Stylish Blogger Award

I am so honored that Susie has selected me to receive the Stylish Blogger Award.

Hop on over to Susie's blog, So Many Scraps, to see some of her gorgeous paper crafting.

Upon receiving this award I must…
*Thank the person who gave this award to me and link back to their blog
*Share 8 things about myself
*Pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered
*Leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition.

Here are eight things about me:

1. I am a follower of Christ ~ above all else.

2. I love and appreciate my DH of 28 years.

3. We have four children, a son and three daughters.

4. I discovered a wonderful creative outlet in scrapbooking four years ago.

5. I am on target so far, for my 2011 commitment to write out at least 10 verses in my Scripture journal each day and to memorize at least one verse each week.

6. We live out in the country on top of a big hill next to my brother and his family who we cannot see because we are surrounded by woods.

7. This is my nineteenth year to home educate our children with two more years to go before our youngest graduates.

8. Susie, who nominated me, is an inspiration to me on several levels.  I am inspired by her lovely layouts and cards.  I am inspired by the courageous way she faces Trigeminal Neuralgia.  Finally, I am inspired by the way she demonstrates her faith through kind words and encouragement.

Now, for my nominations.  You'll be blessed and inspired to stop by the blogs of these wonderful scrapbook artists:

Chris

Carol

Jean

Paulien

Betty Anne

Carolina

Ingeborg

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Birthday Beauty ~ Scrap-Friendzy March Challenge #10 ~ Flowers

Here is a layout of Grace at her 5th birthday party.  She looks so happy and so pretty.

My challenge to the Girlz at Scrap-Friendzy is to create or alter a flower for their layout.  Here is my example:

I pleated 1 1/2" by 1 yd torn strips of muslin, then loosely machine stitched the edge and gathered to form into these double layered flowers which I glued onto cardstock circles with Fabri-tac glue.  I rescued from the trash, the uneven strip that I tore off the end to make the twisted fabric centers which I dyed with watered down alcohol ink.

Here's a close-up of the flowers:

I used:

MME - Kraft/red print paper

Basic Grey - blue/white print paper, green leaves, yellow swirls

Red Cardstock ~ stash

Sewing machine/thread

Martha Stewart ~ Waterfall around the border punch set

Tim Holtz Die for Sizzix

Ranger Alcohol Ink - to dye flower centers

Muslin from JoAnn's

Sewing machine/thread

Tim Holtz Distress Tool

Tsukineko chalk ink - black, pesto

Cricket Cartridge for cakes - leaf image

Honey bee scissors

Gazelle to cut title letters

I've entered this layout in:

Anything Goes Challenge Blog Challenge ~ Make your own embellishments ~ I made the flowers (4/5)

Scrap-Creations Challenge ~ Spring has Sprung ~ Hand made flowers represent spring 

Papertake Weekly Challenge ~ Just be Girlie ~ This is a feminine girly LO 

Tuesday Throwdown #41 ~ Anything but a card ~ LO 

Crafty Cardmakers #42 ~ Special Birthday ~ 5th birthday (5/5) 
Pink Paper Paradise ~ Anything goes

Thanks for dropping by!

~ Blessings ~

Two Sides of Joseph ~ The Scraping Stamper Sketch

Here is a layout of Joseph at his tenth birthday party.  Even then his funny and serious sides were evident!

I created this layout for a sketch designed by the talented Shannon White ~ The Scrapping Stamper.

If you like this sketch, head on over to The Scrapping Stamper to see the other wonderful layouts created by her design team.

I wanted to include some journaling, and since the sketch did not include a journal block, I elected to journal around the photos. 

I don't normally doodle but did some around the photo mat and corner to go along with the feel for each photo.

To add a bit of texture I stitched around the edge of the inner paper layer and applied tinted texture paste over plastic canvas along the bottom of the layout to get the grungy grid effect.

I used some older papers and rub-ons from my stash.

This LO has been entered in the following challenges:

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #126 ~ Anything but a card 

Sugar Creek Hollow Challenge ~ Anything goes 

Floweret Stamplar Challenge #2 ~ Play/Birthday Party ~ the journalling tells the story - these fun photos were taken at our son's 10th birthday

Paper Cutz Challenge #83 ~ Your choice

Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge #51 ~ Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Uniquely You ~ Scrap-Friendzy Challenge#2 - Mix it Up

This photo goes back about 10 years. Maria is taking a hike in the forest with her walking stick. We were on vacation at a Salt Fork State Park.

I created this for the Mix it Up Challenge at Scrap-Friendzy to use patterned papers you normally wouldn't use together.  I normally would not have used the Basic Grey paper with these My Little Shoe Box papers.

I used this fabulous Let's Scrap sketch by Cheri O'Neill:

Products used in this layout:

Basic Grey background paper**

My Little Shoebox ~ Peony Collection paper**

Core-dinations CS for scalloped circle

Cosmo Cricket Rub-ons**

MME - word block "Sweet" **

Brads **

Buttons - from the stash given to my by my MIL

Ric Rac **

Paint chips ~ for the Let's Scrap DT challenge by Mich

Scotch ATG adhesive gun

** Thanks Amy and Cheryl for the prize kit awarded for December Girlfriend.

Scrap-Friendzy awards a fabulous prize to the Girlfriend with the most friendz points each month.  Come on over and sign up to play - you'll enjoy the fun challengez!

This layout has been entered in the following challenges:

Amber's Crafts and Stuff ~ Challenge #1 ~ Stashbuter/Anything Goes - Everything in the LO is from my stash. 

Clear it Out Challenge #2 ~ Buttons - these buttons are from my MIL's stash that I now have. 

Desert Island Crafters Challenge #4 ~ Use three of the following:

Not a Card! ***

Black & White

Celestial

Buttons ***

Unusual Sentiment (ie. not “Happy Birthday” or “Best Wishes” etc).

Charms

Wire

Fancy Fold

Fibres ***

No images ***

Freshly Brewed Challenge #37 ~ Pink and paper piecing ~ flowers cut and pieced on LO 

CCH #58 Eyelets or Brads ~ 2 brads used above small, inset photo 
Pink Paper Paradise Make it Monday #28 ~ anything goes
Clear it Out Challenge Flower Tutorial 
  

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

~  Blessings ~

Two Pairs ~ ScrapFIT Workout #40

This is my second layout as March Guest FITgirl for ScrapFIT Workout #40: Super Sketch To The Rescue!  We all get stuck from time to time so there is nothing better than a sketch to help pull you out! This is a one of a kind sketch from Liz at The Scrappiest! Use this sketch to inspire your layout!

I flipped the sketch on its side and used one larger photo.  As I was going through my photos for this challenge, I drew additional inspiration from the bird in the sketch by choosing this photo of Joseph and Grace gazing at these bald eagles at the North Carolina Zoological Park.  For the "branch," I tried my hand at sketching out a tree trunk for an eagle to land on, and it turned out better than I expected - the Basic Grey paper scrap made a perfect tree trunk.

To Create this layout I used:
Basic Grey paper from several collections
Tim Holtz distress tool
Sewing machine and thread
Gazelle to cut title

Ink jet transparency for journaling - I tried to print directly on the layout, but the ink absorbed into the paper and lightened up too much, so I printed it in the same format onto the transparency, sprayed the back with acid free spray adhesive and laid over the journaling that was too light.

Distress ink on tree trunk and title letter edges

I hope you'll come join the ScrapFIT Sketch Workout #40.  The winner of this challenge chosen by the design team will receive this wonderful prize:

I have entered this layout in the following:
Pink Paper Paradise ~ anything goes Make it Monday Inspiration
BasicGrey Challenges ~ Challenge #39 ~ Wings
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C78 ~ Include a tree  
Creative Belli Blog ~ Belli Challenge #112 ~ Animals
Stampavie and More ~ Challenge #132 ~ Birds

Thanks for visiting my blog!

~ Blessings~

Big Catch - Natural Elements

This is a huge carp that Joseph caught a few years back.  You can tell how happy he is with this big catch.

This is the layout for my first Design Team Challenge over at Scrap-Friendzy.  I decided to create this challenge to use natural elements on a layout.

I hope you will come on over to Scrap-Friendzy and join the challenge!

I used 8 natural elements on this layout:

Burlap ~ two types

Cork

Wood 

Bark

Muslin

Cotton Lace

Jute

Deer Hide ~ thanks Brenda

Muslin banner "hung" with deer hide leather strip:

Muslin was cut into triangles, stamped with alphabet stamps, then sprayed with Smooch Spritz, the bottom layer was misted with a darker Smooch Spritz.

Burlap and cotton lace:

To give the burlap a more open weave, I removed every third "thread" ~ Don't try to remove every other thread like I did on my first attempt because all of your perpendicular threads will be on the same weave and your burlap piece will fall apart - LOL!

Wood pieces stained with Walnut Ink:

Tree bark and jute:

I found this in the floral department - real pieces of bark and moss applied to a paper backing on a roll.  I cut a rectangle of this for my journal block and wrapped one end with jute.

In creating this layout, I took inspiration from the fabulous Tara Orr and Trudy Sigurdson's book, Tantalizing Textures.

Papers ~ from a variety of manufacturers including Basic Grey and K&Co.

Distress Inks ~ Ranger

Chalk Ink ~ Tsukineko

Solvent Ink ~ Staz On

Stamps ~ Stampin' Up and misc. stamps from my stash

BossKut Gazelle ~ used to cut journal numbers/letters

Lace ~ by the yard at JoAnn's 

Tree Bark ~ floral department at JoAnn's

Jute, burlap, cork, jute, wood pieces ~ from my stash

Deer hide strip from my scrappy friend, Brenda - thanks!

Challenges I entered this layout in:

A Spoonful of Sugar Challenge 142 - Anything Vintage/Shabby

Desert Island Crafter's Challenge #3 - Recipe

Craft Your Passion Challenge #48  - Anything Goes 

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #42 - Fabric ~ Used Muslin, lace, and burlap (4/4)

House of Gilli Challenge #2 - Use Green - used in mat around photo

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #57 Go Green - used in mat around photo

Karen's Doodles Challenge #53 - Go Green - used in mat around photo

OOh La La Creations Challenge #75 - It's a man thing - I used a masculine back to nature theme for this LO

Easy Craft Projects Challenge #33 - Green ~ used in mat around photo (4/1)

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #124 - Patchwork ~ I patchworked the cork background around the perimeter of my layout.
Scrapbook Sisters Challenge #1 ~ Framed - the photo is framed by a mat and by the multiple layers of matting and bracket frame as well. 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit my blog!

~ Blessings ~

Design Team Announced at Scrap-Friendzy

I am new to the on-line community of scrappers.  The first place I attempted to complete challenges was back in September when I saw an announcement that Scrap-Friendzy was holding Scrap-U - A month of challenges developed around school classes and extra curricular activities.  I was amazed at how many fun layouts I completed and discovered the fun and supportive group of scrapbooking girlz there led by Cheryl and her lovely daughter, Amy, along with a fabulous design team and wonderful challenge and forum participants.  Scrap-Friendzy has been my on-line scrapping home ever since.

When a design team call was issued last month I decided to apply.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic to find out that I made the team.  

Although, primarily a scrapbook site, paper artists of all genres are welcome to participate.  I hope you will come join us for some fun challenges.

What an amazing day to have the Scrap-Friendzy Design Team announced on the same day I could finally reveal my Guest FITgirl opportunity which I have known about since early January.

~ Blessings ~

Sassy Abby for ScrapFIT Workout #39

I am so honored to have been selected to be the guest FITgirl for March over at ScrapFIT.  This is my layout for Workout #39 ~ Glitter and Glam.

Here is the challenge description: I love things that are sparkly and glamorous, I think many girls are right there with me! With this layout we want to show off our Glitter and Glam! There are many ways to make things sparkle – glitter, embossing, paint, stickles and more! Now for the glam – lets make this a fun feminine layout, you make it soft and fully or bright and blingy! You Go Girl! 

I enjoy bling, so this was a fabulous challenge to create a layout for.   

This is a photo of my niece, Abby, at my parent's home by the lake.  Although cropped out, you can just imagine by the precious expression on her face that she has her hand on her hip and is giving just a little sassy attitude.

So, sassy bling is what I wanted to bring to this layout.  As I explored ideas for some cool and sassy flowers I found this great tutorial by Lisa Gregory.  I made some minor adjustments to her directions.  First, I made my flowers smaller and in two different sizes.  Then, I scrunched and crinkled my paper before I brushed with the Glossy Accents (whatever kind of glossy medium you have will work for these flowers).  Lisa has some really fabulous flower tutorials, so if you enjoy making your own flowers check out the side bar of her blog for links.

Here is a close-up of my flowers:

I cut the butterflies on my Gazelle from black cardstock and BoBunny paper left-over from the flowers. I brushed Ranger Stickles on for glitz, made the antennae from black wire and added sparkly black tails cut from a Zva crystal swirl.  Here is a close-up shot:

Papers used in this layout are from BoBunny's Love Shack Collection along with black cardstock.  

Peacock feather ~ my stash.  

Black feathery leaves ~ cut on my Gazelle from cardstock, then Stickles applied with a paint brush.

Scallop circle ~ cut from the Cricut Cake cartridge. I added Darice heat set rhinestones using my i-rock setter.

Bling cluster at the bottom of the page ~ after Christmas finds from the floral department that I modified using alcohol ink and Stickles.  The curl piece was created from a piece of wire wrapped with floral tape.  I then wrapped the wire around a bar to create the coil and of course brushed with more Stickles.

Photo mat border punch ~ Martha Stewart's Vintage Floral Punch Around the Page set.

I hope you are inspired to create your own Glam and Glitter layout and submit it at ScrapFIT!

The FITgirls have outdone themselves for this challenge so be sure to go check out their great layouts here!

For further inspiration, just look at all the goodies in this fabulous prize sponsored by The Paper Trail being offering to the winner of this challenge:

Thanks for stopping by to look!

~ Blessings ~

Dream Big

This layout is of our daughter, Grace taking first place honors at the Back to School with Cotton Contest a few years back.

ScrapFIT Workout #37 - Dream A Little Dream - We all have dreams! We use to dream as a child of what we wanted to be when we grew up! We now dream of our goals (vacation, fitness, job, house, etc), hopes for our children/family or maybe a new scrappy item to add to your collection! Lets create a layout based on a ‘dream’ we have had or currently have! Be creative! 

The Scrapping Stamper February Sketch by the talented Shannon White.

~ Blessings ~

Two Concettas

Maria "Concetta" was named after Aunt Connie, (her given Italian name is Concetta). Little did we know that Aunt Connie's middle name was Maria - so they have the same first and middle names flipped. Here is a precious photo of Aunt Connie holding Maria when she was a baby.






I created this for ScrapFit Challenge#38- Kick The Winter Blues

Everybody has a bit of cabin fever this time of year and needs to see some fresh colors! So lets do just that! Here is your color palette of your layout/card/project:

Green- Yellow-Orange- Red – White

I'll be adding more details later, but need to get this an a couple other items posted before a midnight deadline. 

Blessings

Mom's Garden

My mom has such lovely flowers blooming in her garden every year.  These lupines were blooming at our Memorial Day gathering there a few years back.

Amy over at Scrap-Friendzy had a great pre-crop challenge posted this week.  Her recipe:
-The word "LOVE" ~ on the tag
-The color PINK (any shade) ~ photo mat and flower centers
-Distressed paper (either torn, tattered or inked) ~ photo mat, tag, and twisted wires
-An EMBOSSED element (dry or heat embossed) ~ leaves
-A NON-SCRAPPY element ~ chicken wire, twisted wire, old t-shirt, and gold tulle netting looped behind flower.

Here is my take on the challenge:

For the flower centers, I punched a 2 inch circle and put a small hole in the center.  I took a 6 inch strip of 1/2 inch wide, white ribbed T-shirt fabric and pulled one end through the circle.  Then I started twisting and as I twisted, I spread FabriTac glue on the circle to hold down the fabric as I formed the flower.  When I got to the end, I cut the cardstock circle down to size and glued the end of the fabric strip to the back of the circle.  To make them pink, I tapped my tattered rose Distress ink pad on my non-stick craft sheet.  When I had a nice layer of ink put down, I spritzed it lightly with water, then rubbed my rosettes in the pink ink.  To soften the color and spread it out more, I then spritzed the flower with water and played with them until I had the color I was looking for.  When dry, I spread tattered rose Distress Stickles on the raised portions of the rosettes.  At first I was going to make a flower cluster with them, but after playing around, ended up using them as flower centers for these larger fabric flowers.

For the leaves, I used a foam leaf stamp by coating it with adhesive from an embossing pad, then stamped on the green patterned paper.  I heat embossed clear embossing powder on the stamped image.  Once it cooled off I rubbed several colors of Distress ink into the paper around the embossed area which acted as a resist.  Then I cut out the leaves and curled them slightly for dimension. 

 

I also twisted craft wire to fashion the wire hanger at the top of the layout - to give it a distressed appearance, I brushed portions of it with black alcohol ink.

The photo mats and tag were distressed, and I added ink to the edges of the tag.

The focal background paper is from K & and Company as well as the paper for the tag.  

The photo mats and leaves were created from my scrap stash.  

The chicken wire was from my scrap friend, Brenda, who enabled me in my odd request last year when I asked for the wire to put on a page of us buying their DD's 4-H chickens.

The craft wire is left from my days of beading, and 

The ribbon is from my hoard of ribbon

I am also entering this layout in the following contests:

Cards and Things Color Challenge #65 to use concord crush ~ purple, bashful blue, and pear pizzazz ~ green.

Kabookle Doodles Challenge #53 ~ Break out that ribbon

Simon Says Stamp and Show some embossing ~ My leaves were heat embossed

Simon Says anything but a card ~ I am entering a scrapbook layout using Tim Holtz distress ink and stickles

Woodware USA ~ Use ribbon and/or bows in your creation ~ I used several kind of ribbon in my LO.

Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog ~ spring flowers ~ I used a stamp to emboss the leaves

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

~ Blessings ~

Memories of Justin ~ Bo Bunny Layout Challenge Friday "Before and After"

The Lord laid on my heart the idea of holding a crop for our dear friends, the Reed family, who's 10 year old son, Justin, went to be with the Lord this summer.  The crop was held in October, and more than 100 pages of Justin's life were created by friends and family who attended the crop that weekend.  To date more than 125 pages have been given to the family.  

More layouts from the crop are scattered throughout my blog, but many of them are here.

Just a note of encouragement to my dear friends and followers.  So often the Lord has given me nudges to do something or say a certain word of encouragement to someone, and it is just so easy to push them to the side and ignore them.  I learned from this experience that when the Lord gives those nudges, it is really worth it to follow through on them.  What a joy to be clay in the Potter's hand.

The before for the Bo Bunny Challenge is the myriads of photos wonderfully 

organized by Holly.  Here are just two of the envelopes of pictures:

The after are all the beautiful layouts featuring Justin:

Here is a full size glance at the left side:

 

And here is the right:

The Picture Perfect Memories sticker got lost on the background paper, so I cut a rhinestone template on my Gazelle and used my I-Rock heat tool to put them around the sticker.  While I was at it I decided to embellish the letter stickers as well.

 

I have not felt like my previous attempts at banners have been all that successful, but I like the 

way this one came out.  I made a template for a shape I liked and then traced and cut the 

pieces from my Bo Bunny scraps, and stitched across the top.

 

I used the Bo Bunny Mama-Razzi collection to create this layout including:

Mama-Razzi - 2 sheets

Mama-Razzi Cutouts - scalloped block

Mama-Razzi Film - used to cut scalloped circle

Mama-Razzi Stripe

Mama-Razzi Word - 3 sheets including filmstrip word border and treasured memories film strip

Mama-Razzi Combo Stickers - title, blue scallop border, and picture perfect memories sticker

Also used on this layout are:

My sewing machine

EK Success Edger Punches - Intertwined Arches and Double Crochet Lace

Boss Kut Gazelle - to cut scalloped circle and template for rhinestones

Darice Hotfix rhinestones - clear

Imaginisce i-rock

For inspiration I used this gorgeous sketch found on Let's Scrap by the talented Cheri O'Neill.  

It was inspired by a gorgeous layout created by Sarah Mullanix

Here is the sketch:

 

And the layout that inspired it:

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

What a Catch! ~ ScrapFIT Workout #36

This is such a fun photo of Elizabeth and Maria at Morrow Mountain State Park in North Carolina.  We were taking a hike along this meandering stream and the girls couldn't resist playing on the fallen logs.  Elizabeth's walking stick became a "fishin' pole."

I created this layout for ScrapFIT Workout #36.  The challenge is to use paper strips from at least two manufacturers and to include a strip or row of embellishments.

I pulled out this kit of paper and embellishments received from Cheryl at Scrap-Friendzy from my participation in Scrap-University back in September.  These Basic Grey papers were the perfect backdrop for the fun and quirky photo.  The punched butterflies and acrylic arrow were also from that gorgeous package of goodies.

I had just the right paper strips to form a background for the photo.  I placed a thin strip on the center of each of the wider strips, then stitched down the edges, which were inked and distressed (All four strips were from different companies).  

I have four additional "strips" of embellishments on this LO: the inking on two sides of the page; the strip of lace that I altered with Walnut Ink; the layered flower and butterflies which I  freehand dry embossed with a stylus, shaped, inked and created the bodies out of paper clay; and the fussy cut strip on the bottom.

Here is a close-up of a portion of the fussy cut border and flowers:

And a close-up of one of the butterflies:

This sketch from Scrap-Friendzy's January Scrap-a-thon #6 was used for inspiration.  I flipped the sketch, put the paper strips on a diagonal, and added embellishments around the edges.

 

I also entered this in the Southern Girl's Dry Embossing Challenge - the butterflies were freehand dry embossed with a stylus.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Justin ~ Family and Birthday Card

I enjoyed working with this wonderful photo of Justin and his family for the Reeds (for more layouts celebrating Justin's life go HERE):

I used Ingeborg Dijkstra-Verbeek's wonderful January sketch:

 

Paper, letters, remember ~ K and Company

Stamens ~ McGill Starburst Punch

Flowers ~ EK Success Retro Flower Punch

Ranger Stickles ~ Crystal

Sizzix Sizzlits die ~ Scribbles Swirls

Once punched, I water distressed the flowers and added stickles to the edges, stamens, swirls, and circle edges along with a rhinestone in the center of each flower:

I created this card for our daughter, Grace's birthday coming up next month.  Shhhh ~ don't let her know.

I used the 1-19-11 Let's Scrap Card Sketch by the talented Cheri O'Neill:

 

Paper ~ Bo Bunny Winter Joy Line

Ribbon ~ from my stash

Rubber Stamp Sentiment ~ Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder ~ White

Border Punch ~ EK Success - Double Crochet Lace

Glass Pebbles ~ floral department

Ranger Alcohol Ink ~ to color pebbles

I also entered this card in the Flourishes Boutique Timeless Tuesday Challenge 102 to use hardware on a card - my hardware is the alcohol inked glass pebbles.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Blessings ~

Remembering 9-11

These photos were taken the spring following the 9-11 attacks on our nation.  Although we didn't go into NY City, we drove to the Jersey side and took the ferry across NY Harbor.  The hands of the clock are positioned to 8:46 ~ when the first tower was hit.  

This layout is based on the beautiful sketch from the MCS Dec. Big Sketch Contest:

Items used in the creation of this page:
Basic Grey paper
Tim holtz clock face and hands
Deer hide strips from my friend, Brenda (her husband, Damen, is a hunter and the entire deer gets used.)
EK Success Border Punch
My trusty Husqvarna sewing machine
Metal word embellishments and chain from my stash
Chalk ink - to modify the color of the deer hide
Black marker to distress the metal embellishments
Title and journal font ~ Papyrus

I also entered this in the Creative Cowgirls Challenge #5 to use turquoise and brown.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Blessings ~