Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!

We have so much to be happy about as we start 2011!  Not only do we have a fabulous new issue of ScrapStreet.com Magazine AND a full (and gorgeous) free digital kit to share, we also have the first issue of our brand new sister publication:  GingerScrapsStreet Magazine.  This new mag puts an emphasis on all that is digital and hybrid.  We hope you will love it!

You will see the work of our darling new dozen staff members between both issues.  We could not be more excited about having all of these talented writers and designers with us.  Here is to an amazing 2011.

Ready for some inspiring reading?





Free Digital Kit by the super talented Jennifer Labre Designs!


Downloads available all month long!  

We wish you the happiest of New Years and look forward to chatting and creating with you all year long!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Sweet fun with GCD

I had such fun working with one of our fabulous December sponsors:  GCD Studios.  My absolute favorite papers had to be the ornaments pair.  I am not normally one to cut items from sheets of paper, but I could not stop myself.  I put these ornaments on EVERYTHING. 

I always like to have a few little sweets on hand that I can grab for those last minute gifts.  I made up several of these little containers of mints.  They took only a few minutes and I love the results!




Supplies:  Paper: GCD Studios, Die Cuts: Jillibean Soup, Alphabet: American Crafts, Bling: Kaisercraft, Marker: Copic.

Thanks, GCD Studios for being our sponsor and for creating such adorable papers.  You inspire me!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Welcome New Street Staff!

We were humbled by the amazing applications we received from so many talented artists.  Thank you all for taking the time to share your work with us!  The decision was difficult, but lots of fun!  We are so thrilled to share the six amazing women who are now part of ScrapStreet.com Magazine's Staff.

Without further ado, congratulations and welcome to:

Robyn Schaub
Blog: Dreaming In Scraps
Christa Paustenbaugh
Blog: The Paustenbaughs
 
Frances Sylvia
 Sarah Mullanix
Blog: Welcome to my Neighborhood
 
Liz Qualman
Blog: My Little Sketch Blook
 
Romy Veul
We cannot wait to share more of their work with you!

Monday, November 29, 2010

That Much Stronger

This summer I made a fabulous new friend quite by accident.  We were matched up for the download of the day at Divine Digital.  Only Divine was down with horrible server problems.  For weeks and weeks.  Yet somehow Chelsea and Aimee and I managed to exchange emails and create a cute school kit on time.

We enjoyed each other so much that we began a fall collab together.  In the process, each of us mentioned needing a day or two off to celebrate a birthday.  We quickly discovered that all three of our birthdays were the same week.  Within 4 days, actually.  As my 11yo would say, "how random!"

Just as we were rocking and rolling together, Chelsea received a string of bad news.  Her husband, Clayton, was diagnosed with skin cancer right below his left eye.  It is a Squamous Cell Carcinoma, if left untreated it will start to effect the nerves and then move to the eye. This comes on the heels of other medical bills for their son, Luke. Clayton has also recently lost his job, the Doudy’s have no insurance and have been told Clayton will need the Mohs surgery in the next two months.  We all know how when it rains, it pours.  My heart aches for her.  I am thrilled to be a part of the digital community where taking care of our own is what we do.

Please take a second to consider helping.


The kit is super full looking like this:


I am off to scrap and play with mine!  Grab yours soon!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

catching up!

Goodness!  I have fallen behind again.  The last post I made was about our new digi collab magazine and that is where I have been for every spare second.  Well, when not working, cooking, cleaning, or starting the holiday shopping.  I need more hours in the day!

Or a wife.

Yes.  That is it.  I want a wife for Christmas.  If you see one on a good sale, shout at me.

So here it is almost the beginning of December and I have not blogged my October ScrapStreet pubs.  Better late than never!  Here are some of my pretties:

Little Sister by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper: Bella Blvd, Die Cuts: My Little Yellow Bicycle, Flowers: Making Memories, Sassafras Lass, Alphabet: Bella Blvd, Pins: Jo-Ann, Tulle: Bazzill Basics Paper, Font: Traveling Typewriter, Other: thread, Tools: Sewing Machine: Brother, Punch: Fiskars.
Journaling: Big sister Isabelle has such a strong personality that we worried Hannah might get run over at times.  We were so wrong!  From the first, Hannah showed that she could hold her own and do her fair share of being the driver in her relationship with Isabelle.

Cool Shoes by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper, Stickers: Sassafras Lass, Alphabets: BasicGrey, Buttons, Flowers: Making Memories, Fonts: Rusted Plastic, Traveling Typewriter, Other: thread. Tools: Sewing Machine: Brother, Software: Adobe.
Journaling: You are counting down the days until school starts. not because you want to go to school, but because you want to wear your brand new school shoes. check out those cool plaid converse kicks.

My Walk Wish by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Transparency: Fancy Pants, Die Cuts, Acrylic Words: Little Yellow Bicycle, Alphabet: American Crafts, Charm: Around The Block, Pins: Heidi Grace, Ribbon: Making Memories, Font: Rough Typewriter, Markers: Copic, Other: buttons, thread. Tools: Stamps: My Favorite Things Stamps, Other: sewing machine.
Journaling: Wolfie loves learning new tricks. Except one. Heel. She boldly goes dragging her humans behind her. Perhaps it is instinctual for a Husky to want to mush and pull a sled. Perhaps it is simply a love of running. Most likely it is a puppy thing that we will someday master. But, until then, we don't walk her--she walks us. And runs us. And gallops us. And then she comes home and sleeps like the baby she is . . .until the next "walk".

Falling by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper, Chipboard: Crate Paper, Rub Ons: Scrapworks, Markers: Copic, Ink: Stampin’ Up!, Other: glitter. Tools: Stamps: My Favorite Things Stamps.
Journaling: (inside) for you.

 I am off to do some digi scrapping with a new charity collab I participated in.  I will be back tomorrow to show it off and share links.  Happy Sunday!





Friday, November 12, 2010

Exciting News!

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership between ScrapStreet.com Magazine and GingerScraps.net.  As we roll into the new year--and our SIXTH as a magazine--we have joined forces to create a new digital and hybrid ezine called GingerScrapsStreet Magazine!

Some of you may recognize Ginger's name from her many years with us as a ScrapStreet digital designer.  Others will know her name and those of her talented Gingerbread Ladies from their amazing work in the digital scrapping world.  We could not have wished for a better partnership!

As of today, we are closing our own digital store and moving everything to GingerScraps.  You can see my LemonLove Creations available starting today.  Katey will be moving soon with a brand new designing name and a fabulous new look.  Keep an eye out for her announcement soon!
Would you like to be a part of our new venture?  We are now accepting applications for staff AND we have brand new submission calls!  Here is all of the info you need.

Do you have a passion for all things digital or hybrid? Do you love sharing new ideas and hot trends with your fellow scrappers? Are you interested in increasing your online presence reaching thousands of subscribers each month?If you are selected for our new digital team with GingerScraps, you will write a monthly article which will include selecting and requesting the work of designers, combining the work into an interesting article, and meeting your deadline. You will receive products from GingerScraps and other industry designers as a thank you for sharing your talents. It is an excellent opportunity to increase your visibility in the scrapping community while having fun.

To Apply:
Send the following to digistaff@scrapstreet.com
1. contact information
2. a short statement of why you are interested in joining us.
3. a link to your blog.
4. a link to your gallery.

Would you love to see your art featured in GingerScrapsStreet Magazine? Check out our current calls:

January Calls:
Each month we will choose one layout to grace our cover and that designer will receive a wonderful package of goodies as our thanks. All layouts submitted for our article calls are eligible. Good Luck!

Hybrid: Are you a hybrid scrapper? Submit your layouts that use any hybrid technique and tell us what you love about this style of scrapbooking!

Digital Designers: Would you like to be our featured designer for an upcoming month? A kit made by you will be the central point of our magazine and we will show off you and your work to all of our subscribers!

Resolutions: Do you have one big one or whole list of changes to make? Resolve to scrap them and share the layout with us!

Fonts: Are you an addict? Do you love to mix and match and create with typography? Show us your layouts that are in tip top type shape.

Girls Night Out: Show us anything and everything that says Girlfriend time to you. What do you do when you can ditch the menfolk and head out? Coffee? Cocktails? Creativity? We would love to see.

Confetti: Nothing says party like a handful of confetti! January starts off with a party. Toss some confetti on a layout and send it our way.

Organization: January marks the sale of organizers as everyone insists that this will be the year that they perfect the todo list. We want to see your layouts using any and all office supplies. Bonus points if you scrap in a nice todo list or calendar.

Color me WHITE: In the month that tops the snowfall across the country, many of us look outside to see white day after day. How can you make WHITE sing on your pages. Show us your creative uses of white!

Deadline is midnight November 29th ... for all calls.
Please send your work to gsscalls@scrapstreet.com.
Please send a separate email for each submission you would like to be considered for publication. Please keep the image size around 600 x 600 pixels. Thank you!


Are you ready to be a part of this fabulous new magazine?  We cannot wait to see everything you have to offer!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

A freebie!

Howdy Digi Friends!
Did everyone have a fabulous International Digital Scrapbooking Day?  I did!  I certainly did not make it as many places as I would have liked, but the ones I visited had such fun sales!  I admit to overshopping a bit.  There were just so many pretties!

But my overindulgence is your gain, too!  I seemed unable to resist CU grab bags.  I loved the surprise of it all.  Inside one was a cute quartet of twitter birds.  I confess that I am not a tweeter.  I know.  I tried.  But I found my life was just not that interesting.  Even I did not want to know what I was doing most times so why would anyone else?

But the birds were too cute not to play with today.  So I did them up in a bit of felt and am offering them free for you this week as the ScrapStreet Wed Freebie.



Download Us {here}
They will be active for one week.  And, as always, we appreciate your kind comments!

Did you notice my new packaging?  Its a hint to big things coming!  Stay tuned!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Nov DAD bonus freebie

I am up for the download of the day kit at the fabulous Divine Digital.  I worked with talented designers Snips And Snails Designs (love that name!) and Cali Designs to create a winter beach themed kit.  It was a departure from my normal bright and silly style, but I loved it.  Felt so good to stretch my creativity into a new direction.

Seaside Solitude

Ahh, the Atlantic Shore during those fall/winter months.

It's a time when the ocean is stormy and grey,
and you can often find that you are the only one on a long expanse of
sand enjoying the solitude and cold ocean breeze.
 
I created a bonus blog alpha to complement the kit.  I chose to go in a different direction from the driftwood one I included in the kit.  I hope you enjoy!

 Download: Bonus Alpha

Thanks for stopping by and for being a Digital Design Friend!  Have a super weekend!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Project Team Ewan is HERE!

I am so thrilled to be a part of Team Ewan.  Last year, I put out a call for new magazine staff at ScrapStreet and had a wonderful response.  Some talented and amazing women applied, but one drew me immediately.  Her blog was so adorable and full of life.  I admit it.  I had a girl crush.  I just knew we could be friends--how could anyone not be friends with Melissa?  

By the end of the summer, I was picking her up at the airport to stay with a bunch of us other "cyberfriends" for CHA week.  I did not want to give her back!  She is two hoots and a half and that was before we gave her some special punch.  Melissa's spirit fills a room and touches everyone making each of us feel better than we did moments before.  It is her gift and her blessing.

When Melissa shared that one of her friends was struggling with bad news in her pregnancy, my heart broke.  As a mother, I can not imagine anything else worse in this world.  I have watched my own mom struggle with the loss of her adult son and cannot comprehend losing a baby within moments of meeting him.  I wished that I could sit and hold Melissa's hand to replenish the strength that she was giving to her friends.  Instead, I listened and prayed.  Sadly for those of us on Earth, Ewan headed to heaven after too short of a time in the arms of his family.  

Melissa put together an amazing tribute to Ewan and an opportunity for us to raise money to help Seattle Children's Hospital help others.  I contributed a template class and a set of the photo templates that I use over and over in my personal scrapping.  They provide a fast and easy way to drop your photos into strips and blocks before printing.  All of the work is done for you.  I use them constantly so that I can get to the fun part of playing with my supplies.  I hope you enjoy them.  

The rest of my blog today is a direct copy from Melissa's blog The Profound Brunette. She says it all more profoundly than I ever could.  I urge all of you to join us in this cause!

Project Team Ewan is HERE!


It is with GREAT excitement that I announce Project Team Ewan is ready for sale!  For more information on how to obtain a copy of your Project Team Ewan Class Package, click here.  This takes you to the page on blog.  For future reference, there is and will always be a tab at the top of my blog. 

I am so excited for this fundraiser because 100% of the money raised is going directly to Seattle Children's Hospital and research that will help further care for children who have congenital heart defects.  The reason why this fundraiser is called Project Team Ewan is because of Ewan himself.  My dear friend and former roommate Kirsten and her husband James found out early on in their pregnancy that Ewan had some serious heart issues.  They knew that God had given Ewan to the world for a reason and chose to go on this adventure of heart ache, joy, sorrow, grief, grace, growth and, ultimately, watching lives change.

Kirsten is a very gifted writer and has put into much better words than I ever could, the journey that she and James have been on.  She is very transparent in how she has processed learning of Ewan's condition, the birth and then, sadly, the death of sweet little Ewan Eliezer.

Seattle Children's Hospital provided excellent care as they always do.  The nurses and staff were smitten with Ewan and when I cam down to visit, I was very impressed by the loving care they gave towards all.  The tenderness, the compassion and the generosity.  Children's is a non-profit hospital running solely on donations from anyone who is willing to give.  It is my hope to give back to them what they have so selflessly gave to thousands, if not millions, of others in the Northwest.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and I hope you do enjoy the class package.  Click on the link/button above that will take you to the page with instructions.  Please let me know if you have questions.  Also... we have some AMAZING prizes to give away!  If you purchase the package during the month of November, you will automatically be entered to win one of these prizes:



One lucky winner will receive the FULL class from the very talented Kristina Proffitt and Crystal Wilkerson.  HUGE thanks to Kristina for offering up this prize.
Available to U.S. and International.

Wow!  Check out this amazing pack of GOODNESS!  The lovely Jen Gallacher has put together this awesome collection of scrapbooking heaven!  Yes... you could win ALL of it.
Available to U.S. residents only.


One super duper lucky winner will receive a $75 gift certificate to Janet Carr's fabulous digital shop!  Wowee!  Thank you Janet!

Last but not least.... Two Peas in a Bucket has so wonderfully offered up $50 in the latest and greatest product!  Yahoo!  Who wouldn't want some brand new goodies??


Thanks in advance all who will purchase this kit!  You are going to LOVE it and know that you are supporting a wonderful cause.

Hugs,
Melissa

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Pocahontas and Question Mark Man

Halloween rolled around and Zack had a definite idea of his costume.  He would only be The Riddler.  He took great delight in showing me how he prances along cane tucked under his arm, fingers on the brim of his hat.  He was everthing Zack adored right now:  the color green, word puzzles, cool typography, and sneakiness. Perfection.

Do you know that The Riddler is not actually a desired costume creation for children?  You can be Batman.  You can be Robin.  Batgirl.  Catwoman.  But a bad guy from the Batman world?  Nope. 

Zack rolled his eyes at my google abilities and suggested with the calm voice he usually reserves for explaining concepts to the cats that I should try searching his real name Edward Nygma.  And then spelled it for me.  I was torn between a mother's pride and exasperation.  Is he really supposed to believe he is smarter than I am at age 8?  To his dismay, the real name did not help.

Off the the fabric store, Mom.  I can design the costume and you can make it for me.  At least he has faith in my crafting abilities.  I crossed my fingers that he would choose a simple concept--without sequins--and off we went.

It took him only about 15 minutes to find the perfect green lycra.  He described the ensemble.  A body suit.  One question mark.  And then added, "do you know what has always been wrong with The Riddler?"  What, sugar?  "No cape.  My Riddler needs a cape to swirl about."  Of course he does.

I realize that his fashion statement might start a stampede of little boys needing to don The Riddler costume for next year, so please allow me to dispense some advice moms.  Fabric glue.  Do not attempt to stitch those darn question marks.  Glue is your friend. 


and with the cape swirl:

We arrived at school for the annual costume parade.  Imagine Zack's frustration when kids would call out, "Hi Question Mark Man!".  The pitying looks he gave them made me chuckle.  And he heaped praise on those bright enough to be able to correctly identify his character.

Allie, on the other hand, chose her costume simply.  The costume catalog came and she selected the Indian Princess.  Ok, so it was not politically correct enough to list it as Native American Princess, but she was good with that.

Her choice thrilled me.  She is in teen sizes now that she is a proud Jr High gal.  Have you seen what they sell teen girls in costume land?  In alphabetical order you can find all of the costumes filed under S.  Slutty Nurse, Slutty Alice in Wonderland, and Slutty Red Riding Hood topped this year's list.  Joined by Slutty Witch, Slutty Ladybug, and Slutty Nun. 

Doesn't she look both darling and age appropriate?


Trust me.  With the long hair and the attitude she got from somewhere (why are you laughing?) she could work the trampy in some of those naughty costumes.  Even in the innocent one, she can toss a smoldering look.


Of course, it would have been too easy for everyone to KNOW that she was an unnamed princess.  Instead she heard, "what a darling Pocahontas" at every door.  Oh well.  It made Question Mark Man giggle.


The hours of watching Next Top Model are starting to pay off.  She is all about the poses now.  And has already decided on next year's costume.  She is ALL about the unit on Egypt in school.  Next up:  Cleopatra.  Toss me the eyeliner, please.

Monday, November 1, 2010

so many things!

I love the first of the month!  Such a busy time both online and off.  And with Halloween closing out the last weekend of October, I have been crazed.

I will be back with Halloween shots and stories of the kids.  And I am hard at work on one charity collection kit for a dear friend and have info to share on a charity class set I contributed to for a Children's Hospital.  Each deserves their own post to share the stories and details.  And I have fabulous news on a change for ScrapStreet and me!

The November issue of ScrapStreet Mag is live and wonderful (if I do say so myself).  What a talented team we have and such amazing designers submit and create for us.  I am making a list of what to try first!  Here is the cover and link to get in:


And, of course, the free kit is live on the blog for an instant download.  It looks like this:


If that was not enough for the day, I am also on the Download of the Day team for the first 2 weeks of November at Divine Digital.  We created a winter beachy kit called Seaside Solitude that has such a lovely, yet lonely, feel.  I will have an additional freebie on my blog later in the week.  Be sure to watch for it!  Here is the flip showing off the kit:


To download, pop in HERE each day! 
Ok, I think that is everything for this morning!  Hope your November starts off on the right foot!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Fabulous Fall!

I live in "The Arboretum Village" according to all of the publicity put together by the town and yet I had never been to visit The Morton Arboretum.  No, I do not have a good excuse.  I live moments from it.  I drive by it constantly.  I receive info about events by mail.  The kids enjoy each field trip to the arboretum at school.

This fall when the event flyer came, I put it on the calendar instead of tossing it in the recycle bin.  We are enjoying such beautiful fall weather that I wanted to enjoy a Saturday wandering through the woods.  I am soooo glad that we went!

The scheduled Saturday events included a taffy apple bar and a scarecrow walk.  Sounded great.  There are miles and miles of trails to walk, bike, or drive.  Different themes for each hike with different trees.  Zack loved China--seeing the trees that grow native to that country just tickled him.  Allie loved the Great Plains finding miles of golden wheat to be stunning.  Both enjoyed playing a bit in the kids area.  Here is Allie climbing a bit:


All along a lake stood scarecrows created by different scout troops.  Zack fell in love with a frog:


And Allie with a hippy gal (of course):


I have a ton of fabulous shots to play with over the next few scrappy days.  Tons of textures for my digi creating.  Some items to extract.  And lots of pictures to print and enjoy.  I loved it so much that I upgraded our day pass for an annual one.  My poor kids are going to spend lots of time doing photo shoots in the arboretum!

Here is one of my favorites from the day:

Monday, October 18, 2010

Happy Fall

Just a quickie card today!  I soooo adore Bella BLVD for card making.  I can look at their sticker sheet and just see a card pop out at me.  Add a little stitching and a bit of bling and I have a card that is exactly perfect to send out. 


Love Grows Happiness.  Supplies:  Papers, Stickers: Bella BLVD, Bling: Kaisercraft, Other: stitching.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sparkle!

I am back from Palm Springs--did you miss me?  Ok, so no one knew I was gone.  Every once in a while, I see something about safety and the internet that freaks me out with insistence that we should not be so visible.  Recommendations that we never show pictures of our kids online just do not work for me.  After all, I run an online scrapbooking website.  How would that work?

But I did decide that it is not a great idea to announce that I am leaving the kids home with Grandma while I travel away for a few days, so I kept it on the down low.  The kids had an absolutely fabulous time with a mix of Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents.  They made it to Great America and the Field Museum over the long weekend.  I am grateful to have inlaws that love spending time with my kids.

I had a relaxing time enjoying sunshine and warmth.  I spent some time reading at the pool.  Had a massage.  Danced for hours with good friends.  And the highlight was falling madly in love with my friend Michelle's darling 4yo son Corey.  We met for some Starbucks (naturally) and had a couple of hours to chat.  Corey taught me to use his personal laptop, drew pictures of me, and showered me with flowers.  What a charmer!

It is always nice to be in the company of other women.  I honestly believe we NEED that.  After all, who else would notice that I changed my hair color, dropped 8 pounds, and worked out harder after that magical 40th birthday so that I look "great for this age"?  And who else could understand that I feel completely differently at 40 than I did at 39?  It actually made sense to them that at 35 I felt I was too old for sequins, but today I feel fabulous wearing it?  Don't overthink it--just accept it and see me when you are 40.

Here I am wearing sequins--feeling 40 and fabulous.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

New Collab coming!

I have had the pleasure of designing with two of my fave gals Chelsea of Caged Bird Designs and Aimee of Girlboheme Studios.


It is a warm and happy celebration of fall with plenty of yummies for all of your fabulous fall pictures.  I will be back with a full preview when it goes live.  Have a happy Sat night!

Friday, October 1, 2010

First of the month!

Woohoo!  The new issue of ScrapStreet.com Mag is out!  I absolutely love this issue.  Thank you to so many fabulous designers for sharing your art with us!


Run and download the free kit--a totally fun collab just right for your fall and Halloween pics.  While you are in there, check out all of the articles from our crazy talented staff.  I adore these gals and feel so lucky to be inspired by them every month.  Happy October!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Once upon a time

I used to sew.  I taught myself during my high school years out of necessity.  My family did not have the money to keep up with the cool kids in clothes shopping.  What I lacked in funds, I made up for in creativity and ingenuity.  I started with clothes purchased at garage sales and would turn them into something new.  Many a pair of pants became fabulous 80's mini skirts with a bit of sewing machine magic.

Later I moved on to buying material and starting from scratch.  Only I never learned properly.  I still find patterns to be more trouble than they are worth.  *waits for real sewing peeps to go thud*  Yep.  I just look at material and make things that fit me.  Of course, I could not sew without a live model, but I did create items for friends and later my kids.  Often during my high school teaching years, I would help girls turn thrift finds into prom gowns. 

I spent a little time quilting.  I made a few blankets for family, but never really found it to be the right creative outlet for me.  When I discovered scrapbooking, I boxed up my sewing machines and tucked them into the closet.  However, years (and several scrapping styles) later, I brought one back out and began stitching on my layouts.  And it felt just exactly right. 

The layouts I love best have 3 elements:  journaling, stitching, and shine.  Yep.  I like a bit of fashion in my scrapping.  Knowing this about myself lets me create easier.  I zipped this layout out in only a few minutes and loved it fore it's simplicity.  Wanna see?


Irish by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper, Stickers: Sassafras Lass, Letters: American Crafts, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Markers: Copic, Bling: Heidi Swapp, Sewing Machine: Brother, Other: thread, buttons.

Journaling: Every Irish girl loves St. Pat's Day.  You don your green with pride.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Dog Gone Cute!

Is the name of my new kit and I am loving it.  I really am surprised how long it took me since we brought Wolfie home to design a doggie kit.  Over the last 4 months I have taken a ton of photos of our darling--and insane--new family member.
Honestly, as soon as someone tells me that dogs never do that, Wolfie does it.  She will pee in her bed while in it.  Ok, so that is not her fault--she is incontinent and on medication now.  She refuses to potty on a walk.  I have this cute little bag filled bone attached to her leash and have never whipped out a bag.  She gobbles her meds down, but won't touch bacon flavored treats.  Who doesn't like bacon?  Every day is a new adventure with this darling.

One thing she is for certain--a total girly girl.  She adores her stuffed friends.  Her babies.  She will chew on anything--my scrapbooks, a tree trunk, various veggies from the garden--but she does not chew up her babies.  She adores them.  Here is a layout with her current favorite baby.


Froggy Love.  Digital Supplies:  Kit: Dog Gone Cute by Dora Phillips, Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, Sweetheart Script.
Journaling: Wolfy loves her soft friends more than any other toy.  She carries them everywhere and refuses to sleep without one.  Froggy is her favorite--this week!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Lucky

I am lucky.  My kids are absolutely adorable and really fun to be with.  I am totally enjoying these kid years.  Although they definitely love hanging together and have a bunch of similiarities, they are definitely in different places in maturity.  Sadly, Allie (big jr high girl that she is) figured out that all of the magical little fairies and creatures of her childhood do not really live in our house.  Or visit.  She happily said goodbye to the tooth fairy, Santa, and all of their friends.  Especially the Easter bunny.  She never could quite rationalized rabbits and eggs in that brain of hers.

As a nonbeliever, she was immediately promoted to house fairy.  It is now her job to trade out teeth for cash.  Her job to eat Santa's cookies.  And her job to wreck havok on the house as Lucky the leprechaun.  This spring, she had an absolute blast leading Zack on a merry chase to capture the gold.  I have always enjoyed this holiday and game, but she definitely took it up a notch.  He was one BUSY leprechaun.

My favorite or her ideas had to be the paint footprints leading from a window to under the couch.  Zack just beamed when he found them!  I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next year!


Lucky by Dora Phillips
Supplies: Paper: Crate Paper, Buttons: BasicGrey. Letters: American Crafts, Die Cuts: Crate Paper, Font: Traveling Typewriter, Ink: Colorbox, Sweing Machine:  Brother, Other: thread.

Journaling: Every year on St. Patrick's Day, our resident leprechaun, Lucky, spends the day playing tricks on our family.  He dyes toilet water green, hides shoes, short sheets beds, and loves making a mess.  He also leaves little presents behind.  All day long we chase him hoping to get his gold.  Sadly, footprints and shamrock glitter are the closest we have gotten so far.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

it's easy being green

for me this week.  Honestly, I cannot stop scrapping with green this week.  I started out with one of my favorite collections from Crate Paper.  I am on my second collection kit and still adore it.  The green, orange, and gold are such beautiful hues and perfect for any season.  And the glitter diecuts?  Heaven!

This is a set of pics from last March of my little cutie.  Of course, the layout is hybrid and stitched with a little ink and a lot of love.


Not So Green Day.  Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts, Brads: Crate Paper, Alphabets: Maya Road, My Little Shoebox, Pink Paislee, Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, Stone Inscription, Other: stitching.
Journaling: Look Mom!  I am all ready for school.  See my green for St. Patrick's Day?  I thought about a green shirt but did not want to overdo it.  Do you like it?

See you tomorrow with more green and maybe a story.

Monday, September 20, 2010

feeling zippy

today.  I scrapped with a zipper and it was fun!  I was cleaning out a drawer and found a broken zip that I tucked in there for a completely unknown reason.  As I rolled it up to toss it, inspiration struck.  It looked just like the ribbon flowers I am loving making right now.  I stitched it up and got ready to scrap.

I decided to use the My Mind's Eye sketch #15 as my starting point.  I am really enjoying playing along with their excellent sketches.  Here it is:


And here is my version of it.  Simple, but lovely. After adding the zipper rose, I hand stitched the other half of the zipper as a twisty border.  I really love the look and may need to break another zipper soon.


Family.  Paper, Die Cuts, Stickers, Overlay: My Mind's Eye, Brads: Making Memories, Other: zipper, stitching.

Off to peek in the junk drawer to see what else I might find.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A freebie today!

Happy Anniversary ScrapStreet! Can you believe we have spent FIVE years together already?  Oh the places we have been and the growth we have enjoyed!  Big kisses to all of you!

I did my grocery shopping early this week and the Halloween candy lined the aisles.  I resisted.  Lets face it--if I get it now, I will eat it long before the holiday.  However, it did get me in the mood to start my Halloween designing.  I put together a little set of epoxy stickers for you as this week's freebie.  I hope you enjoy.  You can grab it at the ScrapStreet blog.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Some Crate Sketch Fun

I confess.  I love Crate Paper.  They have been one of my favorite companies since the first time I got my hands on them.  Now that I have my darling google reader up and running, I am able to keep track of some favorite manufacturing blogs. 

I was thrilled to find that Crate Paper will be sharing a sketch once a month.  I enjoy the creative nudge that sketches provide sooooo much.  The August sketch left much of the decisions to the artist by not identifying spots for title, journaling, etc.  It looks like this:


and my version looks like this:


Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts, Stickers:  Crate Paper, Alphabet: American Crafts, Flowers: Making Memories, Ink: Clearsnap, Font: Bodini, Sketch: Emily Pitts for Crate Paper. Other: machine stitching.
Journaling: two silly cousins, two diet cokes, too many giggles to count.

Thanks for the inspiration, Emily and Crate Paper!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?!!!!

I so am.  The only reason I can let summer end is to bring on football season.  Yes, I do love football.  Not only do I not mind the husband having a fantasy team, but he does not mind me having one.  I know.  I look blond and clueless, but never underestimate a gal who grew up in the 70's outside of Pittsburgh.

Which makes me--and my family--Steeler fans.

 

As gametime approached, we got all dressed and ready for our pregame photo shoot.  Daddy and friends were off playing a morning round of golf, so it was just Team Mommy.  And Wolfie.  Puppy is new to the concept of football.  She refused to wear her kerchief.  And had no interest in sitting pretty for a photo.  She did, however, do her best to make us giggle.


Finally, kickoff time rolled around.  The house is full of people ready to watch our NFL package.  Laptops are opened.  Chatter begins.  Chips and beverages make the rounds.  The kids head upstairs or outside to play checking in now and again for scores.  None of them are really ready to watch full time yet, but they do enjoy cheering with us.

And they look really cute in the Steeler gear.

designed with love by beautiful dawn designs