sketch sketch

Wow, kudos to scrappy Nicole for coming up with an awesome challenge! I loved the sketch options she gave us, but particularly loved sketch option 2 by Nicole's friend.
(See the sketch I chose here.)

So, I still have tons of product left over from my days as a Scrapologie kit subscriber. Particularly, the Nov. 07 kit. (Unfortunately, Scrapologie doesn't create monthly kits anymore, but they're still around and create special edition kits for holidays.) I made one LO using those colors and that was it. December came and I moved on to Christmas layouts. The colors in the November kit were so pretty and sweet, I knew I had to use them, but didn't have the right photo.


Then, a couple days ago, Eleana dressed up as a fairy princess and spent her afternoon dancing, singing, and "flying" around the living room. I took several photos, but I particularly enjoyed this one of her mid-jump.

I placed the papers on a slant, leaving only the title and photo properly aligned with the 12x12 background. I wanted to emphasize Eleana's energy as much as possible. I chose these colors mostly because of the tutu. Tutus evoke memories of my days as a dancer, and black and pink are popular apparel colors for ballerinas.

Nearly everything I used in this page was from the November kit, except for a small piece of ric-rac ribbon (and the rub-ons I used for "tiny" and the crown on the "e"). Even the damask acrylic stamp was included in the kit. The small card below that reads "Paris" was in the kit as well, and is from Tres Jolie. LOVE Tres Jolie, by the way. I stamped the princess definition myself however, using a Rusty Pickle set of acrylic stamps.



The photo itself was heavily edited using Photoshop Elements. I rendered the background in black and white (so the toys and items strewn around the background wouldn't distract the eye) and also blurred it a bit. Then, using some "Ali-isms" from the Fresh Fonts CD, I created brushes and used them like stamps all along the side of the photo. I used the color burn effect, which I love. It sort of mimics an acid burn on the color, revealing the brightest possible tone of the image. That's why the words gradually fade from pink to white (top to bottom)...because the pink words are on top of my red couch, and the white word ("darling") is on top of my tan carpet. Did I explain that well at all?



I've been informed by the husband that my journaling is corny. It reads: Tutus, wands, wings and crowns are at the top of Eleana's list of dress-up necessities. She twirls while giggling and making a "woo woo" sound, and jumps up and down. On the day this photo was taken she even tapped Daddy and I on the head with her wand, granting us our secret wishes. I wished for an abundance of moments like these.

I had so much fun working on this page today, and I'm sorry it took me so long to finish it! I was at the local scrap store for 2 hours yesterday talking business (my card class got the green light!) and then we had friends over for dinner. Crazy day yesterday.

Sketch Challenge

I was excited to host this weeks challenge to my Blog Sista's. I decided everyone should pick one of the three sketches made by the talented Liz Quaiman. Liz is a scrapbook.com friend of mine and she is brilliant! Be sure to check out her gallery which is home to ton of her beautiful sketches. The three sketches I chose were the one I used below which she titled her sketch 11. You can view it here... http://scrapbook.com/galleries/150887/view/925165/-1/20/1.html

The other two sketches we could choose are... http://scrapbook.com/galleries/150887/view/1258993/0/0/1.html

http://scrapbook.com/galleries/150887/view/1258993/0/0/1.html

By clicking on any of her sketches it will take you to her gallery! Thank you Liz for the inspiration!

So, here is the one I picked, Sketch #11. I just loved this sketch because it showcases more than one picture and allows you to have hidden journaling or add another pic or two to the tag!

The papers I used were from the Hannah Scrap Pad to Go by Kology (K&CO). I used this paper because it matched the brown in my shirt and the rug in the pics. The pics were taken at my fav dive, Sun Kong in Malden. I just adore Karaoke and this is my favorite spot to entertain lol. It is an older crowd so there aren't tiny boppers there with this tight little half shirts on and heels. Ya know what I am saying! lol. hehehe The guy pictured with me is my friend Marc. We have know each other for over 20 years. He is hysterical. Lights up a room with his personality and he doesn't drink or do drugs but yet the energy he gives off is amazing! All he needs is COKE, COKE A COLA that is!!!

We sang about 4 songs together this night! We were celebrating my 28th Birthday. The flourishes are all from Fancy Pants Chipboard which I adore! I inked it with some generic ink I own that works awesome. Just as good as the expensive ink lol. I got a bunch of inks from QVC about 6 years ago and they are all still in good working use and I use them all the time. They work awesome for painting the chipboard. Notice the bottom Flourish, I used a pale Pink/brown. I have since changed it to match the others after seeing it scanned. So it now matches the other ink. I used bling from Junkitz for the yellow blig above and below the picture. I used Prima flowers and Star brads. I Used two small buttons and one big button on the sides of the strips. The big flower is from none other than the Dream. I am heading there today when my neice comes so I can check out some of the new goods. I will be sure to report back to you guys on the goodies! The tag is from Basic Grey I believe. I picked that up at the yard sale at the Dream. Superstar is Me and my Big Ideas. And woo la there you have it! My take on the sketch!

Just the beginning of DISNEY

Alright ladies. Here it is, what you have been waiting for, the start of my Disney pages! Yeah, OK, so you probably haven't been waiting for them, and you are going to be sick of looking at them but too bad! LOL

The Cover Page:



I fell in love with this Disney transparency and scooped it up the second I saw it. What to do with it though, that was my problem. I finally decided that it would make a good title page...it has all the words to describe a Disney vacation and sets the mood to what you are about to look at in the album. Like I said, nothing exciting...






Buzz Lightyear:


Supplies: Bazzil Bling, Jolee's stickers, Cricut- Disney Cartridge, inks and shape punch.












"Swim" / The CHALLENGE page:

I needed to also get to work on the challenge page that Miss. Nicole set forth. I decided that I would stick to my Disney theme and try it out. This was actually the perfect page for it because there wasn't many pictures, but there was a story to tell. I am going to change the picture, but the rest is pretty much the way it's going to stay. Supplies: Green cardstock was from a paper pack that I bought in Disney, EK Success Disney papers, stickers by Jolee's, and Cricut Disney Cartridge.

Here is the link to the sketch I used for this page. The designer is Liz Qualman and I must say that I love her designs and may just try out a few more!

http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/150887/view/1061487/0/0/1.html

mini book! (and ali edwards)

Yo girls! I miss you! All this talk of the bus tour makes me wish I didn't live so dang far away. Y'all have to promise me ONE thing. If I can't go, will one of you snag me something awesome? Thanks.

Okay, so all day today I planned on starting the sketch challenge but got totally hung up on this mini board book I wanted to make. I know you all must know Ali Edwards, right? She has a blog, which I love, and also a Flickr account. She also has this life art newsletter she publishes every so often online with little challenges and articles. I've been reading her stuff lately and I love it. She's such a fabulous photographer, and we all know how wonderful her scrapbooking skills are. I have the Life Artist book, which I haven't finished reading. Just looking through it is enough to make me feel inspired. I've started working with paint more often, getting in touch with my roots so to speak.

ANYWAY, if you read her blog, her weekend entry features a mini book she created. She created the cover by layering items and then painting the whole thing one color. I loved this, and she challenged the internets to do something similar over the weekend. So I thought about it all weekend and finally did mine today.

I love green (even my iPod is green) and I've been running around painting things green lately. I'll have to post a picture of it but I even painted a jewelry box I got for Christmas GREEN. It looks great...much better than it did as a plain cherry stained box.

So I chose green for my cover.



This is actually not a photo of the FINISHED cover...I added aqua stickles all around the edges (sparingly) and around the white "baby" and the star. So it was simple. I didn't add a whole bunch of dimension to this smally book, just the star. But it gives the effect I wanted. Simple and subdued.

The theme is obviously baby memories. There are TONS of milestones/moments/memories I haven't scrapbooked yet. Eleana is growing SO fast that I barely have enough time to keep up with her. I've had these wallet sized pictures lying around the office forever, waiting to be put somewhere, in something. I finally just created this general book of favorites using those pictures, and I wish I had room to add more.



Making this book also gave me the chance to use up some of the baby themed items I have, that I NEVER used. Like the "sleep tight" sign. It's actually metal, and surprisingly thin for a metal embelleshment. And all these pinky stickers (like the one that says "naptime" above) are finally diminishing, though I still have half of a sheet left.

The journaling above reads: As an infant, any place in the apartment was suitable for a nap. Eleana felt most comfy on her Boppy (if she wasn't in our arms.) Naps were eratic and short, but seemed so blissful to our sweet girl.



Page 2 (above) is a little more personal, documenting (briefly) our time nursing. The journaling reads: Breastfeeding Eleana was one of the best things I've done for her as her mother, though challenging at times. We lasted 8 months, until Eleana decided she'd rather feed herself.

The picture of us together above is one of my all-time favorites of us. She looks so happy-go-lucky, which is exactly who she is, even today. The green strip between the two pictures of her eating says "nurture" but it didn't photograph well.



Okay, the last page in the book is all about Daddy. The bottom photo on the left is censored per Daddy's request. It's a picture of our 2-month-old girly laying on his bare chest. He hates when his chest is hairy, and in the picture it's super hairy, so he didn't want everyone to see it. Insert giggling here. There's no journaling on this page. No room. I love the picture on the right so much that I had to make it big. The color is off here too. The "bundle of joy" tag should be pink.




The back cover isn't fabulous...just plain and pretty.

Tomorrow I'm doing the sketch. I already know what picture I'm using and everything!
XOXOXO

Signo to the rescue!

Me again. Heh heh. So! I'm reviewing my work and I'm tortured by the fact that something just ain't right in scrapsville. Something was missing from ye ol layout. It was the journaling. And also the balance was off. So remembering these rub-ons I borrowed from NP last year, I decided to mimic them and journal around the floral swirls on the left in my trusty white SIGNO pen. Then added flourish on the right for proper balance. Then of course, I had to do the same with the tag. I'm getting braver with the doodling since our last project! See the difference below:

"Fall"-ing in love with this sketch! (challenge)

First, let me say kudos to Nicole for picking out a cool sketch : http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/source/150887/Sketch230.jpg

Do you ever look at a sketch and know right away what pictures you'll use? Often, I do. But not this time. At first, I couldn't figure out what photos I had to match the colors in the sketch. Then the lighbulb went off that it was up for our interpretation! I have tons of pictures from fall that I wanted to crop, so I headed in that direction. The results are below!




I chose to shape my paper a little differently than the sketch. I thought the elements were close enough. I must be watching too much HGTV. I realize I have to go back and do something to the left side. It's too bare. And it's going to be journaling. I'll follow the swirls. Nichole P. had rub-ons once like that! ( I wonder if she knows which ones I'm talkin' about?) Next, the sketch asks for a tag. I LOVE tags! Tags are great for the not-quite-card-maker like myself. And speaking of cards, did you see Nichole P's cards in the prior layout? Wow-za!
I used all kinds of goodies here like stickers from the almighty dollar store, ribbon from the almighty dollar section in Michaels. You'll notice accents like the bottle caps from Building 19. I inked yellow on the corners to bring in the color from the flower on the main page, which was originally hideous and so I used my cat eye inks with Sienna, Brown, etc. God bless the inks!


Viola! Here's the entire representation! I like this so much, I think I'm going to use this sketch for another layout! Thanks for viewing!

fun announcement

Hello hello, ladies! I have some great news to share with everyone! I got a job teaching at the local scrapbook store! I'm on staff for one month as a trial, and if all goes well I'll be on indefinitely.

The owner wants our first class to be a greeting card class. I was told to have my samples by the end of this week, and her guidelines were these:

1. create 6 cards
2. have a spring theme
3. have all 6 cards coordinate with each other so they package nicely if to be presented by the maker as a gift to someone else
4. use one product in all 6 cards, utilizing the product uniquely in each card so as to teach how versatile that product can be.


So, I made 6 cards, each pink, white and yellow. I used brads and eyelets as my versatile product of choice. The cards are simple, mostly because this is expected to be a 2 hour course - not a lot of time for 6 cards per person!

I'm taking the cards to the store tomorrow as it's closed today. I'm so nervous the owner won't like them!


See the bottom right card above? The one with the little sign post? Yeah, the paper the yellow brads is attached to is actually a pale yellow. These didn't scan well at all!



The top card here, above the "hello!" card is solid white, with a torn patterned panel. Again you can barely see the white card because of the scanner. I guess I should've put a piece of paper behind the cards as I scanned. Woops. Lesson learned.

I'd love to know what you ladies think of these cards!

Mom Survival Kit in a can... (baby shower present to go with the baby album)

I decorated a naked paint can with the matching papers I used on the baby album and card I made. Inside the can I put Chocolate bars of all sorts and brands, clear eyes for those sleepless weeks lol, Tylenol for headaches and a diaper wheel with mom, dad, nana and papas name on it so she's always not the one changing diapers. This was so much fun!

Jenn, I too scrapped even though we couldn't scrap together tonight!

Well, we were suppose to get together tonight but with the snow and all we couldn't make it. =( From the looks of things that didn't stop Jenn and I from Scrappin' anyway! I have a baby shower for a distant cousin of mine coming up on Sunday so I made this accordion book for the mom to be. I am also making her a New Mother Survival Pail. I will post that tomorrow when I finish it.

So, for this project I used the Creative Imaginations BE Naked Accordion Album and dressed it up with some fabulous Brenda Walton papers. A long time ago I bought the Brenda Walton Scrap Pad to go. The Dollhouse collection. It is so pretty and comes with great stickers and they sell chipboard letters that match it as well as chipboard dies and all kinds of other goodies. I used all the scraps I had left from it to make this book. The few that aren't Brenda Walton on here are so blah, The pink paper with the colored circles with the baby die at the top is not one of my fav. papers but what am I going to do I already glued the bad boy on there. It is three bugs in a rug. The princess crown paper is also three bugs in a rug. The front side came out way better than the back side.

If you click on the picture, which you may already know it will make the picture bigger so you can get a better view. I had to leave room for a wallet size picture so I was limited decorating the area because most would be covered with a pic or two. This was fun cause I got to use a lot of my old stash for this. Like all the dies I had and added a little Martha Stewart bling to it. Jolee's & Sandylion Essentials 3d stickers are always fun for gift projects too! The duck is from a sticker pack I got at Target many, many moons ago. I forget who makes it. I think it is Generic. But they are 3d and are raised with foam dots. They come like that! WOOT WOOT! Bath time is part of the accordion book.

The accordion books come with it's own storage case. I decorated that with the matching papers and added ribbon to the rim that reads Sweet Baby Girl.

The back of the album is the polka dot paper. The front of the album is the cool paisley paper. I also added the same Sweet Baby Girl pink ribbon to the front of the rim of the box. I took my cricut and added SWEET BABY GIRL as the title of the box and inked it with white. I added a lil bling to the "I" in girl. I added foam squares to the back of the baby die cut and called it a day!

Woola, this is how I kept busy during the snow storm! It was fun, but would of been much better if you gals could of joined me! Till tomorrow. Signing off for now. Nicole ((((HUGS))))))

Valentine's Sugar

Here is my one and ONLY Valentine's Day LO. It's actually from a monthly sketch from http://gettinsketchy.blogspot.com/. LOVED the sketch, but wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do the challenge this month. Am bogged down thinking about doing my Disney stuff. Anyway, As most of you know, I really could care less about Valentine's day. Maybe it's because everyday is like Valentine's with my husband (really, not kidding!), or maybe it's because growing up we celebrated my Dad's b-day and then my Grandfather's b-day on V-day? Who knows. There's a cute little story to go along with these pictures - you can view that on my blog http://schelinski.blogspot.com/2008/02/its-not-junk-its-sugar.html

The materials: Bazzil, Creative Imaginations, Robins Nest glitter hearts, glitter letters, buttons and ribbon. Oh and I can't forget the cute little Quickutz penguin.

My "funny" Valentine

Nicole posted some scrap-a-rific Valentine layouts so I had to dive into my massive supply and crank one out myself. What the heck am I waiting for? Besides, this story was too good to sit on.

After a fab-U time at the spa Valentine's eve, husband and I have just enough time to make our dinner reservations! So we head around the corner for dinner. I adore this restaurant, and was so taken by the sights and smells and sounds, that I didn't even REALIZE who they were sitting me near - behind actually - it was none other than NICOLE herself (and husband, who is awesome by the way).

What were the chances?!?!!! The whole dinner I wanted to keep turning around and tapping her on the shoulder to gab. You KNOW I had to get a pic for this moment. You KNOW I did!!! And ah-ha I beat ya to it Nicole! ;)
Pictured here are the scrapbook divas. Literally, we're back to back. What torture! I wanted to scoot my table next to hers! As the night wore on, all four of us were talking and laughing so loud. I think the other patrons were a tad bit annoyed!

Oh! About the scrapping! I got this paper set at Michael's I think. I really loved the colors. The glitter embellishments around the page are from ye ol dollar section at Target. Me loves that dollar section, yo!

And Nichole P, I know you're dyin' to know about the tags, my alter-er extraordinaire! Why, they are 7 Gypsies, of course. And the "Look" tag was for me to pull out and read so I can always remember that moment I saw Nicole and her husband. I was really psyched. The "Celebration" tag is adorned with my $1 acrylic stamps I collect. Everyone carries them now. I included a close up because I know Nichole P is anxious to feast her little eyeballs on 'em. And yes, I have in fact doodled on 'em. Thanks for noticing.

The funniest thing about Valentine's (aside from my surprise encounter) was that we both had a terrible cold. Sneezed ALL THRU DINNER. I had to take a pic of this. You KNOW I did! My flash went off so many times during dinner, you'd think a celebrity was dining there.

I wanted to accomplish two things here. First, I wanted to use two different types of paper on the same page. I didn't really need a border to separate them, but I loved this ribbon I got at Walmart that was black and red and said "Kiss Me". I also have it on the hat pin on the tag. Can't get enough of it. Next, I've always liked the look of small pictures together like a film negative. I made sure to print them as if they were telling a story. At least, to me they do. The tags will do the rest!

Enjoy!

Valentine Layouts - IN THE HOUSE LOL

So, I developed a lot of Valentine pictures at Walgreens. As soon as I saw the pics I knew I had to scrap them ASAP! I just love scrapping holiday layouts. Did I mention?? They forgot to charge me for my pics and I got 25 bucks worth of pics for FREE! I called my mom and I was feeling really guilty and she quickly told me to, "GET OVER IT NICOLE!"

What's a girl to do with 25.00 extra bucks in her pocket burning a hole in it?????? Go to the dream, derrrrrrrrrrrrr! But, much to my surprise, I have just about every line in there that I love. I am patiently waiting for the CHA Goodies to come in. I can not wait to spend big bucks on the newest goods which are soon to come in the mail I am told!

V-Day PJ's..... This I did to showcase my daughters adorable pj's as well as the picture on the bottom is so CLASSIC! I used K&Company Brenda Walton letters. Making Memories Die Cut Paper. Imaginisce pps (I BELIEVE)... Imaginisce Rub ons. Prima flowers and buttons from a yard sale.

The 1st bottom LO This is for the Valentine Poem Challenge. I made up an ACROSTIC VALENTINE Poem. This was a fun challenge. I haven't written a poem in about 20 years! I printed the poem on Imaginisce pp from the - SO HAPPY TOGETHER LINE. I used three different ribbons I got at Target in the dollar section. Got to love that section! I used Junkitz Salsa Celebration Rhinestones to circle my daughter Alicia's smile. I used hearts from K&CO on the top that I got at Target. I used Imaginice rub ons. The middle wavy paper is by Imaginisce ( I just love it) I cut a piece of Cloud 9 So In Love paper in Half because I like the pattern on both sides and attached one side to the top and one side to the bottom. The cloud 9 papers are part of the BE LOVED line. I used a piece of generic cardstock to attach all the papers too. I overlapped the middle Imaginisce paper over the cloud 9 paper. I journaled along the wave with my fav white SIGNO pen. I had taken some pictures of the cookies my daughter and I made on the plate and cut out the cookies and attached them with foam pop dots. Not sure if you can see they are raised in the scan or not! I added some bling to the middle of the flowers. I used Bead Party Bling peel & stick Rhinestones that I bought at Walmart! I love them because they already have the adhesive on them! I also added the white bling to a few of the dots on the pp to make it pop! The bottom layout is my dd making Valentine's for her Nana's & Papa's. I used the Basic Grey two scoops line (Cupid's arrow). I adore this paper so much! I used Martha Stewart Rhinestones beside the word - Smooches (just to highlight that cool word) & one in the middle of one of the flowers. I used my fav. STICKLES to make hearts along the scalloped trim. I added a piece of Felt ribbon and tore a piece of Imaginisce paper and added a few Imaginisce rub ons to the torn paper. I also used a big letter "A" for Alicia Ava and added a few white rub ons to both sides of the A. I highlighted the heart with the word love in it with a circle rhinestone made by Junkitz. I added a rub on crown to miss Alicia's head. I used Stickles to highlight the small circles on the pp. I made journaling blocks out of paper and journaled with my all time fav white Signo pen!

Doodle Challenge, Nick Jr. Style!

Wow, I can't believe I'm the last one to finish this challenge! I literally just finished this page 5 minutes ago, and I really like it. I've been dying to make a page honoring Eleana's big love for Yo Gabba Gabba!, and finally had the chance to do so thanks to this awesome challenge.

Sharon posted a link to the page we "scraplifted," though I think mine turned out less like the original than any of them. Sorry girls. I hope you like it!



I got a Bamboo Fun pen tablet for an early birthday/late anniversary gift, and used it to create all my doodles digitally. I think if you click on the image it'll get bigger so you can see it more. I included lyrics from Eleana's favorite Yo Gabba Gabba! songs, images of some of the characters, the show's logo, etc. At the bottom I stamped, "My name is Eleana, I like to dance." For those of you who haven't seen the show, periodically throughout the 30 minutes they show clips of children saying that phrase and doing dances.

The journaling was hand written also, and reads: If it's a weekday and 11:30, be sure we're watching Yo Gabba Gabba! Eleana knows all the songsa nd applies the lessons to every day life - if she bumps into us she sings the "sorry" song. She beat boxes along with Biz, learns new dances, and makes her funny face. She knows it all and loves each character dearly. Now, who wants to dance?

I loved this challenge Sha! Who's next?

My addition to the doodle challenge

So, I really enjoyed this challenge. Very out of the box for me I must say, but so much fun! I felt like I was sitting in homeroom listening to my teacher bore me early in the morning, daydreaming and doodling on my notebook cover! Believe it or not this was the first time I really SCRAPLIFTED SOMETHING! Honest, I have always been an angel! No, really, my first official scraplift. Whenever an artist inspires me but I never have the actual page in front of me and just start scrapping. This was kinda cool. Had my creative juices flowing!!!!!! Needless to say, here is my addition to this cool Challenge. Thanks Sharon for hosting it this month!

(((((((HUGS TO ALL))))))))

Have a SCRAP"O"RIFIC DAY! Till next time - Signing off - ScraphappyNicole...

Doodling doodling doo

The challenge brought to us by Miss Sharon.
The inspiration from this page from Corinne Delis...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36801419@N00/1602460550/
http://www.corinne-delis.typepad.com/

I did my page the way I would as if I were really doodling while I was on the phone. I really went mindless with my work. I did it twice. The first time was on the back of this paper. I didn't like it, so did it again on the other side. Do I like it? Not really. I was going to re-do it, but my DH said that he really liked it - liked how I didn't put an actual "Title" to the page, but instead doodled words that meant stuff to us. He really liked that you need to look at every word to know what the picture is all about. So, I kept it the way it was.



I really enjoyed this challenge. Would I do something this 'involved" again? Probably not. I am glad I did it though and will probably do more lighter doodles in the future.

Doodle challenge to the design team

Okay! So I was given the honor of presenting the first "challenge" of the New Year. Indeed. It was a challenge finding a challenge!

Until I came across a mosiac Ms. Nichole had on her site of her fav scrapbook pages. Within it, I was drawn to "You Rock" by Dutch artist Corinne Delis (I believe is her name).

The link below will show you the challenge page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36801419@N00/1602460550/

To see more of this artist and her lovely, lovely work, visit:

http://www.corinne-delis.typepad.com/

And now, for the challenge:

The challenge: Simply to try our hand at doodling in a similarly convincing sketch. With no restrictions on color or theme.

So you think doodling is easy? Think again. There was nothing easy or carefree about this piece for me. I messed up so badly at one point, I ripped the paper from the page, then had to figure out how to fit THAT in. Which resulted in the following "black hole" as you'll see.

Below: A quote from Shayna after receiving flowers on Valentine's Day from Grandma "You rock the Universe!" I believe you can click on it to see the details. I agonized over this and will be glad to tuck it away and not look at it again for a while. I gave more thought to this piece than any term paper I've ever completed back in college. I can't wait to see what the rest have done.

"Silly You"

Hey gang! I have had the scrap bug, BIG time! Before I went on vacation, I headed out to the big box stores to load up on whatever goodies I could find, and then I hit "The Dream" I got tons of paper and goods that I was dying to use. I was hoping to spend a few days before my vacation scrapping some stuff that I have been meaning to get to - knowing that when I returned I would be scrapping my trip. Well, I got sick. I am talking the NASTY stomach bug, SICK! Needless to say, I got nothing done before leaving for the Magic Kingdom AKA, Disney! Anyway, I ordered some (200) pictures from our trip, and thought while I was waiting for them to come in, I should get out some of my new goodies...here is what I created....
The supplies; Bazzil Basics - white, Three Bugs in a Rug (the lettering, the strips and the tags), American Crafts ribbon, and some star bling.

I was really having a hard time with making the letters pop. (side note, I am realizing that this is a theme of mine - I guess I really like letters). Anyway, I did my 'famous' go-around-the-edges with a marker thing. Came out OK - but in a few spots it was really messy -thus the usage of more tags behind the lettering - shhhh, don't tell anyone. :) The "o" was plain. Too plain, so I wrapped ribbon around it. Looks cute, if I do say so myself. The "S" and the "I" are also very plain, so I added bling on the "S" and doodled some stars on the "I".
Of course, nothing I do would be complete with the use of ink! All around the edges of every letter and the paper. To put it as Sharon does "that's how I roll".

WARNING - I hate to say this ladies, but I will probably be posting LOTS of Disney stuff soon. Don't worry, I won't post every page that I do, just the few that I like the most. I will try to do other stuff in between as to not bore anyone (including myself), but I am REALLY excited about doing this...just be warned. LOL

kiss!

Posted by moi, Nichole with an H.

Happy Valentine's Day, ladies! Gosh, today is going to be a whirlwind, I know it. I love Valentine's Day, though probably not as much as Sharon. I realized this year that I have virtually NO valentine/romantic/pink and red decorations. I mean, my guest room is smothered in pink, and I guess I could move some of those items to the living room, but I have nothing that's just for V-Day.

This month I participated in a Valentine swap through a flickr.com group I'm in. The cards I made for those ladies are about as romantic as it's gotten so far. I created 3 identical cards, here's a shot of one of them:


Kinda blurry thanks to the dimensional qualities of this card. Cupid is on a piece of foam adhesive, so he sticks out a bit. You can't really tell, but I used a blue souffle pen to add accents to the edges (polka dots) and the medallion in the middle.

I baked cookies for my two valentine's last night. Eleana ate one before bed, and Josiah had about 3.



A little messy with the icing, but they still eat the same!

And finally, here's a picture of the anniversary card I made for Josiah a couple weeks ago. Our 4th wedding anniversary was on January 24. We haven't truly celebrated yet though.




I'm getting geared up to make Josiah's valentine now...I'm a little behind. Eleana has her valentine finished for Daddy, but I've had other things to take care of. Who knows what this card will look like. Probably really pink. I'm all over pink lately.

Altered Mailboxes for Valentine's Day

Coming to you from scrap-town, USA!

Below are the altered mailboxes I got from Target. I altered them as teacher gifts for Valentine's day. Filled the inside with red curly shred and candy hearts. The teachers loved 'em!

Enjoy!

Finished for the new arrival

I totally forgot to upload my tiny pic so you gals know it's me posting. Hahaha! That's my bad. See, what happened is, sometimes if I want to post about an image I have stored in my Flickr account, I just compose the blog entry through Flickr, with the help of internet magic. That means no ability to upload pictures until after the fact...and I totally forgot. But hey, it's me, okay? So you know. Nichole with an H. Rawr.


baby bits and pieces
Originally uploaded by soleclaw23.

Wow, so I made this like, before September and I'm only just getting around to adding it to the blog!

In August my sister-in-law called me to create a collage for her new sister-in-law (her husband's new little sister...yes they're really young!).

She wanted something similar to the collage I created back in Boston with Sharon...remember the buttons with the silhouette of E, Sha? Well, my SIL saw it and loved it, but had a few requests.

It had to be pastel. They knew it was a girl, though she didn't quite know what colors were in the room. So just make it girly.

It had to incorporate Precious Moments somehow. They love PM.

It had to have her birth info - date, size, name - plus a spot for the mother to add a picture.

I had been eyeballing the latest "bits and pieces" collages by some of my friends on flickr and knew immediately that was the format I would go with.

This is the finished result! I had tons of baby girl themed things that I didn't use for Eleana (I definitely overshopped in preparation for my little one) that were perfect for this project.

I'm told the baby's mom loved it so much she hung it in her living room instead of the baby's room so everyone could see it. It makes me so happy that I made someone happy by making a simple gift.

Nichole P.

scraplifting squealer

Hi ladies! Nichole here. I think I need to clear something up here. I guess some of you don't fully read the posts (Sharon the skimmer) which leads you to assume that everything I post is of my design. It's not! I'm an addicted scraplifter! Much like a shoplifter, I see a page design I like, I take it! To be honest, I'm struggling with my creativity. Designing pages is something I'm working on. I don't feel as a scrapbooker or as an artist that design the page is my strong point. If I want to go anywhere I need to begin designing things on my own.

Until then, if you see something like this:

Or if I use the word "INSPIRATION" I'm hinting that I copied the design of another page. I like to give credit where credit is due, which is why I display the originals when I can. Pictured above is an example of a dyptic photo mosaic I created with my Flickr.com account. The yellow page on the left is by the lovely and very talented Mikaela2005 on Flickr. The green page is my recreation of that, using a photo of my husband.

So, in my latest post proof Nicole commented she liked both of my pages. Only the first page is mine. I explain that within the post, but y'all skim when you read. The second page is by the lovely Rita, whom I met through Scrapologie.com. You can view the original as she posted it here.

Does that clear some things up a bit? I hope so!

Extreme Makeover (altered house project)

Posted by the oh so beautiful and talented Ms. Sharon

I used to merchandise at a local scrapbooking store. Meaning I'd take incoming product and create dazzling displays. After a bagel and strong cuppa Joe I'd create my magic, then step back and watch the customers' adrenaline surge. Sometimes narrowly ducking the swarm - like bees drawn to honey.

The best part of my job was creating eye-catching, sometimes eclectic visuals. The reward? Watching the line sell. Or rather, upsell. Not just the specialty paper, which the store was becoming known for. But for the accessories that went along with it. I liked to coordinate little hints to help "guide" the customers. And most often, it gloriously worked.

...With the exception of these darn little cardboard houses. They arrived before Christmas, and I was given the challenge by my boss to alter one and merchandise it accordingly. So. I set out with a simple design using buttons from the Creative Cafe (cross merchandising) then used Diamond glaze and chipboard for the windows and door.

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No one took the bait. I think my mistake was not making it more "interactive". See how my daugther's reaction was to open the door?

AND SO, in comes the line from Love, Elsie. As much as I adore her whimsical designs, it wasn't a big seller. Our demographic is more conservative. So I offered to take the above house and reinvent it to help sell the line and - once again - try to move those darn cardboard houses.

I altered it mostly using the paper from the line. The windows are stickers that come with the line. I used my "Doodling for Papercrafts" book to embellish the lettering. My white SIGNO pen is my current fav tool of choice.

You'll notice I made an explosion album in the center. I had to use THREE magnets on each side to keep it closed and not frighten the customer, should they open the door and peek inside! Inside, I used the coordinating papers and rub-ons. Click on them to enlarge the details. There's so much you can do with this line! I boxed in and highlighted certain words to make "captions" for the pictures. For an extra touch, I made the chimney and used the paper from the line for the heart smoke stack. Enjoy!

I am a gift giver, I just can't help it!

Above I used my old stash of papers from way back in the day of Michaels and AC MOORE, you know long before the Dream was a thought. The BG chipboard circle is covered in BG PP. The ribbon is doodlebug designs. The flowers are Prima Mini Me. Title is made with the Cricut font ALL MIXED UP. The brad is I believe Karen Foster halloween pumpkin.

Below is K&Co papers. Glitter is was already on the green paper and the purple web paper. The skull paper did not have glitter so I added some to the eyes with Stickles and to the bones as well with stickles. I AM A STICKLES JUNKIE! Again Bats are Karen Foster Brads. The letters are from my old stash of Making Memories letter stickers. I used my CM Circle cutter for the circle pics.



The Pirate Page is all Karen Foster Rub ons, I had a blast using them. And Bazzill paper. These pages are 9X9.

I have a really bad habbit of always buying things for people when I see something that I think suits them just because or making people a little something instead of buying things. For each memeber of my family and extended family, (my nana was one of 14 kids) I make a special little something for birthdays, wedding showers, baby showers. Although I really enjoy making my gifts because they come from the heart and I too would rather have something made for me instead of store bought, I tend to get frustrated because everytime I turn around it's an event of some sort. I feel like I am using all my scrappy scrapbook time making presents for people and not scrapping a lot of my own daughter and husband and I. lol.

Well, just wanted to share that tid bit of information with you ladies. After all this is not only a hobby for us ladies, it is an obsession, a passion and of course THERAPY!

Above are a few pages from the books I have been working on for my cousin and her daughter. The Pirate page is my all time fav from the two books I am doing for them and all I used were Karen Foster Rub Ons and Bazzill paper. Thanks for taking a peak.

PS - Everyones picture in Black and White looks FANTASTIC!

Talk to you all soon!

Nicole

Here to from "Why is it Brown?"

Well, the next post is by the talented Nichole P. Scroll down further please until you see my shining face. There's a short story and then the acrylic album. I know some of you would like to make one. Let me know and I'll plan a nighty-night for it!

Best,
Sha

Proof

Hey ladies!

I managed to go to another crop at Picutre to Page on Friday. It was really fun, and there were a couple new gals there for me to talk to. This means, as usual, I only finished one page.



I've been sitting on the plans for this for a couple of months now. I had everything I needed, including the picture, except for the paper. I knew I needed a soft and sweet floral, but all my florals were so loud and bright, not right for this page at all.

This problem was solved when I realized I was sitting in the seat closest to the My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie paper rack. Wow! This perfect piece of paper was staring me down the whole time! I just love the vintage wallpaper feel of it...it is truly tres jolie!

Well, and having everything is only half true. When I got to the crop I realized I didn't bring any flowers with me (except for the small Jolee's flowers), and had to borrow these larger flowers from a fellow cropper. Wasn't that sweet?

I can't take full credit for the design for this page. I saw a page from a fellow Scrapologie member that I had to emulate. It's so lovely, and I knew it would be the perfect concept for this sweet picture I have of Eleana.

INSPIRATION:



I didn't realize until just now that my title is phrased differently from the original. There are many differences between mine and hers, of course I had to make it my own. I had trouble with the title and knowing where to put it...and I regret writing the rest of my title so far away from the word "proof."

Instead of fabric wings I used black rub-ons topped with stickles. The flowers I used were prima, plus Jolee's, I used some American Crafts buttons, a few brads from MM (fuzzy brown brads and shiny gemstone brads) and the pink buttons are MM as well. Annnd Thickers for the title. I love that shade of brown.

My color inspiration of purple and brown came from a mini toon on Nickelodeon. The one with the two clay blogs that laugh and play tricks on each other. The title came up as 'purple and brown' and I had a total ah-ha! moment.

Birthday Present for Grandmaw

Posted by Me, Me, Me!!! The above post was not me, it was Ms. Nichole P. (hey, nice rhyme!)

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It's 4:00pm. My husband says, "Hey - when we visit my Dad tomorrow, let's also bring up a birthday cake for Mom."

Crap-a-doodle. With everything going on with Pop, we forgot about my MIL's birthday. "Oh! (insert DING for bright idea) And I'll also make something!"

...here we go...

So we set off to Home Depot for some crafty fixins.

5:00 pm phone rings.

"Where are you?" It's my friend at The Dream crop shop. I was supposed to be there already.

"Uh. Buying scrapwood. And purple paint - for my kitchen...."

"WHAT? You're painting your kitchen PURPLE?"

"Yeah, it was a spontaneous decision. I was on the loo looking through a Pottery Barn catalogue..."

"Are you coming tonight or not?" my friend is getting impatient.

"I'm coming right now."

6:30pm.

Still at Home Depot. Looking at cabinetry for a whole new kitchen.

I initially set out to buy scrapwood for an altered project for my MIL's birthday. Then got sidetracked buying purple paint. Then came across a kitchen to die for. I wanted it right then and there. Impule, impulse, impulse.....

Well. I'll tell you what impulse got me. It got me 1 hungry daugther, 1 tired husband, and 1 daughter-in-law minus a present for her MIL.

6:30pm.

Heading home with a car smelling like McDonalds (none for me, thanks - I hold out for PB&J at home) and a trunk-load of scrapwood.

6:45pm.

Upon entering the house, husband informs me he won't be able to cut and sand the scrap wood for my project in time for me to meet up with friends at The Dream.

6:46pm. Panic.

7:00pm Turn scrap room upsidedown trying to find the perfect project. Finally decide on an old standby -- the good 'ol acrylic album.

7:05 Printing pictures

7:10 Printing pictures

7:15 Still printing pictures

7:20 Jesus H. I should get a job a photo mat. Still printing pictues.

7:30 Arrive alive at The Dream.

7:35 Talk with other croppers

8:00 Shop

8:30 Talk more with other croppers

9:00 - midnight Talk, eat, talk, talk, talk, etc., etc.

12:45 Come home with only TWO pages to show for myself.

~ I will say one thing though - I won a raffle to get a goodie out of the gift bin. And got a book o' letter rub-ons, which I used on the name tags, below.

The next day 9am
Bolt upright and finish book. Husband says we're to be at MIL's house by noon for lunch.

11:30 Phone rings. I'm sitting at kitchen table in my boxers. ATG tape all over. MIL asks if we're almost there. Uh. not quite. Heh heh. "We haven't left yet because I'm making, no, finishing your birthday present?"

Well. At least it softened the blow. I tell her we're leaving in half an hour.

12:05 I hate the last page, rip it to shreds and redo it. Husband reminds me we were supposed to be there already.

12:30 Shower.

1:00 Take entire project in car and finish bling and rub-ons on the ride up. Using every last second to pimp out each page. I devote a page to each granchild and then to her own children. That way, everyone including the kids can enjoy browsing through it.

1:30 Put gift in MIL's hands. She loves it. Wipe sweat off brow. I am redeemed for another year.

Enjoy (below!)