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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

this idea by Beth Proudfoot! Totally stealing this for goodie bags for my boys for Halloween!

The Scrap Review has a great post about Color Core'dinations new line with Stacy Julian. I'm loving these "Happy Colors". I'm especially excited about the embossed words paper.
Finally, I am stalking the poor ladies at Archiver's hoping that the Matilda mini-deck will finally arrive. {Bonus-the 30% off coupon showed in my email today too! Woot!}
Oh, Matilda, you will be mine!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I'll Take the Scallops, Please...

Well, not really. I'm more of a lobster girl. But I do love the Stampin' Up Scallop punch. I mean serious, serious love. Use it all the time. On layouts. On cards. On crafts. That poor thing gets used to pieces. Gonna need to buy a back-up, because if it ever breaks I might just cry.
Christmas Kisses layout Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Basic Grey Patterned Paper, CTMH Ribbon
Used it a lot on this layout of my nephews from their Christmas card. By the way, how genius is that photo? My sister in law is an amazing photographer, and lucky me, she is taking our boys' pictures this Friday! Woo-hoo!
Here's a close-up of the scallops:
I think I might just go back and use my Slice to make a title for this one-"Christmas Kisses". Yup, that's exactly what this needs! :)
What's your favorite punch?

Friday, September 24, 2010

A Pirate's Life For Me


A few years ago, the twins were way into pirates. Loved everything about them. So it made total sense that for their birthday, we'd have a pirate themed party. The boys and their friends had so much fun "walking the plank" and "finding the pirate's booty" that I couldn't fit it all onto one two-page layout.

So it's a four page spread.

That's okay though. They love looking at those pages and talking about that day.
This layout was my first time covering chipboard letters with patterned paper (the ARGH), I think it turned out pretty cool.
Gotta say that I am also a huge fan of the font that I used for the journaling. Alright, I'll admit it, this layout is one of my favorites too. It's just so piratey. Argh!:) Have a great weekend!

Pirate's Life layout supplies: Bazzill cardstock, OTC patterned paper & die cuts, CTMH ink, Creating Keepsakes chipboard letters, Studio G alpha stamps

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Head on Over to....

Write.Click.Scrapbook.

Today {and every Thursday} is giveaway day! This week's giveaway is extra special awesome because it features my friend Monika's work. And if you don't win, you can always find something you love at Monika's etsy site here.
{Hint: There's a coupon code over at Write.Click.Scrapbook. for any one item in her etsy store.}

While you are out and about, stop on over to Ella Publishing, where they just released their newest e-book, Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Boys.

I love Ella's e-Books! As a Momma of four boys, this one is a must have for me!
Those are my Thursday picks.....hmmmnnnnn...maybe this will be a new blog feature. :)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Scrapbook Room Revealed and Ribbon Storage Idea

Well, here it is-- the unveiling of the scrapbook room. Before you see the pictures, please keep in mind, I have no flooring down (no carpet or rugs-that will happen after the next tax return-maybe!), and I haven't had a chance to decorate just yet. Once I get everything decorated and the flooring down I'll take some more pictures, but this is what I am working with for now.
View from doorway
 I have a good amount of space in the room-on one wall is my huge built-in bookcase and the newly refinished antique desk and on the other is my JetMax cubes with my paper storage. The end wall has my Making Memories embellishment cabinet and opens up into a storage room. The opposite wall (that you can't see) is blank and has an extra chair propped against it right now for when one of the boys come down to visit with me.
Paper storage

All of my paper storage is in Jet Max cubes. These were purchased one at a time, over time with 40 and 50% off coupons at Michael's, and on clearance at Target. I'd like to eventually get about 3 more. I have 2 for 12 x 12 patterned paper and one for 12 x 12 cardstock. All of my Thickers, letters stickers, dimensional stickers, and sticker sheets are in the drawers. All of my 6x6 pads, mat stacks, etc. are in the open top cubes. Albums are lined up on top. My Cuttlebug is acting as a bookend. :) My most recent magazine issue are in magazine holders on the shelves to the left. The back issues are stored in the built-in bookcase.
Built-in Bookcase
This built-in bookcase was designed and built by my Dad. It was originally created to be used as my sons' playroom-which is way it isn't quite big enough for 12 x12 albums. But it is perfect for my HUGE magazine and idea book collection! It also stores old year ooks, photo albums, memory dock photo storage cases, and much more! Love it!
My Labor of Love
Ah....my desk. My labor of love. I worked so hard to bring this back to life. You can see what she used to look like here on my family blog. It turned out even better then I had hoped. So much room to work. My Making Memories tool caddy sits on top along with my ribbon storage (which we'll get to in a minute). I lined smaller Jet Max shelves along the top with things I use most often like like pens, markers, inks, adhesives, etc. In the drawers are a treasure trove of supplies-punches, Cuttlebug folders, stamps, all hidden away. I also have (not shown) two wood butcher blocks that pull out (like a lawyer might have to sign papers) for even more space to work. Awesome.
This desk is a dream-holds so much stuff!
That glass fishbowl you see sitting in the upper left corner of my desk holds my ribbon collection. I had no idea how much ribbon I had until I started moving my things. I think when things are out of sight, they are out of mind and just don't get used. And that was definitely the case with my ribbon stash. 
 
I was brainstorming ideas to get them onto my desk but not taking up a ton of space when I saw these baby wood clothespins at Michaels. I used my 50% off coupon to get 50 of them for less than $2 ( I had to go back and buy another pack a day later-I have a lot of ribbon). We had the glass fishbowl on hand from Chuck and the boys' adventures in fishkeeping. I just wrapped each ribbon around the clothespin and threw it into the bowl. I love that it adds a touch of color and is very functional. For about $4, I have all of my ribbon neatly organized and displayed where I will actually use it! Love it!


So there it is, my new scrap room. It still needs a little bit of work but I am very excited to have my own space to work in.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Outfit and Doing the Raindance...

Not a lot of creating is going on at my house right now. For a couple of reasons. First, not sure about the rest of the country, but in southwest Ohio (we live about 1/2 hour northwest of Cincinnati) it hasn't rained in like a month. We've a had a spotty shower here and there but no real, all day, soaking rain. And I just seem to be in a craftier mood when it rains. And second (and more importantly), I am relocating my scraproom to a new, bigger area in the basement of our house. I am really excited about it. I have a dedicated area that is just for crafting. They only bummer is that my Silhouette has to stay upstairs in the office since it needs the computer to work. That's okay though. Once I have everything semi-organized, I'll take some pictures to share here on the blog. I am most excited about having a desk. I have been scrapping on the floor. (Or the kitchen table.) For a long time. I'm giddy just thinking about it.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this one page layout of my son Jackson. Jackson takes great joy in creating his own pajama outfits. And this one, well.... it was definitely original. He wore it ALL THE TIME last winter. I think that jersey needs to be retired.
Supplies: Cardstock by Bazzill, Papers, stickers, letters, die-cuts, Archiac by Basic Grey, Journal Paper by Making Memories
Next week, I'll share my super cute ribbon storage. For the record, I had no idea I had so much ribbon until I packed it all up to move-oh boy!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Buttons Are A Girl's Best Friend

Sorry for being MIA. I've been having some issues with migraines (yuck), I'm hoping that some new medicine and some diet changes resolve them pretty quickly.
Today I want to talk about an embellishment that I really, really love-buttons. Some girls like bling, some girls like ribbon, some girls like paint, but I like buttons. Don't get me wrong I like those other things too, but more often than not, I reach for my buttons to finish off a layout.
Cannonball Layout, supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket printed papers, stickers, and diecuts, buttons-sewing aisle at Wal-Mart
That's a lot of buttons on one layout. I really wanted to emphasis the wave in the paper-what better way to do that than with buttons. It was super easy and fast. I just grabbed some glue dots and got to work. I find the glue dots are the best adhesive when working with buttons-I like to use the kind that come on the roll like this:













Here's a close-up of the button wave:
I bought that whole bag of buttons for $0.99 at Wal-Mart in the sewing aisle. I still had a TON left over when I was done with this layout. I rarely buy my buttons in the scrapbook section-they are just much more affordable in other places.
I also like to save the extra buttons that come with shirts and sweaters. It is well documented that I am not going to be sewing anything on. I have a little jar in my closet just for that purpose.
A few more button layouts for your viewing pleasure:
Sprinkler Fun supplies: Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts letter stickers

I love this paper on the next layout so much I could marry it, if I wasn't already married, and it wasn't paper. But you know what I mean!
Thanksgiving 2009, supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned paper, American Crafts letter stickers, Jillibean buttons
My challenge for you today is to use buttons in at least one layout or card and post your link in the comments-I'd love to see what you created!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Journaling's The Thing...

I have to admit, I'm not as good with journaling as I should be. More often than not, I will work on layouts at a crop night and put a sticky note that says "needs journaling". And then the layout sits in the same page protector with the same sticky note for who knows how long.
But here's the thing, I really truly believe that journaling is one of the most important aspects of scrapbooking and memory-keeping. It is the reason I started this hobby-to tell a story with words and pictures. So I am recommitting myself to making sure the journaling gets done.
As you can see, the journaling is a HUGE part of these next couple of  layouts. Without it, the pictures don't always make sense.
Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, AC Thickers letter stickers, Stampin' Up cardstock (white), CTMH ink
The picture shows Jackson in a Batman outfit. Is he playing dress-up? Getting ready for Halloween? What is he doing? Well, the journaling goes on to explain Jackson's habit of wanting to be called by a character's name.

The picture is cute...but without the journaling, this story might have been lost.

On this next layout, you could probably tell that the kids and Chuck went to some college basketball games.
Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Stampin' Up cardstock (white), Kentucky emblem-Kat's Pause bookstore
But would you know about the undying passion that the men in this family have for Kentucky basketball?
Didn't think so!
If Shakespeare were a scrapbooker, I believe he would have said, "The journaling's the thing...that will tell the story."