Making Gifts for Life

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.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Happy Couple


Happy Couple

It's Saturday, mid-day, and I am exhausted. I am going to post this then go take a nap I think. The puppies are snoring, which is making me sleepy, and I didn't get to sleep in like I wanted this morning. Because the little ones, like to get up promptly at 6am.

I made this layout to look vintage.
The photo is of my BFF and her husband Jason.
We went to a local park, around the corner from my BFF's house to get these pictures.
They make such a cute couple, don't they?

I used the Recollections Memories Documented paper line, to make this layout.
I used a thin black sharpie to draw two lines around the perimeter of the background paper, mainly because I was being very lazy and didn't want to sew with my sewing machine. But honestly, I think I will go back and do it. The good part about this layout, is the border around the page isn't supposed to be perfect, you want it wiggly and imperfect.

I printed their pictures using my Epson R2000 printer, and Topaz Labs to edit the photo. I used a light lens effect on the photo, to make it look a little vintage and fit the layout.

I found a cute tag that fit the layout also, and happened to come in the paper pack with the background paper.

Then all I did was add a couple flowers, some black/white checked ribbon, paper strips and some grommets.

I hope you enjoy the layout.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Have a wonderful day.

Monday, April 15, 2013

April 2013 Recipe Challenge - The Paper Mixing Bowl and My Layout called "GROW"


April 2013 Recipe Challenge

This month's challenge is Ambrosia Salad.
Beautifully soft colors and a fun challenge.
Want to play along? 
It's so much fun and you use lots of creativeness.

To join the challenge go to: 

Here is my version of the challenge:

I painted the background paper with white gesso. This background paper was very busy. So the white gesso toned it down some. 
The colors of the paper where close to what the challenge asked for, I have very limited pastel papers.
The birdcage, I happened to pick up the day I started this layout. It's made by Tim Holtz designs. And I just love it. I opened it up, added some yellow backing paper and made three dimensional butterfly inside, with a white rose bud. I took three Mrs. Grossman butterflies, that were exactly the same. I folded all three in half, then added one to each wing of the top butterfly. When you do that it make the butterfly look real. It's a fun technique that I love, but don't get to use very much. I also did that same thing, to the blue butterfly in the upper right corner. 
I added banners in yellow paper, flowers that were off of stems from Michael's. They were very cute, already had the layered look, and up close, they even have littles frayed edges.
I added journaling strips and a title, that the challenge called for.
This picture was taken at the Lilac Festival, my daughter loves to climb the love tree, everyone that goes there, carves their initials on the tree for them to stay forever.

I hope you enjoy my version of the challenge.

Please play along with us, it's a lot of fun!

Visit:
to learn about the challenge and how to join.

Can't wait to see your layouts there!

Have a wonderful day!



Sunday, April 14, 2013

Love

Love

Hi everyone!

How are you doing this weekend?
Don't you love Sundays?
I do! 
I get to create and this time of year, have the house pretty much to myself.
The hubby is working on the yard, and the kids are with friends.
It's blissful.



For this layout, I stamped the background paper with black ink and a variety of different stamps. The stamps I used are dollar bin stamps from Michael's and Inkadinkado stamps.

Then I took some black acrylic paint from Making Memories and added water to it. I took a cheap paint brush and splattered the paper lightly with the paint.

While that was drying I the various papers in to the lengths and widths I needed. These are all papers from my scrap bin, it's a tad overflowing now, so I either have to use them or burn them, and that seems like such a waste.
The papers I used are from My Mind's Eye (I know, big surprise there), Basic Grey and DCWV.

The embellies are from Making Memories, Spare Parts and SEI.

I love this layout. 

The picture is of my beautiful daughter, she took this one herself with her phone that is why it is grainy and not great quality, but I think that adds to this layout.
Sometimes the picture is perfect but it's still something that should be scrapped. 


Thank you for visiting my blog.

Have a wonderful day!


Friday, April 12, 2013

Follow Your Dreams, Don't Forget...


Follow Your Dreams,
Don't Forget...

This layout is a scraplift from a scrapbook.com user, Blitz. 
I just fell in love with the layout and wanted to do something similar.

This is my son two years ago when he had long hair.
We were at the beach located close to our house, on the first very nice day of Spring.
It was extremely warm out and the sun was perfect for some of the shots I got. Most of the time, sun is your enemy when taking photos, you want overcast, or cloudy weather. But you can also get some really great photos in sunny weather.

I am not in love with his facial hair, he looks like a grizzly bear in this photo, but his hair used to get these awesome gold highlights naturally from the sun. 

Anyway, I used the My Mind's Eye Indie Chic - Saffron line of papers to make this layout.

I used a rub on for the title and and some My Mind's Eye stickers. The hearts are made by Martha Stewart. And the brads are by Spare Parts.

Thank you for viewing my blog.

Have a wonderful day.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Us




Us

I designed this layout as a gift to my husband and myself. 
We got our pictures taken a while ago and I wanted to do a special layout. I really love Bo Bunny's Timepiece collection and I waited to use this particular piece of paper until I had the right use for it.

I found some images of roman numeral clocks online and printed them out in various sizes, because I didn't have any clock stickers or paper where I could just cut them out. (It's a good cheat when you need it).

I used various other little scraps of paper from my left over scrap. Some is My Mind's Eye and The Paper Loft.

The other item that I used on the layout is a chipboard clock, made by Dusty Attic.
I love this embellishment and I wound up using it as frame for my photo which I printed out to fit.

The flowers are made by Spare Parts, the brad is Making Memories and the two white hearts are Martha Stewart stickers.

I believe this layout came out wonderful.

If you have any questions or a comment, please post it below.

Thank you for visiting my blog.







Just for you


Just for you

This layout is about my son and his dog. The picture is not the best, mainly because it's off my phone and it was very dark in my living room at the time. My son wasn't feeling good and I didn't want to wake him, but I really wanted the picture and all I had on me was my phone. If I had left the room to get the good camera, Dante (my son's dog) might have moved. But then I forgot what dog I was talking about. Dante was a dog that I got for my husband. But Dante had a different idea. He immediately fell in love with my son. (All dogs do for some reason, he is like the dog whisperer, I swear to all that is holy.) Dante patiently laid on and with my son until he woke up. He is like that, he will go everywhere and anywhere with my son. He sleeps with my son, would take a shower with him, if we let him. He truly loves my son unconditionally. And when my son isn't around or has been gone for a normal amount of time, we get Dante the mope. All he does is mope around the house, until my son returns. 

I took white cardstock paper and sprayed it with terra cotta and java walnut inks.

While I waited for that to dry, I cut the paper and found a pre-made journaling tag that matched the color scheme.

The papers are the My Mind's Eye Indie Chic - Saffron line.

The lace under the yellow strip of paper is actually a sticker, that I had in my stash.

I made the little circle embellishment with an Inkadinkadoo stamp and stickles. I had a couple dog embellishments in my stash, a couple buttons and a doggy bone paperclip.

To finish off the layout, I added some yellow and teal pearls.

Thank you for viewing my blog.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Precious


Precious

Another awesome paper pack by My Mind’s Eye, called Indie Chic – Nutmeg. In my option it’s the male version of the other paper pack I bought, the one that I used on my daughter’s layout, which I posted on Easter.

I used my Slice machine on this layout quite a bit. I cut out the title, flower, and both circle embellishments with it.
The brads are all made by Spare Parts, which you can find at Hobby Lobby. They have some of the best stuff.

The flowers are made by Prima.

This layout is very simple to make, the most time consuming part is the embellishments. Since I didn’t have dimensional stickers premade already to use, I had to make all my own. I think they came out well.
The photo is of my pitbull puppies, when they were 2 weeks old. They didn’t even have their eyes open yet. J They are always making puppy piles and sleeping together.

Thank you for viewing my blog.

Please leave a comment or ask a question.

Have a wonderful day.



Friday, April 5, 2013

Classic Chic



Classic Chic

I love this layout. Mainly because I have a love for neutral colors. There is something about them.

This paper line can be found at Michael's and it's called Memories Documented by Recollections. As soon as I saw them I had to have them. And my husband was with me, and even with my extensive paper collection, he still let me buy three paper packs that day! 

I used Making Memories acrylic paint and added water to it, to make it thin. Then I just squeezed several drops of the black paint onto the paper, while it was drying, I selected the other papers to go with this layout (all being in the paper pack). 

And then, I selected the stamps I wanted to use on the layout. The arrow with the polka dots and the "classic chic" sentiment stamp, which I stamped onto the layout at the end, after all the papers had been secured down, that way I placed them right where they needed to go.

I found my wood butterflies (which are made by Studio Calico) and placed three on there. I know you know the rule of three, right? Well if not or if you aren't sure, here is a refresher. The rule of three, helps to lead the eye around the page, and it's also more pleasing to the eye to look at. Whether it be three butterflies, three flowers, three photos, etc. Referring back to Fibonacci's Sequence, that I shared a while back, it's basically the same idea.

This is another picture of my beautiful daughter, from 2012, when I took my son, his gf and my daughter on a photo shoot. I did a little touch up, because she has vitiligo, dis-pigmentation of the skin, which just means she doesn't tan in some spots (there is a pill she can take to fix the issue I guess, but she hates pills.)

Then I used Topaz Labs to edit the photo further, into black and white. (I love Topaz Labs!)

Thank you for viewing my blog.
Please post a comment if you would like the sizes of the mats or if you have any questions.

Have a wonderful day!