My First Guest Designer

Between vacation, post-vacation laundry, and back-to-school errands, I haven't been doing much creating lately. That doesn't mean I don't have anything new to show you. On Thursday, my neice, Jennifer, and her mother, Lynn, came to Long Island. A talented scrapper, Lynn is visiting from Nebraska and wanted to see my local scrapbook stores. After lunch and an afternoon of shopping, we came back to my house and I got to see the newly completed wedding scrapbook that Lynn made for Jennifer and Michael. Each page was more beautiful than the one before. While it would take days to share the entire book with you, I thought I would share some of my favorite pages. (I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality.) So without further ado, here is Lynn's beautiful creation:

The album starts with memorabelia from Michael and Jennifer's first date and includes the events leading up to the big day. I love how Lynn used the colors from the shower invitation (center left) in her layout. Take notice of the raindrops. Aren't they fantastic! Lynn used a punch and then an embossing technique to make them so shiney.

I thought the next page was very creative. I love how Lynn listed the shower gifts on the cards surrounding the pictures. I hope you can see how pretty the lilac and green ribbon is. I wonder how long it took Lynn to find such a perfect match!

The next page is a layout of the wedding day. Lynn took the papers she used for the wedding invitation to make these pages. Aren't they beautiful!

Stop by on Tuesday for more pictures of the wedding scrapbook. Thanks, Lynn, for letting me share your work on my blog!

2 Nights in August

I just had to do a layout commemorating my two days on the concert circuit! My original inspiration for this project was the guitar paper from DCWV Rock Star. As, I worked on the project, I found myself using less and less of this paper until the final layout where only one guitar appears. I'm not sure how inspiring that paper was after all. LOL. ANyway, here's my layout:

The biggest challenge of this layout was getting all of the pictures to fit in a rectangular grid. Also, I know it's only a picture, but I felt guilty cutting that photo of Sting in half!

The title you see here is actually my third attempt. First I used stickers and didn't like the outcome. Then I used the mix of stamps you see here but it was stamped in grey ink which looked very dull and flat. Then a read about a VersaMark pen. (Yes, I have a new favorite tool!) I went over each letter with the Versa Mark pen (much easier than restamping the title) and embossed the letters with silver embossing powder. The metallic letters added just the right amount of glitz to this layout.



Journaling reads: Two concerts in two nights! Melissa and I sat seven rows from the back at American Idol. Sal and I sat seven rows from the stage at The Police!

Ingredients: DCWV Cardstock; Basic Greay Pattern Paper; Autumn Leaves Scribbles Alphabet, Stampin UP Small Alphabet stamps; Imaginisce Positively Pewter Brads; VersaMark Pen; Stamp N Stuff Sterling Silver embossing powder.

CKC Layout

Lissette and I got together to scrap the other day and thought it would be fun if we each worked on a simple layout of our trip to CKC. Well it was fun, but I don't know about simple. I started with a sketch from the Scrappy Chick's Scrappy Sketch Sunday (http://scrappychick.typepad.com/scrappy_chick/2008/08/scrappy-sketch-sunday.html). But even with Cyndi Bundy's great sketch as a road map, I spent over an hour moving pictures around. (Of course I had one too many horizontal pictures.) I was happy with the final layout. Here it is:

It was one of those Murphy Law kind of days where everything I touched went wrong. Thank goodness for the circle elements in the original layout because that giant brad is covering a big ink stain on the Technique Tuesday Tile!

Journaling reads: Lissette and I shopped and cropped until we dropped at CKC Valley Forge. Highlights include winning door prizes, meeting Stacy Croninger and talking to Ana at the Technique Tuesday booth!




Another problem I had with the layout was that I felt there was too much black space showing on the top and bottom of the mat on the second page. To fill it in, I stamped the image I used on the tile with VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Ingredients: DCWV Cardstock; Basic Grey Scarlet Letter patterned paper; Studio G Series 11 stamp; Archival Ink Jet Black, Stampin Up! Bravo Burgundy, and VersaMark inks; Kaiser brads; Technique Tuesday Square Tile; Clear Stamp N Stuff embossing powder; Stampin Up! black marker; EZ Laser Designs die cut title.

Jump and a Challenge

When I saw the Tim Holtz Grungeboard letters at A.C. Moore (on sale for 50% off!!) I knew I had to do a layout with a simple title so that I could use a really BIG letter. That day, I went to one of Mark's track meets. As I watched him run hurdles, this layout came together in my head. It shows a series of photographs of Mark running the hurdles. (It just so happened that this week's challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap http://sisterhoodofscrap.blogspot.com/2008/08/challenge-monday-august-1808.html called for creating a layout with a sequence of photos.) Here's my layout:

Now, for a little background, you should know that Mark never ran the hurdles before this year and when he told me he was going to try, I was a bit skeptical. Thoses hurdles just seemed so high to me. He came home from each practice with dirt caked on his bruised knees and fierce look of determination. As you can see from the pictures, his hard work paid off! I'm so proud of his accomplishment!

The journaling reads: You never ran hurdles before this year. Coach O let you race at the last meet and you didn't knock any over!

Just a note...I didn't have any ribbon in my stash to match this layout so I died my own ribbon by running it across my ink pad. After I got the right color, I set it aside to dry before putting it on the layout. I did the same for the Grungeboard letters.

Ingredients: Patterned Paper -- Adornit Running Collection; Tim Holtz Grungeboard Stripes Alphas; Stampin Up! Night of Navy ink and marker; Nicole light blue ribbon; journaling stamp from my stash.

Let Him Eat Cake!

Ever since I started scrapbooking last year, I've felt like I'm a step behind. In fact it took me several months to even figure out where to start. Should I go back and scrap from the beginning? This seemed a monumental task! Should I start with a trip album? Good idea but it wouldn't justify the purchase of all those patterned papers and miscellaneous embellishments I bought. So, in the long run, I just started scrapping whatever inspired me. And for the last year, this method has worked. I do, however, have days when I feel like I should be capturing all of the Christmas and birthday celebrations but, frankly, the thought of doing 20 Christmas layouts or 10+ birthday layouts bores me. So when I saw a layout in the Creative Keepsakes Gallery of all the wonderful cakes one scrapper baked in a year, I was inspired to capture the first 12 birthday cakes I made for Mark in one layout. Here it is:

The journaling reads: It all started when I bought the bear and made icing balloons to match the cake plates. The next year, I thought that I could do better so I made Pooh. Each year the cakes have gotten more elaborate: Pongo (3)...a firetruck (4)...R2D2 (5)...Gameboy (6)...Harry Potter (7)...baseball cap (8)...trumpet (9)...skateboard (10)...pirateship (11)...track (12). I wonder what I will make for you next year! Will I have any ideas left?

I had the original layout in my head for a while but when I saw Stephanie Howell's challenge (http://methodplayground.blogspot.com/) to use a bow on a layout, I was inspired to turn the first page into a present. Thanks for the inspiration Stephanie!

Here's a close-up of page one:

And page two:

Now I'll have to get busy on a layout showcasing all of the birthday cakes I made for Melissa!

Ingredients: Bazzill Cardstock; unidentified patterned paper from my stash; Michael's ribbon; Target Dollar Spot chipboard letters; American Crafts Sarah Script alphabet stickers.

The Love Bug

No, not the movie, the layout. This is the project I made at the Techinique Tuesday class at CKC. Isn't it cute?

Journaling reads: July 1999, Cape Cod, MA -- Snuggling with Mom. Snuggle, cuddle, you are my love bug -- even 9 years later. Please stay my love bug!

Now you can see why I am of fan of Technique Tuesday. First, I love how the stamps inked up. The butterfly image was stamped by first stamping the back (or smooth side) of the clear stamp with the green. Then, after cleaning the stamp, I stamped the detailed side in black ink. Isn't that a great way to get two stamps for the price of one? The ladybug was actually three stamps (body, head and spot). Yes, each spot was stamped one by one. When I first heard that this was how we were supposed to fill in the dots, I almost reached for my black marker but I have to tell you, using a clear stamp made adding those 40+ dots a snap! Same thing for the little black scrolls. Oh, and I almost forget to tell you about the best technique. Do you see that green scrollwork on the inner circle and the black pattern on the flower? That's the wing of a dragonfly! After this class, I am going to look at each and every stamp I own in a different way!

I also loved working with the Technique Tuesday tiles. (And I'm glad I ordered a few more!) This layout didn't even use half of the tiles in the kit so you'll be seeing more of them. The only thing I added to the layout was my own ribbon.

Ingredients: Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper; Bazzill Cardstock; FUNdamentals of Flowers Technique Tiles; BoHo Buzz stamps. Technique Tuesday Red Ink; VersaMagic "Tea Leaves" green ink; Doodlebug buttons; Dashes, Dots & Checks Ribbon.

CKC Part 2

Okay, so do you want to see what was inside the "Who' s Your Daddy" tote I got at CKC? Well, here is a picture of all of my purchases:

Nestabilities are among my "new" favorites and the best thing about the Spellbinder's booth was the ability to mix and match shapes for the price of one set.

When Lissette andI saw this gorgeous RicRac trim (one-inch wide!!!) we knew we had to have it. I can't wait to use mine on a beach layout. Oh, and check out all that Basic Grey. Can't wait to use that too!

As I said in a previous post, Technique Tuesday was one of my favorite booths at the Vendor Fair. I love how their stamps ink up.

And check out what I got for free. Well I really had to spend a certain amount to get them free but still...

And, who doesn't love a bargain. Everything in this picture cost $1 or $1.50!

Tomorrow I will start to share my layouts from CKC classes and crop.

Two Concerts in Two Nights (Part Two)

(Note: To play concert videos, pause the playlist at the bottom of the web page.)

So on Monday night I sat 7 rows from the top of the Nassau Coliseum at the American Idol concert. On Tuesday, I had a slightly different view at the last concert of The Police Farewell Tour. Our seats were in the 7th row from the stage! The show was excellent, but what would you expect with Sting plus Elvis Costello as the opening act. Here are the highlights:

Elvis Costello was a great opening act!

What a treat! Sting came on stage to sing Allison.

Who are those Elvis Costello impersonators? Sting and company crash Elvis Costello's act.

Sting and Andy Summers jamming.

I took 140+ pictures until I got one with Sting looking right at me with his Baby Blues!

Sting looking quite buff!

Two Concerts in Two Nights (Part 1)

(This is going to be a long post.)

Can't wait to scrap this week's events. I took Melissa to see the American Idol concert at the Nassau Coliseum. We sat in the 7th row from the back but it didn't matter. We were dancing and singing to our favorites. Here are a few highlights:

Michael Johns sings "We Will Rock You" and finally, after two acts, the concert really begins!

Carly Smithson sings Heart's Crazy on You."

Brooke White sings Coldplay's "Yellow."

Jason Castro sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." How did he make it to #4?

Archuleta sings a medley of "Stand by Me" and "Beautiful Girls."

Melissa (and about 10,000 other tweenie boppers) cheer for David Cook.

Finally the moment we all waited for....David Cook takes the stage and

he brings down the house!

The Top 10 sing together for an encore.

I'll be back tomorrow with highlights (and hopefully video) from concert #2 -- ThePolice at Jones Beach Theater.

CKC Highlights

Well to say that Lissette and I had a blast at the Creative Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge, PA, last weekend would be an understatement! I took two great classes (Technique Tuesday & Basic Grey), finished three layouts at the Friday Night Crop and shopped 'til I ran out of money at the Vendor Fair. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I won two door prizes, Lissette won one door prize, and we didn't hit any traffic. What more can a girl ask for!!!

Here's a photo recap:

Lissette and I arrive at CKC Valley Forge ready to scrap and shop -- not necessarily in that order!

At the Friday night crop. It was great to meet and talk with other scrappers as well as have time to finish up my class project.

Lissette was hard at work on a beautiful Thanksgiving layout. We also had plenty of time to shop at the crop.

Some scrappers take these crops VERY seriously. Just ckeck out this expandable rolling tote. I might just have to get myself one of these.

A birds-eye view of the crop table.

We had so much fun, we're already planning next year's trip!

Receiving my door prize from Stacy Croninger, editor-in-chief of Paper Crafts Magazine. (The paperkeeper envelope I'm holding was stuffed with paper, stickers and embelishments.)

With Ana at the Techniques Tuesday booth. Ana and Sharon from Techniques Tuesday were so nice and spent so much time helping us choose from such a great variety of products. I can't wait for those back-ordered goodies to arrive in the mail!

The back of the car was LOADED with more scrapbooking goodies than we could carry. Don't you just love those "Who's Your Daddy" totes. Also spotted a funny sign by one of the cash registers at the Vendor Fair. It read, " Your husband just called and said to spend as much as you want!" Thanks Sal for giving me such a spectacular weekend away!!!