Saturday, February 26, 2011

Page Maps Contest

I am an ardent follower of Page Maps...and was thrilled to see this contest posted on their blog a few weeks ago...

So of course I had to get my craft on and take a stab at the sketch...

Here is the sketch...


And here is my take on it...


I have really been focusing on journaling more on my layouts...and I seem to really enjoy putting into words the feelings my photos give me...


I took a ga-jillion pictures of the cats this afternoon...just lounging on the stairs in the sun...and it really reminded me to slow down and enjoy the afternoon...so I did...I just sat on the steps with the cats, petted their heads and rubbed their bellies and enjoyed the warm sun filtering in through the hall windows...nice!



I hope you got the chance to slow down and just breath this afternoon...sigh!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

More Cards...

I think my scrapbooking mojo has been replaced by cardmaking mojo...

I finished two more birthday cards this weekend.



One for my niece, whose birthday was yesterday....Happy Birthday Kyrsten!



And this one....for a birthday that is later this month...



The number border and the stack of presents were designed by Kerri Bradford for her "This & That: Christmas" kit...I am loving her kits! And finding that the shapes are really quite versatile...

I am loving having the scrap-room in the house and am super excited that I have a dedicated work space for my Silhouette...



I just can't seem to make anything without my Silhouette these days!

I designed this card a week or so ago...



Using this Silhouette shape, "Mary Mary Quite Contrary"...



But instead of cutting each shape out, I grouped them all together and had the machine cut only the outline...

I love it, and totally want to try making more of these silhouette cards with my Silhouette...ha-ha!

Here's to crafting happy!

Monday, February 14, 2011

They're Ba-ack!

It's February...

And that means...

My daffodils are starting to bloom!



All over the yard...



Such a nice welcome home after a long day at work!



And the tulips are just breaking ground...



And the Pincushion Flowers are coming back...



And looking lovely!



And this will be the first bloom for my Camellia...



Spring...ah, sigh!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Scraproom...take two!

Late last year I had to move out of my 400 square foot in-law unit/studio...

Very sad...

And into a spare bedroom in the house...

But it gave me the chance to really organize, re-organize and...organize some more.

I still have a couple little 'projects' to take care of...

But for the most part my room is done.



I moved into a spare bedroom which was painted blue. I love the color, and had always thought I would paint the studio that color...which now I guess I don't need to...

The furniture that was in her before I moved in was all white...and I loved how clean it looked against the blue walls. Conveniently enough, the majority of my scrap furniture is white too...

So the overall color scheme I went with was blue walls, white furniture, black accessories with a bit of blue and orange accessories thrown in. I love how orange looks with the blue.



This is my main work desk...the desktop is from Ikea and I used the Jetmax cubes for the base. There are eight cubes all together; four on each side.

The front cubes have paper, cardstock and some basic tools like my trimmers and scoreboard...all within easy reach.



These side cubes have things I don't use as often such as chipboard, stickers, random stuff (read: junk drawer)...




And this side has my inks, paints, embossing powders and glitter and some more themed papers (like holiday papers)...



Over the desk I hung a small shelf for things I want close like my ink pads, liquid adhesives, tape and the like...and on the wall I hung my distress ink foamies, color swatches, foam tape and heat gun...



And my cute new timer...so I can put dinner in the oven downstairs and sneak away for a bit of crafting...without letting dinner burn!



I tried to leave as much of the tabletop cleared as possible, but still needed a place for miscellaneous embellishments...which I organized in this box (and labeled...I'm a labeling freak!). I also have a small red colander filled with washi tape, wire and baker's twine. I really want to stop by TJ Max and see if I can find a cute orange colander to replace the red one...I'm all about matching in my new space...



And on the other side of the desktop I have my re-finished Making Memories carousel...

I really wish I could find a splat mat that is orange...and an OTTlite that is orange...but I don't think they make them in those colors...a matchy-matchy girl can dream, though!

Under the big window is my Expedit...a total find I got last year. Now I know it is scrappers must-have for storage, but I had no intention of getting one until I drove up to Sacramento Ikea on a whim last year....and just happened to be there on a day when they were on sale for $40!

I love it!



I have my albums here...along with some miscellaneous stuff jammed into the drawers...like old memorabilia from Bay-to-Breakers ( a San Francisco pseudo-marathon...which I walk just for the sights!)...



On top I have some cards displayed...



And an old camera and mini projector....the perfect shade of blue to match my walls...that I have had for years! Pure coincidence!

I'm trying to keep the top of this relatively free from stuff because Rooster likes to sit up there and look out the window...and anything in his way gets knocked to the floor.



To the left of the Expedit I have an old antique rocking chair that I found on the street in San Francisco (when I used to live there) that my mom, dad and brother jointly repaired for me...



And above that I have some shadow boxes with antique sewing things...I love antiques! And I love this old serving tray...my mom and uncle bought it for my grandma for mother's day when they were kids and their family was stationed in London...I think it must be about 50 years old...and beautiful!

To the right of the Expedit I have this planter shelf...it is one of the un-finished projects...



I want to paint it black to match the room...maybe this weekend...



The top shelf holds my letter stickers...I really go through phases of using these, and right now...not turning to them too often...but give it a couple of months, and I'm sure they will be all I can focus on...



The bottom two shelves have Stickles, mists and other fun goodies...

On the wall opposite from the Expedit I have a walk-in closet...but no pictures of the inside yet...it is definately still a work in progress...



But what little wall there is, has a bookcase filled with more goodies...and occasionally a large yellow lab..."Hi'ya Rusty!"



The top has some bits of ribbon and a few knick-knacks...I love that puppy, he totaly stole my heart when I found him at the junk-shop!



...And a shelf of buttons in (mostly) antique mason jars...



And flowers and glitter and sand and other fun things...in more antique (and not-so antique) containers...

And on the last wall I have another work space...



I bought this table at Walmart this past weekend...just a plain simple folding table, not so cute but the price was right, only $35!



And it's perfect for my sewing machine...



And Silhouette machine...which, really!?!?, is black white and orange! Perfect match!

And above this table I hung a couple of shelves to house my mini albums (the ones Rooster kept knocking to the floor) and some more old cameras...







So happy! Such a happy place...

Now I just need to tackle the walk-in closet...sigh!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Making Memories Carousel Makeover...

My friend bought me a Making Memories carousel when I first moved into our new house...I loved it! And still do...even more now that I gave it a make over a couple of weekends ago...



I painted it black...



And then added chalkboard paint to the cubby sides...



And used chalk to list what was there...(even though it is fairly obvious what is there...come on now, it's just darn cute!)

Love it!

But be forewarned...it took about four coats of black paint and two more coats of chalkboard paint and all weekend to dry! Worth it? I think so!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Focusing on the Small Stuff

It seems like I have been really focusing on the small stuff lately...cards that is. Small little bits and pieces...using scraps...but still getting crafty, if not also a bit inky and dirty.

Last week I made three cards from some scraps I had been hanging onto that were left over from a mini album I made for a friend's birthday last year.

The paper is all from SEI...I just love the colors and the small scale prints.



All three cards are built on the same basic background...four small squares of patterned paper...



And a few different stamps...



I used Distress Ink pads in Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Peeled Paint to "color" in the images....very loosely.



A little highlighting with stickles, "pearl" bling, and black glaze pens....



And some free-hand drawing with a black Micron pen...and I'm pretty pleased!

I love using up scraps!