My CHA Wish List

Hey guys! This is my current list of loves and must haves from this CHA. It's probably not complete as it took a lot longer to create than I thought it would. Darn you, Blogger! Anyway, here they are in no particular order.

Enjoy!

Echo Park-Loved this new line, For the Record, since the moment I saw it. These colors are amazing and the patterns are so cool!!!!

Hambly-Um, I've got a bit of secret love of Washi Tape and the designs on these just sing to me! Hello, Lovers!!!

Pink Paislee-I'm not quite sure about their fancier paper lines but LOVE these stamps...

and I think this line is super cute (and very OAish, if ya know what I mean!).

PP also joined up with Tattered Angels to create coordinating sets and this one below is one that I must have!

And finally, I think I'll probably buy these every chance I get. They will be used in my bathroom, my scraproom, my kids room, my kitchen...you get the idea! Hee!

October Afternoon-Speaking of OA...they've got three really retro releases. All very cute but this one is hands down my favorite. I really hope that cream circle with black stars is a paper!!!

Maya Road-Love these cool kraft scrolly journaly thingys. (Dig my techie terminology?)

Love these star pins!!! (Pins are another secret love of mine.)

I've got these in cream and I'm almost out so I'm pretty sure I need these colors, too. Don't you agree? (Oh, and Maya Road, please make them in aqua for this summer, okay? Thanks!)

And, finally from MR, more pins! Told you I love them!

Cosmo Cricket-They also came out with three lines but Upcycle is easily my favorite. The other color schemes look a bit off to me but I may end up loving them when I see them in person. It's happened before! Ha!

Love that they came out with some new embellies! These packs of butterflies and doilies are my favorite! So stinkin' cute!!!

Crate Paper-Oh, these guys did not disappoint!

First up, Portrait. I love this color combo! I love the style, the patterns and all the embellies. It's just gorgeous!

Toy Box-This is such a great boy collection! I've noticed that as Mickey grows older, the options are either too old or too young. This one is just right! :)

Lily Bee-I love what they came out with a lot! But, this collection, Happily Lost, is my favorite of this release. Such pretty colors and they've added alpha stickers and a set of solids, too! Yay!!!

Jenni Bowlin-I love, love, love her embellishments! So fun and they go so well with everything! Love these number banner stickers!

And, I've already got her little banners and butterflies in chipboard so I'm pretty sure I need these too! I've got a thing for stars, too!

Studio Calico-Another company where I pretty much love it all. Here are some favorites!

Countryside-Love this collection! Yummy colors and cool graphic, yet organic patterns!

Love that they've come out with solid color label stickers. This color is easily my favorite! (Huge shocker, there huh?)

Clouds are really hot and I love the graph paper ones!

Cute wood butterflies! They released star shapes last time and I've yet to get my hands on them but I will! :)

More butterflies!!! They've got great rubons!

Okay, I can't be the only one that does this. LOL! So, if you've got your own wish list goin' on, share it in the comments! I'd love to see what fabulousness I missed! Hee!

More Unseen Scrappiness!

So, I got two more layouts done this weekend, both for A Walk Down Memory Lane and I can't share those either! LOL!

Just think how much I'm going to share on the 1st! LOL!

I don't even have any fun photos of the kids to share! After December and trying to take a picture a day for my December Daily album, I'm a little burnt out! Hee! It also doesn't help that it's been yucky and grey here for weeks!

Hmmmm, better get off the computer, I've got to get some cans out of our garage or Andrew will have a fit! LOL!

Have a great day!

Hiding in my Scrap Room!

Yep, that's where I've been! February's going to be busy with my first month at Dixie Pieces and my last months at A Walk Down Memory Lane and My Sketch World.

I've been busting my hump to try to get everything done early. So far, I've got three layouts, one banner (I know!!!) and a card made for Dixie Pieces and I still have a lot of the kit left. It's a great kit company and I'm so glad to be designing for them!

Now, I've got my latest goodies from AWDML laying out on my cleared off scrap table and that will be my focus for the next few days. I'm hoping to get most if not all of my Feb scrappin' done this week and weekend. We've also got that Baby, It's Cold Outside crop coming up. It should be fun!

Anyways, nothing scrappy to share right now but I should be able to remedy that soon! :)

My Mind's Eye Challenge-Snow!!!

I found the time to participate in the My Mind's Eye blog challenge! I love doing their challenges and love how this layout turned out. I'd taken this shot and wasn't sure I'd be able to scrap book it. The challenge, to scrap what winter means to us, really was the perfect use!

Since it's a MME challenge, I used MME's Holly Jolly line, and a little bit of Lush and Lost and Found. I used my Rock Candy stickles just on the snowflake image of this die cut and the brad is from Lost & Found.

The snowflake is from Maya Road and I misted it (to death!) with cream mist from Studio Calico and two colors from Tattered Angels. I also used my glaze pen on the snowflake on the chipboard circle. Oh, and after I did my journaling, I realized that it was kinda hard to read. So I underlined it with a white Glaze pen. Not as obvious as my white Uni-ball but still gives the words some definition. (Hee, check out my pun!)

Oh, and I finally, finally (!) used my Silhouette! I cut the title out of some of the Holly Jolly paper and used another color of Stickles to create some faux snow on the letters.

I stuck really, really close to the sketch. Sometimes, I like to go nuts with sketches and other times, I use it as exactly as I can. This was sooooo one of those times. LOL!

Journaling reads~Even the lightest traces of snow makes it feel like winter has arrived. I love the cool bite in the air, the softness and the beauty. Winter is just another season without snow!

AWDML Featured Manufacturer and 2nd My Sketch World Card!!!

Hey guys! This month's second Featured Manufacturer at A Walk Down Memory Lane is Lawn Fawn. They've got some super cute stamps and here's what I made with them.

First up, this fun little card that looks so simple but lordy, it took forever! LOL! For the "off" bulbs, I stamped first on scrap paper and then on the card. Then, I used my clear glaze pen on them. For the "on" bulb, I stamped it in yellow on a scrap of paper, colored it with my clear glitter Copic and then covered it with Crystal Effects. Then, I cut it out and mounted it with foam adhesive. I'm so glad they are clear stamps because those "off" bulbs would have been impossible to line up!

And this card, that I made for my cousin's baby shower. She's having a little girl after being told that she could never have kids! She's very fashionable and I wanted her card to be just right. I'm not going to tell you how many times I redid and fussed with that bow. Hee-hee! I stamped the chandelier and chain in silver and then embossed just the chandelier with silver and then I stickled (it's a verb now!) the flames.

And finally, my second card for My Sketch World! It uses the first Featured Manufacturer for AWDML, Echo Park. I loved making this card. Super easy, super fun and I got to use that tree paper. I love trees!

Thanks for stopping by! :D

Wheeeeeee!!!!!!

Oh, my gosh, guys!!! I've been dying to tell you about this! I made the Dixie Pieces Design Team! I had to wait until they announced it on their site before I could share it with you all!



I got my first kit today and and I can't wait to get started! :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!!

Okay, it really is cold outside here! It's been hovering around freezing for a while now. Not my favorite especially when there's no snow involved! :p

Well, A Walk Down Memory Lane is going to do their best to warm us up!!! They're having a Baby, It's Cold Outside Crop this month. It runs January 21st-23rd and all layouts must be posted by the end of the crop on the 23rd! The challenges will start being posted on the 21st and there will be games posted all weekend! Each challenge and game will have a RAK winner and there will be one overall winner who will receive a prize from AWDML. The more you do the more entries you get in the overall random drawing!

So, make sure you clear your schedule and I hope to see you there!!! :D

Getting Organized in the Kitchen!

So, I read this blog called Domestically Speaking and she's taking advantage of that clean freak phase that we all seem to go through after the holidays. Her weekly challenge is posted every Monday and on Friday, she posts a Mr. Linky so we can all check out each other's projects.

Her first week was organizing a storage area. I haven't done mine yet but she's giving us till the end of the month so I should be able to sneak this in. I'm pretty sure that the hall closet will get tackled with this challenge. It's kind of pathetic right now. :)

This weeks challenge is a kitchen area. I chose a cupboard above my pantry. I keep all my big pots and pans, my cutting boards and my oven dishes up there. When we moved in, I just popped in a couple wire shelves and stuck everything that fit in that category up there. It worked for a while but then I got a few new things and all of a sudden, it turned into this!

Super annoying, especially when it's time to dig (and I do mean dig) something out of there.

Last night, I got the bug and did something about it! I took everything out of the cupboard and then switched the position of the shelves. The long skinny one went to the back and the fatter one went to the side. The cutting boards were doing just fine where they were so they stayed. I grouped like stuff together and then found it all a home and here's the result!

Now, it all didn't make it back in here. Part of organizing is purging and I got rid of three dishes that I hadn't used since we moved here. Two other items got delegated to the dining room china closet. One was a folding roasting rack that will probably end up in the garage with my big roasting pan and the other was a pie plate that needs to stay in the dining room closet with all the baking stuff.

This was one of those easy fixes that literally took about five minutes because I had everything I needed I just needed to sort and purge. Now, I love how this looks and more importantly, I love how easy it is to get those items down when the madness called dinner time hits. :)

My One Little Word

ACHIEVE. That's my word for 2011. I've got a lot of goals that I'd like to achieve this year and since there is no real theme to them, I figured focusing on just the generic would be best. Unless you can come up with a way to connect knitting, weight loss and finishing a bunch of random projects? Yeah, me neither. :D

So, ACHIEVE it is. I'm hoping to make something with the word ACHIEVE on it. Not sure if I'll be making a banner for my scrap room or a plaque or a layout. But, I know I want to make something, just so I don't forget it. :)

Have you picked a word? Did you make something to help remind you of it throughout the year?

Working on those Resolutions!

Well, I've got the first half of Resolution #7 accomplished! I redid the kids crafts/gift wrap section of my scrap room. I tried to get started on a purge but it's really hard to get rid of stuff when you're in a creative mood. :)

So, I ran with it and I've got three cards completed to submit to Paper Crafts. Part of my plan for accomplishing Resolution #4 is to submit at least four cards every time they have a call. One more card and I'm good for this call! Yay!

I was going to start on Resolution #3 today (learn to knit) but today was kind of hard on me and I had to cancel. :( I'll call her tomorrow to reschedule.

Finally, I've been doing really well with Resolutions #1 & 2, lose the baby weight and take up running. I even started a little blog to keep track of things. (I didn't want to clutter up this blog with all that schtuff!) I've been eating well, following the running program I chose, and I even bought real running shoes for the first time in my life.

How are your Resolutions going? :D

11 Resolutions for 2011

Well, here they are, my 11 resolutions for 2011!

1-Lose the baby weight before the "baby" turns two! To accomplish this, I'm going to be more careful about what/how much I eat and ...
2-Try to take up running. :)
3-Learn to knit. Granny bought me a book and some needles so now all I need is to get her over here about once a week like we used to do.
4-Submit more frequently and more items. I'd love to get a layout pubbed!

I've also got things that I'd need to get done this year but they are more along the lines of an ongoing to-do list and not so much resolutions. ;)

5-Hem drapes in master bedroom
6-Make a valance for the kitchen window. I've got a machine and the fabric, I just need to get off my tuckus!
7-Reorganize the craft/gift wrap section of my scrap room and do a big purge of the scrap room.
8-Clean/organize garage and shop
9-List all that schtuff that I have stored on Craig's List

This is my list of things I'd like to do but may or may not get priority this year.

10-Buy a Canon 50D, get a business license and start portfolio building
11-Refinish church pew in garage, cause if I finish it, I can buy more pieces and start them! LOL!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my slightly un-orthodox list of resolutions. What are your resolutions?

AWDML January Featured Manufacturer & My Sketch World January Sketches!!!

Ooooh-de-lolly!!! They are starting things off with a bang over at A Walk Down Memory Lane! The featured Manufacurer this month is Echo Park! Super cute stuff, people! Super cute stuff! I used Echo Park to do my sketches for My Sketch World this month so we'll start with those projects first!

First up, the layout sketch! I had to use the Little Boy line for this layout because as soon as I saw it I thought of the quilt my mom was working on for Little Man. They are almost a perfect match!!! And, this sketch worked fabulously to showcase both the photo and the papers. Suh-weet! :)
And here's the card sketch for January!!! I loved this simple little sketch and I also loved how well the Sassafrass umbrella went both theme and color-wise with Echo Park's A Walk in the Park line. You can't see it in the photo (bad Erica, no closeup!) but I used my clear pen on the teal raindrops (hi, Lolly!!!) to give them a bit of oomph!


And, here's another layout using Echo Park. This time I used their Wintertime line for this layout about our only snow so far this winter. It was seriously almost a White Thanksgiving around here!

I have another card to show you but I just realized that it's for the mid-month release over at My Sketch World. I volunteered this month to do both card sketches along with my normal layout one. So, you'll just have to wait a bit for me to show you it. :) Sorry abouy that, I'm used to being a 1st of the month release gal and having a 15th card goofed me up! Hee!

December Daily-Day 31!!!

I made it!!! Whoo-hooo!!!! All 31 days of December blogged! Now, I just have to finish my album. Hee!

All right, New Year's Eve. Mickey and I went to Fred's to get provisions for the evening, and after dropping them off at home for Andrew to deal with, we zipped to Target to return sweaters and Costco to buy ink for my printer. I also picked up some workout gear at Fred's and Costco. Hello, January! LOL!

Something I want to remember: Audrey had climbed into Devo's crate and was reading The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room to him. I sprinted to my camera but she climbed out before I could get a shot.

Back to your regularly scheduled December Daily already in progress... ;)

We spent New Year's Eve at our friend's house in Scotts Mills, a yearly tradition, and it was kind of a surprise this year as there were about twice as many people. The cool part about that it kept the husbands of our usual crew from being too nuts.

We did still have our annual firing up of the Christmas trees. The guys wired fireworks to them and set them ablaze with blowtorches. Hee!

Love this shot!

After the trees were done, I took Miss Thing inside and then the big fireworks got set off. They were super loud! I'm not sure how we get away with this every year as the fire department is literally two blocks away. Gotta love small towns!

With all the booms and bangs done with, we all headed back in to warm up.

Miss Thing spent a lot of her time camped out by the food in the kids play room upstairs.

And Mickey discovered the joys of air hockey while the guys hid out from the womenfolk in the garage. (Man time!)

He was actually pretty good!

We all made it to midnight and kissed in the New Year. But by about 12:15, Mickey was out and shortly after, Miss Thing followed suit.

I hope your New Years was as fun as ours and thanks for sticking with me through all of December! :)