Bits and Pieces...

Popping In!

2012-01-26T06:03:00.005-05:00

My poor little blog has been neglected this week. That's because I've been hunkering down and finishing some CHA projects. I'm so excited to be heading to Anaheim on Saturday. Of course, I'll miss my guys, but getting to spend time with my girls Cindy and Jessica is awesome. I can't wait!

I only have a couple of things that I can share today. These two projects were done with the new Webster's 'Game On' line. I love that it is more of a masculine line and that there are reds and blues in it.

This first page is about my little ball player. I never do sports pages (alright, that's probably because he doesn't play sports that much...) but, these papers are perfect for them!

I love the paper with the little hexagons best. Mixing up the clean and simple with the traditional papers is so much fun. And see that banner? I cut it with my Silhouette! (love that thing!)

This next page shows Ryan more in his element - hanging with a friend and playing with Pokemon cards. :)

I used lots of the new gems on here, along with the Game On papers. To add some extra dimension, I cut the words out and added them with foam adhesive.

That's it for today. I'll be back with more, soon. I made some cards with the new Crate lines and I can't wait to share them with you.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

CHA Crunch and a Webster's Giveaway!

2012-01-21T07:47:00.007-05:00

It's that time of year. And I love it! CHA! The craziness has begun. :) I love seeing what is being released. There are tons of gorgeous lines and I'm already drooling. Another fun part of CHA is getting new goodies on my doorstep. I got my first box from Crate yesterday! And let me tell you, the new lines are even more gorgeous in person.

Take a peek at some of my favorites. This is from the Pretty Party line:

And these are from the Storyteller line:

And then there are all of the gorgeous Webster's goodies. WOW!!!
Check out Everyday Poetry. Here are a couple of my favorites of the new traditional papers.

And these are the new clean and simple papers that coordinate with them. I love the subtle patterns on them.

This next line is called Palm Beach. Here are a couple of my favorites from this line:

And the CAS papers:

Be sure to head over to the Webster's blog to see the gorgeous embellishments and trims that go with these lines. AND there is a huge giveaway going on!
I'm going to be hiding in my scraproom for the next couple of days working on projects, so if you don't hear from me, you'll know why.

Thought I'd leave you with a couple of things I've done recently. First up is this card that I made for Emma's

Everything on it is Prima. I love those little tiles. I hadn't used them before and they were fun to embellish. I used the little Prima resin flowers and painted the aqua one to give it a shabbier look.
My next card was also for Emma's. Our challenge was to create something with ribbon. I made the ribbon flowers - a first for me.

I made this one with some My Mind's Eye papers and stickers. The leaf cluster is Prima.

Well, that's it for today. I'm going to sequester myself in my scraproom and crank out my CHA projects. Can't wait to be able to share them with you.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

2011 Favorite Photos

2012-01-18T06:52:00.004-05:00

Thanks for all of your sweet words the other day. I'm still on Cloud 9 and can't wait to start playing with all of the new Crate goodies!

Today's post will be short and sweet. Just have a couple of things to share. I have been working on some CHA stuff and trying to get projects done for Emma's ahead of time since I'm leaving for California on the 28th. (I. Can't. Wait!)

Here is a mini I did for my AC GDT. I chose photos I loved from each month and created an album from the Chap journaling cards. I used lots of Chap goodies on here, too.

Since I'm doing Project 365, I think I'll have more photos to choose from at the end of this year.

Speaking of photos, here are a couple from the past couple of weeks:

This is my favorite one so far. I was playing around with aperture and took some photos of the bush out front. I love how it turned out.

Here we are looking for Skylanders. These things are NOwhere to be found!! It's so frustrating. Yesterday, I called 8 stores when they opened and no one had them in. It's worse than the Cabbage Patch craze from the 80s! Poor Ryan wants to spend some of his Christmas money on them and he can't.

We went to a mexican store nearby and this was parked out front. Ryan was so embarassed that I was standing in the parking lot taking pictures of it!

That's about it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

So Excited!!!

2012-01-15T09:51:00.005-05:00

I have a couple of new projects to share with you today and some really exciting news!! Here is a card that I made with Crate's new Paper Heart line. I created it for a challenge over at the Nook.

I cut that heart with my Silhouette. (I'm totally addicted to it now, after having it sit in my scraproom for longer than I am embarassed to admit.) I backed it with the floral paper, added the Stickles and topped it off with the chipboard heart.

The new Paper Heart line is just gorgeous. I think that yellow horizontal stripe paper is one of my favorites of ALL time!! My bedroom as a child (and the 70s formica furniture I had) were the same bright yellow, so I definitely have a fondness for it. :)

Next up is a page using the same line. We took this photo on Christmas Eve and I love it.

I added a bunch of little chipboard doo-dads to the top of the page and stitched over them. I was inspired by the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico a couple of weeks ago.

Then, I added the banner, chipboard and Pink Paislee letters.

So, now for the GREAT news!! I am absolutely thrilled, honored and totally excited that I am going to be a part of Crate's Winter/Spring 2012 Design Team!!!!! You will definitely be seeing more CP proejects in the upcoming months. I can't wait to get started! Here's the ANNOUNCEMENT. Huge congrats to all of my new teammates!! And a big thank you to Crate!

That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

TGIF!

2012-01-13T18:22:00.006-05:00

It's been a nice week! Things have been rather slow at work, so I've been knocking stuff off my To Do list here at home. That's always a good thing!

I have a couple of things to share today. First up is this card.

I made it for Stamp It 3 Ways, a new Paper Crafts special issue that just came out. I used a stamp by My Cute Stamps to build the background. Then, I added some Crate Portrait goodies. I love that chipboard flower, don't you?

Next up is a layout I did for my recent American Crafts Guest DT spot. Ryan is totally into Pokemon right now, as are his closest little buddies. Here they are playing on their DSs. Listening to them talk about the characters cracks me up. I'm amazed that I actually know who Hydregon, Reshram and Kairem are...Scary...

I used papers and embellishments from the Chap line, which I absolutely adore!! The colors are so perfect for my boy pages and the designs are so fun!

I don't know if you can see, but I added some fun little paper 'shavings' to this. It happened quite accidentally. I was trimming the edges of the paper and they fell onto my page. Well, I loved how they looked when they were all curled up like that and I love how they matched the paper. So, I arranged them under the photos. They kind of remind me of thread or twine.

My final project for today is a card I made using the Amy Tangerine line. I adore the colors in this line sooooo much! I decided to create the background by cutting a bunch of strips and laying them on the card, diagonally.

Then, I added half of a doily, a cut paper frame and flowers made from fabric paper strips.

Well, that's all for today. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Sunday Picnic Part 2

2012-01-11T05:03:00.007-05:00

Since I received my Webster's Sunday Picnic goodies in the mail, I have been a busy girl!! I have a few more things to share today. First is this bright and colorful page. I decided that I'd make a quilt background. So, I trimmed nine 3 by 3 inch squares and sewed them to the paper. Then I added the Dusty Attic frame and a couple of pictures. Finally, I made the rosettes and topped them off with some new mini-princess petals and sparklers. The gems on this page are new, too!

Next up are a couple of cards. I used the clean and simple papers on this first one and the more traditional papers on the second. I love that Sunday picnic can be so versatile!

I made the rosette on here, too. And see that cameo? It's one of the new Silhouettes. Isn't it adorable???

Finally, I have this page about a recent trup my girlfriend and I took to a huge buffet place called Shady Maple. It's amazing and is known in the area for how yummy the food is and how MUCH of it there is! Note the 4 plates of desserts we had. LOL!

I used a bunch of the new trims on here. I made the banner out of the paper and added the trims to them.

Sunday Picnic is now available at Webster's. The new releases are on their way to the team and will be debuted starting next week. Be sure to check out the Webster's Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! :)

Project 365

2012-01-07T08:56:00.006-05:00

So, one of the things I'd like to do this year is to improve my photography. I decided to sign up for a Project 365 class to help. I figured if I have to take pictures, I might as well take good ones! I'm doing Nicole Samuels' class at Studio Calico and am really enjoying it. The best part is a message board where people have been sharing ideas. One thing that I learned about is Shuttercal.com It's a place where you can upload photos and they display them in this cute calendar. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with my pictures at the end of the year, but there are lots of fun options available.

Here are a couple of my favorites from this week.

We rang in the New Year in Philly with the family. It was so much fun!!

I started my nutritional cleanse! Five days out, I feel so much better already and am fitting back into my jeans. :)

This is Ryan and his best little bud hanging out after school and drinking hot chocolate.

It's been fun trying to think of pictures that showcase our daily lives. If you know of any great Projedt 365 links, I'd love to see them!

I have a couple of my Crate GDT projects that I hadn't posted, so I figured I'd share them today.

This is a fun card I made using the Random collection.

As you know, I'm a sucker for pinwheels, but their trims and stickers are so much fun, too!

And here is a mini album that I made. Every year, my SIL Patty and I take Ryan to Linvilla Orchards. Her son Michael has joined us the past couple of years. We always have a great time. I used the Farmhouse collection on here.

I've been making more minis lately and I have to say I'm really enjoying it! Just not sure what to do with them when I'm done...

Well, thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

American Crafts GDT!

2012-01-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that I can share this today - I'm the Guest Designer over at the American Crafts blog! I love AC and their fun, bright products. They sent me the adorable Amy Tangerine line along with the Chap line. Both of these are my current favorites, so I was super excited.

The focus this week is on favorite photos. Well, this one is definitely one of mine!
Anytime I try to get a shot of Ryan, he makes these crazy goofy faces. But, what cracks me up in this one is the look on my face! I think I have just learned that I have to go with it. ;)

Anyway, I just can't get enough of banners these days! I used lots of Amy Tangerine goodies on here and lots of foam adhesive.

I'd love for you to stop by and see the rest of my projects at the AC Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Top 10

2011-12-30T16:38:00.013-05:00

It's hard to believe that 2011 is almost over! It's been a great year for our family and I hope 2012 brings us the same.

Thank you for spending time here at my little blog. I truly do appreciate your kind words and have loved sharing my scrappy projects this year.

I thought I'd share my favorites, as a recap.

I did this one for my Crate GDT post. Random is one of my favorite collections of the year!

Got a little artsy on this one. Ryan's dirty feet cracked me up!

Did this one for the Card Sharks contest. I love the contrast of the trim and paper.

I love making tag sets. This was one of my favorites.

I love the colors on this one. October Afternoon and Crate Paper are a perfect mix.

Everything came together so easily on this one. :)

I love the colors on this one. I did it for the Prima booth last January.

Love this one just because...

Webster's Let's Celebrate line is one of my all time faves. I had so much fun using it here.

And since we are getting ready for the New Year, I figured I'd wrap up with this card.

I hope you all have a blessed New Year! Thanks, as always, for stopping by. :)
See you in 2012!

New Webster's Sunday Picnic

2011-12-27T16:15:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful weekend we've had! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were awesome. We spent them with our family and friends and enjoyed every second of it. My house looks like a bomb went off, though. But, it's worth it. Ryan had so much fun and is having a blast with his new loot!

I have a couple of fun things to share today. Webster's just released Sunday Picnic, their mid-season release. It will be shipping on Jan. 1, so start getting your pictures ready! The line is awesome - I adore the colors. :)

Here are a couple of pages I did with it:

I've been loving chevrons lately and decided to use a bunch of the new patterns to create them here. I also hand cut some elements. This is Ryan and our friend Jordan at Funland on the Rehoboth Boardwalk last summer. They were so excited to get cotton candy. Sunday Picnic is just perfect for summer pictures!

Here is another picture of the two of them at Funland. This time they are riding the teacup ride. I love this photo. :) They've been friends since they were born.

The best thing about this line - and all of the lines Webster's will be releasing from here on out - is that there are Clean and Simple papers to coordinate with the traditional Webster's style papers. So often, Brandin has heard that people aren't sure what to do with the flowery, detailed papers. Now, they can choose which style they want to use! Or best yet, mix them together. :)

Here are the traditional papers:

And here are the Clean and Simple ones:

Be sure to check out the Webster's blog all week, as there will be new Sunday Picnic projects every day - both traditional AND clean and simple!

Thanks for stopping by! :) Anabelle

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

May you and your's have a blessed Christmas! I hope you are surrounded by loved ones and friends. May you be blessed with joy and peace. And may you truly rejoice in the spirit of the season. Merry Christmas!!!

Tags and Thanks!

2011-12-22T05:45:00.006-05:00

It's Thursday, yay! I am officially on break until January 3! What a wonderful feeling. I'm also doing the happy dance because I found out last night that I won the Nook's Card Shark's contest. Yay!!! If you voted for me, I'd like to say a special thanks to you. I owe ya! :) It was a lot of fun and the two girls who were with me in the finals, Jan and Annelie, are super talented. I've been really inspired by them and the other girls who created cards for the competition.

So, I have a couple of Christmas projects that I'd better post before it's too late, LOL. This first card is one that I made for my Crate GDT gig.

I used Crate's Peppermint line here. Isn't that chipboard Santa adorable?

My next project uses Basic Grey Nordic Holiday line. The colors are so fun. I'm such a sucker for chipboard, so I piled it on here, too.

I had a lot of fun adding little bits and pieces to these. To create the pocket, I took a 6 by 6 piece of paper and just stitched the edges. The tags fit perfectly inside.

To see details about the supplies I used on here, check out the Emma's Paperie blog.

Well, that's it for today. I am going to finish working on my Christmas cards and finish grocery shopping for the weekend's festivities.

Thanks for stopping by. ~Anabelle

Card Sharks Finals

2011-12-18T08:12:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited to have made it to the finals of the Nook's Card Sharks challenge! After several weeks of playing along, we are down to the last three. It has been so much fun and I've been really inspired by everyone's cards. Now,the voting has begun.
I'd love for you to hop over to the Nook Blog and cast your vote. Just leave a comment in the comments section there.

Here is the first card I made this week. The challenge was to use a bird as the focal point. You can vote for this card HERE.

The chipboard on here is Basic Grey. I created the rosette with crepe paper and Platinum Stickles. The paper is vintage sheet music and some Melissa Frances. I added the vintage foil stars and some gems, too.

This next card was for a challenge to use 2 patterned papers, 2 embellishments (I picked chipboard) and 2 words. As you know, I love to add loads of details to my cards, so I really had to think out of the box for this one. I went with the clean and simple look and do like how it turned out. You can vote for this card HERE.

I used some Crate Peppermint and BG chipboard on here. The letter stickers are AC Thickers.

So, that's it for today. Thanks for taking the time to hop over to the Nook blog and cast your vote!!

Have a great day!~ Anabelle

Red, White and Pink

2011-12-16T07:18:00.005-05:00

Ugh. I have a Christmas Cold! I can't believe there is one weekend left before Christmas and I'm not feeling well. I have sooo much to do. Oh well, I guess I'm just going to have to push through it. Grrrr....

On a happier note, I have been having fun making some Christmasy projects for Emma's. This one is based on one of my favorite color combos - red, white and pink. I decided to make a treat jar and card set. This will go to Ryan's teacher with a gift card tucked inside.

I used the new October Afternoon Christmas line (Holiday Style) for it. I love the little pennant flags! And their chipboard is some of my favorite out there.

See thosse little kisses in the jar? They are white chocolate and peppermint. Mmmmmmmm! And if you like that combo, you will absolutely die for these yummies:

I found them on Pinterest (where else?). And let me tell you they are amazing!!!! I ate waaaay more of them last night than I should have! The recipe can be found at Annie's Eats. Make them!!!

Well, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Happy Monday

2011-12-12T05:03:00.006-05:00

We had a busy, but fun, weekend. Finally got the tree up only to discover that Pulu still loves climbing it and knocking down all of the branches. Grrrr..... We haven't put any lights or ornaments on it yet, and I don't know what we're going to do. It's already a mess. There are needles all over the place and all he wants to do is hide underneath it and attack whoever walks by! It's his personal playground.

Speaking of my sweet feline, here is a page about him. It's about one of his other favorite hangouts - the top of the refrigerator!

Webster's had a swap with Dusty Attic a couple of weeks ago, so I got the chance to use some of their amazing chipboard on here. Love it! I pulled out Spring Market and added some of that along with Botanical Christmas for this page. I decided to leave the kraft chipboard plain to give it some contrast between it and the bright coors of the paper.

This next project uses Botanical Christmas along with lots of Dazzle Me gems.

One of my favorite things to do with gems is to cut them apart. I did a lot of that on this project. A couple of pins finish off the project.

If you liked tags, be sure to head over to the Webster's Blog this month. We are posting lots of them. Also, there are a couple of freebies you won't want to miss as you work on your holiday projects. This past Friday, Courtney posted free digital frames that are available for downloading.

And the Friday before that, she posted some gorgeous digital tags that Julie Walton designed. They are freebies as well.

So, be sure to head over to grab them and to be inspired by all of the work the team has been doing this month.

That's it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Voting Time

2011-12-08T18:07:00.004-05:00

So, earlier in the week I posted my cards for the Nook's Card Sharks challenges for the week. Well, voting has started and will go through Saturday morning. I've never been in one of those contests where you get voted onto the next round, but figured I'd give this one a go. SO, if you would like to help me out, I'd love for you to go here and check out the cards. Of course, you'll want to vote for your favorite, but I'm hoping that it will be mine. LOL! Thanks!

I have a couple of projects to share today. This first one is a card I did for Emma's a couple of weeks ago. I used some October Afternoon on here along with Crate. I have to say, I love how this turned out.

I used a mini flash card from Melissa Frances. And the banner is from Crate's Farmhouse collection. I popped it up with foam adhesive.

I finished it off with a layered butterfly and a pin from Webster's.

This next project is also for Emma's. We did a focus on gift wrap. I love using kraft paper and dolling it up. This gift went to my friend Amanda. I used a mix of Crate and October Afternoon's Sidewalks collection. The little pennants are my favorite!

Well, off to get a few things finished. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Scrapbook Nook Card Sharks Week 3

2011-12-03T15:15:00.005-05:00

I've been pretty productive this past week! Not only have I gotten a lot of Christmas shopping done, but I've made a few things. Today I want to share the cards I made for the Scrapbook Nook's Card Shark challenge. We have been earning points all along, but this week there will be some voting involved. I never enter these contest type challenges, but this is all in fun. I may ask your help later in the week, though. ;)

Anyway. The first challenge was to create a card with 5 of a type of embellishment. Here is my card.

I started out my using a PTI edger to die cut the edge of the card. Then, I added some Webster's trim.For my '5', I chose Webster's gems. I love them! I cut them right off the gem strip and added them to the trim border. The big snowflake sticker is Crate and I added a snowflake punch to it. I die cut the circle thingy behind the sticker using Spellbinders Beaded Circles. And see that gorgeous pin? My sister in law, Patty made it. She recently sent me some of them and I'm in love!!!

This next card is for a challenge to make a love or Valentine themed card. I couldn't resist pulling out my Melissa Frances glittered chipboard hearts. I think they are my favorite embellishment of all time!

I used some My Mind's Eye paper, a layered sticker and the burlap. The trim is Prima and the gold lace is Webster's. I had one strip left and I ended up using it on each of the cards I'm posting today. Love it!

My final card is for a challenge to use eight elements.

I used 2 papers, stitching, lace, a chipboard snowflake, the layered sticker, some scruned seem binding and a brad. ;) The paper, sticker and brad are Crate. There's my Webster's trim and the snowflake is from Michael's. I painted it with Lumiere paint and it gave it a gorgeous sheen. It's kind of hard to see it in the photo.

That's it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

More Crate Goodies

2011-12-01T06:26:00.007-05:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Crate Blog on Monday. I'm stil on cloud 9 about being a Guest Designer for them!

Today's card was made with CP Random. I love their pinwheels and decided to use it as the focal point of my card.

I layered the flower onto one of the journaling cards and added some twine to the side. I love the colors in these papers. Wish I had some clothes in the same patterns!

Next up is a layout using Peppermint Twist. I love these photos of Ryan on Santa's lap. He always gets so nervous! I love the little bits and baubles on the chipboard sheet. I decided to use a bunch of them on this page. :)

Finally, a page using Crate's Farmhouse papers. They were perfect for my photos of the local farmer's market. I LOVE farmer's markets. I went all the time this spring and summer, so I knew I wanted to make a page about it. I used quite a few stickers on here. I even added one to a pinwheel and made a letter out of it for my title!

Well, that's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

It's a Crate Kind of Day!

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Mondays are definitely my least favorite day of the week. And the Monday after Thanksgiving is especially hard, given that I've had a wonderful five day mini-vacation. But, I get to share something fun today, so that makes this Monday a little better than usual.

Remember I mentioned that I'd been working on something that I couldn't share yet? Well, today is the day I get to share. I'm the Guest Designer on the Crate Paper Blog! I was so excited when Christine emailed me and invited me to do it. As you know I love all things Crate, so getting to play with all of their goodies was such a treat.

I made several projects, but I thought I'd share this one first, since it is my favorite. I decided to combine two current trends, hexagons and chevrons. And I came up with this:

First, I used my new favorite punch and punched several zig zag strips from Random papers.

Next, I adhered them in a row and made a border about 3 inches wide.

Using a hexagon pattern, I cut out three hexagons from the zig zag border. I decided to mount them on black cardstock to make the colors pop. Then I stitched the edges for added texture.

Since I wanted the hexagons to be the focus of the page, I placed them right in the center. I added some chipboard pieces and placed my photo in a round chipboard frame.

It was definitely a fun page to make. And that fact that it's of my friend Heather and me on a recent camping trip (such a fun time), makes it all the more special.

So, I'd love for you to pop over to the Crate Blog and see the rest of my creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:39:00.005-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends and family! I love this day. I'm so blessed and thankful for the many things in my life that make it so rich and full. Spending the day today with my family, eating wonderful foods and laughing and memory making is truly what this holiday is all about. I recently saw this quote on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for today: "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of Thanksgiving." (WT Purkiser)

I've been having so much fun participating in My Scrapbook Nook's Card Sharks contest. Here are the cards I made for this week's challenges.

This first one uses Webster's Western Romance and Wonderfall papers. I thought it was perfect for today. The challenge was to incorporate nature and woodgrain. I used some Crate Random paper (aqua) that has a woodgrain pattern on it and the bouquet is the nature part.

I wanted some die cut leaves, so I broke out my Cricut and cut them. It's been ages since I used it and I'm so glad I did! I'll be using it more often for sure. I added a berry bouquet, a flower whimsy and a Papertrey stamp.

The next challenge was to use a Bingo card or grid pattern. I decided to make a grid of my own.

I used Crate Peppermint on here. I punched the snowflakes and added lots of little bits and baubles of chipboard.

Finally, my third card is for the 'Royalty Challenge'. We had to use a crown in our design.

I used My My Mind's Eye papers, Tattered Angels chipboard, Prima flower and Melissa Frances brooch gem. I love the colors in this line!

So that's it for today. Off to watch the parade and prep my appetizers for dinner. :)
Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm truly thankful for your visits and comments. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Black Friday at Webster's Pages

2011-11-22T07:40:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited! A few weeks back, Brandin asked me to create a layout and card using a kit she is selling on Black Friday. The kit is amazing. It's called 'It's a Sweet Season'. The kits will be going on sale at midnight on Thursday night. There are a very limited number and I'm sure they will be going fast! When you order the kit, not only will you get $65 worth of gorgeous goodies, but you will get directions to mke my layout and card.

Here's the layout:

And here's my card:

Sweet Season is one of my favorite Webster's lines of all time. And the embellishments that are included in the kit are so gorgeous. Here's a photo of everything you'll get:

After making my projects I still have a TON of leftovers.

There is a gorgeous second kit with directions for a beautiful mini-album by Laura McCullogh. You can see it at the Webster's Blog along with all of the information about ordering, etc.

You definitely won't want to miss out on this deal. Happy Shopping!

Webster's Christmas

2011-11-20T13:51:00.006-05:00

How did it get to be Sunday so quickly??? Another week just FLEW by. Again, I apologize for not having anything to post lately. I've actually just finished working on something fun that I'll be able to share with you next Friday. So excited...

Anyway, I do have a couple of Christmas cards for you today. One simple and one detailed. This first one uses Webster's Winter Fairy Tale line. I just love the soft colors.

To create the flower, I used some Webster's trim. I added some adhesive to the edge of the trim.

Then, I gathered it up and added a sparkler to the center. I topped it with a punched snowflake.

My next card is a simpler one. I just adore the doors from the Botanical Christmas line. I cut one out and added it to an embossed panel.

Then, I used the Dazzle Me gems to decorate the wreath on the door and topped this with a punched snowflake, as well.

That's it for today. Be sure to stop by later in the week. I have a couple of fun announcements!~Anabelle♥

I'm Still Here....

2011-11-14T17:54:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! As I mentioned in my last post, Ryan had been really sick. Well, after two visits, one sinus infection and an antibiotic, we ended up back at the doctor's on Friday. Turns out the little guy had pneumonia! Once we got the right antibiotic, he was a new man. He headed back to school today.
Ryan wasn't the only sick one in the house. Our computer had a virus! So it was in the shop for several days. It's all healthy now and I'm ready to post again.

As I mentioned before, My Scrapbook Nook is having a contest. I participated in three challenges this week. These cards are the cards I made for it.

First is this one that I made using lots of Webster's goodies. I used the Sweet Season line that was from last year. I've always loved this line!

This next card uses the November Nook kit. It's filled with Echo Park's new line.
The doily is Maya Road.

This next card uses lots of October Afternoon. We had to create a card with the number 1 in it somewhere.

So, that's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Another Envelope Card

2011-11-08T05:57:00.007-05:00

Happy Tuesday! Things have been a bit crazy around here. Ryan came home with a fever last Wednesday evening. Well, he was out of school Thursday and Friday, sick all weekend and out again yesterday. He's been spiking a fever of 102/103 and has been coughing a lot. We were at the doctor over the weekend and they said it was a virus, but we went back again yesterday and she thinks it's turned into a sinus infection. Ugh. We're on antibiotics, so I'm hoping this will knock it out of him. (Please say a little prayer that it does...) I'd say 'Poor Little Guy', but he's actually been quite content. He loves the fact that he's been able to stay home and play for all of this time. Any reason to miss school works for him!

Anyway, onto scrappy stuff. I recreated the card in the post below. I decided to use Webster's Pages Botanical Christmas for this one. I really love the concept of the fancy envelope and card.

Here is the envelope:

And here's it is along with the little card that fits inside:

There's a tutorial for this card on the Webster's Pages Blog today, along with two more Christmas cards that I made. Stop over!

I also wanted to share this page with you. I was inspired by Webster's Guest Designer Stephanie Garbett.

I took this picture of my beach bag this summer as I was lounging on the beach in Sea Isle, NJ. I actually was all alone! Fran had taken Ryan to the arcade and I got to dig my toes in the sand and read People magazine. It was a little slice of heaven. So I decided to do a page about it.

I did a lot of handcutting and layering. And I mixed things up a bit by using the Trensetter, Let's Celebrate and Country Estate lines.

So, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by today. Have great day! ~Anabelle

More My Mind's Eye

2011-11-04T16:07:00.005-04:00

I have another project using MME Lost and Found 2~Sunshine. Over at My Scrapbook Nook they are having a contest, so I created this card for it. We had to create a card and envelope, making the envelope the star. I used my Coluzle envelope template to make it and added lots of goodies. The flowers are Prima and all of the paper is MME.

Here's the set:

I used PTI's Fillable Frames 4 for the sentiment. The card is for my sweet friend, Amanda for her birthday.

Here's a close up of the envelope.

I loved working on this challenge and I think I'm going to create a couple of more card sets based on this one!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. ~Anabelle

A Blog Hop and A Card

2011-11-01T21:25:00.003-04:00

Happy Day After Halloween! Hope you had as much fun as we did. We always have the neighbors over for pizza and then we all walk around with the kids. It's so exciting to see their eyes light up at all of the decor and at the costumed kids they see walking down the street. Halloween is a big deal in our neck of the woods.

I have a card to share with you today. This one uses some awesome American Crafts goodies from the Peachy Keen Fellow line. I made it for Emma's last week. Aren't those flowers fun?

I love Thickers and these might be my new favorite!

I also wanted to share about My Scrapbook Nook's blog hop. There are lots of great prizes and tons of inspiration! Check out the thread HERE to find out how you can play along. You may have to sign up on the message board, but it's totally worth it!

That's it for today. More soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Webster's and Glue Arts

2011-10-27T06:55:00.008-04:00

Happy Thursday! I'm here to share a couple of projects I made this week using Webster's and Glue Arts. We teamed up with GA and the girls have been sharing some AMAZING work on both blogs.

First up is this page I made using my current favorite photo of Ryan and me. I used a mix of Western Romance and Botancial Christmas. It's a fairy simple page, but I wanted the quote to stand out. I found it on Pinterest and knew I had to scrap it!!!

I used my Glue Glider Pro and their U Cut It Foam adhesive to add some dimension to the page.

I used some journaling cards to layer under my photo and the favric ticket was perfect for the title.

Next up is this page of Ryan on the day he got his Green Belt in Tae Kwand Do. He was so proud, not only that he got his belt, but that he got the trophy for most improved.

Again, I used the foam adhesive to add dimension.

And I used my favorite Extreme Squares to add my heart whimsy to the page. These glue squares are AWESOME! Think Glue Dots on steroids. If you want something to stay put, they do the trick!

Be sure to stop off at both blogs, as we are doing some fun giveaways in addition to providing lots of inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! ~Anabelle

My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2

2011-10-21T16:29:00.006-04:00

I have been having so much fun with this line! I received the Sunshine collection in my Nook kit and I'm just in love! The colors are so beautiful - perfect for such a variety of themes.

I have a couple of things that I made with my kit to share with you today. First up is a tag set. I created tags and tucked them into brown bags that I punched along the top. I added doilies along with lots of other bits and goodies. I love the layered brads and the layered stickers, so I used plenty of them on my tags.

My next project is based on the MME October Card sketch. I recently discovered that they have both a layout and card sketch challenge each month and they are great! I had a lot of fun with this one. The theme is Fall, so I knew that L&F2 Sunshine would be perfect. I embossed the background, added some lace and created my cluster using a layered sticker, punched scallop circle, sticker and brads.

I tucked a couple of leaves in and added some hemp to give it even more of a 'fallish' feeling. LOL - is that a word? I showed my card to Ryan and he said, "Mommy, that's my favorite card you ever made!" :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Enjoy your weekend and have a great day! ♥

Simplicity

2011-10-18T05:08:00.006-04:00

My life is far from simple. My scrapping style - nope, not simple. Though, I'm trying to make it a bit more so. Simple doesn't come easily to me. But, I love it!

This month at the Webster's blog, we are focusing on simplicity. Most people think of Webster's as flowery, detailed, and difficult. It doesn't have to be! Head over and see how the DT has defined 'simple'. My project showed how a single embellishment can make a statement. I created a card set using Princess Petals. and trim. That's it. But, I think they really pack a good punch!

I chose coordinating flowers and papers. The gold trim was perfect for all four cards. I added them to the card front and stamped a sentiment on the bottom. (PTI stamps)

Then, since I wanted this to be a gift, I tied them all together with some tulle, added a flower, some seam binding, a pin and stamped tag. That's it. Simple. Easy. And fun!

Be sure to head over to the Webster's Blog to see the other 'simple' ideas there!
And speaking of the blog, next week will be filled with lots of creations. We did a product swap with Glue Arts and each day there will be new projects posted. Here's a sneak peek of mine...

So, thanks for popping in today. Hope you have a wonderful day!

My Novel Tree

2011-10-15T05:36:00.007-04:00

Have you heard about the latest project over at Webster's Pages? Brandin's newest 'baby' is called My Novel Tree.

Have you ever gotten one of those photo books at Shutterfly, Winkflash or Ritz? Well, these are like those only BETTER! They have been designed using Webster's papers and are the highest quality. When they open, they lay flat and are wonderful ways to document memories. There are regular photo books, Pocket Books which have pockets to hold memorabilia and single scrapbook pages, too.

These are wonderful for a couple of reasons. First, for the person who wants to preserve memories, but isn't a scrapper, they are a quick and easy way to create a great keepsake. Even for scrappers, like me, they provide a place to share a large amount of photos. Sometimes there are events - birthdays, trips, holidays, etc. - which have a ton of pictures associated with them. I know I could never scrap them all, but with a book like this, I could keep the flavor of my scrapbook pages, without the time associated in making a huge mini-album!

Here's an example of one of the books:

Here's another:

And how about a special offer???
Here's the deal.
How does 20% off for life sound?

For a very limited time, you can pre-order a book and become part of the Founding Member's Club which gets you 20% off for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. On all NovelTree products. Forever. Read more about the Founding Members Club HERE. Imagine how easy it'll be to create multiple albums for yourself or to give as gifts!

Would you like to win a VERY special prize from Webster's Pages?

Simply put our badges or blinkies on your personal blog (you can just copy them from my sidebar) or come LIKE our new NovelTree Facebook page. We'll choose weekly winners as we spy NovelTree around the web! Be sure to send us links if you're entering!

To get more information and to see the books that are available you can visit the Webster's Pages My Novel Tree Website.

Finally, be sure to head over to the Webster's Blog this weekend and enter yourself for a chance to win a 25 dollar gift certificate!!!

Thanks for stopping by today. ♥

Loving the Nook!

2011-10-13T05:49:00.007-04:00

Wow, this week has definitely flown by! Only one more day until the weekend. I'm so excited. Wish we were going camping, but we have lots of fun things to do here, so we'll have to wait on that trip.

I have a couple of things to share today. I've been spending a lot of time over at My Scrapbook Nook kit club. The kits are awesome, but the best part is the community. So many people who's work I love! There's always so much inspiration and the challenges and contests are awesome! And the best part? No drama!! LOL

This first card is one that I did for one of the challenges there.

It uses flowers from one of my favorite OA papers. LOVE them. I also used some American Crafts papers on here, too. I've been really loving AC lately!

The inspiration from this card came from this picture.

Isnt' it awesome? Jessy Christopher posted it as an inspiration.

I think this is my favorite color combo in the world! I topped off the card with those OA flowers and a tagged stamped with a Papertrey stamp.

This is another card that I made for a challenge at My Scrapbook Nook.

Here's the inspiration picture:

Dont' you love all of that yellow, grey and black???

And here's the card I made to go with it. I used some My Mind's Eye paper and cut the bracket out. Then I sewed it, along with some chipboard, to create the fold of the card so that the grey paper is the inside.

If you are looking for a great community and a wonderful kit, I totally recommend the Nook. Here's the October kit. Droooool!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day!

Camping Girl!

2011-10-10T05:37:00.011-04:00

Sorry it's been a bit since I posted. We've been gone for several days, camping with friends. It was an awesome weekend. We went to a place in Ocean City, MD called Castaways. It's a really fun campground and spending time there with our good friends was a blast. Sad to be home! Here are a couple of shots of our weekend:

The boys loved the crabbing they could do right from the dock:

We enjoyed the tiki bar!

Smoke balls were a big hit with the kids.

Hanging out around the campfire and eating took up the bulk of our time.

So did watching the Phillies and Eagles lose. Boo...

All in all we had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back!

So, in scrappy news I have a couple of things to share.
First up is my card that I made as my lift of Webster's guest designer Stacey Young. Stacey's style is filled with details and layers, so I did the same on my card.

I used Western Romance on this one. The chipboard is Melissa Frances.

This next page is about my love of Cake Pops. They are so delish and they're cute at the same time. A deadly combination if you ask me!

I used a mix of lines on here including Winter's Fairy Tale, Western Romance and Sweet Season. I still love those netting bouquets. The colors are so fun to use.

I also used some Threads and fabric tickets as accents.

Well, it's back to reality ~ school and work this morning. Ugh. Gotta get everyone up and moving. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day. ♥

Random Cards

2011-10-05T05:38:00.005-04:00

Happy Wednesday! Yay! Hump Day is always good. We're on our way to the weekend. :)

Today, I have a couple of Random cards to share. And I mean Crate Paper's Random. I love this line. I think this denim paper is one of my new favorites. I'm going to have to stock up on it. With a rough and tumble little guy, who is always in jeans, I can see myself using it on lots of layouts.

First up is this card.

I embossed the background and added some Random stickers and chipboard. The little frame originally had a sticker in it that said 'Girly Girl.' I decided to take that part out, stamp my sentiment on another scrap of paper and add it in.

This next card uses that same denim paper again.

I added the chipboard and sticker and tied some hemp into a bow. I love hemp!!

So, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Tuesday Trigger

2011-09-30T05:37:00.003-04:00

Can you believe I'm posting AGAIN? It seems like when it rains it pours. I've had a lot to share this week. ;) Today's project is based on the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. I was really inspired by it since it used my favorite color combo - aqua and red.

Here's my card:

And here is the inspiration photo:

There's so much to be inspired by here. Obviously, the colors are the first thing I picked up on. The photo feels very 'homespun' to me, so I used a lot of stitching on my card, as well. I also used the doily and buttons as inspiration and added them to my card.

I used a mixture of Crate's Peppermint and School Day lines on this. The flower was from the Peppermint chipboard collection. I pulled it off a Christmas ornament. The buttons and ribbon are PTI.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!♥

Waltzingmouse Sketch #66

2011-09-28T05:19:00.005-04:00

Happy Hump Day! It's rainy and dreary here today, but we are on the way to the weekend, so I'm a happy girl. (Plus I woke up to a really happy email this morning!! It's such a nice way to start the day.)

I had some time this week so I decided to play with Waltzingmouse Sketch #66. I decided to pull out my Webster's Winter's Fairytale goodies. I love this line. The colors are so pretty. It's definitly not just a wintery line.

Here's my card:

I decided to use the little snowflake from Waltzingmouse's Sweet Season to create an embellishment on my card. The sentiment is from Fancy Phrases. And the big pink flower is from a Webster's Bouquet.

I finished it off with some Dazzle Me gems and a heart whimsy.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day! ♥

The Shabby Tea Room #81

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

I'm starting off the week in a fun way! Debbie asked me to be the Guest Designer this week at The Shabby Tea Room, and of course I said yes. I love TSTR! The inspiration is always so, well, inspiring. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous when I found out that this week's prompt was to use chevrons along with the colors from a photo. I hadn't exactly jumped on the 'Chevron Train', so I wasn't sure how things were going to work out. Well, luckily, I saw an awesome tutorial on making chevrons HERE, so I figured I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed doing it! Here's my card:

I started off with a piece of Core'dinations cardstock that was embossed with chevrons. Then, I created my chevron patterns using the Crate Farmhouse and Peppermint lines.

Here's the inspiration picture for this week:

Be sure to stop over at The Shabby Tea Room to see the DT cards and to play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day! ♥

Sunshine Forever

2011-09-24T07:32:00.003-04:00

I'm still in denial. I just don't want it to be Fall! Don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful colors, the events, the food, the football games, etc. BUT, not as much as I love summer. It's still warm, so I'm holding onto that. I haven't had to change my closet over yet. Just can't wear those white pants anymore. I guess I need to let go soon, after all we have officially entered the season. And the deer came and ate my big display of impatiens!! Every last one of them. Must be a sign, LOL.

Anyway, just a quick card today. I made this one with My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Sunshine Forever line. I just love it. The yellows and neutrals mixed together just speak to me!

I used the packaging from the buttons to create the background for the chipboard and ribbon. I also added some Prima lace trim.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great weekend!

Hello

2011-09-21T05:05:00.006-04:00

This week is flying by! I can't believe it is already Wednesday! Nothing much new and exciting happening on my end of things. I've been doing a bit of creating, but some of the things are for assignments that I can't yet share, so I haven't had anything I could put up on the old blog-o. But, I do have a couple of cards to share today. Both are made withe some Crate goodies.

This first one uses Random. I added lots of chipboard and layered it all together. I did it for Emma's - you can see the supply list there - and used a color challenge from My Scrapbook Nook.

I love their layered stickers, too. That fan folded flower is one of them.

My next card uses Portrait papers and chipboard.

I used a Spellbinders die to make the yellow flower and topped both with some chipboard.

Just noticed that both of them use my favorite Martha Stewart Doily punch. I love that thing. I don't think it ever leaves my table, as I use it all the time! I've even had to buy a second one after the first one broke!

Well, that's about all for today. I'm off to create a bit more before I have to head to work.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great one!♥

Good Bye, Borders!

2011-09-16T05:37:00.007-04:00

Happy Friday! I'm so glad the weekend is upon us, even though our's is filled with scouting, sports, birthday parties and religious ed. A busy weekend day is ALWAYS better than a busy weekday. LOL. I do have to say that our weekdays have been much better so far this school year. I've been pretty strict about bedtime, screen time, having everything packed and organized the night before,etc., so our mornings are definitely more calm.

I have a fun, but sad, page to share today.

I did this for the Crate September color challenge (raspberry, pink, apricot). I used mostly my Scrapbook Nook kit on here, though I added some Crate Restoration and Farmhouse goodies to it, too.

So, why is it sad? Because one of our favorite book stores - Borders - is closing. I've always loved Borders. Fran and I used to spend lots of time there, just hanging out and reading. Then, once Ryan came along, it became a favorite place to go and pick out books for him. Going to Borders was always his special treat.

I guess it's a sign of the times, sadly. Ryan and I went for the closing sale. He was mortified that I was taking pictures of the store. He actually said, "Mom! Who DOES that?" Me, that's who. He'll be glad to have a photo of the old place when he's older. :) What I wouldn't do for pictures of my hometown when I was his age.

Anyway, this one was a lot of fun to make. I played around with paint splots and some twine.

Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by. :)

I'm On the Scrapbooks Etc. Blog!

2011-09-13T05:39:00.005-04:00

Happy Tuesday! Only 4 more days until the weekend. We are getting back into the swing of things around here. It's definitely starting to feel like fall, though I'm in denial and refuse to start any decorating. I'm holding out until the official end of summer - Sept. 21!

Today, I have a card to share. Valerie Salmon invited me to create a card for the Scrapbooks Etc. blog, so I was happy to oblige. I love her sketches. Here's my card:

I used Webster's Let's Celebrate line on here. Added some gems and a piece of the fabric ribbon.

If you want to see the other gorgeous creations and the sketch, you can go here: Scrapbooks Etc. Blog

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!

Oops...

2011-09-10T22:40:00.008-04:00

Oops...this week got away from me. Sorry I've neglected the old blog here. Truly, it wasn't that busy of a week. (Well the end was....) I have just been busy scrapping and didn't find time to hop on here. ;)

Just wanted to share a page that I did using Ryan's first day of school photos. I used October Afternoon's Schoolhouse line here. Did it for Emma's this week.
I have been loving OA lately! And this line was perfect for my pictures.

The little chipboard pieces were so fun to add to the page. I especially love the little buttons.

I decided I wanted to journal all about Ryan's hopes for third grade. Well, it was pretty funny when I asked him because pretty much all he said was, "I don't have any hopes." (I think he just hopes it's over with quickly so he can get back to summer and just vegging all the time!) But, after a while I was able to pull some ideas out of him. LOL

As you can see, I've joined in on the paint splatter kick. I think I've decided I like it better than misting - easier to control. ;)

Not much else going on here. Hope to have more to share with you later on this week.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T15:45:00.004-04:00

Hope you are having a great Labor Day weekend. We just got back from a fun weekend at the Jersey shore. My brother in law rented a place last week and a bunch of us went down for the weekend. It's a fun family tradition and we made lots of great memories. I'm glad to be home though, and need the day to rest and recuperate from the festivities. LOL!

I have a page that focuses on our family today. I created it using Webster's Let's Celebrate line - my favorite! We celebrate everyone's birthdays at my sister in law's house, so I wanted to document that.

This was my brother in law's birthday. I did a lot of handcutting and layering. And I added gems, netting, a flower and alpha stickers.

Be sure to stop by Inspire Me and check out the September challenge. Stacey Michaud is hosting it. The focus is on the new gems. You could win a collection of your choice just by uploading your project by the end of September.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

First Day of School

2011-08-31T05:56:00.009-04:00

Well, we survived Hurricane Irene AND the first day of school! Thanks for all of the good wishes. ;) We camped out in the basement and luckily we avoided any major damage. The worst part was the tornado warnings! It was the first, and hopefully last, time I've had to have an 'Emergency Broadcasting System' alert.

First up, I have a page that I did recently. I've been having a lot of fun using my Crate Paper stash lately. This page was done for the CP Blog challenge to scrap a routine. Well, I decided to do my LEAST favorite one which is unloading the dishwasher. It NEVER ends!!

I used the Portrait line on here, with a bit of School Day. I decided to add a bunch of circles to show that the job is NEVER ENDING. (like a circle, get it?? LOL!)This was a lot of fun to make!

Next up are a few pics from yesterday. First, here's the gift box that Ryan took into school. I tucked a little kitchen towel, with an apple on it, inside. Just a little something to start the year off. I like to give first day gifts for the teachers to celebrate the hard work they have already put into getting things started. Setting up the classroom, prepping the materials and tons of meetings are always a part of the end of August for teachers. So, a little goodie to say thanks and good luck is well deserved, if you ask me! Again, I used Crate School Day on here.

And being the "crafty-sucker for anything cute and yummy-dork" that I am, I sent in these adorable treats, too.

(I found the recipe on Pinterest. Arent't they cute???)

Finally, here are some pics of my little guy. It's hard to believe he's in third grade already! I still get teary on the first day of school!

Funny story. We were sitting here the night before school started and out of the blue he says, 'Mom, don't make me wear a sweater vest to school tomorrow. Ok? They're geeky.' Guess he'd been thinking about that one a lot. As you may know, I've been known to dress him up for the first day. LOL! Anyway, I told him he could wear his cool new Shawn White outfit (from Target, no less). The 'coolness' factor is setting in! Notice the hair. He came down and told me NOT to brush it. He told me he'd already done it and he liked the 'messy look'. I wanted to grab the brush, but I was good and didn't. :) Just hope he's not asking to dye it blue anytime soon. I can give up my sweater vests and need for neat hair, but that would be asking too much!

Finally, one last shot. I love how this one turned out. Just me and him.

I chopped about 5 inches off my hair the other day. (Patty, this photo is for you!)

Thanks for reading my novel today! And thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. :)

Eathquake, Hurricane and October Afternoon

2011-08-26T05:41:00.004-04:00

What a crazy week it's been. First, we had an earthquake. Now we are preparing for the biggest hurricane to arrive in a LONG time. I thought Delaware was a safe place, weather wise. Ugh.

I thought I'd share a couple of October Afternoon projects that I've done recently. I recently got the July Scrapbook Nook kit which featured Five and Dime. It was fun breaking it out and creating!

This first page is about Ryan and my friend's daughters. They've known each other since they were born.

We recently visited them and I got these shots of the three of them. They are as busy as we are, so we don't see them as often as we'd like, but when they get together it's like time hasn't passed at all. I love that about true friendship!

I used some cute Maya Road canvas banner pieces to make the title.

My next project is a card that I did using the sketch from Emma's this month. Can you tell I love these big, bold flowers?

Well, wish me luck as we head into this weekend. Maybe the hurricane will blow out to sea?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Prima Gift Box

2011-08-22T17:38:00.005-04:00

So, I just got home from a trip visiting my BFF on Long Island. I was born and raised there and it's such a treat to go up. We don't go very often. Ryan and I went on Saturday and had plans to stay until tomorrow. We had a wonderful time walking around Main Street, shopping, having lunch and just hanging out. Today, we were going to hit the beach. Sigh. It wasn't meant to be. Ryan started running a fever last night and had a headache/stomach ache. He was pretty miserable, so we decided to head home this morning. Luckily, he's bouncing back. (Already giving me a hard time because I won't let him outside to play with his friends. Guess that's a good sign.)
Onto happier news. I got together with my sweet SIL, Patty O'Malley, last week to celebrate her birthday. She's an avid cardmaker, like me, and we both love the same types of products. Anyway, I had made this gift box using a bunch of Prima goodies, a while ago and she had commented on how much she liked it. So, I filled it up with some of my favorite vintage goodies and gave it to her. She loved it!
Here are some pics of the box. I used notecards from Prima's Annalee collection along with flowers, felt, and vintage trinkets.

And here's what I put inside.

I'm so glad we share a love for the same things. :)

Well, I'm off to tend to the patient. It's our last week of summer vacation, so I want him to get better so we can enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by. :)

A Couple of Pubs

2011-08-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've shared some of cards that have been published with Paper Crafts. I can't post them until they come out in print and I often forget to do that. But, I remembered today!!

The first card comes from Card Creations 9.

I made this soft and shabby card using lots of Webster's Pages goodies.

The papers are from the Lullabye Lane petite paper pad. I added some resin flowers in the border and on the punched flower.

My next card comes from the latest Stamp It issue.

I used some more papers from Webster's Lullabye Lane on here. The medallion stamps are Basic Grey and the sentiment is PTI. I don't usually consider myself a big stamper, but when I do break them out, I love it.

Thanks for letting me share them today! And thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. :)

Winding Down

2011-08-18T06:57:00.005-04:00

Sadly, I have that 'summer is coming to an end' feeling. I have loved our carefree days the past couple of months. Ryan is SO not an 'I Love School' kid and I'm not looking forward to our hectic mornings and the evenings filled with homework that will be starting soon. We have about a week of vacation left and I'm trying to savor every day. Yesterday we hit the local children's museum and we have a campout and a visit with friends coming up. Then, it's back to the grind...

Anyway, I've had some time to do a couple of layouts just for fun. This is the page I created for the Crate color challenge for August. I was so excited to see it featured on the Crate Blog yesterday!

I've had this picture sitting on my table for a while. Ryan loves to run outside with his socks on. On this particular day as I was telling him to put his shoes on, he lifts up his feet and says, 'But Mom, my feet aren't even dirty.'. Yeah, right! LOL So of course I took a pic and had to scrap it. I used a mix of several Crate lines and did some paint splattering (for the first time). It was a lot of fun!

The next thing I have to share is a card I made for the Once Upon A Sketch Aug. 15 sketch. I chose to use the design of the cluster on the sketch.

I used Echo Park's Victoria's Garden line on here. And I added a lot of stitching.

To create the banner I used the We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Tool with the Banners attachment. It was so easy! I recently picked up a few other attachments and will definitely be using them again! I hate punching holes in paper to sew and this makes is waaaay easy.

Thanks to Once Upon a Sketch for having me this past month! It was a lot of fun!!

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a good one. :)

Country Estate Card Trio

2011-08-13T17:47:00.008-04:00

It's been a while since I've belonged to a kit club. Well, I just joined a new one and am loving it so far. My Scrapbook Nook not only has great kits, but the community there is warm and active. I've been looking for a place to hang out and am so glad I found it!

Anyway, I joined in on a card kit swap. Andrea Amu totally hooked me up! We all sent each other a little kit and created cards from them. It was so much fun! She sent me some Webster's Pages Country Estate and My Mind's Eye papers and a ton of great embellies. Here are the three cards I made....

...from this kit:

And here are the cards individually. They all use Country Estate papers from Webster's.

This one has a Country Estate chipboard button along with some scrunched seam binding.

I added a Tattered Angels chipboard piece and Maya Road flower to this one.

The sentiment on this one is from PTI.

So, as you can see, I had a good time playing with my new goodies!
Thanks for stopping by!

Emma's Color Challenge

2011-08-10T13:15:00.007-04:00

This week at Emma's we all created projects for the August color challenge. I love the neutral colors in the photo and created this card for it.

The base was made with a piece of Jenni Bowlin paper covered with Prima packaging. Then I made a little collage using Glitz paper, a prima flower, Girl's Paper letters, some lace and some gems. The stamps are Hero Arts. Love them!

This card was so much fun to make. Here's the photo that I used for my inspiration.

I've been loving using photos for inspiration lately. Pinterest is such a great source of ideas!!!

Speaking of photos, here's a couple I took today. While i was at the beach yesterday, my neighbor was texting me saying that a huge storm was blowing through our neighborhood. He swears a tornado touched down, though it wasn't confirmed. Luckily, there was nothing in our yard, but this is what was down the street...

Do you see the street sign bent in half?

Crazy!

Anyway, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)

VSM Cards

2011-08-07T10:22:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to pop on today and say hi. I have a couple of new projects that I recently did for the Vintage Street Market blog that I thought I'd share. The first one uses the new Family Fun set. You can see it here. I used the little envelopes that can be cut from the paper to create a little money holder on the card front. I thought this would be cute for a little boy.

I added some vintage buttons and stars covered with glass glitter.

I tucked the money into the pocket and secured it with a velcro dot.

Now, I just have to figure out who will be having a birthday soon!

This next project uses VSM's Dimestore Vogue line along with little chipboard banners from a company that's new to me - Basically Bare. I recently got to play with some of their goodies and I love them. They are made of corrugated cardboard and can easily be altered. You can see that I sewed through it here to make the banners on this card.

So, that's about it for today. Thanks, as always for stopping by and have a great day!

Webster's August Challenge

2011-08-04T21:50:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it's already August! This summer has been flying by. Luckily, my work schedule has lightened up. I've been able to get some beach trips in and have a couple of other short trips planned before Ryan goes back to school. One of these days, Fran may even be able to join us. It stinks that this is his busiest time of the year.

So, August is my month for hosting the challenge at Inspire Me. This month, the challenge is to creating a card, layout or project using the new Let's Celebrate line. Here's my project:

I'd been wanting to do a page using tags and the goodies from the line were perfect. I used netting, trim and bling along with the papers.

I love these pictures of Ryan hunting for fireflies. He gets such a kick out of it.

I hope you can play along with the challenge. All of the details can be found here: Let's Celebrate Challenge.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Once Upon A Sketch - August Guest Designer

2011-08-01T11:15:00.005-04:00

Hi! I'm so excited to share that I'm the GD at Once Upon a Sketch this month. If you haven't stopped over there, you need to! There is a sketch and a journaling prompt. The Aug. 1 prompt is 'A Perfect Day'. Here's my page...

I chose to journal about how I love days that I'm at home not having to run from place to place, work, shuttle Ryan to sports or music or make lunches for everyone. I know you know what I mean.

I used Crate's Neighborhood line. I'm so in love with anything Crate at the moment!!

I added in a bit of Pink Paisley, for good measure. :)

And see that little house behind me? That's packaging from the trim. I love it.

So, definitely visit Once Upon a Sketch. I'd love to see you join in on the fun this month. Plus, there is sooooooo many beautiful pages there. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Still Here....

2011-07-28T20:02:00.012-04:00

This week has flown by! Sorry I haven't posted anything new. Ryan and I went to the beach earlier in the week and then I had to work. The ol' blog kind of took a back seat. Anyway, thought I'd share a new card. I made this one for Emma's.

I used Webster's Yacht Club line - both the regular papers and the mini papers.

I added some PTI ribbon and a PTI tiny tag. The flower is also Webster's. I also used Webster's trim.

Speaking of Webster's, Brandin just released some beautiful new digital frames. They are perfect for photos and have lots of other uses, too. I've even printed them out and made cards with them. So, if you like this....

or this...

or this...

then head over to the Webster's Pages site and download them for free!!

So, since my card has such a beach feel to it, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pics from this week's visit.

Ryan had so much fun splashing around in the waves.

Here's my friend Dorothea and me.

And here's Ryan with her daughter. They have been friends since birth and have so much fun together.

We took the kids up to the boardwalk that night. They had a blast on the rides and, of course, had to have some cotton candy. (It was a toss up between that and funnel cakes, but the pure sugar treat won out.)

So, I've been busy, just not so much with scrappy stuff. :)
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day.

Crepe Paper Flower and Vintage Goodies

2011-07-23T15:36:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd post a couple of projects I've made recently for the Vintage Street Market blog.

This first one uses a flower I made using crepe paper and patterned paper from the Dimestore Vogue collection. I saw a tutorial for it on Pinterest. You can find my directions HERE.

My next card uses Dimestore Vogue again. This time I added a vintage zipper and piece of a vintage measuring tape. I love using my collection on cards.

I added some glass glitter to the foam adhesive squares and adhered them to the center of the buttons for even more texture.

Finally, I have to share my latest addiction. I ADORE iced coffee and have spent a fair amount of $$ at Dunkin Donuts. Well, those days are done. I discovered this amazing recipe from Pioneer Woman. Now, I can have iced coffee whenever I want! It's delish! And being that the temperature has been over 100 degrees the past couple of days, I'm in heaven.

That's about all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Summertime Fun Mini Album

2011-07-21T05:25:00.008-04:00

We love having barbecues with the neighbors! We drag the grill to our side yard (we live on a culdesac)and set up tables. Everyone brings something and we just sit around eating, drinking and talking. The kids run around and play and everyone is happy! Our most recent BBQ was on the 4th of July. I decided to make a mini about it using Little Yellow Bicycle's summer line. I started with the envelope album kit and added stickers, journaling tags and borders.

I made the photos 3 by 5 and they became some of my pages. Here's a look at the inside of the album.

Ryan loves looking through it. The BBQs are one of his favorite things in the world. (He starts asking in February if we can have them.)

For a detailed list of materials, check out the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Lazy Saturday

2011-07-16T18:41:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it, but I actually took a 1 1/2 hour long nap today! I NEVER nap. But, it felt so good. I've been in a lazy mood all day. Haven't created a thing. Did a bit of cleaning. Went to the pool. It's been lovely! Hope you're having a good weekend.

So, anyway, I have the last of my Webster's CHA projects to share with you. I've had so much fun playing with the new goodies. I truly love everything Brandin creates.
This first page is my sweet friend Amanda and me. We have so many things we love to do together so I thought I'd do a page about them. I used the All About Me papers here.

I used one of the new flowers on here along with new fabric ticket and lots of bling!!

This next card uses Botanical Christmas papers. I also created a flower/embellishment using the new netting, threads and resin whimsies.

That's about it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Where is the Summer Going?

2011-07-13T19:17:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it's already the middle of July! I haven't even seen the beach yet. I've been working more than I have in the past, which really puts a crimp in my schedule, LOL. I keep waiting for things to slow down a bit, but they haven't. Oh well. Just trying to enjoy the long summery nights.

I have a couple of cards to share today. Did these for Emma's in the past couple of weeks.

This first one is for our Glitz focus. I love Glitz! (Have you seen their new sneaks?) The glittered stickers are so fun.

My next card is based off this photo that I found on the Better Homes and Gardens site. I wish I had a room that looked like this.

I just love those colors!!

Here's the card I made from it.

I used some Basic Grey and We R Memory Keepers papers on here along with a Prima flower, and MME stickers.

I'm off to make my new favorite recipe: Zucchini Pasta. It is out of this world! I will post photos and recipes soon. If you love zucchini this will soon become your favorite recipe!

Thanks for stopping by. ~Anabelle

More New Webster's Pages

2011-07-11T17:11:00.009-04:00

I've been busy working with the new Webster's Pages lines. They are wonderful!
Here are images of the four new paper lines. They just don't do the actual papers justice, but you definitely can see how beautiful they are.

This is Botanical Christmas. I love how it's such a versatile line. The images are Christmasy, yet you could use it in so many ways.

This next line is called Winter's Fairy Tale. Again, it can be used for so many occassions and events.

Western Romance is filled with such pretty soft colors and images.

And finally, All About Me. This might be my favorite of the four lines. I LOVE the colors. I think this one will be great for pages about me AND about Ryan.

Here are a couple of more projects.
This first one uses Winter's Fairy Tale.

And this card uses Western Romance along with the new flowers and pins.

Brandin is previewing all of the new embellishments this week. And there are more chances to win new goodies. Head over to Inspire Me to check it all out.

I'll have more projects to share, so be sure to stop again soon.
Have a great day!

Botanical Christmas

2011-07-07T06:35:00.005-04:00

The new Webster's Pages lines are rolling out. Today, Brandin is sharing Botanical Christmas and it is GORGEOUS! I was lucky enough to be able to play with it and created this page of Ryan on Christmas morning.

Every year on Christmas morning he waits at the top of the steps while Fran turns on the Christmas music and gets the camcorder started. He's a pretty good sport about it and I love sitting there with him, watching his excitement grow.

I used lots of new WP goodies on here. The bling is amazing.

I love the flowers - awesome colors!

And the trim is fabulous. Webster's always has the BEST trims! Here I used some red velvet trim on my banners.

Remember, they are doing a giveaway this week. All you need to do is visit Inspire Me and grab the badge image. Post it on your blog, message boards or Facebook and if you're spotted you'll be entered. While you're there, check out the other new releases! You certainly won't be disappointed!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Bing It On!

2011-07-04T09:48:00.005-04:00

I just got a first peek at the new Webster's Pages lines. WOW! Brandin has done it again! They are amazing.

Starting tomorrow, July 5, we will be celebrating the new realeases at Inspire Me. There will be images of the new goodies, new projects, and giveaways! It will work a bit like out Let's Celebrate promo from a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the badge that you'll be posting on your blogs, message boards, facebook, etc.

We will be hunting for the badge and when we spy it, you'll be entered for a chance to win some new goodies.

All of the details for the promotion can be found HERE.

I'll leave you with a card I did for Emma's recently. It was for the June color challenge. I used some WP Trendsetter papers, flower, trim, chipboard buttons and journaling card.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends!!

Celebrating Friends

2011-07-02T11:57:00.005-04:00

Recently, I caught up with some dear friends who I used to work with. One of them moved away five years ago and was back in town for a few days. So, we all got together and had the chance to catch up. It was so much fun. Life is so hectic and we just haven't made time to get together. I hope that will change! Girl time is so important to me.

I decided to create a page celebrating our friendship. The new Let's Celebrate line from Webster's was perfect. I know I said this before, but I ADORE it. The colors are amazing and the little banners and other goodies are so fun to cut apart. At first glance it looks like a birthday line, but there really are so many uses for it.

Here's my page:

I made some more of those punched circle flowers that I love!

I used the new flowers and pins, too.

And of course I cut the banners apart. Using foam adhesive gave them great dimension!

I'm spending some time making cards this weekend since we didn't make any big plans for the 4th of July. I need some relaxation time!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend. :)

CR84FN 32

2011-06-29T17:17:00.007-04:00

Happy Hump Day! Can't believe we're coming up on the 4th of July! Where is time going?

I have a fun card to share with you today. I used a technique I saw on the Crate Paper blog to create the flower.

I folded circles and adhered them together onto a die cut.You can also adhere them onto another smaller circle if you'd like. I love how the back pattern shows and creates another dimension to the flower.

A brad finishes it off. I added some other die cuts, brads and some twill to finish the card.

This card is for CR84FN #32. Here are the yummy colors that were the inspiration.

It's also my card for the week at Emma's Paperie. You can check out the blog for my supply list.

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great day!

Just Opened: Bits and Pieces Etsy Shop!

2011-06-26T12:15:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited! I've wanted to open an Etsy shop for a while and I finally uploaded my first items yesterday. (I even made my first sale, woo hoo!) I added the little side bar thingy so that you can see what I have. I've made so many cards over the years and it makes me sad to see them piled up in the closet. Hopefully, some will be able to find loving homes. Eventually, I hope to add some fun vintage trinkets and finds for cardmaking. I have a ton of trims and such and I think this would be a great addition. So, please stop by and check it out. :)

It's been almost a week since I've gotten home and I think I'm FINALLY getting into the swing of things. I got the last of the suitcases unpacked, put away the laundry and got back to work. Last week was crazy, but so much FUN, with the Webster's Let's Celebrate Promotion. I actually can take a breather this week - hope to play along with some challenges.

Thought I'd share a page that I made recently. I have been trying to do more 'boyish' stuff for Ryan's scrapbooks and this line by Crate is just perfect.

He was goofing around one day and I thought I'd record all the things he loves to play at this point in time. The Crate chipboard and colors are so fun!

I added some texture by folding the strip of paper along the top of the journaling box.

I have some ideas for cute boy cards to make with this line. Goodness knows we always need them for birthday parties and such!

Thanks for stopping by today. And if there's anything in particular you'd like to see in my Etsy shop, let me know.

Have a great day! ~

New "Let's Celebrate" Project

2011-06-24T02:00:00.005-04:00

Edited to Add: The website is now live! You can order the new line today! Wholesale orders will ship July 5 and on July 11 retail orders will begin shipping! You can find everything HERE.

Happy Friday! Welcome to the last day of Webster's "Let's Celebrate" line promotion. It has been such a fun week. I have been totally inspired by the team's creations and I'm so excited that I had the chance to play along to create some new goodies with these awesome papers and embellishments!

If you've been playing along this week, you know the deal. Find the projects and click the 'I Spy' badge to bring you back to Inspire Me where you can share about what you found and which new products you spied.

Here's my project for today:

This line just begs to be made into pennants and banners.

I used another one of the new flowers that were showcased yesterday. This yellow one is made out of feathers!! It's got such awesome texture.

Click here to go to the Inspire Me thread. (Still can't figure out how to link the badge!)

Thanks for stopping by and for playing along with us this week!
Have a great day. :)

2011-06-23T02:00:00.002-04:00

You've found me! (If you haven't been playing along with Webster's Pages "I Spy" promotion then feel free to read the previous post that details how we've been celebrating the release of the new "Let's Celebrate" line.)

The design team has been busy creating with all the new goodies and we have created some yummy projects....We will be showcasing our creations using the NEW line each day this week, and every day we will showcase a new product!
All you have to do is check out the fabulous creations and then click on
'I Spy...Let's Celebrate!' badge!

You'll be taken to a new thread where you can tell us all about the yummy new product you saw! Be sure to follow the surprise instructions on how you can play along for some INCREDIBLE PRIZES!

And now for today's project:

The base of the card was made with one of the new FREE digital frames. I just resized it to 6 inches wide, printed it, cut it out and embellished. You can find all of the new frames that coordinate with Let's Celebrate HERE AT THE WEBSTER'S SITE.

I had so much fun with this line! The embellishments are great and the papers are just gorgeous. And the colors!! I have to say this is my favorite Webster's line so far! Here are some close up shots. I decided to go all out and make this an over the top 'ready to party' card.

If you haven't been over to Inspire Me to see the rest of the projects that the team has been creating, be sure to stop by. They are absolutely stunning!

Now for the fun part. Be sure to click on this 'I Spy' badge. It will take you to a thread at Inspire Me where you can post that you found my project. You'll be entered for a chance to win some yummy goodies!

(OK, I can't get the badge link to work so click RIGHT HERE)

Glad you stopped by and thanks for playing along.
Don't forget that the project hunting continues through tomorrow. So, you might want to stop by again then. (wink, wink)

Have a great day~

Home from Alaska!!!

2011-06-21T10:22:00.009-04:00

You are cordially invited to CELEBRATE with us! We are hosting a party for a very special guest of honor...our new “Let’s Celebrate” Collection and we want YOU to come share in the fun. Bright, bold colors combined with lush florals and sweet as sugar images (cupcakes anyone?) make this line the princess of any party and she has quite the guest list of friends that are going to accompany her...who’s ready for new embellishments???

So we are pulling out all the stops. Starting Monday, June 20th through Friday, June 24th we will have a week- long Celebration with Games, Prizes, Sneak Peeks, New Products and Inspiration Galore. The fun starts off with the first sneak of our new line bright and early Monday morning (the design team has been hard at work creating AMAZING projects for EVERY type of crafter) then we have a game that we are tickled pink to play with you all. We will start the fun all over again each day, every day, all week long.

You will be able to find all things Party Related in our Let’s Celebrate forum at inspireME in this link HERE. So make sure to check it often as we update and you can ask any questions there as well. What’s the first thing you are going to do Monday morning?? No, not have breakfast...You are going to come start at inspireME and have some fun. Can’t think of a better way to start out the week, can you?

So put those party hats on, bust out the noise makers and come party with us!

____________________________________________________________________________________

In other exciting news, I can share that I just got back from my vacation. (I don't like to share where I'm going ahead of time because I don't want people to know my house is empty. I preposted the last several posts.) Anyway, we were gone for almost two weeks on an Alaskan cruise and spent some extra time in Seattle! It was amazing!! (All except the part where we got the stomach flu at the end of the trip...) Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pics... As soon as I go through them all, I'll post more.

Our ship, the Celebrity Infinity. It was amazing. Awesome service, great amenities and the food was fabulous.

Seattle was great, though I don't think I could live there since it was cool and rainy most of the time we were there. It's an AWESOME city - so many fun restaurants and things to do. We met up with my brother and sister in law after the cruise and had a blast with them over the weekend - until I got sick!

One of the best things we did was take a flight into the Misty Fjords in Ketchikan. The plane was tiny and BUMPY, but the views were spectacular. We set down in the middle of it and were surrounded by pure beauty.

We cruised through Tracy Arm Fjord one morning and it was gorgeous. We were up at 6am sitting on our balcony and taking tons of pictures.

Juneau was awesome! Wish we had more time to spend there. We hopped a shuttle out to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was gorgeous. Our moms stayed at the visitors center and we hiked out to it. There was an amazing waterfall there, too.

In Skagway, we took a bus/train tour to the Yukon. Talk about amazing views!!! This one was taken from a suspension bridge. It's amazing to see so much wide open, untouched land. It's just awesome!!

Well, I'm off to unpack and hit the grocery store. Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Cards

2011-06-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to pop on and share a couple of things. Lots going on right now. Can't wait to share with you. ;)

This first one was one I did for Emma's. I love the combo of Crate Paper's Portrait line and Echo Park's For the Record! I think these are some of my favorite colors right now.

This next one is a cute little gift card tin I did for Vintage Street Market. It was quick and easy and fun to give to one of Ryan's friends. :)

Sorry this is so short! I'll fill you in on why in just a few days. :)
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Once Upon A Sketch

2011-06-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about the new sketch blog, Once Upon a Sketch? There's lots of fun going on. This month, Webster's is the sponsor. Play along and you could win a prize package from Webster's Pages!

Here's the page I came up with. It's based off a sketch and the journaling prompt is 'At this moment...'

My journaling is all about how annoyed Ryan was with me at that particular moment. It was Easter and I had already taken a ton of photos of him. I asked him to go lean against the brick chimney. Well, you would have though I'd asked him to walk on hot coals! This was the look I got from him. Oh well, I see that look fairly often, so I guess it's good to document it.

The papers are mostly from the Country Estate line. I added some trims, doilies, chipboard buttons and a princess petal. And lots of stitching.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day. :)

Favorites

2011-06-11T05:00:00.000-04:00

Did you ever do a page that you just love? Today I have one for you that fits that bill for me. I did it for Prima a while ago. Sharon did a lovely farewell post for this year's team and it's the page she chose. I think it's my favorite one I did this year and I'm glad she picked it.

I think one of the reasons I like it so much is that it's a photo of my dear friend Heather and me. We went camping together last October and had so much fun. On this particular day, we took the kids to the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD and just had a blast.

I used Sparkling Spring papers and added a variety of older and newer flowers.

One fun thing that I did was that I used the felt, but turned it over so that the adhesive paper was showing. The felt didn't match the page at all, but by flipping it to the backside, I was able to get the color combo I wanted AND have the added texture.

That's it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Merci

2011-06-07T06:42:00.007-04:00

It seems like I haven't been able to post a lot of what I've made recently. :( I've been trying to work ahead on some projects and have been doing some other assignments this week. But, I do have this card to share with you.

I have a big stash of Crate Paper which I just love. So I thought I'd dig in and play along with their June Color Challenge.

I love the inspiration picture that Tara Anderson posted...

I ended up using stuff from their Snow Day, Restoration and Portrait lines.

I think the chipboard is my favorite part. They have such great chipboard images.

The next few days are going to be filled with end of the year fun for school. It is always so hectic! I can't believe I'll have a third grader soon. Where does time go.

Thanks for stopping by!

Odds and Ends

2011-06-03T09:57:00.004-04:00

Things are starting to slow down a bit around here now that school is coming to an end. I will be working a few less hours and our after school committments have ended. Yay! I'm already loving the longer evenings and the fact that Ryan is playing outside so much more!

Speaking of endings, my time with Prima will be over next week. I've loved working with the amazing team of girls this year, but decided that one year was a good amount of time for me to be a part of the team, so I didn't reapply. I know that they are finishing up their review of the applications. Can't wait to see who makes the team for next year! I wish them all the best!!

Here's a page that I did recently. I used Sparkling Spring papers, some flowers, crystals and Sparkling Spring chipboard. Poor Ryan had horrible allergies this spring. I guess I shouldn't have given him flowers to hold for his Easter portrait. Oops... :)

This next page is one that I did recently for Vintage Street Market. I used the Party Games line to document his love of his scooter!

I used the linen tinted tape on this page, too. It makes great borders!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T07:05:00.004-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! It's been a beautiful weekend here. I've gotten a lot accomplished since we didn't make any big plans. It's been hard watching the reports from the beach, as it has been sunny and over 90, but getting a bunch of spring cleaning done, working in the yard and doing some scrapping has made staying put worth it!

Today is such a bittersweet day. My heart is heavy thinking of all of our service men and women who are fighting to keep our country safe right now. I pray for them each day and think of the sacrifices they are making for us. I also think about their families and what they are going through on a daily basis. I can't even imagine. While I don't have a loved one serving right now, my dad is a vet of the Korean War and I know what he went through for our country.

My neighbor, Tom, returned from Iraq several years ago. I decided to make this tag for him and am going to give him something baked to go along with it just to let him know how much I appreciate his service.

I used Webster's Yacht Club mini papers along with Yacht Club trim, some of the new netting,the thread doily and a mini petal whimsy. I punched the stars from cardstock and added German Glass glitter.

Hope whatever you do today, you'll keep our troops in your thoughts. Have a great Memorial Day!

PTI Blog Hop

2011-05-25T17:09:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've gotten to join in on a PTI blog hop. I had some extra time today, so I whipped a card to share. It was such a fun challenge ~ use flowers. As you know, I love flowers, so it really wasn't a challenge at all!

Here;s my card:

I used some paper from Crate Paper's Portrait line. Then, I stamped the branch from Turning a New Leaf onto a tag. I created the flower using a PTI die and vintage pattern paper. I stitched the smaller flower and added a Melon Berry Button for texture. The ribbon is Melon Berry, as well.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to check out everyone else's flower cards.
Have a great day!

I'm Still Here....

2011-05-22T20:02:00.007-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA. Don't know where this week went? Well, I do, but I won't bore you, LOL! Anyway, we were away this weekend visiting my brother in Virginia. It was a lot of fun. I'm home now trying to catch up, never seem to be able to do so, though.

Just wanted to share a couple of recent things...

I made this cute little gift box for the Vintage Street Market blog this week. We teamed up with Epiphany Crafts. I used their heart tool to make the little epoxy hearts. Cute, huh? This held a gift card that I gave to one of Ryan's friends today.

I used VSM's Party Games kit along with some fun tissue paper trim they have in the store.

Here's another project I made for a second birthday boy today! I used lots of MME Stella and Rose on here. Love their chipboard accents. And there's my favorite May Arts ribbon. Recognize it???

Finally, I wanted to let you know about an AWESOME DT call. I so wish I could go for this one, but seeing as I'm downsizing on my commitments, I'm putting my fingers in my ears, shutting my eyes and saying, "la la la la la la la" to distract myself!! BUT, I wanted to get the word out. If you love vintage check out the Crafty Secrets DT call.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Baby Blue

2011-05-17T05:33:00.004-04:00

Just hopping on to post a quick card that I did for Emma's last week. I think aqua and white are my favorites right now. I love this combo.

I used lots of Prima on here - flowers, chipboard, lace, vintage trinket painted white. It was so much fun to make!

I'm off to work right now, but check back on Thursday when I'll be sharing a Vintage Street Market project. This week they are doing a Facebook hop with Epiphany Crafts!
They'll be sharing some project ideas, and having a GIVEAWAY!!! Leave a comment on their Facebook wall this week, and they'll draw a name on Friday.

Webster's Digi

2011-05-14T08:51:00.003-04:00

I've dabbled a bit in digital designs before, but I finally downloaded some of the awesome Webster's digital goodies this week and created my first Webster's digital page.

I decided to start with Country Estate, since I love this line so much.

Anything that is available in paper, is also available in digital format. You can find them all here: Webster's Digi Store.

There are also some wonderful digital brushes that can be used in so many ways. I love printing them out on transparencies and/or cardstock. You can do the same with the paper, stickers, motifs etc.

Be sure to check out the link to the right. There's a digital/hybrid challenge going on right now and you can win some fun goodies if you play along.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Challenge Card

2011-05-10T19:43:00.009-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I've finally finished up some big assignments and was able to play along with some challenges today. It was so fun to create this card 'just because'.

I embossed some Vintage Cream cardstock for the base. Then I embossed a panel of Soft Stone cardstock for the bottom of the card. It's kind of hard to see the embossing in the photo...All of the stamps are Papertrey. I used a mix of 2011 Birthday Tags and Mat Stack 4.

The ruffled trim is Webster's, as is the stick pin. And the silver flowers are Prima.
This card actually meets three challenges this week. The color combo (bright pink, grey, cream) is from CR84FN. The ruffles are for The Shabby Tea Room. And the sketch is based off Mojo Monday. I'm especially excited because this is the first time I've gotten to play along with them.

Finally, I'll leave you with a proud mama moment. Ryan made his First Communion this past Saturday. Yes, I cried! (He kept telling me to stop and that I was embarassing him. I told him to get used to it.) It was really crowded so it was hard to get good pictures. I love this one of him coming in, even though it's blurry.

And here's one of the three of us. Again, it's not the perfect shot, but it carries wonderful memories.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And have a great day!

Prima Blog Hop

2011-05-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks for stopping by for today's Prima Blog Hop. If you didn't start at the Prima Blog, you'll want to go there first for all of the details. Today's hop is a quick and fun way to win a Prima kit filled with goodies.

I have a couple of things to share today. Here is the first project I have for you. This is a page I did using the Botanical collection.

(It's my friend Amanda and her sister as they got ready for Amanda's wedding...) I handcut a lot of elements from the papers, added some chipboard and some flower trim.

I also have a card to share today. I made this one using the Reflections line. I added a notecard to the center of the card, as well as chipboard and some flowers from the metallics collection.

Thanks for taking a peek at my projects!

Prima's word is: projects...

Here is the list of all of the participants. Your next stop is the amazing Karola Witzak!

1. Prima- www.prima.typepad.com/prima/

2. Stacy Cohen- www.stacycohen.blogspot.com

3. Nic Howard- www.nichoward.typepad.com

4. Alyssa McGrew- www.alyssasscraps.blogspot.com

5. Jamie Dougherty- www.jaylynnscraps.blogspot.com

6. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer- www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com

7. Trina McClune- www.trinamcclune.typepad.com

8. Ingvild Bolme- www.ingvildbolme.com

9. Anabelle O' Malley- (that's me!)

10. Karola Witczak- www.karolakraftuje.blogspot.com

11. Daniela Dobson- www.danieladobson.blogspot.com

12. Leena Loh- www.findingnana.com

13. Liana Suwandi- www.maples-lianasuwandi.blogspot.com/

14. Iris Babao-Uy- www.irisbabaouy.typepad.com

15. Cari Fennell- www.meandmymaryjanes.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the blog hop!

The Ring

2011-05-03T06:34:00.004-04:00

How is it that it's May already? I have to say, I'm awfully glad. It's so good to see flowers blooming, trees budding and the kids outside wearing shorts. Poor Ryan is still suffering with his allergies, though I think they are finally getting better. I love spring and warmer weather and I'm so glad it's finally here.

I have a layout to share today that uses the new Webster's Country Estate line.

There's a story behind this one. My husband hates jewelry of any kind. When we got married he agreed (somewhat grudgingly) to get a ring, but only wore it to work, if we went out to dinner or on special ocassions. Well, a couple of years ago he lost it. I guess you could say I 'asked' him several times to replace it. Finally, on our anniversary, he got the replacement. It was such a sweet gesture since I know he did it for me. He's back to wearing it sometimes, but I'm so glad he has it! So, I had to do a page about it.

I framed the photo with a sticker and did lots of handcutting as well.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day!

Wedding Day

2011-04-29T15:47:00.004-04:00

So, I was one of those people who got up at 4 am to watch the Royal Wedding. It was so worth it!! My sister in law spent the night and brought scones. We got up and were glued to the TV, tissues in hand. We had tea and scones and oohed and ahhed over everything. I remember being in high school when Charles and Diana got married, so I didn't want to miss this special occasion. It was just magical!

I have a couple of things to share today. This first card is one I did for Emmas't his week. I used a Maya Road chipboard heart album. I painted two of the pages and added glitter to one. Then I added Webster's Country Estate papers, a silhouette cameo and some Storyteller Alphas. I tied them together with some vintage ribbon.

I really like how it turned out!

This next project uses an old vase I found at a thrift store. I paid a dollar for it. Adding some Prima flowers, gems and trim gave it a facelift.

That's about it for today. I'm going to head back to the TV to see if there's any more coverage. Yeah, I'm a sucker for romance.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Belated Easter!

2011-04-25T17:16:00.004-04:00

I hope all of you who celebrated, had a wonderful Easter. We certainly did. I had a small intimate dinner for 17, LOL! It was great, though.

Ryan is on Spring Break this week, so I'm pretty much off, except for teaching my class. Today didn't feel much like a vacation day, though. I have been cleaning, switching over clothes and doing laundry all day. The weather is GORGEOUS, though. Seems like we went from Winter to Summer all of a sudden. Poor Ryan is dying with the allergies, though. He played outside for about an hour and a half and his eyes are red and so swolen. He just fell asleet with an ice pack on them.

So, here is the card I did for The Shabby Tea Room this week. I'm the guest designer and the inspiration photo is amazing! (You can see it HERE along with all of the other DT cards.)

I used Webster's Country Estate 6 by 6 papers, a silhouette cameo, some whimsies and a big floral thingy cut from a regular sized Country Estate paper. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

That's about it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Websters Giveaway

2011-04-22T20:14:00.003-04:00

So, one of my absolute favorite Webster's Pages products is the 6 by 6 mini paper pads. I love how the patterns are shrunk down and are perfect for cards. I reach for my pads all of the time.

Lucky for you, Brandin has decided to make the paper pads this week's Friday Freebie! Check out the Webster's Blog for details on how to win. While you are there, drool over Audrey Petit's gorgeous cards. I love her work and she does amazing things with Webster's!

I made a card using the papers in honor of the Friday Freebie. I decided to use the gorgeous color scheme from CR84FN24. I'm such a sucker for aqua, light blue and cream!

In addition to the Webster's Petite Papers, I used a fabric ticket (LOVE those), a new push pin, one of the pinwheel florettes and some trim. The stamp is Waltzingmouse and the white frame is Pink Paislee.

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek and don't forget to head over to the Webster's blog for a chance to win some of the papers.

Retro Easter

2011-04-20T04:58:00.003-04:00

Even though Easter is late this year, it has still snuck up on me! I can't believe it's only a few days away. Even though I haven't done much decorating and my baskets aren't stuffed, I did manage to do a cute project using Vintage Street Market's Easter Tag Kit.

First up is this glassine bag filled with chocolate eggs. Everything is from the kit except for the seam binding which is from Craft Spot.

The kit comes with several manilla tags. I dressed up a couple of them using the sweet vintage die cuts, trims and tickets that came in the kit. I think I will attach these to a treat bag for someone special.

Thanks for letting me share! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. :)

Bright and Colorful

2011-04-18T05:36:00.003-04:00

We finally had a beautiful day here yesterday! It was sunny and pleasant. I think the rain is on it's way back, though. I'm so ready for warm weather. This has been such a cold and dreary spring.

So, to brighten things up around here, I thought I'd share a couple of bright things that I've made recently.

This card was made for the Emma's color challenge this month.

I used soem Anna Griffin papers and flowers on here. The ribbon is May Arts.

This next card uses Crate Paper. I made a tri-fold pocket to hold a gift card. The stamp is from Papertrey.

That's about it for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Bunny Blog Hop

2011-04-15T03:00:00.003-04:00

Welcome to my stop on the Vintage Street Market Easter Bunny Blog Hop!(Now THAT'S a mouthful.) What exactly is and Easter Bunny Blog Hop, you ask? Well, each of the Design Team members has their favorite color egg posted today and you need to hop from one blog to the next collecting our favorite colors! You can see the prize available at the VSM Giveaways Page on their webite and get more details. A list of the DT's blogs is there, too. You can also access them from my side bar. Once you visit everyone's blogs and collect those colors, hop back over to the VSM Giveaways site and leave a comment with your answers. Speaking of Easter, I have a post going up on the VSM blog next week. I worked with the adorable Easter Tag Kit. Can't share it all yet, but here's a little peek... I CAN share this card I made last week using Dimestore Vogue. I created the flower using a technique Danielle Flanders shared as GDT. Take a piece of tape, stick it onto a book page and peel it off. I used the Linen Tape for this one. Then I folded the pieces into flower petals and created the card. And, don't forget, you could also win a wonderful collection of Vintage Street Market goodies just by heading over to their Facebook Page and liking it. Thanks so much for stopping by and happy hopping!

Challenge Card

2011-04-13T19:36:00.004-04:00

I took a little break from my assignments to create a card that went along with a couple of the current challenges out there right now. I love doing challenges and haven't had the chance to do one in a while. Here is my card.

I used the color palette from CR84FN23. I love pink and don't normally use a lot of black, but Webster's Hollywood Vogue papers were perfect and I really like how it turned out. The sketch is from Waltzingmouse Sketches. The sentiment and frame are from Waltzingmouse's Fancy Phrases set.
And the scrunched seam binding is from Craft Spot.

That's it for tonight! Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to visit again on Friday for Vintage Street Market's blog hop. And don't forget to become a fan on VSM's Facebook Page. You could win a lot of fun goodies if you do!

Prima Goodies

2011-04-12T07:19:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm happy to report that life is getting back to normal around here after our week of partying last week! It's nice to slow things down a bit.

My papercrafting life hasn't slowed down much, though, LOL. I'm in the middle of two big projects, so I don't have a lot of new things to share. But, I do have these two layouts that were recently on the Prima blog.

This first one is one I made for CHA. I used lots of new Donna Downey canvas items on here - the canvas sheet, the word and the flowers and trim.

I printed out photos of some of my favorite Prima layouts. Then I added some of the resin flowers and the jewel trims. I made it for the booth at CHA.

Speaking of CHA, here's a page I made using the Melody line. It's of my sweet friend Jessica Witty and me. I just adore this girl. She makes me laugh, we talk about everything and she's such an inspiration to me. Truly, she's one of those people I wish lived next door.

I used a mask to create the background and added some big flowers and crystals.

Be sure to stop back on Friday. We are doing a Vintage Street Market blog hop and you'll have a chance to win some new goodies! Another way you can win some of the new VSM products is by visiting their Facebook Page and becoming a fan. (Tell them I sent you!) They are doing a giveaway once we hit 1,000 fans.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day. :)

He's Eight!

2011-04-09T20:16:00.004-04:00

Eight years ago today, my little guy came into my life. Being a mother has been the best thing I've ever done! I remember when I was pregnant, I could see myself with an infant, but I didn't imagine myself with a school aged kid. Well, here we are! He's getting so big, so fast. Everyone tells you how fast it goes, and it does. I try to cherish every step and stage along the way. He carries my heart with him wherever he goes.

I love this picture of him that I took recently. He looks so grown up in it. I still see glimpses of my little one in the roundness of the tip of his nose, and his cheeks, but so many things are changing so quickly. He has a personality, likes, dislikes and dreams all his own. Just as when I was pregnant, I can't imagine myself with a teen or grown son, but I know all too well that I'll find out before I know it.

I used papers from Webster's Ladies and Gents and Country Estate lines. I've been so hooked on grey lately and it was the perfect backdrop for the papers. I used a Doily Thread, Fabric Ticket and a bunch of whimsies on here, too.

So, that's all for today. We've been celebrating and eating lots of treats. Time for some more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Week

2011-04-06T06:25:00.005-04:00

This is a fun week in our house! My birthday was on Monday. It was a nice relaxing day (though I worked) capped off with dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. But, the big event comes on Saturday. Ryan will be 8! I'm bringing cupcakes to school on Friday and then we have the birthday party. So, I'm busy preparing for that! On Saturday morning we have scouts, and he wants some cake pops for that. Yes, it's been busy, but fun! He's so excited about his big day. That's the difference between us. I dread turning another year older. Now that I'm 46 I'm on the downslide to 50! Yikes!

Anyway, just wanted to share this page with you. It's one of my favorites that I've done lately. I used a mix of Webster's lines - Ladies and Gents, Country Estate and Wonderfall.

I created the flowers doing a fun technique. I cut strips of trim and adhered them to cardstock. Then I ran them through my die cut machine, cutting two flower sized shapes. I adhered the smaller one to the larger one.

Can't wait to make these again!

Anyway, the new challenges are up at Inspire Me. The traditional challenge this month is to 'Use Your Trims'. You can find the details HERE. And the digital/hybrid challenge is to use the digital fabric tickets. Info. for that one is HERE.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

A Couple of Cards

2011-04-03T09:12:00.005-04:00

Today's post is just a quick one to share a couple of recent cards. I had a lot of fun using My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose on this first one.

I used one of the frames as the base of my card front. Then I added those adorable banner letter stickers.

The ribbon is May Arts. I love their wide striped ribbon and have been using it a lot since Cindy ordered it for Emma's.

This next card is one I did for my GDT gig with Cocoa Daisy.

The papers are Echo Park and Basic Grey. And the stamp is Papertrey.
Gotta run! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy April

2011-04-01T05:57:00.005-04:00

It's April! I think this is one of our favorite month's of the year. It starts to get warm (hoping THAT happens soon), it's Ryan and my birthday month, AND we have Easter and Spring Break. It's a busy time, but fun.

Speaking of busy....yep that's me. It's constant! Sadly, I have another funeral to attend. Another friend lost a parent. I'm at that age and it's so sad. Work is busy as always, and I'm in the middle of a huge paper crafting project at the moment.
So, sorry if my blog is a bit neglected these days. Hoping things will slow down a bit in another month.

Today I have a something special to share. I'm the guest designer for Cocoa Daisy this month. My sweet friend, and fellow Memory Makers Master, asked me to design with her lovely kit this month. It was so much fun. You can see the entire kit HERE.

Here is one of the pages I did with it. This is a page I've wanted to do for a while. Sadly, it's a tribute to an amazing lady who passed away last November. Her name was Mary Ellen and she was Ryan's religious education teacher. We'd only known her for a short while, but were so touched by her. She was truly special.

Her death was such a shock to us all, as these things often are. Luckily for the children, her daughter is as wonderful as she was. She has taken over the class and we know that Mary Ellen's spirit shines through her. This photo is of Ryan with the two of them on the day he made his First Reconcilliation. I'm so glad we have it.

I used Basic Grey papers along with a Jenni Bowlin butterfly stamp on here. I wanted to keep it rather simple.

I'll be posting more of my Cocoa Daisy work soon, but thought I'd let this page stand alone.

One more announcement. My dear friend, Sherry Wright is doing a great giveaway on her blog. Just make a card using Emma's Paperie's March's sketch and post a link to her blog by April 10. . You could win a $20 gift certificate to Emma's!! She has the sketch and details posted for you, so head on over!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

No Sentiment

2011-03-28T20:59:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding where to put the sentiments on my cards. Today was one of those days. I just couldn't make it fit! So, I didn't. I found a really great sentiment to put on the inside of the card and left the front free. Works for me!

I used Webster's Hollywood Vogue mini papers on here. And a bloomer, some netting and a new pin. LOVE them.

Then I stamped and decorated the inside of the card.

Oh, and there's a doily. I can't seem to stop using those things!!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

So. Tired.

2011-03-24T20:09:00.004-04:00

What a week it's been. I'm beat! I drove 3 1/2 hours to Long Island for a funeral on Tuesday and turned around and drove back today. It was wonderful spending time with one of my best friends in the world, but it was also so draining and sad. I went straight to work today and have to drive to the other end of the state tomorrow. Then, there's baseball all day Saturday and a scouting event on Sunday. I really just want to crawl into my scraproom and create, but I can't! Soon, I hope. Especially since I've got a big deadline coming up.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple of things. This first card uses Webster's Country Estate papers. Love them. I glittered a doily and added a sparkler and some of the funky Hollywood Vogue silver trim.

This next one is a fun card I made using some My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose doily stamps. I stamped them, cut them out, cut notches into the tops and turned them into butterflies. The paper is Sassafrass, as are the stickers.

That's it for tonight. I can barely keep my eyes open...
Thanks for stopping by.

Peeps

2011-03-20T06:19:00.005-04:00

Happy First Day of Spring! You know what that means, don't you? Rita's free water ice!!! If you live in the Philadelphia region, you can hit any Rita's and get a free regular water ice. Our family LOVES Rita's. As a matter of fact, the one closest to our house openened last week and we've been twice already. Yummm!! We'll be there again today, for sure. It's a tradition!

Speaking of tradition, I love making cupcakes. Especially for my little guy. I let him pick out what kind to make and he usually even likes helping me decorate a few. Last year, we made Peep Cakes, little Easter baskets filled with peeps, green coconut 'grass', jelly bean eggs, and a Twizzler handle. I took them to school and the kids loved them.

This layout highlights these adorable cupcakes. Webster's Spring Market was the perfect papers to use for it.

I did a lot of handcutting and layered things foam adhesive. It was really fun page to make!

April is the birthday month in our house. Ryan, Pulu the kitty and I all celebrate them between April 3 and 9th! There's lots of presents to be wrapped. If you want some fun gift wrap ideas, head over to the Vintage Street Market blog. We're showing you how to use the papers in creative ways!
I did a whole collection of kraft wrapped presents decorated with Party Games. Here's a peek at one of them.

I'd love for you to stop by and see the rest!

Have a great first day of Spring! And thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday, Shabby Tea Room!

2011-03-17T05:21:00.003-04:00

The Shabby Tea Room blog is one year old this week! Time sure does fly! To celebrate, Debbie has been having a week long celebration and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

I created this birthday card for my guest designer spot this week.

It uses lots of Prima goodies - Annalee paper and rubon, Calcutta flowers, fairytale roses, Annalee flowers and some pearls. To shabby it up a bit, I painted the metal in the flower white.

The crinkled ribbon is from Kimberly Tracy.

This was a lot of fun to make. I used a die cut paper that I had to create the shape.

There are a ton of giveaways going on over at The Shabby Tea Room, so play along this week for a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Vintage St. Patty's Day

2011-03-14T13:41:00.006-04:00

It's St. Patty's Day week. And you know what that means. Time to wear green, eat cornbeef and cabbage, and chow down on Creme de Menthe kisses. Yes, I discovered, they do make them. And that are amazing!! Imagine - girl scout cookie that melts in your mouth. I had to hide them because I was eating too many.

So, I decided to make a cute little project to go with my kisses. Vintage Street Market's vintage St, Patty's Day kit was perfect for it!

I started off decorating this cute little basket that I got at AC Moore. I added some of the vintage papers and made the rosette from the crepe paper that came in the kit. The shamrock sticker was perfect to place in the center.

I layered lots of goodies from the kit onto the tag. Another rosette and a vintage leprechaun sticker top it off.

That's pretty much it. I have plenty of goodies leftover from the kit and will probably make another couple of tags to give to Ryan's teachers.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

March Color Challenge

2011-03-10T21:00:00.004-05:00

Cindy posted our March color challenge project on the Emma's Blog this week. We all did projects based on a lovely photo that has lots of apple green in it. Here's what I came up with:

I pulled out some of my Creative Imaginations banana leaf paper and used it for the background and butterflies. Then I added some Prima butterflies, a hambly transprency, a star covered with german glitter glass and a tag stamped with a Kaisercraft stamp. It was really fun to layer on all of the goodies.

Check out what the rest of the team did. And if you're inclined, play along with the challenge!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

PS- We are going to be in Seattle this summer. Any suggestions for fun things to do. Aside from seeing the original Starbucks, I have no idea what I want to see!

Prima Fun!

2011-03-08T05:56:00.007-05:00

Today I have some fun Prima projects to share with you. But before I do, I wanted to let you know that they are doing some great giveaways on their Facebook Page. Stop over and friend them to join in the fun!

The first page I wanted to share today is something I made for the CHA booth using the new masks. This was so fun and easy to do. I laid the mask onto the paper and spritzed it with Patina Glimmer Mist. Then, I added the photos and embellishments.

Finally, I traced the edges of the design with Stickles. It's so glittery up close and personal. :)

This next project was my page for February's Build a Page contest. I decided to scrap our Valentine's Day tradition. I always make a big dinner and we have it in the dining room. I place little treats for Fran and Ryan on the chairs and when we come in to eat, they get to open their surprises. And I always get a beautiful dozen roses that adorn the table.

My final page today is the one I made for March's Build a Page contest which is going on right now. Check out the Prima Blog so you can play along and see the rest of the beautiful pages the team made.

I'm so ready for spring, so I decided to make this page reflect that. Pansies are one of my favorite flowers because they are the first ones I get to place in the pots on my doorstep. I'm hoping to be able to do that soon!

That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peek. Have a great day!

It's Friday!

2011-03-04T07:20:00.005-05:00

Just a quick post today to share a page and let you know about a giveaway going on over at the Webster's Blog. If you haven't been over there lately, you should definitely go. Brandin is really beefing things up, including the fact that she will be doing a giveaway EVERY Friday. So head over and see what she has in store for today!

Each month we do a layout inspired by our Guest Design team member. This month, we are joined by the talented Sarah Mullanix. I had so much fun with this one!

These pictures were taken in a booth at Ryan's Winter Carnival. We had fun with them and I wanted the page to reflect that. I used papers and embellishments from the Yacht Club, Wonderfall and Spring Market lines.

That's one of the things I love about Websters. Everything coordinates so well!

So, be sure to head over to Inspire Me to check out Sarah's gallery and see what the rest of the team did. It's amazing!

And, don't forget to hit the Webster's Blog for today's giveaway. AND speaking of giveaways, be sure to check out the links at the top of my sidebar to see how you can join in on the two challenges going on for March. It's another way to win some yummy Webster's goodness.

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Mini-Album!!

2011-03-02T04:49:00.009-05:00

Hi! Can't believe it's Wednesday already and it's been almost a week since I posted. Oops. sorry!! Seems like I can either spend a lot of time on the computer, or spend time creating. So, this past week was spent in my scraproom.:)

I have a mini album to share with you today. I've always stayed away from minis a) because I never felt like I had enough pictures to fill them and b) because I dont' have the patience for them! Well, I decided to take a stab at one and I'm so glad I did. I think I'm a mini-album convert now! I had about 45 pictures of Ryan's birthday party and wanted to do something with them.

Here's the result...

I used Teresa Collins' birthday line on here. I love how bright and fun it is. I also mixed in a bunch of Jenni Bowlin goodies, which go perfectly with it.

The little pom-poms are Glitz. I wasn't sure what to do with those when I got them, but I love how they look wrapped around the spine.

The inside pages are pretty simple. I let the photos take full page and embellished them accordingly. I once heard that you should have something to unify the pages on a mini, so I cut a row of of stars and placed it on each.

Since I had had too many pictures to place on the pages, I used the mini envelope die cuts as holders for photos. I trimmed the pictures down a bit and placed them in the envelopes. That way, we could pull them out and look at them. I'm definitely doing this trick again in the future!

All in all, this album came together so quickly and easily. And the best part? Ryan has had so much fun looking through it and remembering his special day!

So, now I'm trying to decide what I can make a mini of next!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. :)