Just Not A City Girl

The challenge at Studio Calico this week was to make a layout using neutrals, 'No problem' I thought... yeah um... not so easy to pick photos that work for that without changing them to black and white.  I have a drawer full of photos in my desk and I really want to branch out and use them for layouts that tell stories about me not about the place in the picture... know what I mean? 

Papers: Studio Calico, October Afternoon & Scenic Route

Black Letters and City Skyline: American Crafts

Mist: Granite Tattered Angels

Flowers: Prima

This is the layout I came up with.  It's pretty accurate about me...  I like to check out all the neat stuff that big cities have to offer, like the super yummy restaurants (I totally look for the dives because they have the best food) but I don't feel at home there... when I'm scared or sad or just confused about life it's the mountains that I run to.  I don't know if it's the feeling of isolation or safety that I like most but I know that whenever I need to calm my soul I hop in the car and drive to one of my favorite spots outside of town.

To stand on my soapbox for just a minute... I wanted to say that the more I look through my albums the more I realize that there isn't a whole lot about me in there, I've gotten better and better about making "me" layouts in the past few years but I want to do more.  I want my grandkiddos to know who I was and not just the things I took pictures of.  I want to present a whole pie of life and not just a slice.  What I'm trying to say is just make sure to include things about yourself in your albums... you family will thank you for it later!

So are you a city girl or something else? 
Where do you feel most at home?

Breathing and Scrapping

I'm alive... really I am... just wandering the web sometimes and staring at Tort Law books the rest of the time... although I have found time to scrap lately :)

Here are a few layouts I've done this past week... all of these are based on amazing sketches from Studio Calico!

Sweet Hansy smiling.

Mist: Apple Tattered Angels

Ribbon: American Crafts and Maya Road

Papers: Making Memories & Scenic Route

Stamps: Studio Calico

My sweet love.

Papers: Studio Calico, October Afternoon & Lily Bee

Journaling Tag: Little Yellow Bicycle

Tickets: Jenni Bowlin (Button as well) & Tim Holtz

Brads, sweet and love: American Crafts

Hearts and my: QuicKutz (Heart in Circle & zoe alpha)

He really is the best kid ever!

Papers: Cosmo Cricket & Studio Calico

Fabric Rip Strips: Studio Calico

Best: 7 Gypsies

Mist: Apple Tattered Angels

Paint: Making Memories

Ranger Distress Ink in Old Paper

Buttons by April Foster

I hope you're all having a wonderful and creative week!



Scrapping Again and A New Flock

C and his Cousins,

 bits and pieces from all over.... finally using stuff up!

One of my favorite photos of C as a little one...

mostly from the Studio Calico kit Yearbook, buttons made by April Foster!

I always plant red geraniums in honor of my Gram... they just make me happy!

More wonderful stuff from Studio Calico and odds and ends from my desk.

and finally my fabulous garage sale find... a whole flock of 10 Flamingos for $5... don't really know why but I have always wanted a whole bunch of these cheerful plastic birds and now I've got 'em!

Finally Scrapping Again

Layout design is lifted from Lisa Dickinson again :)

Papers by Studio Calico, Basic Grey and October Afternoon

Embellishments by American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin, and Chatterbox

Mist is Coffee from Tattered Angels

For months I have had the hardest time creating any layouts or designing my classes.  It's been like walking through wet cement just to come up with one page.  I've been struggling through my own personal issues and I have been writing again, which is a great thing, but I just couldn't scrap to save my life.  My dear friend Christyn promised me that my scrappy mojo would come back and it finally has!  I'm thrilled because I have a room full of paper, glue and photos that was just gathering dust.  I've been "lifting" layout designs from my super talented friends, and participating in scrappy challeges, doing so has helped jump start me back into the creative mode.  So if you're just not feelin' it don't give up hope, it will come back, I promise.

In other news... I go back to school this week to get my Paralegal AAS.  I vacillate between being excited and really, really, nervous. I'll come back later this week and let you know how it goes.

Oh and these super cute shoes came home with me yesterday for the sweet price of just $8!   I'm thinking I may wear them to my first day of school for a little height confidence boost!

Wild Child

Papers by Bazzill, Studio Calico and Basic Grey

Embellishments from Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, American Crafts and Maya Road

Just dropping in with a layout today.  This is C and his cousin Taylor, she is wild, just like her Papa!  It's always special to get to spend time with her and this year it was even more fun because she was older and able to jump all over  play with Coley.  He was super patient and kind to her and it made my heart so happy to see them together.  This layout is another lift of the fab Lisa Dickinson!

Happy Friday!

Two Challenges & One Layout

Most products used are from Studio Calico kits.

Font: Quickutz Emily

Papers by My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket and Collage Press

Embellishments from Maya Road, Studio Calico, Kaiser Craft, Prima, & Sassafrass

I made this  for both the Studio Calico Sketch Challenge and Janna Wilson's 52 Challenge .  I would recommend checking them both out because, of course, they are fantastic ways to get your mojo flowing!

The title for this layout comes from a wonderful song of the same name by Natalie Grant.  The chorus says...

"This is what it means to be held.

How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life 

And you survive.

This is what it is to be loved. 

And to know that the promise was  

When everything fell we'd be held."

It's such a beautiful picture of God's love for us as his children.  He holds us in His arms when we are weak and can't carry on. Whenever I glance at our nativity and I see Mary holding Jesus I think 'This is how He holds us.'  There is such peace in knowing you are loved so deeply even in times of broken-ness.

Have a great Thursday!

New SC Kit = Playtime

I love when my monthly kit from Studio Calico arrives! It reminds me of the fun care packages I used to get when I was away at boarding school. A box full of things you know you'll love, what is better than that?

I had a chance to play this morning and this is what I came up with...



... it goes along with the changes that I'm trying to make in my life. I think I'll display it in one of the frames across from my scrap desk to remind me that everyday is a new day... sure there are issues that trickle over from one day to the next but each day you get to choose, anew, how you are going to handle them.

I hope you are having a great week and come back tomorrow for a little surprise!

Back To School Challenge

Just dropping in with my layout for the Studio Calico - Back To School Challenge. I'm barely squeaking in under the deadline but a challenge is a fantastic way to jump start any layout, so be sure to check the SC Blog for more fantastic challenges!

I finally finished organizing all the great goodies from my QuicKutz happy-mail last week and you can see the amazing Office Supply dies on this layout as well as my go to font, Chemistry!

Be sure to check out the new forums QuicKutz is adding to the website on Tuesday! The message boards will be a great place to learn new things, share tips & tricks, and chat with all your fantastic QK friends. I hope to see you there!
Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

5 Product Challenge

My sweet friend Emily posted a 5 product challenge over at Studio Calico this week and I had a chance to play along...

Patterned Paper, Studio Calico

Metal & Die Cuts, QuicKutz

Embroidery Floss, DMC

Paint, Making Memories and Ranger

The challenge was to use one sheet of Patterned Paper, Paint, Twine or Embroidery Floss, Metal and letter stickers... cardstock and journaling with pen or computer are freebies!

The metal on my layout comes from QuicKutz adhesive metal sheets, they are really easy to cut and you can bend and shape them to add dimension to your layout. I used them with the Eliza font for the title and painted over the holly shape for my leaves & berries. I can see a lot more layouts in my future using this fun product!

I hope you are having a great week and if you join in on the challenge be sure to post your layout over at Studio Calico!

ATC's for Alisa

Sadly we lost a Studio Calico friend, Alisa, last month. Emily came up with the idea of making ATC cards out of her message board posts, that will be made into a ATC Spinner filled with love and advice for the two young daughters, step-sons and husband she leaves behind. These are the cards I've made using her goals for the year...







Alisa's passing has made me remember to be grateful for each day and to be more present in the moment.

Treasure today,
Houston

Scrappin' Away

It's blazing hot here, and due to the fact that heat and I don't mix, I am slow to post this week. I just wanted to pop up these layouts I made. The first one was for the Studio Calico scraplift challenge... it's my lift of Scarlet's "Simple" layout. I'm really happy with the way it all came together, that Sassafras Anthem paper is rockin' but I wasn't sure how to use it... all become clearer once I cut it up and really started to play with it. I was finally able to use the soccer rub-on from Basic Grey that I had been hanging onto for the last three years! I loved that set, so much so that I accidently adhered part of it to the bottom of my foot yesterday!

This second layout is something I've been wanting to document for some time, it's the beautiful flowers that bloom every spring in our yard. We have a house that will be 50 years old this summer and these bushes and trees have been here since the beginning, I feel so lucky to have such mature and beautiful landscaping in a state where it takes that long to get "real" trees! This yard was the whole reason we bought this house, it called to us and we just grin like cheshires every time we pull into the carport and see the apple tree and yard spread out before us. I was thrilled to use some of the wonderful buttons April sent me on this layout, they are so cool and I've been saving them until now!


Please excuse the poor quality of these photos, I was talking on the phone while taking them, apparently chatting and still photography don't mix... who knew?!


Oh and I finally got my sewing machine working again, I just needed some English instructions and all is good, as you can see I went to town with it on the above layout!

Hope you are all having a great week.

If you get a chance take a stroll around your nearest garden center, I did that with my dear friend Emily yesterday and it was just so refreshing to be surrounded by new growth and beauty and I came home with lots of ideas for the parts of our yard that need a little TLC.

Studio Calico Challenges

I love Studio Calico for so many reasons but one of them is that there are tons of great challenges to be found there! Each and every challenge helps me to think about scrapbooking in a different way. The current challenge on the blog is to scraplift several layouts from April and Scarlet.

I started with April's layouts, both of which featured some fantastic use of white space!




Off to work on lifting Scarlet, she is a genius with patterned paper pairings(that's a tongue twister)! I hope some of that will rub off on me!

Patti Picklicious Cards

I am truly blessed to have a wonderful friend named Kirsty Wiseman. I had no idea she was a scrapper when I emailed her on Facebook, all I knew was that she had one handsome red Dachshund and I wanted to tell her so. Later on she made a comment about me being an SC Girl and I thought... oh she must subscribe to Studio Calico too...this is where that dog from the V8 commercials comes and knocks me on the head... um no, she is on the SC Design Team, DUH! (In my defense I had just joined SC) Anyway, I have had the pleasure of chatting with her via the internet and learning more about her life and the fab Patti Picklicious CD's she designs, they are amazing! I had the pleasure of playing with her first release today and I thought I would share some of the cards with you...





Her CD has even more designs, greetings, labels and the cutest little Patti girls. Check it out, it's fantastic, and it will turn you into a card maker in no time!

Contented

So last week I was quiet, this week I am contented. I was blessed to spend time with lots of my wonderful, creative, kind and caring girlfriends over the course of the week. I am so thankful for those moments to help refill my soul. It got me thinking about some of my Florida girlfriends and how much I miss them, so I created a layout just for them using some fab supplies from various Studio Calico kits and bits I found on my desk.


I also was playing around with getting my Disney photos from 2007, yep two years ago, into some semblance of order so I could get them into an album... I am using one of those great We R Memory Keepers albums with the 4x6 slots and a few layout thrown in for good measure... here is my title page... by the way the album is lime green and all the photos have such great bright colors in them that I am thinking I'll use the BasicGrey Urban Prairie line for the whole thing, keep it consistent and all that...

Yep I have a glitter & bling problem... but if you can't use it on a Disney page where can you use it? Also the edge is punched, the black behind it is just our coffee table.

This final layout is lifted from a current issue of CK or SBE, I am so sorry I can't credit it at the moment but the magazine has gone missing... I am thinking the sausage dogs had something to do with it.


Hope y'all are having a great week!

Conversion?

The fabulous Kirsty Wiseman designed the most wonderful download for the Studio Calico blog and I have been hybrid-ing it all day!


I think I may be on the road to conversion... oh sweet patterned papers forgive me:)

Love is... in the house

Here is a new home decor piece that I created for our hallway! I have always wanted to have this scripture up in our home, I even began cross-stitching it once, but alas we all know I don't really have the patience for that!
This frame caught my eye at Target and I waited patiently for it to go on deep clearance then snatched it up! All of the pattern paper is Studio Calico from the Fortune Cookie kit, isn't it beautiful! The frame has a styrofoam backing underneath the fabric so I was able to stick the pins into it and then snip the backs of them off with wire cutters... I love the depth this gives!

Another Sick Day Layout

Just wanted to post the other layout I finished today... seriously I should only scrap sick! Again, I used the January Kit, Bibliography, from Studio Calico!