I'm convinced . . .

 . . . that's there's a little monster in our washing machine or dryer that eats socks.

Exhibit A:

These are all my girls' single socks that are left over from the laundry over the past few months.  Believe it or not, none of them match each other.  I've tried to "sneak" mismatched socks together (I mean, why can't the white Strawberry Shortcake sock be worn with a pink Strawberry Shortcake sock??), but my girls always call me on it.  WHERE in the world do all those missing socks go?  There's probably some secret land of single socks, remote controls and lost sticky notes.  And don't even get me started on my sunglasses.  I swear they grow feet and walk away.  Sigh.

Since I've cut back on my DT commitments, I've been able to take some nights off from scrapping (a much-needed break!).  Now I'm going back through my files and sharing things I never got around to posting here before.  Here's a Prima layout I made using the adorable new foam dress form stamp.

I do try and journal on almost every layout these days (even if it's just who, where and when), but sometimes I just feel like creating a page with pretty things and leaving it at that.  That's okay, right?  My girls certainly have PLENTY of layouts that tell a story.

I used Prima's new stencils as a mask with mist, then I outlined it with a Sakura Stardust pen:

I'm off to go fold a couple loads of laundry.  Hopefully every sock will have a little friend.  Have a great week!!

Shimmerz

I love playing around with Shimmerz' mists and gauze.  Just take some regular household gauze and color it with Shimmerz (Spritz, Vibez, etc.), and you can create a variety of beautiful page accents. You can use the sprayed gauze as a dreamy-looking page background, or twist it and use it like you would ribbon or trim.  I used the Shimmerz'd gauze to make the rolled flowers on this page for Creating Keepsakes' new Fabulous Flowers special issue:

 

As seen in Creating Keepsakes' 2011 Tips & Tricks: Fabulous Flowers.  Copyright Creative Crafts Group.  Published with prior permission from the publisher. 

I used Cotton Candy Spritz and Razzle Dazzle Berry Vibez to color the gauze:

On another note, in a continued attempt to re-focus things in my life and make more time for my family, I'm stepping down from the Shimmerz design team at the end of this month.  I've been fortunate to have been on the Shimmerz DT for over two years now, and it's been an absolute pleasure!!  I got to play with all the fabulous Shimmerz products AND I made some great friends along the way.   I'm very grateful to Stacey and Dave (the creative masterminds behind Shimmerz) for this wonderful opportunity!!

Creating Keepsakes Giveway Winner and Miss Art's LIVE CHAT tonight

We have a winner for Creating Keepsakes' Tips and Tricks: Fabulous Flowers special issue.  The random number generator picked number 3, which is Arjanne!!  Congrats!! Please email me your full name and mailing address so that Creating Keepsakes can send you this fabulous issue.  

I want to remind everyone about my online class at Miss Art's Papercrafting School.  In case you missed my posts about it last month, it's called The Secret Garden Layout Class.  In the class I take you step-by-step through three different layouts and I share lots of techniques along the way, including crocheting on layouts.  Here's a peak at the layouts I created for the class:

I'm told that there are only a few more class kits left, so if you want to get one of the gorgeous Madeline's Song kits, don't wait too long. 

Alternatively you can make my class layouts with products from your own stash.  It's up to you! 

I made some crocheted flowers with rhinestone centers that are available for sale in sets of two in the Miss Art's store under class supplies, add-ons:

Be sure and check out all the other great classes and offerings at Miss Art's!

And one last bit of Miss Art's news . . . I'm doing a LIVE CHAT for my class subscribers on Ustream TONIGHT!!  The time is: 6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, or check Miss Art's site for a time conversion chart.   All 201 and Extra Credit subscribers should have already received their Ustream password via email.  I hope you'll come chat with me tonight!!!    

Prima layout + a new kitten is in da house!!

Just a quick little post for Friday.  Here's a Prima share for the day.  This was based on Prima's April BAP.    Lately I've been finding that I'm drawn to bright, happy colors, though I still love soft, girly colors too.  Luckily Prima offers beautiful collections in every color range. 

On another note, there's a kitten in da house!!!  This is our newest fuzzy addition to the family:
 

Her name is Lucy, but we nicknamed her "Tinkerbell" because she flits around the place from person to person spreading love and magic wherever she goes!  The nickname was especially fitting the other night when she fell asleep on my lap while I was scrapbooking.  I was using some loose glitter on a project, and somehow Lucy's aka Tinkerbell's fur got a little glittery too.  This is where she is right now, and this is where she prefers to be most of the time . . . in my lap:  

She's a TOTAL love bug!  Smokey (see the post below) is slowly accepting her into our family, and of course the girls are thrilled to have little Miss Lucy with us.

Creative Spaces Giveaway WINNER + Another CK Giveaway!!

Thank you for playing along with the CK "Creative Spaces" special issue giveaway!  I used a random number generator, and the winner is . . . Juanna Hope Sia!! Congrats, Juanna!  Please email me your mailing address.

If you didn't win, don't fret because Creating Keepsakes has another new special issue and I get to give away a copy of that one too! This special issue is all about my favorite scrapbooking accent:  FLOWERS!!!  It's the new Tips & Tricks: Fabulous Flowers.

You’ll learn how to use pre-made flowers in a creative fashion, easily make different flower accents, and learn lovely ways to photograph flowers for your layouts. And to top it off you’ll even find ways to display and organize all of the beautiful flowers in your stash.

Here's a peak at one of my layouts in this issue:

You know the drill -- if you would like to be entered to win a copy of this special issue, simply leave a comment here before Sunday night (May 21st) and tell me your favorite kind of flower to use on your projects.  I'll draw a random winner and announce it next week.  You can buy this gorgeous issue online here. Enter the code FLOWERBB for free shipping in the USA for orders over $25 (expires June 3).

The power of the mind or pure coincidence??

I'm diverting from my normal scrapbook-related post and I'm going to share a little story that happened last November.  It still amazes me every time I think about it.  The background story is that I've always been a cat lover.  I'm drawn to them. I adore them.  But having a cat of my own was out of the question because my husband developed cat allergies years ago (even though he had a cherished cat as a child).  For some reason I started thinking and talking about cats quite a bit last year, and my girls and I even jokingly asked my husband a couple of times if we could get a cat and he could get allergy shots.   Ummmmmm . . . . no.

One afternoon last November my girls and I were sitting at the table looking at magazines.  I was going through an old Creating Keepsakes magazine, and I came upon this page:

At this point I don't even remember what the article was about because I immediately ripped out the page from the magazine and showed my girls.  I squealed "Ooooooooooohhhhhhh, look at this sweet kitty!!  I want him!"  My girls oohed and ahhed over the pictures of the kitten too.  I cooed over the picture a bit more and then I stuck the magazine page up on our china cabinet (I sometimes display the girls' artwork, holiday cards, etc. there) so that I could admire the photos of that sweet kitten for a while longer.  

Now here comes the weird -- and wonderful -- part of the story.  That same day, no more than an hour after I found the pictures of this sweet kitty in my CK magazine and declared that I wanted him -- my husband arrived home and my girls opened the front door to greet him, then Danielle yelled, "Mommy, there's a cat on our porch!!!!"  I immediately came to see what she was talking about, and sure enough a sweet little cat was sitting right there at our front door.  Now mind you, we live on a very busy street in a busy neighborhood, and we rarely see cats wandering around.  In the 10+ years I've lived in this house, we've never had a cat actually come up to our door.  This is the cat that showed up on our porch that day:

The girls and I immediately thought, 'WOW!  He looks just like the kitty in the photo!'  Sure he's older (he's estimated to be between 1 and 2 years old), but the coloring is the same as the kitten in the magazine photos.  It was actually my sweet husband who gave the cat the okay to come into our house for a bit -- despite his 'alleged' allergies.  So this friendly little cat walked right into our house and the girls and I immediately fell in love with him.  I expected my husband to start sneezing and watering up, but he didn't have much of an allergic reaction at all.  We decided to name the cat "Smokey".

To make a long story short  (yeah, too late, I know), Smokey kept coming back to our house.  He even brought us a mouse one day, which is a sign of true love from a cat.   We attempted to find his owner with no success.  Smokey could come and go as he pleased, but he was at our house pretty much all the time.  We finally determined that he was most likely a stray, and we officially took him in.  Thankfully my husband doesn't seem to have significant allergies to Smokey, and he's grown quite attached to our furry addition to the family.  As long as he washes his hands after he plays with Smokey (which he does often!), he's totally fine.

Smokey has now become a beloved member of our family.

 Here's hubby and Smokey taking a little catnap together on the couch:

The other interesting thing is that my beloved stepfather passed away a few weeks before Smokey showed up.  We were very close to my stepfather ("Papa"), so his loss left a void.   I said at the time that Papa must have sent Smokey to us because he knew how much joy he would bring to our family.

So tell me, do you think it was the power of the mind that brought Smokey to us?  Serendipity?   A Premonition?  Or pure coincidence?

Stay tuned for Chapter 2 . . . we're adopting a kitten so Smokey will have a companion.  Fingers crossed that they get along!

Time for Another Giveaway -- CK's Creative Spaces Special Issue

Creating Keepsakes has a fabulous new special issue out called Creative Spaces!

This special issue is all about craft rooms and organization. You'll get an incredible tour of the scrapbook rooms of many well known ladies in the industry. This issue is also filled with many great storage ideas for all budgets. 

I was honored to have my lil'ol' scrap room included in this issue. One thing I love about the issue is that it's organized into 'small', 'medium' and 'large' scrap spaces.  At only 8 x 9 feet, my scrap room is definitely considered small.  It was fun to see how other crafters with small spaces organize their stuff.  Here are some snippets of my scrap room (you can see the rest of it in the special issue -- tease, tease).

 Here's a little bit of my lace collection:

 

And some of of my ribbon storage:

 No, Smokey, these spools of ribbon are not for you to play with (nosy kitty):

 
I admit it . . . I have a little bit of a hoarding problem with lace and ribbon (what you see above is only a very small portion of my massive collection). 

Creating Keepsakes is allowing me to give away a copy of this issue to one lucky blog reader.  To be eligible to win, simply leave a comment here before Sunday night and tell me what scrapbooking product(s) you tend to hoard.  If you'd like to purchase a copy, you can find it HERE in the CK store.  Use coupon code SPACESBB for free shipping in the USA (good through May 27th).

Prima Blog Hop!!

Welcome to Prima's NSD Blog Hop!!

If you arrived here via Prima's blog and you came for the secret word, you're in the right place! If you didn't, then be sure to go back and start on Prima's blog and read the instructions for a chance to win a great prize!   The blog hop order is also posted there.

If you already follow my blog, then you probably recognize the first photo in the group above.  It's the "Madeline's Song" kit that goes along with my Miss Art's Papercrafting School class.  Yes, that's one of the fabulous prizes you can win as part of Prima's blog hop!  I helped design this gorgeous kit, so it has a lot of my very favorite Prima products from the newest collections.  It's a BEAUT!!!

My little share for the day is a Prima layout that I created for Creating Keepsakes Magazine.    

 I made a pull-out tab for hidden journaling.  It's a little love note to my hubby.

As seen in Creating Keepsakes Magazine.  Copyright Creative Crafts Group.  Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

Ready for the secret word?  It's a scrapbooking tool I can't live without and it's a necessity for fussy cutting (something I do a lot of).  The secret word is . . . SCISSORS

Now mosey on over to the blog of the very talented Nic Howard to get your next secret word.  Good luck!!

Celebrate National Scrapbook Day all week with Creating Keepsakes

There's lots of fun stuff happening for NSD (National Scrapbooking Day), which is this Saturday, May 7th.  The fun has already begun over at  Club CK. 

There are different challenges posted every day with many of chances to win a subscription to Creating Keepsakes Magazine and other great prizes.  If you missed any of the weeks' events, you can see the schedule on the CK Blog.  I'll have a challenge posted on  Club CK on Friday (with prizes!), so be sure and check back then!

Come join the fun!!!

Miss Art's is officially open!

Miss Art's Papercrafting School is officially open!!  The winner of Thursday's giveaway of a month's pass to Miss Art's is . . . Michelle!!  Michelle, please email me with your contact info and preferred username.

You can now register for my "Secret Garden" Layout class (see the peaks from the post below).  Some people have asked me about the pricing structure.  You can find all the details on the Miss Art's new site, but  here's a quick breakdown of what the 101 and 201 designations mean:

101 subscriptions are $10 per month, and include 3 classes. 101 classes are a bit smaller then 201 classes, and cover a wide array of subjects, from how-to's for specific projects to classes about using specific products and tools, to technique classes. 201 subscriptions are $5, and while you only get one class, it's a whopper of a class. 201 classes walk you through 1 or more projects, and you learn EVERYTHING you need to know about EVERY technique that goes into those projects. These classes are detailed, in depth, and utterly inspiring and they all have a coordinating kit available for purchase!

My class is a 201 class, so the cost is only $5 for all 12 of my video lessons (such a deal!!).   Although registration opens today for my class, the class is self-paced so you can register at anytime during the next three months and watch the videos at your leisure. Students who subscribe to my 201 class will have 30 days access for the $5 monthly fee. The class will be available for 90 days at this level, but you will need to renew twice ($5) to view it for the full 90 days. After that, you can subscribe at the $15 level to view the class in the library/archives. Basically, all subscriptions purchase 30-day access. There's also a GORGEOUS Prima-filled kit to go along with the class called Madeline's Song.  But you can buy the kit without taking the class and vice verse. If you sign up for the class, I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments!

Before I sign off, I'll share another one of my Creating Keepsakes layouts. My girls love to play "Red Light, Green Light" on our front lawn.

As seen in the January 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine.  Copyright Creative Crafts Group.  Published with prior permission from the publisher.

We're off to go visit an adorable little kitten we're adopting (more about that soon!)