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!!

Pencil Lines Guest Designer!!

I am so honored to be the guest designer for Pencil Lines this week!! I created the weekly sketch and a layout to go along with it. Head on over there and see my sketch along with the fabulous layouts created by their talented design team. Here is my layout:



The papers are from Webster's Pages' Postcards from Paris line (one of my all time favorite paper lines!). I added some crocheting and lots of sparkle and bling.



I used the new Shimmerz fall vintage colors: Treasured Hymn and Antique Lace on the Prima felt border, and Rock-a-fella blue and Sapphire Spritz on the flowers and butterfly.

Thank you Pencil Lines and Anna for having me as a guest designer! And thank you again to Webster's Pages (Brandin and Terri) too!! This has been a great month!

More Webster's Pages

My month as the guest designer for Webster's Pages is slowly coming to an end, but I'm still busy creating scrapbook pages and other things with the gorgeous papers they sent me! Here are a couple more projects I just completed:

I used the peacock feather as a mask on white cardstock. I placed the feather on the cardstock and sprayed over it with Shimmerz Spritz. I used Sea Foam and Sapphire Spritz:

Here is a little card I made with fabric swatches and the dress form that I cut from the Postcards from Paris paper:

These little squares were cut from some fabric swatches sent to me by Lucy Edson after I won one of the monthly challenges on The Next Step challenge blog. I got a package filled with the most beautiful variety of fabrics. Thank you, Lucy!

I still have lots of beautiful Webster's Pages paper to play with, so you'll be seeing more projects here over the coming months!

The new Shimmerz vintage colors are here!

Today is the big release of the new Shimmerz vintage colors!! Take a look at all the beautiful new shades of Spritz and paint:
You can see (and buy!) all of these colors on the Shimmerz website.

Here is a card I made using several of the new colors:

I used Shimmerz to add some color and sparkle to the flowers. As usual, I started with plain white Prima flowers (lucky for me I've been hoarding these so I have quite a stash). For the green flower, I used the new Mossy Stone Shimmerz and then I sprayed on a little Olive Branch Spritz for some contrast. I used Wed Wagon and Antique Lace Shimmerz on the other flowers. The paper is from the Graphic 45 Renaissance Faire line. . . a perfect match for these beautiful new Shimmerz colors, don’t ya think?

Be sure and check out the Shimmerz blog this week where you can see all of the fabulous new projects made by the Design Team and the NEW Education Team!

Graphic 45

Now that school is back in session, I'm finally settling back into my regular mom-school-work-scrap routine. It's been a little rough-going this time around because we had a major school disappointment, so I'm shuttling my girls back and forth to different schools. But I know things always work out in the end.

Here's a Graphic 45 layout I made using papers from the new Renaissance Faire line. This is a picture of my mom as a little girl. Wasn't she a little cutie-patootie?!?



Have a great day!!

Check out the new and improved Shimmerz website!

Shimmerz has a new and improved website!! Here is the link: Shimmerz. You can order all of your favorite colors of Shimmerz, Blingz and Spritz directly from the site!

I tried something different with Spritz: I used removable Scotch tape as a mask.



I simply added strips of scotch tape to white cardstock in a criss-cross pattern. I made sure the tape strips were nice and secure, then I sprayed four different colors of Spritz over the tape. I used Plum Pudding, Sapphire, Sea Foam and Olive Branch. I pulled off the tape, then I hand-stitched around the edge to give it some definition. I was left with this beautiful white criss-cross pattern surrounded by a sea of rainbow Spritz!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

A Million Memories September Kit projects

Here are a few of my projects using the fabulous A Million Memories September kit. I know I say this every time, but this kit was so much fun to work with!

In honor of my girls starting school today, I did a layout using pictures from the first day of school last year:

I added some real school supplies, including a ruler, paper clips and a No. 2 pencil.

Here is a family layout:

The journaling says: Sometimes I complain about our small, old house. I often wish we could move to a bigger and newer house in a more family-friendly neighborhood. But I am grateful to be with my wonderful family and to have a roof over our heads. I know without a doubt that home is wherever we are. The photo was taken by Melissa Walker-Scott.

This next project is a little wall hanging I made to hold my house and car keys. Now I'll always be able to find them . . . assuming I remember to hang them up in the first place!

I bought a plain wood plaque from Michael's, painted it, then attached the hook. Actually, my husband attached the hook for me because that's a "manly" kind of job (well, not really, but I like to involve him in my crafty projects whenever I can). These cute little Maya Road chipboard houses were included in the AMM kit, and I added the little felt sun and bling.

Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blog! They brighten my day!

New Shimmerz Vintage colors

Guess what? Shimmerz is coming out with MORE colors of paints and Spritz. I can't share the specifics just yet (the official release will be on September 21st), but I can tell you that they are vintage colors! Here's a little sneak peak:



Be sure and check out the Shimmerz blog and see all the amazing work created by the DT!!

Webster's Pages Guest Designer!!

I'm thrilled to share the news that I am the Guest Designer for Webster's Pages for the month of September!! I won their "Show us your Backsides" contest a few months ago, and as part of that I get to be their guest designer this month.

Webster's Pages is just my style! I love the soft colors and the vintage feel of the papers and embellishments. And the papers are so fun to work with because there are many little elements to cut out and use on your pages. I had the pleasure of working with the GORGEOUS new "Postcards from Paris" and "Nature's Storybook" lines. Here are the projects I've completed so far (and there will be more to come):



For this next layout I cut the tree and the little creatures (the birds, the little butterfly and the rabbit) from one of the Nature's Storybook papers. I used Shimmerz paints to color the leaves and tree branches, and I used Shimmerz Spritz to dye the Prima flowers.







More from the Postcards from Paris line:






I had a ball making these projects. Thank you, Webster's Pages, for having me as your guest designer!

The AMM September kit is up!

The A Million Memories September kit is up for sale! It's called "Office Space" and it's full of lots of goodies, including Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, Lily Bee, Maya Road chipboard and a Melissa Frances bingo book:

You can purchase this fabulous kit here in the AMM store. I just got my kit in the mail so I'm busy putting together some fun, fun stuff!

Also, Lucy Edson is teaching a FREE online class at A Million Memories from September 8-10. You'll learn how to make a beautiful vintage looking frame.

Here is the class info: Lucy's Shabby Chic Frame Class