Photo Challenge

I've really been trying to be better at taking pictures of random, everyday things - not just big planned events and Jen's photo challenge inspired me to really get out and photograph things I wouldn't normally. Thanks for the fun challenge!

These petunias are in a hanging basket right outside our door. They have been faithfully blooming all summer long and I enjoy seeing them everyday, however, it wasn't until I viewed them from a photograph that I realize how lovely they really are. The deep purple of the flowers gets shown off against the green of the leaves and stems.

These were the first peppers of summer for us. I was so excited that something I planted actually grew, and not only grew, but produced lovely little edible Serrano peppers. Just looking at this pictures makes me feel a sense of accomplishment.
Thanks again Jen for the great challenge. I'm going to continue to snap pics of random, everyday things.

Hip Hip Hooray for New Bo Bunny Birthday Paper!

These new papers from Bo Bunny are bright, colorful and perfect for any birthday page. Here I made a layout of my nephew's 3rd Birthday. I added bright ribbon and buttons and wrote the journaling from the point of view of my nephew. I found journaling this way to be more interesting and fun than just writing, "Clint turned 3 and we had a big party." Also, I printed the journaling on a transparency and painted on the back side.

This page is an homage to my favorite part of a birthday party, the cake. I love all kinds of cake and thought it would be fun to creat a layout dedicated soley to the delictable pastry. I used the sewing machine to stitch down the side and added a little Hero Arts "Bling" around the title and journaling. I also used the Sizzix machine at Paper Pals to make the circles and cut-outs.

I had just enough paper to cover a box I found in the recyling pile at work. It was really easy. I just covered the box, inked the edges and added a small ribbon on the top and viola! a little gift box or party favor box.

New Carolee's Collection

I really liked working with this new paper from Carolee's Collection. The Tiny Baby Girl and Tiny Baby Boy lines are really cute and really versatile. For the girl page (featuring the bright smiling faces of my 6 adorable nieces) I got out my scissors and cut out some cute "patchwork" from the patterned paper. I also used some pink paint, sewed ric-rac down the left side and used a huge pink flower for embellishment. For the title I covered a chipboard number and painted some ordinary buttons to pair with the ribbon for added effect.


Recently I was spending too much time reading scrapbooking message boards. One interesting thread was about the differences between 'boy' pages and 'girl' pages. Some scrapbookers even said that they much prefer to scrapbook pages of their daughters because it was more fun to use pink and ribbons and bows and sparkles and such and that they thought the pages of their sons were boring because they felt they had to stick to "dull" colors and couldn't use "fun" embellishments. Had those particular scrappers been in front of me instead of my computer screen, I just might have gone off and slapped them all. But instead of getting mad and typing a regrettably irate message, I decided to actually do something about it. So I got out my paint and white-out pen and ribbons and buttons and cut and glued and painted and scrapped. Yes, I used ribbon on a 'boy' page and I don't think my 4 little nephews look any less rough-and-tumble. Okay, so that rant was a little long-winded, but the point is this; Don't not scrap your sons or daughters or pets or house or friends or parents or whatever because you don't like "that right way" of scrapping.

....whew....and don't forget the leftover scraps. I've been on a mini-book kick lately and had a great time making this little book with more pictures of my smiling nieces and nephews. Mini-books are really easy to put together quickly. I don't have a large circle punch, so I just traced a large bowl for the front and back covers and a smaller bowl for the inside pages and used nearly every bit of leftover paper and ribbon scraps.

Pretty Serendipity Paper

This bright new 'Sunshine Lollipop' line from Serendipity lent a much needed bit of irony to a layout about running a race in the snow. I am a card-carrying fan of the cool scalloped edges that Bazzil puts out and think they just make any page even more fun. I made the circle embellishments using punches and metal-rimmed tags all covered in a thick coat of Diamond Glaze. They take a while to dry (I let these go overnight) but I think the effect is worth it.

The leftover scraps made a cute little tag that could be used as a page embellishment, on a card or used as a gift tag. It's easy for me to just toss all my paper bits and scraps in a plastic bin and forget about them, but there really is so much more I could do with it all. I need to remember to make cards and tags and mini-books. Scrapbooking isn't just about 12x12 layouts, right?

New My Mind's Eye

The new '29th Street Market' line from My Mind's Eye is really versatile and easy to use. I made a tough and manly "guy" layout highlighting areas that have changed since Dan and I got married 6 months ago. I made the photo mosaic using the free photo software, Picasa, available through Google.

This paper is also great for kids' layouts. My sister snapped some great pics of my little niece, Sandy, in all her cute, giggly chubbiness. We thought she looked like a round little lady bug. I couldn't decide what color to print the title on, so I printed it on a transparency and tried it on different colors until I liked what I saw. I also ran a line of stitching along the left side.

I recently read an article in Creating Keepsakes by Jennifer McGuire about using staples in creative ways and thought I'd give some of the techniques a shot in these cards. I really appreciated that these papers worked so well for so many different applications.

Music Layout

The summer before my sister got married, she lived with me and worked in Pullman. We were both HUGE Pat Green fans and his music definitely was our summer soundtrack. Imagine our excitement when we were able to attend a free concert! I remember when I was scrapping this page and thinking how great it was that I would always remember how fun the show was, but now looking at it, it makes me remember my sister - before she became a wife and mother and was just my little sister who I loved to hang out with. It makes me remember and appreciate the summer we shared and it makes me really kind of miss her. I guess music (and music-related scrapbook pages) are more than just about words and melodies.

March DT Kit - Part 2

Thanks Shawna!
I had a great time putting together my first two projects. Creative Imaginations makes some super cute papers and these two lines are no exception. The football paper is from their 'Xtreme Sports' line. I like that the brown and neutral colors will work well no matter what colors your team plays in. I used a brown ink pad on the white part of the card and the white part of the layout to make it look dirty.
The second line I played with is called 'Renae's House.' I love that it is so fun and flowery, spring-timey (is that even a word?) and reminds me that warmer weather is on the way (yeah, right).

A Warm Welcome to A New Member!

Please join me in saying hello and wishing a warm welcoming to our newest Design Team Member.
Her photo will be uploaded tomorrow and I think she already has some layouts to share with us!


Welcome Shelle! We can't wait to see what you have to share with us!