Paws to Scrap

CAS-ual Fridays - All About Tom Hanks

2012-02-08T22:28:00.000-05:00

I'm always up for a challenge involving a movie. So when I saw CAS-ual Friday's challenge was a movie inspiration, I just had to jump on board with that one.

I tried to go with one favorite, and before you know it I had conjured up a little set of four cards using similar stamps and the same product. What was really shocking . . . three movies with one thing in common. Tom Hanks!

There is the "You've Got Mail" inspired (in two slightly different designs) . . .

Then there is Sleepless in Seattle. "It rains nine months a year in Seattle."

And then a little bit of Forrest Gump. "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

A little trimming . . . a little stamping . . . a little paper piecing . . . a little reminder of some of my favorite Tom Hanks movies.

What's not to love?

Creative Blocks

2012-01-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

I have seriously had a creative block lately. Creative blocks for me usually stem from being way too busy at my 8 a.m. to whenever job (the term 9 to 5 job is ridiculously off base). But there was this one project set before me that I was completely stoked about. It was a challenge to figure out how to do it, where to find the product to do it . . . but I couldn't wait to figure it all out.

I think one of the reasons I was super stoked about this project goes back to my sewing years . . . many, many years ago . . . I made this cloth covered wreath. It was a solid white wreath base with Velcro where you would attach different pieces. Each month you remove the old and replace with the new. There was a ruffle you would attach to the back with a braided hanger. There were three or four decorative pieces that you attached to the front. You would swap everything out and you'd have a whole new look each month for years to come. My velcro pieces didn't hold up to well over the years, and that awesome wreath is probably in a box in the basement. So sad. I didn't realize I missed it until this project came along. Here is a little sneak peak . . .

Creative blocks . . . a set of tags . . . and you swap them out whenever you want!

I am in love! I cannot wait to create another set of tags.

My creative block is solved by a set of creative blocks.

We'll be offering this at workshops at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. in Canton, Connecticut. So exciting!

Positive Realist Project - Take 6

2012-01-26T22:34:00.001-05:00

Did I quit my Positive Realist Project?

No.

I have just been so incredibly busy that I've not been able to make any blog entries. But I've continued my quest to put things in perspective. My Smash Book is looking great as I continue to document "my best" and "my worst." Let's go with the bad news first . . .

My very worst "worsts" in the last few weeks were centered around death . . . attending a military funeral for a friend's father, learning of the death of a co-worker's infant granddaughter, and experiencing the one year anniversary of my brother's death. Difficult? Indeed.

Some of my other "worsts" . . a paycheck in the amount of $0.00, a bad hockey game, a half a jar of Mod Podge spilled down my carpeted stairs and work stress, work stress, work stress.

My answers to all my problems:

Work stress? You have a job girl, so quit it. (EDIT . . . Don't quit the job; quit the whining!)
That single bad hockey game is not so bad, considering that the team has (as of tonight) lost their last nine (9) games. Talk about putting things in perspective.
The Mod Podge on the stairs . . . it dries clear, and since the husband was the one who dropped it, the husband was the one who cleaned it up. My stairs are not crunchy, so he did a good job.
$0.00 paycheck . . . not finding the bright side to that. It is actually a bit of a funny story. Employer goes to new payroll process, warns employee that with the transition, their first check of the year will be for only one week's pay instead of a half month's pay. They offer a "supplemental pay" that you can opt to take (which of course just gets removed from all future checks for the year) and I turned it down. A few weeks prior, an actual person contacts me . . . live . . . not a recording . . . not an e-mail . . . to warn me that my check could be less than 10% of my normal pay. I still opt to not take the funds. I get said check and am searching for the net pay. Where is the net pay . . . net pay? Oh, here it is . . . $0.00. It begs the question. Is ZERO really less than 10%? Couldn't they have said, "You are going to get NOTHING! A big fat ZERO!

Now for some of my positives.

I did say that the anniversary of my brother's death was a negative, but it was also listed as my positive. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the evening with family and friends celebrating his life. My sister-in-law is the most incredibly awesome person in the world (I just love her!). We visited a few of his favorite spots, and this beautiful tribute to the attacks on the World Trade Center was one of them.

This sculpture was made by a Windsor, CT artist who makes sculptures from scrap metal. He was inspired to make it to assist Windsor High School's Special Ed Class back in 2003 who were tasked with a project to improve community and school. The artist sculpted the metal pieces and cut the outlines of the towers. The Special Ed students drilled the individual holes which represent each person who died in the attacks. My brother assisted the class with the drilling of the holes. Is that not an awesome thing to see and hear about? Note to self . . . need to take another trip down in daylight to take a photo, and perhaps an evening photo without the "holiday wreath."

There were other positives, and many of them at work. When I think there is too much stress, I am reminded of those I work with who make it worthwhile! That one particular trainer who never stops thanking me for everything I do for him and makes the most awesome salsa which he brings with him from Texas. Heaven in a jar! The coordinator who, when hearing a rumor that I was leaving my job, but then finding out it was just a joke said, in a sigh of relief "In complete seriousness, if you left we would be screwed."

I blush . . . how awesome is that!

And on the creative side of life, it has been tough to find time for creativity. I have just been so busy on the 9 to 5 front. But I do have a little class coming up at my LSS . . . working with sketches . . .

What a great message: Surround yourself with splendid things.

Indeed.

I have to say, a splendid thing for me right about now . . . or tomorrow . . . would be an awe$ome paycheck with $ome actual fund$!

Mojo Monday 222

2012-01-08T17:37:00.001-05:00

I'm scrapping from my stash! The Mojo Monday Sketch is noted below.

I did a few interesting things with this sketch, the most interesting was a little twist I added to highlight a few words on my "word pattern paper." After cutting my strip for the banner piece, I wanted to high the words "Make a Wish." So I took some baker's twine and wrapped so the words would show. It's definitely something I would try again, as it's a great use of the paper.

I also distressed the edges of all the elements except the card itself and the 4 x 5 1/4 background piece.

For the stamping and the die cut tag I used a die and stamps from Clear and Simple.

And here is the inside of the card.

Orange is not just for Halloween! So glad I could use up some scraps.

New Year's Resolution - NOT!

2012-01-02T13:38:00.000-05:00

I tend to make a resolution or two every single year, and then I tend to lose sight of most of them. So I thought this year about making a resolution not to make a resolution . . . but then I'd be breaking it right off the bat by having made a resolution at all.

So I'm not making a resolution this year. I'm not setting myself up for failure. I am just going to try to be the best that I can be each and every day throughout the year. And I must believe in myself.

Whimsical Wednesday Challenge - Favorite Project

2012-01-01T19:10:00.001-05:00

The Whimsical Wednesday Challenge this week was to upload a favorite project from 2011. I have to admit that it was a tough choice. I've done some super-cool things in 2011, so in reality this is only one of many favorites.

Below is a layout that I did using some old photos and telling the story of my sister, Tammy, who was severely mentally challenged from birth.

These photos are from the sixties (dating myself here), and it is always difficult to scrap the old photos . . . especially those polaroids which are so thick and really should not be cut apart. I'm so glad that I got these photos down in a layout. You really just have to not stress about it and do it!

And I really think this layout is perfect! Look at those gorgeous eyes and that beautiful grin. That's my baby sister (may she rest in peace).

Positive Realist Project - Take 5

2011-12-28T23:52:00.000-05:00

Do you know what you realize when you write down your best and worst things. You realize that your problems are very small in the scheme of things!

Yes the holidays were difficult with the loss of my brother, but you do the best to move along and keep his memory strong. That, indeed, was the best and perhaps the worst of Christmas Day.

But now for the best of the week . . . it's a crafty thing . . . a little company that I love called Clear and Simple Stamps . . . I found them back in the summer of 2010 at the Stamp Expo in Massachusetts, and I bought some of their stamps. What I love about them . . .

Their stamps are Clear and Simple (just like the name says).
When I order from them and my shipment arrives, it comes in a great box and is enveloped in tissue paper (their signature color!).
Sometimes they include a complimentary copy of a magazine, and they put a post-it note on the page that has their advertisement!
And sometimes they send me a magnet or post-it pad with their logo.
They have an App for the iPhone that is awesome and keeps me inspired.

It's that personal touch that I love! And so on the 23rd I got a holiday card from them, and it included a free sentiment stamp set . . . not just one stamp . . . a stamp set! And so for two years running, I've gotten an awesome stamp set for being a customer. It just arrived in an adorable card.

It's the personal touch that is just awesome! Their adorable card made it into my Smash Book. It made me smile. It was "my best" for the day.

I Forgot I Was Crafty

2011-12-22T15:44:00.001-05:00

Wait . . . I think I said I had not been crafty. But wait . . . I was crafty. I forgot.

I made these boxes and tags with my Stampin' Up stash and stamps. (I love making boxes.)

There are five boxes (the picture shows six, but one failed inspection because it was too small to hold a gift card). They are in graduating sizes and will be filled with gift cards and then filled with each other as well. A box with in gift card, in a box with a gift card, in a box with a gift card, in a box with a gift card, in a box with a gift card!

Hmmm . . . I spot some American Craft brads in there too!

And then with the leftover scraps and some additional cardstock, I made these little gift card/chapstick holders using more of my Stampin' Up stash.

I forgot that I had been crafty one day!

Phew!

Back to those Christmas cards.

Positive Realist Project - Take 4

2011-12-22T13:58:00.001-05:00

I may be a day late in posting, but I have a completed spread in my Smash Book! Check it out:

Anyone who knows how I scrapbook knows that I'm all about clean lines. It has been said that I am LINEAR in my scrapbooks. My house could be all off-kilter, but my pages are linear.

a (1) : of, relating to, resembling, or having a graph that is a line and especially a straight line : straight (2) : involving a single dimension b (1) : of the first degree with respect to one or more variables (2) : of, relating to, based on, or being linear equations, linear differential equations, linear functions, linear transformations, or linear algebra c (1) : characterized by an emphasis on line <linear art> (2) : composed of simply drawn lines with little attempt at pictorial representation <linear script>

Need I say more. I'm linear. So this whole Smash technique is very new to me. I have to tell you - it is fun stuff!

And what did this past week have in store . . .

There were a lot of little surprises. I think the most exciting was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition and seeing my friend's work at Queen Vanna Creations featured on the show. How awesome. Click on her link if you want to see her work and hear about the shenanigans of when Hollywood calls! And you can even watch on-line. Note that her little reminder card that she gave to all of us is smashed into the book! Super cute!

I was not too crafty over the week . . . and I need to be because there is work to be done (including my Christmas cards which I started early but will finish late, as usual).

And I think I wrote a lot over the last week about having too much work. I have a 9 to 5 job that is more like 7 to 6 and has nothing to do with craftiness at all! I supposedly have two weeks off, and in the first two days of being off, I have worked about ten hours. What is up with that! It is definitely something I need to work on for the coming year, so stay tuned!

I

Positive Realist Project - Take 3

2011-12-14T22:47:00.001-05:00

Week 2 is in the books! Well, it's in the Smash Book!

I am loving this Smash Book idea for day to day. If there is something that you want to save, you literally just smash it in the book. I am saving little things that would normally hang around my house. Now they have a place. This week I saved two things in the book . . .

1) A rubber wrist bracelet purchased for charity;
2) A printed Facebook post that just brightened my day;

I put them into a little envelope to save, and I included the date. How super cool is that!

So let me mention my best of the best. The Facebook post was the absolute best. My daughter wanted some random ridiculous item that she saw. I don't know if she would have bought it for herself. But because I knew she wanted it, I ordered it on Ebay for her 26th birthday. And this was the post that brightened my day . . .

That was on December 10th. On December 12th "my best" was to pause and reflect 26 years earlier on my first child's arrival. No sappiness . . . just amazing surprises for 26 years!

Another "best" was spending the day on Sunday, December 11th taking a class from the amazing Cheryl Mezzetti! Love her classes . . . look at the little St. Nick book I made (needs some finishing touches):

My worsts were somewhat boring. The usual.

But I will highlight a purchase I made . . . my weekly donation went to Love for Lokomotiv. On Sept 7, 2011, 44 lives were lost in the worst tragedy in professional hockey history. A plane carrying crew members, hockey personnel, coaches and players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team went down, breaking the hearts of their loved ones near and far. In a united effort to show support for the grieving families, hockey wives and girlfriends from around the world created a website and have been selling bracelets to support their friends.

And so another week is in the books.

If anyone is interested in joining me on the journey, feel free. Or . . . just post your "best" and "worst" for the week in the comments.

Happy Smashing!

Unity - Let it Snow Challenge

2011-12-10T23:07:00.001-05:00

I was sitting down ready to create something for Unity's December Challenge - Let it Snow - and I still had scraps on my table from the Mojo Monday Challenge. I decided to use the same stamps and papers. Let's face it, I'm a Girl Scout and felt the need to "use resources wisely." Truth be told, I loved the combination of papers to create the jacket, scarf, hat, and mittens for my snowman.

So here is a second take at some of the same supplies and the same stamps. I used Unity's November Kit of the Month - the snowman stamp. For the sentiment I used the "We're all just a little flaky" stamp from the Jolly Good Fun set. I again paper pieced the elements onto the cream image (I love this look!). The design of the card itself is completely different from my "Mojo Monday" card. I used a border punch embellished with jewels and I framed my main image with that red pattern paper.

That snowman and is little jacket and scarf are just as stinking cute the second time as the first!

And indeed . . . we are all just a little flaky!

Mojo Monday 218

2011-12-10T22:46:00.001-05:00

I absolutely love a good sketch, and this one doesn't disappoint. I love anything that combines different shapes . . . pleasing to the eye!

My first order of business was to turn this sketch on it's side, as I knew I was going to use a wider design for my main image.

I used two different Unity Stamps, the sentiment from the Jolly Good Fun set and the snowman stamp from the November Kit of the Month. I stamped that snowman image on cream cardstock, onto a red pattern paper and then onto a striped pattern paper. I then went to work cutting out the pieces of the pattern paper so I could paper piece the pattern paper pieces onto the cream image. I used other pieces of the pattern paper for the elements of the sketch.

With the paper piecing finished up, I used my Copic Markers to color the bird, the bird house, the musical notes, the nose and to add shadows. I then added some flower soft white for the hat and mitten cuffs.

I love that darn sweater and scarf! It just makes me smile.

Positive Realist Project - Take 2

2011-12-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

I have completed my first week of Positive Realist Project, and it has been awesome!

I am horrible at writing a journal for many reasons:

I am a perfectionist and once a mistake is made, I typically lose interest or want to start from scratch, and
I hate doing anything in my own handwriting because . . . . well, see #1 right above this. If I make a mistake, I lose interest! So that has been my first real challenge . . . not to care about mistakes and to just keep going!

Let me tell you . . . there are mistakes! I have more typos when I do things in my handwriting than I do when I type. How can that be?

So before I talk about some cool and not-so-cool moments, here is is a look at my Smash Book. It is coming along.

I journaled "my best" and "my worst" for each day. I incorporated some little items into the book. I used the top of a receipt from New England Scrapbook Co. where I found a pink Smash Book pen for journaling . . . happy moment on Day 2. Then on Day 6 I included a little black and white print of the cover of a holiday album my nephew Joe made to surprise his mom and lift her spirits for the holidays! Super cool! And then finally, the cardboard cozy from my latte today!

My bests for the week . . . nothing huge, unless you count the "Joe to the World" music collection, which was a big surprise. It brightened my evening tremendously the night I saw it, and it is brightening my evening this very moment as I type this. I realized I could download the songs by making a donation which will go to Connecticut Cat Connection, which was my brother's favorite charity. A win-win! So I made a $30.00 donation for one song (erroneously hit the wrong pick), and then a $10.00 donation for the entire track. I am loving it! And the money will go to a great cause.

Another highlight . . . an evening watching a new video I recently bought, "Becoming Chaz." It was a great documentary about Chaz Bono's transformation from woman to man. Odd that two of my bests also included Starbucks lattes, which is interesting, because I usually am lucky to make it there once every two or three weeks.

Some of my worsts . . . getting caught in the rain while searching for my lost iPhone. Bright sides: 1) I found the phone; 2) it was dark and the UPS man (who showed 10 minutes later) did not see me in my PJ's searching the car.

Stressful times at work this week. Really stressful times! BUT, while at Starbucks, they had these cool bracelets and for a $5.00 donation, the proceeds would go to Create Jobs for USA. So how do you turn your stress at work around . . . buy a bracelet and be thankful that you have a job. Now it is highly likely that had I not been journaling about my stress at work, I would not have made the connection on the bracelet and made the donation. I bought two and put them with mugs/tea and will give them as grab bag gifts.

My goal this holiday season is to make donations to organizations so this week was perfect. I managed to make $50.00 in donations, and it was all connected to my project.

And so I will carry on and check in next week.

The Play Date Cafe #109

2011-12-05T16:00:00.001-05:00

I have not had a "play date" at the cafe in about two months! I've missed eight dates with my busy schedule.

So it is time . . .

These were really tough colors for me. Really tough. But then I saw that my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. had Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection which had this one really cute design that looked like a little quilt in several pink hues. I started with a Bazzill Champagne cardstock card base, and cut a 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 of the pattern paper. I distressed the edges with a distressing tool. The die cut is from My Creative Time, as is the stitched border stamp. The ice cream cone stamp and sentiment are from Unity Stamp (one of their monthly kits).

Not an easy color combination for me, so it was quite a stretch.

I always gauge my cards by how they look the next day after a good night's sleep. Not to shabby at all!

Getting My Mojo On - Mojo Monday 217

2011-12-04T22:21:00.002-05:00

With my Positive Realist Project underway, I decided it was time to look at participating in a challenge, as I have not done one in quite some time. So I decided to get my Mojo on with the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. Note that I realized I wouldn't make the deadline, but I wanted to play along anyway (it's not about deadlines . . . it's about creating).

No being in a round mood, I went for the square sketch. There were two things I wanted to accomplish . . .

1) I wanted to try out a new technique . . . chevron stripes. I had seen the technique featured a few places over the years. Recently a few paper crafters on a board on Stamp Nation had been talking about it, so I had to give it a shot; and
2) I wanted to do something masculine.

I was looking for masculine paper and stripes (for my chevron stripes)! Imaginisce had a fabulous line called Bon Voyage that had been calling me. I chose that one stripe paper (which had a stamp print on the bottom), three coordinating colors of cardstock and a package of the stickers to embellish. Using the sketch above, here is my design:

Now . . . you might be saying that I missed an element of the sketch. But the real element I wanted to showcase was my chevron stripes which make up that top panel. It was created by cutting diagonal strips in two different directions, and then adhering those to a scrap of paper. I love the look!

And here is a view from another angle. The paper has a glossy embossed coating, which really makes the design pop!

I wanted to finish up the job by using the remaining paper and stickers to make up some additional masculine cards. This first one has a pop up airplane on the inside (see second photo).

When closed, the airplane covers the sentiment . . . and then moves as you open/close the card.

And then two other designs, the second of which also has chevron stripes.

So with three sheets of cardstock, one sheet of double-sided paper, and a package of dimensional stickers . . . job done! I can't wait to try the technique using another striped paper, and I'm glad that I accomplished some masculine cards (which are not always easy for me to create).

I will be checking in on Wednesday or Thursday with my progress on my PR Project! Stay tuned.

The Positive Realist Project - Take #1

2011-12-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

I have a little project involving a Smash Book:

I'm about to get really chatty here, because I have this idea about what makes us stronger. It's a long story about why I'm here and why I want to do this, so stick with me if you can.

I had a friend who was going through some troubles at home and at work. She was really going through a difficult time. She told me that it had been suggested to her that before she put her head on the pillow each night she should think of one good thing that happened to her that day. Just one! She would keep a notebook by her bed, and she would write something down each night. I thought it was an interesting idea. I've never tried it. I don't know how that worked for her, but I tucked it away in the back of my head.

The last three years for our family have been extremely difficult ones, starting with the loss of my mother-in-law. She was a realist for sure, and in many respects a positive realist. She would say, "What will be, will be." She would always forge forward. She was one of the most sensible, practical women I've ever met. Unfortunately, these traits of hers did not completely pass down to her son. He is a bit of a negative realist. While he is definitely one to forge forward, he always looks for the loopholes first. He also spends a great deal of time warning about loop holes before they become reality. Since her passing, I feel like I gained a few of her traits in dealing with him. I take one cup of my mother-in-law's reality, I mix it with my own reality, and I add a teaspoon of my sarcasm (okay, maybe more like a quarter cup). I offer this up as a nice contrast to help him deal with most of his problems. We forge ahead.

The day that my husband returned to work after my mother-in-law's funeral, he was laid off from his job. Talk about kicking a guy when he's down. Apparently he missed the big lay off day while mourning his loss. Things looked a little odd when he got to work that day. There appeared to be some "cleaner, neater" desk areas. It looked like several people had the day off. And a few minutes after arriving, he was called in for a little meeting. He returned to his desk and found an empty box in which he could pack his things. How convenient and thoughtful, because what if you didn't bring a box that day? Forge ahead!

And the third crowning glory in that month of November 2008 was a legal matter regarding the handling of my mother-in-law's estate. Let's just say that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. My husband had carefully consulted attorneys before making a move on selling her house while she was in the nursing home. This one single event has likely tripled his negative realism. I recall him saying, "It is sad, but we would have been better off just abandoning her. That is the message that I'm getting here." Financially, he was 100% accurate. It is truly sad that there are people who cheat the system as their parents age. But the guy who tries to do the right thing and didn't make a single penny (and in fact lost money in attorney's fees) doesn't win his case over one small misunderstanding with an attorney. I remind him that spiritually, we would have never walked away from her, as that would have been way more painful. So we forge on.

My husband found work, taking a lesser job, and we continued forging ahead as we battled our little legal matter. The economy being what it is, he again faced layoff a year ago. He has found yet another job. We continue to forge on!

I have three siblings. In an 18 month period between 2009 and 2011, I lost two of them and nearly lost a third. When I think about would could have happened, I could be the last one standing. It breaks my heart.

My younger sister was 48-years old, severely disabled and lived a simple life in a wheel chair with very little communication. She did have some medical issues the last two years leading to her death, but it was unexpected and came at the same time that my brother and his wife were losing her father, who passed just one week later. It was a tough couple of weeks. My sister's loss left a hole in my heart. I forged on in a trance.

Several months later, my oldest brother was in a downward spiral. He appears to be a forge ahead kind of guy. He does not have a wife and kids and does not surround himself with his family. He had lost his sister and his job. He was without health insurance and was facing some medical issues. He lost his will and basically nearly took his own life by ignoring his health. We discovered there was a problem as he was on death's doorstep. After spending nearly two months in the hospital, he is back on his feet again. That is slightly funny, because he lost part of his foot during the incident. I can joke about that because I am a positive realist!

But the one that really challenges me . . . that really ticks me off . . . that I fear I will have the biggest battle over . . . the loss of my brother less than a year ago. Diagnosed with cancer on his 50th birthday, he never made it to his 51st. We were close in that we lived just 20 minutes from each other, we raised our kids together, and we spent most holidays together. He was not a talker. The repeated phrase I miss so much,

"Hey Deb, what's going on? [to which I responded "not much"] Here's Laurie?"

That was like a thousand words. It said it all! I miss that so much. And yes, I do want to talk to Laurie! And I don't have to share her with you anymore, so "neener, neener, neener." I can joke about that because I'm a positive realist!

I believe I was making these types of jokes early on after his death. I believe it is what makes me stronger. I believe there is something about trying to always find the positive in any crappy situation. I believe that if you don't make light of the dark situations, you will stay in the dark much longer.

All that said, the realist in me still wants to shake those who upon asking, "How are you?" respond with "I couldn't be better." Really? If you were called in and given a promotion right now, you wouldn't be better? If you won $100,000 in the lottery, you wouldn't be better? I do understand that they say those things because they are positive people and it gets them through the day. But really?

Where am I going with all of this? I have this idea . . . for the not so crafty or the crafty. There will be some not so crafty things, and some crafty things. You can pick and choose .

Get yourself a journal if you want to play along. (This is where my Smash Book comes in.)

You can start at any time . . . does not have to be today. Does not have to be tomorrow. It can be next week. It doesn't matter. I am starting today.

We are going to be realists. Positive realists! As each and every day closes, we are going to write two things in our journal. It will be an on-going list. Simple! We will write 1) the most positive thing that happened and 2) the most negative thing that happened.

Once a week I will pick some negatives from my list, and I will turn them into positives with a healthy dose of sarcasm! I will encourage you to do the same.

And every so often, I will throw a craft twist in for those who want a crafty twist. My plan is to have my journal, but to also have an album by the end of the year with some stories and photos.

Are you with me? Get yourself a Smash Book (click on the link to see how cool they are). My favorite scrapbook store, New England Scrapbook Co. has them.

Forge ahead . . . let's be positive realists together!

Random Numbers

2011-11-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

I will tell you for a near fact (is there such a thing as a near fact?) that when I make cards, 196 times out of 197 (how random) I will start with cardstock and add pattern paper. I rarely will ever use pattern paper as a base for a card.

This is the 100th time! I picked the busiest paper! Check out this busy, pattern paper, with a scallop of another busy paper, and a small circle of white cardstock on which I placed my sticker. It looks like that one house is the spotlighted house on the street! A little sentiment sticker, and one of the Wonder & Wishes Poinsettias . . . the outside of the card is complete.

And so I moved to the inside of the card! I wanted something to pop. The reverse side of my

Wonder & Wishes paper was a busy dot print. The likely candidate for the inside is always white. An estimated 93 times out of 94 (random) I will put a piece of white on the inside of the card. But only one time (1 time) in an estimated 412 (super-random) will I use pattern paper for the inside!

So I cut another piece of that dot paper . . . I folded, I made some cuts and scored, and suddenly I had a neat little pop up! I split a sticker in half, and wallah! A pop-up message! "At Christmas, All Roads Lead Home!

Instructions? Indeed!

1) Make your regular card base mine was a piece of pattern paper (pattern paper!) measuring 4 1/4" x 11", fold in half to make your card.
2) Cut another piece for the "pop factor" that measures slightly smaller upward to 1/2 inch smaller around (you can do 4 1/8 x 10 3/4" . . . or 4 x 10 1/2 . . . or 3 3/4" x 10". Trust me, it all works. Fold this piece in half equally.
3) Take this "pop factor" piece and follow my cutting/scoring instructions below.

4) Adhere the "pop factor" piece into the card base. IMPORTANT: Glue the center first, and then hold the card slightly close when you glue the ends. If you glue everything flat, the card is stiff and doesn't open quite right.
5) Cut a piece of paper (pattern or cardstock) into a strip to put your popping piece onto the card. See more instructions in the photo below.

Instructions confusing . . . give a shout!

Wonder & Wishes x 4 = Perpetual Craftiness

2011-11-27T23:00:00.002-05:00

I made a card today that reminds me of the energizer bunny. The card is perpetual . . . it keeps going and going and going. I still marvel over it every time I make one. It's like it is being turned inside out! But it's paper! They're like magic. You always end up back at the beginning again.

My very first version was a 9" x 9" version made for a Girl Scout skill aid. It wasn't very decorative, and it was done to reinforce camping skills with tasks representing steps of a skill on each fold. I recently saw them as 6 x 6" cards and caught the fever to make them again. Today was my first Christmas version, and let me tell you . . . the pictures and the video do not do the card justice. It is really, really cute! REALLY!

I used pattern paper and stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle's Wonder & Wishes line. It is beautiful stuff, with so many choices for backgrounds. I was ready to go Christmas crazy! Keep in mind there are four sides to this card. There has to be a little planning in place because you have four separate canvases to work with, a few areas that carry over to another part of the card. And some of them have to be split in half to complete the folds. Confused? Don't be. Once you've done one or two they are a breeze!

I've included instructions further below. So here are my four canvases . . .

Two pattern papers. I popped the smallest gift box. I added some of the pom poms to the elf shoes and hat.

Two different pattern papers, ornament stickers, and twine.

The brown dot paper carried through . . . added angel and tree to center panel.


Built the gift from pattern paper, border and other stickers. Notice how I pieced it around the folds.

And on to the video! The quality is not great, so apologies in advance, but you'll get the idea of how the card works in action . . .

I hope you'll try it! I did include some instructions below. So many possibilities! Have fun!

Oh - and keep in mind that they are great learning aids for kids! Worked like a charm for those "Girl Scout Kapers."

How'd I do it . . .

Start with four pieces of cardstock measuring 3 x 6" (just a 1/2 sheet of cardstock). I scored 1 1/2" in on each end (on the dotted lines below). If you change up the size, just be sure that you score a quarter of the way in on each side. Be sure to crease the folds before you put your adhesive on. You will want to use a really strong adhesive (I used tacky tape) in the areas marked "glue" below. Once you've glued the horizontals to the verticals, just work through the motions of the folding, trimming any areas where "it gets stuck." Once everything is moving the way you want it to . . . decorate!

Light Bulb Moment

2011-11-24T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have had this idea in my head for quite some time. It is not a complete idea. It is as if there is a short in my bright idea light bulb. This idea comes, and then it goes. But it always returns.

Sometimes the idea arrives as a package deal with a smattering of creativity. I think it out for a while, and then I dismiss it. Other times it appears to be more of a therapeutic idea, with no creativity involved. And then I forget about it for a while. But it always returns, and usually comes back with new ideas for how I might accomplish this idea of mine.

It has been dismissed several times by the notion that it has likely already been done by someone else. Have I checked into it? Well, no I have not. Why? Because if I found out it had been done already in some fashion, then I know that I absolutely would not even attempt it. I don't want to see any other versions of this very simplistic idea. I just want to move forward with mine.

Is it something huge? No it is not. It is small and it is easy.

It was several days ago when I sat down to write about this idea, and how I might set about in making it a reality. But to write about it (to blog about it) would nearly be a commitment to the idea. So it was dismissed yet again. Yet hear I sit on Thanksgiving night, and I am writing in my blog about this idea.

I spent the day with some treasured people . . . my family and friends. And believe it or not there was this light bulb in a kitchen ceiling at my sister-in-laws house, and it was not consistently lighting. It was on and it was off. I silently watched the dilemma of my husband trying to fix it, and I thought about my silly little on again, off again idea. My sister-in-law explained that when this light is not working at night, the kitchen gets pretty dark.

Hmmm . . . does this mean that if I don't attempt to follow through with this idea, I'll be in the dark? Perhaps it was a sign. I do believe in signs.

So maybe . . . just maybe . . . there is a commitment here to something. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . there is a "Coming Soon" sign to be put out. And maybe . . . just maybe . . . I will encourage others to join me on the journey.

Maybe.

I Gypsied Up a Calendar Class

2011-11-15T21:08:00.000-05:00

I ponder whether those of us who are crafty make up our own words. My new word is "gypsied." As in . . . "I gypsied my 2012 calendar." I also went down the hall and did some "gypsying."

Of course I'm talking about my Gypsy which was used on my Cricut. For the last four years or so I have signed on to teach a calendar class at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. in Canton, Connecticut. This year, I gypsied up a calendar. This class is always well attended, but the amount of prep time is insane because I do a lot of die cuts and stamping. Cutting and stamping for all the kits is a lengthy endeavor that takes many long days and nights. And there were some mishaps that added to my stress . . . including Winter Storm Alfred (the big loser storm) who left me powerless for a week and stopped the cutting, stamping, and kitting production.

The Gypsy is a newer tool in my arsenal that I have just begun to use. I have had my Cricut for nearly two years, and I can honestly say that it got very little use. In the last four months since owning the Gypsy, I have used my Cricut more than the entire two years of owning it. I have taken my Cricut use to a whole new level. Not only was each month cut by "welding" letters, as shown in the June design below, but I was able to design the calendar "on-the-go" and then plug in at home when I was ready to choose paper and cut my designs. The most intricate month for design was June. I designed in layers, cutting a cream layer as a base for my clothesline, a black layer for pants and socks, floral layer for the dress, checked layer for the shirt, and then a striped layer for the bathing suit (or are those striped items "unmentionables").

I carried the same titles throughout, using the black script welded on the Gyps. Also used throughout the calendar were the date stamp (from Close to My Heart), and the definition stamps for ten of the months (from Clear and Simple Stamps), and the black ribbon.

I absolutely love those script letters! Nice thing is that everything is saved on the Gypsy so I could use it to gypsy myself up another project.

Hmmm . . . gypsy is my newest verb!

Take Advantage of Doppler Radar

2011-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

October was National Breast Cancer Awareness, and I wanted to get this card posted before the month ran out. Winter Storm Alfred had a completely different plan as we were without power for 146 hours (that is 6 days and 2 hours).

Although in many ways cancer is much like our weather . . . you can't stop it from coming, it puts you in quite a state of panic, and as we have seen with the crazy weather this year, it definitely does kill! The key to cancer is Doppler radar. Early detection . . . mammograms, colonoscopies (which my spell check still does not pick up), screenings, etc.

But I digress . . .

While shopping in a South Carolina scrapbook store I came across this amazing rubber stamp. I tried to walk away . . . I really did. I even checked out without it. But then I saw some amazing "Fight Like a Girl" pink, black and white paper with dots, scallops, and stripes on a stand nearby and it was like a fishing expedition. Hook, line and sinker!

Hmmm . . . what do you do with a card like this? My thought was to make a card that would hopefully work to inspire someone during their fight, or let them know that folks are thinking about them.

So I created this little shaker card . . . using the adorable stamp and the fabulous paper to make the bra. I stamped on white, then stamped on the pattern paper and cut out the pattern paper, adhering to the white. I colored using my copics, added some confetti to the shaker and I really love the result.

So after making this, it was scoffed up by a friend of mine. She added an inspirational personal note inside, and is making it's way to a friend of hers who just finished several month's of treatment.

Mission accomplished!

So . . . folks . . . take advantage of the Doppler Radar!

146 Hours of Education and the Story of a Tree

2011-11-05T10:27:00.001-04:00

I had 146 hours of education over the last couple of days. It was education without power. It was scary. It was interesting. It was trying. It was stressful. It was also calm.

Winter Storm Alfred dumped some heavy wet snow here in New England. It began last Saturday, October 29th, and while the weather forecasters were predicting power outages, I don't think we really thought it would be this bad.

The problems . . . HEAVY WET SNOW + TREES WITH LEAVES = DAMAGE

We were not finished with Fall here in New England. And it was not a light fluffy snow. It was big flakes of wet snow. The kind that look absolutely magical from your window . . . like Christmas. The kind that usually last for a few minutes before turning to the little teenie flakes that look so pretty when they land on your mitten and you examine their shape. No, these were the ones that land on you and stick so that you are completely soaked when you get inside.

So the leaves were covered with this heavy stuff, and the branches were weighed down. By the time I arrived home from work on Saturday, we had no power. As I exited my car, I could just hear cracking noises in the wooded areas. It was eerie. Cracking, and then snow falling from limbs. Cracking, and then limbs falling. Limbs taking out other limbs.

I got into the house while still light . . . no power . . . and as daylight turned to darkness it became an entire night of listening to noises outside. As we tried to sleep in the night and would hear loud noises. We would go to the windows and look with our flashlights. One such flashlight adventure at around 4:00 a.m. showed a really sad sight. One of our back yard trees, which surprisingly had no leaves left on it, had completely split about 10 feet up from the ground. Half had fallen in one direction, skimming the side of the house and just missing our fence. The other half fell in the other direction.

Flashback to about 1994 when our kids, who were early elementary school (perhaps around 1st and 3rd grade) found what they thought was a weed growing in the middle of the front yard. Mama tree is our very favorite tree out front, and she had sprouted a baby tree. We told them it was a baby tree, and that we would have to pull it out because it was not growing in a good place and would likely die. So my girls dug up that little one-foot baby tree and moved it to the back yard. They put it in our fenced in half of the yard. They thought our dogs Angel and Ashley would enjoy sitting under the tree in the summer.

We kind of laughed. We never thought that little thing would survive, and my husband said he would wait a few weeks and remove it. But we mowed the grass around it for years. We dealt with how stupid it looked in the middle of the fenced in yard until it became a real tree. Flash forward to the summer of 2011 and it is the tall tree in the backyard that our dogs Lola and Charlie enjoy sitting under in the summer. (Lola and Charlie are the two "paws" that have not yet been introduced on my blog).

Our tree will be gone later today or tomorrow. Our newly purchased chain saw will be taking her down completely. So sad!

So . . . what have I learned in 146 hours:

1) Trees break! It's a sad, scary noise that they make. It is a little heartbreaking too . . . even for the ones that don't have sentimental value.

2) If you have to drive 70 miles to fill your tank with gas, you will be down about a quarter tank when you get back home.

3) Friends and neighbors help each other in situations like these. People's true colors really come through loud and clear in these situations.

4) You can make things on a grill that look horrible, but taste pretty good in dim light. And you can eat really burned stuff without getting sick, even if the aftertaste doesn't go away for a few hours.

5) Your situation may be bad, but it could always be worse. A friend of mine had power come back on in her home, and a fire started, gutting their in-law apartment and causing damage to the main house. It sent her husband to the hospital and scattered her pets so they were hard to find. They are in a hotel and will eventually have a happy ending. It will just take longer.

6) Dogs and cats are nice to have around when you don't have power. They are also warm.

7) My husband was a great guy on Days 1 through 3 when he was not working due to the power outage at work, but once he went back to work, we discovered that we are on opposite ends of the communication spectrum. Emotions were a little high these last few days. I will now blame work for all of our communication problems. However . . . HOWEVER . . . the chainsaw that I immediately purchased via my work computer on Monday morning (because I figured by the time we found an open store with power, every chain saw would be gone) which he thought was a bad idea . . . admittedly became a good one by Friday when he went to buy supplies to get it running. Five points for me in the Game of Matrimony!

8) Hand puppet shapes on the wall can be fun. However, they don't hold my attention and the flashlight kind of scares my dog, Samantha.

9) You can, indeed, wear certain articles of clothing for multiple days . . . the ones that people don't notice.

10) AM talk radio isn't too bad when it is the only show in town and it is your lifeline to what's going on!

I could go on and on for hours. Going to bed early and getting up early isn't so bad. I can miss my television shows and not die. Feet do eventually warm up with the right amount of blankets and dogs strategically placed on the bed. Blah, blah, blah!

Creatively . . . I was useless. There was not one iota of creativity in me. My energy went to working 11-12 hour days and surviving the elements at home.

It was 146 hours of education. It was 146 hours of reality check. And as I type this, I notice that my house has a certain hum to it when there is power. It is a hum that kinds of says "Home!"

Something About Lucy

2011-10-28T12:52:00.000-04:00

You've met Samantha.

You've met Jennyanydots.

You've met Buzz.

It is time to meet another of my 4-legged roomates . . . Lucy. There is something about Lucy!

Lucy was named after Lucille Ball . . . my daughter was (and still is) a huge fan back in 2003 when Lucy came to stay. She was just 3 weeks old after being rescued from an underground pipe. She was rescued with two siblings before her feral mama relocated the rest of the litter. She was one sick little kitten, loaded with parasites, had a horrible respiratory infection and an even worse eye infection. Had she not been rescued, she likely would have not lasted much longer.

Little Baby Lucy . . . just 4 weeks old.

Since coming here to live with us in 2003, let's just say it has been interesting. She pulled the usual kitten shenanigans on our dogs . . . diving from high places, swatting butts from under furniture and doing karate moves on her hind end to their faces.

Lucy (a little over a year old) trying to get new puppy Lola to play!

She peskily picked a fight with our older cat, Jennyanydots, just one too many times and had a tiny sliver of her lower eyelid sliced by an angry older kitty claw. A visit to the vet determined it could not be repaired (without a micro-surgeon) and that her tear duct had been damaged. The result is a cat who always seems to have an eye infection . . . but does not. The amount of times visitors have said, "Oh, you should have that checked out by a vet." as we re-tell the story and watch them cringe when they hear of her lower eyelid mishap.

Lucy grew up to be a friendly little girl who could hold her own with our dogs.

But in the last few years things have changed a bit. Poor little Lucy stopped cleaning herself and we noticed she had a growth on her tongue. So she had some surgery to remove it, and things have not been the same since. It took a long time for her to trust us, and she took to hanging out in the basement a great deal. She also chooses to "selectively" clean herself. She cleans her top half, but her bottom half has gone to hell! We often refer to her as "dirty kitty." She has nice white front paws, and really dingy gray back ones. She smells like basement! But we put up with "dirty kitty", and I often sing the "Smelly Cat" song to her (from "Friends"). She seems to enjoy that . . . but she does not enjoy the occasional bath forced upon her.

Check out my crazy blinky eye, my dingy not-so-white belly, and my fabulous posture when sitting.

And there is not much we can do to improve her tongue issue! She is literally missing a part of it after the surgery . . . proven by the day I attempted to snap a photo and caught this lovely shot.

I think she was trying to send me a message.

She's a dirty little thing, but she's our dirty little thing!

Unity Autumn Harvest Challenge

2011-10-22T09:06:00.001-04:00

Little time to talk . . . just wanted to post a card I made for the Unity Challenge. It's a little busier than I would normally like . . . but I used a lot of stamps on this one from the September Unity Kit of the Month. I used the leaves to make a background of leaves. I also used the three stamps that made up the "postage" and then the "grateful" ribbon banner. That is a lot of stamps on one little 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 canvas. I just couldn't stop.

I also tried out a new gadget I got as a bit of a prize from a recent crop I attended . . . it is a ribbon sewer (I think that was the term). It is what enabled that half moon border of ribbon that is sewn into the card at the bottom. Quite interesting . . . still need to play around with this one.

And today I must get busy . . . working on a big project for an upcoming class . . . no time to spare!

Cheerio!

Pushing the Limit

2011-10-16T12:25:00.001-04:00

I've always been super frustrated with the scrapbooking tools that I buy and then have little success with using. It is not that the product does not work . . . it is more that I have to wrap my brain around it until something clicks with using it. The Cricut has been one of those items. An expensive little venture, so if you're not using it, then you've got a problem. I am a hands-on person . . . love metal dies and cranking through Big Shots or Revolutions. The idea of leaving my scrap table to figure out some computer gadget was an issue for me . . . and frustrating when sizes didn't match. Loading and unloading different colors. OY!

So seeing some videos and blog posts on the Gypsy had me intrigued. The concept of designing anywhere, and then plugging in seemed to have some merit for me. So I purchased the Gypsy a month or so ago, to go along with my Cricut. I wondered if I was just digging a deeper hole for something that I clearly did not use enough. I think I have used my Cricut more this last month than I have in the two years I've had it! Seriously!

I designed a layout for my local scrapbook store . . . their October Kit of the Month . . . a little layout that I called Boo . . . produced the original and then 15 kits.

Then I "welded" some letters for an upcoming class that I am teaching at the store - a 2012 Calendar.

Still feeling like I needed to dive deeper into the pool, I decided to give the My Creative Time Throwback Thursday Challenge a try. The challenge was to use an older cartridge with a card feature on it, and to use a Halloween theme. I used Wild Card, and with my gypsy, I put a cut-out with a web. I actually had to measure on the little grid (on the gypsy) to change the sizing on my card to the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2". Then I had to make sure the pieces fit right.

And then . . . new breakthrough . . . I realized I could cut it all at once by putting the different colors of paper in the right areas of the grid on my mat. I loaded black, white, and pattern paper on my mat in all the right places according to the grid.

I hit the cut button . . . and done in one push of the button. CRAZY!

So here is my challenge card . . . Bazzill Cardstock, Pattern Paper from Basic Grey, Black Ink, stamping from the My Creative Time All Around Halloween set, and some leftover embellishments from my stash (bat, ghost clip and stars).

I inked the web over the tombstone to get the web effect on the edge. Cool! And the little spider on the scallop circle up top . . . he carried through to my inside corner as well . . .

Always nice to learn some new things with the tools you have - a worthwhile challenge indeed!

Carol Burnett Theme Song

2011-10-09T23:38:00.000-04:00

Anyone doing something they truly enjoy realizes that the time you spend doing it, no matter how long, goes by far too quickly. Weekends . . . days off from work . . . vacations . . . time spent with loved ones . . . weddings (all that planning, and the celebration is over so quickly).

My weekend was a perfect example. I was attending a mardi gras themed scrapbooking crop in Litchfield Beach, South Carolina. All of the planning and preparation to get the car packed, a 15 hour drive, and the weekend begins. I was so looking forward to a weekend with my friends, Julie and Linda, and in a blink of an eye it is over.

There were some raffles, a "scrappy bear game", a mardi gras mask decorating contest, a secret pal activity that ran throughout the weekend (where you secretly left gifts and supplies for your secret pal). Prior to the event, I was contacted by my friend Linda's secret pal via e-mail. I dutifully answered the e-mail answering all of the questions so her pal could do some shopping. There were about 30 croppers at this event . . . 29 women and John. John had introduced himself to all of us via a message prior to the crop. When I arrived at the crop, my husband helped me bring my things into the cropping space, and John came over to say hello to us. When he heard we were from Connecticut, he became very excited and mentioned he had been e-mailing me. I realized that this was Linda's secret pal. John suddenly looked over my shoulder to where my husband was standing and said, "It's strictly scrapbooking." We all got a chuckle out of it. Throughout the weekend, Linda had absolutely no idea that John was her secret pal. It was an awesome reveal on the last day.

My first gift from my pal was an awesome stuffed snoopy (holding a mug of root beer) and a six pack of root beer. I was in heaven!

I had vowed now to do the mardi gras mask contest, because I felt so far behind in my scrapbooking. But my Twinkling H2O's were calling me. We were provided with a plain white mask from Oriental Trade which we could decorate anyway we wanted. I went with traditional mardi gras colors and painted sections. I then took some seam binding and ribbon in "the wrong colors" and colored them with those same H2O colors and stapled them around the rim . . . added some dew drops and jewels and I was done. My creation took the prize!

We had a Close To My Heart rep who set up a corner of the room with all kinds of great items. The crop was not run by her, but she was absolutely AMAZING. She made the weekend so special providing designer paper, cards and envelopes for us to make cards for the military. She also surprised us all with some little gifts throughout the weekend, including a fabulous two-page layout. I even took two classes with her, one was an amazing card class using buttons. So cute.

We took a ride to a local scrapbook store, and I absolutely fell in love with the "Save the Hooters" stamp they had in the store. I passed it by at least three times, talking myself out of the purchase. I checked out. I was done shopping and then suddenly I was making a last minute purchase to get the stamp. They also had some great paper called Fight Like a Girl by Glimpses. I used one of them to create the shoe design below. Way too cute. I also bought some confetti in black, pink and white to make the shaker in the card.

But the real prize for me was time spent with friends and meeting some new friends. We had some laughs over the weekend. There were some phrases that will be repeated! But the fact that it is over so quickly is reminds me of the theme song from the Carol Burnett show . . .

      I'm so glad we had this time together,
      Just to have a laugh or sing a song,
      Seems we get just get started and before you know it,
      Comes the time we have to say, "So long!"

Goodnight everybody!

Happy Fall - Unity Stamp Monthly Challenge

2011-10-01T15:00:00.001-04:00

Unity's Monthly Challenge (as opposed to the Sketch challenge) was to create anything using leaves. I went to my Harvest of Memories stamp set and used the four leaf stamps and the "happy fall" stamp to make the design below. Hardest part was keeping those darn stems attached to the leaves as I was cutting them out. Stamping on different pattern papers and cardstock was going to make the design really pop, so I used two fall pattern papers, a Bo Bunny dot paper, and then solid green and brown cardstock for the leaves, and I stamped in brown ink. The sentiment was stamped onto the cream cardstock. I then framed my sentiment with the leaves, popping some to give a little more contrast to the design.

As much of a hassle as those stems were . . . I'm so happy I left them on!

Happy Stamping!

Unity Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge - September

2011-09-30T18:00:00.001-04:00

I absolutely love to get detailed with stamping . . . not just to stamp, but to cut, color and embellish where I can. Sometimes I love the end result, and sometimes . . . well, not so much.

My September Kit of the Month had not arrived yet, so I decided to find some stamps from the August set to use on the sketch.

The sketch . . .

The August kit had those cute little soda bottles that were just calling to me. Where I grew up, we called it pop. But here in New England, it is soda. I started with the image on white, intending to maybe use a circle punch to get the circle design in the sketch. But suddenly, I was off on a tangent with scissors and markers to make something more. And I absolutely LOVE the end result (which you can't see in the first photo, but you can totally see in the second one below).

I used some crystal lacquer to get the bottle effect below, but I also made bottle labels for the cola and the grape soda. These little bottles are so stinking cute!

Here's to successful creativity!

What's Shakin'

2011-09-25T18:07:00.000-04:00

So what's shakin'? Not much crafty stuff going on. Life is a little busy. The Monday to Friday job in the insurance world has me hopping . . . the weekend job at my local home away from home (New England Scrapbook Co.) keeps me busy. The combination of the two makes me too tired to be creative (sometimes). But . . . I better get my craftiness going because I'm less than two weeks from my vacation . . . a weekend crop in Myrtle Beach with friends followed by a few days of R & R with my husband. That's pretty much all that is shakin', but I suppose that's a lot.

When I saw this little stamp set from Unity, I just had to get it. I kept thinking . . . what the heck will I do with a salt and pepper shaker. But they are so darn cute, it is the perfect little card. I used a card from the Doodlebug Card Tower along with pattern paper from Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer (beautiful collection of paper and stickers which was available at NESC). The red and cream checked makes me think of a picnic tablecloth, and the reverse side is the floral print that I used as my "ribbon accent." Paper as a ribbon accent . . . absolutely. I cut a half-inch strip, broke the fibers down using my ruler (a bone folder would have worked better, but I couldn't find mine). Run adhesive on the back side and just glue a little, fold a little, glue a little fold a little, etc. Trim when you get to the end and ta da! A paper ribbon accent!

I stamped the salt and pepper shakers onto a very light cream cardstock, and then the lids on a shiny silver pattern paper that I had on hand. I cut the shakers and lids out, glued the lids to the top of the shakers, and then popped them onto the card. I used black and diamond stickles for the salt and pepper. I then covered them with a coating of Glossy Accents to give that glass look to the shakers.

Super easy and fun!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #99

2011-09-20T19:38:00.001-04:00

My weekly expedition into color continues with The Play Date Challenge #99.

These colors are simply gorgeous. Lilacs and lemonade! That was the first thing that came to mind for me. I thought I did a great job of matching up my colors until I looked at this photo. Somehow things look a little blue. Amazing what the right lighting can do for you!

I used a Magenta stamp with black Memento Ink, and then used my Twinkling H20's to add color to my stamped image.

If you've not tried the H20's . . . I highly recommend. They are super fun to work with, and very "twinkly". See the close up shot below.

Until next week . . .

Happy Scrapping, Stamping, Papercrafting!

Never Ending Halloween Card

2011-09-18T02:28:00.001-04:00

I am in love with this super cool never ending card idea and have so far made two designs, both Halloween. It is just super cool and fun. Check out the video of one that I made using Stampin' Up's Frightful Sight DS paper and some of their latest stamps. I used three sets to design this card . . . Out on the Limb, Gift Givers and Wicked Cool.

I've got some thoughts in the works to do a few birthday designs as well! Get ready.

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #98

2011-09-13T19:11:00.000-04:00

I can't seem to tear myself away from The Play Date Cafe Challenge . . . and here I am again this week.

Their inspirational photo this week . . .

And my design, which was inspired by a sketch I saw recently . . .

This is Stampin' Up paper, stamp, ink and brad. I pulled in all the colors from the paper on the stamp design as well.

Looking forward to next week's challenge! Love The Play Date Cafe!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #97

2011-09-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

Another Play Date Cafe Challenge!

I love this weekly challenge, and I think it's about the beauty they bring to colors. The photo that they post for inspiration is always so inviting. This week's challenge was really awesome, because it included one of my favorite color combinations . . . black and white with a splash of red.

So the idea behind the color splash was to create something in black and add just a splash of color . . . and they specifically said RED!

So here is my design . . .

The cardstock, paper and flower were from my LSS, New England Scrapbook Company . . . and let me just say, the flowers are blooming at NESC this week, as they have a great collection of new flowers in the house! AWESOME!

I used my Stamping Up Top Note die (cut in half and trimmed on the sides) to create the illusion of a flap. I also mixed two stamp sets . . . the birds and sentiment were from Close to My Heart. The border at the bottom where my splash of red appears is from Unity Stamp. My stamped images were embossed using white ink and an opague embossing powder.

Loving this challenge!

Case Study Challenge #54

2011-08-29T19:34:00.000-04:00

Have I been so darn busy in the last four months that I've not had time for the Case Study Challenge? Indeed I have!

Imagine my surprise when I find out that this week's challenge is "no restrictions and no given inspiration." It's signature style . . . to do what you love most and pull out your favorite supplies and make something that says YOU!!

I'm a mish-mosh. My style depends on the day. People say that I'm "linear." But I like die cuts and stamps and mixing them together. I like paints, markers, stickles, and anything that gives dimension. I like ribbon and ink . . . and things that unfortunately take time to dry! And I also like to use up what I have.

So for this card I used all those things I love! I started with Bazzill cardstock base and some Bo Bunny Dot paper. I used a Cottage Cutz die and a My Creative Time Stamp. I embellished my die cuts and stamp with stickles, markers, and some crystal lacquer for the candy corn. Add a little bit of ribbon . . . and some time to dry!

Lots of time to dry!

The Scrapping Cottage Challenge #4

2011-08-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Unable to sleep as I listen to the crazy wind outside . . . leftover remnants of Hurricane Irene. So why not work on another challenge (while I still have electricity!

I absolutely LOVE the Cottage Cutz Scalloped Doily. What I especially love is the open space in the middle, as it's perfect for a stamped image, sentiment or both.

I love navy and yellow together, so I decided to use some leftover scraps from a previous card for this sketch design. I pulled in some navy cardstock for my card base, and cream cardstock for my doily and one border (as well as the inside of the card).

My original design had all the holes poked from the doily, but I preferred the look with the pieces still intact, so I cut another doily. It gives it a certain tone on tone elegance rather than having the bright yellow and dark blue showing through.

I used the "Grow March 2011" stamp set from Pink by Design Stamps. Love that it has outline and fill stamps!

A simple, fun design.

Mojo Monday 205 - Sketch Challenge

2011-08-28T21:53:00.002-04:00

While I spent most of my weekend watching coverage of the hurricane, I did manage to get a little creativity to flow . . . enough to tackle the Mojo Monday challenge!

In typical fashion, I pulled some coordinating pattern paper and cardstock from my bin. I used a scallop punch and snowflake punch for my borders . . . some twine, some ribbon, and button and a stamp from My Creative Time (love that stamp!).

Looking forward and hoping to have the time to jump into next week's challenge as well!

He's Speaking My Language!

2011-08-27T11:02:00.003-04:00

Nothing papercrafty today! Just a story . . .

Did you read my post . . . "Sometimes I Quote Movies." It was last week, I believe. And people who know me well know that sometimes I do quote movies. I quote them a lot! Random quotes from movies just spring from my vocabulary. It is true.

The same cannot be said for my husband. The man cannot remember what I said to him last night, let alone what came from a movie. I think he is annoyed when I quote movies to him.

So isn't this an interesting and shocking scenario. My husband (let's call him Rick, because that's is name, and sometimes I pronounce it "wreck") is a bit of a combination of hoarder man and OCD boy. He can stress out about the nerdiest stuff in the world, but other things that are right in his face . . . nothing. And when you explain these vast differences . . . he does get a bit quizzical, but it likely won't change him.

Here is the situation . . . Hurricane Irene forecasts are coming fast and furious. And I come home talking about it, because I work for an insurance company. It's all around me. So I'm a little stressed about being pulled from my regular work to go work at our company's catastrophe center. I'm feverishly trying to get my "work life" in order. I come home to "Wreck" the other night. He mentions a generator and how we should have one to keep our fairly new sump pump running when we lose power. Our basement is going to flood. I hear him, but I somehow hear, "blah, blah, blah" between all the important parts.

I mock him. You won't be able to find a generator unless you go right now. In a flash, he is gone. I can't help but wonder how this man who is too tired to do a thing every night of the week has suddenly mustered up the energy to go shopping for generators. He returns with stories of his evening. He bought one . . . but then talked with a man in a parking lot (as men often do at the Home Depot) and then he ran to another store (under advisement from parking lot man) to buy a second generator that is cheaper and has more power than the first. With "more power" generator in his possession, he goes back to Home Depot and returns the first.

Seriously? All in one night. Is this the same man who is usually asleep in front of the television by now?

O.K., so generator comes home. He talks about it all excited. It will power the sump pump and refrigerator. Really? No air conditioning? I'm moving into my car when we lose the power. He is obviously disappointed in my lack of enthusiasm.

So then comes the on-line research mode where suddenly this man becomes an expert on generators. He could now teach a class on it, I think.

He spends Thursday night out buying supplies to hook up his generator (two nights in a row of an awake state).

Friday morning comes the fun part. Let me just say . . . after nearly 30 years of marriage this man should know one thing about me. I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. Do not wake me with happy news. Do not wake me with sad news. And most importantly, do not wake me in Henny Penny (Chicken Little) fashion and tell me the sky is falling.

This man has never learned. Friday morning while I'm trying to sleep, it's the constant, constant panic mode boy known as "Wreck" who is coming in and out of my morning dreams. He is listing all the things that have to be done before we lose power. He is telling me what he expects of me. Between ramblings, I am just trying to sleep. By the time I do fully wake up, I'm madder than a mosquito at a mannequin factory and he is gone. I shower, get dressed, cool down from my anger, and then I call him at work, and I tear into that boy.

Seriously folks . . . I do not mind helping. I'm a worker. But it's all in the delivery! You come at me with your "Chicken Little" attitude, and I'm running the other way. Our conversation on the phone lasted about ten minutes, and nine minutes was me yelling. He had possession of the other minute, and I was two winded and angry to know what he said. But I know that I said I wanted a detailed list of what he wanted me to do sent via e-mail to me at work.

So a few hours later I send a quick e-mail in the afternoon and I say, "Where is my list? Do we need batteries or water? I can go out and buy them."

His typed response . . . which speaks to the "hoarder" in him . . .

If you knew how many batteries I had, you would have me committed.

My thought . . . I have news for you. I would have you committed even without the battery information.

But here is the funny part. He goes into a rant about everything he is going to do, and then he talks again about his generator (he is so proud). This is what he says . . .

      Looking through the manual, I think the generator will run the sump pump, refrigerator, fan and fluorescent light or two.  

      We could run the coffee maker or microwave when the sump pump is turned off, or unplug the refrigerator.  

Here is where it gets really good for me . . .

Wait for it . . .

Remember the Apollo 13 movie. "It's all about sequencing the devices that draw power." or something like that.

That single line was the ice-breaker to the fight. Whether he knew it or not, he was speaking my language. A movie quote for the queen of movie quoting! (I'm sure he does not know . . . he does not read my blog.)

He's still a wreck! He's still a battery hoarder. He's still a nerd. But the "fight" fizzled out. I don't think anyone won.

What's scary . . . I've already moved on to the next one. He does not know this. He is clueless. Woman remember everything. We drag up crap from five . . . eight . . . twelve . . . seventeen years ago to use as ammo in an argument.

Now that I know he can go to three stores shopping, and actually think and reason with money (when he has told me in the past that he is just SO TIRED at night) . . . now that I know that he can go shopping two nights in a row . . . now that I know he can spend a third night in an awake state hooking up a generator . . . I have ammunition for why he should get off the couch and fix a few things around this place.

My line is ready when he's not moving off his spot on the couch on a Wednesday night in the not too distant future . . . "Uh, hon . . . pretend there's a hurricane in the forecast."

And there the argument will begin!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #95

2011-08-22T19:47:00.001-04:00

I came across this great challenge site last week: The Play Date Cafe Challenge (PDCC). What is super cool is that their challenge is all about color. You just follow the color combination . . . and you're allowed to make whatever you want. I was super excited to play along last week, but I just ran out of time. So I made a point to go back again this week, and fell in love with the colors that were up for this week's challenge. Check out the photo they've given for inspiration:

Those colors just made me want to get creative! Aren't they awesome. So I made a little card using some cardstock and pattern paper in the neighborhood of dark navy. I just happened to recall having some scraps of pattern paper with a typewriter that I thought might be in the right color scheme. I was able to dig it up, and then add tissue paper, seam binding and some flowers and stamping.

One unique thing that I did on this one was to notch the front of my card, and add some paper on the inside of the card as an accent. I just used a regular circle punch and measured to be sure I put my notches equally down from the top on each side. I used the cut piece from one side as a guide for the second side so I wouldn't go too deep or not deep enough. It was perfect! It's a great way to tie ribbon so it holds, and I plan to use this technique again, as I love the look!

My stamp came from Skipping Stones Design . . . it's actually called "Cancer Schmancer". I found it recently while floating through some blogs, and I just knew I had to have it. I was really touched by the sentiments after watching my brother battle and eventually lose his battle with cancer. As much as I'd like to sweep it under the rug, I thought it would be nice to make some cards to encourage folks to Kick Cancer's Booty! The set has a little bit of spunk and humor . . . and spunk and humor is needed when battling. I didn't use the spunk and humor pieces for this card, so watch for them down the road.

I carried my color theme into the inside of the card as well. Remember too that when you open the card, the ribbon is on the top part of the inside (tied around that notch). So you get that splash of color on the inside as well.

Love, love this challenge! Can't wait to see next week's color scheme and play along.

Sometimes I Quote Movies

2011-08-20T19:53:00.001-04:00

One of my very favorite movies (and yes, I have many) is "When Harry Met Sally." In many ways, and yet not at all, it reminds me of my relationship with my husband. I know it sounds odd. How can a movie remind you, but yet not remind you? Because the situation was different.

I met my husband in a diner . . . we spent a lot of time at the diner. I just recently dug up pictures of me working at the diner, and I made a scrapbook layout using The Company Kit. While I had not gotten around to telling my story (the journal block is missing from the photo below), I will definitely plan to tell the story of meeting my future husband at this diner . . . and never having to serve coffee again!

My "diner days" at A.C. Petersen Farms in Simsbury, Connecticut.

When I think of Harry and Sally, they were friends before anything else. And I think they annoyed each other more than anything else. I met my husband when I was sixteen. He was that annoying customer that would not leave the restaurant in a timely manner. I also ran into him at Great Pond State Forest one day, much like Harry and Sally ran into each other at the airport. Like Harry and Sally, we had many an annoying conversation.

What was the same . . . many scenes in restaurants. There was the famous "I'll Have What She's Having" line which is classic. Did I ever fake "such a thing" in a diner? Absolutely not. So it's a little the same, but different. And if you are confused about what I'm talking about here, WATCH THIS MOVIE.

Sally Albright's famous ordering of food . . . "I'd like the pie heated and I don't want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side, and I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it, if not then no ice cream just whipped cream but only if it's real; if it's out of the can then nothing." . . . reminds me of my restaurant days, although I was the one taking those orders. My husband would say that it reminds him of me. I am a bit picky. Like Sally, I just want it how I want it.

Did Rick and Debbie drive from Chicago to New York after college? Well, no. But we've driven many places to see hockey games and we've had many an annoying conversation in a vehicle (much like Harry and Sally). Did my husband ever attempt to spit seeds out the window of the car, and later realize that the window was up as the seeds hit the glass? Well, no. But I could totally see him doing it! CLASSIC!

Harry Burns . . . "I had that dream again where I'm making love, and the Olympic judges are watching. I'd nailed the compulsories, so this is it, the finals. I got a 9.8 from the Canadians, a perfect 10 from the Americans, and my mother, disguised as an East German judge, gave me a 5.6. Must have been the dismount." Hmmm . . . I've never had that dream, but I can certainly relate to poor Harry, seeking mom's approval.

One of my favorite, favorite exchanges . . .

Sally Albright: Well, if you must know, it was because he was very jealous, and I had these days of the week underpants.
Harry Burns: Ehhhh. I'm sorry. I need the judges ruling on this. "Days of the weeks underpants"?
Sally Albright: Yes. They had the days of the week on them, and I thought they were sort of funny. And then one day Sheldon says to me, "You never wear Sunday." It was all suspicious. Where was Sunday? Where had I left Sunday? And I told him, and he didn't believe me.
Harry Burns: What?
Sally Albright: They don't make Sunday.
Harry Burns: Why not?
Sally Albright: Because of God.

I love Harry's "game show buzzer Ehhhhh!" But I was wicked jealous of Sally's days of the week underpants because I had friends growing up who had them. Talk about an organized way of figuring out which pair to wear on which day. You would not have to decide between the tighty whitey pair, or the other tighty whitey pair. Although in all likelihood . . . I'd definitely mess it up. I'd be wearing Wednesday on Monday, Tuesday on Friday. The universe would shift!

And a line I used before I was forty . . . "And, I'm gonna be forty." To which Harry interjected and said something to the effect of "In eight years?"

"But it's there. It's just sitting there, like some big dead end."

I'm fifty now. I remember when that line seemed appropriate. Now it makes me feel wicked old.

What's the point of my rambling?

There is no point. Just like there is no point to . . . "Repeat after me . . . Waiter . . . there is too much pepper on my paprikash . . . but I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie . . . pecaaaaan piiiiiie!"

Yep . . . no point at all.

Peachy Keen Sketch Challenge #57

2011-08-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

I had way too much creative fun with the Peachy Kenn Sketch Challenge! With my scraps of paper from a past layout in hand, I got to work. Here is the sketch . . .

And here is my design! Check out my tissue box (which makes me extremely proud). It is popped, and it has a little tissue coming from it! Super, super cute! I want to mass product hundreds and just surround myself with them.

My tissue box up close and personal . . .

I do so love a challenge!

Denami Designs Mini Cards Blog Hop

2011-08-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

I'm excited once again to be a part of Denami Designs Blog Hop, as I love their stamps (especially those little chickies). You should have arrived here from Tina's blog.

If you are looking to start at the beginning of the hop, you can click here to get to the Denami Designs Blog where the fun and creativity begins. It is also link you can click if you get lost along the way. You have until 11:59 p.m. PST August 15th to leave comments on the blogs to be eligible for prizes. They are giving away three $20 gift certificates to their website.

Big decisions on my project for mini-cards. I had just gotten the Thanksgiving Chickies stamp set a few weeks back, and those little chicks were chirping away at me. When I pulled them out . . . well, let's just say that birds of a feather flock together. They brought their friends with them: Pilgrim Chickies and Pumpkin Chickies. I had so much fun with these little stamps!

I created six mini-cards. I plan to use them to spread some Fall cheer and will probably punch one corner and tie with curling ribbon onto a loaf of pumpkin bread or some Fall treat or treasure (maybe on a pumpkin). You could also use these for Thanksgiving Place Cards for your dining table.

I used . . .

Brown Bazzill cardstock but into 3" x 6" pieces and scored for 3" x 3" cards
Pattern Paper (double-sided) from Reminisce's new Fall line, cut into 2 3/4" squares
Bo Bunny Dark Orange Dot paper (punched into circles and scallops)
Cream Bazzill cardstock for stamping
Small Scallop Circle Punch
Medium Circle Punch
Olive Green Ribbon
Twinkling H2O Paints from Creative Imaginations
Stazon Black Ink

My designs were stamped in Black Stazon Ink, and then I used Twinkling H2O's to paint my chicks! They've got a bit of a sparkle to them that you don't really see in the photos . . . but if you have used Twinkling H2O's, you know the sheen I'm talking about. It is awesome! I punched my designs using a small scallop circle punch, and then adhered to a larger circle punch (cut from the Bo Bunny Dot Paper).

Each card is a little different . . . I altered backgrounds, altered the stamps used, and altered where my "Give Thanks" sentiment was placed.

I can't wait to put my little gift cards to use!

Your next stop on the hop is the creative Larissa . . . who likely has something fabulous to inspire you!

Don't forget to leave your comments to be eligible for the prizes, and I welcome you to become a follower of my blog as well. Hope you were inspired to put your DeNami Design stamps into action!

Keep creating!

Way Too Cool Indeed

2011-08-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

I did say I would share more of my layouts and projects using "The Company Kit" . . . didn't I? This kit has been cathartic for me . . . because it is just perfect for my memories of older years. I picked it up from my local scrapbook store (New England Scrapbook Company). It totally has me moving on my old photos.

Here is a blurry current day photo of my 110/120 orange photos from the 70's. Some might ask, "Why did you post this blurry photo of your layout, and not a clearer picture?"

Whether I post a clear picture or not . . . the photo is what it is. It is a photo of a layout that tells a story about my past. Whether this photo is blurry or clear, the story does not change.

The same can be said for my faded 70's photos. They may be hideous, but the story they tell is not hideous. It is a crazy story about a 16 year old girl who was forced to move from Michigan to Connecticut in her junior year of high school. She left behind a house that she loved because it had three floors. She left behind a younger sister in a group home. She left many great friends. She left behind a close-knit neighborhood. Upon arriving in Connecticut, she moved to what seemed like "Little House in the Big Woods" in comparison to her Michigan home. She wondered when she would get to see her sister again. She had to try to make new friends with people who had already formed friendships and had little room for someone to fit in.

What's a girl to do?

This girl went and got a job and saved some money. She made friends with someone who gave her a chance. She spent some time at that person's house, where there were horses. She wanted to buy a horse of her own, but was told "No!" Said girl . . . who shall remain nameless . . . hangs out a bit and gets to know the ropes about this "horse thing." She finds a horse that is for sale and she buys it on her own and makes arrangements to board monthly at the friend's house. She does not tell her parents until after the deal is done. Parents arrive that night and are introduced to large roan mare. They are a bit quiet about the whole thing.

Said girl rides into the "big woods" of Great Pond State Forest on her roan mare (named Roanie). She takes photos of her horse with her 110 camera. Photos go into a box and become faded and orange. She makes a scrapbook layout thirty-four years later in spite of the faded photos.

Why?

Because the memories of a girl surviving change in such a strong and positive way are just way too cool not to memorialize.

Way too cool indeed!

Check out the 5 & Dime

2011-08-07T14:09:00.002-04:00

I remember the term "5 & Dime" store, although when I was growing up in the 60's, there wasn't much that you could get for a nickel or a dime, except penny candy (that wasn't a penny).

What a thrill this month to be able to design pages with the New England Scrapbook Company Kit, full of October Afternoon 5 & Dime paper and embellishments, along with coordinating ribbons and Bazzill Cardstock. This paper is great for present day photos, but it was screaming for me to use my old photos, and that's exactly what I did. I followed my instincts on this one.

I seriously have been holding back on the old photos for three reasons . . .

We had limited photos back then. You didn't take a lot of photos, because you had to pay for film and development. You didn't know in advance if your shots came out. There were no two-inch screens that gave you an idea that all was well. When you would have them developed and you would anxiously open the envelope, it was like a crap shoot! You either one the prize . . . or you were seriously disappointed (usually a little bit of both).
I had a lot of those awkward polaroid's with the white edges or the nearly one-inch bottom borders. Some of them are super thick. They seem to be different sizes. You can't really cut them down because they could crack (and some have cracked and are peeling).
I had the 110 and 126 photos. If you have those photos, you know exactly where I'm going with this. They were the biggest photography disaster ever (in my opinion). Sure they were beautiful at one time, but now they are faded and orange. There is little to no color at all under the orange haze.

So I had a little heart to heart with myself. Those photos are not going to change; they are what they are. So I might as well bite the bullet and do something with them.

My favorite layout of all is this fabulous one of my sister, Tammy, who passed away two years ago. I am biased. I believe she was the most beautiful little sister . . . she had beautiful sparkling eyes! She was a special needs child who never walked or talked. I would have given the world to have a sister who could run and jump and play. But growing up with her was full of lessons learned . . . about patience, acceptance, tolerance of others' ignorance, and gratitude for the hand that life deals you.

In the coming days I will share some of my other layouts using this beautiful and awesome kit! It really is the perfect compliment to my "mish-mosh" of photos.

You know what . . .it is all part of our history. Life isn't perfect, nor are our memories and photos. A little lesson learned from the 110 and 126 film era . . .

Sometimes life is a little faded, like our memories.

Thankfully, life is not all orange-y.

Check-out this fabulous kit!

It Stinks!

2011-08-03T12:38:00.001-04:00

You know what stinks?

When you're creative time gets usurped by your nine to five job! HAPPY to be employed full-time (don't get me wrong) . . . but when it really starts to eat into the time that feeds your soul, then you start to feel kind of "gunky."

Listen, it's not that organizing training for insurance adjusters and figuring out the ins and outs of a learning management system doesn't feed my soul just a bit (because it SO does), but those are side dishes for my soul. It's not the main course, and it's definitely not dessert!

I made a little something from my leftover scraps. And my skunk does not stink. Isn't it scent-sational? Those little bits and pieces of leftover layouts can go a long way toward making a cute little card. The die cuts are all Quickutz from my stash . . . market tag, skunk, watering can and flowers (although the stems were just hand cut). The grass was made using decorative edge scissors (rarely pull those puppies out).

Scrapbooking for the "Over 50 Crowd"

2011-07-17T00:46:00.001-04:00

I wanted to participate in Little Yellow Bicycle's most recent challenge. I just love their new line of paper . . . so of course I chose to use the paper and elements from Sweet Summertime!

And then came the hard part . . . finding photos! I dragged out the old picture box. These were from the summer of 1989, and I have some advice for you.


Our Trip to Treasure Lake in Pennsylvania (not Papoose Pond in Maine).

When you hit 50 years old (which I recently have) . . .

and when your photos are more than 20 years old (which they are) . . .

you may want to:

A - Check the notes on the back of the photo for information . . .

B - Have an "innocent" discussion with someone else on the trip (without revealing your reason is because you are a moron and likely have mixed up your locations) . . .

C - Question yourself on whether your details are accurate . . .

And you would want to do this BEFORE you journal on your layout.

Do this to avoid your husband saying to you . . . "Papoose Pond? Papoose Pond? Your grandmother was never at Papoose Pond."

And then you won't have to say, "Oh Sh*t!"

Lesson learned.

Lovely Layers Blog Hop

2011-07-10T09:00:00.103-04:00

I am super excited to be a stop on the Denami Designs Lovely Layers Blog Hop this weekend! You should have just arrived here from Dana's blog. (I love the way she layered her ink!)

If you are looking to start at the beginning of the hop, you can click here to get to the Denami Designs Blog where the fun and creativity begins. It is also link you can click if you get lost along the way. You have until 11:59 p.m. PST July 11th to leave comments on the blogs to be eligible for prizes. They are giving away three $20 gift certificates to their website.

So . . . it was a tough choice for me to decide what stamp I would use for my design. I am so attached to all those little chick stamps (they just make me smile). But in the end I went with the Playful Puppies set and the doghouse. I have four dogs living under my roof, so it seemed like the right thing to do.

I never make a flat scrapbook layout, and cards are no different for me. I always start with card stock and build layers. My card started as any regular folded card, but then I decided to add some folded layers so I could bring my little puppies to life. So I did some accordion folding on the right side. Trust me . . . it looks harder than it is (I included the measurements on the cutting and folds further below in the yellow highlight).

I am in love with the new We R Memories Friends Furever line and had picked some up from my local LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. The 6 x 6" pad of pattern paper was perfect. I used green card stock for my card base, as I wanted it to have an "outdoor" feel to it. I added layers of the pattern paper over the green on parts of the card, and also layered strips of a second pattern paper (love those diagonal stripes). And then I added more layers with my stamped images. I used cream and brown card stock for my puppies and dog houses, and I colored some parts with my Copic markers. I then added some Denami ribbon and a few sentiments from Pink by Design.

A close up of the pups!

I should mention that the piece of blue card stock was yet another layer onto my last accordion fold, to give me a backdrop.

Here is the card flat. So this would be how it will look coming out of the envelope before it springs to life and hopefully causes the recipient to smile!

The next stop on the hop is the creative Pam Wendt. Prepare to be inspired! Don't forget to leave your comments to be eligible for the prizes, and I welcome you to become a follower of my blog.

Keep hopping toward creativity! Thanks for stopping by,

Debbie

Cutting/Scoring Instructions: Start with a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of card stock, and place in your cutter lengthwise. Decide how much of the card you want folded, versus how much you want to remain flat. For mine, I left about 2 1/2" flat on the left, but you can change it up any way you'd like, making the folds on the left instead of the right. Once you decide where you want the cut, you will cut from the 1" to the 7 1/2" mark - so you're basically leaving the bottom inch of each edge intact without a cut. Once you've cut, you'll want to score one side at 4 1/4" (the regular score for a card). On the side you want to have the pleated folds, you'll score at 1", 2", 3 1/4" 4 1/2" and 6 1/2".

Sun & Fun - Unity Challenge

2011-07-08T17:07:00.001-04:00

Another fabulous Unity Stamp challenge: Sun and Fun! Summer was the theme and it was perfect for my leftover paper from Simple Stories. From my summer layouts, to a really cute card that will cheer someone up down the road. I'm all from taking my scraps from layouts and using them on cards so they don't sit in a box or plastic tote of years. I know it's not recycling, but I think there is a Girl Scout motto in there somewhere about "using resources wisely." I have that one covered here!

We get caught up with stamping on cardstock or plain paper, when sometimes pattern paper is just perfect for a particular stamp. Case in point . . . the bathing suit from "It Suits You" which is a Jillibean Soup design. Stamping it on pattern paper and cutting it out gives a really neat dimension, and while I used black ink in the design below, I'm thinking a blue would have been even nicer (hindsight). I punched holes and fed my ribbon through so it looks like the suit is just hanging there.

Clothing designs are perfect for pattern paper, and there are other stamp designs that would also get a boost of charm from pattern paper. Don't be afraid to play around with it! The results can be fun!

100 Days of Summer!

2011-07-07T19:52:00.000-04:00

Summer layouts are so fun, and while I don't have a lot of pictures, I can never resist layouts with sun and fun. The layout below is for an upcoming class I am teaching at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. in Canton, Connecticut. It's a sketch class where everyone will get enough product to make at least two layouts in class, but they'll have enough leftover pattern paper so that with some additional cardstock, they can make a third layout and perhaps fourth . . . or maybe some cards! The product is absolutely adorable . . . it is Simple Stories - 100 Days of Summer! I fell in love with it and had so much fun.

And whenever I teach a class I use some of my own stamps and die cuts. On this one I used the Lemonade Stand from Cottage Cutz. Love their die cuts, and this one is amazing. Nothing better than dressing up die cuts!

Unity Stamp Kit of the Month Sketch

2011-06-30T23:17:00.000-04:00

I used the May Stamp set to create a card using this months sketch. Using Bazzill white cardstock, Memory Box pattern paper, Stampin' Up Ribbon, and scraps of additional Bazzill. I used the sheet music stamp, which has the hearth embedded in the image with the words "my heart sings." But then I stamped the image on the pattern paper a few times and on my coordinating red card stock once and cut those images. It's nothing fancy . . . but it sends a message.

I noted the sketch below . . . and rather than one circle decoration, I did a few hearts aligned diagonally . . . my own twist on a the sketch, I guess.

A Stitch in Time

2011-06-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

Anyone who really knows my sewing abilities over the last several years knows that I am the queen of unfinished projects. I have a long list of unfinished quilts (just ask my daughter, Kelly), and a long list of projects waiting to be started and added to the unfinished list. And so I thought I was out of my mind when some friends said, let's make a wine tote/lunch bag, and I said yes. It was a class being offered locally, but that usually doesn't stop me from not finishing the project. I usually leave with unfinished items, and that's usually where the story ends.

But . . . this time I stitched in time!

I always pick out fabric with high hopes. Then when I cut, I think . . . "what was I thinking."

This day was no different. I didn't like the direction of the fabric and was worried it was going to be a bad scene in the end. I was fretting over the fact that I had laminated the inside pieces, but left the outside pieces unlaminated (which I don't think is a word).

But putting that aside, My first pieces to make were the holders inside the bag. I was upset that the words went horizontal on the short sides, but vertical on the long sides (who made up this pattern?). Eh . . . not my fault.

But as I started piecing it together . . . the pieces that were just fabric and interfacing and laminate and zippers and thread came together in the end . . . (although sorry to say there was a bit of swearing), numerous missed stitches and scrunched up areas (that's like my signature on things I sew).

Horizontal or vertical . . . my fabrics came together quite nicely (what the heck did I do all that worrying about). And check out the end of the zipper (where it stops) and the little zipper pull!

There was something in the air yesterday. It was a banner day. A project started on Saturday (with laminating and cutting in preparation for the class) and finished on Sunday. O.K., so it was just a little lunch bag. But it has a zipper . . . and some "holders" on the inside for a bottle/can and utensils. And in the end . . . it's transporting lunch . . . nothing more . . . nothing less.

Loved the bag . . . the lemon Chobani . . . not so much!

Peachy Keen Stamps : Sketch Challenge 54

2011-06-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

I hadn't done a challenge in quite a while, and so it was time to sit down and get a little something going. And so I realized I had a few hours before the deadline on Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge #54. I just did a bit of a quarter turn on the sketch, and there was my little card.

To my Peachy Keen Stamp I added some cardstock and pattern paper from my stash . . . some ribbon, a button and a flower . . . and my Copics . . . Done!

Meet "Buzz" Lightyear . . . the "Paws" that came with Accessories

2011-06-23T22:20:00.000-04:00

What can be said about this little guy?

This little boy puppy came into the world as a little tiny guy. He is Samantha's brother (you met Sam, she was the first paw). His mom was a Shih Tsu; his dad was a Chihuahua. Samantha came to live with us, and he went to live with some other people (kind of how Snoopy went to live with Charlie Brown, and Spike went somewhere else). They named him Buzz Lightyear.

And so it was that a year and a half later those other people said, "Hey . . . would you watch our dog while we go on vacation?" And so we did. But we soon learned that his little guy was NOT a people person. He also was NOT a dog person. In fact, the only creatures in our house that he remotely identified with was our cats. This little guy had clearly gotten his dad's Chihuahua frame, weighing about nine pounds (his sister weighed in at 16-18 pounds, and clearly got mom's Shih Tsu frame). You couldn't touch him. You couldn't hold him. If he was sitting in his little dog bed (and he was always sitting in his little dog bed), you couldn't put your hand over the edge of the dog bed. It was as though there was an invisible wall, and if your hand penetrated it, he would lash out at you. We would tell Samantha, "That's your little brother." She was not impressed.

When the people came back from vacation and took their little dog, the saddest person in the house was the man of the house . . . the guy who didn't want anymore animals in the house. He fell in love with that dysfunctional little dog. He asked me to try and get the dog back. Everyone thought the dog was likely mistreated, as he appeared to have been abused. I did nothing. And then a few days later, the people said . . . "Hey, did you like him? Do you want him." And that's how Buzz came to be a Bonczek.

When Buzz came to stay "for keeps," he came with a bed, a collar, a blanket, lots of toys, a leash, some food and some treats. The joke was that he was the only pet we got that came with his own accessories.

Truth be told, the little guy had problems. BIG problems. He clearly thought he was a cat, and our vet insisted he showed signs of abuse. If you raised your hand, he flinched. He would yelp if you brushed past him. He didn't want to socialize, except with the cats. He didn't want to be touched. He didn't want to move (too much). He just wanted to hide under blankets in a crate until it was time to eat, take care of his business, or give a kitty a little head butt. In order to force him to socialize, we took away the one thing that he loved . . . his crate. It was like his little man cave, and if he was going to become a member of the family, it had to go! It took this dog nearly two years to move outside of the kitchen/family room area under his own power. If you held him, he would spring off of you like a flea.

At eleven years old, he can be a bossy little guy (to some of us). He does as he pleases for the most part. He enjoys an occasional car ride (loves to look out the window). He will come to you for a little ear scratching. He will climb on you to deliver a few quick licks.

Buzz loves to play with his toy, Bobo. There have been many Bobo's that Buzz has loved to death. In fact, if you look at the photo above, Buzz is sitting next to his Christmas Bobo (brand spanking new on December 25, 2009), while his former Bobo sits on top of a book titled, "Loved to Death." If you look closely, you can still make out the smiling teeth on his old pink Bobo atop the book. The book is about dog toys that have been loved to death by their owners. Hmmm . . . how appropriate.

In the photo below, you see Buzz with Christmas Bobo again . . . it's just that Christmas Bobo has become a bit of a shell of his former self. He still has his head . . . and there is a new Bobo (a larger yellow one) waiting for it's turn to be loved to death.

He's still a little odd, but we tell him all the time . . . "Buzz, your a real dog now."

And he believes it! He believes almost everything we say.

CRUMPLE Your Stress Away!

2011-06-14T17:37:00.000-04:00

Co-workers got you stressed? The boss? Husband? Kids?

What can relieve stress better than crumpling up some paper, and doing a little paper crafting at the same time? So here is my recipe for relieving stress (and it's short of doing anything that will have you behind bars, which is great).

So you take several different sizes of flower dies that can be layered (such as the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, and you use various pattern papers to cut them out. I used Anna Griffin's beautiful Fifi and Fido line, which is not just for your dogs and cats alone (although I think my dog can read as she is glaring at me for not creating layouts with her in mind). Seriously though, this stuff is beautiful, and still available at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. as is that Tattered Florals die.

So . . . after you cut those flowers, you imagine they are the person who is causing you the most angst . . . the bill collectors . . . the loser who cut you off on the highway . . . and you crush them. You totally CRUMPLE the CRAP out of them.

O.K. . . . then you uncrumple them (which I'll admit put some of the stress back into me, so you may want to grab a glass of wine for this part). Then you layer with a brad. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Aren't they cute as heck. Don't you feel less stress just looking at them?

Then you get some cardstock, some ribbon and you create a little something bigger to put them on.

Tooty Fruity w/Unity

2011-06-12T20:58:00.000-04:00

Mmmmm . . . summer fruits! I haven't really had any summer fruits, but I did take the time to make myself some strawberries for a little card for the Unity Challenge, Tooty Fruity! My recipe:

Bazzill cardstock for card base (red)
Bazzill cardstock for mat (black)
Bo Bunny Dot Paper (green)
White Sketch Paper
Copic Markers
Ribbon from stash (red)
Scallop Punch
Black Pearls
Unity Stamps . . . April 2010 Kit of the Month and April 2011 Kit of the Month

Just talking about it makes me want to get me a shiny berry or two from my local market.

Out of Boundaries

2011-06-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

I'm stepping a little out of my comfort zone on this one . . . trying to put together a Sketch Class for my LSS, NESC. Everyone will get some pattern paper, some cardstock, some ribbon and sketches. We'll maybe add some die cuts from my private stash and some stamping. We will do at least two layouts, and maybe a project or card or two. One layout is done . . . another will be coming . . . and this is just a snapshot of the lower right section of a page we'll be doing . . .

Hmmm . . . I've got some more creating to do for sure!

Cottage Blog Challenge #1

2011-06-02T23:16:00.000-04:00

Another day, and another challenge. The very first Cottage Blog Challenge . . . which had me so excited I think my head was spinning a bit. The challenge was to be inspired by a specific photo posted on their blog which I have linked HERE . . . it was a photo of beautiful pink flowers, with a blue background. Interesting that my eye caught the pink flowers immediately, and headed me straight to my "Sweetpea Seeds" die.

I used some Little Yellow Bicycle Paper as my background, proving that you can use a scallop cut background paper on a card for a really nice effect. I added some shimmering white ribbon to one side, and then went to work on my seed packet. I cut the packet in a light brown cardstock and inked with brown. Then I cut the Sweetpea Seeds pieces in white and used markers to color. I am truly amazed at what a great job markers do on die cuts . . . the more I practice the technique, the more I like it. While I had to keep the green in for the flowers, I pulled the blue background into the lettering on the packet.

Great inspiration! I am really looking forward to their next challenge.

Whimsical Wednesday - Back to Basics Challenge

2011-05-30T15:37:00.000-04:00

I am still not challenged out, I am just enjoying creativity to the max! I have been super-creative this weekend working on some items for an upcoming class, designing for "The Company Kit" (my LSS's store kit), and trying my hand at some challenges I saw on the web. What's been great is that I'm actually using my stash . . . and I've been pulling out tools I've not used in quite some time . . . embossing powder, heat gun, stamps, inks . . . I feel creatively productive for a change.

And so I finally get to try my hand at one of the Whimsical Wednesday Challenge which was "Back to Basics." The challenge was to create a card/project that was "Cricutless" (not a problem because I don't use my Cricut often enough). We also needed to use some type of "old school" embellishment.

Well, you can't get much more old school then paper, ribbon, rubber stamp, ink, markers and staples. In fact . . . let's talk about the stapler. I was the kid in the family who always hogged the family stapler back in the 70's. I would make staple designs in paper . . . and get in trouble for using too many staples. I think I was in heaven when I bought not just my very own stapler for my little white desk in my bedroom, but a whole entire box of staples just for me! And I think I was in heaven the day staplers entered the world of scrapbooking . . . I was using them way back in the day!

So that's what I went for . . .

These challenges are keeping me hopping (ha . . . little frog in the card . . . hopping . . . get it?).

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge

2011-05-29T21:00:00.000-04:00

And yes . . . another challenge for the day . . . getting in under the wire on the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge - Sketch #52 which is to create a card based on the provided sketch . . .

O.K. . . I had way to much fun with this one! I used some scrap paper I found in my stash, and matched my flower to the flower in the print of the paper (if you look close, there are little tiny daisies.

My die cuts all started white, and I colored them with markers. I am suddenly in love with cutting all white and coloring with whatever I have on hand . . . and this time it was my Copic Markers.

I have repeatedly said that I need to use those Peachy Keen stamps more often because they really do make me smile!

The Scraproom May Word Challenge . . . PARTY

2011-05-29T20:44:00.000-04:00

Another May Challenge from The Scraproom! The challenge was to use product from their May kit and use the word "party" somewhere on the layout.

A few old photos I found of my girls hanging out together and with some friends . . .

The Scraproom May Sketch Challenge - THE BOSS

2011-05-29T20:31:00.000-04:00

The Scraproom has a monthly sketch challenge, and while I don't get all of their kits, I was given a series of months as a gift. I decided to participate in a few of their challenges . . . nothing like trying to get some of my photos into a scrapbook!

In November of 2009, my husband and I spent the weekend at a gorgeous hotel in New York City. We had tickets to a New York Ranger game . . . wandered the city all weekend . . . and we even took a little jaunt over to Hoboken, New Jersey . . . home of Carlo's Bakery . . . where TLC's Cake Boss is filmed. I was super excited to have the chance to meet Buddy and have my photo taken with him. What a great trip. So the papers in the May Kit, from Jillibean Soup, were perfect for a little layout of our trip.

Here is the layout . . .

And here is the sketch . . .

And I even created a second page for the additional photos that we took on that day.

What a yummy journey!

June Company Kit . . . Scrapping Summer Memories

2011-05-29T01:03:00.000-04:00

I created a little something for the June Company Kit from my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. They put out a new "Company Kit" each month . . . coordinating patterned papers, cardstock, ribbon, and embellishments . . . and their designers make all sorts of layouts, cards, and 3-D artsy things to inspire. They also have an add-on kit to stretch out your creativity. June will be our sixth one, which is pretty exciting . . . especially since the May Company Kit is SOLD OUT!

June's kit will be full of summer paper and embellishments. I created two layouts . . . here is just one of them . . .

And then I created a couple of cards, and here is just one of them . . .

And with even more product remaining, I made a little 4 1/2 x 6 1/2" book . . . but I forgot to take a photo of the little bugger!

Matchy, matchy product that comes in a box . . . what can be better? Check out the photo gallery at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newenglandscrapbook

Rain, Rain . . . Go Away

2011-05-23T23:34:00.000-04:00

I normally like a rainy day once in a while, but lately it's been about the rain every single day. Seems appropriate that I post my Spring Rain layout which was a Designer Series Kit that I put together for my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. I designed it way before the rains came . . . perhaps it was a sign. I do believe in signs.

So what's the movie that talks about believing in signs? Anyone?

The main character in the movie gives a speech to her mom about how she doesn't believe in signs, and moments later goes to hug her mom and rips the wedding gown she is trying on and says . . . "It's a sign." to which her mom replies, "You don't believe in signs."

It's one of my favorite movies! It is also a movie that is plagued with much rain . . . taking place in three locations . . . Baltimore, Chicago and Seattle . . . "It rains nine months a year in Seattle."

And what woman doesn't want to get a diamond ring placed on her finger, hearing those treasured words from her future spouse . . . "It was my grandmother's. I had them size it down. She had really fat fingers."

Indeed . . . Sleepless in Seattle! One of my favorites.

What's that noise out my window . . . more rain! I will go to sleep and dream of the sunshine!

Meet Jennyanydots . . . another of the "Paws"

2011-05-22T22:26:00.000-04:00

So here is another one of the many "paws" that I scrap . . . Jennyanydots.

Her name comes from the musical, CATS. It was the summer that my oldest daughter, Tracy, was going into 5th grade. She was spending her summer doing youth theater, playing the role of Jennyanydots in CATS. Her sister wanted a new kitten, and a friend had called to say she had a number of feral kittens, and that she had caught one for us. It was a fitting name, as the lyrics go . . .

        When the day's hustle and bustle is done
        Then the gumbie cat's work is but hardly begun
        And when all the family's in bed and asleep
        She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep

And then there is . . .

        I have a gumbie cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots
        Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots
        All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat
        She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a gumbie cat
        That's what makes a gumbie cat

Of course, what other name would we choose? Although, truth be told, until we knew for sure that Jennyanydots was a Jennyanydots, a quick vet check-up could have easily made her . . . or perhaps I mean "him" a Mister Mistoffelees.

My daughter is 25 years old, which makes Jennyanydots quite the senior citizen of the household at 15 years old. She has always been an absolute sweet girl, and that has not changed. She has just a squeak of a meow now . . . still likes warm sunny spots . . . and still sits and sits and sits! On those late nights when I am working on some pages or cards, she will venture into my craft room and sit on any box or pile that she can . . . and that is precisely what she is doing in the photo above. Always under my left elbow . . . she sits and sits and sits . . .

That's apparently what makes a gumbie cat!

Challenged by the Challenges

2011-05-17T17:41:00.000-04:00

In my quest over the last few weeks to do more challenges, I've gotten myself a bit confused.

You see, I'm a die cut hoarder. I'm a ribbon hoarder. I'm a stamp hoarder. O.K., and then there is the paper and the embellishments. Whatever! I'm a crafter . . . it's what we do.

So here's the deal . . . I was trying to make a card for a challenge, and I seemed to have forgotten who the challenge was with, and I guess I messed up a bit and used the wrong company. And there it is . . . the girl who is about to turn 50 is surely losing her mind.

But it's a great card . . . just not challenge worthy of anything on my list of possible challenges at this moment. It was a cross between a challenge for Unity Stamp to emboss something, and then somehow I got it stuck in my head that I was doing something for Cottage Cutz (but it was merely because I was so excited that they just put out their first challenge.

So I did emboss, just used the wrong company.

Recipe . . .

- Bazzill Cardstock and Kaiser Pattern Paper from my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co.
- Sizzix Embossing Folder (leaf print) from my LSS
- American Crafts Ribbon from my LSS
- Cottage Cutz Bug Die Cut w/Peachy Keen Stamped
(I did a heat emboss on the wings . . . so shiny)
- My Creative Time "My Favorite Sayings" for the sentiment
- Ink and Markers . . . whatever you've got (I used Staz-on and Copics)

So fun!

Meet One of the Paws

2011-05-15T20:06:00.000-04:00

I have this blog called Paws to Scrap . . . because I love to scrapbook my pets. But I rarely post pictures of my pet layouts these days, and lately I rarely scrapbook my own photos. I'm in this sort of "card challenge mode."

So I decided that it is ridiculous that I never post my pets on the blog, I don't know why because they are so much a part of my life (enough so that I included the word "paws" in my blog title). I will introduce my little four-legged friends one at a time, starting with my bestie . . . Samantha.

Meet Samantha!

Samantha is a cross between a shih tsu and a chihuahua. She came to our family as my daughter's birthday present back in December of 1999, but she ended up as my bestie. That's just how it worked out. She is so smart and personable, and as my husband says, "She believes everything you say." It's true, she really does.

So hard to think of my little "baby girl" as 11 years old. Here is a layout that I created a camping trip we took a few years back. She enjoyed the trip . . . we shared a sleeping bag up in Maine! I think she would rather have been home (in fact, she was a little stressed as we started out the journey in the car).

Still need to finish my journaling on this one. She truly does color my world!

Unity Stamp - Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge

2011-05-13T23:34:00.000-04:00

Oh Unity Stamp . . . how do I love thee?
All that red rubber in my mailbox each month . . . I look forward to your arrival.

And I love that you're doing a sketch challenge, because I need a good challenge to keep me motivated. And this was a great sketch! I repeat . . . this was a great sketch!

I used the newest set . . . the awesome little city, and then punched with a scallop punch and included the "rise above it all" stamp. I did some matchy, matchy work with some Bazzill Cardstock, Jillibean Soup paper, various markers and baker's twine.

Let me say it again . . . great sketch! Want to see it . . . go to the Unity Blog and check it out!

OWH Sketch Challenge

2011-05-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

And so another challenge comes my way . . . a way to use up the many, many scraps that I have in my possession. Operation Write Home has a Sketch Challenge, always a great idea for using up my scraps. You can find more information on their blog. Here is a recent sketch (Sketch #67).

And so I reached for my "Box O'Manicured Scraps." Manicured, you ask? Well yes . . . it is the scraps from past projects . . . instead of keeping them in a heaping pile, I trim them down to card size. So, I do a scrapbook layout, and the extra pieces get trimmed into card parts . . . a/k/a manicured scraps. Large pieces get trimmed to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" for cards. Then we trim to 4 x 5 1/4" for card fronts, or 4 x 4" for die cuts (which I keep in a separate box), etc. Whatever works. And anything smaller goes into a Bag O'Scraps.

This is hoarding scraps in an organized fashion!

So from my Bag and my Box I pulled some matching colors . . . and created a little something for the challenge. I mixed a lot of companies here . . . we have bits of Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts ribbon, Stampin' Up Tag Punches (smaller and larger) and Stampin' Up Tag Stamp, Close to My Heart pattern paper from a past project (I recognize it! Isn't that a little bit CRAZY.), Close to My Heart ink to match the pattern paper, Clear and Simple stamp, and Copic Markers to color the boat. It is a smorgasbord of scrap product!

And this card will be set aside and sent to Operation Write Home at some point down the road.

I love a little challenge!

Tweet, Tweet

2011-05-10T18:03:00.000-04:00

I made a little something for the Unity Stamp Monthly Challenge, which was to make a card or other stamped project incorporating a bird or birds from a Unity Stamp set.

And so, I did just that . . . Tweet, Tweet!

CASE Study Challenge #38

2011-05-08T15:08:00.000-04:00

I wanted to inspire myself with a few challenges this weekend in celebration of National Scrapbooking Day (which was yesterday). What better way to celebrate than to take all my layout scraps and try to create a card or two. I found a few challenges, and I started with the CASE Study Challenge. It is challenge #38 (to be exact).

THE CHALLENGE: Create a paper crafting project (card, layout, off-the-page item), based on provided inspiration.

THE INSPIRATION from their Muse:

MY DESIGN AND RAMBLINGS . . . I rarely make vertical cards with a top fold, so that was the very first piece of inspiration I wanted to take from the design. I wanted to "stamp" my stitching onto the card using an acrylic stamp, instead of pulling my machine out. My intent was to then use a scallop circle in lieu of a doily, although that suddenly went by the wayside. It is amazing how you start inspired with one idea, and you end up with another. I kept with the theme of flowers, buttons and twine . . . and here is my design (oh, I made a rhyme) . . .

Instead of a scallop circle, I went with a square of cardstock that I punched with a border punch. It makes a nice little frame for my sentiment. I pulled together some flowers, jewels, buttons and baker's twine, and a little "pick me up" card is born.

Great challenge!

CASE Study Challenge #36

2011-04-24T19:50:00.000-04:00

I committed myself to a few challenges this weekend, and I am always frustrated because I find challenges I want to do, but I don't follow through. Sometimes I finish them, but never post. Sometimes I start them, but don't finish. I've got a whole list of excuses and scenarios (just give me a moment).

So . . . a new one that I found called CASE Study Challenge Blog. The idea is to be challenged and inspired by some very talented paper crafters . . . no stress and sounded like fun. So I went to work. The challenge was to create a paper crafting project (card, layout, off-the-page item), based on provided inspiration which follows below . . .

There was so much that I loved about the design above, so I was excited to get to work. My plan was to get all flowery, but I shifted gears a bit and was suddenly heading in a different direction.

There it was on my table . . . a black Doodle Bug Create-A-Card which is phenomenal and available at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Company. Hmmm . . . I had intended to use this for a Disney card, but what a challenge to use this card that is a little off from the norm with it's scallop edge on the front flap. I added stamped images from "Flight of the Bee" from Clear and Simple Stamps . . . some dew drops, stickles, scraps of paper and ribbon from my stash, and my creation was finished.

CASE Study Challenge #36 - COMPLETE!

(I finished one!)

Nowhere, Anywhere, Somewhere

2011-04-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

There is always this stash of stuff sitting next to my work area. It no doubt ends up in a bin somewhere. But in 2010 I decided that I need a better attack to that stash of stuff that ends up in the bin that usually gets stacked onto another bin that leads to nowhere. I began a quest to use up scraps from layouts immediately . . . IMMEDIATELY (I say) . . . so as to not add to the bins, and eventually to eliminate maybe all but one bin down the road. But it is seriously a great idea, because when it goes to the bin you spend hours trying to find things that go together. By attacking it right away, I end up with cards that coordinate well (it's like a jigsaw puzzle trying to find the right layout for the scraps). Best part is that all those extra pieces of chipboard embellishments have an immediate home and don't end up lost forever (in the other stack of bins with the extra pieces that no doubt are self-stick and end up all stuck together in a jumbled mess).

So any scrap of cardstock that is large enough for a card gets immediately sized down to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Pattern papers get trimmed down to 4" x 5 1/4". Smaller pieces of cardstock will usually be trimmed to 4" x 4" (perfect for Quickutz, Cottage Cutz, Sizzix dies), and I keep them all stacked so I can just grab as needed.

Yes - I am rambling!

So I did make this layout for a challenge, to be posted at a later date. And with my leftover materials, I managed to make two cards which I will be donating to OWH in a shipment down the road.

So the stuff that usually ends up somewhere, and then goes nowhere could actually end up anywhere in the U.S. (sent by one of our nation's armed forces to his/her family).

Two people are going to need to get well somewhere in the U.S., and we'll be ready for them.

Action Wobbling a Kitty

2011-04-15T23:55:00.000-04:00

So I just got done "Action Wobbling" a few things, and my favorite of the night was this awesome Cottage Cutz Kitty in a Pocket (using two of the die cuts).

Loving it . . . my brain is full of too many ideas now. I need a rest!

Spring is Springing Up Everywhere

2011-04-10T15:03:00.000-04:00

I work at my local scrapbook store - New England Scrapbook Co. - and I've had numerous customers lately tell me that all of the new product is "girlie" and feminine. That is 100% accurate, and the only reason is because everything coming in is all about Spring. Spring is flowers and flourish the whole way . . . so yes, everything is full of butterflies, birds, and flowers. It's Spring!

I designed this cute tray for a class I'm teaching. I have this idea that there is one spot in my house where I will always have a tray hanging reflecting the time of year and some photos. For this particular tray depicting Spring, I used Jillibean Soup paper which I adore.

I made my own butterflies using bazzill cardstock and corner punch! They turned out really cute, and they just pop off the tray (as you can see in the photo further below).

I used my Cricut to cut the flowers which shower from the handle and also for the title in the top left corner. I used Twinkling H2O's to add some color to the title and the stamping in the lower right! The stamp is a Unity Stamp (love Unity). It all tied together. These trays are super easy and fun to create. I just need to add some Spring photos . . . but that's for another day (it's still a little brown out in the real world here in Connecticut).

I am sure there will be a summer tray in my future, and I'll be sure to post it. I also have my eyes set on a tray to depict my love for all of my four-legged friends. Stay tuned!

Unity Challenge - Fashion Forward

2011-04-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

I love a challenge because it gets me creating! I've been so swamped lately, there has been little time to get busy. This month's Unity Challenge . . .

FASHION FORWARD.

Yep, that's right!

We want YOU to

SPRING into FASHION using ONLY UNITY or IPPITY stamps!

(by creating a fashion themed card, layout, or 3d project!)

I dug through my monthly kits looking for stamps and used a combination of the October 2010 collection (the handbags) and the January 2011 (shoes and quote). I used the Pepper Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock as my card base, stamped in black on cream cardstock (both from my LSS) and then colored the images with markers. I added some glitter to my bag handles and buckles along with a few clear jewels. Just a little ribbon and wow! I love black, cream (or white), and any other single color to go along with it (in this case, pink).

Looking forward to next month's challenge!

Keeping Up with Keeping Up

2011-03-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

My life is like one of those pie charts with varying pieces. There's the home piece of the pie, the family piece of the pie, the full-time job piece of the pie, the part-time job piece of the pie, the NESC Design team piece of the pie, then the hockey piece of the pie, then the "creative things I get myself into" piece of the pie (which is the biggest mess of them all). My day is the plate. It can only be one size as there are only 24 hours in one day.

So if you were keeping track, we've got a one-size fits all plate and then we have some chicken pot pie, quiche, graham cracker cream pie, caramel apple pie, key lime pie, toll house, and some kind of berry crumb pie. Mmmmmm! All so yummy. But I don't want them touching each other on my plate. So it's a constant struggle to keep up! I create a mess, and then I move on to another mess. I am always trying to keep up with keeping up.

One such project . . . I always pick a Connecticut Whale player or two to follow during the season, and I complete a scrapbook with photos and articles taken throughout the year. Since the beginning of this year was a bit stressful and I got off track, I spent the last two weekends creating my player's scrapbook. I had thankfully done a good job collecting the items, so it was really about just sitting down and pulling it together. I'll show off a few of my layouts in the coming days/weeks.

But I needed a break from the manly paper and the paper with sticks, and stickers with pucks . . . so I decided it was time to work on the Unity Challenge. The theme this month was to create a card with a heart. So I dug out a Unity Stamp from the itty bitty collection . . . the "Hello My Friend" itty bitty stamp . . . and created myself a little card using some scraps from one of my hockey layouts! The layout looked all tough . . . and yet my card looked all sweet and flowery. Nice contrast.

Great challenge. Looking forward to next month!

On to create some more hockey pages . . . less than 48 hours until my deadline!

We Interrupt This Program . . .

2011-02-27T01:23:00.000-05:00

Life interrupted!

It has been a while since I've written anything in my blog. The first two months of 2011 were the most difficult months of my entire life. So rather than write blah, blah, blah negativity, I decided to take a break. Through this difficult time, the one thing that I clung to was creativity. It has saved me.

Most of those New Year's Resolutions are a blur. It's as though a bolt of lightening came down, and the loud crack has just been ringing in my head. But through the loud crack, I've been creative. I've done some stuff.

Before the crack . . . the first weekend of the New Year, I spent some time working on some "Ranger" techniques at New England Scrapbook. The second weekend of the year, I took a class from the great Cheryl Mezzetti. I fell in love with Cheryl's art-si-ness (clearly not a real word), with Zip Dry glue, and with Twinkling H2O's from Creative Imaginations. I played with them during the class that Cheryl taught. And then I bought some. And then the very next day I used some on samples for an upcoming class.

The crack came the next day! I very sadly, and far too soon, lost my brother to colon cancer. He was only 50 years old. When I say that typing these words is just as heartbreaking this moment as it was the moment he slipped away with his hand in my hand, I really and truly do mean it. Not a single day goes by that there are no tears. There was almost a day, but when I realized it . . . well, enough said! So there is not a one.

What has saved me through this difficult time? An awesomely wonderful sister-in-law and her awesomely wonderful family (who is, by marriage, my family). I always said that my brother married her so I could have her as my sister. She is the best sister ever! I've also been saved by a husband who has been supportive of me just running off to "play" with people and not asking any questions. And I've been saved by those people who have played with me . . . you all know who you are . . . my NESC family . . . my quilt/scrapbook friends who convinced me to make (start) a Sudoku quilt one night . . . and my Farmington Valley Stamp group . . . bless all of you!

After the crack, I said to myself, "Be creative!" No matter how much I wanted to sit around a feel miserable, I just knew I had to be creative if I was going to survive. I had to opt out of the two quilt classes I had signed up for . . . because I just couldn't think. I needed to be creative, but not think about it. So I gifted my class to a friend, and I felt no guilt for it was now a gift. I had signed on to teach some classes and make some Designer Series Kits for NESC, and I pushed through everything hoping my work would not suffer.

And then there was the nine to five job. The insurance job . . . new changes . . . new boss . . . people I had worked with for years who were no longer part of the new organization. Saying goodbye to some of these people had me in tears. More loss.

But then there was Brave Girl Soul Restoration, a six-week on-line class that I signed up in December. It started the day after my brother lost his battle. I didn't think I could do the class, and I will admit that the six weeks are up and I'm only still working on the fourth week. I am committed to getting it done. And if I don't - I will sign up again. It has been hard, given the circumstances that I've been dealing with. But it has been absolutely wonderful and I encourage all you ladies out there to check out the Brave Girl Club. I am learning so much about myself, it's crazy. Did it come at a difficult time? Absolutely. But I am committed to finishing. I will be blogging more about it in the future.

In January the New England Scrapbook Company's "Company Kit" for February was given to me to make samples. The "Company Kit" is a monthly kit of paper, ribbons, stickers, embellishments . . . the works . . . truly awesome stuff. My first task was to create a two-page layout. I was going to make a layout about how much I loved my dog. As I created the layout, there was a ticket . . . there was a blackbird . . . there was all this "love" stuff. I could only think of The Beatles, and from this dog layout, a layout about my brother's influence in my life was born. It was my tribute to him.

So I've done some stuff while my ears were still ringing from the loud crack. And I will continue to push through.

It's funny . . . my brother lived only 15 minutes away, two towns over. We raised our kids together. We could go weeks without talking. When we did, he was a man of few words. We never needed words. He would call the house and say, "Hey, Deb. What's up." I would say, "Not much, what's up with you." He'd reply with a one or two word answer. He'd then say, "Want to talk to Laurie?" He was the gatekeeper to my sister-in-law (not that she needed one). The little sister in me now says . . . "Neener, neener neener . . . she's all mine now!"

What I'd give to have the gatekeeper back!

O.K. . . . so time to get creative! Happy crafting!

Say, "WHEN"

2010-12-31T20:07:00.000-05:00

I haven't quite gotten the concept of when to say, "When." It's that thing you're supposed to say when someone is filling up your cup or plate. As it gets to the point where you want them to stop pouring or spooning the item, you simply say "When." It's a great concept when it's food or drink. But I find it doesn't work so well when applied to other areas of my life.

Last year I had a list of New Year's Resolutions that I was completely stoked about! I was feeling more positive than ever, so I just went crazy. What was I thinking? I looked back on them a few weeks ago. There were eleven. Yes, eleven. Ten would have been a nice round number. But eleven? Talk about setting yourself up for failure. When the number of your New Year's Resolutions is great than or equal to the first double-digit prime number, you need to learn to say "When."

There were eight "healthy" items on the list. There were three creative items. I failed at all the healthy ones. I managed to complete two on the creative side. Creatively, I was successful. Kudos to me! I completed two resolutions. (Let's not discuss the other nine.)

So this year I came into this venture with one resolution that was a bit of a joke! In fact, so much of a joke that I'm not sure I want to blog about it. Let's just say it involves one particular person in my life (who I adore) and alcohol. In many ways, although a silly resolution, it would be an easy one to fulfill. I should have stopped there.

But then I got to thinking (which was my first mistake). What if I combined a little bit of wellness with the creativity? I was thinking about the possibilities when a friend sent me an e-mail about The Brave Girls Club and their upcoming Soul Restoration. Brave Girls Club is a community for women everywhere who want to do big things, overcome difficult things, and believe in doing things with kindness. It was founded by two sisters, Melody Ross and Kathy Wilkins. Melody was the founder of one of my favorite paper companies, Chatter Box. They have what look like fabulous retreats in Idaho which are booked solid all of the time. But they have this upcoming Soul Restoration program which is a six-week on-line session which begins on January 11th. So I signed up. At this point, I should have said, "When."

Facebook is just a bevy of information! I happened upon something else called Big Picture Classes. Big Picture Classes is a worldwide community of creative teaching and learning. There are on-line workshops and self-paced sessions. And just perfect . . . wasn't there a session that was geared toward wellness. With just three days to spare, I managed to sign up for Wellness Journey - a six week workshop starting on December 29th. With a click of several buttons, I was enrolled.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now. I have these commitments to creativity, wellness, soul restoration, exercise, eating right . . . and, here again, I had another opportunity to say . . . "When!"

Oh, but a friend then said, "I'm signing up for some classes on finishing quilts." Great! I have quilts that need to be finished. I have quilts that need to be started. Do I dare discuss the "college" quilt. Great mother that I am, I made a beautiful quilt for my daughter Tracy a few weeks into her first year of college. I had planned to do the same for Kelly. I started, ran into a snag, and never finished. So I started another, but got busy. Kelly has now graduated from college. I need to finish a quilt for that girl. So I signed up for a class on binding quilts and machine quilting. Here I go again. "When!"

I'm keeping my resolutions to three, and that includes the silly one. They are (in no particular order):

1 - I need to work on wellness, and that includes body, mind and spirit. So I will complete these workshops that I've sign up for, and will try my best to keep up with NOT JUST THE CREATIVE PARTS, but the wellness portions as well. This will be my toughest of the three.
2 - I need to complete some of the quilting projects that are started, but not finished. So I will take those classes, and I will finish at least one quilt.
3 - Here comes the silly one. I am not one to drink a lot of alcohol. In fact, I have probably done more drinking in the last three years then I have in my entire life. I must be making up for my goody-two-shoes teenage years, or the fact that I didn't go to wild and crazy college parties. However, that said, there have been a couple of occasions where I have found myself calling a designated driver, admittedly not walking a straight line. It's a side of myself that is somewhat foreign, but each and every time it has happened, I am always with this one awesome person in my life. It's gotten to the point where my husband, upon hearing that I've had a few too many, has said, "Oh . . . I know who you were with." The resolution . . . I need to have a few too many with someone other than my favorite person to have a few too many with! It won't be nearly as much fun, but I can do it just once to remove the stigma that she is a bad influence on me. I can be my own bad influence at the ripe old age of 49, and I promise to know when to say "When!"

So that's it. As I write this, I am about four hours from 2011. Hopefully there will be no time for me to sign up for any additional on-line ventures in the next couple of hours.

WHEN!

Passing Down the Magic

2010-12-24T23:43:00.000-05:00

It's that crazy magical time of year. It is magical because good old St. Nicholas is hard at work throughout the land.

I miss the Christmas magic of when my girls were younger. I envy those who have young children. When you have children, you see the magic firsthand. How easily I recall reactions to the broken pieces of cookies and the notes that Santa left. I remember the hoof prints in the snow. I remember broken carrots and bits of reindeer feed that fell from the roof to the back deck. I especially remember the time that one gift never made it down the chimney, but landed instead on the roof. Santa was a busy guy.

Once upon a time there were two little girls sitting at a breakfast bar, having some cereal before school. The younger of the two girls questioned whether there really was a Santa Claus. The older of the two girls responded in a very matter of fact manner . . . "Kelly, think about it. Do you really think that mom and dad would buy us a bunch of toys?"

Just a few days later, Santa brought American Girl Dolls with accessories for both girls. The girls had been perusing the catalog for months and didn't know if even Santa would be able to come through. They were high price items. But that man has all the moves. If only we would have had enough money to buy all of those gifts for our children. Tee hee!

It has been 16 years since the American Doll Christmas. For me, Christmas is about family and friends. It is about making contacts and reaching out to people. Christmas is also about tradition, and tradition runs deep! On the tree . . . real or artificial? For our family, the tree depends upon the mood. Some years it is artificial. This year it is real! On the lights . . . white or colored? The lights on our tree are always colored, and my family knows that if there aren't at least 500 lights on the tree - that's a minimum of 500 - mama won't be happy. I like my twinkly lights! I think about Kathleen Kelly (yes, "You've Got Mail") who while facing adversity in her business as they approached the holidays announces that she's putting up more twinkle lights. If only twinkle lights were the answer to everything.

Does Santa wrap, or does Santa not wrap? At our house, he never wrapped. He just brought the toys and left them in front of the gifts that the family had wrapped. And how does he know that it changes from one house to another. He's just an amazing guy.

Gift opening on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Well that's easy. Everyone opened brand new pajamas every Christmas Eve. Gift opening was always on Christmas Day. Just try suggesting to my adults girls that we open on Christmas Eve. It's met with much negativity.

Christmas is also about passing down the magic. I consider myself a success. The magic has been passed down this Christmas. There are balloons "under" my tree. One says, "Mom, pop me!" The other says, "Dad, pop me!." Inside are our gifts from the girls. Doesn't matter what they are . . . it only matters that the magic has been passed down.

Count your blessings, one by one. Make it magical. Happy Holidays!

I Know Why They Whisper

2010-12-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

I always wondered about the whispering that goes on behind me at events that my husband and I go to . . . hockey games, the movies, plays, or concerts. Sometimes people will get up and move. And yes, I know my husband is tall, but how bad can it be.

So there I was at Madison Square Garden. My seat was killing my knee, so I decided to move to another seat where I had a little leg room.

A quick cell phone call to my husband . . . "Rick, there is a seat right in front of me. I'm in section "blah, blah, blah."

Minutes later, this is my view of the game!

Stepping Outside

2010-11-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

We all have a comfort zone. It's that little area that we rarely step outside of for any number of reasons. I have many reasons. Shall I name them all? Alright, perhaps not all, but I'll give you four of my top reasons for not stepping outside of my comfort zone.

1 - fear of the unknown
2 - too much work
3 - too much to think about
4 - fear of failure

Fear of the unknown is always a tough one! But if we never push ourselves into the unknown, we would never have have new jobs or even children for that matter. My biggest issue with childbirth and delivery was fear of the unknown . . .hearing all those crazy childbirth stories that people told you, even months before your first contraction. Those stories only added fuel to the fire for my fear of the unknown on childbirth.

Too much work . . . well if I never conquered that one, I would never have had the opportunity to work with such awesome talented people at New England Scrapbook Company. I am not just talking about the owners and employees (who are incredible individuals), I'm also talking about working with (scrapping with) some extremely talented customers as well!

To much to think about . . . it is true. My brain is on overdrive 24/7. When I'm not sleeping, I'm thinking. It seems that anything outside of my comfort zone just gets my brain churning with possible pitfalls. Then comes the panic and the sweat. If I could only turn off my brain.

Fear of failure is a tough one. There are hundreds of quotes on failure, and one of my favorites is from Benjamin Franklin: "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong." I have spent many years as a parent, girl scout leader, co-worker, or mentor saying that mistakes are good, we learn from them. But I have a hard time making sure that I, myself, can hear that message. Self-doubt is something that I carry with me all the time.

And how does this apply to scrapbooking. There have been a number of challenges that I've seen on message boards, blogs, and websites that I have wanted to join, but I've not for all of the reasons above. I either don't know how to post things electronically. I find it to be too cumbersome. I stress about it and think about it. In the end I convince myself not to do it because I just wouldn't win anything anyway.

This past weekend I decided that I will no longer overlook opportunities within my reach simply because of the four reasons above. I saw an opportunity to show my work with one of my favorite die cut companies, CottageCutz. The challenge: For every project that you upload to their Facebook site featuring the use of a CottageCutz die, you are entered to win a die of your choice. It can be a new project, or a past one, and you can enter up to three times. Last night I did just that. I posted my camping layout using their camping dies. Check out their wall. I may have time to post one or two other projects this week (and have one in the works as we speak).

My second challenge did not go as well. I hit all four of my top reasons! There were some unknowns (posting onto a message board was a stumbling block), the technical side of things appeared to be too much work (I couldn't re-size the photo and this required some research), I definitely stressed about it, and in the end . . . I FAILED! By the time I was able to figure out the photo size, I realized I didn't have access to the message board. I had to apply, and by the time the permissions were granted, deadline over! But alas . . . there is still next week's challenge. I hear they do them weekly.

I have one more challenge on my radar . . . for one of my favorite paper/embellishment companies. I will keep you posted on my progress. To some this might seem small. For me . . . this is HUGE.

Step outside of your comfort zone! No matter what it is, challenge yourselves!

Have a Stickling Day!

2010-11-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

I completely over-crowded my November with committing to do a lot of classes at NESC. And not must one class, but three . . . yes three classes! And one of them was the calendar class (thankfully only six of the twelve months, but what was I thinking). I don't mind that I committed myself. I just mind that I didn't realize all of the other things in my life, and my creativity was a little rushed. I wasn't sure that my pages were up to snuff! However . . . 19 calendar kits were put together by my co-instructor and I, and 19 calendar kits are gone. And talk about a great day. My co-instructor and I were blessed with a great group of attendees. Great job, ladies!

In just nine days I will be teaching my Holiday Page class . . . two very different layouts. Loads of die cuts. And what is a die cut without a smattering of Stickles? A die cut is just a die cut. Add a little Stickles . . . and we're talking a whole new die cut. I did some monochromatic trees on one of my layouts, and I really love the way they turned out. The colors were a bit daunting at first, but when I was done I just kind of mellowed to it all and had a great feeling about the way it turned out. That doesn't always happen, so I treasure those creative moments.

And just eleven days from today, teaching a Holiday Card class . . . five designs, ten total cards. Talk about rushed . . . I had all of the paper picked out. I just needed to figure out how to pull it together. So last night . . . in my new kicking myself in rear mode . . . I sat down and got to work. Today I delivered the ten cards to the store. I used some die cuts. I used some stamps. I have to say . . . a stamped image is just a stamped image. Sure, they're beautiful. But when you color them in or add some sparkle, well, it's a whole new stamped image. In fact, I'm so excited to be doing the class that I'll be putting together another design on the fly for those who attend . . . so it will be six designs - twelve cards total!

Things are a little dicey at my Monday to Friday job, and life can be rough around the edges. Wouldn't it be great if I could take some Stickles into work and go to town at my desk . . . a little on the phone . . . a little on my files . . . edge my shelf with it . . . perhaps edge some of my informational manuals? And with life . . . perhaps Stickle some of the folks who aren't feeling so well or going through difficult times. Sure, it's pleasing to the eye, but it doesn't cure all of our woes.

But where it does work . . . use it. Add a little Stickle to your day!

My So-Called Crazy Life

2010-10-31T19:57:00.000-04:00

I have not posted in so long, it is sinful. Absolutely, positively ridiculous. I had a little bit of a creative hurdle to get through . . . some stress at my Monday to Friday gig has left me a bit "out of sorts" creatively. But not too out of sorts that I don't want to invite you all on a ride in my little car I created today for an upcoming Calendar Class at NESC. I've always loved those darn VW Beetles . . . so I created this one for the June page . . . a bit travel themed. I want to make cars all day long! I want to go work for Volkswagon! Seriously, check out our calendar class coming up at NESC.

And if life isn't crazy enough with four dogs and two cats, I had my eye on a feral stray cat down at the Cumberland Farms in Windsor . . . Bloomfield . . . Windsor . . . wherever it is . . . I would see him if we stopped for gas at night. It always made me so sad. My first meeting was one day when I was inside the Cumby's, and I heard this strange bumping against the glass. I asked what it was, and they said it was a cat throwing itself up against the glass outside, trying to chase moths. When I exited the store, there the little guy was. He was just a kitten, about four months old. But my husband's scowl told a different story. So I walked away. I realized it was summer. I realized he could have a home. I realized that he looked well fed. Oh, but it made me sad!

My daughters frequent the Cumby's on their way home from work after midnight, and they met up with the little dude there as well. When they came home to tell me about him (who we all thought was a her at the time), I commiserated with them. They didn't care about their dad's scowl . . . they were strong enough to risk his anger. After several weeks of trying to get closer to the kitty, they were able to snare him. He was smuggled into the house where he has been for the last couple of weeks. It makes me wonder. This cat lives in the wild and keeps away from humans. He then comes into a house with humans and becomes immediately accepting of their every move. It is truly amazing. He seems to be very grateful for a warm place to sleep, and extremely eager to get his head scratched.

I call him Cumby. He was called Garbage by some. Mose by others. He's in a temporary home for a bit, before finding a permanent home where he can get more attention. While I would love to keep him, he needs to be in a home with a dog who won't chase him, where he doesn't have to fight for attention. (And let's face it . . . the sooner he goes, the sooner we'll have space for the next stray that we find on the streets).

Back to the creative slump . . . there is something I need to do. Do you know me well? If you do, then you know that there is a movie reference coming up. There is a scene in Liar, Liar where Jim Carrey is in the bathroom beating himself up . . . throwing himself against walls, slamming his head between the porcelain bowl and the toilet seat, all in an effort to make it look like he was beat up. A guy comes in and asks what he is doing, to which he responds. "I'm kicking my own ass. Do you mind?"

So I don't want it to look like I was beat up or anything, and I have no plans to wedge my head under the toilet seat . . . but I do need to kick myself in the butt! I'm going to schedule a daily kicking session . . . not every single day . . . but several days during the week. The ass-kicking will occur when I get home from my day job. I work so hard all day, and then I come home and have no creativity. So I'm going to schedule it . . . and it's going to make me creative . . . and I will post pictures . . . and perhaps I will do great things again.

Perhaps . . . wait for it.

Defining Disorganization

2010-09-12T11:46:00.000-04:00

O.K. - Study these words, because I'm about to tell you a story that includes them.

Idea . . . a visible representation of a conception : a replica of a pattern

Excited . . . to call to activity

Product . . . something that is marketed or sold as a commodity

Fizzle . . . to fail or end feebly especially after a promising start —often used with out

Organize . . . to arrange elements into a whole of interdependent parts

Lesson . . . something learned by study or experience

Dang . . . damn

Once a upon a time there was a paper crafting girl who was wandering through her local scrapbook store (NESC) and saw some paper that she thought was adorable. She grabbed a few sheets, not knowing what would become of it, and continued to wander the store. Her eyes fell upon a chipboard shape that completely and totally sparked an IDEA. It was as if fireworks had gone off in her head. She was so EXCITED that she could barely contain herself. She saw a vision in her head of what the end result could be and she ran through her LSS buying PRODUCT to complete her item. Yet something was missing. So the paper crafting girl took her items home and set them aside until she could find the missing items to pull it all together.

It was in preparing for a weekend crop in South Carolina that the girl decided to at least cover her chipboard with her paper and ribbons. From there it fell into a bag until many months later. The paper crafting girl found the perfect little floral embellishments for her design and purchased them. And another several months down the road found the perfect stamps and purchased them. And because everything was in multiple places, the IDEA seemed to FIZZLE out yet again.

Why? Because the paper crafting girl did not ORGANIZE appropriately. Perhaps her Monday to Friday job left her little time to organize? Perhaps she had too much stuff in her scrapbook cave and was far too confused at where to begin. Perhaps she was always committing herself to other projects and just never had the time.

LESSON learned! Paper crafting girl has begun organizing PRODUCT for her IDEAS into bags with a note as to what her IDEA was so that it never can FIZZLE again. (Of course, paper crafting girl wonders how long it will be until this IDEA to ORGANIZE will FIZZLE.)

Said project could have been completed so much sooner. But . . . DANG it is so super cute!

2010-08-25T18:56:00.000-04:00

In my continuing quest to mix up my crafty ventures, I share with you a photo of this glorious pillow case that I made. It came as a kit, but I could not have picked better fabrics to go together. Wouldn't they make a great page. I made this pillow just prior to my Florida trip, and I bragged during the 20+ hour journey up and back. I bet everyone wished they had such a fabulous pillow to rest their head against the side of the car as we plummeted down the highway to Florida.

The not-so-precious moment was when I opened my diet Dr. Pepper bottle at 2:00 a.m. and it exploded all over my shirt and my precious pillow. I spent the rest of the journey slightly damp and stained, but thankfully washed my pillow case when we arrived in Florida. Only my memories can recall the trauma. The stains on my pillow case are gone thanks to Tide!

And now for a paper venture. There were these wonderful apple dies that I picked up last Fall. I new that eventually I would find a use for them, and as many people know I teach a Monthly Memories Class at New England Scrapbook. I knew I had to use the die cuts, but just wasn't quite sure how I would incorporate them. I stressed about it for some time, but in the end was happy with the combination of stamped words, dew drops and the die cuts. It all just came together.

What's up next? Well, on the fabric front it will hopefully be some of my unfinished projects. On the paper front, I've got some classes coming up: Sampler Day (where participants will try their hand at several different paper craft projects, Fall Memories (2 two-page layouts) and another Monthly Memories class (where we'll focus on November and December pages). Time to pull some more dies out of my stash! Wait for it . . . it's coming.

Call Me Crazy . . . all for Electricity?

2010-08-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

One has to be crazy to take a vacation to Florida in August.

One has to be crazy to drive to Florida in August.

One has to be crazy to drive in a car with six people to Florida in August.

Just call me crazy!

It started as a chance to visit my family down in Florida. With a forced vacation during shut-down for Rick, the dates were not an option. It was the first week of August, or nothing at all. And so it was going to be just Rick and I. But a Disney headline . . . caught by Kelly . . . suddenly turned it into a trip to Disney. Why? Well, because Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade was making a return in the summer months. Nostalgia took over . . . I remember when Tracy was 20 months old and watched that parade from her stroller in Frontierland. And so a simple trip for two turned into a trip for six . . . Rick, me, Tracy, Kelly, Ezra and his sister Anna. Sardines in a car. Luggage on the top . . . luggage hanging off the hitch. Driving straight through . . . we are talking FUN TIMES!

The heat and humidity made me crazy. I realized juat how sweaty I was when I was in a bathroom outside of Splash Mountain and I glanced at myself in the mirror. I looked like I had already ridden the ride . . . not like a person holding a Fast Pass and awaiting my plunge. I didn't take as many pictures as usual, because it was just annoying. My hands were sweaty. The people in my photos . . . sweaty! I kept switching from sunglasses to my eyeglasses . . . up until the time that I lost the eyeglasses completely! GREAT MEMORIES!

While the brave younger adults managed six days at the parks . . . the older folk settled on three. EPCOT, Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Was it hot . . . well, just check out the hidden Mickey in the form of sweat on the back of Tracy's shirt. It is truly in the shape of a Mickey Hat. Now that's what I call DISNEY MAGIC!

When I'm at the the parks, I always find I don't want to miss anything. I want to do it all. This trip gave me an entire new view of Disney. I didn't remind relaxing. I didn't mind waiting nearly an hour for a seat at full service restaurant. And after viewing the Main Street Electrical Parade shoulder to shoulder, several rows deep with other strangers and their sweat . . . I didn't mind watching fireworks from a tucked away location where no one was touching me and breathing my air.

This trip was definitely "different." It was fun . . . it had interesting memories. That said, I will never go to Florida in the summer again.

With it behind me, I have shifted my gears to getting back into a creative mode. I see a few Disney layouts in my future!

My Faithful Friend Kenny Moore

2010-07-18T21:27:00.000-04:00

Needing a change of creative paced, I switched my creative ventures this weekend. I spent the weekend tucked inside with three good friends, a couple of sewing machines, two awesome irons, several unfinished projects, yards and yards of fabrics and miles and miles of thread. My goals were simple. Hang out with friends, finish some "started" projects.

My plans started out a bit foiled. My new Singer sewing machine, bought back in January, seemed to have a mind of it's own. It would sew a few stitches . . . beep a few times . . . and stop. A continuous error that my thread was broken. You know something? I don't need a machine to tell me my thread is broken. I've had no trouble figuring this out in the past on my own. But if a machine is going to tell you that the thread is broken, it would be nice if it were an accurate warning. My thread was not broken. I re-threaded that machine repeatedly. I unplugged. I plugged. I changed tension. I tried every suggestion offered by my friends. I talked to it. I swore at it. I threatened it. Then I re-threaded again. Alas it was not to be. In constant stop and go fashion . . . and I mean sew three-quarters of inch, beep, beep, beep, stop . . . wait for the warning to clear . . . REPEAT! It took nearly two hours to finish a border on my "Diamonds by Judith" quilt top (pictured above with it's vibrant hydrangea purples and greens). At this rate, it's going to be a long, long weekend.

And so I turned to an old friend . . . Kenny Moore! Alright, so it's Kenmore . . . my Sears sewing machine that I have had a 21-year relationship with. Together we made countless dresses for my girls when they were growing up. We made curtains, a few quilts, many Halloween costumes, doll clothes, pajamas . . . and after 21 years of hard work I decided it was time for an upgrade. So I got the Singer. Old Kenny was tucked away for months and months in a dark case. He was likely feeling forgotten. But did Kenny hold a grudge? No. Kenny shows up and just rises to the challenge. Typical man! They don't hold grudges the way women do (yes, they hold them, but I think women are much more apt to hold a grudge). Kenny just wanted to prove himself. And so he did. He only broke his thread once (and it was likely my fault).

Kenny and I decided that we couldn't finish my Orion Star quilt, started back in March on the Singer. We collectively agreed that his seams might cause the blocks to be differently sized from the original block done on the Singer. So Orion Star was put on the back burner. A new project was born. A little pinwheel quilt in blues and yellows. I spent the afternoon cutting, and cutting, and cutting. I had a pile of yellow, blue and cream fabric. I was facing some techniques I'd never done before. I had to make 72 prairie points. I'd never made a prairie point . . . but 72? There are many "points" that don't match up in my seams. Ask me if I care? I don't. I'm proud of each and every mistake that Kenny and I made.

Moral of the story . . . old friends don't let you down. Kenny and me were best buddies again this weekend. And since I still have to finish that pinwheel quilt, he is now perched right next to the Singer . . . and I think he's flexing his little muscles.

My Singer . . . well she and I had more words tonight. I guess it was a misunderstanding, because today she is working just fine. She's not talking. Typical.

From "high F's" to Dean's List

2010-06-05T23:56:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe my youngest has graduated from college. Throughout the last couple of months as we were preparing ourselves, I've been feeling so very old. This achievement ages you mentally. It is this "thing" that hangs over you. I'm reminded of a scene from "When Harry Met Sally" where Sally is contemplating turning 40. She is crying and stressing about the fact that she's not married, not in a relationship and is turning 40. Yet in the scene, Harry points out that she won't be 40 for eight more years. "But it's there. It's just sitting there." That is, in fact, how I had been feeling in the months prior to graduation.

While dealing with her impending graduation, I also was facing a visit from relatives who wanted to see the graduate. So the house was flipped upside down. There was a dumpster. There was plumbing and flooring. There was furniture. There was carpet cleaning. There was one mayhem disaster after another. We got it done just in time for graduation and our out of town guests. We had a week of visiting with my parents and my brother from Florida. And it was a distraction from the fact that my college graduate felt the need to attend college and graduate simply just to make me age even more. Whatever, Kelly!

It's been busy. It's been emotional. There have been some proud moments, and yet this has also been a real eye opening time for me.

My youngest was not a student. From the time she was young, she was a lazy student. We heard it from teachers when she was very young. "She has such potential. If she would only apply herself." And as the years went on, we saw the ups and downs of her grades. I always thought we should have pushed her more, but yet I was not a good student either. I went the route of treating her as I would have liked to have been treated. Wrong or right, it was the choice we made.

In doing renovations for our impending guests, we were removing the bathroom cabinet when lurking in the back of the cabinet, stuffed down between the wall and the cabinet, we found an open envelope, the contents of which was a progress report from October of 2004 showcasing two F+ grades in the making.

See Exhibit #1 - photo of just how nicely stuffed this progress report was . . . and imagine it behind bottles of cleaning supplies, bags of toiletries, etc.).

An F+ . . . I had know idea such a grade existed (mind you, that's a high F). I lived through many a progress report with some pretty lousy grades, so I'm not sure why Kelly felt the need to hide this particular report. Perhaps I should appreciate that I didn't have to open and it and get all stressed about it.

Fast forward to the Winter of 2006 when she is accepted to Hillyer College, which is a two year college at University of Hartford. They offered her a shot for two years which she could turn into a four year program if she did well. We were skeptical. The price tag was high for a student who "didn't apply herself."

Fast forward . . . June of 2006 . . . she graduates high school . . . probably barely squeaking by. At this point, I'm kind of thankful to have public school behind me.

Fast forward . . . August 2006 . . . she moves into the dormitory at University of Hartford and attends Hillyer College. She seems to be doing o.k., has trouble with one course that needs to be above a certain grade. She takes it upon herself to retake the class in the end of the Summer of 2007.

Fast forward a bit more . . . May 2008. My daughter has an Associates Degree from Hillyer College and earns the opportunity to continue her education at the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Hartford.

Fast forward again to May 16, 2010. It is graduation day. We attend graduation with our family . . . and celebrate both Kelly and my nephew Joe's graduation from University of Hartford. As I'm going through some mail a few days later, we (the parents of Kelly Bonczek) had received a note from the Dean of Hillyer College. In the letter, he mentioned how proud they were of Kel, that she used her two-year degree as a step toward more challenging goals.

For this revelation, I must quote . . . "You and the faculty at Hillyer saw that untapped potential."

I have to say, I felt a little bit of guilt. I'm not sure that we saw that untapped potential. We heard about it from elementary school, junior high, and high school teachers and counselors. I know that we hoped for it, but I don't know that we recognized it. A simple two paragraph letter from a stranger made me stop and realize that I had not given my own daughter enough credit. Years of teacher conferences and progress reports had tainted me from believing in my own daughter's capabilities.

See Exhibit #2 - photo of my college graduate. From the "high F's" stuffed in the back of the cabinet, to making the Dean's List for the Spring 2010 semester . . . talk about a steady, uphill climb.

Congrats to my Grad and kudos for proving me wrong. We are so incredibly proud of you.

Now, for Exhibit #3 - photo of my college graduate with my future college graduate. She is my oldest. There will be another whole revelation that will be discussed when she graduates. I will be admitting more of my faults as I express how proud I am of her. But that I save for another day.

And now, I will be moving on to being creative again. I've got some things up my sleeve, and I've got a lot of graduation pages to make! I've got some quilting to do. I've got some cards to make. I've got new stamps and lots of new inks. I've got glitter. I've got plans.

Stay tuned.

Scrapper's Husband Quote of the Year

2010-05-02T22:27:00.000-04:00

What an AWESOME weekend! I had the great opportunity to celebrate National Scrapbook Day at a weekend crop with a small group of woman in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Several months back, my friend Linda and I were talking about "meeting half-way" for a crop. Linda moved to North Carolina last summer. So we were looking for something in between when Linda found out about a crop in Myrtle Beach. We signed up, and now the rest (somewhat unfortunately) is history. The weekend was very affordable and we had a great time. The scrapbook space was awesome. It was a very small group of woman, most from southern states. We had a conference area that was open to us whenever we wanted to be there. Toughest part was finding time to stick to the scrapbooking, as the weather was awesome. The beach was beautiful. Our hotel, while somewhat worn, did not disappoint. The price was great! We had an ocean front 3-bedroom suite with a kitchen. We were on the 10th floor overlooking the ocean. The first night, arriving back to our room at 2:20 a.m. (after scrapping), I sat on our balcony and listened to the ocean. I got a great photo of the moon reflecting off the ocean. I will be doing a little cropping on this one when I get back to my home computer (the netbook is a bit difficult to navigate from my hotel room here in Richmond).

I did manage to get some scrapbooking done. The two items on the top of my list were using a daffodil die cut that I had bought back in the winter, and finally getting around to putting together my KaiserCraft car. The daffodil did not disappoint! I often have high hopes for a page and then later am disappointed with the outcome. I've had the supplies for a few months. I started putting the page together, was met with frustration because it just wasn't coming together, and a short time later I was falling in love with my daffodil die! Green and yellow cardstock, green and yellow ink, and some Stickles! What a great die cut! Stay tuned for photos of my KaiserCraft car. It will not disappoint. It needs a few finishing touches before it makes its way onto my blog. But it is ADORABLE. I had planned to give it as a gift . . . but I may not be able to part with it.

Now I have to point out what a great husband I have. He took the time off to drive down to Myrtle Beach with me, which I really appreciated. O.K., so after nearly 28 years of marriage, he can't order a sandwich for me the right way. He can't remember that I like everything plain. But he did go to Myrtle Beach with me, and there wasn't a single complaint.

Husband highlight of the weekend is this great quote! There is no doubt whatsoever that my husband is married to an avid scrapper. What follows is pure proof.

We were down by the pool and he was attempting to take a photo of me as I was standing on a wooden walkway that led to the beach. I saw a man walk by him, and then I heard an exchange of words between the two. As the man walked by he said, "Oops, sorry!" as he stepped in front of the camera. He then said, "I'm sure you don't want me to be in your photo."

To that, my husband . . . the husband of a scrapper . . . replied, "That's what cropping is for."

Cha-ching! Score five points for the husband.

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

2010-04-19T18:36:00.000-04:00

R - E - S - P - E - C - T . . . find out what it means to me!

So . . . the news is good. For anyone who read my last blog, everything is healthy and good. My colonoscopy was A.O.K. and in my efforts to continue my public service announcement and encourage everyone "eligible" to shrug the fear and go, I have a couple of items to share with each of you.

First, the prep really isn't all that bad. Yes . . . I was a bit hungry in the hours leading up to the prep, but once I started the drinking of the delicious soapy, lemony, salty drink . . . there was no turning back. It was not nearly as bad as I expected, and I will willingly do this again when the time comes.

Second, R - E - S - P - E - C - T. What does this mean to me? I know . . . you are thinking that this means something creative. Is it an anagram for something? What do these letters stand for? Well, it's all about the embarrassment of the procedure. If there was one word I could use to describe the procedure, it would be "RESPECTFUL." I expected to feel embarrassed just because . . . well, you know . . . just because. Let me tell you, it was extremely respectful. That is the one word that I would use to describe the procedure, and if you don't feel that way after yours, then let me give you the name of my GI group!

Third . . . if you're eligible and nervous . . . need someone to keep you grounded before, during (well, not really during, during . . . but as you walk in and as you come out the door), or after, consider asking me! I am more than willing to drop you off, pick you up, hold your hand until you walk in the door . . . whatever!

Just do it. Feel free to call me . . . don't be afraid to just call me . . . call me and I'll be around!

And now . . . I can break free of my PSA for Colon Cancer . . . and I get back to supporting my brother and being creative.

Wait for it . . . the creative items will be coming real soon.

Phew!

Pardon My Break From Creativity

2010-04-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Pardon my break from creativity, as I bring you my own version of a public service announcement. I'm all about cameras, but I'd like to take a timeout from being creative and talk about one camera in particular. And I hope those who think it's "too much" will forgive the imposition.

My creativity has been a bit "out the window." While I have a ton of projects to get to this week, my mind has been completely pre-occupied with other things. At the top of my list is the one thing that I've dreaded throughout my forties. The thought of turning 50 and having to succumb to the dreaded "you're turning 50" medical test. I think woman can somehow identify. I spent the last few years of my thirties dreading the mammogram. Sure, it's not the most comfortable test in the world, but we all manage through it, and we should.

This is the medical test you've more than likely never gone through before, and it seems like it would be the most uncomfortable, embarrassing thing on the face of the earth. A little tiny camera traveling in places you would never want to go. I'm a scrapper, and I'm all about cameras, but I promise there will be no glossy 5" x 7" souvenir photos of my colon in any of my scrapbooks! I seriously know very few people in their late 40's who aren't thinking about their impending test. How to skirt past it (a friend recently told me she scheduled her physical a month prior to turning 50 to confuse her physician). I also know many people past 50 who refuse to go.

The colonoscopy is not meant for blogs . . . I know this because my blog spell check didn't recognize it and gave suggestions of other words . . . including colonialism. No connection between the two words, and I suppose we should dismiss the Merriam-Webster's third definition . . . control by one power over a dependent area or people. Now isn't that interesting. I'll give that one credence as the gastroenterologist has control over my dependent area. But while it might not be meant as a topic for open discussion, it is consuming my life right now and will until I get the results.

My family has been immensely open about it since early March, when my 50-year old brother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer. He celebrated his birthday and got the diagnosis just two days later. And whether it is bad or good, the family and extended family can't go a few days without comparing notes on their progress with consultations and procedures. It has extended beyond the family, as I now have a few friends who had put off scheduling and because I've shared my story, they are taking action.

I'm not 50. I'm only 48. And while I've dreaded it for a few years, my brother's diagnosis provided me with an "Advance to Early Detection" card. It's not quite as exciting as a Monopoly "Advance to Reading Railroad." I sure as heck won't get the $200.00 for passing "Go" or the opportunity to buy the railroad. The reality is that I share DNA . . . the same dark hair, brown eyes, coloring, likes and dislikes of my brother, who is just 15 months older than me. We were both picky eaters and still are to some extent. What I hope to gain is peace of mind. The procedure that I dreaded is very small in comparison to what could be even more frightening . . . the outcome.

I don't know how many people read this blog, and I don't think it is a huge number. I just want to encourage anyone who reads to share the story of the guy who turned 50 and was tired and had a cough he couldn't shake. He had no other symptoms.

So if you have a family history, get your "early in." If you're 50 or over . . . don't put it off. I'm one who dreaded it, and I am so looking forward to getting past this so I can be creative again.