{bliss}

Technique Tuesday Thursday!

Technique Tuesday has generously sponsored the PDT this month.  It's our first "sponsorship" so I really hope that the folks at TT like what they see!  I ended up with 4 layouts for the upload, and these are the two that "made the cut" to be posted for the Feature today.  The other two will go up as LOAD tomorrow and Saturday...

This first one uses patterned paper from Debbie Mumm's Be Mine collection - it's a Valentine's Day themed line, but it is so pink and pretty that I had no trouble using it for a "I Love You" kind of page instead!  The "B" is from the new "Beautiful Day" set of stamps, and the scroll at the bottom is from one of the new Technique Tuesday Tile Toppers sets called "Flora and Fauna".  I painted it first with Cranberry glitter glaze from Making Memories, and while that was still wet, hit it with some Sugar Coated Glitter from Doodlebug.  The "B" was stamped with Tsukineko's Essential Glue Pad, and then glittered with brown Bon Bon Sugar Coated glitter.  The journaling squares are not stamped; they're a computer font (but they sure would make a great stamp set!)

The second one uses October Afternoon papers and die cut elements along with one of my favorite polka dot papers from Making Memories.  I traced one of the postage stamp Technique Tiles to make the frame for the photo.  The stamps are Big Timber Dots lower case (these are the large stamps, they also come in extra large as well.)  The alpha stickers are some of my favorite Scenic Route alphas, the leaves are Foofala Flourishes (love 'em!) and the velvet trim is from Creative Cafe.

Big thanks to Technique Tuesday for sponsoring the team, and you can see all the layouts that were created for this Feature here in the PDT gallery at Peek! 

Technique Tuesday re-stock order is expected today or tomorrow,  :)

A Shore Thing

Here's my LOAD for today.  Only one more day of the challenge - I can't believe I have done 30 pages in addition to my DT assignments - eek!  That's a lot of pages!  American Crafts albums, here I come.

This one is inspired by one of Mellette's sketches in the Designing With Recipes book.  I used the new A Shore Thing collection from Imaginisce. A walk down memory lane with some photos from last summer for a nice beach page was just the thing to warm me up! 

Tomorrow is the big TT Feature at Peek.  Pat's reorder of the new stamps should be arriving tomorrow or Friday - just in time!  I had a hard time narrowing down my choice for which pages to upload, but really like the two that I chose.  The others will go up after the Feature.  There is a giveaway on the TT blog for a free sample of their Textiles.  The final day to get your address in is Feb 1.

BIG news on the CI blog!

So, so happy about this news because it is something that I really believe in!  So proud to be a part of a company that is taking such a huge step to help the environment! 

It's Here!

So everyone knows that I love sketches by this point. Em's sketches, Becky Fleck's sketches, BH&G sketches...just love 'em! Well when we were at CHA last year, Autumn Leaves had a display copy of Designing With Recipes that you could leaf through in the booth, and we were all so impressed with the layouts and the concept. The book is divided up into sections for One, Two, Three, Four, Five or Multi photo layouts. Each page has a sketch, and incredible layout that uses the sketch, and then if you totally and completely want to make a layout just like it, it has complete step-by-step instructions of how to do it! So cool!

I sat with it last night with a pad of sticky notes in hand, and have so many “recipes” I want to try!  I put together this one based on Lisa Russo’s sketch on page 25.  I love “round” layouts and hadn’t done one for a while, so this gave me a great excuse!  The papers are from the new Cloud 9 collection “Be Loved”.  Love the glazed and glittered papers – so pretty!  I changed up the sketch a bit, but the basic "bones" are there and I love the way it came out. 

Anyhoo, back to the book - all my favorite "Designing With" artists are included - Cathy B, Emily, Jen, Kelli, Leslie, Lisa, Margie, Mellette, Robyn and Tia. Just an amazing book, and very, very well done! The book itself is a great design - it is spiral bound with a cover that wraps around the spiral, so it will lay flat on your scrapbooking table for reference when you are using the sketches (and believe me, you will want to be using them!) The example pages use all different papers and embellishments - eye candy galore!

Pat has it in stock at Peek right now, and I know you won’t be disappointed!

Layouts to share

I've got two to share today.  This first one is featured in the Product Showcase at Peek today.  Daisy Buckets "Garden Gate" collection - soooo pretty!  (and 25% off at Peek today!)  I had fun with my Fiskars tools for this one.  The border punch is so pretty, and I looooove the Corner Rounder Squeeze Punch.

The Lead Fiskateers have been posting sneak peeks of some of the new Lil Davis, Cloud 9 and Heidi Grace releases for CHA on their blog.  LOVE that Lil Davis is bringing back the Glitter Glaze.  I love that stuff!  Cloud 9 has FIVE new collections: Sunrise Smoothie, Max's Backyard, Christy & Friends, Cinnamon Stick (I love it for the name already!) and Cocoa Mint.  Fiskars has some awesome new tools, including a border/corner punch combo that allows you to make a frame.

My second layout uses a bunch o' Making Memories goodies.  The striped paper is from a previous release, and is part of the "Lizzie" collection from the Funky Vintage line, and the other two papers are from the Noteworthy collection.  The MM Artistic Tags are from my Fiskateer SS, Sara (thanks, Sara!) and I just love 'em.  They're stiched and embellished with ribbon and pop right off the page. 

I'm feeling good about this week.  The girls have recovered from their colds and are headed back to school today.  My last show board assignments for CI are en route to CA and headed off to the CHA tradeshow in February.  My layouts for the Feature at Peek on Thursday are done, and I am feeling "caught up".  Which means I get to PLAY this week.  Yay!  I have some goodies on the way from Peek - new Cloud 9 Valentine's Day, that adorable Shore Thing collection from Imaginisce, and a new stamp set from Technique Tuesday!  I really worked hard at staying in my budget this month, and am happy to say that I succeeded.  I know it is going to be very hard to do that when all the new CHA stuff starts rolling in, but my big goal this year is not to "collect" more scrappy supplies, but to buy with a purpose in mind, and use stuff up! 

Well, so 1...2...3...take my hand and come with me...

I think my ears are still ringing.  lol!  The kids have been playing "RockBand" with their big brother for days, and I woke up with The Jets song stuck in my head, so I had to scrap some of the photos of Aileen I took yesterday.  She was so proud that she could play too, and it just cracked me up watching her intensity while she was learning on the tutorials.  I love how they all get along together.  I worried and worried over the huge age difference betwen Jon and the girls, because I've known other similar situations that just didn't work out at all.  But he is a most excellent big brother, and I love watching them when they're all together.  He's heading back to school this weekend for the new semester.  Hard to imagine that his junior year is almost over!  Wow!

This is mostly Marah Johnson's "Rock Star" collection with some Narratives scroll border stickers tossed in for good measure.  I like the photo that has the lyrics of one of the songs superimposed over Aileen's hand on the guitar.  :) 

5 days left of the LOAD challenge - I'm so psyched that I have been able to keep up, especially with all the *other* layouts that I am doing for Peek and for CI!  :)  Phew!

coming up for air...and Designing With Recipes

  Another busy afternoon - I have been scrapping up a storm!  :)  I have one I can show, but the rest will be under wraps for a while yet...

This one is for Heather's Autumn Leaves Challenge for this week.  The prompt is from the Jan 18 page: "Trim your page to allow for overlapping elements".  I trimmed my page to 11x12 and the transparency and embellished journaling circle stick up about an inch above the top of the page.  The white is the bed of my scanner...  I love that you get the great look of things hanging off the top of the page, but still fits neatly inside a 12x12 page protector!  The papers & stickers are all CI: Anthology for the black and white papers, and Narratives for the border stickers, transparency and label.  The felt goodies are from Fancy Pants.

Waiting for this to arrive!  I can't wait.  I saw it at CHA, and loved the concept.  Autumn Leaves Designing With Recipes is divided into sections so you can choose the right "recipe" for the number of photos you would like to include in your page.  I'm all about sketches right now, so this is just the ticket to jumpstart some new multi-photo layout designs!  Pat just got it in at Peek yesterday, so the wait is over!  Some of my favorite scrappers are featured in it, so I am really looking forward to a good long browse with lots of sticky notes close at hand.

It's hard to believe that it is Friday already.  With the kids home sick most of the week, I have lost track of what day it is.  Jon heads back to college this weekend.  *sniffle, sniffle*  The girls are going to miss being able to play RockBand with him!  I'm just going to miss *him*!  But with the way time flies, Spring Break will be right around the corner before we know it.

Lots of great stuff coming up next week.  The gals at Peek have been hard at work with some of the new releases from Technique Tuesday for our PDT Feature on Thursday.  Lovin' the Organized and Inspired stamps and have a project in progress built around them!  So many great new alphabets and images too.  This new release rocks!  They've got some cool things going on on their new blog too.  Technique Tuesday blog link...

Ok, back to work!  Have a great Friday!

Oldies but Goodies

We all have them.  They're tucked away in our stash just waiting for the *perfect* page to be used.  Products that we couldn't wait to buy when they were new, products that were "too good" to use on an everyday page, so we didn't use them and now they are "old".  Well, have I got a challenge for you!  Dust off those oldies but goodies, and make a page that you'll love with them.  I've got all the details here in the "I Challenge You" forum at Peek.  Take 4 "old" things that you love, add 2 new things and create your page.  Upload the result to the Peek Gallery, and link on the thread.  Next Friday I'll pick a participant at random (or maybe two if we get a bunch of people playing!) and send 'em an Oldie AND (new) Goodie RAK.  I hope you'll play along! 

It felt so good to pull out a bunch of winter themed goodies that I loooooved when they were new, and find that they all worked together even though they were by different manufacturers and came out in different years!  How cool is that?  The oldest item is my patterned paper.  Remember Ali Edwards' line from Two Busy Moms called Inspire 2 from way back in 2003?  I still had winter themed paper and tags, so I started there.  The KI Memories goodies are also several years old, and the colors matcher perfectly.  I tossed an old Daisy D's transparency into the mix and added CI paper lace and Queen & Co snowflake Felt Fusion and really like the results!

The 10 Ways to Say I Love You feature on the CI blog continues.  My (shhhhh!) Valentine's Day present for my folks is the featured project today.  Love Endures.

And I've got to tell you that the adorable Imaginisce Penguni collection "A Shore Thing" is in this morning at Peek.  Cute stamps, cute papers, awesome new flowers and button brads!  Even the hard to find albums are in stock.  Check it ou!

playing catch up!

I've fallen behind the past couple days.  The girls both have full-blown head colds now, so there is much sneezing and a certain amount of whining going on right now.  But, no strep, so I'll count my blessings! 

I have two layouts to share today.  Finished this one up last night for the LOAD challenge, and is part of the "scrapbooking" album I am hoping to make throughout the year.  I want to compile photos of some of my favorite projects every month, and do a page about them and include what I was inspired by for the month as well.  This month it was:  Karen Russell's Narratives collections, Renae Lindgren's "Aubrey" collection, Teri Martin's Winter Magic collection, and Autumn Leaves "Foliage" and "Manhattan", as well as sketches by my friend Em!

Don't miss the great Valentine's Day projects tha have been being posted on the CI blog this week.  The projects are incredible, and I love the great ideas that have been shared so far!

This second layout is for the Featured Product today at Peek.  It's Heidi Grace's "Love Blossoms" collection and it is 30% off today!  Love the flocked paper, love the embellishments - especially those plastic heart and flower shapes!

Hoping to get some scrapping done today in between making tissue-and-juice runs for the girls.  They are pretty good patients, and again, I'll count my blessings that we're only dealing with rhinovirus and not fevers, throwing up or strep!  I think I'll turn them loose in the kitchen with some of my paints (they love being allowed to play with my scrappy supplies!) and some white plaster animals and let them go to town while I cut paper for my next project!

Love...

I'm up to my eyeballs in "Love" themed goodies this week.  I finished up a project that will go up on Peek tomorrow, and one for Thursday's CI blog post, and am steadily working my way through some assignments as well.  It's going to be a busy week!

Didn't get much scrapping done yesterday - I was having too much fun with Sharon!  :)  I did put together this birdy kit that I've had from Teresa McFayden's Paper Bella Studio for quite a while.  I love the flocked paper, and the vintage ledger paper too.  I have some scraps that I'm going to hang onto for another project too; I just love that shade of green!

CHA sneak peeks are going up all over the place.  I love the glimpse of Making Memories' 5th Avenue - love the colors, and are those papers see through or cut outs?  Love 'em either way!

Off to keep my girls company for a while.  They both woke up with sore throats this morning, but the peds office didn't think they needed to be seen because neither of them have a fever or any other major symptoms.  So we're having a quiet day at home today, and I hope to work my way through to the bottom of Mount Laundry, and if I am feeling very ambitious, getting the kitchen floor washed!