Valentine's Schmalentines!

So I have been making tons of Valentines!!! Challenges, Contests, Crops - its the month of love and they all want Valentine cards. LOL! Um... I only have one Valentine - looks like he's getting cards for a week straight ;-)

First, this card was made for the {Caardvarks} XOXO Lovefest Challenge. Used Love, Elsie PP, rubons and sticker. Some doodling and Queen&Co felt ribbon cut up for flowers.
This lovely Valentine was made for the Valentine Card Contest over at Happy N Scrappin' She has awesome deals in her online store. Make sure you sign up for the newsletter email list to be eligible to vote in the contest if you enter. SU red cardstock, Polar Bear Press black PP, some Heidi Swapp flowers and a white button I made black with embossing powder. Be Mine K&Co icicle and misc. ribbon.

This one was just because. LOL! Actually, Jen over at Itty Bitty Scrap Shack inspired me with her card based on the PageMaps sketch here. Stamped white CS with an Autumn Leaves flourish... red PP is leftover from my christmas layout I did... it has some glitter in it too. 3 Bugs in a Rug sticker and heart cut from cuttlebug.

And these last three were done as part of the challenges over at All Moments Remembered for the online crop last night. I got three challenges done before I hit the sack.

This one was to make a card using black CS as a base, 4 hearts, ribbon, buttons, and pink and white paper. I only had my scrap box and a few other things because Dustin was sleeping in my scraproom (our bedroom).

Mini warmup for the AMR crop last night. 4x4 card using scraps and a heart stamp from my new Fancy Pants Garden set.
And last but not least, this challenge was to make your own PP. FINALLY! I could do an un-valentine! LOL! Paper is stamped with cherry blossom stamp from Fancy Pants Garden set and colored in with Twinkling H2Os. Sentiment is on foil paper - this card is really shimmery and gorgeous in real life, I promise!

Thank you so much for looking and I appreciate all your comments!!

Lots of Happenings this Weekend!!!

First off, I have to tease you all with the goodies I got in the mail yesterday!!! Dustin brought home my order from Stampin' Up and Memory Works! YUM! I'm going to have fun playing this weekend!




Next... the lovely enablers ladies over at From Here to Scrapternity showed me this today. Its going to be the QVC Special Value on Monday! Good thing Dustin just got paid! YUMMY!



Stacey over at All Moments Remembered has her very first monthly kit debut! The kit sold out the first day sight unseen!!! You can check her blog for the yummy sneak peaks and the reveal should be sometime today! I'm bummed I didn't get one (my credit card is not, however) but it looks too yummy! Their message board is also having a Kit Reveal Crop tonight 4pm- Midnight EST. So go sign up for the message board and join us for some fun!


And last but CERTAINLY not least...

The Itty Bitty Scrap Shack is holding a "So You Think You Can Scrap" contest. Open auditions start today and go through Feburary 7th!! Check out their message board and kits while you're over there!! And make sure you sign up. Every member of the MB will have one vote every week in the contest!

Want to win an Itty Bitty Kit??

The Itty Bitty Scrap Shack is hosting a "Get in the Mood for Love" Contest. Here are the details:

Create a layout (12x12 or 8 1/2 x 11) about the love(s) of your life. Maybe it's a person, maybe a place, animals, etc. Whatever you love, we want to see it! Send your entries to designteam@ittybittyscrapshack.com by February 1st. The winner will receive the February Itty Bitty Kit!

So head on over and check it out! GOOD LUCK!

Black and White Just Because

Did this card for a challenge over at Memory Book Inspirations. The challenge was to make a card only using the colors black and white. So here are the layers: black cardstock embossed with white EP, white cardstock, black stitched paper, white organza/satin ribbon, and white cardstock with a flower stamp embossed with black EP. Thanks for looking!

I've been tagged

by Kylie... I could just copy and paste her answers, we do have the same middle name... BWAHAHAHA!!!

Rules :
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.
(Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

So, my middle name is Marie - which means I have to come up with five hopeless souls to tag

M - mommy
A - adorable
R - real
I - intelligent
E -enough

Okay, I played, even though I did't want too... but I have concluded the tag stops with me!

LOOKEE WHAT I'VE GOT COMING!!!

Okay, I know I'm addicted... but my mom is an SU demo and needed some help with her quotas - YEA!

Here are the stamps I have on their way to my house right now. Really loving the All Scallops and Trimtastic... and how cute is A Tree for all Seasons! YUM!! Oh, and since it was a party order I got a hostess set too! I know, I know, I'm addicted to stamps! I have more stuff coming and already making my list for Sale-a-Bration!

8.5 x 11 Layouts

Here are some 8.5 x 11 Landscape Layouts. This first one is the title page for our Book of Us (BOU) It's like a Book of Me, but I'm doing me on the left page, and Dustin on the right.

Another BOU layout. I love this picture! Dustin's not smiling, but hey, I look good! :D All items are from the ScrapBook Takeout January kit. Journal spot from Elle's Studio.

I have a Christmas album that is 8.5 x 11 and I do one two-page layout a year hitting the highlights. Pretty neat to look back on past Christmases and see what the HOT toy was or the girl's reaction to Santa. This is 2007's layout.

Before and After

I am posting before and after pictures of my scrap area. I have resolved to keep my space clean and straighten up at the end of every day. So far so good! Now if I can just get Sierra to put all her Cuttlekids stuff away and pick up all the cuts of paper!

BEFORE

My desk and random catch all of empty boxes and other trash!

Trash Can, sewing stuff... more boxes

Way too much stuff in this room!!

AFTER
I had to move everything into the master bedroom and Karis now has her own room! These Ikea shelves were given to us for free! Can't beat that! They now hold ribbon, buttons, brads, all my inks and paints, underneath has all my chipboard and some other random stuff stashed.

My shelf with stamps, file cabinet with non-scrappy stuf in there but my SG kits on top! And the large sterilite container is how I sort all my patterned paper. They are mostly in large ziplocks by brand and line with matching accessories in it.

My desk with my Clip it Up on it! I had to buy two extra packs of clips and I still don't have all my stuff up there! Behind it is a tool bit sorter I got in the hardware section. I keep eyelets and odds and ends in there.

Here is my desk with my sizzix and cuttlebug and Sierra's cuttlekids on it. I moved my cricut by the computer in the other room so I had room to leave my sewing machine out. I've actually used it quite a few times just in the last few weeks!

And for all you organized perfectionists out there... this is as good as its gonna get!!

Thank You!

Here is the Thank You card I did for the current challenge over at {Caardvarks}. I used BG Infuse collection and my cuttlebug scalloped flowers nesting die. CTMH doodle alphabet stamps too. Thanks for looking!

Bling and Alcohol Ink!

So I have these bling swirls by Me and My Big Ideas that were clear. I say 'were' because I COLORED THEM PINK!!! I was working on a LO for a contest and one of the requirements was to use bling. I wanted to use these swirls, but they were clear, and I wanted them pink. This is when I got my ingenious idea! I got out my alcohol ink out and started playing. IT WORKED!!! I am now able to color bling in about 10 different colors! LOL!

I placed a drop of alcohol ink on a piece of felt and dabbed it on my bling - VOILA! colored bling. However, I didn't have a light pink ink, and I wanted light pink bling. So I added a couple drops of rubbing alcohol to the felt and dabbed it over the bling. Some more dabbing and rubbing alcohol and I got the lovely light pink bling swirls pictured below.

So have fun! I need more colors of alcohol ink!!! And more bling!!

Christmas and Pumpkins!

Did this LO for SG's December Scraplift Challenge. Everything is from SG December kit, save for the red glitter glue on the chipboard. Pictures are from Christmas long long ago... I think around 1989. This is me opening my prized possessions (at that age) - My porcelain dolls!Sierra carved her pumpkin, and then decided she wanted to paint it!

Our Pink Meow Meow

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and RAK winner

Congratulations Barbara (ladynurse4)!!! I will get your album off after the New Year as we are going to Paris!

RAK Christmas Album

I have a mini Christmas Album (about 6x6) that is just collecting dust, so if you leave a comment on this post telling me one of your Christmas Wishes I will choose a winner at random on Christmas Eve. Anyone can enter - you have until Dec 24th! Be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Good Luck!

I know its Christmas time

But I'm still scrapping Halloween. Here are a few layouts of the girls painting pumpkins.

RickRack Patty-Whack

Here is the card I did for the new {Caardvarks} challenge. Challenge was to use Ric Rac on a card. Okay, I know I'm not very original, I had a better idea, but it just didn't pan out! LOL!

Toot Toot

My 'You Have 4 Minutes' layout was featured on the Multi-photo Scrapbook Layouts blog! But what makes this extra cool is my friends (from ScrapGoods), Tara - Create the Perfect Snowman, and Rina - Fun Winter Memories, are both featured in this post as well! Great job ladies!!!

Glimmer mist and mica layouts

Uploading some of my layouts I did with the November ScrapGoods kit. The technique was Glimmer mists and Twinkling H2Os. Pictures don't really show very much, but they have a wonderful shimmer :D

Me and Ruby> This LO won the 'Best use of Stamp' category for the SG Nov Challenge. I stamped the frame, heat embossed with red embossing powder, and then painted with green mica and water. Then, I made my own shimmery brads by covering them in glue and dipping in the green mica.
This LO was for the Nov 'Scraplift' Challenge. The corner frame of the pic is Prima Paintables watercolor paper that I painted with twinkling H2Os. Flourish in the bottom left is blue glimmer mist sprayed on white cardstock. I then hand cut a flourish and accented with pearl mica powder. I took my Versamarker and drew flourishes around the big one and rubbed a burgandy mica on it to pick up the color. This was lots of fun, and once again, MUCH more shimmery in person!

Need a Hug Crop Challenge Projects

Here are the Challenges I did for the 'Need a Hug' crop over on the ScrapGoods message board this weekend. There are quite a few I didn't get to , but I have them on my never ending 'list of things to do' :D Thanks for Looking!

Challenge: use only cardstock and ribbons with one ribbon slider
I used cardstock and stamped the top half, yellow and orange ribbons with a chipboard ribbon slider covered with green cardstock. Flowers and title cut from cardstock using my cricut. Orange scallops are cardstock cut with my scallop scissors.Challenge: use buttons three ways
I used buttons for the middle of my flower, sewed a heart over a button, and broke buttons in half for the scallop border.
Challenge: use a sketch
Sketch is originaly from PageMaps, its the 5th one down, here is my take on it.
Challenge: Embellie Mania! Use as many embellies as you can - can't count more than three of each embellishment. Even though I could only count three of each embellie, here is all that I have on my LO:
4 pieces ric rac
3 pieces ribbon
3 pieces velvet ribbon
12 brads
12 buttons
14 rubons (the circles that are cut out)
3 eyelets (on the journal box)
4 cardstock stickers
65 pieces of bling - in one bling frame ;)

That's a total of 120 pieces on this layout!

Challenge: Alter Anything
I've had this clock sitting in the hallway for about a month. I bought it at Ikea for 2 euro and hoped it came apart so I could alter it. YAY! It did!! So I cut a large circle for the inside and heat embossed the numbers on it. Then I added some rubons and a little birdie stamp. I decorated the outside of the clock (which was plastic) with alcohol inks. It looks much better in real life! I am so proud. I made this for my scrapbook room, but Dustin reminded me last night that I only have three more weeks before I have to give up my scrapbook room :(
Challenge: Use a photo on a card/Make a holiday card/Doodle
I combined three challenges in one for this card. Sierra took a picture of our big stuffed reindeer. Not just any picture, a picture of his butt! LOL! So when I read the challenge, I immediately thought of this picture! Doodled on it too :D Left is card front, right is the inside of the card.
Challenge: Try to combine the most challenges on one LO.
Use 4 things you are hoarding (Bling Cardstock, Fancy Pants journal card, Heidi Swapp white ghost heart, KI Lace Cardstock)
Scraplift one of your OWN layouts - done
Use your two oldest items - the blue frames and the blue patterned paper with brown swirls
Doodle on a LO - doodled around the photos, on the photos, etc
Use the most embellishments (3 max of each) - eyelets, primas, ribbon, frames, shost shapes, brads, buttons, staples