Celebrating Friendships and RAK - Autographed Book Giveaway!

If you have two kids you sometimes may wonder if they will ever get along. With 5 years between our two, it seems they squabble plenty with the purpose of getting the attention of their parents. Babysitters and everyone else always report how sweet they are together...and I wonder whose kids they are referring to. (LOL)

However, there are times when our children really do show love and caring for one another...and this layout called "Two" celebrates one of these times. I would have loved to have heard the whole conversation, but I did hear some instruction on how to pick up your feet so you don't trip on the railroad ties. (LOL)It features Cosmo Cricket's "Get Happy" line, which is full of intense, bright colors that I just love!

(Are you still with me? Keep reading or skip below if you just want to see the book giveaway RAK - I tend to ramble a bit.)


















I love using Tim Holtz's crackle paint on Cosmo's blackboard - love the blackboard! I admit I took my knife to distress and crackle the paint a bit more as I prefer lots of crackle and distress to tie in with the distressed look of the paper line. I covered a Magistical Memories birdie shape with more Cosmo and totally grunged cool American Crafts ribbon with ink.

I also want to share one of my latest tool purchases...it's a Fiskars squeeze punch that gives a great little detail to corners.


One thing I love about the 4x6 journaling cards from Cosmo is they feed right through your printer as if you were printing a 4x6 photo. Just use your ruler to position your type, always run a test page and hold your journaling card over the top, and up to light to make sure text hits just where you want it to fall - and print again on the journaling card! Here is a tip - for the 4x3 journal cards, always seemingly paired with another of the same size - cut out both together for a 4x6 size, do the same thing and afterwards cut the cards apart. This will allow you to use the computer for journaling on at least one of your smaller cards, two if you really plan ahead! (LOL)

And now for the RAK I promised...CHA Chicago is coming up next month - and my friends Kitty Foster and Wendy McKeehan will be doing a book signing for their second book called "Fabulous Friendships: Scrapping the Relationships That Make Life Fun":

To celebrate their new book, and the layouts I happen to have in it... I want to offer a copy of their first book called "Find Your Groove - A guide to Discovering Your Scrapbook Style". I loved this book, and it allowed me to finally LABEL my scrap style. It really affirmed what I suspected...I'm an eclectic scrapper, even though my layout published in the book is categorized as journalistic. (LOL) (It just happened to be a page in which I had an emotional story to share.) I love to share this book with my scrappy friends, not only for ideas, but to help them identify with their own style.

Here is a pic of me with the authors at their book signing last year.

So yes, it is an autographed book by two fabulous scrappers and authors! I am very excited for them in having their second book now available, published through Memory Makers. All you have to do to win "Find Your Groove" is leave a comment on this post, and I will use a random number generator to pick a winner after midnight on Monday, June 23 - this gives those already gone for that Fiskars Crop in St. Paul a chance to get their name in. (LOL)

Also be sure to check out the new, and sure to be equally fabulous book available on Amazon.com. We always have photos of Fabulous Friendships to scrap - this book will be sure to light your mojo on fire! Maybe I will see you at CHA at the book signings being held at 1 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday!

Used My Cosmo Stash

I've loved this photo of my friend Janelle, and adorable Otis, since I took it last February. With Marti and Sara's "used your stash" challenge at the Playground I finally got it scrapped. Can't wait to see my friend's face when she sees that photo of Otis at 8 weeks - the snow was so deep he had to be carried as it was way over his head. Now he just bowls you over, he has grown so much, and I don't think a there is too much that can slow him down.

The stash challenge this week includes these specs:
Brads (at least 3) - I used BoBunny and Karen Foster
2 Ribbons - American Crafts and KI Memories
3 Patterned Papers - must be older papers from the stash-I used Cosmo Cricket papers from their Winter Wonderland and Hey Sugar lines.
Something recently purchased - that would be Cosmo Cricket "Hello Sunshine" AND my very cool, new Fiskars corner punch. See that detail in the upper right corner of the photo?
Alpha of some sort - EK Success stickers

I have to admit I plunked that Hello Sunshine snippet on to my layout as it was still on the cutting board from last nights project. I love that these three various lines from Cosmo Cricket - a Christmas theme, Valentine theme, and Summer themed papers all came together on one layout. It was a matter of seeing the different intensities of the same tone of aqua color, and distressing with my faithful Coffee Bean brown ink pad by Rubber Stampede to tie them all together. The result is a layout in one of my favorite color combinations - aqua and red.

Oh, and the red flower embellishment - yeah, I know it is a winter layout but the color and size made such a statement, and I figured I could chill it out with a snowflake shape punched from more Cosmo. Did I pull that off ok? (LOL)

Stay tuned...my mojo was really hot last night and I have more to share tomorrow! Wanted to pop in and share, and now back to my blackboard album - these totally rock! My hubby already commented - I am using bright colors on it and he loves the contrast with the black. More later! Thanks for coming by!

Watch for Cosmo Cricket

I love Cosmo Cricket. When my friend Julie O. asked if I was trying for the DT I had to go investigate! So here it is, days from the deadline to put my hat in the ring, and I am trying to whip up some new projects. (I wanted to get my SBPG DT projects complete first - so my mind was clear to go!) The layout above was created with elements from the Winter Survival Kit offered by Homegrown Scrapbooks - and as you may recognize - it features Cosmo Cricket and my very sweet hubby.

I found one of CC's awesome blackboard mini albums at my LSS over the weekend - and I have the idea in my head (have had several actually, but think I have settled on one). I can't wait to work on it...but tonight my mojo was not for the album project...but I had a strong urge to create some layouts after perusing through my photos and finding some that tied in with the awesome Cosmo journaling cards.

My intentions were for simple layouts due to the time, or lack there of to get these done. The first layout was simple enough, because coordinating products make it so easy to whip out a layout. But on the 2nd layout I was totally inspired by a Cosmo journaling card to make an arched window - can't wait to show it to you! It was rather putzy - but love the effect. Thinking I should set it aside for Memory Maker's Masters just in case I run out of time, but I am too eager to share it with you. (LOL)

Too bad I have to go to work today - which means I better get to bed. I just wanted to share a Cosmo layout, and give a shout out to watch for more Cosmo Cricket coming your way On My Way! I had a blast with my Fiskars tools as well!

And once more - thanks to Stephanie Fearn at Homegrown for giving me the opp to be a guest designer for Homegrown's WSK kit - they always have awesome kits so check it out if you are a kit club fan. AND thanks for inviting me to be a roomie with you and some gals at CHA - takes a load of my mind to have that resolved. I am really looking forward to put my demonstrator training to use and help promote Fiskars brands in Chicago next month.

One more for a nightcap - Abby with "big Joe" from daycare, as opposed to little Joe who was a baby. (LOL) My girl talked about Joe all the time...I think he is/was her first crush and she really misses him after he had gone to kindergarten.

Summer Activities

Yesterday was Father's Day, and Kyle had picked out an awesome super soaker for his dad - one that even squirts water out the side so you can hide behind a corner!
I scrapped the layout above using the Summer Collaboration kit by Busy Bee and MLW Designs at kjoi Studios. The colors are awesome and I have lots of summer photos from last summer to scrap yet! This layout was actually created last week, and Jesse is using my super soaker. I professed the need to take pictures, and thus stayed dry - wasn't quite warm enough to get soaked, IMO!

Water gun fights are a part of our family summer fun. We also hope to get in our EasySet pool, that is if our outdoor plumbing is ever fixed so we can use it! It is cool today, after all those storms, but the heat will be here soon! I also made sure we have our fishing licenses, and look forward to catching those little bluegills, and whatever. Kyle hopes for bigger game fish this year.



Last summer I vowed to learn how to do the fishing thing...I know single moms who take their kids fishing, and figured that I should buck up and do it so I could take Kyle fishing when his dad is too busy. Baiting the hooks was not so bad, although those red worms are aptly named "wigglers"! When a hook gets swallowed though - that is when I have problems. Fortunately I took the kids fishing at our friends lake house, and Shawn was kind enough to help if we had a fish that was too hungry. I have not yet learned how to tie a hook on the line, and I suppose I better if we need to cut one loose.

CHA is also coming up - VERY SOON! July 17-20. Are you going? Fiskars can use my help at their booth, and it would be a lot of fun, and I really want to meet the Fiska-Leads and others from the message boards. I have some money saved up for a scanner that no doubt will end up going for my expenses if I do go to CHA - so am very much looking for a room mate. Give me a holler if you are going and need to share expenses!

On the Fiskars front...my friend Paula, from Elgin, and her mom (also a Rita) are coming through Madison on the way to May's Fiskars crop in St. Paul this coming weekend. We've been wanting to meet since she joined the board, and this Friday we are getting a tour of Fiskars headquarters in Madison! I am so looking forward to meeting the people who work so hard behind the scenes and getting a glimpse beyond the "goose pond". (LOL) Apparently all the leads are coming to Madison, as well, but not until later on Friday and they have no breather in the schedule to meet up with us. One more reason I really hope to go to CHA!

Congrats to the ladies who just made the My Little Shoebox Design Team. I disocvered MLS at CHA in Chicago last year and was totally blown away by their product. If you look back in my archives to July 2007 I featured the company on my blog...one of those small, lesser known manufacturers. I hope they find a way to get more traffic to their booth this year, and I wish my store would carry their product!

Cosmo Cricket is also having a DT call. My friend Julie brought it to my attention, and I don't know...even though I don't seem to have any luck getting on a mfr. DT I will probably give Cosmo a shot because you cannot get on a team if you don't apply - and I really love their product lines! I bought me a blackboard mini album last week which will go so well with the Hello Sunshine papers I fell in love with weeks ago. The ideas are all up in my head - I hope to share it with you soon!

PS: Have you checked out Cory and Kimmie's new blog - Use Your Stash! I have it linked - if you are like me there is plenty of stash that needs to be scrapped! Check it out!

On Boots and Water - Photos on Cardstock

There is PLENTY of it – water that is! The past week has been quite something with all the rain. Therefore, I thought it was a good day to share a recent layout featuring WorldWin DoubleMates cardstock – about rain boots! I loved working with this cardstock as a June sponsor for the Scrapbook Playground. Thanks Worldwin!

My family and I spent most of Saturday in the safety of our basement as severe weather thundered outside. Then it would get eerily calm, and soon another storm front rolled in. The only good thing about this is that my scrapping area is in the basement - I scrapped while the kids crafted. Fortunately for us, the tornadoes touched down north and west of us. This was a repeat yesterday afternoon as well as more severe weather dropped inches of rain on us in a few hours time. Severe storms continued through most of the night, but thankfully I awoke to a calm morning.

Our 5 yr. old was at Vacation Bible School when the storms gained momentum and sirens went off. I was to pick her up at 3:30. Around 3 pm it rained so hard you could not see….and I wasn’t going to venture out into it. At 3:15 it was still raining hard, but I could see to drive. I went over to the church…pulled just in front of the fire lane, so I may have still been illegally parked (hopefully pulling way over so trucks could get through was good enough). I had no umbrella, and we were having serious, driving rain. I grabbed the visor thingy that goes in my front window and used it as a shield to run into the building. Not too many kids were to be seen so I assumed parents must have came to pick up their children as soon as the weather became threatening. After not finding Abby in the gymnasium, I ventured back to the main entry and asked the whereabouts of my child, to be informed that all the kids were under the stairwell. Hmmm…wonder why they didn’t have someone telling parents this as we arrived…I must have looked like I knew what I was doing. Not! (LOL)

Stairwell number one…no Abby. Stairwell number 2 – no Abby, but did find my friend Renee singing happy songs with the pre-schoolers. She is such a great leader of children’s music – all those little kids were full of smiles as they sang happy songs.

Stairwell number three – I peeked in and before I could focus I heard, “MOM!” and out came our daughter. Wow – what a blessing that the Catholic church in town has so many stairwells to shelter those children from a storm. Apparently the volunteers practiced the day before, and all the kids were secure in storm shelter areas in less than 30 sec. after the sirens went off. Amen for good planning and huge thanks to Vacation Bible School volunteers everywhere!

The rain stopped (yeah!) as we were ready to go outside. A cop car was behind mine…oh no…did I get a ticket for parking in the fire lane? No, whew! I decided to hurry out of there, buckled up Abby and away we went. As we drove off she said, “Mom, I was so BRAVE! The sirens went off and I did not cry or anything, and did what the teacher told me. I was so brave mom!” I praised her up and down – no doubt the teachers told all the kids how brave they were.

I wanted to share Yellow Boots with you and an idea you may not have considered. Have you tried printing your photos on textured cardstock? When your photo has one color that stands out, as do the yellow boots in this layout, printing on a similar color really packs a punch. I have done this as well with subtle patterned papers. Some papers will have a pattern on one side, and a less busy design on the other – not quite a solid, perhaps a linen print, fine dots, distress smudges – these all work well for printing photos. If you are printing photos of people you need to be more aware of the design and how a persons face might look with a bunch of little dots on it. (LOL)

The fun part of working with WorldWin DoubleMates is that the cardstock is two-sided. I tore the edges specifically to allow the darker yellow of the back side to add a design element to the layout. If you haven’t tried something like this consider it. Everyone probably has a favorite flower photo – and it’s a good subject to try something like this.

Yellow boots – our youngest is always wanting to be like her older brother. Of course, if they don’t get holes in them before being outgrown, she is the recipient of all of his rain boots. She was excited to get yellow boots that matched her brothers. Unfortunately his own yellow boots began to leak and we had to get him new ones. We could not find yellow, so in this photo he was wearing black boots. Boots are THE footwear of choice for a quick escape to play outdoors. And these days…there are plenty of puddles to play in.

I hope that this post finds you safe and dry. Our family continues to pray for everyone who has been affected by the flooding and tornadoes. May God give you strength as you persevere through this time of trial.

On Grunge and Ink

It's the last day of school for my 4th grader - hard to believe he is already going into 5th grade. We never have big summer plans or vacations, but always plan on doing fun things around or near home. This summer Kyle is looking forward to archery. He recently decided to take this up and I had more pictures to scrap. What an intense look, huh? You can see in the second photo that he is merely accommodating his mother by looking at the camera, if ever so briefly. WorldWin sponsored the Scrapbook Playground in June and I was thrilled to create a archery target (thanks to google searches so I can find out just what a real one looks like!) with their bright colored cardstocks and my trusty circle cutters. I do believe I have just about every brand of circle cutter available, and I can honestly say I use them ALL! It seems they all make circles of various sizes so I can play around with all of them to get the right amount of spacing in my layered circle design.

Also, lead Fisk-a-teer, May, sent me an awesome set of punctuation stamps by Fiskars - the set is called Etcetera. As soon as I laid eyes on the large punctuation, namely the bracket and exclamation point - I knew I wanted to create an archery layout. I had fun creating my own archery themed background paper with these stamps. These stamps were the catalyst to get me going on scrapping this page. Kyle loves it - and that is why I scrap!

I also used my stamp pad to add lots of grunge for an all boy-effect. I guess you either like grunge, or not. I was showing my work to a non-scrappy friend and she thought I had an ink accident. I explained I was going for a grungy look, and let's just say she did not like that look so much. (LOL) What about you - do you like grunge or are you all about clean lines and crisp designs?

Sometimes life can be that way. One minute life is nice and steady...everything is going cleanly and it is clear sailing. Next minute, something happens and life gets a little smudgy, perhaps even scarred. Or, if you are like me, the past can be a bit grungy, and it has thankfully turned around into a pretty crisp and clean path. The great thing is is that no matter where you are now, or where you have been - God's grace is sufficient for all. He takes the grunge of my past, the grunge of my now, and the grunge of my future and wipes it all clean through Christ who died for my sin. I can have fun getting ink on my hands and my layouts, and rest assured that my heart is clean when I ask forgiveness for my failures. Salvation is just about as easy as inking the edges of your cardstock - life can't get any better!!

Flutter bye....oh butterfly!

It's that time - end of the school year, and I always like to make something homemade for the teachers, even if it is a card to hold a gift card. Abby has a number of teachers in her pre-school program, so I came up with the idea of buying them a flower that would come back year after year (dianthus) and creating flower pokes as an accent, keepsake. I used Fiskars Ultra ShapeXpress and Frames-1 along with Butterflies-2 templates, and a variety of patterned papers from my stash that matched the bright pink flowers. Stickles really dress up the outer edges of the wings, and buttons, with fun wire looped in the top and twisted around a paint brush handle complete the whole butterfly creation. On some of the less busy papers I used heart-shaped Rain Dots, for the love Abby has for her teachers.

A magnet on the back easily allows them to be transferred to the refrigerator or metal cabinet. On the lower half of the back side I used my Fiskars Round n Round large circle punch, put adhesive around all but a 1/2" or so, and centered it on the lower half of the card with the open area at the bottom - this creates a pocket for the stick.


As you can see, I used green cardstock for my base shape on all of them, which simplified the process. The quote, which is one I have loved for years for teacher gift giving, ws printed on the computer.

Want to see my favorite?


Pretty isn't it? I thought I was so clever in using a piece of green fun wire, about 1.5" long, and curving it into a slight V shape. I put a glue dot in the center, and then pressed the center of the butterfly shape onto the wire - gently curving the wire so that the wings of the butterfly had much more dimension than foam squares could provide on their own.

Not to completely change the subject...but what a weird weather day. Last night it was SO humid that my camera fogged up when I took my plant pokes and flowers out onto the deck for a photo shoot. This morning the sun was shining as we had a steady rain. All day long the clouds came, then the sun, clouds, sun...but what arrived about mid-morning was the wind. I am not sure what MPH it is out there...but flowers in planters are breaking off and it's dodge trash can time in the streets, if you know what I mean.

So I was cautious. I had the flowers and their pretty little pokes all lined up in a cardboard coffee carrier for easy transport into Abby's school this afternoon. I opened the car door, prepared to hover over my special little gifts and WHOOOSHHH!!! The wind came, caught the raised wings of those butterflies and off they flew across the school parking lot!! I quickly set the plants down and the pokes that did not get taken on the car seat and took off after them. They blew under cars, up again, over some rocks, onto the grass...and ALMOST to the highway. I caught the both of them -surprised at just how fast and limber I can be. (LOL) Returning to the car I counted my pokes...oh oh...one was missing. I am certain only 2 had flown off, but I had left my car door open...and I suspect another WHHHOOOSH of wind came along and snagged a 3rd butterfly while I was chasing the others down. Pooh!! It was my favorite one too! I just loved the Tinkering Ink paper and the butterfly template gave me a complete visual so I could line it up just so for symmetry in the wings...just like a real butterfly would have. I was crushed - I've been working on these babies for the past several nights and now I was short one.

Urggh! But oh well...there was nothing I could do about it. I went into the school foyer where the kids and three of the four teachers had gathered. The other teacher is a speech pathologist and apparently her last day was Thursday. Guess who wasn't getting a flower poke? But the other teachers were going to email her and let her know she had a flower on her desk. The teachers enjoyed the pretty card, but most of all they said how much they enjoy receiving flowers this time of year, especially ones they can plant and watch them return each spring.

So have you learned a lesson from this? I have. Besides the obvious...if the wind starts breaking the 40-50 mph speed find a covered BOX for transporting light weight items. More so, however, it makes me wonder if I might be able to craft a larger scale version and create my own style kite? Fun wire is very light weight...foam adhesive squares are pretty durable... by George I think I am on to something!

Happy crafting, and if the wind is blowing your way be on the look out...you just might find one of these in your yard...and you can report back to me on just how durable those glue dots are! (LOL)

I'm really LEANING right now...

..on God that is. I am leaning, learning, trusting. Giving it all up to Him, or at least trying to. I know that He can close a door as easily as He opens it. I admit it leaves me a bit confused...why was it opened in the first place? It gave me lots of hope, and with that hope my brain kicked in to full gear, full of ideas ...it was exciting just thinking about it. It all seemed like such a perfect fit for who I am and what I do best, and I know I would have rocked it. But the door has been closed, and I know it is going to be okay. God IS in control...and I can lean on Him when life throws me a curve.

How is your life? Is everything on the fast-paced, straight and narrow path? Or has a curve been tossed into the equation? You know what you have to do when you come to a curve, right? Slow down! Or you will never make it safely around the bend. So I am going to slow down, take a DEEP BREATH, go with the flow, and TRUST.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:4-6

I came here to blog - my writing therapy, and wondered what layout I could possibly share that would go with my feelings this night. I created "Curve" as a light-hearted, fun layout, and certainly did not intend for it to accompany a post of when I am feeling "a bit" disappointed. But God put the image of this layout in my head and I know it is what He wants me to share with you. WorldWin sponsored the Scrapbook Playground design team this month, and their Double Mates cardstock is featured - it is great cardstock to work with. Being that it is two sided, it is easy to coordinate colors on a project. I took the photo on a trip to the zoo last year...I kind of wish Mr. Flamingo had had his beak side to the camera, but that's ok - I love the curve of his (or her) neck, the colors in the plummage, and how despite the noise of people and mid-day activity this bird could tuck in his beak and take a nap. Talk about slowing down on the curve! (LOL)

This layout also shows my first attempt at making a 90 degree turn with the Fiskars Threading Water border punch. Not bad, but not perfect. A trick I discovered after the fact is that by turning my punch upside down before making the adjoining 90 degree punch, I could line up the holes perfectly. I am also fishing for other tips on accomplishing this on the Fisk-a-teer board, and I will be sure to share anything I find out. For the price of die-cut papers a punch that can accomplish the same look will pay for itself many times over.

My title play was rather unplanned...just kind of went with it and thought that using a mix of geometric shapes would be interesting... and interesting it is, but not sure that it would be considered a balanced design. (LOL) What do you think of it? Not sure where my head was when I started cutting and punching circles, but at any rate, it is more interesting than a straight-lined rectangular strip of cardstock. I've always been a fan of curves in my designs - I like the flow, and the circle shape has lots of great symbolism behind it.

I am not sure I like curves in my life, however. But I know we are thrown a curve every once in a while so we can take a step back from our busy lives, reflect on all that is truly important, lean on the Lord, and thank Him for His blessings. All that we pray for and desire will be made known to us in God's timing, and in the meantime, I will quote Julie Andrews from the Sound of Music, "When God closes a door He opens a window." I pray that it is so.

Thinking Outside the Box....errr Punch!

It was one of those eureka! moments. You get an idea for a layout, which gets even better when you notice something about the title...then you find a way to use a tool in a bit different way. That is how "Allium" came about...and all cardstock project featuring WorldWin for the Scrapbook Playground. I knew I wanted to create an allium flower on the right side of the page. THEN I noticed the letters of the word...and the flower could represent the letter "i". I cut thin strips of green cardstock for the stem, in proportion with a stem on the photo that just happened to e bleeding off. (I just love it when LOs come together because of happen-stance!)

I was perusing my stamps and my eyes landed upon Brittany's Castle acrylic stamps by Cloud 9 that I had just received from lead Fisk-A-Teer May -they had not even been put away yet. A little starburst-like design instantly caught my eye and reminded me of a little burst of tiny flower that makes up the many on an allium head. I stamped the design in a circular pattern to set a base for my flower-making project. While I was at it, I decided to add some smaller stamped flowers at the lower left of the layout, getting out my cool Sakura glitter pen to make the stem.

I then began searching punches for a little flower. Finding none small enough - I grabbed the smallest snowflake I had, thinking it would suffice. But it did not quite deliver the look I was going for...I usually get a pretty clear vision in my head of how I want something to look...and keep pressing forward until I find a way to make it happen. Disappointed in my little purple snowflake I had a EUREKA moment - and went into my Fiskars border punch case for my floral punches. My very first punch ever purchased, the Flower punch, offered just what I needed.

So as not to waste a lot of cardstock I cut 1/2" strips and fed them into the backside of the punch vertically. (Had I punched straight borders I would probably have about 12-20 12" purple border strips that I did not need.) The flower design found in the center of this particular punch provided just the size I needed to create an allium out of cardstock. Better yet...by punching right side up the petals angle upwards, giving extra dimension to my layout and mimic an actual allium flower. How cool is that?! A touch to the center with my green glitter pen and a very cool page embellishment in born.



Previously when I have used this punch I considered keeping those perfect little flowers that are "waste" from making a border. Considering the number of things I keep for possible scrapping, however, I thought that was taking frugality a bit to the extreme. Instead my five year old loves to have them...and inevitably I end up vacuuming her confetti from the floor. (LOL)

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the creative process of this layout. A tip - you could feed your cardstock strips through a Xyron. I considered this, but actually wanted my flower petals to stick up for dimension. Instead, I took a piece of Xyron tape and just dabbed it onto the stamped area, leaving a thin sticky residue. I used my paper piercer to remove each flower from the punch and applied it to the stamped area.

Embrace those eureka moments along your creative journey and have fun scrappin'!

Memorial Day Fun!

Memorial Day weekend offered my family a couple days of respite. We spent one day at our friend's lake house. The fish weren't biting but we had a great visit. My friend Deb and I came up with a treasure hunt for the kids - I have to scrap that layout yet. It was so fun coming up with clues to send them around the property and of course at the end they received gold treasure in the form of honeysticks!(LOL)

The lake house is always a nice retreat from the busy-ness of everyday life. No internet, there is a TV but even the kids don't turn it on. We play games, cards and on this trip went to a Memorial Day sweet corn fest sponsored by the area VFW Legion.

On Monday morning we backtracked a bit and visited my sister and her family, where everyone would be gathering. The kids rallied a game of volleyball, quite sure that they, when up against the parents, would easily take us. As it turns out the adults had to take it easy on them and we "worked hard" so that the kids could win the last game. (LOL) I have never been good at sports (although if lawn golf was a sport it would be my new thing!) - when it came to volleyball all I was ever good at was serving. I am sure it was all those farm girl muscles - and I had to be careful not to serve it out of court. Not much has changed...all I was really good for was serving, but I did help my team in that respect.

Give me a creative project any day over sports...that is truly my thing. The layout above will forever preserve the adult team victories. Did you know that Fiskars Crafts.com posts a new sketch every month? They do - and if you get it loaded in time (I think I missed it) your name is in a drawing for a prize. "Volleyball" is my take on the May sketch, and papers by Heidi Grace, using her Midnight Kisses line, was perfect for this "get out the red, white and blue" kind of day.

This past weekend I scrapped! The challenge was to focus on cardstock only layouts. I had a blast - and love thinking outside the box when patterned paper is not in the creative equation. I ended up making more cardstock projects than required for the 6/5 upload at the Scrapbook Playground. Stay tune for a teaser...I found a new use for a Fiskars border punch - some serious outside the box, creative thinking. Can't wait to show you once I get the photo taken. Happy crafting!

More Fiska-Fun!!

So what tool do I find myself reaching for time and time again? Have you been noticing? It is none other than my Fiskars border punches! They don't even get put away - I have the case containing my punches opened and an arm's reach away while I create. With Fiskars border punches there is no excuse to be bored with straight paper edges - you can dress them up with a border punch!

I am sure you have noticed the workout I have been giving my "Threading Water" border punch - no doubt my very favorite. (Hey, did you hear the new buzz...keep an eye on your local Michael's - "Threading Water" has been spotted!) Another favorite is the "Leave it to Weaver" punch. Not only is it wonderful for weaving ribbon, but I really love the look of weaving patterned paper. A short while ago Valerie Salmon shared an innovative way to use the "Leave it to Weaver" punch. By trimming off the top, she essentially created a border of "grass". I totally scraplifted this clever idea above in "Flamingo", which features Tinkering Ink for the Scrapbook Playground. Abby's feet were cut off in the photo, to resolve the less than perfect photography oops, I cut her silhouette out of the photo, and placed her "feet" behind a triple layer of "grass" borders to disguise the fact. I think it also makes her more flamingo like, don't you? (LOL)

Abby was excited about this layout - she had chosen the pink flamingo stickers some time ago after a visit to the zoo. She totally amuses herself by striking a flamingo pose, and ensuring that we are watching her. Such a silly girl! Abby loves having input on her layouts - no doubt these are her favorites. So while you are enjoying your scrap time, once in a while ask the kids, if you happen to have some around, if they have layout ideas they would like to see about themselves, or if they have something they would like used on a layout. Afterall, they are on a journey as well - and you may as well let them write a bit of their own story when it comes to preserving those precious memories!

Happy scrapping....and hey, next time you are in yoga class...strike a pose - like a flamingo that is! (LOL)

Scrapping the NOW!

See that photo above? This is a daily occurence as Abby and I are out and about. Whether in a park, walking to the neighbor's, school, or at home...finding dandelions (which is NOT difficult) makes her extremely happy. The taller they are the happier she is - and there are some really BIG dandelions this year! She loves seeing a yard or park dotted with 100s-1000s of the yellow flowers, and gets excited to spot a "dandelion forest". It is so cute - and a reminder on how enjoyable the simple things in live can be.

I have scrapped about dandelions before...picking these yellow flowers is a part of childhood for just about everyone I would expect. I do wonder at what point in life do we no longer become enthralled with dandelions. Will it end by the time she is age 6? Since they bring so much delight I feel there is nothing wrong with scrapping a yearly dandelion layout, or two. (LOL)

This week I had the opportunity to work with two digi kits perfect for scrapping the fluffy, yellow flower subject. The layout above uses Misha's Garden by MLW Designs - the kit is just stunning with a great variety of elements. I love the softness of the greens in this basically monochromatic green layout with the POP accent color of cinnamon.I wrote a poem dedicated to my daughter called Dandelion Girl.

She looks for dandelions
Wherever we go -
Excited to find a "puffy"
She can't wait to blow.
Some are not too happy
That she's planting more seed;
But to this little girl
Dandelions are not weeds.
Given by the fistful
They're as beautiful as can be
When given with the love my
DANDELION GIRL
shows me.

R. Shimniok (copyright)

This week Kjoi introduced new designer Inspired by Dominic Designs who offered a freebie called "Dandelion Dreams". I was so excited to see it, and downloaded it right away eager to scrap these photos I had taken earlier that same day. Have you ever wanted to drop everything you are working on to scrap a brand new photo? That is how I felt with these photos of our daughter enjoying a common childhood love affair.


Also, a new activity around our place this week is Kyle's new found interest in archery. He wants to become as good as Lucy in the new Narnia release - Prince Caspian. (An awesome, awesome movie by the way - highly recommend it, especially for boys ages 5 and up. The lack of blood is on the unrealistic side, but it makes for a great family movie for the younger kids as well.)
We borrowed a compound bow and some arrows from Kyle's uncle, who fortunately had not given it away yet to St. Vinnie's. Kyle started target practice immediately upon getting home last Thursday, barely able to pull the 40# bow back all the way. He started using my arm weights right away to build muscle. (LOL) By the end of the weekend he was hitting the foam target, AND the center of the paper plate upon which he had created a target wtih circles and points. His dedication to learning this new sport will definitely keep him occupied this summer...and steer him away from video games. Below is a layout created using the My Kiddo kit by Izzy's Crisdam Designs at Faithsisters.com. I love the rich colors of this kit and am eager to scrap other layout ideas with it. Check out the link for other great kits by Izzy.


We have an action packed Memorial Day weekend ahead. I will be too busy making memories with my family to scrap, but that is what life is really all about - making memories while we are on the journey. Enjoy making yours!

Hickory Hill Bird Hike

Embrace what God gives ya! That's my motto as I trekked Hickory Hill Conservancy, in Cross Plains, hoping to catch sight of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker. It was not to be, for me, but the person coming down the hill as we were going up described a bird he had never seen before, and it was undoubtedly a female pileated. There was lots of tractor and chopper activity as well...and pileateds' are rather skittish birds (per my husband, I wouldn't know).

We heard and saw a number of indigo buntings, perhaps a yellow throated warbler, and heard so many sounds I wish I had had a voice recorder so we could play back and identify the birds. When I can't "shoot" birds I "shoot" wildflowers instead...so primarily I just wanted to share some fauna focused photos from last night's hike.





After the hill we ventured to the creek that meanders downtown to enjoy the trail and seek the hawk's nest I had seen on Saturday. The leaves have filled out the trees immensely in the past few days, and I could not believe that I could not find that nest - it was so plain to see a few days earlier! Oh well! More pictures...




As you can see, Kyle was bored with birding by then and preferred blasting the swarms of gnats with his super soaker, and used the cold, bubbly creek for refills. (LOL) We did spot a first...what we believe to be a hooded warbler at the end of the trail hopping around along the banks of the creek. In fact, I need to wrap up this blog entry as I plan to head back there before work in hopes of getting more identifying marks. Per the field guide behavior description - the guy we watched for some time fits this bird to a T. I am just not remembering the yellow patch around his eye - time to verify! Remember, embrace what God gives, even if it is not what you expected or hoped for!

The Little Things & Beautiful Wings

Spring really is about all the little things….things which bring me so much pleasure! The most colorful of the song birds have returned and we have been enjoying them for weeks. We have several orioles flaunting their bright orange clothing in order to attract a female that is also stunning in her more subdued, yet definite orange coloration. I have always thought we must have the best looking pair of orioles nesting on our property – for surely the female is as bright as they come! I have seen others…and they don’t hold a candle to her beauty. However, it is not to say she doesn’t have a line up of males hoping to catch her eye. In the past several days the males have gone from chasing each other in flight around our yard to outright aerial battles. I was witness to one not 12 feet from me yesterday as I was outside watering plants, and I was surprised to see such aggressive behavior from a pair of male orioles. As they almost locked “talons” the two were falling to the ground with the more dull-colored male on “the bottom” with his back to the ground. Just before hitting the ground he managed to get free and flew off. This round definitely went to our brilliantly colored male, and if history repeats itself, this male will be the beau for the beautiful lady. (If only I had had my camera, with video capabilities, to capture the action…time to wear my camera around my neck at all times when I step outside.)

In addition to the rose-breasted grosbeaks (our daughter’s favorite) and Rubies, the Indigo Buntings (shown above) returned last week. The past couple of days we have actually seen them eating on the ground under the black oil sunflower feeders. This is the first time I have witnessed this, as primarily they are attracted to our bird baths only. We also have been putting grape jelly out, and in addition to the orioles the bluebirds have been hanging out on top of the house antenna singing their beautiful song. Last night I caught a glimpse of a blue warbler splashing in our bathing rock – I love it when the warblers visit us in spring! Cardinals are also nesting outside our daughter’s bedroom window, and my prayer is that God protects them from the neighbor’s cat that I saw prowling our backyard the other night. I have not seen a cat on our property in quite a while, so I was hoping the birds would be safe, but the animals that prey seem to know when and where to find easy meals. This never makes us happy, and I wish all who let cats roam outdoors would at minimum put collars with bells on their felines.

I have wanted to share about the songbirds that brighten my life in spring, but also a layout about one of my favorite times of day – bedtime for our daughter. She and I have such fun at bedtime – we read, usually sing a song or two, act silly and laugh a lot. I know I am not exactly settling her down for sleep, but it is just too much fun to be serious about going to bed. (LOL) Dahlia from FaithSisters.com challenged us to create a layout about the little things that do matter. We pray to God for so many “big things”, but consider the little things – He hears all our prayers. I hope that the Lord will grant my prayer request and keep the cardinal, nest safe this year. We prayed that God would bring fast healing to the sore inside Abby’s mouth, self-inflicted after chewing her gums when numb from a dental appointment. She is now healed, praise God! We pray for her scrapes and bruises and many little things that are big to her. And we pray for the big things as well. What is important is that we pray with our children and let them know that God wants to hear from them on their own time as well. For Dahlia’s “Little Things Do Matter” faith discovery challenge I created this layout:

All elements are by Izzy’s Crisdam Designs, Sabry Card and Nikki Painter, all of FaithSisters.
To see other layouts created for this challenge visit the Faith Discovery Gallery.

Also, Kjoi Studios introduced a new designer today – Inspired by Dominic, and she is offering a freebie called “Dandelion Dreams”. I snatched it right away – as just yesterday Abby and I were walking a nature trail and she was enjoying all the white, fluffy dandelion heads and blowing them to watch the seeds float in the breeze.

I look forward to showing you my completed layout with this kit. Enjoy your journey and enjoy the little things in your life. God put them there for you.

Celebrating ALL Moms

Let's face it - May is the month for moms. A day is set aside to honor these valiant women for all their love and diligence in raising their children, and rightly so. Dad's get their turn next month!

On this psst Mother's Day nature reminds me that motherhood extends beyond our humanly realm - this time of year moms abound in the form of feathered and 4-legged varieties as well. I see foals suckling and scampering around the Amish farm as we visit my parents south of here. I found little tufts of fur in a clump of irises as I cleaned out a flower bed on Saturday - a sure sign that mama rabbit had made a nest there.

As we traveled to Madison's east side for dinner at Red Lobster (YUM!) on Sunday, we discovered a pond that happily provided a safe haven for a number of goose families. The pond even had little islands in the center - and I would think a goose could hardly pick a more safe place to raise their young.

A goose family with 6 goslings were patroling the edge of the parking lot and as we neared, mama goose put her head down and encouraged her children toward the safety of the water. Papa goose stood tall and warned us with a "Hissss!". So glad for the protection of the car as I rolled my window down to take pictures. It is not the best way to capture wildlife, but a wise way - I did manage several photos I love and am excited to get them scrapped. The first features Misha's Garden kit by MLW Designs, downloaded from KjoiStudios. The rich, and earthy colors are perfect for this mama goose and her gosling.

How was your mother's day? I found little notes written by my husband in "my regular places" ....i.e. taped to the back of my Sonic-care toothbrush, at church when I opened my Bible to the lesson of the day - each a nice surprise. I have yet to take pictures, but I better hurry as my toothbrush note is getting damaged from the water.

Our son made me a "magazine" at school featuring the "best mom of 2008" award and our 5 yr old made me a picture, or two, or three... (LOL) She also gifted me with some tulip petals that had fallen of the waning flowers outdoors, and of course the bright and fluffy dandelions - who could ask for more!? I hope your Mother's Day was filled with blessings as well!

Bird Hike Photo Shoot

Embrace what God gives ya! That's my motto as I trekked Hickory Hill Conservancy, in Cross Plains, hoping to catch sight of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker. It was not to be, for me, but the person coming down the hill as we were going up described a bird he had never seen before, and it was undoubtedly a female pileated. There was lots of tractor and chopper activity as well...and pileateds' are rather skittish birds (per my husband, I wouldn't know).

We heard and saw a number of indigo buntings, perhaps a yellow throated warbler, and heard so many sounds I wish I had had a voice recorder so we could play back and identify the birds. When I can't "shoot" birds I "shoot" wildflowers instead...so primarily I just wanted to share some fauna focused photos from last night's hike.





After the hill we ventured to the creek that meanders downtown to enjoy the trail and seek the hawk's nest I had seen on Saturday. The leaves have filled out the trees immensely in the past few days, and I could not believe that I could not find that nest - it was so plain to see a few days earlier! Oh well! More pictures...




As you can see, Kyle was bored with birding by then and preferred blasting the swarms of gnats with his super soaker, and used the cold, bubbly creek for refills. (LOL) We did spot a first...what we believe to be a hooded warbler at the end of the trail hopping around along the banks of the creek. In fact, I need to wrap up this blog entry as I plan to head back there before work in hopes of getting more identifying marks. Per the field guide behavior description - the guy we watched for some time fits this bird to a T. I am just not remembering the yellow patch around his eye - time to verify! Remember, embrace what God gives, even if it is not what you expected or hoped for!

Fiskars Rocks with Midnight Kisses

I love Heidi Grace's Midnight Kisses line for Fiskars, and it was the perfect product choice for an elegant tag album as a gift for a friend recently married. When I volunteered to make this album I immediately knew I wanted to use Midnight Kisses. As fate would have it, the colors of the bridesmaid dresses in the wedding was midnight blue with red accents. Coincidence? I think not!

All of the gals in our study group sent me a quote, scripture and/or message to be used inside the tag album for our friend. The hardest part of this album was typesetting everyone's messages to fit the text within the small space, and have it look uniform. Coordinating papers made creating the album itself a breeze!


In addition to the quote pages, I offered the bride several blank pages for her and her new husband to include their own favorite quotes, or perhaps scripture used in the wedding. I also used midnight blue cardstock on several additional tags for the addition of photos.


I discovered several shortcuts along the way, and thought I would share instructions here. Namely, by folding strips of patterned paper that go on both sides of the tag, not only do you save a cutting step, but it offers a wonderful finished looking edge to have the crease of the fold on the edge of the tag.


Midnight Kisses Tag Album

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
• Definitions
• Pinstripe
• Bold Flourish
• Décor Stripe
Chipboard: Frame and Heart by Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
Other: Raw Chipboard trimmed to 3x6” for front and back cover
Cardstock: plain white, Worldwin coordinating colors: Blue and Red (CBRD 12U), white embossed heart stock by The Paper Co.
Brads: Heidi Grace, Making Memories (gem brads used on front)
Ribbons: Heidi Grace Décor Ribbon Assortment -Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
Flowers: red (used “velvet” flowers plucked from a Bordeaux bush purchased at Michael’s)
Other: Binder rings, black ink
Tools: Fiskars deluxe trimmer, self healing cutting mat, craft knife and “Threading Water” border punch

How To:
1. From plain white cardstock cut desired number of tag pages to 5.75”x2 7/8”
2. Using pencil and ruler, on each tag indicate 1” mark from inside gutter margin, and ¾” mark from outside edges, both front and back of tag
3. On light blue cardstock print quotes or other text – live area for each tag page is 4” wide x 2.825”, and trim to size, inking edges in black
4. Using guide marks, position quote blocks on each tag and adhere
5. Cut one inch strips of pinstripe patterned paper, trimming into 5.5” sections
6. Crease in center and apply adhesive to floral side (note that by folding in half it eliminates a cut step and also makes flush alignment to tag easier)
7. Position stripe patterned paper onto tag, with fold going over top edge of tag (trim any excess along bottom edge of tag)
8. Trim floral paper into 2.825” x 1.75” pieces – folding lengthwise in half
9. If a brad/red floral embellishment is desired hole punch paper, add flowers with brads, flattening prongs
10. Apply adhesive to striped side, and position floral onto tag, and with fold going over outside edge of tag
11. Run red cardstock through Xyron machine, if available. Cut cardstock into approx. 1/8” strips and position over seam where striped paper meets solid blue (this offers a balance of red)
12. COVER: Trim from raw cardstock two pieces 6” x 3” and create covers as desired. Designer used:
a. From Décor Stripe paper cut red dotted pattern strip, ink edges and apply to inside margin of front cover
b. From Definitions paper trim 3” tall section of one column width, adhere to cover butting against red dotted paper.
c. Cut ¾” x 3” piece of pinstripe paper and position on cover.
d. Print tag album title on white cardstock and trim to shape of chipboard bookplate (slightly smaller than actual frame so adhesive of frame will stick to cardstock), heavily ink edges with dark blue
e. Mark holes for brads to secure bookplate, punch holes and secure bookplate, adding chipboard heart if desired
f. Apply flower to front cover if desired
g. On inside of cover, cover brad prongs with white heart embossed cardstock; apply to both covers, with pinstripe paper for the inside margins
h. Finishing Touches: Threading Water punch was used to punch ¾” strips from floral paper. Apply one strip to outside edge of tag cover, paying attention to scallop design and uniform appearance on ends
i. Apply adhesive to back of second strip and line up holes and scalloped edges, trimming ends. Burnish two scalloped pieces together. Ink outside edges.
j. Mark hole punch positioning on each page, punch, and bind album with binder rings
k. Tie ribbon on rings to finish the look.

Once I had the quotes printed on the light blue cardstock the entire album took me less than 2 hours to create - less for you now that you have these instructions. Another idea for this album would be to make 4x2.825" cards available at a graduation or other type of party, and ask guests to write a message to the guest of honor; later assembling the cards into a gift tag album! The Definitions patterned paper also has definitions for family, friendship and more, which makes it very versatile for a variety of tag album subjects. Enjoy!

ABC of Life Mini Album

Tinkering Ink is one of the sponsors in May for the Scrapbook Playground design team. (Stop by the Playground to see all the super projects the team has created!) As soon as I received an entire alphabet of large die-cut letters I was instantly inspired to create an ABC album. A while back I recieved the Signals catalog. I never buy anything, but almost always tear out a page or two to potentially inspire a future paper crafts project. One such "ABC" list of how to live came in handy for all those die-cut letters, and I created a cute mini album that would make a perfect graduation or mother's day gift.

This project consumed most of my Sunday. In hind-sight, I would have drove into Madison to purchase coordinating cardstock and skipped the stippling process. Although fun - it really added to my time. Especially since I did it twice- thinking I would only do the edges and cover with patterned paper, but then realized too much patterned paper would be distracting. SO my tip - if you want to create this project start out with cardstock in your preferred choice of color(s)! Alternating colors, versus going with solid white or black, adds a visual appeal when flipping through the book and seeing the same punched border edge take on a new color. Minor, I know, but it is fun!

Still need a quick gift for an upcoming celebration? To help you out I have written instructions. You can alter the size of the album depending upon the size of your die-cut letters. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time using LARGE letters on a layout - I rarely use monograms. I do believe I make a few more of these albums and make use of those large alpha die-cuts sitting in my stash!

ABC of Life Mini Album

Page Supplies:
Cardstock:
- 15 pieces trimmed to 5.75” x 5.25” (adjust size per the size of die-cut alphas chosen for this project)
- 28 4” circles in solid coordinating colors
- White sheet of cardstock to print out words
Patterned paper: (author used Tinkering Ink Al Fresco collection)
- 57 ½” x 5.25” strips of patterned paper in choice of pattern(s)
Sheet of die-cut alphabets
Paint (optional) – solid cardstock in white, black or coordinating color may be used
Ink – black for edging, colored for edging on “word” blocks
Pen – Sarasa .007 tip gel, black
Fonts: Social Animal (stamped look) and Candy Randy (downloaded from the internet)
Cover supplies: 3 large shimmer chipboard letters and brackets by Making Memories and Doodlebug, cut out design from patterned paper
Tools:
– border punch (author used Fiskars “Threading Water” punch
– circle cutting tool
– Binding tool – Use bind-it-all or secure with 2 O-rings

HOW TO:
1. Use border punch to trim long edge of all pieces of trimmed to size cardstock (note: use scrap paper of size being used to determine placement in border punch so that edges finish as desired. Use guide marks on punch to align each piece of cardstock in the same start position so all pages match)
2. use a stipple brush to paint cardstock if desired (eliminate this step if desired by using black, white or mix of solid colored cardstock – if mixing colors you will need 4 of each color)
3. Cut strips of patterned paper ½” wide and trim to height of album page, ink edges, adhere to each page allowing a 3/8”-1/2” margin to allow for binding, and approx. ¾” from edge of border punched design
4. Ink edges of all circles and position to overlap patterned paper strip along inside spine, leaving approximately 1/8” margin at bottom of page and along inside edge of outer patterned paper strip
5. Position all die-cut alphabets as desired – note that you may wish to tuck a “word” printed on white cardstock under an edge
6. Print words on white cardstock. Author used 48 point stamped font style for key alphabet word, and 24 point all caps for subsequent words on a page. Trim words into blocks and ink edges with contrasting color. Adhere to each corresponding letter. (Tip: author printed out a list of all phrases for visual reference to assist in assembling each page).
7. Carefully outline all alphabet letters with a fine-tip black pen.
8. Additional pages may be added to album to allow for photos. Author used black circles to be used as photo mats. Rectangular mats with rounded corners, and placed at an angle would also look nice on this project.
9. Create cover as desired. Utilizing chipboard alphas, or additional die-cut alphabets, allow for a quick design. Usiing foam 3D adhesive squares under the “b” add dimension and add interest to the cover. Print sub-title on same page as “life” words, using same font for consistency.
10. Bind mini-album as desired and enjoy!

Alphabet List:
Accept differences
Be Kind
Count your blessings
Dream
Express thanks
Forgive
Give freely
Harm no one
Imagine more
Jettison anger
Keep confidence
Love truly
Master something
Nurture hope
Open your mind
Pack lightly
Quell rumors
Reciprocate
Seek wisdom
Touch hearts
Understand
Value truth
Win graciously
Xeriscape
Yearn for peace
Zealously support a worthy cause

The Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch used as an edging for the pages in a rainbow of colors adds a very cool visual interest to this project. I hope you give it a try!