Congratulations Graduates

Graduation, a time to celebrate accomplishment and the end of one journey and the beginning of another. Congratulations to all those graduating in the class of 2008. I have 1 nephew, and 2 friends of the family graduating this year. This is one of the cards I made for the graduates. As you will notice the base for the card is the same as the Graduation Invitation I made last November for my own graduation. I customized this card by adding the Graduates school color .... Red!!

Like any handmade card I wanted it to be unique from what you can purchase in the store. So I created a pullout tag that doubled as a hidding place for the Graduates $$ gift. I used 2 red paper clips to hold money to the pullout tag (not pictured).

Supplies: Patterned Card, envelope, tags, paper ribbon charm, scroll brad & paper quotes by Oriental Trading; "Congrats" & "2 U" from Tear Drop Cricut cartridge, red satin ribbon, white chalk, red marker, silver glitter gel pen by Scribblers, black marker by Sharpie, white gel pen, red mulberry paper, silver/chrome paper, red cardstock, black string, red eyelets

Front of Card

Inside of Card with tag pulled out

Backside of tag

Handmade Acrylic Birthday Card

I found these Acrylic blank cards at my local scrapbook store, Cherished Friends. It came with a pack of 5 acetate cards, 5 white cards and 5 white envelopes for $5. I think they are 100% worth the price because they are so unique. This is the first one I created for my niece Taylor. I had a blast creating it and I think it came out wonderful!!!

Supplies: Acetate card by Hero Arts, Two Scoops patterned paper by Basic Grey, Sheer & Iridescent flowers & leaves & pastel brads by Creative Impressions, 'Happy Birthday' stamp by Stampin Up!, "Created By" stamp by Hero Arts, Jet Black Ink by StazOn.

Front of Card Closed

Front & Back of Card

Inside of Card

Graduation Invitation

For my online graduation from AIU Online in November 2007 I wanted a personal invitation for all my family so I knew a hand made invitation would be best. Because the graduation was online, I e-mailed these photos of the invitation to everyone.

Supplies: black, pink & white Prima flowers, large white silk flower, pink textured paper, black & white card stock, white sheer ribbon, black ribbon, white string; patterned paper, envelope, paper charm and jewel brad from Oriental Trading, Cricut Beyond Birthdays cartridge,

Scrapbooking Yourself

When you are the photographer in the family, you don't wind up in many photos(which I am thankful for). But just as you scrapbook the lives of those around you to prevent them from being forgotten, you should include yourself once and a while, just as I have done here. For the many pictures I have taken and scrapbook pages I have made for everyone else, so far, there is just this one dedicated to me.

Supplies: One Season digital papers by Vera Lim (Prima Hybrid), Prima flowers, Making Memories ribbon charm and glitter brads, tan sheer ribbon, black rick rack, black fringe trim, pink bungee string, various fonts from scrapbook answers, Photoshop Elements 2.0, Fastenater & slotted staples by EK Success.

This was my first "hybrid" 12x12 scrapbook page. Using Photoshop Elements 2.0 I layered the papers and cut them in a scalloped edge. I created the faded eyes at the bottom by cropping an up-close photograph of myself, lowering the transparency on the layer to 49% and using a 'soft round' eraser with a light opacity. The two polka dotted papers (gray & peach) on the left side of the page were each given a shadow effect to look like they pop off of the page. The smaller polka dot paper on the right was actually printed separately, cut out and placed on the page with foam squares to raise it, and give it that dimensional look. This also helps the fringe attached to the bottom swing freely.

Love is in the air...

It doesn't have to be Valentines to enjoy a cute little love note. I made this tin to hold the love notes my husband and I pass between us. They may someday make a cute addition to a scrapbook page about us or maybe I will just look through the tin once and a while to remind me of how great our love is!!!

Supplies: Maya Road chipboard tin, Prima flowers, b&w brads from Oriental Trading, various ribbons, Scallywag IOD Paintables by Prima Hybrid, pink craft foam, Sizzlits Script dies, Cropodile.

I used the Cropodile to punch the holes in the tin, and let me tell you it cuts through this stuff like butta!!! Then I rotated the holes to contain ribbon and flower/brads. In Photoshop Elements 2.0 I opened one of the papers from the Scallywag IOD Paintables collection. I placed a pink heart in the middle using the custom shape tool and had my pink color already selected. I re-sized the canvas to fit perfectly inside the window space and printed it out. Using a craft knife I cut the middle of the heart out to create a window. The pink foam letters were created with the Sizzix Sizzlits Script dies.

First Communion

My beautiful neice Carlene had her first communion a few weeks ago and I had a blast taking pictures of her. Although the photo shoot was very short, I managed to get some great pictures of her and even her little brother Race. After a recent trip to the dollar store I scored a cute little black metal cross and knew I had to tie in those photos and a crafting opportunity arose!

The supplies include 2 sizes of white sheer ribbon, 2 red eyelets, 2 small white sheer blossoms by Creative Impressions.

I photoshopped the pictures making the background blurry and the subjects pop in the forefront. After I gave the gift to my Sister-In-Law, I realized Race will take his first communion in a couple of years as well, so I had to run back to the dollar store and purchase a second cross for when it is his turn. I want to make sure she has a matching set when the time comes!!!

My Crafting Heaven....Scrapbook room

To get a good idea of how obsessed I am with scrapbooking you would have to see my "craft room". Luckily I can share it with everyone here!!

This first picture is the first thing to the left when you walk in the door. This is the side view of my workspace. These convenient little cubbies hold all of my crafting magazines that I read. I love getting inspired by other designers and dream of someday being a "Master" myself.

Everything that you are about to see was built by my Mom & Dad and was a Christmas present in 07'. I know I'm a lucky girl and I feel very greatfull that I am loved and have crafty parents!!!

In the left edge of the picture you can barely see the entry door frame. I wanted lots of shelves to hold glass jars, giving the room a "Candy Store" vibe. I think we accomplished this, and since Christmas, I have filled this area to the max. I know I have issues... I am a hoarder.

Under the countertop are boxes that are sorted and labeled by theme. Each box contains paper, stickers, ribbons, and other embellishments specific to a certain theme.

Most of the jars came from either used candles or the dollar store. The set of 4 antiqued jars and the black antiqued 6 drawer curio on the countertop both came from Mish Mash and Muddle!! They have excellent stuff in there!! The colored buckets on the bottom right shelf came from Wal-Mart $1 each and are filled with pens and markers. Behind the white wooden letter "K" on the countertop are 4 glass straw containers that I also got from Wal-Mart which cleverly store my colored pencils and more markers.

This is a closeup of the boxes on the bottom left side. In the clear file folders I have all my "scraps" or used papers sorted by colors. There is a color theme throughout the room as well. I am obsessisvely organized.

Some of the themes under here are: Princess, wedding, graduation, cheerleading, school, summer/vacation, Harry Potter, and the girl's school years (i.e. Mya 2nd grade, which is full of her artwork and school papers from that school year)

This is a close up of the boxes under the bottom corner (left). Some of the themes under here are: birthday, Christmas, VBS (multiple boxes for each year), Racing, Juliana by K&Co., baby, My Little Pony, Easter/Spring, Valentines/Love, and more VBS themes.

There are also some binders which hold things like stencils. The clay pots I hope to paint soon and put some of my tropical plants in them for the dining room. The theme in that room is "Safari".

This is the right side of the "L" shaped countertops. On top of the counter is my Cricut and its cartridges, Sizzix, stacks of drawers which hold: brads, eyelets, frames (small) embossing powders, acrylic stamps, various mounted stamps, and more.

You can see on the right side of the page my stack of magazines...I haven't figured out how to store these yet...I thought about trying to fit them in the armoire, but it is pretty full.

Under the right side counter top are various plastic drawers. These hold things like: adhesives, wrapping paper, dies (for Sizzix), fabric, ribbons for gift bags, tissue paper and more.

On top of the plastic drawers are mini albums and metal tins to be decorated. In the large licorice bucket I have silk flowers. The right side of the pic shows all of my albums some of which are completed, others are empty and ready to be filled with my creations!!

This is my ribbon/fiber/yarn area!!! It is one of my fav's. On the left I have licorice, peanut & cotton candy buckets stuffed full of yarns and fibers. The cupcake on the countertop was a present from Santa (wink) that had bubble bath in it, but I have filled it with mini spools of ribbon.

The black wire racks on the sides of the door (yes there is a closet door hidden in there) are 4 plate racks that I got from the dollar store. I have hung my floss cards on rings here.

In the center is a over-the-door shoe rack that I turned into a ribbon spool holder.

This armoire is to the right of the closet door. It is cram-packed full of things like: tin soldiers (Christmas craft), Fun with Photos Memories and More Catalogs, wood mounted stamps, pictures, egg crates, cotton fiber for pillows, and more scrapbook themes that I do not have enough white boxes for under the countertops.

On top of the armoire is some more shoeboxes full of themed supplies such as: pet, Bratz, Hannah Montanna, grapes, western and more.

This is my computer desk which I inherited from my grandma. It is big, sturdy and super heavy. On the very top is my acrylic paints, spray paint, paint brushes, glitters and my scanner.

On the desktop I have my Macbook Pro for design work (this belongs to Help Me, Rhonda! the advertising business I do graphic design for). To the right is my Dell laptop, my cell phone docked to the Dell and my Epson R1800 photo printer, which takes up 1/3 of the desk by itself. It can print 12x12 scrapbook pages that I design on the computer!!! In the cubby I have photos and card making supplies.

Here we are almost back to the entry door!! This is my paper station! On the left in the white cubes is my 12x12 paper. On top of that I used black wire CD racks to sort stickers and 8x8 and 6x6 papers. In the large black metal wire racks is my 8.5x11 papers. I won both of these from Cherished Friends (thanks again guys!!!)

In the plastic drawers I have punches, plastic bags, and fabrics.

I hope you enjoyed the tour around my room. I try to keep things extra organized to help the creative process flow better. I really need to add some decorative items to the room though. The overall theme is "candy store" but I am contemplating adding a little shabby chic to it!

For my first post, I think I will start out by saying that I have been a scrapbooker for almost 9 years now. Of course the thing that got me started was having a child. I wanted to make a cute scrapbook to log all of my first childs every little moment and make it look super cool at the same time. The scrabooking industry was nothing like it is now and my baby scrapbook for my first child was mostly stickers, markers and some cut up wrapping paper from her baby shower.

Over the last 9 years I have become a scrapbooking fanatic. I have always been into crafts thanks to my Mom's wondorous crafting abilities. Her's of course far exceed my own which include painting with oils/acrylic/watercolors, sewing, and many more....thanks MOM for being such a creative example!!! Coming up to date I made a card for my neighbor a couple of days ago and I know that she loves giraffes (a common love we share!), so that set the theme for the card. I am so lucky to have such a cool neighbor....finally...thank heavens!!! I just had to show some gratitude for our newly blossoming friendship, and a thank you for the friendship bread she gave me. So here is my first project for everyone to see!