Friday Fill-ins and a Layout

1. You get what you deserve.
2. You gotta fight for your right to party. (yep, vintage beastie boys proof my brain can be pretty random)
3. It's hammer time.
4. That my brain is thinking in musical answers is pretty ridiculous!
5. I feel more of the holiday spirit this year than the past few.
6. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a...goodnight! (ok a little early on that one)

7. And as for the weekend, I vegged Friday night, today my plans include breakfast with Houston and a little crafting and Sunday, I want to watch the Broncos hand it to the Chiefs!

And now for a little layout, pretty happy with the way this one turned out. So many times, I'm afraid to cute paper up, it's just too cute...That was the case with the blue gingham, the other side looks like a reading primer from the 50's...after being in the stash for a couple of months, I finally allowed myself to cut it, and I'm so glad I did.

Friday? Fill-ins

so I'm working off the better late than never motto here, since it's clearly Saturday morning at least in my neck of the woods...I've seen these cute little fill-ins on a couple of blogs and thought they looked kind of fun (I've always been a sucker for mad-libs) of course they're really intended to be answered on Friday, but...once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator

1. We need more laughter in the world.
2. I was clued into this blog on Emma from Glee's fashion style and it made me smile.
3. If you want something, be prepared to work for it.
4.Don't buy condoms at the dollar store because you'll probably need to get the pregnancy test too. (yes I saw both at my visit this week, some things are worth the money)
5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think if the money goes to kids and/or eating disorder clinics I'm all for it. (Can you imagine the people that would show up for that Tea Party)
6. Seeing the joy on little one's faces makes for a happy holiday.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include laundry(first load already in) and Sunday, I want to see the Broncos put their game back together!

And now for a little crafty goodness, I finished this layout at the crop last weekend and it makes me smile...

Kit: Studio Calico, Marketplace
Patterned Paper: BG, October Afternoon
Brad: Sassafrass
Alpha: Making Memories
Flower: Bella Blvd
Mist: Tattered Angels Dazzling Diamonds (I know you can't see it in the pic but the bow and plaid paper sparkles)

Happy Weekend!

Permission to play

Anyone who knows me knows I'm all about structure and rules and habits, I'm happiest when I can create rules...and uncomfortable when I'm around people who 'break the rules' except when in the crafty world, where I'm drawn to the work of the rule breakers. I watch them and think 'no way' will that turn out and it does. for them, not me or at least I thought so until I read through a class by one of the best...Miss Ronda Palazzari created for a Cocoa Daisy Online Crop.

I read these words on Sunday morning as the snow fell all around and thought gee that sounds familiar...
We cloud our minds with the "what ifs?" and self doubts.
What if i don't like what i do?
What if i mess up my paper?
I don't know how to do this.
I have never tried it before so i will just mess it up.

So lets clear those self doubts by just playing! After all, sometimes it is just about the journey. You may mess up. You may lose a few pattern paper scraps a long the way. Let go of those worries. We all make mistakes

And I did and boy am I glad I did...

I gave my permission to make a mess...and a mess I did


I'm not sure my desk will ever be the same...

I gave myself permission to play with all of my mists, stamps, paint, rub-ons, misc supplies and just play

And play I did and here's what I ended up with...ok so once color scheme started to emerge I went with it and then the theme emerged of positive messages to myself...now if only I could get my hands on one of those cute ATC printer's trays from 7 Gypsies to put all of my pretties in...

Thank you, thank you Ronda! Be sure to check out her class Loads of Layers and give yourself permission to play!

Kraft Girls Kits --- Reveal Day!

I feel like I've only scratched the surface with this kit, can't wait to get deeper in throughout the month...

I know if Sienna wasn't on this page, you might wonder if it was really a Christyn creation...I'm in the midst of a mist addiction (cheesy I know, but I couldn't resist the word play). Until this layout the mist had been contained to chipboard and flowers, but Houston challenged me to spray a whole layout and so I did, plus a little misted bubble wrap ala Rhonda.


This layout is all about 'mr. man's' visit to the vet after he caused a fight at doggie daycare. The report card is one of 6 that combine to make one super fun piece of paper.


I love so many things about this picture, it needed a special layout. I 'borrowed' Rhonda's idea and made flowers with the text paper from Jenni Bowlin included in this kit.


Finally one with a cute picture of my dad and Sienna 'driving the boat', I love the grin on his face.

Where oh where did my slick writer go?

Yay, I don't think there is a better feeling to finish with a project that has been in the works for a prolonged period of time. I started this little layout before my trip to Ak. I think I could have played it safe and mounted it on kraft or natural smooth and be done before I went to AK, but I really wanted to challenge myself to use a color background. Unfortunately the photos don't quite do it justice, so you may be saying 'she should have stuck with the kraft'...irl the cardstock is hot pink, super fun for summer.

This photo cracks me up, this is what Sienna's hair looks like post nap/pebbles styling when she manages to get the barrette or elastic out of her hair. I would journal all about it, if I could find my slick writer, off to buy a new one today, which is pretty much a guarantee I'll find my old one tomorrow. I have a couple of other 'favorite things' about this layout. First the butterfly, I used a spellbinder die to cut the butterfly and then dipped it in misted distress inks...want to do it yourself? Check out Jen McQuire's how-to video...careful it's addicting. Then I added glitter and sealed with super seal so the glitter would stay put. A little bling and some wire (salvaged from a bind it all project that went wrong) and this cutie comes to life. And just to show you how the ticket obsession is coming along, I layered the butterfly on top of a new SEI ticket that's glued to a Collage Press die cut ticket (it's a sickness, I tell you)


Speaking of things I can't get enough of...there's a Jenni Bowlin button in butterfly land, but was that enough...heck no! I cut three in half and used them along with small buttons to make a scallop border along the photo. Love how it turned out, no doubt this technique will show up on another layout at some point.


Supplies:
Patterned Paper: OA (stripe and polka dot), Studio Calico (Newsprint)
Embellies: Heidi Grace(pink journal square), SEI (bus ticket), Collage Press(blue ticket), Jenni Bowlin (buttons), AC (ribbon), Fancy Pants (colored buttons), Spellbinder(butterfly die cut), Kaiser (pink bling)

Hope your weekend was fantastic!

Let's pretend for a second that instead of the fabulous weather in Ak last week, it actually rained like I thought it would...I had planned to share these layouts, better late than never, right?

This one I did for Houston's birthday, I feel so blessed to have her as a friend.
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Collage Press
Alphas: QK BeautyQueen, others hand cut from SC paper
Embellies: Making Memories, Collage Press, Jenni Bowlin


This layout is all about Sienna showing off her body parts...




Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants
Journaling Spot: Ali E brush from Designer Digitals printed on Kraft, Making Memories tiny alphas
Embellies: Fancy Pants Buttons, Bazzill Flower


She loves stuffed animals, so when I found these barrettes at a gift shop I knew they would be perfect, good thing I didn't expect them to stay in her hair very long...


Patterned Paper: Sassafrass
Alphas: American Crafts thickers
Journaling: Ali E. for Designer Digitals printed on kraft
Embellies: Tim Holtz tickets




This pic is actually from a few years ago, but it could have easily been last week, in fact if I hadn't done this layout right before I left I probably would have come home with an identical photo. More cosmo early bird, I love this paper, it makes me so happy every time I look at it, in this one I fussy cut the pinwheel paper to make it eyelet like.



Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Embellies: October Afternoon stickers, Making Memories frame and buttons, AC ribbon
Journaling Spot: Collage Press

Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top

What's not to love about a sticker with that phrase? I took the plunge and bought a Studio Calico kit this month...ok you caught me I bought 2 kits...the main and the Cherry Pop add on...I rationalized the second kit knowing the Houston really wanted it and fear that she didn't have internet access while in the wilds of Yosimite. I was prepared to give it all away and then...it came with it's bright cherry stickers and papers and well...we split the kit. Main kit is full of Cosmo goodness which I usually have a hard time cutting into, but since I had special ordered a full kit of just that I had now problem punching a few circles out of one of the papers...and the circles kept coming. This is one of those layouts that completely evolved as elements came together. It started with a polka dot background, color photo, a fussy cut flower, and punched circles. Polka dots got switched for kraft and I had polka dot letters but then the gingham ribbon practically jumped on the page by itself and I needed more red out with the chipboard letters and in with stamped letters...which didn't match the colors in the photo...finally at around 9 it all came together and I love it.
Patterned Paper:Cosmo Cricket
Alphas: AC Tickers (ooh peacock chip, yum!) OA stamps
Embellies: Jenni Bowlin(chipboard buttons), K&Co Bling, OA(Cherry, Polka stickers), QK (rings, leaves from re-use set)
Ribbon: Michaels

Monday Quote

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. - Anthony J. D'Angelo

Sienna is always like sunshine in a bottle to me, even when she's sick like she was last week she can make me smile. Looking at her in these pics also helps me keep a positive attitude about the crappy weather(snow on April 27, hello!)


Patterned Paper: Making Memories(blue flower, green print), Imaginisce(yellow, orange)
Cardstock: Prism(nat. smooth) Bazzil(Red Swiss Dot)
Embellies: October Afternoon(journal card), Scenic Route (circle sticker), Making Memories(Ticket)
Alpha: Quickutz Sugarsweet love this font!

A layout laying around

I've had this one sitting in a stack to share for a while now...I think this layout may hold my record for the longest time to come together. I started the frames around New Year's and they sat until a couple of weeks ago when I put the rest of the pieces together. And looking at it here, I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, it is what it is at least until the next inspiration strikes...

Supplies:
Prism Cardstock
October Afternoon Patterned Paper
Scenic Route Chipboard frames, label stickers
American Crafts Ribbon and Alphabets

Catch Up post #1

As I was once again cleaning my scraproom(sometimes it feels like I spend every Sunday cleaning up, the good news with my new organization I can clean up and move on to new projects faster, maybe someday I'll clean-up after finishing a project instead of when I want to start one) I realized that I've finished several projects that I haven't posted here...many haven't even been photographed, thank goodness I have tomorrow off!

Here's a layout that was at the store for quite some time, but I never posted here. I love seeing how much Sienna has grown from Labor Day until now.


Love the combo of my all-time fav AC ribbon and this OA paper, it's as if the paper was made for the ribbon.

Stay tuned the rest of the week as I continue to get caught up...speaking of catching up, if you didn't read yesterday's post please keep reading, I hope you'll love the story.

Weekend Wind Down

oh gosh, it's hard to believe two weeks of vacation have flown by and I'm dreading heading back to work tomorrow. I feel like I could use one more week to really be ready and then again maybe not.

I had a great time with the creative ladies last night and I actually completed two layouts, that brings the annual tally for 2009 to 4, probably the only time this year that I'll have a completed a layout for each day. My goal for the year is 3 pages each week and more of course would be great.

Here's the first of the layouts from yesterday, I fell in love with these tights when I saw them in a specialty shop and even though the size should have been right, they were a bit to tight for baby girl and took a little bit of work by Mom to get her into them, after all that work how could I not take at least one picture of her in them. Equally as cute is this yummy paper from October Afternoon. I'm so glad I snagged an 8x8 pad before they flew out the door.the other is for an upcoming journaling challenge so you'll just have to wait for that one...

Happy New Year!

I hope your year is off to a great start...have you made any resolutions? I made just a few hopefully doable. One of them was to be creative in someway everyday...so far so good.

I finished a layout I started at Viv's on Tuesday, it will most likely be the Sunday sketch on the store blog on Sunday. I thought it was about time I posted something here first. I don't know what possessed me to so the diagonal strips...what a pain, never again...well, maybe...I do like the way they turned out. I just need to come up with a shortcut to get the angles correct, I know I have a protractor around here somewhere.


Then I was once again inspired by Becky and decided to take her challenge to create a page about things that make me happy using the scraps laying around. I had this vision of a page made of scalloped circles...sadly, the vision just didn't come together, truly I tried stapling and stitching and it just didn't work. Plan B...a scalloped circle border...much better although scanning and merging didn't do it justice. I'm not sure about the finished page...I think it's a bit ironic that it's about my scrapbook style, but not really my style. What I do appreciate it that it stretched me creatively to finish and that's what this year is all about (at least I hope it will be)
,

to you and yours...


thanks for sticking with me and this silly blog throughout the year, hope your holidays are everything you dream.

ps. thanks to Becky for the great gift wrap inspiration.

Monday Blues...

Anyone else have trouble getting back into the weekday grind today? Luckily I didn't have a lot on the agenda so I could ease into the routine slowly.

Did you make time to get crafty this weekend? I did :)

I don't know what it is, but the Bellas have driven me into a stamping craze. I think I've stamped more in the past month than I have in years. I decided that I needed to pace myself and buy one bella on Saturday. They need friends after all...(I wonder if that's what Hef said when he started to add bunnies to the mansion). I think I'm also going to make a rule that I have to ink the most recent bella, before I can buy a new one.

Here are a couple of my recent creations...Stamps:Flowabella
Ink: Versafine
Color Tools: Prismacolor pencils, AC Metallic Pen
Paper: Pink Paislee, Bazzil
Accents: May Arts Ribbon, Nestabilities Rectangles, Bling (note to self, Revolution and Bling are not a good combo)

Stamps: Bookwormabella(isn't she cute) Library Card from October Afternoon
Ink: Versacolor
Colors: Copics and Distress Inks
Paper: Crate Paper, Bazzil
Accents: AC Brads, Making Memories sticker, glossy accents are on her hair, glasses and the worm

This new obsession has had me blopping more and in the process I found this great blog dedicated to my new friends. I made this for this weeks challenge, not sure if I'm confident enough yet to send in...
Stamps: Prezzibella
Ink: Memento(yay! it finally made it's way to the store)
Colors: Copics
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Bazzil
Accents: Bling and glossy accents on the present

How about a few pages...

Not necessarily new layouts, and many have been posted different places at some point. Since not everyone visits everyplace and it's been a LONG while since I posted anything crafty I thought it would be a good idea and something easy to help me get my blog groove back.

This one is from way back on the fourth of July, I love the way the title turned out and what's not to love about teal polkadots.These photos are a few months old, but were perfect for this new paper from October Afternoon. Yummy!

I think this is one of my all time fav pics of Sienna (granted she's only 9 months old, but...)
New paper from Scenic Route...

and finally to prove that I don't just scrap kiddos...


Have a great week!

Not to Proud to Beg

Guess what? BHG doesn't send an email to let you know that you've made it the semi-final round. Crazy...the good news is that I made it this week! Thank goodness I checked...now the hard part I need votes, lots and lots of votes. I've already begged my core group of friends, co-workers and family. But I know there are a few blog lurkers around or maybe you just stubled upon my little space here on the World Wide Web in either case would you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE vote for my little layout. You can VOTE HERE once a day until next Wednesday. Thanks for your support...

Think I forgot about Video Thursday, not a chance...

In the spirit of competition, I bring you this gem from the world of Japanese games shows, gotta love them