More tags and a Challenge entry

Here are a few more tags for the 25 tags of Christmas. 

Day 5 was a tag with dangles.

Day 7 was a personalized Tag.

I was unable to participate on Day 6.  But I won on Day 5 with my Dangle Tag!!

This is the daily prize that is being given away. It's a  Prima Keepsake Ornament Box.

Swirlydoos is also have a December Challenge.  The Layout must be a Winter Layout, using a white on white color scheme and must include a spring or summer picture.  Wow, this truly was a challenge.  Here is my entry below.

Believe

It's beginning to look...

a lot like Christmas in my scraproom.  I still can't do too much with the injury to my arm, but I can't just sit and do nothing.  I never now what will set the nerve off unitl it happens.  Anyway, here are some things I've been working on over the past several months. 
The tags were created as part of a contest at Swirlydoos.  Create 25 tags in 25 days.  Each day has a theme.  Its really fun.

Day One:  what Christmas means to me

Day Two:  Monochromatic

Day Three:  Sparkle!

Day 4:  Reindeer

This is a photo of Russ and I taken in our hotel room before attending an evening performance of Cirque: Dreams.  It was an awesome performance and a night to remember. 

The following picutre is a close up my flower and stickpins.  I used three on this layout.  Is it a bit over the top??  You decide. 

Latest Layouts

 It has been a busy summer.  I attended several 4 day crops and had an absolutely fantabulous time.  My husband and I took several short trips close to home and I tried to do some scrapping at home in between.  Below are several of the layouts that I worked on and completed over the summer break. 

This is my graduation picture.  I can honestly say, its the first time I have scrapped a "vintage" picture of myself.  I just love the colors of this layout.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  The blues are a smokey color.  The Cameo embellishment comes from Swirlydoos as does the dusty attic clock.  The doily was cut using the Mother's Day cartridge from Cricut.  Both the doily and clock embellishment were colored using several different colors of glimmer mist.  The feather with the rhinestone jewels was purchased at Hobby Lobby, it was a barrette that I destroyed, LOL.... The flowers were cut from material using Tim Holtz's flower Sizzix die.  The lace and buttons are vintage. 

The layout above is one of Matthew's graduation pictures.  It had that old Hollywood feel to it.  Every time I look at it I think Art Deco.  Soooo I did a search online for examples of designs in the Art Deco style and found a leaded glass menorah that I liked and used it has the inspiration for the art deco arches on this layout. 

I still need to add my title and think I will use something like Heart Throb.  You can see in the photo below, that I have used three stick pins and one has a red heart on top.  I also scattered red and black vintage buttons, used a vintage "frog" and button card.  The tux tie was part of a costume that Matt used for one of the Mardi Gras balls he participated in and the journal card reminded me of an old coat check claim ticket, again, thinking old Hollywood glamour, when everyone dressed to the "nine" every evening.  

Torn, so proud yet so very scared.  The layout above was very hard for me to complete.  I started it in July and didn't finish it until Labor Day.  I had the vision in my head but had a heck of a time transferring it to the layout. 

I would like to add that I have had many "difficult" times in my life, just like we all have, but I have to tell you that this was one the most difficult to date.  I had dreaded that day since he had informed us 18 months earlier that he had joined the Marines.  He and his brother are my heart and to watch your child leave for a war torn country knowing full well it could be the last time you see him alive was soooo very hard.  The only thing that got me through the whole ordeal was knowing that it was all in God's plan for Matthew and nothing would happen if it wasn't part of the plan.  I am happy to report that Matt did return from Afghanistan in April and we are now awaiting his second deployment in January of 2011. 

 A class I participated in, taught by Connie, a very talented teacher at our local scrapbook store, Treasured Memories.  The pictures are of some of my hibiscus blooms.  The soft purple flower won a gold ribbon at the Hibiscus Show in 2007.

Another class, this time taught by Melissa, again from Treasured Memories.  Now I need to add the pictures.

That's all for now. 

Summertime Crops

I love summer break, not only do I get about 10 weeks off from school, but its also the time I get to attend 4 day crops. Already this summer I have attended two cropping events, TAC and Treasured Memories. I really love attending this events. The inspiration that oozes from the room is awesome. I took tons and tons of pictures so that I will be able to scraplift my favorite layouts during the long dreary months of winter. Here are some layouts that I completed recently, along with some of my favorites from others.

Memories from Disney World. I love the way this layout turned out. The map looks old and burned around the edges, and the little treasured scattered here and there just remind me of pirate loot. I used Graphic 45 paper on this layout. I love, love, love Graphic 45, especially the back side or to me its the back, most people use the more graphic side, while I tend to use the patterned side, LOL.

Here is one of the little treasured I added to the layout. The coin came from a pirate set that I bought in the airport in Wilmington, NC when we flew out to welcome Matt home from Afghanistan. The set had the coin, a map and a eye patch. I just had to have that set, I knew I could incorporate some of the items into a layout. I also attached a cluster of beads and charms on a jump ring, then attached to whole thing to the trim. Love this look!!!


Here is a cluster of feathers, tied with a ribbon and some scattered buttons and charms. Stuck in the feathers is a custom made stick pin from Treasured Memories, a local scrapbook store. I just brought my layout to the counter and together the owner and I picked out the beads. I love stick pins, they just seen to add the right amount of POP to a layout.

The last cluster is more feathers, buttons and a little drawer pull along with my journaling card. I tend to like my journaling hidden, after all, I think of my layouts as parts of a diary, private, and therefore tend to hide the journaling.

I'll add the rest of the photos a bit later today, the garden is screaming for attention and there is a storm in the gulf that I must prepare for.

Laissez Le Bon Temp Rouler

I can not believe it but I won a layout contest!!! This layout pictures my Grandfather playing his accordion. The smaller picture was taken at Festival Acadiens when he was honored as a pioneer of French Cajun Music. He began playing the accordion and fiddle when he was a young boy. He told me his father taught him to play the fiddle and one of the local legends, Joe Falcon, taught him to play the accordion. His father was the fiddle player in Joe Falcon's band and they would let my grandfather play the music while the band took their break. Another legend, Mark Savoy, once told me that Paw played versions of these great old french songs that no one else did. Mr. Savoy also told me what a wonderful accordion player Paw was. After my grandmother passed away, while cleaning out their house, we found a notebook filled with the classic french music my grandfather played. All of the music was written by him in french. One of those old songs, Let the Good Times Roll, was the perfect addition to the layout. Anyway, last weekend the scrappers voted this layout as their favorite. What an honor!!!

Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from? For me, it comes from looking at common objects and daily activities of living. I can find inspiration for my scrapbook pages just by looking at bath salt bottles, chipped enamel coffee pots, vintage buttons, vintage lace, vintage jewelry, postcards and clothing. When working in the garden, I get the flashes of the perfect scrapbook page or title, the layouts just fall into place. The major problem I have when I get these moments of inspiration is that I don't stop what I'm doing and write the fleeting thoughts down. Then much later, when I'm seated at my desk, I try to think back on those moments only to find that they are lost. Lost in the shuffle of chaos that envelopes my daily life. So, my goal for this summer is to try and write down these spurts of inspiration as they flutter through my thoughts.

The project below was born of such a moment. I was in a flea market in North Carolina when I ran across a bag of odd earrings. There was not a matching set in the bunch. The pieces that were in that bag were fabulous, and several just screamed to be used on a page about my grandmother.

The flower center is an old clip-on earring that just reminded me of my grandmother. The hat pin is another reminder. After my Grandmother passed away and my grandfather went to live with my father, my father and his siblings had the daunting task of cleaning out their home. One of my sons, who was helping with the clean up, found my grandmother's hats. Attached to several of the hats were hat pins. After finding the hat pins, I started searching flea markets for these little jewels. The one I used on this layout is a reproduction that was given to me by a friend. Our local scrapbook Store, Treasured Memories, has a wide assortment of pins and will even make them to match your layouts.

The other two layouts also use vintage jewelry pieces.

The beautiful "buckle" on the ribbon is actually a pin that I picked up at a flea market for a dollar, the small metal disc at the top of the right hand page is actually another earring.

This layout has a clock face in the cluster of buttons and gears at the top of the right hand page, which was salvaged from a broken watch I purchased in another grab bag of old jewelry, and what a better way to reinforce the topic of "Les Le Bon Temp Rouler".

Inspiration, where does yours come from?

A couple of new projects

I have finally found some much needed down time in the studio. It has been so very hectic with Mardi Gras and our trip to Disney. School is winding down, the days are getting longer and I am getting back into the swing of scrapping. I have several 4 day crops planned in the next couple of months. I have been jotting down ideas for layouts and trying to get everything together into page kits. We will see how it works, but knowing me, I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kinda scrapper so planning page kits is beyond my comfort zone.

On to my latest projects.

I have been wanting to do this layout for months. I saw a button tree on the internet and loved it so I adapted the design by adding a few pictures of my ancestors and came up with a family tree. The pictures are of my Parents and Grandparents. I'm about 4 and Mom says the photo was taken on Easter Sunday.

This is the third time I have created layout using this photo of my grandparents. I did a two page layout last summer for myself, and a shadow box similar to the one above for my dad for Father's Day. Well over the Christmas holidays, my aunt saw it and fell in love with it, so I told her I would make one for her. It will be shipping out this weekend.

This was created for a co-worker who snort whenever she laughs, which in turn makes me laugh. Anyway, I saw this saying in a magazine and decided it was perfect for her. I cut the letter out using my circut.

This is my example of the tape transfer process. I am a bit disappointed that my lady didn't show up better, but hey not bad for my first time.

I have some other photos I need to post, but for now I'm signing off and heading to dreamland.