I always struggle with shaped papers but love them which is why I have a cropper hopper full of them! But this sketch allowed me to matte one on a 12x12 paper and suddenly it made my design aesthetic happy!


And that's a real giraffe sticking his head right in our van at the wild animal safari. It was the total highlight of that trip!




and Kristin's sketch

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

Ok so I am slowly catching up! Here is my take on Sketch #7 for Septembers Class.



And here is the sketch I started with-
As you can see I stuck pretty closely to the sketch and it was perfect for a little timeline layout of a mini trip we took to Chittenden Locks in Seattle.

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

Moving right along with this months AMAZING SKETCH CLASS...(and really this class is every bit as good as some of the classes I have PAID to take.)

Here is sketch #6


And this layout came out really really well for me. I knew immediately what I wanted to do and for once it actually came out exactly the way i saw it in my head. Im super proud of the way this turned out!

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

As part of trying to catch up with the Sept Sketch class series I am only going to blog the ones I did layouts for. For all of the amazing sketches please check out our free class section!

Here is sketch 4


And my take on it.



i had a lot of fun changing this one up a bit and using the actual layout of the photos to help tell the story. (And a shout out to Theresa for her suggestion I do the Underground Tour. It was absolutely amazing).

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

ok so K has been doing this amazing class all month on the creative soup and I did a ton of layouts for it. I LOVE using sketches to jump start a layout. I am usually so pressed for time when I scrapbook in the evenings after work that I find these to be a HUGE help to get me started. K has done an amazing job with this class with full color downloads so I hope some of you pop over and take a look.

Unfortunately life has gotten in the way of me posting them here to my blog. So in the better late than never category Here is Sketch 1!



And here is my take on it. I stayed pretty close to the sketch (which i usually do. But i did use two photos with the same lighting and tone to give the illusion of a larger photo in the same spot.

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

Todays Get Meaningful focuses on our school memories. As kids head back to school (or are already in school for those of us in the south!) I wanted to take this opportunity to go back to your school days and reminisce about a favorite subject or teacher. Something that you really really loved about school (and no recess! lol)

i took this opportunity to celebrate a wonderful substitute teacher I had throughout my junior and senior years in high school. Cammie Malloy was truly an inspiration and really taught me so much about life and myself. I wish I could find her and tell her thank you. I often thing about her and wonder if she knew as a substitute teacher just how much she could touch a students life.

Posted in CreativeSoup, Get Meaningful, scrapbooking

The amazing Kristin has come up with yet another beyond amazing class for this quarter focusing on Sketches! I LOVE a good sketch to get my mojo flowing! I hope you stop over and check it out!


And just a couple of sneaks:

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

I actually got a ton done 2 weeks ago and wanted to take a moment to post. Totally inspired by all the amazing challenges that were part of the Fun in the Sun crop at Creative Soup.

It felt so good to get in my studio and really work. i haven't scrapped like this in a long time and I was actually really happy with the way they turned out. I'm getting better about layering and using stuff vs just hoarding it! And not stressing about journaling if I don't feel the layout needs it.





(ignore the missing R in Flower. i didn't notice it had fallen off till after I took the pic) Im going to journal about my relationship with my mom and how it has grown over the years but its sort of personal .

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

I realy have a love hate relationship with this blog. I get super excited about it then i get bored or resent feeling like I HAVE to post.

So here is a quick recap of the last :gulp: 3 months.

The big thing is I went on a tour of the Pacific North West and fell head over heels in love with the place. If I could I would move to Portland tomorrow. (I also loved Seattle, and the coasts too). Something about this place just totally resonated with me.


And I didn't just randomly go. I went specifically to attend BlytheCon 2011. I had an absolutely amazing time and spent most of the trip hanging out with Melissa and having an absolute blast getting to know people I had only talked to online. And the dolls. the dolls, dolls, dolls!!! It was overwhelming and fun and exhausting all at the same time. I scored my first ET helmet and met Ruth who was an absolute delight. I met Roz who did one of the classiest things Ive ever seen and stepped back from bidding against me so I could buy my first Sammy Doe. I got to hang out with so many fun people in line before BC and during the event!


And I loved it so much Im planning the next one! Yep Im nuts. Luckily I have tons of help from Erica and Morgan. We are doing it in Dallas at the fabulous Gaylor Texan. It was a HUGE amount of work to get it up and running but we are doing really well and have close to 90 registrants and are just under a year out! Not too shabby! Oh and Lirije did the most amazing logo for us! Maybe if I get skinny enough I can wear a matching outfit!



Oh and I have been scrapping some. Not very much as things have been sort of weird and hectic. Here a re the last couple of layouts I have done:




Next on the horizon: A Blog hop this weekend, more crocheting, more dolling, and soon oh so very soon a trip to see my growing family!! (and maybe some more blogging)

Posted in blythe, CreativeSoup, family, scrapbooking, traveling

Here is this weeks Mojo Monday at Creative Soup!

I am loving that there are so many bright colors that are in right now. I love the look of pairing bright colors with neutrals to get a fun spring look. This month your Get Crafty challenge is to use yellow, turquoise and gray on your project. These colors are all over and really in for spring.

I can't wait to see what you do with this color palette!


I did this for our grand reopening gala and I absolutely LOVE this color combo!

Posted in CreativeSoup, MojoMonday, scrapbooking

I love my mom so much. Our relationship has totally grown and evolved over the years and I just wanted to celebrate where we are now!






Happy Mother's Day mom. I love you with all my heart!

Posted in family, scrapbooking

This weeks Mojo Monday Challenge at Creative Soup is to use an Irish Proverb as part of your layout. As soon as I came across this proverb "Two Shorten the Road" I knew just what i wanted to do- My race with T of course!!!

Im also trying very very hard to use older product on my pages instead of only using my new stuff. I have SOOO much stuff that I just feel super guilty about it just sitting there. Several of the papers I used on this project are from 2005. (I know I know! Bad paper hoarder!!!)

So here is my project (And don't forget to check out the other amazing Creative Team projects HERE)

Posted in CreativeSoup, MojoMonday, Running, scrapbooking

I haven't finished photographing them all (and some of them I can't show yet because they are design team stuff) but here are some of the layouts I got done during my scrappy weekend.

Ill post the rest sometime later this week!

Posted in scrapbooking

Today's Mojo Monday at Creative Soup features Architecture!

Architecture is all around us. For March's Get Inspired challenge, I'd like us to take a deeper look at the ways in which we can incorporate architectural ideas into our projects.

- Look at photos of great architecture. Use similar design elements in your project.
- There are lots of architecturally inspired products out there, chipboard windows, house mini albums, blueprint paper
- Scrap about your dream design house

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mid century modern look. If I had $$$$ (even $) I would live on craigs list and thrift stores hunting done mod goodness for the house. I love the clean lines, the color, palette, the extensive use of wood. I just love all of it (even shag carpet)

So here is my layout based on my layout showcasing my love:






The chimney is made by tearing washi tape into little pieces and layering them. Since the tape is semi-transparent you can achieve the look of mortar just by overlapping pieces.



Im really in love with the way this turned out. Just artsy enough, I created a new technique, and got to scrap about one of my favorite topics. Perfect synergy.

Posted in CreativeSoup, MojoMonday, scrapbooking

Posted in friends, scrapbooking

This week's MM is a fabulous sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. If you are a fan of sketches or looking for new inspiration please be sure to give them a visit, leave a comment, and let them know you heard about it from Creative Soup! (link is above)

The sketch:

and my take on it

Thats me and my adorable nephew Noah! He is such a total sweetheart!

Posted in CreativeSoup, scrapbooking

Ive been really bad about not posting my design team work for creative soup so March starts a new month (Hush! I realize we are almost halfway through it!)

I am hosting a challenge the first monday of every month on Creative Soup as part of our Mojo Monday inspiration. Each and every monday we bring you an awesome piece of inspiration to get your creative mojo going!

For March our topic is stress!

This crazy whirlwind we call life often comes with it's fair share of stress: Stress from work, stress from family, stress from our selves etc...

For this month's challenge I want you to document how you deal with stress. Do you meditate, have a quiet spot to go think, play a video game, eat, shop etc..? We all have different coping mechanisms, some healthy others not so much. Does your method change with the stress you are feeling (or the person causing it?)

Create a layout on your stress management. Why it works (or doesn't) How you came across it, how it makes you feel etc. Document and write journaling of at least 40 words to complete this challenge.


I did mine on how much I love playing with my Blythe dolls when I get stressed (and yes i realize I have a ton of them!) But I really do get so much joy from them and the people I have met through this community that it makes it all worth while!

Posted in CreativeSoup, Get Meaningful, scrapbooking

This challenge was to pick out a theme song. Something we identify with or has some meaning to us. I have always loved this song as sort of a personal anthem (though Im trying to loose weight again so hopefully Ill be a smaller fat bottomed girl soon!)

Here's the prompt:
At Bat - I remember my first live baseball game (The Braves here in Atlanta) and I was confused by the short snippets of songs they played as each player came out to bat... until my friend explained its the song the player chose as "his". My favorite radio morning show here in Atlanta does the same thing... when certain people make an appearance on the show, they play their "song" to introduce them. Some of the choices are obvious (like "Jessica Shops", a segment on the best deals in town, is a song related to shopping), while others are more about the attitude or vibe of the song. This WTG challenge is a bit more creative than some! Choose your at bat song so to speak and tell us why. It can a song that fits how you feel about life right now, a song that speaks to you deeply, or the song that in your fantasy world would play every time you walked into a room.

And My take on it:

Posted in scrapbooking, WTG

Sorry this is so late. The challenge posted while I was on vacation and I totally forgot to add it to my blog when I got back. Check out the other amazing layouts the DT did HERE.

Another great prompt this week!
Imperfect:
None of us are perfect. We all have traits or habits were are less than proud of - things that we do that we try to stop doing or cringe to look back on! Document something about you that you sometimes wish you could change, big or small.

Posted in blythe, scrapbooking, WTG

Lots and Lots of layouts to share :)

Posted in scrapbooking