Oh Sweet Summertime!

My biggest downfall this time of year is not spending enough time in my scraproom. I love being outside in the sunshine and working in the yard. But, it's also a time for some great pictures that will make for work later in the year. All my "special projects" around the house are complete however, so I am going to start spending a couple hours a day creating. The Etsy orders are coming in on a regular basis, and I think I might even start making more tags and cards to list. Also, I really need to get motivated to finish a couple of scrapbook orders that need to be complete by October.

Unconventional Easter

Easter is just a couple of weeks away and I have been filling orders for my Etsy Shop. I was tasked to think outside the box a bit when designing an order for one client. Of course she wanted some classic Easter embellishments; you know those with bunnies and colored eggs, crosses and lillies. But she also told me about her "Good Friday" special event a crawfish boil and she wanted embellishment tags for her scrapbook pages. Here is what I came up with, and thankfully she loved them!

It's been a relaxing week at my house and I was able to spend time in my studio, playing with paper and finishing pending orders. After getting the orders finished, I spent some time creating a couple of items for my Etsy shop. I found these cute ClearScraps acrylic tags in my stash and decided to make a small bi-fold frame with them. I used some alcohol inks in a mustard color, some metal embellishments and a few pearl accents to finish off the distressed look.

Hopefully I will get time to visit my scraproom again over the next few days and create some other items. During the CKC event in Louisville, I found some great stash items. I need to put together some cards to replenish what's been purchased from my items.

CKC Weekend

It's been a busy couple of weeks here, getting Etsy orders finished and out the door. But work is finished and now it's time to play!!! Friends will be arriving tomorrow night for an extended weekend. We will all be heading to Louisville for the CKC Convention, where I will be hosting a make-and-take in the Nicole Petersen booth. I'm so excited! If you are at the show, stop and see me. To add to the fun, I get to spend down time with my friend "Pinky", the craftiest chick I know.

Scrappy Weekend

It's been a great weekend and I was able to finish a few projects. I am especially excited about the "artwork albums" that I am creating for an Etsy client. This is the first one that I've finished for her and it is for her daughter's school work. Measuring 12x15, I used chipboard for the cover and Bristol art paper for the pages. Using my Bind-it-All, I was able to finish the book with a 1" spiral coil. Each page has a three inch journaling card, so that the client can label the artwork on the page or write a special memory. Now, I've got to get the next one put together for her son, Nicholas. Sounds like another weekend project!

Fun at Tally Scrappers

Looking for some excitement to liven up 2011. Tally Scrappers has a great site that offers friendship, fun and fantastic opportunities for expanding your scrapbooking talents. We've just started a new contest, "Survivor Challenge" and I can't wait to see what new challenges are introduced each week. The shop has some great items and the monthly kits are delicious. There's a great blog that offers new techniques and also the latest buzz about what's happening in the creative world. Come on over, it's free to join. Don't forget to tell Pinky that I sent you!

Crafty Days...

During these cold, yucky days it's hard to get motivated to do anything much less head to the basement scraproom to create. But, I managed to get some inspiration and was able to get a few projects started and another finished. Since getting the SCAL software, I am really having fun with my Cricut. I spent today making some "jewelry envelope/boxes" for a lady looking for a way to present her home-made jewelry designs. This is so quick and easy, and can be dressed up with pattern papers and fancy ribbon.

Online Crop!!!

The Life Preserver's Scrapbook Club is having another online crop in October. If you haven't participated in one yet, now is the time. There's a great group of ladies and a talented Design Team who keep the place rockin' so it's sure to be a good time! If you're not a member yet, log-in and sign up to join in the fun!

A Shaker Box Kit

I just love the papers and embellies that Linda puts into her kits at The Shaker Box. Honestly, they are so pretty, I hate to use them. But I've been sitting on these two pictures for awhile now and thought I could work with them. Actually, I couldn't resist. These are two of my favorite subjects, Gabriella and Hayden. Here's what I came up with yesterday afternoon.

I did spend most of the day playing with some markers and stamps. I am experimenting with blending colors and found some great tutorials on YouTube. It's amazing what you can do with markers and ink. After I get my chores done around the house today, I might go play some more!

Layouts for Friends

Seems I spend most of my scrapping time working on projects for other people. It's actually becoming a great little business for me. In addition to my own scrapbooks, currently I am working on four albums for three clients. On top of that I have orders for stamped image note cards and also an collect of assorted cards.

Here's one of the latest layouts that I put together this weekend. It's a shot of my friend Julie's son, Preston, during a trip to Hawaii.

Weekend Online Crop and Design Team Call

Come one, come all to the Shakin' Sizzlin' Summer crop going on right now at http://www.theshakerbox.com/. Lot's of fun and prizes! Also, if you are a card maker and/or scrapbooker and think you have what it takes to design for The Shaker Box, we are having a Design Team call during our crop. Details are under the Shakin' Sizzlin' Summer Crop area of our community forum. The crop starts now through Sunday, August 23rd midnight EST. Winners of prizes will be announced on Monday. Everyone who participates is eligible to win the raffle drawing. You must complete at least one challenge and sign in under the raffle drawing area and also the sign in crop seat area. Hope to see you there!!!!

The Photo Shoot

My 4 year old niece, Addyson, went to have her picture made and my sister went hog wild when purchasing the package. I can completely understand though because all the shots were adorable. Honestly I've had trouble deciding which ones to scrap, so I will eventually get to all of them. What I found hysterical was the fact that Addyson insisted on calling it "a photo shoot" and not just getting her pictures made.

Here is a couple of the layouts that I've done. I used some wonderful kits from Life Preserver's Club for all of these. Von's kit are to die for!!!

The Kits are Juicy...

...and you will want a monthly subscription. I just finished uploading my Guest Designer creations in the gallery at The Shaker Box. If you haven't already joined, sign up for a free account and join the fun on the message board. Here's one of the projects I put together with the August scrapbook kit.

Claire

I just finished another scrapbook for my friend Brooke. Claire, her youngest, will be turning one soon and it took two albums to get her first year scrapbooked. Here are a few of the layouts that are included. Now it's time to start working on Kennedy's album!

August Guest Designer

As you can see by the posts on my blog, it's been a busy summer. I find it hard to keep myself locked in my scraproom when the weather is so beautiful. Even so, I have had some time to work on a few projects, cards and to make some custom scrapbooks for a friend.

The month of August brings me another opportunity to be a Guest Designer for The Shaker Box kit club. Linda, the owner, put beautiful kits together and loads them with tons of goodies. As a subscriber you get some great project sheets too! Stay tuned to see what layouts and other items I create with the delicious August kit.

Doing a Happy Dance!

I found out today that I've been selected to be a guest designer for the month of June for an amazing kit club, Life Preserver's Club. Each month, an individual is selected to receive one of the delicious kits that Von puts together. The design team at LPS is so talented that I am honored to be able to participate. I will be stalking my mailbox for the next couple of days, waiting for that Priority Mail box. Here's the kit that I will be using for my projects. Did I tell you that I was excited???

Amazing Kit

Today was a happy, scrappy mail day! My The Shaker Box monthly kit arrived and is jam packed with beautiful papers from Webster's Pages. Linda has out-done herself this time selecting the perfect embellishments too. If you haven't visited the site and the gallery, you are missing some great work.

While you are there, check out the project kit she currently has available in her store!

It's adorable!!!

My friend Pinky did a great job putting this together.

May Sketch

It's been a busy month with jury duty, teaching and vacation. I haven't had much time to scrap, but was able to get a few cards made for Mother's Day. Hopefully, I can spend some time in my scraproom over the next few days. Rainy days are good for my creativity.

One item I did put together was this sketch. My friend Von, at Life Preserver's Club wanted something she could use on the site this month. I typically like to make sketches with a 5x7, but thought this was a little different. Hopefully they like it on the site and I can't wait to check out their gallery!

Scrappy Weekend

Well, I think I've recovered from a busy scrappy weekend. Everything was fantastic and it was great to be able to meet so many of my E-friends in person. Honestly, I don't think we got much sleep though and are all glad to be home and getting back into the swing of things in our day to day lives.

The bed and breakfast was amazing! We stayed at The Narrow Way in Lucas, Kentucky and were spoiled rotten by the owners, Roger and Karan. Every meal was fresh and home-made with delicious desserts. The morning cinnamon rolls were to die for and made the entire trip extra special. The accomodations were spectacular. I really need to get Rob down there for a long weekend.

As for the scrapbooking, we had a great group of girls providing ideas and inspiration. I personally got a couple dozen layouts and several cards completed. Here's one of my favorites. It's a double layout of Addyson during a trip to Doe Run Inn on Easter Sunday using some of the new Prima flowers and bling.

New Sketch

It's been a creative day here! I completed making a dozen recipe cards for a swap. I started working on Claire's scrapbook for Brooke and threw together a new sketch. Now I need to start putting together some kits to take with me when I go out of town for the Life Preserver's crop. Last year I was able to get over twenty layouts completed during that weekend and I would love to do that again.

Anyway, more about that later. For now, here's the newest sketch.