Merry Monday-Mixing the old and the new

Hello!  Through the magic of technology, my blog post should be showing up around the time I'm in my first training for the school year.  I can't believe the summer is almost over...  I still have so much scrapbooking to do... Maybe I can ask for an extension?

Today, I have a Christmas themed page to share with you.  I used a pretty good mixture of older and newer items. The cardstock and two of the pattern papers are older, as is the tag, ribbon, and photo!  The agenda border and the strip under the photo were both from a new paper I bought about two months ago.  This was such a fun page that brought back great memories.  DD2 went on the annual Christmas field trip to a local assisted living/nursing home, and I was able to chaperone.  It was such a great experience for the students and it really warmed my heart to see the generations coming together and enjoying the morning.  Normally shy students were singing with their 'Grands' and even the rowdy kiddos reigned themselves in and enjoyed their new friends.

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  As the school year starts, I never know exactly how much 'free' time I'll have for creating and posting, but I'm going to do my best to keep my 'mental therapy' going throughout the year!  Have a great day and I hope you find some time to be crafty this week!

Scrapbook Saturday- Perfect Paper

Hi! I'm back again with a couple more pages from my recent scrapping blitz while hiding from the heat wave.  These pages really reminded me how awesome the perfect paper can be.  There are many ways to be perfect, but in this case, the papers were designed so one could simply mat and paste a photo on there and call it done!  It helped that the colors worked so well with the photos.  Both pages were done in a matter of minutes!

The first page was one I bought while DD2 was still in scouts and I knew I would find a photo to fit it.  The only thing I added other than the photo mat was the Girl Scouts emblem embellishment.  That's it, easy peasy!

The second page was one I found in a 'yard sale' room at a local crop.  It was such a pretty paper and I loved that it already had embossing on it.  The colors worked perfectly with the photo and I thought the clock pieces fit well with the 'time' of the church calendar. The only things added to this were the photo, mat, and journaling piece.  Another really quick and easy page!

I'm  hoping to find some time today to sneak into the studio to work.  My family is so busy on the weekends and I'm hoping they won't even notice that I've locked myself away for the morning!  Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Throwback Thursday-borders and rub ons

Hello! After an incredibly hot spell, we are getting a bit of a break from the heat.  The last two days were perfect for working outside so not much posting or creating from me.  I did manage to make a few pages during the heat wave and decided to post a couple today.  Both pages helped me use up some supplies that have been in my stash waaay too long. Cleaning off  the cobwebs old! Apparently, I had an obsession with border stickers at some point and now I'm slowly working my way through them.  

My first page features the aforementioned border stickers.  I was determined to use them and had to get a little creative with photo placement to make it work.  A page doesn't need a whole lot of embellishing when there are two 12" borders involved!

My second page uses some dog themed rub ons.  I don't even remember buying these, so they may have been a freebie from something.  I used most of the package on this, and also managed to use one of my loose pattern papers from my stash.  Now there are only 7 papers left to my committed 'use it' pile.  Once they're gone, I'm going to skim papers again and make a new set. Not that I'll be running out of paper any time soon.  I still have a ton of sets and pads to use...

This page was a little bittersweet to create.  Shadow's no longer with us, but it was so sweet to see a picture of him when he was still playful and healthy...

I don't know if I'll get any scrapbooking done today, but I'm hoping to organize a little more in my studio.  I'm slowly but surely going through the boxes of goodies and finding them a place to be used.  I've been working my way through stickers, but I may have to shift to ribbons soon.  They are all over the place! Who bought all of this stuff anyway?!  Lol! I'm thinking there may have been some out of body experiences involved... Sounds plausible, right??  Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

It's A Girl!

I would like to take a moment to share a completely non-crafting photo! This is Allie the newest member of our family.  She was a bit of a surprise because after Shadow passed away, we weren't planning to even look for another dog for a while.  Then DD1 comes home and shares that her boyfriend's supervisor is heartbroken because she needs to find a home for her mom's beloved dog.  Her mom went into a nursing home and the daughter tried to keep the dog, but with her long work hours she wasn't able to care for her as much.  As a result of the move and lack of company, the dog began to develop anxiety-like behaviors and really wasn't happy.

We went to meet her and she was so timid it almost broke my heart.  I think DD knew I wouldn't be able to say no once I met her... It has been a big adjustment for all of us.  She had to adapt once again to another move and we had to remember what it was like to have a new dog again.  I spoke fluent Shadow, but Allie's language is still pretty much a mystery to all of us.  Thankfully, I've had the summer off so she has had plenty of interaction and attention. As a result, she follows me absolutely everywhere.  She is slowly coming out of her shell and even plays and runs with the girls, LOVES to go for walks, and thinks she could be quite helpful in the kitchen if only I would let her put her paws up on the counters...  She isn't the biggest fan of my craft studio, but enjoys lying on the floor just outside of the door so she can keep an eye on me and everything else.  I can just hear Shadow saying "Well... she's no Black Shadow, but you always were a sucker for a rescue..."

Thanks so much for visiting and letting me share our news!  Who knows, maybe there will be a few Allie hairs appearing on my work soon!

Scrapbook Saturday- Mixing the old and the new

Hello!  Since it has been so incredibly hot and humid outside, I thought I would spend a little extra time in the air conditioned comfort of my craft studio.  I was rewarded with two more finished pages!

I was so excited about getting these pages finished and couldn't wait to share my enthusiasm with my family.  You see...I'm just a 'little' behind on my albums...like 11 years behind... and because I feel incredibly overwhelmed thinking about scrapbooking chronologically, I have started album hopping.  A page from 2008 on day, 2011 the next...you get the picture.  But I have yet to do any recent pages until these.  I walked into the living room to share my wonderful 2019 pages and my family responded with blank stares.  So I repeated the fact that these pictures were from 2019!!! My youngest DD responded with "Yeah, but it's not like you're all caught up on them." (I'm considering cropping her out of several photos now...)  I then reminded her that at her graduation party there might actually be an album that has photos of her that are recent and most likely quite a bit less embarrassing that some of her earlier photos.  I must have hit the importance home because she then told me I should really focus on the more recent photos.  My oldest DD just rolled her eyes, but did comment on how pitiful a one page album might look.  DH has long ago learned that smiling and nodding is a safe response to any discussion that revolves around my creativity.  I always try to learn something new and today that lesson was that no one in my family really 'gets' scrapbooking and  the sense of accomplishment it brings their mother.  Next time I'll just share my pages with the cat.  She's rather nonjudgmental as long as she has a spot on the table to rest.

Here are the new pictures with some old papers that were in my bashing pile.  I also managed to use some really old epoxy stickers and glittery letters from my stash as well.  Nothing like mixing the old with the new to get things done!

The photos are from the Vacation Bible School that my girls have volunteered at for years. Ironically, they help with making photo frames in arts and crafts.  Maybe there is hope for them yet...

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Throwback Thursday-A little page mapping

Hi and welcome to another Throwback Thursday where I dig into everything old to complete a project! I don't think I used a single thing that was less than three years old, so this definitely qualifies!!  I also pulled out a binder that I started years ago with different page maps and page inspirations.  This was started before the invention of Pinterest, and I have to admit that I probably pull out that binder more than I ever go back and check my sketch pins... Sometimes 'old fashioned' just works better!  Both layouts were old Page Maps designs.  I don't know if Becky Fleck is still creating new ones, but I love using her sketches!  I also like Creative Scrappers, but I don't have as many of those in my binder.

I pulled out an older pad of K & Company paper, some really old chipboard pieces that by pure chance went pretty well with the papers, a fabric tag, three different flower punches, and some pearls to complete my two pager.

The photos were taken in 2011 when the girls and I went to our county museum.  It really is a cool place to spend the day, especially if you're into history!  We are fortunate that so many people in our community donated and organized for the displays.  There are sections that show the immigrants and origins of our county, a tribute to local veterans and the parts they played in various battles and wars, a section dedicated to various athletes and school programs, and even a walk through mural display sharing the history of each town and city in our county.  They even have a working model train room!  But our favorite section by far was the children's area.  There were pioneer dress up clothes, a supply boat that could be loaded and unloaded, an old time school house, and a lot of older games like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, and checkers.  We had a great time and have made several trips back over the years, often taking newbies with us.  The best trip was this past year when we finally took my parents with us.  Dad had a blast sharing military stories and pointing out all of the antique farming equipment and tools.  It was a great way to link our personal history with public history.

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you find some time to check out a local treasure!  Maybe you'll be inspired to scrapbook the event too!  Have a wonderful day!!

A break from scrapbooking!

Hello!  It's another hot one here and I'm going to zoom through my 'to do' list so I can get a few more scrapbook pages knocked out!  However, as the title states, I took a break from scrapbook mode to create a few cards.  I used some papers that I unearthed when I sorted all of my loose pattern paper.  I have a small stack I am challenging myself to either use or donate.  It has actually made things a bit simpler since I just go to those and make them work for what I need.  I'm still occasionally sneaking into my other paper stash, but the loose papers often are overlooked when I create, so this really helps me use them!

I actually don't need a lot of birthday cards for my stash (Christmas is a completely different story, but I haven't been motivated to make those yet...), but I did need a few youth and ladies cards.  I also made a couple of sympathy cards because those are nice to have on hand as well.

The kids cards were a lot of fun and I pulled out some older stamps and 

my copics to create these.  The top card uses 4 different stamp 

sets and who doesn't love wiggle eyes on a card?!

 

I also did a bit of coloring with copics on the flower.  I forgot

how relaxing it is to just sit and color! Need to do that more often!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Class aka Losing my mind

About a month ago, my 2 DDs and I went to a class at our LSS.  Taylor from Taylored Expressions taught a watercolor session.  We had a wonderful time and learned some fun ways to use watercoloring on cards.  I would have sworn I had posted pictures of this, but they were nowhere to be found, so I'm sharing them today.  I think pretty much everything I used is TE, but since it was a class, I don't have names in front of me...

this card featured a stamped background, a preprinted card front, and

some tricky painting skills to fill in those tiny hearts and letters

this one has a stenciled background and a watercolor wash

behind the die cut cactus

this is a mix of stamping and watercoloring, the two

large butterflies were outline stamped in light gray

and then watercolored 

the last card features an embossed heart with

a watercolor wash around the edges

I did buy the Sending stamp set, the shimmer watercolor, and a Christmas theme card front panel set. I think that showed great restraint since I really wanted to add all of the watercolors, her paintbrush set, and several stencils... There is definitely a drawback to going to a LSS for a class-too much temptation!!  I have to say it is a lot of fun and a great way to meet other creative people!

I don't have a scrapbook page to share today (even though it should be Scrapbook Saturday), but I'm almost finished organizing my scrapbooking supplies and should be back at it in a few days!  Trying to get as much done as I can in the few weeks of summer vacation I have left!

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

All that glitters

Hello! Today I have some glitterific cards to share!  Gotta have some sparkle on Independence Day!!  These cards were a multi day project because my time for the studio has to be squeezed in whenever I can, so day one was cutting the paper and using the wonderful Gina K Glitz glitter gel.  A few days later, I did the stamping and assembling of the cards, and today I'm finally posting!

My camera has been giving me fits when it comes to taking pictures of cards and scrapbook pages... I really need to set up an area in my room for photography so there isn't the glare and wash out that happens on my craft table.  I really need to tweak some areas anyway, so why not squeeze in a photo box while I'm at it!  Because of the photo quality, the mix of colors and the actually glittery goodness doesn't show up as well as I would like. You'll just have to take me at my word that they are very sparkly!

I played with three colors of gel: Wild Lilac, Turquoise Sea, and Grass Green, and also used both white and black as background colors.  It's so interesting to see the way a color changes based on the background! My stencils came from a SU set called Pattern Party Masks.  I pulled out a DCWV paper pad called Royal Garden which I haven't used in ages.  There are peacock themed pages in this and my colors reminded me of  the beautiful shading of their feathers.  I pulled out a variety of birthday, anniversary, and thank you stamps for the sentiments which were stamped in either Bermuda Bay or Elegant Eggplant.  I really like the shimmer on these and know that a few members of my family will love these 'fancy' cards!

Well, the washing machine is calling my name and reminding that as much as I would like, I can't spend all day in my studio... Do we really NEED clean clothes?? I'm pretty sure my family would feel it's a necessity. They're soooo needy... LOL!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week! Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans! Have fun and be safe!