Family Tree

I actually did something creative recently!! A friend of mine hosts a Cricut Club twice a month and I was invited to go last time. The tree and leaves are cut with the Cricut. What a cool tool!! I wish I could afford one. Anyway, I thought this would make a great birthday gift for my MIL. So I bought some letter stickers and used some gem brads. I also sponged brown around the leaves and the edge of the page. I love the way this turned out!! I think my MIL liked it too.

Scrapping Friday

I'm all set to scrap the morning away again this week. I have finally printed all the digital photos that I have been holding in my camera for nearly a year. So I have TONS of photos to work with. I really need to get on the ball and get some pages done. Here is a page I did last Friday while scrapping with my mom. This is from Mother's Day 2006. I very rarely do a one page layout or a page with only one picture. But what the heck, it was a cute pic of me (which are rare in the scrapbook) and my littlest sweetie. Remember that I mentioned I stink at taking photos of scrapbook pages? Well, this is case in point. I need some tips. How do you photograph your scrapbook pages for blog land? Help a girl out!
Last night I went with my oldest son to get measured for his tux for prom. Aww! My baby is going to prom on April 26th. I'm looking forward to scrapping those pictures and they aren't even taken yet!
Do something creative today and have a great weekend.

Progressive Layout

Tomorrow I'm holding a workshop and the hostess requested a scrapbook page be shown. I'm also doing this workshop Totally Hands On (THO) because it is for a group of teachers who already scrap. They will be making this 6x6 page. It should be quick enough for a make-n-take. The problem I always find when doing a scrap page as a m-n-t is that everybody scraps different size pages. I would hate for someone to make this page and then never use it. So I have made a progressive page to show them how you can take a smaller page and continue adding to it to make it the size you use.

The next page that I will show them, incorporates this 6x6 layout onto an 8.5x11 layout. Here
I have just added an 8.5x11 piece of coordinating card stock and a few embellishments. I also added another place to include a photo. One of the great things about larger pages is that you can add more photos to each layout.

So far for this layout I'm using Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard and Cranberry Crisp with accents in white. The stamp sets used are Be Happy and Seeing Spots and Big Deal Alphabet.

So finally, I have added this layout onto a 12x12 layout. Of course, this also works for me because I'll put my own photos on the page and use it in my scrapbook! Yeah...one more page done!






For the final 12x12 layer I used Natural White card stock and stamped different spots in the three main colors. I also added a strip along the right side for 3 more photos. The little boxes are a great place for journaling or captioning.

So there you have it. A progressive scrapbook page. SMILE!

Scrappin' When I Can

I made this scrap page several weeks ago but I'm sharing it today because I didn't get any more stamping time yesterday. I used the Office Accoutrement set and the designer paper that coordinates so nicely with the set. I also used the Genuine Article set. Card stock was chosen from the colors of the designer paper. The base is Bashful Blue with accents in Certainly Celery. It was a quick and easy page...just the way I like them. I just don't scrapbook as often as I used to and so I need to get a lot done when I do sit down to do some scrapping. The photos on this page are from August 2005. So that tells you how far behind I am in my scrapbooks. I have done some smaller, theme albums last year though. I did one for our move to a brand new house, showing the progress of the building and one for a two day trip DH and I took to Disneyland to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Those little albums are very satisfying to complete. They don't take long and then they're done! Not like my chronological family album which will never be complete and is over a year behind!

Enjoy your scrapping and stamping projects. And come see mine! Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss something new! Have a great day.

Scrapbooking Anxiety

This layout is what inspired yesterday's card. These photos are from my youngest son's 7th birthday which was over a year ago. I am so far behind in my scrapbooking it's not even funny! Why don't I scrap more often? Let's not go there for now.

Matt's Great Grandma has her birthday just 3 days before his. So they usually celebrate together. You see "Nanny" in the cake pics with Matt. She turned 79 that year.

Now, onto the scrapbook page. The base is Brocade Blue and the Patterned Paper is Treehouse Designer Paper from SU! The only stamped image is the same as yesterday's post so

see that for the details. I layered photos on More Mustard and the stamped image on Bravo Burgundy. For the title {7} I used chipboard pieces and covered them with coordinating cardstock. I sanded the edges a bit and then sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa. I haven't journaled the pages yet. That is the most challenging part of scrapping for me. I love to read other people's journaling in the magazines and especially on my friend, Beckie's layouts. I have a hard time moving past just stating the facts of the photo or event. I want my journaling to reflect my feelings and my personality. So maybe that's one of the reasons that I don't scrapbook more often.

Another reason is probably the intimidation I feel from being so far behind. I have always scrapbooked chronologically so the months just keep adding up without me getting the photos to the scrapbook. Although this past year I did make 3 theme albums. So that did alleviate some of the anxiety. Scrapbooking should not bring on anxiety. Maybe if I just get started, things will move along smoothly. I guess I'll never know if I don't start!

Sweet & Simple Scrapbook Page

Here is my first scrapbook page to post for you. I demoed this at a workshop today. I cased the layout from the SU! Demo Website but there is also a similar layout on page 113 of the current SU! Idea Book & Catalog. I started with a 12 x 12 piece of Chocolate Chip Cardstock. Then layered a large piece of So Saffron on that. On the So Saffron piece, I stamped with Petal Pushers in So Saffron Classic Ink. Then I pierced holes around all the edges and drew in Chocolate Chip lines to mimic stitching. I mounted my 5 x 7 photo on Really Rust. I stamped "Cousins" in Chocolate Chip on a piece of Naturals Ivory. Below that I layered a piece of Bashful Blue. Next I stamped several of the flowers from Petal Pushers on Naturals Ivory and cut them out. I used Really Rust, So Saffron and Bashful Blue inks to coordinate. I layered the cut flowers around the title and put the Rust Sunflower up on a Dimensional. I also added a clear button with Spring Flowers Designer Paper behind it. The button is tied with a piece of Linen Thread. My favorite part is the large flower embellishment at the top of the page. The flower is a Chipboard piece that I adhered a piece of the Designer Paper to and then sanded the edges. The small flower on top of that is also a chipboard piece but I sponged it with So Saffron. The chipboard pieces were then adhered to the page.
So my workshop was fun. My hostess, Karen, was fantastic and a lot of people came.
Tomorrow I will post the other project I showed.
Today my 8 and 11 year old are making me crazy with their bickering. They just can't seem to be nice to each other or stay out of each other's business. They also love to tattle. This behavior is so frustrating and I'm all out of ideas to curb it. I know I used to have ideas when my two older kids acted like this. I think my brain cells are seeping into my pillow when I sleep. Thank goodness for a Driver License to remind me of my name and age! haha So anyway, I'm open to suggestions to help me keep my kids in line. I guess the main thing missing is respect for one another. hmmm, I'll have to think on this. Wish me luck...I'll probably come up with something brilliant but by the time I'm ready to implement it I'll have forgotten what it was.