Saturday, May 28, 2011

Sweet Sunday Sketch #119

Hi there! It's been awhile since I posted to the blog due to a crazy week around here. My Mother-in-Law is in town visiting, which is lots of fun but also just makes things more hectic with all the extra fun stuff going on. We also had Dean's preschool graduation Friday night, which was absolutely ADORABLE - check out my little man:


In addition to the fun stuff, things were a little stressful as my hometown of El Reno, Oklahoma - where I was born and grew up, living for the first 25+ years of my life - was hit by one of the many devastating tornadoes early last week. Several people I've known my entire life, including some relatives and one of my oldest and dearest friends' parents, lost their homes and everything they own. Fortunately for my family, everyone I love made it out with their lives and are safe and physically unharmed. So many others have lost loved ones in this tragedy and it is so hard to watch these events on TV and the internet and be thousands of miles away and unable to help. Having lived through many, many tornado warnings / sirens / close calls while growing up in Oklahoma (we didn't have a storm shelter growing up, so my Dad used to grab my brother and me and throw us in the closet, forcing us to wear motorcycle helmets and flak jackets and stuffing every available pillow, blanket and couch/chair cushion in the house in around us as soon as the sirens went off - we were annoyed with this at the time, but now it doesn't seem like such a bad idea!). Anyway, there were a few stressful days around here last week while I tried to get in touch with friends and family in my hometown to make sure they were OK. Then I watch the news and am so saddened by the number of others who are in the same situation, or worse. It's just unreal.

But anyway, let's get on to the real reason you're here today - It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!! I had fun playing with this week's sketch:

I did stray a bit, flipping it 90 degrees to come up with this sample:


All of the cardstock, patterned paper and buttons are from the May Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions. I used the Collectors Anonymous stamp set and colored the images with Copic Markers included in the May 2011 Copic Sketch Kit (with a N1 gray added in for shading).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.
Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

You can find more Key Ingredients inspiration and information over on the Key Ingredients Blog.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Space Boy SFYTT


Happy Saturday! Just a quick post today to share another fun and Spacey Sketch For You to Try card I made this week using the May sketch. I think I already said it, but I just LOVE this month's sketch and had to play again!


Don't forget, SFYTT is being sponsored this month by Your Next Stamp, which is offering a generous discount for all SFYTT participants.


I think I *might* have mentioned before that my 4-yr-old son Dean LOVES all things Space, right? Well, my little man is graduating from preschool next weekend and I wanted to make a special card for him to tell him how awesome I think he is! The Space Boy set from Your Next Stamps was perfect for this...


Now, this might look a lot like my SFYTT card from a few weeks ago, but I promise it's different! {wink}. This time I totally colored the little Space Boy completely different and I used the Blast Off papers and coordinating accessories from Bo Bunny. I also paired it with an appropriate Verve sentiment (from the Great Expectations set) that seemed perfect for a little boy heading to kindergarten in August!!

There's still plenty of time left to play along with us this month! You can check out Jen's Post for all the details on the sponsorship (such as prizes, deadlines, "rules", etc). To enter, just link up your creation using the sketch to the linky thing at the end of Jen's Post. Don't forget, everyone who completes every sketch in 2011 will be eligible for the Grand Prize at the end of the year!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Kerri Michaud
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Viva La Verve hybrid baby card

Hi there! I thought I'd take a little break from all the cleaning (prepping for my MIL's arrival tomorrow) and lei-making (Dean has preschool graduation next weekend) and make a fun card this evening using May's Week 3 Viva La Verve Sketch that Amy Sheffer designed.


I decided to play with some new digi goodies and printed some papers from the Life is Good kit from the May 2011 Grab Bag by Karen Lewis (the Digichick) and combined them with some Verve stamps to create a fun hybrid baby card:


I paper-pieced the adorable Emery Plain Jane and added a sentiment from Munchkin Phrases. The only real embellishment I used was some chocolate pom-pom trim.

We'd love for you to play along with us using the Week 3 Viva La Verve Sketch! If you play along with ALL 5 of the May Viva La Verve sketches you could have a chance to win the entire next release!! Details and links to all of the sketches HERE.

Well, that's it from me today. Have a fantastic Thursday!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Make a Page Monday

It's Monday again and that's means it's time for my Make a Page Monday post where I share a handful of layouts with you from the Tribute Album I've been working on about my Dad's Life (he passed away in November from Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 59) and maybe a layout here and there from Dean's baby / toddler book I'm trying to catch up on. None of these will be in any particular order. And if you're interested in reading the journaling you can probably click on the layout and see it slightly larger. So here goes...(credits below each layout).

I'm excited because I actually scrapped this week - I created a layout for Dean's baby book! It felt good, but I'm sure not making much of a dent in either of these projects. So I've made it a goal to create at least 4 layouts / week for the rest of this year (2 for Dean's book and 2 for my Dad's book) - that means if all goes as planned I'll be scrapping about 132 more layouts this year! (yikes). And I'm going to start posting my progress towards this goal at the end of each of my Make a Page Monday posts to hold myself accountable. Some weeks I might not get this many done, but some weeks I might get more done. Fingers crossed!!

But for now, I'm still working on sharing the layouts I have in my stash that haven't been shared yet, so let's get to that. I'll start with my new one that I finished this week...

This photo is of Dean and I when he was 4 days old, December 10, 2006. Journaling reads: "I have to admit that 4 days in, I was feeling completely overwhelmed in my new role as Mommy. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. Breast-feeding was SO much harder than I thought it would be and I was constantly worried Dean wasn't getting enough to eat. And what does that cry mean? Is he hungry? Does something hurt? Do I need to sterilize this binky every time it falls on the floor? I was so exhausted but often found that I couldn't sleep, instead I'd just lay there watching Dean sleep, listening to him breathe, amazed that I could love another human this much."
Credits:
Cindy's Layered Templates #52 by Cindy Schneider
Shabby Sugar by Zoe Pearn
Font is DJB All the Cool Chicks by Darcy Baldwin
Other random elements:
Alpha - Winter Wonderland by Zoe Pearn
Photo Corners - 12 Months Mega Kit by Penny Springmann
Flower - Sunshine of My Life by Scrapkitchen Designs
Branch - Note to Self by Zoe Pearn
Flower - The Reasons Why by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Meghan Mullens
Bad Sewing Machine XVIII: Kinda Kleen by Traci Reed

And here's one with several photos from one of my Dad's many "Guy Trips" with a group of his close friends. This trip was a camping trip in 1992 to Red River, New Mexico (one of their favorite spots). Journaling reads: "Eddie, Lucky, Jim, and Jesse on one of their regular “Guy Trips” to Red River, New Mexico for camping, four-wheeling, exploring and fun-filled adventures. Eddie would look forward to these trips for months - studying maps, planning their four wheeling trails and packing and re-packing his camping equipment. Sometimes it wasn’t clear which he enjoyed more - the planning or the trip itself!"
Credits:
Cindy's Layered Templates #36 by Cindy Schneider
Pumpkin Spiced Latte by Dani Mogstad
Alpha - He's the Man by Traci Reed and Dani Mogstad
Alpha - In His Footsteps by Traci Reed
Flowers - Oh Snap by Kristin Cronin-Barrow; Blink of an Eye by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Traci Reed

And finally, a 2-page layout that is one of my favorites so far in my Dad's Tribute Album. This set of pages captures the story of my parents' first trip to Hawaii in 1983 with good friends Lucky and Donna Eisenhour. Journaling from the right-side page reads: "Susan had always wanted to go on a Hawaii vacation, but Eddie had never been interested. Susan and Donna had talked about it, but could never get Eddie to commit. Then one evening Susan caught Eddie looking at one of his new guns he had just purchased and saw the price - that was it - if he could spend that much on a gun, they could go to Hawaii! Lucky and Donna joined them on their first trip to Hawaii in 1983. They spent a few days on Oahu, staying at the Beachcomber in Waikiki, then the rest of their trip on Maui, staying at the Intercontinental in Wailea. Everywhere they went, for some reason Eddie was chosen to go up on stage to dance hula - at the Polynesian Cultural Center, the luau, and even the free hula show at the old Wailea shops. They all did lots of tourist activities - a snorkel cruise to Molokini, Pearl Harbor, and Susan and Eddie went up to Haleakala and saw Silverswords. They spent 2 days on Big Beach before discovering Little Beach, then spent their last day on Little Beach. Unfortunately, while they were gone, 7-yr-old Jennifer was very ill back home. Everyone thought she was just homesick for her parents, but after several days of complaining of a stomach ache, they discovered that she had severe appendicitis and she had to have an emergency appendectomy. She was in and out of surgery before Susan and Eddie even knew anything was wrong. They tried getting an earlier flight home, but weren’t able to, instead they brought home LOTS of Hawaiian goodies for Jennifer! Despite the troubles of Jennifer’s surgery, they had a wonderful trip and fell in love with the island of Maui from that very first trip and returned again and again, year after year - eventually making Maui their home."
Credits for left-side page:
Cindy's Layered Templates - Half Pack #7 by Cindy Schneider
Take Me Away by Dani Mogstad
DJB Executive font by Darcy Baldwin

Credits for right-side page:
Cindy's Layered Templates Set #83 by Cindy Schneider
Take Me Away by Dani Mogstad
DJB Executive font by Darcy Baldwin

So that's it from me today! I hope you all enjoy your Monday!! I'm at work all day, hoping Joel is at home as he's supposed to be overseeing our carpets getting cleaned (LOVE it when that happens - makes them seem brand-new! And they definitely need it quite often with a 4-yr-old!). We have a busy week getting stuff done around the house, preparing for my mother-in-law's arrival on Thursday and making leis for Dean's preschool graduation next weekend!!

2011 Scrapbooking Goals (starting week of 5/16):
Total Pages Completed: 0/132
Dean's Baby Album: 0/66
Dad's Tribute Album: 0/66

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Sweet Sunday Sketch #117

Well, it's Sunday again if you can believe it! That means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Karen created an absolutely AWESOME sketch this week for us to play with - this is one I'll definitely be using over and over again!


I had so much fun creating my hybrid sample card this week!


Aren't those papers yummy? They're printed digi papers from the new Here Comes the Sun digi kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe). That sun and the sentiment strip is also from the same kit! I just added the buttons and used a scallop border die on one of the papers. The only non-digi paper on my card is the Soft Stone cardstock (PTI) base and I used a little of it for one of the mats. The rest is all digi!! I am so in love with this kit - I can't wait to create a digi layout with it too!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.
Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

May Key Ingredients

Well, FINALLY Blogger is working again! I wanted to let you all know that I posted (well, technically Taylor posted it since blogger and my time zone conspired to make posting difficult for me! Thanks Taylor!!) a fun project over on the Key Ingredients Blog yesterday if you'd like to check it out. It's a fun little keepsake gift I created for my friend Sarah to hold photos of her new baby Brooklyn. Take a look:


There are a few close-up photos and all the product details and links for you on the KI blog, so be sure to check it out! And if you haven't heard about the new May Key Ingredients kit, be sure to take a look at it - it's one of my faves and features the Happy Go Lucky papers from American Crafts along with coordinating cardstock and embellishments. And while you're visiting the blog, be sure to browse around a bit - the KI design team has been sharing some amazing projects using the kit all week!!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Make a Page Monday

It's Monday again and that's means it's time for my Make a Page Monday post where I share a handful of layouts with you from the Tribute Album I've been working on about my Dad's Life (he passed away in November from Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 59) and maybe a layout here and there from Dean's baby / toddler book I'm trying to catch up on. None of these will be in any particular order. And if you're interested in reading the journaling you can probably click on the layout and see it slightly larger. So here goes...(credits below each layout).

I took the last couple of weeks off from this post (did anyone even notice!? ha!) because I was sick and then just really super busy. But this is something that's important to me and I really want to keep it going - I'm hoping it will motivate me to continue working on (and hopefully finishing) both of these projects. So here goes...

I actually made this page yesterday as it seemed appropriate to scrap these photos on Mother's Day. These are photos of my Dad as a young child of about 18 months old. It's 1952 and he is at the park in El Reno, OK (my hometown as well) enjoying a Mother's Day picnic with his extended family.
Credits:
Cindy's Layered Templates #12 by Cindy Schneider (Sweet Shoppe)
Learning 2 Love Myself by Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe)

This one is about a motorcycle trip my Dad took in 1998 with his good friend Jim Corwin. Journaling reads "1998. Eddie and Jim rode their motorcycles to New Mexico on yet another adventure together. They made several stops along the way, including a Railroad Museum where Eddie found a sign for the Lahaina-Kaanapali train".
Credits:
So Sunny Templates by Connie Prince (Gotta Pixel)
Dude! by Fee Jardine (Sweet Shoppe) - retired kit

This layout is all about Christmas, 1984. Gotta love those fabulous 80's memories! ha. Journaling reads "Christmas, 1984. Eddie, sporting one of his many signature plaid flannel shirts, got a dog grooming table and what looks like work slacks and some type of massage tool. Jennifer (8) received a skateboard and Jeremy (5) received some Legos. Both kids got Cabbage Patch Kids and Care Bears and lots of other toys of the 80s".
Credits:
Cindy's Layered Templates #22 by Cindy Schneider (Sweet Shoppe)
I Believe by Lauren Grier and Shawna Clingerman (Sweet Shoppe)

And finally, this layout is about my Dad's 50th birthday celebration. My Dad's birthday is Christmas Day, by the way. Journaling reads "To celebrate Eddie's 50th birthday in 2000, Susan rented a limo and along with good friends Jim and Judi, Lucky and Donna, and Gary Charisse, they enjoyed champagne and birthday cake while looking at Christmas lights in Chickasha and Yukon".
Credits:
He's a Jolly Good Fellow by Shawna Clingerman (Sweet Shoppe)
You've Got Heart templates by Connie Prince (Gotta Pixel)

OK, that's it for this week! My scrapbook goal for the next several weeks is to work my way through sorting and scanning and starting to get some layouts done with more of my Dad's childhood photos. There are SOOOO many of these photos. I'm having a really hard time picking and choosing which ones to include in the album and which ones to just put away in a box. More than likely most of them will get used in the album (because let's face it - those photos that get put away in a box usually don't get looked at all that often!). What do you think? Less is more? Or should I just go ahead and use most of them? The nice thing is that my grandmother did a fairly good job of documenting the who/what/when/where so there aren't too many mystery photos. I'd love to hear your opinion!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Sweet Sunday Sketch #116

Hi! I'm going to get right to the point tonight - I'm typing up this post on Saturday night and I have the house to myself because Joel is at the neighbor's watching the Manny Pacquiao fight (actually from the sounds of things in my neighborhood I think every other house must have bought the fights - I can barely hear myself think from the screaming and yelling and laughing coming in my open windows from all directions out there!) and Dean went with him (not to watch the fight - we don't allow that - but to play with all the neighborhood kids in the backyard). It's pretty noisy out there tonight. If you've never spent time in an actual local neighborhood in Hawaii on a weekend night, you're missing out!! Especially if there's something exciting going on like a fight! Hawaii residents LOVE an excuse to get together and drink beers and eat lots and lots and lots of good local food while sitting in their garage watching some big sporting event on TV. And yes, most locals have TVs in their garage here. It's much cooler to sit outside and watch TV in the cool breeze, gathered around luau tables, the men all screaming and yelling while the girls talk story and the kids run around like crazy chickens! GOOD TIMES! But I'm missing out because I wanted to stay home in the peace and quiet and get my craft on!! LOL. It is Mother's Day Weekend after all...

So anyway, It's Sunday and you know what that means - time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Karen created a fun square sketch this week, which I normally LOVE, but for some reason I was feeling rebellious so I changed things up a bit (only a TEENY TINY bit as you can see)...here's a look at this week's sketch:


I decided to post my sample card at the top of my post today. Just to keep you all on your toes. Don't want you getting too comfortable. But here's another, closer, look:


The BEST part about this card is all those yummy papers. They're all printed digi papers from the new Life of the Party kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). I also used the Big Birthday Wishes stamp set and numbers dies from Papertrey Ink. I added some pom-pom trim from my stash of notions and made a fun accordion flower thing, dipping the edges in silver glitter. The accordion flower may have been a little too much, but it needed something up there in the corner and I had printed out some yellow paper too, so I went for it.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.
Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Now, in my post from yesterday I mentioned that we were going to the Seabury Hall Craft Fair and that Dean was super excited about all the keiki activities. He had SO MUCH FUN and I couldn't help but share this hilarious picture I snapped of him on one of the many jumpy castles! He seems to think you have to JUMP off the top of the slide for the best effect and I managed to catch him mid-jump!


It was a beautiful day - I was a little worried it was going to rain on us, and it did sprinkle a few times, but we had fun! Dean made his TuTu (my Mom) a gorgeous (LOL) painted and be-jeweled flower pot for Mother's Day just before wearing himself out and into a full-blown 4-yr-old temper tantrum, too much fun for one day and too tired as a result! But it was all worth it! Love this little pre-Mother's Day tradition each year!

Announcement & May SFYTT



I've been patiently sitting on a fun announcement for several weeks now and can finally tell you all that the fabulous Jen del Muro has asked me to join her Sketch For You to Try team! I'm so excited (and admittedly a bit intimidated) to be joining this amazingly talented group of SFYTT Sisters!!


The May SFYTT sponsor is Your Next Stamp! You can check out Jen's Post for all the details on the sponsorship (such as prizes, deadlines, "rules", etc). To enter, just link up your creation using the sketch to the linky thing at the end of Jen's Post. Don't forget, everyone who completes every sketch in 2011 will be eligible for the Grand Prize at the end of the year! As an extra bonus, Your Next Stamp is offering a generous discount coupon to all SFYTT participants this month - details in their ad below. Pretty cool, huh?


For my sample card (eeek! So so cool that I get to say that! ha!) I chose to work with the Space Boy set. This set is PERFECT for creating all those little boy (and girl) birthday cards I seem to be making these days - my 4-yr-old son Dean is OBSESSED with all things Space, so it seemed appropriate. The patterned papers are all printed digi papers from the Another Galaxy digi kit by Traci Reed and Julie Billingsley (Sweet Shoppe). I colored the little Space Boy with Copics and added a glittery chipboard star as embellishment.


Here's a look at the May Sketch:


Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Kerri Michaud
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Well, that's it for me today! We're headed upcountry to the Seabury Hall Craft Fair today, our yearly tradition the day before Mother's Day. Seabury Hall is an exclusive (and EXPENSIVE - as in one year of middle school costs more than my entire undergraduate college education!!) private school Upcountry - the campus is beautiful and the craft fair each year (which benefits the tuition assistance fund) is lots of fun. I'd really call it more of an Art Fair than a Craft Fair as the majority of the vendors are more in line with fine arts (sculptors, painters, potters, etc). But there's also lots of good food, a kid's craft area, entertainment, and the highlight is a GIGANTIC water slide that's really like a huge slip-n-slide set up on a huge hill (I'll post photos because it's hilarious). Ok, anyway, that's enough blah blah blah for today I think. Have a great Saturday!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Verve Diva Inspirations May Blog Hop

Hi there and welcome to the May Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team is here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below for some Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own! So, you should have arrived here from Jen d.'s blog - if so, then you're on the right track. If not, head on back to Julee's blog to start at the beginning. Here's a look at the Master Hop List in case you get lost along the way:
Diva  Inspirations Blog Hop
Master Hop  List
1. Julee 8. Sony
2. Betty 9. Susan
3. Dawn 10. Teresa
4. Jen d. 11. Andrea
5. Jen T. 12. Charmaine
6. Lynda 13. Maureen
7. Shannan

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, May 5
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve


I decided to create a Mother's Day Card because I've got to get several in the mail PRONTO. I'm thinking this one will be for my awesome Mother-in-law.


I sort of CASE'd myself with this card. When I made THIS sympathy card a few months ago I just really liked how the flowers from One Person looked stamped subtly patterned paper and shaded with Copics, then paired with a glitter-edged label - stamped from the Love Notes stamp set and then cut out using the coordinating Classy Label Die (and yes, I know I totally over-use this stamp / die combo - but can you blame me!?). I added a Happy Mother's Day sentiment strip, also from the One Person set. The entire card was kept relatively clean and simple, although I did add some polka dot texture to the bottom portion, it's hard to see in the photo but if you look closely it's there. And that's it. What do you think? When you're done here, head on over to Lynda's Blog and check out her fabulous creation!

Oh, and one more thing - don't forget that since it's a new month, that means Verve's got a new Stamp of the Month to reveal! In May we're featuring the sentiment set, Dare to Be. With 5 uplifting and encouraging sentiments, this set is perfect for graduation, congratulations or just a little pick me up. Or pair it with the To the Moon, Chicks Rule or Lucky Ducky sets for perfect little love notes to tuck into a lunchbox. And at 40% off during the month of May, Dare to Be is a pretty big deal!