Today - Samantha

Alright, this is an odd one. I don't even know where to begin describing it.

Dawn, from Createwings Designs, gave a freebie mini-kit on her blog about a month ago. She then had a contest for people to use the freebie.

At the time, I had no digi stuff on my computer (because it crashed - long story), so free was nice. I really didn't have any digi stuff to work with. I finished it about 90% of the way (using Danielle Young's Halloweentown tree - it's what I had!) and then didn't have anything for a title ... so I forgot about it. The blog contest is long gone, but I finished it up and thought I'd post. I just inserted some word art from Sue Cummings.

It's a little odd, but still cute ... I think.

I hope you like it (or at least smile)!

*~*~*

Little Shop of Sketches Wednesday (a day late)

Yes, it's Thursday. Due to a combination of forgetfulness, procrastination and computer challenges, I am posting a day late. Please forgive me.

Sketch #55:

And this is my take on it:

5 Siblings = one big happy Family!

I used all Danielle Young elements from several different page kits. Let me know if you want to know about something specific.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Sue Cummings Design Challenge at Oscraps - Day 1

Almost every week, there's a digital scrapbooking design challenge at the Oscraps forum. This past week Sue Cummings was highlighted and she gave away a beautiful freebie page kit called Each and Every Day.

I had this horrible photo that I wanted to try and salvage. The original photo looked like this:

Why waste a good photo, right?

You tell me, did I salvage it?

Because of course, each and every day I love my husband :)





I hope you like it!

*~*~*

I love you :)

As you may already know, I've quite a few computer problems in the last few months. My laptop broke around the move, but I fixed it. My Internet connection took weeks to get resolved and they still haven't finished the install (must remember to call about that - again). Our family computer was having major problems and was so friend that we couldn't even re-format it and re-install the operating system, so we're now in the market for a new computer. My computer things were all packed away - including my back-up discs and I just had the hardest time getting enough time and focus put together to do a lot of computer work instead of all the other work that I needed to do. My laptop doesn't have enough memory to house my digi kits and my home computer is in limbo, so I didn't have any digi supplies even if I had the time and inclination to create something.

Now things have settled down a bit and I've been able to slowly start up my hobby again :)

One of the first things I did was download some of Danielle Young's new kits that will soon be available at Oscraps.

The layout above has a freebie from Createwings Designs (the heart and wings) and the rest is from the Family collab kit by Danielle Young and her black alpha from Halloweentown.

Sometimes it's really frustrating not having the ability to browse for just the right thing and get what you want ... but sometimes it's nice to not have to worry about having the right thing. You just work with what you've got :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Caramel Coffee Coolatta

An ode to coffee:

Using Danielle Young's Cream and Sugar kit.

I took a picture of my favorite (for the moment) drink - a Caramel Coffee Coolatta. I didn't end up using any of the wonderful word art in the kit, but it's a great kit for helping to record that caffeinated moment in your life - or more :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Little Shop of Sketches Wednesday

It's that time again! Little Shop of Sketches time. And I have a treat for you today! Two layouts! We're up to sketh #54, but I'm also going to show you my version of sketch #51. I did it a few weeks ago, but wasn't able to post on my blog again yet ...

Anyway ... Here's Sketch #51 from Little Shop of Sketches:

And here's my take on it:

I used Basic Grey papers, CTMH brads, spiral and photo turns, AC Thickers and misc. string.

I'm doing a series of one photo layouts for each member of my family. I'm going to put them together in an album for my mom. The title is always their name and the journaling (not complete on this layout yet) says "She/He is ... (words from other family members to describe them) ... and so much more!"

You can see my first layout in this series here: Abby

I have more than one more in progress and hopefully I'll get them finished soon. Oh, the joys of moving :)

*~*~*

And here's more fun:

Sketch #54:

And my take on it:

I used the Sue Cumming Each & Every Day kit from Oscraps and Danielle Young's Family collab kit coming soon to Oscraps.

We took the photo on an abnormally (for the time) hot day in October when Kevin was back for his 4-day pass. It was so nice to have Daddy back! I didn't quite realize it until he was back, but life isn't complete without him here.

I hope you like them!

*~*~*

GGS Trade Album (July)

Well, you may remember in June ... when I posted about Girls Gone Scrappy and the mini-album trading club. I thought it was a great idea because it forces you to actually get something done and you get to create something wonderful for someone who will appreciate it.

So, with one trade under my belt, I went into July with a million ideas and possibilities. My trade partner was Jackielou, who said she loved PINK and FLOWERS! Well, I can do pink and flowers :) I might have taken it to the extreme :)

I was excited about my new Bind-It-All and there are so many possibilities when you have one! I was just brimming with ideas. It was so hard to choose!

I had some chipboard pieces - 4 of them - and decided to use them and then add three of the now infamous envelope pockets (using a mailing envelope cut in half and altered) and I also made my own pocket :)

This is the front. It's a chipboard piece the same size as the tabbed ones, but with a window. I'm not exactly sure what to do with windows ...

The album is covered in paper from DCWV. I've used white acrylic paint on every page.

There are large Prima flowers with a gorgeous K&Co fabric and jeweled brad, CTMH paper and jewel flowers, Prima jewel flowers, CTMH rhinestones and bling, misc. flowers and lots of different ribbons.

You know, I wish I knew what to put on the front of these albums ... I mean, if it were for me or a gift for someone where I was using pictures, I would have put a photo or a title. Yes, definitely a title. But, when you don't know who is going to use it or what they're going to use it for, you don't want to limit their options ... so I almost never put a title on and sometimes I think I should. But still, it's hard to decide what words, phrases, stickers, journaling, etc to include ...

This is the inside - pages 2 & 3:

You can see the other side of the window. I really don't think I utilized it correctly. I tried to place the pocket where it would look good through the window, but I really shouldn't have put the pocket there at all. I should have created a page where the spot that showed through the window would have been blank for them to be able to put a photo or whatever they wanted to show through to the front ...

I stamped a journaling spot in pink, inked the edges and stuck it behind a hot pink flower.

You can see the next page behind the pocket, but for the pocket, I added ribbon that you could slide something under, a CTMH flower and large brad the tag is white with pink inking and pink ribbon. The edges are all painted with white paint.

This is page 4 & 5:

You can see the back side of the pocket. I painted a white photo mat, added ribbon, a Prima flower and bling.

On the fifth page, I put a large CTMH flower on the rounded tab and you can't see it very well, but there's a very thick acrylic MM pink flower brad in the center.

I painted a white background and then added squares of patterned paper connected with glitter glue stitches for what I call the 'glitter quilting' effect.

This is pages 6 & 7:

On page six, there's another CTMH paper and crystal flower on the rounded tab and a photo mat with painted edges. I added some white flower trim and didn't stick down the middle so that you could slide something underneath it.

Page seven is a pocket that I created by folding patterned paper in two and gluing the bottom together. I used a Martha Stewart trim punch at the top (which was really hard because the paper isn't that sturdy). I had cut the butterfly out using my friend's Cricut machine a few months before this project, but it went really well and I added some rhinestone bling.

Inside the pocket were three tags:

One of the tags was two strips of patterned paper glued together, punched, painted and ribbon. You can sort of see it peeking at the top of these photos.

The other two tags were a butterfly cut in two. I used a butterfly mask and pink glimmer mist on one side and then took the wet mask and laid it down on the other side of the paper to make the pink butterfly.

I outlined both butterfly shapes with glitter glue, so I guess it'll be hard to add journaling, but it's really pretty :)

Pages 8 & 9:

The other side of the large pocet has a small version of the butterfly on the other side.

Page nine is the backside of a envelope pocket. I added patterned paper and glitter glue quilting.

Pages 10 & 11:

The front side of the pocket has more patterned paper and glitter quilting with a CTMH flower and brad and two tags with ribbon. In case you haven't noticed, the ribbon is attached with blue staples. They were in the stapler and I guess I was too lazy to change them.

Page eleven is similar to page six, but not exactly mirrored. The trim is in a different location and there's a different flower :)

Pages 12 & 13:

Page twelve has a painted background, patterned paper and glitter quilting. Prima flower and rhinestone.

Page thirteen has a CTMH flower and MM pink rhinestone brad.

Pages 14 & 15:

The back of the pocket with some rhinestones and the last page I really did up with the flowers. There are a lot of different sizes, colors, textures, brads, rhinestones, velvet, flocking, paper, sheer, fabric, etc. I though it was really pretty.

The back cover (nothing special, really :) )

So ... that's it. I hope Jackielou liked it and I hope you do, too!

*~*~*

Little Shop of Sketches Wednesday!

It's Wednesday here where I live and that means it's time for something from Little Shop of Sketches!

The girls there have been so gracious about letting me stay on the design team even with a two + month hiatus. But I'm back! It's so good to be back :)

I decided to come back with paper scrapbooking because well, my computer has been (and still is) having challenges and it's just nice to get in there and physically handle things. Looking at my beautiful products just inspires me :)

This is Tanya's Sketch #53:

And this is my take on it:
This is a glossy finish double-sided paper. The grunge feel and the turquoise colors with the rather Hawaiian feel just make me think of my sisters. I don't know why ...

I liked both sides of the paper, so I thought why not cut out the rectangular section and just flip it around? Brilliant, right? Well, it would have been brilliant if my cuts were perfect. I tried, but I can't make perfect right angle cuts (especially four of them) even when I try my hardest. I'd blame it on the paper cutter, but I have this problem with all my paper cutters, so maybe it's just me.
So, the rectangle didn't quite fit, which warps the paper a bit, but that's ok. I reattached it with staples. Blue staples :)

Cosmo Cricket Blackout chipboard letters and American Crafts letter stickers.

I looked everywhere for a turquoise cardstock (for the picture mat) that would match the paper. I even considered raspberry or red ... and nothing seemed to be right! I was very frustrated. Then I noticed this tissue paper sticking out of my gift wrap box ... and thought it might work. It did! And it gives some fun texture.

Misc. lace, ribbon and trims and a Basic Grey sticker finish it off.

It's actually pretty simple. I kept thinking I needed to do something more. But, the paper is so detailed and the colors work. Maybe simple is better. It's so hard for me not to put so much onto and into my layouts. Maybe that's why I don't get many done ...

Anyway, I encourage you to head over to the Little Shop of Sketches blog to check out the other lovely ladies' work and be sure to use the sketch! If you create a layout, please upload it to the gallery and you'll be entered to win a prize :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Page for Marion's B-day album

Wow! I've already received comments from my last post! Thank you guys - you make me smile :) It's nice to have crafty friends :)

So, what to post after so long? Well ... here's something fun: Marion's Birthday Album Page.

Marion is the creator of the Girls Gone Scrappy club which I joined a few months ago. At first, it was also a kit club, but that became too complicated with over 50 members, so now it's just a mini-album trade club.

Marion recently had a birthday, so Stephanie (fellow GGS Gal) put together a surprise birthday gift. We were all to make a double sided 6x6 page and mail it to her. She would assemble it into a mini-album and send it Marion.

You can find her post about the whole album here. You can see the Youtube video about it here. My page is in the Part 3.

This is my contribution:

1st page ...

Chipboard based 6x6 page with scalloped edge. Textured peach paper from DCWV. Misc. ribbons, lace and fibers (I know the wide velvet is Basic Grey). Antique book page crumpled and glued down and then painted over with acrylic and some Tim Holtz crackle paint. The metal frame from Close to My Heart covers most of the painting. Large Mimose Prima flower, peach flowers from Making Memories and cream from Prima with some misc. tulle and rhinestone flowers. Key is misc. and zipper pull is from Basic Grey. Misc. door knocker.

So I basically just dug a lot of goodies out from my stash :) I don't even remember where I got half of them :)

Page 2:

Same textured paper from DCWV. Flowers from Prima and CTMH. Jeweled fabric brad is K&Co. The silver handle brad I bought from Starlight Studio. Hero Arts for the green vine ribbon and Walmart for the green beaded fringe (can you tell Marion likes green?) American Crafts Thickers (white) and Pressed Metals metal alphas (silver). Hinges, green acrylic flower brad and vintage hat pin are from Making Memories.

I asked the GALS to send me adjectives that described Marion (hence the 'She is...') and then printed them all out and put them under the hidden hinged page.

I thought it turned out pretty well. It was nice to be able to do something with a bunch of texture and dimension. I hate when you do things for scrapbook pages that ultimately get squashed and pressed flat when placed in an album.

I hope you like it :)

*~*~*

I'm back!!!

Hello all!

I'm finally back! Yes, I was gone a long time. I really should have posted something, but it became really complicated. It involved no Internet at the new house for a very long time (they've still yet to come and install the cables to the house correctly), a laptop crash, a PC crash, no pictures on the laptop, no pictures on the PC, having to find all the computer stuff I'd packed away (for the backup files to restore), starting to teach the kids school (we're homeschooling), Kevin leaving (National Guard), and just normal, everyday life.

I haven't stopped crafting, but it is slow. I haven't stopped digital scrapbooking, but I didn't do anything for about two months (try moving and then having no software). But now I hope to get back in to the swing of things! I hope that my few, loyal readers will forgive me and I hope you enjoy my next creations!

*~*~*

We've moved!

Hello one and all!

Well, I didn't get my trade mini-album posted (I'll do that later) or my travel album (a later post as well) and I wasn't able to get online to submit my Little Shop of Sketches layout (as soon as I can!) but I did manage to move!!!

It's a long story, but God is good and we finally made it!

(click to enlarge)

I'm just so happy that we were able to move before Kevin deploys.

Have a great day everybody and I hope to be back with more creations to show you soon!

*~*~*

Little Shop of Sketches Wednesday!

It's that time again!

Here is Sketch #42 from Little Shop of Sketches:


And here is my take on it:


This moment was really sweet. I don't think I adequately captured it on film, but my kids absolutely LOVE their Dad.


I used mostly Danielle Young products from her Ally-Oop kit. The acrylic circles in the background are from Sue Cummings in the Oscraps collab kit and the stitches and foil flowers are from Taylor Made Designs.

As always, if you do a layout based on this sketch, please upload it to the Little Shop of Sketches gallery and show off your fabulous work.
And be sure to head on over to the Little Shop of Sketches blog to check out the other designers fabulous layouts!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Yikes!

Wow, it's been a week since my last post!

I just wanted to let you know that things are so slow because my home life is so hectic. Nothing horrible, mind you, we're just moving :) So, it's a bit hard to find extra time to do crafting, digital layouts, or even check my email ... Moving is hard work!

I have two more posts planned ... my GGS trade album that is finished, but not posted and my Little Shop of Sketches layout. I'll be posting those soon and then you probably won't see me for a few weeks.

So, thank you all for visiting and I'll see you again soon!

~Jessica

*~*~*

Perfect Picture

What constitutes a perfect picture? Is it perfect lighting? Perfect composition? Perfect coloring? Perfect subject matter? I'm not quite sure, but I do know that I have several pictures that I absolutely love for one reason or another. This is one of them:


It appeals to me on so many levels :) I love the color and the softness of the pose. I love how it accurately captures our time by this pond. It's peaceful and playful all at the same time. One picture shows it all.

So, I made this layout:

I really liked the picture when it was horizontal and the composition. At first, I didn't like it square, but now I do. It was my husband's idea to make it really big and take up the whole page. He's a minimalist. He likes little embellishment and lots of photos :)

So, I really like the way it turned out. I made my own word art after using a photo mask (shape altered) by

But then I color corrected it a bit and this is what I came up with. I don't know which one I like better ...


All products are from the Sue Cummings freebie spotlight kit at Oscraps.com.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Happy American Independence Day!!!

In honor of this wonderful occasion, a patriotic, red, white, and blue layout!
This is Samantha at 5 months old - in 2006. We participate with our church in the local parade. Since I've had kids, I mostly stay on the float and wave :) She was so cute with her little outfit and flag!

So, what are your plans for the holiday? We'll be in the parade again and then it's BBQ time! I hope the weather is nice so we can do lots of playing!

I used the new Danielle Young Let it Ring papers and alpha. They are now on sale for buy one, get one free!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Little Shop of Sketches Wednesday!

Big Shoes to Fill!

The kids all like to try on shoes ... their own, each others, Mommy's and Daddy's. Here's Samantha in Kevin's sneakers. Kids are so cute!!! You should see baby Andrew trying to get shoes on now :) And then he goes, 'Sheeyu'.

This page was made using Danielle Young's newest Amate kit.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Lots of Little Andrews

Bad news ... I no longer have my fabulous new DSLR camera. Less than two months after purchasing it, it was having some major issues and we had to send it away to be fixed under warranty. They told me it would take 6-8 weeks! ACK!

It's a big bummer, but I'm praying that they figure out what was wrong and send it back as good as new!

Now I can focus on scrapping all of those pictures I already have :)

Here's a double layout:
Lots and lots of little Andrews :)

Pictures were taken at the park in early April, just as he was starting to walk pretty well. See his little stance and waddle :) I love it! I threw in some adorable ones of Justin and Samantha from the same day.

I know it's a bit odd, but I like it and I tried to keep the sizes in a consistent perspective (except I know that the ones of Justin and Samantha should be switched).

So, do you like it?

*~*~*

You & Me - Mother's Day Layout

Well, my husband took this photo of me and the kids sitting on the couch on Mother's Day. I decided to do something wild and crazy ... and this is what I came up with:


I don't like the way my knees are cut off, but there's not much I can do about that. So ... you'll have to forgive that. And notice the little treat in the window :)

I used Createwings Designs Birthday Dreams kit. It has a ton of whimsical and very graphic artsy stuff. Very cool, but hard to use. I'm still trying to figure it out.

My husband thinks the chair made out of grass is a riot :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

My Three Crazy Sisters and Me

Are you ready for another Sisters layout? Well, here you go :)

The title says 'My Three Crazy Sisters and Me' but most people who see it ignore the smaller type and go, "But, there's four of you?!..." Maybe I should change it to just, 'Four Crazy Sisters,' because we're all a bit crazy :)

I used:
Paper and Elements from Kitty Designs The Garden Poetry
Block Alpha from Kitty Designs
Colorful Alpha (crazy) from Createwings Designs

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Mini Album Slideshow - June GGS

Hello all!

We're going to do an experiment today ... a slideshow! Instead of posting a ton of pictures of my project, I made a slideshow ... please tell me if you like this way of viewing better or worse than the other :)

And for those of you who aren't succeeding in watching the slideshow, here are the pictures:


























It's for my Girls Gone Scrappy kit club ... I was invited to join last month and it's kind of exciting! You make a mini-album to swap each month and you also get a completely different kit to play with that month as well :)
Marion, from A Piece of Craft (great videos) and Blue Moon Scrapbooking is running it, and if you know her, you know it's cool :)
They're now taking open enrollment, so if it sounds like something you'd like to do, head on over here and check it out!

So, this is my album for June ... I'm mailing it off today :)
I used Basic Grey Sublime. It's older, but I have a huge, huge stash of it. I made my own chipboard pages, used some file folders and bound it all together with my NEW bind-it-all! The chipboard is American Crafts Thickers and the flowers are from Heidi Swapp. Everything else is Basic Grey or K&Co. made to match!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*