Monday, March 31, 2008

More layouts

More LOs for the Scrapmuse Online Crop.


Supplies: Basic Grey and Danyeela Patternpaper, FancyPants felt, SU cardstock


Supplies: Bazzill CS, acrylic paint, buttons, Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha, hambly overlay, danyeela patternpaper, lace, MM (?) brads. The background was created using the magic mesh brayer technique, demonstrated by Nat.

Have a good one.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Remember the RAK?

you have until tonight to leave a comment. I will have Trouble #1 and #2 draw names tomorrow.

Darn DST, it is throwing me off. But it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. So maybe I will take the kids out to the beach.... or stay home and scrap? No, really, it looks like it is going to be a gorgeous day out. I will not spend it inside.

Have a good one.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Very productive evening, indeed

I have managed to get two layouts and one card done. I have also chatted with a bunch of fabulous scrappers, and learned 5 different techniques to create backgrounds from a video by my bestest friend of all, the fabulous Nat Kalbach. Can I tell you that I LOVE the online crop at ScrapMuse.
I love online crops. Period. I used to go to crops at my LSS when I still lived in the US, and I liked those, too. But, I much prefer online, because a) I don't have to pack up all my "stuff", and you know, I NEED all that "stuff", and b) it is way cheaper, because, invariably, with me packing up all my "stuff", you know, I forgot more than one vital "stuff", so I have to buy it at the store, and while I am at it... add this... add that... no, much better to stay at home, in my jammies, drinking hot tea (because we know that I don't really measure much, but if I were to scrap "under the influence".... things would be even more crooked).

Anyway, here are my LOs and the card. I am hoping that I will be able to add more to this post as the evening progresses.







ETA:
Got another one done... this was so much fun, but the LO itself made me rather sad. I so miss my dog.

I will post materials used later on. Now I am heading back to the crop.
Have a good one.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

A RAK and Scrapping The Music

I don't do a regular spring cleaning around the house, but I did decide that I needed to do a springcleaning of my card collection. I have tons and tons of cards... and sadly, I never send any. So, would anyone be interested in a collection of 10 different cards? I think I can come up with three different sets of 10 cards each. If your are interested, leave a comment on my blog until ....oh, through Sunday, and I will (randomly) choose three winners.

ETA: I just took a picture of my "clean-out" pile.... just to give you an idea.
ETA2: okay, I made little piles. I have a total of 7 sets, plus an additional 28 card fronts. I am too lazy to stick those cardfronts on regular cards, but if someone doesn't mind doing that... they are up for grabs, too.



On to the next, after finally finishing one LO for the Scrapping the Music blog, I am totally obsessed with the new song they have up. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this song by Brandi Carlile.

This is my LO for this week's STM challenge:



Materials used: Danyeela PatternPaper, MM packing tape, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Ki Memories alpha stickers, Bazzill Bling CS, Grungeboard, Ranger Distress ink.

Have a good one.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Scrapping Trouble #1 for a change

I swear, I don't choose one child over the other, but looking at my recent LOs... it sure seems like it. Most of my LOs have been about Trouble #2, but in my defense, Trouble #1 hasn't been too cooperative when it comes to having pictures taken. Add to that the fact that I haven't actually TAKEN any pictures since Christmas.... well, let's just say the pile of good pictures is getting low.

But, I had this picture of T#1 and was so happy to see her goofy side. She can be awfully serious for her age and I love to see her like this.

Anyway, this LO is for a challenge over at Got Mojo? Love, love, love their challenges.... just haven't gotten around to actually finishing a LO for any of them. So, here it is:



Materials used: Danyeela PatternPaper (duh!), Tim Holtz grungeboard, Marabou acrylic paint, m´Marabou crackle medium... I am not really happy with how it crackled, but in the end the effect was okay, just not crackled....Ranger distress ink, Basic Grey alpha stickers, Creative Imaginations denim tag, SU cardstock, Li'l Davis chipboard, Deja Views shapes, Heidi Swapp stamp und chipboard alphas, 7 gypsies label, SU craft ink, SU antique brads....and I think that's it.

Have a good one.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter, Bad Mama Moment and Scrapping the Music

You know.... Trouble #1 and #2 are getting older. I don't really get THAT into easter decorations and easter eggs and all that stuff, so we kept it low key. They did want to color eggs, so I did with Trouble #1 when she was home from school sick. I did make up a little easter basket for the girls, but was I going to get up at the crack of dawn to hide the darn eggs? No, not this easter bunny.

Yeah, that's what I THOUGHT. This morning, when I finally rolled my tired behind out of bed... there was T#1 BEGGING me to hide the eggs. I told her it was kind of silly, since she knew it was me hiding the eggs and not the easter bunny, but no, she wanted me to hide the eggs. So I went outside, hid the eggs, came back in and told T#2 to get dressed, and out they went to look for eggs. And wouldn't you know it, when T#2 found the last egg, I made some silly comment about having to hide the eggs in my bare feet and you could see the lightbulb come on in her head, the hamsters running, the little wheels spinnign.... Mama, YOU are the Easter Bunny! oh no, I blew it. My child was still a believer. Bad Mama, bad Mama!

But, all is good. I ended up making up the elaborate story how I had been the one to dye the eggs, since the easter bunny didn't really have time for ALL the eggs and luckily the neighbor mama told the girls she had had to hide the eggs for her daughter because the bunny had been too busy and had just dropped the eggs off. It's all about division of labor, KWIM? And all is good for the girls and T#2 is still a believer.

And last, but not least, I finally managed to scrap a LO for Scrapping the Music. Love, love, love this song.

PP DanyeelaPatternPaper, SU cardstock, Bazzill Bling CS, Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha, SU spiral punch, Hambly Rub Ons, Font.... I just thought I was so clever... Lenny Kravitz.



Saturday, March 22, 2008

Pattern Paper Love

Can I just gush for a moment? See... I have this lovely friend who designs the most fabulous paper. And she creates the most fabulous LOs. And she is so stinkin' funny. And creative. And did I mention fabulous? Anyway, check it out: Danyeela

Enough gushing. It seems lately, whenever I am pushing things around on my desk because inspiration is just not coming, all I need to do is grab some of my danyeela pattern paper and things fall into place.

I did this one for a challenge over at Savvy'n Sassy, another site I love. With the kids being sick all the time, and the weather being crappy.... I needed something to make me feel like summer is just around the corner. I know, I know, I am a wee bit delusional on the "right around the corner" part, especially since there are flurries right now, but heck...



PP Danyeela Pattern Paper, stamps Danyeela, See D's and Catslifepress, SU embossing powder, SU craft ink, doodlebug flower, brad and purple flower (?)



Have a good one.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Out of the mouth of babes....

so I was watching MTV this morning and this video came on.



Trouble #2 came in, watched for a while, asked me who this was and then asked: "are they like the Wiggles?"

And just in case you don't know who she is talking about.....


Well... that's trouble #2 for you.

Have a good one.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

She used to be little!

Trouble #2, that is. I somehow came across pictures of her third birthday...and that was only 3 1/2 years ago.... so essentially at the half-way point of her current age. and brother, has she changed!

And just because it was old pictures, I also dug out some old paper. Still love the old Basic Grey, but am actually a bit tired of it. So tired in fact, that I just packed up all of it (except the Obscure Collection) and sold it.


And, just because that's how it goes, Trouble #1 is sick home from school again.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

How about some Easter cards?

I have been playing with a new Stampin' Up set these last few days and it's been fun. I guess it was a good thing I couldn't find my Tim Holtz skull stamp... just not really "easterly", KWIM?

Anyway, here are a few of my cards.




and since I haven't been able to sleep too well at night, I am going to go and take a nap.

Have a good one.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Where, oh where....

would you hide if you were my Tim Holtz skull stamp?

I hate this... I just cleaned my scrap corner and now I can't find anything! Well... I can't find that skull stamp. And right now I NEEEEEEEEED it.

oh well.... I guess I will continue looking.

Have a good one.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Long time no LO

I just noticed... I haven't posted a LO in a while. Sorry about that.



Have a good one.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A wedding cake for 500

and a bitchy bride.....oh, throw in the psycho mother-of-the bride, too....

is NOTHING compared to baking cookies with 20 second graders.

That's all I am sayin'.

Have a good one. I need a nap.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

It was too good to last.

The "no sickies in this house" situation.

Yesterday the school called me to come and pick up Trouble #1 and I spent the rest of the morning at the doctor's office with her. Today Trouble #2 had to be picked up from school. I thought it was just a wee bit of a tummy ache, but alas... after acting like things were not terribly bad all day, she finally barfed up everything she ate today. Which wasn't much. But still... the child barfed. Hopefully she is feeling better in the morning.

Hope you have a better one than me.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Happy lazy Sunday to you!

I have to admit, I haven't done a darn thing today. Okay, I scrapped, but I did not a thing around the house. My excuse is that I had to recuperate from yesterday. It was a pretty long and exhausting day, but really... I just wanted to have a lazy Sunday.

Anyway, one of the things that kept me busy yesterday was my first ever German Stampin'Up Workshop. I didn't know the hostess before and didn't know the guests either. AND... I didn't know that with the exception of two, all the other guests were experienced stampers. I had kept my make and takes very simple, figuring I might have to explain a lot of the basics, but as it was, the M&T wasn't what took time.... we just talked about so much other stamping "stuff", that I ended up not doing my third M&T afterall, because quite frankly... talking for 3 1/2 hours wore me out (I've got a cold coming on again... aaarrghhhh) and I had to pick up Trouble #1 & #2 from their friend's house.

We haven't closed the workshop yet, but just looking at the numbers... the hostess is getting some kick-ass goodies and her feedback this morning was that everyone had a great time. So, yeah for the hostess and yeah for me.


Gestern fand mein allererster Stampin'Up workshop hier in Deutschland statt. Ich kannte die Gastgeberin noch nicht und auch keinen der Gäste. Ich wusste auch nicht dass bis auf 2, alles erfahrene Stempler waren. Ich hatte meine "make & takes" sehr einfach gehalten, weil ich dachte dass ich viele der Grundlagen erklären müsste, aber es waren nicht die m&t's die so lange dauerten sonder all der andere "Stempel-Kram" über den wir so geredet haben. Ich bin also nicht dazu gekommen M&T#3 zu machen, aber ehrlich gesagt, ich kann ja ganz gut sabbeln, aber 3 1/2 Stunden ohne viel Unterbrechung ist selbst für mich ein wenig viel, zumal mein Hals schon wieder etwas angegriffen ist, und ich musste ausserdem Trouble #1 & #2 abholen.

Der Workshop ist noch nicht abgeschlossen (d.h. die Bestellungen noch nicht abgeschlossen) aber nachdem ich die Zahlen kurz überflogen habe kann sich die Gastgeberin wirklich freuen. Es hat sich für sie gelohnt.

So, wenn also jemand Interesse hat an einem Stampin'Up Workshop, meldet Euch bei mir.

So much for now... I am back to doing nothing.

Have a good one.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Oh.... what a beautiful sight!


I love me some paint pigments. I am not usually the freestyle, paint smearing, mixed media kind of scrapper, but my friend Nat kind of turned me on to paint pigments. I've been admiring her work forever, but lately even more so, because they are so vibrant and colorful. LOVE IT.

Anyway, the secret (other than her being fabulously talented) are paint pigments. So, when I had to head into the city anyway to drop off some scrapbook supplies for her, we took a quick trip to the art supply store. I could spend hours at this store! And a fortune! But, I controlled myself and just bought some paint and some pigments. Istn't it a lovely sight?

Now I am off to play.

Oh, and I am still taking votes on the haircut poll in the previous post. So... feel free to leave a comment.

Have a good one.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

This my friends....

may cause serious psychological harm. Because.... well, some of the pictures are just too frightening. But, please do play along, and tell me what you think.

I am in the market for a new "do". The same old, same old, long hair is getting old and I am getting bored with it. I haven't had a cut (other than the occasional trim) in over 4 years, and my hair is pretty much down to my waist, all the same lenght.

So, I spent yesterday afternoon playing with this ingenious little site: Hairmixer! And these are some of the results.

There are the obvious choices:












then there are the "powercut" versions....













or how about long and blonde? They always say blondes have more fun.... except I will be spending all my time and cash at the hairdresser's trying to maintain....













or how about short and sassy... and blonde?













Or these? Just because I can....










And I actually kind of like these....











so.... whadda ya think? time to make an appointment at the salon?

Have a good one.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Technology is a.....

.... well, sometimes just not so fun.

I made this (and another LO) for a contest. I was really pleased with how they turned out, but then, as I tried.... and tried.... and tried again.... to upload at the website, things weren't working. The site gave me little messages.... do this, you are missing thats, mark here.... well, I did all that, and in the end, I STILL couldn't upload my LOs. And of course there is no "help" or "contact us" link to be found anywhere. So I said: "to hell with it!"

so here it is, my LO "lunch at the roxy"


products used: PP Autumn Leaves/Daisy D's, Paperwerx Hybrid paper, SU cardstock, Autumn leaves expoxy stickers, American crafts thickers, Foofala alpha stickers, Doodlebug frills.

Have a good one.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Happy Sunday

The weather here is so awful I didn't even want to get out of bed.... trouble #1 and #2 just didn't quite go for that. But, after not getting any scrapping done for the last week or so, I finally got a LO done last night. And I am happy with it. It is a bit different... okay, very different, than my usual stuff, but it was fun and I enjoyed myself.

I call it the "lets grab everything I can reach and throw it on a page" LO. I don't usually use that much product, but like I said.. it was fun.






pp: mme, danyeela pattern paper, hambly overlay, generic bling, mamby bling, prima iod tape, doodlebug frills, ac chipboard thickers, hs stamp, ranger distress ink, grungeboard crown, ranger distress crackle paint, perfect pearls, paperwerx digi/hybrid "stuff"

And now I am going to crawl back into bed and pretend the weather is going to be better when I get back up.

Have a good one.