silly as it sounds...

Paper Power!

I organized my paper tonight.

Oh.My.Goodness.

I filled 18 vertical Cropper Hopper storage bins.

Here's the breakdown:

1 - Stickers

1 - Rubons

1 - Tags/Die Cuts

6 - Cardstock

1 - BasicGrey

1 - KI Memories, Urban Lily, Doodlebug

1 - Chatterbox, Anna Griffin, Kopp, MustardMood, Carolees

1 - Junkitz, Gin-X, Arctic Frog, Wild Asparagus, Dirty Laundry

1 - Flair, Design Originals, 7 Gypsies, Autumn Leaves, Li'l Davis, Rusty Pickle, AMM, K&Co, Rhonna Farrer, Reminisce

1 - Daisy D's, American Crafts, Making Memories, SEI

1 - Foof.a.la, MOD, Scrapworks, FontWerks, PaperFever, Mara-Mi, CollagePress

1 - Heidi Grace, DCWV, EK Success,  Chipboard

1 - Everything Else.

Whoah.  Seriously.  WHOAH.  How the heck am i gonna be able to USE all this stuff???  It DID feel good to finally get it all reorganized again, though.  I used to have it together by colors.....just WARMS and COOLS.  That did NOT work for me....i was constantly searching for what i needed.  I've been around this stuff enough to finally be able to tell at a glance who the Manuf. is, so it's going to be MUCH easier to find things this way.

I DID find a certain line of Foof-a-la (Thrift Store) that, NO JOKE, i have 11 pieces of each paper in that line.   I kept forgetting i'd ordered a few here, a few there, and before i knew it.....wowzers.  And that's not counting the pieces i've already used....LOL!

So.  No more paper buying for me for QUITE awhile.  I MEAN IT!!!

Except, of course, more black and white and kraft cardstock when needed, as well as the new CHA releases of BasicGrey, Scrapworks, Foofala, MOD, Rhonna Farrer, American Crafts, FontWerks, Daisy D's, Gin-X, Chatterbox..........*sigh*  May as well order some more Cropper Hoppers, while i'm at it.....

in other news.....

I am proud to say that I have one new Bear Scout in my home today...

A Bear who earned his Wolf just in the nick of time...

And...

One little girl minus two front teeth.  FINALLY.  She waited so long with this last dangling tooth that it (1) fell out in ice cream, and (2) didn't even bleed!  That's my girl.

Cool New Rubs

These new rubons at American Traditional Designs TOTALLY caught my eye!  I don't have any release date info for these puppies, or any other info, for that matter, except to say,

"Cool!"

Can't wait to find these soon.

Left of Center

....so yesterday, i was having a totally inspiring and fun conversation with a wonderful pea friend, and we get this "bright" idea to do something we, um, <suck> at....LOL....write with our LEFT hand!!  heh heh heh....not only that, but to use it in a layout challenge!  so.......

<drumroll, please>

......ta dum!!!!!!!   my most embarrassing layout to date, journalled in my scritchy, scratchy LEFT HAND.......

"Left of Center"

Lets play "I Spy" again:

• Heidi Swapp tape - two kinds
• Chatterbox letters
• Karen Foster paper
• KI paper
• DCWV paper
• good ol' typical ledger paper
• Making Memories tiny type letters
• Scrapworks photo corner
• Heidi Swapp photo corners
• a straw
• Making Memories flower brad
• Sewing measuring tape end
• Arctic Frog letters
• Needle threader
• threads card from miniature sewing kit
• Magic Mesh
• Li'l Davis Ribbon
• Micheals stores bobbin ribbon
• MOD paper
• the 8 of diamonds....kind of....
• Sonnets Calliope question mark

and somewhere in there, there's a picture of my kid.  *wink*

thanks for the challenge, Shannon.  you really rock my block!  =)

why i don't have wings.

this is why...

and as to its inspiration?

well, if you know,

you know.

but here i stand.

and i will stand on.

creative mess!

i tend to feel this way when compiling layouts.  i use the word compiling very intentionally, here.  here's one of my latest 'compilations'...

The paper for this page is actually PRINTED DIGITAL paper!   It's part of the "Hush" kit by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals.  Her paper is so fabulous, it's WORTH the ink, LOL!  The rest is like an "I SPY" page....ready?  See if you can spy:

• vintage crocheted lace
• a straw
• a Prima Flower
• some Prima Flower packaging tape
• a teal button
• a Heidi Swapp photo corner
• dressmaker's measuring tape
• a KI rubon
• a stick-on silver button
• some Heidi Swapp tape
• *gasp* some masking tape (bad girl, me!)
• some aqua fringe
• a KI tag
• some Li'l Davis chipboard letters
• some 'tacky gold lame braiding' ;)
• some Doodlebug ric rack

i *think* that about covers it, LOL!  now before you think i just go sticking junk on there willy nilly, i assure you it is a very long, drawn out process requiring me to spread my embellishments ALL OVER my kitchen table, searching for JUST THE RIGHT piece for a certain place...i have SO much fun doing this part of my pages!!  Finding just the right thing in just the right color and size is, like, a EUREKA moment!!!!  i love it!

okay, so twist my arm....here is another CHA preview!!

Ethan Kate line from Scrapworks!!  Can't WAIT to get my hands on THIS one!  Here's a page i made with their Make & Take featuring the papers:

And here are a few of the new embellishments!  Equally as exciting! (click on image to see larger)  NEW COLORS FOR THE TAILORED LINE, and RIBBONS!!!!!!!!

ah, well, now back to my Harry Potter.  this book is taking forever for me to read....as i know it will be the next to last one, and the ONLY new one for another 2 years at least...

i'm reading it as SLOWLY as i eat really GOOD chocolate!

It's Sunday...enjoy the Scenery!

Alright, you may now commence your droolfest over the new American Crafts ribbon.  What's even better than a cute little package of six perfectly coordinated, double sided ribbon from American Crafts?  The fact that you will now be able to purchase individual ribbon by the yard, as well!  *swoon*

And there was a little buzz on the Pub board this morning about all the new Junkitz...which reminded me of my CHA picture of the new black & white line, "BASIC"....I'm LOVING that.  You can also catch the "Salsa" line there next to it!

But my FAVORITE paper line release?  The one I will HOARD, like, 5 of every sheet???  The one I will use the most???  The one I will catch a glimpse of and just break out in a silly grin???

Foof.a.la. , available through Autumn Leaves.

Oh, yeah.

And I'm KICKING myself that I forgot to get a release date on the Foofala....anyone know???

Happy Sunday everyone!!  Enjoy a day of peace and rest!

Another Layout Again...

am i just too out there, or what?

's okay.  you can be honest.  ;)  LOL!  and just for fun, here's a layout i did today, again using some Scrappy Cat letter stickers.  also a ton of other goodies, Heidi Swapp, Scrapworks, Magic Mesh, KIMemories, and yes, that is an 8 of Hearts there, too, LOL!

OH!  and i can't forget to mention the groovy 7Gypsies rubons and Sonnets black Calliope letter stickers....my current obsession.  BESIDES the color teal.  Yes, that's right.  TEAL.  The color i SWORE i would NEVER like after seeing so many pictures of my grandmother as a youth doused in it.  now, somehow, that has made it all the more cool.  ;)

chicago inspiration

i saw this ad as we left from dinner friday night, and HAD to take a pic for inspiration!! 

so here's your challenge:  use it to inspire a page/card/creation!!  i'll do it too, and post it here when i'm done....so send me a link to what YOU create!!

creative thoughts

I give you a creative thought for the day:

"The defining function of an artist is to cherish consciousness." -max eastman

In all my work, this I have found is the key to creating something i like; something that SPEAKS to me and others.  Putting myself in the now of things and embracing it, regardless of what it may be.

nice evening in western wa...

its so beautiful out tonite!  just the perfect temp, the right amount of breeze, a happy daddy and baby bouncing on the trampoline in back, {whoops...just got a telemarketer on the phone...darn!}  anyway, i'm still having fun sharing CHA tidbits, so here is another one for you!  My friend Mary submitted a card to BasicGrey's Happy Birthday Card Contest, and was one of the winners!  She got to hand deliver her card to the ladies at the BasicGrey Booth in Chicago, and being the scrapbooker I am, I snapped a few shots of her moment in the spotlight!!  It was fun to watch!  Here's Mary "Delivering"...

And while I'm at it, here is the new BasicGrey Fusion.....be still my heart.  Reminds me of all my favorite popsicles melting and captured onto paper.....  :)  Can't wait!  Okay, okay....the another line, too....LOL...

 

It was so cool meeting Heidi....she was a major reason why I converted to scrapping in the first place.  She taught me it was okay to scrap with artistry.  We kept bumping into her all over the show...but i won't tell the story; Marie does such a better job!!

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Janet and her family, for letting me stay at their home, and chauffeuring me all over town in her sweet ride...I adored her children, and since it would just sound really weird if I said I adored her hubby too, I'll just say he's one cool dude.  And wish so much that we lived closer to one another so our kids could play....and WE could play....though I doubt we'd get much done with all the scrapping and gabbing we'd do!  LOL!  I joked earlier that I'd do a photo session for her while visiting, complete with wind machine...well, she didn't take me up on the offer, but her daughter sure did!  LOL!  Ella made her way over to the air vent and, while somewhat concerned, decided she enjoyed the "breeze"...

Oh, she was such a cutie!!  And one more pic...here's an amazing shot of Janet doting on her precious daughter... =)