A (not so) spooky Halloween layout

I love this time of year . . . my girls are excited about their Halloween festivities at school and they can't wait to go trick-or-treating tomorrow night. They both wanted to be High School Musical cheerleaders, so I bought them the same red, sparkly cheerleader costume. It's the first Halloween that neither of them wanted to be a princess. After several years of buying every princess costume under the sun, I guess we're officially past the princess phase. It makes me a little sad because personally I'm quite fond of princesses. Hmmmmm . . . maybe I need to find a grown-up Cinderella costume for myself.

Here is my Halloween layout that was recently published in the October (and the last) issue of Memory Makers magazine. I was honored to have my page included in their very last issue.



And of course no layout of mine is complete without a little shimmer and shine. I used Coffee Shimmerz on the jagged edge of the paper to give it some extra sparkle.

On another note, I've been busy scrapping this week. The A Million Memories November kit is in 'da house,' and this one is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Here is the picture:

I'll be posting my kit creations sometime next week!

Also, A Million Memories is having a Guest Designer call for the month of December, 2009. Would you like to design with AMM's December kit?? If so, here's what you need to do to apply:

1. Register on the AMM boards and become an active member;
2. Post the A Million Memories blinkie on your blog; and
3. Send an email by November 15th to jennifer.findlay@yahoo.com and attach two layouts you think are your best work. Include your contact info and a link to your blog and/or gallery. Good luck!!

Have a Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cosmo Cricket and A Million Memories

Thank you Cosmo Cricket for sponsoring the A Million Memories Design Team! I created a sketch for the recent online crop at AMM, and here is the layout I made based on the sketch:

This is a picture of my daughter on her first day of kindergarten last month. The journaling reads:

I took this picture of you as we walked to school on your first day of kindergarten. I was savoring every last minute of our walk because I knew that once you entered that kindergarten classroom, you would no longer be my little baby. I wish I could have made time stand still that day. But know this: no matter how old you get or where you go in life, you will always be my little girl.

Here is the sketch I created:

I'll be posting more of my Cosmo Cricket projects in the next few days!

On another note, the very talented Larissa Albernaz is teaching an online altered book class at A Million Memories on November 9-11.
I'm sure it will be fantastic, so be sure and mark your calendars!

Shimmerz and Graphic 45

Shimmerz sponsored CPS last week, so I decided to play along and make a card with the weekly sketch:

I used Choc-o-lot Shimmerz paint on a Maya road chipboard cupcake base. I wanted something fluffy for the frosting on the cupcake, so I did a little experimenting. I mixed Wed Wagon Shimmerz with Golden's Molding Paste. While my concoction was still wet, I added little seed beads for the "sprinkles." It looked so much like frosting that I was almost tempted to taste it (but luckily I resisted the temptation).

These beautiful papers are from Graphic 45's Renaissance Faire line.

Creating Keepsakes "Amazing Pages" Online Feature

I have a special page to share today. This one is near and dear to my heart (and my husband says it's his personal favorite of all the pages I've created). I took this picture of my daughter at the park a couple years ago, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. This layout was selected by Creating Keepsakes as one of the "Amazing Pages" that they featured online earlier this month. You can see all ten pages here.

The patterned paper is from Graphic 45's Botanicabella line.

I handcut the tree branches and strategically placed them on the page so that they appear to be an extension of the tree in the photo. I painted the branches with Shimmerz for a little sparkle.

I cut clouds out of cardstock and used them as masks before misting the white cardstock background with blue and green. Then I added puffy paint which puffs up like little clouds when heated.

I used crackle paint here, both on the cardstock layers around the picture and on the little wooden fence. I made the little "stepping stones" out of Sculpey polymer clay.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great week!!

A Million Memories Blog Hop and Scavenger Hunt

As part of A Million Memories' Anniversary Crop this weekend we’re having a blog hop and a scavenger hunt challenge!! This is how it will work: each one of the AMM Design Team members will have a special post for the blog hop where you will have the chance to get to know them a little bit better. At the end of the post, there will be a question that will lead you on a hunt through the AMM site and/or AMM blog. If you want to participate in the blog hop (there's a great prize up for grabs!), go to the AMM anniversary crop forum where you can find the complete instructions for the blog hop.

Here’s a little interview for you to get to know me better:

What is your favorite item in the AMM store at the moment? I love all the new Prima flowers.
Are you a messy scrapper or clean and tidy? I'm very messy while I'm working on a project, but I have to clean everything up in between projects.
What TV show(s) must you watch each week? Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Dancing With the Stars.
What are your 3 must have scrapbooking products/tools? My Making Memories trimmer, micro tip scissors and 3D pop dots.
What was the last scrapbook item you purchased? Prima flowers
What was the last non-scrapbooking item you purchased? Halloween costumes for my girls.
What is your guilty pleasure? I have a bowl Dreyer's Grand Light ice cream almost every night.
What scrapbooking item do you have way too much of? Flowers and lace (but you can never really have TOO much of these things, can you?).
How long does it normally take you to complete a layout? Two or three nights -- usually about 5-8 hours total. I'm a turtle scrapper . . . very sloooooooow.

Now onto the scavenger hunt! Here is your question:

How many items are currently listed in the “Hot Bargain of the Day" section of the AMM store?

Thanks for participating in our blog hop!! Now head on over to Karen Grunberg’s blog for your next scavenger hunt question!

Bo Bunny!!

A huge thank you to Bo Bunny for sponsoring the A Million Memories Design Team this month!! I got to play with these great papers from the Kitchen Spice line. There are fun, bright graphics on one side, and softer solid colors on the backsides, so the papers are very versatile. I love these big chipboard alphas and shapes too! Here are a few more of the pages I created (you can see my other Bo Bunny layout in my last blog post).






I used Shimmerz Spritz to dye the Prima flowers on the page above. The leaves were cut with my Cricut, then I sprayed them with Shimmerz. I used a stylus to make the crease down the middle of each leaf, folded them along the crease, and while they were wet I used my heat gun to set the fold so that the leaves would maintain their shape.



I also used Shimmerz on the flowers on this "Little Dreamers" page. The chipboard alphas and the edges of the leaves were painted with Hi Ho Silver Shimmerz to give them some extra sparkle. I covered the Bo Bunny chipboard circle with vintage glass glitter.

Thank you Bo Bunny and AMM!!

Fun stuff at A Million Memories!!

There's a lot going on at A Million Memories! First, every month some of the AMM Design Team members do a scraplift of one of the layouts in the gallery. This month we decided to surprise our fearless leader and the owner of AMM, Michelle, and we scraplifted one of her beautiful layouts. Here is Michelle's original layout, and here is my lift:

The papers are from Bo Bunny's Kitchen Spice line. Thank you Bo Bunny for sponsoring the AMM Design Team this month!!

Also, mark you calenders for Friday, October 16th through Sunday October, 18th. In honor of AMM's 3rd birthday, we're having a HUGE online crop!! Michelle and the Design Team have cooked up some awesome challenges, free technique and project tutorials, downloads, games and chats. Here's a little sneak peak of what we'll be doing:

And did I mention that there will be lots of fantastic PRIZES from AMM and some wonderful sponsors?!? Be sure and stop by!!

Lastly, three VERY talented ladies just joined the AMM Design Team. The new DT members are:

Staci Taylor

Jeni Boisvert
Kathleen Glossop

We're so thrilled to have them on the team!!

J'adore

Just another Graphic 45 layout to share today. I made this for CHA during the summer, but I don't think I ever posted it here.



I decided to do something a little different with these papers and add some splashes of bright purple and pink.

And speaking of "pink", October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In support of this important cause, Shimmerz is offering a special promotion. For the whole month of October, the Shimmerz Design Team members will be sharing pink projects on the Shimmerz blog. BUT, everyone is invited to get involved. Just create a project using any pink Shimmerz that you have, then upload it to the Shimmerz Flickr Group. Each Design Team member will choose their favorite project, and each winner will receive something pink from Shimmerz! For complete details on this breast cancer awareness promotion, visit the Shimmerz blog.

My little Sweet Pea and the AMM October kit

I have a Graphic 45 layout to share today . . .

I never scrapbook chronologically and I have years of pictures that haven't yet made their way onto my scrapbook pages. Here's a layout featuring baby pictures of my now 5-year-old daughter. Sometimes it makes me a little sad to scrap older pictures because it reminds me of how FAST my girls are growing up. I often wish I could slow down time -- or better yet -- go back and relive those baby/toddler years. *sigh*

The background papers on this layout are from Graphic 45's Christmas Past line. I've been finding ways to use the Christmas themed papers for non-Christmas layouts. I also added some flowers that I cut from the Baby 2 Bride line. I used Shimmerz paints on the flowers and the chipboard alphas to give them some extra sparkle and shine.

Also, the A Million Memories October kit is up for sale! Here's a picture:

It's a beautiful fall kit filled with a mix of October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paislee, Prima, Basic Grey and more!

Have a great weekend!!