I love it!

Okay, is this not the cutest commercial ever? I absolutely love it, and i just realized that it's Ray LaMontagne singing the song. What a great voice. It's got Michael and me singing this song all the time.

Just wanted to share.

I finished another layout, but I can't share yet, cuz it's for Scrapping The Music.

I will be back tomorrow with another update. I should be able to share my "Q" page for the "Year In The Life of an Art Journal" project!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

My Fave Room Layout...

I finished my layout for the current "my fave room" challenge at "These are a Few of my Favorite Things" blog, just in the nick of time! The due date is tomorrow! I had so much fun with this...I used the June Studio Calico kit, plus some Slate Glimmer mist, and an old paint brush. The journaling reads:

"My favorite room in our house is my scraproom, aka art studio, aka happy place. I've always dreamed of having my own studio, and now, finally, that dream has come true! It's got everything I need to create all day."

Here's a closeup view...

and speaking of Studio Calico, the reveal for the October kit was today and it's fantastic! It just might be my favorite kit yet! And the add-ons are all equally fantastic! I love the bright colors and fun extras, and the touch of whimsy! Click here to take a look!

I'm excited about the new sketch that's going up at the TATS blog on October 1st - it's a fun one! I hope you come over and check it out - only a few more days to wait!

Now, I'm off to start my next project which is a layout for Scrapping The Music. I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks soooooo much for stopping by!!! It really makes my day!

Autumn Love Journal Page...

I've been struggling a bit with creating this week, and then I read this blog post this morning and it totally inspired me - I LOVE it! Thanks for the inspiration Julie! - I'm back on track...

I'm on week two of journaling prompts in my Autumn Love class. Here's my answer to the first one...

Materials used include acrylic paint, yellow thickers, paint pens, houndstooth gaffer tape, turquoise duct tape, and black oil crayon.

There are still a few more days to get your layouts in to the current TATS challenge! Come on over and join the fun!

Now I'm off to continue my CSI marathon and tackle the next project on my list. Happy Sunday and thanks for stopping by!

Makin Some Cards at Scrapfest...

I still have more to share with you from Scrapfest! This latest batch is from my Basic Grey card class. I needed this class so much! For some reason I really struggle with making cards, and this class really taught me that it doesn't have to be that hard! We made all of these cards with three sheets of 12 x 12 paper and a 6x6 pad from the June Bug Collection. Oh, and the pop-up stickers too...oh, and that's right, we also added a rubon here and there...

but basically they were so simple and fun to make, and come on how cute is this little bird?

Now I'm thinking of all the 6x6 pads of paper that are sitting in my stash, untouched,
just waiting to be turned into cards!
oh, and we also used the Basic Grey alphabet stickers - another thing I have a lot of!

and when I got home, I made one on my own that turned out like this...
Totally FUN FUN FUN!

I still have two projects from Scrapfest classes to finish. They are mini-albums - one from Little Yellow Bicycle, and one from Hambly. They are super cute too, but I'm thinking it will be awhile til I have time to complete them - drat. Oh well - as soon as I do, I will post them here.

I hope your week is going well! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow with another update!

Sweet and Simple Layouts Class - Basic Grey at Scrapfest!

I'm excited to share with you the layouts I made from the Basic Grey Class at Scrapfest! The class was called "Sweet and Simple Layouts," and for someone who usually spends numerous hours on a layout, it was so inspiring - we finished THREE layouts in 45 minutes! All we had to do was add our pictures and journaling to complete them! Here's how the first one looked after class was over...
For this one, I added a few things and changed some things up a little, to make it feel like my own. Here's how it ended up when I was finished...



For the second of the three, All I added was the doodling, and I colored the chipboard letters black...

And for the third one, they had a second, small photo above the journaling block, but I didn't have another photo to use, so I added some MAMBI bling flowers...

I hope you are having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by and for your comments - they really mean a lot to me!

Project 365 Week 38...

Here we go with last week's photos...

Monday, September 14: I will never get over how cute cats are when they're sleeping. Look at Willie's cute little toes...
also Monday, September 14: A neighborhood walk at sunset...
Wednesday, September 16: Minibook Class with Lindsay and Julie of Cosmo Cricket...
Thursday, September 17: I loved the look of the pipes stacked on this truck. I see some design inspiration here...
Saturday, September 19: Lynn and Christina in line at Scrapfest...
Sunday, September 21: Lynn, Christina and Me goofing around on the last day of Scrapfest...
Sunday, September 21: And the "24" marathon continues for Michael and I (still on Season Six)...

I hope your week was wonderful! I will be back tomorrow with another update. Thanks so much for stopping by!

ScrapFest ScrapFest Rah Rah Rah!

ScrapFest 2009 is over and I am home and feeling very inspired! Let me give you a little overview in case you've never heard of it before...

ScrapFest is a HUGE annual festival, held at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. It starts on Thursday night with a Cropping Event. Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday are filled with TONS of Vendor booths, each one offering a free "make and take" project. There are also optional classes that you can sign up for, more cropping parties (each night) and plenty of scrapbook shopping to do. It's a madhouse for sure, but it's a lot of fun!

Here Lynn, Christina and I are, having our picture taken in the "World's Largest Scrapbook Page..."
and here are a few highlights from the make and take booths. I think my favorite project was this spiral notebook made at the Reminisce booth. We got to pick which critter we wanted (click here to see the selection)...

The American Crafts booth had the project that actually inspired me to go and buy the products. The card on the left was the make and take. Very simple, but it introduced me to the "Blue Skies" line, which I totally fell in love with! The stuff on the right is what I bought from the line...

Here's a cute little halloween chipboard mini. I don't scrapbook halloween stuff, but I think it will be fun to find a creative way to use it...

I made this adorable project at the Zutter/Teresa Collins booth. I love that red houndstooth! The album has a sports theme, which is another one that I have absolutely no use for, since I don't watch or participate in sports, but I already have ideas of how to adapt it for a different theme...

This was the card we got to make at the Doodlebug booth. It's super sparkly in real life...

and that is just a few of the many FREE make and take projects we did!

I also signed up for four of the optional classes, and I liked those even better! They cost extra, but there is no standing in line for them!!! And a really fun thing is that you always get lots of free extra stuff. The four classes I took were - one layout class by Basic Grey, one card-making class by Basic Grey, and a mini-album each from Hambly and Little Yellow Bicycle. I can't even tell you which was my favorite because they were all fabulous. You don't have time in class to finish the projects tho - so that will be a whole nother post once I'm done.

That's it for today - I hope your weekend was wonderful! I will be back tomorrow a Project 365 update. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Must. Rest. Aching. Body...

Scrapfest is so much fun, but it is also exhausting!!! A few quick photos to share and then this scrapper has got to hit the hay, so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow!

Here's a crowd shot of a few of the make and take booths. The crowds don't look that bad in this photo, but an average wait in line is about an hour...
Luckily, there are other scrappers to talk to, and it really is super fun getting to try out all the new lines, and watching your bag fill up with free stuff!!!

Here's Lynn and Christina waiting in one of the lines. That nice big Little Yellow Bicycle tote bag that Christina is holding was a free gift in one of our classes - I love it!
And here I am in the Basic Grey Greeting Card Class. This class seriously inspired me to start making cards again. They make it seem so easy, and the cards we made were really cute! We used the June Bug collection, which is one of my BG faves!
That's all for today, but I will post lots more photos soon of some of the make and takes, class projects, and our pic in the World's Largest Scrapbook Page! HA!

I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!

More Fun With Autumn=Love...

The Autumn=Love class continues to be a lot of fun!!! A surprise bonus is that Elsie is going to give us journaling prompts each week! SO FUN! It's also perfect timing for me, since I have been trying to get back to art journaling more regularly. Here are my pages for the first week's prompts...




I also want to mention that Becky Higgins is thinking about doing an independent Project 365-type kit for next year! She is doing a survey on her blog to find out how many people might be interested, so if you missed out last year (or even if you didn't miss out), and you would like a chance to try this project next year, check out her blog post here!

I'm off to get my basic tools ready for my classes at Scrapfest tomorrow - I'm so excited! I hope you have a fabulous Saturday and I will be back tomorrow with another update! Thanks for stopping by!

Project 365 Week 37

I'm finally getting caught up with my Project 365 photos from last week! We are on Week 37...

Monday, September 7: A pic of my new computer - a birthday present from Michael!
Tuesday, September 8: My new 2010 planner arrives in the mail...

and here's how it looks on my desk next to my client photo albums...
Wednesday, September 9: My cute vintage pop carton that now houses my journaling pens...
Thursday, September 10: Michael received his 15 year AA medallion! A very special day!
here's an up close view...
Friday, September 11: A big day for us as we closed on the sale of my condo (the one I owned from before we got married). We took our realtor to lunch at our favorite Thai restaurant - Chiang Mai Tai in Uptown Minneapolis (I grabbed this photo from the restaurant's website)...
Saturday and Sunday, September 12 & 13: Michael and I relaxed with a "24" marathon. We are on Season Six and LOVING IT! (pic grabbed from the web)...

It feels great to get caught up with this! I must admit it's getting harder to remember to take a photo every day! But that's what challenges are about, right? I am doing better again this week, so hopefully I am back on track!

How about the rest of you that are doing Project 365? Is it getting harder or no? Do you think you will do it again next year?

Next on my beloved project list is the "Q" page for the "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" project. I hope to also do the journal prompts from the Autumn=Love class tonight too.

I will be back tomorrow with another update. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comments! They really make my day!

Fun With Cosmo Cricket...

The Cosmo Cricket class was tons of fun! The mini-album we made is so adorable, and I actually finished the bare-bones of it during the class - yeayyyy! We used the new Jolly By Golly line and it's so cute! Here's a pic of my friend Lynn working on her project...I didn't get a pic of my other friend Christina - rats. But here's a pic of me with Julie (owner) and Lindsay (sales guy) from Cosmo...

They were so much fun! They have a great rapport with each other that kept us laughing!

I had plans to come home and finish the book, but alas it's midnight now and I have to get up extra early tomorrow, so its off to bed for me. I will finish it soon tho, and I will be sure to post pics!

Tonight is another new project in the Autumn=Love class - yikes! The projects are piling up! I guess that's a good problem to have tho - too many fun things to do! LOL!

Alrighty then, I'm off to jot a little something in my journal and then get some shut-eye. I hope your week is absolutely awesome! Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn=Love Beginnings...

I started Rachel Denbow and Elsie Flannigan's "Autumn=Love" class today - Yeayyy! The first project is a mini-album made with an embroidery hoop, and I'm having such fun with it! Of course I'm so slowwwwwww that I didn't get very far yet, but here's a sneak peek of the beginnings of it...I've decided I'm going to make it into a Family Photo album of our recent getaway with the kids. It was really fun to work on something different. I don't get as much chance to work with fabric and stitching as I'd like, so this is great!

Tonight I'm attending the Cosmo Cricket class with my friends Christina and Lynn, and I can hardly wait! I will be sure to include pics of the project we make in tomorrow's post.

Oh, the new challenge is up at the "Fave Things" blog, - scrap your favorite room! That's a no-brainer for me - my scraproom! Can't wait to get started!

Well, I guess that's it for today! I haven't forgotten about my Project 365 photos for the week, I just don't have them done yet - hopefully soon! I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks so much for stopping by, and have a Wonderful Wednesday!

New Sketch is Up at TATS...

The new sketch is up at the Totally Addicted to Sketch blog! I thought it was a really fun one to play with! I stuck pretty closely to the sketch and here's what I came up with...Everything is from the June Studio Calico kit, except for the black thickers, and the black Jenni Bowlin patterned paper. The photo is of my darling stepdaughter Becca, taken on our recent trip up to the North Shore.

I hope you want to come on over and play along with us! TATS is looking for new design team members too, so check out the DT call while you are there!

I am looking forward to a super-fun scrappy week! Today is the start of Elsie and Rachel's Autumn Love class! Wednesday is a Cosmo Cricket Holiday Mini Album class at my Local Scrapbook Store! AND this weekend is SCRAPFEST at the Mall of America! How great is that!!!???!!!

So now, I am off to work on the next project on my beloved project list! I will be back tomorrow with a Project 365 update! Take care and have a Terrific Tuesday! Thanks so much for stopping by!

A New Layout and Other Stuff...

It's a new week at Scrapping The Music, and the featured song is "We Are The World," which was incredibly fun to scrap with! It's such a beautiful song with an awesome message! I used a photo of daughter Becca and the Wilbarino for this one...I love that candid photo of the two of them - it's so sweet! I used the September Studio Calico kit, and the white lettering was just done with a sharpie.

If you haven't checked out the Totally Addicted to Sketch blog yet - come on over! There's just one more day to get your layout in for the very first sketch!

I'm getting so excited for Elsie and Rachel's online Autumn Craft class! It starts on Tuesday! Yeayyyyy! Are any of you taking the class too?

Alrighty then, I best get to bed. But perhaps just a little time for my art journal first....

Happy happy Monday to you, and thanks for stopping by!

Another Fave Things Layout...

I had so much fun creating this layout for the Fave Things blog! The challenge was to scrap your favorite food, which for me is Michael's handmade burritos! I used to love to go to Mexican Restaurants, but none of them compare to my hubby's creations! One of the best parts about making this layout is that I didn't actually have any photos of his burritos, so I had to take some, which meant I got to eat the burrito afterwards!!! Yeayyyy! Anyhoo, here's how it turned out...I used the June Studio Calico kit, and what was fun was that I used almost all scrap pieces that were already cut - I just layered them! The title is hand-painted (I know it's pretty obvious - because it's so imperfect! - LOL!) with a mix of blue gouache and Making Memories teal paint, which I outlined with a sharpie.

Here's a closeup of the little metal frame from the kit...

So much fun! and speaking of Studio Calico, the sneaks for the October kit are up tonight! Yeayyy! You can see on the countdown clock in the sidebar just how long there is to wait. From the clues I've seen so far, it looks like this might be the best one yet! Lots of bright orange and lime green, pom pom trim and new Sassafras!!! Yeayyyyy!

The Wake Me Up slide show is up over at Scrapping The Music - check it out here! There is lots of beautiful work to see! And be sure to check back over there later tonight for the new song - it's a good one!

Okay, I'm off to start another project. Next on my list is to do a challenge! I just have to figure out which one....

Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for stopping by!