itself is so creepy. I don't know which but it seems that each time I read it, I learn something or find something in the poem I didn't get before. I remember reading it when I was very young and I not understanding it as much as I do today. 

Anyway, sorry I have been on hiatus for so long. I have been very busy making amigurumis and also my craft chair broke. The chair mechanism on the bottom of the chair cracked so I have had to sit in a very uncomfortable chair. And that has left me to not want to scrapbook very much. Because I am unemployed at the moment, I find it hard to spend the needed $40 on a new mechanism or $150 on a new chair. Well needless to say, I finally caved in and bought the replacement mechanism. So it should be here soon, thank goodness. For now, I will suffer on this chair, I think I can handle it.

Since we are in the month of October and it's my very favorite holiday soon and my all time favorite season. I decided to make another Halloween page.

I started with Authenique papers, the Enchanted collection. I love their paper lines. They are amazing. And the papers are so thick and wonderful. Most are double sided and you get plenty of them to play with. Recently I started keeping my scraps with the actual paper line they came from. Unless they are a solid cardstock or I no longer have any idea what manufacturer they came from. I think it helps, because in this case, I didn't have to go hunting around for 30 minutes looking for papers to match, being as how I only needed small strips of each pattern.

I added a couple small embellies but nothing too much to finish off the page.
There is a small glitter spider made by Jolee's (love those). There is the sentiment that I popped up on pop dots made by Echo Park. A black flower by Recollections. And some small Prima flowers. The jewel swirl is from Recollections also.

This page can house one large photo or several smaller photos, layered, matted and offset against one another.

Thank you for checking out my blog today. I have another page almost completed so check back later tomorrow for the reveal.

Have a wonderful day!


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Local Art/Craft Bazaar This Saturday at Village Gate Square

bazaar

Local Art & Craft Bazaar this Saturday at Village Gate Square, please come down and visit us in the Rochester Brainery Store. There will be 25 artists that will have their art for sale. With Christmas coming up, this is the perfect opportunity to find that special gift for the people on your list. I, personally, will be selling my amigurumi and my husband Jay will have his paintings for sale. There will be something there for everyone. Not to mention the opportunity to people watch, come see me and get a hug!

Village Gate Square
Rochester Brainery
274 N. Goodman Street
10am to 6pm

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Something new

Sweet Amigurumi - 

I make these sweet little amigurumis as another one of my hobbies. Please visit my other blog and become a member of that page too. I try to make one new thing a week and post it. All are for sale, Christmas is coming!!!! Get the little ones in your life a cute new thing to snuggle.

You can even choose the colors you would like the item to be.

http://sweetamigurumis.blogspot.com/

All the proceeds from the sales of these sweet          littles go to our rescued furry friends. 
Thank you for your support.

Monday, September 9, 2013


All Hallow's Eve

Hello and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My husband had to work Saturday because of the holiday on Monday, so we didn't do much this weekend but watch football. 
I love football season. I get to settle down with my crocheting and eat yummy comfort food.
Saturday I made wings and mozzarella sticks, Sunday we had homemade chili; delicious comfort food for the fall weather.

I made this page using some new embellies I got, new paper and some old scrap I had. 
The background paper and embellies are from Echo Park Chillingsworth Manor collection.
I absolutely love this layout.
My daughter is going to be Mad Alice from the Alice PS3 game. If you don't know the game, and have a PS3, you should get it. It's a great game! And I can't wait to put her picture on here. I love Halloween so much.
Anyway, getting side tracked, the orange polka dot paper and the black damask print papers are from the Authentique paper stack. I used the Zutter distressing machine to distress the edges of the papers.
The black bling embellishment is from Recollections. They have really nice, fairly priced embellishments. You can find them at Michael's.
The flowers are Prima. The little green and purple flowers, I layered and added a black jewel to the middle of.
The tag and two bottles are from K&Company. The two bottles are stickers, but since I didn't want them sticking to the picture, I left the backing on both of them and just added tape runner to the bottom of each, where you can't see it.
For the black clothespin, I didn't have a small black one, so I took black acrylic paint and painted a plain one.

I think that layout came out splendidly. 
I hope you enjoy my reveal.

Have a wonderful day!



Saturday, September 7, 2013

Reveal day is Monday.



New REVEAL will be on Monday.

I made a page that I really love, it honor of Halloween coming up. I will reveal the full layout on Monday, it has some of the coolest embellies on it. They are from the Echo Park collection Chillingsworth Manor. As displayed below.
Even though I have more Christmas paper then anything else, I love Halloween. I just wish my kids were little enough to still really enjoy it. Yeah they go trick or treating still, because I believe they can make their own decision when to stop but it's not the same as it was when they were little. I miss those days so much. But we still try to put on a cool show for the neighborhood and we all get dressed up to hand out candy. Only now instead of us taking the kids trick or treating, they go alone with friends.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Come back Monday to see the reveal!


Friday, August 30, 2013

Cherish Paris


Cherish Paris

Hi everyone. TGIF. I hope you are enjoying your Friday. Today is the last work day before a three day weekend. We have Labor Day coming up on Monday. Do you have plans for a fun filled weekend? My husband and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary! I can't believe that we have been married that long. We met in high school and have been together ever since. I am very thankful that I am married to my best friend.

Anyway, I am sure when you clicked on the link to this layout you expected to see Paris, as in France. Sorry to disappoint. My daughter is in love with the city of Paris. She wants to visit one day, and I won't be surprised if she lives there. I hope when she goes to college she takes the chance to study aboard and gets the chance to really spend some time in that beautiful city.

So due to her love of Paris, she so cutely named her puppy Paris. Paris is now eight months old, and super tall. She stands about an inch taller then all the other dogs, even her parents. She is very sweet and shy. I happened to be at the CKC this year and I saw this Paris tag, that I of course had to get. (And since I have bought anything I could find with the word Paris on it.) It's a perfect way to add the name of her puppy to the layout.

For this layout, I started with a blank piece of white cardstock. I took white gesso and sponged it all over the page. Then I took pink and black acrylic paint and sponged that randomly over the page also.  Then I found a paper stack that would work well with the colors I started with, it's by DCWV. It's called the Street Lace Stack. I bought this stack a while ago and I have used it for a layout or two. But it's been in my cabinet ever since. Weirdly enough I didn't look for paper before I did the paint, I just had it in my mind that the stack would work for it and it did. 

I then, took one of the pinks sheets of patterned paper and tore it up, laying in out on the background paper, until I found an arrangement that I liked. 

The next thing I did was find a piece of patterned paper that worked with the layout but was a neutral enough color not to overpower or take away from the pink I already used. I grabbed this sheet by Fancy Pants Designs. I cut it into five different size sheets, and then I inked all the edges with black Cat's Eye ink from Colorbox.

The die cut was made using my Slice machine, and all the flowers are either Prima or Recollections.

And while I was at Michael's the other day, I happened to find this damask tape that I thought would be super cute on the layout. It's washi crafting tape, by Recollections.

I hope you enjoyed my layout. 
Thank you for stopping in today to view it.
If you would like more detailed instructions on any of my layouts or if  you have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment.

I am still working on that bigger project I was telling you about earlier. I will be posting a step by step tutorial on the entire project when it's finished.

Have a super duper weekend. Enjoy the holiday.

Monday, August 26, 2013

You're such an Amazing Friend


You're such an Amazing Friend

Happy Monday everyone. I wanted to share this layout I did yesterday with yet another pic of my puppy Roo. Are you sick of her yet? I can promise that the next one will not have Roo on it, well maybe. I came across this little cardstock die cut by Fancy Pants Designs, it suited the way I feel about Roo so perfectly.

Dogs have a tendency to know when we need them, when we just need someone to give us love, without asking for anything in return. Roo is a special girl. She is always at my side, there if I need her. She spends most of her days chewing a bone underneath my desk, sitting on my lap, taking walks with me or just plain old goofing around on the floor with me. We spend a lot of time together, and I wouldn't change that for the world. 

I started this layout, looking at the photos I took on the puppy photo shoot, and selecting one that I liked. After that I decided on a color scheme that worked with the photo and of course, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two papers were the ones I picked. (Yes I do have other paper lines, but MME is my favorite!)

After selecting the six papers that worked well together, I picked one that would work as the base for the layout. Then the other five papers were layered until I found a order that I liked. The mustard yellow envelope I made myself, with one of the papers in the MME line. I used my Crop-A-Dile corner chomper to round the flaps two corners and give it a more envelope look. Then I took a 3/4 inch circle of gray/brown paper and punched a hole in it and set a eyelet so that it really looks like that envelope I was gunning for.

The yellow striped strip was ripped at the bottom to give the page some texture and diversity. Amazingly enough, at least I think so, I didn't ink a thing on this layout. Normally I ink at least one thing on a layout.

The paper strips underneath the photo reads:
You greet me, every day, with kisses. You are always there when I need a hug.
You are so loving and kind. Thank you for being my Roo.

It's nice that there are different manufacturers out there, but their lines will sometimes mess perfectly together.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.
Please leave a comment or question, I would be happy to answer anything you ask.

Have a wonderful day, and count your blessings, because they are many.




Thursday, August 22, 2013

You Sparkle, You Shine


You Sparkle, You Shine

Hi there. 
I hope you are having a good day.  

I have been feeling a little more creative and decided to make a couple things this week. I will share the other project later, that one is a little bigger, and isn't done yet.

I also have been helping my son (who is not going to be a Marine anymore) get into college, he decided on the Automotive Technology program to start. He loves to fix his truck, even though it frustrates him at times. So I am glad he is going to be going into something that he will enjoy. So people don't know what they want to take in college, or do in life after college, this is his first step, he might change his mind, but this will build a good foundation for him, and if all else fails, at least int he end he will be able to repair his truck (and mine).

So to start this layout, I referred to my favorite scrapbook line, My Mind's Eye. I selected papers I thought would look good together and built a base. I really liked the flower already on the paper and I wanted to put that to use. So I took colors from there for the rest of the layout.

I didn't have flowers that exactly matched, well as far as the yellow flowers went, so I took a Sharpie and colored the petals. I really like that they turned out well, once they dried they were darker then what I originally started with.

Surprisingly on this layout, I only used two sheets of paper, the others were scraps I had out of the same paper pad. Even the mat for the photo is made from scraps. I hate cutting into a new piece of paper to get a small rectangle, even though I know I will use it later for something else, it just bothers me. Although if you saw how much paper I have, you would laugh at that statement. I have way too much, I am kind of addicted. But I will blame that on my best friend, because it's really her fault I even have this as a hobby. lol

The chipboard pieces I picked up the other day at Michael's for 99 cents, they were on clearance and I love them, they happen to go with just about any line of paper My Mind's Eye has. I spent a total of like $5 at Michael's but feel like I got a ton of stuff. I love clearance.

The photo is from a doggy photo shoot we had and I just love this photo. I used Topaz labs to edit the photo and used the vintage setting in the adjust filters. I also added a slight vignette to the edges.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog.

Thank you for stopping by.
Have a wonderful day. 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Admit One


Admit One

Okay, I admit it. I am obsessed. I am totally in L-O-V-E with my puppy, Roo.
She makes me happy, honestly all three puppies make me happy. But the two of us are inseparable. I took her kayaking on Saturday, hell I would take her on a bike ride if I had a basket. (My hubby would love that, not!) I sleep with her nightly, and we read together every night. Well I read and she sleeps. 
She is by far the most trained, she shakes both paws, gives hugs, and kisses, sits, and "looks at me" upon request. And when I walk her, she isn't all over the place, she stays right by my side. Now don't go thinking, that I don't spend time with the other two, I do. I have repeatedly tried to get them to shake, and it's a no go. We are working on other ways to train them though. I will keep you updated, maybe they are just slow. lol

The photos on this page are from a photo shoot I did recently with all three puppies. Roo sat good and it was work for the other two, because they were scared of the sheet. (Oh boy)

Anyway...
Here is the layout I have been working on. I suck this summer, too much going on. I am going to try to do better, I swear!

12 x 12 piece of polka dot paper by My Mind's Eye
Orange strip is also My Mind's Eye
Cream strip is a scrap piece
Doilies are just one's that I bought at the dollar store, 100 for $1 kind of thing
All flowers are Prima
And the ticket stubs are one's I got off the internet. 

For the two strips of paper with the bubbles punched out, I didn't have a punch like that, so I used one that was close and I altered it to suit my needs. Who says you have to leave it as is.

I hope you like the page I shared today.

Thank you for visiting my blog and please comment or ask questions.




Friday, July 26, 2013

Chaos


Chaos
It's July 26th and I have been lost in the chaos that is known as my life. I am not complaining, mind you. Just stating a fact. 
I have so many projects in my head, that I want to complete, including ones around the house, but it's my lack of drive that is leaving things incomplete or not even started.
I, kind of, feel like the picture above.
My head spinning and being pulled a million different ways.
My summer started out with my contract not being renewed, which threw me for a loop mentally. I will miss the kids at the school I worked for, but I will not miss the management.

Anyway, I hope to have something very soon to share.



Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Good Times


Good Times

So I had today off, I had one more "sick" day to use up and I took it. Seeing as how we don't get paid for any left over and we don't get to roll them over, I figured what the heck why not?

So I spend the day cleaning, shopping, and cooking.
I went to AC Moore, Party City, JcPenny's, and Wegmans. I made this week's menu, seeing as how I am crazy and need my life to be more organized. I am slowly losing my sanity as the graduation party for my son gets closer and the thought of him leaving shortly after threatens the horizon.

So I was looking through old photos of the kids and I came across this one. Both of my kids are making the photo session more painful then it has to be. They are both trying real hard not to let me have a good picture.

So this is a quick layout I made the other day, with the photo.

I used papers are from The Paper Loft®. I love their papers, they look vintage and weathered. 
Recollections® has these new embellishments out that are street lights and hot air balloons. On this layout I used the hot air balloon. I really like them, they are made of metal and are very eye catching.
The flowers are Prima®. And the stamp I used in the lower left corner is by Inkadinkado®. 
I did use another stamp of a compass, they are really old, like the very fist acrylic stamps that came out by Inkadinkado®. The chain of hearts, is made from some random piece of raspberry colored paper and they are cut out with the dies that you hammer! If you can believe that. I never got rid of this one specifically because I love the size and shape of it. I have used it many times, on several of my projects. I stapled the hearts together with a mini stapler, then backed every other one with a pop dot. I torn a piece of scrap paper that looked like old newspaper. Then added chicken wire, which is made by Dusty Attic®. I love the chicken wire, I have two sheets and still have a ton left of the first sheet and I have used it on at least 4 projects if not more. The pretty butterfly is off a scrap piece of paper, I just fussy cut it out and then added matte glaze to it. The finishing touch is the cranberry/raspberry colored Stickles® that I used on the tail of the title, I felt like that color needed to be carried to one more spot on the page to create a visual triangle. The page becomes more appealing that way.

I hope you like my layout. It didn't take me very long to make, it was a simple layout to do on a weeknight when I didn't have hours to give up.

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you have a wonderful day.


Thursday, June 13, 2013

B is for boy


B is for boy

Here is the other layout I wanted to share with you this week. My son played tennis two years ago, but I never scrapped them because, well, he didn't really like it all that much. (Even though at the time, it sure looked like he was having fun.) 

Starting from the base, I used Paper Loft paper with small brown stars on it. Then I took my stamp that looks like sewing and stamped various lengths of lines horizontally and vertically. Making sure to also vary the width in between each line.

Then I cut two four inch circles out of brown patterned paper and using my Fiskars®
circle punch, I made two doily look alikes.

I took two cards out of a deck that is missing a few other cards and colored them with my light brown inks.

I made a file folder with my Making Memories Slice Machine®, added two stickers to it. "My Favorite" and the tennis racks, and I drew thin brown frames around them with my Martha Stewart® pen.

The chicken wire is by Dusty Attic®, I cut just a strip of it and framed the words "is for boy" with one of the spaces. 

The green strip of paper is out of my scrap bin, which had colors I needed for the layout, I just inked the edges with brown ink.

The white and brown star is made with the Slice® machine, then I added a white penned outline. 

All the stickers are from Echo Park Paper Co.®, from the This & That line. I just love this sheet of stickers. They are awesome. I used them all over. 

The circle embellishment is also a sticker on pop dots, that I added a metal embellishment to that has been in my collection of hoarded stuff for a long while.

The "B is for boy" is a sticker that I cut in half and inked the edge of.

I really like way this layout turned out. And it kind of all fell together with the stickers and the pictures that I hadn't used yet.

This week has been super rainy here in NY. I hate to be inside this much without being able to take my daily walk outside, but it's great scrapping weather.

How is your summer so far? 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Have a great weekend.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Eternal Love

Eternal Love


So today was a crazy day. On my drive to work, I was thinking about how long it's been since I got upset about my son leaving, and you would think with it getting closer and closer, I would be crying alot more frequently. I was giving myself a good old pat on the back. Well, that stretch only last until I got to work today. And something happened, which in hindsight set me off but was really silly. Anyways, I ended up being super emotional at work, and kind of lost it. Not a good day. Ugh.

So here is one of the layouts I was going on about earlier this morning. Of course, it's featuring my cute puppy Roo.

I started with a piece of patterned paper by pink paislee and then topped that with My Mind's Eye paper. Underneath, I added a little burlap and then stitched around the circumference of the layout a couple times, being sure not to stitch perfectly.

A couple of the pieces of this layout, I already had made up, because I had started to use them on a different layout, and it just wasn't working. I stared at the layout for over a month and it was driving me batty. Sometimes, no matter what vision you have in your head, it sometimes can not be pulled out properly (at least in my case) and imposed onto the visual landscape. I, sometimes, can't make it happen and I find myself getting frustrated.

I used a Dusty Attic chippie, that came in two pieces. I took the top piece and painted it with white gesso. Then layered it over the bottom piece, adding my puppy's picture in the center. 

At Michael's this weekend, I found a really awesome stamp. It's a stamp that makes cameos. It came with an oval shape and two different girl's heads. I wish there was a boy one also, maybe there was ans they were out, I don't know. Anyway, it was a dollar, so I couldn't pass it up. That is what I used to make the cameo on this layout. I used teal paper and white ink. When the white ink dried, I used stickles in White Lace. When that dried, I cut it out and added pop dots to the back of it.

I cut the title out using my Making Memories Slice machine. And added a strip of teal paper under it with burlap under that.

The butterfly on the layout, was actually part of the paper, that I just used an exacto knife to cut out only the wings, and I folded them up a little. Then I added Stickles in Tea Dye to the wings and body to make it pop out some more. 

The flowers are Prima, of course, aren't they beautiful? The teal ones are new, from the convention I just went too.

I hope you are enjoying my layout.

I enjoyed sharing it.

I hope you have a wonderful night.

Check back soon, for the next reveal.


Later today...

Later today...

I will have a new page or two to show you. I have been working on some designs the last couple of days.
There is one in particular that I really fell in love with, partly because I got to use a sticker sheet that I got at a convention recently. I currently love vintage stickers and papers, even if they are in new colors. I happened to pick up a sheet of stickers that was vintaged themed but had teals, greens and yellows, along with some wood grain. I know all the colors of the 70's. Ha! I even got to use a metal embellishment that I have been hoarding, for no other reason then I couldn't think of where to use it, but I really liked it and didn't want to throw it out.
I don't know about you, but I am a huge hoarder, especially when it comes to papers. And I have no idea why. Honestly I have so much paper, I would have to live to be 1000 just to use it all, and believe me that doesn't stop me from buying new stacks or sheets if I see something I like. Thing is, I use it. I used to say, "no, I can't use that it's too pretty" but if I don't use it, the paper will just sit there. So I try to push myself past that initial feeling of "hoarding" and move on to actually using it.
Anyway, I just wanted to write a little something before I head out to work. I will be posting one page today and the other page tomorrow or Thursday. I hope that you check back to see what I came up with.
Have a wonderful day.


Monday, June 3, 2013

Je'taime


Je'taime

Or I love you... if you don't speak French.

Lately I have been really interested in trying out my artistic side, but really the truth is I don't have one. I am very, how do you say, anal.... Lol! When it comes to putting things in their place or having some sense of balance, my brain doesn't let me free flow. It stops me short with inhibitions. 

So, this is my attempt on a artist layout. I started with white cardstock, then stamped some green vines & leaves and I drew some cross hatch with a black thin marker. 

I cut out the title with my Slice machine and then inked it with Colorbox inks, using the lighter color first then blending to the darker color. I like the look of it, it came out pretty good.

The pic I chose was one my daughter took of herself then used an editing app on her ipod on, I love that she loves photography as much as I do. She has been taking a lot of photos of the puppies on her own, and she has got some amazing shots of them.

Most of the embellishments on here are pictures that I nabbed of the internet. I am finding this has been my go to spot lately for extra things to go on my layouts. We only have a few stores where I live and all of them are chain stores, so they don't carry the really good stuff. I love all the options that you have on the internet, you just to be careful that the items aren't copyrighted. There is so much free stuff out there, the possibilities are endless.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

I hope you enjoy the layout I shared with you today. 

School is winding down and now my schedule isn't so busy. In a couple weeks, three, but who is counting, school will be out. Then for two weeks I will be busy, then my son will be leaving for boot camp, and I will have to cope some how. I am sure I will turn to scrapbooking and kayaking. Things that will keep me busy.





Sunday, June 2, 2013

Explore


Explore

As soon as I saw you
I knew an adventure 
was going to happen.
--Winnie the Pooh

My son's first automobile was a 2002 Chevy Blazer. He got it from his grandpa as a gift.
Although it has needed some repairs, it has proved to be a faithful friend.
My son made many modifications to the Blazer. He put on a push bar, and wheel spacers.He installed a awesome stereo system. 

The truck as taken him on many adventures and I am sure there are more to come.

I chose the quote above by Winnie the Pooh because well I love Pooh and it fits my son and his truck so well. He has gone many places and seen many things in his truck, all of course within a safe distance from home. 

The amount of work and what he has learned to fix on his own, is an adventure itself.

Most of the papers used are from the Recollections line, called Memories Documented. I didn't have map paper so I printed some from the internet, I used it for the strips on the left of the photo and I rolled up some of it and tied it with jute.

The steering wheel I have been saving since before Brandon could drive, and I have just been itching to use it.

Most of the embellishments for this layout, we (my best friend and I) made. What do they say? Necessity is the mother of all invention. If you don't have it, it doesn't mean you have to go out and spend money on buying it.

I think it turned out really well.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Fire in my Dad's Garage


Fire in My Dad's Garage

Well life came and bit us this week, not me personally, but my family. My dad was working in his garage, welding his truck, with only an inch left to do, when the insulation in the door caught on fire and took the whole garage with it. Luckily though my dad got out safe. Phew! Unluckily though he lost 40 years of tools, his truck and his 1971 corvette.

I can not express in words, how sorry I am for my dad.
The tools he lost are his life. He used them all to help so many people, myself included. 
My dad is the kind of person, that if you call him, no matter what time of day or night, he will drop whatever it is he is doing and come over to help out. When I was younger we didn't get along, he is my step father, but in my heart, he is my father. He has always been there for me, when I didn't get along with him, to now. I am very glad he wasn't injured but to see the amount of sadness on his face when he looks at all he truly holds dear, it's a heart breaker. My dad is defined by the tools he has, he can repair almost everything. If he can't he will give it the best shot he can. He has amazed me over the years, and even I have learned quite a bit more then I thought I could about cars and repairing things.

I wish I could fix it all for him. Make the tools he got from his dad, who has now passed, turn up unharmed. I wish I could give him a brand new garage with the truck and corvette he kept and was working on, for so many years. I know they are only material things, and I do understand that they can be replaced, but sometimes those things hold memories. Now his things are gone. But as I said before, at least he is safe. And I am so very happy for that. 

We spent the better part of the weekend helping out with the mess my parents have, all while looking for the remains of 4 very expensive tools that my dad has. I found one or two of them. I hope he finds the other ones, so the insurance company can get him new ones.

I am sure I will make a layout of the closeness of family.
I am so proud of my family for pulling together to help dad this weekend.
Thank you to my husband, son and brothers who worked their butt off and to my daughter who made the food. 
Thank you also to mom, for helping so much and organizing the food.
Thank you so much.

I love you all.

God Bless.


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Hi all

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I do have a great layout to share with you, it's in the process of getting made. But honestly, I am having one of those months where stress is taking over and I am not feeling like doing much.
First because we are in the count down for my son leaving, in July. Tomorrow is May 1st and in less then 2.5 months, he will be off to boot camp. He will be away from us for 13 weeks! I haven't been away from him for more then a couple days ever.
And secondly, because we are having some issues with one of our neighbors. She did something very mean to us, just because she is afraid of dogs. And now, we might lose the right to keep our puppies. We have a lot of paperwork and some finger crossing to do, to see if our town will approve it. I know that some might not understand how I feel about my dogs, and I get that. They are like children to me. They are all different, and they have their own personalities. Also some might say, so what you have to give them up. Well, this is the issue. If we give them to someone else, how do I know they will be cared for and loved. I don't think it's right to tell someone how many kids to have, so why is it okay to limit, how many dogs I have. If I take care of them, love them and such. I can't even tell you the stress this has put on me. Because now the fate of my puppies, lays in the hands of people I don't know and who don't know me. They don't know my dogs and how good they are. All because our neighbor is scared of dogs, we have a 6 foot fence in between us, who cares if she is scared. That is not my problem.
So this is why I can't focus on a page right now. I know everyone has issues. I know I am not alone and mine are insignificant compared to others. I just love my son and my dogs so much, asking me to part with any of them is too hard for me to even wrap my head around. 
I am sure as time gets closer to July 15th, I will be a bigger mess then I am now.

Thank you for letting me vent.

I will be back with a page I hope soon.

Much love to all.

Spread peace.