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!

Monday Quote

The only reason for being alive is being fully alive.

- D.H. Lawrence

This is another page I finished this weekend with new papers from SEI, I loved the purples, greens and aquas in this line, so invigorating...if a scrapbook paper can be invigorating.

As I've said before, I love that I have smart friends who come up with crazy challenges to stretch us all creatively. This week's journaler's challenge was to journal with a diamante poem. If you already know what this is and you're not part of the challenge then you're a few steps ahead of me. Thankfully the internet comes to the rescue again.

I broke a few of the rules...go figure...but I'm happy with the result

A special poem about Sienna.

SHE

happy, small

smiling, laughing, chatting

baby girl casts spells

walking, playing, amusing

energetic, magical

SPRITE

Supplies:

Patterned Paper: SEI Bridgeport

Cardstock: Bazzil

Alphas: Quickutz Diesel, Making Memories, American Crafts

Embellishments: SEI and American Crafts

Weekend Wind Down

Even with extra time off and a clean house the weekend seemed to fly by. I wonder if that's a sign that I need a vacation.

I had a great visit with my mother's cousin, Sue. She was here for a stop over visit with me and her other cousin, Don, who lives in the Springs. Sue's mother Sally was one of my favorite people, my heart broke when I heard she had died last year. Sue told me the story Sally's peaceful death and as hard as it was to hear it was also a relief to know she died so peacefully, really the way we all hope our loved ones will pass.

I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and creating, here's a layout I did for the weekly sketch post for the store blog. Not sure why I picked this paper, I could have easily used the polka dot side, but something about the flower called to me, I guess I wanted to challenge myself just a bit.


All supplies are SEI except cardstock(bazzil)

Hope you have a great week.

I love...

that I have smart friends who challenge me on so many levels. Who would have thought we would take a journey back to HS English for a journaler's challenge? Thanks to Ducky we all had a review of point of view and tenses. My version, second person future tense. I had to really think about it, I almost chickened out and took an easier route (first person, past tense anyone?) and then I printed these great pics of Sienna and my mom and mom's iPhone. I can only imagine how much technology Sienna will see and as she figured out how to pull up her own photo at 1 yr, I'm going to bet she'll have some solid skills in technology.

and speaking of friends, can I just say how happy I am my friends Jon, Stephen, Serena, Dan and all my other TV friends are back from their winter break and my Tivo is going back to work.

Crafty Goodness...

One thing is for sure, if the Broncos continue their 'non-winning' ways I'll have lots of extra time to work on my paper crafts.

This weekend was very productive, after demo-ing four different cards(yep four cards) for the frenzy I set to work on some personal projects today.

First up, my sketch for the store blog, I didn't waste any time putting the pics of Sienna in her pumpkin hat on a layout. This one takes me back to my color blocking days. At least I'm not afraid of patterned paper any more. (and really who would be afraid of these happy trees?)


Then it was time to play with my new bellas, I brought Glideabella(how could I resist a skater girl) and Snowbunnybella home with me on Saturday along with some new Copic colors that finally made their way back to the store.

I needed a little inspiration to get going so I started with a lift of a card I found at SCS. You can see the original here. This one had me digging into my scrap stash and finding some BG from Xmas last year and some Wild Asparagus polka dots from long ago. I used the 'Curls' goosebumpz from Quickutz on the top panel. You can't really tell from the scan, her collar, cuffs and skates have glitter on them.

Then I was off and running on my own. I love this aqua snowflake paper from SEI's Glitzmas line so I was determined to color the bella with complimentary colors. I love the way Copics blend and shade. For this one I used flock for a furry collar and cuffs.
But wait there's one more...I finally got my hands on some Versadazzle ink (my fav new product from CHA this summer, YAY!) so I stamped the CHF geometric flower on the red with the champagne versadazzle, it ends up with a subtle gold glitter. Then I stamped 'Snow Bunny' on kraft and on the red AC Damask paper(love this paper!) Then, just like I used to do with my Barbies the Bella got dressed in her smashing coat. Again flock for the hood and cuffs. A little Cosmo Cricket journal spot and the card is done. Hope your week is off to a great start...

A few new LOs

I totally meant to share these earlier in the week, but just never got around to it. I was inspired by scrap store buddy Tara to do some winter photos. The first is my favorite the boys are so cute when they play in the snow.
I also scrapped the pics from the first of three big snow storms. This one was a week before Christmas, so much snow the pics don't really do it justice.
Finally, I had some pics from a trip to the zoo a few months ago.