Thanks Bunches - Disney Style

I had a goal to post more cards this year, and so far I feel like I'm making some good progress there. I saw the post at Use Your Stuff to create a card inspired by Disney.  I had to play along with this one.  I just had to pull an item from my stuff that I just adore and have NOT used enough.  It was a stamp and punch set from Stampin' Up. I also had some strips of pattern paper that I had saved for some cards and so a card is born . . .

What I love about this stamp/punch combo is that micro-dot shading in the balloons which you can see on the yellow balloons. Seriously love it. 

I paired this with some Pretty Pink Posh sequins and love the result.  

I mixed some companies between all my supplies here - another thing I love to do.  

I hope you not only find some time to create, but that you mix it all up with yours supplies too.  

Debbie

Supplies Used - Thanks Bunches

Stamps and Dies:  Say It All Occasions (Close To My Heart); Balloon Celebration Bouquet Punch Bundle (Stampin' Up)

Ink & Embossing:  Midnight, Tiki Toch, Rockin' Red (Catherine Pooler Inks)

Paper: Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler); Bazzill Cardstock

Other: Marigold Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh);

EPCOT - What was all the stress about?

EPCOT is one of my favorite Disney parks, but not the easiest to create layouts for when teaching a class. So when challenged by a friend to use that theme for an upcoming class, there was a struggle.

The problem with creating for classes is that you have to be somewhat generic. You want the layout to appeal to a wide range of Disney scrappers. So I never want to do anything too childlike because they adult Disney enthusiasts may not have pictures.  Anything specific to a country means you would have to have multiple photos from one specific country. 

When I say I struggled for weeks, I am not lying. I picked out paper and returned paper twice before settling on pick number three. That batch sat for about two weeks while my creative mojo was on hiatus. I knew I at least wanted Spaceship Earth, and I had found some SEI paper to represent, but what else?

My mojo returned when my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. had the Tim Holtz Picture Wheel die.  Have you seen it . . .

Remember the Viewmaster Projector?  Glorious visual fun, much like a picture book, where with a click of the side button, you spun the wheel to the next photo. When I saw that Sizzix die, it all just clicked.

One wheel with the flags representing the eleven countries in the World Showcase, and the other representing some of the many sites in Future World.   The images for both worlds were found on the internet and shrunken down . . . but I think in the future I might think to shrink some photos of my own. 

Twenty kits were made and on class day 19 were spoken for . . . just one remained on the counter after class.

So what was all the stress about?  I have no clue. 

Supplies Used
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  SEI

Stamps:  CTMH's A Typeface and Stamps of Life (list2write)
Cricut:  Disney Mickey and Friends and Art Philosophy (CTMH)
Die Cuts:  Tim Holtz Picture Wheel Die
Ink:  Colorbox

Magical Memories

I was recently charged with creating something decorative for displaying pictures of Disney memories.  It is for an upcoming class at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. in Canton, Connecticut.  It is a Disney Sampler Day, meaning that there will be three Disney projects . . . a layout . . . a countdown calendar . . . and a piece of wall art.  

I eventually decided to do a 7 Gypsy Artist Printer Tray for my wall art, which if you've not done before, are SUPER FUN!  I have done a few in the past, most recently was a Girl Scout one to honor a leader in our town who was getting an award.  I've done a Christmas one.  I've done a Family version.  So many possibilities (wedding, baby . . . whatever suits the mood).  But for this one, I went Disney all the way.  I used photo snippets of a trip we took in the 90's when my girls were little.  Such sweet magical memories.

I will admit I stressed over this project . . . getting it just right.  The end result was worth it . . . and hopefully the folks signing up for the class will enjoy putting their memories in the blocks of the tray.

Look at my little cuties . . . 

Some fun things I did within the design of the tray . . . embossing a stamped image in silver on the top left Mickey head . . . that sweet little picture of my girl on the steps of one of the houses in Toon Town . . . my younger daughter almost looking up to her older sister as they ride the carousel) . . . a tiny vial of "magic" with a stamped Mickey that was paper pieced . . . my Jar of Magic (very intense stuff there) . . . and my Mickey hand on an Action Wobble . . . one of our favorite pictures of my youngest hanging on a pole near the castle at the Magic Kingdom, which I put into another Mickey Head to balance out the first . . . and I topped it all up with torn fabric strips.  

The magic on the tray matches the magic of my photos!  I can't wait until this makes it back home and hangs on my wall.

And the best part . . . as I said . . . there are three projects.  The other two designed by others on our team are a layout (here is a snippet of one page - fun, fun, fun page) . . .

And a countdown calendar that can sit on a desk, shelf, etc . . . it has flip pages and the BEST PART . . . put photos on the back side and it doubles as a mini album on your shelf.  When you are not counting down to your next trip you've got photos.  But when a trip is a month away, flip the pages and start your countdown.  How fun for the kids to flip day by day!  A snippet (my bad photo taking skills cut off the number 31) . . .  

Each page is a different color and has a different design . . . all Disney!

Looking forward to the class.  Kits are also available while supplies last . . . so you can call the store if there is interest.  Best part about a kit . . . pieces with no thought, and your done. 

Happy Scrapping!  

Call Me Crazy . . . all for Electricity?

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!

The Answer: Nothing

The Question: What's been going on with your blog?

I have been feeling so uninspired to scrapbook. I haven't quite been able to put my finger on the problem. But today I found a combination of things that led me to my crop room at home. First, my kids are back from college, so I found myself retreating to my "woman cave" (my crop room). Second, I felt that a little organization was in order and bought some wire stackable shelves to give myself a little more cropping room.

Let's talk about my crop room for a minute. It started as a room that was going to be for scrapbooking, sewing, and whatever other crafts I might want to work on. It ended as a crop room only, and in the process of getting it set up I learned that I have way too much stuff. Not only that, but I managed to trash another spare bedroom in the process of setting it up. I have sewing stuff stacked and now have to face the fact that I will need an additional room for sewing. Hobbies are tough.

As for the "way too much stuff", I have high hopes that I will sell some of it on Ebay someday, or perhaps at an NESC Tag Sale. However, first I need to have an intervention with myself because I clearly have way too much paper that I can't part with. I made a promise that I would not buy more, and then I bought more. We all know the rule. If you don't get it while it's there, you won't get it when it's gone.

So my crop room can be a basic disaster. My most recent task was to get the shelves up and to make die cut tools more accessible. I also had to clear an entire shelf on my wall (my wall has three utility shelves that house Rubbermaid containers of embellishments and fabric, scrapbooks finished and unfinished, and the Art Bin 12 x 12 containers of paper (I love Art Bin's containers . . . no one else's come close). Clearing a shelf was no easy task, but alas the Cricut is out of the box and needed a home. Provided I stick to cutting 12 x 12, the shelf will work. If I ever decide to cut wall art in a larger size, I'll clearly have to find a new home for it.

With organization done, I finally got around to making some new bags. I thumbed through a few magazines, ripped out a few pages, got a few ideas and was reading to scrapbook.

That said, I successfully finished a layout for an upcoming class at New England Scrapbook Company. Many years ago I purchased a Quickutz die that looks like a lego block. My intention was to do a "Downtown Disney" layout. After five or six years I can finally check that one off my list. Talk about procrastination.

I'll be home tomorrow and will hopefully keep my creativity flowing enough to design our one more page for the Disney class. I'm looking to do a page on Magic Kingdom (I've got this castle die cut that is just begging to be constructed, stickled and adhered to a page.

And then perhaps our family's Christmas cards. Better late than never! I can spread holiday cheer the day after Christmas just as much as before. Remember . . . it's the holiday season, not just a day. It will get done.