Breast Cancer: Yes, there is a Silver Lining

I always like to focus on the positive. And this mini-book is no exception. The book brings to light the good things gained from the breast cancer experience. Its sometimes hard to see them, especially when going through such a difficult treatment, so I wanted to point each of them out on a page in this book.

The cover is made of grungeboard that I painted pink using the Ranger Paint Dabbers. Then I painted and embossed several grungeboard flourishes. Lastly I added several silver embellishments including a clock face, a tag and other metal findings.

On the back, I used distressed inks straight to paper to add a bit of color. Then I addes a huge 'My Life' sticker, a round journalling sticker, and a beautiful 3D glittery butterfly. Then I finished it off with some pretty flowers.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: Silver Lining Mini-book

I wanted to start off my series for Breast Cancer Awareness Month with some pages from a mini book I made recently.  This was a R.A.K. gift that I made for Sherry Goodloe.  She and I are big fans of Tim Holtz and in the All Things Tim group and this album is made from grungeboard pages and many additional Tim Holtz embellishments all throughout the pages.  I really enjoyed making this book and layering multiple of things on each page, including prima flowers and bling!  Then I finished the album off with tons of fibers on the binding rings.

Sherry is going through Breast Cancer Treatment right now, and I hope that this book brings her some happiness in her tough time.  I hope the words on each page inspire her and give her strength and hope.  And I hope she feels the warmth of all the love that I put into each page.  The next several posts have detailed images of each of the pages.  Hopefully I can inspire you too!

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am posting to tell you that you can make a difference.  Yes, you!

My current series of posts will be dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness.  I'll be posting several projects that I have done to honor special people who are battling through the journey that is Breast Cancer Treatment.  These people need some strong inspiration to be brave, and hold on to hope, and know that others really do care about them.  Hopefully these projects will inspire you too.

I seriously feel that everyone is affected by this.  All of us get worried about it.  And it is over us like a gloomy cloud of concern.  Just imagine if we could find a cure.  Just imagine if we did not have to worry about it any more.  Just imagine if no one needs to suffer through the treatment any more.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Lollipop, Lollipop!

I decided to pick up a treat for my little girl when I was at a store just before picking her up.  I chose this huge lollipop and could not wait to give it to her.  She hardly ever gets candy, so at first she tried to take a bite out of it, and it was puzzling her that she could not.  I tried to show her to lick it instead, but she just kept trying everything until she got some.  I thought it was the cutest thing ever, so I sat her down in the front yard and started snapping pictures with my camera. 

My sister says that the pictures look like something out of a magazine, but all I can see is my cutey-pie enjoying her lollipop discovery.  She clearly started saying the word lollipop on this day.

I used several swirl stamps on this page, and finished it with a huge yellow ribbon with a metal embellishment in the center.  Then I added lots of journaling all around the page in the inner most matting.

Sunshine

I just love how my little girl looks in pigtails.  She was just as adorable as can be riding her new tricycle and I just had to pull out my camera.  I think her smile says it all.

In this page, I started with a gorgeous background paper from 7gypsies.  Added some scraps and cutouts from Bo Bunny and My Minds Eye.  And then I added three of the photos I took of my little girl on her trike.  I placed then at a slight diagonal just for a whimsical look.  Then I added bright beautiful Prima flowers to match her bright beautiful smile.

The color combinations on this page is just so cheerful.  This is truly my favorite layout so far!  I hope you enjoy it too.

Retro Photo and Webster's Pages

I was brushing my daughter's hair after a bath as she was distracted watching TV. I looked down and noticed that she was sitting there in her towel with her gorgeous hair and it reminded me of some old famous painting of a woman in her towel. So I had to pull out my phone and snap a picture of my beauty. I took a regular photo, followed by a photo using hipstamatic, an iphone app that makes my pictures look like they were taken in the 70s. Of course, the hipstamatic photo was the best one. And to my surprise, it came out perfect when I enlarged it to 8x8 and printed it out at my local 1 hour photo place.

This layout was created using Webster's pages products. I love their lines because everything is so very dreamy. The bottom of the layout has a row of Webster's bloomers and along the side I have a set of prima vines decorated with various little embellishments here and there. I especially enjoyed using the Melissa Frances tiny frames.  They are so cute.  I absolutely love this layout, and I truly love how much my little girl amazes me each and every day.

Websters Pages - Bloomers - Flower and Trim Ribbons - Green
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Imagine your Life
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Light the Way
Websters Pages - Lullaby Lane Collection - Dreamland
Prima - Valentine Vine Collection

Vintage Dad & Me - Graphic 45

My son only went to summer camp for part of the summer this year. He spent the rest of the time at the office with Dad. He takes his Nintendo DS with him to keep him busy, and Dad lets him use a computer at work sometimes too.

These photos were taken with an iphone app called Hipstamatic that gives pictures a 70s look to them. I just love how well they came out once printed!

I used a sanding and inking technique to give all the graphic 45 papers even more of an antique look and feel. Then I placed then on a contrasting black background and added several embellishments that I inked and gathered into interesting clusters of embellies!

I finished it off with a title created with graphic 45 letters and a stunning Rusty Pickle diecut tag and buckle.

Colors, colors everywhere!

I recently had some alone time with my little girl and I took her to a new park in the area. We had the place to ourselves, and she wanted to go exploring. She tried out each structure in the playground and then noticed a path leading into several rows of newly planted trees. She walked down the path with Mommy a few steps behind her, snapping photos with her iPhone. Up and own the various paths she went, picking up rocks and examining each twig on the grown. She's my little explorer!

I had to use lots of colors for this layout. Then i had to pick just a few photos to use, which was almost impossible with a cutie like this. So picked out my favorite 7 photos, lol! I created two separate clusters of embellishments, at opposite corners, and used chipboard letters to spell out my title: Play.

This layout definitely is all about having fun! I sure enjoyed making it.

Papercrafting and Altered Arts - at Scrapbook Update

I am so honored to have been featured as a guest blogger on the scrapbooking industry's leading news blog, scrapbook update.  My article discusses how you can take your papercrafting supplies out of your crafting table, and use them around the house and when creating gifts to create something of your own design that would be used over and over.  Any papercrafter can create altered arts projects.  You simply use the same products and techniques that you are using today in your scrapbook pages.  Please read my article here and step into the world of altered arts. Click here to read the article.

Rusty Pickle Class with Lance Anderson

Oh my!  I had so much fun at the Rusty Pickle class with Lance Anderson, himself!  It was at my local scrapbook store, Cherry Blossom Studio.  We did this amazing chipboard mini book with a tropical theme.  The best part was a pop-up Tiki house!  You just have to look through the pictures to see what I mean.  It was just an amazing project!

Meeting Lance Anderson was a treat in itself.  He was such a normal chilled and laid back kind of guy.   So fun to talk to and so fun to craft with.  He shared his story of how he fell in love with paper design and started his company and is looking to keep things going via his blog.  He also shared a funny story about his black crop-a-dile tools.  One of my classmates asked how he got ones that were not pink and he said that he went back to the company that makes them and complained and complained until they made a pair in black just for him!  Funny story!

Much of our conversation was about literature.  Lance is an avid reader and loves getting book recommendations from the people he meets in his travels.  He highly recommended the book Ender's Game  by Orson Scott Card, especially as a great book for young boy readers.  I made a note of it to buy it for my son to read.  I think he's gonna like it.

Another really cool thing I learned about Lance Anderson is that he speaks Portuguese!  There were a couple ladies there from Brazil and he would speak to them in their language, and it won them over right away.  They had so much fun in the class too!

The project was a 5 page mini book.  Each page was the most amazing, thick chipboard!  Really sturdy!  We covered both sides of each page with rusty pickle patterened papers and stickers, and then added a Sizzix die cut popup house.  Used rafia to turn it into a super cool tiki hut, and completed the project with fibers all along the rings.  I just love my new mini book and cannot wait to take a vacation so I can use it!! lol!

So if you ever get a chance to meet Lance Anderson or take one of his amazing classes, I highly recommend it.  And be sure to ask him what he's been reading lately.