Arcade Fun

I never used to use black on any of my layouts.  But now, I can't stop!!  Black letters, black patterned paper, black rub ons, black card stock, black brads...and the list goes on!!

Here is another layout that has a black elements on it:

I can't seem to stop ripping paper either.  I like the jagged edge look of it.

The page needed a little bling or sparkle, as I think all my pages need, so I added Stickles to the letters.  Not sure if you can see the effect, but it's there.

I'm Back!!

Not that I went anywhere though!!  I don't have a good reason for not posting like my friend Val who was on a cruise.  I was just way too busy.  Too much to do and not enough time to do it in.  I can't even say I was busy scrapping.  I haven't accomplished any new layouts this week.  And thankfully my friend Amy came over last week to scrap with me so I got one layout finished.  (I'll take a pic of it tomorrow in the sun and post it.)

We were away for the weekend with some family and had a fantastic time (thanks Joe and Natercia for such a great weekend!!)  We hung out on Saturday night and made smores after dinner.  The girls had a blast playing together.  On Sunday we went to see a community of scarecrows and walk around the park.  Here are some pics:

The girls had a great time playing Wii on Sunday morning.  And I realized that Mario Cart is my new favorite game!! 

They have an amazing yard.  We didn't even have to go to the park!!!

The scarecrows were pretty lame.  We breezed through those.

There was a garden there and there were so many roses.  And I think they were the best smelling roses...EVER!!  Just amazing to see them so late in the year.

Joe and the girls walking down the path.  At the bottom of the path was the Hudson River.  We walked along the path around the park.

It was a little overcast and cloudy so the pictures didn't really come out that bright.  That's the train track along the Hudson.

There was this AMAZING castle there.  They were giving tours for an out of this world fee so we passed.  Plus, they weren't allowing any pictures inside, so really, what's the point if I can't take pics to scrap, right??

Hope everyone has something fun planned for this weekend.

Scrappin with Orange

I got a pack of orange Thickers and I was really struggling to use them.  Orange isn't really a color that I gravitate to so it has been tough to use them.  But, I think I used them pretty well here:

What do you think??  The pictures were really fun and I wanted the layout to be fun too.  These were just random pieces of patterned paper I had in my stash so I havn't a clue where it's from...I know, pretty horrible of me!!  But I do know that the border sticker is from Basic Grey and the letters are Thickers.

More Fun with Rub-ons

I can't seem to create a layout without throwing some rub-ons on there.  And I am really loving black cardstock.  Here is a layout with both of those:

There is no shortage of rub-ons on this page!!!  Here is what I used...the patterned papers are from GCD Studios, the border stickers are from their Basics collection, the bling is from Want 2 Scrap and the polka dot rub-ons are from Glitz.

We had such a great time at Fort Niagra.  It was cold and gloomy here in the US side and the sun was shining on the city across the lake and the ice and it lit up like the Emerald City.  It was so awesome to be there.

My New Kit is Here!!

Got my new Scarlet Lime kit and I am really loving it because there is so much purple and brown...two of my favorite colors.  Nice dark colors too.  Here is what I got:

I can't wait to get some scrappin done with all this!!  The Dear Lizzy line from American Craft is new to me and it's really cute.  Hopefully I'll have something new to show you in the next couple of days.

My First Guest Designer

Sort of...Abbie has been scrappin like a crazy little girl and she wanted me to show ya'll her layouts.  Here are some of her latest and greatest:

Isn't she awesome!!  She has some much fun putting her pages together and even more fun shopping for her supplies.

Fort Niagra

I have these neat cork embellishments from Pink Paislee and have wanting to try them out...so I did!!  I used some pictures from Niagra Falls:

I really love the dimension the cork embellishments add to layouts.  For this page I used My Mind's Eye, Bella Blvd and Bazzill papers.  The brads are from Lost and Found.  And the rub ons are from Jeni Bowlin.  And some other stuff thrown in there!!

Hope everyone enjoys their day!!

I Got My Prize!!

I got a lovely package in the mail yesterday thanks to Scrap Whispers!!  Here is what I got:

There is a beautiful mini album, ribbon from American Craft, sparkly flowers from Zva, 36 assorted 6X6 papers from doolicraft and cards from Papermania!!  What an awesome prize!!

My Screen Print

When I first started scrapping, it was about finding a cute way to save my pictures rather than just putting them in a regular album.  A lot has changed for me since then.  I want to tell the story of what was happening, why we were laughing or crying, where we were...  I also started adding non-picture memorabilia to my pages a few years ago.  It's fun to see that we were at a museum, but also fun to see the wrist band, the map of what we saw, a subway card showing how we got there, the receipt, the fun crafty project we made while we were there.  I know this isn't a new concept for most, but it helps for me tell our story.  And I'm so happy I did that with these pages.

Love these pages and the story they tell!!

Screen Printing

One of the super fun things at the Children's Musuem in Pittsburgh was screen printing.  The kids (and some of us adults) cut out pictures, shapes or designs out of newspaper and used them to make a screen printed picture.  Here is what Abbie made:

I'm trying to use up some of the scraps I have from my Scarlet Lime kits to make room for the new ones so I don't really know what company most of the papers are from...but I know I love them!!  I used a Martha Stewart border punch and I know the big sticker is from Melody Ross.

I first saw these papers from Cosmo Cricket at a scrapping expo and absolutely love them.  I guess they were more for out doorsy or gardening themed pics, but I loved the sticker that says "Home Grown".  Because we homeschool Abbie, she truley is home grown.

Well it's bright and sunny here, despite the rainy forecast, so we are off to the farm for a hayride and some pumpkin picking.  Enjoy your day all!!

Smiling Faces

I always have such a hard time paring down which pictures to pick and scrap.  Do I REALLY need to scrap the 37 pictures I took of Abbie in the van?  Or the 74 pictures I took on a day at the beach?  Or the 52 pictures of us at Pop's Farm Market?  Always a struggle for me...so more often than not, I scrap whatever ones I like, even if that means I end up with 10 layouts of her smiling face from a 6 minute time period.

Here is an example...more pictures of Abbie from the day we were waiting for Shannon.  I found this sketch from several weeks ago at Pamela's World of Scrap (love the name of her blog, by the way!!) and thought it would be great for these photos.

Here is the sketch:

I rotated the sketch and it is a loose interpretation of the sketch, but it inspired me none the less.



I used all October Afternoon patterned paper.  The "Laugh out Loud" sticker is from K&Company.  The "I Adore You" sticker and the red brad is from Lost and Found.  And the "Delight" rub on is from Glitz.

Keep smilin' all and have a great day!!

Pop's Farm Market

We went to see the greatest Jack O Lantern display this past weekend and I almost forgot to show you the pictures.  It's called Pop's Farm Market and it's in Monroe Twp.  The property is all decorated up for Halloween and fall with the coolest decorations.  See for yourselves:

Abbie's friend Felicia came with us too.  I warned the girls that there would be lots of picture taking and there were to be no cranky faces!!  They were so patient with me...they're great kids.

I took lots of pictures both with the flash and without.  This is a close up of one of the Jack O Lanterns without flash.  I really need to get a better camera.

Most of the Jack O Lanterns are in the barn on stacks of hay.  We were in there for quite a while taking them all in.  Such amazing creativity.

With the flash you can really see the pumpkins on the haystacks.

I love to get pictures of Tom and I but asking one of the girls to take the picture means I'll have one of my eyes and only Tom's forehead!!

I'll get back to scrappin' tomorrow...hopefully.

Beach Baby

I know, last week I wanted fall to hurry up and get here, but then I printed some summer beach pictures and I decided I miss the beach already.

I love this picture of Abbie at the ocean and the colors were so nice and bright that I decided to go with a Black and White theme.  Don't think I've ever done that before. 

I regretted adding the letters as soon as I stuck down the first one.  I tried to peel it off, but that wasn't working...so here it is.  I really struggled putting this one together.  It sat on my desk all week and I kept moving it aside and working on other stuff instead of finishing it.  I finally decided to just glue it down and resolve to like it.

Did you ever have one of those layouts you just couldn't seem to call finished???

Guess Who Went Shopping???

Well, I was so excited to tell Tom and Abbie I won something, that I forgot to actually write my post...so here it is:

I went shopping!!  Who doesn't love to add some new scrappy stuff to their stash once in a while.  We went to PA for the day on Saturday and decided to check out Peddler's Village.  It was very cute!!  I forgot my camera (I know, I couldn't believe it either) so I don't have any pictures to share with you.  I can tell you that there is a really nice scrapping store there.  A huge selection too.  It's called Creative Inkling and here is what I bought:

It's no secret I love rub-ons so those were the first things I picked up.  And of course you can never have enough Thickers or felt letters.  I've been wanting to get one of those Prima Flower branches to try so I grabbed one of those too.

I don't have a lot of birthday stuff so I grabbed paper and rub-ons.

Paper...

Paper...

And you guessed it...more paper!!

I WON!!!

So I decided to write my post tonight rather than tomorrow morning like I usually do.  But first, I decided to check out some of the blogs I follow because I love to see what everyone creates.  And guess what...I won the secret prize over at Scrap Whispers!!  I'm so excited!!  I posted the layout of me in Atlantic City with Shannon and Holly as a "happy" layout.  It's always so much fun to win.  I'll let you all know what my prize it when I get it.

Smiling Faces

Shannon, Holly and I went to Atlantic City for a girl's night back in January and we had a BLAST!!  We hit the slot machines and had a few drinks.  Neither one of us won any big money, but we had such a great time.  I made this layout with a challenge from Scrap Whispers in mind...a "happy" theme and we were definitely happy this night.

I used Basic Grey, Infuse, and add some Ranger Stickles to the flower.

Have a great day!!

Grow and be Happy

I love to scrap fall the best and since I didn't have any fall pictures printed, I decided to scrap in orange...a very fall color.  I used a sketch from Sketchabilities. 

Here is the sketch:

Here is my take:

It was really sunny out when I took these and I actually like the sunny glare in the photos.

I used all Basic Grey, Green at Heart, for this layout.

I need to get to the scrap room and get creatin'!!

Bella Bug

I am not a dog lover...normally.  But we have been the dog sitter of choice for our friends, Mark and Karla, for many years.  And I have to say that I LOVE this little dog.  She is a Corgi and her name is Bella.  Abbie gets very excited when we are watching Bella, especially if we are going to be taking her out to the park or the beach.

I used all Crate Paper for this layout.

Happy Scrappin'!!

Catchin' Waves

I love to mix colors and patterns when creating layouts.  Although these color combos may not be anything new, they are out the "norm" for me.  When I pulled these papers together for this layout, Shannon and Holly both thought I was crazy!!  They said I need to just stick to blue for these pics.  What???  Just use one color??  Are they out of their minds??  Haven't they met me before??  Anyway, paper is my favorite embellishment and I could easily scrap with nothing but paper and be perfectly happy with my layouts.

I used a sketch from My Sketch World.  Here is the sketch:

Here is my take:

I used a variety papers:  Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Bazzill and stuff from my stash.  The stickers are Soft Spoken.

Rainy Day Scrapping

It was definitely a very rainy day.  The rain let up and the sun started to poke out of the clouds a little after 5pm.  After making pancakes for breakfast, Abbie wanted to play a game before scrappin'.  Guess what she picks...the longest game in the world...Monopoly!!  After several hours, we end the game at 4:30pm with Abbie being the winner.  We did get a little scrappin' done, but not much.

It was REALLY pouring when I took this, but you can't really see how bad the rain was.  Any amount of rain is enough to keep in the house, though.

I uploaded the pictures Abbie wanted to scrap to Target and Tom was kind enough to go out in the rain and pick them up.  She sorted them and made page kits in preparation for the scrappin' festivities today.

Shannon is coming over with some friends to scrap the day away.

I found this sketch over at Scrapbooking Sketch and really liked it as soon as I saw it.  I really like working from sketches lately so I have been hunting all over the web for more.  I found about 12 that I'm going to be trying over the next couple of days and will post them as I finish them.  So here is my take on the sketch:

Abbie made a mug at the pottery studio while in Ohio that says "I Love You".  I used a lot of stuff from my scrap stash so I don't know what it is...but the butterfly is from Jeni Bowlin.

Abbie and I were sitting in the car one day in front of Shannon's house waiting for her and decided to play around with the camera.  I got some pretty fun pics of her and here are two of them.  I used Wisteria from Basic Grey for the whole layout.

Off to more scrappin'!!

Tropical Storm Update

Thankfully, we were not hit nearly as hard as the rest of the eastern coast.  Yesterday we only had some light winds and hardly any rain.  Last night was rainy and little more windy...but that was it.  So, because it is a rainy day, that means scrappin' for me...ALL DAY!! 

I decided a few years ago that rainy days and snowy days would be designated scrappy days.  Abbie will often hop into her chair and craft her little heart out right along side me.  We either play music on Pandora or play a movie on Netflix for some background noise...oh, how could I forget the Jelly Belly Jelly Beans...our favorite scrappy snack.

I've never taken pictures of our rainy/snowy scrappy day, but I will today...after I shower and do my hair of course!!  Those are the moments I'm most interested in capturing lately.  Everyday us moments.  Moments that show HOW we enjoyed our lives, our routines, what makes us...us.  Not just the holidays or trips.

So I'm off to feed the cat and read a little before anyone else gets up this morning.  But first, I'm still waiting for fall, so here are some more layouts...enjoy!!

We love going to the corn maze at Howell Living History Farms by Princeton.  It is huge and they do such a great job each year.  Two years ago, Anthony, Shannon and Dom came with us and we decided we were going to race each other.  Abbie wanted to go with her sister (big surprise!!) instead of us.  So Shannon and Anthony had to go through with 2 kids while Tom and I went by ourselves.  We won, but we also didn't have any kids slowing us down!!  So we will have to try again this year and see who wins.

Happy scrappin' all!!