Come See Me In The Gutter!

I'm so excited! Today is the day that I get to be an Honorary Gutter Girl! I did a special layout for the current challenge, and there's also a bio a little article and some of my fave layouts! I'd love it if you stop over there and say hello in the comments! Thanks so much for asking me to be an honorary gutter girl Glenda! P.S. Glenda has some super-inspiring work of her own in today's post too - she is the queen of misting and masking!!!

Last night I finished another layout for The Street Where You Live. This one is about our local post office (click to see more detail)...
I used one of the class sketches for inspiration, and the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one. I love how one of the Sassafras Papers just happened to have some stripeys in it that remind me of the old air mail stripes that used to be on envelopes! For this one, I used only the border and the flowers from the Sass paper, and cut the entire middle out to use on another layout. I backed the border with navy cardstock from my stash. The scallop at the top is actually cut from the inside of a security envelope - :0)

Don't forget - tomorrow is our farewell tribute to Marie at Scrapping The Music. I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Also, the new challenge is up at the Fave Things blog, and this time we are scrapping our Fave TV Shows! I actually have about five favorite shows, but Flash Forward is the one I really felt like scrapping about. It's a real mind-bender if you ask me, and I love the mystery and imagination of it. Here's my layout...
Do any of you watch Flash Forward? I would love to hear what you think of it!

That's all for today - thanks so much for visiting my friends! I will see you again tomorrow!

Artful Amblings and Scrapping The Music...

The February 28th prompt at Artful Amblings was "Silence," and the technique was to use inchies. If you are not familiar with inchies, they are tiny works of art that are one inch square. I took a simple, photographic approach to the prompt, and here's what I came up with...
I edged the photos with acrylic paint and wrote the quote with a sharpie. The inchie photos are miscellaneous ones from peaceful, quiet moments in my life, and the big one was taken on a solitary road trip for work. Sometimes I listen to the radio, but more often than not, I drive in silence. It gives me time to think and I love that.


We've got an awesome song at Scrapping the Music this week! It's "Fireflies," by Owl City! Here's my take on the lyrics...
I used Sharpie Poster-Paint markers to create the background and write the lyrics. I just love that photo of little Wilbie catching a few zzzzz's in his Snowman bed.

The new sketch is up for Project 12! I can't wait to work on it! Click here to check it out!

So, it's a new week - what's on your agenda?

So Much Fun!!!

Happy Friday everyone - it's the weekend - Yeayyyyy!!!

I had three fun things happen yesterday, and I just have to share with you all! First, I was contacted by Debbie Hodge of Get it Scrapped yesterday. She told me that three of my layouts were featured in an article at their site about the "Street Where You Live" class! I was so excited and honored!!! I would love it if you have time to check it out and leave me a comment! Click here to go to the article.

It was also an awesome happy mail day too! Harmonie Products was kind enough to send me this selection of their new product line to play with...
Isn't it beautiful stuff? It's even prettier in real life. The patterned paper is a nice heavyweight, and they are all double-sided. I think my fave paper is the one on the top right with the butterflies and dragonflies! I also love the wood frames and patterned brads! Can't wait to start creating with this stuff! Thanks so much Harmonie!!! You can visit their website by clicking here.


I also received my Noel Mignon kit and WOW I LOVE IT! I am such a color-oriented person, and these colors are fabulous!!! The other thing I noticed about this kit is you get LOTS of embellishments, which makes me happy happy HAPPY!!!


Stay tuned to Scrapping The Music for some upcoming news. We have a few changes that will be announced very soon! In the meantime, you still have a little time to play along with this week's challenge! Check it out here, but hurry!!!

I hope your Friday is going fantastically!!! Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments - they mean alot to me!!!

New "Street Where You Live" layout, and other news...

Spring has sprung in our neighborhood and it's so wonderful! The sun is shining and the temps are climbing upwards and we have started our regular walks! I finished another layout for my "The Street Where You Live" class, using a couple of pics we took this past week...
I used the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one, plus some pom pom trim and green cardstock from my stash, a white sharpie and blue watercolor crayons. The design was inspired by one of the sketches they provide. Another lesson goes up tomorrow at the "Street Where You Live" forum, and I can hardly wait! Even though it's a free class, the lessons are really in-depth! They give you lots of ideas and options, plus a few sketches to help you along! I am really loving it! If you want to check it out, it's not too late. The class goes all year long and you can jump in anytime. Click here for more info.

I've heard such great things about the Noel Mignon kits from my friend Julie, that I decided to try one of their kits. I ordered this one, and I can hardly wait for it to arrive! It looks amazing!!!

Sonoma County by Noel Mignon

Those colors are fantastic and it looks huge!!! I'm hoping to have it by Friday!

Speaking of kits, the Studio Calico reveal is this weekend too, and it looks like it's going to be a good month for them. Click here to see sneak peeks.

Oh, and I'm SO EXCITED that I'm going to be featured on the Gutter Girlz blog next Tuesday as an honorary gutter girl! I finished my layout and interview, so now I'm just waiting for Tuesday. I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Okay, I guess that's it for today. I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday, and I will see you tomorrow with another update! Thanks for stopping by!

New Scrapping The Music Layout, and Album Organization...

The new song at Scrapping The Music this week is "Just The Two Of Us" by Will Smith. I'm telling ya there are SO MANY possibilities for scrapping this song it's amazing! Here's what I came up with...
Besides being brothers, Willie and Johnny are the best of buds, so it seemed fitting to scrap this song about them. I used the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one, and I am loving that kit! I especially love the "Dear Lizzy" ribbon that looks like roses - it's so soft and pretty! Anyhoo, head on over to the STM blog to see what the other Design Team members did! We'd love to have you play along with us!!!

In other news, I'm still in organization mode. I spent all day yesterday organizing my 2009/2010 layouts into albums, and it was so much fun! Here's the list of albums I started:

Project 12
Scrapping The Music
Fave Things
People We Love
Places We Go
Things We Do
All About Us (these last four are based on Stacy Julian's Big Picture Scrapbooking system)

Now I just have to decorate and label each album cover, and put some tabs in to divide the sections!

I also completely redid my project list for March and April!

I hope your Tuesday is terrific!!! Thanks for visiting and I will see you again tomorrow!!!

Catching Up...

Happy Sunday everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted - I've been in California helping out with some family health issues that are going on, and celebrating my mom's birthday.

I came home from my trip to find a surprise package waiting for me from my sweet friend Julie. Look what she sent me! How cuuuuuute is this????
It is from a really neat etsy shop called Melbean. I put it up on my scraproom wall immediately! THANK YOU SO MUCH JULIE!!! You really brightened my day, and I will think of you everytime I look at it!!!

I have a couple of layouts to share, but first I want to answer some questions that came in from my last post about my scraproom.

Marit asked what kind of lighting I use in the evening...

My scraproom has mostly recessed lighting that looks like this...
I used to have a real problem with everything looking yellow in the evening, but I switched to Reveal (true daylight type) bulbs, and they work great! Now I can set my camera to the daylight setting and the colors are pretty true to life, even at night.

The other question was from Jeannie, who asked if my cats ever tear anything up in my scraproom...

Willie and Johnny are six years old now, so they have mellowed out quite a bit from their kitten antics. My biggest worry is always that they will swallow some ribbon or something sharp and end up in the emergency room. This has never happened, but I still make sure that any ribbon or pins I have out are in a secure container. I also avoid those cute displays of embellies some people have in their scraprooms, where they put buttons and rhinestones in muffin pans or cute bowls. If I did that I would have this problem...
Willie loves little things that he can bat around, so I just make sure that my embellies are in a closed container.

Here's another problem I deal with...
Both of the boys love to chew on anything plastic - These were some nice crop bags that I had in my bucket on the floor, and I quickly learned I needed to put them up out of reach. LOL.

Jeannie, you specifically asked about paper getting ruined and I have never had that problem. The only thing is Johnny likes to lay on it if I have it spread out on the floor. Also, I keep my kits in boxes and this is what happens...
HA! That box is full of kit contents. He doesn't hurt anything, he just crawls in there and lays. I think it's cute, so I let him until I need something in the box.

Here's one last thing I deal with...
Sometimes they inadvertently steal a sticker or two (notice the "L" on his rump area).

I always go with the motto - better safe than sorry, and try to keep anything that could potentially hurt them out of reach. It's a little extra work keeping it cat proof, but it's also so much fun having them to scrap with!

Let me know if you have any more questions - I will do my best to answer them!


Now, on to the layouts...

The current challenge at the Fave Things blog is to scrap your favorite beverage! I don't buy these very often, but knowing I had to do this layout gave me an excuse to go and get one...
Caribou is Michael and my FAVORITE coffee place, and my FAVORITE drink is the caramel cooler, no whip and extra drizzle! It's fabulous!!!! I used the Studio Calico "Soda Fountain" kit for this one.

The other layout I have to share is for the current challenge at Scrapping The Music. The featured song is "Free Me" by Joss Stone. I thought these lyrics were perfect for this picture of the kids...
For this one I used the Quilting Bee kit from Studio Calico which is one of my faves! The starburst/flower embellie at the top right is made out of wood veneer which I dyed with spray ink, and the bottom part of the title was drawn onto dictionary paper.

So, that's it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comments - they mean alot to me!

My Scraproom is ALL ORGANIZED!!!!!!

I'm so excited to report, that after many many hours of working, my scraproom is all done and it feels GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeayyyyyy!!! I've got tons of pictures to share!

First, a couple that I took during the cleaning and organizing process. I just couldn't resist...

Check out the cat in the box - lol...

and Willie giving his stamp of approval on my cat fort idea...

Okay, now for the FINISHED ROOM. These pics start at the left side of my room, and work their way to the right...

This is my desk area and inspiration wall. This is where I do my day job, as well as my personal computer work, so it's a mix of both things. The beautiful "Beauty" painting was made by Aimee. The rest of the artwork in this picture is mine. You can see my Project 52 ATCs from last year hanging from the ribbon, still waiting for the last four to complete the series. (Note to self - get those done)...

Another angle of the same wall. On the left, you can see a washboard I altered, where I keep my to do and project lists. It comes in soooo handy...

Moving to the right you can see my personal printer and my two adorable scrapping companions Johnny and Willie. Below the desk are two carts. One is full of art journaling stuff, and the other is rubber stamps. The beautiful pillow was made by my sister, and the gorgeous green throw was made by my mom. I love them both so much! Then you can see one end of my ikea bookcases. These cubes house cardstock, patterned paper, and other miscellaneous goodies. The tall boxes are repurposed postal boxes that have scrappy kits in them...

Here's the rest of the bookcase, along with my attached scrapping desk. This is where almost all of my scrappy stuff is organized. The red and orange buckets next to the desk house my newest kit, and other newest items, so they are easily accessible..

These are the most important cubes, because they are right next to the desk. They have my most frequently used items in them. Markers, mists, paintbrushes, tools and some adhesives...

Here's a closeup of my spray inks/mists, pan pastels, and most frequently used inkpads...

I just love this retro suitcase I got at a garage sale. It's just my style...

I keep masking and packing tapes in it...

Continuing to the right, you can see the newly organized part of the room. On the far wall, is a set of blonde cubes that house printer paper, ink, Blank CDs and various other tools.

The wall is where I'm going to tape my most recent layouts for awhile, before they go in albums...

A close up shows the newly organized clip-it-up. I decided to keep only alphas on the bottom row. This is where I keep paints, and also my beloved retro 70's typewriter...

and this is my new Ikea entertainment center. (Well, it was new for Christmas.) The big space in the middle will eventually hold a flat screen tv (when I save up the money for one - which might be awhile); but for now it's a good place to display my art journals and layouts. The entertainment center also has albums, books, stereo, embellies, fabric and other miscellaneous stuff...

Here are a few closeups of the cubes. One thing I love is that I still have room for expansion. Like, for example, there are still some empty jars to fill...

Here you can see a vintage train case, which is now my portable art journaling kit. And the big roll of paper from Michael's papermill...

Some happy tapes in a Margarita glass that is a souvenir of a trip to Colorado...

This is a soft sculpture that I got at a women's spiritual retreat. I just love her...

Here is my little ATC pouch. I made this at a make and take led by the adorable and talented Jeannie Lutz...

It holds lots of ATCs!



And that's it! My new room is complete and I am feeling SOOOOO INSPIRED!!!

Thanks for coming on my tour with me!

I Have Been Bitten...

Do you ever have a situation where you can live with something for just so long and then, all of a sudden YOU CANT STAND IT ANYMORE??? That happened to me this morning! I wasn't even out of bed yet, and all of a sudden I thought "I absolutely HAVE to get my scraproom organized TODAY!!! It's been a mess since I got my new bookcase back in January, and I just can't stand it anymore! HA! I have been bitten by the cleaning bug!

Here are some quick pics of how things are looking now, and believe me, they look worse in real life...





EEEEKKK! Off I go. I will report back later with how it went. Wish me luck and continued motivation!!!

Here's wishing you all a wonderful Saturday!!! I hope your crafting areas are more organized than mine!

Binding it All Up...

I finished binding my Let it Loose Journal tonite and now it's all done! It feels great to finish a big project, doesn't it? Here's how the finished book looks...
I used a grocery shopping bag that already had a sunburst graphic on it, and wrote the title on with a white sharpie. The rest of the cover is happy tape, and Love, Elsie adhesive fabric.

Here's a closeup of the binding...
I used some Stampin Up ribbon, and a bunch of beads I still had from my beading days. I just love this binding technique and I can tell I will be doing alot more of it!!!

Let it Loose was a fun and inspirational class to be sure! Here's a recap of all the pages I made...










I don't know if I could pick a favorite lesson. I think what I loved most about the class was the variety! I also really loved getting reacquainted with my markers again! Now, I'm thinking I might have to invest in either some copic markers, or some of those Tim Holtz refillable alcohol ink markers. For any of you who have either of those types of markers, what do you think? Do you recommend one over the other?

Also, if you took the Let it Loose class, I'd love to hear what your favorite part was!

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday! Thanks for visiting!