Scraps...an eclectic mix of the pieces of my life

The End of an Era

2012-01-19T17:43:00.000-05:00

I have truly loved making birthday cards for my church's card ministry over the past 2 years. It has taught me how to make multiple cards effectively and also has helped me collect some really cute birthday stamps! :)

But last week I found out that January would be the last month that the birthday card ministry would be running. So I created my last set of 100 cards. A sweet simple design using a birthday stamp that I bought awhile ago. They came together quickly and easily with the help of my Copic markers and stickles. :)

And in tribute to this wonderful ministry, I thought I would share some of my favorite cards from over the past 2 years. Hopefully they will give you a bit of inspiration. :)

More Copic colored goodness...and a bit of sparkle!

Simply stamping with a fun Hero Arts set and Distress inks. :)

A fabulous design using the Oliver line from Basic Grey and my favorite...kraft cardstock!

Stamping with paint...divine!

Quick and easy...love how the stamps coordinate with the patterned papers from KI Memories.

Love these monster stamps and the bright fun papers that I paired with it create a fun birthday greeting.

Classic and beautiful using one of my all-time favorite Hero Arts stamps...Silhouette Grass. :)

Another favorite...lots of fun Copic coloring on this one too! :)

Love this card for so many reasons...plus I got it back as my birthday card in 2010. My family and I had a chuckle about that one. :)

"Whoo" knew owls could be this cute...lots of great stamps come together to make this card awesome!

Love the simple elegance to this one with alcohol inks...definately need to make more of these!

I first came up with this design while making samples at Archiver's and I knew it would be perfect for birthday cards.

Classic, simple, sweet, easy...a classic lift from Jennifer McGuire...love!

This is also my 100th blog post...woo-hoo! I will hopefully be back tomorrow with my 2011 Christmas card shares...a bit late but better late than never! :)

Looking Back on 2011

2012-01-02T12:54:00.000-05:00

One thing I love about New Year's is that it forces us to look back on the previous year and reflect on the changes that have happened in our lives. We also get to look forward to the year to come and plan, and look forward to the changes that God has for us.
1. What did you do in 201 that you'd never done before? Went to Israel, floated in the Dead Sea, ate my birthday cake, went to Pensacola Beach, Florida, and many more little things that are escaping me at the moment.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make an resolutions last year. I tend to be really bad at keeping them.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Paula. She had her darling daughter on December 23rd and we are hopefully going to see her for the first time today.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No
5. What countries did you visit? Israel...and a view of the country of Jordan from across the Jordan River.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A classroom teaching job and maybe a new car....or a boy. :) {Still working on this one...definately closer to the boy one than I was last year. ;) }
7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I can't say that one particular date is etched in my memory...many of the days bring good memories, and a few not so happy memories as well. The highlights would be Israel, the beach with my family, and all the fun times I have had with my small group over the past few months.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Growing in my faith through many different events...Israel, my small group, teaching sunday school at church.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not trusting God's perfect plan in every area of my life. (Again this year, just like last year...this seems to be one of my biggest struggles.)
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Just the occasional cold...it was a very healthy year for me.
11. What was the best thing you bought? My trip to Israel...I wouldn't trade those 10 days for anything.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My sweet friend Debbie...she has been there for me through the ups and downs of this year and I have truly come to admire her faith and trust in Jesus. :)
13. What person most touched your life this past year? My small group...they are my perfect fit. They make me laugh, smile, and giggle, but they also are the people I can count on for anything!
14. Where did most of your money go? Scrapbooking supplies, of course. :)
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? my church's young adult group, Threefold, on Thursday nights....it truly is the best part of my week. Also my bible study on Monday nights with Debbie, Matthew, Richey, Deborah, Alex and Lisa...we have so much fun together!
16. What song will always remind you of 2010? I See the Light from the Disney movie Tangled.
17. Compared to this time last year, you are: So ready for change!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Spent more time in the Word, learning about Jesus. :)
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worried about my future...it is so much more worthwhile to lay it in God's hands.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Surrounded by family to celebrate the birth of my Savior.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010? maybe.... :)
22. Best movie of 2011? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 2 - The end of a saga. I cried when it was over because we had reached the end.
23. What was your favorite TV program? Way too many to name....NCIS and NCIS:Los Angeles, Criminal Minds, Gray's Anatomy, and Hawaii 5-0. :)
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No
25. What was the best book you read? The Story...its the Bible in narrative form...we are going through it at church and I am loving seeing the story of Christ woven throughout the Scriptures
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Re-discovering the Newsboys...definately not the same without Peter Furler but still a fantastic group! :)
27. What did you want and get? My new Silhouette die-cutting machine... it was my Christmas present and I love it!!!
28. What did you want and not get? To go back to Disney for the holidays. I will get there eventually!
29. What was your favorite holiday? Christmas...lots of time with family and friends. :)
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29 and had an amazing dinner with my family at Halls' Gas House. :) I also had a birthday bonfire where my friends and I hung out...amazing memories!
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A full time teaching job so I didn't have to work weekends. :)
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Classic pieces with a few fun ones thrown in...
33. What kept you sane? My family and friends
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Not really any...I guess I don't follow celebs.
35. What political issue stirred you the most? Ummm...I can't say I really followed politics much.
36. Who did you miss? My sweet friend Rebekeh...
37. Who was the best new person you met? Matthew...he and I are so alike, especially in our love for all things Disney!
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010: Waiting on God's timing is hard work, but I can still serve Him and give Him the glory while I am waiting. :)

The Cracked Pot

2011-12-26T21:33:00.000-05:00

I came across this fantastic little fable while I was cleaning off my desk today and I thought I would share it here with you, my blog friends in hopes that it will lift your spirits and make you smile.

"An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots. Each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of mysel, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled and said "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always know about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the pat, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
- Author Unknown

I love the story this teaches. I definately need to hear this at this point in my life and be reminded that God is in control and that He has a plan. Each of us has our own unique flaws. But its the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. It's what allows God to work in our lives and show the beauty that can come if we trust in Him and celebrate our flaws as God-given gifts and use them to help glorify Him.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas morning and as usual it is the one day a year where I willingly wake up early. In fact, I am usually the first one awake and this year is no exception. I spent some time in my Bible, reading the account of my Savior's birth in Matthew 2. I am so thankful for this amazing gift that God has given to me as well as anyone else who chooses to believe in Him and His incredible saving grace. My LORD and Savior chose to come to this Earth as a little baby because He loved me so much. He was born in a manger in a little town called Bethlehem. Shepherds who were told of His birth by angels on the hillside, came and worshipped Him because they heard the Good News and believed. It truly was a strange, yet amazingly beautiful way for my Savior to enter this world. :)

Now I am waiting for the rest of the family to wake up, so we can head downstairs and see what Santa has brought us. This is one of my favorite times of year....uninterrupted time spent with my family, all gathered together around the tree, laughing and sharing gifts and memories from Christmases past, watching as each of us take a turn opening our presents. Around and around we go, until all of the gifts has been opened. I love doing presents this way. It makes it last longer and we get to see who got everyone what and it makes the gift-giving even more special.

Well, it sounds like people are up and moving so I had better go. merry Cristmas everyone!

Remembering To Be Thankful

2011-11-23T23:30:00.002-05:00

I guess my gratitude posts are turning into more of a weekly thing so here they are from the past week.

Thursday, November 17th - I am so thankful that Dad has a job where he can occasionally meet me for lunch. I love our little tradition that we have established over the years and how I can talk to my dad about anything during these times. It is time set aside for us and he is constantly encouraging me and lifting me up. I know that no matter where we end up, I have my dad there to lend a listening ear and uplifting words.

Friday, November 18th - I am thankful for my sister Renee. She is so amazing and she loves me for who I am. We have grown so much closer in the past few years and I love her so much. I am so thankful that God made us sisters and I know that there could be no one better than her. :)

Saturday, November 19th - I am so thankful for my friend Rosalie for so many reasons. She is an amazing friend and I love getting together with her to just catch up on life. She was my support system for me during that last year I worked at Arcola and she is the only good thing that came out of that year. And ever since then she has been such an encouragement to me as I struggle with finding a teaching job. She is truly amazing and I am so glad that God has put her in my life.

Sunday, November 20th - I am so very thankful for quiet days at home where I can relax. Whether it be spending time in my scrap room getting creative, watching a movie, or hanging out with my family, I love days when I don't have anywhere I need to be and my time is my own. Today was one of these days and I loved every minute of it.

Monday, November 21st - I am so thankful that God gave me the desire, ability, and talent to be a teacher. To be able to positively influence a child's life is the greatest privilege in the world.

Tuesday, November 22nd - I know this sounds kind of lame, but I am thankful for television. The ability to know what is going on in the world around me is fantastic, and I also love that I can get totally lost in a good show and forget the cares of the world for awhile.

Wednesday, November 23rd - I am thankful for traditions. I am the sort of girl who likes tradition. They are a way to connect with the past and they give is something to look forward to. They are familiar and comfortable. Just like our annual day before Thanksgiving shopping trips. They have become one of my favorite parts of this holiday because I just love spending time with my family.

So Grateful...

2011-11-17T00:18:00.001-05:00

Still trying to stay caught up on the gratitude posts, so here are mine from the past few days.

Saturday, November 12th - I am grateful for the beautiful weather and being able to spend time outside with my family.
Chatting with my parents and playing frisbee with Bailey... These are the things that matter most.

Sunday, November 13th - I am grateful for my church, Pathway Community Church. It is a place where I feel like I truly belong. I have so many friends there and I am fed and encouraged each week by our amazing pastors.

Monday, November 14th - I am so thankful that God has called me to be a teacher. It is so worthwhile to be able to positively influence children and I know that He has a plan for me on this one.

Tuesday, November 15th - I am so thankful that God has given me a passion and a talent for photography. I love being able to capture the world around me and show God's beauty in everything, whether it be a flower, an animal or a child.

Wednesday, November 16th - I am thankful for technology that allows me to connect to those around me. Whether it be a text to a friend to see if they are feeling better or a log post to share what is going on in my world or a phone call with my dad when he is out of town, I can stay in touch with the people who are most important to me.

A Week of Gratitude

2011-11-12T01:44:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I posted! I guess life just has just been getting in the way and there is so much to do and be thankful for. So I am going to play catch up from the past week on this blog.

Saturday, November 5th - I am so thankful for my family. They are so amazing and love me for just who I am. :)

Sunday, November 6th - Today on my birthday I give thanks to the one who gave me life, my birth mom. I may not know who she is but I am so grateful that she chose to have me instead of getting an abortion. I am also so grateful that she chose to give me up and that God placed me with the most amazing, loving, and supportive parents ever!

Monday, November 7th - I am so thankful for the friends that God has placed into my life. They make me laugh and I enjoy hanging out with them so much. Thanks to each one of you who made my birthday so amazing with your birthday wishes. :)

Tuesday, November 8th - I am thankful for the substitute teaching jobs that I have gotten this year. When I am in the classroom, it just feels so right and I know that this is what God wants me to do with my life.

Wednesday, November 9th - I am so thankful for my amazing friend Emily. God placed her in my life 21 years ago and she has blessed my life in so many ways. We have experienced life together and I am so glad that we are still such good friends.

Thursday, November 10th - I am thankful that God gave us music so that we could express our love for Him with it. I was at a christian concert tonight and I love how a group of believers can get together and praise Jesus and have fun too.

Friday, November 11th - today is Veteran's Day and I am so very thankful for our servicemen and women who have served our country and risked their lives to protect our freedom!

Thankful...

2011-11-05T18:47:00.001-04:00

Ok here goes. I have tried and failed to post this blog 2 times now and I am a bit frustrated with Blogger. I get the entire thing written out and go to post...and poof! the whole post is gone! :(

So anyways I am going to sum up both Thursday and Friday's thankfulness posts.

Thursday, November 3rd - Today I am thankful for the young adult group at my church called Threefold. It is a group specifically for those of us who are in our 20's and 30's where we can grow our faith and grow in community. I love being part of this dynamic group of people every Thursday night and being challenged and fed every week. I am on the leadership team and it is so great to see God working through this group to further His kingdom. Every week our awesome youth pastor Nate Haywood teaches us about Christ and challenges us to be more active and involved in our faith. We also have praise and worship which is such an intimate time with my Lord and Savior....love it!

Another fantastic part of this group is the people that attend. They are all so amazing and friendly and encouraging. I have grown very close to so many of them and feel blessed that God has given them to me. :) I love being able to be open and myself with them and we have so much fun together. We usually go hang out somewhere after Threefold (usually Applebee's) and we have a ton of fun and laugh a lot too! This is why Thursday is my absolute favorite day of the week!

Friday, November 4th - I am so thankful for the gift that God has given to us, His children in creation. Everything in the world around us whispers His name, from the warm sun to the falling leaves. I love being able to revel in His amazing creativity and design. It is all so perfect and it works together so perfectly....there is absolutely no way that it all happened by chance. And when I get a chance to see His creation and how perfect His plan for creation was, I am reminded that His plans for me are perfect too. :)

I will be back later tonight with today's post...there is still more day to be reminded of all that God has given me! :)

An Attitude of Gratitude

2011-11-03T00:43:00.001-04:00

Today I am thankful for the gift of creativity that God has blessed me with. I was able to spend some time down in my scrap room, playing with my photos, paper, and glue today and it was awesome! It is times like these where I can get lost in my own little world (literally!) and be creative. Here is where I can let go of the stresses of life and unwind and relax. I love playing with colors and textures and finding just the right things from my stash to help me tell the story behind the photos.

A Month of Gratitude

2011-11-02T00:04:00.000-04:00

Hello again my little blog. Long time no see. I have neglected you and let you sit idle and not taken the time to share my thoughts and makings with you and the world around me.

But no more. So today I embark on a month-long journey...a mission of gratitude, of remembering all that God has done for me, of all the wonderful people He has brought into my life, and of all the awesome things that He has done for me. Some days I will share pictures, and others I will just share my thoughts. I may even scrap about a few of them to share. So here goes...

Today I am thankful for my job at Archiver's. I work with some pretty amazing people and I get to share my love of scrapbooking and card-making with those around me. :)

2011-08-02T16:52:00.000-04:00

** I ran across this today when I was looking for something on my computer and I thought it would be perfect to share here. :) **

1. What are your favorite scrapbook manufacturers?

-Right now I am really into Bo Bunny. Their stuff is so fresh and the colors are vibrant and fun...not to mention all the fun new accents. For cardstock, I am a Bazzill girl through and through. It is pretty much the only brand of cardstock I use. I love all the textures and I can always find cardstock to match my layout. I also use lots of Basic Grey, Hero Arts stamps, Tim Holtz products, American Crafts Thickers, and of course my Cricut.

2. When did you start scrapping?

- I started scrapping back in 2000, when I was a senior in high school. I went on a couple of trips that year and I also had all of those high school memories to preserve. :) I went and visited my aunt and she introduced me to scrapbooking. That next week I headed to my local scrapbook store and picked up some supplies and created my first page. I was hooked!

3. How has your style evolved over the years?

-Looking back through my scrapbooks, I realize that my style has always stayed pretty consistent. Most of my layouts consist of multiple photos and each page has a story to tell. I like to use multiple patterned papers and a few key embellishments to tell my stories. Over the years, I have played with lots of different techniques on my scrapbook pages. I think that this comes from working at various scrapbook stores throughout the years where I had to learn about all the latest and greatest.

4. How often do you scrap about yourself (or scrap pictures that you are in)?

-Most of the pages I scrapbook are about me. Since I am single, I scrap about my life. My family, holidays, travels, fun nights spent with friends, and even my dog. I try to hand off my camera to someone else or get pictures from friends and family to ensure that I am in at least some of the pictures. :)

5. Do you have any other crafty hobbies?

-I love to make cards. I make 75 cards a month for my church’s birthday card ministry, so that keeps me pretty busy. I also have dabbled in cross-stitching and miniatures but paper crafting has pretty much taken over my life.

6. Where do you get your creative inspiration?

- Most of my creative inspiration comes from sketches and other people’s layouts. I usually end up altering some part of the design but it gives me a springboard for my ideas. Then I am free to plug in my own pictures, patterned papers, colors and embellishments to create my layouts. Sometimes I will design my own layouts from scratch but most of the time I just want to concentrate on capturing my memories in a stress-free manner.

7. What size pages do you normally scrap?

- I am definitely a 12x12 scrapper. Many of my layouts are double-page layouts. I love having the larger 12x24 inch space to play with and scrap multiple photos.

8. Do you have a favorite technique that you use on layouts or something that you think of as your signature?

- I love experimenting with different techniques on my layouts but a few of my favorites are using lots of photos on a page to tell my story, using border punches to add pizzazz to a strip of paper, and the ‘rule of 3s’ which is using 3 clusters of like objects on my pages, such as flowers, circles, or other embellishments. This technique is on just about every layout I make and I love how this look completes my pages.

9. Are you on any design teams?

-Currently I am not on any design teams. I was on the If It’s Groovy Blog design team from September 2009-May 2010 and I loved being challenged every month to create new layouts for the team.

10. Where is your favorite place to scrap? Is there a certain time of day that you prefer to scrap? (or when do you get the most scrapping done?)

-My favorite place to scrap is my scraproom because everything that I could ever possibly need (literally) is down there. I can go down there, turn on my favorite tunes, and get lost in my own little world. Right now I scrap whenever I have time. Since I work retail, my hours are a bit crazy so some days I am working in the afternoon while everyone else is at work and other times I am working late at night when everyone else is asleep.

11. What does your scrap room/area look like?

- My scrap room is located in the finished portion of our basement. I have basically taken over and turned the space into my giant creative space. My desk sits facing another desk and a table so I can invite lots of people over to scrap with me. To the side of my desk is my computer and printer. Since I print all my own photos I use this quite a bit. Then behind me is shelving that stores all my supplies, including patterned papers, stickers, ink, stamps, flowers, letters, chipboard, and my scrapbook albums.

12. Any tips on keeping all those scrap supplies organized?

-Organize the way you think about scrapbook supplies. For me I know my companies, so I tend to organize the bulk of my supplies by type and then by company. If you scrap by color, then organize by color. If you scrap by event, organize by events. For example, most of my patterned paper is organized by company, but I do have some that is organized by event (holidays, birthdays, Disney, etc) and a little bit of it is organized by color.

Also always be on the lookout for new ways to organize your supplies. You never know where you will find the perfect organizing solution. For example, I keep all my border strips organized by color family in silverware keepers that I found at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And compartmentalized tackle boxes hold my ribbon, eyelets, and brads.

13. Why do you scrap?

- I scrap because I love to preserve my photos and stories for me and my family. Before I started scrapping, I took lots of photos but they were always just sitting around in boxes or in photo albums. I never actually got them out or looked at them. When I started scrapping, I got those photos out of the boxes and added my personal story to them. I also love playing with paper and being creative. Scrapbooking has been a wonderful outlet for me to share my thoughts and feelings. I am able to put what is in my heart onto my pages and record and remember the little things that make me who I am.

Long time, no see...and some favorite websites and blogs! :)

2011-07-11T11:39:00.002-04:00

Wow! I am embarrased about how long it has been since I have posted on here...so sad!

So today I just have a few quick shares with some of my favorite websites and products that I just shared with a friend of mine and I thought I would send it out there for all of my blog readers....if I still have any left!

http://nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/things_that_really_matter/

This is Nichole Magouirk’s website. Amazing scrapper and stamper! Lots of awesome tutorials on scrapbooking and stamping and the Silhouette. You will love this one!

http://www.valeriesalmon.com/

This is the home of the Got Sketch blog, sketches, and sketch classes. I get TONS of inspiration here and I have taken every.single.class that she has offered! The best part for all of you is that you can get her classes in instant download form. 8+ sketches, directions, multi-photo, a mix of single and double pagers, and lots of inspiration and extra tips. :)

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/category/all/

Throwing this one in here because some of my favorite fonts are on here. And the best part is that some of them match the fonts from like Doodlebug and KI Memories. J

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Crumpler+5&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Link for my camera bag! J It’s called the Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home. It is awesome for those of us who need a camera bag that holds up and protects our camera but doesn't slow us down. :)

https://www.the-whole-kit-n-kaboodle.com/storefront/c-20-places.aspx

These are pre-made Disney kits from Andrea Deer. They are so stinkin’ adorable! I definately reccomend if you have Disney pages to scrap!

http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/

One of my all time favorite blogs by Jennifer McGuire. I give her the credit for making me fall in love with stamping and Hero Arts. There are some awesome tutorial videos on here with Ranger and Hero Arts products.

Last day in Israel....catch up

2011-03-27T23:27:00.002-04:00

Hey there my blogger friends. I cant't believe it, but in the craziness of being home, I forgot to post about our last day in Israel.

It was a slower day compared to many of our other days but it was one of the most impactful by far. Our day started with a view overlooking Bethlehem and the shepherd's field where the shepherds saw the star and were surrounded by angels singing "glory to God in the highest." We didn't actually go to Bethlehem because like I said in an earlier post it is in the West Bank and it is entirely under Palestinian control. So definitely not very safe. There was this huge, imposing wall surrounding the city...freaky kinda. It reminded me of like a high security prison and people choose to live there...crazy if you ask me.

Then we headed out to the field where David fought Goliath and the Philistines. Tyler read us the scriptures and we walked along the path, picking up stones and imagining what it would have been like to be there. It was so awesome to be in the place where David and Saul would have been and be reminded of how great our God truly is.

Our next stop was at the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. We spent a few hours there, taking it all in and remembering the horrors and injustices that were done to the Jewish people during World War II. It was very moving, especially seeing the room with the names of all the known people who died during the Holocaust. Row upon row of books filled with page after page of names in a room 2 stories high...it really hit home just how many lives perished in that awful stain on our history. There was also a memorial set up for all of the children who died during the Holocaust. It was a set of three lights that were reflected around the room by mirrors, making hundreds upon hundreds of lights. The room was completely dark and silent, except for a voice reading the names of children who had died, with their country of birth and ages. That was probably the most heart-wrenching part of the whole thing. Innocent children who hand't done anything to hurt anyone were murdered just because of who they were by birth. It was awful. Afterwards we all just spent some time processing all that we had seen and heard and remembering those who had died.

Our next stop was one of my absolute favorites of the trip. It was the Garden Tomb, one of the traditional sites where Jesus was said to have been buried. This site seemed much more authentic and lined up with the gospels much better than the other place we saw. First we sat in a little alcove and just sat and remembered what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross for our sins and then raising again to live with God the Father. We took communion together and spent time in prayer. We then walked around the garden with our guide and she showed us the things that make this a good candidate for the crucifiction and burial of Christ. First we saw the side of the cliff that looked like a skull, and in the scriptures Golgotha means "the place of the skull". Then our guide explained to us that the place that we were at was a garden in Jesus' time, which was basically a walled-in place where they grew crops. There was a giant cistern and a winepress, so they probably grew grapes in that garden. Then there was the tomb, the only one built there and carved out of the rock. We were able to go inside and see the tomb and on the inside of the tomb in really old writing there was a symbol that said that meant Jesus, the son of God, the Messiah. It was really cool to be there and I think we were all overcome with emotions at being at the actual site where our faith became so personal and where Christ died to save my sins. Nothing on this trip can could ever come close to topping this experience and it is one that I will always carry with me.

Finally to celebrate the end of our trip Leor treated us to a fabulous dinner at a little restaurant on our way back to Tel Aviv. We feasted on chicken kabobs and these delicious french fries, along with some other more traditional dishes. It was my favorite meal of the entire trip and we all had a great time reminiscing about some of our favorite parts and relaxing around the table with our good friends.

Jerusalem

2011-03-13T17:28:00.004-04:00

Jerusalem

Hello again my blog friends. Today was probably the most intense and grueling day we have had on the trip so far, but also one of the most powerful. We spent the entire day in Jerusalem following Jesus' footsteps during the Passion week.

We started our day at the top of the Mount of Olives, looking over the city and the Temple Mount. Leor explained the general layout of the city as well as a brief overview of the history. We then headed down the Palm Sunday Road, which is close to the path that Jesus would have taken on Palm Sunday into Jerusalem. It afforded some beautiful views of the city. As we walked, I remembered how the Jews cheered for Jesus and shouted "Hosanna!" and then a week later turned on them. We then stopped at a chapel commemorating where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem.

We then continued down the road into the Garden of Gethsemane. Inside the garden are these ancient olive trees that are believed to be dated to the time of Jesus. It was so special to be there and know that this is where Jesus prayed and wrestled with what was going to happen, but knowing that it was God's will. It is also the place where Judas betrayed him. Next to the garden is the Church of All Nations, which commemorates the betrayal and arrest of Christ. It was very beautiful inside and it was the perfect place to sit and reflect on all that Jesus has done/gone through for me, a lowly sinner.

Then we headed to the Temple Mount and entered through the Joppa Gate. We wandered through the old city and the bazaars. It was so fun to see the different shops and all the unique wares they were selling. I loved the colors and textures there. It was super busy in the marketplace and so our group got separated for a bit, but we eventually found the rest of the group. We then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is the more traditional churches' view of where Christ was crucified and buried. It was a nice site, but I didn't really enjoy it. There was a lot of ceremony with it and it didn't have the authenticity and realness that so many of the other sites that we have visited have had.

After that, we headed to the Wailing Wall which is probably the most recognized site in all of Jerusalem. The wall was separated int a men's and a women's side, so the group separated and us girls went to tour side. We worked our way up to the wall, passing many different people praying. Some were sitting in chairs and many were at the wall praying. There were lots of Jewish women there praying with their Hebrew prayer books. Laying my hand upon the wall was special, knowing that this was one of the places that Jesus taught and prayed. Being there among so many people who do not have a personal relationship with Christ, who needed a book or the wall to pray, made me realize how special my relationship with my Savior is. I can turn to him with my thoughts worries, prayers and concerns whenever and whereever I need to and He is always there listening and loving me. There is nothing I have to do or say, or a specific place I have to go to talk with Him. It was a sweet revelation.

Then we toured the Rabbi's Tunnel, which is a series of underground tunnels below the Temple Mount, where we could see some of the original foundation stones from the Second Temple. It was a series of small tunnels and at times they were vey small, which brought out the claustrophobic in me, but it was definitely worth it.

We then stopped in a small church, which was the site of one of the stations of the cross, which remembered the beating of Jesus before He was crucified.

After lunch, we continued our sightseeing with Saint Anne's church, which survived the destruction of Jerusalem. This church was plain and mostly unadorned but it had beautiful acoustics. We were able to have the church to ourselves and so we just started singing different songs, praising God. Now if you remember from a previous post, our group is not the best at singing but in that church with our voices amplified we all sounded beautiful. We sang songs like "Amazing Grace", " Holy, Holy, Holy", and "Jesus Loves Me". It was such a sweet time and we all were moved by what took place In that small, unadorned church. Then we visited the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath in John 5.

We then walked around the Temple Mount starting at the Lion's Gate. We stopped at the Temple museum and we learned about how the ancient Jews made sacrifices at the temple. What really struck me there that like those ancient Jews, we Christians now travel to the Temple Mount as pilgrims, wanting to draw closer to Christ. But unlike the Jews, our sins are already forgiven by the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb, who is Jesus.

We also stopped at the Southern Gate, which is where the steps going into the Temple Mount are and sitting there imagining that this is where Jesus walked. It is an actual recorded event in the Bible and we were sitting on those very steps almost 2,000 years later. That was so incredible and it has been moments like these that have brought the Bible to life for me on this trip and has helped renew and strengthen my faith.

Well, I am signing off my friends. Tomorrow is our last day in Israel and we will be boarding our flight home tomorrow night so my final Israel post will actually be from home, although I will probably write it on the plane. So shalom to you my friends and I will see you all soon. :)

The Lowest Point on Earth

2011-03-13T17:27:00.003-04:00

Good evening again my blog readers. Today (Saturday) our group headed out to the region of the Dead Sea to explore. First up was our baptism on the Jordan River. The spot we went to today was much more secluded and far less touristy feeling. Plus it is most likely closer to the actual spot that Jesus was baptized in. It was a sweet time to be together in the Lord's presence and remember our faith and be baptized in the same waters that Jesus was. Everyone agreed that it was the highlight of the day.

Then we headed to Masada, which is this giant fortress built on the top of a mountain by Herod the Great and it was later used by the Jewish during the revolts during 70 A.D. To get to the top we had to ride cable cars like the ones you see in the Alps. I am not a huge fan of heights, and Adam and Alan found about it when we were driving through the Golan Heights the other day and kept teasing me about it...good-naturally of course. :) it was really interesting to see and once we got to the top it didn't really seem so high up so I was great.

Then we stopped at Ein Gedi, which is the site where David and his men sought refuge when Saul was chasing them. David also used these settings as inspiration for many of his psalms. It was a beautiful nature park with walking paths and waterfalls. It was at one of these waterfalls that we stopped to read about David and Saul and also to read some psalms. The psalms really do come to life when you can actually see and experience the things that David is writing about.

After that we stopped at the Ahava store, which is the maker of all the Dead Sea skincare products. We bought a few things before heading down to the Dead Sea for a swim. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth and is over 30% salt, compared to only 3% in the oceans. Swimming in the Dead Sea was on my bucket list and today I accomplished that. It was awesome to get into the water and without even having to try, be completely buoyant, floating in the water. The edges of the shore are also extremely cool with salt formations along the edges. The only bad thing is that the shore is extremely rocky and it kinda hurts getting in and out of the water. We also slathered ourselves in the Dead Sea mud and took some really fun pictures. The mud is right there along the shore. It is super rich in minerals and is so good for your skin. It was an adventure getting it off though and we had lots of laughs as we played in the mud.

Then our last stop of the day was Qumran, which is where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in the 1940's and 1950's. The park was officially closed but since Leor is so well known they let us in to explore a bit. (well I guess we kinda jumped the gate....:) There were caves built right into the sides of the cliffs which is where the scrolls were found. We loved just getting the chance to explore this awesome place that is so important to our history.

Back at the hotel, we headed to dinner and also visited a little grocery store in downtown Jerusalem before heading to our beds for the evening...which is where I should be so goodnight!

Heading South

2011-03-13T17:26:00.003-04:00

Hey there blog readers! I didn't get a chance to update my blog yesterday because we signed into our new hotel and it costs $9 an hour for Internet. Boo.... So here goes Friday's activities.

This morning, we packed up and said goodbye to the beautiful Ma'Gaan resort at the Sea of Galilee. I have absolutely loved staying there with it's spacious rooms, gorgeous grounds, and amazing lobby that we hung out in. We then began our trip south to Jerusalem and we stopped at many places on our way there.

Our first stop was at Gideon's Springs, which is where the story from Judges 7 takes place with Gideon and his army being made smaller by God so that God could be glorified when the Israelites won the battle. It was very pretty there and we took lots of great pictures.

Then we stopped at an oasis and hot springs in the middle of the desert. It was beautiful there and the water was so clear and blue. This might have been a spot where Jesus stopped to rest on his long journey from Capernium to Jerusalem.

Our next stop was at Beit Shean, which is one of the oldest Roman settlements in Israel. The city was buried in an earthquake and many of the structures were left unharmed. It was Fun to explore, with ancient marble mosaics and huge limestone pillars. It was a major metropolitan area in Jesus' time.

Then we headed into part of the West Bank. It is divided into 3 zones: A, B, and C. C is the safest and is controlled by the Israelis so it is pretty safe. We drove pretty close to the border of the country Jordan and in the buffer zone between the two countries we did see some mine fields with active mines...from a bit of a distance. We were safe, don't worry. Our tour guide is exceptional and knows where it is safe. We actually might end up not going to Bethlehem because it is in the West Bank in zone A which is under Palestinian control. I would love to go, but definitely not if it isn't safe.

Then we stopped at Leor's house on our way into Jerusalem to meet his family and have some refreshments. He actually lives in the West Bank: zone C.
We then drove through the Jordan Valley and the regions of Samaria and Judea. We drove through the desert and saw lots of beautiful things like camels, rocky cliffs, and cacti. Then we stopped for lunch at Abraham's Tent. We dressed up like they did in Abraham's time and rode camels to fet to our destination. Riding the camels was such a new and different experience and we all had so much fun trying to get on and stay on our camels. At the tent, we ate lunch. It was delicious. They had chicken with a date honey glaze, rice, and many other foods. The chicken was so yummy that we all had seconds. It was a ton of fun to eat in a tent reclining on cushions around the table and the view outside the tent was spectacular. It looked out on the mountains of Judea and out the Jordan River Valley.

Then we drove into Jerusalem for our first view of the Temple Mount from the mountains. Then we wove our way around the city until we reached our hotel. It is much more fancy than our other hotel, but I don't like it as much. It is interesting though. In order to turn the lights on, you have to insert your room key into a slot. I guess it saves them money and electricity, but it is kind of a nuisance. Then we also arrived on Shabbat (the Jewish sabbath) which started at sundown. Dinner was a grand feast, all kosher of course. Lots of salads and weird Israeli and Jewish foods so I didn't really eat much.

After dinner we all hung out in the lobby, just chatting about the days events and bantering with each other. This is probably one of my most favorite things about this trip, just hanging out with our group. I have gotten to know all of them so well and I know that I will be sad to see the trip come to an end in a few days.

Well, I gotta go. See you all soon. :)

Note: This post was from Friday, March 11th.

A Change of Pace

2011-03-11T15:26:00.002-05:00

Hello again blog readers. Today's post will be a little more laid-back than the previous few posts. We headed north into the Golan Heights area which encompasses most of the northern part of the country. Our first stop was Dan, home of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. We saw some ruins as we drove but since it was still raining we weren't able to go see them. We did stop briefly at a nature preserve there and saw one of the springs that feeds into the Jordan River. It was super pretty.

Then we started our ascent up into the Golan Heights. Leor explained about the 6 day war in Israel as we drove and showed us different places of interest. We then stopped at Caesarea Phillipi where they had another natural springs and ruins of a pegan temple. The place was interesting but I wasn't very fond of it, it was where Jesus Called Peter a rock of faith and said "Upon this rock I will build my church.

After that we Drove along the Lebanon border. It was quite menacing with electronic security fences and a guard there watching. There were also mine fields everywhere. They were fenced off of course but it is just a completely different world over here. Until now I really hadn't seen much evidence of it, but today was definitely different.

Then we stopped at the Nimrod Fortress and explored a bit. It Wes pretty slick because of the rains but it was fun to see this huge fortress up on top of the mountain. I stayed to the outside of the fortress but everyone else went inside and explored. It was just a bit too slick for me.

Then we drove up to Mount Herman, which is where many believe that Jesus was transfigured on the mountain. We didn't actually stop because at that high of elevation the rains had turned to snow. There was probably at least 2 inches in some places which made the roads kinda slick. It was funny because everywhere we looked there were people outside throwing snowballs, sledding, or making a snowman. There were even people who had pulled off the roads in order to play in the snow.

Then we headed off to lunch at this little pizzaria. The food was delicious and I had been hungry for pizza for awhile now. :)

After that we continued down the Golan Heights to the valley below. Leor told us of the stories about when the Jews returned to Israel after WWII and the only land left was not suitable for farming, but through their faith on God, the land became the most prosperous in the nation. We also saw our 6th rainbow today as we were driving through the mountains.

Finally we stopped at Leor's cousin's house to visit. We were able to see what a typical modern family house looks like in Israel. We also learned that at the Jewish feast of Purim the children dress up in costumes similar to our Halloween costumes.

Then back at the hotel I headed down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee for some quiet prayer time. I came away feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated, even though most of the time it was raining.

After we ate dinner, we all hung out in the lobby for awhile because that is the only place we can get internet access. This is without a doubt one of my favorite times of each day...just relaxing, processing the day, and teasing and joking with one another. I really feel like I know each of my traveling mates so well and many of them I only met on this trip. Everyone is so completely awesome and I feel so comfortable with them..it is truly amazing!

Well, off to bed so I can rise early I. The morning. We are packing up and leaving the Sea of Galilee for Jerusalem and all the awesome things to see at the southern end of the country. And I get to ride a camel tomorrow...should be fun. :)

Oh and I forgot to post this earlier but the Internet is pretty slow here so I haven't been able to upload any pictures...we are hoping the speed in Jerusalem is faster and I can upload them then.

Until my next post, see you all soon!

On the Sea

2011-03-10T13:12:00.003-05:00

Shalom and good evening to you my friend. Today has been my favorite day of our trip so far. We spent the day touring around the Sea of Galilee. It was a beautiful day and it was amazing to truly walk where Jesus walked and experience the things that He did.

We started out at the southern shore of the lake and started traveling around to the east. We stopped briefly at the location where Jesus cast the demon out of the man and into the pigs before heading over to Capernium. This place was amazing. This was the main place where Jesus did the majority of His ministry. capernaum is no longer a functioning city but it is full of artifacts. We visited the archaeological site of Peter's house where his mother was healed by Jesus. But my favorite place today had to be the temple at Capernaum. The original foundation from Jesus' time is still there and a newer version (still really old) is built on top of it. It is built of limestone and it stands out beautifully against the black lava rock. This place is full of history and life and it spoke to my heart about who Jesus was on Earth and how out of this humble place comes our faith and what we believe.

Our next stop on the tour was the Mount of Beattitudes. It is the place where Jesus most likely gave his famous sermon on the mount. I wasn't as impressed with this site because it was a modern day chapel of sorts and it seemed more commercialized than other places we have visited. We did head down to a small pavillion to gather and reflect on Scripture, which I really liked. Standing there looking out over the Sea of Galilee I was able to see the connections to the surroundings that Jesus used to help his audience understand what He was teaching them. Like the fertile soil, the birds and the flowers, and the mustard seeds. Mustard grows like wildfire here and it is almost everywhere you look. The parking lot had amazing views of the Sea of Galilee and it was a very beautiful place to visit.

On our way to the next stop, we sang worship songs. We all laiughed about it afterwards how terrible we all were, but it really was a sweet time spent praising our God as we drove around the Sea of Galilee.

Our next stop was the boat ride on the Galilee. There is a museum exhibit that is part of the experience that is all about a 2,000year old ship that they recovered from the Sea of Galilee. It was so interesting to see what a fishing boat looked like in Jesus' time and to learn how they preserved the boat for us to see today.then we headed out onto the sea. It was an amazing experience to be on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm. It was pretty overcast today but we got really lucky with the rain. For the most part, it only rained in between our stops or when we were inside. On the boat, we were paired with another group, so we spent a lot of time at the front of the boat experiencing this special time together. Tyler talked to us about how Jesus walking on the water had even more meaning to the people living in Jesus' time because they were afraid of large bodies of water and were superstitious that demons lived in the lake. So Jesus was showing them that faith is about trusting in Him and knowing that He will take care of us and also that He is bigger than anything in this world. These words just resonated with my heart because I feel as if these words were aimed directly for my heart and God is telling me to trust Him in all of the unknowns in my life. He has it all under control and I just need to trust Him.

Then we headed to another small town named Migdal for our lunch. The restaurant is famous for serving St. Peter's fish, basically a whole breaded fish caught in the Sea of Galilee, eyes, fins, tail and all. Only Adam was brave enough to get the whole one, everyone else got it filleted. I got the chicken and it was delicious. I am glad I didn't get the fish because they don't have tartar sauce in Israel. Lunch was great fun and we all had lots of laughs.

After lunch we went exploring near the cliffs of Arbel on the Nazareth Path. We hiked along the trail that Jesus would have taken to get from Capernium to Nazareth and Jerusalem. It was absolutely gorgeous and we loved hiking and taking pictures of God's country.

Since it rained so much today, we saw 5 different rainbows. Each one was more beautiful than the last and the last one was a double rainbow. It was almost as if God were smiling down on us and reminding us of his majesty.

Then we headed over to the Jordan River baptism site. We did not really like the atmosphere, so our guide Leor set up for us to get baptized in another less commercialized place. It was kind of sad to see such a special spiritual time be so affected by commercialism. It reminded me of when Jesus got angry with the sellers at the temple for disregarding the holiness of the temple and for not having right hearts about it. So instead we took some really pretty pictures of the river and stopped at the edge to reflect and touch the water.

We also stopped at a specialty market that sold all sorts of produce, spices, and other Israeli specialties. It was fun just to explore this place and see the unique items in there.

Tonight after dinner at the hotel we all met in the lobby to process the day and discuss what we had seen. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the trip and why I love our small little group. With only 9 of us, I feel like I have known these friends for much longer than it really is. Our group dynamic is so special and I look forward to spending more time with them throughout this trip. :)

Sent from my iPad

touring Israel

2011-03-09T11:16:00.002-05:00

My friends I am writing you from the lobby of our hotel on the shores of the Sea of Gallilee. Today is March 8th. I am telling you this because it probably won't make it onto the blog until at least the 9th because when I tried to log into Blogger, the screen would only come up in Hebrew...so needless to say I couldn't log in. :(

The past 48 hours have been crazy, busy, and fun. As you know from my previous post, our flight to Tel Aviv was delayed overnight so yesterday morning we headed to the airport around 4:00 a.m. to head out on our flight. The flight was super long...we took off at 6:30 a.m. our time and landed in Tel Aviv, Israel at midnight their time. The only saving grace was the in-flight entertainment system. There were over 100 movies to choose from as well as movies and games. So I slept a little on the flight but most of my time was spent watching movies. I saw Tangled, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince part 1, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and Bride Wars.

We stayed overnight at Tel Aviv and in the morning we headed out to begin our sightseeing. Our first stop was at a museum that described Israel's fight for independence in the 1940's. It followed a group of young Israelis who were key players in the story. Their tale was told through documentary and theatrical films as well as life-size dioramas with special effects. At first I really didn't enjoy it, but as the film progressed I was able to appreciate the struggles that the Israeli people have gone through to get to where they are today.
Then we journeyed on to Cesearea where we saw the theatre there and were able to explore a bit. It was on the Mediterranean Sea and it was truly beautiful. It was also great to see some Roman architecture from the time of Jesus. It was quite blustery and it rained on us at the beginning but we managed to enjoy ourselves and have fun exploring this historical place.

Then we headed north towards Mount Carmel. We stopped for lunch at the home of a family whose son was killed in a suicide bomb while serving in the Israeli army. The food was delicious and there was TONS of it. My favorite was the chicken....oh so delicious and just the right amount of seasoning. Then the family told us the story of their son. This was so meaningful and heartfelt and It brought the story from the museum to life even more.

Then we stopped at Mount Carmel, which is the site where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal in 2 Samuel. It was so high up in the mountainous region of Israel and it looks down upon the Valley where Armageddon is. We got some awesome pictures on the lookout before we headed into the chapel at the monastery there and read the scriptures. I was once again reminded how great and awesome my God is. Just as he showed up for Elijah in his situation, God will also show up for me in my situation, no matter how impossible it looks. I just need to have faith and trust that He can and that He will.

Our next stop on the journey was to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus. The town is built into the mountains and it is truly a site to behold. We went to the highest spot in the city to take in the view. This spot is also one of the places that Jesus preached the Word. to stand on that mountain and be where Jesus walked and to see what Jesus moved me and made me all the more excited to explore more of this beautiful land.

Our final stop for the day was our hotel on the Sea of Gallilee. We checked into our rooms then we all headed down to the shore to see this place where so much of Jesus' ministry happened. It is so beautiful and peaceful, surrounded by huge hills and with palm trees and flowers everywhere. We will spend much more time exploring here tomorrow...I can't wait!

Well, I am off to bed...it is almost midnight here unlike back home where it isn't even 5 p.m. yet. :) So I am signing off...see you all tomorrow!

Stuck in New Jersey...

2011-03-07T01:51:00.001-05:00

Well blog friends. It has been a VERY long day of traveling and I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Newark, New Jersey. It is currently 1:36 a.m. And after a shower I am feeling much revived. And with Internet access I thought I would update you my blog followers with the trip so far.
Our trip started very normal with a fairly uneventful drive to O'Hare airport in Chicago. When we arrived we found out that our flight to Newark had been delayed by 30 Minutes so we grabbed some dinner at the airport...nothing fancy but filling. I also spotted a Garrett's popcorn shop so I had to get some of the best cheesenpopcorn on Earth...heavenly! Finally we boarded our flight and took off. We ran into some bad weather near Newark and our 1 hour and 52 minute flight turned into over 3 hours. Our connexcting flight was scheduled to take off just 15 minutes after we landed, so we got a ride on one of those fancy carts to our terminal. Well, almost all of us...Clint and Adam ran the whole way and I got pictures of Adam running through the airport. :) when we arrived at our gate, however, we found out that our flight had been delayed to 6:30 a.m. And this was just after 11. So they got us set up with meal vouchers and we each also got a voucher for our own rooms. But since we have to leave here in about 2 hours to head back to the airport I decided not to go to sleep. We have a 12 hour flight ahead of us so I am going to sleep on the plane...I think I will be tired enough!
Well, I think that's enough excitement for today so signing off and the next post will be from Israel. Good night!
P.s. - if you want to read more about our trip and see more pictures, visit our group's blog at www.pccisraeltrip.blogspot.com.

World Traveler

2011-03-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

A passport is a wonderful thing. It literally opens up a world of travel to a person. Europe, Asia, a remote tropical isle....they all become possibilities when you own a passport. So many people have never left the United States, but in my little passport lies proof of the wonderful adventures I have taken. Britain, Mexico...and in just a few short hours I will be heading to another new destination. Israel: another place to explore, to experience, and to be.

I will be chronicling my journey through this little blog as I explore this ancient and holy land, the birthplace of my faith. So stay tuned, my blog readers, and experience the Holy Land with me as I go on this once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Cleaning the Cobwebs

2011-02-26T22:57:00.000-05:00

Man, it's been awhile since I have been on here. I am almost ashamed to say it but I have been neglecting my little blog. So it is time to 'clean out the cobwebs' and start afresh. So much has been going on in my life lately....

Crazy snowy weather, which has definately slowed down my subbing schedule. We have had almost 50 inches of snow this season....and our average is 35 inches. Just in February alone we have had about 30 inches alone! This shot is from a hike I took with my friend Emily after the last round of winter weather.

Busily getting ready for my trip to Israel with my church. We leave in just over a week and we will be traveling all over the country - Jerusalem, Bethlahem, Capurnum, the Sea of Galliee, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and many more places. I am so excited to be traveling to the land where my faith originated and to walk in the places that my Savior, Jesus, walked. I think it will be the experience of a lifetime and I get to enjoy it with some of my really awesome friends. :)
Playing with my new ipad, which I just got today to take with me on the trip. I am hoping to update my blog while I am there and this guy will help me do just that.
Welcoming Zach home from Iraq. He got home earlier this month and we are all so glad to have him back!

This is Renee and Zach with Luke, who is Renee's godson.

Lots of scrapbooking and card-making. Here are just a few of my favorites.

I love this layout for so many reasons. This was the first time we met Captain Hook and Mr. Smee and the photo is so bright and fun. The papers also complement the photo perfectly. And I was able to create the fun skull and crossbones accent with some grungeboard and crackle paint from Tim Holtz.

This page uses the brand new "Campfire" line from October Afternoon. This is one of my favorite companies. Their papers are so fun and versatile and the accents are adorable! These photos are of the cabin we stayed in at Fort Wilderness on our trip in 2008. The colors and accents just work so well together to help me tell the story of our "Cabin, Sweet Cabin".

This was another one of those layouts that I just fell in love with while I was creating it. All the pieces were coordinated from a set of chipboard ocean elements that I had from Heidi Swapp. Everything else is a mish-mash of products from different companies but the colors are beautiful together and they really show off the great photos I got at Epcot.

This page is so bright and fun and totally compliments this awesome photo of my dad and I on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom. The papers are for a summer line and they were just perfect on here. The blue paper is my own creation because I couldn't find one in the collection that I liked. So I made my own with some fun stamps from KI Memories and clear embossing powder.

Well that's all for tonight. I am gonna go play with my new ipad and all of its fun features.

Until next time,

Janeen :)

New Year's Survey (A bit late...)

2011-01-16T14:58:00.000-05:00

I know this is a bit late but I've been having issues logging onto Blogger since I updated my blog...still working on updates as well...but I did write out the answers on New Year's Day and had the best intentions of getting this up on here so here it is...better late than never.

I love doing these because it gives me a chance to look back on the past year and also to look forward to the next one. I also can see how I am growing and changing as a person which is fun too. :)

************************************************************

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Saw the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, visited the Indiana Dunes, swam in Lake Michigan, became a substitute teacher, and I am sure many more but these are the big ones that I remember.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I know I made some last year but I can't remember what they were...bad me! :),
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Anna had her sweet baby girl, Kinsley. :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? No
5. What countries did you visit? None...but this will change in 2011. Israel here I come! :)
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? A classroom teaching job and maybe a new car....or a boy. :)
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I can't say that one particular date is etched in my memory...many of the days bring good memories, and a few not so happy memories as well.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Hmmm...this one is deep. I would say surviving a whole year without being a teacher....it was a lot more difficult that I thought it would be, but I made it none-the-less.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not trusting God's perfect plan in every area of my life.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? A pretty bad case of strep throat...ended up at the doctor for that one.
11. What was the best thing you bought? My new zoom lens for my camera. :) (Although technically a Christmas present I am paying for half of it.)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My sister Renee who spent about half the year on her own while her husband Zach is in Iraq with the Air Guard. She has been so strong and amazing through all of it and I truly admire her for it. :)
13. What person most touched your life this past year? My parents...they have been a never-ending well of support for me and are always there to lift me up and encourage me when I stumble.
14. Where did most of your money go? Scrapbooking supplies, of course. :
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? my church's young adult group, Threefold, on Thursday nights....it truly is the best part of my week!
16. What song will always remind you of 2010? Jesus Saves by Jeremy Camp
17. Compared to this time last year, you are: Ready for change.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Spent more time in the Word, learning about Jesus. :)
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worried about my future...it is so much more worthwhile to lay it in God's hands.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Surrounded by family to celebrate the birth of my Savior.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010? no...but this is a goal for 2011.
22. Best movie of 2011? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 1 - Hands down the best, most true-to-the-book movie so far...totally can't wait for part 2 this summer!
23. What was your favorite TV program? Way too many to name....NCIS and NCIS:Los Angeles were awesome as usual. And I started watching a few new programs as well: Criminal Minds, Gray's Anatomy, and Hawaii 5-0. :)
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I lost a friendship with a friend who is still super-dear to my heart but we haven't talked in almost a year...hoping to change this in 2011.

25. What was the best book you read? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen....loved it! :)
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Franchesca Battestelli....an amazing Christian artist...so many of her songs just totally speak to me about where I am in life right now and are totally encouraging!
27. What did you want and get? A new zoom lens for my camera....I have wanted it for years and I finally got it and LOVE it!
28. What did you want and not get? To go back to Disney for the holidays. I will get there eventually!
29. What was your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving...it was so sweet and laid back and just a time to be with family and be thankful for all that God has given me.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28 and had an amazing dinner with my family at Halls' Gas House. :)
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A full time teaching job so I didn't have to work weekends. :)
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Comfortable jeans and a fun, fashionable top...and slippers at home! :)
33. What kept you sane? My family and friends
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Not really any...I guess I don't follow celebs.
35. What political issue stirred you the most? I guess the elections because I actually paid some attention to the different candidates.
36. Who did you miss? My brother in law Zach since he has been in Iraq...so ready for him to come home!
37. Who was the best new person you met? So many....Andre, Jen, Evin, Kara, Stasha, Lauren, and I could go on and on!
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010: Fully Rely on God!

Christmas Wishes For One and All

2010-12-25T01:36:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to stop by and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May the day be filled with lots of joy, laughter, good food, family, and friends. Don't forget to take some picutes to help you remember this time in your life and all the little memories that you make throughout the day. I know I will. :) These snapshots I take are little glimpses into my life and how I chose to celebrate this amazing, wonderful, special holiday that we call Christmas.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

"Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

(Luke 2:11, 14)

In that spirit, I wanted to share the Christmas cards I made this year. There were so many great stamps that came out this year and I had so many ideas rolling around in my head that I decided that instead of making the same card over and over and over again, I would make lots of different designs and only make about a dozen of each. So that is what I did.

"Merry Christmas Holly"

This is my favorite card of all the cards I made this year. To create the holly piece, I first stamped the Hero Arts Classic Holly cling stamp onto a 3.5 x 3.5 inch square of Bazzill cardstock with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. I heat embossed the image with clear embossing powder. I then made my own watercolor paints with Ranger Distress inks and Perfect Pearls Perfect Pearl powder mixed with water. I used Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, and Tumbled Glass Distress inks. I then inked up my favorite background stamp, the Friend Definition from Hero Arts with Pumice Stone Distress ink and inked over the entire image. I finished off the piece by distressing around the edge of it using the Tonic Edge Distresser and a bit of Pumice Stone ink. I also added a red cardstock border and a stamped sentiment to the card to finish it off.

"Warmest Wishes House"

This is another one of my favorites. I really loved this set of holiday houses by Hero Arts. I stamped and head embossed this house in gold and then colored it in with my Copic markers, I then cut the the house out and I also diecut 2 pieces with the Tim Holtz Alterations Ornamental Die. I drew a snow slope on one and cut out the bottom piece. I then added glitter to my 'slope' with white paint and set it aside to dry. I heat embossed the pine tree from the same house set with a metallic green embossing powder from American Crafts and the 'Warmest Wishes' from a holiday sentiment set from Hero Arts. I then used Tumbled Glass Distress ink and my inking tool to color the background of the full diecut piece and stamped small snowflakes from the house set with the Tumbled Glass ink. I finally pop dotted the glittery snow piece to my card and tucked the house in behind the slope. I finished the card by running my gold leafing pen around the edge of the blue piece to give the piece some extra shine and adding Frosted Lace Stickles to the snow peaks of the house.

Well it is getting super late so I will be back later this weekend to share more of my Christmas cards.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Janeen

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-12-20T21:42:00.001-05:00

Hello all my blog friends and readers. It has been a whirlwind of a month around here between the decorating, the holiday crafting, the festive events, and lots of time spent with the family. I have enjoyed it so much this year and there is still more to come in the next few weeks. I so can't wait...

So I thought I would pop on here and share a few of my holiday going-ons this season with you.

My young adult group at Pathway held an "everything cliche" Christmas party last week. We wore tacky christmas sweaters, had a white elephant gift exchange, and enjoyed all the fun festive foods that this season brings. The above pictures are from the tacky Christmas sweater contest. I ended up winning first place with my twinkling lighted sweater and they just had to turn off all the lights to admire it. :)

****************************************************************************

This was the Manheim Steamroller concert that I went to with my family at the Embassy. It was a lot of fun seeing how they create all the different sounds that go into their music and it was a very festive and fun concert. :)

************************************************************************

This weekend we also had our family Christmas parties....I got to see a ton of my aunts, uncles, and cousins and catch up with them. It is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. :)

***********************************************************************

Lots and lots of decorating...the tree, cookies, our outside lights....gotta love all the festive trimmings that you see this time of year.

*****************************************************************

I have also been busily working on my Christmas cards this year. I will try to get some pictures of them tomorrow and get them up on the blog to share with you all. :)

Until then....Merry Christmas,

Janeen

100 Books

2010-11-23T20:49:00.002-05:00

Have you read more than six of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.
Here is my list...

The ones in Bold are ones I have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings -Tolkein
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (most of it...in high school English)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahamn
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

That makes 19 that I have read....there are a few on the list that I would really like to read. Maybe I will start reading one this week. :)

Thankful for....

2010-11-23T20:49:00.000-05:00

Okay this is Monday and Tuesday's post because yesterday was just plain crazy....subbed all day in Kendallville (first grade) and then came home for an hour before running off to Archiver's for the evening shift.

Monday - I am thankful for my two jobs...even though they exhaust me sometimes. :)

Tuesday - I am thankful for all my amazing, fabulous friends who are always there for me and who I can spend hours with just chatting everything under the sun. :)

A Week of Thankfulness

2010-11-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

This week, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I would share what I am thankful for on my blog. God is so good and I want to take the time to reflect on all that he has given me.

One of the things that I am most thankful for is my church family through Pathway Community Church. Whether it be my small group gals led by Tammy, or the super-cool Threefold group that I meet with on Thursday nights, or simply all the friends I have made through the church, they have all impacted my life in such huge and tremendous ways. I would not be who I am or where I am without them and this is a shout out to all of them, whereever they are, that I am truly blessed to consider them my friends!

Popping in...

2010-11-14T20:04:00.002-05:00

to say that I have not been feeling very well this weekend, hence the lack of posts. Will try to be back tomorow with something crafty to share. :)

A Happy Bit of News!

2010-11-12T20:09:00.000-05:00

I just found out that there is a BRAND NEW Winnie the Pooh movie coming out next summer. :) I just love Winnie the Pooh. He is so cute and cuddly and it is adorable how he totally misunderstands things. Of course the movie wouldn't be complete without Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, and the rest of the gang. Here's the trailer for it....it just looks too cute!

A Whirlwind of a Week

2010-11-10T15:23:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a week! I feel like I have been just going non-stop with friends and work and other events going on in my life. This weeks' events so far have been....

A pizza party with some of my amazing girlfriends from Threefold...an evening spent encouraging one another, laughing, chatting, and speinding time together in Christ.
Dinner with my dear, sweet friend Rosalie....2 blissful hours of just chatting and catching up on life. :)
Creative time working on my scrapbook pages. I am taking this awesome class by Valerie Salmon called Got Sketch 106 and the sketches are blowing my socks off and fueling my creative spirit.
Lunch with my parents and my grandma at one of our favorite Italian restaurants...just a relaxing time spent with family. This is one of the many blessings that have come from not having a full-time, all day teaching job.
A Youth for Christ benefit dinner that my small group leader invited me to. Natalie Grant sang and the Ceraks (from the Taylor University crash identity mix-up) spoke and it was a time of complete uplifting and renewing of spirit. Also so great to be surrounded by lots of other Christians. :)
Substituting 2 times this week - I am so thankful to be getting back into the classroom and although it is hard work, being in a different classroom each time is also very rewarding and fun too.
A belated birthday lunch with my sister and 2 of my aunts...a great time just catching up and spending time together.

No crafty projects to post today but I will be back tomorrow to share some more scrapbooking goodness. :)

Fabric Frenzy

2010-11-08T21:51:00.000-05:00

I love fabric. It comes in all sorts of lush colors, textures, and prints and it works on all sorts of different crafty projects. I love going to the fabric store and just seeing all the gorgeous prints that there are...it totally puts me into a creative mood.

My mom started learning how to quilt this week, and it inspired me to pull out my own small stash of fabric to create this fun layout. I normally buy the fabric quarters from JoAnn Fabrics when they go on sale and these babies are perfect for scrapbooking! The patterns are the perfect scale and you get just the right amount of fabric for a price that won't break the bank. :)

This is what I came up with....

I love this layout for so many reasons. It came together fairly quickly with the help of a PageMaps sketch. Using the colors in my photo, I chose the Sultry line from Basic Grey. I loved the bright pinks and greens paired with the rich dark brown color and it just made my photo pop.

I didn't really like the green patterned papers that were in the collection, so I turned to my fabric collection and found this green plaid piece that was perfect. I hemmed the edges of the fabric so that the piece measured 10 inches by 2.5 inches. I then attached it to my layout with Glue Lines by Glue Dots.

I also had this awesome piece of pink fabric that coordinated with my layout, so I used my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die from Sizzix to diecut the flower shapes. I then brushed a fabric stiffener over the tops of all the diecut flowers to stiffen them up. I used Stiffy by Plaid. You could also apply the fabric stiffener before die-cutting which is what I will probably do next time. After the fabric dries, you can even punch through it with your handheld punches...it works like butter!

Since the flowers were stiffened I could mold them to give them some dimension and I could even pop up the little flowers using foam squares to give them a bit more dimension.

I diecut the title out of felt using my Quickutz and added it to a chipboard label sticker from Basic Grey.

To add to this look I also added strips of ribbon, touches of metal with a Mickey clip, brads, and tiny staples from the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

A Birthday Sort of Day

2010-11-06T09:30:00.024-04:00

Good morning blog readers! Today is a pretty special day around here....it's my birthday! :) Which in my books, makes it a fantabulous day no matter what is going on.

Granted, it is also make and take weekend at Archivers, so I will be spending most of my day at work helping people make Chistmas cards but at least I get to play with scrappy products all day. Then later on I will be sharing an extra special birthday dinner with my family which should be really great. :)

I also got my very first birthday card for this year, and guess what? I made it. My church sent me one of my very own creations to wish me a happy birthday. :) This is the card I recieved in the mail...

Does it look familiar...its because I posted it last month. He-he....my family and I really got a kick out of this one.

So in honor of my birthday, I thought I would share my birthday cards that I made for November. I was able to play with some really cool techniques on these and I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. :)

For this fabulous card, I was able to play with several techniques. I first diecut the label shape from one of the Tim Holtz Alterations dies. I then stamped the branch and cute little owl from Hero Arts onto the label with Memento ink. I also found this great sentiment from Scrappy Cat with little stars in the letters to add to the project. I then colored my card with Copic markers. It turned out really well and the coloring went pretty quicky considering that I colored 40 of these babies. :) I then distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress ink and my ink blending tool. Finally I stamped this woodgrain stamp from Hero Arts with Walnut Stain Distress ink and pop-dotted the label piece to the card. Definately a card that both guys and girls will love. :)

This next card uses one of my favorite ever Hero Arts stamps...Silhouette Grass. My coworkers think I am crazy for loving this stamp so much but I see *tons* of possibilities here.

The inspiration for this card came from an SEI paper pack called Charlemagne. The copper and tan combo, highlighted with the turquoise and black accents really struck me as a beautiful autumn color combination and I thought it would translate beautifully into this card.

First I diecut my white cardstock with another one of my favorite Tim Holtz Alterations dies and then I stamped the Silhouette Grass stamp with Versamark and embossed it using copper embossing powder. I then used Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress ink and my ink blending tool to color the edges of my image. I stamped one of my favorite birthday sayings from Hero Arts on turquoise cardstock and cut the ends to create the banner shape and pop-dotted this to my card. I still felt that it needed a bit more so I added 3 turquoise gemstones in a cluster to the front to finish my project. It really was a fairly simple card design and I was able to create 40 of these in just one evening. :)

Well that's it for this post. Hope you enjoyed the cards and have a wonderful day everyone!

Until next time,

Janeen :)

Fall Beauty

2010-11-05T23:44:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago my friend Emily and I decided to head out to a nature preserve that is just minutes from my house to enjoy the beauty of fall and bask in the warm and bright weather. This day was full of all my favorite things: a fabulous friend, photography, laughter, stories, and of course the beauty of nature. :)

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

I will defnately be heading back to this beautiful piece of God's creation to revel in the beauty that is on this Earth. :)

Until next time,

Janeen

Back again!

2010-11-04T23:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I missed posting on my blog yesterday because I went to bed super-early. I had a crazy long day and on top of that my allergies kicked in and I took a Benadryl. I think I even shocked my family at how early I went to bed.

So anyways I will try to make it up to all of you. Today's post is also going to be pretty short because again it was a busy day and I have to work a ton this weekend so I am just going to share a fun new layout I created in my new sketch class, Got Sketch 106. Now this class is super awesome and if you love sketches, you may want to check it out here. It is taught by the super awesome and super talented Valerie Salmon. She is a regular contributor to Scrapbooks Etc. magazine and is also on the Scarlet Lime design team. The class is 3 whole weeks chock full of sketches and inspiration. I have taken every single one of Val's sketch classes...the "whole enchilada" as we GotSketchers like to call it...and I have used them over and over and over again. Love em!

These pictures are of the Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The sketch was perfect for my focal point picture of the tree and the detail shots of all the animals carved into the tree....it truly is a sight to behold if you ever get the chance. I also used some older Bo Bunny papers on here and glimmer misted some white Thickers from American Crafts to get the fun effects. Finally I created two "paper rosettes" using patterned paper, a hot glue gun, and a circle punch. Super fun and easy to make, but you definately need to use the glue gun...trust me, it works way better than anything else. :)

I also have detail shots of this but they are on my other camera so I will pop on here tomorrow evening and upload them.

Well off to bed. Tomorrow starts our Holiday Extravaganza weekend at Archiver's and I will be manning one of the free make-and-take booths, helping people make a super cute Christmas card. If you have an Archiver's near you it is worth a visit. And if you are by Glenbrook Mall, come visit me and make a free card. :)

Until tomorrow,

Janeen

Distress Ink Goodness

2010-11-02T18:00:00.001-04:00

Hey there my fabulous blog readers. Here we are on day 2 of my 30 days of blog posts. Today I want to share some links and goodness about my one of my absolute favorite scrapping/card making products - Distress Inks!!! :)

Ahhh, inky goodness! And it comes in 36 yummy colors.

And my favorite tool to use with Distress Inks? The Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool.

Now, make sure you get the one with FOAM pads, not felt. This lil' baby is fabulous for adding a lighter blended layer of ink to your projects and it is a must have for Distress Inks.

I store my foam pads in little baggies and label each one with the name of the color of Distress ink that I used with it so that I can re-use them. :)

And these are a few of my favorite places to get information and video tutorials for Distress Inks. Check 'em out to learn all sorts of fabulous techniques with them.

http://www.jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/

Jennifer does AMAZING things with inks and stamps. This is her blog and she often has videos using lots of products and techniqes. To find all her videos, simply go to the link at the top of her blog that says "how-to videos".

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&forum_id=52&thread_id=2839474

A series of videos Jennifer did for 2Peas using lots of Ranger and Hero Arts. There are a ton of videos on all sorts of products but the Distress ink ones are my faves. :)

https://www.twopeasinabucket.com/events/7-october-stamping-month-at-two-peas/

A brand new, holiday verison of Thinking Inking with tons of fabulous techniques and ideas.

So give these fabulous inks a try and use them on your next crafty project.

Until next time,

Janeen :)

Starting Anew....

2010-11-01T15:47:00.000-04:00

November....a time to be thankful for what I have and to start afresh. And I am going to start with this blog. For too long, it has been neglected....as well as you, my blog readers. I am in the process of spiffing up the look of things around here thanks to an online class over at JessicaSprague.com. So my goal for the month of November is a post a day. Some will be crafty in nature, some will share photography, some will have my musings about life and things I am thankful for, and some will just be plain fun. :) So here's to my new adventures in blogging and sharing the bits and pieces of my life. :)

And since many of you are probably crafty ones, how about I share a layout?

Yes, it is a Disney layout. I have started scrapping my Summer 2008 trip so I am sure that many of the projects on here in the next few months will be from the most magical place on Earth. This layout is super simple and fun and implements a sketch from one of the older Got Sketch classes. I picked up this Kermit embellie on clearance at Hobby Lobby about a year ago and I knew it would be perfect for tis layout. I paired it with some sweet patterned papers from the DCWV Doodle stack and some fun circle embellies and buttons and wa-la...a simple, fun layout that is perfect for these fun photos! :)

p.s. - All of my new Disney layouts have a "hidden mickey" on them. Can you find it on this layout?

Until tomorrow!

Janeen

World Cardmaking Day...a few days late!

2010-10-04T23:24:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Just popping in to share a few of my creations from one of my favorite holidays....World Cardmaking Day. It happens every year on the first Saturday of October and this year I was able to make a few cards. :)

These cards are all variations of the anniversary card I made for my sister brother-in-law for their anniversary on Sunday. The stamps are all from Hero Arts. I die-cut the white pieces with a Quickutz nesting die colored the images with Copics. I then edged the diecut pieces with a silver leafing pen and then added some ribbon and pearls.

I also added a piece of white cardstock on to the inside of my cards so that I could write on it. I added a bit of stamping to jazz up the inside too. :)

A super sweet card I re-created from the Hero Arts blog. I used lots of Tim Holtz distress ink, perfect pearls, and a sweet cling stamp from Hero Arts to create my cards. I made them for some of my relatives who just lost a family member.

This is one of my card ministry cards. I stamped this fun flower from Hero Arts and then colored it with multiple colors of Tim Holtz Distress ink. I also colored the center with a brown Copic marker. I then added Distress Stickles. The label is made with a super cool label punch from EK Success and stamped. I then used some eyelets and jute to attach it to the page.

This is my other card design for my birthday card ministry. I created the background with a Hero Arts cling background stamp and white embossing powder. I then added lots of colors of distress inks and then sprayed it with a mixture of water and gold Perfect Pearls.I then distressed the edges. I diecut a maple leaf out of some BoBunny Gypsy paper and pop-dotted it up. I just totally love this card and I think it is my favorite one of the batch. :)

I have also been working on a few layouts this week and I will try to upload them later this week.

Until then,

Janeen :)

"Meet Me in the Stairwell" A 9/11 Tribute

2010-09-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine just sent me this touching email and I wanted to take a minute to share it with all my friends.

September 11, 2001 - We will never forget!

You say you will never forget where you were when
you heard the news On September 11, 2001.
Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room
with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I
held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the
peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it
is OK..I am ready to go.'

I was with his wife when he called as she fed
breakfast to their children. I held her up as she
tried to understand his words and as she realized
he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a
woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been
knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said.
'Of course I will show you the way home - only
believe in Me now.'

I was at the base of the building with the Priest
ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He
heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat,
with every prayer. I was with the crew as they
were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the
believers there, comforting and assuring them that their
faith has saved them.
I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan .
I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew
every name - though not all knew Me. Some met Me
for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the
smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take
my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You
may not know why, but I do. However, if you were
there in that explosive moment in time, would you have
reached for Me?

Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey
for you. But someday your journey will end. And I
will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may
be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are
'ready to go.'

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

God

A Creativity Blast!

2010-09-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

Wow...wow...wow! I have been super-busy in my craft room nourishing my creativity this month. I have made more layouts in the past 2 weeks than I did in the prior 2 months! 16 so far.... and today I want to share a few of them with you all.

Love, love, love this layout for so many reasons. First it features some of my favorite pictures from a rockin' outdoor concert with the Christian worship band Delirious. It was so fun to get these photos and the colors were fabulous to get nice bold images. Then I stumbled across a page on scrapbook.com from the super-talented Taniawillis called "Rock Band" and knew I had to use the rockin' "Generation Z" line from Little Yellow Bicycle. The colors were perfect...only problem was that we clearanced out the line at Archivers' about a month prior to this. So I ordered the set from scrapbook.com and LOVE how it turned out! I used a sketch from one of the Got Sketch classes that I took with Valerie Salmon. My favorite parts are the metallic pieces that I included in the layout like the Bazzill Bling cardstock, metallic embroidery thread that I stitched with all the way around the page, and the metallic paint I used to cover the chipboard letters.

This layout is so bright and fun and it was really easy to put together. I used the "Petal Pushers" line from Bo Bunny and with its bright colors that matched my photos perfectly, I was able to create this fun layout in about an hour. To add a bit of dimension to the letters, I covered them in Glossy Accents after cutting them out on my Cricut.

I absolutely love these photos of my family and I in the pool at my aunt's house on July 4th. The colors were super bright and when I found this fun rub-on quote from Doodlebug and papers from the Archiver's exclusive "Endless Summer" line from WeRMemory Keepers, I knew that this layout would be super fun to make. I used another fabulous sketch from Valerie Salmon's Got Sketch classes to pull together this layout in under 2 hours. :)

One snowy night in February 2008, I wrote a poem describing my feelings about hoping that we would cancel school the following day with almost a foot of snow predicted so I wouldn't have to go to work. (one of the many perks of being a teacher!) The photo is a self portrait right before I went to bed. It was a really easy layout to put together with the matching products from one of my favorite lines by KI Memories. I used my cricut to cut out several of the snowflakes and my large title word "wish". I was also able to use up lots of metal embellies on here and that always makes me smile. :) The layout design is scraplifted from Janna Wilson's layout "Fashionable 4th".

Well, I have to head to bed but I will be back to share more of my creative goodness later.

Night all and until next time,

Janeen :)

September Card Design

2010-09-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to pop on here and share the card that I created for the card ministry at my church. I made over 50 of this fun card design this month to spread some birthday cheer.

This card was super cute and easy to make lots of them. I also used some of my new favorite supplies:

The Corner Chomper from WeRMemoryKeepers. Love this guy and super easy to use. :)

The awesome new Oliver line from Basic Grey. Deep, rich colors and classic patterns with a grungy twist make this one of my new favorite collections.

Kraft cardstock....need I say more? This color is my go to favorite these days and it matches virtuallly everything!

Happy Stuff...

2010-09-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

Just a short lil' list of the stuff that has brought a smile to my face this week.

An awesome group of friends at Threefold, the group for 20-30's that I attend every Thursday night at Pathway Community Church.

*******

I have loved this movie since I was a little girl. Unfortunately, until this weekend all I had was a battered, well-loved VHS copy that skipped big time. But today I found this beloved movie at the Family Christian Bookstore for about $5. :)

********

B. Antonio's Pizza.... this place has fabulous pizza. Reminds me of the pizza we used to get at a local pizza parlor when I was a kid. And there was Christian music playing in the background which made me smile. They also have a gluten-free pizza which makes my sister happy. Will definately be heading back there to try more pizza. :)

*********

Finding this awesome Hero Arts stamp to add to my stamping stuff at J's. 40% off with an extra 10% means I got this guy for about $11. Score!

*******

This one wasn't exactly this week, but I did see the person who I made it for and she made me smile. :) This is a super sweet and super simple canvas I made for a teacher friend using my new Cricut 'Create A Critter' cartridge and some delicious October Afternoon papers.

*****

And finally, I was able to spend LOTS of time down in my scraproom creating 11 new layouts and 75 cards (all the same design)! :)

I will be sharing the scrappy goodness in the next few days.

Until then,

Janeen :)

Filmstrip Fun

2010-06-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

Today I just wanted to drop by with one of my newest scrapbooking layouts. I created it for this month's challenge over at the If It's Groovy blog and wanted to share it with all of you over here.

My friend Emily and I took these pictures one evening way back in 2006 and this fun filmstrip has been sitting here in my scraproom ever since. When Deb challenged us over at If It's Groovy to use photos from a photobooth, I knew that these would be the pictures I used.

So I set out to find the perfect papers and embellies for these fabulously fun photos and I found them in my March 2010 Scarlet Lime Kit. The colors and embellies were super fun and the colors coordinated with my photos perfectly.

I took the journaling from my very first blog. I love using the actual entries because they show how I was feeling and add a realness to my journaling. Plus, it is super easy to incorporate because all I have to do is re-copy it! :)

Well I hope you have enjoyed this page as much as I have.

Have a great night everyone and until next time,

Janeen :)

Crafty Sunday

2010-05-30T21:45:00.001-04:00

Hello there! This week I was able to spend some time being crafty and for me that means stained fingers and glitter in my hair. I got some really fun pages completed and was able to play with some of my favorite companies and products.

On Friday, I created my favorite layout from the week. I had been playing around with the idea for this page for awhile but could never find the perfect photo. I was rummaging through some pictures from 2008 and ran across this photo of me with my camera. And then BoBunny came out with this super line called "Mama-razzi" and the colors were perfect, so I knew it was time to create this layout.

The one thing from the BoBunny collection that I didn't purchase were the flowers because I figured I had enough flowers. Well I had a ton of flowers, but none of them were the right color. So I decided to color my own. I absolutely love how they turned out and I want to share the technique. :)

Materials: White flowers (Mine are the wildflower mix from Prima), distress inks in multiple shades of the same color, ink blending tool with foam, Perfect Pearls (perfect pearl color), Ranger Mini Mister filled with water, heat gun, Ranger Craft Mat

2. Choose your lightest shade of distress ink. Here I chose Broken China. Apply the ink to the flower using the ink blending tool. For mine I held the middle of the flower as I inked so that the flower wouldn't tear. Also make sure that you get ink into the crevaces of the flower.

This what the flowers look like with the lightest color on them.

2. Next take your darker shade of distress ink and ink blending tool and swipe the color over the top of the flower. This ink will only reach the raised parts of the petals. Here I am using Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

3. Make your own pearlized mist with a Ranger Mini Mister, Perfect Pearls, and water. I used the clear glitter color called Perfect Pearls on my project. To make your mist, use a craft stick to scoop some perfect pearls into the mister. Fill the mister 2/3 of the way full with water, screw on the lid, and shake to mix. I glued a pearl on the top of the lid of the mister so I know what is inside it. I got this tip from one of my favorite artists, Jennifer McGuire. To see more of her tips, visit http://www.jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/.

4. Spray your flowers with the Pearlized Mix. Because of their unique properties, Distress Inks react with water and the colors will bleed together creating a cool muttled look. You could also use Glimmer Mist in the Pearl color for this technique, but I found that the Pearlized Mix works better for me.

5. Dry the flowers with a heat tool. This sets the color and stops it from bleeding anymore. It also speeds up the drying time on te flowers.

This is a close-up of the blue flowers. I used Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress inks and then spritzed them with the pearlized mix. I totally love the subtle glittery shine they have.

These flowers were created with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I also sprayed the pearlized mix over these.

Layer your different sized flowers together on your layout and add a flower center of your choice. The top flower here uses a cardstock sticker with foam adhesive dots behind it and the bottom flower simply has a large gemstone adorning its center.

Bonus Tip

To create these cool multi-colored and layered chipboard letters, I first painted them with the greenish-blue color of acryllic paint. After it dried, I then used a tan color of paint and dabbed it on different areas of the letters using a wadded-up paper towel. Finally I used a paintbrush and some copper-colored glimmer mist to paint on some glimmer color over the areas painted tan. It really gave the letters a unique aged look that added to the overall look of the page.

Well I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend. Mine was very busy with a going away party for my brother-in-law who is heading to Iraq this summer. We had over 60 people here and it was a blast!!! :)

Until next time,

Janeen :)

Musings...

2010-05-13T22:25:00.001-04:00

"Bless The Broken Road"
I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

[Chorus:]

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

[Chorus]

Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

Yes, God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

I have been thinking about this song a lot lately. I guess for me this is a prayer and a dream that someday this will be me. It certainly has been a broken road but I know that one day, it will lead me to the man that God has chosen for me. This is what keeps me going on some days when this dream seems totally hopeless and reminds me that I have a God that loves me infinately!

A bit of Craftiness.... :)

2010-05-10T21:32:00.000-04:00

Hello bloggers...again life has taken over and I have't blogged in forever. So to make up for my absence, I have lots of fun crafty stuff to post. :)

First up is a layout I made today. I tried a fun new technique...which I will share below.

Isn't it just super cute? I just totally love these pictures of Bailey when she was a puppy. Her favorite toy was her squeaky balls and I love these photos of her playing with them. And speaking of playing, I played with some of the papers from the April's Scarlet Lime kit....which is gorgeous by the way. Lots of bright primary colors paired with elegant black papers. I only used yellow pieces for this layout, but there are a ton of blues and reds too...Another layout is in the works with the kit so stay tuned. :)

The technique I want to share with you today is the black accents with the text type paper behind it. Believe it or not, this is all stamping! Except for the largest element on the layout which is a clear sticker from Heidi Swapp. I found a roll of 100 of these stickers at Tuesday Morning for $1.99 so you will probably be seeing A LOT of these on my upcoming projects. :)

So want to know how to get this super fun look? I simply used a few basic stamping supplies and 2 of my favorite stamps from Hero Arts:

Hero Arts Cling Stamp: Friend Definition Hero Arts Clear Stamp: Speckled Ornaments

1. Stamp the friend definition onto plain white cardstock using a black chalk or shadow ink. This gives the background the look of newsprint. I used the mini stamp press from Fiskars to mount my stamp on. I find that it gives me more control over where I place my stamp and also helps give me a more crisp image.

2. Adhere your cling stamp to an acryllic mount and stamp it on top of the image you stamped in step 1 with Versamark Ink or other favorite clear embossing ink. Sprinkle on black embossing powder and heat your image with a heat gun.

3. Cut out around the stamped image leaving about a 1/4 inch border around the image.

4. Use your favorite adhesive or pop-dots to attach your embellishment to your project.

I ended up using these flourish images on a set of cards that I made to have on hand.

________________________________________________________________________________

I also thought I would share a few of my other recent projects that I have been working on. Enjoy!

This layout was super fun and easy to put together. I followed a sketch out of a recent issue of Creating Keepsakes, altering the colors and elements to match my photos. These photos are from a fun evening that my friends and I shared back in 2007. We had a bonfire and a hayride, which had a haunted stop along the way with a little church and a "ghost". It was a really good joke and we all still talk about that memorable adventure.

This is another sweet layout of my puppy Bailey out in the snow. She loves to be outside in the white fluffy stuff and always ends up covered from head to tail in snow. I had a lot of fun playing with these papers from American Crafts and adding some bling snowflakes from Basic Grey to add that special touch to the layout.

This layout was created for this month's design team challenge over at the If It's Groovy Blog. We were asked to get creative with shadows in our photographs and so I snapped this sweet photo of my parent's shadows on our driveway as they embraced. :) I was able to use up a small bit of my Valentine's paper stash by using these fun papers by Chatterbox and Carolee's Creations. The scalloped border is created with Paper Frills from Doodlebug and I used Prima roses to give my layout that special touch.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T16:20:00.000-04:00

Hello there my blog friends! I just wanted to pop on here and share some of my Easter photos with you. Enjoy!

It was a gorgeous Easter Sunday here in northern Indiana...the flowers were blooming, the temps were in the 60's, and it was sunny...could we ask for more?

And by the way, we did not dress to match...we just all happened to match...weird huh? But it is going to make one great scrapbook page! :)

Card Frenzy

2010-04-01T20:11:00.000-04:00

Hey there my blogging friends! Again I have neglected you and my poor blog. I have been super-busy with a ton of other things lately and the computer just hasn't been a high priority for me. So with a new month comes a new resolution to get on here more and document my creative adventures.

So here goes....

I don't know what it is lately, but I have been on a card making frenzy. Perhaps its the warm weather (we had record temps today...78 and counting!), Jennifer McGuire's blog, or all the new stamping goodness I have splurged on over the past few weeks, but I have been whipping these babies out like crazy.

First up are some older cards that I made in Feburary...

This sweet froggy card was inspired by a Valentines' class that I took and also taught at Archivers. I loved this large cling stamp from Hero Arts and it went so well with one of my new Quickutz dies. The papers were inspired by my sweet friend Cindy who made these adorable treat boxes with the frog paper from K&Company's new Valentine's line and some of the Dotted Swiss cardstock by Bazzill. Such a sweet card!

I absolutely fell in love with this card that Jennifer McGuire made for the Hero Arts blog hop back in January and thanks to her amazing video, I pretty much copied her card from start to finish. It really gave me a chance to play around with Tim Holtz' distress inks and see what fun things they could do. Totally loving how this one turned out and I will definately be using this fun "Silhouette Grass" stamp from Hero Arts again!

This sweet froggy card was the one I made for my church ministry for the month of March. I made 50 of them while watching the final hockey game at the Olympics between the USA and Canada. The stamps are all from Hero Arts and I colored my frogs in with Copic Markers.

Next up are some really fun cards I made a few weeks ago when I was not in the mood to scrapbook, but was feeling the urge to be creative....

This is just a sweet, simple card that I made using scraps left over from some of my scrapbook layouts. Totally love the bright springy colors here. :)

This was one of those cards that just came together on its own. I found this great butterfly stamp from Hero Arts on clearance at Michael's when I was there last and I combined it with some Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls to create this sweet card. The close-up photo shows you the shimmer on the butterfly...so pretty!

I also used my new butterfly stamp on this card with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls. I also was able to use my new sentiment stamp set with these really cool scripty sayings on them. Too perfect! :)

This sweet card is one I made for my friend Sarah who is expecting a baby this month. Sarah and I were friends in high school, but last month a whole group of us got together to go to lunch and catch up. It was a lot of fun and I inlcuded this sweet card with my gift for her.

This year I decided to make my own Easter cards. I found this beautiful cross stamp from Stampendous and used Ranger's alcohol inks in the light colors to create the stained glass look on the background. I also glittered around the cross and used a label die cut from Quickutz to add to the sweet look to my card. I made 30 of these beautiful cards to give out to my family and friends. :)

The rest of these cards are some of the ones I made for my April birthday cards for church. I had so many ideas rolling around in my head, that I couldn't just do one....

I saw a super-sweet card using this new stamp from Hero Arts and so I decided to make one myself. Since I was doimg this for church and I had to make a lot of them, I left off some of the stuff from the original card, but I still like how mine turned out. :)

This week when Rebekeh came down to spend the day scrapbooking with me, we headed out to our local stamping store, Stamping Day & Night. I picked up these sweet flower stamps as well as a product called Gamsol that is used with colored pencils to give them a watercolored look. So I actually pulled out my new toys and created about 10 of these sweet cards for church.

The rest of my birthday cards for this month were made entirely of scraps. I went through my scrap box and pulled sets of 3 coordinating patterns that I could cut to 1 5/8 by 4 inches. I then imked the edges and attached them to an A2 size card. I then used my new die cut from Tim Holtz' Alterations line (we have them at Archivers!) to die cut scrap chipboard. I used Ranger's Distress Crackle paint on the labels and then stamped my sentiment with Staz On ink right on top of the crackle paint. Love, love, love the look it gives. Below are a few more of my favorite color combos from this project. :)

On this one I used clear crackle paint right over the chipboard...such a cool look!

So in all, since February I have made almost 200 cards! Whew! That's a lot of cards!

New layouts to share!

2010-02-24T16:44:00.000-05:00

Hello there crafty friends! I was surfing through my blog today and I realized that I haven't shared any of my new scrapbook layouts with you lately...more like, since before Christmas! So I am going to start sharing these layouts over the next few days...hopefully it will inspire someone to keep scrapping and get creative!

I love this layout for so many reasons! It chronicles my first reading of my favorite Harry Potter book ever...book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Love it! If you haven't read it, go do so (after reading all the other books in the series of course!). But I also love this layout artistically because it uses the fabulous Eerie line from Basic Grey (one of my fave companies ever!).

I also was able to play with crackle paint on here which is another one of my favorite new techniques to play with. The title letters and all the stars were first painted with acryllic paint and then once they were dry I added a fairly thick layer of the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the top and let it dry overnight. A word of caution: DO NOT use a heat gun on Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint - it will bubble and look yucky. Trust me on this one...I personally experienced it with this layout. Then rub over the top of each of the letters and stars with Black Soot Distress ink and work it into the cracks to give it a more grungy look. I also used Black Soot Distress Crackle Paint on the chipboard circle and dried it with a heat gun after letting it set for 5 minutes. All this works together to make this one fabulously fun and goulish page!

This page showcases one of my absolute most favorite pictures of my sister and her husband that photographer Kris Gay captured during their engagement photo shoot. I never would have paired brown and pink with this layout but this paper from SEI's Chocolat line just jumped out at me and I love the result. I created the journaling list box in Adobe Photoshop Elements and I have left it blank to let my sister write in the box. :)

This layout is based on a sketch from Janna Wilson and her challenge 52 Weeks of Stress-Free Scrapping. Every week Janna puts up a new layout/sketch and a challenge to get other scrappers motivated to scrap and have fun and not stress about scrapping. I haven't completed all the weeks yet but I am hoping to get caught up with some of them this weekend! Check out Janna's challenge here.

A few years ago I discovered the beauty of Celtic Woman. I absolutely love their music and it is beautiful to listen to. When I found out that they were coming to our city for a concert the day before my birthday, I knew I had to go. So my mom and I headed out to the concert and it was one of the most beautiful and breath-taking things I have ever seen. I bought a program at the concert and found this beautiful paper by BoBunny called Delilah that perfectly matched the photo of my mom and I. To tell my story, I added pages from the program that I got at the concert to my layout. The small photos on the left, the list of songs that were played, and the large group photo all came from the program and really added to the page.

This is a sweet simple layout that I made with some leftover pieces from my December Scarlet Lime kit. I also added a lot of doggie themed embellies from my stash to help tell my story about my sweet puppy Bailey and her rope.

And finally I want to share a simple sweet page I did about our adventures one day in the fall of 2007. I used this fabulous paper by KI Memories and diecuts from my Cricut to help me tell my story of this beautiful November day. The leaves were cut out using my Cricut and Doodlecharms cartridge. I inked the edges of each of the leaves and used 1/16 and 1/8 inch pop dots to attache the leaves and acorns to the page in various layers to give the page some dimension.

Well I am off to finish up another layout, but I will be back tomorrow to share more of my favorite layouts from 2010 so far. :)

Stumped on 2-Page Layouts? Read this.

2010-02-09T15:13:00.001-05:00

This weekend, one of my scrapbook.com friends posted in the forum on the site asking about tips and tricks to making 2 page layouts work. I posted a reply to her question and thought it might be fun to share it with all my online friends. This post is just my thoughts and musings on what makes 2-page layouts work for me and some of my favorite design tips. So sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and be ready to learn a thing or two about 2-page layouts.

"I love to do 2 page layouts and I actually find them easier to do than a single page because I have more room to let the layout flow and feel more balanced.

My number one rule is treat your 2-page layout as a single 12 inch by 24 inch canvas. Don't treat each side of the layout as its own layout or the pages won't look like they belong together.

My favorite way to make a layout balanced and flow together is to use sketches. There are a ton of 2-page sketches on the net…my favorite is PageMaps. These are great because all of the design and balance issues are usually already taken care of and you just plug in your pictures, patterned papers and embellishments to create a great layout. aOther great sources for inspiration are layouts in the scrapbook.com gallery and scrapbook magazines like Creating Keepsakes or Scrapbooks Etc. whenever I come across a double page layout that I really like , I bookmark it and use it for inspiration. Remember to look at the shapes and the flow of the layout instead of just looking at a layout as a holiday theme or a travel layout. You can draw out the elements of the layout on paper if that helps and save these sketches for inspiration.

The easiest way I have found to achieve balance on a layout is the “visual triangle” rule. What it is is simply placing your embellishments or accents in 3 spots on your layout, so that if you were to draw a line between the embellishments, you would form a triangle. One key to this working on a two page layout is making sure you have at least one point of the triangle on each page. This helps your viewer’s eye move around the pages and gives you the sense of balance. Let me illustrate this point with a few examples.

On this layout, I formed a visual triangle with the flower clusters. If you were to draw a line from one cluster of flowers to another you would form the triangle shape.

Another way to form a visual triangle is with shapes. On this layout my visual triangle is formed with the small square shapes. Your eye first sees the two square photos on the top left of the layout and then it moves to the grid of squares on the other page, then finally back to the patterned paper squares on the bottom of the left side of the layout. You can also form visual triangles with photos or even words (my favorite is to make a triangle out of my title, journaling, and date spot. So you could end up with multiple visual triangles on your layout and each one helps balance out and tie your layout together.

Use strips to tie your layout together and help your pages flow together. This is also a good way to use patterned paper on your layout when you only have one piece of a patterned paper. I find myself using this technique a lot.

On this layout there are a lot of strips going across my layout covering both pages. This helps tie the pages together and gives you the look of one long page instead of 2 distinct pages.

Although this layout just has one small strip at the top connecting the two pages, the layout flows and has a cohesive look.

This layout has vertical strips and by repeating the same strips on each side of the layout it really draws your eye to the center of the layout and the photos.

Overlap page elements (especially photos or titles) across 2 pages. This really helps give the illusion that your layout is actually one big canvas stretching from side to side.

The title on this layout stretches across the two pages, which helps tie the two pages together. \

If you look closely the center of the page is where I marked it with the arrow. As you notice, I cut the large photo in half so that it would fit on both pages. Just make sure when you use this technique you are not cropping down the middle of someone's face or cutting the subject in a weird way. On this photo it worked well because the part I cut off on the right is just the background scenery.

Make a statement on your page with a large photo. You have the space, so go ahead and make your favorite photo larger than life.

On this layout, I enlarged the focal point photo to 16 by 9.5 inches. It really draws your attention to the photo and gives you an immediate focus and focal point.

This photo of my parents walking on the pier was one of my favorite shots from our vacation. To highlight this special photo, I enlarged it to fill almost one whole side of my layout. Notice though I used strips of patterned paper to combine the two sides so they would flow together."

Well, that's my take on designing 2-page layouts. I hope you learned something and this inspires you to scrap more 2-page layouts or even design your very first one. I would love to see what this post inspires you to create. Send me a link to your layout and I will pick a random winner next Tuesday, February 16th to send a little RAK to. :)

A Wintery Technique

2010-02-05T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well it is Friday and much of the midwest and east coast are headed into a wintery blast. Here in northern Indiana we are expecting 3-5 inches, so in honor of the wintery weather that is headed our way I thought I would share one of my design team projects over on If It's Groovy from January.

I took these pictures in 2008 during the ice storm that we had a few days before Christmas. I was able to play with these beautiful papers and accents from Bo Bunny's gorgeous Snowy Serenade collection and I also was able to play with my new crackle paint to give the snowflakes their wintery look.

Want to create this look on your next page? You're in luck because I am going to share this technique today.

Gather the following supplies: chipboard snowflakes, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint in the color Picket Fence, a heat gun, Ranger non-stick craft mat, cardstock, temporary adhesive, paper towels, makeup sponges, various colors of acryllic paint, a mini mister filled with water, and paper towels.

1. Cut a 1 inch strip of cardstock and adhere the snowflakes to it using the temporary adhesive. This will give you a way to hold onto the pieces as you paint them.

2. Shake up the crackle paint before using. Apply a medium to thick layer of the distress crackle paint to the snowflakes using the applicator in the bottle. Make sure you are working on the non-stick craft sheet to make clean-up a breeze later.

3. Allow snowflakes to dry on their own for about 5 minutes, or until you start to see it cracking on its own.

You can either let it dry completely naturally to get fine cracks in the paint, or you can get large cracks with a heat gun.

4. Zap the snowflakes with a heat gun until dry. Make sure not to hold the heat gun in one area for too long or it will burn the snowflake.

5. Use a makeup sponge to dab paint on top of the crackled surface. Make sure to work the paint down into the cracks. Adirondack paint daubers work well also.

6. Spray the painted snowflake with a mini mister a few times just to moisten the paint and use a paper towel to gently wipe away the paint from the surface of the snowflake. The paint should remain in the cracks giving the snowflake a muted color.

7. To finish off the snowflakes, use a Fantastix and some Distress ink to go around the edges of the snowflakes. Attach to your project with glue dots or pop dots.

I also made this cute card with some of my leftovers from the project. The inside reads "Thanks 'snow' much!"

Angela's Project...too cool! :)

2010-02-04T20:09:00.000-05:00

Hello bloggers! Angela has given me permisssion to share her fabulous project with you all. It is absolutely beautiful and I am amazed at her talent in putting together this very yummy looking project.

All I can say is....wow! Angela you totally blew my socks off! :)

A Winner!!!!!

2010-02-01T16:32:00.003-05:00

Well, it is officiallly February and that means that it is time for me to pick a winner of the Cupcake Challenge.

And here we go....

Thanks to my helper Heather for choosing our winner.

And our winner is...

Angela H!

Congratulations to Angela. She submitted a fabulous mini album that was truly a 3-D cupcake...it is awesome! I will definately post pictures if she allows me to. :)

Thanks to everyone who entered the challenge...I totally loved everyone's projects and all the hard work you put into them. :)

Quick Update

2010-02-01T00:22:00.000-05:00

Hey there fellow scrappers! Just wanted to let you all know that the cupcake challenge is officially closed. A huge thank you to everyone who participated...there were a ton of fabulous entries and you all made such sweet cupcake-themed projects.

I will be back tomorrow afternoon to draw the winner of the prize package. I will post the winner on here, but I will also contact you if you win. Good luck everyone and have a happy Monday!

It's Been Awhile

2010-01-30T18:34:00.000-05:00

Hey there friends! Wow, it has been awhile since I have posted on here...sometimes life just gets in the way of things. It has been a crazy past few weeks and I am exhausted. But I did promise more cupcake projects...these are some of my favorite cards I have made over the past few months for the card ministry I am involved in at my church and since they all have cupcakes on them, I thought I would share them! :)

I absolutely adore this one! It was my first time playing with the fabulous Copic markers. They are amazing. They blend super-well and make coloring a breeze. Just make sure you use dye ink (NOT solvent) when stamping and coloring with these markers.The stamp is from Hero Arts. I also added some fabulous paper from American Crafts and added the brown piece that I embossed with my Cuttlebug. Divine isn't it?

Another super simple card to share. I made this card with the leftovers from one of my Disney layouts. I absolutely love the color combo on here as well! :)

This one I copied almost exactly out of a card magazine. I had all the background papers, but I used different diecuts than were in the card. My friend and I had a good laugh over this one because I had all the materials to make the card...that is how much stuff I truly do have.

And finally another sweet simple card that I made with a cupcake stamp, one of my favorite Cuttlebug embossing folders and some KI Memories birthday paper. Isn't it too cute?

Don't forget about my Birthday challenge! It ends tomorrow. All you have to do to enter is make a layout, card, or other altered project with a cupcake on it and email it to me at janeenbeuchel@comcast.net before the end of the day tomorrow and you will be entered to win a prize pack full of birthday and cupcake themed goodies. Check out the info on my blog here.

Frosting Anyone?

2010-01-10T14:57:00.000-05:00

Afternoon my fabulous blog friends! :) I know this post is a few days late but it has been super crazy around here these past few days.

Thought I would pop by and share my latest cupcake creation.

I am going to show you how to frost your cupcake today using a few products you can find in your local craft store as well as some tools that I bet you use everyday at mealtimes. :)

Supplies: Maya Road Cupcake Chipboard piece, acryllic paint, Tim Holtz blank mask sheets, texture paste (you can find it in the paint aisle at your local craft store...it is usually used with stencils), beads, plastic knife and fork, Slickwriter or Sharpie marker, Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet (not necessary but makes cleanup a breeze)

Have you seen these? They are clear sheets that you can use to make your own mask. These sheets will run through your diecutter or you can hand cut your own designs like we will be doing today.

Steps:

1. Use the acryllic paint to cover the chipboard piece with 2 coats of paint. I really like Making Memories paints because they dry quickly and don't wrinkle your paper like other paints will.

2. While the paint is still wet, run the prongs of your plastic fork along the bottom half of the cupcake to create the lines to look like a cupcake liner.

3. Next cut a 3 inch piece off the bottom of one of the mask sheets. Leave the backing on the sheet and lay it over the blinged cupcake we did (or the front piece of the chipboard album from Maya Road). Trace the bottom edge of the frosting on the mask sheet and then cut out, following the directions included with the mask sheet.

4. Lay the mask over your painted cupcake (make sure it is dry), lining the scalloped edge up to make the top of the cupcake.

5. Place your cupcake on the nonstick craft sheet to make clean-up a breeze because this technique is messy. Then take the texture paste and squeeze some out onto your plastic knife and smear it on the cupcake. Repeat this process until you have enough paste to work with and have a thick coating over the entire top of the cupcake.

6. Spread the texture paste around on the cupcake with the knife just like you would frost a real cupcake until you get the look you want.

7. Carefully peel up the mask sheet to reveal the edge of the cupcake.

8. Sprinkle beads on top of the texture paste for sprinkles.

9. Touch the beads with your cleaned off knife to make sure that each bead has good contact in the texture paste, which acts like a glue for the beads.

10. Let dry for several hours.

This technique can be used on so many different products...imagine making a cake on your layout and frosting it or frosting your title chipboard letters or even an accent tag. If you're daring,you could even frost your background paper. So go ahead, pick up some texture paste and have fun creating on your next birthday layout! :)

Don't forget to enter my birthday challenge on the blog this month. The challenge ends January 31st and you can check out all the details on my blog entry from Monday, January 4th.

And if you're looking for more birthday inspiration head over to the If It's Groovy blog at http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/ to check out the other designers' challenges.

Keep checking back here for more cupcake inspired projects as well! :)

Some Great News and a Sneak Peek at Tomorrow's Technique :)

2010-01-07T19:40:00.001-05:00

Hello there my blog friends! :) I am stopping by to let you all know of some great news. We are extending the Birthday Bash over at If It's Groovy until the end of the month, so you have plenty of time to enter my challenge as well as the other designer's challenges over at the blog, http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/.

Here's the new, updated info on my challenge. :)

I challenge you to make a crafty project using cupcakes. You can submit anything...a layout, a card, a mini book, or even an altered craft project. It's your choice. Just make sure you have at least one of these delicious treats somewhere on your project. Easy right? Then once your project is finished, snap a picture of it and email it to me at janeenbeuchel@comcast.net by Sunday, January 31st and you will be entered into the drawing on February 1st to win this fabulous prize pack of cupcake themed goodies.

This gives you an extra 3 weeks (yes 3!) to finish your projects and enter them into the drawing! Good luck everyone! :)

And since I am stretching out the challenge, I am also going to stretch out my techniques a bit. So I will be showcasing my next technique on Friday's post, but here is a sneak peek at a few of the tools you will be needing tomorrow.

Got your attention didn't I? Now you will just have to tune in tomorrow to find out how I am going to use these household tools for scrapping...

Cupcake Play!

2010-01-06T20:53:00.001-05:00

Hello my fellow crafty friends! Are you ready for your next cupcake technique?

Today I thought it would be fun to break out my Stickles from Ranger and have some fun blinging up my cupcake. The Stickles come in tons of fun colors and are super easy to use with a precision tip to glitter exactly what you want to.

Supplies:

Stickles colors, Cotton Candy, Silver, Star Dust, Lavender, Yellow, Turquoise, and Lime Green.

Chipboard cupcake mini album by Maya Road (I used the front page with the embossed design on it)

black marker (optional)

1. Use the Lavender, Yellow, Turquoise, and Lime Green Stickles to fill in the swirls and sprinkles on the top half of the cupcake.

2. Use the Star Dust Stickles to draw over the lines on the cupcake liner at the bottom.

3. Set the cupcake aside and let dry for a couple of hours.

4. Optional step: Use the black marker to color in the outlines of the cupcake liner and top to help them stand out.

5. Use the Silver Stickles to color in the areas on the bottom of the cupcake in between the lines of the Star Dust Stickles.

6. Use the Cotton Candy Stickles to color in the top of the cupcake, making sure to go in between each swirl and filling in all areas.

7. Let dry and attach to any birthday related layout for a large dose of sparkle! :)

Be sure to come back tomorrow for a cool technique on how to "frost" your cupcake!

Tuesday Technique

2010-01-06T01:10:00.000-05:00

Hey there friends! I know this post is a tad late but I haven't gone to bed yet so I guess it is still Tuesday on my books. :)

Each day this week I will be showcasing some of my favorite techniques using the Maya Road chipboard cupcake album that I shared yesterday.

Today's techniques (yes you get two today) are covering chipboard with patterned paper and an easy way to add bling to your projects.

We will be creating this cute lil' cupcake...come on and play along!

You will need the following supplies: a chipboard cupcake, 2 pieces of coordinating patterned papers, decorative edged punch, Mod Podge and a paint brush, scissors, exacto knife, sanding block, ink pad (optional), bling, ribbon or ric-rac, and a accent. This particular flower accent is from Prima...isn't it gorgeous? All these pieces are included with the prize pack I am giving away at the end of the week so come on and let me see your entries!

1. Cut 2 pieces of coordinating paper large enough for each one to cover 1/2 of the cupcake.

2. Use the border punch to punch along one edge of the paper that will be the top of your cupcake.

3. Cover both the front of the chipboard piece and the back of the bottom piece of paper with Mod Podge. This gives you a better seal with the glue than just applying it to one layer.

4. Turn over so that the front of the paper is face down and weight your cupcake down with something heavy to prevent warping. I used a few button jars. Let dry.

5. Once the piece is dry, keep it flipped upside down and trim around the cupcake with an exacto knife. I found that this works better than scissors because it gives you a straighter line and you don't cut into the letter as much.

6. Flip the chipboard piece back over and use the sanding block to sand around the edges of your shape to get rid of the rough edges.

7. (optional) If you want to, use an inkpad to rub around the outside edges of your shape. This gives it a more finished look and covers up the white edge that can be exposed while sanding.

8. Add bling to the icing part of the cupcake for sprinkles. Use the Quickutz Quickstick to easily place the bling.

9. Add ribbon and the flower bling to the bottom of the cupcake to finish it.

I hope you enjoyed this first tutorial and I will be back tomorrow night with my next one. :) Hint: Think glitter! :)

And a note for those of you who tried emailing me your layouts, the email address was incorrect. It does not have a dot in between my first and last name...that was my old work email. So you can email your projects to this email: janeenbeuchel@comcast.net. I am going to go correct it on the last post now.

And if you haven't already, don't forget to check out my cupcake challenge on Monday's post and also head back to http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com to enter the other challenges. You could win some fabulous prizes for your creativity! :)

If It's Groovy Birthday Bash Kickoff!

2010-01-04T00:12:00.001-05:00

Everyone loves birthdays right? Well I am kicking off my Groovy Birthday celebration with everyone's favorite birthday treat....cupcakes!

Cupcakes are so cute looking and sure are fun to eat too! They can be decorated in all sorts of ways and are an essential part of any birthday celebration.

Your challenge is to make a crafty project using cupcakes. You can submit anything...a layout, a card, a mini book, or even an altered craft project. It's your choice. Just make sure you have at least one of these delicious treats somewhere on your project. Easy right? Then once your project is finished, snap a picture of it and email it to me at janeenbeuchel@comcast.net by Sunday, January 10th and you will be entered into the drawing to win this fabulous prize pack of cupcake themed goodies.

Also don't forget to head back to the If It's Groovy blog to participate in the other designer's challenges as well and have fun celebrating the If It's Groovy blog birthday!

Cupcakes are also taking the scrapbooking/crafting world by storm. Everywhere you look, you can find cute little cupcake-related products...from paper and stickers to stamps and even little mini books! Below you will find some of my favorite cupcake-themed scrappy supplies to help jumpstart your creativity on this challenge.

First up are some delicious stamps from Hero Arts:

Then this adorable mini chipboard album from Maya Road...don't you see all the wonderful possibilities?

I am going to be playing with this wonderful product this week showcasing some of my favorite techiniques.

Next up are some sparkly, blingy goodies from Doodlebug...I just love this line of glittery goodness!

And finally some fabulous products from one of my favorite companies, Basic Grey.

Have fun creating and I will be back each day with a new technique or tip to share. Be sure to check back often! :)

Let's Celebrate

2010-01-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

Hey there my fabulous friends! Hope you all had a fabulous New Year's and enjoyed ringing in the New Year with family and friends. I know I did!

Are you ready for some more celebrating? Well come on over to http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/ and join in our birthday celebration. The fun starts on Monday, January 4th and lasts all week long. Each of us on the design team will be hosting a birthday related challenge where you can win fun prizes just by creating layouts, cards, or other crafty projects.

Want to know what my challenge is? I made up this cute lil' rhyme to help you get inspired and start on your groovy projects.

A birthday I'm told

deserves a sweet treat.

Whether you are young or old

a cupcake is fun and delicious to eat.

I will be back on Monday to officially begin the challenge and share my own special project with you. Just be sure to tune in each day to see the different techniques and tips I will be sharing.

And the best news yet is that I will be giving away an awesome prize package to one lucky person who participates in my challenge.

Celebrating my Savior's birth

2009-12-25T02:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight is Christmas Eve. The eve of the birth of Jesus, who is my Lord and Savior. The true meaning and reason behind our Christmas celebrations. One of my family's Christmas traditions has always included going to church on Christmas eve to celebrate Christ's birth and remember what makes this holiday so very special. We have always gone to a Catholic service because my whole family is Catholic. Even when I decided to change churches, I still always went to Christmas eve mass with my family. I love the traditional Christmas carols as well as the presentation of the gospel story of Christ's birth.

This year, however, I decided that I wanted to attend Christmas eve services at my church, Pathway. I wanted to be able to celebrate this joyous day with my friends and fellow believers at this wonderful place where I feel loved and accepted. So I changed my Christmas eve tradition and headed over to Pathway to celebrate this holiday. I am so glad I did because everyone over there did a fabulous job helping to portray the true meaning of Christmas and celebrating Christ's birth and what Emmanuel truly means, which is God with us. I was blown away with the music and it touched my heart in the most profound way. Pastor Ron did a great job relating the birth story and spoke to my heart about not being afraid and trusting in God. It was a amazing to see so many different people all worshipping and thanking God...it uplifted me and helped me refocus on the true meaning of the season.

Now I couldn't not go to church with my family, so after I got home we headed out to Saint Charles, a Cathloic church with my family, Grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I loved seeing the church so beautifully decorated with the nativity scene and singing the traditional Christmas carols. I also thought the priest did a very good job with the Christmas story. I really liked his point that Jesus came to bring us joy, but that sin robs us of that joy. We must confess our sins to restore the joy within our souls and our relationship with our savior.

One thing I really loved about going to both services was just how different they both were but yet how I could meet my Savior in both places and my joy was renewed and strengthened through both experiences. I also loved the similarities between the two services, such as the Christmas story and the music that was played. It reminds me just how blessed I am to have both friends and family that believe as I do. :)

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11 Glory to God in the Highest!

I know its a little out of season...

2009-12-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

...but I never posted the layout I made with my fave pics from my fall photo shoot with Rebekeh. The layout turned out so cool and I just had to share it with everyone! :)

I completed this for one of the design team challenges a few months ago over at http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/. We were challenged to create a layout with a photo cut into pieces. I knew I wanted to scrap these gorgeous pictures from that glorious autumn day and so I came up with the catch title and decided to truly make a mosaic of my largest photo as well as the photo of the leaf using some of Tim Holtz' Fragments. They were perfect for this project and gave me the exact look I wanted. I also used patterned papers from SEI's Windsor line as well as gold letters and leaf accents from Making Memories to really help this page come together. I totally love it and this layout inspired the mini book that I posted a few weeks ago. :)

Creativity Central

2009-12-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

Well it is Wednesday and halfway through the week. I have been busily working on many different creative projects, including my Christmas cards....I will post later once I have sent them all out, as well as various layouts of both holiday events and some older photos as well.

This layout is made mostly with pieces from the new December Scarlet Lime kit...I just loved the Christmas-y feel of these papers and they perfectly complemented my photos from the Holiday Pops concert we went to this past weekend. I especially loved all the music note touches such as the large paper flower and the green sheet music paper I added to the kit from my own stash. I also incorporated memorabilia onto the page by attaching my ticket as well as a sheet from the program. :) These pieces really help tell the story of this fun and festive event.

These pictures are from a vacation my family took to the lake 2 years ago. One day we decided to head to the flea market in nearby Shipshewana. I loved these vintage-y papers from Basic Grey and raided my metal stash to give the page a nostalgic look. :)

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays and spending time with your family and friends, celebrating the true meaning of the season...JESUS!

Now layouts to share! :)

2009-12-07T16:04:00.000-05:00

Just popping in with a few of my latest layouts that I have been busy creating these past few weeks. Enjoy!

This is one of my absolute favorite photos of my parents. I surprised them on their 30th wedding anniversary with a photo shoot and dinner out on me. :) This is my favorite shot of the group. For the layout I used some beautiful Autumn Leaves patterned papers and added some distressing with Tim Holtz' Distress Inks. I also played with my Cricut to create the title and flourishes.

This is another layout I created with photos from the photo shoot with my mom and dad. I totally love the one on the bottom left where my dad is being silly and my mom is smiling away for the camera...it just captures their personalities so well. :) I lowered the saturation on the photos to give them this washed/vintage look. I used the gorgeous Wisteria line from Basic Grey to complement my photos and I love that I could use purple on this sweet layout. I also played around with one of my new Hero Arts Stamps...it's called Dots and Flowers...and Perfect Pearls from Ranger to add some texture to the large purple photo mat. I simply stamped on the purple cardstock with Versamark ink and then brushed the Perfect Pearls powder over my stamped image. The pearls stuck to the ink and then I brushed off the excess powder. This technique adds a bit of shine to any project and is one of my new favorite things to do.

This layout is my first one scrapping my adorable puppy Bailey (who is now 2 years old). I absolutely love this photo of my sister and Bailey, but it was very bright and had a lot going on in it. Below is the original.

So to soften the look of the photo up a bit, I changed the photo to a sepia tone to really help focus in on this sweet relationship between these two.

I also had a lot of fun playing with some patterned paper from Crate Paper's Mia collection. The colors and patterns in this line really helped add to the photo and tell my story as well.

Until my next post, happy scrapping and Merry Christmas! :)

A Scrapping Challenge and some timesaving tips

2009-12-04T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hello fellow creative friends! I wanted to pass along a challenge to each of you during this crazy busy holiday season. Feel like you don't have time to scrap? Challenge yourself to set a timer for 30 minutes and create a scrapbook page before the timer goes off. It really helps you to step outside of your comfort zone and really focus on your photos and the story you want to tell instead of the product and new techniques. Here's my layout.

To make my project easier, I preprinted my photos and had a design all ready to go. I chose a coordinated line of products that included patterned papers, letters, and embellishments. I then was able to lay out my page and get it finished from start to finish in 30 minutes. I even had time to personalize my layout in a few ways including inking around the letters and adding buttons to the flowers. I saved myself time by leaving my buttons "naked" (I didn't sew them), gluing my letters down flat, and using uncropped 4x6 photos. Why don't you give it a try and share your creations on the If It's Groovy blog (see the information below).

******************************************************

Time for If It's Groovy challenge over at http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/ to start for this month! Ready? Your lo is due by December 30th 11pm EST. Don't delay and forget to turn in your layout :) The challenge is to set a clock, or write down the time you are starting and creat a layout in 30 minutes or less! It really can be done. We all need more time this month with the holidays, parties, dinners, etc...but we *have* to scrap. Try it this way and be sure to enter by emailing me at groovydeb@yahoo.com with your layout or point me in the direction to your online gallery. Be sure to check back on the blog to see the winner's name and if your name is selected email mailing info within the month to claim your prize. Good luck!

Crepe Paper Flowers Tutorial

2009-11-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I ran across a fun little do it yourself project in one of my favorite scrapbooking magazines, Creating Keepsakes. It was a tutorial for making your own flowers. So I bought the materials and this week I gave it a shot on one of my latest scrappy projects.

You can see the flowers featured here on my "Lakeside Rose Garden" layout.

They are super easy and fun to make! Here's the steps...

You will need: crepe paper or tissue paper, your favorite color of glimmer mist, a button, needle and thread, and paper towels.

1. Cut 6 circles out of tissue or crepe paper, 3 circles in each of 2 sizes. I used crepe paper on mine which gave it a different texture. I also hand-cut my circles out at 2" and 2 1/2".

2. Crumple each circle up and then flatten it to add more texture and depth.

3. Add a button in the middle and sew the layers together using white thread.

4. Lay your flower onto the paper towels and cover liberally with glimmer mist. (I used Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist in Bubblegum Pink.) Make sure you lift the petals and get the color between each layer. You can add just a light layer of mist to get a pastel colored flower or a lot of mist to get a more intense colored flower. Let dry.

5. Once the flower is dry, you can trim the circles to get a more circular look like I did or you can leave the flower as is. Attach to your layout using glue dots and fluff the petals to give volume and shape.

6. Enjoy your completed project. I created this card using one of my flowers to give it a feminine touch.

As a bonus, I want to show you how to add color to your white fabric Thickers. They come in 3 different styles and they are great for adding your own color to. I colored the letters "Lakeside" in my layout at the top of this post and the turquoise brackets in the card above.

You will need: white fabric Thickers, glimmer mist, excess sticker backing from your glue dot roll or xyron machine or waxed paper, paper towels

1. Choose the letters you want to use and place them onto the sticker backing sheet or waxed paper. (This is so that you can get them off and place them on your project once they are dry.)

2. Place your letters on the sheet from step one onto a piece of paper towels and cover liberally with glimmer mist. (I used Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist in Turquoise Blue.)

3. Blot off excess mist with a paper towel. I found it really helpful to get as much of the mist off of the backing sheet as possible to keep my hands clean. Repeat if needed to darken the color. Let dry.

4. Attach to your project to add your own personalized color. :)

Can It Really Be November Already?

2009-11-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, this fall is flying by at record speed. The last few weeks have been especially busy around here with Halloween, my friend Bek's birthday, and my birthday all bunched right together. And between those events, working, and creative time the past few weeks have whooshed past me.

My birthday was a great time and I really enjoyed hanging out with my family and friends. My parents even got me a new Vera Bradley purse to add to my collection. It's the Bowler bag, which I have decided is my perfect purse....just enough room for everything I need and a place for everything and everything in it's place. It's one of those things in my life that make me happy! :)

Sorry for the huge margins...I have no idea how to get rid of them. Anyways, this is the new Carnaby pattern...it is gorgeous! Love the pinks, oranges, and browns in here. :)

I also have been busily working on a mini book for my friend Rebekeh's birthday that was a few weeks ago. I normally don't make a lot of mini books but after we took all those beautiful pictures a few weeks ago and I found the perfect patterned paper from SEI to match, I knew that this would be one birthday present that would knock her socks off...and it did! :)

I used one of the BoBunny cascading albums to complete this project. It was a great canvas to work on and just the right amount of space to add my photos and accents. The patterned papers are all from SEI's "Windsor" line and the combo of yellows, browns, purples, and gold perfectly coordinated with my photos. I also found a ton of great leaf embellishments and used a gold leafing pen on the edges of each page...love the elegant touch it added!

This is a layout I created a few weeks ago about my mom and her love of gardening. I am always taking pictures of her beautiful blooms and I wanted to have a layout in my albums that showed who the true gardener was behind the gorgeous flower photos. It is titled "A Gardener Lives Here" and the journaling reads,

"No it's not me. I have one of those black thumbs when it comes to plants. The true gardener in our family is my mom. Her flowers are always gorgeous and she always has some exotic plant or another around the house. She can take a plant that is dying and nurse it back to health. There was this one plnat that was just a nub of a stem and by the end of the summer Mom had transformed it into a gorgeous blooming plant full of big pink flowers. So please don't give me the credit. I only take the pictures of these gorgeous blooms. It is Mom who truly has the green thumb in our house."

I had a blast creating this little garden at the top of my page with various Prima flowers and some green paper frills from Doodlebug.

These are pictures of my friends and I hanging out on a tank at a local park. I especially like the up close picture of the gears....the colors and contrast of the photo is just really cool! I haven't decided if I am going to add journaling or not. The chipboard stars and "&" sign I made by heat embossing them first and then going around them with a silver leafing pen. :) I also didn't have a silver letter tag of an "R" so I transformed an "F" into an "R" with my Slickwriter.

Also hooray for using up old Making Memories metal embellishments. :)

This is one of my favorite photos of my dog Rusty. It was one of the last photos we took of him before we got our second dog. The journaling isn't written yet, but it is going to talk about how he pretty much ran the house and how much a part of our lives he was. The title piece is a Jolee's sticker and I found these great papers from Crate Paper to coordinate with it.

I absolutely love this layout for so many reasons. The colors are so bright and bold and they compliment my mom so beautifully for her birthday. :) The papers and embellishments are all from My Mind's Eye and they are so whimsical and fun. It was a super simple page to make and it turned out perfectly!