wall art

I made these two wall pieces to finish off the room we've redone for our granddaughters. I used Stampin' Up! papers from their Spring Vintage Designer Series paper line, along with pink foil stickers I found in the clearance bins at Michael's and white wood letters that I altered with green paint. I made ruffles from tulle to finish them off. I used photos of the girls that I printed in black and white.

Enjoy!

cards

I was playing around with sewing in my papercrafts and came up with these cards. I used kraft paper for the background and added some older Basic Grey from Stella Ruby, I think! Some punched butterflies finish them off along with a sentiment.

Enjoy!

3-d

Eden and I went to see Tangled in 3-D back in November. We went opening weekend and I thought it might be crowded or sold out, so we went a little early. We had lots of time to wait before the movie began so we started playing around with my camera. This is the result. I used papers, border strips and journaling spots from Crate Paper's Restoration line. Memory Works carries this line of papers, or at least they did. Memory Works is currently producing their new catalog so I don't know if they will carry it come Spring. The colors worked well with our clothing and the "3-d" is from Jillibean Soup.

Enjoy!

me

I'm not so comfortable doing layouts about myself, taking photos of myself or focusing on myself. So when the challenge came down from MemoryWorks to "Love Thyself" and scrapbook a layout about yourself to make sure you are included in your scrapbooks I had to work really hard to come up with an idea. The challenge leader focused on who she was in a note and I thought, ok, I can list my life, who I am(relationships), my qualities, my profession, my hobbies and likes. I created a background for my photo by writing them out. I was kind of glad to be finished with it so I could now focus on everyone else once again.
Since this is a layout about myself, I chose Basic Grey Marjolaine's collection featuring greens and blues, two of my favorite colors. I also added some solid Bazill. I grounded the title using journaling spots from the collection and some cardstock stickers and borders for embellishments. I punched scalloped circles from one of the papers and folded them to make petals for the flower, added a sparkly swirl and pearly brad and silver beads to finish it off. Who could argue with Popeye's "I yam what I yam, and tha's all what I yam" quote? I did that in Pink Paisley alphas. Enjoy!

my little tennis champ

I didn't scrap for a month or more, other than for classes or crops. My scrap room was more of a crap room, all the holiday wrapping, trash, boxes, stuff just piled up everywhere. One Monday afternoon I finally got up the nerve to clean out the closet in the room, planning to spend a couple days over the weekend to clean out the room itself. A couple of snow and ice storms hit that week and I actually spent most of four days getting it all put back together. I love my new space. I moved bookcases around, picked up three paper racks and reorganized.

With all my paper on display I now can see it and get layouts done faster. I found this paper in my racks and put this layout together in just about an hour. The papers are from different manufacturers but look really good together. Paper from an old K&Co paper pad, Sassafrass Lass, and solid paper from my stash got me started. I made a pennant from some Jenni Bowlin flags and alphas, pieced together with dew drops.
My granddaughter played in a tennis tournament and this layout recognizes that she has the heart of a champ, even though she didn't win the trophy. She won her first round of matches but when she went up against an older, more mature player, she struggled. The scores were very close, but she got knocked out of the tournament. As she gets older and matures I know she'll be a force to be reckoned with.

blog candy to fill your scrappy heart

Check out this blog. You can win so much scrappy goodness, well you could but I'm hoping you don't. lol I'm hoping that I win all this scrappy goodness. Check out the cute card as well.

http://taylordconcepts.blogspot.com/2010/12/most-wonderful-time-of-year.html

roots...aka my hair saga...

I have to admit that I was pretty devastated by the fact that I would lose my hair during chemo. When I finally decided to get a short hair cut I cried and cried. But I was tired of running my hands through my hair and find clumps of it in my hand...and hair brush for that matter. The day I went to the salon to have my hair cut short I needed a good half hour of hand holding and prayer by a wonderful friend. She talked me down from my crying fit.

Why should hair matter so much anyway? Well, it was my favorite physical feature about myself. I had long wavy hair. Since then my hair has continued to preoccupy me. It grew back curly and when it felt clownish I went to the salon (the same one that gave me my short 'do) however the stylist who had cut my hair then had left. The stylist I agreed to see cut my clownish curls into a very short style. Once again I cried. It took me a year to grow that hair and it was gone again. So I let it grow and grow, refusing to let anyone come near it with scissors. But yet another dialema crept up. Should I get my hair cut before Jess & Geoff's wedding or just continue to let it grow, still somewhat clownish in style?

I was wandering around Ulta, the one in Horshamgate Shopping Center when a stylist named Karen approached me. Had I ever heard of DevaCurl products? Deva Cuts? Well, I was a perfect candidate for both! She did a little demo of the product on my hair and I saw immediately how my curls were shinier and bouncier and looked so much better. I was sold. I bought the Deva One Condition and AnGel right on the spot. I even let her talk me into booking an appointment for a cut. With great trepidation I arrived a little early for my appointment, hoping that she wouldn't ruin my hair. Hoping that if it looked awful I could always resort to wearing my wig for the wedding. Thinking that if all that failed I could shop for a hat for the wedding. Seriously. All that worry was for naught. Karen cut each curl shaping my hair around my head, allowing my curls to fall into their place. She styled my hair, stuck me under the dryer (no blow-out for curly girls like me) put little clips to hold my hair up at the crown and polished it all off with some pomade. No more clown! It looked wonderful. Once again my hair was my favorite physical feature. Since then I've seen Karen numerous times. I think I am her favorite example of the DevaCurl product line. All I need is a little One Condition after washing and I'm good to go. I don't even use the AnGel any more. I also use the pomade and Mister Right on days I don't wash my hair. Enough of my personal hygiene.

At some point after my revelatory experience with Karen I discovered a photo of myself as a young girl. The resemblance was uncanny. Obviously my hair was reborn after chemo and I once again had my baby hair. Now if only I could have my baby skin. That's another story. lol This photo shows how little my facial features have changed since 3 or so--there was no date on the photo and no one to ask for a date stamp--and how my hair has gone back to it's roots.

I used lots of Tim Holtz products and techniques on this layout. The tag is from Tattered Angels that inked and spritzed and inked and spritzed some more until I was happy with the result. I stamped a little bit too, using Distress Inks. The ticket is from Tim Holtz as is the button in the center of the flower. The lacy flower border is from Prima as is the white flower that I inked to match the rest of the layout. The butterflies were punched from a Martha Stewart punch and the flower "stem" a Sizzix die. I really like the grungy feel of this layout which went well with my black & white vintage photo.

Enjoy!