New Sketch at Sketch Inspiration!

Sketch Inspiration has a new sketch this week with a great prize from Shop Remember When!

Head on over and give Sketch #209 a try.

I'll post my layout as soon as I'm done. I've got the pic, the papers, the embellies and everything else I need. Now, I just need to put it all together!

As promised:

 I used an EK Success border punch for the scallops. To make the dotted circle I used The Crafter's Workshop plastic stencil. All the papers came from Colorbok Rustic Earth paper pack.

 I used Tim Holtz Sprokets for the "O's". I think it was a perfect touch! I also used Thickers for the title. Once they were adhered, I decided to sand them a little bit so they weren't so clean. After all, the rest of the layout was  shabby.

 The date spot came from Maya Road. I also decided to rough up the edges of this too. The full on black was just to crisp for this layout.

I used my Sew Easy tool with the zigzag head for the stitching. This was actually the first time I used this tool. I do not have the recommended mat for it, so I just used my mouse pad. It worked pretty well, but I was trying to poke through 2 and 3 sheets of cardstock. I don't doubt that if I woulda pressed harder, it woulda gone through perfectly. but I didn't want to risk ruining the paper since I hadn't used this before. It's really fun to use!

This was such a fun sketch to work with! You really need to check it out!

Wintervention at HYWWP

What a blast! The Wintervention was basically to get us out of our winter-time woes and blues!

Six challenges for this mini-online crop at Have Your Way With Paper. I got four of the six done, but I did four layouts in two days!! That's a big deal for me! Here's just ONE of the layouts I did. This is for challenge #4. We had to go into our online gallery and find a summer themed layout and lift it.

I used My Mind's Eye "So Sophie" for all the papers except for the polka dots, which was "Ooh La La." The embellies are also My Mind's Eye from the same "Ooh La La" collection. The titles are as always, Thickers!

I printed my journaling on clear sticker paper and carefully adhered it to the MME embellie and attached it. I pop-dotted the journaling block as well as the green flower embellie. I still need to add my date to the ticket, but I want to use a certain date stamp. Once I buy it, I will stamp it on there.

I hope you will join us at our next online crop!

AMAZING GIVEAWAY!!!

You have GOT to check this out!

Head over to Creating From The Heart.

She's giving away:

a computerized sewing machine,

sew easy tool, threads and mat!

GOOD LUCK!

Sketchy Saturday - 2/26/11

Sketch #42

"School Daze" 

I used minimal papers here. I used Plantin Schoolbook for the font using the shadow function for the black background on the letters. This layout came together pretty quickly. I would love to see what you can do!

Give this sketch a try. Then, link your layout below and leave a comment too! Let's see what you got!

Ohhh.....Miss Jenny!!

This post is just for YOU darlin'! I know just how much you said you would LOOOOOVE to make your own Canelones......SO.....Here you go! (Okay, so it's for everyone to enjoy, but still....)

Just click on the pic for a larger view! Enjoy! And PLEASE let me know if you made them, how they turned out and if you like them.

Those are my nephews Dylan and Jeremy, by the way.

ABC's Of Me - Letter C

CHEESE – When I was little, I hated cheese. Ok, the only cheese I liked was Swiss cheese. I didn’t want anything to do with cheese. Now, the only (normal) cheese I don’t like is.....Swiss! I can’t believe it! But I do love me some cheese. The cheesier the better!

CHICAGO – I visited when I was little but I don’t remember much of it. I would go with my dad when he needed to buy something in particular for his (at the time) restaurant. I also went again when my granpa ("Papino") passed away and his funeral was up there. I went on a mini-vaca/scrap retreat with ‘my gals’ from HYWWP and it was amazing! I can’t believe how much fun we had and how much there is to see. I can totally see myself living there with Nathan (if it were warm all year round…).

CANELONES – Mom makes this from scratch, always has and always will! This is one of my favorite foods! But, it’s gotta be Spinach Canelones with white/alfredo sauce on top. You can make these with creamed corn and top with homemade red sauce, but it’s not even close to being as good as the original! I’ve made this only a couple times, but both times it came out amazing!

COOKIE MONSTER – How can I not like this guy? He was my favorite from Sesame Street! “C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me…” AND, he’s blue! What more could you ask for?!

CARLOS – My dad. It’s amazing how much he looks like my grandpa. I look at pictures of my grandpa at Dad’s age now and the similarities are uncanny! Dad is….well, my dad. He taught me and my sisters the basics of building and shooting. He also taught us how to be strong. These days, Dad is a bit of a terd. LOL! He can’t hear, missing a few teeth, yells at Mom and refuses to do much of anything. But, one thing is for sure…..he would kill anyone who tried to hurt any of his girls! I love my dad!

C-SECTION – For as long as I remember, I have always been adamant that I wanted a c-section. I knew I would never want/be able to give a natural birth! Gimme that epidural ANY day! Now, I will say that when we were in the hospital they called it an “emergency c-section” but it made no difference to me. I knew I was in good hands!

CARTOONS – My favorite thing to watch! I have a 6 hour VHS tape with nothing but cartoons on it. My sister, Sandra, and I have sooooo many inside jokes based off cartoons, it’s not even funny! Ok, well, to her and I it’s hilarious. Although, no one else really understands what in the world we are cracking up about. So many times we have called the other and simly said, "...I don't wanna..." and DIED laughing! Oh, and did I mention....I still CHOOSE to watch them even today!

CAVES – I can’t wait until the day I can take Nathan caving! My parents would take road trips with us girls to TX to visit my grandparents and we would seemed to always end up in a cave somewhere. It is the coolest thing ever! I just can’t believe that caves are naturally made. I think that’s what makes them even more amazing!!!

CHOCOLATE – What can I say about chocolate? Chocolate cake, chocolate bar, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate ice cream! OH. MY. GOSH. Can you ever have too much chocolate? Ok, yeah, I guess you could, but it’s nice to dream, huh? Those commercials on TV with the flowing chocolate make my mouth water. Or the chocolate river in Willy Wonka…..yummy! But, I have to warn you, I don’t like all chocolates! The only chocolates I like are the plain Hershey bar, Crunch Bar, Kit Kat, Palmer’s Hollow Chocolate Easter Bunny. The rest…..you can keep.

COKE ZERO – You gotta love something that tastes like the real thing, but has no calories! Ok, so it has other ingredients that aren’t all that wonderful, but I NEED me some Coke Zero! I don’t think I could survive without it. Really, I don’t think I could.

Truly Becoming a "Big Boy"

Ok, so I took my little man, Nathan, to the dentist the other day. Nathan kept saying he lost a tooth and has a hole. Ok, now I know I woulda known if he really did lose a tooth, but I played along to get him to want to go to the dentist.

So, we get there and he is gung-ho about it all. He's so excited to tell the dentist he lost his first tooth. The hygenist takes a look and cleans and all that wonderful stuff and she says his 6 year molar is breaking through. At first, I thought, "Oh, ok. Cool." Then I asked, "Wait, is that a permanent tooth?" YUP! It sure is!

His very first big boy tooth is coming in!

And, it's a molar nontheless!

I always thought your front teeth came in first, but I guess not always!

He is totally excited now!!! He even told his classmates and showed them his "Big Boy Tooth."

FINALLY!

After a few days, I'm FINALLY caught up with all the blogs I'm following!! woo-hoo!! So be sure to check your blog for commetns!!! I don't think i missed any, if i did, i'm very sorry! From now on, I will do my best to STAY caught up! My eyes are burning from all the computer screen staring! LOL

You have all shown some wonderful ideas and techniques lately! And for those of you who shared pieces of your life, thank ou so much! I love getting to know each and every one of you!!

Manic Monday Giveaway - February 2011 (part TWO)

Yup! I decided to do another giveaway this month!!!

 

What you need to do to qualify for this giveaway is simple!

1. become a follower, if not already
2. post about this giveaway on your own blog/site and link your readers back here
3. don't forget to leave a comment here too

You have until 2/28 to become eligible. I will announce a winner on 3/1!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Here's what I'm offering! 10 double sided papers, journaling card, and 4 frames

Vintage seems to be pretty big lately, so I gathered these few papers from Graphic 45 for you!

 Graphic 45 Borders

All papers in this kit are double sided! You will get the following:

BORDERS (12x12 sheet):

On the Boardwalk & Proper Gentleman

PAPERS (12x12)

Playtimes Pasts (2)

Proper Gentleman (1)

Le Romantique (2)

Christmas Past (1)

Stempunke Debutante (2)

On The Boardwalk (1)

Halloween In Wonderland (1)

Paper Loft - Journaling Card

FRAMES (4x4):

Lilly Bee Designs - Audrey (4)

Layout Posting for Sketchy Saturday

As most of you know, the Sketchy Saturday posts have a 'deadline' for posting your own layouts. You only have a week to do so, then you can't link your layout. Well, I didn't think this was fair. Not everyone can get a layout done that quickly. So, I have decided to add a separate page for those of you who are unable to post your layouts within that week. Now, although I would love to see your layout in the original post, I still want you to have to opportunity to post it somewhere. SO-----If you have a layout based on one of my sketches, please link it HERE and be sure to link back to your blog with the sketch # you used. That way, when others view your layout, they will know which sketch it came from. I hope this is an added feature you will be happy with.

Big Boo-Boo, Oopsie!

Have you noticed, I haven't left you much love on your blog lately?

Did you think I lost interest?

Did you think I just didn't care?

**NEVER!**

Well, I have not been all that incredibly busy lately, but more like lazy! (what can I say, i'm extremely honest----teehee). Anyway, because of my laziness, I have gotten extremeley behind in my comments on your blogs! I went into Google Reader yesterday and saw 294 unread new posts! OH MY!!! You have been busy posting bees! LOL

So, needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do. I am going to try to get through the bulk of all your posts today. So, if you havent' seen a comment from me lately, not to worry, you will. If not today, sometime in the next few days. Oh, and if you had several posts in the last few days, you will see several comments from me too!

I'm so excited to see what you have all been up to, see your new creations, see what's been going on in your lives and see what blog hops I missed.....

Thanks for being patient!

Skecthy Saturday - 2/19/11

SKETCH #84

 "CAN I GO NOW?"

PRODUCTS USED: Cloud 9  Design Cocoa Mint for the brown patterned paper and Cinnamon Stick for the rest of the papers. I used Thickers for the title and the date block frame. For the date block itself I used Maya Road.

If you like this sketch and wanna try it yourself, go for it! Then, be sure to link your layout below and leave a comment. You only have ONE WEEK to upload your layout....so you better get a move on it!

Enter Sandman

I did this layout based on Sketch Inspiration's Sketch #207.

A wonderful sketch!  Head over there and give it a try! There's a great giveaway!

Check it out!!

I was featured today on Craft Junkie Too!

Tracy said such wonderful things!

Check it out and her blog!

Just click on the Blog Badge below!

ABC's Of Me - Letter B

BOYS – I don’t know exactly why, but I have always seemed to get along much better with boys than with girls. All throughout high school, most of my friends were guys. It really made high school quite fun! Now, I’ not gonna say that they were “just friends” even though they technically were. Almost all the guys I was friends with and hung out with either I had a crush on them or they on me. I Never dated any of them during high school though. Go figure!

BAYLEE – I loved him so very much! I had Baylee Levis from 8 weeks of age until about 7.5 years. He was a black lab/Rhodesian mix. He was absolutely stunning!! He was so smart and so strong; much stronger than he thought. He loved chewing on wiring. He also loved to prove how well he protected our home. There were several times I would find some kind of dead bird on the back porch. One time, I even saw him snatch a bird right out of mid-air!! He would sleep on the pillow next to me in bed. If I woke up before he did, he would quickly pop up and stare at the window. He would make it look like he had been keeping a vigil all night long. He was my best bud!

BAMBI – Our very first family dog! She was the sweetest little thing.
She was about 14 pounds and we had her for 11 wonderful years! My sister, Trish, found her on the street one day and brought her to my mom. Mom fell in love with her immediately and couldn’t help but keep her. She was so thin and fragile, she looked like Bambi from the Disney movie. When my little nephew, Jeremy, saw her for the first time, he pointed to her and said, “Bambi.” She was my best friend and confidante. No matter how much Dad said he couldn’t stand her, he loved her so much! When his father died, she jumped right up on his lap and all he did was pet and snuggle her.

BIG BAND – One of my favorite things to listen to. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, you name it! All kinds of Crooners! I think this is why I like Harry Connick Jr. so much! He has the same big band style of singing and music! It’s so very soothing and romantic and loving. It puts me at ease and leaves me with a wonderful sense of a better and simpler time – it leaves me with a sense of peace.

BIRDS CHIRPING – Yet one more thing that puts me at peace! If I wake up hearing the birds chirping outside, I know I’m going to have a great day! I wake up with a smile on my face. This is not an easy thing for someone who is so not a morning person! This is exactly why I need to move to a place that has birds chirping 99% of the mornings! I think my favorite chirp is the “Figaro” bird. My Abuelo Miguel pointed this little guy out to me when I was little. This little guy sings “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” if you listen closely.

BLUE – This is my absolute most favorite color in the world! Ever since I can remember, blue has always been my favorite color, even when I didn’t realize it. Let me just give you a little insight. Some of my favorite things - Smurfs, Grover, Cookie Monster, half my closet …all blue things. I tried to say that my favorite color was red at one point, but it never took. I always came back to blue. There are several different shades of blue and, with the exception of powder blue, I like almost all of them. My favorite shade though, is electric blue-pepsi can blue-colts blue.

BROAD RIPPLE – My old stomping ground in my early 20’s. I drank and danced from like 10pm until 3am. Everyone knew me by name. Everyone loved me. My nickname was “Lush” (no, not too proud of that one!). Oh, did I mention I had class or work the next morning at 7am?? Yeah! Not a pretty picture. Not a smart move! Never again!

V-Day WINNER!

This wasn't too hard to pick a winner.....teehee....EVELYN, I will be sending your secret prize out in the next day or two! Keep an eye on your mailbox!!

ABC's Of Me - Letter A

A good friend of mine, Jenny, got me started on this wonderful journey of "ME" by going through the alphabet, one letter at a time. I hope you enjoy this journey with me as I reveal just a little about myself.

APPLES – When I was little I didn’t like to eat apples the traditional way; to say that I wouldn’t bite into a raw apple, peel and all. I also refused to eat apple slices too, with or without peel. So, mom would peel my apple (Granny Smiths, of course), grab the cheese grater and grate my apple onto a dinner plate. When she was done grating the apple, she would add some sugar on top and hand me the plate with a fork. How yum-my!!

ANNIE – My long-time friend! Okay, so we weren’t exactly ‘friends’ when we were younger. We actually kinda ‘hated’ eachother. My fondest memories are of all the fights we had. I know that sounds silly, but the kind of fights we had were too. One memorable one is the marker fight outside in her front yard. We both had a permanent marker and chased eachother all over the yard and marked eachother up as best we could. All these many years later, I can safely say that we are great friends. We don’t talk every day or even every month. We barely even see eachother most years. I know, no matter what, if I ever needed her, she’d be there for me in an instant!

ARGENTINA – My home country. Most of you probably don’t know, but I was actually born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My family came over (to the U.S.) when I was about 2.5 years old. The first time I went back I was 15 years old. It was amazing! The flight was long, but so worth the trip. I got to see my family and see the mountains and so much more. It was there, I fell in love with Pizza!

ASADO – I can’t say enough just how amazing this is! Basically, it’s a full cow, spread eagle on a spit, upright and smoked to perfection! When I was in Argentina at 15, I had one piece of every part of that cow and could have easily had seconds! I know for some, this may look totally disgusting, but I promise you, It's the best most tender and juicy meat I have ever had!

AMERICAN – Yes, we are all Americans and I am no better than any other. I will say though, I was not born an American, I was naturalized when my parents were. Because they became citizens and I was their child, I was automatically naturalized. I still remember standing in the hallway of the City-County Building in downtown Indy admiring the floor (marble and had this amazing circular design).

ANTIQUES – I’m such a sucker for a good antique! I love the old fans and sewing machines and just about anything that has a little rust and a little life in it. I’m not exactly sure why. I guess I’m just an old soul (with a young heart). They give me a sense of another time when things were simpler and life was easier. No fancy electronics or fancy toys to distract people from life. I get a sense of comfort and peace.

ALL SUMMER IN A DAY - when i was in grade school, i was teased from 4th thru 7th grade. Four years of crying on my way to school, at school, on my way home, crying myself to sleep. That said; there was this movie (all summer in a day) that we watched in 4th grade, i think. The parts i remember was that it was on another planet and the sun only came around like once in a lifetime or something. There was this girl, Paula, which everyone teased like crazy. They were picking on her one day, locked her in a closet. Then the sun came out. Everyone ran outside to enjoy it forgetting about the girl. When the sun went away and they came back in they realized they forgot all about her. I felt a connection with this girl. Not just because her name was Paula, but because of the teasing and everything. I have NEVER forgotten this movie and I KNOW I never will!

Well, i was just now looking up the title (cuz i couldn't really remember) and you know what? The girls name wasn't Paula! It was Margot! All these many many years, i SWORE her name was Paula! I was sitting there actually crying about this. I can't explain why exactly. It’s weird and i honestly don't know why this bothered me so much.

SURPRISE!!! Two Days ONLY!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

To show my appreciation to all my readers and express how much I love seeing your comments, I have another giveaway!!!

You have just TWO DAYS to win a secret Valentine's Day Kit!! You will get some 12x12 papers, some bling, some ribbon, and a little bit more! Leave me a comment and tell your readers by posting this on your blog too! I will post the pic of the prize AFTER I have a winner!

Good luck every one!

You have 2/14 and 2/15 to 'qualify.'

I will post the winner 2/16!!

Don't miss out! It;s a fab kit! You will "LOVE" it.....teehee....no pun intended!

....and the WINNER is.....

I was going to say something sarcastic, but decided not to.

So, I will just tell you.

...The winner of the Manic Monday Givaway for February is......

***EVELYN***

Please drop me a quick email (link is on the right) with your mailing address and I will get this prize out to you asap!

Congrats Evelyn!

LAST DAY!!

Last chance to be eligible for the giveaway! Don't forget!
Click HERE for mor info!

Memory Works February 2011 Kit, Full Reveal

"LOVE POTION"

From Memory Works

Patterned Paper
{1} 12x12 In Love - Love Birds (Fancy Pants)
{1} 12x12 True Love - Love Birds (Fancy Pants)
{1} 12x12 Only One - Love Birds (Fancy Pants)
{1} 12x12 Pretty Lace - Sweetness (Pink Paisley)
{1} 12x12 Clothes Pins - Modern Homemaker (October Afternoon)
{1} 12x12 South Fourty - Farm Fresh (October Afternoon)
{1} 12x12 Daisy Calendar - Sew Cute Die Cut (KI Memories)

 

Solid Cardstock
{1} 12x12 Walnut Cream (Bazzill)
{1} 12x 12 Strawberry Splash (Bazzill)
{1} 12x12 Raspberry Splash (Bazzill)
{1} 12x12 Kraft (Bazzill)

 

Embellishments
{3} 12" Canvas Borders - Sweetness (Pink Paislee)
{4} Twitterpatted Stackers - Assorted Styles (Pebbles)
{1} Je't Adore Embellishment Box Kit (Making Memories)

Includes the following:
{1} Heart Shaped Box
{9} Paper Blossoms
{6} Paper Roses
{3} Large Paper Flowers
{1} Rolled Fabric Flower
{1} Gem Buckle
{1} Plastic Heart
{1} Glitter Heart
{1} Yard Embossed Heart Trim
{1} 24" Velvet Ribbon
{1} 24" Plaid Ribbon
{1} 20" Paper Strip Trim
Gems, Pearls, Sequins and Buttons

 

Bonus Cards
{1} 5.5 x 8.5 Walnut Cream (Bazzill)
{1} 5.5 x 8.5 Strawberry Splash (Bazzill)
{1} 5.5 x 8.5 Raspberry Splash (Bazzill)
{1} 5.5 x 8.5 Pineapple Bliss (Bazzill)
{1} 5.5 x 8.5 Kraft (Bazzill)
{5} 5 3/4 X 4 3/8 Natural Envelopes
***************************************

To place an order for this kit, simply send me an email stating how many kits you would like.

I will take it from there. $45 inlcudes shipping (to US).

**************************************

Become a monthly subscriber to the monthly kit and you will automatically get the kit before it goes to "public" sale and you will enough to get another 3 whiole kits a year!!

Sketchy Saturday - 2/12/11

I hope you enjoy this sketch! Can't wait to see what you do with it!!
SKETCH #22

"I POSE FOR YOU"

For this page I used Dream Street Papers. I used Urban Ink Grafiti for the background and Urban Ink Hard Steel for the circle piece. The lined paper is also Dream Street Papers Urban Ink Reflections. The letters are cardstock letters from Rusty Pickle; Panama Jack, Cream. I don't know who made the cogs, but I got them in a Christmas goodie package from my dear friend, Jenny! She also sent me the #5 thingy and the stamps. Which, I do beleive those stamps are REAL stamps which were carefully removed from something. Very cool idea, huh?

Don't Forget.....

Don'r forget to check out my other blog, 101 Ways To Scrap!! There's lots of new stuff coming up soon!! Storage ideas, tutorials, Design Studio files and more!! Head on over and check the list of labels on the right and see if there's anything you can use!!

Manic Monday Giveaway - February 2011

Here it is!
The much awaited Monthly Giveaway!!

What you need to do to qualify for this giveaway is simple!

1. become a follower, if not already

2. post about this giveaway on your own blog/site and link your readers back here
3. don't forget to leave a comment here too

You have until Sunday 2/13 to become eligible.
I will announce the winner on 2/14!!

That's it! Wanna see what it is?

This month you will get:

FIVE 12x12 pages

a set of bling

and a mini chipboard book with five double sided pages!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Enjoying Life

I created this layout using Sketch #206 from Sketch Inspiration this week! What a wonderful sketch to work with! I love it! Head over there right now so you don't miss out on this week's amazing giveaway!!

I used Cloud 9 Design for all the papers, the flower cutouts and light blue flourishes as well as the tag! I have had the blue lace hanging around for aobut 2 years just waiting for the perfect layout! Thanks to Maya Road, I had the perfect date spot for this layout. Wondering how I got the lattice on the bottom? That's thanks to EK Success's large punch!

Sketchy Saturday - 2/5/11

SKETCH #36

"WHAT A WONDERUFL LIFE"

I wish I could tell you what product line I used, but unfortunately, I can't. I jsut dug through my stash and found it.

Jack Frost Crop!

Due to all the wintery "wonderfullness" around the nation, there's a great online crop at Have Your Way With Paper! It's the Jack Frost Crop! Head on over there and take part! There's lots of challenges with a RAK prize..... The Jack Frost Crop Ends 2/7/2011 !!! Don't miss out on the fun!!

Registration is quick and easy and FREE! Come on over, get to know our family and let us get to know you!

Here's jsut a FEW of the layouts from this fun crop!