Queen Crop-a-lot

More Birthday Fun

2012-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

After a party at the house we went to the Tara Winery.

Heather's 28th Birthday Party

2012-01-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

Since I've become a complete Pinterest addict I created a lovely, or what I percieve as lovely, birthday party for my daughter. It has a pink and zebra theme based on the cake she picked out from a gift certificate. Here are a few of the pics from the party.

Included in the picture is 6 food items where I got the recipe from Pinterest. I found the idea for wine cork place cards there and the idea to turn candle holders upside down putting the candles on the base. I got the idea for cupcake cups in clear cups from a party site I found on Pinterest.

I really love the Pinterest site and am thankful for all the wonderful ideas I can easily manage.

Glee Challenge #3

2011-03-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

Children's music was the challenge and "Bow, wow, wow" was the title. It's before and after pictures of our pooch CiCi. The before letters are grungy like her and the after letters are glittery like her.

GLEE Challenge #2 - Alt Rock- Train

2011-02-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

The second challenge in the GLEE club challenge was to use a song title from an album by the Alternative rock band Train. The idea was to keep pace with the alt/grunge theme. I chose the title "Brick by Brick" and picked pic's from building our house. Face it...building is grungy work.

Theme Challenge - Soul Scrappers

2011-02-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

The challenge was to create a layout using stamps. I used the Stampin' Up! set "Lovely as a Tree" on vanilla cardstock. I first used several colors of stamp pads with my brayer. The pictures were made a couple of years ago at one of our timeshare visits. Heather and Billy enjoyed the archery equipment.

Classic Rock Mini-Challenge

2011-01-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

I completed the first challenge using the Beatles' song Good Day Sunshine. Here is my take for the Mini-Challenge which was use part of the title to make a card or tag. I chose "It's A Good Day"

Scrapbook Challenge on SoulScrappers.com

2011-01-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Here is my page I did for the GLEE challenge at Soul Scrappers. You can find Soul Scrappers here!

I'm playing along with a contest on a ning.com forum called SoulScrappers. The contest is to complete the challenges and contests to earn points to win prizes. The first challenge was to use one of the suggested Beatles songs of which I choose "Good Day Sunshine". The challenge was to use 60's related/references items in the layout. I used my Stampin' UP! ink and alcohol in a spritzer to make the "tye-dyed" background. The pic is of my little cousin, Brylea, at our family gathering on Labor Day weekend. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was getting ready to set and it was shining on her sweet little cheeks.

New Furniture! Woot!

2011-01-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

They delivered our new furniture today! CiCi has already found her spot on the couch!

Layout Challenge

2011-01-11T16:54:00.001-08:00

I just uploaded this pic of a layout I just made based on a sketch challenge for soulscrappers.com.

It's a picture of most everyone in my husband's family taken on Christmas Eve at our annual gathering. Missing is a brother, a brother-in-law and a nephew. But, luckily our niece, from North Dakota, and her husband and baby were able to make the trip.

Scary Doctor - SoulScrappers.com Challenge

2011-01-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

SCARY DOCTOR?!?! I don't even think the dog was scared!

The challenge was to use all the embellies we received from Shazza in Australia. I used everythig she sent and added the date (2004 and the stitching). I think it turned out very well!

Christmas Card Lay-out Challenge

2011-01-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

The first soulscrappers.com challenge I've posted in a long time.
I took the front of a Christmas card (red and white paper) and used it on white
cardstock to create this lay-out.

Label Bag Project for New Year's Day

2011-01-01T15:45:00.001-08:00

I like to swap FB's (friendship books) and LB's (label bags). I started out on Swap-bot.com but, have found new swappers through the FB's and LB's I have received along the way.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make homemade envies.

I only used a few tools.

My scissors, bone folder, personal trimmer and double sided tape.

I used a Stampin' Up! envie (roughly 3X3).

I opened it up and used it for my template.

Then I traced around it...

Cut it out...

And creased it on four sides.

Fold on the creases.

I used the double sided tape on the small tabs. You will want to make your tape pieces just a little bigger than the piece here. (UUuuuuuuhhhhh! My nails look pretty!)

Then just fold up the bottom tab and fold in the side tabs and press down on the tape.

I made all these envies in just a few minutes....well, it seemed like only a few minutes. I was watching season 1 of LOST on Netflix!

Happy envie making!

My Scrap Space

2010-12-31T18:36:00.001-08:00

Well....it's New Year's Eve and I'm watching American Pickers on the History Channel. Soooo...I thought I'd post some picks of my scrapbook room now that my new TV has been installed. I can't wait to get the satellite hooked up so I can work in there.

I think it's funny that it looks so organized but, I'm still always looking for ways to get it more organized. Almost everything has a place and I try to put things back in their place once I've used them. Hopefully we will be able to get Dish out next week to add in a receiver! I should be all set up just in time to start the soul-scrappers GLEE CLUB challange next month. I'm exicted.

Happy New Year to all!

GLEE Club!

2010-12-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

I've committed to participate in the GLEE Club competition on SoulScrappers.com! There are prizes galore!

Come check out this website and game. It's full of talented women Scrappers!

Plans to start posting again!

2010-08-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting things together to begin posting again. I hope to have some pic's of layouts to post this afternoon.
Kim

Months Later....

2010-06-09T18:00:00.001-07:00

Finally a post! Lots has happened since the early January post. In April I turned the big 50! And did it up big in Las Vegas at the Playboy Club with Bunnies!

Monday after we got back from Vegas the cat had 4 kittens...

Just gave all four away this week!

In May, Heather and I went to our 2nd Scrapbooking retreat in OK. Got lots of Las Vegas Pages completed.

In June Heather and I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, Texas!

I have another retreat the last weekend in June.

I'll gather up more goodies to blog about and try to keep up better!

Weekend in Vegas...I mean Shreveport

2010-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Had a good weekend in Shreveport with MeMe and Marla. Gambled, shopped and ate our way through the weekend. Here's a couple of pics from the Horseshoe Casino.

A New Decade of Shopping

2010-01-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

Isn't this puppy adorable? We saw him while stopping for lunch at First Monday Trades Days in Canton, Texas. This is a huge flea market that is open the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the first Monday of each month. New Years Day just happened to fall in that time frame.
Marla and Sandy met me at one of the pavillions and we shopped until we (at least me) dropped!

Sandy found some CZ earrings. Maybe if she loses one of these it won't mean too much!

Marla found some 50% off Christmas ornaments. These were for a gamblers tree! One is for Craps and the other says "High Roller". Cute!

Even the main street that runs through town get in on the act.

Two Dotees in one Envie

2009-12-31T15:02:00.000-08:00

Look! Y and W Dotees from swaps! W should have been here a couple of weeks ago but, apparently lost her way on the way here. I got the same partner for Y so she mailed both together. W is "White Wolf" and Y is Yellow Yarn. They are both very cute.

I got lots of snail mail today. In addition to the dotees I got a Creative Memories catalog, an envelope full of Creative Memories stickers from my consultant and a friendship book from Stefan in Germany. Stefan wrote a very nice letter and asked me to be his penfriend. I'm really not interested in writing letters like that so I'm going to send him a PC and ask Heather if she would like a penfriend. Heather is really big into the PC sending and is on Postcrossing.com all the time. Maybe she would like a Germany friend (whose English is lacking).

Two posts in one day! Wow! I am back!

This is a Wonderful Thing!

2009-12-31T05:52:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long time since I blogged and I just found something wonderful....when I click the "Next Blog" link I don't get Russian, Chinese or Brazilian websites! I go to crafting blogs! I don't know if this is a good thing or bad....I will probably spend the next year just clicking next!!!

Holiday Scrapbook Page Made with Pages by Design

2009-12-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! New Christmas page of CiCi and Heather printed on Epson photosmart printer. I used Martha Stewart paper from 50% off Christmas stuff at Wal-Mart from last Christmas. Red velvet ribbon H picked out for 50% off Christmas stuff at Wal-Mart this year. Reindeer, Sisters, 2009 and Christmas printed using my Cricut. Picture taken with my new Nikon camera and this blog posted using my new laptop. Last but not least, I set up the layout by using the Pages by Design system I bought on Ebay! HoHoHo! We are truly blessed! Everyone!

Back to Blogging

2009-12-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've been here. No sharing of what's going on in my crafting life. I guess my frustration with my old camera and the lack of "Quality Time" with the computer but a damper on my need to share. But, now I have a new camera and laptop and hopefully, I'll have more oppurtunities to blog.

The last Dotee I posted was the letter "N". I am now up to "Y". Here is my "Yellow" dotee to swap at swap-bot.com for the ~Y~ is for... Dotee swap.

I'm also working on a baby blanket. I hope to have it ready for pictures soon.

I'm glad to be back!

~N~ Dotee and a Fixed Camera...sorta

2009-08-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

Got my camera back and no more black screen. But it still takes mediocre pics! I finished a new Dotee for a swap. Her name is Nitro Nancy. She's the NHRA's biggest fan. I got the idea from a gal at work while trying to come up with N words. Here she is:

E-Mail from Sony

2009-08-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail from Sony today. They received my camera in their repair department. They said they would send my e-mail updates on my camera progress through the repair process. How exciting! I just need it back to take pictures!

Shipping Camera Tomorrow!

2009-07-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

Yippee! I called Sony and got another e-mail to return the hated camera. Looks like everyone sells the Nikon's for the same price. The only sales seem to be when Nikon offers $50.00 off. I was hoping to win the $500.00 raffle prize at the Texas Hold 'em tourney Saturday so I could buy my camera. But...never that lucky. Couldn't even hold out in the game. Had fun though! Sold the Pazzles Electronic cutter on e-bay! Yea! I need to get back to scrapbooking....need to clear off my scrapbooking table! Oh well! Maybe next weekend!

Oh! Good Grief!

2009-07-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

I got the e-mail from UPS containing a shipping label to return my digital camera to Sony. I thought the UPS e-mail was about a Stampin' Up! delivery and paid no mind to it. Then when I checked it again I found it was to return the camera but, now, it's expired. Called them this morning to get another one...I think I gonna check out the TV shopping sites to see if they are selling one. That way I can pay it out without interest!

Happy Shopping!

Life with a 35mm Camera!

2009-07-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ok! Just returned home from a week at the Villages. We had a good time. Went shopping Saturday. Hung out at the condo on Sunday. Went to the zoo Monday where it started thundering, lightening and pouring down rain. We had to hunker down in the reptile house for about 30 minutes until it passed. Tuesday we went antiquing and Heather came down that night. Wednesday, Heather and I went shopping. Thursday we hung out all day at the indoor water park at the Villages. Billy took several pictures of Heather and I on the lazy river...I can't wait to see those. But, it's on the 35mm and there are several pics left. I forget about those days. Also, I stook at the base of one of the water slides waiting about 30 minutes to get a good picture of Heather and Billy coming out in one of those double tubes...I don' know if I got a good picure 'cause I had to wait until I saw it was them then take the picture...no delete on the 35mm.

MeMe & Paw and Billy's mom are coming over tomorrow for HB's an HD's. I'll use the rest of the pictures then...then off to the CVS to get them developed! Wow! I'm back to the stone ages!

What have I done?!?!?!

2009-06-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Kimberly! Just what did you do? Well, I thought I'd be smart and go to the Sony website...with Billy watching. My plan was to convince him the camera was shot! What I found out when I did the troubleshooting was my camera is having a CCD problem. It is Sony's fault and they are fixing it for free! All I have to do is send it in! How about that? A recall! Ends in November...why couldn't it have waited until Christmas to crap out? Then I could have asked for one at Christmas..."Oh! Billy! (boo hoo) My camera doesn't work. I can't scrapbook Christmas!" Sob...Sob...Sob...(that's me crying now!) Guess I'll just have to save my pennies for that Nikon D60 I've been craving for about a year!

Oh well! I guess it was karma...

Well! My camera has Crapped-Out!

2009-06-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

So much for exciting pic's! The only pictures my camera is taking now is a solid black 4X6 rectangle! Meme & Paw came over for a quick Father's Day dinner and I asked Meme to bring her camera so I could troubleshoot! Her camera is just like mine and Heather's! I switched out the memory card then the battery but still got the same black rectangle. I am threatening to send it to Sony but, I'm hoping Billy will just suggest a new camera since I've asked him for one like a billion times. We are going on vacation next week. I hope to get to Sam's Club and check out their SLR's. Maybe I can get the one I want...Nikon D60! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

OMG! I'm finally Blogging!

2009-06-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

It has been sooo long since I blogged! I really can't believe how busy I've been but still haven't done anything! Since the last blog Heather and I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, Texas. Our new friend Paula went with us. Paula is the mom of one of the girls I work with. She is a scrapbooker and stamper too! We had a great time! We bought a lot of great goodies! Then on Sunday I had to leave for a last minute trip to San Diego. I spent most the week there on a project with a supplier then headed home on Thursday. I just barely made it though...there were bad thunderstorms at DFW and they had cancelled the three flights before mine. My flight at 2:10pm was the first to leave SAN for DFW. Boy was I glad. I got home about 9pm and slept until 10:30 the next morning. For anyone that knows me, you know if I sleep until 8:00am I'm sleeping in. Most mornings, even on the weekend, I'm up by 5:30. So this week I've been playing catch up at work and at home. I hope things are settling down a bit. I'm looking forward to our upcoming vacation! YEAH!

Blog at 'cha later!

Cutest Dotee E-VER!!

2009-05-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

I can't help but brag! But, this has got to be the cutest Dotee in the history of Dotee's! What kind of history does a dotee have anyway? Oh well, at least it's probably the cutest dotee I will ever make. It was really hard to take a picture of it. I made this Dotee for the ~I~ alpha theme dotee swaps I've been coordinating. If you can't guess....she is an Ice Cream Cone!

Let me know what you think about her!

ATC's for Swaps on Swap-bot

2009-04-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

I finished five ATC's (artist trading cards) for two swaps on Swap-bot Saturday.

The first is "Flutter By" and has a musical score background with butterfly's. The next is "Take Time". This one is a picture of a man looking into the engine of a car that I got in another swap... I just cut out the man. The next is "Springtime" Just flower stickers and a rinestone flower with a postage stamp with a bird. The fourth is "Bouncing Baby". It is a page from a music book but is in a foreign language with a picture of the baby from an old shower invitation and says "follow the bouncing baby". The last is for another swap and is a page from an old dictionary that has "Swap" defined. I added a rub-on heart and wrote I and -bot after swap. I have a couple more ATC's for a Springtime swap I need to work on this week and will post as soon as I complete.

Kim

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great day yesterday! Most the family was able to attend. It started out a little chilly but warmed up enough to sit outside and enjoy the day. The kids had a great time. Here are a few pictures.
Meme, Heather & Mickey starting in on the Easter Lunch.

Alyssa, Brent & Brittany

Stacey & Brad enjoying a bite to eat!

Ashlea letting Brylea enjoy a bite to eat.

Stacey and her newest Grandchild - Liam

Tanner, Caleb & Colton just a swingin'!

Easter Egg Hunters! Tanner, Heather, Colton, Alyssa, Brittany, Caleb, Collin, Lexi & Brylea

Me & Meme enjoying a giggle!

Tanner (my new Ranch Hand) made a hut for himself and CiCi!

It was great fun! Let's do it again!
Kim

It's Beginning to look a lot like Baseball Season!

2009-04-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

To start off with - I pulled my camera out of it's holder and accidentally took my own picture. Isn't it lovely?

Opening Day at the Ballpark in Arlington!

What else needs to be said? Marla, Heather, Susie & I braved the cold and the wind for a wonderful day at the ballpark! (Poor Billy is in Houston on business) We had "All you can eat" seats! We got all the grilled chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn & cokes we could consume...and boy did we consume!

First - they turned loose the balloons!

Then they unfurled the GIANT American flag held by Soldiers that had recently returned home from Iraq.

Next, they announced "Our Texas Rangers!" - sporting their retro red uniforms!

This pic was taken right before we left. I told Heather she looked like a Japanese Kawaii monkey!

Another year is well on it's way and another Opening Day is celebrated with a spectacular win by our Texas Rangers!

Ain't life grand!

Someone is having a Giveaway!

2009-04-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone! Check out this blog http://nsslnuttyscrapper.blogspot.com/

It's Heidi's 100th post on her blog!

Check out some of the older posts while you're there!

Scrapbooking Post

2009-04-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well! I finally have gotten around to post pictures of the layouts I did at the last crop...way back in March! These are a few more of the pages for MeMe's Heritage Album.

This is MeMe and Nanny Helen (MeMe's mom). It's so rare we get snow around here, they must have been so excited they needed a picture!

This is Granpa Bill and Nanny Helen

This is the whole family! I'm going to add a journal block in that big blank space on the right.

This is the "Fashionista" page! You can't see too good but the hair do in the bottom right picture is priceless!

These pictures were taken at the beauty shop MeMe always went to when we lived in Pleasant Grove. She went to there religiously! Every Saturday!

This is a great pic of MeMe smiling! She doesn't usually smile when we are taking pictures because she doesn't like the way her wrinkles look! But, It's great when she smiles!

I have about 6 or 8 layouts to complete and I will be done with her book! I hope to finish all of them on the next crop in May! I wish all of you could be there!

Gotta go for now...heading to the Volenteer Fire Departments Fish Fry at the fire station. This is always better than the chili supper...I don't care what Rex Eugene says!

TTFN!

Finally! I'm posting!

2009-04-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

I got my camera back from Heather and I've really been a slacker. I told my friend Marla I would post pic's of the Dotee's I've received so far in my ABC Dotee swap. Here are B - C & D.

I don't have A yet. The gal who started the ABC Dotee swap flaked out and I ended up taking it on. She was my partner in the A swap. I do have a private swap going on with another swapper who didn't get the D. She is making me an A and I am making her a D. I got another swap and my partner for that swap sent me a "Bonus" Dotee! Here she is.

I'm getting a root canal this afternoon! Yippee! So...I don't know if I'll feel like posting or not. If I do, I'll post the pictures of the layouts I made at the last crop. The pages for my mom's heritage album.
Type at 'cha later! Kim

Today Turned out Better

2009-03-28T20:07:00.001-07:00

Today was better then the past week. Billy went to the deer lease so, Friday CiCi and I went to Marla's to spend the weekend. Friday night we met Sandy and Jim at El Jacalito in Crandall. We had a very nice dinner and visit.

Saturday, Marla and I loaded up and headed to McKinney to her friend Kandy's house. From there we went to Sam Moon! It was my first visit. I bought a purse and a duffel bag...so cute. The Luggage store had a bunch of neat travel stuff but, not too much luggage. Then we went to the Home store....too expensive. I couldn't figure out how they could sell purses so cheap but couldn't get a bargin on home accessories.

From Sam Moon we headed to Winstar Casino. Had lots of fun and I ended up leaving with $20.00 bucks more than I walked in with. I got lucky on the penny Wheel of Fortune.

Had fun! Gambled! Ate too much! All in all....good weekend!

Really Bad Week

2009-03-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Got picked for jury duty Monday. Served two days. Found the guy not guilty. Only to find out later he had done the same thing before and spent 9 years in the penitentiary. But, it was over 10 years ago and they couldn't tell us about that. It would have made a world of difference.

Found out Thursday that Tuesday, one of the guys that used to work with us had shot and killed himself.

Found out Friday I had lost a very dear co-worker. I've just been very sad since.

Post...post! When will I post?

2009-03-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on. Monday I went for Jury Duty for my first time in Van Zandt county. Got picked! Belck! Hopefully we will finish up early today! My Ex-Step-Brother-in-Law passed on Saturday. Joey had gotten cancer in his hip. They controled it for a while, but the same cancer then spread to his eye and his lung. After that their wasn' t much they could do for him. He went quietly. Meme and Heather and I went to the family visitation last night in Rockwall. But, yeah! I finally got the camera back from Heather last night! I will be able to take pictures of the pages I did for Meme's scrapbook. I'll post those this afternoon! I'm crossing my fingers we get out of this danged 'ole court case by lunch.

Keep you eyes peeled!

Oh! What a disappointment!

2009-03-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well my loyal subjects! I regret to advise that I will not be posting today after all.

I just realized....I don't have a camera Heather! Who has my camera? It's funny that she left a comment calling me a SLACKER and she has my camera! Maybe when my little camera returns to it's rightful place upon it's throne of a charge I will be able to proceed with my postings!

But for now....just words!

Slacker Time!

2009-03-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have gone over a week with no posts! I have fallen into the "uninspired" pit again. I was able to work on my mom's scrapbook this past weekend. I got several pages done and ate a bunch too! Um...I didn't eat scrapbook pages....chicken quesadillas and sopapilla cheesecake! I'm really busy at work right now (then why are you posting on blogspot?) but, I will post the pictures of the pages I did this weekend tonight.
ttfn

D Dotee is finished!

2009-03-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

I finished my "Daisy Mae" for my ~D~ is for... Dotee Swap on Swap-bot.com

I think I'm getting a little better. I think if I had my sewing machine I could do a better job?! Maybe, maybe not...we will see. For now, it's hand finishing all the way!

First Attempt at ATC's

2009-02-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in another post that I have joined a beginners ATC swap. Here is my rendering!

The pic is of the two ATC's I made and the little card to the right is the inspiration. There is a little story that goes along with this card. And, I'm going to tell that story:
This past Saturday I cooked a B-day dinner for my mom and ex-mother-in-law. Mother handed me this little clear plastic bag full of paper goodies. It was the cards that were given with the gifts when I was born. I have to remind you, I'll be 49 in April. These cards are in very good shape and have some very cute "vintage" pics. Wait...they can't be vintage...I'm only 48! Any way, I scanned the card and cut out the cute little rain baby and used ink and alcohol in a spritzer on photo paper. I added the rainbow ribbon and some crystal stickles for raindrops.

Rainbowbaby 1of2 and 2of2 - These will be valuable when I die!

Recycle!

2009-02-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

Joined an ATC swap on Swap-bot.com. This will be the first ATC I've made. Good thing it's a beginner swap. Hopefully it won't look too amateurish. I got to thinking...where can I put all this stuff I'm getting in trades? They are all stuck up in the window above the computer now. I had also ran across this old International Coffee's tin that Billy was going to throw away and I decided to decorate it and put in the ATC's I get.

Here is the before:

And, here is the after:

I used scrap paper and ribbon too! Buttons have never been used but were not purchased solely for the use in the making of this tin (disclosure!).

Blog Candy

2009-02-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

And the winner is.... STACEY!

My blog is no big deal but, I wanted to see what kind of response I could get by offering a free giveaway! I've ended up with some duplicate Tim Holtz idea-ology Grundgeboard that I want to giveaway! It's called stripes elements and the are 94 shapes! Leave me a comment by 02-28-09 and I'll draw a random number and post on March 1st!

Here is a picture of the Grundgeboard!

Inspiration...or lack of it!

2009-02-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

I am completely uninspired! I want to make cards and scrapbook pages but, I can't make myself. I think I'm just waiting for the companion ship of a crop! I've even been thinking of joining a crop in Corsicana at the scrapbooking store there. I just can't wait until March 7th! The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie is having a Cricut Class on Saturday, 02-28. I just might try that. I'll see if I can drag another cropper over there with me. Oh! I won more blog candy at http://inkastamps.blogspot.com/ go over there and check it out!

Well...I've gotten about three or four new scrapbooking magizines I haven't looked at...I think I'll go curl up and check them out!

Ya'll go out there and CROP!!!

Crazy, but fun, Swap!

2009-02-09T15:07:00.001-08:00

I joined this "payback" swap not really knowing what to do. You can see below what I sent...boring! I was trying to play it safe. You never know! But when I got my stuff! Man-O-Man! I was so excited and ready to create, it took me under an hour to make the page. When I opened the package and saw a feather and silver "disco" material...I knew I had to make a Prom/Dance themed page layout!

Here is what I got - Minus the lavender cardstock! (I kinda forgot to take a picture of what I got before I started stickin' it to the cardstock! I told you I was excited!)

Here is what I made!

Getting ready for another swap!

2009-02-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

I joined a swap called Payback Swap - the object of the swap is to gather items and send them to your partner. Your partner will take the items and make something from them and send them back. Here is what I am sending my partner. Luckily the partner I send to like Stampin'Up stuff and that's all I'm sending except the lacy border is from a Martha Stewart punch.

I Love getting Snail Mail!

2009-02-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful day to pick up the mail! Usually, Billy gets home first and picks it up. But, today was my special day! I opened the box to find my mail order swim suit and two swaps!

The first to be opened was the Prom Picture Swap! This was really fun! You sent your partners a picture of you and your prom or dance date along with a little description of the event.

Mine was more than I could have imagined. Four pictures of couples. One was my swap partner and her date, another was her husband and his date. The third was their son and his date and finally my partner's husbands grandparents. A picture from 1905. I think it may have been their wedding picture. There is a bouquet in the picture. She also sent two lovely ATC's. All-in-all, this was a wonderfully fun swap!

The next envelope was from the Lottery ticket swap! This swap was started by my daughter! The idea of this swap was to send your partner an un-scratched lottery ticket! Guess what? The ticket sent to me was a $30 winner! Look! Three strawberries in a row. On a row that ends with $30.00! Yippee!

I love Swap-Bot!!

Three Dotee's A-B-C

2009-02-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well! Miss Cuppy - Cake is complete. I really think she looks cute.

C dotee doll face

2009-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well! I think I'm getting the hang of this dotee doll thing! I've been to countless craft stores looking for supplies and even searching the internet. Too bad I haven't been able to find some skill! So, I just finished the face on my C dotee. Here it is.

OMG! Is it getting worse?

2009-01-28T14:54:00.001-08:00

My B Dotee! Honestly it's a little better! Isn't it?

Cleaning Up My Scrapbook Room Mess!!!

2009-01-25T06:41:00.001-08:00

I got up around 5am this morning. Everyone but the dog and me was asleep so, I decided to work on my crazy ribbon project! I tumped out (turn over/dump for y'all that don't understand Texan!) my big ribbon tote onto the scrapbooking workspace and dug in.

CiCi offered to help!

Heather came over yesterday after her great Pampered Chef party at Dr. Arredondo's house to use our computer (since her's is on the fritz) to enter the orders and do some postcrossing posts. I know I woke up around 2am and the light was still on in the office. Like I said earlier, I got up around 5am. I usually potty then go straight to the computer in the mornings. This morning I found all her stuff still in the office but could not find her. Then after I made coffee I saw legs on the ottaman. She was curled up in our big chair covered in a fleece throw with her shoes still on and her sunglasses on her head. I went in later, after the sun was up a little, and found her with her sunglasses on her face so, I couldn't resist!

So...I got started sorting and storing ribbons. I finally got the new rack organized with most all the ribbons.

"I'm ready for my close up Mr DeMille"

My ribbons tote went from the large one to the small one:

And, I was able to utilize the large one for my tools!

Here they are together so you can get a better idea of the sizes.

Now there is room for the new tool I got at the ScrapStampArtTour in Mesquite, Texas!

It's an Easy-Bow! You can't really tell but, it's a pretty good bow I made with it. It makes a total of seven size bows using up to 3/4" wide ribbon. I'm really excited about using this on cards and such as my handmade bows really bite!!

This is a huge post and took me from 5am this morning until.....4:11pm to finish.
Hope you enjoy it!

Spring-Summer 2009 Stampin' Up! Catalog

2009-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting patiently for my new SU! catalog and today it came! I've skimmed through it and there are some great new stamps and cool ideas. I can't wait to order some new stuff.

"To Do" List

2009-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had a list of things to do:

Plant the bulbs and tubers I bought at Sams
Get all the Christmas stuff in the attic
Wash cloths (I think it's been a week since I washed any)
Cook spagette & meatsauce

It looked good on paper.

I got home, I parked the truck outside so I could get to the attic stairs. Billy and I started planting the flowers until he found a hole that needed dirt...he got a wheelbarrow full of dirt to fill that and while he was filling thw wheelbarrow his brother called. "We are playing Texas Hold 'Em tonight and Sheila fried chicken. Ya'll come over and play."

Yep! It looked good on paper! Now guess what I have to do tonight? But, I don't have to plant flowers!!!

Dotee Doll from Swap-bot.com

2009-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Isn't she beautiful? I love her. For those who check out my blog on a regular basis...you saw my Dotee (hee hee!) Well, let me tell you about this one. I joined a swap on swap-bot.com for an alphabet based swap. Starting with and A you made a Dotee that had something about the letter A on the doll. I made the horrible doll that is on an earlier post. I never received my A Dotee so I was really excited when I got this one today. Then when I was checking my e-mail I found that someone else that did the A swap offered to Angel me. That's an offer to send me what the swap partner did not send. That made me feel even better. I'm really excited about starting my B doll. I'll be sure to post a pic of that...hopeful it will be much better than the A!!!

Scrapbook Convention in Mesquite, Texas!

2009-01-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ashley and I went to the StampScrapArtTour today at the Mesquite Convention Center. It was a super small convention, only 17 vendors, but that didn't make it bad. I still found plenty to buy. First I bought some "stamp" scissors.

They are called "stamp" because the edge looks like a postage stamp back when they were perforated and you had to tear them apart. They had some great stamps and templates that I wanted all of. But, I will have to purchase them on line a little at a time.

Then I got some Mini Spritzers. We watched a demo where the lady made this card on photo paper.

Here are the mini spritzers.

Then lastly I got two stamps some candy cards and bags (I'll have to make a couple and show what they make) and a bow maker template. The man demo'd the template and it will make the tiniest bows. If you are like me....you can get very frustrated making bows. Here is all that stuff.

Then we went to Michaels (don't tell Sandy we went) and then to Sam's Wholesale club. All in all we had a good day.

Saturday's Crop

2009-01-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Well the group photo looked OK on the camera's screen but here it looks horrible. You can't even tell who is who. On the stairs is Ashley, Cat and Heather then on the floor is Marla, Me and Sandy. Small group but we still had fun.

Last week was Heather's 25th birthday (Wow! How old does that make me?). We kinda made this Heather's party. She picked the food which was homemade pizza for lunch and chicken strips, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas for dinner. We had cake and ice cream too!

I started Meme's heritage book. I got four pages done. If you are reading this and you know Meme this is a secret. The first page is her graduation class of 1944 at Crozier Tech in Dallas. The next is some school pics and a group shot of her 3rd grade class in Letot. The is the picture I just loved. She is standing in a lake or pond in rubber waders holding a shotgun. I will have to ask her about it when I give her the album but it's called "Country Girl". The final page I struggled over and I really don't feel like it's finished but, I don't know what to do with it. It's a pic of her and Daddy at some bar/restaurant. That's her in the silver crown. No! She wasn't wearing it to the bar...I added that. I'll get more detail when I give it to her and maybe go back and add some journaling.

New Ribbon Holder!

2009-01-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

I was cruzin' the internet looking for new ways to organize my scrapbooking stuff and stumbled on to the Simply Renee ribbon organizer. I looked at different websites and on E-bay to find one. It was a little over my budget but, I loved it and really needed a new way to store ribbons. I made one last look on google and stumbled on to a blog with ribbon organization. This girl bought pantry organizers and hung them on peg board and used the clip-it-up clips just like on the expensive organizer. I couldn't wait to run to Lowe's to get a couple. Billy hung them and I have been looking all weekend for some 12X12 cardboard pieces I kept. I finally found the pieces (to put on the racks to keep the ribbon from falling through) and cut them to size. Here is a sample of what it will look like.

The holder is not crooked it's my picture and yes those are my fingertips!

Latest Swap-bot Receipt

2009-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today I received a postcard from Texas (wow!). I also received my 100pc punched papers from Budapest, Hungary. There is a note in there that I have to have translated but I think it says something about the envelope tore and they put it in a plastic bag. I've received something like that before in the US mail. The envelope was handmade from what appears to be Disney Christmas paper. There was a bag with bunches of punched pieces and then there were two postcards taped together with a note on the outside that said "Extra - Handmade leafes" (she is Hungarian after all). I opened the "Handmade leafes" and they were real leafes...um, leaves. I threw them away....I'm already stuffed up enough and don't need any Hungarian allergies!!! Here is a picture of what I got.

Surprise Visit!

2009-01-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

I got a call Friday afternoon from my mother saying that my cousin Stacey, her husband Brad and their boys would be coming down. Billy and I jumped in the shower real quick (yes! it was afternoon and no! we hadn't taken a shower yet, we were on vacation after all!) We had a really nice visit and MeMe even bought our dinner. I was able to get a picture of her and the boys.

That's Collin on the left, MeMe and Tanner. I think it's a great picture.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T22:14:00.000-08:00

I think this is the first time I've been awake to bring in a new year in several years. And, I think it's all because I took an allergy pill at about 6pm....I'm wired! I'm sitting here in the dark in the scrapbooking room and can see fireworks out the window. I hope the Mabank VFD is on their toes since a lot of us do live in the middle of hay meadows. No resolutions for the new year. There are many things I would like to accomplish but why resolve to do them...SLACKER! Ok...Lose a little weight, organize the cabinets and closets, re-organize the scrapbooking room (again), work in the flowerbeds, get the pavers down, quit spending so much on Ebay, keep your mouth shut....

See? Lots to do! Happy New Year!

Chicken Road

2008-12-29T15:21:00.001-08:00

I'm working on my next swap (due tomorrow! Arg!). It's called "My little corner of the world". What you do to participate is take 8 to 10 pictures of your town and send them to your partner. The partner I send to is in NY state. The partner that sends to me is in Australia. I've taken pictures of the new High School and other stuff around Mabank but, I couldn't pass up a picture of what Billy and I call "Chicken Road".

I don't think the picture even needs explanation! A couple of weeks ago we were going to MeMe & Paw's for dinner and, as usual, we left the house via the Chicken Road. Billy was cruzin' down the road and I saw Kat1 on the left hand side of the road and I hollered at Billy "Don't run over Kat1" then I looked up and there were about 6 chickens in the middle of the road and I hollered at Billy "Don't hit a chicken"....too late...there were feathers flying everywhere! I thought it was much funnier than he did. I really think Kat1 was about to pounce on one of those chickens.

I'm not too good at this Dotee Doll thing!

2008-12-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

I joined a swap on Swab-bot.com! "A" Dotee Doll! A dotee doll is a small handmade doll that is about 4 - 6 inches long with the hanger and tail. The object of the swap is to make a dotee doll for the letter "A". A on it somewhere. I chose Armodilla! Hey! This is Texas! This is my first attempt. And dang-it....I've already signed up for "B"!?!?!?

Please don't laugh as hard as I did when I showed this to Billy. He was sweet enough to not laugh (to my face) but, did suggest that I take sewing lessons. I learned real quick that I suck at this dotee doll thing but, I intend to stick it out...maybe by "Z" I will have it down!

Maybe I should stick to scrapbooking?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well! We had a good Christmas dinner. We had a small group, just Me & Billy, MeMe & Paw, our friend Linda, and Billy's Mom Merle. Heather is on call at the hospital and won't be able to leave until 7pm. We are doing our annual after Christmas day run to all the Wal-Marts in seven counties...well, maybe only six...but the plan is: GBC Wally World, then to Ennis, then Waxahachie where we will hit not only the Wal-Mart but the Crafty Scrapper! I got an e-mail that they were selling everything for 40% off tomorrow!! Yippee!

I wanted to post a few pictures we took today. This one is our sweet doggie...CiCi.

This one is us again. I don't look very happy.

Family portrait.

All that enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch at the Johnson's.

That's Paw, Merle (I love the way she is looking at Billy), Billy, Me and CiCi in the back.
MeMe & Linda in the front. They look like someone just took their last candy cane!

....Now I must go! My tumbly is kinda rumbly!

Happy Holidays to all!

Working on Scrapbook for Brooke!

2008-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Brooke belongs to Jeff whom I share an office with. Brooke is in kindergarten. Jeff wanted a scrapbook of Brooke for his wife Emily for Christmas. I offered to make it for him. Here is the first layout pages.

Brooke loves cows. I found these paper-pieced cows on Ebay. They are cuter in person than when I ordered them or even on this layout picture.

More cows & cow stuff!

The next layout reflects Brooke's love of tumbling.

Weekend at Holly Lake

2008-12-08T14:48:00.001-08:00

All was good this weekend. We got to Holly Lake about 4pm on Saturday. Had a little dinner. Went to look at the local Christmas lights. Watched a little TV. On Sunday we drove about an hour and a half into Jefferson. Jefferson is an old town with lots to do. But, all we did was shop the little antique shops. I found a couple of glass dishes...I am addicted to glass dishes. I've been looking for some to put crackers in when we have little get-togethers.

This picture is of the Jefferson General Store.

And here is the Old Mill Antique shop.

Here is an odd picture!

We always have fun at Holly Lake!

Swap-bot.com.....WOW!

2008-12-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

This swapping thing really is the best thing since sliced bread! I just got my envelope with my 50pc embellishment and it was super! I'm really upset I didn't send more. I kind of held back because I thought it was supposed to be kinda minimal...boy was I wrong. Look at the pic's and just see what I got!

I got my Cuttlebug today!

2008-12-02T14:43:00.001-08:00

Now I can emboss cards with cute stuff! It came with a die that looks like a postage stamp and four different embossing folders. One is a Christmas present (pictured). There is a cupcake to represent birthday, a baby buggy and a heart that says "Love" in it. I can't wait to order oodles of embossing folders on E-bay!!!!

I'm super excited!

Look what I got!

2008-12-01T14:17:00.001-08:00

Swap-bot.com Christmas Card & Stickers swap! WOW!MOM!WOW! (that was me doing a somersault) An adorable Santa Christmas card and loads of stickers! I can't wait to use the flowers. All made up with brads & everything!

Look what I made!

2008-11-30T17:15:00.001-08:00

Well! I started out pretty good and ended on a rough note. I wanted to make some scrabble tile pendants from some of the papers I got on the "42cent swap #19" on swap-bot.com. All started out well until I stuck my hand on top of the freshly glazed pentants. I added more diamond glaze and set them aside. I was looking for something in my sterilite 12"X12" holders and set one of the drawers right on top of the now freshly re-glazed pendants. So Kimberly? What did you learn? I learned if I ever intend to make more pendants I will find a far out-of-the-way place to set them until they are completely dry! (I do the same thing with stickles!) Here is a picture anyway!

On the treble clef tile you can kinda see the indentation on the top. It kind of looks like there is a ring on the outside of the tile. Oh well! No use crying over spilled milk. They would have been really cute though!
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We sure did! We had such a good holiday I forgot to take pictures. I only got one and it was of Heather making mashed potatos! It's on my 35mm and I it was the first pic on the roll. It will be a while before those get developed.
Blog later, Kim

Swab-Bot Addict

2008-11-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have quickly become addicted to this Swap-Bot.com thing! I have already completed two swaps. The first was a Thanksgiving card swap. I sent Thanksgiving cards to four people and have gotten cards from three of the four that are supposed to send me cards. The second one was an International Christmas card swap. I sent cards to 6 different people. Four from the USA, one from Finland, and one from Australia. I have signed up for two more swaps. One is send postcards to five people with a Christmas recipe on the backside. I got my first recipe today and I kinda copied (like scraplifting) her design. She used an old Christmas card and just cut the front off and used that. She printed off her recipe and taped it on the card. I printed my recipe on cardstock and added address labels. For the side that should have a picture on it I just stamped a Christmas tree from SU's "Solemn Stillness" and embossed in gold. I am mailing those tomorrow. I just signed up for another swap that is for one Christmas card with a sticker sheet. That will be a down & dirty one (quick & easy). Oh yeah! I just looked at my pile and realized I signed up for a Scrapbooking one too. I had to fill a #10 envelope with scraps of paper. I think I overfilled it caused it needed two stamps. It's really turned out to be a fun website. swap-bot.com!!!

November Crop!

2008-11-16T17:31:00.001-08:00

Well we had great fun at the crop Saturday! Everyone had great projects to work on. I worked on Christmas cards. Here are some I completed!

Christmas Cards for Swap-Bot

2008-11-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

I'm doing another Swap-Bot! This time it's Christmas cards and it is International. I get to send out 6 Christmas cards and two of my 6 people are outside the USA. I'm looking forward to receiving my Thanksgiving cards from the last swap.

These cards were made earlier but, I made them none the less.

Thanksgiving Cards!!

2008-11-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Wow! Two posts in one day! I just finished four Thanksgiving cards. I'm thinking about trading on Swap-bot. It's an interesting website Heather told me about. You can find others that want to trade simple things. The swap I'm thinking about trading in is a Thanksgiving card swap. You send your assigned swap person 4 cards and someone will send you will 4 cards. Here are the cards I made.

Some Recent Pages!! Finally!

2008-11-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

I just got finished putting away all my goodies from the retreat in October. I did a couple of pages there that were "make-n-take" that I would like to share. The first one is of our group. We embellished the page with flowers & bling.

We were asked to bring in a pic of ourselves when we were teenagers. First, we played a game with the pictures. Sheri, our retreat hostess, layed out all our pic's and we had to guess whose picture belonged to whom. I won! (look below for my prize). Then we created a page from the items she supplied. The project idea was to write a letter from the future to ourselves when we were teens. I added notes like Have fun, watch out for that lanky boy (Billy), and Love that Brown eyed girl (Heather). Sheri is not only a retreat hostess but somewhat of a therapist!!
I call this page "Note 2 Self"

I want to add a couple of pages I made at our August crop from pictures made last Christmas. Marla made these pictures to put on a website called "elf yourself". The website took your head and put it on a dancing elf body. I saw it on the Today Show. Lester & Jenna were really funny elves. When Marla went to add us they had already closed down the website for the year. Awww! Too bad! So, I found these little "costumes" on 50% sale at Hobby Lobby after Christmas and made my own "Elf Yourself"! First is Santa Elf Billy & Head Elf Kim.

The next page of this layout is Secondary Elves Paw, MeMe, and Gary! This is a great picture of MeMe because Marla got her to smile!

I'm currently working on a calendar kit I got from the auction back in June. All the stuff is there to make a complete "book" type calendar but, I'm adding extra touches to each page. I've gotten the "book" made and have started on January. I really need to be sweeping and mopping floors but, that stuff can wait!!

Successful Retreat

2008-10-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, all is good on the scrapbooking front! We made it through our retreat without a scratch! I got all but one of the pages done for our wedding album and just have to added the pages to the album. I took a few pic's while there.
Here is Marla and Heather

Staci & Sandy

Here is H hamming it up wearing Sandy's glasses

And finally, me! I'm holding up my prize for winning the "name the teenager" contest. We all brought a pic of ourselves when we were a teenager and Sheri (the hostess) numbered them and layed them all out for us to guess. I guessed the most and won a paper pack! Like I need more paper! But it was great!

Scrapbooking Retreat

2008-10-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the big weekend! Our scrapbooking retreat at the Crossroads B&B in Lindale. We have always had fun at these retreats and this weekend should be no different! Lots of food, fun (Scrap Crap Poker), and lots of scrapbooking! Here it is a mere 3 years later and I'm going to work on our wedding scrapbook. I started our Honeymoon book and still haven't finished but I intend to focus this weekend on just the wedding....lots of pink and black paper, ribbon, and embellishments. I guess I can finish our honeymoon book at the next crop weekend....November 15th!!!! Next I want to start my "Book about Me!" Because who can tell my story better than me? I also want to do a heritage book for my Mom and one for my Dad. Maybe I can finish those by next Mothers & Fathers day! I think if I am able to finish them before then I will give them early! I have lots of pictures, I just need to organize them and figure out who is in each picture. Daddy has lots of pictures for WWII that have soldiers in them he knows but I have no clue as to who they are??? Well, I've got to finish gathering things up and pack my clothes...oh yeah, we mostly wear PJ's!!!

CiCi - Before & After

2008-10-18T13:16:00.001-07:00

Poor Pooch!

We waited way too long to get her groomed!
This is the before!

& here is after!

Lake Conroe

2008-10-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

We had a good weekend at Lake Conroe. Nice and peaceful. Except....When we go there and found out our "brand new room", Studio accommodations was more like an efficiency apartment. Really, more like a hotel room with a reallllllyyy dinky kitchen! And, no cable because of Ike. First thing we did was complain. They promised that they would check on Saturday morning to get us into something else but, they were booked!!! There wasn't a grill so all the food I brought to cook for dinner was out...so, let's eat breakfast! That'll work! WRONG! I started the oven to bake biscuits and started frying up bacon and guess what? The smoke alarm (IN THE KITCHEN NO LESS) went off. I flew to the phone and called again...this time had to leave a message! Billy managed to yank the beeping blanker off the wall and stop it. I was fit to be tied! Then, we settled down to eat our dinner and watch our DVD's that we got for free since there was no cable. Watched Larry & Something with Adam Sandler...you know, the one where they act like a gay couple? It was OK...Then was kept up off and on all night because the folks in the next room watched television until 3AM. It all ended well because we got the kind of room we expected and had a grill and didn't have to listen to the neighbors television and got to watch television and even got to watch all the Texas vs OU game!! Hook 'em!!!!

We found the DoodleBug Train in Montgomery Heritage Park!!! I never even knew she worked for the railroad! That dog was full of secret! And we rode the wagon with Mollie and Willie as the pullers!

Here are a few of the sights we saw along the way!

We went to a nursery that I wish was here!

Around the Block's Blog Paper Tagger Winner!

2008-10-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm soooo excited! I forgot about the contest on the blog for Around the Block products until just now. I looked and what did I see first? "Congratulations Kim" I won an Around the Block Paper Tagger! Now it's time to start thinking about how to use it!

San Diego

2008-09-27T07:24:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back from my quick trip to San Diego. I always enjoy going as it is a beautiful city and the weather is always perfect. But, it's so much better being home! I was able to meet up with a couple of people who have moved from Mabank to San Diego. On Thursday evening I had dinner with Sandra & Jean-Yves Rombeaux and their daughter Elodie.

I was able to see Helen Zhang and visit with her for a few minutes.

I took a few pictures while driving around. I was there and back so quick there wasn't much time for sight-seeing.
This picture was taken early in the morning and the fog was still on the harbor. This is a ship docked at the naval base, Rosecrans I think.

Here is a small portion of the SS Midway. The Midway is an aircraft carrier that is permanently docked in SD for tours. You really have to see it to get the true size of this vessel.

This is a little shop in an area on the harbor called SeaPort Village. There are several little shops specializing in different things. You can get caps, t-shirts, art, food....lots of different stuff!!

I took this picture while strolling through SeaPort Village

San Diego is a huge port for all sorts of sailing vessels. It is home to many cruise lines. There happened to be 3 cruise ships in the harbor while I was there. I took this picture from the window of my little rented Prius.

I had a good time and enjoyed seeing Sandra and Helen. But, I'm soooo much more glad to be home!

Day long Crop!

2008-09-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the day after our September Crop and I'm still exhausted. The truck is still loaded down with all my supplies that have to be put back in the Scrapbooking room but, the day was worth it.

This is all that was left at 9pm - Ashley (pregnant), Penny, Me and Heather in the wild shirt!
I asked each of them to show me their favorite page they had made.

Penny made a page on their Florida trip about Snorkeling.

Ashley just got the 12" Cricut Expressions and a Juke box. All of us played with that! Her favorite page was of her daughter Savannah and Santa!

Heather has been working on a Scrapbook for one of the nurses that moved to another hospital. She has worked on it for two whole crop days. It's a good looking scrapbook! She's done a great job!

All in all, I think we had a great time! I'm looking forward to our next crop on November 15th!

Trying Something Out!

2008-09-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday Bloody Sunday!

2008-09-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

Blah! That's pretty much the mood this evening! I dread the work week that's ahead. Not for any special reason just the simple reason I'm sooooo ready to retire and just need a few more years. Heather and I had a lot of fun this weekend hunkering down to ride out the hurricane! Thankfully it was just a lot of wind and some rain and not the havoc expected due to the our over zealous media! We made jewelry! I especially love these earrings. It was fun to get together and work on something other than scrapbooking....but not too much! You know how I love scrapbooking!!!

There is a Hurricane a comin'

2008-09-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd added this card before I lose power...I know, it's early but Billy woke me up checking the weather. I did this card last night using the "Solemn Stillness" stamp set and new SU In Colors Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red. I also added a little Gold embossing powder and some non-SU hemp.

That bad weather isn't supposed to get here until about noon so maybe I'll have time to make some more cards today and post them too!
Ok...I'm back! We lost power from 10am to 11am for no particular reason....probably some dead tree fell on a line! There are a lot of dead trees out here in the country! I finished up another card during the outage! Not much light in the scrapbooking room but, I made due. This was made with the "Wishing you Cheer" and "Frosty" stamp sets, scallop punch, Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla cardstock and a piece of printed paper, deck the halls by create, Kate.

One More Card

2008-09-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've been in a real mood for anything fall and winter! Maybe it's all the stuff they've already put out at Wal-Mart. I love to decorate my dining table for fall. Little gourds that look like pumpkins, ceramic pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, mini bails of hay with little stuffed scarecrows perched on top! I even bought new dishes to set the table with. I can't wait to gather all that stuff from the attic and place it around the house. But first, it needs to cool off a little so I'm not so dreading the heat in the attic. Maybe after Ike passes we will have a few cool days and I can get up there...or better yet, I could send DH to fetch my boxes of goodies!!! That's the plan. I'll post new pics of the dinner table tomorrow!

I just made this little "Thinking of You" card. I did say I was in the fall mood!! I made this with cardstock from the Earth Elements color family using the Greetings Galore stamp set and my trusty Stampin' Write markers. I think it's kinda cute!

New In Colors from Stampin' Up

2008-09-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

I just got my first order of the new In Colors from Stampin' Up and wanted to start out with a couple of Christmas cards. This card was made using the Big on Christmas stamp set with Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss cardstock and KK ribbon. I stamped Happy Holidays on the inside in RHR with the stamp from the Frosty stamp set. I used the new Border punch stamp from Stampin' Up!

This next card was made with the In Colors from Stampin' Up and the same cute Big on Christmas stamp set. I used Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, and Baja Breeze cardstock with RHR ribbon.

I've been a SLACKER!!!!

2008-07-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! I haven't written in such a long time! After Billy and I went to that scrapbook store auction I have been really tied up with logging, listing, selling & mailing great scrapbook supplies to some great Ebayers! It seems the punches went the bestest! I wish I had gotten more of those!

I got a whole row of Christmas stuff...Hanukkah stuff too. I think I sold most of it to one person! I'm excited to try to sell more but, I think I need to wait a little closer to Christmas.

I have 35 items listed on Ebay right now. Looks like the Cricut replacement blades are going to do well.

We didn't have an all day crop in July...too hot! Next date is August 23rd...hope the high that day is not 105!! I'm going to have a lot of the auction stuff at that crop! Hope it does well.

I'm intend to get back into the hang of this posting thing! My goal is to post at least once a week!

I'll see how that works!

Taking a Break from Scrapbooking Notes

2008-06-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Me and DH at Opening Day!

Beautiful Daughter at BFF's wedding

Sweet Doggie on brand new decorative pillow from BB&B. Is now her pillow!

Man! It's windy today!

More Notes on Journaling

2008-06-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here is more good information regarding journaling.

60. Photo-less journaling - Don't let a lack of photographs from a certain event keep you from recording it in your scrapbook. In addition to telling the story, describe the setting of the place, add quotes from those present and record the personalities of people to make the story complete without photos.

This is a good idea! One whole page of just journaling. I think I'll try that.

61. Send postcards - For more interesting travel pages, send a postcard to yourself while on vacation. When you receive it, add the postcard to your pages for instant travel journaling.

How about this idea...Start a travel album. 6X6 or 8X8 with just postcards you have sent yourself from where ever you have traveled and journaling about the trips.

62. Show, don't tell - A basic rule of writing that translates well to scrapbooking is using your words to show something and not just tell about it. Instead of saying a garden is beautiful, describe the colors, shapes and types of flowers that made it beautiful. Instead of saying the day was cold, say you could feel the chill of the air in your bones and describe the type of wind or precipitation.

This is a great idea and a thesaurus would come in real handy.

63. Use your five senses - Record aspects fromall five senses - touch, taste, hearing, seeing and smelling - All these things affect how we appreciate life. In your journaling, others can appreciate what you experienced too.

To me, 62 & 63 are the same thing.

64. Interviewing - Utilize the living history you have by interviewing older relatives for heritage albums. Ask them about old photos you've acquired and tape record the conversations. Use what they say for heritage scrapbook journaling.

Another use for this suggestion is interview a small child. Ask deep questions of relatives your age. Ask fun questions like - If you could have a super power what would it be?

65. Labeling - Try to include dates and names on every page of your album in some way. If pages of your album are separated in future years, these names and dates will be helpful to put the page in context.

This is usually fairly easy to do and a good idea.

66. Bigger isn't better - Large, fancy words do not make for more interesting journaling - they usually just make journaling harder to read and understand. Write in conversational manner, using words you'd say if talking.

Duh! Most folks would have to look up fancy words to add to journaling.

Journaling

2008-06-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

This is a very important section. Journaling is something all of us need to do more of. Everyone admits it...you know you do.

55. Original handwriting - Even if you do not like your handwriting, it's important to include it in your scrapbooks at least some of the time. Think about how interesting it can be to look at something written generations ago. The same goes for your handwriting - think how your descendants will appreciate it.

Bunk! Well, not totally bunk. I guess we strive to have perfect pages and most of us don't journal because of our less than perfect handwriting. Challenge: Use your handwriting on your next page.

56. Write freely - To help focus on what you'd like to say, sit down at your computer and type or use a ruled notebook and pen. Freely write down whatever comes to mind. Don't worry about grammar, punctuation or spelling. This can help you focus on what you'd like to say without the confines of a small journaling space.

Good idea! Then you can either copy the journaling in your own handwriting or print on vellum. It gives you a good idea of the space you will need on your page for the journaling.

57. Bullet points - One fast and easy way to include important details in your scrapbook is through bullet points. You don't have to worry about writing complete sentences; it allows you to fit more details on a page and the bullets can be used as design elements.

Bullet points don't have to be like bullets in a report:

Like this

They can be like this:

58. "Found" journaling - Collect brochures and other items as you travel to help with journaling. You won't have to rely on your memory when you have stacks of information to choose from . It's also helpful to photograph billboards. The items you gather will help yield more complete journaling.

Look for "found" journaling in:

packaging
advertising
catalogs
recipes
newspaper articles
internet sites
place mats
drink coasters
backs of postcards
plaques at historic sites
road signs
books and pamphlets
magazines
handouts and flyers
menus
correspondence

Like this page I made about our cooking class in the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. This was part of the pamphlet they gave us about our chef and what he was cooking.

Layout and Design Part Dos

2008-06-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

More ideas for layout and design from Memory Makers...

43. Use the same base colors - When combining patterned paper, choose ones with the same base shades. For example, even though blue and yellow usually look good together, a yellow pattern with a bright white background will not match a blue pattern with beige undertones.

Just like wine with dinner...use what you like!

44. Heavily journaled pages - Make pages with lots of journaling more visually appealing and easier to read by treating various words differently through-out. Write some in different colors, add interesting capital letters at the beginning of each sentence, add a variety of small stickers, etc.

I think this is self explanatory but, bottom line is most of us don't journal enough much less doing a whole page of it. This is a challenge...JOURNAL A WHOLE PAGE!!!

45. Sketch your ideas - Move photographs into different arrangements on a page or spread until you find the most appealing design. Then place other objects around them. When you've settled on a complete design, sketch it on paper.

This is always a good idea. Another good idea is to "scraplift". Scraplifting is just the idea of stealing someone else's design an putting your pictures and embellishments on your pages.

46. Utilize extras - When faced with lots of extra photos or an over abundance of supplies, take advantage of this by trying a few non-traditional page designs. Cut the photos in small squares for a mosaic page, or adhere paper scraps and other supplies at random for a unique collage-style page.

Always remember - you don't have to use every picture you have. Sometimes picking the best picture can be a difficult job because sometimes they are all good and tell a great story (like family reunion photos). Don't limit yourself a to one or two page layout. It's your scrapbooking...make a mini-album or several 12X12 layouts.

47. Balance - Distribute page elements evenly on all sides of the page to achieve a balanced design. For example, if a dominant photograph is located in the top left corner of your page, offset it (but don't overpower it) with an embellishment in the bottom right corner. You don't want your page "leaning" heavily to one side or the other.

Here is a good example - Photo in the upper left and large "bling" embellishment on the bottom right.

Layout and Design

2008-05-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

I think we all have a lot to learn about layout and design. Here are a few tips.

36. Save room to write - The most beautifully designed page is not complete without journaling. When creating a page layout, make sure you save room for writing.

I don't completely agree with this statement. Sometimes a great photo and a good title are enough. Take this photo for example:

37. Accent color - When choosing colors for your layouts, select one or two less dominant colors from you photographs. Use those colors for background paper, photo mats and more to make your photos really standout.

It's always a good idea to use colors from your photos to blend in the background of your page. However, using black and white photos and sepia tone photos - the color combination is almost endless.

38. Photo direction - Position your photos so the subjects in them are not facing off the scrapbook page. An inward-facing subject will draw reader's eyes into your page and not away from it.

There is some great photo editing software that can take a photo and reverse it so it will work better on a page.

39. Theme albums - To create a theme album, chose a consistent style that will run through the entire album. Allow certain colors, shapes or techniques to repeat through out for a focused, unified design.

Hey - we don't always make theme albums. I keep and on going album for photos I just happen to take that I think will make a great scrapbook page...you know, just everyday life.

40. Unification - Make your double-page spreads come together by laying out both pages at the same time. To unify the pages, try running each half of a title across the spread, use the same background paper, mirror the layout or add identical design elements.

This is always a good idea. I hardly ever use the mirror image idea however, I always seem to have one great photo that is large and a bunch of smaller photos that I like to cram on the other page.

41. Focal point - For impactive page design, make sure your layouts have a single focal point - a place for people to look first. This can be achieved in many different ways, such as with an enlarged photo, an interesting shape, color, texture, etc.

Some times the focal point can be the design. Example - swirls coming out of one circle and each swirl ending with a small photo cut from a circle stamp. I also like the idea of laying out a template similar to a tic-tac-toe board. This divides the page into thirds which is attractive to the eye.

42. Letter-sticker placement - To avoid the hassle of perfectly straight letter sticker titles, purposely apply each letter to your page at an angle for fun, playful look.

Another way is place each sticker letter on a piece of cardstock and cut out the cardstock. This is like framing each letter in a way.

Tools & Supplies Cont.....

2008-05-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I just purchased another tool from e-bay just this morning. I bought a BoBunny Flex Ruler and I have bids on a Crimper and a new template from HOTP called Easy Stitches. I have been looking over the ruler for quite some time and stitches are everywhere!!! With this template you can make stitches without draggin' out the old sewing machine.

Now - let's get back to our tool and supply list.

27. Color wheel - A color wheel is great for helping select colors that complement and contrast with one another on page layouts.

A color wheel is great for those hard to match card stock colors. If you can't match it - contrast it!

28. Multiple mats - Nested templates are helpful for cropping photos and cutting mats quickly in many graduate sizes.

I love mats but hardly ever use more than one.

Here is a mat of a different sort - it comes from the book "More than a Page" from Memory Makers Books. The background is a solid piece of cardstock with several "scraps" to make one big multi-colored mat.

29. A computer - Eliminate misspellings and grammatical errors in your journaling by typing it on the computer first. Also, experiment with your word processing program to make page titles.

Here is a perfect example:

Three other people besides myself looked at this layout and not a single soul noticed I had misspelled "Sparkling". I got home and showed it to Heather and she said "Momma, who is the Sparl King?" She is such the smart aleck!!! That just gave me an opportunity to make another page called "The Sparl King".

30. Internet - Tons of fonts are available online for scrapbookers to download. It's also a great way to buy products, chat with other scrapbookers and find layout ideas.

At the price of gas now hovering around $4.00 a gallon it makes more sense to purchase items through sources like e-bay and other online stores. Here is a new one www.scrapbookpal.com.

31. Adhesive remover - Un-du adhesive remover is good for removing photographs from unsafe albums and for removing stickers and other items that weren't placed correctly.

Once again...never heard of this stuff. I need to get out there and check it out. Maybe some will let me know if they have used it before.

32. Albums - When starting to scrapbook, first choose the type of album you'd like to use (strap-hinge, post-bound or three-ring binder style). THis will be a determining factor for many other types of products you'll buy. A variety of album sizes are also available.

Right now I am loving the three-ring binders. I hardly ever post a two page layout that needs to meet in the middle. Secondly I like the strap-hinge or snap load hinges. These work great and no screwing & un-screwing.

33. Page protectors - The type of protectors you purchase will depend on the album style you choose. The top-loading style is easiest to work with, and can be used to store page elements before the page is finished.

Most important issue when using page protectors "one size does NOT fit all". If you have a favorite brand/type of album you need to remember which page protector to purchase.

34. Tweezers - A regular pair of tweezers is a helpful tool to keep with your scrapbooking supplies for picking up and placing small paper embellishments like punch art and placing them on your pages.

I showed you this in a previous blog...but, it's such a great tool you should have two in case someone wants to borrow yours:

35. Clear storage bags - Many scrapbookers use zipper-style storage bags for sorting scrapbook items, including die cuts, punched shapes and memorabilia.

Can't have enough of these little bags.

Tools & Supplies

2008-05-27T04:18:00.000-07:00

OK. I admit it. I'm a tool freak. OK. I love supplies too! OK. I'm a collector. I sometimes think I would rather shop for scrapbooking supplies and tools than actually scrapbook. That's not completely true...but, I really, I mean I reeeeaaaallllllly love to shop for scrapbooking stuff!!!

15. Office supplies - Basic supplies from a desk drawer solve many scrapbooking challenges. Use a label maker for journaling, create a title with tags, or embellish with tabs, clips, stencils, brads and more.

Post-it notes! Great all around scrapbooking tool.

16. Adhering pocket pages - To make pocket pages that won't fall apart over time, choose high-quality double-sided tape or double-sided foam tape (to allow extra room in the pocket). Or, for a sturdy yet decorative pocket, stitch it in place or hammer decorative eyelets in place around the edges of a pocket.

I have never used a pocket page. I like top loading page protectors and it is always too difficult to get the page out to pull out what is in the pocket. But, if you do use pocket pages...the double-sided tape sounds like a great idea.

17. Fast trimming - A personal paper trimmer is a practical tool for cropping photos and mats. You'll be able to work more quickly than with regular scissors.

Love a good paper trimmer! That's all I have to say about that!

18. A basic pen - A black, fine-tipped pen should be your first pen purchase when starting to journal on scrapbook pages. Other colors can be added later, and certain tip styles such as brush and chisel can be harder to use if you are inexperienced. Black goes with everything and the fine tip is easy to write with.

This is a good suggestion. My suggestion for the next pen you purchase is a pen that writes white. There are nearly as many reasons to need to write on dark colors as there are for a black pen to write on white!

19. Punch repair - If you paper punches start to stick after repeated use, try punching them through wax paper. If the sticky residue remains, squirt Un-du adhesive remover on the punch's metal "blade".

I have never heard of Un-du. It may be readily available in craft stores but Goo-be-gone can be purchased in hardware stores and is great stuff! Another idea - to sharpen your punches punch them through fine grit sand paper. This keeps the edges good and sharp.

20. Cardstock letter stickers - If you love alphabet stickers, try the variety of stick-backed cardstock letters available. They are easier to pull from the sticker sheet and faster to apply to your page.

This is what you need:

Greatest tool around...At least it's my favorite. You can adhere any sticker. Even the thinnest of stickers are easy to manage with this tool. It seems a little backwards at first as it doesn't work like a regular set of tweezers but as soon as you get the hang of it...it's second nature.

21. Photo adhesives - While there are many adhesives on the market, when mounting photographs, a dry adhesive (tape or photo corners) is best.

I think everyone has their preference. Mine is Herma Dotto. Love it! I once read in a scrapbooking magazine a designer who preferred to use a glue stick just because they were cheaper than anything else.

22. Coordinating products - To easily coordinate colors on a layout, purchase a variety of products from the same company. Many companies now sell stickers, paper, titles and more that are meant to go together on the same page.

This has to be one of the top ten best ideas. Stampin' Up is a good source for ink, printed paper, card stock, and embellishments that all coordinate with each other. Individually, you can purchase what you need or purchase it all (that's what I like). Or just run to Wal-Mart and buy a page kit. There are great kits everywhere.

23. Corner rounder - A corner rounder is an inexpensive tool that can give photographs a polished look in seconds.

One of my favorite new tools is the ticket punch from Stampin' Up. It is a great look when you put printed over CS and use for journaling blocks.

24. Repositionable stickers - Sticker that can be repositioned easily before forming a permanent bond to your page often mean less mistakes and less headaches.

I don't think I've ever even seen these stickers. I always try to position stickers before I stick them and sometimes cut them from their page and lay them on the page prior to sticking.

25. Stamping starters - For a beginning stamper, basic items to purchase are a black ink pad, wood or acrylic-backed stamps (foam can be harder to work with), a set of colored markers and bottle of stamp cleaner (or baby wipes). A heat embossing gun and embossing powder are good "next-step" purchases to consider.

This is a good basic list of product.

26. Rulers - A clear grid ruler is handy for a wide variety of situations, from simply keeping your journaling straight to spacing a title across a spread, to helping you chose the width of your borders.

A ruler is another top ten tool to keep in your stash.

Organization

2008-05-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who said "Everything is so organized. Each thing in it's own little cubby!" I told him , "it's really not!". He said "well, it appears to be". So, what is real organization? How you scrap? How well your tools are stored? How cute your scrapping area looks? Memory Makers covers a lot of different ways to be organized.

1. Sort photos first - Organize your photographs chronologically or by event before scrapbooking to make the creative process go more smoothly. Place photos in photo storage boxes with dividers labeled by month, year, occasion or event.

My old stuff is everywhere! I have some in old albums that need to be dealt with soon. I don't know how safe that stuff from the 60's & 70's is. The more recent stuff is in photo boxes but, is filed haram-scaram! More recently, since the purchase of a digital camera, I keep all photos on a CD until I need to print a picture. That method seems to work best but, then I have to sort through lots of discs to find the right photo.

2. Planning pages - When choosing which photos will go on certain layouts, choose page embellishments at the same time. Place photos with all supplies needed in an empty top-loading page protector or file folder (depending on your organizational system). When y ou are ready to scrapbook, you'll have everything you need.

Actually, this is what I have learned to do. And it seems to work for me. But, I go even further and gather card stock, printed papers, ribbons, stickers, ephemera, etc....(that's probably what they mean by embellishments). It's a really good for crops and retreats.

3. Traveling storage - Many portable supply totes are available to make transporting your supplies to crops easy, including those designed to be checked with airport luggage. Many of these include specific pockets for pens, scissors and other items. If you're on a budget, consider a suitcase on wheels instead.

These are wonderful to have. There are so many on the market it might be hard to choose from. The alternate choice, a suitcase, is an excellent idea. You can purchase many small organizers to hold pens, stamps, punches, and the like and store them all in the suitcase.

4. Heritage organization - When organizing your heritage photos and documents, consider sorting by name or surname, depending on the number of photographs you have. Make sure you choose an organizational method that will be easy for future generations to understand. Apply the same system for memorabilia.

This is something I haven't even begun to tackle. Living and scrapbooking in the here and now seems to consume most of my time. I have a goal set to commit one whole retreat or all day crop to heritage photos. Even just photos of me as a child (talk about heritage!!!).

5. Home storage - Using stackable plastic storage drawers is a good solution for sorting items at home (scissors in one drawer, markers in another, etc.). The drawers are lightweight, inexpensive and large enough to hold many items.

I love the Sterilite 12X12 three drawer storage units. If you watch the Hobby Lobby adds you can get them for 1/2 price. I also like to use clear jars. I have found all of mine at garage sales and flea markets. They hold everything from paint brushes to ribbon scraps. And they look cute. Wicker baskets is also another good choice if you have a room for your crafts and all the storage units show. I also like the three drawer roll-around cart from Sterilite. This fits perfectly under a desk height counter. Last year at "Convention" (that's The Great American Scrapbook Convention" convention for short) I purchased one of my favorite home storage do-dads, the Clip-it-Up!. Here's mine:

It's great for all sizes of stickers and embellishments. It comes with this little opaque boxes to store really small stuff in and you can get a cover which makes transporting really easy.

6. Make notes - When laying out an album or group of pages at once, jot down notes of the journaling you'd like to include on self-stick notes and stick them to the unfinished pages. When it's time to assemble the pages, you'll spend less time organizing your thoughts.

We all need to journal more. Sometimes a title will tell the whole story but, let's try this method and journal more.

7. Keep a supply log - So you don't duplicate scrapbook supplies when buying more, keep a log of all your supplies in your purse. For stamps and punches, simply stamp or punch pages in the log as a visual reminder.

This seems kind of anal!!! But, if your can't remember what you have I guess it would work.

8. Packing for a crop - When gathering supplies to take to a crop, plan the pages you'd like to complete first. Bring only the supplies needed to work on your chosen pages. Leave behind your album (bring only refill pages) and other non-consumable tools (the host will often provide items such as punches, circle cutters, etc.).

I'm not completely behind this...If you have been to the same place to crop before, you know what kind of tools they have. You may still need to bring something special. I do support the idea of planning your pages in advance and bringing only what you need for those pages. Some crops have product for sale. This is alway alluring...and it's good if you have some photos you can't quite find the right paper/embellishments/card stock for in your current stash.

9. Plan now, scrap later - It's a good idea to keep time spent planning page layouts separate from actual srapbooking time. Once you are in the planning mode, it's easier to organize materials and photos for lots of layouts at once. Jumping back and forth from scrapbooking to planning can slow you down.

Enough said.

10. Travel memorabilia - When traveling, bring clear plastic storage bags and label one for every day of your vacation. At the end of each day, place any brochures, admission tickets, postcards, etc., in that bag for easy page organization when you return home.

Another great idea is carry a journal with you to make notes about what you did each day. When you get home and have your memorabilia you may not remember any of the details of that day.

11. Current pictures first - If you are behind on your scrap-booking (or just getting started), begin with your most recently developed photographs. The events will be fresher in your mind and easier to work on.

Great tip! Catch up on your most recent events. You can always do those heritage photos later.

12. Idea books - Develop a system for marking layouts in idea books and magazines to make referencing easier. Photocopy ones you'd like to use and keep them with your supplies, sketch the page and reference the book it's from, or attach self-stick notes to pages you like.

I have just completed my "Idea Book!!". I have three year old scrapbooking magazines that were just getting in the way and I looked through them and pulled out the pages of the techniques, layouts, and other ideas and put them in a three-ring binder. I wrote on the pages the things I liked about the idea/layout. I even found good challenges for myself and others.

13. Colored paper - Sort and organize your paper by color to make it easy to reach for the right shade.

This is easy if you have your paper stored in easy to see holders.

14. Family tree - To start organizing your family tree, use a copy of a fill-in ancestor chart often found in a genealogy book or on the Internet. Start by recording your name, date/place of birth, spouse's name and date/place of marriage. Do the same for your parents and grandparents.

This could be fun. Some libraries offer genealogy classes for free.

Watch for Tools & Supplies next!!!!!!!!!!!

99 Best Secrets for Scrapbook Success

2008-05-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I got some scrapbooking propaganda in the mail today. Some of this information may be legit. Let me know what you think about Memory Makers idea of "99 Best Secrets for Scrapbook Success". Look these over. I will address each one of the categories and each bullet at least once a week.

Organization

1. Sort photos first
2. Planning pages
3. Traveling storage
4. Heritage organization
5. Home storage
6. Make notes
7. Keep a supply log
8. Packing for a crop
9. Plan now, scrap later
10. Travel memorabilia
11. Current pictures first
12. Idea books
13. Colored paper
14. Family tree

Tools & Supplies

15. Office supplies
16. Adhering pocket pages
17. Fast trimming
18. A basic pen
19. Punch repair
20. Cardstock letter stickers
21. Photo adhesives
22. Coordinating products
23. Corner rounder
24. Repositionable stickers
25. Stamping starters
26. Rulers
27. Color Wheel
28. Multiple mats
29. A computer
30. Internet
31. Adhesive remover
32. Albums
33. Page protectors
34. Tweezers
35. Clear storage bags

Layout & Design

36. Save room to write
37. Accent color
38. Photo direction
39. Theme albums
40. Unification
41. Focal point
42. Letter-sticker placement
43. Use the same base colors
44. Heavily journaled pages
45. Sketch your ideas
46. Utilize extras
47. Balance
48. Everyday inspiration
49. Composition
50. Big and small patterns
51. Hidden elements
52. Double-sided elements
53. Heritage decorations
54. Vellum

Journaling

55. Original handwriting
56. Write freely
57. Bullet points
58. "Found" journaling
59. Perspectives
60. Photo-less journaling
61. Send postcards
62. Show, don't tell
63. Use your five senses
64. Interviewing
65. Labeling
66. Bigger isn't better
67. Keep a journal
68. Tighten it up
69. Ask another
70. Spend time with photos
71. Thoughts and feelings
72. Descriptive verbs

Preservation & Safety

73. De-acidification spray
74. Quality paper
75. Photo storage
76. Cedar chests
77. Light
78. Heat and humidity
79. Negative storage
80. Ideal storage conditions
81. Non-permanent mounting
82. Cleaning and handling photos
83. Photo removal
84. Make copies
85. Crop with care
86. Overcrowding
87. Photographic Activity Test (PAT)
88. Photofinishing
89. Water damage
90. Create a barrier
91. Buffered paper
92. Quality pens
93. Pigment vs. dye inks
94. Lamination
95. Crayon safety
96. Color copying
97. 3-D items
98. Acid-free
99. Page protectors

And a BONUS TIP

Encapsulation

How about a Layout or two

2008-05-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

OK! How about a page layout?
I did this with my March kit from scrapbookobsessions.com. I love the acid type papers and the wild green. This was Heather at her best friend Kacie's wedding. Heather was the Maid of Honor. I brushed Tim Holtz purple crackle paint on the side of the picture just because I wanted to use it. Heather was really proud...she said "Look! Momma used an embellishment to cover up my arm fat!"

I did a few pages at the crop Saturday! One of my Great Grandfather. My dad gave me a picture of him last week so I thought I'd use another of the vintage type pages I got in another kit from scrapbookobsessions.com. I'll post it later. I was thinking while I was cropping...why am I scrapbooking a picture of someone I never even knew (he died in 1933...my dad barely knew him) when I haven't even started my wedding scrapbook. I at least made a step toward working on it...I bought a really nice scrapbook. That will be my focus for the next crop in June...work on the wedding scrapbook. Maybe finish the honeymoon scrapbook. I did at least start that one.

Gotta get dinner started. Billy will be home soon. I do look forward to posting more layouts!