Mist Chips...

There were a couple of threads over at Studio Calico this weekend discussing and comparing different mist colors. In the thread there was a link to this post over at Maya Road, which inspired me to make my own set of mist/spray ink chips. I counted my various brands up and I have 27 colors! I had no idea I had that many! Anyhoo, I thought it might be helpful to have samples of all my colors to refer to when planning a project, so I made this little set of samples that I sprayed onto white cardstock. I labeled the back of each one with the color...
I love how it turned out, and just in case it's helpful I thought I would share the color comparisons with you. Before I strung my set together, I took a picture of the samples, sorted by brand:

These are Adirondack Color Washes. They are my absolute favorite for their intense colors and even coverage...
The colors are Eggplant, Lettuce and Terra Cotta.


These are Maya Mists. Also a favorite, and convenient to buy because they are available in the Studio Calico shop. Some of these colors have a metallic sheen and some don't...
Colors are (left to right) Top row: Orange, Tangerine, Cherry, Hydrangea, Turquoise, Blue Raspberry, Brown and Lime.


This is a brand called Radiant Rain. I love the intensity of the colors, but they are harder to come by. I got these at my local scrapbook store, and they came in a dawber-type bottle, rather than a mister...
Colors are Yellow Rose and Pink Azalea.


This is the one color I have of Shimmerz. I got it in a kit and, well, the color isn't really intense enough for me, but it would work well for distressing...
The color is called Bed of Roses.


And finally, these are my Glimmer Mists. They were the first brand I discovered, so I have the most variety of these. With a few exceptions, the colors are much more watery and transparent. They do provide lots of shimmer and shine tho...
Colors are: Candy Apple Red (a fave), Bubblegum, Snow Angel, Yellow Daisy, Sunkissed Peach, Wheatfields (this has a nice green irridescence that is hard to see on the pic), Coffee Shop, Marshmallow (white sprayed on black cardstock), Raven (another fave), Slate (fave), Moonlight, Jazz Blue, and Sea Glass.

The Raven color is super cool because it is basically black, but has the coolest purple sheen, which is super hard to see in photos. It truly reminds me of a raven's wing...
This photo doesn't do it justice. Oh well.


Here's how they all look together...

Do you use a lot of spray ink/mist? If so, what's your favorite brand(s) and color(s)?

Dreams...

This layout started out to be for last week's Sunday Sketch over at Studio Calico, but the design took a different turn. It is still inspired by Jennifer's layout tho - especially the colors...
The photo was taken the day I first caught Johnny napping in the linen closet. I should've been mad, but he looked so cute, I just snapped a picture instead. I'm a sucker for a sleeping cat.

I'm getting excited for June 1st because there will be something FUN going on over at the Fave Things blog!!! (Hint: There are numerous prizes involved) Hop on over there on Tuesday to find out what's happening....

EEEK! I'm so inspired by Teesha Moore's blog post today. Check out all her copic markers and happy tapes!

On the docket today:

Finish my sample swatches of all of my mists and spray inks.
Work on my mini from Honeymoon 2 - Nashville and the Smokey Mountains (2008)

of course I reserve the right to revise the docket at any time. (grin)

What's on your docket today?

Happy Saturday!

Yesterday was a fun happy mail day! The prize that I won during the Live With Prima class arrived! Look at all the fun Prima goodies I got!!! Thank you Prima!!!
Such a variety of floral goodness! I'm thinkin those watercolor-inspired rub-ons in the middle are going to look awesome on kraft cardstock! Or maybe even black! My favorite thing of all is that orange and pink flower second from the right - the colors are so intense!

I loved it so much in fact, that I had to use it immediately! It was just the finishing touch I needed for this layout...

I did this one for the Street Where You Live class that I'm taking over at Get it Scrapped. This assignment was to scrap things you do for fun in your neighborhood. Of course I had to scrap my local scrapbook shop! I used my Noel Mignon Playdate kit, plus some happy tape and a stamp from my stash. The design is inspired by a sketch given to us in the class.

The new sketch for Project 12 is up at the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. I can't wait to dive into my May Project 12 layouts, but of course I have to wait until May is over to start. I think I need to take a few pics of the cats today.

I hope your Saturday is going great! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you again tomorrow my friends!!!

I love it when good things happen to nice people...

Congratulations Lee - yeayyyyy!!!




P.S. The song starts at 4:30 on the video.

Fragile...

The new song is up at Scrapping The Music, and this week we are featuring "Fragile" by Sting. I actually scrapped this song back in 2008, after hearing Jason Castro sing it on American Idol that year. Anyhoo, I didn't put my layout on the STM blog because it's not a new layout (and we want people to submit only new layouts for the challenges - I didn't want to break our own rules - lol), but I thought I could still share it here...
The leaf is a photo I took on a winter scrapbook retreat. I just printed it and then cut it out. It was actually laying on top of the snow, so it made for a nice white edge on the photo. The big background photo was torn out of a magazine.

And here's Jason's version from March of 2008 (if you want to skip the talking in the beginning, just drag the little button to the right until the time says 1:08)...



Come on over and play along with us!!! Click here to go to Scrapping The Music!

Birthday Card Organizer...

I am one of those people who always has the best intentions of remembering everyone's birthdays, but I struggle with keeping all the dates organized, and getting cards out to people on time.

I always thought it would be helpful to have one of those card organizer thingies that you can get at Hallmark; but then I thought it would be even more fun to make my own. Well, I finally got it done. I love the combination of papers in my latest Studio Calico kit - "Granny's Cupboard," so I used them, along with some $1.00 houndstooth file folder sets from Michaels, to make my project.

For the covers I used some 7 Gypsies paper, along with the Dear Lizzy adhesive fabric paper for the spine...


I kept the design of the pocket pages simple. I didn't want to add a lot of embellishments, because with all the use this will get, I could just see them falling off, or making it difficult to slide the book onto a bookshelf...

I cut the file folders to 8 x 9 to make the best use of my 12 x 12 paper. That way I had a 4 inch strip left of each sheet to make a pocket with...

I wrote the months with black poster paint sharpies, and outlined with white...

Attached the pockets with the Pink Paislee Artisan tape that came with the kit...

Used turquoise and black duct tape to bind all the pages together...


and added two pockets at the back - one to put the list of people's birthdays, and one to put a supply of stamps...



and Wah Lah! All done!

Now my plan is to get my list made, and then make sure I have the appropriate cards ready at least a month in advance, so I can get them in the mail on time - yeayyyy!!!!

Have a fabulous Tuesday my friends! See you tomorrow!

Cropping Til We Can't See Straight...

The sixteen-hour crop was LOTS OF FUN!!! Our whole scrapping group was together which is an amazing feat considering everyone's busy lives and schedules. I soooo treasure this group of women!
Left to right is me, Jessica, Lynn, Anne, Karla and Christina. It was awesome to spend the day creating, chatting, snacking, and sharing our projects and ideas with each other!

As for my projects, I brought my Studio Calico "Granny's Cupboard" kit, plus a few extra items. I made a bunch of cards, plus a card organizer! Here are the cards, plus each one's decorated envelope...

























Tomorrow I will be back with photos of the card organizer!

I hope you had an inspired weekend - thanks for stopping by my friends!

Inside Scrapbooking...

Here's a Saturday laugh for you! I first saw these videos over at Studio Calico. For the best effect you must watch them in order...



Michael (our budgeteer) found this second one especially funny...




Wishing you a scrappy weekend my friends! Thanks for stopping by!

Some Days...

You Gotta DANCE!!! That's the name of the Dixie Chicks song we are featuring at Scrapping The Music this week! It's a fun one - come on over and play along with us!!! Here's the layout I came up with...
That's me in the black hat, with my little friend Anne back in 1968. We were always making up little plays and putting on costumes and stuff! I used the Studio Calico "Joyland" kit, plus some thickers, sharpies, and that fabulous background paper with the swirls was designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Isn't it cool paper?!!! I just love it.

I'm donating the prize this week and it's a good one! Check it out...
Come on over and play along - we'd LOVE to have you!

Miscellaneous Totally Random Thoughts...

I'm thinking it would be fun to have a whole wall of doodling in my scraproom. Hmmm...

Prima Live had a super fun class today taught by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. The project was a clear acrylic wall hanging! And guess what? I won the random prize giveaway - yeayyyy!!! It's a mystery prize made up of Prima products - can't wait to see what it is! P.S. You can still watch the video - Click here to check it out.

Speaking of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, she has an awesome tutorial on easy DIY embellishments today! Check it out here.

I'm now going to be responsible for the question of the day on Wednesdays over at Studio Calico. I hope you will stop by and play along!

Candy asked about my creative process in the comments and that's a really fun question! I'm giving it some thought and I will do a post on that soon! Thanks for the question Candy!

P.S. If you like Sassafras Lass, there's a fun deal over at Peachy Cheap today! Check it out here.

I finished a layout today, but it's for an upcoming Fave Things challenge, so I have to wait to share - aargh!

I'm getting excited for...

This Saturday's 16-hour crop with my girlfriends,

The June kit reveal at Studio Calico on May 27th - the sneaks look fantastic!

The Project 12 Sketch reveal on May 29th at the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog - yeayyy!

What are you looking forward to?

Have a fabulous Tuesday my friends! I will be back tomorrow with another update!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things - The Album....

I finished my Fave Things Album Cover - yeayyyy! It took me all weekend cuz I did it in stages, but it's finally finished and I'm so excited! I couldn't resist putting Julie Andrews on the front...
I used an American Crafts Modern Album (click here to see one unfinished.) The image of Julie is from a Sound of Music poster that was on the web. I printed it onto plain white cardstock and cut her out. The rest of the cover is done with acrylic paint and poster paint sharpies. The black and white striped trim is happy tape. Here's another view where you can see a little bit of the coordinating inside color...

The title on the spine is done with Sharpies. Hint - To make the color stand out against the black, I first wrote it with a white sharpie, then did a second coat with the blue.

Here's the back...

and the inside...

Now I have a home for all of my Fave Things layouts! Yeayyyy!!!

Here's wishing you an awesome Monday my friends! Thanks for visiting!

Still Playing Catchup but Having Fun Doing it...

I finally finished a layout that I was doing for a Scrapping The Music song back in April. The song was "Change In My Life," by Hanson. I didn't get it finished in time to post with the challenge (it was right at the time we left for California), but I really love the song and wanted to finish my layout for it anyways. I used a Noel Mignon kit for this one - Here's how it turned out...
The photos are of Michael and me and "our" kids Steve, Becca and Tony. They were taken between 2007 and 2009. I inherited a family when I married Michael in 2007, and it's been amazing. I have felt like we all belong together right from the start. When I heard the lyrics for this song, I knew it was perfect for these pics.

In case you missed the song at Scrapping The Music, here is the video again...


I just love their voices together, and especially acapella like that. So cool.

I'm also working on the cover for my "Fave Things" album, and it's coming along nicely. I should be able to share that by tomorrow's post!

I hope your weekend is going great!!! I wish you an inspired Sunday my friends!!! Thanks for visiting and for your comments! They mean a lot to me!

The Best Kind of Day...

The new challenge at Fave Things is to scrap your Favorite Book! Ohhhh I had such fun with this one! I loved making this layout about my fave book and I probably wouldn't have thought to do it if it wasn't for the Fave Things blog!
I used the Studio Calico "Granny's Cupboard" kit for this one, plus one sheet of Graphic 45 paper called Renaissance Faire. The journaling reads as follows:

"Revolution from Within by Gloria Steinem changed my life. It's about taking your power back thru self-esteem. It's about believing in who you REALLY are, and nurturing yourself back to that person. I've read it so many times that it is dog-eared and worn. The pages are dirty from carrying it around in my backpack for months on end. I would love it if every woman on earth could read this book.

I had the opportunity to meet Gloria at a book-signing back in 1993. I wanted to tell her what a difference her words made for me, and what a stronger person I was becoming. I waited in a long line at the book store, with my dog-eared copy in hand; and when I got to the front , I smiled shyly as she signed my book. I couldn't speak. AARGH. It's okay though - my revolution was just beginning."

So, what's your favorite book??? Come on over to Fave Things and play along with us!


It's a beautiful spring day here in Minnesota! The birds are singing, the cats are enjoying the view from the open scraproom window...

I've got my three most recent kits all set up in their respective buckets...

and I'm ready to scrap! It's the best kind of day!

How about you? What are you up to today?

Questions Anyone???

I love to blog daily. Usually, when I blog I have something to share. A project or a layout. Lately, I've been busily trying to catch up on design team assignments, so even tho I'm making stuff, I can't share it yet - aargh! I'm not good at waiting. LOL.

Anyways, that brings me to my dilemma. Wanting to blog, and not having a layout to share. So, I'm wondering - do any of you have questions you would like me to answer, or ideas for creative topics you would like to see addressed here? I would love to hear your ideas!

Oh, and just a reminder that the new challenge goes up later today at the Fave Things blog! It's a fun one - come on over and check it out!

Nickelback is up at Scrapping The Music!

The new song at Scrapping the Music this week is "Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback! It's a rockin tune that really got me inspired! Here's what I came up with...
I used the new "Granny's Cupboard" kit from Studio Calico, and for the heart, I just printed a full sheet of approx 1" square photos, and cut the sheet into a heart shape. Super simple, but I love how it turned out! There are lots of family pics on there, but also some of friends - Julie, Denise, Christina, Andrea and of course - Bucky the goat. :0) There were some other friends on there too, but they ended up getting cut off when I shaped it into a heart. Drat.

Oh, hey there's a cool new e-book out called "Start to Draw Your Life," and it's available as a free download here. It is a groovy twist on art journaling. Check it out! I found it courtesy of a link on Kelly Kilmer's blog. Thanks Kelly!

Don't forget - the Scrapping The Music challenge goes until next Tuesday at midnite, so come on over and play along! We would love to see you there!

That's it for today, but I will be back soon! Thanks so much for visiting!

More Rainbow Connection Inspiration...

Jeannie mentioned in the comments over at Scrapping The Music, that she really likes Jason Mraz' version of Rainbow Connection and I agree Jeannie! It got me thinking about all the people that have covered this song and just how loved it is! Since there still is time to play along with our challenge, I thought I'd share a little more Rainbow Connection inspiration with you...

This one is my personal favorite. Willie Nelson...




Then for you Rockers out there we've got The Gimme Gimmes...



and then of course we've got Jeannie's favorite - Jason Mraz...


Don't forget you've got until Tuesday at midnite to play along! Link your layouts to this post at Scrapping The Music, and remember you can also play along at the Zig Zag blog!

Miscellaneous News....

I totally forgot to share one of my past Scrapping The Music layouts with you! It was for the song "Just Fine" by Mary J. Blige. It's an awesome, empowering song! Here's the video...



The timing was amazing for this because I was going through a bit of a struggle with someone at the time (not family or loved ones - no worries), and it was great therapy to interpret the song in my art journal. Here's what I created...
It felt great getting it out, and I included a little envelope on the page to put some private journaling. I love those little Maya Road envelopes! I used the Studio Calico "Yearbook" kit for this, plus acrylic paint, Heidi Swapp Alpha masks, Stampin Up Alphabet stamps, and the owl is a fabulous new stamp from Tattered Angels. Isn't he beautiful? I couldn't resist. I shaded him a little with colored pencils.

Speaking of Scrapping The Music, there are still a few days to play along with our "Rainbow Connection" challenge, which has two chances to win prizes!!! Click here to go to directly to the challenge!

I also want to let you in on a fabulous new game going on over at the Fave Things blog!!! Julie is having a drawing for a free Etsy item of your choice from our fave etsy shops!!! You can be entered just by following our blog, and if you play along with our current challenge (Fave Music), you can be entered 5 times!!!) There are more ways to win too. Click here to go directly to the game!

I followed a link from Kelly Kilmer's blog and found a super cool masking tape giveaway here.

Oh, and I got my Studio Calico "Granny's Cupboard" kit yesterday and it's fantastic! It's the first time since the Yearbook kit that I felt compelled to buy all three add-ons and even tho I am now BROKE it was worth it! I will share pics tomorrow...

Alrighty, that's about all. I hope your weekend is full of inspiration!

The Rainbow Connection...

The new challenge at Scrapping The Music this week is "The Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie!!! We are so excited about it, not only cuz our team member Jeanet is a huge Muppets fan, but also because we are pairing up with Zig Zag Scrap - a digi scrap store, and offering side-by-side challenges!!!! So, you can submit your layout to Scrapping The Music and Zig Zag and have two chances to win a prize! Super fun, eh? Here's the layout I created...
The photo of Kermit is from the web, and the black polka-dot part on the bottom is Love, Elsie fabric paper. I wanted to create the stream of magical mist, so I blackened out some of the white polka dots with a black sharpie, and then created the stream of tiny dots with a white sharpie. The rest of the page is made with the Studio Calico Yearbook kit (my favorite SC kit so far).

Come on over and play along with us! You know you want to, right?????

I will be back again tomorrow with another update - thanks for visiting!