Getting things done!

I have been trying really hard to get lots of projects done this year. It's not really been a New Year's resolution, just a personal drive I've had that has been a long time coming. Also, since my dear hubby has been laid off for a couple of months now, if I want to scrap, I have to scrap with what I have. That's not to say that I didn't need to clean out some older stuff to make room in my over crowded scrap room. I don't just do scrapbooking either. I like to make cards once in a while, make other paper projects & alter things too. I participate in craft shows a few times a year, so I have lots of found items to work with for those. I always have so many new ideas running through my head that it's not even funny! I love the sense of accomplishment too! It feels good to make something that I thought of all by myself & people love it. I think that's my drive to make more!

So anyway, I read the Bo Bunny blog every day & I have to say that I love their stuff like nobody's business! I have a huge problem finding their stuff these days with all our scrapbook stores closing & the one that's still around doesn't carry their stuff. So I hate to use what I have because then I won't have anymore in my collection! LOL!! I tried really hard to make their highly coveted Design team, but didn't make it - although Bo Bunny gives out some radically awesome consolation prizes!! I almost didn't feel like I lost out! So, if anyone from Bo Bunny reads this, Thanks for making this loser so happy! ;)





I'm getting long winded here aren't I? I have a tendency to do that....(*blushing*) but, I had to participate in one of the Bo Bunny blog challenges. Their challenge on Friday's is normally a sketch challenge, but this time they decided to change it up a bit & make it a color combo challenge. The color combo is aqua blue, green, cream & white with Bo Bunny product. I was really in awe of several of their Design Team examples, so I was feeling a bit intimidated. But, I love blue & green color combos, so I went digging through my stash & all I have that I was working for me was the few pieces of the Flutter Butter line (which is the prize pkg)& I had to steal the flowers from one of their Christmas lines to use on this page. The only thing non-Bo Bunny is the ivory flowers, those are Bazzill & Imaginisce, I think?



















To get a closer look, just click on the photo to enlarge it. Did you notice the large button centers on a couple of the flowers? Those are some rub-ons that I applied to them & added a gem center. I thought they turned out pretty cool! It's not the first time I've put Bo Bunny rub-ons on their buttons, I just love the way it makes the buttons different with a little unique detail.

Another technique I did was that special ribbon edge around the die cut sticker. It's different & a bit tricky & is something that I came up with on my own, but don't look for no demonstration any time soon. LOL!! It's a bit challenging to do & then try to take pictures would be tricky for me & I'm not up to making videos ~ yet.

Oh, I have to add just one more page I finished today too using more Bo Bunny stuff. It's pretty simple, but it's in addition to working towards my daughter's Disney trip we took last fall. I was inspired by a Cricut message board member by the screen name of JBock. She's completed TWO Disney albums & they're really good! I've used many of her pages just as inspiration, because they have led me to think of ideas for my own pages. This is one of them.













Well, I guess that's enough of the novel for today!

God Bless & have a great day!

Another Disney Spread ~ Cinderella

I have been trying to be diligent about working on my daughter's Disney vacation scrapbook. I also need to get caught up on the one for my son as well as work on his scrapbook for his graduation. I don't work that fast!


I'm doing OK with Brooke's pages, at least for me it's pretty good. Last night I finished up her Cinderella 2 page spread. It's somewhat simple, but with the printed glitter paper, I didn't want to have to mess with lots of embellishments & since I have the Cricut Expression & both Disney Princess cartridges, I definitely want to get my money's worth out of them by using them - alot! I was doing good to get them on clearance for $25 ea. even before I had a Cricut. LOL!!!

LH - close up:

RH - close up:

I'm not sure what's next on the scrappin' Disney agenda, but there's puh-lenty to choose from. 


Well, the kiddo is hollering for Taco Bell (not happening) & the frozen pizza is done in the oven.


God Bless & have a great day!

Scrappin; Disney Style!

Last October we took Brooke to Disney World in Florida for the the first time & I can't believe that I'm actually getting started on scrapping the pages already! Ummmm, that's pretty good for me! I even have 4 pages done!


Jasmine double page layout













Jasmine - Left hand

Jasmine - Right Hand

Embossed gold earring

Jeweled waisteline

Disney or Bust: Done to a sketch made by my good friend, Kelly C. She does a great job with the sketches!

I can't take credit for this next page, but I can't recall who I lifted the idea from, but she was on the Cricut message board.

Simple Disney page
 
I have been really busy crafting & scrapping lately, but don't want to show everything just yet. I've submitted a few of them to magazines in hopes of finally getting something published, but after more than 2 years of trying, I still have not been successful with the paper print, hard copy magazines. I haven't given up hope....yet.


Well, I'm fighting a friggin head cold just as the weather is starting to look a bit like spring is actually around the corner. My daffodils are sprouting!! It's supposed to be near 50 on Monday, but snow on Tues. I hope they're wrong about the snow.


God Bless & have a great day!

Crop Addict blog hop & Crop!!

Crop Addict Birthday Blog Hop!

If you haven't heard of or checked out Crop Addict, you really need to! I really like this place & even though I have not been able to buy their monthly kits, they look so awesome!! And what the Design Team girls do with them is nothing short of amazing!

And, Crop Addict is celebrating their 4th birthday! So, they're definitely doing something right!

Happy 4th Birthday Crop Addict!

To celebrate Crop Addict's birthday we are having our Spring Cyber Crop beginning next Friday and from now until then, we are also celebrating with Crop Addict's first ever blog hop! If you are doing the hop in order, then here you are at the start of the hop (or you might have come from Megan's blog)!

The rules of the blog hop are simple:

The hop starts Friday, February 26th at 6PM EST and ends at the start of the Cyber Crop on Friday, March 5th at 6PM EST. We have an extra special prize for the winner of the blog hop! Post a comment on the Crop Addict blog and each Design Team member's blog and you'll be entered in the grand prize drawing.

Want to earn an additional entry? Post about Crop Addict's Cyber Crop (details below) on your blog then come back and tell us by posting a comment on the Crop Addict blog.

Do you want more chances to win? Every friend you bring to the crop, earns you an entry for the drawing. There will be a special thread in the Cyber Crop forum where your friend can post who invited them!

At the end of the Cyber Crop, the lucky Blog Hop Winner will be selected.

The Cyber Crop begins at 6pm EST on Friday, March 5th and continues until 6pm EST on Sunday, March 7th. There will be lots of challenges, games and of course, prizes. And new to this crop, watch for drive-by, on-a-whim freebies, prizes and discounts! It's going to be a ton of fun. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Post a comment here before moving on! The next blog you should visit is Debbie's blog! And in case you are hopping along and get sidetracked, here is the blog hop order to put you back on track...

* Crop Addict
* Debbie
* Brandy
* LG
* Carolyn
* Tonya
* Megan

See you at the Cyber Crop!

Shootin' from the hip Valentine Cards

Today is Valentine's Day. I like it, but it's not really something I look forward to like Christmas or my birthday, ya know? This year was kinda funny though. Usually my DH doesn't get me anything except maybe a card & refuses to buy me chocolate - something about getting myself enough of it all year long that it doesn't make it special today, whatever....anywho, so the other day he tells me he got me some little something for V-day. It's something I sorta want & kinda need, but nothing to get excited over. Ok, I'm clueless as to what it is, but I know what it aint! It ain't chocolate or scrapbook stuff, that's for sure! But, I'm thinking to myself, I ain't got him nuttin - not even a card & I make cards!

On Sat. morning, I get my hiney upstairs to make all the Valentine cards, but I don't have much Valentine stuff in my stash. It's just not high on my list of "wanna make" projects for some reason. As usual, I'm working on the fly here, but I was surprised by how quickly the idea came together, as simple & plain as they are, I was fairly pleased with them. I wouldn't call them gallery or magazine material by any stretch of the imagination, but impressive enough to the non-card making community & my family. I've made much better cards in the past with string art & all kinds of fancy stuff like that, but this year I guess I don't have the spark to WOW anyone over the edge. These could have used some inking & some other adornments, but they looked fine enough without that stuff.

Here's the one for my 17 yr. old son, Jordan. It's much like the others, but less decorative paper was used & yet it will still probably be too frilly looking to him. Maybe when I'm dead & gone, he'll appreciate it more - if he even keeps it.




















Here is the one I made for my 6 yr. old daughter, Brooke. I cut out a heart shape for the inside & inked it red around the edges with a hand written message. I added a few red jewels on the hearts for her card.




















This is the one I made for my husband. A little more paper used & I added layers of paper on the inside too. I also put some red jewels on the hearts of his card too.





After Alan made breakfast of heart shaped waffles & some bacon, we went to Menards & then had a late lunch at McDonald's, since that's Brookes favorite place to eat. We're on a really tight budget with Alan being laid off, but we were all able to eat on $10 with the coupons we had & Brooke had a $1 gift cert. from a contest she had entered. Once we got back to Plymouth, we stopped in Walgreens & Alan picked up a balloon & lip stuff & a few candy things for Brooke. We felt bad since we had gotten something for each other & not her.

Which brings me back to what we got each other! It was funny because he got me a set of screwdrivers & I got him one of those standing food hand shredders. I got tools & he got something for the kitchen. You would have thought it should have been the other way around. But, I wanted some tools of my own so I don't have to hunt down his, which he never keeps any in the house & I'm too lazy to go out to the other garage to hunt them down in the mess that's out there. And, he was wanting a new shredder because the one we had was just a one sided number that he just couldn't like. The other one we had was starting to rust. I think he likes this one, it's bigger & sturdier. I just hope he doesn't shred a knuckle with it!

God Bless & have a great day!

Been a little while...

It's been a while since I've posted here & even today I don't have anything new to show you, although I have been working on stuff, nothing is finished yet. As it turns out, my hubby, Alan, had his work hours cut at the beginning of the year & now he's been laid off for a couple of weeks now. So, needless to say my normal routine is not normal anymore. I love spending time with him, don't get me wrong, but I have always been kind of a loner & need my own space - a lot!

On the bright side to this, he's been getting things cleaned out that he's neglected for oh so long. It feels good to have the pile of auto magazines GONE! He finally finished the mantel above the fireplace that he started a year ago - YES!! I still have to get some stuff to put on there, but at least it's done & looks better than a couple of bare pieces of 2x4's. I love the way it turned out too.



















He cleared all the junk that was piled on his desk & old stuff that he was able to let go of. I am trying to make the most of his time at home. He made a really nice play desk for our daughter, Brooke, so she could have a place to play with her Moon Sand without it getting all over the floor or on the kitchen table.It still needs a coat of paint, but we'll have to wait until spring when it warms up enough that we can do that outside. I'm thinking about adding some Cricut cut vinyl to it too!




Well, hopefully I can get some projects done to show you soon enough.

God Bless & have a great day!

Some new places to visit!

Well, it's been a rough 2009 for many of us scrappers with all the leaving, changes, closings & rearranging in the scrapbooking industry. Well let's face it, it's been a tough year for all of us. Many of us scrappers have been forced to find some new homes for our inspiration & upload fixes. Sometimes it's not easy finding the right "home" where you feel welcomed & where you "fit."

I have found a couple of new ones. I have to admit that my first online scrapping inspiration fix was at CreativExpress or CX. MANY of the industry's celebrities had started there like Kelly Goree, Melissa Phillips, Dee Gallimore-Perry, Greta Hammond, just to mention a few! I had to leave the loop for a while when I couldn't get internet connection in the boonies that I had moved to, so I lost touch in the short year I had missed out. Many of them had moved on to bigger & better things during that time & I guess eventually, politics took over that site & they lost focus & ground, now they seem to just be a store & nothing much more. It's very sad & I miss the friends I had come to know there. I occasionally remember to visit a few of the girls' blogs, but alas, only a few keep up on them anymore.

Anyway, I still keep in touch with Andrea Amu whom I had met there at CX and who happens to be just an amazingly inspirational person to begin with, but her work is almost as amazing! She has found a new home & led me there too. It has the look & feel of the old CX site, but with fresh new faces for me to get to know & inspiration overflowing! What is the name of this place? It's Serendipity Scrapbooks. I love the name of this place, it's so much like the way I scrapbook - seriously!

Which brings me to a wonderfully awesome contest that Serendipity has going on right now...

Want $20, $30, $40 or even $50 of goodies off your wishlist for FREE???? This contest could be just the thing for you.


January through Feb. 28th we will be having the Wishes come true Contest, where there will be drawings for goods off your wishlist.


See how to particpate in this contest:
1. Register in the store and start making your wishlist

2. Register in the forum - Post in the New Members checkin thread and then post a minimum of 9 other times on our message board.

3. If you were invited Please make note in your New Members checkin thread who invited you. Then start inviting others.

4. For each person you invite and they complete these requirements you will be added to the drawings again.

-The first drawing for the $20 wishlist give away will happen when 25 new Registered members complete the above requirements
-The Second drawing for the $30 wishlist give away will happen when 30 more new members complete the requirements
-The third drawing for the $40 wishlist give away will happen when 40 more new members complete the requirements
-The Fourth drawing for the $50 wishlist give away will happen when 50 more new members complete the requirements

When we reach 1000 new members in the forum there will be another $50 drawing and ALL registered memebers in the forum will receive a FABULOUS digital/printable downloadable kit for FREE!!
PLUS when we reach the first 50 new members (827 total members) All registered forum members will get a bonus downloadable/printable item. Then when we reach 902 new members ANOTHER downloadable gift.
Lets get busy and start inviting new members: Tweet it, Facebook it, Blog about it and just start sharing about our forum

**Your name stays in for ALL drawings and you be able to continue having your name added for all new members that mention you invited them and complete the requirements.

**Wishlist giveaway items will be picked by store owner from your Wishlist and sent within a week of each drawing.

You can read this all over at Serendipity, > here

Sooo, maybe this will entice some of you to come on over after all! I sure hope so :) And don't forget, if you all register up at Serendipity, please remember to tell them all that "I", BethM sent you!!

THEN! There's another cool place to check out & their giving away some awesome candy! & I just love the name of this place too - Posh Designs. It just sounds so L.A. to my small midwestern life. LOL! It's a really easy contest to sign up for. All you have to do Please leave a comment on the Posh Designs post, only one entry per person! (duplicates will be deleted)

• Post a link about this blog candy on your blog or website and don't forget to leave a link, and if you don't have one, just spread the word out ok!?
• The last one is totally up to you, if you aren't already a follower you can follow us, now that'll make us waaaayyy happy!

Eazy peazy! The prize pkg. is awesome & so worth the little effort! They have a great little shop too, so go check it out while you're there, not to mention some of the sweetest bunch of gals you'll ever meet!

Now go on over & meet some new friends & tell 'em BethM sent ya!

God Bless & have a great day!

My Top 10 Best for 2009

On Crop Addict message board, one of the members posted an interesting idea being that they were going to pick their own personal favorite top 10 scrapbook pages that they made for the 2009 year. It thought that would be a good idea to be able to reflect back on some of her shining moments that she felt most proud of. It also kind of interesting to see what other people really liked the most from their own work. We never really feel comfortable about pointing out what we think is our best work & prefer to hear it from others instead. But those other opinions are just a matter of personal taste & may not necessarily reflect our own. So this is a good way for us to say "Hey! These are what I think was my favorite either by subject or by design." It's always fun to look back anyway when a new year approaches, don't ya think?

OK, so here are the ones I think are my Top 10 choices - in no particular order:





































































































































God Bless & have a great day!

Maybe bragging but...

I am still thrilled about making Honorable Mention for the Reminisce DT search & today they showed some of the projects from the winner & other 4 runners up. I can see why I didn't make the team, but I do want to share my projects that I submitted. It's my Photobucket album, so there's 2 pages of entries. The ones that an asterisk (*) in the title have additional info included when you click on the picture. And if you're not familiar with Photobucket, if you click on the picture after that, you will get a close up view (I think?) Reminisce Entry

So, does everyone have their New Year's Resolutions made or do you not make any at all? I don't really do any, because I know that I won't keep it or it makes it harder for me to maintain it, psychologically.

Last night, Alan & went to eat at the Plymouth Country Club. We were given a certificate for a free dinner for two and we had to use it up before the Jan. 1st. The food & drinks were delicious, but it took almost 2 hours from beginning to end and that was with no wait time to be seated & they weren't busy either. I'm not familiar with eating at places like that, but is that how they do it? We felt like we wasted quite a bit of the evening having dinner. I also decided to try Halibut & found out that it's delicious & I would definitely order it again! I love seafood & about the only thing that I don't think I would eat seafood wise would be raw oysters. I just don't think I could do it.

Well, I have to make a pasta salad for the New Year's party we're going to tonight, so I guess I best be getting off here & start whipping it up so it can have enough time to chill.

God Bless & have a great day & hopefully a fantastic New Year!

Good scrappy news to me...

I got word last night that I didn't make the Reminisce design team, or even the top 5 for prizes, but I did get Honorable Mention!! So, that's pretty big to me, since I didn't even get THAT last year. There was only one spot open, so that makes it pretty limited for those entering. I was pretty happy with my entries. And if you look at my Reminisce Gallery, you can see I'm a HUGE fan of their product all year long! I was happy to see that the person that won wasn't a scrapbook celebrity, well at least I didn't recognize her name. In fact, I didn't recognize the names of the top 5 & I think it's important to give credit where credit is due & not just because you have a familiar name in the business. I KNOW there's great talent out there than just those that saturate the magazines & company design teams. I see it all the time & I'm not just talking about my own stuff either.

OK, enough from that soap box... Now I'm waiting to hear from Crop Addict this week to see who their picks are for their design team. I love their site & have been a BIG fan for a couple of years there. They give away awesome prizes on their challenges & even though I haven't gotten any of their kits, they are amazing.

The sun is finally shining here today & I'm really happy to see it too! I'm not tired of snow yet, but I am tired of gloomy, cloudy days. The sun won't last long (today only) before it gets cloudy & more snow with colder temps are to return tomorrow.

Well, I'm keeping it brief today, but I just gotta say that I'm getting the itch to scrapbook, but having Alan here while he's on vacation makes it kinda tough, since he wants to spend quality time together. I don't have a problem with that, but it can be a bit overwhelming to me at times. I'm used to being by myself most of my life, so I have a hard time giving up my ME time so much. I'm glad that he loves me so much & wants to spend time with me, since my first husband was the total opposite, so I'd rather have a totally devoted hubby than one that wasn't at all. For that I'm totally grateful.

Lately, I've been hearing about the scrapbooking idea of Scrap 365. Ummm, as much as I am passionate about scrapbooking, I'm not that obsessed. I have too many other priorities in my life, including making the memories that I want to scrap about, to dedicate that much time to my hobby. However, there is something that's called 12. This is where you scrap about each month, either one major thing or the month in an overview. I think I'd like to try this for 2010. It's doable for me even though I might forget to keep up on it. That's my downfall on these kinds of projects, forgetfulness. Oh well, we'll see how it pans out! Maybe it's something you too could consider trying? I'd love to see your work along the way on this, if you want to share.

Well, I'm going to end this update for now & get ready to go to Target to get a SDHC card (that stands for Super Duper High Cost-LOL!) for my new camera. It's a Sony H20 & it's a sweet thing, I just wished it had more internal memory to hold more than 3-4 pictures. I thought it took the same SD card that my old camera took, but it doesn't. Target has them on sale this week & we have a "coupon" for an additional 10% off our purchases for one day. Need to get some more Epson printer ink that's on sale too!

God Bless & take care!