I've Been Simpsonized...

The Art Journaling class is really getting interesting. We are now finished with the background stage and have moved on to the collage stage. I don't have any collages done yet, but I'm excited to get to work on it!

Martha Bonneau's Altered Book class ended today and it has been great! She has so many great and unique ideas - I can't wait to create my altered book!

I also have my new November Crop Suey kit to play with which is GORGEOUS and FUN and INSPIRING!

And then of course there's the Project Catwalk challenge which is ENORMOUS, and I HAVE to get going on that! I've got some ideas brewing...

So what did I do on a night like tonight when I have wayyyyy lots of projects to do? How do I prioritize you ask? Well, my night went like this: First I took a nap. Then, I got up, ate some cereal, and then I Simpsonized myself and my cats:
That was productive, eh? If you want to Simpsonize yourself, go here.

Tomorrow is a new day and I fully expect to be focused and ready to create!!! (I believe in self-affirmations!)

Plus, a new challenge goes up at Scrapping Across The Universe! and then on Saturday, the new Crop Suey kits go on sale - these will go fast so head on over and grab them!

I will leave you with a quote I saw at Ali Edwards' blog today that I just love:

Learn to write about the ordinary. Give homage to old coffee cups, sparrows, city buses, thin ham sandwiches. Make a list of everything ordinary you can think of. Keep adding to it. Promise yourself, before you leave the earth, to mention everything on your list at least once in a poem, short story, newspaper article.
~Nathalie Goldberg

Until tomorrow fellow scrappers - I wish you new ideas that make you excited to get up in the morning!

Project Catwalk: Finals - Week Two...

The list came out today for the top ten scrappers that will be going on to week three of the finals for Project Catwalk. I feel extremely excited and lucky to be on the list! The last challenge was to design a layout with supplies and photos that were sent to each participant - so we all had the exact same things to work with. The kit was an interesting mix of things that really didn't seem to go together at all - (I think that was meant to be the challenge of it). The only thing you could use that wasn't supplied for you was a black journaling pen and alpha stamps or stickers. Here's what I came up with:

The pink stars were cut from a "While you were Out" sheet, and the word "heart" was hand-drawn on the back side of the Birdie Sassafras paper that is in the bottom right-hand corner.

I discovered that I absolutely LOVE the funky black and white vintage-style Jenni Bowlin paper we got (used here for the background) - I simply MUST get a bunch of that for future layouts!

I will leave you with another sneak peek of the upcoming Crop Suey kit "Gelato." It will be available for purchase starting November 1st!
P.S. There are more sneak peeks of both November kits at the Crop Suey blog... Come on over and check it out!

I'll be chatting with ya again tomorrow! Until then - may the sun shine in your world no matter what the weather!

Another Sneaky Peek...

As promised, here's another sneak peek of the November Crop Suey kit:
Today is my day to blog over there and I have a fun project to share. Come on over and say hello!

Jason Mraz, Truth or Dare, and a Sneak Peek!

The new song at Scrapping The Music this week is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Can I just say that I have totally fallen in love with this song and can't stop singing it! The lyrics are awesome and there are so many scrapping possibilities - I think I could have done about six layouts to this one! Here's what I came up with:
I used the SiStv "Social Butterfly" collection, plus a photo of my arm, and one of the view out of our plane window on honeymoon two! The black stamping is done with Stampin Up "Newsprint" alpha stamps - one of my faves.

We played Truth or Dare over at SiS this weekend and I took a couple of dares. The first one was simply to scrap either a 6 x 12 layout or an ATC. I chose the ATC and had a little fun with one of my favorite paper lines called "Revolution" by Luciane Folch. Plus some basic grey alphas:
The second dare I took was to make a 6 x 8 layout with two patterned papers, one photo, some stickers, and you had to use "Rain" in the title. I used the same groovy paper line for this one, plus a fabric cloud:
Last but not least - as promised, I have a sneaky peek of the November kit from Crop Suey. Here it is:
I know that doesn't give too much away, but I will be back tomorrow with another sneak peek, so stay tuned!

I wish you a week full of sunshine and creativity!

P.S. I hope you come on over to Scrapping The Music and play along with us!

What I Learned at Scrapmania...

I had a great time with my girlfriends at Scrapmania yesterday. We laughed, chatted and shopped; and it was great catching up on what's going on in each other's lives. We, for the most part, only see each other once a month at mania, so there's always a lot to catch up on.

The bad news is I didn't get any good creating done at all! LOL! I decided to toss the idea I had planned for my Honeymoon Two mini-album, and go with creating an 8 x 10 album with a funky, memorabilia-inspired theme. Only thing is - I stink at doing more than one thing at once, so designing while I chat doesn't work so well! I spent eleven hours - YEP YOU HEARD RIGHT - ELEVEN HOURS - working on mainly just the cover, and I think I am going to start over! HA!

So, I learned this: Never go to mania planning to design anything. Mania is for chatting with the girls and doing mindless work, such as mass-producing ATCs for swaps and such. ATCs that I have already designed at home.

I bought some really fun paper tho! A new line from Colorbok called "Lucky You." Isn't it fun?



12 sheets for only $4.99! I thought that was a screamin' deal!

So, today I have some fun creating to do - two Truth or Dare layouts, from a SiS game that's going on this weekend, and then I am just going to play with my new November Crop Suey kit!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new Scrapping The Music Layout, and a sneak peek of the aforementioned Crop Suey November kit!

Take care and happy scrapping!

Fall Inspiration

"And it's a great day to be alive, you know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes..."
~Travis Tritt

Some fall photos for you this morning - it's such a beautiful time of year!




I'm off to an all-day crop. I should have lots to share when I get back. Have a super sunny Saturday everyone!

Swapping and Scrapping and Cleaning up Cat Paws...

We had a little "incident" today in the scraproom. Willie thought it would be entertaining to walk across my wet art journal page - even though I thought I was so smart by putting it up on top of my box of gaffer tapes where I thought it would be safe from all cat activity. Apparently not! I didn't see him do it, but he jumped up on my lap with three turquoise feet - AARGH! Not only did I have on my new light pink souvenir "Dollywood" hoodie, (which I just got on honeymoon two and would rather not get full of paint just yet), but my main concern was him licking his feet to get it off and getting sick! Anyway, we had a little struggle while I held him upside down in the baby position, got some wet paper towels and went to work on said feet. He is fine now and our relationship has been repaired (LOL) but his front paw is a bit stained I'm afraid:
When I told Michael about the incident he remarked that I should expect no less from a scrapcat that enjoys getting involved in all my creative endeavors! I guess he is right! I learned my lesson though. Now when I paint a page it will go safely hidden behind a closed door or other place that is more "cat-proof" until it is fully dry! :0)

Renee got her Kawaii swap box from me yesterday, so it is safe to show the full picture now! Here's what I sent to her. I'm telling you this kawaii stuff is so cute it's hard not to go crazy buying it all up! My favorite things were the fabric (at the bottom of the pic), the deery lou purse (top right) and the monokoru boo photo album (right in the middle above the Hello Kitty bandaids - it's white). This was such a fun swap to do! Renee is a great partner to have because we tend to like the same things - so she is easy to shop for! I should be getting my box from her soon so I will post a pic of that when it comes.
My November Crop Suey kit came in the mail today and WOW OH WOW is it full of fun stuff! It just might be my favorite kit yet! I hope to be able to post a sneak peek soon, but for now think vintage, whimsical and colorful! Yeay!!!
I am excited because tomorrow is my monthly all-day crop with my scrapping friends. I do most of my scrapping at home, so I'm really grateful to have this regular time to get together with my girlfriends and chat and scrap to our heart's content. I am thinking of doing a honeymoon two book along the lines of Ali Edwards current "A Week In The Life" project. I love her clean designs that focus on photography and story. This will be something very different for me, but I'm all about trying new things and it seems perfect to tell the story of our adventure! If you want to try this project too go here.

So what scrappy stuff do you have planned for the weekend?

Totally Diggin on This Class...

So, I'm taking this class on Art Journaling with Dina Wakely, and I'M LOVING IT! We are only on week one (of four), but I'm having loads of fun! We are working with gesso and creating backgrounds - here's what I've done so far:

I've never worked with gesso before, but I can tell you I will be buying it by the gallon now! It's funny cuz I have heard about it, but I always thought it was just like white paint, so what's the point? But NOW I GET IT! It's got this great texture to it! My mind is reeling with ideas - the possibilities are endless! I think you can still sign up for the class, so if you are interested in art journaling, no matter what your experience level - come on over and join in - it's a totally non-intimidating atmosphere and Dina is a fab instructor!

Come Visit at Crop Suey!

I'm late in posting this today, but it's my day to blog over at Crop Suey - come on over and say hi! I have projects to share and I'd love to hear from you!

Kid Rock's at Scrapping The Music...

Hey everyone - the new song is up at Scrapping The Music and it's a super fun one! It's "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock! Here's the layout I came up with for it...

When I heard the line "She'll forever hold a spot inside my soul", I thought of my dog Dacotah. He's been gone since January of 2006, but I still miss him so much. He was a big teddy bear - so gentle. He loved hugs and long slow walks - he would stop and smell every flower and look at every bird. This picture was taken at the local dog park in the spring of 2005.

The title is hand drawn and cut from cardstock, and the hearts are handdrawn and cut from handmade paper and vintage wallpaper.

I also finished another layout with the September Crop Suey "Over The Rainbow" kit. I finally busted into the handmade paper with the little forest critters on it - I love that stuff! I will be posting it on Tuesday over at the Crop Suey blog - I hope you will come visit!

Speaking of Crop Suey - have you seen the new challenge blog that co-owner Bree started? It's called "Scrapping Across The Universe" and the challenges are all inspired by the movie "Across the Universe". Looks like it's going to be alot of fun! I haven't seen the movie, but it's next on my Netflix queue now!

Alright - I'm off to work on something - not sure what yet - hmmm. Maybe I should take my sister's advice - she says to just put my pics upside down on the floor and just pick one and scrap that. Sounds like a good plan.

So what are you working on? If you are looking for something fun - come on over to Scrapping The Music and play along with us!

I'm Getting Back In The Swing of Things!

I've been creating this weekend and having a lot of fun! Just wanted to share a few projects I've been working on.

First - I finished my 1960's ATCs for the Decades swap that Bree (hotmama) is hosting over at SiStv. I managed to make them all from one tie-dye t-shirt. I kinda like the way they look all together:
Next - I made a pair of earrings from guitar pics I got at the Gibson Store/Factory in Nashville:
They were super simple to make. I just punched a hole in each pic with my crop-a-dile, then attached a jump-ring and a couple beads and wa-la! Souvenirs ready to dangle from my ears! Yeay!

P.S. It was really fun to see the guitarmakers busy at work at the Gibson factory! Here's a pic I took when we were there:


And last but not least is something I made awhile ago, but I couldn't post anywhere, because it was a surprise for Michael! It's the one-year anniversary card I made for him - I gave it to him at our cabin in the Smokies on our anniversary (October 13th):
The picture was taken on our wedding day, right before the ceremony. It's hard to believe it's been a year already!

So, I'm off to create more stuff, but first I want to remind you to stop by Scrapping The Music and check out the slide show for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" tomorrow morning! I sooo wanted to do a layout for that song, but it just didn't work out with the vacation and all. Tomorrow evening the new challenge will be up and I did do a layout for that one - it's a fun song. I hope you will want to play along!

Til tomorrow - happy scrapping everyone!

Kawaii Swap Sneak Peek for Renee...

I'm having so much fun getting back into the swing of scrapland today! I'm finally rested up and raring to go! My first project has been getting my Kawaii Swap ready to mail to my partner, who just happens to be my sister Renee (ReneeInLA on SiSTV)!

So Renee, here's your sneak peek! First, I couldn't find any good 12 x 12 Kawaii paper, so I decided to make my own from some super cute Hello Kitty gift wrap, and guess who helped???
Yes, my little Johnmeister was very interested in the whole Hello Kitty paper project. We had a talk about him not wrinkling it, but, well, the temptation was too great. I think I was able to salvage it pretty much, but if you see a wrinkle here and there - just know it was a wrinkle of love from Johnny!

Next here's a teeny tiny sneak peek of the pile of goodness! You can't see much on this pic cuz I don't want to spoil the surprise! After Renee receives it I will post the whole picture.
I think this was one of my favorite swaps EVER! I can't wait til you get your box Renee! I hope you like it!

Now to box it up and get it to the post office before 5 pm. Wish me luck!

Music, Mountains and Memories...

We are back from our Tennessee Adventure and we had a blast! I am exhausted and inspired - my favorite way to be. I always figure if you are exhausted and inspired - you are really livin! Here are a few pics from our trip:

We visited the Gibson Guitar Showplace/factory in Nashville,

Felt like a part of history at the Grand Ole Opry's 83rd Birthday Bash!
Relaxed at a cabin in the Smokey Mountains

(this was the view from our deck)
saw a black bear at Smokey Mountain National Park
survived some CRAZY WILD ROLLER COASTER rides, ate fried green tomatoes, learned from old-time crafters, and listened to some awesome bluegrass at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge (that's Dolly Parton's Amusement Park),
enjoyed the gorgeous fall colors on our drive back to Nashville,

and stayed our last night in downtown Nashville.

It was an absolutely wonderful trip, and the perfect way to celebrate our first year of marriage. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I hope you all had a good week too!

I'm off for Honeymoon Two, but first some projects to share...

Hey there fellow artsy types - just wanted to let you know that I won't be blogging for a week cuz I'm off to the Smokey Mountains for my second honeymoon with Michael! We were married just a year ago, but we decided then that we were going to go on a honeymoon every year - and we're doing it! Here's a pic from our first honeymoon - October 2007 in California:
We both have really busy lives, and Michael works a swing shift, so it's going to be a treat to have a whole week to spend together - 24/7! No one can make me laugh like Michael can! We are going to keep a journal and take lots of pics and make another goofy video like we did last year - Yeay!

Before I leave tho - I want to share my new October Crop Suey projects with you. I posted these on the Crop Suey blog yesterday, but in case you missed them, here they are again:

So, I've been making my own calendar/planner pages right in my art journal this year; and I made my October page with Bree's "Want Smore?" October kit. The colors are perfect for fall! Here's what it looks like:
Everything is from the kit, except for the plaid ribbon, white cardstock and brown paint. The 13 in bingo numbers represents the date of our 1st wedding anniversary! I added white doodles around some of the title letters and put them on a piece of the map that came with the kit, just to make them pop a little more. The leaves, acorns and cars are cut from the patterned paper, and I added some brown paint to the left side and around the edges to give it a more distressed feel. It's so much more fun using a calendar when you can add your own personality to it!

The second project I did with the kit is this ATC card. I got the idea that I want to do a series of ATC cards - one to represent each Crop Suey kit that I work with as a design team member; and this is the first one I've made:
Everything is from the kit except the plain cardstock and the word stamps. I think I will probably punch a hole in one corner and string them onto a ring of some sort.

Here's a layout I just finished tonight. This is a pic from our family vacation this year. It's my hubby Michael and his daughter Becca. I just love this pic of the two of them:
Everything is from the kit, except the green thickers and the plain cardstock. I have been just loving using bits and pieces of the map page in this kit. Here, I used them as part of the circle flowers on the left-hand side of the layout. The strip of black and white stripes is cut from the packaging that the alphas came in. I couldn't resist - I LOVE the design of it, and I personally believe that you can add a little black and white stripe to any design to give it a little extra pop. Oh, and I just noticed that the strip is crooked, but I'm choosing to believe that adds character to the layout, right? Umm - yeah. :0)

That's it for now, but there will be plenty to share when I get back - I'd love it if you check in next Wednesday.

Til then - have a great week and happy scrapping!

Come on over to Crop Suey and Visit!

Hey everyone! How's it going? It's Tuesday again and I'm blogging over at Crop Suey today. I've got four different projects to share - all made with the Crop Suey kits. I'd love it if you stop by and say hi!

Music, Dreams and the 1960's...

The new challenge is up at Scrapping The Music! This week ends our series of 1980's songs with "The Tide is High" by Blondie. There are some great layouts over on the site - plus we have two new design team members - check it out! I hope you decide to play along!

It's been a crazy fun weekend of creating, and it's not over yet! I have a couple of things to share with you. The first is my latest art journal page. I had a funny dream and felt compelled to get it down in my journal:
I pasted newspaper to my page, then painted it with acrylic paint, and added the words with stazon ink and used a sharpie for the drawing. Simple, but it creates just the effect I wanted. :0) With all this happy mail that's been coming and going, I've developed a special fondness for mail time - perhaps that is what this is about? LOL.

I also finally finished the design for the decades ATC Swap - 1960's edition. This was a lot of fun!
First I adhered a piece of tie-dye t-shirt to the card and stapled in place. Then stamped the peace sign and word with stazon (love that stuff!). The bird is just drawn on white paper - my rendition of the original bird that was on the Woodstock posters, his legs are fine-point slick writer.
It was so hard to narrow down what to do these cards about - I was a kid in the 60's and there were so many things about that time that will really stay in my mind and heart forever! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! -- Now I just have to make 15 of them!

Here's wishing you each a wonderful Sunday evening!

Saturday Nite Continues...

Okay, so I found the cats. They were indeed upstairs snoozing in the dark quiet of the livingroom. Perhaps the whole staying up til 5am this morning wore them out? Michael always teases me that the crazy hours I keep exhausts the cats. They always like to be here with me when I scrap. All that fun stuff to bat around you know. So anyway, Willie is up now and sitting here on my lap as I type.

It's past the submission deadline, so it's okay to post our Project Catwalk layouts for week eleven - here's mine:

The picture is of one of my favorite photos I've ever taken. I saw this albino squirrel outside a nursing home for young people with disabilities. I was early for an appointment with a client, so I was sitting outside in the garden area. His beauty struck me, as did the parallel between his life and the lives of my client and others at the nursing home. Labeled as different, but beautiful in their uniqueness. I've wanted to make a page like this ever since.

The tree is made from plain brown cardstock. We weren't allowed to use patterned paper this week, so I drew the woodgrain with colored pencil and a journaling pen. The heart is made from fabric. The alphas are stickers, except for the word "beautiful," which is stamped onto a magazine page and cut out. The butterflies were hand-drawn on the same magazine page.

The border and doodling is done with black and white journaling pens.

I think it's time to turn on the tv and get a midnite snack...

It's World Card Making Day!

Hey everyone - how's your weekend going? Mine's going great! I got my haircut today, stopped at the thrift store again - resisted buying anything (which was a HUGE accomplishment, since they had some fabulous fabric, but I'm really trying to save my money for our trip), and had a nice telephone chat with my mom on the way home! Now I'm in for the evening and the cats and I are having a scrapaganza! (actually I don't see the cats, I wonder where they are? - note to self - look for the cats. They must be upstairs snoozing.)

We had a Round Robin Party over at the Shop Crop Suey blog tonight in celebration of World Card Making Day! Here's what I made:
I used mostly stuff from the September "Over The Rainbow" Crop Suey kit. If you've never played a Round Robin game, it's a lot of fun. What happens is - the first player starts the project and adds a couple of things. Then the next person has to add those same things (or something equivalent), and then add onto that for their turn. It keeps going til the last person finishes the project. It's fun to see what different things everyone comes up with when following the same directions! If you want to see how it went, head on over to the blog and click on comments, you can see the thread.

So, I'm off to make more stuff! I had another coffee cooler drink this evening and I'm rarin' to go!

Oh, and it won't be long before we can post our layouts for this week's Project Catwalk! I think it's less than a half-hour to go! I will be back here to post mine later tonight!

See you soon!

Thrift Store Treasures

"Be very gentle with yourself. Creative recovery is a healing process. You are capable of great things on Tuesday, but on Wednesday you may slide backward. This is normal."
~Julia Cameron

Hey everyone, it's Friday! Yeay! I went to my favorite thrift store yesterday and found all these goodies for a total of $7.10:
Aren't they fab? That's a whole roll of woodgrain contact paper for $.29! The tie-dye t-shirt is going on my 60's ATC swap cards, and how about those retro playing cards - 50 cents for two decks! I bought the halloween cards not to send to anyone, but for the funky images! Thrift stores are so inspiring!

I was going to post this last night, but I laid down for a nap after dinner and didn't wake up til this morning! What is that about???!!! 14 hours of sleep! I guess I was tired!!!

I still haven't done my Project Catwalk layout for SiSTV, so that will be my project for tonight. The rest of the weekend will be spent making more projects with the October Crop Suey kit, completing my 60's ATCs and getting ready for our trip! How about you - do you have scrapping time this weekend? Whatcha gonna create?

Oh hey, Tracy is giving away a RAK at the Crop Suey blog. The winner will be announced tomorrow. Head on over and check it out...

Oh and speaking of Crop Suey - there's a World Card Making Party over there tomorrow (which is World Card Making Day!). Come on over for some fun! I will be there as much as time allows. I am getting my haircut in preparation for honeymoon 2 (which is coming up next week!), but other than that I should be around!

Take care everyone - and happy weekend!

It's Calendar Changing Day!

"Adventures don't begin until you get into the forest. That first step is an act of faith."
~Mickey Hart - Grateful Dead Drummer

There's always something fun about the first of the month. Among other things, I love being able to turn the calendars over and see the new picture! It's the little things that make me smile...

Today was the big reveal at Crop Suey! The October kits are for sale and they look fabulous! I have Bree's kit, but I hadn't seen Camille's kit yet, and it's wayyyyy cool! It's got two of my favorite things - owls and lots of pink! And Bree's kit is absolutely crazy funky cool! Here's a pic I took of the kit when I got it:
You can't see everything in the photo, but there's a whole lot of funky fun going on here! I love the woodgrain alphas, and that marshmallow notepaper! I think my favorite piece of paper in the whole kit is that bird on the branch (hence me putting it in the middle of the photo). Anyway, there are better pics on the website - head on over and see for yourself!

In other news, the new challenge is up for week one of the Project Catwalk finals at SiSTV. We've got a list of supplies we can use and other than that it's pretty wide open! No more bonus product points, no more getting it in within the first 24 hours for extra points. They just want to see what we can do design-wise, which makes it really fun (and slightly scary)! I've already got a few ideas mulling around in my head.

Last night after I posted about just getting going and starting on my list of projects I did well! I don't know why I was letting my old patterns surface, but sometimes all it takes is recognizing what's going on to be able to move past it, you know? Anyways, I finished a layout and I feel really happy with it. I wish I could share it with you, but it's for an upcoming Scrapping The Music challenge, so I have to wait til the challenge goes live.

So, do you ever suffer from lack of mojo? I think we all do - it's human nature do have creative ups and downs. What do you do to get past it? I'd love to hear your tips for keeping that creativity flowing!