Where there's a will there's a way

Jake & I have been trying to eat healthier & be more active lately so when school was cancelled today due to the weather we decided to take the dog for a walk. We decided to just go up & down our road a few times as it is a dead end which is only a bit under a half mile. Less traffic to worry about on the slippery roads this way. The only problem was that there were a few inches on the ground already but no plowing was done yet. Jake came up with this idea to shovel our way along so we would have a path to walk on. We took turns pushing the shovel & I swear that was more of a workout than the walking itself..lol

After that it was time for a litle sledding & then a warm up near the woodstove. Winter is getting really old right about now. I'm ready for spring !!

Layout share

A quick layout to share that I created today using the some of the K & Co products I purchased the other day. I was inspired by a layout in Scrapbook Trends so I can't say the whole thought process of creating this was mine...although there are differences. I like the colors a lot on this layout but I'm not sure how I feel about that patterened paper on the right side of the page. To me it looks so busy in contrast to the left side of the layout.

The dies cuts, sticker & transparency are all from K & Co. Such yummy colors !! The title is cut from cardstock with the Slice machine. I have a feeling this little machine is going to save me lots of money on sticker & chipboard titles.

Oooh !!! Ahhhh !!!

No that wasn't my reaction when I saw the new Slice design cartridges (they were exciting too though...some more than others)
What I was oooh-ing & aaah-ing over was all the fun new scrapbooking products in Michaeal's today. Well it was new to me anyway...and I think it was new to Michaels as I hadn't seen any of it before.

There was a large display at the front of the store with Making Memories Sabrina & Cloe's Closet lines (not for me but still fun to look at), New Prima products (nothing there I couldn't live without...but again fun to look at), Autumn Leaves Pretty Peonies line (very pretty)Me And My Big Ideas, Colorbok's Friendly Forest line, And K & Co's Que Sera Sera line. I had to be careful not to buy it all, but I did pick up a few things I can't wait to play with.

The Friendly Forest line was very cute. I don't usually do cute and this line may work better for someone creating layouts for toddlers & very young children, but it was such a fun happy line that I couldn't resist getting a couple of packages of stickers that I'm sure I can find a use for.


MAMBI had this beautiful package to chipboard shapes. You can't tell in this photo but some of them are embellished with fine glitter & tiny crystal gems. So pretty I just had to get a package for myself.

The rest of what I bought was from the K & Co Que Sera Sera line.....I love these. In the photo below you can see an assortment of die cuts and in the back of the photo is an assortment of decorative transparencies...but they all came in one package. Love it !!!

Then there we these die cut (approx 4x6) journaling papers. Gorgeous !!

And this beautiful assortment of die cut border strips.

And lastly these beautiful 12x12 die cut papers. I love that orange one on the right !!

So now I'm off to play in my scrap space. Have a great week everyone !!!

CHA Envy

Am I the only one who is envious of all those lucky souls attending CHA this week? Oh how I'd love to be able to be there to see all the new product coming out. I've seen some great previews this week as I browse though some of the Manufacturers blogs. The one update I'm most anxious to see?

SLICE !!!

They have 12 new design cartridges being unveiled today. My son & I have guesses as to what the themes may be for some of them....spring/easter? summer? sports? wedding? pets? The suspense is killing me....

I've checked the Slice web site as well as the Making Memories blog but so far nothing : (

A well...guess I'll take the dog for a frigid cold walk to pass the time. Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Quick layout share

Hi everyone,

I've been a pretty absent blogger lately haven't I? I blame that on Stephanie Meyer..its all her fault for writing such amazing books. I fought it for a long time thinking that Twilight was not a book that I might enjoy.....I'm not much for supernatural stuff. But curiosity got the better of me after hearing everyone raving over these books. So I picked up Twilight last week...and it was good. Really really good !!! Now I'm on to book 2 (New Moon).

But I did finish the layout below this morning with a photo I took recently that was begging to be scrapbooked. I used Basic Grey's offbeat line which I really love. I don't very often use white cardstock but for this layout I really liked how it looked. The golden color under my journaling is Making Memories paint.

The chipboard hinges are painted Tim Holtz grungeboard pieces. The "Loyal Pal" is an epoxy sticker.

The epoxy sticker below didn't photograph well but it says "good dog". That's true most of the time, but sometimes the "brat" just suits him better.

11 years ago today....

I was blessed with the arrival of this sweet boy. So to celebrate his birthday we went to dinner last night at the Cheesecake Factory (yum !) and a movie (Paul Blart Mall Cop - funny movie)


And today we spent the day having fun here...

This indoor water park opened last month just about 10 minutes from our house and it was so nice to drive there in the middle of a snowstorm today & go inside and forget about winter for a day.

Jake had a blast sliding down all the water slides....

And playing in the water...

This photo of him sticking his head into a jet of water was one of my favorites from today.

It was a good day...but boy are we both tired tonight. I'm off to bed soon...hope you all had a good weekend too.

Pretty in Pink

Well actually I think my daughter looks pretty complimented by any color. And I'm biased I know....but sometimes I just look at her & say "wow". She is so gorgeous.

So here I am using pink again...I never use pink !!! And when I bought the Basic Grey bittersweet line I have to say this piece of paper was my least favorite of the bunch. So bright & with that busy wild pattern I thought I'd never find a use for it. Then I placed this photo on it & knew I had found a perfect match. I mounted it on dark brown cardstock and then just began placing random die cuts etc around the photo till I had a look I liked.

Below is a close up shot of the top half of the photo. You can't really tell from this picture but that die cut that the "love" sticker is on has pop dots behind it for added dimension.

And a close up of the lower half of the photo. A few more crystals added to match the ones used for the flower center. And see that little pink heart with the crystal on it....Slice again!! Loving that little machine !

Basic Grey has done it again

Hi everyone,

By now I'm sure you all know how much I love Basic Gray papers. Well I picked up their latest release the other day (Bittersweet). This line is pink...very very pink. I'm not much of a pink person and rarely use it on my pages. I think the only reason I bought it was because the other color in this set is brown. And I really liked the pink & brown together. This is what I came up with.


The only thing on this layout that is not Bittersweet is the cardstock & the grungeboard that I used behind the stickers to give them more dimension. Aren't these papers gorgeous?

And of course I had to play with the slice a bit too. The "friend" part of my title and the 2 hearts below we cut using the slice. I am so loving this machine !!!

Flattered !!!

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all having a good week. I received a lovely message today from a Sonya in New Zealand http://picklespatch-sonya.blogspot.com/ to let me know that she had awarded me as one of 7 people she wanted to give the following to. Thanks so much Sonya...you are a total sweetheart & I am honored!!! Sooo....



Now its my turn to choose 7 blogs that I think are especially lovely. Wow...that's hard...I have so many blogs I follow that its going to be hard to choose just 7. So here goes...

1) Brenda Arnall http://brendaarnall.typepad.com/
Brenda has been inspiring me for so long with her work with CK and her Hall Of Fame contributions. I love her clean scrapbooking style. But other than inspiration on a scrapbook level she has become a very valued friend. I look forward to her "catching up" e-mails and hope to one day be able to meet her in person. She is an inspiration to me on so many levels. She deserves the "one lovely lady" award too.

2) Christine Middlecamp http://retrospection.typepad.com/
What can I say? Christine is such an amazingly talented lady. Her layouts are incredible works of art. Her strength, creativity & sense of humor is an inspiration to so many of us. If you have not seen her work you MUST check out her blog.

3) Cathy Zielske http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/
Another scrap artist whose clean style I am really inspired by. I refer back to her 2 books often. And if you need a good laugh check out this funny lady's blog. She is hysterical.

4) Nicole Harper http://seriouslybrains.blogspot.com/ Nicole is so creative with her layouts & other scrap related project. I read her blog often & and especially like hearing about her special relationship with her daughter. It reminds me of those sweet memories of when my own daughter was that age

5) Trina McClune http://www.trinamcclune.typepad.com/ Trina creates some gorgeous layout...and her kids are soooooo adorable. I love reading her blog and getting a view of her life halfway around the world.

6) Kandice Matsler http://kandicematsler.typepad.com/ When I visit Kandices blog I have a hard time leaving....she has the best music on there!!! I have so enjoyed reading her blog as she opened her store in Texas. Good luck with that endeavor Kandice!

7) Davinie Fiero http://davinie.blogspot.com/ Another very talented and creative artist. Her blog is a constant source of inspiration for me. And she has a lovely sense of humor so I always enjoy a visit to her blog.

And these are just a few of the many blogs that I would choose....but the instructions I had asked me to choose just 7 : (

Layout share & randomness

Hi everyone,

I think I finally found my scrapping mojo again. I suppose having the Slice to play with has helped. Sometimes finding the time is hard but when I do make the time play with paper & photos I'm always glad I did....even if it means I stay up way too late & then suffer getting up for work in the morning.

In a prior post I mentioned choosing "change" as my word this year to focus on. Made sense since there are so many things I want to accomplish this year & change is the one thing that will help with that. So I decided to create a layout with my 2009 word. The result is below.

The 2 black & white pattern papers are from Making Memories. I've had them for quite a while but am just recently getting around to using them. The one on the far left of the page is actually just black & white paper that came as a die cut paper with parts of the flowers cut out. The color on that paper is just cardstock that I backed it with. I played with the slice a lot with this one. The title, photo corners, scalloped circle and the layered cardstock flower ( see close up below) were all cut with the slice.


Here is the close up of the layered cardstock flower. I doodled around the edges to add dimension and inked around the edges of the title.

The die cut shapes here have doodling around the edges as well and a clear sticker in the center of the scalloped circle which helped it look less plain. The transparency on the far right of the page is from Hambly Screen prints.

Not much else happening here this weekend. Its snowing (again) another 6-12 inches predicted so I'm hanging out at home while Jake is at his Dad's. I finally gave in & picked up Twilight to read. I had heard so much raving about how good this series is but I have resisted because I didn't know if a book about vampires that teenage kids are so obsessed with would be my kind of thing. But curiosity got the better of me so I gave in & picked up a copy. And you know...so far...its really good. The only bad thing about a really good book is its very bad for my productivity around here. So...on that note...I think I'll go snuggle up & do some reading...lol.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I found the questionnaire below on a blog I follow & thought I'd fill it out before I head to bed. Feel free to copy it to your own blog if you like too.

Right Now:

Out of my window: total darkness...and more snow falling : (

I am wearing: Comfy pj's & warm slippers

I am hearing: Intro to the Jay Leno tonight show

I am thinking: I really should get to bed.

Am thankful for: The most amazingly comfortable bed waiting for me : )

I am creating: 52 Blessings album

I am going: to add a log to the fire & then off to bed

I am hoping: My headache is gone when I wake up tomorrow

Around the house: cozy & quiet

One of my favorite things: time to myself to do whatever I please

A few plans for the rest of the week: Mainly work and the normal 9-5 routine.

Have a nice night everyone. This tired girl is going to bed.

Hot diggity dog

Um...yeah...I'm dating myself a bit with that phrase aren't I? Just a quick photo to share of the pup snoozing by the fire. He's gotten so big. Seems like we just got him but he'll be a year old in March. Does that mean he'll stop chewing up our shoes & socks soon I wonder???

Hope you're all having a good week. We're due for more ice tomorrow. This time I filled jugs & the bathtub with water just in case. Keep your fingers crossed we don't get anything like what Mother Nature brought us in December.

I'm a happy happy girl.....

...because I finally broke down & bought one of these.

I have never been one who has ever been at all interested in die cutting machines but as soon as I saw this one when it came out I knew I wanted it. I think mainly because I have been using a lot more die cut tags etc for journaling or adding layers to pages. Plus I like the compact size of this one too. So off I went to AC Moore prepared to spend $150 on it. Can you imagine my joy when the cashier asked me if I wanted her to apply a store coupon to it...a 50% off coupon !!! So since I saved $75 dollars on it....

I figured I could splurge on this to go with it....
So I'm a happy scrapper this week. And when I went to the slice web site to see what cartridges were available to go with it their site says thay are unveiling 12 more new cards at the end of this month. Can't wait to see what they are !!!

I also bought this sweet little breath of springtime. I get cabin fever pretty quick once the holidays pass so having some flowers in the house helps remind me there is an end to winter eventually. I'm hoping I can re-plant this out in my garden with my other primroses I have there.

52 Blessings Album

The photo below is the 6x6 album I created for my 52 blessings project I am doing this year (see links in post below for more info) It is actually more black than it looks in this photo. All the filler pages will be black as well with 1 4x6 photo on the right page & journaling on the left page. I'll share the weekly layouts in the photo album I created on the Gratitude Project web site as I complete them.

2009 word & blessing number one

Hi everyone. Have any of you heard about Brenda Arnell's ( http://brendaarnall.typepad.com/ ) wonderful idea for a gratitude project? Check out her blog for more info (and to be inspired by a great lady in the process) or you can check out the 52 blessings project site here ( http://gratitude.wetpaint.com/?t=anon ) I'm really excited about this idea & think 1 page a week is so much more do-able for my lifestyle than an everyday type of thing. If a weekly blessings is too much I think a monthly documentation would be fun to do too. But I'm committing to the weekly idea & will try to do 1 layout per week (each weekend) and end up with what I hope will be a great book that documents what I'm grateful for in 2009. Check it out if it sounds like something that is interesting to you and feel free to join in at the wetpaint web site referenced above. The more the merrier!

So my first blessing will be "Lifetime friendships" Meet my dear friend Linda.....I've been friends with her for more than 20 years....that in itself is a true blessing as she is such a total sweetheart. We have had so many great laughs together over the years....and few people can make me laugh the way this girl does. I adore her !! But this photo is a double blessing because we lost touch with each other for a couple of years and when she stopped by for a visit yesterday it was the first time I had seen her in about 5 years (she moved to Maine 6 years ago) We picked up right where we left off which was no surprise to me since she has been one of my dearest friends for so long. Even when we lost touch for a bit I thought of her often and still considered myself blessed to know her.


Since I'm using 1 - 4x6 photo per page on my 52 blessings project I'll be using the one above for blessing number one but thought I'd share a few of the other pictures we took while she was here. Like I said...this girl makes me laugh !!! Love, love, love her !!!

Love this photo of her & Jake together too.

Also...many of you who read Ali Edwards blog ( http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ ) and are inspired by her are aware of her encouragement to choose a word each year that has special meaning to you. I love the idea of this and have chosen to do this again this year. So after thinking long and hard about it I chose "CHANGE" for this year. There is so much I want to accomplish this year...and the one thing that will help me achieve what I want is "Change".....change in my outlook on life, change in self discipline, change in lifestyle etc etc etc. Check out Ali's blog for a list of possible words to inspire you.

Layouts to share

I'm finally getting back into the swing of scrapbooking again. With the holidays & the ice storm that left behind so much damage to clean up & left us without power for so long I really didn't do much crafting at all for a few weeks. Last night I finished the 2 layouts below using photos of 2 things I wanted to be sure to document so I don't forget them. The first is my son cooking me dinner. The second was the ice storm that happened in December.

When I look at this photo of my son standing at the stove cooking I can really see the man he is growing up to be. With the narrow waist & wider shoulders it reminds me that he is growing up so fast. I love that he keeps the hand towel over his shoulder just like I do. I think the bright red of that towel would have been the main focal point of the layout if I hadn't added a couple more touches of red to it. And yes...the dinner he made was very yummy! This is a memory I will cherish always. Isn't it funny how the littlest things in life are the ones that bring us the most joy?


This ice storm just had to be documented. I doubt we will ever forget the memory of that scary night but I wanted to be sure to create a layout with some of the photos I took the morning after. Its a pretty basic layout that was quick to create without lots of different products or techniques. The main focus is the photos.


In this closer look you can see the pattern paper (Making Memories) that I cut the design from for the top & bottom of the pages. I thought it went really well with the theme of the layout. The title stickers are a sparkly ice blue and the journaling was done with a white gel pen. The best one I have ever found is made by American Crafts. It writes beautifully with no skipping.

Puppy Love & a couple of layouts to share

Hi everyone...Happy new Year. We had a pretty laid back New Years Eve here at my house....which is exactly the way I prefer them. I took a few cute pictures of Jake & the dog to share & also managed to make a couple of quick scrapbook pages today in between cleaning.

Can you tell this boy loves his dog? The dog however seems more interested in that ball than he is in the boy.


The dog's face in the next couple of pictures cracks me up. He looks like he's grining at me...but actually he's just chewing on a stick he stole from the wood near the woodstove.

And this photo I just love. Such a handsome sweet dog. I think we have made it through the worst of puppyhood and now he is finally mellowing out a bit & learning some manners. He's still got a ways to go but he's a good boy.

This layout was a quick one.....sometimes I just can't be bothered to use tons of product. Could be because I really don't like this photo of me that I was in a hurry to be done with it. But I know my kids will be happy someday to have pages about me so I try not to rule out pictures I don't care for (if I did that I might never get any pages of me done...lol)

That swirly piece of chipboard under the photo is Tim Holtz grungeboard...love this stuff !!! This picture makes me miss my long hair a lot !

This layout has one of my favorite photos of Jake & uses some of my favorite product lines...Basic Grey, Crate Paper, Creative Imaginations.

The "Life" portion of the title is Basic Grey chipboard coated with Glimmer Mist

The embossed velvet frame I have had for years and can't even remember who makes it. I like it with this photo though. And oh how this photo makes me long for a sunny warm fall day. Its about zero degrees out here now....brrrr.