{live the moment...}

Weddings are coming

2012-01-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

This Christmas there were 2 engagements in our family. Very exciting to say the least!

My cousin and my sister...not to each other of course... but both are now planning weddings.
A couple weeks ago, my sister invited me to go with her the bridal faire at the Ritz Carlton in SF- It is a gorgeous hotel! Too bad it is so expensive!

The night before my sister asked me to make her a small notebook she could use to keep track of business cards and take notes. Of course I said YES, I was so happy too!
Then I realized I packed up my entire scraproom!!

Never to fear, I own a scrapbook store. I picked out some Teresa Collins Mr. & Mrs. Line mixed with a little Carolina Breeze and knew it would be absolutely perfect for her.

A quick, fun altered composition book. I added pockets and small paper tabs to some of the inner pages. The fairy charm is something that I have had for years knowing I was going to use it for something I made for my sister. It worked perfectly!

We did get some ideas at the bridal faire, and possibly a venue, but I think pinterest has better inspiration. I found several things that I want to show her that I think she'll like. 2 of my favorite things I found for decorating...

Source: iloveswmag.com via Diana on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Diana on Pinterest

Moving time

2012-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

Task #1 of moving the scraproom has started.
I got a really good start. Since I am switching rooms to benefit my daughter, I am making her help. We started with everything that was already organized and packed in containers. Piece by piece things made their way out of the room and into the dining room and living room.
As we were moving things, I started to notice or should I say "find" items in my room that I haven't used in YEARS!
Yes, YEARS!
The first was a set of plastic drawers that were full of miscellaneous chipboard and plastic alphabets. All different fonts, sizes and colors. I organized them when I first did my room 4 years ago and honestly have probably only gone to it 2 or 3 times.

Then I found a storage tub of half used (mostly gone) thickers. There were at least 50 sheets of stickers. My first thought for these was a preschool, good thing my sisters works at one!
2 flat rate boxes later...

I felt a huge sense of relief.
I was proud of myself for actually boxing stuff up without going through every piece talking myself into keeping it.

The next day... more moving!
Suddenly my sense of accomplishment was replaced with disgust.
My clean dining room and living room was very quickly a rip-tearin' mess! I went from one messy space to 3! I could not believe it.

MOM to the rescue!!

My mom, the queen of rearranging, stopped in to help me. Before I knew it, everything was out of the scraproom and situated very neatly in the dining room. There is not an empty wall and the chairs are not accessible at all. Can you believe ALL of this stuff was in my room? We even ended up with a bookshelf in my hallway.

It's all out. Well.....mostly all out. I need to empty the closet, but ran out of boxes. Daughter dear asked to keep the white shelves so some of them will stay up. I was surprised how big this room actually is. Now I have to finish the closet and get her stuff in.

Here's to change and working through a task!
Now, I am itching to get my scrap room back together.

Hello 2012!

2012-01-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

I think I say this every time I sit here to post something
but I truly can not believe how quickly time flies- I really can't.
As the week starts and I look at the To-Do List, I have the "Can't wait until Friday" feeling
then it seems as though I blink my eyes and have the "it's already Friday" feeling.
Oh well, I just better get used to the fact that time moves faster when you have lots to do.
I just need to embrace it and go with the flow.
I need to stop stressing about how much I have to do, and enjoy what I need to do.
Otherwise I will just be surrounded by misery and eventually look back and "wish I would have" or "to bad I did not get too"...
Life is too short for that.
Right?!??

2012...
with a new year every one thinks resolutions.
I have trid it,
year after year
and you know what, it makes me more stressed out.
So this year, NO RESOLUTIONS!
This year... GOALS!
Things I would like to accomplish this year,
things I want to try,
things to get better at.

Here are a few things I would like to accomplish this year-
*Finally finish organizing my scraproom!
I was so close and then it exploded again. And now it's getting moved- so what better time than right now to do it the way I want. FINISH the TASK!
*Journal more often- not just for the kids but for me.
I KNOW in my HEART I can do this. I often think, what could be so exciting to journal about, but truly I do not live a "boring" life. It may not be full of trips and shopping spree's but there is a lot of fun that goes on everyday. I need to write it down. Something positive does happen everyday.
*Try new recipes- I used to enjoy cooking, now it seems like the same boring old thing- I would love to try something new- once a month at least :)

3 goals are a good way to start. Once I finish one, I will add another.
But for now, TASK 1.
Moving, cleaning and organizing the scrap room and moving cleaning and organizing my daughters' room. So techniqually, 2 tasks :)

Holiday Decor

2011-12-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

I was recently flipping through a magazine and seen a picture of button covered topiary centerpieces and instantly had an idea!

A couple trips to the craft store and I finally found the styrofoam pieces I was looking for.
Some paint and my stash of buttons and brads and this is what I came up with...

To start, I painted the trees. Green first...I was using my Claudine Helmuth studio paints, which I LOVE, but stryofoam sure does soak up a lot! So for the red & white ones, I used gesso first to prime- You know that expression, waiting for paint to dry... well that was me... waiting...and waiting...and waiting! I hate waiting! Next time I do anything with stryofoam, I think I will spray paint it instead. Hubby found Krylon water-based spray paint (while helping Julia with her science project) and it covered in 2 coats and dried in 30 minutes-

Section's at a time, I used my 3 in 1 glue to add buttons, resin flowers, trinket pins, brads and bling pieces. Using my alcohol ink, I changed the color of clear buttons and my crystal pins- easy peasey! That's how I got the green and red stars-

I am pretty happy with them and can't wait to add them to my holiday decor.

PINTEREST = INSPIRATION

2011-12-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

I have been avoiding Pinterest for a long time- mostly because of how "addicting" I heard it is-
what was I thinking?
this place is a gold mine for inspiration!
Just like blog hopping, it is very easy to get consumed and REALLY easy to spend hours on the computer-
But just like everything else, make time for it and when your time is up...
move on!

This morning, my search is for scrap room space. I am going to be swapping rooms with my daughter- My craft room has a bigger closet and she really needs it. She has the smallest closet is the house- really it slightly bigger than the hallway jacket closet.
So the search- to find a few new ways to organize my room- found these and LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the ideas-

Thank you PINTeREST!!

Source: junkgardengirl.blogspot.com via Diana on Pinterest

Source: kendramccracken.blogspot.com via Diana on Pinterest

Source: itstaylormade.com via Thora on Pinterest

Source: onelittleword.typepad.com via Thora on Pinterest

Decisions....

2011-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

For months, I have been dealing with the dilemma...
keep the blog, don't keep the blog...
keep it... don't...
Back and forth, back and forth.

As you see, it's still here- and I am actually posting something. So I guess I'm keeping it :)
I really do have a love-hate thing going on here.
I just don't like the pressure I put on myself.
I love the inspiration I find on other blogs. I get the "I can do that" feeling, yet in the same exact thought, I get the "No way, I am not that talented" feeling? Should I try that? Should I share that? Who reads my blog anyway? Why post?

But just the other day I heard one of the ladies in my store say something that caught my attention...
"I started my blog for me-
a way to keep track of things I find, ideas and recipes to try and share. It's my blog, I can do what I want with it- post if I want- no pressure"

No Pressure-
No Pressure-

Why should there be pressure? Just post what I want- when I want and if people check it out, great, if not... that's okay too.

Happy "NO PRESSURE" Day!

Summer is here... enjoy a Sherbert Swirl

2011-07-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

In my last post I was ho-humming over rainy days. well in the weeks following we were hit with summer in FULL SWING! It went from cold, gloomy and rainy days to 95 degrees in the matter of a week and hit 102 the following week. I am not complaining! We asked for the sun and I am very glad I have air conditioning-

The month came up on us quickly. But looking back I sure did get a lot accomplished. I'll share that later, right now I want to share this...

Sherbert Swirl! Art Inspired Studios July kit, this month's kit is perfect for all those fun summer time pictures. Putting this one together made me think of a nice big double scoop of rainbow sherbet ice cream. Yum!

Enjoy this one, it was fun to put together and create with.

Kit Contents:

(2) Cardstocks: Core'dinations Distress cardstock ‘Peeled Paint’ | Core'dinations Distress cardstock ‘Lemonade’

(7) Double sided Pattern Papers: Basic Grey ‘Sweet Threads’ Boutique Shopping, Must Have, I Want | Glitz Designs ‘Afternoon Muse’ Floral, Block, Banner | Pink Paislee ‘Butterfly Garden’ Dew Drops

It was fun using the tissue paper under the main photo for accent. Similar to using trim, but a completely different texture. I have a few more layouts to share, I just have to get them photographed.

Don't wait to get yours. You can stop in the store to get one or order from our online store.

Shop Art Inspired Studios

more rainy days

2011-06-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

It's has been a crazy week around here with the kids getting out of school, all of their end of the year parties and activities and graduations. The crazy California weather is not helping either. Here it is June 4th and it rained all night yesterday and almost all day today. The wind was blowing so much that the light signal at the intersection near my house went out, 2 trees were broken across the sidewalk and all the new blooms from the neighbors tress are in now in the gutter. It feels like October or as someone said in the store today, it's JUNE-uary.

One good thing about the cold weather, it gets me in the mood to scrap, especially with bright colors. I played yesterday and finally used the Glitz Hoopla Line that I love, love, love. I've been hoarding it and decided that if I want the newest Glitz release I better use this up.
I wanted to add some color to the floral pattern on this paper, so I used some cut and dry foam, which I cut into small rectangular pieces, my distress inks (fired brick, shabby shutters and spice marmalade) and came up with this...

After I colored in the flowers I wanted I created the rest of my layout. I used 2 of the Glitz Hoopla papers, some scraps I had from a Pink Pailsee paper I had, the Hoopla coordinating rub-ons and cardstock stickers and created this for my daughters birthday.

I also created this one. Another Glitz Hoopla paper, Pink Pailsee paper, Glitz What- Nots, cardstock stickers and rub-ons. I did not realize until after I took this photo that the rub-on was lifting.
No fear, glossy accents to the rescue. I added enough to stick the balloons back down and then added more to give it some glossy dimension.

I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I can't wait to scrap some more, but I really would love for it to stop raining. I would love to go play outside :)

June 1st = Big News

2011-06-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Have you been following Art Inspired Studios newsletters? How about the facebook page?
We said we would have big news on June 1st... that's today!! Yippy!

As some of you may know, Art Inspired Studios opened the doors to our brick and mortar store on June 10, 2010. Before that we were Scrap for a Cure, an online kit club that donated to charity. Since we were changing direction, there was a major change in our business plan. Kits were one of the first things to go. To be perfectly honest we miss creating kits and decided to give it a try again!! Yup, Art Inspired Studios is now creating and selling kits online! We have also added an online store to our site and it is up and running for you TODAY!!
Over the past year we have had customers even call the store looking for product and request shipping. So here you go friends. Art Inspired Studios is now an online store. We are starting with products that seem to be the hardest to find and as the time goes, more will be added.

We are very excited about our news and hope you are too! This week only, order online and receive a free gift with your purchase! A special goody in your box, our way to say Thank You!

Okay, on to our first kit as Art Inspired Studios!

All Star $19.99

This kit includes:
(2) Cardstocks: Core'dinations Paprika | Core'dinations Meadow
(7) Double sided Pattern Papers: MME Lime Twist Out of the Blue "Smile" Balloons, "Playful" Galaxy, ""Playful Number, "Family" Speckle | Teresa Collins "Sports Edition II" Blue Numbers & Sport | MME Sweet Chic

Embellishments: Glitz Teeny Alpha | MME Out of the Blue Accesories Sticker Sheet | MME Playful Title | Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts | Ranger Craft Tags | MME Twine | Orange Ric Rak | Assorted Buttons | Assorted chipboard pieces | Canvas Corp Mini Star shape

I was able to create 4 layouts with this kit and still had some leftovers. Here are a few ideas for you. (there is also a layout posted yesterday using this kit). Head over the Art Inspired Studios website to get yours!

Here comes the sun... (I HOPE!!!)

2011-05-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Is it June 1st yet? Not yet, but pretty darn close!
Does the weather outside feel like June? NOT EVEN CLOSE!
Mother Nature, oh Mother Nature, please send the sun out to play. Please, oh please, oh please!!

Our Memorial Day and Cinco de "Mario" plans were put in a spin this year because of the weather. Normally it's out big BBQ and birthday celebration weekend. This year we delayed the planning because of the crazy weather and were worried about an indoor back up plan.Mother Nature did help us out Saturday with nice weather only a few sprinkles but it was still chilly. Monday... not so much. The wind came through stronger than we expected so a day on the delta was changed to a laundry day (not as much fun) and baking day. My oven was on almost all day and helped to keep the house at a perfect temperature.

During laundry loads and baking times, I actually created a little. It was nice to have the time. I seem to get more done when I know I have 45 minutes between laundry cycles to work on stuff. It sure does make the daunting task of laundry go faster.

Yesterday I was able to create 4 layouts, wash/fold & put away 6 loads of laundry, bake 5 dozen cookies and 2 dozen muffins AND had company for dinner and finalize details for our upcoming camping trip.
A rather productive day if I do say so myself.

Here's a peek at a couple layouts I created yesterday! The first one is my take on sketch #121 from The Scrappiest.

For these layouts I used something I put together for Art Inspired Studios. A kit of sorts :) For those who have been following the Art Inspired newsletters or blog you might have heard the JUNE 1st date mentioned a few times. Well, this is part of it...

June 1st is tomorrow! Be sure to check back here or on the Art Inspired studios blog for all the details!

Happy Birthday!!

2011-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay on the Mission Inn post. I got it all ready and forgot to schedule... duh!

Can you believe this weekend is the "official kick off of summer"? It rained here two days ago and it is overcast and breezy here right now. So much for the first summer BBQ's tomorrow. As this week has gone by, it looks like our BBQ is turning into an indoor thing. No complaints... friends and good food is always fabulous!

Just a quick post today...I have a long To Do list forming and better get on it!

I want to wish my hubby an absolutely AMAZING & WONDERFUL birthday!

I love you VERY, VERY much!!

Mission Inn Hotel

2011-05-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

I promised some fabulous pictures and to be honest, this does not even come close to reality. The hotel was absolutely gorgeous. The staff was wonderful, the food, YUMMY! and to top it off the Color Connections Classes were awesome too.
The *ONLY* bad part... The rooms are a little old and the acoustics, not so good. Let's just say we had very noisy neighbors, and that was with ipod buds and music in my ears. I also recommend not getting a street side room. I think there was an unofficial drag race going on Saturday night. But really- not enough to keep me from going back.

Before our classes started Sunday, we took a short walk and snapped a couple pic's. This is from the patio dining area looking up around 8am.

Our lunch was in this room. Looks like an old chapel. Long and narrow on the inside.

After our classes were over and we placed our orders, we found this!! YUM!! She was a winner on Cupcake Wars, a hopping place! There were at least a dozen different flavors to choose from, so we settled on 6!

After dinner Patti and I decided to tour the entire hotel. STUNNING! This the surrounding of the patio from the 3rd floor. With all the lights it looked like a miniature city.

Our lunch spot at night...

5 flights of stairs. This is as close as I could get to the rail for a picture. My favorite view with a tight grip on the railing!

From the bottom!

Time for dessert! My favorite, the Lemon. Delish!

So I was told Riverside is about 30 minutes from Anaheim- I think we might just make a detour on our way to CHA Winter this year. If not for the hotel, than for some CUPCAKES :)

May Madness

2011-05-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

May has had my mind filled to overflowing and it is sure to get worse...
Summer will be here very soon and I CAN NOT wait. I am looking forward to warm weather, summer trips, end of school and even a couple weddings! It's obvious I'm not the only one counting the days.
The store has been busy with customers who are creating wedding invitations and programs, teacher gifts and getting a head start on summer event planning and kids craft camps. Being busy like this has the time flying by.

I just looked back and realized I had not blogged in a few weeks. My friend is doing very well (thanks for asking) and the last event I posted about was NSD...
Since then I hosted a Mother's Day Tea (at the store), Madison's birthday, attended End of the Year Open House, hosted Deb & Paula from 7 Gypsies teach at the store AND we just came back from the Color Connections Tour in Riverside. If I told you about it all, this post would be *REALLY* long so I'll just share some pictures. Tomorrow, I'll share the pictures from Color Connection. There are a bunch of those and the hotel was absolutely gorgeous!

These are from our Mother Daughter Tea. We had yummy food and tea, created super cute headbands and necklaces. Each mom also got to take home an altered frame with a Mother Daughter photo.

My girls wanted Aunty and Grandma to join them for tea. They were bummed Grandma had to work but were overjoyed that Aunty could come.

Before the end of the week it was Madie's birthday- A few friends, Build a Bear, pizza and ice cream and they were happy as can be.

The kids showing off there Artwork during Open House...

I realized I did not personally take any photos from our 7 Gyspies event. Hopefully I can find some.

This is what greeted us at registration during color connection.

And a peek at one of the projects we created. This one will definitely be a class at Art Inspired!

More pictures to come tomorrow! Now off to work to get this one on the calendar!

Motivational Monday

2011-05-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

As I putting layouts away and looking through my older pages and albums, I noticed a little something I have gotten away from...
the story...
I don't journal nearly as much as I used to. I remember the event or story as the pictures tell it. I feel I take better pictures now that help tell my story, but is it really enough?

There is a reason someone said,
"A Picture is worth a THOUSAND words."

I started scrapbooking before my daughter was born and my main purpose was to document my life. Coming from divorced parents and divorced grandparents, pictures of me as a kid were here, there and everywhere except where I wanted them to be. I would get pictures every so often from family members or when my dad was doing attic cleaning, but to have them together in one place for me to see... not even close.
I felt there was a piece of me missing. I started with my high school album and slowly went backward. To this day I have only seen a handful of pictures of me on birthdays or at picnics as a child. What was the story, what was going on? I have memories or stories that I have heard, but how much is really true? Who knows, I might even be mixing it up with someone elses story.

Just last week a very dear friend of mine had emergency brain surgery. Thank God she is doing amazingly well and is already home recovering but you always have that gut wrenching "what if". Then late last night and this morning, the current news of the death of Bin Laden and remembering September 11, both country wide and my own personal account, I feel there is a little bit missing from "my story".
Am I missing the whole point of what I am creating and why I am doing it?
What happens if I am not there to tell the story...

I have been motivated... actually, more like INSPIRED... to add a bit more story to my albums. More journaling and even more pictures of myself. I need to remember that it's not just about the kids, but about the relationship, the bond and the amazing dynamic of my family.
More of MY STORY.
...hey, it might even get me to use all those cute little journaling blocks and embellishments I have :)

so, what's your story?

My Turn

2011-05-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated National Scrapbook Day at Art Inspired, but unfortunately there was not a spot for me to sit and scrap. No worries, I have today. The kids always love a lazy video game and movie day and I get time in my scrap room to play. Yay!
I was excited at the idea to be able to create something today, but when I walked in my room, I remembered where I left off the last time I was in here.
Remember that pile of layouts I had when I cleaned up my room? I had started putting them away and ran out of time that day. I left the scrap room and had not been back in.
Sad, huh? My poor room has been empty for almost 2 weeks.
I decided to pick up where I left off.
Putting away layouts might seem like an easy task... not really.
I am an "out of order" scrapper. I scrap whatever photos look fun at the time or go to pictures that I have ideas for. There were many times when I was creating for the Studio or Scrap for a Cure and had to go with the challenge or theme. In my pile I have layouts for the 2005 album followed by some from 2009, followed by layouts for the girls school albums and then back to 2005.
Right now, I have 4 albums wide open on the floor, 2 on my desk and another 4 in the bookshelf. All of them are being pulled out, opened up and put away again. Needless to say, layout organization and put away in a descend sized task.

So far I have put away (in page protectors and in albums) 42 layouts. WooHoo!!
I am at the point now where I have layouts that were started and not finished. By the looks of them, these layouts were started about 2 or 3 YEARS ago. YIKES!
I'm sure it was been that long considering our store has been open a year, they are older than that. And I was using mostly SFAC kits for the 2 years before that.
Looking at these layouts, they most certainly needed some help.
B-O-R-I-N-G!!

For this one, you get 2 angles... I trimmed down the pattern paper and added a cardstock base to both, added the sticker alpha and shapes from Echo Park, and trim from my ribbon stash.

This one needed a lot of work... (the tan around the edge of the layout is my desk, not paper)

First I trimmed it down and added cardstock to the back.
Using the same Echo Park sticker sheet to add the title and snowflake decorations.
Added a little bit of bling "bulbs" to my tree, a little faux stitching and whooo-
Much better :)

I fixed 2 others but just put them right into the album. I don't think any of them will ever rate as my "favorites" but they are better now that they are done-
Turns out I get to scrap a little bit today after all :) Time for dinner...

National Scrapbook Day

2011-04-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating National Scrapbook Day at Art Inspired Studios and we are having so much fun!
We have had lots of laughs, lots of food and even some creativeness happening-
just a little...
Nah- these gals RAWK and are creating some really lovely stuff.

Here's some fun photos from our day. This is what our guests walked into.

It's hard to see in the photos, but I made all of the butterfly garland hanging. They turned out so cute. I'll have to get a better picture to post.

Motivational Monday

2011-04-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, Monday, Monday... this one came by really quick this time. It was a busy week for us and my "Motivational Monday" is a little tough today. I am wiped and I myself can't seem to get motivated.

I spend ALL day Monday on my computer getting my pictures all organized. I made a pretty big dent in it. I deleted about 800 duplicate items and then a bunch of random, "I don't know why they were taken" pictures.

Tuesday was a blur... I really don't know what I did.
Wednesday was all about unpacking new product at the store (yippy)
Thursday was a day of running errands. My day was cut a little short when I got a call from school that my little Madie hurt herself. It ends up that she scratched her cornea. OUCH!!

Her eye was so swollen and red that it was the same color as a strawberry. It was a long afternoon on the phone with the doctor trying to get an appointment without heading into the Emergency Room. This picture is after 3 different ice pack sessions and tylenol. After a couple hours, Madie got some eye ointment and we were off to get some sleep. It was almost 9:30pm.

Friday turned out 100 times better. The swelling went down and our day was going to go just as planned. Our first Giants game of the season!! AT & T park, here we come! It was COLD, COLD, COLD in San Francisco. The wind was blustery and icy, but it's night time baseball.

Saturday was a fun day with friends celebrating a birthday. A fun filled and late night.

Easter Sunday is a family day. Always fun and fabulous!

Today, I wanted to sit and veg out all day, but that would not be motivating now would it? This morning was house cleaning and laundry. Not fun but necessary. My motivation, knowing that I will not have to do it tomorrow!

So to put it simply...
Get it done today so you do not have to do it tomorrow!
That should be motivating enough!

My only "crafty" thing for this week came on Earth Day. I made a card using packaging from some Prima flowers I bought. It turned out to be a perfect background.

Until next time friends,

BE INSPIRED!!

Motivational Monday

2011-04-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

I like how that sounds, don't you?
Mondays always get a bad rap! Most of the time it's "ARGH, it's Monday!" with a sad face.
For me, Monday is like my Sunday, only I'm home alone- YIPPY!!

Monday is the day to get all the stuff done to help the week run smoothly,
A little bit of laundry,
A bit of groceries,
A bit of house cleaning
But now Mondays are also a bit crafty!
I mentioned last week that Tina & Jackie created a challenge- craft a little bit everyday and share what you created on Mondays!
Here's where the motivation comes in! Not only to I "plan" to post something crafty every Monday, but I want to include a tip, technique or "motivational challenge" with it.

I crafted a bunch last week. My creative flood gates opened up and I was a scrappin' fool! I finished a mini book, created 8 layouts, actually put layouts in page protectors and in albums like there supposed to be AND posted on my blog 5 times!I played with 3 of the new lines from Pink Pailsee- Daily Junique, Butterfly Garden & Soiree... All three of them go nicely together, the colors are all matched in some way or the other.

**ETA** I completely forgot to give credit to Liz @ the Scrappiest for this one! If it wasn't for her sketch blog I probably would have been starting at the paper for hours. I used sketch #115. She deserves the credit for opening up my creative flood gate! Thanks Liz!!

Go Me!! (insert me doing the cabbage patch happy dance here... thank goodness that's NOT on a video file)
It felt so good to create with pictures last week but I did have a small road block.
What pictures do I use?
Did I scrap that already?
Where are the pictures from...?

Which leads me right into this weeks "crafty" project! To sort through all the pictures on my laptop. Not as much fun as scrappin' BUT if I don't get them organized, I will not know which ones to print and scrap and which one's are already done! Just like last week.
I backed up over 15,000 files last night and started going through them today. I did not realize how many duplicates I had! All that Wasted space!
I also found a bunch of things I created over the past year (since opening the store) that I have not shared (yet). :) It's time to go motivated! Time to get those pictures sorted! Here's a screen capture of how I organize my photos.

Each event gets it's own folder, date and event name. Then I sort/edit the photos in the file, tage them and print the ones I want. After I scrap photos from that event and photograph my layout, I add the LO image in the file too.
Once events are organized and scrapped, they are moved into a yearly folder. This way I can go back and look for things by year, by event or by person. My reasoning for taking pictures of my layouts and adding them to the folder...
(1) I'll know that I scrapped them already without always going back through albums
(2) If (heaven forbid) my house went up in flames and all the scrapbooks burned, I can reprint the layouts that I have already worked so hard on.
It made sense to me when I started and I have been doing this for years.

Let's get motivated friends! Get those pictures organized and sorted. You never know you might even find a photo or two that instantly inspires you!

Happy Motivational Monday!!

My Core’dinations Creative Frenzy

2011-04-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing like being down to the wire huh?!?
We've all had those conversations with our kids about procrastinating. My go to line with my daughter,
"You can not do your best work when you are rushing at the last minute." Don't tell her, I might just be wrong on this one...

I heard about the Core'dination DT call on Tuesday afternoon.
Deadline: less than 3 days...
could I...
should I...
WHY NOT!!!

I first played with Core'dination at the CHA Winter Show 4 years ago. I have to admit, I didn't "get it"-
It's cardstock... but then I played with it more and more.
Pretty fun stuff.
Emboss It, Sand It, Tear It, INK IT!! Just a few of my favorite things to do with paper.
So with only 2 days left for the call, I sat down to create something FUN!
Layouts!
I'm a 12x12'r (is that such a thing?). I like mini book's too, but to highlight Core'dinations, I felt layouts would be best. I had so much fun, I ended up creating 4...

In this layout, I used Lily Bee Designs, My Mind's Eye and Core'dinations. I trimmed down the cardstock and distressed the edges to show off the 2 tone color.

Using Tim Holtz embossing folders, I embossed and sanded a few smaller pieces to use as accents. A little more paper distressing, embellishments and Ta-Da...

For the next layout, I used pre-embossed Core'dinations cardstock from the Cosmo Cricket collection. Instead of sanding this piece, I used the direct to paper inking technique. Gently rubbing the ink pad in a circular motion helped to highlight the woodgrain pattern.

The green Core'dination background cardstock is from the Jenni Bowlin Collection. I sanded about 1" all the way around to create a border effect. I layered additional embossed cardstock and some pattern paper from Echo Park. Embellish with chipboard from Cosmo Cricket and Heidi Swapp and I have a fun and bright layout to show off my silly kids.

This next layout is all cardstock. Using more from the Cosmo Cricket and Jenni Bowlin Collections, I highlighted the embossed images with a little sanding and then inking. Again I used the direct to paper technique with the inkpad. In this one, I actually cut out, distressed and popped up the additional butterflies. I used some embellishments from Luxe Designs, Little Yellow Bicycle and American Crafts.

Lastly, I played with the Tim Holtz Distress Core'diantions Cardstock. I used it to create those fun and popular paper flowers and added a ripped edge to help my pattern paper stand out. In this one, I used the new Pink Paislee Soiree Line- the paper colors were perfect together.

So there you have it. My Design Team call submission!

And look I have an hour to spare...

Yikes!

I don't want to do that again, too much pressure. So maybe I wasn't wrong after all!

Thanks for considering my work. I am sure this will be a very difficult decision. There are a LOT of talented people out there! Happy Friday!!

I'm teaching next week with GLITZ Designs

2011-04-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

I am teaching this fun mini book next week at Art Inspired! I am really excited for this one- it was fun to create and I'll be adding photos to it soon. I've been eye-balling this line since it arrived at the store. I totally love it. Here's a peek at it and the class details.

Class: 6x6 Mini Book Everyday Moments
Taught by: Diana
DATE: Tues. April 26
TIME: 11-2pm or 6-8pm
COST: $25
Create an adorable 6x6 mini book to capture all of the favorite "everyday moments". Use Glitz Designs, Prima, Glimmer Glaze, Glimmer Mists, paints & pens. Kits are available as well.

I can't wait to hear what you think!

on a roll now...

2011-04-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's still Wednesday! I'm 3 for 3 this week for blogging!
I am determined to make the "time" to update my blog and keep myself motivated to do so.
Just yesterday a couple friends of mine, Jackie & Tina, decided to challenge themselves to create a little bit of something everyday and post it on their blogs or facebook every Monday. I added myself to their challenge! I am sure this will help get me going again and I'm sure these gals will keep me on my toes.

Yesterday, as I was cleaning up my creative mess from my 3 day mini, I decided to create a LO with the Crate Paper Restoration line I was using. Just pictures of me being silly, but something I told myself to do, one of my 2011 Goals so to speak...

Have fun and laugh more often!
So here you go! A layout and a laugh-

I think I'm on the right track!

3 Day mini book

2011-04-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I scrapped some more! Yay Me!!

I started this mini album about 2 or 3 weeks ago during a crop night at Art Inspired and finally had a chance to finish it Friday night. I have another little project completed!

I created using a Jenni Bowlin 4x4 album, Crate paper Restoration, Hambly and some other little things I had sitting in my scrap bag. It's a little book to remember the SF 3day and the Treasured Chest Crew Team.

Wedding Layouts

2011-04-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

I can finally share the layouts I created for our friends Sam & Leesa- They loved them and I hope you like them too- I create 8 1/2 x 11's which was a little harder for me. 12x12 and mini books are more my style- But these turned out pretty nice.

(I just noticed I can see my reflection in this one)

I used a papers from My Mind's Eye for these (So Sophie and Lost & Found) and added embellies from Prima, Jenni Bowlin & Glitz Designs

It felt really good to scrap something and now I have the itch again. I've been working on 2 mini books too.

I did not realize until recently that I have not organized my photos since June of last year- There are duplicate up loads, empty folders (in my Pictures file) and pictures still on flash drives.
Looks like this might be my next "To Do" thing.
maybe...

LOVE Cabo

2011-04-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

where on earth does the time go? I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted...
It was all about the scraproom. Well I haven't been in there since!! So unfortunately the kids school papers are still on the desk and there are still pictures to organize, BUT the upside to that... it is still clean!!

I did get to take an awesome trip to see some friends tie the knot! The weather was perfect and the scene could not have been better. I had never been the Cabo and CAN NOT WAIT to go back! It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend. I would recommend giving yourself at least 5 days if you go. Weekend trips are great, but you often come back more tired than when you left.

The resort was amazing. It something taken straight from a movie. Large open foyer, tall palm tress, blooming flowers everywhere and water as far as the eye can see.

This is the view from the beach looking back into the resort. Early morning calm...

The wedding was Sunday. The weather was perfect and the ocean waves crashed right beyond us. Don't they look so happy?!!

Great people and great friends!
I love how weddings make people happy. Even though there is stress for the bride and those involved in the planning, in the end, it's always such a magical thing. Makes me want to get married again! And YES!, I would keep my hubby. No trade-ins needed :)

Now that we are back, I am working on a few pages for the bride and groom to add to their shower guest book album. It's also a gift, so I don't want to share too much just yet. But here is a peek...

operation clean room: Task 2 Organizing

2011-03-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

I did not get to post yesterday, but I made it through my goal of having the desk chair cleaned off and ready to use. I barely made it! I put away the last few items minutes before I had to head out the door to work!

Task #1 PURGE...COMPLETE!!!
Now on to Task #2 ORGANIZE...
It seemed that this task ended up happening while I was clearing out the dreadful looking bookcase. I went through years of the kids schoolwork Turns out it was not just schoolwork! I found old bills, junk mail, school flyers, pictures and random other things that I honestly have no idea how they got there.
The cleaning out of the shelf including making 4 piles on the desk.
Each of the kids have a school pile, there is a pictures to sort/organize pile and a layout pile. You would not believe how many COMPLETED layouts I found that need to be put into albums.
Yes... we are supposed to put them in albums... I counted 37 layouts, plus some that are not done.

As I was creating these piles I purged at the same time. Looks like we were a little obsessed with keeping EVERYTHING from Julia. Every homework packet and alphabet writing practice from preschool and kindergarten were in there. 90% of it went into the trash. I really did not need papers of her writing can, am & Sam over and over again or her numbers 1-10, 1-25, 1-50- you get the point...
I am proud to say while cleaning my room, I made 5 trips to the recycle can and 2 trips to the trash. I even created a donation box for a friends preschool class & a good will box.
Yea Me!! So here we go... my view as I enter my room!

My clean and organized ribbon and button jars

My kids school piles and layouts to put away pile

And my bookcase! Everything is in it's place. The lined up bags along the left short shelf are all the incomplete projects I need to work through. The best part of that is I actually have the space to sit and work on them!

My happy place is HAPPY once again!
I have a few more things to finish, but this was huge for me! Just getting things put away seemed so daunting. For months, I have not even wanted to walk in there- now I love it!
Time to finish Task #2!
To put away all those completed layouts and add the kids school work to their albums. I'm pretty sure I can get through it all this weekend. Ooohh, I am so excited!

A special thanks to all of you and your little notes to check in on me and my progress. It's been fun! I am happy to hear I have even inspired some of you to get organized! It's amazing how happy you feel when your done- It's almost like loosing weight... well almost **wink, wink**

Happy FRIDAY!!!!

Scrap Room finds

2011-03-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

As you know I am focused on getting my scrap room cleaned up.
During my cleaning on Monday night I found my project tote with some of the layouts I was working on during our 24 hour crop a couple weeks ago.
I thought it would be fun to share these today instead of my room in progress!

A little Girls Paperie and Pink Paislee...

More Girls Paperie mixed with Lost and Found from My Mind's Eye! Love, Love these color combinations

Thanks for looking :)

operation: CLEAN ROOM Task 1-b

2011-03-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

I started off yesterday finishing up with my embellishment drawers. I have come to the realization that I am a ribbon HOARDER!

Holy Schmo!

I have old speghetti sauce jars on my desk for my ribbon. They are now filled to overflowing. I needed to create a temporary space for all the rest, so I used one of the empty drawers I had. My fist creative challenge when this room is finished, used at least 3 colors of ribbon on each layout-

hmmm... okay, that's too far ahead, let me get the room clean FIRST!!

Task #1 is PURGING.

Current task: Pattern Paper...

This bookshelf is awful! Quite embarrassing actually!

The top shelf is the most organized. Cropper Hoppers sorted by Theme- the ones I have a lot of...School, Fall, Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July, Pets...I know there are more up there, but can't think of them all right now.

The next shelf is FULL of the kids school projects- years of school projects. Organizing this will be one of my last tasks.

Shelf 3 Cropper Hoppers with pattern paper sorted by color, then 2 large ones full of Basic Grey yumminess.
Shelf 4 kits- most of them half used
Shelf 5 & 6 my paper scraps drawers and chipboard pieces and who knows what else...

Then there is this...

All the stuff I took off my desk to start Sunday's cleaning task. I started with the paper that is sorted by color. Not too bad if I must say. I did a large purge of paper about a year and a half ago and there wasn't a whole lot left to sort through. The true task is going through all those kit bags and the chair pile and figuring out what to keep.

I am very happy with my process! I emptied 15 bags! 13 of them were kits and 2 were projects that I knew I would not do as a project. All of it put away in it's proper location! WooHoo!!

You know what else I found???

A pile of completed layouts that need to be put away

My project tote with the layouts I was working on 2 weeks ago at our 24 hour crop

8, yes 8, incomplete projects...**blushing** I better work on those... but that's a whole different challenge!

Today was supposed to be continuing on with the paper-

but I got sucked into the web and facebook and did not get to it. My goal is to have my chair back and available to sit in by Thursday afternoon! I'll keep you posted!

operation: CLEAN ROOM Task 1

2011-03-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yes! It's time to get the scrap room CLEAN! Time to take back my happy place. It literally is a wreck!
I have an awful habit of moving stuff from one spot to another. It's the "I might use that" or "not sure where to put that" mentality that really effects me when I am trying to get things done.
One of the biggest issues in my scrap room is that it has too much stuff. Yup, I said it... TOO MUCH STUFF!

I have things that I used 10 years ago, still sitting in there- things I KNOW I will NOT use again.
Paper scraps, half used rub-on sheets, stickers, mini tags, chipboard pieces and lots of mix and match left-overs. These are the things that are overflowing my embellishment drawers, cluttering my table and causing me stress.

Task #1 PURGE
First I need a space to work!

This is the mess on just one side of my desk- this is what happens when you you don't put things away. I moved everything off- yup, moved it from one place to another but something necessary for Task #1.

Now I have a couple piles on the other end of the table, a LARGE pile IN my office chair and a plastic bin full of misc. stuff.

Now to go through these! I have all my embellishments organized by color (that's the way my creative brain works). Normally I would but all my embellishments in here when I am done using them or go through to find things as I am working. The problem is, I can't get anything else into them. PURGE!!

One drawer at a time... I dumped it out (onto my CLEAN table) and sorted trough. I filled up my office sized recycle can twice and have almost filled my trash! I went through 6 drawers. Absolutely amazing how much stuff I had. Some of it I thought to myself, "Did I really buy this?" Wow! What an undertaking! My desk is a mess again, but hey, I just started yesterday. Today I am going to finish cleaning it off so I can start PURGE section #2 Pattern Paper!

found it...My 2011 Word

2011-02-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

I am really trying to work on getting here more often, I really am.
But lately, I feel I don't have much to "blog" about. What is going on that is so exciting?
Think...think...think...

Since the store opened our lives have changed so much. I thought I was busy before. Now... wooh, I'm down-right exhausted. I feel like I try so hard and just go in circles. It's the daily things that are exhausting me the most. Just looking and the 6 laundry hampers in the house that are overflowing, the laundry in the basket that needs to be ironed and socks to match. Dinner, better yet, groceries... plus I'm in a cooking rut! I'd rather just grab a pizza and be done with it. Dishes, bathrooms, dusting, if I only had Mary Poppins for the day!

The house needs a good deep scrubbing but do I really want to do that? Not in the slightest.
My scraproom, which used to be MY space, my little haven of happiness... AURGH... I don't even want to walk in. It has become a catch-all space- boxes, paperwork, the cats (don't even get me started on those things) plus all my scrap stuff and it has become chaos. Not even fun creative chaos. I walk in there and I am more stressed than ever. It's so sad...

Then I stumbled across Teresa's blog post
Thank you for shedding some light! You have shared your "ah ha" moment and given me mine! I always like to believe that I'm not the only one dealing with "silly issues" and for you to share them with us helped me to feel just a little bit more "normal". Thank you sooo much!

I have finally figured out what my year is going to be about, my "One Word", thanks to Teresa and I don't think she would mind sharing.

BALANCE
according to Dictionary.com
–noun

1.a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.

2. something used to produce equilibrium; counterpoise.

3. mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.

equilibrium, steadiness, stability, calm... This is EXACTLY what I need!

CHA is coming

2011-01-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

That's the big Craft and Hobby Association Convention that happens every year in Southern California. We are exciting to be going again this year- so much so we want it to just get here already. Yet, there is still so much planning to do before the show. This is the first time we will be going as a store- before, it was as a kit club. Orders were small and we really had to plan what we were ordering for kit.

Now...
Yikes. I am actually a little scared. We could really get ourselves into some trouble.
So now, we need to plan out who to visit, figure out which manufacturers are offering specials, when items are shipping and how much space is available in the store- just a little more stress to add to our trip.

I am very excited to see some 'old' friends. Can't wait to see our pals at Hambly...

Our friend Teresa...

Our Friend Tim-

we can't forget our friends at Punky Sprouts, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts, Melissa Frances, Jenni B, The Glitz and 7 Gypsies gals and Prima! I know there are so many more...

2011...yikes

2011-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Twenty-Eleven
I still can't get used to saying this. It just sounds weird...
But, there is nothing I can do about it, so I just have to embrace it!

We had a crazy December and to be perfectly honest, I am glad it's over. There was a lot of up and down, emotions on the rampage and on December 31st we had to say good-bye to our 10 yr old baby

*cry*
So long December! and good ridden's to you!

Twenty-Eleven...
what will this year bring?
All I ask for is continued health for my family and friends and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of "down time".
A day maybe a weekend with absolutely NOTHING to do. It can happen!

One thing I do embrace about the new year is the "Do something" challenge that stares at each of us.
I don't like resolutions, I call them goals.
Like I tell my kids, make a goal and try your best at it. Even it you don't accomplish the goal (like you planned), you did more than you would have without it. So it's GOALS time!
My number 1 goal... get my scrap room CLEANED and ORGANIZED.
Get rid of the clutter and stop using that room for a catch all. It WILL happen!!

I found this 31 day challenge clip from Marion Smith and thought it might just work for me. Maybe I can use the flip video camera I got as a gift last year and have only used once...
Here's her challenge. My goal is to start tomorrow. We'll see how it goes!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-11-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I love the Christmas season, but I do not let it "happen" at home until after Thanksgiving. This weekend we set up our tree, then moved the tree, put out all the holiday snowman decorations and put up the lights on the house.
There are a few more things to get out and then the card making begins. I need to figure out what type of cards I want to make this year and get a move on.
I am also going to do a version of a December Daily this year. I always say I'm going to do it and then remember about it the day after Christmas. Hopefully I can work on this tonight. I'm going to go with Teresa Collins Noel Album kit as a base and then add to it (we have them at the store).

Getting crafty with Punky

2010-11-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

Crop Night last night turned out to be very productive. I started and COMPLETED a mini in 1 day!
I am very happy with my results.
I created a mini for my munchkin- With all the excitement for the Giants winning the World Series,
Madie asked me "how long have I been a Giants fan?"
I told her she was born a Giants fan and she gave me a crazy look
-a cross between what? and I knew that-
those of you that know Madie... you know exactly what look I am talking about.

Within the following days, I was informed with the "Mom, your slacking" tone...
There are not very many pictures of me at Giants games in my scrapbook Mom. You said I was a Giants fan.

Oh brother...
she totally called me out...
So here we go, just for Madie! To prove to my girl that she IS a GIANTS fan...
We've celebrated 3 of her 6 birthdays at the yard.

Items used:
Punky Sprouts Album, MME So Sophie papers, journal tag and alpha stickers, Hambly Overlays, Teresa Collins Celebrate chipboard, Webster Pages Glitter Buttons, Making Memories Tiny Alpha, Jenni Bowlin & Ranger Paint Dabbers, Alcohol Inks, Perfect Pearls Mist & Black Sakura glaze pen

We WIN!!

2010-11-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Oh yay baby!!

Years of ball games in the wind and fog and rain all all worth it to say
The San Francisco Giants are the WORLD CHAMPIONS!!

Orange October, but it's NOVEMBER??

2010-11-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

That's OK! Because it could be the last day of the 2010 World Series!

For those of you that know me, you know that I am a HUGE Giants fan.
Since they have opened the park in China Basin I have been to at least 15 games every year, and that's a conservative number. Rain or shine, club level seats, bleachers or top deck, if I can get tickets, I'm there.

I am also a HUGE fan of Halloween, but this year my orange and black came from my boys! I totally and completely missed out on decorating, going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins and everything, well almost. We did go trick or treating last night, but it was during commercials and had the cell phone in hand giving us updates during the 3rd and 4th innings. The kids know and are just as excited as we are for the game. We've been wearing orange and black and our GIANTS gear All month. For me, I've been wearing my gear all October- since the Giants season was on the line playing the Padres. It has been amazing!

So I just have to post to say...
LET'S GO GIANTS *clap*clap*clap*clap*clap*
LET'S GO GIANTS *clap*clap*clap*clap*clap*
LET'S GO GIANTS *clap*clap*clap*clap*clap*

You can do it boys! Your fans have faith in you!

Cosmo Cricket Mini

2010-10-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for Christmas yet? Yup, I said Christmas.
I've realized in the retail mark we no longer celebrate Halloween in October and we seem to skip right over Thanksgiving. There is Christmas stuff everywhere already. Personally I think it's a little crazy, but I have to go with the flow.

I created this mini about a month ago and I am finally getting around to posting it.

I played with the Mitten Weather Line from Cosmo Cricket. It is super cute and perfect for the pictures I took last year when we had Snow in Clayton.
I created an 8x8 using Zutter Acrylic pages, chipboard (as pages), and Prima Build a book acrylic pages to help mix it up a bit. I used mini alpha's from My Little Shoebox and my new favorite tool, The Distress it All, on my chipboard and my pictures.

This was fun!! Thanks for looking!

'William Tell Overture' Mom

2010-10-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

To all the moms out there, We are more alike than you might think :) Have a great day!!

Embrace the camera

2010-09-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this today...

I totally love the idea! I have been so bad about getting my camera out.
If it is not a party or a trip, it is not getting used.
Poor neglected camera...
I'm sure it feels sad...
just like my blog.

Gotta get a kick start sometime

hello my friend

2010-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

did you miss me?
I have missed you.
I have missed my daily blog reads and my own updates, even though those were not even close to everyday...
i still miss you.
I have been blog hopping a little bit. Wow, so many things I have missed. It's a little sad, but quite exciting to see so much fun going on.

We are at month 3 as Art Inspired Studios and what an adventure!
The store is doing wonderfully. We are still getting meeting new people. It is so fun to have poeple walk in and just stop! In AWE...
I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE!!
It's so fun!
Wanna hear something CRAZY... I love, love having the store but I miss creating KITS! Can you believe it?
Sometimes I can't and I instantly try to talk myself out of it.
But I do, I miss it and I think I might make a few?
What do you think?
I know, it's crazy...

More Creativity

2010-08-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

It's funny that I was just saying I don't have time to create
now that I think back on it, I have created quite a few layouts for store displays and to teach with
So I guess I should not be complaining too much huh??

I recently played with some new papers from We R Memory keepers Show & Tell Line and finally played with Pink Pailsee 365 Degrees collection.

I added a little bit of Core'dination Cosmo Cricket embossed cardstock and completed the First Day of School layouts within the first MONTH of school!!

This is huge for me. I don't think I ever scrap photos that quickly.

I'm also working on a mini album with the new Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather line...
Super stinkin cute!!!

I'm not done yet, but I will get pictures of that soon :)

creative me!!!

2010-08-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am being creative
I have been inspired!

Good thing huh?

I finally played with a Punky Sprouts album!
Thanks to Suzy's inspiration!

Mix a little bit of Lily Bee, Girls' Paperie, Glimmer Mist & Claudine's Paint with Punky Sprouts 'Punky Posh' album and you get this...

{live the moment...}: Back in the groove

2010-08-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

{live the moment...}: Back in the groove: "I have made it back. Back into a routine, into a schedule. The start of school, gymnastics and soccer has actually helped me quite a bit. W..."

Back in the groove

2010-08-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have made it back.
Back into a routine, into a schedule.
The start of school, gymnastics and soccer has actually helped me quite a bit.
We have all been working really hard to adjust to me being at work.
And it has definitely been an adjustment.

The kids are getting used to the fact that I can not always drop off the lunch box that was left on the table or that their favorite shirt may not clean. They now know that I am not going to look for dirty clothes in their rooms anymore. If it's not in the hamper, it does not get washed.
We now know that Monday is grocery day. If it's not on the list, I do not buy it.
We are all getting used to schedules and have had to simplify, simplify, simplify.
The kids and I don't get to do all the things we are used to anymore, but not everything has changed.

We still enjoy home cooked meals, the crock pot is my new best friend.
Dinner might be served a little bit later,but it is still wonderful and we still eat together as a family. We still get stories before bed. We still get movie nights.
The kids still get to have their nails done, but now Grandma does it. Yay for Grandma!
Daddy gets more hours with the kiddos too. Now they help clean up the backyard and wash the car, instead of sitting inside complaining to mom about who's in who's room. Yay for Daddy!!

Adjustments have been made and most of it has just come in stride.
Thank God I have such a flexible and understanding family!

The store has been WONDERFUL!!
Everyday, we have a new customer who are so excited to see us here. How rewarding is that!

We have blown through 2 months and it seems like we have been here forever. We have met so many people and have already sold out of classes and crop nights.

I have even had time to create! My business is in scrapbooking and we are here to INSPIRE. But do I daresay, I have been feeling a little uninspired.
But finally I had a breakthrough!

I played with some goodies in the store and created a few things.
I have taught 2 layout classes already, a couple beginning Scrapbooking classes and created another something to teach.
What a relief to be able to sit and create something. I have missed it.
So I have added it into my routine as well.

Time to Create!

non stop

2010-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I posted!

I can not believe it has been that long.We have been non-stop since we opened the store and it has been an exciting ride so far!
Crops, classes, samples and Grand Opening!Not to mention kids, day trips, boating, birthday parties, a baby shower, a wedding, laundry, house cleaning and soccer!

Ay Yah!
Here's some pictures to share for now. I actually am creating something right now, so as soon as I'm done, I'll share!

not neglecting you

2010-06-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

really!! It's not my intention!
As you know from the last post, I opened a scrapbook store!!
A dream come true!
My best pal and business partner, Patti and I have made the leap from online retailer to brick and mortar store owner! We have all kinds of goodies!
Cardstock WALL with 200 more pounds of cardstock arriving yesterday!
A la Carte embellishment table with buttons galore!

Product from Girl's Paperie, October Afternoon, Canvas Corp, Hambly, Tim Holtz & Ranger, American Crafts and more! You have to come in and take a peek!
I have not scrapped in weeks, but Friday night is crop night at the store, hopefully I can play for a little while :)
Thanks for all the well wishes.
This is a dream come true!

WoooHoooo!!!

2010-05-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, there is so much going on right now and I am overflowing!
For the past 2 months Patti and I have been working really hard to take the next step for our business. Things are definitely moving quickly and in the right direction!

Scrap for a Cure has become Art Inspired Studios!
We are moving from an online kit club to an actual brick and mortar store!
Yup, an actual store front!
I know... we are a little crazy

We love teaching, inspiring others and meeting people, so this was the next logical step for us.
We had started to have store hours in the garage, but the city said "No". We needed another option and fast. We had events scheduled and product to sell.

In just 8 weeks, we have found a location, signed a lease, ordered TONS of product, found and moved a stores worth of fixtures and created a calendar.*Of course this is not as simple as one sentence*
but it is done and in motion.
Our kick off event will be June 12th!Yup, there is so much more to do in 2-1/2 weeks!

On the personal side of things, we've taken several boating trips,celebrated Mad & Mario's birthday,my little sis graduated from College,the school year is winding down which means Open House, Art projects, field trips & parties

Needless to say, we've been on overdrive since expo. But no complaints here!
Life is good!

Day At Hero Arts

2010-05-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hero Arts

2010-05-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Patti & I attended an awesome event hosted by Hero Arts with Jennifer McGuire and Shari Carroll this weekend and I must say I'm on Inspiration overload.
REALLY!
I did not think that was possible, but it is.

These gals are absolutely incredible and the team at Hero Arts went above and beyond what I had ever expected. We had a day full techniques yesterday, followed by a FABULOUS dinner at The Broiler Room.

This is one of the project displays we created (modeled by the ubber cute Shari).This morning we were up and gone by 6:30 in efforts to beat the traffic and arrive back in Richmond by 8:30am, we made it with plenty of time to spare!! I even had time to get a Starbucks refill! YAY!!

Today was another day full of yummy color and stamping techniques that was followed by a tour of the factory. Check out the stacks and stacks of rubber stamps before they are mounted with the foam backing and head either to the cling table of block table.
Did you know about 90% of Hero Arts rubber stamps are hand cut?!
HAND CUT! Now that's quality!
And this one...
An overflowing box of mini wood blocks. Cool huh?
These are for the mini alpha sets you can getOh and can I mention how many goodies they gave us!
Holy Shmo!!Upon arrival, we had a box at each seat packed full of goodies from Glue Dots, Glue Arts, EK Success, Creative Impressions & Tsukineko, not to mention ALL the goodies from Hero Arts.
Then we got goodies from Canvas Corp, Bo Bunny, Creative Imaginations, Ranger & Stewart Superior!!

Throughout the event we got even more goodies!
& More goodies
& More goodies!
Let me not forget to mention the fabulous stuff we made. All of the goodies and we created too!Here's a card was made with acrylic and METALLIC StazOn. Yup, you heard me right!
Metallic StazOn! I LOVE it!
This is part of a sample strip we created to help show colors, flowers and other fabulous stuff Hero Arts manufactures. The fun one here is the use of Tim's metal foliage flowers, distress inks and new die cut labels. I will try to get more pictures tomorrow when I have better light :)
Now it's off to bed!
I'm exhausted!

2010-05-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

More layouts for me.
National Scrapbook Day got me going again. I completed 8 more-
here's a few-
some of the other ones are for the kids albums and include their classmates (that I don't want to add here) so you'll just have to believe me :)

This first one is a sketch from The Scrappiest, Sketch 62. I love Liz's sketches and need to use them more often-
they definitely help me get started-

For the one- Pink Pailsee stash. I've been hording this paper and realized that I need to use it before I pick up the newest PP release... yum
Another "stash" layout- My little shoebox here...
And project 12...February... I know a little behind but one month better than I was Friday :)
Thanks for peeking at some of my work-
I love all the comments!

wanna see? (picture heavy)

2010-05-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Scraptacular Getaways was 2 weeks ago and I still have not unpacked-
that's good because now all my stuff is ready to go for today ;)
well sort of... I need to restock the bag-
I created 8 layouts while we were there.not the norm for me, but I'm totally okay with it. I made a dent in the Christmas photo backlog I have, so that deserves a
YIPPY!

I used up my Basic Grey Christmas paper stash and some leftover SFAC Christmas kits I had- I am winding down those kits...
This makes me happy too!!

For this one I used the new Basic Grey 'Green at Heart' Line...
cute stuff, I think I'll be using more of this todaythis wall hanging is a spin off the class Patti taught at the Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton- I changed up a few of the supplies and taught this a Scrap getaways-
I love playing with my scrappy supplies on something other than a standard page.
I used a Donna Downey Canvas Page, Pearlescent Watercolors, an old book page, Maya Road sheer ribbon and Prima bling and canvas words (I also used the packaging from the Prima word)

It's FRIDAY...

2010-04-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

Can you hear me singing this right now??
It's Friday,
It's Friday...
Yippy!!

This is National Scrapbook Day WEEKEND for most-Me included!
I am scrappin' tomorrow!
ALL DAY!!
I'm actually a little excited-

I started my NSD weekend on the Pink Paislee Inspiration Train- It was a nice quick inspiration vacation without the extra packing or all the dirty clothes that you end up coming home with-

the team over there is pretty amazing!
I have so many ideas and I LOVE, LOVE the releases from this winter's CHA!
I can't wait to play with some of it. I need to head over to the garage for some goodies :)
Hope everyone has a crafty, creative weekend!
I plan too!

just pictures

2010-04-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

I'm still reading this book and love it-
I may have to get some back issues if I can find them,
oh, and I just noticed there is a new one!

One of my goals for my blog is to get more pictures,
so here we go...

Get outside and play with my camera
If layouts become my end result, great,
but if not, that's okay because I'm doing something I love!

Scrap for a Cure Update

2010-04-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Phew! So much going on with us at Scrap for a Cure...
Ranger U for Patti, Scrapbook expo, Scraptacular Getaways, crops, classes, and something exciting...
but we can’t say anything about just yet : )
you’re just going to have to trust us!

With that, we decided to give our customers a little break from a new kit for the month of May and start back up with something wonderful in the kit department for June. Call it our Mother’s day gift to your pocketbook!
We always give 110% to our customers and with being completely wrapped up, we do not want to let anything slip through the cracks or have ANYONE feel we have neglected them.

We will still have our challenges every Monday, sketches, tips & forum fun Stay tuned to the message board and blog or you might miss something!

Also, we will be extending Project R.I.D.E.’s tenor here so we can give them the most we can.

Reflection

2010-04-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

During my month long slump, I picked up this book.
I LOVE it!!
The first 2 times, I just looked through it at all the beautiful pictures,
Then I started to actually read it.
A couple words grabbed my attention
Legacy & Accountability

It made me think-
Think about how I want my family to view my blog,
how I want others to view me through my blog and
how I want to see myself through my blog.

I started looking back at some of blog posts and I feel I am missing something.
I was not quite sure what, but 'it' was missing...

Looking at it again, I think 'I' am missing from my blog.
I tried to read it like an outsider-
my first impression,
this gal is over extended, and she seems unorganized.

Really?
This is not the impression I want to give, this is not what I want to be-
I feel I can only blame myself
I let myself get into these ruts- instead of recognizing it before it happens-
I let myself get too involved and have a hard time saying NO, sorry I don't have time-
I need to slow it down a bit, not take on any more than I already have
(easier said than done right?)

I have decided that this is how it needs to be.
Stop
Breathe
and (occasionally) Say No
My hope it that these 3 things will give me back that little bit of sanity I feel I have lost.
That little bit of energy, that little bit of my self that is missing.

It's April... new kits are here

2010-04-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Scrap for a Cure April Kits are available!!
Wanna see??

Our Sew Crafty kit has a mix of Dear Lizzy, Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl, Sassafras and Maya Road

Our Mixed Medium 'Not so Mini' kit has Pink Paislee yummy's, Maya Road and Glimmer Mist!

You can pick yours up on the Scrap for a Cure website!

I FOUND IT!!!

2010-04-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my WONDERFUL friends at Scrap for a Cure, who kept me positive and hopeful, I have located the scrappy mojo!
YES!!!

This weekend we are hosting our Spring Fling and the team has come up with some great challenges.

My First challenge of the weekend took me almost an hour and a half to finish!
I never take that long. But it helped get me going...
It was a fun recipe game/challenge from Pam-
Then I did a scraplift (of a great LO from Erin)- which took about an hour and 15 minutes

Then I did this one in 45 minutes!!
Woo Hoo back to normal scrapping speed :)
This one is a sketch from Liz at The Scrappiest,
She created a Spring Fling crop exclusive!!
The most current Challenge is from me...
With Easter just finishing and all all the talk about dozens-
a dozen eggs (even though we did 5 dozen ), a dozen muffins, a dozen doughnuts... yada, yada, yada

I thought we would scrap a dozen- It can be a dozen anything...
In my layout, I have
A dozen buttons
A dozen doodle lines
A dozen Thickers pieces

And RIGHT NOW, there is a game of Steal the RAK going on...
hop on over and check it out!

inspiration

2010-04-07T14:39:00.001-07:00

Erin, thanks for this!!

another week has past

2010-04-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

and it has not returned...
my mojo that is...
I'm still looking for it, I even posted a LOST noticed on our message board

I need to get with it QUICK!!
We have our SFAC April launch on Friday,
We have our Spring Fling Online Crop this weekend
and Scraptacular Getaways on the 16th

AURGH.....

MOJO...
Oh MOJO...
where can you be???

no mojo...

2010-03-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

It's missing!
I have no idea what happened to it.
I have been uninspired.

So I decided to make these instead

Banana Chocolate Chip muffins
yum...

And since the oven was already on,
why not make these too.

Probably not a wise decision since I am sure I will eat most of them.
But the house sure did smell good last night.

bad blogger, bad scrapper, bad MOMMA...

2010-03-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

hiya...I know I say this all the time, but really, were does the time go-
A week has gone by in a flash and worse off the month is almost over.
Weren't we just celebrating CHRISTMAS?!?!?

Expo was a HUGE success!
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to visit, chat and SHOP :)
We will start loading new product to the website this week-

Monday was Julia's birthday...
10 years old
Can you believe it? I can't

And thanks to my dear cousin who had to remind me...
"The older she gets,
the older YOU get!"
ha, thanks for that...
but then I had to reminded him that he is older than me...

Happy birthday Daughter Dear!
We love you VERY much!!

We are at Expo

2010-03-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post...
We are at expo and we were swamped yesterday!! It was great seeing some of our 'old' friends and meeting some of our current customers.

Our booth looks pretty awesome too! It's loaded.
Last night we even got to play a little-
I created this fabric layout with one of the Donna Downey kit we selling-
It turned out really cute-

Have a fabulous weekend everyone-
HUGS!!

really quick

2010-03-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to think of anything lately but Expo-
2 more days!!

I just wanted to wish my dear sister and my sweet little cousin each a very Happy Birthday!!

Love you guys!!

ramblings

2010-03-11T11:53:00.001-08:00

You ever have those days-
you can't complete a thought without something else popping in??
That's me today...

Expo-
finish packing class kits
finish cutting paper
price product
packing product
Thickers wall
Dear Lizzy
American Crafts is coming today
fill Lizzy kit pre-orders
post office pick-up
need more shipping boxes
phones ringing...
dog wants outside
we need dog food
we need eggs and bread
grocery list
car needs gas-

back to expo... focus...
signs
coupons
cash register tape
get out supply box
tables
gridwall
Uhaul?? still undecided
Zva Creative is here! ohhhh, pretty...
Prima
aprons
Donna Downey kits? where are those?
Samples... oh my goodness, forgot about the samples!
Bank
Oh the Taxes...not again!

I think my list could go on forever...I need to break this apart better- I gotta go....
Yikes we have Art class in an hour!

rushed and worried

2010-03-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

missed you guys!!
these past few days were a little nuts-
not just business and family.
I found out my friend Jackie's baby girl had to head to the hospital for heart surgery, and if you know me, I hate waiting for news!
While waiting, I was keeping busy...
getting ready for expo, prep class kits- cutting and packing, more product arrived, getting everything priced, getting kits shipped... I'm sure there's more...

end's up Jackie is back home, thank god, but Grace will still need surgery-
their waiting for her to kick her cold.
So keep them in your thoughts!

Still need to finish prepping for expo! the countdown has begun!

Challenge's are up

2010-03-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

A new challenge at The Studio...

Scrap a page and include on it some memorabilia from the time you are scrapping about!

My journaling says:
It's time, the days and years of all my soccer glory are long gone- yet I still hold on to all this stuff- Trophies, medals & pins- all collecting dust-
it's time...
move on

I just recently got rid off all these trophies that we collecting dust in my scrap room. The space has better use now...
I did keep a lot of the pins I had and I torn off a few of the name plates-
I did have a layout like this in mind when I decides to clean up-

Thanks to The Studio for helping me get it done :)

Scrap Night

2010-03-06T23:45:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a fabulous time with my family and some of my friends at dinner-
I received so many messages yesterday!!! You all are sooooooooo sweet!!!
Thanks and hugs to you all!!

Look at this... from the Hubby & the kids!! YAY!!

I took a little video, and now have to figure out how to load it- I hear it's SUPER easy...

The kids and my mom got me these :)

Today the Girlfriends Garage was open with a crop night! We had a good time and scrapped away- well, everyone else did,
Patti and I prep'd the expo class kits. This is all I got done tonight, but it's something right :) I am working through those stacks of old pictures...

I hope I can scrap a little tomorrow-
right now my table is such a mess I can't even SEE it.

Mid Thirties... that's me

2010-03-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

I am officially in my MID-Thirties!!
35 years today!
I have received so many birthday messages today, it fills my heart with joy!
I have some of the best friends a gal can ask for.
Even some of my long lost pals remembered my day!

Thanks to all of you for stopping in to visit,
for all the lovely comments you leave and for all the new friendships I have formed.
The Scrappy World is a great place!!

a small peek before I enjoy a great big family dinner!

Support our Teachers, Day of Action

2010-03-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Today is a Day of Action-
Today I am on my SOAPBOX!!

All across California and the United States, education is taking a hit!
Class sizes are being increased, Teachers are getting laid off, schools are closing...
It's the Teachers and the Students who will suffer!

What is happening to our education system and what will happen to our kids??

Today is the day to write your Congress men and women!
Write to the Governor!
Take Action today and help save our future!!
We have to protect our children,
don't they deserve it!!

The Gods are Bowling

2010-03-03T15:19:00.000-08:00

We just had a DOWN POUR of rain and hail!
I mean a down pour and it lasted about 1 minute.
That's it- as fast as it came it stopped-
But it was so much, it flooded the patio-

About 30 seconds later, lightening flashed across the sky and the thunder rolled!

Madison got completely freaked out and bolted into the living room and took a dive under the coffee table.

Julia, my darling, book worm daughter, says, "don't worry Madi, the Gods are just bowling."
"Or then again, Zeus might be mad"

She has been obsessed with the Percy Jackson book series-
she read all 5 books in a week and has started to read them all again.
Since the thunder and lightening she has been going on and on about Zeus, lightening bolts and
"oh yeah, in the book... but in the movie..."
"And then there's this one part..."

Kids, aren't they funny?

where did Monday go??

2010-03-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

Gone... zoom...there it went.
Maybe is was all the errands and yearbook stuff I had to do yesterday, but it flew by. And now it's dinner time and another day is about over.
I wish someone would invent that slow motion machine...

Yesterday was the trimester awards assembly. Julia worked hard on a few subjects and stayed on the Honor Roll.
Report cards came out a few weeks ago and we rewarded the kids good grades with new books!
A win, win really!
They love books and they are good for their minds, so why not.

I was totally bummed though- halfway through the awards ceremony the camera decided to stop working. My battery showed it was half charged, but I guess it was not enough to get good pictures. The last half of the pictures I took we completely blurry and then it just stopped all together. Good thing I got 1 decent one-

Here's another layout to share from the Strawberry Fields kit-

Those kits are selling good- there are less than a handful left!!

Here, I scrapped Madison's first day of school!
This is huge for me, I am usually an entire year behind-
Now if I can get Julia's done too, I'll be even happier :)

Strawberry Fields

2010-02-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Scrap for a Cure kits are READY!!

Spring is approaching and one of the first things to bloom in our area are strawberries. With all the fun, cheery spring colors and fruit icons at CHA, we had no problem putting this yummy kit together. Let us help you get out of the winter hum-drum, and into warm, sweet smelling ‘Strawberry Fields’.

Brand new CHA release will explode from this kit. Dear Lizzy, Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin, My Mind’s eye and My Little Shoebox mixed up perfectly, just for you.
Do you want one of these kits? Visit our Featured Kits tab and get yours today.

Here are a few layouts I created with the Kit- I will have more tomorrow!!

It's Friday, It's Friday

2010-02-26T08:40:00.001-08:00

ONE more day until the official
GRAND OPENING of the Girlfriend's Garage!!

I am so excited!!

In the last week, UPS and FedEx has been to the garage everyday!!
We received:
American Crafts
Tattered Angels
8 BOXES from Ranger
Sassafras Lass
My Mind's Eye &
Maya Road

WOW! We are bursting at the seams!
Product Overload!!

If you are in Brentwood, stop by tomorrow-
12-5pm
738 Craig Court

The Studio EXTRA!

2010-02-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'm up for this weeks EXTRA!! at The Studio
It's time to get out those paints!

It's always fun to play with paint. There are different types and different uses for them.
My favorite paints are acrylic paints.

Paints can be used on chipboard, wood, paper and when used with a primer, on metal and glass.
I like to use paint to add color to layout. Instead of adding another piece of cardstock, I often paint my pattern paper to create a background.

I just created this LO-
The background was taking away from the photo, so a light coat of SnowCap and Pearl softened it up a bit.

For this one, I used a yellow to go with the fun bright colors from Sassafras Lass-

I've even used paint instead of distress ink on the edges of paper.

In this weeks Studio challenge I used bubble wrap as a stamp with paint.

Now, go paint something!
Diana-

Lots of SCRAPPY Stuff

2010-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

I taught a class on Saturday!
Woo Hoo!!
This is big for me, since it's usually Patti doing the teaching-
Our class was in the SFAC-Girlfriend's Garage.

I taught a Tattered Angels class!
It was SO FUN!!
I focused the class more as a technique class than a mini book class-

We used the Wedding Glimmer Mist kit and added a few more colors so it did not look "wedding".

The kit is great because it comes with an album, 3 Glimmer Mist bottles, a Glimmer Screen, a box of Glimmer chips, tags, paper and embellishments.

The gals that attended the class were new to Glimmer Mist and they really enjoyed themselves.
I showed the basic concept of Glimmer misting and how the distance of your spray to the paper really changes the way it appears. We did a lot of mixing/layering of colors as well.

We used screens as masks and also as a stamp.

I showed them how they could use Glimmer mist to dye ribbon and how the effects on paper can change itfyou add creases or crumple it.
It turned out great and I think I have converted them to "Glimmer Misters"-

After the class we hosted a crop night.
We had another great turn out!
Our twice a month crop nights seem to be just what we all needed to get our butt's back in gear to get those projects done-
Not only that, but it is really fun to get to hang out and chit chat with the ladies-

Since I was still in the Glimmer Misting mood, I created this layout-
I used a screen with Old Lace and Granite sprays. Once it was dry I outlined the screen area with a black pen to help it stand out more.
I used Collage press die cuts and other goodies from the SFAC Nutcracker kit.

For the next one, I used some Very Merry from October Afternoon and more Collage press.
And the First Visit LO is Webster's Pages and Making Memories-
Supplies from the SFAC Mistletoe Kisses kit.

One thing I am determined to do BEFORE next Christmas (and I know that it a LONG time off) but I WILL get my 5 year backlog of Christmas pictures done! I'm sure I will be sick and tired of Christmas by the time it rolls around again, but in every yearly album I have, it's the Christmas pages that are missing.

I host The Studio Extra this week- so look for that here tomorrow :D
Thanks for stopping by!!

3rd February Challenge

2010-02-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

I just noticed this did not post on Sunday night-hmmm, wonder what happened??
Anyway, here you go.

Here's the 3rd challenge from The Studio for February-
A photo inspiration challenge-

Create something using this photo as your inspiration-

I decided to go with the colors and the texture for my layout.

I love fall, so those colors we easy for me to use-
For the texture I used Making Memories acrylic paint and bubble wrap. It's not only fun to pop, but it makes a pretty good texture stamp. I rolled some up so I had something to grip and dabbed into a paint tray. I used 3 colors on one tray and "stamped" all the colors at once, the more you stamp, the more the texture changes.
Add a little scallops and some stitching and all done-

another one

2010-02-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am using up those kits-

I got the large scallop idea from SFAC DT member Veronica's blog post, super easy and it uses up those odd shapes scraps- those green scallops on the bottom are made from only 2 circles.

Also used my sewing machine again-
I did not realize how hard it was to TRY making your stitching lines NOT straight-

More practice I guess.

SEW loving my sewing machine...

2010-02-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hee,hee...
I finally took the sewing machine back out of the box
Out of the back corner of the closet

It was packed up for Thanksgiving dinner and had been stashed away since...
Oh how I missed you, my friend *wink, wink*

I scrapped a little bit-
I heard from some of the gals on Willow Traders that Lily Bee is having a DT call, so I figured what the heck :)
I created 2 layouts for that (not sure if I can post them here yet)
and then I created a layout for this week's Studio Challenge-

Make a page about the love of your life (person, chocolate bar, whatever!) without using pink or red.

Here's my take on it-
I know my girls are wearing pink, but seriously, when aren't they...

I used the BG Wisteria Line and my good ol' sewing machine-
and added some eye candy from Creative Charm

I have a couple more ideas floating around, but I have to ask the question...

Do you scrap those photos you love more than once?? I have some that I absolutely adore but am truly wondering if I should scrap them again?? Part of me says why not, but then there is that other voice in my head that says, move on...

What do you do??

Winner, Winner!!!

2010-02-14T18:05:00.001-08:00

My awesome dd helped me pick a winner!!

Winner of the Scrap for a Cure French Kiss kit!!!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE....................

ARE YOU DRUMMING.................
The winner is...........................................................................................................................................

Juliann Marchant
A new member of the Scrap for a Cure group on facebook!!

Woohoo!

Contact me through email at craftymom2two@comcast.net with your snail mail address and I will ship out your YUMMY kit!!

To all who played along, thank you so much!
It was fun having so many new visitors to my blog.
I'm scrapping tonight, so hopefully I will have something to share with you tomorrow :D
Happy *HEARTS* Day everyone!

February Challenges... New Challenge, New Format

2010-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

A couple things have changed at The Studio-

The Studio will now have WEEKLY challenges and inspiration!
So stay in front of your computer screens every Sunday and play along with us for a chance to win a fabulous prize by the end of the month!!
The more challenges you complete every month brings you closer to the win!

Our first challenge for the month of February:

- If I were a boy… create a page based around the idea of what life
would be like if you were a member of the opposite sex. What would
be better about it? What would you miss?

You have until 28th February to enter your layouts for a chance to win February’s prize! To enter your layout for a chance of winning the prize you need to upload a picture to your blog, gallery or the gallery at the studio. Then post your link to Mr Linky in the sidebar on the blog!

Can't wait to see what you create!

Here's mine:

What If...
My initial thought for this challenge was "no worries about makeup, sports all the time, day hikes, camping and 4-wheeling, baseball hats and jeans, then I thought I do that already. This picture really got me, so my journaling says:

What if... I was a boy?
no way because I would not be your MOM!

*another layout from the "Not So Mini" February SFAC release, 'Beautiful Dreamer'

Fun with another kit

2010-02-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

I am quite a bit behind with my Scrap for a Cure kits-
which is really bad considering I'm an owner...
I am determined to get through them!
All of them!
I think I have about 6 kits sitting on my shelf right now and that does not account for any of my other stash...
I need to get a move on! Especially since all the Dear Lizzy stuff has arrived!!

We scrapped last night in The Girlfriends Garage and had a blast. It's so fun to get together with others and crop. We had music, snacks, laughing and more laughing and even accomplished scrappy pages and mini books.
It also helps that Willow Traders is having weekly challenges and a weekly blop hop. It helps keep me motivated-

I worked with the Monster Bash kit and pretty much used it all up :)
Here's a few LO's
I did add cardstock and some bling to these-
oh and a Collage Press die cut that just matched what I was working with.

The January Recap layout is from Project 12 that is going on here

The February sketch is already up too- here

The new challenges with the new Design Team will be up at the Studio sometime today- I will post mine here tomorrow.
Don't forget about my giveaway!!
You have one more week :)

More with the Mini

2010-02-04T15:28:00.001-08:00

I created a mini book with my SFAC Beautiful Dreamer kit-
I used up the rest of the papers,
the chipboard clock,
and almost all the rest of the embellies.
I still have some pp left that I can use as accents on other things. But I am happy to say, the kit is used up. YAY! And within a week of the launch. I think that's a first for me...

The only things I added:
Thickers
Glimmer Mist
Distress Stickles

What do you think??
When I first created the cover first I left is as raw chipboard.

After staring at it awhile I decided to change it-
I used glimmer mist and immediately wiped the thickers-
Because they are foam, the mist did not penetrate it like it does on paper and chipboard, so I was able to wipe it, most of the color came off:)
I added distress stickles (from last months kit) in the numbers to help them stand out more.

This mini is so I can have my 2009 Favorites all together in one spot (remember this post?) I was really close to adding more photos but I restrained myself :)

Thanks for peeking and do not forget about my giveaway!!
I'm excited at the response so far and it's only been a day!

It's great to know that people love Scrap for a Cure kits!!

Sharing the LOVE

2010-02-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

It's February already... I know, I'm 3 days behind...
and this month is all about LOVE
and HEARTS
and all those CUTE-SIE little things
But first and more importantly...
the SUPERBOWL is this weekend!!
Yippy!! Go Colts, Go Colts, Go Colts...

(sorry... back to the LOVE...)

I decided I am going to share the LOVE, and you can too.

Since I LOVE, LOVE this months kit I'm giving one away!! That's right! I'm giving one away. I want you to LOVE it too!!

You can enter my drawing a few different ways, or do them all for more chances to win!! I will announce a winner on VALENTINES DAY!!
Okay...
Details, details, details

1) become a follower of my blog and post here
2) Share this giveway with others on your blog and link me up!
3) Become a FAN of Scrap for a Cure on Facebook

Each one of these things will add your name to the drawing.
Easy right??

You have until midnight on Feb 13th to enter!!

Love, Peace & Scrappiness,
Diana & Scrap for a Cure

ETA: If you already purchased this kit and you are the winner, I'll send you a MARCH kit instead :D Good Luck!!

February Kits are ready & I scrapped some more!!

2010-01-31T21:07:00.000-08:00

I was so relieved to be done with the taxes that I actually slept 8 hours last night! The first time in a week I got more than 5 hours of sleep at once.
I felt so good this morning-
I was in the mood to create, so I made a pot of coffee and got started.

I worked with the Beautiful Dreamer Mini Kit, well I think we are calling it a 'Not so Mini' Kit now-

Here my LO's and a card-

And I still have papers left for at least 2 more layouts.
And that's a MINI kit!!

Here's the Main kit-
French Kiss
I can't wait to spread this one out all over my table.

DONE!!

2010-01-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

WooHoo...
I am done with the taxes (for now). I'm giving myself a few days off before I finish up the year end stuff and reports and hand them off the the tax lady. Thanks goodness for Business Accounting Software, it sure does make life easier!!

I even had a moment to create something :) My Scrap for a Cure LO's and my challenge LO for the Studio. The lighting is pretty bad for you'll have to wait for the launch tomorrow.
Patti created a cute video to help show off all the goodies in this month's kit, "French Kiss".
(The Studio Challenge is for Monday.) So keep coming back :)

I can show you a few things I made for Creative Charms :)

In the Soar LO I used my big Fancy Pants stamp as my flourish background and added flowers and bling. I used glimmer mist on the flowers to help them blend (they were originally white with black dots) and used the black and white fabric butterflies.
I also used my STASH!!
Some Rusty Pickle paper, Pink Paislee and Heidi Swapp Chipboard (remember when they came in the black box that looked like coasters??? yup, I still have those)

For this one I used the rest of the Studio Calico kit I received for The Studio January challenge sponsor.
I mixed 3 styles of flowers and the sheer butterfly and those cute little calendar spots from Elle's Studio.
It's my sister and her"baby".

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow :D for some more scrappy fun!

more CHA pictures

2010-01-28T16:52:00.001-08:00

Tattered Angels booth

Ranger Booth

Autograph by Tim, new Hambly Rub-on, and

Nidia falling in love with a Twilight project we saw in the Fill-ables booth

I'm Home & exhausted!

2010-01-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Back from CHA and I'm exhausted! 4 days of work~ I think it so great that I LOVE what I do! It makes "work" so much more enjoyable!

We spend almost 3 full days at the show, it was so totally worth it!!
We met Lizzy!! CK Scrapbooker of the Year!
She is so cute!

I'm not a "celeb" stalker, but we had to see her, she was signing books and taking pictures. So we went over and said hello.

We ran into her 4 more times at the show and she remembered who we were-
It was so cool!.

Here's her new stuff... yummy!

And yes... we did order it ALL!

It's official! The Scrap for a Cure garage is officially a store! We have everything up on the walls, tables and carpet and heat for all of your scrapping needs :)
All the stuff we ordered that will be arriving in the next month, so spread the word!

CHA FUN!!

2010-01-25T00:09:00.000-08:00

We are here in Anaheim for the Winter Craft & Hobby Association show-

Day one is complete and we only made it through 1/2 the show floor. We were doing our version of Grab & Go... Catalogs, order forms, a few pictures, a little chatting and off to the next booth-

AND we ONLY made it through 1/2!!

We did meet some fun people today and visited with some old friends-

We took a super fun class with Suzy West from My Little Shoebox-
Her team is pretty funny!! If you do not know Suzy, you MUST meet her. She's a hoot!

It's midnight and I just finished looking through the catalogs we got today, there is some very cute stuff out and I can't wait to start planning the next few months kits!!

Be sure to check back tomorrow, hopefully I will get some better pictures than the ones from today. Of the 80 pictures Nidia and I took only about a dozen turned out good- for some reason the lighting in there made everything look yellow.

But here are some just for fun :D

2009 favorites

2010-01-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

It's still January so I think it still safe to jump in on all the fun Year in Review posts I've been seeing around. I've been inspired by my friend Jackie to play along with Stacy Julian's Sprinkle #13

here are the details:

Your *sprinkle* this week is to select and share 12 favorite photos from the past year. To make this an exercise in intuitive creativity, you are NOT going to make this task hard. For example, you won’t make yourself pick one photo from each of the last 12 months–even though that seems like a good idea. You won’t play even-Steven and make sure all the people you love are represented in your collection. You won’t attempt to force a theme or look for a specific kind of photo. What you will do is use your kitchen timer and follow these six steps:

1.Create a “2009 Favorites” folder on your computer.
2.Open up your digital photo library.
3.Set your timer for 12 minutes and hit start.
4.Scroll quickly through your photos until an image catches your eye.
5.Stop and save this image to your folder.
6.Continue selecting and saving until your timer beeps.

Now, think of a way to share them. You could …

1.Email them to your extended family.
2.Print them and display them on the fridge or back door.
3.Post them to your blog or Facebook.
4.Put them together on a scrapbook page.
5.Use them to create a 2010 calendar.

This was much harder than I thought- I did not realize how many pictures I took last year.
Not bad if I do say so myself.
So to pick ONLY 12!!
I did my best...

A lot of these have already been posted on the blog and many of them were used for 2010 calendars I made as gifts.
Some of them have been scrapped and some posted on facebook-
but I must say looking at them again makes me HAPPY!!

It's raining

2010-01-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

It's raining,
it's pouring,
I wish I was still in bed SNORING!!

Oh my goodness, I think rain brings out all the stupid people!
I'm sorry, not that I should be ugly first thing in the morning, but seriously people...

Headed to school this morning- as expected everyone is driving to school today. So imagine how many cars are pulling into the school loop and parking lot- there are over 900 students in one school-
The loop is a moving loop, do not exit the vehicle- teachers help the kids out and you pull forward, students exit curb side and it is only ONE lane- normally it is very smooth...
But on rainy days there are parents that think they ARE the exception to the rule-
They pull into the second lane (the drive thru only lane) and let their kids out- They stop in the middle of the road and let their kids out, they honk and hold up traffic just so they are not late or they do not get wet, rolling thru stop signs and running their kids across the busy street (not in the crosswalk).

REALLY PEOPLE! Remember SAFETY?!?!
You know it's raining, leave early if you do not want to deal with the loop traffic!
ARGH!!

*breathe*

okay, sorry for the rant! I need another cup of coffee!

************
On to more interesting tings!
A few things I have forgotten to blog about!

Scrap for a Cure already has February Peeks!! Yup, check it out here
If you are interested in the January kits, act fast there are less than a handful of each left.

The Studio has chosen the new Design Team- There are some REALLY talented ladies in this group, I might get a complex...

CHA is almost here!!
I am very excited to see the new releases.
There are so many peeks out right now.
But I think my fav's so far are American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee and Hambly... yummy!
We have lots of kits to plan and lots of friends to visit.
We are heading out Saturday so I will be sure to have pictures so make sure you come back to see.

Off to get coffee!!

Yay Me!!

2010-01-19T10:12:00.000-08:00

I scrapped, FINALLY!!
My first layouts of 2010 and I used the SFAC Romantique Kit

It took me a while to actually commit to get anything down on paper, but once I got started, I felt a little better. I am truly in a creative rut. I am constantly doubting my creative "instincts".

To help me get motivated, I turned to our amazing DT
Every Monday, one member of the DT hosts our weekly blog/forum challenge.

My first LO comes from Deanna's challenge, scrapping your 2010 goals/resolutions. I mixed it with Ali's One Little Word challenge.
My word for 2010
Simplify

I used the photo I took the first week of January for my new forum avatar.

My next layout is this weeks Monday challenge, hosted by Danielle, scrapping those holiday pictures. She must have secretly seen the STACKS of Christmas photos I have in my scrap room. I can honestly say, and quite embarrassed by it too, I have at least 4 years of Christmas photos to scrap.
NO JOKE!
Our family is really big, so every year there are at least 4 Christmas parties and I am normally family photographer. With that said, there are anywhere from 50-100 photos from each event.
Here is a family photo from 2006-
I scrapped this as 8 1/2 x 11 and "fussy cut" one of the Webster pages papers from the kit.

This one I lifted from Erin-
I took her idea of cutting apart the American Crafts paper and came up with this.

I created another schedule for today and so far so good.
Besides the everyday school thing & lunches, homework & dinner
3 loads of wash,
update the blog
visit my forum friends
clean up the desk from yesterdays scrap session,
data entry
1 hour of scrapping

Wish me luck :D

New Challenge

2010-01-19T02:00:00.000-08:00

There is another challenge posted at the Studio! I can't believe how quickly the time is going. Here are the details...

So, onto the challenge!

1. Take your alphas and alter them. Maybe you have a font you love but in the wrong colour – well change them! Show us what you can do!
2. Use a symmetrical page design – everything on one side should balance what’s on the other.
3. Use fabric of some kind on your page!

Here's mine :) This one was harder for me than the first one this month. Not sure why exactly but it really took me awhile to get this one done.

Join in and link your layouts on The Studio blog with Mr. Linky. You could win a prize!

ramblings

2010-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

I had all these plans for the new year-
blogging every day,
scrapping once a week,
taking more pictures,
organizing my scrap room,
take more pictures

To do all of the things that get pushed aside-
So far,
not even close...

So I'm taking my friends advice.
Schedule it in.
All the things that need to happen during the weeks are usually scheduled-
Soccer practice, scheduled
Games, scheduled
Gymnastics, scheduled

Today's schedule:
Lunch with Patti & the kiddos
2 loads of wash
vacuuming
Scrapping

1-3 are done... Time to scrap!

Gotta love ROUTINE

2010-01-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

You and I both know I am constantly grumbling about how busy I am.
But honestly I think it saves my sanity.
crazy right?

With 2 weeks off and the holidays happening, I was completely out of whack-
By the end of break, the house was a disaster,
there was no food...no cat food, no dog food and no people food!
There were about 15 loads of wash, which means NO CLEAN CLOTHES
and everyone in the house was on each others nerves.

YAY for SCHOOL and YAY for work!! Kids and hubby gone for the day.
Mario joked with me yesterday, "So did you enjoy the quite??"
YES I DID!!
Even with going to Costco, Safeway, PetSmart and the vet, school drop off and pick up, washed and put away a few more loads of clothes, filled and emptied the dishwasher, helped with homework, made dinner and cleaned the mess... It was a pretty relaxing day!

I know it sounds crazy?
I guess it's just getting back to doing what I know.

January Kits

2010-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Are available at Scrap for a Cure!!
Don't miss them!

First Challenge of 2010

2010-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Studio has posted the first challenge of the year!

Our sponsor this month is Studio Calico! We were lucky enough to receive the December main kit to create with and yes! The prize for this challenge is one of these kits!

Make a page that includes a lot of “white space”.
The subject of your page should be something that scares you; scrap your fears!
Use 3 photos in the design of your page – but don’t forget that white space!

Here's Mine:

I love white space and I should do it more often. My only problem is I know how many supplies I have stashed away and always think I should use more. But I do create layouts like this often and love it.
My fear is the ocean. The powerful and always changing beautiful truly puts me on edge. It’s a love/hate kinda thing.

Head over to the blog to see all the great inspiration from the Design Team!!

Speaking of DT's...

The Studio has extended the DT call until January 7th! You still have time to apply. Here's the post with all the info. What are you waiting for?? Head on over!

you have to see this!

2010-01-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

I was blog hopping today and somehow came across this blog, Operation NICE
What a truly inspiring blog. I've been reading post after post. Take a moment to head over there and read a few of the posts.
If you fancy a video... you have to see this! (here's the direct link)
Talk about warm fuzzies! I have always believed in Paying it forward. It's amazing what a little niceness can do!

For you my friends! Share the love!

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T12:33:00.001-08:00

Cheers to 2010!!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

1090 miles...

2009-12-31T17:10:00.001-08:00

The week of holiday craziness is finally over!
Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it sure is exhausting! In one weeks time, we have traveled over 1000 miles visiting and enjoying family time. We have been on the go since Christmas Eve morning and today is the first time we have been home with NO WHERE to go. Which means I finally have time to be here :)
We stuck with several holiday traditions, Christmas pancake breakfast and prime rib dinner, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for Santa

matching PJ's from grandma,

reindeer dogs,

silly cousin pictures

a trip to Monterey- they have the best saltwater taffy.

And
We also made it to the snow and built a MEGA snowman!

Now it's time to stay home and relax until the kids head back to school. No more driving for me! Well at least that is the plan ;)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and you get all the best in 2010!!

Challenge time again

2009-12-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

Wow, we are almost at the week countdown until Christmas! Where has the time gone?! I hope you have all put aside a little time to join in with our second December challenge. Here it is:

It wouldn’t be right without a little bit of Christmas spirit (just a little bit!), so make a Christmas layout without using Christmas themed papers or embellishments
Use only 1 photo
You can not use alphabet stickers. (You may stamp, hand cut, etc.)

Here's Mine:

This was a great challenge. I know I often have a tough time not reaching for the themed papers for Christmas and Halloween, but challenges like this help you step out of the box. For my layout I used papers from the Basic Grey Wisteria line. I used chipboard scrolls as a mask for Shimmerz spray and added the scrolls back into my layout. A forever stamp and some hand journaling added a little extra.

Have fun with this one, I did!! It's been almost 2 weeks since I sat down to create something- how refreshing! Make time in your crazy schedule to play along :)

DT Call at The Studio

2009-12-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

I LOVE being part of The Studio! The gals there are so much fun and Amanda is awesome! We are having a Design Team call!
Here's the details!!

It’s that time again!!

What are we looking for?

In a nutshell, fresh talent! I’d like to recruit 7 talented, committed scrappers with a desire to have FUN! Following the success of the site over the last few months we are expanding! You will be joining our established DT, increasing the DT to 12 members. Your ability to take a good photograph or scan of your finished projects is almost as important as your scrapping talent. Initial appointments will be for 6 months (Feb 2010 -July 2010) with the possibility of extending your term.

What will be expected of you?

1.With the new additions to the DT we will be changing our schedule so that we now have a new challenge every Sunday. You will be required to produce 1 layout per fortnight on a “one week on, one week off” basis.
2. You will be expected to promote The Studio on your blog and online forums where permitted
3. You should post encouraging comments on participants’ blogs/galleries
4. You will assist with choosing a winner from the challenge entries
5. Have a regular presence in our community http://scrapbook101studio.ning.com/, actively participate in and start new discussions.

What’s in it for you?

1.The opportunity to be part of a DT and add the experience to your list of achievements
2.Access to the exclusive DT area of Scrapbook-101
3.Your own page on Scrapbook-101 (to include your bio, links to your website, and generally promote your scrappy endeavours)
4. Link to your personal blog from The Studio
5. The chance to get involved at the start of something BIG!
6. The DT have supplies provided by sponsors from time to time.
7. A small RAK from me if you are successful

The rules and how to apply (sorry, there must be rules!):

1. Include 3 JPEG images of 12×12 or 8.5×11
2. In addition to the previous three images you should make one 12×12 or 8.5×11 layout with an “about me” theme. It should include at least 2 different techniques. Include a JPEG image of the page (max. file size 500k) and write a tutorial for the layout. This one should be a previously unseen layout (each picture max. file size 500k). No work previously published online or in print will be accepted. Use this opportunity to showcase your talent and your personal style
3. Tell me a bit about yourself.
4. Tell us in 50 words why you belong on The Studio design team! Don’t be modest, let us know what makes you great!5. You may include details of online galleries where your work is displayed or design teams you currently belong to (or have previously belonged to). This is not essential and will not affect your application.
6. You must have a regularly updated blog – please include a link. You’ll get bonus points if you have The Studio Blinkie displayed there
7. Email your 4 layouts, and relevant info to thestudio@scrapbook-101.com with “Design Team Call” in the subject line

International applicants are welcomed and encouraged to apply.

REMEMBER: The quality of your pictures is important!

Closing date is 31st December, 5pm London time! Successful applicants will be notified during the 1st week of January 2010.

{live the moment...}

Weddings are coming

Moving time

Hello 2012!

Holiday Decor

PINTEREST = INSPIRATION

Decisions....

Summer is here... enjoy a Sherbert Swirl

more rainy days

June 1st = Big News

Here comes the sun... (I HOPE!!!)

Happy Birthday!!

Mission Inn Hotel

May Madness

Motivational Monday

My Turn

National Scrapbook Day

Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday

My Core’dinations Creative Frenzy

I'm teaching next week with GLITZ Designs

on a roll now...

3 Day mini book

Wedding Layouts

*LOVE* Cabo

operation clean room: Task 2 Organizing

Scrap Room finds

operation: CLEAN ROOM Task 1-b

operation: CLEAN ROOM Task 1

found it...My 2011 Word

CHA is coming

2011...yikes

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Getting crafty with Punky

We WIN!!

Orange October, but it's NOVEMBER??

Cosmo Cricket Mini

'William Tell Overture' Mom

Embrace the camera

hello my friend

More Creativity

creative me!!!

{live the moment...}: Back in the groove

Back in the groove

non stop

not neglecting you

WoooHoooo!!!

Day At Hero Arts

Hero Arts

wanna see? (picture heavy)

It's FRIDAY...

just pictures

Scrap for a Cure Update

Reflection

It's April... new kits are here

I FOUND IT!!!

inspiration

another week has past

no mojo...

bad blogger, bad scrapper, bad MOMMA...

We are at Expo

really quick

ramblings

rushed and worried

Challenge's are up

Scrap Night

Mid Thirties... that's me

Support our Teachers, Day of Action

The Gods are Bowling

where did Monday go??

Strawberry Fields

It's Friday, It's Friday

The Studio EXTRA!

Lots of SCRAPPY Stuff

3rd February Challenge

another one

SEW loving my sewing machine...

Winner, Winner!!!

February Challenges... New Challenge, New Format

Fun with another kit

LOVE Cabo