My favorite Guy

Here is a little taste of spring for you ladies up north! I have been taking Tyler's picture each year when our Cherry tree blooms, this year he wanted to climb up in the tree, what the heck, it works for me. He is such a big boy now, only 3 years old but my baby boy is growing up way to fast. When I have him on Tuesday and Thursday I don't get much done around the house and in the scraproom but he fills my heart and soul, Grand babies are the best!!

Get R Done

A little more of my to do pile got cleaned out yesterday, seems to be more projects than I thought waiting around, so I will be hitting it early today. Our yard is taking up so much time and the weekend storms added to the already growing pile of limbs and branches to be cleaned out so I can't stay in my room of sin all day, darn!

I assembled the 2 kits posted yesterday but don't have photo's for the Cricut layout yet, it turned out cute but the colors made my head swim, bright colors do that to me. I used a few photo's of Tyler from this past Christmas on the second layout. I now remember why these were set aside, they are a PAIN to do, so many little pieces and do dad's, not sure now why I even bought them, I am much more of a simple scrapper, not to crazy about such busy layouts, however they are done and will be moved to the scrapbooks soon.

I hope you are feeling motivated to finish your own unfinished projects, this week has been a good experience for me and again I am learning more about my own scrapbooking style. One thing for sure I have learned is just because you see it doesn't mean you need to buy it!!

Unfinished projects Queen is still at it

Finished a few more projects yesterday, sure feels good to work on some of the neglected piles I have been shoving aside. The clock is for a friend. I had in mind to give it to her for Christmas but many of us decided to not exchange gifts last year due to the squeeze on all of our pockets so I put this aside, it is now ready to go for maybe her Birthday this year, it is going to be great in her scraproom.

I also finished up a level 2 kit from Veranda, I LOVE this paper but wasn't sure what photo's I wanted to use so I had put it aside, flipped through my photo albums yesterday and found pictures of our family visiting my Dad at his cabin on the lake16 years ago, so I am counting this as 2 unfinished projects ( one for using the paper pack the second for using oldie's photo's)

And last I finished up this layout of our oldest Daughters first slumber party, photo's are 27 years old (ya another oldie is in the books) I had shoved this aside because I didn't like the paper once I got started. However a layout done is just that, DONE!!

Hope you are getting a handle on a few of your unfinished projects, we need to clean out for the new summer cattie due out in May!!

Unfinished Projects NO MORE!!

Sunday is our family day, the kids come over in the afternoon to hang out and have supper, I don't get much done on Sunday's other than lots of cooking, but this Sunday was rainy, stormy, tornado's, the works so the kids didn't come over until supper time and left early. Had a super easy Sunday dinner that left me time to work on my first unfinished project!!

The Harley Davidson scrap book is done!! All 20 pages finished and tucked in their page protectors ready to deliver to Bob's buddy tonight. Before you think I am some super hero of scrapers to have pulled this off I will give you my super hero's tips;

Used motorcycle themed papers ( no thinking and matching involved)

Very few embellishments, (guys could care less)

Didn't matte every photo, (GASP that's big for me!!)

Scraplifted each layout (Had already done Bobs)

Used the heck out of the Cricut for titles (plain and simple no bells and whistles)

Even got a compliment from my hubby, "WOW he is gonna love this, it is really cool"

So on to more unfinished projects today, maybe I can knock out a few more but I don't think I can find anything that will be as easy as this one has been.

Queen Of Unfinished Projects

Sound like someone you know...... I feel like I get so much done in a day, week, month, year but I too have plenty of unfinished projects to get busy on. So this week is unfinished projects week and I really dread it. I know of a few things I need to knock out but I am so afraid once I start digging I will find more than I bargained for. I know I will find some things that I don't really like anymore or maybe never did so that's why I set it aside but no more excuses, I will get them done!!!!

My first unfinished project is a Harley Davidson scrapbook I started for a friend last fall, He is one of the buddies my Husband went with to Milwaukee, WI 2 years ago for the 105th anniversary of Harley Davidson. It shouldn't be to hard to finish, I have all the photo's printed, most of the supplies on hand, already have the scrapbook purchased, now I need to just glue my rump to the chair and get busy!!!! But what I really want to do is scrapbook Bob's Daytona bike week trip and update his album before the summer of riding starts. Enough rambling, that's it, gonna make it happen right now, no more stalling, no more excuses, wish me luck!!! Find one of your own unfinished projects and lets get busy together, misery loves company! Ha

Feel like I should post a picture of some sort so today's photo's are of our youngest Daughter Kelli and her Husband Nathan with our future Granddaughter at 5 month's pregnant and a little sneak peek at the babies nursery, it is such a sweet and peaceful room, can't wait to meet baby girl Hines.

Ella's Scrapbook is DONE

I have had so much fun working on Ella's scrapbook but it is time to move on!! Can't wait to give this to her Mommy and Daddy, hope to see them in the next week or so. I finished off the last page of the scrapbook with the "Love Birds" Stamp set. Sorta got carried away embellishing this page but what the heck it is the last page it needed to be a little something special.

We are off bight and early this morning for Tyler's soccer game, should be fun watching a bunch of 3 year olds playing. Then home again to do more yard work, I love having a big yard until it comes to cleaning it up in the spring, we had so much snow this year we have branches down all over the place and to top that off we are having to replace a large section of fencing, UGH, lots of work and money.

Hope you can find the time today to get a little ScrapStampin done, now that Ella's book is finished I am gonna have to dig around and decide what's next, I hope to stick with more of my oldies but goodies and complete more pages for our girls but frankly I am a little over the whole girlie thing. Scrap On!!

ScrapStampin

Ella's scrapbook is almost finished, YAAAA. I used my new stamp set "Love Birds" on the first layout, I plan to do her last page with the same stamp, just haven't decided what I want to finish the book with yet. Here is an additional page that will be in her book, no stamping on this page but it turned out cute, the expecting mommy is from the cricut "New Arrival" cartridge.

I am using my leftovers from other WOTG kit's as much as I can, I need to keep cleaning out!! That's where the metal tags at the bottom of the right page came from. I stamped Ella's name on each of the metal tags in black staz-on ink had to stamp each letter twice for it to show up, that's not something you can do with wood stamps, love acrylic!!

Also did a little cleaning out yesterday, packed up all my old buttons and switched over to CTMH buttons exclusively, after doing a week of button challenges I realized I had only used CTMH's, they coordinate with so much more than the odds and ends I already had. Tyler's pre school teachers will have a blast working with the kids using up my old buttons, can't wait to hang his masterpiece on the fridge.

Only 2 more day's of ScrapStampin to go, I hope you are being inspired to use your stamps on layouts, you bought them now use them!!!

My Ship.........ment has come it

For some people they would consider their ship coming in if they won the lottery but for me it is when the man in brown shows up at my door with a CTMH shipment!! I know my customers will be squealing with joy when I delivery their orders but I am like a kid at Christmas too, I always add a little something for myself that I can't do without.

This shipment has the stamp set I have been waiting for to finish up baby Ella's scrapbook, her room is decorated in birds and bird cages, I finally had a reason to justify purchasing CTMH's new "Love Birds" stamp set. I can't wait till Tyler's nap time so I can hit my room of sin and whip out another layout for Ella. Will post the layout in the morning!!!

A little ScrapStampin

Here is an additional layout for baby Ella's book, not a whole lot of stamping but enough to finish off the layout. This page is for Mommy to put ultra sound photo's, I didn't put photo mats on this layout because ultra sounds come in odd sides, only a few more layouts and baby Ella's scrapbook is done! Yepeeeee!!!

Sorry for such a yucky photo, not sure what's up with my camera :(

Stamp set used; Adorning Corners

Scrapstampin continued

Hope you have taken the plunge and worked on scrapstampin, it is so fast and easy. Don't be afraid to stamp on your layouts, this is paper ladies not $100.00 bills, really it's OK if you mess up, you will get the hang of it.

This layout is from the "Grace" WOTG, just changed to girlie paper, came together in less than an hour, gotta love that. I keep all of my old WOTG patterns and use them over and over, I do have all of the how to books but the WOTG are all new designs so I like to use both.

Here are a few tips for scarpstampin:

1.) use acrylic stamps, so you can see what you are doing!!

2.) use the correct size block for the stamp, to big a block will leave ink where you don't want it

3.) always use a mat that has some give to it under the stamp surface, CTMH has one in each stamp set, you can also use the backside of your PC mouse

4.) have lots of different ink pads so you are sure to have a perfect match on your layout, CTMH has 60 colors to coordinate with all the card stock, takes the guess work out of matching colors.
5.) if you are just starting out scrapstampin, purchase a WOTG, it will give you step by step directions

I used the following stamps on this layout;

Grace WOTG stamp set

Frame of Mind stamp set

Have you ScrapStamped yet?

I am still plugging away on my baby girl scrapbook, I want to deliver it to Miss Ella Grace Troth and her parents in the next week or so. I dug around in my stamp drawer and came up with a combination of 3 stamp sets for today's layout, while I could have used the Cricut for the lettering and border, stamping was so much faster!! If you have done the "Emporium" workshop you may recognize this layout, I love how you can use a WOTG recipe to come up with lots of different looks on a layout, fast and easy. Here is a list of the stamp sets I used;

Felicity- For lettering

Field Trip Alphabet

Connections

ScrapStampin

Not sure if ScrapStampin is a word but work with me on this!!

When I started my business with CTMH the main attraction for me was the level 1 kits, they were perfect for beginners and ladies like myself who had decades of photo's to scrap. While I thought CTMH acrylic stamps were beautiful I am just not a true stamper, I used stamps to make a few cards but that was the extent of stamping for me.

Over the past year I have begun to see where incorporating stamping into my scrapbooks have added an additional tool to my every growing arsenal!

So here is the challenge for this week, get out your stamps, (I know everyone has them) and use them on your layouts. You are going to need to think outside the box on this, even if the stamps you have are for card making play around and make them work for layouts.

On this layout I used 2 different CTMH stamp sets, the swirls are from the Felicity kit a special from a few months ago, the journaling block is from "Frame of Mind" also from CTMH.

Lets all get some inky fingers and lots of layouts done this week!

Last of the buttons

Here are 2 more layouts I was able to complete yesterday between yard work and a some Harley riding. Both pages are for a Ella's scrapbook, I need to buckle down next week and get this one finished, still have lots more to make with all the upcoming babies this summer.

So how did you do with your button stash? I used over 100 buttons, not bad. Here is what I discovered, the jars of old buttons didn't get touched, I ended up using all CTMH buttons because they were a perfect match and there are enough of each color that I didn't have to substitute for something that doesn't match. There are 100 buttons in each package with 4 different colors so I have lots of choices from tiny winy to nice and bulky. I will be sorting my old random button jars today to see if I want to hang on to any of them, the leftovers will be going to Tyler's day care next week, they are always in need of craft supplies. CTMH has 25 color selections in buttons that match their card stock so that should be all I will need in the future, the old stuff needs to go, gotta make room for the new!!

Monday we will be starting a new challenge so stay tuned and lets all keep scrapin, summer will be here before you know it, if you are like me I have a heck of a time getting as much done in the summer, with vacations, riding, garden, yard work, boating, sports, the list goes on and on

Saturday and still sunshine!!

Wow 3 days in a roll that we have had pretty weather, and finally it is warm enough for me to ride, I am an above 70 degree but below 100 degree rider, Bob has ridden all winter long as long as there is no snow or ran, he is nuts, besides the fact my butt doesn't look at all cute in chaps!!

So today the layouts are still using buttons but I took on and additional challenge to myself and used scraps for the layouts. The pink layout is leftover paper from the Tickled Pink kit from last spring, the second layout is from Animal Cookies, which is still available. I have 2 more layouts started that I hope to get completed today but with riding and yard work it is gonna be a squeeze to get it all in.

Have a great Saturday and keep using up your buttons!!!

Button Friday

Wow the weather is beautiful here today, it has been hard to stay in my room and create with so much sunshine calling my name. Bob has gotten part of the garden planted and we will spend the afternoon doing yard clean up from the bad winter we have had, that could take weeks!

Only 2 layouts today but that is better than none, the paper from the make a splash layout is from way back when I started scrapbooking, I really don't like it at all but I am doing my best to use up a lot of what I have, I added buttons and liquid glass to the bubbles to try and dress it up a bit, maybe I should do a week of really old paper we all have in our stash, will have to give that some thought. Both layouts are with photo's from the early 80's of our youngest daughter, they are all getting such a kick out of seeing what I have finished each Sunday, I wait till Mondays to put everything in scrapbooks for that reason.

The second Layout is using up some leftover CTMH scraps and I found the cute acrylic frame in a drawer full of odds and ends embellishments. I wanted just a bit more polka dots on the layout so I ran a strip of cardstock in the cuttlebugg then sanded the top so the white core would show, talk about a cheapo trick to finish it off, dig around in your scraps, you might be surprised with what you come up with.

How are you doing with your own button layouts? We bought this stuff so now lets use it up, why let it just collect dust or worst yet take up space that we all are in such need of.

Something extra

As I was moving photo's into folders I realized I hadn't posted the cover page of the Baby Girl scrapbook I started yesterday, no buttons on this but I don't think the blogging police will get me. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Scrap Shack for having the perfect paper for this project.

Dog gone it, stupid thing loaded wrong again!!

Ella's room is done in pink, sage and some brown with branches, birds and bird cages so I will be doing lots of stamping on her pages, stay tuned for more in a few days

Buttons and Babies

I was so excited yesterday about the paper I found for the baby girl scrapbook I blew off the rest of my to-do list and made a few pages, in keeping with this weeks theme I made sure to use buttons! The design for the page is from the Caboodle WOTG I just finished for the baby boy scrapbook, same but really different when you use different paper and embellishments. I am so stinkin excited to work on this scrapbook can't wait to give it to the new Mom and Dad.

Also decided to post a photo of my scraproom and what it really looks like when I am working, I have had so many nice complements on my Little Room of Sin I wanted to make sure and share the good, bad and ugly! I make a heck of a mess when I scrapbook but I normally clean up after each layout, the exception was yesterday, I might have blown off my to-do list but supper is one item my hubby will notice if it doesn't get done, Ha. So today I will have to do a clean up before I get started then try and squeeze in a page or two while Tyler is napping, not an easy thing to do.

I know the experts say buttons are out but why in the world would you pass on buttons when they are so darn cute on layouts? Keep digging out your buttons ladies and lets use what we love, to heck with what the experts say, this isn't brain surgery you know.

Busy Morning

My plan for today was to scrap the day away, isn't it funny how life gets in the way. Lucky for me I hit the scraproom at 7:00 AM and got 4 pages done before life started up; realized the dog tinkled in the living room, laundry piled up faster than it should have, husband called to take me to lunch, and since I was already dressed it was a great excuse to hit my local scrapbook store. They had the perfect paper I needed to do a special Baby girl scrapbook for a dear friend, CTMH has 2 stamp sets I wanted to use for the scrapbook but we don't have paper in the tones I have my heart set on. Thanks Scrap Shack I love you!!! Can't wait till I finish my to do list today so I can get started!! I plan on using buttons in the baby girl scrapbook but I know I won't have it finished for at least a week, have lots of family fun coming up that will keep scrapbooking on the middle burner (never the back burner).

OK, so here are today's button layouts, I used CTMH level 1 kits along with coordinating buttons to bling them out a bit, both layouts are of our oldest Daughter in 1978, see I am sticking with my plan to concentrate on our girls scrapbooks!! Yepee have 9 scrapbooks full already since Jan, most of the albums have around 40 pages in them, that is a heck of a lot of layouts!!

More Buttons

Wo Hoo, one layout 10 buttons, maybe I could clean out my stash at this rate. This layout is of our middle Daughter Amber taking a cat nap with Bob in 1982.

Here is a little tip that brought my love of buttons back, instead of messing with a needle and embroidery floss then sewing the buttons on the layouts, I now use Waxy Flax, this stuff is great all you need to do is thread it through the button hole and use sticky dots to adhere to the page, makes everything fast and easy, Waxy Flax comes in 10 colors that will coordinate with just about anything, give it a try!

I have Tyler today so one layout will likely be all I can get accomplished, we need to get our St. Patricks day cupcakes finished after nap time, that should do me in for the day!

Buttons galore

Are you like me when it comes to buttons, I have so many cute jars and containers with buttons in them but very few make it onto my pages so this week I will be dusting the jars off and digging in. The layouts posted here are the best of both worlds, I did use buttons and they came in the WOTG "You Rock" kit, sorta like a 2 for sale don't you think? I have had this WOTG kit for awhile now, I was to lazy to print the photo's that I wanted to use on the layout, finally today I thought this would be a great opportunity to kick off button week and let you get a peek of this kit. Hope to get an additional layout done with "You Rock" tonight but darn if I can find the photo's I want to use on the PC files.

Go collect all of your jars, line them up and dig in ladies we need to use them up to make room for more!!!! E-mail me your layouts using buttons and I will send you a little blog candy, together we can tackle our stash!!!!

A few more blooms

I know it is a new week and I promise we will do a new challenge this week but for right now I finished an additional layout using the Felicity WOTG this morning and wanted to share it with you. I scraplifted the layout on page 8 of the spring cattie, I did make a few changes since I was working with a 8x10 photo of our Daughters pre-school photo, from 1981, another oldie but goodie!! Also I don't have the stamp set used in the cattie (yet, wink) so I substituted the stamp of the month set from January to do the journaling block. I love how it turned out and am so happy to be using even more photo's of our girls from way back when. Will post again today with this weeks challenge that I finished a bit ago. For now ya'll get on the PC and order a Felicity WOTG, you will LOVE it!! Note the flowers I have been using do not come in the kit they are sold separately, the price is $7.95 for 105 peices, thats a really great deal.

Last of Baby Boy layouts

baby boy....

What the heck, why is it when I post layouts they sometimes turn on me!

I stuck with only stamps for my titles in this album, I have never been much of a stamper and didn't see myself as embracing stamps on layouts, stamps for me has always been about cards, however I was wrong! The more I use them the more I am discovering what a great tool they are and I am all about tools!! I LOVE my Cricut and do the majority of my titles with it but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and give CTMH alphabet stamping a try. WOW is all I can say, it was so easy and fast two of my favorite things.

So if you are like me and hate to waste money on sticker sheets only to find you need one more letter therefor you must buy an additional sheet of stickers give CTMH alphabet stamps a try, don't get me wrong I will still be using my Cricut but in this economy I know it is hard for many ladies to make the investment on a Cricut and all of the cartridges needed. CTMH stamp sets start as low as $22.95 with the highest running $34.95, make sure and purchase an acrylic block that is large enough so you can stamp your entire title at one time, so cool

baby boy

The stamping done on the majority of the pages come in the Caboodle WOTG kit but I did add a few extra's in some places