Little Yellow Bicycle Cycling Team

This is what I am going to call my happy happy joy joy picture.  Or maybe I am going to call it my big, goofy,smiling cheeseball picture - haven't decided yet.  But, yep, that's me.  I was already in bed, getting ready to go to sleep when I decided to check my emails (and maybe talk with my friends on Facebook for a few mintues).  And what did I see sitting in my inbox?  I saw an email with THIS wonderful attachment!!!

That's right - I am going to be on the  Fern and Forest Girl Cycling Team!  Me!  LYB sent an email to me!  I was so excited reading my happy email, but absolutely no one (not even my puppy dogs) was awake in my house to share my excitement with.  So what did I do?  I got my happy heinie out of bed, jumped up and down and did some whispered cheering and then...I started doing the running man.  Right there in my bedroom.  Yes I did. (And for those of you who did not live through the wonderful 80's or were too young to remember them or the running man - check out the incomparable Janet Jackson at about the 4 minute mark HERE)

Oh!  Before I forget - click HERE to see the wonderful Fern and Forest Girl Collection, which will be coming soon to a scrapbook store near you!  It is LOVELY, and I cannot wait to get crafty with it!

Happy Monday!

I feel Pretty (Little Studio)!

If you are here to check out my Practical Scrappers layout, it's just one blog down.  But first, you have got to hear my totally wonderful, awesome-start-to-the-new-year news!  Guess who is on the Pretty Little Studio Spring/Summer 2013 Design Team?  Take a look:



So NOW you know why I have been a little goofy and a whole lotta hyper these past couple of days.  And you were worried I had developed a Pixie Stix addiction, weren't you?! 

 

For more details and to check out the wonderful projects by the current team (including the wonderful Lisa Wilkenson and Liz Chidester), head over to the Pretty Little Studio BLOG.

A Pinterest Inspired Layout with Practical Scrappers

 

Do you love Pinterest? You do?! Well, so do I! That's why I was more than happy to jump into this Practical Scrappers' challenge to create something scrapalicious using some of my Pinspiration. And boy howdy do I have a lot of it! Don't believe me? Check it out HERE! To see what my pinspiration was for this layout, check out today's post at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS.

 

Of course, I could not resist using papers and embellishments found in CRATE PAPER'S 14 Collection. Here are a few close-ups so you can see just how delicious this collection is:

 

Love all the hearts that came with this collection.  I layered them and sewed on them until they were juuussst right.

Check out the bottom of my layout.  I cut the bottom of my paper pink paper along the zig zag and created a space between the two pieces of paper.  I placed these fussy cut hearts into the open space and sewed several lines across each one.  I left my threads uncut - a technique I've seen my friends AUDREY, HEATHER, and LISA use and that I've decided I like.

Sweet little alpha stickers make up the title of my layout.

That's it for me today. But before I go, did you hear the good news? I am so excited and happy to tell you that, in addition to playing with Practical Scrappers, I am now also on the design team for (insert drumroll here) PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO!!! Whoo-Hoo!!! To find out more info, check out the post right above this one!

Happy Wednesday, and Happy Scrapping!

Something Old, Something New Mini-Album (Practical Scrappers)

Today at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS, we are doing a feature on mini-albums (happy, happy, joy, joy)! For those of you who maybe don't know, mini-albums are one of my very mostest favoritest things to make e.v.e.r. And I will make a mini-album out of just about anything. So, it's no surprise that when I was cleaning out my craft closet, FULLY intending to purge and donate some items that I was never going to use, I held in my grubby lil paws old journaling cards made by Little Yellow Bicycle. I am almost postive I got them back in 2009 when I first started scrapping because - try not to laugh too hard - I had convinced myself that my husband, who enjoyed doing many of the same things that I did - was going to take up scrapbooking with me. In my little fantasy, he was going to love scrapbooking as much as I did and we were going to spend hours and hours scrapbooking together. Well, his name is NOT Tim Holtz. And, needless to say, he didn't and we didn't. And the journaling cards, which looked nice and manly to me, never got used. Until, that is, I was getting ready to put them in the give-away pile. Then, suddenly, the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. Thankfully, the idea I had was better than the one about the hubster wanting to do arts and crafts with me! Suddenly, the journaling cards became the base to a perfect-sized mini-album, and with a little cutting and re-arranging things, I managed to get a few embellishments off it. I paired my old journaling cards with papers from MY MIND'S EYE's Sweetest Thing Collection and lots and lots of random,different embellishments - everything from strips found at the bottom of my papers to pretty paper ephemera by PINK PAISLEE. And with that being said, it's time for me to stop talking. They say a picture says a thousand words, so I am going to let mine speak for themselves.

Check out the little pocket and tag I made! Sweet, huh?

Another little pocket and tag on the left and a smaller journaling "insert" on the right.

Another journaling page. This one is not covered with different papers at all - it's the original card that I just dressed-up a little.

Last page:

That's it for me today, but please check out PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS for more mini-album inspiration!

These Are the Days

Happy Monday! It is the typical gloomy, rainy Monday here that definitely makes me want to stay in my jammies and not leave my house for any reason. But - I had to brave the traffic and head in to the 9-to-5 that pays the bills - and more importantly, that pays for all my scrappy goodies! So, I figured if I can't see the sunshine, I can be the sunshine (Man, I should market that). That's right, I am going to be happy and cheerful today if it KILLS me (and it just might).  

 

Speaking of happy and cheerful, something that is guaranteed to put a smile on my face is these two girls. Little Lula has learned how to tell Knock-Knock jokes and she was clearly cracking herself up in this picture! The Huntress kept looking over at me and rolling her eyes at the "silliness" of it all (as if she weren't a 3-year-old herself just the other day), but she was clearly having a good time! I put this layout together using a great sketch found over at LET'S CAPTURE OUR MEMORIES. I like it so much that I already have plans to use it again (which is very unusual for me). My papers are a combination of ECHO PARK'S Sweet Day, Everyday Eclectic, and maybe another EP collection thrown in for good measure. Why did I use so many collections and patterns, you ask? Why, because I was playing along with the Cha '13 Online Winter Social Challenges found over at the TWO PEAS site. You know me - can't so no to a good challenge, and this one to use 7 different patterned papers was no exception! Want to see a few close-ups? 

 

Journaling and title combined (one of my very favorite things to do lately):

I liked this ribbon-flower-thingy embellishment, except the banners weren't the right color and I didn't like the little picture on the front. But I really did like it - really!  So - I made a few changes and embellished my embellishment - ha!

I may have stuck with EP for my papers, but October Afternoon and American Crafts made their way onto my layout via their wonderful bits and pieces that I had to use!

And, finally, my stars...which have machine stitching going across them because I am a machine-stitching junkie! (But I can stop any time I want! I just don't want to right now.)

And that's it for me today. I truly hope I have managed to brighten YOUR day - if only a little bit.

A Lovely Way to Use Your Scraps (Practical Scrappers)

It's no secret - I love using little bits and pieces from my scrap stash to complete my layouts. This time, almost all of my embellishments came from my magical scrap stash box - everything from my handmade shabby chic garland...

...to the clusters around my photo

 

 

My papers are from the fantastic CASHMERE DAME COLLECTION BY GLITZ DESIGNS. I don't do shabby-chic too often these days, but when I do, Glitz has some of the most droolworthy papers!

Want to read a little more about my layout? You do?! Well then head on over to PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS and read on!

Here and Now - Practical Scrappers Frugal Finds

After dithering around and tearing up and re-starting this layout in a fit of pique a couple of times, that had NOTHING to do with my Practical Scrappers assignment - all operator error I'm afraid - here it is, my contribution to the PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS Frugal Finds Challenge.

 

What is it, you ask? Well...it's a common household item. It is...toothpicks! That's right, the things you use to test cakes or to get something unstuck from between your teeth (if you don't have floss or a toothbrush handy). I tried to do something a tad bit (and it seems that a tad bit is all I came up with) more creative than a little flag, so I made - an arrow.  I wanted to accent my arrow and add a little dimension to it, so I used a toothpick as the base - can you see it here?

 

It may not be the most ingenious idea, but you gotta give me points for cuteness!  My arrows (on top of my little toothpick) were cut out using my Silhouette Cameo *doing my stuck record impression - I love my Cameo, I love my Cameo, I love my Cameo* along with this really cute polaroid frame that I simply stretched out a little before printing so it would fit the dimensions of my picture, which is NOT a polaroid size.

Of course, I outlined and doodled on just about everything with my black zig marker - my favorite thing to do these days it seems.  My papers are by AMERICAN CRAFTS , which work perfectly for this unguarded photo of my daughter, who was so caught up in her music that she was oblivious to everything around her (even her crazy picture-taking mom who snuck up on her with the camera)!

Seriously, my toothpick arrow may be cute - but you have GOT to check out the other PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS ladies' ideas. They will blow you away! So go! Click the link already! What are you waiting for?!

Practical Scrappers January Sketch Reveal!

 

I am so excited that Practical Scrappers is bringing back sketches! With my limited time, I find myself frequently using sketches these days, even if it's just as a starting point. Something about them kicks my creative inspiration into top gear and off I go! I love the sketch posted this month by our very own, Liz Chidester. To see it and the layouts by our other wonderful Practical Scrappers, click HERE.

 

As for my layout - I saw the sketch and immediately thought of my wooden Studio Calico snowflakes that I have had for over a year.  Why?  Because even though I love them (and just about all wood veneer shapes by Studio Calico) I don't do too many winter-themed layouts living in a part of the country where we have a 50/50 chance of wearing shorts and having the AC running at Christmas time!  But Liz's sketch and these fantastic LILY BEE CHRISTMAS CHEER PAPERS practically shouted out - winter layout, winter layout!  So I decided I could have a cold-weather layout, even if we weren't actually having cold weather at the time the picture was taken.

 

 I love that the Christmas Cheer Collection included stickers that could be used to make a banner - yeah!  *doing the I-Love-Banners happy dance* I doodled on my banner, added a little bit of machine stitching, and a few splatters of mist because - well, I really, really like doodling, misting, and maching stitching. 
 

Finally, I needed to add my title and a little journaling - a new fave of mine is combining the two into a long title, especially when I get to use a combination of different of letters - like this...

That's it for me today. Hope you have as much fun playing with this sketch as I did! And if you DO create a layout, feel free to comment and leave me a link to your blog or web gallery post featuring your take on the sketch - I would love to admire YOUR creation!