More layouts...

Well, it's true. Today is my very last day of glorious spring break. I have enjoyed my 11 days of of work. I have completed a few sewing projects and some scrappy layouts. Most of all, I have enjoyed my time off enough that I am not dreading going back. I miss spending time with the kids and I miss hearing "Hi Mrs. Smith!" or "I can't wait to see you tomorrow!" I only have about a month left in this job and after that I only have about a month left of school. Hopefully I can secure a job for next year and have something to look forward to next school year!

But anyway, I finished 4 more 2 page layouts yesterday and I hope that I can whip out a few more tomorrow between going to the grocery store and doing a few things for my college classes.

The first layout is from Christmas that we had with my husband's family in January 2011. I just Winter Frolic for the title and kept everything pretty simple. My sister pointed out that I missed a word in my journaling so I need to fix that.

Next up is one from a weekend that we spend in Pittsburgh, PA with my hubby's cousin and his family. I used Nate's ABCs for the title and again--kept it simple. That seems to be my motto these days! I just feel like the bright papers make a big enough impact and I wouldn't even know what to add to it.



I also have a layout that I finished of a memorial football game that my husband, parts of our families and I went to in May 2011. It was a year to the day since his best friend was buried and it was a hard game for us to go to. He played on this semi-pro team and they dedicated a game to his honor and retired his number. Such a bittersweet moment.

I used All Sports, Lyrical Letters and Varsity Letter on this one. (Ignore the glare!)

And the last one is a cute layout of my niece! But I kind of feel like I messed it up. I cut the wrong letters on Pooh Font Set to go with the white backing, so then I figured I would just make them a little wonky and let them be more free. Then after I realized the 'a' and 'y' didn't match at all so I cut the other ones--some are thicker than others and it's kinda making me crazy! So now I have to decide if I want to redo them and just quit looking at them!

Regardless, I love the flow of the letters and the great colors on the page! I walked around Archiver's like 4 times looking for the perfect purple to match my niece's shirt--didn't find anything and the lady who worked there didn't see anything either. Well, it was driving my friend crazy so she went out and--bam--came back 2 minutes later with the perfect paper that was on the back of blue and orange puzzle pieces! Awesome!

Goal for my last day of freedom: 4 more layouts finished and in the book! Go me!

Baby Boy Layout and Steelers Mug

Yay for vacation! I have been off of work for 2 days and I finally had time to papercraft. Lately I have been working on Christmas projects and have not been able to scrap at all. Yesterday, I spent about an hour digging out my desk and sorting my scraps. When I could finally see some white I knew that I would be able to get something accomplished!

I started on a baking layout but I haven't finished it yet. I am going to have a scrappy night with my friends while on Christmas break so I vow to embellish the layouts that I have finished! But for today, I completed a layout of my gorgeous baby nephew, Dexter, on the day of his birth.

How cute is he? Love everything about him!

I used Nate's ABCs, Create a Critter and B is for Boy for the title and used that as my main focal point (other than the pictures, of course). I added all of his birth stats and a little sentence because he shares a birthday with my brother!

I also finished a mug for my mom's boyfriend. We are doing a gift exchange with the adults and I drew his name. The only thing he ever wants is a gift card for Hot Wheels, of which he has a massive collection! I have been wanted to glass etch forever and make big glasses with the Steelers logo on it.

Love how it turned out! I am still working on my etching technique. I have to leave it on for a long time and I still get little imperfections but I still love it!

Because he doesn't drink, I decided to make his mug into a candy dish and put his gift card in it. I made a quick envelope out of football paper, added some Rolos (closest to team colors as I could find at Wally) and it makes an awesome gift!

Tomorrow I have like 4 more things to etch for gifts...can't wait to see how they turn out!

Sweet Isaac

Well, I have about four layouts that are finished except for titles and some Cricut cuts and some journaling. Someday I might be those finished! But for now, I have one cute little layout of the cutest little man, Isaac.

I used Nate's ABCs, Don Juan, Sugar and Spice Lite and B is for Boy Lite. It seems odd to have a dog and a giraffe on the same layout but I just took the animals from this pjs in the picutres. I love the cute pictures and his gorgeous blue eyes.

I really like how the title turned out. He is just a sweet baby and I wanted to make sure I used that in the title! The paper is Complete Boy by My Minds Eye.

This weekend, my hubby and I are rearranging our living room, getting a new couch and creating a new crafty corner for me! I will have a desk instead of a folding table and a zebra chair instead of part of my theater seats! I probably won't get any crafting done but I can not wait to get my own special corner!!!

My Pink Stamper Design Team Tryout

Looking through my normal blogs, I noticed that Robyn at My Pink Stamper had a design team tryout posted. The requirements were to use orange, turquoise, green and brown, along with another color of choice and make a layout, card or some other project. Well, it was perfect because I had just picked up some paper at Hobby Lobby to work on a layout from last Thanksgiving when I was baking with my niece and those colors fit perfectly! And I had ribbon that contained all of the colors to tie it all together. It was simply meant for me to give it a go!

I didn't use a great deal of Cricut on this one but I LOVE the way it turned out! I used Birthday Bash for the banner shapes, Bloom for the flowers, Lyrical Letters for the "made with", Nate's ABCs for the "LVE", and Everyday Paper Dolls for the heart.

I used some twine from Trendy Twine and some green/gold Stickles on the heart.

I am happy with what I am submitting--of course, it's a long shot but I am quite excited with the simplicity and beauty of the layout.

3 More Layouts

Here are a few more layouts that I have been working on the last few days. These are all one page layouts that will go in my 2010 book. I didn't want to be stuck on 2 page layouts and only use one or two pictures on a page--it's just not my scrappy style.

Here is a layout from when my hubby and I went to see Henry Rollins on a spoken word tour. Letters are Birthday Bash (I think) and Lyrical Letters and the microphone is from Everyday Paper Dolls. I also use an EK Success punch for the plaid border.

Here is a page from a baby shower I went to for a cousin. She was having a boy but the pictures didn't scream baby shower, so I kept it neutral and used some animals from Create a Critter because she did animals in the little man's room. The letters are from Nate's ABCs and I just used some twine and buttons to finish it off.

And finally, I have a page from a quick trip to the zoo to see the polar bears. My nephew wasn't having the greatest day so we didn't spend a long time there but I still got to see the new exhibit! The bear and igloo are from Create a Critter and the letters are from Birthday Bash and Lyrical Letters.

Now on to work on some more pages...maybe I will finish 2010 before the summer is over???

Princess, the family dog

In 1998, I went with my neighbor and friend to pick up a rambunctious, cute, licky black lab puppy that he and his family had picked out to be their new family pet. They named her Princess and she was instantly a big part of their family. Fast forward, to 2011 and that friend is my husband of 6 1/2 years (and significant other of 12 1/2 years) and that black lab is no longer with the family. My hubby's parents had to make the terrible decision to put her to sleep a few weeks ago and they have been greatly missing her. I decided I would make and frame a photo layout of her to give to them. (I only had pictures that my mother-in-law took and she isn't the greatest photographer, but I think it adds to the specialness of the layout.)

I followed a sketch that I got from Scrapbooks Etc. and used paper from My Mind's Eye (Totally Girl).

I cut the dog from Nate's ABCs, the crown from Once Upon A Princess, the letters from Birthday Bash and the circle tag and heart from Four Legged Friends. I just did a few quick journaling strips, twine and a bit of white faux stitching to finish it off.

I know my in-laws are going to love it and I can't wait to give it to them this weekend.

OSU Scrapbook, Pg 4-11

I have 8 more pages from my OSU book that I was able to put the finishing touches on this weekend! I am just loving the way it is turning out. I have really missed scrapping and I am going to start working on my 2010 book. I decided not to start way back at 01 when I moved out or I will never catch up!

Anyway, here are the pages from two football games, USC and Illinois.

I used Sports Mania and Lyrical Letters on the cuts on these pages from the USC game. It was our first game at night at The Shoe and we had tons of fun!

It was pouring rain for the Illinois game and we huddled under the scoreboard to stay out of the rain. We sat in a section that was general admission and we always sat up there anyway, but for this game we had tons of "friends." Again, I used Sports Mania. I used the soccer scoreboard and modified it tons to fit my needs. I also used Everyday Paper Dolls to make the replicas of me and Travis. I also used Nate's ABCs for the rainboots and Pooh and Friends (I think) for the umbrella and raindrops. I also have touches of twine and ribbon throughout to add some dimension.

Thanks for looking and more to come!

More Cards

So lately I have been focused on making simple cards, typically with one Cricut cut, some ribbon or a little sparkle and some embossing. I have been using Give a Hoot and the DCWV Green Stack, which has 70% recycled paper and super cute environmental images. The cartridge and paper go hand in hand and make really cute cards!

The first card I am submitting for a challenge at My Craft Spot which is to tie something into a bow! I can not tie very good bows so I had to adjust it. I put the white ribbon down then tied a separate piece of ribbon into a bow and glued it on then tied the button into a bow with crafting cord.

The cut is from Give a Hoot and I had to do some surgery on the butterfly to get the cute swirls right!

I like the simplicity of the card and the basic color palette. 

Here are a bunch of other cards I have been working on lately. I have been using a ton of kraft paper and my white pen to doodle!

I love owl cuts and this one is no exception from Give a Hoot! I tilted the sentiment so it would fit on a branch that I cut from Create a Critter.

The owl is from Create a Critter and I punched the butterfly using a Martha Stewart punch and embossed it with Swiss Dots.

I love this sentiment and I thought it needed a fruit cut to go with it! I cut the strawberries from Preserves.

Another cut from Give a Hoot. I love how the bow and button combo looks and I like the pretty blue flower paper up against the kraft paper.

Last one today from Give a Hoot. I wrapped some twine around the green ribbon to make it look more like a bow. I also cut one of the birds from the scrap paper to put next to the sentiment.

I made this adorable cut from Nate's ABCs, my other new cartridge. I embossed the Shimmer paper with Birthday Stars by Sizzix. I kinked my paper doing that so I covered that with a midnight blue ribbon and used a friend stamp.

When I saw this cut, I though the same sentiment would apply! So cute!

Well, thanks for looking at my massive collection of new cards! I am going to have to post more often so I don't post so many at once!!