Last of the paper purse/paper tote bags!

These are the two that I finished during last night's crop/chat! The stamps are CTMH, and the papers I bought at my LSS.

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Micah!!!

I just had to share this picture. We have 4 cats- two of those we literally inherited back in April. Micah is one of them. He's an interesting cat....

More paper totes!!!

Can I say once again that I am IN LOVE with these??? I have had a BLAST making them!

The reason I'm doing so many is that I am, in fact, going to use them for booking bags for the Taste of Home show. I have a Tastefully Simple table every year, and I'm hoping these bags will entice bookings for me!




These were done using CTMH stamps and papers. The tab is an SU! punch, and yes, I finally broke down and bought a Cropadile. Yes, I was still using a hammer! However, it did not work with this easily, so I finally did it.


These bags were done with mostly CTMH stuff. The leaf paper I found at Michael's- I thought it was really pretty!

I now have a total of 10 of these I've done, with 4 more to finish. I'll post those when I'm done!

Christmas Scrapbook Layout

Here is a layout that I started a week ago and finally finished today! I struggled with the title for the past week- everything else was finished! I'm not bad with placement, and I'm great with journaling, but titles... not so much.

This was Kacy's first Christmas, and her "big sister" got her some toys. I just love the looks on Kacy's face!

I've been holding on to this adorable penguin paper for a long time now, and I decided to just use it up! I added some black to mat the pictures to make them stand out. The flip side of the penguin paper was that cool green and red striped look, and the solid cardstock is CTMH Holiday Red and one of my favorites, Clover Meadow.

Thanks for looking! :)

The CUTEST little purse/tote!

I am such a sucker for these, I really am. I found a purse/tote on another blog, and I just HAD TO MAKE IT!!!

I'm very pleased with how they turned out. The colors are much more muted than they appear in the picture. The stamp set is an old CTMH one that I simply can NOT part with! The colors I used were Pansy Purple, Autumn Terracotta, and Olive. The plaid paper I bought at my LSS. Isn't it gorgeous?

I have some paper cut already to make more tomorrow. Wouldn't they make cute booking gifts??? I can't wait to make more!!!

Disney Princess Album pages

Last night was our monthly crop at our LSS. I just didn't know what to pack to work on, as it was only a 4 hour crop (next month is 13 hours- WOO-HOO!!!!!!!).

I've been collecting lots and lots of Disney Princess stuff for Kacy. I really don't have THAT many pictures of her dressed up like a princess, but I figure the day will come and I may as well be prepared!

So for last night, I grabbed that folder, a few pads and markers, and did 10 8x8 scrapbook pages. Like the Chuck E Cheese pages, they're nothing fancy, but Kacy was dying for me to make a special album just for her (not that I don't have 12x12 albums full of pages of her or anything like that!). It was, of course, a Disney Princess Album, and she LOVES it!

Two cards!

I've been busy (for me!) the past few days!

Every month, I mail out cards to my Tastefully Simple team's Top Ten in Sales. I was a little behind on June's, but I was pretty good about July's!

The card on the left is using Close to my Heart's June Stamp of the Month. I really LOVE this set! The other card is using a really, really, REALLY old stamp from CTMH that I just love and couldn't part with, and a word set from SU!

Another SP Challenge done!

I have no idea when I posted this challenge! Actually I could have put this under two different challenges: using 5 pictures OR using Outdoor Pictures. I'm going to officially submit this under "Outdoor Pictures"!

I love this paper from SU! I really had fun playing with the different patterns, and it just goes SO WELL with the Ocean and Chocolate from Close to My Heart!

What I struggled with was the title. I just didn't know what to put on there. I started out with chipboard letters spelling "FRIENDS", but the single pictures of Kacy just didn't fit with that theme.

Then I was going to do "Life is... beautiful" but again, it just didn't feel right. THEN... I found my CTMH stamp set with "magic moments". I used that for the title and completely changed what I was going to journal.

This layout, too, is really outside my comfort zone, but I love how it turned out! The layout ideas are from pagemaps.com- check them out if you haven't already!

A lost layout and *definitely* a Spark People Challenge met!

I go to a crop at a LSS once a month. Of course, once I came home from July's (EARLY July, I might add!), I never opened my box with my paper and pictures in it.

Late last week, I was wondering what on earth I actually scrapped at this crop. For the life of me, I couldn't think of a single thing! The mind is *definitely* the first thing to go, people. So I did what I should have done a month ago, and I opened my still-packed box.

Lo and behold, there were three pages done! (let's not talk about the fact that I only finished THREE pages at a 5-hour crop, okay?) I totally forgot I did these pages- is it just me who forgets things like this? Seriously?

I'm posting two of the pages that make a layout, as I always make a 2-page layout. I'll post the other layout when I finish the other page to it! :)

I used www.pagemaps.com to do these two pages- LOVE that site!!! So there is a SP challenge met- woo-hoo!!!

This layout is actually really outside the box for me, but I really like how it turned out! The cardstock is CTMH (Chocolate and Ocean), and the patterned paper is SU!'s, I believe. It matches really well!!!

More Chuck E. Cheese layouts (and maybe a SparkPeople challenge???)

Here are two more layouts I did about a week or so ago- I've just been too busy (lazy?) to post them!

Again, I know they are nothing spectacular, but honestly, they're done and that's what counts!

And hey... this could even count as a SparkPeople challenge! The pictures are older than a year! Or was it to use pictures less than six months old? Sheesh... you'd think the person posting the challenges would actually remember them! LOL

6x6 Album: Done

And I bawled when I finished it! I'm so very glad I did this for him.

You know, when most of the children I watch leave here, I still get to see them, so it doesn't hit as hard. But this one is moving across the country, and I know I'll never see him again. It's a very different kind of sadness.

I did 40 pages, not including the front cover and back cover. It was quick and easy- nothing fancy at all, but it was done with love. My main goal was to make sure he had something to remember this time by. He's only 3 1/2, and it's hard to remember things from this stage of life as you grow up.

Kacy will miss him a LOT! She's already talking about sending him pictures! So that will be good. Hopefully we can stay in touch, but you know how that goes sometimes.

Still doing that 6x6 album!

I did 12 more pages, and I took more pictures today that I have to print out. Once I do that, I'll come home tonight and get those last pages done! I'm so excited that I'm actually doing this! In all my years of scrapbooking, this is the first time I'm making a scrapbook as a gift.

I thought about taking pictures of the pages I did, but you know what? It won't be as special if I try to duplicate it down the road. So when I give it away, I'm truly giving it away.

I just hope that it will help him remember all of his friends and the fun he had here...

Working on a 6x6 album...

I got 12 6x6 pages finished tonight for an album I need to have done by Thursday! I can do it, I can do it...

The pages are very, very simple, but it's for a 3 1/2 boy who I've been baby-sitting for two years. He's moving across the country. I will miss him TERRIBLY, and because he's so young, I want to make sure he has something to remember us by. Hence, the album.

If only I had come up with the idea BEFORE yesterday! LOL But 12 pages are done, and that's a good start! I'll be doing more tomorrow...

I was really in the mood to scrap, or stamp, or something today, but I threw my back out yesterday and just am not able to do much of anything- except lay on the couch on a heating pad. ...sigh...

I have a little boy that I've been watching for 2 years, and his last day here is Thursday. His dad is military and they're moving. I really, REALLY want to do a 6x6 scrapbook for him to take along, so I'm really hoping that my back is okay enough for me to scrap a little bit tomorrow.

Other than that, not much is going on, which I guess is a good thing! :)

Not scrapping related....

but I had to share it anyway!

For the past three years, I've basically listened to nothing in the car but Barney, Laurie Berkner, and Blue. After seeing "Mamma Mia" and buying the soundtrack, I decided to listen to it in the car. Kacy was okay with this ONLY because she thought it was "High School Musical", which she loves. Go figure, but I'll take whatever I can get.

So we pull into the driveway, and "The Name of the Game" is playing. I shut off the car and the music, got out to get Kacy out of her seat, and she belts out the line, "What's the name of the game?" In the silence, without the music on. Maybe it's a mom thing, but it was hilarious! She really does have a good voice with *great* pitch, and it was just one of the cute moments!

Pictures of my Office

I finally figured out that I can put the *pictures* in my actual *post*. Boy, nothing gets by me, does it? Sheesh....


Here are pictures of my office. Alicia from Spark People inspired me to share pictures after I looked at hers! Thanks, Alicia!

There is a view from the door, the corner where most of my stamps, papers, and other things are kept, close-ups of that corner. Don't ask me why I took close-up pictures, but I did and I might as well post them!

The other picture is what is behind me when I scrap or stamp. I can reach my pads, my pictures, some stamp sets, and have my Ipod Shuffle nearby!

I wish I had a really cool room *just* for scrapping and stamping, but alas- I must share this room with my Tastefully Simple business. I have lots of TS stuff in here, I just didn't take pictures of it. I also stamp my team's victory cards in here, do my conference calls, and work on my parties. It's a multi-purpose room! :)

I actually scrapped!

We had an all-day online crop yesterday. As usual, I was in and out, and mostly chatting. But toward the end, I actually got two pages done, I finished my little tote, AND I took pictures of my office and projects! And this morning I posted them! Woo-hoo!!!!

Thanks to my Spark People BFFs who keep me going! You all ROCK!!! :)

The pattern for this adorable tote was shared with my by Lisa, a VERY talented CTMH consultant. The cards were made using the June Stamp of the Month from CTMH, and I was inspired by several versions of the cards.

The colors I used are Twilight, Cocoa, Hollyhock, and Sweet Leaf. I love this combo- very much not colors I would have put together!

And that's Kacy, looking thrilled to be there! :)