Say Hello to My Little Friend!

Just sharing a layout I made quite a while ago and never got around to posting. It was originally for a 2Peas challenge to use your wood veneer. The top banner on this page is a Studio Calico wood veneer that I sprayed with some mists.

 

 

The little star flair is from Bossy Joscie and the green goes so well with my little hat friend. ;) The rest of the layout was made with items from a kit from The Girl's Loft. I won it ages (and I mean ages!) ago on the Creating Keepsakes website.

 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

An Amazing Weekend!!!

I had such a fun time at CKC this weekend. I went Friday morning with my mom and we took an amazing card class together. It was so fun to spend time with her. She'd been gone for a few weeks and missed her like crazy!



I took her home in the afternoon (after much shopping!) and then went back to the convention for the crop. I made sure to take pics with a bunch of my CK friends.



Some pictures (and friends) a little crazier than others.  ;) Todd's a crazy one! Which is probably why we get along so well.



Some pics involved a few more takes than others.  Heh! I love taking pics with Megan. She and I are about the same height so there's no crouching needed on my part!



And I made sure to get one of me and Teri. We had an awesome time cropping together along with her friend Stephanie. :)



Saturday involved a few more classes. My first was with my friend Lynn. We didn't get kicked out of class for talking! We did have some of our fellow classmates cracking up though! 



Little money shot of my fabulous wrist band!



My amazing teacher for all three classes, Micheala!



And, the $3.75 soda that I refilled like crazy once I learned that there were free refills. This was refill number six or seven!



And, sweet Kim! We were full on twins! Jeans, white shirts and mint cardigans were the outfit to be wearing that day!

CKC-Portland!!!

That's where I'll be today and tomorrow, CKC-Portland! I'm not teaching any classes or working at all, I'm just plain enjoying myself.

Today-My mom and I are heading in first thing in the morning to shop and then meeting a girlfriend of mine (hi, Christina!) for lunch. After that we've got a card class together and probably a little more shopping. Then, I'll bring her back home and zip back into Portland for the crop. The lovely and crazy talented Teri Anderson is going to let me sit at her table. I'm beyond excited about that because I adore her card making style and am really looking forward to watching her create. It's going to be so cool to see her paper crafting process!  Happy sigh!

Tomorrow-I'm heading in by myself. I'm planning on taking two CK scrapbooking classes, one of which my friend Lynn is taking!  Yay!!! I haven't seen her in ages so I'm hoping we don't get tossed out of class for chatting too much.  Heh! I'm hoping to run into a few other friends and even a co-worker, too! 

It's gonna be a great weekend!

Oh, and because every post needs a photo, here's my little Audrey at preschool yesterday. She's wearing bunny ears and a princess dress and carrying flowers because she wanted me to marry her. I think we've gotten married about six times now.  Love that crazy little girl of mine!

My Publication Binder (and some fun news!)

This year I decided to get serious about trying to get published more. And that meant getting organized! I grabbed a binder(aqua, of course) and a bunch of page protectors and got started!

 

First up, I created my main categories; Calls, Cards (unseen), Cards (seen), Layouts, Mini Albums and Other.

 

 

I printed out each category name on printer paper, placed them in page protectors and then stapled little tabs with the names on the side.

 

 

Behind the section for calls, I glued a tab for each magazine that I want to submit to. I've got sections for Paper Crafts, CK, Create, Cards, Scrapbook Trends and Simply Handmade. I need to add one for Scrapbook and Cards Today.

 

Once I print out a call, I slip it into the appropriate page protector and then it's all ready for me to check when I have a little time to create.

 

Once I've submitted a project, I print out a sheet that has the supplies I used and a quick step by step. Then I slip that into a page protector in the proper category. I keep the cards in the protectors with their write up. It's just easier to find them that way. I also write on there which call(s) I've subbed it for and when that call ends.

 

If I get something picked up, I pull it's info sheet and place it in the front of my binder along with a copy of the contract paperwork and the shipping receipt from the post office.

 

I keep this in the Expedit right behind my desk so it's easy to grab. It's also really easy for me to bring to crops. I'm also considering a section for challenges and contests but that may need it's own binder.

 

Now, for my fun news! I got my first layout picked up!  And, it's with Creating Keepsakes!  I'm beyond excited and can't wait to share it. It'll be in the Sept/Oct issue.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

The New Normal

Getting settled in around here. Getting used to new routines. Getting organized...or at least trying to!

My new at-work schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings in the office.  My dad comes out to watch the kids for me.

My new at-home schedule should be working all day Tuesday and Thursday and Monday, Wednesday, Friday afternoons. Then I have the evenings and weekends free to keep house and spend time with my family.

My current at-home schedule is more like work M/W/F afternoon and evenings while interspersing kids, house and hubby. Tuesday, Thursday and the weekends I work as much as I can to get up to my 40 hours. It's a bit of a balancing act. This last week was pretty busy with trips to IKEA, school carnivals and such and so I had quite a bit of working to do on the weekend. The previous week, I got my 40 hours in during the week. 

I have a nice little desk set up in my craft room for my work stuff. It's where I spend most of my time at home lately so I bought myself a new cute chair from IKEA. Once I get it all tidied up, I'll get some pics up here. My craft room has changed so much it's about time I shared it. In the mean time here's the chair I got at IKEA. It's so cute!

I do try to work a bit out of the office. I get packets at work of things I need to use to make projects and I take those in the living room with me to sketch out ideas while hanging out with Andrew.  I also made cards last night in the living room while Andrew and I watched a three hour Bachelor episode. I had to set up my own little workspace on a cork board out there. It's a little crazy but it works.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to get exercising back into my schedule!

Family Heirlooms

I had so much fun working with Carta Bella this month. I made a mini album documenting all the family heirlooms that we live with in our home. And, do we have a lot!  Here's the cover for my mini.  I used the fabulous Traditions line from Carta Bella to decorate my Punk-a-licious album.

 I made an intro page and then misted the first wet media page with some Lindy's spray and a chicken wire mask. These chairs that now live in my kids' bedrooms used to be used in the drying and sorting barn on my grandfather's teasel farm. 

 I played with another mist and a vintage doily mask from Kaisercraft. I used the acrylic page to document some really cool books that I read when I was in the 5th grade. It's an Encyclopedia of sorts for kids called The Book of Knowledge. I read all of them and loved them! 

 On the back is the lawyers case that I was given by my grandparents because I was one of the few family members who had read those books.  LOL! Throughout the book I used these tags I cut out. I threaded them all with Denim Lil' Twiney. Next are some half sized pages.  The photo of the heirloom is on the front and the information about it is on the back. There's a bench from my mom's grade school, a mirror from my grandfather's dresser, a bottle crate from my grandparents grocery store and some milk glass from my grandmother. 

 The next acrylic page has the story of my great-grandmother's laundry basket. I used the lacy looking paper for this because she was a great seamstress and it felt appropriate. :) 

 I have a teasel basket, again from my grandfather's family farm, by my front door that's just perfect for holding shoes, helmets and other outdoor gear. The next wet media page has more mist with the doily mask and the story of my great-grandmother's irons. It's crazy to think that I use for decoration what she used everyday for it's intended purpose! 

 These last two pages have some room left for a few more items I need to document.  I have a few pieces of furniture made by my great-grandfather in my room that's just waiting to be tidied up so I can get a clean shot.  LOL! 

The Traditions line from Carta Bella was just perfect for this album. The colors and patterns work beautifully with the theme of family heirlooms. And here are some close ups of the pages. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Supplies Used:

Punky Sprouts: Punk-a-licious, Funky Punky Fiber Pack-Denim, Funky Punky Fiber Pack-Canvas, Lil' Petals-Denim, Lil' Petals-Canvas, Lil Parchment Blossoms

Carta Bella: Traditions Collection Kit

Lindy's Stamp Gang: Rudolph' Nose Red, California Poppy Gold, Gator Gumbo Olive, Breakfast Club Blue

Other:  Ink-Ranger

This Family

I made this layout from a Becky Fleck sketch for a call from Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine.  Well, it didn't get picked up and I've been so crazy busy that I hadn't shared it here yet.  Here's the sketch...

 

 

and here's my layout.

 

 

I used this gorgeous line from Lily Bee Designs, Persnickety.  Oh, how I love this line! 

 

 

I also added a bunch of fun Punky Sprouts embellishments.  The backside of the denim matches the dark blue in the line perfectly!

The call also requested some sort of hidden journaling and so I tucked mine behind the main photo.



 

I really like how it turned out although when I have a little more time, I think I may add some stitching. Now that I look at it more, it does need something. (Maybe that's one of the reason's it didn't get picked up! LOL!)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Wedding

Not gonna lie, February was crazy busy!  I volunteered to teach some photography classes at Mickey's school when a full-time job was the last thing on my mind.  Then, I've been taking care of some stuff for my Granny, getting ready for a wedding that my kids were in, and we've had some house guests.  Add in a weekend of puppy sitting and babysitting Grayson every Thursday and I've had no time for blogging. It's been the longest, shortest month ever!  Phew!  It was a lot of fun but I am glad it's over. 

I've only had enough time to edit a few of the pics but I wanted to share some images from my niece's wedding.   

 

 

Mickey was the ring bearer and Audrey was one of the flower girls.

 

My Mother-in-law and all but two of her granddaughters.

 

It was a lovely ceremony!

 

 

And, the reception was a blast.

 

Mickey's dancing was the surprise hit of the night.  The boy can really bust a move!

 

Later in the night, he jumped up on that box and was dancing like the DJ! 

 

It was a wonderful evening.  Congrats, Connor & Rachel!!!