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Kaleidoscope Impressions

Times between brother and sister

While sorting through a box of older photographs this series caught my eye and I pulled them out. Then for the challenge to use at least 3 different patterned papers that all include one common color palette I created this page. My papers (Miss Elizabeth, DCWV, Stampin' Up) have blue as the main color with pops of yellow and a touch of purple.I did a lot of distressing. I even used some watercolor spray from Stampzia but most of it got covered up. "Punch Posies" from a SU stamp set are tucked here and there. Bits of ribbon, 3 flutey rhinestones and a plastic dragonfly are pretty much all the bling I added. In the stamped journaling block I wrote "Peaceful moments between brother & sister are always worth remembering."

The First Day of Summer

Here in my town it has felt like summer for quite a while. I took my camera out with me on errands to capture shots of this first day of summer.  Here is where I'd like to be today - on that bridge headed to the beach. I don't believe you can see that bridge too well in this photo reduced so, but it is there. This is looking at US 1 along the Inter-coastal.

     Still reeling from our exciting time at the StampFest on Saturday I have made my first card with some of our new goodies.  Last night DD and I played with some Smooches dropped in a bowl of water. This is one of the techniques we learned Saturday at the show. It is done with glossy card stock. The tips of the Smooch product is touched to the water and it floats. It can be swirled as desired. I used a new Tim Holtz embossing folder for the brick background with the purely pomegranate card stock. The tiny satin ribbon is probably from Joann's and everything else is from Stampin Up!

Working on cards lately

Seems Christmas is on the mind since the folks over at ScrapAttackScrapbooking.com is encouraging us to make Christmas cards for the troops. We are having a challenge every few days and here are #4 and #5.

Number 4 challenge was to make a snow person or use snow in some way - can you tell my snow person is looking up at the snowy sky? Then #5 was from a sketch given us.  I was looking around for inspiration for the colors to use. I use navy and red a lot and wanted to find something different. I hit on using the green and gold, since I wanted to emboss the flourish on the card anyway. This is my absolute new favorite perfume! I smelled this fragrance in the book but in person and on me IT IS FABULOUS. I love my Avon dear daughter!

Twilight Fever

Are you ready for the next Twilight movie? "Eclipse" is coming to theaters June 30th.
Here are the cards I've just added to my Etsy shop.

And my favorite (since my granddaughter and I are on Jacob's team)

Check out this fabulous cake!
Misty is a wonderful cake designer.
In closing, gotta say I wish this darling young star well, what a future awaits him. Just keep yourself smart with all the craziness around you, Taylor Lautner!

New 'Shoes' on the Ole Girl Make a Difference

Didn't plan on getting new tires today. Was actually going to take a drive up to Jacksonville. We stopped at 7-Eleven for a cup of my favorite coffee and some cash from the ATM. Got a couple of blocks on up the road and remembered we had left the Garmin behind. I turned around. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway I got an indicator light that something was wrong with a tire. On inspection I could see the front passenger tire was low - too low but with enough air to reach BJ's I was sure. I had a screw in that tire. Because the tread was so low it was best to replace rather than patch, besides, all  of the tires were getting pretty sorry in the tread department. So, bring on all four.

Driving down the road with 4 new tires an hour and a half later, plus some necessities too,  I noticed how major smooth the ride felt. DD commented that "new shoes on the old girl made a difference." How true. The were the factory tires from when I bought the car and probably weren't the best anyway.
Uniroyal Tiger Paw - good enough for me! She's looking sharp now. I'm so easily delighted with the simple necessities of life.
Speaking of life, I wondered if this was Divine Intervention. I could have been on I-95 and gotten stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire - or worse. Tomorrow I am driving friends to a stamp party that is 40'ish minutes away and a flat would have not been good then either. Then, in early June we are driving up to Virginia. So, looking ahead, this was a good time to discover a potential problem - much easier to take care of. If anyone would like to share your thoughts on Divine Intervention I would love to read them!

Texture Boutique is mine now

More fun! I have been enjoying my new find - the Sizzix Texture Boutique. It looks like a pretty blue purse and is too adorable. I hadn't been ready for the Big Shot, even though I thought I really wanted one. But when I came across this deal I decided to go for it. For cutting I still have my Cricut anyway.

My friend brought over her collection of folders and DD and I had a fun time playing. I made one card so far using a leaf folder on a patterned green. I used the embossed piece as background for the new doe and fawn stamp I found at the same shop.
I'm playing around with adding ink to the embossed pieces. I have come up with a nice idea for an old house but haven't turned it into a card yet. I love the big rose one and want to work with it more. So far I haven't decided on a spot in my scrapbooking layouts yet, but I'm sure I will find a way. I'm open for suggestions, btw! lol

So here is a pic my DD took of me with my new toy.

Beautiful new rose bush

Is there a more difficult rose to paint or one more difficult to forget?
We popped into a nursery and spotted this unusual rose. I had never seen such variegation so beautifully displayed especially in a rose. Had to have one.  I don't have it in the ground yet but think I have a place picked out. Here are two photos of the beauty - one earlier in the day and the other is after this blossom had fully opened the next evening.

Wanted to share this quote with you -
"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted." ~Henri Matisse

Lot's going on these past few days.
Saw the trail in the sky from the space shuttle going up from the Space Center on its way to the International Space station. Reading the NASA log is so cool, right up my alley since I love anything to do with space travel and Star Wars, only this is for real - not sci fi.

I was fortunate to capture with my camera a small alligator (4 ft.). We think the large one has moved on since DS and friends haven't see her in a couple weeks now. Just this little one is left.

I've been making cards lately too, and since one from my Etsy store sold yesterday I uploaded two more today.

 What's with all the 'love bugs'?! We have been overrun with them today.

I spent a fun afternoon with friends stamping cards and getting to make our own ice cream sundae yesterday at Ree's Stamping Oasis. It's always good with the combination of friends, crafting and ice cream!

I made a bunch of these adorable punch art owls from the instructions found on Kay's blog.

 Hoping to mail them to Charity Preschool for this year's graduates.
When I worked in the office at the church I was always delighted to see the kids pass by my office window and I miss that. I really loved when the teachers brought them in to sing me a few songs.

Nine Pages Done This Weekend

I had a blast doing the challenges at ScrapAttackScrapbooking this weekend. Fun and games to keep me up late and tethered to my scrap room. I managed to complete 9 of the 10 layout challenges before the deadline.

Please check out my gallery to see all my scrapbook pages and learn why I did what I did. Doing the challenges really stretches me and I love that.

New setup for stamping and scrapbooking

This may still be a work in progress but it is so much more efficient now. Pulling the table out from the wall allowed me to put another pegboard up for handy storage. Now all my punches are up where I can get to them. Also I now have seating for four. It is a small room so having to walk to any of the storage locations will not count as exercise by any fitness expert.

          




Here is a view inside the closet, easily accessible storage drawers.   I rearranged the larger type embellishments in the drawers under the 12 x 12 scrapbooking papers.  My ink pads are right by my side now, but it can't hurt me to get up for them either. I have a DVD case on the wall for the new style of Stampin Up stamp sets and have ordered more empty cases for some other unmounted rubber and clear stamps I have to put up there also. Not sure yet what I will really do with the two hanging baskets over the ink stand, for now it seems to be holding plastic bags I might need so can't throw away just yet. The ink cleaning pad is in the top one for now.

     I wasn't able to hang the pegboard with the table back against the wall - couldn't reach. Now that the table is out I can utilize the space. More options available there, but for now I can access things better than before.  I like that all my punches are within reach. I took my ribbons out of drawers and put them in bags according to color family. The hang from a pole, easily unclipped so I can take the bag down and rummage through it. The patterned paper covered buckets were punched with the Big Bite Crop-a-dial and hold things once stuffed randomly in drawers. -so much easier to grab. I actually have room for 4 to sit.

      In the left corner I have my container of Stampin Up 8.5 x 11 card stock separated into the color families - which is changing in July - so I can easily find the colors I want. Some of my spools of ribbon hang next to the punches. I found a hanging tray for the board for the re-inkers. From under the pegboard I am hanging things like the mixing pallet, rulers, Fiskars work surface, and cutting templates. I have a Pampered Chef tool caddy on the table next to 3 little drawers organized where I can find frequently used items. The bookcase to the right of the table hold a container of my pens and pencils, and sharpener; 2nd shelf has 8.5 x 11 card stock; bottom shelf has 12 in.

     The original bookcase units are better organize and I actually have room for more. The catalogs and Take Ten magazines are accessible now. My two different sizes of envelops are there. My 8.5 x 14 and 11 x 17 papers are out when I need them. All the scrapbook albums being worked on are in a row. More bins for things that have been sorted are available when needed. I have the Cricut in its box with the 4 cartridges I have right there so I can lift it out and use it anytime I want. Under that is a paper box of more 8.5 x 11 card stock.
    I'm pretty happy so far.

Messy crafting space has to go

When I moved in I through the crafting room together quickly so I could have my place to escape and scrap. After all everyone needs their creative outlet to get through the daily routine of life.
I'm not done yet but have a real good start.
The closet wasn't being utilized. I didn't even have a place for everything, let alone everything in it's place. There were still boxes to go through, and sorting to accomplish.
The table up against the wall with compartments on the top really cut back on our work surface.
Here are the first pictures of how we were existing in there for first 4 months or so.

Oh, to start a new quilt

Check this out - it's a really cool giveaway from Ryan Walsh. I'm seeing some fabulous new fabrics to drool over.  Sure inspires me to get my sewing room ready to get quilting again.

In addition to wanting to make a wall hanging I think a new lap quilt is on my horizon and I've picked out the perfect collection of fabrics. I just love these patterns and the colors are so soothing to me.
So, go, check this site out and let me know what you think!

National Scrapbook Day is Comming

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Where will you be the weekend of April 30 through May 2nd? It's National Scrapbooking Day and there is going to be lots of fun, games, and inspiration for scraping over at my favorite place - Scrap Attack Scrapbooking

Here is my latest layout made for a challenge at {SAS}.

I was to use Pumpkin Pie and Cream for my colors and I could use the word "wisdom" or "Key".  I was thrilled that I had both pretty ribbons by Stampin' Up! and a super cool background paper from Scrap Attack on line store.
The main theme is Wii and I used some alpha templates to cut out the photos. I used the Cricut Hello Kitty Font cartridge for the "Happiness is". All stamps are SU!.

Star of the Day

http://www.qbaroo.com/scrapattackscrapbooking/largeimage.cfm?product=6745My alligator layout was selected so I am the star of the day at ScrapAttackScrapbooking for April 17, 2010.

 It was pretty exciting to get up this morning and check out the message board and find all the nice compli- ments on my page.
I made it for a challenge on the site. We were to use stamps in the title and that is what I did. I used Stampin' Up headline alphas. The greenish circle was cut from a sheet I made using alcohol inks, another technique featured at ScrapAttack that was so fun and addicting to try. The addition of the cardboard turned out to be a fun addition for added texture. I was sitting at the dining room table pealing and my DS walked by wondering if I had completely lost my senses I suppose until I explained I wanted it for my scrapbooking. Then he understood - anything goes, weird or not - so he went on.
     The stamped "real life" fit, seeing a alligator close in the wild is pretty real. And yes, I used a tripod and a telephoto for the shot. I wanted the page to represent the whole scene from the distant view of the canal to a mid-distance view, right up to the close shot of that huge head.
     I really am trying to expand my scrapbooking style, stretching out for a new (to me) design. Looking back at my style back 10-12 years ago I have improved but can't say I've kept up with the newest trends. But hey, it's my hobby and I have tons of fun. I love looking at what the folks are doing today but it's kind of hard to break the old style habits. You that scrap, do you find it a challenge or are you content with whatever your style has become?

Alligators in the canal

One large (around 8 feet) and 2 small alligators have been spotted in the canal behind our house. When family and friends reported this to me I took my bike down from the hook in the garage, grabbed my camera and tripod. I saw the big one on two occasions.
For the first appearance I only saw the tip of the nostrils and the eyes, but you can see the size of the head just under the water. A little later after others had left I spotted her again. This time I got much more of her head and saw some of her back.



It was now late afternoon and the sun was ready to set. She dived and I booked it out of there. Not that I was afraid, mind you, just didn't want to have her think I might be part of her supper.

Girls on Film

I had so much fun creating this scrapbook page. It was for the "Scrap Around the World" challenge at Scrap Attack. We were to place our photos on a slant like the leaning tower of Pisa resembling a film strip of photos. Also use a cluster of circles - round in shape like grapes. Well, my cluster of circles are not quite like grapes, but I loved the opportunity to make some paper flowers. After I made some paper with glossy card stock and alcohol inks I punched or cut some circles for placing around the page. So, 2 techniques I learned from the same fun website!
For the black card stock under the photos I used my Stampin' Up double rectangle punch 60 times to create the strip effect - way too much time there but I love the results. When I was done except for the title I sat the page out for my family to admire (of course) and to help me come up with a title. I don't usually wait until the page is done before coming up with a title. {Hum, that may be a good question to ask the audience in a later post - How do you come up with your titles?}
I can thank my Dear Daughter for this title - which is a Duran Duran song.
Now, my next challenge is to create a page or two greeting cards with quilling - something totally new to me.