Framed "Sisters" Layout

I finally finished this layout of two sweet sisters meeting for the first time. I love pictures, but I especially love scrapping those sweet moments captured by the camera. The pictures in this layout are of the meeting of a new sister. I love the wonder on big sister's face. These little girls belong to a friend of mine from church. I knew as soon as I saw these pictures that they should be framed, and so this became my gift instead of new baby clothes, toys, or diapers. Maybe I'm just a real sap when it comes to pictures and people... but... isn't that what makes a scrapper? (at least sometimes.. :) ? ) Ooh, and I played with the ribbon and ruffling this time, which I haven't tried before, and I think I'm hooked already..

Cards for the Women's Retreat: Pictures

So here are the cards we came up with for the kits for the Women's Retreat. They're not embellished as much as I'd like, but we were faced with a tight budget and not a lot of time, also not wanting to overwhelm people who may not have made cards before... I hope people will want to them, and hopefully it's mostly self-explanatory so that I don't make something difficult that shouldn't be.

More Cards using the Cuttlebug

So I tried my hand again at cards, using the Cuttlebug to emboss. I cannot heap enough oohs and aahs on how much I like the way embossing looks and how easy the Cuttlebug makes it. I used acrylic stamps from the Dollar Section of Craft Warehouse, and just alternated the colors back and forth. I added ribbon where the embossing ended and the stamping. I used my corner rounder punch to make scallops, which I like the look of on a card. Very basic cards, but I'm pleased enough with them that I'll group some together for a small gift. Again, I was inspired by Maria's cards- (the Maria I referred to in my last post about my card making efforts). Thanks again Maria! :)

Trying my hand at cards

So I've been toying with the idea of trying to make some cards, and when I decorated the tin that I did recently, I thought cards would go nicely inside as a gift. These didn't end up going in that tin, but I made them for my sister, who really liked them- but I say she's my sister so she has to. :) I used my Cuttlebug that my best buddy gave me so generously, and used the Swiss Dot, Paisley, and a flower/vine (don't know the official name of it) embossing folders on store bought plain cards. I was inspired to do this by Maria from her blog Maria's Craft Room. She has so many cards that she used her Cuttlebug, and I thought it looks so nice without having to be a ton of work. I used an acrylic monogram stamp that my best buddy (again :)) gave me a set of, and stamped on the embossed card and then on some plain white cardstock. I then cut around the image on the cardstock and used foam pop up dots to pop it up over the image on the card. I attached the ribbon in the middle of the stamped image on the card before I attached the second one over it by wrapping ribbon around the card then gluing the ends in the middle of the image to hide it. I just tied a little extra bit of ribbon on the side to add a bit more visual interest, and added self stick half pearls in the middle of the stamped letter to make it a little prettier too. Very basic looking, but nice enough I think. Thanks Maria for the inspiration!

Altered Notebook

Once again I reach to my trusty stash of notebooks set aside for the reason of "just because" to alter for someone. I made this one for one of my friends, pretty basic, but I love the velvet ribbon and the look that it adds. I used the little packets of self adhesive pearls found in the dollar section of my Craft Warehouse. I stocked up the other day- they're one of my latest "ooh I like the way they look on things" items. Altering a notebook really is a great cost saving and personal gift you can give someone- find their favorites (color, flowers, etc. etc.) and glue away, add ribbon to the coils and you have a fun little gift. I really like Terrifically Tacky Tape by Provocraft to hold everything down well. So go ahead, change a notebook up for yourself or a friend- get them in the dollar section at Michael's or anywhere else with inexpensive notebooks. Once you start, you'll want to make more and more...

Matchbox Advent Calendar

I discovered the directions for this in a scrapping group on Cafemom, but the original directions came from "Tracie Hudson copyright 2007 for Bubbly Funk". I had to give credit where it was due. The drawers are pretty small- I only can fit one Ande's mint in each drawer. So with having three children, I bought enough candy to put one in each drawer and have left overs so they can take turns pulling the drawer each day, but will all get a piece of candy. I have enough squabbles and declarations of "not fair" without voluntarily doing it to myself. I used eyelets on the drawers and threaded a piece of ribbon through- with the knot on the inside. There's so many ways you could do this, the original directions had a piece of ric rak with a brad in the center, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I went with the eyelets. It was a fun little project, but I'm not sure if I would do it again, I'm moving on to the next project now. My kids got a kick out of opening the little drawers tonight, a little bit of the wonder of childhood.

Good Baby/Bad Hair Day redone

Well, I wasn't happy with the layout the way it was, so I trimmed the edges of the title pieces and inked them again (it looked neater than the distressed edges inked) and I added ribbon instead of the embroidery floss on the corners and the title pieces. It added more than the plain white floss in my opinion.. anyhow here is the new improved (anal retentive) version:

Altered Notebook

This is a little project I finished a few days ago, it was quick and fun. I didn't do that much with it, other than inking and Stickles, and the obligatory ribbon... I decided to make it for a friend of mine in SWF in Cafemom, she's a real sweetheart! :) I used Stampin Up paper and Stickles, the ink was Colorbok Chalk Ink- I just love those chalk inks!

Bonus layout for last night..

This layout was a "bonus" layout... I hadn't planned on doing another one, but my papers and pictures were still out, so I thought I'd do this basic 8x8 inch layout. I usually scrap 12x12's, but I have an 8" album for my daughter, so I figured it could go in there. And while doing so, maybe I could shake a little bit more rust off... I used a layout from http://www.littlebookofsketches.blogspot.com/ , this was also a "Featured Favorite" sketch I posted in Scrapping with Friends on Cafemom, back in December. I finally got to it now. It's a great picture of my best buddy and my daughter, about 2 years ago now, but it worked well for a one pic. layout. I used the George cartridge on the Cricut that she so generously gave me, and Stickled a bit here and there. I made a super easy photo corner with coordinating paper, and let me just say that I love the embroidery (?) type needles that have a really big eye on them, because it allowed me to thread the ribbon through the big button- I'm a nerd and that really excited me!