Weekend Scrap retreat

I just got back from a wonderful long weekend I spent with my Atlanta scrapping buddies. One of our friends owns a fantastic cabin in Ellijay GA and has made a super nice scrapbooking space that's just perfect for a weekend long crop.

The Cabin is just beautifully appointed with super comfortable beds and linens, a beautiful kitchen and the showers are just gorgeous (it's the all about the little thing's!). The scrap space has roomy tables and really great lighting not to mention a giant TV! We really just had an absolute blast!

I actually managed to get a fair amount of scrapbooking done in between all the yakking and goofing off I did! I will hopefully be able to post some pictures tonight. I finished a super cute mini album on my one little word as well as worked on several of the Get Meaningful lessons that are coming up.

I am super super excited about this FREE year long class. If you haven't already done so please check out all the information HERE. There is no pressure to do stuff every week (although we always love to see projects) and the prompts are wonderful. Jessica*Bree and Kristin have put a TON of work into making this a thoroughly engaging class and it really will change the way you think about scrapbooking.

Anywho that's all I have for the moment until I actually get a chance to unpack from this weekend and take pics of my projects hopefully tonight!

LOVE this storage!

And coincidentally it features what is probably going to be the hottest SU paper this year

Stampin Up Spring and Summer Idea Book and Catalog

It's here and it is gorgeous! There are so many phenomenally cute things in here!!!! Here are some sneak peeks. I am soooo thankful I set some of my bonus $ aside!



So while Im waiting for SU to post the catalog...

I have been randomly searching the net for cool thing sI would buy if I wasn't spending all my money on stamps...

This lamp

A custom camera strap cover using this orange and white dot fabric

Oh and these boots.

52 Questions

For a long time I have wanted to do a set of weekly challenges about me. I had originally thought about doing Emily Falconbridge's Deck of Me that she did back in 07. When I went back and checked her blog it turns out she is doing a whole new set for this year so I sort of switched gears.

I will probably go back and do her original challenge as I LOVED some of her prompts.

So without further ado- here is Question 1- what do i wish for this year to bring?

Supplies used:
Patterned Paper- Memory Box
Pearls- Kaiser Krafts
Letters- Crate PAper
09- Basic Grey mini chipboard covered in distress stickles
Poppy Stamp- Flourishes
It's hard to see but all of the leaves and flowers have a subtle shine that I did with the Copic glitter pens.

Get Meaningful Lesson 3

Lesson 3 - Fake Photo/Real Memory

"Often, we have feelings or memories that are important to us, but we don’t have a photo that goes with it. Don't let that stop you!

I want you to create a page or project about something you are feeling or a memory you want to record that you have no photo for. But that does not mean you have to do the page with no photo."

I wanted some way to document the beginning of my TTC journey so I used a piece of packaging from my box of vitamins. I also LOVED that the image on the box was of a red head (and her genius baby!)


I'm also playing with white space but think it looks unfinished, I may go back and doodle on the edges.
Supplies used:
Scenic Route chipboard letters
Maya road chipboard clock
Basic Grey chipboard flower
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey (Orange), Target dollar spot (purple)and Stampin Up (green)
Bam Pop Journaling frame and Sassafras Lass swirly stamp that was then hand cut.

CHA Crate Paper Sneak Peek

So far I am most excited about this sneak peek. It it so nice to find a paper line that's not dominated by pink and yet is still fun and whimsical.

This woodland critters theme is super hot right now! I'm lovin it!

omg omg omg coolest web app EVER!!!!

Multicolr Search Lab

This stroke of genius app allows you to pick colors and it searches flikr to find matching photos so you can get beautiful collages like those bellow. You can add up to 10 colors it looks like. I have been playing with various combinations all afternoon!

Cute Orangeness

I am a big fan of all things Japanese (ok well not ALL things - they do weird things with tentacles!)

And I saw this adorable Bento box and I am in LOVE.

I wish I had the discipline for Bento. I can barely manage to throw a Lean Cuisine pizza in the microwave. The boxes sure do make it tempting though!

Get Meaningful Lesson 2

This is the second lesson of Jessica Bree's Get Meaningful class.

Lesson 2 - Scrapping a Meaningful Photo

"Last week, your assignment was to pull 3-5 photos you love and to spend some time thinking what those photos mean to you. This week, I want you to scrap one of them. Preferably one you have put off scrapping - but this is NOT a requirement. Often I find I hold on to some of my most cherished photos, and feel a little intimidated about scrapping them. Or I scrap them, but don’t really take the time to journal about why they mean so much to me. So this week I want you to DIVE in! Heart first :)"

So I went through all my photos on New Years and chose several for lesson 1. And decided that I wanted to make a page about my relationship with my mom.

As some of you know I have gotten out of the habit of scrapbooking and the thought of a yearlong class is sort of scary so I decided to scraplift a layout. I find that sometimes when I get scrappers block that if I start with a layout to scraplift then the creative juices start flowing and my mojo eventually returns.

There are so many fabulously talented people out there to draw inspiration from. I found this layout on 2peas and just loved it.

Here is my take on it.



Tucked behind the clouds is journaling about my evolving relationship with my mom and what a better place we are now in. And yes that is PINK on the layout (As anyone who knows me will tell you I HATE pink! but it really worked with the page. lol)

And the closeup photo is of lollipop flowers that I made. So easy to do and I think very pretty. I am also super proud as it uses some ancient paper- Scrapworks and Wild Asparagus circa 2003.

So there ya have it 2 lessons down 50 to go!

Color Stories

Color Stories. I had never heard of this term but I guess it's used by people in magazines to help come up with a color pallet and then stick to it.

I am all about color pallets! I love when things match. I guess I have been reading and creating color stories in my head all my life. I have tons of folders on my computer dedicated to color inspirations that I have fallen in love with.

So when I stumbled across this example using fabric I was in LOVE!


I had already started making an inspiration center for my studio. This gives me a great idea on just how to start!

Bucket List

I am working on my bucket list for a mini album and came across this list as sort of a spin off. Its funny to see your life broken down like this. Some of the things on the list are actually on my Bucket List (like see the Grand Canyon and the Eifel Tower) some like east caviar I KNOW I will die before even thinking about doing.

Today's Daily Insipiration:

Copy this list in your post and then bold the things you've done in your life.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Does playing Rockband count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Held a praying mantis
9.Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - (well I am trying to teach myself Japanese)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Orange Glory

Every year around this time I get seized by a lust to organize and redo my living environment. I am a total nester by nature and I think something about the new year just kicks it into overdrive.

As part of my year long quest to CHANGE things, I want to get my scrap room done. So I was browsing the interwebs for some orange colored rooms and came across this loveliness...






Ive been thinking about adding another accent color and I love how the green looks with the orange. And added bonus it's much easier to find green things than orange. lol I also notice an awful lot of IKEA goin on in the photos. It's a good thing I have one so close!

A New Year a New Stampin Up catalog

While it's always sad to say good bye to some of our favorites, the first sneak peaks are rolling in for the new catalog!

Some of these things look just amazing!!! Some highlights
- Texture Plates (for the Big Shot)
- lots of new Big Shot dies (ll NEW pages of Big Shot stuff)
- new circle cutter (she didn't say brand name....has a glass mat)
- new striped ribbon (one color she mentioned was Olive)
- white Organza ribbon
- flower brads
- new neutral brads (I think...it got really loud here) in 2 sizes
- clear rhinestone brads available by themselves
- new buttons called Latte
- new ribbon originals
- new glitter (she mentioned champagne, chocolate, etc....)
- 14 new DSP packs

Here are some great blogs with photos from the Leadership Convention.
Dina Loves To Stamp
Understand Blue

A Birthday Party for a friend

This past Saturday I drove out to Carrollton to celebrate Laura's birthday at a FANTASTIC little LSS - Sweet Memories (well not so Local as Carrollton is about 70 miles from my house).

None the less, the store itself rocked, the people are super sweet and I had a wonderful time cropping with my friends, and hope Laura had a blast on her birthday.

Here is the card I made for her to match the color scheme of Sweet Memories.

One Little Word 2009

Ali Edwards had this great idea to choose one little word to live by for the year. To quote her

"A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow."

My word for 2009. CHANGE


From Miriam Websters dictionary:
Change:
transitive verb1 a: to make different in some particular : alter change the will>
b
: to make radically different : transform change human nature>
c: to give a different position, course, or direction to
2 a: to replace with another change the subject> b: to make a shift from one to another : switch changes sides in an argument> c: to exchange for an equivalent sum of money (as in smaller denominations or in a foreign currency) <change a 20-dollar bill>
d
: to undergo a modification of changing color> e: to put fresh clothes or covering on <change a bed>

intransitive verb

1
: to become different changes every hour>
2
of the moon : to pass from one phase to another
3
: to shift one's means of conveyance : transfer change twice>
4
of the voice : to shift to lower register : break
5
: to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution changed to spring>
6
: to put on different clothes change for dinner>

I Want and NEED to change. Change the way I eat, change the way I feel about myself, change how much I spend and save, change my childlessness, change my priorities, change how much I scrap - Just CHANGE.

And so Here is my daily reminder card hung on my monitor at work so I see it every day

Like a butterfly I need to change myself into who I want to become. No more excuses, no more being lazy. The time has come for me to do this.

Here is my inspirational quote:
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
I will be working on all sorts of Change related projects I will post as they get done.






GreenFest

My favorite message board ScrapFreak, had a weekend long "Green" Crop focusing on reducing, reusing and recycling as part of our scrapbooking. There were challenges on how to use your scraps, incorporating digital elements, reusing packaging from scrap products and even how to make stamps out of everyday objects.

I just lve the ladies there and these crops always inspire me to do some of my best work - well really they inspire me to just WORK!

Here are my projects:

The first 3 are covered gift cards. Instead of throwing them out I made tags for myself and 2 friends. The stamps are from Hero Arts.



This is a card using bubble wrap and to stamp the background dots. Paper is Scenic Route and letters in American Crafts. Use everyday objects to make stamps!



And lastly reuse packaging that all of our stuff comes in. The card is made using hero arts stamps and the scalloped edge is from some Fancy Pants Packaging.
And here is an altered canvas I made covering the wood blocks that come with each Stampin Up stamp set. As I use my stamps unmounted I have a huge collection of these. I always hate what a waste of natural resources this is.


Get Meaningful - a Year Long class.

My uber talented buddy Jessicabree has started a year long project to add more meaning to our scrapbooking and asked me to play along. You can read all the details of the project HERE.

Lesson One - Meaningful Photos.

I selected my photos by going through some old photo albums I had forgotten about in my spare bedroom. I pulled these 4 out and have been staring at them all week formulating exactly why I picked these 4.

Photo 1: My uncle and godfather Vismuts on a NYC subway. My godfather was an extremely talented artist and a very loving soul. And apparently quite the hottie. He was also an incredible dancer and artist. At his funeral I was asked to help put together a memorial board and realized there was this huge chunk of his life I didn't know about. This photo is the perfect glimpse into that life.

Photo 2: Me and my first love Walter. This was taken after our kindergarten (PS 99) dance special where everyone was supposed to wear costumes representing their heritage. We were so in love that he gave me a ring and some Hello Kitty jewelery (that I still have) when he moved away to Miami Florida. There is just something super sweet and innocent I love about this photo. There were many loves after this but Wally will always be my first.
Photo 3: My mom the reader. I adore this photo of my mom reading. The look on her face the vintage dress everything! Its very rare to see my mom without a book in her hands even to this day. I love how beautiful and young she looks. Its just a perfect photo of her.
Photo 4: Me and my mom. My mom and I have had a strained relationship while I was growing up. Its much better now and I look at how happy we both are in this photo it just makes me smile. You can also see sort of how we look alike even back then.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just wanted to say Happy New Year and here's hoping for wonderful things to come.

Ive got several scrappy things going on Ill post soon.